Send short text messages with Alexa – CNET

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

While Alexa is a great addition to any smart home, there are still a lot of things Amazon’s connected speakers can’t do, like understand notifications, swear or wake to custom commands.

Alexa also lacks a feature that many other voice assistant services like Siri, Cortana and Google Now offer: sending SMS.

Fortunately, this is where Alexa’s Skills feature comes in handy. By enabling the skill SMS With Molly, you can send handsfree messages from the comfort of your couch or when you’re running behind and rushing out the door.

Here’s how to set it up.

Enable the SMS With Molly skill

First, you will want to enable the skill.

• From the Amazon Alexa application on your mobile device or echo.amazon.com from your browser, open the Skills menu.
• Search for the skill SMS With Molly by Anythings.
• Click or tap Enable.
• A new browser tab will open, prompting you to sign up for the SMS With Molly service.
• Create an account or sign in.

Add your favorite contacts

SMS With Molly doesn’t have access to the contacts on your phone — or access to your phone at all, for that matter. To be able to send text messages, you need to add your favorite contacts to your SMS With Molly account.

Navigate to smswithmolly.com and login. Enter the first name and phone number of up to six contacts. Click Save.

Sending text messages with Alexa

Before using SMS With Molly, there are some things to note about the service.

Taylor Martin/CNET

First, since SMS With Molly nor Alexa have access to your phone’s data, the messages will not be sent with your phone number. Instead, whomever you send messages to will receive something like what you see above — the short message, who the message is from, their phone number and a link to SMS With Molly. For any unsuspecting recipient, it may seem a little strange or even like spam.

The skill’s page in the Alexa application says that it works best with messages that are five words or less. For messages that are longer than that, you’re going to run into issues, so you’re better off using Siri or Google Now. Also, you can only send up to 30 SMS per month using this skill. It’s unclear what happens after you reach that cap. I reached out to the developer for clarification and have not yet heard anything in return.

To send a text message using the SMS With Molly skill, says something along the lines of:

• “Alexa, tell SMS With Molly to text Alex ‘Leaving now.’”
• “Alexa, ask SMS With Molly to text ‘I’m running late’ to Mark.”
• “Alexa, tell SMS With Molly to send ‘Where are you?’ to Meghal.”

Frankly, SMS With Molly is a little rough around the edges. Some of the messages came through with typos and the idea of sending someone a message from a different number because your hands are full or you’re too lazy to reach for your phone is a bit of a stretch.

That said, while I probably won’t be using this Alexa skill personally, I do find it interesting and promising for the future of what third-party developers can do with Alexa.

LG G5 Review!

After a few years of tweaking and perfecting its G-series design language, LG has torn up the rule book and breathed new life into the line with the LG G5. Dropping a plastic build for a metal frame and introducing a new modular concept, the LG G5 certainly has the potential to shake up the mobile market, but does it succeed?

Unlike Korean rival Samsung who dropped microSD card expansion and a removable battery when it made the switch to metal last year – although the former did return in this year’s Galaxy S7 family – LG has stuck to its guns and, through a unique design, kept the removable battery and expansion while making the switch to a more premium build.

Are modules the way forward for the smartphone industry; will LG’s big gamble on being unique pay off; and can the LG G5 pose a real threat to Samsung’s excellent Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones? This is what we aim to find out – and more – in this full review of the LG G5.

As introduced earlier this year, this review follows our new dual review format with two different members of Android Authority reviewing the LG G5 to provide the most comprehensive review possible. While I have put together the in-depth written review you’ll find below, the video embedded above was put together by Lanh Nguyen. Through the course of meetings to discuss our findings, together they combine to provide the most comprehensive review of the LG G5 experience from two different perspectives.
Buy it now

Design

The LG G5 is the successor to last year’s G4 but as Lanh says, “it’s really nothing like it. For the most part, it’s an entirely different phone, and a lot of that has to do with the design.”

LG G4 vs LG G5

The differences between the LG G5 and the LG G4 are quite stark, with LG’s latest flagship bringing an aluminium build, but as we’ve heard recently, it’s not metal as you quite know it. Let’s clear up on thing first; the LG G5 is definitely made of metal, but it’s undergone a secret treatment process which essentially puts a layer of primer and paint on top of the body, similar to how a car gets painted. As a result, you aren’t directly touching metal, but it’s definitely a metal phone.

With most metal phones, they can feel quite cold in the morning or warm under heavy usage, but for the most part, the LG G5 is a constant temperature. LG’s approach to metal was certainly done with the best intentions in mind but as a result of the primer-paint approach, the handset doesn’t feel as premium or as solid as a metal phone traditionally does. I’d have to agree with Lanh, when he says that:

It’s kind of like having a metal phone inside of a protective case and it’s just something you have to wrap your head around when holding the G5

Materials aside, the rest of of the G5 is built well and the reduction in screen size over last year’s LG G4 means it’s more ergonomically friendly and comfortable to hold in the hand. I personally think the 5.3-inch form factor is perfect for a smartphone and LG may have uncovered the perfect size. At 159 grams, the LG G5 also has considerable weight to it, but given the lack of premium feel to the body, the hefty weight actually improves the in-hand experience and makes the smartphone feel more solid.

