Apple’s AirPods work great with Android phones, and today they are just $145

These don’t go on sale all that often.

Amazon is currently offering the popular wireless headphones from Apple for $144.99, which is about $15 off the normal going rate. We don’t see many discounts (outside of Costco’s recurring one) for these truly wireless headphones from Apple, so if you have been looking for a set, this is a deal you won’t want to miss out on.

Don’t forget, just because Apple makes the headphones doesn’t mean that they don’t work beautifully with Android devices. I’ve been using my AirPods with various Android devices since I got them, including my LG G6, BlackBerry KEYone, Essential Phone, and more. The experience is flawless, and the comfort and convenience greatly outweigh any silliness that you may think that they add to your ears visually.

The AirPods are powered by the W1 Bluetooth chip, which means they connect easily and have improved sound over Bluetooth. They’re ready to use with Apple devices out of the box. They can detect when you put them in your ears and immediately start working. You can double tap to access Siri. No wonder they’ve been in such high demand.

Don’t forget to grab some protection for the case the AirPods sit in, as well as a strap so you don’t lose one when traveling!

See at Amazon

Apple Store App Offers Free Redeem Codes for ‘Obscura 2’ Camera App

The official Apple Store app for iOS devices has recently undergone changes in design and function, but Apple still occasionally uses it to host time-limited offers to download select paid apps for free.

From today, users who scroll down the Discover tab should find an option to download camera app Obscura 2 for free via a redeem code, rather than paying $4.99 to download it from the App Store.

Obscura brings together incredible features in an easy-to-use interface that helps you take great photos, without getting in your way. It has a bunch of gorgeous filters to make your photos pop, and plenty of pro features to help push your photography skills further.

Obscura 2 allows users to shoot in a range of formats including RAW, HEIC, JPEG, Live Photo, and Portrait modes, and offers 19 filters designed for use with a wide range of scenes.

The Obscura camera features also provide flash control, grids, shutter time, and spirit level, while a dedicated library browser lets you edit, share, copy, favorite, hide, delete, and trash your pictures.

To download the app for free, tap on the featured app in the Discover section of the Apple Store app, tap Download now for free, and you will be redirected to the App Store’s Redeem code screen. Your free redeem code should already be entered – all you need to do is tap Redeem in the upper right corner to begin downloading the app.

The offer to download Obscura for free through the Apple Store iOS app expires on September 25, 2018. Note that free app offers usually vary from region to region.

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How to use WhatsApp’s group calling feature for video and voice calls

WhatsApp’s group calling feature lets you talk to four people at once.

WhatsApp’s group calling feature is now rolling out to everyone on Android and iOS. The messaging platform picked up voice and video call support back in 2016, and the feature is very popular — every day, WhatsApp users spend over 2 billion minutes on calls.

To use group calling, you’ll first need to place a one-on-one video or voice call, and then add participants to that call. Here’s how to use WhatsApp’s group calling feature for video and voice calls.

Open WhatsApp from the app drawer or home screen.
Go to the Calls tab.

Select the dialer icon at the bottom right corner.

Select the first participant and use the dialer/video icons to make a voice or video call.
From within the one-on-one call, tap the add participant button on the top right corner.

Select the second participant you’d like to add to the call and then hit the Add button.

Follow steps five and six to add more participants to the call — you can add up to four people simultaneously.

That’s all there is to it. Are you interested in trying out WhatsApp’s group calling feature? Let us know in the comments below.

Logitech Acquires Blue Microphones for $117 Million in Cash

Logitech has announced its acquisition of Blue, the California-based maker of studio-quality microphones, in a $117 million cash deal.

Blue, creator of the popular Yeti and Snowball microphone lines, will join Logitech’s portfolio of other brands, which includes Jaybird, Ultimate Ears, and ASTRO gaming.

In a blog post, Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell explained how the acquisition would allow the firm to expand into the growing broadcast market and complement its existing range of accessory products.

Logitech’s acquisition of Blue Microphones will accelerate our entry into a growing market, and offers another way for us to help bring people’s passions (from music to blogging) to life. Joining with Blue is an adjacent opportunity for us – a new way to grow – with additional synergies related to our existing gaming, PC webcam and audio categories.

In a separate blog post, Blue Microphones CEO John Maier said he was “super excited” about the partnership, which would allow his firm to continue making “the coolest microphones on the planet”.

All of us here at Blue will keep creating cool stuff for professional musicians, gamers, podcasters, YouTubers, and streamers; Logitech will help us conquer the world. It’s a great partnership full of possibilities.

Logitech has gained a favorable reputation for acquiring companies with a view to investing in established brands, so the purchase shouldn’t overly concern fans of Blue products going forward.

