作者彙整: Philip Berne

The Yale Connect Wi-Fi bridge is also required.

What you need to know

Yale Smart Cabinet Lock is a smaller smart lock you can attach to any cabinet with adhesive.
Yale Smart Delivery Box collects packages and protects against theft.
All of the new Yale devices require a connection to the Yale Connect Wi-Fi bridge.

Lock maker Yale has taken the smart door lock concept and wisely applied it to cabinets in a much smaller form factor. The new Yale Smart Cabinet Lock can be screwed onto any cabinet or attached with an adhesive sticker. You then have all the best features of a smart lock, including remote locking and alerts.

Per Jason Williams, President of Yale Smart Residential Group:

We’re in the business of protecting our customers’ homes and their most important belongings … through our smart locks to our new smart storage products, protecting everything from package deliveries to jewelry, important documents, medicine, and alcohol.

In addition to the Smart Cabinet Lock,… 閱讀全文 →

More spectrum, but the Navy might step on your signal

What you need to know

The FCC has been allowing wireless carriers to use Citizen Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum for service.
The Navy has priority over these bands, but authorized carriers can use them for free.
Next summer, the FCC will sell priority access licenses for this signal range.

The CitIzen Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) channels are used primarily by the U.S. Navy for communication, but that leaves enough available spectrum for the FCC to give wireless carriers access to the bands as part of a new broadband experiment. Currently, companies can register to use the CBRS swath for free, and network traffic monitors will control and give the Navy priority access, according to a Wall Street Journal story.

Next June, the FCC will begin selling “priority access” licenses to use the CBRS, and this will allow companies to pay to step on the carriers using the service for free. Those priority access customers will… 閱讀全文 →

A nice gift card idea, but don’t read the comments.

What you need to know

You can now purchase YouTube gift cards on Amazon.
The gift cards range from $25 up to $100.
They can be used for YouTube Premium, YouTube Music, and YouTube TV.

Amazon and Google have long had a contentious relationship, and there are still some competing Google products that Amazon does not sell. Now Amazon is offering electronic gift cards for YouTube, and they work for much more than just paying for YouTube Premium to get rid of the persistent pop-ups. They can be used to pay for a YouTube TV subscription, YouTube Music, or to buy into your favorite YouTuber’s premium channel. The minimum amount you can get for a gift card is $25, and it can go up to as much as $100 if you’re feeling particularly generous.

The gift cards are actually credited to Google Play, so you can use the credit throughout the Google Play store, which includes its own premium apps, movies, TV shows, and books. You can buy the car… 閱讀全文 →

A better way to view your podcasts.

What you need to know

Google has been adding dark mode to various system apps.
Google Podcasts users are starting to see a dark mode option.
If you select dark mode in Android 10, all compatible apps know your preference.

We’re fans of the dark mode here, and we were happy when Google announced Android 10 would finally bring a system-wide dark mode option. That means if you select a dark mode in the settings, all compatible apps will read your preference and switch to a dark mode if one is available. Users of Google Podcasts are noticing the beta app now includes a dark mode of its own, and it recognizes the overall system preference.

The folks at 9to5Google say they have only seen the dark mode in action on phones that are completely up to date with the latest Google app.

Dark mode generally switches to a darker color scheme, but the actual benefits may be more aesthetic. There is some theory that on OLED screens that deactivate black pix… 閱讀全文 →

A month after launch, the launch hardware finally works

What you need to know

Google had said Stadia bundle buyers could use their existing Chromecast Ultra as well.
Stadia Twitter announced all Chromecast Ultra devices will be able to use Stadia now.
Gamers still need to buy a bundle that includes another Chromecast Ultra.

When Google’s Stadia gaming service launched a month ago, you needed to buy a Founder’s or a Premiere bundle that included a Chromecast Ultra, even if you already had one. If you were an owner, Google said Stadia would work with your existing Ultra as well.

Unfortunately, existing Chromecast Ultra devices needed a firmware update, and that update has finally been pushed to all Chromecast Ultra devices. After a long month being left in the cold, Google’s Stadia Twitter account has tweeted that all Chromecast Ultra devices are ready to play.

If you have access to Stadia already, we have some good news to share. We have rolled out an update to existing Chromec… 閱讀全文 →

When Mando lets the guns talk, we listen. Here’s every time someone dies.