If you’ve used an LG G-series smartphone before, the button layout on the LG G5 will take some getting used to; since the G2, LG’s flagships have had the volume and power keys on the rear, but with the G5, the volume buttons have now switched to the left of the handset. If you’re someone who holds a phone in their right hand, the position of the volume keys on the left is quite uncomfortable, and, as they’re almost flush with the edge of the phone, they are difficult to locate at the best of times.

LG G5 power button vs the V10

The rear still sports a power button – with embedded fingerprint sensor – and the power button itself is a disappointment, as it feels uneven and doesn’t offer reassuring feedback when pressed. Having used the power key with fingerprint sensor on the back of the LG V10, the less-than-premium power key on the G5 is definitely a let down.

One of the better single speakers on a smartphone in a long while

On the bottom, LG has made the switch to the newer USB Type-C standard, which is widely becoming the norm for flagship devices this year. Alongside this is the microphone and single bottom-firing speaker, and the latter is surprisingly impressive for a single mono speaker. Lanh sums it up best when he says it is one of the better single speakers he’s heard on a smartphone in a long while.

Overall, the LG G5 definitely isn’t going to win any awards for the way it looks but this smartphone is more about substance over style. LG has managed to combine microSD card expansion and a removable battery while keeping a metal unibody, and the presence of a recessed button to remove the bottom chin allows you to swap and remove batteries with ease. The bottom chin is also one of the most compelling reasons to buy the LG G5, as it makes the G5 the first modular smartphone to hit the market, and this is what makes the phone’s experience so compelling.

LG has some new Friends

Alongside the G5, LG is announcing new “Friends” that work with the smartphone; while some of these actually connect to the device, others don’t and this is why LG kept to the Friends name (instead of calling them modules).

Related: LG G5 feature focus: modules and peripherals32

LG has developed a few friends for its new flagship, but is also opening the concept and allowing third parties to get creative with module designs. Of the modules that actually connect to the smartphone, there’s only two available and these are the LG Cam Plus and the LG Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play.

The LG Cam Plus is the company’s camera grip, which provides welcome physical controls for launching the camera, taking a photo, video, zooming in and out of an image and recording video. The Cam Plus also packs an additional 1,200mAh battery, which can keep your phone topped up – when the phone is not being used that is – and the only real downside is the bulk it adds to the G5, which makes it uncomfortable to use as an actual phone.

Personally, I also think it’s very counter-intuitive that LG created a separate switch to launch the camera, rather than allow you to launch the camera by pressing the shutter button, but this is just a personal gripe with the design. For most people, once you realise the switch allows you to quickly launch the camera, you’ll find this is what you instinctively reach for when you pull the G5 and Cam Plus out of your pocket.

The LG Hi-Fi Plus is an entirely different type of module as it appeals very much to audiophiles and music lovers. Developed in partnership with Bang & Olufsen, the Hi-Fi Plus is a 32-bit DAC and headphone amp, which features an ES9028C2M + Sabre9602 chipset for supporting music up to 384KHz. The DAC features its own headphone jack (in addition to the regular one at the top of the phone), its own speaker and the USB Type-C charging port and can also be used as a standalone DAC when not being used with the G5. The 24-bit audio experience on the LG G5 is already quite impressive, and the Hi-Fi Plus serves to improve this further, offering additional space, clarity and detail to the sound.

Before you get too excited about the Hi-Fi DAC though, it’s not going to work with G5 smartphones sold in Korea, Canada, Puerto Rico or the USA; LG declined to comment on why it won’t work with these devices (and why listings were pulled in the US), but it’s worth keeping this in mind if you planned to buy the G5 in one of these markets and wanted to buy the Hi-Fi Plus.

LG’s other friends for the G5 include a tethered Virtual Reality headset – which is lightweight and comfortable as it connects to your smartphone using the USB Type-C port – and the Cam 360. LG’s first foray into 360° cameras has delivered a stylish friend with two 180° cameras capable of capturing 16MP 360° photos or 360° video in Quad HD (2K) resolution.

Overall, the concept of a modular smartphone certainly isn’t new – Project Ara anyone? – but LG has made considerable attempts to develop modules that are genuinely useful to customers. The availability may be scarce but with third parties also able to develop friends for LG’s new smartphone, it won’t be long before the available range is considerably larger.

Display

As mentioned above, LG has made the G5’s display smaller than previous years, but kept the same QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution as the G4. As a result, the display offers a slightly sharper experience (no doubt thanks to the increase in pixel density from the smaller display). Overall, the display is typical of that found on LG’s devices and, despite the smaller size, it’s more than large enough to offer an enjoyable experience when watching movies or playing games.

2016 seems to be a race for OEMs to create Always On displays and LG is no different, evolving the second screen concept from the V10 into a more mainstream always on screen on the G5. As seems to be the way with most smartphones, the always on display isn’t necessarily the most useful as it can show you the clock, incoming notifications (albeit quite badly), a signature or a random message.

Always On Display – Galaxy S7 vs LG G5

LG’s decision to go with LCD technology over AMOLED does affect the always on display as it’s quite dim and completely illegible in bright sunlight. No doubt, LG has had to tone down the brightness in order to help conserve battery life, but it does mean the Always On display is less useful than it could have been, had LG opted for a different display technology.

Overall, the G5’s display is certainly impressive and offers great color reproduction and vibrant colors, that aren’t oversaturated. Yes, it’s not an AMOLED display so colors don’t pop quite as much as they do on other devices but overall, it’s difficult to fault what is, otherwise, a more than capable smartphone screen.

