Keep tabs on those no-good kids of yours with Amazon’s new Parent Dashboard

Why it matters to you

Knowing what your kids are doing on their tablets isn’t easy, but Parent Dashboard lays it all out for you.

Kid-friendly devices are fast becoming a cottage industry, but few are as holistic as Amazon’s FreeTime. The retailer’s service preloads its kid-friendly Fire tablets with tens of thousands of apps, games, and movies appropriate for specific ages. And starting Tuesday, it’s getting even better.

Amazon’s launching Parent Dashboard, a new way for parents to keep tabs on their children’s digital activity. Parents who have enrolled kids in FreeTime can see a breakdown of apps they’ve used, websites they’ve visited, and books they’ve read over the past 90 days. They can pull up a graphical view of the past week’s activity, and scroll through content in chronological list form.

More: Here’s what’s new on Amazon Prime video in April

Parent Dashboard is built on Amazon’s FreeTime, a growing library of Amazon-curated content for kids on Fire tablets. An editorial team sifts through books and thousands of videos, apps, TV shows, and movies aimed at specific age ranges and approves each individually.

That’s harder than it sounds. Amazon’s editorial staff checks every web link to ensure they don’t contain harmful material, and watch YouTube videos from beginning to end. “We take a conservative approach,” Kurt Beidler, director and general manager of Amazon FreeTime, told Digital Trends.

More: Need something to watch? Here are our favorite TV shows on Amazon Prime

The new Parents Dashboard is similarly streamlined. When parents log in via parents.amazon.com, they’ll get a detailed overview of their kids’ usage habits by day and category. A bar graph compares the percentage time they’ve spent reading versus, say, the hours they’ve spent in a game. And Dashboard lets them drill down by section — tapping on Books, for example, pulls up a list of every title their kid has read, along with the amount of time they’ve spent reading each one.

Parents Dashboard marks the introduction of a new FreeTime feature: Discussion cards. Select books and TV shows have a little chat bubble icon next to them, and tapping on it brings up a card with a “cheat sheet” of useful information. They include a plot synopsis, discussion questions for parents to pose to their kids, and related activities parents and kids can do together.

“It’s a refresher for parents,” Beidler said. “It’s not just fact-based stuff.”

Some of those summaries come from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that reviews books, movies, and other media for age-appropriateness, and others come from Amazon’s team. Beidler said that going forward, new titles added to FreeTime will get discussion cards.

In that sense, Parent Dashboard’s less about monitoring activity than fostering engagement. “It helps parents [connect] with kids,” Beidler said. “They can share in what their kids are doing.”

More: Here’s everything you need to know about Amazon’s Drone Delivery Project, Prime Air

Seeing a detailed breakdown of a kids’ digital data is a little unnerving, especially given Amazon’s bread-and-butter business: Selling products. But Beidler said that Parent Dashboard and FreeTime are fully compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which prohibits online services and websites from collecting certain personal information on kids under 13 years of age, and stressed that any data Amazon does collect is only stored for 90 days.

“Parent trust is important,” he said. “We only store what we need to store. We’re not using it to advertise to parents — we make no attempt to upsell.”

Master Android Wear 2.0 with these 15 essential tips and tricks

Google has been busy packing new functionality into Android Wear 2.0, and though smartwatches — like any new piece of tech — have a learning curve, they’re quickly becoming more practical with each and every iteration. To that point, here are some essential tips to get the most out of your Android Wear smartwatch, whether you want to listen to music offline, dim the display, or take copious notes.

More: The 5 best Android Wear devices right now

Install new watch faces

The watch face is the most important part of a smartwatch, and you’ll want to make sure you pick ones suitable to your tastes as there may only be a limited collection pre-installed on your watch. Google has a catalog of hand-picked watch faces in the Google Play Store, and you can even access a “Featured Watch Faces” section in the Wear Play Store on your watch. All you need to do is download the app from your phone or watch and it’ll appear as a choice when you’re switching watch faces.

Switch between watch faces

Once watch faces are installed, it’s extremely easy to switch between them — which is perfect for those who might want to use different faces in different situations. Simply swipe from the left or right from your current watch face to navigate between all of them. If you want to get rid of a watch face, swipe it up or down in this screen. Scroll all the way to the right and you’ll see an icon that allows you to add more watch faces — click here to find and add any new watch faces you recently downloaded.

