OnePlus 5T: Should you pay extra for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage?

Everyone wants more, but that’s usually dependent on cost as well.

Like the OnePlus 5, we once again have two distinct models of the OnePlus 5T, giving you a choice of RAM and storage options for a nominal increase in price. You can stick with the default 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which is plenty for most people and more than many other phones, or you can bump up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for just $60 more.

Which model should you buy? Here’s the information you need to make a choice.

Choosing storage: more is usually better

It wasn’t so long ago that we were still arguing over whether phones should still be shipping with 16GB of internal storage, and now many high-end phones — like the OnePlus 5T — come with 64GB internally. That’s a lot of storage, and probably “enough” for most people. Unless you store lots of music or video locally, you’re unlikely to fill it up — as I write this, I’m using just shy of 12GB of my OnePlus 5T’s storage.

If you can afford the $60 extra, your future non-frustrated self will thank you.

Then again, when it comes to storage it’s always better to have more when the phone doesn’t offer an SD card slot that would let you expand it later. If you plan on keeping your OnePlus 5T for a while, it’s going to incrementally use more and more storage as you use and download new apps or save even more music playlists and YouTube videos.

Sure you could aggressively manage your storage so you never hit 64GB, but OnePlus is offering to double that storage for just $60 at purchase. Look at your current phone and how much storage it’s using. If you’re maxed out on your 32GB phone, or pushing over 40GB used on your 64GB phone, pony up the extra few dollars and buy the higher-end OnePlus 5T with 128GB of storage. Your future non-frustrated self will thank you.

What does 8GB of RAM actually do?

OnePlus doesn’t let you choose RAM and storage independently, so if you drop the extra $60 to get 128GB of storage you automatically get 8GB of RAM as well. That’s 2GB more than the stock 6GB, which in itself is higher than most phones released in 2017.

It will be extremely difficult to see any difference in use with 8GB of RAM.

The value of having 8GB of RAM in a phone is rather dubious, at least at the end of 2017. Google designed Oreo (which isn’t even on the OnePlus 5T yet) for its own Pixel 2 phones with just 4GB of RAM in mind, and there’s no reason to think you can’t use a OnePlus 5T to its fullest potential with “only” 6GB of memory inside.

Even with the lesser memory option, OnePlus is able to do some great things with its software to make sure the home screen, camera and other critical functions are available at a moment’s notice, even when you’re using heavy apps or games. With my typical usage, I averaged just 5.1GB of RAM usage on my own 5T, and never experienced aggressive background app closures.

Whether you have 6GB or 8GB of RAM, your OnePlus 5T has plenty of headroom to operate all of the latest apps throughout 2018 and beyond. I wouldn’t recommend spending $60 for the higher-end 5T model just for the extra RAM — think of it as an extra perk when you buy the upgrade for the 128GB storage alone.

See at OnePlus

Did you choose to buy the more expensive OnePlus 5T for the extra memory and storage? Let us know in the comments!

OnePlus 5T and OnePlus 5

• OnePlus 5T review: Come for the value, not the excitement
• OnePlus 5T specs
• Should you upgrade from the OnePlus 3T?
• OnePlus 5T vs. Galaxy S8: Beast mode
• All of the latest OnePlus 5T news
• Join the discussion in the forums

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Skype disappears from China’s app stores

If you hope to download Skype to keep in touch while you’re in China, you may be in for a rude surprise. Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi and other companies have been removing Microsoft’s internet calling software from their app stores in recent weeks in response to a crackdown on VoIP apps that don’t obey local digital security laws. The service still works if you already have the app installed, but you can’t download a fresh copy or pay for features directly through stores.

Microsoft told the New York Times that Skype had only been “temporarily removed” from the iOS App Store and that it was trying to return the app “as soon as possible,” although it’s not clear what the company could do to restore access.

China has been on a censorship spree recently, blocking WhatsApp and other messaging services both because their encryption prevents spying and because they don’t require a real name to sign up. It also cracked down on VPNs that could be used to evade censorship and keep communications private. Unlike in those cases, though, the Skype ban doesn’t appear to be related to attempts to stifle dissent during the Communist Party’s National Congress. The app started disappearing after the meeting ended — this appears to be a general policy implementation rather than an event-specific response.

While the exact reasoning for the clampdown isn’t evident, it’s likely officials are unhappy that Skype is a foreign-run service that’s largely outside of their control. If so, Microsoft might be faced with the prospect of giving China more oversight (and thus compromising users’ privacy) if it’s determined to bring Skype back.

