Cortana, Google Assistant, and Siri duke it out (now, with more Alexa!)

Nearly every smartphone and computer on the market today has a smart assistant trapped inside, like a helpful ghost, but how do they stack up against one another? While it may seem like Siri, Cortana, and the nameless Google Assistant are all just variations of the same thing — and well, they are to some extent — they each have their own quirks, flaws, and strengths. So which one’s best for you? Well, that’s not an easy question to answer, as they’re so similar it’s hard to compare them without digging deep into their capabilities. That said, let’s get started.

Virtual assistants compared

Cortana

Cortana is an operating system-oriented voice assistant available on Windows 10 devices, as well as the Xbox One console. Cortana is closely connected to productivity, but can also help answer more general questions by pulling information by Bing.

The Cortana VA has seen a lot of recent growth, expanding her use throughout Windows 10 and related services. Combined with newer offerings like Surface Studio, it’s clear Microsoft favors Cortana as an OS-based service to control Windows 10 while you’re working.

While you can store specific bits of information with Cortana, Microsoft’s virtual assistant is constantly analyzing your interactions to learn more about you. This info is stored in something Microsoft calls the “Notebook,” which includes the places you like to go, people you care about, your preferred quiet hours, and things you might be interested in, among other things. You can even edit it if you like.

Cortana can also read your emails, track your location, watch your browsing history, check your contact list, keep an eye on your calendar, and put all this data together to suggest useful info, if you allow it to. Cortana is designed to recognize context, so it should be able to understand follow-up requests, and you can phrase things in different ways and still expect a useful answer. You can also type your questions or requests, if you prefer to not speak out loud.

The latest changes from the Windows 10 Creators Update allow Cortana to help in the setup process for new computers, and include a new full screen mode for Cortana that serves as both a screensaver and voice-assistant focused mode when you’re away from the computer—or at too far away to type. Cortana can also handle music and reminder commands more effectively, spanning multiple music apps and controlling volume as you desire.

Passive abilities have also gotten a boost, including Action Center (the right-hand Windows menu) syncing, where Cortana will sync activities from one computer to another so you can pick up where you left off more easily. These updates and others make Cortana a desktop-friendly assistant with a specialty in work-related tasks. Of course, she also works for Xbox One and is available via app on many platforms, so there are plenty of options here.

However, unlike some voice assistants, Cortana does not yet have much of an interest in smart home or IoT devices. There are rumors that will soon change, but nothing has been announced as of this article’s latest update.

Siri

Siri has been an integral part of iOS since the launch of iOS 5 in 2011. It started with the basics such as weather and messaging, but has expanded greatly since then to support more third-party integration with MacOS.

While Siri’s jokes are legendary, the virtual assistant is getting more capable every day. Now, you can ask it to call people, send messages, schedule meetings, launch apps and games, play music, answer questions, set reminders, and provide weather forecasts.

Siri can also integrate with third-party apps and understand follow-up queries. That’s a big change in strategy for Apple, which typically maintains a tight grip on which third-party companies get access to its native functions.

Siri is probably the most familiar of all the voice assistants, but it’s also seeing fewer in-house updates, and less expansion into new areas (although Siri support via Apple Homekit is available, which is a welcome development). It also lags behind the other VAs when it comes to text input, which isn’t supported for most Siri functions: Apple appears to be using Siri for voice controls and Spotlight for similar text-based queries.

The latest news for Siri includes voice compatibility for WhatsApp, expanded payment options for Lyft and Uber, and the ability to look up international cricket scores. These are minor tweaks compared to the changes other VAs are going through, but they also point to Siri’s continued stability—particularly for long-term iOS users who already know the voice assistant well.

Google Assistant

Google Assistant (which has incorporated functions from the older Google Now, as Now is being phased out) is different from Cortana and Siri. It has less personality, but more functionality. While it is an integral part of Android, Google Assistant also lives in an iOS app, and can be accessed through the Chrome browser as needed.

Like Cortana and Siri, you can ask Assistant for directions to the closest Chinese restaurant, or what the weather looks like for the next 10 days. If you let it, Google’s software will utilize your search history and customize its responses based on what it knows about your queries.

Google’s integration with its search engine makes Google Assistant one of the most useful virtual assistants out of the box. Unless you’ve never used Google as a search engine before, it already has a treasure trove of data on what you’ve done on the web. It also reacts to questions in a similar way to the Google browser, which makes it great for general information and trivia.

