Get up to $100 for inviting people to use Google Pay

Google’s offering $10 for each referred friend.

If you’re like me, you’re still probably trying to get used to the Google Pay brand that officially started replacing Android Pay in late February. Google’s been doing a lot of marketing to get everyone on board with the new name and look, and in an effort to increase its adoption, Google’s now resorted to giving away free money.

First spotted by our friends at Android Police, inviting people to use Google Pay will allow both of you to get a $10 Google Play credit. You’ll be given a custom referral code that you can send to friends and family members, and if they use this upon joining, you’ll both get that $10 credit once they make their first purchase using Google Pay.

Some users are seeing the promotion pop up on Google Pay’s Home tab, but it can also be found by opening the hamburger menu and tapping on “Get Rewards.”

If you’re in the U.S., you can use my code GACCA6SY for a free $10.

You can make up to ten unique referrals, resulting in an earning cap of $100. The offer is available in the U.S., UK, Canada, Poland, Russia, and Australia, and you’ll need to be 18-years or older.

Google’s running this promotion through May 14, and you’ll be given 28 days to redeem your credits once you get them.

Download: Google Pay (free)

Better legal streaming options are the best way to end piracy

The best way to stop piracy is innovation, not censorship

I watch a disgusting amount of Netflix these days — well, ‘watch’ might be the wrong word to use. Often, Netflix is just playing in the background while I do other things like folding laundry, browsing Reddit on my phone or, regrettably, falling asleep at night.

It’s a similar story for Spotify, which delivers all my tunes whether I’m on a road trip, walking to the store, or hanging out with friends.

But here’s the thing I realized recently — Netflix and Spotify alone have done more to curb my illegal downloading habits than any PSA campaign, copyright law, or regulatory board ever could.

I was inspired to ponder on the changing way I consume media after watching an excellent NYT’s documentary on the rise and fall of Napster, which brought me right back to 1999 when my 11-year-old self was first introduced to the world of peer-to-peer file sharing. It opened my eyes and ears to a wide world of music that I may have never otherwise discovered and led me down a decade-long love affair of pirating media.

Netflix and Spotify alone have done more to curb my illegal downloading habits than any PSA campaign, copyright law, or regulatory board ever could.

From Napster to The Pirate Bay, for the longest time, it was way easier to just download everything than dealing with iTunes, paying for cable, or bothering with rental services. Ten years ago, I admit that, like most folks my age, I was downloading most of the music and media I consumed.

That is no longer the case today, thanks to vast improvements in both the technology we use to watch and listen to content and the availability of legal streaming services that are way more convenient than the illegal counterparts. And here’s the thing I’ve discovered: I can justify paying for a growing list of legal streaming services so long as they are more efficient to use than the process of illegally downloading something.

Today, I could spend the time to download a massive library of all my favorite music and transfer all the files to my phone — or I could just use Spotify. I could torrent a movie or TV series and send the files across all my devices — or I could just load up Netflix or Amazon Prime Video across most of my devices and instantly be watching a show or movie I love.

It helps that both Netflix and Amazon have become studios in their own right, creating original content that is instantly accessible to everyday viewers like you and me. Netflix might be banned from the Cannes Film Festival, but I’m still more likely to watch Netflix content than any of the films debuting in France.

More and more we’re seeing TV networks, premium cable, and film studios offering their own streaming services because once you ditch cable and start enjoying the convenience of streaming content you don’t go back.

Here’s the thing — I’ll always check out an offer for a free trial to a new streaming service, or test a free service with a ton of ads with a paid subscription available to remove those ads, and I’ll ultimately subscribe if it’s got things I want to watch and I can justify it in my monthly budget. The ad-free premium model worked gangbusters for Spotify and its the model that YouTube appears to be following in the run-up to the company’s forthcoming music subscription service.

But this still leaves traditional cable TV providers in a tricky spot; as we all know, cable TV is pretty expensive that also happens to be chock full of ads. After years of binging on Netflix, it is downright jarring to sit down and watch a TV show on cable these days because of all the ads, and a DVR that lets you fast forward through the ad breaks in recorded shows is only marginally more convenient and still frustrating in a lot of ways.

