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Google backs the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 11 2016 - 6:21 pm PT
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The Trans-Pacific Partnership (also known as the TPP) is a very controversial trade agreement among twelve countries around the world, and now it has a new ally in the form of one of the world’s largest companies: Google. “We hope that the TPP can be a positive force and an important counterweight to restrictive Internet policies around the world,” Kent Walker, SVP and General Counsel at Google said in a blog post. “Like many other tech companies, we look forward to seeing the agreement approved and implemented in a way that promotes a free and open Internet across the Pacific region.”


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Hands-on with Moto Mods: JBL speaker, Incipio Power Pack, Moto Insta-Share projector [Video]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 10 2016 - 1:47 pm PT
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Yesterday we got our hands on Lenovo’s just-announced Moto Z and Phab2 Pro, but one of the most important new features of the former — the company’s true flagship this year — is support for new modular backplates called Moto Mods. Lenovo announced a slew of them yesterday, including speakers from JBL, a camera module from Hasselblad, a pico projector called the Moto Insta-Share, an Incopio battery pack, and more.

Let’s take a look…


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Hands-on with Lenovo’s super-thin flagship Moto Z w/ backplate modules [Video]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 9 2016 - 5:29 pm PT
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Lenovo announced the first line of Moto phones since its acquisition of Motorola today, and there was not a single mention of the company from which the new devices got their namesake. The Moto X is gone replaced by the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force — the former being the true flagship with a super-thin build and the latter being a more rugged version with a better camera, a little more thickness, and a shatterproof screen.

Let’s take a look at the regular Moto Z, which in my opinion is the nicest phone Lenovo announced today…

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Hands-on with the Lenovo Phab2 Pro phablet w/ Project Tango inside [Video]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 9 2016 - 4:27 pm PT
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Lenovo today took the wraps off its Phab2 Pro (or phab 2 PRO, or PHAB 2 Pro, depending on which version you want to go with), and I managed to get my hands on it just after the keynote.

Let me make this clear, because the press releases, stock imagery, and even the device we saw on stage today, do not really show the “phone” for what it is. This is not really a phone. It’s a hilariously huge phablet — and even that is borderline. Really, in my eyes, this thing is a tablet.

But I guess that’s subjective.


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PSA: Gmail is down for some users, Google is investigating

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 9 2016 - 12:23 pm PT
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Gmail is experiencing downtime this afternoon as some users are having issues with receiving messages and accessing their account. Google confirmed the issue on its apps status page and said it was investigating reports as of 1:56PM EST.

The company provided a later update at 2:46PM EST today noting that it’s continuing to investigate and confirming it’s discovered that “some messages sent to consumer Gmail accounts are being rejected due to authentication enforcement.”

Google plans to provide another update by 3:46PM EST with more details on when it expects to resolve the issues.

We’ll keep you posted here with further updates and let us know in the comments below if you’re still having problems with your account.

These Jeopardy contestants think that Marshmallow is a version of iOS [Video]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 8 2016 - 9:48 am PT
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We know that Android has an updates problem. In the most recent Android distribution report yesterday, we learned that Android Marshmallow has just barely edged past 10% adoption 8 months after it first started rolling out to devices.

But apparently, despite all the people-friendly marketing that Google does with its mobile OS software updates (and more recently, the Nexus phones), there’s this persistent complete ignorance about Android in general. How can Google motivate people to update to Android Marshmallow — much less care about what it offers — if they don’t even know what the OS is called?

Of course they could (or not) go the Apple route and create a situation with complete control over the entire ecosystem, but Google’s tactic of trying to make OS updates familiar and friendly is about as much as it can do for now. Apparently it’s not working, and this is perfectly illustrated in a recent round of Jeopardy! where two contestants both thought that Marshmallow is the name of iOS 6.0…


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Samsung rumored to move to a 4K UHD display for the Galaxy S8

Avatar for Edoardo Maggio Jun 8 2016 - 5:16 am PT
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There certainly is a lot happening in Samsung‘s hardware department. Following a general slowdown of the immense growth smartphones have enjoyed over the past lustrum in particular, OEMs are preparing for a new wave of next-generation devices.

Amid the numerous experimental projects the company is working on, however, we can expect that a more ‘safe’ Galaxy S8 will hit the market some time in the first half of 2017, and rumor has it that its display will move to a jaw-dropping 4K resolution (via KoreaHerald) …


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Google makes its TensorFlow artificial intelligence platform available on iOS

Avatar for Chance Miller Jun 7 2016 - 3:16 pm PT
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Google this week has published a new version of its TensorFlow machine learning software that adds support for iOS. Google initially teased that it was working on iOS support for TensorFlow last November, but said it was unable to give a timeline. An early version of TensorFlow version 0.9 was released yesterday on GitHub, however, and it brings iOS support.


