Pre-Order $129 'Google Wifi' Router Replacement

Google is set to remove the wireless dead zones from the home with the launch of the Google Wifi router, a device that can now be pre-ordered. Expected to launch on December 6, the wireless router is being offered as a single US$129 device or in a US$299 bundle.

The latter comes in batch of three for use as a 'mesh' system around your home.

Wireless mesh technology, for the uninitiated, is a communications network in which compatible routers forward traffic to and from gateways; it basically allows users to build a unique home network out of multiple devices to ensure complete coverage. Eero, Luma, and Orbi have long provided similar solutions, but they come with a higher price tags.

Google Wifi replaces traditional routers, a home staple that often suffers from limited range, an aspect that Google calls 'points'. Two or more points seamlessly connect using mesh technology to create a blanket wireless network, capable of handling simultaneous streaming, downloading, and sharing.

A single Google Wifi point is enough for a small house or apartment (500 to 1,500sqft) and two will suffice for a medium home (1,500 to 3,000sqft). The three-pack can be linked together to cover residences up to 4,500sqft.

Keep in mind that a long, narrow home or particularly thick walls may require additional Google Wifi points.

Unveiled during an October hardware event alongside Google Home and Daydream VR, the new appliance boasts smart features similar to the wireless Google OnHub router, released last year.

Designed with internal antennas and 'subtle, useful lighting', the trash can-like Google OnHub searches the airwaves and selects the best channel for the fastest connection. With it, owners can tap into the power of Google Wifi to expand that coverage.

According to Google's support page, the Google Wifi device works with almost all US Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and is compatible with almost all modems, but there are no details as to specific incompatibilities yet. It cannot, however, be used as an extender for a traditional router. If you have a combined modem and router, it's usually possible to disable the router functionality and replace it with Google Wifi.

Google to Sell Project Ara Modular Smartphone in Puerto Rico

Eager to check out Google's Ara modular smartphone? If you live in Puerto Rico, you're in luck. At its second Project Ara Developers Conference on Wednesday, Google announced plans to begin selling the customizable smartphone in Puerto Rico as part of a pilot program later this year. The Web giant also unveiled Spiral 2, the latest Ara prototype, which can make 3G phone calls, according to a report from Mashable.

Project Ara is Google's moonshot effort to create a modular smartphone with the goal of "delivering mobile Internet to the next 5 billion people." The idea is that you'll get a so-called "endoskeleton" — the phone's structural frame — and then be able to snap in different "modules" for added functionality and features.

The modules can be easily inserted and removed at any time, even when the device is on, and have replaceable covers or "shells," which you can also customize with photos or images you like.

In a new YouTube video Wednesday, Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group, which is developing the phone, showed how you can easily pop different modules on and off the device — things like cameras, speakers, chips, even a new screen if your old one cracks. Project Ara leader Paul Eremenko said Google has 11 prototype modules, but the goal is to have 20 to 30 by the time it goes on sale, Mashable reported.

An even more advanced version of the device — dubbed Spiral 3 — is expected later this year with features like 4G LTE and better antennas. When it goes on sale in Puerto Rico later this year, Ara will be available through two local carriers — OpenMobile and Claro — and the cost will vary depending on which modules you choose. A global launch is expected to follow, but there's no word yet on timing.

For a close look at Ara, check out the video below

Review : Xiaomi Mi 5

When the Xiaomi Mi3 launched in Malaysia a couple of years ago, it had been, for lack of a better word, a veritable phenomenon; a Full HD smartphone with the blistering, at the time, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 for under RM1,000 is truly unheard of. As expected, demand became so great that the first flagship smartphone for Xiaomi routinely sold out.

It seemed like everyone and his uncle either had one or is clamouring for one. Xiaomi had seemingly crashed the proverbial party, sending their rivals into a rethink. In the intervening couple of years between then and the launch of their new flagship, the Xiaomi Mi 5, the landscape has changed quite a bit: ‘Flagship killers’ abound, all of which boast high-end specs for a fraction of what they used to cost.

Can the this new entrant maintain Xiaomi’s momentum as it transitions from upstart into a mainstay?

