Combo an Echo Dot with Sengled’s 2-bulb Starter Kit for just $60

Here’s a bundle you’ll want to purchase.

Amazon is currently discounting the Echo Dot + Sengled 2-bulb starter kit to just $59.99, a savings of $30. If you were to buy the two pieces on their own, the 2-bulbs with hub would cost you $39.99 and the Echo Dot is currently at $49.99. Amazon’s Echo Dot can be used for a variety of tasks, including controlling smart bulbs like the two that come with this kit.

These are white bulbs, but they are dimmable and offer various shades of white for you to change between. You can also grab the Echo Dot with a two-bulb Philips Hue color starter kit for $129.99, which is a savings of $70.

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PSA: Don’t update to Android Pie if you have a Samsung Gear wearable

Even after numerous developer previews, Pie still doesn’t support Gear accessories.

As of this past Monday, Android 9 Pie officially began rolling out to the Pixel/Pixel XL, Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL, and the Essential Phone. We’ve been having a blast with Google’s latest flavor of Android, but according to numerous reports from users, the new software isn’t so hot if you’re using a Samsung Gear product.

Take a quick visit to the r/Android subreddit, and you’ll find a heap of users reporting that Android Pie completely breaks any and all functionality with Samsung’s Gear devices (such as the Gear Sport, Gear S3, Gear Fit 2, etc.).

Gear devices that are paired to non-Samsung phones require users to install a few different Samsung apps, and despite the first P developer preview coming out in March, it would appear that Samsung still hasn’t updated its apps to support the new version of the OS.

One member on the XDA forums has come up with a temporary fix that allows Gear devices to keep working like usual on Pie, and while that’s fine in the interim, it’d be nice to see Samsung address this sooner rather than later.

Other Gear owners are reporting that their gadgets are working just fine while connected to Pie phones, however, so your mileage may vary.

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ILIFE’s A4s robot vacuum cleaner is just $187 at Amazon Canada today

Hands-free cleaning without breaking the bank.

Amazon Canada has ILIFE’s A4s Robot Vacuum on sale for $187.49 today only as its Deal of the Day. This vacuum normally sells for $250 so today’s discount makes for a considerable saving.

The A4s has a 3-step cleaning system with a strong suction and multiple sensors to avoid bumping into objects or falling off stairs. You can schedule it to run at times that are convenient for you, and with its 140 minute cleaning time, it outperforms most of the competition.

If you’re tired of cleaning your floors on your own, you’ll want to give one of these a shot. At this price, the convenience it brings will pay for itself in just a few uses so be sure to grab one before the deal expires.

For more Canadian deals coverage, be sure to keep an eye on Thrifter CA, sign up for the Canadian newsletter and follow the team on Twitter.

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Apple Faces Potential Legal Threat From Indian Regulator Over Noncompliance With Anti-Spam iPhone App

Just a few days after Bloomberg revealed Apple’s revamped India strategy, including changes that the company hopes will boost its lackluster smartphone market share in the country, a report by Reuters today has pointed out another hurdle for Apple’s India plan.

The new report concerns Apple’s work with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) over the development of an anti-spam iPhone app, which dates back nearly two years. Indian users constantly have to deal with spam phone calls, leading to the government’s decision to build its own smartphone app that would let users mark and report spam callers.

Reuters previously reported in March that work on the app was deadlocked as Apple continuously raised concerns over the privacy implications of allowing the app broad access to customers’ calls and text logs. Following months of Apple pointing out privacy loopholes in the app — which has been available on Android in India since 2016 — TRAI last month threatened Apple by stating that its smartphones could be “derecognized” from the country’s networks.

This means that while iPhones would still be available for purchase in India, users would not be able to connect to any supported cellular network and would lose many of the features that they likely purchased the iPhone for. TRAI’s derecognition threat was specified in a letter sent to Indian telecom firms over the summer, notifying the firms that TRAI would give them six months notice to derecognize devices from their networks if the phones in question do not support the anti-spam app.

With that ticking clock looming for Apple, the company recently asked for the clause about derecognition to be removed:

“We look forward to working with TRAI to address the issue of unsolicited commercial communications, while simultaneously ensuring that we fully honor our commitment to protect the privacy and security of our users,” Apple’s head of public policy in India, Kulin Sanghvi, wrote in the letter which was seen by Reuters.

In response to Apple’s own letter, TRAI chairman R.S. Sharma said that derecognition could not be “quashed or challenged” by writing a letter, and suggested the disagreement between the two could end up in court:

“The most appropriate way to challenge this is in court,” he said.

As of now, no legal action has yet been taken by either side. The drama over the anti-spam app is just one of numerous headaches for Apple in India, in the past few months including ever-increasing taxes on imported smartphones, rising iPhone prices because of such taxes, and user frustration with poor Apple services.

