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1,101 'Tech Industry' stories May 2013 - May 2015
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Consumer Reports insanely recommends the Galaxy S5 over the S6

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 12 2015 - 7:51 pm PT
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The basis upon which many Consumer Reports ratings are set may seem insane to the technology savvy among us. For a long time they would not recommend the iPhone for its lack of removable battery, for example. But the site still holds weight among older generations and so it’s worth taking a look at what they have to say about the top smartphone manufacturers’ newest flagship devices. Like how they recommend the last-gen Samsung Galaxy S5 over the newer Galaxy S6…


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Alleged pictures of Samsung Galaxy S6 Active surface

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 12 2015 - 3:38 pm PT
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An anonymous source today sent two images to GSMArena showing off what is allegedly the unannounced Samsung Galaxy S6 Active. From surface level inspection it looks plausible that this is a legitimate leak. Samsung went with a different typeface and branding for the Galaxy S6 line, and comparing the lettering and font of the words to that of the S6 it looks like this phone is at least similar to the main flagship in that regard.


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: HTC One M8 (unlocked) $220, Logitech gear up to 60% off, Pebble Steel $150, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 12 2015 - 12:37 pm 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:

HTC One (M8) w/ 32 GB flash storage, 4G LTE, GSM (unlocked): $220 shipped (Reg. $499)

Logitech gear up to 60% off: Bluetooth mouse $22, Speakers w/ sub $55, wireless touchpad keyboard $20, more

Pebble Steel smartwatch for Select iOS and Android Devices: $150 shipped (Reg. $200)

Acer Chromebox Celeron 1.4 GHz 2GB DDR3L 16GB Chrome OS: $140 shipped w/ code EBATESAIO512 (Reg. $200)

 

Daily Deals: Retro-Bit NES/SNES/Genesis 3-In-1 System $56, more

Small States: Feltmark’s Wald lighting combines simplicity and function, multiple giveaway winners

More new gear from today

Seagate 2-Bay Network Attached Storage $100 shipped (Reg. $170), more

More deals still alive:

55″ 1080p HDTVs: VIZIO $598 (Reg. $798), Samsung 3D $1,000 (Reg. $1,400+)

New products & more:

The CHIP $9 computer has 4GB of on-board storage and can go portable as well

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New Chrome extension solicits user feedback about the browser

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 11 2015 - 2:59 pm PT
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Google today launched a new extension for Chrome that’s intended to directly help the company improve its browser. It’s called Chrome User Experience Surveys, and the gist is that users with the extension installed will occasionally get a pop up survey in their browser window when something unusual or unintended occurs in their browsing experience; these surveys should typically take less than 2 minutes to complete and are capped at appearing a maximum of four times per week.

In the company’s product forums, the Chrome team has proactively provided answers to some concerns they anticipate to be raised, including whether or not the company will collect and store browsing history with this extension (answer: no), and whether or not the extension will impact a user’s browser performance (again, the answer is no). “The only data this extension sends to Google is when these infrequent events occur and your survey responses,” the team states in the post. Keep in mind that if you use other Google services like Search and Gmail, they probably already have a lot of data about you anyway.


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Acer Chromebox $130, HTC One (M8) $270, SOL Republic Bluetooth speaker $50, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 11 2015 - 12:20 pm 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:

Acer Chromebox Celeron 1.4 GHz 2GB DDR3L 16GB Chrome OS: $130 shipped (Reg. $200)

HTC One (M8) w/ 32 GB flash storage, 4G LTE, GSM (unlocked): $270 shipped (Reg. $499)

SOL REPUBLIC x Motorola DECK Bluetooth Speaker with NFC and Mic: $49.99 (Reg. $199.99)

Select Modal Portable Bluetooth Speakers: $20 shipped (Reg. $40)

Headphones: V-MODA On-Ears $80 (Orig. $230), Beats Solo 2 & Studios (open box) from $110 (Orig. $200+), more

Small States: Feltmark’s Wald lighting combines simplicity and function, multiple giveaway winners

More new gear from today:

Power up your morning routine: Panasonic Arc3 Wet/Dry Shaver $45, Oral-B Electric Toothbrush $16, more

More deals still alive:

Lexar 128GB Micro-SD Card (95MB/s) for $86 shipped

New products & more:

