Google Home Max has a slight latency issue with its aux port

Thankfully, most users won’t ever notice this.

Google recently launched the Home Max as its flagship smart speaker, and although it’s not perfect, it’s still a lot of fun for audio lovers that are heavily invested in Google’s walled-garden. The speaker isn’t without its flaws, but there’s a new one that was recently discovered that could prove to be a pain in the butt for a small group of people.

First reported by Variety, the Google Home Max has a latency issue when playing music through its aux port. The aux port can be used to connect a turntable, tape deck, or another music-making device directly to the Home Max, but when doing this, there’s a delay of a couple milliseconds from playing the music and it actually being outputted from the speaker.

That might sound like a big deal, but thankfully it’ll be a non-issue for most people. You can still listen to music via the aux port on the Home Max without any issues, but if you’re a DJ and trying to use it as a way to hear tunes you’re creating, this is where you’ll really start to notice the latency.

Google has since reached out to Variety to say that it’s aware of the issue and that “the delay is in regards to how long it takes for the music to start playing, and does not affect synchronization of sound across home devices – which is near perfect for most setups.”

Google Home Max review

Upgrade your Wi-Fi with this Amazon one-day sale on networking gear

Save yourself some hassle by improving your internet connection.

Amazon has a variety of networking gear on sale for one day only. This sale covers everything you need to get your house wired for Internet and keep all those mobile devices happy, including routers, cable modems, and mesh networking systems.

Here’s a few of the devices on sale:

• Netgear AC750 Wi-Fi range extender for $29.89 (from $55)
• Linksys DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem for $49.99 (from $60)
• TP-Link Archer C9 long-range Wi-Fi router for $79.99 (from $110)
• Arris Surfboard Cable Modem/Wi-Fi Router for $143 (from $180)
• Netgear Orbi Pro AC300 Tri-band WiFi mesh networking system for $538.99 (from $770)

Find what you need to make your home Wi-Fi the best it can be in the full sale, which only lasts until the end of the day.

See at Amazon

Check out the best Boxing Day deals in Canada from Walmart and Best Buy

Some of these deals could sell out at any moment, so get ’em while they’re hot!

Walmart and Best Buy are celebrating Boxing Day in Canada with huge deals on media streaming devices, headphones, and other tech. Take advantage of these deals while you can because while they might stick around for a couple of days, these prices could easily sell out.

Amazon Canada is also having a huge sale for Boxing Day. Be sure to check out those deals right here.

Walmart’s deals will last until December 31 but many supplies are limited. Get free shipping with orders over $50 or free in-store pickup for orders over $25.

Here are the best deals from Walmart:

• Google Chromecast media streaming stick for $35 (from $45)
• GoPro Hero 5 Session bundle for $269.99 (from $400)
• Beats by Dre Studio 3 wireless headphones for $288 (from $400)
• Dyson V6 cord-free vacuum for $299.97 (from $400)
• Apple iPad 9.7-inch 32GB tablet for $348 (from $398)

Best Buy’s deals last through December 28 and include free shipping over $35 unless the items are too big to qualify. Here are some of the best deals from Best Buy:

• Roku Streaming Stick for $39.99 (from $50)
• Kingston 128GB microSD card for $49.99 (from $100)
• Bose QuietComfort 25 over-ear headphones for $189.99 (from $310)
• Sonos Play:1 wireless speaker for $199.99 (from $250)
• Apple 13.3-inch 128GB SSD MacBook Air for $1,049.99 (from $1,200)

To keep in the know about the latest and greatest Canadian deals, sign up for Thrifter’s Canada newsletter today.

See at Walmart See at Best Buy

Never waste your time looking for keys again with this $42 5-pack of TrackR Pixel tracking devices

How much time have you wasted in your life shuffling around your home looking for your keys? Never again!

These TrackR pixel 5-pack Bluetooth tracking devices are down to $42.29 on Amazon. These trackers normally sell for $75. They dropped to $50 for the Black Friday shopping season, but that was the lowest they’ve ever gone before this deal.

There are a couple of other packs on sale, but they are either out of stock (you can order at the deal price and get them when they come back) or in very limited supply. The 8-pack multicolor, which is the one out of stock, is down to $44.99 from a street price around $100. The 8-pack of black trackers is down to $45.91 from a normal price around $100. The best previous low for either of these was $70 over Black Friday.

