Microsoft Edge beta for Android rolls out breaking news alerts and more

Edge for Android is keeping pace with its iOS counterpart, adding breaking news alerts, annotations for books, and more.

Just a day after rolling out to the Microsoft Edge beta for iOS, Microsoft is shipping a few new features to beta testers on Android as well. The highlights of this release include breaking news alerts, the ability to check out annotations you’ve made in books, and more.

If you’re using Edge as your Android browser of choice, you’ll now get push alerts when important news events happen. Microsoft already offers this with its own news app, so this is just another way for you to keep up with breaking current events. On top of that, this update will make it easy to check out what’s new with Edge and tips from a new option in the settings menu. And, of course, there are plenty of performance improvements tagging along here as well.

Here’s a look at all of what’s new:

• Know when important news happens with breaking news alerts
• Quickly get to the What’s new and tips web page from the Settings and more menu
• See annotations you made in books (note: doesn’t apply to PDF free-form inking)
• Improved performance

This update comes after Edge received a fairly substantial update in June, bringing with it intelligent visual search, new default search engines, and a few extra goodies for those signed in with a work or school account.

While today’s update is only available if you’re opted into the Edge beta, the features should land relatively soon for the release version given Microsoft’s relatively rapid pace of development on Edge for mobile devices.

See at Google Play

Samsung announces a pair of Harman co-branded premium soundbars

Coming next month with some large price tags.

Last year, Samsung acquired Harman Internation Industries, the company behind the popular Harman Kardon audio division. Since then, we’ve been waiting to see what the two could do together, and now we have the first product that comes with co-branding on it. Samsung has announced two new soundbars, the HW-N850 and HW-N950, both of which will become available to purchase later this month. Both options will have Dolby Atmos and DTS:X to bring along the best sound quality, and they will have up and side-firing speakers.

As you’d expect from the numbering scheme, the N950 is the more premium option of the two. The key differences here are that it will have four speakers and two wireless surround speakers, while the N850 will have a main speaker and subwoofer. Both will launch on September 1 in the Netherlands and wider availability will follow after that, though specifics were not mentioned. The N850 will have a retail price of €1,000 ($1,130), while the N950 will be available for €1,500 ($1,700).

There’s no denying that these prices are on the higher end, but considering everything that is packed inside, it may be worth giving a shot. Some Harman Kardon soundbars sell for around $800 already for just the bar and a small subwoofer. Both new kits will offer substantially better audio quality and an overall better experience.

This $100 Philips Hue starter kit has two color smart bulbs and a hub

Bask in the glow of this discounted Philips Hue kit.

This Philips Hue two color bulbs starter kit is only $99.99 on Amazon. This is a new kit that released at a $150 price in early July. Last month, it dropped this low for a short time before rising back to $150. Considering individual bulbs cost about $50 right now and this kit comes with the bridge that is essential to the Philips Hue setup, that’s a good price.

The starter kit comes with two Philips Hue white and color A19 60W equivalent LED smart bulbs, the Philips Hue hub, and a three-year warranty. The A19 bulbs can choose from more than 16 million colors and shades. Once you connect the bulbs to the hub, you can connect the hub to your smart home ecosystem and control it all with just your voice. The hub can support up to 50 bulbs as well, so you can keep adding onto the system. You’ll be able to use the free app to control your lights as well. These kits have 4.1 stars based on over 460 reviews.

See at Amazon

Is the Galaxy Note 9 too big for most people?

You can learn to live happily with a giant phone, but it’s still not for everyone.

Few phones fill out a spec sheet quite like a Note. Samsung’s wildly popular Galaxy Note lineup has always been about packing in all the latest and most powerful specs, and the Galaxy Note 9 is no exception. It comes packing a Snapdragon 845, 6 or 8GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of storage — not to mention water resistance, wireless charging, a headphone jack, and the ever-important S Pen.

Those big specs demand a big phone, though. The Note 9 features a gorgeous, massive 6.4-inch display — the biggest to ever grace a Samsung phone. Even with Samsung’s minuscule bezels, that’s a lot of phone to handle, especially if you like to use your phone in one hand. So is the Note 9 … too big?

