Tag: News and Rumors

AT&T on Tuesday announced it has launched mobile 5G service in another seven markets, bringing the total to 19 cities.Although it was the first US carrier to introduce 5G wireless service in late 2018, AT&T has yet to carry a phone with support. It does have the NETGEAR Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot you can pick up for $500 but that’s it for now. And, from what we gather, it’s not as if AT&T is anxious to sell you one.We spent the early part of this year accelerating and advancing our 5G network with early adopters by our side. And now it’s time to offer this experience to more businesses and consumers in another 7 cities.Among the new markets with 5G are Austin, Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose.AT&T currently employs millimeter wave for its 5G network which means it trades high download speeds for distance. With that in mind, do not expect city-wide, uninterrupted 5G coverage. The lower frequency, “sub-6” spectrum will arrive in 2020 bringing about a much wider footprint.The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G is anticipated at AT&T “later this year” with two other phones coming in 2019. The Samsung phone will support both the mmWave and sub-6 spectrum.

Sit back in your chair, clear your mind, and imagine this. A new governor has been elected in your state and imposed a new draconian law that makes you fear for the safety of you and your loved ones. Your only option to make sure you’re safe is to leave. You pack up your kids and your partner and just start driving and land in a city you’ve never been to before while using all of your resources just to get out. You’re alone, you’re scared but at least you’re safe and you can connect with your loved ones through your cell phone.Now imagine all of that, but substitute your new state for a new country halfway across the world and get rid of the cell phone because your SIM card doesn’t work here in the States. How scared do you think you’d be? How would you get the money to start up a new plan so you could communicate with the outside world while still trying to feed yourself and your family?Read more: Ultra Mobile expands unlimited calling to 80 plus destinationsThese hard questions are ones that almost all political refugees face. Giving up everything you’ve ever known to move thousands of miles away with almost nothing is one of the scariest and hardest things you can do. Ultra Mobile, the MVNO founded in 2011 to service the foreign-born community, wants to help and is teaming up with Ads-Up to provide 1,000 refugees with service so they can resettle just that little bit quicker, integrate just a little bit easier.Ultra Mobile’s offer is open to political refugees and will provide unlimited nationwide talk and text, unlimited calling to more than 90 countries around the world, and over 200 Call Anywhere credits to over 200 destinations. There’s also unlimited LTE data included which is extremely important because many times, phones are the only way refugees can access the internet. This allows refugees to contact home to let their families and friends know their okay, search for safe housing, and work and learn their new surroundings. It helps them to start rebuilding their lives.Most do not have home internet, so their phone is their only access to education, medical information, as well as to an online community that can provide a much needed sense of belonging. Until they have found stable employment, it is very difficult for refugees to afford the ongoing expense of mobile service, yet without it they lose connection to support, potential employers and resources. Our partnership with Ultra Mobile functions as an investment into their future-Fleur Wood, Ads-Up Co founderAds-Up is a volunteer organization that is working to help resettle over 1,000 political refugees from the US-Australia refugee agreement. The organization is working with men, women, and over 150 children to restart their lives in peace and safety. As part of this new agreement, Ultra Mobile will be a sponsor for Ads-Up’s fundraising Gala on April 25 in New York City, designed to thank donors and rally support for new funds.If you’d like to learn more or know someone in need, head over to Ultra Mobile’s website for more information. You can also find out more information about Ads-up on its website and if you’re interested in going to the gala, click here.

No one likes a random phone call from a robot in the heat of a busy day. Google has helped solve this on the Pixel phones with Google Call Screening. Now, Motorola has announced the two companies are partnering to bring this Assistant-powered feature to the G7 and Android One family of devices.For those that don’t know, this great feature is built into the Phone app and uses Googe Assistant to give you a Call Screen button to give an automated response to robocalls. If it’s a real person they are giving the option to answer and Call Screen will provide you with a real-time transcript on the screen of the response to give you a chance to answer if the caller looks legit.Moto will make the first alternative OEM to get the blessing from Google for this portion of the Phone app. The two companies have a long background of partnering that dates back to Moto being a Google subsidiary for a few years and is still fueled by Moto keep its software a very clean, stock experience that closely resembles Google’s.Call Screening is not the only thing these two Android giants are partnering on. Digital Wellbeing is also coming to the same lineup of devices. The initiative is Google’s new focus on limiting mobile usage in the pursuit of better health of the user by automating signing off of certain tasks by eliminating the habit of screen time.The feature is already present on the new G7 family of devices, but Moto says it will be rolling the same set of options to the Android One models as well. Moto claims this is a focus on what matters most and to help users step away from their online lives via software.It’s nice to see Google opening up some of the AI-assisted features that were originally Pixel exclusives. These are great features that offer consumers valuable options for users to have a piece of mind against spam call and controlling their habitual phone usage. Hopefully, Moto is the first of a wave of other devices to get these additions.

