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Germany Receives the Stable Android Pie Update for Samsung Galaxy 9 & 9 Plus

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Christmas has just ended well and with that Samsung has announced that the company is rolling out the Android Pie updates for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ users from some countries of Europe. SamMobile reported that the company has started to release the updates in Germany, and later, Samsung announced that the users from countries like Netherlands and Slovakia are also going to get the new Android Pie updates.

Samsung-Galaxy
Image Source: thenerdmag.com

The release has occurred way ahead of its decided date, that was in the late January in 2019, alongside the release of the same update for the Galaxy Note 9. The Android update is a stable update and not the beta one. Right now it is only available in a few countries in Europe.

Earlier this month, Samsung had released the beta version of Android Pie for its Galaxy S9 and S9+ users in UK, France, Poland, and Germany. The users who are having Samsung Experience UX based on Android Oreo, as well as those with the One UI beta on top of Android Pie, are receiving the update, along with the Samsung’s One UI version 1.0. One UI is basically created for the users so that they can easily use the apps on their big screen phones.

The update will change the software version for Galaxy S9+ to G965FXXU2CRLI, and the software for Galaxy S9 will be G960FXXU2CRLI. The size of the update software is around 1.7GB, which is available for download on the Samsung’s download servers. The users can check the availability of updates on the S9/Plus phones from the Software Update option in the settings of their phone.

The early release of the update indicates that Samsung is getting ready for some tough competition in the upcoming year. Although the update had to roll out for every S9 and S9+ users, all around the world, only a few will enjoy it before it gets officially released in January 2019. Till then, we can evaluate the difference between the earlier and the latest Android version on the basis of the feedback from the European Galaxy S9 and S9+ users.

SpaceX Successfully Launched the 1st Security Space Mission For the US Military

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SpaceX, breaking its own previous records, launched the first national security space mission rocket on Sunday. The company had won the US Air Force’s National Security Space (NSS) contract, in 2016, and was planning to launch the rocket earlier last week. But, due to some bad weather conditions, the launch got delayed and finally, SpaceX’s 21st flight took off on Sunday.

The two-stage rocket, Falcon 9, lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, along with the first GPS III satellite from the US Air Force. Lockheed Martin has built this $500 million GPS III satellite. The GPS has been given the nickname Vespucci. The GPS is owned by the U.S. military and operated by the Air Force.

gps3
Image Source: spacenews.com

The secretary of the Air Force, Heather Wilson, said, “This next-generation GPS satellite is three times more accurate than previous versions and eight times better at anti-jamming. It’s the first in a series and nicknamed Vespucci after the 15th-century Italian explorer who calculated Earth’s circumference to within 50 miles (80 kilometres).”

The successful launch of the satellite can be considered as one of the victorious moment for Elon Musk as he had been trying hard to enter the market for military space launches dominated by Lockheed and Boeing Co, from years now.

In 2014, SpaceX had sued the US Air Force as it awarded the non-compete contract for 36 rocket launches, worth a multibillion-dollar, to United Launch Alliance. As a result, the Air Force agreed to open up competition for the next contract and in the next year, SpaceX won the $83 million contract for the GPS III after it demonstrated the reliability of Falcon 9 system and fulfilled all the certification requirements from the Air Force. The company dropped the lawsuit in 2015.

The GPS III contract will have a lifespan of 15 years. According to Lockheed spokesman Chip Eschenfelder, the satellite is the first to launch out of 32 in production by Lockheed under contracts.

The Col. Robert Bongiovi, director of the Launch Enterprise Systems Directorate at SMC, said, “This launch is a milestone for many reasons. For us, it marks the first competitively-awarded launch in over 10 years, the first national security space launch with SpaceX, and the first launch of a GPS III satellite. This really is an exciting time to be in the launch business.”

The other satellites in the series are still in the testing phase, and the next GPS III satellite may have its launch in the mid-2019.

The Six Best Gadgets of 2018 that became the Favourites of All

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2018 showcased a number of gadgets and devices, some of which failed badly and some of which were incredibly good at performance. Many gadgets gave the device goals, even to their rival companies along with tough competition. The year is coming to an end, and still, many companies are coming with their new ideas and launches. But as there are only a few days left for the new year, we are already set with our list of the 6 best gadgets of 2018.

best gadgets 2018
Image Source: gsmnation.com

Microsoft Surface Go: The Microsoft Surface Go is a ten inches netbook from Microsoft, which is not as powerful as much as a Windows desktop or laptop computer, but still is one of the best netbooks. The device ships with Windows 10, which is a plus point over the other tablets, as Windows is more versatile than iOS or Android. The device provides you with the facial recognition technique, Windows Hello and is faster than any other low price laptops. The device comes with a sleek keyboard, that also has a touchpad, that enables to move the cursor on the screen.