That sort of depends on how you use your phone. The Galaxy Note line has never been about one-handed usability in the first place, and to use one comfortably, you need to throw that idea out the window. This is a two-handed phone through and through, and using it as one makes it significantly easier to handle — a PopSocket can help a lot with this.

You’ll also have to either start wearing pants with extra deep pockets or just get used to part of it sticking out at all times. The Galaxy Note 9 is a whopping 162mm tall, after all.

That all sounds inconvenient to someone like me, who carries a Galaxy S9 specifically because of how often I use gesture typing or scroll through Twitter and Slack with one hand. But for some, the Note 9’s benefits can outweigh the inconvenience of having such an imposing stature.

A huge screen is one of the biggest reasons to buy a Galaxy Note, but sometimes it’s more hassle than it’s worth.

Having a 6.4-inch display gives you a huge, open canvas for the Note 9’s halo feature, the S Pen. Whether you’re drawing in Screen Off Memos or signing a document, it’s nice to have ample screen space to work with. That huge screen is also great for watching videos — so much so that YouTube has named the Galaxy Note 9 a “Signature Device,” which basically just means that it’s one of the best ways to view YouTube content.

No matter how many benefits the Note 9 brings, though, it still won’t be a good fit for everyone. Some people’s hands are just too small to work with such a massive phone, and even people with bigger hands may still prefer easy one-handed usability.

If you’re not sure how you’d handle the Galaxy Note 9 and don’t want to wait until pre-orders are over to find out, just try out a Galaxy Note 8; they’re more or less the same size (the Note 8 is a hair taller while the Note 9 is just a bit wider), though the Note 9 has an easier-to-reach fingerprint sensor.

How do you feel about the size of the Note 9 and the Galaxy Note lineup as a whole? Have you been a longtime user that’s unfazed by huge phones, or are you tired of the ever-expanding selection these days? Let us know in the comments below!

See at Samsung

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• Samsung Galaxy Note 9 hands-on preview
• Galaxy Note 9 vs. Note 8
• Where to buy the Galaxy Note 9
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• Is the Note 8 still a good buy?
• Join our Galaxy Note 9 forums

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The Walking Dead’s final season starts off with a bang despite rough pacing

Clementine’s final journey may be her most perilous yet.

AC
Score
4

After following her journey since the beginning, Telltale is closing the chapter on Clementine’s story with their final season of The Walking Dead. While we’re only a few pages in with Episode One – Done Running, it looks to set up an emotional farewell in her coming of age story. Clementine isn’t all grown up by normal standards, but in The Walking Dead’s world she needs to be.

The Good

• Season One role reversal
• Unexpected twist
• Solid performance
• Guardian Clem

The Bad

• Pacing
• Doesn’t find footing until the end

See at PlayStation Store

Familiar waters

Since his birth in Season Two, AJ has been an integral part of The Walking Dead’s identity, even without being a playable character. The history that Clem and AJ share isn’t glossed over in its final season. When The Walking Dead isn’t all about survival of the fittest, it’s about the intimate character moments and their development.

At one point during Done Running, Clem has a chance to relax and play a game of cards with the new group of kids she ran into. It’s during this game that Clem is asked if she’s ever had to kill someone she’s loved, and while Lee may be the first person that pops into most people’s minds, she also had to make a difficult decision regarding Kenny at the end of Season Two that stemmed from AJ. It’s clear that the choices she’s been forced to make in the past are still affecting her to this day, and have shaped her into who she is. Remembering its past has always been what The Walking Dead has done well, and I’m glad to say that the tradition continues.

Remembering its past has always been what The Walking Dead has done well.

Its final season also sees a role reversal of sorts, adding a new angle to the retreaded ‘parent/child’ storyline fraught in post-apocalyptic media. Lee served as Clem’s parental figure in the first season, helping her adjust and navigate to a world she was entirely unprepared for. Now it’s Clem’s time to be that parental figure for AJ. It’s clear that Clem is much more equipped to deal with the situation than Lee ever was as it’s been years since the dead started walking. She’s been hardened by her environment.

