Our smartphone predictions for 2018

Some thoughts on where it’s all going.

We’re not yet done with 2017, but we’re about to wrap up the last few big phone launches of the year. So, with a mostly complete picture of the current year in smartphones, it’s time to look ahead to the next generation. Here’s what I think we’ll see out of Android, and the smartphone world in general, in the next twelve months.

Basically everything will be 18:9

As taller, less bezelly panels become more attainable to makers of mid-tier phones, expect the Android landscape to become increasingly tall in the coming year, with ever slimmer borders. The look that Xiaomi and Samsung pioneered will become the new standard. That, in turn, will push everyone in the high-end to differentiate in other ways.

Big batteries in more things

We’re already seeing this in the phones of late 2017 — devices like the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, HTC U11+ and BlackBerry Motion — but as phones get taller and battery experts figure out how to pack more milliamp-hours into smaller spaces, phones with 4,000mAh cells will become increasingly common. That’s great, because as we’ve seen this year, that number is about the sweet spot for easy two-day battery life.

Someone will emulate the iPhone X’s stupid notch

Of the bigger names, my money would be on Oppo, if anyone. Although dumb, Apple is going to (successfully) turn the notch into a status symbol of sorts, so expect the usual copycat vendors in China to have plenty of lower-priced clones ready for sale by spring 2018.

Someone will figure out — and ship — in-display fingerprint

The holy grail of biometric authentication will finally happen, and it’ll happen probably in the second half of 2018. Rumor-mongers and analysts already point to the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 as a possible trailblazer for this new technology, which over time should prove easier to develop than Apple’s Face ID.

Wireless charging everywhere

As sales of iPhones 8 and X climb, and the big players in the Android space look to reach feature parity with Apple, wireless charging will become a table-stakes feature for flagships, just as water resistance is now. Expect to see a lot of glass flagships as a result in the coming year, at least until someone figures out how to deploy wireless charging through metal in a commercial product.

A slow burn for AI

The arrival of Android 8.1, with new neural networking APIs, will see slow but steady growth in apps using AI features as a differentiator. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 is rumored to include some kind of AI hardware, and Google and Huawei are already shipping it in existing products. But Android is a big ship, and any new app features that require both hardware and OS upgrades is inevitably going to take time to propogate.

HTC and LG will make more Pixels

Despite the Pixel 2’s panel being trashed (sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly), Google’s hardware partnerships won’t change for the coming third-gen Pixels. HTC is, AC understands, contracted for at least another year of Pixel production, and the almost $1 billion that Google sank into LG Display means it’s unlikely to backtrack. Here’s hoping LG can step it up its OLED game in the next twelve months. Expect 18:9 displays in both Pixels, and dual cameras — both are obvious, no-brainer upgrades for Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL.

Android tablets will continue to be weird while we wait for Fuchsia

Whatever Google’s master plan is for its work-in-progress Fuchsia OS on phones, tablets and laptops may come more clearly into focus in 2018, but in the meantime, the moribund state of the Android tablet market will continue. With the Pixel C entering end-of-life status, Google kinda has to release a new reference tablet if it wants to continue supporting this form factor. If it does, expect a low-profile launch sometime early in the year.

A make-or-break year for HTC

October’s monthly HTC revenue numbers aren’t great, continuing the downward trajectory for the troubled Taiwanese company. If HTC is to succeed — which, as a consumer who likes the stuff they make, I hope they do — it needs to become a leaner organization. The Google investment should help — or, if you’re a pessimist, it could mark the start of HTC winding down its smartphone business ahead of a full acquisition. Either way, 2018 will certainly be a make-or-break year for the company.

Android 9.0 Popsicle

You heard it here first 😛

Other odds and ends on a working weekend:

• I dropped by Madrid earlier this week to get my first look at Xiaomi’s new line-up of handsets for Europe, which starts with the Mi Mix 2 and Mi A1 arriving in Spain. In a Q&A session after the event, Xiaomi global boss Wang Xiang didn’t commit 100% to launching in any specific other regions, but noted that other EU countries were a strong possibility. (Bad news for the UK, then.)

• It was great to drop by the BlackBerry Unstoppable Tour in London this weekend. I’m in the process of setting up the first BlackBerry I’ve ever actually used (for real), and I’ll no doubt have some thoughts on the BlackBerry Motion in the near future.

