Best Cases for Arctic Silver Galaxy S8 or S8+

What’s the best case for the Arctic Silver Galaxy S8?

Oooh, shiny. The Arctic Silver Galaxy S8 and S8+ are phones of restrained beauty. The silver isn’t as in-your-face as the silver Galaxy S7 edge, but it’s still a lot more vibrant than Orchid Gray. If you went for the Arctic Silver Galaxy S8 or S8+, then you’ll want a case that shows off or enhances what’s already there.

Check these out.

• Ringke Fusion
• Spigen Neo Hybrid
• Spigen Ultra Hybrid S
• Samsung Alcantara Cover
• Supcase Unicorn Beetle Pro
• Samsung S-View Flip Cover

Ringke Fusion

Ringke’s Fusion case is a clear polycarbonate case with a flexible TPU bumper, which absorbs bumps and drops on the sides of your Galaxy S8 or S8+ — the most vulnerable spots on the phone. The TPU bumper comes in clear, pink, or black, so you can leave your silver phone completely nude-looking or add a li’l splash of color.

All of the ports on the Ringke Fusion are precisely cut, and though the buttons are covered by the TPU bumper, they are responsive and satisfying to the touch.

Available for both Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

Spigen Neo Hybrid

If you’re looking for something a little more protective for your GS8 or GS8+, then check out Spigen’s Neo Hybrid, which is by no means a heavy duty case. The Neo Hybrid adds no real bulk or weight to your phone, but it does add a protective layer of TPU with a polycarbonate frame to hold the whole thing in place.

You have multiple options for colors, but the best combo is the Arctic silver/midnight blue, which beautifully and mysteriously compliments the Arctic Silver GS8 or GS8+. The nice part about having the camera cutout on the back is that your finger is automatically guided to the fingerprint sensor.

Available for both Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

Spigen Ultra Hybrid S

The Ultra Hybrid S from Spigen is a TPU bumper fused with a hard polycarbonate back for slim protection that protects your Galaxy S8 or S8+’s corners. It’s totally clear and features a super convenient kickstand on the back, which simply folds out and locks back into place when you don’t need it anymore.

Each corner of this case features Spigen’s military-grade “Air Cushion Technology”, which uses a pocket of air to save the corners if you drop your phone.

Available for both Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

Samsung Alcantara Cover

The Alcantara Cover is for folks who like the feeling of luxury and want that to carry over to their Galaxy S8 or S8+. The smooth, suede-like material is durable and looks fantastic, with only cutouts for the charging port, speaker, and headphone jack. The buttons are covered, though still responsive.

Alcantara is really just a blend of polyester and polyurethane, so it’s highly stain-resistant and will cushion your phone if you drop it.

You have your choice of black, blue, pink, or mint, but the mint looks best with the Arctic Silver GS8.

Available for both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

Supcase Unicorn Beetle Pro

If you need rugged protection, you can have it in spades, while still matching your Arctic Silver Galaxy S8 or S8+ beautifully. Supcase is known for excellent heavy duty cases that protect your phone without adding a ton of bulk or weight. Don’t get me wrong; they’re thicker than regular cases, but not as thick as an Otterbox Defender or something similar.

The white/gray Unicorn Beetle Pro is your best option if you went with Arctic Silver. It’s a three-piece that features a front cover, back cover, and holster, so you can keep it out of your pocket if you choose.

Available for both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, though not in silver for the S8+.

Samsung S-View Flip Cover

Samsung’s S-View Flip Cover lets you interact with your Galaxy S8 or S8+ with the cover closed. You get full-screen access to vital information, like who’s calling, texts, and more. You can even accept or reject calls with a swipe. The cover folds back into a kickstand, so you can enjoy videos hands-free. Pressing the power button with the cover closed lets you check the time, weather, and other status info.

There’s an S-View for each color of GS8, so the silver with obviously suit the Arctic Silver phone best.

Available for both Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

Plead your case

Which case did you choose for your Arctic Silver Galaxy S8 or S8+? Don’t have one yet? Which will you choose? Sound off in the comments below.

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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What are Spotify Codes and how to use them?

