Sprint and LG team up on a 5G smartphone set for release in first half of 2019

Sprint and LG are teaming up to bring customers what would be the first 5G smartphone in the U.S. in the first half of 2019.

The 5G smartphone is claimed to be capable of providing Sprint customers with a faster and more reliable experience. The press release specifically points out that the shift from 4G to 5G will be apparent — users will have the ability to download full-length HD movies in only seconds or play Internet-connected, graphics-intensive video games without any disruptions.

In an interview with PCMag, John Tudhope, Sprint’s director of product marketing, said the device isn’t a prototype or an idea. In fact, the 5G smartphone has already moved into the testing phase.

“We have a final hardware design that we’re pretty excited about … It is 100 percent a truly integrated smartphone that we think will be the first of its kind. It is a really elegant, high-end premium-look-and-feel phone … not much thicker than a normal high-end premium smartphone, and will have the appropriate battery to account for the power needs,” Tudhope told PCMag.

Tudhope also mentioned to PCMag that “it will be a lot less clunky than Motorola’s 5G mod approach.” Motorola launched its 5G mod in conjunction with its latest flagship, the Moto Z3, in the beginning of August.

Available in early 2019 exclusively through Verizon, users will be able to snap the 5G Moto Mod onto the Moto Z3 ,which will be capable of delivering up to 5Gbps download speeds. If there’s no 5G service in the area, users will receive 2Gbps speeds on 4G LTE.

As for Sprint’s 5G smartphone with LG, PCMag notes that since the device has already been built, it most likely won’t have Qualcomm’s upcoming 4G/5G Snapdragon 855 chipset, which is expected to be announced in December. It’s also rumored to be included in Samsung’s Galaxy S10.

The report goes on to suggest that the LG phone might feature a Snapdragon 845, along with an add-on Qualcomm X50 5G modem — the same modem built into the Motorola’s 5G Moto Mod.

The carrier didn’t provide additional information in terms of the smartphone’s design or specifications, but says more details, including an exact release date, will be announced later on.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Moto Z3 review
• Qualcomm releases new antennas that will make 5G phones a reality in 2019
• Everything you need to know about the Motorola Moto Z3
• AT&T names three more cities that will receive 5G networks this year
• Moto Z3 vs Samsung Galaxy S9: Which flagship is more worthy?

For work or for play, these are the 5 best laptop deals for college students

Shopping for a new computer can be fun, but it can also be a headache given the plethora of options available today. The addition of touchscreen and 2-in-1 laptops doesn’t make it any easier to find the right laptop for you. It’s easy to get choice paralysis when shopping for a PC, even if you already have a fixed budget in mind, but we can make your life a little bit easier.

Whether you’re getting ready for a new school year, shopping for a student, or just need a new computer for work or play, we’ve got your back. Below are five of the best back-to-school laptop deals available online right now. Our picks offer something for just about everyone, from those who like the convenience of a touchscreen, to gamers and dedicated Apple fans. Best of all, each of these laptop deals offer deep discounts that can save you hundreds.

Dell Inspiron 15 5000 laptop – $441

For anyone looking for a workhorse Windows 10 laptop, the Dell Inspiron 15 series is a great place to start. The 5000 model sports an 8th-gen Intel Core i3-8130U CPU, plus 4GB of RAM that is boosted by 16GB of Intel Optane memory for snappier performance when multitasking. The 15.6-inch LED display has a crisp 1080p Full HD resolution, while the Intel UHD Graphics 620 integrated GPU provides enough power for light gaming. The large 1TB hard drive also offers plenty of room for all of your files and software.

The Inspiron 15 5000 is already pretty budget-friendly at its retail price of $630, but Dell’s ongoing back-to-school sales event slashes $189 off its price, bringing this laptop down to $441 for a limited time. If you came looking for the cheapest laptop deal on our roundup, this is the one.

$441 | Dell

HP Envy x360 13z 2-in-1 touch laptop – $600

PC makers are increasingly offering hybrid designs that combine the functionality of a laptop and portable convenience of a tablet. HP has been at the forefront of this trend with its excellent Envy series. The Envy x360 13z is the smaller member of this family with a 13.3-inch Full HD touch display. The lid’s hinge rotates so you can turn the display around and fold it flat, effectively turning the laptop into a tablet when you don’t need the keyboard and touchpad.

Under the hood, the Envy x360 13z runs on an AMD Ryzen 3 CPU and Radeon Vega 3 integrated GPU, along with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, which are solid specs for a laptop of this size. Through Saturday, August 18, the HP Envy x360 13z touchscreen laptop can be yours for just $600 after a $160 discount. When you buy an HP laptop, you can also score the compact and Wi-Fi-enabled HP DeskJet 3755 printer for just $20 ($50 off).

$600 | HP

Dell Inspiron 15 7567 gaming laptop – $739

While it used to be the case that gaming laptops lagged far behind desktop PCs in the hardware department, recent years have seen this gap shrink considerably with models, thanks to models like the Dell Inspiron 15 7567, which offers impressive specs for the price. An Intel Core i5-7300HQ processor, Nvidia GTX 1050 TI GPU, and 8GB of RAM easily tackle modern games, while the 256GB SSD offers plenty of storage and snappier performance than standard hard drives.

You’d normally expect to pay $2oo to $300 more for a gaming laptop with similar hardware to a desktop PC – a comparable desktop running an Nvidia GTX 1050 TI would set you back around $600 without any peripherals. Considering that laptops already have displays and keyboards, the Dell Inspiron 15 7567 is a great deal at $739 ($340 off) and is a solid laptop deal for anyone looking for a machine that can handle both work and play.

