OnePlus 5T Sandstone White is now available for purchase for $559

You’ll probably want to act fast.

The OnePlus 5T is an excellent phone is a lot of different areas, and it’s definitely the cleanest and most polished-looking phone OnePlus has released to date. The 5T’s only been available in a sleek Midnight Black color in most markets since its launch in November, but now you can finally buy the phone in Sandstone White.

OnePlus announced the new Sandstone White color on January 4, and January 9 marks the first official day that you can actually buy the thing.

You’ll pay $559 for this version of the 5T, and in addition to the unique color and texture, you’re also getting 8GB RAM and 128GB storage compared to the $499 Midnight Black unit that comes with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage.

It’s unclear how long OnePlus will keep the Sandstone White 5T around, but the “limited edition” branding leads up to believe that you’ll want to get your orders in sooner rather than later to ensure you don’t miss out on securing one for yourself.

See at OnePlus

OnePlus 5T and OnePlus 5

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

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Honor 7X will get its own face unlock feature in Q1 2018

The face unlock clones keep coming.

Since the launch of the iPhone X, it seems like everyone and their cousin wants to try their hand at facial recognition. OnePlus first launched its Face Unlock feature on the 5T before rolling it out to the 5, Asus announced its take on this with the ZenFone Max Plus, and now Honor will be releasing its own facial unlocking system on the 7X.

Honor says face unlock will come to the 7X “beginning in Q1 of 2018”, and this will happen thanks to a future software update. Honor hasn’t dived into specifics of how its face unlock system will work, but seeing as how there aren’t special sensors like on the iPhone X, it’ll likely work similarly to what we’ve seen so far with the OnePlus 5T.

The Honor 7X already offers way more phone than one would expect at the $199 price point, and while face unlock might not be a necessity, we certainly aren’t complaining that it’s making its way to such an affordable handset.

Honor View 10 goes international Jan 8, Honor 7X announced in limited-edition red

Pro Drybag 2.0 Is Built To Protect Your Gear In Extreme Conditions

Take all your favorite tech with you on all your adventures!

Mobile technology has gotten better and better over the years, so when you set out on an adventure into the great wide wilderness, you’ll want to take your favorite tech along with you. So what makes a great gear bag? It’s got to be well-designed and customizable to keep your gear organized and secure, and it’s got to be rugged and durable enough to withstand anything life throws at you.

The folks at Subtech Sports have a great solution with their latest Pro Drybag 2.0 series of bags. After a successful campaign launching the original Pro Drybag, they’re back with improved models that are an ideal bag choice for extreme athletes, extreme tech geeks, and everyone in between. There are actually three bags released here — a commuter-sized tote bag, a medium-sized bag that includes a shockproof inflatable system, and a full-sized bag with a fully adjustable internal pack system. All bags are built to be waterproof with an air-tight zipper designed to keep your valuables dry and safe.

Thanks to their previous Kickstarter product, Subtech has received real-life feedback from athletes and adventurers around the world who have taken these bags to all corners of the earth. Just like its predecessor, the Pro Drybag 2.0 has already crushed its Kickstarter goal, but there’s still time to score your own for a great discounted price. You can snag the tote bag model with a pledge of $49 (over 50% off), or opt for the floating carry-on bag or the larger Pro Drybag with a pledge of $199. It’s worth noting that Subtech is based out of Sweden, and the prices are listed in Swedish currency, and will presumably be shipping from Sweden — and shipping costs are not included in the pledge price.

This is the third Kickstarter campaign for the team behind the Pro Drybag, so you’ll be buying a product that’s been refined over years. The bags are set to start shipping in June 2018 — perfect timing for any summer adventures you may be planning — and there’s still three weeks remaining to get in on this deal. Whether you’re a thrill-seeking adventurer, or simply a frequent traveler that wants peace of mind when you pack up all your valuable gear, you’ll need to look into the Pro Drybag 2.0 Series.

