A DIYer’s guide to changing a car’s spark plugs

Changing your own spark plugs is a rite of passage among gearheads. It shows you’re fully aware that your car needs basic maintenance to stay in tip-top shape, and that you’re ready to tackle it yourself. Congratulations if you’ve gotten this far.

The most common reason to remove spark plugs is to replace them with a new set. However, you might want to simply check what shape they’re in before doing so, or you might need to test for spark to rule out an ignition issue. Regardless, the process isn’t as daunting as it sounds, and it’s well within the reach of a skilled DIYer. After all, a spark plug is just a big bolt that shoots out electricity.

First things first

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How often you need to change your spark plugs largely depends on the kind of car you drive, and the type of plugs currently installed in your engine. Typically, replacement intervals vary between 30,000 and 100,000 miles, but check your owner’s manual if you’re not sure.

Worn spark plugs can cause poor performance (notably an engine misfire, a rough idle, and hesitation under acceleration) and poor gas mileage. Ultimately, your engine will refuse to start if the plugs are too worn out.

The first step is to make sure your car actually has spark plugs. An overwhelming majority of them do, regardless of whether you drive a Toyota Tercel or a Porsche 918 Spyder. However, if your ride runs on diesel, it’s not equipped with spark plugs because it has a compression-ignition engine, meaning the fuel-air mixture in the combustion chamber ignites without spark.

Once you’ve confirmed the presence of spark plugs, you need to find them. In most modern cars, the spark plugs are located near the top of the engine, firmly bolted into the cylinder head. Note that they might be buried under a mess of wires, or hidden by a plastic cover. Subaru owners need to look for the plugs on the side of their engine, as do owners of Porsche models powered by a flat-four or a flat-six.

You also need to check what kind of spark plugs your engine uses, and how many it needs. Usually, the number of spark plugs is equal to the number of cylinders. If you’re driving a humble four-banger, you’ll need four spark plugs. If you’re rolling around with a V12 under the hood, you’ll need 12. However, that’s not always the case. Some engines — such as a few Mercedes V6s — use two spark plugs per cylinder. Again, consult your owner’s manual or web browser to be sure.

The dirty work

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Found ’em? Good, let’s get started.

You’ll need a spark plug socket and either a spark plug gauge or a feeler gauge to ensure you have the proper gap. A ratchet is optional, and we highly recommend you either buy or borrow a torque wrench for reassembly.

Roll up your sleeves, pop your head under the hood, and you’ll notice there’s either a thick wire or a coil feeding electricity to each spark plug. Many modern cars use one coil pack per cylinder, while older cars typically rely on a single coil for the entire engine. Unbolt the coil pack (or carefully pull the wire) to reveal the top end of the plug.

Remove miscellaneous debris from the area around the spark plug using a clean rag or compressed air to ensure nothing falls in the cylinder when the spark plug is out. Trust us, you don’t want that. Once the well is clean, loosen the plug using the socket. Odds are it’s tight, so getting it out might require some elbow grease. This is where a ratchet will make your life easier. Remember: righty tighty, lefty loosey.

Before you attempt a three-pointer into the nearest garbage can, take a minute to inspect the business end of the spark plug; it tells you a lot about what’s going on inside your engine, especially if you’re working on an older car. If the electrode (that’s the very tip of the plug) is coated with a black substance, your engine is running too rich: That means the ratio of gasoline to air is too high. If the electrode is coated with a white substance, your engine is running too lean: The gasoline-to-air ratio is too low, in that case.

Use the gauge to gap the new spark plug correctly before you install it. The gap specification refers to the space between the two electrodes. It varies from car to car, but it usually falls between 0.02 and 0.06 inches. Getting the gap right the first time saves you a tremendous amount of trouble, so ask a dealer, your local auto parts store, or Google for the correct measurement if you’re not absolutely certain.

You’re ready to install the spark plug once the gap is set. Assembly is the reverse of disassembly, but we recommend using a torque wrench to ensure the plug is tightened properly. Tightening it by feel is best left to the pros, because a plug that’s too tight or too loose will inevitably cause damage.

Pop the coil (or the spark plug wire) back into place, put back any part you had to remove to access the spark plugs, and you’re done. Fire up the engine to make sure everything works the way it was designed to.

