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mercredi 3 novembre 2021

[Update: More free trials] Stadia now lets you try out select games for 30 minutes

Update 1 (11/03/2021 @ 09:14 ET): As promised, Google has expanded free Stadia trials to more titles. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on November 3, 2021, is preserved below.

Google’s latest attempt to get you hooked to its Stadia cloud gaming service is free game trials. While Google already offers a free trial of Stadia Pro to new users, the latest experiment allows users to try out select titles before purchasing.

As per various reports (via 9to5Google), Google is now offering a free 30-minute trial of Hello Engineer, a Stadia exclusive title. When you go to the game’s listing page, you’ll find a red Play 30 min free button just above the description. You can click on the button to start your free trial. A countdown is shown in the Stadia sidebar displaying how much time is left in the trial. Once it ends, you’ll see a prompt asking you whether you would like to purchase the game. You can buy the title for $20 or sign up for a Stadia Pro subscription to get it for free.

Listing page of Teen Engineer on Google Stadia Game trial countdown timer

Screenshots credit: 9to5Google

Google’s Stadia has every reason to be doing well, but its biggest problems may be out of its control

As of now, Google is only offering a free 30-minute trial on Hello Engineer. A Stadia representative told The Verge that Google would be running this experiment for the next couple of months, and there’s a plan to offer free trials on more titles. However, these trials won’t always be for 30 minutes, and users may not see the same titles as everyone else.

Over the past months, Google Stadia has tried out various ways to attract new gamers. In May, Google teamed up with OnePlus to offer a free Stadia Premier Edition bundle with a new OnePlus device. Then in June, Google and AT&T announced a new promotional deal that gave AT&T 5G unlimited wireless and fiber users six months of Stadia Pro for free.

Stadia is now also available on Chromecast with Google TV, NVIDIA Shield TV, and select Android TV devices.


Update: Google expands free trials to more titles

Free Stadia trials are now available for two more titles: Control: Ultimate Edition and Ubisoft’s newly released Riders Republic. While the trial for Control: Ultimate Edition is limited to 30 minutes, Google is offering full two hours of free playtime on Riders Republic.

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Dropbox adds Automated Folders and a new tagging system to let you easily organize files

Dropbox, the popular file hosting service, has announced new tools to make it easier to search and keep your files organized. The new features include automated folders, an automated dashboard, a new tagging system for files and folders, multi-file organize actions, and more.

Automated folders are folders that automatically organize themselves (via The Verge). The feature uses pre-defined rules to automatically perform tasks like naming, sorting, tagging, and so on every time a new file is added to the folder. Dropbox says it plans to bring more customization options so users can create their own custom rules for automation.

Automated folders in Dropbox

Dropbox is also adding a new automated dashboard to allow users to manage automated folders and their settings from one place. Then there’s a new tagging system that lets you, well.. tag files and folders so you can get to them quickly without having to remember file names.

  • Automated folders. Create folders that automatically perform specific tasks—such as naming, sorting, tagging, and converting—anytime a file is added to the folder.
  • Automated dashboard. Control and manage automated folders and their settings from a central dashboard.
  • Naming conventions. Create file naming standards based on categories that can be applied to individual folders. You can rename files or photos by the date they were taken and include a parent folder name.
  • Multi-file organize. Categorize and sort a folder’s files into subfolders based on dates, keywords, or level of activity. Preview and verify changes before files are moved.

Dropbox says these newly announced features will start rolling out to teams today and are “coming soon to individual plans and Dropbox Family.”

Finally, Dropbox has also released a redesigned HelloSign mobile app that lets you quickly sign documents on the go. You can also prepare and send new agreements to others, track the status of your signature request, and receive further updates right on the homescreen. The HelloSign app is currently only available on iOS, with the Android version “coming soon.”

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These are the Best Deals on the new Apple AirPods 3

Apple has launched the third generation of one of the most popular pairs of wireless earbuds — the AirPods 3. The design of the AirPods 3 is similar to that of the AirPods Pro, except for the silicone ear tips that are present on the Pro. The AirPods 3, like its predecessors, has an open-ear design which also means it does not get support for ANC. However, it does get spatial audio and a new case that supports MagSafe charging. While the AirPods Pro is still the best pair of TWS earbuds Apple has to offer, the AirPods 3 is specifically meant for users who want an open-ear design. If you are one of those people, here are some of the best AirPods 3 deals that might help you save some money while purchasing the earbuds from your favorite retailers.
AirPods 3 design

Best AirPods 3 Deals in the US

If you’re in the US, you can purchase the AirPods 3 from various online retailers. Here are some of the best deals that we found on the AirPods 3 in the US. Pick the store you prefer and hit the Buy Now button!

Amazon

Amazon is one of the best online retailers since you get free returns and monthly payments with no interest if you have the Amazon Store Card. The AirPods 3 is also slightly cheaper on Amazon compared to the Apple Store and generally, the prices tend to go down as time goes by.

