Huawei is the only Chinese company in Forbes’ 2018 Most Valuable Brands
The company’s valued at $8.4 billion.
Phones like the Mate 10 and P20 Pro have made 2018 an awesome year for Huawei so far, and all of that hard work appears to have paid off. The company recently announced that it was placed in Forbes’ Most Valuable Brands for the second year in the row and is the only Chinese company on the list for 2018.
Huawei made its debut appearance on the list in 2017 at rank 88 out of 100, but this year saw the company move up to position 79. Huawei’s brand value also increased by 15% year-over-year from $7.3 billion to $8.4 billion.
Brand value isn’t the only uptick Huawei saw from 2017 to 2018. According to research from IDC, its market share increased by a whopping 13.8% and saw in increase in brand-awareness across the globe by 85% during 2017.
Huawei also notes that it spent RMB 89.7 billion on research and development in 2017 and more than RMB 394 billion over the past ten years.
As for the rest of Forbes’ list, the top five spots went to Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon in that order.
Where to buy the Huawei P20 Pro in the U.S. and Canada
The best over-the-air antennas
The ChannelMaster CM-2018 is a top-selling over-the-air antenna. ($50 at Amazon.)
TV can still be free, once you buy the hardware.
Fun fact: Over-the-air television still exists, just like it did 50 years ago. OK, it’s way better than it was 50 years ago, with proper audio and video coming in at 1080i resolution. And in the coming years it’s only going to get better.
Oh, and by the way, it’s free. All you need is some sort of antenna, and a TV tuner.
Indoor? Outdoor? There’s actually no single best antenna for everybody.
The former may already be attached to your house, probably near the entrance to the Cold War-era bomb shelter. The latter may well be built into your television set — that “antenna” connection that you’ve never used.
If you’re just getting back into the OTA game, we can help. Our data folks (yes, we have those) have combed the internet for the most popular antennas being bought today.
Which one’s right for you? Well, that’s the thing. There is no one right antenna. It comes down to a number of things, but the principle is the same in any case. The bigger it is and the higher it is, the more easily it’ll pick up signals from farther away. Trees and hills and mountains don’t help matters. And if it’s a highly directional signal and your antenna isn’t pointing the right way? That’s another problem.
First: Do some OTA homework
It’s worth spending a few minutes with a website that helps you locate the TV towers in your area. It’ll show which direction they’re in, and how far away they are. That should give you some sort of idea of what kind of antenna you need.
Two such websites we like:
Next: What to buy? My basic rule of thumb is this: If you have a good way to mount an antenna outdoors, at least 10 feet or so in the air? Do it. It’s worth it in the long run. If an indoor antenna gets it done for you, though? Great. Maybe snag an inexpensive amplifier. The point is it’s going to be different for everyone.
Here’s my experience: I started with a cheap indoor antenna, and it worked OK. But I was missing my local Fox affiliate, and the local CBS affiliate was spotty. (And that was a thing during football season.) The problem? The indoor antenna just wasn’t strong enough or elevated enough — and it was facing the wrong direction.
I then moved to a better outdoor antenna, facing the right direction for those two channels, and life is good. I could have saved some money overall if I’d just spent a little more upfront. But every situation is going to be different.
A smarter tuner
Most televisions have a built-in tuner. That is, you can plug an antenna straight into the TV, scan for channels, and it’ll work just fine. But we can do better in 2018.
Boxes like HDHomerun, Tablo and AirTV let you plug in an antenna and shoot that feed out over your home network, so you can watch that over-the-air TV on nearly any device. And these boxes have multiple tuners, so you can watch on more than one device (tablet, TV, whatever) at a time.
These are accessories worth looking into if you’re serious about over-the-air TV. And they have apps for just about every major platform — Android, iOS, Xbox and your home computer.
HDHomerun at Amazon AirTV at Amazon Tablo at Amazon
And with that, here are the antennas we think you should take a look at.
The best over-the-air antennas
Channel Master CM-2018 ($50)
Well, then. This is the sort of old-school outdoor antenna you might remember back from the 1980s. (Look around your neighborhood, folks.) This updated model rates 60 miles for VHF and 45 miles for UHF and will almost certainly get the job done.
This is one of the highest-rated antennas around, and for good reason — it works really well.
Plus you can hang your laundry on it in a pinch.
