Everything you need to know about the Google Pixel and Pixel XL

Why it matters to you

Google has taken the fate of its Android flagship phones into its own hands, and the resulting devices — the Pixel and Pixel XL — are superb.

Google is taking firm ownership of the flagship Android phones it produces each year. Only now they’re no longer called Nexus phones, but Pixel phones. In October 2016, the search giant formally unveiled the Pixel and Pixel XL, two top-of-the-line smartphones made in partnership with Taipei, Taiwan-based electronics maker HTC.

The Pixel and Pixel XL may be produced by HTC, but they’re unquestionably “Google phones” — they’re the first handsets in history to carry the company’s new “made by Google brand,” in fact. And they’re an impressive first attempt.

Price and availability

Since release, the Pixel phones have proven popular and, unfortunately, very difficult to find. Nearly a year later, Google finally appears to have a stable stock going — and with the Pixel 2 on the horizon, the firm has already started slashing prices. The discounts on offer as part of Google’s Back to School event are listed below:

• 32GB Pixel: $524 (down from $650) or $21.83 per month for 24 months
• 128GB Pixel: $624 (down from $750) or $26 per month for 24 months
• 32GB Pixel XL $569 (down from $770) or $23.71 month for 24 months
• 128GB Pixel XL: $669 (down from $870) or $27.88 per month for 24 months

Both the Pixel and Pixel XL come in 32GB and 128GB storage capacity options, in black, silver/white, or blue colors. Google cheekily calls these “quite black,” “very silver,” and “really blue.” The blue version can only be had with 32GB storage.

Also, the phones are available on Google Fi and exclusively from Verizon, where tempting special offers often come up. Also, Best Buy officially sells the Pixel and Pixel XL through its stores.

In the United Kingdom, the Pixel and Pixel XL are sold through the Google Play online store. The 32GB Pixel is 600 British pounds, and the 32GB Pixel XL is 720 British pounds. Opt for the 128GB model and you’ll pay 700 British pounds for the Pixel, and a massive 820 British pounds for the Pixel XL.

For a start, only the black and silver versions were sold in the country, but from February 24, the “really blue” limited edition model will arrive. However, it appears to only be available through Carphone Warehouse and the EE network. Shortly before the U.K. announcement of the blue Pixel, Canadian network Rogers exclusively secured the limited edition model.

Design

Both phones, differentiated more by size than hardware, bear the hallmarks of high-end smartphone design: they’re dominated by polished aluminum, Gorilla Glass 4, and an almost incidental amount of plastic to accommodate wireless radios. The Pixel and Pixel XL’s edges slope gracefully, as do its wedged sides — a design language that not-so-subtly evokes Apple’s iPhone. And they’re pleasingly minimalist. On the front, selfie cameras and earpieces; on the right side is a power button and volume rocker; and on the rear is a dedicated shooter, LED flash, and circular fingerprint sensor.

Google’s new phones aren’t just pretty faces, though: they’re powerhouses. The Pixel XL packs a 5.5-inch, Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440 pixels) AMOLED screen with an impressive density of 534 pixels-per-inch. The Pixel packs a smaller and lower-resolution AMOLED screen at 5 inches and Full HD (1080 x 1920 pixels), respectively, but squeezes it into a slightly more compact package.

Specs

Beneath those displays is one of the fastest mobile processors around. The Pixels have the distinction of packing Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor, a chip 10 percent more power efficient than the predeceasing Snapdragon 820. The variant in the Pixels is clocked at a 2.15GHz and paired with 4GB of RAM — more than enough to crunch webpages, benchmarks, docs, and games with ease, Google said.

Those aren’t the only highlights. The Pixels share a pair of cameras that promise impressive captures in both daytime and dim surroundings — Rick Osterloh, Google’s head of hardware, called them the “best smartphone camera anyone has ever made.” The rear-facing sensor’s a 12.3-megapixel model with f/2.0 aperture, 1.55um sensor size, and optical image stabilization, and the front-facing shooter’s an 8-megapixel specimen. And they work in tandem with proprietary algorithms that enhance those picture-taking capabilities. Smart Burst shot takes multiple snaps in milliseconds and automatically chooses the best. HDR Plus takes “clear, vivid pictures” in “challenging conditions.” But perhaps most impressive is video stabilization: thanks to a custom algorithm that samples gyroscope data 200 times a second and compensates for rolling shutter, videos turn out smooth as butter.

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Powering all those features are impressively large batteries. The Pixels sport Lithium-ion power packs of capacities that promise hours, if not days, on a charge: the Pixel XL packs a 3,450mAh battery, while the Pixel sports a 2,770mAh pack. Better yet, both support quick charging, which Google said can deliver up to 70 percent in after 15 minutes on a charger.