Verizon on Wednesday launched its mobile 5G network in parts of Chicago and Minneapolis, a shade over one week earlier than anticipated.As to why the carrier moved things up unexpectedly and without warning, there’s a very obvious reason. By doing so it is able to claim that it’s “first commercial 5G network in the world that works with a 5G smartphone”. A feather in its proverbial cap, if you will.Earlier in the day Korea’s SK Telecom announced it intended to launch its commercial 5G network on April 5. Coinciding with the debut of the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, it was originally going to be the world’s first network to do so.Should you wish to be pedantic, you can still give SK Telecom the credit for launching the first 5G network with a phone that has 5G built into it. Verizon’s only option right now is the Motorola Moto Z3 and its 5G MotoMod accessory.Verizon’s 5G service costs and extra $10 per month and the Ultra Wideband speeds are available only in parts of select markets. Theoretically, customers can expect download speeds of up to 450 Mbps with peak speeds of nearly 1 Gbps.In Chicago, 5G coverage is concentrated in areas of the West Loop and the South Loop, around landmarks like Union Station, Willis Tower, The Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park and The Chicago Theatre. Customers also have 5G Ultra Wideband service in the Verizon store on The Magnificent Mile and throughout The Gold Coast, Old Town and River North.In Minneapolis, service is concentrated in the Downtown area, including Downtown West and Downtown East, as well as inside and around U.S. Bank Stadium, the site of this weekend’s NCAA men’s basketball Final Four. Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband service is also available around landmarks like the Minneapolis Convention Center, the Minneapolis Central Library, the Mill City Museum, Target Center and First Avenue venues, The Commons, areas of Elliot Park and in the Verizon store in The Mall of America.Looking ahead, Verizon will offer additional phones with 5G support; the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and LG V50 5G are the next two in line.The 5G network is expected to expand to more than 30 cities over the span of 2019.

Today marks a monumental day in the history of communication. Indeed, this marks the 46th anniversary of the first mobile phone call. Made on the Motorola DynaTAC back in 1973, it’s a date that’s often overlooked by most.Motorola, though, doesn’t want you to forget. In fact, it’s here to celebrate the momentous occasion with discounts on its phones.READ: Motorola G6 ReviewWhether you’re looking for a high-end handset like the Z series or something on the opposite end of the spectrum there’s something on sale. For those of you already own a Motorola Z model of phone, you can save 25% on select Moto Mods. Check out the sales below.The deals are for a limited time only and are different for each line. Here’s what you can find on sale from Motorola right now.April 3-6moto g632GB – $90 off; on sale for $199.9964GB – $120 off; on sale for $199.99moto g6 play – $50 off; on sale for $149.99moto mods – 25% offApril 3-20moto z3 play$150 off low cost speaker mod bundle; on sale for $349.99$200 off Alexa mod bundle; on sale for $349.99moto x432GB – $200 off; on sale for $149.9964GB – $220 off; on sale for $199.99

In 2019 it’s no longer unusual for kids to have phones – even smartphones with Android or iOS. We’re well beyond the discussion of whether or not they should have them; now, it’s a matter of which models to buy.Many parents can attest that having a child or two on your family plan can be risky. Will they run away with the allotted data, chewing through Snapchat, YouTube, and endless re-watching of The Office on Netflix? How much data is enough? Sure, unlimited sounds great on paper, but it gets slowed down to a crawl if you’re not careful.Verizon’s got the answer to this dilemma, or so it appears. The carrier this week introduced a new “Just Kids” option which is designed with the young user in mind.The Just Kids plan gives users unlimited calls and texts to up to 20 parent-defined contacts as well as 5GB worth of 4G LTE data. In reality the data is unlimited but speeds are throttled at the 5G mark.Video streams are limited to 480p, or “DVD quality” and similar to what T-Mobile offers in its plans. Moreover, users cannot tether another device or use the phone as a mobile hotspot. Both details are likely trivial to a typical child but are worth noting in the event you were thinking of adding it for yourself.Additionally, the plan gives parents peace of mind in the ability to track the respective device’s location, limit online time, and filter content. These are what you’d find in Verizon Smart Family Premium’s parental controls, which is normally $10 per month.To sign up for the Just Kids plan one must add it to an existing family plan with unlimited data. Adding it to a single line plan costs $55 for the Just Kids line; it’s $45 on a three-line account; add it to family plans of four or more for $35.Feature Image via Verizon

