Sacrifice one plug for three USB ports with this $19 Topgreener charger outlet

Plug it in, plug it in.

This Topgreener 3-port USB charger wall outlet is down to $19.17 with code U9UNVPWK on Amazon. This deal saves you about $6 off the average street price.

Essentially you’ll be able to replace one outlet with three ports for charging USB devices. That’s a good trade if you ask me, considering most of the things we plug in these days are power adapters for USB cables.

Features include:

• USB charger outlet with three USB ports (total output of 5.8A, 29W, 5VDC) and one 15A tamper-resistant receptacle. Replaces standard wall outlet for high-speed charging without adapters
• USB module part simplifies color changes and outlet replacement, so you can do it yourself, cutting out electrician and replacement costs. Instead of replacing an entire TU11558A3, replace just the USB module and it’s good as new!
• Smart Intellichip Technology, built into the USB ports, reads the power need of the connected smartphone, tablet, or device to safely and efficiently charge it without overcharging or overheating the device
• Tamper-resistant power outlet complies with 2011 NEC Article 406.14 and provides child safety from preventing the insertion of unwanted objects into the outlet; ideal for home, office, school, airport, hotel

While it comes with a plain white wall plate, you can add your own to match your home decor, like a black one for $4 or brushed nickel for $8.

See on Amazon

OnePlus 3T on OxygenOS beta was sending clipboard data to Alibaba servers

Thankfully, this ‘feature’ will be removed soon.

There’s no such thing as a perfect company, and that’s something OnePlus learned firsthand throughout 2017. During just the last few months of the year, it was discovered that certain OnePlus phones had a root backdoor and that the company was collecting an exorbitant amount of user data without giving customers a clear way to opt out of it.

In the latest entry of this saga, a user on the OnePlus forums has discovered that a system app by the name of “com.oneplus.clipboard” was collecting information from their OnePlus 3T’s clipboard and sending it back to servers owned by Chinese company Alibaba.

This app was found on a 3T running the latest OxygenOS Open Beta with the December 1, 2017 security patch, and after Android Police reached out to OnePlus to get more information about what the heck was going on, this was the response they received:

Our OnePlus beta program is designed to test new features with a selection of our community. This particular feature was intended for HydrogenOS, our operating system for the China market. We will be updating our global OxygenOS beta to remove this feature.

While we are glad to see that this app is being removed, we aren’t sure that this is something we’d refer to as a “feature.” There’s only been a report of this being found on the OnePlus 3T, but we wouldn’t be surprised if this made its way to the 3 as well.

OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3

• OnePlus 3T review: Rekindling a love story
• OnePlus 3T vs. OnePlus 3: What’s the difference?
• OnePlus 3T specs
• Latest OnePlus 3 news
• Discuss OnePlus 3T and 3 in the forums

Best Android apps for learning a language in 2018

Learning a new language doesn’t have to happen in a classroom.

A new year means new resolutions, and for some folks, that means sitting down and deciding to learn a new language. After all, in a world that is becoming increasingly multicultural, being multilingual is a handy skill. If you’ve been trying to figure out if there’s a good app that will let you learn while commuting or at home, then we’ve got good news for you.

We’ve collected the best language learning apps on Android for you right here!

• Rosetta Stone
• Duolingo
• Babbel

Learn languages: Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone is already well known as a great way to begin learning a new language, but you may not have realized that it was available on your phone. With access to 28 different languages, a slow and steady pace that is great for building up your confidence, and optional live tutoring, there is a reason that Rosetta Stone is king when it comes to language learning apps. Whether you’re aiming to learn for fun, or you want to become fluent, this is a great place to start. This program will let you learn how to speak, write, and read in a new language, with an emphasis on building confidence in pronunciation and the ability to sync progress across your desktop and mobile devices.

When it comes to language apps, Rosetta Stone may already be the first software you think of. There’s a good reason for that too. For years Rosetta Stone has dominated language learning on PC and its mobile version is just as solid. While getting access to the full program is a bit pricey, if you’re motivated to really learn a new language it’s worth the hit to your wallet in the long run.

Jill Duffy of PCMag gave it high marks for a foundation in a new language.

“Rosetta Stone is a wonderful, polished, and technically competent language-learning program, especially for beginners who are looking to build a foundation of knowledge on their own time.”

While Rosetta Stone does have it’s limitations, for those without a background in the language they’re trying to learn, this is the most solid all-around program. While it can be repetitive, that’s to make sure that your new vocabulary sticks in your brain. At higher levels, you’ll also be able to read to the program while it listens to your pronunciation. Additionally, it employs games like bingo to help your association between individual words and their meanings.

