Win your own OnePlus 5 from Android Central Digital Offers!

Win your own OnePlus 5 from Android Central Digital Offers!

The OnePlus 5 is in the running for one of the best phones of 2017. Right up there with Apple and Samsung, OnePlus has slowly built up it’s brand by offering phones with top-end specs at affordable pricing, proving that you don’t need to spend a bunch of money to get a dazzling new flagship. With its sleek design and trendy dual-camera setup, it’s a true marvel to behold — and it can be yours for free thanks to Android Central Digital Offers!

Right now we’re giving a way a OnePlus 5 to one lucky reader — and it could be you! It’s free to enter, so don’t delay! Valued at $539, you won’t want to miss out on this opportunity!

Even though it’s absolutely free to enter, you may still need some convincing so check out this exert from our OnePlus 5 review:

You’re getting a jam-packed and future-proof spec sheet, an above-average display, solid speaker, good battery life, fast charging and a well-built aluminum body. The software is slick, fast and consistent in ways that few phones can match, and doesn’t include piles of features that get in your way. 

This contest is open to all legal residents of the United States who are eighteen (18) years of age or older as of the date of entry. Don’t delay! A winner could be you!

Enter to win your own OnePlus 5!

What’s the first thing you do on your phone every morning? [Roundtable]

How does your phone tell you good morning?

Our phones are an extension of ourselves. They’re more than just another a tool and we use them for almost everything and reach for them many, many times throughout each day.

For many, our phones are also part of our morning routines. Now we’re not saying this isn’t just a little bit obsessive. We are smartphone and technology enthusiasts from top to bottom. And we’re not ashamed. And when we wake each morning here’s how our phone fits in.

Jerry Hildenbrand

This is an easy one. I reach over and check Allo Messenger every morning to see the daily photo my daughter sends me of the newest member of the family. It’s the perfect way to start the day, and taking 30 at a time for a Google Photos printed photo book is pretty cool, too.

Sorry if you were expecting me to log into servers and scan logs from my bed (I do that after breakfast). I’m just a softie for kids, especially when I get a chance to spoil them and promote bad behavior. I hope that makes me a great Grandpa!

Andrew Martonik

Generally, the day starts by wading through a mound of notifications that came in, which takes enough time for it to act as a wake-up routine. For me, that means right off the start tapping the jam-packed Gmail notification for my personal account, then doing the same for my work account. I quickly archive what I know I don’t need to read, then save the rest unread for when I can actually comprehend the content.

Then it’s onward to the usual rounds, going through the rest of the notifications. Usually, that means Twitter, Facebook, and Slack (everyone’s been awake and chatty for a couple hours by the time I wake up) need to be checked. After that, I’ll check the Twitter timeline to see what’s happening, and I’m up and out of bed at that point.

Now and then I’ll fire up Pocket Casts and listen to whatever ongoing podcast I have for the handful of minutes I’m triaging notifications, just to get my brain functioning a little bit.

Ara Wagoner

My phone wakes me up thanks to Tasker turning on Google Play Music, and once the music draws me out of dreamland, there’s usually one of three things I do with my phone. The first is checking my notifications, if there’s anything pressing like a missed call or text message, I can see it and reply. If my notifications are blissfully empty, there are a few apps I’ll check depending on my mood. If I’m feeling playful or groggy, I’ll open Disney Emoji Blitz to play a few rounds of my favorite match-three game.

If I’m feeling more productive or inquisitive, I’ll open up my trusty Twitter app to see what’s going on in the world and see if I missed anything jaw-dropping overnight, and to kill a little time while I try to get my mental gear turning. After Twitter, I hit Inbox to see if there are any good sales or pressing messages, and then it’s back to Disney Emoji Blitz or DeviantArt until I have to haul myself away from my heavy, heavy blankets and put on some clothes.

Jen Karner

I’m really not what you would call a morning person. So by the time I grope for my phone after four or five alarms have gone off, there are always notifications. I mean like, a page of notifications that all want me to know what I’ve missed during my few hours of sleep.

I tend to check Slack first, to make sure nothing at work has burned to the ground. After that, I’ll check on Facebook where I always have the most notifications waiting for me, and then after that, I peek into my email accounts. Of course, all of this happens while I’m still under the covers because waking up is hard.

