Top Amazon Echo tips and tricks

Optimize your Echo experience with our handy tips and fun tricks!

The Amazon Echo, Amazon’s smart speaker, is taking the home automation game to another level, thanks to Alexa and the fact that “she’s” constantly learning to serve you better.

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If you have an Echo of your very own or are considering buying one (you really should!), then we’ve got some tips and tricks that’ll help you get the most out of your experience and/or entice you into picking one up (Did I say you should? You really should!).

Update, August 31: Amazon and Sonos have announced a partnership that will bring Alexa support to Sonos’ line of connected speakers starting as a beta later in 2016, rolling out to all users early 2017. We’ll update this guide when that functionality goes live.

• Give Alexa more Skills
• Use IFTTT
• Stop Alexa from hearing her wake word
• How to force a software update for your Amazon Echo
• Pick up a Voice Remote
• Use Alexa’s Voicecast
• Have some fun with Alexa’s pop culture knowledge
• Change the wake word
• Turn on the End of Request sound
• Worried about privacy? Delete your recordings

Give Alexa more Skills

The Skills section of the Alexa app is basically an app store for your Amazon Echo. It’s constantly growing, which means your Amazon Echo can constantly learn new ways to make your life easier and more automated.

You can connected other home automation gadgets, like smart lights and thermostats, and you can even connect food ordering services, like Domino’s Pizza. The more Skills you “teach” Alexa, the better she’ll be able to understand your commands and perform in the way that you’d like her to.

Use IFTTT

IFTTT stands for “If This Then That.” It’s a free web service that lets you create chains of conditional commands, called “recipes,” for your Amazon Echo, using Alexa. Amazon has introduced IFTTT Triggers, which allow you to connect Alexa directly to certain apps.

For example, you can create a recipe wherein, if you create an item in your Amazon Echo shopping list, it will create a task in Todoist, which is a premier task management app.

Using IFTTT, you’ll be able to use your Echo to turn your TV on and off with your Logitech Harmony remote, change the temperature with Nest or ecobee, and much, much more.

Stop Alexa from hearing her wake word

Your Amazon Echo is always listening. Always. That is, unless you press the mute button on the top.

Once the microphone is muted, Alexa will stop hearing her wake word in random conversation, and you won’t have to be yelling back at her not to search the stream of curse words that may have just come out of your mouth.

How to force a software update for your Amazon Echo

Yes, your Amazon Echo is constantly connected to the internet, but if you’re waiting for an update that doesn’t seem to have hit quite yet, you just press the mute button and leave your Echo on mute for at least 30 minutes. The update should kick in during that time.

Pick up a Voice Remote and annoy your family (and do useful stuff too…)

If it’s too noisy in the room or you’re simply too far away, your Amazon Echo might not hear your commands. The Voice Remote eliminates that problem, since you can take it with your from room to room (it connects to your Echo via Bluetooth).

If you say, “Alexa, Simon says…” she will repeat whatever you’ve said after that. So if you’re in one room and your kids are in the room with your Echo, you can freak them out and make them think Alexa is talking to them! (Oh, it’s also super useful for doing non-bothersome stuff to. I guess.)

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Use Alexa’s Voicecast

Though you may think of your Amazon Echo as an audio device only, using Voicecast can give Alexa a screen. If you have an Amazon Fire tablet, you can set it up near your Echo to provide visual feedback for your Alexa commands.

This can be especially useful for the hearing impaired or when the room’s too noisy for you to hear Alexa’s response. Voicecast will also show timers, song and album info if you’re playing music, game scores (including team logos), shopping lists, and a ton more.

Have some fun with Alexa’s pop culture knowledge

Alexa is full of easter eggs and random fun facts, so have a little fun with her now and then. You can prompt some of these with phrases like, “Who ya gonna call?” or “These aren’t the Droids you’re looking for,” or “Winter is coming.”

Check out reddit for a long list of Alexa easter eggs.

If you ask her if she has any new features, Alexa will also tell you if any updates have been made.

Change the wake word

Already have an Alexa living at home? You can change the wake word to one of two rather unimaginative alternatives: Echo or Amazon.

Turn on the End of Request sound

You’ll know Alexa’s heard you if the light bar on top of your Echo turns on when you say her name. What if you’re not looking at your Echo or you’re in a different room?

You can enable an End of Request sound that’ll audibly let you know that you’ve been heard so you can continue with your command.

Worried about privacy? Delete your recordings

Are you worried that Alexa is recording everything you ask her? She is. But only so she can learn to understand your commands and questions better (or so Amazon says). You can delete all of your voice data any time you like by going to the Manage your Content and Device section on Amazon.

