Author: Clinton

In the ever increasingly crowded world of 2-in-1 Windows 10 PCs, there seems to be a large gap between the have’s and the have not’s.  The have’s are the Microsoft Surface Pro devices of the world with top-end specs but equally, have an impressive price tags.

The have not’s are the $200-300 devices with subpar displays that are usually around 10″, powered by Atom processor and have 64GB or maybe 128GB if you are lucky.

The problem is the gap between $300 and $1200+ dollars.  There are not a lot of choices and the choices that are there generally are lacking in some area.  Huawei, for their part, is trying to fill the gap.

The Huawei Matebook was released last year and it remains one of the best 2-in-1 Windows 10 hybrid devices on the market.  Powered by the Intel m series processors with ample RAM and storage, the Matebook has a lot going for it and is one to consider, as I did, when you are looking for one of these style of devices.  The Matebook isn’t perfect as I’ll cover in this review but it is certainly the solid foundation that Huawei needs in order to penetrate the Windows 10 PC market here in the US and globally.

At the Google event this morning, the all new Google Pixelbook was announced.  The premium Chromebook experience is the first Made By Google Chromebook since 2015 and the specs are pretty amazing.

The new Pixelbook is equipped with an Intel i5 processor or i7 processor and 8GB or 16GB of RAM and has three different storage options:  128GB, 256GB and 512GB.  The display is a 12.3″ with 2400 x 1600 resolution.  That gives it a 3:2 ratio which is what was on previous generations of Pixel Chromebooks.

The new Pixelbook is a 2-in-1 design with the tablet portion folding back behind the keyboard to give it a tablet only feel.  Like other similarly designed Chromebooks, the keyboard becomes inactive when you are in this mode to prevent erroneous key presses.

Pricing will put the new Google Pixelbook in the premium category for sure.  The 128GB with 8GB of RAM model will be $999, the 256GB model is $1399 and the 512GB model is a wallet shattering $1749.

Google has officially announced the 2nd generation of Pixel phones, the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.  The two phones are updates to last year’s first Pixel lineup and bring a handful of tweaks and improvements to the devices.

One of the most noticeable change is the updated Pixel launcher for the devices.  It has been heavily redesigned with the search bar at the bottom of the display and a more personalized top widget with weather and calendar information.

As for the devices themselves, there wasn’t much of a mystery on either given the leaks about both devices over the course of the past few weeks.  The HTC-built Google Pixel 2  will come in three colors:  Kinda Blue, Just Black and Clearly White.  The first color is very similar to the Ice Blue that was on the Nexus 5X  while the Just Black and Clearly White are similar to the color options on the Pixel today.

The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 835 SoC and is coupled with 4GB of RAM.  It has a 5″ display

A big update is currently rolling out to the Microsoft Photos app on Windows 10.  The update, version 2017.39081.15820.0 for those keeping score and who like to play version number BINGO!, brings the ability to draw on photos and share them as well as improved editing features among the changes.

When you open a photo within Microsoft Photos, you will now see the option to draw on that photo.  You can then use your finger or stylus to write text or point out items in the photo and them share them with others.  The great thing is, this new feature will save a copy of the photo you are drawing on, keeping your original safe and sound.

OnePlus has announced that they have released an incremental update to their Android based OxygenOS for the OnePlus 5.  The new build, 4.5.11, is rolling out today to a small group of users and assuming all goes well, it will start rolling out to a larger contingent of OnePlus 5 owners.

The update is fundamentally a bug fix and security update release.  The release brings the September Android Security Update to the device and it also fixes an issue with 4G+ networks that some users were experiencing in some regions of the world.

Android Pay and Dunkin’ Donuts have teamed up to provide users a great excuse to use the tap-to-pay service.  Right now you can sign up for a promotion in the Pay app that will score you a $5 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card.  All you have to do is use Pay three times within 30 days of signing up for the promotion to get the gift card.

First things first, you have to sign up for the promotion itself.  To do this, go into Android Pay and tap on the overflow menu (the three vertical dots) and go down to “Enter promo code”.  On that page, type DUNKIN and tap Apply.  You will get a splash screen that lets you know that you have been signed up.