How to get the best deal on Kingdom Hearts 3

Looking to save some bucks Kingdom Hearts 3? Here’s one way to do it.

By all indications, Kingdom Hearts 3 will be coming out on PlayStation 4 sometime this year. In this article, we covered pretty much everything we know so far about the Square Enix release. If you are sitting on your hands in rapt anticipation you have probably already pre-ordered. However, if you haven’t already put in your pre-order then you might want to think about trying to save a few bucks on your purchase.

Prime Savings

Thanks to Amazon, gamers now have the opportunity to keep a few dollars in their pocket when they pre-order games. Recently Amazon announced the Pre-order Prime Savings. This program ensures that you will save twenty percent off the list price of any game when you pre-order through Amazon. If you’re the sort of gamer that buys tons of games in any given year, this can add up to quite a savings. Follow This link and you can see a list of all games that are currently discounted through the Prime Savings program.

See at Amazon

But what are the rules?

If you want to read all of the details regarding the Amazon Prime Savings, you can get all of that here. However, I will give you all the pertinent details right here and now. First of all, in order to qualify you have to have an active Amazon Prime subscription. It only applies to physical copies of games and like so many deals; it cannot be combined with any other discounts or promotions. This discount only applies to one copy of each game and you have to order at least two weeks before the release date. Once the game is released it will no longer be eligable for this discount. Click This link and you can try out Amazon Prime for free.

Best Savings

If you’re more into businesses that provide brick and mortar locations, then maybe you will be more interested in the Best Buy Gamers club. They essentially offer the same savings that you would get from Amazon. If you already have a subscription to Amazon prime you might want to stick with that. However, if you dont like the fact that you can only get a discount on pre-orders with Amazon, you can become a member of the Best Buy gamers club for only $30 and get a comparable discount on all games. Your subscription will last for two years and in addition to the twenty percent savings, you will also get ten percent off of pre-owned games. If you want to check out the Best Buy Gamers club you can do that here.

In a world where so many games can cost the better part of $100, I will take some savings just about anywhere I can get it. The way I see it, if I buy five games with these sorts of deals it will pretty much finance the cost of a sixth game with the money I save. If you’re ready to pull the trigger on a Kingdom Hearts 3 pre-order, you can get it for $60. However, with the Amazon Prime Savings guarantee or the Best Buy Gamers Club you can have it for about $49. I know I’m going to be taking advantage of some pre-order savings.

See at Best Buy

Are you going to be pre-ordering a copy of Kingdom Hearts 3?

If you’ve already got your copy waiting for you, where did you order it? Let us know.

Why are we talking PlayStation 4 on Android Central? Let us explain.

PlayStation 4

• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• PlayStation VR Review
• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

Amazon

SanDisk’s $60 200GB microSD card is a must-have for all Galaxy S9 owners

Expand the capacity.

This 200GB card normally sells for closer to $70 and this is the lowest price drop on it since Black Friday. You can use it to expand the storage in your phone, tablet, action camera and much more. It has transfer speeds of up to 100MB/s and it is shockproof, waterproof and can even withstand X-rays.

If you are looking for more storage, Amazon has the 256GB variant of this card down to just $100 today.

See at Amazon

Best Leather Cases for Galaxy S9 and S9+

A leather case is a premium smartphone accessory. The Galaxy S9 is a premium smartphone. See where we’re going here?

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ are premium phones that deserve a premium case to keep them safe. And nothing screams ‘premium’ like leather, am I right?

Leather cases also tend to be more functional, often with a folio design and built-in card slots for an all-in-one solution for your phone and wallet — but even if you don’t dig that style, there are still great leather cases available! Let’s dive in!

• Case Mate Wallet Folio Case
• Design Skin Folio Wallet Case
• Tech21 Evo Luxe Vegan Leather Case
• Poetic Nubuck Credit Card Slot Case
• Speck Presidio Folio Leather Case

Case Mate Wallet Folio Case

When you think of leather cases, you likely imagine a folio wallet case as it’s the most common style. Consider this option from Case Mate which features a classic folio design with multiple card slots, a see-through slot for your ID, and a side pocket for storing cash.

The integrated case holds your phone in place while the front flap keeps your display protected when closed. Case Mate backs their products with a lifetime warranty and you can get your case for either the Galaxy S9 or S9+ for $60.

See at Amazon

Design Skin Folio Wallet Case

Leather cases are all about style, right? So why settle for a boring black leather case when you can choose between a bunch of cool color combinations and find a case that’ll really stand out?

Check out these wallet cases from Design Skin that are available in 9 different styles that just might have you buying more than one. Each case has three card slots on the inside along with a side pocket for storing cash or receipts, and every case is handcrafted with soft genuine leather that you will absolutely love.

