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Weekly Rewind: Donate to charities with Apple Pay, hack a Google Pixel, get a pizza delivered by a drone

weekly rewind top tech stories 11 18 2016 relay towel delivery
In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on that it’s almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top 10 tech stories from this week. Everything from the debut of the OnePlus 3T to smart robot butlers, it’s all here.

The OnePlus 3T packs impressive hardware at a ‘flagship killer’ price point

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The OnePlus 3 is not only an excellent smartphone, it’s also a very attractively priced one, and one we heartily recommend. While its successor, the OnePlus 3T, is less a revolutionary leap than an evolutionary move forward, it features a number of compelling improvements that instantly place it firmly in the pantheon of affordable smartphones.

Read the full story here.

Jaguar will build a classic XKSS for nine very lucky, very rich collectors

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Jaguar Classic has revealed its own work of art within the stunning Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Instead of looking forward, as Jaguar has with its all-electric I-Pace, the U.K. automaker has drawn upon its rich racing history to produce something truly remarkable. Nine XKSS sports cars will be produced for a select group of collectors and customers. Each vehicle will use a period-correct chassis and sell for more than $1,241,900.

Read the full story here.

Nike to open New York City store loaded with tech

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Nike has come a long way from its humble beginnings, when founder Phil Knight sold early shoe models from his station wagon, to its present status as the most powerful sports brand in the world. The footwear conglomerate is flexing its creative and technological muscles with its new five-story, 55,000-square-foot store in the SoHo section of New York City.

Read the full story here.

Apple has begun its massive purge of apps from the App Store

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Apple’s great purge of App Store apps has well and truly begun. The company announced in September that it would be removing apps that no longer worked as intended or didn’t follow guidelines from the App Store, and that process began in October. So how many apps did the company remove? A massive 47,300. App removals jumped up a hefty 238 percent last month.

Read the full story here.

Drones are now delivering pizza to paying customers in New Zealand

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It’s happening. It’s really happening. Drones are starting to deliver goods in real-life commercial settings. In New Zealand, that is. In a move that will have Amazon’s Prime Air team looking on with envy, and possibly salivating as well, a branch of Domino’s Pizza about 10 miles north of central Auckland has sent out its first drone carrying piping hot pizza to an actual paying customer.

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Users can now donate to their favorite nonprofits through Apple Pay

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Apple Pay has supported consumerism for the last couple years, but now it’s supporting a different kind of spending — that of the charitable nature. With the holiday season, #GivingTuesday, and goodwill all right around the corner, Apple has announced that its mobile payments platform now supports instant donations to nonprofits. So now, in addition to buying yourself that new winter coat, you can help keep someone else warm this holiday season, too.

Read the full story here.

40 tech companies send letter detailing their policy priorities to President-elect Trump

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A coalition of 40 companies, called the Internet Association, have sent President-elect Donald Trump a 12-page letter detailing a road map and policies for his administration to consider. The policies highlight key areas the association, which includes companies like Facebook and Google, believe Trump should focus on in regard to the internet sector.

Read the full story here.

It only took 30 seconds for white hat hackers to crack a Google Pixel

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Looking for a way to swagger down the street like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, while silently informing your fellow citizens that you’re a tech-savvy early adopter? If this oddly specific fantasy happens to be one you share, you may want to check out a new Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that offers what its creators claim are the “world’s first customizable mid-top E-sneakers.”

Read the full story here.

Luxury apartments in Los Angeles come with smart robot butlers

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Does the idea of a snake robot that enters your body via your nose or urethra — i.e., the duct in the end of the penis through which fluids are conveyed — sound like the stuff of nightmares? Well, forget any temporary thoughts of discomfort because such a robot may just save your life one day. A bioengineering professor at Vanderbilt University, Nabil Simaan, has been busy developing snake-like robots for more than a decade.

Read the full story here.

Sex or cybersecurity? Nearly four in 10 say they’d rather be secure

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Ever wondered what kind of amenities you could expect if you rented a luxury apartment for $25,000 per month? California-based robotics company Savioke has your answer — and it’s a smart robot butler called Charley. Charley is a “Relay” model room service robot, capable of delivering everything from mail to takeout meals directly to your door. From next year it will be servicing the wealthy patrons of Los Angeles’ new upmarket Crescent Heights Ten Thousand building.

Read the full story here.

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
I record interviews for work. These are my favorite free recorder apps
The iPhone 14 Pro and Google Pixel 7 Pro's voice recording apps running together.

The Voice Recorder app on a phone (left) and the Voice Memos on another phone Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Before you head to the app store on your phone to buy a voice-recording app, take a moment to consider the apps that may already be installed on your phone. Why? In my experience, they're likely all you really need. I’ve recorded interviews and voice-overs for work for years, and I’ve found the two best examples come preinstalled on your phone already, so they’re entirely free to use.

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The best Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 cases: 10 best ones so far
Two Galaxy Z Fold 5 phones next to each other -- one is open and one is closed.

Samsung’s next-generation foldable is here with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. This iteration has some notable improvements, including a new hinge design that eliminates the gap from previous generations when the device was folded. You also get a 6.2-inch HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the outside while having a 6.7-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the inside, with both screens having a 120Hz refresh rate. In other words, they're about as nice as you could ask for.

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is made with premium materials, and the triple-lens camera system packs in a 50MP main shooter, 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide lens. There’s a 10MP selfie camera on the front cover, and a 4MP camera on the inner display. You also get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip inside for the best performance and power efficiency.

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Google Pixel Tablet just got its first big discount and it’s worth a look
Google Pixel Tablet on its charging dock.

Tablets are a dime-a-dozen these days, with offerings from all the great brands including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and more. So, if you really want to stand out in a sea of similar tech, you need to do things a little differently. That's what Google's Pixel Tablet offers. How? It comes with a unique speaker dock that can be used to both charge the device and offer room-filling sound -- almost like a smart speaker add-on. Better yet, when your Pixel Tablet is docked it benefits from the Hub Mode, turning the device into a smart display, with digital photo frame support, smart home controls, and hands-free Google functionality. Of course, it could set you back at full price, normally $499 unless you find it included in a roundup of the best Google Pixel deals. Well, guess what? Thanks to a Best Buy Google Pixel Tablet deal, you can get it today for $439 and save $60. Hurry, though, it's part of Best Buy's recent 48-hour sale so it won't stick around for long.

Why you should buy the Google Pixel Tablet
Okay, okay, so in our Google Pixel Tablet review, Joe Maring did give it less than stellar remarks, but he called out its reliable fingerprint sensor, comfortability during use and excellent speaker dock. Honestly, how many tablets come with a matching speaker dock that transforms the entire experience? This tablet also marks a "lot of firsts" for Google, as it's the first tablet from the company in nearly five years, the first Android tablet in eight years, and can be converted into a smart home display with the speaker dock. All of which are notable milestones.

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