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Best Car Mounts for the Samsung Galaxy S8

Drive safe and keep your eyes on the road and your hands off your phone.

We get it — the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are beautiful phones and it might be hard to keep your hands off of them. But it’s both dangerous and illegal to use your phone while driving.

Fortunately, if you get a quality car mount, you can have access to your phone to see and answer incoming calls, follow turn-by-turn directions, or control your music without taking your hands off the wheel. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite car mounts on this list, with a wireless charging option if that’s an important feature for you.

• Spigen Style Ring
• iOttie HLCRIO132 Wireless Charging Mount
• Nite Ize Steelie
• EnergyPal HC84K Car Mount
• ProClip Custom Car Mounts

Spigen Style Ring

The Spigen Style Ring is one of those accessories that might look a bit silly from afar, but once you’ve gotten up close and personal with it, you realize just how handy it is.

One of the most convenient features is the included hook mount for your car. Using an adhesive strip, the mount easily sticks to your dash and lets you quickly pop your phone onto the mount via the Style Ring, which then holds your phone firmly in place while allowing you to rotate your phone from portrait to landscape as needed. It also looks super minimalist, like your phone is just floating on your dash.

If you’re alright with sticking a Style Ring to the back of your phone — and trust us, it’s worth it — the Spigen Style Ring is one of the best car mounts you can buy for any phone. It’s also available in a number of different colors so you’re able to find one to match your phone or style.

See at Amazon

iOttie HLCRIO132 Wireless Charging Mount

iOttie’s wireless charging mount is Qi-enabled which lets you keep your Galaxy S8 charged while you’re on the go. Like the non-wireless charging iOttie mount, this mount features iOttie’s great one-touch mounting system that make it easy to mount your phone and remove it quickly.
Attaching the mount to your dash is easy with the two-step locking mechanism that is perfect for any type of dashboard —one step is for smooth surfaces and the second is for textured surfaces. Do not that this mount likely won’t work on leather or vinyl dashboards.

It has a telescopic arm so that you can adjust and orient it in any way you like, and it comes with a Micro-USB cable for supplying power to the wireless charging pad.

See at Amazon

Nite Ize Steelie

The Steelie is unlike any other car mount you’ll find. It uses magnets and a steel ball to keep your phone securely mounted to the dash while giving you the freedom to adjust the viewing angle.

Both the magnet and the ball mount sticks to the back of your phone and your dashboard respectively via 3M adhesive pads, and the magnetic attraction is strong enough to hold your phone in place while giving you the freedom to pop it off when you’ve arrived at your destination.

If you really enjoy the way the Steelie mount works, you can buy other holders and pedestals for your desk, or a car mount that uses your air vents instead if you’d rather not mount something to your dash.

See at Amazon

EnergyPal HC84K Car Mount

This particular mount serves two purposes: it holds your phone and doubles as a car charger. It mounts in your car by plugging into your cigarette lighter with two USB ports available. From the charger, EnergyPal uses an articulating arm to extend upward into a three-sided phone holder. It softly cradles your phone while leaving the bottom open for running your charging cable down to the USB ports.

This unit comes equipped with overcharge protection, so you won’t fry your phone if your car decides to short circuit on you. The gooseneck-style phone holder can be rotated to any orientation, so you can view your Google Maps directions in landscape orientation.

The only downside of this particular mount will be where your lighter plug is placed. If it’s awkwardly placed in your car, then this particular mount may not work out for you, since the neck is only about 5 inches long.

See at Amazon

ProClip Custom Car Mounts

For a completely customized car mount, you’ll want to look into a ProClip mount. They offer a two-part car mount solution that you can customize to fit your specific needs. Firstly, you select your Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+ from the menu and indicate whether or not you want to factor in the case you use (we’ve linked to the Samsung S8 options below).

Once you’ve decided on your phone holder, you move on to the custom mounting base. Select the kind of base you want (dashboard, pedestal, and so on) and select the vehicle you drive. The base you select should be designed to snap right into the seams of your dashboard or grip the necessary panels so that no sticky pads or bolts are necessary. Eliminate the guessing by customizing every aspect of your car mount and know that it’s going to fit just the way you want it to.

