Great in an emergency, these Aukey power inverters add AC Outlets to your car

This deal from our friends at Thrifter includes two Aukey power inverters for your car!

Aukey has two power inverters on sale right now. This 300W power inverter adds two USB ports and two AC outlets for just $17.99 with code AUKEYPV2. It normally sells at $25 and has never gone as low as this price through direct discounts.

The 150W power inverter adds one port and outlet for $14.99 with code AUKEYPV1. Barring occasional drops to $17, this power inverter has never dropped this low before either.

These things are great if you need access to an outlet while you’re on the road. Maybe you’re traveling quite a distance with a deadline on your mind and want to charge your laptop. Maybe you’re stuck in your car for the long haul and want to brew some coffee to stay awake. Or maybe you’re relocating to be with family during the ongoing hurricane season and need to power up on the drive. I could list a hundred possible reasons. It never hurts to have one of these around.

Features include:

• Converts DC power to AC delivering up to 300W or 150W of power
• Power a laptop or a small appliance + charge phones, tablets, GPS units, and other gadgets in your car
• Compact Power Inverter plugs directly into your cigarette lighter outlet
• Built-in safeguards to protect your devices against excessive current, overheating, and overcharging

Besides the extra ports, the 300W power inverter also comes with jumper cables and has the ability to hook up directly to your car battery and the cigarette lighter, while the 150W can only use the latter connection.

All Aukey products come with a two-year warranty.

See the 300W at Amazon See the 150W at Amazon

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• How to get the most out of your Amazon Prime membership
• How to save money when driving

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HTC U11’s Edge Sense squeeze function updated with in-app customization options

Because we’re all still looking for something to do with Edge Sense.

The HTC U11 is an awesome phone, but the touted “Edge Sense” feature for performing actions by squeezing your phone hasn’t exactly been the feature that’s driving sales. Hopefully that will change today. With an update that’s rolling out now, U11 owners will be able to further customize Edge Sense to perform specific actions in specific apps — in addition to the current slate of basic phone-level functions.

Basically, HTC now lets you map either a short or long squeeze on the sides of the phone to a tap or double tap on a location on the screen you specify. But the function can be mapped on a per-app basis, so you have a serious number of customization options available. For example you can set a squeeze in Google Maps zoom in on the map, in Google Photos launch the share function, to launch voice typing on the keyboard or in Chrome select the address bar.

The interface for getting it set up is a bit clunky mostly because it has to be. Because Edge Sense is effectively just translating your squeeze into a specific tap, you go through each app you want to enable the function on and just tell the interface where to tap. You then name that function however you want so that it can be easily read in the Edge Sense settings. You’ll see something like “Short squeeze to zoom in on a photo, squeeze and hold to share” in the settings under the app it’s associated with.

People aren’t going to set up dozens of custom squeeze actions, but it makes sense for some apps.

It’s hard to see every U11 owner going in and setting up distinct squeeze functions for dozens of apps, but it definitely makes sense to spend the few minutes to make some for your most-used functions in apps. Squeezing to zoom in on Maps, compose a tweet or open a search field can be very useful — provided you eventually remember what the function is over time.

For those who haven’t set up custom squeeze actions, are on the home screen, have the screen off, or are using an app that hasn’t been customized, Edge Sense will continue to work as expected. You can still use the basic squeeze to launch the camera, for example.

One of the coolest parts about this new feature expansion is that it doesn’t require a major software update — you just have to wait for the Edge Sense app to update from the Play Store. The update is rolling out soon, and every U11 owner can get in on it by just heading to the Edge Sense settings after updating the app.

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Google reportedly in talks to buy HTC smartphone business

Taiwanese press reports Google is in the ‘final stage’ of negotiations which could see it become a ‘strategic partner’ for HTC — or buy the struggling phone biz in its entirety.

Following a dire financial performance in August, which saw the manufacturer’s lowest monthly revenue figures in 13 years, the Taiwanese press is reporting that HTC is in the “final stage” of talks with Google, which may result in a sale of the former’s struggling smartphone business.

