Moto G6 vs. Moto G6 Play: Which should you buy?

We’re a virtual company made up of tech experts from across the globe. We live and breathe Android phones, and use and compare nearly every one to find the best picks for you.

Moto G6

Budget champ

$220 at Amazon

Pros

• Clean Android build with Motorola add-ons
• Compatibility with all four major U.S. carriers
• Impressive dual cameras

Cons

• Smaller battery than the G6 Play

The Moto G6 has a reasonably fast processor, great display, and dual cameras. It offers everything you could ask for in a sub-$250 phone.

Moto G6 Play

Long-lasting

$190 at Amazon

Pros

• Same clean software
• Great battery life with a huge 4000mAh battery
• Rear-mounted fingerprint sensor

Cons

• Slower processor
• Lower resolution 720p display
• Uses micro-USB

The Moto G6 Play isn’t as powerful as the Moto G6, but it’s similar enough in performance, software, and design to be arguably a better value — especially with its larger 4000mAh battery.

While the Moto G6 is clearly the better phone of the two, its advantages are largely unimportant to the Moto G series’ core audience. Those shopping on a budget likely won’t be bothered by missing out on a secondary camera or a slightly faster processor — they just want a reliable phone that lasts them through the day. To that extent, the Moto G6 Play with its larger battery is arguably a better purchase.

What are the differences?

At first glance, the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play are hard to tell apart. Physically, the biggest difference is the placement of the fingerprint sensors; the Moto G6 displays it front and center below the display, which makes it ideal for gesture navigation, allowing you to replace the software-based navigation bar and take back the bottom of your display. You might prefer the G6 Play’s placement around back, integrated into the Motorola logo, but it’s hard to argue against the added functionality on the G6’s sensor.

The Moto G6 is no doubt the better overall phone, but there’s not much reason to spend the extra money on it over the Moto G6 Play.

Only the Moto G6 features a second rear camera, though — a 5MP RGB sensor that measures depth and aids in portrait mode shots. It’s also the only phone of the two to feature a USB-C port for charging, along with Motorola’s 15W TurboPower charging for quick top-ups. The Moto G6 Play does claim a victory with its massive 4000mAh battery — a 33% increase over the Moto G6. Combined with a more power-efficient 720p display, the Moto G6 Play has stellar battery life, though without TurboPower, it takes a bit longer to charge than the G6.

Even though the G6 has a faster processor, the Moto G6 Play still benefits from nearly all of the same features as the Moto G6. It runs the same clean Android experience, it features the same 8MP front-facing camera (though only the Moto G6 can use this camera for face unlock), and it’s protected with the same water-repellant nano-coating. Likewise, you’ll still benefit on the software side from Motorola’s excellent suite of Moto Actions and the Moto Display.

If you’re buying based on power and specs, the Moto G6 is the better choice — but most people considering one of these phones is instead after value, and in that regard, the Moto G6 Play is an attractive option. Not only will it last longer on a charge, but the $30 difference in price can go towards a nice case or your phone bill.

Moto G6

Budget champ

$220 at Amazon

The very best phone under $250.

The Moto G6 has a few nice add-ons, including dual rear cameras, face unlock, and a better display. Otherwise it’s largely the same as the Moto G6 Play.

Moto G6 Play

Long-lasting

$30 less for a mostly identical device.

$190 at Amazon

Though less impressive on paper, the Moto G6 Play offers the same overall experience with a much larger battery. This is the better value for most people.

NVIDIA Shield adds voice chat in Fortnite

NVIDIA Shield, which is receiving a new software update today, is even better than when it was released in 2015. ($179 at Amazon)

The venerable Android TV box gets its 20th update with Shield Software Experience 7.1.

There’s a reason why we say the NVIDIA Shield is one of the best streaming boxes you can buy (and definitely is the best if you’re all-in on Android) — and today NVIDIA reminds us why. The Android-based Shield, which launched in 2015, is receiving its 20th update, to Shield Software Experience 7.1.

That’s three years of updates on hardware that runs just as well as it did the day it was released. It’s not every day you can say that about a tech product, boys and girls.

Serious question: How many other three-year-old tech devices can you honestly recommend today? The longevity of @NVIDIASHIELD is kinda crazy. https://t.co/WOtCID9kDr

— Phil Nickinson (@mdrndad) August 14, 2018

Anyway. Here’s everything you have to look forward to in this new update:

• Support for in-game voice chat — including in games like Fortnite — with headsets through the 3.5mm jack on Shield controllers
• Better support for keyboards and mice when you’re in GeForce NOW, including smoother movements, keyboard shortcuts, and a new section of games that support a keyboard or mouse
• More day-and-date releases including Monster Hunter World and F1 2018, and the upcoming release of Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• A new NVIDIA Shield TV companion app that sports a virtual keyboard and mouse that makes entering user names, e-mail addresses and password simple
• The return of NVIDIA Share features (Broadcast to Twitch, recording and screenshots)
• 120Hz modes for supported TVs and monitors
• Quick settings for power off, restart and sleep

That’s it, folks. Get to updating!

More: How to update NVIDIA Shield

NVIDIA Shield Android TV

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• The latest Shield Android TV news
• Shield vs. Shield Pro: Which should I buy?
• Join the forum discussion
• Complete Shield Android TV specs

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Eight hours with Assassins Creed Odyssey wasn’t enough

No stilettos, no cloaks, and no clue what is happening in the modern world right now.

Kassandra is one hit from death, her third in my attempt to defeat the Athenian hero sent to defeat the Spartan incursion on Megaris. As my sweaty hands tighten around the controller she dodges left, parries an incoming attack, and delivers a devastating kick which sends a man flat onto his back. This moment I’ve earned for us gets spent running towards the nearest fight, where three Spartans attempt to bring down a giant of a man wielding a massive halberd. With his back to me I deliver a fatal blow, earning the points necessary to restore my own health and continue the fight. Another dodge, another parry, but this time I end the combo by spearing this Athenian hero into the dirt with my sword.

