Changes at eBay are on the way as it reduces ties with PayPal

Attention, eBay shoppers and sellers. Changes are on the way.

The ecommerce giant is planning to ditch PayPal as its primary payments processor and replace it with Adyen, an outfit you may not have heard of but which already has big-name clients that include Netflix, Uber, and Spotify.

The online resale giant said it will make the move in 2020 when the current deal with PayPal expires. PayPal will remain a payment option for eBay shoppers, but will no longer be featured prominently.

Netherlands-based Adyen is a global online payments firm that was founded in 2006. It provides back-end payment services that include point-of-sales systems and credit card processing. The partnership with eBay means shoppers will stay within the eBay website when they go to pay, instead of being taken to an external service to complete a transaction.

In other words, for buyers the change will result in a more integrated user experience, with the shopping site itself taking care of the entire checkout process, “delivering a more streamlined experience for consumers,” eBay said. With PayPal staying on eBay (at least for now), the addition of a new system also means more payment options.

Sellers will also see some benefits, as eBay promises “most” sellers will see a reduction in costs related to payments processing, and also benefit from “a simplified pricing structure and more predictable access to their funds.”

Ultimately, the change has the potential to result in more sales, eBay says, as the new system will expand payment options into more markets and also offer buyers more choice in how they pay, thereby improving the shopping experience.

The new payment system will be introduced gradually, beginning on a small scale in North America in the second half of 2018, with full integration expected to be completed by 2021. eBay has signed a deal with PayPal to keep it as a payment option on its marketplace until at least 2023.

“In a rapidly changing and competitive ecommerce landscape, shoppers expect to be able to both shop and checkout on the site on which they transact,” eBay said in a blog post. “Building out eBay’s payments capabilities is the next step in the company’s strategy, with the goal of driving significant benefits and efficiencies for its buyers and sellers globally.”

PayPal was acquired by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion, and eBay spun off the online payments company in 2015.

According to Adyen‘s own data, its business is growing fast, as it processed $50 billion worth of transactions in 2015, up from $14 billion in 2013. To what extent eBay’s move will affect PayPal’s business isn’t yet clear.

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Sony CEO Kaz Hirai decides to step down after six-year tenure

Sony CEO Hirai Kazuo, best known outside of Japan as Kaz Hirai, will step down from his role at the company on April 1, 2018. His successor is current Chief Financial Officer Yoshida Kenichiro. Hirai will not leave Sony, but will instead take on the role of director and chairman at that time. The decision came from Hirai himself, and his proposal was approved by Sony’s board of directors on February 2.

In a statement, Hirai says, “As the company approaches a crucial juncture, when we will embark on a new midrange plan, I consider this to be the ideal time to pass the baton of leadership to new management, for the future of Sony and also for myself to embark on a new chapter in my life.”

Hirai became CEO in 2012, but was well known before then as president of Sony Computer Entertainment, during which time he turned the PlayStation brand around and returned it to success. According to Hirai he has been working closely with Yoshida since late 2013, who has been a “valuable confidant and business partner,” and the pair took on, “the challenge of transforming Sony together.” “As chairman,” Hirai continues, “I will offer my full support to Mr Yoshida and the new management team.”

Yoshida became CFO in April 2014, around the same time Sony faced damaging scandals after hackers exposed emails revealing private information about the company, its staff, and future plans. In an interview with the Financial Times in December 2014, Yoshida is described as “straight-talking,” and with a “reputation for being ‘blunt’ and ‘ruthless’ when it comes to achieving targets.” He was instrumental in changing the way Sony Entertainment was managed, and in making other decisions key to turning around Sony’s fortunes.

In Sony’s official statement, Yoshida says, “Together with the outstanding talent we have across the Sony Group, I will aim to build on the business foundations established by Mr. Hirai, and execute further reform measures that enhance our competitiveness as a global enterprise, and enable us to realize long-term profit growth.”

Yoshida’s first order of business will be to finalize Sony’s plans for the near future, and to put its 2018 plan into action. Hirai has not announced any future plans beyond his role as chairman at Sony.