Digitimes reports that demand for the flagship HTC U11 peaked in July, resulting in a “sharp decline” in U11 sales in August. During August, HTC brought in just NT$3 billion ($99.69 million), a decline of 51.5% from July 2017, and 54.4% from August 2016.

The outlet cites Chinese-language publication Commercial Times, which says HTC is in the “final stage of negotiation with Google for selling its smartphone business unit.” The deal may involve a straight buyout of HTC’s smartphone biz, or Google becoming a “strategic partner” for HTC. However, it’s unclear what that might involve, given the close partnership that already exists between the two around Android, Pixel and other projects — a strategic investment in the company is one likely possibility. The deal will be concluded by the end of the year at the latest, the report claims.

Any deal would reportedly not involve Vive, HTC’s VR effort, which is a separate business unit.

Two options are reportedly on the table: a strategic partnership, or a straight-up buyout.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of a possible sale ahead for HTC, as the company’s phone business continues to flounder despite new products like the U11 being generally well-received. A report from Bloomberg in recent weeks has suggested strategic changes and business unit spin-offs are on the table.

A sale to Google, if it happens, would be huge news, just as Google’s short-lived acquisition of Motorola was back in 2012. The Google of 2017, however, would be better positioned to absorb HTC into its burgeoning hardware division, and HTC’s manufacturing base and infrastructure could be refocused to serve Google’s own-branded smartphone and tablet ambitions. Several reports have pointed to HTC as the manufacturer of one of two 2017 Pixel phones coming later this year. (AC understands that the rumors are true, and that HTC will indeed make the smaller device this year.) So HTC will continue to pump out Pixels regardless. But it’s not clear what might happen to the HTC brand, or the company’s own product lineup, should the rumored Google acquisition come to pass.

It’s a fascinating possibility, but as with any rumor from a single outlet, this report should be taken with a hefty pinch of salt for the moment.

An HTC spokesperson declined to comment on the report.

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It’s official: The Galaxy Note 8 is launching in India on Sep 12

Samsung isn’t wasting any time bringing its latest flagship to India.

The Galaxy Note 8 will make its debut in India on September 12, less than a month after its global launch. You’ll be able to catch all the action via livestream on Samsung India’s website, with the event kicking off at 12:30 p.m. IST.

The phone features a 6.3-inch Infinity Display, and is the first Samsung phone to feature a dual camera setup at the back — a wide-angle lens augmented by a telephoto lens — with both sensors featuring OIS. Like the Galaxy S8, the Indian variant of the Galaxy Note 8 will be powered by the Exynos 8895, along with 6GB of RAM, 64GB storage, microSD slot, IP68 water and dust resistance, 8MP front camera, and a 3300mAh battery.

We’ll know more about availability and pricing details next week, so stay tuned. In the meantime, what do you think will be the price of the Note 8 in India?

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Everything you need to know about Doom VFR

What do I need to know about Doom VFR?

Doom is coming to VR, bringing all of the heart pounding, flesh shredding, gun blasting glory to your HTC Vive or PlayStation VR. We got a trailer from E3 back in June announcing the game, but that’s never enough information to get you by. That’s why we’ve collected everything you need to know about Doom VFR before it releases!

Read more at VRHeads

Dual cameras are the future, and the Huawei Mate 9 does it really well

The Huawei Mate 9 may have two cameras, but its implementation is arguably the best of the bunch.

Dual camera setups on smartphones are growing in popularity, not only with device makers, but with users as well. Each manufacturer tries to set itself apart from one another. The likes of Apple, OnePlus, Motorola, Huawei, and more recently, Samsung, have all released devices with two camera modules.

Apple’s Portrait Mode uses both lenses to add depth to a photo, resulting in a blurry background commonly referred to as a bokeh. The OnePlus 5 has a similar feature, with a similar camera setup.

