Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K review

Nearly everything you’d want in a low-cost streaming stick with all the bells and whistles.

Don’t overthink this latest version of the venerable Amazon Fire TV Stick. As the name implies, it now supports 4K resolution. That’s a big deal. It’s also the first Amazon Fire TV device to support the Dolby Vision standard for HDR content, in addition to HDR 10. That’s also a big deal. (And it still supports Dolby Atmos for audio.)

And Amazon finally has released a new remote control — with buttons for volume and power control — which had been sorely needed.

And it does all this in a device that tops out at $49, when not on sale.

Streaming TV

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K

Better features, better remote, great price.

The new Fire TV Stick 4K adds Dolby Vision and a remote with proper volume and power controls to an already great Fire TV experience.

$49 at Amazon

The Good

• Same great Fire TV experience
• Support for 4K, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos
• Great price
• Improved remote control

The Bad

• Some apps still struggle

The best stick you can buy?

Fire TV Stick 4K What I like

If you’ve ever used an Amazon Fire TV device, you know what to expect here. The Fire TV Stick 4K is the exact same on-screen experience you get from the Fire TV Cube, or from 2017’s Fire TV 4K pendant, which this stick replaces.

Not to dismiss what’s going on here, but from an end-user standpoint this Fire TV Stick 4K is a pretty simple iteration. It’s support for 4K resolution and adds Dolby Vision alongside HDR 10. It still does Dolby Atmos for audio, though Atmos-laden content (through Amazon, anyway) still remains pretty limited.

Dolby Vision and a new remote are what truly make this a great $49 buy.

Dolby Vision is a decently big deal. It’s the better of the two HDR standards (HDR 10 is open-source, for what that’s worth), and you want your streaming device to support it. (If you don’t yet have an HDR-capable TV, Dolby Vision is a feature you’ll want to look for when it comes time to buy.)

So there’s that.

But then there’s the issue of the remote control. When the Amazon Fire TV Cube was announced, I lamented the fact that despite having Amazon Alexa built in and accessible via a series of microphones, it still shipped with the same crappy remote control that lacked volume buttons or a proper power button. And my review confirmed that using your voice to control your TV is still a terrible way to control your TV.

Now we have a new remote control. It’s got volume buttons. It’s got a power button. And it’s the remote control that Amazon should have released years ago. There’s a little extra setup at the beginning, just to make sure the remote works with your television. That takes about 10 seconds, though, and is entirely normal. Amazon still has a great setup workflow.

(By the way, you can order one separately for $29 for use with a second-generation Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, or the 2017 Fire TV 4K pendant.)

So, yeah. A couple of great iterations there.

And don’t forget about the price. The Fire TV Stick 4K retails for just $49, and for sure we’ll see it on sale for Black Friday at around $39.

There’s really no reason to not buy this thing, right?

The new Amazon Fire TV Voice Remote, with its proper volume and power buttons.

OK, here are a couple reasons

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K What I don’t like

There’s not actually anything I don’t like about the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K. It’s a simple product.

I could complain about the lack of an Ethernet port for hardwiring into my router, but I knew it didn’t have one when I bought it. (And you can always use Amazon’s $14 Ethernet adapter if you need to.)

I could complain about some streaming apps still being pretty slow — looking at you, DirecTV Now — but that’s not entirely Amazon’s fault, either, and certainly it’s not the fault of this product.

Or I could complain that YouTube TV (my current go-to for live TV) isn’t available on the Fire TV Stick 4K. But it’s also not available on any other Fire TV device, because Google and Amazon are still in a stupid war with each other. That’s also not the product’s fault.

From the standpoint of an end-user, it’s the exact same experience as before, only with better features, and a better remote. Full stop.

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K includes an HDMI dongle, which you might well need to use.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K

Should you buy one? Yes

4.5
out of 5

If you were to stop me on the street and ask which Amazon Fire TV device to buy, I’d say this one. The Fire TV Stick 4K.

In fact, you don’t have to stop me on the street. Just read this. You can get a Fire TV Stick 4K and bundle it with a new Amazon Echo Dot and have all the hands-free fun you want, for a full $40 less than a Fire TV Cube.