In fact, you can go and listen to these recordings at any time, so you can go on and see what people are telling Alexa about you when you’re not home!

Just remember that once you delete your recordings, you can’t get them back.

Got any tips or tricks?

Got any sweet tips and tricks that you think add to the Echo experience? Sound off in the comments below!

Amazon Echo

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Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Plus hands-on: A 10-inch tablet for entertainment

Lenovo rolled out the Yoga Tab 3 series last year at IFA, and this time around we’re being treated to the latest addition to the lineup, the Yoga Tab 3 Plus. The big change from last year’s Yoga Tab 3 Pro is the shift in hardware from Intel’s Atom x5-Z8500 to the Snapdragon 652.

The Yoga Tab 3 Plus retains the 10-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) display, as well as the kickstand from last year’s models. The kickstand lets you prop up the device in four modes: hold, stand, tilt, and hang. Designed for media consumption, the Yoga Tab 3 Plus offers four front speakers from JBL, and Lenovo claims that the 9,300mAh battery is good for 18 hours of usage on a full charge.

The Snapdragon 652 powering the tablet has four Cortex-A72 cores clocked at 1.8GHz and four Cortex-A53 at 1.4GHz, and an Adreno 510 GPU. You also get 3GB of RAM, 32GB storage with microSD slot (up to 128GB), USB-C charging port, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, GLONASS, and A-GPS. The tablet is 4.68mm thick at its edge, and comes in at 637g.

The Yoga Tab 3 Plus is offered in Wi-Fi as well as LTE-enabled configurations in Puma Black and Gunmetal Grey color options. In case you want to take it to the poolside, know that it is IP52 certified. The device won’t survive a dunk, but it should hold up against the occasional splashes of water.

On the software front, you’re looking at Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box, along with several pre-installed apps in the form of Lenovo Media Cast, McAfee Security, Netflix, AccuWeather, and more.

The Yoga Tab 3 Plus will go on sale starting October, with prices starting from $299.

Lenovo’s Yoga Book aims to be the tablet-laptop convertible the Pixel C never was

Lenovo’s not new to tablets or convertibles — but the Yoga Book is something fresh and exciting.

The end game for any sort of tablet is, really, for it to transcend its status as merely being a tablet. And this is the stuff of legend, folks. We’re talking about the likes of the aborted Microsoft Courier. We’re talking about what ASUS tried to do with its Transformer line. Or, really, what Microsoft has managed to accomplish with its Surface devices. And we’re also talking about what Google generally failed to do with the Pixel C.

And now we have the Lenovo Yoga Book. Two, really. One running Android, the other Windows 10. (With the latter named “Yoga Book with Windows.”) Two huge swaths of glass, but only one is a display — the other moves between a touch-only keyboard and giant stylus tablet. And it’s a really neat idea — let’s take a look.

The display comes in at 10.1 inches with a 1920×1200 resolution and can put out 400 nits of brightness. It’s got 64GB of internal storage and 4GB of RAM, along with an Intel Atom processor and an 8500 mAh battery inside that slim and svelte 9.6 mm thick exterior. And we know what you’re thinking … no, this isn’t one of the processors that Intel has dropped support for or discontinued — Intel is still committed to the Atom line and powering convertible devices just like the Yoga Book.

The Yoga Book is unique and fantastic … but has trade offs like any convertible tablet

But that’s all of the relatively simple stuff — let’s talk about the design and functionality of this thing. Clearly borrowing from Lenovo’s Yoga line of laptops, this isn’t a detachable 2-in-1 but rather a laptop-like form factor with its watch band-style hinge. But instead of a physical keyboard on the non-screen half, you get an expansive glass panel that pulls double duty — a press of a button turns it into a backlit touch-only keyboard or a tablet-sized stylus writing area.

The “halo” keyboard appears out of nowhere with lights defining where keys can be pressed, and while typing on it definitely takes a little bit of getting used to it’s something we could immediately manage for shorter bursts of text input and if the software is done right could be something you could get quite quick with. And no matter what it beats typing directly on the screen — this way you can more easily multitask and hop between typing, writing and managing content on the screen.

And when you’re not actively using the keyboard or stylus and want “just” a tablet, the hinge lets the bottom half of the device fold back completely and marry up to the back of the screen for a tablet-like form factor. Sure at 1.52 pounds (690 g) it’s a little heavier than what you get in some dedicated tablets of the same screen size, but then again these convertible devices will always offer some sort of trade of in experience on one side or the other.

