What’s new on Amazon Prime Video for August 2018

Bring on Jack Ryan, a Gringo, and more!

Finally, August is upon us. (Same time every year, but whatever. It’s been a long one.) And we’re particularly interested in this particular August for Amazon Prime Video for the following reason: Jack Ryan.

OK, we have to wail until the end of the month (because of course we do) to finally get our first taste of John Krasinski in the latest incarnation of the classic Tom Clancy character. And we have got to believe it’ll be worth the wait.

What else is coming up in August? A whole lot of excellent Amazon originals. Check it out.

• Agatha Christie S1: The Prime Original 3-episode limited series is based on the novel of the same name and follows the Argyll family after a man claims that the black sheep of the family, Jack Argyll, didn’t murder its tyrannical matriarch. The family must come to terms with Jack’s innocence and the fact that one of them may be the real murderer. Agatha Christie will be available in HDR and UHD on compatible HDR devices. (Aug. 10)
• All or Nothing: Manchester City S1: The Prime Original series follows the team’s legendary coach, Pep Guardiola and the stories that unfold within the players’ lives. It chronicles Manchester City’s 2017/18 season from the world-leading training facilities, to interviews with the manager and executive meetings. All or Nothing: Manchester City will be available in HDR and UHD on compatible HDR devices.
• The Stinky & Dirty Show, S2B: The Prime Original series is based on books by Jim and Kate McMullan with original music from Dan Bern and featuring celebrity voices like Mark Hamill (Spacey), Jane Lynch, Andy Richter, Joan Cusack and Wallace Shawn. In season 2b, test friends Stinky and Dirty are back lending a helping wheel to their vehicle friends in Go City. They go on new adventures like building a rollercoaster and meet new friends like Spacey, the super spaceship. (Aug. 14)
• Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan S1: The Prime Original series starring John Krasinski is a modern reinvention of the famed and lauded Tom Clancy hero. It centers on Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst who is thrust into his first dangerous field assignment and uncovers a terrorist communication pattern in which he’s faced with a new breed of global threatening terrorism. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan will be available in HDR and UHD on compatible HDR devices. (Aug. 31)
• Gringo: The Prime Original movie starring David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, and Joel Edgerton is a dark comedy mixed with white-knuckle action and dramatic intrigue. It explores the battle of survival for businessman Harold Soyinka when he finds himself crossing the line from law-abiding citizen to wanted criminal. Gringo will be available in HDR and UHD on compatible HDR devices. (Aug. 17)

Amazon Prime Video has is one of the go-to destinations for on-demand content, thanks in no small part to devices like the new Amazon Fire TV Cube, the $50 Amazon Fire Stick, the $70 Amazon Fire TV, and even the $229 Amazon Echo Show.

What’s new on Amazon Prime Video on August 1

New movies, August 1

• A Cinderella Story (2004)
• American Gigolo (1980)
• American Ninja (1985)
• American Ninja III: Blood Hunt (1989)
• Be Cool (2005)
• Black Mask (1996)
• Black Rain (1989)
• Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)
• Boomerang (1992)
• Cold War (2012)
• CSNY/Déjà Vu (2008)
• Curse of the Starving Class (1994)
• Double Whammy (2002)
• Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
• Fled (1996)
• Flight of the Intruder (1991)
• Freedom Writers (2007)
• Frequency (2000)
• G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
• Get Shorty (1995)
• Heartbreakers (2001)
• High Noon (1952)
• Hoosiers (1986)
• Hurt Locker (2008)
• I Went Down (1997)
• In & Out (1997)
• Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
• Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (2010)
• Joe (2014)
• John Grisham’s The Rainmaker (1997)
• King Corn (2016)
• Kingpin (1996)
• #MeToo: Now What?, Season 1
• Nick of Time (1995)
• No Way Out (1987)
• Original Sin (2001)
• Out of Time (2003)
• Private Parts (1997)
• Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (2013)
• Species (1995)
• Species II (1998)
• Species III (2004)
• Stir of Echoes (1999)
• Stir of Echoes 2: The Homecoming (2007)
• Teen Wolf (1985)
• Teen Wolf Too (1987)
• The Blair Witch Project (1999)
• The Elephant Man (1980)
• The Ninth Gate (2000)
• The Prince and Me (2004)
• The Soloist (2009)
• The Time Machine (2002)
• The Usual Suspects (1995)
• True Colors (1991)
• Tunnel Rats (1968)
• Vegas Vacation (1997)

• Watchmen (2009)

  Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 2

• America Divided: 201 (2018)

  Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 6

• Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002)

  Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 7

• Having Our Baby (2017)

• It Takes Guts (2016)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 8

• All I See Is You (2016)

• Blood Ties (2014)

  Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 9

• America Divided: 202 (2018)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 10

• Agatha Christie, Season 1 (Prime Original series)
• Bleed for This (2016)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 14

• Avoiding Apocalypse, Season 1
• I Am Not Lorena (2014)
• The Stinky & Dirty Show, Season 2B (Prime Original series)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 16

• America Divided: 203 (2018)

Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 17

• All or Nothing: Manchester City (Season 1)

• Gringo (2018) (Prime Original movie)

  Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 21

• Ambassadors of the Sky (2016)

• Two of a Kind (2014)

  Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 23

• America Divided: 204 (2018)

  Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 25

• Disobedience (2017)

• The Escape of Prisoner 614 (2018)

• Woman Walk Ahead (2017)

  Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 26

• Mother! (2017)

  Coming to Amazon Prime Video on August 31

• Billy the Exterminator, Season 1

• Hangar 1: The UFO Files, Season 1
• Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Season 1 (Prime Original series)

• True Tori, Seasons 1-2

  Available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video

• Deadpool 2: August 7 (Purchase) August 21 (Rent)

Available for Streaming on Prime Video Channels

• August 4: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, HBO; UFC 227 (PPV) – Dillashaw vs. Garbrandt 2, UFC
• August 11: Murder on the Orient Express, HBO
• August 12: Ballers, HBO, Season 4; Insecure, HBO, Season 3
• August 17: AVP Gold Series – Manhattan, Prime Video (8/17-19)
• August 18: Darkest Hour, HBO
• August 20: Frankie Drake Mysteries, PBS Masterpiece, Season 1
• August 25: Father Figures, HBO
• August 31: AVP Gold Series – Chicago, Prime Video (8/31-9/2)

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Google Chrome is now available in VR with Daydream

You can use it on the Daydream View and Lenovo Mirage Solo.

Google’s Daydream virtual reality platform has a lot going for it, and starting today, it’s getting a big upgrade with support for an official Chrome web browser.

All of the features you know and love from Chrome on your computer and phone are available with its Daydream port, including voice search, any bookmarks you’ve saved, and an Incognito Mode for private browsing.

In addition to those exisitng features, Google’s also added a new Cinema Mode that “optimizes web video for the best viewing experience in VR.”

Also, since Daydream is baked right into Android, you can start a video or article on your phone, hop into your Daydream headset, and pick up right where you left off.

Assuming you’ve got the latest version of Chrome downloaded from the Play Store, you can start using it in VR starting today on the Daydream View and Lenovo Mirage Solo.

Lenovo Mirage Solo vs. Oculus Go: Which should you buy?

Spigen Pixel 2 Slim Armor Wallet Case review: A good alternative to traditional wallet cases

I hope you like thick phones.

Wallet cases have been around for years as a way to abandon your standalone wallet and merge it into your phone. It’s a novel idea and one that appeals to a lot of people, but most wallet cases are often too awkward to use in day-to-day use thanks to their fold-out designs that get in the way more often than not.

Thankfully, Spigen’s got an accessory that it thinks can be a better alternative to these traditional options.

The Spigen Slim Armor Wallet Case for the Pixel 2 tries combining the best bits of a rugged and wallet case into one product, and while it’s a great idea, it may not be for everyone. Let’s take a closer look.

Spigen Pixel 2 Slim Armor Wallet Case

Price: $17.99

Bottom line: If you don’t like traditional wallet cases, Spigen’s option might be worth a look (so long as you don’t mind a lot of extra bulk).

The Good

• Offers great protection
• Discrete holding area for your cards
• Buttons still feel good to press

The Bad

• Adds a lot of bulk
• Can only hold two cards
• Sliding door feels flimsy
• Scratches far too easily

See at Amazon

Good use of space

Spigen Pixel 2 Slim Armor Wallet Case What I like

Even if the execution of the finer details may not be the best (more on that later), I love what Spigen’s going for with this case.

At first glance, it looks like any regular rugged case. The first section of the dual-layer design is made up of a shock-absorbent TPU material that your Pixel 2 is encased in. This layer hugs the Pixel 2 like a glove and allows for Spigen’s excellent Air Cushion Technology to protect against nasty drops.

This form factor is my favorite solution for wallet cases.

Along with that, there’s another hard plastic layer over this that offers even more protection and houses the wallet portion of the case.

