Swap from Facebook to Instagram without navigating back to that home screen

Why it matters to you

Switching from Facebook to Instagram is getting a bit quicker — but not the other way around.

Using both Instagram and Facebook is getting even simpler — Facebook is now rolling out a minor change that will make swapping from Facebook to Instagram a little easier. A new link to Instagram will soon appear inside the app menu underneath the navigation to the user’s profile. While Facebook confirmed the change, the feature has not yet rolled out to every user.

Tapping the Instagram option opens up the Instagram app, eliminating the need to navigate back to the home screen to open Instagram. According to TechCrunch, which first confirmed the change, Instagram does not yet have a similar feature for easily navigating to Facebook. The social media company says that the change is designed to help users keep in touch with friends on both platforms.

The separate accounts have to be linked — a feature that’s available in the settings options. Users that don’t have linked accounts (or do not have an Instagram account) won’t see changes to the menu inside their Facebook app.

Since Facebook and Instagram are both owned by the same company, the separate apps still have a few tie-ins. Instagram users can tap a switch to share the same shot to Facebook, though the feature is also available to cross-post to Twitter and Tumblr as well.

The two platforms also allow cross-posting from Instagram into a Facebook Page. Facebook recently launched an update that allows Pages managers to access Instagram and Messenger interactions without leaving the platform when using a desktop browser after bringing the feature to the mobile apps. The cross-platform functionality allows Pages users to reply to messages and comments as well as reviews and visitor posts all through the Pages app.

While the latest update is available for every user and not just businesses or Pages, the cross-compatibility inside Pages remains the most robust option. Users can cross-post from Instagram and now open Instagram from the Facebook app, but replying to comments still requires switching apps unlike inside the Pages app. In an earlier test, Facebook and Instagram experimented with sharing notifications from both platforms, but the idea has not become part of the publicly available app.

iPhone 8 Plus review

Research Center:
Apple iPhone 8 Plus

It doesn’t matter if you watched or missed Apple’s big event earlier this month, there’s only one phone that seems to be rolling off everyone’s tongue: iPhone X. The X (pronounced “ten”) is Apple’s all new design for the iPhone, with an edge-to-edge screen, fancy facial recognition features, and an eye-widening price tag. But if the $1,000 asking price is too much for you, and you can’t wait until November, there’s the traditional-looking iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. These new iPhones carry many of the same specifications as the iPhone X, but are they worth the upgrade? In our iPhone 8 Plus review, we find the phone ticks all the boxes, but it’s a rather minor bump over the iPhone 7 Plus.

Pretty colors, but a dated design

Put the iPhone 8 Plus next to the iPhone 7 Plus and you’ll hardly notice a difference. The 8 Plus is marginally thicker and longer, but it should still be able to fit in any 7 Plus case. It carries the same design theme from the iPhone 6, but the major difference is a new glass back, which allows it to support wireless charging technology. Apple said it’s the most durable glass ever in a smartphone, with a “50 percent deeper strengthening layer,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will survive a drop on concrete. You’d be wise to protect it with a case.

The other differences are minor. There are fewer color options now: Gold, silver, and space gray (goodbye rose gold and jet black). The silver and space gray models are similar to the silver and black iPhone 7 Plus devices, but the gold is slightly more champagne-gold. The rear has a creamy, pinkish hue that we like, and the “aerospace-grade” aluminum sides are a darker gold. It’s undoubtedly attractive, and elegant.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Adding to this elegance are the antenna bands, which have been moved to the sides, rather than visibly sticking out at the top and bottom. It makes the rear look more minimal than ever, as there’s just the dual camera module and flash at the top, along with the Apple and iPhone logo. Even the iconic “Designed by Apple in California” line has been stripped.

Sadly, the camera still juts out of the frame. Most flagship Android phones have evolved past this camera bump; why can’t Apple do the same? Even the iPhone X has this annoyance. Cameras look better when they’re flush with the rear, and it gives us more peace of mind when placing the phone down on any flat surface.