The Yoga Book is perhaps the most visually appealing and interesting convertible Android tablet we’ve seen, and we have to applaud Lenovo for trying something entirely new rather than trotting out a simple detachable keyboard 2-in-1. How it actually lines up as a device you’d want to type a bunch on or be willing to carry around the extra weight of will be something that has to be determined over more time using it. For now, color us enamored with it — the practical stuff can come later.

Moto Z, Moto Z Play and Moto Mods are coming to Canada in September

Motorola’s ambitious Moto Z line is coming to Canada in late September. The company has announced that the Moto Z, Moto Z Play, and a number of the associated Moto Mods accessories will be coming to various carriers by the end of September.

Specifically, the Moto Z will be coming to Bell, Rogers, Telus, Wind Mobile, SaskTel, and Koodo in late September for around $900 outright, which will translate to roughly $400 on a 2-year plan or equivalent upfront tab.

More: Moto Z specs

The Moto Z Play will be coming to Rogers, Telus, and Koodo in the same timeframe for around $650 outright, and $100 to $150 on a 2-year contract or equivalent upfront tab.

More: Moto Z Play specs

Canadians will also be graced by a bunch of Moto Mods: the JBL SoundBoost speaker, Moto Insta-Share pico projector, Incipio offGRID Power Pack battery, and a number of Style Backs covers will be available starting in late September. The Hasselblad True Zoom camera add-on will be available starting in October. The pricing is as follows:

• JBL SoundBoost: $99.99
• Incipio offGRID Power Pack: $89.99
• Style Backs: $29.99
• Motorola Insta-Share Projector: $399.99

More: Which Moto Mods should you buy?

We’ll have more on Canadian carrier pricing for the Moto Z and Moto Z Play, along with the Moto Mods, as we draw closer to their releases.

Moto Z and Moto Z Force

• Our Moto Z review!
• Moto Z specs
• Moto Mods custom backs
• Moto Z and Moto Z Force will be Verizon exclusives until the fall of 2016
• The latest Moto Z news
• Discuss in our Moto Z forums

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Moto Z Play Droid preview: The most affordable modular phone yet

Can Motorola bring its modular phones’ best features to the $400 price point? The Moto Z Play Droid gives it a good shot.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been carrying around two phones — one in each pant pocket. Both are alike in many ways, but one costs around $300 more than the other. This is the truth of the Android market in 2016: high-end, expensive smartphones are increasingly difficult to differentiate from their much-cheaper counterparts. Such a supposition is even more profound when you consider the two phones I am carrying with me: the Moto Z Droid, and the brand new Moto Z Play Droid, Motorola’s newest entry into its modular lineup.

Coming to Verizon on September 8 for just over $400, to the rest of the world (as just the Moto Z Play) at the end of September, can the Moto Z Play Droid stand on its own as a phone while successfully integrating into the growing lineup of Moto Mod accessories? Let’s find out.

Moto Z Play Specs

Moto Z Play The fundamentals

At its core, the Moto Z Play Droid (hereby known as the Moto Z Play for brevity’s sake) is a slightly thicker, slightly less powerful Moto Z — or a Moto Z Force without the ShatterShield screen. Either way, it looks remarkably similar but knocks some $250 from the price tag. For that, you get a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED display, down from QHD on the other two models; a slower (though higher-core) Snapdragon 625 processor, and 3GB of RAM, down from the Moto Z’s Snapdragon 820 and 4GB of RAM; and a 16MP rear camera sensor that gains some resolution but loses the all-important optical image stabilization. You’re also getting an ample 32GB of internal storage, plus an expansion slot, which is a pleasant surprise.

I noticed very little difference in performance between the Play and the Moto Z — and that says more about the Play’s excellent performance than it does about the Moto Z itself.

Those are many words to say this: the Moto Z Play is clearly aimed at a different market, but as I said in my intro, the phone doesn’t feel considerably slower than its namesakes. That’s the upside: Qualcomm has redeemed itself from the cludgy, inconsistent performance of the Snapdragon 615 (and its 2016 sequel, the Snapdragon 617) by moving to a more efficient 14nm manufacturing process, which allows for much faster clock speeds per core without increasing heat output. In fact, the Snapdragon 625, even clocked 500MHz faster than the 615, is 35% more efficient.

In day-to-day use (and I used the Play for about a week as my main phone on Verizon in New York City), I noticed very little difference between it and the Moto Z — and that says more about the Play’s excellent performance than it does about the Moto Z itself. And while other devices, like the Asus ZenFone 3, have been announced with the same Snapdragon chip, I suspect the Moto Z Play represents its ideal form, though we’ll have to see how it holds up over time.