Censorship and stricter copyright laws won’t curb piracy — better legal streaming services will.

In Canada, a consortium of media companies lead by Bell has been lobbying the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to blacklist specific websites linked to piracy and require all Canadian internet service providers to block those sites.

I acknowledge that the TV and movie industries are massive with a lot of folks working hard that need people to pay for the shows and movies they create to maintain a living, but censoring websites is such an ass-backward approach to trying to alleviate piracy without addressing the fact that the way we consume media has evolved.

To me, it just shows that these big, wealthy media companies would rather invest in lobbying the government than investing in creating innovative services to better serve potential consumers.

There’s no reason why watching a hockey game on Bell’s own TSN GO streaming service is choppier than an illegal stream offering 1080p HD quality. And there’s no reason for me to pay whatever cable companies are charging for cable service and DVR box rentals when I can stream content endlessly on my phone, computer, or Android TV box.

Censorship and stricter copyright laws won’t curb piracy — better legal streaming services will.

Facebook is pushing back its smart speaker following privacy concerns

This is probably for the best.

Between May 1 and 2 this year, Facebook will host its annual F8 Developer Conference in San Jose, California. This year’s event was supposed to be where Facebook would introduce the world to its first smart speaker, but these plans have apparently been scrapped.

According to sources that spoke with Bloomberg, Facebook will not announce its speaker this May as a result of the recent controversy that’s popped up regarding Facebook’s misuse of its users’ data.

Facebook is apparently still on track to launch its speaker later in the Fall, but F8 was supposed to act as an early preview so developers and consumers alike could get an early glimpse of what’s to come. It’s disappointing that we’ll have to wait a while longer before getting to see what Facebook’s Echo and Google Home competitor will look like, but this move is more than understandable considering everything that’s going on right now.

There’s still a lot that’s unknown about Facebook’s smart speaker, but it’s expected to offer features we’ve seen in competing products – such as easy access to a virtual assistant and a video-chat feature.

Are you still interested in a Facebook speaker following everything that’s happened over the last few days?

Facebook kept logs of calls and messages on Android phones, and followed the rules to do it

OnePlus 6: News, Rumors, Release Date, Specs, and more!

This is everything you need to know about the OnePlus 6!

OnePlus has been on a cycle of releasing two smartphones per year: a major release in the spring, and a minor tweak of that previous phone in the fall. It’s nearly spring 2018, which means it’s nearly time for another OnePlus phone. Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming OnePlus 6!

The design

The OnePlus 5T was the first time the company increased the size of its displays, and it looks like there will be more refinements coming with the OnePlus 6. The 6 will keep the stretched out design, but will add a notch up top, similar to… some other phones you may have seen. In addition to a high-quality display, OnePlus is also expected to move to a glass back, hopefully including Qi wireless charging in the process.

According to the image, the fingerprint reader will still be mounted on the rear of the phone, though earlier rumors suggested there would be an in-display fingerprint sensor. The dual cameras are still present, though this time in the center instead of the upper left. Of course, this is a leaked image and should be taken with a grain of salt until the official announcement is made.

Not too long after that first photo was shared, Evan Blass shared the above one on Twitter – further confirming much of what we were already expecting. The dual cameras are positioned in a vertical fashion, the fingerprint sensor lies below them, and there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack (yay!).

However, unlike the previous photo, Blass’s shows the back of the OnePlus 6 to have a textured, wood-like finish. OnePlus experimented with a lot of different back materials with the OnePlus One in 2014, and finishes like Sandstone White and Lava Red for the 5T show that the company is trying to stand out with its design. I’m guessing this isn’t the only special back material we’ll see for the 6, and it’ll be exciting to see what else OnePlus has up its sleeve.

Official picture of the OnePlus 6’s notch.

And, of course, the OnePlus 6 will have the infamous notch. This is something we were already anticipating, but OnePlus confirmed our suspicions while speaking to The Verge on March 28.

