Grab four AAA eneloop rechargeable batteries with a charger for $17

Keep em charged, all the time!

Update: The price for this just dropped another couple bucks after already hitting a new low just a few days ago.

The 4-pack of Panasonic AAA eneloop 2100 Cycle rechargeable batteries with charger is down to $16.99 on Amazon. This pack normally sells for around $23 to $25, and this is the lowest price we’ve ever seen.

Each battery has 800mAh and a 2100 cycle, which means they can be recharged up to 2100 times. They will maintain their charge for a long time (up to 10 years) when not in use. This pack comes with a charger that can fit up to four batteries and works with both AA and AAA batteries. It will automatically turn off when the batteries are fully charged. Users give these batteries 4.7 stars based on 2,883 reviews.

See at Amazon

President Trump working to get ZTE back into business

Trump to Commerce Department: Get it done!

Truth is stranger than fiction. In April, ZTE was banned from using U.S. hardware or software by the Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. Fast forward to May and the company was banned from selling any products on U.S. military installations along with Huawei. These bans resulted in ZTE shutting down all its operations because it’s hard to make money when you can’t sell any products.

Today? Trump is back to Twitter and back to breaking his own news stories.

President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2018

This is certainly an unexpected event. But not necessarily a bad event. ZTE was banned from using U.S.-based hardware or software because the U.S. government felt it did not follow through on a court ruling that said the company needed to pay a hefty fine, fire several key executives, and admonish 32 employees — a charge ZTE denies. Ordering a denial may have been the Commerce Department’s idea of playing hardball to force compliance.

Having said that, the original issue — ZTE admittedly sold technology products to North Korea and Iran — is still troubling. As is a sitting U.S. President working in that company’s best interests after this was done.

This is surely just a small part of a bigger picture and only Presidents Trump and Xi know how it will play out. We’re going to watch closely, along with the rest of America.

This AmazonBasics 50-mile indoor HDTV antenna is only $21

Cut the cord and save even more.

This AmazonBasics 50-mile indoor HDTV antenna is down to its lowest price ever. It regularly sells for $28 and has only dropped from that price once before, but even that previous drop didn’t go as low as this one. This price drop makes it only $1 more than the 35-mile version.

You can also get a budget version on sale today. The AmazonBasics Ultra Thin 25-mile range HDTV antenna is down to only $8.44 from a street price around $13.

The 50-mile range is helpful particularly for people who don’t live in urban centers. You want to make sure your antenna can reach the signals coming from the nearest broadcast tower. This antenna lets you pick up channels like ABC, NBC, PBS, Fox, and more. It has black and white sides, and it can be painted over if you would like it to be a different color. The coaxial cable is 16 feet long. Use this map of DTV signals from the FCC to make sure this antenna works for you.

If you want to go all-in on cutting the cord, you can get a month of DIRECTV NOW and a Roku Streaming Stick for just $35 or your first 3 months of service for $30 if you’re a new customer.

See at Amazon

Project Treble is turning out to be more important than we thought

We’re already seeing the fruits of Google’s labor with Treble and Android P.

While we’re all busy arguing about Android P’s gestures and swooning over the new features, something far more exciting didn’t get the attention I think it deserves: seeing the first fruits of Google’s labor with Project Treble. In a completely unexpected move, Google released the first beta version of Android P for not only its own Pixel phones, but also phones from seven different companies. It’s neat for owners of the individual phones from each of the manufacturers to get an early look at Android P, but that’s not why this announcement is so exciting.

The real importance is that seven phone makers get extra-early access to Android P and can start working with the new platform. Yes, Google has partnered with Nexus manufacturers in the past, and Developer Preview versions of Android have been available for some Sony phones. But this is a whole new level of manufacturer access, and it’s all because these phones support the new Project Treble system for more seamless application of software updates. By making phones with Android Oreo out of the box and Project Treble enabled, these companies can more easily make Android P run on their phones because the user-facing software is separate from the firmware underpinnings developed for Oreo.

Google provided the groundwork and tools necessary to update software quickly.

Sony, Nokia, OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi, Essential and Vivo are all part of the beta program. These are huge companies that sell tens of millions of phones a year. And now each and every one of them has already started its work on making Android P work on its phones — about six months before Android P is released with the upcoming Pixel 3. And let’s be clear, this doesn’t just help them release P updates for the one phone that’s part of the beta program — it sets the development in motion for getting Android P to their entire lineups faster.

