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AT&T’s 5G Network will Go Live in 12 Cities by the End of this Week

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AT&T has been prepping for the launch of its 5G network for a long time, followed by a conference early this month, in which it demoed the speed of its upcoming 5G network. After such a long wait, AT&T has announced that its 5G network will go live on 21 December, in some of the parts of 12 cities in the United States. AT&T has become the first company to launch a mobile network based on the 5G standard, although Verizon had also launched its first 5G network earlier this year, as a home broadband replacement.

5G-ATT
Images Source: GlobalMediaIT

Currently, the network is only available to a specific group of people. It’s not like you can go to a store and directly buy the hotspot from there. The company is mainly targetting to provide the service to the businesses in the area. There may be a strategy behind the idea, as the company might be still testing the network, and would want to assure that the service is working well before it goes out to more consumers. So the company is approaching the targeted clients by itself.

AT&T is offering a free 5G hotspot service to those companies, and won’t charge anything until the official launch. The company is planning to launch the network in the other parts of the world by the coming spring and will sell the hot spot for $499. It is also going to announce the monthly plan for the 5G network starting with $70 per month for 15GB.

The cities which have got the access to this 5G service are New Orleans, Charlotte, Atlanta, Raleigh, Houston, Indianapolis, Dallas, Louisville, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Jacksonville, and Waco and the cities that may get access to the same service in the coming six months may include Nashville, Los Angeles, Orlando, Las Vegas, San Diego, San Johe and San Francisco. Even though AT&T will expand to those cities, here too, only some specific parts of those cities will be able to use the 5G network.

AT&T has also announced that it will launch two Samsung 5G phones in 2019, in the two halves of the year. The company is also offering tempting deals for the early subscribers of the 5G network along with free access to it for at least 90 days.

5 Best Smartphones of the Year : Our Pick List for the 2018 Smartphones

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2018 had been a tough year for tech giants like Facebook and Google, especially due to the raised security concerns. But at the same time, the year had new inventions and launches, too, especially the launches of new smartphones, including the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Many of the smartphones became the best sellers of the year, and many failed the expectations of its users.

2018-best-phone
Image Source: newatlas.com

After evaluating the specifications, performance and the selling rate of the smartphones, we are here with the top 5 smartphones that were incredibly good and will remain in the favourite’s list of its users in 2019, too.

Google Pixel 3: The Google Pixel 3 was launched in October 2018. The phone is a real challenge for the new iPhones with its impressive features at such a price. The phone ships with a 12.2-megapixel primary rear camera and with two selfie cameras, one for the normal selfie and the other for a wide-angle selfie. Both the front cameras are of 8 megapixels. With excellent build, the phone is a pure Android device, embedded with all the latest software updates. The smartphone has a 5.8-inch OLED display with a 2,260 x 1,080-pixel resolution. The outstanding camera and the unique A.I. features, of this phone, made Google Pixel 3 top our best 2018 smartphones list.

iPhone XS: An elite phone having not much upgrade to the iPhone X, iPhone XS is the most-awaited device for the iPhone lovers. The excellent camera quality and the top-notch performance of the phone is everything a user demands at such a price. The high range of the price does complete justice with its attractive design, outstanding camera and faster processor.

OnePlus 6T: The OnePlus series has been around for a couple of years now and are continuously surprising its users with its performance. The latest addition to the series was the OnePlus 6T phone, that was also launched in October 2018. As soon as the phone arrived it was in the list of the best sellers. The 6.41-inch display phone provides you with the resolution of 1080×2340 pixels. The phone is known for its excellent dual rear camera (16-megapixel and 20-megapixel ), and a 16-megapixel front camera.

Samsung Galaxy S9: The Samsung Galaxy S9 was released in the early March of this year. The phone is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series. It has a beautiful sleek design (similar to the early phones in this series) and is high on performance, too. The latest features added to the phone are facial recognition and biometric security, wireless charging as well as the water resistance. The phone has a 5.8-inch display with a Super AMOLED panel, providing resolution of 1440×2960. Its high performance makes it one of the most powerful Android phones of 2018.

LG V40: The LG V40. The smartphone is one of the best smartphones built by LG. The smartphone renders the best performance, outstanding camera quality, best display and certainly a beautiful and sleek design. The phone has a 6.4-inch QHD+ OLED Display and offers a resolution of 3120×1440. It is the first phone having the wide angle (16MP) and the telephoto lens (12MP) rear camera, together. It supports the wireless charging for its 3,300 mAh non-removable battery. The phone is already out in the markets outside India, and release date for the phone in India is 26 December. So even being a 2018 phone, it will be the newest for the year 2019.

