Get an Amazon Dash Button for 99p and still get £4.99 back off your first order
Amazon’s Black Friday deals continue apace with a massive discount on its Dash Buttons. For today only, Tuesday 22 November, you can nab yourself a Dash Button of your choice for just 99p.
The best is yet to come, however.
Not only can you get a Dash Button for £4 less than the usual retail price, you still get £4.99 back after your first order. That means you actually receive £4 for nothing. Nada. Zilch.
All you have to do is buy a Dash Button for 99p from the many on offer, order the product it is related to by pressing the button for the first time and your Amazon account will be credited with £4.99. Simple.
Dash Buttons are available for a wide range of brands, including Finish, Ariel, Gilette, Andrex, Fairy, even Play-Doh and Nerf. Each one connects to your home Wi-Fi network and each time you press it you instantly order a product you have associated it with. For example, you can stick one to your washing machine and re-order washing tablets with each press.
They are available for Prime members only, so you do need to also subscribe to the £79 a year service. But considering that also ensures you get free next-day delivery (same-day in many instances), access to Amazon Prime Instant Video shows and films, the Kindle Owners Lending Library and plenty of other benefits, you may well feel like doing so anyway.
You can find out more here. You can also check out other Black Friday deals in our in-depth round-up of the best offers here.
Motorola’s Moto Z is now Daydream-ready, thanks to Nougat
Motorola has announced the Moto Z is finally getting the Nougat update.
In a blog post Monday, the Lenovo-owned smartphone maker said it will rill out Android 7.0 Nougat globally to the Moto Z and Moto Z Force this week.
But that’s not the biggest aspect of Monday’s news, as Motorola had already revealed the update was coming. The most interesting part about this update is that it makes the Moto Z line compatible with Daydream, Google’s latest platform mobile VR, which you can read all about here.
Motorola had never announced or hinted the Moto Z line was compatible with Daydream, so Moto Z owners should be pleasantly surprised. Until now, Google’s new Pixel and Pixel Xl flagships were the only devices available with Daydream. As Motorola noted, they are now the first smartphones from another manufacturer to be recognised as Daydream-ready devices.
Daydream-ready devices are certified for the Daydream platform and built for VR. They must have high-resolution displays, as well as graphics and sensors precise enough for head tracking. But in order to step into a virtual world, you’ll need to pair your Moto Z phone with Google’s $79 Daydream VR headset, which we reviewed and described as the most comfortable VR experience.
Check out the Moto software upgrades page for more details about the upcoming Nougat update, including specific information by country and carrier.
4K Netflix is finally available on Windows 10 PCs
Netflix has been pushing out 4K content to its apps on streaming boxes and Smart TVs for awhile, but the entertainment industry’s anti-piracy crusade and some DRM limitations have meant PC users looking to stream ultra HD episodes of Bloodline have been out of luck until now. Starting today, Netflix’s 4K content is available to stream on Windows 10 PCs — but only if your machine is a fairly recent one.
The catch: you’ll need a new or new-ish Windows 10 PC with a seventh-gen Intel Kaby Lake processor and 4K display to take advantage. So, your options are basically limited to the Lenovo Yoga 910 and a handful of gaming laptops and desktop machines at the moment. Assuming your hardware is good to go, you’ll also need to upgrade to the $12 monthly Premium subscription with Ultra HD streaming. Users with older Home Theater PCs are still out of luck, unfortunately.
On the bright side, the new partnership with Netflix — which includes getting Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life in 4K a few days before everyone else — gives Redmond the opportunity to tout battery life improvements they’ve made to their very own Edge browser. According to Microsoft, you’ll be able to squeeze in one more episode before your battery dies if you’re streaming on Edge instead of Chrome. Of course, a Chromecast Ultra would also do the trick.