These cases are priced between $40 and $50 depending on the style you want and also available for the Galaxy S9+.

See at Amazon

Tech21 Evo Luxe Vegan Leather Case

This premium case from Tech21 is ultra thin at just 1.8mm thick, and is designed to protect your phone from up to 12-foot drops without impeding your phone’s signal quality or wireless charging.

It’s very stylish with a sleek one-piece design, giving you that leather touch on the back without the sometimes cumbersome folio front cover of other leather cases. Also, this case is made with premium vegan leather so you can enjoy the look and feel of this case even if you morally object to leather.

Get yours for just $55. Also available for the Galaxy S9+.

See at Amazon

Poetic Nubuck Credit Card Slot Case

Poetic is known for making some pretty bold design decisions for their cases, and they certainly came up with something pretty unique with the Nubuck case.

This unique looking case combines a sturdy TPU shell with perforated PU leather around the bottom half of the case, which holds the card slot that can store up to 2 cards at a time. To access your cards, you pull the tab on the back to pop the cards out, allowing you to keep your cards private with the pull tab blending into the design of the phone.

Storing the cards on the back of the phone may impede with wireless charging but if you run into any issues simply remove the cards and you should be good to go.

This is also one of the more affordable cases on this list at just $13, so if you’re after a unique leather case for your Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+, this is the case for you!

See at Amazon

Speck Presidio Folio Leather Case

Speck’s offerings for the Galaxy S9 and S9+ aren’t available yet — listed as “coming soon” on Speck’s website. But given their reputation for making quality cases and the design of these folio cases, they absolutely deserve a spot on this list.

Available in all-black or grey/brown, this looks like a real winner with a secure and private card slot on the inside of the front flap, and the option to fold it up as a kickstand.

These cases will be sold for $55, and you can enter your email address to be notified as soon as these cases are available. If you opted for the larger phone, this case is also available for the Galaxy S9+ for $60.

See at Speck

What’s your favorite?

Like what you see here? Which case would you get? Let us know in the comments?

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

• Galaxy S9 review: A great phone for the masses
• Galaxy S9 and S9+: Everything you need to know!
• Complete Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs
• Galaxy S9 vs. Google Pixel 2: Which should you buy?
• Galaxy S9 vs. Galaxy S8: Should you upgrade?
• Join our Galaxy S9 forums

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AT&T
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Sprint

The Galaxy Note 8 has been updated to Oreo on these U.S. carriers

The waiting game is over!

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 is still one of the most powerful Android phones on the market, and now that Android Oreo is making its way to the device on U.S. carriers, it’s about to get even better for a lot of users.

The Oreo update is still in its early days for the Note 8, but in any case, these are the carriers that have updated it so far.

AT&T

AT&T is the first network to start updating the Galaxy Note 8 to Oreo, and the update was first spotted by XDA user jetman5843 (Thanks, Nick!). The update weighs in at 1407.35MB, and it changes the build number of the Note 8 to R16NW.N950USQU3CRC2.

Oreo for the Note 8 brings the March 2018 security patch, and all of the features you’d expect to see are included – such as picture-in-picture, notification dots, and smoother performance across the board.

AT&T is the only carrier in the States to update the Note 8 so far, but we’d expect more to follow suit soon. Stay tuned!

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

• Galaxy Note 8 review
• Galaxy Note 8 vs. Galaxy S8+
• Which Note 8 color is best?
• Complete Galaxy Note 8 specs
• Join our Galaxy Note 8 forums

Verizon
AT&T
T-Mobile
Sprint
Best Buy

Huawei P20 Pro hands-on: Camera tricks and a supercar finish

Huawei may be best known for US retailers not stocking its wares, but regardless, the company continues to ramp up its flagship smartphones. In the past few years, phones like the P9 made a lot of us stand up and take notice, thanks to classy design touches and Huawei’s own imaging tricks.

Its next phones, the P20 and P20 Pro, take that latter part even further as the company tries to spar with Samsung and the rest with a tapestry of AI skills and so very many camera sensors. There’s so much going on when it comes to imaging (both in terms of hardware and software) that, at least during my short time with both phones, I couldn’t test out all the modes and use cases. I’ll say this, though: Huawei is taking its smartphone cameras very seriously.

Say hello to the 5.9-inch P20 and the 6.3-inch P20 Pro. The duo share a lot of specifications (and looks), but there are hardware differences that make the P20 Pro the more interesting proposition. It’s not just because the Pro has a third rear-facing camera, either.

