Get 20% off the Blink XT home security system like the 3-camera kit for $256

Happy Father’s Day!

The Blink XT Home Security 3-Camera System is down to $255.99 on Amazon. It normally sells for $320, but right now Blink is taking 20% off for Father’s Day and Amazon is price-matching.

This sale includes the 2-camera system for $183.99 from a street price of $230 and the 5-camera kit for $399.99 instead of $500. The 1-camera system is down to $103.99 from $130.

The Blink XT camera can be used indoor or outdoor because it’s weather resistant. It’s a modular system that can be expanded with up to 10 cameras as you want them. You can set it up and control it easily with an iOS or Android smartphone, and you can add voice control with any Alexa-enabled device like the Echo Dot. The built-in motion sensor can send an alert to your smartphone when it’s triggered and record the event in the cloud. The included AA Lithium batteries should power it wirelessly for up to two years. The free cloud storage requires at least iOS 9.3 or Android 4.4.

You can also use this 20% off sale for the budget version, the white Blink security system that doesn’t work outside and only goes up to 720p. It’s not as capable, but it’s also cheaper and made even less expensive with this sale. Here are the systems on sale:

• Indoor 1-camera system – $79.99 (from $100)
• Indoor 2-camera system – $135.99 (from $170)
• Indoor 3-camera system – $183.99 (from $230)
• Indoor 5-camera system – $279.99 (from $350)

See on Amazon

Ringke Wave Case for Galaxy S9+ review: Bold beauty, slick protection

In a market flooded with flat, boring cases, Ringke makes waves and secure style with its dual-layer case.

As the owner of a blue Samsung Galaxy S9+, when I went shopping for a case to protect my shiny new behemoth, I ran into a bit of a problem. Most of the cases available fell into one of two equally undesirable camps: sensible, black bores or bulky, bedazzled beauty school flunk-outs. Adding injury to insult, while there are plenty violet cases for the Lilac Purple, cases matching the Coral Blue’s cerulean majesty are hard to come by.

My Galaxy S9+ is a stylish phone, and it deserves a case that offers style without breaking out the glitter pens. Luckily, Ringke understands that a beautiful, blue phone deserves a beautiful, blue case, and so it’s given us the Ringke Wave case for the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+.

Ringke Wave Case for Samsung Galaxy S9+

Price: $14.99

Bottom line: This is a sturdy case with a slim profile and vibrant wave pattern that provides grip and style.

The Good

• Two-layer protection without bulk
• Great colors that compliment each color model
• Firm buttons with a textured Bixby button
• Good port cut-outs

The Bad

• Plastic bumper is a little slippery around the sides
• No good flat area on the back of the case for a Ring/Popsocket
• Removing and reapplying case takes a fair amount of effort

See at Amazon

Stylish and sturdy

Ringke Wave Case What I like

The Ringke Wave case is a dual layer case made up of a hard-shell polycarbonate bumper and softer TPU case that grips the Galaxy S9+’s every curve securely and helps absorb the force of a screen-shattering drop. I have yet to find a USB-C charger that doesn’t play nice with the Wave’s ample port cutouts, and the gentle slope below the fingerprint sensor help guide your finger up into place without going too far and smudging the camera lens.

The lip around the camera and on the front of the phone are tall enough to keep your phone’s glass from scratching on a dirty tabletop but shallow enough that the screen is still usable from edge to edge. The top and bottom lip on the screen are a hair more pronounced that the gently sloping side, giving you a tiny lip to grip. Ringke made the Wave’s buttons are solid but not stiff, and the Bixby button is textured to help users avoid hitting it when reaching for the volume rocker.

Ringke sells the Wave case in five colors, and each one is drop-dead gorgeous. In addition to the model-matching Metallic Chrome, Metallic Purple, and Coastal Blue, there’s a navy-gold Marina Gold version and Rose Blush variant that sports a rose gold bumper and burgundy TPU layer.

Slip and grip

Ringke Wave Case What doesn’t work

I remove and reapply cases to my phones quite frequently — I’ll swap cases, take it off for a photo or 20, run my phone through my PhoneSoap once in a while to help keep the bacteria at bay — and that is the one time this dual-layer case feels bulky and awkward. Getting this case off is a breeze; unlike most dual-layer cases, Ringke gives the Wave’s polycarbonate bumper just enough give to get a corner free and slip the case off with very little effort.