With the Note 8, Samsung is quick to boast about both cameras being equipped with optical image stabilization, or OIS. Typically, only the wide angle camera on most devices has OIS, while the secondary — most commonly a telephoto lens — lacks the feature.
A telephoto lens lends itself to a true 2x zoom, before digital zoom takes over and often wreaks havoc on your photos.

Then there’s Motorola and Huawei, who use a traditional camera, and a second monochrome camera. That is, a camera dedicated to only capturing photos in black and white. I know what you are probably thinking — Wait, what? There are at least a million filters and editing apps, each one doing a fine job of faking the monochrome look.

Indeed, there are, and purists will celebrate the ability to capture true black and white photos, similar to how our ancestors captured memories years ago.

But it turns out, there’s a legitimate advantage to a monochrome camera on a smartphone: A monochrome camera captures more light, which leads to sharper, more realistic photos.

For devices such as Motorola’s Moto Z2 Force, which has two 12-megapixel sensors, one color one monochrome, the second lens is used for depth effects or for black and white photos. When a standard photo is captured in a well-lit environment, only the color camera module is used. Dimly lit situations will trigger both cameras to ensure as much light as possible is captured.

Enter Huawei

Huawei’s Mate 9, which also has one color and one monochrome camera on the back of the phone, goes about things a bit differently. The color camera is 12-megapixels, but the monochrome camera is 20-megapixels.

In designing the camera setup on the Mate 9 with Leica, a company known for its iconic monochrome cameras and the shots captured with them, Huawei relied on Leica’s expertise. Upping the megapixel count on the monochrome camera ensures the device is able to capture as much information, or resolution, as possible.

Unlike Motorola’s approach, where both cameras are used only in certain scenarios, every photo captured with the Mate 9 uses the pair of cameras. Software then takes the two photos and using “advanced image fusion technology” combines the colored version of the photo with the details and lighting of the monochrome photo. (The P10, P10 Plus, Honor 8 and Honor 9 use this method, too.)

The end result is more realistic, colorful photos without the user having to worry about using a certain shooting mode to get the shot he or she wants.

The bokeh effect

With the extra lighting information, the Mate 9 is able to better differentiate between the subject and its surroundings.

Additionally, the added lighting information is then used to add a bokeh effect, or depth, to photos when photos are captured with wide aperture mode enabled. It’s part of the reason why the Mate 9 has adjustable f-stops ranging from an insane 0.95 to 16, with the lower the number indicating the more bokeh is used. Sure, some of this is due to software tricks, but it’s also due to the hardware configuration.

With the extra lighting information, the Mate 9 is able to better differentiate between the subject and its surroundings. So instead of taking a photo where the subject is in focus and a semi-blurry halo surrounds the subject because the software can’t figure out exactly where the background starts, the Mate 9 should do a far better job of distinguishing between the two.

Taking a real black and white photo on the Mate 9 is as easy as a swipe to the left on the screen, and selecting Monochrome. We’ve already covered how to take the best photos possible with the Huawei Mate 9 with a roundup of solid tips, so I’ll spare you from going through individual modes and settings. There are, however, a few settings and tricks worth pointing out. For starters, there’s an Automatic mode and a Pro mode. Each mode has its own independent settings pane.

Getting the right shot

By default, the Mate 9 Camera app opens in Automatic mode. Swipe to the left across the screen in the app to view its Settings, which range from size of photo to smile capture. Pro mode is activated by swiping up on the small handle located just above the shutter button. With Pro mode activated, a row of tools for adjusting settings like exposure, ISO, and shutter speed will show up. Tap on one of the settings to disable auto and fine tune exactly how you want the camera to capture a shot. Furthermore, with Pro enabled, a swipe to the left on the screen to view the Settings pane, now with a few new options.