• We’ve got the OnePlus 5T launch coming up next week, and it’s going to be interesting to see how OnePlus has improved on arguably the best mid-priced flagship of the year. Stick around for live coverage from the New York launch event!

• The rumors around the Honor 7X and (in particular) Honor V10 are fascinating, and if Honor can bring us a more affordable take on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro — one of the best Android phones out there right now — it could be on to a winner. Honor usually has to wait a cycle or two to get the latest goodies from the Huawei mothership, and if that’s no longer the case then it’s a big development for the brand. The phone(s) launch December 5 in London, and naturally, we’ll be there.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back for another Editor’s Desk on December 3. 🎄

-Alex

Ben Heck’s mini pinball game: Designing the PCB

In tackling another prototype-to-production design, Ben uses Autodesk Eagle to recreate Felix’s printed circuit board layout. Learn with Ben how to create your own parts in Eagle and ensure that the board’s components are laid out correctly, bearing in mind things like ground planes and routing. What have you designed in Eagle? Is there anything you would do differently here? Let the team know over on the element14 community.

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: AR life coaches, controller-free eboards, more

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion different crowdfunding campaigns happening on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there – alongside some real gems. We’ve cut through the fidget spinners and janky iPhone cases to round up the most unusual, ambitious, and exciting new crowdfunding projects out there this week. That said, keep in mind that any crowdfunding project — even the best intentioned — can fail, so do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

Quartz — self-cleaning water bottle

Does your water bottle start to stink and taste funny after a few days of use? Check out Quartz, a reusable bottle that uses UV-C light to eliminate up to 99.9 percent of bio-contaminants from both your water and the surface of your bottle. That means that the water that leaves your bottle will presumably be even cleaner than the water you put into it.

The UV-C LED light is emitted in the 280nm range, which is said to be the optimal wavelength of light to eradicate bacteria and viruses. To activate this technology, simply touch a button on the Quartz’s lid. From there, the UV light will get to work, eliminating harmful and odor-causing bacteria and viruses. The purification feature is activated automatically every four hours, ensuring that both the container and its contents are kept clean and fresh at all times.

Quartz certainly isn’t the first device to use this sanitizing technique. Ultraviolet light is used as a disinfectant in hospitals, laboratories, swimming pools, and drinking water treatment facilities around the world. It offers safe, industrial-grade disinfection without the complications and side effects of chemical treatments. Blasting your water with low-wavelength ultraviolet light effectively scrambles the DNA of any germs that might be hanging out in your bottle, thereby rendering them incapable of breeding/multiplying.

Taro — Auto-follow gimbal

Stabilizer rigs for you camera are everywhere these days. Just a few years ago, you would’ve been hard pressed to find an affordable one that fit your specific needs, but today there’s a stabilizer for just about every kind of filmmaker. Whether you’re a pro looking to steady at $50,000 Red camera, or a casual creative just hoping to make your smartphone videos smoother, there’s a gimbal out there designed just for you. Taro is the latest addition to this booming category, and is designed for tracking action — even if it doesn’t have a human operator.

“The secret to Taro’s tracking lies in the combination of a flickering sequential infrared tag and tracking module (M1), which contains an infrared camera,” the device’s creators claim on their Kickstarter page. “Together, they work to rapidly identify which part of the frame is integral to a dynamic action sequence, instantaneously establishing the intended object’s approximate location. A powerful learning algorithm then immediately eliminates sub-optimal positioning, precisely pinpointing the object’s exact location. The result: a perfect balance between efficiency and accuracy.”

Archisketch — interior design tool

Despite the fact that there are dozens of apps and specialized software suites aimed specifically at interior design, mapping out a room and creating a virtual version you can use for planning is definitely not easy. If you’ve ever tried to create a room mockup on Google Sketchup, you know exactly what we’re talking about. If you’re not an expert designer building a digitized version of your space is often too difficult to be worth it. But what if you didn’t need high-level design or software skills to create/manipulate interior design mockups?

That’s where Arhicsketch comes in. It’s basically a bundle of sensors that you can plug into your smartphone, and with the help of an accompanying app, create a virtual version of your house. “Attach it to your smartphone, turn on our app, mark the corners of a room, and BOOM — the device calculates the distances between each corner to automatically generates 2D, 3D, and VR model in minutes.” the creators claim. From there, you’re free to drag and drop virtual textures, colors, and furniture into your model.