Edit your watch face and personalize your device

In Android Wear 2.0, you can customize subdials or “Complications” on your watch face so you can see information like your fitness goals or upcoming calendar events at a glance. You can also change things like background color, and whether you want a notification indicator. To edit your watch face, press down on the background of the face. You’ll then be presented with a few options, including “Styles,” and “Data,” depending on your watch model.

• Hit “Data” or “Layout” to customize your complications. You’ll be presented with a view of the complications you have installed, and you can tap one to change it. Complications vary depending on the apps you have installed, and you can also opt to have none.
• Hit “Styles” to change the color scheme of your watch face.

If your Android Wear smartwatch has more than one button, you can customize what app you want the second button to open. Swipe down from the watch face and tap the gear icon. Scroll down to Personalization, and tap Customize hardware buttons. Here you can choose what app you want each button to open.

Install apps on your watch

With Android Wear 2.0, you can now install stand-alone apps on your watch with the pre-installed Wear Google Play Store. To access all your installed apps, press down on your watch’s main button. To install new ones, scroll to the Google Play Store, and when you tap on it you can scroll through categories and install apps.

Check and manage battery life

Checking the battery life is a cinch. Simply swipe down to see a quick summary of your battery life. If you need more information, go to the Android Wear app on your phone by choosing Settings > Watch Battery. From here you can see how much juice you’ve got left, which apps are burning the most battery, and enable power saving features like dimming and theater mode.

You can still have your phone ring and not your watch

If you’re not impressed by Android Wear’s vibrating notifications you can always mute watch notifications by swiping from the top to the bottom of the watch face. Touch the “do not disturb” icon to mute your watch.

Use Theater Mode to mute and silence notifications

If you’re in the theater and don’t want your watch’s screen to light up during the movie, you can use Theater Mode turn your screen off. Swipe down from the top of the watch face, and depending on your device, you’ll see a watch with a diagonal line over it (Theater Mode) or a brightness indicator. Tap the brightness indicator and you’ll be able to access the same watch indicator — tap on it to trigger Theater Mode. Even if you move your wrist, the screen will not light up now, and you won’t see notifications. To deactivate Theater Mode, press your watch’s main button.

Install a web browser

It’s hard to think of practical reasons for accessing a web browser from a smartwatch, but Wear Internet Browser lets you do just that. You can tap into your phone’s browsing history and access bookmarks. Expect a frustrating experience, though, and you will have to pay for the full version of the app if you want to use this for more than search.

Block notifications from specific apps

You can block notifications for specific apps from your phone. Go to your Android Wear app on your phone, choose Settings > block app notifications. Touch the plus icon then select the apps you want to block.

Dim screen with your palm

Dimming the screen on your Android Wear watch is actually very easy. All you need to do is place your palm over the watch screen until you feel it vibrate. Take your hand off again and you should see a dimmed screen.

Use voice commands

Taking advantage of all that is Android Wear means using voice commands. It all works with Google Assistant, though you won’t find the same features on your phone’s Assistant. Press and hold down your watch’s main button and say your command. On many watches you can also use the classic “OK, Google” voice command to activate Google Assistant. You can Assistant the weather, to place a call, send a text, set a reminder, create an alarm, and more.

Review the list of voice commands

Hold down your power button. A black screen will appear with a the Google Assistant colored dots. Say “show me a list of voice commands.” You’ll then see some suggested commands that you can try. We’ve listed some of our favorites below:

• When is [Valentine’s Day]
• Should I bring a jacket today?
• Who is [the Speaker of the House]
• Show me the stocks for [Sony]
• Set a reminder
• Play [Modern Love]
• Start [stopwatch]
• Define [oxymoron]

Voice texting

Voice texting is easy — activate Google Assistant with the main button or your voice. Then say “Send a text to [insert contact here].” Assuming that person is in your contact list, you’ll be prompted to voice your message. You’ll get a chance to review the content of your message before sending. Google does a pretty good job of transcribing your messages, but it may have some trouble sorting between the three different Kates or four Joes in your contacts.

Take notes with your watch

Android Wear also lets you take notes. Using your voice, you can prompt your watch to transcribe a quick memo by saying “take a note.” The note will then land in your inbox or to Google Keep (if you have it installed). If you don’t want to use your voice to write a note, you can open the Google Keep app, press the “+” icon, and choose the keyboard to write it manually.

