Sensory deprivation float tanks can cost a fortune, but this one is different

Until now, if you wanted a sensory deprivation flotation tank in your home you’d better be a tech millionaire or international arms dealer, based on how much they cost. With prices that can easily reach into the tens of thousands of dollars, float tanks simply aren’t something within budget for the vast majority of folks. But a new Kickstarter campaign promises to change all that. Created by the Zen Float Company, it’s an inflatable sensor deprivation chamber which will set you back a more palatable amount of cash. After all, average Joes and Janes need zen relaxation, too!

“Floating, or sensory deprivation, involves lying in a tank or pod filled with about 10 inches of water and 1,000 pounds of Epsom salt,” creator Shane Stott told Digital Trends. “The salt renders you weightless so once you lie on your back you automatically float. While you are in there your skin is absorbing the magnesium and your mind is free of all sensory distractions, allowing yourself to just clear your mind and recharge. The water is heated to skin temp so it’s like you can’t even feel it.”

Unlike some of the pricier options on the market, the Zen Float Tank is fully inflatable (and deflatable) — which also helps if you’re living in a regular apartment, where space is at a premium. It’s made using drop-stitch inflatable technology, the same method used for blow up paddle boards and kayaks. Despite being made out of thousands of finely woven strands, once it’s fully inflated the exterior is rock solid. Setup can be completed in just 15 minutes, and while it requires a bit of weekly maintenance, the water and salt can last up to two years.

“I used to suffer from debilitating anxiety and panic attacks,” Stott explained. “It came to a head one night in Las Vegas, and the only thing I could think to do to escape the attack was to hop into the bath with the water up to my ears. Weeks later, I discovered floating and it was all over from there. Floating changed my life completely, and we have lots of similar stories from our customers. At the time, there were no float spas in Utah so I did some research and built a tank out of a fertilizer tank and aquarium parts.”

Since then, the Zen Float Company has gone from strength to strength — including a previous 2014 Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $300,000. As ever, we offer the usual warnings about the risks inherent in crowdfunding campaigns. However, if you understand these and still want to get involved, head over to the team’s Kickstarter page to pledge your cash. Prices start at $2,905, with shipping set for October 2018.

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Best Samsung Fitness Tracker in 2018

• Best overall
• Best with more features
• Best for less

Best overall

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro

See at Amazon
See at Best Buy

When looking at Samsung’s range of wearables, for many the Gear Fit2 Pro is its best overall performer. It checks all of the boxes for fitness tracking, with the sensors and software capable of following everything from your daily movements all the way up to running, gym workouts and swimming.

The Fit2 Pro manages to be relatively small compared to full-blown smartwatches, but still has a big enough screen that you can see everything you need to. It can even handle basic “smartwatch” tasks like showing you your notifications and incoming calls to your phone. It also has standalone GPS, storage and Bluetooth for headphones, so you can leave the phone behind if you want to go for a run unencumbered.

Bottom line: The Gear Fit2 Pro does everything you’d need in a fitness band, and also has some basic smartwatch-style features as well.

One more thing: Be sure to look at the size guide and choose whether you want a small or large band to properly fit your wrist.

Why the Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is the best

For the Gear Fit2 Pro, Samsung took what it learned from its last few rounds of general-purpose smartwatches, added in some knowledge from the first Gear Fit2, and came out with a great overall fitness tracker. The Fit2 Pro is a bit bigger than the barebones trackers out there, but for good reason: it has a great display for showing you all of your fitness-related information, and can even pull in notifications from your phone.

It’s a fitness tracker for almost every kind of person, and has some smartwatch-like features too.

Sure it does the typical daily tracking of steps and floors, but can also be utilized for running (with GPS tracking), gym workouts and now swimming as well. The newly designed strap will stay on your wrist through vigorous workouts unlike the original Fit2, and it can be swapped out for different sizes and styles if you want to change the look.

Beyond the basic on-person tracking, the Gear Fit2 Pro can also sync up with Samsung Health for tracking other parts of your health like food and water intake, as well as heart rate and sleep information. There are also partner apps from big names like Under Armour, MapMyRun and more so you can integrate the Fit2 Pro into your existing routine.

Best with more features

Samsung Gear Sport

See at Amazon
See at Best Buy

As the name implies, the Gear Sport offers a near-identical feature set to the Gear Fit2 Pro. It can do all of the same daily and active tracking for all of your workouts, but it just does it in a larger smartwatch form factor instead.

