Business Articles

MWC 2020 | HMD Global drops out of the show

HMD Global, an OEM that makes Nokia phones, is one of the latest companies to announce the cancellation of its showcase at MWC 2020. Like the others, it has done so to keep its staff and audience safe from the spread of the novel ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 12 Feb 2020 18:44

Secretly owned by CIA, Swiss tech company Crypto sold encryption products to 120 countries and...

Liquidated in 2018, Swiss firm Crypto AG seems to have been involved in helping the US and German governments spy on no less than 120 countries for decades. The story has just surfaced thanks to an investigation carried out by The...

Codrut Nistor, 12 Feb 2020 16:20

An apparent example of what the 108 MP camera in the Mi 10 series can offer. (Image source: Xiaomi via Weibo & GSMArena)

Xiaomi showcases Mi 10 camera samples as it confirms MWC 2020 attendance

Xiaomi will still be attending MWC 2020 in Barcelona at the end of the month, where it will globally unveil the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro. The company has promised to take precautions against the proliferation of the coronavirus, the re...

Alex Alderson, 12 Feb 2020 11:28

Thom Browne limited edition Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (Source: Samsung Global Newsroom)

Thom Browne limited edition Samsung Galaxy Z Flip coming next month

The stylish result of the collaboration between Samsung Electronics and New York-based fashion brand Thom Browne "was created for those who are not afraid to make a statement—and who want their technology to be as iconic as their ...

Codrut Nistor, 12 Feb 2020 11:26

Huawei caught red-handed: The company has backdoor access to mobile networks worldwide

The latest Huawei-related security issue is huge and it's enough to describe it in a few words for everyone to figure out: for over a decade, the Chinese behemoth has been using backdoors intended for law enforcement to access mob...

Codrut Nistor, 12 Feb 2020 09:16

Forza Street on Android will be a Galaxy Store exclusive on its launch. (Source: YouTube)

Galaxy Unpacked | Samsung and Xbox unveil a new mobile gaming partnership

The Galaxy S20/Z Flip launch event also saw the announcement of a new level of collaboration between Microsoft and Samsung. It involves porting PC games to this OEM’s phones, starting with Forza Street. It will be exclusive to Sam...

Deirdre O Donnell, 11 Feb 2020 22:33

These dates may prove much less eventful than usual. (Source: GSMA)

MWC 2020 | The GSMA will meet to decide if the show can go on

The Mobile World Congress (MWC) has been inexorably rocked by a series of cancellations and withdrawals from the show. They have been made by an ever-growing list of companies, to which Intel and Vivo have most recently been added...

Deirdre O Donnell, 11 Feb 2020 20:23

ZTE Axon 10s Pro coming to MWC 2020 (Source: Liliputing)

MWC 2020 | ZTE confirms attendance, most likely to unveil (at least) the Axon 10s Pro

Although recent rumors claimed otherwise, it has just been confirmed that ZTE will push aside all the fears regarding the virus that is currently troubling the Chinese mainland and will attend the Mobile World Congress trade show ...

Codrut Nistor, 11 Feb 2020 15:12

A render of an upcoming Sony mobile rear camera set-up. (Source: Android Next)

MWC 2020 | No-show for Sony; TCL cancels its press conference

Sony has announced that it must withdraw its entire presence from the Mobile World Congress this year. This includes its scheduled press conference and its product showcases on the floor during the event. Meanwhile, TCL has announ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 11 Feb 2020 13:46

The Wall for Business gets even bigger at ISE 2020. (Source: Samsung)

Samsung unveils a huge 583-inch enterprise-grade LED display

Samsung has announced that the business-grade versions of its bezel-free and ultra-thin Wall TV series now go up to 583 inches diagonally. This latest word in large-scale displays - which also has an 8K resolution - has been launc...

Deirdre O Donnell, 10 Feb 2020 20:30

WhatsApp Pay has approval to operate in India. (Source: WhatsApp)

WhatsApp acquires the OK to support payments in India

WhatsApp has secured approval to roll out a new facet of its service in India. It is a new payment platform that has just been approved by the relevant authories. This may help the Facebook-owned app compete effectively with other...

Deirdre O Donnell, 10 Feb 2020 19:52

Ericsson has dropped out of MWC 2020. (Source: Ericsson)

Ericsson cancels its MWC 2020 showcase

The telecomms equipment maker Ericsson has become one of the latest in a growing group of companies that have decided against an appearance at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year. Like those others, it has cited prevention m...

Deirdre O Donnell, 10 Feb 2020 19:06

OPPO releases the Reno2 and Reno2 Z to the German market

The smartphone maker OPPO has announced the launch of the Reno2 and Reno2 Z in Germany. This series distinguishes itself through its high digital and hybrid camera zoom specs and its pop-up selfie modules. These aspects of the pho...

