What to expect from Google’s Pixel 3 event

Apple, Amazon and Microsoft have already held their big fall events — and now it’s Google’s turn. Over the past couple of years, the October event has become an increasingly important platform, as the company continues to press into various hardware categories. And really, it’s Google’s last chance to make a big splash ahead of the holidays.

The Pixel 3 will no doubt be the centerpiece of the show. Google’s made no bones about that fact — and between officially sanctioned previews and Niagara Falls-sized leaks, it seems clear we’ve seen what the phone has to offer. Of course, these days, the event is about much more than the Pixel. This time last year, the company rolled out a bunch of additions to its Home line of smart speakers, including the Home Mini and Max. I’d anticipate seeing a fair amount of news on that front, as well this time out. 

The event kicks off October 9 in New York City. We’ll be there, of course. In the meantime, here’s what we think we’ll see, starting with the most obvious.

Hopefully there will be some surprises on the phone front, but I wouldn’t count on it. We’ve already seen both the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL from every conceivable angle, both in still images and video. In fact, Google’s given Samsung a run for its money on the leak front, this time out.

The Pixel 3 XL will embrace Android’s notch love with one of the largest cutouts we’ve seen to date. The Pixel 3, on the other hand, may skip the notch altogether. A new color is apparently in the works, as well — Aqua, to match the recently announced Google Home Minty.

The phones are said to be sticking with a single rear-facing camera configuration, which has served the line well in the past, but some new AR tricks are apparently in the works, to help show off ARCore’s latest additions. The squeeze interface introduced by HTC has also been confirmed via a truly adorable official video from Google Japan. A pair of wired, Pixel Bud-esque headphones are expected be in the box, as well.The new phone should also be getting its very own charging stand — similar to one recently rolled out by Samsung (or, for that matter, AirPower). The stand, interestingly, is designed to essentially turn the Pixel into a makeshift smart display — similar to what Amazon’s done with its Fire tablets via Show Mode.

On that note, Google appears ready to put more skin in the smart display game, after partnering with a number of third parties earlier this year. The Home Hub has already shown its face in a couple of leaks and FCC approvals, with Google finally taking on the Echo Show head on. We know that the Home Mini likely won’t be getting a full refresh, given the recent color addition, but the first-gen Home does seem overdue to get a facelift that will hopefully make it look less like a Glade air freshener.

Like the Hub, a new Chromecast has also made the FCC rounds, though information on new features seems scarce. Given the lukewarm reception of the original Pixel Buds, hopefully we’ll see an update on that front. A new Pixelbook seems entirely plausible as well, along with the rumored addition of a convertible Pixel Slate tablet, adding another premium device to its Chrome OS offerings.

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Netflix Is the Biggest Data Hog in the World

In terms of snaffling internet data, Netflix has everyone else beaten hands down. Netflix is also contributing to video being the biggest drain on bandwidth overall, which, given how many cat videos we all watch, should come as a surprise to absolutely no one.

We know all of this thanks to The Global Internet Phenomena Report from Sandvine [PDF]. Which has drawn data from 150 fixed and mobile operators worldwide. Sandvine claims that this represents “a statistically significant segment of the internet population.”

Stop Watching Videos of Cats

Video as a whole accounts for 58 percent of downstream traffic on the internet. A rise of 22 percent. Video beats web browsing into second place (on 17 percent), with gaming in third (on 8 percent), and social in fourth (on 5 percent).

Netflix by itself accounts for 15 percent of downstream traffic. HTTP media streams, which are embedded videos and other nonspecific video applications, take second place with 13 percent. And YouTube settles into third place with 11 percent.

The 2018 Global Internet Phenomena report is available now!

Download a copy here to learn about network traffic trends and gain insights from data on a global and regional level: https://t.co/QRkogirCPa pic.twitter.com/p18dfurfdL

— Sandvine (@Sandvine) October 2, 2018

What’s scary about these numbers is how they could continue to soar. While Netflix already has a healthy userbase the streaming service could add hundreds of millions of new subscribers as it continues to spend money producing original content.

Then there’s YouTube, which is evolving into a TV-like platform for well-produced shows and famous vloggers. And 4K video, which more people are likely to adopt as it becomes the new standard definition. Let’s just hope video compression improves over time.

The Unstoppable Rise of Gaming

While video is likely to remain the number one drain on data, gaming is slowly but surely catching up. This is thanks to a combination of game downloads, Twitch streaming, and professional gaming. And ISPs are going to have to deal with this phenomenon.

If you already pay for Netflix and are looking to get more out of the streaming service be sure to read our ultimate guide to Netflix. And if you’ve never used it but are wondering what the fuss is about here are some reasons to subscribe to Netflix.

Image Credit: Bob Klannukarn/Flickr

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What Spotify can learn from Tencent Music

On Tuesday, Tencent Music Entertainment filed for an IPO in the US that is expected to value it in the $25-30 billion range, on par with Spotify’s IPO in April. The filing highlights just how different its social interaction and digital goods business is from the subscription models of leading music streaming services in Western countries.

That divergence suggests an opportunity for Spotify or one of its rivals to gain a competitive advantage.

Tencent Music is no small player: As the music arm of Chinese digital media giant Tencent, its four apps have several hundred million monthly active users, $1.3 billion in revenue for the first half of 2018, and roughly 75 percent market share in China’s rapidly growing music streaming market. Unlike Spotify and Apple Music, however, almost none of its users pay for the service, and those who do are mostly not paying in the form of a streaming subscription.

Its SEC filing shows that 70 percent of revenue is from the 4.2 percent of its overall users who pay to give virtual gifts to other users (and music stars) who sing karaoke or live stream a concert and/or who paid for access to premium tools for karaoke; the other 30 percent is the combination of streaming subscriptions, music downloads, and ad revenue.