Tom Westrick

I have a special playlist of slow music I listen to at night to help me sleep, and that’s the first thing I hear when I wake up in the morning. I usually schedule my alarm to go off about 30 minutes before I need to be up and moving to give myself time to just listen to music and ease into the day.

I usually don’t remember much of what happens between me waking up and me drinking a cup of coffee, but somewhere in there, I manage to check notifications and respond to anything urgent. Once I’m sufficiently caffeinated, I hop in the shower, in which case I change over to my general music library and use my JBL Charge 3 speaker to blast whatever I feel like listening to while I get my suds on.

Marc Lagace

The first app I typically gravitate to in the morning is Bacon Reader for Reddit, where I check to make sure that the world is still turning and maybe get a few chuckles in to start my day. Otherwise, I’m checking for any new notifications and then checking into my Gmail, Slack, and Trello apps to see what my work day looks like.

From there I log into my health apps like MyFitnessPal to log my breakfast, EufyLife to log my weight, and then find a new podcast to listen to on Spotify while I pop into the shower. Pretty basic stuff, however, it’s kind of concerning that I’ve become really good at finding my phone in a half-asleep state, and that it’s quite literally the first thing I go for every day I wake up. Feels like a habit worth breaking at some point down the line…

Richard Devine

Usually, the first thing I do on my phone is look and see what time it is. Then I usually roll back over and go to sleep! On a more serious note, since do not disturb is a thing, and a very good thing, I’ll check any notifications that may or may not have come in (I’m not that popular) then I’ll check social media. Then I might get out of bed.

What’s particularly useful in my daily routine are the Slack and Trello mobile apps. As boring as it sounds, while I’m getting up and getting myself ready for the day I’ll open both of those and see what the day brings. Because we’re on so many different time zones at Mobile Nations there’s usually something that needs attention, and I like triaging that stuff on my phone before I sit down at my desk with a large cup of caffeine.

Harish Jonnalagadda

I tried a radical thing at the start of the year where I didn’t bring any phones into the bedroom. I tend to get up without needing an alarm anyway, and considering I spend a majority of my day looking at a screen of some sort, I figured it’d be a welcome change to not stare at my phone before going to bed. That worked for a few months — instead of browsing Twitter, I ended up reading for an hour or so every night, and it was great. I even came close to meeting my yearly quota.

That didn’t last, however (I got lights I can control with my phone), so now I usually start my day looking at all the WhatsApp notifications I’ve missed overnight. Admittedly not the best way to kick off a day as most WhatsApp forwards are inane. Then it’s off to Gmail to see all the updates from services I didn’t know I signed up for, along with a flood of promo emails. Then I look through Slack to see if Google decided to buy BlackBerry, and because I don’t drink any coffee, I indulge in a quick round of Mini Metro instead.

Daniel Bader

I’m not a morning person, and I usually rely on my wife’s alarm to wake me up, so my phone is, as terrible as it sounds, my lifeline to finally getting out of bed. I have Samsung’s convertible wireless charging pad next to my bed that doubles as a stand, even for phones that don’t offer wireless charging and usually glance at my phone, bleary-eyed, for a couple of minutes before diving into the notifications.

The first thing I usually do is check the weather using Dark Sky, which I find to be the most accurate predictor of precipitation and other inclement weather in my area. Then I open Twitter, which is usually a terrible idea, so I close that and open the NYTimes app, which is less terrible but still also sad.

Less sad is when I, like so many others, open Slack to check in with the overnight crew, many of whom have been working already for many hours. Slack is addictive because, being in a remote company, it’s the place everyone congregates, so there’s usually plenty to catch up on. I’ll finally end my morning romp (often while brushing my teeth) scrolling through Instagram, which is where I find myself spending much of my social media time these days.

Your turn

We know we’re not the only ones who reach for the phone when we wake up. Tell everyone your morning routine and how your phone fits in!

There may be an LG V30 Plus this year

LG V30 Plus to reportedly include special features such as hi-fi audio and wireless charging.

The announcement of the LG V30 is right around the corner, and a report from ET News suggests there will be a separate model announced along side the V30. The LG V30 Plus is said to be exclusive to South Korea and will include some special features over the standard LG V30.