The iPhone 8 Plus is noticeably heavier than the iPhone 7 Plus, but not in a bad way. The added heft makes it feel as though the phone won’t slide out of our hands. The glass back is smooth and cool to the touch, but you won’t feel much of a difference if you’re coming from a Jet Black iPhone. It’s still a fingerprint magnet, but at least they’re less visible on the gold and silver colors.

It’s undoubtedly attractive, and elegant.

As usual, you’ll find the power button on the right edge, with the volume rocker and mute switch on the left. The force-sensitive home button sits on the front (it may be the last iPhone with a home button), and you’ll find a Lightning port on the bottom with the speakers. There’s no headphone jack again, sadly, but there is a Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter in the box. The iPhone 8 Plus is once again IP67 dust- and water-resistant, so you can take it underwater up to 1 meter for 30 minutes. We’d have liked to see an improved IP68 water resistance, like Samsung’s smartphones, but IP67 should be more than enough for most situations.

As much as we admire the rear, flip the iPhone 8 Plus over and it feels like we’ve traveled back in time to 2015. The iPhone X is Apple’s edge-to-edge “bezel-less” competitor to phones like Samsung’s Galaxy S8 or Note 8, and the LG V30. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus? Not so much. The screen is flanked by chunky edges that make the phone’s design look dated and unpleasant.

The bezel-less trend isn’t just about aesthetics. Shrinking the edges around the screen offers more displayer in a smaller package. The iPhone X is a good example. It’s just barely bigger than the 4.7-inch iPhone 8, but it boasts a 5.8-inch display. You’re getting a bigger screen than the bulky 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus, all in a smaller frame.

Julian Chokkattu

The iPhone 8 Plus is unwieldy, and it’s near impossible to reach the top of the phone. Thankfully, you can lightly tap the home button twice to lower the interface so it’s reachable. It’s a shame, though, that Apple is forcing people to shell out more money for a more relevant and functional design.

At the end of the day, the iPhone 8 Plus is still an iPhone. If you don’t care for the features or price of the iPhone X, you know exactly what you’re getting with the iPhone 8 Plus because it’s incredibly similar to the past few iPhones. Just know that with the X, you’re paying a premium for Apple’s next-gen design.

Fantastic True Tone display, louder speakers

The iPhone 8 Plus’ display isn’t any different from the iPhone 7 Plus. It’s a 5.5-inch LCD IPS screen with a 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution (401 pixels-per-inch). It can get incredibly bright for easy viewing in direct sunlight; and as always, the colors are accurate and visually pop off the screen. Looking at it from the side, the display looks like a sheet of paper, because it doesn’t catch as much glare as other smartphones. It’s absolutely a joy to stare at and use.

What is new, however, is True Tone technology. A feature that’s trickled down from the iPad Pro, True Tone automatically changes the iPhone’s display “based on ambient lighting conditions to make colors appear consistent in different environments.” So for example, in incandescent lighting where everything has a yellow hue, the display will shift from slightly cool to a warmer tone. It can be tough to notice, but it works like a charm, and it makes it easier for your eyes to adapt to the screen.

The stereo speakers have also improved. They’re decently louder than the iPhone 7 Plus (about 25 percent to be exact), but they sound richer as well. We listened to Fiona Apple’s “Why Try To Change Me Now,” and on the iPhone 7 Plus it sounded like I was playing an MP3 file, but on the iPhone 8 Plus it felt as though she could have been in the same room.

Again, these are minor improvements over last year’s phone, but the display is now a little more adaptive to your environment, and you’ll have a slightly better listening experience when playing music with the speakers.

Unrivaled performance, AR for the masses

One category where Apple continues to blow away the competition is performance. Apple’s processors  outperform anything from Qualcomm or Samsung, and the same rings true for the A11 Bionic in the 8, 8 Plus, and X.

In official Geekbench scores, the six-core A11 Bionic hit a whopping 4,198 on its single-core score, and 9,983 on multicore. In our test, it scored similarly: 4,238 and 10,453 respectively. For comparison, our Galaxy S8 scored 1,762 single core, and 5,723 multi core. In our own test with the AnTuTu benchmarking tool, the iPhone 8 Plus scored 222,462. Our S8’s AnTuTu score is 155,253, and HTC’s U11 scored 175,748. It’s fair to say the iPhone is more powerful.

