Business Articles

Apple's original AirPods snatched the majority of the true wireless earphone market at the end of 2018, according to Counterpoint Research. Its latest report on the subject put the earbuds' share at 60%. Jabra, Samsung, JLabs and Bose provided the remainder of the top 5 during the time studied.

Lyft has successfully completed its IPO in the US, and is trading on the Nasdaq platform as of today (March 29, 2019). It had been estimated to start at US$72 per share; however, this value is now closer to $88. This, then, is the most successful tech offering since Snap - but Uber is hot on its heels.

Apple puts the maximum RAM of its new 27-inch iMac at 64GB. However, the memory kit-maker OWC has confirmed that the PC is indeed compatible with twice this value. Therefore, it now sells upgrade kits for this PC that may allow a user to add 120GB of RAM to an iMac base model.

Sony has announced a “realignment” that involves Sony Mobile, the Imaging Products & Solutions Business, and the Home Entertainment & Sound Business. The merger will create Sony’s Electronics Products & Solutions Business. Some see it as Sony’s attempt to hide the massive failure of Sony Mobile to compete with rivals such as Samsung, Huawei, and Apple.

The Galaxy S10+ is at the top end of Samsung's latest flagship smartphone line. Despite the early point in the year, Consumer Reports has named it the best device in its category. This assessment was made based on the S10+'s cameras, battery life and durability.

TCO Certified is a body that assesses the durability, recyclability and upgradability of desktops and laptops. The goal of this process is to improve sustainability in the IT industry. TCO claims that its 8th-generation criteria are the most stringent yet, and that 3 OEMs in particular have beaten them.

The G8 ThinQ is LG's latest flagship, and introduces its Crystal Sound technology among other features. This smartphone will become available in the United States from April 11, 2019. However, those who want it on Sprint can pre-order it from tomorrow (March 29).

Targus, a name in the travel and laptop-carrying accessory space, has developed the Mobile ViP+ Backpack. It integrates Qi wireless charging, so that a phone such as the Samsung Galaxy S10+ can have a dedicated pocket within the new bag that secures and charges it at the same time. This new backpack also has RFID shielding and airport-cart compatibility.

Jabra has released its latest generation of neckbuds, the Evolve 65e. The audio company claims that this wireless set of earphones has consumer-grade comfort with professional levels of audio. This product has attained Skype for Business and UC certification, which may appeal to the business customer in need of mobile connectivity.

Sony's RX0 line is the company's take on the compact camera. Its latest version, the RX0 II, crams 4K recording, advanced image processing and electronic stabilization into "the world's smallest and lightest premium compact camera". This device is also fit for outdoors videography, and it comes with water, dust and shock resistance.

The new, ultra-compact Vnopn K1 does without a fan and has no moving parts, which helps keep its form factor down. Vnopn has equipped the K1 with an AMD processor too unlike many other PCs of its size.

HMD Global has confirmed that it will launch its next device, the egregiously-named Nokia X71, on April 2, at an event in Taiwan. The X71 will be positioned directly below the Nokia 9 Pureview and will feature a punch-hole display and, perhaps, a triple rear camera setup with one of the sensors being a 48 MP unit.

At MWC, Lenovo announced their new 2019 ThinkPad business lineup. Roughly a month later, the majority of the new ThinkPad laptops are now available, though all of the new models still miss some hardware options.

Office Depot, Inc. and Support.com, Inc. have agreed to pay a combined total of US$35 million to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after being accused of tricking customers into paying for unnecessary computer repair services. Support.com has been involved in a similar scareware scandal before, in conjunction with AOL’s Computer Checkup service.

A recent video leaked onto YouTube showed off a Samsung Galaxy Fold smartphone with a rather worrying visible crease running down the center of the display. However, a communications manager for Samsung has offered reassurance that buyers of the Galaxy Fold will not encounter the issue faced by the device in the controversial clip.

2019 may be the year of the first-generation foldable smartphones from familiar brands. They are likely to be linked to extra-large price-tags; however, a prominent industry figure has predicted that they may shrink steadily as time goes on. Unfortunately, a new report may have put the kibosh on that idea.

