Brian Fagioli

Every once in a while, a tech device comes a long that changes everything. The iPod forever altered the music industry, while the iPhone and other smartphones made the traditional PC unnecessary for many. Another such product? Amazon's Echo, which ushered in Alexa and the voice assistant hardware explosion. Somehow, an online bookseller managed to beat Apple, Google, and Microsoft to the punch, and ultimately, grab huge marketshare. It's remarkable, really.

We Americans tend to take such innovative things for granted. Alexa, for instance, is something we have had for years, but believe it or not, the assistant is not available in every country. In fact, France is one country that does not have Echo or Alexa access. Next week this changes, as Amazon brings its voice assistant and associated hardware to the land of the Eiffel Tower.

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For the entire month of June, BetaNews will be having many giveaways. Why? To celebrate our 20th birthday! Our first such contest went live last week, and if you haven't yet entered, you should. That prize is the Linksys Velop Dual-Band Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System, and it rocks!

Today, our second such giveaway begins, and yet again, the prize is really nice. What is it? The Wyze Cam Pan. This is the newest home Wi-Fi security camera from Wyze Labs, and it adds a feature normally reserved for more expensive models -- pan and tilt. Using your smartphone, you can move the lens, but also, you can rotate the camera 360 degrees. How cool is that?

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Ah, Linux Mint. This operating system has its detractors, but for the most part, it is beloved by both Linux beginners and experts alike. True, most of the praise is due to its excellent Ubuntu base, but the Mint team understands what many other distribution maintainers don't -- the overall experience matters. When you install Mint, you are in for a polished treat -- it is clear that the developers truly care about the end users.

Today, Linux Mint 19 "Tara" Beta finally sees release. Three desktop environments are available -- Cinnamon (3.8), MATE (1.20), and Xfce (4.12). All of these DEs are excellent, but the shining star is Cinnamon. Tara is significant as it is based on the newest Ubuntu 18.04 and will receive updates until the year 2023. The included Linux kernel is version 4.15 and not 4.17 -- understandable, as it was only just released.

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Just yesterday, we shared that The GNOME Project moved to GitLab. This was a major score for GitLab, but also, an important move for GNOME as well -- it should greatly improve collaboration between its contributors. GNOME is not alone in its move to that Git-repository manager, however, as GIMP (plus the babl and GEGL libraries) also made the transition. Actually, believe it or not, GNOME is hosting GIMP there.

If you aren't familiar with GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), please know that it is an open source image/graphics editor/manipulator. It is very similar to Adobe Photoshop, although GIMP is totally free. In fact, the open source Photoshop alternative is a cross-platform affair, available not just on Linux, but macOS, and Windows too. It is an extremely important program for the open source community -- right up there with LibreOffice.

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GNOME is one of the most important open source projects on the planet. Even if you use an alternative desktop environment, such as KDE or Xfce, you cannot deny that GNOME's contributions have largely shaped the path of Linux on the desktop for the better. Don't forget, GNOME is much more than just a DE -- many of its apps are essential. That's probably why someone (or something) recently pledged to donate $1 million to it -- GNOME's existence and success is a must for the Linux community.

Today, The GNOME Foundation makes a very big announcement -- the project has fully transitioned to GitLab. In other words, yes, the GNOME Project is growing up a bit and becoming better organized. This move to the GitLab Git-repository manager is a breath of fresh air, quite frankly, and should really improve collaboration between GNOME Project contributors.

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Today is officially the day -- BetaNews is celebrating its 20th birthday! While people typically get presents on their birthday, we are flipping the script a bit. To celebrate the occasion, we will be doing giveaways all month long. This is our way to thank our dear readers for two decades of loyalty. Whether you have been a reader since the beginning or you are new to the site, we wish you luck in our many June giveaways.

The first giveaway is a really exciting new product from Linksys -- the all new Velop Dual-Band Whole Home Mesh WiFi System. If you aren't familiar with mesh networking, please know its like having a router with super-long range. How does it work? Several access points -- in this case three -- work together to blanket your home in glorious Wi-Fi. We have one system to award as a prize, with the value being $299.

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Believe it or not, Groove Music was a very good streaming music service. Unfortunately for Microsoft, consumers largely did not give it a chance, causing it to shut down. Despite the service dying, the Groove Music apps have lived on.

Sadly, Microsoft today announces that it is killing the mobile apps for both iOS and Android later this year on December 1, 2018. What does the company recommend these mobile users do? Switch to Windows Phone, of course! No, seriously...

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Quality routers don't have to cost an arm and a leg. Nowadays, believe it or not, a solid Wi-Fi router can be had for under $100. No, these aren't using outdated specifications -- they are 802.11ac.