Performance & Hardware

As LG’s first flagship of the year, it’s safe to expect the latest and greatest specs and LG certainly hasn’t disappointed in this department. Inside the G5, it’s got the Snapdragon 820, Adreno 530 GPU and 4GB RAM, which combine to offer a really snappy experience, with no visible signs of lag anywhere in the UX.

Probably one of the smoothest smartphones that LG has ever put out

From buttery smooth animations, to rapid multitasking and gaming like a pro, the G5 is definitely more than capable at handling whatever you throw at it. Aside from occasionally getting slightly warm (which is not a criticism), the G5 proves to be a very capable contender and offers an experience that rivals the best on the market. In fact, both Lanh and I agree that it’s probably one of the smoothest smartphones that LG has ever put out.

Benchmarks

Of course, the in-hand experience is only one part of it, so how does the G5’s SoC setup stack up to other devices, in particular this year’s flagship Galaxy S7 family? Let’s take a look:

Starting with GeekBench 3, the LG G5 scores a very respectable single core score of 2252 and a multi core score of 5215. How does this fare to the competition? Well, this is slightly lower than both the Snapdragon powered version of the Galaxy S7 Edge, which achieved scores of 2318 and 5452, and the Exynos powered Galaxy S7 Edge, which achieved scores of 2107 and 6397.

Moving onto another CPU test and this time, AnTuTu reveals some quite interesting results, with the G5 ranking higher than the Galaxy S7 Edge which achieved a maximum score of 127938 in our testing. Despite only being a quad-core unit (comprised of two dual core processors), the Snapdragon 820 is proving to be one of the most capable chipsets on the market.

Our final benchmark took us to 3DMark to run the SlingShot test on the Adreno 530 GPU inside the LG G5. In this test, the G5 achieves a score of 2447, which is slightly lower than the 2528 score achieved by the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S7, but miles ahead of almost every smartphone currently on the market.

The rest of the hardware

From benchmarks to the rest of the hardware and there’s no denying that LG has managed to include everything you could ask for in a smartphone.

The fingerprint sensor is embedded within the rear power button and while the button doesn’t feel as premium as on past LG devices, the fingerprint sensor is one of the best on a smartphone. Inspired by the Nexus 5X, it requires 5 to 6 taps to set up and unlike other smartphones, you don’t actually have to press the power button in order for it to read your fingerprint. Just tapping your finger on the sensor is enough to unlock and it does so, quickly and accurately. On a couple of occasions, I’ve had an error saying fingerprints can’t be used (and to use my alternate security method), but this seems to be a local issue as Lanh (and several others) haven’t experienced this.

Under the hood, the G5 comes equipped with 32GB internal storage, which can be expanded further by up to 200GB using a microSD card. LG definitely deserves credit for sticking to its guns about both microSD card expansion and a removable battery, and for LG loyalists who need expansion, the G5 definitely doesn’t disappoint.

Connectivity-wise, the G5 also doesn’t disappoint as it comes equipped with a selection of LTE bands (which depend on the model you buy) that can support Cat 9 speeds (450Mbps download, 50Mbps upload), Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, an infrared port and a selection of sensors to measure and track almost anything. The use of USB Type-C can be a pain if you already have a collection of microUSB accessories but, with the industry moving towards this next-generation standard, it’s nice to see that LG has managed to future proof its latest handset.

It’s likely that some people may have been concerned with the G5’s single bottom firing speaker but we can safely say that there’s nothing to worry about. While it doesn’t offer the quality of dual stereo front facing speakers, the speaker is mighty impressive for a single firing speaker.

Overall, buying a flagship smartphone usually means you get flagship specs with it and the G5 doesn’t disappoint in the performance & hardware stakes. Combining the very latest internals with an optimised software experience has allowed LG to deliver one of the smoothest smartphone experiences it has ever offered on a mobile device.

Battery Life

Of course, battery life is where many smartphones can stumble, but how does the removable battery inside the LG G5 stack up to the ever increasing demands of smartphone users?

While most flagships seem to sport 3000mAh batteries or larger, the cell inside the G5 is a smaller-yet-equally-capable 2800mAh battery. For the most part, the LG G5 is capable of getting you through a whole day’s usage, although actual screen on time seems to range between 3 and 4 hours. By way of comparison, the 3000mAh unit inside the Galaxy S7 lasts an hour or so longer off a single charge but the G5 does have one standout feature that sets it apart from the competition.

Accessed via a recessed button that unclips the bottom chin, the removable battery is a particularly good feature to have on a modern flagship. In a market where companies are moving away from removable batteries, LG has shown it is possible to switch to a metal unibody and still allow users to remove and swap the battery. After all, the beauty of mobile phones is the ability to be free from a tethered cable, and if you have to keep charging your phone, is it truly mobile?

LG hasn’t revealed when official spare/replacement batteries will be available so if you find yourself running out of juice, you’ll be happy to know that Quick Charge 3.0 is also present on the G5. The G5 charges to full in 1 hour and 19 minutes and you can charge to 50 percent in just 27 minutes.

Overall the LG G5 battery life is certainly more than satisfactory for a flagship, but it does fall slightly behind other flagships, including both of LG’s flagships of last year. That being said, the ability to swap your battery out and go from empty to full in a heartbeat is the key feature that sets the G5 apart from the competition. As quick as quick charging can be, nothing quite beats being able to swap your battery out and go to full in under a minute.