At its heart, Tencent Music is an interactive media company. Its business isn’t merely providing music, it’s getting people to engage around music. Given its parent company Tencent has become the leading force in global gaming—with control of League of Legends maker Riot Games and Clash of Clans maker Supercell, plus a 40 percent stake in Fortnite creator Epic Games, and role as the top mobile games publisher in China—its team is well-versed in the dynamics of in-game purchasing.

At first glance, the fact that Tencent Music has a lower subscriber rate than its Western rivals (3.6 percent of users paying for a subscription or digital downloads vs. 46 percent paying for a premium subscription on Spotify) is shocking given it has the key ingredient they each crave: exclusive content. Whereas subscription video streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video have anchored themselves in exclusive ownership of must-see shows in order to attract subscribers, the music streaming platforms suffer from commodity content. Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Deezer… they all have the same core library of music licensed from the major labels. There’s no reason for any consumer to pay for more than one music streaming subscription in the way they do for video streaming services.

In China, however, Tencent Music has exclusive rights to the most popular Western music from the major labels. The natural strategy to leverage this asset would be to charge a subscription to access it. But the reality is that piracy is still enough of a challenge in China that access to that music isn’t truly “exclusive.” Plus while incomes are rising, there’s extraordinary variance in what price point the population can afford for a music subscription. As a result, Tencent Music can’t rely on a subscription for exclusive content; it sublicenses that content to other Chinese music services as an additional revenue stream instead.

“Online music services in China have experienced intense competition with limited ability to differentiate by content due to the widespread piracy.” Tencent Music, SEC Form F-1

This puts it in a position like that of the Western music streaming services—fighting to differentiate and build a moat against competitors—but unlike them it has successfully done so. By integrating live streams and social functionality as core to the user experience, it’s gaining exclusive content in another form (user-generated content) and the network effects of a social media platform.

Some elements of this are distinct to Tencent’s core market—the broader popularity of karaoke, for instance—but the strategy of gaining competitive advantage through interactive and live content is one Spotify and its rivals would be wise to pursue more aggressively. It is unlikely that the major record labels will agree to any meaningful degree of exclusivity for one of the big streaming services here, and so these platforms need to make unique experiences core to their offering.

Online social activities like singing with friends or singing a karaoke duet with a favorite musician do in fact have a solid base of participants around the world: San Francisco-based startup Smule (backed by Shasta Ventures and Tencent itself) has 50 million monthly active users on its apps for that very purpose. There is a large minority of people who care a lot about singing songs as a social experience, both with friends and strangers.

Spotify and Apple Music have experimented with video, messaging, and social streams (of what friends are listening to). But these have been bonus features and none of them were so integrated into the core product offering as to create serious switching costs that would stop a user from jumping to the other.

The ability to give tips or buy digital goods makes it easier to monetize a platform’s most engaged and enthusiastic users. This is the business model of the mobile gaming sector: A minority percentage of users get emotionally invested enough to pay real money for digital goods that enhance their experience, currency to tip other members of the community, or access to additional gameplay.

As the leading music platform, it is surprising that Spotify hasn’t created a pathway for superfans of music to engage deeper with artists or each other. Spotify makes referrals to buy concert tickets or merchandise —a very traditional sense of what the music fan wants—but hasn’t deepened the online music experience for the segment of its user base that would happily pay more for music-related experiences online (whether in the form of tipping, digital goods, special digital access to live shows, etc.) or for deeper exposure to the process (and people) behind their favorite songs.

Tencent Music has an advantage in creating social music experiences because it is part of the same company that owns the country’s leading social apps and is integrated into them. It has been able to build off the social graph of WeChat and QQ rather than building a siloed social network for music. Even Spotify’s main corporate rivals, Apple Music and Amazon Music, aren’t attached to leading social platforms. (Another competitor, YouTube Music, is tied to YouTube but the video service’s social features are secondary aspects of the product compared to the primary role of social interaction on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp).

Spotify could build out more interactive products itself or could buy social-music startups like Smule, but Tencent Music’s success also suggests the benefits of a deal that’s sometimes speculated about by VCs and music industry observers: a Facebook acquisition of Spotify. As one, the leading social media company and the leading music streaming company could build out more valuable video live streaming, group music sharing, karaoke, and other social interactions around music that tap Facebook’s 2 billion users to use Spotify as their default streaming service and lock existing Spotify subscribers into the service that integrates with their go-to social apps.

Deeper social functionality doesn’t seem to be the path Spotify is prioritizing, though. It has removed several social features over the years and is anchoring itself in professional content distribution (rather than user-generated content creation), becoming the new pipes for professional musicians to put their songs out to the world (and likely aiming to disrupt the role of labels and publishers more than they will publicly admit). To that point, the company’s acquisitions—of startups like Loudr, Mediachain, and Soundtrap—have focused on content analytics, content recommendation, royalty tracking, and tools for professional creators.

This is the same race its more deep-pocketed competitors are running, however, and it doesn’t lock consumers into the platform like the network effects of a social app or the exclusivity of a mobile game do. It recently began opening its platform for musicians to add their songs directly—something Tencent Music has allowed for years—but this seems less like a move to a YouTube or SoundCloud-style user-generated content platform and more like a chess move in the game of eventually displacing labels. Ultimately, though, building out more social interaction around music will be critical to it in escaping the race with Apple Music and the rest by achieving more defensibility.

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5 Websites to Find Weird, Cool, or Discounted Amazon Products

Everyone tries to sell their products on Amazon, so it’s no surprise when a few items go under your radar. But once you know where to look, you can always find the weirdest, coolest, best, or even the most discounted products on Amazon.

