Moto X4 specs: Snapdragon 630, 3000mAh battery and dual cameras

Here’s what’s inside the Moto X4.

Considering that the Moto X4 is more of a mid-range device, it doesn’t have all of the highest-end specs inside. That’s understandable, and when you look the spec sheet you’ll still find plenty of good line items. One thing to keep an eye on is the regional differences in terms of RAM and storage — Motorola is still a bit confusing in what it offers in different markets around the world.

This $39 30000mAh portable charger will keep your smartphone powered up for days

The Thrifter team has another deal — this time on a gigantic battery charger down to a great low price!

The Aukey USB-C 30000mAh portable charger is down to $38.99 with code AUPOWER8. This charger has predominantly sold for around $50 since its release earlier this year. Aukey releases a lot of coupon codes, which can be hard to track, but there have not been a lot of direct price drops on this charger ever before.

Aukey’s charger comes with two USB ports, including a Quick Charge 3.0 port, in addition to a USB-C port. The 30000mAh charge means it could ideally charge an iPhone 7 nine times before needing to refuel. That’s a lot of juice in one device. It can charge a Nintendo Switch while playing, slowly charge a 12-inch MacBook, and it works with Android devices too.

The charger comes with a two-year warranty.

See at Amazon

More from Thrifter:

• How to avoid baggage fees
• The Best Amazon Sample Boxes

For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

Google breathes new life into old Android Wear watches with new Play Store policies

Changes will promote standalone apps for your watch.

Google has announced two major changes for Android Wear apps: Multi-APK apps are now supported for Android Wear 1.0 watches and requirements for the “Enhanced for Android Wear” Play Store badge have changed.

Multi-APK apps are apps hosted in Google Play that have separate files for your phone and your watch. Previously, only Android Wear 2.0 watches supported multi-APK apps, but now users with older watches like the Samsung Gear Live will be supported. Multi-APK apps are designed to save space on your phone because the files are smaller, and watches with their own data connection can run them without being tethered to the handset.

The second announcement covers the Play Store policy for apps to receive the “Enhanced for Android Wear” badge and placement in the store listings. Starting today, apps that fall into the following categories will no longer be eligible for the Android Wear badge consideration:

• Mobile apps that support Wear notification enhancements but do not have a separate Wear app
• Wear apps that are bundled with mobile apps instead of using multi-APK

The announcement also points developers towards the assets they need to convert their apps into multi-APK listings.

While we don’t see daily news about Android Wear, it’s great to know that the platform is active and Google is taking steps to make it even better. Wearables have proven to be a tough market for every company making them, but great hardware like the LG Watch Sport will allow for even more innovation and the future will have computers on our wrists.

Android Wear

• Everything you need to know about Android Wear 2.0
• LG Watch Sport review
• LG Watch Style review
• These watches will get Android Wear 2.0
• Discuss Android Wear in the forums!

Sparc: Everything you need to know!

Playing video games has never been such a workout!

Sparc is a brand new, competitive sports game that seems to have jumped out of Tron and into your PlayStation 4 system. The aim of the game is to chuck a ball at your opponent and hit them, but with angles coming into play, the ability to block, shields, and even curveballs, there is a lot here to parse. We’ve got the details on all of it for you right here!

Read more at VRHeads!

Philips has its own pair of cheap Bluetooth earbuds

One of the standout trends at IFA is the number of companies flinging themselves onto the Truly Wireless earbud bandwagon. It’s clear that it’s not just a niche product that Bragi and Samsung are catering to, but an audio product for everyone. Because the latest company to throw a hat into the ring is none other than mass-market experts Philips.

Philips is one of the world’s largest audio manufacturers, with a reputation for being stuffy, unsexy but dependable. The company is looking to change some of that, however, pushing a new range of audio gear that includes the BASS+ line, which includes the BASS+ True Wireless Headphones. The headline point of which is that you can get premium-style Bluetooth earbuds for just $130.

The biggest difference between many of its rivals and the BASS+ buds is that they’re significantly larger than the rest. Philips believes that shrinking the driver and placing it into the ear tube itself compromises the sound you can get. As a consequence, the company has seen fit to include an 8.2mm driver in each bud with the promise of “big, bold bass.”

Trying the device very quickly during the trade show, it’s clear that the bass is a little louder than Philips’ rivals. But the audio quality is otherwise equal to several other high-end headphone brands, and the company’s experience here clearly shows. We’ll reserve judgment for now, but there’s reason enough to be excited about the BASS+’ potential.

