Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Better gaming keyboards, wrist phones, and more

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion different crowdfunding campaigns happening on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there — alongside some real gems. We’ve cut through the fidget spinners and janky iPhone cases to round up the most unusual, ambitious, and exciting new crowdfunding projects out there this week. That said, keep in mind that any crowdfunding project — even the best intentioned — can fail, so do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

January 6th

MyFirst Fone — wrist-borne communicator for kids

In addition to being a solid contender for 2018’s Worst Product Name of the Year Award, MyFirst Fone is the newest addition to the growing category of kid-friendly smartphones. Now before you lose your mind and go into an impassioned rant about how young kids shouldn’t have cellphones, take a deep breath, rub your earlobes, and hear me out. This is actually a pretty decent idea. I too agree that young children shouldn’t have cellphones — especially those of the “smart” variety. Spending so much time staring wide-eyed at an LED screen, texting, and playing games all day removes kids from the real world, robs them of meaningful social interaction with other people, and screws them up developmentally. That being said, having a way to communicate with your kids no matter where they are is a huge plus, and can help keep them safe.

MyFirst Fone is a little wearable device that aims to reconcile these problems. It’s essentially a minimalist wearable smartphone designed to be worn on a child’s wrist, thereby giving kids a direct line to their parents, and giving parents the ability to check up on their kids’ whereabouts via GPS. It does this while keeping games, internet browsers, and other distractions out of the equation — so your kids can focus on being kids, and enjoy the world around them.

Hudly – HUD for your car

It only takes a glance at distracted driving statistics to drive home the fact that smartphones were not designed for the car. The apps that run on these devices tempt drivers to take their eyes off the road, which is dangerous, even if it’s just a glance. So how do you help drivers stay focused on the road, but still give them access to essential navigation and communication apps? Hudly thinks it has the answer. The company’s newest product is arguably one of the most advanced dashboard HUDs to date, and boasts a unique set of features that aim to solve the problems that other HUDs suffer from.

Instead of forcing you to look directly at your smartphone map (and away from the road), the Hudly app beams your smartphone nav info to the Hudly HUD, which projects it onto a reflective (but still transparent) piece of glass. This allows you to see navigation info without taking your eyes off the road ahead of you. Plus, since the HUD itself is a standalone unit that relies on a wireless connection to your smartphone, you don’t have to surrender your device to a dock every time you go for a drive. Just hop in, fire up the app, and hit the road.

Yeti Touch — quick defrosting tray

Defrosting your food is a lot like saving for retirement. If you plan ahead, it’s not a big problem — but if you don’t think about it until the last minute, you’re screwed. Generally, you have two options if you forget to pull the steaks out of the freezer: you can toss them in the microwave and turn them into rubber with a quick defrost cycle, or you can leave them on the cutting board, let them thaw naturally, and have dinner at midnight. Neither of those options are ideal. But what if there was a better way? What if you could thaw food quickly without compromising its flavor or texture?

That’s precisely where the Yeti Touch defrosting tray comes in. Thanks to some brilliant design and smart materials choices, the tray is able to defrost a frozen steak (or whatever you’re trying to cook) in a fraction of the time it would take to thaw on a normal cutting board. For example, while an ice cube typically takes about 20 minutes to melt completely while sitting on a cutting board at room temperature, the same ice cube will be reduced to a puddle in under four minutes on the Yeti. The key is the raised aluminum tray and vented lower chamber, which work together to draw the cold out and away from your food.

Dygma Raise — ergonomically optimized gaming keyboard

Keyboards and mice weren’t originally designed with PC gaming in mind, and despite the fact that gaming-focused keyboards and mice are widely available these days, many of them still suffer from the same drawbacks and shortcomings that their non-gaming counterparts do. So Luis Sevilla created a solution. The Dygma Raise, as it’s called, was designed from the ground up with professional gamers in mind.

