Scientists paint the world’s tiniest ‘Mona Lisa’ using strands of DNA

As a Renaissance polymath skilled in painting, science, and engineering (to name just a few of his interests), we think Leonardo da Vinci would have been impressed by a recent project carried out by researchers at the California Institute of Technology. They have taken his iconic Mona Lisa painting, probably the world’s most famous piece of art, and reproduced it at nanoscale using strands of DNA. Sized just 700 nanometers in width, it’s the world’s tiniest ever re-creation of the “Mona Lisa” — which originally measures at 2.53 by 1.74 feet.

“We developed a series of rules for assembling simpler DNA nanostructures into more complex superstructures,” Philip Petersen, a graduate student in the department of biology and biological engineering, told Digital Trends. “Further, [we] demonstrated the applicability of those rules by creating unprecedentedly large DNA ‘canvases’ capable of having arbitrary patterns drawn upon them.”

Lulu Qian, an assistant professor of bioengineering, described it to us as being a bit like a “display for molecules.” There are 8,704 pixels in all, each one about six nanometers apart. These pixels can then be turned on or off to create any pattern. A paper discussing the work was recently published in the journal Nature, titled “Fractal assembly of micrometre-scale DNA origami arrays with arbitrary patterns.”

While this is, in some ways, more of a fancy tech demo than practical work, it could nonetheless have real-world applications — such as the further development of macroscale devices, which can be precisely controlled at the nanoscale.

“Using the fractal assembly principle, I would like to build a 3D printer that prints billions of devices in parallel and with nanoscale precision,” Grigory Tikhomirov, a senior postdoctoral student who worked on the project, said. “This 3D printing will allow streamlined fabrication of programmable devices from any non-DNA material with arbitrary shape and size in an affordable way, thus overcoming several major challenges in DNA nanotechnology — such as the instability of DNA, limited size, and high cost of DNA-based materials.”

For now, however, it’s best just to marvel at another amazing example of what is possible with modern science. As if the Mona Lisa needed another reason to smirk!

Editors’ Recommendations

• World’s tiniest fidget spinner is smaller than the width of a single human hair
• Tiny nanoscale-tidying robots are made from a single strand of DNA
• Bored this winter? You can now build yourself a humanoid robot assistant
• New 3D-printing technique uses UV light to print working electronic circuits
• Meet K-Pan, the 3D-printed, modular 120mm panoramic camera

Dell Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 review

Research Center:
Dell Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1

The budget Windows notebook market has taken the same general turn for the better as the premium market, with a host of remarkably good machines being made available at attractively low prices. Budget users also haven’t been left out of the growth of the ultra-flexible 2-in-1 market, with a number of equally well-priced options. Dell’s Inspiron line is a classic example, with the 5000 and 7000 lines offering a one-two punch for budget users. We take a look at the refreshed Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 to see if it brings the same level of value as its slightly more expensive sibling.

Is it worth saving a little bit of money to drop down to a lesser model?

Dell sent us a review unit that’s been updated with the excellent quad-core eighth-generation Intel Core i5-8250U processor, 8GB of DDR4-2400MHz RAM (a slight uptick in speed), a 256GB SATA solid-state drive (SSD), and a 13.3-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 or 166 PPI) display for the reasonable price of $730. That compares to the Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 that comes in at $880 for the same configuration. Note that you can up the CPU to a Core i7-8550U, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD for $1,080, or drop down all the way to $500 by opting for a Pentium processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard disk drive (HDD).

We’ll get to the differences between the Inspiron 13 2-in-1 models throughout this review, to answer two questions: is it worth saving a little bit of money to drop down to a lesser model, and does the updated Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 manage to balance low price with good performance?

A decent enough — albeit plastic — design and build

We gave the Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 high marks for its solid metallic design, and that’s one area where the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 compromises. Rather than using an aluminum chassis, the Inspiron 13 5000 opts for an all-plastic design. That’s unchanged from the older model. It’s also heavier, at around 3.7 pounds versus the Inspiron 13 7000’s 3.2 pounds, and thicker at 0.80 inches (at its thickest point) compared to 0.60 inches.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Being made of plastic doesn’t mean it feels downright cheap, however. The Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 has a decent build quality and a chassis that we found mostly free from bending and twisting. In our testing, the lid did give a bit under moderate pressure and the keyboard deck was just slightly mushy, which tended to mark it as a budget machine. The Inspiron 13 7000 steps up the build quality for only a moderate upcharge.

The Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 provides solid productivity performance, for any price.

That said, Acer’s less expensive Swift 3 ($650) clamshell notebook proves that you don’t have charge a pretty penny for a metal chassis with a more solid feel to it, as does the similarly price Asus ZenBook UX330UA. Then again, those machines lack the Inspiron 13 5000’s more flexible 2-in-1 form factor. To jump up yet another level of build quality in 2-in-1s means choosing something like the Yoga 720 13 that retails for $990 or the Microsoft Surface Pro that starts at $800 (without its detachable keyboard).

