Grab a pair of the $11 NRG Noise-Isolating Wood Earphones in one of six color combinations

These headphones were handcrafted with genuine wood.

The Symphonized NRG 3.0 Noise-Isolating Earbuds are now down to just $10.99 at Amazon when you enter promo code K8IPSZ5D during checkout. This deal saves you $11 off the regular price of these headphones. Luckily, the promo code is valid on any color of these headphones.

These earbuds were handcrafted with genuine wood which helps give them a powerful acoustic sound. They feature an in-ear design and are noise-isolating which reduces ambient noise around you while you’re listening. There’s also an in-line remote and microphone. Three sizes of silicone ear tips are included so you can find the right fit for you, and you’ll receive the eco-friendly carrying pouch pictured as well. They’re compatible with any device that has a standard 3.5mm jack.

Almost 5,300 Amazon reviewers rated these headphones with 4.2 out of 5 stars collectively.

See at Amazon

Netflix plans live-action ‘Carmen Sandiego’ film with Gina Rodriguez

’90s kids have even more to get excited about as Carmen Sandiego comes to Netflix as a feature film. Jane the Virgin and Annihilation star Gina Rodriguez will play the title character in the live action movie, according to Deadline. She is also listed as a co-producer through her I Can and I Will production company.

Rodriquez is already set to voice Carmen in the Netflix reboot of the popular animated series, due in 2019 along with a line of books from the owner of the property, educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Deadline says the film will be a standalone adventure about the red-hatted world traveler, and that no writer or director is as yet attached to the project. This isn’t the first plan to bring the fictional detective to feature films; Jennifer Lopez was attached to the property back in 2012, after a previous attempt had been made with Sandra Bullock.

Source: Deadline

Google starts blocking its apps on uncertified Android devices

If you’re fond of loading custom ROMs on your Android phone, life just became complicated. Google has quietly started blocking access to its apps on uncertified devices whose firmware was built after March 16th. If you’re affected, you’ll get a warning that a device is “not certified” and can’t sign into a Google account. This won’t prevent you from loading ROMs, but you’ll have to register your device IDs on a white list every time you undergo a factory reset — when there’s a 100-ID limit, you could run into problems if you’re routinely wiping your phone to install new firmware.

We’ve asked Google for comment on the move.

The company is already quite clear about the rationale, however. Vendors officially need to get certification to load Google apps (Android’s licensing model is built around this), but some of them ignore this requirement and either load the apps regardless or encourage you to download them yourself. This new block theoretically pushes those less-than-scrupulous brands to clean up their acts by either obtaining certification or sticking to an AOSP version of Android, where they’d depend on third-party apps.

The problem, of course, is that it leaves custom ROM users caught in the crossfire. They may have to be more selective about when they install ROMs and skip minor updates. It’s far from the end of custom firmware, but the era of anything-goes firmware (on phones that allowed custom ROMs in the first place, that is) might be winding down.

Via: Android Police, 9to5Google, The Verge

Source: XDA

BMW reportedly plans car subscription service test for Nashville

BMW is getting into the car subscription business, Bloomberg reports. While the company itself only said that a subscription pilot was planned for this year, a person familiar with the plans told Bloomberg that the program will begin in Nashville, Tennessee next week. The service is called Access by BMW and will be available through a local dealership beginning April 2nd, according to the source.

BMW’s version is similar to those already offered by Cadillac and Volvo. These sorts of car subscription plans let users change car models more often than they could with a traditional lease and monthly payments typically include insurance and maintenance along with the rental fee.

As ride-sharing becomes ever more prominent, automakers are looking for ways to compete among younger customers. In that regard, BMW launched a new lease program earlier this year that lets its customers rent their cars or use them with a ride-sharing service.

Volvo announced its Care by Volvo subscription service in November, while Cadillac launched Book early last year.

Via: Bloomberg

What’s on TV: Final Four, ‘Far Cry 5,’ ‘Alex Inc.’

With Silicon Valley back on HBO, it’s also time to welcome a new startup-themed show with this week’s premiere of Alex, Inc. on ABC. It’s based on the story of the podcast company Gimlet Media, and stars Zach Braff (Scrubs). It’s also time for the 4K Blu-ray release of The Last Jedi, while gamers can dig into finally-set-in-the-US Far Cry 5.

There’s plenty to watch on streaming too, as season two of the Lemony Snicket series is on Netflix, as well as the sci-fi thriller The Titan, hip-hop documentary series Rapture and more. Besides Final Four basketball action, ELeague is back on TBS with Tekken Team Tournament competition, and Starz presents the season finale of Counterpart. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (4K)
• Proud Mary (VOD)
• Legion (S1)
• The Outer Limits (S1)
• Freaky Friday
• Women in Love
• Assault on Precinct 13
• Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Batman: The Enemy Within Episode 5, PS4, PC, Xbox One)
• PixArk (Xbox One Game Preview)
• Warp Shift (Switch)
• Outlast II (Switch)
• The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 (PS4)
• MLB The Show 18 (PS4)
• Tempest 4000 (PS4)
• X-Morph: Defense – European Assault (Xbox One, PS4)
• Trove: Heroes (PS4, Xbox One)
• Toki Tori 2+ (Switch)
• RollerCoaster Tycoon Joyride (PS VR)
• Alteric (PS4, Xbox One)