    Apple AirPods 3
    The AirPods 3 is selling on Amazon for slightly lesser than what it sells for on the Apple Store.

Best Buy

Best Buy is another popular retailer users like to buy from. You can choose to place the order online and collect it from a physical store nearby or get it delivered to your address directly. Best Buy also has extended returns right now so anything you buy currently can be returned until 16 January.

    Apple AirPods 3
    Best Buy is another popular retailer selling the AirPods 3 with an extended return window.

Apple Store

If you don’t want to get the AirPods from a third-party store or retailer, you can grab it straight from Apple’s online store. If you choose to do so, you can also add an engraving on the AirPods case to add a personalized touch to your AirPods.

    Apple AirPods 3
    You can choose to purchase the AirPods 3 directly from Apple if you want a customized engraving on the case.

Best AirPods 3 Deals in the UK

Just like in the US, the AirPods 3 is available to purchase from various online retailers in the UK too. Here are a few of them.

Amazon

Amazon is one of the best online retailers since you get free returns and you can also add Apple Care+ directly with the purchase if you want the added protection against accidental damage. The AirPods 3 costs the same on Amazon and the Apple Store but generally, the prices on Amazon tend to go down as time goes by.

    Apple AirPods 3
    The AirPods 3 is selling on Amazon for the same price as that on the Apple Store. You can also choose to add Apple Care+ with the purchase.

Apple Store

If you don’t want to get the AirPods from a third-party store or retailer, you can grab it straight from Apple’s online store. If you choose to do so, you can also add an engraving on the AirPods case to add a personalized touch to your AirPods.

    Apple AirPods 3
    You can choose to purchase the AirPods 3 directly from Apple if you want a customized engraving on the case.

Best AirPods 3 Deals in India

If you’re looking to buy the AirPods 3 in India, the official Apple online store is the only place where you can find it ready to order. It should be made available on other platforms very soon though and as soon as it is, we will update this segment.

Apple Store

If you don’t want to get the AirPods from a third-party store or retailer, you can grab it straight from Apple’s online store. If you choose to do so, you can also add an engraving on the AirPods case to add a personalized touch to your AirPods.

    Apple AirPods 3
    You can choose to purchase the AirPods 3 directly from Apple if you want a customized engraving on the case.

Flipkart

Flipkart has the AirPods 3 listed on the website but with a Coming Soon banner at the time of writing. If you’re reading this article a few days after it’s been published, you can head over to the product page and check if the AirPods 3 are available to order. We will keep an eye out too and update this section when Flipkart has the new pair of earbuds from Apple on sale.

    Apple AirPods 3
    Flipkart has the AirPods 3 listed but it's still 'Coming Soon'. You can wait to purchase the earbuds from Flipkart if you want additional card offers or no-cost EMI.

These were some of the best AirPods 3 deals that you can get depending on where you’re located. Since the product has just been launched recently, the availability is currently limited in some regions. However, we’ll update this list as and when the AirPods 3 becomes available in more places. If you’re looking to buy the AirPods 3 in India specifically, we urge you to wait for it to come to other e-commerce platforms like Amazon wherein you will be able to make use of card offers to avail more discount.

The post These are the Best Deals on the new Apple AirPods 3 appeared first on xda-developers.



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Google Play wants you to vote for the best app and game of 2021

When Google launched its app store under the name Android Market back in 2008, it had only 13 apps. But fast forward to 2021, and Google’s flagship app store is home to over 2.7 million apps, as per the latest data from Statista. It can be hard to find quality apps with so many apps flooding the app store and new apps being continuously added. That’s why each year Google holds Google Play Best of Awards, helping users discover new apps, games, books and giving exposure to developers and publishers. Well, it’s almost time for this year’s Google Best Awards as Google has opened up user voting for the best app and game of 2021.

Starting today, Google Play users can vote for the best app and best game of 2021. Voting will be open till November 17, and Google will announce the winners on November 30. Besides the best app and the best game of 2021, Google will also announce Best of Play awards which will include best apps and games across multiple categories picked by the Google Play editorial team.

“Until November 17, Google Play users will have the opportunity to vote on their favorite apps and games of the year. Winners of the Users’ Choice awards and the Best of 2021 picks from the Google Play editorial team, will be announced November 30,” said a Google spokesperson in an email.

Here are the nominees for the Best App of 2021:

And here are the nominees for the Best Games of 2021:

To vote for your favorite app and game, head over to the Play Users’ Choice Awards 2021 page.