Source: Windows Blog
Adidas’ latest innovation is a pair of biodegradable sneakers
When the UltraBoost Uncaged Parleys debuted earlier this month, Adidas showed off the depth of its commitment to cutting out petroleum and fossil fuels from its manufacturing process. While the Parleys literally turned ocean garbage into stylish footwear, Adidas’ next forward-thinking shoe skips the plastic altogether in favor of a biodegradable, super-strong form of synthetic spider silk called Biosteel.
The material comes from German company AMSilk, where Wired reports it’s made in a lab by fermenting genetically modified bacteria that is then spun into thread with a high tensile strength. The Biosteel gives the Adidas Futurecraft Biofabric, as they’re calling them, a bit of an understated gold tint and they ride on top of the same Ultra Boost sole as the rest of Adidas’ flagship line, so the company says you should be able to get a solid two years of hard use out of them. Although they’re still in the prototype stage at the moment, Adidas hopes to have a them on store shelves sometime next year.
But the real kicker here is how you get rid of them when they’ve finally blown out: since they’re made from biological materials, the Futurecraft Biofabric can also be broken down with the help of a special enzyme, also made by AMSilk. As Adidas global creative director James Carnes told Wired, a small packet of the enzyme solution is enough to safely dissolve your worn sneakers in your kitchen sink at home. No garbage disposal necessary.
Source: Wired
NASA demonstrates EM Drive theory, but don’t get too excited
A fuel-free engine is the stuff of science fiction for now, but scientists at NASA Eagleworks have published a peer-reviewed paper that suggests the ideas behind an EM Drive are worth testing further. Researchers at Eagleworks, a small NASA team tasked with testing humanity’s wildest theories of spaceship propulsion, were able to produce thrust without any kind of propellant, in a vacuum, as they published this weekend in ARC.
An EM Drive produces thrust without fuel, instead using microwaves that bounce around a conical, enclosed device. According to the theory, the momentum of those bouncing microwaves is higher at the wide end of the engine, which means the whole system should experience thrust. Eagleworks researchers demonstrated this theory with their recent experiments, generating a force of 1.2 ± 0.1 mN/kW, which is “significantly higher than what you would expect from photon thrust,” according to astronomer Scott Manley.
Now that the methodology has passed peer review, the debate over the feasibility of an EM Drive is back in full swing. If humans harnessed this kind of power, it could enable rapid-fire space travel. We’re talking trips to Mars in 41 days here. However, this thing is called the “impossible drive” for good reason: It breaks a few laws of physics, including conservation of momentum and Newton’s Third Law.
The Eagleworks paper is not proof that the EM Drive is possible. Researchers note that they can’t account for all potential sources of error and there’s still no explanation for the thrust they observed. A peer-reviewed paper is, if nothing else, a flicker of hope and a call for more experimentation.
Via: Forbes
Source: ARC
What’s on your TV: ‘Gilmore Girls,’ ‘3%’
Need something to watch while you’re huddled outside a big box store on Black Friday? Save the second episode of Amazon’s The Grand Tour for your new 4K HDR TV (it’s worth it), as Netflix has some nice options this week. Gilmore Girls fans have its resurrected short series to look forward to, but we’re focusing on Netflix’s new Brazilian sci-fi series 3%. The show depicts a near-future where a select few are able to experience life in a privileged society — after making their way through an intense competition. Gamers can return to The Division for its delayed second round of DLC, or check out an NBA 2K VR experience. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Blu-ray & Games & Streaming
- Kubo and the Two Strings (3D)
- C.H.U.D.