OnePlus’s reasoning for the notch is that it gives users more screen real-estate as opposed to using a more traditional design, and co-founder Carl Pei argues that it’s more thought-out than a lot of the notches we saw during MWC 2018.

The notch will be hidden whenever you’re watching a video, the clock has been moved to the left of the status bar, and we’ll also see the same gesture system that OnePlus added to the 5T with its OxygenOS Open Beta in late January.

More: OnePlus 6 supposedly leaks with iPhone X notch and glass back

Specifications

Of course, a phone isn’t just a pretty external design. The internal hardware needs to be up to snuff to push pixels and take all of our lovely Instagram photos. Fortunately, it seems the OnePlus 6 will be up to the task. Early benchmarks suggest the phone will ship with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845, the same chip that will likely be found in every other flagship device this year. Benchmarks have been gamed in the past — so take this all with the same grain of salt as before — but it’s a safe bet for OnePlus to include all the latest internal hardware with the OnePlus 6, just like they’ve done in previous generations.

A new image recently popped up revealing numerous specs for the OnePlus 6, and while we can’t confirm any of the information presented, it does allow us to build the following spec sheet:

More: Exclusive: OnePlus 6 has 19:9 notched display, Snapdragon 845, top benchmarks

The software

We haven’t seen any leaks for specific software features coming with the OnePlus 6, but it’s safe to expect the same vanilla Android style that OnePlus has used since 2014. OxygenOS is a known quantity at this point, featuring a few key improvements over what ships in Google’s Pixel line. There will surely be an Open Beta for users who like to live on the bleeding edge and try new features at the cost of stability. Expect a true dark theme, expect gesture controls and a few other little niceties that add up to a great software experience.

Price and availability

This is still up in the air at this point, but we can make an educated guess based on OnePlus’ previous devices. The OnePlus 5 retailed for $479, while the OnePlus 5T goes for a cool $499. It’d be nice if the OnePlus 6 kept that same price, but another small price increase isn’t out of the question.

That same leaked image mentioned above suggests that the OnePlus 6 will cost as much as $749, but it’s unclear what currency this is representing. The same post compares the OnePlus 6 against the iPhone X and Galaxy S9+ with $1517 and $1200 price tags, respectively, so either way, we can probably expect OnePlus’s next flagship to cost a good deal less compared to most other OEMs.

As for availability, the OnePlus 3 was released in June of 2016, and the OnePlus 5 in June of 2017. Some early reports suggest we may see an earlier release this year, but June is a safe bet.

Stay tuned for more!

This is what we know — and a bit of what we’re guessing — about the OnePlus 6 for now. We’re expecting an earlier than normal release this year, so stay tuned for more coverage!

OnePlus 5T and OnePlus 5

• OnePlus 5T review: Come for the value, not the excitement
• OnePlus 5T specs
• Should you upgrade from the OnePlus 3T?
• OnePlus 5T vs. Galaxy S8: Beast mode
• All of the latest OnePlus 5T news
• Join the discussion in the forums

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Updated 3/28/18 – Added new photo and info about the OnePlus 6’s notch.

Best External Battery Packs for Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

Keep your phone alive. These are the best battery packs for your Galaxy S8 and S8+!

Trying to find a great battery pack for your Galaxy S8 or S8+? Fortunately, you’re in the right place!

Just like with every other part of its operating system, Samsung gives the user a couple options when it comes to charging the phone. You can use the USB-C port for faster charging, or the phone includes Qi wireless charging for slower — but more convenient — power ups.

The same choice is available when it comes to battery packs. There are a few Qi options — but these will be slower than just plugging in a wire. There’s also the fact that you’ll need to keep the phone in contact with the battery bank, while using a wire means you can move and use the phone while it charges.

On the wired side, it’s good to look for a battery bank that charges with USB-C so you can use the same charger for the battery bank as you do your phone. Quick Charge support and USB Power Delivery support should also be included — the former to charge your phone faster and the latter to charge your laptop. With all that said, let’s look at some of the battery packs for your Galaxy S8 and S8+!