Features include:

• Always losing things? TrackR is here to help! So small and lightweight, you can attach it to anything.
• TrackR uses Bluetooth technology to find items at close range—up to 100 feet away. Use the TrackR app to ring your device, now with flashing LED lights to help you find it fast.
• See where you last had your keys, wallet, laptop – on a map. TrackR’s global crowd locate feature will alert you when your missing item has been spotted.
• Can’t find your phone? Press your TrackR device to make your phone ring, even on silent mode.
• Free TrackR app download, compatible with iOS & Android. 3 gift sleeves included – no wrapping required!

The free app will notify you when the TrackR’s battery is low and lets you replace it for free (if you live in the U.S.).

See on Amazon

HQ Trivia begins limited beta in the U.S., open beta in Canada

Here’s some good news for some Americans and all Canadians: HQ Trivia is here!

Earlier this week, the mobile phenomenon, HQ Trivia, announced that its Android release was nearing. Now, the company has said that it launched in limited beta in the U.S. on Christmas Day to iron out some bugs, and that it will open the app to more users in the coming days and weeks.

Android update: we’re in limited beta as of Christmas Day & are working quickly on patches, so we can continue to roll it out to more testers throughout the week. Our goal is to make it available to ALL by Jan. 1. Pre-register for updates: https://t.co/h47yTsixNJ

— HQ Trivia (@hqtrivia) December 26, 2017

But Canadians are a bit luckier: thanks to the smaller population, the game is in open beta up north, which means that every Canadian can now take part in the live trivia game that happens daily at 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET.

The game features a live host and a series of questions of increasing difficulty with hundreds of thousands of people competing for real cash prizes. Over Christmas, the game had 730,000 simultaneous users — and that was on iOS alone. Once it opens up to Android users, we can expect a million concurrent users on a regular basis. That should happen by the new year, but scale is hard, so it may take a bit longer.

Download HQ Trivia (free)

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Seneo’s fast Wireless Charging Stand is on sale for only $15

Wirelessly charge your device with Seneo’s Charging Stand.

Amazon has the Seneo Wireless Charging Pad Stand on sale for just $14.84 when you enter promo code GTHTOYXZ at checkout. This deal saves you over $5 off this item’s average price.

This wireless charger works with most QI-enabled devices, and can even fast charge a variety of Samsung Galaxy devices. While most wireless charging pads keep your phone laying down flat which can be inconvenient to use at the same time, this one keeps your phone standing at an angle so you can still answer calls, send texts or surf the web while it’s charging.

A lifetime warranty is included with this product, along with a micro USB cable. However, it does not come with an AC adapter, though you can pick this item up with one for $23.99 when you use code 6VL8KILQ at checkout. $9 for a Quick Charge 3.0 wall adapter is a pretty good deal when you look at the prices of other similar products on Amazon.

This item has 4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon with over 2,000 reviews.

See at Amazon

Grab the Samsung 850 EVO 250GB solid state drive for just $85

You can’t go wrong with the 850 EVO.

The Samsung 850 EVO 250GB internal solid state drive is down to $84.99. That’s $5 above its lowest price ever.

You can upgrade to the 500GB version for $140. It has been that low for a few weeks now, but it’s still one of the best prices ever and solid value.

The 850 EVO is well-reviewed with a lot of positive results. Windows Central called it the Best Overall SSD for Windows PCs. CNET gave it 4.5 stars. The Wirecutter still considers it to be the best SSD for its balance of performance and price. AnandTech has one of the most thorough reviews of this SSD on the Internet and called it “yet another showcase of Samsung’s engineering talent.”

Because Samsung designs SSDs with home-grown engineering, it’s also built for the long-term with twice the endurance of the competition. It’s capable of handling much heavier workloads, and Samsung backs all that up with a five-year warranty.

If you need help installing a new SSD, Windows Central has some tips for that.

See on Amazon

‘Astrocyte’ explores how architecture can interact with humans

Philip Beesley’s Astrocyte aims to show that architecture can be more than just ornamental. Built from acrylic, mylar, sensors, custom glasswork, 3D-printed lights and using AI, chemistry and a responsive soundscape, it not only invokes emotional reactions but reacts to participants’ movements and gestures. The giant, delicate-looking structure (inspired by astrocyte nerve cells), also prompts unusually respectful interactions from human observers.