That means you get a larger circular display that gives you more information per screen, as well as a great rotating bezel for navigation. You also get full-on smartwatch features like interacting with and replying to notifications, installing apps and managing more local data on the smartwatch itself.

Bottom line: For a full-featured smartwatch that’s still extremely capable for fitness tracking, the Gear Sport is the one to get.

One more thing: This may not be the best choice, size-wise, for intense gym workouts or swimming — even though it can track those activities.

Best for less

Samsung Gear Fit2

See at Amazon
See at Best Buy

Though it lacks the “Pro” moniker, the original Gear Fit2 is still a great fitness tracker — and now that it’s getting older, it’s much cheaper. It has the same overall dimensions and core capabilities as the new Fit2 Pro, but has a weaker strap and lacks the hardcore waterproofing required for swim tracking.

When it comes to getting the basic fitness tracking, run tracking and notification management done, the Gear Fit2 will handle the task the same as the newer Fit2 Pro will. Just be sure to know the exact limitations before choosing to save some money compared to the Fit2 Pro model.

Bottom line: For a great core fitness tracking solution for a bit less money, the standard Fit2 is still a great choice.

One more thing: Consider a different style of band if you plan to use the Fit2 for high intensity workouts where it could come off.

Conclusion

The Gear Fit2 Pro is the best fitness tracker Samsung makes, and in general one of the better fitness tracker options out in the market today.

Best overall

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro

See at Amazon
See at Best Buy

When looking at Samsung’s range of wearables, for many the Gear Fit2 Pro is its best overall performer. It checks all of the boxes for fitness tracking, with the sensors and software capable of following everything from your daily movements all the way up to running, gym workouts and swimming.

The Fit2 Pro manages to be relatively small compared to full-blown smartwatches, but still has a big enough screen that you can see everything you need to. It can even handle basic “smartwatch” tasks like showing you your notifications and incoming calls to your phone. It also has standalone GPS, storage and Bluetooth for headphones, so you can leave the phone behind if you want to go on a run unencumbered.

Bottom line: The Gear Fit2 Pro does everything you’d need in a fitness band, and also has some basic smartwatch-style features as well.

One more thing: Be sure to look at the size guide and choose whether you want a small or large band to properly fit your wrist.

Update June 2018: Samsung hasn’t released any new fitness trackers, so these are still the best available.

HQ Trivia for Android: Everything you need to know

What you need to get started with the hottest trivia game for Android!

We love trivia games. Whether they be on the television or at the table-top, quiz and trivia games have been a long-time favorite for a lot of people. HQ Trivia is the evolution of everything from those old black and white shows from yesteryear through to today’s newest tech, all mashed together into one heck of a fun app.

HQ can be a lot of fun, and with a chance to win real money — a lot of it — everyone is playing! Each game averages around one million players, with prime time and weekend games regularly surpassing two million players. Prizes range from $5,000 to $300,000 and are split between the players who make it through all 12 questions. Do you have what it takes to win HQ?

June 1, 2018 — HQ Trivia is giving away big money throughout the NBA Finals!

HQ Trivia has announced an insane sponsorship with the mobile game Toon Blast that will deliver some crazy big prize pools throughout the NBA Finals. Game one saw $100,000 up for grabs (with 4000 winners getting $25 each) and HQ plans to increase the prize pool by $100k per game throughout the Finals — with a potential Game Seven trivia game with $700,000 up for grabs!

Tonight we had a $100,000 game. Sunday at 9p ET… we’re upping the ante to $200,000.See you there 💰 pic.twitter.com/TDYnShbyPs

— HQ Trivia (@hqtrivia) June 1, 2018

HQ also popped a surprise game during halftime of a new “HQ Sports” trivia game. It seemed to be a test that was made available to some players but could be a sign of big things to come as HQ continues to expand its trivia empire. The next big game is this Sunday at 9PM ET — don’t miss out!

May 9, 2018 — See your friends’ answers and other people playing nearby

More HQ goodies are on the way, with this latest bundle launching during the Friday, May 11 game.

According to HQ, it’s officially launching “Friends Friday” which will allow you to see your friends’ answers during Friday’s game. This is something we caught an early glimpse of last month, and it’s a great way to see how your friends are doing while you all play together.