From a durability standpoint, Spigen did a great job with this one. All of the phone is enclosed in maximum protection, there’s a lip that comes over the display to guard against scratches, and the rugged cutouts for the power and volume buttons feel fantastic.

When it comes time to pull out your card, simply slide the back portion of the case down and you’ve got easy access to all your plastic. There’s a rubber bottom to keep your cards safe while being stowed away and pulling them out of the case is much easier than I was anticipating.

Hope you don’t carry a lot of plastic

Spigen Pixel 2 Slim Armor Wallet Case What I don’t like

The idea of combining a wallet section into the form factor of a regular case is a great concept, but here, not everything works out as well as I would have liked.

For starters, the actual wallet portion could use some work. You can only really fit two cards in the case at a time, and for most people, I’m assuming you’ve got more than two cards you like to carry with you at all times. I was able to cram three cards in the case at once, but at this point, the sliding door tends to get hung up and become more difficult to use.

Speaking of that door, I don’t have a lot of hope for how well it’ll hold up over a few months of solid use. It opens and closes without any issues, but it feels extremely flimsy and like it could pop off at any given moment. On a related note, I noticed numerous scratches all over the hard plastic after lying it on a table to grab photos for this review. For a case that’s nearly $20, I’d expect greater cosmetic durability.

Lastly, this is probably one of the thickest cases I’ve ever used. I understand there’s no real way to get around that considering the two-in-one design, but it makes the Pixel 2 comically thick. It’s still manageable to use in one or two hands, but it certainly won’t win any awards for its looks and comes with an awkwardly large opening for the fingerprint sensor.

Spigen Pixel 2 Slim Armor Wallet Case

The idea of replacing my wallet with a phone case is one I’ve considered a number of times, but having a case that I need to flip open to use my phone doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest.

Spigen squashes that issue with its Slim Armor Wallet Case, and in my opinion, this form factor is better than what we’ve been used to with flip-open designs for so many years.

A lot was done right with this case between the excellent protection and discrete holding area for your cards, but it’s unfortunately let down by a bulky design and wallet section that needs some more time on the drawing board.

3
out of 5

With that said, if you’ve been looking for a Pixel 2 wallet case and haven’t been impressed with what you’ve found so far, Spigen’s case is still worth your consideration.

See at Amazon

Don’t miss the first discount on Anker’s newest completely wireless headphones

They’re called Liberty because they’re free from wires.

If you use the coupon code SDCLBT66 during checkout, you can pick up Anker’s Soundcore Liberty Lite completely wireless Bluetooth headphones for just $64.99. These normally sell for $80 and have never had a direct price drop since they were released back in mid-July. Anker’s Liberty+ headphones are on sale for $119.99 and those offer up to 48 hours of playback time total before you need to recharge.

They offer 3.5 hours of playback per charge, and the compact carrying case actually can provide an additional 9 hours of usage time. You can use one headphone at a time, or both, and the push and go technology makes it simple to set them up and use them. There is an IPX5 rating to ensure they don’t get ruined while you work out or if you get caught in a summer rainstorm.

Anker backs these with an 18-month warranty.

See on Amazon

Apple Pay Predicted to Account for Half of Mobile Wallet Users by 2020

Juniper Research today published new data outlining predictions for mobile payments processing over the next five years, placing Apple Pay at the forefront in the market ahead of rivals like Samsung and Google. The study looked at Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay, and other “OEM Pay” (official equipment manufacturer) wallets.

In total, OEM Pay users will reach 450 million globally by 2020, and the researchers predict that Apple Pay will account for 1 in 2 of these OEM Pay users at that time. This growth will cause OEM Pay wallets to reach $300 billion in transactions by 2020, representing 15 percent of total contactless in-store transactions within two years.

While Juniper Research included newcomers to the mobile payments market like Fitbit Pay and Huawei Pay, they admit that these will likely not grow much and mobile wallets will continue to see leaders in Apple, Samsung, and Google.

Research author Nitin Bhas explained: “We believe that growth over the next 5 years will continue to be dominated by offerings from the major OEM players. Additionally, we now have the likes of Huawei Pay and Fitbit Pay launching in several markets; this is now included in Juniper’s contactless forecasts”.

Although mobile wallets will continue to grow, the research shared today also looked at the overall market of contactless payments, which will still see dominance from contactless card payments made using physical credit and debit cards. In-store contactless payments will reach $2 trillion by 2020, making up 15 percent of the total point of sale transactions and driven by “strong adoption” in Europe and countries in the Asia Pacific region.