Empower Me — Augmented reality coach

“For people on the autistic spectrum, the kind of everyday social interactions that most of us take for granted can be enormously difficult,” Digital Trends’ Luke Dormehl said. “After manifesting in early childhood, these challenges can create difficulties for sufferers from school age right through their years in the workplace.”

A startup called Brain Power thinks it has a way to help them. The Empower Me system, as it’s called, is hailed as the world’s first wearable smart glasses platform that’s designed explicitly to help people with autism.

“A bit like the kind of ‘brain training’ apps that have been popular for years, the technology functions as a digital coach. It runs on Google Glass and provides various games — with a focus on aiding those on the spectrum in building important life skills.”

“Some of the challenges we address include decoding the emotions of others, face-directed gaze, language, context-appropriate conversation skills, controlling behaviors, and general cognitive enhancement, among others,” Dr. Ned Sahin, founder and CEO of Brain Power, told Digital Trends. “Our applications are gamified and engaging, and run on smart glasses. Unlike with a tablet or phone, the person is looking up, and our software encourages social interaction with other people.”

StarkBoard — controller-free commuter e-board

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: humanity is living in the golden age of rideable technology right now. In the past few years, electric motors have become smaller and stronger, and batteries have become smaller and more power dense — two trends that have coalesced and kicked off a renaissance in personal mobility devices. There are almost too many rideables to keep track of anymore, and they seem to get crazier and more advanced with each passing month.

The latest addition to this burgeoning tech trend is the StarkBoard — an electric longboard designed from the ground up for commuters. The device boasts a number of features that ostensibly make it more convenient for urban travel. First and foremost, the StarkBoard doesn’t rely on a handheld controller to function. Just hop on the board and shift your weight forward — the board’s pressure sensors will pick up the motion and automatically accelerate or decelerate, depending on which direction you lean. It also has built-in handles for easy transport, along with headlights, so you can ride safely at night.

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: AR life coaches, controller-free eboards, more

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion different crowdfunding campaigns happening on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there – alongside some real gems. We’ve cut through the fidget spinners and janky iPhone cases to round up the most unusual, ambitious, and exciting new crowdfunding projects out there this week. That said, keep in mind that any crowdfunding project — even the best intentioned — can fail, so do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

Quartz — self-cleaning water bottle

Does your water bottle start to stink and taste funny after a few days of use? Check out Quartz, a reusable bottle that uses UV-C light to eliminate up to 99.9 percent of bio-contaminants from both your water and the surface of your bottle. That means that the water that leaves your bottle will presumably be even cleaner than the water you put into it.

The UV-C LED light is emitted in the 280nm range, which is said to be the optimal wavelength of light to eradicate bacteria and viruses. To activate this technology, simply touch a button on the Quartz’s lid. From there, the UV light will get to work, eliminating harmful and odor-causing bacteria and viruses. The purification feature is activated automatically every four hours, ensuring that both the container and its contents are kept clean and fresh at all times.

Quartz certainly isn’t the first device to use this sanitizing technique. Ultraviolet light is used as a disinfectant in hospitals, laboratories, swimming pools, and drinking water treatment facilities around the world. It offers safe, industrial-grade disinfection without the complications and side effects of chemical treatments. Blasting your water with low-wavelength ultraviolet light effectively scrambles the DNA of any germs that might be hanging out in your bottle, thereby rendering them incapable of breeding/multiplying.

Taro — Auto-follow gimbal

Stabilizer rigs for you camera are everywhere these days. Just a few years ago, you would’ve been hard pressed to find an affordable one that fit your specific needs, but today there’s a stabilizer for just about every kind of filmmaker. Whether you’re a pro looking to steady at $50,000 Red camera, or a casual creative just hoping to make your smartphone videos smoother, there’s a gimbal out there designed just for you. Taro is the latest addition to this booming category, and is designed for tracking action — even if it doesn’t have a human operator.

“The secret to Taro’s tracking lies in the combination of a flickering sequential infrared tag and tracking module (M1), which contains an infrared camera,” the device’s creators claim on their Kickstarter page. “Together, they work to rapidly identify which part of the frame is integral to a dynamic action sequence, instantaneously establishing the intended object’s approximate location. A powerful learning algorithm then immediately eliminates sub-optimal positioning, precisely pinpointing the object’s exact location. The result: a perfect balance between efficiency and accuracy.”

