Articles by Jerry Hildenbrand

Google Assistant is ready to take on more than just your smartphone.

We saw some big announcements from Google about new features for Google Assistant that add a ton of functionality through deep integration with the rest of the apps on your phone, but possibly the biggest news was talked about the least — Assistant has truly broken out and ready to take on the rest of the digital world.

The most obvious ways this is happening surround Google’s Nest Hub and other smart displays. New tools for educational use and ways to offer better choices or better entertainment are obviously going to be a focus when you’re talking about a device that is really just a window into your Google account and content to consume.

Assistant is a better personal assistant when it goes everywhere with you.

Likewise, the new Chromecast with Google TV or the new Nest Audio are content consumption styled devices, but they too will benefit from new features like being able to detect the doorbell ringin…

Win, lose, or draw, consumers still get to help pay a lot of legal fees.

What everyone hopes will be the climax in a 10-year long battle between Oracle and Google starts this week as the Supreme Court hears the matter of Oracle versus Google over Java copyrights.

You might have heard from people on both sides of the matter exclaiming how the outcome will determine how all future software is written as well as how all current software is “owned.” There is a good chance you’re basically confused and just wish the whole thing would disappear so more interesting news can dominate the tech media again (not that there’s a shortage of tech news right now).

Some speculate that the reason Oracle purchased Java from Sun Microsystems was so it could sue for licensing fees.

If so, you’re not alone. Seeing two companies worth billions (and in Google’s case, close to trillions) fighting over who gets even more billions can be tiring and most times is confusing by design. This case is no di…

The best Chromebook docking stations can turn your laptop from on-the-go ready to comfortably cozy by plugging in a single USB-C cable. When you’re home and want to use a clicky mechanical keyboard, an ergonomic mouse, or add a secondary display, docking stations are here to keep things tidy and organized. While you could maybe get by with some tiny USB-C hub, the cables are usually too short and leave your desk cluttered, while docking stations help keep things connected while staying out of your way. If you need to get your Chromebook connected, these are the best docking stations.

Keep it tidy

Pluggable USB Mini Docking Station

Staff pick

This compact docking station won’t take up much desk space, but it still has enough space for four USB-A peripherals, an HDMI monitor, Ethernet, and an audio jack for some speakers. It can also charge your Chromebook at full speed.

$129 at Amazon
$129 at Walmart

Tall or flat, your choice

Baseus 16-in-1 USB-C Dock

Some folks prefer a…

Fixing the latest bugs and exploits in Android every month.

Google has detailed the latest Android Security Bulletin and released the fixes for Pixel devices.

These are exploits and other security concerns that affect Android as a whole. Issues with the operating system, kernel patches, and driver updates may not affect any particular device, but these need to be fixed in the Android base by the folks maintaining the operating system code. That means Google, and they’ve detailed the things they have improved for this month.

Updated factory images for Pixel devices that are supported are available, and over-the-air updates are rolling out to users. If you don’t want to wait, you can download and flash the factory image or OTA update file manually, and here are some handy instructions to get you started.

How to manually update your Pixel

The company that made your phone uses these patches to send an update out to you.

These changes have been released to the people making Andr…

Google is so close to releasing a Pixel phone that people will want to buy that I don’t think anything can jinx it this time.

If you find 100 different people using 100 different models of phones you’ll still find they all have one thing in common: something made the phone they bought attractive to them. Usually, that one thing is all based on the price.

I don’t mean that a cheap phone is automatically something more people will like, either. I mean that when a device as simple yet as complicated as a phone can strike the right balance of features versus price, people will find value in it. And when we find things we feel are valuable, it’s a lot easier for us to buy them.

This is why a $400 phone and a $2,400 phone can both find a home with someone who thinks they paid just the right amount of cash for just the right amount of features. But no matter how you slice up the feature-to-value ratio, it’s pretty easy to say that it’s eluded Google the past few years. I think the Pixel …

Best answer: Unless you plan to use your Raspberry Pi over the network without its own monitor and keyboard, buy the model with as much RAM as your budget allows. If you do plan to run things headless, you could save some money and buy the 1GB version.