If you don’t need a 4K-capable Fire TV device — I’d still recommend this one. Because one day you may have a 4K TV and want to use this. Better to spend an extra $10 today than an extra $49 to upgrade again later, right?

It’s got all the features you want. It’s got a better remote. So long as you don’t rely on YouTube TV (or YouTube proper, for that matter), you’ll have everything you need, at a great price.

$49 at Amazon

What can I do with the temperature sensor in the 2018 Amazon Echo Plus?

Best answer: As of November 2018, nothing more than tell the temperature of the room it’s in. But that means it can be included in routines, and Amazon has developer functionality in place, which should prove to be useful for smart thermostat manufacturers and more in the near future.

Amazon: Amazon Echo Plus (2018) ($150)

If you build it, they will come

The second-generation Echo Plus includes a temperature sensor that can collect the ambient room temperature where your Echo Plus is located. Right now, you can find this sensor listed in the Alexa app and if you build a group that includes it, Alexa will tell you the temperature if you ask. This isn’t the most useful thing most of us can imagine, but it’s also only the beginning.

Having a reliable way to measure temperatures in a dedicated place means advanced users can build routines based around the readings. A complex series of simple routines that can adjust a Nest Thermostat, for example, based on the temperature readings could be built and the Echo Plus could replicate the features of a remote sensor. For most of us, building 20 or more routines to adjust a thermostat when specific temperatures are reached (remember, if you turn a thing on, you have to tell it when to turn off and vice-versa) isn’t very practical, but when you think about something like a smart plug controlling a fan, it gets a lot less complicated: on when it gets above a certain temp, off when it gets below a certain temp.

The exciting part is Amazon’s developer documentation and interface for the temperature sensor is already in place. This means that it can be used directly in an Alexa Skill for any device that would benefit from having it. Things become much more useful when the Nest Skill or the Ecobee Skill can use an Echo Plus as a stand-alone room sensor. All the single digit adjustments you need to make to include the temperature sensor in a series of routines can be done away with and you could simply tell your Ecobee 4 to use your Echo Plus as the current room temperature.

We’re looking forward to seeing companies leverage this unique hardware feature of the Echo Plus and will be sure to share any news and help get you up and running when it happens.

Our pick

Amazon Echo Plus (2018)

$150 at Amazon

An Echo with extras

The 2018 Echo plus not only brings Alexa and all her usefulness to a valid stand-alone smart hub. The addition of a temperature sensor means we could see integration with smart thermostats in the near future.

MacBook Air Reviews Roundup: ‘Best Computer for Most People’ Again After 2018 Refresh

Apple’s embargo lifted today on the first full-length reviews of the new MacBook Air ahead of the notebook’s release on Wednesday.

The new MacBook Air via The Verge
The new MacBook Air features a faster 1.6GHz dual-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, a Retina display, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 1.5TB of SSD storage, and Intel UHD Graphics 617. It also has Touch ID, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and the same third-generation butterfly keyboard as the latest MacBook Pro.

Review Highlights

The Verge’s Dieter Bohn:

So let me just bottom line it: this new MacBook Air is faster than the old MacBook Air, but not by the kind of margin you’d expect after three years (or even one, if you happened to buy the 2017 model). You can do all of the same stuff you can do on your current Air. I have been running a half-dozen apps at a time along with more than a dozen tabs in Chrome, and everything is pretty okay. I think for what most people will do with this laptop, it’s fine. …

If you’re hoping you’ll be able to upgrade and get way faster video editing or process a ton of RAW photos at once, get a MacBook Pro. Those kinds of tasks will bring this Air to a chug and spin up those fans. I have found it to be more capable and powerful than the 12-inch MacBook, but, again, the difference is not as big as I’d hoped.

And:

People like the Mac. It’s great to have a computer that does all of the computer stuff you want in a way you’re familiar with. Until recently, the best computer for most people was the MacBook Air, and Apple took way too long to update it. So people have been waiting. And waiting.

Now, the wait is over. But if you were hoping that lightning would strike twice and this new MacBook Air would be as revolutionary as the old MacBook Air, well, it’s not. It’s basically a MacBook that finally includes all of the stuff that has been happening with laptops for the past few years. It is on par with the rest of the laptop world, but it hasn’t moved beyond it.