Putting the case back on, however, is a hair more tedious. The bumper grips the TPU sleeve via 11 super-thin clips, and these clips grip the case firmly even when you slip the phone out of it. To just get the case back on, you need to coax the TPU sleeve away from those clips — the easiest way to do this once the phone is out is to slip your finger between the bumper and sleeve in the middle of the case back and slowly push up on the sleeve. Those stiff clips also need a bit of force to line them up and push them into their specific grooves in the sleeve, so double check every seam before going about your day.

Hold it tightly, but it still might slip from time to time.

Ringke’s Wave case features a beautifully sculpted back, which sits flat on a desktop or in a cradle, but those curves help give grip to a slick case. The case won’t slide around on a marble kitchen counter or glass coffee table, but the sides of the case are dominated by the hard plastic bumper, which can get a little slippery in the hand, especially here in the Texas heat.

Hoping to help my grip and improve my one-handed use of this super-sized flagship, I purchased a thin phone ring for the Samsung Galaxy S9+. When it came time to apply said ring, I found that there wasn’t a good place to stick it; the waves were just too choppy for the 3M to get a good grip.

Ringke doesn’t suggest using such accessories on the Wave case, but since the particular ring I’d ordered was rather small, I managed to find a flat enough patch on the lower right side of the case back that has worked well for me. It’s not quite as steady in the hand, but it gives me extra grip and I appreciate it. If you use a Popsocket or Ringke Ring with a larger footprint, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Ride the wave with slick style

Ringke Wave Case for Samsung Galaxy S9+

I’ve used the Ringke Wave case on my Galaxy S9+ for almost three months now. It is the case that I chose after days and days of searching, the phone I spent my own money on to keep my Kaiju safe. It’s not quite perfect, especially as the Texas heat makes my palms sweaty and my Wave case slips a bit in my hand. It features one of the better color selections for an S9+ case, but I keep dreaming of mixing and matching colors between the standard models.

4
out of 5

The Ringke Wave Case for the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ is a case that offers sophistication and style without sacrificing device safety or function. While a Popsocket or Ringke Ring may not grip well to the Wave’s sculpted back, why would you want to ruin this case’s oceanic beauty with one of those?

See at Amazon

MSN News is becoming Microsoft News on Android and iOS

The new name comes following a major redesign the app received in January.

The MSN News app for Android and iOS is getting a new name: Microsoft News. We first noticed the rebranding in an update to the beta version of the app on Android, but OnMSFT has also confirmed the new moniker is rolling out for iOS beta testers as well.

Aside from the new name, there isn’t much else to see here. However, users will have to go through a new setup experience, which introduces the new name and asks you to check off your interests, after updating.

The renaming follows a major update that rolled out to beta testers in January, bringing a whole new look to the app. The revamp included the ability to keep your news interests in sync across all devices, a dark theme, and continuous scrolling from one article to the next.

If you’re a beta tester, you can grab the updated app for Android and iOS now. There’s no timeline on when the revamp will make its way to the release version, but I wouldn’t expect it to be too far off.

See at Google Play See at the App Store

6 last-minute Father’s Day gifts dad will love

A real, genuine modern dad

You don’t have to spend a ton to put a smile on dad’s face this year.

This Sunday, June 17, is Father’s Day. If you’re reading this guide, chances are it slipped your mind and you’re now scrambling to find a gift that dad will love.

Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

If you’re looking to get your old man an awesome gift that’ll put a smile on his face (without destroying your wallet), you’ve come to the right place. We’ve put together a list of six excellent gadgets that he’s bound to love, and without further ado, this is what we recommend picking up.

Amazon Echo Dot (2nd generation)

If dad still hasn’t jumped on the smart speaker bandwagon, one of the best ways to get him started is with the Amazon Echo Dot.

With the Echo Dot, your dad can get information on the weather, add things to his to-do list, control smart home gadgets, and so much more — all by just saying the iconic “Alexa” hotword followed by whatever he wants to ask/say.