LG pursued a similar strategy for the LG G6, with various regions getting different features initially, a G6 Plus with extra storage released a few months later in South Korea. There’s no indication just what features the V30 Plus will include, but it’s easy to presume it will include wireless charging and better audio playback than the standard V30.

The report also noted that the LG V30 and V30 Plus would be released on September 15th in South Korea, the same day the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 would be released in the country. There’s no news on when the device would be released in other markets, but the phones are set to be announced on August 31st at IFA.

Would you be interested in an LG V30 Plus? Let us know down below!

LG V30

• LG V30: Everything you need to know!
• Latest render shows LG V30 alongside Galaxy Note 8
• LG V30 will have curved OLED display
• LG V30 will be announced on August 31
• Join our LG V30 forums

Two platforms, one house: Choosing between Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa

I have a Google Home and Amazon Dot in my house, and their core differences are making it difficult to choose between a connected ecosystem.

I live in a multi-platform household. It’s incredibly jarring at times, particularly when I find myself unable to choose between platforms. Do I stick to Google and its Assistant, because my devices are all Google-born and tied to the search engine’s services? Or do I finally decide to make full use of my annual subscription to Amazon Prime? This is the conundrum I face.

I’m not just talking about connected speakers here: When you’re choosing between a Google device and an Amazon product, you’re choosing between two vastly different, robust ecosystems. Just as Google has its AI-driven assistant, Chromecast and Android TV platform, and a variety of integrated third-party services, so does Amazon offer its connected gadgets and library of content for anyone who is also excited by the idea of free two-day shipping. It’s not just a product these companies are selling here; it’s a lifestyle and the one you choose locks you into a rhythmic way of life where you rely on nothing but the services offered by your connected speaker.

I’ve been experiencing this myself as I recently bought an Amazon Echo Dot to accompany my two Google Home devices, just to add a bit more variety to my pitiable connected home. Granted, it’s part of my job to use this stuff (especially considering Alexa is on smartphones now), but it’s also helping me understand some of the core differences between Google’s and Amazon’s connected ecosystems.

Amazon buys you stuff

As if this wasn’t clear from the beginning, the sole purpose of Amazon integrating more variety into its commerce is to sell you stuff. And it works marvelously! There’s a reason the term “Daily Amazon” is a staple in some households.

I’ve spent months living with the Google Home and not once have I asked it to purchase anything. Conversely, the Amazon Echo Dot has become the shopping gadget; it’s there when my husband and I are going crazy attempting to organize our lives by stocking up on necessities. We are that commercial you often see for Alexa.

The commercial you often see for Amazon Alexa.

It’s not a bad thing; in fact, this might explain why Amazon is taking the lead. According to TechCrunch, though the Google Home sold well during last year’s holiday season, it was the Amazon Echo Dot that maintained consistency throughout the first quarter the year:

Google Home also sold more units than the Echo Dot during the holidays, but just barely, accounting for 39 percent of unit sales versus Dot’s 38 percent. The original Echo held a 21 percent share during this time.

After the holidays, though, the Dot quickly caught up in terms of unit sales, topping Google Home with a 53 percent share compared with Home’s 30 percent.

Connected speakers still aren’t considered a mainstream household item, but the small sampling of data we do have shows that interest in increasing. I have no doubt the Amazon Alexa is the one that more people know about because now there are four different Amazon Echo devices to choose. That’s four more chances to add Alexa into your home through a device that can also function as your main shopping portal.

Google works better with my stuff

I’m not a fan of the Alexa app. It’s a tad tawdry, and when it comes to visuals and third-party integration, I find it easier to navigate the Google Home app. Perhaps it’s because I’m used to the Google-fied way of life and the way that the menu structures and apps are laid out, but there’s something about Alexa’s gray-hued interface that feels unrefined.

I’ve yet to delve into the smart home components of the Alexa app, which is what The Wirecutter suggests the Echo Dot is best used for, but the Google Home remains the one best suited for my living room because it has actual Chromecast integration. I can use voice commands to stream music through Soundcloud and play podcasts through Pocketcasts; the Google Home also integrates well with my multi-room audio setup, which helps when I’m setting up the ambiance for a dinner party.