10 tips to keep you ahead of the pack in ‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is better than ever on Nintendo Switch. While returning vets may be able to find success from just jumping in and racing, there are a few notable changes from the Wii U version. So if you’re a veteran or a newcomer, here are 10 tips and tricks that you should shave a few seconds off your best time.

Starting Boost

A long-standing Mario Kart mechanic, a well-timed starting boost — triggered by revving the gas right before the start of the race — can propel you to the front of the pack right out of the gate. To get the perfect boost, press and hold the gas (the A button) directly after the numeric countdown hits two, or when the middle light turns red in Lakitu’s sign. In our experience, it’s easier to focus on the lights when executing this move.

Be careful when timing your boosts, though: Pressing the accelerator too early will cause your engine to overheat, which will leave you spinning your wheels at the start of the race. In this case, it’s better to be late than early, you’re still likely to get a smaller boost as long as the countdown hasn’t advanced to one.

Slipstreams

When you are stuck in the middle of the pack, there’s a proper technique for passing your opponents. When gaining on a kart, moving directly behind it for a second will create a “slipstream,” a mild boost signified by a gust of wind, that will help you slingshot past them. It’s a particularly good tool to use when you are in a neck-and-neck race to the finish as well. On the other hand, if someone is lining up behind you trying to pass, swerve a little to shake your opponent and prevent them from blowing past.

Drifting Do’s and Don’ts

Drifting or “powersliding” around turns has been an essential art in Mario Kart for a long time. These hard turns trigger boosts, called mini-turbos, which can help you turn every turn in the track into an opportunity to gain ground. Best of all, they aren’t particularly challenging to pull off, especially when rolling around a big bend. Simply press and hold R as you are turning to initiate a drift, and move the analog stick back and forth horizontally as needed to stay on course. When you let go — ideally after you are headed back into a straightaway — you’ll receive one of three tiers of boosts that correspond with the sparks beneath your tires. There are blue, orange, and pink sparks — the last of which, dubbed the ultra mini-turbo, is new to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Achieving the ultra mini-turbo takes some forethought. You should start your drift before the track actually begins to turn to let the sparks fly from blue, to orange, to pink, and release the R button at the height of the turn to send your kart flying into a straightaway. Ideally, you should drift at every turn, but don’t get greedy. Trying to squeak out a higher tier boost just for the sake of it may send you right off the track.

Also, unlike previous games, drifting excessively doesn’t give you an edge, and it can actually be a hinderance. To combat snaking, a popular technique in past Mario Karts that allowed you using drifting to achieve a near-constant boost, drifting in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe slows karts down in a straightaway.

Use drifting consistently, but use it in moderation. Don’t overextend yourself.

Look behind you, too

Just like in real-world driving, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings, including what’s going on behind you. Press X every so often and take a quick glance in your rearview. You don’t want to look back for too long, but if you snap back periodically, especially when in first place, you can maintain a better sense of your position relative to your competition. Looking back will also help you aim when you’re flinging green shells, fire balls, and banana peels back at karts on your tail.

Turn off smart steering, auto-accelerate, and tilt controls

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe introduces a new feature for inexperienced racers called Smart Steering, which helps you from running into walls or falling off ledges. When coupled with the auto-accelerate feature, you are virtually watching Mario Kart instead of playing. These options are turned on by default. Most players will want to press pause and disable Smart Steering right away by pressing L. You can also toggle Auto-Accelerate off by pressing R, although those who find their thumbs getting sore from constantly pressing down the A button during long sessions may appreciate this option.

Accelerometer-based “tilt controls,” which the series has offered since Mario Kart Wii, are also available in the pause menu. You can turn tilt controls on on by pressing Y on that screen. 

In our experience, it’s much more intuitive to play the game with all three of these options turned off.

Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

Everyone likes apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers make paid apps free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest apps on sale in the iOS App Store.

These apps normally cost money, and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged. 

More: 200 Awesome iPhone Apps | The best Android apps for almost any occasion

Reminders Widget

Add reminders to this iOS built-in reminders app from the notification center without unlocking the device. Save time to look and scroll through all your tasks and reminders.