See at ProClip

What car mount do you prefer?

Which style of car mount do you like most? Is there one you love that didn’t make our list here? Let us know in the comments!

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ review!
• 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

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Why you should consider an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones have been available through the major network providers for a couple of weeks but you can now buy either unlocked and SIM-free.

That means you can pair a shiny, new flagship Samsung phone with any carrier you fancy – even with a Pay As You Go SIM. So here are some great reasons why you should consider an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S8 or Samsung Galaxy S8+.

Freedom to choose your own price plan

When you buy a handset outright and SIM-free it means it is yours to keep whatever, and you are not restricted to a specific time period on a mobile phone contract.

Many networks offer great monthly SIM-only plans, that are able to be cancelled at any time. The next month you can sign up to another.

This is a great way of finding the best plan for you, whether it be more or less data depending on your usage or if a certain network gives you a great connection in your area.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones are also fantastic 4G LTE handsets, so you can try different 4G plans to suit the data speeds you want to achieve.

You can even pair them with a Pay As You Go SIM deal, spending only the amount you want to or can afford each month.

Get the latest version of Android when available

Unlocked phones often get the latest version of Android as soon as it is available. Sometimes, carrier variations mean that a new over-the-air operating system upgrade requires network approval and tweaks, which can delay the process a little. An unlocked smartphone doesn’t have such constraints and will get the super Samsung software as soon as the manufacturer can make it available.

Clean and friendly user interface

Along with the latest version of Android, unlocked Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ handsets come as the manufacturer intended. There are no extra software add-ons networks sometimes require.

What is the Samsung Trade-In Program?

The Samsung Trade-In Program allows customers purchasing a Samsung Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+ to trade in an eligible device and receive an instant trade-in credit toward the purchase of their new Galaxy Smartphone. Currently, Samsung is only accepting trade-in of the following Samsung Galaxy phones: The Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, the Galaxy S6 Edge+, the S7 and S7 Edge+, and the Galaxy Note 5.

Pay using PayPal or PayPal Credit

You can buy either the Samsung Galaxy S8 for a one-off fee of $749.99 on Samsung.com using a credit card – all major types are accepted – or you can pay through PayPal. Alternatively, if you have a PayPal Credit account, you can spread the cost of the new phone.

The same applies to the Samsung Galaxy S8+, which is available from $824.99, also at Samsung.com.

You get an incredible phone

Whether you opt for a Samsung Galaxy S8 or Samsung Galaxy S8+ you are getting one of the very best phones around.

Both feature Samsung’s proprietary Infinity Screen, which offers an expansive display that ranges from edge to edge. The Galaxy S8 has a 5.8-inch display, while the Galaxy S8+ has a 6.2-inch equivalent.

The home button on both phones is invisible, with a dedicated sensor hidden under the bottom of the screen.

The Galaxy S8 and S8+ support Mobile HDR Premium picture technology to give amazing colours and contrast to compatible video. And Samsung’s new voice assistant, Bixby, is available on each handset.

You now need to register and sign in for BBC iPlayer: Here’s why

Back in September last year, the BBC announced that a BBC account would eventually be needed to access some of the Beeb’s online services, including iPlayer and iPlayer Radio. That day has come.

From today, Friday 12 May, you will need to sign in with a registered account when accessing BBC services online through the web or via the mobile and tablet applications.

Smart TV BBC iPlayer apps don’t yet require sign up but you’ll be missing out on some features if your TV does allow you to sign in.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new BBC iPlayer sign-in, including how to register for an account and the benefits it brings.

Why do you need to sign-in to use BBC iPlayer?

In September 2016, the BBC outlined changes to its online strategy that included mandatory BBC account registration to use some of its services. BBC iPlayer and BBC iPlayer Radio are two of the main services affected.

The BBC explained then that by getting users to sign-in it could make the iPlayer platform more personalised, offering recommendations to users based on their viewing habits, alerts about specific programming or events and even watch a programme on one device and pick it up on another at the point you left off.