Spotify has just introduced a new, innovative way to get users sharing music with friends and family. Called Spotify Codes, the new feature works by generating a unique code of a track, album or playlist you want to share. Someone else can then scan that code and instantly be taken to the music so they can listen to the same thing.

But how exactly does it work and what do you need to do to use Spotify Codes? Allow us to explain.

What is a Spotify Code?

A Spotify Code is a code that is unique to Spotify’s music streaming platform. It works in a similar way to a QR code, but looks completely different. Each track, artist, album and playlist can have its own Spotify Code, so there are no limits to what you can share.

How do I access Spotify Codes?

Spotify Codes is rolling out now to all users on iOS and Android, and both free and Premium subscribers. To generate a code for something you want to share, you need to click on the ‘…’ button next to whatever it is you want to share. All albums, tracks, playlists and artists have this button as an option.

You’ll then see the usual options to download (if you’re a Premium subscriber), share or go to radio. But at the top with the artwork, you’ll see a Spotify Code underneath.

How do I use Spotify Codes?

Once you’ve accessed the code for the content you want to share, click the code to make it bigger. If you’re with the person you want to share the content with, they can scan the code directly from their Spotify app. Alternatively, you can save the image to your photos, so you can send it to someone else for them to open up within the Spotify app.

To scan a code, Spotify has implemented a new camera button within the search menu. Next to the regular search bar you’ll now see a camera icon. Click this, accept the permissions for Spotify to access your camera, and you’ll be able to scan the artwork from someone else’s device.

If you’ve been sent an image, you can press “select from photos”. Find the image in your library, open it, press “choose” and Spotify will whisk you away to whatever it is has been shared with you.

Where else can I use Spotify Codes?

Spotify Codes don’t just have to come from someone else though. Artists, record labels and brands can print Codes on to promotional advertising boards and posters and you can scan them in exactly the same way.

People are really starting to embrace electric cars

As with any new transportation technology, it’s not as simple as building your first vehicle and expecting the whole world to change. And yet, it appears as if the world is finally cottoning on to this whole electric cars are better and cheaper to run thing.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association has revealed that EV sales in the first quarter of 2017 are spiking. Overall, sales of so-called “Alternative Fuel Vehicles” have increased by an overall 37.6 percent compared to the first quarter of 2016.

Those figures seem to mirror Bloomberg’s research into the state of the US electric market, which has seen demand trend northward. In the same period, American sales of electric vehicles jumped 49 percent, with sales totaling 40,700.

As heartwarming as the stats are, it’s worth noting that the law of small numbers makes them sound a little more impressive than they actually are. For instance, Germany’s 117 percent rise in EV sales reflects a jump from 2,332 cars in Q1 2016 to 5,060 now.

Around a quarter of European greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation, as well as it being the primary cause of air pollution in cities. So there’s something of an imperative to get on with getting everyone to make the switch, which should be helped by cheaper, newer EVs, like the Renault Zoe.

Source: Bloomberg, ACEA

Sinclair buys Tribune Media to create a larger TV empire

It didn’t take long for the rumors to come true. Sinclair Broadcast Group has confirmed that it’s acquiring Tribune Media for $3.9 billion. The deal is the largest in Sinclair’s history, and will add Tribune’s 42 American TV stations to Sinclair’s 173 — that’s a lot of broadcasters under one banner. The deal also gives it the cable channel WGN America, the digital network Antenna TV and small stakes in both Food Network as well as the internet job site CareerBuilder. However, it’s not just about the immediate media expansion that matters. According to Sinclair, it’s also about a long-term technological play.

The company sees the Tribune acquisition helping with the creation of “advanced services” that take advantage of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard. The merger should also let it grow “emerging networks” and help with end-to-end content integration. This is as much about preparing for the future of TV as it is becoming a media monolith.

The merger should close by the fourth quarter of 2017 if it receives approval, although Sinclair may have to get rid of some stations to please FCC regulators.

Sinclair’s move comes after a short but intense burst of interest in Tribune’s business prompted by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s decision to review rules limiting media consolidation. At one point, both 20th Century Fox and Sinclair appeared to be interested in making an acquisition — Fox was interested in expanding its media distribution. Fox reportedly didn’t make a bid, however, so Sinclair may not have faced as much pressure as you might think.