See the Pro Drybag 2.0 Series on Kickstarter

Garmin’s latest running watch packs music and payments

We get it: all you wanna do this year is go for a run and leave that pricey, thousand-dollar smartphone at home. That’s why almost every running watch worth its salt now comes with built-in music playback that’ll push tunes to your Bluetooth headphones. Garmin’s support for this cause now includes the new Forerunner 645 Music which, clue in the name, is a running watch that packs storage for up to 500 songs. As well as the music on your desktop, you can also pipe in songs from either iHeartRadio and Deezer to take on your outdoor jaunts.

As well as Bluetooth music, the 645 comes packing Garmin Pay, which is ideal for that post-workout coffee (or beer, we won’t judge). In addition, prospective owners should be wowed by the pretty steel bezel, the first Forerunner to get such a flashy addition. Battery life is always an issue with running watches, and the 645 will last up to seven days on a charge, or five hours on GPS.

Garmins always have sturdy build quality and should last you forever, so it’s no surprise to see the 645 Music having a pleasing heft. In addition, it’s a lot slimmer and tidier than previous iterations, and the steel bezel really does make it look a lot classier than other wearables in its class.

The Garmin Forerunner 645 Music is available for $450, and comes with ether a black or reddish-pink cerise band and will arrive within the next three months. If you’re still devoted to that old iPod Shuffle, you can pick up a music-free version that’s priced at $400, which comes in black or sandstone.

Nicole Lee contributed to this report.

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

Source: Garmin

President Trump signs order to promote broadband in rural areas

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will make it easier for companies to install high-speed broadband networks in rural areas. The move is designed to tackle the economic challenges of integrating broadband infrastructure in these communities — where 39 percent of people don’t have access to broadband — which the Obama administration highlighted two years ago.

Earlier this year Trump commented on his “$1 trillion infrastructure proposal”, but this latest order doesn’t appear to offer any funding to promote broadband in rural areas. Instead, it expedites federal permitting requirements, essentially removing governmental bottlenecks for broadband companies looking to install and operate wireless towers in these places. Trump signed the order in front of nearly 5,000 American Farm Bureau Federation members in Nashville, telling them, “Those towers are going to go up, and you’re going to have great, great broadband.”

Via: USA Today

Source: Whitehouse.gov

Watch WWE highlights from ringside with NextVR’s wrestling channel

The fine, well-oiled folks of World Wrestling Entertainment are bringing some of the franchise’s most exciting moments to virtual reality with a new channel on the NextVR app. The WWE channel will host 10-minute experiences, uploaded for free after each participating event, that put fans in the center of the action, as if they attended the match live. NextVR is available on Samsung’s Gear VR, Google’s Daydream View, Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality and Sony’s PlayStation VR headsets.

This isn’t NextVR’s first foray into VR athletics. The company supports a host of sports competitions, including the official NBA, NFL, Wimbledon and boxing VR channels, plus concerts via Live Nation. NextVR streams some of these games live, though for now the WWE will offer only curated highlights, rather than full matches.

The WWE is messing around with new ways to reach viewers: In December, the company announced a 12-episode tournament that will air exclusively on Facebook’s Watch tab on Tuesday nights, starting January 16th. We’ll be chatting with WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon on the Engadget stage at CES about all of the ways the wrestling world is using technology to expand its audience and influence.

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

Google will remove its name from fast-loading mobile URLs

Google’s fast-loading, data-saving AMP sites help you mainline morning news on the train to work, but they come with an undesirable side effect. As you will’ve noticed, the URL for an AMP site looks something like this: google.com/amp/www.engadget.com… As Google explains, it starts loading the page before you’ve even decided whether to click or not. For that and privacy reasons, Google has to be the middle man, though it has figured out how to nix that URL prefix in its mobile Search apps. In the latter half of 2018, though, Google has said it expects to be able to remove the AMP signature from URLs in Chrome and other smartphone browsers, too.

There are a few reasons why Google would want to cut its dust jacket out of the equation. Firstly, publishers will get their rightful place at the front of the URL. But for users, it means no more irksome editing before posting an interesting link to social media, or sharing in other ways. And when you prod at a shared link, you’ll have more confidence it hasn’t been mislabeled if all you see is the AMP prefix. By the time the change is implemented, AMP pages might have a friendlier moniker, such as ‘Instant.’ More importantly, though, you’ll know you’re getting the full website experience and not a clickbait version with content stripped out — a practice some publishers have annoyed Google with.