One area where the Inspiron 13 5000’s budget nature really shows up is the hinge. We found it quite stiff, requiring both hands to open the lid, and the display was nevertheless quite wobbly when we used it in the lap. It managed to hold things together when we flipped the display around to the three 2-in-1 modes, but the thickness and weight made it particularly uncomfortable as a tablet. A thinner and lighter machine like the Lenovo Yoga 720 13 makes for a more pleasant tablet experience.

Aesthetically, the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 is non-descript, and its bezels, while not huge by the standards of a few years ago, still haven’t been shaved down to match today’s most modern notebooks – including the Inspiron 13 7000. The light grey plastic chassis won’t win any beauty contests, but it won’t embarrass when it’s pulled out at the conference room table either.

Bountiful old-school connectivity

As usual for thicker notebooks, the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 enjoys a decent collection of ports. Two USB-A 3.1 connections line the left-hand side, along with a full-size HDMI port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and the proprietary charger input. On the right-hand side, a single USB-A 2.0 port sits in between an SD card reader and a Noble lock security slot. In a nod to the machine’s budget nature, there’s no USB-C port, although the ZenBook UX330UA and the Swift 3 both manage to squeeze one in.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Wireless connectivity comes by way of dual band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2. Dell bundles its SmartByte software that prioritizes media streaming for a more consistent video experience.

Mostly adequate input, but the touchpad is a bit scratchy

The Inspiron 13 5000’s island keyboard is set in a shallow depression in the chassis and exhibits only slight flexing under pressure. The keys are black with legible white lettering and the backlight has two brightness levels, although they’re so similar that it’s difficult to tell them apart. The lights are consistent, though, and suffer from only minimal light bleed, and so the keyboard is quite pleasant to use in a dark environment.

The keys were a bit shallow at 1.1mm, and although the overall feel was firm the action slightly bottomed out at the end. It’s a perfectly serviceable keyboard that closely mimics the feel on the Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 and isn’t nearly as precise as keyboards on more premium systems like the HP Spectre x360 13.

The touchpad isn’t quite so positive an experience. Although it conforms to the Microsoft Precision touchpad protocol, and therefore provided reliable Windows 10 gesture support, we found its plastic surface to be rather rough. It does provide sufficient feedback while swiping, but it results in slightly unpleasant gritty experience.

The Inspiron 13 has the usual 2-in-1 multitouch display that was responsive and accurate. You can also purchase Dell’s active pen for Windows 10 Ink support, but one was not included with our review unit and so we were unable to test it. You can pick one up for $35 at the Dell online store.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

In a real plus for a budget machine, the Inspiron 13 5000 leverages infrared cameras installed on top and next next to the webcam for Windows 10 Hello support via facial recognition. We found the system to be fast and reliable.

The display represents a clear cost-cutting measure

The Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 is equipped with a Full HD IPS display, which tends to promise wide viewing angles and a generally pleasant experience. We were pleased with the screen on the slightly more expensive Inspiron 13 7000, which left us hopeful that this wasn’t the place where Dell tried to shave some cost.

As it turns out, the Inspiron 13 5000’s display is a bit disappointing but not entirely unexpected for a budget machine. Contrast was fine at 870:1 at full brightness, which is in line with our comparison group and bettered only by the ZenBook UX330UA and Dell XPS 13 (which starts at $800). And, color accuracy is also roughly average at 2.3 (less than 1.0 is considered excellent).

Things go down from there, however. To begin with, maximum brightness is poor at 198 nits. That’s not enough to overcome any kind of brighter environment. Gamma was 2.4, which means videos and images are likely to be darker than they should be. And, the display’s color support is extremely narrow with only 47 percent coverage of the AdobeRGB gamut. The reasonably priced Asus ZenBook UX330UA stands out here as offering a good display at a budget price.

Our real-world experience with the display was in line with our colorimeter’s results. The display was just okay for productivity use, with passable black text on white backgrounds and a serviceable browsing experience. But video was dark, images lacked pop, and the display just couldn’t compete with bright lights. It’s not a terrible display by any means, but it’s definitely one are where Dell clearly cut some costs to bring the Inspiron 13 5000 into the budget field.

Solid sound for solitary users

Dell equipped the Inspiron 13 5000 with Waves MaxxAudio Pro audio that promises an enhanced soundstage for music and video. In our experience, the machine put out sound that was surprisingly detailed, with good stereo separation that enhanced the movie watching experience. Music was fairly typical for notebooks, with decent highs and midrange but weak bass. Volume was relatively low, though, making it best for individual use.

Impressive performance for a budget 2-in-1

The Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 picked up the latest quad-core eighth-generation Intel Core processors, in the case of our review unit the Core i5-8250U. The newest CPUs are great performers with some real efficiency built in, and so we had high expectations for the Dell’s performance numbers.