His death marks both the end of the skirmish and the end of my eight hour demo with Assassins Creed: Odyssey, the latest in the franchise due out on October 5th. I learned a lot from my time as Kassandra, about the massive world this game is set in and the consequences of all the choices I had made throughout the day. That fight was more difficult than it needed to be thanks to shortcuts I took hours before and combat decision I had been making from the beginning. My actions had direct gameplay consequences, in many ways affecting the entire world around Kassandra.

And I can’t wait to see more.

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The life of a humble Misthios

Forget what you know about Assasins Creed games up to this point. You are not some guild member accepting kill contracts while you murder your way through some shadowy organization. There’s no greater cause for you to fight for, no ultimate worldview you are trying to build or destroy. You are, more or less, alone in the world. A Greek misthios (mercenary) who works to survive.

What kind of misthios is Kassandra (or Alexios, if you choose to play as a guy instead)? It’s entirely up to you. You can complete your contracts honestly and earn the gratitude of those around you, or steal and murder your way across the world. You can flirt with guys or gals you’re to seduce information out of them, or you can treat every objective like a strict assignment and never get to know anybody. Everything about this world is built on the choices you make, which is unlike any other Assasins Creed game before it.

As for how permanent or lasting the consequences of your actions are, I sat down briefly with Narrative Director Mel MacCoubrey and she explained quite a bit for me.

With the relationships you establish in the game, it can get to a point where you’ve crossed a line. As a generic example, if you are mean to someone constantly and then one day decide you regret being mean they may not forgive you because you’ve done it so many times. But in most cases we’ve been fairly fair in giving you a couple of chances if you need to turn something around. We don’t make it so the first choice is the only choice that matters, we wanted it to be a fairly open experience.

And it works really well, both as a way to ensure every gameplay experience is a little different and give reasons to play through more than once. I’m already going to play this game very differently at launch than I did at this demo, because I want to see these new consequences.

I started off with lethal archery accuracy for Kassandra instead of brutal up-front combat skills, which made individual kills way easier but complicated group fights by quite a bit. I also killed an entire island of people I cared about, because I let someone go when I thought it was the right thing to do. It’s genuinely fascinating to see these choices have long term consequences, and according to Ubisoft it’s the kind of thing you can expect to totally shape your gameplay experience.

Not everything can be altered by choice, of course. Like all of the games before it in this franchise, Odyssey is intentionally rooted in history. The recorded events which lead up to the Peloponnesian War, those things are fixed points. Your choices can impact which side you fight on, or what you do during those events but the larger facts of history will remain intact. And in this, the familiarity of an Assasins Creed game fall into place. The combat system, especially snaking around for murderin’ time and climbing all over every single thing you can find, feels exactly the way you think it should. But when it comes to how you get to an objective and what happens after, Ubisoft’s new choice and dialogue system is a satisfying breath of fresh air.

A truly massive, mostly open world

Being able to make choices and see those choices play out in front of you is fun, but the thing that really sells Odyssey for me is how truly huge it feels. At the start of the game you can choose your difficulty level, but you’re also able to choose between Guided and Exploration modes. Guided mode gives you specific directions to head around to specific missions, a little closer to your standard RPG. Exploration, on the other hand, feels more like an open world game. You still have the ability to mark specific objectives on the map and see them in your HUD, but you don’t get exact coordinates unless you’ve already been there. This encourages you to roam around, which inevitably puts you in the path of random encounters and side quests.

Exploration mode is absolutely my preferred way to play this game, because it encourages you to explore and interact with more. It also means you’re going to spend a lot more time fighting and finding better loot to level up your character. This could get you into trouble if you head somewhere outside your level, which is either bad or great depending on how you’ve set your combat skill tree up.

This mode isn’t entirely random, when you’re travelling between islands (ship to ship combat makes a return with a Greek twist in this part of the game, by the way) the map will give you basic level ranges to help you see how ready you are for an area. But even if you travel to an area well below your level, Odyssey will scale the difficulty some to make sure every fight is at least a little bit of a challenge.

In talking with Ubisoft Game Director Scott Phillips about how Odyssey came to life, he explained how this game scales difficulty for the player.

When you start out, the enemies are what we call Tier One. They have less fight moves and less variety, you’ll be able to predict more what’s coming next. When you’re around level 15 we move up to Tier Two enemies, they have more moves and abilities, they’re going to challenge you in different ways. Finally you get the Tier Three enemies that have the full move set, and you’re going to have to really understand what they’re going to do and how they’re going to do it, and they’re not going to have as many easier to deal with moves. It’s going to get harder and harder to find the right timing to deal with attacks to get good at the fight system.

Around the world you’ll see a starting level for an area, some level 10 some level 40. As you get close to that level the enemies will stay with you, so when you’re level 10 they’re level 10, 11 and 11, but maybe when you’re 13 it stays at 11 so it’s always a little bit behind you but still a challenge. This was even if you go into a lower level area its still a little bit of a challenge, but when you go to areas at or above your level it’s clearly a much harder challenge.

Every once in a while, there’s a world event you’re going to need to participate in. These massive battlefields are the result of conflicts you find across the world, and the combat is fairly straightforward. There needs to be more people on your side of the battle at the end, and you accomplish this by looking for hero characters and taking them on. One of those cool choice things in some areas is taking the time to hunt down a hero outside of these battlefield events, which could give you an edge in the fight. This combat mechanic is a lot of fun, the combat is constant but rarely overwhelming.

According to Scott, a big part of designing these battlefields is being careful about how many enemies you can attract at a time. That doesn’t mean you can’t be overwhelmed, in fact a hero warrior with a pair of warriors with shields you need to break can be quite a challenge, but it’s clear there’s a lot of effort put into balance in these fights.

