Fiber Phone is a landline service for your Google Fiber

Google's latest service is anything but futuristic. The search giant has just unveiled its very own take on landline phone service. It's called Fiber Phone and for starters it will be available "in a few areas". At a later date, it will be an option for all residential customers using Google Fiber internet access.

Fiber Phone costs $10 per month. It gives you unlimited local and nationwide US calling. As for international calls, you'll get the same rates used for Google Voice (the full list is here). Fiber Phone can give you a new number, or you can keep your old one if you want to. You can use call waiting, caller ID, and 911 services with Fiber Phone.

It will also transcribe your voicemails and send them to you as a text or email, for easier access. It gets even smarter, though - your Fiber Phone number lives in the cloud. Thus, you can use it on almost any phone, tablet, or laptop. It can ring your landline when you're home, or your mobile phone when you're not. That sounds a lot like Google Voice, but tied to a landline, in a bid to modernize this ancient technology. It remains to be seen whether Google's take on this will catch on.

Waze will tell you if you're going over the speed limit

The latest addition to Waze, the community-based traffic and navigation app, has everything to do with speed limits. Namely, the Google-owned app has added support for notifying you when you're going over the speed limit.

This new feature currently only works in Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Czech Republic, El Salvador, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad, Tobago, and Uruguay, but is apparently going to land in other places too - at some point in the future.

It works like this: when you go over the speed limit, a visual alert will appear on the Waze speedometer. It will stay there until your speed goes below the limit again.

You can choose when the alert appears - either when the limit is reached, or when you exceed the limit by 5, 10, or 15%. The alert sound is optional. The new functionality should be available soon in the Waze app for Android and iOS.

Instagram videos are now 60 seconds long

Instagram has let you upload videos ever since 2013, but up until today the maximum length for the clips has been 15 seconds. That's more than Vine's famous six-second rule, but apparently wasn't enough.

The video length for Instagram is going up to 60 seconds starting today. However, the huge caveat here is that the rollout of this extension will be completed for everyone "in the coming months".

But wait, there's more! Instagram version 7.19 for iOS will be out in the iTunes App Store this week, and this iteration of the app brings back the ability to make videos out of multiple clips from your camera roll. There's no word yet on when a similar feature might make it to Android.

In the last six months, the amount of time people spent watching videos on Instagram went up by 40%, which is probably why the social network has decided to focus a bit more on moving images.

Snapchat gets a big update today, with stickers, audio and video notes baked in

The chat app that all the cool kids love has received a huge update today. Snapchat 2.0 comes with a host of new and improved features, so let's dive right in.

Chatting is now more seamless, and you can choose from more than 200 new stickers to express yourself. These can be searched by keyword, thankfully. Or you can send an audio or a ten-second video note if the person you're trying to talk to isn't available. Easier controls make starting a video call a breeze, and you can get to the pictures you've already snapped straight from the messaging screen. They're also accessible while you video chat, so you can share pics when you talk.

The Stories section has changed somewhat too. Once you're finished with a story, Snapchat will automatically advance to the next one in your feed. Or you can swipe left while watching a story to see the next one.

Snapchat 2.0 should be rolling out today on Android and iOS.

T-Mobile planning to launch data-only plans, leaked document reveals

Slowly, but surely, more and more customers are becoming always connected with a smartphone and getting rid of your phone number is going the way of the cable cutters. According to a leaked document sent to TmoNews, T-Mobile plans to launch new data-only plans for smartphones and tablets starting at $20 per month for 2GB.

Ever since data became the staple that carriers sell to its customers, rather than offering a small fee for unlimited access, data is becoming the main product being sold with phone calls free of limits through all carriers in the US.

The document says T-Mobile wants to offer its customers the freedom to use their device however they want to, even if they don’t want to buy a voice line for a smartphone, customers should be able to do so.

These plans will be available for all GSM enabled devices including smartphones. The pricing breaks down as follows:

• 2GB = $20
• 6GB = $35
• 10GB = $50
• 14GB = $65
• 18GB = $80
• 22GB = $95

The document also says these plans are not eligible for the $10 Automatic Mobile Internet Discount. Also, older BlackBerry devices that rely on BlackBerry’s Enterprise Server connection would not be able to access such services with these data-only plans. According to the same leak, T-Mobile plans to launch such plans tomorrow, March 30.

We’ll see what T-Mobile is up to tomorrow, there will likely be some kind of press release along with the new alleged plans.

T-Mobile starts taking orders for the LG G5

As expected, today T-Mobile has started taking online orders for the LG G5. You can go ahead to the carrier's website right now and do the deed.

The phone is priced at $629.99 if you want to pay for it outright. Otherwise, you can opt for spending $0 upfront, then followed by 24 monthly installments of $26.25. As usual with T-Mobile, you'll need to sign a service agreement for the device, and if you cancel wireless service the remaining balance on the G5 becomes due.

Buying your G5 from T-Mobile means you'll also receive a free LG 360 Cam, a $200 value, as well as a free LG battery bundle (consisting of a second battery and a battery charging cradle). To take advantage of both freebies, you need to purchase the handset from the magenta carrier before April 5.

The G5 comes with a 5.3-inch QHD touchscreen, a dual rear camera (16 MP + 8 MP) with laser autofocus, OIS, and LED flash, an 8 MP selfie snapper, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 SoC, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, and a 2,800 mAh removable battery. It runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.

