Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 12.1.1 to Public Beta Testers With FaceTime Improvements

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 12.1.1 update to its public beta testing group, one day after seeding the same beta to developers and two days after the release of the iOS 12.1 update.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program will receive the iOS 12.1.1 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device.

Those who want to join the beta testing program can sign up on Apple’s beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas.

The iOS 12.1.1 update introduces some significant improvements to the FaceTime interface, and it re-adds the feature that’s designed to let you take a Live Photo while on a FaceTime call.

In iOS 12.1.1, FaceTime features a reworked bottom bar that includes quick access buttons for muting a call and flipping the camera. Sliding up on the bottom bar brings up additional options with conversation participants.

Previously, FaceTime users were required to tap on three dots to access a secondary menu with these features.

The update also includes a new option in the Apple News app that lets you hide the side bar if desired.

Related Roundup: iOS 12
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Apple Seeds First Beta of tvOS 12.1.1 to Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 12.1.1 update to its public beta testing group, one day after releasing the beta for developers and two days after releasing the tvOS 12.1 update.

The tvOS 12.1.1 public beta can be obtained by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under “System.” “Get Public Beta Updates” will need to be toggled on, and once it is, the Apple TV will download the beta software.

What’s new in tvOS 12.1.1 is a mystery because Apple does not provide detailed release information for tvOS updates. The new software most likely focuses on bugs that were not able to be addressed in the tvOS 12.1 update.

Nothing new was discovered in the tvOS 12.1.1 beta provided to developers, which is not a surprise as Apple’s tvOS updates have historically been minor in scale.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Caution)
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Palm Phone hands-on: The supplemental smartphone

In 2018, we’re not focused on what our devices can do, but rather what we can do without our devices. Everyone from Google to Apple is pushing some kind of anti-addiction initiative, prompting users to take a break from their screens every once in a while so they can experience things in the real world more often.

The past few years also saw the resurgence of legacy brands. Blackberry, Nokia, and others came back in a big way, banking on nostalgia to help lift them into the spotlight shared by the likes of Samsung and Google.

Now, Palm is back too, and instead of trying to compete in an over-saturated landscape of big, immersive handsets, it’s betting big on another category – one at the intersection of wearables and mobile phones.

The Palm Phone is not a technically impressive device. With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 chipset, 32GB of storage, and 3GB of RAM, this isn’t the flagship device you’ll agonize over for days before buying. Instead, Palm is hoping for its new phone to supplement your daily driver. It’ll be an extension of your phone when you want to be more connected with the real world — I mean that literally.

This is not a technically impressive device. Think of it more like an extension of your main smartphone.

The Palm Phone works on Verizon’s network with an eSIM that mirrors the SIM on your main device. It shares the same phone number, meaning it’ll receive the same calls and texts as your primary phone. The point of the Palm Phone is to be the little cellular gadget you might need when you don’t really want to be consumed by the digital world but still might want a phone for emergencies (or emergency Snapchats).

Palm doesn’t want you to feel like you’re missing a ton when using its device, so it’s included a 12MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera that seemed to take nice photos during the time I used it. The phone’s even IP68 water resistant, so you take it in the water with you. The company wants this thing to be your daily companion so you can leave your main phone charging at your desk.

It should be noted that this isn’t a dumbed-down device. The Palm Phone is running Android 8.1 Oreo with a skin that makes it seem almost like an Apple Watch – with big bubbly elements making it easy to select the action you want to take. And because it is still running Android, you still have full access to the Google Play Store, where you can download nearly any app and have it work on your mini phone. In that sense, the Palm phone is only as full-fledged and productivity-focused as you want it to be.

See also

Best fitness trackers (September 2018)

Fitness trackers have come an extremely long way over the years. No longer are they glorified pedometers; they’re much more than that. Most standard fitness trackers nowadays can track your steps taken, distance traveled, how …

According to Palm, this device is something you would keep your work apps off of. This is something you bring with you to snap a few photos or work out at the gym — not something for responding to Slack messages and browsing Twitter. In a sense, it’s an alternative to a wearable device, evident in the fact that the company is launching more than 14 accessories alongside it. They’ve made armbands for the gym, cases in the shape of a small clutch purse, and even a necklace. Palm’s biggest focus is on the development of accessories for the device because it wants the phone to fit the lifestyle you already live — whatever it is.

One of the coolest features of the new Palm Phone is called Life Mode. This toggle in the quick settings menu disables all the radios in the phone, but only when the screen is off. When you unlock the device the radios spring back to life, flooding your device with all the notifications you missed while Life Mode was enabled. Palm says this lets you take control of your life back from notifications, and I quite like this idea. It also makes that 800mAh battery last quite a long time. Palm is touting “all day battery life”, but we’re assuming it will last even longer if you keep it in Life Mode most of the time, especially considering the power-sucking display is only 3.3 inches.

The Palm Phone will be available for $349 full retail or $299 through a 24-month payment plan with Verizon Wireless, and you’ll have to cough up $10 a month for Verizon’s NumberShare program, which allows the device to share your phone number. Unfortunately, since this phone is exclusive to Verizon in the U.S. you won’t be able to take it anywhere else, and you can’t use it as your primary phone. You’ll also need to use Verizon’s Message+ texting app if you want to sync your text messages.

