Best Leather Cases for Galaxy Note 8

Give your Note 8 a touch of class with a leather case.

The Galaxy Note 8 is a beautiful phone so it only makes sense to find a case that accents its features. You know what always looks good? Leather.

There’s a good variety of leather cases available for the Note 8, and different styles, too — whether you’re looking for something that looks like an old, weathered book, a classic folio wallet, or just something with that nice leather finish on the back. Let’s dive in.

• Story Leather Side Flip Case
• DAVIS CASE Genuine Leather Case
• ProCase Genuine Leather Wallet Case
• Ringke Flex S Advanced Series
• Spigen Wallet S
• LK Luxury PU Wallet Strap Case

Story Leather Side Flip Case

Known for offering custom leather products made to order, Story Leather goes a cut above with their offering of smartphone cases.

They offer simple yet stylish pre-made flip cases for the Galaxy Note 8 made with pebbled black leather that looks fantastic. The front cover is held closed with a magnetic tab, with grey suede on the inside cover featuring a card slot and side pocket.

Your phone is held securely by a PC shell built into the case, with the option to fold things up for handsfree media. Available for $50, you can be confident in the craftsmanship that went into this case.

See at Story Leather

DAVIS CASE Genuine Leather Case

We’ll start out with some cases made from genuine leather. This option from DAVIS CASE has some great aesthetics especially if you love the look of old leather-bound books.

These cases are handmade with genuine leather that’s got a nice weathered finish to it. On the inside, there’s a pocket that will accommodate some folded bills, along with five card slots including a clear one for IDs. It also supports wireless charging and like most folio-style cases it can be folded into a kickstand for hands-free viewing.

At $29.99 it’s a pretty fair price for a case of genuine leather made with hand-crafted quality.

See at Amazon

ProCase Genuine Leather Wallet Case

Looking for a basic folio wallet case made of genuine leather and a magnetic clasp? Check out this classic option from ProCase.

There are three card slots on the front, but based on reviews the slots can easily handle more than one card — and you might find your cards slip out too easily otherwise. There are precise cutouts around the camera and fingerprint sensor on the back, along with the bottom ports and S Pen at the bottom. The form-fitting inner shell is built to last and offers great protection from shocks and drops on the corners and edges. It’s also good to go as a kickstand.

Get yours from Amazon for just $30.

See at Amazon

Ringke Flex S Advanced Series

Maybe you want a leather case but don’t dig the folio-style case. Don’t sweat it, Ringke has you covered with its Flex S Advanced Series case.

There are three leather-backed case options which are admittedly PU leather (aka not genuine leather like the options above), but feature the sleek design we’ve come to expect from Ringke cases.

It’s not entirely flat on the back, so along with the glorious leather texture you also get these little ridges that’ll help you keep a solid grip on your phone. The bulk of the case is made of flexible TPU that makes it easy to slap on and off your phone while keeping the case lightweight and durable.

You can get this slim case for just $10.99.

See at Amazon

Spigen Wallet S

Back to folio-style cases, Spigen has offered it’s Wallet S case for the Note 8.

The Wallet S was one of my favorite cases for the short-lived Note 7 last year, so it should be a reliable option for the Note 8 as well. While it shares many of the same features as the other folio wallet cases on this list, one feature you might appreciate is the cutout around the ear speaker on the front flap, which allows you to talk on the phone with the cover closed.

It’s only available in classic black and features a magnetic strap to keep it closed. Get this premium-looking wallet case for just $15.99.

See at Amazon

LK Luxury PU Wallet Strap Case

Looking for a premium look and feel for a budget price? LK’s got you covered with this basic and functional wallet case that comes with a convenient wrist strap.

Like the other wallet cases on this list, LK’s has a pocket for cash and card slots on the inside of the front fold, including a clear window for your ID. It’s got a magnetic clasp for keeping closed and features precise cutouts for the ports, camera, and fingerprint sensor.

This case is available in black, purple, or rose gold PU leather for just $6.99, or brown leather for a bargain price of just $6.99.

See at Amazon

Which leather is your pleasure?

Any of these picks catching your eye? Got a favorite case that didn’t make our list? Drop us a line in the comments!

Update March 2018: Added Story Leather to our list and updated the prices. $7 for a leather case 😮!

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FTC says it has an ‘open non-public investigation’ into Facebook

About a week ago, Facebook came under fire for giving away user data to Cambridge Analytic. It’s a story you’ve likely heard of by now, and following everything that’s already happened, the Federal Trade Commission has decided to issue its official statement on the matter.

Speaking for the FTC, acting director Tom Pahl said the following:

The FTC is firmly and fully committed to using all of its tools to protect the privacy of consumers. Foremost among these tools is enforcement action against companies that fail to honor their privacy promises, including to comply with Privacy Shield, or that engage in unfair acts that cause substantial injury to consumers in violation of the FTC Act. Companies who have settled previous FTC actions must also comply with FTC order provisions imposing privacy and data security requirements. Accordingly, the FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook.

