Developers use 750 Raspberry Pi boards as supercomputing testbed

Developers requiring a platform to test their scalable software for supercomputers now have an inexpensive solution. Designed and built by BitScope in collaboration with the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, this new platform relies on the popular Raspberry Pi 3 boards – 750 of them, to be exact – that are spread out across five rack-mounted Pi Cluster Modules. This platform will eliminate the need for a $250 million investment.

“It’s not like you can keep a petascale machine around for R&D work in scalable systems software,” said Gary Grider, leader of the High Performance Computing Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. “The Raspberry Pi modules let developers figure out how to write this software and get it to work reliably without having a dedicated testbed of the same size.”

Each Raspberry Pi 3 board is a self-contained miniature PC packed with a quad-core processor, 1GB of system memory, wired and wireless networking, and a handful of USB ports. That means each Pi Cluster Module consists of 600 computer cores to develop scalable software for high-performance computing (HPC), large-scale sensor network simulation, and more at a fraction of the cost needed to purchase a dedicated HPC testbed.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory currently manages the Trinity supercomputer, which consists of 19,420 “nodes,” or self-contained PCs sporting Intel Xeon processors, memory, and storage. In total, these nodes add up to four petabytes of memory, four petabytes of flash-based storage, and 100 petabytes of hard drive space. These nodes are installed in clusters, which can cost $250 million each just to build along with the added cost of keeping them cool.

That said, not every HPC platform will be the same size, and this makes developing HPC-based software difficult given the different processor “pipelines,” storage architectures, and network connections. According to BitScope, software that works on a specific HPC platform may not work correctly on a larger, scaled-out design. Spending $250 million to see if the software works on larger systems just isn’t an option for many developers.

“Cluster simulations can help to some extent but in many cases real-world issues can intervene to mitigate their effectiveness,” BitScope says. “What’s really needed is a low-cost development platform on which to research the design options and prototype new ideas without the expense of building a running a full-scale HPC cluster to do this research.”

Grider got the idea of using Raspberry Pi 3 to create a development platform after searching for a low-cost, low-power solution for the HPC software development community. Given each board costs around $35 and consumes up to 6.7 watts of power, one Pi Cluster Module would cost $5,250 just in the cards alone. That’s still not cheap, but better than dumping millions into hardware just for research and development.

The five-rack platform recently introduced during the Super Compute 2017 convention in Denver is a “pilot” system. Currently, BitScope is building Pi Cluster Modules packed with 150 Raspberry Pi 3 boards each, which will be distributed by SICORP. BitScope says that it also plans to create smaller modules packing 48 and 96 boards at a later date.

Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

Everyone likes Apple apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers put paid apps on sale for free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest iOS app deals available from the iOS App Store.

These apps normally cost money and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged. 

Insane 60 Day Workout

Insane 60 Day Workout is the easy-to-use fitness app for tracking your Insanity workout. This app is also designed to replace the standard paper calendar that comes with the Insanity workout, allowing you to easily track your progress.

Available on:

iOS

Cassette Gold

Cassette Gold is a cassette player emulator. It plays your music and shows an animated cassette, taking you back to the era when CDs, MP3s, and iPhones were nowhere to be found.

Available on:

iOS

Colorup

Kids have long known what adults are just now discovering — coloring is the perfect way to wind down and let your imagination run wild. And what better way than with the countless choices available with a digital book and a burst of bright hues?

Available on:

iOS

Universal Image Search Pro

Search a large database of images effortlessly using this straightforward app. You’ll find search results from Google, Flickr, Bing, and more, all in one place.

Available on:

iOS

AccuView

A useful tool for artists, this app allows you to analyze an image before you take to your canvas. You can select from a variety of grids to help with your painting process.

Available on:

iOS

Perfect Me

This app claims to hold you to your promises, helping you to actually cross off items on your checklist. Your to-do list will be transferred to your calendar so that you can hold yourself accountable.

Available on:

iOS

HP Spectre x360 13 vs. Lenovo Yoga 920: Fighting for convertible 2-in-1 primacy

The 13-inch (or so) convertible 2-in-1 makes for a great all-around notebook. It’s usually thin and light enough that it makes for a passable tablet for taking notes, while still performing as well as traditional clamshell notebooks for general productivity tasks. With the advent of Intel’s eighth-generation quad-core CPUs, the form factor also provides some extra oomph for more demanding tasks like video editing while enjoying some seriously good battery life for less demanding tasks like Office work, browsing, and consuming media. In our HP Spectre x360 vs. Lenovo Yoga 920 cage match, we take a look at two refreshed 2-in-1s that make great use of Intel’s latest processors.