Deirdre O Donnell, 10 Feb 2020 18:30

The Honor Play. (Source: Adam Patrick Murray, PCWorld)

New update to the Honor Play may leave owners livid amidst clamor for EMUI 10

Owners of the Honor Play are campaigning for their much-deserved EMUI 10 update. The Honor Play was ignored on all of Huawei's roadmaps so far even though its powered by the same Kirin 970 on flagships like the Mate 10 Pro and P20...

Ricci Rox, 10 Feb 2020 09:42

The Galaxy S10's successor may outdo them in the market. (Source: Samsung)

The Samsung Galaxy S20 series will outsell the S10s, according to a prominent analysis firm

Counterpoint Research now believes that the upcoming Galaxy S20 flagships will maintain an upward trend in Samsung sales that began with their S10-series predecessors. Furthermore, the new phones' performance in the market could r...

Deirdre O Donnell, 09 Feb 2020 19:11

Some new ROG notebooks and their prices may have leaked. (Source: Asus)

A notebook sales leak may offer 2020 Asus ROG specs and pricing insights

A retailer has posted preliminary listings for some upcoming Asus laptops. They do not contain product images, however, based on their model numbers and listed specs, they are clearly destined for the high-end gaming markets. For ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 09 Feb 2020 17:50

The GDSA is a new potential resource for mobile app developers. (Source: GDSA)

Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo reportedly team up to form their own app-distribution platform

The Global Developer Service Alliance (GDSA) is a kind of one-stop pipeline for developers, by which their apps can be uploaded to the in-house software ecosystems of 3 different OEMs simultaneously. However, these companies have ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 07 Feb 2020 23:54

The Apple Watch outsold Swiss brands by a wide margin. (Image via Apple)

The Apple Watch handily outsold all Swiss watch makers in 2019

Apple's Smartwatch outsold all Swiss watchmaker brands combined by 3 to 2 in 2019. Younger consumers prefer smartwatches, a shift that has continually driven sales away from Swiss watchmakers over the past five years. Still, consi...

Sam Medley, 07 Feb 2020 16:49

The MSI Modern 15 has dual-channel RAM while the Modern 14 is stuck in single-channel mode

The Modern 15 is more than just an enlarged version of the Modern 14. Though they may share similar chassis styles and materials, their motherboards are completely different for some notable changes in port options, expansion opti...

Allen Ngo, 07 Feb 2020 11:05

Pink MSI Prestige 14 laptop now shipping for $1399 just in time for Valentine's Day (Source: MSI)

Pink MSI Prestige 14 laptop now available for $1399 just in time for Valentine's Day

Don't let the bright amiable color fool you. The pink MSI laptop will be faster than most 14-inch and 15.6-inch Ultrabooks in the market because of its 6-core Core i7-10710U Comet Lake-U CPU and GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics.

Allen Ngo, 06 Feb 2020 21:02

Qualcomm announces its first-quarter earnings for 2020

Qualcomm has released its first earnings report for the year 2020. The quarter (1Q2020) saw no less than US$5.1 billion in revenue for the chipmaking giant. This is a 5% improvement compared to 1Q2019. In addition, the company's l...

Deirdre O Donnell, 06 Feb 2020 17:55

The Galaxy S20 Ultra. (Source: 91Mobiles)

How much will the Samsung Galaxy S20 phones cost?

Going by all available information, the Galaxy S20 phones will be more expensive than their predecessors—in the US at least. While that may sound like a thoughtless move by Samsung, some context is necessary.

Ricci Rox, 06 Feb 2020 10:44

Dual-format laptop: The PivoBook's display can be rotated through 90 degrees

Compal has won an IF Design Award 2020 for its latest notebook, and for good reason. The PivoBook has a 14-inch OLED display that can be tilted into portrait mode without being removed from the rest of its form-factor, making it i...

Deirdre O Donnell, 05 Feb 2020 23:10

Smart thermostats play an increasingly important role in home energy use these days. (Source: eBay)

New research finds nearly 30% of US high-speed internet households would buy a smart thermostat

Thermostats are just another household items that have been made smart over the last number of years. They have developed to the point that they can implement automatic usage plans, including those remotely set or sent by an energ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 05 Feb 2020 22:14

Ricoh announces the WG-70, a new rugged camera with a "microscope" function

Ricoh - which currently markets the cameras formerly known under the PENTAX brand - has launched a new camera with a durable, waterproof casing. The WG-70 also has a "digital microscope mode", which enables effective close-ups tha...

