Deal: 8 ways to become a certified SEO specialist

Complete SEO Certification Training Bundle

Google receives over one trillion searches each year. The first page of Google search results get the vast majority of that traffic, and ultimately more profits. If you’re not currently ranking on the first page of search engines, you’re missing out.

For that reason, every website worth its salt employs SEO specialists, including Android Authority. If you have expertise in this field then there are a vast number of career opportunities out there.

That’s where the Complete SEO Certification Training Bundle comes in. This eight-part bundle is a 38-hour masterclass in all things SEO. You’ll learn how to use Social Media, WordPress, Google Adwords, and other tools to maximize SEO and traffic driven to a site.

SEO Certification Training

This learning kit is so all-encompassing that it goes beyond the many facets of search engine optimization. For instance, one of the courses focuses on conversion rate, which is about increasing the percentage of visitors to the site who go on to click, inquire, and buy.

On top of all that, each course in the bundle comes with a certificate of completion so that you can validate your training and land those lucrative roles.

The SEO Certification Training Bundle:

There’s almost $1,000 of expert-led training in the bundle, but right now it’s subject to a huge price drop. While the promotion lasts, you can pick up the bundle for just $30.

The deal ends on Monday, but if you sign up in time you get access for life. To join the hundreds of people who have already enrolled, hit the button below.

The AAPicks 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.

Source: Android Zone

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6 Best Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builders Compared (2019)

Looking for an easy way to build and customize your WordPress site? That’s where drag and drop WordPress page builder plugins come in handy.

WordPress page builders allow you to create, edit, and customize your website layout without writing any code. In this article, we will compare the 6 best drag and drop page builders for WordPress.

Best Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builders

Why Use a Drag and Drop Page Builder for WordPress?

When starting a blog, many beginners find it difficult to customize their WordPress page layouts.

While a lot of premium WordPress themes come with different page layouts, most of them are extremely hard to customize for anyone who does not know code (HTML / CSS).

This is why users often ask us questions like: “how can we make WordPress drag and drop?” or “is there an easy drag and drop page builder for WordPress?”

When we talk with people who switch from Weebly to WordPress or from Wix to WordPress, their most common response is: “I wish WordPress had a drag and drop website builder”.

Well, there are several great drag and drop page builder plugins available for WordPress. They allow you to create completely custom website designs in WordPress without writing a single line of code.

Since there are so many different WordPress page builder plugins in the market, we decided to compare and rank the top WordPress page builders, so you can choose the right solution for your need.

Our criteria for comparing these WordPress page builders are: ease of use, flexibility, and the design output.

Having said that, let’s take a look at the best page builders for WordPress in the market.

1. Beaver Builder

Beaver Builder best WordPress page builder plugin

Beaver Builder is a premium drag and drop page builder plugin for WordPress. In our opinion, it is by far the best WordPress page builder in the market.

It is extremely fast and comes with a built in onboarding tour to help you quickly familiarize with their interface.

Beaver Builder comes with a live drag and drop interface. You get to see all your changes as you add them by simply dragging elements from the right sidebar and dropping them on your page. You can click on any element on a page to edit its properties.

There are modules that let you add almost everything you may want including sliders, carousel, backgrounds, content blocks, buttons, and more.

It also comes with over 30 finely designed templates for landing pages that makes it super-easy and super-fast to create stunning website layouts.

We find Beaver Builder to be very beginner friendly. Check out our tutorial on how to create custom WordPress layouts with Beaver Builder.

Wondering if it’s compatible with the new WordPress version? Yes, it is.

Beaver Builder has been updated well along the Gutenberg project. So, it works fine with your new Gutenberg editor.

Pricing: Starting from $99 for Unlimited Sites.

Our Grade: A+

Review: Beaver Builder is the easiest page builder option in the market. It comes with pre-made templates to help you get started. The ability to customize every little detail makes it the perfect solution for WordPress users.

2. Divi

Divi Builder Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builder plugin

Divi is a drag and drop theme and WordPress page builder plugin. It is extremely easy to use and comes with 20+ layouts/templates for different kind of websites.

Just like the Beaver Builder, the Divi Builder is a visual drag and drop page builder, a true WYSIWYG editor (what you see is what you get).

You can directly click on your page and start editing with the real-time preview of all changes. You don’t need to save and click preview to see your new design.

Divi comes with 46 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere in your layout. You can arrange them in 3 section types, 20 row types, and customize each element using its advanced design settings.

With Divi, you can create any type of custom page layout that you want within minutes. You can then save these Divi layouts for future use on your site. You can also export a layout from one Divi installation into another.

The Divi Builder plugin is the backbone of the Divi theme, yet it works well with any other WordPress theme.

Best of all, Divi has the best pricing out of all options in this. For a single price, you’ll get the Divi theme, the Divi page builder plugin, and all other Elegant Themes products.

This means you can use the Divi theme or install the Divi Builder plugin on any other theme.

Pricing: Starting from $89 per year

Our Grade: A

Review: Divi is a great Beaver Builder alternative. It has a powerful page builder with limitless design possibilities. Their large number of content modules allow you to create literally any type of website that you really want.

3. Visual Composer Website Builder

Visual Composer Website Builder plugin

Visual Composer Website Builder is a user-friendly WordPress website editor that helps you create custom website layouts, fast.

It comes with a simple drag and drop builder, out of box content elements, professional templates, and a host of powerful features to make a website.

Similar to Beaver Builder and Divi, it also provides real frontend editing experience for designing a website. But there’s a lot more you can do with this plugin. Unlike other plugins in the list, Visual Composer Website Builder allows you to edit your logo, menus, headers, footers, sidebars, etc.

That’s why the team decides to call it a website builder, instead of just a page builder.

The plugin features powerful design options to customize the appearance of any element on your page. You have easy options to add stylish backgrounds including parallax, gradient, slideshow, carousel, zoom in/out, video, etc. It also comes with flexible rows and columns for creating grid layouts on your site.