This stand up paddle board inflates itself & has a built-in motor w/ wireless controls

Yooka-Laylee is the new adventure game from the studio behind Donkey Kong

AT&T unveils the Trek HD 4G LTE, its first self-branded Android tablet

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 11 2015 - 9:00 am PT
2 Comments

AT&T today announced that it will soon begin selling the budget AT&T Trek HD 4G LTE (let’s just call it the Trek HD), the nationwide carrier’s first company-branded tablet. In its press release, the company says the tablet will be available to purchase on their website starting May 12th and in AT&T stores starting May 15th, and notes right in the first sentence, and on multiple other occasions, that it will run Android Lollipop…


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Elon Musk doesn’t have a place in the Valley, often sleeps at Larry Page’s house

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 11 2015 - 8:45 am PT
1 Comment

From Electrek:

Elon Musk, although CEO of a company based on Silicon Valley, often finds himself without a place to sleep when he’s away from his $17 million home located in Los Angeles. According to statements from Google CEO Larry Page given to Ashlee Vance for his upcoming book on the Tesla CEO, Musk is “kind of homeless,” and sometimes sleeps over at Page’s house when he’s in town.

“He’s kind of homeless, which I think is sort of funny,” Google CEO Larry Page said. “He’ll e-mail and say, ‘I don’t know where to stay tonight. Can I come over?'”

Larry Page hasn’t “given him a key or anything yet,” though, for his 8,000 square-foot, six bedroom home in Palo Alto. He owns another 6,000 square-foot environmentally friendly mansion on the same property. But maybe it won’t be long—it would make sense that maybe Musk’s focus is more to build out his business relationship with Google. It’s not like he couldn’t afford to sleep in a nice hotel.

The Washington Post put together some other notable quotes from the book.

Video ad viewability is 54% across the web, but as high as 91% on YouTube (Infographic)

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 8 2015 - 12:00 pm PT
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Advertisers want to know that when they pay for a video ad on YouTube or elsewhere across the web, that the advertisement can actually be seen by viewers. A lot can effect an ad being seen, such as the viewer never scrolling to the part of the page where the ad is placed, or users simply scrolling past the ad too quickly to really catch a glimpse. Taking a look into these things, Google recently published the results of a study identifying the “5 factors of viewability,” or, in other words, the things that impact the chance of a video ad being seen.

Unsurprisingly, YouTube and Google’s video ad strategy seems to be strong compared to the rest of the web…


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Truecaller’s spam-blocker and caller ID technology are coming to Cyanogen OS

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 7 2015 - 2:14 pm PT
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Incessant calls from unknown numbers are frustrating and can at times be immensely distracting, which is part of why companies like Facebook and Google have as of late introduced new Android dialers with which they hope quash this problem. Both essentially crawl their respective social network and search databases for the number calling you trying to find a name or business match. In Facebook’s case, it allows you to “block” individual numbers, which really just sends calls from unwanted callers straight to voicemail.

It was announced by Truecaller today that Cyanogen, the popular Android OS based on the AOSP, will be getting the company’s caller ID service baked in, specifically to be part of the Cyanogen OS dialer.


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comScore releases U.S. smartphone subscriber market share for March 2015

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 7 2015 - 12:36 pm PT
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comScore today released a new U.S. smartphone manufacturer and platform market share report for the three month period ending in March. The data suggests that while the continued strength of iPhone 6 adoption has resulted in market share gains for Apple, Android is still the most popular smartphone platform in the United States.

During the measured period, comScore reports that 187.5 million people in the United States owned smartphones, which equates to 77 percent of the total population. Of that, Apple was the most popular OEM (original equipment manufacturer) with 42.6 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 1% from December), followed by Samsung with 28.3 percent market share (down 1% from December), and LG taking third place with 8.4 percent (up 0.4% from December).


