Here’s one way to grab the perfect selfie with your favorite pooch

Why it matters to you

If your dog or cat has a treat that it goes crazy for, then the Flexy Paw is going to be an effective tool for grabbing a selfie with your precious pet.

Pet owners know only too well how tricky it can be to get a decent photo of their four-legged buddy, the animal’s attention span often wandering before you have a chance to press the shutter.

That’s why LA-based Paw Champs decided to create the Flexy Paw, a bendy smartphone attachment that’ll ensure you have your dog or cat’s full and undivided attention. Well, for a few seconds longer than usual, at least.

The simple device features a clip at either end, one to attach to your phone and the other to hold your pet’s favorite snack. Yes, that’s how you get their full and undivided attention.

The two clips are joined by a flexible arm similar in design to the one seen with Joby’s popular Gorillapod or its GripTight One device. This means you can easily move the snack around, positioning it just out of shot to get Rover or Tigger looking almost directly into the lens.

While it’s true that you could hold the treat in one hand and press the shutter with the other, the Flexy Paw aims to offer more stability for your shots by freeing up both hands so you can steady your smartphone, and also guarantees your fingers won’t enter the frame and spoil the picture.

But the Flexy Paw really comes into its own when you want to grab a selfie with your favorite four-legged friend. On these occasions, there’s no easy way to hold the smartphone and the snack in your hands at the same time, so the attachment gives you a much better chance of capturing an image worth keeping.

Any downsides? Well, if you use the Flexy Paw a lot, then the mere act of reaching for your smartphone might end up sending your mutt into a tail-wagging, salivating frenzy. But apart from that, you should be just fine.

The Flexy Paw is currently a Kickstarter project and you can pre-order it for $16. Assuming the campaign runs as planned, shipping worldwide will start in November, 2017, with free delivery available for U.S.-based customers.

Jay-Z’s new album 4:44 is releasing on June 30 exclusively for Sprint and Tidal users

Jay-Z’s 4:44 album will be available to stream exclusively on Tidal, and Sprint customers can get in on the action for free.

Jay-Z’s upcoming album, titled 4:44, will be releasing on June 30 exclusively on Tidal, the Hi-Fi streaming service owned by the artist. With Sprint picking up a 33% stake in Tidal earlier this year, the album will also be available to the carrier’s 45 million subscribers.

Sprint announced last month that it will roll out a free six-month Tidal subscription to its existing and new customers, giving them the ability to stream Jay-Z’s upcoming album for free. From Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure:

Today is an exciting day to be a Sprint customer. JAY-Z is a global icon and we’re giving customers an incredible opportunity to be among the first to experience his new album 4:44.

Our loyal, existing customers, and customers who switch to Sprint, can experience the album exclusively, plus access a complimentary six-month trial of TIDAL HiFi, giving them access to content they can’t get anywhere else.

With T-Mobile seeing a lot of traction with its Music Freedom and T-Mobile Tuesdays initiatives, Sprint is betting on exclusive albums as a way to differentiate its content offerings. As such, the carrier noted that the 4:44 album is the first in a line of exclusives that will be available to its subscribers.

Existing Sprint customer? Head on down to Tidal’s website to register for your free six-month subscription.

Sign up for Tidal

LG G6+ with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage is now official, facial recognition coming next month

LG is rolling out facial recognition to the G6 series as the G6+ makes its debut.

Samsung rolled out a variant of the Galaxy S8 with 6GB of RAM in its home market earlier this year, and LG is now following suit with the G6+. The phone is an upgraded variant of the LG G6 with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage, and will be going up for sale in South Korea early next month.

Aside from the bump in memory and storage, the LG G6+ has the same specs as the standard variant, including a 5.7-inch QHD+ display, Snapdragon 821, microSD slot, dual 13MP cameras at the back, 5MP front shooter, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, USB-C, and a 3300mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 and Qi wireless charging. LG is also bundling a pair of B&O Play earphones that are designed to take full advantage of the 32-bit Quad DAC.

On the software front, the LG G6+ is running Android 7.0 Nougat with LG UX 6.0 — same as the standard variant. LG mentions that it will deliver updates to all variants in the G6 series simultaneously, and that a new software update rolling out early next month will deliver an “enhanced security option” in the form of a facial recognition feature.