The release of Google Home makes comparisons between Google Assistant and Alexa easy, but Assistant is in wearables and the latest Android mobile devices, so it has a broader reach than Amazon’s VA.  If you favor Android platforms on anything from phones to TVs, then Assistant has a compelling argument. The highly conversational VA is adept at interpreting common languages and understanding the meaning behind subtly complex questions like, “What should we have for dinner?” It can also recognize up to six different voices for couples and families, each voice tied to different calendar events and preferences, an advantage unique to Assistant and ideal in a situation where everyone uses the voice assistant on a single device.

The latest updates to Assistant includes a quick change to stop saving shopping lists on Keep (in favor of Express, which competes more directly with Amazon), and a new ability to set flight price tracking alerts. This shows some uncertainty as to where Assistant is headed. Does Google want it to be an Alexa competitor, or does Google want to tie it into existing Chrome/Android services? Assistant is shuffling its feet a little at this stage, but it certainly provides unique advantages for Google fans.

Cortana, Google Assistant, and Siri duke it out (now, with more Alexa!)

Nearly every smartphone and computer on the market today has a smart assistant trapped inside, like a helpful ghost, but how do they stack up against one another? While it may seem like Siri, Cortana, and the nameless Google Assistant are all just variations of the same thing — and well, they are to some extent — they each have their own quirks, flaws, and strengths. So which one’s best for you? Well, that’s not an easy question to answer, as they’re so similar it’s hard to compare them without digging deep into their capabilities. That said, let’s get started.

Virtual assistants compared

Cortana

Cortana is an operating system-oriented voice assistant available on Windows 10 devices, as well as the Xbox One console. Cortana is closely connected to productivity, but can also help answer more general questions by pulling information by Bing.

The Cortana VA has seen a lot of recent growth, expanding her use throughout Windows 10 and related services. Combined with newer offerings like Surface Studio, it’s clear Microsoft favors Cortana as an OS-based service to control Windows 10 while you’re working.

While you can store specific bits of information with Cortana, Microsoft’s virtual assistant is constantly analyzing your interactions to learn more about you. This info is stored in something Microsoft calls the “Notebook,” which includes the places you like to go, people you care about, your preferred quiet hours, and things you might be interested in, among other things. You can even edit it if you like.

Cortana can also read your emails, track your location, watch your browsing history, check your contact list, keep an eye on your calendar, and put all this data together to suggest useful info, if you allow it to. Cortana is designed to recognize context, so it should be able to understand follow-up requests, and you can phrase things in different ways and still expect a useful answer. You can also type your questions or requests, if you prefer to not speak out loud.

The latest changes from the Windows 10 Creators Update allow Cortana to help in the setup process for new computers, and include a new full screen mode for Cortana that serves as both a screensaver and voice-assistant focused mode when you’re away from the computer—or at too far away to type. Cortana can also handle music and reminder commands more effectively, spanning multiple music apps and controlling volume as you desire.

Passive abilities have also gotten a boost, including Action Center (the right-hand Windows menu) syncing, where Cortana will sync activities from one computer to another so you can pick up where you left off more easily. These updates and others make Cortana a desktop-friendly assistant with a specialty in work-related tasks. Of course, she also works for Xbox One and is available via app on many platforms, so there are plenty of options here.

However, unlike some voice assistants, Cortana does not yet have much of an interest in smart home or IoT devices. There are rumors that will soon change, but nothing has been announced as of this article’s latest update.

Siri

Siri has been an integral part of iOS since the launch of iOS 5 in 2011. It started with the basics such as weather and messaging, but has expanded greatly since then to support more third-party integration with MacOS.

While Siri’s jokes are legendary, the virtual assistant is getting more capable every day. Now, you can ask it to call people, send messages, schedule meetings, launch apps and games, play music, answer questions, set reminders, and provide weather forecasts.

Siri can also integrate with third-party apps and understand follow-up queries. That’s a big change in strategy for Apple, which typically maintains a tight grip on which third-party companies get access to its native functions.

Siri is probably the most familiar of all the voice assistants, but it’s also seeing fewer in-house updates, and less expansion into new areas (although Siri support via Apple Homekit is available, which is a welcome development). It also lags behind the other VAs when it comes to text input, which isn’t supported for most Siri functions: Apple appears to be using Siri for voice controls and Spotlight for similar text-based queries.