First of all, it addresses ergonomics. “A normal keyboard forces the wrists to bend towards the pinky side of our hand,” Sevilla says on his Kickstarter campaign page. “Rotating Raise’s halves lets you keep your wrists at a neutral angle, decreasing pressure and strain over time. You can also adjust the width between the [keyboard’s] two halves, placing them in front of your shoulders to reduce internal shoulder rotation.”

The Raise is also completely customizable, and features additional buttons that normal keyboards don’t have. “The giant space bar is one of the things that we’ve inherited from the typewriter that doesn’t make sense any more,” says Sevilla. “We’ve divided the spacebar into 4 and added 4 extra keys under it. They are comfortable to use because they are in the area where our thumbs naturally rest.”

Vinci 2.0 — smart wireless headphones

We covered this one a few weeks ago, so I’ll let DT’s Nick Hastings give you the scoop.

“Leonardo da Vinci was the original Renaissance man, a brilliant polymath whose expertise in various arts and sciences often outclassed even the leaders of those fields. New York-based Inspero Inc.’s Vinci 2.0 smart earphones hope to offer enough versatility and flexibility to live up to their inspirational namesake. Following up on the company’s crazy Vinci over-ear headphones that impressed us at the 2017 Luxury Tech show and received nearly $1 million in Kickstarter funding last year, the Vinci 2.0 pack an impressive array of features into a unique, angular-neckband design. The band itself is pentagonal, featuring a small OLED touchscreen — we’re not entirely sure why — and the whole package weighs a shade over three ounces (90 grams).”

“The Vinci 2.0 are equipped with onboard flash storage — 8GB for the Lite model, 16GB for the Pro, and 32GB for the Super — so you can leave your phone in your bag while working out. Baked-in support for not one but two virtual assistants, Amazon’s Alexa and Inspero’s proprietary Vinci, means you can rely on voice commands to do just about anything, including controlling your music playback, calling an Uber, or checking the weather forecast. The Vinci 2.0 support both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, allowing you to utilize Alexa and Vinci without an anchor device. If you’re out on a run — and therefore outside of Wi-Fi range — the headphones even support 3G (something we’ve never seen before), so you can access voice assistants or even streaming services from virtually anywhere.”

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Better gaming keyboards, wrist phones, and more

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion different crowdfunding campaigns happening on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there — alongside some real gems. We’ve cut through the fidget spinners and janky iPhone cases to round up the most unusual, ambitious, and exciting new crowdfunding projects out there this week. That said, keep in mind that any crowdfunding project — even the best intentioned — can fail, so do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

January 6th

MyFirst Fone — wrist-borne communicator for kids

In addition to being a solid contender for 2018’s Worst Product Name of the Year Award, MyFirst Fone is the newest addition to the growing category of kid-friendly smartphones. Now before you lose your mind and go into an impassioned rant about how young kids shouldn’t have cellphones, take a deep breath, rub your earlobes, and hear me out. This is actually a pretty decent idea. I too agree that young children shouldn’t have cellphones — especially those of the “smart” variety. Spending so much time staring wide-eyed at an LED screen, texting, and playing games all day removes kids from the real world, robs them of meaningful social interaction with other people, and screws them up developmentally. That being said, having a way to communicate with your kids no matter where they are is a huge plus, and can help keep them safe.

MyFirst Fone is a little wearable device that aims to reconcile these problems. It’s essentially a minimalist wearable smartphone designed to be worn on a child’s wrist, thereby giving kids a direct line to their parents, and giving parents the ability to check up on their kids’ whereabouts via GPS. It does this while keeping games, internet browsers, and other distractions out of the equation — so your kids can focus on being kids, and enjoy the world around them.

Hudly – HUD for your car

It only takes a glance at distracted driving statistics to drive home the fact that smartphones were not designed for the car. The apps that run on these devices tempt drivers to take their eyes off the road, which is dangerous, even if it’s just a glance. So how do you help drivers stay focused on the road, but still give them access to essential navigation and communication apps? Hudly thinks it has the answer. The company’s newest product is arguably one of the most advanced dashboard HUDs to date, and boasts a unique set of features that aim to solve the problems that other HUDs suffer from.

