Category: Articles

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Amazon Brings Prime Video to Android Tablets – Still Finicky to Setup

Amazon has been notoriously slow in bringing their Prime Video service to Android. Cross platform compatibility was a key factor in making the Kindle service the most widely used way to consume e-books, but Amazon seemed happy to let Netflix, Hulu, and Google Play run away with the Android streaming video market.

Recently they caved on allowing Android phones to stream video, and now, the most recent update for the Prime Video app includes support for Android tablets.

It’s not all roses however. Getting the service up and running still requires a multi-app strategy. The fastest way we got it running?

  1. amazon prime instant video on android tablet browser chrome somegadgetguyInstall the old Amazon App Store APK manually.
  2. Sign in to your Amazon account through the Amazon App Store App.
  3. Use the Amazon App Store to Install the “Prime Instant Video” app.
  4. Open your tablet’s browser (I use Chrome), and log into your Amazon account through that browser.
  5. Navigate to a video you’d like to play, and press “Watch Now”. You should get an option to “Open with Instant Video”. Use that.

Congratulations, you’ve set up Prime Instant Video on your Android tablet! From here on out, you should be able to continue using the service by using your browser to search for videos to watch.

I don’t see Amazon Prime Video unseating Netflix, Google Play, and Hulu on Android devices any time soon…

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iFixIt Gives HTC One M9 a Low Score for Repairability

iFixIt is home to some of the most detailed (and humorous) gadget dis-assembly posts on the internet. Diving into the minutiae of what it takes to tear down, repair, and reconstruct our precious phones, tablets, and laptops.

The challenge for the iFixIt team was to see if HTC had improved upon the build of the M8 in being difficult to repair. It would seem that the hardware similarities between the M8 and M9 are more than just skin deep, as the M9 receives a “2 out of 10”, making it one of the more difficult phones to repair on the market today.

Highlights include a difficult to replace screen and a battery glued to the rear wall of the phone.

If you want to see what’s actually inside your magic glowing rectangle, I would highly recommend checking out one of their tear down guides.

HTC One M9 Teardown – iFixIt

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Amazon Now Carries Cricket Wireless BYOD SIM Card Kit

cricket wireless logoIf you’re looking to save a little cash on your cell plan by shopping an MVNO, you can now pick up a Cricket Wireless SIM card kit for $9.99 on Amazon.

The kit comes with a Nano SIM and adapters for phones that use Mini and Micro SIM cards. Just about any unlocked GSM device should work as Cricket is powered by AT&T’s network. It’s the beauty of a Bring Your Own Device program, you don’t have to buy a new phone when you switch networks.

Plans start at $35 a month for unlimited talk, text, and “slow data” with 2.5GB of LTE “fast data”.  This pricing includes taxes and fees.

You can grab a Cricket kit here, and read their full press release below.

Continue reading “Amazon Now Carries Cricket Wireless BYOD SIM Card Kit”

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Reddit Wins for Most Mysterious April Fools Day Prank?

We all love a good internet mystery or alternate reality game, and Reddit cooked up a simple, but compelling gag which at the time of this post, is still on-going. All it takes to “play” is a simple press of a button…

reddit april fools the button game arg mystery

From the Reddit Blog:

reddit,

When this post is 10 minutes old, a button and timer will become active at /r/thebutton. The timer will count down from 60 seconds. If the button is pressed the timer will reset to 60 seconds and continue counting down. Only users logged into accounts created before 2015-04-01 can press the button.

You may only press the button once.

We can’t tell you what to do from here on out. The choice is yours.

Cryptic. Right now, Reddit users are clicking quickly, with over 100,000 people already having pushed the button. The timer rarely drops below 58 seconds. I’ll be saving my press for later.

What happens when the timer runs out? We’ll just have to wait and see…

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Microsoft Surface 3 (not Pro) Revealed! Everything You Need to Know!

Microsoft quietly took the wraps off their new Surface tablet, and it looks like a winner! Here’s the full scoop on their new consumer focused Windows tablet!

More info on the Surface 3.

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Google FINALLY Combines Google+ Photos and Drive Cloud Storage

It’s been a perplexing division. Uploading photos online to services like Google+, you get a bucket of cloud storage to use. Using a service like Drive, you get a bucket of cloud storage to use. Why have these been separate buckets?

Google is finally addressing and rectifying this division. Announced via the Google Drive Blog, now you can open your Drive app on Android and iOS, or jump into a web browser, where you will now find a new menu option for Photos. This also means you’ll have better tools for organizing your photos in folders.

After relying on services like OneDrive and DropBox, it seemed such a simple solution to organize files online, and now Google is finally joining the club.

You can read Google’s full press release below.

Continue reading “Google FINALLY Combines Google+ Photos and Drive Cloud Storage”

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T-Mobile Updates Network Coverage Map Based on Crowdsourced User Data

An interesting update from Lil Magenta in how they advertise and detail their network coverage.

We all skeptically check out network coverage maps from cell phone carriers. Asking people about real world usage in major cities, everyone has a story about each carrier where that network conked out on them. Instead of continuing to use predictive estimations of network coverage, from now on T-Mobile will show actual user data.

Crowdsourcing customer experience, combining that with verified third party speed testing, and updating their maps twice a month.

You can check out the new map here, and read T-Mo’s press release below. They also throw out entertaining PR…

(Thanks for the tip A.J.)

Continue reading “T-Mobile Updates Network Coverage Map Based on Crowdsourced User Data”

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The Better Smartwatch Commercial? Apple or Google? FIGHT!

The “Tech as Fashion” wars are heating up. Now that Apple has finally released all their details on the Apple Watch, and started advertising it on TV, now other companies are cutting TV ads to compete. Why Google would have waited for Apple to start broadcasting ads I’ll never understand, when Android Wear had a solid head start in the market, but I digress…

Anywho, now that the two companies are duking it out on TV, who do you think has the better ad? Apple went with their classic “Simple and show some functionality” approach, while Google played into the more recent feel good slate of ads, like their Animal Friends, with some colorful dance moves. One team’s ad is all about focus, the other all about diversity.

Which company did the better job introducing the world to their smartwatch? Drop us a comment below!

Google:

Apple:


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