News and Updates from Gadget Hacks: Page 17

As summer is upon us, new musical Snapchat lenses are as well. This week has entries from Maroon 5, Simon and Garfunkel, and Snow Tha Product with entertaining visuals to match. As kids start to leave school for the summer, expect the lens scene to be kicked up a notch with anticipation.

BlackBerry has formally unveiled its latest flagship, the KEY2, during an exclusive event in New York. The Android-powered KEY2 retains its distinctive BlackBerry aesthetics with a physical QWERTY keyboard. Here's all the juicy details regarding Blackberry's followup to the venerable KEYone.

Google's MVNO carrier, Project Fi, can save you a ton of money in the right circumstances, but it's always had a limited selection of supported phones. Because the service uses Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular towers as its backbone, you could only use Project Fi with a Pixel, Nexus, or the Android One Moto X4 until now.

Apple pushed out iOS 11.4 on May 29 to iPads and iPhones, which included the long-awaited Messages in iCloud feature. The company did not release macOS High Sierra 10.13.5 at the same time, limiting the usefulness of being able to sync messages in the cloud since 10.13.4 is not compatible with Messages in iCloud. But three days later, Apple finally released macOS 10.13.5.

The day has finally arrived — Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Apart from minor upgrades, the two might not appear to be much different from last year's S8 and S8+, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. One feature that hasn't changed is the Galaxy's IP68 water-resistance rating. That's a great score, but it begs the question — what does that number really mean?

It's official — the newest version of Google's mobile operating system is called Android 8.0 Oreo, and it's in the process of rolling out to many different devices. Oreo has plenty of changes in store, ranging from revamped looks to under-the-hood improvements, so there's tons of cool new stuff to explore.

It seems almost every carrier now has an unlimited data plan, and free Wi-Fi is now available in more places than ever before. If you want to be connected, it has never been easier — but that still doesn't mean that everyone can stream as much as they please.

It's really easy to binge-watch episode after episode, and that's exactly what Netflix wants us to do. Before you can even think twice, the next video is playing and you're stuck wallowing in the abyss of unintentionally marathon-viewing your new favorite TV show, and there's nothing you can do. Except there is something you can do — and it's as simple as disabling one little feature.

We are still months away from Google unveiling the new Pixel 3 and 3 XL. As rumors continue to trickle in revealing more about what it will look like and its specs, we've learned an important aspect — who is actually manufacturing them.

After two years of poor sales, LG decided to shake up its mobile division. New executives are at the helm, and changes to their flagship lineups are already underway. Specifically, the V series is expanding, as LG announced the second new device in the series, the LG V35 ThinQ.

After six betas, iOS 11.4 was officially released to everyone with a compatible iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Some features are ones that Apple promised over eight months ago when iOS 11 was first pushed out. This update makes sense since iOS 12 will be announced at WWDC on June 4, and you can't announce a new version like that without first delivering on promises made for the one before it.

A few long-awaited iOS 11 features that Apple had promised way back in June 2017 have finally made their way to iPhones with the iOS 11.4 update. Aside from finally delivering on those, there's not a whole lot new in iOS 11.4 as a whole, though, there are a few things you'll definitely want to know about.

One word to sum up this batch of Snapchat lenses: complex. Lens creators like ApocTheLegend and Jinnie the Wew have been at it long enough to start making some really cool stuff, stretching the limit of what's possible using Lens Studio. I'm really looking forward to what they continue to pump out in the future.

There's always been a clear divide between flagship and midrange phones. Flagships will run you at least $700, while midrange typically falls between $250 and $550. The main difference is the processor, with midrange phones sporting a 600-series Snapdragon and flagships rocking the 800-series. Now, Qualcomm may have just created another smartphone tier with their newly-unveiled 700-series chip.

HMD (the company currently making Nokia-branded phones) only released one flagship device last year, with the rest of the phones falling in the mid-range and entry-level tiers. However, at Mobile World Congress 2018, HMD announced their ambition to become a top five smartphone maker in 3–5 years. Meeting this goal will require penetration in all markets — especially the United States — and it looks like Nokia will get the ball rolling early this year.

The Galaxy S9 is now in the hands of millons of excited users. Getting a new phone is always fun, but it's important to think about protecting your device. Perhaps the most popular cases for the Galaxy S9 are the official OEM options from Samsung. There are a plethora of cases, whatever your preference and needs may be. Let's take a look at each case individually, along with the pros and cons.

In July 2017, LG announced a new smartphone lineup, the Q series. These devices focus on providing some flagship features at a more affordable cost — features such as an 18:9 1080p display. LG's goal here seems to be adding value for the more budget-conscious users, and in 2018, they've continued the series with the Q7.

Whether you used it to remind yourself to buy a game or to store away that app recommendation that your friend begged you to download, the "Wish List" in the iOS App Store was a useful tool to keep track of new apps you might have wanted to install on your iPhone. But how can you access your Wish List in iOS 11?

US customers might soon get access to their first Xiaomi smartphone. The fourth largest OEM has been eyeing a US launch for years, with rumors indicating a debut by Q1 2019. Now, it looks like the Mi 8 Anniversary Edition will be the first device.

While there are at least five cool things coming in iOS 11.4, they may not be enough to get you to install the iOS 11.4 beta on your iPhone. Since its initial beta release at the start of April, there have been plenty of known issues and user-reported bugs to deal with. While bugs are to be expected with a beta, you may want to read these before installing this one on your iPhone.