Available on:

iOS

Fontz

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but adding a few extra never hurt anyone. Add captions, quotes, and other text with Fontz.

Available on:

iOS

PhotoZonic

Make your pictures come alive. Simply touch anywhere within a picture, and start recordings as many as you want. Multiple sounds will be recorded at each touched location.

Available on:

iOS

Media Clouds

Do you want to save your MP3 and videos from your cloud to play offline? Download Media Clouds to make that happen.

Available on:

iOS

Week Calendar

Whether you use iCloud, Exchange or Google calendar, Week Calendar is the most user-friendly, all-around calendar app worldwide for everyone that needs to get the most out of their calendar app.

Available on:

iOS

Hide it Pro

Tired of people snooping in your phone, looking at all your personal photos and videos? With Hide it Pro you can securely hide your content.

Available on:

iOS

5 tricky Samsung Galaxy S8 problems, and what to do about them

There’s little doubt that the eye-catching curves, raw power, and tempting features of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are proving popular. They’re excellent smartphones, but they’re also expensive and so you have every right to expect them to work properly out of the box. Sadly, technical hitches are a reality for every device. We’ve been listening to owner feedback and we’ve put together a list of apparently common Galaxy S8 problems, with advice on how to work around or fix them.

One problem you definitely don’t want to have is a dent in the frame or a crack in that gorgeous, curved screen. Investing in one of the best Galaxy S8 cases or S8 Plus cases is a smart first move.

Problem: Random reboots

We have seen several reports from S8 and S8 Plus owners suffering from a random reboot problem. There’s a big thread at the Samsung forum on this topic. For many people, the S8 or S8 Plus is restarting itself seemingly at random. This can be infrequent or it can happen multiple times a day. There are a few things worth trying to see if you can solve this problem.

Potential solutions:

• Make sure that your software is up to date, you should be prompted to update as soon as new software is available if you’re connected to Wi-Fi, but you can also look in Settings > Software update > Download updates manually.
• We recommend wiping your cache partition first, as this will not delete any of your personal data. To give it a try, turn your S8 or S8 Plus off. Hold down the Volume up and Bixby keys, then press and hold the Power button, too. When you see the Android logo on screen, you can let go. The Android recovery menu will load and you can use the Volume down button to highlight wipe cache partition and then press the Power button to select it. Highlight yes with Volume down and then Power to select again. When it’s done, press Power to select Reboot system now.
• If you have a MicroSD card in your Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus, then try removing it. Test to see if the reboot issue is resolved. You might want to back up the contents of your card and then reformat it before trying it in your S8 again.
• Safe mode allows you to run the device without third-party apps, so you can test whether an app might be causing your reboots. To try it, turn your S8 off, and then press and hold the Power key until you see the Samsung logo, then let go of Power and press and hold the Volume down key. Keep holding it until the phone starts up fully and you should see safe mode in the bottom left corner. If the reboots are gone, then it’s a case of working out which apps are the problem ones. You can uninstall one by one or try a factory reset.
• Although it hasn’t worked for everyone, a factory reset does seem to have worked for some people. If you want to try it, then back up everything first and turn your S8 or S8 Plus off. Press and hold the Volume up and Bixby keys, then press and hold the Power button as well. You can let go when you feel the phone vibrate. Use the Volume down button to highlight the wipe data/factory reset option and the Power button to select it, then highlight yes with Volume down and select with Power. When it’s done, highlight Reboot system now and use Power to select it. We recommend setting the phone up as new to test if the reboot issue is resolved. Do not restore any backups. If it seems to be working, then you can try restoring a little at a time. Maybe start with contacts, and then move on if no reboot problem returns. It may be best to install your apps manually, rather than restoring them.
• If you have factory reset your S8 or S8 Plus, avoided restoring any backups, and reboots still persist, then we’d suggest contacting Samsung, your carrier, or your retailer and asking about a replacement handset.

Issue: Wireless charging paused or not working

Quite a few people have run into wireless charging issues with their Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus, as discussed in the XDA Developers forum. Some are getting a message about wireless charging being paused, some can’t get the fast charging to work, some are finding that the phone gets very hot, and others are having trouble getting wireless charging working at all.