The Palm Phone will be available from Verizon Wireless starting Nov. 2, but you’ll also be able to snag it from Vodafone if you live in the U.K.

Check it out on Verizon

What do you think about Palm’s new device? Is a supplemental smartphone a good idea? Let us know your thoughts below!

Dells takes up to $450 off of XPS and Alienware notebooks for Black Friday

If you’re in the market for a new desktop, notebook, or gaming system this holiday season, you’re in luck. Dell has just dropped its Black Friday ad, promising deep discounts of up to 50 percent off of notebooks, desktops, and other tech accessories. Some of the best deals that we saw, especially in light of Apple’s recent refresh that made its MacBook Air and Mac Mini even more expensive this year, are for XPS 13, XPS 15, Alienware 15, Alienware 17, and the Alienware Aurora.

The first two are among two of the most popular Windows 10 Ultrabooks on the market, promising to deliver power and performance in a lightweight package, while the Alienware systems ship with Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1070 graphics. Dell’s deals are spread out between November 22 and November 23, and they each have different starting times, so be sure to set your alarm if you spot something you like.

XPS Deals

Dan Baker/Digital Trends

Dell is taking $400 off the price of its $1,699 XPS 13 come November 23. The XPS 13 sale starts at 7 a.m. PT, so if you’re eyeing one of best Windows laptops on the market as a gift for yourself or a loved one this holiday season, you may have to jump quickly on this deal, as Dell states that quantities are limited at this price. For $1,299, the XPS 13 comes with an eighth-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, 512GB solid-state drive, and a 13.3-inch full HD display. A similar XPS 13 that ships with half the storage and half the memory currently retails for $1,344 on Amazon, so you’re saving a bit of money and getting a better system with Dell’s deal.

If you need a bigger screen, Dell is also slashing $300 off of the larger 15.6-inch XPS 15. That sale, however, starts a day earlier on November 22 at 9 a.m. The XPS 15 configuration that’s discounted is similar to the XPS 13 that’s on sale, except you’re getting a 15.6-inch full HD display at the Black Friday price of $1,399. Dell did not specify the graphics option on this discounted variant of the XPS 15 in its ad.

Alienware Gaming Deals

Jayce Wagner/Digital Trends

For gamers who need more graphics performance with a discrete GPU, Dell’s Alienware 15 and Alienware 17 configurations both come equipped with Nvidia’s GTX 1070 cards and eighth-generation Intel Core i7 processors. As part of its Black Friday promotion, Dell promises a steep discount of $450 off of its $1,949 Alienware 15 notebook and a discount of $400 off of its $1,999 Alienware 17. This takes the price of the Alienware 15 to $1,499 and the Alienware 17 to $1,599.

Both systems are configured with 16GB RAM and dual-drives for storage, including a 256GB solid-state drive and 1TB hard drive. The Alienware 15 sale starts at 6 a.m. on November 23, while the Alienware 17 sale starts at 7 a.m. on November 22.

Desktop gamers can also choose the Alienware Aurora, which is getting a $410 discount off of its $1,709 street price. At the sale price of $1,299, you will be getting a system with an eighth-generation Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 2TB hard drive, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card. The Aurora sale is good between November 14 and November 23, Dell said, though quantities are limited.

And if you want to play your games on a larger screen, the Alienware 34 Curved Monitor (model AW3418HW) promises to deliver a more immersive gaming experience with a 34-inch WFHD curved screen. With a resolution of 2,560 x 1,080 pixels, the Alienware 34 Curved matches the aesthetics of Dell’s Alienware-branded notebooks and the Aurora desktop, comes with AlienFX lighting, and delivers a 160Ghz refresh rate for blur-free gaming. The monitor also supports Nvidia’s G-Sync technology. Dell originally listed the Alienware 34 Curved at $1,999, but the monitor will go on sale for $699 on November 22 at 1 p.m.

Other Smart Bargains

In addition to computers, Dell also offers some savings on its deals for smart home products, speakers, and headphones. The Nest Thermostat E and Nest Protect Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm are both listed at $99, while the Nest Hello Doorbell is listed at $179. Google Home is also discounted to $79. Dell also has a dedicated portal for all of its Black Friday listings, and be sure to stay tuned to Digital Trends for other Black Friday deals.

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

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This new smart speaker lets you take Alexa into the shower

The world’s first splash-proof Alexa speaker for the shower has just come to KickStarter. AquaDew helps bring all the advantages of having a smart home right to your shower.

For those of us who like to be connected at all times, you’re in luck. Wasserstein Home has just launched a new KickStarter Campaign for its waterproof shower speaker that harnesses the power of Alexa.

AquaDew works just like an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot. You just have to give the “Alexa” command to get it started.

They say some of your greatest ideas or thoughts come to you in the shower. Now, you can stay connected easily while you’re there. Tell Alexa to set reminders, save an idea, play music, and more; all while staying in your normal morning routine. Need to brew your coffee while you’re washing your hair? “Alexa, brew my coffee.” Run out of shampoo? The KickStarter video features a girl ordering more in the middle of her soak. Sign me up.

Not only can the speaker live comfortably in your shower, it can also be placed in any room in the house and work as any other smart speaker. Not a bad kitchen solution if your tomato sauce often splatters in every direction.