Monday

• The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling Part 1, HBO, 8 PM
• D.C.’s Legend’s of Tomorrow, CW, 8 PM
• Lucifer, Fox, 8 PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8 PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8 PM
• Kevin Can Wait, CBS, 8 PM
• American Idol, ABC, 8 PM
• Man with a Plan, CBS, 8:30 PM
• The Terror (series premiere), AMC, 9 PM
• Pecking Order, Starz, 9 PM
• The Alienist (season finale), TNT, 9 PM
• iZombie, CW, 9 PM
• The Resident, Fox, 9 PM
• Superior Donuts, CBS, 9 PM
• The Terror (series premiere), AMC, 9 PM
• Living Biblically, CBS, 9:30 PM
• The Good Doctor (season finale), ABC, 10 PM
• American Dad, TBS, 10 PM
• McMafia, AMC, 10 PM
• Shoot the Messenger, WGN, 10 PM
• Good Girls, NBC, 10 PM
• Final Space, TBS, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Tuesday

• The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling Part 2, HBO, 8 PM
• Shadowhunters, Freeform, 8 PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8 PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8 PM
• Roseanne (season premiere), ABC, 8 PM
• NCIS, CBS, 8 PM
• Bull, CBS, 9 PM
• Black-ish, ABC, 9 PM
• Black Lightning, CW, 9 PM
• The Challenge, MTV, 9 PM
• LA to Vegas, Fox, 9 PM
• Rise, NBC, 9 PM
• The Mick, Fox, 9:30 PM
• Splitting Up Together (series premiere), ABC, 9:30 PM
• Tosh.0 (season premiere), Comedy Central, 10 PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 10 PM
• For the People, ABC, 10 PM
• Baskets (season finale), FX, 10 PM
• Hate Thy Neighbor, Viceland, 10 PM
• NCIS: NO, CBS, 10 PM
• The Quad, BET, 10 PM
• Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G., USA, 10 PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 10 PM
• Adam Ruins Everything, TruTV, 10:30 PM
• The Jim Jefferies Show (season premiere), Comedy Central, 10:30 PM
• The Detour (season finale), TBS, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Wednesday

• The Path (season finale), Hulu, 3 AM
• The Looming Tower, Hulu, 3 AM
• Empire (spring premiere), Fox, 8 PM
• Grown-ish (season finale), Freeform, 8 PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8 PM
• Survivor, CBS, 8 PM
• Riverdale, CW, 8 PM
• The Goldbergs, ABC, 8 PM
• Alex, Inc. (series premiere), ABC, 8:30 PM
• Star (spring premiere), Fox, 9 PM
• Suits (spring premiere), USA, 9 PM
• Life Sentence, CW, 9 PM
• The Magicians, Syfy, 9 PM
• Modern Family, ABC, 9 PM
• Seal Team, CBS, 9 PM
• The Americans (season premiere), FX, 10 PM
• Krypton, Syfy, 10 PM
• Designated Survivor, ABC, 10 PM
• Hap & Leonard, Sundance, 10 PM
• Slutever (season finale), Viceland, 10 PM
• Criminal Minds, CBS, 10 PM
• Chicago PD, NBC, 10 PM
• Trixie & Katya Show (season finale), Viceland, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Thursday

• Innocent, Sundance Now, 3 AM
• Gotham: A Dark Knight, Fox, 8 PM
• Superstore, NBC, 8 PM
• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8 PM
• The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8 PM
• A.P. Bio, NBC, 8:30 PM
• American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja, USA, 9 PM
• Station 19, ABC, 9 PM
• Arrow, CW, 9 PM
• Will & Grace, NBC, 9 PM
• Siren, Freeform, 9 PM
• Mom, CBS, 9 PM
• Showtime at the Apollo, Fox, 9 PM
• Champions, NBC, 9:30 PM
• Life in Pieces, CBS, 9:30 PM
• Lip Sync Battle, Paramount, 9:30 PM
• Atlanta, FX, 10 PM
• Chicago Fire, NBC, 10 PM
• Black Card Revoked, BET, 10 PM
• Thursday Night Darts, BBC America, 10 PM
• Nobodies (season premiere), Paramount, 10 PM
• The Rundown with Robin Thede, BET, 11 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Friday

• A Series of Unfortunate Events (S2), Netflix, 3 AM
• Trailer Park Boys (S12), Netflix, 3 AM
• The Dangerous Book for Boys (S1), Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• The Titan, Netflix, 3 AM
• Happy Anniversary, Netflix, 3 AM
• First Match, Netflix, 3 AM
• The Guardian Code, Netflix, 3 AM
• Sofia Nino de Rivera: Seleccion Natural, Netflix, 3 AM
• Rapture (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• The Remix, Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• Fly Guys, Facebook, 12 PM
• Once Upon A Time, ABC, 8 PM
• Blindspot, NBC, 8 PM
• The Dynasty, CW, 8 PM
• Macgyver, CBS, 8 PM
• New Wave: Dare to be Different, Showtime, 9 PM
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, 9 PM
• Taken, NBC, 9 PM
• Strike Back, Cinemax, 10 PM
• Blue Bloods, CBS, 10 PM
• ELeague: Tekken Team Takedown, TBS, 11 PM
• This Is Not Happening, Comedy Central, 12 AM

Saturday

• Lost Song, Netflix, 3 AM
• NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four, TBS, 6 PM
• Operation Odessa, Showtime, 9 PM
• Christiane Amanpour: Sex & Love Around the World, CNN, 10 PM
• The Last O.G., TBS, 11:30 PM

