Roku Express+ review – CNET
The Good The Roku Express+ has an analog audio/video output, allowing it to connect to older TVs. It’s cheap, easy to use and loaded with streaming apps, including the latest version of Netflix.
The Bad It’s slower, especially with Netflix, than other HDMI-only devices that cost just a few bucks more.
The Bottom Line With its affordable price, analog video capability and access to Roku’s best-in-class platform, the Express+ is a no-brainer buy for people who want to bring streaming video to an older TV.
These days just about everything you connect to a TV has an HDMI output. Those little connections deliver pristine digital audio and video in a single cheap cable, with better fidelity than any analog jacks. If you have the choice, you should always connect your AV gear via HDMI.
But thousands of people don’t have that choice. They own and watch TVs every day, some 20 years old or more, that don’t have HDMI inputs. They might consider these televisions perfectly good and be loath to upgrade to a new HDTV.
The $40 Roku Express+ is made just for them. This little box, smaller than its own remote control, is packed with streaming apps including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video, YouTube and thousands more. Numerous other devices can do the same thing, but unless you buy an adapter, none of them work with analog video, so none can connect directly to older TVs.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
The Express+ is basically an analog-capable version of the $30 Roku Express, complete with Roku’s best-in-class app selection, simple interface and comprehensive search. If the TV you’re going to connect has an HDMI input, there’s little reason to get the Express+.
On the other hand the Express+ also has HDMI, so it might be worth grabbing if you anticipate needing the analog outputs at some point — for example, that trip to Grandma’s house. Of course, Grandma’s house will need good Wi-Fi to stream video.
The only physical difference between the two tiny Rokus is the Express+ has a little minijack port on the back labeled AV out, into which you plug the included red, white and yellow cable that in turn gets plugged into the TV. It even includes a sticker you can use to affix the little box to a TV or AV cabinet, and avoid having it get dragged around by cables. A short HDMI cable comes in the box too.
Acer Aspire S 13 review – CNET
The Good Acer’s Aspire S13 has a touchscreen that resists glare, a thin, light body that resists fingerprints and more solid-state storage than the competition — plus a fast Intel Core processor, impressive audio and exceptional battery life.
The Bad This 13-inch Acer is saddled with a stiff, shallow keyboard, and the touchpad’s poor palm rejection means the cursor jumps around in documents. Uneven keyboard backlighting and a thick screen bezel detract from the appeal.
The Bottom Line This Acer Aspire S13 isn’t the most inspiring thin notebook, but it’s a remarkably practical and cost-effective choice.
Technically, you can buy an Acer Aspire S13 in the United States for just $580, and the laptop typically comes in black.
Realistically, just forget about both of those things. I’m reviewing the Acer Aspire S13 in white — which starts at $800, £650 or AU$1,399 — because it’s the one doing something particularly neat.
Many laptops this thin don’t have great performance. Many laptops this powerful don’t have great battery life. Many laptops this price skimp on the storage and memory you need. And the ones that don’t — our favorite laptops — typically are made of smooth metal and glass that attracts loads of glare and gobs of oily fingerprints.
The 13-inch Acer Aspire S13 — the white one — doesn’t suffer from any of those weaknesses.
The Acer Aspire S13. Also pictured: an amazingly photogenic cushion.
Josh Miller/CNET
At 3.0 pounds and 0.57 inche thick, with a dual-core 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of solid-state storage and a crisp 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution IPS touchscreen, it’s as thin, fast and spacious as the competition. (I tested the $1,000 Core i7 model with 512GB of storage — impressive specs for the price.)
In fact, the Aspire S13’s battery life is better than most. We got 9 hours, 45 minutes in our standard streaming video drain test, and I found I could typically work 6 to 7 full hours before needing to recharge. That’s just a stone’s throw away from the battery life we get with a MacBook Air, only this Acer has a far better screen and speakers.
But the white Acer Aspire S13 also does something I’ve never seen before. It’s a thin metal touchscreen laptop that doesn’t trap light and grease. The pure white matte aluminum surfaces simply don’t pick up fingerprints. (Aside from a fine coating of dust, our S13 looks just as good today as when we took it out of the box weeks ago.) And where most every single laptop manufacturer covers their touchscreens in sheets of mirrorlike glass, the S13 has an antiglare coating.
