Business Articles

The Samsung Galaxy Book Ion. (Source: Samsung)

US pricing for the QLED Samsung Galaxy Book Ion is leaked; release seems imminent

The Samsung Galaxy Book Ion raised some interest at SDC19 and CES 2020 as it purported to offer a QLED display in a more mid-range laptop. However, nothing had been heard about it in the US since then. Now, a listing with a USD pr...

Deirdre O Donnell, 16 Mar 2020 18:29

A Redmi Note 9S teaser. (Source: Xiaomi Malaysia)

Xiaomi will launch a new Redmi Note 9 variant in Malaysia

Xiaomi Malaysia has released teasers for the new Redmi Note 9S soon. It appears to have the same square quad-camera module as the rest of its series. However, the OEM has not released any details on its specs.

Deirdre O Donnell, 15 Mar 2020 22:08

Apple's WWDC is going online for the first time. (Source: Apple)

Apple 'invents' a new kind of WWDC for 2020

Apple has announced that its WWDC event will not be live as usual this year. Instead, it will have an online format. This will include a "full program" of sessions and a keynote that will appeal to developers, consumers and other ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 15 Mar 2020 21:25

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro has been nicknamed "The Performance Beast". (Image source: Xiaomi)

Xiaomi has now sold over 110 million Redmi Note smartphones around the world

Xiaomi has recently been highlighting the sales record of its Redmi Note devices on the company’s Twitter account. According to estimates provided by Canalys, the Chinese manufacturer has been successful in selling over 110 millio...

Daniel R Deakin, 15 Mar 2020 11:19

Huami's latest smartwatch, the Amazfit T-Rex. (Source: Gearbest)

Huami reports that it made nearly US$835 million in 2019

Huami is a wearables OEM that has recently made a name for its own brand, Amazfit. Besides this, it also has a role as an ODM to other brands such as Xiaomi to make their smart accessories. The company has reported a year-on-year ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 14 Mar 2020 21:56

Galaxy S20 series owners can also copy and paste from their PCs in this new preview. (Source: Microsoft)

RCS support on Windows 10 PCs is coming to those with Samsung phones

Microsoft has announced that those with Samsung Galaxy S20-series devices can also now use their Windows 10 PCs for rich communication services- (RCS) enabled messaging. This feature is apparently available in the latest Insider's...

Deirdre O Donnell, 14 Mar 2020 18:56

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has resigned from the Microsoft Board of Directors. (Source: Gatesnotes)

Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft board to pursue philanthropy, climate change agenda

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is stepping down from his role on the Microsoft board according to the company. Although Gates will still remain an advisor to current CEO Satya Nadella, he will instead now focus his energies on hi...

Sanjiv Sathiah, 14 Mar 2020 03:23

Mozilla will update KaiOS in fundamental and vital ways soon. (Credit: TechAltar via YouTube)

Mozilla and KaiOS' new partnership may result in a better future for feature phones

Phones that run neither Android nor iOS have been falling behind in terms of their browser and web-based support. Mozilla and KaiOS (the mobile platform most likely to run on such devices) have addressed this through a new partner...

Deirdre O Donnell, 13 Mar 2020 19:19

The Honor 30S allegedly shows up on a soda bottle

The 20S is a mid-range variant of the Honor 20 smartphone series from 2019. Now, a promo for its successor has reportedly appeared on the labels of Sprite bottles sold in China. Some text found near its image hints at 5G for this ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 12 Mar 2020 19:54

Is Google abusing its market position once again? (Image source: Google)

Opinion | Android TV, another example of how Google abuses its market dominance

Google is well-known for its questionable tactics of cementing its market dominance, with the EU Commission fining the company for antitrust violations. Similarly, the Indian Competition Commission is investigating Google about po...

Alex Alderson, 12 Mar 2020 19:17

Will Huawei finally get banned this May? (Image Source: BusinessMobiles.com)

Huawei dodges ban again, granted another licence extension from the U.S. Commerce Department

The U.S. government is certainly aware that companies like Qualcomm and Google do not want any bans imposed on Huawei, since it will be very difficult to cover billions of USD in losses. Still, smaller companies like rural carrier...

Bogdan Solca, 12 Mar 2020 17:01

An Intel Ice Lake Server chip. (Image Source: ServeTheHome)

32-core (2x 16) Intel Ice Lake Server Geekbench benchmarks leak — 80% more performance than AMD Epyc Rome 7702P with half the cores?