- War Dogs (4K)
- To Live and Die in LA
- Poldark (S2)
- One-Eyed Jacks (Criterion)
- Mechanic: Resurrection (4K)
- Punch-Drunk Love (Criterion)
- Better Call Saul (S2)
- NBA 2K VR (PS4)
- The Division: Survival DLC (Xbox One, PC)
- Overcooked: Gourmet Edition (PS4, Xbox One)
- I, Zombie (PS4)
- Samurai Shodown VI (PS4)
Monday
- Monday Night Football: Texans/Raiders, ESPN, 8:15PM
- Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing, HBO, 8PM
- Supergirl , CW, 8PM
- Kevin Can Wait, CBS, 8PM
- Gotham, Fox, 8PM
- The Voice, NBC, 8PM
- Dancing With the Stars, ABC, 8PM
- WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
- X Factor UK, Axs, 8PM
- Man with a Plan, CBS, 8:30PM
- American Dad, TBS, 8:30PM
- The 1980s: The Deadliest Decade, Investigation Discovery, 9PM
- Mars, National Geographic Channel, 9PM
- Jane the Virgin, CW, 9PM
- 2 Broke Girls, CBS, 9PM
- Lucifer, Fox, 9PM
- The Odd Couple, CBS, 9:30PM
- Big Brother: Over the Top, CBS All Access, 10PM
- Explorer, National Geographic Channel, 10PM
- Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music , PBS, 10PM
- Scorpion, CBS, 10PM
- Timeless, NBC, 10PM
- Conviction, ABC, 10PM
- Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM
- StarTalk, National Geographic Channel, 11PM
Tuesday
- Mercy, Netflix, 3AM
- WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
- Tackle My Ride, NFL Network, 8PM
- The Flash, CW, 8PM
- Brooklyn Nine-nine, Fox, 8PM
- NCIS, CBS, 8PM
- The Voice, NBC, 8PM
- WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
- The Middle, ABC, 8PM
- Black America Since MLK, PBS, 8PM
- New Girl, Fox, 8:30PM
- American Housewife, ABC, 8:30PM
- Dancing with the Stars (season finale), ABC, 9PM
- Bull, CBS, 9PM
- Good Behavior, TNT, 9PM
- Teen Wolf, MTV, 9PM
- No Tomorrow, CW, 9PM
- Inside the NFL, Showtime 9PM
- The Gary Owen Show, BET, 9:30PM
- NCIS: NO, CBS, 10PM
- Shooter, USA, 10PM
- Sweet/Vicious, MTV, 10PM
- Hitler: The Opportunist (series premiere), AHC, 10PM
- Soundbreaking, PBS, 10PM
- Aftermath, Syfy, 10PM
- A Season with Florida State Football, Showtime, 10PM
- Drunk History, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
- Cyberwar, Viceland, 10:30PM
- The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail (season finale), Comedy Central, 12AM
Wednesday
- Chance, Hulu, 3AM
- Arrow, CW, 8PM
- Macy’s 90th Thanksgiving Day Parade Special, NBC, 8PM
- Lethal Weapon, Fox, 8PM
- The Goldbergs, ABC, 8PM
- Survivor, CBS, 8PM
- Speechless, CBS, 8:30PM
- Chicago PD, NBC, 9 & 10PM
- Criminal Minds, CBS,9PM
- Empire, Fox, 9PM
- Modern Family, ABC, 9PM
- NFL Turning Point, NBC Sports Network, 9PM
- Frequency, CW, 9PM
- Black-ish, ABC, 9:30PM
- Soundbreaking (season finale), PBS, 10PM
- The Real World, MTV, 10PM
- Neighborhood Sessions, TNT, 10PM
- That Awkward Game Show, Spike TV, 10PM
- Code Black, CBS, 10PM
- Designated Survivor, ABC, 10PM
- South Park, Comedy Central, 10PM
- Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia, Viceland, 10PM
- Rectify, Sundance, 10PM
- Impastor, TV Land, 10:30PM
- Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM
- True Life: I’m an Adult Baby, MTV, 11PM
Thursday
- The Grand Tour, Amazon Prime, 7PM
- Steelers/Colts football, NBC, 8:25PM
- Disney Magical Holiday Celebration, ABC, 8PM
- DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, CW, 8PM
- The Great Indoors, CBS, 8:30PM
- Mom, CBS, 9PM
- Life in Pieces, CBS, 9:30PM
- Pure Genius, CBS, 10PM
- Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM
- This is Not Happening, Comedy Central, 12:30AM
Friday
- 3% (S1), Netflix, 3AM
- Gilmore Girls (S8), 3AM
- Michael Che Matters, Netflix, 3AM
- If You Give a Mouse a Christmas Cookie, Amazon Prime, 3AM
- Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day, Amazon Prime, 3AM
- An American Girl Story – Maryellen, Amazon Prime, 3AM
- A Football Life: Chuck Noll, NFL Network, 9PM
- Z Nation, Syfy, 9PM
- Van Helsing, Syfy, 10PM
- Tracey Ullman’s Show, HBO, 11PM
Saturday
- Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks, BBC America, 8:25PM
- Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, BBC America, 9PM
Sunday
- Chiefs/Broncos Sunday Night Football, NBC, 8:20PM
- 60 Minutes, CBS, 7:30PM
- 2016 Soul Train Awards,BET, 8PM
- The Librarians, TNT, 8PM
- Once Upon A Time, ABC, 8PM
- NCIS: Los Angeles, CBS, 8PM
- Bob’s Burgers, Fox, 8:30PM
- NCIS: LA, CBS, 8:30PM
- The Walking Dead, AMC, 9PM
- Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, CNN, 9PM
- Westworld, HBO, 9PM
- Alaska: The Last Frontier, Discovery, 9PM
- Poldark, PBS, 9PM
- Secrets and Lies, ABC, 9PM
- Shameless, Showtime, 9PM
- Berlin Station, Epix, 9PM
- The Last Man on Earth, Fox, 9:30PM
- Madam Secretary, CBS, 9:30PM
- The Affair, Showtime, 10PM
- Quantico (fall finale), ABC, 10PM
- Edge of Alaska, Discovery, 10PM
- Eyewitness, USA, 10PM
- Graves, Epix, 10PM
- Divorce, HBO, 10PM
- Talking Dead, AMC, 10PM
- Elementary, CBS, 10:30PM
- Insecure (season finale), HBO, 10:30PM
OnePlus 3T review
After only six months, OnePlus took the wraps off of their latest flagship offering, dubbed the OnePlus 3T. As the name suggests, this device is essentially a souped up, or “Turbo” version of the OnePlus 3, but not necessarily a successor though.
- OnePlus 3T announced
- OnePlus 3T pricing and availability
OnePlus decided to launch this device to offer a better experience for their consumers, but how much of an upgrade is it when compared to its flagship sibling? We find out, in this comprehensive OnePlus 3T review!
Design
As far as the design is concerened, the OnePlus 3T looks exactly like its older sibling, and features the same full metal unibody construction, with a slightly curved back and rounded sides and corners. Despite being made entirely of metal, the phone is surprisingly light, and because the back tapers along the edges, it feels thinner as well, making for a device that is very comfortable to hold.
It’s also not a very tall or wide phone and is only slightly larger than the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, allowing for a comfortable one-handed experience despite coming with a 5.5-inch display. There isn’t any 3T logo anywhere on the device that explicitly indicates that this is the upgraded flagship, and the only way to to really distinguish it from the older OnePlus 3 is by the color.
The OnePlus 3T is available in the same gold variant as the OnePlus 3, but the second color option is gunmetal instead of silver. The gunmetal version is going to be the more expensive model though, with it featuring 128 GB of internal storage, while the gold iteration comes with 64 GB of on-board storage.
As was the case with the OnePlus 3, build quality is not an issue here, and everything is very well put together. Taking a look around the device, the power button and volume rocker are on the right and left sides respectively, and the buttons feel very tactile and are easy to press. Above the volume rocker is the very useful Notification Slider, that lets you quickly toggle between silent, do not disturb, and full volume options.
At the bottom is the headphone jack, the USB Type-C port, and the single speaker unit, and up front is the home button with the integrated fingerprint scanner, flanked by capacitive back and Recent Apps keys. The back key is on the left and the Recent Apps key is on the right by default, but you can flip the orientation if you prefer in the Settings.