See the latest Simpsons couch gag in VR in honour of 600th episode
The couch gag on The Simpsons’ latest Treehouse of Horror not only celebrated the show’s newest episode milestone but also parodied Planet of the Apes and was offered up in virtual reality to Google Cardboard owners.
Say, what?
For those of you who aren’t fans of The Simpsons, here’s the deal: Treehouse of Horror is the name of The Simpsons’ Halloween specials. There have been 27 installments, with the latest being Treehouse of Horror XXVII, which aired 16 October. It was the 600th episode of the animated Fox comedy, and it broke new ground by embracing virtual reality, with the help of Google Cardboard.
At the end of every opening sequence, The Simpsons features a running visual joke called a couch gag. Sunday night’s couch gag was offered in VR. Got it? OK. So, the opening of Treehouse of Horror XXVII was a Planet of the Apes parody called Planet of the Couches. Viewers could – and still can – download the Google Spotlight Stories app for iOS or Android to experience the couch gag in 360.
- Google Spotlight Stories app for iOS
- Google Spotlight Stories app for Android
The 2D version of Planet of the Couches ran for 45 seconds and showed a landing page with a URL that directed fans to the VR edition, which includes an extra two minutes of bonus content. If you don’t have a Cardboard-certified viewer, you can still experience the fun by turning your phones in different directions. There are six scenes you can enjoy, though physically turning your phone won’t be as immersive.
However, according to EW, the first 25,000 fans who sign up at simpsonscardboard.com will receive a free Simpson Cardboard viewer.
Trump may be building his own online video service
As Donald Trump’s presidential campaign appears to be circling the drain with 23 days to go, the Republican nominee must be thinking about what comes next. According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump might be retreating to the relatively safe confines of media: apparently, Trump’s advisors have been pitching media executives on a new venture to “capitalize on the Republican presidential candidates appeal.”
This won’t just be a retread of Trump’s days on The Apprentice, either. The WSJ says that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner reached out to investment banker Aryeh Bourkoff in recent months to discuss building an entirely new business after the election. The idea involved an online subscription video channel that could be an eventual launchpad for a cable TV channel. It’s similar to what conservative pundit Glenn Beck did a few years back when he launched TheBlaze, first as an online channel that then moved to cable.
Additionally, Trump’s team was also said to have reached out to an unnamed streaming service (like Netflix or Hulu) in the past month about having Trump be part of its offerings.
But it sounds like we’ll be spared a Trump-run outlet, though, at least for now. Bourkoff apparently decided against investing in the project (though the Donald surely has enough cash to make it happen himself), and a Trump spokesperson says that he’s currently only focused on winning the election. Trump himself said that talk he was planning to launch his own media network was “ridiculous” last month.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
7 things to consider before mounting your TV – CNET
Mounting your TV comes with several considerations.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
On the surface, mounting a television to your wall seems like a good idea. It saves floor space and lifts the screen up to where the whole room can easily see it. There are some important things to consider, though, before you mount up.
Do you have a spot for the components?
If you’re like most people, you have several devices hooked up to your television. Game consoles, cable boxes, DVRs and the like are going to need a home nearby your television so the cords will reach the TV’s output ports. I solved this problem by installing a floating shelving unit under my television.
Another idea is to put a bookshelf under the television to contain all of the devices. Simply drill a hole in the back of the book shelf to thread the cords through.
Do you have a cord-concealing plan?
You need to consider the aesthetics all of those cords, too. Even if you don’t plug a single device into your television, you’ll still need to contend with an ugly cord trailing down your wall to the wall socket. Are you OK with the television tail?
If not, there are a few solutions:
- You can have your cords installed inside the wall (by a professional, of course)
- Get a power outlet installed behind the television so the cord doesn’t need to dangle
- Purchase a cord-hider that will camouflage the cords like this cord cover or this cord cover kit
- Consider mounting your components directly behind the TV (provided you only have a few)
Can your wall handle it?