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Clear out your inbox with the 10 best third-party email apps for iOS

Email is an essential method of communication in our everyday lives, one we use for work and play. But the interminable threads can go on forever, and your inbox can quickly become a cluttered mess. Thankfully, there are many email apps that are designed to help you better manage your inbox. Some apps filter emails based on conversations or popular contacts, while others filter content based on attachment type. Below are some of our favorite email apps for iOS, so you can boost your email productivity right on your smartphone.

To enhance your productivity even further, check out our picks for the best calendar apps for iOS and Android.

Astro — Email & Calendar

Are you looking for a unique email experience? Well, you’ll be hard-pressed to find something close to Astro. It’s an email and calendar app that’s powered by an assistant. The assistant can respond to hundreds of commands, so it can manage and search your inbox, add events, set reminders, and more. There’s a focused inbox that brings in your most important mail, and Slack integration enables you to search your Slack messages and share emails to specific Slack channels. Astrobot is so smart you can even communicate with it using Amazon Echo. The downside is that it only works with Gmail and Office 365 at the moment.

Download now from:

App Store

Gmail

If you use Google services, then the official Gmail app is a must-have. It supports multiple accounts, and it integrates perfectly with all Google services. You can manage calendar invites or invitations to edit a document directly within Google Docs. Speaking of Google Docs, when you attach files, they will seamlessly integrate with Google Drive, so you can share them via the cloud.

Download now from:

App Store

Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is one of the best email clients for iOS. It offers several attractive features, one of them being Focused Inbox. The way this works is that Outlook will present only the most important emails to you, instead of showing you a big list of every email you get. The emails you see are emails from contacts that you interact with most frequently. Next to that, you will see a tab labeled Other. This is where the less important, bulk emails will be. You can also see your calendars, and you can add Gmail or iCloud accounts. This app is even compatible with the Apple Watch.

Download now from:

App Store

Inbox by Gmail

Inbox is a different way of dealing with your email. One of the best parts about it is that it will bundle similar emails together so that you can deal with them all at once. The app also houses a very useful ‘pin’ feature, which allows you to easily pin important emails to the top of the app so that you can access them more easily later on. Inbox really tries to tackle the problem of messy inboxes. If you’re constantly having to deal with a large number of emails, this third-party app should definitely make your shortlist.

Download now from:

App Store

Newton Mail by CloudMagic

Newton is a subscription-based service that costs $50 a year. It works with several other email services, including Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook, iCloud, Exchange, and all IMAP accounts. It has many of the features we’ve come to expect in an email app, including Snooze, Read Receipts, Send Later, and Connected Apps. This versatile app is also compatible with the Apple Watch, and there’s a companion Newton Calendar app to further enhance your productivity.

Download now from:

App Store

Edison Mail

This app is very easy and quick to set up. It supports Gmail, Hotmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Outlook, Exchange, and more. Edison Mail offers you access to a unified inbox, and it allows you to unsubscribe from junk mail and manage your subscriptions. You can manage the notifications by setting alerts for some senders and muting others. It supports Touch ID, 3D Touch, and it also has package tracking alerts. Edison Mail is one of the most feature-rich email clients that you will find.

Download now from:

App Store

VMware Boxer

Boxer’s main attraction is its ability to deal with emails in bulk using your own custom gestures. This app works with several cloud apps, too, including Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, and others. Much like Dropbox and Outlook, the design of the app is modern and clean, and this makes it very intuitive to work with. It’s an ideal solution if you need to manage emails in each of your accounts individually, or in a combined inbox.

Download now from:

App Store

Spark

Here’s another app that wants to take all your emails and organize them by categories within a unified inbox. Spark gives you a lot of freedom by allowing you to set swipe gestures. The app works with cloud services, too, allowing you to attach files from Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive. It even works with apps such as Readability, Pocket, Evernote, and OneNote. Similar to a chat app, Spark allows you to quickly reply to someone with a “Like” or “Thanks.” Spark is also compatible with Apple Watch.