Called Face Print, the feature will allow you to unlock your G6 (and G6+) just by holding it up to your face. The camera will be activated when the phone is raised to your face, and LG says that the feature will allow you to unlock the phone in under a second. LG will also offer increased battery savings with a feature called Low Power Consumption, and when you’re taking a photo with your G6, you’ll see a Covered Lens warning if the phone detects that your finger is on the sensor.

Alongside the LG G6+, LG also announced that it will sell a version of the G6 with 32GB storage. The company now has three models in the G6 lineup — the base-model G6 with 4GB of RAM and 32GB storage, the standard variant that comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory, and the LG G6+ with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage.

The new variant will be available in three new color options — Optical Astro Black, Optical Terra Gold and Optical Marine Blue. LG says that the new color options feature a layer of lenticular film at the back, giving them the ability to refract light and deliver an optical effect.

Pricing for the LG G6+ will be detailed at launch, and LG mentions that the phone will be making its way to global markets shortly after its Korean debut.

LG G6

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

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Help! The sun is shining! Why can’t I see my smartphone screen?

The sun is shining, the sunglasses are out. You go to tweet that perfect sunny picture and … wait … you can’t see a thing on your smartphone display!

It’s not necessarily the phone that’s a fault, but it could be how it behaves with your expensive polarising sunglasses.

Polarising lenses on glasses are popular because they reduce the glare, or reflected light, coming off surfaces. They are particularly useful for skiers or drivers for reducing eyestrain, and pretty common on good quality sunglasses.

However, LCD displays also contain polarising filters and it’s the alignment of display and glasses that can cause the problem. At a particular orientation, the visual part of the display can be extinguished, leaving you looking at a black surface, as all the light is filtered out.

Or, in some cases, you’ll find everything dims and looks purple, or has a diffracted coloured shimmer to it.

This varies from device to device, and you can easily experiment with your own device – be that smartphone, tablet, or even your laptop – just by holding your polarised glasses out in front and rotating them. At some point, it will just black out.

The MacBook Air, for example, extinguishes at 45 degrees, an angle that’s unlikely to be problematic when using a laptop.

Your giant TV probably extinguishes when viewed in a portrait orientation, again, not likely to be a problem unless you’re lying down watching in sunglasses (does that ever happen?).

For smartphones it’s a bigger problem, because they are designed to be used in both orientations, landscape and portrait, for example when taking photos.

Some HTC phones, such the new HTC U11, unfortunately tend to dim drastically in landscape when viewed through polarised glasses – exactly at the angle you might want it for taking photos. You can cock your head, or hold it at and angle to get round that, but it’s hardly convenient. We’ve also found the same with some Sony phones, with the Xperia Z3 blacking out entirely when in landscape.

The Samsung Galaxy S8, however, does a better job, as does the iPhone 7. Both remain visible in both orientations. You might sometimes see a shimmer, but nothing like the blackout you get elsewhere.

Be aware that it’s not only polarisation that causes problems on a sunny day: the display has to have the power to remain visible in brighter conditions, so always remember to try turning the brightness up before you start swearing. On the Samsung Galaxy S8, for example, in bright conditions the display dramatically increases the brightness to shine through.

However, one of the things that can stop this happening is power saving modes. Usually the first target for saving power is to reduce the display brightness, and a reluctance to increase brightness so aggressively in bright conditions. If you’re at a summer festival for the day, you’ll want power saving, but you’ll also want to see those photos you’re sharing, so it’s a lose-lose situation.

The moral of the story is this: if you have a penchant for polarised sunglasses, be warned, your favourite phone might not like them so much.

And before you ask, most Ray-Ban glasses aren’t polarised, unless you’ve specifically bought polarised lenses. That’s because aviators aren’t just designed for good looks, they’re designed to ensure that pilots can see the instruments in the cockpit – and yes, those instruments have polarising filters, so aviator glasses do not.

Pair your Ray-Ban aviators with your iPhone and you’ll likely be fine.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle gameplay preview: Cute and compelling turn-based action

In 2017 Mario seems to be on something of a departure from his norm. Maybe it’s a midlife crisis. First, there’s Mario Odyssey on Switch, a game in which our intrepid plumber has ended up in not only familiar lands, such as Sand Kingdom, but also closer-to-reality ones, such as Metropolis – a NY-style city featuring actual humans. Second, there’s Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, a game in which Mario has teamed up with Ubisoft’s Rabbids – the comical sprites, which are a little like the minions from Despicable Me – in an all-new game.

