Explore the world with Google Earth VR on Oculus Rift

The Google Earth revamp isn’t just focused on the web and mobile crowds — there are a few perks for virtual reality fans as well. Google has updated Earth’s free VR experience to support the Oculus Rift headset and its Oculus Touch controllers. You no longer need HTC’s Vive to fly over landscapes, including 27 new ones like Germany’s Neuschwanstein Castle or South Africa’s Table Mountain. It’ll no doubt seem familiar if you’ve tried it before, but there is big interface update to go along with the widened hardware support.

All VR users now have the option to search for locations by typing on a virtual keyboard. It’s definitely not going to be as fast as punching in an address on your phone, but it will let you fly over any location at a moment’s notice instead of having to navigate there first. In other words, Google Earth just became decidedly more functional. It’s not so much a pure tech showcase (though it can certainly be used as such) as it is a tool for exploring the planet in an immersive way.

Via: VentureBeat

Source: Google, Oculus Store, Steam

Even tiny wireless carriers want their own internet TV service

Wireless providers with a live TV service aren’t hard to find these days. AT&T offers its customers DirecTV Now and Verizon has its own Go90 service to entice new customers. Mississippi-based C Spire is the latest to offer an app-based HD TV service, C Spire TV.

The company promises the full complement of channels you’d expect to have with a traditional cable package, but they aren’t giving out specifics yet. C Spire already has traditional internet and home TV services in addition to wireless, which might have let them leverage existing deals and relationships to provide content.

The C Spire TV app will be on Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku as well phones and tablets. The app will also have a cloud DVR feature to let you record and watch shows at home or on the go via the C Spire app. This may give the service an edge over DirecTV, which doesn’t have a cloud DVR feature yet, and Sling, which has a limited one. In addition, C Spire TV will integrate with Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices so you can search for and start shows with your voice. According to a company spokesperson, this all happens via a back-end server that relays your voice commands to the C Spire app for a “seamless” experience.

Aside from these integrated features, the relatively small company is playing catch-up here. Its larger competitors, including cable providers like Comcast, already have solid offerings, and C Spire’s new service is only rolling out to its gigabit internet customers in Mississippi this spring. That said, C Spire TV promises to offer pretty much the same thing as traditional cable, without the cable box. It might be a solid option for customers in the service area looking to cut the cord.

Source: C Spire

Google Maps brings your destination history to iOS

As a competitor to Apple Maps, Google Maps does a pretty great job on iOS. Of course, it helps that Google started mapping long before Apple’s offering drove people onto airport runways. If you’re one of the millions of people relying on Google’s mapping expertise, you can see all of your past Maps destinations in a list called Your Timeline. This marks the first time iOS users can access the feature, one that Android and desktop users have had for years.

You can get to your timeline pretty easily, both from the cards of places you’ve been as well as through the Google Maps menu. The place cards will now show you the dates of your previous visits, though this information is only visible to you. You can also get a monthly email from Google Maps, reminding you of all the cool places you’ve been. Of course, if you only hit the convenience store, fast food joints and the laundromat, this feature might be less than useful. If so, you can toggle it off in preferences.

Google has kept track of your whereabouts for a while now, so surfacing the data for users seems like a no-brainer. Ultimately, whether you use Your Timeline to remember your vacation or how to find the last Burger King you went to, the feature will now work for you on iOS, too.

Source: Google

Murders, suicides and rapes: Facebook’s major video problem

A nationwide manhunt for Steve Stephens, the 37-year-old from Cleveland who uploaded a video to Facebook of himself shooting an elderly stranger in the head, came to an end today. Stephens committed suicide after a brief car chase with state police in Erie, Pennsylvania. His crime, which took place this past Sunday, sparked outrage not only because of the violence itself, but also the way Facebook handled the situation. It took the social network over two hours to take the video down, although it claims this was because it wasn’t flagged immediately by other users. Facebook says Stephens’ actions weren’t reported until he used the Live feature to stream his murder confession, about an hour and forty five minutes after the shooting video was uploaded. His account has since been suspended.

