As California’s deadly wildfires rage on, none other than billionaire SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk has come forth to offer help once again.

Just after midnight (ET) on Saturday morning, Musk took to Twitter (where else?) to offer help from his electric vehicle company Tesla, which is based in the state.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk goes underground to show ‘disturbingly long’ LA tunnel

“If Tesla can help people in California wildfire, please let us know,” he tweeted. “Model S & X have hospital grade HEPA filters. Maybe helpful for transporting people.”

He also reportedly sent out an email to Tesla employees giving them permission to assist in any way they could, and for them to “not worry about payment” according to the memo obtained by Electrek. 

“If there’s any way for Tesla to be helpful, please provide assistance and don’t worry about payment,” Musks email reportedly said.

This wouldn’t be the first time Musk has volunteered his or his companies’ services to help a disaster. 

In 2017, on Musk’s orders, Tesla shipped its Powerpack and Powerwall batteries to hospitals ravaged by Hurricane Maria. Then in the summer of 2018, Musk attempted to help with efforts to rescue the Thai soccer team that was trapped in a cave for 17 days.

He controversially insisted on building a kid-sized “submarine” and sending it to Thailand to transport them through the treacherous tunnels. While Musk likely had good intentions, his offer ended up being more interference that would land him in hot water with British cave diver Vern Unsworth, who did help rescue the trapped team, and whom he repeatedly accused of being a pedophile. 

Bizarrely, after initially apologizing to Unsworth, Musk backpedaled and doubled down on the unsubstantiated claim after immaturely goading the cave diver into suing him, which is happening.

The question facing Musk is has he really changed his tune? Can he and Tesla really provide actual aid without interfering with the authorities? Or is this yet another marketing ploy to shout out Tesla veiled as an offer of help? 

After the episode in Thailand over the summer, some think that Musk’s seemingly always-buzzing noggin is just savvily taking advantage of another unfortunate situation.

This is One Good Thing, a weekly column where we tell you about one of the few nice things that happened this week.

In my feminist utopia, sanitary pads and tampons are provided free of charge by the United States government.

In my current reality, they’re offered at $4 bucks a pack at CVS — and that’s with the savings from my CVS card.

We’re a long way from menstruation equality, which makes Nevada’s recent elimination of the “tampon tax” a critical step forward.

SEE ALSO: 4 ways you can fight period stigma

On Tuesday, Nevada voted to do away with their 6.85% sales tax imposed on sanitary pads and tampons. 

Hygiene products are typically taxed at this rate. However, Nevada decided to drop the tax given that tampons — unlike, say, luxury soap — are considered medical necessities.

The state is now among 10 that have eliminated the tax, including New York, Minnesota, Illinois, and Florida. 

Advocates have argued that the cost of pads and tampons is too high, especially for low-income residents. Women who don’t have access to these products may miss work or school, they explain.

We’re shattering the glass ceiling, folks, one tampon at a time.

We now have proof that apps drain less of your phone’s battery life when they use darker colors, like black and gray.

At a recent Android Dev Summit session (via SlashGear), Google revealed what we’ve long suspected: the colors used within apps have a direct impact on smartphone battery life, and white or brighter colors are a bigger drain.

SEE ALSO: Google’s Home Hub is an incredible digital photo frame that’s also a smart speaker

Using an original Pixel phone, Google tested various ways the phone was draining battery life. Brightness was of course one of the most obvious factors; everyone knows that the brighter you set the screen to, the faster your battery depletes.

However, the most informative news from the session concerns the use of color. As many of us tech geeks who are already well-versed in the technicalities of a phone’s display already know, switching on a phone’s night mode (if it has one) helps conserve battery life.

While not as noticeable on phones with LCD screens where the entire display is backlit, the power savings from phones with OLED displays (i.e. Samsung phones, Pixels, iPhone X, XS, XS Max, etc.) is considerably greater.