This time around, the P series is gently curved at the edges, with a glass design that softens the sides of both the P20 and the bigger P20 Pro. Both phones are thin, too: The P20 is 7.65mm thick (with a 3,400mAh battery), while the P20 Pro measures up at 7.8mm, with a larger 4,000mAh battery — that’s a massive battery for a phone this size, outclassing even the Galaxy S9 Plus. If it helps you to visualize those millimeters, the two models bookend a 7.7mm-thick iPhone X.

Beside the curves, the P20 also introduces a new color-gradient finish that Huawei’s calling Twilight: a blend of dark blue, purple, turquoise and … was that a shimmer of crimson? One colleague commented that it was a lot like the “pearlescent paint” finish you might see on a high-end sports car. It’s pretty hypnotic, but while journalists seemed to coo over it, it’s a little too showy for me. People buy shiny, glitzy phone cases, not phones. Still, it’s different.

Chris Velazco/Engadget

For more restrained tastes, the P20 is also available in black, champagne gold, pink gold and midnight blue, while the Pro gets the same selection minus the champagne gold. Regardless of your color choice, it’s a classy-looking phone — and solid too. It’s just that Huawei hasn’t quite figured out how to give its family of phones character just yet. Nothing makes me go “Oh, that’s a Huawei phone” — for better or worse.

It’s also worth pointing out that you’ll get a more advanced OLED screen with the bigger P20 Pro, and a more typical RGBW LCD display on the standard P20. I think the OLED looks better, but the LCD screen isn’t a deal-breaker for smaller hands. They both share a 2,240 x 1,080 resolution with a very wide 18.7:9 screen ratio, and rest assured, with both, you get a notch. Or not! If you’re notch averse, a software setting shortens the height of the screen so you can pretend it doesn’t even exist.

The P20 Pro also benefits from an upgraded IP67 rating for water and dust, while the P20 has IP53 like last year’s Huawei phones. In short: the Pro model is even more protected, which brings it in line with rival flagships.

Chris Velazco/Engadget

Unlike on older phones from the same company, however, the fingerprint reader returns to the front. Apparently tech companies still can’t decide the best place for it. (It’s the back, by the way.)

To Huawei’s credit, it’s at least tried to squeeze some extra functionality into the venerable home button. The effect is a little like the gestures that Apple folded into its home-button-less iPhone X, although things work differently. A light press on the main button will act as a back function, while more sustained prodding will take you to the home screen. There’s even the ability to swipe left and right.

As with many other Android phones, you can also hide the usual screen keys and use the home button/sensor to navigate around everything — it’s another way to keep that screen in full use.

So far, not much AI talk, right? Both phones run on Huawei’s homemade Kirin 970 processor, which integrates neural processing for certain tasks. In this case, it helps the P20 initiate Face Unlock in less than half a second. Huawei didn’t elaborate on how it works — is it more secure than retina scans, infrared and other techniques used for face unlocking elsewhere? We’ll update when we hear more from Huawei.

In reality, all the AI smarts center around cameras, as proved by Huawei’s new addition to the battle of smartphone spec sheets: triple rear-facing cameras.

Chris Velazco/Engadget

As outlined in rumors last week, Huawei’s P20 Pro has gone to town on the megapixels, and it might just fill that Nokia-shaped smartphone imaging hole in your heart. Let’s break down that imaging array.

Coined the “Leica Triple Camera,” a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor (with f/1.6 lens) stands separate from the other two, which combine an 8-megapixel telephoto shooter with f/2.4 lens and optical image stabilization and a 40-megapixel camera with f/1.8 lens.

On the regular P20, there’s a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor again, but it’s paired with a single 12-megapixel RGB camera sensor. Both phones get a rather epic 24-megapixel front-facing camera, though, because our faces demand more pixels.

In classic TV shopping style, ladies and gentlemen, that’s not all. There’s a laser transceiver for speedier focus, a flash and also a separate color temperature sensor to improve white balance accuracy.

Chris Velazco/Engadget

The medley of sensors are complemented by no fewer than four different focus techniques: laser (as mentioned earlier), phase detection autofocus, and depth and contrast detection. This is where Huawei brings in its AI chops for further improvements, with a “predictive focus” that detects movement in a frame (say, a flower in the breeze) and matches focus with more precision. And if you’re tempted by the super-slow-motion tricks bandied around by Sony’s latest phones and the Galaxy S9, rest assured: There’s 960fps super slow motion inside the P20 too. It is, like its rivals, limited to 720p resolution.