Also new is something called Nearby Freinds. If other people are playing HQ around you but aren’t in your address book/contacts, you’ll still see them pop up during a game.

Download: HQ Trivia (Free)

Interested in participating in the HQ phenomenon? Here’s everything you need to get started having fun and winning some cash.

What is HQ Trivia?

Think of HQ Trivia as a live game-show app. It’s very much like Jeopardy! except you don’t have to fly to a TV studio to get in on the action and play.

Twice on weekdays at 3 pm and 9 pm Eastern, a host hands out multiple choice questions on a wide range of topics and you answer as best you can. Get all 12 correct and you win a share of the pot. Get a question wrong, and you’re out for the session and will need to wait until the next round to try again.

You watch and play right from your phone, as it happens in real time, against hundreds of thousands of other players. Prizes range from a few dollars to a whopping $20,000 we saw given away in that Super Bowl game and it goes straight into your PayPal account. It’s a lot of fun and a chance to win real money — two things we all love. Prizes for Sunday night games now regularly top out around $25,000

How to download HQ Trivia

That’s the easiest part! HQ Trivia for Android is officially out of beta so all you need to do is fire up the Google Play Store app!

Downloading and installing HQ Trivia is completely free.

Download HQ Trivia from Google Play (free)

How to sign up

You’ll need a unique username and a phone number to get started with HQ Trivia.

You sign up right inside the app and it is the first thing you’ll be asked to do when you open it. When a game isn’t in session, opening the app tells you when the next one starts and lets you see your total winnings or look through the leaderboards.

Be sure to read the terms and conditions before you go any further, and after you’re properly signed in you are asked f you’d like to receive push notifications letting you know when games are about to begin so you can get in on the action.

How to play

Right now HQ Trivia is free to play and free of any ads. Make sure you’re signed in on your phone and every day at 9 pm and weekdays at 3 pm all you need to do is open the app to get started.

You’ll be asked a question and given three possible answers. Questions cover just about every topic imaginable and just like the game shows you’ll see on TV they can be hard or they can be easy, but get progressively more trivial as the game goes on. Answer correctly before the 10-second timer runs out and you move to the next question. Get it wrong or take too much time and you’re out of the game, but can keep watching to see how many people win.

There’s a live chat during each game if you want to be a little social, but you can also swipe it off the screen if it gets too distracting. Even if you get eliminated early you can keep watching — and finding out how many lucky dogs make it to the winner’s circle is the fun part!

Extra lives

Like any good game worth its salt, HQ Trivia gives you extra lives.

If you have an extra life while you’re playing a game, you get a chance to answer a question wrong or take too much time and not be ejected from the game. If that happens and you have an extra life on your account, you’ll get the option of spending your extra life to stay in the game. You can only spend one extra life per game so make them count!

You earn extra lives by referring your friends to HQ Trivia. For example, if you used the referral code crackberry kevin I’d get a free life. Go ahead and try, I’ll let you know if it worked.

How much can I win?

A lot! While HQ Trivia is free to download and play, you can win real money if you make it to the end of a game.

The cash prize for a basic weekday game starts at $5,000 and is split evenly between everyone who survived the 12-questions. On the rare occasion that everyone is eliminated, the prize rolls over to the next game. It keeps going until someone wins. Sunday games are typically in the $25,000 range or more and often go up to 15 questions and HQ has started regularly involving a special guest host for Wednesday games with the cash pool rising exponentially. Most recently, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson hosted a $300,000 game in part to promote his film Rampage, and HQ regularly drops hints about future surprises on Twitter.

HQ used to have you wait until you hit the $20 mark you can cash out via PayPal, but they’ve changed the rules so you can cash out your winnings no matter the prize amount. You won’t need to enter a credit card or pay anything to play.

Update June 2018: Added the latest info on the big payouts being offered during the NBA Finals!

OnePlus 6 vs. Samsung Galaxy S9+: Which should you buy?

Do you really need to spend big money on the big name?

Samsung’s Galaxy S9+ is a known quantity at this point. It’s been out for a few months, covered every way possible and evaluated by everyone. By most accounts, it’s a darn good phone. The hardware is great, the specs are top-notch and the camera is wonderful. But … it’s expensive. Very expensive.