This plays a role in how she interacts with AJ. He’s only known the world after its devastation, which becomes even more apparent during a scene where he is confused as to what firemen and policemen were. Though he’s ignorant of pre-apocalyptic life, Clem doesn’t hold this ignorance against him, and in fact even trusts him with a gun. It’s this duality of his innocence and the responsibility thrust upon him in this universe that makes for compelling interactions between him and other characters.

Clem simultaneously needs to treat AJ as a child that needs protecting while also realizing that he needs to grow up fast. She allows him to feel useful and help whenever possible, but she won’t put him in direct danger. Even after just one episode, I’m interested to see how their relationship developers.

Uncharted territory

The new group of kids that Clem and AJ come across are survivors who have made a home out of Ericson’s Boarding School for Troubled Youth. (X-Men reference, anyone?) The children all appear to be a group of misfits just struggling to get by, making a new life for themselves without adults, who abandoned them when everything went to hell. Interacting with other teenagers is a breath of fresh air from usual. They’re all relatively the same age, meaning they have a lot more in common. Though a boy named Marlon appears to be the de-facto leader, everyone has their own importance within it. They’re not shoved aside just because they’re kids.

I look forward to witnessing the character dynamics and relationships develop as the season goes on. A few characters that grated on my nerves initially ended up becoming my saving grace by the end of the episode. If Telltale keeps it up, they may have even created some of my favorite characters in the series to date.

New threats

Since the beginning, The Walking Dead has pushed the idea that walkers aren’t always your biggest threat. It’s the people around you that you need to be just as careful of. We don’t get a feel for the real threat until the very end up the episode, and since we don’t get a good look at them, they’re hard to judge. This does make most of the episode’s direction seem bit aimless for a time as you can’t see the larger picture, but the possibilities of what’s at play will give you chills.

The Telltale Tool

Telltale’s engine, the Telltale Tool, is on its last legs. Over the years the performance of the studio’s games has gotten rougher and rougher. This season of The Walking Dead is expected to be the last of its game’s to run on the Telltale Tool before they switch over to a Unity engine. Despite the old engine’s age, however, Done Running may have been the best Telltale episode I’ve played in a long time in terms of performance. I didn’t encounter the usual lag during quick time events, nor did the game freeze or cut dialogue. All in all, it made a good first impression for the rest of the season.

Conclusion

The Walking Dead: The Final Season is off to a satisfying start. The pacing for a majority feels uneven and it doesn’t find it’s footing until the end, but what an ending it is. While the final scene is shocking, it’s the twist set up minutes beforehand that tees up the conflict going forward, and I can’t wait to see how it ends.

This is also my open letter to Telltale asking them not to hurt Rosie the dog.

4
out of 5

See at PlayStation Store

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• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• PlayStation VR Review
• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

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Pre-order the new da Vinci color mini 3D printer and save up to $600

3D Printing has never been so easy!

XYZPrinting has a new 3D printer called the da Vinci Color mini available on Indiegogo for $999. We have seen several 3D printers from XYZPrinting in the past, but this one is something altogether new. Where most 3D printers require multiple colored filaments or by-hand painting to create 3D objects in different colors, the da Vinci Color Mini will actually use three ink cartridges, similar to what you’d find in a regular printer, to stain the filament as it prints.

Originally developed last year, the da Vinci Color was called the “world’s first full color 3D printer” by XYZPrinting. The mini version is designed for consumers like you and me. It’s compact enough to fit in a small office or right on your desktop, and it can build objects up to 5.1 x 5.1 x 5.1 inches in size. It can work in a classroom, a business, or anywhere else you want to use it. Print gifts, create sculptures, or learn something new altogether.

The best part is the price. When the da Vinci Color mini fully releases it will retail for $1,599, which is already a huge chunk off the original 3D printer’s value of $3,500. Right now if you pre-order through Indiegogo you can get it for $999, but that price is only available to the first 100 pre-orders. After that, you can still get it for $1,199. Not quite as magnanimous but still an amazingly low price for full color 3D printer. The estimated shipping date for your new 3D printer is November 15, which is right around the corner.

If that pre-order bonus still doesn’t quite put this 3D printer in your price range, but you are curious, Amazon has plenty of 3D printers at even lower prices.