The Lenovo Yoga 910 and the early 2017 version of the Spectre x360 were two of our favorite notebooks. In fact, the HP has been our favorite 2-in-1 that’s best for notebook use. With their latest refreshes, both machines have taken a step forward. Now, the only question is, which one takes the lead?

 HP Spectre x360 13

 Lenovo Yoga 920

Dimensions
12.04 x 8.56 x 0.53 in
12.7 x 8.8 x 0.50 in
Weight
2.78 pounds
3.02 pounds
Keyboard
Full-size backlit keyboard
Full-size backlit keyboard
Processor
Up to eighth-generation Intel Core i7
Up to eighth-generation Intel Core i7
RAM
8GB or 16GB RAM
8GB or 16GB
Graphics
Intel UHD 620
Intel UHD 620
Display
13.3-inch IPS display
13.9-inch IPS display
Resolution
Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 or 166 PPI)
Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 or 158 PPI)
Storage
Up to 1TB PCIe SSD
Up to 1TB PCIe SSD
Networking
802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1
802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1
Connectivity
USB-A 3.0, USB-C with Thunderbolt 3, SD card reader, 3.5mm combo jack
 USB-A 3.0, USB-C with Thunderbolt 3, 3.5mm combo jack
Windows Hello
Infrared facial recognition
Fingerprint scanner
Fingerprint scanner
Operating System
Windows 10
Windows 10
Battery
63 watt-hour
70 watt-hour
Price
$1,150+
$1,330+
Availability
Now
Now
Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (review coming soon)
4.5 out of 5 stars

Design

HP’s Spectre x360 13 has had great design both aesthetically and structurally, since its 2016 version. It received a new Dark Ash Silver and Copper accent color scheme in early 2017 that brought it in line with the rest of the Spectre line. Now, HP has refreshed it once again, adding in yet another color, Pale Rose Gold, and chiseling the edges to give it a sleeker and even more modern appearance.

It also shaved off a fraction of a millimeter in thickness, made the display bezels even smaller, and dropped some weight. The Spectre x360 13 is now just about as thin, light, and good looking as possible, while retaining a solid build quality that’s compromised only by the slightest bit of give when squeezing the lid a bit too hard.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

The Lenovo Yoga 920 also received a refresh over the Yoga 910 that preceded it. The aesthetic differences are less striking, with some subtle changes such as additional angles providing a slightly cleaner overall appearance and a total of three subtler color schemes (Platinum, Bronze, and Copper). The Yoga 920 is also fractionally thinner, with smaller display bezels allowing a reduction in overall width and depth as well. Even better — Lenovo managed to trim down the bezels without having to relocate the webcam.

That’s a very important improvement over the Yoga 910. Given that the Yoga 920 sports a 13.9-inch display versus the Spectre’s 13.3-inch version, Lenovo manage to pack a lot of PC into a relatively svelte frame. The Yoga 920 is also built like a tank, and it’s one of the most robust 2-in-1’s on the market today.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

In the end, we liked the Spectre x360 13’s lighter weight (2.78 pounds versus 3.02 pounds) and smaller chassis, and we also find the HP’s design to be stand out more in a crowded field. You’ll like the Yoga 920 better if you want to fade into the background, but the Spectre x360 13 strikes a better balance between modern good looks and conservative understatement. It’s a tough call, but in the end, we have to give the nod to HP.

Winner: HP Spectre x360 13

Performance

Both the Yoga 920 and the Spectre x360 13 are equipped with one of the latest and greatest mobile CPUs, the eighth-generation Intel Core series, both in i5 and i7 versions. Our review units used the Intel Core i7-8550U, the high-end chip in the series. This chip packs in four cores, doubling the previous generation, while managing clock speeds to provide awesome performance when needed and great efficiency when battery life is paramount. Both HP and Lenovo managed to squeeze great performance out of processors, but the Yoga 920’s slightly larger chassis gave it a thermal advantage over the Spectre x360 13.

That’s most apparent in our Handbrake test that encodes a 420MB video to H.265. There, the Yoga 920 took a very short 613 seconds to complete the task, while the Spectre x360 13 took slightly longer at 723 seconds. That’s still a great result compared to seventh-generation CPUs that typically take more than 1,000 seconds, and both the HP and the Lenovo are closely matched in the shorter Geekbench 4 benchmark.