Geekbench listings of what appears to be a 32-core (16-core dual-socket) Intel Ice Lake Server processor have surfaced. Ice Lake Server appears to put up a strong show against AMD's Epyc Rome 7702P in Geekbench 4 running on Window...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 12 Mar 2020 08:05

Facebook and Google ban ads selling medical face masks

Google and Facebook are responding to price gouging surrounding the sales of medical face masks by banning ads for face masks. The bans are efforts to fight against the exploitative sale of medical supplies amidst growing fears su...

Sam Medley, 12 Mar 2020 04:07

The entire OnePlus 8 lineup will feature 5G support. (Image Source: OnLeaks/91 Mobiles)

OnePlus will do a Samsung and unveil a full 5G lineup for its upcoming launch

OnePlus co-founder and CEO Pete Lau said that the company's upcoming launch will see the complete lineup supporting 5G. While the top-tier OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus 8 variants are confirmed and will have 5G support, it is not yet ...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 11 Mar 2020 14:13

Firefox Browser 74 for Windows - About window (Source: Own)

Firefox 74 rolls out: Facebook Container, DNS-over-HTTPS, and more

Released yesterday, Firefox 74.0 can block Facebook from tracking its users and no longer allows third-party apps to install add-ons, but it also features DNS-over-HTTPS provided by Cloudflare (with NextDNS as an option). This upd...

Codrut Nistor, 11 Mar 2020 13:50

The Black Shark 3 Pro's first release event gets delayed

Xiaomi's Black Shark 3 series is the latest lines of gaming phones to be launched in 2020. Its base model is already on sale in China. It also has a Pro variant that was to be released to the market on March 17, 2020; however, the...

Deirdre O Donnell, 10 Mar 2020 23:41

Xiaomi has closed its UK Mi Store down. (Source: Wikipedia)

Xiaomi closes its only UK physical store

Xiaomi showed quite some ambition when it opened its own Apple Store-esque outlet in Shepherd's Bush, London. However, reports that this brick-and-mortar establishment has shut down have recently emerged. UK customers can still bu...

Deirdre O Donnell, 09 Mar 2020 23:33

HTC's latest phone, the Wildfire R70. (Source: HTC)

HTC's February 2020 earnings report is a potentially somber read

HTC has released an outline of its latest earnings. This performance pertains to February 2020, and shows that the company's revenues are down nearly 33% year-on-year (YoY). Similarly, the OEM's total revenues have decreased by ~4...

Deirdre O Donnell, 09 Mar 2020 15:59

Buying a Lenovo ThinkPad T490? Skip the 2020 model and go with the 2019 model instead

Save yourself a few hundred dollars without sacrificing all that much processor performance. The brand new Intel 10th gen Core i7-10510U isn't all that much faster than the older Core i7-8565U or i7-8665U that Lenovo has been offe...

Allen Ngo, 09 Mar 2020 07:36

AMD's financial position has improved significantly, along with huge reductions in debt levels. (Source: AMD)

AMD details much stronger financial position at their 2020 Financial Analyst Day

AMD held their 2020 Financial Analyst Day recently, with one of the highlights being their greatly improved financial situation compared to 2016, and impressively improved debt situation compared to all of the last few years.

Craig Ward, 08 Mar 2020 10:01

An up-to-date OnePlus 8 render. (Source: OnLeaks/CashKaro)

The OnePlus 8 may launch through both T-Mobile and Verizon

A prior leak suggested that OnePlus would sell an upcoming phone, the 8, through the US carrier Verizon. Now, an analysis of code in this OEM's launcher for Android appears to back this up. It also points to a T-Mobile SKU of the ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 07 Mar 2020 20:06

Huawei may offer greater cuts of app revenue to developers, if for a limited time only

Huawei is currently compelled to generate its own in-house alternative to the Google Play Store - and to this platform's developer-side ecosystem in turn. Accordingly, it has publicly released details on the percentages app makers...

Deirdre O Donnell, 07 Mar 2020 16:30

Thinner design of the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 costs features

Laptops are getting thinner, lighter and more compact every year. A positive trend – though it sometimes also results in the loss of valued features.

Benjamin Herzig, 07 Mar 2020 14:14

The Samsung Galaxy S20 and S20+. (Source: Samsung)

The Exynos Galaxy S20 and S20+ don't use the same main camera sensor as the Snapdragon models

Global units of the Samsung Galaxy S20 and S20+ don't only differ from the others by virtue of the Exynos SoC they feature. Apparently, they also use a completely different main camera sensor from the Snapdragon models.

