How to enable HDR for PlayStation 4 on popular 4K TVs

Here’s how to ensure that you are ready to run HDR on your PS4 and your TV

Oh, brave new world! Resolution, clarity, and color depth are increasing all the time on new gaming consoles. If you are a PlayStation 4 owner then that means that you have the ability play games (which support it) in HDR. HDR or high dynamic range is a method of image rendering which can allow for a beautiful and staggering depth of graphics in modern games.

While it is easy to enjoy such gorgeous graphics it is not always entirely clear as to how one might enable such settings. Most modern televisions, while capable of supporting such graphics do not come set up to do so straight out of the box.
Here is how to enable HDR graphics on your PS4 and a bunch of popular televisions.

Configuring your PS4

Before getting into the settings on your TV set you are going to want to make sure that your PS4 is all set to actually output HDR. Here’s how you can ensure that your console is ready to go. The first step is to make sure that your console has the most recent firmware update. HDR is only available through version 4.0 and higher.

From the main menu of your PS4, go to settings.

Select Sound and Screen

Select Video Output Settings

Set HDR to Automatic

Set Deep Color output to Automatic.

Configuring your television to display HDR

Once you have your PS4 properly configured, it’s time to hop over and get everything set up correctly on your TV.

Samsung 4K TVs 2016-2018

With some of the best 4K HDR displays on the market today, Samsung is a great option for those looking for crystal clear images. In order to enable HDR on your Samsung TV you will need to go to the settings menu to enable HDMI UHD Color. It is important to keep in mind that you will have to enable these settings for each port through which you intend to utilize 4K.

Press the Settings button on your TV’s remote

Select Picture.

Scroll all the way down to Expert Settings or Picture Options.

Navigate to the HDMI UHD Color section. Each of the available HDMI ports should now be listed on-screen.

Turn on HDMI UHD Color for the ports of your choosing.

LG TVs 4K TVs 2016-2018

LG has developed quite a few TVs which support HDR in recent years. Nearly all of these sets should come with the same software which should make enabling these settings relatively uniform across most models. In order to turn on HDR for your PS4, you will be looking for “HDMI ULTRA HD Deep Color” in the settings menu of your television.

Press the Settings button.

Scroll down to All Settings.

Navigate to the General tab.

Select HDMI ULTRA HD Deep Color. Each of the available HDMI ports should now be listed on the screen.

Enable the feature on the ports of your choosing.

Vizio 4K TVs 2016-2018

Vizio also offers quite a few models in the P and M-series which will give you crisp, clear HDR images. On most sets, it is important to keep in mind that while ports one through four can all output 4K HDR, port five will not support that content. Within the Vizio SmartCast app, you will be on the lookout for “HDMI Color Subsampling” in order to get the HDR content you love so much.

Open your SmartCast app.

Select Settings.

Select Inputs.

Select HDMI Color Subsampling. Each of the available HDMI ports should now be listed on-screen.

Enable HDR on the ports of your choosing.

Sony Bravia 4K TVs 2016-2018

There are quite a few 4K televisions offered by Sony which will support HDR on your PS4. Most recent sets will need to see “Enhanced format” turned on in the settings in order for you to enjoy HDR on your PlayStation.

Press the Home button to open the menu.

Scroll down to Settings.

Select External Inputs under the TV subsection.

Next, choose HDMI signal format.

Switch your signal format to Enhanced format. By default, this will have been set to Standard Format.

Panasonic 4K TVs 2016-2018

If you have a modern high-end Panasonic TV then there is a good chance that your set also supports HDR. Like many other televisions, you will have to enable HDR on a per-port basis. That can be done by changing the aptly named “HDMI HDR Setting” within your television’s settings.

Press the Menu button on your remote.

Navigate to the Setup tab of the Main Menu.

Select HDMI HDR Setting.

Select the HDMI port your Xbox One X is connected to.

Change to ON for the ports of your choosing.

Philips 4K TVs 2016-2018

Philips Televisions come out of the box running in “Legacy”, mode which offers the highest rate of compatibility with various devices. However, if you want that sweet HDR you will have to enable your chosen port to accept HDR content. The steps to do that are as follows.

Press the Menu button on the remote.

Choose Setup.