It’s worth touching on the way you use your controller for all of this combat as well. Instead of mashing away on your X and A buttons for quick and power attacks, most of the fighting happens up on the shoulder and trigger buttons. I found it a little awkward at first, but after a couple of fights it actually made rapidly swapping between different combat types a lot easier. My first couple of skill tree points went toward some killer archery abilities, so I was regularly switching between sword and bow combination attacks with my fighting. Being able to rely on my index and middle fingers for these combinations is great when you really need speed. And, of course, skulking in the bushes and dropping an enemy is still deeply satisfying.

More than an Assasins Creed game

While I enjoyed the last couple of games in the Assasins Creed universe, they all fit a very specific mold. I found myself regularly telling people you’d enjoy these games if you enjoyed their predecessors, but if you didn’t there’s a pretty good chance you should look elsewhere for your fun. The same absolutely cannot be said of Odyssey. While it is definitely familiar, there’s so much room to be who you want to be in this game and that is incredibly exciting. I feel like I could play this game five times and have five different experiences, and have a lot of fun each time.

It’s also clear I’ve only seen a small part of this world and story, despite playing for nearly eight hours at this point. I still have no idea what is happening in modern times (you remember that over-arching story connecting all of these games, right?) or what Alexios and Kassandra are going to have to deal with as we move deeper into this game. There’s something special about a game which makes you want to sit down and play it through to the end while also making you think about what you might do differently when you play again. If that’s the kind of thing you’re excited about, I suggest pre-ordering this game immediately.

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Jaybird X3 vs. Jaybird Freedom 2: How do these wireless headphones compare?

We’re a virtual company made up of tech experts from across the globe. While Android is our passion, we also know that a great pair of headphones is the perfect companion to any phone.

Jaybird X3

All-around champ

$95 – $119 at Amazon

Pros

• Marginally better sound quality
• 8-hour battery life
• Sweat-proof

Cons

• More expensive than Freedom 2
• Jaybird X4 are coming in September

The Jaybird X3 sound great, last eight hours on a single charge, and come with various ear and wing tips. The X3 are now more affordable than ever, but they’ll soon be replaced by the incoming X4.

Jaybird Freedom 2

Compact sibling

$91 – $99 at Amazon

Pros

• Super small, compact size
• Sweat-proof

Cons

• Only four hours of battery without charging adapter

The Jaybird Freedom 2 lacks some of the oomf of the X3 and doesn’t last as long on a single charge, but it’s the smallest pair of earbuds in Jaybird’s lineup while still retaining great comfort, sound, and customization.

The X3 are the best wireless earbuds Jaybird has to offer, but if you want a similar experience in a smaller footprint, the Freedom 2 is definitely worth a look.

What in the world is different about these earbuds?

That’s a really good question. At first glance, and even after a bit of research, it can be hard to tell the difference between the Jaybird X3 and Freedom 2. These headphones share a lot in common, and that’s honestly not a bad thing at all.

In regards to the design, the Freedom 2 is a bit more compact than the X3. The difference isn’t huge, but if you want your next pair of wireless earbuds to be as small as possible, the Freedom 2 does have an edge in this department. Aside from the size difference, though, both products have two earbuds on either end of the cable with inline controls for pausing/resuming playback, adjusting volume, etc.

When you’re actually listening to music, the Jaybird X3 and Freedom 2 sound fantastic. The amount of sound that comes out of both earbuds is a lot better than what you’d expect for their size, but because the X3 is marginally larger, we tend to prefer the audio coming from it just a tad more.

Lastly, when it comes to battery life, both earbuds technically offer eight hours of playback. However, the way they go about this is different.

With the Jaybird X3, you’ll be able to listen to your music for eight hours non-stop before needing to throw it on the charger. The Freedom 2 is only rated for four hours of listening on its own, but you can extend that by another four hours for a total of eight by snapping on its charging clip to the inline controls.

The charging clip isn’t huge, but it does add more weight to the Freedom 2 and makes it a little awkward to work out with. As such, we prefer the X3’s design of just packing in the full eight hours of use into the earbuds themselves rather than needing to mess with another accessory.

Dimensions	28.02 x 27.69 x 13.42mm	23.4 x 22.4 x 6.2mm
Sweat-proof	✔️	✔️
Battery life	8 hours	4 hours built-in + 4 hours with charging adapter
Customizable ear/wing tips	✔️	✔️
Supports Jaybird MySound app	✔️	✔️

The X3 are Jaybird’s best wireless earbuds…at least for now

If you want the very best that Jaybird has to offer, the X3s are for you. The earbuds sound way better than they should, the battery life is great, and the sweat-proof / water-resistant design is perfect no matter how hard you’re working out.

The X3 is a great purchase at $95 – $119 depending on which color you choose, but with the Jaybird X4 coming out in September for just a little more at $130, you may want to hold off on the X3 for right now if you want the very latest and greatest.

Jaybird X3

All-around champ

$95 – $119 at Amazon

The best Jaybird earbuds you can buy.

With awesome sound and 8 hours of non-stop listening on a single charge, the Jaybird X3 are some of the best workout earbuds you can buy. The starting price of under $100 makes these a great value, but if you don’t mind waiting a little longer, the X4 will be here later this month.

Another great choice if portability is your main concern

The Jaybird Freedom 2 may have a more complicated charging system compared to the X3, but if size is your main concern, they pack a serious punch in a very tiny form factor.

We prefer the X3’s sound quality by just a hair and its ability to offer 8 hours of playback without a sperate charging clip, but if you don’t mind that extra piece of plastic, the Freedom 2 is absolutely worth a look.

Jaybird Freedom 2

Compact sibling

Packs a big punch in a tiny form factor.

$91 – $99 at Amazon

The charging clip isn’t the most elegant thing in the world, but if you need workout headphones that are as small as can be, the Freedom 2 earbuds deliver great sound, comfort, and more in a small footprint.