This is because OLED screens aren’t backlit like LCDs, with a uniform level of brightness lighting up all the pixels. Instead, each pixel in an OLED display has an on and off state. As such, the pixel only turns on and uses power when it’s any color other than black. A black pixel is “off” and that’s why blacks are so deep on OLEDs compared to LCDs — because they’re not even lit up.

So it really shouldn’t be surprising that apps toggled to night/dark mode, which often use more black or dark gray, will reduce the speed at which your phone’s battery drains.

I encourage you to switch to night mode (where available) not just because your phone will last longer, but because it’s easier on the eyes. Twitter with a dark theme is less blinding than a day theme that’s mostly white, especially when you’re looking at it in the dark or in places that aren’t bright (like bars, restaurants, etc.).

Google, for its part, hasn’t exactly helped conserve battery life on Android with the Material Design-ification of all of its apps, though. In its attempt to create a consistent and modern flat UI for across all of its apps and services, Android app creators went overboard with the white “negative space.” As a result, their apps suck up more power than they need to.

The takeaway for Google and Android app developers is simple: Use more black and darker colors. It’s good for saving power and dark mode looks so much better in my opinion.

But it’s not just Android phones that can benefit from embracing black in apps. iOS developers should do this as well. With the iPhone X, XS, and XS Max all using OLED screens, there’s an opportunity to make good-looking apps that are also good for battery life.

As someone who’s been using dark mode wherever possible in apps like Twitter and Apollo, and using a black wallpaper on my homescreen, I constantly wish more apps embraced the aesthetic. Now that there’s proof it actually prolongs battery, there’s even more reason to make dark mode an option.

If Apple steps up and takes the lead with dark mode in its default iOS apps, it’ll incentivize other app developers to follow suit. Apple’s already taken baby steps with dark mode on macOS Mojave and it’s glorious. 

It’s time the company did the same with iOS. It’s always seemed strange to me that some iOS apps are dark (i.e. Clock, Watch, Compass, Activity, Calculator) but others aren’t. Maybe in iOS 13 Apple can finally dark mode all the apps. If there’s one thing iOS 13 should have, it’s this.

Attention iPhone X users: Does your phone’s touchscreen not work properly? Yeah? Because you might be eligible for a free screen replacement from Apple.

Apple’s launched a replacement program for any iPhone X with touch-related issues, including the touchscreen not responding to touch, responding intermittently, and operating when it’s not touched.  

SEE ALSO: iPad Pro (2018) review: Apple reinvents the tablet… again

The replacement program is only for the iPhone X and doesn’t include the new iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR.

If you believe your phone suffers from any touchscreen problems, you may bring it to Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider for a free “display module”.

There’s one caveat: If your screen’s damaged, it’s likely your device won’t qualify for a free display replacement even it has touchscreen issues. This isn’t your chance to get both a free pristine display replacement and a fix for your touchscreen in one go.

If your iPhone X’s screen is, say, cracked, and it prevents the repair from being performed without further damage, it’s highly likely you will need to get that fixed first. In other words, you will have to pay for a new screen separately, which might cancel out the need for a free display module replacement.

MacBook Pro SSD replacement, too

Separately, Apple’s also announced an SSD storage replacement affecting the non-Touch Bar version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro sold between June 2017 and June 2018.

Apple says it’s found a “limited number of 128GB and 256GB solid-state drives (SSD) used in 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) units have an issue that may result in data loss and failure of the drive.”

Same as with the iPhone X, Apple or an Authorized Service Provider will replace the SSD for free.

If you’re unsure whether or not your MacBook Pro is covered, you can enter its serial number on Apple’s website to see if it is or isn’t.

Don’t forget to do a backup

As always, we recommend performing a backup of any devices before bringing them in for any repair or replacement. Any data loss as a result of a repair will be your own responsibility and the last thing you want is to hear bad news after a successful repair.

So whether you back up your data through iCloud or locally to external storage, just make sure you do.

As a “smart display” speaker, the Google Home Hub is essentially a Google Home Mini mashed together with a 7-inch touchscreen.