If you’re interested in the nitty gritty, Google is working on a new version of the AMP cache based on “the emerging Web Packaging standard.” According to the search giant, it’ll offer the same level of privacy and performance as the current cache without tinkering with the URL. Google expects other browsers to adopt the standard as it has other uses, such as enabling offline pages. There is much work still to be done, like implementing the standard in the WebKit engine, but it’s hoped that mobile newsguzzlers will start seeing fast-loading pages without Google sitting at the front of the URL at some point in the second half of this year.

Source: Google

CES begins: Smart fridges, accessibility tech and really big TVs

The biggest news that came out of a day of CES press conferences? LG executives pronounce their new “ThinQ” smart appliance line “thin-cue” instead of “think.” We kid, we kid (sort of). The appliances themselves are noteworthy, in that they talk to each other more proactively than we’ve previously seen on other smart home appliances.

Also of interest this early in the show: all the tech we’ve seen designed to assist the elderly and disabled. And, of course, in addition to all of the above, we’ve also seen our fair share of TVs: big, rollable and all very expensive, we’re sure. As ever, some are more practical than others, and some aren’t at all close to coming to market. Find all that in more in our quickie day-zero recap.

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

Turing’s Segway-based patrol robot can give humans a ride

Security robots typically have to operate by themselves, which can be a problem when intruders get pushy. Turing Video has a simple answer to this, however: give human security officers a lift. It just premiered a security robot, Nimbo, whose Segway-based design includes a unique “Ride-On Mode” that lets a passenger hop on and travel at up to 11MPH. The bot is designed to autonomously patrol areas and deliver audiovisual warnings if it catches a trespasser with its computer vision (based on tech like Intel RealSense), but this helps its organic counterparts respond to alerts or supplement the machine’s own coverage.

The Segway underpinnings also help it traverse areas that other robots might not handle. It can cross rough pavement and speed bumps, and its relatively narrow body (25 inches across) can help it squeak into narrow passageways. Also, Nimbo can operate around the clock: it can dock at automatic charging stations and produce non-stop video.

Turing hasn’t said how much Nimbo costs (we’ve asked about it), but that’s likely to depend on specific needs. The automaton can be customized to tie into existing security systems, talk to drones or carry additional sensors, so the base model definitely isn’t the only option. As such, don’t be surprised if you eventually see these machines guarding everything from the local parking complex to your corporate campus.

Source: PR Newswire, Turing Video

LG Expected to Supply Face ID Technology on New iPhone X, iPad Pro, and iPhone X Plus This Year

Apple is planning a significant investment in LG Innotek to secure supply of 3D sensing modules for next-generation iPhone and iPad models expected to launch this year, according to Korean website The Investor.

iPad Pro render by Benjamin Geskin and rough mockup of iPhone X and iPhone X Plus
The upfront payment could be worth as much as around $820.9 million, which LG Innotek would use to build additional facilities for production of 3D sensing and camera modules for mobile devices, the report claims.

The 3D sensing modules assembled by LG Innotek, including the flood illuminator and dot projector, are key components of the iPhone X’s new TrueDepth camera system, enabling features such as Face ID and Animoji.

The investment would make sense given Apple plans to launch a refreshed iPhone X, a larger iPhone X Plus, and a mid-range iPhone each with Face ID later this year, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Apple will also release at least one iPad Pro model with Face ID this year, according to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg News.

The investment could help Apple avoid the temporary supply chain issues it experienced with 3D sensing modules late last year, ensuring availability of the new iPhone X, iPhone X Plus, and iPad Pro is more plentiful.

Related Roundups: iPad Pro, iPhone XTags: LG, Face ID, TrueDepthBuyer’s Guide: 10.5″ iPad Pro (Neutral), 12.9″ iPad Pro (Neutral), iPhone X (Buy Now)
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