See at Indiegogo

This $13 TrackR Pixel can help prevent you from misplacing your gadgets

What once was lost is now found!

Update: You can save even further by opting to pick up the eight-pack of this product which is currently on sale for $70. That brings the price of each down to just $8.75 apiece.

Right now you can pick up the TrackR Pixel for just $12.55 at Amazon, which is the lowest that it has ever sold for. Normally, this Bluetooth tracker sells for between $20 and $25, and has never dropped below $14 in the past. The device itself is on the smaller side, which means that you can easily attach it to just about anything that you find yourself misplacing.

It uses Bluetooth to find items at close ranges, and the free iOS and Android app can be used to ring your device and flash the light to help you find it even faster. There is a battery inside the TrackR, and the app will let you know when it’s running low. You’ll be able to order a replacement for free, directly from the app, meaning you don’t have to replace the whole unit like you do with a Tile tracker. You can see where you last had your device on a map, and if you have the device but lost your phone you can simply press the button on it to ping your phone.

These are extremely useful, and at this price, you may want to pick up a few of them!

See at Amazon

Android Messages gets new Material Theme UI and dark mode with 3.5 update

DARK. MODE. IS. HERE.

Android Messages is one of the best texting apps on the Play Store, and with the new v3.5 update that’s rolling out now, it’s about to get even better.

Similar to Tasks, News, and Contacts, v3.5 refreshes Android Messages UI to match Google’s new Material Theme aesthetic. This means that a lot of Android Messages’ colorful accent colors have been replaced by even more white and the in-app text now uses the Google Sans font.

The new Android Messages v3.5

Hold on, hold on. Before you grab your pitchforks and start charging at Google full of rage, there is an upside to this for those that don’t like all that white.

The old Android Messages

With Android Messages v3.5, there’s now a native dark mode.

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

To enable the dark mode, just tap the three dots at the top right of the app and select “Enable dark mode.” To disable it, tap those three dots again but choose “Disable dark mode.”

Android Messages v3.5 is rolling out to the Play Store now!

Download: Android Messages (free)

Verizon Subscribers With Unlimited Plan Can Now Sign Up for Six Free Months of Apple Music

Verizon and Apple last week announced a partnership that provides six free months of Apple Music service to new and existing customers with a Verizon Unlimited plan, and as of today, Verizon customers can sign up for their free Apple Music subscriptions.

Verizon subscribers who have an unlimited plan can visit the Apple Music section on the Verizon website to begin the sign up process. Logging in with a Verizon subscriber account is required, and from there, customers will receive a text message with a link that needs to be opened on a mobile device.

For iPhone and Android users that already have the app installed, it will open it up with subscription options. If the app isn’t already installed, the App Store or Google Play store will open with instructions to download the app.

Apple Music is available to all Verizon Unlimited subscribers, including Verizon Plan Unlimited, Go Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited, and Above Unlimited. Customers who have one of Verizon’s original Unlimited plans (from earlier this year) can also sign up, and there have been some reports from Reddit users that other Verizon subscribers have been presented with the offer.

Verizon customers who already subscribe to Apple Music can activate the free trial offer, but will be prompted to cancel their existing Apple Music subscriptions through Apple to avoid double billing.

Apple Music subscribers who recently renewed will want to wait for a few weeks to activate their Verizon trials to make sure to get the full six months of free service. Annual subscribers may be able to cancel via Apple and get a prorated refund.

Each individual Verizon line is able to sign up for a free Apple Music trial, but it does not work with the family plan. Customers with an existing Apple Music family plan will need to cancel it, with each person in the family signing up for the free Verizon trial separately. The same goes for current student plans — cancel with Apple and resubscribe through Verizon to get the free six months.

It appears the Apple Music subscriptions will be billed through Verizon following the conclusion of the six month trial rather than through iTunes like a standard Apple Music subscription.

Customers who sign up for the six month free trial and who do not want to pay for a subscription afterwards can cancel at any time, including right after signing up. Access to Apple Music remains available for the full six month period after cancelling through Verizon.

Subscriptions redeemed today will expire in February 2019.

Tags: Verizon, Apple Music
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