These are features other video streaming services offer but they generally require a subscription fee. The BBC doesn’t require payment beyond the standard television licence fee that you need to pay to watch BBC broadcasting through TV or online. However, it does need to know who is watching the service, otherwise it cannot personalise it.

Critics suggest that it also enables the BBC to find and penalise those not paying their licence fees and while that is possible, with the Beeb itself admitting that email accounts can be cross-referenced to find those who are watching but not paying for the privilege, that isn’t the main reason.

It promises that online surveillance is not being adopted and IP addresses of those watching will not be sought. In future it might implement systems whereby those not paying the licence fee cannot access BBC iPlayer, due to a Government request, but that is still in the discussion phase.

What is a BBC account?

Formerly known as BBC iD, a BBC account has been a feature of bbc.co.uk for some time. You can register on the site and have your bbc.co.uk homepage customised to your own interests, including localised information, such as the weather.

The same account is now being used to sign into iPlayer and other online services.

Is a BBC account free?

A BBC account is totally free to sign up for. You need to pay the TV licence fee, which costs £147 a year, in order to watch BBC iPlayer or any other TV programming in the UK, but that is required to legally watch television in this country, even if you never use iPlayer.

How do I get a BBC account?

All you have to do to get a BBC account is register for one at bbc.co.uk here.

If you already have an account, which you’ve used for the Beeb’s website before, that will work. It doesn’t require all of your personal details, just your date of birth, email address, gender and a password to use when you sign in each time.

You can also flesh out your profile with your name if you like.

One other benefit to having a BBC account is that you can link a child’s profile with your own for parental controls.

Belgian scientists turn polluted air into hydrogen fuel

To save the environment, humanity needs to do two things: reduce harmful gases and produce more energy from “green” energy sources. While plenty of research projects have tried to tackle these independently, few do both at the same time. Scientists from the University of Antwerp and KU Leuven (University of Leuven) in Belgium are developing a device that cleans up the air and generates power at the same time. It relies on a process called ‘heterogeneous photocatalysis,’ which uses light and a special catalyst (typically a semiconductor) to trigger a chemical reaction.

Heterogeneous photocatalysis has been used before to siphon hydrogen from water and nullify gas-based pollutants. Rarely are the two used in combination, however. The research team has solved this with a “photoelectrochemical cell,” which uses a solar cell to produce hydrogen in a similar manner to electrolysis water-splitting. It has two “rooms,” according to Professor Sammy Vergbuggen, separated by a membrane to isolate the two processes. Air is purified on one side with a photoanode, while the hydrogen is generated from “a part of the degradation process” with a cathode tucked behind the solid electrolyte membrane.

It’s the team’s choice of catalyst that makes the machine so effective, Verbuggen says. “In the past, these cells were mostly used to extract hydrogen from water. We have now discovered that this is also possible, and even more efficient, with polluted air,” he added. The hydrogen can be easily stored and used later as fuel. It sounds like a wonder machine, although the team is quick to stress that it’s only a “proof-of-concept” with “ample room for improvement” in its research paper. The current device, for instance, is only a few square centimeters — hardly enough to counterbalance carbon emissions or power the lights in our cities.

Via: Popular Mechanics

Source: KU Leuven

Self-driving cars could soon be cheaper and easier to build

There’s no shortage of companies working on artificial intelligence for cars. If anything there’s a glut. Every automaker and startup seems to be building a nearly sentient system designed to operate cars and avoid objects (especially humans). AImotive (pronounced “AI Motive” — yeah, it’s confusing) is doing the same thing, except it’s also designing the accompanying hardware. What’s more, it’ll play nice with rival software platforms too. The ultimate goal is to create a suite that simplifies the way we connect different hardware configurations.

The company is creating a lower-cost self-driving system that forgoes the pricey LiDAR sensors in exchange for multiple low-cost cameras. Instead of using LiDAR-building juggernaut Velodyne’s $75,000 top-of-the-line sensor on its cars, it’s outfitted them with eight to 12 off-the-shelf $12 cameras.