Source: New York Times

‘Minecraft’ now livestreams building sessions directly to Mixer

A large part of Minecraft’s allure is showing off your work. And now, it should be relatively easy to do that in real time. Mojang has released an update that lets you livestream directly to Microsoft Mixer (its parent company’s service, naturally) from within the game on Android devices, Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One consoles. If you’ve just finished recreating an entire country, you can take people on a live tour without starting a broadcast in a separate app or service first. And your audience doesn’t have to simply watch, either.

Mixer support also lets you make aspects of your Minecraft session interactive. Viewers can vote on spawning objects (including enemies) or even change the environmental conditions. They can turn day into night to see whether you’ll survive the trip back to safety, for instance. If you’ve ever broadcast a Minecraft stream and thought it was too predictable, this could add just the right amount of chaos.

The feature isn’t available in other versions of Minecraft just yet. A mod to bring it to the classic Java-based game is coming later in 2017. Even so, this promises to make the world-building game a more social experience, whether or not your friends are ready to play.

Source: Minecraft

Buoy uses AI and machine learning to keep your water bills low

Buoy is a device that puts machine learning to work to save on your water bill. The IoT device connects to your home’s WiFi network and water supply to monitor how much is going where on a use-by-use basis (faucet shower, washing machine, etc..), in real time. It uses algorithms to measure water usage and suss out leaks, and will deliver alerts to your mobile device when one is detected. From there, you can even do a remote shut-off so the basement won’t be flooded when you get home.

Sounds great, right? Well, it won’t be cheap when it go on sale tomorrow. One Buoy will set you back $799, but, that includes installation from a licensed plumber and a lifetime subscription to the Buoy service. Things like integration with Alexa or Google Home haven’t been announced just yet, and from the looks of it, Buoy doesn’t require a hub like other smart home devices.

This isn’t Buoy’s first time around the block. Back in 2015, the company was known as Calliope Waterworks and a year after founding, it showed off a remarkably similar device. The difference last year is that the water-tracking gizmo was only supposed to cost $250 according to TechCrunch. Yeesh.

Engadget giveaway: Win an LG V30 smartphone!

With smartphones becoming the center of portable media capture, LG’s V30 feature set positions it near the top of available options. Plus if you’re an Android user and have been eyeballing all the tall OLED displays out there, now’s your chance. On the back, you’ve got a dual camera setup with both 16-megapixel f/1.6 aperture and 13-megapixel wide-angle lenses set to capture the world. If video is your thing, the V30 has a powerful set of features, including point-zoom and color presets that provide a professional touch to your content. Audio quality on this handset is also notable with strong speakers and a built-in Hi-Fi DAC to pass natural sounding audio to your headphones. The V30 is also a sleek and comfortable handset to hold, so if you’d like a chance to take one for a spin, you’re in luck. This week, LG has provided us with an unlocked 64GB V30 for one lucky reader. Just head to the Rafflecopter widget below for up to three chances at winning this LG V30 smartphone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
• Contest is open to all residents of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec), 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winners will be chosen randomly. One (1) will receive one (1) LG V30 (US998 Unlocked / Silver / approximate value $830).
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
• This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Engadget and AOL are not held liable to honor warranties, exchanges or customer service.
• The full list of rules, in all of its legalese glory, can be found here.
• Entries can be submitted until November 22nd at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!

Uber fined $8.9 million for hiring drivers with criminal records

Uber has notorious issues when it comes to its background checks for its drivers. The company has missed (or outright ignored) criminal records in the past; earlier this year, over 8,000 Uber and Lyft drivers failed a Massachusetts background check. It appears that these issues haven’t improved much; this week, Colorado regulators fined Uber for allowing 57 people with criminal offenses to drive for the company. The penalty totals $8.9 million, reports the Denver Post.

Back in 2014, the San Francisco and Los Angeles District Attorneys offices sued Uber for misleading consumers by claiming that the company conducts thorough background checks of its drivers. The company has gotten in hot water countless times due to its lax approach when it comes to this issue. The organization in charge of the Colorado investigation, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), determined that Uber had the necessary background information on these drivers, yet chose to do nothing. Instead, the drivers should have been disqualified.

The investigation started because the police department in Vail referred a case to the PUC in which an Uber driver dragged a passenger out of the car and kicked him in the face. The PUC then asked Uber and Lyft for all records of drivers accused, arrested or convicted of any crimes that would prevent them from being accepted as a driver. Lyft provided 15–20 records; there were no problems there. Uber provided 107 records of drivers that had been removed from its system; when the PUC cross-checked the names, they found multiple aliases for 57 of the drivers with criminal records. The fine based on $2,500 per driver per day they were working for Uber.