Familiar accouterments abound on both Pixels. Both feature USB Type-C connectors, Bluetooth, NFC, and 3.5mm headphone jacks. And they come with what Google calls a Quick Switch adapter: a plugin that automatically transfers your contacts, photos, videos, music, texts, calendar events, and messages from an iPhone to a Pixel.

Software

Hardware is only part of the Pixels’ appeal, of course. Android 7.1 Nougat is the other, and it’s a doozie of an upgrade from the version of Android — 6.0 Marshmallow — that shipped on Google’s Nexus 6P and 5X. Launcher Shortcuts provide quick access to activities and settings menus within apps. Pressing and holding a Google Maps icon, for instance, might surface a pop-up for turn-by-turn navigation to saved locations; a Google Calendar icon might include buttons for quickly creating a new event or reminder; and a Google Play Music icon might include shortcuts to a saved playlist or recently played songs.

Android Nougat may be destined for smartphones old and new, but the Pixels retain a few exclusive features. First is the Pixel Launcher, a proprietary Google-made home screen. Most notably, it features a “G” tab for quick access to the Google Assistant, Google’s AI-powered intelligent assistant. The Assistant is activated by pressing and holding Android’s home button or say “OK, Google,” and works much as it does in Google’s messaging app, Allo. You can ask it to show pictures you too last October, for instance, or surface event listings for a nearby concert venue. And it integrates with third-party apps and services: the Assistant can play music from YouTube and Google Play Music, text friends via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber, and more, and place reservations at a restaurant with OpenTable.

Beyond the Google Assistant, the Pixel Launcher sports a pull-up dock provides quick access to apps, plus a search bar for quickly parsing through software previously installed.

The Pixels also include a Google Photos benefit: free “unlimited” storage for full-resolution photos. And they pack an app that provides 24/7 live customer care. If you encounter an issue, you can reach a support agent via chat and even share your screen to let the agent see what you’re seeing. The Pixels also ship with Allo and Duo, Google’s latest text and video messaging apps, pre-installed.

Android Nougat packs other changes, too. Android’s familiar navigation icons are now white and distinctly geometric: the middle home button has an extra ring around it. Notifications now wrap to the edges of the screen and sport Direct Reply, a feature that allows you to respond to incoming messages from Facebook, Hangouts, Whatsapp, and more straight from the tray. And a new split-screen mode lets you use two apps at once.

If you want to know more about Android 7.0 Nougat, you can check out our roundup for a full list of what’s new.

Update: Added new pricing information as part of Google’s Back to School event.

Fleksy’s new developers strive to revive the app as the next keyboard platform

Fleksy isn’t dead. Instead, it’s being ushered into a new direction by ThingThing in a bid to make the smartphone keyboard app into a platform of its own.

Consider the fact the way you type to a friend or family member is kind of like a language of its own. Think about it: the emoji you use, the shorthand you elect, and the sentences you choose to complete are all part of a system of rhetoric you’ve developed around communicating with others via a smartphone.

The plan is to open up Fleksy to third-party developers to turn it into a bonafide platform.

And what if your keyboard doesn’t support the kind of fluidity you need to have conversations? Well, then it’s frustrating to use. These sorts of scenarios are what ThingThing is attempting to eliminate, in addition to seeking to make its users feel like they’re able to express themselves regardless of the messaging app they’re conversing in.

“We take for granted the keyboard for just being a key input, but if [what you need] is one tap away, you can eliminate having to switch between apps,” said Olivier Plante, the co-founder of ThingThing. The popular iOS keyboard app recently announced it would take over development for another popular keyboard app on Android, Fleksy, which wasn’t actually left for dead as we’d all initially thought.

The idea is to bundle in ThingThing’s integrated services abilities with Fleksy’s impressive auto-correct capabilities. “We started to exchange visions — of what is the role of the keyboard in the market, and how the OS is going to evolve in the future,” Plante told TechCrunch last month. “[Our visions were] aligned in values.”

The plan is to open up Fleksy to third-party developers to turn it into a bonafide platform of sorts with plug-ins and quick access to shortcuts and other apps and services. I spoke to Plante about what’s next for Fleksy, and what users of the iOS and Android apps can expect with something like a “keyboard platform.”

ThingThing’s declaration of love for Fleksy from its official blogpost.

The keyboard as a platform

If you’re a seasoned Android user, you’re already privy to the idea of the keyboard as a platform in of itself. Think about it: you’ve always had the option to ditch whatever default keyboard app came with your Android-powered device. Well, that’s the same idea behind the next version of Fleksy; essentially, that it becomes the app you want to type with in every app that supports keyboard input because it offers everything you could need.

We see the keyboard as the perfect gateway to sort actions in any app.