Download now from:

App Store

Triage

Triage aims to tackle the complexity of email on your smartphone, helping you to clean up the clutter and quickly reply to messages. When you log into your inbox, your new messages appear as a stack of cards. You can deal with them with a few gestures — just swipe up to archive a message or down to keep it in your inbox. If you want to deal with a particular email quickly, you can also tap the message to reply. Triage supports Gmail, Yahoo, and iCloud Mail, and most email services that support IMAP.

Download now from:

App Store

Yahoo

Yahoo’s official mail app isn’t just for Yahoo users because you can add your Outlook, Gmail, AOL, and a slew of other accounts. One of the best things about Yahoo mail is that it gives you 1,000 GB of free storage so that you can keep a lot of email in your inbox without having to delete it. This is great for folks who get a lot of emails with large attachments. It also connects to Google Drive and Dropbox, so that you can attach files directly from your cloud accounts.

Download now from:

App Store

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Leak reveals list of upcoming Samsung Galaxy devices in 2018

All eyes may be on the upcoming MWC 2018 announcement for the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, but that doesn’t mean that Samsung doesn’t have other devices in the wings waiting for their time to shine.

Diligent work by the folks over at XDA Developers has revealed a large list of model names that supposedly showcase the new smartphones and tablets Samsung is currently working on. It’s definitely worth taking the findings with a pinch of salt, as a lot of the devices are educated guesses and come with varying degrees of plausibility. And while XDA identified a few model numbers on the list, there are still plenty of others we’re not sure about.

XDA Developers

Some are fairly easy to work out — we’ve known “star” was the working model name for the Galaxy S9 since The Bell revealed it back in May 2017, so it’s safe to assume “star” and “star2” are the Galaxy S9 and the S9 Plus. “astarqlte” at the top of the list is more interesting — clearly an S9 variant with “star” in the name, XDA has taken the additional “q” to stand for Qualcomm — it will be equipped with a Snapdragon processor — while the “a” likely denotes an entry in the Galaxy Active-series of rugged smartphones. Since Samsung has released an Active version of its flagship S-range since the Galaxy S4 Active, it’s fair to assume a Galaxy S9 Active is in the works.

Another of the obvious entries is “crown” — again revealed by The Bell (via The Investor) as the model name for the Galaxy Note 9. It gets more interesting with a mention of a “jackpot” model name. There are four slightly different versions of “jackpot” on the list, with the additional “2” likely denoting a Plus version, and “q” again likely to denote a Qualcomm-powered device, implying variations of the device alternately powered by Snapdragon and Exynos processors. It’s entirely possible this code name depicts the long-rumored Samsung Galaxy X with a foldable display.

There are also a large amount of J-range devices on the list, with Samsung seemingly experimenting with expanding its budget and midrange offerings in the Galaxy J-range, including the J2, J4, J6, and J8. Quite where these would fall in Samsung’s current catalog isn’t clear, but the Galaxy A-range is conspicuously absent from the list. Could Samsung be planning on replacing the A-range with an expanded J-range? It’s unclear, but it does seem like the C-range will be returning, with the Galaxy C10 and C10 Plus on the list.

Some Samsung tablets are seemingly present on the list as well, with the Galaxy Tab A 10.1 2018, Galaxy Tab E 2018, and Tab S4 all identifiable. However, a large amount of similar-looking model names are present, and could imply Samsung is looking to expand the Galaxy Tab range in 2018.

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Apple passes Samsung in smartphone sales, as newer models are shunned

Consumers of smartphones are choosing to ignore the shiny new models in favor of older, cheaper models, according to the International Data Corporation‘s (IDC) analysis of smartphone sales in the last quarter of 2017.

A disappointing holiday season punctuated the end of the year, with overall global sales dropping 6.3 percent when compared to the previous year’s final quarter. In real terms, that’s only a drop to 403.5 million units from the 430.7 million units shipped in the final months of 2016, but it paints a worrying trend for the mobile phone magnates at the top of the totem pole. Despite 2017 seeing some of the most gorgeous smartphones that we’ve ever seen, with powerful internal components and bezel-less designs that pushed style through the roof, it seems that consumers are reacting against the concurrent trend that saw prices rise, with the iPhone X — one of the year’s most anticipated phones — topping the scales at $1,000.