Navigation

Android Wear can be be used for navigation too. Say “Navigate to Mt. Hood” and you’ll get turn commands, but no voice commands. If you need audible assistance, make sure your watch is paired with its smartphone and your phone will provide audio commands.

Updated on 04-12-2017 by Christian de Looper: Updated article to reflect release of Android Wear 2.0.

Turing’s Appassionato phone has a dedicated button that links you to a concierge

Why it matters to you

Turing’s high-end Appassionato smartphone make your life easier by putting a human concierge at your fingertips.

When it comes to smartphones, machine learning is the next big thing. The Pixel and Pixel XL pack Google’s computer-powered Assistant, and Samsung’s Galaxy S8 has Bixby. So it’s no surprise that Turing’s next smartphone ships with the firm’s take on an AI. What is surprising is that it’s powered by humans.

The Android 7.1.1-powered Appassionato is a smartphone of superlatives. It’s machined from a “liquidmorphium alloy,” with a diamond-like carbon coating. It features a scratch-resistant sapphire screen. And it boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage.

More: Turing phone Dark Wyvern review

But by far the most intriguing feature is a dedicated physical button — dubbed the “Sir Alan” on the Appassionato’s side. Borrowing a page from the Galaxy S8 and its Bixby button, the Appassionato’s button launches an AI-powered concierge on demand.

Turing’s chief executive, Syl Chao, described it as “amplified intelligence.”

AI with a human twist

Here’s how it’ll work: When you press the Appassionato’s concierge button, you’ll be connected to a personal assistant who can schedule flights, book hotels, and perform other tasks on your behalf. Turing’s human assistants will be able to glean information from AI software that has access to your chat history, emails, calendar, and more.

More: Are you paranoid, patient, and rich? This super-secure smartphone is for you

Say you task a concierge with booking a flight to Thailand — if you’ve traveled there before, the AI collates such information as which airline you booked (from your email), where you stayed (from your phone’s location history), and the people with whom you traveled (from your text message conversations). It then supplies that information to the concierge, who’ll suggest a travel plan that best fits you.

More: 16GB RAM? Why not? Turing monolith Chaccone phablet will not be here to party … hopefully

Turning’s terrible track record

It seems like a lot to promise, and Turing doesn’t have great track record of delivering on its promises. The eponymous Turing Phone was scheduled to ship in December 2015, but was delayed till April 2016, and then again to June 2016. When it finally did arrive, the operating system had changed, and it performed so poorly that we gave it a low score of two stars out of five.

More: You don’t have to be a supervillian to appreciate the ultra-secure Turing phone

But Chao said the company is committed to meeting expectations and shipping the Appassionato on time. Turing has contracted TCL, the Chinese manufacturing partner behind the BlackBerry KeyOne, and expects the Appassionato to ship to customers in the U.S. and China this summer.

More: More delays and a new operating system for the super-secure Turing phone

A sky-high price for vaporware

One thing is for sure: If and when the Appasionato does arrive, it won’t be cheap. A low-end version that lacks the sapphire display, diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating, and access to Turing’s concierge service will start at $1,100. The top-of-the-line Appassionato GX8 will run $1,600 and only comes with one year of concierge access — Chao declinedg to break down service pricing.

Despite the sky-high price tag, Chao sees the Appassionato as the first Turing phone aimed at average buyers. “We’re very much after designers and fashion-savvy customers, but we think it’s priced competitively,” he told Digital Trends. “If you compare the price of the Appassionato to an iPhone with the same storage, it’s pretty close.”

Time will tell. But Chao is confident the Appassionato will turn heads. “It’s a life organizer,” he said. “People will love it.”

Tarzan the Robot will swing over the heads of farmers to monitor their crops

Why it matters to you

Monitoring crops is hard work. This Tarzan-inspired robot aims to make it easier by traversing wires to get a better view of what’s happening.

Tarzan is lord of the jungle, but according to some fascinating work being done by a team at Georgia Institute of Technology, he may also be lord of our robotics labs — and perhaps our farms, too.

That’s because the team has developed Tarzan the Robot, a robot capable of traversing a high-wire in a manner not dissimilar to the way Edgar Rice Burroughs’ hero swings through the trees. The energy-efficient robot’s unusual form of locomotion was actually modeled on the movement of sloths, and is designed in such a way that it might one day be able to benefit from its high-flying position by being powered directly by the sun.