Yes, this a list of every kill in The Mandolorian, but first we created some ground rules. Victims who are punched or shocked are not confirmed kills. If someone gets shot and doesn’t get back up, we assume they were killed, since the only shots we see that don’t kill when they hit are blocked by beskar steel. Some offscreen kills are implied, so they count, as noted. Also when we say “pop” we specifically mean disintegrate, and those are our favorite kills. When you’re ready to play along at home, here’s a list of all the fun toys from The Mandalorian so you can look on disapprovingly, just like The Child/Baby Yoda.

Chapter 1

Total Kills: 35

02:17: The Mandolorian (Mando) kills the Alpha Trawler with his own knife.
02:30: A Quarren Trawler gets cut in half when Mando pulls him into a closing iris-shaped door.
05:55: Guest star Brian Posehn’s speeder pilot is taken into the ice by a Ravinak.
29:39: IG-11 B… 閱讀全文 →

Plus other minor updates being tested here and there

What you need to know

Android Auto has been updated to let users customize apps on the home screens.
Updates to Assistant UI and some new interface changes are also being seen.
Some updates are rolling out widely, while others are available only with some hacks.

The app wizards at Android Police have been investigating changes to the Android Auto interface and discovered some noteworthy improvements. The ability to customize the apps on the home screen has been added, and that feature should be rolling out to users currently (though Android Police has a download link if you want to push the update now). Users can also add the current temperature to the status bar — making it easier than ever to see how chilly or hot it is outside.

Additionally, a few other improvements are being tested on a more limited basis. These include some slight changes to the look and feel of the Google Assistant pop-up window when you call fo… 閱讀全文 →

Ever want to play Double Dare with Jar Jar? No? Now’s your chance.

What you need to know

Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge will be a game show for kids.
There will be three set pieces — a forest planet, a spaceship, and a temple.
Ahmed Best, the voice of Jar Jar Binks, will host.

Star Wars fans can look forward to a game show for kids coming to Disney Plus (Disney Plus+) in 2020. The new Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge sounds like a fun and active game show, similar to Ninja Warrior type shows. The show will take place on a forest planet, a Jedi star cruiser, and inside a Jedi temple, so it seems contestants will have to climb trees, escape trash compactors, and drink blue milk. Lucasfilm’s director of Online Content and Programming, Mickey Capoferri, describes the show as “a kids game show like no other .. a fun, humorous, and exciting competition.”

The game will feature a mix of challenges that test a young padawan’s strength, knowledge, and bravery. Yes, of course the… 閱讀全文 →

We’re almost there.

What you need to know

Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL will get the December update next week.
Fixes for bugs in Spotify and third-party camera apps will be included.
The Pixel 4 had been absent from the original update bulletin.

Google Pixel 4 owners will see a software and security update rolling out in the next week, according to an addendum to Google’s Pixel Security Update page. The software and security update includes a number of fixes aimed directly at the Pixel 4, the newest member of Google’s self-branded phone lineup. If you’ve had trouble with static noise in Spotify, or staticky audio when using a third-party camera app, the next update may solve your problems. However, Pixel 4 owners will need to wait a week for the next update.

The Pixel 4 was originally left out of the loop on software updates, but the new package will include fixes for Bluetooth pairing, with Garmin devices specifically called out, as well as some fixes to the haptics and motio… 閱讀全文 →

There’s a toggle switch, so there must be new display tech to match it

What you need to know

A Galaxy Note 9 user spotted beta software that included settings for faster refresh rate displays.
The settings in the One UI 2 Beta allow users to toggle between 60Hz and 120Hz.
No current Samsung phone ships with a 120Hz display, but the Galaxy S11 is rumored to use this tech.

We know that Samsung can make faster displays than the 60Hz panels used on the flagship Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy S10 phones. A teardown of the Google Pixel 4 found that phone using a Samsung-made screen capable of 90Hz refresh rates. Now, Twitter leaker @UniverseIce has posted screenshots of a Samsung One UI beta that appears to allow users to toggle between screen modes with refresh rates up to 120Hz.

While the software was shipped for the Chinese variant of the Galaxy Note 9, it seems logical to speculate that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S11 will finally push Samsung back into the display forefront.

Someone… 閱讀全文 →