Camera

Traditionally, LG has offered a single camera array in its flagship devices, but last year’s LG V10 saw the company release a smartphone with two cameras on the front. Fast forward six months and the dual cameras have stuck around, although this time they’re on the back. The main, larger lens on the right is the 16MP sensor, which comes equipped with OIS and f/1.8 aperture which is likely to be used for most of your shots. The secondary, smaller lens on the left is an 8MP sensor with f/2.4 aperture and wide-angle 135° field of view.

LG G5 vs Galaxy Note 5 Quick Camera Shootout38

Both Lanh and I agree that the wide angle camera is the best thing on the LG G5 as it is capable of capturing excellent wide photos and it’s immediately obvious just how much of a difference there is between the two lenses. Both of us also agree that it’s the mode you’ll choose to you use more often than not as, even though the resolution is lower than the main lens, the pictures definitely tell a much larger story.

The camera UI hasn’t changed much from the G4 or the V10, save for the addition of two icons at the top of the interface, which allow you to switch between the two lenses. Alternatively, as you zoom in and out of a scene, the G5 will automatically switch between the lenses and reflect which lens is being used in the viewfinder.

Like past devices, the G5 comes with a range of preset modes to use when capturing a scene, and for the budding photographer, there’s an entire set of DSLR-like controls over settings such as white balance, ISO, and shutter speed. As the saying goes, if it isn’t broken, why fix it and LG was right to stick with its already-impressive camera app instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.

Picture-wise, the G5 delivers sharp images with excellent amounts of detail and, like past devices, the camera is definitely one of the best in the business. The color reproduction is pleasing to the eye and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of oversharpening. The camera does have a tendency to crush shadows in a lot of daytime shots, but using HDR mode quickly resolves this, and, thanks to the color spectrum sensor, you end up with very natural photos.

The G5 is also capable of really good bokeh in photos thanks to the f/1.8 aperture, which allows you to capture images at a shallow depth of field. As a result, you can take some fantastic macro and close up shots with the main lens. The secondary lens has a much larger f/2.4 aperture so you won’t be able to take quite as shallow images.

Low light performance is on par with most smartphones but it isn’t the best on the market. The G5 has a tendency to overexpose the highlights and there’s a noticeable amount of noise reduction, especially in shots captured at night. The G5 comes equipped with laser autofocus but this doesn’t really show in lowlight, where the camera can take longer than you’d expect to focus on a particular subject.

Up front, the G5 has a single 8MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture, which is capable of capturing pretty good selfie images in day or night. It’s not the best selfie camera on the market, but is more than capable of capturing those moments. The G5 also comes with a range of shooting modes, including multi-view, panorama, slo-mo and time-lapse.

All things considered, the camera on the LG G5 is more than adequate and at least on par with most current flagships. The experience is typical of LG devices of the past, and considering these were some of the best cameras of their time, we’re happy that LG stuck to its tried-and-tested setup.

Software

Now to what is arguably the most contentious part of the G5 experience: the software, and specifically, LG’s new User Experience. Running atop Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, the new interface brings a heavily refined user experience, but lacks an app drawer. The new UX is radically different to past LG devices, but this is for the better, as the G5 sports what is probably the cleanest and least intrusive LG UI ever made.

Previous LG flagships had come with a lot of additional apps and features that proved to hinder the overall performance and detract from an otherwise-great experience. This year, LG has adopted the mantra that less is more and to great effect, with a decluttered and bloat-free experience delivering silky smooth transitions and excellent performance.

The entire interface appears to be well thought out and little tweaks like the white and light green colored accents in the notification shade and settings menu are nice little touches. By default, LG has kept the settings menu in 4 panels, but they have now included an option to revert back to a more traditional list view like stock Android. Like previous devices, LG has also made it really easy to customise the on screen navigation keys, as well as choose in which apps the on-screen keys are automatically hidden.

Many of LG’s features like the Smart Bulletin and Qslide apps are still present on the phone but they’re not quite as in-your-face as before, with things like Smart Bulletin turned off by default and tucked away inside the settings menu. LG has removed the dual window option from the G5, which is somewhat disappointing, but as Lanh attested to in the video, this is possibly because Android N will gain the feature natively and hence it will come to the G5 at a later date.

LG G5 vs LG G4 hands on comparison27

The biggest change to the software experience however, is the app drawer, or the lack of it should we say. LG has removed the app drawer in its latest launcher and as a result, it feels a lot more like iOS than Android. LG isn’t the first to go down the route of removing the app drawer, but if you’ve never used an Android phone without an app drawer, you will find the experience quite jarring at first.

LG has made its Home 4.0 launcher available as a download in their SmartWorld application, and this brings back the app drawer (alongside LG’s homescreen management of old). I personally found the G5 experience to be excruciating without the app drawer, but installing Home 4.0 (or an alternative launcher of your choosing) definitely fixes this problem. Personally, I find the Home 4.0 launcher quite pleasant to use, but also recommend Nova launcher for power users.

Overall, the LG G5 definitely brings with it a vast amount of changes to the software experience, and – lack of app drawer aside – the changes deliver the best LG software experience ever released on a smartphone. Given that LG’s interface was often the root cause of many performance-related issues on past LG smartphones, it’s nice to see that LG has delivered a truly flagship user experience.