Unlike a lot of innovative robotics projects, however, the team behind this particular robot isn’t just developing it for open-ended research. Instead, the researchers have a very specific real-world use case for it.

“Our first immediate application is for something called high-throughput phenotyping, which is a method of experimentally evaluating plant attributes for different breeds to evaluate [things like] drought tolerance,” Jonathan Rogers, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, told Digital Trends. “We plan on deploying this system at a farm field at the University of Georgia where they do phenotyping, which is a very labor intensive process that we hope to better automate. Moving forward, we see this as a key capability that can be deployed across the agricultural sector.”

More: Watch MIT’s swimming hydrogel robot sneak up and grab a passing fish

The idea of using such a visually outlandish robot for agriculture may sound like overkill, but as Rogers pointed out, a lot of the more traditional solutions simply don’t work all that well.

“A few years back, some colleagues and I were exploring ways for small, persistent monitoring robots to traverse crop fields,” he continued. “These robots had to survive and move throughout the field over long periods of time without human intervention. There was no easy solution to this problem, as wheeled robots were likely to get stuck, and flying robots typically have flight times only in the tens of minutes. So we developed [this] so-called brachiating robot, or swinging robot, that can traverse elevated wires above the plant rows. Many agricultural settings already have some type of elevated wire, or they can be easily installed. Our robot can swing along a wire, or between wires, allowing it to monitor an entire field using sensors installed between the arms.”

These sensors can then collect data and transmit it wirelessly back to a base station for processing and analysis. When it comes to monitoring and inspection, the hope is that farmers will be able to inspect plants from their home computer, rather than having to physically walk the field.

Next up, the team plans to make the Tarzan the Robot more energy efficient by optimizing the way its swing motor operates, and using solar panels so it won’t have to worry about recharging. They also want to improve its design to make it more survivable in outdoor environments, so it can be left outdoors among the plants for an entire growing season.

Wi-Fi calling is coming soon to Pixel, Pixel XL on India’s Jio

Wi-Fi calling is coming with Android 7.1.2 Nougat to the Pixel and Pixel XL on Jio.

Google added VoLTE support for the Pixel and Pixel XL on Jio back in December, and will soon offer Wi-Fi calling via an upcoming Nougat update. The update will make it easier for customers to make calls using Wi-Fi in situations where they don’t have great cellular coverage in their homes. The call will be routed through your phone number, but instead of mobile data like VoLTE, it uses your Wi-Fi connection.

Now say hi over wi-fi. VoLTE and WiFi calling, now available to Pixel on Jio. Watch out for the next Nougat update. pic.twitter.com/C80XFKM9g4

— Google India (@GoogleIndia) April 10, 2017

The update will likely be the Android 7.1.2 Nougat build that Google started rolling out to Pixel and Nexus devices last week. In addition to Wi-Fi calling, customers can expect to see speed optimizations and bug fixes. If you don’t want to wait for the OTA to hit, you can get the update by flashing the factory images right now:

How to install Android 7.1.2 on your Nexus or Pixel right now

What was your first phone? Taking a walk down cell phone memory lane

Forget the smart little powerhouses we have in our hands today. We’re throwing it back to the olden days, before unlimited anything.

I’ve officially reached the point in my life that I can now look back nostalgically at my technology past. And since we’ve been talking about escapism, I thought it would be fun to start off the week with a trip down memory lane.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about my first cell phone, the Motorola StarTac. It was a dull, clunky flip phone with a retractable antenna. (I’m chuckling as I’m recalling it.) I tried desperately to cover it in stickers and make it look cool, but it was still relatively utilitarian-looking. I remember it was marketed more towards business folk and contractors rather than socially awkward teenagers like me. I needed something hip to fit in with the masses, like a Nokia 3310, but it wasn’t offered by Verizon at the time. And anyway, the StarTac was a hand-me-down that was initially meant as a tracking device.

Via DeviantArt user Redfield-1982.

Each minute of talk cost a whopping 30 cents.

Per my parents, the StarTac was only to be used to call for a ride home. I wasn’t allowed to text anyone or make phone calls without permission because the phone was on a severely limited plan. Any time I spent on the phone had to be carefully counted because each minute of talk cost a whopping 30 cents.

Eventually, I lobbied for a better deal. Rather than spend $3 for 10 minutes of talking, I argued, why not switch the plan so that I’m primarily texting instead? It’s quieter for everyone at home, it’s cheaper, and it was the cool new way to communicate with friends. My parents agreed to this, and it felt like the path had cleared for my ever-so-slightly burgeoning social life.