“We see the keyboard as the perfect gateway to sort actions in any app,” explained Plante in a Skype call. “As Facebook Messenger has evolved into a platform, as iMessage had enabled the ability for developers to build micro-apps…if you have this approach of having a silo, it ends up being a big mess for developers. It creates a cluster of multiple things to manage.”

Plante continues, “The platform enables users to access content in any app and share it in any app where the keyboard is. It’s as simple as that. We’ll enable third-party developers and service providers to build on it but in a very careful way. We’re talking about different types of services, from GIF services to places on Yelp to songs from Spotify. But it’s always the same principle of being able to access things and share them.”

What separates it from other keyboard apps?

With GBoard already featuring integrations into its services and plenty of users flocking to Google’s stock offerings, it may seem like using any other third-party keyboard app is moot. But not so, explains Plante:

“We see other keyboard apps have tried something similar…who have created a bloated experience, something that is very messy. [Our] team is very attentive to the core user experience — It’s one of our core values: to create an experience that’s simple to use.”

Plante added that what will help separate the next Fleksy is how much more private it is compared to other keyboard apps. “The users know that, with us, they will have a private experience that’s completely local with nothing in the cloud. The algorithm sits on the phone; everything is processed on the phone, and we’re [the ones] directing services.”

Any unique features for Android users?

Android users will see the same keyboard experience as their iOS counterparts when the new app relaunches. However, Plante promises, the app will continue to be developed specifically for the Android user:

“We want to unify the experience, so if a user has an Android tablet and an iPhone, he’ll be able to have the same experience. We’re going to focus our attention on making both platforms compatible. But we know Android has specificities, and we’ll always care about those specific features.”

“We want to provide a premium feeling product, so we’re thinking carefully about behaviors of users and asking people if they understand how things can be used. We’re centered in on that experience of the user.”

How Fleksy plans to remain private

We want to empower what the user wants while being respectful of their privacy.

“We’re very serious about this. We want to empower what the user wants [while also being] respectful of their privacy. Do you want to search with Google? Fine, but you don’t need to tell anyone what’s happening behind the scenes — cross marketing, advertising that suddenly shown what you’ve been typing to your friend. We don’t believe this is the future. These kinds of things are happening, and we think we need to bring something valuable to the world. It’s what we care about.”

Download Fleksy (free)

First live pictures of the Galaxy Note 8 surface

First live images of the Galaxy Note 8 show off a familiar design.

We’re just a few weeks away from the official launch of the Galaxy Note 8, and the leaks are starting to fly in thick and fast. Press renders of Samsung’s upcoming flagship leaked last week, highlighting a design that’s reminscent of the Galaxy S8 and S8+, albeit with a more squared-off look.

Today, we’re being treated to the first live images of the Galaxy Note 8, possibly from a prototype unit. The photos show off a dedicated Bixby button to the left of the phone, as well as a dual camera setup at the back — a first for Samsung. The fingerprint location hasn’t changed much from the Galaxy S8, with the sensor located at the back next to the camera sensor.

The leaked images also show off the redesigned S Pen, which matches up with last week’s leak.

The Galaxy Note 8 is also expected to offer a similar set of specs as the Galaxy S8, including a Snapdragon 835 / Exynos 8895 combination, but the phone will likely see a memory bump to 6GB. Samsung may also launch a variant with 256GB storage in its home market.

Galaxy Note 8: what we know so far

With the Note 8 launch set for August 23, we should know more shortly. What do you think of the design of the Note 8 from the leaked images above? Let us know in the comments.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

• Galaxy Note 8: Everything we know so far
• Rumored Galaxy Note 8 specs
• All Galaxy Note 8 news
• Should you buy the Galaxy S8+ or wait for the Note 8?
• The buttonless future of Samsung phones
• Join our Galaxy Note 8 forums

What is Tasker and how does it work?

Tasker is the essence of Android.

Android is about customization and making your phone work for you, and nothing exemplifies that quite as well as Tasker… except maybe Nova Launcher. Tasker is an automation app that lets us mere mortals work a little Android magic. Yes, magic. Magic is science we don’t understand yet, and that makes it a perfect analogy for Tasker, as really the biggest obstacle the app faces is people not knowing what it is, how it works, and just what it can do for you.

So, let’s answer those questions and make a little magic.

What is Tasker?

Tasker is an automation app. You create a list of actions, called a task, which can then be executed according to a variety of contexts. You tell Tasker you want it to do A, B, and C when X and/or Y happens. You might be thinking that Tasker’s like IFTTT, and you’d be half right. Tasker tasks are similar to IFTTT applets, and both services have a wide variety of plugins. IFTTT has wider service support and cross-platform usability, but Tasker can do more on the Android devices it touches with more complex actions.

Actions in Tasker tasks can be as simple as turning on or off a setting like Bluetooth, or as complicated as sending app-specific media and control commands through third-party plugins. Contexts can be a variety of things, from automatic profiles or plugins, shortcuts, or simply opening the app and pressing play.