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Galaxy S5 (unlocked) $280, Monument Valley $1, Anker USB car charger $12, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 7 2015 - 12:21 pm 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:

Samsung SM-G900V Galaxy S5 16 GB 4G LTE unlocked: $280 shipped (Reg. $500)

Games for Android: Monument Valley $1 (Reg. $4), Goat Simulator $2 (Reg. $5)

Daily Deals: Anker 9.6A/48W 4-Port USB Car Charger $12 Prime shipped, more

HTC RE camera w/ free accessory bundle: $150 shipped (Reg. $260)

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1″ 16GB Android tablet: $200 shipped (Reg. $299)

Moto X (2014) unlocked 32GB for $350 (Reg. $550) OR 64GB for $375 (Reg. $600)

 

Moto 360 available for $180 (Reg. $250) for a limited time

Adobe Premiere+Photoshop Elements 13: $68 download or CD, Adobe CC Photography+$40 Credit: $10/month

The ultimate lifeline: this $60 power bank can jump start your car and charge your Android phone

More new gear from today:

Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-inch Internal Solid State Drive $170 shipped (Reg. $200+)

More deals still alive:

Lexar 128GB Micro-SD Card (95MB/s) for $86 shipped

New products & more:

Classic adventure game Myst reportedly making a return with a new original Hulu TV series

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Samsung’s “#TextsFromMom” Mother’s Day ad is more funny than sappy

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 6 2015 - 5:54 pm PT
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Mother’s Day is quickly approaching and Samsung has chosen to separate itself from advertisers going for your heartstrings with a much lighter advertisement titled “#TextsFromMom,” featuring the Galaxy S6 Edge.

The one-minute spot, as the title suggests, takes a look at how your mother probably uses (read: misuses) text messaging, and does so in a funny yet gentle manner. Anyone with a mother who took it upon herself to learn to text can sympathize and see their own mom in one or many of these messages. It ends with a reminder that you should call Mom this Sunday, not text her.

[protected-iframe id=”d603a218f395e450061ea4a5f0e213ee-22427743-41205376″ info=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/e7D5KvoXwRg” width=”560″ height=”315″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=””]

What’s more, if you dial the phone numbers visible in the spot you get to hear what the moms had to say in their voicemail messages. You can also enter to win a Galaxy S6 Edge by sharing your mom’s funniest texts to Twitter with the hashtag #TextsFromMom. Nice job, Samsung.

9to5Toys Lunch Break: HTC RE w/ accessories $150, Galaxy Tab 4 $200, Moto X & 360 deals, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 6 2015 - 12:22 pm 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:

HTC RE camera w/ free accessory bundle: $150 shipped (Reg. $260)

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1″ 16GB Android tablet: $200 shipped (Reg. $299)

Moto X (2014) unlocked 32GB for $350 (Reg. $550) OR 64GB for $375 (Reg. $600)

 

Moto 360 available for $180 (Reg. $250) for a limited time

Amazon free app of the day: White Noise (Reg. $2) 

Black LG G Watch Android Wear smartwatch brand new: $130 shipped (Reg. $230)

Pebble Smartwatch for your Android phone: $80 (Orig. $100)

More new gear from today:

SanDisk Extreme SDXC/microSDHC cards up to 75% off, starting at $17 for 16GB

  • New! Amazon: 70% off jewelry + free next day shipping for Mother’s Day slackers
  • New! Daily Deals: uNu iPhone 6 Battery Case $43, RAVPower power bank $16, more
  • New! Headphones: Sennheiser HD 202 II over-ears $15, Piston 3 in-ears $16, more

More deals still alive:

Lexar 128GB Micro-SD Card (95MB/s) for 4K video recording, more for $86 shipped

New products & more:

The GoSun Grill uses solar power to cook your food even at night

Tony Hawk rides again in new Pro Skater 5 for Xbox One and PS4

Disney infinity 3.0 has been revealed w/ new Star Wars & Avengers Play Sets

HTC posts record low April results amid poor One M9 demand

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 6 2015 - 11:46 am PT
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HTC has just released its lowest revenue figures for the month of April in 6 years, attributable to lackluster sales of the new flagship HTC One M9, according to an analyst from Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co.

The company’s consolidated revenue was NT$13.5 billion (US$440 million) in April, down 38 percent year-over-year from NT$22.07 a year earlier. This figure is also down 33 percent from promising revenue of NT$20.02 billion posted only the month prior, in March. This is HTC’s lowest monthly revenue for April since 2009’s result of NT$11.4 billion.


