The Internet of Things is changing the world. Find out how for $19

You might not be familiar with the Internet of Things, but you use it every day. You’re using it right now. It’s changing the way we live and work, and right now there’s an extremely cheap way to learn more about it.

Put simply, the Internet of Things refers to any device which has a sensor and connects to the internet. Your mind naturally goes to phones and laptops, but it could be washing machines or engine components. It’s growing exponentially too — these days anything that can be connected to the internet invariably will be.

If you want to get more involved, right now there’s a huge price drop on the Complete Internet of Things eBook Bundle. This six-part guide is a hands-on deep dive into the way the Internet of Things works. It covers everything from the connectivity architecture to security issues — an extremely hot-button topic right now.

This is interactive learning, and much of the bundle is based on building your own projects. Smart temperature controllers, autonomous mobile robot cars, and facial recognition systems are all things you’ll put together as you get more immersed in this world.

Here’s the Internet of Things lineup:

• Internet of Things for Architects — $35.99 value
• Practical Internet of Things Security — $35.99 value
• Internet of Things with ESP8266 — $31.99 value
• MQTT Essentials: A Lightweight IoT Protocol — $31.99 value
• Smart Internet of Things Projects — $31.99 value
• Internet of Things with Raspberry Pi 3 — $19.99 value

As you can see, the value of this bundle is approaching $200, but this week you can pick it up for just $19. That’s less than the cheapest eBook in the bundle, so it seems a pretty tasty offer to us.

The deal ends this weekend. To take advantage, or to find out more, hit the button below.

Check it out!

The AA Picks team writes about things we think you’ll like, and we may see a share of revenue from any purchases made through affiliate links. To see all our hottest deals, head over to the AAPICKS HUB.

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Source: Android Zone

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Introducing the First Round of WPBeginner Growth Accelerator Companies

In August, we decided to do something that had never been done before in the WordPress community. We created the WPBeginner Growth Accelerator, first-ever growth fund for WordPress-focused businesses. Today, I’m extremely excited to announce the first round of WPBeginner accelerator companies.

Aside from announcement, I will also be sharing behind the scenes details and process at the end of this article (so keep on reading).

1. CaseProof aka MemberPress and Pretty Links

CaseProof is the parent company behind MemberPress, Pretty Links, and Affiliate Royale.

If you have been reading WPBeginner for a while, then you probably know that we’ve been longtime fans of MemberPress. We believe it is the best WordPress membership plugin, and it is my preferred solution for creating a membership site in WordPress.

Caseproof also have two other affiliate marketing related products that I am really excited about because we can add a lot of value to it from our years of experience.

The first one is Pretty Links which is the most popular link tracking plugin in WordPress (used by over 200,000+ websites). You can use it for affiliate link management and turning your long affiliate links into easily trackable shortlinks.

The second is Affiliate Royale which helps you create a full-featured affiliate program using WordPress. This allows you to add a referral program to your membership sites created with MemberPress, and it also works with other popular eCommerce providers like WooCommerce, WishList Member, etc.

2. Formidable Forms

Formidable Forms is the most advanced WordPress form builder in the market. It helps you go beyond the basic contact form and build complex form-based solutions like directories, data management systems, calculators, quizzes, WooCommerce product forms, and more.

Now you might be thinking, wait doesn’t WPBeginner already have it’s own WordPress contact form plugin? Yes I still believe that WPForms is the most beginner-friendly WordPress contact form plugin in the market.

But you see, calling Formidable a contact form plugin doesn’t do it justice. It’s really way more advanced than that. It’s a true “solutions-focused” WordPress form builder. Let me give you a few examples to illustrate the point:

You can use Formidable Views feature to display any submitted form data on the front-end of your website to build data-driven web applications like real estate listings, employment listings, event calendars, business directories, job boards, and other searchable databases.

You can use Formidable calculated fields to quickly build calculator forms like mortgage calculator, car payment calculator, BMI calculator, etc.

You can use Formidable WooCommerce integration to create a product configurator form with cascading fields and then automatically send the data to WooCommerce art with variable pricing option.

Basically Formidable Forms is freelancers and developers dream come true for building complex WordPress sites with low overhead.

3. SeedProd

SeedProd is the most popular coming soon and maintenance mode plugin for WordPress. Currently it is being used by over 800,000 WordPress sites.

It comes with 50+ pre-made templates and 500,000+ free stock photos to help you quickly create a beautiful coming soon page or maintenance page for your website.

