Microsoft taking MacBook trade-ins for discounts on Surface models

Microsoft will be happy to take old notebooks including Apple MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros as trade-in fodder for new Surface Pro or Surface Book models in Canada. The promo runs from November 8^th – 22^nd, Microsoft is offering up to $750 toward a new Surface Pro 4 or Surface Book when you trade in a used device.

As Microsoft's fine-print states, "customers must trade-in qualifying Apple MacBook  device (Air or Pro) subject to these terms. Excludes Ipad, newly released Surface Book, Studio devices, and Performance Base models. Any appraised value will be determined at trade-in and provided as a Microsoft online store redemption code and is valid online only." Read more about the promo here.

Some Pixel users experiencing voice and data network disconnection issues

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Google's Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones have been in the market for a number of weeks now but some users are encountering a serious issue where the device disconnects from the LTE network. I have first-hand experience with this issue as my Pixel XL started intermittently disconnecting from the TELUS network in Canada. I noticed this when messages would not be sent and when streaming podcasts or news from the NPR One app would cease to play.

Various attempts to fix this on my part, including restarting the device, removing and re-inserting the SIM card, and even restoring the device after a hard reset, failed to fix the issue which has affected various users who are chiming in on a Reddit post.

Click to read more ...

YouTube gets HDR treatment

Simulated SDR vs HDR comparison (seeing true HDR requires an HDR display)

YouTube has always readily adapted new audio and video formats into its service. This time around, it adds High Dynamic Range (HDR) support in the mix. What this promises to give to you is videos with “higher contrast, revealing precise, detailed shadows, and stunning highlights with more clarity than ever.” Colors should come out more vibrant in HDR mode. The feature will come to support devices, like HDR TVs with Chromecast Ultra or soon on 2016 Samsung SUHD and UHD TVs. You can see some sample content from YouTube creators like MysteryGuitarMan and Abandon Visuals. If you’re a creator, you can learn about uploading HDR videos from this link.

Google speeds up and redesigns Gmail on iOS

Google revamps the Gmail app for iOS and gives it a new look, the “undo send option,” and faster search capabilities. Two years might be a bit too long of a wait but at least the five second “undo send” feature is now in the iOS app. But the biggest but probably something that will go unnoticed is the quicker search capability of the email app. According to AppleInsider tests, a multi-term search of a 55,000 email archive returned results almost instantly instead of around 11 seconds that takes to complete said search. Scrolling is also faster as well as receiving notification. Google has also added spelling suggestions into the app and lets users swipe on an email to archive or delete the message.