“The latest flock of posh flagships may have had consumers hitting the pause button in the holiday quarter,” said Anthony Scarsella, research manager for Mobile Phones at IDC. “With ultra-high-end flagships all the rage in 2017, many of these new bezel-less wonders proved to be more of a luxury than a necessity among upgraders […] the new and higher price points could be outweighing the benefits of having the latest and greatest device in hand.”

The end result of this consumer hesitation seems to be an increase in interest for older, slightly cheaper flagships. Interestingly, analysts had previously predicted this trend in December, when sales of the iPhone X turned out to be less than expected.

Despite the setback for the ultra-premium flagship and lower sales than the previous year, Apple still had a good quarter, beating Samsung to the top spot in overall smartphone sales for the fourth quarter. Shipping 77.3 million units compared to Samsung’s 74.1 million, Apple heads into 2018 in a good position, despite rumors that it will be retiring the iPhone X in the summer.

Still, Samsung won’t be too upset, as it leaves 2017 with a grand total of 317.3 million shipments over the entire year, easily beating second-place Apple’s total of 215.8 million units.

Chinese brands Huawei, Xiaomi, and Oppo come in at third, fourth, and fifth respectively, with Xiaomi in particular seeing a massive 96.9-percent growth over last year’s fourth quarter — the only phone manufacturer in the top five to successfully increase their global sales in the same period. Still, with 28.1 million units sold, it has a long way to go to beat Huawei’s 41 million-unit mark.

In terms of overall smartphone sales for 2017, we’ve seen a very small decline, year-on-year as global sales dropped from 1,473.4 million units to 1,472.4 million units — a fall of 0.1-percent. While it’s barely an official drop, the news that premium flagship handsets with the latest features are failing to attract consumers may well be a rude awakening for those companies who have let prices rise and rise over the year.

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You can now buy that dancing hot dog plush toy from the Snapchat Store

After trying out hardware in the form of Spectacles camera glasses, Snap Inc. is now experimenting with a different form of sales — in-app merchandise. That’s right, now you can buy that dancing hot dog plush toy you never knew you wanted, all without leaving the app. On Thursday, February 1, Snapchat added the Snap Store to the Discover section, allowing for in-app purchases on anything from plus toys to sweatshirts.

The Snap Store is inside the app’s Discover section. Tapping on the new Snapchat Store opens up a Story-like Store experience. The first images tell users how to use the store, with a warning that items can disappear at any time.

After the intro, the Snapchat Store continues with the Story Style format by displaying animations of the product. Users can swipe up to see the full product description and price in the storefront. Tapping and holding on the image allows users to send the product to friends, while a single tap moves on to the next item. True to that Stories format, users can also subscribe to the Snap Store to stay up to date on the store’s latest items.

The Snapchat Store currently only features Snapchat-themed merchandise from a “hot streak” hat to a winky face sweatshirt. The in-app option makes shopping feel more like using Snapchat rather than a long process of shifting through products online.

Snapchat hasn’t said whether or not the store will eventually feature products from third-party companies, though Stories-like shopping could be a way for other companies to get their merchandise in front of Snapchat’s younger audience. With the storefront programming built, it’s not too difficult to imagine launching shop-able Stories to advertisers, but again, Snap Inc. hasn’t suggested any expanded plans for the store. The app does save payment information to use on later purchases inside the Snapchat store.

Snap Inc.’s Spectacles was the company’s first move toward physical products. While initially well-received, and generating lines around the exclusive vending machines at the initial launch, the company later overestimated demand and took a loss on unsold camera glasses.

The store option comes as Snap Inc. is looking to please investors after a disappointing first year on the stock market. The company is also rolling out a redesign intended to make the platform easier to understand for new users. A new option to share Stories outside of the Snapchat app could also help expose the app to more potential new users — and of course, seeing a Snapchat t-shirt could possibly do some of the same.