Archisketch — interior design tool

Despite the fact that there are dozens of apps and specialized software suites aimed specifically at interior design, mapping out a room and creating a virtual version you can use for planning is definitely not easy. If you’ve ever tried to create a room mockup on Google Sketchup, you know exactly what we’re talking about. If you’re not an expert designer building a digitized version of your space is often too difficult to be worth it. But what if you didn’t need high-level design or software skills to create/manipulate interior design mockups?

That’s where Arhicsketch comes in. It’s basically a bundle of sensors that you can plug into your smartphone, and with the help of an accompanying app, create a virtual version of your house. “Attach it to your smartphone, turn on our app, mark the corners of a room, and BOOM — the device calculates the distances between each corner to automatically generates 2D, 3D, and VR model in minutes.” the creators claim. From there, you’re free to drag and drop virtual textures, colors, and furniture into your model.

Empower Me — Augmented reality coach

“For people on the autistic spectrum, the kind of everyday social interactions that most of us take for granted can be enormously difficult,” Digital Trends’ Luke Dormehl said. “After manifesting in early childhood, these challenges can create difficulties for sufferers from school age right through their years in the workplace.”

A startup called Brain Power thinks it has a way to help them. The Empower Me system, as it’s called, is hailed as the world’s first wearable smart glasses platform that’s designed explicitly to help people with autism.

“A bit like the kind of ‘brain training’ apps that have been popular for years, the technology functions as a digital coach. It runs on Google Glass and provides various games — with a focus on aiding those on the spectrum in building important life skills.”

“Some of the challenges we address include decoding the emotions of others, face-directed gaze, language, context-appropriate conversation skills, controlling behaviors, and general cognitive enhancement, among others,” Dr. Ned Sahin, founder and CEO of Brain Power, told Digital Trends. “Our applications are gamified and engaging, and run on smart glasses. Unlike with a tablet or phone, the person is looking up, and our software encourages social interaction with other people.”

StarkBoard — controller-free commuter e-board

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: humanity is living in the golden age of rideable technology right now. In the past few years, electric motors have become smaller and stronger, and batteries have become smaller and more power dense — two trends that have coalesced and kicked off a renaissance in personal mobility devices. There are almost too many rideables to keep track of anymore, and they seem to get crazier and more advanced with each passing month.

The latest addition to this burgeoning tech trend is the StarkBoard — an electric longboard designed from the ground up for commuters. The device boasts a number of features that ostensibly make it more convenient for urban travel. First and foremost, the StarkBoard doesn’t rely on a handheld controller to function. Just hop on the board and shift your weight forward — the board’s pressure sensors will pick up the motion and automatically accelerate or decelerate, depending on which direction you lean. It also has built-in handles for easy transport, along with headlights, so you can ride safely at night.

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: AR life coaches, controller-free eboards, more

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion different crowdfunding campaigns happening on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there – alongside some real gems. We’ve cut through the fidget spinners and janky iPhone cases to round up the most unusual, ambitious, and exciting new crowdfunding projects out there this week. That said, keep in mind that any crowdfunding project — even the best intentioned — can fail, so do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

Quartz — self-cleaning water bottle

Does your water bottle start to stink and taste funny after a few days of use? Check out Quartz, a reusable bottle that uses UV-C light to eliminate up to 99.9 percent of bio-contaminants from both your water and the surface of your bottle. That means that the water that leaves your bottle will presumably be even cleaner than the water you put into it.

The UV-C LED light is emitted in the 280nm range, which is said to be the optimal wavelength of light to eradicate bacteria and viruses. To activate this technology, simply touch a button on the Quartz’s lid. From there, the UV light will get to work, eliminating harmful and odor-causing bacteria and viruses. The purification feature is activated automatically every four hours, ensuring that both the container and its contents are kept clean and fresh at all times.

Quartz certainly isn’t the first device to use this sanitizing technique. Ultraviolet light is used as a disinfectant in hospitals, laboratories, swimming pools, and drinking water treatment facilities around the world. It offers safe, industrial-grade disinfection without the complications and side effects of chemical treatments. Blasting your water with low-wavelength ultraviolet light effectively scrambles the DNA of any germs that might be hanging out in your bottle, thereby rendering them incapable of breeding/multiplying.