• AUKEY USB-C 26,500 mAh Power Bank
• RAVPower Wireless Portable Charger
• Anker PowerCore+ 20,100 USB-C
• Anker PowerCore 13,000 USB-C

Aukey USB-C 26,500 mAh Power Bank

This is my personal battery pack, and I can say with confidence it’s very versatile. The USB-C port can be used to both charge the pack and your other devices, and is powerful enough to boost most modern laptops — albeit slower than their wall outlets. The pack has enough juice to charge your Galaxy S8 or S8+ at least six times, with quick charge support for fast top-ups. When the power bank is depleted, just use the same USB-C charger that came with your phone.

At $77, this is the most expensive power bank on our list, but the huge capacity and ability to charge laptops mean it’s a worthwhile investment for your Galaxy S8 and any future devices.

See at Amazon

RAVPower Wireless Portable Charger

This RAVPower charger lets you charge your phone either from the single USB ports, or with an integrated Qi charging pad. The Qi charging pad charges your phone at 10 watts — the same as Samsung’s Fast Charge Wireless Stand The pack itself charges via micro-USB, which means you’ll need to use a different charger than the one that ships with your phone. The 10,400 mAh cell is enough to charge your phone two to three times, so it doesn’t have the same endurance as other picks on our list. It should still be enough to get you through a rough weekend though.

This pack goes for $68, which means you’re definitely paying a premium for the Qi compatibility. Still — if that’s a feature you want — RAVPower is a fine brand to go with.

See at Amazon

Anker PowerCore+ 20,100 USB-C

Anker is another reputable battery brand, and plenty of our staff use this same battery. There is a single USB-C port that can be used to charge your phone or laptop, or used to charge the battery pack itself. That port only charges devices at a max of 15 watts, meaning it probably won’t charge most laptops, but does work with less powerful models like the 12-inch MacBook. The battery pack is good for about six charges to your phone, making it a worthwhile companion for your next vacation.

This battery is available for $66 at the time of writing, which is comparable to other packs of its capacity. Anker does offer a similar model with a 26,800 mAh capacity and 30 watts of output, but that goes for $100. If you need more capacity or a more powerful output, go for the AUKEY battery above.

See at Amazon

Anker PowerCore 13,000 USB-C

If you don’t need a high capacity and want to save some money and weight, Anker’s smaller PowerCore batteries are a great option. The latest model charges with USB-C, so you don’t need to worry about a separate charger. This battery doesn’t output from its USB-C port though, meaning you can’t use it with a laptop or Nintendo Switch. You can get two to three charges from this battery, and the lighter weight will mean it’s less weight in your purse or backpack.

At $40, this is the least expensive option on our list. If you don’t intend to charge anything except your phone or headphones — and want to save some dough — this is a great option.

See at Amazon

What say you?

Which battery pack do you use with your Galaxy S8? Let us know down below!

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ review!
• Galaxy S8 and S8+ specs
• Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras
• Get to know Samsung Bixby
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

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Baltimore’s 911 dispatch system was hacked last weekend

Baltimore’s 911 dispatch system was hacked over the weekend and authorities temporarily shut it down. The mayor’s office confirmed to The Baltimore Sun that the system was digitally infiltrated early Saturday morning, but provided no other details while the investigation is ongoing.

Ergo, we don’t know how this particular system was vulnerable to intrusion just yet. At least the fix wasn’t onerous: City personnel identified a “limited breach” of the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) that automatically routes emergency requests to dispatchers, and the department switched it to manual mode while the affected server was isolated and taken offline. The CAD system was fully restored by 2AM Sunday.

While it’s not an incident on the level of breaking into law enforcement arrest records, hacking a dispatch system compromises crucial civil infrastructure. An FBI spokesman told The Baltimore Sun that the agency was aware of the CAD breach and provided technical assistance.

Source: The Baltimore Sun

Chrome feature makes it easier to cast videos from your desktop

To cast a video from your computer to a TV, you only need to open a file on Chrome, click the Cast icon and choose your device. Or, you can install a third-party app or extension like Videostream, which can play almost any video format. Not that hard, right? Google’s Chrome team is making it much easier to beam videos from your PC, though. Chromium Evangelist François Beaufort has revealed that the team has rolled out a new feature to the beta channel that adds a “Cast file” option below “Cast tab” and “Cast desktop.”