“This is a horrific crime and we do not allow this kind of content on Facebook,” the company said in a statement. “We work hard to keep a safe environment on Facebook, and are in touch with law enforcement in emergencies when there are direct threats to physical safety.” As it stands, Facebook relies heavily on people flagging graphic content (the same way it does sketchy ads), which means individuals have to actually see something dreadful before they can flag it. As Wired reported earlier this year, Facebook has opted against using algorithms to censor videos like this before they’re posted, claiming that it doesn’t want to be accused of violating freedom of speech rights. But, as these types of cases continue to be on the rise, the company may be forced to change its stance sooner than later.

A photo of Steve Stephens.

It could be hard for the company to build an algorithm that can successfully tell the difference between a video of someone being murdered and a clip from, say, a Jason Bourne movie. But, according to Facebook’s VP of Operations Justin Osofsky, his team is constantly exploring new technologies that can help create a safer environment on the site. Osofsky pointed to artificial intelligence in particular, which he says is already helping prevent certain graphic videos from being reshared in their entirety. Facebook’s explanation of this is confusing, though: it says people “are still able to share portions of the videos in order to condemn them or for public awareness, as many news outlets are doing in reporting the story online and on television.”

The company didn’t clarify how the feature works when we reached out, but it’s clear a video like Stephens’ should be removed completely and immediately. And, as a result of this weekend’s events, Osofsky said Facebook is reviewing its reporting system to ensure that people can flag explicit videos and other content “as easily and as quickly as possible.”

Facebook has really jumped very quickly into the video space, which is exciting, but they’re taking a fail-fast approach to it.

Unfortunately for Facebook, Stephens’ case isn’t the first time it has faced scrutiny over people using its tools to promote violence. Back in March, Chicago police charged a 14-year-old boy after he used Facebook Live to broadcast the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl, which was just one of many gruesome clips that hit Facebook recently. Per The Wall Street Journal, more than 60 sensitive videos, including physical beatings, suicides and murders, have been streamed on Facebook Live since it launched to the public last year. This begs the question: Should the Federal Communications Commission regulate social networks the way it does TV? In 2015, former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said there were no plans to do so, claiming he wasn’t sure the agency’s authority extended to “picking and choosing among websites.”

The FCC, now headed by Ajit Pai under President Trump, did not respond to our request for comment on the matter. That said, a source inside a major video-streaming company thinks services such as Facebook Live, Periscope and YouTube Live would benefit from having a “delay” safeguard in place. This could be similar in practice to how TV networks handle live events, which always feature a seven-second delay in case something unexpected happens. Remember when Justin Timberlake uncovered Janet Jackson’s nipple during the Super Bowl 38 halftime show in 2004? This delay system is designed to prevent scenes like those from showing up on your TV.

“Facebook has really jumped very quickly into the video space, which is exciting, but they’re taking a fail-fast approach to it,” the source, who asked to remain anonymous, said. “In the desire to push Live out to as many people as possible, there were a lot of corners that were cut. And when you take a fail-fast approach to something like live-streaming video, it’s not surprising that you come across these scenarios in which you have these huge ethical dilemmas of streaming a murder, sexual violence or something else.”

As for why individuals are using these platforms to broadcasts their heinous acts, Janis L. Whitlock, a professor at Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology, says it’s hard to understand what exactly is the cause since there’s no way you can do an experimental control. She says there’s a good chance Stephens was struggling with a mental illness and saw his victim, 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr., as an object in an ongoing fantasy. Whitlock says that while there’s a good side to these social networks, they also tend to bring out the worst in people, especially those who are craving attention: “They make the most ugly of us, the most ugly in us, visible.”