It’s too soon to say exactly how this will influence your media consumption, but there are a few clear ramifications. For one, it’ll narrow the range of sources for news and entertainment in the US. You probably won’t like it if you cherish a diversity of views. However, this could also accelerate the development of digital-savvy TV in the country. You might have reasons to stick to regular broadcasting instead of streaming all your video online. And remember, Tribune’s origins as a newspaper creator (think Chicago Tribune) give it a big stake on the web — that presence may grow through Sinclair’s support.

Source: StreetInsider

Comcast and Charter partner to push into wireless service

In recent years, a number of telecommunication and media giants have attempted some major mergers (sometimes unsuccessfully) to consolidate power — a move that often leaves customers with less choice. While Comcast and Charter Communications aren’t merging, they did announce a new partnership today that aims the considerable power of the two companies right at the wireless industry. The partnership is rather vague for now, but it sounds like the two companies will be working together to make a substantial push into competing directly with Verizon and AT&T.

Right now, both Comcast and Charter have agreements with Verizon in which they can lease wireless spectrum and re-sell it to their own customers. But this agreement binds the two telecommunications giants together such that neither company can make a major merger or acquisition relating to wireless without the other’s consent. Many in the media are already speculating that this partnership means the two companies are looking to team up and purchase one of the smaller wireless carriers, like Sprint or T-Mobile, to accelerate their entry into the market.

What that’ll mean for the deals they’ve already struck with Verizon is unclear. But it seems that this arrangement where Comcast and Charter lease spectrum to sell to their customers is just a quick way into the wireless market — this partnership indicates that their ambitions are likely a lot grander. It makes a lot of financial sense, as traditional cable subscriptions aren’t the money-makers they used to be. Verizon and AT&T both offer TV, home internet and phone service in addition to wireless. It’s not surprising to see the telecom companies without a direct stake in wireless look to find a way in.

In the meantime, Comcast’s wireless service running on leased Verizon spectrum is set to launch this summer, while Charter is planning to do so sometime next year. Those plans will only be available to people who live in areas that Comcast and Charter already service, so they won’t be a true nation-wide wireless provider just yet. How this new partnership will affect its existing deals remains to be seen — but it wouldn’t surprise us if Verizon didn’t renew the deal next time it comes up for review.

Via: Bloomberg

Source: Comcast

Former Obama staffers want to build progressive political tools

There’s been plenty of talk, recently, about how right-wing candidates have harnessed technology’s darkest arts to swing elections in their favor. Now, it appears that folks on the other side of the aisle have, belatedly, woken up to the need to push their politics into the digital world. Recode is lifting the lid on one such attempt, in the form of Higher Ground Labs, a startup incubator and fund designed to push progressive politics.

The organization is led by a trio of former advisors to President Obama, including his 2012 digital chief Betsy Hoover. Hoover explained that election technology is normally built in service of a specific campaign and then junked. Higher Ground will seek to build longer-lasting platforms that work well at both a federal and state level for so-called down-ballot contests.

Hoover is being joined in the initiative by Shomik Dutta and Andrew McLaughlin, both of whom worked with the Obama campaign, and have experience of working with the FCC and Google, respectively. The project is starting small, with just $1 million of backing that has come from an as-yet anonymous donor. But by keeping these technologies away from one specific campaign or party, the systems can be tweaked and maintained to reflect a changing landscape.

Source: Recode

Apple’s Carnegie Library Store in Washington, DC to Respect Historic Context With Subtle Branding, Community Focus

Following a few reports from last year that centered upon Apple’s intent to restore the historic Carnegie Library in Washington D.C. and outfit it as a prime destination for Apple retail, the company has now shared a few renderings and details about the location with The Washington Post.

The location will be home to Apple’s new “Today at Apple” events, which will include concerts, art exhibitions, photography classes, coding sessions, and more. Still a retail location, Apple will generate customer interest in purchasing a new product through its Genius Grove, where users can get product assistance on a tree-lined sales floor. The Genius Grove will be located where the Carnegie Library’s book collection was previously housed.

What long ago were reading rooms would become places to browse and sample Apple products.

“This is a way of creating a reason to come to the store, to touch and feel our products, but also to have an engaging experience with someone who is passionate about the same thing,” said B.J. Siegel, Apple Retail’s senior design director.