They’re both still a work in progress

In a test conducted by Gigaom last month, the results showed that often, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa don’t even answer questions the same way. Some of that has to do with the fact that these are two individual artificial intelligence platforms with their algorithms processing in the background. As a result, the manner in which you ask a question will have a different implication depending on your query.

According to 360i, in a test of 3,000 questions, Google Assistant answered 72 percent, while Alexa answered only 13 percent. But when I use either product, I find that my laziness in phrasing questions the proper way will net me an unfortunate result. Google Assistant and Alexa both require a present state of mind when you’re interacting with it. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself consistently repeating questions.

I’m looking forward to the day where I don’t have to program either device with a service like IFTTT to prepare it for my laziness; I want to be able to shout out half a command and have Alexa and Assistant know what at I’m asking.

Which platform are you using?

The answer to whether Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa is the best as a home assistant is entirely relative. It’s possible I can answer that after another few months of using the two connected devices, but I’m also not in a rush to figure it out. The platforms are both so nascent, but it’s promising to see that sales numbers point to interest. Perhaps we’ll have a clearer picture of which platform consumers like the best after this holiday season — and after Google brings those updates it previewed at Google I/O 2017.

Are you using a connected platform in your home? What do you love about it? Tell us in the comments!

Google Hardware

• Google Wifi review
• Google Home review
• Everything you need to know about the Chromecast Ultra
• Chromecast vs Chromecast Ultra: Which should you buy?

Google Wifi:

Google
Amazon

Google Home:

Google
Best Buy

Chromecast Ultra:

Google
Best Buy

Amazon Echo

• Amazon Echo review
• Echo Dot review
• Top Echo Tips & Tricks
• Tap, Echo or Dot: The ultimate Alexa question
• Amazon Echo vs. Google Home
• Get the latest Alexa news

See at Amazon

Sony Xperia XZ Premium is coming to Canada in September

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium will soon be available unlocked in Canada.

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium has already been available for a few months to American and European consumers, to mixed reviews. Now, Sony has announced that the flagship will soon be available to Canadian consumers as well.

Sony’s Canadian site has the device listed as coming soon, and the company shared that it would be available from Amazon.ca beginning in early September. From Sony:

Sony Mobile Communications (“Sony Mobile”) today announced that Xperia XZ Premium will be coming to Canada and available for purchase unlocked on Amazon.ca beginning in early September 2017 with suggested retail pricing available at the time of retail launch.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium specs

The Canadian product page for the XZ premium notes the fingerprint sensor will be functional on the device, meaning it does not face the same restrictions the American version does. Of course, not having a carrier behind it will ensure the phone is quite expensive — it’s $799 USD, so expect a Canadian dollar MSRP close to $1000 — but it does offer a 4K HDR display and 960fps slo-mo, which is something.

Looking forward to the Xperia XZ Premium? Let us know down below!

New in our buyer’s guide: The Gear VR controller and lots of audio gear

Less than a month after our last buyer’s guide update, we’re back with a slew of new additions. This round of updates focuses mostly on audio products, including several headphones and speakers at various prices. But we also threw in some other miscellany, including the Gear VR and its reasonably priced controller accessory. We belatedly decided that the 10.5-inch iPad Pro also deserved a spot on the list, along with the Huawei Watch 2 and two Chromebooks. Next time, we’ll be beefing up our list of TV picks. Stay tuned, and check out our ever-evolving buyer’s guide right here.

Source: Engadget Buyer’s Guide

Amazon’s delivered meals may not require refrigeration

Amazon’s been elbowing its way into the food and grocery business for awhile now. Its recent acquisition of Whole Foods made it clear just how serious Amazon is about the whole thing. Now, Reuters reports that Amazon is considering using military tech to create meals that don’t require refrigeration.

The key is MATS, or microwave assisted thermal sterilization, which involves placing food packets into pressurized water and heating them up using microwaves. Traditionally, MREs (Meal, Ready to Eat) are sterilized using a pressure cooker, which deprives them of nutrients, not to mention flavor and texture. This new method delivers a much tastier final product, and has a shelf life for up to a year. No refrigeration is required.

