Business Articles

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 question include all those associated with the company Cheetah Mobile.

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 devices compared to 4Q2018. Xiaomi had the greatest share in the latter sector, whereas Apple's AirPods clearly dominated their own sub-segment.

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 MediaTek Helio P90 SoC, but not the price you might expect for that spec.

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 published by a group from a South Korean university purports to detail the most sophisticated method to deliver these camera functions yet.

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 allows the user to view information such as steps taken, route logs or altitude.

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 may drive its value up to as much as US$71.21 billion by 2025.

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 the phone's price tag actually is.

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 neither. We asked Lenovo if this was true - and it turns out that the spec-sheet released by Lenovo was wrong.

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 services. MediaTek has now detailed the MT3620's success, which include its uptake by global corporations and brands.

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 platform for this category of media. Therefore, OEMs may now start building their own headsets based on this new "boundless" artificial-reality tech.

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 GeForce Now subscription to a Founder's membership instead. The upgrade also adds XBOX Elite 2 controller support, as well as improved multiple Bluetooth device connections.

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 refund requests and deny them should it find a reason to.

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?

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 year. OmniVision isn't keen on being left out, and its new sensors, the OV48C and OV64C, keep up with the competition—the former, in particular, delivering an impressive 2.4μm pixel size.

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 extra charge.

Qualcomm announced that 17 mobile operators around the world will be supporting upcoming 5G Always On, Always Connected PCs powered by the Snapdragon Compute Platform that are expected to be available later this year. Apart from this, the company also announced that operators in 115 countries are investing in 5G infrastructure.

Samsung has announced that it has started to mass-produce DRAM chips of 16GB in size and LPDDR5 in quality. This next-gen mobile-device memory is capable of approximately 1.3 times higher speeds than the nearest LPDDR4X module made by this OEM. It may now find its way to 2020 or 2021 premium phones.

Huawei unveiled its vision for a complete, connected ecosystem of devices at its latest product launch. This involves the new AX3 series of routers, which is powered by this OEM's Gigahome SoCs for Wi-Fi 6 support (and more besides). The company also unveiled second-gen "Pro" 5G consumer premises equipment (CPE).

Sony held a virtual press conference today in order to unveil its latest premium mobile device. However, it also made references to an intriguing device that was not the Xperia 1 II. The Pro is to have the same display and camera quality as this phone, but will also support mmWave 5G and have an HDMI port. However, there are no images or further specs for this product at present.

In the year 2020, Lenovo is changing the naming of its mainstream ThinkPad laptop series. The three new T series ThinkPads that follow the new system are called ThinkPad T14, ThinkPad T14s and ThinkPad T15. All of them feature Intel Comet Lake CPUs and ThinkPad T14 & T14s will also be available with AMD Ryzen Pro 4000.

Two new X series ThinkPads are introduced today. The convertible Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga will be available with an 4K UHD OLED screen, while the regular, non-convertible ThinkPad X13 introduces AMD Ryzen Pro 4000 to the ThinkPad X series.

Lenovo redesigns its affordable enterprise series, the ThinkPad L series. The new 2020 models ThinkPad L14 and ThinkPad L15 are therefore completely revamped compared to their predecessors. They also are the first affordable enterprise models from Lenovo with the Ryzen Pro 4000 CPUs.

Google is now officially warning against sideloading Google services, the Play Store and other well-known Google apps on newer Honor and Huawei smartphones. While the announcement only affects those handsets that Google has not certified because of ongoing US sanctions, like the Mate 30 Pro, Honor and Huawei are planning to announce new smartphones in the coming days and weeks. Hence, you should be aware that Google is probably not an option on these upcoming handsets.

WhatsApp sets a lot of store by the privacy in messaging it supposedly offers. However, allegations that links that invite new users to private groups are searchable online have recently emerged. This is due to the fact Google has indexed them, meaning appropriate terms can bring them up.

Sony will unveil its next flagship tomorrow and the phone's technical spec sheet has surfaced, revealing a device that competes against the Samsung Galaxy S20+ without necessarily losing. Major talking points include the return of a 3.5mm headphone jack, the same main camera sensor as the Galaxy S20 and S20+, 3x optical zoom, and a 4000 mAh battery.

Samsung has filed a patent with the US Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO) for a kind of display that, despite curving down around the sides of the phone, can also have physical buttons. This, in effect, is a new kind of punch-hole that could reconcile many buyers to waterfall displays and their potential drawbacks. Furthermore, the button could also be replaced by other modules or sensors.

The Mi A1 signaled the start of major OEMs adopting Google's Android One program. While one would expect Xiaomi to build on the success of the Mi A1, it's starting to look like the series peaked with the phone. Poor updates, bad quality control, and cost-cutting decisions plague a lineup that had the potential to be the global enthusiast's smartphone series of choice.

The 15.6-inch laptop houses a Core i9-9980HK CPU, GeForce RTX 2070 GPU, and up to 64 GB of RAM with 16 TB of SSD storage across two M.2 2280 slots and a 2.5-inch SATA III bay.