Ricci Rox, 07 Mar 2020 12:01

OPPO wants you to think of it when you think 5G. (Source: YouTube)

OPPO unveils its 5G CPE, the "Omni"

OPPO finally introduced its long-awaited Find X2 series today (March 6, 2020). However, it also had a "one more thing" moment: a new mobile-broadband device that could bring 5G speeds to the home or office. It is based on the Snap...

Deirdre O Donnell, 06 Mar 2020 12:00

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G. (Source: Samsung)

Overpriced? The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra apparently costs just US$528 to build

The Galaxy S20 Ultra retails at an overwhelming US$1399 base price point. That's an unreasonable price tag, no? Perhaps. A new report by TechInsights has now provided some much-needed information on exactly how sensible the S20 Ul...

Ricci Rox, 05 Mar 2020 10:14

Will we see Xbox Series X gameplay at tomorrow's AMD Financial Analyst Day? (Image source: AMD & Microsoft)

Rumour | AMD and Microsoft to showcase Xbox Series X gameplay and three "Big Navi" GPUs at AMD Financial Analyst Day

AMD's Financial Analyst Day 2020 is coming up, and rumour has it that there will be plenty for us to digest. Apparently, AMD and Microsoft will showcase Xbox Series X gameplay at the event, along with three RDNA 2-based GPUs.

Alex Alderson, 04 Mar 2020 18:43

Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 on sale at Micro Center for $700 USD but with a catch (Image source: Micro Center)

Deal | Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 on sale at Micro Center for $700 USD but with a catch

You'll have to drive to the nearest store to pick up the item if you want the latest Microsoft laptop brand new for as cheap as possible.

Allen Ngo, 03 Mar 2020 22:41

Nokia is coming to an end, with sales and mergers under consideration

Bloomberg reports that Nokia is coming to an end because of "fierce competition" from the likes of Ericsson and Huawei. The company is currently reviewing various, including asset sales and mergers. Nokia also states that it does ...

Alex Alderson, 03 Mar 2020 17:13

The Redmi K30 series has been a roaring success for Xiaomi, so far. (Image source: Xiaomi)

Xiaomi Redmi K30 sales hit the equivalent of ~US$230 million in sales in under three months

The Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro have proven immensely popular for Xiaomi, but so has the Redmi K30 series. The Redmi K30 4G and Redmi K30 5G have only been available for a month and two months respectively, but the series has already exce...

Alex Alderson, 02 Mar 2020 21:33

Huawei's CEO presents on the OEM's 5G hardware strategy. (Source: Huawei)

Huawei reportedly circumvents US policy with its 100% in-house base station

Base stations are crucial pieces of hardware for mobile networks, particularly 5G ones. Huawei is now reportedly in a position to sell versions of these devices based on their own proprietary chipsets, rather than those made by US...

Deirdre O Donnell, 02 Mar 2020 19:04

Cheetah Mobile's apps can no longer be downloaded on the Play Store. (Source: Cheetah Mobile)

Google announces the removal of about 600 apps from the Play Store

Google has released a blog post explaining why nearly 600 apps have just been removed from Android's Play Store. These apps were deemed guilty of "mobile ad fraud", which contravenes the Mountain View giant's policies. The apps in...

Deirdre O Donnell, 02 Mar 2020 18:24

Products such as Xiaomi's Mi Band remained popular in India at the end of 2019. (Source: Banggood)

Xiaomi is found to have led the Indian smart-band market in 2019

IDC India has released its report on the wearables market in this country for the last quarter of 2019 (4Q2019). It reveals that the 'audio' category of these electronics had the highest share for that period, overtaking band-type...

Deirdre O Donnell, 01 Mar 2020 22:43

The Carbon 1 Mark II. (Source: Carbon Mobiles)

A German company launches the "world's first" carbon-fiber phone

Carbon Mobiles makes what it might sound like on the tin: a phone made of carbon fiber rather than a typical metal frame and glass rear panel. This build makes this device (the 1 Mark II) exceptionally light and thin. It has a Med...

Deirdre O Donnell, 01 Mar 2020 22:03

Self-driving cars could become more acceptable through improved camera tech. (Source: GSA)

A Korean research group claims to have improved camera calibration for self-driving vehicles

Cars that are capable of autonomous driving are often touted as the future. However, their actual ability to do so through perceiving the real world in 3D with sufficient accuracy is still in development. A new research paper publ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 01 Mar 2020 20:54

Casio upgrades the PRO TREK connected watch series with titanium variants

Casio has announced the release of titanium-cased versions of its PRO TREK outdoor watch line-up. They are also Bluetooth devices that feature Smartphone Link, which allows them to connect to the wearer's mobile device. This allow...