It does all of the smart speaker stuff you expect from a Google Assistant-powered connected home device with voice (play music, control your smart home devices, tell you the news and weather, etc.) with the added bonus of having a screen to display information like maps and lyrics just like Lenovo’s Smart Display.

The Home Hub is a fine smart speaker, but it really shines most as a digital photo frame. Yes, as a digital photo frame. It’s 2018 and Google has not only revived one of the worst-conceived product categories ever with the $149 Home Hub, but made it so darn good, you’ll want one badly.

SEE ALSO: Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL review: Android’s finest

The ever-escalating game of cat and mouse between Google and Amazon for domination of your home continues to intensify. Google was late to the party, but it’s all but caught up in many ways.

Amazon launched the Echo in 2015 and then Google followed up two years later with the Home. Amazon then released the Echo Show, the first smart speaker with a display, in 2017. Google Home has supported smart displays before, but the Home Hub is the first one to come directly from Google itself.

The Google Assistant is the superior digital assistant when it comes to knowing more things and understanding and anticipating your needs through the more robust Google services you’ve plugged into it. 

However, Amazon’s Alexa is undoubtedly more open with more connectable “skills” from third-party services.

Just as there’s no definitive answer to the age-old question of Android or iOS, there will likely never be one winner that gains full control of the smart home. The connected smart home hub you should get depends entirely on which company’s ecosystem you’ve already invested in or want to build around. 

Made for the home

My least favorite thing about the original Echo is its cold and generic design. Amazon’s improved the industrial design for its Echo products over the years, using more fabric and more earthy materials like wood to make them less gadgety and blend better into homes.

But Google still has Amazon beat. The Home Hub is another slick example of Google nailing a product’s identity with a discrete design that uses materials that are inviting.

My review unit came in a charcoal (dark gray), but the Home Hub also comes in chalk (lighter gray), aqua (greenish blue), and sand (pinkish).

The Home Hub is a cute little device and much smaller than it appears in online photos. It has a 7-inch display with 1,024 x 600 resolution. I’ve heard from many a tech nerd and reporter complain about the display not even being 720p resolution, and I’m here to tell it doesn’t matter.

The Home Hub isn’t a phone, and it isn’t a tablet. It’s not a device you hold inches from your face. Your 16-megapixel photos from Google Photos (the max resolution for free pics) look great on the Home Hub’s screen. The 12-megapixel photos uploaded from my iPhone look crispy — I could easily see the individual hairs on a deer’s fur and the bricks in a building from my Japan 2017 vacation album.

Anyone who says the screen is not bright enough, not sharp enough, or not big enough is using the Home Hub all wrong. This is not a TV.

For sure, you can ask the Google Assistant to play a YouTube video from, like, your favorite website such as Mashable. YouTube support is especially useful for watching tutorials, but think short videos, not feature-length movies.

Google has paid extra attention to the screen as a picture frame. Even with the screen positioned at an angle, reflections aren’t an issue. Reflections from windows and overhead lights both at home under my kitchen’s direct fluorescent light and at work were not as problematic as they are on my MacBook Air. But more on the Home Hub as a picture frame in a minute.

Even more important might be what the what Home Hub doesn’t have. On the rear is switch for muting the microphone and a volume rocker, but absent is any kind of camera. A front-facing camera is useful for making video calls, but the privacy concerns of putting a camera that could be be nefariously accessed by a hacker to remotely spy on you is real (however unlikely as that is).

Lenovo gets around this privacy fear with a physical shutter that slides over to block the camera on its Smart Displays, but Google’s gone one further: There just isn’t one. And you know what? I don’t miss it. I rarely video called anyone with the Echo Show, and I barely know anyone who uses Google Duo for video calling. If I really must do a video call, FaceTime or Google Duo (or Instagram video calling) on my iPhone’s always a tap away and so too is Skype on my computer.

For once, Google got the privacy equation right. 

In the spot where you’d expect to find a camera, however, is a light sensor that adjusts the screen to match the lighting in your room. Google calls this Ambient EQ. It works just like the TrueTone feature on all of the latest iPhones, iPads, and MacBook Pros. So instead of the harsher blue light you’d be blasting your eyes with at night, the Home Hub’s screen brightens and dims to a warmer and softer hue that’s both better for waking up and going to sleep to.

