World’s first VR-augmented waterslide is totally unnecessary, but also amazing

Let’s face it: We live in a pretty jaded society. In such a “been there, seen that” environment, the promise of a regular ole’ waterpark wouldn’t be enough to prompt even an eye-roll emoji in response from many people. Thank goodness, then, for an amusement park in Germany whose new, world-first waterslide adds in a dose of scintillating virtual reality in an effort to make us feel something again.

“Ballast originally started by making an experimental headset that can be used underwater,” Stephen Greenwood, the CEO of Ballast VR, the company behind VRSlide, told Digital Trends. “Last summer, we were approached by German waterslide manufacturer Wiegand-Maelzer to see if we could build a system that worked on waterslides. The biggest challenge with VR on waterslides, compared to roller coasters or other track-based rides, is that every rider moves at a unique speed — meaning that in order for everything to be perfectly synchronized, we had to invent a tracking system that knows precisely where each rider is and display the VR content at a variable speed.”

A bit like the opening credits to the Naked Gun movies, in which a cop car is transported to everywhere from the inside of a pinball machine to the Death Star trench, once VRSlide riders put on their goggles, their perspective changes to give the illusion of them flying through a variety of settings. Sure, the virtual reality looks a bit more like a PlayStation 2 game than cutting-edge graphics, but Greenwood said that the results are surprisingly effective.

“We were skeptical when considering to take on the project,” he explained. “But when we did some very early tests, even without the tracking system it became clear that it’s a bizarre combination that produces a really thrilling experience. I think it’s more fun than roller coaster VR, because there are multiple senses being stimulated — you have water splashing against the rider, unexpected twists and turns when the rider thinks they are going one way in VR, but then actually take a sharp turn in the other direction. Riders can also experience a new world every time they go down, so the same slide can be refreshed as much as the park operators would like.”

At present, the slide at Therme Erding, 30 minutes outside Munich, is the only place you can try the experience. However, Greenwood said the company is interested in taking the technology global. “We are currently in discussions with parks outside of Germany to expand,” he noted.

Editors’ Recommendations

• China’s new sci-fi amusement park is powered entirely by virtual reality rides
• Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon chip will take VR, AR to the next level
• Like the internet? Google wants to attach it to your face
• Mozilla’s ‘Hubs’ builds a chatroom in VR for any browser and headset
• 8 Amazing accessories that could make virtual reality even more immersive

Intel’s 9th-generation processor could launch next month with 8 cores

Although Apple just adopted Intel’s eighth-generation processors on its refreshed MacBook Pro lineup recently, Intel is moving full speed ahead, and the company’s ninth-generation processors could launch as early as fall. Code-named Coffee Lake, Intel’s ninth-generation CPU could reportedly arrive on August 1, delivering up to eight cores of processing power. The launch of the ninth-generation chips will help Intel stay competitive with rival AMD’s second-generation Ryzen processors.

“A source from the German trade has leaked information that is likely to launch soon,” an English translation of German publication PC Builders Club reads. “So there is currently an Intel NDA, which falls on 1 August. The contact says, however, that no products can be ordered from Intel and probably will not be longer. The company could introduce the new generation or even a part of it on 1 August, but the start in retail would take much longer.” This means that even if Intel does hold a press event to launch the new processors, PCs with the chips may take a few weeks or months to arrive at retail stores.

The big news is that Coffee Lake will be Intel’s first eight-core processor designed for mainstream consumers. Intel’s Core i9 9900K processor is reported to be the flagship model in the new processor family, shipping with eight cores and 16 threads. Intel is rumored to bring it’s six-core processors down to the Core i7 and Core i5 family, leaving the quad-core architecture for the Core i3 chips. The Core i7-9700K is rumored to arrive with six cores and 12 threads, while the Core i5 products will ship with six cores and six threads. The base Core i3 processor will come with four cores and four threads.

An early sample of the six-core processor was able to reach 5.5GHz clock speeds when overclocked, PC Builders Club reported. The publication’s source was not able to obtain an eight-core sample at the time. It’s also reported that Intel may switch away from the thermal interface material (TIM) used on current processors to a new soldered heat spreader design. “Intel would have finally heard the prayers of the last six years and is at least in the high-end processors on an indium solder instead of the well-known thermal interface material,” the report said.