New details on Helio X30 chipset, to utilize 3-cluster 10-core CPU

MediaTek Helio X20 is the company's first chipset with a tri-cluster deca-core processor (2x Cortex-A72 @ 2.5GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 @ 2.0GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 @ 1.4GHz). The X20 is ready for mass production, and some reports suggest the Meizu MX6 will be the first smartphone to utilize it.

The Helio X25 is also in the pipeline, and we'll be seeing it on an upcoming LeTV Le2.

It seems MediaTek has already begun to work on the Helio X30 successor even before we see the X20 and X2 in action. The latest reports suggest we'll be seeing the first X30 smartphones in early 2017.

The Helio X30 is also rumored to bet on the tri-cluster CPU design, with 2x Artemis cores at 2.8GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 at 2.2GHz, and 4x Cortex-A35 at 2GHz. The Artemis core by ARM design is the successor of the Cortex-A72 and should battle with Qualcomm's Kryo solution. The A35 are extremely power efficient and offer up to 40% faster performance than their Cortex-A7 predecessor.

The Helio X30 should bring a powerful 4-core PowerVR 7XT GPU and support 26MP snappers, dual camera setups, VR connections, and LTE Cat.13.

MediaTek is rumored to manufacture the Helio X30 by TSMC's 10nm FinFET process, which means up to 100% better power efficiency than its Helio X20 preceding generation.

All of these are just rumors, so you should take them with a healthy pinch of salt.

Acer Chromebook 14 is a $299 aluminum notebook with 1080p screen

Acer has announced its latest Chromebook 14. The notebook runs the latest version of Chrome OS on a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Celeron N3060 and 4GB of RAM. This hardware is packed inside a 100% aluminum chassis, which weighs 1.54kg.

The laptop packs a 14" IPS display with 1920x1080 pixels and a battery of unknown size, which can last up to 12 hours. This can be bumped to 14 hours if you choose the model with a 1366x768 pixels resolution.

However, the one with the 1080p display costs just $299. The onboard port list includes two USB 3.1 and one HDMI out. The Chromebook 14 will be available in the US and Canada some time in April.

SoundCloud to charge $9.99/month for its new subscription service

If you are an audiophile and especially one immersed in the vast indie scene, then SoundCloud is surely a second home for you. Now, the platform has been working hard on expanding its reach and appeal recently, striking various deals with the likes of Sony and other titans in the music industry.

As a direct result, the German company is now ready to out its own on-demand music streaming service - SoundCloud Go. It is aimed squarely at other major players in the niche, like Spotify, Apple Music or Google Music and appears to be confident enough for a battle on equal grounds, as evident by the adopted industry-standard rate of $9.99/month.

The company has stressed that the service won't change for all its current free users, who enjoy the freedom of creative sharing. The new paid addition to the library will come in the shape of around 125 million tracks at launch. These will pop-up to non-paying users as well, but they will only get 30 second previews.

There is also a small catch in pricing. The $9.99 per month standard tier is actually $12.99 for Apple users to compensate for the company's 30% cut. Existing SoundCloud Pro Unlimited users will be charged $4.99 a month.

Second wave iPhone SE and iPad Pro 9.7 pre-orders kick off

Apple iPhone SE and iPad Pro 9.7 went official on March 21 at a special Apple event in California. Both new gadgets went on pre-order on March 24 in select markets and shipping there will begin on March 31.

Today Apple expanded the availability of the iPhone SE and the iPad Pro 9.7 to many more markets. The long list of countries includes Albania, Andorra, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Guernsey, Jersey, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Maldives, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, and UAE.

The pre-orders are live in those markets, and you can book your iPhone SE unlocked or carrier-bound. The iPhone SE and the iPad Pro 9.7 are expected to ship in 3 to 5 business days upon the order confirmation. Some of the models may take a week while others (such as the 64GB iPhone SE) may require from 4 up to 6 weeks.

Premium Android flip phone Gionee W909 unveiled

Watch out, Samsung SM-W2016, the Gionee W909 is after you. The Android-powered flip phone was officially announced with Android 5.1 (with the custom Amigo UI).

The W909 has two 4.2" screens, both IPS LCDs with 720p resolution. It's powered by the MediaTek Helio P10 chipset with an octa-core processor and 4GB of RAM. It has a generous built-in storage of 64GB, plus a microSD slot.

The Gionee W909 boasts a 16MP main camera plus a 5MP selfie cam. The phone measures 124.1 x 62.8 x 16.5mm and weighs 207.7g. It has a 2,530mAh battery and a USB Type-C port. There's a fingerprint reader below the camera too.

The faux leather back also gives away its premium positioning. The W909 will set you back CNY 4,000 - $615/€550.

New Oppo F1 Plus teaser hints at fingerprint reader

An upgraded Plus version of the Oppo F1 has been teased for a long time now. Ever since the Mumbai launch of the original handset, the manufacturer has been giving us glimpses of the upgraded model, said to come some time in April. As far as we currently know, the F1 Plus will be almost identical to its sibling in terms of design, only bigger with a suggested 5.5-inch, 1080p display.

However, a new official teaser now suggests that there will probably be at least one new exterior detail on the new model - a fingerprint reader. The image in question talks of "PLUS SECURITY" and references the F1 Plus with a hash tag "#OPPOF1Plus". Last, but not least, the "Coming soon" post, accompanying the shot is a clear indication that the device is on its way to Indonesia.

As for the rest of the specs on the Oppo F1 Plus, rumors suggest 4GB of RAM, instead of 3GB. An improved selfie camera experience has also been hinted at.

There is also a suggested price of INR 26,990 or around $395 circulating in the rumor mill, which is quite a big of a markup from the INR 15,990 (around $235) the F1 is going for.