According to people familiar with the company’s plans, its new strategy in India includes better and longer-lasting retail deals with higher sales targets, the opening of official Apple retail stores in India, “overhauling” the company’s relationship with independent retailers, and improving apps and services “aimed more closely at Indians.” The company is said to focus specifically on Apple Maps in the services area with a “revamped” version of the app coming to Indian users by 2020.

Tag: India
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Apple Details Improvements to Siri’s Ability to Recognize Names of Local Businesses and Destinations

In a new entry in its Machine Learning Journal, Apple has detailed how it approached the challenge of improving Siri’s ability to recognize names of local points of interest, such as small businesses and restaurants.

In short, Apple says it has built customized language models that incorporate knowledge of the user’s geolocation, known as Geo-LMs, improving the accuracy of Siri’s automatic speech recognition system. These models enable Siri to better estimate the user’s intended sequence of words.

Apple says it built one Geo-LM for each of the 169 Combined Statistical Areas in the United States, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, which encompass 80 percent of the country’s population. Apple also built a single global Geo-LM to cover all areas not defined by CSAs around the world.

When a user queries Siri, the system is customized with a Geo-LM based on the user’s current location. If the user is outside of a CSA, or if Siri doesn’t have access to Location Services, the system defaults to the global Geo-LM.

Apple’s journal entry is highly technical, and quite exhaustive, but hopefully this means that Siri should be able to better understand the names of local points of interest, and also be able to better distinguish between a Tom’s Restaurant in Iowa and Kansas based on a user’s geolocation.

In its testing, Apple found that the customized language models reduced Siri’s error rate by between 41.9 and 48.4 percent in eight major U.S. metropolitan regions: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, and San Francisco, excluding mega-chains like Walmart.

Siri still trails Google Assistant in overall accuracy, according to a recent study by research firm Loup Ventures, but hopefully these improvements eliminate some of the frustration of querying Siri about obscurely named places.

Tags: Siri, machine learning
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HomeKit-Compatible ‘Eve Aqua Smart Water Controller’ Now Available to Buy Through Apple

Apple has begun selling the Eve Aqua Smart Water Controller on its United States website today, following a few weeks after the HomeKit accessory previously launched on Eve’s own website and on Amazon (via HomeKit News and Reviews). On Apple.com, you can buy the Eve Aqua for $99.95, and the free shipping option currently designates a delivery date on Monday, August 13.

The Eve Aqua is a small controller that you attach to an outdoor water outlet, letting you activate or shut off water flow via the Home iOS app, Siri voice commands, or automatic HomeKit scenes. Eve says this makes the accessory perfect for sprinklers and can prevent gardens from flooding thanks to an auto shut-off feature.

Elgato Systems announced the Eve Aqua this past May, and then in June Elgato revealed that it would shift its focus “entirely” to its line of Eve devices. Elgato is now “Eve Systems,” with plans to offer a “constantly expanding ecosystem” of accessories designed exclusively for Apple’s HomeKit platform.

Despite the name change, Apple.com still lists the water controller accessory as the “Elgato Eve Aqua.”

Following the restructured company, Eve Systems teased users with new product announcements set to come out of IFA Berlin, which begins on August 31 and runs through September 5. For current products, Eve sells many of its devices on Apple.com, including the Elgato Eve Degree Connected Weather Station, Light Switch, Wireless Motion Sensor, Room Sensor, Energy Smart Plug, Button, and more.

Tag: Eve
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Apple Pay’s New Promo Offers $20 When You Spend $100 or More in Nike’s iOS App

Apple Pay is offering a $20 promo code when you spend $100 or more within the iOS Nike app through August 16. This is the latest offer in Apple’s long-running Apple Pay promo series, now themed as a back-to-school sale for any students looking for new shoes for the school year.

To get the code, download the Nike iOS app [Direct Link], make a purchase worth $100 or more, and then pay with Apple Pay. The promo code for $20 will then be delivered to you within two weeks of your original purchase date, and must be redeemed within Nike by November 20, 2018.

Apple is encouraging students to gear up at a few other Apple Pay-compatible stores and apps, including Staples, Office Depot, JanSport, Walgreens, Jet, and J. Crew.

It’s been a few weeks since the last Apple Pay promo, which offered summertime savings in a range of apps like Fandango, Groupon, Houzz, and Seamless. Previous promotions have also seen Apple team up with StubHub, Adidas, Postmates, Instacart, and many more.

Tag: Apple Pay promo
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UK Deal: Keep an eye on your home with the £100 Arlo Q 1080p Security Cam

A great deal on peace of mind.