Apple Unveils ‘Best of 2018’ iPhone And iPad Apps

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2018 is about to end, and recalling the year, every person and every company has its own story to tell. For the tech giants like Google and Apple, it’s about their products that worked really well in 2018. At the beginning of December, Google revealed its best android apps of the year and now Apple has also announced its ten best apps of 2018, for iPhone, iPad and Apple watch.

mac
Image Source : macstories.net

The Apple’s editors in the different categories have created the list that includes the most-downloaded apps, most-streamed films-music, and the best games of 2018, etc. The editorial list includes both free as well as paid versions and has been selected on the basis of popularity and on the basis of the best content across the App Store and iTunes.

In the category of free iPhone apps, YouTube topped the list, followed by Instagram and Snapchat.

Top 10 Free iPhone Apps:
1. YouTube
2. Instagram
3. Snapchat
4. Messenger
5. Facebook
6. Bitmoji
7. Netflix
8. Google Maps
9. Gmail
10. Spotify Music

The selfie-editor FaceTune won the best app in the Paid iPhone apps category.

Top 10 Paid iPhone Apps:
1. Facetune ($3.99)
2. Kirakira+ ($0.99)
3. Dark Sky Weather ($3.99)
4. HotSchedules ($2.99)
5. PlantSnap ($2.99)
6. AutoSleep Tracker for Watch ($2.99)
7. Sky Guide ($2.99)
8. 1 Second Everyday: Video Diary ($4.99)
9. The Wonder Weeks ($2.99)
10. Afterlight 2 ($2.99)

Fortnite not only won the best game in the free iPhone games category but also topped the iPad free games category.

Top 10 Free iPhone Games:
1. Fortnite
2. Helix Jump
3. Rise Up
4. PUBG Mobile
5. Hole.io
6. Love Balls
7. Snake VS Block
8. Rules of Survival
9. Roblox
10. Dune!

Heads Up won the best paid iPhone Game. It is also on the number 5 in the paid games list on iPad.

Top 10 Paid iPhone Games:
1. Heads Up! ($2.99)
2. Minecraft ($6.99)
3. Plague Inc. ($0.99)
4. Bloons TD 6 ($4.99)
5. Pocket Build ($1.99)
6. Bloons TD 5 ($2.99)
7. Geometry Dash ($1.99)
8. The Game of Life ($2.99)
9. Papa’s Freezeria To Go ($0.99)
10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ($6.99)

YouTube again was crowned as the best free app for iPad, Netflix and Messenger came on the second and third positions, respectively.

Top 10 Free iPad Apps:
1. YouTube
2. Netflix
3. Messenger
4. Facebook
5. Amazon Prime Video
6. Google Chrome
7. Gmail
8. YouTube Kids
9. The Calculator
10. Amazon Shopping

The drawing app Procreate became the best of the paid iPad app of 2018.

Top 10 Paid iPad Apps:
1. Procreate ($9.99)
2. Notability ($9.99)
3. GoodNotes 4 ($7.99)
4. Toca Life: Pets ($3.99)
5. Duet Display ($9.99)
6. Toca Life: After School ($3.99)
7. XtraMath ($4.99)
8. Toca Hair Salon 3 ($3.99)
9. MyScript Nebo ($7.99)
10. Toca Kitchen 2 ($3.99)

Fortnite reigns as the top free mobile game for iPad too.

Top 10 Free iPad Games:
1. Fortnite
2. Roblox
3. Kick the Buddy
4. Love Balls
5. Helix Jump
6. Color by Number Coloring Game!
7. Bowmasters – Multiplayer Game
8. Hole.io
9. Rise Up
10. Rules of Survival

Minecraft sits on the top of the paid iPad games list.

Top 10 Paid iPad Games:
1. Minecraft ($6.99)
2. Geometry Dash ($1.99)
3. The Game of Life ($2.99)
4. The Room: Old Sins ($4.99)
5. Heads Up! ($0.99)
6. Bloons TD 6 ($4.99)
7. Goat Simulator ($4.99)
8. Five Nights at Freddy’s ($2.99)
9. Lego Jurassic World ($4.99)
10. Terraria ($4.99)

The year was incredibly good for the self-wellness apps like, Fabulous and Calm, and also for the games like Fortnite and PUBG (Players Unknown Battleground). Apple also chose its own favourite apps and games of the year, among which Procreate Pocket and Donut County, were selected as the app and the game of the year on iPhone. And, Froggipedia and puzzle-game Gorogoa were selected as the app and the game of the year on iPad, respectively.