The real issue here is that these drivers with criminal background checks (the PUC set aside people who only had drivers license issues) are being entrusted to drive passengers around. These kinds of problems are putting passengers in danger, and it’s well past time that Uber did something about it.

Source: Denver Post

Facebook Messenger will now send your photos in 4K

Facebook Messenger has recently gotten some pretty nifty additions, like the ability to share Apple Music and Spotify tunes, send cash to friends and new video chat filters. Now the company is improving another visual feature: photos. Now you can send and receive photos via the messaging service at 4K resolution at the same speed as your regular photos, according to Facebook.

Facebook says that people are sharing 17 billion photos via Messenger each month and that the bump to 4K will make “your conversations richer, sharper, and better than ever.” You’ll need to update your Messenger app to the latest version; the rest happens automatically. 4K photos are available right now on iPhone and Android in the US, Canada, France, Australia, the UK, Singapore and South Korea, with the feature rolling out to more countries in the coming weeks.

FCC chairman reveals plan to kill net neutrality

As expected, tomorrow, the FCC will release its plan to undo the net neutrality protections put in place during the Obama administration. Despite plenty of opposition, the FCC and Chairman Ajit Pai will go forward with the proposal, which will be voted on by the commission on December 14th. In a statement released today, Pai said, “Today, I have shared with my colleagues a draft order that would abandon this failed approach and return to the longstanding consensus that served consumers well for decades. Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the internet.”

The ACLU has already released a statement opposing the FCC and Chairman Pai’s plan and ACLU senior policy analyst Jay Stanley said, “Internet rights are civil rights. Gutting net neutrality will have a devastating effect on free speech online. Without it, gateway corporations like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T will have too much power to mess with the free flow of information.”

Senator Brian Schatz also shared his thoughts on the plan saying, “If adopted, the FCC’s plan will change the way every American gets information, watches movies, listens to music, conducts business and talks to their families. By repealing basic net neutrality protections, the FCC is handing over full control of the internet to providers, leaving the American people with fewer choices and less access.”

In addition to his announcement, Pai also penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. The plan includes reversing the rule that currently treats broadband as a utility, removes protections that keep ISPs from blocking or slowing service and will shift some oversight power over to the FTC. The proposal, which will be up for public view tomorrow, is largely expected to pass with the vote splitting along party lines.

Source: FCC

DOJ indicts HBO hacker for swiping episodes and documents

This summer, a hacker went after HBO and obtained scripts and unreleased episodes of Game of Thrones, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Ballers and The Deuce. The hacker demanded $6 million in bitcoin from the media company and threatened to release more confidential information if his demands weren’t met. Today, a judgment against the hacker was from a federal grand jury for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York was unsealed.

The charges from the Department of Justice are multiple counts of accessing a computer without authorization, computer fraud, identity theft and extortion. The hacker in question is named Behzad Mesri, an Iranian national who has “worked on behalf of the Iranian military to conduct computer network attacks that targeted military systems, nuclear software systems, and Israeli infrastructure,” according to the indictment.

The theft consisted of terabytes of information, which wasn’t limited to scripts and unaired episodes. Mesri, also known as Skote Vahshat, also got his hands on internal documents, personal employee information and credentials for online services.

While this is a win for HBO legally, it doesn’t have much practical effect. Mesri isn’t located in the United States and hasn’t been arrested. However, it does give the media company additional ammunition if more of the leaked data starts cropping up around the internet.

Via: CNET

Source: Department of Justice

This ex-trucker has some questions about the Tesla Semi

By Jonathon Ramsey

Resurrecting a dormant childhood dream, I spent almost nine months of this year as an over-the-road truck driver – six months in a Freightliner Cascadia pulling a refrigerated trailer, then nearly three months in a Kenworth T680 pulling a flatbed. I drove more than 90,000 miles, from New England to the Pacific Northwest, from San Diego to central Florida. I retired this month, partly because the dream has dark sides so dark they’d shame a black hole.

Last week I watched Elon Musk unveil the Tesla Semi to see how he’d address some of those unsavory elements. We don’t know what the production truck will achieve when it hits the road, but the Semi has a lot going for it. Nevertheless, the Semi seems most impressive to those who don’t know what it’s like to be a truck driver.

First, let’s clear up what this truck is for, as it was presented. This is not an over-the-road truck. This truck suits line-haul – routes that run between a company’s terminals, like from one regional Wal-Mart distribution center to another. When Musk made the case for a 20-percent savings over a diesel truck, he based the numbers on a 100-mile trip – fifty miles out, fifty miles back. The Semi would be perfect for port work, which involves lots of waiting, idling, stop-and-go traffic, and local out-and-back trips. This first version of the Semi will not replace the dozens of thousands of trucks on huge regional or coast-to-coast runs, clocking 2,000 to 5,000 miles per week.