Today, TP-Link launches a new router that is shockingly affordable. The "Archer A7," as it is called, features dual band 802.11ac, a USB 2.0 port, three high-power antennas, and gigabit Ethernet. Despite its low cost, it has Amazon Alexa integration too. You can even manage the router settings using a smartphone app -- in addition to the web interface.

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The Amazon Prime Exclusive Phone program is something I recommend highly to anyone looking for an affordable smartphone. If you have Amazon Prime (and who doesn't, nowadays?) you can score quality Android devices at rock-bottom prices. In a world where companies like Apple charge $1,000 and more for some smartphones, it is nice to know you can get a wonderful device for a fraction of that price. 

Today, Amazon unveils the newest Amazon Prime Exclusive Phone and I think it is my favorite one yet. The Motorola Moto G6 looks beautiful and has excellent specifications. It is a well-rounded smartphone at a very competitive price. It even has unique Alexa support built into the power button. Best of all, it is unlocked and compatible with all four major USA cellular carriers -- T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.

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When it comes to PC gaming, consumers have a lot of options nowadays. Long gone are the days where you needed a massive tower for playing premium games -- you can now do so on a laptop. Younger folks may not find that so amazing, but back in the day, owning a notebook was like a death sentence for PC gamers.

There are many solid gaming laptops from which to choose, but often, you will find they are limited to 32GB of memory. Why? Well, many DDR4 SoDIMMs max out at 16GB, so when you pair two together, you hit a ceiling of 32GB. Today, Samsung announces that it has started mass production on 10nm-class 32GB DDR4 SoDIMMs. The company explains that "10nm-class" means "a process node between 10 and 19 nanometers." With a focus on gaming laptops, this will make such machines with 64GB of RAM more common.

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While Wi-Fi security cameras are a super convenient way to monitor your home, understandably, some people might be nervous to use them. After all, a person's home is meant to be their sanctuary, so privacy is paramount. If a camera gets hacked, your private activities could be exposed. No hardware is 100 percent secure, so to mitigate your risk, you want to buy such cameras from reputable makers, such as Logitech with its excellent "Circle" cameras. You should avoid no-name manufacturers.

Today, a popular and reputable company -- D-Link -- unveils a trio of new Wi-Fi security cameras. They are shockingly affordable, starting at just $59.99. Fans of voice assistants will appreciate the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support.

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Earlier today, Sony announced the return of its "Days of Play" sales promotion. If you aren't familiar, this is where PlayStation fans can score deals on games, accessories, and PS4 systems too. If you like both console gaming and saving money, you should be excited.

With all of that said, the real star of the announcement is the all-new limited edition "Days of Play" PlayStation 4 system. Both the console and controller are blue and adorned with the iconic PlayStation symbols in a beautiful gold -- stunning. If you don't already have a PS4, this is definitely one to target -- if you don't want or need a PS4 Pro.

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As solid state drives become more prevalent inside computers, their popularity is also on the rise for external storage. This makes a lot of sense, as not only are SSDs dropping in price, they are very appropriate for portable storage as there are no moving parts. A traditional external drive that leverages a mechanical hard drive, for instance, could be damaged while on the go. This could lead to data loss -- a huge issue for both personal and professional users.

Today, Toshiba announces its latest such portable SSD. The "XS700," as it is called, is beautifully designed and features USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C for connectivity. While more capacities may become available in the future, as of today, it is only being offered in 240GB.

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While Dell is mostly known as a Windows PC manufacturer, the company is also a big proponent of Linux. Its "Developer Edition" models can be configured with Ubuntu, for instance. Of course, despite this branding, non-developers can buy them too. The XPS 13 "Developer Edition" in particular is a svelte machine that should make many home Linux users very happy.

In addition to home users, Dell manufactures solid business-class mobile workstations, and the company recently announced four such Linux-powered models. These Precision "Developer Edition" laptops run Ubuntu and are RHEL certified. One of these notebooks, the Precision 3530, is available today, while the other three will be available soon.

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Despite being the default desktop environment for the two most important Linux distributions in the world -- Fedora and Ubuntu -- GNOME is not a money-making project. Actually, it is run by a non-profit called The GNOME Foundation that relies heavily on donations from both organizations and individuals. That's what makes GNOME so extraordinary -- the high quality desktop environment and apps are largely a labor of love.

Today, The GNOME Foundation makes a shocking revelation -- a mystery donor has pledged $1 million dollars! We don't know who is promising the money -- it could be a rich man or woman, but more likely -- and this is pure speculation -- it is probably a company that benefits from GNOME, such as Red Hat or Canonical.

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