Sunday

• Wakfu (S3), Netflix, 4 AM
• The Good Fight, CBS All Access, 3 AM
• The Joel McHale Show, Netflix, 3 AM
• Bob’s Burgers, Fox, 7:30 PM
• American Idol, ABC, 8 PM
• Our Cartoon President, Showtime, 8 PM
• Top Gear (season finale), BBC America, 8 PM
• Instinct, CBS, 8 PM
• Counterpart (season finale), Starz, 8 pm
• Jesus Christ Superstar Live!, NBC, 8 PM
• The Simpsons, Fox, 8 PM
• Brooklyn Nine-nine, Fox, 8:30 PM
• Genius Junior, NBC, 9 PM
• American Dynasties, CNN, 9 PM
• The Walking Dead, AMC, 9 PM
• NCIS: LA, CBS, 9 PM
• Here and Now, HBO, 9 PM
• Homeland, Showtime, 9 PM
• Ash vs. Evil Dead, Starz, 9 PM
• TheLast Man on Earth, Fox, 9:30 PM
• Silicon Valley, HBO, 10 PM
• Trust, FX, 10 PM
• Billions, Showtime, 10 PM
• Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History, CNN, 10 PM
• Naked & Afraid, Discovery, 10 PM
• Timeless, NBC, 10 PM
• Madam Secretary, CBS, 10 PM
• Deception, ABC, 10 PM
• Barry: Chapter One, HBO, 10:30 PM
• Talking Dead, AMC, 10 PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11 PM

[All times listed are in ET]

PSA: Apple Accepting WWDC Scholarship Applications Starting Today

Every year, Apple offers free WWDC scholarships to students and STEM organization members who don’t have the $1,599 necessary to purchase a ticket to the company’s developer conference.

Apple began accepting WWDC scholarship applications for 2018 today, as was first announced on March 13 when Apple shared WWDC 2018 event dates. Apple plans to award up to 350 scholarships, which will include a free WWDC ticket, free lodging, and a free one year Apple Developer membership.

Scholarship applicants, who must be at least 13 years old, can use Apple’s WWDC scholarship website to submit an application. Apple is asking scholarship applicants to create an interactive scene in Swift playground that’s able to be experienced within three minutes.

Apple recommends that applicants “be creative” and use templates in Swift Playgrounds for inspiration. Apple will judge requirements based on technical accomplishment, creativity of ideas, and content of written responses on the accompanying application.

All submissions must be individually created, as Apple will not consider group work. Open source software is permitted, but its use must be explained on the submission form. Swift playground must be built using Swift Playgrounds on iPad or Xcode on macOS. A full list of rules are available on Apple’s WWDC18 Scholarship website.

Each applicant must be registered for free with Apple as an Apple developer or a member of the paid Apple Developer Program. Applicants will need to be enrolled part-time or full-time in an accredited course of study or be a member of a STEM organization.

Apple will be accepting scholarship applications through Sunday, April 1 at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time, and winners will be notified on Friday, April 20.

This year’s Worldwide Developers Conference will kick off on Monday, June 4 and it will last through Friday, June 8. Apple is expected to hold a keynote on June 4 where new software and perhaps new hardware products will be unveiled. Scholarship students who aren’t picked to attend will be able to follow along with the conference using the WWDC app.

Related Roundup: WWDC 2018
Discuss this article in our forums

Eight Android trivia apps for when your brain needs a workout

Trivia games have been part of good old family entertainment for decades. Who can say they aren’t familiar with games like Jeopardy or Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?

Well in recent times, trivia games have made their way to mobile, so quiz fans don’t have to settle for being just spectators. They can join the game and show off their brain muscles.

Fancy yourself a know-it-all? Well, whether you’re in need of a brain workout or simply want to have some bun, there’s a wide selection of trivia apps available for your Android phone and tablet.

What are some of the best Samsung Galaxy S9 alternatives?

For this article, we decided to come up with a list of the best trivia games you can install on your device right now. Let the fun begin and the facts flow.

HQ Trivia

What it is:

HQ Trivia is the live trivia game where you answer 12 questions on your phone to win real cash.

Why it’s fun to play:

• Previously an iOS exclusive, HQ Trivia finally made it to Android a few months ago. Why is everyone so hyped about this particular trivia app? In part because it feels more like a game show than an app. Users from around the world get to participate and compete against each other from the comfort of their home.
• Charming host Scott Rogowsky asks you 12 questions in real-time (that increase in difficulty) and you have 10 seconds to answer. Get all the questions right and you win cash. Although you’ll have to split the daily prize (usually $2,500) with the other winners.
• The app sends out a notification to your phone each time a game is about to begin, thus ensuring you are present for each round.

Install HQ Trivia

QuizUp

What it is:

QuizUp allows you to engage in PvP battles to show off your erudition. Pick your favorite category and dominate!

Why it’s fun to play:

• Unlike HQ Trivia, QuizUp lets you choose a preferred subject. So you’re good at history or perhaps art? Test your knowledge by choosing the exact topic which you excel at.
• QuizUp also has a social component. It lets you meet and interact with people who have similar interests.
• Special categories are added around big events or when new movies are released.
• You can win badges and awards, so you show off your might!

Install QuizUp

Trivia Crack Kingdoms

What it is:

A trivia app with a similar approach to QuizUp. With one big difference – the cartoony graphics and unique characters included meant to spice up the gameplay.