Gallery

Specifications

Display	5.3-inch QHD display
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
RAM	4GB RAM
Storage	32GB storage, with microSD for expansion
Camera	Main cam: Standard lens 16MP with OIS, wide-angle 8MP Front cam: 8MP
Connectivity	Wifi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac USB Type C, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2
Sensors	Rear mounted fingerprint scanner
Battery	2800mAh with quick charging via Type-C USB
Software	Android 6.0 Marshmallow with LG UI
Dimensions	149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7mm
Colors	Pink, Gold, Titan (Charcoal) and Silver
Modules	LG Cam Plus & LG Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play

Pricing and final thoughts

The LG G5 is set to cost $700 off contract in the USA, which is pretty typical for a flagship smartphone and the G5 is definitely on par with other flagships in the same price bracket. The G5 is a step in a completely new direction for LG and offers a brand new design, impressive dual camera array and premium software experience. At the same time, LG hasn’t quite perfected its design but for a first-generation product, the G5 has us extremely excited about what’s to come.

A smartphone that truly stands out from an otherwise-homogenous industry…

The modular capabilities make the G5 one of the most unique smartphones on the market, and while other manufacturers are focusing on making a good smartphone, LG has shown it isn’t afraid to dare to be different. As a result, the Korean OEM has a smartphone that truly stands out in an otherwise-homogenous market and this can only be a good thing for LG and for consumers.

With the new modular concept, it’s not just about what the G5 can do now but rather, what it’s capable of doing in the future, and that alone makes the LG G5 one very compelling smartphone.

Despite switching to an entirely new design and working with new materials, LG still stuck to its guns and delivered a metal unibody, complete with microSD card expansion and a removable battery. In doing so, the company has shown that it values the core features that its users love and will continue to offer them. There’s no denying that the overall experience isn’t quite as refined as a second-generation product like the Galaxy S7, but what is really intriguing about the LG G5 is that it will continue to evolve as a smartphone experience. With the new modular concept, it’s not just about what the G5 can do now but rather, what it’s capable of doing in the future, and that alone makes the LG G5 one very compelling smartphone.
Buy it now

What do you think of the LG G5 and are you planning to buy one? Is modular the way forward and has LG stolen a march on its key rivals by adopting a modular concept ahead of everyone else? Let us know your views in the comments below guys!

These are the best Android Wear smartwatches

When the software experience is nearly identical from one smartwatch to the next — such is the case with Android Wear — we turn to more subjective features in deciding which stands out above the rest. And has been the case for some time, you really can’t go wrong with any of the Android Wear offerings from any of the manufacturers. They all basically do the same thing, and they all basically do those things equally well.

But all things must be ranked. They must be weighed, measured and presented for your approval.

And here, now, are our picks for the best Android Wear smartwatches.

Note: This post is continuously updated as new watches are released and reviewed. The most recent update was made in April 2016.

The best: Huawei Watch

Huawei’s first try at Android Wear did a lot of things right. First, off, it’s round, which at this point is a near necessity for a watch to land at the top of our list. And the Huawei Watch (as the company is quick to remind you) is all-the-way-round, with no “flat tire” to break the perfect circle. The bezel is nicely sculpted, make it look a little thinner than it actually is. And while the lugs are still a little on the large side and the body perhaps just a tad thicker than we’d like in a traditional watch, it remains nicely designed. The 2-o’clock crown position is a nice touch as well.

And don’t look past Huawei’s leather. We’ve used many Android Wear watches with any number of types of leather bands, and Huawei’s is the first that hasn’t disappointed us. It looks as good as it feels, with proper stitching down both sides. And if you don’t like the leather, Huawei has a number of first-party bracelet options as well. And both the watch and body are available in a number of colors, styles — and price points, ranging from $349 to $799 for gold on gold.

Add all that up, and the Huawei Watch is an easy choice as our top pick.

More: Read our Huawei Watch review

Google   Huawei   Best Buy   Amazon

Moto 360 second-gen

The original Moto 360 was one of the first two Android Wear watches announced in 2014. The Moto 360 2015 was a welcome sight, trading a tired processor for the same Snapdragon as most of the other watches — and thus gaining improved performance.

And while much of the 360 received a redesign — watch bands now fit into traditional lugs instead of in the body itself, allowing for more options — the “flat tire” black bar at the bottom of the face remains. That leaves room for the ambient light sensor, and it’s a must-have feature for many. But for others, it’s a deal-breaker.

Motorola also is offering up three sizes of this year’s 360 — 42mm and 46mm for men, and a 42mm women’s version. Motorola also has more color and band options this year as well. Pricing starts at $299.

There’s also the Moto 360 Sport version, but it brings quite a set of compromises with its rugged design and few fitness-focused features.

More: Read our Moto 360 review

Amazon   Motorola   Best Buy   Verizon   Motorola UK

Fossil Q Founder

The first entry from Fossil — an actual watchmaker! — is the Q Founder, available either in leather or with an excellent steel bracelet for $20 more. It’s a round watch (obviously), though one with the “flat tire” design that makes way for an ambient light sensor in the lower section. And it’s not a bad watch at all, with more attention to detail than the similar LG Watch Urbane. It’s also one of the first to use an Intel Atom processor, though there’s little visible user benefit from that.

The thorn in the Q Founder’s side is its huge charging pillow, which means you’re going to have to think twice (or rig up some other Qi charging option) if you’re going to be traveling with the Q Founder.