Fat Shark 101: Fat Shark 101 is a ready-to-fly FPV racer kit for the FPV pilots, that comes with a quadcopter, FPV Goggles and radio transmitter. As the name suggests, the Fat Shark 101’s design is similar to a shark, it even as a fin and a shark tail. The kit is based on three levels, beginners, intermediate and expert. It comes with brushed motors along with two extra brushed motors. The Fat Shark 101 is embedded with two batteries which can be easily charged via USB cables. The cost of the FPV kit is a bit on the expensive side, but still, its performance makes it worth that much.

Oculus Go: Oculus Go, a virtual reality headset from Oculus is a wireless standalone VR Box, that runs independently of a smartphone or PC. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, the VR box has got integrated speakers and microphones, along with a high-resolution fast-switch panel. Performance wise, it is as good as the Oculus Rift. It is a premium device, at an affordable price that still has not been launched in India, but can be ordered online through Amazon.

Bose Sleepbuds: As the name suggests, the Bose Sleepbuds are specially designed to eliminate the disruption and the noise with soothing sounds to help the user get to sleep. The beautifully designed earplugs are super comfortable and are able to mask the outer noise effectively. Though the device is at the higher end of the price, still the earplugs do its job of masking most sounds without damaging the hearing, perfectly.

Nikon Z7: The Nikon Z7 is one of the best-rounded cameras. The lightweight camera is as good as a Nikon DSLR shooter and provides the best quality for the videos as well as stills. It is the first full frame mirror-less camera from Nikon, having three lenses: a 24-70mm f4 ‘kit’ zoom, along with 35mm f1.8 and 50mm f1.8 primes. Although companies like Sony and Canon have already come with their mirror-less cameras much before than Nikon, the Nikon’s patience in launching its first has paid off as it has brought one of the best mirror-less cameras of 2018.

Apple Watch Series 4: Apple’s smartwatches have always been ahead of its contemporaries. The new Series 4 watch not only has a fantastic display, but it also supports many excellent features as well. The watch lets the users handle its calls and messages, and supports LTE. It also supports ECG. The smartwatch is extremely comfortable, and it also comes with the new Activity Competitions, that lets you stay motivated and challenge your friends.

AT&T’s 5G Network will Go Live in 12 Cities by the End of this Week

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AT&T has been prepping for the launch of its 5G network for a long time, followed by a conference early this month, in which it demoed the speed of its upcoming 5G network. After such a long wait, AT&T has announced that its 5G network will go live on 21 December, in some of the parts of 12 cities in the United States. AT&T has become the first company to launch a mobile network based on the 5G standard, although Verizon had also launched its first 5G network earlier this year, as a home broadband replacement.

5G-ATT
Images Source: GlobalMediaIT

Currently, the network is only available to a specific group of people. It’s not like you can go to a store and directly buy the hotspot from there. The company is mainly targetting to provide the service to the businesses in the area. There may be a strategy behind the idea, as the company might be still testing the network, and would want to assure that the service is working well before it goes out to more consumers. So the company is approaching the targeted clients by itself.

AT&T is offering a free 5G hotspot service to those companies, and won’t charge anything until the official launch. The company is planning to launch the network in the other parts of the world by the coming spring and will sell the hot spot for $499. It is also going to announce the monthly plan for the 5G network starting with $70 per month for 15GB.

The cities which have got the access to this 5G service are New Orleans, Charlotte, Atlanta, Raleigh, Houston, Indianapolis, Dallas, Louisville, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Jacksonville, and Waco and the cities that may get access to the same service in the coming six months may include Nashville, Los Angeles, Orlando, Las Vegas, San Diego, San Johe and San Francisco. Even though AT&T will expand to those cities, here too, only some specific parts of those cities will be able to use the 5G network.

AT&T has also announced that it will launch two Samsung 5G phones in 2019, in the two halves of the year. The company is also offering tempting deals for the early subscribers of the 5G network along with free access to it for at least 90 days.

Apple Unveils ‘Best of 2018’ iPhone And iPad Apps

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2018 is about to end, and recalling the year, every person and every company has its own story to tell. For the tech giants like Google and Apple, it’s about their products that worked really well in 2018. At the beginning of December, Google revealed its best android apps of the year and now Apple has also announced its ten best apps of 2018, for iPhone, iPad and Apple watch.

mac
Image Source : macstories.net

The Apple’s editors in the different categories have created the list that includes the most-downloaded apps, most-streamed films-music, and the best games of 2018, etc. The editorial list includes both free as well as paid versions and has been selected on the basis of popularity and on the basis of the best content across the App Store and iTunes.

In the category of free iPhone apps, YouTube topped the list, followed by Instagram and Snapchat.

Top 10 Free iPhone Apps:
1. YouTube
2. Instagram
3. Snapchat
4. Messenger
5. Facebook
6. Bitmoji
7. Netflix
8. Google Maps
9. Gmail
10. Spotify Music

The selfie-editor FaceTune won the best app in the Paid iPhone apps category.