The latest news for Siri includes voice compatibility for WhatsApp, expanded payment options for Lyft and Uber, and the ability to look up international cricket scores. These are minor tweaks compared to the changes other VAs are going through, but they also point to Siri’s continued stability—particularly for long-term iOS users who already know the voice assistant well.

Google Assistant

Google Assistant (which has incorporated functions from the older Google Now, as Now is being phased out) is different from Cortana and Siri. It has less personality, but more functionality. While it is an integral part of Android, Google Assistant also lives in an iOS app, and can be accessed through the Chrome browser as needed.

Like Cortana and Siri, you can ask Assistant for directions to the closest Chinese restaurant, or what the weather looks like for the next 10 days. If you let it, Google’s software will utilize your search history and customize its responses based on what it knows about your queries.

Google’s integration with its search engine makes Google Assistant one of the most useful virtual assistants out of the box. Unless you’ve never used Google as a search engine before, it already has a treasure trove of data on what you’ve done on the web. It also reacts to questions in a similar way to the Google browser, which makes it great for general information and trivia.

The release of Google Home makes comparisons between Google Assistant and Alexa easy, but Assistant is in wearables and the latest Android mobile devices, so it has a broader reach than Amazon’s VA.  If you favor Android platforms on anything from phones to TVs, then Assistant has a compelling argument. The highly conversational VA is adept at interpreting common languages and understanding the meaning behind subtly complex questions like, “What should we have for dinner?” It can also recognize up to six different voices for couples and families, each voice tied to different calendar events and preferences, an advantage unique to Assistant and ideal in a situation where everyone uses the voice assistant on a single device.

The latest updates to Assistant includes a quick change to stop saving shopping lists on Keep (in favor of Express, which competes more directly with Amazon), and a new ability to set flight price tracking alerts. This shows some uncertainty as to where Assistant is headed. Does Google want it to be an Alexa competitor, or does Google want to tie it into existing Chrome/Android services? Assistant is shuffling its feet a little at this stage, but it certainly provides unique advantages for Google fans.

Pair of Intel patents pitch new ways to find a lost phone, keep messages private

Why it matters to you

We’ve all lost our phones with the ringer conveniently switched off, but Intel’s patent looks to solve that problem once and for all.

As far as mobile technology has come, it’s still fair to say the best way to find a phone you’ve misplaced in your home or somewhere else nearby is to simply call it. Even as our devices have gotten smarter, this hasn’t really changed. However, it’s never been a surefire solution.

For example, what if your phone’s battery has died, or you left it in silent mode before losing it? In such an instance, calling wouldn’t necessarily help track it down — which is why an Intel patent, published Thursday, could make all the difference.

Intel is calling it a “low-power voice trigger for finding mobile devices,” and the name is quite self-explanatory. An audio processor, which would act independently of the device’s main processor, would be capable of listening for a predetermined phrase even when the phone is powered off or in standby mode. Once it detects the phrase — the example used in the application is “Hello phone” — the device could play a tone to help the owner locate it.

That’s a basic overview of how the system would operate, but Intel goes into much greater detail in the application. The company lists some potential problems with its proposal, the first and foremost being how it would interact with wireless headsets. Theoretically, the phone would default to the onboard microphone and speaker even in situations when it is still connected to an external device, like Bluetooth headphones.

The low-power location pitch was just one of two Intel patents brought to light this week. On the same day, an application for a “face-based secure messaging” scheme broke cover. Put simply, the proposal would allow an individual to send a message to another that would only unlock and be visible if the second user was present. The device would determine that by recording video of the recipient’s face, and matching that against a provided screenshot.

Many new phones today, like Samsung’s Galaxy S8, are using face detection and iris scanning as a means for authentication — allowing you to unlock your handset simply by looking at it. Therefore, it’s not surprising that Intel would look to extend this technology to messaging as well. Mobile-based chat apps are perpetually under the scrutiny of privacy advocates for not doing enough to protect their users and the contents of the media they share, so Intel’s patent is especially relevant now.

Speaking of which, it’s important to remember that patents are exactly what these ideas are — not guarantees of features you can expect to see on your smartphone in the immediate future, or possibly ever. However, as far as patents are concerned, they’re not far-fetched. In fact, they’re technically possible now, so it’ll be interesting to see if and how they materialize.