Why it’s fun to play:

• Trivia Crack Kingdoms lets you subscribe to specific categories or channels and then engage in head-to-head trivia battles with other know-it-alls.
• You can get localized content in up to 18 languages including English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish or Korean.
• For even more fun, open boxes to uncover unique characters who will give you specific challenges (ex: Queen: Answer five questions correctly in 30 seconds to get a special prize).

Install Trivia Crack Kingdoms

Trivia 360

What it is: A free quiz brain which claims to be able to give your brain an “immaculate boost” by challenging you with a variety of trivia puzzles.

Why it’s fun to play:

• The app has a clean and colorful interface that’s very inviting and fun to look at.
• Comes with different types of puzzle categories including Class 4-answer questions, true/false questions, flag quiz, landmark riddles and more.
• Gives you access to the leaderboard, so you can check how other online players are performing in this trivia game.

Install Trivia 360

Logo Game

What it is:

As the name suggests, this is a specialized trivia game focusing on logos. It’s prefect for people who think they know all the companies around the world.

Why it’s fun to play:

• A trivia games for those who are passionate about company brands. The app includes 86 unique logos and features up to 2,625 brands from all over the world.
• The app includes a retro level that allows you to test your knowledge of past company logos and images.
• Levels increase in difficulty as you play, but you have 6 unique hints to help you complete the levels.

Install Logo Game

Quizoid

What it is:

Quizoid is a relaxed, single player trivia game which mainly focuses on testing and developing your knowledge of facts.

Why it’s fun to play:

• The app includes a database of more than 7,000 question in 17 categories, so there’s something for everyone.
• Got a question wrong? No worries, the game gives you three lifelines (50/50, 2-shots and change question), so you can keep playing.
• There are 3 game modes to take advantage of including Classic mode, get 20 questions without game over or play against the clock.

Install Quizoid

Knowledge Trainer: Trivia

What it is:

A quiz app for smart people that aims to stimulate your brain with high-quality and challenging questions.

Why it’s fun to play:

• The free part of the game includes 20 lessons with 200 challenging questions. Each lesson tests your knowledge with 10 question from 10 different categories. The aim is to improve your general knowledge with regular training.
• You get 5 difficulty levels for each training categories.
• The app has a review function for missed questions.

Install Knowledge Trainer: Trivia

Bonus

Where is that?

What it is:

Excel at geography? Then this app is exactly what you’re looking for. To put it simply, this is a trivia game app with a focus on geography.

Why it’s fun to play:

• The game asks you where a particular city, country, or even landmark is located by dropping a pin on the map.
• The app features a multi-player mode which lets you hook up 8 players to one device.
• There are 1500+ locations in 15 categories and you also get a Wikipedia link for every location. Learning time!
• The trivia game is available in multiple languages including Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese and Russian.

Warning: the constant adds might make the game a bit frustrating to play, but nevertheless the concept is great!

Install Where is That?

Have you tried any of these apps before? If not, which one would you try out first?

Bell Canada network review – what are the best plans?

Bell is one of the oldest mobile providers in Canada, and has become almost synonymous with the country’s telecommunications landscape. (Being named after the inventor of the telephone doesn’t hurt.)

Between cell service, internet, and TV, there isn’t much in the way of telecommunications that you can’t get from Bell. But be warned, Canada is a big country with complex politics from province to province (and from territory to territory). You’ll want to check exactly what’s on offer in your region, because prices and specific services do vary.

So, what can you expect from Bell, and which plans are right for you?

Bell network

Bell’s high network speeds are undeniable. The LTE Advanced wireless network can deliver speeds of 1 gigabit per second and is the first wireless provider in Canada to successfully do so. Theoretically, speeds can go as high as 1.5 Gbps, as they did in trials held in Mississauga, Ontario.

The company offers DSL internet at speeds ranging from 500 kbit/s to 50 Mbit/s for downloads and 256 kbit/s to 10 Mbit/s for uploads, depending on where you are.

On the cell side, Bell boasts the largest LTE network in Canada and offers high-speed 4G HSPA+ to its users.

Bell plans

Bell offers all kinds of plans to suit your needs, and you’ll most often be putting together the features yourself à la carte. This has some advantages in terms of customizability, but after spending some time on the company’s website, my first piece of advice is to read the fine print carefully. Costs add up quickly, and the fee structure isn’t always obvious up front.

Basic phone plans

When it comes to Bell plans, the company does offer some simple bundles. The company’s basic phone plans are pretty reasonable, if you’re a make-a-few-calls kind of phone user. They’re fairly bare bones though. If you want a reasonable amount of data, you’ll be looking at $30 for an additional 500 MB, or $40 for 1 GB, which might make you go another route.

The basic plans do come with a free device, so that’s something to keep in mind. You’ll be locked into a two-year contract, but your phone will be yours at no up-front cost. Your choices are pretty limited, but a free phone is a free phone.

Family share plans

Bell’s share plans essentially allow you to split your service between users, so that you pay a single bill for multiple phones. There are a few different ways to get a family plan, and they each have their own advantages.

Your best bet on rates is to bring in your own phones or buy them at full price from Bell. Their “most popular” bring-your-own-device shared plan is the Unlimited Canada calling plan. This offers, as you may have guessed, unlimited, country-wide calling, but also unlimited text, picture, and video messages within Canada for $60/month per person on the plan.

You can get a similar deal for local calls only or calls within Canada and the U.S. for $55/month and $75/month respectively.