Wired’s Lauren Goode:

What might push you towards the Air, though, more so than any other Mac laptop, is its battery life. …

Not surprisingly, the laptop drained much more quickly when I used the MacBook Air to charge my iPhone, something I do often. But in another recent test—browsing in Safari, running Slack and iMessage, editing a few photos in Lightroom, all with the display between 60 to 70 percent of maximum brightness—it lasted just under eight hours.

TechCrunch’s Brian Heater:

There’s no doubt the new Air marks a sizable update. It’s pricier, too, though Apple’s kept things more in check here than with the Mac Mini. With all of its upgrades and lower price point to boot, the Air is the clear pick over the 12-inch MacBook in practically every way.

As a matter of fact, barring some major future upgrade, the 12-inch likely isn’t long for this world. And that’s perfectly fine. The new Air is very clearly the better buy.

Engadget’s Dana Wollman:

This is the same screen technology already in use on the 12-inch MacBook, and the color spectrum Apple is touting is actually sRGB — a common spec for laptops in this price range. In fact, that’s one of the main differences between this screen and the MacBook Pro: For the money, Apple’s highest-end laptops step up to the professional-grade P3 color spectrum. I don’t miss it, but if you do, the Air wasn’t the right laptop for you anyway.

Six Colors’s Jason Snell:

If you’re shopping for a Mac laptop, start with the MacBook Air. Want a cheaper model? The old Air is there for as long as it lasts. Want something even smaller and lighter, and are willing to trade some power, port flexibility, and money for it? The MacBook is for you. Want something more powerful, and are willing to take on a slightly heavier and more expensive device? The 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar is for you. Want even more power? The 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros offer numerous opportunities to upgrade specs and spend more money.

AppleInsider’s Andrew O’Hara:

When we compared the display of the new MacBook Air to our 15-inch 2017 MacBook Pro, they both looked pretty solid, but we noticed at least one difference —the new Air doesn’t get quite as bright. When we checked out the specs page, Apple outlines the newest Pros can reach up to 500 nits of brightness, while the new Airs only max out at 300. This would be more noticeable for anyone working outside, but isn’t a big deal in an office environment, or even a bright room.

Review and Unboxing Videos

More Reviews

• CNET’s Dan Ackerman
• Macworld’s Jason Cross
• Mashable’s Pete Pachal
• CNBC’s Todd Haselton
• USA TODAY’s Ed Baig
• Laptop Mag’s Henry T. Casey

The new MacBook Air is available to order on Apple.com, with deliveries to customers and in-store availability starting tomorrow. The notebook now starts at $1,199, while Apple continues to sell the previous-generation model for $999.

Related Roundup: MacBook AirTag: reviewsBuyer’s Guide: MacBook Air (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums

Mac mini 2018 Reviews Roundup: Long-Awaited Update Should Impress Fans and Pro Users, But Upgrade Options Can Get Pricey

The first round of Mac mini reviews were published online this morning. Below we’ve highlighted some of the key takeaways from around the web ahead of Apple’s official November 7 launch.

Four years in the waiting, the new Mac mini comes in Space Gray, features 4- and 6-core 8th-Generation Intel Core processors, four Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, support for up to 64GB RAM, and up to 2TB of solid-state storage. It also includes Apple’s T2 chip for added security.

Review Highlights

On the new Mac mini’s largely unchanged design:

Six Colors’s Jason Snell:

In the last few years, Intel has pushed the idea of extremely small desktop PCs, leading people like me to speculate that perhaps the next Mac mini would be even more mini. That didn’t happen. Instead, Apple has decided to use the existing Mac mini design, a low-lying slab of machined aluminum with curved edges. The only real difference is that now it’s darker, the old silver look replaced with a new space gray finish.

On Apple’s port choices for the Mac mini:

TechCrunch’s Brian Heater:

The biggest turn on the I/O side of things, however, is the inclusion of an impressive four Thunderbolt 3 ports. That’s the same number found on the iMac Pro and twice as many as you get on the 2017 standard iMac. It opens things up to a lot more computing versatility. As far as my own desk is concerned, I welcome the ability to power the LG 4K monitor Apple sent along for testing purposes.