The most important thing to consider when mounting a television is whether or not your wall can hold it up. Even the most modern, lightest televisions are quite a bit heavier than your painting of Aunt Trudy. Because of this, the location you choose will need a stud(s) to anchor the screws. You can find out if there are studs by using a stud finder. (No, drywall anchors won’t work. Eventually, the anchors will get pulled through the drywall and your TV will end up on the floor.)
No stud? Choose another location that does have a stud where you need it.
Are you mounting it above a fireplace?
Putting your TV above your fireplace seems like a great idea, but it’s not. Geoffrey Morrison lays out the facts in this article about why fireplaces shouldn’t be part of your television placement plan.
Grab the right tools
Make sure you have the tools needed to mount a television on your wall. You’ll need a stud finder, drill, a drill bit that is around the same size as the mount screws and a screwdriver bit. If you don’t have the tools you need, and you don’t want to invest in them, you can rent them at some home improvement stores.
Are the ports accessible?
Check to see where the ports are located on your television. If the ports are on the back of the TV, you’ll want to purchase a wall mount that can telescope outward, giving you better access to the back of the television. This is particularly important if you’re the type that’s constantly adding new devices. You don’t want to unmount the television every time you need access to the ports.
What’s your angle?
Another wall mount consideration is angle. If you like angling your TV depending on where you sit, you might want to choose an adjustable mount that lets you rotate the TV to different angles. For example, my husband turns the television when the late afternoon sun comes through the window to reduce glare. In this case, we definitely needed an adjustable mount.
Best 4K Blu-rays
1 – 5 of 9
Next
Prev
Getting started with the new Home app in iOS – CNET
Taylor Martin/CNET
iOS 10 includes a dedicated Home app and new Siri commands that let you control your devices (with an Apple TV.)
But the update missed out on one important thing: Making the Home app easy to use. So, this guide will help you get started with the Home app and automate your smart home devices.
Add your smart home devices
Screenshot by Taylor Martin/CNET
To get started, you first need to add your smart home devices to the Home app.
First, make sure the devices you have are HomeKit-compatible. The telltale sign of this is the Works with Apple HomeKit insignia you will find on the product packaging. Some of the devices updated to work with HomeKit are the August Smart Lock, Philips Hue, iDevices Switch, Canary All-in-One Home Security System and many more, which you can find in Apple’s Home Automation store.
If your Homekit-compatible devices are already set up and running, they’ll automatically appear in the Home app. If at any point you want to edit the device settings, locate the device in the Home app, press and hold and tap Details. There, you can rename the device, change the device type, group it with other accessories and more.
Create a Room
When adding a new device from within the Home app, you have the option to assign the device to a room. Rooms let you group multiple devices, so that you can control the entire room with one tap or voice command.
For instance, you can tell Siri to “Turn off the Living Room” and every connected device in that room will be powered off. Hello, 21st century clapper.
Screenshot by Taylor Martin/CNET
If you don’t have any rooms setup, devices will be assigned to the default room. To add a new room, open the Home app and switch to the Rooms tab. Tap the settings button (a bulleted list icon) in the top left corner of the screen and tap Add Room. Give the room a name, set a photo and tap Save.
To move devices between rooms, press and hold on one of the device icons and tap Details. Tap Location and select which room you want the device to be assigned to. Repeat this for every device you want to move to a different room.
From the Rooms tab, there are two ways to switch between which room is currently displayed. Swiping left and right will scroll through the various rooms while tapped the settings button in the top left will let you quickly jump to any room. The latter is more helpful if you have Home devices in three or more rooms in your home.
If for any reason you wanted to control only some of the devices in a Room, you would need to create a Scene.
Create a Scene
Scenes allow you to control more than one device at a time. For instance, a Good Night scene may toggle off all the smart lights, toggle on a night light and adjust the temperature.
Screenshot by Taylor Martin/CNET
To create a scene, from either the Home or Rooms tabs, tap the plus button in the upper right corner and select Add Scene. Select one of the suggested scenes or tap Custom to create a scene from scratch.
First, give the scene a name and select an icon for it. Then tap Add Accessories, select which devices you want the scene to control and tap Done. To select what you want a scene to do to each device, tap on the device icon to toggle it or press and hold to adjust different options, such as brightness percentage or color on a smart bulb. To finish creating the scene, select whether you want the scene to be shown in your Favorites and tap Done.
