Moto G4 and G4 Plus will be available on July 12 starting at $199

The Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus will be officially available starting on July 12 at select retailers. Best Buy, B&H, Amazon and others will begin carrying both models then, with Republic Wireless making them available on July 28. Pricing for the Moto G4 starts at $199, and the G4 Plus will be available from $249.

These will be unlocked versions and compatible with both GSM and CDMA networks Motorola says.

In the U.S., the new Moto G⁴ will be available starting at $199 and Moto G⁴ Plus will be available starting at $249 beginning July 12 at Amazon, Best Buy, BrandsMart, B&H, Car Toys, Fry’s, MicroCenter, Motorola, Sam’s Club and Walmart.com. Moto G⁴ and Moto G⁴ Plus will be available at Republic Wireless beginning July 28.

To sweeten the deal, Best Buy will also be offering a $50 gift card with in-store and online purchases of either model made through July 30. Will you be picking one of these up? If so, let us know which one in the comments.

More: Moto G4 Plus review

Avatar movie franchise is coming to your phone as a mobile strategy game

Kabam has announced plans to release a massively multiplayer mobile strategy game that will be based on the Avatar sci-fi movie franchise from writer-director James Cameron.

Kabam, which has most recently launched Marvel Contest of Champions and Star Wars Uprising, stated in its press release that it will be working closely with 20th Century Fox and Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment on the Avatar game.

The new product will combine the characters and environments from the Avatar films with an innovative game design and the highest production values to bring the world of Pandora to life.

No release date for the Avatar mobile game was announced. The original Avatar movie was released in theaters in 2009 and went on to become the biggest international box office hit of all time (without adjusting for inflation), bring in over $2.7 billion. Cameron has plans to release four sequels to Avatar, with the first due out in December 2018.

When you buy a Chromebook, get as much storage as you can

Size matters when it comes to the storage space on your next Chromebook. Go as big as you can!

Chromebooks are inexpensive laptops, and some people even go as far as calling them network appliances. They fit the bill for the most part — they are designed to use remote servers for file storage (think Google Drive) and are a great interface to a computer network (the internet). But they also can run local programs, and with Android apps and the Play store coming to Chromebooks, they’ll be running even more of those local apps.

The Chromebook Flip’s 16GB of storage is going to become an issue.

We’ve been saying for a while that your next Chromebook should have a touch screen, and we can add another must-have to that list — the model with the biggest “hard drive”. Yes, the word hard drive is in quotes. That’s because most Chromebooks use internal flash memory and not a spinning disk, but we want to make sure everyone knows what we’re talking about here — you want as much space as you can get for Chrome apps, Android apps and files you download or create. The ASUS Chromebook Flip (which has Android apps and Google Play for testing on the Chrome Dev channel) is a great little laptop to run both Chrome and Android apps. But the 16GB of storage will prove to be a pain-point for a lot of us.

Google says new Chromebooks that are better suited to run Android apps are coming. We hope that means models with more storage! Just like your Android phone or iPhone, 16GB just isn’t enough once you deduct the space taken by the system and start adding some apps. A 16GB (and maybe even a 32GB) Chromebook isn’t going to be any different. It already takes a bit of file management for some of us, and that’s before we add Google Play apps into the mix.

We know the folks who make laptops like to charge more for premium features like high-capacity drives, but this is one time where we need to bite the bullet and pay up. If you’re in the market for a Chromebook — whether it’s your first or you’re just shopping for an upgrade — storage space is important. Buy as big as you can afford once Chromebooks with more storage become available.

Facebook launches Save and Share extensions for Chrome

Sharing and saving content around the web via Facebook just got a little easier if you’re using Chrome. That’s because the social network just announced the launch of two new Chrome extensions, appropriately called “Share to Facebook” and “Save to Facebook,” that do just that.

As you’d expect, using either extension is a simple affair. The Save to Facebook extension allows you to save articles to read later on Facebook with one click, much like Pocket. The Share extension, on the other hand, will allow you to create a post and share your current page to Facebook from anywhere.

If you’d like to try either extension, you can grab Save to Facebook or Share to Facebook on the Chrome Web Store now.

VPInput lets you quickly bounce between your PC and LG phone

LG has announced a new app for its G4, G5, and V10 smartphones that wirelessly connects them to your PC. Called VPInput, the app allows you to control your phone using your PC’s mouse and keyboard.

You can also easily transfer things between PC and phone, according to LG:

With VPInput on the phone and the accompanying program installed on the PC, text copied from a Word document on the PC can be pasted directly into your smartphone and a screen shot from your smartphone can easily be displayed on your PC monitor. What’s more, the function keys on the PC keyboard can be setup as shortcuts to launch your favorite smartphone features or apps.