Developer Marco Arment:

The ports are different, and versatile. Like the iMac Pro, the Mac mini recognizes that it’s useful to offer both USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 and USB-A ports. There are four of those Thunderbolt 3 ports, two classic USB-A ports, HDMI, a headphone jack, and Ethernet—Gigabit by default, with up to 10Gb Nbase-T Ethernet available as a $100 option. You can hang two 4K displays or one 5K display off of the Thunderbolt 3 ports. You can use adapters to connect to Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 2 or to give yourself more USB-A or… really, whatever you can think of. It’s a lot of ports.

On Apple’s upgrade choices for the Mac mini:

Macworld’s Ramon Loyola:

The $799 model comes with a 128GB drive, but if that isn’t enough, Apple offers upgrades all the way up to 2TB if you’re willing to pay. The SSDs are PCI-e cards and Apple doesn’t consider them user-upgradeable. So, if you prefer to house your storage inside the computer instead of attaching an external drive, you might consider shelling out more money for an upgrade.

The $799 Mac mini comes standard with 8GB of 2666MHz DDR4 memory, installed as a pair of 4GB SO-DIMMs. The mini supports a maximum of 64GB, and you can upgrade the memory later, but Apple doesn’t consider the Mac mini to be user-configurable, and it recommends that memory upgrades be performed by a certified Apple service provider.

Six Color’s’s Jason Snell:

Today the Mac mini is about flexibility and filling niches. This update allows it to span a wide range from basic server needs all the way up to high-end applications that require a great deal of processor power, fast storage, ultra-fast networking, and even beyond (via Thunderbolt 3). The high-end configurations might actually provide enough power for people to consider them over buying the Mac Pro, whenever it comes out.

On the new Mac mini’s performance:

Marco Arment:

The big story to me is how incredibly fast this thing is. Granted, I’m testing the fastest CPU offered, but damn.

Geekbench results are very strong. The i7 Mac Mini scored better on single-core performance than every other Mac today (!) at 5912, and its multi-core score of nearly 24,740 beats every Mac to date except the iMac Pro and the old 12-core 2013 Mac Pro.

“Performance-competitive with pro Macs” was not high on my prediction list for a Mac Mini update, but here we are.

CNET’s Lori Grunin:

For many pros, it may be hamstrung by Intel’s integrated graphics processor. I’m not saying it needs a powerful gaming or rendering GPU. A Kaby Lake G CPU, for example, would be a nice alternative to the i3 simply to make the system low-end VR ready, to take some of the video decoding burden or to help reduce overhead in audio production.

[…]

Apple really seems to be betting on external GPUs as a solution for much of its graphics woes. But one of the benefits of the Mini is that it’s mini. Having to make space for a big eGPU just for better-than-basic graphics acceleration kind of defeats the purpose of a tiny system, especially when you’re likely going to be hanging a multitude of external drives and other accessories off it as well.

TechCrunch’s Brian Heater:

Even the lowest-speced version should be plenty fine for most tasks. I’ve shifted my standard tech blogger work flow over the machine for the last couple of days and am perfectly happy with the results. On the other hand, if your workload requires anything processor or graphics intensive, you’re going to want to pimp this thing out — or seriously consider picking up a desktop with the word “Pro” in the name.

On the Mac mini’s price:

Marco Arment:

Apple lent me a high-end configuration for review — 6-core i7, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD — which would cost $2499 (much of which is the SSD). This would’ve sounded crazy to spend on a Mac Mini a few years ago, but when it’s specced up like this, it’s targeting a much higher-end market than the previous model could. Compared to similarly specced iMacs and MacBook Pros, the pricing is generally reasonable.

TechCrunch’s Brian Heater:

For the budget-strapped, it’s also easy to flinch at the $300 price increase on the base-level. While it’s true that the components are pricier this time, it’s hard to shake the feeling that the company has priced out the true entry-level user this time out, in favor of offering a product that’s more of a gateway into the Pro ecosystem.