“The fact that you can have witnesses, like billions of people witness something in a tiny period of time, it has to have an enormous impact on the human psyche,” she says. “How does that interact with the things that people do, or choose not to do? We don’t know yet, but it does, absolutely. I have no doubt about that as a psychologist.” Whitlock says companies like Facebook need to start taking some civic responsibility, adding that there needs to be a conversation between it and other internet giants about how their products “interact with who humans are” and how they can expose someone’s limitations and potentials.

“How is it that we can use and structure these things to really amplify all the ways in which we’re amazing,” Whitlock says, “and not the ways in which we’re disgusting?”

Uber Central lets businesses offer you a free ride

While Uber is scaling back some services, the ride-hailing giant is also finalizing some new features for their lucrative business customers. Uber Central, which the company launched last summer, is now live and out of beta, allowing businesses to order multiple cars and handle ride costs for their clients or customers.

Uber Central is a dashboard that works within Uber for Business and runs on any tablet or browser and solves a common problem for businesses. Instead of being limited to ordering one car for the device, Uber Central allows a single user act as a dispatcher and order multiple cars with different pickup and dropoff locations. That means a hotel could easily handle airport transfers for their customers, an event organizer could dispatch a fleet of Ubers to pick up attendees, or a company could send a ride to make sure an important client gets to the big meeting on time.

The app handles the estimated cost and each ride gets charged to the main business account so riders don’t have to deal with the logistics. For passengers that don’t have an Uber account or a smartphone, Uber can send an SMS message with the driver’s name, license plate and vehicle make and model so they can still easier find their ride. On the business’s end, the company can save “Drafts” of common routes so they can easily be re-used.

Although Uber Central was originally free, TechCrunch reports that Uber is now charging a separate fee to activate the service within its business platform.

Apple Makes iMovie, GarageBand, and iWork Apps for Mac and iOS Free for All Users

Apple today updated several of its Mac and iOS apps, making them available for all Mac and iOS users for free.

iMovie, Numbers, Keynote, Pages, and GarageBand for both Mac and iOS devices have been updated and are now listed in the App Store for free.

Previously, all of these apps were provided for free to customers who purchased a new Mac or iOS device, but now that purchase is not required to get the software. Many Apple customers were already likely eligible to download the software at no cost if they had made a device purchase in the last few years.

Apple’s iWork page has not yet been updated and continues to say that customers will only be able to download Pages, Keynote, and Numbers after purchasing an eligible Mac or iOS device, but new wording may be added shortly following the price drop. Apple’s apps have also been removed from the Top Free app charts in the App Store.

Apple has been offering these apps for free to new Mac and iOS device owners since 2013, but dropping the price to free for all users makes it less confusing and opens up downloads for those who have not recently made a new device purchase.

– Pages for macOS [Direct Link]
– Keynote for macOS [Direct Link]
– Numbers for macOS [Direct Link]
– GarageBand for macOS – [Direct Link]
– iMovie for macOS – [Direct Link]

– Pages for iOS – [Direct Link]
– Keynote for iOS – [Direct Link]
– Numbers for iOS – [Direct Link]
– GarageBand for iOS – [Direct Link]
– iMovie for iOS – [Direct Link]

Update: According to a support document, today’s app changes will make it easier for business and educational institutions to download Pages, Numbers, Keynote, GarageBand, and iMovie through the Volume Purchase Program store.

Tags: iWork, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iMovie, GarageBand
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Apple Music and Spotify Chat Extensions Coming to Facebook Messenger

Facebook today announced plans to integrate both Spotify and Apple Music into Facebook Messenger, allowing Messenger users to link to Apple Music or Spotify content for sharing songs and playlists directly within the Facebook Messenger app.

Apple has not shared details on how its chat extension will work, but Spotify published a blog post detailing the Spotify chat extension, which will undoubtedly share similarities with Apple Music.

Using the Spotify chat extension, users can search and share Spotify songs, albums, and playlists. Song links will play 30 second clips, with users able to tap on a link to open the Spotify app to listen to a full song.

