Twitch adds a new 24/7 streaming sports channel called Stadium

Although Twitch is primarily known as an outlet for esports, a new channel seeks to expand its reach into traditional sports including live games, highlights, and original programming.

Stadium, which launched in 2017, provides live and on-demand games for multiple online platforms. It’s owned by a conglomerate of entertainment and sports enterprises including Sinclair Broadcast Group, the NHL, and the PGA Tour.

Twitch will already be the home to 11 Thursday Night Football games for the 2018 season. After Fox was awarded the broadcasting contract in a deal worth more than $3 billion, the NFL renewed its deal with Amazon for two more years to broadcast the games online to its 100 million Prime video members.

According to Variety, the streaming deal was for anywhere from $50 to $65 million. The inclusion of Twitch was a new addition — the service will live-stream the TNF games free for everyone on the platform, whether they have a Prime membership or not. Amazon has said the broadcasts will include “enhanced viewing experiences” for Twitch watchers.

The new partnership with Stadium means Twitch will increase their offerings with more than 250 live games and events.

“As Twitch continues to expand into adjacent areas of interest surfaced from our community of gamers, physical sports are gaining traction,” said Jane Weedon of Twitch in an announcement. “Stadium effectively taps into this passion with its broad range of programming from football and basketball to competitive Frisbee, ensuring sports fans have a lot of variety to tune into 24/7.”

Running alongside the main feed will be Twitch Stadium 2, a co-streaming channel featuring commentary and analysis various Stadium and Twitch personalities. The NBA G League broadcasts on Twitch also use a co-streaming broadcast.

“We continue to focus our strategy on reaching fans on whatever platform they consume sports content and are excited to introduce Stadium to the millions of active and engaged viewers on Twitch,” said Brendan Canning of Stadium. “We look forward to tapping into a new, growing audience of fans and bringing an array of top tier games and daily and original sports programming to Twitch.”

This is the second 24/7 sports channel on Twitch after the debut of Eleven Sports in March. The channel is free to U.S. users, although Eleven Prime subscribers who pay $5 a month can get some extras, including ad-free broadcasts.

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• Polaris eyes desert dominance with the 2018 Polaris RZR XP Turbo S
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• Sling TV: Everything you need to know

Twitch adds a new 24/7 streaming sports channel called Stadium

Although Twitch is primarily known as an outlet for esports, a new channel seeks to expand its reach into traditional sports including live games, highlights, and original programming.

Stadium, which launched in 2017, provides live and on-demand games for multiple online platforms. It’s owned by a conglomerate of entertainment and sports enterprises including Sinclair Broadcast Group, the NHL, and the PGA Tour.

Twitch will already be the home to 11 Thursday Night Football games for the 2018 season. After Fox was awarded the broadcasting contract in a deal worth more than $3 billion, the NFL renewed its deal with Amazon for two more years to broadcast the games online to its 100 million Prime video members.

According to Variety, the streaming deal was for anywhere from $50 to $65 million. The inclusion of Twitch was a new addition — the service will live-stream the TNF games free for everyone on the platform, whether they have a Prime membership or not. Amazon has said the broadcasts will include “enhanced viewing experiences” for Twitch watchers.

The new partnership with Stadium means Twitch will increase their offerings with more than 250 live games and events.

“As Twitch continues to expand into adjacent areas of interest surfaced from our community of gamers, physical sports are gaining traction,” said Jane Weedon of Twitch in an announcement. “Stadium effectively taps into this passion with its broad range of programming from football and basketball to competitive Frisbee, ensuring sports fans have a lot of variety to tune into 24/7.”

Running alongside the main feed will be Twitch Stadium 2, a co-streaming channel featuring commentary and analysis various Stadium and Twitch personalities. The NBA G League broadcasts on Twitch also use a co-streaming broadcast.

“We continue to focus our strategy on reaching fans on whatever platform they consume sports content and are excited to introduce Stadium to the millions of active and engaged viewers on Twitch,” said Brendan Canning of Stadium. “We look forward to tapping into a new, growing audience of fans and bringing an array of top tier games and daily and original sports programming to Twitch.”