Perhaps most importantly, Pahl ended this with:

Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices.

It’s unclear at the moment how long the investigation has been taking place or what’s been found so far (if anything), but nonetheless, the FTC is actively investigating Facebook to see what it is and isn’t guilty of.

Facebook kept logs of calls and messages on Android phones, and followed the rules to do it

Today’s best deals you won’t want to miss

Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

Today you can get great discounts on a variety of devices including portable hard drives, mechanical keyboards, Nerf blasters, and more! Don’t pass these up.

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If you want to know about the deals as soon as they are happening, you’ll want to follow Thrifter on Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter, because missing out on a great deal stinks!

Far Cry 5 for PlayStation 4: Should you buy it?

Trying to decide if Far Cry 5 is right for you? We’re here to help.

So you’re looking for something new to play on your PlayStation 4. There are plenty of options out there to choose from but in case you weren’t aware, Far Cry 5 just came out. If you are as interested in this title as I was, then you probably want to read on.

I found myself incredibly enticed by the premise of Far Cry 5. The new release from Ubisoft takes place in the Hope County Montana. A radical religious leader has grown in power through violence and drug distribution. The people of Hope County who have not joined with the religious cult have lost control of their lives and land as leader John Seed and his family have grown in power. As a new sheriffs deputy, it is your charge to put a stop to the dangerous cult and save Hope County in the process.

See at Amazon

What’s great

There’s a lot to enjoy about Far Cry 5. First of all the world is visually stunning. The beauty and detail present in the settings make immersion quick, powerful, and satisfying. You can find quiet moments between the chaos that are downright serine. However, you are going to have to put down that fishing pole and get back to blowing stuff up sooner or later.

In addition, that big beautiful world is truly open to you. From the moment the game starts in earnest, You can go anywhere you want and get into any sort of trouble that tickles your fancy. The openness of Far Cry 5 gives you a sense of freedom that is missing or stilted in so many open world games. The ability to hop in a helicopter or truck and blast across the entire map is something that was not lost on me.

The Seed family are the ones now in charge of Hope County. They have managed to wrest control from the population through intimidation and fear. When you interact with any of the four family members you can see why. Each of them has a unique personality and is portrayed brilliantly. I found the acting of each of the four main characters to be equal parts engrossing and terrifying.

A fantastic addition to this installment of the franchise is the use of Guns for Hire. As you progress through the game you will meet certain characters (human an otherwise) whom you can enlist to be a part of your team.

Each one of these characters comes with their own distinct weapons, attitude, and combat perks. Having a wild animal or some trailer park weirdo on your team can be a lot of fun. When you’re assaulting a cult stronghold it never hurts to have a bear on your side.

Finally, we are all media savvy consumers so it is incredibly rare when a game can actually elicit genuine surprise. Ubisoft did just that with the ending of Far Cry 5. I did not see that coming. Kudos for that.

What’s not so great

Despite all of the fun and beauty to be experienced in Far Cry 5, it does have a handful of drawbacks which pulled me out of the game at times. On occasion, it feels as if the game is struggling with an identity crisis. The main storyline is socially and psychologically dark as night. However, there are bits of dialog and side missions that are so decidedly goofy or juvenile in tone that it would on occasion strip all the gravitas out of what it was I involved with in this world.

Don’t get me wrong, the goofy moments are well done in their own right. It just seemed as if it was at odds with the feel the main storyline was trying to create. Also, if you’ve played any of the other FarCry games, some of these criticisms will feel right at home with the other titles in the franchise. If this is your first trip into the franchise, however, don’t show up for any deep dives into the emotional state of your character.

Another issue that I found at times distracting or frustrating was the AI. All the baddies in the game were fine as my contact with them was relegated to making sure that they were turned into pink mist. The characters on my team, however, could often be found doing inexplicable actions while I was in the middle of an incredibly intense firefight.

And aside from bizarre physical actions, there were moments where I found myself wishing I could get them to shut up. Each of the Guns for Hire characters has a limited number of canned dialog lines which seems to repeat ad nauseam. When I was trying to hear another bit of dialog which was important to the storyline, one of my sidekicks would start yammering on about where they were or some other bit of character color.

But should you buy it?

For whatever faults I found in Far Cry 5, it is still a really fun game. When I was engrossed in the core storyline and engaging with a member of the Seed family it felt urgent, scary. and immensely satisfying to blow them to smithereens. If you are a stalwart fan of quiet, clever, and groundbreaking games then you probably already know that this isn’t going to be the love of your life.