The phone aesthetically resembles the Moto Z series, forged from the same aluminum frame, and has approximately the same dimensions. At 6.99 millimeters, it’s not thick — not even close — but after using the lithe 5.2mm Moto Z it feels chunky. It’s ever-so-slightly taller and wider than the Force, but could pass for it with limited scrutiny.

The back, though, is different: whereas the Z and Z Force have two pieces of glass at the top and bottom for the antennas buttressing rigid stainless steel, the Play saves some money (and invites some scratches) with an all-glass back, with metal reserved for the camera module and Moto Mods pins. There’s a subtle concentric circle pattern at work behind the glass, which is visually pleasing, but I prefer the dual-tone look of the Z line overall.

The Moto Z Play is the fourth phone after the Moto G4 Plus, Moto Z and Moto Z Force with Motorola’s new square fingerprint sensor, and as useful as it is it’s still not particular attractive. Thankfully, the company has moved the “Moto” logo from below the screen to above it, shifting the entire display down a centimeter and making it easier to use the phone with one hand.

Moto Mods are still very much a part of the story here, since the Play features the same pins and magnets that made the Moto Z and Z Force so interesting.

On the subject of the Moto Z line’s overall aesthetic, I agree with Phil that the series is rather plain, but unlike most devices they can easily be augmented with magnetic Style Shells (one of which comes in the box) and a host of Moto Mods.

Those Mods are still very much a part of the story here, since the Play features the same pins and magnets that made the Moto Z and Z Force so interesting. And with the Play’s $400 price, all the benefits of the add-ons, from the JBL SoundBoost speaker to the Moto Insta-Share Projector, are now accessible to an entirely new subset of consumers.

My favorite Mod, the Incipio/Tumi Power Pack, which adds a 2,220mAh battery and wireless charging to the Z series, is not necessary here: along with the more efficient processor and lower-resolution display, there’s a 3,510mAh cell inside the phone that alleviates the anxiety I feel when using the Moto Z on its own. Seriously, this battery is amazing. And while the 1080p display doesn’t get quite as bright as the QHD version on the Moto Z, it’s almost indistinguishable in terms of color calibration and viewing angles.

Of course, many other phones, like the $399 OnePlus 3 and Honor 8, offer also boast excellent 1080p displays (and the ZTE Axon 7 a pretty great QHD one) and better spec sheets — so what makes the Play worth considering over those devices?

The software.

Moto Z Play Software

This is where we may disagree, but here’s my thing: when it comes to phones, I don’t want to overcomplicate things. I don’t want to heavily customize or theme, and I don’t need much but an Android experience that offers the bare essentials. That’s why I’ve lauded Motorola’s light touch to Android since the Moto X debuted in 2013, and admired its restraint since then.

The Moto Z Play picks up right where its predecessors left off, and changes very little. While the phone lacks the infrared sensors of the more expensive models — the ones that magically turn on the screen with a wave — the Play still has Motorola’s most potent advantage over other devices: Moto Display. To me, this is the glue that holds the whole experience together, the small detail that raises the Play, and other Motorola phones, above the commodified Android smartphone that it is. That this year Motorola didn’t merely rest on its laurels but improved Moto Display in substantive ways — showing more detail per notification, and supporting rich music controls — makes the experience even better.

Moto Display pulses with a new notification, but the Moto Z Play also uses its proximity sensor to detect when your hand is approaching, which isn’t quite as impressive as the more expensive products, but it still works well.

Elsewhere, the Play runs the same version of Android 6.0.1 as its Z counterparts, and unlike 2015’s Moto X Play includes all the voice and gesture-based add-ons that flesh out the Moto software experience. Requisites like the double-twist to turn on the camera, and double-chop to enable the flashlight are here, but surprisingly so are the voice services, which are consolidated under the Moto Voice moniker.

To me, Moto Display is the glue that holds the whole experience together, and raises the Play above the commodified Android smartphone that it is.

For anyone who has used a Motorola phone over the past three years, the software experience is a known quantity. Whether you like it or not depends on your desire for customizability — outside of a few abstract wallpapers and the choice of standard or vibrant colors there isn’t much to alter — and allegiance to the “stock Android for life” philosophy. Me? I like it because it’s fast and fluid all the time, even with 3GB of RAM and a low-cost processor, and has truly useful add-ons that improve my life.

Moto Z Play Camera

Here’s where things get interesting compared to the Moto Z: the Play has a 16MP sensor with slightly larger pixels, but loses the optical image stabilization and Deep Trench Isolation of the more expensive phone. It also has a slightly narrower f/2.0 lens compared to the Z’s f/1.8, but uses a combination of both laser and phase-detection autofocus to find its subject in the dark.