Modders resurrect virtual reality port of ‘Half-Life 2’ for current headsets

Why it matters to you

This modding project sets out to let players enjoy one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time in an entirely new way.

When the game launched in 2004, Half-Life 2 was widely heralded as one of the most immersive first-person shooters around. Now, a fan project is set to make Valve’s critically lauded sequel playable in virtual reality on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Back when the current VR boom was just getting started, a talented team put together HLVR, a mod that allowed players to experience Half-Life 2 like never before using an Oculus Rift DK1 headset and a Razer Hydra motion controller. Unfortunately, that mod is currently only playable using older development kit headsets but members of the original team have been hard at work bringing it up to date.

The new version, dubbed Half-Life 2: VR, is packing several enticing features. The game looks great, with HDR lighting, and updates to effects, models, textures, and maps having been applied.

However, those are not the only improvements the team has made. In the original Half-Life 2, weapons were basic models that looked the same whenever they were put in the hands of the player character, Gordon Freeman — in Half-Life 2: VR, they are remodeled so that players can move them around and view them from any angle, adding to the sense of immersion.

There are even brand new reload gestures, according to a report from Road to VR. Apparently, the .357 revolver requires players to tilt the weapon to discharge spent cartridges, before flicking it back into place.

Half-Life 2: VR will be released for free, although players will need to own Half-Life 2, Episode 1, and Episode 2 to play it. The two episodes are not currently playable in VR mode, they are simply required for installation but the team hopes to add support sometime in the future.

The modders behind the project want to make it as easy as possible for fans to play the game in VR, so they are starting a Steam Greenlight campaign that is intended to make the mod available via Valve’s marketplace.

Zotac’s ArcticStorm GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card is all-weather ready

Why it matters to you

PC gamers with a liquid-cooled PC now have another option for upgrading their current graphics card to Nvidia’s latest offering.

Zotac recently introduced its latest graphics card for PC gamers, the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti ArcticStorm. Built to connect to your existing liquid cooling system, it’s packed with a direct copper cold plate contact engraved with a 0.3mm micro-channel precision, a bundled pair of barbs supporting tubing with an inner diameter of 10mm, and a board-wide water block that makes contact with the crucial parts of the card.

Here are the specs compared to Nvidia’s reference GTX 1080 TI design:

GTX 1080 TI ArcticStorm
GTX 1080 Ti Reference
Graphics chip:
GP102-350
GP102-350
Architecture:
Pascal
Pascal
CUDA cores:
3,584
3,584
Base speed:
1,506MHz
1,480MHz
Boost speed:
1,620MHz
1,582MHz
Memory amount:
11GB GDDR5X
11GB GDDR5X
Memory bus:
352-bit
352-bit
Memory clock:
11Gbps
11Gbps
Ports:
3x DisplayPort 1.4
1X HDMI 2.0b
1x DL-DVI-D
1x DisplayPort 1.4
1x HDMI 2.0b
Power consumption:
270 watts
250 watts
Recommended power:
600 watts
600 watts
Power connection:
2x 8-pin
1x 6-pin, 1x 8-pin
Slot size:
2 slots
2 slots
Dimensions (inches):
11.81 (L) x 5.83 (H) x 1.71
10.5 (L) x 4.376 (H) x 1.71
Price:
$780(?)
$700

As the specs show, the card is clocked slightly higher than Nvidia’s reference GTX 1080 TI design in both the base and boost speeds. This overclocking is kept under wraps due to the on-board liquid cooling support, thus customers will want to turn to the fan-based GTX 1080 Ti AMP Extreme models if they want an overclocked card but don’t have a liquid cooling system in their PC.

In addition to the liquid cooling feature, Zotac’s new card includes the company’s Spectra LED-based lighting system that’s customizable through the free (and redesigned) FireStorm software. This LED system is complemented by a wraparound backplate to spruce up the card’s visuals as its seated in the PC’s PCI Express 3.0 slot.

Zotac’s new GTX 1080 Ti supports a 16 + 2 power phase to stabilize the overclocking, meaning 16 power phases are dedicated solely to the GP102-350 chip for clean, steady voltage. In other words, when voltage is received by the PC’s power supply, it’s received by 16 transistors and two switches each, which supposedly prevents voltage drops and reduces heat.