Visual Composer works well with all WordPress themes. This allows you to switch your themes without losing custom layouts that you created with Visual Composer.

It also includes support for the new Gutenberg editor, Google Fonts, and Yoast SEO.

Visual Composer is designed for professionals, and it’s evident by their attention to details such as remembering your color choices, which allows you to easily use the same color palette for consistency throughout your design.

Pricing: $59 For One Site License

Our Grade: A

Review: Visual Composer is a great plugin for beginners to start a website. It provides powerful features for website making in a simple manner. Website editing is made super simple with the real frontend drag and drop editor.

4. Themify Builder

Themify Page Builder Plugin for WordPress

Themify is a popular WordPress theme shop that offer a built-in Themify builder with all of their WordPress themes. For other non-Themify WordPress themes, you can get the Themify Page Builder plugin.

This simple and highly intuitive page builder comes with several ready to use modules that you can add to your pages or posts. Many of these modules usually require you to install separate WordPress plugins.

The plugin includes 40+ pre-designed layouts for different industries like gym, restaurant, portfolio, music, photography as well as online shops.

You can import a layout with one click, change its content, and build an awesome landing page within minutes.

Themify Builder allows you to edit your pages from the admin area as well as from your live site. With live editing, you get to see exactly how your changes will appear on the site.

Apart from that, Themify Builder comes with ready-to-use layouts that you can quickly apply to your page.

Pricing: $39 For the Builder Addon Bundle (The core plugin is free)

Our Grade: B

Review: Themify Builder is a reliable page builder plugin for WordPress. While the builder comes with promising features, there is a learning curve that can leave a new user frustrated.

5. Elementor

Elementor WordPress Drag and Drop Page Builder plugin

Elementor is another powerful drag and drop WordPress page builder plugin.

It is a live page builder plugin which means you get to see your changes live as you edit it with Elementor. Simply start by creating sections and select the number of columns for each section.

You can then drag and drop widgets from the left panel to your section. Elementor comes with tons of widgets including most commonly used website elements.

From basic image and text widgets to advanced accordions, sliders, testimonials, icons, social media, tabs, etc. Each widget comes with its own settings.

Elementor will also let you add widgets created by other WordPress plugins.

Don’t want to build your own layout?

Elementor comes with many ready-to-use templates that you can easily insert into your pages. You can simply point and click to edit any item on the page, replace the content, and you’re done.

Pricing: Starting from $49 for single site license.

Our Grade: B

Review: Elementor is a popular page builder plugin for WordPress. It is fast, easy to use, and comes with tons of modules / templates.

The biggest thing that we don’t like about Elementor is that their license is very restrictive. If you’re a freelancer or agency looking to use Elementor on client websites, please know that their Pro version is not GPL.

You’re better off using Beaver Builder, Divi, or Visual Composer because they respect the WordPress standards and freedoms.

6. Page Builder by SiteOrigin

Page Builder Plugin by SiteOrigin

With more than one million active installs, Site Origin’s Page Builder is a popular free WordPress page builder on the market. One of the primary reason for its popularity is the price (free). It is available as a fully functional free plugin.

Site Origin Page Builder is a little complicated to use, and new users often struggle to get familiar with it. However we had to include in our list because of it’s popularity.

For components, Site Origin Page Builder allows you to use WordPress widgets. It comes with several widgets of its own, and you can download and install any widget.

See our list of the 25 most useful WordPress widgets because you can use all of them with this page builder.

It also comes with a history tool which allows you to switch back and forth to undo/redo changes that you made. This is a huge time saver, and it gives you a peace of mind knowing that you can revert and undo changes.

The SiteOrigin plugin and all its widgets are fully Gutenberg compatible. There’s also a new SiteOrigin layout block that you can use as a Gutenberg block.

Pricing: Free

Our Grade: C

Review: Site Origin Page Builder is a good free plugin with a drag-and-drop interface to create and customize layouts. Although the live editing is not comparable to other solutions mentioned in this comparison.

Final Thoughts: Best WordPress Page Builder Plugin

As we compared different drag and drop WordPress page builders, one thing became very clear. Beaver Builder and Divi are clearly the top choice.

Visual Composer is a close third option that offer a complete drag & drop WordPress page builder.

If you don’t mind spending a little bit money to get the best solution in the market along with guaranteed support, then go for any of these three, and you won’t regret it.

Do I still Need a Page Builder if I am Using the New WordPress Block Editor?

Recently we’re getting a lot of users asking us this question.

WordPress block editor also known as Gutenberg was officially launched as the new default WordPress editor. The new editor uses blocks which are content elements for creating pages and posts.

Superficially, the block editor looks similar to some of the WordPress page builders above.

Gutenberg blocks most used

Hence there’re hot discussions going on in WordPress about Gutenberg and page builders.

Is Gutenberg a page builder? Does the Gutenberg block editor replace the WordPress page builders? And, do I still need a page builder if I am using the new WordPress block editor?

Well, the answer to the first two questions is ‘No, not quite yet.’

And, Yes, you will need a page builder if you want an easy way to create completely custom WordPress designs.

Gutenberg in its current form is no match to the powerful features these “true” WordPress page builder plugins offer.

Having that said, you can use a plugin like CSS Hero with Gutenberg and probably get away without using a true page builder, but it entirely depends on your needs.

A lot of our readers love using CSS Hero for quick and easy website customization. Read our full CSS Hero review to see if it’s a suitable solution for your needs.

We hope this article helped you find the best WordPress drag and drop page builder plugins for your site. You may also want to see our comparison to find the best WordPress contact form plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 6 Best Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builders Compared (2019) appeared first on WPBeginner.

Source: Wordpres

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SoundGuys: USB-C audio is dead

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 - speakers and USB Type-C port

In a sea of 3D audio products and true-wireless earbuds, USB Type-C headphones were nowhere in sight at CES 2019.