My friend’s Motorola T900 2-Way Pager.

I spent a few months texting back and forth with one friend in particular. She was on a text-only device: the Motorola T900 2-Way Pager, which came with a miniature QWERTY keyboard. She was not only more thorough in her replies, but she sent longer messages, too, which counted against my allowance. I would reply to her the next day, in person, because I didn’t want to scare her away with the realities of my messaging limitations. Or rather, I didn’t want it to get out that was all my parents would pay for.

By my 16th birthday, I was better equipped for socializing in high school. My parents used an upgrade on their account and allowed me to pick out the phone. It was the Motorola T720 and it was the cutest little thing. It could download apps, play games, and go on the internet, in addition to making phone calls and sending text messages — and it did all this on a color display! I didn’t have to cover it in stickers to make it look decent, either. Instead, I bought translucent neon face plates for it from a kiosk at the mall, like the rest of my friends did with their Nokia 3310s.

An original advertisement from 2001 for the Motorola T720.

What was your first cell phone?

For fun, I put out this question on Twitter to see what the replies might be like. I’ve pasted a few below, though you can view the whole thread here. Unsurprisingly, I received many replies about a Nokia cell phone being the first mobile device.

@Ohthatflo Nokia 3210. Bullet proof.

— Richard Williams (@rlswilliams) April 8, 2017

@Ohthatflo Mine was a Nokia 5560.

— SirMars (@sirmars) April 7, 2017

@Ohthatflo Fun remembering. First was Motorola Micro Tac. Favorite ever was my Star Tac. Most coveted, never owned? Motorola Vader!

— Gina Smith (@ginasmith) April 7, 2017

@Ohthatflo Some cute black Samsung flip phone. I think it was like A900 something, not sure.

— Izzy Oji ✨ (@izzyoji) April 7, 2017

@Ohthatflo first I actually used was the Nokia.Where I could get free incoming texts with the old AT&T Wireless before it was Cingular then at&t again pic.twitter.com/asRC56E7fi

— James (@JamesKoltiska) April 7, 2017

@Ohthatflo The Nokia 3310😍 Saved up my allowance to get it..Awesome phone! #memories

— Rashad (@shad876) April 7, 2017

Alright, I’ve told you my story and a few others have told you theirs. Now it’s your turn: What was your first mobile device? Tell us about it in the comments! We’ll showcase some of your answers in a post later this week.

Pay what you want and learn how to develop your own Android apps

Android is the world’s most popular operating system with millions of apps available in the Google Play Store. New apps are released by indie developers every day. Do you have a brilliant idea for a new app? Don’t wait for someone else to make it — learn how to build and monetize your own Android apps.

Pay what you want for the Ultimate Android Development Bundle! Learn more

Right now, Android Central Digital Offers is letting you pay what you want for The Ultimate Android Development Bundle.

Here’s how these deals work. You can pay anything you want and get access to 44 lectures as part of the Android Mobile Apps: Beginner to Published on Google Play online course. Pay more than the average price and get all six courses in the bundle! They include:

• The Complete Android Developer Course: Go From Beginner To Advanced
• Android: From Beginner to Paid Professional
• How to Make a Freaking Android App
• Android App Development: Create Streaming Spotify Clone
• The Complete Android & Java Developer Course: Build 21 Apps
• Android Mobile Apps: Beginner to Published on Google Play

All combined, this is a $861 value, and you can currently get them all for under $20!

Pay what you want for the Ultimate Android Development Bundle! Learn more

Ready to make a change in your career and start creating your own Android apps? This bundle will teach you everything you need to know to get started. Get lifetime access to these valuable courses so you can always consult back to them as needed when you’re building your first apps.

Samsung Gear 360 (2017) vs. Gear 360 (2016): What’s different, what’s better

One of these things is clearly not like the other.

It doesn’t take more than a passing glance to see there are some substantial differences between the new Gear 360 Samsung announced alongside the Galaxy S8 and the model from last year. The old one was built to have the processor and battery between the lenses so you could mount the camera just about anywhere, while the new one was built to be held like most of the other 360-degree cameras out in the world today. This difference is significant from a usability perspective, but what else is different about these two cameras?

Here’s a quick look at how things have improved from one generation to the next in the Gear 360 lineup.