The Echo Dot’s built-in speaker isn’t the best around, but thanks to its 3.5mm headphone jack, you can easily plug it into any other speaker setup to quickly beef up its sound quality.

Amazon usually sells the Echo Dot for $49.99, but as a special Father’s Day offer, you can pick one up for as little as $39.99.

See at Amazon

TaoTronics Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headphones

Everyone should own a pair of noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones, and if you’re looking for a pair that’s high-quality but won’t break the bank, one of the best options out there comes from TaoTronics.

TaoTronics’ over-the-ear headphones come equipped with active-noise-canceling, dual 40mm drivers, and up to 25 hours of use before needing to charge them up. Add that together with a comfortable design, earcups that can swivel up to 90-degrees, and Bluetooth 4.2, and you end up with one heck of an audio package.

These may not be Bose QC35s, but for just $63, TaoTronics offers 80% of the Bose experience at a fraction of the cost.

See at Amazon

Philips Hue White Starter Kit

Light bulbs may not seem like a very exciting Father’s Day gift, but we promise your dad will love the convenience that comes with Philips Hue smart bulbs.

There are a variety of Hue bulbs to choose from, but one of our favorites is the White Starter Kit. You can’t change the color of these like some of Philips’ other bulbs, but you can dim them to easily adjust the ambiance of a room.

Speaking of dimming the lights, you can do this, turn them on/off, and create schedules for automatically controlling their behavior right from the Philips Hue app on your phone. Better yet, dad can pair these with his Echo Dot and ask Alexa to control the lights for him.

The White Starter Kit costs around $98 and comes with a Hue Bridge and four bulbs. Once your dad has this, he can buy other Hue bulbs down the road to eventually outfit his entire house with smart lights!

See at Amazon

Amazon Fire HD 10 Tablet

If the old man wants a big tablet, one of the best options out there is the Amazon Fire HD 10. The Fire HD 10 is Amazon’s biggest and most powerful tablet available, and as the name suggests, comes with a 10.1-inch 1920 x 1200 display that’s perfect for watching movies, reading books, and browsing the web.

The 1.8Ghz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM isn’t the most impressive silicon you’ll find, but in our testing, it’s proven to be more than capable for all sorts of applications. You’ll also find 10 hours of battery life and 32GB or 64GB of storage that can be expanded up to 256GB with a microSD card.

Amazon offers the Fire HD 10 in Black, Marine Blue, and Punch Red colors and you can pick it up for as little as $119 right now.

See at Amazon

Roku Streaming Stick+

The way we watch TV today is a lot different compared to how your dad did it back in the day, and to make sure he’s up to speed, we recommend getting him the Roku Streaming Stick+.

Roku’s interface is incredibly easy-to-use and has the largest selection of available channels and apps by far. You’ll find big names such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video, as well as smaller services like Philo.

As for the Streaming Stick+ itself, it’s capable of 4K and HDR streaming and has a strong wireless receiver that offers 4x the range compared to Roku’s cheaper gadgets. The included remote also has a voice search button and can control the power and volume of the TV it’s connected to so your dad can do all his channel-surfing with just one remote.

For a little over $50, the Roku Streaming Stick+ offers the best bang-for-your-buck in its class.

See at Amazon

Ring Video Doorbell

Last but not least, the Ring Video Doorbell offers one of the most affordable ways to add a smart doorbell to just about any home.

The built-in video camera can record in HD quality and allows you to quickly see who’s at your door from your phone, tablet, or computer. You can look at what the doorbell sees at any time, and if it ever gets stolen, Ring offers a lifetime guarantee to replace it for free.

You can pick up the Ring Video Doorbell in a variety of colors to perfectly match dad’s house, and for $100, it sharply undercuts a lot of the competition.

See at Amazon

What did you get dad?

These are some last-minute gifts, but you probably had some great ideas of your own! Let us know, and then read our full Father’s Day Gift guide!

Twitter doubles down on news with new app features and notifications

Twitter wants to make it easier to see the news it thinks you care about.