$739 | Amazon

Apple MacBook Air – $770

Apple deals can be fleeting, so events like back-to-school sales are the perfect opportunity to find Mac hardware at a discount. Although laptops keep getting slimmer and lighter and Apple is no longer the only game in town, the MacBook Air is still a great choice if you’re looking for a lightweight computer and aren’t a big fan of Windows. The MacBook Air MJVM2LL/A offers plenty of performance despite its size, with a 1.6 GHz Intel i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of speedy flash storage.

The 11.6-inch display boasts an HD resolution of 1,366 x 768 and the internal battery offers up to 9 hours of juice – plenty for a full day’s work – before needing to be topped off. A $129 discount knocks the MacBook Air down to $770 on Amazon for a limited time, making this the best Apple laptop deal in our roundup.

$770 | Amazon

Apple MacBook Pro plus free Beats headphones – $1,250

If the MacBook Air didn’t whet your appetite, then we’ve got another one for you: As part of its back-to-school promotion, Apple is offering big discounts on its line of MacBooks and iMacs, including the MacBook Pro. The entry-level Pro features a 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor with Intel Turbo Boost and 8GB of DDR3 RAM, which combine to provide snappy performance for work, entertainment, and multitasking. Apple touches like a 128GB SSD, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a backlit keyboard complete the package.

A $250 sitewide discount brings the 13-inch MacBook Pro down to as low as $1,250, but Apple is sweetening the deal by throwing in a free pair of Beats headphones for students. You can choose from the Beats Solo3 wireless on-ear headphones, Powerbeats3 in-ear headphones, or BeatsX earbuds, with the Solo3 being the best value (and our recommendation) given their $300 price tag

$1,250 | Apple

Looking for more great stuff? Find laptop deals and more on our curated deals page, and be sure to follow us on Twitter for regular updates.

We strive to help our readers find the best deals on quality products and services, and choose what we cover carefully and independently. If you find a better price for a product listed here, or want to suggest one of your own, email us at dealsteam@digitaltrends.com.Digital Trends may earn commission on products purchased through our links, which supports the work we do for our readers.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Save hundreds with the best MacBook deals for August 2018
• Memorial Day discounts have begun and here are our favorite laptop picks
• Here are the best laptop deals for Amazon Prime Day 2018
• 18 portable tech gadgets you’ll want to use every day
• Smartphone out of juice? Get this Anker power bank for half its normal price

The browser-based Monero miner Coinhive generates around $250,000 each month

A report stemming from the RWTH Aachen University in Germany reveals that despite a dramatic fall of interest in cryptocurrency mining, the Coinhive JavaScript-based miner is still highly active, generating around $250,000 worth of digital Monero coins each month, depending on the current value. Coinhive also contributes 1.18 percent of the total mining power behind the Monero blockchain.

Coinhive’s seemingly evil nature stems from those who use the code. It’s meant to be integrated into websites to tap into the unused portions of your processor and mine digital Monero coins in the background. Released in 2017, Coinhive’s code targets websites that want to make money without running annoying advertisements. The tradeoff is that your PC slows down while it generates digital coins in exchange for ad-free viewing.

But hackers are taking advantage of Coinhive’s potential by breaking into websites, secretly installing the code, and configuring Coinhive to send the resulting Monero to their digital wallets. They are also inserting Coinhive into web browser extensions that appear legitimate on the surface.

“If we sum up the block rewards of the actually mined blocks over the observation period of four weeks, we find that Coinhive earned 1,271 XMR,” the report states. “Similar to other cryptocurrencies, Monero’s exchange-rate fluctuates heavily, at time of writing one XMR is worth $200, having peaked at $400 at the beginning of the year.”

At the time of this publication, the worth of a single Monero digital coin (XMR) dropped to $82. That’s still no chump change at $104,222 for four weeks worth of mining. The Coinhive developers get a chunk of that stash, too, earning 30 percent from each mined XMR.

Where is all of this Monero going? The report claims most of the mined funds are piped to 10 individuals. They’re using a short link service provided by Coinhive that requires web surfers to mine Monero in order to reach their destination. Most of these are resolved in minutes while others require an “unfeasible” number of hashes — in the millions — to compute.

“This link redirection monetization is comparable to short link services delaying the redirection while serving advertisements and paying the link creator a commission,” the report explains. “With Coinhive, the creator of the short link receives a share of the block reward that is mined by the users visiting the short links.”

To broadly detect web-based mining across the internet, the researchers ignored the public No Coin filter and developed a new technique based on WebAssembly. Scans showed Coinhive as the largest web-based mining provider to date with a 75 percent usage across mining websites. Other miners detected by this technique include AuthedMine, WP Monero Miner, and CryptoLoot.

No Coin is actually a browser extension with a blacklist that blocks sites with cryptocurrency mining code. The argument is that even though using these miners is great for removing ads, visitors don’t have means to opt out of the mining process. It’s separate from your typical ad-blocking solution because it addresses a different browsing problem. This extension is available for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.

Editors’ Recommendations

• New malware will crash your PC if you try to thwart its digital coin mining
• Bitcoin’s profitability called into question as energy consumption rises
• Apple just banned apps from cryptocurrency mining on iOS devices
• Valve bans Steam game that was installing cryptocurrency mining malware
• Think your GPU rig is fast? This Asus motherboard can handle 20 at once

The Galaxy S9+ is the best phone out right now — period

The Samsung Galaxy S9+ builds on years of Samsung’s excellence. It starts with a gorgeously sculpted metal and glass body that’s waterproof, with features like dual speakers, a headphone jack and an SD card slot. Inside are the latest and greatest specs, plus a standout pair of cameras on the back and the best display on the market around front.