Meanwhile in the trunk of AImotive’s Prius test vehicle, the company is sticking with industry darling NVIDIA to help make sense of all that camera data. But even those GPUs are on the way out in favor of a lower-power solution. The four NVIDIA cards currently used in the company’s car computer suck up 1,000 watts of power. That’s not exactly efficient, especially when you consider how the cars of the future will be powered. Self-driving cars are more than likely going to electric vehicles, so a supercomputer in the trunk sucking up enough wattage to power a small home isn’t ideal. So AImotive decided to design its own chip to replace each of those GPUs.

It’s not going to be easy. NVIDIA’s hardware is entrenched in the automotive space. AImotive says it will license the design to third parties and that its A6-based chip will reduce the power consumption of a four-processor system from 1,000 watts to 100. “What we found is that there are serious bottlenecks in the current chips, and we basically designed a new chip architecture,” said CEO László Kishonti. The new chips are expected to be 20 percent more efficient at crunching AI algorithms than the NVIDIA GPUs.

While the company hopes to change the processors in the cars, AImotive also understands that the backend of these systems requires high-end processors from NVIDIA, Intel and others. To streamline the process of working with multiple chip architectures in a single system, it’s created an open-standard translation tool for AI algorithms to increase the efficiency of file sharing between chip types.

All of this is based around the company’s premise that self-driving cars should act more like people. That it should be a vision-based system with Radar (or LiDAR, if the price ever drops substantially) as a backup. And more important, that it should be inexpensive and relatively easy to implement.

AImotive is taking on some huge competition. It’ll take a lot to unseat NVIDIA’s dominance in autonomous cars, and the company built a driving simulator because there’s no way its five cars can come close to real-world miles that Tesla and Google have accumulated. But the software company is looking beyond just building software for its potential customers. By taking a wider view and adding hardware to the mix, it’s working like an established automaker instead of dozens of other AI startups.

Apple invests $200 million in Corning’s US glass manufacturing

Apple is awarding $200 million of its billion-dollar Advanced Manufacturing Fund to Corning Incorporated for research and development, “capital equipment needs” and high-tech glass processing. In a statement, Corning’s CEO Wendell P. Weeks said that this has created around 1,000 jobs domestically, and will benefit its Harrodsburg production facility in Kentucky, specifically.

The company has supplied the glass for every iPhone since 2007. This new partnership extends for ten years.

Earlier this month, Apple CEO Tim Cook made the announcement that investing domestically made sense because of manufacturing’s inherent ripple effect for job creation.

“If we can create many manufacturing jobs around, those manufacturing jobs create more jobs around them because you have a service industry that builds up around them,” Cook said at the time. Apple is expected to announce investments in coding and developer training this year as well.

If you’ll recall, way back in 2013 Apple built the Mac Pro in the United States. Its mobile device and laptop manufacturing primarily take place in China, however, and given the company’s relationship with manufacturer Foxconn, Apple bowing to Donald Trump’s campaign-trail threats is highly unlikely.

Source: BusinessWire

Alexa’s now a Eurovision trivia buff

Whatever your thoughts are on it, there’s no denying that The Eurovision Song Contest continues to go from strength to strength. In 2016, over 200 million viewers watched Ukraine’s Jamala triumph over three live shows broadcast from Stockholm, Sweden. And thanks to an ever-increasing US audience, tomorrow’s final is expected to help break the record once again.

For some, Eurovision is a way of life, but for others, the music event can take some getting used to. To bring people up to speed, Eurovision has created an official Alexa skill that doesn’t only provide answers to europop trivia, it can also play back every track performed over the last 60 years.

Once the skill has been enabled on the Echo or Echo Dot, US, UK and German users can ask Alexa “Who won in 1967?” It’ll then deliver the winning song, the artist and country and then ask if they’d like to hear it. (Sandie Shaw won with Puppet On A String, if you’re wondering). UK owners can also ask their Echo to tune into the BBC’s live radio coverage, although they’ll inevitably lose some of the spectacle.