The pro version also comes with email marketing integrations as well as addons for creating a notification bar, countdown timers, custom login page, custom 404 page, and custom landing pages.

SeedProd is another product that we have recommended on WPBeginner since the early days.

Unlike the Caseproof and Formidable, we actually ended up doing a full acquisition of SeedProd given the high synergies between our brands and existing products. SeedProd is officially an Awesome Motive product, but they will also be part of the first WPBeginner accelerator class as well.

Please help me welcome the first 3 WPBeginner Accelerator companies by giving them social media love and trying out their products.

What Happens Next?

I have already met up with the founders of all 3 companies last month when they flew to West Palm Beach, FL.

We had detailed conversations and started working on implementing our checklist. Each of them have an amazing roadmap of new things that are in the works (which of course I can’t share just yet).

I’m really looking forward to sharing my experiences and helping these WordPress companies succeed by building more user-focused products.

WPBeginner Accelerator – Behind the Scenes Process

I honestly had no idea what to expect when I created the blog post to announce our accelerator fund. Nothing like this have been done before in our industry.

I looked at other accelerators for guidance and made our application process as simple as possible.

In total, we had over 90+ companies apply to be part of the WPBeginner accelerator. This was pretty awesome, but it also made the decision process really hard.

I got a chance to talk with amazing entrepreneurs who’re doing great things in the WordPress ecosystem, but ultimately we had to pick the top companies from the group.

Initially I wanted to select 5 companies to be part of our first round, but after having numerous conversations with entrepreneurs who applied, I decided to reduce the number down to 3 because I wanted to make sure that I can properly fulfill my commitments.

Considering some of the companies that we invested in have multiple products, it made sense to limit the first class of WPBeginner accelerator to 3 companies.

Final Thoughts

We will likely re-open the accelerator in 6 – 12 months depending on how smoothly the implementation goes with our first round of companies.

The number of applications in the first-round shows a lot of promise and definitely validates my idea that a WordPress-focused investment fund is needed.

Aside from an accelerator, there might be some opportunity for an incubator fund to provide seed investments for early stage product ideas / development.

That’s all for today. Thank you so much for your continued support of WPBeginner.

Yours Truly,
Syed Balkhi
Founder of WPBeginner

The post Introducing the First Round of WPBeginner Growth Accelerator Companies appeared first on WPBeginner.

Source: Wordpres

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OnePlus 6T packaging ‘leaks,’ but are we looking at the real thing?

• A Weibo user has posted images of a box with OnePlus 6T branding.
• The lid also seems to feature the phone design, showing a waterdrop notch and in-display fingerprint scanner.
• This lid would mark an aesthetic departure from recent OnePlus packages.

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The OnePlus 6T is all but guaranteed to arrive this year, especially after reports emerged that the phone was coming to T-Mobile next month.

Now, Weibo user Laobaotech (h/t: MySmartPrice) has uploaded photos of what is allegedly the OnePlus 6T packaging. The photos only show the lid of a box, complete with OnePlus 6T branding and a tagline of “unlock the speed.”

Weibo/Laobaotech Weibo/Laobaotech

Weibo/Laobaotech Weibo/Laobaotech

If you look closely at the last photo, you can also make out what appears to be a list of names on the underside of the lid. In fact, Googling several names (e.g. manuel19, Maximus Decimus Meridius, owndroid, Nikolaus Matheis) along with “OnePlus” suggests that these are user names on the official OnePlus forum.

What’s also interesting is that the underside of the lid contains a phone design too, showing an in-display fingerprint scanner and a waterdrop notch. These features aren’t too far-fetched, because OnePlus frequently uses elements from stablemates Oppo and Vivo in its new phones. And both companies have pioneered waterdrop notches and in-display fingerprint scanners this year.

Is this the real thing?

The OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 5T don’t have the phone design on the underside of their lids, which makes us doubt the authenticity of the packaging in the images. Furthermore, this alleged OnePlus 6T lid appears to show a mottled white color scheme, while almost all OnePlus phones since the OnePlus 3 have arrived with a pure white lid. The mottled colors could be a trick of light or a compression artifact, but it definitely looks peculiar.

Editor’s Pick

OnePlus 6T: Five things I want to see

The OnePlus 6T is expected to make its debut towards the end of the year and will likely be a minor upgrade over its predecessor. The company is doing a great job at keeping details …

Nevertheless, the source has previously leaked the Xiaomi Mi 8 SE‘s front panel. The Weibo account apparently leaked the Mi 6X/Mi A2 back panel too, according to WCCFTech.