Twitter, the social media platform filled with good boys and endless political screaming, is getting serious about the way it tackles news. On June 13, the company announced a few new features coming to the app that should make it much easier to find topics you care about and get information from sources you trust. There’s not a name for any of what Twitter’s adding, and while that might make these efforts sound unfinished, they’re anything but.

To help keep users engaged with the world around them, Twitter will begin to send personalized push notifications and add little snippets at the top of your timeline for particularly big events the app thinks you’ll be interested in. When you tap on these notifications or event blurbs, you’ll be taken to a brand-new page that acts as a central hub for all the conversation happening around it

The top of the page will show a live video of what’s going on, and as you scroll down, it’ll shrink and move with you so you can keep watching as you browse through what’s happening. Below the video is a quick description of the event/story, followed by a collection of Tweets.

Twitter’s slowly turning into a go-to news app.

Tweets are currently categorized by Recap and Latest, but Twitter says it plans on adding more down the road (with one possibility being a Top Commentary section).

Twitter’s also going to be completely revamping the Explore page. There are new tabs at the top for filtering news/tweets by Trending, For You, News, Sports, etc., and the brand-new event pages will be featured here, too.

It’s unclear when all of this will begin rolling out, but it’s definitely an interesting move for the company. Twitter’s large user base has made the app a great way to quickly catch up on what’s happening in the world, and thanks to these new features, doing that will soon be a lot prettier and more practical.

Download: Twitter (free)

Amazon’s Father’s Day sale drops Echo, Kindle, Fire TV, and other hardware to low prices

Gifts for dad or gifts for you.

Update: Time’s running out to get your orders in and have it before Father’s Day, so don’t miss out.

Father’s Day is June 17, but Amazon is getting ahead of the curve with week-long sales on pretty much all hardware. Some of these are direct price drops, others have bigger savings if you purchase multiples, but either way, time’s running out to get one before Father’s Day.

All of these should be above Amazon’s free shipping threshold, though if you want faster shipping you could always sign up for a free 30-day trial of Amazon’s Prime service. Here are all the deals available right now:

Echo devices

• Echo Dot Alexa-enabled speaker – $39.99 (from $50)
• Echo Dot 2-pack – $59.98 (from $100)
• Echo 2nd gen Alexa-enabled portable Bluetooth speaker – $79.99 (from $100)
• Echo bundled with Echo Dot – $99.98 (from $130)

Fire TVs

• Fire TV Stick media streaming device – $29.99 (from $40)
• Fire TV 4K media streaming device – $49.99 (from $70)

Fire tablets

• Fire 7 tablet – $39.99 (from $50)
• Fire HD 8 tablet – $59.99 (from $80)
• Fire HD 10 tablet – $119.99 (from $150)

Kindles

• Kindle e-reader black or white – $59.99 (from $80)
• Kindle Paperwhite e-reader black or white – $99.99 (from $120)

Cloud Cam

• Cloud Cam security camera – $99.99 (from $120)

Prime Day 2018 is less than a month away, and our team at Thrifter will be covering all the action. Stay prepared with our Prime Day newsletter.

Apple Watch Series 3 LTE Now Supported by Regional Carriers C Spire and US Cellular for as Low as $5/Month

When the Apple Watch Series 3 launched last fall, United States customers were able to add the cellular model onto a plan offered by AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Over the last few days, supported carriers have expanded to include regional companies C Spire and US Cellular.

C Spire shared the news in a press release today, confirming it has begun selling the Apple Watch Series 3 in both GPS and LTE, available both online and through a call to customer telesales. Orders placed can be sent to the user’s home or picked up at any C Spire retail store, and for a limited time the carrier is marking Series 3 models down by 50 percent when purchased with eligible iPhones on a device payment plan.

Additionally, C Spire offers Apple Watch Series 3 customers a free three-month introductory cellular trial on the carrier’s 4G LTE network, allowing them to use the Apple Watch without an extra cost on their monthly plan. After the three months end, the Apple Watch Series 3 plan will run for $10/month — the average price of Apple Watch cellular plans at most carriers.

On its device and support information page, US Cellular also offers three free months for Apple Watch Series 3 LTE coverage, and afterwards the plan will cost $4.99/month. At this price, US Cellular has one of the cheapest monthly plans for a Series 3 LTE model, and like C Spire it must be paired with an iPhone 6 or later running iOS 11 or later.