Here’s everything we know about the Pixelbook 2!

Here’s everything you need to know about Google’s new Pixelbooks.

The Google Pixelbook is one helluva device. Its bezels might be big and the lack of a fingerprint sensor is a shame, but if you want a Chrome OS machine, it’s one of the very best you can get.

It’s no surprise that we’ll be getting a successor this year to accompany the Pixel 3, but according to everything we know, Google could be prepping to launch two Pixelbook 2 devices this year. What can we expect from this new hardware and when will we learn more?

Here’s everything we know about the Pixelbook 2 series!

The latest Pixelbook 2 News

September 10, 2018 —Leaked ad shows 2nd-gen Pixelbook with much slimmer bezels

Atlas has been rumored for some time as a marginal upgrade over the 1st-gen Pixelbook, and thanks to an online ad that was recently discovered, we now have our first look at the machine.

The ad is pretty similar to other Chromebook advertisements Google’s been running, but the product shown in it is a device we haven’t seen before. The underside has a two-tone design that looks identical to the original Pixelbook, but as you can see for yourself, the bezels surrounding the screen are much smaller.

Lastly, the ad also reveals that the Pixelbook Pen will continue to work just fine with the new hardware.

September 8, 2018 — Video reportedly shows detachable Pixelbook 2

Like we previously talked about, this year should see Google releasing two Pixelbook 2 models — Atlas and Nocturne. Today, a short video clip apparently gives us our first look at the latter of those two devices.

The video’s pretty short and only shows a small portion of Nocturne, but it reveals some key details.

First of all, the buttons on the keyboard are circular instead of the traditional square design of last year’s Pixelbook. Few laptops have these circular buttons, so it’s interesting to see Google feature them on what’s likely its flagship Chrome OS device of 2018.

The bezels surrounding the display also appear to be much slimmer than the Pixelbook.

How do we know this is Nocturne and not Atlas? While we can’t confirm this with 100% certainty, the black pad that separates the keyboard from the screen sure does look like something you’d find on a Surface Pro — suggesting that the keyboard can detach from the main computer and reinforcing the belief that this is, in fact, Nocturne.

August 10, 2018 — Commit suggests two Pixelbook 2 models are coming this year

The Pixelbook is still one of the best Chromebooks you can buy, and later this year, Google may treat us to not just one, but two new machines to succeed it.

Thanks to some hard work from the folks at Chrome Unboxed, various commits hint at two new Chrome OS devices that Google is working on. Referred to as Atlas and Nocturne, these are believed to both be new entries in the Pixelbook 2 series.

What evidence backs this up? According to the commits that were found:

• Atlas and Nocturne share the same board.
• Features have been enabled for both Atlas and Nocturne in the same commit — something that doesn’t happen that often.
• “Krabbylake” is mentioned in the commit for Atlas and Nocturne (maybe a new version of Intel’s Kabylake processors?).
• Another codename “Whiskers” is referred to as a keyboard accessory for Nocturne, indicating it’ll be a detachable 2-in-1 device.

How many models are we expecting?

While one new Pixelbook would be a big enough treat from Google, a lot of signs are pointing towards us getting two Pixelbook 2 models — Atlas and Nocturne.

Atlas is expected to retain the same general design as the first Pixelbook with the exception of slimmer bezels around its display. On the other hand, Nocturne should feature a detachable design (a la Microsoft’s Surface Pro) that allows the main computer to detach from the keyboard so it’s easier to use as a tablet.

Various commits have provided ample evidence that Atlas and Nocturne are in fact two unique Chrome OS machines that Google is working on, giving customers more choice to find the Pixelbook that’s right for them.

How much will it cost?

Last year, pricing for the Pixelbook started at $999 and went up to $1649 depending on the configuration you chose.

It’s still unclear how much Google will charge for the Pixelbook 2 series, but we believe that the Nocturne detachable model will be the more expensive option while the Atlas machine that keeps the traditional laptop design will cost less.

In one leaked ad that shows a familiar Pixelbook body with slimmer bezels, the tagline under “You Chromebook” says “Convertible, flexible, affordable.”

“Affordable” could mean just about anything, but it suggests that the Atlas Pixelbook 2 could cost less than the original Pixelbook’s base $999 price tag.

When will the Pixelbook 2 be released?

Google’s confirmed that it’ll be holding an event in New York City on October 9, 2018.

While the Pixel 3 and 3 XL will likely be the main focus, this is also where we can expect to learn all about the company’s latest Chrome OS efforts with its new Pixelbook 2 hardware.

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
• Chromebooks in education: Everything you need to know
• Should you buy a Chromebook?
• Chromebook Buyers Guide
• Google Pixelbook review
• Join our Chromebook forums

Qualcomm’s Wear 3100 chip for Wear OS is all about extending battery life

Battery life should be 2 – 14 hours longer compared to Wear 2100.

At a press event in San Francisco today, Qualcomm announced its next-generation wearable platform as the Snapdragon Wear 3100. This is the processor that’ll be found in all new Wear OS smartwatches going forward, and based on everything we just learned, it sounds like we’re in for a real treat.

With the Wear 3100 platform, Qualcomm’s doubling down on battery life. It uses quad-core A7 processors, has ultra-low power co-processors, and is just around 21mm2. Wear 3100 is able to reduce power usage with low-power functions, including music playback, GPS tracking, voice commands, etc.

Along with these day-to-day benefits, Qualcomm’s also created three new usage profiles to take things a step further:

• Enhanced Ambient Mode — The second-hand moves much more smoothly, there’s support for 16 colors, increased brightness, and live watch complications.
• Dedicated Sports Experiences — Designed to be used during long, intensive workout sessions. Custom watch face that shows fitness stats and supports up to 15 hours of battery life with GPS and heart-rate sensors actively working.
• Traditional Watch Mode — A simplified experience that boats an analog watch face and some smart features. Up to 1 week of use with 20% battery left or 30 days with a full charge.