The Spotify bot, in addition to allowing songs to be shared, will offer up playlist recommendations to users based on mood, activity, and genre. It’s not clear if Apple will introduce a similar feature.

Apple has made an effort to make Apple Music widely available on multiple platforms and services. It already integrates with the main Facebook app, and there’s also an Android app and an iMessage extension.

Spotify is available in Facebook Messenger first, with Apple Music integration coming at a later date.

Tags: Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Spotify, Apple Music
Discuss this article in our forums

Samsung Galaxy S8 review

Research Center:
Samsung Galaxy S8

With pre-orders through the roof, it looks like Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus may be unmatched in sales this year (perhaps until the next iPhone at least). It’s certainly a win for the company, considering its new phones are $100 more than we’re used to paying. More importantly, this is Samsung’s first major device since it recalled the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7, and it looks like people are hungry for a successor.

The Galaxy S8 is worth the hype and the wait since the year-old Galaxy S7 Edge (which frankly looks dated now with its home button). But in a time where you can get a fantastic smartphone for $400 or less, is it worth dropping $750 or more on the S8? We think so, if only for its brilliant screen, but it is a big ask if money is tight. The Galaxy S8 has exceptional build quality, design, and a stellar displays, not to mention plenty of power to crush any task. Let’s take a closer look.

Brilliant screen, eye-catching design

So far, the Galaxy S8 is the prettiest smartphone of 2017, and it will certainly be tough to beat. It’s smooth and soft to the touch, and the all-glass design means you won’t feel a disconnect between the back and the front of the smartphone — it’s seamless.

But we can’t talk about the S8’s design without first addressing its brilliant screen. Both the S8 and the S8 Plus have a resolution of 2,960 × 1,440 pixels, allowing for crisp image quality. The Super AMOLED screen gets impressively bright, offers darker blacks, and its mobile HDR Premium certification means it boasts greater color volume, meaning you can watch colorful High-Dynamic Range (HDR) content, which is the new hot thing in video. This has the best screen we’ve ever seen on a smartphone.

To showcase this vibrant display, Samsung added skimpy bezels (edges around the screen) on the top and bottom, and utilized its Edge display. As such, the screen takes up 83 percent of the front panel, and it’s absolutely the first thing anyone will notice on the phone. It looks “futuristic,” my sister told me; she hardly cares or pays attention to technology at all.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The bigger display improves the smartphone experience. Even sending an email feels nice because the screen makes well-designed apps look even more gorgeous. But while eliminating bezels may be the current smartphone trend, gripping the phone without triggering the screen is difficult. It takes some getting used to, but that’s because we have to rethink smartphone sizes, and what they mean.

The Galaxy S8 Plus is 6.2-inches, and the S8 is 5.8-inches — those are some of the largest screens we’ve seen on a smartphone. But as the screens have gotten larger, the smartphone’s frame has stayed nearly the same size. The curved edge-to-edge screen coupled with minimal bezels make it tough to grab the phone from a flat surface at first, for example, but it gets easier after a few hours. You also may find yourself accidentally triggering the screen when gripping the phone (more so with the S8 Plus), but again we adapted fairly quickly. You probably will, too.

The all-glass design means the phone is slippery and fragile, not to mention a fingerprint magnet. (Make sure you grab a case and keep a microfiber cloth handy at all times.) You’ll find the power button on the right side, and the volume rocker and Bixby button on the left. Bixby is Samsung’s new Siri, and we’ll talk more about it later. The headphone jack is on the bottom, to the left of the USB Type-C port. To the right of that port is the phone’s sole speaker, which is bottom-firing, like the iPhone.

This has the best screen we’ve ever seen on a smartphone.

The decision to only go with one bottom-firing speaker is unfortunate. As is the case with most single, bottom-firing speakers — such as the ones on the Pixel and the LG G6 — our hands end up blocking sound when holding the phone horizontally. The S8’s speaker quality is pretty good, but it doesn’t get as loud as the iPhone 7.