Sooner than 2020, contactless payments are already set to exceed the $1 trillion mark for the first time in 2018, one year earlier than Juniper Research previously predicted. These NFC-enabled credit cards began growing in popularity in recent years, arriving at a time when major credit card companies are aiming to simplify the checkout process for customers using both physical and digital cards.

In another Apple Pay-related research note shared earlier this year, Loup Ventures estimated that Apple Pay was being used on 16 percent of active iPhones worldwide. Looking to the future, Loup Ventures also predicted that Apple’s mobile wallet will “gain widespread adoption” over the next three to five years, despite a slow few years of growth that began when Apple Pay launched in 2014.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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Apple’s Rumored MacBook Air Successor Said to Use Intel’s Kaby Lake Refresh Processors

Apple is widely expected to launch a new lower-priced notebook later this year, likely with a 13-inch Retina display and a starting price below $1,000. It’s unclear if it will be branded as a MacBook, MacBook Air, or otherwise, but it’ll be a new lower-cost, lower-spec option below the MacBook Pro.

According to a translated report from Taiwanese publication Economic Daily News, the notebook will be powered by Intel’s eighth-generation Kaby Lake Refresh processors, released in the second half of 2017.

The translated report suggests that Apple’s decision to use the Kaby Lake Refresh processors, manufactured based on a 14nm process, is due to repeated delays with Intel’s transition to Cannon Lake chips, based on a 10nm process. The latest word is that Cannon Lake won’t be ready until the end of 2019.

The Kaby Lake Refresh lineup includes quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 processors with base clock speeds between 1.6GHz and 1.9GHz, and max Turbo Boost speeds between 3.4GHz and 4.2GHz. The 15W chips feature integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620, with support for up to 32GB of DDR4 or LPDDR3 RAM.

This means Apple’s lower-priced notebook would be significantly faster than the latest MacBook Air models, which is unsurprising, given they use Intel’s fifth-generation, dual-core Core i5 and Core i7 processors released in 2015. It’d also be much faster than the 12-inch MacBook, which uses ultra-low-power chips.

Kaby Lake Refresh chips are already nearly one year old, and Intel will be releasing faster Whiskey Lake processors suitable for Apple’s notebook in the second half of 2018, but they might not be ready in time, as manufacturing needs to begin over the summer for the notebook to launch in the fall.

It appears Apple will have a jam-packed September event, with a trio of new iPhones, Apple Watch Series 4 models, new AirPods, and AirPower, so the Mac and iPad Pro could see some attention at an October event.

It’s not entirely clear how Apple will shake up its notebook lineup below the MacBook Pro. The new notebook could be the first MacBook Air with a Retina display, or replace the MacBook Air entirely, or slot into the MacBook family, with price adjustments across the line, but it all remains to be seen.

Apple’s plans for the notebook have been detailed by reliable Apple sources Ming-Chi Kuo and Mark Gurman in recent months.

Beyond the mid-range notebook, an October event could see refreshes to the 12-inch MacBook lineup with Intel’s upcoming low-power Amber Lake chips, a refreshed Mac mini with Kaby Lake Refresh chips, and new standard iMac models with faster processors and a significant display-related upgrade.

Related Roundup: MacBook AirTag: Kaby LakeBuyer’s Guide: MacBook Air (Don’t Buy)
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Swift Certification Program Launches to Allow Schools to Validate Student Coding Skills

Apple has been working with schools and colleges around the world to provide Swift curriculum to students under its “Everyone Can Code” initiative, learning Apple’s App Development with Swift curriculum.

To allow colleges and employers to confirm those skills, Certiport, a company that develops exam certifications, has worked with Apple to create an “App Development with Swift” academic certification program.

The new global certification system is available for secondary schools and higher education, and it has been built on Apple’s Everyone Can Code program, with a specific focus on the year-long App Development with Swift course developed by engineers.

The App Development with Swift course is designed to allow students who have zero programming experience to build their own apps, and with the new certification program, instructors have a third-party validation tool and a “measurable outcome” for Swift programming classes.

“Earning an App Development with Swift certification will give students the confidence they need to further their programming education or move on to a career in programming,” said Ray Murray, Vice President, Business Development, Pearson VUE. “Earning a certification endorsed by Apple shows that they have a solid grasp on the language and can apply it – today – to create innovative iOS applications. We expect this new certification to gain widespread adoption due to the popularity of the Swift programming language.”