How does Tasker work?

When you open up Tasker, you have four tabs to work with: Profiles are contextual ways to trigger Tasks, which are the lists of organized Actions you want to perform. Scenes are visual interfaces that users can build to execute tasks, as well as Popups and other visual elements that can be used in Tasks various ways — such as waking up the screen on my phone without the use of root. Variables are values that can be assigned and changed over time. Tasker has a lot of global variables built in, and you can assign your own variables, should you desire.

To create a Task, you first give it a Name, and then you can begin assigning actions to that task. Actions are grouped according to type, but you can also search for actions by name, which makes things significantly easier for Tasker builders… so long as you know the proper name for the action you’re looking for.

Once you select an action, you configure it, such as telling Wi-Fi to turn off rather than on, or telling a plugin which app to direct commands to. Once you have your actions in order, you can execute the task by pressing play, or by adding it to a Profile, which can be launched at a certain time, when a certain app is open, or a number of other contexts.

Just what can it do for you?

Tasker can do a multitude of things to your phone, and it has done this for me over the years. Even before Android had automatic rules for Do Not Disturb, Tasker ensured my phone wouldn’t disturb me while I got my beauty sleep. At show time, Tasker would set my phone to silent, ensuring my Fantasmic ring tone didn’t blare out in a live broadcast. When I was getting in the car, Tasker recognized the Bluetooth head unit and executed a task that would turn off my Wi-Fi and turn on my music.

Before Google Assistant put so many commands at my fingertips, Tasker and AutoVoice — a third-party plugin that allows users to program specific voice commands for our tasks — combined to give me vital hands-free commands, and when it combined with Moto Voice on my Moto X, it felt like actual magic.

The Tasker use that keeps me around, however, is my Tasker + Google Play Music alarm clock. This alarm profile and task brings back the convenience and nostalgia of my old CD and iPod alarm clocks, turning back on my current Google Play Music queue rather than playing the old song or alarm tone day after day after day.

The limits of Tasker

Tasker can do so, so, so much, but the same time, there are some very grey, very hazy limitations to what Tasker can do. What you can do varies from phone to phone and some of the cooler examples you’ll see require a rooted phone. Beyond devices, the biggest limitation Tasker can face is your time — how much of it are you willing to spend to do this stuff? I’ve spent weeks fine-tuning my precious alarm after I switch phones, but that alarm also gives me something nothing else on Android can.

That’s the heart of Tasker. It can work Android magic, if you’re willing to take the time to understand the logistics and the programming behind it. That magic tests the limits of Android and the limits of user ingenuity, and if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief, it can leave you in awe.

T-Mobile targets Baby Boomers with two unlimited lines for $60 promotion

T-Mobile is targeting Baby Boomers with its latest Uncarrier plan.

T-Mobile has announced a new plan that’s targeted at Baby Boomers, giving them the ability to pick up two unlimited lines for just $60. With the offer, those aged 55 and above can register for the first T-Mobile One plan for $50, with the second line costing just $10 — after factoring in a $5 per line Autopay discount.

Calling Boomers the “most loyal, long-term wireless customers in the world,” T-Mobile’s outspoken CEO John Legere said:

For years, the carriers have been patronizing the generation that invented wireless. They thank these mobile pioneers by selling dumbed down ‘senior’ plans with exactly zero data and — get this — night and weekend minutes! That’s not just idiotic — it’s insulting! Today, the Un-carrier ends this ridiculousness with T-Mobile ONE Unlimited 55+ — an offer that recognizes how Boomers and beyond actually use their smartphones!

When this generation was getting their first phones, AT&T and Verizon were the only real options—and the Duopoly has been taking advantage of them ever since! Where the Duopoly sees another group to patronize and monetize, we see an opportunity to bring the Un-carrier revolution to more people not getting the service or respect they deserve.

With T-Mobile One, the carrier is offering unlimited talk, text, and data, with 200MB of roaming data and unlimited roaming in Canada and Mexico. The Unlimited 55+ plan sees tethering being limited to 3G, and video streaming to 480p. Those that consume 32GB of cellular data in a billing cycle will see “reduced speeds” on the network.

Everything you need to know about the T-Mobile ONE unlimited plan

According to T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon control 81% of the postpaid wireless market for the 55+ demographic. T-Mobile serves 18% of all wireless customers in the U.S., but just 8% of the 55+ demographic. Over 74% of Baby Boomers own a smartphone, and spend around 149 minutes a day on their devices, only slightly lower than the 171 minutes consumed by millennials. And with over 93 million Americans aged over 55, that’s a huge market for the taking.