The Yoga 920, therefore, wins this round, but not by a significant margin — both 2-in-1s are remarkably good performers that can tackle some high-end tasks in a pinch. It’s worth noting that while the Yoga 920’s CPU performance is slightly better, the Spectre x360 13’s solid-state drive (SSD) was significantly faster in reading information.

Winner: Lenovo Yoga 920

Keyboard, Mouse, and Pen

The HP Spectre x360 13’s keyboard is unchanged from the previous version’s — and that’s a good thing. We found it to be a snappier and more precise keyboard that let us get up to speed more comfortably than the Yoga 920’s stiffer version. The HP’s touchpad uses Synaptic drivers rather than the more responsive Microsoft Precision Touchpad protocol, but we also found the Yoga 920’s Microsoft Precision touchpad to be a bit uncharacteristically twitchy. Both machines sport equally responsive touch displays that make swiping and tapping a breeze.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Finally, while the Yoga 920’s active pen is more precise, with the more modern 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity versus the Spectre x360 13’s 1,024, the latter supports tilt, has a rechargeable battery, and its built-in gyroscope lets it function as a sort of “laser pointer” for giving presentations. It’s better for productivity than for artists, but that makes sense for this class of machine. Along with the superior keyboard, that compels us to aware the HP the win.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Winner: HP Spectre x360 13

Connectivity

In terms of connectivity, the Spectre x360 13 and Yoga 920 are mostly equally well-equipped. They both have a single USB-A 3.0 port, two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack, to go along with 2×2 MU-MIMO Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. That makes them both able to handle legacy devices while being future-proof, with the expansive display options, high-end peripheral, and external GPU support provided by Thunderbolt 3 compliance.

The only differences are that HP includes an SD card reader, which is new to this refresh, and it offers both infrared facial recognition and a fingerprint reader for Windows 10 Hello support. The Yoga 920 makes due with just the ability to swipe a finger to log in, and there’s no SD card support.

These are small things but they save the need for another dongle and provide more password-less login flexibility — and those are good things in our book. The Spectre x360, therefore, edges out the Yoga 920 in this category.

Winner: HP Spectre x360 13

Display

We found the Spectre x360 13’s 13.3-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 or 166 PPI) display to be average at best. Its contrast, brightness, and color support were all smack dab in the middle of the pack, according to our colorimeter, while subjectively we enjoyed the display but thought it was just the slightest bit too light for watching video. It’s also a step down from the display HP sourced for the 2016 version, which was better across the board.

The Yoga 920’s 13.9-inch Full HD (158 PPI) display was only marginally better. Its contrast and color support were slightly superior, its brightness was almost identical, and its gamma was perfect and so video was neither too bright nor too dark. At the same time, it’s not as sharp given its slightly larger dimensions but equal resolution — pixel peepers will find more to complain about. In the end, while the Yoga 920’s display tested slightly better, we really couldn’t tell much of a quality difference in day-to-day use. And, it’s worth noting that average displays today are significantly better than high-end displays just a few years ago.

Where HP wins out is in terms of the displays that are available for its 2-in-1. Both machines have 4K UHD options (3,840 x 2,160, or 331 PPI for the HP and 317 PPI for the Lenovo), but the Spectre x360 13 also inherits the HP Sure View privacy screen from the business-class Elitebook x360 G2. If you work with sensitive data that you want to keep safe from prying eyes, then the HP is the better choice. But overall, we’ll have to call it a draw given the slight drop in quality in the newest version of the Spectre x360.

Winner: Draw

Portability and Battery Life

Intel’s eighth-generation CPUs are demonstrating themselves to be incredibly efficient when performing typical productivity tasks. They’ll burn through the battery like a knife through butter if you’re encoding video, but scale back to Office, web browsing, or watching a movie and they’ll sip power like teetotalers. We were therefore hopeful that both 2-in-1s would provide some decent battery life.

As it turns out, we were impressed with both. The Spectre x360 13 packs in 63 watt-hours of battery life to the Yoga 920’s 70 watt-hours, while sporting a smaller Full HD display. In the end, the HP’s slightly lower performance when pushing the CPU hard and its smaller screen resulted in much better battery life in our aggressive Basemark browser benchmark test and just slightly better battery life when browsing the web and looping a local video.