Google Maps now Shows Nearby Lime Scooter & Lets You Book One for Your Last-mile Trip

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The tech giant Google has been continuously working towards improving its services for its consumers. Similarly, for its most widely used GPS app, Google map, Google has been adding new features to it to make navigation simpler for its users.

google map-lime
Image Source: pcmag.com

Google has already added Uber to its Google Map app, from where the users can book cabs for them. Now on Thursday, Google announced that it is going to partner with Lime and will show the location of nearby Lime battery-powered scooters, on Google Map. Google is planning to do so, in order to shorten the commute times for its users, as they will be able to rent those ride from the app.

Google, in its blog, said that after getting out of a taxi or a subway, the 15 minutes walk can be reduced to a smaller ride with the help of those scooters. Google will now display the nearby Lime scooters on the Google Map app, as another transport option, and after the users tap on it, they will be redirected to the Lime app. If there is no lime app on their smartphones, they will be redirected to the Apple Store or Play Store, so that they can download the app. And then, the users can book those scooters and bikes, from the app.

For now, the service will be available only in thirteen cities worldwide, i.e., Auckland (NZ), Austin, Baltimore, Brisbane (AU), Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, San Antonio, San Jose, Scottsdale, and Seattle. And, after the successful testing of the services, Google is planning to expand it into other cities as well.

The app not only will show the distance of the vehicle form users’ location but also will display the total journey time, battery consumption, the total cost for the journey and the number of other Lime vehicles nearby.

Lime, in the time of its 14 months operation, has fulfilled almost 1.5 million bike and scooter rides and has raised $467 million in funding to date, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, being one of the biggest investors in it. The partnership between the two companies is not only beneficial for them business-wise, but will be a great contribution in reducing the congestion and carbon emissions.

Amazon Opens its First Pint-sized Cashier-free Amazon Go Store in Seattle

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There is nothing, which the biggest retailer, Amazon, does not want to try its hands in. After building the largest empire of online business, Amazon has also entered into the bricks-and-mortar world, with its large Amazon Go cashier-less stores, operating successfully in Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle.

amazongo
Image source: pymnts.com

This time, Amazon has launched the tiny version of its Amazon Go stores in Seattle- the eighth cashier-less store. The store is located on the sixth floor of the Macy’s building in downtown, Seattle. It is this first store of the chain of small stores, Amazon intends to launch for airports, office lobbies, and hospitals. This tiny store is quarter the size of the other big Amazon stores, almost about the size of a 450-square-foot New York City studio apartment.

Unlike the other Amazon Go stores, the small store does not have any checkout lanes. The buyers need to scan an in-app code, through the Amazon Go app, on the entrance of the store, and the cameras will take care of whatever they pick from the shelves. As the store is also a cashier-less one, for the checkouts, the customers will make the payments through their Amazon accounts.

The store is isolated with glass walls and an enclosed ceiling, with all the cameras and sensors attached to it. Amazon has built those stores, especially for its employees. The stores contain a wider variety of pre-made food, grocery, salads and snacks, etc., so that the customers can buy the items on the go.

Gianna Puerini, vice president of Amazon Go, said, “We wanted something from a design perspective that would fit nicely into open spaces. You can bring it in pieces and assemble it on site.”

There were news making rounds, in September this year, that Amazon is planning to build over 3000 such stores across the world. However, there has been no confirmation on the topic from the company.

New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe Pre-load Live on Switch eShop

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super mario bros
Image Source: nintendo.co

Nintendo is still prepping for the new Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe launch, which is set to be in January 2019, and besides, it made the pre-load of the game already available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for the Switch console. The company has also revealed a bit of information regarding the game, that is enough to make the Mario lovers be more excited about it.

The new Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is very much similar to the Wii U game that was released back in 2012 but with few enhancements. With the updated graphics the game, this time, will include the New Super Luigi U, raising the difficulty level for the gamers.

For the gamers in the United Kingdom, the game is full price at £49.99, same as the Wii U port game Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and for the U.S. players, the full price is set at $59.99. The gamers need to have a 2.5 GB space on their Switch console to run this new game, just around 100MB more than New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U combined, on Wii U.

The game will be released in languages including Japanese, English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, and Chinese languages. For the online subscribers, the game will also have the cloud save data support and can be played in all TV, handheld, and tabletop modes.

For encouraging the pre-order of the game digitally, Nintendo has offered double Gold Coins on the early purchases. Usually, the offer includes a 5% of the price back in Gold Coins, but this time the buyers will get 10%; providing the buyers with an acceptable reason to get the game early.