LG VPInput is now available on the Google Play Store for those with compatible phones.

Microsoft reveals Windows 10 Anniversary Update release date by mistake

Someone at Microsoft appears to have hit publish a little too soon.

The company just announced that the first major update to Windows 10 will become available 2 August. Microsoft published a blog post early Tuesday to reveal the news, with the headline “Microsoft announces Windows 10 Anniversary Update available Aug. 2”, but the full post was pulled down just moments later, leading many eagle-eye fans to believe the post must’ve been published by accident.

You can see a web archive version of the original blog post from here. It’s unclear if Microsoft published the wrong information or simply hit the publish button early, but we can expect the Redmond-based company to make an official announcement sooner rather than later. We’re also assuming the information in the now-deleted post’s headline is correct: Windows 10’s Anniversary Update will arrive this August.

Microsoft (Web archive)

Microsoft first announced its Windows 10 Anniversary Update in March during the annual Build developer conference. At the time, Microsoft only said the update would arrive “this summer”. The software is set to bring new features that focus on Windows Ink and improving stylus-use. It’ll also bring extensions for Edge and upgrades for Hello and Cortona, among other things. You can read all about the update from here. 

The Anniversary Update should arrive around the 1-year anniversary of Window 10’s release (which launched 29 July 2015). It’ll be free to everyone with a device running Windows 10. If you’re updating from an older version of Windows, you’ll have to pay $119 for a full install.

Kindle’s Page Flip lets you skip between pages without losing your place

Amazon has introduced a new feature called Page Flip which will allow ebook readers to flip forwards and backwards between pages without losing their place. Page Flip automatically saves the page you’re reading, and pins it to the side of the screen while you flip through the other pages. You can also zoom out and get a birds-eye view of the book. 

It’s a particularly useful feature if you’re looking for specific pictures in a book, or if you’re flipping back and forth between a map and the story while reading something like Lord of the Rings. As long as the e-book you’re reading has it enabled, you’ll be able to use the feature. Compatible books will be marked “Page Flip: Enabled” in the features list. 

“Page Flip makes it easier than ever to refer back to pictures in a political memoir, flip back and forth between a map and your current page in an epic fantasy series, or find passages you’ve highlighted in an investing guide,” said Chuck Moore, vice president, Kindle. “With Page Flip, we’ve taken inspiration from how people read print books and improved upon it.”

The feature is available to download now as a free over-the-air software update for Kindle ebook readers, Fire tablets and the mobile app on iOS or Android. 

Always wanted a Bose speaker? Now you can get your kids to build you one

Bose is looking to demystify the world of audio with BoseBuild, a build-it-yourself category of products that will let kids discover what goes into a speaker and figure out how it all works.

The BoseBuild kit is all about exploration, providing all the parts you need to find out how speakers work and what goes into them. The first product is the BoseBuild Speaker Cube, which Bose says is easy to build, with a smartphone companion app to guide you through the process. 

You don’t all end up with the same speaker, however, as you’ll be able to customise it with coloured LED lights and “silhouette covers”.

The end result is a Bose Bluetooth speaker, built for fun and giving kids a chance to learn something about the world around them, rather than just breaking it out of a box. It’s designed to be durable too and compatible with any number of Bluetooth phones or tablets.

The BoseBuild is the latest in a run of products looking to encourage and engage kids in technical topics by making them fun:

• Kano offers a simple computer-building kit based around the Raspberry Pi, letting you build and code your own PC, complete with keyboard and mouse. 
• Google Project Bloks is an initiative based around a toy kit which can be built and coded to get it to do different things. This is an open-source platform, designed to encourage others to make interactive educational toys.
• Apple Swift Playgrounds app is designed to introduce children and beginners to coding on the iPad, helping them learn the open-source Swift programming language and make it creative and fun. It will launch alongside iOS 10 later in 2016. 

BoseBuild will cost $149 and is aimed at ages 8 and up. It looks pretty fun though, so we’re sure there will be plenty of big kids who want one too.

At internetmatters.org parents can find all the advice they will need to keep their children safe online. Designed specifically for parents, the site offers a wealth of up-to-date, unbiased information and advice about how to deal with online safety. Parents can learn about the latest issues and technologies, get great tips on how to talk about online safety with their children and get the best advice on dealing with issues and taking action. Created with experts, Internet Matters provides detailed information, but also signposts to best-in-class resources from individual expert organisations. Our goal is to ensure parents can always access the information that they need, in a format that is clear and concise.