One of Apple’s major intentions for the Carnegie Library location is to make its presence there subtle while restoring the building to its “original grandeur.” The Apple logo won’t be prominently featured on the sides of the Carnegie Library, and the company hopes that it will “take a little work to find the store’s signage and logo.” In the render below, the logo appears as small double signage flanking the main entrance to the building.

Carnegie Library is said to take on the history-focused renovations of previous Apple retail locations, including Apple Opéra in Paris and the upcoming location in Brooklyn. Although Apple plans a few changes to Carnegie Library, like a major new skylight above a central events area, the company’s intent to find and preserve historic landmarks beloved by a local community is “part and parcel to the experience Apple is trying to create,” according to Apple Retail senior design director B.J. Siegel.

Rather than plastering the buildings with the company’s logo, Apple’s designers say they will focus on restoring the building’s historic character. It can take a little work to find the store’s signage and logo — which is the point.

“For us, it wasn’t about coming in and leaving our mark,” Siegel said. “It was about bringing the history back out and respecting it.”

“We’ve discovered that big garish logos on historic buildings don’t work very well, so often we try to find more subtle ways to brand the building,” he added.

For its part, the Washington, D.C. government is on Apple’s side, with mayor Muriel E. Bowser stating that Apple’s location in Carnegie Library “could link D.C.’s rich history to our continued economic renaissance, will demonstrate the strength of our retail market, and will tell companies across the globe that the District is open for business.” The Historical Society of Washington D.C. will remain in offices on the second floor of the building.

Later this evening, Apple is set to present its plans to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission in Washington, D.C., but the exact opening date for the Carnegie Library location has not yet been set.

Tag: Apple retail
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Panasonic Lumix TZ90 review: The ultimate travel camera?

With phone cameras getting so good these days, the traditional camera needs all the stand-out specification goods possible. When pocketable convenience from your mobile handset isn’t enough, and you want a boost of proper optical zoom to shoot far-away subjects, then there’s no other logical option but to look to a dedicated camera. A camera just like the Panasonic Lumix TZ90 (or ZS70 in US-speak).

The Panasonic TZ-line is a long-standing pocket-friendly camera series, which has gone from strength to strength over the years. Each annual iteration adds a new feature, with a tilt-angle screen being the TZ90’s main boast; that means waist-level or even front-facing selfie shooting from this palm-sized snapper. Last year’s TZ80 didn’t have the tilt-angle screen but, otherwise, is a similar camera overall for a little less cash.

Key to the TZ90’s specification is its long-standing 30x optical zoom, delivering a 24-720mm equivalent focal length, for snapping wide-angle shots of your mates or those far-away subjects as if they’re close-up in the frame. If you’re contemplating a holiday camera then this Panasonic might take top marks on that fact alone – but with 4K video and photo features adding to its pomp, there’s plenty of reasons to recommend this camera.

Panasonic Lumix SZ70 review: Design

• 0.2-inch 1,166k-dot electronic viewfinder
• 3-inch, 1,040k-dot, tilt-angle LCD touchscreen
• 112 x 67 x 41mm; 322g

Squeezing a tilt-angle screen into the TZ90’s design means it’s a couple of millimetres taller and deeper than its predecessor to accommodate. But the difference is slight and this is still a palm-size camera. Perhaps not pocketable for those who wear skinny drainpipe jeans, but hey, you’ll still get it into a little bag.

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The TZ90 leaves no stone unturned when it comes to spec for a camera of this type: complementing that tilt-angle LCD screen is a built-in viewfinder. It certainly has its uses – when it’s ultra-bright outside it’ll help to see composition more accurately – but, the more we think about it, the less we’ve found it practical. Its small scale make it feel somewhat secondary to the TZ’s make-up.

The TZ90 otherwise bridges the gap between point-and-shoot simplicity and more advanced controls very well. It’s not overcomplicated: pop the mode dial into iA (intelligent Auto) and everything bar zoom adjustment is done for you. If you want to step things up then full manual controls are available to take command of aperture and shutter speed, while the rear rotational d-pad can also be used to quickly dive into exposure compensation, close-up focus and burst mode.

