Chromecast upgrades its ambient mode

One of the best things to watch when you’re not watching video just got even better.

When it comes to using your TV as a bit of an art piece, Chromecast is right up there — especially when it comes to customization. And now it’s got a new ambient mode that allows for even more options, and more control — and an even better experience. Here’s what’s up:

Within the Google Home app (you’ll need the most recent update on Android or iOS) you’ll find new ambient mode settings for a given Chromecast target. From there you’ll start with three options for background images.

First is “Photo frame,” which uses your own images as the Chromecast background when it’s not otherwise in use showing video or slideshows. You still have full control over which photo albums are used, the better to avoid the obvious embarrassing situations. (Pro tip: Make a dedicated album specifically for this purpose.)

You also can still chose the “Art gallery” function and use images picked by Google. And, yes, they’re still very good.

And finally there’s the option for Facebook or Flickr images. It’s “experimental,” though. So adjust your life accordingly.

We also still have options for weather and time info, and whether to show data on images being used as the background — who shot it and what album it’s in. (Again, title things like a grown-up, folks.)

And, finally, you can chose how often images cycle through — from 10 seconds to 10 minutes.

There’s also a secondary option that lets you see the history of all the images shown in ambient mode, so if you see something cool you can grab your phone and figure out what it was.

And that’s it. A new coat of paint, a new option or two — and still a very useful Chromecast.

Best Amazon Prime Day Deals

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The Lightning deal on this Lightning cable is selling out lightning-fast.

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Prime Day is a great time to save while restocking essential items you use every day

Don’t miss out on the “boring” deals.

Sure, Prime Day is an awesome opportunity to #TreatYoSelf and buy the fun things you want, but what about the boring things? I’m talking about the shampoos and dish soaps of the deal world. They’re not exactly exciting, but that’s what makes saving money all the more enticing. You’ll have to buy laundry detergent at some point in the future. Why not save some money (and skip the store) in the process?

Let’s start out with the chores. If you need dishwasher detergent, air freshener, laundry soap, or a floor cleaning system, you’ll want to check this offer out. Amazon’s giving Prime members $20 off when they spend $60 or more. As an added bonus, several of the included items are on sale or have coupon offers. You can save on Lysol Disinfecting Wipes, too. Four 80-count containers fall to only $9.11 after the coupon offer is clipped. Boom. Fresh air and fresh clothes, done and dusted.

How about food? Feed the cats with up to 40% off feline favorites, including treats, food, and watering devices. Dog food is on sale, too. Purchase the pooch this 5-pound bag of Wag dog food for just $9.09.

People food is on sale, too. Amazon-branded everyday essentials are discounted by 30%, including snacks and coffee.

We can’t forget the health and beauty must-haves. Lipstick is an everyday essential, right? You’ll want to check out this offer for up to 30% off luxury beauty items. There’s even a coupon for free samples if you spend $50 or more. You can also score this Waterpik Aquarius Water Flosser for only $40 instead of the usual $80 price tag.

As the Prime Day deals keep rolling in, we’ll keep adding to the everyday essentials roundup. Keep checking there for even more great discounts on the things you use every day.

The NVIDIA Shield TV media player is $139 for a limited time

Blends perfectly with all your other Android gear.

The NVIDIA Shield TV streaming media player is down to $139 on Amazon. This is a Prime Day Lightning deal, so you’ll definitely need a Prime membership for this one. The average street price for the Shield is around $179. While it has dropped in price a couple times in the past, we have never seen it go for less than $149. Of course, since it’s a Lightning deal we’re dealing with limited supply and limited time before this deal is done for good.

The NVIDIA Shield TV just updated to Oreo 8.0 recently, so it’s got the most up-to-date Android operating system. Read more about it in our review including how it has improved its hardware over older generations and its potential applications with your smart home.

See on Amazon

Save $60 on the Google Wifi 3-pack this Prime Day

Blanket your home with Wi-Fi.

Google’s Wifi mesh router system is one of the most popular options from last year, and for good reason. Right now you can pick up a 3-pack for only $239 via Amazon, which is almost as much as it would be if you bought two of them individually, except you get three access points. This set regularly sells for up to $300 when not on sale.

This deal is exclusively available to Prime members as part of Amazon’s Prime Day. If you’re not a member, you can still get in on this deal by starting a free 30-day trial.

The Google Wifi mesh router system offers seamless Wi-Fi coverage throughout your home and helps eliminate dead zones. A set of three can cover up to 4,500 sq. ft and more can be added if you need additional coverage. You can pick up just one of these devices on sale today as well for $99 each.