If these prices seem reasonable, here’s the catch: data is offered separately. If you want data on top of that (and who doesn’t?), Bell offers 1 GB of shareable data for $25 per month, going up to 15 GB of shareable data for $100 per month, with a few options in between.

Prices will vary if you get a phone from Bell, which will be discounted at the point of sale, but that will mean higher monthly rates and could come with mandatory data minimums.

All of these plans have a one-time $25 activation charge and come with access to over 4,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across Canada, call display, voicemail, conference calling, and call waiting.

Prepaid Bell plans

If you don’t want to get caught in a contract or getting surprises at the end of the month, Bell also offers prepaid plans.

Your cheapest option clocks in at $30.75 per month. This gets you 150 anytime local minutes; unlimited Canada-wide, U.S., and international text, picture, and video messages; and 200 MB of data. Bump that up to 1 GB of data for $65.75 per month.

You can also get voice-only prepaid plans starting as low as $15.75 per month and going up to $55.75 per month for virtually unlimited calling and texting in Canada and the U.S.

Bell internet

Home internet from Bell isn’t available everywhere. In British Columbia, for example, Bell customers are restricted to mobile internet. But elsewhere, the company has some pretty impressive offerings. You’ll want to check the website to see what’s available wherever you are.

Bell advertises the Fibe 50 as its popular offering. For $59.95 per month for your first year, you get solid speeds and unlimited bandwidth. Heads up that after a year, the service goes up to $94.95 per month though.

If you’re on a budget, maybe the Essential Plus is more up your alley. With slower speeds and a bandwidth cap of 20 GB per month, it’s clearly got nothing on the Fibe 50 plan — except an affordable price tag of $34.95 per month. You also save the $59.95 activation fee that accompanies any Fibe (fibre to the node) connection.

Bell TV

Despite being known for phone and internet service, Bell also offers satellite TV packages. These are grouped into “Good,” “Better,” and “Best” categories, based on channel options. While the labels may be a little on the nose, they are fairly apt.

The Good package gets you TSN, Bravo, Discovery, A&E, MTV, Much, YTV, and more for an initial six-month cost of $24.95 per month, and a regular price of $55.95 per month.

The Better package, which includes AMC, BET, Animal Planet, Action, Disney, Showcase, Space, and more goes for $88.95 per month, with an initial six-month cost of $57.95.

And the Best package goes all out. You’ll get the channels mentioned above, along with FX, BBC, Slice, MovieTime, CNN, Lifetime, National Geographic, PBS, and more, along with a host of radio stations. That’ll cost you $128.95 per month after a six-month promo price of $97.95 per month.

You can also build your own TV package, starting with basic channels like ABC, CBC, Global, APTN, and a few others for $24.95 per month. Then you add on the channels you want. Add on a movie bundle including TMN, TMN Encore, HBO, and Crave TV for $25 per month, for example. Or pick individual channels starting at $4 per month each.

Whatever TV package you choose will come with a $59.95 one-time installation fee with a two-year contract. You can rent an HD PVR for $15 per month from Bell or purchase it for $499, and Bell also offers a $7-per-month HD receiver.

Final thoughts

Do we recommend getting a Bell plan? That’s a tough question. If you’re getting mobile, internet, and TV, then getting all three from Bell will allow you to benefit from bundle discounts. On the other hand, some of these rates are pretty high.

On the internet side, if speed is your first priority, then maybe Bell is what you want. Discount companies like TekSavvy will offer much better prices, but the speed and consistency of Bell might give you the peace of mind you need.

Same goes for mobile. Freedom will cost you less financially, but the limited coverage may drive you up the wall and cost you more in other ways.

There’s really no easy answer here, but hopefully we’ve offered a clear breakdown to help you make the right choice for your particular needs.

What do you think? Have you had great or awful experiences with Bell? Let us know in the comments.

Apple Seeds Seventh Beta of macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 to Developers

Apple today seeded the seventh beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 update to developers, one week after seeding the sixth beta and over a month month after the release of a macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Supplemental Update to address a bug that could cause apps to crash when receiving a character from the Indian language Telugu.

The new macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.

macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 includes bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren’t addressed in macOS High Sierra 10.13.3.

The update offers support for some features that are available in iOS 11.3, like Messages on iCloud, which uploads all of your iMessages to the cloud. It will also support Business Chat, a feature coming when iOS 11.3 and macOS 10.13.4 are released to the public, and it includes support for eGPUs. Apple released release notes for macOS High Sierra beta 6 in certain countries, providing details on what’s included in the update. The notes are below:

– Adds support for Business Chat in Messages in the U.S. and Canada
– Adds support for external graphics processors (eGPU)
– Fixes a graphical corruption issue affecting some iMac Pro apps
– Adds a keyboard shortcut for moving to the rightmost open tab in Safari by pressing Command +9
– Adds a feature for sorting Safari bookmarks by name or URL
– Fixes a bug that could prevent links from appearing in Messages
– Improves protection o confidential data by filling usernames and password fields in Safari only when selected
– Displays new warnings in the Safari Smart Search Field when interacting with forms that require credit card data or passwords on unencrypted web pages
– Displays more information on how personal data is used by certain features

The macOS 10.13.4 update also brings the smoke cloud wallpaper that was previously only available on the iMac Pro and it introduces a warning when opening up a 32-bit app as part of an effort to phase them out.

In the future, Apple plans to phase out 32-bit Mac apps, just like it did with 32-bit iOS apps. Apple says macOS High Sierra is the last version of macOS that will support 32-bit apps without compromises.