Read: Our complete Q Founder review

Google Store   Amazon (steel)   Fossil (leather)   Fossil (steel)

LG Watch Urbane

The LG Watch Urbane spent a good little while atop this list. It still has a stylish design, with a decent leather band. And it really was the first Android Wear smartwatch we’ve worn that was able to nearly pass as a traditional mechanical watch.

But like we said in our review, it’s almost as if someone said “Make this watch nice, but not too nice.” And so it was pretty easily overshadowed by the Huawei Watch and Moto 360, among others.

But the Watch Urbane remains a pretty solid buy considering that it retails for $349 but can be found for about $200. (Start with anywhere other than the Google Store, really.)

Read our LG Watch Urbane review

Best Buy   Amazon   Google Store

ASUS ZenWatch 2

The ZenWatch 2 is our top budget pick for Android Wear. It’s not the best watch, though it does have a fun rounded-square design and excellent build quality. But the lower resolution of the display means you’ll be seeing individual pixels quite a bit — and the square face and large bezels do nothing to impress us.

But there’s the price. At $149 the ZenWatch 2 is the least expensive of the current generation of Android Wear smartwatches.

It’s gained a crown this time around but lost the pulse monitor in the process — a fair trade for most of us here. There are two sizes available as well.

More: Read our ZenWatch 2 review

Best Buy   Google   Amazon

Luxury: TAG Heuer Connected

Few would argue that a watch from TAG Heuer shouldn’t be on a list of best watches. But let’s face facts: If you’re in the market for an Android Wear smartwatch, you’re probably not in the market for a $1,500 Android Wear smartwatch. That’s not really a “high-end” price — but it’s absolutely on the high end for Android Wear.

The good news is that this watch is an investment. If and when the Connected hits end-of-life, you can pony up another $1,500 upgrade to a mechanical Carrera. That’s an intriguing proposition — and one that certainly moves the Connected into a different class than the other Android Wear watches.

Read our hands-on with the TAG Heuer Connected

TAG Heuer

Legacy watches

There are two watches that basically have been dropped — they may not even be sold sold directly anymore, and in any case we’d be hard-pressed to actually recommend them at this point. If you’re dying to try out Android Wear and can get one for less than $100, then maybe it’s worth it. But the experience isn’t going to be great.

The legacy Android Wear watches are:

• Sony Smartwatch 3: An older, and therefore more affordable, “sport” watch option.
• LG G Watch R: Still not a bad watch at all. Just getting up there in age and was replaced by the Urbane.
• LG G Watch: On of the original square models. Don’t pay more than $50 for it at this point.
• Moto 360 1st gen: Always a fan favorite, but so slow nowadays it’s tough to use.
• ASUS ZenWatch: Not bad, but no reason to buy with the cheap sequel available.
• Samsung Gear Live: You can forget about this one. Samsung did.

Key ingredient of life might have come from comets

Life on Earth might not have developed as we know it without a little sprinkling of sugar from space. A new study by a group of French scientists suggests the possibility that early Earth got its first dose of the simple sugar ribose from comets. Ribose, as you might know, is an important ingredient in RNA, which is one of the three macromolecules essential for life.

Scientists believe that there was a period in the history of our planet known as RNA World, wherein RNA was the only genetic material present. And since early Earth was too hot for organic molecules to survive, some scientists also believe that the building blocks necessary to form the first genetic materials could have hailed from space. “At a certain point in prebiotic evolution, the availability of ribose would have been, therefore, necessary for life to have started,” team leader Cornelia Meinert from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis told Space.

To test whether ribose could have formed in such a harsh environment, the team recreated the early solar system’s conditions in the lab. Specifically, they created simple ices made of water, methanol and ammonia, which were abundant in the early solar system and were found on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the Philae Lander. They exposed the ices to radiation that simulated what a young sun would have given off and then left them in room temperature. When the samples evaporated, they left behind not just ribose and other sugars, but also amino acids, alcohols and other organic molecules.

Meinert said their “ice simulation is a very general process that can occur in molecular clouds as well as in protoplanetary disks. It shows that the molecular building blocks of the potentially first genetic material are abundant in interstellar environments.” If organic molecules from space truly helped spark the beginning of life on Earth get started, then they could also play a part in the development of life elsewhere in the universe.

Via: Popsci

Source: Science

Google makes building apps easier with Android Studio 2.0

In 2013, Google launched an official integrated development environment (IDE) called Android Studio to make app development for its mobile platform faster and more visual. That must have worked, as the Play Store is now bulging with nearly 1.6 million apps, the most of any store. However, it’s long overdue for an overhaul, so the search giant has launched Android Studio 2.0 with plenty of new speed and productivity features.

The most prominent addition is Instant Run, something the company has been refining in previews over the last year. When you change your code, you can instantly see how it affects the running app, with no need to re-compile or reinstall the APK. That should “accelerate your edit, build and run cycles,” according to Google.

The Android device emulator now takes advantage of multi-core CPUs, making it three times faster than before. “In most situations, developing on the official Android Emulator is faster than a real device, and new features like Instant Run will work best with the new Android emulator,” Google says. The brand new interface will help you fine tune an app by letting you rotate the screen, drag-and drop to install apps and use multi-touch controls like pinch to zoom.