Display
Things remain unchanged on the display side, with the OnePlus 3T also coming with a 5.5-inch AMOLED display with a 1080p resolution. As is expected from an AMOLED screen, you get rich and vibrant colors with a lot of contrast, and the optional dark mode that is built-in to Oxygen OS takes fanastic advantage of the deep inky blacks. If you aren’t a fan of the vibrancy though, it is also easy to switch to a sRGB color mode in the Display Settings that provides a more natural and less saturated look.
Brightness isn’t a concern and allows for comfortable outdoor visibility. Sharpness isn’t a problem either, and to the naked eye, the difference between this 1080p panel and other Quad HD screen won’t be noticeable, unless you are using the phone for VR. OnePlus feels that VR isn’t mainstream enough to justify the jump to Quad HD, and decided to stick to 1080p to aid with the battery life.
Performance
There aren’t a whole lot of differences between the OnePlus 3 and the 3T, but performance is one area that has seen an improvement. Under the hood, the OnePlus 3T comes with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, clocked at 2.35 GHz, which is faster than the one found in the Google Pixel smartphones. The 3T retains the 6 GB of RAM that is also available with the OnePlus 3.
Not surprisingly, the performance is absolutely fantastic with the OnePlus 3T, with the comparatively lower resolution display a contributing factor as well. Opening, closing, and switching between apps is smooth and snappy, the touch responsiveness is excellent, and the device also handles graphic-intensive gaming comfortably, with no dropped frames to be seen.
With 6 GB of RAM, multitasking isn’t an issue either, and you can have a lot of apps in running the background and keep them for a very long time. The OnePlus 3T features one of the quickest and smoothest Android experiences out there. Granted, it may not be as smooth as the experience available with the Pixel devices, but it is certainly up there among the best.
Hardware
As mentioned, 64 GB and 128 GB are the internal storage options available, but if storage is a concern, users will have to opt for the higher variant, with expandable storage via microSD card not being available. Getting the 128 GB model means that you will also get the new gunmetal color.
The fingerprint sensor that is integrated into the home button up front does unlock the device really quickly, but it is unfortunately not the most accurate scanner out there. It is fairly reliable, but there have been quite a few instances where it misreads my fingerprint. You can also add a variety of long press and double tap functions to the home button and the capacitive keys.
Another area where the OnePlus 3T has received an upgrade is in the battery department, with the device coming with a 3,400 mAh battery, which is a slight bump when compared to the 3,000 mAh unit available with the OnePlus 3. The 13% bump in battery capacity is more impressive when you consider the fact that OnePlus was able to achieve it without making the phone any heavier or thicker than its namesake.
OnePlus’ Dash Charge technology is available here to quickly get the phone back up to a full charge. The biggest advantage with this technology however is that the majority of the heat that is generated during charging is contained in the wall adapter and doesn’t make its way to the device. This also means that you can use the phone while it is charging, without worrying about the charging speeds being throttled in order to control the device temperature.
OnePlus claims that you can get a full day of battery life after charging the device for just half an hour. In my experience, that translates to a charge to 60% in half an hour, which is certainly impressive, and very useful if you don’t have a lot of time to fully charge your phone.
As far as the battery life is concerned, the overall experience has been extremely good. The phone easily lasts all day even with my fairly heavy usage, which typically consists of several hours of gaming, watching videos on Youtube, and streaming music, throughout the day. So, while this bump in battery capacity may seem small, it seems to make a significant difference to the battery life.
Camera
The final area that has seen an upgrade from the OnePlus 3 is with the camera, but this change is more focused on the front-facing shooter, which is now a 16 MP unit, which is double the 8 MP sensor that was found with the OnePlus 3. The rear camera is the same 16 MP unit that was availabe with the OnePlus 3, and comes with a f/2.0 aperture, optical image stabilization, and phase detection autofocus.