AquaDew delivers eight hours of powerful sound and connects via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The speaker also comes with a MicroUSB charging port with splash-proof cover so you don’t have to worry about the battery dying on you during your favorite podcast. It’s sleek design (measuring 110 mm in diameter and 50 mm in thickness) and bright color LED lights ensure it will fit seamlessly into your routine. There are four different color options to fit your vibe.

Wasserstein has been developing countless smart home accessories for Nest, Echo, Google Home, and more. AquaDew is the brainchild of the need for a more sophisticated Bluetooth shower device that’s also incredibly convenient. No more choosing a song or playlist before you get in. Change the song, pause, rewind, or skip with the five clean buttons on the speaker surface.

For those who find this one interesting, the KickStarter campaign is live now. Early Bird pledges are going for $79.

Back This Project Now

Looking for more cool gadgets? We’ve found everything you need on our curated deals page. We always encourage caution when participating in a crowdfunding venture.

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

• Headed to a festival this summer? Here’s the best gear you can get for camping
• Amazon Echo vs. Dot: What’s the difference?
• Google Home Mini vs. Amazon Echo Dot: Which is better?
• Amazon Echo vs. Echo Plus: Which should you get?
• First-gen vs. second-gen Echo Plus: What’s the difference?

Everything you need to know about laptop displays

The display is arguably the most important piece of hardware a laptop. After all, it’s the means by which you actually use the device.

Yet displays are also difficult to explain and understand. They can be measured, but most people are not familiar with what those measurements mean or how they relate to their own viewing experience. Contrast. Screen Resolution. Black level. Gamut. Uniformity. These words can seem like arcane scrawl to the initiated, but they’re actually not difficult to grasp. Here’s our guide to the terms you need to understand when considering a notebook display, along with what to look for in each one.

Screen resolution

Dan Baker/Digital Trends

You’ve probably heard it before, but screen resolution refers to the number of pixels packed into the vertical and horizontal areas of any given display. Some of the most frequently used screen resolutions include 1,920 x 1080, and even 1,024 x 768. These numbers can get confusing thanks to the different display aspect ratios available. Sometimes these resolutions are listed at FHD, 1440p, 1080p, 4K, or QHD. Each of these terms still refers to the total amount of pixels packed into the screen resolution.

For instance, 1080p packs a standard 1,920 x 1080 resolution, whereas QHD and 4K pack in 2,560 x 1,440 or 3,840 × 2,160, respectfully. Our guide to buying displays and monitor resolutions is available, but in most cases, the higher the resolution, the sharper the picture. That is often what you can get in new displays, and what newer terms like 4K or QHD refer to.

Displays — and laptops — with 1080p or FHD resolution displays happen to be the most common and cheapest in the market. In most recent times, 4K options have also become available, but are often quite expensive. The Dell XPS 13 happens to be one of the best laptops we would recommend its superb screen resolution, ranging from 1080p to 4K.

Contrast ratio – Not really 1,000,000,000:1

This phrase is one that you’ve almost certainly heard before. Display manufacturers love to use contrast ratios because of all the impressive zeros they get to slide in. Numbers are easy to understand, and the higher they are, the better their display seems on paper.

Contrast ratio is simply the ratio of luminance between the brightest color (white) and darkest (black) on a display. Higher ratios are considered better because it means images will appear more defined and realistic.There’s just one small problem. No one uses a standardized test for contrast ratios. There are many ways to fudge the results, which is why there are inexpensive displays that claim insane ratios like 10,000:1.

You should trust contrast ratios as they’re reported in reviews. In-depth analysis using identical testing methods and equipment is the only way to discover a display’s true contrast. The laptop with highest contrast ratio we’ve ever tested is the 4K version of the Dell XPS 13, though laptops in the Surface and MacBook line often include high contrast as well.

Nit picking

Brightness is important for mobile devices like laptops, smartphones and tablets. Most devices have a glossy display to enhance contrast, but the gloss makes reflections an issue in bright rooms or outdoors. These reflections can only be defeated by a bright display.

The Nit is the standard unit of luminance used to describe various sources of light. A higher rating means a brighter display. Displays for laptops and mobile devices are usually between 200 and 300 nits on average. A rating over 300 nits is solid and a rating above 500 nits is extremely good. Only a few devices can put out that much light. Apple’s MacBooks are known for having the brightest screens on a laptop. It’s 13-inch MacBook Pro we reviewed had a screen that maxed out at 548 nits.

Televisions are a different story, and the brightest go north of 1,000 nits.

Seeing in black and white

Reviews of displays, including ours, will often make reference to black levels. You might be able to infer that this has something to do with how the display renders black, but it doesn’t explain much else.

Black level itself is expressed in a number, with lower being better. A black level of 0 represents a dark, pure black. The number is relevant because it has influence on how a display handles dark images. If you ever watch a movie on a bad display you will notice that details are missing from dark scenes. That’s because the display isn’t capable of reproducing the darkest portions of the image.

White levels are the opposite. The higher the value, the better. A white level of 255 is the maximum on the RGB scale, so an ideal display will come close to that figure and display a bright, unblemished white. Modern displays have a better handle on white levels than they do black levels, so it usually is not a defining quality. But an exceptionally good or bad result can make a difference.

A journey through space

Microsoft and HP collaborated in 1996 to create a standard color space known as sRGB. As you might imagine, it’s most relevant to computers. A color space is a standard gamut of colors that displays should be capable of reproducing.