Instead of forcing you to look directly at your smartphone map (and away from the road), the Hudly app beams your smartphone nav info to the Hudly HUD, which projects it onto a reflective (but still transparent) piece of glass. This allows you to see navigation info without taking your eyes off the road ahead of you. Plus, since the HUD itself is a standalone unit that relies on a wireless connection to your smartphone, you don’t have to surrender your device to a dock every time you go for a drive. Just hop in, fire up the app, and hit the road.

Yeti Touch — quick defrosting tray

Defrosting your food is a lot like saving for retirement. If you plan ahead, it’s not a big problem — but if you don’t think about it until the last minute, you’re screwed. Generally, you have two options if you forget to pull the steaks out of the freezer: you can toss them in the microwave and turn them into rubber with a quick defrost cycle, or you can leave them on the cutting board, let them thaw naturally, and have dinner at midnight. Neither of those options are ideal. But what if there was a better way? What if you could thaw food quickly without compromising its flavor or texture?

That’s precisely where the Yeti Touch defrosting tray comes in. Thanks to some brilliant design and smart materials choices, the tray is able to defrost a frozen steak (or whatever you’re trying to cook) in a fraction of the time it would take to thaw on a normal cutting board. For example, while an ice cube typically takes about 20 minutes to melt completely while sitting on a cutting board at room temperature, the same ice cube will be reduced to a puddle in under four minutes on the Yeti. The key is the raised aluminum tray and vented lower chamber, which work together to draw the cold out and away from your food.

Dygma Raise — ergonomically optimized gaming keyboard

Keyboards and mice weren’t originally designed with PC gaming in mind, and despite the fact that gaming-focused keyboards and mice are widely available these days, many of them still suffer from the same drawbacks and shortcomings that their non-gaming counterparts do. So Luis Sevilla created a solution. The Dygma Raise, as it’s called, was designed from the ground up with professional gamers in mind.

First of all, it addresses ergonomics. “A normal keyboard forces the wrists to bend towards the pinky side of our hand,” Sevilla says on his Kickstarter campaign page. “Rotating Raise’s halves lets you keep your wrists at a neutral angle, decreasing pressure and strain over time. You can also adjust the width between the [keyboard’s] two halves, placing them in front of your shoulders to reduce internal shoulder rotation.”

The Raise is also completely customizable, and features additional buttons that normal keyboards don’t have. “The giant space bar is one of the things that we’ve inherited from the typewriter that doesn’t make sense any more,” says Sevilla. “We’ve divided the spacebar into 4 and added 4 extra keys under it. They are comfortable to use because they are in the area where our thumbs naturally rest.”

Vinci 2.0 — smart wireless headphones

We covered this one a few weeks ago, so I’ll let DT’s Nick Hastings give you the scoop.

“Leonardo da Vinci was the original Renaissance man, a brilliant polymath whose expertise in various arts and sciences often outclassed even the leaders of those fields. New York-based Inspero Inc.’s Vinci 2.0 smart earphones hope to offer enough versatility and flexibility to live up to their inspirational namesake. Following up on the company’s crazy Vinci over-ear headphones that impressed us at the 2017 Luxury Tech show and received nearly $1 million in Kickstarter funding last year, the Vinci 2.0 pack an impressive array of features into a unique, angular-neckband design. The band itself is pentagonal, featuring a small OLED touchscreen — we’re not entirely sure why — and the whole package weighs a shade over three ounces (90 grams).”

“The Vinci 2.0 are equipped with onboard flash storage — 8GB for the Lite model, 16GB for the Pro, and 32GB for the Super — so you can leave your phone in your bag while working out. Baked-in support for not one but two virtual assistants, Amazon’s Alexa and Inspero’s proprietary Vinci, means you can rely on voice commands to do just about anything, including controlling your music playback, calling an Uber, or checking the weather forecast. The Vinci 2.0 support both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, allowing you to utilize Alexa and Vinci without an anchor device. If you’re out on a run — and therefore outside of Wi-Fi range — the headphones even support 3G (something we’ve never seen before), so you can access voice assistants or even streaming services from virtually anywhere.”