We weren’t disappointed. The Inspiron 13 5000 scored a solid 4079 in the Geekbench 4 single-core test and 12824 in the multi-core test. That’s slightly behind the Inspiron 13 7000 and the Asus ZenBook UX330UA, both using the same Core i5-8250U, and it beats out our comparison machines still equipped with dual-core seventh-generation Intel Core processors. The Swift 3, for example managed only 3809 and 7515.

In our more demanding Handbrake video encoding test, which taxes the processor for a longer period to shake out any thermal-related issues, the Inspiron 13 5000 did very well at 709 seconds. That’s again a bit behind the Inspiron 13 7000, but faster than the ZenBook UX330UA. It’s twice as fast as the Swift 3 and Yoga 720 13, showing off the significantly improved performance of the latest generation of Intel Core CPUs.

Our real-world testing confirmed these benchmark results, with the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 providing solid productivity performance. Web browsing, media consumption, and working in Office 2016 was fast and efficient, and the quad-core CPU means you can get some higher-level creative work done in a pinch. The fans did run when the processor was being pushed, but the Inspiron 13 5000 was otherwise relatively quiet.

Slow storage, even for a SATA drive

You can buy the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 with anything ranging from a 1TB SSD up to a 512GB SSD, and we were glad to see Dell equip our reasonably-priced review unit with a 256GB SSD for some added performance. It’s a SATA version, however, meaning that we weren’t expecting the same kind of performance as pricier machines that sport PCIe SSDs.

Unsurprisingly, the Inspiron 13 5000’s CrystalDiskMark results were unspectacular, at 492 megabytes per second (MB/s) in the read test and 391 MB/s in the write test. The Inspiron 13 7000’s SATA SSD was slightly faster at 537 MB/s and 500 MB/s, respectively, while the Acer Swift 3’s surprising PCIe SSD put that budget machine into another class of performance at 1169 MB/s and 512 MB/s.

As usual, while this is a slow SSD, it doesn’t actually result in a slow notebook. Booting the Inspiron 13 5000 was quick enough, and we didn’t notice any slowdowns during our real-world testing. If you need to work with very large files then you might notice that things are slower than you’d like, but for most productivity tasks these speeds should be sufficient.

The usual integrated graphics gaming limitations

You don’t expect machines of any price equipped with the Intel UHD 620 integrated graphics to be good for much more than casual gaming. We therefore suspected that the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 would join the club of systems that just don’t have the firepower for modern titles.

As we suspected, the machine scored right in line with other similar systems in the 3DMark synthetic benchmark, specifically scoring 840 in the Fire Strike test. That’s a bit on the low side of our comparison group, but frankly not enough so to make a practical difference in any of today’s modern gaming titles.

The SATA SSD that Dell chose for the Inspiron 13 5000 is one of the slowest we’ve tested.

Nevertheless, we still ran the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 through the Civilization IV benchmark at Full HD, and tested it at medium and ultra graphics detail. The results: 10 frames per second (FPS) and 5 FPS, respectively. Again, that’s no better or worse than our comparison group and it means you’ll want to stick to older games or Windows 10 casual games and leave your hardcore gaming to another machine.

A chunky chassis and poor battery life seriously limits portability

Likely thanks to the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1’s thicker frame, Dell managed to pack in a 42 watt-hour battery. That’s larger than the Inspiron 13 7000’s 38 watt-hour battery, which with the same Core i5-8250U suffered from some poor battery life. Given the larger capacity, we expected the Core 13 5000 to provide at least a little more longevity.

Things didn’t start out well. In our most aggressive Basemark web benchmark that pushes the CPU and GPU, the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 couldn’t quite make it to a full two hours. It finished only a few minutes longer than its slightly more expensive sibling. The ZenBook UX330UA lasted for a much more solid four hours and 15 minutes.

On our web browsing test that runs through a series of popular sites until the battery runs out, the Inspiron 13 5000 redeemed itself the slightest bit, lasting four hours and 50 minutes compared to the Inspiron 13 7000’s four hours and 17 seconds. That’s more in line with what we expected given the larger battery. However, it’s still way behind the ZenBook UX330UA’s eight and a half hours, and the Yoga 720 13 lasted for more than six and a half hours.

The Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 won’t last even close to a full work or school day away from a charge.

Then, things really fell apart in our video test, which loops through an Avengers video. The Inspiron 13 5000 couldn’t even make it to six hours, which is a very poor result and far less than the Inspiron 13 7000’s seven hours and 42 minutes. We even repeated the test to see if these results were consistent, and they were. The ZenBook UX330UA lasted for over 11 hours, the Acer Swift 3 lasted for more than 10, and the Yoga 720 13 almost made it to ten hours of longevity.

The bottom line is that the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 isn’t going to last a full work or school day away from a charger. In fact, you’ll need to plug it in by lunchtime, even if you’re not stressing the processor. That’s not good, even by budget standards today.

