Business Articles

Semantic Machines Inc. is a Californian company based in Berkeley that will join Microsoft for an undisclosed amount. However, it has been revealed that the Redmond giant will establish a conversational AI center of excellence in Berkeley "to push forward the boundaries of what is possible in language interfaces."

Consortium of buyers includes Seagate, Apple, Dell, Kingston, and SK Hynix. This is one of Seagate's biggest movements into the NAND flash business, an area where their major competitor, Western Digital, has focused on in recent years.

According to a report by OnPhones, Xiaomi may have been using fake camera samples for its Redmi Y2 promotional content. This wouldn't be the first an OEM does something of the sort.

ZTE may have found a way out of its current troubles, as word claims that Samsung is willing to sell its Exynos SoCs to the company, in a bid to expand its ARM processor business.

Promising to bring a "new attitude" to Europe, Xiaomi is ready to enter the French market. The Chinese brand will open its first Mi Store in Paris on May 22, but more are expected to follow in other French cities over the coming months. Two days later, Xiaomi will also enter the Italian market.

The list of mobile devices with Netflix HDR support now consists of 11 smartphones and one tablet — namely the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 — and the last ones to be added are the Huawei P20, P20 Pro, Mate 10 Pro, as well as the Sony Xperia XZ2. The only plan with UHD content streaming support is Netflix Premium, priced at US$13.99 per month.

A tweet by tipster Roland Quandt has touted the existence of a successor to the Nokia 3. The Nokia 3.1 is said to be on the way and will be one of HMD's budget offerings for the year.

LG unveiled the G7 ThinQ a short while ago. That device will not be carried by AT&T, though, with the carrier said to be signed up for an LG flagship that will be exclusive to it, in the form of the V35 ThinQ.

YouTube Music will launch next Tuesday as a free ad-supported service, while YouTube Music Premium will come for US$9.99. At the same time, YouTube Red becomes YouTube Premium. The first wave of countries to get YouTube Music consists of Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, South Korea, and the US.

A new quarterly research report has been released that shows Amazon and Google currently leading the pack in terms of global smart speaker shipments and market share. However, although Amazon has shipped twice as many units in Q1 2018 than in Q1 2017, the Seattle-based retailer has seen a notable dip in overall market share.

According to a report, it appears the US House Appropriations Committee does not share the same sentiment in regard to ZTE as President Donald Trump. Trump recently tweeted a message stating he wanted to help ZTE find a way to keep doing business. However, the Committee is in disagreement with the President and plans to uphold the ban on the Chinese company.

Thanks to the new features coming to the Facebook app, its users will be able to save photos and videos directly to the Facebook cloud, share voice messages with friends, as well as to archive the Facebook Stories as needed. The new features will roll out in India first and are expected to reach the rest of the world soon.

Already available in smartphones, TVs, air conditioners, washing machines, and refrigerators, the Samsung Bixby virtual assistant will also be added to the company's robot cleaners and ovens by the end of this year. Samsung remains committed to the promise of bringing AI to all its home appliances by 2020.

A very promising new entry into the cryptocurrency world has just announced a pre-ICO sale that offers some impressive bonuses to those who sign up in time. HoweyCoin claims to combine blockchain technology with elements of the luxury sector and has already received several celebrity endorsements. Early-bird Platinum investors can receive a double 25% discount, but there is a catch...

EA DICE has confirmed Battlefield V will be the next installment in the hugely popular Battlefield series. A message has been posted on the official Battlefield website stating that there will be a live reveal event for the game taking place on May 23. The event will be hosted by The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah.

An image showing a list of upcoming Xiaomi devices have surfaced. While there are items on the list that make some sense—Redmi Note 6, Redmi Note 6A, Redmi 6 Plus—a few others cast doubt on the veracity of the entire thing.

HMD has unveiled its new device, the Nokia X6. The X6 is positioned between the Nokia 6.1 and the Nokia 7 Plus in the company's lineup of devices and comes with a brilliant design, powerful processor, and capable cameras.

Alongside many of its premium reveals, HP has also introduced the Elite x2 1013 G2. The Elite x2 is being billed as the world's smallest business detachable and comes with upgraded internals, ultra-thin bezels, and two high resolution display options.

Los Angeles will get 5G connectivity from Verizon in the last quarter of 2018, joining Sacramento as a "progressive-minded" city. The carrier still has to announce one to three more cities that will be included in the first wave of commercial 5G deployment. Verizon already tested 5G networks in 11 cities throughout 2017.

After a painfully long wait — for those interested — the Intel Core i9-8950HK processor is now present in two XPS 15 9570 models. Unfortunately, they have only been listed on the Dell Spain website, so US customers still have to wait a few more days (or weeks) until the XPS 15 9570 gets this high-end mobile processor stateside.

A report by Canalys has shown Samsung's dominance over the African smartphone market. The company shipped 3.4 million smartphone units in Q1 2018, up 42% from the same period in 2017. Tecno puts the pressure on from second place.

While Xiaomi's worldwide growth has been worthy of accolades, the 8-year-old company's expansion in certain markets has been even more impressive. Case in point is the Indonesian market, where the company recorded a shocking 1500% year-on-year growth in shipment figures.

LG is currently offering its latest flagship, the G7 ThinQ, on pre-order with a free 43-inch 4K TV. The deal is available from May 18 to May 31, and is exclusive to the Canadian market.

An official gameplay trailer for Rage 2 has been released by Bethesda Softworks, and it is bound to delight fans of the first game. The first-person shooter has been developed in conjunction with id Software and Avalanche Studios, and it is expected to be launched in 2019 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One platforms.