Battery life is another big selling point, and those larger bodies make for larger batteries, with a promised run time of up to six hours. The charging case, meanwhile, has an on-board battery that can hold one full charge, meaning that you can get half a day out of these before heading to an outlet.

Even wearing them for just a few seconds, the fact that the BASS+ has hard buttons rather than a touch panel is going to be an issue. Because as you push the button into your ear, you can feel the rubber tip scrape against your ear canal with the additional pressure. But given the significant drop in price compared to other versions of this technology, it may be the cross you have to bear.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

Autonomous car legislation heads to US House for vote next Wednesday

Self-driving car makers have been testing experimental models on a laborious state-by-state basis while everyone waits for Congress to enact national legislation. But last month, a House of Representatives panel unanimously approved a measure that would exempt tens of thousands of autonomous vehicles from current restrictions and sent it to the floor for a vote — which just got scheduled for next week.

Should it pass, the bill will allow up to 25,000 self-driving cars that don’t meet current autonomous safety standards — i.e., requiring controls and seated humans to take the wheel if need be — to hit the streets in the bill’s first year. This number could increase to 100,000 vehicles annually for the next three years. Under the bill, companies and automakers would need to secure permits to deploy their own autonomous vehicles and submit safety assessment reports to regulators, according to Reuters.

The House bill will be voted on under fast-track rules, meaning no tacked-on amendments. A group of US Senators have been working on similar legislation in the meantime, but haven’t introduced it as a formal bill. Even if it passes through Congress, it’s only a stopgap measure — we’re still waiting on full regulatory legislation to establish new federal standards reflecting the progress automakers have made with self-driving tech.

Source: Reuters

Lenovo’s mixed reality headset offers built-in tracking for $350

Windows Mixed Reality headsets are coming out of the woodwork at IFA, and now it’s Lenovo’s turn to add to the introductions. It’s launching the Explorer, and the headgear will sound very familiar if you’ve seen other models — not that this is necessarily a bad thing. Thanks to the dual cameras, you get VR motion tracking in a reasonably large (11.5 feet by 11.5 feet) space without external sensors or a complicated setup. Likewise, there are optional motion controllers (below) for titles that need more immersive control.

The Explorer ships in October, and the pricing will seem very familiar if you’ve read about other WMR headsets. You’re looking at $350 for just the headset, or $450 for a bundle with the motion controllers. As such, buying one might come down to personal preference. Do you like the look of Lenovo’s headset, or believe it would go well with your ThinkPad? Then it might be your pick. Otherwise, you can likely pick up one of the alternatives.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

Source: Lenovo

Lenovo’s Yoga 920 touts a quad-core chip and long-range voice control

Lenovo’s convertible laptops and tablets haven’t always been known for brisk performance, but you definitely won’t have that problem this year. The PC maker is launching three new machines, two of which (the Yoga 920 convertible and Miix 520 tablet) make use of 8th-generation Intel Core chips whose quad-core power should handle most tasks with grace. They’re better for voice commands, too — the 920 and 520 have far-field microphones that let you talk to Cortana as far as 13 feet away. If you want to check the weather while you’re on the other side of the room, you don’t have to move an inch.

As the number implies, the Yoga 920 is the flagship of the bunch and the successor to the Yoga 910. It carries a 13.9-inch touchscreen that’s comparable to its ancestor, complete with an optional 4K display and support for an equally optional pen that promises 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity and low lag. You’ll also find two Thunderbolt 3 ports and Dolby Atmos audio for more immersive movie viewing. The Yoga 920 will start at $1,330 when it ships in October, and there’s even a treat for Star Wars buffs: special edition Yoga 920s will have Gorilla Glass covers with logos for the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire.

The Yoga 720, meanwhile, is Lenovo’s first 12-inch Yoga PC and promises to be the most portable of the convertible line yet, even as it touts features like pen support and a fingerprint reader. You have to ‘settle’ for 7th-generation dual-core chips, a 1080p panel and USB-C, but those are good for a system this size. It’s certainly more affordable, as it’ll start at an easier-to-swallow $650 when it arrives in October.