Depending on what you’re doing with your watch, Qualcomm estimates that the Wear 3100 offers 4 – 12 hours of additional battery life compared to the Wear 2100.

As for when we’ll start seeing the 3100, Fossil, Louis Vuitton, and Montblanc have all confirmed that they’re already working on hardware that’s powered by the new platform. We aren’t entirely sure when these watches will hit the market or how much they’ll cost, but they should be heading to stores soon.

Commenting on the announcement, Google’s Director of Product Management for Wear OS, Dennis Troper, said:

Together with Qualcomm Technologies and the ecosystem, Wear OS by Google has enabled a vibrant set of wearable devices, offering consumers with great choice and diversity. We’re excited to see Qualcomm Technologies’ new Snapdragon Wear 3100, their continued investment in the wearable space, and we look forward to the ecosystem bringing the next generation of smartwatch technology to the industry.

What do you think about Qualcomm’s announcement? Is this a big enough change to bring Wear OS back into the limelight? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below!

No, Google won’t be releasing a Pixel Watch this year

Google Wear OS

• The best Wear OS smartwatches
• Discuss Android Wear in the forums!

Leave cable behind for good with the $100 Tablo Dual over-the-air DVR

Forget cable subscriptions.

The Tablo Dual Lite over-the-air Wi-Fi DVR is down to $99.99 through Amazon, Best Buy’s official eBay store and the main Best Buy site. This price is $40 lower than what it usually sells for and the best we’ve seen from any retailer. It’s also $50 better than the version with 64GB onboard storage.

If you’ve left your cable subscription behind and mostly watch TV using an HDTV antenna like this one, you should consider the Tablo. It works with your over-the-air antenna to add some DVR functionality so you can record your favorite shows and watch them whenever you want. It’s called the Dual because it can record two live shows simultaneously. With the DVR, you can browse upcoming shows, schedule and manage your recordings, sort them by episode or series, skip commercials, and rewind. It connects to your home network via Wi-Fi and has a free app you can access from just about anywhere, including iOS, Android, and streaming devices like the Roku. Expand your storage with an external USB hard drive.

Tablo does have a subscription service that will give you 14 days of access to future programming through a Guide, different views and filters for all your shows, and out-of-home streaming. It costs $4.99 a month or $150 for a lifetime

Read more about the Tablo through CordCutters’ breakdown of the different models and look at new features Tablo continues to add, including surround sound.

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Battery life is the biggest reason to care about Snapdragon Wear 3100

If you care about battery life, you’re going to want to make sure your next watch has this processor.

The biggest limitation for any mobile gadget is battery life. It’s often not a matter of whether your phone or watch can do something, but what the cost of that something is in battery life. And much like your phone, it’s really important for your watch to last you the entire day no matter what you do with it. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor is in basically every watch that doesn’t have an Apple logo on it right now, and when you consider it’s been a couple of years since we’ve seen a new processor, that’s kind of a problem for adding new features onto watches.

With the launch of its new Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor, Qualcomm is promising a smaller, faster chip with better power management. While that naturally means we can expect new features from manufacturers coming soon, the bigger news, in my opinion, is the dramatic impact on battery life. Here’s what you can expect from this new chip, according to Qualcomm.

Battery sipping, not gulping

If you look at an existing Snapdragon Wear 2100 watch, there are a few things you’ll find universally true. With “average” use, the watch will get you one full day (18-24 hours) of use and not much more. If your watch has a low power mode, you can stretch that by 6-12 hours depending on the manufacturer and battery capacity. Ultra Low Power modes, like the one on the TicWatch Pro, will extend the battery for considerably longer but dramatically reduce features.

Excessive GPS usage, like for fitness tracking, will drain the battery fairly quickly. Heavy voice translation or calls through the watch will drain the battery fairly quickly, and of course playing music from the watch via Bluetooth headphones will drain the battery fairly quickly. These are universal constants with these watches, not really something one Snapdragon Wear 2100 watch does better than another.

The good news is Qualcomm’s latest chip tackles all of these things, and boasts some fairly promising improvements. According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon wear 3100 processor offers:

• 49% lower power use for GPS activities
• 34% lower power use for MP3 playback
• 67% lower power use for Low Power modes
• 13% lower power use for Voice Queries

Some of these reductions are going to have huge, immediate benefits to users. The GPS reduction means apps like Strava, which usually consume 35% of the battery on my watch in a 4 hour ride, will now consume nearly half that. Low Power modes will be better, music playback will be more useful, and all of those actions add up fast. All of this paints a fairly clear picture of a future watch generation that will last more than one full day even when using the watch to its fullest, and the ability to extend into possibly multiple days if you really need it.

New features are coming

Reduced power consumption means developers and manufacturers have more room to play with new features. One of the biggest drops in battery consumption with this new processor is hotword detection, which will consume on average 43% less battery when active. This means OK Google will not only be a standard feature people will want to keep enabled, but also that more hotword-style features will be considered standard.

This flexibility also means more features will likely become available when you’re trying to save battery. Qualcomm estimates a Snapdragon Wear 3100 watch will get you through an entire day no matter what you do, but in low power modes, that same watch is expected to get the user through an entire week of use. That’s a fun figure to brag about in a presentation, but in practice, that only works if the watch is able to be more than just a watch in these low power modes. If watch manufacturers are able to offer a watch with a week’s worth of battery and still offer basic fitness tracking or even simple notifications, that’s going to be a much bigger deal.

It’s clear we’re going to be seeing and hearing a lot more about watches packing this new processor in the coming weeks, but the picture painted with the battery life claims in particular is enticing. It’s exciting to think about smartwatches lasting a week being the new normal, but it’s even more exciting to think about what apps are going to look like on these wrist computers when that flexibility becomes available.

