Editor’s note: This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and TechCrunch may earn affiliate commissions. Read Wirecutter’s continuously updated list of deals here.
Amazon Prime Day this year, despite its slow start, broke records and boosted the fortunes of its competitors. And now that it’s over, we found some deals you can still take advantage of.
Asus ROG Swift PG279Q 27 Inch
Street Price: $740; Deal Price: $690
A new low price on our gaming monitor pick for Nvidia graphics card users. While it only beats our previous low by a few bucks, this monitor has been stubborn about sticking to $740.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q 27 Inch is our G-Sync pick in our guide to the best gaming monitors. David Murphy wrote, “Our pick had the best contrast ratio and lowest measured black levels among our finalists, which helps bring out detail in movies and games; it has all the input connections you need, as well as a built-in USB 3.0 hub; and it’s incredibly adjustable.”
AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (15 foot)
Street Price: $11; Deal Price: $7
At $7 for a 15 foot cable, this is a new low price. We haven’t seen any discount for this particular size since 2017 and the street price typically sticks to $11.
The AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable is the top pick in our guide to cheap, great HDMI cables. “The AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable is a no-frills HDMI cable, but with HDMI, frills aren’t necessary,” Geoffrey Morrison wrote. “The cable is sturdily built and works with any video signal of today (and probably ones into the near future). Both the 3- and 15-foot lengths passed all our tests, including HDR tests.”
DJI Spark Fly More Combo
Street Price: $550; Deal Price: $500
Down to $500 in all available colors, this is a solid drop from a typical price of $550 for the DJI Spark Fly More Combo, a bundle that includes the Spark, controller, extra battery and other accessories.
The DJI Spark is our entry-level pick for drone photography in our guide to the best drones. “If all you want is something to capture aerial footage on occasion for personal use and social-media sharing, you can save several hundred dollars by getting the DJI Spark,” Mike Perlman wrote. “Despite weighing half as much as the Mavic and folding up to about the size of your hand, it has all the important features you need from a video drone: 1080p video recording, image and flight stabilization, collision-avoidance technology and an included controller, and smart-flight modes like ActiveTrack (tracks and follows a subject) and gesture controls all come standard.”
Lutron Caséta (2 of our top in-wall wireless light switch and dimmer pick + control hub + 2 remotes)
Street Price: $160; Deal Price: $120
If you’re looking for a Lutron Caséta starter kit this is a good deal on one that includes two switches, one bridge and two remotes. Usually priced at $160, the price drops to $120 at checkout, this matches the lowest price we’ve seen.
The Lutron Caséta Wireless In-Wall Dimmer and the Lutron Caséta Smart Bridge are the top picks in our guide to the best in-wall wireless light switch and dimmer. Rachel Cericola wrote, “After spending more than 30 hours swapping out switches, flipping switches, programming timers, and talking to experts, we’ve decided that the Lutron Caséta Wireless In-Wall Dimmer is the best wireless in-wall dimmer switch for most people. It’s phase-adaptive, so it can work with any lighting load; it’s the easiest to physically install; and like the other eight units we tested, it features straightforward remote control and scheduling.”
Philips Hue White A19 4-Pack 60W
Street Price: $50; Deal Price: $40
For those of you who want a set of smart LED light bulbs but don’t want or need the added price for color, a 4-pack of 60W Philips Hue bulbs is an excellent deal matching the previous lowest price on the white variant of our top pick for best smart LED light bulbs.
“Setting up Hue lights requires a few simple steps, much like any other smart-home device. The gateway connects to your home router or network switch via a wired Ethernet port,” Grant Clauser wrote. “This connects the system to your network and allows you to control the lights with a smartphone or tablet connected wirelessly to the same network.”
Q Acoustics 3020
Street Price: $270; Deal Price: $243
At $243 from a street price of $270, this is the lowest price we’ve seen for a pair of Q Acoustics 3020 in either the American Walnut finish or graphite color. These colors are typically priced lower than the black and white colors, but if you absolutely must have either of those, they are also down to the lowest price we’ve seen at $289 from $320.
The Q Acoustics 3020 is the top pick in our guide to the best bookshelf speakers for most stereos. “The Q Acoustics 3020 pair reproduces music of all genres with great detail and clarity on a wide soundstage. Despite each speaker’s compact size, the set delivers both strong bass and accurate vocals,” Chris Heinonen wrote. “These speakers are efficient, too, which means they can play louder with less-powerful receivers and amplifiers. The compact, rounded-corner design comes in four finishes to help this set fit in with a wider variety of decors.”