If you’re in the market for a new processor, you can check out our Ryzen versus Intel head-to-head as well as our processor comparison for gamers.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Intel Core i5 vs i7
• Intel may debut a Core i9 desktop CPU for the general market in 2018
• Intel 9th-generation CPUs are refreshes with slight clock speed bumps
• Intel’s powerful new 8-core processor could land in desktops this September
• Intel’s 10nm CPU finally makes it to retail in a refreshed Lenovo IdeaPad laptop

Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6 helps your phone survive up to 15 drops before it breaks

Corning has long been the go-to for smartphone manufacturers who want a nice, tough piece of glass to keep their devices safe in the event of a drop or scratch. Now, the company is stepping things up with the launch of Gorilla Glass 6, which Corning says is up to two times better than the previous version, Gorilla Glass 5.

Phone designs have changed a lot over the years, making the strength of the glass used on phones more important than ever. When smartphones were first released, for example, they often had thick metal or plastic frames, which was the first part of the phone to often make contact when a phone was dropped. Now, smartphones have curved edges and glass backs, resulting in an almost completely glass exterior.

Often, your phone won’t break the first time you drop it, and that’s because up until that point there weren’t any flaws in the glass. With a drop, however, small flaws can be introduced into the glass — meaning that the next time you drop your phone, the weakened glass can more easily break. That’s an issue that Corning has been trying to fix with Gorilla Glass 6. According to Corning, Gorilla Glass 6 can survive 15 drops from 1 meter before it breaks — which is a pretty serious improvement over the 11 drops Gorilla Glass 5 could get through. Corning says that people, on average, drop their phones 7 times per year, so being able to survive 15 drops means that the glass should get a phone through a standard two-year upgrade cycle.

Of course, Corning’s lab tests are one thing — real-world uses are a different beast. In the real world, drops aren’t controlled, and if you drop your phone while standing, it’s usually from more than 1 meter. Still, any improvement on glass strength is good, whether or not the glass actually survives 15 drops or not.

Corning is in a pretty good position right now. The world is finally moving to wireless charging, meaning that phone manufacturers may start doing away with metal backs on their phones and more widely adopt glass backs. In other words, strong glass is more important than ever in phone design — putting the maker of the strongest phone glass in a pretty great position.

Gorilla Glass 6 will likely pop up on a range of phones over the next year or so. Apple has long used Gorilla Glass on the iPhone — so we wouldn’t be surprised to see Gorilla Glass 6 on Apple’s next iPhone refresh.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Motorola Moto G6 review
• Throw some shade at your office space with voice-controlled, self-tinting glass
• The best iPhone 8 Plus cases and covers
• Apple is most definitely working on augmented reality glasses
• The best Google Pixel cases

Relive 1998 as live chat rooms roll out across Reddit in a limited beta

Reddit is slowly rolling out real-time chat rooms across a limited number of subreddits. Currently in beta, Reddit Chat went live in the summer of 2017 for about 7,000 Reddit users. Now, Reddit is expanding this service, keeping users locked to the website instead of conducting real-time chats on external clients like Slack, Discord, and even IRC.

“Mods need to chat in real time to not just moderate their communities, but also to collaborate and build their communities. Reddit Live contributors use chat to coordinate and surface the most important information,” Reddit states. “There are also a bunch of subreddits that are more organically social in nature, and right now they need to leave Reddit to create the experience they desire.”

Over the last year, Reddit used the feedback from its 7,000 test subjects to shape Reddit Chat to the product currently rolling out across the site. But given the service is still in beta, there is room for improvement and growth based on a wider range of feedback. To provide your input, you will see a user called u/reddit_chat_feedback at the top of your contacts list that is actually manned by a human.

Reddit members with access to the chat beta will see a Rooms tab in their Chat inbox. This section will list all room invitations, joined rooms, and a Recommended section based on subreddit subscriptions. You can also find a list of rooms here although it’s not complete given many communities may not want the traffic.