To be eligible, the primary account holder needs to be 55 or above — there’s no age restrictions for the second person on the line. Interested? You can walk into a T-Mobile retail store on or after August 9 to sign up, while existing customers can switch by calling 1.800.TMOBILE.

See at T-Mobile

Should you buy a Chromebook in August 2017?

While not for everyone, a Chromebook can be the best choice for a lot of things.

Whenever we talk about Chromebooks, this is one of the questions that always pops up. It’s understandable — you’ve got about half the internet telling you that Chromebooks are great and most folks can do everything they want to do on a laptop with Chrome, and most of the other half claiming that they are useless and you shouldn’t spend your money of “just a browser.”

As usual, I think the real wisdom comes from the people in the middle. Folks who will come forward and say a Chromebook is their only computer or the one they use all or most of the time, and why it works for them. I may be biased because I’m one of those people, but I really do think that for a good many of us, a Chromebook is the best computer you can buy.

What you can’t do with a Chromebook

I think the easy way to answer this question is by saying that there are people who shouldn’t buy a Chromebook and expect it to be able to do the things they want it to do. Chromebooks weren’t designed to do everything — they were designed to do the basics that most people need very well.

For most folks working with code a Chromebook isn’t the best choice

I know plenty of people who are programmers and developers. Some of them do web development using languages that don’t need to be compiled into a container and instead are interpreted by the browser, and a Chromebook is a great way to do that. You can build out a web app or website, then get everything running well either online or locally. Once it works as intended, you clean things up and upload to a development server where folks using other browsers — you can’t install Microsoft Edge or Firefox on a Chromebook. These two browsers tend to require small tweaks when compared to Chrome or Safari. Using a Chromebook is a great way to do webdev, but will require testing with other machines.

Other types of development just aren’t practical. Sure, you can install plugins and extensions that allow for a Ruby or Python interpreter, but usually, they aren’t able to do everything you’ll need to do. Compiling software — turning source code into a stand-alone application — whether it be apps for a phone or for any other computer certainly isn’t practical unless you put your Chromebook into developer mode and install another flavor of Linux. Of course, you can develop Chrome apps and extensions, but for most folks working with code a Chromebook isn’t the best “main” machine. It wasn’t designed to be.

Another area where Chromebooks aren’t going to be your best bet is media creation. You can find all sorts of Chrome apps for audio and video production or image editing, but for people doing anything like this full-time, the apps and their features just aren’t powerful enough. Here at Android Central, we have a crew who handles video production and audio production, but we still need to do some of the “smaller” things ourselves, and I’ll be honest — doing some of it on a Chromebook just isn’t practical. Even something as simple as cleaning up a photo using RAW imaging editing software can be a bit difficult unless you go the extra mile and install another Linux environment onto your Chromebook, and for many, a full-fledged Linux desktop has it’s own big learning curve. For serious editing, most Chromebooks also don’t have the hardware under the hood to make it practical, either. Again, nobody selling Chromebooks is implying they were designed for this sort of work, and that’s because they just aren’t.

AAA games just aren’t going to run on a Chromebook

The biggest problem for many is gaming. Most of us aren’t programmers or media professionals, but plenty of us like to fire up a computer and play some games. None of those AAA titles you’re interested are going to run on a Chromebook for two reasons — none of them are built to run in a Chrome OS environment (even if there’s a Linux version available) and Chromebooks don’t have the disk space, the video card or the memory to run them anyway. There are some really good browser based games out there, and most of them run really well on Chrome OS and the limited hardware Chromebooks usually ship with, but you’ll never be able to play the Fallout series or Skyrim or CoD on your Chromebook. Don’t expect this to change anytime soon, either. A quick look at Steam for Mac or Linux shows developers are focused on building games for Windows using things like Direct X and special support for AMD or NVIDIA GPUs, or for the PlayStation and Xbox. We don’t blame them — that’s where the money is.

For everyone else

We’ve looked at things a Chromebook doesn’t do well, and if any of these things are important to you, I think you’ll be better served with a laptop running another operating system. But the good news is that Chromebooks do the things they were designed to do very well, and might be the best choice for you.

Chromebooks are built to run anything and everything on the web. You can visit your bank, or spend time on Facebook, or watch YouTube and Netflix and anything else you type into a browser bar. If you use a recent model, like the Samsung Chromebook Plus, you’ll have a much better web experience than you will with any similarly priced laptop.

Chromebooks are built to run anything and everything on the web.

This is because Chrome OS was designed to be light and manage resources far better than their Windows and Apple counterparts. On OS X or Windows, Chrome uses a bunch of memory to sandbox processes outside of the operating system as a security precaution, but on a Chromebook, they don’t have to do that — the operating system manages the processes at the platform level with isolation in mind from the minute you turn your Chromebook on. Chrome the operating system is efficient very smart at multitasking between tabs or running applications.