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Delving into the main menu won’t be something you’ll need to do too often (save for turning off that darn annoying beep and fake shutter sound): the Q.Menu brings up all the major on-screen controls, which can be adjusted by a tap of the screen or by using the rear d-pad. Easy peasy. Although it’s a bit odd that the Q.Menu is represented by the waste basket symbol, as the inclusion of 4K Photo and Post Focus modes has relegated it to this double-use position.

Panasonic Lumix SZ70 review: Performance

• 30x optical zoom lens (24-720mm f/3.3-6.4 (max) equiv.)
• 49-area autofocus system with multiple AF types

In use we’ve found the TZ90 to be generally decent, with only a few hiccups to hold it back. Thing is, compared to its nearest (and pretty much only) rival, the Canon PowerShot SX730, the Panasonic is leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to the level of adjustable detail available.

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Take the Panasonic’s autofocus, for starters. The 49-point system is quick, but critically it offers a heap of modes, comprising face-detection, tracking, 49-area, custom multi, 1-area, and Pinpoint. You might not find all of those modes useful all of the time, but once you’ve latched onto the one or two that make best sense for you, the TZ90 really sells itself. By compare to the Canon offers two simple modes which, quite simply, aren’t as comprehensive for getting the shots you’re likely to want.

Our favourite TZ90 focus mode is Pinpoint. It depicts a cross-hair on screen, which when half-depressing the shutter button will zoom into 100 per cent scale to assure precision focus, before you take the shot. It’s our go-to mode for any still subjects; otherwise tracking does an ok (but not amazing) job of following moving subjects.

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Close-up focus needs to be manually engaged (when in a manual shooting mode) by hitting the left d-pad direction and toggling between standard AF and AF Macro, the latter allowing for 0.03cm close-up focus at the 24mm equivalent. That drops to 2-metres when extended to the 720mm equivalent, though. If the camera is in an Auto mode it will automate between these standard/macro options for you.

We’ve found the TZ90’s touchscreen to be really responsive, too, while the tilt-angle screen is easy to pull away from the body and manipulate through its 180-degrees to any angle, including facing forward for selfies. How you feel about this will depend how you feel about selfies: we don’t care for it and would prefer a screen which pulled away from the body to also angle downwards for over-head shooting, but can’t have it all we s’pose.

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Then there’s that lens. It’s both brilliant and limited in the same breath. All of this comes down to expectation, really, but the degree to which the zoom is extended affects the autofocus performance quite significantly due to the amount of light entering the camera at the longer focal lengths.

That’s one of the issues with a lens of this reach in a body this small: it can’t have an ultra-wide aperture, which means low-light performance isn’t very good (you’ll see frame-rate slowdown on the screen) and capturing sharp images is trickier. It’s also a bit slow to extend through the zoom range and we feel a 20x zoom would deliver the necessary degree in a camera such as this (wind back a few TZ models and that’s what it used to be).

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At the same time, however, the lens is brilliant – it defines this camera. The ability to zoom-in seemingly forever is very handy when shooting far-away subjects. We snapped a dog in Central Park and were achieving shots that simply wouldn’t be even nearly possible from a phone. Ok, so the results aren’t as pin-sharp as from, say, a dedicated DSLR – but the TZ90 is a small-scale camera and its lens is well balanced considering the wider market.

Panasonic Lumix SZ70 review: 4K features

• 4K movie, 4K Photo, Post Focus modes

You’ve probably noticed that 4K is on the rise. Tellies are pushing it as the must-have resolution. Broadcasters are beginning to push it, with the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, in particular, shooting their original shows at the ultra-high definition resolution. So for Panasonic it’s an obvious choice: almost all of its most recent cameras feature 4K video and the curiously-named 4K Photo option too.

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At first we weren’t sure about 4K Photo. We didn’t get its naming logic. But it’s a potentially very useful mode that, essentially, captures a burst of 4K footage at 30 frames-per-second so you can extract an 8-megapixel still direct from the camera – no need to muck about with off-camera software. We were shooting some sparrows fighting over a churros (birds these days, eh?) and found it really handy to activate, hit the shutter, and then have a choice of 30 shots to choose from – only around three of which were usable or well composed. But that’s the very point: the mode allows you to pick out the decent shots that you wouldn’t otherwise have captured and throw away the naff ones.