This is the second 24/7 sports channel on Twitch after the debut of Eleven Sports in March. The channel is free to U.S. users, although Eleven Prime subscribers who pay $5 a month can get some extras, including ad-free broadcasts.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Everything die-hard sports fans need to know about FuboTV
• These apps will help you make the most out of your Apple TV
• Polaris eyes desert dominance with the 2018 Polaris RZR XP Turbo S
• JVC’s new 4K video cameras allow smartphone-controlled live graphics
• Sling TV: Everything you need to know

Best VPN Services of 2018

Add some privacy to the internet with a quality VPN.

A VPN can be described as an encrypted tunnel that shuttles your internet activity between your PC or phone and a host server. While the internet is a public space, a VPN works by extending an invisibility cloak across the user’s activity and allows people to send and receive data in a mostly-anonymous manner. In the simplest terms, a VPN makes it hard for someone to track your activity.

There are many different reasons people would want to use a VPN. In some countries, VPNs become a journalist’s main tool to get around government censorship and geo-blocks.

It’s true, there are plenty of free VPN services out there, but paid services are almost always a better option. You need a service that has fast speeds even when streaming video, and you want a service that doesn’t keep logs of its users’ activities. To help you decide which VPN is best, here are some great options that are available now.

NordVPN

NordVPN is operated in Panama, which means it has no legal obligation to record any of the activities of its users. You’re free to connect to any of the 4,173 VPN servers in 62 different countries, and you can use NordVPN on up to six different devices at once. To get around this restriction, however, it can be set up on your router, in which case it will handle any devices connected to your network.

I awarded NordVPN a near-perfect score in my review, focusing on the large set of extra features available to users. You can take advantage of a double VPN, P2P-dedicated servers, a DNS leak resolver, and a dedicated single IP service.

With rock-solid encryption and plenty of connection protocols for you to use, including OpenVPN, this is one of the best VPNs operating today. Grab a yearly subscription for about $5.75 per month, or go for two years for just $3.29 per month.

See at NordVPN

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ExpressVPN

Voted the top VPN by BestVPN, this service has plenty of servers all over the world, it doesn’t keep a log of user activity, and torrenting is allowed on all servers. In BestVPN’s review, it stated:

ExpressVPN is a British Virgin Islands-based VPN provider that has always led the way when it comes to offering a customer-focused service. Ease of use, a highly responsive 24/7 customer service team, and an industry-leading, no quibbles, 30-day money-back guarantee ensure ExpressVPN’s place at the top of the VPN industry.

The service is easy to use with a simple setup (if you get stuck, there’s always a live customer support chat on their site), and it has strong encryption with minimal logs. If you’re ready for unlimited bandwidth, unlimited server switches, unlimited speed, servers in 94 countries, and more, have a look at ExpressVPN. A yearly subscription costs about $8 per month.

See at ExpressVPN

IPVanish

IPVanish is one of the easiest VPNs to use, thanks to an app with a user interface that appeals to both novices and experts alike. In my review, I gave IPVanish a four-star rating for their strong encryption, excellent performance, and large set of servers. While it is based in the U.S., the company promises to keep no logs other than payment information, which you can also avoid by paying with Bitcoin.

IPVanish has more than 40,000 shared IP addresses on more than 1,000 servers in more than 60 countries. That’s some serious diversity, and there’s no limit on how many times you can switch servers. You can essentially move around until you find one that’s fastest. Toss in a kill switch, IPv6 and DNS leak protection, and manual port selection, and this becomes a very attractive option. Yearly plans start at about $6.50 per month.

See at IPVanish

Private Internet Access VPN

When it comes to a VPN and its apps, some people want a UI that has only what is needed. Private Internet Access is exactly this. With one click, you’ll be connected to a server of your choosing. There are more than 3,000 servers in 28 different countries, and they support torrenting without jeopardizing speeds. Private Internet Access is based in the U.S. but does not log its users’ activity beyond payment information.