While I haven’t had time to use the Play’s camera extensively, I’m impressed by the sensor’s capabilities, and have enjoyed shooting with it. The camera app opens quickly, either from the lock screen or with a double-twist of the wrist, and there is rarely, if any, shutter lag. I’m incensed that Motorola insists on cropping the 4:3 sensor by insisting on defaulting to 11.9MP photos at 16:9 that fill the entire screen, but that’s a small thing to fix upon first launch. (I admit to forgetting to turn this setting off when I took my sample photos, which you can see below.)

The sensor does struggle under low-light, more so than the already-handicapped Moto Z, and without the help of optical image stabilization it is forced to keep shutter speed as high as possible and ramp up light sensitivity (ISO). It appears that Motorola is capping the shutter speed at 1/15 and the ISO at 2000 to maintain consistent quality in well-lit areas. Unfortunately that means there is no hope for low-light situations, unless you want to use the flash. Still, it is no worse than most sensors in its price range, and appears to keep up with the likes of the OnePlus 3 in daylight (though a true camera test will be required to confirm those assertions).

The Motorola camera software has also been improved over last year’s models, and the Play has the same manual features as the other Z devices. It also adapts to the presence of the Hasselblad True Zoom Moto Mod, adding a number of unique modes, along with the ability to shoot in black and white and in RAW. The spareness of the UI will continue to be a sore spot for some power users, but it’s a lot better than on previous phones.

And even more surprisingly, the phone supports 4K video capture at 30fps, a highlight of the Snapdragon 625’s improved image signal processor and improved bandwidth.

Take better photos with the Hasselblad True Zoom

The Moto Z Play isn’t the only big announcement from Motorola at IFA. The company is debuting its biggest collaboration ever, with legendary camera maker Hasselblad.

The $249.99 Moto Mod offers a 12MP sensor and terrific 10x optical zoom, with photo quality that surpasses any smartphone on the market.

Read all about the Hasselblad True Zoom Moto Mod

Moto Z Play Odds and Ends

Because the Moto Z Play is technically a Droid (and for some reason no longer a Droid Edition), there is a bunch of bloatware on board, including:

• NFL Mobile
• Verizon Cloud
• Verizon Message+
• Verizon Caller ID
• Slacker Radio
• VZ Navigator
• VZ Protect
• MyVerizon
• Audible
• Amazon Store
• Amazon Kindle

None of them can be uninstalled, just disabled, and the Verizon-branded apps are of particularly low quality given the investment the carrier has made in the Android ecosystem. Still, they are avoidable, and apps like Message+ should quickly be replaced with a more friendly alternative.

And being a Verizon phone, the phone is unlocked for other networks, though it won’t be as usable as the international version outside of the U.S., since it only has a few LTE bands.

Call quality on the Verizon network was excellent during the few calls I made to friends and family in the U.S. and Canada. I rarely dropped an LTE signal throughout New York City, and was not treated to any outages.

Like the Moto Z, the single front-facing speaker on the Play is completely mediocre, but I’ve definitely heard worse. Little solace, sure, but it’s something. And it must be stated that unlike the Moto Z, the Play actually has a 3.5mm headphone jack. I asked Motorola why this was the case given the Moto Z Force, at 6.99mm, could easily find room for the analog port:

Moto Z was designed to be the world’s thinnest premium smartphone and the design didn’t allow for a 3.5mm headphone jack. Moto Z and Moto Z Force share the same board design so the component placement of a 3.5mm jack was not possible on the Z Force either. Moto Z Play is a different design and allowed for the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Well, there you go.

Moto Z Play Wrap-up

This is not a review, but I can tell you this: I have enjoyed using this $400 phone considerably more than many double its price. I was able to use the same excellent Moto Mods as the on the Moto Z, as well as the same great software features. Any compromises in terms of hardware are easily overlooked, and unlike with last year’s Moto X Play there are no big performance sacrifices dropping to a mid-tier processor. And while the camera isn’t great, its battery life more than makes up for it. (And if you really want to change the camera, grab the Hasselblad True Zoom Moto Mod!)

We’ll have lots more with the Moto Z Play Droid and the international counterpart, the Moto Z Play, in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can grab the phone at Motorola.com and Verizon starting September 8 for $408.

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This is the Hasselblad True Zoom, the essential camera add-on for the Moto Z

Motorola and legendary camera manufacturer Hasselblad have created the essential smartphone camera add-on.