Our pick

Samsung Galaxy S9+

• $820 from Amazon
• $840 from Samsung

The best Android phone for most people.

Choosing the Galaxy S9+ doesn’t require much thought — it can do everything, and looks great doing it, with few real downsides. It’s beautiful, has the best screen, isn’t missing any hardware features and has one of the best camera experiences available in a smartphone today.

Who should buy this phone

Samsung designs its phones to be appealing to the widest possible audience, and that makes the Galaxy S9+ a great device for just about anyone. It has a big and beautiful display that’s quite simply the best in the industry, but with very small bezels and curved edges, it fits into a relatively compact size.

Internally, it has all of the latest specs to handle any app or task you need. It also has a pair of cameras on the back that are in the mix as the best available today. Samsung has also kept around crowd-pleasing features like wireless charging, waterproofing, an SD card slot and a headphone jack. Really, the Galaxy S9+ does a great job at being all things to all people.

Best of all, if you don’t care for the larger size of the Galaxy S9+ for whatever reason, you can simply buy the smaller and less expensive Galaxy S9 instead and get the same core experience with only a few changes.

Is it a good time to buy this phone?

Yes. The Samsung Galaxy S9+ launched the first week of March 2018, meaning it is still the latest and great phone that Samsung makes. The Galaxy Note 9 is expected to launch around October 2018, which will likely be only a marginal improvement over the Galaxy S9+, and the Galaxy S9+’s successor will not be unveiled until March 2019.

Reasons to buy

• Sleek and beautiful hardware
• Top-notch specs
• Waterproofing, wireless charging and more
• Best-in-class display
• Up to 256GB of storage available
• Fantastic dual cameras
• Dual speakers and a headphone jack
• Available everywhere

Reasons not to buy

• Lots of unnecessary apps installed
• Slow update speed

There are so many great Android phones available, but one stands out just a little extra

The Galaxy S9+ is all about giving you the most features, both hardware and software, in a beautiful package. You get a great display, top-end specs across the board, plus all of the hardware features you expect: waterproofing, wireless charging, an SD card slot, a headphone jack and more. It’s all wrapped up in a glossy and shiny metal-and-glass exterior that’s efficient and great looking.

The camera is all-new this generation, with a sensor that does fantastic processing to remove noise and sharpen fine detail even in poor lighting. It’s aided by a dual-aperture lens to get the best combination of light and detail in different shots, and is paired with a secondary telephoto lens for zoom and portrait mode shooting. Whether you shoot in auto or mess around in manual mode, you can get great shots in just about any scene.

You don’t get the clean and simple software experience of phones like the Google Pixel 2 XL or OnePlus 6, which may take some extra customization and tweaking on your part, but the Galaxy S9+ is far less polarizing overall because it just has so many features to appeal to everyone. When you take it all together, it’s a complete package.

Alternatives to the Samsung Galaxy S9+

No phone is perfect for everyone’s needs, and if you find the Galaxy S9+’s software to be overwhelming or grating, you’ll want to look at the Google Pixel 2 XL instead. Google’s take on Android is clean, fast and a pleasure to use every day — as you’d expect, it also perfectly integrates with Google’s apps and services.

Runner-up

Google Pixel 2 XL

$850 at Verizon

Stellar performance with the best camera you’ll find.

The cleanest, smoothest and most Google-friendly phone available. It has sleek hardware and a killer camera, with years of guaranteed software updates and unlimited Google Photos storage.

The Pixel 2 XL doesn’t have a fantastic screen or headphone jack like the Galaxy S9+ does, but that’s one of the trade-offs you make in order to get this fantastic software experience. The camera on Google’s flagship is just as good, though, and some would say that the overall experience, aided by that great software, is more consistent and approachable. You also get three years of guaranteed software updates, which provides excellent peace of mind.

Budget pick

OnePlus 6

$529 from OnePlus

Great value for an amazing feature-rich device.

The OnePlus 6 is pretty much everything you expect in a high-end phone, but for $200-300 less. You don’t give up much with this $529 phone, and in many ways, you get a better software experience.

These top-end phones are expensive, but that doesn’t mean you’re stuck paying top-dollar for your next upgrade. The OnePlus 6 provides nearly the same experience as these other devices at a substantial discount — just $529. You get all of the latest specs inside, and it’s wrapped up in a beautiful metal-and-glass frame not unlike the Galaxy S9+.

There are a few shortcomings, like an average display, basic speaker, and subpar vibration motor, but the software experience is more akin to the Pixel 2 XL than the Galaxy S9+ — and that’s a good thing. OnePlus has dramatically improved its camera offering to where the OnePlus 6 is just a stone’s throw away from the top-of-the-line phones, which just adds to the great value this phone offers.

Amazing camera

Huawei P20 Pro

A high-end device that checks all the right boxes.

The Huawei P20 Pro is all about the cameras — a 40MP main sensor is assisted by an 8MP telephoto camera and a 20MP monochrome camera to give you so many shooting options and out-of-this-world results. It’s a photographer’s dream.

$800 from Amazon

You may think that the “Leica” branding is a bit of a joke at first, but don’t let that turn you away — the Huawei P20 Pro has an amazing set of cameras that can produce the best photos of any smartphone today. The combination of a 40MP main sensor, an 8MP telephoto camera and a 20MP monochrome sensor give you unending shooting options, and the software pulling it all together knows all of the tricks to create stellar photos.

The rest of the phone experience isn’t subpar, either — Huawei’s built a beautiful phone here with powerful specs. It’s just let down as ever by the Huawei software that heavily tweaks and modifies Android — to a fault. Some can look past that to get those wonderful cameras, though, and will even go so far as to import an international version to the U.S.