It’s Mario like you’ve never seen him before. Which was the very point that Shigeru Miyamoto made when appearing on stage at Ubisoft’s pre-E3 press conference to announce the game. Nintendo wouldn’t give away the licence of its beloved Italiano to any old publisher, so this pairing – exclusively available for Nintendo Switch – is a collaboration built with the intent of pushing an entirely different game idea.

Kingdom Battle is the result: a largely turn-based battle game, with elements of Xcom meets Mario. With, of course, the comical Rabbids; some dress like Princess Peach, others like Luigi, many of them are visible throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, whether floating on giant rubber ducks or appearing elsewhere, to add a punch of comedy to proceedings.

• Best Nintendo Switch games to look forward to in 2017 and 2018 

But roaming in 3D platform-game style is far from the point of Kingdom Battle. It’s more on rails than that, the goal always to pass through the exploration sections and reach battle phases, in which various opposing Rabbids and other nasties team up against Mario and your gang. It’s a good job exploration isn’t prolific as it doesn’t run very well: the animation is choppy and the frame-rate not right; cutscenes are also noticeably compressed with lots of artefacts which detract from the overall quality that’s possible from the Switch.

Anyway, once a battle is engaged, Kingdom Battle doesn’t really feel like a Mario game at all. It employs a grid system, where motion followed by an attack can take place. The degree of movement is limited within this grid, so you may wish to use your other compatriots to jump on and extend your reach through the play area.

• Best game of E3 2017: Xbox One, PS4 and Switch games to watch

Various blocks and pipes are present on the battle ground to use to your advantage: whether for defence from opposition, or to whisk yourself away to farther-away points where the opposition can’t engage you.

The control mechanics take a little getting used to, but it’s soon apparent that dash attacks – used to knock enemies out – are critical when used in combination with shooting attacks. In our demo we also witnessed a shield which was only available to one player of the team every three moves, and we expect there will be an array of additional tools at your disposal as the game progresses.

With each battle the game escalates from a simple premise to something increasingly complex. Using available moves in the right order, avoiding certain enemies – there’s a giant Chomp Chain in one battle, which will attack whoever/whatever is nearest to it each turn – will become critical to winning.

We also experienced weapon upgrades, opened by progressing through battles, but only available to purchase by collecting sufficient coins from throughout the exploration sections of the game (i.e. not withing battles).

If you’re after a new Mario or Rabbids game then Battle Kingdom is a cute and compelling game. It’s not a platformer by the conventional means, so you’ll absolutely need to be a tactical turn-based battle game fan to give it the time of day. If, however, turn-based is right up your street then Mario + Rabbids is a perfectly good fun… although it’s not a Mario game as you may expect it.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle will be released exclusively for Nintendo Switch on August 29, 2017.

Twitter blocks a slew of Venezuela government accounts

Venezuela has been accused of censoring Twitter as part of its bid to silence dissent, but it’s not so happy now that the shoe is on the other foot. The country’s leadership says that Twitter has suspended 180 accounts linked to the government, including radio and TV outlets in the presidential palace. While it’s not clear what prompted the move, officials are furious — President Maduro claims that Twitter blocked accounts “simply for being Chavistas,” or supporters of his late predecessor Hugo Chavez.

Maduro isn’t calling for a boycott of Twitter, though. The “battle on social media” is too important, he says. He insists that Twitter took down “thousands” of accounts (there’s no firm evidence of this), and that Venezuela would respond by opening “10,000 or more” accounts in response.

We reached out to Twitter, but it says it has nothing to share. The social network normally takes down accounts for abuse, spam or security issues, but there aren’t any immediate indications as to what prompted the decision or whether it’s permanent. It’d certainly be unusual to block a mass of government accounts unless there was a clear, systemic violation of the rules. If there’s an explanation, we might not know the full story for a while.

Se estima que hasta ahora unas 180 cuentas de entes públicos de #Venezuela y militantes revolucionarios fueron suspendidas x @TwitterLatAm pic.twitter.com/LBfuYz0LPc

— Ernesto Villegas P. (@VillegasPoljak) June 17, 2017

Via: Reuters, TeleSur

Source: Ernesto Villegas (Twitter, translated)

EU proposes banning encryption backdoors

The European Union might want it to be easier for police to obtain data, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy for officers to read that data. The European Parliament has proposed amended regulation that would not only require end-to-end encryption when available, but forbid backdoors that offer guaranteed access to law enforcement. EU residents need to know that the “confidentiality and safety” of their data is “guaranteed,” according to the draft, and backdoors risk “weakening” that privacy.