The front-facing camera also comes with a f/2.0 aperture, which helps a lot when taking selfies in low-light conditions. With the bump in megapixel count, you will also have a lot more room to zoom and crop without any deterioration in the quality of the picture, and also enjoy sharper looking video. Overall, you get a far better experience with the front-facing shooter now than you did with the OnePlus 3.
The default camera app is pretty similar to the Google Camera, with many of the same modes to be found here, including Timelapse, Slow motion, and Panorama. The only exception is that manual controls are available if you are looking to dial in the setting yourself, but it is otherwise a very nicely laid out and easy to use camera application.
This is definitely a good camera with it comes to picture quality. Photos are crisp and well detailed, and I really like the color reproduction. You get nice, natural looking colors, and the images are sharp enough, but without looking oversharpened and artificial. If you do want some extra sharpening, the HQ mode is available, which adds a fairly noticeable amount of sharpening to the photos. However, the images looked fine in most situations, and I rarely had to use this feature.
In terms of dynamic range, the camera does have a tendency to overexpose the shot and blow out a lot of the highlights, but HDR mode alleviates this problem easily. It does a great job of pulling extra detail from the highlights and shadows, while still maintaining the natural look of the original image. Low-light shots can be good, but onl when using the HQ mode. Without it, images are noisy and soft, and the mode allows for sharper, more detailed images that are a lot cleaner.
Software
On the software side of things, the OnePlus 3T is running the latest Oxygen OS 3.5.1 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and you get a very stock Android look and feel here, but with a lot of customizations available that add to the experience without getting in the way.
Shelf is still accessible by swiping to the left of the home screen, and holds a lot of information, including the weather info and your recent contacts or used apps. You can also compose memos and manage your data, storage, and battery life, and there any widget can be added here, instead of having them take up space on the other home screens.
A few new customization options have been added to the latest version of the Oxygen OS, such as a built-in night mode, that makes the viewing the screen easier on your eyes at night. There are custom accent colors, support for third party icon packs, and the screen off gestures like double tap to wake, or the ability to launch the camera or flashlight by drawing on O or a V on the screen.
You can truly tailor the experience to exactly the way you like it, and that is one of the best parts about Oxygen OS. This updated version introduces some new features to further refine the experience. You can now swipe down on the screen with three fingers to take a screenshot, and add a password or use your fingerprint to lock down any application.
Despite still being based on Android Marshmallow, OnePlus has also updated the notification shade to the Android 7.0 Nougat style that comes with easy access to the Quick Settings with one downward swipe. OnePlus hasn’t announced a specific date as to when an official update to Android 7.0 Nougat will be available, but it is slated for the end of the year, and will be made available for both the OnePlus 3 and 3T.
Specifications
| Display | 5.5-inch Optic AMOLED display 1920 x 1080 resolution, 401ppi Corning Gorilla Glass 4 |
| Processor | 2.35GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 |
| GPU | Adreno 530 |
| RAM | 6GB LPDDR4 |
| Storage | 64 or 128GB (Gunmetal only) UFS 2.0 |
| MicroSD | No |
| Ports | USB 2.0, Type-C Dual nano-SIM slot 3.5 mm audio jack |
| Buttons | Capacitive hardware keys and on-screen navigation support |
| Audio | Speakers: Bottom-facing speaker Microphones: Dual-microphone with noise cancellation |
| Cameras | Rear: 16MP Sony IMX 298 sensor, 1.12μm, f/2.0 aperture, OIS, EIS, phase detection autofocus
Front: 16MP Samsung 3P8SP sensor, 1.0μm, f/2.0 aperture, fixed focus |
| Sensors | Fingerprint, Hall, Accelerometor, Gyroscope, Proximity, Ambient Light, Electronic Compass |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Bluetooth 4.2 NFC |
| Battery | Non-removable 3,400mAh Dash Charge (5V 4A) |
| Software | OxygenOS based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow |
| Colors | Gunmetal Soft Gold (Available shortly after launch) |
| Dimensions and weight | 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35mm 158g |
Gallery
Pricing and final thoughts
The faster processor, an improved front-facing camera, and larger battery capacity also results in a bump in the price point, with the 64 GB model priced at $439, and the 128 GB iteration setting you back an additional $40. The OnePlus 3T will be available on November 22 in the US and November 28 in Europe.