The 0.5.0 update for PUBG Mobile has been released for both Android and iOS platforms. The latest patch introduces the Miramar map in time for the commencement of season 2. According to the game’s Twitter account, other new features include progress missions, secret stash, local quick teams, and a region system.

AMD announced new Ryzen Pro APUs and all three major OEMs Dell, HP, and Lenovo were on display with corresponding products. We had the chance to talk with the manufacturers and check the new models hands-on.

The upcoming Intel Z390 chipset is designed for unlocked processors and could arrive in just a few weeks, at the Computex 2018 trade show in Taipei. However, the page containing the technical details was removed by Intel shortly after it became public, so the Z390 might get a few changes until its release.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has issued a press release stating that the Gran Turismo racing franchise has enjoyed sales of over 80.4 million units. The original game in the popular series was released in 1997 for the PlayStation platform and eventually sold over 10 million copies on its own. Gran Turismo Sport (2017) is the latest installment in the franchise.

Video-game publisher Bethesda has released an official announcement trailer for Rage 2. The short clip does not reveal much about the gameplay but does set the tone for the sequel to the 2011 first-person shooter. The game is believed to be a joint development with id Software and Avalanche Studios. Rage 2 is expected to be released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Apart from the implementation of a proprietary virtual token and the subsequent financial ecosystem, the integration of blockchain with the popular social media platform should bring improved security features like encrypted messages and data or better user account identification. This could take more than a few years, and Facebook is not even interested in an ICO.

Although those who purchase the Dell XPS 15 9575 2-in-1 can already choose to have it in black, Frank Azor has recently confirmed that the Dell XPS 15 9570 laptop will not get such a color option anytime soon. The XPS 15 9570 is only available in a platinum silver finish and starts at US$999.99.

Tired of not being able to see your laptop screen when outdoors? HP’s EliteBook x360 1030 G3 is going to be almost three times brighter than the average Ultrabook to overcome both glare and sunlight for improved outdoor visibility. The display will easily be one of the brightest in both the consumer and business markets. Expect availability as early as next month along with new Envy x360 and Elite x2 products.

HP has announced refreshes to its Envy notebook lineup including the Envy 13, Envy 17, Envy x360 13, and Envy x360 15. The standout feature of these notebooks is the new minimalist chiseled appearance similar to the patterning found in sword blades made from Damascus steel. Internally, all notebooks receive an upgrade to the Intel 8th generation CPUs with the Envy x360 offering AMD Ryzen with Vega graphics options as well. The Envy x360 15 also sports a 650-nit bright panel for excellent outdoor legibility.

US President Donald Trump has posted a tweet indicating plans to reverse the US government's decision to block ZTE from purchasing vital smartphone components from US companies. The surprising move could save ZTE from oblivion.

A class action law suit against Apple was filed in the Northern District Court of California by two plaintiffs who have been at the receiving end of the Apple MacBook Pro faulty keyboard fiasco. The suit alleges that Apple intentionally promoted and sold these laptops knowing very well that the keyboards were inherently defective.

The Twitter account for BlackBerry Mobile has teased an announcement date for the aptly named successor to the company’s KEYone smartphone: the KEY². According to the tweet, the KEY² will be unveiled in New York on June 7 at 10 a.m. The message features the slogan “An Icon Reborn.”

Xiaomi has unveiled its latest budget device, the Redmi S2. The S2 offers features like dual rear camera, EIS, and a Snapdragon 625...and comes with a US$160 base price tag. It could also be rebranded to be an Android One device in the near future.

Taiwanese motherboard specialist Gigabyte has announced an entry into the SSD market. The company has published a press release detailing its new UD PRO Series. The series currently consists of just two SATA III drives: a 256 GB model and a 512 GB model. Prices are expected to be around US$68.99 for the 256 GB variant and US$119.99 for the larger drive.

Nvidia has earned revenue of US$3.21 billion for the first quarter of the fiscal year for 2019. The result for the first quarter in 2018 was US$1.94 billion, which means the GPU maker has enjoyed a huge year-over-year growth of 66%. This success was mainly attributed to data-center business and strong gaming revenue.

HTC's latest revenue figures show the company falling deeper into a pit of bad sales numbers. Revenue for April spelled a 55% year-on-year decline, which is impressive considering how bad 2017 already was for the company—sales-wise.

A press release from a strategy consulting firm has stated that voice-based shopping will enjoy incredible growth over the next four years, hitting a total of more than US$40 billion in sales across the US and UK by 2022. The market forecast, issued by OC&C, highlights how the increasing adoption of smart speakers in millions of homes will help drive growth.

Trove, an MMORPG from Trion Worlds, will soon be offering a type of battle royale mode for players. A “Bomber Royale” mode has been announced for the popular game, and it will be made available in summer as part of a large expansion that has been scheduled for the title. Trove was released for Windows in 2015 and is free to play.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Apple has teamed up with investment bank Goldman Sachs to produce a joint credit card. The Cupertino-based company already has a deal with Barclaycard in regard to financing purchases of Apple products. Apparently, the upcoming card may feature the Apple Pay brand.

The recently unleashed Firefox 60 is the first Extended Support Release version since Firefox 52, so it brings more than a year's worth of new features for personal, mobile, and business users. The most important changes are the sponsored stories present in the New Tab page and the improved customization capabilities for IT administrators.

Lenovo has released many ThinkPad laptops in this year already, but no models with AMD Ryzen so far. This apparently changes soon, as the new models ThinkPad A285 and A485 have been listed on the Lenovo website for the first time.