More: Best apps for Chromebooks

You also have everything Google does available, with full access to your Google account if you like. The same way Android connects to Google and synchronizes your mail, your contacts, your online credentials and all your other Google data is how things work with a Chromebook. With apps, web interfaces and extensions from folks like Microsoft, or the native Google Docs and Google Drive combination, even office work is a breeze. Once you sign in, and only when you sign in, you have access to all your Google “stuff”. If you want to be Google free, you can also log in as a guest and share none of this with Google. And just like Chrome the browser on any other computer, you can mix up both ways using incognito tabs and windows.

And now that Chromebooks can run Android apps, there are even more options for getting things done. In fact, I think the best Android tablet is actually a Chromebook. Android apps and Google Play on your Chromebook really changes things for the better.

Security

Security is also well-managed on a Chromebook. You still need to check what data you’re sharing with Google or any other service and look after your privacy, but only you’ll not have to worry about the actual security aspect of it all — Chrome OS does it for you.

We already talked a little bit about sandboxing, but the way Chrome works means that no matter what you’re doing in one tab or application window, none of it can affect any of the others. Any potential threat is contained, and disappears once you close it.

Automatic updates and Verified Boot make Chromebooks the safe way to get online

Automatic updates and Verified Boot also play a big part here. Chrome OS is updated monthly without any user intervention, and the update process is seamless and you won’t notice it. Every time you start your Chromebook is checks for a new version, and if one is available it’s downloaded and the next time you start up you’re running it. And every time you start your Chromebook Verified Boot checks to make sure nothing has changed in the operating system, and if it thinks anything has been tampered with, it starts from the last verified copy you downloaded from Google instead. You won’t have to worry about malware, spyware or viruses on Chrome OS. If something does go wrong (people who want to break into your laptop are smart) you would be dumped into a recovery screen that tells you which keys to press to wipe the copy of the OS and download it fresh. As long as you haven’t turned off security features by flipping the developer mode switch (think of it as unlocking the bootloader), you’ll not have to worry about anything you didn’t say was OK to do on a Chromebook.

These features are what makes me (and plenty of other folks) think that a Chromebook really is the best laptop for a lot of people. I moved my mom from a Dell laptop that was about $600 more expensive yet didn’t do the things she wanted to do as well as her new Chromebook does, and she couldn’t be happier. Come Christmas, she’s getting a newer model. A Chromebook is perfect for her.

If you don’t need to do the things a Chromebook wasn’t designed to do, I think you’ll like it just as much.

Ready to buy a Chromebook? Here are the best ones you can buy right now

Update August 2017: Added information about the latest models, better Android app support and fresh links.

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
• Should you buy a Chromebook?
• Google Play is coming to Chromebooks
• Acer Chromebook 14 review
• Join our Chromebook forums

Galaxy S8 Active goes official, is exclusive to AT&T ‘for a limited time’

The Galaxy S8 Active offers a rugged design and a large 4000mAh battery.

After numerous leaks and rumors, the Galaxy S8 Active is now official. Dubbed the “toughest Galaxy smartphone yet,” the rugged phone features a frame that’s shatter-, dust-, and water-resistant.

The S8 Active offers a 5.8-inch shatter-resistant Quad HD Super AMOLED display with the same 18.5:9 screen ratio as the Galaxy S8 and S8+. The phone lacks the curved Infinity Display, but the added durability more than makes up for it. The back of the phone is textured for a better grip, and a bumper on all four sides offers added resistance from tumbles.

The S8 Active is powered by a Snapdragon 835 chipset, and there’s 4GB of RAM, 64GB storage, 12MP f/1.7 rear camera, and an 8MP front shooter. The highlight — aside from its rugged exterior — is the battery, which at 4000mAh is a sizeable bump from the 3500mAh battery on the S8+. The phone will be available in Meteor Gray or Titanium Gold.

Early leaks of the Galaxy S8 Active revealed that it won’t have AT&T branding, and there’s a good reason for that. The carrier has exclusive access to the device “for a limited time,” but the phone will be available to non-AT&T customers at a later date. There’s also the possibility that Samsung will sell it unlocked directly.

The S8 Active will be up for sale at AT&T via its Next plans, which start at $28 per month for 30 months. Pre-orders kick off August 8, and the device will be available for sale at AT&T stores across the U.S. starting August 11.

See at AT&T

These are coolest things we’ve seen from the HTC Vive Knuckles controllers

With developers getting hands-on with the upcoming SteamVR “Knuckles” controllers, these are the coolest implementations we’ve seen so far.

Valve’s upcoming “Knuckles” are now in the hands of developers – finally providing a sneak peek at what the motion controllers are capable of. While a consumer release date is yet to be decided, in recent months, some prolific VR studios have already received pre-release prototypes of the devices. Some of the biggest HTC Vive games are now being adapted with support for the new input method, teasing what’s to come for these motion-controlled titles.