That’s where the OnePlus 6 comes in. It’s $300 less than the Galaxy S9+, but on the face of it looks like a comparable device. It also has solid hardware, top-end specs and a pile of other enticing features. So the question is, if you’re in the market for a flagship phone today, should you get the Galaxy S9+ or consider the OnePlus 6? And does the story change at all if you’re trying to hold to a budget? We’re here to give you all of the information you need.

See at Galaxy S9+ at Amazon
See OnePlus 6 at OnePlus

What’s the same

Smartphone designs have coalesced in the last few years. Screens got taller and skinnier, and a majority of devices are comprised of a metal frame squished between two panes of glass. The story continues when you set the OnePlus 6 next to a Galaxy S9+. Not only do they have the same type of construction, but also very similar finishes — these are glossy and shiny bodies that attract attention and fingerprints alike. They’ve both even went with the same type of vertical arrangement for their cameras and fingerprint sensors, though the OnePlus 6’s is a tad easier to use because it’s physically separated from the camera grouping.

These are metal-and-glass sandwiches that feel very similar and are filled with comparable specs.

The phones are near-identical in shape, size and weight, due to their small bezels wrapping around screens that are almost the same size. The 19:9 aspect ratio 6.3-inch display on the OnePlus 6 is barely larger and taller than the 18.5:9 ratio 6.2-inch on the Galaxy S9+ — that is to say you’d never notice the size difference. The body curves make them both a bit slippery without a case, but that’s the cost of beauty. The Galaxy S9+ is a tad narrower, but in daily use you wouldn’t notice. Both phones have a typical array of buttons on the side, and all of the ports collect at the bottom — including a headphone jack on both phones.

OnePlus 6 specs

Internally, the similarities continue. Both phones are powered by a Snapdragon 845 processor (aside from GS9+ models with a similar Exynos), 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. In either case you can pay to option up 128GB or 256GB of storage, but OnePlus also gives you 8GB of RAM in those higher storage models — though you’d be hard-pressed to find a need for it. The OnePlus 6 has a slightly smaller battery at 3300mAh to the GS9+’s 3500mAh, but battery life ends up being about the same — and in some cases, the OnePlus 6 actually goes longer on a charge.

What’s different

So when the base of the hardware, specs and features is the same, where does Samsung differentiate to justify its higher price? Well, in the details. On the hardware side, Samsung offers IP68 water resistance, which gives you true peace of mind in knowing it can get wet without issue. Its glass back also hides dual-mode wireless charging for those who enjoy the convenience, there are dual speakers available, and its Fast Charge wired charging system, while slower than Dash Charge, is cross-compatible with every Quick Charge charger as well as USB-C Power Delivery.

The GS9+ gives you more ‘nice to have’ features, a proven camera and an amazing display without a notch.

Then we have to address the big difference that stares you in the face: the display notch. I can easily argue that the OnePlus 6’s notch isn’t bothersome and simply lets you get a little more display without making the phone larger, but the simple fact is the Galaxy S9+ doesn’t have one and you don’t have to deal with it. All else being equal, not having a notch is preferable. And further on the display front, the GS9+ just has a downright better panel — its brightness and clarity are unmatched by any Android phone, making it better than the still-very-good OLED panel on the OnePlus 6. It’s also higher resolution, if you’re into that sort of thing.

The only area on the front where the OnePlus “wins” is that its display is flat and not curved. Yes this is a bit like the complaints about display notches, but many people don’t care for the Galaxy S9+’s curved screen edges because they make the phone tougher to operate in one hand. Just like the notch discussion this may not be an issue for you, but no matter what camp you land in you’ll never have to think about a curved display on the OnePlus 6.

OnePlus wins the software battle, both out of the box and over time.

One of the biggest differentiators here is the software experience. OnePlus has a lot of fans purely based on its clean and fast software experience that has minimal interruptions and delightful improvements over stock Android. Samsung’s phones do more, that’s not even up for debate, but the trade-off is that the Galaxy S9+ probably has a whole bunch of features that you don’t care about but have to deal with anyway. With its simple software the OnePlus 6 is going to be fast out of the box and stay fast over time, and that’s something that isn’t exactly guaranteed on a Samsung phone.

