StevenLayton

A few months ago I purchased two Google Home Assistants at the same time as two Google Wi-Fi APs when we moved into a larger house. I chose the Google Assistants over Amazon Alexa because at the time my thinking was that Google (with all of their AI clout) would be the better long term solution and would connect to more 'stuff' in a more intelligent way.

The problem is that I'm also a heavy Amazon user, I buy from them, I listen to Audible, I'm a Amazon Prime member so use their TV and music services. All of which would work 'better' if I was also using Amazon Alexa, rather than Google Home.

I've no real interest in home automation, beyond maybe buying a Ring Doorbell (Now Amazon), and its the Entertainment side of Assistants that I'm more interested in.

Unless something changes, I think I did back the wrong horse.

I bought myself a Fitbit Charge 2 in the New Year sales, but am having problems with it. I've set it all up, and have been wearing it for a few days, but so far I've not lost any weight, or got any healthier. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?!?!

Hi Paul/Brad and co

A few weeks before the recent change to Thurrott.com, I dropped down from a Premium user, to a Standard. The reasons were nothing to do with any concerns on quality, but was purely budgetary for me. Since the recent change to the site, with Paul writing mostly Premium articles, I worry that the number of articles I can read on the site is now minimal.

Currently on the Homepage (28/11/17) I can see 18 article, and 10 of those are Premium, with 8 of the most recent 9 being Premium. None of which I can access. I can’t help feel the balance towards Premium has shifted too much towards a paywall.

Now, you (or others) could justifiably suggest I just pay up to get access, and it would be hard to counter that as I genuinely understand you guys need to earn your living, and you don’t owe me (or anyone) free content.

However, I wonder if there is a middle ground somewhere?

Just a thought and am interested in your thoughts.

Cheers

As a Brit, I learned everything I know about Thanksgiving from watching Friends on TV.

So to Paul, Brad and the gang, enjoy 24 hours of falling out will family, eating too much, and managing to get a turkey stuck on your head!

Having moved to Google at home with both an assistant, and also their Wi-fi, and using a Nexus 6p, I've found myself in need of a new laptop and my current one has died, and I'm seriously considering a Chromebook.

I work in IT, in Education, so becoming more familiar with Chromebooks is (for me) a good move.

What are the options for for Chromebooks, in the £500 price range? It must be able to run the Google Play Store apps, and I want to have a reasonable experience, so nothing too slow.

Having being one of the few who bought movies through the Microsoft store (about 20, or so), for ease of playback on my Xbox One, I now see the error of my ways.

Parallel to this, I’ve decided to buy into the Google Home eco-system, have and just ordered a Google Home, Google Home Mini and two Google Wi-Fis, as I’ve been tempted by this for some time. This seemed to make most sense, as I moved to a Nexus 6p a year or so ago and have already bought some music through the Google Store.

Because of the above, I’ve decided that I’m going to buy/rent any future movies through Google. My question is what is the best way to get the content on my TV? I have the Xbox One, my Android phone and a Chromecast. Will a combination of these provide an ideal solution, or is there a reasonably priced other option I’m not considering?

Thanks

Does anyone know if it will be possible to update existing computers to Windows 10 S? I work in a school and we have a bank of unmanaged Windows 8 laptops. Upgrading them to Windows 10 S, and managing them through the educational version of inTune is of interest to me.

Whats the easiest way of backing out of the Windows 10 insider builds, and go back to a clean 1607 build?  Is it just a case of turing off insider builds from Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program?  What then?  If I do a restore, will it be a 1607 restore I go back to, or do I need to do a clean install of W10?

A few months ago my Nexus 6P was updated to Android 7.0 and my battery life suddenly plummeted.  

I’m a big Audible user and use it daily on my drive to and from work.  After the 7.0 update my battery would drain by about 20% on my 35 minute drive to work.  It didn’t do this before the update.  At work the phone would often get really hot in my pocket, the MS Next lock screen would always be active, and once or twice Audible would spring to life in my pocket.  

I tried resetting it and many other things, nothing seemed to work.

Just before Christmas, on a hunch, I removed the Next lock screen and I think that this has cured the issue. I’d been using the Next lock screen before the 7.0 update without issue.

Has anyone had this issue?  I can only think that the Next lock screen was at fault here, though the Audible app springing to life was also odd.  I'd still like to be able to use Next again, but don't want the battery issues or hit pocket.  Thoughts?