Design: Metallic Compromise

Wrapped in an aluminium shell, the Xiaomi Mi 5 ticks most boxes when it comes to high-end smartphone design. Its curved edges break the monotomy of most boxy designs and makes it looks very similar to Samsung’s Galaxy S7. Where they differ though, is Xiaomi’s decision to make it more of a slant rather than a simple curve, resulting in a chassis that can be rather difficult to hold with confidence.

As I was usually only holding a small surface area of the phone, it always felt like it was going to slip out of my hands. Still, usability aside, it’s certainly a beautiful phone to behold and will attract its fair share of attention.

The volume rocker and power button are easy to depress and provide good tactile feedback. Nested within the physical home button is also a finger print reader like one found on the Apple iPhone. However, Xiaomi’s application leaves a little to be desired; not only does the narrow button consistently fail to identify my fingerprint, it also hangs for some time before it recognises a second input, leading me to simply key in the PIN most of the time.

It also requires the button to be depressed for the fingerprint reader to be activated, a move that is far less efficient than the round back-facing fingerprint reader found on other smartphones like the Google Nexus 6P or ASUS ZenFone 3.

At the very least, it rocks a USB Type-C port. That is a must for flagships now.


Performance: Red Hot Literally

Like most flagships, the Xiaomi Mi 5 packs the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, promising lightning fast speeds and smoothness. Unfortunately, unlike other markets, we’ll only be getting the lower spec variant, clocking in at 1.8GHz compared to the full bore processor at 2.15GHz. Predictably, benchmarks do take a sizable hit, with Geekbench 3 only delivering 1904 for the single core score and 4664 for the multi-core.

This compares poorly against the international benchmarks of around 2300 for the Single-Core and 5300 for the Multi-Core. Thankfully though, general performance of the Xiaomi Mi 5 remains snappy; applications open swiftly, multitasking was a breeze and the Adreno 530 made short work of even the latest games.

Strangely, though, despite the lower clock speed of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, the Xiaomi Mi 5 became really hot even doing minor things such as web browsing. Occasionally, the phone would start burning up as it simply sits in my pocket. While the heat didn’t affect the performance of the device much, it is disappointing that the temperature management is a real issue here. Unlike previously, I'd expect most users will now be forced to get a case to deal with it.

Display: Vibrant Enough

Despite only packing a Full HD display compared with the 1440p resolution of something like a LG G5, the 5.15in IPS panel here is absolutely gorgeous, with great brightness, detail and contrast being punched out. At this screen size, pixelation is more or less non-existent and most people will be very happy with it. In terms of colours, it errs towards a more vivid template like a Samsung panel as opposed to more muted, realistic colours you get on the Apple iPhone.

Additionally, while the top and lip of the phone still sport sizable bezels, the sides of the display are almost edge-to-edge, leading to a truly immersive viewing experience when watching videos or playing games.


Audio: Falls Short

Unfortunately, the user immersion is broken down by the sub-par speakers found on the Xiaomi Mi 5. Bad enough that it is down-firing, the single speaker, which is barred up with a single grill piece, barely passes the mustard when it comes to audio fidelity, with overly sharp highs and muddy mids.

The bass is pretty much absent as well, leading to a hollow sounding experience. Thankfully, the Xiaomi Mi 5 still packs a 3.5mm audio jack, so you can quickly plug in a good pair of cans. Unlike an upcoming flagship from Cupertino.


Camera: Commendably Usable

With a 16MP, f /2.0 rear facing camera, the Xiaomi Mi 5 comes loaded with a shooter that is more or less par for the course specs wise. However, when compared to the kings of the hill, it can’t match-up just yet. Make no mistake; this new Xiaomi flagship is definitely a decent shooter.

Most at ease in a brightly lit environment, the Xiaomi Mi 5 main camera is perfectly capable of producing images with decent colours and details. HDR also worked pretty well, though you’ll need some very stable hands to get clear shots.

Where it tends to suffer a little is when the ambient lighting starts getting dark. The software tends to aggressively bump the ISO up, resulting in some pretty grainy images that hurt the overall clarity. While not truly perfect, it’ll definitely do in a pinch.