Private Internet Access VPN was chosen as an Editor’s Choice at PCMag. The site concluded its review with this:

Private Internet Access is easy to recommend, but only with an asterisk. Yes, it’s incredibly robust with powerful tools and an extensive network of VPN servers across the world. It also has a strong privacy stance when it comes to protecting customer information. And it’s incredibly simple, but (and this is the asterisk) it’s also stripped to the bone in terms of interface.

Toss in some ad-blocking features as well as varied, budget subscription options — get two full years for just $70 — and this service might be your first choice, especially if you like your UI as simple as possible.

See at PIA

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Updated May 10, 2018: I’ve refreshed this list to ensure you’re still getting the best VPNs available right now.

Microsoft’s sale on the Surface Laptop covers every color and every configuration

Blue, Gold, Platinum, or Burgundy.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop in Cobalt Blue with a Core i5, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD is down to $999 on Amazon and the Microsoft Store. It also comes in a variety of colors, including Graphite Gold, Burgundy, and Platinum. I just went with Cobalt Blue because I like it the most. This laptop is normally $1,100 on Amazon and as much as $1,300 at Microsoft.

This is part of a larger sale on all the different configurations of the Surface Laptop. You can even get the Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB version for $1,899 in all four available colors. That would normally cost you around $2,200 at Microsoft, although the street price is closer to $2,000.

The Surface Laptop comes with Windows 10 and Office. It has an exterior aluminum casing, natural typing and trackpad, and an ultra-thin Alcantara fabric-covered keyboard. The screen is a 13.5-inch PixelSense touchscreen display with 2256 x 1504 pixel resolution. The battery life offers up to 14.5 hours of video playback. The ports include USB 3.0, mini DisplayPort, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

See on Amazon

Organize your office with four AmazonBasics 20-inch zippered cable sleeves for $7

No more cords.

Good cable management is essential to a clean office space. If you want an easy way to gather all your cables together, keep them secure but flexible, and still conceal them, then you should get a four-pack of AmazonBasics 20-inch zippered cable sleeves for $6.54 with code 15THRIFTER15. The code works on both the black and white versions. Just a few days ago, these were going for as much as $14. They recently dropped in price to $7.69, and now this Thrifter-exclusive code gives you another 15% off the price, dropping the sleeves down to the lowest price we’ve ever seen.

These are add-on items, which means you will need to get your shopping cart up to $25 to take advantage of the deal price. We’ve got plenty of other Amazon deals worth checking out if you need some inspiration.

You might be used to the sheer amount of cables it takes to put together a stellar office workspace or home entertainment center, but the other members of your house might see it as an eyesore. For example, I just finished building a brand new standing desk for my office. I worked really hard to keep the cables as minimal as possible and secured where they could be secured. When I showed the space to my wife, the first thing she said was “Look at all those cables!” even though she was seeing about 10% of the total.

These sleeves could solve that problem by concealing the group of cords inside a durable, flexible sleeve that’s fully-zippered and can hold several cables at once. Considering each purchase comes with four sleeves, you can use these anywhere around your house you have a lot of wires. Get multiple packs to cover really long cable runs with more than one sleeve. These are backed by a one-year warranty, and users give these sleeves 4.2 stars based on 39 reviews.

See on Amazon

Grab four AAA eneloop rechargeable batteries with a charger for $17

Keep em charged, all the time!

Update: The price for this just dropped another couple bucks after already hitting a new low just a few days ago.

The 4-pack of Panasonic AAA eneloop 2100 Cycle rechargeable batteries with charger is down to $16.99 on Amazon. This pack normally sells for around $23 to $25, and this is the lowest price we’ve ever seen.