Officials at 915 Labs, which is trying to bring MATS technology to the retail sector, confirmed that Amazon had expressed interest in selling dishes such as a vegetable frittata and beef stew. They could bring the meals to market as early as 2018.

The question is really whether Amazon’s target market would be interested in this type of prepared food. Amazon’s foray into prepared meal kits, such as their upcoming Blue Apron competitor, is understandable. But do customers really want the equivalent of (tasty) MREs? Clearly Amazon is trying to tackle the frozen dinner market here, which they struggle to be competitive in because of delivery challenges. It will likely all depend on just how good the meals are.

Source: Reuters

Here’s the first look at the ‘Papers, Please’ short film

In 2013, independent game developer Lucas Pope released an indie game called Papers, Please. Set in the 1980s, the game features an immigration inspector based in a communist country who’s tasked with sorting through entry documents of those looking to immigrate to the country. As you try to decide who is sincere and who might be a spy or a criminal, the job forces you to work ever faster in order to earn enough money to support your family. If you mess up and let someone bad in, you get punished.

The game was well-received and won Independent Games Festival, Game Developers Choice and BAFTA awards in 2014. And now Papers, Please is being made into a short film. Written by Russian filmmakers Liliya and Nikita Ordynskiy — Nikita also directed the film — it features the game’s overworked inspector, played by Igor Savochkin. A very short teaser was just released and some production shots were posted on Twitter in May. The teaser just says that the film is coming in 2017 with no definite date attached, but for those who were fans of the game, this looks like it will be a nice addition to the story. And from the trailer it seems like the film has effectively captured the game’s heavier tone. You can check out the trailer below.

Production shots from an upcoming Papers Please short film by Nikita and Liliya Ordynskiy. Really looking forward to this. pic.twitter.com/e1d3qwaHrq

— Lucas Pope (@dukope) May 30, 2017

Source: Eurogamer

Blizzard preps aging ‘Warcraft 3’ multiplayer for future changes

So this is a bit strange: Over 15 years later, Blizzard has added a public test realm to its premier real-time strategy game, Warcraft 3. Overwatch (also made by Blizzard) fans know that the PTR is where experimental features and modes are tested before going wide to the full player population. In Warcraft’s case, this is to test out new map pools for 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 multiplayer. Updates that address slow matchmaking, lag and that add automated tournaments and a “ladder board” are planned as well.

This isn’t entirely unprecedented. Back in February Valve patched a 10 year old bug in Team Fortress 2. Blizzard has a history of keeping its old games fresh, so maybe don’t get your hopes up that this new love from mom and dad means Warcraft 4 is coming any time soon.

Via: Eurogamer

Source: Blizzard

The best telepresence robot

By Patrick Austin

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. When readers choose to buy The Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here.

After spending 20 hours researching telepresence robots and testing two of the most promising models in office and home settings, we don’t think these devices are ready for prime time. But if you want a telepresence robot to give remote employees a physical presence in your office, the Suitable Technologies Beam Enhanced is the only bot that’s reliable and user-friendly enough to consider.

Who should get this

A telepresence robot is a videoconferencing screen mounted on a moving base. You can log in to a telepresence robot and control it, projecting your own face on the screen while you move around and interact with people. Using one allows you to navigate the environment at a limited speed, but you can’t do much else—no hands on a telepresence robot means no button-pushing or door-opening, for example.

At this time, given these limitations and factoring in the devices’ multi-thousand-dollar price tags, it’s difficult to justify a telepresence robot as anything but a novelty. But even novelties can be useful in certain contexts and environments. For example, remote workers who want to establish a physical presence in an office or students with chronic illnesses who are unable to attend school in person might find telepresence robots useful.

How we picked and tested

Predictable steering and responsive controls are important to avoid embarrassing yourself in front of coworkers. This collision with the Double was not staged. Video: Caroline Enos

You might think that between Segway scooters, high-tech tablets, and compact Bluetooth speakers, companies have the technology to make a decent telepresence robot at an affordable price. But if you do have such expectations, you should lower them. After poring through the spec sheets of every model currently available, we came up with some common criteria that make for an acceptable bot.