That said, you can find chat rooms for the Nintendo 64 console, Comcast’s Infinity service, Jurassic Park, and more. There are public and private rooms, the latter of which are invite-only and invisible to everyone not on the invitation list. Public rooms are accessible by all Reddit members.

Moderators can create as many chat rooms as they want. They also have the ability to kick and ban users, lock a room to prevent a flood of messages, mute specific users, remove messages, run bots, and more. Each chat room can play host to 20,000 participants and will store posted messages for 14 days. After that, all messages are deleted and unrecoverable.

Of course, there are a few community-focused rules. Keep the posts PG-13, be friendly and polite, don’t circumvent the word filter and stay on the topic at hand. Even more, don’t use posts for feedback and never take screenshots or share private chats.

Over the last year, Reddit member Ityoclys, the individual manning the feedback position, says he learned a few things about conversing with other humans in a real-time chat. Interacting with people isn’t quite so scary, he says, and if you listen and talk to people, conversations will stay relatively calm. People will also provide excellent, actionable feedback if you’re willing to listen.

“Using u/reddit_chat_feedback as a way to get to know and learn from Redditors has been fun and incredibly insightful,” Ityoclys says. “We can’t thank everyone who has talked with us and given feedback enough.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• Switch up your Reddit routine with these interesting, inspiring, and zany subs
• New Steam chat system adds group chats, video, and GIF support
• Everything you need to know about Discord, the chat app for gamers
• The best chat clients
• Instagram now lets you video chat with up to three buddies

Relive 1998 as live chat rooms roll out across Reddit in a limited beta

Reddit is slowly rolling out real-time chat rooms across a limited number of subreddits. Currently in beta, Reddit Chat went live in the summer of 2017 for about 7,000 Reddit users. Now, Reddit is expanding this service, keeping users locked to the website instead of conducting real-time chats on external clients like Slack, Discord, and even IRC.

“Mods need to chat in real time to not just moderate their communities, but also to collaborate and build their communities. Reddit Live contributors use chat to coordinate and surface the most important information,” Reddit states. “There are also a bunch of subreddits that are more organically social in nature, and right now they need to leave Reddit to create the experience they desire.”

Over the last year, Reddit used the feedback from its 7,000 test subjects to shape Reddit Chat to the product currently rolling out across the site. But given the service is still in beta, there is room for improvement and growth based on a wider range of feedback. To provide your input, you will see a user called u/reddit_chat_feedback at the top of your contacts list that is actually manned by a human.

Reddit members with access to the chat beta will see a Rooms tab in their Chat inbox. This section will list all room invitations, joined rooms, and a Recommended section based on subreddit subscriptions. You can also find a list of rooms here although it’s not complete given many communities may not want the traffic.

That said, you can find chat rooms for the Nintendo 64 console, Comcast’s Infinity service, Jurassic Park, and more. There are public and private rooms, the latter of which are invite-only and invisible to everyone not on the invitation list. Public rooms are accessible by all Reddit members.

Moderators can create as many chat rooms as they want. They also have the ability to kick and ban users, lock a room to prevent a flood of messages, mute specific users, remove messages, run bots, and more. Each chat room can play host to 20,000 participants and will store posted messages for 14 days. After that, all messages are deleted and unrecoverable.

Of course, there are a few community-focused rules. Keep the posts PG-13, be friendly and polite, don’t circumvent the word filter and stay on the topic at hand. Even more, don’t use posts for feedback and never take screenshots or share private chats.

Over the last year, Reddit member Ityoclys, the individual manning the feedback position, says he learned a few things about conversing with other humans in a real-time chat. Interacting with people isn’t quite so scary, he says, and if you listen and talk to people, conversations will stay relatively calm. People will also provide excellent, actionable feedback if you’re willing to listen.