There are many moving pieces at play here that could eventually get in the way of Android P updates from these companies, but Google’s laid the groundwork and given the tools necessary for each of them to release new software on a far quicker time frame. Both providing extremely early access to the software and an operating system that facilitates a simpler update process is a recipe for faster software updates for end users. It isn’t as exciting right now as using Android P’s new gesture interface, but it’s undeniably more important for the Android market as a whole moving forward.

Now, a few more thoughts on the hectic week that was:

• As you may have read, I’m still not sold on Google’s new “digital wellbeing” initiative — even though I agree we should all consider using our phone less. I just think Google isn’t coming at it from the most sincere perspective.
• Digital wellbeing aside, it’s been fun to play with Android P — particularly since I didn’t really bother with the initial Developer Preview on my Pixel 2 XL.
• The gestures clearly aren’t finished, and I’m almost entirely withholding judgement because of it. Same goes for many of the visual/color changes. I’m loving the transitions and feature additions, though.
• We all got distracted by Google I/O for a hot minute, but there’s also a whole lot of hardware coming soon. The LG G7 is about to hit stores, the OnePlus 6 will be unveiled in just a few days, the HTC U12 is close. It’s a great time to be in the market for an Android phone.
• Also, BlackBerry “KEY2” it is. It’s so intriguing that the new TCL-made BlackBerrys have kept alive the thought that someone needs to offer an Android with a physical keyboard.

-Andrew

Android P

• Android P: Everything you need to know
• Android P Beta hands-on: The best and worst features
• All the big Android announcements from Google I/O 2018
• Will my phone get Android P?
• How to manually update your Pixel to Android P
• Join the Discussion

The Yeelight LED bulb is a great alternative to Philips Hue

The Yeelight LED bulb is a great option if you’re looking for an affordable smart lighting solution.

Yi Technology made its name in the action camera space by rolling out affordable alternatives to the likes of GoPro, and the company is taking the same approach to connected devices. That’s especially true of its $29 LED bulbs, which offer an experience similar to that of Philips Hue bulbs at a lesser cost.

One of the main selling points about the Yeelight LED bulbs is that they don’t require a hub to connect to your Wi-Fi network, unlike Hue. Just hook up the bulbs to an E27 (or E26) socket, and install the Yeelight app to connect the bulbs to your home Wi-Fi network. The lack of a hub means that you’ll have to shell out $90 to get started with three Yeelight bulbs, which is less than the $160 retail price of a Hue starter kit.

A great quality product that costs significantly less than a Hue setup.

Once the initial setup is done, you’ll be able to use your phone to control the lights, including setting a scheduler to automatically turn them on or off, adjusting the intensity and brightness of the lights, and much more.

There are preset scenes available from the Yeelight app, and you can also pick a color by uploading a photo from your phone’s gallery. The app offers a ton of customization options, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a setting that works for you.

You can adjust the colors by sliding left or right in the app, and the intensity by sliding up and down anywhere on the screen. The app also offers options for a mode called Flow, which cycles through a set of colors. Color temperature of the Yeelight bulb ranges from 1700K to 6500K, and you can control multiple lights from the app simultaneously.

The lights get fairly bright as you increase the color temperature, but you’ll be able to get that with the standard white variant of the bulbs. The RGB version is all about the colors, and it shines in that regard.

Like Hue, you’ll be able to control the Yeelight LED bulbs through Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant. Yi Technology rolled out the integration last year, and you will be able to pair the bulbs with an Echo or Google Home with ease and control the lights by issuing voice commands.

The Yeelight LED bulb’s affordability gives it a distinct edge in this space, and the amount of features combined with the fact that you can control it with Alexa or Google Assistant makes it an enticing option if you’re looking to get started with smart home tech.

The Yeelight LED bulb is now available officially on Amazon in the U.S. for $29, meaning it will work over 110V. If you’re looking to pick up the bulb internationally, then you’ll have to head on over to GearBest, where it’s available for $17.

See at Amazon

Updated May 2018 with Amazon U.S. links and details on Alexa and Google Assistant integration.

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 big discounts on the Nintendo 2DS XL gaming system, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus, HDTV antennas, and more! Don’t pass these up.

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