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Android distribution numbers for June 2016 put Marshmallow at over 10% adoption

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 7 2016 - 3:01 pm PT
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It’s no secret that Google has struggled to get people to upgrade the software on its phones (but perhaps more accurately, the software on other companies’ phones). It’s one of the most blatant examples of an area that Google and its OEMs are just so far behind, especially compared to the adoption rates of iOS on Apple’s devices. And with every passing month, it just doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

It’s been about 8 months since its release, and the latest Android distribution numbers reveal that the newest version of Google’s mobile OS, Marshmallow, has just now passed 10% adoption. Google’s most popular version of Android at this point, Lollipop, lost 0.2 percentage points this month and KitKat, which was announced in 2013, still holds more than a 30% share…


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You can now quickly rotate images in Google Photos with a keyboard shortcut

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 7 2016 - 8:32 am PT
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If you — like me — have enabled auto-upload to Google Photos on pretty much all of your devices, you’ve surely noticed that some photos just don’t arrive on the site with the correct orientation sometimes. The Google Photos editor — which also has filters, brightness control, etc. — is an easy fix for this (it only take a few clicks), but now Google has made rotating photos in the app even easier with a quick keyboard shortcut that you can use when viewing any photo…


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The best Android phones you can buy [June 2016]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 7 2016 - 7:41 am PT
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The summer is here, and that means we’ve seen a lot of new Android smartphones announced in the first half of this year. Starting off the year was the Huawei Mate 8 and Honor 5X at CES in January, of course followed later by Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 edge as well as the LG G5 in February at Mobile World Congress. But which ones are the best buys? Keep reading to find out…


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Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Active will be available on AT&T from June 10th

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 6 2016 - 8:08 am PT
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Samsung and AT&T today came out to announce the Galaxy S7 Active, the latest iteration of the duo’s super-rugged smartphone tradition. Just like last year’s Galaxy S6 Active, the phone is basically an S7 with a beefy case built in — which isn’t a terrible idea considering so many people slap an OtterBox on their phone anyway…
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Google’s Deepmind AI to have a Go match with world’s new number one player

Avatar for Edoardo Maggio Jun 6 2016 - 4:40 am PT
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These days, Google — as well as many other tech giants — is all about Artificial Intelligence. We’ve seen it shown off in many different shapes at its latest I/O conference, but perhaps one of the biggest achievements in the field was a little far from the consumer-world of Allo or the new Google assistant.

After the recent victory, in fact, it will be Google’s Deepmind team to be put again to the test at Go, this time against the world’s new number one player (via Engadget)…


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This week’s top stories: New Samsung devices, Huawei & Nexus, OnePlus 3, Fadell leaves Nest & more

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 4 2016 - 9:44 am PT
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In this week’s top stories: Samsung unveiled new wearables and wireless earbuds this week as hints at the upcoming Galaxy Note 7 surfaced. We also had some more OnePlus 3 announcements and leaks ahead of an official launch, talk of Huawei manufacturing Googles’ next Nexus device, and an interview with Google’s Sundar Pichai discussing Nexus phones and a number of other topics. Head below for the handy links to these and our other top stories from this week. 
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Google is testing a Material Design look for Search on the web

Avatar for Edoardo Maggio Jun 4 2016 - 4:31 am PT
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Back at 2014’s I/O, Google unveiled a new all-encompassing design language called Material Design, aimed at drastically reshaping the look of everything Google.

While its first implementations were seen — understandably — on Android, it took a little longer for the transition to take place on the web; we are now seeing Chrome being reworked under Material’s principles, and it now appears that the company’s stronghold, Search, may be on the verge of its long overdue redesign …


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Huawei reportedly ‘doing the Nexus again this year,’ corroborating 2016 Nexus 6P rumors

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 3 2016 - 11:59 am PT
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The rumor mill has all but confirmed that HTC is making the next two Nexus phones (which, as we told you yesterday, will be more influenced by Google), but sketchy rumors suggesting Huawei is planning a reboot of its Nexus 6P have today become a lot less sketchy. Previously, all we saw was a benchmark of a 2016 Nexus 6P with 4GB of RAM and — purportedly — a Snapdragon 820, but now we have a statement from the Chinese company itself…


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: 128GB Nexus 6P (unlocked) $500, Pebble Time Steel (refurb) $130, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 3 2016 - 9:48 am PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Google Nexus 6P 32GB w/ $50 GC: $419 ($549 value) or 128GB: $500 (Reg. $649)

Add a Pebble Time Steel (cert. refurb) to your repertoire for $130 shipped (Orig. $250)

Smartphone Accessories: Aukey Bluetooth Car Kit with 3-Port USB Car Charger $20 Prime shipped (Reg. $28), more

Apple’s latest 11-inch MacBook Air is on sale from $600 shipped w/ .edu, 13-inch 128GB as low as $800, more

Apple 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro (latest version) 2.7GHz/8GB/256GB $1,200 shipped (Reg. $1,499)

VPN Unlimited: Lifetime Subscription for $29 ($500 value)

World Class Mac Bundle: 8 outstanding apps for $25 w/coupon (Orig. $401)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Daily Deals: Yamaha 2-Way Outdoor Speakers $95, more

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/738754887341772801 align=’center’]

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Best Buy’s 3-Day Sale includes Beats Solo2 On-ear Headphones for $80 (Reg. $120), more

Raspberry Pi 3 bundle has everything you need to get started: $70 shipped (Reg. $90)

Review: Pelican’s impressive Elite Luggage is built like a tank, but is it worth the price tag?