So the source seems to have had successful leaks before and those forum names are interesting, but we’re still not sure this is the real deal. What do you think? Does this look like a legitimate OnePlus 6T package? Sound off in the comments below!

Source: Android Zone

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Google Maps will get extensive updates this year (Update: Rolling out to some now)

Google

Update 6/11/2018 at 11:01 A.M. EST: The features laid out in the article below appear to be rolling out to a small selection of users. Android Police got a tip from a reader that a server-side update of Google Maps gave him most of the design and feature upgrades announced at Google I/O 2018. However, he’s still missing the new For You section.

This server-side upgrade likely means that a wide rollout of the new Google Maps will come in a short time.

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Original Article: Google is updating Maps with a couple of new features that it hopes will encourage users to get out of the house and try new things.

The first is an entirely new tab within the Google Maps app called For You. Here, users will be shown recommendations of places and businesses in their area, especially those that are brand new or are “trending” based on Google’s data.

Editor’s Pick

Google Maps’ new Visual Positioning System fixes navigation

Google announced many new software treats at Google I/O today. Aparna Chennapragada introduced one of the best new features: visual guidance and Visual Positioning System in Google Maps Navigation.

We’ve all had been delayed figuring out …

Google revealed For You at its I/O 2018 developer conference with an example that showed a recommendation for a new cafe alongside reviews and a news link related to the cafe’s opening.

If Google’s first choice doesn’t strike your fancy, there’s also a “Trending this week” column which presents other trending restaurants in the area.

While the new tab in itself is a nice new feature if you’re out of ideas for what to do one evening, Google has gone a step further and applied its machine learning smarts with a complimentary feature called “Your Match.” Google

Your Match gives users a percentage rating against For You recommendations based on their own personal data and what Google knows about the locations in your area. In the example at I/O, Google showed a high Your Match score for a new Greek restaurant based on the user’s interest in healthy food and their previous visits to other restaurants serving up the same type of cuisine.

It seems likely that Your Match will make its way into Maps’ wider functionality. We’ll find out for sure when both of the new features roll out globally to Android (and iOS) devices, which Google says will happen in the coming months.

You can read more about how the personalized recommendations work on the Google Maps official blog here.

NEXT: You can now search for reviews right in the Android Google Maps app

Source: Android Zone

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Daily drivers: 30 AA team members reveal the phones they use

Mobile tech is what we do here at Android Authority. We have a huge team of people from all over the world. With that comes a broad range of needs and wants when it comes to smartphone technology. We asked 30 of our own people what they hauled around with them every day. The list is going to disappoint the conspiracy theorists that think we shill for a specific smartphone brand. Here are our daily drivers.

The list

So let’s get to the good stuff first. The pie chart above represents what 30 of our contributors use. You may notice the Ericsson DBH 1001 in there as well. Here’s how the chart breaks down:

• There are 20 device models by eight different manufacturers ranging from Google to Sony.
• The most popular brand at Android Authority is Samsung with ten devices among our staff. Google came in second with eight. Huawei, LG, and OnePlus each had three.
• The most popular devices were the Google Pixel 2 XL and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 with six owners each.
• While Samsung is the most popular OEM here, they only account for 33% of all of our devices.
• One of our writers thought it would be funny to add an Ericsson DBH 1001. Okay, it was me.
• Only a couple of devices on the list have a notch. That should tell you what we think about it. We also only have one person without an Android phone.
• Some of these devices have already changed. Our reviewers use their test devices as daily drivers and this questionnaire made its rounds with the team a few weeks ago. A few of them have already moved on to other devices.

It’s also worth noting that, with some exceptions, our non-US writers are more likely to own non-Google and non-Samsung devices. We guess they’re just more accessible across the pond(s).

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Why these devices?

I wanted to do a pie chart for this segment as well. However, it’s basically impossible to visually show the responses of 30 people when asked why they chose their device. Some hot takes and quotes will have to do. When asked why they purchased their Google Pixel 2 XLs, our team had this to say:

Incredible camera, big screen, big battery, front-facing speakers, and software updates straight from Googs — what more could you want? – Jimmy Westenberg

Great camera, unbeatable software experience (for me), awesome audio. – Ankit Banerjee

Owning a Pixel is almost needed for anyone who covers Android. – Bogdan Petrovan

I’m a sucker for ‘pure’ Android phones. – Ollie Cragg

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 lovers in our midst had this to say:

Big screen and powerful hardware. – John Callaham

It was the best phone available on T-Mobile when I decided to buy a phone. – Joe Hindy(me)