Navigate to TV Settings.

Choose Installation.

Select Preferences.

Select HDMI mode.

Choose the HDMI port your PS4 is connected to.

Switch to Normal from Legacy.

TCL 4K TVs 2018

TCL has been building their brand and releasing affordable 4K TVs in the last few years. For the sets that support HDR display, the steps are pretty simple to enable it.

Press the Settings button on your remote.

Select TV Inputs.

Select HDMI Mode.

Set your HDMI mode to HDMI 2.0

Toshiba 4K TVs 2018

Toshiba has finally gotten it together and realized that consumers have a desire for HDR support on their 4K sets. Within the last few years they have started to offer some smaller TVs that feature HDR support and turning it on is relatively simple.

Press the Menu button your remote.

Scroll down and choose options.

Select HDMI Input Mode.

Set the input mode to Mode 2 (2.0)

What TV are you using for 4K HDR gaming?

If you are using a set that is not mentioned in this article, and you need some guidance with enabling HDR please feel free to mention it in the comments.

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

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Updated June 2018: Added some additional 4K TV options!

Chrome OS to soon offer ‘integration’ with Android Messages

We’ve only been waiting forever for this.

Chrome OS is rapidly becoming a more practical replacement for Windows and macOS machines with every passing day, but one area that’s still lacking is proper tie-ins with Android. According to new commits in the Chromium Gerrit, however, this is going to start changing with proper integration with Android Messages.

Spotted by XDA Developers, the commit reads as follows:

Add a feature flag for CroOS Android Messages integration.

Later on, there’s another snippet that says kAndroidMessagesIntegrationDescription[] = “Enables Chrome OS integration with Android messages.”

It’s unclear what this “integration” will actually look like, but seeing as how Chrome OS is being called out specifically, it sounds like it’ll go deeper than the web-based client Android Messages is getting later this year.

If you remember, this actually isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Android Messages and Chrome OS talking to one another. Back in late October when Android 8.1 first started rolling out, an app called “SMS Connect” was discovered that allowed you to “read and reply to text messages on your Chromebook” and “get notifications for new text messages.”

Giving Android users a reason to buy Chrome OS machines over competing ones from Apple and Microsoft is something Google needs to get better at, and providing people with a built-in way to manage their text messages is a big step in that direction.

Android Messages is Google’s best chance to compete with iMessage

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Dinosaurs are all around you in Jurassic World Alive! [Game of the Week]

Update June 8, 2018: Collect dino DNA and create your dream team of battling dinosaurs in Jurassic World Alive!

Jurassic World Alive

Two years ago, Pokemon Go was unleashed on the world and became a cultural phenomenon.

This year, in conjunction with the release of the latest Jurassic World movie, Universal Studios teamed up with Ludia Inc. to essentially produce dinosaur version of Pokemon Go. Jurassic World Alive creates an augmented reality where dinosaurs are There are a ton of creatures to collect, upgrade, and evolve, there are supply drops scattered around in public places where you’ll be able to pick up supplies, and it’s absolutely designed to suck as much money from you as possible.

Here are my quick thoughts on Jurassic Park Alive — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good:

• If you were obsessed with dinosaurs as a kid like I was, the concept of hunting down and collecting dinosaurs is just too cool. Pokemon are cool, but come on — dinosaurs are way better.
• The drone mini-game for collecting dino DNA is way more interesting than the tired Pokeball mechanics from Pokemon Go. A surprisingly organic way to build in the creature collecting aspect of the game.
• There’s PvP battling built right into the game upon release — something that still hasn’t come to Pokemon Go. You need to collect four dinos before you unlock PvP mode.
• I like that there are special events connected to local parks — whereas the game lacks Niantic’s network of crowdsourced public spots from Ingress and Pokemon Go, using public green space is a smart move.
• Games like this encourage you to go outside and walk around your neighborhood, so even if you only play with it for a couple weeks it’ll do you some good versus other sedentary gaming activities.