These days, most laptops you purchase can handle most of the sRGB color space. Even most midrange IPS display can handle around 90 percent or better. That’s why by today’s standards, we often test color gamut using the AdobeRGB color space. Though it is less important than sRGB, only the highest-quality laptop panels handle over three quarters of this color space.

Only professional, high-end laptops like the MacBook Pro, ThinkPad X1 Extreme, and Dell XPS 15 reach the high 90s of both sRGB and AdobeRGB.

Respect the uniform

Almost all displays on the market today use LCD technology. This technology has been refined so that it’s inexpensive and of high quality, but does have a few drawbacks. Among these is the fact the panel itself emits no light.

For a picture to be visible a light must be shown through the LCD. In an ideal world the light behind the LCD would be equally bright in all areas, but that’s easier said than done. Most displays are at least a bit brighter in some areas than in others. This is a uniformity issue.

We have tested displays with uniformity issues that were severe enough to be immediately noticeable by an untrained eye. The problem is most obvious during dark scenes and is most prevalent in mobile devices. Plasma and OLED don’t have this problem because they create their own luminance.

Getting the band together

We commonly use a banding test image when looking at a display. This image displays a gradient of shades between absolute black and absolute white. A perfect product will display the image as butter smooth, but most don’t. Bands often appear in the image and are most common in its darkest quarter.

Banding is a noticeable problem. It’s common in any content that depicts a grade of color that gradually shifts. A photograph of a sunset is a great example. Banding will cause the photograph to have unnatural layers of color that shift abruptly.

HDR

Rich Shibley/Digital Trends

HDR is a relatively new term in the laptop and display market. Better known as high dynamic range, it is slowly becoming a term to find when shopping for new displays or laptops. It is not at all complicated and is just a technology which allows for a high level of contrast between light and dark images on a screen, and for a better color depth in images.

Some Windows 10 laptops now come with HDR displays, but it doesn’t make for much difference for the interface and visuals across the operating system. Instead, HDR is what can make movies and games bright, vibrant, and fun to watch or play. Keep in mind that only a few programs currently support HDR, and you might need to manually enable it in Windows Settings to get started. A laptop like the 3rd generation ThinkPad X1 Yoga is one of the best for enjoying HDR content.

Refresh rate

Jayce Wagner/Digital Trends

Measured in hertz, a refresh rate is a term which explains how often a display can change the picture in a second. Common refresh rates include 60Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz, but these have nothing to do with color accuracy or resolution. Still, for gaming, refresh rates are especially important.

Playing games at a native refresh rate on a monitor or laptop is best since it can avoid screen tearing, where the video card is pushing out frames that a display cannot support. More and more video cards like the Nvidia GTX 1080 or RTX 2080 can power frame rates over 60Hz, so it is an investment in a monitor or laptop with a high refresh rate ensures the best possible experience. As most gamers can attest, the difference between playing a fast-paced shooter on a 144Hz screen versus a 60Hz screen is, quite literally, game-changing.

While high-refresh rate displays are only now beginning to appear in gaming laptops, we would recommend the Alienware 17 R5, which supports refresh rates up to 120Hz — or even the Razer Blade 15, which goes up to 144Hz.

The screen door effect

“Screen door effect” is a phrase used to describe a monitor that has a visible gap between individual pixels. The technical term for this phenomenon is “dot pitch,” which describes the size of individual pixels and the distance between them. A low dot pitch means gaps should not be easily visible, while a high dot pitch means the opposite.

The impact of dot pitch is relative to the device. The gap between pixels becomes easier to notice as the distance between the display and its user decreases. That is why dot pitch is most often a problem on a mobile device. Monitors and HDTVs usually don’t struggle with this problem because the user is much further away.

Hopefully, this explanation has helped you understand how displays are measured. We do not refer to these terms in every review because we want to make our reviews as approachable as possible, but sometimes it’s impossible to avoid the technical talk. Now you will know what we’re on about.

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Acer Chromebook Spin 15 review

There’s a new wave of thin, light, and premium Chromebooks on the way that are elevating the platform beyond the budget space it’s mostly occupied since Google first whipped up Chrome OS. But that doesn’t mean that notebook manufacturers are giving up on offering larger and less-costly versions, and Acer’s Chromebook Spin 15 is a powerful case in point.

We looked at the full-size 2-in-1 with an Intel Pentium N4200 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage. This version of the Chromebook Spin 15 retails for $450, putting just beyond bargain-basement pricing but still lower than the $600 point at which Chromebooks start to inch into premium territory. It’s essentially a flip-around version of the $400 Acer Chromebook 15 clamshell.

The Chromebook Spin 15 is a very large 360-degree convertible 2-in-1 that doesn’t put as much of a dent in your wallet. Can it carve out a place in the increasingly upscale and diminutive Chromebook market?

Large and in charge, not necessarily in a good way

Okay, let’s be blunt: The Chromebook Spin 15 is huge. Yes, all 15-inch notebooks are relatively large, but Acer made this 2-in-1’s bezels massive by modern standards. That stretches the chassis out in its width and depth, making it comically large compared to a diminutive 15-inch notebook like Dell’s (admittedly premium) XPS 15.