DJI Ronin S is a one-hand gimbal for DSLRs; Osmo Mobile 2 embraces vertical video

DJI revealed two new stabilizers at the Consumer Electronics Show today, the Osmo Mobile 2 for smartphones and the Ronin S, the company’s first single-handle, 3-axis stabilizer for DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.

The Osmo Mobile 2 offers a refined user interface to make controlling your phone’s camera easier than before. Integrated ISO and shutter speed controls let you set your phone just like a DSLR, enabling you to lock in the exposure for consistent time-lapse sequences or perfect panoramas. Long exposure, light trail, and subject tracking modes are also offered through the DJI Go app for iOS and Android.

Additionally, the Osmo Mobile 2 contains a completely new battery with up to 15 hours of operation time, an impressive three-fold increase over the original Osmo Mobile. It is also the first DJI phone stabilizer that allows for portrait orientation, making it easier to create super smooth Snapchat and Instagram stories. A standard 1/4-inch tripod mount lets you connect the stabilizer to a variety of tripods and other accessories.

The Osmo Mobile 2 will initially be available for preorder exclusively through Apple starting on January 23. It will be available from DJI and Apple retail stores starting in February for a price of $129.

Ronin S: A smaller, sleeker stabilizer

As its first single-handle DSLR and mirrorless camera stabilizer, the Ronin S joins a bevy of popular options from companies like FeyuTech and Zhiyun, putting 3-axis stabilization in a compact form factor. Two different frame sizes are available, one geared for larger DSLRs and the other for mirrorless bodies. High-torque motors support a variety of popular cameras, including the Panasonic GH5, Sony A7R Mark III, and Canon 5D Mark IV .

The Ronin S uses an angled control arm that raises the camera above the roll axis, allowing for an unimpeded view of the rear LCD. This isn’t the first gimbal to employ this clever trick, but we’re glad to see it.

Beyond simply stabilizing your footage, the Ronin S offers several ways to direct your shot via DJI’s mobile app. Just like the Osmo Mobile 2, you can set up time-lapse and panorama shots, track subjects, or use CamAnchor to set predetermined camera positions for the gimbal to automatically rotate to throughout the shot. A new sport mode also allows the gimbal to rotate more quickly to keep up with fast-moving subjects.

DJI has said the Ronin S will be available in the second quarter of 2018, but has not yet announced pricing.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Ikan DS2-A Beholder review
• The best GoPro accessories to make the most of your next adventure
• VR Stabilizer plug-in brings 360 stabilization to Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects
• GoPro Hero6 Black review
• With world’s fastest autofocus, Panasonic Lumix G9 is a mirrorless powerhouse

DJI Ronin S is a one-hand gimbal for DSLRs; Osmo Mobile 2 embraces vertical video

DJI revealed two new stabilizers at the Consumer Electronics Show today, the Osmo Mobile 2 for smartphones and the Ronin S, the company’s first single-handle, 3-axis stabilizer for DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.

The Osmo Mobile 2 offers a refined user interface to make controlling your phone’s camera easier than before. Integrated ISO and shutter speed controls let you set your phone just like a DSLR, enabling you to lock in the exposure for consistent time-lapse sequences or perfect panoramas. Long exposure, light trail, and subject tracking modes are also offered through the DJI Go app for iOS and Android.

Additionally, the Osmo Mobile 2 contains a completely new battery with up to 15 hours of operation time, an impressive three-fold increase over the original Osmo Mobile. It is also the first DJI phone stabilizer that allows for portrait orientation, making it easier to create super smooth Snapchat and Instagram stories. A standard 1/4-inch tripod mount lets you connect the stabilizer to a variety of tripods and other accessories.

The Osmo Mobile 2 will initially be available for preorder exclusively through Apple starting on January 23. It will be available from DJI and Apple retail stores starting in February for a price of $129.