Deirdre O Donnell, 29 Feb 2020 18:11

Wireless charging may grow as a market until 2025. (Source: Apple)

The wireless charging market is now estimated to be worth up to US$71 billion in 5 years

Wireless charging is mainly relevant to smartphones and other similar portable electronics at present. However, a new analysis indicates that its market will benefit more and more from its application to electric vehicles. This ma...

Deirdre O Donnell, 28 Feb 2020 21:58

How much does it cost Xiaomi to build the Mi 10? US$440 apparently

The Mi 10 was released last week and fans may have been put off by its nigh-US$600 starting price tag. Here, we have a closer look at how much it may have cost Xiaomi to build the Mi 10, with the goal of ascertaining just how fair...

Ricci Rox, 28 Feb 2020 20:51

Lenovo ThinkPad T14: Ryzen 4000 version does have RJ45 & upgradable RAM

When the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 was announced this week, people were astounded that the Intel version of this ThinkPad laptop was said to feature RJ45 Ethernet and upgradable RAM, while the datasheet of the AMD version featured neith...

Benjamin Herzig, 28 Feb 2020 20:13

MediaTek's MT3620 may be one of the most popular IoT MCUs out there. (Source: MediaTek)

MediaTek asserts that its MT3620 MCU has driven Microsoft Azure Sphere uptake

The MediaTek MT3620 is the first microcontroller unit (MCU) to directly integrate the Azure Sphere security platform from Microsoft. This solution is used to connect a business' internet-of-things (IoT) system with Azure's cloud s...

Deirdre O Donnell, 27 Feb 2020 20:55

The new Reference Design based on the Snapdragon XR2 platform. (Source: Qualcomm)

Qualcomm brings 5G to headset gaming with its new Snapdragon XR2 Reference Design

Qualcomm has launched the Snapdragon XR2 Reference Design headset, the first such XR (as in, virtual, mixed or augmented reality) device that supports 5G. It does so via its in-built X55 modem, which is part of its latest hardware...

Deirdre O Donnell, 27 Feb 2020 17:21

NVIDIA's content ecosystem has a new software upgrade. (Source: NVIDIA)

NVIDIA releases a SHIELD TV software update

NVIDIA has issued its TV devices with a new update. This version of SHIELD Experience (8.1.1) includes a host of new features and bug-fixes. The most prominent of these may be the limited-time opportunity to upgrade the free GeFor...

Deirdre O Donnell, 27 Feb 2020 16:46

GOG updates refund policy to include games that are played up to 30 days after purchase

The games distribution platform GOG updated its refund policy today, expanding it to a flat 30-day refund period. This even applies to games that have been played, though GOG has stated it retains the right to review individual re...

Sam Medley, 27 Feb 2020 05:01

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Next & ThinkPad X1 Nano: What is Lenovo planning?

Recently, a GitHub driver page was spotted that lists upcoming Lenovo ThinkPad laptops. Among them are two models not announced or leaked before: The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Next and the ThinkPad X1 Nano. What could these devices be?

Benjamin Herzig, 26 Feb 2020 17:35

The size of the 1/1.3" OV48C versus regular 1/2.55" sensors. (Source: Xiaomi)

Budget phone cameras are about to get much better with the OmniVision OV48C and OV64C

Sony and Samsung have taken to offering bigger, more impressive smartphone camera sensors of recent, with the IMX555, IMX686, ISOCELL Bright GW1, and ISOCELL Bright HMX billed to be some of the most popular premium sensors this ye...

Ricci Rox, 25 Feb 2020 20:42

Dell Latitude 7390 with Core i7 CPU, 8 GB RAM, and 256 GB now on sale for just $599 USD with three-year warranty as standard (Source: Dell)

Deal | Dell Latitude 7390 with Core i7 CPU, 8 GB RAM, and 256 GB now on sale for just $599 USD with three-year warranty as standard

It may be two years old, but the 13.3-inch Dell laptop still offers a very wide range of features for its size including Thunderbolt 3, IR camera, WWAN, Smart Card reader, and even three-years of on-site warranty service at no ext...

Allen Ngo, 25 Feb 2020 20:27