Tag Archives: author_name|Kris Holt

Our favorite cheap smartphone is on sale for $250 right now

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You don't need to shell out a four-figure sum to find a great smartphone. In fact, you don't even need to spend half of that to snap up one that covers all of the basics and then some. At its regular price of $300, the OnePlus Nord N30 5G was already our pick for the best cheap phone around. It's currently on sale for $250 ($50) off, which makes it an even better deal. That's close to a record low price. The discount is part of a broader sale on OnePlus phones and earbuds.

The OnePlus Nord N30 5G offers great value however you slice it. The phone has a relatively zippy Snapdragon 695 5G processor, along with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which is expandable with a microSD card.

You'll get a 16MP front-facing camera and, on the rear, 108MP main and 2MP macro lenses. The 5,000mAh battery should last you a day of moderate use, while OnePlus says the 50W fast charging support will top it up from a one-percent charge to 80 percent in 30 minutes. The OnePlus Nord N30 5G also has a 6.7-inch, 120Hz IPS display that's great for gaming.

On the downside, there's no IP rating for dust or water resistance. And while the handset runs on Oxygen OS 13.1 (which is based on Android 13), OnePlus has only committed to bringing one major Android update to the N30, along with three years of security support. That's a pity for those looking for something that'll stay up to date for a few years without breaking the bank, but that level of Android support is typical for budget phones.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/our-favorite-cheap-smartphone-is-on-sale-for-250-right-now-161336458.html?src=rss

Our favorite cheap smartphone is on sale for $250 right now

Posted on by

You don't need to shell out a four-figure sum to find a great smartphone. In fact, you don't even need to spend half of that to snap up one that covers all of the basics and then some. At its regular price of $300, the OnePlus Nord N30 5G was already our pick for the best cheap phone around. It's currently on sale for $250 ($50) off, which makes it an even better deal. That's close to a record low price. The discount is part of a broader sale on OnePlus phones and earbuds.

The OnePlus Nord N30 5G offers great value however you slice it. The phone has a relatively zippy Snapdragon 695 5G processor, along with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which is expandable with a microSD card.

You'll get a 16MP front-facing camera and, on the rear, 108MP main and 2MP macro lenses. The 5,000mAh battery should last you a day of moderate use, while OnePlus says the 50W fast charging support will top it up from a one-percent charge to 80 percent in 30 minutes. The OnePlus Nord N30 5G also has a 6.7-inch, 120Hz IPS display that's great for gaming.

On the downside, there's no IP rating for dust or water resistance. And while the handset runs on Oxygen OS 13.1 (which is based on Android 13), OnePlus has only committed to bringing one major Android update to the N30, along with three years of security support. That's a pity for those looking for something that'll stay up to date for a few years without breaking the bank, but that level of Android support is typical for budget phones.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/our-favorite-cheap-smartphone-is-on-sale-for-250-right-now-161336458.html?src=rss

Some Spotify plans are reportedly getting more expensive soon

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Fish swim, birds fly and streaming services increase their prices. That’s (mostly) the way of things. After maintaining the same pricing for Premium for a long time, Spotify looks set to increase it twice within a year in some countries.

According to Bloomberg, Spotify Premium will be around $1 more for an individual plan and about $2 costlier for family and duo plans by the end of April in a few markets, including the UK, Australia and Pakistan. The report suggests the US is in line for a similar increase later this year.

The higher fees are expected to offset the costs of audiobook offerings. Since October, Premium users in select markets have been able to listen to 15 hours of audiobooks per month at no extra cost. The company is said to have seen strong levels of audiobook consumption so far.

If users go over the 15-hour limit, they can pay for a 10-hour top up. It’s there that Spotify makes more money from its Premium audiobook library. The company also sells audiobooks on its web store.

Spotify has been chasing profitability since it went public in 2018 and to help it get there, it’s said to be preparing several more subscription tiers. One of those (a more expensive option) will reportedly offer high-fidelity audio, a feature the company has long been promising.

It may also introduce a basic tier that includes ad-free music and podcasts, with audiobooks being cut out. This plan is expected to cost $11 per month, the same as Spotify currently charges for Premium. As such, that $10 audiobook-only plan Spotify introduced in the US last month is starting to make more sense.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/some-spotify-plans-are-reportedly-getting-more-expensive-soon-143013215.html?src=rss

Some Spotify plans are reportedly getting more expensive soon

Posted on by

Fish swim, birds fly and streaming services increase their prices. That’s (mostly) the way of things. After maintaining the same pricing for Premium for a long time, Spotify looks set to increase it twice within a year in some countries.

According to Bloomberg, Spotify Premium will be around $1 more for an individual plan and about $2 costlier for family and duo plans by the end of April in a few markets, including the UK, Australia and Pakistan. The report suggests the US is in line for a similar increase later this year.

The higher fees are expected to offset the costs of audiobook offerings. Since October, Premium users in select markets have been able to listen to 15 hours of audiobooks per month at no extra cost. The company is said to have seen strong levels of audiobook consumption so far.