Netgear’s Arlo Q 1080p HD Security Camera is on sale for just £99.99 at Amazon UK for a limited time. This deal saves you over £40 off its average price and brings the camera down to within a few pence of the lowest it’s ever been before. It’s recently sold for as much as £170.

This camera allows you to live stream 1080p HD video from anywhere in the world using your smartphone, tablet, or computer, while its enhanced night vision ensures you can see clearly even in total darkness.

You can set it to record when motion or sound is detected and then access your recordings from anywhere using the Arlo app. The camera features a built-in microphone and speaker so you can talk back and forth with people using the app as well. Arlo allows you to keep seven days of footage and audio in the cloud for free. The coolest thing about this camera however is that it works with Alexa for voice control, allowing you to pair it with a device like the Echo Show and get a live stream of different rooms in your house.

There is also a discount on the Arlo Q Plus that adds power over ethernet and an SD card slot for recording footage. It’s down to £119.99 from its average price of around £175.

These deals expire at the end of the day, so act fast to make sure you don’t miss out.

For more UK deals coverage, be sure to keep an eye on Thrifter UK, sign up for the UK newsletter and follow the team on Twitter.

See at Amazon UK

Chicago Students Present App Projects at ‘Everyone Can Code’ Apple Store Session

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined Tim Cook in celebrating Apple’s “Everyone Can Code” initiative on Wednesday at the company’s Michigan Avenue store, where a special Today at Apple session got underway.

In a special session titled “One Summer Chicago Student App Showcase”, young coders presented their latest app creations to onlookers with the help of the store’s giant TV display.

Rahm and Cook both took to Twitter to promote the student-centered gig, sharing their photos of participants and members of the public in attendance.

#OneSummerChicago youth are demoing apps they built through @Apple’s Everyone Can Code program! This summer they learned to code in Swift. #CS4ALL pic.twitter.com/gR34USYl4u

— Mayor Rahm Emanuel (@ChicagosMayor) August 8, 2018

Young developers like Fahmeen, Afreen and Amelia are building apps to help their local communities. Thanks to @ChicagosMayor and @1summerchicago for helping us showcase some of the creativity and passion coming out of our Everyone Can Code initiative in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/GeFDmYTEY4

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) August 9, 2018

Since December, Apple has been working to bring coding opportunities to almost half a million students in the city of Chicago through an expansion of the company’s Everyone Can Code program.

The Swift-oriented initiative has been designed in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago, local businesses and non-profit organizations.

The coding initiative has since been expanded to colleges and universities outside of the United States, taking in institutions from Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Tags: Swift, Chicago, Everyone Can Code
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Your Uber Eats delivery fee is going up (or maybe down)

Uber Eats will now cost you more if you order from a restaurant that’s a long way from the delivery address.

The change, which does away with the flat-rate delivery fee of $5, came into effect on Wednesday, Cnet reported.

It means that if you order from a restaurant that’s far away, it’s likely the delivery fee will be in the region of $6 to $8. But if it happens to be close by, you could pay as little as $2 for your food to be delivered.

Uber promises that everyone who lives in a city where Uber Eats operates will have at least some restaurants where deliveries will come in at under $5. A slider in the app lets users choose how much they want to pay for delivery, so, for example, setting it at the $4 mark will exclude all eateries that charge above that fee.

Ben Dreier, Uber Eats’ product manager, told Cnet he’d been talking to eaters to learn about how they use the service.

“What became obvious was that we needed to change something about our core fee feature,” Dreier said, suggesting that the standard $5 fee was a barrier for some people when it came to considering Uber Eats as a delivery option. Lower delivery fees for nearby restaurants should therefore lead to increased use of the service — important if Uber Eats is to reach Dreier’s goal of making food delivery “an everyday thing” for people.

Uber Eats operates in nearly 300 cities across 35 countries, and has partnerships with more than 100,000 restaurants, including everything from fast-food chains to fancy eateries.

The service launched in 2015, partly as a way to give Uber drivers earning opportunities during periods in the day when there aren’t so many riders about. Drivers who participate are more likely to stay in busier downtown areas, ideal for when business picks up later in the day when more people start requesting rides. But Uber Eats also operates in markets where Uber’s ridesharing service is yet to gain a foothold, such as Japan.

The Uber Eats app, available for both iDevices and Android, lets you browse local restaurants for inspiration. Alternatively, if you have an idea of what you’re after, you can search directly for a specific restaurant, dish, or cuisine.

Once you’ve made your choice, you’ll be given an estimated delivery time and shown the total cost, which includes tax and the delivery fee. Then it’s just a case of tapping to pay with your Uber account and waiting for your meal to arrive.

Uber Eats isn’t the only meal-delivery service out there — check out Digital Trends’ list of some of the best alternatives.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best food-delivery apps that bring deliciousness to you
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