“Using u/reddit_chat_feedback as a way to get to know and learn from Redditors has been fun and incredibly insightful,” Ityoclys says. “We can’t thank everyone who has talked with us and given feedback enough.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• Switch up your Reddit routine with these interesting, inspiring, and zany subs
• New Steam chat system adds group chats, video, and GIF support
• Everything you need to know about Discord, the chat app for gamers
• The best chat clients
• Instagram now lets you video chat with up to three buddies

Best Android Phone Under $700 in 2018

• Best overall
• Best for battery life
• Best for less
• Best in compact size

Best overall

Google Pixel 2

See at Best Buy

The smaller of Google’s Pixel phones is fantastic, thanks to a no-nonsense design and plenty of features to get enthusiasts and average users alike excited. For a starting price of $649, the Google Pixel 2 mirrors the last 5-inch flagship with a manageable size and sleek hardware.

But it has a laundry list of upgrades, including a faster processor, more default storage, a better-calibrated OLED display, and, of course, a stupendous 12MP camera that beats just about everything else on the market. Plus, the latest version of Android first — and for three years.

The battery life can be a little weak compared to larger phones, but considering it’s $200 less than the Pixel 2 XL it’s easy to say the standard Pixel 2 is a better overall value.

Bottom line: There’s nothing quite like the Pixel, which marries hardware and software into an exceptional Android experience.

One more thing: Verizon touts the Pixel 2 as an “exclusive” device, but you can buy it unlocked to use on whatever carrier you wish.

Why the Google Pixel 2 is best

If you weren’t a fan of the first Pixel’s looks but enjoyed everything else about it, the Pixel 2 is for you. Available in three awesome colors with a soft-touch metal finish that’s perfect to hold without a case, the Pixel 2 is easy to use in one hand, extremely performant and reliable, and easily has one of the best cameras on the Android market today.

Not only does Google give its Pixel phones first dibs on updates to the latest version of Android, but it’s also promising three years of updates, which is unprecedented in the Android space. Google has done a lot to improve the reliability of the Pixel 2 (despite some early software issues) and battery life has also improved considerably over the first version.

Best for battery life

Moto Z3 Play

See at Amazon

From the beginning, Motorola’s Z Play lineup has been all about battery life, and the latest Moto Z3 Play is no exception. With a sealed 3000mAh battery and a power-efficient Snapdragon 636 processor, the Z3 Play is able to last though the day with ease as-is — but once you attach the included 2220mAh Moto Power Pack Mod, its battery life stretches even further, reaching as far as eight hours of screen-on time.

The Z3 Play isn’t a one trick pony, either; when you don’t need the extra battery life, you can attach other Mods to the phone that add better speakers, pico projectors, Polaroid printers, and more. If you don’t mind carrying a few Mods around, the Moto Z3 Play is an incredibly versatile device that can morph to fit your needs.

Maybe best of all, Motorola’s software experience is clean and simple, with a near-stock build of Android 8.1 that gains a few useful shortcuts thanks to the Moto Actions suite. Just don’t get your hopes up for Android P any time soon, since Motorola’s track record for software updates is a bit shaky.

Bottom line: The Moto Z3 Play doesn’t have the most powerful processor, but the included battery Mod makes it the longest-lasting phone on the list.

One more thing: You can grab the Z3 Play for less than $500 through Amazon’s Prime Exclusive program.

Best for less

OnePlus 6

See at OnePlus

There’s no better value for the spec-obsessed than the latest OnePlus phone. Even as prices gradually rise year over year, the OnePlus 6 is an incredible deal at just $529 — for that money, you get a Snapdragon 845, 6GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. For just $50 more, you can bump up the RAM to 8GB and double the storage.

OnePlus’s OxygenOS software is a blazingly fast and customizable take on Android 8.1, and lag is basically nonexistent thanks to the phone’s top-of-the-line specs. Add to that great front and rear cameras, a huge and vibrant display, and a sleek glass design available in a myriad of finishes, and the OnePlus 6 is pretty tough to beat at its price point.

Bottom line: The OnePlus 6 offers flagship-tier specs and performance for hundreds of dollars less.

One more thing: It doesn’t work on CDMA carriers, so Sprint and Verizon customers will have to look elsewhere.

Best in compact size

Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact

See at Best Buy

Sony’s new Xperia XZ2 comes in a “Compact” size, and that also brings with it a smaller price — just $649 retail. The 5-inch 18:9 display and rounded body make this feel like a more modern phone than previous Sony models, albeit at the cost of some of that distinctive Sony design language. On the other hand we get water resistance, a rear fingerprint sensor and stereo speakers — making this a phone with very few compromises.