Apple’s processors  outperform anything from Qualcomm or Samsung, and the same rings true for the A11 Bionic.

But benchmarks aside, it’ll be tough to spot the performance improvement from the iPhone 7 Plus. The iOS operating system moves just as fluid, apps open incredibly quickly, and scrolling feels buttery smooth. Apple said this performance bump will be handy for machine learning and artificial intelligence, but one way to perhaps see the A11 Bionic’s true power is through augmented reality.

Apple has brought AR through the masses, not with the iPhone 8, but with iOS 11. ARKit is the new framework developers can use to provide augmented features with your iPhone camera. For example, one of our favorite ARKit apps, Ikea Place, lets you to drop Ikea furniture into your house to see how it would fit in with the rest of your furniture, and if it can actually fit in the room. An app called AR MeasureKit can impressively find the measurement of objects you point the iPhone camera towards (goodbye rulers).

Gaming is where the A11 shines, and credit is due to the Apple-designed graphics processing unit. We played augmented reality games like Euclidean Lands, Conduct AR!, and The Machines, and the graphics look great. We never ran into any performance issues whatsoever, but the phone did start to get quite hot.

Apple iPhone 8 Plus Compared To

Apple iPhone X

Apple iPhone 8

Apple iPhone 7

Apple iPhone 7 Plus

Apple iPhone SE

iPhone 6S Plus

Apple iPhone 6 Plus

Apple iPhone 6

Apple iPhone 5C

Apple iPhone 5

Apple iPhone 4S

Apple iPhone 4

Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB

Apple iPhone (4GB)

Apple iPhone (8GB)

Keep in mind, though, that you don’t need an iPhone 8 or 8 Plus to check out these AR apps and games. We’ve tried a few of the same apps on the iPhone 7 Plus, and they ran fine with with similar performance. You just need to install iOS 11, which is available for the iPhone 5S and above.

Bluetooth 5 is on board, which means you get much improved range and faster data transfer when connected to wireless devices like headphones.

iOS 11

Like the iPhone 8 Plus, iOS 11 isn’t a major upgrade to Apple’s mobile operating system. That doesn’t mean there aren’t important changes — the update streamlines the iOS experience further than iOS 10, and even adds more customization options.

First off, there’s a new Control Center. It’s all available on one screen now when you swipe up from the bottom, and you can tweak what you want to see here. Want a quick toggle to Low Power Mode? Done. Want to turn off True Tone display? Use 3D Touch on the brightness slider and toggle it off. We’d like to see even more options available, but this is a great start.

The Notification Center is also a little different. Now when you pull down your notifications, you’ll be greeted with the lock screen. You can swipe to the left to access the camera, and swipe to the right to access to Today widgets. Notifications are separated by day, so you have to swipe to the next day’s notifications if you want to see the “X” icon to clear everything.

Photos and videos are now captured in new formats High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF), and High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). These formats basically offer the same if not better quality than JPEG, but at a much reduced file size — helpful if you’re planning to take a lot of 4K video.

There’s also a redesigned App Store, which is one of our favorite improvements to iOS. It’s no longer a mindless marketplace with difficult-to-find apps. It now follows a magazine-style layout, with featured stories on apps, tips and tricks, and a daily app of the day to keep you coming back.

A lot of smaller additions also make iOS 11 more pleasant to use, such as a revamped Notes app, a new Files app to manage all your documents, and a Do Not Disturb mode that automatically kicks in when you’re driving. Check out our iOS 11 review to learn more in depth.

Camera and Portrait Lighting

The iPhone 8 Plus carries over nearly the same camera specifications as the iPhone 7 Plus, which first introduced Apple’s dual-camera system. It has two 12-megapixel cameras, one wide-angle lens with optical image stabilization (f/1.8 aperture), and one telephoto lens (f/2.8 aperture).

The telephoto lens is used for Portrait Mode, which adds a blur or “bokeh” effect behind a subject, but what the iPhone 8 Plus will have over its predecessor is a new mode called Portrait Lighting.