One of the biggest perks to Rosetta Stone is how they introduce everything. Immersion is the key to learning with Rosetta Stone, combined with deductive reasoning. At time you’ll need to guess a new word, but it’s made easier by giving you choices of other words that you’ve already learned.

Download: Rosetta Stone(Subscription required)

Duolingo

While price isn’t an option for some people, if you’re looking for the best way to begin learning a new language on a budget then Duolingo is definitely the best bet. This free app has access to over 20 different languages to learn from Vietnamese and Irish to Spanish and German. Unlike most other programs, Duolingo employs XP and leaderboards so that you can learn with your friends and turns language into a game to be played.

Each language is a little bit different, and the more popular languages do have access to far more module lessons. Each one starts out the same though. You’ll deal with the basics before moving on to phrases and language-specific lessons. The leaderboards will show you which friends on Facebook use the app and will let you compete against each other. By completing modules you’ll also earn EXP and Lingots which you can use to purchase extra modules. If you’re learning with friends, you can also start clubs which allows you to turn learning a language into a group activity.

Duolingo makes learning a language fun, and with its social aspects, it’s easy to learn a language with friends. Absolutely free, you never need to pay a penny in order to learn everything it has to offer. It even also allows people coming back to a language to test past the basics and jump right back into learning new content.

Download: Duolingo(Free)

Babbel

If you’re looking for a solid middle of the road option for learning a new language, then Babbel ought to be your go to. It offers a subscription for access to the full catalog, but it isn’t nearly as expensive as picking up a copy of Rosetta Stone. Each language is made up of a variety of courses from beginning vocabulary to grammar and writing in the language you are learning.

Each lesson must be downloaded to your phone, but they only take a moment or two and then you can properly jump in. Those lessons are also fairly short, making them easy to rock through when you’re sitting on the train during your commute. There are currently 14 languages in the Babbel arsenal, from Spanish to Brazilian Portuguese.

Babbel offers an affordable middle of the road option for learning a new language. There are 14 different languages available, with plenty of courses to get you working towards fluency in a new language. Each language must be downloaded as a different app, which can be a bit bulky if you download more than one at a time but this does make it easier to stick with a language once you get started.

Download: Babbel(Subscription required after free trial)

Questions?

Whether you’re looking for a free option that will let you learn in your free time, or you’re willing to go all in and pay for a subscription, you’ve got options when it comes to learning a new language. Unlike days past, you won’t need to head into a classroom because everything that you need is right on your phone! Is your favorite language learning app on our list? Is there another app that we ought to add? Let us know in the comments below!

Updated January 2018: We’ve updated this post with new features for the best language learning apps on Android!

If your phone powers wirelessly, RAVPower’s $33 charging pad will do it fast

Use this whether you have a new iPhone or Android phone.

This RAVPower fast charging Qi wireless charging pad is down to $32.99 with code ZDWIRECH on Amazon. The charging pad is $45 without the code, but that’s a very recent drop. It actually sells at $50 far more frequently. This price is a match for a deal we saw in late December.

This charging pad works with the newest iPhones and Android phones. It also comes with a Quick Charge 3.0 adapter for phones that can handle it.

Features include:

• 7.5W wireless charging for newest iPhone X / 8 Plus / 8 is enabled in the latest iOS 11.2 update – faster than traditional 3.5W-5W wireless chargers
• Compatible with All Qi-Enabled Phones: Includes iPhone X, iPhone 8, 8 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S8, S8 Plus; non-Qi enabled phones are still compatible but will require a Qi wireless charging cover to power up
• Fast & Free 24W QC 3.0 Adapter: Includes a powerful Quick Charge 3. 0 adapter that boosts the max output to 10W so selected Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus, or Microsoft Lumia phones can charge even faster
• Portable, Practical, Stylish, and Safe: Lightweight, take anywhere size with silicone anti-skid design to prevent sliding; smart battery indicator; built-in over-current, over-voltage, and over-temperature protection systems

This device has 4.1 stars based on 560 user reviews.

See on Amazon

Star Wars: Rivals is a PvP shooter coming soon to Android

Available now for pre-registration on the Play Store.

Ever since The Force Awakens came out in 2015 and kicked off yearly movie releases, the Star Wars hype has been in full “force.” This has resulted in a heap of Star Wars titles flooding the Play Store, and the latest to enter the ring is Star Wars: Rivals.