Review and Unboxing Videos

More Reviews

• Tom’s Guide’s Brian Westover
• MobileSyrup’s Patrick O’Rourke
• AppleInsider’s Andrew O’Hara
• ZDNet’s Jason Cipriani

Pricing on the Mac mini starts at $799 for the base model with a 3.6GHz processor, 128GB of storage, and 8GB RAM and goes up to $4,199 for a maxed out machine with 3.2GHz Core i7 processor, 64GB RAM, a 2TB SSD, and the upgraded 10Gb Ethernet option.

The Mac mini is available for purchase from Apple’s online store. Orders will be delivered on November 7, the day that it will be available for purchase in retail stores.

Related Roundup: Mac miniBuyer’s Guide: Mac Mini (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums

DT Daily: The latest flagship killer, shoe designer Chris Nixon, and more

On the last episode of DT Daily, we talked the future of the MacBook lineup and AT&T’s recent decision to yank HBO from Dish Network and Sling TV. Ryan Gist, Director of Engineering at Biolite, also made an appearance to chat about the company’s latest camping gadgetry, including the apt-titled SunLite and BioLite’s smoke-free fire pit.

Each episode of DT Daily is different, however, and today’s is no exception.

After rolling through a series of reader comments and the day’s biggest headlines — namely a possible mobile iteration of Mario vs. Donkey Kong and the “disturbingly long” tunnel that Elon Musk’s Boring Company recently carved out beneath the streets of L.A. — host Greg Nibler quickly turned it over to Mobile Editor Julian Chokkattu and Digital Trends Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Kaplan to discuss the newest iPad iPro and Samsung’s forthcoming Developer Conference. The two also spoke about what might be the flagship killer of the year, the OnePlus 6T, which packs the power of a Galaxy S9 and other high-end smartphones while leaving the exorbitant price tag at the door.

Later in the show, sneaker designer Chris Dixon joined us in-studio to chat about his favorite shoe of all time, his humble beginnings in the footwear industry, and the World Sneaker Championships (which he won in 2017). He also talked about how he went about crafting the unique design of the Dojo, an award-winning shoe that’s slated for release at the beginning of next year, and about his time at Pensole, a footwear design academy located in Portland, Oregon.

For our final segment, Home Theater Editor Ryan Waniata’s previewed his recent interview with Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement, in which the two talk about his new film, An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn, Clement’s role in the second season of Legion, and the forthcoming TV adaptation of What We Do in the Shadows.

DT Daily airs Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. PT, with highlights available on demand after the stream ends. For more information, check out the DT Live homepage, and be sure to watch live for the chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card, among other prizes.

Editors’ Recommendations

• DT Daily: 2017 sneaker design champion talks career arcs in the industry
• DT Daily: Drone-snatching eagles, streamer Disguised Toast, and more
• DT Daily: Foldable smartphones, the future of Apple Music, and BlizzCon
• Between the Streams podcast
• DT Daily: Macbook leaks, ‘Red Dead’ reviews, and a swanky PS4 controller

You can ship all the things on Amazon for free, but only for a limited time

Likely aiming at challenges from retail rivals like Target and BestBuy, Amazon announced a significant change to its shipping policies. From now and onward for a “limited time” all items will ship for free on Amazon, for everyone, with no minimum purchase required.

Though the “limited time”doesn’t set specific start and end dates, it marks the first time that Amazon is changing its policies in favor of online shoppers not paying for Prime memberships. Now, the millions of items shipping for Christmas should arrive at the doorsteps of eager shoppers within five to eight days, without extra charge.

Prime members, however, will continue to enjoy the same two-day delivery, same day shipping on up to 3 million items, and tons of other benefits also at no extra cost.

“This holiday, customers can enjoy free shipping with no minimum purchase amount on orders that will arrive in time for Christmas, including items from Amazon’s expertly curated Gift Guides across electronics, fashion, home, and toys,” Amazon said.

Items eligible under this change are sold by both Amazon and also third-party sellers. All it takes to get started it to add eligible items to a shopping cart, and then ensure that it is marked with the “Free Shipping” message on the product detail page. You can then select “Group my items into as few shipments” and select “Free Shipping,” to have the items arrive before Christmas and within the five- to eight-day period.

