The new in the world of technology

Google promised  that all Chromebooks shipped in 2017 and beyond would support Android apps, but the company has been a bit slow to deliver on that claim. However, Google has just updated  its list of Chrome OS devices compatible with the Play Store , and a whopping 16 more devices can now run Android apps officially. For the time being, you'll have to switch to the Beta channel on the below devices to use the Play Store. But switching Chrome OS channels is  extremely easy , and I've been using Chrome OS Beta on my ASUS Flip C302CA for a while now with no problems. Without further delay, here's the list of added devices: Acer Chromebook 11 N7 (C731, C731T) Acer Chromebook 15 (CB3-532) Asus Chromebook C202SA ASUS Chromebook C300SA/C301SA CTL NL61 Chromebook Dell Chromebook 11 (3180) Dell Chromebook 11 Convertible (3189) Dell Chromebook 13 (3380) HP Chromebook 11 G5 EE HP Chromebook 13 G1 Lenovo Flex 11 Chromebook Lenovo N23 Yoga Chromebook Lenovo N22 Ch...

Let's face it - LG phones have had problems with long-term use in the past. Many former phones from the company experienced  the famous bootloop issue , which plagued the G4, Nexus 5X, G5, V10, and others. This was especially a problem for phones outside the warranty period. LG wants you to know that it's confident in the G6's longevity, and as a result, the company has extended the phones' warranty period to two years. President of LG MobileComm USA, Chang Ma, was quick to point out to  The Verge that the new warranty doesn't cover accidental damage like cracked screens (like HTC's Uh-Oh Protection does). It simply extends the normal warranty to two years, covering manufacturing defects - like bootloops. Fittingly enough, LG is calling this the "LG G6 Second Year Promise." If you already own a G6, you simply have to  register your device on LG's website within the next 90 days. If you're planning on buying a G6, you have 90 days after ...

Not to be forgotten to the passing of time, it appears that the Sony Xperia XA Ultra has started receiving a substantial update. Nougat is finally coming to the year-old phone, and not a moment too soon, either. I don't want to insult your intelligence by rehashing what Nougat will bring, but at least owners of this 2016 device can look forward to expanded notifications, split screen, and an improved Doze mode. For now, the only reported versions to have received the update are F3211 (Europe) and F3212 (dual-SIM) — the variants for Asia and the U.S. are likely on their way. If you're still rocking your XA Ultra, be sure to keep an eye out for the Nougaty goodness.

Alright, even as a self-professed coffee snob, I go to Starbucks sometimes. OK, like once a week - it's convenient, consistent, and I really like the cold brew iced coffee. Anyway, for as long as I've been going to Starbucks, I've lamented what I assumed was a lack of NFC payment support. Starbucks does not advertise that any of its stores support NFC payments in the US, and the card readers at most of its stores in the US, like the one pictured above, don't feature any iconography to suggest NFC is accepted. The terminal in the hero image of this post does show an Apple Pay icon on the screen, and maybe that is shown at Starbucks locations, but I can't say I've ever noticed it. What I did notice was this notification popping up every time I went in a Starbucks and then being profoundly confused. Anyway, if you go to a Starbucks in the US and they have this Verifone chip-style reader (photo via  Reviews.com ), it accepts contactless payments. I had no idea...

We learned a few months ago that T-Mobile spent big in the FCC's recent 600MHz spectrum auction. The carrier dropped $7.99 billion on the spectrum licenses, which it has now officially been granted. It's wasting no time putting them to use. T-Mobile says it will begin rolling 600MHz coverage out to select markets over the summer. T-Mobile's launch of the 700MHz band 12 spectrum several years ago was a game-changer for coverage, especially indoors. The new spectrum is an even lower frequency, which should further improve indoor reception. T-Mobile also has licenses for this block of airwaves in all 50 states, with an average of 31MHz of space. In some places it's as high as 50MHz, but other markets are only 20MHz. The new spectrum will be used to improve LTE coverage in the short term, but T-Mobile also plans to use some of this spectrum for its upcoming 5G network. It has not announced which markets will get 600MHz coverage yet, but there aren't any device...

Here in the US, unlocking policies are pretty lackluster. Sure,  they've improved over time , but these regulations still aren't something we can be proud of. But up in the Great White North, the CRTC (Canada's telecom commission) is hard at work. Starting on December 1st, 2017, all mobile devices will have the capability of being unlocked for free, and all new devices will be unlocked out of the box. Getting a phone unlocked is still pretty complex stateside. Surprisingly, Verizon is actually doing the best with this out of all four major US carriers, with their phones having come factory unlocked for several years now. But with other carriers, it's still a bit of a problem. For instance, with T-Mobile, if you don't satisfy their eligibility requirements (at least 40 days on the line, must be fully paid off, you can't even pay a third party to unlock some of their phones since the process is done through a T-Mobile app. Canada, on the other hand, is m...