In these dimensions, the Chromebook Spin 15 is even larger than Acer’s budget-oriented Aspire E 15, and we considered that a hefty notebook. Maybe unsurprisingly, the Spin 15 is similarly sized to the Acer Chromebook 15, being just slightly wider and deeper.

Interestingly, the one dimension where the Chromebook Spin 15 isn’t as massive is in its thickness, which is a very reasonable 0.79 inches. It’s not too heavy either, at 4.63, although that’s thanks primarily to a chassis that’s made mostly of plastic. The (overly-expansive) aluminum keyboard deck is reasonably flex-free, as is the soft-touch chassis bottom. However, the lid is quite bendy and it gives in too easily to pressure from above. The Aspire E 15 is heavier at 5.27 pounds and thick at 1.19 inches, but it also struck us as more robust.

The first thing you might notice on is just how small the keyboard looks amidst a sea of aluminum.

If you have a lot of desktop space (or a large lap) then you might not mind the Chromebook Spin 15’s overall size. That is, until you spin the display around into tablet mode — which takes a surprising amount of force thanks to the overly tight hinge. You’ll find yourself chuckling out loud at how much effort it requires. You won’t be using this one as a slate in the crook of your arm.

The 360 degree hinge does have a purpose though: Prop it on your lap with the display flipped around in media mode and you can enjoy some Netflix without the keyboard getting in the way.

Aesthetically, the Chromebook Spin 15 looks like the plastic notebook it mostly is. Acer adorned the lid with a crosshatch pattern that doesn’t fool us into thinking it’s an etched metal, and the dark silver color carries over to the keyboard deck and bottom of the chassis. Some chrome accents add a little panache, but overall this is a conservatively styled notebook that won’t be winning any beauty contests.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Acer put all of those long sides to good use with plenty of connectivity, and unsurprisingly it’s a close match with the Chromebook 15. You’ll find two USB-C ports that support data, display, and charging, along with two USB-A 3.0 ports for legacy support. There’s also a microSD card to expand the notebook’s storage and a 3.5mm audio jack. Wireless connectivity is the usual 2×2 MU-MIMO 802.11ac Wi-Fi and a Bluetooth 4.2 radio.

The keyboard’s just okay, but why is it so small?

Open up the Chromebook Spin 15’s lid, and the first thing you might notice is just how small the keyboard looks amidst a sea of aluminum. Yes, the standard backlit chiclet keyboard isn’t tiny, but there’s room on that huge keyboard deck for a more spacious version, perhaps with a numeric keypad. Acer did the same thing with the Chromebook 15, and it’s a shame to have wasted all that space.

Alternatives

Acer Chromebook 15

HP Chromebook x2

Acer Aspire E 15

Acer Aspire 5

In any event, the keyboard mechanism has a nice click that adds some precision, but it’s not very deep. Keystrokes are a bit short and abrupt with a harsh bottoming action. We do wish there was a little more bounce. The keyboard is uniformly backlit without a lot of bleeding around the keys, and we liked the ability to choose from five levels of backlighting. You’ll get a better keyboard on premium machines like the $600 HP Chromebook x2, but this one is good enough.

The touchpad was precise and large enough to comfortably support the usual Chrome OS multitouch gestures. Of course, this is a 2-in-1, and so the display supports touch, and it worked as well as the usual touch display. There’s no active pen, however, which is disappointing on one hand but then again, this is a massive notebook to use in tablet mode unless it’s simply sitting flat on a desk.

A display that can’t quite move beyond mediocre

To begin with, the Chromebook Spin 15 has a 15.6-inch display at Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 or 141 PPI). That’s become more common for budget notebooks, and it’s an improvement over the 720p displays of a few years ago. It’s not quite as sharp as we like, though it is an IPS panel, meaning it’s viewable at some extreme angles.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

We couldn’t subject the display to our usual colorimeter tests, and so our impressions are all subjective. Overall, we found the display to be bright enough to use in our typical office environments, although we wouldn’t recommend taking it outside into direct sunlight. And contrast was decent but not up to the standards of some slightly more expensive notebooks like the HP Chromebook x2.

Colors appeared a bit muted, and the gamma seemed a touch too dark. That made viewing images and video less than the best experience. And it’s a shame because flipping around that display for enjoying Netflix would have been a lot more pleasant had things been a little more natural. Once again, the HP Chromebook x2 and another premium machine, Google’s Pixelbook, provide much better displays.

Acer Chromebook Spin 15 Compared To

Samsung Galaxy Book 2

Lenovo Yoga Book C930

Asus ZenBook 13 UX331UA

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme

Microsoft Surface Book 2 15-inch

HP Spectre x360 15 (2018)

LG Gram 15Z980

Asus VivoBook Pro 15 N580VD

LG Gram 15Z970-A.AAS7U1 Laptop

Lenovo Yoga 720 15-inch

Razer Blade Stealth (2017)

Lenovo Yoga 720 13-inch

Dell Precision M3800

Asus Zenbook NX500JK-XH72T

Sony Vaio S Series

The dual speakers that flank the keyboard are loud enough to fill a small room, and they don’t distort until you crank them all the way up. Mids and highs are sufficient for the occasional video, although the bass is missing as usual and so music in particular suffers. Because the speakers fire up from the keyboard deck, they fire down when the tablet is in media mode and are thus slightly muffled. Overall, keep a pair of headphones handy for music and movies.