The back of the phone feels like an afterthought, though perhaps it’s simply overshadowed by the beauty of the front. There’s nothing special about it. The design looks almost the same as the Galaxy S7. The camera sits flush, next to the flash and heart rate sensor, and a fingerprint sensor. That’s right, for the first time Samsung has removed the home button from the front of the phone. Despite the rumors, the company hasn’t embedded a fingerprint sensor in the display so you’ll have to use the one on the rear. This causes two major problems, but we’ll dive into that later.

Samsung makes some of the best smartphone hardware, and the Galaxy S8 series is all the evidence you need. Both models feel incredibly smooth, thin, and the construction is seamless. We suggest opting for the S8 over the S8 Plus, because it’s compact and far easier to hold.

Top specs

The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are the first phones to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor (international variants use Samsung’s Exynos 8895), which means it’s supposed to deliver 27 percent better performance than phones that use the Snapdragon 821, such as the Google Pixel and the OnePlus 3T. Qualcomm also claims the 835 is more energy efficient, though we haven’t seen a noticeable improvement in battery life from last year.

You’ll find both S8’s have 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage — though you can expand it with the MicroSD card slot.

Initially, we ran into a horrible bug. Our Galaxy S8 Plus was stuttering all over the place, particularly in the notification drawer and the Recent apps section. A factory reset fixed the issue, and we’ve tested each of our originally installed apps to figure out what caused the issue, but we can’t figure out what went wrong. We’ll update this review if we run into the problem again. So far, it was an isolated problem.

Now, the S8 flies with almost zero hiccups. We tested games such as Asphalt Xtreme and FIFA Mobile, and found no performance issues. Dawn of Titans ran well for the most part, but we did see some occasional stutters. We had no problems moving through apps and multitasking.

We ran through some benchmark tests, and the Snapdragon 835 more or less outperformed the Google Pixel’s Snapdragon 821:

• 3DMark SlingShot Extreme: 2052
• AnTuTu: 155253
• Geekbench 4: 1762 single core, 5723 multi core

For reference, with Geekbench 4 the Pixel earned 1,665 in single core and 3,691 in multi-core; the iPhone 7 Plus received 3,367 in single core and 5,491 in multi-core.

We’re hoping we don’t see the initial issues again, and we’re enjoying the smooth performance from the Snapdragon 835. Still, we don’t think the Galaxy S8 offers smoother day-to-day performance than the Pixel, and that’s likely because Google can optimize its software and hardware far better than anyone else (except Apple). Samsung phones also tend to slow down a little over time, so we’ll keep you updated if anything changes.

TouchWiz UI is stylish

TouchWiz, Samsung’s Android skin, has never been the company’s forte. At times, it had a less than appealing design, and bogged down the operating system. That has changed with the Galaxy S8.

There is a clear, attractive design aesthetic — with uniform app icons and slick fonts. The lack of a physical home button also gives the smartphone a more modern look. Samsung has embedded a pressure-sensitive home button at the bottom-center — it’s not just an on-screen button, because you can press and hold it to go home even in full-screen apps or if the screen is off.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

One of the first things I did when setting up the S8, was reverse the layout of the navigation icons. Samsung has gone against every other Android manufacturer for years, offering the Recent apps icon on the left, and the back button on the right. Well, on the S8 you can finally reverse it thanks to the on-screen navigation icons.

Choice is a prevalent in Samsung’s latest interface. You can choose where you want the brightness slider on the notification drawer; you can customize the display resolution; turn the Edge screen on and off; toggle Bixby on or off; use the LED indicator or not; turn on basic swipe gestures for the fingerprint sensor … you get the idea. There are a ton of features in this phone — most of which have been in Galaxy devices for a while — and they all feel polished and useful.

There is a clear, attractive design aesthetic.