A recent legal ruling gave Qualcomm the right to force iPhones off its OEM's own shelves in China. Now, the chip-maker may get the chance to do the same in the US. A judge from the country's International Trade Commission has ruled that the Apple infringed on a patent that applies to its most recent mobile SoCs, leading to a recommendation that their use should be prevented.

There is a rumor that AMD has been working on its own version of ray-tracing technology that could be incorporated into the red team’s expected Navi 20 series. The same source speculates that this high-end lineup could challenge or even surpass the ray-tracing capabilities of Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti graphics cards.

Huawei also introduced some new products to complement its latest flagships, the P30 and P30 Pro. They include the FreeLaces, a pair of 'neckbuds' with an innovative design. The OEM also now offers a power bank with its SuperCharge technology, which can charge at 40 watts: enough for laptops as well as smartphones.

Huawei also revealed the existence of some new wearables at its early-2019 launch event in Paris. The least expected of these are the new 'smart' glasses the OEM has developed with the eyewear company Gentle Monster. Their main function is in fact to deliver audio via Bluetooth, and also charge via a new and interesting route.

The Mi 9 SE has been spotted on Xiaomi's Global Compliance page, which alludes heavily to the device being set for a global launch. On the flip side, Redmi has confirmed that the Redmi Note 7 Pro will not join the regular Redmi Note 7 on the global stage, and will instead remain exclusive to India and China.

Sony has revealed in a PlayStation blog post that 4.2 million PlayStation VR headsets have been sold worldwide up to March 3. The PlayStation VR device was released in October 2016 and had passed one million sales by June 2017. A new Iron Man VR game has also been announced, which should help Sony shift a few more PSVR units.

Apple's latest release event debuted Arcade, a new elaboration on the App Store's gaming experience. The company claims that over 100 new and original games have been developed for this new subscription-based service. It is also ad-free and allows offline play.

The Aero 15-Y9 is over $1000 more expensive than the Aero 15-X9 and yet both configurations perform about the same in all of our tests. Is there really a reason to get the pricier version? Based on our numbers, the less expensive Aero 15-X9 is the better option by a very wide margin.

Apple Card brings together hardware, software, and services to deliver a complete financial management and payment experience focused on providing "a healthier financial life" to its customers. This solution comes with a rewards program called Daily Cash, no fees, low interest, a physical titanium card for payments at locations without Apple Pay support, and more.

The Cupertino giant has unveiled the next generation of its TV arm. However, it is not a device; rather, it is a software- and content-based upgrade. The new Apple TV app allows users to cherry-pick channels or streaming providers at need. They could also add Apple TV Plus: the company's new panel of original shows available via subscription.

Apple News just got a spinoff that includes 300 magazine subscriptions and is simply called News+. Available for US$9.99 a month (the first month is free), this service is also rolling out in Canada in both French and English. Australia and the UK will follow later this year as well.

Transparency Market Research's latest report is based on the observation that the demand for a 'smart' or 'connected' living room is growing steadily these days. It may consist of entertainment or media hardware that works seamlessly together via wireless controls. Currently, the market that underpins this idea is worth about US$500 billion; however, this is estimated to nearly double over the next 5 years.

The months of December 2017 through to January 2019 have been associated with declining smartphone sale numbers in the United States on a year-on-year basis. Counterpoint, a market analysis firm, cited the lack of deals on flagships and the government shutdown as factors in the trend as it applied to January.

Vivo has announced that it will partner with Tencent Games in order to sponsor the annual PUBG Mobile Club Open 2019. This involves competitive battles of the game in question in 10 regions worldwide for an ultimate prize of US$2.5 million. These players will be provided with Vivo hardware in order to play in this tournament.

Dell Support has informed a customer that any non-factory settings to the processor, such as undervolting, are not covered under warranty. This seems a bit contrary on their own policy, which clearly mentions that the warranty becomes void only if component damage occurs during this process and not by mere change of voltage settings.

A screenshot posted on Reddit has been stirring up some excitement among PlayStation 4 owners. The image shows a page from the Brazilian PlayStation Store, and there is a small window advert for EA Access. The EA Access service offers popular games like the Madden NFL series and the NHL range to Xbox One subscribers for US$29.99 a year.

