Cameron Summerson
A lot can happen with tech news in the course of a week, and it’s hard to keep up with everything. If you’re looking for a quick way to catch up on the biggest, best, and most popular stories of the week, this is the place.
The Biggest Tech Stories of the Week
News has been all over the place for the last several weeks—things that normally come out during pre-planned events have poured out at seemingly random times, making it hard to know what’s going to happen next. Not going to lie—I kind of love it. Here’s some of the best stuff that happened this week (along with a few that you might have missed).
- Apple announced the new iPhone SE, and it’s only $400: This is probably the biggest piece of tech news to come out of the last week. The new iPhone SE is really more like a beefy iPhone 8, but it features a faster processer, battery camera, and the cheapest price we’ve ever seen on a brand new iPhone. It’s available for pre-order right now and will be released on Friday, April 24th.
- OnePlus announced the 8 and 8 Pro: If you’re more of an Android user, OP announced a pair of beastly flagship phones. The 8 and 8 Pro are 5G ready, have the best displays OP has ever released, and are jam-packed with the best hardware. Both phones will be available starting on April 29th at midnight. Reviews coming soon.
- Plex released a pair of new apps for music and server management: If you’re a Plex user, these new apps are must-haves for managing your server.
- Over 500m Zoom accounts were found for sale on the dark web: With more people working from home than ever before, lots of people are relying on video chatting applications for virtual meetings. Zoom has seen a massive influx in popularity as a result, but this has also exposed several security vulnerabilities with the service. And now people are selling stolen accounts on the dark web. Oof.
- Google is downgrading Nest and Chromecast video streams to save bandwidth: There’s a lot happening on the internet right now and lots of services are struggling to keep up with demand. To help, lots of companies are downgrading streaming content in order to lighten the load, which is exactly what Google is currently doing with Nest and Chromecast. The good news is that you can manually re-enable higher quality streams on Nest if you find the lower-quality to be too poor to be useful.
- Razer released some Pickachu-themed AirPod knockoffs in Japan: They have terrible battery life and are missing features like ANC, but at least they look like Pikachu and come in a Pokeball. Some things in life are more important than others.
Our Best Stories of the Week
Not everything is about tech news. There are plenty of other tips, tricks, gadgets, accessories, and all sorts of other jazz out there that are worth talking about. So here’s a look at some of the biggest and most popular stories we published this week.
- How to play electric guitar with headphones without losing your tone: If you play electric guitar, you’ve likely been chasing tone for nearly as long as you’ve been playing. If you’re looking for ways to jam without waking the neighbors, here are your best options.
- We took a look at the best photo editors for Windows: If you’re looking for a good photo editor on Windows, we have you covered. And yeah, Gimp is there now.
- You should probably put a screen protector on your Switch: If you managed to snag a Switch or Switch Lite before they sold out literally everywhere, you may want to grab a screen protector for it. Turns out the Switch’s plastic screen is pretty easy to scratch, and no one wants that.
- The best YouTube channels to help you build a new PC: Whether you’re looking to build a new PC or just love to geek out over kick-ass builds, we rounded up some of the best channels on YouTube.
- Looking to put together a new home theater? Read this. Staying home means watching movies at home. If you’re looking for a theater in your living room, we have you covered—from $500 to $7,000, there’s something for everyone.
- The best free Word alternatives: If you need Microsoft Word but don’t want to pay for Microsoft word, look no further. There are freebies galore, fam.
- Smarten up your dumb lightbulbs with a smart switch: Smart bulbs are great, but did you know that you can make dumb bulbs a lot smarter with a smart switch? It’s true—and surprisingly affordable (and easy to install).
Reviews We Published This Week
If you’re looking for reviews, well…we have reviews. A couple of laptops took the main focus this week.
- The Acer Chromebook 714 is just okay, and that’s okay: If you’re looking for a flagship-level Chromebook that won’t break the bank, the 714 might be the one for you. You can easily get Pixelbook-level performance from this machine—just don’t expect Pixelbook-level flair to go along with it.
- The Lenovo Yoga C940 has killer speakers…and that’s about it: It’s sort of weird niche, but if a laptop’s speakers are the most important feature to you, then this is your machine. Otherwise, you may want to look elsewhere.
- The Selpic S1 lets you print on almost anything: If you’ve ever looked at something and said “man, I’d sure like to be able to print some relatively small words on this thing,” then we have good news.
So there it is—the biggest, best, or otherwise most interesting stuff we published this week. All in one convenient place for your consumption. I know, I know—you’re welcome.