This absence isn’t an accident, however. Rather, it’s the deafening silence of an abandoned product category. While many looked to USB-C audio as the successor to the famed physical port, the available models aren’t catching on, and they don’t seem to be going anywhere. Their absence at CES 2019 doesn’t paint a rosy picture of their future, either. As my college professor used to say, “Sometimes what isn’t seen speaks more about a work than what is.”

Why USB Type-C headphones have not caught on

OnePlus Bullets USB-C headphones earbuds on black backpack.

OnePlus’ Bullets Type-C don’t provide full functionality to my co-worker’s Google Pixel 3XL.

In general, it takes new standards quite a while to catch on, however, USB-C was thrust into the limelight far before its time. When Apple and Google ditched their headphone jacks, it limited the pool of audio peripherals to Bluetooth, or the very young USB-C category. Perhaps with a little more time and backing from a few more serious partners this could have matured alongside its older brother the TRRS plug, but it just wasn’t to be.

It’s especially frustrating because anyone could have seen this coming. Despite the cries of reporters and industry experts alike, nothing could stop the “ditch the headphone jack” train once Apple did it, and the post-hoc rationalizing has been a little tough to swallow. It would be at least a little understandable if all USB-C headphones worked with all USB-C ports, but that’s not the case.

One of the biggest issues that companies need to navigate pertains to source and peripheral device compatibility. USB Type-C headphone cables can either be active or passive — or manifest as a dongle adapter. This inconsistency, paired with the fact that Audio Accessory Mode has yet to be universally supported, results in a barrage of compatibility issues. Hence why many users are unable to operate playback controls or use a headset’s integrated microphone.

Consider OnePlus, a company that ditched the headphone jack despite its own community being vocally against the power play. Although they get the design right, its Type-C Bullets earbuds don’t work on the Google Pixel 3 XL. While this isn’t life-ruining — or even day-ruining — it’s tough to want to buy something if you have even odds of the thing even working at all. Headphone buyers aren’t used to such a problem, because for decades the analog port just worked. It didn’t matter what the brand of source you were using was, the standard was, well, a standard. That’s gone now.

It’s not just messy software

Editor’s Pick

USB Type-C headphones generally just aren’t good headphones. End of story. Between the horrifically messy software and horrendously painful hardware — looking at you, Google Pixel USB earbuds — it seems odd to opt for shoddy USB Type-C headphones when cheaper, better wireless options exist.

If you don’t believe me, Google the term “USB-C headphones,” and see who tops the page. The SoundGuys have been covering that beat since the beginning, and the results never really got to a good place. Between objective testing and relaxing the definition of “good” a bit, the audio review site just hasn’t been able to find a credible challenger to Bluetooth or analog headphones.

If CES 2019 is any indication, a headphone jack revival is possible

If USB-C audio is dead, we can probably take solace in the fact that other companies are starting to recognize that fact as well. While not many people adopted the new standard, thankfully the old one works just as well, and it’s relatively cheap to re-adopt.

A rendered image of the Huawei P30 includes a headphone jack, no more USB-C headphones.

Huawei P30 renders reveal the inclusion of a headphone jack.

91mobiles

A vast majority of the audio products showcased at CES were wireless ones, be it true wireless, conventional wireless, or soundbars with wireless capabilities. Heck, there were far more wired 3.5mm headphones than USB Type-C ones. Granted, that’s not saying much of anything. However, it does demonstrate pretty clearly that most consumers are still okay with the TRRS connector just fine. It wouldn’t be a shock to see it come back to smartphones.

In fact, we’ve already seen some rumors that Sony is going to bring back the jack, and leaked renders of Huawei’s upcoming P30 sports the jack. While neither company marks a seismic shift like Google or Apple would, it’s an encouraging start.

How likely is the headphone jack’s return?

HTC U12 Life 3.5mm headphone jack

Rather than being left without an audio port in our smartphones, it seems companies may include the headphone jack again.

It’s too early to tell if the venerable headphone jack is coming back, but we’re still hopeful.

Since USB Type-C headphones are on life support, the headphone jack seems more of a necessity than ever. But if it doesn’t return: we’re left without a feasible option for physical mobile audio ports. While Bluetooth is a decent feature, it’s not going to satisfy everyone, and the wireless standard has its issues as well.

Huawei P30 renders depict a headphone jack, which seems a likely reality given the death of USB-C headphones.

Ultimately, the USB Type-C headphones endeavor was a half-baked mess of competing standards that led to missed opportunity after missed opportunity. Its untimely demise may be abrupt for some and welcomed by others, but an infant can’t take over for Atlas.

Next: Best smartphones for audio

Source: Android Zone

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The new National Geographic app looks nice, but still needs a bit of work

National Geographic

  • National Geographic launched a new app on the Play Store.
  • The app replaces the current National Geographic magazine app.
  • Unfortunately, only folks in the U.S. and Canada can download the new app.

National Geographic launched a new app for folks in the U.S. and Canada. The app replaces the current National Geographic magazine app and looks very clean, but it needs just a bit more time in the oven.

Opening the app brings you to the Home section, which features four tabs: For You, Read, Look, and Watch. As the name suggests, the For You tab is a list of personalized and curated content that updates as you consume more stories.

If curation isn’t your jam, the Read and Look tabs let you read articles and look at pictures, respectively. The Watch tab contains numerous National Geographic clips. You’ll still have to download the Nat Geo TV app if you want full episodes.



The next app section is Magazine, which contains National Geographic’s current and previous magazines. You can even go all the way back to the original issue in 1888.

The last two sections are Search — in addition to a search bar, the section contains a small list of trending topics you can search — and Settings.

The app sections and tabs help navigation remain as straightforward as possible. It also helps that the app as a whole is aesthetically pleasing, though haters of white app backgrounds should look away.

Editor’s Pick

My only issue with the new National Geographic app is the performance and a bug or two in some areas. For example, the most recent National Geographic magazine didn’t show up for me after I finished watching a video in the Watch tab. I had to load in older magazines for the newest magazine to show up again.