See at Amazon

Google Cloud Platform outage took down many popular apps, but it’s mostly back to normal now

Experiencing issues with apps today? Don’t necessarily blame the developer.

If you noticed an issue with one (or many) of your apps not working properly today, you weren’t alone — and it wasn’t your, or your phone’s, fault. Google Cloud Platform had an outage today, around 12:15 p.m. PT, that limited the ability for many popular apps to connect with the cloud that they’re reliant on. We don’t often talk about the cloud backend that runs all of these apps on our phones, but Google Cloud Platform has some of the world’s biggest apps, services and websites as its customers — names like Snapchat, Spotify and even Apple’s iCloud. The technical wording for what went wrong initially was a bit more … wordy:

We are investigating a problem with Google Cloud Global Loadbalancers returning 502s for many services including AppEngine, Stackdriver, Dialogflow, as well as customer Global Load Balancers. We will provide another update by Tuesday, 2018-07-17 13:00 US/Pacific.

And, before that 1:00 p.m. PT deadline, Google had another update to indicate that the issue was resolved for a “majority” of users. “Users” in this case is the apps themselves as a whole rather than individual end users, so whole apps could still be experiencing problems — which of course manifest themselves in end user issues.

The issue with Google Cloud Load balancers returning 502s should be resolved for majority of users and we expect a full resolution in the near future. We will provide another status update by Tuesday, 2018-07-17 13:30 US/Pacific with current details.

We don’t always think about it, but most of the apps on our phones are just about useless without a connection to the internet — and going a step further, that internet connection doesn’t do much unless the cloud infrastructure is in place to handle all of the requests and computation the app needs. We don’t really expect Google’s servers to have issues all that often, and neither do developers, so we all rely on it inherently — but when problems do arise, the app developers themselves can’t do anything. If you experienced the outage today in the form of one of your apps not working properly, cut the developer a break — this one was on Google.

Even though Google says it has resolved the issue for the most part, you may experience lingering effects for the next couple of hours. Be patient, and the service will be restored shortly.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!

Here’s everything we know about the Galaxy Note 9!

Now more than ever, Samsung’s Galaxy S+ phones are becoming eerily similar to the Note series. The Note used to be Samsung’s way of touting all of the latest and greatest tech it had to offer, and while this is still the case, the same can be said for this year’s Galaxy S9+.

Samsung needs more than just the S Pen to make the Note 9 stand out from its own phones and the rest of the competition, and luckily, all signs are pointing to something exciting for this year’s release. Here’s what we know so far!

July 17, 2018 — A new render and in-hand photos show the Note 9 once again

We already have a pretty good idea as to what the Galaxy Note 9 will look like, but thanks to a new render and a couple hands-on photos, the picture’s now clearer than ever before.

Starting first with the render, Evan Blass took to Twitter today with the above photo. It shows the Note 9 in a blue paint job with a blue and yellow S Pen to accompany it, and the combo looks downright fantastic.

hmmm pic.twitter.com/Q7uI2iWKB0

— 萌萌的电教 (@MMDDJ_) July 17, 2018

As for the hands-on photos, these line up perfectly with the render and showcase both the front and back of the phone.

What’s your take on these?

July 16, 2018 — Galaxy Note 9 spotted out in the wild with Samsung’s CEO

Not too long after DJ Koh spilled some beans about the Note 9’s S Pen features, he’s back in the news once more as he was recently spotted using the phone during the media event mentioned below.

Koh can be seen using the Note 9 in the above photo, and while most of the device is hidden, we can confirm that it is, in fact, the Note 9 due to the placement of the rear camera and fingerprint sensor.

What will the Galaxy Note 9 look like?

Quick answer — a lot like the Note 8.

We’ve seen one collection of renders for the Note 9 so far (pictured above), and save for the fingerprint sensor being moved below the rear camera sensor, the phone’s shaping up to be nearly identical to last year’s model.

As such, we can expect a large Infinity Display with slim bezels, an all-glass back, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Samsung’s event teaser suggests that we’ll get at least one bright yellow color option, but I’m still crossing my fingers the Galaxy S9’s Burgundy Red gets a wide release on the Note 9 🤞.

What specs can we look forward to?

Samsung’s Galaxy Note phones are always home to some of the best specs around, and the Note 9 shouldn’t be any different.

Based on the current rumor mill and what we’ve seen from other 2018 flagships, here’s what we think we’ll see this year.

When will the Galaxy Note 9 be released?

The Galaxy Note 9 will be announced on August 9, 2018, at an Unpacked event in New York City.

We can expect retail availability to come in a 1-2 week time frame after the announcement, if any previous launches are any indication.