Beyond just its poor battery life, the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 is also a bit chunky at just over 3.7 pounds and between 0.77 and 0.80 inches thick. It still fits into a backpack thanks to its overall dimensions, but you’re going to be well aware that it’s there. Having to carry around its proprietary power brick to keep working is just adding insult to injury.

Software

Dell packs in a few extra pieces of software to go with the usual Windows 10 load of casual games and Microsoft utilities. There’s a McAfee antivirus trial, Adobe PDF app, and Dropbox software to take advantage of the free 20GB of space included for a year. Otherwise, the usual Dell diagnostic and support apps are on hand.

Warranty information

The Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 comes with a standard 1-year mail-in parts and service warranty. That’s par for the course, even for more premium notebooks.

Dell Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 Compared To

HP Envy x2 (2017)

Asus NovaGo

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 (2016)

HP Spectre x360 15-bl075nr

Lenovo Yoga 720 13-inch

Dell XPS 13 2-in-1

Acer Spin 7

Samsung Notebook 7 spin

Dell Inspiron 17 7000 2-in-1 (2016)

HP Spectre x360 13-w023dx

Huawei Matebook

Vaio Z Flip

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 Special…

Toshiba Satellite Click 2 Pro

HP Spectre 13t x2

Our Take

Dell improved the Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 with the newest quad-core eighth-generation Intel Core processor, and performance is certainly better. It retains its plastic build that’s mostly decent but a bit too bendy in places, and it offers usable input options. However, its battery life is just disappointing, and it’s a bit too thick and heavy to make it comfortably portable for its size.

Is there a better alternative?

In terms of 2-in-1s, the Inspiron 13 5000’s strongest competition is from Dell itself in the Inspiron 13 7000. It’s only $150 more for the same core i5-8250U CPU, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and Full HD display, and for that money you get a thinner and more robust metal chassis and half a pound less weight. Battery life is also better, although not quite bumping up into premium notebook territory.

On the other hand, if you’re determined to stick with a 2-in-1 but can give up Windows 10, then the Samsung Chromebook Pro is an intriguing option. It’s less expensive at $550 for a seventh-generation Intel Core m3 processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 12.3-inch 2,400 x 1,600 (235 PP) display, and it’s also arguably more robustly built. It too sports an active pen, although Chrome OS doesn’t have the same excellent pen support as Windows 10, and you’ll be able to run Android apps. Chrome OS is a relatively lightweight OS, but it still won’t offer the same level of performance.

Finally, you can step outside of the 2-in-1 space and pick up the Asus UX330UA clamshell notebook. You’ll get a superior build, equally good performance with the latest eighth-generation CPU refresh, and much better battery life. And, you’ll pay a very similar $750 for a Core i5-8240U, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and 13.3-inch Full HD display.

How long will it last?

The Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 isn’t quite in the premium category in terms of build quality, but it still feels like it should last as long as you need it to assuming that it’s taken care of. The eighth-generation Intel Core CPU is up to date, but the SSD is slow. The lack of USB-C means that connectivity will get dated as that standard continues to take over.

Should you buy it?

No. The Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1’s battery life is just too poor. There are other budget machines available at similar prices that will last longer on a charge, and the Inspiron 13 5000 is just too heavy by itself to make carrying the charger around a reasonable propostion.

Check out the best green Monday deals for those last-minute gifts

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean you’ve missed your chance at finding a great deal. We’re talking about Green Monday, of course, which falls on December 11 this year. Though not as well-known as the other more prominent buying holidays, Green Monday has been around for quite some time and continues to grow in popularity. This online shopping phenomenon lands on the second Monday of December each year and is centered around the Christmas panic that always sets in when folks start realizing time is running out to buy gifts for their loved ones. With the holidays just a couple weeks away, Green Monday is one of the last days shoppers can be sure that whatever they order online will arrive on their doorstep in time for the big day.

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season in full swing, buying online is the best way to ensure you save time and money while finding the right gifts for everyone on your list. If you’re looking to do some last-minute shopping, but don’t want to pay the in-store price, stick around as we round up best Green Monday deals this holiday season.

Where are the best Green Monday deals?

Finding the savings you seek isn’t always as easy as you think. With many different retailers offering discounts on tech, toys, clothes, and a variety of other items, having a guide to help navigate the frenzy is exactly what you need to ensure you find the best deals on the products you want. We’ll be working tirelessly to ensure we find you the deepest discounts to make that last-minute shopping easier than ever before.

Amazon Green Monday Deals

Though Amazon doesn’t currently have a Green Monday page, that doesn’t mean it won’t be participating this year like it has in the past. With savings on everything from 4K TVs to telescopes, the Amazon deals never really seem to dry up. Holiday shopping is pretty much as easy as the click of a button, and it’s even easier if you’re an Amazon Prime member.

You can take a look at the Amazon 12 Days of Deals, or the Amazon Prime Exclusive phones for deals available right now.