I only have space here to address a few issues, so we’ll start with the central seating position. I don’t see how that helps a trucker. I already get “a commanding view of the road” in a traditional truck because I sit six feet above traffic. What I need is a commanding view of my own truck, which the central seating position compromises. The worst blind spot in a tractor is next to the doors; in the Tesla Semi, I can’t lean over to see if there’s a Toyota Corolla camped out beside me. The central seating position hampers my commanding view when I need that view most: when I back up. For any backing maneuver, I watch both sides of the trailer in my mirrors to make sure I don’t clobber anything, or I lean out of the truck to watch the trailer as I back. Being able to physically watch the trailer – not camera images on screens – can be the difference between making a clean back-up or making an insurance claim.

Furthermore, I can’t see around trucks in front of me without pulling halfway into another lane. When I need to exchange paperwork with the guard at a terminal, or the police, I can’t lean out the window to do so. Speaking of which, I have to believe one of the windows on the Tesla Semi rolls down, but I can’t figure out which one. If, as it appears from the renderings, the windows only vent, well… that’s unacceptable.

I’d want more mirrors. The silver, condo-sleeper truck at the presentation only had cameras mounted at the rear of the tractor. The black, mid-roof truck supplemented physical mirrors on lengthy stalks on both sides of the cab. Most new trucks come with mirrors mounted on the front fenders that provide views of the front corners – my Kenworth had seven mirrors in total, I’ve seen plenty of trucks with more. You’d be amazed at the number of tiny concrete and reinforced steel impediments lurking at truck stops and customer terminals. I know such mirrors would hamper aerodynamics on the Tesla Semi, but when those $8 contraptions could save thousands on carbon fiber repairs and downtime, I don’t see why anyone would go without them.

Another reason to have physical mirrors: so I can turn off, or turn down, the two giant screens in the cab (screens which, by the way, hinder my view of the corners of my truck). The light required to provide a useful camera image at night would kill my eyes during a full drive shift. Doing an 11-hour stint in a dark cockpit in the glow of large digital screens only works in anime and “Battlestar Galactica.” I had one computer in both trucks I drove, and unless I was using it, I turned the screen off.

A few more quick takes based on Musk quotes from the presentation:

“We want a vehicle that accelerates like nothing else.”

I understand acceleration is a core Tesla brand value, but I’m far more interested in braking. An 80,000-pound tractor trailer needs about 550 feet to come to a complete stop from 55 miles per hour, and I spent a surprising portion of every driving shift trying not to obliterate car drivers who weren’t aware of that fact. Show me how much the Semi can lop off that braking distance.

“[A truck cab is] a clutter of third-party devices, it’s very difficult to use…. It’s a pain-in-the-neck.”

No, it’s not. The trucks I drove had one necessary third-party device in the cab, a Qualcomm computer to communicate with HQ, and I put a portable GPS unit on the windshield. That was it. The truck cabin photo Musk used during the presentation had a Qualcomm-type unit, plus a traditional GPS, plus an iPad with a GPS display, plus another small display I couldn’t identify. I’ve been in plenty of truck stops and walked by a ton of trucks, and only the most frightened novice or the most chronically indecisive driver would mount that much junk.

“You have to sit there for 15 minutes while the tank gets filled.”

Truckers don’t “sit there” while filling up at a truck stop. Truckers clean all the windows, mirrors, and headlights, check the tires and axle seals, make sure every tractor and trailer light works, and look for damage. This walkaround can take longer than the actual fill-up, and it must be done no matter what energy powers the truck.

“Jackknifing is impossible.”

This is a lie, unless the Tesla Semi and Tesla trailer can counteract physics and human error. My Freightliner weighed about 18,000 pounds, the reefer trailer added about another 16,000 pounds. That left enough for about a 46,000-pound load. When stuffed to the gills, I had 62,000 pounds ready to push me around or come around. If, either through physics or human error, the drive wheels or the trailer break loose too far, the Tesla Semi won’t stop the jackknife.

These are only a few questions I have about the driver experience, before we get to some of the larger trucking issues the Tesla Semi wants to address, but it’s enough for now. Electric trucks, including the Tesla Semi, are inevitable and welcome; making trucking more efficient and safer for drivers, fleet operators, and the environment benefits the entire world. Companies like Wal-Mart and JB Hunt that have placed orders for Tesla Semis have the routes, terminal control, and money for terminal infrastructure to make the most of the Semi, so we’ll see what the production unit looks like in 2019 (hopefully) and parse the feedback after 10,000 miles of road duty. Don’t be surprised to see more mirrors.