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Qualcomm VP on Snapdragon 810 overheating issues: ‘the rumors are rubbish’

Avatar for Mike Beasley May 6 2015 - 11:32 am PT
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The Snapdragon 810-equpiped HTC One M9 lights up like a Christmas tree during a benchmark

You may recall reports earlier this year about the HTC One M9 overheating during benchmark tests, with many claiming the issue was due to a flaw in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor. Tim McDonough, the chipmaker’s VP of marketing has finally spoken out about the problem, claiming that the rumors are untrue and there is, in fact, no problem with the chip overheating…


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HTC RE camera w/ free accessory bundle $150 shipped (Reg. $260)

Avatar for Tom Maxwell May 6 2015 - 10:09 am PT
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Mother’s Day is May 10th and HTC wants you to give your mother something cool and memorable this year, and what’s more quirky than HTC’s Re camera?

Through May 10th, HTC is offering the Re for $149 shipped, which is $50 off the regular price, and is even throwing in an accessory bundle which would normally run you $60 separately. The bundle includes a bar mount, a clip mount, and a protection pack, each of which make the Re a little more versatile when you’re out on the go getting those sweet action shots.


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Moto X (2014) from $350, Moto 360 from $180, Lexar 128GB microSD card $86, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 5 2015 - 12:20 pm 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:

Moto X (2014) unlocked 32GB for $350 (Reg. $550) OR 64GB for $375 (Reg. $600)

 

Moto 360 available for $180 (Reg. $250) for a limited time

Lexar 128GB Micro-SD Card (95MB/s) for 4K video recording, more for $86 shipped

Amazon free app of the day: Jumping Finn Turbo – Adventure Time (Reg. $1) 

Black LG G Watch Android Wear smartwatch brand new: $128 shipped (Reg. $230)

Pebble Smartwatch for your Android phone: $80 (Orig. $100)

Samsung’s new SD cards bring faster speeds, larger storage for 4K video and photography

Review: iOttie’s Active Edge bike mount safely puts your smartphone front and center, exclusive 30% promo code

More new gear from today:

Stream Amazon Prime Instant Video movies and TV shows at 30,000-ft in the air w/ no extra fees

More deals still alive:

Canon Refurb Cams: SL1 $300 (Orig. $550), Rebel T5 w/ lens kit $300 (Orig. $440), more

New products & more:

GE’s new lightbulbs have HomeKit compatibility and will help you sleep better

9to5Toys Lunch Break: LG G Watch $127, Pebble smartwatch $80, May the 4th Star Wars deals, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 4 2015 - 12:27 pm 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:

Black LG G Watch Android Wear smartwatch brand new: $127 shipped (Reg. $230) (but there is very limited stock left from this third party at $118 with Amazon fulfillment)

Pebble Smartwatch for your Android phone: $80 (Orig. $100)

Star Wars Day deals & freebies: Darth Vader and Son Kindle book $2, LEGO kits from $8, much more

Amazon free app of the day: Royal Escape (Reg. $2)

Daily Deals: Samsung Xpress Mono Laser Printer $50, Acer 27″ G-SYNC Gaming Monitor $400, Kindles, more

More new gear from today:

Price Drop: Omaker M4 Splashproof/droppable Bluetooth 4.0 Speaker with NFC: $20 Prime shipped (Orig. $70)

Canon Refurbished Digital Cameras: SL1 (body only) $300 (Orig. $550), Rebel T5 w/ lens kit $300 (Orig. $440), more

More deals still alive:

Spotify reboots its popular 3-month $0.99 Premium plan for new subscribers

New products & more:

Connected Cycle’s smart pedals will track your riding and help you find a lost bicycle

9to5Toys Lunch Break: Moto X w/ SOL Republic headphones $400, Moto 360 $180, Chromecast $25, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall May 1 2015 - 12:17 pm 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:

Save $300 when you buy a Moto X w/ SOL Republic Tracks AIR headphones

Get $70 off a Moto 360 for Mother’s day, starting at $180 (Reg. $250)

Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player: $25 w/ in-store pickup (Reg. $35)

Motorola Moto G No-Contract Android 4.4 Smartphone (Verizon) $30 (Orig. $100)

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 32GB new Blossom Pink (unlocked): $420 shipped (Reg. $700)

LG G3 w/ free $100 Amazon gift card for $0.01 w/ 2-yr contract or $400 w/o (AT&T)

New Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 4G LTE GSM unlocked 7-inch 16GB: $100 shipped (Reg. $200+)

