new

12 'new' stories April 2013 - December 2015

With Google Play offers and holiday deals, new Chromecasts are practically free

Jared Weintraub Dec 14 2015 - 6:45 am PT

From now until January 2nd, if you buy a 2015 Chromecast you also get $20 to cast TV shows, movies and more on Google Play. Factoring in the credit, that’s the lowest offer we’ve seen for the new Chromecast. After you make your purchase you can get your $20 Google Play credit here.

You can also find a 2-pack Bundle with $12 Google Play Credit at Costco for $49 shipped. Or save $5 on one at Best Buy today as well.

Enjoy a world of entertainment with Google Chromecast (2015). Just connect to your HDTV’s HDMI interface and your home Wi-Fi network to get started. You can stream your favorite apps from your compatible phone, tablet or laptop, plus use your phone as a remote to search, play and pause content.

Note: You need to wait one week after you register for the Google Play credit to appear.

Full Terms & Conditions:

Must purchase a Chromecast device and complete initial set-up between Dec 13, 2015 and Jan 2, 2016 to qualify for the promotional credit. Not reloadable; no cash value.
Credit must be added to a Google Payments account by January 31, 2016 and used on Google Play by January 31, 2017. Certain devices (including Chromecast Audio) and subscriptions excluded. Offer good in US only. Must be 13+ years old, US resident, have Internet access, and have or activate a Google Payments account. Limit one per Google Payment account.
See Promotional Balance Terms for more information.
To redeem, go to chromecast.com/offers

9to5Toys Lunch Break: Galaxy S6 (unlocked) $430, Anker USB Solar Panel $50, more

Stephen Hall Oct 15 2015 - 12:19 pm PT

0 Comments

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:

Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked): $430 shipped (Reg. $600+) | eBay

Daily Deals: Anker Charger w/ 2-Port USB Solar Panel $50, Misfit Shine Activity and Sleep Monitor $50, more

Free MP3 Downloads: Greatest Hits from TLC, Muddy Waters, more plus Shakira Deluxe Edition

Turn your old system into a Bluetooth speaker with the Mpow Streambot for $16 Prime shipped (Orig. $36)

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 32 GB LTE GSM (unlocked): $570 shipped (Reg. $740) | eBay

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge 32 GB on Verizon (w/ two year contract): $50 shipped | Best Buy

HTC One M9 32 GB flash on Sprint (w/ two year contract): $1 shipped | Best Buy

More new gear from today:

Amazon and Toys R Us give a peek at this year’s must-have holiday gifts

Apple 64GB iPad Air 2 (New, open box) Silver: $430 shipped ($170 off)
NBA 2K16 hits iOS and Android with new gameplay, controls and updated graphics
The original Bluetooth-enabled August Smart Lock drops to $199 (Orig. $250)
Games/Apps: Final Fantasy Type-0 HD from $24, Nintendo NFC amiibo reader/writer $16, more
Free MP3 Downloads: Greatest Hits from TLC, Muddy Waters, more
Up to 65% off Complete TV Series: Family Ties $100, Beverly Hills 90210 $125, more
Samsung Gear Virtual Reality headset for Galaxy S6/Edge $100 shipped (Reg. $200)
Amazon slashes prices on Levi’s jeans for Men, Women and Boys
Anker iPhone 6s/Plus cases in multiple styles and colors from $2 Prime shipped
Anker MFi Lightning Cables: 3-ft $4, 9-ft $7 (Prime shipped), more
iPhone 6s Wallet Case $3 Prime shipped (Orig. $20)
OtterBox SYMMETRY Series iPhone 6/6s Case $20 Prime shipped (Reg. $40)
Apple’s new 4K & 5K iMacs already seeing the first price cuts and tax-free options
Apple 12-inch MacBook 1.1GHz/8GB/256GB from $1,190 or $1,150 w/ .edu (Reg. $1,299), more
Apple Watch 42mm Stainless Steel Case w/ Black Sport Band: $520 shipped (Orig. $599)
Cost-Effective Apple Watch Bands: Deals from $12 Prime shipped on leather, milanese loop, more

More deals still alive:

Storage: Samsung 500GB 2.5-inch Internal SSD $150 (Reg. $170), WD My Passport 2TB USB 3.0 Portable HDD $70 (Reg. $85)