Loved the Note 7… Before they became incendiary – John Dye

Our Huawei fans justified their purchases thusly:

I love the way Huawei does photography and the hybrid zoom and AIS are epic. – Kris Carlon

I wanted something smaller than the Mate 8 I had previously, and I’d gotten used to the Huawei style. – Scott Adam Gordon

(And) I was forced into (it) after my beloved Nexus 6P died. – Tristan Rayner

And our lone iPhone X owner:

I don’t exactly love it. I just find it to be a good no-hassles device. Whenever I am not excited about new Android devices, I just pick the latest iPhone and be done with it. – Edgar Cervantes

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Some other fun stuff

As it turns out, none of us love our devices 100%. There is always that want for bigger, better, or faster technology. So let’s dive into the last bit of info and grab some more insights from our crew:

• Professor Gary is the only Note 8 owner on the team that actually uses Samsung’s S-Pen on a regular basis. The rest of us Note 8 owners rarely ever use it.
• Every Google Pixel 2 (XL) owner on our team very much dislikes the removal of the headphone jack. Except Jimmy. He’s only mildly disappointed.
• Our team tends to lean toward larger screen devices.
• Apparently, Kris Carlon’s Huawei P20 Pro chose him, he didn’t choose it. We wish he had gone into more detail. Did they meet in a cafe in Paris? Was it love at first sight?
• Most of our team gave their devices seven out of ten or higher except Matt Horne. He rated his Moto C a two out of ten. When asked why he didn’t give it a one star, he responded by saying that the phone does everything he wants it to do, it just does all of them extremely poorly. See? We’re totally unbiased.
• When asked if there was anything else that anyone wanted to add, editor Bogdan wanted to make absolutely sure that everyone knew that Bogdan was handsome and smart. Noted.

If I learned nothing else today, it’s that our people have a lot of differing opinions on what makes a smartphone worthy of daily use. We want to know what you think as well! Drop a comment below and tell us what you use as your daily driver!

Source: Android Zone

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Google reportedly making its own AR headset, like Microsoft’s HoloLens

• According to rumor, there’s a Google AR headset in development, codenamed Google A65.
• The headset will likely be akin to Microsoft’s $5,000 HoloLens, which enables you to interact with mixed reality environments.
• Little is known about the A65, but Qualcomm, Quanta, and Meta might all be involved.

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Virtual reality headsets are all the rage right now, like with the HTC Vive, the Oculus Go, and Lenovo’s recent partnership with Google, the Mirage Solo. However, these headsets immerse you in a virtual world; it might be based on reality, but it is not your reality.

The Microsoft HoloLens is built with augmented reality in mind. Using the HoloLens, you can move while viewing the real world around you, while simultaneously seeing 3D digital imagery. This creates what is called “mixed reality,” where you interact with both real-world and artificial elements at the same time. Check out the video below to see how it works.

Right now, Microsoft’s $5,000 HoloLens is the only device on the market that offers an untethered mixed reality experience (that’s for the Enterprise model; there is no consumer edition yet). However, it looks like Google, via WinFuture, is developing a mixed reality headset of its own, codenamed the Google A65.

Little is known about the A65, but WinFuture does have a few details. First, like the HoloLens, the A65 will likely offer a wireless experience, enabling you to wear the headset and walk freely around your home, office, or even outside.

Editor’s Pick

Mobile VR headsets – what are your best options?

Standalone VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive do their job brilliantly but both come at a premium. The Rift will set you back $499, while HTC’s option currently retails for $599. If …

Next, the A65 will likely have some sort of Qualcomm processor. It is not entirely clear whether the processor will be an existing chip that Qualcomm makes or a new, unique processor just for the A65. The rumor is that the A65 processor will be based on the QSC603, which is specifically for “Internet of Things” hardware. That seems unlikely, but either way, Qualcomm is reportedly involved.

Third, the Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta is allegedly involved in the creation of the A65 as well. You might remember Quanta as the company that helped Google develop the Pixel C Android tablet.

Finally, Quanta is also involved with a company called Meta in the development of something called the A66. Meta already makes mixed reality headsets, like the Meta 2. Could the A66 be similar to the A65? It’s hard to say anything at this point.

It makes sense that Google would want to make true mixed-reality hardware since it already tried (and failed) with Google Glass. This A65 unit could be the evolution of the Glass experience into something more powerful and useful. Time will tell how this all plays out.

NEXT: AR vs VR: What’s the difference?

Source: Android Zone

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