However, the way it’s presented isn’t very consumer friendly. Hit the dedicated 4K Photo button and the options for “off/4K Pre-Burst/4K Burst(S/S)/4K Burst” are available, which many camera newbies will be sat trying to decipher – or might just switch off completely and never use the mode. They’re worth learning though: 4K Pre-Burst captures a second of footage before you’ve even pressed the shutter, to avoid missing the magic moment; S/S stands for start and stop, so you’ll need to hit the shutter to commence and again to cease capture; 4K Burst, the default, is a press-and-hold option which we think makes most sense of all. Still, Panasonic should be able to convey this information in a more visual manner directly from the camera.

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Next up is Post Focus mode – which does what it says on the tin, allowing you to focus the shot after taking it – which has a prominent position on the camera’s Fn2 button. If you’re hoping to shoot hand-held like you would with a Lytro camera using this mode, however, then you’ll be disappointed: the Panasonic needs a tripod for steadying the frame while it grabs a movie file at multiple focal depths. It’s possible to play back the 49 collective Post Focus files per shot – each focused slightly apart, from front to back – which highlight in red or green to verify an in- or out-of-focus subject respectively. There’s some application to this mode, but it’s more fun than a must-have. And if you’re mounting on a tripod to shoot then you ought to be adept enough to critically focus in the first place.

If you’re most interested in 4K movie capture, for UHD home videos, then the dedicated button atop the camera can fire this off. The maximum 3840 x 2160 resolution is available at 30/25fps (100Mbps MP4 files), which makes for good quality. If you only want Full HD then the 1920 x 1080 option is available at 60/50fps (28Mbps maximum), so there’s no ultra-high frame-rates for slow-motion options outside of 720p, which is a shame.

Panasonic Lumix SZ70 review: Image quality

• New 20.3-megapixel Live MOS sensor

With all those features on board, there’s scope to take some great pictures. The TZ90 certainly favours good lighting conditions to a considerable degree, however, given the limitations when the lens is put through its zoom paces.

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The entry-level ISO 80 sensitivity is used when there’s heaps of light, which delivers the crispest, most colourful results of all. We’ve captured the American flag hanging in the wind on New York’s Lexington Avenue, its stars and stripes standing out in vibrant blue and red. Detail is at its best the lower the ISO sensitivity.

With such a pixel-packed sensor on board the TZ90 can quickly be knocked aback by a rise in sensitivity – which is something it’ll often have to do when zooming in more with the lens, given its aperture limitations.

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We shot a sparrow gathering for a nest at ISO 400 and while we’re pleased with the shot – it’s way beyond what we’d get from a mobile phone, that’s for sure – look at the image at 100 per cent scale and the result of image processing can be seen, with precision detail not as high as a larger-sensor camera. There’s also some slight colour noise in the mid-grey shadow areas of the bird. But that’s only prevalent if you need to use the shot for every pixel its worth – and it’s rare that a 20-megapixel image will be displayed as such, as that’s the same as more than nine Full HD flat-panel TVs sat side-by-side.

As that ISO sensitivity rises, so we find the TZ90’s weakness. With a cap of ISO 3200 by default, it can be difficult to have the necessary light and settings available to shoot in dim conditions. We were trying to capture in a dim-lit burger bar, but the shutter speed was forced so low that we struggled to get anything usable.

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When ISO 3200 did come in handy as a last resort, it’s also not the cleanest or sharpest looking. That said, the processing does a good job of wiping clean any colour noise so the shots are usable.

Ultimately, then, the TZ90 is very capable in good light but not as stand-out when the light dips – partly as a product of its far-reaching lens. The Canon may arguably offer more on the quality front, but it’s the lesser camera when it comes to performance and features so, all weighed up, we think the TZ90 is as good as a camera of this type currently gets.

Verdict

Panasonic has owned the do-it-all pocketable travel zoom market for some years – and the Lumix TZ90 continues to show exactly why. This versatile, easy-to-use yet advanced camera outs its near competition in almost every regard, making it the pocketable zoom to plump for. And now with the benefit of a tilt-angle touchscreen.