Apple has developed a habit of disappointing its fans by including power bricks that charge at only 5W with its iPhones. However, a new leak has predicted that the company will put an end to this in 2019. It also projects that the next generation of Apple mobile devices will be capable of reverse wireless charging.

It has been reported that Walmart has been meeting with a number of game developers and publishers to discuss a potential video-game streaming service. With Google just revealing its Stadia service and Nvidia’s GeForce Now platform gearing up for worldwide launch, there’s a good chance cloud gaming is going to revolutionize the way people play video games on a huge scale.

A comprehensive study carried out by Bitwise Asset Management has come to the conclusion that the majority of reported volume in bitcoin trading is faked. Some unethical bitcoin traders are deliberately manipulating the volume to encourage either buying or selling of the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is currently valued at US$3,965.

Apple's market share in China has reportedly fallen by 26.6% in 2018. Unsurprisingly, the culprits are more 'local' OEMs such as Huawei and Xiaomi, who offer more innovative features in premium handsets that go for less than those from the Cupertino company.

Last year, we reported on rumors that Huawei was working on its first smart TV. Now, a Chinese news outlet claims that its sources have told it these products are nearly ready for release. These products are apparently to be released in 55- or 65-inch variants.

Tencent, which publishes games such as PUBG, has set up a collaboration with Razer in order to improve said apps' function on the gaming hardware giant's Android phones. This involves optimizing Tencent titles for the Razer Phones, as well as for the mobile-gaming peripherals Razer sells.

Beats by Dr. Dre has been an Apple subsidiary for some time now. The brand's next product may be a pair of truly-wireless earbuds. According to a CNET report, they may run on the new Apple H1 chip, which is also found in the newly-released AirPods 2.

HMD Global has come up with an official response on the issue of its devices sending sensitive user data to Chinese servers. While the company's reasoning appears sound, it's still a tad appalling that something of this sort is associated with the Nokia brand, especially considering the hardware and software issues the company's devices have been accused of having over the past year.

Huntkey, a company based in Shenzhen, has announced that it is currently producing a 90-watt wall-wart intended for mobile devices. This next-gen power-brick also has a USB type-C output, rather than type-A as normal. It supports various fast-charging profiles, in addition to USB Power Delivery and Qualcomm QuickCharge3.0+.

DigiTimes has cited sources at a components supplier in a new report that alleges the AirPower accessory is finally going to be released soon. This article also asserts that the long-awaited wireless charging pad will work with at least one generation of the Apple Watch.

Razer has released its financial report for 2018. It shows that the gaming company's revenues are now stands at US$274.2 million. The firm made $79.5 million in terms of gross profit last year, and also cut its losses by 4.3% compared to 2017.

The transparent variant of the Xiaomi Mi 9 seems to be doing very well this year. Chinese blogs have reported that the OEM cannot keep it on shelves, despite its relatively high price tag. Perhaps this is why a new, cheaper variant with less RAM has just been announced.

A market analyst for financial services company Cowen has predicted that Google will utilize AMD’s upcoming EPYC 2 server CPUs, codenamed “Rome”, for its own services. This would be a huge deal for AMD, which has already been selected to provide customized GPUs for the Google Stadia cloud gaming service.

Samsung released the S10 phones a few weeks ago and is hoping to use the devices as a tool in a bid to claw back its lost market share in China. It appears to be working, too, with sales said to be already twice that of the Galaxy S9 phones.

The next Huawei flagships are due to launch on March 26, 2019. However, a leaker claims to have gotten hold of genuine promotional images for the two phones ahead of this event. These posters are for the French market, and show what could be special launch-day offers for that region.

Could a phone establish data connections and load webpages independent of either WiFi or a SIM card? Volk Fi apparently thinks so. This company is currently advertising its first smartphone, the Volk One, which can apparently form part of its own 'mesh network' with every other unit of the same around it.

Xiaomi has a thriving presence in Ukraine, with numerous physical stores and online sales through partner websites. This now extends to the new Redmi 7, the second device line to be sold under the OEM's latest sub-brand. Its availability has been announced on Mi Ukraine's Facebook page.