Ronin S: A smaller, sleeker stabilizer

As its first single-handle DSLR and mirrorless camera stabilizer, the Ronin S joins a bevy of popular options from companies like FeyuTech and Zhiyun, putting 3-axis stabilization in a compact form factor. Two different frame sizes are available, one geared for larger DSLRs and the other for mirrorless bodies. High-torque motors support a variety of popular cameras, including the Panasonic GH5, Sony A7R Mark III, and Canon 5D Mark IV .

The Ronin S uses an angled control arm that raises the camera above the roll axis, allowing for an unimpeded view of the rear LCD. This isn’t the first gimbal to employ this clever trick, but we’re glad to see it.

Beyond simply stabilizing your footage, the Ronin S offers several ways to direct your shot via DJI’s mobile app. Just like the Osmo Mobile 2, you can set up time-lapse and panorama shots, track subjects, or use CamAnchor to set predetermined camera positions for the gimbal to automatically rotate to throughout the shot. A new sport mode also allows the gimbal to rotate more quickly to keep up with fast-moving subjects.

DJI has said the Ronin S will be available in the second quarter of 2018, but has not yet announced pricing.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Ikan DS2-A Beholder review
• The best GoPro accessories to make the most of your next adventure
• VR Stabilizer plug-in brings 360 stabilization to Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects
• GoPro Hero6 Black review
• With world’s fastest autofocus, Panasonic Lumix G9 is a mirrorless powerhouse

Verizon raising monthly fees, lowering deductibles and adding new benefits for Total Mobile Protection plan

There are a few changes coming to Verizon’s Total Mobile Protection that you need to know about.

For a lot of us, phone insurance of one sort or another is a must-have. If your phone gets stolen or lost, or even if you bust the screen (and you will) getting a replacement at a fraction of the cost is easier on the pockets than just buying another phone or parts outright, and hey, who doesn’t like easier, right?

Verizon offers a pretty good “phone insurance” program with their Total Mobile Protection. You might be able to find insurance cheaper somewhere else but generally, we hear Verizon does a good job getting you back up and running quickly and are reasonable when it comes to claims. In other words, you can do a lot worse and we think Total Mobile Protection is a good option for Verizon customers who want that safety net.

Starting January 25, there are a few small changes you need to know about.

• Nationwide cracked screen repair: A tech will come to you in over 170 U.S. cities, you’ll have another 300 authorized repair centers, or you can have repairs done by mail with a quick turnaround. Going without your phone is the worst and more options is always better. Nice.
• Reimbursement for international cracked screen repair: Get your busted screen fixed when you need it if you’re traveling outside the country, then file a claim for reimbursement. Again — less downtime.
• $29 deductible for cracked screen repairs: Save money on repairs and you’ll have some cash to buy a case or screen protector to keep it from happening the next time.
• Total Mobile Protection goes up to $13 per month (from $11) for new customers on January 25.
• Total Mobile Protection goes up to $13 per month (from $11) for existing customers on March 6.

Of course, there are terms and conditions you’ll have to follow about which phones are covered and the fees. You’ll find those listed here and you can chat up a Verizon rep over the phone or through web chat if you have other questions. And you should, because you need to know what’s up and how you’re covered before you need to file a claim. This stuff is complicated, not just because of Verizon’s rules but because there are all sorts of consumer laws that vary from state to state. Let someone who is an expert help you suss it all out.

Verizon buyer’s guide: Everything you need to know

Nobody likes seeing insurance premiums go up, whether they be on your phone or your car or yourself, even when it’s only two bucks difference. But we really like these new changes for screen repair options, and if you only use it once it has more than paid for itself. You owe it to yourself to at least have a look at your options if you don’t have any type of coverage, and should definitely check out the changes if you’re a current customer.

Phone addiction is making me sad and anxious, but so is the idea of quitting

The better phones get, the easier it becomes to justify using them. But when does it become too much?