Potential solutions:

• If you are using a Galaxy S8 case, then try removing it and test to see if that makes a difference. Wireless charging will work just fine with some cases, but it will often make the phone a lot warmer.
• It’s also worth experimenting with the positioning of your S8 or S8 Plus. With some wireless charging pads and docks, you may find it works better if you turn your phone sideways or move it around to get a better connection.
• Try changing the cable and wall charger that you’re using. The wireless fast charging apparently does not work with many third-party accessories. If you use a Samsung fast wireless charging pad with the cable and wall charger that came with your S8, then it should work.
• If your third-party wireless charger keeps pausing and won’t fast charge, then try changing the wall charger or power adapter that you’re using with it. You should be able to get it to work at normal wireless charging speeds by switching out the fast wireless charging adapter and using a standard one instead.
• If you’re using a power strip, try plugging directly into the wall instead. It’s also worth testing with more than one wall outlet, just to rule that out.

Annoyance: Red-tinted display

There were some reports, initially from South Korea, about the S8 and S8 Plus having red-tinted displays. It seems to be a problem for a lot of people in this long thread at XDA Developers forum. Some have faint red at the edges, others report a pink tinge on everything white. It may be more noticeable if you view the screen at an angle.

Potential solutions:

• Samsung released a patch to address this issue. If you don’t have it yet, then check in Settings > Software update > Download updates manually.
• You can adjust the color balance yourself by going to Settings > Display > Color balance.
• Some people report that they’re much happier after exchanging their S8 or S8 Plus for a new handset. There are sometimes manufacturing differences with different batches of handsets. If it’s really bothering you, then it might be worth contacting Samsung, your carrier, or your retailer and asking for a replacement.

Glitch: Wi-Fi disconnecting or slowing down

A few people are struggling to get Wi-Fi working properly on some networks with their S8 or S8 Plus, as evidenced by threads at XDA Developers and Android Central. It may connect and run at a good speed initially, but after a while it disconnects or slows down inexplicably.

Potential solutions:

• Always start with a simple reboot of your router and your phone.
• Go to Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi > Advanced and make sure that Smart network switch is turned off. If it’s already off, just try toggling it on and off again.
• Check in Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi > Advanced and make sure that Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep is set to Always.
• Go to Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi > Advanced > Manage networks, tap on the problem network and then Forget. Reboot your S8 and router, then set the connection up again from scratch.
• Some people report success after going to Settings > Connections > Location > Improve accuracy and turning Bluetooth scanning off.
• Try changing your Wi-Fi channel via the admin page for your router. Refer to your router’s manufacturer or your ISP for instructions.
• Make sure that your router firmware is up to date and that MAC filtering is off, or that you have added the MAC address of your S8. Refer to your router’s manufacturer or your ISP for instructions. You can find your S8 MAC address listed in Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi > Advanced.

Problem: Edge lighting not working

If you’ve been looking for notifications to light up the edges of your S8 or S8 Plus display, but the edge lighting hasn’t been working, then you’re not alone. There’s a thread at XDA Developers discussing this very problem. Some people aren’t getting edge lighting, some only get it when the S8 is face down, and some say it works face up or down.

Potential solutions:

• Go to Settings > Display > Edge Screen > Edge lighting and make sure it’s set to Always, then tap Manage notifications and make sure the apps you want to get notifications from are toggled on. It’s worth noting, some third-party apps won’t work with the edge lighting.
• Go to Settings > Display and make sure that Keep screen turned off is toggled off. Even if it is off, try toggling it on and off again.

Fire the ‘laser!’ High-tech sorting machine helps weed out toxic potatoes

Why it matters to you

This laser-based technique could keep carcinogenic french fries off your plate.

There’s nothing quite like a side of fries with a burger. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. Or like Bonnie and Clyde. In fact, recent research has shown that, much like the infamous outlaws, some french fries can be deadly — because they can contain carcinogens.

The United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency cautioned against consuming certain fried foods earlier this year due to higher levels of carcinogenic chemicals like acrylamide. The problem is, acrylamide only forms at high temperatures so it’s difficult to detect, plus not all potatoes contain the chemical precursors that will cause acrylamide to be created during the frying process.