The final part of this comparison is the cameras. OnePlus has made a big improvement with the OnePlus 6, using a new 16MP primary sensor that’s larger, with an f/1.7 lens and OIS. It’s supported by a 20MP secondary camera to help with Portrait Mode photos, and is no longer for zooming. The pair is undeniably a large step beyond the OnePlus 5 and 5T. It gets close to what the Galaxy S9+ can do, and in daylight scenes you can’t really tell the difference unless you set the two side-by-side.

OnePlus 6 (left) vs. Galaxy S9+ (right) — click images to view larger.

The Galaxy S9+ still has better HDR and colors in many scenes, which can somewhat be attributed to its overall warmer color profile, but the OnePlus 6 isn’t far behind on average. Samsung’s camera also just seems smoother and crisper in areas of fine lines and details. On the other side of things, the OnePlus 6 doesn’t seem to have the same kinds of exposure issues that can often over-brighten shots from the Galaxy S9+.

Which should you buy?

Choosing which phone is right for you really should start with a discussion of price. The OnePlus 6 starts at $529, which is dramatically cheaper than the base Galaxy S9+ at $839. Even the top-end OnePlus 6 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage is $629, still $210 less than the base Galaxy S9+.

The Galaxy S9+ undeniably offers more, but it’s tough to say it’s worth an extra $300 over the OnePlus 6.

But what if you’re willing to spend the extra money, but don’t want to if it’s not actually worth it? A whole lot of the experience is shared between these two phones. The hardware is great on either one, as is the performance, specs and core features — they’re also nearly identical in size, both in display area and overall. For the extra money the Galaxy S9+ offers a better display (without a notch), a marginally better camera experience, and extra hardware features like wireless charging — and we can’t entirely discount the value of its more recognizable brand. That being said, the OnePlus 6 has a cleaner software experience that’s simpler to use and isn’t as susceptible to long-term problems — and, as previously noted, the entire package is dramatically less expensive.

If your budget for a phone is only about $600, it’s tough to imagine that you’d all of a sudden decide to spend an additional $250 beyond that to get a Galaxy S9+ — and the few improvements it offers over the OnePlus 6 don’t really justify that price increase if you’re at all price sensitive. But If the extra money doesn’t mean much to you, the Galaxy S9+ does indeed offer a better overall experience provided you’re enticed by the extra features rather than the simplicity of the OnePlus software. But no matter your budget, you’d be doing yourself a disservice to not consider the OnePlus 6 in any case — it has a whole lot going for it as a complete package at any price.

See at Galaxy S9+ at Amazon
See OnePlus 6 at OnePlus

OnePlus 6

• OnePlus 6 review
• OnePlus 6 vs. OnePlus 5T: How much changes in six months?
• OnePlus 6 vs. OnePlus 5: Should you upgrade?
• These are the official OnePlus 6 cases
• The OnePlus 6 doesn’t work on Verizon or Sprint
• Join the discussion in the forums

Update May 2018: Now that the OnePlus 6 is fully released, we’ve updated the comparison with details on how the battery life and cameras compare between these phones.

Gaming mice, fitness trackers, camping gear, and more are on sale today

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

We found plenty of great deals today that include big discounts on the Razer DeathAdder Elite gaming mouse, the Garmin Forerunner fitness tracking smartwatch, Streamlight LED flashlights, and more! Time’s running out to take advantage of these prices, so hurry!

View the rest of the deals

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

Google reported to stop working on Maven, its government-licensed AI tech

The contract with the Pentagon could have cost as much as $250 million.

Over the last few months, Google’s faced nonstop backlash for partnering with the United States Pentagon to work on an AI system that can swiftly identify people and points of interest from drone footage. The system is called Maven, and a new report’s surfaced suggesting that Google’s decided to cease its involvement with it.

According to emails received by Gizmodo —

Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene announced the decision at a meeting with employees Friday morning, three sources told Gizmodo. The current contract expires in 2019 and there will not be a follow-up contract, Greene said. The meeting, dubbed Weather Report, is a weekly update on Google Cloud’s business.

In addition to backlash from people outside of Google, a report from mid-May revealed that multiple employees had resigned from the company due to their frustration with Google’s involvement with Maven. Google’s contract with the Pentagon was initially set at around $15 million, but it appears that the company planned on spending as much as $250 million on it.