However, if you are an existing fan of the Far Cry franchise there is no doubt that you are going to love this game. Similarly, if you are one of the few people left who hasn’t taken a dip into the Far Cry world and you love big blockbuster titles, I am sure you will love it as well. The bottom line is that while Far Cry 5 may not reinvent the wheel, it’s still a pretty fun ride.

See at Amazon

Are you playing?

Are you getting yourself into some trouble in the world of FarCry 5? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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Nokia 7 Plus launching May 2 and comes with free Google Home Mini

This is a really great offer.

There was a load of phones trying to wow us at MWC 2018 this year, but one that stood above the rest was the Nokia 7 Plus. AC’s Andrew Martonik best described the Nokia 7 Plus as a “Pixel 2 for the frugal set” during his hands-on with it, and now it’s been confirmed that the phone will launch on May 2.

The Nokia 7 Plus carries a price tag of £349.99, and for that price, you’re getting a phone with a two-tone metal build, dual cameras from Zeiss, a 6-inch 18:9 display with slim bezels, and Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. As if that wasn’t enough, the Nokia 7 Plus also packs a Snapdragon 660 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 3,800 mAh battery. Oh, and it’s an Android One phone — meaning it’ll get software updates nearly as fast as Google’s Pixel line.

Along with the May 2 release date, Nokia’s also said that pre-ordering the 7 Plus from its website will allow you to snag a Google Home Mini for free (a value of £49). As long as you make your purchase on Nokia’s online store and do so before May is over, you’ll be eligible for this promotion.

You can’t order the phone from Nokia’s site quite yet, but if you don’t care about the Home Mini and just want to make sure you get the 7 Plus ASAP, pre-orders are live on Amazon right now.

See at Amazon

Motorola’s first phones of 2018 will be announced in April

There’s also a new President leading the company.

Motorola was noticeably absent from Mobile World Congress this year, but now the company’s confirmed we won’t have to wait too much longer before we get to see what in the world it’s working on.

In a recent blog post, Motorola said —

We’re excited for what 2018 (and beyond!) is going to bring us and look forward to sharing our first products of the year with you next month!

Motorola doesn’t offer any insight into what these “first products” will be, but it’s expected that the company will use next month to announce the next entries in its Moto G series. The Moto G5 lineup from 2017 was released in March of that year, so the time is right for us to learn more about its successors.

In case you haven’t heard, we’re anticipating Motorola to announce three new Moto G6 phones this year, including the Moto G6, G6 Play, and G6 Plus. All three of the phones will adopt the Moto X4’s glass back and metal frame aesthetic, with varying specs across the board.

Along with the tease of the new phones, Motorola also announced that it has a new President. Aymar de Lencquesaing is stepping down and being replaced by Sergio Buniac who’s been with Motorola for more than 20 years.

These are all the Moto phones Motorola is releasing in 2018

Best Fortnite streams to watch on Twitch

Save the stress by watching someone else play a game!

Battle Royale games have become all the rage recently, and Fortnite is currently one of the top contenders. However, if you’re not into online games or you never seem to be able to be the Victory Royale, then watching streamers could be the answer to all of your problems. Here are the best streams on Twitch to get your Fortnite fix.

shroud

shroud is currently one of the most popular Fortnite streamers on Twitch right now, with over 110 million views on almost all of the videos. His streams usually have to do with updates or sometimes, he specializes in certain weapon.

There’s currently no set times for when his streams will go live, but you can follow or subscribe to his Twitch channel to keep up with when he starts streams.

See on Twitch

Ninja

This is another popular Fortnite streamer who has over 100 million views on almost every stream, and he is known for his presence on Twitter as well as Twitch. Ninja’s streams are similar to shroud where they are typically specialized, but he also just tries to have fun with the game.

Ninja has two streams, one in the morning at 9 AM CST and one at night at 7 PM CST, so make sure to follow or subscribe to see when he goes live.

See on Twitch

Nadeshot

Nadeshot is a popular YouTuber who has taken his platform and started streaming on Twitch. His streams aren’t strictly Fortnite, but when he does play the game, he typically gets around 40 million views on his videos. He started out as a professional Call of Duty player, but has since expanded his horizons.

Since he spends most of his time with YouTube, he doesn’t have a set schedule for Twitch streams so you’ll have to follow or subscribe to his channel to see when he’s live.

See at Twitch

DrDisRespectLIVE

Here is another Twitch streamer who has over 60 million views on his Fortnite streams, so he is another very popular gamer. DrDisRespectLIVE has a persona that he uses in every video, and it’s kind of goofy but also very funny.

DrDisRespectLIVE has a schedule he sets out for every week, but it is always different so follow and subscribe to his Twitch to stay up to date on his streams.

See at Twitch

Who are your favorite streamers on Twitch?

Let us know down in the comments which one of these streamers you enjoyed the most!

