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Sonos has a big sale on its Beam, One and One SL speakers
Sonos is currently offering a decent $50 off a number of its speakers, taking them down to some of the lowest prices we've seen since Black Friday. The Sonos Beam, Sonos One and Sonos One SL are all reduced, and with Sonos offering free shipping as standard, now's definitely a good time to buy if you're in the market for some new sound gear. Buy Sonos Beam on Sonos - $350 Buy Sonos One on Sonos - $150 Buy Sonos One SL on Sonos - $130
Chipolo’s $25 Bluetooth tracker doubles as a selfie trigger
At CES this week, Chipolo is announcing its latest Bluetooth tracker, which will replace both the Chipolo Classic and Chipolo Plus in its lineup. The One wireless tracker is a coin-shaped device that's designed to clip onto whatever items you need to keep hold of, and make sure you always know where they are. Should you lose them, you can get the tracker to play a sound, like the musical keyfinders of old, but cooler.
Save $100 on the Sonos Play:5 on Cyber Monday
In addition to Black Friday discounts on home theater speakers, Sonos is offering Cyber Monday deals that music lovers will appreciate.
One's Smart Piano helped me play, but not understand
As a kid, I was given a book about a famous doctor who may or may not have been Albert Schweitzer. The first chapter is how he, as a young boy, learned the value of practice from his music teacher. It was a lesson he learned early enough to become not only a virtuoso musician but also a physician and philosopher. I suspect I was given the tome as a way of encouraging me to practice the piano in the hope of becoming as good as ol' Albo. That didn't quite happen.
Insta360's next VR camera is made to be thrown around
With the Insta360 One marking its first anniversary earlier this month, it's no surprise that the company is preparing a follow-up model to this standalone 4K 360 camera. But first, we have a teaser (as usual). From afar, the first video appears to be yet another sample that shows off "FlowState" video stabilization combined with slow motion and FreeCapture editing, so nothing new in that sense. What actually caught my attention were two brief moments when the camera operator's shadow gave the game away -- that person was throwing the camera, as opposed to waving it around on a selfie stick. Later on, you can also just about see another person holding an upside-down umbrella for catching the camera.
Motorola launches two notched Android One phones
Motorola has officially launched the One and the One Power, two new phones created for Google's Android One program. While that doesn't mean they're created specifically for emerging markets -- Android One initially focused on entry-level devices but evolved into a series of phones that gets updates from Google quickly and consistently -- they're not quite flagship material either. Inside One Power, you'll find last year's Snapdragon 636 1.8GHz octa-core processor and 64GB of built-in storage, which is thankfully expandable and double that of LG's recently unveiled G7 One. The device also has a 6.2-inch full HD display and, like previous leaks showed, an iPhone X-like notch and a vertical dual rear camera to go with battery life that can last up to two days.
AirPlay 2 arrives on Sonos
AirPlay 2 has arrived on Sonos. From today, any app on your iOS devices can be streamed directly to Sonos speakers including Sonos Beam, Sonos One, Playbase and the second generation Play:5. Plus, Siri is on board with an extensive set of voice controls. Not only can you ask Siri to play songs on Apple Music, you can also specify which room or devices you want them to play on. The roll out comes a week ahead of the new Beam living room smart speaker, which ships with AirPlay 2 support as standard.
Insta360 One is a 4K 360 camera with smart tricks
For those who haven't been following, earlier Insta360 released a montage of cool sample clips to tease its upcoming camera's bullet-time video capability. What baffled me at the time was how those slow-motion shots orbited around a person with his upright arm seemingly holding onto something, except there was no visible string nor selfie stick to suggest that the camera was being swung around. Well, as it turns out, I was wrong, but there's no need to be disappointed -- it actually takes a lot more than just a piece of string to achieve this bullet-time effect.
HTC’s squeezable U11 is its true 2017 flagship phone
Trekkies used to (and might still) believe that only every other Star Trek movie was actually good, and I'd argue that applies to HTC's flagship releases, too. The One M7? Excellent. The M8? Meh. The M9 was an improvement over its predecessor, but the A9 didn't thrill. HTC hit its stride with 2016's 10 while the subsequent U Ultra... well, it was kind of a mess. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long before the Taiwanese phone maker took another stab at a flagship. Say hello to the $649/£649 HTC U11, a smartphone that blends high-end power with a striking aesthetic, a slew of pressure sensors and a truly awful name.
Hyperloop One 'proves' it's cheaper than high-speed rail
Since its conception, Hyperloop pioneers have been unable to answer the one question that matters: how much cheaper will it be compared to high-speed rail? Hyperloop One now feels confident enough to publish a feasibility study that makes the case that zooming across the globe in vacuum tubes is affordable. This particular examination concerns a project to connect Stockholm and Helsinki as one super-sized metro area. Suffice to say, the headline stat is this: the per-mile cost of building this loop is pegged at around $40 million per kilometer. By comparison, the World Bank estimates that California's slower, less efficient High Speed rail project will cost $56 million per km.
HBO Now comes to the Xbox One
It's already available on all of the devices that cord cutters like to shove under their TVs, but HBO Now was underrepresented in the console stakes. Now, however, that's set to change after the Game of Thrones maker announced that its on-demand platform has come to the Xbox One. Much like the other platforms the service has already come to, users can pay $14.99 and get all of that premium TV content from John Oliver through to Veep without a cable subscription. And look, HBO made the announcement just in time for that show everyone loves (to pirate) comes back. Update: HBO announced that the app is also newly available on Samsung's smart TVs.