How much will the Galaxy Note 9 cost?

Pricing for the Note series has steadily been going up each year, as has the majority of the smartphone industry.

The Galaxy Note 8 costs $950 unlocked, and I’d expect the Note 9 to cost either the same or slightly more. Apple proved with the iPhone X that people aren’t afraid to shell out $1000+ for a new smartphone, and I don’t consider it to be out of the question for Samsung to follow suit with the Note 9 – especially if it adopts newer technologies like an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+: Everything you need to know!

Best Amazon Prime Day Deals

AeroGarden Sprout LED with Gourmet Herb Seed Pod Kit

$44.99


$70.00


Save $25

Have a green thumb you prefer to keep indoors? AeroGarden is a neat little way to grow your own herbs on your counter.

theBalm Schwing Liquid Eyeliner

$12.92


$16.75


Save $4

This cult-favorite liquid eyeliner has an easy-to-use felt tip so you can master the cat eye look.

Anker PowerLine+ Lightning Cable

$10.00


$15.00


Save $5

The Lightning deal on this Lightning cable is selling out lightning-fast.

Google Wifi

$239.00


$299.99


Save $61

This Google Wifi mesh router system can cover up to 4,500 sq. ft with Wi-Fi coverage.

• Top Deals
• Amazon Devices
• TVs
• Smart Home
• Unlocked Smartphones
• Kitchen
• Audio & Headphones
• Gaming
• Home Improvement / DIY
• Everyday Essentials
• Kids & Toys
• Entertainment
• Fashion

Check out more Amazon Prime Day deals!

Samsung Galaxy Note 9

• Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!
• Is it best to buy the Galaxy S9 or wait for the Note 9?
• Do you plan on upgrading to the Note 9?
• Galaxy Note 8 review
• Join our Galaxy Note 9 forums

Updated: June 29, 2018: Updated the spec sheet to coincide with latest rumors.

YouTube Music: Everything you need to know

YouTube Music is here — and it’s packing the biggest music library in the world.

YouTube is one of the most-viewed websites on the planet, and by far the most popular video platform today, so it’s no surprise that millions upon millions of users turn to it every day for music. It’s the default platform for music videos — especially viral music videos like This is America and Girls Like You — and it’s also a place to find just about any song, remix, mashup, or fan cover you could ever want. Whether you’re looking for lyrics to a song before karaoke night, music to sleep to, or a new remix to play at your next party, YouTube has what you’re looking for.

Now, YouTube is ready to make another run at a music app built upon their video empire with YouTube Music. It’s a music app with a truly unique interface, an unparalleled selection, and more than a few kinks to work out, but YouTube Music is here to stay and here to compete.

The latest YouTube Music news

July 17, 2018 — Google promises Android Auto support, better sound quality, SD card support, and more with future updates

There are plenty of areas in which Google can improve YouTube Music, and thanks to the team behind the app, we now have a short list of features to expect in future updates.

Over on the YouTube Music Help forum on Google Support, the YouTube Music team says that the following features will be available in no particular order over the coming months:

• Better audio quality, and ability to select the quality for downloading and streaming
• Sonos support
• Android Auto support
• SD card support for Android
• More obvious shuffle vs. play-in-order options for playlists

It’s unclear when exactly all of this will be available, but the option to save downloaded songs to an SD card is rolling out now.

June 18, 2018 — YouTube Music is coming to 12 new countries and becoming available to all inside the original “Early Access” countries

YouTube has opened up YouTube Music to 12 new countries , as well as ending its awkward and often confusing “Early Access” period and making the service available to everyone in its original five countries.

This brings the number of countries YouTube Music serves up to 17 — Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States — and with the new YouTube Music also comes the new YouTube Premium pricing system.

All the big details

The service starts at $9.99/month — but no one should pay that

There’s no real sugar-coating it: using YouTube Music as a free user on Android is bad. There are ads every three to six songs, and you can’t leave the Now Playing screen, so it hogs your screen and your battery. YouTube Music is worlds better when you unlock its paid features. YouTube Premium is absolutely worth paying for.

YouTube Music Premium, however, is not.

For the love of Duarte, buy YouTube Premium instead of YouTube Music Premium

What’s happening to Google Play Music? Where’s my likes and playlists?

Google wants all of its Play Music subscribers to migrate over to YouTube Music at some point in 2019. That means YouTube Music will be adding most of Google Play Music’s tentpole features — the biggest of which is Google Play Music’s free 50,000 song music locker.

What does YouTube Music mean for Google Play Music

That said, Google Play Music and YouTube Music’s libraries and catalogs at the moment are completely disconnected and there’s quite a bit that has to happen before that can change. The library migration is a long ways off, but in the meantime, Play Music users get two music apps to play with instead of one. So which one should you use?