Taro — Auto-follow gimbal

Stabilizer rigs for you camera are everywhere these days. Just a few years ago, you would’ve been hard pressed to find an affordable one that fit your specific needs, but today there’s a stabilizer for just about every kind of filmmaker. Whether you’re a pro looking to steady at $50,000 Red camera, or a casual creative just hoping to make your smartphone videos smoother, there’s a gimbal out there designed just for you. Taro is the latest addition to this booming category, and is designed for tracking action — even if it doesn’t have a human operator.

“The secret to Taro’s tracking lies in the combination of a flickering sequential infrared tag and tracking module (M1), which contains an infrared camera,” the device’s creators claim on their Kickstarter page. “Together, they work to rapidly identify which part of the frame is integral to a dynamic action sequence, instantaneously establishing the intended object’s approximate location. A powerful learning algorithm then immediately eliminates sub-optimal positioning, precisely pinpointing the object’s exact location. The result: a perfect balance between efficiency and accuracy.”

Archisketch — interior design tool

Despite the fact that there are dozens of apps and specialized software suites aimed specifically at interior design, mapping out a room and creating a virtual version you can use for planning is definitely not easy. If you’ve ever tried to create a room mockup on Google Sketchup, you know exactly what we’re talking about. If you’re not an expert designer building a digitized version of your space is often too difficult to be worth it. But what if you didn’t need high-level design or software skills to create/manipulate interior design mockups?

That’s where Arhicsketch comes in. It’s basically a bundle of sensors that you can plug into your smartphone, and with the help of an accompanying app, create a virtual version of your house. “Attach it to your smartphone, turn on our app, mark the corners of a room, and BOOM — the device calculates the distances between each corner to automatically generates 2D, 3D, and VR model in minutes.” the creators claim. From there, you’re free to drag and drop virtual textures, colors, and furniture into your model.

Empower Me — Augmented reality coach

“For people on the autistic spectrum, the kind of everyday social interactions that most of us take for granted can be enormously difficult,” Digital Trends’ Luke Dormehl said. “After manifesting in early childhood, these challenges can create difficulties for sufferers from school age right through their years in the workplace.”

A startup called Brain Power thinks it has a way to help them. The Empower Me system, as it’s called, is hailed as the world’s first wearable smart glasses platform that’s designed explicitly to help people with autism.

“A bit like the kind of ‘brain training’ apps that have been popular for years, the technology functions as a digital coach. It runs on Google Glass and provides various games — with a focus on aiding those on the spectrum in building important life skills.”

“Some of the challenges we address include decoding the emotions of others, face-directed gaze, language, context-appropriate conversation skills, controlling behaviors, and general cognitive enhancement, among others,” Dr. Ned Sahin, founder and CEO of Brain Power, told Digital Trends. “Our applications are gamified and engaging, and run on smart glasses. Unlike with a tablet or phone, the person is looking up, and our software encourages social interaction with other people.”

StarkBoard — controller-free commuter e-board

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: humanity is living in the golden age of rideable technology right now. In the past few years, electric motors have become smaller and stronger, and batteries have become smaller and more power dense — two trends that have coalesced and kicked off a renaissance in personal mobility devices. There are almost too many rideables to keep track of anymore, and they seem to get crazier and more advanced with each passing month.

The latest addition to this burgeoning tech trend is the StarkBoard — an electric longboard designed from the ground up for commuters. The device boasts a number of features that ostensibly make it more convenient for urban travel. First and foremost, the StarkBoard doesn’t rely on a handheld controller to function. Just hop on the board and shift your weight forward — the board’s pressure sensors will pick up the motion and automatically accelerate or decelerate, depending on which direction you lean. It also has built-in handles for easy transport, along with headlights, so you can ride safely at night.

Daimler and HPE want to power green data centers with hydrogen

Hydrogen fuel cells have mainly been used to power vehicles so far, but they could soon find another use: the server farms powering your internet services. Daimler, HPE, Power Innovations and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are expanding fuel cell use to “micro-grids” inside data centers. Solar and wind power would provide the bulk of the energy, but fuel cells would fill in the gap when power demand is too high or an outage leaves no other choice. Companies wouldn’t have to rely quite so heavily on diesel generators or other not-so-eco-friendly backups to cope with demand. And unlike battery backups, there’s no limit — the fuel cell can keep running as long as there’s hydrogen.