There’s no current technology to detect acrylamide precursors quickly and without destroying the spud — but hungry engineers have been on the case. A new technique developed by Lien Smeesters from the University of Brussels might help weed out potentially toxic potatoes before they even go to market.

“Food safety and quality has become increasingly important in our society,” Smeesters told Digital Trends. “We decided to focus on the acrylamide monitoring in potatoes since currently no fast, accurate, and non-destructive technology is available for the sensing of acrylamide.”

Previously, quality potato control meant a person examining a single spud among many to determine levels of acrylamide. If that one potato was deemed safe, the rest of the batch would pass. Smeesters’ new method instead uses a laser beam to scan each spud and a stream of air to knock out the undesirable ones.

Laser scanners are already used to sort through all kinds of foods to test for things like color and shape before they’re packaged and shipped to consumers. In Smeesters’ design, the laser uses infrared light to detect acrylamide, which scatters the light in a unique pattern, instructing the machine to knock the toxic potato out of circulation.

Smeesters has partnered with Tomra Sorting Solutions, a company that makes these industrial food sorting machines, to integrate the technique into one of its devices, potentially scanning tons of cut potatoes per hour.

Fewer carcinogenic french fries is enough cause for celebration but Smeesters thinks the technology may even find applications beyond industrial food sorting.

“Considering our main technology, optical spectroscopy, the applications are endless,” she said, “going from the monitoring of gasses, the sensing of bacteria, to the characterization of the composition of materials and glasses.”

Everything you need to know about the $250 Honor 6X

Why it matters to you

A metal smartphone with a dual-lens camera that only costs $250? That’s the Honor 6X, and you need to know about it

We liked last year’s Honor 5X smartphone, which delivered exceptional cameras, a metal unibody, and a powerful processor for a palatable $250. It has since been superseded by the Honor 6X, which is bigger, faster, and better than its predecessor; yet manages to retain the excellent $250 price. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

How to buy one

Pricing starts at $250 for the Honor 6X 3GB and $300 for the Honor 6X 4GB. However, Honor regularly holds flash sales and sweetens the deal with special offers, so always check to see what’s available through the company’s own online store before buying one.

In the United Kingdom, the 3GB/32GB Honor 6X costs 224 British pounds through Huawei’s vMall online store, or it can be purchased on Pay As You Go, or with a monthly contract with Three U.K. It’s priced at 200 British pounds on PAYG, or with monthly tariffs starting at 16 British pounds.

The Honor 6X comes in gold, silver, and gray. In addition to the United States and the United Kingdom, the phone is sold in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq.

What you need to know about the Honor 6X

The Honor 6X originally launched at an October 2016 press event in China, with availability broadened with a launch in the U.S. and Europe at the beginning of January 2017.

It’s a beauty to behold. The slim, sleek Honor 6X boasts a unibody aluminum design and weighs 162 grams, and is a mere 8.2mm thick. The display, a 5.5-inch full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) panel of the LCD variety, reaches 450 nits brightness and has a 0.3-second response time — a 42-percent improvement from previous Honor models.

Inside the Honor 6X’s machine-polished body sits Huawei’s custom Kirin 655, an octa-core processor comprised of four high-powered cores clocked at 2.1GHz and a second set of energy-saving cores at 1.7GHz. A coprocessor handles lighter tasks like speech recognition, music playback, sensor processing, and location tracking. Both are paired with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM, while internal storage managed by a smart file system, which automatically prevents file fragmentation and optimizes read and write speeds.

In May 2017, Honor updated the software on the 6X from Android 6.0 Marshmallow and the EMUI 4.1 user interface, to Android Nougat and the EMUI 5.0 user interface. We’ve noted the benefits of EMUI 5.0 in our reviews of the Huawei Mate 9 in particular, and welcome it here. In addition to the latest version of Android, the new software adds the option for an app drawer, simpler operation throughout the system, smoother performance, and various new features such as the chance to run two versions of certain apps.

Three cameras

The Honor 6X’s silicon and software is not the only highlight. Huawei’s new handset packs a rear camera with a 1.25μm pixel size, built-in noise reduction algorithms, and a Sony sensor capable of focusing on subjects in 0.3 seconds. It’s the first in the Honor series to pack a dual-sensor rear camera; a 12-megapixel sensor handles color data, while an adjacent 2-megapixel monochrome snapper measures brightness levels. Its software combines the two to produce brighter and crisper pictures in low-light conditions.