As further emails reveal, Google’s senior executive team was excited to work on Maven and the future doors it would open. Per Gizmodo —

But internal emails reviewed by Gizmodo show that executives viewed Project Maven as a golden opportunity that would open doors for business with the military and intelligence agencies. The emails also show that Google and its partners worked extensively to develop machine learning algorithms for the Pentagon, with the goal of creating a sophisticated system that could surveil entire cities.

Greene reportedly told employees that Google is concerned about the ethical use of AI and that “It is incumbent on us to show leadership” in this department.

What are your thoughts on Google’s decision to stop working on Maven?

Some Google employees are resigning due to involvement with Project Maven

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!

Here’s everything we know about the Galaxy Note 9!

Now more than ever, Samsung’s Galaxy S+ phones are becoming eerily similar to the Note series. The Note used to be Samsung’s way of touting all of the latest and greatest tech it had to offer, and while this is still the case, the same can be said for this year’s Galaxy S9+.

Samsung needs more than just the S Pen to make the Note 9 stand out from its own phones and the rest of the competition, and luckily, all signs are pointing to something exciting for this year’s release. Here’s what we know so far!

June 1, 2018 — The Galaxy Note 9 will be announced on August 9 with an upgraded camera

Per a report from Bloomberg, Samsung will host an Unpacked event in New York on August 9 where it’ll officially unveil the Galaxy Note 9.

There’s still a lot that’s unknown about the phone, but it’s reported that the Note 9 will have a very similar design compared to the Note 8, a much-improved camera, and Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 845 processor in select markets.

Following the event, Samsung hopes to officially release the phone by the end of the month.

March 29, 2018: Samsung may launch the new Note as early as July

Samsung’s Galaxy Note series usually makes its debut in August, but according to a report from The Investor, the Note 9 could launch much sooner.

Samsung typically starts producing its OLED panels for Note devices in June, but it’s said that the company will be moving ahead of schedule this year and start production as soon as April. As such, we could see the Galaxy Note 9 released as early as July.

The reason for this change? Although not confirmed, it’s reported that this is a result of unimpressive sales of the Galaxy S9 and Apple’s own OLED production requirements for two of the iPhones it’s expected to release this September.

When will the Galaxy Note 9 be released?

Samsung typically releases its Galaxy Note series in the second-half of the year, often in mid-to-late August.

It was reported on March 29 that Samsung had begun production of OLED panels for the Note 9 two months earlier than it usually does, suggesting that this year’s Note may be released as early as July.

How much will the Galaxy Note 9 cost?

Pricing for the Note series has steadily been going up each year, as has the majority of the smartphone industry.

The Galaxy Note 8 costs $950 unlocked, and I’d expect the Note 9 to cost either the same or slightly more. Apple proved with the iPhone X that people aren’t afraid to shell out $1000+ for a new smartphone, and I don’t consider it to be out of the question for Samsung to follow suit with the Note 9 – especially if it adopts newer technologies like an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+: Everything you need to know!

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a HyperAir 7.5W Wireless Charging Stand From RAVPower

For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with RAVPower to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a HyperAir 7.5W Qi Wireless Charging Stand from RAVPower.

Designed for the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, and future iPhones with Qi wireless charging capabilities, the HyperAir Wireless Charging Stand, priced at $46, is an upright charger that’s able to charge the iPhone while it’s standing up rather than lying flat.

There are two coils built into the wireless charger so the iPhone can be charged in either landscape or portrait mode. That makes this an ideal stand for use when you still need to see your iPhone while it charges, perhaps for watching videos or keeping an eye on a social network.

RAVPower’s HyperAir line of chargers support the faster 7.5W charging specification in the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus, so this Wireless Charging Stand will charge your iPhone faster than a standard 5W charger.

We reviewed the HyperAir Stand back in March and found that it was able to charge an iPhone X faster than several other competing chargers on the market. For those of you who have an iPhone and another device like a Samsung Galaxy, this will also charge those devices. It works with any Qi device.

According to RAVPower, the HyperAir Stand uses triple temperature controls to disperse heat 15 percent faster and protect against overcharging and overvoltage. Temperature control is important because wireless charging causes the temperature of the iPhone to rise, and at higher temperatures, charging slows.

We have 10 of the HyperAir Wireless Charging Stands from RAVPower to give away, and for those who want to make a purchase now, we have an exclusive discount that drops the price of the charger from $45.99 to $33.99. Just use the code MACRAV069 when checking out on Amazon. The code will work until June 15.