Roku Streaming Stick
Street Price: $45; Deal Price: $35
Recently we’ve been seeing a lot of price fluctuations between $40 and $50, so it’s nice to see this media streaming device down to a new low price of $35. Prior to this deal the best price we’ve seen is $39.
The Roku Streaming Stick is the runner-up pick (if you don’t need 4K) in our guide to the best media streaming devices. Chris Heinonen wrote, “If you don’t need to stream UltraHD 4K content, the Roku Streaming Stick is the best option available today. It is almost identical to the Streaming Stick+, but supports only 1080p resolution and doesn’t have the external Wi-Fi antenna. If you know you aren’t going to get a 4K TV in the future, or are just looking to upgrade an existing 1080p TV or projector, it offers the same content selection, search, and performance of our main pick.”
Fujifilm X-T2
Street Price: $1500; Deal Price: $1,100
The high-end Fujifilm camera we recommend is down to a new low price of $1,100 from a street price of $1,500. The deal is for the black color and only the body without a lens. Prior to this sale the lowest price we’ve seen is $1,400, although there were some deals around Black Friday for the camera with a lens.
The Fujifilm X-T2 is the top pick for experienced shooters and pros in our guide to the best Fujifilm cameras. Amadou Diallo wrote, “The Fujifilm X-T2 represents a significant investment into your photography, and that’s before you even consider adding any of Fujifilm’s well-regarded lenses. But its sensor outperforms what you get in many DSLRs, providing impressively detailed images in even very dark lighting conditions.”
ChargeTech Portable Power Outlet
Street Price: $190; Deal Price: $130 w/ code AMUZISNW
Use the code AMUZISNW to get this price. It’s the lowest price we’ve seen so far, and only $8 more than our top pick, but with 30 percent more mAh/charge.
The ChargeTech Portable Power Outlet is our runner-up pick for laptop charging in our guide to the best portable AC battery pack. “If our top pick is unavailable or you need a little more power to keep a larger laptop going, get the ChargeTech Portable Power Outlet,” Mark Smirniotis wrote. “It has the same 85 W output as the Jackery PowerBar, so it can power the same types of laptops and electronics, but with an extra 25 percent capacity, this ChargeTech model will last a bit longer—handy if you’re frequently on long-haul flights or working in the field.”
littleBits Rule Your Room Kit
Street Price: $80; Deal Price: $40
Down to $40 when typically it’s priced around $85, this is an all-time low price for this electronics kit. Prior to this deal the lowest price we’ve seen is $56. We doubt this deal will last more than a few days, at most, so don’t wait — grab it at this low price if you know a would-be inventor.
The littleBits Rule Your Room Kit is the upgrade pick in our guide to the best electronics kits for kids and beginners. “Kids can create a piggy-bank alarm, a catapult, or an invention of their own using modular pieces that snap together magnetically. Each project takes more time and produces a more satisfying, practical device than those in the other kits we tested,” Signe Brewster wrote. “The Rule Your Room Kit comes with the fewest pieces and sample projects among our field of competitors, but because littleBits encourages the incorporation of everyday items into the projects, the kit feels like it offers more possibilities than other kits of similar size.”
Acton Blink Lite
Street Price: $225; Deal Price: $200
Back down to $200, this is a nice deal on this recommended electric skateboard. The Acton Blink Lite is our budget pick for lighter riders in our guide to the best electric skateboard. If you’re a sub-180-pound rider who isn’t looking to spend a ton, this is a good opportunity to save some cash. While the street price has dropped in recent months, it’s still a solid discount.
“The Acton Blink Lite may not be the most powerful board around, but it’s a phenomenal value considering its price, and it would be a good gift for the young skater in your life,” Jack Smith wrote. “But despite the lack in power, we found riding the Blink Lite to be a blast, largely due to its nimble mini-cruiser design and small size. It’s also significantly cheaper than most other boards available.”
Because great deals don’t just happen on Prime Day, sign up for our daily deals email and we’ll send you the best deals we find every weekday. Also, deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go here.
Source: TechCrunch
President Trump’s Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin, on the heels of twelve Russian intelligence officials indicted for hacking the 2016 election, made it clear that this administration has zero commitment to protect our elections from future Russian attacks.
These events should remind us of an alarming fact we can no longer afford to ignore: our elections are not secure.
As a nation, we underfund and neglect election security. So, much like our aging infrastructure, our election infrastructure is severely outdated and crumbling before our eyes.
Unfortunately, in today’s hyper-partisan environment, even concerns over election security are divided along party lines. Case in point: after his trip to Russia last week, Republican Senator Ron Johnson declared “It’s very difficult to really meddle in our elections. It just is.”
To effectively safeguard our elections, we need to consider yet another conservative taboo: the federal government should have more power in setting election security standards. Our current decentralized, disjointed state-based system is no longer adequate for protecting our elections against foreign interference in the 21st century.