With a few studios already posting demonstrations of their experiments, we’ve started to round up some of the best (and coolest) uses of the Knuckles controllers so far.

Read more at VRHeads

Best Places to Buy a Used Phone

Buying a used phone doesn’t have to be overly complicated or stressful.

The used phone market is an iceberg; you can only see the tip sticking out of the water, but it goes far deeper than you can imagine. This bears out in a recent Deloitte report that claims the used phone market grew to 120 million units in 2016, generating $17 billion for their owners. That number is only going to get bigger faster, too: IDC believes that by 2020, over 220 million used devices will be sold or traded in annually.

That’s a lot of gear, and similar to how a new car loses its value once it’s driven off the lot, phones immediately become cheaper once they’re removed from the plastic wrapping. For a seller — even one who treats his or her phone with the utmost care — that can be problematic. For a buyer, though, that becomes an opportunity to pick up a gently-used device for a great deal.

Things to consider before you buy a used phone

We’ve already written of the most important considerations you need to take into account when buying a new phone — do a visual inspection if possible; always purchase from a reputable seller; be patient; be aware of carrier locks or other roadblocks; look into insurance, especially if the phone is out of warranty — but there are a few other things to think about.

The first is what kind of used phone you’re looking to buy:

• A used phone purchased directly from a seller (eg. Craigslist)
• A used phone purchased through an intermediary that has verified its condition (eg. Gazelle)
• A refurbished phone that has been through a “touch-up” directly from the manufacturer or a partner (eg. Samsung)

Know what kind of used phone buying experience you want before you start shopping around.

You can probably get the best deal buying directly from someone else because there is no intermediary taking a fee, but you also run the risk of the phone having issues that the naked eye can’t see. If you know exactly what you want and know what to look for, you’re probably going to be comfortable buying a used phone from a direct marketplace like Craiglist, Swappa or one of many buy/sell forums.

If you don’t want to take any chances with the quality, but still don’t mind a bit of wear and tear, buying through an intermediary marketplace like Gazelle could work really well. The phones often come with (admittedly limited) warranties and money-back guarantees which, as a buyer, offers considerably more peace of mind than the average “meet up at the nearby 7-Eleven and hand over a wad of cash” type deal.

Finally, buying a certified refurbished phone is your safest bet, but comes with the least discount over a new product. Both Samsung and Apple sell refurbished phones directly on their websites, and though the savings are not substantial, they’re at least guaranteed to work, and well properly. For example, Samsung sells an AT&T-locked 32GB Galaxy S6 for $399. The same phone can be had for between $239 and $309 at Gazelle, which inspects but doesn’t refurbish the products, and between $130 and $225 at Swappa, which merely connects buyers and sellers. But Samsung sells its refurbished models with a 12-month warranty, a charger and cable, and brand new headphones. Gazelle throws in a charger but no headphones, and Swappa just ensures a clean exchange (for a small fee).

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The best places to buy a used phone

This is not an exhaustive list. There are innumerable places to buy a used phone on the internet, and depending on your country, this list may not be as applicable (though we tried to highlight international marketplaces as much as possible).

Craigslist

Craigslist tends to set up “meet up at the nearby 7-Eleven and hand over a wad of cash” type phone deals, which can be hit-or-miss depending on how adept you are at identifying scams — of which there are many.

The main thing Craigslist has going for it is size and scale — it’s practically everywhere, and has communities for almost every city in the world. You will be able to find a used phone on Craigslist, that’s not the problem; the problem is sifting through the thousands of listings to find something worth pursuing and ensuring that the phone you decide on does not have underlying damage or, worse, that its IMEI (a unique number that helps identify individual devices) hasn’t been blocked due to theft.

• Good Good prices, excellent availability, and plenty of choice, with the option of buying local to check condition
• Bad Hard to verify sellers or the quality of the phones

Learn more at Craigslist

eBay

eBay is enormous, and today continues to be one of the top places to purchase a used phone. It has the advantages of Craigslist, scale, with few of the disadvantages, especially since it uses PayPal to ensure that payments can be recalled should there be a problem.

For buyers, eBay has a robust filtering system, allowing you to search for exactly what you want, with filters for price, carrier — even color. Of course, eBay still has its roots as an auction house, and that is how some used phones are still sold, but far more of them are sold at set prices. eBay charges sellers, not buyers, to host their listings, so all you need to do is find the right listing and you’re off to the races.

eBay’s best feature is its Money Back Guarantee which, combined with the extensive seller profiles, make it easy to buy with confidence. If there’s an issue with the device, or the shipment, you can apply to get your money back and, within reason, eBay will either cancel the PayPal transaction or, if it’s already gone through, refund you. And seller profiles let you filter potential purchases based on trusted sellers that have been around the block once, ten, or ten thousand times.