All Deals

Walmart Green Monday Deals

With the holidays inching closer, Walmart is competing even harder for your business online. The retail giant will have savings on drills, sporting goods, home products, and everything you need to survive the holiday season. The Walmart Green Monday deals haven’t arrived just yet, but you can check back after the weekend for all the savings and sales as they go live.

You can check out the Walmart Green Monday page in preparation, or stay tuned for more coverage as it goes live.

All Deals

Target Green Monday Deals

If you’re looking for savings on Keurig, electronics, and select home goods, Target will have you covered this Green Monday. With a variety of seasonal knickknacks and deep discounts, Target is a great place to find exactly what yo’re looking for this holiday season. Skip those long lines and order everything online this holiday season.

You can check out the Target Green Monday page to get ready, or bookmark this page for updates as they go live.

All Deals

Ebay Green Monday Deals

Ebay is celebrating its 10th Green Monday with deals on just about everything. Save on robot vacuums, smartwatches, drones, and so much more when you shop online at Ebay this holiday season. Though its Green Monday sales haven’t officially begun, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have some great deals going on right now.

Check out the Ebay deals page for discounts going on right now, or come back on Monday for a more detailed list of savings.

All Deals

We strive to help our readers find the best deals on quality products and services, and choose what we cover carefully and independently. If you find a better price for a product listed here, or want to suggest one of your own, email us at dealsteam@digitaltrends.com.Digital Trends may earn commission on products purchased through our links, which supports the work we do for our readers.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Black Friday wasn’t the end, check out the best Cyber Week tech deals
• What is Green Monday and when will it have the best deals?
• The 10 best ugly Christmas sweaters you can buy on Amazon
• Looking for a bargain? Check out our top three Amazon tech deals for Thursday
• Here’s all the best gear and gadgetry you can snag for $50 or less

Best holiday subscription services for Americans

What do you give the girl who has everything? A streaming subscription.

Want to get your friend into more shows that you can geek out over together? Get them a subscription to Hulu so you can both keep up with the latest shows or rewatch old classics. Looking for a thoughtful gift for your grandparent who keeps lamenting the lack of quality television these days? Get them a Kindle subscription so they can read some quality literature instead, with adjustable font sizes so that they can read without straining their eyes. Does your coworker keep asking what you’re listening to on those huge headphones? Give them a music subscription and send them your mixtapes.

Here are the best subscriptions you can give or get this holiday season!

Music subscriptions

Giving the gift of music is a gift that can be used all day, everyday. Music is also less of a time investment than video subscriptions as you can listen to a music subscription while you get other things done. Most music subscriptions have Android, iOS and web offerings so that listeners can tune in on whatever device is handy.

Most popular: Spotify

Spotify was one of the first big names in music subscriptions and it now basically rules the streaming scene. Spotify also won the service of millions of younger listeners by being one of the first big services to offer student discounts, and once you start with one digital library, switching services can be too much of a hassle for most to bother with. Spotify is the popular service, and as such companies and celebrities use the platform to release mixtapes and new content.

Spotify has a great selection and easy-to-use interface for its apps. It also offers desktop options for all major operating systems and plays back seamlessly through the web for those of us who need music as work to keep us from maiming idiots. If you want to give it as a gift, rather than sign someone up, you give them a gift card they can apply to their account, which means if you give it to someone with a Student rate, that gift goes twice as far!

Spotify Premium is $5/month for students, $10/month for individuals, and $15/month for a family plan.

Spotify gift card at Amazon

Widest selection: Apple Music

Apple Music is rather late to the party, but it is Apple, so it has brand power and the clout of the iTunes Store behind it. Apple Music even has a half-decent Android app for those of us who aren’t all-in on Apple’s devices. Unfortunately, the only desktop option for Apple Music is iTunes, meaning you probably can’t use it on your computer at work. Apple offers Student and Family plans, and a fair share of platform exclusives from top artists.

Apple Music also allows you to mix your personal music with its 40 million song catalog, meaning you can mix what you own with what you’re subscribing for easily. Apple Music ifts come in the form of gifts cards: you can pay for 3 months of someone’s service for $30, or you can pay for a year of someone’s service with a $100 gift card.

Apple Music’s monthly rates are $5/month for students, $10/month for individuals, and $15/month for a family plan.

Apple Music gift card at Best Buy

Best value: Google Play Music All Access

Google Play Music is a good cross-platform music subscription that allows you to easily play back your entire library on any internet-connected computer, but it’s real ace in the hole isn’t actually All Access: it’s YouTube. Google Play Music All Access also includes YouTube Red and YouTube Music, so in addition to streaming millions of songs through Play Music, you can watch millions of videos ad-free on YouTube and enjoy background playback.