Star Wars: Rivals is being marketed as “the first real-time Star Wars competitive action shooter for mobile devices,” and as someone that hasn’t been all that interested in previous Star Wars mobile games, this might be the first to get my attention.

The gameplay is centered around cover-based action, with a big focus on online PvP battles. You can fight on a variety of planets, including Bespin, Scarif, Jakku, and the Death Star, and joining a faction will allow you to get increased damage, health, etc.

Heros can be swapped in and out of battles at any given time, and there are quite a few to choose from – including Darth Vader, Captain Phasma, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Jyn Erso, Chewbacca, and others.

You can pre-register for Star Wars: Rivals on the Play Store now, and when the game’s made available to download, Android users will get exclusive access to Death Troopers that’ll act as fire support during online matches.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is an RPG coming to Android in 2018

A robot kicked my ass in Scrabble at CES

Look, there’s plenty of boring industrial robots on the floor of the Las Vegas convention center for CES. But I’ve got to hand it to the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) — it really knows how to make a demo fun and interactive. The company combined a number of its technologies into a robot that is able to sit and play Scrabble against a human opponent … and win.

This isn’t some “AI” playing you in a digital world, to be clear. The humanoid machine, powered by what ITRI calls its Intelligent Vision System for Companion Robots, plays a physical (if slightly modified) game of Scrabble. Instead of tiny tiles with letters on them, the company used small wooden blocks like a child might play with. This, of course, means the board is slightly larger, but otherwise it is a standard Scrabble layout.

It’s hard not to be impressed by all the moving parts here. For one, the robot has to learn and understand the rules of the game and the best strategies for winning. It also needs to be able to see and recognize the game pieces and the spots on the board. That means it can read the letters on the cubes and identify the double-letter and triple-word score spots. And, last but not least, it needs the dexterity to place the pieces on the board and not disturb the existing letters — which is especially difficult when you’re laying down two words next to each other to rack up those two-letter combos.

Suffice to say, the robot kicked my ass. But that’s OK. At the end, it congratulated me on a good game and handed me an adorable robot-shaped pencil sharpener.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Sphero spin-off Misty Robotics unveils its first robot for developers

Misty Robotics, the company that spun out from Sphero’s advanced robotics division last year, is taking a big step toward its mission to bring a mechanical helper to homes. Today at CES, the company unveiled the Misty 1 developer robot, a cute, handmade machine that’ll be sold to a lucky group of customers. The company only plans to sell a few dozen units of the Misty 1 — at most, up to 50, according to CEO Tim Enwall. Developers will also have to apply to buy the robot for $1,500.

Misty Robotics will judge entries based on who has an adequate amount of time to spend with the device as well as who can commit to collaborating with its team down the line. It’s an unconventional approach toward releasing a new product, but it seems a necessary step for Misty, since it needs to make sure it has developers committed to learning a whole new robotic platform. The company plans to release a mass-produced model later this year, the Misty 2, but this early batch will let it see which aspects of its technology devs like the most.

The Misty 1 looks like an early concept version of Wall-E with its mini-tank treads, squat size and large, expressive eyes. Naturally, there’s a ton of gadgetry hidden underneath its adorable exterior. There are an occipital light sensor, HD camera and far-field microphone array up top, right above its 4.3-inch LCD display. Below that, there are speakers and RGB LED, as well as sensors in the front and rear for avoiding objects. It’s all powered by two Snapdragon processors. With all of that hardware, the robot will be able to see and recognize faces as well as map indoor environments.

So what does it actually do right now? Well, the company still seems to be figuring that out. Misty engineers are able to remotely control it from a smartphone, and they’ve also programmed one to act a bit aggressive when you get in its face (it growls like an animal, then performs a randomized series of actions to scare you away).

Now that the hardware is pretty much set, the company is more intrigued to see what developers do with it. To make it even easier to configure, the robot can also be programmed with Blockly, a simple language that’s used in STEM classes. The company has also found that even experienced coders appreciate having a quick way to tell the Misty 1 what to do.

Of course, this is just a start for Misty Robotics. The company recently held a “robothon” at its Boulder, Colorado, location to give 25 developers a shot at building some experience for the Misty 1. We can expect to see that sort of experimentation on a larger scale once even more devs get their hands on it.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

The Morning After: Thursday, January 11th 2018

Hey, good morning!

CES 2018 day two was interrupted by a two-hour power cut. It was as ridiculous as you’d imagine: The world’s biggest tech show meets a severe lack of electricity. Rest assured, we had time on either side to delve deeper into this year’s biggest incoming tech.

