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I took this picture on the $500 Pixel 8a, which I highly recommend if you want a capable yet relatively inexpensive smartphone. It’s Google’s budget phone packed with a capable camera and some of the cleanest, smartest Android software.
Seriously, somehow, the Pixel software makes other smartphones seem less intelligent. It just seems to anticipate your next move, and it takes fewer taps to get to what you need. AI smarts are baked into every aspect of this phone, and many are very helpful and time-saving.
If you decide to buy the Pixel 8a, be sure to check the price of the Pixel 8. It has slightly better specs, and it might be a better deal if it’s on sale.
Here’s that same photo, but with a little AI enhancement from the Pixel 8a's built-in Magic Editor.
First Up
Speaking of AI, Apple is set to kick off its Worldwide Developer’s Conference on Monday, June 10. It starts with a keynote packed with all the cool features coming soon to the iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac computers and more. The big rumor is that Apple has linked up with OpenAI, makers of ChatGPT, to make Siri a powerful AI assistant. We will soon find out if that’s true.
TV Segment Recap
Are you looking for a great pair of headphones that aren’t from Apple, Samsung, or Sony? There’s Nothing to it! No, seriously, I love the latest Ear buds from a tech accessory company named Nothing. They make two styles starting at $100 and have all the features you need.
If it has wheels, there’s an electric version of it. Enter the electric motorcycle. I met up with Verge Motorcycle to check out their $30,000 all-electric Verge TS Pro. It looks like it’s straight out of a sci-fi movie.
Travel YouTuber Drew Binsky has reached his goal of visiting every country in the world. Now he’s written a book about it. It’s called Just Go, and it is filled with travel stories, tips, and the advice in the title.
Tech News to Know
Microsoft has listened to consumer concerns about the privacy of its Windows Recall feature, and now it will make it opt-in instead of turned on by default.
Spotify is raising prices for the second time in a year. New Prices:
Individual plan: $11.99 (up from $10.99)
Duo plan: $16.99 (up from $14.99)
Family plan: $19.99 (up from $16.99)
Student plan: $5.99 (unchanged)
Netflix will no longer support some older Apple TV models.
Max is raising prices by $1 a month.
Tech Q&A
Charlene from Kerrville, TX writes in:
"I read in a newspaper column that charging cellphones and other electronic devices to 100% ruins the battery and they should only be charged to 80 or 90%. Is this true?"
Most modern gadgets take care of this process automatically, but there are some settings you can adjust to your preferences. The bottom line is it depends on how long you want to keep your phone. How you charge matters if you like to keep your phone for a long time.
Both Apple and Android have settings to help you optimize battery charging to preserve the maximum life of the battery for as long as possible.
On Apple: Settings > Battery > Charging Optimization (Optimized On)
On Samsung: Settings > Device care > Battery > Battery Protection On
On Pixel: Settings > Battery > Battery Saver > Adaptive Battery (turn on)
Tech Tidbits
It seems like I’m always talking about easy ways to listen to articles that you might not have time to read and this might be the killer application. It’s a new service called Listen Later. The premise is pretty simple: you sign up and then email or use an extension to send the article to the service when you come across an article you want to listen to later. It then uses AI to record the article as a podcast that you can then listen to on your favorite app. It works really well, and basically, what you have is a personalized podcast feed of all of the articles you want to read in podcast form.
There’s no subscription; you buy credits, and then they deduct from them as they convert articles at a rate of several cents per 1,000 characters. Articles I tested ranged from a cost of 13 cents to 68 cents, depending on the length.
You can try it for free, they give you a $2 credit for signing up. Listen Later
Download This
Many, many years ago I profiled an app called TrueBill. It was started to help people keep track of and cancel unwanted subscriptions. The Rocket Companies' financial brand acquired it, now it’s called Rocket Money. The premise is simple - you link up your financial accounts and it will find all of the recurring charges and organize them. You can see how much you’re spending on various subscriptions, get help canceling them, see all your bills on a calendar and more. The app is free but has some premium features like seeing your net worth all on one page (similar to Mint, but in my experience, it doesn’t have as many financial companies as you can link up). I find it super handy.
Rocket Money for iOS and Android
Bookmark this
It’s summer travel season and I’m all about helpful sites that make the journey easier!
I’ve got two for you.
The first is called PointsYeah and it helps you make the most of any points you’ve racked up for airlines and hotels. The site searches through all of your programs at once, so you can discover award travel deals you might not even be aware of.
For instance, maybe you have points on Delta but you can transfer them to Air France for even more award availability. The neat thing about PointsYeah is that it lets you search for free and results are near instant, delivered in about 20 seconds. You can search across four days for free and more if you upgrade your membership to paid.
Next up is Turbli. This is a website that lets you check the turbulence forecast for your flight. You can see if it will be smooth sailing or when you might want to turn the music up in your headphones and zone out. via ThePointsGuy
Dealspotter
Since I don’t have one particular deal for you this week, I’ll tell you the places I regularly check for deals.
Slickdeals, which is great for crowdsourced deals on all kinds of stuff.
Did you know that Amazon has a coupons page? So does Target. They just made a helpful change to their deals. You no longer have to clip them virtually. They’re automatically applied if you have their Circle Card. So much easier.
Cybersecurity Corner
From the BBB:
Since the beginning of 2021, BBB received more than 23,000 reports related to phishing. Over 9,000 of those were reported last year, nearly double the record from the previous year.
Phishing scam red flags - watch out for an email, text message, or call that:
Claims suspicious activity or fraudulent logins
Describes unexpected problems with an account
Tries to confirm financial information
Requests to click a link to make a payment
Sends unasked-for coupons
Generic message paired with the logo of a well-known company
Uses typo-filled and urgent language
Offers government refunds
If you suspect a scam, check out the BBB’s Scam Tracker, a helpful resource.
This Week’s Podcast Episode
If you’re looking for a smartwatch for kids, I highly recommend the Fitbit Ace LTE. It’s a brand new device engineered just for kids and we’ve been testing it out. My kid loves it, especially the activity tracking and the fun characters on the screen. The one thing to know is that while the watch will let up to 20 people call and message it, it is not assigned a traditional phone number, so everyone must download an app to communicate with it. Guardians can also see where their child is on a map.
Listen to the episode here, with my extended thoughts on the Fitbit Ace LTE.
Throwback Tech
How’s this for a contrast of technology? Lee and Cathy S. sent in this photo of their Cybertruck and Model T, side by side. That’s a century of technology evolution! And yes, the Ford still runs, although they tell me they don’t drive it as often as the truck.
Feedbag
Enjoy the program a lot, you’re the best.
Thomas
A Word About this Newsletter
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That’s all for now. Have a great weekend.
Rich