The moment I learned about Moto Mods, the magnetic add-ons for the Moto Z line, I yearned for a camera. Batteries, sure; a speaker, fine. But a camera: to me, that made the platform truly compelling.

Now, months later, we are getting just that, in the form of the Hasselblad True Zoom. The Mod is the first mainstream smartphone accessory the legendary Swedish camera company has ever attached its name to, and while it doesn’t quite live up to my admittedly high expectations, it’s a truly remarkable piece of engineering, and at $249, a compelling proposition.

The hardware

The Hasselblad True Zoom celebrates the medium-format camera company’s 75th anniversary with the insignia ‘4116’ imprinted on the inside of the frame. 1941 to 2016: a long time to perfect a craft.

When installed, the True Zoom replaces the Moto Z’s built-in camera. Indeed, the Mod has a small foam slot for the phone’s camera module to rest to avoid getting it scratched. Being independent, the True Zoom has its own sensor, lens and optical image stabilization module, and uses the phone’s screen as a viewfinder and its battery as a power source. As I quickly found, lacking its own battery and generating an enormous amount of heat means that the True Zoom is better suited to the thicker, more capacious Moto Z Force or Play, but it will work with the flagship as well.

It’s clear care was taken in designing the True Zoom, since it attaches to any of the Moto Z phones with a satisfying click and immediately initializes. A modest grip on the right side makes it easy to hold in one hand, and the dual-stage shutter button mimics the responsiveness of much more expensive cameras. A separate power button extends and retracts the optical lens, and the zoom slider attached to the shutter button engages the zoom — all familiar ideas to anyone who has used a digital camera since, oh, 2003. A real Xenon flash attaches to the left side, making me nostalgic for the Nokia Lumia 1020.

It’s inside that the True Zoom loses some of its luster: I had a chance to speak to Motorola’s head of product marketing, Jim Thiede, and President of Hasselblad’s American arm, Michael Hejtmanek, and it quickly became clear that this is a partnership in name only. None of Hasselblad’s actual technology is inside the True Zoom, which, given its modest $250 price tag, is not surprising. Akin to Huawei’s partnership with Leica, it appears Motorola sought expertise and brand alignment more than intellectual property.

Still, the 1/2.3″ sensor and f/3.5-6.5 lens, with a 35mm equivalent focal length of 25-250mm, is superior to anything you’ll find on a smartphone today, and the photos that come out of this thing are stupendous.

Using the camera is not always stupendous, though. Because its weight is biased to the right side, near the grip, your thumb is forced onto the glass just to the right of the screen in landscape mode, jutting up against the navigation keys. I cannot tell you how much times I accidentally pressed the home or multitasking button as I depressed the shutter, and that Motorola doesn’t include an option to temporarily disable those touch areas when the True Zoom is connected confers a dearth of consumer field testing.

None of Hasselblad’s actual technology is inside the True Zoom, which, given its modest $250 price tag, is not surprising.

You also won’t be able to jump into the camera by holding down the shutter button from outside of the camera app, another foreseeable use case. Instead, Motorola wants people to use the traditional twist-twice-to-launch gesture, which is not nearly as comfortable with an additional 9mm and 145 grams appended to the phone. It’s also unclear whether people will want to keep the True Zoom attached while they’re out and about, since even attached to the lithe 5.2mm frame of the Moto Z it doesn’t comfortably fit in a pants pocket. In my week using the Mod I was constantly caught in between attaching and removing the attachment depending on what I was doing.

The Software

A quick note: my Hasselblad True Zoom has been paired with the Moto Z Play, a phone that has yet to be released, and is running pre-release software. When I first got the Mod, it frequently crashed the camera app and overheated the phone, but Motorola released an update to its Moto Mods platform a few days into my testing that considerably improved the True Zoom’s stability.

Using the True Zoom is easy, since it merely subsumes the existing camera experience. It takes advantage of the same simple camera UI, and automatically turns on when entering the app — or any app that uses the camera — so the learning curve is relatively low. Still, due to the larger sensor and more versatile zoom lens, Motorola has surfaced a number of unique camera modes, including monochrome capture, and the ability to save RAW files in addition to vaguely useful presets like “Sports” and “Night landscape”. While Motorola is hedging right now, claiming these modes are still works in progress and will be more useful by the time the Moto Z and Z Force are updated in mid-September to support the Mod, I rarely noticed any improvements to my photos with these turned on.

Hasselblad also plans to release a version of its Phocus PC software to make it easy for users to offload and edit the RAW files captured by the camera. That and Motorola’s offer of two years free full-quality backups to Google Photos, and users won’t need to worry about on-device storage.