Before diving into Portrait Lighting, let’s talk about the regular camera experience. There’s now a permanently on HDR mode, which drastically changes the look of photos when compared to the iPhone 7 Plus. Ever have a photo where the sky is too white and overexposed, or the subject is far too dark but the sky looks normal? HDR fixes that by taking multiple images and compiling them together to get a perfectly exposed photo. These photos are incredibly detailed, and the color accuracy is impressive, though a tad more saturated than the iPhone 7 Plus — it still looks great. Photos are captured instantly because there’s almost no shutter lag, which helps a lot with moving subjects.

Low-light seems to have improved with less grain, but we’ll have to do more testing to be sure. There’s 2x optical zoom available, and it’s just as useful as before. We’re happy to have the option to zoom into a photo without sacrificing image quality, but we’re still surprised at how much detail is captured.

Julian Chokkattu

Apple said regular Portrait Mode is also improved, and the results are telling. The 8 Plus does a better job of detecting the edges of subjects, and the blur effect looks even more natural than before. It’s still not great in low-light environments, because the photos are incredibly grainy.

Portrait Lighting expands upon Portait Mode to offer five different types of lighting effects on subjects: Natural Light, Studio Light, Contour Light, Stage Light, and Stage Light Mono. These aren’t filters, but Apple said the iPhone 8 Plus’ camera uses facial landmarking and depth maps to figure out where to perfectly add these lighting effects. It’s a fun feature we can see being popular, especially on Instagram, but there are still some kinks that need to be worked out.

Studio Light, Contour Light, Natural Light, Stage Light Mono.

The Stage Light Mono, for example, takes a photo in black and white against a deep black background. It often struggled with accurately catching some strands of hair (it would just look cut off), and it also didn’t work as well on people wearing glasses. You still need to put some thought into the shot to get a good result, but it’s a lot of fun to use and it makes us want to explore the camera further.

Photos are incredibly detailed, and the color accuracy is impressive.

Do be warned, though, that like Portrait Mode, Portrait Lighting doesn’t work that well in low-light. The photos come out super grainy, and the effects don’t look right at all.

Our favorite Portrait Lighting setting is Studio Light, which brightens the subject dramatically for a cool effect. Portrait Lighting is still in beta, but it will likely officially launch sometime in October or November — similar to how Portrait Mode launched on the iPhone 7 Plus.

Overall, the camera update isn’t dramatic, but the always-on HDR and Portrait features are welcome improvements.

On the video side of things, you can shoot in varying types of 4K — 24 frames-per-second for a cinematic look, 30 fps, and 60 fps. What we like more, however, is how you can now shoot slow-motion videos at 240 fps in 1080p resolution. It’s a lot of fun to use, and the end result is finally Full HD.

Battery and wireless charging

The all-glass design of the iPhone 8 Plus means it’s now capable of wirelessly charging. It’s not “true” wireless charging — the charging pad you plop your iPhone on still needs to be connected to an outlet, but it eliminates the need to fish around for a cable in the dark before bed. Apple uses the Qi wireless standard; it’s an open standard that has been around for some time. Android phones have been using this standard for a while, and the good news is that means you have plenty of wireless charging pads to choose from.

Apple could have, and likely should have, added it some time ago.

You should know that the iPhone 8 Plus won’t wirelessly charge as fast as it can at launch. It can take in 5 watts at launch, but Apple will issue a software update later in the fall to allow the phone to take 7.5 watts. Mophie and Belkin have specifically worked with Apple to make sure their wireless chargers can deliver 7.5 watts as efficiently as possible.

Wireless charging is convenient and easy to use, just as it is in all the Android phones that support it. Apple could have, and likely should have, added it some time ago.

We’ll have to do a little more testing to make a final verdict on battery life, but in our initial tests we expect the iPhone 8 Plus to last a full day, and maybe a little more. Charging speed isn’t as fast as we’d like — it took an hour and a half to go from 36 percent to 100 percent. The iPhone 8 Plus is capable of fast charging, but not with the cable in the box. You’ll need a USB Type-C to Lightning cable to charge fast, and Apple claims it will take 30 minutes to get the iPhone up to 50 percent from zero. We’ll have to test those claims when we get our hands on an appropriate cable. It’s baffling why this cable is not included.