Once the app is ready, you can use Google’s Cloud Test Lab to put it “through a collection of tests against a portfolio of physical devices hosted in Google’s data centers,” according to the company. That works both with your own tests or basic ones supplied by Google, helping to eliminate conflicts and other bugs. Game developers, meanwhile, can preview the new GPU Developer, which lets you “step through your app frame by frame to identify and debug graphics rendering issues.”

Finally, Google has added App Indexing, a feature that helps users find your app in the Play Store. To do that, it helps you create the right URL structure, add attributes that work with Google’s app indexing service and test the final result. If you’re looking to become the next Flappy Bird maven or have an app dev deal with one of the Kardashians, Android Studio 2.0 is now available.

Source: Google

Cassetteboy mashup pokes fun at the Investigatory Powers Bill

As the British government pushes ahead with the Investigatory Powers Bill, a new piece of legislation designed to update and extend its surveillance powers, the notorious Casetteboy has struck again. The mysterious duo are renowned for their mashup videos which carefully cut political speeches to viciously funny effect. Today, they’ve teamed up with Privacy International to ridicule the proposed IP Bill, which many consider to be a reworking of the divisive “Snoopers’ Charter” from 2012. That bill never came to pass, although the new one has some controversial elements of its own, including the power to obtain “internet connection records.”

The video doesn’t delve into the details, instead focusing on the idea that the government wants access to anything and everything you say online. The reality is a little more complicated than that, but still, it’s entertaining to see the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister’s speeches rearranged like this. Ultimately, it’s this sort of video that could attract the public’s attention and trigger further debates about the bill — one which many, including the intelligence community, have taken issue with.

Source: Cassetteboy (YouTube)

There’s an app for saying “I told you so”

If you’re the sort of person who relishes bellowing “I told you so!” into other people’s faces then, congratulations, you’re an asshole. You’re also the prime target for an app called IKI (I Knew It) that aims to take the lowest form of douchebaggery into the 21st century. Essentially, IKI is a digital, gamified record of things that you knew, or could guess, were likely to happen at some point in the future. If your prediction comes true, you’ll earn points that’ll keep you smugly warm while your former friends go hang out together.

Open the app and you’ll be presented with a Tinder-like swiping mechanism and 20 seconds to make a snap decision. A right swipe means that you agree with someone else’s prediction, while a left one adds the inverse to your record. The first option I saw was to decide if Donald Trump’s square on the Hollywood walk of fame will be stolen, followed by a question about Lady Gaga’s piano. Then I was asked to decide if manufacturing firm Alcoa will hit its financial targets this quarter, since that’s what all hip millennials are into.

You can add your own, too, and the app will even help you pull a picture from Google if you don’t have any to hand. All you have to do is add a comment that’s up to 140 characters and, once approved, others can swipe in judgment to see if they agree with you. We’re not sure if the app will have a human constantly monitoring each guess to dole out points when they’re proved right, but it seems likely. If any of that sounds like something you want to do then you can grab the iOS version right now — with an Android edition planned for later in the year.

Source: App Store

Where to buy LG’s G5 in the UK

If LG flagships have played it relatively safe over the past few years, then the new G5 is downright dangerous. Like any top-of-the-range smartphone, its specs tick all the right boxes, but otherwise it’s not exactly typical. First, there’s the handset’s dual-camera arrangement for super-wide-angle shots, and then, there are “Friends.” That’s LG’s cute/creepy term for a range of quirky accessories that compliment the kind-of-modular G5, which has a removable, replaceable bottom bezel. If you’re looking for something different, the G5 is far from generic, and it’s now available to buy in the UK.

Cheapest contract (with upfront)	£14 (£432)	£30 (£100)	£26 (£99)	£28 (£150) on O2	£15 (£250) on EE	£14 (£315) on O2
Cheapest contract (no upfront)	£32	—	—	£38 on O2	£32.50 on EE	£31 on O2
Pay-as-you-go	£460	—	—	£530	—	—
Unlocked (SIM-free)	—	—	—	£500	£528	—

For whatever reason, LG flagships don’t seem to make quite the same splash as new releases from rivals like Samsung and Apple. Three isn’t even ranging the device on launch day, for instance, and while Carphone Warehouse is slightly less apathetic, it’s still listing the device as up for pre-order at time of writing. But there are plenty of contract options, though you might want to pay special attention to O2 and Vodafone, since both are offering early bird bonuses in the form of a free Cam Plus accessory.

Ending 27th April, O2’s promotion is available on monthly plans with a data cap of at least 1GB (note that the cheapest contract options in the table above only include 500MB of data). Any Vodafone Red or Red Value tariff will make you eligible for a free Cam Plus, though only the first 3,000 customers will get one.

MVNOs aren’t showing a great deal of love for the G5 on launch day. In fact, Virgin Mobile appears to be the only one with available stock right now. It’s offering the G5 on contracts from £31 per month for non-customers, and any order before May 31st will snag you a free 32-inch LG HDTV to boot. TalkTalk and giffgaff will definitely be ranging the G5, it seems, but you can’t actually get one from either currently.

If it’s an unlocked, SIM-free G5 you’re after, circa £530 is what you’ll be expected to pay at the online retailers we’re most familiar with (Expansys, Unlocked Mobiles, Clove and a few others). Carphone Warehouse, however, is selling the G5 for £500 online, and Amazon is matching that price at the moment, though it’s asking you wait until April 22nd at the earliest for delivery.

One of the key selling points of the G5 is its range of quirky accessories, known as “Friends.” LG’s UK website only points us towards one retailer pushing the whole range — LaptopOutlet.co.uk — where everything but the robot ball camera is now up for pre-order.