If users go over the 15-hour limit, they can pay for a 10-hour top up. It’s there that Spotify makes more money from its Premium audiobook library. The company also sells audiobooks on its web store.

Spotify has been chasing profitability since it went public in 2018 and to help it get there, it’s said to be preparing several more subscription tiers. One of those (a more expensive option) will reportedly offer high-fidelity audio, a feature the company has long been promising.

It may also introduce a basic tier that includes ad-free music and podcasts, with audiobooks being cut out. This plan is expected to cost $11 per month, the same as Spotify currently charges for Premium. As such, that $10 audiobook-only plan Spotify introduced in the US last month is starting to make more sense.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/some-spotify-plans-are-reportedly-getting-more-expensive-soon-143013215.html?src=rss

Spotify’s subscriber audiobook credit is coming to Canada and other countries next week

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Spotify Premium users in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand will have access to 15 hours of monthly audiobook listening at no extra cost starting on April 9. Subscribers in the US, UK and Australia have had access to this perk for several months.

The Premium audiobook catalog now includes more than 250,000 titles. That's a notable increase from the 200,000 audiobooks that were in the library as of late 2023. So when you could use a change from the millions of songs and podcasts on Spotify, you'll have a ton of books to choose from.

Those who hit the 15-hour limit can add more audiobook listening time in 10-hour top ups. In the new markets, the extra listening time costs CAD $14.99, IRE €12.99 or NZD $19.99, per TechCrunch.

Since last month, Spotify has offered an audiobook-only subscription plan in the US. At $10, it's $1 per month less than Spotify Premium for the same 15 hours of audiobook listening time. Still, depending on the lengths of books that you listen to, this plan might prove better value than Audible, which grants you one audiobook credit per month for $15. That said, unused audiobook listening time on Spotify doesn't carry over to the next month.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotifys-free-audiobook-credit-is-coming-to-canada-and-other-countries-next-week-182444456.html?src=rss

Spotify’s subscriber audiobook credit is coming to Canada and other countries next week

Posted on by

Spotify Premium users in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand will have access to 15 hours of monthly audiobook listening at no extra cost starting on April 9. Subscribers in the US, UK and Australia have had access to this perk for several months.

The Premium audiobook catalog now includes more than 250,000 titles. That's a notable increase from the 200,000 audiobooks that were in the library as of late 2023. So when you could use a change from the millions of songs and podcasts on Spotify, you'll have a ton of books to choose from.

Those who hit the 15-hour limit can add more audiobook listening time in 10-hour top ups. In the new markets, the extra listening time costs CAD $14.99, IRE €12.99 or NZD $19.99, per TechCrunch.

Since last month, Spotify has offered an audiobook-only subscription plan in the US. At $10, it's $1 per month less than Spotify Premium for the same 15 hours of audiobook listening time. Still, depending on the lengths of books that you listen to, this plan might prove better value than Audible, which grants you one audiobook credit per month for $15. That said, unused audiobook listening time on Spotify doesn't carry over to the next month.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotifys-free-audiobook-credit-is-coming-to-canada-and-other-countries-next-week-182444456.html?src=rss

Tesla sees EV deliveries drop year-over-year for the first time since 2020

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Tesla has revealed how many vehicles it delivered in the first three months of 2024 and the figures dropped significantly from both the previous quarter and the same period in 2023. The company handed over 386,810 EVs during the period.

That's down 20 percent from the 484,507 vehicles Tesla delivered in Q4 2023 and an eight percent dip year-over-year. This was Tesla's first YoY sales drop since 2020, Bloomberg points out. The figures also fell well short of projections — on average, analysts expected Tesla to deliver 449,080 EVs.

There are some mitigating factors at play, as TechCrunch notes. Tesla had to close its factory in Germany for almost a week due to an arson attack. It also put most production at the Berlin-area facility on hold for a fortnight due to shipping disruptions resulting from Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea. Tesla also pointed to an early production ramp up of the revised Model 3 as another reason for the drop in deliveries.

Tesla says it built 412,376 Model 3 and Y vehicles in the first three months of 2024 and 20,995 other models for a total of 433,371. Of the deliveries, 369,783 were Model 3s and Model Ys. The company didn't detail the number of Cybertrucks it built and delivered.

As is often the case, Tesla tried a few tactics to juice sales at the end of the quarter, such as once again offering a free trial of Full Self-Driving (which, despite the name, is not an autonomous driving system). The company also hinted to prospective buyers who'd been on the fence that they should snap up one of its EVs before a price increase on April 1. Sure enough, on Monday, the company jacked up the price of every Model Y trim by $1,000 in the US.

Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned that the company was between "two major growth waves" — the boom of the Model 3 and Y, and a lower-cost EV that's expected to arrive in late 2025. As such, he warned investors that Tesla was likely to see "notably lower" sales growth this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-sees-ev-deliveries-drop-year-over-year-for-the-first-time-since-2020-153020454.html?src=rss

Tesla sees EV deliveries drop year-over-year for the first time since 2020

Posted on by

Tesla has revealed how many vehicles it delivered in the first three months of 2024 and the figures dropped significantly from both the previous quarter and the same period in 2023. The company handed over 386,810 EVs during the period.

That's down 20 percent from the 484,507 vehicles Tesla delivered in Q4 2023 and an eight percent dip year-over-year. This was Tesla's first YoY sales drop since 2020, Bloomberg points out. The figures also fell well short of projections — on average, analysts expected Tesla to deliver 449,080 EVs.

There are some mitigating factors at play, as TechCrunch notes. Tesla had to close its factory in Germany for almost a week due to an arson attack. It also put most production at the Berlin-area facility on hold for a fortnight due to shipping disruptions resulting from Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea. Tesla also pointed to an early production ramp up of the revised Model 3 as another reason for the drop in deliveries.

Tesla says it built 412,376 Model 3 and Y vehicles in the first three months of 2024 and 20,995 other models for a total of 433,371. Of the deliveries, 369,783 were Model 3s and Model Ys. The company didn't detail the number of Cybertrucks it built and delivered.

As is often the case, Tesla tried a few tactics to juice sales at the end of the quarter, such as once again offering a free trial of Full Self-Driving (which, despite the name, is not an autonomous driving system). The company also hinted to prospective buyers who'd been on the fence that they should snap up one of its EVs before a price increase on April 1. Sure enough, on Monday, the company jacked up the price of every Model Y trim by $1,000 in the US.

Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned that the company was between "two major growth waves" — the boom of the Model 3 and Y, and a lower-cost EV that's expected to arrive in late 2025. As such, he warned investors that Tesla was likely to see "notably lower" sales growth this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-sees-ev-deliveries-drop-year-over-year-for-the-first-time-since-2020-153020454.html?src=rss

Yahoo bought AI-powered news app Artifact from Instagram’s co-founders

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Yahoo has bought Artifact, the news aggregation and recommendation app from Instagram’s co-founders. The app will no longer operate as a standalone service. Yahoo will fold Artifact's AI personalization tech and other features into products including Yahoo News in the coming months.

Terms of the deal, which closed last week, were not disclosed. Artifact founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger will advise Yahoo (Engadget’s parent company) during the transition.

“AI has allowed us to give users a better experience discovering great content they care about,” Artifact CEO Systrom said in a press release. “Yahoo recognizes that opportunity, and we could not be more excited to see what we’ve built live on through Yahoo News.”

Artifact debuted in January last year and it picked up a bit of steam thanks to its solid discovery system that surfaced stories users by and large wanted to read (it delivered me a nice blend of gaming, breaking news and architecture stories). The app aimed to improve its personalized news feed over time. It did an effective job of that while incorporating other AI-powered features such as news summaries.

However, the app didn’t quite take off in the same way as Instagram. While the team behind it did add social features such as profiles, comment voting and so on, Artifact just didn’t find a big enough audience. Systrom and Krieger announced plans to shut down Artifact back in January, but the pair actually kept it running a while longer by themselves until selling it.

As it happens, Yahoo bought another app that used AI to summarize news, Summly, over a decade ago. Similarly, it shut down that app and folded the tech behind Summly into other products.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/yahoo-bought-ai-powered-news-app-artifact-from-instagrams-co-founders-140040172.html?src=rss

Yahoo bought AI-powered news app Artifact from Instagram’s co-founders

Posted on by

Yahoo has bought Artifact, the news aggregation and recommendation app from Instagram’s co-founders. The app will no longer operate as a standalone service. Yahoo will fold Artifact's AI personalization tech and other features into products including Yahoo News in the coming months.

Terms of the deal, which closed last week, were not disclosed. Artifact founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger will advise Yahoo (Engadget’s parent company) during the transition.

“AI has allowed us to give users a better experience discovering great content they care about,” Artifact CEO Systrom said in a press release. “Yahoo recognizes that opportunity, and we could not be more excited to see what we’ve built live on through Yahoo News.”

Artifact debuted in January last year and it picked up a bit of steam thanks to its solid discovery system that surfaced stories users by and large wanted to read (it delivered me a nice blend of gaming, breaking news and architecture stories). The app aimed to improve its personalized news feed over time. It did an effective job of that while incorporating other AI-powered features such as news summaries.

However, the app didn’t quite take off in the same way as Instagram. While the team behind it did add social features such as profiles, comment voting and so on, Artifact just didn’t find a big enough audience. Systrom and Krieger announced plans to shut down Artifact back in January, but the pair actually kept it running a while longer by themselves until selling it.

As it happens, Yahoo bought another app that used AI to summarize news, Summly, over a decade ago. Similarly, it shut down that app and folded the tech behind Summly into other products.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/yahoo-bought-ai-powered-news-app-artifact-from-instagrams-co-founders-140040172.html?src=rss