And it really works. Groggily waking up and glancing over at the Home Hub to check the time and weather forecast first thing in the morning was less of an assault on my eyes. Same for going to bedtime — the glow from the screen’s clock didn’t inhibit my ability to fall asleep.

Enclosed in the back and firing through the front just below the screen is the “full-range speaker.” Make whatever you want of that marketing jargon, but the speaker sounds decent. I’d peg the audio quality as better than a Google Home Mini, but not as clear as a Google Home. 

A couple of friends felt the speaker was a little weak, but I disagree. For its size, I think the sound quality is adequate. A Google Home Max or Apple HomePod, the Home Hub is not. If you think about where you’re gonna be putting it — on a kitchen counter, on a bedside table, on your desk, or on a bookshelf — then pumping it loud isn’t something you’ll want to do often. 

As a speaker, the Home Hub does the trick, and the far-field microphones picked up my voice without any issues whether I was a foot or 15 feet away. If sound quality is high on your checklist, consider another speaker or pair the Home Hub to a better one using Bluetooth 5.0.

Picture perfect digital frame

There’s no doubt Google’s made a good smart speaker/display here, but I wasn’t expecting the feature that I’d enjoy the most would be the one that required no action beyond selecting an album from which to display photos from.

If there’s any product that reinforces how truly great Google Photos is, it’s Google’s Home Hub.

At setup, the Home Hub asks you to choose an album from your Google Photos. I chose my Japan 2017 vacation, which has over 1,500 photos.

Using machine learning, the Home Hub finds only the best photos from the album to show. Photos where you’ve, perhaps, got your eyes closed are smartly not shown. Vertical photos that are normally displayed with black bars on the left and right on other photo frames aren’t displayed on their own. Instead, Google again uses machine learning to find two related vertical photos from the album and display them side by side — something I’ve never seen on any other digital photo frames.

It’s not just about slideshows. You can also ask the Assistant to show you specific photos of people that it’s organized for your using facial recognition, like your mom, dad, or girlfriend (to a scarily and wonderfully accurate degree). It works on animals, objects, places, and other things Google’s trained the Assistant on.

The bottom line is: Crappy digital photo frames like the ones you find at places like the Sharper Image or Walmart’s discount bins suck because they’re usually not connected to the cloud. Most read photos from a memory card so they’re limited by storage and don’t have access to any AI. And even the photo frames that are connected to cloud services — well, they suck because they’re also limited by storage or the software interfaces are terrible.

The Home Hub as a digital photo frame is everything these old and poorly designed frames aren’t. I’ve been reminded of so many memories from my Japan trip in the three weeks I’ve had the Home Hub in my apartment than in a whole year I’d told myself I’d get around to looking at some 1,500 shots.

I’d forgotten I’d taken some great snapshots at the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto. The Home Hub teleported me back to the view at the top of Osaka Castle. It reminded me how cramped the Airbnb we stayed at in Ginza was. Or how magical Tokyo at night looked from way up on the Tokyo Skytree. Or how chaotic it was at the Tsukiji Fish Market.

These are memories that (although safely stored in the cloud) would have sat in the cloud collecting digital dust just like prints would in a photo album stored away in a cabinet. With the Home Hub, Google has made a digital photo frame that finally works and reminds you of them daily. It’s even more personal if you choose to select a “Live Albums,” a feature that displays the photos of people and pets you’ve selected to automatically be added to the album whenever the AI identifies shots they’re in. The Home Hub is such a great digital photo frame, the smart speaker and voice control stuff feels more like a bonus. 

$150 seems hefty at first, but considering it’s only $20 more than the Google Home, which doesn’t have a display, I’d say it’s a good value. Black Friday is right around the corner and it’s already being knocked down to $100 at many retailers. Unless you’ve already locked yourself into the Amazon camp and Alexa, the Google Home Hub is a winner.