Bottom line

If you’re a bit more discerning about the software experience, you’ll want to look at the Google Pixel 2 XL. You’ll have to buy from Verizon or unlocked, but that Google software is worth it. For less money, the OnePlus 6 gives you a near-flagship experience and also has great clean software. The most versatile camera imaginable can be found in the Huawei P20 Pro, and the rest of the phone isn’t exactly bad — you’ll just have to put up with some software quirks to take advantage of that great imaging.

But the best Android phone for most potential buyers is the Samsung Galaxy S9+, as it provides the best experience and most features for the widest number of people — it’s also available everywhere, from any carrier or retailer you could imagine.

Update August 2018: The Galaxy S9+ takes over the top spot because of its great overall capabilities and wide-ranging availability. The Pixel 2 XL remains for those who want a simpler software experience and are willing to buy unlocked. The OnePlus 6 is the best pick for anyone who’s on a budget, and the Huawei P20 Pro remains the choice for photography-focused buyers.

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Daniel Bader is the Managing Editor of Android Central. As he’s writing this, a mountain of old Android phones is about to fall on his head, but his Great Dane will protect him. He drinks way too much coffee and sleeps too little. He wonders if there’s a correlation.

Andrew Martonik is the Executive Editor, U.S. at Android Central. He has been a mobile enthusiast since the Windows Mobile days, and covering all things Android-related with a unique perspective at AC since 2012. For suggestions and updates, you can reach him at andrew.martonik@androidcentral.com or on Twitter at @andrewmartonik.

Jerry Hildenbrand is Mobile Nation’s Senior Editor and works from a Chromebook full time. Currently he is using Google’s Pixelbook but is always looking at new products and may have any Chromebook in his hands at any time. You’ll find him across the Mobile Nations network and you can hit him up on Twitter if you want to say hey.

Every PlayStation VR game with HOTAS support

If you’re going to fly in VR, you might as well go all in and pick up a HOTAS.

In the same way racing wheels with pedals make driving games in VR feel a lot more realistic, flight games in VR are improved dramatically when you add a Hands On Throttle And Stick (HOTAS) controller. These controllers allow you to really punch the throttle forward or quickly flip your ship around when fighting in space. You could do these things with a normal controller but, if a game supports HOTAS, the difference in how that it feels in VR is drastically different.

You can get a HOTAS controller for the PlayStation 4 for fairly cheap, but not every game supports this hardware. Here’s a quick list of the PlayStation VR games offering HOTAS support now, planning to offer support later, or launching later this year with support planned out of the box.

Not sure which HOTAS you want for PlayStation VR? We’ve got you covered!

• Ultrawings
• End Space
• Eve: Valkyrie
• StarBlood Arena
• Space Rift
• Ace Combat 7

Games you can play right now

There are a couple of PlayStation VR games you can buy right now, plug in your HOTAS controller, and everything will just work.

Ultrawings

Ultrawings is an adorable obstacle in a cartoon world. Take on quests from flying challenges to shooting challenges and see if you can win all of the gold metals! You can find this game on the PlayStation for $24.99 and it’s worth every penny.

See on PlayStation Store.

End Space

The United Trade Consortium has entrusted you with some of their best equiptment to fight an ongoing war. Are you prepared to test your skills? You can find this title on the PlayStation Store for $19.99. While HOTAS support is available there has been reports that it’s not quite perfect yet.

See at PlayStation Store.

Eve: Valkyrie

The first epic space combat game for PlayStation VR has a lot of experience with HOTAS controllers, and adding one to this game makes space combat feel incredible. The best news? You can get it on Amazon for less than $20.

See at Amazon.

StarBlood Arena

More combat focused than space flight focused, this game is all about arena combat and lightning reflexes. A HOTAS controller could be the difference between victory and defeat in online multiplayer. Find this title on Amazon for $14.99!

See at Amazon.

Space Rift

This game already exists for PlayStation VR and HOTAS support was promised shortly after it’s release. Finally, you can play Space Rift with your favorite HOTAS controller! Find it on the PlayStation Store for $19.99

See at PlayStation Store.

Ace Combat 7

This franchise has a long history of quality flight experiences in both classic and modern combat planes. Ace Combat 7 is on Amazon for $59.99. The price might seem steep, but the game is truly worth it!

See at Amazon.

Games promising HOTAS support later

Stay tuned for when we hear about more games promising HOTAS support later!

Thoughts?

Which HOTAS experience do you most like in your PlayStation VR? Sound off in the comments or send me a Tweet @OriginalSluggo

Update August 2018: We’ve added Ultrawings, End Space, Eve: Valkyrie, and Starblood arena as the new games with HOTAS support. Space Rift and Ace Combat have now upgraded to support HOTAS as well!

PlayStation 4

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

Amazon

How to stop your Android phone from sharing your location with Google

All the settings you need to know when Google doesn’t need to know.

If you carry a cell phone — even a simple flip phone without any sort of real display — someone somewhere is tracking your location. Even if there is no SIM card inside, the phone is in constant contact with cellular towers as long as it’s turned on and one or more are in range. When you add some smarts to the mix and use something like an Android phone, things get a little more complicated.

We can’t help you hide your movements from carriers or cell towers because that’s a little past the grey line between privacy and the law. But we can help you keep Google from knowing where you’ve been and when you were there — all you need to know is that the name of some settings might not mean what you think they mean.

Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.

Location History

My timeline over seven years.