Source: Amazon (UK), (US)

Satechi Launches Type-C Pro Hub for 2016 MacBook Pro With Ports for Thunderbolt 3, HDMI, SD, and More

Accessory manufacturer Satechi today launched a new $99.99 Type-C Pro Hub for the 13-inch and 15-inch 2016 MacBook Pros, featuring a total of seven ports to make up for the inclusion of only Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports on the 2016 MacBook Pro.

The new hub is similar in design to the Type-C Hub compatible with Apple’s original 12-inch Macbook, but includes two Thunderbolt 3 dongles that take up both ports on either side of the new MacBook Pros with Touch Bar. The hub is compatible with the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro as well.

After users plug the hub in, they can gain access to a passthrough Thunderbolt 3 port, a USB-C port, and the following ports missing from Apple’s device: 4K HDMI, 2 USB 3.0 ports, and both SD and microSD card readers.

The Thunderbolt 3 port supports quick data transfer of speeds up to 40Gbps, as well as passthrough charging for both 13-inch (61W) and 15-inch (87W) models of the MacBook Pro. Users can output 1080p video at 60Hz via the HDMI port, and up to 4K video at 30Hz.

Both the USB 3.0 and USB-C ports include transfer speeds of up to 5 GB/s, while the photo and video editing capabilities of the SD card slots provide data transfer speeds of up to 104 MB/s.

Those interested can purchase the Type-C Pro Hub from Satechi’s website for $99.99 starting today. Like the company’s other products, the hub comes in MacBook color-matching Silver and Space Gray, and has a brushed aluminum finish to complement Apple’s aesthetics.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Tag: Satechi
Buyer’s Guide: MacBook Pro (Neutral)
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iPlayer will soon require a BBC account

The majority of Brits will soon need a BBC account in order to watch iPlayer, listen to iPlayer Radio and use some of the broadcaster’s other services. The BBC has said that registration will move from optional to mandatory within the next few weeks. No formal date has been set because the BBC wants to ensure as many people as possible have been given the opportunity to sign up before it flips the switch, and it’s started warning users of the impending change online and within its various apps. The BBC says it’s introducing mandatory logins to improve its services and user personalisation, but there’s also a secondary motivation: Making sure you’re paying your TV licence.

The BBC already tailors many of its services for logged-in users. For example, iPlayer will recommend things to watch based on your viewing habits, and only with an account can you pause a show on one device and pick up where you left off on another, for obvious reasons. By forcing more people to log in, the BBC says it can get a much better idea of how people use its services, and improve them accordingly.

When signing up, you need to provide your date of birth, email address and post code. With a richer understanding of user demographics, the BBC hopes to personalise on an individual and country-wide scale. “By finding out more about you and what you like we can make better content, make it more relevant, and bring it to you more effectively,” the BBC’s Andrew Scott writes. Logging-in will initially only be mandatory when watching iPlayer online or via mobile apps. “Connected TVs,” which is a term the BBC uses to describe apps for smart TVs, games consoles, set-top boxes, etc., will fall in line in due course — some of these platforms will be forever be exempt since they aren’t built to support account systems.

The BBC first announced it was going to introduce the registration requirement last September. Coincidentally, or not, this was made just a few weeks after TV Licensing law changed, closing the so-called “iPlayer loophole.” Previously, only those watching the BBC’s live channels needed a licence, but it was extended to cover the broadcaster’s on-demand content too.

As much as the BBC tries to downplay the connection, account details will be available to TV Licensing and used to tackle fee evasion. For now, at least, the BBC says only the email address you sign up with will be of interest. If you’ve explicitly told TV Licensing you don’t need one, it’ll be obvious you’re lying when you’re logged into iPlayer with a known email address and catching up on Masterchef. That’s not to say your post code will be ignored forever, but Scott says nobody’s going to start asking ISPs for IP addresses to connect the dots.

Last year, the government suggested the BBC consider a strict TV licence verification system for iPlayer. “This is something we’re continuing to look at,” says Scott.

Via: Wired

Source: BBC