When two machines can play video for roughly 14 hours, that’s impressive. But the Spectre x360 13 provides nearly as good performance for more demanding tasks while lasting significantly longer on a charge (51 minutes longer, in fact), and that’s nothing to sneeze at. In addition, it’s lighter frame make it easier to carry around and throw in your bag.

Winner: HP Spectre x360 13

Availability and Price

Both the Spectre x360 13 and the Yoga 920 sit firmly in the premium notebook space, especially in the configurations we tested. When equipped with the Core i7-8550U, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a Full HD display, the Spectre x360 13 retails for $1,250 while the Yoga 920 lists for $1,330. Looking at the highest configurations that up the RAM to 16GB, the SSD to 1TB, and the display to 4K UHD, and the HP costs $1,800 while the Lenovo comes in at $2,000.

In short, you’ll save a little money on the low end and considerable cash on the high end. If you’re pinching pennies, then you’ll find the Spectre x360 13 to be the more frugal option.

Winner: HP Spectre x360 13

The HP Spectre x360 13 eeks out the win, but only narrowly

Picking a winner between two such excellent machines was indeed a difficult task. Yes, the HP wins most of our categories, but the wins are very narrow. The Spectre x360 13 doesn’t blow the doors off of the Yoga 920 in any single aspect.

However, when using each machine, it’s the whole gestalt that gives the Spectre x360 13 the win. Pick the two machines apart and neither comes out on top. But take each one as a whole and the HP just feels better in actual use. We feel completely comfortable recommending either, but with a gun put to our heads, we’d have to say that the HP Spectre x360 13 is ultimately the better convertible 2-in-1.

Apple invites you to channel your inner animoji, touts Face ID in latest ads

Apple first introduced the concept of the Animoji to the world when it launched the iPhone X, and since then the concept has, for good or ill, kind of taken off. One of the most popular ways to make use of the new feature is Animoji Karaoke — a trend that Apple is capitalizing on in its latest advertising campaign.

Apple hinted at an Animoji karaoke video of its own when it launched the iPhone X in September, in which you could see a monkey mouthing the words to a song. At the time, it was just a snippet of a launch video — and now we have a full video.

The trend started gaining steam on Twitter a few weeks ago, and since then hundreds of users have posted videos of their own. Apple’s video opens with Animoji heads bopping along to the music, until the words start — at which point you start to see the models who were used to capture the motion for the Anomoji.

This isn’t the only new Apple ad aimed at promoting the new iPhone X. Apple has actually launched a series of four new ads, each of which was made to promote different standout features of the device. One such ad, for example, shows a user unlocking their iPhone X in the dark using Face ID, helping dispel some of the concerns with the technology, such as that it won’t work in the dark. Another ad shows how the feature will adapt as your face changes — whether it be through things like new glasses, or facial hair, or a haircut, or makeup. In one of the videos, Apple boasts that Face ID is “the most unforgettable magical password ever created.”

Not only that, but these ads come one week after Apple launched its annual holiday video. In that video, the company showed off the AirPods, iPhone X, and iPad Pro — which it touts as a PC replacement.

Apple has a long history of successful ad campaigns, and its latest will likely extend that trend. As we head into the holiday season, Apple is poised to make a killing, thanks in large part to the iPhone X.

How to change the screen refresh rate on the Razer Phone

How to turn your Razer Phone up to 120(Hz).

The Razer Phone comes with an astonishing 120Hz display, capable of offering high frame-rate gaming like we’ve never seen before in a smartphone. However, by default, it’s not 120Hz, and if you want that high refresh rate you’ll need to enable it yourself.

Fortunately it’s ridiculously easy:

Go into the phones Settings.
Scroll down to Display.
Tap on Refresh rate.
Choose from the three options in front of you: 60Hz, 90Hz or 120Hz.

Out of the box, the Razer Phone is smack in the middle, at 90Hz. If you’re wanting to experience the very best from some of the specially optimized games like Titanfall Assault and Vainglory, you’ll want to turn on the 120Hz option.

There doesn’t seem to be any serious detriment to battery life by operating at 120Hz, but it’s good you get the choice in any case.

More: Razer Phone review

What texting app are you using?

When it comes to SMS messaging on Android, you’ve got options.

There’s no denying the popularity of messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, but sometimes, it’s hard to beat old-fashioned texting.