• Good Lots of selection with verifiable sellers with a money back guarantee.
• Bad Potentially high cost of shipping, and you won’t be able to see the device before buying

Learn more at eBay

Swappa

Swappa began its life as a small Android-based phone buying and selling community, but it’s since expanded to include all mobile devices like iPhones, as well as tablets, Chromebooks and MacBooks.

Swappa works on a set fee structure that’s very different to most other platforms, and this is important: the buyer pays the fee. Most will pay under $20 for the privilege, and all payments are done over PayPal, which is incredibly convenient and secure. Why is a buyer fee better for both buyers and sellers? Because it encourages sellers to list their products on Swappa, adding inventory to a service that relies heavily on participation.

Swappa does not physically inspect devices, but it does do a few things to make sure the buyer is getting what he or she pays for: all listings are verified by a human, who ensures that the IMEI is valid and can be activated. All listings must have good quality photos that clearly show any damage, and the quality (fair/good/excellent) should match the photos. And the cost of shipping is included in the price of the listing, which should prevent post-sale price gouging. And because Swappa uses PayPal, all listings are protected, so if a device doesn’t arrive as advertised, buyers have recourse to get their money back.

Finally, Swappa’s prices tend to be lower than many curated services since, aside from the flat fee, the seller sets the price.

• Good Plenty of listings with clear quality guidelines and good prices
• Bad Buyer pays fee, no warranty or accessories

Learn more at Swappa

Gazelle

Gazelle uses an interesting model: it buys phones from sellers and resells some of them on its website just like a regular e-commerce store (the rest are either recycled or sold to third parties). The advantage is that once Gazelle receives the device it performs a so-called “30-point inspection process” to ensure that it is in working order, and puts a SIM card in it to make sure it can properly connect to a network.

As a buyer, that means you may pay slightly more than Swappa for the equivalent model, but you get a phone that is guaranteed to work, either unlocked on a number of carriers or the one that it is advertised to be locked to, and there is a 30-day return policy if you’re not completely satisfied.

Gazelle also offers financing options, which allows it to compete with carriers by offering flexible payment plans that don’t require a lot of money up front. At the same time, Gazelle doesn’t accept every type of Android phone because its inspection system is only optimized for a handful of models — all popular Galaxys are accepted, but it only recently started buying (and selling) the Google Pixel — which ensures a higher-quality buying experience.

• Good Seamless buying experience with plenty of choice, all phones come with a charger and are guaranteed to work, 30-day money back return policy
• Bad Doesn’t sell every type of phone, could be more expensive than other options

Learn more at Gazelle

Glyde

Glyde has an interesting business model, somewhere between Swappa and Gazelle. Like Swappa, it’s a user-to-user e-commerce portal but, like Gazelle, it asserts some control over the potential exchange by forcing the seller to use its secure shipping container, and doesn’t release payment to the seller until the buyer receives it. It also promises to refund a disappointed buyer within 72-hours.

All phones, from iPhones to Galaxys to Windows phones, are available to purchase on Glyde, and buyers pay no additional fee beyond what is shown on the site.

• Good Lots of choice and buyers have leverage if unhappy with a sale
• Bad Phones are not inspected beforehand so what you see may not be what you get

Learn more at Glyde

Your choices

What are your favorite places to buy used phones? Let us know in the comments below!

Samsung’s rugged Galaxy S8 Active launches this week

Samsung is officially releasing the Galaxy S8 Active on Friday, August 11. The rugged sibling to the company’s all-conquering flagship will come in two colors (meteor gray and titanium gold). For a limited time, the phone will be exclusively available through AT&T — that includes pre-orders, which start tomorrow.

The new handset’s specs match those that were leaked around two weeks ago. Internally, it carries all the high-end hardware from the standard Galaxy S8, including a Snapdragon 835 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. It also packs a 12-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The Active’s main perk is its battery, which at 4,000mAh, is larger than the 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh batteries found inside the S8 and S8 plus, respectively.

Its other main differentiators are its design and durability. All the clumsy phone-droppers out there will be glad to learn the Active is shatter-, water-, and dust-resistant. That means you can submerge it in up to 5 feet of water for up to 30 minutes or drop it from up to 5 feet on to a flat surface. Honestly, give it hell (or a drunken night on the town) and see if it survives. On top of that, it’s made with military-grade materials — which should hopefully stop it from leaking like its predecessor. The handset’s exterior boasts a metal frame and bumper to protect against shock, and the rugged back cover we’ve come to expect. Judging from the pics, it also deviates from the original Galaxy S8 by ditching the flagship’s curved Infinity Display.

You can grab the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active from AT&T, starting from $28 per month. There’s no word yet on additional pricing, and when the phone will land on more carriers.