No need to go anywhere else in the browser anymore: you only need to click the Cast icon and click the chevron next to “Cast to” in order to see the option under the list of sources. It’s only live for some people on the Beta channel at the moment, but you can also force it to show up. Right click on Chrome beta, choose properties and add the command line flag “–enable-features=EnableCastLocalMedia” to switch the feature on. If you cast a lot of files from your PC, this could make the process of opening videos less tedious, though you’ll have to wait for a wider release if you don’t want to play with the browser’s beta offerings.

Source: François Beaufort (Google+)

‘Mario Kart’ Monopoly will have you racing to buy properties

Hasbro’s Super Mario Bros.-themed Monopoly looks delightful enough as it is, but it might feel a bit lacking if you prefer the kart-driving version of the beloved Italian plumber. The good news is that you won’t have to make do with the ordinary Mario Monopoly — not when toy and board game giant has released Monopoly Gamer: Mario Kart. Like its predecessor, it incorporates Kart characters and twists into the game. You can choose from the Mario, Princess Peach, Luigi and Toad Mario Kart tokens, which all have specific powers and abilities. When the Toad token player rolls a Power-Up Boost, for instance, all players must pay them one coin.

Aside from the tokens and power-ups, you can also purchase Kart-themed properties, including Rainbow Road and Bower’s Castle. And when you pass Go, you don’t just collect $200 Kart coins, you also trigger a race where you can compete against the other players for the “Grand Prix” card. Of course, you’ll have to do all those while dodging banana peels and tossing shells, because it wouldn’t be fun otherwise. Monopoly Mario Kart edition is now available at GameStop for $25. It’ll make its way to more retailers this summer, while new tokens, including Bowser, Donkey Kong and Yoshi will be out this fall.

Facebook is making it easier to delete your data

In the wake of Cambridge Analytica, Facebook is reminding folks to check on their privacy settings for the social network. “Last week showed how much more work we need to do to enforce out policies and help people understand how Facebook works and the choices they have over the data,” a blog post reads. “We’ve heard loud and clear that privacy settings and other important tools are too hard to find and that we must do more to keep people informed.” Cambridge Analytica isn’t mentioned by name once in the post.

On desktop, the privacy shortcuts selection from the dropdown takes you to a privacy checkup, which acts more like a FAQ than an actual menu to change any settings. In the mobile app, though, you’ll have quick access to making your account more secure (adding two-factor authentication and controlling who sees your posts, among other tools). The big addition to the privacy center though, is being able to delete anything you’ve shared or reacted to, and your search history.

Facebook also made it easier to inspect how you’re advertised to. There are options for changing how you’re tracked and advertised to on the greater web. You can also download a copy of your Facebook data (photos, contacts, timeline posts). If you don’t think this goes far enough, or just don’t trust Facebook at its word, there are browser extensions for blocking Facebook’s data-sharing. Facebook said that previously, all these functions were spread across “nearly 20” different screens on mobile.

One thing that isn’t any easier? Deleting your account. The only option offered via the general account settings page is deactivation, which simply hides your account rather than removing it wholesale. You still have to Google for the deletion page, then make a request manually and wait up to 90 days for the process to take place. This obfuscation has been around for awhile now, and likely won’t change anytime soon.

Source: Facebook Newsroom

Watch NVIDIA’s GTC keynote in under 15 minutes

As usual, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang revealed a ton of news during his keynote at the company’s GPU Technology Conference yesterday. There’s the new Quadro GV100 GPU, which is based on NVIDIA’s Volta architecture and will power its new RTX ray tracing technology. The company also revealed its Drive Constellation system for testing self-driving cars in virtual reality, which will certainly help now that it’s pausing real world testing. Finally, NVIDIA made some major announcements around AI: its new DGX-2 “personal supercomputer” is insanely powerful, and it’s also partnering with ARM to bring its deep learning technology into upcoming Trillium mobile chips.