Students will be tested on their foundational skills with Swift, Xcode, Simulator, Interface Builder, Playgrounds, and other app development tools, and students who pass will earn a digital badge that can be added to a resume or portfolio.

Certiport plans to launch the App Development with Swift Certification exam in the fall of 2018 to allow the first students to obtain Swift certification.

Tag: Swift
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Dropbox Increases Storage Space for Professional and Business Standard Customers

Dropbox today announced that it is increasing the amount of storage space available to many of its paid subscribers for no additional charge.

Starting today, Dropbox Professional accounts get 2TB of storage space, while Business Standard teams have access to 3TB of shared storage space.

According to Dropbox, its new storage limits give customers more freedom to free up phone and hard drive space, share large files, and work with Dropbox’s Smart Syncing features.

All new Professional and Business Standard accounts include the upgraded storage today, while storage for existing accounts will be upgraded in the coming weeks.

Dropbox is not increasing storage space available for free tiers or its Plus accounts. Free storage space remains limited to 2GB, while Plus subscribers will continue to have 1TB of storage space.

Dropbox Professional is priced at $19.99 per month or $16.58 when paying yearly. Dropbox Business is priced at $15 per month per user with a minimum of three users, but pricing drops to $12.50 per user when billed yearly.

Tag: Dropbox
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Apple Seeds Fifth Beta of macOS 10.14 Mojave to Developers

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming macOS Mojave update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after releasing the fourth beta and more than a month after introducing the software at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

macOS Mojave introduces a new method of installing software updates, so after you’ve installed the first beta using the appropriate profile from the Developer Center, additional betas can be downloaded clicking on the Apple in the menu bar, choosing “About This Mac” and clicking “Software Update.” Alternatively, open System Preferences and choose the “Software Update” icon.

Apple’s macOS Mojave update introduces a systemwide Dark Mode, with Mojave users able to choose between a light theme or the new dark theme, which changes the color of the dock, menu bar, apps, and other elements. Dark Mode is accompanied by Dynamic Desktops, aka wallpapers that subtly change throughout the day. Additional wallpapers were introduced in the fourth beta.

Stacks, a new desktop organization system, keeps all of your desktop files neat and organized, while Finder has been enhanced with a Gallery View, a Sidebar, a revamped Quick Look option and Quick Actions, so you can do more in the Finder window than ever before.

Screenshots can now be edited using Markup tools and a new management options that also allow for easy screen recording, while Continuity camera, a new feature, allows you to import photos and document scans directly from an iPhone or iPad to the Mac.

The Apple News, Stocks, Home, and Voice Memos apps have been ported from iOS to macOS as part of a multiyear project Apple is working on to make it easier to bring iOS apps to Macs, and Apple has introduced several new privacy protections to keep your data safer than ever.

Apple is also making it harder for websites to track you with a range of new Safari tools, and it’s also easier to make and store secure, hard-to-guess passwords for each and every website.

Apple has added an entirely revamped Mac App Store to macOS Mojave that makes it easier to discover apps with a featured section and specific categories for games, creative apps, productivity apps, apps for developers, and more.

macOS Mojave is available to developers and public beta testers to work out bugs and other issues ahead of an upcoming fall public release.

Related Roundup: macOS Mojave
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Fifth Beta of tvOS 12 Now Available for Registered Developers

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of a new tvOS 12 operating system to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after releasing the fourth beta and more than a month after introducing the new software at the 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV, the tvOS 12 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV using a profile that’s installed through the Xcode software. Subsequent betas can be downloaded via the software update mechanism on the Apple TV.

tvOS 12 introduces support for Dolby Atmos sound, which was activated in the second beta. Apple says that iTunes will be home to the largest collection of Dolby Atmos-supported movies anywhere this fall. Customers that have previously purchased movies that gain Dolby Atmos support will see free upgrades to their titles, much like the rollout of 4K support.

Building on single sign-on, a new zero sign-on feature will further simplify the cable authentication process. With zero sign-on, the Apple TV can detect a user’s broadband network and automatically sign them into supported apps they receive through their accompanying cable subscription.

Zero sign-on will be available for Charter Communications customers this fall and will expand to additional cable providers in the future.

Aerial screensavers now include location information and there are new screensavers captured in collaboration with the International Space Station.

Other improvements tvOS-related improvements include AutoFill passwords from iPhone, an Apple TV Remote automatically added to Control Center on the iPhone or iPad, and Apple TV support on Home control systems like Control4, Crestron, and Savant.

tvOS 12 is available for developers and public beta testers to work out bugs and other issues ahead of a fall public launch.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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