 

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Android 12 custom GSIs bring the latest Android OS to any Project Treble-supported device

Android 12 is here, albeit the stable version is available only on Google’s Pixel lineup — including the newly introduced Pixel 6 series — for now. A handful of OEMs like Samsung and OnePlus are also offering public beta builds of their customized skins based on the stable Android 12 codebase, but the list of eligible devices is quite small. Nonetheless, the aftermarket development community is helping us experience all the new features of Android 12 through custom ROMs across a growing list of devices. Besides, Google does offer its own set of Android 12 Generic System Image (GSI) packages on its website, so that developers can test their apps against the latest API level.

While you should be able to boot Google’s AOSP GSI onto any Project Treble-supported device, you’ll be missing out on many features that lend to a proper day-to-day experience. This is exactly where XDA Recognized Developer phhusson‘s custom GSI distribution comes in. These GSI packages come with a plethora of bug fixes and feature additions that aren’t available in the barebone Google-provided GSIs. The developer has now rebased his custom Project Treble GSI project (AKA “Phh-Treble”) on top of Android 12 and started publishing pre-release builds with new device-specific patches required for the latest Android version.

Download Phh-Treble v400.b (Based on AOSP 12.0)

If the vanilla AOSP experience is not enough for you, then you can also try out an unofficial build of the Pixel Experience GSI, courtesy of XDA Senior Member ponces. It comes with all the goodies that you’d usually find on a Google Pixel device, including the Pixel launcher, wallpapers, icons, fonts, and even the boot animation. Keep in mind that the GSI backbone is based on phhusson’s release, which means it does carry forward nearly the same set of bugs and glitches.

Download unofficial Pixel Experience 12 GSI based on Android 12

At the time of writing this article, there is no A-only build available for download, so you do need a device with A/B partitioning to boot the aforementioned GSIs. Once phhusson’s custom AOSP GSI becomes more stable, he and other developers will start building more variants. Before you go ahead and flash any of the custom Android 12 GSIs on your device, be sure to take a backup of your data and then only go through our GSI installation guide.

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Moto G100: Here’s everything you need to know about Motorola’s new phone

The Motorola Moto G100 is the company’s new top-of-the-line smartphone in the Moto G series. The phone was first unveiled in March this year for Europe and Latin America and has since made its way to the United States. The G100 is the first phone in the Moto G-series to get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800-series SoC. The phone also packs a number of other exciting features. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

Navigate this guide:

Motorola Moto G100: Specifications

Specifications Motorola Moto G100
Dimensions and Weight
  • 168.38 x 73.97 x 9.69mm
  • 215g
Display
  • 6.7-inch curved LCD
  • Full HD+ (2520 x 1080) resolution
  • 90Hz refresh rate
  • 21:9 aspect ratio
  • Corning Gorilla Glass 3
  • HDR10
SoC
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 870
    • 1x Kryo 585 (Cortex-A77) @ 3.2GHz
    • 3x Kryo 585 (Cortex-A77) @ 2.42GHz
    • 4x Kryo 585 (Cortex-A55) @ 1.8GHz
  • Adreno 650 GPU
  • 7nm process
RAM and Storage
  • 8GB RAM
  • 128GB/ 256GB storage
  • MicroSD card support
Rear Camera
  • Primary: 64MP, primary, f/1.7, 0.7μm
  • Secondary: 16MP, ultra-wide-angle, 117° FoV, f/2.2, 1.0μm
  • Tertiary: 2MP macro, f/2.4, 1.75μm
  • ToF sensor
  • Video: Up to 6K@30
Front Camera
  • Primary: 16MP, f/2.2, 1.0μm, fixed-focus,
  • Secondary: 8MP, ultra-wide-angle, f/2.4, 2.0μm, 118° FoV
  • Video: Up to 1080@60
Battery
  • 5,000 mAh battery
  • Up to 20W wired charging (inside the box)
Connectivity
  • Bands (North America):
    • 2G Bands: GSM 850/900/1800/1900
    • 3G Bands: UMTS B1/2/4/5/8
    • 4G LTE Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/20/26/28/32/34/38/39/40/41/42/43/66
    • 5G Bands: n1/3/5/7/8/28/38/41/66/77/78
  • NFC
  • WiFi 802.11.b/g/n/ac/ax (2.4GHz + 5GHz)
  • Bluetooth 6/ Bluetooth 5.1
  • USB Type-C (DisplayPort), USB 3.1
Other features
  • Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
Software
  • Android 11 with My UX

Design and Display

Moto G100 front

Motorola has gone with a flat-screen with a slight curvature on the edges and dual hole-punch cutouts on the top left. The bezels are also minimal in the G100, and the phone features Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with an anti-fingerprint coating for protection. On the back, there’s a reflective plastic panel that shows a variety of hues depending on the color option.

Talking about the colors, you get three choices — Iridescent Ocean, Iridescent Sky, and Slate Grey — but only the ‘Iridescent Ocean’ option is sold in the US.

On the display front, the G100 features a 6.7-inch full-HD+ (1,080 x 2,520 pixels) LCD screen with HDR10, 90Hz refresh rate, and 21:9 aspect ratio.