We’re nearing the end of the macOS High Sierra beta testing period and a release could come any day now.

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
Discuss this article in our forums

‘Sea of Thieves’ beginners guide to sailing and plundering

Cooperative piracy simulator Sea of Thieves is a game that drops players right off the plank and into the deep end of the ocean as soon as they start it up. There is little or no explanation of how most things work in the game, from sailing to completing voyages. All of it is picked up through experience as you play, which is part of what makes Sea of Thieves interesting. There are tons of little nuances, best practices and skills, however, that you need to become an effective pirate.

If you want to win sea battles, escape plunderers, gather treasure and generally be the best pirate on the Sea of Thieves, there is a lot to learn. Luckily, these 20 tips will make you an effective sailor, a deft brawler and a smart privateer when you join up with a crew. Going it alone has its perks as well, so check out our tips for your lone pirate voyages.

If you’re not doing anything, work the sails

It’s handy to set jobs at the start of a voyage so everyone knows their role on your ship, but the reality of Sea of Thieves is that a lot of the time, you will be running from spot to spot, dealing with whatever is coming at you. You often find yourself scanning the horizon, grabbing the wheel for a second to make course corrections, and dropping below deck to make repairs or check your map all in the space of a couple of minutes.

One thing every member of a crew has to be on top of, though, is working the sails. Especially on the big ship, you constantly need to balance speed and maneuverability to be effective, and that means cutting sail to make tighter turns and adjusting your sail angles to pick up more wind. In a battle situation, controlling your sails becomes paramount as you work to avoid taking fire while angling to get a shot at enemies. If you have nothing to do at any moment, be sure to check the sails and communicate with your crew to work them.

Always post a lookout

The pirate life includes a lot of other pirates who want to steal your stuff or just generally bother you. Being aware of the locations of other ships around you on the sea is essential to staying alive. The upshot of sailing is that it takes a long time for ships to get to you, so you often have time to react — but only if you see other people coming. When you leave your ship to pursue an objective, it’s best to leave a lookout if you can spare one. If you don’t, you risk finding yourself ambushed while people are off the ship or in the water, which can get you sunk, killed, and robbed. It’s not always the most glamorous job, but keeping watch is essential to staying alive.

Choose your weapons carefully

When you start Sea of Thieves, you pack a cutlass and a flintlock pistol, but you have some additional weapons options waiting for you in the hold of your ship. On the galleon, you’ll find the weapons locker on the mid-deck at the front of the ship, where you can restock on ammo and switch your weapon complement. There are three options for guns to carry into battle: The pistol, a decently strong, accurate mid-range weapon; the blunderbuss, a devastating close-range shotgun; and the “eye of reach” sniper rifle, which obviously packs a longer range. The pistol will get you by in most situations, but don’t be afraid to change things up, carry two guns, or diversify what your whole crew is carrying. Blunderbusses, for instance, are great for stopping boarders with a single close-up shot, and the eye of reach might help you kill gunners on a nearby ship. The pistol can drop skeletons in a single shot, keeping you from getting surrounded. Experiment with all the weapons to find out what you’re good with and what the situation demands. Having the right tool for the job can save your life — and your ship.

Dump your cannonballs and wood before leaving the ship

Your ship is stocked with planks for repairs, bananas for health, and cannonballs for battle every time you start a game, but that stock can get depleted in a hurry when you’re on voyages and in battles. Make it a practice to search the barrels you find on every island for more resources. You can only carry a set number on your person (five planks, five bananas, and 10 cannonballs), though, so the best practice is to empty your pockets and store everything you have every time you leave your ship, to replenish your stocks on the island. Be sure to remember to dump everything before you leave, and you will quickly stockpile a ton of resources. Your forethought will pay off if you find yourself in a battle, when the difference between winning and losing can come down to having enough planks to patch holes and enough cannonballs to outlast the other ship.

Sword-thrust into the water for a speed boost

Getting on and off your ship quickly is an important skill to master in Sea of Thieves since you never know when a situation might arise when you need to be ready to fight. One handy little skill to master is using the sword thrust. The move, which is executed by holding down the attack button for a few seconds to charge it up, sends your character lunging forward to stab with his sword, dealing massive damage; in fact, the move can kill multiple regular-level skeletons in one hit. Do that move off the side of a ship or dock, though, and it will send you flying, propelling you through the water below at a crazy high rate of speed. If you need to get back to your ship in a hurry, it can be a great move to cut down on swim time. Plus, it’s a lot of fun.

Use gunpowder barrels to surprise your pursuers

As you explore islands, you will sometimes find red gunpowder barrels. You can shoot these to blow them up, but they’re also items you can pick up and take with you. Powder barrels are extremely volatile and dangerous, but also extremely useful. You can drop them off the back of your ship while being chased to create mines that will deal huge damage to enemy ships if they hit them, for instance. Another great use of gunpowder barrels is taking them with you when you board an enemy ship. Use a barrel as a bomb in an enemy hold and you will all but sink them in one blast, if you can manage to avoid detection long enough to execute the maneuver.

The trick with gunpowder is storing it. Barrels can explode from a stray shot while you’re fighting on your deck, or if they get hit by cannonballs, even when you store them in your hold. That makes them a pretty big danger to you, as well as to other people. Experiment with finding a good place to store them — you want them out of the way and in a place where they’re not likely to be found by boarders and hopefully, less likely to get nailed by a cannonball in the heat of battle. The longer a gunpowder barrel is on your ship, the more likely it is that it will hurt you instead of an opponent, so the best practice is to find a use for it sooner, rather than later.