The Photos

So what about the photos themselves? A 1/2.3″ sensor in a phone is not unheard of — Sony’s Xperia Z and X line have housed one that size for years — the combination of relatively large pixels and an optically stabilized zoom lens should make for some good results. And they are good. Don’t believe me? Have a look for yourself.

Let’s be clear: These are not of the same quality as you’ll find on a mirrorless camera, or even most point-and-shoots these days. If you’re expecting otherwise you’ll be disappointed. The photos captured by the True Zoom are merely very good for a smartphone, with the added benefit of being able to optically zoom with no loss in quality — just a slightly narrower aperture.

The good news is that at its widest the lens is sharp and focuses quickly, with vibrant, warm colors that will please most users. That the photos are captured directly to the phone and can easily be shared to social media is a bonus. Like many zoom lenses, though, the True Zoom becomes more difficult to stabilize the longer it extends, and with a fairly unforgiving minimum focus distance I’ve had trouble getting the thing to lock onto a subject, even stable ones.

But it’s also that zoom function that most users are going to love. Here are some samples of the True Zoom at its widest and longest.

Left: Hasselblad True Zoom — widest (25mm equivalent) / Right: Hasselblad True Zoom — longest (250mm equivalent) — click image to view larger

And here’s a typical sample comparing the True Zoom to the Moto Z. Both have 12MP sensors, though the one on the True Zoom is slightly larger. As with all of its photos, the Hasselblad is warmer and more true to life, but due to its slightly narrower f/3.5 aperture at its widest focal length it doesn’t let in quite as much light as the Moto Z’s fixed f/1.8 lens.

Left: Hasselblad True Zoom — (f/3.5, 25mm equivalent) / Right: Moto Z (f/1.8)— click image to view larger

Should you buy it?

When everything comes together, the True Zoom is a wonderful piece of technology, and almost justifies the $250 cost — but I can’t help but feel that most people would be better off spending a bit more to get a proper zoom camera to get better results.

If the Moto Z line takes off, and Moto Mods with it, I can see a family investing in a True Zoom and sharing it between members when necessary.

The Hasselblad True Zoom will be available starting in September from Verizon for $249, and Motorola for $299, and will be coming to other markets in the coming months. An update will be issued to the Moto Z and Moto Z Force on September 15 to add compatibility with the True Zoom.

More: Moto Z Play preview: The most accessible modular phone yet

See at Motorola

Elon Musk says Tesla will update Autopilot with ‘major improvements’

Tesla’s chief has taken to Twitter once again to announce news related to his electric car company.

Elon Musk revealed that “major improvements” to Tesla’s Autopilot semi-autonomous system are coming to cars via future over-the-air updates, called V8.0 and 8.1, which will be released in the next few weeks. He attributed the improvements to “advanced processing of radar signals”. Again, however, this is just a software update, though Tesla is reportedly working to add more cameras and radar sensors to its vehicles.

Musk is keen to pushing forward with Tesla’s self-driving dreams. Despite that fatal accident last May, which involved a Model S on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged, the CEO said there are no plans to disable Autopilot. Instead, the automaker will double-down on efforts to educate drivers about how the system works. It will also, apparently, improve the system with updates.

Major improvements to Autopilot coming with V8.0 and 8.1 software (std OTA update) primarily through advanced processing of radar signals

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 31, 2016

The accident from May is the first known fatal accident involving a vehicle being driven by itself by means of computer software, sensors, cameras, and radar. It cast doubts on the future of autonomous vehicles and was a personal blow to Tesla. The company blamed the crash on that fact that neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of a tractor-trailer against a “brightly lit sky”, so the system did not apply the brake.

More than 130 million miles have been driven with Tesla’s Autopilot feature since the system made its debut in October. Tesla dubbed Autopilot a “beta feature” after launch, and Musk has repeated that it’s labelled a “beta specifically so people do not become complacent”, adding that the disclaimers provided to drivers are “written in super plain language”.

US regulators are investigating the May crash that killed 40-year-old Joshua Brown. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in June said it would investigate the first known fatality connected to the Autopilot system, and that it’s homing in on automatic emergency braking.

Autopilot, as of 31 August, uses a combination of cameras, radar, ultrasonic sensors, and data to automatically steer down the highway, change lanes, and adjust speed in response to traffic, according to Tesla.

Musk said he is currently writing a blog post with more details about the new Autopilot improvements and coming software updates, and that he will publish the post on Tesla’s website later Wednesday.