‘SKALAR’ explores how light and sound affect our emotions

Photons have no mass, but in an exhibition at the CTM electronic music festival in Berlin, artist Christopher Bauder treated light as a moldable, solid substance. The installation was married to a complex soundscape by musician and composer Kangding Ray, and set in the historic Kraftwerk Berlin industrial space. The result, SKALAR, was an epic light show that put spectators through an entire “wheel of emotions.”

SKALAR is ambitious, but it came together pretty quickly. Bauder had worked at the Kraftwerk before, and felt that the former power station’s scale and industrial vibe would be well-suited to a large installation. The opportunity to do something at the site arose in November, giving Bauder and his collaborators just a few months to pull something together for the February CTM festival.

The sped-up timeframe and nature of the space galvanized Bauder and Kangding Ray. “It’s not a place you negotiate with,” he told the lighting manufacturer, Robe. “The deal is that you take it on-board and treat it with the respect it deserves, find solutions for issues like reverb times and the special rigging required.”

Working with Kraftwerk Berlin, Kinetic Lights and Robe, Bauder installed 65 double-sided mirrors, each with a perimeter ring of 180 programmable pixels, suspended by 195 motors. That lets each mirror tilt and pan, and gives each them around 25 feet of up and down movement.

Around 90 “Pointe” ceramic discharge HRI lights with highly calibrated colors were attached to the walls and floor, allowing for nearly infinite light effects when they hit the mirrors. Bauder and his team programmed a series of treatments, ranging from dark and foreboding to lighthearted and hopeful, that trigger the lights via MIDI keys.

The movements were set to play a 45-minute show that tapped into four of the eight parts of the human wheel of emotions theorized by psychologist Robert Plutchik. Bauder and Ray also performed six special, more intense live shows that played on all eight emotions.

Visually, the work evokes industrial pipes, alien spacecraft, planets and a rising, ray-emitting sun. The changing tonalities and animated lights are designed to evoke “awe, surprise, exhilaration, anticipation and of having one’s senses overwhelmed … in repeated cycles throughout the piece,” Bauder wrote. SKALAR must have succeeded in that because it sold out during the entire CTM run, despite its abstract nature, and Bauder now hopes to tour the installation to an international audience.

Source: CTM Festivals

Microsoft’s Edge browser is out for iPad and Android tablets

Microsoft’s Edge browser released for iPhone and Android late last year with a promise to come to iPad “soon.” Now, after a quick beta period, the app is ready for a full release onto iPad and Android tablets.

Microsoft updated its November blog post focusing on Microsoft Edge for mobile devices, noting that users can take advantage of cross-platform sync with their browser use on PC, along with features like “Favorites (including Roaming Favorites), Reading List, New Tab Page, Reading View and Roaming Passwords in Microsoft Edge across all of your devices.”

Source: Microsoft

Malaysia proposes law that would make spreading fake news illegal

The Malaysian government has proposed a law that would criminalize the spread of fake news, and those found to be in violation could face up to 10 years in prison and a 500,000 ringgit (approximately $128,165) fine, the Wall Street Journal reports. The proposed law says, “‘Fake news’ includes any news, information, data and reports, which is or are wholly or partly false, whether in the form of features, visuals or audio recordings or in any other form capable of suggesting words or ideas.” And it would also apply to publications outside of Malaysia if the country or its citizens are affected by the reports.

While the government is pushing the bill as a solution to a growing fake news problem, many say it’s just a way for the current administration to quell dissenters and silence reports regarding the 1Malaysia Development Bhd. state investment fund, which is being investigated by a number of countries for allegedly engaging in money laundering and misappropriation of funds. Prime Minister Najib Razak has faced criticism over the fund, though he has denied all accusations of wrongdoing.

Critics of the bill include Fahmi Fadzil, communication director of the opposing People’s Justice Party, who called it draconian, and the Asia Internet Coalition, which said in a statement, “We believe that prescriptive legislation designed to control the exchange of information will not adequately address the issue of false news effectively since discerning whether information is ‘true’ or ‘false’ can be highly subjective and risk compromising access to information and legitimate exchange of ideas.” The coalition, which includes Apple, Facebook and Google, also said that combating fake news is best accomplished through collaborations between government and the news industry.

James Gomez, director of Amnesty International’s Southeast Asia and Pacific division, said, “This bill is an assault on freedom of expression. The vague and broad definition of ‘fake news,’ combined with severe punishments and arbitrary arrest powers for police, shows that this is nothing but a blatant attempt to shield the government from peaceful criticism. This bill must be scrapped immediately.”

The bill still has to pass in both houses of parliament, but the Wall Street Journal says it is expected to be approved ahead of the country’s upcoming national elections.

Via: Wall Street Journal

Source: Asia Internet Coalition, Amnesty International