The wording here has a lot of people confused. Don’t feel bad if you’re one of them because it’s natural to think this means a place where the location of your phone is being kept and updated, and that turning it off should make it all stop. But that’s not what this is, it’s actually the name of a feature tied to your Google account.

Google has a nifty feature it calls a location timeline. You can check it out on your Android phone under the device location settings. What it does is show you a list of where your phone has been and when, and this can be turned into a really cool map that shows your movements over time. A lot of people want this sort of thing; it’s convenient for keeping track of mileage and distance, and this data is part of what Google uses to make Maps more personalized for you.

You can turn this on and off at will (note that turning it off doesn’t erase the data that’s already there) and your location won’t be saved into this history. But this is not a general location setting for any other app or purpose — it’s simply there to manage your location timeline. Turning it off doesn’t affect things like other apps knowing where you are, or localized search results, or anything else that may be requesting location data. You can see what apps want to use your location under the application permissions setting if you’re curious.

Web and App Activity

This is where you can see what apps see when they want your location. Whenever any app on any device you are using while logged into your Google account is used, the data it collects and stores to your Google account is logged here. According to Google, this data is used to provide a better experience in Google’s services.

Saves your activity on Google sites and apps to give you faster searches, better recommendations, and more personalized experiences in Maps, Search, and other Google services.

Some of that data may be your location. It’s important to know that you grant or revoke permission to access your location for each and every app individually, and this has nothing to do with the Location History setting on your account.

Taking control of all this

Knowing what’s going on here is only half the battle and knowing how to stop it all is equally important. Here’s what you need to know.

You can turn some or all of these settings off through the settings on your phone, but since they are account based you need to do it through the web. You can still use your phone to do it, just fire up your web browser and head to the Activity Controls page for your Google account.

The settings you need to know about are right at the top, labeled Web & App Activity and Location History and all you need to do to shut them down is toggle the blue switch. It’s interesting to see what’s been collected by opening the MANAGE ACTIVITY link for each. That’s where you can clear the saved history of each category, but you don’t need to do that to turn one or both off — just flick the switch.

But you do need to know what happens when you turn them off. Turning off Location History doesn’t seem to affect much outside of Google Maps and apps or products like the Local Guides program that are tied to it. Of course, we have no idea what or how Google uses the data stored there so it could halt your favorite thing. You’ll need to experiment here.

Turning off Web & App Activity does have a much larger impact. The first thing you’ll notice (it even warns you) is that Google Assistant instantly becomes mostly useless. That’s because it relies on knowing all about you to help you.

Other apps that depend on having some history about you stored will also work differently. You’ll no longer get narrow and specific search results tailored to you. You’ll notice shopping apps no longer notify you when you’re at a local store. Basically, any app or service that was keeping tabs on how and when you do the things you do will become less functional, or possibly even stop working altogether.

Account based is not device based

One last thing to know that’s also really important is that these settings are across all devices tied to your Google account. That means changing things on your phone’s web browser also changes things on your tablet or Chromebook or PC. But only for your account.

If you have multiple accounts on any device, the other account isn’t affected. You’ll need to make the same changes on all accounts to stop all activity from being logged. The same applies if you share a device, like a Chromebook, with someone else. What happens on their account is still logged and tied to that device.

We’re not suggesting that you hide everything you do from Google and try to stay incognito for all things. We just want you to know how you can keep location turned on so things like navigation apps work but keep the all-seeing Google eye from knowing about it.

Best ways to customize and decorate your Oculus Go

Art can make anything beautiful, including your VR headsets!

Most of us love the sleek look of a plain gray headset, but some of us like a little more spark or a little more silliness. From custom art to safe stickers, I’m gonna show you how to make your Oculus Go one of a kind.

By the time you’re done checking out all your options, your creative energy will be bursting at the seams to put it to good use and get rid of all of that gray! So without further ado, here’s how to give your Oculus Go that one-of-a-kind look you’ve been dying for.

Not interested in giving it a paint job? There are other options!

Give your Oculus Go a custom paint job

Of all the options that were available for customizing my headset, I personally decided to just go ahead and paint a design of my choosing on it. By no means am I a super artistic person, but I like to think I can get the job done if I need to.

If you’re worried about not having a steady hand or you’ve never drawn more than a couple of stick figures, don’t worry. You can always print out a stencil to make the whole process go that much smoother.

Usually, when people give custom art to their tech (like with controllers or Game Boy) they’ll use spray paint. That is not an option in this case. It’s only safe to use in those circumstances because you can actually it apart and put it back together. You can’t take the frame of the Oculus Go off, so using spray paint only risks getting paint into all the tiny holes and crevices.

Alchohol based ink paint

When I say, “Give your Oculus Go a custom paint job,” what I really mean is, “Give your Oculus Go a custom ink job.” You want to use the same ink paint that is used to paint model cars or miniatures for DND.

If you’re still apprehensive I can personally attest that I use my Oculus Go almost 2-3 hours at a time, even after the paint, and have experienced no issues. You can find it on Amazon for $14.20.

See on Amazon.

What you’ll need

You’ll probably find most of what you need in your house already. This includes things like a pencil, a paper plate, a plastic cup, rubbing alcohol, some paper towels and a good source of light.

The rest of what you’ll need are some fine point paint brushes, solvent-based enamel paint, and blue painters tape. If you don’t have painters tape (and don’t want to order any) I used masking tape and got away with it just fine.

Fine point brushes

You’re going to be painting on a much smaller surface than what you normally have on a canvas. For better detailing on the small pieces, you’ll want to make sure you have a few fine-point brushes laying around. You can get a set of 15 off Amazon for $10.97.

See on Amazon.