– If you are on one of U.S. Cellular’s Total Plans, there is no charge to connect your Apple Watch to the Cellular network.

– If you are on any other U.S. Cellular plan, you will get 3 months for free trial and after that there is a $4.99 monthly charge to connect your Apple Watch to the Cellular network.

In terms of coverage areas, US Cellular offers coverage in as many as 23 states and 426 markets with 5 million customers. Comparatively, C Spire is more focused on the southern area of the country, including Mississippi, Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, and the Memphis Metropolitan Area.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4, watchOS 5Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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Plex Announces Live TV Grid View Coming Soon to tvOS and iOS Apps

Media hub company Plex this week revealed a new way for its customers to navigate Plex’s Live TV service, through a more traditional grid-based user interface. Launching first in Plex’s web browser, the new grid view organizes live TV programs by channels and the time of day, much like classic cable TV guides.

While the program guide is only available on the web for now, Plex confirmed in a support article that the guide will launch for Apple TV and iOS apps in the near future. The article also shows off other features of the guide, like the ability to record shows on the list, filter the schedule by day of the week, only view HD channels, and more.

While we think that searching and our Discover view (see below) are often a faster way to access DVR-related content for users, many users are familiar with a traditional “TV grid” style schedule and may wish to use that. Displayed in a scrollable timeline format, the Channels view of the Guide gives you an overview of what’s on every channel you receive. From here, you can see program details, schedule a recording, filter the timeline view to only show a certain day, and also scroll forward and backward in time.

To access the program guide users will need a Plex Pass, which includes live TV and DVR features. Other apps soon to get the guide include Plex for Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, and Xbox One. According to Plex, the update came after it received numerous requests from its users asking for a grid view. Hulu with Live TV also recently updated its apps with a traditional guide interface for users.

Plex originally rolled out live TV support for its Apple TV app last August, two months after it did the same for iOS devices. With live TV, Plex Pass subscribers can watch live HD content on channels available over-the-air, including major US networks like ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and CW, as well as local programming, news, and sports. For apps that support DVR, Plex also brought the feature out of beta around the same time.

Tag: Plex
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Apple Gives Straight-to-Series Order for Drama on Child Journalist Hilde Lysiak

Apple has placed a straight-to-series order for a drama series about Hilde Lysiak, a child journalist who publishes a newspaper called the Orange Street News in her hometown of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.

According to Variety, the series will follow a young girl who moves from Brooklyn to the small lakeside town her father is from, where she unearths a cold case that everyone in town had attempted to bury.

Image of Hilde Lysiak via NY Daily News
The story is based on Lysiak’s own efforts to report on a murder in Selinsgrove, where she was the first person to expose it. Lysiak’s Orange Street News has earned her national and international media attention.

Apple has ordered 10 episodes of the series, which was created and executive produced by Dana Fox and Dara Resnik. Fox is known for her work on “Ben and Kate,” “How to Be Single,” and “Couples Retreat,” while Resnik has worked on “Castle,” “Shooter,” and Mistresses.”

Apple has well over a dozen original television shows in the works now, which, according to rumors, could begin premiering in 2019. Recent announcements include “Little Voices” from J.J Abrams and Sara Bareilles, “Dickinson” starring Hailee Steinfeld, and a television adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” series.

Related Roundup: Apple TVTag: Apple’s Hollywood ambitionsBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Apple Seeds Second Beta of watchOS 4.3.2 to Developers

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.3.2 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the first watchOS 4.3.2 beta and two weeks after releasing watchOS 4.3.1, a minor bug fix update that addressed a startup issue.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General –> Software update.

To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

No new features were discovered in the first watch watchOS 4.3.2 update, but as a 4.3.x update, it’s likely to be minor in scale, addressing bug fixes discovered since the release of watchOS 4.3.1 and making other small improvements to the operating system.

watchOS 4.3.2 is likely to be one of the final updates to the watchOS 4 operating system. Apple has begun work on watchOS 5, which was provided to developers at the 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4, watchOS 5Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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