Warranty, price, and availability

Apple offers a standard one-year warranty, starting at the date of purchase, that covers your device from manufacturing defects. It doesn’t cover liquid or accidental damage. For that, you can purchase $150 AppleCare+ insurance, which adds two years of technical support and accidental damage coverage.

The iPhone 8 Plus comes in two storage models: 64GB and 256GB. The former will set you back $800, and the latter will cost $950. It’s available now at all major U.S. carriers, as well as the Apple Store.

Our Take

The iPhone 8 Plus should really be called the iPhone 7S Plus. Its updates don’t warrant a full number bump, but they’re welcome improvements that make the 8 Plus another great iPhone.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes. For iOS users, your next best bet is the upcoming iPhone X. It beats out the iPhone 8 Plus in most specifications and features, and it also has Apple’s new design language. It looks too good to ignore for any iPhone enthusiast.

If you don’t care for the special facial tracking features, you won’t be disappointed with the iPhone 8 Plus — though maybe a little sad the design hasn’t changed.

There are far more options if you’re willing to jump to Android. The two most notable are the LG V30 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. Both feature bezel-less designs, offer great performance, and have unique camera experiences.

How long will it last?

Apple is known to support its products for a long time, so we expect the iPhone 8 Plus to last four to five years, if not more. You should definitely get a case to protect the phone from accidental drops, but the waterproofing protects it from liquids. Expect to continue getting software updates for a similar length of time.

Should you buy it?

Yes. If you don’t want to spend $1,000 on the iPhone X, the iPhone 8 Plus is the next best thing.

Futuristic scanner tells farmers how nutritious their crops are in an instant

Why it matters to you

GrainSense will allow farmers to get a far quicker read on how well their crops are doing, rather than having to wait weeks for lab results.

Imagine being able to scan food with a handheld device and immediately be presented information on its nutritional content. That’s the idea behind an agriculture-focused gadget called GrainSense, which does this for crops including wheat, oats, rye, and barley. By scanning these crops with a range of frequencies of near-infrared light, farmers can find out the levels of protein, moisture, oil, and carbohydrate in their grain.

“Farmers, whether arable or animal-based, live in a complicated and ever-tightening society,” Edvard Krogius, CEO of GrainSense, told Digital Trends. “The value chain is squeezing their healthy existence from both ends and — in order to survive — they need to move from traditional labor farming to precision farming. Data-driven technology has made its entrance in the traditional farming industry where big and small players are offering their efficiency enhancing solutions. A common denominator for these solutions is to get a better insight into operations and to make better decisions based on accurate information.”

The technique being used by GrainSense has been available in labs for years, but this marks the first time it’s been incorporated into a handheld device. Instead of having to send off a significant amount of grain to a laboratory and then wait weeks for a result, farmers can use the GrainSense device with a sample of only 50-100 kernels, and receive an answer in only five seconds. This data is then cross-referenced with GPS coordinates revealing where the measurements were taken, and sent to a mobile app.

The resulting insights don’t just save time for farmers; they also help make farming more efficient and proactive — since the instant feedback allows farmers to change fertilizer quantity or moisture levels as they are growing their crops, as opposed to assessing them retrospectively.

Krogius said that the GrainSense device will go on sale in spring 2018 in Sweden, Finland, and the Baltic countries. The goal is to make it available for less than 4,000 euros ($4,773). The company is also currently seeking distributors in other European markets such as the U.K., Germany, Poland, France, and Spain — although a later U.S. launch is hopefully not out of the question.

Between gadgets like this, the use of smart agricultural drones, and even self-driving tractors, the farm of 2027 could look very, very different to the one of 2017.

SmartHalo will turn any bike into a smart bike with navigation, fitness tracking

Why it matters to you

If your regular, old bike isn’t doing enough for you, the SmartHalo brings onboard navigation, fitness tracking, anti-theft features, and more.

We have seen a number of smart bikes hit the market in recent months, bringing some impressive capabilities such as GPS tracking, navigation, and fitness monitoring, along with them. But, for those of us who are quite happy with our existing rides, trading in our bikes for a new model isn’t always an option. Thankfully, a new device called the SmartHalo promises to deliver many of those same features to just about any bike on the road.