Another bug I encountered was in the Watch tab, where the Nat Geo TV app ad at the top was absent for a few seconds after I finished a video. Finally, the Settings section was a stuttering mess before smoothing things over on its own.

I’m sure National Geographic will improve the app’s performance and squash some bugs in future updates. In the meantime, you can download the new app at the link below.

Source: Android Zone

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Google is discontinuing the Chromecast Audio

Chromecast Audio

Since its release in September 2015, the Chromecast Audio has been a quick and easy way to add smart functionality to standard speakers. Unfortunately, after being on the market for just over three years, Google is discontinuing the product. 

A U.K. customer (who shared their story on Reddit) purchased a Chromecast Audio over the holidays only to have their order canceled. When asked why this happened, customer service informed them that Google was killing the product so the purchase couldn’t be fulfilled. 

When asked about this claim, Google confirmed to 9to5Google that it would be discontinuing the Chromecast Audio:

Our product portfolio continues to evolve, and now we have a variety of products for users to enjoy audio. We have therefore stopped manufacturing our Chromecast Audio products. We will continue to offer assistance for Chromecast Audio devices, so users can continue to enjoy their music, podcasts and more.

This turn of events is a shame, mainly because the Chromecast Audio made it so easy to control music on a variety of speakers from a Google Home. But because most modern speakers released these days include Assistant or Alexa integration, the search giant didn’t see a reason to continue manufacturing the inexpensive accessory.  

Editor’s Pick

Going forward, the closest replacement for the accessory is the Amazon Echo Input. This $35 device attaches to regular speakers via a 3.5mm audio cable or Bluetooth and adds Alexa. 

 The Chromecast Audio is still listed as available on the Google Store for $15 if you want to try and buy one. After that, you’ll have to find used models at secondhand stores as places like Best Buy stopped selling it some time ago. 

Source: Android Zone

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The robots of CES 2019

Hitting the show floor at CES can be something of a challenge. There are so many choices, it’s almost impossible to figure out where to even start. So this year, I got to narrow my focus to just one area — robotics — and it made my job a lot easier. Or it should have. Turns out, there are so many choices in the field of robotics, I was back where I started.

Editor’s Pick

It’s important to know what you’re looking for in the field of robotics. In my case, I decided to focus on the most classic “Rosie the Robot” description — a personal machine that can follow you around and perform some tasks for you. That’s a very narrow definition, but as it turns out, we’re not very far away from having those devices greet us when we come home. I was excited to preview a few examples at CES.

Here are some of the coolest robots we got to see at CES 2019!

Samsung

Samsung bots will be the helpers of the future.

Samsung surprised a lot of people when it ended its press conference with robots. Before we knew what was happening, a Samsung Bot Care rolled out onto the stage and measured the host’s heart rate and blood pressure. That was just one of three robots Samsung announced.

The Samsung Bot Care aims to offer “a healthier and more convenient life.” When you sleep, it can identify sleep patterns and disorders. When you wake up, it’ll give you a morning briefing on the weather and remind you to take your medications. It plays music with lighting effects, which Samsung calls “music therapy.” As mentioned, the bot can take your vitals, and it syncs with Samsung Health. It also includes fall detection, and can alert family or emergency services. Overall, it can be a very useful companion.

Samsung also showed us the Samsung Bot Retail. This robot is designed for retail situations, like store or shopping malls. It can lead customers to products that they’re looking for, or bring products to them in a restaurant setting. The bot features voice recognition and a touch screen for navigation. Naturally, mobile payments are integrated into the bot as well. The bot will even recognize what a shopper is wearing and make accessory recommendations.

See Also

Samsung also introduced the Samsung Bot Air, an adaptive air purifier that automatically moves around the house to where the air needs to be cleaned. While it can be handy, it’s not quite Rosie.

However, Samsung was not the only show in town.

UBTech

The UB Cruzr is a service bot designed for retail spaces

Several UBTech offerings at the show deserve a mention. First up is the Cruzr robot, a service robot largely targeted toward the retail space, like the Samsung Bot Retail. In UBTech’s demonstration area, the Cruzr greets you at the door and pulls up information about the products in the store through a touch screen interface; then it even takes you to them.

Cruzr is a large friendly looking robot that should put customers at ease. It’s cute, like a robot puppy. I suspect it won’t be long before we start seeing these in stores, for better or for worse.

Walker

Walker is a fully upright assistant robot that can assist you.

However, the star of UBTech’s show is Walker. As the name implies, walker is a free standing, free walking robot that can navigate around a home, retrieve items, open doors, and provide entertainment through its onboard speakers. In the demo, the robot walks around an apartment, hangs up a bag, retrieves a soda and can of chips, plays music, and even dances.

Editor’s Pick

Walker is large and expensive. You might see it assisting people in their homes, but only if they’re rich. UBTech didn’t announce any pricing, but there are a lot of moving parts and a lot of sensors — it won’t be cheap. UBTech is confident the price will come down as the technology improves, and parts become more readily available and streamlined.

Temi

Temi is an assistant robot who is more of a rolling media center.

Temi is a more streamlined version of a personal assistant bot. Temi’s sensors lock onto you and follow you around the house as you need. It will greet you at the door, and it includes a Qi wireless charging pad, so you can drop your phone on it to charge. Right now Temi uses a customized interface for touch controls and can play music and other audio. Temi can also accept video calls and bring the screen to you while doing it.

You can control Temi remotely using an iOS or Android App, turning it into a security system or simply a way to check in with the family. That sort of telepresence could turn into a new way to interact with your family while away at CES for example. Temi costs $1,499, which isn’t bad for what it can do, as long as you don’t have a lot of stairs at home.