The new Skagen Falster 2 and Diesel Full Guard 2.5 are truly gorgeous smartwatches

Google Assistant gets magical with three new Disney games

There’s a lot going on with the Google Assistant — let’s break down the important stuff.

In May 2016, we got our very first taste of the Google Assistant with the debut of Allo. The Assistant was a big draw to Allo at the time, with Google marketing it as a helpful bot that could make restaurant reservations, search the web, and more within your conversations.

Since then, the Assistant has gained heaps of new features and expanded to smartphones, tablets, speakers, and more. Google’s shown no interest in slowing down development for the Assistant, meaning that it’s likely here for the long-haul.

Whether this is your first encounter with it or you just need a quick refresher, here’s everything you need to know about the Google Assistant.

The latest Google Assistant news

September 10, 2018 — Disney doubles its Google Assistant content with three new games

Google Assistant can help your kids with questions about their homework or the universe, can help remind you and your kids when you need to get going for soccer practice, and it can even tell them a bedtime story. Disney is bringing a little more magic to the Google Home and beyond with three new Google Assistant activities.

• Maui’s Music Game lets kids help Maui defeat monster and reunite with Moana after getting separated from his hook in Lalotai, the Realm of Monsters. While playing, you’ll be rewarded with musical conch shells that play music from the film. You’re Welcome!
• Disney Princess brings you along on a daily adventure with one of your favorite princesses. Help Ariel learn what human world objects are called, navigate Jasmine through a horse race, and hear fun stories from Cinderella and Tiana. You can also get nerdy with Belle answering her questions about your favorite books.
• Toy Story Freeze Dance gets active with an interactive dance game that initiates you as one Bonnie’s new toys. Learn the moves and the meaning of being a toy, but make sure you pay attention, because at any moment, you could have to FREEZE! to avoid exposing the biggest secret in toydom.

These games are designed for Google Home, but you can also play them on phones and Google Assistant-enabled Chromebooks and TVs, as well as those nifty new Smart Displays. These games join Disney’s current Google Assistant offerings:

• Mickey Mouse Adventure
• Cars Adventure
• Belle’s Castle Adventure
• Star Wars Trivia Challenge

August 21, 2018 — “Hey Google, tell me something good” now dishes out “good news”

Staying up to date on all of the current news is important no matter who you are, but with everything going on in our world, sometimes it’s easy to feel like nothing good is happening. In an effort to bring “good news” to light, Google’s launching a new Assistant command in the U.S.

When talking to the Assistant on your phone, Google Home, or Smart Display, you can now say “Hey Google, tell me something good” to hear about how people are solving real issues all around us.

Google partnered with Solutions Journalism Network for this feature, and per Google, solutions journalism, “highlights how problems are solvable and that doing better is possible.”

If you’re in the U.S., you can try out this command starting today.

August 14, 2018 — Pandora Premium now supported by Google Home and Smart Displays

Users have been able to stream Pandora through Google Home speakers for quite some time now, but starting today, you’ll be able to link your Pandora Premium account so you can listen to specific, on-demand songs/playlists in addition to the service’s popular radio stations.

Pandora Premium costs $9.99/month like the majority of its competitors, but if you own a Google Home, you can get a free 90-day trial to test out the service before handing over any of your hard-earned cash.

You can start listening to Pandora Premium on the Google Home, Home Mini, Home Max, Lenovo Smart Display, and other Google Assistant speakers right now.

August 9, 2018 — Deeper, more specific news coverage is now rolling out

Pretty much since the Assistant’s inception, you’ve been able to say “Hey, Google, what’s the news?” to get a quick overview of all the big headlines for any given day.

Starting today and rolling out to users across the U.S., you can now ask the Assistant about news for specific topics, such as “What’s the latest on NASA?” or “What’s the news on the women’s national soccer team?”. Asking these questions on a Smart Display will pull up related YouTube videos while audio-only speakers such as Google Home will read out excerpts from news articles.

Additionally, this command will also be available for Android Auto, Android phones, and Assistant-powered headphones like the Bose QC35 II.

August 3, 2018 — Google Home can now understand what room it’s in for contextual light controls

That title might make this not sound all that exciting, but this is actually pretty cool.

Up until now, asking your Google Home to “turn on the lights” or “tune off the lights” without specifying a certain room would result in every single connected light being turned on/off. However, a new update now allows the Google Home to only control the lights in the same room as it when this command is issued.

For example, if you have a Google Home assigned to the same room as the smart lights in your living room, asking that Google Home to turn on the lights will only activate the bulbs in the living room. You can still specify rooms with your voice, but this update should make these interactions a lot more natural.

Following numerous Redditors discovering this feature, Google confirmed to Android Police that this is indeed rolling out to users and will be making its way to everyone over the coming days.

July 27, 2018 — You can now schedule custom routines for specific times/days

Building upon Custom Routines that were added to Google Assistant earlier this year, users can now schedule these routines to go off at a certain time/day. Previously, custom routines you made could only be used after saying a specific command.

While creating a routine, you’ll now see a new “Set a time and day” option under the “When” section. Here, you can choose the time you want it to play and what day(s) it should repeat.

There are a lot of ways to take advantage of this, with one example being to have your coffee pot turn on, crank up the AC, and hear about the weather as you’re waking up without having to ever speak to your Google Home. Neat!

July 26, 2018 — Dutch is now an officially supported language

Good news, Dutch speakers! As of July 26, 2018, Google’s confirmed that the Google Assistant now speaks Dutch as one of its official languages.

Assuming you’ve got an Android phone running Marshmallow or later, you can now access the Assistant to ask it questions about the weather, create calendar appointments, control smart home devices, and more.

In addition to your phone, you’ll also be able to use Dutch on the Google Home later in the year once the smart speaker goes on sale in the Netherlands.