NASA’s resurrected telescope seeks wandering planets

NASA is kicking off a search for free-spirited exoplanets as part of the Kepler space telescope’s extended K2 mission. It’s an impressive quest for an instrument that was all but written off several years ago because of damage to its control wheels. NASA managed to stabilize the device using radiation pressure from the sun and it’s been spotting exoplanets, stars and galaxies ever since. Now, the space agency wants to use the device to survey millions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy looking for signs of “wandering” exoplanets with no companion star.

Astronomers think there may be more free-range planets in our galaxy than stars, but finding them isn’t easy since they don’t regularly block starlight like orbiting planets. To help, scientists will use a phenomenon called micro-gravitational lensing. A passing planet’s gravity causes a star’s light to bend, making it appear brighter for several days. The amount of deflection and brightening caused by such planets is small (hence “micro-gravitational”), but Kepler can spot it. “We are seizing the opportunity to use Kepler’s uniquely sensitive camera to sniff for planets in a different way,” said NASA researcher Geert Barentsen.

Because Kepler is 100 million miles from Earth, scientists will use ground-based satellites to observe the same stars from a slightly different angle. The resulting “parallax effect” should yield additional information about expolanets and stars. Kepler will also be flipped around so that it can be observed from Earth at the same time it observes the sky. That will give it a unique opportunity to snap the Earth and moon as they cross its field of view on April 14th. Once it’s cleaned up and processed, the snap will be released to the public in June.

NASA is also using the mission as a test run for its Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). That satellite, launching in the 2020s, will also use micro-gravitational lensing to spot planets, but on a much larger scale. Kepler will stand on its own, however, as scientists expect to spot 10 or more expolanets in 80 days. “The chance for the K2 mission to use gravity to help us explore exoplanets is one of the most fantastic astronomical experiments of the decade,” says NASA Kepler scientist Steve Howell. Not bad for an instrument that finished it’s primary mission in November, 2012.

Source: NASA

Up to 40% Thinner Apple Watch 2 Predicted to Debut at WWDC in June

Apple analyst Brian White of Wall Street firm Drexel Hamilton, who is currently on a Chinese tech tour, has issued a pair of research notes highlighting his upcoming Apple Watch and iPhone expectations through the end of 2016.

Foremost, White cites a source who believes only the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus will feature a dual camera system, echoing the same prediction made by often-accurate KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier this week.

The analyst claims that iPhone 7 production is expected to begin in July, and the next-generation smartphone is expected to help Apple and its suppliers return to smartphone growth in the second half of 2016, just months after the iPhone likely experienced its first year-over-year quarterly sales decline ever. Apple announces its Q2 2016 earnings results on Monday, April 25 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific.

Our meeting with a tech supply chain company highlighted a rough end to 2015 with significant forecast reductions from Apple; however, forecasts have been stable since then with 2Q:16 expected to be the trough. After a YoY sales decline in 1Q:16, our contact expects to return to growth in H2:2016. Production of parts of the iPhone 7 are expected to begin in July.

Meanwhile, White predicts that the Apple Watch could be refreshed within the next two to three months. He believes that a 20% to 40% thinner Apple Watch 2 could be unveiled by June, possibly at Apple’s annual WWDC, which could take place between June 13-17 based on scheduled availability at Moscone West, the San Francisco convention center where the developer event is typically held.

Finally, we walked away with the sense that the Apple Watch refresh will not occur in September with the iPhone 7, but is more likely to occur within the next 2-3 months, and thus we believe an unveiling at WWDC in June makes sense. We believe Apple Watch 2 could be 20-40% thinner than the current Apple Watch.

Early rumors suggested that the Apple Watch 2 could debut at Apple’s “Let Us Loop You In” event in March, which saw the introduction of the iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro, but multiple sources have now reported that the next-generation wearable could debut around September. The original Apple Watch was announced in early September 2014 and released in late April 2015.

A few reports do line up with the June timeframe. In November 2015, a Chinese report surfaced indicating that Taiwan-based supplier Quanta Computer was developing the Apple Watch 2 in time for a late-second-quarter launch, with volume shipments beginning in the third quarter. In January 2016, another Chinese report said Quanta would begin trial production of the Apple Watch 2 by the end of that month.

Moreover, in September 2015, Cowen and Company analyst Timothy Arcuri claimed that the second-generation Apple Watch will launch in mid- to late-2016 and be thinner than current models. Few details are known about the upcoming device beyond a June 2015 report that said it will feature a FaceTime video camera and expanded Wi-Fi capabilities, while new bands and finishes are always a possibility.

Whether the Apple Watch 2 is introduced in June or September, it appears clear that Apple may be elongating the wearable’s release cycle beyond one year to avoid consumer exhaustion. Many customers only received the Apple Watch in December during the holiday shopping season, so a new model launching this spring may be considered too soon. A closer to year-and-a-half refresh would seem more appropriate.

Brian White is a longtime Apple analyst that currently serves as Global Head of Technology Hardware & Software at institutional brokerage firm Drexel Hamilton. He previously worked at investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, where he held the same title, and Topeka Capital Markets. Like many analysts, he has both hits and misses in regards to Apple’s upcoming product plans.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 2, iPhone 7, WWDC 2016
Tags: Brian White, Apple Watch 2
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