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T-Mobile inks $3.5 billion deal with Nokia over 5G network equipment

T-Mobile starts laying the groundwork for its 5G network.

T-Mobile has announced that it is teaming up with Nokia to deploy its 5G network. The $3.5 billion deal will see Nokia provide T-Mobile with 5G equipment as well as software and services support. T-Mobile’s initial 5G push will include 30 cities, with work set to commence this year. The carrier is building its 5G network on 600MHz and 28GHz millimeter wave spectrum comliant with the 3GPP 5G New Radio standard.

From T-Mobile’s Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray:

We are all in on 5G. Every dollar we spend is a 5G dollar, and our agreement with Nokia underscores the kind of investment we’re making to bring customers a mobile, nationwide 5G network. And together with Sprint, we’ll be able to do So. Much. More.

T-Mobile will use a variety of Nokia services to build out its 5G network, including “AirScale radio platforms and cloud-native core, AirFrame hardware, CloudBand software, SON and 5G Acceleration Services.”

This is Nokia’s largest 5G agreement globally, and comes at a pivotal time for the Finnish giant as it goes up against the likes of Ericsson and Huawei in this space. 5G will drastically reduce latency while providing much more bandwidth, facilitating more mainstream VR and AR use cases.

OnePlus just surpassed Samsung’s flagship phone sales in India for the first time

Counterpoint Research shows Samsung’s drop-off was steep and poorly timed.

Here’s something we didn’t see coming: OnePlus just sold more high-end phones than Samsung in India. According to Counterpoint Research, OnePlus was the top-selling manufacturer in the flagship segment (₹30,000+, or $435+) in India for Q2 2018, hitting an all-time high of 40% market share. Adding to the surprise is that this is data for the entire quarter (April, May, June) where the OnePlus 6 was only on sale since mid-May compared to Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and S9+ launching in March.

This is the first time OnePlus has ever topped the premium segment in India, and it was aided in its gains by a precipitous drop-off of sales from Samsung and Apple in the quarter — hitting 34% and 14%, respectively. Counterpoint Research notes that fresh entries from Huawei, Vivo, Nokia and LG also mixed up the market and stole small slices. Interestingly, OnePlus hit this all-time-high mark of 40% market share thanks to OnePlus 5T sales making up 10 percentage points of the 40, all coming in the first half of Q2 before it was shelved for the OnePlus 6 launch.

The value-focused flagship model is the best way to sell phones in India.

OnePlus has been incredibly strong in India thanks to its value-focused flagship model, which places it in the “premium” tier in terms of market segmentation but gives it a massive advantage in terms of consumer pricing. The OnePlus 6 starts around ₹35,000 in India, compared to a Galaxy S9+ that starts around ₹60,000. That surely contributed to the sales numbers we see here — price is a massive factor in the Indian market, where sales skew far less expensive than Western countries, so the difference of 25% in MSRP between the OnePlus 6 and Galaxy S9+ is incredibly important. Despite the win for OnePlus, Samsung is still easily the largest smartphone brand in India with 29% of the total market — OnePlus isn’t even in the top five, as it only sells relatively expensive phones.

Regardless of the overall position, OnePlus will no doubt take this as a huge win for the growing strength of its brand even in a market it was already incredibly well established in, and look to repeat the feat in other markets globally. Though that will be a far tougher task elsewhere as Samsung holds a dominant position in so many markets where price and value are far less important.

OnePlus 6

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Logitech is buying Blue Microphones for $117 million

Logitech is venturing into the audio recording segment with its latest acquisition.

Even if you haven’t heard of Blue Microphones, there’s a high chance you saw a YouTube video or heard a podcast where one of the presenters was using the brand’s USB condenser microphones. Blue carved out a niche for itself in recent years in the audio recording space with the Yeti and Snowball, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed, as Logitech is acquiring the brand for $117 million in cash.

Blue’s existing products will be integrated into Logitech’s ever-increasing portfolio of brands, which include Ultimate Ears, Jaybird, Astro Gaming, and Logitech G. Here’s what Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell had to say about the acquisition:

Logitech’s acquisition of Blue Microphones will accelerate our entry into a growing market, and offers another way for us to help bring people’s passions (from music to blogging) to life. Joining with Blue is an adjacent opportunity for us – a new way to grow – with additional synergies related to our existing gaming, PC webcam and audio categories. It’s exciting!

For its part, Blue mentions that it will continue to innovate in this space, with exciting new products on the horizon.

Here are our first Xiaomi Mi A2 camera samples

The Mi A2 may just have the best camera we’ve seen on a $300 phone.