Misty II

Consumer products are cool — especially ones you can buy today — but one of the more intriguing robots I came across at CES was named Misty II. Misty II is an adorable little robot, standing about 18 inches tall and jam-packed with sensors and modules to expand its capability. Misty II is being built by Misty Robotics, a company founded by Ian Bernstein, formerly with Sphero — the little ball robot of BB-8 fame. However Misty II isn’t being built for you and me, unless you’re a developer.

Editor’s Pick

Bernstein is building Misty II as a platform for developers and apps that might make it a commercial product one day. Its goal is to democratize robotic development by making an easy and open platform for developers. According to Bernstein, a developer should be able to build a first “skill” for Misty II in about 30 minutes.

Misty II has built up a passionate developer community thus far, even with limited availability. Bernstein cited two remarkable examples of the development community’s passion. One developer built a virtual Misty II platform development kit so others could build and test skills without having a physical unit. Another developer set it up on a webcam and provided an interface to load skills, so others could test via live streaming.

JD Digit has an industrial robot that inspects servers autonomously.

As I mentioned before, robotics is a wide open field with applications ranging from consumer to industrial applications. In order to not write a 10,000-word epic about every robot at CES, we had to draw the line somewhere.

Editor’s Pick

From toys, to transformers, to robotic arms, CES had plenty to offer for those interested in the field. Just take this example from JD Digit, which autonomously inspects server banks for malfunctions and issues within the racks. Hardware inspection is a critical part of IT infrastructure, and one a robot can perform better than a human.

What do you think? Are the robots of CES 2019 an exciting move into the future or are they still a little too niche for you thus far?

Let us know in the comments, and especially let us know if you want to read more about this fascinating field.

Source: Android Zone

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Go from amateur Instagrammer to paid photo snapper

Pay What You Want Photography Bundle

It’s Pay What You Want day in AAPicks land folks. This one is for the photography lovers among you.

Everyone has an amateur photographer inside them, now we all have high-caliber cameras in their pockets too. All that’s standing between your Instagram snaps and a paid profession is some online training.

And believe us,  there’s money to be made. Every publication worth its salt relies on a slew of professional photographers, including Android Authority.

So how do you actually stand-out and impress when it comes to photography? By actually knowing what you’re doing, that’s how. The Complete Photography Bundle is over 26 hours of training to give you the edge.

Learn how to capture those once-in-a-lifetime moments perfectly.

In this nine-part online bundle, you’ll learn all manner of skills for taking and editing the perfect photographs. You’ll be a wizard at fixing common issues like low contrast, lack of definition, and texturing. You’ll also gain mastery at many tools which can enhance photos to the level at which people will want to buy them.

The learning kits cover many varieties of this art form, from landscapes to weddings. It even includes the Art of Travel Photography, in which you’ll learn how to capture those once-in-a-lifetime moments perfectly.

The photography bundle in full:

If you tot up the values it’s over $1,000 of training, but right now you can pay what you like.

Here’s how it works: Whatever you pay, you’ll get DIY Food Photography and Advanced Creative Photography Skills. It could be as little as $1, and you’ll walk away with $186 worth of courses.

If you beat the current average price, as displayed on the deal page, then all nine learning kits are yours. It’s as simple as that. At the time of writing the average was around $11, so it’s not exactly big money.

The nature of these deals means the average price gradually goes up, so jump in early to get the best deal. Find the offer via the button below.

The AAPicks 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.

Source: Android Zone

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The best laptops of CES 2019

We’re back from the floors of CES 2019 in Las Vegas for another laptop roundup. Here we have a huge list of Windows 10 solutions divided into mainstream and gaming categories. The list is long, so buckle up, grab some popcorn, and take a look at a great view of the best laptops of CES 2019 arriving throughout the next six months. Let’s go!

Mainstream

Dell XPS 13 (2019)

Best laptops of CES 2019

Dell kicks off our list with a refreshed XPS 13 for 2019. Gone is the nose cam seen on the previous model. After loads of criticism, Dell redesigned the camera and returned it to the InfinityEdge display’s top bezel.

Outside the new camera, the refreshed XPS includes the latest eighth-generation Intel “Whiskey Lake-U” processors, new “frost” and “rose gold” exteriors, and a battery promising up to 21 hours. The 13.3-inch display packs a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution with touch, or a 1,920 x 1,080 display with or without touch.

The updated Dell XPS 13 is available now for $899.

HP Spectre x360 15

HP Spectre X360 15

HP boasts that its new Spectre x360 15 is the world’s first laptop with an AMOLED display packing HDR support. That’s on top of the Spectre x360’s redesign launched back in October. The move to an OLED is a big deal, as it provides an incredibly high contrast ratio and support for a huge color gamut, generating a vivid, beautiful screen.

From what we can tell, the internals mostly haven’t changed since the October refresh, packing eighth-generation Intel Core processors, discrete GeForce or Radeon discrete graphics, and a 360-degree hinge enabling Laptop, Tent, Tablet, and Stand modes. Still, we will have to see if this AMOLED-based model retains the same 17-hour battery life experienced with the previous units shipped in October

The HP Spectre x360 15 arrives in March for a yet-to-be revealed price.

Huawei MateBook 13

MateBook 13

The MateBook 13 is a mid-range laptop with a premium design for the mainstream market. It’s based on two eighth-generation Intel Core “Whiskey Lake-U” processors and a discrete GeForce MX 150 on the Core i7 version. It’s a gorgeous device, packing a 13-inch screen into a 12-inch frame, a native 1440p resolution, and plenty of memory and storage.

Other goodies crammed into the MateBook 13 include Wireless AC and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, a 1MP camera, Dolby Atmos sound, and a 41.7WHr battery promising up to 10 hours of local Full HD playback on the Core i7 model.

The MateBook 13 ships in North America on January 29 through Amazon and Newegg for a starting price of $999.

Gaming

Acer Predator Triton 900

After teasing gamers late last year, the convertible Predator Triton 900 finally arrives with a 2-in-1 style form factor. Thanks to a unique hinges on each side, you can pull the display forward over the keyboard for a better up-close-and-personal experience. You can flip the display for a stand experience as well or flatten it onto the keyboard to make a super hefty tablet.