As many people do over the holidays, I tried to spend less time on my phone. I tried to be more present with the people in front of me. But occasionally, after 10 or 15 minutes sitting in the same spot, my mind wandered a bit, as did my hand, towards the phone sitting face down on the table in front of me. I’ll just look —

“Dan, are you bored?” My mom, breaking from a conversation with my wife, asked me directly. I’d been scrolling through Twitter for over two minutes, but I was convinced it had only been a few seconds. I completely lost that time — time that I won’t be able to get back. Was it worth it? In the moment it felt like the right thing to do, to surreptitiously pick up my phone and respond to someone on the internet who wanted my attention.

Over the past few years, I’ve noticed my own attention wavering more easily, even when my phone isn’t nearby. Just the knowledge that there are notifications to check and people to communicate with is often enough to take me out of myself, even for a moment. My phone is the first thing I look at in the morning as it lays unassuming next to my head on the bedside table. It’s the dopamine hit I need in the lulling mid-afternoon hours and the easiest way to look busy when I want to avoid that awkward conversation.

These are dangerous behaviors if left to propagate undeterred. I want to be able to use my phone as a tool, as a means to get work done or enjoy a few moments to myself, to scroll through Twitter or read an article or play a quick game or whatever one does with a smartphone. When I put my phone down, I want to feel good about what I just did. I want to avoid the feeling that I’m not in control.

And according to recent research into the topic, I’m not alone.

Have you noticed that you can’t pay attention to things as well as you used to? You’re not alone.

In an article published in The Globe and Mail over the weekend called “Your smartphone is making you stupid, antisocial and unhealthy. So why can’t you put it down?”, author Eric Andrew-Gee posits that millions of people are dealing with the negative effects of smartphone use.

What these people say – and what their research shows – is that smartphones are causing real damage to our minds and relationships, measurable in seconds shaved off the average attention span, reduced brain power, declines in work-life balance and hours less of family time.

They have impaired our ability to remember. They make it more difficult to daydream and think creatively. They make us more vulnerable to anxiety. They make parents ignore their children. And they are addictive, if not in the contested clinical sense then for all intents and purposes.

The problem is not the phones themselves. These are marvels of technology, able to instantly provide us with the tools to complete tasks we would have thought impossible with a handheld only a few years ago. The issue is with our brains, and how we respond to the constant stimuli that developers have integrated into the apps and services we use every day.

To ensure that our eyes remain firmly glued to our screens, our smartphones – and the digital worlds they connect us to – internet giants have become little virtuosos of persuasion, cajoling us into checking them again and again – and for longer than we intend. Average users look at their phones about 150 times a day, according to some estimates, and about twice as often as they think they do, according to a 2015 study by British psychologists.

These companies have persuaded us to give over so much of our lives by exploiting a handful of human frailties. One of them is called novelty bias. It means our brains are suckers for the new. That’s why social media apps nag you to turn notifications on. They know that once the icons start flashing onto your lock screen, you won’t be able to ignore them. It’s also why Facebook switched the colour of its notifications from a mild blue to attention-grabbing red.

The more awareness we have of this physiological limitation, the better chance we have of metering our use and finding equilibrium — digital compromise — with this incredible tool. Inevitably, people will say that the problem isn’t with the phone but me, my weakness, that the screen is just amplifying a tendency for distraction, for displeasure with the status quo, with myself. Yes, yes, and yes.

Phones are not inherently bad, but they bring out our brains’ worst tendencies.

But what I’m quickly discovering is that this isn’t a problem unique to me, nor is it something that I should be keeping to myself. Much has been made about the positive impacts of smartphones in people’s lives — hell, were it not for their proliferation, I probably wouldn’t have this amazing job — and as an optimist, I tend to think they’re doing far more good than harm.

But here we are, ten years after the smartphone revolution, and we’re finally taking stock of its negative implications, too. If such a reckoning leads to a calming of my brain, a lessening of anxiety, and higher-quality time spent with the people I love, I will see it as a success.

That’s why I’m committing to doing more with less in 2018, to find a balance between dopamine and responsibility. I can’t, and don’t want to, stop using a smartphone every day — it’s the central nervous system of my personal and professional lives — but in the moments when it’s easy to escape into it, I will challenge myself to be present, and own any discomfort that comes with it.