Plenty of power: Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply ($10 at Amazon)
The Box Set: Raspberry Pi 4 Starter Kit ($100 at Amazon)
Keep fingers (and cats) out: Miuzei Raspberry Pi 4 Case ($17at Amazon)

Now, with choices!

The Raspberry Pi 4 is the first model to offer different amounts of RAM. You can choose 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB depending on how much you’ll need to do the things you plan on doing, and naturally, each tier has its own price ranging from about $35-50. While the difference in price isn’t a considerable amount, you still want to make the right choice.

The easy answer that works in almost every instance — including this one — is to buy as much as you can afford. Notice I said almost every case; there is an excellent reason to buy t…

You need a 30VA transformer so your Ring Video Doorbell Pro will work properly, and the one in your house right now might not be strong enough.

One of the great deals coming up for Amazon Prime Day this year will be a Ring Video Doorbell Pro and as someone who has one, let me tell you it’s pretty awesome. Seeing who is at the front door can be pretty handy, especially when you’re not at home to peek out of the curtains and have a look. But the fun will be short-lived if you don’t have an existing door chime transformer strong enough to power the thing.

Even if you already have a doorbell, your transformer might not provide enough power for a Ring Pro.

There’s a good chance you have a chime transformer in your house already, especially if you currently have a doorbell. It’s a small metal electrical device that converts your house voltage to the low-voltage a doorbell chime needs and you wouldn’t even know it was there unless you needed to replace it. Since most door chimes don’…

The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ is the final iteration of the Pi 3 series, and sports great features like 5GHz wireless, Gigabit ethernet, full-size HDMI, and 4 USB 2.0 ports. Plus, there is a microSD card slot that allows you to vastly expand the base storage that is included. For that, we have found the best SD cards for Raspberry Pi 3b that you can use with the Pi 3 B+ to get the most out of this awesome piece of technology.

Getting started

SanDisk Ultra 32GB microSDHC Card

Staff Pick

This 32GB card is plenty for whatever OS you install on the Raspberry Pi, with some space left over for games, programming environments, and whatever else you want. If you intend to install a lot of games, though you may be better served with a higher capacity card.

$9 at Amazon
$13 at Walmart
$9 at B&H Photo

All the storage

Samsung EVO Select 512GB MicroSDXC Card

This is the card you’ll want if you need to store a lot of movie files and more thanks to its 512GB capacity. The EVO Se…

Another month means yet another update to your phone security.

What you need to know

The September 2020 security patch is official and rolling out to devices.
There are patches for Android’s Framework and from chip vendors.
New Pixel features come with the Android 11 update.

A new month means a new security patch for Pixel phones. Most times these updates aren’t flashy, and even when we see a Pixel feature Drop, the changes aren’t massive. But they do what they were intended to do: make your phone more secure while you use it.

This month, we see a handful of patches for Android’s open-source project with some even reaching back to Android 8.0. Hopefully, nobody releases a new device running Android Oreo, but if they do it will be a little more secure because of those changes.

The bulk of the patches are from Qualcomm and MediaTek to address the obscure yet important ways researchers have been able to exploit the hardware. While some of these changes are open source and availab…

Fixing the latest bugs and exploits in Android every month.

Google has detailed the latest Android Security Bulletin and released the fixes for Pixel devices.

These are exploits and other security concerns that affect Android as a whole. Issues with the operating system, kernel patches, and driver updates may not affect any particular device, but these need to be fixed in the Android base by the folks maintaining the operating system code. That means Google, and they’ve detailed the things they have improved for this month.

Updated factory images for Pixel devices that are supported are available, and over-the-air updates are rolling out to users. If you don’t want to wait, you can download and flash the factory image or OTA update file manually, and here are some handy instructions to get you started.

How to manually update your Pixel

The company that made your phone uses these patches to send an update out to you.

These changes have been released to the people making Andr…