The bad:

• Just like the new Jurassic World movies, this game is a bit too derivative of the great works that have come before it. It looks better in many ways than what has come before but also lacks some of the charm and heart.
• Following up on that, along with those special events linked to parks which I liked I’ve also seen special events linked to Walmart locations which is — not what I like to see from mobile games.
• If we’re being completely honest, we’d be surprised

The ugly:

• This game goes beyond just having in-app purchase for buying more in-game currency. There’s also a “VIP subscription” where, for $10 a month, you get better supply drop rewards, slightly better equipment for catching dinos, and other in-game offers exclusive to VIP. Is this game worth the same as a subscription to, say, a subscription to Netflix or Spotify? Probably not.

All that said, I think it’s worth checking out Jurassic World Alive if you’ve had some fun with Pokemon Go in the past and are looking for a new take on this genre of AR games. If you didn’t like Pokemon Go, well settle in because we’re expected to get similar games for The Walking Dead, Harry Potter, and Ghostbusters in the near future.

Download: Jurassic Park Alive (Free w/IAPs)

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Samsung Galaxy J3 and J7 mid-rangers coming to the U.S. in early June [Update]

The J3 will cost $209 on AT&T.

We’re just a few short months away from the Galaxy Note 9, but before we can get our hands on Samsung’s latest and greatest, we’re going to be served with two typical and unsurprising mid-range phones. This year, we’re getting updated models of the Galaxy J3 and J7.

Samsung says the two phones “focus on the key features that users love: sharp displays for movies and apps, great-low-light cameras that let them make the most of every moment, expandable memory for more storage, and battery life that powers their phones all day.”

Looking first at the J3, the phone’s outfitted with a 5.0-inch HD display, 8MP rear-facing camera with f/1.9 aperture, and a 5MP f/2.2 selfie camera. With the J7, you’re getting a 5.5-inch HD screen, 13MP f/1.7 rear camera, and 13MP f/1.9 sensor on the front.

Further specs on the J7 are still unavailable, but we know the J3 will tout Samsung’s Exynos 7570 processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and a 2,600 mAh battery. Android 8.0 Oreo is also present out of the box.

The Galaxy J3 (left) and Galaxy J7 (right).

Samsung notes that pricing for the new models will be similar to the J3 and J7 from 2017, but that carriers selling the phones will be setting their own rates. The J3’s already popped up on AT&T with a price tag of $209 outright or $7/month for 30 months.

See at AT&T

Updated 10:15 AM ET: Added additional specs and pricing details for the J3.

Roku’s Ultra 4K streaming player is down to its lowest price ever

Get the best for less.

Right now you can pick up the Roku Ultra 4K streaming media player for just $79.99, which is $20 lower than it normally sells for. This price is actually the lowest it’s ever sold for, beating the previous low by $5. Roku makes some of the best streaming hardware, so if you’ve cut the cord already or are considering doing so, you’ll want to have one of these attached to your TV.

The interface is easy to navigate, and most popular streaming services have apps available. You can easily access Netflix, Hulu, Sling, and HBO Now from dedicated buttons on the remote. There’s also a voice search feature built into the remote, and a headphone jack. The Roku Ultra streams compatible content in 4K, and the box has a USB port and microSD slot.

If you haven’t cut the cord, you should consider using your savings to check out DIRECTV NOW’s offer that scores you 3 months of service for $30. Not interested in 4K content but still want a Roku device? DIRECTV NOW has another promotion which scores you a free Roku Streaming Stick when you pay for one month of service. This makes it $35 for both the streaming media player and a month of access to DIRECTV NOW’s channel lineup. Odds are this discount won’t stick around for long, so be sure to grab one now, before it’s gone.

See at Amazon

Yahoo Messenger Will Be Discontinued on July 17, 2018 After 20 Years of Service

Yahoo today announced that its Yahoo Messenger service will no longer be supported after July 17, 2018, encompassing the closure of apps for iOS and Android and any web browser clients (via TechCrunch). The service will function normally until then, and after that date users will no longer be able to access their chats and the Messenger service as a whole will be shut down.

The company promised that the discontinuation of Yahoo Messenger will not impact a user’s Yahoo ID, so it will continue to work for products like Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Fantasy. As for a reason, Yahoo said that it is focusing on “building and introducing new, exciting communications tools” that will be a “better fit” for its customers.

We know we have many loyal fans who have used Yahoo Messenger since its beginning as one of the first chat apps of its kind. As the communications landscape continues to change over, we’re focusing on building and introducing new, exciting communications tools that better fit consumer needs.