The proposal has to be approved by Parliament and then reviewed by the EU Council, so there’s still a chance that the rules will be softened if and when the amendments pass.

If they do clear, though, they could set up a conflict between the EU and countries that aren’t so fond of encryption. The UK is undoubtedly the main concern, even after it leaves the EU. A ban on backdoors would make it difficult for the country to enforce the Investigatory Powers Act’s requirement that companies remove “electronic protection” when possible. How would that be meaningful when virtually every tech company in Europe is encrypting data traffic? You’re not likely to see UK-specific versions of apps that introduce security holes.

This would also thwart the efforts of some American politicians (such as Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein) to effectively ban airtight encryption. While those proposals have largely stalled, they’d face an even tougher battle in Congress if it meant pitting American and European security policies against each other. Simply put, the EU could wind up dictating encryption strength well beyond its member states’ borders.

Via: The Telegraph, Tom’s Hardware

Source: European Parliament (PDF)

Jay Z’s ‘4:44’ album will be another Tidal exclusive

As you’d expect from the guy that owns Tidal, Jay Z is releasing a new album called 4:44 on June 30th, exclusively on … Tidal. Also getting in on the action is Sprint, the US carrier that acquired a 33 percent chunk of Tidal earlier this year for $200 million. It will offer customers a six month Tidal HiFi trial and free access to the album, the first in a series of exclusives. “Jay Z is a global icon and we’re giving customers and incredible opportunity to be among the first to experience his new album 4:44,” said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure in a statement.

The album will be Jay Z’s first since Magna Carta Holy Grail from 2013, which was released to one million Galaxy owners as part of a $20 million Samsung deal. It’s also the first exclusive for new partner Sprint, which hopes it will help attract new subscribers. His arguably more famous spouse, Beyoncé, also released her last album, Lemonade, exclusively on Tidal.

Jay Z first started teasing 4:44 via a series of billboards around New York and LA, along with a snippet of a song in a teaser video starring Mahershala Ali and Lupita Nyong’o. That likely means the album will have a strong video component, much as did Lemonade, the “visual album” from Beyoncé. The snippet, shown below, features Ali playing the role of a boxer, with the lyrics “letters to my Dad that I never wrote, speeches I prepared that I never spoke, words on a paper that I never read.”

Jay Z recently railed against the injustices of the American prison in Time, specifically the racket of the bail system. “When black and brown people are over-policed and arrested and accused of crimes at higher rates than others, and then forced to pay for their freedom before they ever see trial, big bail companies prosper.” He subsequently promised to donate money to organizations that bailed out fathers on Father’s Day.

Via: Fader

Source: Sprint

5 songs you need to stream this week: Pharrell, Toro y Moi, and more

Every week, there are thousands of new songs hitting the airwaves — and it’s just too much for your two ears to handle. With all those options, you can’t be wasting your time on tracks that deserve a thumbs-down click — you want the best new songs to stream now.

But don’t worry, we’re going to save you the hassle. We listen to some of the most-hyped and interesting songs each week, and tell you which are worthy of your precious listening time.

Here are our top five songs to stream this week. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our Spotify page for a playlist of our weekly picks, which can also be found at the bottom of this post.

Pharrell — There’s Something Special

Pharrell’s Despicable Me 2 soundtrack single Happy was such a big success that the singer/songwriter has once again paired up with composer Hans Zimmer, penning this recently released tune for the upcoming Despicable Me 3. There’s Something Special is a falsetto-laden R&B jam where classic guitar tones meet digital drum samples — an aesthetic that feels oddly well-suited to an animated feature.

Toro y Moi — Girl Like You

Toro Y Moi songwriter Chaz Bear released this vintage-influenced pop cut this week, a single that will appear on his project’s upcoming fifth studio album, Boo Boo. The sound of the track matches the associated music video, with both feeling as though they could have appeared on the washed-out MTV airwaves of the mid-’80s.

Julia Jacklin — Eastwick

Australian musician Julia Jacklin’s string of wordy and beautifully orchestrated singles continues with Eastwick, a jangly pop tune that begins with voice and guitar before the full band leaps in about halfway through. Press play for the music, but be sure to enjoy her awesome matching Hawaiian print outfit in the video, which is paired perfectly with what we can only assume is a blue raspberry cocktail.