Such a large notebook should feel faster

The Chromebook Spin 15 uses an Intel Pentium N4200, a dual-core CPU that runs at 1.1GHz and bursts to 2.5GHz. In other words, it’s not the fastest processor around. However, Chrome OS is generally undemanding enough that a slower processor can suffice for the usual web browsing, productivity, and media consumption.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

That’s the case with this 2-in-1: Performance that’s good enough. But it’s not going to win any races against notebooks that are just a little faster and use Intel Core CPUs, like the Chromebook x2 and the Samsung Chromebook Pro. When measured against other relatively budget machines like our favorite 15-inch model, the Acer Chromebook 15, the Spin 15 performs right in line with our expectations.

Our usual suite of benchmarks won’t run on Chrome OS devices, and so it’s difficult to compare their performance to Windows 10 PCs. We did run the Android version of Geekbench 4 and saw a single-core 1,449 and a multi-core speed of 4,114, which fell slightly behind the 1,559 and 4,884 managed by the Pentium N4200 in the Acer Chromebook 15.

You won’t be picking this 2-in-1 up and using it as you would a gaming tablet.

In the Speedometer 2.0 web benchmark, the Chromebook Spin 15 scored 24.5, which is low even for a Chrome OS notebook. The Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 with its Celeron 3965Y managed a much faster 43.2, and the Chromebook x2 scored an impressive 75.1 You have to look at low-powered Windows 10 notebooks like the Asus NovaGo (10.3) and the Microsoft Surface Go (26.0) to see scores this low.

Despite some low benchmark scores, the Chromebook Spin 15 was fine for the usual Chrome OS-style web browsing and productivity apps. There’s only 4GB of RAM, though, so you’ll eventually hit a point where too many tabs and apps will slow things down. If you keep your expectations reasonable, though, you won’t be disappointed with the Chromebook Spin 15’s overall performance.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Although you can play Android games on it, you won’t be happy with the gaming performance. Action titles like Asphalt 8 were choppy at times. And that’s forgivable, really, because you won’t be picking this 2-in-1 up and using it as you would a gaming tablet. Other Android apps, like Outlook and OneNote, were perfectly usable.

Outstanding battery life will last you a long workday indeed

We weren’t told how many watt-hours of battery life Acer packed into the Chromebook Spin 15, but we weren’t expecting too much given the large 15.6-inch display. It runs Chrome OS, though, meaning it’s not stressed like Windows 10 notebooks and should demonstrate some enhanced efficiency.

In our battery testing, as it turns out, the Chromebook Spin 15 is a strong performer indeed. It managed a very strong performance in our Basemark web benchmark, churning through this aggressive test for about five and a half hours. That’s an hour longer than the Chromebook x2 and the Acer Chromebook 15.

Acer’s 2-in-1 also lasted for 11 hours of web browsing, which is also a great performance and within a half hour of the Chromebook 15. And the Chromebook Spin 15 played our test Avengers trailer for 13 and a half hours, almost four hours more than the Chromebook x2 and almost two hours longer than the Chromebook 15.

You’ll get a full workday out of the Chromebook Spin 15. You’ll even be able to settle down for some Netflix after a hard day’s work without worrying about plugging in.

Our Take

Yes, the Chromebook Spin 15 is a massive 2-in-1 — at least in width and depth — that makes a mockery of the tablet concept. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a good Chrome OS machine if you ignore the fact that the display swings all the way around. Just use it as a clamshell or in media mode for watching videos, and you’ll enjoy this economical and very long-lasting machine.

Is there a better alternative?

There aren’t that many 15-inch Chromebooks around, and so the first alternative that comes to mind is Acer’s Chromebook 15. That one performs similarly, has just about the same battery life, and is just about the same size. It’s also only $50 less than the Chromebook Spin 15, and it’s not nearly as good for Netflix binges.

Step down to smaller devices, and you’ll find more options. For example, there’s the HP Chromebook x2 that costs $150 more but offers a much better (albeit smaller) display, significantly better performance, and it’s far easier to carry around. But it can’t match the Chromebook Spin 15’s battery life.

Then, you could look at a Windows 10 machine in the same basic price range. One good option is the Acer Aspire E 15, which will give you better performance, especially in gaming, to go with a better 15.6-inch display. You won’t get the same battery life, though, and you’ll be carrying around a bit more heft.

How long will it last?

Although it’s mostly constructed of plastic, you won’t question the Chromebook Spin 15’s longevity thanks to a mostly solid build quality (just don’t press down too hard on the lid). The biggest question is this: Will the Pentium processor keep up as Chrome OS advances? Only time will tell. The one-year warranty is the industry standard.

Should you buy it?

Yes. If you’re looking for a 15-inch Chromebook, then this one is as good as any you’ll find for $450. The 2-in-1 flexibility adds just the slightest bit of value, but it’s enough to make the Chromebook Spin 15 a worthy purchase.

The best OnePlus 6T cases to keep the flagship killer slaying

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

OnePlus is the king of the bargain Android flagship, and its latest triumph — the OnePlus 6T — is a masterclass in the techniques OnePlus has long taught. This beautifully designed phone is also super powerful and packed with the latest trends and tricks. Best of all, you can get a hold of one for under $600.