Right now, Amazon’s database is so huge that it feels cluttered, and you need different clutter-free websites to browse the catalog. You essentially need to change the interface, ditching the regular Amazon site for something new. Whether that new interface is by Amazon itself or a third-party, it’s a good way to uncover products that you don’t easily see otherwise.

Amazon Scout (Web): Made by Amazon, for Recommendations Based on Likes

You know how this works with other sites now. You press a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down icon to show if you like or dislike something. Based on that, a smart algorithm shows other things you might like. It’s how Netflix knows what you want to watch, and Amazon is now using it to show you products you might like.

A new site, Amazon Scout, uses the like-dislike mechanism to figure out which kind of items you like in your home. Currently, the categories include furniture, home decor, bedding, lighting, kitchen and dining, patio, and women’s shoes. Scroll, click the like or dislike buttons, and Scout will show you new items based on that.

The big difference from shopping on Amazon is that Scout is completely visual. You don’t view the details of the item, you only judge it by its looks. As the machine learns your aesthetic senses, it will serve up better matches.

CRwatchdog (Web): Consumer Reports Recommendations on Amazon

Consumer Reports is known for its no-nonsense, unbiased recommendations. But you need a subscription to read their list of items to buy. CRwatchdog has taken that list and turned it into a handy resource for anyone.

Currently, the site covers four topics: electronics, appliances, home and garden, and car deals. That last one is particularly important given Consumer Reports is well-respected in that field, and has one of the best YouTube channels for automotive enthusiasts. You can search CRwatchdog, or quickly browse the “all recommendations” article for each category.

Note that you won’t find why Consumer Reports is recommending these items. Instead, you’ll only get a list with a small description of each product. If you want to know why it’s the best, you’ll still need that subscription.

JungleFlip (Web): Hourly “Open Box” Deals on Amazon

Like any seller, Amazon wants you to pay the highest price it can get. But if you’re smart, you can save some big bucks. This is why Amazon hides some deals and discounts, putting them in hard-to-find parts of the site.

One such type of deal is an “open box” item. “Open box” items are things that are returned by users and the original packaging is damaged. Typically, these are unused items, often listed as “Like New” since it wasn’t used but was pre-owned.

JungleFlip tracks down these items in good quality so that there’s one place for you to look at them all. New products are added every hour in a clean interface. You’ll see the item’s picture, its retail price, and its discounted price. From a $175 air conditioner selling for $30, to $200 jackets for $50, you’ll find some incredible deals here if you check regularly.

Lightning Drops (Web): Find Amazon Products Reaching Their Lowest Ever Price

Price comparison apps like CamelCamelCamel will let you track price drops on any item, and see its price history. It’s one of the best tricks to shop on Amazon, but if you aren’t tracking the item, you won’t know about it. That’s why you need Lightning Drops.

Lightning Drops is automatically tracking every single item on Amazon and has an excellent “Lowest Observed Price” section. In here, you can see which products have reached their lowest price in history. The products are categorized by those found in the past 24 hours, the past three days, or the past week.

Now that you have this cheat sheet of items that have dropped in price, you might be able to pick up some amazing deals. Most of these are not limited-time deals either, they are long-term price cuts.

Isn’t This Weird? (Web): Weird and Bizarre Products on Amazon

Sometimes, you see a weird item and go, “Why would anyone make that?” Well, DIY projects can be weird, it’s all about personal taste. But then some companies decide everyone is that weird, so they turn it into a bizarre product and sell it on Amazon.

Come, my fellow weirdos, and gaze upon the hand-curated collection of wonderful weirdness at Isn’t This Weird? (ITW) Try your hand at three-player chess on a circular board. Gift your grumpy friend a “smile maker” to teach them how to smile. Get yourself an avocado saver so that you don’t waste half of it. These are the things you know you don’t need, but you still want.

ITW also makes it easy to browse, in case you don’t have an insane keyword to search. Look for gifts under $20, the most popular weird items, or gifts for men/women separately. There are a few other category-based listings too.

Overcome Amazon’s Limits With Advanced Search

Between these five sites, you should be able to find something useful or kooky without being overwhelmed by Amazon’s cluttered design. In fact, even if you search for things on Amazon, you might not get some of the items listed on these websites.

That’s partly Amazon’s fault because it has made the search function weaker than it needs to be. But as always, it’s about knowing where to look. If you learn how to use Amazon’s Advanced Search, you will almost always find exactly the item you are looking for. It’s not too difficult either, so spend some time reading this article if you’re a regular shopper on Amazon.

Image Credit: thisisbossi/Flickr

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Facebook Messenger internally tests voice commands for chat, calls

Facebook Messenger could soon let you user your voice to dictate and send messages, initiate voice calls, and create reminders. Messenger for Android’s code reveals a new M assistant button atop the message thread screen that activates listening for voice commands for those functionalities. Voice control could make Messenger simpler to use hands-free or while driving, more accessible for the vision or dexterity-impaired, and perhaps one day, easier for international users whose native languages are hard to type.

Facebook Messenger was previously spotted testing speech transcription as part of the Aloha voice assistant believed to be part of Facebook’s upcoming Portal video chat screen device. But voice commands in the M assistant are new, and demonstrate an evolution in Facebook’s strategy since its former head of Messenger David Marcus told me voice “is not something we’re actively working on right now” in September 2016 on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt.

The prototype was discovered by all-star TechCrunch tipster Jane Manchun Wong, who’d previously discovered prototypes of Instagram Video Calling, Facebook’s screen time digital well-being dashboard, and Lyft’s scooter rentals before the officially launched. When reached for comment, a Facebook Messenger spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that Facebook is internally testing the voice command feature. The told TechCrunch “We often experiment with new experiences on Messenger with employees. We have nothing more to share at this time.”