To enter to win our giveaway, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (June 1) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on June 8. The winners will be chosen randomly on June 8 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

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Review: CalDigit’s T4 RAID Offers Lots of Fast Storage, Thunderbolt 3, and 85W Charging

Popular storage and dock company CalDigit recently launched a Thunderbolt 3 version of its T4 RAID storage hub, offering demanding Mac users a four-bay setup with capacities up to 32 TB of traditional hard drive or 8 TB of SSD storage.

Compatible with Thunderbolt 3 Macs including the MacBook Pro, iMac, and iMac Pro, the T4 connects over a single cable and not only offers a storage array but can also deliver up to 85 watts of power to the host computer and supports downstream displays via Thunderbolt 3, USB-C, and DisplayPort, as well as other standards using adapters.

Installation and Setup

Setting up the T4 is straightforward, but requires that you first download CalDigit’s Thunderbolt RAID Utility Installer from the company’s site and get the utility installed on your system. As of macOS High Sierra, this requires an extra authorization step in the Security & Privacy section of System Preferences, but the installer walks you through the process.

With the utility installed and your computer restarted, it’s just a matter of using the included 2-meter active Thunderbolt 3 cable to connect the T4 to your computer, plugging in the power cord, optionally connecting a downstream display, and starting up the T4.

Once the T4 is up and running and the drive showing on your desktop, you’re ready to go. The T4 comes pre-formatted in RAID 5 to offer a combination of redundancy and performance. If you prefer a different RAID mode (0, 1, or JBOD/SPAN), you can use the CalDigit Drive Utility menu bar app to reconfigure things.

Design

The T4 has a rectangular aluminum enclosure that measures 9.5 inches deep, 5.8 inches high, and 5.3 inches wide. The sides are ribbed to aid in heat dissipation, while the top is smooth with a CalDigit logo. The front of the T4 is dominated by the four drive modules, and underneath you’ll see a power button, a blue LED that lights up when the T4 is fully powered up, and then four additional blue LED status for the four drives. These illuminate when data is being written to or read from the specific drive. At the far right of the bottom front is an air intake.

On the rear of the T4. You’ll find a fairly large exhaust fan opening covered by a grille, as well as a Kensington security lock slot, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a DisplayPort port, and the connection for the power adapter. The power adapter is quite bulky, but that’s unsurprising given the hardware it needs to power in the T4 itself and the extra 85 watts it needs to be able to deliver to the host computer. Overall, it’s capable of putting out 230 watts.

With the enclosure, electronics, and all the drive modules, this is a heavy beast checking in at 13 pounds, so once you set this up, it’s going to stay there.

Drive Speed

Thunderbolt 3 offers terrific data throughput possibilities, but the speeds you see will depend on other limiting factors. The biggest one is obviously SSD versus traditional hard drive. An SSD setup will obviously be much faster, but it’s still expensive and maxes out at only 8 TB of total storage. If you need more storage and can put up with somewhat slower speeds, the traditional hard drives are the way to go.

My 32 GB review unit came with 7200 rpm Toshiba N300 drives, which are well-regarded storage drives optimized for NAS storage setups. Configured in RAID 5 out of the box, I saw read and write speeds of around 500 MB/s, which is pretty solid performance that takes advantage of that RAID configuration’s ability to write to multiple drives simultaneously.

RAID 5 speed test
Switching to a RAID 1 setup where all of the data is mirrored across each drive for maximum redundancy, I saw write speeds around 175 MB/s and read speeds of roughly 270 MB/s.

RAID 1 speed test
CalDigit uses proprietary drive modules that make it easy to swap in and out while preventing accidental removal. A pin hole on the front of the module pops out lever that allows you to slide the module out of its bay in the T4. For additional security, a drive lock can also be turned to prevent the pin release from operating. CalDigit’s drives are compatible across products, so if you have a RAID 1 or JBOD module in your T4, you can pull it out and transfer it straight to either an AV Pro 2 or the company’s previous Thunderbolt 2 T4 model.

Display Connectivity

I connected an UltraFine 5K display to the extra Thunderbolt port on the T4, and experienced no lag or other issues on the display. The Thunderbolt 3 port allows for displays up to 5K running at 60 Hz, but lower resolutions are of course also supported, as are USB-C displays. Other types of displays can be connected to the Thunderbolt port by using a USB-C video adapter.

