News and Updates from Gadget Hacks: Page 21

Have you recently tried to type the words "it" or "is" on your iPhone only to have the Apple keyboard attempt to autocorrect them to "I.T." or "I.S.?" If so, you're not alone.

If you're like me, you probably have a wishlist of Android games you'd love to buy, except the high price tags keep you away. A few bucks can feel like a fortune in the Google Play Store — you just can't bring yourself to pay that much. Well, lucky for you, Google Play has some serious discounts this Cyber Monday. There won't be a better time to buy these games, until next year, of course.

Whether you just bought an iPhone X or one of your friends or family members did, iPhone X accessories are probably on your shopping list this holiday season. Cases, screen protectors, fast-chargers, wireless charging stations ... whatever they may be, you'll find the best deals on them this Black Friday weekend.

We've been running the Essential Oreo Beta on our PH-1 over the past week and compiling a list of important changes. If you're interested in getting the Beta yourself, we even put together a quick guide on how to do that. Now that we've ran down the best new features, let's take a look at all of the bugs and performance issues in Android 8.0.

Black Friday is fast approaching, and just like every other day-after-Thanksgiving, there will be too many tech deals you won't want to pass up. If you've been saving up all year just for this sometimes-chaotic shopping holiday, we'll help you figure out the best tech sales to take advantage of and when, whether it's Black Thursday, Black Friday, or Black Friday weekend.

With the holidays fast approaching, our smartphones are more important than ever — keeping in constant contact with family, organizing trips and gatherings, and online shopping is only a taste of what we put our smartphones through. All of that means a big strain on your smartphone's battery. That's why portable chargers are so necessary, and what better time to pick one up than on Black Friday.

Essential recently launched their Android Oreo Beta Program, open to all owners of their PH-1 flagship. We detailed a quick and easy method for installing the beta on your device. With every beta program, there are bound to be plenty of new features and a few bugs, as we found out with the Galaxy S8 Oreo Beta. Let's take a look at what's new with Android 8.0 on the Essential Phone.

There are a lot of holiday tech deals starting to trickle out as Black Friday approaches. We've already rounded up some of the best deals for Android, iPhones, and headphones, but Google just dropped a big announcement for users of their Project Fi MVNO service. Now through December 17, you can earn yourself a free Moto X4 or Chromecast by referring your friends and family to Project Fi.

Apple seeded the fourth beta for iOS 11.2, just one day after releasing iOS 11.1.2 to the public. The new iOS 11.2 beta 4 has also already hit public beta testers and includes mostly bug fixes and security patches to improve the overall experience for iPhone owners.

Google launched the Pixel 2 XL with a unique pinch-to-zoom feature in the YouTube app. The feature is pretty basic, allowing users to expand the video to full-screen on devices with 18:9 aspect ratios with a simple pinch gesture. Considering its simplicity, it was strange that the feature was limited to the Pixel 2 XL. Today that exclusivity has ended as the feature is rolling out to the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Note 8, LG V30, and LG G6.

The Android Oreo Beta for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ has been available for nearly two weeks. Samsung started rolling out the Beta 2 update late last week in the UK, and just yesterday in the US. Unfortunately, the US version of the update firmware (G955USQU1ZQK6) experienced a critical bug with the phone app at launch. As a result, Samsung has completely pulled the US Beta 2 update for the time being.

Hitman Sniper topped our roundup for the best premium shooting games, and it's easy to see why. Straightforward yet intense story. Awesome visuals. Stealthy action. Strategic gameplay. Hitman Sniper is easily the best sniper game available for your smartphone, and it's currently free on Android for a limited time, as well as discounted for iPhone.

Apple released iOS 11.2 beta 3 on Monday to developers, with only a handful of changes over Beta 2. Still, it's always recommended you upgrade to the newest version of iOS, so if you are running any of the previous 11.2 betas, make sure to update.

The Galaxy S8 Oreo Beta has been out for just over a week now. Over that time, we've taken a look at some of the best new features and improvements. One area of smartphone software that never gets much love in updates is the lock screen. Samsung changes that in the Oreo beta, bringing new colorization options that match lock screen info to your wallpaper.

This year, two new OEMs are trying to enter the crowded smartphone space. The first was Essential, and now Razer has entered the market with the Razer Phone. Utilizing the team they acquired from Nextbit in January, Razer has created a powerhouse of a device designed for gamers. Coincidentally, Razer announced their new device a day before Apple's biggest revision to the iPhone was released.

What makes YouTube such a special platform is that anyone and everyone can upload their own content. Big players upload their videos to the same site that the little guy does.

While millions eagerly await the stable Android 8.0 release for the Galaxy S8, the beta is already in the wild and readily available. Notable improvements include notification channels and the revamped Samsung keyboard. One aspect often overlooked are new customization options, a huge part of Android. Let's take a look at what's new for customization on the S8's home screen in Oreo.

Google caught a lot of flak for the Pixel 2 XL's POLED display issues, regardless of whether the problems were real or perceived. It's too late to contract another screen manufacturer at this point, but Google is doing the next-best thing: Fixing as many user complaints as possible with software updates.

Shortly after we detailed several indicators that the Galaxy S8 Oreo Beta Program would begin rolling out in the month of November, we now have a full changelog for the update.

The first big update to iOS 11 since its release in mid-September just came out, so check your iPhone for a software update to iOS 11.1, because there are a few things you'll want from it. While there's no sight of Apple Pay Cash or Messages in iCloud, there are some significant improvements you'll need to know about.