Messenger is eager to differentiate itself from SMS, Snapchat, Android Messages, and other texting platforms. The app has aggressively adopted visual communication features like Facebook Stories, augmented reality filters, and more. Wong today spotted Messenger prototyping augmented reality camera effects being rolled into the GIFs, Stickers, and Emoji menu in the message composer.

Facebook has found that users aren’t so keen on tons of bells and whistles like prominent camera access or games getting in the way of chat, so Facebook plans to bury those more in a forthcoming simplified redesign of Messenger. But voice controls add pure utility without obstructing Messenger’s core value proposition and could end up getting users to chat more if they’re eventually rolled out.

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Facebook Messenger internally tests voice commands for chat, calls

Facebook Messenger could soon let you user your voice to dictate and send messages, initiate voice calls, and create reminders. Messenger for Android’s code reveals a new M assistant button atop the message thread screen that activates listening for voice commands for those functionalities. Voice control could make Messenger simpler to use hands-free or while driving, more accessible for the vision or dexterity-impaired, and perhaps one day, easier for international users whose native languages are hard to type.

Facebook Messenger was previously spotted testing speech transcription as part of the Aloha voice assistant believed to be part of Facebook’s upcoming Portal video chat screen device. But voice commands in the M assistant are new, and demonstrate an evolution in Facebook’s strategy since its former head of Messenger David Marcus told me voice “is not something we’re actively working on right now” in September 2016 on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt.

The prototype was discovered by all-star TechCrunch tipster Jane Manchun Wong, who’d previously discovered prototypes of Instagram Video Calling, Facebook’s screen time digital well-being dashboard, and Lyft’s scooter rentals before the officially launched. When reached for comment, a Facebook Messenger spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that Facebook is internally testing the voice command feature. The told TechCrunch “We often experiment with new experiences on Messenger with employees. We have nothing more to share at this time.”

Messenger is eager to differentiate itself from SMS, Snapchat, Android Messages, and other texting platforms. The app has aggressively adopted visual communication features like Facebook Stories, augmented reality filters, and more. Wong today spotted Messenger prototyping augmented reality camera effects being rolled into the GIFs, Stickers, and Emoji menu in the message composer.

Facebook has found that users aren’t so keen on tons of bells and whistles like prominent camera access or games getting in the way of chat, so Facebook plans to bury those more in a forthcoming simplified redesign of Messenger. But voice controls add pure utility without obstructing Messenger’s core value proposition and could end up getting users to chat more if they’re eventually rolled out.

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We’re talking AR with Snap’s camera platform head at TC Sessions: AR/VR

For a lot of consumers, Pokemon Go wasn’t their first exposure to augmented reality, it was the dog selfie lens inside Snapchat.

In the past few years, consumer use hasn’t evolved too heavily when it comes to what people are actually using AR for even though technical capabilities have taken some giant leaps. Snap was an early leader but now the industry is much more crowded with Apple, Google, Facebook and others all staffing up extensive teams focused on smartphone-based AR capabilities.

At our one-day TC Sessions: AR/VR event in LA on October 18, we’ll be chatting with Eitan Pilipski, the VP of Snap’s Camera Platform, a role that would seem to be pretty central to the long-term vision of a company that has long referred to itself as “a camera company.”

Snap has been throwing some updates to their developer tools as of late especially for their Lens Studio product which gives developers access to tools to create AR masks and experiences. There’s a lot of room to grow, and it will be interesting to see how much depth Snap can pull from these short experiences and whether it sees “lenses” evolving to bring users more straight-forward utility in the near-term.

The company hasn’t had the easiest bout as a public company lately, but it’s clear that it sees computer vision and augmented reality as key parts of the larger vision it hopes to achieve. At our LA event we’ll look to dive deeper into how they’re approaching these technologies and what it can bring consumers beyond a little added enjoyment.

As a special offer to TechCrunch readers, save 35% on $149 General Admission tickets when you use this link or code TCFAN. Student tickets are just $45 and can be booked here.

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5 Easy Ways to Remove Backgrounds From Images Without Specialized Software

Users might want to remove the background from an image for different reasons. If you’re selling things online, creating presentations, or even making collages, you can remove the background to highlight the object of the photo or to remove the distracting details.

Instead of trying to accurately enclose a region with the Lasso or Magic Wand tools in Photoshop, you can easily remove the background with these web apps. The bonus being they’re either free or affordable for most people.

1. ClippingMagic

ClippingMagic is a simple web app to remove the background from any image. When you navigate to the homepage, you’re immediately presented with the upload options. Click the Upload Image button to upload the photo from your computer. When it’s done, you’ll see two adjacent panels with your image on the left and a blank panel on the right.

Procedure

Use the green tool (+) to mark the object and red tool (-) to mark the background of the image. You don’t have to precisely mark every edge of the object, show the app what you want to keep, and the tool will do the rest. As you mark the object and the background, the right panel shows you the results in real time.

In areas where the edges are too faint or noisy for the algorithm, click the scalpel tool to manually adjust the clips. Then, click the Review button to inspect the image in detail and apply touch up marks if needed. You can always undo edits or choose Edit > Clear all marks to start from the beginning.

ClippingMagic also offers several tools to let you further refine the image. You can add drop shadows, adjust the color, change the background color, fine-tune the edges, and much more.

Pros and Cons

If you want to sell things online, then ClippingMagic lets you upload a large number of images and clip them in rapid succession. Be sure to set up the default settings, resolution, and crop settings before starting a bulk job. You can upload and edit any number of images, but to download you’ll need to subscribe. Check out the pricing page for further details.

Since the uploading and processing of images takes a bit of time, you always need a constant internet connection to work with the app.

2. FotoFuze

FotoFuze is a specialized photography tool that removes the poor quality background from a photo with the white background in just a few steps. Click the new album button, type in the name, and start uploading your images.