More than a specs sheet

Anyone familiar with the original Gear 360 will look at this new model and be a little suspicious that it’s actually an upgrade, and that has a lot to do with the specs sheet. The older version of this camera has twice the number of megapixels to work with, captures in a wider aperture, and offers a slightly larger battery for recording video. Here’s the whole breakdown.

So this new camera has a smaller battery, no NFC, and takes photos with less detail and resolution? There’s a lot more to it than that in practice. The biggest “feature” of this new Gear 360 is the more than 20mm it lost between the two sensors. That decrease makes stitching together images and video much easier, which means the camera itself can take more realistic 360-degree photos. Even with twice the pixels to capture with, the previous Gear 360 frequently appeared distorted where the two halves of the image were stitched together. This smaller body makes it easier to take better photos, and as we know from smartphones more megapixels does not mean a better image.

The lack of NFC in the new model is kind of a bummer if you frequently use that feature on your phone, but the truth is Samsung has already done a great job making it easy to connect to the Gear 360 from inside the app. It wasn’t worth the extra space it took inside the body of this camera. Removing that feature likely also helped a little with battery life — not that you’ll notice any huge difference in performance between these two products. The only thing you’re likely to notice here is the USB-C port, which will let you connect a cable straight to your phone if your camera is in need little top-off.

It’s not all negatives, either. Despite having smaller sensors, this new and appreciably lighter Gear 360 is capable of taking both higher resolution and higher frame rate video. You have the ability to take higher resolution videos to share with Facebook and YouTube, but the higher frame rate videos make this camera ideal for capturing a lot of intense motion for VR. Capturing a roller coaster ride at 120fps or a dashcam-style video at 60fps makes these videos much easier to watch with a headset on, which is a big deal when thinking about who you are recording video for.

New features are where it’s at

Not only is the new Gear 360 easier to hold, there are some important new things you can do with it. New camera features that offer quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to how you use this camera and when you might think about carrying it around.

• Landscape HDR – As the name suggests, this lets you capture multiple still photos back to back at different exposures so you can enjoy a photo with greater dynamic range. It’s perfect for capturing a sunrise over the ocean or a wide open space at midday with the sun bearing down.

• Looping Video – Instead of worrying about running out of storage, this mode will record over itself when the microSD card is full. It’ll continue doing this until you tell it not to, so you can in theory record for an entire day while connected to power and be able to look back and the last couple of hours when you return to your camera.

• Little Planet – It’s not challenging to turn any 360-degree photo into a Little Planet, where the perspective is inverted and the horizon line is no longer the focal point, but the new Gear 360 lets you see a preview of this mode before taking the photo, and even letting you mess around a little with the sizing and proportions before taking a photo.

You can’t do any of these things on the previous Gear 360 as native features, and they make a big difference in the day-to-day use of this camera if your goal is to wander around and explore 360-degree photography. These aren’t likely to be features you use every day, but they are really nice to have around when you’re experimenting.

Which should I buy?

What you’re getting between these two cameras is a lot of small differences that really add up depending on how you decide to use your camera. If you want a Gear 360 you can mount somewhere and take great big photos, the original Gear 360 is still a great camera. If you want something you’re more likely to want to carry around with you, and you’re interested in exploring what is possible with a 360-degree camera, the new Gear 360 will be what you want to buy when it goes on sale.

Either way, you’re going to have a lot of fun with this weird buy fun way of taking photos.

See on Amazon

Best Samsung Galaxy S8 Deals for April 2017

Where is the best place to buy a Galaxy S8 right now? Let’s find out!

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are the company’s latest smartphones, and as of right now they haven’t even hit the market. If you’re the type that likes to stay on the breaking edge of technology, you’re probably looking to get your order in sooner than later, so that you can have one when it becomes available. Whether the smaller one is what interests you, or the larger display that pushes the limits even further speaks to you, the last thing you want to do is not find the best deal to buy one.

Pre-orders are available already at a number of retailers and carriers, so let’s take a look at who is offering what, so you know where to go to when you’re ready to place your order. Currently, Samsung’s big promotion is a free Gear VR & Oculus Controller, but some retailers are offering other incentives as well.