TechCrunch/Bryce Durbin
Right now, the federal government plays a very limited role in the oversight of election security. The Election Assistance Commission and Department of Homeland Security offer optional resources and issue non-binding guidelines for best practices, and states are free to come up with their own standards as they please. The results, unsurprisingly, are abysmal.
In 2016, for example, over two-thirds of all counties in the U.S. used voting machines that were over a decade old. Many machine used outdated softwares and ran in absurdly old operating systems such as Windows 2000. Thirteen states still use machines that are completely electronic, which makes themprone to glitches, and with no paper trails, the results cannot be audited.
Many experts have pointed out that our current machines could be hacked in a matter of minutes. Recently, a 14 year-old participant at DefCon breached a voting machine in 90 minutes, and was able to change the vote tally in the machine remotely, from anywhere.
Besides the machines, there are other major vulnerabilities in many states’ election security standards that would make hacking our elections a breeze for the Russians. Our voter registration databases are outdated and prone to infiltration. Many states have no post-election auditing requirements at all, and those that do are often insufficient, severely undermining our ability to identify and correct an attack.
While federalizing election security has long been castigated as an infringement of state rights, politicians are beginning to acknowledge its necessity. Senator Ron Wyden, for instance, recently introduced The Protecting American Votes and Elections Act of 2018, whichwould require every state to use election machines with paper ballots and mandate risk-limiting post-election audits (the “gold standard” of election auditing).
As Wyden argues: “Americans don’t expect states, much less county officials, to fight America’s wars. The Russians have attacked our election infrastructure and leaving our defenses to states and local entities, in my view, is not an adequate response. Our country needs baseline, mandatory, federal election security standards.”
TechCrunch/Bryce Durbin
Rather than providing concrete solutions, this Republican Congress continues to pretend that all of our election security problems can be solved by tiny, poorly designed federal grant programs alone. In this year’s omnibus spending bill, a bipartisan compromise provided a meager, but much needed $380 million federal grant to states for strengthening election security ahead of the 2018 election. However, the effectiveness of this grant is questionable, given it was earmarked for broad purposes and allocated by a formula that is not competitive or need-based.
Worse still, since states are not required to spend the federal grant allocated to them, some stateshave not even applied to collect their shares. Several state governments are impeding the use of this grant through a combination of delayed action and inaction. For example, Florida’s Republican-led state legislature has refused to authorize their election officials to use the grant before the 2018 election, even when the state is in desperate need for more election security funding.
While inadequate funding is a serious concern that needs to be addressed — House Democrats estimated that we will need $1.4 billion over the next decade to bring our entire election system in line with best practices — increasing federal grants alone would not be enough to secure elections in every state. The Secure Elections Act, a bill currently with the most broad-based, bipartisan support, will provide much needed federal funding to make up for the current shortfall, but as with this year’s federal grant, there is no guarantee states would use the funding in a timely and effective fashion — or at all — given state participation will remain voluntary under this bill.
Our representative democracy cannot survive if we fail to preserve the fairness and integrity of our elections. While it’s too late to implement binding federal guidelines to secure the 2018 midterm, we should accept nothing less for the 2020 presidential election, as we can be certain the Russians will hack that election in order to help their preferred candidate, yet again.
Too many states have proven they are unwilling to take election security seriously. It’s time for the federal government to step in.
Source: TechCrunch
Take a look at this innovative supermarket concept. Is the convenience enough or is it just a gimmick?
Source: CNET
The truth is out there.
Source: CNET
Its owner has a thing for the color green, if you couldn’t tell.
Source: CNET
Apple just released the third version of the iOS 12 beta as part of the public beta program. It means that everyone can now install a development build of iOS 12, the next major version of the operating system for iPhone and iPad.
Don’t forget this is still a beta version. Things will crash, things won’t work. Don’t be surprised if you lose data in your Photos, Notes or Messages apps for instance.
But if you have an iPhone or iPad that you don’t use every day, you can get a glimpse of the future of iOS right now. While the final version of iOS 12 should be released near the end of September, Apple is going to release beta versions every few weeks over the summer.
Before installing the beta, don’t forget to back up your device to iCloud and/or your computer using iTunes. You can then head over to Apple’s beta website, sign up with your Apple ID and download the beta profile.
The profile is just a tiny file that tells your iPhone to check for public betas. After restarting your device, you can open the Settings app and install the iOS update just like any normal software update. If you already installed a previous beta, it’s time to update.
In September, your device should automatically update to the final version of iOS 12 and you’ll be able to delete the configuration profile.