Most notably, there’s now an option to enable RAW image capture. For those unfamiliar, the RAW file format is for unprocessed image files. Because the data captured by the camera is still, well, raw (har har), users can manipulate and edit the photo to his or her liking. One downside to shooting RAW photos is the amount of storage space each one requires. A JPG image is roughly 7MB compared to 23MB for the same photo captured in RAW.

When shooting photos in wide aperture mode, RAW mode is disabled regardless of your preference. Also, don’t fret about getting the aperture just right before pressing the shutter button. You can go back and edit the f-stop used on the photo, and then save and share. Lastly, any edits you make to the photo are not permanent. You will always have the option to go back to the original photo, should you decide you don’t like the way your edit came out, or want to experiment further
Despite seeming like a gimmick on paper, having a monochrome camera on a smartphone can have a big impact on overall camera performance. For companies like Huawei and Motorola, who are fighting for every customer, especially in the US, small features like this are what set them apart from the competition.

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Best Chromebox

• Best Overall
• Best all-in-one
• Best value

Best overall

ASUS Chromebox M004U

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Don’t let the name fool you. The ASUS Chromebox M004U (generally known as the ASUS Chromebox though there are others from ASUS being sold) is dead simple to set up and use. Attach a monitor or television, a keyboard, and a mouse then turn it on. You’ll be on the internet in just a few minutes.

The Haswell Intel Celeron 2955U CPU offers remarkable performance for the price, is energy efficient, and an industry staple in countless computers. Paired with a fast 16GB storage drive and 4GB of memory, you’ll be able to enjoy everything Chrome has to offer, whether that means Facebook or a spreadsheet.

You also have the option to upgrade the ASUS Chromebox. Adding a larger storage drive or more memory is simple and well-documented. The ASUS Chromebox also makes an excellent HTPC as-is and can be an all-in-one media server with software like Plex.

Bottom line: The ASUS Chromebox M004U is powerful and capable. Chrome and everything you do present no challenges. If you want to explore other software options, upgrades are easy and inexpensive.

Why the ASUS Chromebox is the best

The ASUS Chromebox is the total package.

Chrome is a very lightweight and efficient, yet powerful, computing platform. On a computer like the ASUS Chromebox, you’ll be able to experience everything there is to offer with nary a stutter once paired with good broadband internet service. Put the ASUS Chromebox under your TV for watching YouTube or Netflix, or use it at your desk to communicate or work from home. You can have confidence that this Chromebox can do it all.

If you’re looking for more, you can upgrade the storage drive and RAM on the ASUS Chromebox using affordable and widely available off-the-shelf components without any complicated disassembly. If you are looking to install software like Kodi to build your own network streaming server, the ASUS Chromebox is widely recognized as the best value and is fully supported.

Best all-in-one

Acer Chromebox CX12-4GKM

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If you’re looking for a complete setup and aren’t interested in upgrading anything or installing any alternative software, the Acer Chromebox is a solid choice.

It offers a Broadwell 1.5GHz Intel Celeron CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 16GB solid state drive in a vertical standing enclosure that’s not going to need a lot of real estate. The Acer Chromebox also comes with its own mouse and keyboard.

The Acer is a powerful package that won’t crowd your desk or TV stand and is an excellent choice if you’re OK with spending a little more and not tearing apart the case.

Bottom line: The Broadwell CPU is future proofed and plenty powerful for everything you want your Chromebox to do, and many will find the included mouse and keyboard a useful addition

Best value

Lenovo ThinkCentre Chromebox

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The lowest priced Chromebox on our list is also a great combo package.

The Lenovo ThinkCentre Chromebox is another Broadwell 15 watt Celeron CPU offering, and it too comes with 4GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The bundled mouse and keyboard will help you get up and running faster, and the ThinkCentre can be positioned either horizontally or vertically.

As the newest entry on our list, the ThinkCentre hasn’t yet been proven to become our top pick, but the initial response looks great.

Bottom line: Great specifications, a bundled mouse and keyboard, and an attractive price makes the Lenovo ThinkCentre a compelling choice. If it stands the test of time, it has the potential to be our favorite.