Adding to that, the new Zotac card features the company’s Power Boost technology. “Doubling up to reduce ripple noise and minimize power fluctuation to enable a longer lasting amped graphics card even when pushed to the limit,” the product page states.

In the box, the card ships with two dual-mesh-wrapped 6-pin to 8-pin power cables, and two G1/4-thread 0.375-inch fittings. When the card ships and for how much is unknown, as it wasn’t listed on Newegg or Amazon at the time this article went live. However, Zotac’s previous GTX 1080 ArticStorm sells for $634 while Nvidia sells its base model for $550. Thus, if Nvidia is selling the GTX 1080 Ti for $700, expect Zotac’s solution to possibly sell for around $780.

AMD schedules press event for Computex, with Vega the most likely topic

Why it matters to you

Your wait to learn all about AMD’s new Vega GPU architecture is likely to end soon.

While it is common knowledge that AMD will be releasing its Vega next-generation GPU architecture in the second quarter of 2017, the company has been cagey in terms of specifics. While some potential events for such a reveal have come and gone, there’s one remaining this quarter that is a likely candidate.

We’re talking about Computex, of course, and this year’s event is scheduled for May 30 through June 3 in Taipei. And AMD has now officially confirmed an event on May 31 at 10 a.m. local time that’s as likely as any for Vega to finally see the light of day, as Wccftech reports.

The news came via an official AMD press statement:

“Computex 2017 is fast approaching so we wanted to share a save-the-date for the AMD press conference, scheduled for May 31st from 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.

“Hosted by AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su and other key AMD executives, you will have the opportunity to hear more about the latest products and leading-edge technologies coming from AMD in 2017. The past year has seen AMD bringing innovation and competition back to the high-performance desktop market with the release of Ryzen processors and we look forward to providing new details on 2017 products and the ecosystems, both OEM and channel, that will support them.”

AMD has already made some noise with its recent launch of the Zen CPU architecture and its Ryzen processors, which offer solid performance at competitive price points. Ryzen has given Intel something to think about, and AMD is hoping that Vega will provide the kind of price-performance ratio that will help break Nvidia’s hold on the GPU market.

The company has recently released another generation of its Polaris GPU architecture to hold a place in line for Vega, and the Radeon RX 500 series does offer some decent performance at competitive pricing. However, AMD fans and gamers, in general, are mostly looking forward to Vega, which the company hopes will finally let it compete at the high end against Nvidia’s Pascal architecture.

While there’s no guaranteed that AMD will announce Vega at its upcoming Computex press event, smart money says it will. That means that we don’t have too much longer to wait to see exactly what AMD has in mind to shake up the GPU marketplace.

Man builds a homemade hologram generator to bring Microsoft’s Cortana to life

Why it matters to you

This holographic Cortana avatar gives us a glimpse at how future home virtual assistants might look.

Microsoft announced this week that its Cortana artificial intelligence assistant has more than 145 million users, representing about a third of the 500 million users that have upgraded to Windows 10. Likely only one of those 145 million users has a Cortana digital helper like Jared Archer’s, though.

That is because the Florida-based developer has created a holographic Cortana avatar to go along with its regular disembodied voice. His idea was to build a physical piece of kit that shows what a future Cortana-based home appliance would look like, using the holographic AI sidekick from the Halo video game franchise.

“I say ‘holographic’ as it’s a friendlier term, but the effect produced is essentially what’s called ‘Pepper’s ghost,’” Archer told Digital Trends. “[That means] specialized mirror glass that reflects a display at an angle which produces a translucent image. This is also how many teleprompters work. I went with a pyramid design which allows viewers to see the Cortana assistant on either side, in addition to the front.”

Archer’s wife stood in as the motion-capture model for Cortana, which Archer recorded with a pair of Microsoft Kinect motion sensors, before applying the data to his Cortana model in graphics engine Unity.

“The unit is powered with a Windows 10 machine that runs software to tunnel the OS’s native Cortana communications to the device,” he explained. “What the viewer sees is rendered from a Unity 3D application I built. Unity’s software is typically used to create games but has many other practical applications. Also included in the design is a 3D-printed frame I modeled, an omnidirectional microphone, and a speaker which sits in Cortana’s pedestal.”

The results make for a pretty darn fun home hack, which Archer plans to continue working on — although he is not yet clear what the end product will be.