Deirdre O Donnell, 05 Feb 2020 21:34

An up-to-date Galaxy Home Mini render. (Source: TizenHelp)

Samsung reportedly sows confusion over the Galaxy Home Mini and its launch date

Samsung has been linked to an upcoming budget smart speaker since 2018. More recent reports appear to confirm that this device will be called the Galaxy Home Mini and that it would launch on February 12, 2020. An even newer leak a...

Deirdre O Donnell, 05 Feb 2020 19:08

Disney+ hits over 28.6 million subscribers

Disney+, Disney's incredibly popular streaming service, now boasts over 28.6 million paid subscribers. Other streaming services offered by Disney, including ESPN+ and Hulu, also saw impressive year-over-year growth.

Sam Medley, 05 Feb 2020 14:53

Samsung has new 16GB HBM2E memory. (Source: Samsung)

Samsung debuts Flashbolt, its latest and highest-capacity generation of HBM2E memory

Today (February 4, 2020) Samsung has unveiled its latest memory solution for the high-performance computing (HPC) market. It is a form of state-of-the-art high bandwidth memory 2E (HBM2E) with 16GB of capacity per chip. This doubl...

Deirdre O Donnell, 04 Feb 2020 19:19

The Escobar Fold 2, unmistakably a Samsung Galaxy Fold. (Image source: Escobar Inc)

Pablo Escobar's brother announces the Escobar Fold 2 amid claims that Escobar Inc is scamming buyers of the Fold 1

Following on from the Escobar Fold 1, Pablo Escobar's brother has unveiled the Fold 2, another inexpensive foldable smartphone by Escobar Inc. The Fold 2 starts at US$399 for a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC and up to 512 GB of stora...

Alex Alderson, 04 Feb 2020 19:15

New Galaxy S20 series US pricing leak makes for some hard reading

The Galaxy S20 phones are billed to be unveiled in a week. A new leak has given us pricing information for the phones across US carriers, and, well, it doesn't sound too good. The base S20 could potentially start at US$999, making...

Ricci Rox, 04 Feb 2020 09:25

Production of the iPhone SE 2 has apparently already started. (Image source: @OnLeaks & @iGeeksblog)

Rumour | iPhone SE 2: Apple's next budget smartphone expected to sell over 30 million units as trial production run begins

The iPhone SE 2 will arrive as soon as next month, according to the latest round of rumours. Analysts predict that the budget smartphone, expected to retail for around US$399, will sell over 30 million units too. The SE 2, which A...

Alex Alderson, 03 Feb 2020 21:01

Realme will unveil its first TV at MWC 2020

A Realme executive has revealed that this brand is working on its own smart TV, and that more details will be available at the next Mobile World Congress (MWC). To date, no specs or features for this upcoming product are known for...

Deirdre O Donnell, 03 Feb 2020 18:27

Lenovo ThinkPad T480s with Core i5, 8 GB RAM, and 256 GB SSD is only $670 right now (Source: Lenovo)

Deal | Lenovo ThinkPad T480s with Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Thunderbolt 3, and 256 GB SSD is only $670 right now

The ThinkPad T480s is the lighter and slimmer version of the standard ThinkPad T480 to strike a better balance between a traditional lightweight Ultrabook and a full-on business laptop. The Core i5-8250U may not be the newest, but...

Allen Ngo, 02 Feb 2020 19:55

Motorola has sold over 100 million Moto G units in the US. (Source: Motorola)

Deal | Get US$100 off a Moto G7 - or a free Moto G6 - in this sales event

Motorola has marked its 100,000,000th unit of the Moto G series sold with a special event. It offers up to US$320 off a new phone, depending on the model. Alternatively, a shopper can choose a free accessory, money off, or even a ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 02 Feb 2020 18:04

The Asus ROG Phone II. (Source: Flipkart)

Indian mobile gaming fans will face ROG Phone II shortages soon

Asus ROG India has issued an open letter to its fans expressing regret that they may face difficulty in buying this OEM's latest gaming phone. This "temporary shortage" is associated with the coronavirus outbreak in Asia, which is...

Deirdre O Donnell, 02 Feb 2020 17:03

The GTC will take place in late March 2020. (Source: NVIDIA)

NVIDIA announces details on its GTC 2020 conference

The GPU Technology Conference (or GTC) 2020 has been set to begin on March 23 of this year. It will open with a keynote from NVIDIA's CEO and founder, Jensen Huang. The company also claims there will be over 1000 other speakers fr...

Deirdre O Donnell, 02 Feb 2020 15:11

No one seems to really care about Intel Project Athena

Project Athena was supposed to usher in the next generation of Intel-powered Ultrabooks with Thunderbolt 3, super-long runtimes, and thinner designs. But in reality, Athena is barely on anyone's radar as even OEMs seem to be avoid...