Elsewhere, it’s CES 2018 and much of the Mobile Nations crew has descended on sunny (and coming from the east coast, much warmer) Las Vegas. While there isn’t a single category or company that seems destined to dominate the conversation in 2018, it’s interesting that Google appears to be everywhere.

Like Microsoft and Apple, Google usually takes a hands-off approach to CES, disseminating its message through partner announcements and subtle, quirky installations. This year, there is nothing subtle about what Google is doing — and it’s entirely to do with Google Assistant which, like Alexa did in previous years, is expanding in interesting and impressive ways. (Perhaps one way to use my phone less is to rely more on voice assistants.)

Don’t expect too many phone announcements, either — and as Andrew said last week, keep your expectations in check when things are announced — but I think the most important Android-related volley will be from Huawei. That the Mate 10 Pro will be sold by a carrier is a big deal, and while the details aren’t yet finalized, a partnership with AT&T is likely forthcoming. It’s going to take a lot of education and marketing dollars for Huawei to make a peep in the U.S., and the notion of dethroning Samsung is ludicrous at this point — especially with the sorry state of EMUI — but the third-largest handset maker in the world is literally the only company that has a chance.

You can catch all of the CES 2018 announcements right here at AC, but if you want the good stuff, the weird behind-the-scenes stuff, follow us on Instagram and check out our story.

That’s it from me — hope you had a safe and happy new year!

-Daniel

Oculus Go headset pops up at the FCC with two models

The Oculus Go headset is edging closer to its promised early 2018 launch, and we’re learning more about what that entails thanks to the necessary paperwork. A recently discovered FCC filing has revealed that the stand-alone VR headset will likely be available in models with 32GB and 64GB of storage. It’s not clear if there will be microSD expansion, but we wouldn’t count on it — don’t be surprised if you’re paying for a higher-end model to get enough room for all your apps, even if they’re smaller compared to desktop VR titles.

There aren’t other significant revelations, which isn’t surprising when Oculus divulged many of the core specs when it unveiled the Go back in October. However, the filing by itself (which was published in late December) is good news. It suggests that Oculus should be on track to launch its affordable VR offering, and that any obstacles are more likely to revolve around software than the device itself.

Via: Mobielkopen (translated), VentureBeat

Source: FCC

LG’s Alexa-powered fridge sends recipes to your oven

Now that LG’s Alexa-equipped refrigerator is no longer a novelty, the company is moving on to the next step: appliances that work in harmony. It’s introducing a range of smart appliances that thrive on sharing information to help you get things done. The centerpiece is LG’s next Alexa-capable fridge, the InstaView ThinQ. While its 29-inch transparent touchscreen, webOS platform and voice control aren’t all that new, its integration with your oven is. When you choose a recipe (including those suggested by the fridge, which detects what you have on hand), you can send it to an oven with Alexa support to get spoken cooking instructions. This is ultimately a luxury — your fridge likely isn’t that far from your oven — but it’s good to have your recipes right where you’ll use them.

The fridge can also add expiration dates to your food (no more expired milk), and handles many of the tasks you’d expect from an Alexa-powered device, such as streaming music.

Other appliances step up their game as well. The EasyClean oven can automatically start preheating to prepare for a recipe, and tell the QuadWash dishwasher to set its next cycle based on what you’re cooking. If you’re preparing a greasy lasagna, your dishwasher will brace for impact. And as you might expect, you can use both voice controls and a CLOi Hub Bot to keep track of what the oven and dishwasher are doing.

LG hasn’t said how much these appliances will cost or when they’ll ship, but it’s likely they’ll sit on the higher end. The aim of the new lineup is clear, though: the company is betting that this tight coordination will encourage you to buy an all-LG appliance set instead of cherry picking from different vendors.