Aukey adjustable wireless selfie stick w/ Bluetooth $6 Prime shipped (Reg. $11+)
Lumsing 4-port 21W USB wall charger $8…add a 3-ft MFi Lightning Cable For $5 more
RuggedTec FlashBang mountable Bluetooth Speaker/Flashlight: $28 shipped (Orig. $79)
Sony SRSX3 Portable Bluetooth/NFC Speaker: $60 shipped (Orig. $140)
Two D-Link DCS-934L Wireless IR Surveillance Cameras: $70 shipped (Reg. $100)
Smart HDTVs: 55-inch Sony 120Hz 4K $850, 43-inch LG 60Hz 1080p $350, more
Lenmar MAVEN iPhone 6 MFi 3,000mAh Battery Case $29 shipped (Orig. $100), more
Audio-Technica Headphones + Blue Microphones USB Mic $200 shipped ($292+ value)
Brother Color Duplex Laser Wireless Printer w/ AirPrint: $150 shipped (Reg. $200)
Bluetooth Speakers: Inateck Honeycomb $30, SOL REPUBLIC DECK $40
Klipsch HDTV home theater sound system w/ Bluetooth $155 shipped (Reg. $199)
Aukey Bluetooth In-Ear Headphones $17 (Reg. $25), more
Headphones: Sony Bluetooth $135 (Reg. $199), Beyerdynamic from $170
Sony announces official PlayStation 4 price drop, bundles now start at just $349
Mac Bundle: 14 Mac Apps incl. RapidWeaver, Voila Screencapture, Kinemac 3D, more: $18

New products & more:

Electric Jukebox doesn’t want to be Spotify or Chromecast, so what is it?

This is the Apple TV remote that Cupertino should’ve made…
The BLOCKS modular smartwatch has flown past its Kickstarter goal in a just a few hours
Turn heads at any Halloween party with one of these high-tech DIY costumes
Koto’s smart sensors track your home’s health and can even forecast storms
New Halo 5: Guardians trailer drops as retailers ramp-up pre-order deals
This clothes-folding washing machine brings first-world laziness to defcon zero
The new Light digital camera uses 16 lenses (!!!) to craft the perfect picture

Google Drive for Work and Apps for Education getting plethora of new security features

Stephen Hall Mar 31 2015 - 10:46 am PT

0 Comments

Google has today announced that it’s bringing new sharing controls, alerts and “audit events” to both Google Drive for Work and Google for Education over the coming weeks. Security is one of the biggest concerns that companies have about moving their data to the cloud, and Google hopes these new features will help make the transition just a little bit easier…

Expand
Expanding
Close

OnePlus reportedly entering a new product category next month, but it’s neither a smartwatch nor tablet

Stephen Hall Mar 3 2015 - 1:29 pm PT

2 Comments

OnePlus has been rumored to be working on some kind of new product for a while, and guesses tend to bounce back and fourth between it being a smartwatch and a tablet. Today, OnePlus founder Carl Pei has reportedly come out to say (via GSMArena) that the company is indeed planning on soon entering a new product category, but—hilariously enough—it’s not going to be a smartwatch—nor will it be a tablet.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google testing a new logo for YouTube that matches mobile apps

Stephen Hall Feb 13 2015 - 6:24 am PT

0 Comments

Google is testing a new logo on YouTube.com, bringing the simpler round-rect icon with a play button to the desktop interface. If you use any of the YouTube mobile apps, you may find this icon to be very familiar.

Here’s a look at the current mobile app icons—the Android version of YouTube is on the left, while the iOS version is on the right:

Notably, the new icon being tested on YouTube.com is very similar—with the exception of some minor details—to the icon for the Android version. Google has yet to actually roll out the new icon to the YouTube website, but you can find more images of the experiment at Google Operating System.

This is what the current version of the YouTube.com logo looks like in comparison:

T-Mobile’s new ‘SCORE!’ program gives you smartphone discounts & perks for $5/month

Stephen Hall Jan 26 2015 - 6:57 am PT

0 Comments

T-Mobile is seemingly continuing with its “Un-carrier” parade, as the company just announced a new program called “SCORE!” that lets customers add $5 per month to their bill to get some steep discounts on smartphone upgrades. Essentially, enrolling in this program lets you subsidize one of your own future smartphone purchases, but it looks like T-Mobile is going to try to make the investment worth your time.