Allen Ngo, 01 Feb 2020 22:38

The HyperJuice GaN charger. (Source: HYPER)

The HyperJuice is the "world's first" 100W USB type C charger with GaN

HYPER has put its new charger up for crowdfunding on Indiegogo. Despite packing a maximum rate of 100 watts (W), it is described as even smaller than the MacBook Pro brick with the same kind of port. This is due to its gallium nit...

Deirdre O Donnell, 01 Feb 2020 18:43

Nintendo has confirmed that there will be no new Switch console, at least for the time being. (Image source: Nintendo)

Bad news about that Nintendo Switch Pro, folks

Nintendo has dealt a blow for those who were hoping to see the company release a new Nintendo Switch this year. While it does not preclude Nintendo from bringing a Pro SKU of the console to market in the near future, you can rule ...

Alex Alderson, 31 Jan 2020 20:31

The tech market is found to have some of the most valuable brands on Earth in 2020

The UK company Brand Finance releases a yearly report on the top 500 most valuable brands. Its 2020 edition concludes that the tech sector is the most valuable, with a combined worth of nearly US$967 billion. 5 of its brands, incl...

Deirdre O Donnell, 31 Jan 2020 20:01

Intel Core i7-10810U: ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8 listing reveals new Comet Lake hexa-core CPU with vPro

Intel is getting ready to release another package of Comet Lake U processors for laptops. More specifically: For business laptops, as these new processors feature the manageability feature vPro. The most powerful of Comet Lake chi...

Benjamin Herzig, 31 Jan 2020 00:21

This is the first 2020 SEGA physical game to launch in 100% recyclable packaging. (Source: SEGA Europe)

SEGA Europe announces a switch to 100% recyclable packaging for its physical games

SEGA Europe has pledged to use nothing but recyclables in the original packaging for its hard-copy products in the future. This will take effect with the release of its new PC title, Total War: ROME II. The material in question wi...

Deirdre O Donnell, 30 Jan 2020 22:31

4G LTE-enabled Samsung Galaxy Book S launching on Valentine's Day for $999

The 13.3-inch WoA laptop comes with a special 7 nm Snapdragon SoC for a thickness and weight of just 11.8 mm and 0.96 kg, respectively. LTE Cat.18 Nano SIM, touchscreen, Windows Hello, and a keyboard backlight all come standard.

Allen Ngo, 30 Jan 2020 20:10

Huawei may have split with Google for good. (Source: Notebookcheck)

It's over(?): Huawei phones may never use the Google mobile ecosystem again

Huawei's Austrian regional manager has reportedly indicated that the OEM's phones will use its own in-house version of Google Mobile Services going forward, never returning to the use of the Play Store and its apps as normal. The ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 30 Jan 2020 20:00

The Japanese carrier KDDI picks up Qualcomm's latest LTE IoT modem

Qualcomm has announced that it has broken into the Japanese IoT market. The carrier KDDI has approved the 9205 modem for this platform. Therefore, its network for high-volume, low-power electronics can now transfer data at 4G/LTE ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 30 Jan 2020 19:10

There may be new Tremont-based chipsets on the way. (Source: Intel)

GitHub hints at new Intel Tremont-based micro-server and mobile chipsets

What is Jasper Lake? This has been a valid question since a leak referenced it alongside Rocket Lake in July 2019. Now, new evidence suggests that it is a mobile SoC based on the new Tremont microarchitecture. The same also nods t...

Deirdre O Donnell, 30 Jan 2020 18:33

Transparent displays may become more of a feature of lfe in the future. (Source: YouTube)

The transparent display market may be worth billions by 2024

Transparent displays may become a commonplace backdrop for the future of technology. They can show colored images and videos, while allowing whatever's behind them to remain visible. A new research report indicates that their mark...

Deirdre O Donnell, 30 Jan 2020 17:30

Smart speakers will continue to be big business in the near future. (Source: Google)

The smart speaker market may be worth nearly US$20 billion by 2024

Smart speakers are increasingly popular household items. Their market is now thought to be capable of growing until it is worth US$19.91 billion in 4 years. This success may be driven by the rise of 5G, urbanization, consumer inte...

Deirdre O Donnell, 29 Jan 2020 19:41

The S20 Ultra will use an entirely different telephoto sensor—the 48 MP Sony IMX586. (Source: 91Mobiles)

Samsung will do something interesting with the telephoto cameras of the Galaxy S20 and S20+

A new leak has thrown more light on the sensor Samsung will use on the telephoto shooters of the Galaxy S20 and S20+. Sadly, all it manages to do is raise more questions, as it potentially implies terrible low-light performance wh...

Ricci Rox, 29 Jan 2020 18:58