Xiaomi unveiled its 2018 Android One devices earlier this month in Madrid. The Mi A2 comes with significant upgrades from last year’s Mi A1, and the Mi A2 Lite offers a similar user experience at a more affordable price point.

Both devices will be sold in over 40 markets over the world over the coming months, and the Mi A2 set to make its debut in India on August 8. As a refresher, the Mi A2 features a Snapdragon 660 chipset, up to 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, and a 3000mAh battery.

The cameras are of particular interest: the Mi A2 has a primary 12MP f/1.75 camera with 1.25um pixels mated to a secondary 20MP f/1.75 u1.0 camera that automatically kicks in during low-light scenarios. The same 20MP f/1.75 imaging module is present up front as well, and there’s also a front LED module that engages when you’re taking selfies at night.

Having used the Mi A2 for just under a week, here’s my initial take on the cameras.

Daylight photos

The Mi A2 does a great job in daylight scenarios. Dynamic range and color reproduction are quite good, as is the level of detail. Auto HDR boosts the overall dynamic range without slowing down the device, and the only issue I’ve faced is a slight shutter lag.

Xiaomi is aggressively pushing AI across its portfolio, but unlike other manufacturers, the feature is primarily focused on the front camera. The AI-assisted feature on the Mi A2 automatically tweaks the intensity of the beautify filter and facilitates a software-driven portrait mode. Edge detection is good, as is the level of evenness of the background blur effect.

Low-light images

You’re guaranteed to get decent daylight photos even with budget phones, but it’s a different matter altogether in low-light scenarios. That’s where the Xiaomi Mi A2 truly shines. The phone has a secondary 20MP camera that kicks in automatically in artificial or low-light conditions, and the results are clearly evident. Images come out full of detail, and the phone manages to do a great job minimizing noise.

The Mi A2 seamlessly switched between the two sensors based on the lighting conditions, and Xiaomi didn’t state a particular threshold after which the low-light camera kicks in. The 20MP module also has 4-to-1 pixel binning to reduce noise levels in low-light shots, with the camera essentially combining information from four pixels into one to create a more detailed image. Overall, the Mi A2 held its own when it comes to low-light photography, and may just be the phone to beat in this area.

HMD should be very worried

The Mi A2 is turning out to be one of the most exciting phones of the year. The hardware is a considerable upgrade from last year, and the camera . It’ll be interesting to see how much the Mi A2 will end up costing in India, as the phone is going up against the Nokia 7 Plus.

Both phones have near-identical hardware, and are based on Android One. With the Nokia 7 Plus retailing for ₹25,999, there’s clear incentive for Xiaomi to debut the Mi A2 at around the ₹20,000 figure, which would allow it to steal market share away from HMD in this category.

With the launch just over a week away, we’ll know more about the Mi A2 very soon. In the meantime, what do you make of the camera? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

OnePlus 3/3T confirmed to receive Android P update

The OnePlus 3 and 3T will go straight from Android 8.0 Oreo to Android P.

OnePlus said that Oreo would be the last platform update for the two-year-old OnePlus 3/3T, but the company is now changing its stance. In a forum thread, OnePlus confirmed that both the OnePlus 3 and 3T will receive the Android P update.

The company said that after “internal discussions and evaluation,” it decided to offer the Android P update to either device in lieu of Android 8.1 Oreo. Both the OnePlus 3 and 3T are currently running Android 8.0 Oreo, and they’ll directly make the switch to Android P, skipping Android 8.1 altogether.

OnePlus’ decision is welcome news to fans using the 3/3T, and while there’s no information on when the Android P update will be delivered to either handset, OnePlus mentions that the upcoming Android version will first make its way to the OnePlus 6, followed by the OnePlus 5/5T, and then hit the 3/3T.

Android P

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OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3

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• Discuss OnePlus 3T and 3 in the forums

WhatsApp’s group voice and video calling feature is rolling out to everyone

WhatsApp’s group calling feature supports up to four people simultaneously.

WhatsApp announced earlier this year that it would roll out group calling for both video and voice calls, and the feature is now rolling out to everyone on Android and iOS. Group calling supports four people simultaneously, and to initiate a call, you’ll first need to place a one-on-one voice or video call and select the “add participants” button from the top right corner.

WhatsApp saw a huge boost in its userbase in the last two years, and the messaging platform now has over 1.5 billion monthly active users who spend over 2 billion minutes per day on calls. Group calls are end-to-end encrypted, and they’re designed to work on low-bandwidth networks.

India is WhatsApp’s largest market with over 250 million users, and with an overwhelming majority of users relying on mobile data, it makes sense to optimize the feature to work on 2G and 3G networks. The feature is now rolling out globally, so if you don’t see it just yet, hold tight for a day or two.