Samsung Galaxy S8

• Verizon is offering it for as little as $15/mo with select trade-ins
• AT&T is running a Buy One, Give one promotion
• T-Mobile is offering a free Gear VR & Oculus controller with pre-order
• Sprint’s Galaxy Forever plan will let you upgrade after 12 lease payments
• Best Buy is offering up to $100 off on new payment plans

Samsung Galaxy S8+

• AT&T is running a Buy One, Give One promotion
• T-Mobile is offering a free Gear VR & Oculus controller with pre-order
• Sprint’s Galaxy Forever plan will let you upgrade after 12 lease payments
• Verizon is offering it for as little as $15/mo with select trade-ins
• Best Buy is offering up to $100 off on new payment plans

Your favorite deals?

Have you come across any deals that aren’t listed here? If so, be sure to drop a note in the comments with a link to the deal so others can check it out as well!

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ hands-on preview!
• Galaxy S8 and S8+ specs
• Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras
• Get to know Samsung Bixby
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

Verizon
AT&T
T-Mobile
Sprint

Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Apple iPhone 7: What’s the difference?

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 launched at the end of March, bringing with it a fabulous design, powerful specs and plenty of features, all hoping to rebuild the consumer confidence lost by the Galaxy Note 7.

It’s a stand out device, there’s no doubt about that, but how does the Galaxy S8 compare to its competition? You can read how it stands up against its predecessor, as well as the LG G6 and Google’s Pixel devices in our separate features, but here we are focusing on how it compares to Apple’s iPhone 7.

Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Apple iPhone 7: Design

• Both offer premium designs with waterproofing
• iPhone 7 is smaller and lighter
• Galaxy S8 has an all-screen front

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has a beautiful design featuring a metal build, almost all-screen dual-edged front with very slim bezels and a glass rear. There is no branding or physical buttons on the front of the device, while the rear sees the square camera lens in the centre at the top with the fingerprint sensor to its right and the flash module to the left.

The Apple iPhone 7 also delivers in the design department, though it has a flat screen and much larger bezels than the S8, making it look a little more dated given the latest trend for big screens. The iPhone 7 has a circular home button with the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the front, while the all-aluminium rear has a small camera lens in the top left corner in a more subtle form than the S8. 

In terms of physical measurements, the S8 comes in at 148.9 x 68.1 x 8mm and it hits the scales at 155g, while the iPhone 7 isn’t quite as tall and ever so slightly slimmer at 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1mm. It is also lighter at 138g. Bear in mind that the S8 has a much larger display than both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus though.

Both the Galaxy S8 and the iPhone 7 are waterproof, with the S8 offering IP68 and the iPhone 7 offering IP67 ratings.

• Samsung Galaxy S8 preview

Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Apple iPhone 7: Display

• Galaxy S8 has much larger display
• Galaxy S8 has more than double the pixels per inch
• Galaxy S8 offers curved display and Mobile HDR Premium

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has a 5.8-inch display, while the Apple iPhone 7 has a 4.7-inch display so you get quite a bit more screen on Samsung’s device without having a significantly bigger device, largely thanks to the S8’s 18.5:9 ratio over the traditional 16:9.

Samsung also offers a higher resolution than Apple, with 2960 x 1440 pixels on the S8 compared to 1334 x 750 pixels on the iPhone 7. This means the Galaxy S8 should offer crisper and sharper detail than the iPhone 7 with a pixel density of 570ppi compared to 326ppi. The iPhone 7 still offers a great display though so don’t get too caught up in the numbers.

The iPhone 7 opts for a Retina HD display, translating to an LED-backlit LCD flat screen, while the Galaxy S8 has a Super AMOLED Infinity Display, which means bezel-less and edge-to-edge offering rich and vibrant colours. Samsung also offers Mobile HDR Premium on its S8, making the new flagship compatible with viewing HDR content.

• Mobile HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10 and everything you need to know about future mobile entertainment

Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Apple iPhone 7: Camera

• Both have 12MP rear cameras
• Galaxy S8 has 8MP front camera, iPhone 7 has 7MP
• Excellent results expected from both 

When it comes to smartphone camera capabilities, it is no secret that Apple and Samsung both deliver fantastic results. The iPhone 7 has already proved itself in this department, and while the Galaxy S8 still has to, we’re expecting great things so you’re not likely to be disappointed with either device here, no matter who wins the megapixel battle.

For those of you who do want the details though, the Samsung Galaxy S8 has a 12-megapixel Duo Pixel rear camera with an f/1.7 aperture, optical image stabilisation and phase detection autofocus. Samsung offers multi-frame image processing, which means the S8 snaps three pictures and uses all the information to create one better, more detailed final image.