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

Source: LG Newsroom

The Internet Association takes up the fight against FCC’s net neutrality ruling

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai has quickly become one of the least popular figures in Silicon Valley and beyond. Just hours after announcing that he would not be appearing at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (the first time in five years he will miss the event) as a result of death threats, Pai was forced to face yet another oncoming firestorm. This one emerges from the Internet Association, a trade group that represents some of the largest names in the tech world, including Alphabet, Facebook, and Amazon. On Friday, the Internet Association announced it would join a lawsuit against Pai’s decision to roll back net neutrality rules.

“The final version of Chairman Pai’s rule, as expected, dismantles popular net neutrality protections for consumers,” the Association’s president and CEO Michael Beckerman noted in a statement. This rule defies the will of a bipartisan majority of Americans and fails to preserve a free and open internet. IA intends to act as an intervenor in judicial action against this order and, along with our member companies, will continue our push to restore strong, enforceable net neutrality protections through a legislative solution.”

Other members of the Internet Association have separately stated that they will join the legal proceedings, including both Etsy and Netflix. In a statement of its own, Etsy called the net neutrality decision “deeply disappointing,” and the company’s head of advocacy and impact, Althea Erickson, said, “Etsy is continuing to fight for a free and open Internet; that’s why we intend to challenge Chairman Pai’s order in the courts.”

Netflix, on the other hand, took to Twitter to voice its support of the Internet Association’s statement. “In 2018, the Internet is united in defense of #NetNeutrality. As for the FCC, we will see you in court,” the streaming service wrote. 

A number of states as well as public interest advocacy groups have also indicated their intentions to halt the FCC’s ruling. Indeed, it would appear that some of the only companies celebrating the overturn of Obama-era rules around equal access to the web are internet service providers like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon, who have effectively been given power to determine what content their customers can consume. These ISPs now have effectively free reign to block, slow access to, or charge more for certain material on the web.

Editors’ Recommendations

• What you need to know about net neutrality
• FCC officially repeals 2015 Net Neutrality regulations by a narrow margin
• Comcast removes part of its open internet pledge regarding net neutrality repeal
• Is this why FCC chairman Ajit Pai canceled his CES appearance?
• The FCC will make a final vote to reverse the net neutrality rules in December

Google sends out survey to certain Pixel 2 XL owners

Android Central has reported that Google has started sending out surveys to some owners of the Pixel 2 XL. The survey can be seen in the form of a small pop-up that appears in the settings menu. The message reads “Help improve Pixel: 1 minute survey.” Users can press “no, thanks” to make the message go away, but agreeing to it will prompt a series of questions.

Interesting. Google’s running a survey in the settings of the Pixel 2 XL … pic.twitter.com/X7XQi56fCx

— Andrew Martonik (@andrewmartonik) January 4, 2018

At the end you have room to type out comments and what you do/don’t like. Very odd. Hasn’t shown up on my Pixel 2, only the 2 XL.

— Andrew Martonik (@andrewmartonik) January 4, 2018

The questions are presented in the form of a larger pop-up message, so users are never forced to leave the settings menu. The questions include the basics like “Before getting your Pixel, which company made your previous phone?” and “How satisfied are you with this phone?” The end of the survey also offers users the chance to give direct feedback to Google in the form of typed comments.

Android Central reported that its staff had only seen the surveys pop up on the Pixel 2 XL and not on the standard Pixel 2. At the moment, it is unclear how Google is deciding who participates in these surveys.

Google likely hopes that these surveys will help it create better products in the future, but there is cause for concern. The Pixel 2 XL is not a cheap phone, and users who have paid the flagship price have a reasonable expectation that they won’t be bothered by pop-up surveys or ads.

This kind of behavior isn’t totally new, however. OnePlus did something similar with the OnePlus 5 and several phones for sale on Amazon feature ads on the lock screens. But those phones also come with a substantial discount to make up for the ads.

Editors’ Recommendations

• OnePlus 5T vs. Pixel 2: Battle of the Android superstars
• OnePlus 5 vs. OnePlus 5T: Is it worth making the upgrade?
• Google Pixel 2 XL vs. Apple iPhone 8 Plus
• When is your phone getting Android 8.0 Oreo? We asked every major manufacturer
• Master your new Google phone with these handy Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL tips and tricks