The specifications list a 17.3-inch IPS screen with a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution backed by Nvidia’s G-Sync technology. You’ll also see up to an eight-generation six-core Intel processor, Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 2080, up to 32GB of system memory, NVMe PCIe SSDs, and a built-in Xbox Wireless receiver.

The Acer Predator Triton 900 ships in March for an insane starting price of $4,000.

Alienware Area-51m

best laptops of CES 2019

Alienware enters a legendary new stage with the launch of the Area-51m. The winner of our Best Laptop of the Show award, the new gaming invader sports a major design overhaul since its last major revision in 2014. That includes a reimagined shape and new color options: Lunar Light and Dark Side of the Moon. The underlying sci-fi theme fans love still remains highly relevant.

As always, Alienware packs the latest high-end hardware to push out massive frame rates. The list includes three ninth-generation Core 7 and i9 processors, RTX 20 Series graphics, up to 64GB of system memory, up to three storage devices, optional Tobii eye-tracking, and more. It even ships with two power bricks: One for home and one for the road.

The Alienware Area-51m arrives to take over mankind on January 29 for a starting price of $2,549 Earth dollars.

MSI GS75 Stealth

MSI dubs the GS75 Stealth as the world’s first thin and lightweight 17.3-inch laptop with RTX 20 graphics. Models will consist of RTX 2080 and 2070 Max-Q variants along with the normal RTX 2060 for laptops. The “IPS-level” screen has a native 1080p resolution at 144Hz.

Inside you’ll find an eighth-generation six-core Intel processor, three SSDs, and an access panel on the bottom to easily swap out storage. On the outside, MSI provides a smartphone-sized glass trackpad sporting an extremely smooth and sensitive surface.

The MSI GS75 Stealth goes on sale later this month for an unknown price.

Samsung Notebook Odyssey

best laptops of CES 2019

If you want something a little different, Samsung’s redesigned Notebook Odyssey is the laptop for you. This model sports a raised display so you’re not looking down at the screen during long gaming sessions. The screen itself measures 15.6 inches sporting a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, a 144Hz refresh rate, and Nvidia G-Sync.

Under the hood, you’ll find an eighth-generation six-core Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia’s new RTX 2080 graphics built for laptops, 16GB of system memory (two slots), and two storage devices. Chilling both chips are two redesigned Jet Blade fans, each built with 83 blades for optimized cooling.

The Samsung Notebook Odyssey arrives in early 2019 for a currently unknown price.

Asus ROG Mothership

best laptops of CES 2019

Finally, we have one honorable mention: The Asus ROG Mothership. It’s a somewhat similar in design to Microsoft’s Surface family, providing a super-sized meaty gaming tablet with a kickstand mounted on the back, and a detachable mechanical keyboard below the screen.

Don’t let the “tablet” description fool you: The ROG Mothership is a full-blown gaming machine with a 17.3-inch Full HD G-Sync screen, an Intel Core i9 HK-class processor, and a full-blown RTX 2080 graphics chip. You can easily swap out the storage too, unlike a tablet.

The ROG Mothership from Asus will invade Earth this quarter for a currently unknown starting price.


And that’s it for our roundup of best new laptops of CES 2019. What’s your pick?

Source: Android Zone

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Forget wireless charging pads — this tech turns your room into a charging zone

The Spigen Forever Case, in conjunction with Ossia. Ossia/Wall Street Journal

  • Ossia has teamed up with Spigen to reveal a smartphone case with true wireless charging capabilities.
  • The technology allows you to simply stand within range of a transmitter to charge your phone.
  • Ossia says it plans to release cases with the technology by 2020 at the latest.

We’ve covered Ossia‘s true wireless charging technology before, touting the ability to charge your device by simply standing near a transmitter. This cutting-edge tech isn’t ready for commercial availability just yet, but the company has teamed up with Spigen to show off a compatible smartphone case at CES 2019.

The Forever Case, spotted by Gizmodo, is a proof-of-concept battery case packing Ossia’s Cota wireless tech. All you need to do is stand between 10 and 12 feet from a transmitter in order to charge the device. This is a step beyond current wireless charging solutions, which require you to place the device on a charging pad.

Ossia confirms that charging can take place while your device is in motion, and you don’t need line-of-sight to the transmitter either. So if you’re one to pace back and forth while taking a call, this solution should still work.

This case is only meant for the iPhone X right now, but the two companies are apparently working on cases for other devices as well. Ossia also plans to switch from a 2.4Ghz signal for power transmission to a 5.8Ghz signal for better range and power. This switch will also enable smaller transmitters and antennae.

Editor’s Pick

It’s unclear how fast Ossia’s true wireless charging solution actually is, but the company touted one watt of power back in 2015 (far less than a USB connection). Between further refinements and the move to the 5.8Ghz signal, we can only expect faster speeds. But I wouldn’t expect anything as fast as current pad-based charging solutions just yet.

So when can we actually buy one of these cases?

“Our aim is to work with Spigen to deliver Cota-enabled phone cases for 5.8Ghz by or before 2020,” said Ossia chief revenue officer Doug Stovall in a press statement. It might be a vague launch window, but the fact that we’ve got a release timeline at all is pretty encouraging.

NEXT: Two Huawei executives arrested in Poland over spying allegations

Source: Android Zone

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Huawei executive arrested in Poland over spying allegations

huawei logo

A Huawei employees have been arrested in Poland for allegedly spying on the Chinese government’s behalf. Poland’s TVPInfo broke the news earlier today (via Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal) amid increasing tensions between the U.S. and China.

The employee, Chinese national, was arrested alongside a former high-ranking official at Poland’s internal security agency.

Editor’s Pick

Poland’s counterintelligence agency is believed to have searched Huawei’s Poland headquarters, a local Orange branch, and the houses of both suspects. They took “documents and electronic data” from Huawei’s office, said The Wall Street Journal.