Constantly scan the horizon

You don’t have to fight any pirates you find on the high seas, but you should always be ready for battle, since starting a fight isn’t always up to you. Once you have cargo in your hold, you become especially vulnerable, since you can lose it if your ship sinks or if someone manages to steal it. For that reason, the most important tool in your kit is the spyglass, and whenever you’re sailing, you should keep it handy. Always be on the lookout for ships in the distance, and be sure to clock their position and heading whenever you can. You can usually see ships coming from a long way off if you’re vigilant. Knowing where other people are, and keeping an eye on them, is the first step toward avoiding a watery grave.

The more stuff you have, the more vulnerable you are

While it can be tempting to hit multiple islands and pick up a ton of treasure, especially as you progress through the game and voyages get more complex, resist the urge to pick up a whole bunch of stuff before turning it in. The more stuff you have on your ship, the harder it will be when you lose it — and you will definitely lose stuff from time to time, due to mishaps like storms or attacks from other players. How much you carry around spells the difference between whether being sunk is a minor inconvenience or a massive letdown.

For that reason, it’s always good to plan voyages ahead of time and to have a good sense of where the nearest outposts are. If you get into an emergency situation, you can head for an outpost and drop crew members off while you sail by, so they can swim onto shore and turn stuff in, even while the rest of you are fighting. Try to keep your voyages manageable and your routes clear so that if plunderers come, you won’t be cursing the developers at Rare for all your precious booty that wound up at the bottom of the sea.

Don’t skip shipwrecks

While you will constantly be getting new voyages from outpost islands all over the Sea of Thieves, especially in the early going, the rewards will be fairly minimal. There are a few ways to pick up additional rewards while you’re out on voyages, though, and the biggest one is stopping to investigate shipwrecks. You’ll know them by the flock of birds circling a spot in the water, which indicates a sunk ship just below the surface (and sometimes sticking out of it). Swim down and check the holds and captain’s quarters and you will often find high-level treasure chests and bounties, as well as saleable items like spices and tea. Shipwrecks will often yield better rewards than the things you find on the missions you’re trying to complete.

There are a few things you need to be cautious about when diving, though. Shipwrecks always attract sharks within a few moments of your arrival, so the best approach is to dive down with a few crew members to get everything they have quickly. Once sharks are in the water, you’re pretty much too vulnerable to continue your salvage, so go fast. Investigating shipwrecks also leave you highly vulnerable to attack because they have good rewards and leave you anchored in the middle of nowhere — so make sure you keep someone watching the horizon for anyone coming to steal your plunder.

Check for damage during storms

Storms can mess you up pretty good in Sea of Thieves. They can knock out your compass and kill your visibility, making navigation all but impossible, and the rougher the seas get, the more damage your ship will take just from sailing. In a storm situation, keep an eye on the integrity of your hull below deck. You’ll likely spring leaks, and if you’re not paying attention, you can take on a lot of water in a hurry. Storms also have a tendency to damage your ship in places you might not normally spot, like on the mid-deck of the galleon, or behind the navigation map of the sloop. Those holes won’t leak as fast, but they can still be deadly if they go unrepaired.

Your life (and your ship) are kind of expendable

It’s a bit counter-intuitive, but if you die or lose your ship in Sea of Thieves, it’s only a few moments before you’re back in the game and at full strength. The only thing that is a pain to replace if you lose it is your cargo — once you sell treasure chests, bounty skulls or merchant items, the money is yours to keep and nobody can take it from you. For that reason, you shouldn’t always be afraid to sacrifice your life for the good of your crew, or your ship for the good of ruining someone else’s day. If you’re not carrying any cargo, the worst you will suffer is a minor inconvenience. That doesn’t mean you should be reckless, but it does mean that if sending one person as a boarder to slow down an enemy ship could be useful, go for it. Even if they fail or die, they will respawn on your ship within a few moments.

Ramming speed!

For all the time you spend repairing your ship, it can be counterintuitive to use it as a weapon. Ramming enemies, though, is a highly effective way to wreck them and win the day. It seems the ships in Sea of Thieves are pretty tough in the front, and if you can ram an enemy, you’ll do massive damage while taking relatively little yourself. Especially when sailing a sloop against a galleon, consider turning your agile little ship into a weapon. Ramming enemies is also a good way to make it possible to quickly and easily board them, so keep it in mind as a part of your arsenal in a sticky situation.

A fight will never end until you sink their ship (or someone escapes)

Battles in Sea of Thieves can be long, arduous and difficult. It’s tough to keep up with an enemy ship on the high seas, and getting into firing position often takes some strategic thinking of moves and counter-moves. The good news is that you can respawn if you die in the middle of battle, allowing you to rejoin your crew and help them out. The bad news is, the other crew can do the same thing — which mean if you’re trying to get rid of someone who just won’t leave you alone, you have to take more drastic measures. That specifically means sinking enemy ships, or finding a way to outpace them so as to no longer be worth the pursuit. If you sink a ship, its crew is forced to respawn with it on an island. That means the only way to really get rid of anyone, at least for a time, is to send them to the inky depths.