So, there you have it for this in-depth look at the OnePlus 3T review! If you already have the OnePlus 3, the 3T isn’t compelling enough to justify an upgrade. The improvements are nice, but the overall experience isn’t significantly different between the two, and if software updates are a concern, the good news is that both devices will receive them at the same time.
On the other hand, those who have been waiting to see what Google had to offer with their smartphones and were holding off on buying the OnePlus 3 will certainly be elated. Given the upgrades, the $40 and $80 difference in price from the OnePlus 3 is completely understandable, and still undercuts a lot of other flagships. What you get for the money does make the OnePlus 3T one of the best deals you can get for an Android flagship, and is a smart move by the company.
Facebook drone failure prompts a US investigation
Facebook may have been beaming with pride when it completed the first full test of its Aquila internet drone on June 28th, but that “structural failure” near the end? US officials aren’t so happy about that. The National Transportation Safety Board has revealed that it’s investigating the incident, which it considers “substantial” enough to be treated as an accident. The exact circumstances aren’t available, but there wasn’t any damage on the ground.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Facebook reiterates that it was “happy” with the test flight, which checked everything from basic aerodynamics to controls. There were “no major unexpected results,” the social network says. It likely wasn’t catastrophic, then, but the NTSB’s involvement still raises eyebrows. Is it investigating just to be cautious, or is this more than a small snag?
Whatever the situation, it’s only going to add to Facebook’s headaches as it tries to offer free, far-reaching internet access. On top of the imperfect drone flight, it lost a satellite to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 explosion on September 1st. Both ventures are inherently risky — Aquila is effectively a barebones solar-powered wing — but we suspect that Facebook wasn’t expecting to run into that much trouble in a relatively short time.
Source: Bloomberg
Google claims Google Wifi is considerably faster than Eero and Luma routers
Google says its own multi-router networking solution bests the more expensive competition.
Now that Google Wifi is on sale and shipping within the next two weeks, Google has put out a blog post showing just how well in performs against the mesh networking competition. Google provided its latest networking equipment to an independent testing company, Allion USA, to test in a controlled environment against both Eero and Luma.
And as you’d expect considering Google is promoting the results, Google Wifi came out on top. The tests were conducted in a two-story, 3000 square foot house and show that across four different locations (two on each level) Google Wifi outperformed Eero and Luma considerably.
There are too many factors that go into Wi-Fi speeds to put stock in just one test.
For measurements made closest to the main router, Google Wifi provided a base level of 567 Mbps to Eero’s 520 and Luma’s 467. Stepping to a room across the house, Google Wifi offered 228 Mbps to Eero’s 42 and Luma’s 205. Downstairs and on the other side of the house — the furthest point away — showed Google Wifi still offer 82 Mbps to Eero’s 46 and Luma’s 32.
Obviously there are an immense number of factors that influence Wi-Fi speeds, not the least of which being the ideal layout of the access points, the type of materials your home is made of and which devices are actively using the network. With these tests, using an obviously strong internet connection, Google Wifi came out on top. Google claims that its purpose-built hardware and strong antennas mean it will always be the best, but it’s not tough to see either Eero or Luma coming out closer to Google Wifi with some tweaking and better router positioning.
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MrMobile’s OnePlus 3T review: More to love?
The OnePlus 3T is physically identical to its predecessor aside from a new gunmetal paint job, so it has to rely on small bumps in processor, camera and software to stand out against the OnePlus 3 it’s replacing.
Do these improvements make the OnePlus 3T worth its $40 price increase? Does it still beat out other smartphones in its class? Are you quick enough to catch a sly “Mr. T” joke? These questions and more answered in MrMobile’s OnePlus 3T review!
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