Top 10 Paid iPhone Apps:
1. Facetune ($3.99)
2. Kirakira+ ($0.99)
3. Dark Sky Weather ($3.99)
4. HotSchedules ($2.99)
5. PlantSnap ($2.99)
6. AutoSleep Tracker for Watch ($2.99)
7. Sky Guide ($2.99)
8. 1 Second Everyday: Video Diary ($4.99)
9. The Wonder Weeks ($2.99)
10. Afterlight 2 ($2.99)

Fortnite not only won the best game in the free iPhone games category but also topped the iPad free games category.

Top 10 Free iPhone Games:
1. Fortnite
2. Helix Jump
3. Rise Up
4. PUBG Mobile
5. Hole.io
6. Love Balls
7. Snake VS Block
8. Rules of Survival
9. Roblox
10. Dune!

Heads Up won the best paid iPhone Game. It is also on the number 5 in the paid games list on iPad.

Top 10 Paid iPhone Games:
1. Heads Up! ($2.99)
2. Minecraft ($6.99)
3. Plague Inc. ($0.99)
4. Bloons TD 6 ($4.99)
5. Pocket Build ($1.99)
6. Bloons TD 5 ($2.99)
7. Geometry Dash ($1.99)
8. The Game of Life ($2.99)
9. Papa’s Freezeria To Go ($0.99)
10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ($6.99)

YouTube again was crowned as the best free app for iPad, Netflix and Messenger came on the second and third positions, respectively.

Top 10 Free iPad Apps:
1. YouTube
2. Netflix
3. Messenger
4. Facebook
5. Amazon Prime Video
6. Google Chrome
7. Gmail
8. YouTube Kids
9. The Calculator
10. Amazon Shopping

The drawing app Procreate became the best of the paid iPad app of 2018.

Top 10 Paid iPad Apps:
1. Procreate ($9.99)
2. Notability ($9.99)
3. GoodNotes 4 ($7.99)
4. Toca Life: Pets ($3.99)
5. Duet Display ($9.99)
6. Toca Life: After School ($3.99)
7. XtraMath ($4.99)
8. Toca Hair Salon 3 ($3.99)
9. MyScript Nebo ($7.99)
10. Toca Kitchen 2 ($3.99)

Fortnite reigns as the top free mobile game for iPad too.

Top 10 Free iPad Games:
1. Fortnite
2. Roblox
3. Kick the Buddy
4. Love Balls
5. Helix Jump
6. Color by Number Coloring Game!
7. Bowmasters – Multiplayer Game
8. Hole.io
9. Rise Up
10. Rules of Survival

Minecraft sits on the top of the paid iPad games list.

Top 10 Paid iPad Games:
1. Minecraft ($6.99)
2. Geometry Dash ($1.99)
3. The Game of Life ($2.99)
4. The Room: Old Sins ($4.99)
5. Heads Up! ($0.99)
6. Bloons TD 6 ($4.99)
7. Goat Simulator ($4.99)
8. Five Nights at Freddy’s ($2.99)
9. Lego Jurassic World ($4.99)
10. Terraria ($4.99)

The year was incredibly good for the self-wellness apps like, Fabulous and Calm, and also for the games like Fortnite and PUBG (Players Unknown Battleground). Apple also chose its own favourite apps and games of the year, among which Procreate Pocket and Donut County, were selected as the app and the game of the year on iPhone. And, Froggipedia and puzzle-game Gorogoa were selected as the app and the game of the year on iPad, respectively.

Google Maps now Shows Nearby Lime Scooter & Lets You Book One for Your Last-mile Trip

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The tech giant Google has been continuously working towards improving its services for its consumers. Similarly, for its most widely used GPS app, Google map, Google has been adding new features to it to make navigation simpler for its users.

google map-lime
Image Source: pcmag.com

Google has already added Uber to its Google Map app, from where the users can book cabs for them. Now on Thursday, Google announced that it is going to partner with Lime and will show the location of nearby Lime battery-powered scooters, on Google Map. Google is planning to do so, in order to shorten the commute times for its users, as they will be able to rent those ride from the app.

Google, in its blog, said that after getting out of a taxi or a subway, the 15 minutes walk can be reduced to a smaller ride with the help of those scooters. Google will now display the nearby Lime scooters on the Google Map app, as another transport option, and after the users tap on it, they will be redirected to the Lime app. If there is no lime app on their smartphones, they will be redirected to the Apple Store or Play Store, so that they can download the app. And then, the users can book those scooters and bikes, from the app.

For now, the service will be available only in thirteen cities worldwide, i.e., Auckland (NZ), Austin, Baltimore, Brisbane (AU), Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, San Antonio, San Jose, Scottsdale, and Seattle. And, after the successful testing of the services, Google is planning to expand it into other cities as well.

The app not only will show the distance of the vehicle form users’ location but also will display the total journey time, battery consumption, the total cost for the journey and the number of other Lime vehicles nearby.

Lime, in the time of its 14 months operation, has fulfilled almost 1.5 million bike and scooter rides and has raised $467 million in funding to date, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, being one of the biggest investors in it. The partnership between the two companies is not only beneficial for them business-wise, but will be a great contribution in reducing the congestion and carbon emissions.