The pair are set to remain in custody for at least three months and apparently face up to ten years in prison.

In an emailed statement sent earlier today, a Huawei spokesperson told us: “Huawei is aware of the situation, and we are looking into it. We have no comment for the time being. Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations in the countries where it operates, and we require every employee to abide by the laws and regulations in the countries where they are based.”

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro (above) is one of its most powerful smartphones ever.

What’s the background?

Huawei has come under global scrutiny lately. As well as producing smartphones, the Chinese corporation develops mobile network infrastructure used in many countries, which some nations see as a potential security risk.

Editor’s Pick

There is speculation the U.S. government will soon ban Huawei telecommunications equipment from being used in the nation over security concerns, while it also may call for EU nations to do the same. Australia and New Zealand have already banned the use of Huawei’s telecommunications equipment for their 5G networks. Japan is expected to announce a similar move soon.

Meanwhile, Huawei CFO Wanzhou Meng was arrested in Canada at the behest of the U.S. government last December.

Despite the allegations, Huawei has repeatedly denied involvement with the Chinese government on these matters.

Source: Android Zone

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Which is the Best WordPress Photo Gallery Plugin? (Performance + Quality Compared)

Are you looking for the best WordPress gallery plugin for your website?

There are so many WordPress photo gallery plugins available, but the problem is that most will either slow down your website, or they’re extremely difficult to use.

To help you pick the right solution, we have created a detailed comparison of the performance, features, and quality of the best WordPress photo gallery plugins.

Our goal is to help you find the WordPress photo and video gallery plugin, that is fast, easy to use, and has all the features you will need.

Best WordPress Gallery Plugins

Our Criteria for the Best WordPress Gallery Plugin

In our opinion, a perfect WordPress gallery plugin should be fast, easy to use, and have all the necessary features that you need to create beautiful galleries (such as lightboxes, image navigation, albums, pagination, etc).

The gallery plugin should offer a great user experience and help improve your image SEO as well.

4 Best WordPress Gallery Plugins

We have hand-picked the four most popular WordPress photo gallery plugins on the market.

In our comparison, we will look at the speed, features, ease of use, and reliability of these plugins:

Let’s get started with our comparison.

Speed

Speed is crucial when you are choosing a WordPress photo gallery plugin. Not only does it affect your WordPress SEO, but it also affects user experience on your site.

If you are using a gallery plugin for a portfolio or photography site, then you simply cannot afford to compromise on speed.

We ran a speed test for each of these plugins using the same images without modifying any default settings. Below are our results:

Gallery Plugin Page Load Time Requests Page Size
Envira Gallery 655 ms 23 988KB
Modula 696 ms 28 948 KB
NextGEN 867 ms 35 1.0 MB
FooGallery 917 ms 27 591 KB

As you can see in the above results, Envira Gallery came out as the fastest loading WordPress image gallery plugin. Modula came as a very close second with barely few milliseconds difference and with smaller page size.

The reason why Envira Gallery and Modula are so fast is that they are both well coded and highly optimized for speed. If performance and speed is your main concern (which it should be), then Modula and Envira Gallery are both great options.

Winner: It’s a tie between Envira Gallery and Modula

Ease of Use

Creating image galleries is not as simple as uploading a single image to your posts. You need to choose layouts, select columns, add thumbnail sizes, choose lightbox animations, etc.

Most beginners find the process quite overwhelming. The goal here is to find a WordPress photo gallery plugin that is both powerful and beginner friendly at the same time.

Envira Gallery

Envira Gallery follows and adheres to the WordPress coding standards and best practices. It provides a user interface that seamlessly blends into your WordPress admin area.

Creating a new gallery is quite simple and beginner friendly.

Envira Gallery user interface

Envira Gallery also comes with a Gutenberg block allowing you to easily add photo galleries into any WordPress post and page. You can also change gallery settings right from the post edit screen.

Gutenberg block for Envira Gallery

Classic editor users can use the shortcode or the button above the post editor to quickly add any gallery or album in your post/page.

Aside from that Envira Gallery also shows you the template tag that you can use it in your WordPress templates. This is particularly handy if you are developing a site for a client and want to include galleries straight into the theme.

Modula

Modula Gallery uses a similar approach to create new photo galleries. You can simply upload your files or select them from the media library to create a photo gallery.

Modula Gallery user interface

Below the images, you will find all gallery settings organized in tabs. From here you can change gallery style, theme, lightbox, and other settings.

To insert the gallery into WordPress posts and pages, you will need to copy the gallery shortcode and insert it using the Shortcode block in the Gutenberg editor.

There are no sidebar widgets or Gutenberg blocks at the moment to make it easier for users to insert Galleries.

FooGallery

FooGallery takes the similar approach as Envira Gallery and Modula. They use a simple user interface that looks and feels like WordPress.

FooGallery user interface

After uploading your photos, you can adjust the gallery settings in great details below the images.

FooGallery also makes it easy to insert photo galleries. You can use the built-in Gutenberg block, shortcode, or sidebar widget to display your photo galleries anywhere in WordPress. It also adds a button on top of the Classic Editor to select and insert galleries.

Unlike Envira Gallery, FooGallery does not show the template tag to insert your galleries into theme files or templates.

NextGEN Gallery

NextGEN is a little different than our other three contenders. It brings its own user interface, database tables, and separate folders to store your images. This is why NextGEN user interface looks a bit complicated in WordPress.

NextGen UI

It does offer a gallery wizard which can be helpful for beginners. However, it will take users some time to understand how to upload images and create a gallery. You may also find it a bit difficult to add the gallery into your post/page.

NextGen adds a Gutenberg block which allows you to create and add galleries from the post edit screen. For classic editor users, it adds a button to the post editor.

Winner: No clear winner. Envira, Modula, and Foo Gallery all offer easy to use interface.