But you’re not going to be cavalier with it, just because it’s one of the cheapest ways to own a fully featured flagship. Good looks are marred by scratches and bumps, and that bezel-less display could be ruined by an unlucky bump or a slip from the table. Keeping your shiny new phone looking good should be a priority, but life is hazardous and you can’t keep your phone wrapped in cotton wool.

Why not wrap it something else instead? A good phone case can provide a barrier against external threats, and make sure your phone keeps kicking until you’re ready to replace it. Here are the best OnePlus 6T cases to keep the “flagship killer” slaying.

VRS Designs Crystal Chrome Series ($24)

The OnePlus 6T is a beautiful phone and it’s a shame to hide that amazing design with a bulky case. But you don’t have to. This case from VRS Design is a great example of a protective case that’s also as clear as a window, giving you the perfect view of your phone. It’s made from a TPU bumper and polycarbonate (PC) backplate with a raised edge that elevates your phone from surfaces, and it comes equipped with air-cushion technology to protect against bumps. The PC backplate provides a strong and scratch-resistant surface that makes sure your phone stays fully protected without obscuring its style. This is a quality case at a great price.

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VRS Designs

Olixar Leather-Style Wallet Case ($11)

There’s nothing quite like a leather wallet case for lending a sleek, executive feel, and this wallet case from Olixar is a great example of that. It’s made from PU leather — you’ll struggle to find real leather at this price — which is durable, easy to clean, and very protective. As a wallet case, the front cover flips over your phone’s display to keep it protected, while an inner plastic core keeps your phone held securely. It folds back into a horizontal stand if needed and it comes with two pockets on the inside of the front cover, which are perfect for cash, cards, or tickets. This option is a good and cheap way to add some executive style to your phone, but be aware it won’t be as protective as a bulkier case.

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Mobile Fun

Krusell Sunne Vintage Nude ($32)

If only real leather will tickle your stylish itch, then check out this case from Krusell. It’s made from genuine leather that has been sourced and treated to the highest social and environmental certifications, per Krusell’s own dedication to sustainability and social responsibility. The case will also age over time, creating its own unique patina as the years tick by. Krusell’s design borrows from Nordic traditions, and it offers a slim design with a raised edge that protects the screen. The inner lining is soft and helps to protect against falls and drops — but it’s important to note that Krusell’s case isn’t as protective as bigger cases, and it has no protection for the buttons. Still, this is a beautiful case.

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Mobile Fun

Official OnePlus Sandstone Case ($21)

Why look any further than OnePlus itself for full device protection? OnePlus has a history of making great cases for its phones and this Sandstone case is one of its most iconic. It’s made from hard polycarbonate, which provides strong protection against bumps, drops, and scratches, and there are raised edges that keep your phone’s display from resting on abrasive surfaces. It’s patterned with a sandstone grit, which provides a huge amount of additional grip to stop your phone slipping from your hand. It’s undoubtedly a fan favorite, it’s super slim, and it provides strong protection that looks good — at a great price, too.

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OnePlus

Tudia Merge Series Rugged Case ($18)

Looking for some great protection to safeguard your OnePlus 6T while out and about? Tudia offers great protective rugged cases and the Merge Series is a solid option to keep your phone safe. It’s made from a combination of a shock-absorbing TPU inner core and an outer shell of scratch-resistant polycarbonate that provides decent protection against a variety of threats. It has raised edges to elevate your phone from surfaces, and the textured edges help to provide grip. This case is also slim enough to slip into and out of pockets easily. Tudia’s Merge Series is a great option if you work outdoors or have an active lifestyle, and it’s available at a tempting price.

Buy it now from:

Amazon

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium cases
• The best LG G7 ThinQ cases
• The best Galaxy S8 cases and covers
• The best Pixel 3 XL cases to keep your notch in one piece
• OnePlus 6T vs. OnePlus 6 vs. OnePlus 5T vs. OnePlus 5: Should you upgrade?

The best scary stories from the internet

The internet has transformed most forms of social interaction, from gaming, to dating, to the ancient act of telling scary stories. Back in the day, stories of ghosts and hook-handed serial killers were something you told huddled around a campfire, and while the internet has stripped away the intimacy of old-fashioned ghost stories, it’s a platform that allows scary stories to spread. Eerie photos, “creepypastas” (scary stories that get copied and pasted around the internet), and disturbing Reddit posts are the urban legends of the digital age, so to celebrate Halloween, here are a few of the most famous, most chilling scary stories from the internet.

Slender Man

No discussion about internet horror can avoid mentioning Slender Man, far and away the most famous example of a viral scary story. Slender Man has been the subject of a feature film, video games, and was even name-dropped in a disturbing real-life stabbing, but his origin can be traced back to the forums of Something Awful, where in 2009, users created a thread for posting creepy, Photoshopped images. The biggest hit was user Victor Surge’s post of a pair of otherwise normal images with a tall, shadowy figure in the background, along with some background info on the photos and the “photographers,” both missing.

“The Slender Man” became the star of the thread, and fans quickly built an entire mythos around him. The character spread beyond the confines of the Something Awful forums, with more people adding their own takes on the story through fan art, blog posts, even short films. Slender Man’s ominous presence evokes the cosmic horror of H. P. Lovecraft, whose stories dwelled on humanity’s tiny place in a vast, dark, uncaring universe. Like Lovecraft’s most famous creation, Cthulhu, Slender Man has lost his edge through oversaturation, his frightful aura stretched thin across years of fan projects (and a critically reviled 2018 movie), but his story remains a terrific example of viral media. For a vintage taste of the Slender Man mythos, check out Marble Hornets, a series of short “found footage” films.