Internally, the XZ2 Compact has top-notch specs despite its smaller size. A Snapdragon 845 processor runs the show, and all of the supporting cast is here to offer up a flagship-level experience — and a 2870mAh battery should be enough for most people. The 19MP rear camera is a good improvement over the last generation as well, even though it still lacks OIS.

Bottom line: For a lower price, you get a little less phone — but this is absolutely a flagship in every way but screen real estate, and some may even prefer its manageable size.

One more thing: The Xperia XZ2 Compact is only available unlocked in the U.S., and won’t be fully available until mid-May.

Conclusion

The Pixel 2 is a fantastic phone with so much going for it, and it happens to be under $700 as well. For a larger size and longer battery life you can pick up a Huawei Mate 10 Pro for about the same price, and for something smaller you can go with the Xperia XZ2 Compact.

Best overall

Google Pixel 2

See at Best Buy

The smaller of Google’s Pixel phones is fantastic, thanks to a no-nonsense design and plenty of features to get enthusiasts and average users alike excited. For a starting price of $649, the Google Pixel 2 mirrors the last 5-inch flagship with a manageable size and sleek hardware.

But it has a laundry list of upgrades, including a faster processor, more default storage, a better-calibrated OLED display, and, of course, a stupendous 12MP camera that beats just about everything else on the market. Plus, the latest version of Android first — and for three years.

The battery life can be a little weak compared to larger phones, but considering it’s $200 less than the Pixel 2 XL it’s easy to say the standard Pixel 2 is a better overall value.

Bottom line: There’s nothing quite like the Pixel, which marries hardware and software into an exceptional Android experience.

One more thing: Verizon touts the Pixel 2 as an “exclusive” device, but you can buy it unlocked to use on whatever carrier you wish.

Update July 2018: The Google Pixel 2 is still our top choice in the sub-$700 segment, but we’ve replaced the Huawei Mate 10 Pro with the Moto Z3 Play as a good choice for a larger size and longer battery life. The OnePlus 6 also joins the list as a great choice for even less money.

BlackBerry KEY2 Lite shown off in hands-on photo

The phone will come in red, blue, and copper colors.

Even though the KEY2 was just released earlier this month in the U.S., that apparently hasn’t stopped TCL from working on new BlackBerry hardware. Thanks to a new report, it looks like we’ll soon be getting a BlackBerry KEY2 Lite.

Evan Blass took to Twitter on July 18 to share the photo to the right. Along with this, Blass says it’s:

Alleged BlackBerry Luna, a.k.a. the “KEY2 Lite” (Lite and not Mini ‘cuz they supposedly have the same form factor). Said/shown to come in red, blue, and copper.

Those color options certainly sound exciting, but if the red variant shown here is anything to go by, it’ll act more as an accent color than anything else (though we’ve yet to see how the paint job affects the front of the phone).

Also, seeing as how this will be a “lite” version of the KEY2, expect lower-end specs across the board and a more affordable price. The current KEY2 is powered by the Snapdragon 660 and costs $549, so maybe the KEY2 Lite will have a Snapdragon 429 or 439 with a $400 price tag? Who knows.

What are you hoping to see in the BlackBerry KEY2 Lite?

Where to buy the BlackBerry KEY2

BlackBerry KEY2

• BlackBerry KEY2 review
• BlackBerry KEY2: Everything you need to know!
• BlackBerry KEY2 specs
• BlackBerry KEYone review: Coming home
• Join our BlackBerry KEY2 forums!

Buy the BlackBerry KEY2

Best Memory Cards for Amazon Fire Tablet

The Amazon Fire Tablet is a great investment, but it can run out of storage space pretty fast. That means it’s time for a microSD card. Here are some you should definitely check out.

Whether you have a Fire Tablet for yourself or your kids, you’ve probably noticed that the internal storage doesn’t go very far. You can easily fill it up with some games, a few apps, and media, which is a bit disappointing. Instead of trying to figure out what to delete, and how to better manage the storage, why not make things easier and add a microSD card so it can hold more?