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Here’s how to go live on Facebook with your Android or iOS device

Following in the footsteps of Periscope, Facebook launched Facebook Live in 2015, which — as the name suggests — lets you live-stream video directly from your Android or iOS device. While initially limited to celebrities, now anyone can make their own live-stream. Creating and streaming live content might sound like a challenge, but setting up a live-stream within Facebook’s mobile app is a fairly straightforward process. For those curious about live-streaming video from your desktop, there are also a handful of solutions for doing so, but Facebook doesn’t officially support any of them at the present (although, broadcast studios should check out the Wowza ClearCaster, an officially supported bespoke piece of hardware for streaming to Facebook Live). That being the case, we’ll stick with the mobile solution in this article, as that’s what most people will be using.

Step 1: The first step to setting up a live-stream is to launch the Facebook app as you would normally. From the News Feed tab, locate the Live button just below the “What’s on your mind?” section at the top of your display. (Note: The screenshots below are from the iOS version, but the steps also apply to Android.)

Step 2: Next, tap either the Live button or the “What’s on your mind?” field at the top, the latter of which will bring up a host of additional options including a Live Video button.

Step 3: If this is your first time live-streaming content on Facebook, the app will ask for permission to access your device’s camera and microphone. You’ll want to grant permission, otherwise, you won’t be able to stream video from your device. Once done, watch the brief introduction video to see how the feature actually works.

Step 4: Once the introduction has concluded, it’s time to get started. Describe your video at the bottom of your screen and, if desired, geotag your location or tag other Facebook users in your live- stream. Here, you can also add other information to your live-stream, including your mood.

This is also where you can adjust your live-stream’s privacy settings as you can choose who can view your video. You can even choose the “Only Me” option if you want to test a recording a live- stream and don’t want anyone to watch just yet.

When everything is set up and ready to go, press the blue “Go Live” button in the lower-right corner of the screen to share your scene with the world. Or, at least your friends, family, and followers. When you’re ready to sign off, simply tap “Finish” to end the stream — Facebook will automatically save and publish the video on your profile page so that anyone who missed it can watch it later. You can also change privacy settings to control who can see the video, or remove it entirely if you no longer want it to appear in your feed.

And there you have it — you’ve just made your first live-stream to Facebook! Not too shabby. Going Live on Facebook is actually pretty easy, but if you’re interested in taking your content further, you may want to consider upping the quality of your audio with an external microphone (Rode has options for both iOS and Android devices). Improving stabilization with a smartphone gimbal, like the DJI Osmo Mobile, is another way to stand out from the crowd. These accessories certainly aren’t required, but they will let you take your streams to the next level if you’re interested in doing so.

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Let’s be honest, 64GB of internal storage is plenty in 2018

It’s an argument we have every single year: how much storage in your phone is ‘enough’ for most people?

It wasn’t long ago we were talking about whether 8GB of internal storage was still acceptable on the Nexus 4, particularly in light of its lack of an SD card slot. And it didn’t take long before we slowly ratcheted through 16 and 32GB up to modern high-end phones regularly having 64GB internally. Even most of today’s mid-range phones offer 32GB without breaking the bank.

And apparently, that’s not enough. We’ve reached the point where people are now questioning the efficacy of having 64GB of storage in an Android phone in 2018. That seems crazy.

So why would you need more than 64GB of storage? Well, it starts with understanding how much free space you actually get out of that. After formatting and installing the operating system, a 64GB Galaxy S8 has 40GB available to use as you wish. Still, how do you fill up 40GB of storage? Typical concerns fall into three categories: big games, 4K video recordings, and local music/video storage.

Most people can fit into 40GB just fine, with plenty of room to spare.

Yup, games are big. If you’re an avid gamer, installing perhaps five games at 2GB each (or more likely 10 at 1GB each) at any given time, that’s 10GB right there. 4K video recording is a concern, filling up about 5MB per second recorded. Quibbles aside about whether you should record in 4K versus using stabilized 1080p, how many 1-minute (300MB) clips are you going to save on your phone at any given time? Let’s be audacious and say you record 20, that’s 6GB in total. (Also, please back up your video — the phone itself is the least safe place for it to be.)

Now, audio and video. Unlike Vlad Savov over at The Verge, the average user doesn’t have 24GB of local music — or anywhere near that. We use streaming music apps. Even with local caching on those apps to save on data usage, we’ll maybe save 5GB of music at any given time. Avid podcast listeners may have 1GB of audio saved. TV show episodes on Netflix are about 100MB each — let’s say you download 10 at a time to get through on your lunch breaks, totaling 1GB.