Spotify reboots its popular 3-month $0.99 Premium plan for new subscribers

9to5Toys Specials currently has a VPN Unlimited Lifetime Subscription for $39 and ibVPN Total Plan 4 year subscription for $59

More new gear from today:

Amazon is offering 20% Coins Back on in-game purchases in over 40 titles right now

More deals still alive:

Ring Wifi Video Doorbell w/ Android app: $189 Shipped (Orig. $229)

New products & more:

IKAWA’s coffee roaster brings the experience home w/ iOS connectivity and custom recipes

Connected Cycle’s smart pedals will track your riding and help you find a lost bicycle

9to5Toys Lunch Break: Nexus Player w/ $20 Google Play GC $72, Galaxy Note 4 $420, Beats Tour 2.0 $95, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Apr 30 2015 - 11:56 am 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:

Get a $20 Google Play credit when you buy a Nexus Player from Amazon: $69.27 shipped (Reg. $100)

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 32GB new Blossom Pink (unlocked): $420 shipped (Reg. $700)

Headphones: Beats Tour 2.0 in-ears $95 (Orig. $150), AIAIAI TMA-1 on-ears $100 (Orig. $250), more

LG G3 w/ free $100 Amazon gift card for $0.01 w/ 2-yr contract or $400 w/o (AT&T)

New Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 4G LTE GSM unlocked 7-inch 16GB: $100 shipped (Reg. $200+)

Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked) GSM: $630 shipped (Reg. $899)

Small States Review: Grovemade’s Laptop Stand combines quality craftsmanship & thoughtful design, giveaway

More new gear from today:

Network: Netgear’s best-selling Wi-Fi extender $30 (Reg. $37), TP-LINK AV200 Powerline kit $20 (Reg. $28+)

Games/Apps: Select Star Wars titles for Android/iOS drop to lowest prices ever, more

More deals still alive:

 

Hulu just paid $180 million for Seinfeld, but this deal on the entire series for $65 is real and it’s spectacular

New products & more:

Give your Android phone a shake to create exciting videos with TomTom’s new Bandit action cam

Patriot’s USB-C Flash Drives are primed for Chromebook Pixel owners

9to5Toys Lunch Break: LG G3 w/ $100 Amazon GC, Star Wars: KOTOR $3, 4-pack Lexar flash drives $20, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Apr 29 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:

LG G3 w/ free $100 Amazon gift card for $0.01 w/ 2-yr contract or $400 w/o (AT&T)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for Android: $3 (Reg. $10)

USB Flash Drives: Lexar 4-Pack 16GB $20 or 5-Pack 8GB $16, PNY Turbo 256GB $70

New Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 4G LTE GSM unlocked 7-inch 16GB: $100 shipped (Reg. $200+)

Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked) GSM: $630 shipped (Reg. $899)

Patriot’s USB-C Flash Drives are primed for new Chromebook Pixel owners

9to5Toys Specials currently has a VPN Unlimited Lifetime Subscription for $39 and ibVPN Total Plan 4 year subscription for $59. Either way you won’t have to worry about hackers for a long time.

Get into Network Attached Storage today with these deals on QNAP and WD Red products

Hulu just paid $180 million for Seinfeld, but this deal on the entire series for $65 is real and it’s spectacular

More new gear from today:

 

Headphones: Skullcandy on-ears (multiple colors) $10 (Orig. $30), more

More deals still alive:

Harman Kardon AE in-ears w/mic & remote $49 shipped (Reg. $125+), more

New products & more:

Review: Omaker M4 Splashproof/droppable Bluetooth 4.0 Speaker with NFC: $25 Prime shipped (Orig. $70)

Rock out with this scaled down Bluetooth-connected Iron Man Mark XLIII mask

Microsoft announces new tool for effortlessly porting Android apps to Windows 10

Avatar for Mike Beasley Apr 29 2015 - 10:56 am PT
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Microsoft announced today during its Build conference that it will release a tool for developers to port their Android apps directly to Windows 10 as “universal apps” that run on both phones and desktop computers. Developers will be able to feed their existing Java and C++ code into a new software package and have it converted to work on the upcoming PC operating system.

At least, that’s how Microsoft is pitching it, though the whole process is a bit more complex. Essentially Windows 10 will ship with APIs that mirror the expected behavior of many Android APIs, and this new conversion tool will help developers swap out Android code for matching Windows code.


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