The SmartHalo connects to most handlebars using a modular system that allows the device to be snapped into place whenever you’re ready to ride, yet it is easily removed when you reach your destination. When locked into the bike mount, the actual brains of the SmartHalo can only be extracted using a special HaloKey that is custom-made for each individual. If a would-be thief attempts to take the gadget — or steal the bike it is attached to — it will set off a high-pitched alarm, alerting everyone in the vicinity.

The device pairs with a smartphone using an app for iOS and Android. That app provides turn-by-turn navigation by illuminating a series of LED lights embedded along the outside of the Halo itself. Those lights turn on and off to indicate when it is time to make a turn, and in which direction, allowing riders to know exactly where they are going at a glance. In a separate compass mode, the device only provides an indication of the general direction in which a destination can be found, encouraging riders to explore new routes to get to where they are going.

Other features include fitness tracking for distance, speed, calories burned, and other metrics. The SmartHalo also alerts riders to incoming phone calls and text messages so they won’t miss an important contact, and it even comes equipped with lights that automatically switch on when it gets dark and turn themselves off when the ride is over. Its rechargeable battery is good for about 20 hours before requiring a recharge.

Perhaps the best part of the SmartHalo is that it is available now for $149. Additional bases for use on more than one bike can be purchased for an additional $29 as well. To find out more, visit smarthalo.bike.

Best Samsung Gear VR games with controller support

What Gear VR games need a controller?

Samsung built the Gear VR so it didn’t have to rely on a separate controller, and most of the time that is awesome. The touch panel on the side of the headset lets you move around quickly and swipe to perform many different actions in apps and games, and it’s a lot of fun. Sometimes, either because you don’t want a single arm getting tired from playing for an extended period of time or because you want to be a little more discreet, a controller is what you need.

Here’s a quick look at the games we like best when played with a Gear VR controller in hand, so you can have more fun in VR for longer.

Read more at VR Heads

How to disable icon notification badges on the Galaxy Note 8

This could be your favorite feature … or it could annoy you every single day.

Notification badges are a small but divisive feature that has sparked many an argument among smartphone users. Many users, particularly anyone who’s used an iPhone, greatly appreciate seeing that little circle on their app icons indicating the number of unread notifications. Notification badges have had a spotty but improving past on Android, and listening to demand, Samsung includes this feature in the Galaxy Note 8 — but it isn’t perfect, as not every app supports the pre-Oreo notification badge system Samsung uses.

No matter which side of the issue you fall on, we can all agree that having a setting in the phone to turn off these icon badges would be a beneficial thing. Unfortunately, Samsung doesn’t give us such a setting, so we have to go our own way.

To get this done, we have to start by installing an app from the Play Store. The app we’ve used with success is called BK Package Disabler (Samsung) — it’s $2.49 and worth every penny even if you just use it for this one task. There are many other package disablers out there, and some may even work for this purpose, but the one linked above is the one we’ve used and can speak to. It will prompt you to download this plugin the first time you run the app, so you might as well install that before you get started.

So with that app installed, here’s the process you need to follow.

IMPORTANT: Before going through this process, you must clear all icon badges from your apps and make sure they stay clear until you disable the icon badge package. If you have unread icon badges at the time of doing this process, the badges will be stuck there until you start all over — it’s not permanent, but it’s annoying and wastes your time.

With icon badges cleared, open BK Package Disabler (Samsung) from your app drawer.
Tap System.
Check the box next to Badge Provider.

WARNING: Do not check any additional boxes without first knowing what you’re doing. Some of these packages are critical to the function of your phone.

And that’s it! So long as you keep the BK Package Disabler installed and the checkbox checked, icons will not have notification badges on them. If you ever want to revert the process, you can simply open the app, revert your changes, and uninstall the app — no damage done.

If you don’t want to bother with Package Disablers, there is one more solution: use a different launcher.

How to clear the notification badge

Of course, you can always clear the badges by holding down on the icon and tapping Clear badge. It’ll start counting up again once the notifications come back in, but it’s better than nothing!