Google Play Music does have one fatal flaw for device-hoppers: in addition to a device limit of ten total device and five phones, Google Play Music has a device deauthorization limit of four devices a year. This means that for someone who upgrades phones frequently for work — or someone clumsy who breaks their phones a lot — you could reach a point where you don’t have any room on your device list, and you can’t make any more room because Google won’t let you remove any more devices.

Google Play Music All Access/YouTube Red lacks a student plan, but offers $10/month for individuals, and $15/month for a family plan.

Google Play Music All Access

Best for device-hoppers: Amazon Music

If you do hop devices a lot, there’s a less-explored music subscription you should consider: Amazon Music. Amazon has two subscription services: Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited. Prime Music has a slightly smaller selection, but also a lower price, and Amazon Music allows you to upload and mix your personal, purchased, and subscribed music just as easily as Play Music and Apple Music. Amazon Music doesn’t quite share the catalog size other services do, but it’s easy to use and a great alternative for users who want to mix libraries but run into a device wall with Google Play Music or iTunes.

Unfortunately, giving an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription doesn’t seem possible, but you can give someone Prime Music with an Amazon Prime subscription. Amazon Music Unlimited is $8/month for Prime subscribers, $10 for non-Prime individuals and $15/month for a family plan.

Amazon Music

Video Subscriptions

Video subscriptions come in many different sizes and flavors, but before you give them to others, you may want to consider a few things:

• What types of content does the recipient really enjoy? While Netflix’s TV offerings have somewhat improved over recent years, the TV-holic in your life might enjoy a Hulu subscription more.
• How specific are their tastes? If you’ve only ever seen your friend nerd out over anime, getting them a Netflix subscription wouldn’t be nearly as effective as Funimation or VRV.
• How much time does your recipient have to enjoy your gift? Video subscription gifts can be a bit of a white elephant gift in that they entice weak-willed users into giving up hours bingeing on their new content source.

Netflix: The icon of binge-watching

At this point, there’s not much you really have to say about Netflix. It’s still the king of video subscriptions, though it is gonna lose a good chunk of its Disney content by 2019 and it seems to be losing just as much high-quality content as it turns out in originals. Netflix is the gold standard for a reason, and about the biggest problem with giving it as a gift is that the recipient probably already has it.

That said, you can buy Netflix gift cards for people who already have an account and help pay for the addiction they’re already feeding. Netflix has a trio of plans for $8, $11, and $13/month depending on what level of HD you desire and how many screens you want to be able to watch on at a time.

Netflix gift cards at Amazon

Hulu: TV for the 21st century

Hulu used to just be for catching up on TV episodes you missed last night, but the service has grown into a legitimate contender. Hulu’s movie content is still a little weak, but for now, they’ve got 90’s Disney films for nostalgic millennials and they’ve got top-notch kids content. If you’re looking for a subscription for a family with small kids, Hulu is a godsend because even if you don’t spring for the ad-free option, all kids content on Hulu is ad-free by default. Hulu also offers add-ons for Live TV, HBO and Showtime, so your friends can get their Game of thrones on after the kiddies fall asleep watching old Nickelodeon cartoons.

Hulu is currently overhauling its gift subscription methodology, but you can still buy gift cards for Hulu just like Netflix in several increments. Buy one for yourself and fall back in love with TV.

Hulu’s basic plan with limited commercials is $8/month, commercial-free is $12/month, and you can takc on a bevy of add-ons including Live TV, DVR, Showtime, Cinemax and HBO for varying prices.

Hulu gift cards at PayPal

Amazon Prime Video: Two-day shipping for your two-day binge

Amazon Prime used to just be about the free shipping, but Amazon Prime is actually beginning to amass a decent offering of movies and TV shows. It’s still not quite to Netflix or Hulu levels, but Amazon has a secret weapon: mixed libraries. Just as you can have a library in Amazon Music with both your purchased music and subscribed music, you can browse an Amazon Prime library that also includes purchased movies and episodes alongside Prime content. This is especially handy now that Movies Anywhere means you can add many of your movies from iTunes and Google Play to your Amazon library.

Even if your recipient doesn’t enjoy the Prime selection that much, they’ll still get free two-day shipping. You can gift 3 months of Prime for $33 or give them a year for $99.

Give the Gift of Amazon Prime

VRV: Let’s get nerdy

Let’s face it: some tastes are a bit more eccentric. Some markets are under-served by mainstream streaming services. That’s where VRV comes in. VRV is like a miniature, nerdy internet TV package, which bundles over a dozen content providers and gives you access to all of their sites and content for a single fee instead of paying for them all separately. From anime distributors Funimation and Crunchyroll to nerdy animation like Rooster Teeth and Cartoon Hangover, there’s something on VRV for every nerd in your life.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a new batch of dubbed Dragon Ball Super episodes that need watching. VRV’s Combo Pack is $10/month and ad-free.

VRV gift cards at Best Buy

YouTube Red: Because who doesn’t watch YouTube?