I recall using Smart Stay on my Samsung Galaxy Captivate back in 2011 — it keeps the screen on as long as your eyes are staring at it. It was far from good then, but it’s useful on the S8.

Multitasking also offers more options than any other Android device — in splitscreen mode, you can reverse the app position or trigger picture-in-picture mode. You can even swipe from the top corners of any supported app to make it a floating window, and it works surprisingly well.

Even Bluetooth is improved. The Galaxy S8 is the first smartphone to utilize Bluetooth 5, which has 4x the range of Bluetooth 4.2, 8x the data throughput, and 2x the data speed. That means you can walk up to 200 meters (in direct line of sight) from your device and still listen via your Bluetooth-connected earbuds — that’s a lot further than ever before.

The upgrade means you can stream music to two different Bluetooth devices at the same time. We connected a pair of Bose wireless headphones and a speaker from Cambridge Audio — the two played music perfectly in sync, and the pairing process took less than 1 minute.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The facial recognition technology on the Galaxy S8 is also noteworthy. Sure, it may not work 100 percent of the time — especially if you’re moving or are in a darker environment — but it was often faster than using the fingerprint sensor. You can also choose to use the iris (eye) scanner, though we didn’t find it as effective. The fingerprint on the rear is the third option, and here’s where those two downsides come into play.

The fingerprint sensor is almost impossible to reach on the Galaxy S8 Plus — and that’s coming from someone with large hands. And even if it is reachable, you probably won’t make use of the fingerprint gestures, because the placement is so unnatural. The second problem is how your fingers will naturally touch the camera sensor on both models. Samsung knows this is a problem, and even warns you to clean the camera often to make sure there are no smudges. But it all could have been avoided if they placed the sensor lower, like almost every other Android phones that opts for a rear sensor.

All in all, the software experience on the Galaxy S8 is surprisingly useful, and you can toggle most options on or off to your heart’s content.

Stellar shots in the right conditions

The 12-megapixel rear camera hasn’t changed much from the Galaxy S7. That’s not a bad thing. The S7 also offered stellar photos.

In broad daylight, Galaxy S8 photos have great picture quality and accurate colors, but things were a little trickier in different lighting conditions. Occasionally, we had to take a photo twice to make sure it wasn’t blurry.

Low-light photos sometimes suffered in picture clarity, but other times photos were relatively sharp in dark environments.

We wish Samsung had done something different, new, or exciting with the rear camera, like a dual-camera setup. At least there are quite a few modes to choose from, including Selective Focus (like Apple’s Portrait Mode), Panorama, and even a Pro mode, where you can change the shutter speed, focus, and ISO if you’re more experienced with a camera.

But the 8-megapixel front-facing camera is where the camera experience shines, largely because it comes with a variety of stickers, filters, and masks, similar to what you’d find in Snapchat. They’re fun, and work pretty well. We imagine they’ll take off in popularity if Samsung adds new content often (they even work on groups).

Speaking of groups, Samsung has a “Wide Selfie” mode that lets you snap a photo, then twist the camera to your left and right to capture your friends. The photos are stitched together and the end result is surprisingly seamless. It’s a neat way to add group selfie capability without using a wide-angle lens.

Bixby? Bixby? Are you there?

If Bixby, Samsung’s new digital assistant, piqued your interest in picking up a Galaxy S8, you will be disappointed. Voice commands are not available yet and won’t be here until “later this spring.” So that leaves Bixby Home, Reminder, and Vision.

Home is an assortment of random information, such as your current step count, next calendar event, the weather, what’s trending on Twitter, and even a random GIF from Giphy that we’re not really sure how to use. It’s so much easier and faster to go into these respective apps, because the Bixby button is ridiculously slow and unreliable at activating Bixby Home.

Reminders is the equivalent to setting reminders on Google Inbox or with Google Assistant (which is also available on the S8 by pressing and holding the home button).

You can stream music to two different Bluetooth devices at the same time.