There are tons of great microSD cards out there, and not all of them are expensive. Depending on your needs, you can get cards with as little as 8GB or as much as 400GB. Spend whatever you’re comfortable spending. Figure a 32GB card will be the bare minimum you’ll want, and frankly getting anything less is just a waste of a shipping fee. But if I were you, I’d get whatever’s on sale in the highest capacity you can afford. (Because this is the sort of thing you can use anywhere, not just in an Amazon tablet.)

Whether you are waiting for your brand new Amazon Fire tablet to arrive, or are using the previous generation, here are some great options you will want to consider.

• SanDisk 64GB microSD
• Samsung 32GB microSD
• Silicon Power 64GB microSD
• PNY Elite 128GB microSD
• SanDisk 200GB microSD
• SanDisk Ultra 400GB microSD

SanDisk 64GB microSD

SanDisk is a well-known brand when it comes to portable storage, and its cards are almost always highly recommended. The company offers a bunch of different cards in different storage capacities, and this one is specifically made for the Fire Tablets and Fire TV. For most of what you will do with your Fire Tablet, the microSDXC UHS-I will be fast enough to meet your needs. It may take a few seconds longer for the initial transfer of information to the card, but after that, you won’t notice much of a difference.

With 64GB of extra storage, you’ll easily be able to install a ton of new apps, save music and movies locally to access whenever you want, and much more. Priced at around $22, it’s hard to find a much better value than this microSD card.

See at Amazon.end

Samsung 32GB microSD

Samsung has been making storage products for quite some time and has been offering extremely affordable microSD cards as well. You won’t find the smaller sizes, like 8GB or 16GB from Samsung, but from 32GB all the way up to 256GB, you’ll find great deals. This high-performance card offers transfer speeds of up to 80MB/s, and they’re built to last. These cards are water-, temperature-, magnetic-, and even X-ray-proof.

All of these good things must mean that it is on the pricey side, right? Wrong. A 32GB card will only set you back around $14, which is less than many people pay to go see a movie.

See at Amazon.end

Silicon Power 64GB microSD

Silicon Power’s 64GB microSD offers speeds you’d expect out of a memory card for this price, with nothing crazy that makes it stand out. It can work in a variety of devices and comes with a lifetime warranty, so you shouldn’t have to worry much about it. Another great feature of the cards is the included SD adapter which allows you to put the microSD card in your computer, camera or anything else that takes a full-sized SD card.

Coming in at around $17, you can’t go wrong with adding one of these to prevent the inevitable running out of storage.

See at Amazon.end

PNY Elite 128GB microSD

If you are looking for more storage, PNY may make the card for you. The company makes a variety of different sizes at different price points, and the 128GB sits at a pretty sweet spot. It may be more than you need initially, but having extra space is never really a bad thing. With it you can load tons of movies, endless amounts of apps and pictures, and have to worry very little about filling it up.

Of course, the more storage you get the more it will cost. PNY is quite reasonable with pricing, having this card listed at around $45 right now.

See at Amazon.end

SanDisk Ultra 200GB microSD

200GB is the largest capacity that the Fire Tablet is meant to use, and you may just want to purchase a microSD of that size to put in and forget that it is there. Sure, 200GB is a lot of space to have, but do you want to have to worry about storage ever again? A few years ago it would have cost a fortune to put that much storage inside your tablet, but now it is totally affordable.

You can usually find a pretty good deal on this card, making it run anywhere from $55 to $60, which is a great price for how much it can hold. If you don’t want to worry about what you have on the tablet or deleting one thing to install another, you’ll want to get one of these right now!

See at Amazon.end

SanDisk Ultra 400GB

Sure, 200GB is cool. But you know what’s really cool? Twice that much storage. Nearly half a terabyte of storage. So much storage that your storage has storage. Because, yo dawg.

Seriously, this is a ridiculous amount of removable storage. It’s a Class 10 card, with transfer speeds up to 100MB a second. And that’s good, because there are a LOT of MBs on this thing. It’s also not inexpensive, at upwards of $185.