The Google Play Store is filled with options upon options of SMS apps that you can use, and with so many to choose from, finding the one that’s best for you can sometimes be a challenge. We already have a full guide outlining our favorites, but here’s what some of our forum users are most happy with at the moment.

chanchan05
11-26-2017 07:06 PM

“

Android messenger has too few customization options for me. I hate the white interface especially since I’m using black themes. It’s just off.

I usually jump around between Textra and Yaata.

Reply

henryfool3
11-26-2017 08:02 PM

“

Textra has been my go to for years now. No matter what I try, I always come back to it. It’s fast, bug free, customizable, and just plain works really well.

Reply

joeldf
11-26-2017 10:01 PM

“

I had been using the Samsung massaging app until a week ago when I tried Textra. Then I tried Yaata and the Android Messaging app. Yaata has a lot of customizations too, but I just like Textra better. Google’s app is just too plain, plus it can’t flash the notification LED on the S8 (of course, neither can Samsung’s own app, for that matter), so Textra for me it is.

Reply

bobobo12
11-27-2017 08:59 PM

“

I use Textra and AA every day. It works great. On the phone, I use the Textra app. In the car, AA simply shows them as text messages–you don’t see the Textra app itself on the screen in the car. But messages, contacts, etc are perfectly synced between Textra on the phone and AA in the car. It works beautifully–I can’t imagine how this would be better.

Reply

We’d now like to pass the question on to you – What SMS app are you using right now?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Plex DVR can now remove commercials

Plex DVR now allows users to remove commercials from recorded shows.

Plex is one of the best ways to access all your TV shows, movies and music on all your devices, and the DVR and Live TV functionality introduced earlier this year made it even better. One of the problems I had with recording TV shows was the struggle to remove commercials. Tools like MCEBuddy exist to get rid of commercials but — at least in my experience — those tools were a bit of a time suck and didn’t work well.

Engadget reports that Plex has quietly introduced its own commercial cutting feature for Plex DVR users that will allow them to have their commercials automatically removed from recordings. Users will need to have a Plex Pass, a monthly or one-time fee that unlocks extra features. Plex also notes the feature will require more processing time and power, so make sure your desktop can rip plenty of threads.

Are you going to try Plex’s new commercial removal feature? Let us know down below!

Latest Plex update adds Google Assistant support on Android TV

Felix Gray blue light glasses review: The hype is (kinda?) real

We all know (or do we?) that blue light is bad, m’kay. But do blue light-filtering glasses work?

I (Mike Tanasychuk) had been suffering from some solid eye fatigue for months. Every day around 3 p.m., I’d get this feeling like I was dehydrated or had slept for 12 hours straight (but not in a good way). I was considering picking up a pair of blue light-filtering glasses, since I had heard about blue light’s follies and figured it might be a good way to go.

When I was offered the chance to review a pair by Felix Gray, I jumped. After all, they don’t exactly come cheap.

Here’s my review of Felix Gray’s Faraday glasses.

Do they work?

Right off the bat, let’s just get the question on everyone’s mind out of the way: Do these things actually work?

The answer is complicated.

There’s a lot of speculation and poo-pooing when it comes to blue light glasses, and even the American Academy of Opthamology calls B.S. That being said, I experienced real results. Whether it’s a placebo effect or not, I’m noticing a change.

Within three days of wearing them, the 3 p.m. fatigue and headaches were gone.

I’ve been wearing these glasses for about two weeks now, and within three days of wearing them, the 3 p.m. fatigue and headache were gone. This is where the complication comes in: I work first thing every morning, walk my dog, then get to work, having breakfast about an hour later. I then force myself to wait to eat until after 12 p.m., and then I try not to eat until dinner. Or at least, I did, until I started just eating when I got really hungry, no matter the time of day. So I’ve been better fed over the last three weeks. That likely plays into my lack of afternoon fatigue, but I can’t say for sure.

As for helping with sleeplessness and all that, I can’t really attest. I can’t sleep at the best of times, and these glasses certainly haven’t changed things. So I’m sorry to say that I have no definitive answer as to whether or not these glasses work. It’s going to be incredibly subjective and there is no solid medical proof that they work anyway.

That being said, every little bit helps, right?

Get the look

Felix Gray has five frames to choose from and there’s definitely a particular motif at work. All frames are horn-rimmed, with slight variations in shape and in the bridge. I received the Faraday frames in “Burnt Amber”, and, despite them not being my style or my first color choice, they actually look half-decent on me (or so my wife says).