Moto G100 in Iridescent Ocean Moto G100 in Iridescent Sky Moto G100 in Slate Grey

SoC, RAM, and Storage

The new Motorola phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC that’s an overclocked version of the Snapdragon 865. You’ll get one Kryo 585 (Cortex-A77) core clocked at 3.2GHz, three Kryo 585 (Cortex-A77) cores clocked at 2.42GHz, and four Kryo 585 (Cortex-A55) cores clocked at 1.8GHz. An Adreno 650 GPU is also present.

The Motorola Moto G100 also comes with 8GB of RAM, up to 256GB of onboard storage, and a microSD card slot. The phone supports up to 1TB cards. While the US only gets the 128GB model, the 256GB variant is sold in select Latin American markets.

Motorola Moto G100: Cameras

Moto G100 back

The company has included three cameras on the back of the G100, and two cameras on the front. The rear camera setup includes a 64MP main camera, 16MP wide-angle shooter, 2MP depth sensor, and a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor. For the selfies, there’s a 16MP main camera and an 8MP wide-angle shooter.

While the front shooters can only capture 1080p videos at 30 fps, the main rear camera can take up to 6K videos at 30fps.

Battery, Connectivity, and Fingerprint Sensor

You’ll get a 5,000mAh battery on the Moto G100 that supports 20W fast charging. A compatible 20W fast charger is also bundled with the phone.

Coming to the connectivity options, the phone supports 5G, but it’ll only work on T-Mobile in the US. Even on T-Mobile, only the sub-6GHz NSA bands are supported. Motorola is supposed to add AT&T 4G LTE compatibility in the coming days.

Additionally, the Moto G100 packs Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 6, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. The Type-C port also works as a DisplayPort, so you can connect the phone to an external monitor or TV, and get a desktop-like experience with Motorola’s ‘Ready For’ software.

Depending on the market, the phone comes with either a single SIM card slot or hybrid dual-SIM support. It also features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is embedded in the power button.

OS and Software Updates

Moto G100 side

The Motorola Moto G100 phone runs on Android 11 out-of-the-box with the company’s My UX customizations. There’s no word on the software updates for the phone, but it’ll most likely receive at least one major Android update, and security updates for at least two years.

Apart from the My UX customizations, the G100 comes with ThinkShield for mobile that adds business-grade security and various enterprise-related features to the phone. The phone also supports Lenovo’s ThinkReality A3 smart glasses.

Motorola Moto G100: Pricing and Availability

Motorola only offers one storage variant of the Moto G100 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of built-in storage. It’s priced at $599.99 in the US, but for a limited period, the phone will be offered at a promotional price of $499.99. Apart from the US, as mentioned earlier, the phone is sold in select European and Latin American countries.

    Motorola Moto G100
    The Moto G100 is Motorola's first Moto G phone with flagship-level specs, and it's finally available in the US.

Here’s a look at the phone’s price in some of the other markets:

  • Europe: €499
  • UK: £449.99
  • Brazil: BRL 3,999
  • Argentina: ARD 94,999
  • Colombia: COP 2399900

This is everything we know about the Motorola Moto G100 right now. We’ll update this page as and when any new information pops up about the phone.

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Facebook is shutting down its Face Recognition System

In a rather surprising move, Facebook (now Meta) has announced that it’s shutting down its Face Recognition system. The company says it will stop collecting facial recognition data and delete templates it has used to identify users over the years.

As part of the change, Facebook will no longer automatically recognize people’s faces in Memories, photos, or videos posted on Facebook (via TechCrunch). Facebook is also removing the option to turn on face recognition for suggested tagging in pictures and videos. The change will also affect the Automatic Alt Text feature, which uses face recognition data to provide image descriptions for people with disabilities. Following the change, the AAT feature will still be able to recognize the number of people in a photo but won’t identify individuals. Finally, Facebook says it will delete templates it uses to identify users for those who have opted into face recognition.

Facebook implemented face recognition back in 2010 to automatically provide tag suggestions for people in photos. The feature was automatically enabled for everyone, and it was only in 2017 that Facebook made it opt-in.

“In the coming weeks, we will shut down the Face Recognition system on Facebook as part of a company-wide move to limit the use of facial recognition in our products. As part of this change, people who have opted in to our Face Recognition setting will no longer be automatically recognized in photos and videos, and we will delete the facial recognition template used to identify them,” said Jerome Pesenti, artificial intelligence VP, Meta.

Facebook says it reached this decision after “a lot of consideration.” The company still sees facial recognition technology as “a powerful tool” that can be quite useful for use cases like personal authentication.

The move comes as Facebook faces increased scrutiny and criticism from regulators and privacy advocates over how it handles user privacy and collects excessive sensitive user data.

 

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