Here’s a quick rundown of what’s new in iOS 12. The main feature of iOS 12 is a performance improvement, especially for older devices. If you have an iPhone 6 or an iPad Air for instance, you should see a big improvement when it comes to launching apps, triggering the camera and entering text.
The other big theme of the year is new features to help you spend less time using your phone. There’s a new Screen Time feature to see and control how much time you spend using each app. Notifications are now grouped and you can silence them from the lock screen. You also can turn on Do Not Disturb when you’re in a meeting, for a few hours or for longer.
Apple didn’t stop there, and added new power features as well. Developers will be able to take advantage of a new file format for augmented reality and new features in ARKit 2.0. Apple is releasing the Workflow app as a new Siri Shortcuts app. Developers will be able to add information to Siri, as well, so that you can add a boarding pass or a music playlist to Siri.
The Photos, News and Stocks apps have been improved, as well as Apple Books (the app formerly known as iBooks). Apple is introducing Memoji on the iPhone X. It’s a customized avatar that you can use in iMessage and FaceTime to represent you.
If you want to learn more, read my iOS 12 preview to get my thoughts on this update.
Source: TechCrunch
Sinclair isn’t giving up yet as it tries to close the $3.9 billion deal to buy Tribune.
Source: CNET
Just like groups of birds or insects, these drones organize themselves into cohesive groups—a so-called “emergent” property of their individual actions.
Source: Wired
YouTuber Dave Lee is reporting what we already expected would happen with Apple’s latest MacBook Pro refresh with the Core i9-8950HK six-core CPU crammed inside: Throttling. There is just not enough space in the thin chassis.
The post Benchmark test shows Core i9 severely throttled in 15-inch MacBook Pro appeared first on Digital Trends.
Source: Digital trends
We are in the era of peak TV. Hundreds of expensive, scripted television shows are splayed across streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Netflix itself is now expected to spend $13 billion on original content this year. And yet, these networks can struggle to reach viewers outside of the core adult market.
That’s where Brat hopes to make its mark. The LA-based production studio and media company makes scripted dramas such as Chicken Girls on platforms like YouTube targeting a purely teen audience. And unlike Netflix, Brat is built from the ground up to keep production costs low: Rob Fishman, co-founder of Brat, says that “We are spending in the hundreds of thousand of dollars for every season” for their shows, instead of what can be seven figures an episode in the Netflix world.
Wide distribution to a young audience and that cost effectiveness has proven to be a compelling elixir for investors, who handed the company $30 million in capital. The fundraise was led by Anchorage Capital, and comes just a few months after the company’s previous $10 million fundraise last year.
For Fishman and his co-founder Darren Lachtman, this is familiar terrain. They previously founded Niche, an influencer marketing platform that matched social media stars to brands which sold to Twitter for a rumored $50 million. Now, they want to empower those very same influencers to build their own brands.
Fishman says the key question for Brat is “How do we become a youth culture brand.” The teens today are increasingly getting their content from vloggers on YouTube, the most popular of which can have millions of subscribers. Those videos are authentic, real, and cheap, but this talent has no outlet to push the quality of their content up a rung. “Besides Netflix, no one is making TV for the internet,” Fishman explained.
Brat wants to create a middle ground for video content, a space where teens can watch some of their favorite vloggers, but with production values and creativity that is more attuned to a classic Hollywood production studio rather than a bedroom. With Chicken Girls, the studio started with 4 minute scripted shows, but has steadily increased its length over the first season, ending with a season finale of 22 minutes. Season two is now underway. Fishman says that the show received “10 million views over a half an hour.”
The challenge is to push quality higher while keeping expenses low. “When you watch us film, it’s 20-person crews … this looks like a set, but we are doing it for 1/100th the cost,” Fishman explained. Even with a laser-focus on efficiency though, Brat has to differentiate through superior content. “The minute we make something that could be seen on one of these Vlogger channels, what is special for us? What’s distinctive?” Fishman noted. “That is the question that motivates us across everything we do – what are we doing that no one else is doing?”
The studio also takes its inspiration from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As it pulls in talent from the vlogging world with each unique show, it places them all in the same “high school universe” so that viewers can start with familiarity with the launch of each show. The model also helps to organically circulate viewership across its shows.
Ultimately, the company is targeting this Gen Z demographic for its spending power. Fishman says that the Gen Z crowd has spending power in the tens of billions, but advertisers struggle to reach them. Cable advertising is still tens of billions itself, and he believes there is an opportunity to migrate some of that spend to online video with the right level of quality and targeted demo.
It’s an ambitious play, and now with an ambitious production budget, the race is on to become the defining brand for a rising group of Gen Zers.
Source: TechCrunch