Expand
Expanding
Close

This is what Material Design would look like on Google.com

Stephen Hall Dec 3 2014 - 7:46 am PT

3 Comments

Material Design–announced at Google I/O 2014 in June of this year–was introduced as Google’s new way of presenting a coherent, beautiful user experience across apps, and one of the first pieces of software to exemplify the new look is the latest release of Android, version 5.0 Lollipop. But Google is going beyond Android and has already started incorporating this design scheme within many of its other products, including the online interface for Google Docs, for instance. One place that hasn’t seen a Material overhaul (yet) is Google’s main search engine, but thanks to designer Aurélien Salomon, we have an idea of what it might look like–and it’s gorgeous.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google launches Contributor, a Netflix/Spotify model for crowdsourcing content creators

Stephen Hall Nov 20 2014 - 11:27 am PT

0 Comments

Google has today launched a new platform that aims to reinvent how content creators on the Internet make money. It’s called Contributor, and it involves readers committing to a certain monthly payment of $1-3, which will in turn give visitors an ad-free browsing experience on some sites. This could potentially be a full-blown alternative to Google’s AdSense, giving publications like this one and others a new form of monetization.

Expand
Expanding
Close

YouTube unveils new TV layout for easier browsing on media boxes

9to5 Staff Aug 14 2014 - 10:27 am PT

1 Comment

YouTube today announced on their blog that they’re officially rolling out a new UI for YouTube on TVs, which will allow for easier navigating on the big screen. The update will roll out to all media devices connected to a television, such as Android TV, Roku, possibly Apple TV, and game consoles in the coming weeks, but YouTube is saying that Xbox One users will start to see the new UI today.

The channels you subscribe to and videos you care about will be a click away with a guide on the left side that’s just like the guide you see on YouTube on your computer, phone, and tablet. When you sign in, you can jump to all the latest videos from your subscriptions and recommendations in the What to Watch section, or pop on a playlist you’ve liked such as Blogilates’ Cardio AB Attack and turn your TV into a workout buddy.

Expand
Expanding
Close

New MyRadar official Glassware lets you view live radar on Google Glass

Stephen Hall Jul 12 2014 - 10:17 am PT

0 Comments

A new app has appeared in the official Glassware directory today, bringing you the ability to easily view the latest radar information on Google Glass. Whether you’re commuting to work or out for a bike ride, this app available to you in an instant gives you a quick glance at stormy weather in your vicinity.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google still testing simpler homepage layout with dedicated app launcher button

Mark Gurman Apr 11 2013 - 8:53 pm PT

0 Comments

A 9to5Google reader, today, sent in a screenshot of a new Google homepage layout that the company is testing. It is unclear how spread the testing is of this homepage, but it’s no secret that Google tests new page layouts with small numbers of users. These test layouts sometimes never even get rolled out to the complete user base.

Notably, the new layout sports a button to quickly access Google’s various web applications.That new apps button appears to replace the top bar with the most commonly used Google services (like Mail, YouTube, and Drive).

Google began testing this new layout in February, but the appearance of testing in April could point to this new design still being under consideration or could point to extended testing.

Thanks, Tony!

Google Chrome/OS to use new rendering engine ‘Blink’ based on predecessor Webkit

Alex Allegro Apr 3 2013 - 4:34 pm PT

0 Comments

In a surprise announcement made at the Chromium Blog today, Google announced that Chrome OS, Chrome, and Opera will use a new rendering engine titled ‘Blink’. Blink is based of the current rendering engine WebKit. Google states the change is “not an easy decision,” but the change is necessary due to a ‘slow down of innovation.”

Google seems quite apologetic in the blog post, noting it understands the change may have significant implications for the web, but hopefully, in the long run, it will improve the health of the open web ecosystem.

It noted that the change will have little impact in the short-term to developers and Internet users, but Google hopes that the removal of the “multi-process architecture” will simplify the engine’s code and ease the difficulty required to develop for Chrome and Chrome OS. Ultimately, Google also hopes the new engine will speed up Internet load times.

The full press release via the Chromium Blog is available below.

Expand
Expanding
Close