Remember when I said Google Play Music’s ace was YouTube? YouTube Red and Google Play Music All Access share a subscription, and even if you’re a huge music lover, it’s kinda hard to overstate how useful ditching the ads on YouTube is. YouTube Red also has a few other handy features that it brings users:

• YouTube Red includes background playback, so you can listen to YouTube videos while doing other things on your phone or while the screen is off. This is excellent for those of us who listen to a lot of musical covers and remixes on YouTube.
• Save videos on your phone to playback later without burning through your data limits with YouTube Red’s offline playback. This even works for multi-hour videos, so no matter how long your Wi-Fi-less flight, so long as your phone has space for the video, you can watch YouTube videos. Combined with background playback, this is great for listening to panels and concerts on your phone in the car.
• YouTube Red features exclusive content in YouTube Original content. This includes an expanding bevy of shows and films, and while they’re still not quite as interesting as all the content regular people put up on YouTube, they are worth browsing.

YouTube Red also includes YouTube Music, a standalone app with a dark UI and smart mixes to help keep your music flowing freely. You can’t gift a YouTube Red subscription, but you can gift a Google Play Music subscription, which includes YouTube Red.

Google Play Music All Access/YouTube Red lacks a student plan, but offers $10/month for individuals, and $15/month for a family plan.

Give YouTube Red via Google Play Music All Access

Kindle Unlimited: because the book was better anyway

Not all of us have the time to sit down and watch hours of TV and movies. But we all have a few minutes to kill throughout the day: stuck on the train, waiting for appointments, sitting on the porcelain throne. These are moments that most of us turn to Twitter and brain-melting mobile games, but we could be more productive with our time. We could read a book. Kindle Unlimited is one of the most well-known digital book subscriptions out there, and it works on just about every platform out there.

There’s one more reason a Kindle subscription might be more thoughtful for your friends than a video subscription: streaming videos takes a lot of data, and downloading videos for offline playback is both limited and storage-heavy. Downloading a book is small, and reading a book is often far more battery-friendly than watching a video, so a friend without unlimited data or lots of storage space on their phone could read books on their phone far more easily.

Kindle Unlimited is $10/month, and you can gift 6 months, 12 months, or 2 years.

Give the gift of Kindle Unlimited at Amazon

What subscriptions are on your list?

Are there any subscriptions that you’re intending to give this season? Are there any you’re hoping to receive? Tell us in the comments!

Readjust your VR space after decorating for the holidays

Decorating for the holiday means you may need to reorganize your VR space.

December is here bringing holiday cheer, parties, and of course, decorations. Whether you’ve strung up Christmas lights insider your apartment, or you’re setting up a full tree in the corner, decorations can wreak havoc on your VR space. This is why after you finish decorating you’ll want to look at where you play in VR, and consider readjusting some things. From keeping an eye on too bright lights to making sure you don’t knock the tree over with a headset on, we’ve got the details to keep you enjoying VR!

Read more at VRHeads

How to unlock your Chromebook using your Android phone with Smart Lock

While the idea that Android is the key to the future is debatable, it can easily be a key to your Chromebook.

Here is a cool Chromebook feature some of us didn’t know about: you can use the Smart Lock feature on your Android phone to enable Smart Lock on your Chromebook! Once set up, as long as your phone is in Bluetooth range, instead of needing to use your password to unlock your Chromebook you can click an icon to sign in via your phone’s credentials. The feature has been around for a while, but it’s really improved and even looks nice in a Google Material way.

A few caveats apply: your phone has to be fully booted, and both the phone and the Chromebook have to be connected to the internet so they can communicate through your Google account. If those two conditions are met, it works reliably and makes things more convenient. Of course, Smart Lock isn’t the most secure way to lock your Chromebook (or your phone) but offering something that’s fairly secure and easy to use is the best way to get folks to lock their devices.

Let’s see how to set it up.

• Make sure your Chromebook and your Android phone are turned on, signed into the same Google account, unlocked, connected to the internet, and that Bluetooth is enabled on both devices. If you haven’t set up Smart Lock for your Android phone, you’ll need to do that first. Any of the methods will work. (Also, make sure only one Chromebook and one phone are turned on in Bluetooth range of each.)
• Open your Chromebook’s settings and find the People section.
• Click ScreenLock, then enter your password to confirm you really are you.
• Click Set up next to the entry that says Smart Lock for Chromebook.
• Your Chromebook will scan for available Bluetooth devices, and when it finds your Android phone you’ll see it listed with a button to use it. Go ahead and click it.
• On your phone, you’ll see a notification that it was found. Open the notification (nothing will appear) to allow the Chromebook and phone to pair with each other over Bluetooth. Then move back to the Chromebook as suggested.
• A few seconds later you’ll see that everything is setup and you’re ready to give it a try. Click the button to check it out, and your Chromebook is locked and you can click or tap anywhere on your account picture or click the lock icon to sign in.