The front-facing camera on the S8 has an 8-megapixel resolution with an f/1.7 aperture and autofocus over fixed focus. There is also iris scanning technology on board the S8, allowing you to unlock your device quickly and easily.

The Apple iPhone 7 meanwhile, has a 12-megapixel rear camera too with a slightly narrower aperture of f/1.8, though in the grand scheme of things, this is minor. It too has optical image stabilisation, along with plenty of features including a Quad-LED True Tone flash.

The front-facing camera resolution sits at 7-megapixels with a f/2.2 aperture, a Retina Flash and auto image stabilisation. There is no iris scanning on board the iPhone 7 though so unlocking is via the six-digit passcode or Touch ID only. 

• Apple iPhone 7 review

Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Apple iPhone 7: Hardware

• Galaxy S8 offers double RAM and microSD
• Performance on both should be great
• No 3.5mm headphone jack or wireless charging on iPhone 7

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has an Exynos octa-core chipset under its hood, coupled with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and microSD support for further storage expansion. Some regions may get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, but either way, you’re looking at a lot of power.

There is a 3000mAh battery capacity running the S8 show, charged via USB Type-C with both wireless charging and fast charging supported. Samsung says the battery will offer up to 20 hours talk time and up to 14 hours Wi-Fi browsing. You’ll also find a 3.5mm headphone jack for plugging in the AKG in-ear headphones that are bundles with the S8 in the box.

The Apple iPhone 7 has the company’s A10 Fusion chip with embedded M10 motion coprocessor, coupled with 2GB of RAM and storage options of 32GB, 128GB and 256GB, none of which have microSD for storage expansion.

In terms of battery, Apple claims the iPhone 7 will deliver up to 14 hours talk time and up to 14 hours Wi-Fi browsing. It is charged via Lightning and wireless charging is not supported. There is also no 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7, though Apple does bundle in a Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack adapter in the box, meaning you’ll still be able to use your old headphones. 

Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Apple iPhone 7: Software

• Galaxy S8 runs on Android with TouchWiz
• iPhone 7 runs on iOS 10, with quick updates to latest software
• Both good platforms

The Samsung Galaxy S8 runs on Android 7.0 with the TouchWiz interface over the top, while the Apple iPhone 7 runs on iOS 10, meaning quite different experiences on both, though both great.

It comes down to personal preference as to which platform you prefer, but ultimately both offer similar features – like great app stores – they are just packaged in a slightly different way. Apple offers quicker updates when new software builds are released, while Samsung users normally have a wait a while following an Android update, but the overall experience on both devices is excellent.

The Galaxy S8 will eventually offer Bixby, Samsung’s new AI system, while Apple offers Siri so both devices deliver a personal assistant of some sort. If you’re undecided on which platform you might prefer, try reading our iOS 10 tips and tricks feature and our S7 tips and tricks feature to give you an idea of the kinds of things you’ll be able to do on both. We will do a separate S8 tips feature when we have spent more time with the device.

Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Apple iPhone 7: Price

• Similar price, iPhone slightly cheaper but less storage
• Both come in five colours 

The Samsung Galaxy S8 costs £639 and it is available in five colours, though not all colours will come to every country. The options comprise Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Coral Blue, Artic Silver and Maple Gold.

The Apple iPhone 7 costs between £599 and £799 depending on the capacity you choose. It is available in five colours too: Jet Black, Black, Silver, Gold and Rose Gold. The Jet Black model only comes in 128GB and 256GB options though, meaning it starts at £699. 

Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Apple iPhone 7: Which should you choose?

The Apple iPhone 7 is a great device, though its battery isn’t awesome, while the Samsung Galaxy S8 has all the potential to be an great device, even if it hasn’t yet proved it. So which do you choose? 

Well, ultimately this decision comes down to which design and platform you prefer. The Galaxy S8 has an amazing design that catapults Samsung into the future, while the iPhone 7 stays safe, offering a design that works and looks great but is perhaps not quite as exciting as newer devices.

In terms of specs, there isn’t a great deal between these two handsets. Both have great cameras, powerful hardware, good software and good displays. They are also both waterproof and they aren’t too far off each other in terms of price so neither is likely to disappoint. 

If you’re swaying towards the iPhone, bear in mind that the iPhone 8 should be appearing in the next six months so it might be worth hanging on a little longer. If you think Samsung is the one for you, pre-orders are open now, with delivery on 21 April.