My Nexus 6 usually rests on a Tylt wireless charger here at The Verge office. I paid Verizon $60 for the thing. It's got a black, soft matte finish; it's the opposite of flashy, but works perfectly with any Qi-compatible smartphone I've placed on it — even with a bulky case on. Microsoft's taking the opposite approach with its new Nokia-branded Qi wireless charger. It's available in three bright colors: white, green, or orange (the model we tested).
For all the criticism that Samsung has received for copying Apple over the years, it’s the times when the Korean company has copied itself that have proven most frustrating. Last year’s Galaxy S5 was a bigger version of the prior S4, which was a bigger version of the S III, which wasn’t all that great a smartphone to begin with. This sorry record of repetition caught up with Samsung in 2014 as better and cheaper alternatives undermined the Galaxy line’s dominance of both Android and smartphones in general. Stung by the unfamiliar sight of sales shrinking rather than growing, Samsung promised fundamental change to its smartphone range and the upcoming Galaxy S6 will be the truest embodiment of that reformation.
This past summer, Google started noticing ads for vacation homes that didn't exist. The ads themselves weren't fishy — there was no malware or counterfeit goods — but there was something suspicious behind them. The photos were all pulled from other listings or from stock photo sites, and didn't match with the addresses. The ads were real, but the homes weren't. The point was to convince users that they were real for just long enough to get a deposit, at which point the company could safely disappear. Once Google got wise to the scam, they cracked down, poring through the system for any rental deals that might be bogus.
When I say textbook, you probably think something along the lines of “boring” or “meh,” but a new app called Earth, A Primer for iOS brings boring old geology textbooks into the addictive, interactive future.
Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, and Belkin. Those are the brands that most consumers choose when it comes time to set up a home Wi-Fi network. But no matter which product you buy, getting wireless internet working in your home — your entire home — can quickly turn into a miserable experience. More often than not, it's an exercise in frustration; a test of your patience and resolve. That's assuming you're talking about an average-sized house or apartment. Throw some long hallways or brick walls into the mix, and suddenly all bets are off. You can buy any number of ugly boxes (Wi-Fi extenders) that claim they'll fix the problem, yet still end up with dead zones in certain rooms, or you'll constantly be pestered by Netflix's buffering screen — even on the ultra-fast broadband connection you're paying the cable company fistfuls of money for.
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