“With hundreds of millions of items available for free shipping to all Amazon customers and more than three million items available with Prime Free Same-Day Delivery, customers can enjoy the largest selection of items that are fast and free,” Amazon said.

Target recently announced that it would be offering free two-day shipping for all customers through December 22 and Best Buy also has no limits for its shipping. Along with free shipping, both of those retailers have their own sales planned for Black Friday and the holidays. Target is offering sales on the Xbox One X, and other electronics, and Best Buy is likely to offer some of the same discounts. Amazon, too, has its own promotions in store and is currently holding an early Black Friday deals event.

Editors’ Recommendations

• How does Amazon Prime Now work?
• The best Black Friday stores compared: Amazon, Walmart, and more
• Amazon Prime Pantry: Everything you need to know
• No, Amazon Day isn’t yet another shopping event, but you may find it useful
• Black Friday 2018: Everything you need to know to find the best deals

Olloclip’s latest smartphone lenses appease the budget-minded and pixel peepers

Lenses, like cameras, tend to come in varying levels of quality with a matching price point — and now smartphone lenses are following suit. On Monday, November 5, Olloclip launched the new Pro Series and Intro Series lenses, bringing the highest quality lenses yet from the company alongside a budget line.

The new Pro series launches with a new Super Wide lens and a Telephoto Lens. The company says the Pro Super Wide offers the least amount of distortion yet from Olloclip lenses, with wider lenses being more susceptible to distortion. Compared to Olloclip’s existing Super-Wide, the lens can gather more light with less distortion, the company says. The lens doubles the field of view to fit more in the image.

The Telephoto Pro captures images that are 2x closer than the unmodified smartphone camera. However, Olloclip says the Pro version is capable of gathering more light. Besides getting closer to the subject, the lens can help exaggerate background blur, Olloclip says.

The new Intro lens is designed for smartphone photography newbies on a budget. The Intro launches with a wide angle and macro lens combo, unscrewing the top part of the lens to reveal the macro lens.

Both the new Pro series and the Intro are compatible with the ConnectX and Multi-Device Clip, but not the earlier iPhone 8/7 and 8/7 Plus clips. The new lines join Olloclip’s original lineup.

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Olloclip

Olloclip

Olloclip

Olloclip

“Historically, Olloclip has offered lenses that enhance smartphone cameras at only one price point,” Todd Williams, Olloclip global sales director, said. “Now, we’re excited to offer three series of lenses designed to provide a high-quality photograph at various price points that are accessible to everyone. Long requested by our fans, the Pro Series lenses take mobile photography to the highest level ever offered by Olloclip. Also, by expanding our line with a lens and attachment clip starting at less than the original Olloclip lens system, more people can explore the world of smartphone photography with the same quality customers have come to expect from Olloclip.”

The Pro series lenses sell for $120 with clips or $100 individually. The Intro lens lists at just $20, or $40 for users that don’t yet have the lens clip.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7, the brightest zoom lens yet, is like five primes in one
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• Canon seriously slims the 400mm and 600mm, but hasn’t forgotten the M line

Yongnuo’s smart mirrorless camera will use Android 7.1, Canon lenses

Yongnuo

Yongnuo’s camera may not yet have a name but it does have some interesting specifications. Shortly after announcing a naming contest for a new smart mirrorless camera, budget-brand Yongnuo shared more insight into the upcoming camera, temporarily dubbed the YN450, including a 16-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor. Yongnuo is a China-based company that’s most known in the photography community for budget flashes and lenses.

The back of the teased photo looks more like a smartphone than a camera, thanks to the Android 7.1 operating system built inside. The camera uses a five-inch 1080p touchscreen to navigate through that operating system.

The sensor-packed inside won’t be designed by Yongnuo, it will house a 16-megapixel sensor created by Panasonic. A Qualcomm eight-core processor will help process those images, with 4K support at up to 30 fps. The camera is slated to have a Canon EF lens mount, supports RAW shooting, and there’s a second 8-megapixel camera for selfies.

The camera will use 3GB of RAM with 32GB of storage. Yongnuo says the camera will also have GPS along with a headphone port and dual-MIC support.