Each frame has three color options to choose from and they’re not the same three colors for each style. Chances are you’ll be able to find something that suits you nicely. If you grab a pair and don’t love it, you have up to 30 days after delivery to return it for another option.

Comfort included

These are entirely plastic frames, so I was worried that after prolonged wear they’d start to hurt the tops of my ears. Not the case at all. In fact, these glasses are even comfortable when I’ve got my big over-ear headphones on. The bridge sits comfortably on my nose, and aside from a small red mark when I take them off at the end of the day, you’d never know I was wearing them.

These glasses are even comfortable when I’ve got my over-ear headphones on.

What does it for these frames is how light they are. Once you get used to the frame in your periphery, it feels like you’re wearing nothin’ at all.

Presentation

Starting at $95 a pair, these glasses aren’t cheap, and presentation means a lot to value. I’m pleased to say that I was quite enamored with the packaging. Felix Gray glasses come in a forest green box with a cream-colored pleather case that’s lined with microfiber and comes with a microfiber cleaning cloth. It’s a legit glasses case and is all-around elegantly presented.

An eye-opener

So these don’t work entirely as advertised. I was skeptical from the get-go given all the research I had done. That being said, I have noticed a change, and whether that’s based on my eating and hydrating habits or not, I’ll likely keep wearing these daily, even if medicine doesn’t agree.

You can get Felix Gray glasses in regular or with +0.25 magnification. You can also get them in a reading prescription from +1.0 to +2.5.

See at Felix Gray

Honor V10 announced with Android Oreo, 5.99-inch display, and more

Available in China starting December 5 with expanded availability coming soon.

Huawei’s Honor sub-brand has been consistently kicking out powerful phones with affordable price tags, and the latest in this series is the newly announced Honor V10. The V10 was recently announced at an event in China, and although worldwide availability has yet to be disclosed, there’s a lot to like here.

For starters, the V10 follows suit with a lot of 2017 flagships by slimming down its bezels and adopting an 18:9 “FullView” display. That display comes with a resolution of 1080 x 2160, and it still retains enough of a bottom chin to squeeze in a front-facing fingerprint scanner.

Powering Honor’s latest is the Kirin 970 processor, and you’ll have the option to get the phone with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM (as well as the option to expand storage up to as much as 256GB). Android 8.0 Oreo is running on the V10 out of the box, and as you’d expect with an Honor phone, EMUI 8.0 is layered on top of it.

Other specifications include a dual 16MP and 20MP rear camera setup with Huawei’s AI tech that was recently introduced in the Mate 10 Pro, 13MP front-facing shooter, a 3,750 mAh battery, and Honor also keeps the fan-favorite 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Honor V10 will be available for purchase in China starting December 5 in gold, blue, black, and red for just CNY 2,699 (about $409 USD).

See at Honor

Echo Spot sold out until 2018, and other Amazon turkey tidbits

You knew Amazon would sell a lot of Echo and Fire TV devices, right? But did you expect this many?

Amazon sold a boatload of things over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend, which should come as no surprise to anyone. It especially sold a ton of its own products. And while the company (per usual) didn’t give any real specifics in terms of numbers, it did announce a few interesting tidbits in a morning press release.

To wit:

• The Echo Spot — the tiny, bedside clock-radio-looking version of the Echo, with a small display — is sold out. And new orders won’t be delivered until 2018. (The Echo Spot is set for release on Dec. 19.)

• Amazon sold 2.7 times as many Fire TV Sticks this year as it did during the same period last year. It’s not the one I’d recommend — that’d be the Fire TV Dongle — but it’s also just $39. Hard to blame folks for that.

• Along with Fire TV Stick, Echo Dot (which is bundled with the Fire TV Stick for just $60) sold more than any other product in any category.

• The most popular named timer for Alexa on Thanksgiving Day was “turkey,” followed by “stuffing,” “potato,” “pie,” and “start a timer to see how long it takes Uncle Steve to get hammered and start talking crazy conspiracy politics.”

I might have made that last part up.

Amazon Echo

• Tap, Echo or Dot: The ultimate Alexa question
• All about Alexa Skills
• Amazon Echo review
• Echo Dot review
• Top Echo Tips & Tricks
• Amazon Echo vs. Google Home
• Get the latest Alexa news

See at Amazon