Huawei hopes you’re impressed by spec sheet numbers, because the P20 Pro’s camera has plenty more of ’em. That high-megapixel RGB sensor is 1/1.7 inches in size — as compared with the 1/2.55-inch sensor in Samsung’s Galaxy S9. Bigger sensors typically mean better pictures with more detail because they capture more light. The P20 also has a max ISO setting of 102,400 that apparently can glean photos at a mere 1 lux — a little higher than a moonlit night. That is an unusually high ISO option: The typical limit for smartphones that even offer ISO settings is around 6,400.

Huawei positions the P20 as both the most advanced smartphone camera and the most intelligent, and the latter is where things get even more interesting. The company is using the term “Master AI” to explain how the camera taps into different settings and modes depending on the photo being taken. (Sound familiar?)

The P20 (Pro or otherwise) will automatically switch to the right mode to get what it believes to be the perfect photo. This might involve a splash of extra bokeh blur for your portraits or a macro option for beautiful floral close-ups. The aim here is to reduce the need for you to plumb the depths of the settings menu. (I was impressed by the depth of settings on the phone’s “Pro” mode, but I also understand how it could put a lot of people off: A lot of us just want to take a good picture.)

Chris Velazco/Engadget

During my briefing, the spokespeople outlined how the company reached out to professional photographers for their opinions (and camera settings) for different photography subjects and baked that into this master AI. Interestingly, this led to some extra contextual settings: different food photography modes for western food and desserts, for example. While the explanation was a little loose, the phone will attempt to synthesize settings for multiple themes: it’ll use its discretion to capture your pet and what you’re having for lunch — if that’s what you’re shooting. There’s a dizzying 19 different subject modes here for the P20 to choose from, from landscape to food blogging, from cats to night photography.

These assistive modes within the camera app will even aid your photo composition, leveling off landscape shots, and when it senses any overly enthusiastic zooming during a group photo, it will pan out slightly to get the whole gang into frame. I like the idea of idiot-proofing smartphone photography — a lot — but perhaps the coolest showcase I saw on the P20 was AI-augmented image stabilization.

When you try to take a long-exposure shot — say, for a neon city skyline or to make a blurry waterfall shot — the P20 will use image detection know-how to smooth things out, taking up to an eight-second-long still. It works not only on stills (something I’m really looking forward to trying out further myself) but also on video. That’s just one of the major features. It may be a single camera app, but there’s an awful lot to unpack here.

The numbers and spectacle around the cameras suggest that the P20 Pro, especially, is capable of so many imaging tricks, but from my short time with the devices, it’s a mix of fantastical results and niche-bordering-on-pointless. (Do you need separate camera modes for cats and dogs?) The spec sheet is impressive, but can the P20 series deliver with all this imaging tech? In the end, does it make for a better smartphone camera? At the very least, I can’t wait to test out all of the P20 Pro’s tricks further.

Cherlynn Low and Chris Velazco contributed to this report.

Zuckerberg declines invite to UK committee hearing on data privacy

Despite being asked, Mark Zuckerberg won’t attend a British parliamentary hearing about Cambridge Analytica’s data use. In a statement to Damian Collins, chair of Digital Culture Media and Sport Committee, Facebook’s head of public policy for the UK Rebecca Stimson outlined all the ways Facebook would change its course of action (like telling people if their data was misused). Essentially, it was a rehash of Zuckerberg’s statement from last week. What Stimson didn’t do though, was promise Zuckerberg would arrive as requested, instead listing possible deputies that may be sent to the hearings in his place.

One of the deputies was chief product officer, Chris Cox. As you can imagine, the UK government isn’t pleased by this. “We’d be very happy to invite Mr. Cox to give evidence, Collins said at the start of today’s hearing. “However, we would still like to hear from Mr. Zuckerberg as well.”

The UK committee even offered Zuckerberg to appear via video link and on US soil. Given his refusal of the latter, the former seems even more unlikely to happen. “We will seek to clarify with Facebook whether he is available to give evidence or not, because that wasn’t clear from our correspondence,” the committee said. Zuckerberg’s actions aren’t all that surprising at this point. In the past he’s downplayed Facebook’s role in Russia’s misinformation campaign during the 2016 presidential election, for instance, even when presented with evidence from President Obama himself.

Source: The Guardian, Reuters TV, Joe Mayes (Twitter)

Amazon and Spielberg team up for mini-series on Mexico’s conqueror

Amazon has given Steven Spielberg the go-ahead to create a four-hour original miniseries based on the life of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. Spielberg has tapped Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List) to write the series for TV based on the screenplay written decades ago by the late Dalton Trumbo (Roman Holiday). The actor playing Cortés? None other than Spanish actor Javier Bardem, perhaps most lauded for his portrayal of a psychopathic hitman in No Country for Old Men.