YouTube Music vs. Google Play Music: Which should you use?

A mixtape full of promise

YouTube Music is built on a gold mine. YouTube is not only the most used video platform in the world, it might be the biggest catalog of professional, semi-professional, and amateur music available in the world. This isn’t the first time Google has tried to capitalize on this, but this time is different. YouTube’s music team has finally gotten its act together and made us all a mixtape full of promises.

But can it follow through on them?

YouTube Music review: A mixtape full of promise

Getting started

YouTube Music is an adjustment from traditional music services — especially because it is based around video rather than audio — but thanks to the Google’s search prowess and downright uncanny predictions and recommendations, getting used to Google’s newest music service should be as painless as possible. And since it’s built around years of your YouTube history, YouTube Music already knows you better than you think.

Getting started with YouTube Music

Going offline

Networks fail. Your plane says it’s going to have Wi-Fi, but nope. You get stuck in the car with your parents in the middle of nowhere, and you’re outside cell range, and the radio stations are nothing but static and muffled AM country. Having music to listen to when you offline is important, and when the music service you’re using is based around video — which eats data like nobody’s business — how you save your music for offline playback is even more important.

How to download music for offline playback in YouTube Music

What is it missing?

YouTube Music is a brand-new service — albeit one built on an old app of the same name — and like most things that are shiny, new, and different, there are a lot of bugs to be worked out. There are a lot features that are still missing — from basic audio quality settings to more complicated endeavours like gapless playback and library management — and we’ve got a handy list of what’s missing and when we could maybe see some of it.

On that note — YouTube Music’s library does not include every video on YouTube, nor does it include every song and album on Google Play Music right now.

What YouTube Music still needs

Making the most of things

YouTube Music is “Early Access” right now, which means the service is essentially a beta and it is definitely buggy. While time and updates will fix some of those bugs, there are some things you can do to make the most of its current state.

6 tips and tricks for using YouTube Music

Also, even if you’ve never used YouTube Music before, it has years and years of your YouTube history to work off of. That means that YouTube Music could already have a good idea what you like, or it could have things completely wrong because you’ve mostly used YouTube to pull up music when your nieces are over or you’re hosting a party for your country-obsessed friends. Here’s how to help YouTube help you with better suggestions.

How to improve YouTube Music recommendations

Can it dethrone Spotify?

Spotify has spent the last decade building up a loyal user base, building algorithms that few companies can even begin to touch, and building up a reputation as the best brand in streaming music. YouTube, however, is one of the most used sites on the internet, period, a selection you can’t find anywhere else — a selection that will be absolutely unbeatable in the future — and Google is bringing its best algorithmic game with YouTube Music.

It’s still early days, but YouTube Music will be enough to dethrone Spotify soon?

YouTube Music vs. Spotify

Updated June 2018: We’ve reorganized and expanded this guide to better organize information for new, old, and prospective YouTube Music users as the service launches in a new batch of countries.

Details on Upcoming Amber Lake Chips Appropriate for 2018 MacBook Leak

Apple’s 12-inch MacBook lineup is expected to receive a refresh in 2018, and the new machines may use Intel’s upcoming 8th-generation 14nm++ Y-Series Amber Lake chips.

Details on the new chips leaked recently from Dell’s Chilean site and Romanian site NextLab501, as highlighted by MacRumors forum reader EugW.

Chips appropriate for the 12-inch MacBook include the 1.1GHz Core m3-8100Y, the 1.3GHz Core i5-8200Y, and the 1.5GHz Core i7-8500Y.

Core m3-8100Y
– 1.1 GHz – Base clock
– 2.7 GHz – 2-core Turbo
– 3.4 GHz – 1-core Turbo

Core i5-8200Y
– 1.3 GHz – Base clock
– 3.2 GHz – 2-core Turbo
– 3.9 GHz – 1-core Turbo

Core i7-8500Y
– 1.5 GHz – Base clock
– 3.6 GHz – 2-core Turbo
– 4.2 GHz – 1-core Turbo

Maximum clock speeds for the new Amber Lake chips suggest significant improvement in processor speeds over the 7th-generation Kaby Lake processors. For comparison’s sake, Turbo Boost topped out at 3.0GHz on the 1.2GHz entry-level processor, 3.2GHz on the mid-level 1.3GHz processor, and 3.6GHz on the 1.4GHz high-end chip option in the previous-generation machines.

All of the chips use Intel’s UHD 620 integrated graphics and are expected to be released in the third quarter of 2018, with the timing perfect for a fall refresh of the 12-inch MacBook.