The first Developer Preview for Android Things OS was  released at the end of 2016, as a lightweight version of Android intended for Internet of Things devices. Since then, it has been updated multiple times to support more hardware and fix bugs, and today Google has released Developer Preview 4.1. As the minor version change might imply, this isn't a massive release. The first new feature is support for the Pico i.MX6UL revision B board, with support for earlier revisions (such as those made available to beta testers) being dropped. Secondly, DP4.1 includes a new smaller variant of Google Play Services specifically optimized for IoT devices. Finally, there are some boot optimizations for i.MX7D-based hardware. Developers can find more information, as well as downloadable images for DP4.1, at the links below.

Working off of feedback from users for a year, Twitter has made some welcome design updates to its web and mobile apps, as well as to TweetDeck and Twitter Lite. First off, there are simpler icons for things like replying to tweets (it’s now a chat bubble instead of a backward-facing arrow), and cleaner typography. Twitter has also jumped on the rounded profile picture bandwagon, which I’m on board with. Of course, if you’re using a logo for your brand’s account, you might want to adapt it to suit the new shape. Next, the  iOS  app is catching up to its  Android  counterpart with a navigation menu that’s hidden away in a side panel on the left. That puts your Profile, additional accounts and settings in one place, and cuts down on the clutter in the tab bar at the bottom of the screen. Plus, it’ll use Safari’s viewer to open links so you don’t have to log into sites you’re already signed into on that browser. If you prefer using the Reader view, you can set...

There’s an ambitious new app that wants to help you to find a couple of new friends. The app is called  Me3  and was developed by two guys who wanted to bring the ease-of-use of Tinder  to help people create same-gender, non-romantic friend groups. Instead of matching you with a bro, or sis, who likes the same stuff as you it matches you in ‘tribes’ of three. The developers insist that with three people it’s less likely to feel like an awkward ‘trying to fill the silence’ situation. The app is awaiting the implementation of machine learning algorithms, CEO  and co-founder Julian Ilson told me: We have the infrastructure already in place to start using machine learning. However, we don’t have enough data just yet to start acting on it. We have formed 1000 Tribes now, but we need more data on Tribe successes and failures to confidently let the genie out of the box so it can start doing some self-learning The plan is to apply machine learning to sift throu...

Today Samsung announced that it has released the Galaxy J3 Pro in India. The phone is a low-to-midrange device with no exciting specifications to speak of, save one. It is launching with Android 5.1 Lollipop. This is noteworthy almost to the point of humor, as Lollipop is now two major updates behind and a year old. There's no telling if this is just a result of delays or an intentional move on Samsung's part, but it's surprising to see such an old version of Android on a new phone. Typically Google won't put its  seal of approval  on something so out of date, so there must be some mitigating circumstances around the phone's release. Perhaps it suffered a drawn-out regulatory approval process, or a retailer asked for a delay. The SoC might not have more recent drivers and Samsung could have gotten some sort of exemption. Or it might simply not ship with Google Play services. If you do happen to be interested, for some reason, the device is available now at...

Mozilla has long maintained four release channels for Firefox: Stable, Beta, Aurora, and Nightly. Only Firefox, Firefox Beta, and Firefox Aurora have been available on Android via the Play Store. Now, Mozilla has followed through on  an earlier promise to swap Aurora for the nightly build. The Play Store listing remains the same, but the app will be a little different. While the package name is still "org.mozilla.fennec_aurora," Mozilla will deliver the nightly build to users on this version of the browser. You don't have to do anything, just sit back and enjoy the daily updates. The company says that Aurora had a small user base, so it opted to streamline its releases. Nightly builds are the fastest to get updates, but are also the least stable. Nightly releases for the Android version of Firefox are not actually new—they've been available for download on the Mozilla website for a while. However, putting them in the Play Store makes this cutting edge build ...

