Features

There was some small amount of rejoicing within the Android community when Lenovo revealed that it would be putting its custom “Pure Vibe” skin to rest, starting with the K8 Note that was launched last week. As if in juxtaposition, Xiaomi is about to start the rollout of the latest version of its own custom experience, the MIUI 9. As much as Google and some Android users want to be rid of them, custom OEM modifications to stock Android aren’t going anywhere soon. And that’s perfectly OK because, like any other dichotomy in Android, it helps the platform grow to some extent.

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Unlimited data is back, but it isn't cheap and it comes with a roster of limitations. Having access to loads of data every month is more important than ever, and here to offer it cheaper than the three big carriers are three small prepaid companies. You can get unlimited data for as little as $50/month, but are the savings worth the potential sacrifices? We've looked at all the fine print to find out.

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Sonic Mania is nearly upon us and the Sonic faithful are definitely excited. Sonic Mania is a return to form for the ol' Blue Blur, but those of you who haven't been following the game so closely may not know why it's worth getting excited about it. After all, Sonic games in recent years have been a bit hit or a miss, so it might be hard to know why this one should stick out. With that in mind, here are five reasons to look forward to Sonic Mania.

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Last week’s Game of Thrones episode, The Spoils of War, gave us the explosive action we’ve all be waiting for, but this week’s episode, Eastwatch, calmed things down a bit. Don’t take that to mean that Eastwatch was somehow a boring episode, though; on the contrary, there were some shocking twists for fans who were paying close attention. The things we learned in Eastwatch have some major implications not only for some of our favorite characters, but also perhaps for the fate of Westeros as a whole.

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Later this month, thousands of students will return to college, and thousands more will be heading out for their first semester. Just as necessary as dorm room mini-fridges and a comfortable backpack is a laptop, the tool through which you will complete seemingly endless course work and Netflix binging. Whether you're in the market for a top-tier laptop that'll last you four plus years or just something cheap to get you through your first semester, this list has got you covered.

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As Disney announces its own streaming service separate from Netflix, the wave of network-owned streaming services begins. Soon we'll find that every big media provider has its own streaming service, and we'll have the opportunity to select what we want, when we want, for a fee. A fee that goes to each company, individually, every month.

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Microsoft might be reconsidering its Consumer Reports subscription today, with the news that the Surface Laptop and Surface Book have both been stripped of their "recommended" status. Concerns about reliability of the Surface line-up as a whole have prompted the review organization to backtrack on its awards, in addition to suggesting that the Surface Pro shouldn't be among your top considerations for a 2-in-1 hybrid, either. Microsoft is suitably outraged, as you'd expect, and indeed there are some big questions around just what Consumer Reports is testing and how they're doing that.

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The Moto E4 Plus Review we've got on deck today rolls through the basics of its hardware and software and offers judgement on its overall value. While the hardware is decent - especially for this price - it's within the long-lasting battery that this device truly shines. Can a device whose display, camera, and processor would be home in the mid-range two years ago survive as a low-end smartphone here in 2017? How about if it has a 5000mAh battery, 2.5x the size of the battery of the latest iPhone?

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The episodes in Game of Thrones season 7 have all been excellent so far, but none have been quite as good as what we saw last night with episode 4, “The Spoils of War.” After Daenerys's armies and ships were utterly devastated over the past two episodes, this week we get to see her take matters into her own hands. What resulted was possibly one of the coolest sequences of the series thus far.

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I struggle with the new SQ5 because the Q5 is already an amazing mid-size SUV. There’s so much goodness I’d imagine one would struggle with the idea of anything better, right? The correct answer is, wrong. While the differences are subtle for what you can and cannot see, they might be just enough for the right buyer in search of a high performing vehicle that stands out from the rest of the crowd; especially when there are over 1.5-million first generation Q5 roaming the roads today. That’s where Audi’s S-badge comes in.

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Say it ain't so: a week after I grudgingly returned my 2017 Cadillac CTS-V tester it was revealed that Cadillac will be nixing the ATS, CTS, and XTS automobiles entirely in favor of a single replacement sedan to be labeled the CT5. While the CT5 may get a high performance edition of its own one day, the current CTS-V marks the end of the line for one of the more unabashedly dominant sport sedans ever built. The third, and final generation of the Cadillac CTS-V is the most powerful and most refined of the three versions to have been unleashed on American asphalt, and it's a fitting swan song for a car that has continually pushed the limits of four-door performance. Check out these 5 things you need to know about the 2017 Cadillac CTS-V

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Motorola’s Moto Z2 Force couldn’t have asked for a better - or tougher - test over the last week, as it became my go-to phone on back to back events. The tl:dr? It’s an evolutionary follow-up to the first-gen Moto Z Force, for better and worse. Full disclosure, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Z’s raw and rugged design when there isn’t a Moto Mod attached to the back. When I saw that it had loaded up with upgraded specs and a thinner design, I was mighty curious to see how the changes played out.

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