Big news from CESLights out at CES 2018

Possibly the worst thing that could happen at a tech show: Power went down across several halls at the Las Vegas Convention Center during this morning’s CES at 11:15 PT. Multiple booths suffered power outages, including swaths of TVs at LG. The South Hall was also affected as people were stopped getting to and from the exhibition areas. Security staff told Engadget that a power outage affected the majority of the halls. We looked at the resultant mess.

A projector with an expensive marble topSony’s $30,000 4K short-throw projector hides powerful sound

We’ve been eying Sony’s short-throw projectors for the past few years, but they’ve always been too obscenely expensive to really take seriously. Well, that’s not changing this year. In fact, the new LSPX-A1 is actually more expensive than last year’s $25,000 model at $30,000. But, with that extra cost comes a major new feature: six speakers that simulate 360-degree atmospheric sound.

Abyss Creations debuts its second robotic RealDoll at CES 2018There’s a new sex robot in town: Say hello to Solana

RealDoll’s first sex robot, at her home in Southern California. It was an arresting experience that has remained cemented in my memory. In that moment, I suddenly understood the uncanny valley, a theory posited by roboticist Masahiro Mori, nearly half a century ago. In it, he attempted to explain the feeling of revulsion and eeriness that humans experience when they encounter an artificial life form that appears nearly, but not quite human.

Oblivious attendees might have been the best part.Netflix hid a fake biotech booth in the middle of CES

To promote its new show, Netflix established a fictional exhibitor booth deep within Las Vegas Convention Center — and it worked a little too well.

The encryption debate rages on.FBI chief says phone encryption is a ‘major public safety issue’

The FBI’s stance on phone encryption hasn’t changed even if the president fired former director James Comey. At a cybersecurity conference in New York, current chief, Christopher Wray, reiterated that the agency failed to access the content inside 7,775 devices within the fiscal year that ended on September 30th, 2017 despite having the proper warrants. That’s over half the devices the FBI tried to crack open within that period, making encryption, according to Wray, a “major public safety issue.”

But wait, there’s more…

• Say goodbye to ‘Pokémon Go’ on older iPhones
• Philips Hue lights will sync with music and games on your PC
• The ASUS ‘Bezel-free kit’ is a messy multi-monitor solution
• GoPro’s Nick Woodman confirms he’s ‘open’ to selling
• Dell breaks down its new XPS laptops and jewelry debut

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t Subscribe.

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Gaming laptops are cheap and portable at CES 2018

Buying a laptop has traditionally meant juggling price, graphics performance, weight and battery life. You want a powerful gaming laptop with good battery life? Sorry about that six-pound weight, bro. Looking for a lightweight, inexpensive laptop to take to events? Forget about playing games or editing video.

CES 2018 marks a turning point, however. With the arrival of Intel’s eighth-generation Core with RX Vega M graphics and recent models with NVIDIA’s shrunk-down Max-Q graphics, owning a powerful laptop no longer means sacrificing your back in order to do more than two hours of gaming. At the same time, you won’t need to pay a fortune for a lightweight model that’s also a decent gaming machine.

To be sure, the trend started in late 2016 with the arrival of powerful, lightweight laptops like the Razer Blade that used mobile versions of NVIDIA’s GTX 10-series chips. That trend has accelerated rapidly, however, with recent tech from both AMD and NVIDIA.

Archrivals Intel and AMD announced their surprising team-up late last year. Intel’s eighth-generation, Core H series microprocessors integrate a custom AMD graphics chip, GDDR 5 memory and the CPU all onto one chipset via Intel’s Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB).

The resulting silicon frees up about three square inches of space, yet with speed a hair better than NVIDIA’s GTX 1050 mobile card (perhaps around the level of the GTX 1050 Ti) in the laptop GL configuration. GH chips suitable for small desktops or larger laptops can run a bit faster than NVIDIA’s 1060 Max-Q, Intel claims. The latter has enough power for VR, and to prove it, Intel unveiled Hades Canyon, the world’s smallest VR NUC, during its CES 2018 keynote.

Perhaps more importantly, Intel claims the chipset consumes a lot less power than current offerings with similar performance. The entire GL package, with a Core i7 8706G CPU, RX Vega M graphics and GDDR5 memory, sips just 65 watts, while NVIDIA’s GTX 1060 Max-Q chip uses about the same without counting the CPU.

HP’s new $1,360 Spectre x360 15 convertible (above), unveiled at CES 2018, is the first PC to exploit the tech. Even with the weight premium of a 2-in-1 shell and 4K touchscreen, it has a slim 19.8mm profile and weighs just 4.6 pounds. Yet according to Intel and AMD, it should deliver graphics performance somewhere between dedicated NVIDIA GTX 1050 and 1060 graphics — not bad for a single chipset.