Then you add in apps. I’m not a mobile gamer, and have 110 apps installed — and let’s be honest, about a dozen haven’t been touched in months. Still, they total only 7GB. Half of that is just four apps: Google Chrome, Netflix, Pocket Casts and Google Photos. (Of course, Netflix and Pocket Casts are already accounted for above, but I’ll toss you a bone.)

In sum: 10GB games + 6GB 4K video + 5GB music + 1GB podcasts + 1GB video + 7GB apps. Total: 30GB, leaving you with 10GB free for anything you wish, even though by this calculation your phone is already well-appointed with my apps, games, media, and data. And that’s the case on a Samsung phone, notorious for having a very large system partition leaving you with less free storage than most.

Don’t blame your data packrat tendencies on your phone’s internal storage size.

So maybe it turns out you don’t need more than 64GB right now, or even in the near future. Streaming media apps and cloud-based services have reduced our dependency on internal storage, while the typical size of an app, photo or video file hasn’t dramatically increased in the past couple of years. And yet, typical internal storage on phones has doubled in that time period.

Naturally, there will be edge cases where people feel they need far more than this amount of data on their phone. But again, I’m not addressing edge cases. I’m talking about the bulk of the market. If you’re not willing to do some storage management, nothing short of 500GB will be “enough” for you. At some point, every phone is going to require you evaluate what to keep and what to delete or store elsewhere. I feel that for 2018, 64GB of internal storage is a sufficient amount so that all but fringe cases can easily fit into it.

Of course, smartphone companies could remove all doubt and address everyone’s issues for the next 5 years by including a minimum of 256GB in every single phone they ship. But unfortunately, even at the flagship price level, it becomes prohibitively expensive to do so, even in 2018.

So what if companies just offered that 256GB version in addition to its base model with, say, 64GB? Well, history shows we just don’t buy them. Samsung infamously dropped SD card support in the Galaxy S6 in favor of offering 32, 64 and 128GB storage options. Apparently, nobody was interested: a year later, the Galaxy S7 offered 32GB internal (and an SD card) with no other options. The Galaxy S8 stayed the course, moving up to 64GB with no choice. The HTC U11 has 64 and 128GB choices, but even this more enthusiast-focused U.S. unlocked phone sold 20% of its units in the higher storage model.

Time has shown that people aren’t willing to pay more just to get storage — they want other features.

Time has shown that consumers’ elasticity of demand is (of course) negative for phones. As price goes up, demand goes down. Simply adding storage is such a small portion of a phone buying decision that it has almost no effect aside from increasing price, thus lowering demand for the phone. Consumers are far more willing to pay extra for a larger screen, longer battery life, better materials or a more powerful camera — things they can actually see and experience as part of a buying process.

Further to that point, recent phone launches show the minimum amount of storage people are willing to accept in a phone isn’t dramatically affected by the cost of the phone. Even the $950 Galaxy Note 8, widely deemed extremely expensive, comes with 64GB of storage — same as the $725 Galaxy S8 and $499 OnePlus 5T. The $999 iPhone X has 64GB of storage, same as the $699 iPhone 8.

The economics of this situation makes the whole argument unnecessary to begin with.

It truly seems as though consumer demand just hasn’t reached the point of requiring more than 64GB of internal storage, regardless of price. And that clearly doesn’t mean that companies are short-changing consumers for no reason. At this current level of 64GB of internal storage, a vast majority of people can use their phone without spending any time worrying about it.

So really, it’s the economics of the situation that makes this whole argument unnecessary. Yes, some people need more storage. But that group is so small it makes no sense for companies to address it by increasing storage to 128 or 256GB, thus increasing price and leading to fewer phone sales. Even offering separate models with more storage is a dubious proposition for companies (and retail stores) trying to reduce overhead, as historically a small portion of people will buy them.

Buy the phone that has the features you want, and place as much weight as you wish on the amount of storage it has. But don’t expect storage offerings to outpace the demand of general consumers. Over time, the market will eventually offer 128GB of base storage, and we can have this argument all over again in 2020.