“There currently isn’t a replacement” for Yahoo Messenger, however, so the company pointed users toward the invite-only group messaging app Yahoo Squirrel. Squirrel is still in the testing phase and allows groups to organize private chats with friends and family members in a style similar to Slack and Discord.

Yahoo originally debuted its Yahoo Messenger app on the iOS App Store [Direct Link] in April 2009, giving users the ability to instant message their contacts when away from their computer. In the years since, messaging apps like Apple’s iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and others have surged in popularity and caused users to leave Yahoo’s platform for ones more popular among their own friend groups. Today, Yahoo Messenger is #167 on the App Store’s most-downloaded Social Networking app list.

Prior to its appearance on the App Store, Yahoo Messenger originally debuted in 1998 (dubbed “Yahoo Pager”) as an instant messaging client that users could download for free to chat with friends. In 2018, Yahoo said that users will be able to download their chat history to a computer or other device for the next six months, and more information can be found in the FAQ section of the announcement page.

Yahoo Messenger’s closure in 2018 follows the sunsetting of AOL Instant Messenger in December 2017, both of which are owned by parent company Oath and lasted for around 20 years online.

Tag: Yahoo
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Apple Taking ‘Cautious Approach’ to iPhone Assembly This Year, Lowering Component Orders by 20%

Apple recently asked its iPhone suppliers to build “around 20 percent fewer” components for the line of iPhones debuting in the second half of 2018, according to four sources speaking to Nikkei. The move is Apple’s attempt to take a “cautious approach” to iPhone shipments in 2018 compared to 2017 orders.

Specifically, last year Apple was said to have placed orders for the production of as many as 100 million iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X units. That number is now down to 80 million in 2018, according to the sources. In the wake of Nikkei’s report, Apple shares have fallen in premarket trading this morning.

“Apple is quite conservative in terms of placing new orders for upcoming iPhones this year,” one of the four sources, who is in the supply chain, told the Nikkei Asian Review. “For the three new models specifically, the total planned capacity could be up to 20% fewer than last year’s orders.”

Nikkei’s report corroborates recent claims made by TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, stating that all three new iPhones will ship in September 2018 (two OLED models measuring in at 5.8 and 6.5 inches and a 6.1-inch lower-cost LCD model), despite some reports claiming that the LCD model could launch slightly later.

“The production yield for the LCD model’s ‘touch’ function is not satisfactory at the moment, but it is improving,” one of the supply sources said. “The cost-effective model is viewed as the tool for Apple to boost its total shipment volume this year, and all the suppliers are doing everything they can to make sure the LCD one hits the shelves as soon as possible.”

The sources said that Apple informed its supply chain to “prepare earlier” for this year’s OLED models in a bid to ensure that the smartphones can launch in September, unlike the iPhone X’s delay to November in 2017. Now, components for these smartphones will arrive at assemblers like Foxconn and Pegatron for final assembly in July, while the same will occur for the LCD model in August.

Apple is believed to launch three new iPhones in 2018: a 6.5-inch “iPhone X Plus”, a second generation iPhone X, and a 6.1-inch LCD iPhone, all coming with a full-screen design and Face ID. According to Kuo, the price of the devices will start at $600-$700 for the LCD model, $800-$900 for the new iPhone X, and $900-$1,000 for the iPhone X Plus.

Related Roundup: 2018 iPhones
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Apple’s new privacy features are bad for Facebook, but great for everyone else

(in)Secure is a weekly column that dives into the rapidly escalating topic of cybersecurity.

Apple had a lot to say about cybersecurity and privacy at WWDC 2018.

In light of Facebook’s recent data scandal, other data-reliant companies like Google have come under scrutiny for its data policies. Through it all, Apple has come out on top, staying in the good graces of both the public and governing bodies. With its newest updates and policies, has Apple solidified itself as the definitive ecosystem for those concerned about privacy and cybersecurity?

Cookies and trackers

While some of Apple’s software announcements were a bit mild, its cybersecurity and privacy updates were downright aggressive. The headline feature is what Apple calls Intelligent Tracking Prevention, a technology the company has built right into its Safari web browser.