Each battery has 800mAh and a 2100 cycle, which means they can be recharged up to 2100 times. They will maintain their charge for a long time (up to 10 years) when not in use. This pack comes with a charger that can fit up to four batteries and works with both AA and AAA batteries. It will automatically turn off when the batteries are fully charged. Users give these batteries 4.7 stars based on 2,883 reviews.

See at Amazon

President Trump working to get ZTE back into business

Trump to Commerce Department: Get it done!

Truth is stranger than fiction. In April, ZTE was banned from using U.S. hardware or software by the Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. Fast forward to May and the company was banned from selling any products on U.S. military installations along with Huawei. These bans resulted in ZTE shutting down all its operations because it’s hard to make money when you can’t sell any products.

Today? Trump is back to Twitter and back to breaking his own news stories.

President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2018

This is certainly an unexpected event. But not necessarily a bad event. ZTE was banned from using U.S.-based hardware or software because the U.S. government felt it did not follow through on a court ruling that said the company needed to pay a hefty fine, fire several key executives, and admonish 32 employees — a charge ZTE denies. Ordering a denial may have been the Commerce Department’s idea of playing hardball to force compliance.

Having said that, the original issue — ZTE admittedly sold technology products to North Korea and Iran — is still troubling. As is a sitting U.S. President working in that company’s best interests after this was done.

This is surely just a small part of a bigger picture and only Presidents Trump and Xi know how it will play out. We’re going to watch closely, along with the rest of America.

This AmazonBasics 50-mile indoor HDTV antenna is only $21

Cut the cord and save even more.

This AmazonBasics 50-mile indoor HDTV antenna is down to its lowest price ever. It regularly sells for $28 and has only dropped from that price once before, but even that previous drop didn’t go as low as this one. This price drop makes it only $1 more than the 35-mile version.

You can also get a budget version on sale today. The AmazonBasics Ultra Thin 25-mile range HDTV antenna is down to only $8.44 from a street price around $13.

The 50-mile range is helpful particularly for people who don’t live in urban centers. You want to make sure your antenna can reach the signals coming from the nearest broadcast tower. This antenna lets you pick up channels like ABC, NBC, PBS, Fox, and more. It has black and white sides, and it can be painted over if you would like it to be a different color. The coaxial cable is 16 feet long. Use this map of DTV signals from the FCC to make sure this antenna works for you.

If you want to go all-in on cutting the cord, you can get a month of DIRECTV NOW and a Roku Streaming Stick for just $35 or your first 3 months of service for $30 if you’re a new customer.

See at Amazon

Project Treble is turning out to be more important than we thought

We’re already seeing the fruits of Google’s labor with Treble and Android P.

While we’re all busy arguing about Android P’s gestures and swooning over the new features, something far more exciting didn’t get the attention I think it deserves: seeing the first fruits of Google’s labor with Project Treble. In a completely unexpected move, Google released the first beta version of Android P for not only its own Pixel phones, but also phones from seven different companies. It’s neat for owners of the individual phones from each of the manufacturers to get an early look at Android P, but that’s not why this announcement is so exciting.

The real importance is that seven phone makers get extra-early access to Android P and can start working with the new platform. Yes, Google has partnered with Nexus manufacturers in the past, and Developer Preview versions of Android have been available for some Sony phones. But this is a whole new level of manufacturer access, and it’s all because these phones support the new Project Treble system for more seamless application of software updates. By making phones with Android Oreo out of the box and Project Treble enabled, these companies can more easily make Android P run on their phones because the user-facing software is separate from the firmware underpinnings developed for Oreo.

Google provided the groundwork and tools necessary to update software quickly.

Sony, Nokia, OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi, Essential and Vivo are all part of the beta program. These are huge companies that sell tens of millions of phones a year. And now each and every one of them has already started its work on making Android P work on its phones — about six months before Android P is released with the upcoming Pixel 3. And let’s be clear, this doesn’t just help them release P updates for the one phone that’s part of the beta program — it sets the development in motion for getting Android P to their entire lineups faster.