Conclusion

Any of your choices for the best Chromebox are good ones. We had to consider what was the differentiator between and think long and hard about saying one was better than the others. In the end, the tried-and-true ASUS Chromebox won us over with its excellent support for advanced users and easy upgradeability. While all these Chromeboxes are worth considering, the ASUS is the best all around from features versus price point of view.

Best overall

ASUS Chromebox M004U

See at Amazon

Don’t let the name fool you. The ASUS Chromebox M004U (generally known as the ASUS Chromebox though there are others from ASUS being sold) is dead simple to set up and use. Attach a monitor or television, a keyboard, and a mouse then turn it on. You’ll be on the internet in just a few minutes.

The Haswell Intel Celeron 2955U CPU offers remarkable performance for the price, is energy efficient, and an industry staple in countless computers. Paired with a fast 16GB storage drive and 4GB of memory, you’ll be able to enjoy everything Chrome has to offer, whether that means Facebook or a spreadsheet.

You also have the option to upgrade the ASUS Chromebox. Adding a larger storage drive or more memory is simple and well-documented. The ASUS Chromebox also makes an excellent HTPC as-is and can be an all-in-one media server with software like Plex.

Bottom line: The ASUS Chromebox M004U is powerful and capable. Chrome and everything you do present no challenges. If you want to explore other software options, upgrades are easy and inexpensive.

Updated September 2017: The ASUS Chromebox M004U is still your best choice.

Hobbyist gives iPhone 7 the headphone jack we’ve always wanted

For those of you who miss the iPhone headphone jack, you’re definitely not alone. But Strange Parts creator Scotty Allen missed it so much that he decided to add one to his iPhone 7. He just posted a video of the project’s entire saga, with all of its many ups and downs, and in the end he holds what he set out to create – a current generation iPhone with a fully functional headphone jack. It turns out, real courage is adding the headphone jack back to the iPhone.

The project took around 17 weeks to complete and throughout it Allen spent thousands of dollars on parts including multiple iPhones and screens and handfuls of lightning to headphone adaptors. Along the way, Allen bought a printer, a nice microscope and fancy tweezers. He had to design his own circuit boards, have a company manufacture multiple iterations of flexible circuit boards and at one point early on had to consult with a chip dealer that a friend hooked him up with, because who doesn’t have a chip guy these days?

Towards the end, after breaking lots and I mean lots of parts, Allen gets a little down on the project and says he wants to give up. But he doesn’t and it all works out. The final product works by using a lightning to headphone adaptor that’s incorporated into the internal structure of the phone. However, because the headphone jack is powered via the phone’s lightning jack with a circuit board switching between the two depending on whether headphones or a charger are plugged into the phone, you can’t actually listen to music and charge the phone at the same time.

Aside from that caveat, the iPhone jack works normally in every other way. You can watch the video of the project below and you can watch Allen’s video of how he made an iPhone 6S from parts he bought in public markets here. For those who want to add their own headphone jack to their iPhone 7, Allen has made the steps publicly available on Github.

Source: Strange Parts (1), (2)

The makers of HipChat are launching their Slack competitor, Stride

The Slack competitor space is a little crowded these days. There’s Facebook’s Workplace, Microsoft’s Teams, Google Hangouts and Doist’s Twist. Now, the makers of HipChat are introducing another option — Stride.

Stride offers chat services as well as video conferencing and even a widespread muting option called Focus Mode. With Meetings, Stride users can easily move a chat conversation to a video or voice call — a free option available at any subscription tier. During chats, whenever a team decides on a certain direction or project, users can also mark relevant messages as Actions or Decisions, which makes it easier to go back to it and the rest of the message thread later on. And Focus Mode turns off all notifications and messages until you’re ready to view them. Once you’re out of the mode, any messages, Actions and Decisions that popped up while you were away will be aggregated and displayed for you.

The app isn’t available just yet, but you can sign up to request an early access invitation.

Source: Stride