Dell’s upcoming and as-of-yet-unannounced XPS 13 2-in-1 machine confirms the existence of the Core i5-8200Y and Core i7-8500Y processors, both of which are listed as processor options for the new device.

Intel first announced its upcoming Amber Lake chips at Computex, but thus far has not provided official info on the upcoming processors.

Rumors have not indicated when updates to the 12-inch MacBook will be available, but Apple could introduce refreshed machines alongside new iPhones in September, hold an event in October, or release them on a random date as it did with the recent MacBook Pro.

The recent launch of the MacBook Pro also hints at one new feature we could potentially be seeing in new 12-inch MacBook models aside from processor upgrades — a third-generation butterfly keyboard.

2015 and later 12-inch MacBook models have suffered from the same issues with keyboard failures, so it would make sense for Apple to include an updated keyboard in those machines as well, if, as speculated, the “quieter” third-generation MacBook Pro butterfly keyboard’s new silicone coverings do indeed prevent dust from infiltrating the keys.

Related Roundup: MacBookBuyer’s Guide: MacBook (Don’t Buy)
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Apple Increases Share of U.S. Smartphone Activations in Q2

During the second quarter of 2018, spanning from April to June, Apple’s iPhones accounted for 36 percent of total U.S. smartphone activations, an improvement over last year’s numbers where iPhone activations accounted for just over 30 percent of total activations, according to new numbers shared today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners [PDF].

More customers are choosing iPhone over Samsung devices this year, and Apple’s higher number of activations came at Samsung’s expense. During the quarter, Samsung devices were also responsible for 36 percent of new activations, but for Samsung, that’s a solid decline from last year.

“Apple improved in part at Samsung’s expense, whose share of activations declined relative to both last quarter and last year,” said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. “In a quarter without any significant phone launches, Samsung had market share only equal to Apple’s. A year ago, Samsung had a considerably greater share of sales.”

Apple devices and Samsung devices are the dominant brands, due to ongoing consolidation of the U.S. market. LG and Motorola, for example, have lost ground to Apple and Samsung over the course of the last year.

When it comes to operating systems, iOS and Android are, by far, the dominant operating systems in use. iOS accounted for 36 percent of activations during the quarter, while Android, which runs on an array of different smartphones from multiple manufacturers, accounted for 63 percent of U.S. activations.

Compared to last year, iOS’s share of activations grew, with CIRP citing increased customer loyalty to their operating system of choice. Given the sheer number of Android devices compared to iOS devices, it’s not surprising Android devices are responsible for approximately two thirds of activations.

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners regularly shares these surveys to monitor the state of the smartphone market. Findings are based on a survey of 500 subjects who activated new or used phones during the April to June 2018 period.
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Apple Releases Third Beta of macOS Mojave to Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming macOS Mojave update to its public beta testing group, a week and a half after seeding the second macOS Mojave public beta. Today’s third public beta is the same as the fourth developer beta released yesterday, and makes macOS Mojave available for 2018 MacBook Pro models.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program can download the macOS Mojave beta through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store. Subsequent betas are installed in a different way, using the Software Update icon in System Preferences.

Those who want to be a part of Apple’s beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas.

Potential beta testers should make a full Time Machine backup before installing macOS Mojave, and it should not be installed on a primary machine because betas are unstable and often have bugs.

macOS Mojave’s main new feature is a systemwide Dark Mode, which gives Mac users a new way to view the operating system. A revamped Mac App Store makes it easier than ever to discover great apps, while Dynamic Desktops give you wallpapers that subtly change throughout the day.

An improved Finder window with Gallery View, Sidebar, Quick Look, and Quick Actions makes it easier to manipulate, edit, and organize your files, while Desktop Stacks organizes all of the files on your desktop.

The Apple News, Stocks, Home, and Voice Memos apps have made their way to the Mac in Mojave, and for the first time, you can use Siri on Mac to control HomeKit products. Group FaceTime, an iOS 12 feature, is also available in Mojave and lets you chat with up to 32 people at one time.

Apple is keeping your data safer than ever with new security and privacy improvements, and Safari in macOS Mojave makes it much harder to track you through share/like buttons and via your system configuration.

macOS Mojave is compatible with 2015 and newer MacBooks, 2012 and newer MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac models, the 2017 iMac Pro, and Mac Pro models from late 2013 and mid-2010 and mid-2012 models with Metal-capable GPUs.

Mojave will be available in a beta capacity for the next several months so Apple can work out bugs ahead of a fall release.

Related Roundup: macOS Mojave
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