Alternatively, the DisplayPort port supports up to 4K displays running at 60 Hz, and active adapters can be used to connect other display types such as HDMI, Mini DisplayPort, VGA, or DVI. Dual displays running at up to 4K and 60 Hz each are supported using the DisplayPort and Thunderbolt ports simultaneously, along with any required adapters.

Unfortunately, the T4 must be at least in standby mode in order for connected displays to function, and that means an internal fan runs either continually or cycling on and off every few minutes. It’s not nearly as loud as when it’s in full feature mode with the drives mounted, but it’s definitely noticeable in a quiet office or bedroom. The SSD model of the T4 should run significantly quieter in general, given the lack of moving parts and significantly less heat generated.

CalDigit Drive Utility

The Drive Utility app is a persistent menu bar application, which offers convenient access to drive management functions. You can use it to check on the status and health of each drive in the T4, manage RAID modes, set S.M.A.R.T. check frequencies, and configure notifications for various types of disk events like drive connect/disconnect, temperature warnings, or health issues. It even includes a built-in disk speed test function.

The app does a lot, but it doesn’t look terribly pretty doing it. The app window has a jarring black outline that doesn’t match the design aesthetic of macOS or most other third-party apps, while other user interface elements just a feel a bit off like the shadowing used to highlight the active tab. I’d prefer a more standard macOS look for the app, but ideally this isn’t something you’re going to need to use all that often, so it’s a fairly minor quibble.

Capacities and Pricing

CalDigit offers several capacity options in its online store, starting at $899 for an 8 TB traditional hard drive model. Higher-capacity models are available at 12 TB ($1099), 16 TB ($1399), 24 TB ($1999), and 32 TB ($2299). If you’re looking for the ultimate in speed, there’s a single 8 TB SSD option available that will set you back $3499. CalDigit is also offering the T4 through Amazon, although pricing is currently higher on all models except the base 8 TB traditional hard drive model, which comes in at $799.

The T4 is a custom “hybrid RAID” solution from CalDigit combining hardware and software aspects, and it’s only compatible with Macs, so be aware of that if you have any Windows PCs in your workflow.

In addition to the complete T4 packages, CalDigit offers separate drive modules in the various capacities if you want to have extras to swap in and out or if one fails. The T4 comes with a five-year warranty on the enclosure and electronics, while the drives themselves have a three-year warranty.

Keep in mind that if you plan to use RAID for redundancy, the actual capacity of your volume will be less than the total capacity of the drives. For example, in a four-disk volume like the T4 configured as RAID5, the volume size will only be 75 percent of the total capacity, as the remaining 25 percent is dedicated to parity to enable you to recover data if one of the drives fails.

Overall, the T4 Thunderbolt 3 RAID performs well and offers a nice balance of storage, redundancy, and speed from a company with a strong reputation for quality and customer support. It doesn’t necessarily come cheaply and with four disks it’s likely overkill for consumers just looking for backup security, but if you have a significant amount of high-value data that you want to ensure isn’t lost, this definitely a RAID storage option worth considering.

Note: CalDigit provided the T4 RAID to MacRumors free of charge for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was received. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.

Tags: Thunderbolt 3, CalDigit
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Apple to Expand Digital Advertising Network to Third-Party Apps

Apple is aiming to expand its digital advertising network by offering ad deals to companies that include Snap and Pinterest, reports The Wall Street Journal. Apple is hoping to build an Apple ad network that would distribute ads across apps, providing a share of revenue to the apps that display the ads.

With these Apple ads, searching for something like “Drapes” in Pinterest could show up an ad from Apple for an interior design app, as an example.

Apple’s App Store search ads
Apple’s App Store ads brought in nearly $1 billion in revenue last year, and its ad network ambitions would allow the company to grow its ad business significantly. Companies like Google and Facebook offer similar ad programs, which Apple would need to compete with.

Targeting ads could be more difficult for Apple because it does not use the extensive data collection techniques of Google and Facebook. Apple limits its App Store advertising data collection to age, location, gender, device, and music, app, book, and video downloads.

According to The Wall Street Journal, it is not known where Apple’s planning for the ad network stands nor when it could launch. Apple previously had an ad program called iAd, which it shuttered in 2016.

Tags: Apple ads, App Store
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