July 17, 2018 — New Google Assistant page shows commute times, packages, upcoming flights, and more

Starting today, the Assistant on your phone is getting a big visual overhaul. After prompting the Assistant, tap the icon near the top right that previously opened up the Explore page for finding new Assistant actions and it’ll now show a visual overview of your day.

Similar to old Google Now cards, this page shows things like your commute to work, the current weather, upcoming flights, packages that are on their way from recent online orders, calendar appointments, and much more.

In the near future, Google says it’ll let you see a quick overview of notes/lists from Google Keep, Todoist, Bring!, and more, a discovery page that’ll help you find nearby events/activities, reminders of where you last parked your car, and recommendations for songs and podcasts the Assistant thinks you’ll like.

This new interface is rolling out today and is available on Android and iOS for all languages the Assistant supports.

July 10, 2018 — Google updates the UX for selecting the Assistant’s voice

During Google I/O this past May, four new voices were added to the Assistant’s existing male and female voices to help give it some more personality. Starting today, English users in the United States will see a new user interface when changing the voice.

With the new UX, users will now see a horizontal row of colors that denotes each voice rather than a vertical list of Voice 1, Voice 2, etc. The colors are entirely random and consist of Red, Orange, Amber, Green, Cyan, Blue, Purple, and Pink.

Google says the new look should be live for everyone by the end of the week!

July 10, 2018 — Deezer Premium is now supported on Google Homes in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Italy

Deezer may not be as popular as rivals like Spotify and Pandora, but for subscribers of the paid Deezer Premium service, you’ll be happy to know that you can now listen to all of your Deezer songs and playlists through your Google Home.

Deezer Premium streaming has been available through Google Home since August 2017, but it was initially only live in France and Germany. This was later expanded to the United Kingdom in April of this year, and with this latest rollout, Deezer Premium now works on Google Homes that are in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Italy.

To link Deezer Premium to your Google Home, open the Home app, go to Music, and link your Deezer account.

The service regularly costs $9.99/month, but if you’re a new member, Google’s offering three months for just $0.99. If you want to take advantage of this offer, it’s good until September 20.

June 26, 2018 — All Google Home speakers now support Spanish

While users have been able to talk to Assistant in Spanish on their phones, we’re just now getting the ability to do the same on Google Home speakers.

Now, users in the United States, Spain, Mexico and other countries can choose to speak to Google Assistant in Spanish. If you want to change what language Google Home uses, open the Home app on your phone. The tap Settings -> Preferences -> Español.

All Google Home Speakers now support Spanish

June 12, 2018 — Google Home can now handle up to three commands at once

It can get old trying to ask multiple questions to our smart speakers — “What’s the weather” and “How’s my schedule” — but nowGoogle Home can understand up to three commands. Now, you can get your calendar, find out the weather and start playing music by only saying “Okay Google” once.

Another new feature is support for Multiple Actions. So now, instead of asking, “What’s the weather in New York and the weather in San Francisco?”, you can ask, “What’s the weather in New York and San Francisco?” This is a subtle change, but it makes conversing with Google Assistant much more like conversing with a human.

Google Home can now handle up to three commands at once

May 9, 2018 — Google announced a heap of new features at I/O

To little surprise, the Google Assistant was the star of the show for a good chunk of I/O’s opening keynote this year.

A lot of new features were announced for the Assistant, including new voices, the ability to ask follow-up questions without having to say “Hey, Google” each time, and an option for making your own custom Routines.

However, the most exciting thing was a system called Google Duplex. With this, the Assistant can call businesses and make appointments/reservations on your behalf. It’s wickedly cool and definitely one of the wildest things to come out of this year’s conference.

What’s new in Google Home and Assistant at Google I/O 2018

All the important details

Google Now paved the way for Google Assistant

The Google Now page compared to the new Google Feed.

Before there was the Google Assistant, we had Google Now. Google Now was introduced to the world all the way back in 2012, offering contextual info through the Google Now page and helpful answers to random questions with an “OK Google” voice command.

A lot of what made Google Now so great can still be found in the Google Assistant today, with the exception of the Google Now page. The Google Now page used to be home to cards showcasing the weather, information on packages that had shipped from online orders, boarding passes, and more. It’s since been replaced by the Google Feed – a collection of news stories Google thinks you’ll be interested in – and it’s definitely the biggest departure between the two services.

The Google Assistant as a whole is still more powerful than Google Now ever was, but long-time Android users like myself are still mourning the loss of that Now page. RIP, old friend.

Read more: Google Now is being left to wither and die as Google Assistant takes the focus

It’s available on just about everything

In just a few short years, the Google Assistant’s gone from being exclusive to a now-failed chat app to being integrated into just about anything you can think of.

You’ll find Google Assistant built right into most Android phones, it’s the star of the show for the Google Home lineup, and it’s even making its way into sound bars.

Here’s the full list of devices with Google Assistant

Setting up the Google Assistant is as easy or complex as you want

When you set up a device for the first time that has the Assistant, getting started is pretty simple. Accessing it is just a voice command or tap away depending on what gadget you’re using, but if you want to really fine-tune your experience, Google’s got you covered.

Take a quick dive into your Assistant settings and you’ll find options for just about everything – including your weather preferences, changing the Assistant’s voice, retraining your voice model, picking out preferred news sources, and much more.

How to set up and customize Google Assistant

Google Assistant is available in multiple regions and languages

Of course, a smart voice assistant isn’t any good if you can’t actually use it. Fortunately, Google Assistant will be available in 52 countries —adding 38 countries this year — and 17 languages by the end of 2018.

More: Google Assistant will expand to 38 countries and 17 languages in 2018

Google Home’s the premier way to get the Assistant in your house (at least for now)

It’s great to have the Google Assistant on your phone, but if you want to truly experience just how helpful it can be, you’ll want to consider picking up a Google Home.

Google Home is Google’s line of smart speakers that put the Assistant on full-display, allowing you to control smart devices, ask random questions, set timers, play music, and more by just using your voice.