Lenovo Yoga Book preview: The keyless laptop from the future has landed

It’s rare that a product could be called revolutionary in its thinking, but that’s certainly an accolade that could be awarded to the Lenovo Yoga Book. For this 10.1-inch convertible is about as far removed from a laptop as we’ve seen, while still, essentially, being one.

To explain: the Lenovo Yoga Book has a keyboard without physical keys. It learns your hand positioning over time to compensate for typing mistakes. It even offers predictive word completion, much like a smartphone’s predictive text.

It also comes with a physical stylus that can be used for handwriting or drawing directly onto the would-be keyboard panel – or, using the pen nib, you can write on real paper with a pad positioned above the would-be keyboard and this input is mirrored in digital form. That’s thanks to the EMR writing surface.

So the Lenovo Yoga Book is like Wacom tablet meets laptop, meets tablet, meets the future. The Yoga Book is, indeed, without compare.

Pocket-lint

It’s also incredibly difficult to use as a laptop. The typing experience, with its limited haptic feedback, feels like a shot in the dark on first try. And second. And beyond. But, equally, it’s so compelling as a concept that we want to be locked in a room with this device for a couple of hours to adapt to its nature and see how that typing experience evolves. Maybe we’ll never get it and want to throw it out the window. But for kids who’ve not been used to full size keyboards for many years, it could potentially be an ideal starting point.

Besides, the Yoga Book isn’t precisely a laptop either. Your word rate is going to be lower on this for writing a novel, but for notes, sharing and digital backup it makes a lot of sense for productivity’s sake. It’s a marriage of ideas that is that rare thing in tech: original.

It’s also the world’s thinnest convertible, at just 9.6mm thick when shut closed. And its 690g weight makes it not much heavier than most tablets. That a product three years in the works can be created so thin is a testament to Lenovo’s design team – just look at that slender edge (the screen side is a mere 4mm).

Pocket-lint

However, it lacks some of the mod cons: there’s no USB Type-C for example, instead it’s built on microUSB 3.0. Which is fine, but seems a little out of date. The Intel Atom x64 processor on board isn’t the most spritely either, but that’s the payoff for a device so small and light.

Operating system is a user choice: the Yoga Book comes in Android (£449) or Windows (£549) forms, putting the choice in your hands. Android is version 6.0, with moderate tweaks – a task bar and multi-app window support (up to four) – to make for better multi-tasking. Still, with that lightweight hardware, the 8500mAh battery is said to last for as long as 15-hours per charge – again, ideal for productivity’s sake.

Given that many Yoga products with the high-grade 3-axis hinge come in at a much higher price point makes the Yoga Book a compelling proposition, albeit one that’s tricky to grasp.

Pocket-lint

We’re in a world of love and hate right now. The Yoga Book is one of the most exciting tech products we’ve seen in some time; it’s the laptop reinvented. And also one of the hardest things we’ve ever used to type on – at first, anyway.

Lenovo Yoga 910: Edge display makes this convertible laptop infinitely awesome

We’ve been avidly following the Lenovo Yoga evolution over the years, as the convertible laptop range has continued to refine its 360-degree screen offering. In the top-spec Yoga 910 it’s even stronger than ever before, with an edge-to-edge display joining the fold.

Well, sort of edge-to-edge. Like any screen there has to be some bezel, but to the top and sides it’s only a number of millimetres separating the actual screen from the product edge.

Like the previous Yoga 900, however, there’s a massive bezel to the Yoga 910’s bottom edge – presumably as part and parcel of the device’s hinge mechanism, to position the screen best when in its various positions – but we couldn’t fail but spot it when the device was shown off on stage at Lenovo’s IFA 2016 press conference in Berlin.

Still, there’s plenty to like about this refreshed Yoga. Its “watchband hinge” – that’s what Lenovo likes to call it, but it does look like a piece of jewellery, so we can see why – operates seamlessly between forms, which is what really makes this product stand apart from the rest. Position it like a laptop, a tablet, in a stand or tent position for multiple usage propositions.

Lenovo

The latest Yoga 910 isn’t exactly the same as its 900 predecessor, though, it’s actually a touch thinner (14.3mm rather than 14.9mm) and features the latest Intel Core i 7th Gen processors. There’s also a 4K resolution panel option, which at its 13.3-inch scale would certainly make for ultra-crisp viewing.

Furthermore there’s a brand new fingerprint scanner built into the device for quick and secure access – no passwords required. That’s a rare feature, with even the Microsoft Surface Book ditching the design for UK shores. So here’s hoping this Yoga will be international in its feature set.

The Lenovo Yoga 910 is definitely a looker, then, but it’s definitely pricey too: starting at £1,099, this is an investment laptop with enough standout features to warrant its price point.