This feature will warn you if a website has implemented something like ‘Like’ buttons, or a Facebook comment field.

“It turns out these [like buttons and comment fields] can be used to track you whether you click on them or not,” said Craig Federighi, Senior VP of Software Engineering at Apple. “And so this year, we are shutting that down.”

Once MacOS Mojave is available to the public, Safari will give you a better idea of when you’re being followed around the internet. When you come across a website that’ll track you, you’ll be warned with a prompt that looks something like below.

Of course, you can accept the terms, but the prompt is sure to dial back the omnipresence of Facebook across the web. At the very least, it should increase awareness about what these Facebook plugins do, and cookies will be automatically deleted from websites that haven’t been visited in the past thirty days.

Apple didn’t stop there. Federighi also detailed how Safari would be making it harder for advertisers to create a ‘fingerprint’ of a person on the internet. Fingerprinting is a way for advertisers to profile you without the use of cookies or trackers. Instead, this method relies on things like web browser, fonts, and other system configuration data to create a profile of you, and your usage.

“With Mojave we’re making it much harder for trackers to create a unique fingerprint. We’re presenting websites with only a simplified system configuration,” said Federighi. “And as a result, your Mac will look more like everyone else’s Mac, and will it be dramatically more difficult for data companies to uniquely identify your device and track you.”

Calling out Facebook, with a wink and a nod

Although this announcement didn’t call out Facebook by name, the social media company has historically had an unrestrained relationship with advertisers, giving them access to the personal data of millions for ad targeting. Pulling back fingerprinting is going to hinder advertisers, and by extension, Facebook as well.

“Less time on Facebook will equate to less ad views, which will mean less ad revenue for the social network.”

Both blocking trackers and fingerprinting are big deals, but there;s another feature announced at WWDC that might hurt Facebook even more — App Limits. This new iOS feature is supposed to empower people to use their devices less, providing access to a breakdown of how much time they spend in individual apps. App Limits also lets you set time restraints on your usage, closing apps when you’ve reached them.

That will certainly hurt the social network. “Less time on Facebook will equate to less ad views which will mean less ad revenue,” Michael Fauscette, Chief Research Officer at G2 Crowd, told Digital Trends. Once you see how many hours you’ve wasted scrolling through the News Feed, setting restrictions on your usage is a natural next step.

From friends to frenemies

Apple hasn’t always been at war with Facebook. Several years back, Apple touted baked-in Facebook features as advantages to MacOS and iOS. They used to be partners and beneficiaries of Facebook’s data empire.

Things are different now. A day before WWDC, the New York Times published a bombshell update to the web of controversy that is Facebook’s data policy. The report stated that Facebook made agreements to share data it had on users with a number of device manufacturers. Apple was at the top of the list.

Hi @SenBlumenthal, You raise an important issue but NYT is wrong on this point. Blackberry, Amazon, Microsoft etc could not integrate people’s FB information with their devices without that person’s permission. https://t.co/IXVTAScpww

— Facebook (@facebook) June 4, 2018

Apple has denied any data-sharing, of course, but the integration it put so much effort into promoting is no longer desirable. Better integration with Facebook was once a must-have feature. For Apple, though, it’s become a liability.

That’s bad news for the social network, but good news for your privacy, even if you don’t use an Apple device. Where Apple goes, others tend to follow. This is likely the first trickle in a flood of companies that turn away from Facebook to boost their own fortunes.

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• Live updates: How to watch Apple’s WWDC 2018 keynote
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• Facebook’s Clear History feature aimed at helping protect user privacy

How to improve your YouTube Music recommendations

YouTube Music is a new-ish music service with a not-so-new history to draw on.

Even if you’ve never used the YouTube Music app or shiny new desktop site before, chances are your profile is already chock-full of recommendations. YouTube Music shares a library and a history with the main YouTube app, and so that means that every video that’s been searched for or watched with your account is being used to calculate what music you’d like to listen to.

Unfortunately, not everything in our YouTube history is something we want affecting our recommendations or Your Mixtape — especially those Disney songs your niece demanded to sing along to while you were babysitting, or that viral video that you’ve been sent too many times to count. Here’s how to clear out the clutter and improve your YouTube Music offerings.