All the way back in September of last year,  YouTube began testing  a new layout with a bottom navigation bar. Over the past few months, it has continued to go live for more users on Android,  with a few minor tweaks along the way . Now YouTube has officially revealed the new design. The new layout ditches the large top navigation bar, in favor of a smaller top bar with a few buttons and a bottom navigation bar. The upload button has moved from a floating action button to the top bar, and a profile icon replaces the overflow menu. The bottom bar has the same tabs as the previous layout, but the Account tab has been renamed to Library. Your likes, favorties, uploads, and playlists are still in Library, but your account and app settings are now accessed by tapping the user icon. The bar stays on the screen at all times, except when watching videos. YouTube says the new layout is already live on iOS, but it is still rolling out for Android. I don't hav...

witter can be a fun place to share and interact with your fellow humans. However, it can also be a wretched hive of scum and villainy. That's why keeping your Twitter direct messages open is a bit of a risk, but Twitter is rolling out a feature to keep the riffraff at bay. Soon, all DMs from strangers will be segregated from the messages you care about. The change to DMs only applies if you have your account set to allow messages from people you don't follow. If that's the case, new direct messages from these people will start going into a separate "Requests" tab. You can check the conversations there at your leisure and either accept or delete them. Accepting a request allows that person to send you DMs that appear in your main inbox. DMs from those you follow will still hit the inbox as normal.  Follow Twitter   ✔ @Twitter If you’ve opted-in to get Direct Messages from anyone, messages from people you don’t follow will go ...

Humble Bundle is a great source for cheap games, and you get to support charity while you enjoy your cheap content. The recent " Epic Platformers " bundle is now halfway through its run, and that means it's time for some new games and a giveaway. There are now 11 games, and we're giving them all away to some lucky readers. This bundle is split into three tiers. The base tier is unlocked at $1 or more, and it includes Devious Dungeon, Devious Dungeon 2, and Eggggg - The Platform Puker. The middle tier is unlocked if you pay more than the average price, which is currently at $4.77. That one launched with Gunbrick, RunGunJumpGun, and RETSNOM. The new games, VVVVVV and Goo Saga, are in this block as well. The last set of games is unlocked if you pay $5 or more, and includes Never Alone: Ki Edition, Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons, and LIMBO. Anyone who bought previously and unlocked the middle tier will automatically get the new games. New buyers have a week to de...

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are currently on sale over at eBay. The Galaxy S8 is coming in at a price of $669, and the Galaxy S8 Plus for $769. That’s $80 off of their prices, and makes them the cheapest available, and these are new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus models as well. These are both the dual SIM models, which will work in the US, but only on GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile. Unfortunately, Sprint and Verizon customers are out of luck. Samsung announced both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus back in March, and it officially launched in late April. They have quickly become some of the best smartphones on the market. The Galaxy S8 sports a 5.8-inch display, with a 18.5:9 aspect ratio, giving you a taller display, but with smaller bezels. The Galaxy S8 Plus has a larger 6.2-inch display. Both are powered by the Exynos 8895 processor (since these are the international variants and not the US ones), along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The Galaxy S8 sp...

T he   ASUS ZenFone AR  is going to be launching in the US in July, with the   Verizon   variant coming in the fall. And now, according to ASUS’ Canada unit, the ZenFone AR should also be arriving in Canada in July. This isn’t set in stone, and could change (it likely will) before it actually launches. ASUS has not confirmed the pricing of the ZenFone AR yet, at least in Canada, but the company’s CEO, Jerry Shen had stated that they won’t charge more than a Galaxy S8, which costs around $1150 in Canada. ASUS made quite a bit of noise at CES when they announced the ZenFone AR, and for good reason. The ZenFone AR was the first phone in a few areas. One of them being the fact that it’s the first smartphone to support both Daydream and Tango. Google’s VR and AR platforms. It was also the first to sport 8GB of RAM under the hood, although the more popular variant will have 6GB of RAM for the user. Other specs include a 5.7-inch QHD Super AMOLED display, powered by the...

While not as major as Black Friday, Memorial Day is known for its great sales, and many online retailers are having notable ones to mark the occasion. Below, we’ve rounded up the tech sales worth checking out during your long weekend, including three of our favorite deals. OUR FAVORITES Amazon has  Anker’s popular PowerPort 10  at its lowest price ever of $28 with promo code  BEST2133 . We’re unclear when the code expires and recommend acting fast if you need one of these. (And if you’re curious about Anker and how it beat Apple and Samsung at their own accessory game, well,  we’ve got the perfect story for you .) You’ll be able to save up to  50 percent off at Dell this weekend , including $220 off the new XPS 15 , bringing the price down to $1,530. eBay has  Vizio’s M50-D1 50-inch 4K TV  marked down to its lowest price ever at $489. Although this is a 2016 model, it’s a great TV that has pretty much every feature you need.  Update:...