Another new model boasting Intel and AMD’s chip combo is Dell’s XPS 15 two-in-one, which starts at $1,300. Like the Spectre (kind of a bad name choice now), it’s a convertible with a 4K touch display that’s 16mm and weighs 4.3 pounds.

The power and size savings pay dividends. While a smaller 14-inch Razer Blade gaming laptop with NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics weights 4.1 pounds, you’d be lucky to get four to five hours of battery life on the 4K model.

However, Dell’s and HP’s models benefit not only from lower power consumption but also more space to put larger batteries. Assuming their claims are accurate, the XPS 15 two-in-one offers up to 15 hours of battery life while the Spectre x360 can run for 13.5 hours and get to a 50 percent charge in just 30 minutes. Both models are also considerably cheaper than the $1,899 Razer, too, despite having larger 4K 15-inch screens.

We’ll likely see more models roll out over the next few months with the Intel/AMD chips, and manufacturers should easily be able to get regular, nonconvertible models well under four pounds for even less money.

At the same time, laptops that tap the full potential of NVIDIA’s Max-Q graphics started to appear earlier this year. Max-Q offers nearly the same performance as regular NVIDIA GTX graphics but in a lighter, more power-friendly size.

NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang drove home those points while flaunting Gigabyte’s $2,200 Aero 15x laptop during NVIDIA’s keynote at CES 2018 (above). “OK, can you guys see this? This has four times the performance of a MacBook Pro,” he said. “Twice the performance of the highest-performance game console. This is what a latest-generation gaming laptop looks like.”

The Aero 15x squeezes NVIDIA GTX 1070 Max-Q into a 19mm, 4.6-pound size. Yet, its performance isn’t that far below the 7.6-pound Alienware 15 R4 with NVIDIA GTX 1070 graphics, and it blows that model away in terms of battery life (7.9 hours versus 5.7 hours of 4K-video-viewing time).

Moving down a bit in weight and performance, Acer revealed the $1,699 price tag for its 13.5-inch fanless 2-in-1 Switch Black Edition at CES, with an eighth-generation Intel Core i7 chip and NVIDIA GeForce MX150 CPU. While that combo won’t give you quite the performance of the Vega or Max-Q chips, it weighs in at just 2.5 pounds, shockingly little for a convertible with discrete graphics. If that’s too much to spend, other MX150-equipped models like the Acer Aspire E15 are as little as $700.

All of this will make 2018 a very good year for you, the demanding Windows 10 gamer, virtual reality user, video editor or graphic artist. The current and upcoming models will give you lighter weight and/or cheaper choices, whether you want a maxed-out gaming machine, a detachable 2-in-1 with discrete graphics or a lightweight laptop that can game and edit 4K video.

Even if you just do web and documents and plan to game here and there, why get a model with integrated graphics when there are better options? For years, I’ve dreamed of an affordable laptop I can take to a trade show to edit posts and videos without worrying about battery life, then game or use for VR afterward. By CES 2019, it might be unusual to see a laptop without those capabilities.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Google bought a UK startup that turns screens into speakers

Over the past year, Google has demonstrated its desire to step up its hardware game. The company bought HTC’s Pixel team for $1.1 billion, designed its own imaging chip for the Pixel 2 and also hired a key Apple chip designer. Bloomberg reports that in its bid to gain an edge on the competition, Google has quietly snapped up UK startup Redux, a small team focused on delivering sound and touch feedback via mobile displays.

According to filings, Google took control of the startup back in August and then subsequently shut down the company’s website. Previous demonstrations show Redux playing back music via a tablet device, which possesses tiny actuators that vibrate the screen and effectively turn it into a loudspeaker. By eliminating the need for smartphone speakers, Google may be able free up more space for batteries and other important components inside future smartphones.

Redux tech turns the screen into a speaker, and a haptic surface. Trying it out here. The sound is actually coming from the screen. pic.twitter.com/VPAi6TzKk9

— Stan Schroeder (@franticnews) February 28, 2017

Although Redux has already integrated similar technology inside PCs and automotive infotainment systems, it has recently focused on bringing the same technology to mobile devices. In April 2017, the company told Engadget in a statement that it believed it would begin appearing in smartphones from 2018. Google’s decision to buy the company may accelerate that rollout, meaning we could see Redux’s haptic sound technology come to a Google device later this year.

Source: Bloomberg