Build a library, don’t wait for one to appear

Yes, Google has said that Play Music will eventually migrate to YouTube Music, but if you’re waiting for your library to magically appear, you’re going to be waiting a while. A long while. Instead, start adding albums, artists, and playlists to your library. The contents of your library will tell YouTube what you like and help start shaping your recommendations beyond your years of mixed-use YouTube history.

Is recreating your library in a new service a complete pain? Yes, it is. Do you need to recreate the whole thing? Absolutely not. I’ve only added 96 albums to my library, and I’ve got about two dozen playlists, half of which were saved from YouTube Music’s recommendations and from YouTube search results for albums that aren’t properly listed yet.

Regularly rate recommendations

Rate songs whether you’re listening on your phone or on Google Home.

While you’re listening to any radio station, don’t just skip past songs you don’t like; thumb them down so they leave and don’t come back to any of your future radio stations. If you’re listening with the screen off or using Google Home to play some music, you can say “OK Google, I don’t like this song.” It takes more time, but it will help start purging songs you’re not a fan of. You can also thumb songs up or down after the listening session in your YouTube Music history on YouTube Music’s site. The YouTube Music app’s History page only gives the option to like a song, not to thumb it down.

If you keep getting recommendations from an artist you hate, thumbs them down every time, then go give YouTube Music feedback that you’d like a “Block artist/album” feature to keep other songs by them from popping up.

If songs you like pop up in your recommendations, thumb them up and add them to your library. It will ensure you get more music like that and less like the songs you thumb down.

Purge your YouTube histories

YouTube Music and YouTube share search history and watch history, so cleaning up one helps you clean up both. Since not all YouTube history appears in YouTube Music, but all YouTube Music appears in YouTube, you should absolutely go to YouTube at least once and do a deep clean.

You can either go to YouTube history on desktop and got through your history category-by-category, or you can go through them on the YouTube app for Android, where you’ll need to go a few different places. These instructions can also help you delete your entire YouTube history, should you wish to start over with a clean slate.

How to pause, clean, and clear your YouTube history

Note: Deleting your watch and search history will drastically alter your YouTube Music recommendations, as they will only have your library, your rated songs, and your liked artists to go off of until you build your history back up.

Know when to pause your history

To keep yourself from having to go purge your histories time and time again, if you know you’re about to listen to music that you don’t want impacting your YouTube Music recommendations, you should pause your history, then un-pause it when you’re done. For instance, if you’re about to let your kids pick the music for the car ride to the lake, or you’re going to use YouTube Music to provide the music at a party and know your partner’s old college cohort is going to request dusty, old country songs every 20 minutes, that would be an excellent time to hit pause.

Here’s how:

Tap your avatar icon in the top right corner of YouTube Music’s Home or Library tabs.

Tap Settings.

Tap Location & privacy.

Tap Pause watch history and/or Pause search history.

Just make sure that at the end of the event, come back to the same screen to unpause it so that your history doesn’t stay frozen in time.

Listen to more music

The more history you have with YouTube Music, the more it will learn about you, your tastes, and your habits. Not to mention, the more music you listen to, the more likely you are to find music you forgot you liked, or albums that you didn’t realize had been released, or remixes that blow the original out of the water.

So listen to YouTube Music and let it get to know you!

Combo an Amazon Echo Dot with TP-Link’s smart plug for just $51 today

Buy more, save more.

As part of its Gold Box deals of the day, Amazon has an Echo Dot and TP-Link Smart Plug combo for just $50.98, a savings of $39 from their regular pricing. These items normally sell for around $50 and $40 respectively, but both are currently on sale for a bit less. Even compared to the discounted pricing, this bundle still saves you an additional $9 off and makes for easily the best Echo Dot combo we’ve seen lately.

The Echo Dot can be used to control the smart plug, and so much more. You can use it to set reminders, do simple conversions, play music, and even make calls. TP-Link’s smart plug can be controlled from anywhere in the world using the free iOS and Android apps, and you can even set a schedule for the times you are away and want it to appear like you’re still home.

If you’ve been wanting to give the whole smart home thing a shot, this is definitely a great way to get started. Keep in mind that this pricing ends when the day does, so you won’t want to wait too long before getting your order in.

See at Amazon