There are many moving pieces at play here that could eventually get in the way of Android P updates from these companies, but Google’s laid the groundwork and given the tools necessary for each of them to release new software on a far quicker time frame. Both providing extremely early access to the software and an operating system that facilitates a simpler update process is a recipe for faster software updates for end users. It isn’t as exciting right now as using Android P’s new gesture interface, but it’s undeniably more important for the Android market as a whole moving forward.

Now, a few more thoughts on the hectic week that was:

• As you may have read, I’m still not sold on Google’s new “digital wellbeing” initiative — even though I agree we should all consider using our phone less. I just think Google isn’t coming at it from the most sincere perspective.
• Digital wellbeing aside, it’s been fun to play with Android P — particularly since I didn’t really bother with the initial Developer Preview on my Pixel 2 XL.
• The gestures clearly aren’t finished, and I’m almost entirely withholding judgement because of it. Same goes for many of the visual/color changes. I’m loving the transitions and feature additions, though.
• We all got distracted by Google I/O for a hot minute, but there’s also a whole lot of hardware coming soon. The LG G7 is about to hit stores, the OnePlus 6 will be unveiled in just a few days, the HTC U12 is close. It’s a great time to be in the market for an Android phone.
• Also, BlackBerry “KEY2” it is. It’s so intriguing that the new TCL-made BlackBerrys have kept alive the thought that someone needs to offer an Android with a physical keyboard.

-Andrew

Android P

• Android P: Everything you need to know
• Android P Beta hands-on: The best and worst features
• All the big Android announcements from Google I/O 2018
• Will my phone get Android P?
• How to manually update your Pixel to Android P
• Join the Discussion

The Yeelight LED bulb is a great alternative to Philips Hue

The Yeelight LED bulb is a great option if you’re looking for an affordable smart lighting solution.

Yi Technology made its name in the action camera space by rolling out affordable alternatives to the likes of GoPro, and the company is taking the same approach to connected devices. That’s especially true of its $29 LED bulbs, which offer an experience similar to that of Philips Hue bulbs at a lesser cost.

One of the main selling points about the Yeelight LED bulbs is that they don’t require a hub to connect to your Wi-Fi network, unlike Hue. Just hook up the bulbs to an E27 (or E26) socket, and install the Yeelight app to connect the bulbs to your home Wi-Fi network. The lack of a hub means that you’ll have to shell out $90 to get started with three Yeelight bulbs, which is less than the $160 retail price of a Hue starter kit.

A great quality product that costs significantly less than a Hue setup.

Once the initial setup is done, you’ll be able to use your phone to control the lights, including setting a scheduler to automatically turn them on or off, adjusting the intensity and brightness of the lights, and much more.

There are preset scenes available from the Yeelight app, and you can also pick a color by uploading a photo from your phone’s gallery. The app offers a ton of customization options, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a setting that works for you.

You can adjust the colors by sliding left or right in the app, and the intensity by sliding up and down anywhere on the screen. The app also offers options for a mode called Flow, which cycles through a set of colors. Color temperature of the Yeelight bulb ranges from 1700K to 6500K, and you can control multiple lights from the app simultaneously.

The lights get fairly bright as you increase the color temperature, but you’ll be able to get that with the standard white variant of the bulbs. The RGB version is all about the colors, and it shines in that regard.

Like Hue, you’ll be able to control the Yeelight LED bulbs through Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant. Yi Technology rolled out the integration last year, and you will be able to pair the bulbs with an Echo or Google Home with ease and control the lights by issuing voice commands.

The Yeelight LED bulb’s affordability gives it a distinct edge in this space, and the amount of features combined with the fact that you can control it with Alexa or Google Assistant makes it an enticing option if you’re looking to get started with smart home tech.

The Yeelight LED bulb is now available officially on Amazon in the U.S. for $29, meaning it will work over 110V. If you’re looking to pick up the bulb internationally, then you’ll have to head on over to GearBest, where it’s available for $17.

See at Amazon

Updated May 2018 with Amazon U.S. links and details on Alexa and Google Assistant integration.