Instantly, you’ll get an email to your Google account address that lets you know your account has a new device using the Smart Lock feature. If you use a recovery address (and you really should) that address will also get an email. This email tells you which account was used, and which two devices are set up to pass Smart Lock credentials to each other. There’s also a link there if you didn’t do this yourself and something fishy is afoot.

We’ll use device security when it’s this easy. That’s a win all around.

Smart Lock works with multiple Google accounts, too. As long as all the accounts are signed in on the same phone, your Chromebook can sign in using Smart Lock. For managed accounts (like Google Apps or Google Education accounts) the administrator might have to enable it, depending on the policies in effect.

The same inherent security issues with Smart Lock for your phone apply here. This isn’t nearly as safe as signing in manually each time you unlock your Chromebook’s screen. And if someone swipes your phone and your Chromebook, they have one more avenue to try and break into your account. If you ever lose your phone or your Chromebook, you should change your Google account password right away. While not bulletproof on the security front, Smart Lock is miles better than not locking your Chromebook at all. Since it’s this easy to set up and use, people like us will do it. That’s a win for security.

Updated December 2017: Added instructions for the latest version of Chrome.

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Veer VR offers a solid new way to edit 360-degree videos

Editing your 360-degree videos is a breeze with VeeR VR Editor!

After you’ve gotten some excellent 360-degree videos, what you want is to share them with friends and family. If you want to make them look even better before anyone else gets eyes on them, then you’re going to want to look at a good video editing app. VeeR VR Editor was built to give you control over exactly how your videos look from within a headset. It’s got plenty of features and definitely gets the job done.

We’ve got the details for you here!

Read more at VRHeads

Job listing confirms Google Home with display is in the works

Google’s looking for a “touch sensor hardware engineer.”

Google’s Home series already has a little something for everybody, ranging from the insta-buy Home Mini all the way up to the audiophile’s dream that is the Home Max. Google’s been catching up quite well to Amazon’s Echo hardware, but one thing that’s still noticeably missing is a Google Home speaker with a display. Thankfully, we’re not one step closer to the day when we finally get this.

First spotted by Variety, Google’s posted a job listing on LinkedIn with the title of “Touch Sensor Hardware Engineer, Google Home.” Furthermore, part of the job description reads as follows:

In this role, you’ll work on the next generation of Google Hardware to enable the best mutli-touch user experience. You will lead the touch module development and integration for Google Hardware from concept to mass production.

In other words, we’ve got confirmation from the horse’s mouth that a Google Home with a display is in the works.

No real details about what to expect from this new Google Home are provided in the job listing, but according to some details that were discovered in the Google app back in October, the display-touting Home will come equipped with a web browser, access to YouTube (something that’s being removed again from the Echo Show), a Google Maps app, and a ton more.

Our guess is that we’ll see this new Google Home unveiled around October in 2018, and we can’t wait to learn more about it.

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Pixel 2s used on AT&T gain HD Voice with Oreo 8.1 update

Here’s how to make sure it’s enabled once you get the update.

Android 8.1 Oreo started rolling out to Pixel and Nexus devices earlier this week, and especially for devices that aren’t the Pixel 2, there’s a lot of new stuff to check out. However, if you’re using a Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL on AT&T, there’s a new feature included just for you with the latest update.

When updating your Pixel 2 to 8.1 Oreo, you’ll see that it includes HD Voice Calling for AT&T users, in addition to everything else 8.1 has to offer.

Once you’ve downloaded and installed the new software, you can turn on HD Voice Calling by going to Settings → Network & Internet → Advanced Calling. Once Advanced Calling is enabled, HD Voice will be used for both parties of the call (assuming they’re using compatible hardware) in areas where the service is supported.

Android 8.1 Oreo started arriving on Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XLs on AT&T on December 7, and other devices like the 2016 Pixel, Nexus 6P, and others should start seeing it soon.

Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL

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• Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL review: The new standard
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• Google Pixel 2 vs. Pixel 2 XL: What’s the difference?
• Join our Pixel 2 forums

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Plex on Android now works more like a ‘real’ DVR

Plex recently turned your devices into virtual DVRs through its live TV update, but there have been limitations: you couldn’t timeshift to replay an important moment, and watching a show while it recorded required a second TV tuner. Not much of a replacement for a real DVR, is it? The situation just got much better, however, as Plex has updated its Android app with support for both timeshifting and, as you might expect, watching a live show while in mid-recording. If you missed a crucial play in the big game or just want to repeat what someone said, you can skip back just like you would with a conventional DVR.

The feature is available right now on Android mobile devices and Android TV, although you’ll need a Plex Pass subscription to use it. Amazon-made hardware is coming soon. And while it’s still slightly odd to pay for the privilege of controlling free TV, look at it this way: it’s still considerably less expensive than a traditional TV subscription or buying a dedicated over-the-air DVR box.

Via: Android Police

Source: Plex