However, weigh up your expectations, because that 30x optical zoom lens – as useful and often great as it is – runs into limitations at longer zoom lengths and, in particular, low-light conditions. Used in good light and medium-long zoom, however, and you’ll get shots with the TZ90 that will see all your phone-camera mates asking what kit you have.

As we said of the TZ80 from last year, the camera world is in the throes of change, with often 1-inch sensor models now ruling the roost. The TZ90 shuns that larger-sensor proposition for the sake of zoom and size – and while that won’t always mean the very best image quality across the board, it does amount to the best all-round zoom-packing pocket camera.

The alternative to consider…

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Panasonic Lumix TZ80

Don’t need that tilt-angle screen, the extra resolution and want to save a little cash? The older-generation TZ80 has you covered. It’s got the same 30x optical zoom lens and 4K Photo modes, which means it’s mighty similar to the newer TZ90.

Read the full article: Panasonic Lumix TZ80 review

Harman Kardon’s Cortana-powered Echo rival makes Skype calls

If last year was all about the rise of Alexa and Google Assistant, 2017 might be when Cortana and Siri have time to shine. Apple is reportedly due to launch its oft-rumored connected speaker at its WWDC conference next month, but Microsoft has been quite open about its plan to expand its AI assistant beyond mobile and the desktop. In December, it teamed up with audio specialist Harman Kardon to begin building the first in a wider line of connected speakers. However, details have been scarce. Now, thanks to a (now pulled) landing page on the Samsung-owned company’s website, we have a name — Invoke — and a better understanding of what it will offer.

As you can see from the shots provided, which were spotted by Thurrott.com, Invoke’s cylindrical shape is reminiscent of the Amazon Echo. While Amazon’s device is all plastic, Harman Kardon has gone for a premium look with a “metallic speaker cabinet.” When the speaker is activated, a Cortana light ring is displayed on the top of the device.

One of the major messages in the Invoke’s marketing material is Cortana’s ability to “get things done.” This will include letting users control their music, connect to devices inside their smart home and also the ability to make and receive Skype calls. This would allow Microsoft and Harman Kardon to market the speaker as much more than just an assistant.

While the landing page doesn’t give a definitive launch date, it does note that the Invoke will be available from “fall 2017”. There’s no word on pricing either, but judging from the product shots, it will be available in two colors: black and white silver. Microsoft is expected to share more information on its plans for its AI assistant at its BUILD conference later this week, so we could learn some additional details about the Invoke then.

Update: We didn’t have to wait long for Harman Kardon and Microsoft to make the Invoke launch official. In a statement, both companies confirmed that the speaker can be used to “favorite music, manage calendars and activities, set reminders, check traffic, deliver the latest news and much more.”

It also comes with Sonique Far-Field Voice technology that, like the Echo, uses seven microphones to pinpoint a user’s voice and deliver on their instructions in noisy environments. You can also bet that with Harman Karmon, the speaker itself will deliver premium audio quality. Inside the chassis are three woofers and three tweeters that the give the Invoke “full range, true 360-degree sound.” Two passive radiators also give the small speaker some decent bass output.

When it does arrive in the fall, it’ll be a US exclusive. Karman Hardon says the Invoke will be made available in Microsoft Stores and at select retailers, which will be announced at a later date.

Via: Thurrott.com

Source: Harman Kardon (Google Cache)

Lowe’s smart home system can call 911 for you

If you own a smart home system, here’s the worst case scenario: You’re away, something has genuinely gone wrong and you need to contact the emergency services. That involves a frantic phone call and some worrying about how swiftly your phone’s notification came through. Lowe’s Iris has a different approach — if you sign up for its premium plan, the system will monitor your home and call emergency responders automatically. You’ll be notified through the app, of course, and in some cases be able to cancel or confirm before someone from the police or fire department is sent out.

The catch? The scheme will cost you $14.95 per month. There’s no long-term contract, however, so in theory you could switch it on just for a special occasion, such as a work trip or holiday. Still, that’s a pretty steep fee. For the price you also get Iris’ cellular backup service, keeping your home system online in the case of a power outage. If you need a reminder, Iris is an open(ish) smart home system that’s compatible with both the company’s own hardware and third-party devices. You’ll need the Iris Smart Hub, however, which has had some less than stellar user reviews.