Yongnuo isn’t the first to try to mix smartphone operability and connectivity with an interchangeable lens camera. Samsung’s NX1 was ahead of its time but the NX1 is only available used on Amazon after the company pulled out of the U.K. and hasn’t been updated in years.  More recently, Zeiss announced the development of a full frame mirrorless camera that has a large touchscreen and Lightroom built in.

The image quality of a mirrorless camera with the connectivity and on-device editing of a smartphone isn’t a bad idea if Yongnuo can find the traction previous attempts couldn’t. But, there are a few oddities on the YN450. For example, the sensor is Micro-Four Thirds, but the lenses are Canon’s full-frame options. Full-frame lenses can work on a smaller sensor with a crop factor, but the lenses are larger and often more expensive than a 4/3 or APS-C lens. The camera is also missing a viewfinder and a hot shoe slot.

Yongnuo hasn’t yet said when the camera will be available, but the YN450 naming contest results will be announced in 2019.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best mirrorless cameras
• The race is on: Full-frame dominates Photokina (and could drive prices down)
• Nikon’s full-frame mirrorless is coming August 23 — here’s what we know so far
• Drooling over the newest full-frame cameras? You might not need one after all
• Canon EOS R review

New CERN experiments probe puzzling questions about antimatter

ALPHA CERN

What happens when you take a bit of antimatter and drop it? That’s the question being probed in a new series of antimatter gravity experiments being conducted by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, more commonly know as CERN, where outstanding antimatter experiments are just another day in the office. The goal to unravel one of the many unknowns of antimatter — whether it falls in response to gravity at the same rate as ordinary matter, or if it instead behaves peculiarly.

You may remember this puzzling fact from high school physics class: When you drop two objects with different masses in a vacuum (that is, in the absence of friction) they’ll each descend at exactly the same rate. When dropped in a vacuum, a feather and a bowling ball both accelerate at a rate of 9.81 meters per second squared. But how does antimatter react?

“[It’s a] very simple, very basic question,” Jeffrey Hangst, spokesperson for one of the experiments, ALPHA, said in a video accompanying the news release. “But we don’t know the answer.”

In order to answer this question, the CERN researchers have developed two experiments called ALPHA-g and GBAR.

ALPHA-g has a lot in common with CERN’s ALPHA experiment, which binds antiprotons with positrons to create neutral antihydrogen atoms. A magnetic trap is then used to capture the neutral antihydrogen atom and shine microwaves or a laser light onto them to determine their internal structure.

The new ALPHA-g experiment uses a similar instrument, but one that’s positioned vertically, rather than horizontally, so that they can measure where the atoms are vertically once the magnetic trap is deactivated and Earth’s gravity takes hold. By recording the position, the researchers will be able to determine the effect that gravity has on the antihydrogen atoms.

ALPHA-g is the product of years of research to produce sufficient amounts of neutral antimatter, or antimatter that doesn’t have a charge. The CERN team can now produce and capture up to 1,000 antihydrogen atoms at once in its ALPHA-2 machine.

Where the ALPHA-g experiment takes on a familiar form, the GBAR experiment will pose a unique experience for the CERN researchers. GBAR will generate antihydrogen ions with one antiproton and two positrons, by using antiprotons from the ELENA deceleration ring and positrons sourced from a small linear accelerator. Once the antihydrogen ions are produced, they will be trapped and chilled to extremely low temperatures, before a laser light is used to strip them of one positron and turn them into neutral antiatoms. By then releasing the antiatoms from a height of 20 centimeters, the researchers will measure how they react.

“We are hoping that we’ll get the chance to make the first gravity measurements with antimatter, but it’s a race against time.” Patrice Pérez, spokesperson for GBAR, said. “The GBAR experiment is using an entirely new apparatus and an antiproton beam still in its commissioning phase. We hope to produce antihydrogen this year and are working toward being ready to measure the gravitational effects on antimatter when the antiprotons are back in 2021.”

After some initial tests, the researchers are now racing to get their experiments commissioned before CERN’s accelerators are deactivated for a two-year maintenance period in the next few weeks.

By revealing the effects of gravity on antimatter, researchers may be able to shed light on a quantum theory of gravity or even begin to explain why the universe seems primarily made up of matter and not its opposite.

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