Procedure

Once you upload the image, click the magic highlighter tool to highlight the object. As you finish highlighting, FotoFuze will show you a mini live preview of the image. If your fuze didn’t come out as expected, then check the useful error overlay box. Areas marked in red often suggests that there were problems while fuzing the photo.

FotoFuze also lets you color correct the image, fix exposure related problems, auto-crop the picture, and more. If the photo still doesn’t meet your expectations, try changing the background clarity, brightness, and sensitivity. Click the Finish button to fuze the picture.

Pros and Cons

FotoFuze has built-in support for the Etsy platform. In addition to the image cleanup, you can create, update, draft, and copy your listing directly from the FotoFuze. You can fuze multiple photos without any delay, download high resolution photos, and much more with an affordable FotoFuze subscription.

FotoFuze does not work correctly with textured or uneven backgrounds. It needs a gray, black, or texture-free background.

3. PhotoScissors Online

PhotoScissors online is a free web app to remove the background from any image with just a few steps. Right away, you’ll see an Upload Image button to upload the image. The web canvas has two adjacent panels, with your picture on the left and a blank panel on the right. The app also guides you with a quick interactive tutorial for newbies.

Procedure

PhotoScissors uses the same selection mechanism as ClippingMagic. Use the green tool (+) to mark the object and red tool (-) to mark the background of the image. You do not have to carefully select the area, just ensure to put the green marker within the lines of the object you want to cut out. Once you mark the image, let the algorithm take care of the details.

If you think you made a mistake, click the Undo button and repeat the procedure. The app also gives you the option to smooth and offset the boundary. You can swap the background with an alternate image or solid color, move the object, and add shadow effects.

Pros and Cons

With just a few mouse clicks, PhotoScissors gives you reasonably accurate cut-out images. But where it lacks is precision. The online image editor lacks sophisticated tools to refine the image. Consider using these free web apps to edit photos.

There’s also a limit on the image size and resolution. You cannot upload a photo bigger than 5MB or with a resolution of greater than 2.1 megapixels. To remove these restrictions and get more features, purchase the desktop app for Mac or PC.

4. Background Burner

Background Burner is a free and intuitive web app to remove the background from any image. As usual, you start by uploading your photo to the app. It’ll then try to remove the background from your image automatically. Once finished, it outputs 3–4 copies of the processed images. Out of these, you choose the best picture.

Procedure

If the photo you uploaded isn’t complex, you’ll most likely find the perfect image. Click the Select button to download the image. The app also gives the option to touch up a nearly perfect image. Click the Touchup button to open the new editing window. Behind the scene, the app uses the ClippingMagic mechanism.

You can choose from three brush sizes, undo the steps, and zoom images to mark them with precision. Then, click the Pixel Tools button to manually erase the background (or restore the foreground), or use the polygon shaped tools to fine-tune the edges.

Pros and Cons

Background Burner does pretty much all the heavy lifting itself. Since the app is free to use, you can save both time and money. If you’re planning to remove the background from several pictures, then this app should be your first choice.

When it comes to images that are a bit more complex, the automatic results are not as good in comparison to other apps. Background Burner lacks complex editing tools to fine-tune the images, bulk clipping mode, and custom settings.

5. Microsoft Office

If you have Microsoft Office 2016 installed, you have another easy method to remove the backgrounds from images. The process is identical for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Procedure

To get started, insert the picture into a document. Now choose Picture Format > Remove Background (in case of Mac). The app will then try to figure out the background, and mark them in purple. If the image is simple, it’ll easily cut out the background. For more complex images, use the Mark Areas to Keep and Mark Areas to Remove button to fine-tune the selection.

The marker is not intuitive to use. It just lets you draw straight lines around the object you want to keep or get rid off. Once you’re done, click the Keep Changes button to save the image.

Pros and Cons

If you’re looking for a quick way to remove the background from photos and that too offline, then Microsoft Office is the best choice. But you shouldn’t buy or subscribe to Microsoft Office just for this purpose. Also, the marking tools are a little hard to use, so they may not give you the best result on your first try.

Learn to Take Better Photos

Removing background from photos is not an impossible task. Using one of the tools mentioned above, you too can remove the background from any picture without learning how to use Photoshop. These tools cover only one part of the process.

If you fail to take good photos in the first place, then removing backgrounds might be more difficult. See our top photography tips for beginners and our guide to digital photography to learn the fundamentals of good photography.

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Reelgood’s app for cord cutters adds 50+ services, personalized recommendations

Reelgood, a startup aimed at helping cord cutters find their next binge, is out today with its biggest update yet. The company has been developing its streaming guide over the past year to solve the issues around discovery that exist when consumers drop traditional pay TV in favor of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Prime Video, and others.

The company first launched as a website in the summer of 2017 before expanding to mobile last fall. During that time, it’s grown to over a million monthly active users who now check in with Reelgood to find something new to watch.

With today’s update to its iOS app, Reelgood is adding a number of features, including personalized recommendations, curated selections, alerts for shows and movies you’re tracking, advanced search and filtering, and the ability to track content over 50 more streaming services, among other things.

As discovery is Reelgood’s focus, the updated app now offers two new types of recommendations.

One is Reelgood’s own take on “Because You Watched” – a type of viewing suggestion you’ll find today on individual services, like Netflix. But those are more limited because they’ll only suggest other shows or movies they offer themselves. Reelgood’s recommendations will instead span all the services you have access to, offering a more universal set of suggestions.

This feature is tied to Reelgood’s watch history, where you track which shows and movies you’ve seen. That means you have to use Reelgood as your tracking app as well, in order for this feature to work.

The app’s other new way of offering recommendations is less personalized – in fact, it’s random. Because sometimes serendipity is a better way to find something, a feature called “Reelgood Roulette” lets you shake your device while on the Discover tab to get a non-personalized, random suggestion.

