Author Archives: Chris Burns

Amazon took a blunderbuss approach to their device event this morning, so we're going to attempt to nutshell the lot. Revealed today were a whole bunch of Amazon Echo devices, a DVR called Fire TV Recast, and a set of improvements for Alexa across all Alexa-friendly devices. "The Alexa service is always getting smarter, whether you’re using the Echo you bought three years ago or an Echo Show you buy tomorrow" said Tom Taylor, Senior Vice President, Amazon Alexa, "Soon customers will be able to manage their email, easily secure their home, watch the shows they love on Echo Show, and make their daily routines more productive—all just by asking Alexa."

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Today Amazon tapped into the DVR business with Amazon Fire TV Recast. This is a device that connects to an antenna on one end and broadcasts TV networks through Amazon Fire TV devices on the other. It's simple, and it's about to do some real damage to companies like TiVo and Dish, quite likely.

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Supposing you'd like to include your elderly lamp in your smart home setup, what would you do? As Amazon sees it, you should buy an Amazon Smart Plug, a device that plugs in to a wall outlet, then acts as a middleman between that power and the power it transfers to a 3rd-party device. This is all controlled by Alexa, albeit through wi-fi and a different device.

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This week the folks at Amazon responsible for Alexa hardware dropped a massive number of devices on our heads, all at once. One of these was the 2018 edition of the Amazon Echo Plus. This device is an Echo with a smart home hub built in. Echo Plus 2018 has more powerful bass than before, according to Amazon, and there's a temperature sensor inside, too.

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A new Echo Dot was revealed at an Amazon hardware event this week, complete with a new look and bumped-up specs. This new version of the Echo Dot is no longer just a plastic hockey puck-like device, now it's coming in a variety of colors with a fabric-covered exterior. This version of the Echo Dot (generation 3, let's call it), has a more powerful speaker, too.

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The latest in kid-oriented smartwatch hardware comes from Verizon, and it's called GizmoWatch. This is the latest in a line of similar products sold exclusively by Verizon, all in the Verizon GizmoKids product line. This watch will replace the most recent smartwatch made by Verizon, the GizmoGadget. This device holds the distinction of being "the first 4G LTE kid's watch in the United States powered by Qualcomm."

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Three GoPro HERO7 cameras were revealed this morning by the go-anywhere action camera brand. There's the GoPro HERO7 Black, Silver, and White to choose from, each of these coming with their own set of specifications, features, and price levels. GoPro upgraded the lot, but their emphasis this round or releases is on simplicity. They're trying to do what works and make what works simple to understand - and subsequently buy.

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There's a spot in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico where great white sharks hang en masse. This is the White Shark Cafe, and it's not the plot of a fictional story - it's a real place. Originally discovered 14 years ago by Stanford marine scientist Barbara Block, this year a team of researchers took the plunge to see what was up - or down, rather.

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The Meizu 16X was just revealed in the same price range as the Pocophone F1 and Honor Play (2018). This is a smartphone with extreme chops, especially for its price, giving us another reason to be joyful in the tech news universe. Not only because this phone looks pretty great, but because it's another sign that we're moving out of the BLAH ZONE!

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Today a leak of the backside of the OnePlus 6T shows one previous rendering-based tip to be untrue. It would seem that the OnePlus 6T won't have three cameras on its back, after all. Instead, if we're to believe what's been shared today, the OnePlus 6T will come with two cameras on its back, not unlike its predecessor released earlier this year.

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The world's first thermal imaging smartphone is the CAT S60, a device first introduced back in February of 2016. This smartphone is part of a collection of Android-based devices made by the folks at CAT, aka Caterpillar. We've not traditionally reviewed a lot of Android devices this far from their original release date for several reasons, one of which is Android updates.

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Early Apple Watch Series 4 reviews seem to agree that the device is different from last year. Early reviews seem to agree that Apple Watch Series 4 is one of the best, if not flat-out the best smartwatch in the world right this minute. The element that doesn't seem to have been agreed upon by all early reviewers is this: Should you buy?

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