Business Articles

Google has reportedly informed developers that it will introduce a new setting in Android that allows users to suspend Advertiser ID sharing across apps. The measure might boost privacy, although some app-makers might argue that it might also increase the risk of certain frauds, as well as revenue loss. Nonetheless, the changes are slated to start taking effect from late 2021.

Counterpoint has produced a bill of materials (BoM) analysis for the Apple Watch Series 6 and has estimated that the cost is just over a third of the official price of the popular smartwatch. The most expensive parts of the 2020 Apple Watch are the processor and memory, with Cupertino cutting costs by removing Force Touch.

The current US Government has announced a fresh panel of restrictions on a total of 59 companies that, as the administration believes, has links to China's ruling political party. These sanctions prevent the corporations on the list from securing investment from US entities. The measures come into effect from August 2, 2021.

Apple will finally release its first high refresh rate device. According to Ice Universe, the upcoming iPhone 13 Pro Max will sport a 120 Hz display, a year after Apple ditched similar plans for the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The imminent flagship will also be equipped with a battery big enough to offset the increased power draw of a 120 Hz display.

A surprise move by Google brings to an end the three-year-old policy banning the use of its ad services by cryptocurrency exchanges. The revised policy will allow ads for Cryptocurrency Exchanges and Wallets targeting the United States to go online starting in August, as long as they will be certified by Google.

Zepp Health has announced that its increasingly popular brands Amazfit and Zepp broke into the top 4 of names in the smartwatch market in terms of shipments for the first quarter of 2021 (1Q2021). They sold nearly 69% more units compared to 1Q2020. Zepp Health brands were also #1 in several countries for the quarter.

Huawei has reportedly hung physical posters teasing its second-gen MatePad Pro up around its domestic market ahead of its imminent launch. They depict a high-end slate with slim enough bezels, not to mention screen contents seemingly lining up with those from earlier HarmonyOS-related leaks. The device might also sell alongside a new keyboard dock and a compatible stylus.

Apple's Podcasts app will soon spawn a new wave of titles, to be published by new partner brands such as the Washington Post and Sony Music and also by independent creators. These new streams will require monthly or yearly fees, for which bonus or early-access content, as well as an ad-free experience, are thrown in. The new subscriptions are to be available in 170 countries from May 2021.

The X1 Extreme is among the few Lenovo ThinkPads that have not been updated yet this year. The upcoming Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 seems to be a huge redesign, as a leaked video shows wide speaker grills and a taller screen.

Today (May 31, 2021) is the last day on which LG's production lines for smartphones and tablets will be open. The OEM had previously announced that it would no longer be making these kinds of devices, and will now repurpose their former plant to make new home appliances instead. It might also now churn out new displays and camera components.

ViewSonic's ColorPro VP2768a has won one of the Technical Image Press Association's (TIPA) World Awards for 2021, in recognition of specs and features prized by photography experts. The monitor also already boasts Pantone validation and TÜV SÜD-certified color-blindness simulations; therefore, the OEM might now tout its performance yet further with this new title.

Marvell has announced that its latest line of SSD controllers has upgraded to PCIe 5.0 and NVMe 1.4b support. These specs render the Bravera SC5 series compatible with up-to-date cloud-related demands, or so the OEM asserts. They are also rated to offer advanced security and response-time features.

The next Mac Pro released by Apple is projected to drop considerably in volume should it ship with one of the OEM's in-house processors. Now, SvetApple has modelled how this PC might look in its latest high-quality renders. It shows a chassis much shorter than fans of the device might be used to, although there is still room for up to 8 USB type C ports, not to mention the classic handles.

The medical-grade wearables company AliveCor has decided to push for an anti-trust suit against Apple over the manner in which the Cupertino giant has taken over the market for smart watches or bands that support on-device electroechocardiography (ECG). It follows allegations that Apple Watches with this technology infringes on AliveCor's patents.

Acer has upgraded its TravelMate lineup with the TravelMate P6 and the TravelMate Spin P6 convertible. Both the new TravelMate devices are based on the Intel 11th gen Core vPro platform and offer 14-inch FHD displays with 100% sRGB coverage along with optional 5G and NFC connectivity.

One Chinese firm is reportedly relocating to North America after the Chinese Government's new restrictions on cryptocurrencies. It plans on setting up facilities in Texas (USA) and Alberta (Canada). A few other firms have already ceased operations in China following the announcement.

The new ZenBook 13 is finally available in an AMD Ryzen configuration. We have now completed the review of the Intel version and are able to draw a comparative conclusion. While AMD pulls ahead in terms of pure CPU power, the Intel ZenBook still has a few aces up its sleeve.

Counterpoint has now released its estimated global smartphone sales numbers for the first quarter of the year. The iPhone 12 earns top spot as the best-selling smartphone in the world over the period, while the iPhone 12 Mini fails to even make the top ten. The Redmi 9A, however, is the best-selling Android smartphone.

Honor's chief executive officer Zhao Ming has denied that his OEM will follow others into the emerging trend towards developing services for next-gen automobiles. Instead, the company intends to focus on strengthening its smartphone business following its split from Huawei. On that note, rumors that its upcoming launches will return to supporting Google apps out of the box are gaining traction.