You can spend as little as $49 for the Google Home Mini, $129 for the original Google Home, or a whopping $399 for the Google Home Max.

However, as great as the Home series is, don’t forget that Smart Displays are just on the horizon.

Announced at CES 2018, Smart Displays are essentially smart speakers with the Google Assistant and a touch screen display that can show you helpful visuals when talking to them. It’s basically Google’s answer to the Amazon Echo Show and Echo Spot, and we can’t wait to see more from them.

Everything you need to know about Google’s Home speakers

Then again, is an always-listening speaker the right fit for your home?

However, the convenience of a Google Home (or any smart speaker for that matter) does come at the cost of privacy. Speakers like the Google Home are “always listening”, meaning they’re constantly on the lookout for a hot word to know when you’re talking to it (such as “Ok, Google” and “Hey, Google”).

This means the microphone on a Google Home is always active, but it’s not necessarily storing all the audio it hears when it doesn’t detect its hot word.

Most all speakers allow you to restore some privacy by being able to mute the microphone, but if you want to start asking the Assistant questions, you’ll need to unmute it first.

To learn more about these “always listening” speakers, I’ll pass the mic over to Jerry

Big upgrades are coming to the Assistant on Wear OS

Switching gears for a second, the Google Assistant on Wear OS (formerly Android Wear) is about to get a big upgrade.

In the near future, the Assistant on Wear OS will support Assistant Actions (basically apps for the Assistant) and give you the option to hear its responses through your watch’s speaker or a pair of connected Bluetooth headphones.

Along with this, Google will be adding something called “smart suggestions.” After asking the Assistant for the weather, for example, you’ll see little bubbles for “weather tonight”, “use celsius”, and more so you can continue the conversation with just the tap of your finger. Google Assistant on Android offers something similar, and it’s a great tool to have.

IFTTT supercharges the Assistant’s usefulness

IFTTT (If This Then That) is a powerful online tool that allows you trigger something (that) if a certain event (this) happens. You can connect IFTTT to the Google Assistant to create your own recipes using this formula, and it can allow for some incredibly helpful combinations.

Some of our favorite uses for IFTTT and the Assistant include adding contacts to your Google account, setting your Google Calendar status to Busy for a certain period of time, and much, much more.

Getting started with IFTTT can take some time and patience if you’re new to it, but once you’re all set up and ready to go, it can prove to be a lifesaver.

How to connect Google Home and IFTTT to do amazing things with your connected tech

You’ll get the same experience no matter what devices you use

With so many devices capable of running the Assistant, it’d be easy to think that the experience you get on one gadget would be different from another. This is something that Google struggled with for a while at first, but we’re finally in a position where the Assistant experience you get on a smart speaker, for example, is the same you’ll get on your phone.

There are a handful of features here and there that still create for some discrepency, but for the most part, the Assistant you use on your Pixel 2 is the same one found on Google Home.

Google Home and Google Assistant finally offer the same experience

Google Duplex is actually going to be a thing

Google showed off Duplex — Google Assistant making natural-sounding phone calls on your behalf — at I/O 2018, but quickly noted that it was just an experiment. Flash forward a couple months, and Google announced that certain users have started testing Duplex, and a public release will be here in the next few months. Before you know it, Google Assistant will be able to book hotels, dinner reservations, hair appointments and more without you lifting a finger.

More: What is Google Duplex?

Updated July 2018: Added the Google Duplex and language support sections, as well as links to recent Assistant news.

How to buy a digital copy of a PlayStation 4 game for your friend

We all want to find the perfect present for an unsuspecting loved one. Why not a copy of a game they’ve been wanting? So, you get to the PlayStation Store, pick your game of choice and purchase. Whoops, now it’s downloading to your PlayStation and not theirs. Fret not, here we’ll explain how to use

What we use for PlayStation gaming gifts

• The following can be found on Amazon:
• PlayStation 4 Pro 1TB Console ($546)
• The Hottest Gift: Marvel’s Spider-Man Digital Deluxe Edition ($80)
• Alternate Option: PlayStation $60 Gift Card ($10)

How to purchase a digital code download for your friend

Decide which game you would like to gift to your friend.

Find the digital copy option on Amazon. For this guide, we chose Marvel’s Spider-Man Digital Deluxe Edition. You can also order a PlayStation Gift Card with these same steps.

Make sure you have “PS4” selected as your platform, and that your “Edition” matches the digital title description. In this case, the Deluxe is the “Digital only” copy.

Add the item to your cart, whether it’s a pre-order or not.

When the game becomes available (or, as soon as you purchase if it already is) you will receive a code from Amazon to download the game. Send this code over to your friends and have them redeem the code on their PlayStation and get their game on!

Our recommended gifts

Not sure what game to get your friends or family? Here are some of the hottest games out there from newer options to ever-loved crowd favorites.

Hottest new game

Marvel’s Spider-Man Digital Deluxe Edition

$80 on Amazon

A long-anticipated adventure

We all grew up loving Spider-Man and all his glory. Whether you loved the alternate universe comics, or the games themselves, this is one superhero that will always be in our hearts. Give your friends a game packed with action and a riveting story!

A phenominal roleplay adventure

God of War Digital Deluxe Edition

$70 on Amazon

A heart-wrenching story

The first God of War was well-known for its stunning graphics and an amazing combat system. This sequel not only blows us away because of the modern-day advancement, but the story you follow of this Father and Son. Give your friend the best action, and heartaches, with this game.

Their own kind of freedom

PlayStation Gift Cards

$60 on Amazon

Let them choose for themselves

A gift card can go a long way. For $60 you could get just about any game you want for your PlayStation. Either that, or it could get them a whole bunch of smaller games they want! Gifting your friend with their own choices eliminates you having to choose and ensures that, whatever they decide, you know they’ll love it. You can also find cards for $20, $25, $50, or $100.