The aerial scaffold structure was part of Toronto’s Expo for Design, Innovation and Technology (EDIT 2017), and hosted at an abandoned Unilever soap-manufacturing factory. It was built from 300,000 components by Philip Beesley Architect Inc. (PBAI), in collaboration with Beesley’s Living Architecture Systems Group at the University of Waterloo.

Astrocyte responds to viewers movements with patterns of light, surround sound and vibrations not unlike signals propagating along a nerve. The glasswork also holds oils and chemicals meant to represent the structure and energies of organic life. With the artwork, Beesley and his Living Architecture group are also exploring future building materials that could self-repair or alter spaces through media, light and sound.

“PBAI Studio works with a wide consortium of artists, engineers, scientists, and researchers as a central member of the Living Architecture Systems research group,” Beesley told Farmboy Fine Arts. “We explore the possibilities of next generation architecture, responsive environments, digital media and immersive sculpture. So we are asking, how might buildings and our environments begin to know and care about us? And might they start, in very primitive ways, to become alive?”

Astrocyte is based on “biophilic” architecture and design, which posits that humans innately seek to connect with nature. Much like with some types of vegetation and other natural systems, it looks fragile but is tough enough to handle interaction with exhibition participants.

“The work is robust, yet delicate in nature, and this seems to encourage different ways of acting,” Beesley said. “Observing people interacting with these spaces is quite striking because extraordinarily gentle and respectful responses tend to happen. Have we caused someone to experience a different, and perhaps healthier form of interaction?”

Astrocyte was created in partnership with 4D Sound, with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Ontario Arts Council.

Via: Design Boom

Source: EDIT

The Library of Congress will start limiting its Twitter archives in 2018

It doesn’t seem odd anymore that governments might want to save Twitter archives for historical purposes, what with all the attention our president gets for his contributions to the platform. The UK has been saving tweets and YouTube videos as historic media since 2014, while our own Library of Congress made it a practice since 2010. Now, however, the folks who manage the Twitter archive at the Library of Congress have announced that as of January 1st, they will only save tweets “on a selective basis.”

According to a blog post by Gayle Osterberg of the Library of Congress, the program will maintain the archive of tweets from 2006 – 2010, and will continue to acquire tweets on a selective basis. A white paper on the change says that, in general, tweets archived will be “thematic and event-based, including events such as elections, of themes of ongoing national interest, e.g. public policy.”

The white paper also points out that the volume of tweets has increased dramatically over time since 2010, and that its text-only archives miss important visual information of recent tweets. The Library feels that the first 12 years of tweets represent the rise of an important social media, and that the full-text collection can now be limited. “The Library generally does not collect comprehensively,” says the white paper. “Given the unknown direction of social media when the gift was first planned, the Library made an exception for public tweets. With social media now established, the Library is bringing its collecting practice more in line with its collection policies.”

Via: CNET

Source: Library of Congress

Google might set up Pixel 2 retail stores in India

India is the world’s second largest smartphone market, second only to China. It makes sense, then, that Google would want to push hard to sell its Pixel 2 phones in the region. According to a new report at The Economic Times, the company is planning to open brick and mortar retail stores in India to do just that.

The report notes that Google is considering opening “experience centers” in the country, where customers can try out the Pixel 2 phones. One anonymous source said that the company might roll out the stores in later 2018, while another source said the company had added a senior Apple executive to its retail plans. Apparently, Google has been happy with the interest people in the region have shown in several pop-up stores in malls like High Street Phoenix in Mumbai and Select Citywalk, Promenade, Mall of India in Delhi-NCR. The Economic Times also reports that two other “prominent” malls in india have seen requests to open Google retail space. “They got a flavor of how physical stores are also important because you can’t explain many of the features online,” a top mall executive told the site.

While Google hasn’t confirmed the reports, setting up retail in India could help the company compete with Apple and Samsung, as well as Chinese-made phones from XIaomi, Vivo and Oppo, notes The Economic Times. We’ve reached out to Google for comment and will update this post when we hear back.

Source: The Economic Times