HTC One A9 review: Not the winner this company needs
After the year HTC has had, you almost can't help but feel bad for them. Don't. The Taiwanese phone maker can't take your pity to the bank, so it sequestered itself behind closed doors and tried to build a new smartphone that would excite people the way the last-gen One M9 simply couldn't. The end result is the One A9, a "flagship" smartphone that traded some of the One series' signature features for a divisive design and a seemingly mid-range brain. If this were any other company, I'd have written it off already. The thing is, HTC jumped straight into the big leagues with the One M7 two years ago and I so want it to make a comeback with another brilliant smartphone. Sadly, though, the One A9 seems not to be that device.
HTC's unlocked One A9 will get 'every' Android update soon after Nexus
HTC has a lot riding on the success of its new One A9, so it's no surprise it's busy trying to sweeten the deal. To that end, HTC US president chimed in at the end of the phone's live unveiling to mention that the unlocked version of the A9 will get the "every" Android update "within 15 days" of when it first gets pushed to Google's own Nexus devices. Sounds great, right? Still, we're still left wondering about a few things.
HTC is trying to flip its fortunes with the flagship One A9
HTC has been keeping its brave face on, but 2015 hasn't been very kind. After releasing its high-end One M9 to mixed reviews, the Taiwanese phone maker crept along to the point where its market value was worth less than the amount of money it had in its coffers. Long story short, it's been a tough year for HTC fans (and employees, for that matter). That's why HTC's been working on something new -- the One A9 -- behind some not-so-closed doors. Pre-orders for the unlocked version of this new hero device start today for $399/£429 ahead of a launch in the first week of November, but what is the company actually bringing to the fight?
HTC brings the One M9's software tricks to its older devices
Chances are you haven't even gotten your HTC One M9 yet, but that doesn't mean you can't get a feel for its new bits. HTC just updated its Blinkfeed app with some of the thoughtful software tricks that shipped on its brand new flagship, and gave it a new name for good measure. Say hello to HTC Sense Home.
HTC's One M8s revises last year's flagship for Europe
We may have just peeled the cellophane off HTC's One M9 flagship, but there's still life left in its predecessor. Today, we (well, those in Europe) get to meet the HTC One M8s -- a revised version of last year's top billing handset. What does a lower case "s" (and about £379) get you? Mostly a camera refresh -- the M8's (note the apostrophe) 4-megapixel UltraPixel camera has been updated a conventional 13-megapixel, f/2.0 Duo-affair (the front-facer is the same 5-megapixels as before). There's been a swap-out of processors, too. The original's 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 801 quad-core is now a 1.7GHz 615 octa-core (don't let the number of cores fool you). If you were wondering if this is just another way of branding a "mini" phone. It's not. At least on a technicality -- the HTC One M8s has the same 5-inch 1080p display as the phone it shares a design with.
HTC's bigger, flatter One E9 smartphone poses for the camera (update: specs)
If you thought HTC's One M9 was just too small or too bulky, you'll be glad to hear that the company has something bigger in store... yes, literally. Chinese regulators recently spoiled the surprise for the One E9, a 5.5-inch cousin to the 5-inch M9 that ditches the curved metal back for a flatter (and somewhat Desire Eye-like) body. This isn't just a re-skin à la the One E8, folks. There may be big changes under the hood, too. Well-known tipster Upleaks claims that the E9 will switch from a Snapdragon 810 processor to a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek chip, and that you'll get a super-sharp Quad HD screen instead of the M9's 1080p display. A "standard" version could also ship with a regular 13-megapixel front camera, while a "high" version would carry the M9's low light friendly 4MP UltraPixel cam.
Leaked HTC One M9 videos confirm new cameras and software tricks (updated)
If HTC was hoping to keep at least some of the One M9's details a secret, it's going to be sorely disappointed. Well-known tipster @Upleaks has posted three promo videos that reveal... well, just about everything. They confirm that the M9 will have a much higher-resolution 20-megapixel camera at the back, as well as an UltraPixel (likely 4MP) front cam for your low-light selfies. You'll also get Dolby surround sound from the One's signature BoomSound speakers. And that's just the hardware -- there's plenty on the software side, too.
HTC One M9 store images hint at an evolutionary phone design
HTC's plans for March 1st might just be out in the open. MobileGeeks has spotted German store listings for a new One phone whose images bear an uncanny resemblance to the One M9 spy photos from last month, complete with an oversized camera space and a flashy silver-and-gold color scheme for one model. The claimed 2GHz Snapdragon 810 chip, 20-megapixel rear camera and 4-megapixel front shooter will all sound familiar if you've been following rumors, but there are a few new twists here. The BlinkFeed news stream is different enough to suggest new software, and the body is a tad thicker than its predecessor -- possibly to offer space for the new camera, a bigger battery (supposedly 2,900mAh) or both. It's hard to say for sure that this is what you'll see in a week's time given contrasting reports, but it's at least plausible.
You can finally buy a OnePlus One with ease
If you've been eyeing the OnePlus One in the months following its debut, but haven't secured an invite to purchase, you're in luck. On Tuesdays, anyone can buy the 16GB Silk White and 64GB Sandstone Black without the previous requirement for 24 hours, starting at 3AM ET (12AM PT, 8AM GMT, 4PM HKT). The so-called flagship killer will set you back $299 (16GB) or $349 (64GB) for a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM, 13-megapixel camera and Cyanogen's 11S OS that's powered by Android. The company has its own software in the works, though, and it's set to reveal that OxygenOS later this week. Of course, the previous invite system can still be used to shop every other day of the week, but at least now there's some hint of normal sales for the popular handset startup.