“The project is still pretty much a work in progress,” he said. “I do intend to clean up and implement more animations to add variation to the interactions. While I’m not entirely sure on this specific project’s commercial ability, I intend on producing a very interesting product in the near future.”

CTIA launches a new service to keep you from buying stolen smartphones

Stolen phones are a painful part of the smartphone market.

Someone steals a phone off an unsuspecting (or at the very least unwilling) person, wipes the device and sells it off to the first person they can. That person thinks they got a sweet deal on a new phone… right up until the device turns on and is disabled by an IMEI block placed by the carrier or the manufacturer once the owner reports it stolen. No one wants this to happen to them, and the CTIA, an organization that represents the U.S. carriers, wants to help you find out if a phone is stolen before you buy it.

It’s offering a free and very aptly named Stolen Phone Checker so people buying used smartphones can ensure the phones aren’t shady. The site is easy to use and free for up to five checks per day for U.S. consumers. You type in the IMEI you’re checking, click through a captcha, and get a quick and easy indicator that your phone is either safe or stolen. Now, there is one small problem here: this only tell you if an IMEI’s already been blocked, so if the thief sells it to you before the victim hasn’t reported their phone stolen and had the IMEI block placed

Bookmark it for the next time you buy a used smartphone. Tell your friends and family. Friends don’t let friends buy stolen smartphones.

The ZTE Axon 7 at $329 is one of the best unlocked phone deals around

One of the best unlocked phones of 2016 is getting a deep discount for 2017.

The ZTE Axon 7 was a surprise hit last summer, offering a great smartphone experience at $399. Here’s what I said in August 2016:

The Axon 7 is one of the best phone surprises I’ve had so far in 2016. Like the OnePlus 3, it provides tremendous value for its $400 asking price, and despite a few software quirks is without major compromise.

Not only is it wonderfully compact for a 5.5-inch phone, but it is well-made and nicely designed, replete with an excellent camera setup and superlative sound. If you can overcome the need to have the latest software (or expeditious software updates, for that matter), the ZTE Axon 7 is one of the best unlocked smartphones you can buy today.

The phone feels snappy and new on the updated software, and the OLED screen looks just as good as it did last summer.

Well, turns out I was wrong: my biggest gripe with the Axon 7 was unfounded, since it was updated to Android 7.0 relatively quickly, and is one of the few non-Google devices to run Android 7.1.1. In addition, most of the software gripes I had at launch were ironed out in subsequent point releases long before it received Nougat, which merely improved the phone’s overall performance.

Now, Amazon is offering a $40 discount on the Axon 7, bringing the 64GB-equipped smartphone down to $329.99 for the Ion Gold model. I decided to pick up the phone and use it as my daily driver for a couple of days to see how it holds up and, I must say, I’m impressed. The phone feels snappy and new on the updated software, and the OLED screen looks just as good as it did last summer. I still like the relative compactness of the 5.5-inch phone, and the aluminum build is solid without being too heavy.

The camera is really the only downside to this phone.

Indeed, the only major issue I continue to have with the phone is the camera. The 20MP rear camera is pretty terrible by today’s standards; it wasn’t great in daylight last summer and suffered tremendously in low light. Now, in mid-2017, with devices like the Pixel and Galaxy S8 owning that space, the Axon 7’s low-light photos look even worse. Sure, you can eke out some great shots in manual mode, but the sensor and pixels are too small to do much with the available light in dim scenes.

And while I haven’t seen many of the bugs surfaced in this Reddit thread, I am aware that ZTE doesn’t have the best software track record. And, like u/wereunstumpable says, it seems “each update they fix something and break something else.”

Comment from discussion ZTE Axon 7 Unlocked Smartphone,64GB Ion Gold (US Warranty) – $ 329.99.

If you can live with those minor quibbles — or are willing to install custom software like LineageOS, which is the successor to CyanogenMOD, the ZTE Axon 7 is still a great buy at its currently-discounted price of $329.99.

But you have to keep into account that a successor to the Axon 7 is expected in the next couple of months and with it, an upgraded design, Snapdragon 835 processor, and hopefully, an improved camera. What I hope ZTE doesn’t change is the focus on audio, which has helped it stand apart from the rest of the industry, especially in the unlocked space where the company is thriving.

Are you inclined to buy the ZTE Axon 7 at $329.99? Let us know!