Cover all of the important bits

First things first, get out your tape and cut it into small sections. You’ll want the pieces of tape to be large enough to go over all the buttons, holes and then some. If what you want to paint will require you getting close to the buttons make sure you’re very careful.

I purposely picked a design that wouldn’t go anywhere near the buttons on my headset to avoid the risk of the paint causing things to stick together or get clunky. If you trust your steady hand a lot more than I trust mine then go for it! Just be very cautious of the crevices you’ll find along the rim of the face and on the bottom of your headset.

Rough drafts and the first base

The best part about the surface of your Oculus Go is the ability to draw on it with a pencil. If you don’t like how something turned out, or change your mind all-together, you can erase the entire thing with nothing more than a slightly damp paper towel.

With my project, I chose to do only a mild outline. Freehanding the Cookie Cats in the background was the best-worst decision I’ve ever made. Don’t be like me, draw out your outline. It’ll save you so much time.

Don’t worry about the clunkyness. As you can see from the second image I’ve provided in this section, the base of my art was very lumpy, uneven and even some of my colors mixed while I was painting. Don’t let it get to you. You’ll need to do a second coat of your paint anyway. If you do make a serious mistake all you have to do is wrap the pointy end of your paintbrush with a paper towel, dip it into some paint thinner (if the paint has dried) and wipe it off. There are no mistakes here, only happy accidents.

Finishing the job

Once you’re done with your base you should be able to go right into your second base. This paint dies wicked fast, making the whole process go pretty quick. Adding your second base will smooth out the paint and allow the colors to become more vibrant. Then all you have to go is go through and finish detailing!

When all is said and done, and you’re happy with your work, get your enamel finish out. I got the spray can version of this, but I did not use the spray directly on my headset. Instead, I sprayed it into a cup and painted it on with my brush. Topcoat for nail polish might seem like a good idea, but don’t do that. You need something that’s safe for temperatures, and outdoor enamel paint is usually perfect for this job. All you have to do is cover the paint, not the entire headset.

Want to change the image up every few months? Skip out on sealing it with enamel. This way you can wipe off your art with paint thinner and do something else with it at a later date. Yes, this means the art will go through the usual wear and tear. But, if you like a constant change you can just use it as motivation to paint again!

Other options

If you’re not the artistic type there are more ways to customize your Oculus Go. Instead, you can try a few of these other options to spice up your VR headset life. One of my personal favorites are the hilariously silly googly eyes. With minimal effort, you can enhance your VR experience forever with constant laughter.

Googly eyes

Nothing, I repeat, nothing will make me laugh more than seeing a pair of Googly eyes on a VR headset. For $6 you can find these stickers on Amazon and have a grand ole’ time with them. Get one of your friends to try out your Oculus Go with a pair of these babies on and strap them into the most physical game you can think of. The results will be endless laughter and great memories, I promise.

See on Amazon.

Other than that there is a decent variety of decal kits you can find online. These are a little bit of a pain to work with, but that might just be my OCD talking. I can almost never seem to get them to line up properly that I end up peeling off and sticking back on so many times it just stops working. I bet you’re better at this than I am, so you should get one for yourself and test it out!

Decal kits

If googly eyes are a little too silly for you there are a few more options. Amazon is carrying decal kits for your Oculus Go and there are quite a few choices to choose from! For $15 you can grab your favorite design and turn your headset into an absolute masterpiece. (Now with half the work!)

See on Amazon.

So how did you decorate your Oculus Go?

Whether you gave it your very own paint job or found some amazing sticker decals, I wanna hear all about it! Tell me in the comment section below, or shoot me a Tweet @OriginallSluggo. What are your plans for spicing up your headset?

DVR hub for Xbox puts your console captures on your Android phone

The Xbox app for Android doesn’t let you do this. Enter a third-party developer.

One key feature the Windows 10 Mobile Xbox app has over both the iOS and Android versions is that you can not only view but also download your console captures from the cloud. Once uploaded to Xbox Live, just as you can on the PC app, the Windows 10 Mobile app allows you to get hold of them for sharing and editing as you see fit to places like Instagram and YouTube.

Even to this day, if I want to share a clip on my Instagram account, I’ve mostly been using a Windows phone to download it and then re-upload it to Instagram. That’s not a long term solution, though, and Microsoft really needs to add it to the other platforms apps.

Until that happens, a third-party app called DVR Hub for Xbox is here to save the day.

How to download your Xbox One captures on Android

The app itself is extremely simple and for anyone worried about putting your account login details in, it’s not required. All you have to do is provide your Gamertag, the app then hooks in and pulls your captures from Xbox Live.

As such you’ll always need to make sure you’ve uploaded your console captures to Xbox Live if you want to grab them on your Android phone or tablet.

Once you’ve attached your Gamertag, all your currently uploaded clips and screenshots will be presented on your dashboard. There are two things you can do with each.

• To download to your device, tap on the downward arrow icon. You’ll be able to view the images or videos from the gallery app on your phone.
• To share straight to another service such as Instagram or Facebook, tap the share icon. The image will download and you’ll be thrown straight into a share sheet.

How to take, share, and delete Xbox One screenshots

That’s all there is to it. It’s a really simple app, but it does what you need it to do. There are a couple of things to be aware of, though. First is the ads, they’re huge, but you can pay $0.99 to remove them. The second is that some phones may have troubles opening the screenshots with their stock gallery app for some reason.

On a Pixel 2 and Razer Phone, no troubles. But on an Honor phone, it kept presenting an error. A different gallery app might be in order, so it’s not deal breaking just annoying.

The app itself is free to download and use, and you can grab it from the Play Store right now. It looks like there are more than one of these apps out there, so if you have a favorite be sure to drop it in the comments below.