LIV — Heaven

LIV is the latest in a long line of Swedish pop supergroups. The new outfit features Lykke Li, as well as Andrew Wyatt and Pontus Winnberg of Miike Snow, and Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John. As expected, given their collective songwriting experience, the group’s first single Heaven is undeniably catchy, with cool doubled vocals and a deep, groovy, feel.

Sharon Van Etten — Tarifa

Sharon Van Etten and her excellent live band appeared as the credits rolled on a recent episode of Showtime’s new season of Twin Peaks, performing a ghostly version of her song Tarifa, which originally appeared on her 2014 album Are We There. There’s a haunting quality to this rolling ballad that makes it fit perfectly in David Lynch’s new season. Its gorgeous harmonies and a simple yet powerful chorus grab your ears.

That’s it for now, but tune in next week for more tunes, and check out the playlist loaded with our recent selections below:

Moto E4 vs. E4 Plus vs. G5 vs. G5 Plus: Which should you buy?

Motorola’s budget lineup is getting increasingly crowded.

Lenovo is known for rolling out several phones at the same price point, with minor differences between them to justify their existence. With the Chinese company now hedging its bets on Motorola, it was inevitable that we would see a bevy of new phones under the Moto banner.

Motorola launched the Moto G5 and G5 Plus back at Mobile World Congress, and over the course of the last month, we’ve seen the Moto C series followed by the Moto E series.

With the Moto C series now forming the entry-level tier, the Moto E series is positioned just under the Moto G5 and G5 Plus. With so many phones launching in such a short duration, Motorola’s lineup in this segment is getting increasingly crowded. It doesn’t help matters that the naming convention of the Moto E series is one generation behind that of the Moto G phones, making the E4 look older in comparison to the G5.

To further confound matters, Motorola decided to launch nine million variants of each device. The Moto G5 series has over ten SKUs, and the Moto E4 is powered either by a Snapdragon 425 (427 on Sprint) or a MediaTek MT6737. Motorola has been struggling to roll out quick updates, and it isn’t making things any easier for itself by introducing models powered by two different chipsets — if history is any indication, the MediaTek version won’t receive updates as fast as the Snapdragon model.

Before we take a look at what differentiates the Moto E4 from the G5 and the E4 Plus from the G5 Plus, here’s a look at the detailed specs on offer:

Now that we have a clearer understanding of what’s going on, it’s easy to see that the Moto E series is the more affordable alternative to the Moto G5 lineup — the E4 and E4 Plus have 720p displays, whereas the G5 and G5 Plus offer Full HD panels. The same goes for the chipsets, with the E4 and E4 Plus boasting quad-core chipsets while the G5 series is running octa-core CPUs. What’s great is that Motorola is rolling out a unified design aesthetic, making the entry-level Moto E4 virtually indistinguishable to the $300 G5 Plus.

That said, there are a few distinguishing features on the hardware front that make individual phones stand out. For instance, if you’re looking for a phone with incredible battery life, the E4 Plus looks like it’ll last at least two days, thanks to its combination of a massive 5000mAh battery, efficient chipset, and 720p display. When it comes to the Moto G5 Plus, the camera takes center stage — as we’ve seen in our review, the camera is the best available in this segment.

The Moto E4 is great value, but it may not get updates on time (or at all).

Finally, there’s the pricing: the Moto E4 starts at just $129, with the E4 Plus set to retail for $179. The Moto G5 is $20 more than the E4 Plus at $199, and the G5 Plus is the costliest of the lot, with the base variant starting off at $229. The Moto E4 is unbeatable when you consider the value proposition, but the uncertainty regarding updates makes it a risky bet.

The E4 Plus would’ve been a much better device were it not for the 720p display, but that’s not supported in the anemic GPUs found in the Snapdragon 425/427 and MT6737 SoCs. Talking about the G5, the device is the all-rounder in this list, offering a decent balance between specs and affordability. Of course, if you want one of the best budget phones available today, opt for the G5 Plus.

With so many devices on the horizon, the only question that remains is if Motorola can continue to roll out regular updates to its ever-growing portfolio. Fast updates and an unencumbered user interface were two of the biggest selling points of Motorola phones following its re-entry into the smartphone segment, but with nine phones set to debut in 2017, its engineering resources will be stretched thin.