See at Amazon

YouTube TV has managed to satiate my desire for live television

But with rival services making their way onto the scene, YouTube TV needs an edge.

Is there anyone out there who cut the cord and misses cable as much as I did? It wasn’t until I downloaded YouTube TV that I realized how much I missed the sensation of flipping through channels, or being able to watch programs at the same time as everyone else.

Sure, full-featured cable TV does have its drawbacks. In many cases, it’s overwrought with screeching advertisements and garbage content (says the reality TV connoisseur), not to mention that it can be pretty expensive if you want the whole kit and caboodle. But I found that the past few weeks with YouTube TV have been successful precisely because it evokes the same sensations of subscribing to cable TV while simultaneously filling in the blanks where some streaming services fall short.

It’s saving me from a bad habit

Let’s get this straight: There is nothing wrong with being a consumer of reality television. For me, it’s a way to escape the world at present and be ensconced in someone else’s drama for a change. But even I can admit that I was spending way too much money on the varying seasons of the Real Housewives and a few other shows simply because I wanted to watch them at the same timeline as everyone else. Most seasons range between $12-20 in the Google Play Store — it definitely adds up after a while, and then I’m left with seasons of old reality television tied to my Google account.

YouTube TV saves me a ton of money.

YouTube TV saves me a ton of money. For $35 a month, I can watch garbage television on Bravo, E!, and The CW in real time, or subscribe to them — it’s the thing to do on YouTube, after all — so that I can watch them later.

I also appreciate the duality of the YouTube TV app. Not only do I have access to 50 live channels, including a variety of sports-centric networks (ESPN , FS1, and NBC Sports Network, to name a few), but I can also keep a mark on the other network shows I like to watch, too, without having to wait for Hulu to publish the episodes. And if it’s a live special that won’t appear on the internet after the fact, I can use the built-in DVR capabilities to record it and watch later.

YouTube TV offers live TV (left), but there’s also on demand content (middle) in addition to YouTube originals (right).

That’s the other thing about YouTube TV: the promise of nearly-unlimited DVR. You can record shows as they air and keep them tied to your account for up to nine months. There’s a downside to doing this, however, and it’s also a reminder of why I cut the cord in the first place: I’m forced to watch the advertisements in between scenes, and I can’t skip ’em either.

But considering I’ve been a Hulu subscriber for such a long time — six years! — and I’ve never paid to eliminate the ads, I’m okay with sitting through a few of them when I’m watching TV. If anything, it adds to the effect of “having cable,” and I don’t have to worry about pausing the content in between segments to get up and take a break from the couch.

The beginning of a burgeoning trend

YouTube isn’t the first to jump on the live-TV-over-the-internet trend. Sling TV has been long offering this kind of functionality on a variety of devices. I found its packages to be a bit too limiting for my liking, however, and the channels I wanted to watch in real time were part of its highest subscription tier. It’s since changed its offerings, however, and I’ll be curious to see if I can get more variety for the same price as YouTube TV.

Hulu is currently accepting sign-ups for its live television abilities.

Hulu has also joined the ranks in delivering live television over the internet, and that’s the service that I’m feeling particularly conflicted about. The pricing and variety of channels are about on par with YouTube TV, and though I’ve yet to try it out, it seems to be more worth the cash. It only offers 200 hours of cloud DVR, however, but that’s in addition to the breadth of original content and movies available on demand.

YouTube doesn’t necessarily have all that content available. Sure, I have access to whatever is on demand from the various network channels — this includes made-for-TV movies and past seasons of terrible reality television — but the feed is also clogged with mentions of YouTube Red content that doesn’t appear as appealing to watch.

One thing’s for sure: the idea of live TV wherever you are is definitely heating up.

I’ll be curious to see if Hulu Live can offer an edge of what’s essentially a beta service offered by YouTube. I like the flexibility of the YouTube TV app, however; the ability to watch TV on either my Android device or through Chromecast. But Hulu is even more cross compatible in that regard, particularly since it’s available on practically everything. What’s a gal to do?

One thing’s for sure: the idea of live TV wherever you are is definitely heating up. It’s also a great reminder of how the methodology of watching TV has drastically changed over the years. Before, you could only watch live TV by subscribing to cable or sharing shady links with your friends. Now, you can do almost everything a traditional set-top box with DVR used to do right from your smartphone.