SCP Foundation

To a first time visitor, the SCP Foundation website may look like a relic from a previous age of web design. That plain visage belies the terrifying content within — a vast collection of creepy stories united by an overarching mythos. The community-driven site presents itself as the database of the SCP Foundation, an international group dedicated to collecting and studying supernatural objects and creatures. The site features entries on the various subjects contained by the Foundation, which range from more mundane entities (like SCP-021, a parasite that resembles a tattoo) to abstract monsters (SCP-087 is a dark staircase where people report strange sounds and visions). SCP’s entries are written in a plain, diagnostic style that one might expect from internal government documents, and this commitment to the act only adds to the creepiness.

Lavender Town Syndrome/Pokémon Black

When Pokémon reached the United States in the late ’90s, the internet was still a mysterious place where rumors could spread without being immediately disproven, and plenty of urban legends have since sprung up about the original games, Pokémon Red and Blue. Some were mundane — like the rumor that you could, through some sequence breaking, find a truck under which was the rare Pokémon Mew — but some of them could be disturbing, such as a post alleging that, after the original games came out in Japan, numerous children committed suicide after hearing the creepy theme music of Lavender Town.

Another Pokémon tall tale involves the wild world of bootleg games. The original Pokémon games came out on cartridges, which were prone to glitches and hacks. Bootleg games circulated, and could often have bizarre errors. One well-known creepypasta tells the first-person account of a mysterious, bootleg Pokémon cartridge. The author boots up the game to discover that it is called “ Pokémon Black Version,” and that the player begins with a Pokémon called “GHOST” which possesses a terrible power. Stories like these are a reminder of the mystery and power that Pokémon held for a generation; one wonders if today’s kids will one day swap stories of creepy encounters they had in Fortnite.

Anansi’s Goatman Story

Not as famous as the other entries on this list, but it stands out in the world of creepypastas for being straightforward in its prose, so it resembles a story an ordinary person would tell. The story comes from 4chan’s paranormal board, /x/, detailing a poster’s account of how he and a bunch of other teenagers went out for a night in the woods, only to realize they aren’t alone. It’s not a polished story, which helps add an air of authenticity, and the author wisely avoids the sort of edgy twists that poison a lot of scary stories on the internet.

Candle Cove

Although it didn’t reach the same level of ubiquity as Slender Man, Candle Cove followed a similar trajectory, starting out as a forum post that gained momentum, generating fan fiction and eventually making it to television. Written by web cartoonist Kris Straub, the original Candle Cove story was a series of forum posts in which different users reminisce about a show they watched as kids, Candle Cove, which featured disturbing puppets (and of which they could find no traces in adulthood). Straub’s original story is effective in its simplicity, and Syfy later adapted it for the first season of Channel Zero, an anthology series with each season building on a different creepypasta story.

Editors’ Recommendations

• ‘Slender Man’ review
• Let Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant spook you on Halloween
• The best movies on Hulu right now (October 2018)
• ‘Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’: Everything you need to know
• Police body cams are scarily easy to hack into and manipulate, researcher finds

WhatsApp krijgt toch advertenties

Na jarenlang advertentievrij te zijn geweest gaan er dan toch adverties getoond worden in WhatsApp. Volgens een topman van het bedrijf wordt hiervoor de status-sectie gebruikt.

Eerder was WhatsApp een betaalde app, iets wat verdween nadat Facebook het in 2014 kocht. Sindsdien was het zoeken naar een manier voor Facebook om haar aankoopbedrag van 16 miljard dollar terug te verdienen. Eerder leek het er op dat gebruikers van WhatsApp Business dat geld moesten binnenhalen. Topman Chris Daniels zet daar nu definitief een streep door; de status-sectie krijgt advertenties. In WhatsApp-status is het mogelijk om berichten of foto’s te delen die na 24 uur verdwijnen.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg voor de Amerikaanse Senaat

De stap zou er voor gezorgd hebben dat enkele WhatsApp mede-oprichters het bedrijf verlaten hebben. Zij hebben vooral moeite met het de mogelijkheid om gericht advertenties te kunnen tonen. Om dit mogelijk te maken wordt hoogstwaarschijnlijk Facebook’s eigen advertentieplatform gebruikt. Hier kunnen adverteerder gericht advertenties tonen aan groepen gebruikers gebaseerd op zaken als interesses en achtergrond. Vertrokken mede-oprichters zoals Brian Acton vrezen voor de privacy van gebruikers en de onderliggende encryptie nu die data gekoppeld moet worden. De eveneens vertrokken oprichter Jan Koum was ook altijd fel tegenstander van het tonen van advertenties.

Vanaf 2019 advertenties

Voorlopig kunnen we nog even kort genieten van een advertentievrije WhatsApp-ervaring. Facebook begint vanaf 2019 met het tonen van advertenties. Het is niet ondenkbaar dat ook andere onderdelen van de app advertenties krijgen. Hoe deze advertenties er uit komen te zien en hoe vervelend ze worden blijft voorlopig onbekend.

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