The dual-sensor design allows for other effects, too. The Honor 6X’s camera can refocus (within an aperture value of f/.95 to f/16) on subjects in the foreground after the picture has been taken, and automatically convert pictures to monochrome. Huawei’s accompanying software supports low-light shots, long exposure, and custom filters.

The front-facing camera and fingerprint sensors are nothing to scoff at, either. The Honor 6X’s 8-megapixel front camera features a 77-degree lens for wide-angle selfies and a built-in “Beauty” mode that recognizes and fixes blemishes. The Honor 6X’s fingerprint sensor also supports swipe gestures; swiping left and right flips through pics in a photo album, for instance, while a series of taps snoozes alarms and places calls.

The Honor 6X’s fast-charging 3,340mAh battery should last up to two days on a single charge, or up to 11.5 hours of video, 70 hours of music, and eight hours of gaming.

The Honor 6X launched on the eve of the Honor brand’s third anniversary, and now reaches more than 74 different countries and regions, topping $6 billion in global sales during 2016.

Article originally published in October 2016 by Kyle Wiggers. Updated on 05-03-2017 by Andy Boxall: Added news of software update to Android Nougat and new user interface.

Amazon’s FreeTime subscription service for kids debuts on Google Play

Why it matters to you

Amazon’s FreeTime service offers solid value, and now even more parents and kids can get in on the action thanks to Android support.

Amazon’s kid-friendly FreeTime subscription service is making its way to Google Play. If you’re not familiar with FreeTime, it consists of a curated selection of books, videos, games, and apps handpicked for children. Parents can sign up for the FreeTime Unlimited service for $5 a month — or $3 for Prime subscribers — and give their kids access to all that content, or opt for the free version, which simply houses approved YouTube videos and links.

Prior to this, FreeTime was only available on Amazon’s own hardware: Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, and the Fire TV media player. The expansion to Android comes just weeks after Amazon rolled out a new Parent Dashboard to the service, allowing parents to check in on their child’s activity within the app over the past 90 days. The Dashboard can break down how much time has been spent on each media type, such as books versus games.

Parent Dashboard also introduced a new tool called Discussion Cards, which take the form of little chat bubbles that pop up within content to provide parents with plot summaries, questions, and other handy information. The idea is that a parent can keep up with their child as they read a book, for example, and be able to strike up a meaningful discussion about it.

FreeTime is designed for children between the ages of 3 and 12, and Amazon makes it clear the information collected on children’s media consumption isn’t used for advertising purposes.

“Parent trust is important. We only store what we need to store,”  Kurt Beidler, Amazon’s director and general manager for FreeTime, told Digital Trends in April. “We’re not using it to advertise to parents — we make no attempt to upsell.”

All of FreeTime’s features from Amazon’s devices are making their way to the Google Play version, along with Parental Controls so you can set a limited amount of time your child can engage in certain types of content. Amazon is currently offering a month free for parents and kids who would like to try FreeTime for themselves.

Sprint’s Magic Box boosts 4G LTE coverage up to 30,000 square feet

Why it matters to you

Struggling with poor reception? Sprint’s Magic Box will help boost your indoor signal.

Cell reception is a notoriously fickle thing — especially indoors. It’s easy enough to lock onto a signal if you’re standing next to a cell tower, but when you’re surrounded by thick walls, it’s a tad more challenging. Luckily, Sprint has the answer: A mini cellphone tower.

It’s aptly called the Sprint Magic Box, and Sprint is describing it as the “world’s first all-wireless small cell.” That’s jargon for a router that extends Sprint’s 4G LTE network coverage in places it wouldn’t normally reach. Setting it up couldn’t be easier — once it’s powered on for the first time and placed near a window, it automatically configures itself, connecting to a nearby cell site “within minutes.”

It’s what’s known as a femtocell, a small mobile base station that connects to a mobile network via the internet. They aren’t new, exactly — Verizon launched a 4G LTE femtocell with Samsung last year, and T-Mobile rolled the high-speed CellSpot out to subscribers with spotty connections in 2015 — but they’re traditionally targeted at enterprise. Sprint’s, in contrast, is available to Sprint’s “millions of […] home and business” customers.