In our time playing Sea of Thieves, we found ourselves coming up against the same ships and groups of sailors again and again. If you tend to hang around in a specific area of the map, expect to see the same people over and over again. Keep that in mind before getting into a battle, because being harassed by the same angry crew of pirates while you’re trying to dig up treasure can get frustrating.

Practice dropping anchor for hard turns

The anchor is a specifically useful tool when sailing. Obviously, it’s handy to keep your ship from drifting when you’re not aboard, but really, you don’t need it for that very often, since Sea of Thieves doesn’t include much in the way of drift for your ships. The anchor is much more useful for stopping your ship quickly, or when in battle situations, making extremely hard to turn almost instantly — kind of like using the emergency brake on a car. This is actually a real-world sailing maneuver called “clubhauling.”

To make an anchor turn, you need to spin the wheel of your ship all the way one way, then drop anchor. The ship will basically stop dead while spinning hard on the axis of the anchor chain, effectively giving you a giant turn in the direction the wheel is turned. The trick to making the anchor turn effective is coordination with your crew. If you’re on a galleon, raising the anchor can take a lot of time and effort, so you need everyone to start raising the anchor basically as soon as it hits. You also need to quickly get on the wheel to keep from turning too far in one direction or the other as soon as the anchor is raised back up, and you need the rest of your crew adjusting your sails to take advantage of your new bearing.

Leave your sails up and anchor raised for quick getaways

As noted, you don’t usually need your anchor to keep your boat rooted when you stop at islands. In fact, it’s a better policy no matter the size of your ship to raise your sails and your anchor every time you stop at an island. Your ship won’t move except for some slight drifting with your sails up (unless you’re in a storm) and raised sails make your ship tougher to distinguish at a distance. Better still, raising your anchor takes a long time on big ships especially — if you preemptively raise it, you can more easily make a quick escape in an emergency, since all you have to do is drop your sails and you’re off. Whether on a galleon or a sloop, make a policy of raising anchor before you leave your ship for when you need to make a quick getaway.

Store your treasure in sneaky places

Eventually, you will be boarded and maybe even robbed. Clandestine pirates can quietly swim up to your ship, especially when you’re away, and check your hold for anything valuable. It may be tough to avoid a determined burglar, but in most situations, you can confound those pirates at least a little by hiding your treasure in tough-to-spot places. Some of our favorites include behind the captain’s table (or the navigation table on sloops), where they’re less obvious. On big ships, try putting your chests behind the staircases down to the holds, on the balcony behind the captain’s quarters, or near the clothing, equipment and vanity chests on the mid-deck, where they might blend in. Glowing skulls are a bit more obvious, but if you don’t mind them being hard to retrieve for your crew, you can stash them in the crow’s nest as well. Think about where you don’t go very often on your ship, and don’t put things in obvious spots. Sea of Thieves also currently lets you pile chests and skulls on top of each other to occupy the same space, which can help hide multiple items so they look like just one. That might be a bug that gets patched, but for now, take advantage.

Fire yourself from the cannon to save time when you land

A trick that sometimes gets overlooked is the fact that you can shoot yourself out of a cannon as well as cannonballs. To do that, make sure the cannon is empty, then look at the end of the barrel while standing on the deck to get the option to climb in. If you’re alone, you have to aim the cannon first, since you can’t do it from inside, but if you have a crew, they can do the shooting for you. Firing yourself from the cannon is a quick way to get onto islands you need to search, and is also handy in a fight, allowing you to attempt to board a distant ship. You need to practice to get the hang of the distance and arc of how you fly through the air, though, so don’t sleep on trying the cannon out until you absolutely need it.

Be friendly to mix things up (or to get in close for the kill)

Sea of Thieves is a social game, and when you near other players who aren’t on your crew, they can hear you talking through your microphone thanks to proximity voice chat. You will often meet hostile players, but not everybody is mean — and sometimes, even people who sink you or kill you will want to chat. Making friends is likely to be vital for certain activities, like taking down the big forts marked by skull clouds as you sail around. Relatedly, you can also use your silver tongue to talk your way close to pirates you mean to murder. Don’t discount the fact that Sea of Thieves is built around player interaction, and that your voice is a tool (and a weapon) in your kit.

Try sailing solo to master the mechanics

It’s likely that lots of Sea of Thieves players will discount the solo pirate life when playing the game. After all, Rare has designed the game to be heavy on social interaction, and big ships require lots of people to run them well. There is definitely fun to be had all on your own, though — playing alone in Sea of Thieves turns the game into a somewhat paranoid exercise in careful planning, stealth, and quick reactions. It also teaches you some useful skills when you have to handle your ship’s helm, sails, anchor, and guns all on your own. It’s worth spending some time alone on a sloop to get a handle on all of Sea of Thieves‘ mechanics and jobs, and to really get the hang of sailing well by adjusting your sails and heading for maximum speed and maneuverability. Playing alone will give you skills that make you a more effective member of your crew.

Keep an eye out for shinies on the beach (bottles, relics, etc)

When you visit islands, you occasionally see items sitting on beaches. You can find several loose items out in the world that are worth picking up, including gold and silver artifacts, random treasure chests, boxes of spices and tea, gunpowder barrels, and messages in bottles. Most of the stuff can be sold to the proper quest-givers for reputation and money, and messages in bottles generally send you on higher-level quests that appear to dish out better rewards than most of the early and mid-game voyages. Always be on the lookout for handy extra things you can pick up, and keep in mind that if you quit the game, any such stuff you’ve picked up but not turned in or completed — like maps from bottles — will be lost when you log back in.

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