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

• Galaxy Note 8 review
• Complete Galaxy Note 8 specs
• Galaxy Note 8 vs. Galaxy Note 5
• Which Note 8 color is best?
• Join our Galaxy Note 8 forums

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BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition coming to Canada beginning as soon as next week

A new KEYone color is coming to Canada soon.

If you live in Canada and have been holding on waiting for the BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition to be available, your wait is almost over. Amazon.ca, Walmart.ca, Staples.ca and more will begin offering the Black Edition beginning as soon as next week.

“This has been an exciting year as we’ve introduced our reimagined BlackBerry smartphone to fans and customers here in North America, with overall market demand exceeding our expectations for the year,” said, Steve Cistulli, President and General Manager for TCL Communication, North America. “With introduction of BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition, we’re able to directly respond to our fans in Canada who have asked for additional styling and performance options within the BlackBerry KEYone lineup.”

“The demand and excitement for the BlackBerry KEYone across the globe has been fantastic,” said, Alex Thurber, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobility Solutions, BlackBerry. “We congratulate TCL Communications for bringing to market their second device so quickly, and know it will provide the performance and trusted security people expect from the BlackBerry brand.”

Exact dates will vary across retailers but pricing remains at the suggested $799 CAD and comes carrier unlocked. As retailers come online with their listings, we’ll be sure to let you all know so you can snag one as soon as possible.

BlackBerry® KEYone Black Edition Coming to Canada Later this Month

TORONTO, Sept. 21, 2017 /CNW/ – The BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition will be coming soon to customers in Canada. This latest BlackBerry smartphone from TCL Communication will be available carrier unlocked via Ingram Micro dealer partners such as Amazon.ca, Walmart.ca, Staples.ca and others for an SRP of $799 CAD. Exact date of availability will vary by channel, but customers in Canada should expect to be able to purchase this all-new style and performance enhanced BlackBerry KEYone beginning as soon as next week.

“This has been an exciting year as we’ve introduced our reimagined BlackBerry smartphone to fans and customers here in North America, with overall market demand exceeding our expectations for the year,” said, Steve Cistulli, President and General Manager for TCL Communication, North America. “With introduction of BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition, we’re able to directly respond to our fans in Canada who have asked for additional styling and performance options within the BlackBerry KEYone lineup.”

“The demand and excitement for the BlackBerry KEYone across the globe has been fantastic,” said, Alex Thurber, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobility Solutions, BlackBerry. “We congratulate TCL Communications for bringing to market their second device so quickly, and know it will provide the performance and trusted security people expect from the BlackBerry brand.”

BLACKBERRY KEYONE BLACK EDITION

Carrying the same distinct hardware design as the original BlackBerry KEYone, the all-new Black Edition comes with a matte black finish added to the device’s aluminum frame offering a new style variant that fans around the world have been asking for since the original launch back in May. This new BlackBerry KEYone variant also features 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, while still supporting microSD expandable storage up to an additional 2TB.

BLACKBERRY KEYONE PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS

• Includes a 4.5-inch touch display featuring impact and scratch resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass 4 offering the best in resilience and durability.
• Reimagined communication experience thanks to an innovative Smart Keyboard that allows you to set up to 52 customizable shortcuts and transforms each letter key for quick access to your favorite apps and most important contacts. Includes the world’s first keyboard-embedded fingerprint sensor conveniently located in the spacebar and provides added device security and convenience.
• Distinct BlackBerry smartphone powered by Android, with the familiarity and functionality of Android™ 7.1 Nougat giving users access to the entire Google Play™ store and over one million apps.
• Unmatched battery life offering up to 26+ hours of mixed use, and Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 3.0 technology enables up to 50 percent charge in roughly 36 minutes.
• Pre-loaded with DTEK™ by BlackBerry, offering constant security monitoring and protection of your operating system and apps by letting you know when your privacy could be at risk and how you can take action to improve it. The BlackBerry KEYone will also receive regular monthly Android security updates, ensuring you have the safest and securest Android smartphone experience.
• Features a 12MP rear camera with an industry leading camera sensor (Sony IMX378) that captures sharp, crisp photos in any light. The wide aperture lens with large 1.55μm pixels and dual-tone flash ensures your photos will have superior color and clarity.