Verizon on Thursday announced it would begin offering the LG G8 starting on April 11. The phone will run $840 outright or $35 per month for two years. Those interested in getting their hands on the LG G8 can pre-order the phone as soon as April 1.Verizon will dangle a number of deals to help attract consumers, including freebies and discounts. Customers who trade in a smart phone and add a new line of service can receive up to $450 off of the LG G8. Existing subscribers can get up to $200 for trading in a phone toward the G8.Anyone who switches to Verizon and purchases the phone on a device payment plan with an eligible unlimited plan will receive a $200 prepaid Mastercard.Last, but not least, you’ll get $350 off the LG G8 just for purchasing on a device plan and activating a new line.If you think it sounds like there’s an opportunity to lump together deals, you’d be right. Verizon will let you combine all three of the offers with a full potential savings of up to $1,000.As if that were not enticing enough, you can get a $100 Verizon e-gift card if you purchase the G8 with a $100 or $150 accessory bundle. 

For the last few years Samsung has attacked the premium smartphone market with the Galaxy line, but that’s not the only phones it has available. The company has a more budget-friendly A-series for those who don’t want to drop $1,000 on a smartphone.The Galaxy A line is where you look when you don’t want to dole out a chunk of money. The rub? You don’t get all the fancy bells and whistles in the Galaxy S family. However, that doesn’t mean that the A lineup can’t have a high-end model and now it has one in the Samsung A70. Samsung has announced the latest phone for its 2019 mid-range with many of the same options available from its Galaxy siblings.Infinity-U DisplayThe A70 has 6.7″ Infinity-U display Super AMOLED FHD+ (1080×2400) with 20:9 aspect ratio. This brings a much taller and thinner display to the A70 that of its brethren but should make the large screen easier to hold. The tradeoff may be that it will also make it hard to reach the full length of the display.The display also houses an in-screen fingerprint scanner similar to that of the Galaxy S10. This should allow for Samsung Knox security measure and additional options for apps like Samsung Pay and Samsung Pass.CamerasThe Samsung A70 has a 32MP shooter on the back and the front of the device. The front camera is housed inside a tear-shaped notch much like on the Essential PH-1 and has an aperture of F2.0 Around the rear you’ll find another 32MP camera with F1.7 aperture, but it’s not alone. You also get an 8MP wide angle and a 5MP depth sensor.InternalsRounding out the spec sheet is a pretty compelling combination of 6 or 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage with microSD expansion, and a 4500mAh battery. The powerhouse can also be charged with Samsung’s 25W fast charging when you need to top off the tanks while in a hurry.One UIThe A70 will launch with the latest version of Samsung’s version of Android Pie, One UI. Along with the base OS, the device will have Bixby, Samsung Pay, and Samsung Health all onboard. The company has done an admirable job of keeping the base software fairly close to the premium alternatives.AvailabilitySamsung has not released full pricing or availability just yet on the A70. However, the company has saved the date for an “A Galaxy event” for early next month on April 10th. Stay tuned for more information as it comes available for the A70.

Our online security is becoming more and more important. From online trackers to local hackers, we need to start paying more attention to our information and how it’s exploited. Popular browser development house Opera agrees. With its latest release, the company is included a VPN in the browser itself.With Opera 51, you will receive a free, built-in virtual private network to help secure your online habits. The update will hit users today, March 20th 2019, and is available on the Android app via the Play Store. The company’s SVP of Android development, Peter Wallman, cites several trends to lead the browser to this addition:“By enabling Opera’s VPN, users make it very difficult for third parties to steal pieces of their information and can avoid being tracked……We want to make VPN adoption easy and user-friendly, especially for those who want to feel more secure on the Web but are not aware of how to do it..”Opera is offering a key solution to increasing your online security with a VPN readily available inside the browser. The company is also clear that this is for the betterment of the user and not for other gains. The VPN is free, unlimited, and requires no login to use. While most VPNs aren’t overly pricey, they are commonly a paid service.The devs also made is super easy to set up the new VPN services inside of Opera.Download or launch OperaTap the Settings with the “O” logo in the bottom rightFind VPN under the optionsEnable the feature and the region you preferThat’s it! Clean, easy installation and you have your very own private network. This will help protect your information while on public WiFi and even help against web trackers while surfing under normal conditions. This is another addition to a great browser with security-minded features like ad block that Opera already offers.As a reminder, all Opera updates are done regionally in waves. If you don’t immediately see the update, it’s on the way. 