Reelgood credits Netflix Roulette, created by Andrew Sampson, as the basis for this addition. In fact, it acquired the rights to the software last year, and then updated it to support more streaming services.

The app also now offers more powerful search and filtering capabilities involving Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb scores, plus cast and crew listings. This allows you to query up things like “Meryl Streep’s top-rated movies” or “drama series with an IMDb rating of at least 8.0 that came out in the last 3 years,” for example.

Reelgood’s search and filtering mechanisms have always been the place where it excels, but it’s less useful as a simple tracker. For that, I prefer TV Time, which lets you quickly mark entire seasons or series as “Watched” and offers discussion boards for each episode where you can post photos and memes and chat with other fans.

TV Time, however, hasn’t been as useful for making recommendations – its suggestions have been off-the-mark when I’ve tried it in the past, often leaning too heavily on network’s back catalogs than pushing me to more current or trending content. It makes me wish I could combine the two apps into one for the best of both worlds – tracking and recommendations.

The updated Reelgood app also doubles down on its own curation capabilities by offering editorial collections. For example: 2018 Emmy Nominees, IMDb’s Top 250 Movies, Original Picks, Dark Comedies, British Humour, and more. This can be a good way to find something to watch when you’re really stumped.

And as you discover new shows and movies you want to see, you can set alerts so you’ll be notified when they hit one of the streaming services you’re subscribed to, similar the tracking feature on Roku OS.

Finally, Reelgood’s update includes the addition of 50+ streaming services – that means there’s now support for more niche services like IndieFlix, FilmStruck, Shudder, Fandor, CrunchyRoll, Mubi, AcornTV and Starz, among others.

“Reelgood 4.0 is the culmination of all we’ve learned about how people watch and the increasingly fragmented streaming world,” said Eli Chamberlin, Reelgood’s head of product and design. “Our aim with this release was to take all the streaming content out there, and display it in the most meaningful way possible so that people can get the most out of their existing streaming services without wasting countless hours browsing.”

The new app is rolling out to iOS today on the App Store.

 

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Amazon Music Unlimited vs. Prime Music: What’s the Difference?

When comparing streaming music services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play Music, most people don’t think of Amazon. But the online giant has two different options to choose from: Amazon Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited.

In this article, we take an in-depth look at both Amazon Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited to help you determine which one is right for you.

What’s the Difference Between Them?

The most notable difference between the two services, outside of price, is the number of songs available. Amazon Prime Music boasts more than 2 million songs compared to the “tens of millions” of tracks available on Amazon Music Unlimited.

For comparison, Spotify features more than 30 million tracks. So that’s a substantial difference to take notice of, especially if you’re a fan of more obscure music and artists.

Both Music Unlimited and Prime Music allow for unlimited skips and the ability to download songs to an app for offline listening. The services are also free of any advertisements.

What Does Amazon Music Unlimited Cost?

New listeners can take advantage of a 30-day free trial for Amazon Music Unlimited. After that, the most affordable plan costs $3.99/month. But don’t get too excited just yet—that plan only gives you access to the service on one Alexa-enabled device like the Echo, Echo Dot, or Echo Spot.

If you’re considering buying an Echo device, find out which Amazon Echo device is best for you.

If you’re a college or university student, there’s another way to subscribe for less: the discounted student plan costs $4.99/month and features all of the perks of a regular subscription. You will, however, need to verify enrollment in a degree-granting college or university to nab that option.

For Amazon Prime members, a regular Amazon Music Unlimited subscription costs $7.99/month or $79/year. If you’re not an Amazon Prime member, the standard price is $9.99/month.

For multiple users, there is also a family plan that costs $14.99/month for up to six shared members. Amazon Prime members have the option to pay $149/year for the family plan.

On the other hand, Amazon Prime Music is free for all Amazon Prime subscribers. Take a look at our primer to decide which one of the Amazon Prime payment options will work best for you.

If you’re already an Amazon Prime member, the biggest factor in deciding whether to pay more for Amazon Music Unlimited is whether Amazon Prime Music’s small selection of music is enough for you.

How to Listen to Amazon Prime Music/Music Unlimited

Like Amazon Prime Music, you can access Amazon Music Unlimited through a web player or downloaded app. The Amazon Music app is available for just about every platform you can imagine, from an iPhone to your car.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest downsides for users is that the web player and PC/Mac apps aren’t as polished as the clients from more well-known streaming services. It might take some work to find what you’re looking for, and you’ll need to put in a little more effort than you do with Spotify or Apple Music, but they work. Eventually.

Comparing the Music Selections

As you might expect, with tens of millions of songs available, the music selection is significantly better on Amazon Music Unlimited than it is on Amazon Prime Music.

When comparing the two options, I found many more of the classic and modern artists I enjoy listening to on Amazon Music Unlimited. While there are a lot of great choices on Amazon Prime Music, the difference between the two is pretty obvious.

But the availability of your favorite music may be different depending on your own tastes. That’s a big reason you should take advantage of the 30-day free trial for Amazon Music Unlimited before making a commitment with your wallet.

Is Amazon Music Unlimited Worth Paying For?

The biggest question for most music fans is whether or not Amazon Music Unlimited is worth paying money for, especially when Amazon Prime Music is one of the overlooked perks of being an Amazon Prime member.

Obviously, it depends on whether you’re happy with the two million songs currently offered by Amazon Prime Music. To be fair to Amazon, that’s a huge number of songs. Whether your musical tastes are well represented, however, will depend a great deal on which genres and artists you like.

If you have wide-ranging tastes, listen to a lot of music, or just aren’t satisfied with the selection offered by Amazon Prime Music, the monthly fee to upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited is probably worth it. That’s unless you already use, and are happy with, other options like Spotify, Apple Music, or Google Play Music.