See at Amazon
ClearStream Fusion ($99)
See at Antennas Direct
This latest entry from ClearStream is a great go-to antenna. It’s meant for indoor or outdoor use (remember that the latter is always better) and doesn’t take up a whole lot of square footage. You’ll know it’s there, but it’s not horribly gaudy. The included J-mount and 20dB amplifier (which now uses microUSB for power) are nice touches as well.
This is the sort of antenna you want to turn to if you’re serious about OTA TV but still want to look good doing it.
RCA Flat Digital Amplified Indoor Antenna ($31)
This is the sort of thing you’re likely to find sitting on a living room entertainment center or bookshelf, connected directly into a television set. It’ll get the job done for the strongest channels, but you can pretty much forget about receiving anything at a distance.
See at Amazon
Winegard FlatWave Amped FL5500A Digital Antenna ($51)
This 50-mile indoor antenna is reversible, so you can sort of pretend to hide it on a wall, or stick it to a window. (Preferably get it up as high as possible.) Direction is still key with this kind of antenna, so you’ll want to make sure it’s pointing the right way, if at all possible.
See at Amazon
Clearstream 2Max ($56)
Now we’re getting serious. This 60-mile external antenna can go in an attic, if it must. But better would be to stick it on a mast outside. (We’re talking just a few screws into the side of a building is all.) While no antenna is what we’d consider attractive, this is probably one of the better-looking signal-catchers of the bunch.
See at Amazon
Mohu Leaf 50 ($49)
This is another one of the most popular indoor antennas. It’s got a 50-mile range, but it’s still an indoor antenna. So distant stations might still be an issue. It’s also paintable (again, if you want to try to conceal it), and it’s also extremely thin.
See at Amazon
Updated May 29, 2018: Added the ClearStream Fusion to the ranks.
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Asus ZenFone 5Q up for pre-order in the U.S. for just $299
The phone officially launches July 31.
During MWC 2018, Asus announced the ZenFone 5, 5Z, and 5 Lite. The 5 and 5Z picked up a lot of attention for being shameless iPhone X clones, but the 5 Lite ditched the notch in favor of a basic, functional budget offering. Today, it’s been confirmed that the phone is coming to the U.S.
Available in the States as the ZenFone 5Q, the phone is available for pre-order on Amazon right now with a price tag of $299.
For just shy of 300 bucks, the 5Q offers a 6-inch 18:9 LCD display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080. There are also dual cameras on both the front and back, with the 16MP rear shooter and 20MP selfie cam each paired with a secondary wide-angle lens.
Inside the ZenFone 5Q is the Snapdragon 630 processor paired with 4GB RAM, 64GB of storage, and a decently-sized 3,300 mAh battery.
Other goodies include a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD card expansion up to 1TB, NFC, and Android Oreo.
You can pre-order the ZenFone 5Q on Amazon right now and the phone’s said to properly launch on July 31.
See at Amazon
Apple Updates WWDC App Ahead of 2018 Event
Ahead of the 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off on Monday, June 4 with a keynote event, Apple has updated its official WWDC app for iOS devices, introducing a revamped design, a new organizational system, and a list of available sessions and labs that will be hosted by Apple employees at the event.
According to Apple’s release notes for the app, the update introduces a new look that is designed to make it simpler to find favorites, downloaded videos, sessions, and labs so developers who are unable to attend are able to quickly access WWDC resources.
Topic-based organization of videos, sessions, and labs has been added to make it easier to find discussions covering specific aspects of the software, such as “Building apps for watchOS” and “Building Modern Apps.”
The app has been updated with a new 2018 schedule that outlines when various sessions and labs will be held. Notably, Apple last year eliminated the Apple Design Awards ceremony, but will be reintroducing it this year on Monday afternoon.
Some of the app sessions have placeholder names as they cover topics and features that will be announced at Monday’s keynote event when new versions of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS are unveiled.
For developers who are on-site and attending WWDC, the app offers up on-site tools like maps and start times for labs, sessions, and events. For those unable to attend, it includes live video streams of the keynote, labs, and sessions.
Like last year, Apple is also offering a tvOS app for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV so developers can also watch WWDC sessions on their television sets.
The Worldwide Developers Conference starts on June 4 with a keynote that will take place at 10:00 a.m. Apple will live stream the keynote on both its website and on the Apple TV, and MacRumors will also provide live coverage on MacRumors.com and through the MacRumorsLive Twitter account.
Apple’s WWDC app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Related Roundup: WWDC 2018
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