At the core of this new BlackBerry smartphone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 mobile platform with the Qualcomm® Adreno™ 506 GPU. This means BlackBerry KEYone users will enjoy a powerful combination of optimized battery efficiency and usage, plus fast LTE speeds for super-fast file sharing.

For more information about the BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition, please visit http://www.BlackBerryMobile.com.

About TCL Communication

TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited (TCL Communication) designs, manufactures and markets an expanding portfolio of mobile and internet products and services worldwide under three key brands – TCL, Alcatel and BlackBerry. With a portfolio of products currently sold in over 160 countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, TCL Communication ranks as a top-10 global smartphone manufacturer by IDC. Incorporated in Hong Kong, TCL Communication operates nine R&D centers worldwide, employing thousands across the globe. For more information, please visit http://www.tclcom.com.

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This could be the first glimpse of the BlackBerry ‘Krypton’

Krypton is coming.

By now, it’s no secret TCL has more BlackBerry smartphones in the works. The device known as ‘Krypton’ has passed through the Bluetooth SIG, Wi-Fi Alliance and FCC already and according to François Mahieu, head of global sales for TCL, the full-touch device is expected to arrive at some point in October. Still, despite all of that information, the ‘Krypton’ has eluded being caught on camera, mostly. A recently posted image offers up what could be the first glimpse of the next BlackBerry.

As posted on BBM Channels, the image purports to show off the back side of the BlackBerry ‘Krypton’, though, given the source itself seemed uncertain if it really was the ‘Krypton’ there’s certainly a bit of room here for speculation and debate. Given it’s only a small look at the backside, there’s not a whole lot that can be derived from the photo, but have at it in the comments. Does even this small look pique your interest?

The universe’s most energetic particles have traveled a long way

The origin of cosmic rays has been a mystery to scientists since their detection over fifty years ago. One of the prevailing theories is that they come from the center of our galaxy. But now, a group of more than 400 scientists from eighteen different countries has confirmed that this high-energy radiation has its origins outside our galaxy. The results will be published tomorrow in the journal Science.

Over a period of twelve years, scientists used the Pierre Auger Observatory, which consists of telescopes and particle detectors deployed over an area in western Argentina larger than the state of Rhode Island, to collect readings on cosmic rays’ origins. They discovered that most of the particles came from an direction that didn’t correspond with the center of the Milky Way in relation to Earth. It was about 120 degrees off. “There have been other pieces of evidence, but I would say this paper really confirms that most of the highest energy cosmic ray particles are not coming from the Milky Way galaxy,” said Gregory Snow, the outreach director for the Pierre Auger Observatory. Instead, the particles are likely extragalactic in nature.

This discovery is important for multiple reasons. First, cosmic rays are thought to be leftover energy from The Big Bang. Understanding more about them helps us to understand the universe and our place in it. “By understanding the origins of these particles, we hope to understand more about the origin of the Universe, the Big Bang, how galaxies and black holes formed and things like that,” said Snow.

But there’s also a more immediate concern. Cosmic rays have another name, galactic cosmic radiation, and it’s a threat to any human that travels outside the barrier of Earth’s magnetic field. If we want to travel to Mars and beyond, we need to figure out how to protect our astronauts from this deadly radiation. Discovering where it comes from gets us a small step closer to that goal.

Source: EurekAlert

Instagram’s face filters are now available during your livestreams

The face filters that Instagram swiped from Snapchat are now available on Instagram Live. Starting today, you can add filters before your Live feed airs or during with options that include various crowns and animal ears as well as pilot getup and and nerd glasses. Also, for the next week, a sunglasses filter will be available only through live video and it allows users to tap on the glasses to change what scenery is reflected off of them.

It was only a matter of time before Instagram worked filters into its live video feature. Facebook Live has had them for some time and Instagram introduced filters for photos and videos earlier this year.

To use the feature, tap the face icon on the bottom right of the screen. Then scroll through the selection and tap whichever filter you want to try on. Face filters for live video start rolling out now and should reach all users over the next few weeks.

Source: Instagram