How to make your bathroom smart

So there you are, standing in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing your teeth absent-mindedly and pondering the meaning of life. But with a small change you could make your bathroom smarter.

You could weigh yourself, wash yourself or even brush your teeth with connected gadgets. Here are some great options to turn your bathroom into a smart one.

Honeywell Lyric Wi-fi Water Leak and Freeze Detector

Leaks are serious business. The sooner you catch them, the better the chance of reducing the cost of repair and minimising damage. This neat gadget is simple to set up and connects directly to your home Wi-Fi.

If the cable sensor detects a leak, or for that matter a pipe that’s beginning to freeze, it notifies the Honeywell Lyric smartphone app and sounds an alarm with a 100dB buzzer. You can silence the alarm directly from the app.

It detects leaks and so on for the entire 4ft length of the cable and additional cables can be added, too. A small price to pay for peace of mind.

PRICE: $79.99 from yourhome.honeywell.com

Withings Smart Body Analyzer

Withings

Bathroom scales are no longer that wobbly platform which would deliver a better result if you kicked them round the bathroom floor enough. This set of scales lives up to the smart in its title: step on and it tells you your weight in kg, lbs or stones and lbs, with great accuracy.

If there’s more than one of you in the household it will recognise who you are and show a chart of your last five weigh-ins. Providing you’re not wearing socks, and it’s your bathroom so why would you be, it’ll put a gentle electric charge through you to measure how much of you is body fat.

It will then count your pulse, tell you today’s weather forecast and even check the air quality in the room. Because it’s wirelessly connected to the internet, it can save your weight and other stats so you can check trends over months or years via a website or smartphone app. This is seriously good smart tech.

PRICE: $149.95 from withings.com

Hydrao

Hydrao

This cute shower head gently encourages you to use less water. Coloured lights shine through the water as you clean yourself, and the more water you use, the more the colours change from green, to blue to mauve to red as your water consumption goes from under 10 litres to over 30 litres.

Hit 50 litres and it starts to flash red. The idea is that your usage is transmitted by Bluetooth to a smartphone app so you can see if you’re saving water, set up an in-house competition and so on.

The really clever thing is that the Hydrao doesn’t have a battery – the lights and Bluetooth activity are powered by the flow of the water!

PRICE: $99 from hydrao.fr

Oral-B Pro 5000 toothbrush

Oral B

Oral-B is out to help us to brush better with this latest Bluetooth-equipped brush. Sure, it will keep your pearly whites, er, pearly white with its efficient oscillating, rotating and pulsating while you brush.

Brushing effectively isn’t about brute force, especially with a powered brush. The Pro 5000 knows if you’re pressing too hard and lights up when you do.

It also sends this info to the smartphone app, so you can check your progress. The app records if you’ve brushed every day (though, frankly, isn’t that a given?) and for how long.

PRICE: $159.99 from Oralb.com

Philips Smart Shaver series 7000

Philips

No two face shapes are the same, so you need a personalised shaving experience, surely? That’s the thinking behind the smart shaver from Philips which works with a smartphone app to ensure you can get the best shave possible, specifically avoiding skin irritation from shaving.

The shaver itself records data and shares it with the app via Bluetooth. Then there are pre-emptive tips on the smartphone app, mostly to do with previous shaving routines and skin sensitivity.

The shaver can be configured to behave differently with three sensitive shave modes that can be chosen directly from the app.

PRICE: TBC from Philips.com

Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet

Sony

The advent of waterproof gadgets means the bathroom is no longer off limits. Sony has been in the vanguard of wet-friendly tech and its latest tablet is slim, light and effective, with a gorgeous 10.1-inch screen.

So, you can check your emails while you shave or safely watch a movie or send a text message from the comfort of your bath. Now, isn’t that what technology has always been reaching for?

PRICE: $580 from Amazon.com

Kohler Moxie showerhead and wireless speaker

Kohler

Maybe you aren’t worried about how much water you use, but you might like some music while you shower. In which case, this showerhead has a built-in speaker so you can play music from your tablet or smartphone.

The speaker itself is a rechargeable Bluetooth speaker that sticks in place magnetically so you could slide it out to use in other rooms as well.

Just don’t forget to charge it before you start to clean yourself. If you do, you can always sing, we suppose.

PRICE: $199 from Kohler

The Honeywell Lyric Water Leak and Freeze Detector is an early warning system that notifies you on your smartphone when a leak is detected or the temperature drops below a temperature of your choice. By catching it early, you may be able to avoid expensive repairs and loss of treasured items. To find out more visit Honeywell.com

This article was created in association with Honeywell.

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