Work is starting on prototypes this year, though it’s safe to say that it will take a while before you see this in the field. HPE is working with its partners to tie fuel cells into its existing IT systems. This could go a long way toward completely green data centers when it is ready, though. And importantly, it gives fuel cells a viable future even if the automotive industry moves entirely to electric cars. It may not find many mainstream uses on the road, but it could make sure your favorite social network is running even if the server faces a total blackout.

Source: Daimler

Hasbro offers to buy Mattel as tech pressures the toy world

Toys ‘R’ Us may not be the only major casualty of technology’s influence on the toy industry. Wall Street Journal sources claim that Hasbro recently made an offer to buy Mattel. It’s not clear what terms Hasbro offered or how receptive Mattel was, but it would put two of the best-known kids’ brands together — My Little Pony and Hot Wheels would exist side-by-side. Neither side is commenting on the apparent leak.

Hasbro is likely taking advantage of Mattel’s relative weakness. While Hasbro has been riding high on sales of Disney-themed toys (including Star Wars) as well as licenses for movies and TV, Mattel is in the midst of turning around years of failed toy lines that weighed it down. Also, the two are complementary: where Hasbro ditched its manufacturing facilities a while ago, it would get some back with a Mattel deal. There are concerns that a Hasbro/Mattel pact could violate US antitrust law by creating a dominant toy maker, but it’s not certain that a union would face scrutiny as tough as for, say, a telecom.

If a deal did go ahead, it would reflect the tech industry’s increasingly firm grip on kids’ free time. Although Hasbro clearly has the upper hand, both it and Mattel have to compete with consoles and tablets — how do you get parents to buy Barbie playhouses when video games beckon? It could have long-term consequences for connected toys, too. Hasbro would have a larger stable of tech-driven toys, and could fold Mattel’s know-how into its own projects.

Via: The Verge

Source: Wall Street Journal

The Pixel 2 XL has another screen issue: unresponsive edges

It looks like Google still isn’t done fielding complaints about the Pixel 2 XL’s display. While some users are experiencing premature screen burn-in and seeing a bluish tint, others are apparently having trouble with its responsiveness. Comments posted on the Pixel 2 community website have revealed that some units are having issues getting their phones to register touches near the edges of the screen. One poster even conducted a test and found that while the edges on his display can recognize swipes just fine, they can’t always recognize taps.

Here’s a video of the experiment:

According to Android Police, this happens because the device’s accidental touch protection feature is just bit too effective. The good news is that it’s a software issue, and Google is already working on a fix. Orrin, a Pixel 2XL Community manager, posted on the thread to inform people that the Pixel team is already investigating and addressing the problem in an upcoming over-the-air update.

In an effort to preempt similar complaints about bluish or greenish tinted screens and burn-ins, Apple recently updated its support page to explain that those are perfectly normal for OLED displays like the iPhone X’s and Pixel 2 XL’s. Nevertheless, iPhone X’s screen seems to come with its own set of issues. Some of them have a nasty green line going down their edges, while others stop responding to touches in cold temperatures.

Source: Android Police

Internet giant Alibaba crushes one-day online shopping record

If you needed evidence that internet shopping still has room to grow, you just got it. Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba has confirmed that its annual Singles’ Day sales event racked up the equivalent of more than $25.3 billion in sales, easily setting a record for the most online purchases in one day. For context, Alibaba sold just short of $18 billion last year — this year, the company surpassed that figure slightly past the halfway mark. The 2016 Cyber Monday sale was downright tiny by comparison, mustering ‘just’ $3.45 billion in the US.

The record was helped by the strength of the Chinese yuan versus the US dollar, but it also stemmed from growing access to online shopping in China. Alibaba’s Joseph Tsai attributed the surge to “rising disposable incomes” among the over 300 million middle-class buyers in the country. Imagine if the vast majority of the US population saw a dramatic boost in its spending power and you’ll get a sense for how Alibaba could manage this feat.

The hype swirling around the event certainly helped as well. Alibaba started Singles’ Day as a promo for lonely hearts, but it quickly grew into an all-encompassing sales event that makes Black Friday seem timid. This year, Alibaba held a launch event with western stars like Nicole Kidman and Pharrell Williams joining Chinese celebrities like actress Zhang Ziyi. It wanted buyers to get excited about spending money, and this clearly paid off.

