Android

Pokemon GO Raids were released today in a Beta for some users in the game, while others had to sit it out - that's about the change. About halfway through the day, Niantic changed the requirements for each and every Pokemon GO Raid in the game, starting with a higher level and moving down to one slightly lower. This news seems to be changing how the game is played - and tested to be played - as the day goes on. If this continues, we could see a full release before Monday!

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For the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 this morning several key details were leaked surrounding the release and pricing of the handset. Previous leaks suggested sizing and contents of the smartphone, closely resembling those of the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. This device's specifications are only slightly different from those of the previously released handset, with a few key details in place to make this the most powerful Samsung smartphone released in history.

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The biggest update to Pokemon GO has released this week, and the push for the Gym Overhaul went live overnight. This means a whole new system for Pokemon Gym locations around the world, for all players - once they have the newest version of the app, of course.. It also means that we're nearly here with the RAID Battle system - which has also gone live for a select few players around the world.

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Somewhere in the vast expanse between Netflix and piracy lies a slew of free, legal streaming services, some more appealing than others. These free services are supported by advertisements -- there's no free lunch, after all -- but they're a solid option for anyone who wants to ditch cable without racking up a similar bill. You've probably heard of the most popular ad-supported service, Crackle, but how about these options?

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Smartphone trends have come and gone, form factors change from time to time. One thing that seems to refuse to die, however, is the flip phone clamshell design. Sure, it's no longer the fashionable phone design almost a decade ago, but if you live in East Asia, they never really went away entirely. Every year without fail, Samsung puts out such a smartphone, powered by everyone's favorite Android OS. This year, its home town of country is getting another taste of the clamshell with the launch of the Galaxy Folder 2.

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Last month, all of Google's major products went on stage at I/O, but this time, it's YouTube's turn to shine on its own. At this year's VidCon, Google introduced its new "half" 360-degree VR180 platform, but that is hardly the only new YouTube thing going on. Coming to users both in the US and elsewhere are better ways to share, more YouTube TV coverage, and an app that is smart enough to know how a video was recorded and adjust itself appropriately.

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Another high-profile smartphone, another device to teardown to see whether its maker wants anyone else to get their hands into it, for good or for ill. The OnePlus 5, being the new kid in town, is naturally the latest to undergo this test. But while its predecessors seemed to have made it relatively easy for technicians to get inside, the new OnePlus 5 seems to be turning over a new leaf, and not for the better.

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At Google I/O late last month, the tech giant boasted how its artificial intelligence and machine learning advancements permeates a good number of its apps and services. One of those was Google Photos, which took no small amount of the applause at the keynote. Some, however, might now want to revoke that applause. Google showed how smart Google Photos is and it is now practically saying it is now smarter than its users by removing the option to backup and sync photos only when the phone is plugged in.

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The powerful cameras inside our smartphones come at a price, and not just the literal one, of course. Next to the endangered 3.5 mm headphone jack, the camera is the last piece that keeps phones from becoming uniformly thin, not to mention flat. Even without mechanical parts like OIS, the camera's bulk is mostly due to its non-flat lens. That is why when the California Institute of Technology, better known as Caltech, boasts it has produced an ultra-thin, flat camera, the smartphone industry's interest is definitely piqued.

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This afternoon I took the OnePlus 5 on a walk to take a set of photos. I walked the dog with the phone, took a few photos of birds, then came back home to take some photos of oddities around the house. What you're about to see is a set of photos I captured this afternoon, resized but not edited at all in any other way. This is the first part of our camera judgement, part of our OnePlus 5 review, extended through this week.

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Evernote has finally given users something they've been wanting for a long time: fingerprint security. The feature enables users to secure their notes behind the biometric data, making it especially hard for snoops and thieves to mess around in documents that aren't any of their business. There is a 'catch,' though, in that the feature has arrived in the beta version of the Android app. If you're using the regular (read: non-beta app), you won't be able to see or use it.

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The latest version of Nova Launcher for Android devices bring futuristic elements of Google's main operating system to older smartphones. While not too long ago we had an encounter with the early release version of this app, the latest version enacts additional feature upgrades. This version no longer requires that the user be on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, but the Android Lollipop OS that came before it.

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