That leaves Vision, which is arguably the most useful feature of the bunch at the moment, but it’s use cases are limited to specific moments, like when you see a shoe and want to shop for something similar — point the camera to the product and tap the Bixby icon. You’ll be directed to an Amazon search link, or Bixby can show more images of similar products. I’ve used it once or twice, and it largely feels like a gimmick. Your mileage may vary, though.

Bixby very much feels like an unfinished product. If the assistant is one of the reasons you’re excited about the Galaxy S8, don’t expect it to be as useful as Samsung claims.

Average daylong battery

The Galaxy S8 Plus packs a 3,500mAh battery, while the smaller S8 has a 3,000mAh capacity. We found the S8 Plus to last a full day with moderate to heavy use — we ended up with around 25 percent around 8 p.m. after a long day of taking photos, music streaming, and browsing. On a day with regular use — where we checked and responded to notifications, listened to music, and did some light browsing — we came home with a little under 40 percent by 6 p.m.

We’ll need to spend more time with the Galaxy S8 to see how long it lasts, but we’re expecting more or less the same results due to the smaller screen.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Compared To

LG G6

HTC U Ultra

Huawei P10

OnePlus 3T

Lenovo Moto G5 Plus

Meizu Pro 6 Plus

Xiaomi Mi Mix

Huawei Mate 9

ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe Special…

Lenovo Phab 2 Pro

HTC Bolt

Lenovo Moto Z

Nexus 6

HTC One Remix

Huawei Ascend Mate 2

Both devices support high-speed wireless charging, which is always a plus, as is the USB Type-C connector, which is probably new for you, but will soon be a standard on most devices.

Warranty information

Samsung offers a standard 1 year warranty for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. That covers manufacturing defects, but not much else.

The company has started an advanced warranty program called Premium Care, which will run you $12 per month (first month is free). This plan covers accidental drops, cracked screens, water damage, and mechanical defects. Samsung will provide you with a new or reconditioned device, though you’ll have to pay a $99 deductible. The device is either shipped or hand-delivered to you.

With Premium Care, you also get access to help via HelloTech, a company that will send authorized technicians to teach you about all the features on your phone.

Our Take

The Galaxy S8, in both its sizes, is an excellent smartphone with great build quality, a fantastic screen, solid cameras, and standard daylong-battery life. The Bixby voice assistant is underwhelming, but you can turn it off and opt for Google Assistant instead (or use both). Bixby will get better over time, we hope.

The DT Accessory Pack

Samsung DeX Station

$149.99

Samsung Gear 360 (2017 Edition)

$399

Samsung Gear VR (2017 Edition) with Controller

$199

Samsung Gear S3 Frontier

$299.99

If you prefer compact phones, the standard Galaxy S8 is your best bet. The S8 Plus might have slightly longer battery life, but it’s unwieldy for many hands (especially reaching that fingerprint sensor).

Are there better alternatives?

Yes. There are a ton of good smartphones that cost less than the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, such as the Google Pixel and the LG G6, or even the iPhone 7 if you’re not looking for an Android device. We also recommend a number of cheaper smartphones.

However, none compare to the Galaxy S8’s display.

How long will it last?

It should last you a little longer than two years. Samsung, and most Android manufacturers, stop supporting devices after two years. Expect the S8 to receive the same treatment. You should know that Samsung also delivers software updates far later than when Google rolls them out, so don’t expect the next annual version of Android (Android O) any time soon after its release this fall.

Should you buy it?

Yes. If you have $750 or more to spare, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are among the best Android smartphones you can buy right now. It’s an incredible amount of money, though, and you should note the plentiful number of more affordable options. Still, if you’re eyeing the S8, you’re likely looking for the cream of the crop. Well, you’ve found it.

The new Logitech Pop buttons work with Apple’s HomeKit

Why it matters to you

Logitech’s new Pop buttons will make tasks like switching on a lightbulb easier than ever.