With only one profitable quarter in the last two years, LG's mobile division is undergoing a shakeup. With a fresh set of executives, LG has delayed the expected launch of the upcoming G7 and instead decided to start the year with yet another variant of the V30.

In this week of Snapchat lenses, there was a significant increase in ones that involve Marvel superheroes (the Infinity War effect), as well as ones with YouTubers. Classic sitcoms will also always do well, as evidenced by some of my previous roundups. Overall, lenses are doing well and only continuing to grow.

With the change to a glass back, many of us are concerned about the durability of OnePlus 6. While glass does offer some benefits such as lighter weight, without proper reinforcement, it can easily shatter in one drop. Now we have our our first look at its durability thanks to JerryRigEverything.

Last year, OnePlus released not one but two excellent flagship devices with the OnePlus 5 and 5T. While the 5T released sooner than expected, it brought some worthwhile upgrades, such as a near bezel-less display and a much-needed camera enhancement. Now, that the OnePlus 6 has arrived, it's time to see what OnePlus has in store for 2018.

Apple is speeding things up in the iOS 11.4 development. The company released to developers the fifth beta for iOS 11.4 on Monday, May 15. Public beta testers got the update just hours later. The update comes just one week after the release of the fourth 11.4 beta, which introduced minor bug fixes and security patches to iPhone running the software. This beta version doesn't seem any different.

It's Friday, April 6, and that means it's time to look at some of the hottest lenses from the past week created by Snapchat users everywhere. Some memes are evergreen, some dissolve within a week, but these lenses are blazing hot right now in snaps across the platform. If you don't want your friends laughing at your weak lens game, you've gotta try these out right now.

Spring is finally here (in earnest now), and a new batch of great augmented reality Snapchat lenses have come along with it. New life has been breathed into meme culture with the spring lineup of TV shows, Mark Zuckerberg's ongoing investigation, and college kids with too much time on their hands.

With April coming to a close, there's a fresh group of augmented reality Snapchat lenses you should try out while they're still hot. We've got a prank lens, gamer-oriented ones for Fortnite and Fallout, and ones for the memesters out there.

There was a huge Marvel movie that opened a week ago, and a popular TV show just finished its second episode of the current season. Both of these facts translate to more cool Snapchat lenses to try out on your iPhone or Android phone, thanks to Snapchat's Lens Studio — where anyone can make a sweet lens.

According to Google at their 2018 I/O conference, Google Assistant is now available on over 500 million devices. Now that the assistant is available on iPhones as well, Google has to give iOS users a reason to switch to its assistant over the built-in Siri. Today, Google has eight more reasons for users to do so.

After delaying its launch by four months, LG revealed its 2018 entry to the flagship market on Wednesday, May 2. After years of an underperforming mobile division, the LG G7 ThinQ is the first product since a shakeup within the division to get things back on track, and it brings a number of upgrades over its G6 predecessor.

One of the better additions in the stock Android launcher is the Google Now page. Residing to the left of the home screen, this page presents a host of information based on the user's interests, which Google bases on analyzed data. Recently, the Google Now page design received a makeover which Nova Launcher users can now enjoy.

The LG G7 ThinQ will likely be lambasted for its notch and awkward name, but one thing they seem to have gotten right is the new display. The G7 ThinQ will give many a first look at a new type of panel with lots of promise. While it was previously limited to TVs, from what we know, it should really shine on a smaller screen.

It's no secret that iOS 11 is one buggy piece of software. Remarkably, even after three major updates, we're still seeing issues with our iPhones. This time, the glitches have come for 3D Touch on iPhones running the new iOS 11.3 update.

As manufacturers try to differentiate their smartphones from the sea of Android devices, a new genre of smartphone has emerged: gaming phones. Razer Phone was the first to gain traction, but the likes of Xiaomi, Asus, and ZTE have all announced gaming-first phones coming soon. Still, you don't really need to buy a "gaming phone" to play games like a pro on your smartphone.

Over the years, mobile gaming has become a phenomenon, rivaling in magnitude with its console and PC-based counterparts. We even have mobile versions of Fortnite and PUBG now, games that require lots of processing power to run. But when you just want a quick game to play in the grocery line or even on the toilet, try these simple, quick games that you can play right on your lock screen.

The recent 0.4.0 update for PUBG Mobile brought us a host of welcome features like the training ground and arcade mode. Sadly, one highly sought-after feature remained out of our reach: The ability to play in first person perspective, or FPP mode. Our wait may soon be over, as this gameplay mode could be out as soon as the next update hits for both Android and iOS.

Apple released the iOS 11.3.1 update for iPhones on Tuesday, April 24, 26 days after the official release of iOS 11.3 and eight days after the iOS 11.4 beta 2 update. It is the first minor update to iOS 11.3, and the biggest thing in it is a fix that lets displays fixed by third parties work again.

Apple released the sixth beta for iOS 11.3 on Friday, March 16. It comes as a surprise, considering the company released the fifth beta only four days ago — an unexpectedly short time between updates. This new beta, much like beta 5, appears to bring minor patches and bug fixes.

Three months after its promise, Apple has pushed out an iOS update that gives you important information about the health of your iPhone's battery. This means you no longer need tools such as Geekbench and Battery Life to determine whether or not you need a replacement battery.