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Should you switch from iPhone X to the Galaxy Note 8?

The iPhone X is Apple’s best phone to date, but the Note 8 is even more impressive.

Samsung and Apple wowed last year with the release of the Galaxy Note 8 and iPhone X. Both phones are two of the absolute best (and most expensive) that money can buy, and as you’d expect, there’s a heated debate about which one is truly supreme.

One Android Central forum user recently shared that they’ve had an iPhone X for about a month and are thinking about jumping to the Galaxy Note 8 as a result of iOS feeling a bit stale.

After reaching out to the community to get input about what they should do, we got the following responses:

B. Diddy
02-01-2018 11:33 AM

“

You’re posting on an Android forum, so the answer will be a definitive YES.;) But if you’re entrenched in Apple’s ecosystem, there might be some annoyances with switching (like transferring music from iTunes, lack of iMessage, etc.).

Reply

cwbcpa
02-01-2018 01:08 PM

“

I’ve had the iphone X. The Note 8 is a better device in many ways. If I’m picking an iOS device it would be the 8 Plus. We have a couple 8 Pluses in the house. Nobody was interested in the iPhone X after trying it.

It really comes down to ecosystem. If you are not tied to the Apple ecosystem, then absolutely get the Note 8.

Reply

NiffiIsenguard
02-01-2018 03:30 PM

“

honestly used to have an iPhone. still a solid iPad user. some things about iPhone now a days I don’t mind. but I always feel like there’s a better thing for Android..

can make it feel more like my phone which I love. not a “Here’s your phone that you can’t change anything.

where as android even if you and three guys have the same phone they’ll all be different . its a steap learning…

Reply

maf113
02-01-2018 01:21 PM

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if you do move to the Note 8 there are some things you need to do first from what I have read. unless you have another Apple device like an iPad you will have issues due to imessenger. don’t remember all of it but I am sure there is a thread here that discusses all the issues Apple imposes.
I have the Note 8 and an IPad Pro. IOS is boring for sure. you will enjoy the Note 8 once you make…

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Get these games free with your PlayStation Plus membership this February

These are the free games you can get right now with your PlayStation Plus membership.

One of the biggest perks of having a PlayStation Plus membership is the free games you get every month. I’ve got a list of the games PlayStation is offering this month, and I’m very happy to see some VR and Vita games on this list. Start downloading these games, and enjoy your free games for the month of February!

• Starblood Arena
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
• Batman: The Telltale Series
• Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness
• Uncanny Valley
• Warframe

Starblood Arena

Starblood Arena is a PSVR game where you go through a universe in a spaceship and take on aliens in different worlds. It’s great to see PlayStation giving out free games for the VR, and this is a great one.

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Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Mankind Divided is the sequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and it follows the story two years after the last game ended. Take on the people who are trying to stop you, and explore the beautiful open world this game has to offer.

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Batman: The Telltale Series

Batman: The Telltale Series takes place after the Dark Knight, and it follows the story of what happens afterwards with Bruce and all his companions. It was created by the same people who created the Walking Dead game for PS4, so the art style is the same but the game play is completely different.

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Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness

This game is a graphic novel game that takes place in 2119 Tokyo following Nadeshiko Kugatachi, who has forgotten her past. Getting this beautiful graphic novel, which is available for both the PS4 and the PS Vita, score! You will have to get two separate versions of the game for both consoles, but they’re free so you won’t have to spend extra on one or the other.

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Uncanny Valley

Another game available for both PS4 and PS Vita, Uncanny Valley is a beautifully made pixel-art game where you play as a security guard investigating creepy happenings in his place of work. Play this on either platform, but you only have to download one version of the game!

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Warframe

Warframe is a gorgeous, open world game that follows your character who joins the Tenno as they take on the Grineers. Follow your lotus throughout the galaxy to get to the signal that has been calling you to the Tenno, and win the war you were destined to win!

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Which is your favorite game you’ve gotten for free with PlayStation Plus?

Let us know which game you’ve loved and which one you’re excited for this month!

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