If you’re new to the world of Amazon and are wondering whether an Amazon Prime subscription is worth the money, we’ll help you decide with our comprehensive primer for Amazon Prime.

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The 8 Best Free Online Word Processors

The web is overflowing with writing apps of all shapes and sizes. To find one that’s perfect for you, you have to start with a list of your writing needs and app preferences.

Do you want a vanilla text editor? Feature-rich software for writing novels? A good old word processor?

If it’s the last one you’re looking for, you’ll appreciate our following roundup of the best web-based online word processors currently available. The apps are all free of cost!

1. Microsoft Word Online

Word processing has been synonymous with Microsoft Word forever. Naturally, the first app on our list is Microsoft’s online version of Word.

To use Word Online, all you need is a free Microsoft account. You’ll find the app interface familiar if you have used the desktop version of Word. Going online with Word makes document sharing and working on the go easier. Like the desktop app, the online app also supports real-time collaboration among other features.

Word Online is a lighter version of the desktop client, so you might have to do without a few features such as split views and style creation. Also, you can save files only to the default MS Office file format, DOCX. But you can still view and edit documents in other Office file formats.

Visit: Microsoft Word Online

2. Google Docs

Google Docs works anywhere and for everyone. Apart from the expected basic tools you need for creating and editing stylish documents, Google Docs gives you many more.

You can start off with beautiful templates, get back to older file versions, and share documents easily. The collaboration tools bring in comments and real-time editing options. And thanks to autosaving, you don’t have to worry about saving your writing manually.

Plus, with Google Docs add-ons, you can sign documents, create charts and mind maps, insert text snippets, and so on.

Google Docs has an edge over Word Online thanks to its cleaner interface, better collaboration tools, and free voice typing.

Visit: Google Docs

3. Zoho Writer

Zoho Writer is sturdy enough to compete with Word Online and Google Docs. When we compared the three apps, Zoho Writer came out on top.

Besides the usual document editing and collaboration tools, the app has separate views for each stage of the writing process. This makes for a minimalist interface, because the tools you need at each stage are the only tools you’ll see.

Zoho lets you save your documents to other cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. But by default, it saves your documents to its own cloud storage, Zoho Docs.

Visit: Zoho Writer

4. Pages for iCloud

If you’re a Mac user, Pages for iCloud is the perfect solution for word processing. It’s the cloud-synced version of Pages, which is part of iWork, Apple’s native office suite.

The good news is that you don’t need a Mac to use Pages for iCloud. If you sign up for an iCloud account, you can use Pages anytime, anywhere.

The app has a clean and easy-to-use setup, so you should have no trouble using it from the get-go. It also supports real-time collaboration, but there’s a catch. The people you’re collaborating with need to have an iCloud account or create one to view and edit documents. If you don’t consider this a dealbreaker, go ahead and get yourself Pages for iCloud.

Visit: Pages for iCloud

5. Quip

With Quip’s structure and functionality, you might find yourself in unfamiliar territory. But the minimalist interface will help you orient yourself quickly.

Start off with one of the in-built templates to save time. If you begin with a blank document, you can still insert useful elements like a checklist, calendar, a Kanban board, and a project tracker. Formatting options show up in place when you select text.

Keep in mind that Quip is free only for personal use (and comes with unlimited documents). For collaboration with a group or a company, you’ll have to pay up.

Visit: Quip

6. Dropbox Paper

You’ll find many compelling reasons to try Dropbox Paper, but the strongest one is probably its tight integration with Dropbox. The beauty of it is that Paper documents don’t count toward your Dropbox storage.

Paper wins another point for Markdown support. Markdown, after all, is now the fastest way to write for the web. Unlimited documents and versions, rich media support, and collaboration tools make Paper even more attractive.

Visit: Dropbox Paper

7. OnlyOffice Document Editor

OnlyOffice is open source, which is not the same as free. It’s one of the lesser-known online word processors, but it’s no less capable than the other apps on our list. Actually, in terms of layout and features, it’s reminiscent of Microsoft Word.

You can upload documents from your computer or bring them in from other cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox. It’s quite handy that you can collaborate in real time with anyone and not just OnlyOffice users.

Visit: Only Office

8. Writer

Word processors typically give you rich text formatting options. That makes Writer, plain-text writing software, a misfit on our list. But it’s too good an online word editor to pass over.

Writer gives you a distraction-free setup, which means no toolbars and icons in sight unless you want them. Throw in autosaving, offline support, unlimited documents, a word counter, and you have a reliable place to store your words.

No rich text support here, but keeping up with the times you have Markdown formatting and preview options. And you can not only download your documents to TXT, PDF, and HTML formats, but also publish them directly to platforms like WordPress and Tumblr.

Feel free to change the look and feel of the editor to suit your tastes.

Visit: Writer

The Best Online Word Processors to Use Anywhere

A free online word processor may not come with the advanced options built into desktop word processing apps. But it can still work out well for you.

Finding a satisfying solution depends on the feature complexity you need. And now you have several great online options to choose from. While you’re exploring them all, you might also want to take a look at a few other browser-based tools for writing and related activities.

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20 Unofficial Plex Channels You Should Install Right Now

Whether you’re a cord-cutter, a home theater lover, or merely looking for an easy way to manage all of your personal media, Plex is an ideal piece of software.

The app presents your videos, music, and pictures in beautiful libraries, all of which you can then stream to your various devices.

However, one of the app’s best features is Plex Channels. Some channels are official and available via the Plex Channel Directory. Others are unofficial, and only available through the Unsupported AppStore.

Here are the best unofficial Plex channels you should check out.

How to Install the Unsupported Plex AppStore

Before you can watch the channels we’re about to recommend, you need to install the Unsupported Plex AppStore.