See at Google Play

Sprint and LG are making the first 5G-capable phone in the U.S.

5G is coming sooner than you think.

Motorola may have already shown off a 5G Moto Mod for its new Moto Z3, but that accessory isn’t due to be released until early 2019 — and even then, it’s just an add-on that attaches to the back of your phone. Another device to purchase, another device to keep charged, and another device to carry with you at all times.

For 5G to really start taking off, we’re going to need to start seeing phones with integrated 5G radios built directly in, and LG is teaming up with Sprint to make that happen.

Unfortunately, neither company has given much info on the phone; we don’t know whether to expect the LG G8 to be 5G-capable or if this is a different phone entirely, but either way the companies are looking to ship this 5G phone in the first half of 2019.

Sprint says its 5G-capable Massive MIMO cell sites can deliver up to 10 times the capacity of its existing LTE systems — at first, it’ll roll out in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix, and Washington D.C., but of course, the 5G network will expand to other markets over time.

Read more: Sprint’s nationwide 5G network will launch in the first half of 2019

LG G7 ThinQ

• LG G7 ThinQ review: Wide angle, narrow appeal
• LG G7: Review, Specs, Availability, Problems and more!
• LG G7 Specifications: Everything you need to know
• Join the LG G7 forums

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Moto Z3 review: Verizon’s middle child

To love the Moto Z3 is to embrace every phone that Motorola’s made over the past five years, to accept the company’s decisions around modular telephony and gesture-friendly software. It’s to understand that Motorola doesn’t have the influence in the U.S. it once did, and to rationalize the deals it makes with carriers to get its phones on shelves and into people’s pockets.

To love the Moto Z3 is to love the best parts of the Moto Z2 Force and the Moto Z3 Play, and to pretend that this phone isn’t just a messy mashup of those two devices.

To buy the Moto Z3, however, is a different story.

Moto Z3

Price: $480

Bottom line: The Moto Z3 is a capable phone that, even without its impending 5G bona fides, fits into a strong mid-range lineup at Verizon.

See at Amazon

Pros:

• Awesome battery life
• Excellent, fluid software
• Moto Display makes any phone better
• 5G Mod is very exciting
• Price is right

Cons:

• Mediocre camera quality
• 2017 hardware in 2018 body
• Power button placement is objectively bad

Moto Z3 The Review

Operating system	Android 8.1Moto Display, Voice, Actions
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor
Screen	6.01-inch Full HD (2160×1080) AMOLED
RAM	4GB
Storage	64GB (expandable)
Rear camera	12MP phase-detect, laser autofocus 1.25um pixels f/2.0 lens
Rear camera 2	12MP black & white portrait mode
Front camera	8MP 1.12-micron pixels f/2.0 wide-angle lens
Speaker	Single front-facing
Moto Mods support	Yes
Water resistance	Water-repellent coating
Security	Side fingerprint sensor, face unlock
Battery	3000mAhTurboPower charger (8 hrs battery in 15 min)
Colors	Deep Indigo
Dimensions	76.5 x 156.5 x 6.75 mm
Weight	156g

There’s something to be said for Motorola’s institutional fortitude at being able to Frankenstein together the internals of its 2017 flagship, the Moto Z2 Force, with the body of the more recent Moto Z3 Play and call it a new phone. Because that’s exactly what this is: other than the battery size, which is slightly larger, this is by all accounts the same phone as the Z2 Force, down to the camera hardware.

I’d be very wary of giving such a rebadging a pass if it weren’t for the phone’s $480 price, and the fact that, at Verizon, it fits into an increasingly critical price point for the provider.

If you take a look at Verizon’s smartphone offerings, you’ll see a widening divide between entry-level devices — the ASUS ZenFone V, Samsung Galaxy J7 V, and LG Stylo 2 V — and the flagships like the Galaxy Note 9 and S9 series, Google’s Pixel 2 lineup, and the various iPhones. For newer devices, only Motorola’s existing Z2 Play fits into the sub-$500 “budget flagship” category.

So to dismiss the Moto Z3 outright is to miss its purpose in Verizon’s lineup, which at $20 a month makes it palatable for price-sensitive customers who want a compromise-free phone. And despite its 2017 spec sheet, this phone is largely free of compromises. The Snapdragon 835 and 4GB of RAM combination makes for speedy operation, especially on Motorola’s excellent and lightweight software, and the standard 64GB storage is enough for most people. Plus, there’s microSD expansion. The 3,000mAh battery is good enough for a full day’s use, and the addition of Moto Mod support allows for quick top-ups if necessary.

The camera is pretty good and gets the job done, but don’t expect low light performance.

And while the cameras didn’t impress me much last year, they’re quite a bit better than those of the similarly-priced Moto Z3 Play, and comparable to, say, the $499 Honor View10. They’re fine — the app loads quickly from Motorola’s patented (and after five years, still awesome) snap gesture, and outdoor photos are vibrant and sharp. It would have been nice for Motorola to upgrade the lenses — unlike the f/1.7 aperture of the Z3 Play, the Z3 is stuck with Motorola’s narrower f/2.0 combination, which lets in considerably less light. To offset this, there’s a secondary 12MP monochrome sensor but it doesn’t save this phone’s low-light shots. It also doesn’t save the problematic portrait mode, which is better left idle.

The main issue with the camera is that, because there’s no optical stabilization, and the camera’s aperture is relatively narrow, it defaults to slow shutter speeds in anything but great light, causing photo-destroying motion blur in the process. This isn’t the phone to buy if you want to take lots of photos of kids or dogs.