Scenes can be activated using voice commands through Siri, such as “Hey Siri, turn on Movie Time.” Or, with a hub, you can toggle scenes based on time of day or when you enter or exit a geofenced area around your home.
Edit and share a Home
Within the Home app, a Home is a grouping of all the HomeKit-enabled devices and Rooms within a house. If you have HomeKit devices in the office or at a vacation home, you might need to setup additional Homes. Otherwise, you probably won’t spend too much time in this part of the app.
From the Home tab, if you tap the location icon in the upper left corner, it will bring up the settings page for your default home, titled My Home. This page is much like the settings page for a Scene, Accessory or Room. You can rename your home here, create a second home and view any connected hubs. Additionally, you can add other users to your home, change the Home Wallpaper, add notes or remove the home entirely.
If you have multiple people in your home and you want to give them access to the controls, open the Home app and tap the location icon in the upper left corner. Tap Invite and enter their Apple ID email address. Tap Send to complete the invitation. To invite new members or edit permissions, you will need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your HomeKit devices or have a remote hub setup.
Automation
Automation is how you can toggle entire Rooms, Scenes or Accessories without lifting a finger. Your lights can be synced with sunrise and sunset, your doors can unlock when you enter a geofence around your house or a smart plug could turn on when the lights go out.
There are thousands of possibilities, but in order to use the Automation tab within the Home app, you will need a hub. Either a fourth-generation Apple TV running the latest firmware or an iPad that stays at home running iOS 10 will work.
Once you have successfully setup a hub for HomeKit, the Automation tab in the Home app should be accessible on iOS.
Screenshot by Taylor Martin/CNET
Tap Create new Automation to get started. Select when an automation should run, such as a location change, a time of day or the status of one of your smart devices.
Let’s say we want a lamp to come on at sunset each day. Choose A Time of Day Occurs, tap Sunset, followed by Next. You can activate a scene if one of them matches the criteria you want, but for this automation, we’ll choose Living Room Lamp and tap Next. Tap to toggle the lamp on when the automation runs and tap Done to complete the automation.
Quickly toggle Accessories and Scenes
Screenshot by Taylor Martin/CNET
After all your devices, rooms and scenes are setup, tailoring the Home app to you is just a matter of mixing and matching different devices and creating new scenes and automations.
Though you can always control you devices with the Home app, the fastest way to get to your favorite scenes and smart home controls is in Control Center.
From any screen on your phone, swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen and swipe right-to-left from the main Control Center page. The Home panel is one panel to the right of the media control page. There you can tap on any icons to toggle devices or press and hold to open up more precise control, such as brightness, color, temperature, etc. Tapping the Scenes button in the upper right corner of Control Center will display your favorite scenes. And tapping one of them will activate it.
If you do not see a device or scene in Control Center, you will need to add it to your favorites by navigating to the device or scene, pressing and holding on the icon, tapping Details and tapping the toggle switch to the right of Favorites.
Controlling your home with Siri
The fastest way to control any devices in your home is to use Siri. You can call upon Siri to toggle entire rooms, activate scenes or control individual accessories. Siri commands for Home are very natural, and in most cases, you can be as precise or vague as you want.
You can say things like:
- “Turn on the living room.”
- “I’m home.”
- “Are the lights in the kitchen on?”
- “Did I lock the front door?”
- “Movie time.”
- “Set the house to 72 degrees.”
Lenovo Yoga Book review: The future is (almost) here
It’s easy to say that using the Lenovo Yoga Book feels like living in the future, but with its inclusion of (literal) pen-and-ink technology and an all-touch keyboard reminiscent of the first Microsoft Surface, it’s just as accurate to call it a leap into the past. The result is an intriguing contradiction that only gets more interesting as you delve deeper into the custom Android software on this tiny tablet/notebook crossover.
Join MrMobile for the Lenovo Yoga Book review!
Get social with MrMobile
- YouTube
- Le web
- Snapchat
Batman: Arkham VR is a childhood fantasy come to life!
Wear the cowl. Be the bat. Live the dream.