See at Amazon.end

Your favorite?

Do you have a favorite microSD card that isn’t listed here? If so, be sure to drop a link and brief description of why you like that one so others can check it out as well!

Updated, July 2018: Updated pricing. These are still the best microSD cards for your Fire tablet!

Corning announces Gorilla Glass 6 to be stronger than ever

Corning makes the touchscreen glass for most smartphones around the world. Will cracked screens be a thing of the past?

Corning just unveiled its next-generation Gorilla Glass, developed specifically to be more resistant to drops and scratches. Corning says Gorilla Glass 6 is two times better than it’s predecessor at surviving drops from 1 meter. It also performed better from higher distances than Gorilla Glass 5.

In a press event, the company announced the upgrade and explained the testing and performance process. Not only was the glass designed to better resist drops, but it was also put through the paces to resist scratches from rough surfaces.

Gorilla Glass 6 has higher compression, which makes it more resistant to cracks when dropped on stress points from 1-meter heights. It’s getting better scratch resistance, too.

Gorilla Glass 6 is an entirely new glass composition that can be chemically strengthened to give it significantly higher levels of compression than is possible with Gorilla Glass 5. This enables Gorilla Glass 6 to be more resistant to damage,” said Dr. Jaymin Amin, vice president of technology and product development, Corning Gorilla Glass and Corning Specialty Materials. “Moreover, with breaks during drops being a probabilistic event, the added compression helps increase, on average, the likelihood of survival through multiple drop events.

Corning’s Gorilla Glass is what’s used on just about every smartphone nowadays, and as such, we can fully expect this sixth-generation version of it to be present on all of next year’s flagships — including the Galaxy S10, LG G8, etc.

Who’s hyped for stronger glass?

Moto Z3 Play review: Buy it on sale

Here are the best surviving deals from Prime Day

Prime Day is over. Saving is not.

Update: We have updated this post with plenty of deals that are still live as of July 18.

Amazon’s Prime Day 2018 is over, and the Thrifter team has sorted through thousands of products to find a few hundred of the best deals during the event. As expected, some deals sold out within minutes, but others lasted much longer than anticipated. Instead of trying to sort through all of the deals that have been posted to see what is or isn’t still available, we decided to make things easy for you.

Luckily, some of our favorite deals are still going strong even after two days of coverage. From memory cards to streaming media players to Xbox controllers, these deals continue to thrive. Many of them aren’t from Amazon, but all of them are low prices worth considering.

On Amazon

• $20 off $60 Home Essentials Purchase
• Audible subscription – $4.95 a month for 3 months
• BlackBerry KEYone unlocked smartphone – $399.99 (from $500)
• Lego Batman Movie The Batmobile building kit – $38.97 (from $48)
• Logitech MX Sound stereo speakers – $69.99 (from $100)
• Philips Hue candle bulbs – $24.99 (from $30)
• Philips Hue 4-pack white bulbs – $41.99 (from $50)
• Roku Streaming Stick – $34.99 (from $48)
• Samsung HMD Odyssey Windows mixed reality headset – $399 (from $500)
• Skullcandy Hesh 2 Bluetooth headphones – $49.99 (from $73)
• TCL 32-inch Roku 720p Smart TV – $129.99 (Was $200)
• Tekton 15-piece combination wrench set – $29.15 (from $42)
• WD Elements 4TB desktop hard drive – $79.99 (from $95)
• Xbox One Lego Disney Pixar’s The Incredibles video game – $29.99 (from $60)

Everywhere Else

• TP-Link HS100 Wi-Fi two smart plugs – $26.99 at B&H (from $43)
• Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum gaming mouse – $49.99 at eBay (from $65)
• Apple iTunes $100 gift card – $85 at eBay
• Vizio 70-inch 4K Ultra HD TV – $1,099.99 with $300 gift card at Dell (from $1,200)
• Xbox One Minecraft wireless controller – $39.99 at Walmart (from $65)

Remember, just because Prime Day is over doesn’t mean deals are. Our team at Thrifter is still working even now to find the best possible savings for you. Follow us on Twitter or visit our site for new deals all day, every day.