As for the Miix 520? The Surface-like detachable tablet will seem familiar if you’ve seen the Miix 510 (including an option for LTE data), but there are some welcome additions beyond faster chips and Cortana. The 520 adds a WorldView camera that opens the door to capturing 3D images for advanced editing or 3D printing. And while the starting price will be a relatively high $1,000 when the new Miix arrives in October, North American buyers will also get the keyboard and pen in the box — ahem, Microsoft. To put it another way, you won’t have to go shopping for extras to unlock the Miix’s full potential.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

Source: Lenovo

Lenovo made a basic Echo Show out of a tablet dock

Lenovo’s collaboration with Amazon to make Alexa-powered devices began with the Smart Assistant speaker in January, but the PC maker is far from done with its smart home ambitions. Today, the company unveiled the Home Assistant Pack, which is basically a $70 speaker dock that attaches to and props up tablets while boosting the audio capabilities. In short, stick this on the side of your tablet, and you’ll give it more volume, better microphones and an Echo Show-like display for Alexa.

That sounds like a nifty way to repurpose your tablet, and I’m excited by the idea, but there is one big caveat with the Home Assistant Pack: It only works with Lenovo’s Tab 4 and Tab 4 Pro (both come in 8-inch and 10-inch models). For now, anyway. The company hasn’t shared whether it will make docks that are compatible with other devices yet, but it will likely depend on how well this version does.

From my brief preview at a recent demo in New York, the dock performed as promised. I asked Alexa “How old is the president?” from about five feet away in a quiet room. The Home Assistant Pack’s two far-field mics heard me, and Alexa read me the correct answer through its three-watt speaker within seconds. A card appeared on the screen as well, via the custom Home Assistant app, saying that president Donald Trump is 71. Of course, the relatively distraction-free environment I was in provided an ideal situation for this test — whether the dock can hear me as well over my TV or chatty friends remains to be seen.

The visual version of Alexa on the Tab 4 isn’t as fully-featured as it is on the Echo Show, though. You won’t be able to stream from your security camera or play with a rich, graphics-intensive interface. But the bare-bones version that Lenovo offers seemed adequate during my preview. Of course, I’d have to live with and test the device before I can get a better understanding of the differences, but for now, I’m happy with what’s there.

Considering the Echo Show costs $230, and a Tab 4 sets you back around $150, Lenovo’s offering is at least a cheaper option. It’s a great way to dust off a (most likely) neglected tablet and put it to work; I just wish it would work with the tablet I actually own. If Lenovo does make the dock available to other brands or tablet models, I’ll be more happy with the premise. For now, though, I remain cautiously intrigued.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

The Moto X is finally back, and it brought Alexa with it

It’s been years since we got a Moto X, but Lenovo hasn’t forgotten about Motorola’s one-time flagship. As predicted by leaks, Motorola unveiled the fourth-generation model at IFA in Berlin, and it’s… definitely not the Moto X you remember. For one, it’s among the few smartphones out there with built-in support for Amazon’s Alexa, and it’s part of an even more exclusive club of devices that just let you speak to her the way you’d speak to an Echo. Motorola confirmed that it was working on Alexa-capable devices at this year’s Mobile World Congress, but we’re a little surprised Amazon’s assistant first wound up here instead of, say, a fancy Moto Mod.

The differences don’t end there, either. Remember how you could use Moto Maker to turn earlier models into devices that were uniquely yours? Well, that’s over — the X4 comes in any color you want, as long as it’s black or bluish-gray. While not customizable, the X4’s aluminum and Gorilla Glass body is rated IP68 for water and dust resistance, a new feat for the X line. The updated X also features a dual camera, but it’s not the same as the one we got in the Moto Z2 Force. This version combines an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera with a more standard 12-megapixel sensor that uses dual-pixel autofocus. In addition to giving you some extra flexibility while shooting, the X4’s camera is smarter than one might expect — it can identify landmarks when you point the phone at one, and asks if you’d like to learn more.

While we miss the days when we could craft hideously mismatched phones, Motorola thinks these thoughtful additions to stock Android are really what define the Moto X. That rings a little hollow since many of the company’s add-on “Experiences” are shared by mid-range Moto Gs and high-end Moto Zs alike, but whatever — marketers gonna market. All the usual Experiences are here, so you can double twist the phone to launch the camera as always. New to the fold this time is the ability to three-finger tap the screen to take a screenshot and to sync up to four Bluetooth audio devices for simultaneous playback. That latter feature is obviously the more interesting, and we’re looking forward to getting some impromptu office parties going.

The rest of the phone’s broad strokes speak to its upper mid-range aspirations. There’s a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 630 chipset inside, with either 3 or 4GB of RAM depending on where you buy it. (The inevitable US model will come with 3GB, sadly.) As those leaks suggested, the X4 also runs with a 5.2-inch IPS LCD display running at 1080p, and it’ll come with a sealed 3,000mAh battery and either 32GB or 64GB of storage when it starts shipping this September.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!