If there’s one PlayStation VR experience that stands out as an attention grabber, it’s Batman Arkham VR. A console exclusive for now, Arkham VR gives Batman fans something no other game has been able to before.
You are Batman.
It’s a little short and it’s not quite the full Dark Knight experience, but it’s one of the early PlayStation VR must-buy titles.
Because you’re Batman.
Read more at VR Heads
ZTE Axon 7 Mini is under $300 and ready to pre-order in the U.S.
There’s clearly no better time to launch a stylish, affordable Android smartphone than on Halloween. ZTE is pushing forward with the launch of the Axon 7 Mini, though there’s nothing scary about it.
This is the smaller, mid-range equivalent to the 5.5-inch Axon 7. The Axon 7 Mini comes with a Snapdragon 617 processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of onboard storage, in addition to expandable memory. It’s also equipped with a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera, as well as an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. And unlike its larger counterpart, the Axon 7 Mini is only 5.2-inches, though that’s still a bit bigger than some of the flagship competition on the market, like the 5.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S7.
The Axon 7 Mini is available to pre-order through ZTE for $300, though Best Buy has listed the device on sale beginning October 31. It’s also offering a 60-day exclusive on the gold variant.
See at Best Buy
The Pixel’s secret weapon: Unlimited full-resolution camera backups
When you buy a Pixel Google lets you back up all the pictures and video you shoot for free, at full resolution. That’s a pretty big deal.
Google has made much fuss about the camera on the Pixel and Pixel XL (they share the same specs). A hearty endorsement from DXOMark, samples from the camera development team, and even some 4K footage with image stabilization have people interested because a great camera is one of those things we want the new phone we buy to have.
Along with the new camera hardware and image processing chops inside the Snapdragon 821, an overhauled camera app means we’re going to be taking more and better pictures and video. The one thing that is pure icing on the cake is that we’re also going to be able to back up all of them to our online Google storage through the Photos app at full resolution without paying for any extra storage.
That’s a huge draw if you’re planning to get the most out of the camera on the Pixel.
Anyone with a Google account is given 15GB of free storage through Google Drive, and if you use the Google Photos app (Android and iOS only) you have unlimited backups — but not at full resolution. Google gives two choices for camera backup to the photos service — High Quality and Original. The Original setting backs things up as an exact copy of what came from the camera. There are no size limits for pictures or video, and there is no compression or optimization. However, these backups count against your 15GB of free storage.
The High Quality setting allows for video (of any length) at 1080p quality and photos of 16MP resolution or lower to be backed up and uploaded without counting against your storage limit. The software automatically resizes both still pictures and video, and uploads them automatically. Google says these photos “will essentially look the same using either storage option” and for the most part they do, but sometimes it’s easy to see the compression and the backed up copy just isn’t nearly as good as the original.
The monthly storage fees for large library of 4K video could easily cost more than the payment for the Pixel if financed.
If you use the Pixel to back your photos up, none of this matters. You’ll get an exact copy of what came from the camera stored online where you can look at it or retrieve it anywhere you have an internet connection. With a 4K camera, this can make a big difference. A 1080p video doesn’t look bad, even on a 4K screen, but it doesn’t look as good as UHD 4K does. That’s why we wanted 4K cameras on our phones in the first place. But a high-resolution video has a cost: file size. After compression algorithms kick into gear, it takes about 370MB to store a minute of 4K video. A gigabyte of storage holds a video of two minutes and 45 seconds in length. Start adding up all those short videos you take with your phone, and that 15GB of free storage is going to be able to hold about 40 minutes of footage. Google Drive storage is cheap, but a large library of your 4K videos makes for a monthly bill that can easily exceed the price of the Pixel’s finance options.
A phone with a good camera means you want to be able to snap a pic or two when you see the opportunity or to shoot a few minutes of UHD 4K video when you see something worth remembering. Having a place to store it all that doesn’t break the bank is essential.
Google Pixel + Pixel XL
- Google Pixel and Pixel XL hands-on preview
- In pictures: Google Pixel and Pixel XL
- Pixel + Pixel XL specs
- Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
- Verizon is the exclusive U.S. carrier for the Google Pixels
- Join the discussion in the forums!
Google Store
Verizon
AIVAnet 