Eve will launch its "last chance" to buy its first crowd-designed tablet, the V, soon. The company will sell the core i7, 16GB RAM variant of this product at less than US$800 on this date. However, the actual delivery of the same has been surrounded by controversy in the past; furthermore, it is to get a 2nd generation soon.

Casio has announced the Bruce Lee Collaboration Model, a specially-designed version of its high-end G-SHOCK MR-G watch series. It features a band and case colored to match the martial arts cinema legend's hallmark tracksuit, as well as a case with detailing inspired by the same. There will be only 300 of its units available when it goes on sale.

Don't be fooled into believing that the Core i7-1065G7 CPU in the latest Surface Pro 7 tablet can perform roughly the same as the Core i7-1065G7 in a "proper" Ultrabook. The tablet version of the processor can be around 22 percent slower than the similarly equipped 15-inch Surface Laptop 3.

Samsung's newest production line is unique among the OEM's fabricators in that it is dedicated to the extreme UV lithography (EUV) process. This means that it is capable of making chipsets of the up-to-date 7-nanometer (nm) variety - and beyond. The company has announced that it is now open for mass-production.

Time-of-flight (or TOF) sensors became a hallmark of flagship phones as of 2018. They may enhance 3D perception in these devices for photography or even biometrics purposes. However, they are also now projected to become important in other forms of consumer electronics, autonomous cars and robotics. This may drive their market's value up to US$6.9 billion in 5 years.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro are in high demand at the moment, with the first two batches of handsets selling out almost instantly. After selling around US$28.5 million worth of units in under a minute, Xiaomi has now announced the next dates and dealers which will be selling the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro.

The Red Magic 3 was the first phone to launch in 2019 with a 90 hertz (Hz) refresh rate in its AMOLED display. Now, its maker Nubia has announced a new discount for the phone. But is it worth holding out until its next generation is released?

Verizon has provided Google's own-brand phones through its stores since their first generation. However, the latest leak on this subject alleged that the carrier would not continue on with the Pixel 5. The company has refuted these claims, saying that it "looks forward" to the OEM's new devices.

A Github listing of Realtek UAD drivers seems to indicate that the Lenovo ThinkPad X13, ThinkPad T14, and ThinkPad T14S would be getting AMD options. Although no details about the specific processor SKUs are mentioned, it is very well possible that ThinkPads powered by the Ryzen 4000 APUs are not too far away from launch.

Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP) is a popular alternative recovery used by those who like to root and modify their Androids. A new thread on Reddit asserts that Pokemon GO will not work if it detects signs of it in a device's storage. This behavior may be intended to prevent cheating in this augmented-reality (AR) game.

Numerous chipset foundries, TSMC included, use equipment from US-based firms to make their products. Now, the same nation's current administration may be able to leverage this fact in order to stop the supply of silicon to Huawei. This, apparently, is a new tactic to lock the OEM out of the US market.

The IRS is suing social media giant Facebook for allegedly undervaluing its 2010 IPO, thereby avoiding over $9 billion in tax payments.

We were quite surprised during the temperature measurements with the new Lenovo ThinkPad E15, because one area at the bottom of the case heats up to almost 70 °C (158 °F) under load and during gaming. The cooling solution seems to be overwhelmed by the dedicated graphics card.

It says something when even Huawei can create a better Windows laptop than Microsoft can. The Apple-like approach of the Surface Laptop series has forgone almost everything that makes Windows laptops great in the first place.

Microsoft has restructured its apps for the Android platform, mainly by combining all of them into one. It is now called Office on the Play Store, and allows access to OneDrive as well as Word, PowerPoint and Excel. However, it is reportedly not optimized for tablets.

Apple will not hit its estimated revenue target for this quarter. Citing supply chain restrictions caused by the coronavirus outbreak and falling demand in China, the Cupertino colossus will pull in lower-than-expected revenue. Apple's stock fell 3% in response.

With prices starting at more than US$700, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro is a rather expensive handset considering the wallet-friendly price tags of its predecessors. However, the Chinese OEM managed to sell more than 28.5 million USD worth of these new flagships in just 55 seconds during the first flash sale session.

You won't be disappointed, those are apparently the words of NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang about the company's upcoming GTC Conference in San Jose. Huang will be in attending GTC 2020, where the company is expected to announce Ampere GPUs, the next-generation successors to the RTX 20 series and the company's Turing architecture.

Canon has teased the EOS R5 by affirming that this next-generation full-frame camera is indeed in development. The OEM now asserts that it will be the "most advanced" model in its category on its launch. It also plans to release new RF lenses and lens-extenders to go with the new unit.

As with its immediate predecessor, the Galaxy M30s, Samsung will release the M31 to the Indian market via Amazon. This site is currently teasing the phone as one that will replicate the popular "battery monster" in many ways, its 6000mAh battery included. However, its camera specs stand to improve somewhat.