Alibaba and its rivals can’t rest easily. There are concerns that online shopping may soon hit a wall, and Alibaba even turned 100,000 retail stores into internet purchasing hubs in a bid to attract shoppers who might have ignored the online blitz. That still leaves potential for significant growth as China’s middle class grows, though, and those that are already entrenched in the middle class may spend more online as they become comfortable with shopping from home.

Via: TechCrunch, Reuters

Source: Alizila

A cut above the rest: Here are the best circular saws money can buy

Everyone knows the circular saw is a job site favorite for chopping up plywood and lopping off two-by-fours, but this small, portable tool is good for a lot more than just that. For DIYers, makers, and remodelers of all stripes; a decent circular saw is a must have. It will make straight cuts in all sorts of wood, from solid lumber to plywood and medium-density fiberboard (MDF), and boasts an unbeatable combo of price, power, and portability. In this post, we’ve rounded up the best circular saws on the market.

If you are just starting to get into DIY, a decent circular saw is one of the first tools you should buy. With the right tricks (more on that in a moment), a circ saw will do everything a miter saw or table saw will do — and then some.

But the basic circular saw you know has morphed and multiplied into cordless models, mini saws, track saws, and more — making your choice a bit confusing. The good news is that most of you can ignore half the saws on the market. Although cordless is always cool, corded saws are half the price while offering more power and cutting capacity. If you already own the right cordless batteries, however, you can buy the “bare tool” from the same manufacturer for roughly the price of a corded saw.`

The track saw also cannot be ignored. Its genius is in the long, grooved track, which guides the saw and guarantees smooth, straight cuts in any direction. If you cut a lot of sheet goods (plywood and MDF) for cabinetry, or you want to try making furniture but don’t have the space or budget for a table saw, consider spending a bit more to get track saw.

For the rest of us, a standard saw will suffice. You can ignore the heavier “hypoid” (or “worm-drive”) circular saws, which offer more power but are heavier and harder to control.

The saw you want is the standard “sidewinder.” Go with a 7.25-inch blade. Bigger blades are attached to bigger motors that are harder to handle, and smaller blades won’t cut thick boards. Read on for the rest of the story.

Our pick

DeWalt 7.25-inch Lightweight Circular Saw

Why should you buy this: The DeWalt 7.25-inch Lightweight Circular Saw is powerful and makes straight, smooth cuts with excellent control.

The best

DeWalt 7.25-inch Lightweight Circular Saw

The most lightweight, powerful, stable, and accurate circular saw for the money.

$125.00 from Amazon

$139.00 from Home Depot

Who it’s for: DIYers, hobbyist woodworkers, and contractors looking for a great medium-duty saw.

How much will it cost: $120-140

Why we picked the DeWalt 7.25-inch Lightweight Circular Saw:

You’ll see less-expensive circular saws at the home center, but they come with compromises. For $120 at Home Depot, just $40 or $50 more than the low-end saws, the DeWalt offers pro-level power and accuracy in a lightweight build that is easy to handle and control.

It has 15 amps of power for cutting through hardwoods and softwoods alike, and the all-important flat, stable base plate, one of the keys to accurate cuts. It also feels comfortable (in my hands, anyway), with excellent balance.

A pile of other pluses include excellent sight lines to the front of the blade, for following a line; a smooth-operating guard that won’t snag on the edge of a workpiece; and an automatic brake that stops the blade when you release the trigger, which is a great safety feature.

When I replace my old, entry-level saw, this DeWalt is the one I’ll buy.

The best value in a track saw

Grizzly Track Saw Master Pack

Why should you buy this: The Grizzly lets you see what the track saw fuss is about without ripping through your wallet.

The best value in a track saw

Grizzly Track Saw Master Pack

This solid track saw is half the price of the competition.

$199.95 from Walmart

$259.95 from Ebay

Who it’s for: DIYers who want guaranteed straight cuts in plywood and other wide lumber.

How much will it cost: $260.

Why we picked the Grizzly Track Saw Master Pack:

There are better track saws out there (see below), but for occasional use, the Grizzly will make excellent cuts in all sorts of material, at about half the price of its competitors.

Like the rest, its track has rubber on the bottom to keep it in place on a board, but the Grizzly track is less sticky than some. That’s OK because this Grizzly kit includes track clamps that lock it down. All track saw tracks also have a plastic edge that gets trimmed slightly by the saw the first time you use it, so you can just line up the track with your pencil marks forever after. It’s magic.