The Magic Box, which appears to be an updated version of the Airave femtocell Sprint deployed in 2007, is designed to extend coverage up to 30,000 square feet and 64 simultaneous connections. It’ll reach your neighbors, in some cases — Sprint said adjacent subscribers inside the building (and up to 100 meters outside) will be able to take advantage. And it’ll tap into Sprint’s 204 MHz and 160 MHz of 2.5 GHz spectrum to improve upload and download speeds up to 200 percent — more than any other U.S. carrier, the carrier said.

Sprint has already begun Magic Box deployments in several cities across the country, including Denver, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Houston.

CTO Dr. John Saw sees it as a complement to speed-boosting technologies like three-carrier aggregation, 256 QAM, 4×4 MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output), and high performance user equipment (HPUE) smartphones.

“Sprint Magic Box is going to quickly transform our network, and it is key to delivering an amazing experience to customers today as we build the kind of dense urban infrastructures needed for 5G,” Saw said in a statement. “By leveraging our deep spectrum trove, Sprint has the ability to blanket its network with all-wireless small cells that delivers this kind of dramatic performance boost with zero backhaul, permitting, and engineering costs.”

Sprint’s Magic Box launch comes on the heels of other network improvements. In February, it enabled high-speed LTE Advanced support for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. And in March, it teamed up with Qualcomm to show off the “first U.S. deployment of Gigabit Class live on a commercial network with a forthcoming flagship premium tier smartphone.”

The Magic Box is available for pre-order now.

Google Maps has just released an updated home page for its users in India

Why it matters to you

For people in India, finding the best way to get from Point A to Point B has never been easier thanks to a Google Maps update that makes it possible to access the tool offline.

Google Maps users in India are getting some special treatment, and it all begins this week. As per a new blog post from the tech giant, Google Maps is rolling out a new home screen “specifically designed for people in India” for Android. That means that the directionally challenged in India (or anyone who just wants a bit of assurance in getting from Point A to Point B) will now see a few new shortcuts on their Google Maps home screen once they update their app. Moreover, Google says that it’s making sure that this new home screen loads quickly so that folks in India can find their way around, even if their connections occasionally get lost.

“Now when you fire up your Google Maps app, you’ll instantly see a directions card with different modes of transportation,” wrote Cathay Bi, Product Manager Google Maps. “Whether you’d like to take the bus to Connaught Place in New Delhi or you are planning to go by foot to a new mall that just opened nearby, you can start planning your route with a single tap. And if you’d like to access a certain route while you’re on the go without using data, you can save the route to be used offline.”

Also included in the Google Maps India revamp are a number of icons that draw users’ attention to other useful features, like satellite imagery of destinations, real-time information about traffic, and details about public transportation lines. Moreover, Google has made it possible for users in India to save a specific area of a map for use offline.

“We hope this new home screen provides a much more intuitive and faster experience for people in India,” Bi concluded. “The Maps team will continue to evolve our products to make them useful no matter where you go or what you do, especially for the millions of people coming online for the first time.”

T-Mobile is currently offering the LG G6 for just $500

Our friends at Thrifter are back again, this time with a great deal on an LG G6 from T-Mobile.

If you’ve been on the fence about picking up an LG G6, this deal from T-Mobile may push you over the edge. Right now you can pick one up for just $500 without a contract, which is a savings of $150. Prefer monthly payments on it instead? If so, you can grab one for $20 at the time of the purchase and $20 a month for 24 months. The LG G6 features a 5.7-inch display with super slim bezels, a killer dual-camera setup and much more.

Remember, with the purchase of an LG G6 before May 7 you’ll also get a free Google Home from LG. Add the $130 savings of the Google Home to the $150 savings on the phone and you’ve got yourself a pretty amazing deal here. If you are looking for an unlocked version, B&H Photo has you covered at just $599.

See at T-Mobile

For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

LG G6

• LG G6 review!
• LG G6 specs
• LG G6 vs. Google Pixel: The two best cameras right now
• Everything you need to know about the G6’s cameras
• LG forums

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