On the flip side, its front camera will certainly satisfy the selfie taker in most of users as it comes with a wide enough angle lens to get most of subjects in the picture. It also helps that the shots produced are clear and full of detail.

Conclusion: It Delivers as Promised

Xiaomi may still be a juggernaut in the sub-RM1,000 (~US$250) smartphone segment, but as a flagship model approaching the psychological RM2,000 mark, the Xiaomi Mi 5 isn’t such an easy choice.

With competitors like OPPO and OnePlus, the Xiaomu Mi 5 needs to distinguish itself a bit more. It’s certainly a capable smartphone, but there are other options out there that might tempt even the most hardcore of Xiaomi fans around the block.

Eject a disk safely from your Mac

When you have finished with disks they should be ejected properly, which unmounts them. You’ll need to take care though, because files can be corrupted if you don’t follow the right procedure.

One of the main causes of problems is pulling out the plug when files are open. This leads to corrupted files and you might be unable to save work you have open. Files must be closed and applications quit before drives can be ejected safely. This is to ensure that all the data is written to the drive.

1 Do not unplug

Don’t pull out the USB flash drive or USB disk drive plug, or OS X will inform you that you have done it incorrectly. You will be told to eject the disk before disconnecting it.

2 Eject a disk
If there is an icon on the desktop, drag it to the Trash. It’s not deleted, it is ejected. You can right click disks in Finder or click the Eject button in the sidebar.

3 Eject partitions
If a disk is a partition on a drive, you are asked if you want to eject just this partition or all of them. Click Eject or Eject All. Keyboard shortcuts can do this too.

4 Avoid common problems
A frequent cause for the failure to eject a disk is because an application has a file open. Close all the files and quit all applications, then try ejecting the disk again.

Hands On With the Google Nexus Player

Google's Nexus Player is the company's best stab at the TV so far. I got a demo of it today at a Google event, and I'm hopeful. Hopefully, we'll see Android TV introduced into sets at CES.

The Nexus Player is a little disc, made by Asus and running an Intel Silvermont processor, which plugs into your TV. It comes with a small black remote (simple, not complex like some of the silly Google TV remotes were), and it has an optional gamepad. Its only ports are an HDMI-out, a power port, and a USB jack; I didn't see Ethernet, for instance.

Plug it into your TV, and you see a "smart TV" interface centered on content from Google Play, which takes top billing. What's really interesting is what's going on down below, though. According to Google, the Nexus Player is "just an Android device" and will run "any app downloaded from Google Play."

I can't wait to see how that plays out. Games, for instance, are restricted by their interfaces. If you want to play games, you'll probably want a Bluetooth gamepad like Asus's $39 unit, and you'll want to play gamepad-compatible games. Fortunately, there are a lot of those nowadays. You can also use a paired Android phone as an input device.


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The hotter question is whether all the Google Play entertainment apps will let themselves be run on the Nexus Player. Our demo sample showed Netflix, Pandora, Hulu and, of course, YouTube. So far, so good. But what about HBO GO? And Amazon, which has structured its Prime streaming app so it plays on Android phones but not tablets? Whether you'll really be able to play any content that Android suppors, or whether content owners will block this device, is a critically unanswered question.

The Nexus Player also does everything a Chromecast does, showing content from other Android devices in the home.

Like with Amazon's Fire TV , Google has also invested in voice search being a major way to search the company's content library. A search for "Halloween movies," spoken into the remote, turned up the whole horror movie series on Google Play and a lot of more family-friendly content on YouTube.

The Nexus Player costs $99 and enters a crowded field full of Amazon Fire TVs, Chromecasts, Rokus and such. They all suffer from the "Input 1 problem," which is that most ordinary consumers don't want to have to switch inputs away from their cable box or console gaming system for their content.

But the Nexus Player's real value is as a harbinger of Android TV. Sony, Sharp, and Philips have all said they'll bring Android TVs to market soon, probably at CES. The smart TV market is still a mess of competing, complex, proprietary interfaces, which has slowed the development of TV-compatible apps in general. Google's going to make a bid here, once again, to standardize and simplify.

For more, see PCMag's hands on with the Nexus 6 smartphone and Nexus 9 tablet (video below).