These saws also plunge, meaning you can start a cut in the middle of a panel and stop it before the end, letting you make perfect cutouts.

The best track saw for professionals

Festool TS 55 REQ

Why should you buy this: The first track saw on the market, the Festool still has no equal.

The best track saw for professionals

Festool TS 55 REQ

This is hands-down the best track saw for cutting sheet goods.

$660.00 from Amazon

Who it’s for: Pro cabinetmakers, and lovers of amazing tools.

How much will it cost: $660.

Why we picked the Festool TS 55 REQ:

Festool turned the U.S. tool market on its head by revolutionizing portable power tools, treating them as precision instruments, not crude contractor tools. It all started with the track saw, which changed everything for DIYers, contractors, and anyone else who could pay to play.

The German company continues to improve its flagship tool, and it has too many wonderful qualities to list here. Let’s just say it’s dreamy. Let’s also say the trigger and plunge action are perfect, the depth-setting adjustment is the easiest to use, the dust collection is shockingly effective, and the cuts are crazy clean, even when beveling.

And as with all the best track saws, the Festool’s track is rock solid on almost any material, meaning you don’t need no stinking clamps.

The best value in a cordless circular saw

DeWalt DCS391B Cordless Circ Saw

Why should you buy this: If you’ve already got a good set of big cordless batteries, or need to make cuts far from power outlets.

The best value in a cordless circular saw

DeWalt DCS391B Cordless Circ Saw

Cordless saws travel with no limits, and today’s models offer more power than before.

$99.00 from Amazon

$88.55 from Ebay

Who it’s for: Folks willing to trade a little power for a lot of portability.

How much will it cost: $99 for the bare tool (no batteries).

Why we picked the DeWalt DCS391B Cordless Circ Saw:

In this case, my pick is not about this specific product, though the DeWalt 20V cordless saw is getting rave reviews in many tests. Any of the best cordless models will offer surprising power — Bosch, Makita, Milwaukee, DeWalt, Porter-Cable, Rigid, etc. — and unmatched portability, letting you bring the tool to any little job anywhere. The question is whether you already own a set of the batteries the saw uses. If you do, you can buy the tool only, and save a bundle, making cordless the way to go for those who don’t mind a little less power. And I do mean only a little less.

The rap on cordless circular saws used to be weak power and short battery life, but today’s lithium-ion models have changed that. You won’t get the power and stamina of a corded saw, but if you keep that second battery charged, you’ll be ready for almost anything.

How We Test

I’ve tried most of these saws, either the specific model shown here or an earlier one that is closely related. My friends have tried the others (I was the editor of Fine Woodworking magazine in another life, and I still write for them, as well as Fine Homebuilding magazine).

Most importantly, I’ve used circular saws for many years, as a remodeler, woodworker, and maker of many things, and I’ve taught lots of folks to do the same. So I know what I value most in a saw, and where people tend to struggle.

And of course, I always dig deep into user reviews, to make sure there are no surprises.

Tips and tricks for circular saws

First, some buying advice: When it comes to a standard circular saw, more money gets you more power and durability, and a better base plate. You can’t try out the power in the store and you probably shouldn’t conduct a drop test either, but you can raise the blade all the way up and sit the base plate on a flat surface. If the plate rocks, the tool doesn’t.

Aside from its MUCH lower price tag, the big advantage a circular saw has over a table saw is the way you can bring it to the work. Even for hardcore furniture-makers, this portability is invaluable for chopping big lumber and big sheet goods (plywood and MDF) to rough size before attempting to hoist them onto machines.

But armed with a few accessories, your basic circular saw can make furniture-quality cuts, too. Combine your sweet sidewinder with any sort of straightedge clamped to the work, or better yet a cutting guide like this one, and you can make long, straight cuts, right on your pencil marks.

For short crosscuts, such as cutting a board to length, the long cutting guide is unwieldy. But an inexpensive “speed square” steps in to guide the saw perfectly. Be sure to clamp down the board first so you have one hand free to hold the square in place and the other to control the saw.

Bottom line: You don’t have to have pricey tools to build great things.

Here are two more tips: Lay down a sheet of rigid foam insulation on the floor or workbench, and cut on top of that. You will get much better support than a pair of sawhorses give. Also, most power tools come with crappy blades, so consider an upgrade if your blade is struggling or leaving burn marks.