Google has released its first official preview of Android Q for developers, making it available in a beta version. This follows the pattern that has emerged with the last few builds of Android where an early look arrives in the first part of the year well ahead of general release.In an interesting twist, the Android Q beta is being offered up to all three generations of the Pixel phones. Some had anticipated that Google might try to provide the build to its flagship phones, but the general expectation was that it would only be the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 line getting the beta.As is the case with previews, this is a build designed for developers so they can begin to prepare their apps and games. It’s also a chance to leverage anything new that’s introduced in Android. In other words, it’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that end users won’t immediately recognize.Google indicates that Android Q will bring some interesting changes such as better privacy controls and native support for foldable phones. Given the trend of the day is to go explore with devices that fold, Google is making it easier for developers to work with the tech.Privacy Over AllOne of the key changes in Android Q is additional privacy settings for location access. Instead of allowing apps to pull in location data at pretty much any given time, the new option lets users define whether it can be always shared, never shared, and somewhere in between. Similarly, Google is putting new restrictions on the access that apps have for things like audio, video, and photos.The Future is FoldableThe Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X will arrive later this year as two of the first Android phones with folding screens. Until now, both companies had to code things internally and make the experience work with its unique hardware. This won’t be so hard for future generations.Google is building in support for foldable displays so developers can tap into the larger, or split-screen layout. The Android Q beta is the first chance for developers to get their apps ready for the future of phones.Settings PanelEver try to pair a phone to a Bluetooth speaker? Chances are good that you had to back out to the settings screen to toggle on Bluetooth or search for the accessory. Even when you have an app from the OEM, it’s likely you had to access device settings somewhere along the way. The same goes when adding something that requires Wi-Fi or NFC.Android Q makes it much easier for users to toggle settings when they’re needed. The beta includes a Settings Panel API which lets developers offer instant, pop-up access to the relevant device settings.Fixing SharesAs much as we like the way Android lets us share to and from so many apps and services, it’s slow and tedious. This Android Q candidate allows for developers to pre-publish how their apps handle sharing, letting the share UI load instantly instead of building on the fly. It’s small, and may not be noticed by all users, but it will be appreciated by those who do.What Else?As indicated before, the Android Q beta doesn’t do a lot on the surface and it will be some time before we get to see and feel the final things as users. With that said, there are a few other details included such as Dynamic Depth which makes it easier for third-party apps to offer bokeh and specialized blur effects. Moreover, Android Q gains support for AV1 video codec, which should lead to improved streaming quality with less bandwidth.A formal name for Q?When it comes to a formal name, we still don’t know what Google plans to do with its Q build of Android. There’s nothing in the code yet that indicates where Google is heading so it’s hard to say which sweet, snack, or dessert it has in mind.

Google today announced Stadia, its cloud-based service which lets people play high-quality games on any virtually any device.As Google sees things, there are two major markets to tap into in the gaming space. There are those who love to play and there are those who love to watch others play. Stadia is designed with both types of people in mind.First things first, Stadia is not a console. It’s a service, more or less, that lets people play on devices that run Chrome. This means Android phones, Chromebooks, PCs, and even TVs with Chromecast dongles. In other words, you already own Stadia-ready hardware.This is not to suggest that Google doesn’t have some sort of physical product to go with its service. The Stadia controller is built for playing games; however it has a few other tricks up its sleeves.It wouldn’t be Google if it didn’t tie into its Assistant. To that end, it has a dedicated button for activating the increasingly smart tool. Also present are a headphone jack and a share/stream button.As to the gaming experience one can expect from Stadia, it’s not just the casual stuff that you see largely see on mobile phones. Indeed, it’s designed to handle tier-one titles at 4K resolution with 60 frames per second.Launching later this year, Stadia integrates with YouTube and competes with Twitch. That’s where the sharing and streaming come into play.There are more than 200 million people watching others play games on a daily basis. Google leverages this opportunity by making it simple to go from viewing to participating.Not only will Google let players hop into multiplayer or split-stream games, but it will allow for sharing of game instances. Say, for instance, you find yourself in a really cool spot in a game. Google Stadia will let you share that spot with others as simply as you’d share a URL for a recipe.It’s a powerful hardware stack combining server class GPU, CPU, memory and storage, and with the power of Google’s data center infrastructure, Stadia can evolve as quickly as the imagination of game creators.Google’s Cloud data centers will power the show, giving players twice the graphics performance of gaming consoles like the Xbox One X or PlayStation 4 Pro.This powerful hardware, paired with high-speed gaming, means there’s no software to install. There are no patches, updates, or firmware issues to contend with as it’s all streamed.Google stopped short of details such as game discovery, sharing, streaming, and prices. In fact, there’s no indication as to when it will officially launch. All we know at this point is that it’s coming later this year.With Google I/O arriving in the near term we suspect we’ll soon learn a great deal more about Stadia. In the meanwhile, head to stadia.google.com and sign up for more information.

Introduction Today’s tablet world lacks a lot of parity. On one hand you have the premium devices like the iPad lineup, or the Samsung Galaxy Tab line. While these devices are extremely durable, high-performing, and very pretty, their respective prices can make them prohibitive for a lot of potential buyers. But the problem is that […]

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