First, download the WebTools plugin from GitHub. Once the download is complete, extract the file, and ensure the new directory is called WebTools.bundle.

Next, move the folder into your Plex plugin folder. You will find it at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server\ on Windows and ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/ on a Mac. The Unsupported AppStore is part of the WebTools plugin.

To access the store, open a browser and enter your Plex Media Server’s IP address followed by :33400. Log in using your Plex credentials and click on UAS in the left-hand panel to launch it.

Warning: The following channels are unsupported by Plex. As such, they may be unfinished, become buggy, or even stop working altogether.

1. C More Sport

Never let anyone tell you that cutting the cord means you’re going to miss out on live news and sport; it’s just not true. It’s easy to watch live news on Plex, and C More provides a way to watch live sport.

C More Sport is a Scandinavian broadcaster that shows live soccer, ATP tour events, European ice hockey, NBA, UFC, and more.

2. FilmOn

FilmOn used to be a great way to legally watch U.K. TV networks from anywhere in the world for free. Today, the channels are behind a paywall.

Nevertheless, the app still boasts more than 600 channels that aren’t behind a paywall, so there’s plenty to watch.

3. Full Movies on Reddit

Reddit is a treasure trove of movie content. This add-on pulls data from seven subreddits: /r/FullMoviesDailyMotion, /r/FullMoviesOnGoogle, /r/FullMoviesOnline, /r/FullMoviesOnVimeo, /r/FullMoviesOnYouTube, /r/FullTVShowsOnVimeo, and /r/FullTVShowsOnYouTube.

Make sure you have the legal permission to watch the content before hitting Play.

4. Democracy Now

Democracy Now is a well-established name in the world of American political broadcasting. The content typically leans towards investigative journalism, though there’s a healthy dose of regular news as well.

The show has won countless journalism awards during its 22-year existence.

5. The Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is a vast repository of old music videos, movies, and TV shows. You can find content such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, the 1955 version of The Fast and The Furious, and the House on Haunted Hill.

6. The ITV Player

If you live in the UK, you can use the unofficial version of the ITV Player to access all of the network’s most recent shows on demand.

Non-residents will need to use a VPN like ExpressVPN (save up to 49% off using this link) or CyberGhost (get 6 months for free using this link).

7. LiveLeak

LiveLeak is a British video sharing site. It’s less strict than YouTube about what it allows users to upload, often leading to some rather edgy content.

8. MTV Networks

If you like the type of shows churned out by the former music-only channels, you need to install this plugin.

You can grab old episodes from channels like MTV, VH1, CMT, and LogoTV.

9. NBC Sports

In case you’re not aware, NBC Sports publishes lots of video clips on its official website. There are Premier League highlights, and the latest from the NHL, the NFL, NASCAR, and more.

The plugin pulls all the videos off the website and makes them available in the Plex app.

10. Old Movie Time

Old Movie Time is an online repo of classic movies from the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s.

We listed the same channel when we discussed the best private Roku channels in an article elsewhere on the site.

11. CW Seed

CW Seed is an online-only offshoot of the CW Television Network. It features content that was specifically made for the web, with a particular focus on animation, game shows, and comedy.

Some of its most well-known web series include How to Be a Vampire, Freedom Fighters: The Ray, and Constantine: City of Demons.

12. USTVnow

USTVnow is another name that’ll be familiar to many cord cutters.

The service is aimed at U.S. expats and military personnel. The free package includes The CW, ABC, PBS, and CBS. For $19/month, you also get FOX, AMC, Bravo, Nickelodeon, and more.

USTVnow also offers some TV shows and movies available on demand.

13. Webisodes

Webisodes can pull videos from shows on YouTube, Daily Motion, and Vimeo, then display them in your Plex library for easy viewing.

It also offers an RSS feed. Whenever one of your favorite shows pops up on it, Webisodes will make the video available.

14. Spotify

There is no official Spotify plugin for Plex. However, if you have a premium Spotify account, you can use this unofficial channel to listen to your music.

As is the case with so many third-party Spotify services, this channel requires a premium subscription. It’s just one of the many reasons it’s worth paying for Spotify.

15. TuneIn

Similarly, there is no official TuneIn radio plugin. But once again, the Plex community has stepped up to provide a solution.

The TuneIn channel boasts many of the same features as the regular app. You can even sign into your account for a customized listening experience.

16. IMDb Trailers

If you want to stay abreast of the latest upcoming movies, install IMDb Trailers. It lets you play thousands of movie trailers directly from the IMDb website.

17. Link TV

Link TV is an ad-free U.S. network that relies exclusively on contributions from viewers and other foundations for its funding.

It offers news, documentaries, music, and citizen-focused content. France24 provides the news programming. Additionally, you will often see English-language content from Deutsche Welle and NHK.

18. XKCD

Webcomic XKCD has earned itself cult status since launching in 2005. The comic strips usually feature one of either mathematics, programming, or science. These days, it’s become essential reading for anyone who either works or has an interest in such fields.

The strip has won countless web-based awards.

19. Facebook

If you’re a Facebook user, you might be interested in the unofficial Facebook channel. It can show your newsfeed and photo library via the Plex interface.

20. Library Updater

We end the list with a practical channel.

From time to time, the developers of these channels will release updates. Ordinarily, you’d have to re-enter the App Store and update each one manually. Library Updater removes that hassle. Just click the icon, and it will install any available updates for your channels.

Keep Digging for More Plex Gems

There are more than 170 channels in the Unsupported AppStore. In addition to video, music, and photos, they cover everything from subtitles to metadata. If these handpicked channels aren’t enough to satisfy you, have a dig and see what else you can find.

And when you’re finally happy, make sure you grab the best Plex plugins to supercharge your Plex experience.

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