Features

In order to create a beautiful photo gallery, you need functionality like lightboxes, full-screen mode, albums, pagination, navigation, slideshow, password protection, EXIF metadata, social media sharing, and more.

However it’s important to remember that too many features can slow down your site, so let’s take a look at how our contenders handle the balance in features and functionality.

Envira Gallery

Envira Gallery is built with a mobile first approach. This means that it is fully responsive out of the box.

It allows you to easily choose thumbnail sizes, animations, gallery layouts, add meta tags for your images all from the single user interface.

Apart from the built-in features, there are loads of features that you can add by installing addons such as: gallery templates, social sharing, videos, password protection, image protection, albums, slideshow, Pinterest, image proofing, WooCommerce support, and more.

Envira Gallery features

Modula

Modula is the newest of all plugins on our list, so they do not have the advanced features. However the plugin does cover all the basic features you’ll want from a WordPress gallery plugin like lightbox popup, social sharing, custom styles, grid layouts, and more.

It comes with a custom grid feature which allows you to use simple drag and drop to create your own custom grid for galleries.

It also has a video addon for creating video galleries. However, Modula is lacking other features like albums, watermarking, proofing, and gallery templates.

Modula features

FooGallery

FooGallery comes with a lot of powerful features however it is not mobile responsive out of the box. You can select the responsive template to add a responsive photo gallery.

Another feature that we missed is the lightbox. You can install the free Foobox plugin to add lightbox functionality, but we felt that it should have been packaged with the core gallery plugin.

FooGallery also comes with extensions that you can install to add more features such as custom branding, cube effect, lightbox, and more.

FooGallery features

NextGEN Gallery

NextGEN Gallery is the oldest of all four plugins, and it comes with an extensive list of features.

Many of the features that are available as addons in Envira and Foo, are available out of the box in NextGEN gallery. There are also premium addons with more features that you can install.

Most NextGen features require a certain level of familiarity with the plugin. Users will need some time to figure things out, reading the documentation, and posting questions in support forums.

Winner: Envira Gallery is the clear winner here with its extensive list of features that cover all the basics + advanced features for photographers, eCommerce websites, and portfolios. NextGEN is the close second with a matching set of features.

Compatability

WordPress provides you the freedom to move your site from one web host to another and even to different competitors.

We need to see if you can easily import/export and backup your photo gallery data.

Envira Gallery

Envira stores all your photo galleries as custom post types in the WordPress database. It stores your media files using the default WordPress media location. This means if you backup your WordPress site, then you will have all Envira Gallery data backed up.

Envira also allows you to import/export your individual galleries. This means that you can move a single gallery from one WordPress site to another.

Import / Export photo galleries using Envira Gallery

When you move your WordPress site, Envira will automatically detect it and will show you an option to fix the migration. All these features make Envira Gallery the most reliable photo gallery plugin for WordPress.

Modula

Modula also uses a custom WordPress content type to store your photo galleries. This means you can save your photo galleries with your WordPress backup and restore them when you restore WordPress site from backup.

Modula doesn’t allow you to import/export individual galleries.

FooGallery

Similar to Envira, FooGallery also stores your galleries as custom post types in the WordPress database. If you backup your WordPress site, then you will have a FooGallery data backup as well.

However, if you just want to export individual galleries, then there is no option for that because the plugin doesn’t come with an import/export feature.

NextGEN Gallery

NextGEN gallery does not come with import/export feature. Since it stores your data in separate database tables, this means you will need to configure your WordPress backup plugin to include those tables.

NextGEN also stores your images in a separate folder. If you want to create a backup for them, then you will need to download the folder separately to your computer.

Both Envira and FooGallery offer NextGen importers to make it easy for users to switch to their platform.

Winner: Enivra Gallery offers the most comprehensive set of tools to import/export your photo galleries.

Pricing

All four plugins have a free WordPress gallery version available in the WordPress plugin directory. All four of them have paid upgrades available with more features. The pricing of your photo gallery plugin will depend on which plan you want to use for any of these plugins. You can choose a plan based on the features you need after trying the free versions.

Winner: No clear winners here – the pricing of products will vary based on what features you need and plan that you select.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a simple and fast solution, then Envira Gallery and Modula Gallery are both great options for a WordPress gallery plugin.

If you need the advanced features and don’t mind a learning curve, then NextGen gallery is your best option.

We hope this article helped you pick the best WordPress gallery plugin for your website. You may also want to see our expert-pick of the must have WordPress plugins for all websites.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials and join us on Facebook.

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Source: Wordpres

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Big surprise: MIUI 11 is apparently in development by Xiaomi

The back of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro.

We saw MIUI 10 slowly make its way to Xiaomi devices last year, and now the company has reportedly started work on MIUI 11.

According to MyDrivers (via Playful Droid), Xiaomi product planning executive Liu Ming announced the news at the company’s MIUI Core Experience Annual Meeting. News of the update isn’t really a surprise though, as Xiaomi tends to issue a big update each year. So what should we expect from MIUI 11?

The executive apparently claimed the update would be a “new and unique” OS. It’s also expected to feature system optimizations and a “more refreshing feeling.” In other words, the company didn’t announce specific features just yet.

Editor’s Pick

Expectations might be high for the new update though, especially after the meaty update that was 2018’s MIUI 10. Last year’s update delivered a single-camera portrait mode, a redesigned recents menu, nature-inspired notifications, redesigned volume/brightness sliders, and increased responsiveness. Personally, I’m hoping Xiaomi brings night mode photography to more devices via the new version.

Xiaomi also has the nasty habit of updating MIUI while leaving the underlying version of Android intact. Hopefully the company brings Android Pie to these phones as well, as opposed to only delivering the MIUI 11 update.

There’s no word on a release date for the new update, but Xiaomi tends to deliver a new version of MIUI between June and August. What would you like to see in MIUI 11? Let us know in the comments!

NEXT: Google reportedly working on minimum requirements for Android TV

Source: Android Zone

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