At the same time, I took plenty of “normal” photos that I’m really happy with. From flowers to sunsets to stationary dogs (well, one stationary dog), I think most people will be very happy with the Z3’s cameras. And for those who want things a bit more artsy, the secondary monochrome sensor can pull off some impressive visuals.

Moto Z3 (left) | Pixel 2 XL (right)

Here, compared to the Pixel 2 XL, you can see there isn’t as much detail, and colors aren’t as vivid, but I’m definitely not going to throw away the Z3’s photo — especially since it’s of my dog, Zadie. I keep all of her photos 💓.

From the outside, this is the Moto Z3 Play

If you were expecting a brand new look and feel for Motorola’s 2018 flagship, you’re missing the point; Motorola’s parent, Lenovo, is a ruthless cost cutter, and the company is still not making money from its phone business. Here’s how it framed things during its latest quarterly earnings report:

In North America, shipments continued to show strong, year-on-year growth as Lenovo strengthened presence with mainstream models and carrier expansion. North America shipments grew 54% year-on-year for Q4 and gained 1.1pts of market share to 3.8% in Q4 FY2017/18.

Translation: Our strategy is working, so we’ve got no plans to mess things up.

Expense reduction for the new fiscal year as part of a strategy to reduce loss and focus on strengthening MBG’s leading position and profitability in Latin America, North America and Western Europe by simplifying the portfolio, optimizing the cost structure and leveraging shared platforms.

Translation: Cut costs any means necessary.

The Moto Z3 is the result of such a strategy. It looks the same as the Moto Z3 Play because the two were design in tandem.

You can read all about the design in my Z3 Play review, but the tl;dr is this: Motorola did a good job maintaining Moto Mods support while modernizing the phone’s design. The taller 18:9 AMOLED display is great, as is the placement of the fingerprint sensor. The only issue is the power button, which is inexplicably on the left side of the phone.

You’re also only getting a single speaker, though it is front-facing, along with a USB-C port and no headphone jack. On the back, the camera module protrudes slightly until you put a Mod on it, but the whole thing feels at once solid, dense, and a little too thin. Like all Moto Z devices, the Z3 was designed to be used with one of Motorola’s many Mods.

That 5G Mod — and Mods in general

At its launch event in Chicago, Motorola spent less time talking about the Z3 than its upcoming 5G Moto Mod companion, which is set to debut … sometime in 2019. In its current state, the thing is very much a prototype, and the demoes we saw were controlled and attached to large computers that made sure nothing funky would happen.

But even when the 5G Mod itself is ready, its success depends on Verizon’s successful rollout of its 5G network, which will only debut in four cities by the end of 2018, and relies on super-fast signals that won’t penetrate walls. In other words, even those few early adopters will only get to experience 5G in very limited capacity.

5G Moto Mod: Everything you need to know

I wouldn’t suggest buying the Moto Z3 just so you can wait an undisclosed number of months for its bulky, likely-pricey 5G companion.

But what about the Mods ecosystem in general? At this point, it’s pretty stacked, with plenty of batteries to choose from, along with capable speakers, printers, projectors, and many other useful tools. Did I mention there are many batteries?

Motorola only committed to three generations of Moto Mod support, which is up with the release of the Z3. It also said it wouldn’t release any more Mods in 2018. While it’s unclear whether the 5G Mod will be the company’s last, the writing is sort of on the wall. So should you buy the Moto Z3 in anticipation of a Moto Mods fire sale sometime in 2019? Or should you buy it because you already have a bunch of Mods from your first-gen Moto Z? Maybe, but those aren’t great reasons to buy a phone.

A matter of taste

The Moto Z3 does most things well and nothing spectacularly. The software is great because Motorola basically copies the best parts of Android and adds a bunch of interesting stuff, including a great ambient display called Moto Display and a bunch of truly useful gestures, like the aforementioned camera twist, that you’re going to use a lot.

There are also a lot of preloaded pieces of software, including a bunch of crappy games, that you’ll immediately want to get rid of. Verizon’s own pre-installed apps are no less intrusive, and I highly recommend disabling as many of those as you can without negatively affecting your experience. Such is the price of a subsidized phone.

Despite the number on the box, the Z3’s battery lasts much longer than many phones with bigger cells.

On the battery front, the 3,000mAh cell isn’t huge but it lasted me a full day throughout the week that I used the phone. I also relied on my trusty Turbopower Mod to give me a boost whenever I needed it, but that only happened a couple evenings after heavy-use days.

Finally, given that the phone runs last year’s Snapdragon 835, it technically supports gigabit speeds, though my experience on Verizon’s network in Chicago, while good, didn’t quite reach those heights. And as with all Motorola phones, call quality is superb, though sound coming from the single speaker isn’t.

Moto Z3 Should you buy it?

This is a more important phone for Verizon than it is for Motorola. While it feels expressly built as a vehicle to promote an upcoming Moto Mod that very few people will actually buy, it also slots in perfectly to the company’s stretched phone lineup that, at the moment, has very little between the low-end and the very high-end.

Unlike the Moto Z3 Play, which is quickly becoming an Amazon Prime Exclusive darling, you probably won’t be buying the Z3 outright. At $20 a month for two years, the Z3’s $480 street price is quite attractive for what you get, even if its most notable feature, the 5G Moto Mod, is months away from release and will likely carry a price tag to rival the phone itself.

3.5
out of 5

The Moto Z3 is a great phone. Really, it is. If you’re not keen on a Galaxy, or don’t want to spend the extra $10 to $15 per month on a LG G7, or are upgrading from a Moto Z, the Z3 is going to treat you well.

See at Verizon