Last year’s Logitech Pop button were an inventive solution to a common smart home problem: A lack of switches to go along with devices. You could wire up Logitech’s spring-mounted Pop buttons instead of having to fish out your smartphone for basic tasks like adjusting an internet-connected lightbulb or thermostat. And now, if you use Apple’s HomeKit, you can do the same with this year’s Pop.

The new Pop has the distinction of being the first internet-connected button inside Apple’s growing smart home ecosystem, Logitech said, and it works as you’d expect: You can control any compatible HomeKit-device you’ve set up within the iOS app.

Otherwise, it doesn’t do much to switch up last year’s formula. The new Pop still ships with an adhesive rear cover, and connects to a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth. It’s programmable — each button press can be tied to a different action, like dimming the lights and flipping on the television or opening the blinds. And it works with Logitech’s existing Pop companion app, which lets you create IFTTT-like “recipes” with custom delays, timing, and activation orders.

It’s a plug-and-play affair with just about every product that Logitech’s Harmony remote platform supports. The Pop can toggle wirelessly connected Sonos speakers on and off, flip Philips Hue overheads to a certain color, and open and close Lutron window drapes. And better still, it works in tandem with Logitech’s internet-connected Harmony remotes, if you happen to have one or two of those lying around — you can program a Pop to switch off your television with a tap, for example, or tune in to a favorited cable channel with a double press.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg — hardware on open platforms like WeMo, SmartThings, and Insteon platforms are also compatible. And existing Logitech Pop owners are getting a software update — users will be able to control Osram Lighting, Hunter Douglas Shades, and Lutron.

“You still want it to be simple, you still want it to be capable,” Logitech’s senior director of Home Control Neil Raggio said. “And so we landed on […] gestures, as something from a mental model that would be easy enough that a user would know [how to use it].”

The Logitech Pop Smart Button Kit starts at $50, and ships with the bridge necessary to connect it to your Wi-Fi network. Each additional button costs $40, and the product comes in white, alloy, coral, and teal.

HTC unveils bundle pairing the Vive headset with an Nvidia GTX 1070

Why it matters to you

Amassing all the hardware required to enjoy virtual reality can be a huge investment, but HTC’s new package deals allow consumers to split the cost across 24 months.

HTC has announced an expansion to its Vive Financing Program in an effort to prevent consumers from being priced out of virtual reality. The company will bundle the headset with other hardware, offering financing options to allow the package to be paid off on a monthly basis.

Users who simply need to upgrade their current rig will be able to purchase an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition graphics card alongside a Vive headset for $1,000. HTC is billing this bundle as offering a $200 savings over the suggested retail price for both items, and will only offer the deal until April 24.

The company’s financing options mean that the package can be paid for in monthly installments, with the lowest rate set at $49 per month for 24 months, according to a blog post on the Vive website.

The standard price for the Vive headset is $800, and the GTX 1070 Founders Edition GPU is typically priced at around $400, so HTC’s package does offer potential savings. However, if you can find either item for less than its recommended retail price — which is not uncommon — you might be able to save more money buying them separately.

HTC is also offering up options for people who are interested in VR, but would need to start fresh in terms of hardware. The company will offer packages containing a compatible laptop or desktop computer and a headset on a monthly payment plan.

An MSI GS73VR laptop with a 17.3-inch full HD display, an Intel Core i7-6700HQ quad-core processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 graphics card, and 16GB of RAM will be available for $125 per month.

Meanwhile, a CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme desktop with an Intel i5-7600 quad-core processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB graphics card, and 8GB of DDR4 RAM will be available for less than $99 per month.

These packages are perhaps not the most cost-effective way to get on board with VR, if you’re working on a budget. However, if you’re looking for convenience above all else, they might be worth considering — HTC apparently uses the MSI GS73VR as a demo machine at events, so buyers can be sure that this hardware will do VR content justice, which might not necessarily be true if you’re a novice building a PC from scratch.