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

The Star Wars Ultimate Collection brings incredible recreations of movie props to your home

Huawei’s plan is to take on Samsung and Apple to become the ‘world’s biggest smartphone maker’

Avatar for Edoardo Maggio Jun 3 2016 - 5:23 am PT
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Huawei‘s ambition are not small. At the Wall Street Journal and f.ounders-held Converge technology conference in Hong Kong, Huawei director Richard Yu — who heads the company’s consumer electronic business — made it clear that the firm’s short term plan is more than aggressive…


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May’s self-driving car report details how Google teaches its cars to honk

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 2 2016 - 3:55 pm PT
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Every month, Google puts out a report for its self-driving car project. There’s not that much new this month besides the usual updated running totals (miles driven, number of vehicles on the road, etc.), but the Mountain View company did take some time to detail something that many may not have thought about yet: how it’s teaching the cars to honk…


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: 64GB Moto X Pure + Moto 360 Sport $400, Beats Solo2 $80, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 2 2016 - 10:07 am PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

64GB Moto X Pure Edition + Moto 360 Sport (2nd Gen, White or Flame): $399.99 shipped w/ codes CLASSOF2016 & JUNEMOTO360 (Reg. $750) | Motorola

Best Buy’s 3-Day Sale includes Beats Solo2 On-ear Headphones for $80 (Reg. $120), more

Apple’s latest 11-inch MacBook Air is on sale from $600 shipped w/ .edu, 13-inch 128GB as low as $800, more

Apple 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro (latest version) 2.7GHz/8GB/256GB $1,200 shipped (Reg. $1,499)

VPN Unlimited: Lifetime Subscription for $29 ($500 value)

Get 83 hours of coding tutorials with the Comprehensive Android Development Bundle: $40 (Orig. $727)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Smartphone Accessories: Anker SoundCore Bluetooth Speaker $25 (Reg. $30), more

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

AmazonBasics Felt Sleeves for MacBooks up to 15-inches are on sale from $8 Prime shipped

Bring HomeKit control to your lights w/ Philips’ 2nd Gen Hue LED Starter Kit: $170 + varied shipping (Reg. $200)

Philips Smart Lighting: Hue Go Portable LED $80, Wireless Hue Tap Switch $50

Review: Pelican’s impressive Elite Luggage is built like a tank, but is it worth the price tag?

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

SodaStream gets tipsy with its new Beer Bar homebrew beverage maker

Verizon’s Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 gets updated to Android Marshmallow

Avatar for Ben Schoon Jun 1 2016 - 2:25 pm PT
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After rolling out a Marshmallow update to the Galaxy S5 yesterday, Verizon is now rolling out the same to its variant of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. The update carries version number MMB29K.T817VVRU2BPE1 and packs the standard Marshmallow features we’re all accustomed to at this point. Those include Doze, app permissions, and Google Now on Tap among other things…


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Google will be ‘more opinionated’ about Nexus phones, but what does that mean?

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 1 2016 - 1:26 pm PT
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During an interview with Walt Mossberg at Code Conference today, Sundar Pichai spent some time talking about the future of the Nexus line of smartphones. He mentioned that Google would put “more thought” into them, and upon further questioning added that Google plans to add more features atop stock Android to make the Nexus experience better. He also said that Google, which already works closely in tandem with OEMs, would be “more opinionated” about the design of the phones.

But what exactly does that mean?


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Sundar Pichai talks Nexus phones, China, AI & Google Home, more at Code Conference [Video]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 1 2016 - 11:36 am PT
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai took the stage at Recode’s Code Conference 2016 today, and while much of what he said were PR-friendly reiterations, he did elaborate and provide more color on some of the moves Google made at I/O late last month. Of course the topics of artificial intelligence, Google Home, Android OEMs, the Nexus program, search, and others came up, and Pichai also elaborated on Google’s bigger plans for the world — namely China and India…
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: ASUS ZenFone 2 (unlocked) $269, VPN Unlimited Lifetime $29, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jun 1 2016 - 10:40 am PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Grab the ASUS ZenFone 2 w/ 4GB RAM/128GB storage: $269 (Reg. $375+)

VPN Unlimited: Lifetime Subscription for $29 ($500 value)

Get 83 hours of coding tutorials with the Comprehensive Android Development Bundle: $40 (Orig. $727)

Amazon is handing out $5 in-app credits when you download select Android games like Candy Crush

Leave InkJet behind and switch to Brother’s Color Laser Printer w/ AirPrint for $143 shipped (Reg. $180)

Apple 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro (latest version) 2.7GHz/8GB/256GB $1,200 shipped (Reg. $1,499)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Give open-air headphones a try with Audio-Technica’s ATH-AD900x for $115 (Reg. $150)

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

AmazonBasics Felt Sleeves for MacBooks up to 15-inches are on sale from $8 Prime shipped

Review: Pelican’s impressive Elite Luggage is built like a tank, but is it worth the price tag?

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

This gorgeous $1,100 SmartBike cannot be stolen according to its creators