The series entitled Cortes will focus on the conquistador’s unsanctioned expedition to Mexico, where he led an army of Spanish invaders and native allies to bring the mighty Aztec empire to its knees. Cortes, who razed the Aztec empire’s capital to the ground, is responsible for bringing Mexico under Spanish rule and was appointed as governor of what was called the “New Spain of the Ocean Sea.” Bardem says the series will tackle “the best and worst of human nature,” so we might see both his adventures on behalf of and accomplishments for Spain, as well as the evils of colonialism on screen.

The actor said in a statement:

“It is a privilege to tell this epic story — one that is full of drama and conflict within this huge, historical spectacle where two distant civilizations clash at the height of their reign. The best and worst of human nature came to life in all its light and darkness.”

Cortes doesn’t have a premiere date yet, but it will only be available to Prime members when it does come out.

Source: Amazon

A new Firefox add-on limits Facebook tracking

It’s safe to say that Facebook’s treatment of its users’ personal data is front and center, with the recent revelations about Cambridge Analytica. Many users are going as far as to stop using the social network altogether. But Mozilla has another option: It’s created an add-on called Facebook Container for its Firefox browser that isolates Facebook from the rest of your browsing activity. That way, the social network can’t track what you’re doing elsewhere on the internet.

It’s a great option for people who still want to use Facebook to keep in touch with their friends and loved ones, but also want to maintain some control over their data. “This Add-On offers a solution that doesn’t tell users to simply stop using a service that they get value from,” the release says. “Instead, it gives users tools that help them protect themselves from the unexpected side effects of their usage.”

The add-on works by opening Facebook into a separate container from the rest of you browsing. When you click on an outside link within Facebook, the page will load in your regular browser container. But clicking Facebook Share buttons in your regular browser will open these links within the Facebook container. It’s important to note that Facebook comments and Like buttons that are embedded into other websites won’t work, so if you regularly visit websites that use these features, this may not be the solution for you. You may also encounter trouble logging into other websites using your Facebook account.

It’s important to note that Mozilla isn’t singling out Facebook here. Many different companies have disturbing practices on tracking your internet use. However, Mozilla notes that their team wanted to “start with a well-defined problem that we can solve quickly.” It makes sense; after all, Facebook has been in the headlines nonstop recently for poor privacy practices, and this offers a tangible way for users to regain some control over what data they share with the social network.

Via: The Verge

Source: Mozilla (1), Mozilla (2)

Waymo and Jaguar will test self-driving I-Pace SUVs later this year

Waymo is adding a luxury vehicle to its fleet of self-driving test vehicles, the upcoming I-Pace EV. At an event ahead of the New York Auto Show, the two companies announced that testing of the I-Pace outfitted with Waymo’s autonomous technology will be on public roads later this year in Phoenix, Arizona.

The two companies expect the electric SUV to be part of the full Waymo fleet in 2020. In the first two years of production, up to 20,000 I-Pace vehicles will join the Alphabet Inc company’s driverless service which is expected to launch later this year and will give the public the opportunity to book rides in the driverless cars.

The I-Pace will be the sixth vehicle in the Waymo fleet joining the Chrysler Pacifica, a semi truck, the cute little test car and others. Jaguar and Land Rover already have their own self-driving technology which includes off-road capabilities.

This news comes at a precarious time in the self-driving world. After a self-driving Uber test vehicle was involved in a fatal accident, companies and regulators are re-evaluating autonomous vehicles.

On Saturday, Waymo CEO John Krafcik said, “at Waymo, we have a lot of confidence that our technology would be able to handle a situation like that.”

At the event, Krafick noted that Waymo has over five million real-world on the road tests and five billion miles. He noted that the company is confident about the technology it’s putting on the road. “Our role in the world is to build the world’s most experienced driver.”

Click here to catch up on the latest news from the 2018 New York Auto Show.

Source: Waymo

Live from Apple’s ‘education’ keynote!

Apple apparently has some news to share so it’s holding a big keynote in sunny… Chicago? That’s right, the company says it has some education-focused announcements in store and to mark the occasion, it chose a school in the Windy City as a backdrop. That means all of you, dear readers, best be setting your clocks to Central Time. I’ll be reporting live from Chicago on Tuesday the 27th, joined by my colleague, senior editor (and prolific iDevice reviewer) Chris Velazco.

The rumor mill indicates we might see a new, inexpensive iPad, and maybe even a new laptop, but there’s really only one way to know for sure: Follow along with our liveblog and stay tuned afterward for hands-on impressions, video and analysis (you know how we do). You’ll want to bookmark this link and tune in at 10am CT (that’s 11am Eastern and 8am Pacific — woof). See you then!