• Video quality is of primary importance. Having a field of view wider than 90 degrees is preferable, as it lets you see more of your environment and more easily navigate around objects.
• Cameras should be high-resolution, too, even though many of these bots don’t even crack 720p. Bots that produce higher-contrast images are also more useful.
• You should also be able to hear your colleagues clearly, and be heard. Look for models that have multiple speakers as well as as multiple microphones.
• The screens should ideally be at least 720p resolution to clearly display the operator’s face. Screen size does matter, but only up to a point.
• If a telepresence robot is supposed to represent a remote worker, its battery should be able to last an entire eight-hour day if need be, and you should be able to recharge it yourself via a charging dock.
• A solid network connection is important to control a telepresence robot, so dual-band Wi-Fi support (for both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands) is critical in maintaining a connection through any potential network soft spots.
• A regular operating speed of at least 1 mph is necessary to keep up with anybody walking with the bot. That’s a pretty leisurely pace, so a 2 mph boost mode is also good to look out for.
• No wireless connection is perfect, so in a worst-case scenario, a good telepresence robot needs to be easy to carry, or at least push.
• Finally, we wanted something that you could actually buy, meaning, as affordable as possible. Unfortunately, many of these robots are designed and marketed solely for corporate or academic environments, which makes them prohibitively expensive, difficult to purchase, or both.

In the end, finding a telepresence robot matching all these criteria—especially at a reasonable price—was impossible for us. However, the Double Robotics Double 2 and the Suitable Technologies Beam Enhanced both met a majority of our criteria, so we called them in to put them through their paces. We conducted our first test at the offices of The New York Times (parent company of The Wirecutter and The Sweethome), but security issues with the building’s Wi-Fi network kept us from connecting to the Beam, so we also tested in our test-kitchen apartment.

Our pick: Suitable Technologies Beam Enhanced

Photo: Kyle Fitzgerald

If you are set on buying a telepresence robot, the Suitable Technologies Beam Enhanced is the only one that’s currently worth considering. It displays and captures clear video feeds, maneuvers more responsively than the competition, and has the easiest setup process of the telepresence robots we tested. And the professional administration software makes it easy to manage in a corporate environment or a home setting.

The Beam’s built-in 104-degree wide-angle camera produced a clear image of our office that looked much brighter and more detailed than the images from both the iPad Air 2’s front-facing camera and the Double 2’s own camera add-on, despite providing only VGA resolution (640×480 pixels). Your co-workers will look pretty grainy on a Retina display, but the Beam offers great contrast in a variety of settings thanks to superior low-light performance and HDR support that helps you make out even heavily backlit faces and obstacles. On the other side of the conversation, your call recipient will see your face clearly on a brightly backlit 10-inch, 4:3-aspect-ratio screen that’s much more easily visible under bright light than a typical iPad screen.

The robot’s downward-facing camera, aided by a pair of LEDs, also gives you a clear view of what’s in its path and includes a handy arrow overlay that shows where you’re headed. It overlays a virtual projection that’s as wide as the bot, so you know exactly if it will fit or not. The display offers live updates based on your control inputs and is a great visual aid if you’re new to operating a telepresence robot.

Flaws that might really be dealbreakers

Usually we call this section of a guide “Flaws but not dealbreakers,” but in this case the flaws inherent to current telepresence technology might actually discourage many people who would consider buying into it. In the case of the Beam, you get fewer drawbacks than you would with other options, but it’s still far from ideal.

Telepresence robots, including the Beam, are prohibitively expensive for what they do. For the cost of one, you could buy a videoconferencing system for the office instead. The Beam model we tested costs nearly $4,000, and to use it you have to pay an annual subscription fee of nearly $400.

Furthermore, telepresence robots can’t exactly navigate an entire office building without help, and neither the Beam nor the Double is suited for multistory operation. Neither telepresence robot features object avoidance, and someone will need to carry it up the stairs or hit an elevator button for the remote co-worker.

As for Beam-specific issues, setup is easy—but only if it’s even possible in the first place. Connecting your telepresence robot to a network is easier said than done if you don’t have admin access to your office’s network—or at the very least, a cooperative IT department.

This guide may have been updated by The Wirecutter. To see the current recommendation, please go here.

Note from The Wirecutter: When readers choose to buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn affiliate commissions that support our work.