The Chinese Government has announced that it will further crack down on Bitcoin. The statement doesn't mention any specifics, but we're probably looking at additional restrictions on mining farms and cryptocurrency exchanges.

Although Huawei has been facing many problems lately, both software- and hardware-related, the infamous Chinese brand is now working on a next-gen 3 nm SoC. Currently known as the Kirin 9010, this high-end piece of hardware should enter production next year, when the first devices to use it should surface as well.

Google is a technology giant that has sold products exclusively through its official online stores throughout its history. However, it is now breaking that trend with an imminent brick-and-mortar equivalent, located near its New York headquarters. It is slated to open its doors in the real during the summer of 2021.

LG has reportedly chosen a slightly odd moniker for its next generation of products. It has trademarked the term Plate, and has done so in various different iterations that suggest the new line is to be applied to a range of display panels. There are also hints of a "One Cord OLED", which may or may not be good news for fans of cable management everywhere.

Although there is nothing special about it hardware-wise, the Slim 1 TB PlayStation 4 autographed by the popular online player CoryxKenshin is now up for sale on eBay with a starting price of no less than US$25,000. However, there are two days left and no bids have been placed so far.

Flagship models are usually very expensive, but they usually offer special features or high-end components in return. This used to be the case for Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 models as well, but it seems like the priorities are starting to shift.

How did two laptops with very different names end up looking exactly the same? MSI plans to eventually merge the Modern and Prestige series under one newer Summit name to avoid consumer confusion.

Dell's most popular consumer Ultrabook is a few hundred dollars off at the moment with the highest-end Core i7 CPU option. It doesn't come with 4K, but we're absolutely fine with that considering the already small 13.4-inch screen size.

The Kyocera Duraforce Ultra is a 5G smartphone that has launched with claims of a profoundly rugged build topped off with a "Sapphire Shield" for its 5.45-inch display. The famous YouTube teardown channel JerryRigEverything has just released a video testing these claims with its usual battery of blades and Mohs hardness picks, not to mention more specialized equipment in this device's case. Can it live up to its lofty toughphone claims?

The slowest Tiger Lake Core i7 laptop can have up to 45 percent slower graphics performance than the fastest Tiger Lake Core i7 laptop each with the same Iris Xe GPU. If you're aiming for faster-than-average models, then our compiled list should be of some use.

The new 14-inch Linux-based business laptop from Tuxedo weighs around 2.2 lbs and is fairly thin. CPU options include the i5-1135G7 and i7-1165G7 Tiger Lake-U CPUs with Iris Xe iGPUs, which can be coupled with up to 64 GB of DDR4 RAM and up to 4 TB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD storage. This model is among the first to offer a 3K display with LTPS LCD technology that is usually seen on smartphones.

CTL, a company that normally caters to the needs of modern offices or schools in its devices, has announced a pair of monitors touted to match up to this reputation. The 24-inch FHD IP2381 has a VA IPS panel, whereas the IP2781 is an ADS QHD 27-inch display. They both have the same new minimalist stand and bezels, however.

Qualcomm's 5G Summit has unveiled the Snapdragon 778G, the OEM's latest processor intended to bring next-gen connectivity to more phones in the near future. The company also unveiled heretofore-unheard-of capabilities for its upcoming X65 modem for 2022 devices.

Industry insiders have told a South Korean news outlet that Samsung plans to set up a new manufacturing plant. It will be built in Austin, Texas, where Samsung already has another facility. Samsung has reportedly set aside US$18 billion for the endeavour.

The "high-fidelity" version of Amazon's music-streaming service has dropped in price by US$5 a month. This change means it now costs the same as the former price of the next tier down, Amazon Music Unlimited. In other words, customers with this service can now avail of lossless playback, or stick with their current service for a reduced rate.

The Trust GXT 258W Fyru mic has a USB interface, thus making it compatible with PCs, Macs and other devices. However, given its styling, not to mention its LEDs for RGB, it is clearly intended to pair with the PS5, especially its white SKU. Then again, with its 4 choices of recording mode and decent sampling rate, the OEM asserts it is also ideal for streaming or collaboration.

If you're in the market for a lean 13.3-inch Ultrabook without needing to spend four digits, then this ThinkBook 13s sale is looking like a solid solution especially since it supports Thunderbolt 4 docks and devices.

Corsair has announced that it will start switching to DDR5 in its next-gen modules. It hails the upcoming standard as a significant upgrade for memory, as well as for PCs in general, due to its increased bandwidth, maximal density per die and speed compared to its predecessor.

OnePlus introduced its inaugural smartwatch alongside the flagship 9-series smartphones in March 2021. The OEM also unveiled a special, limited edition of the same wearable with more premium materials, an exclusive cobalt alloy for its case included, at the same time. Now, the company has put this version on the market for the first time in its native China.

Lenovo has announced its new Go series of peripherals and accessories designed for the modern professional who needs the right kit for their remote-working set-up. The first two products from this new line are a multi-device mouse and a dual-USB type C power bank compatible with 65W ultrabooks.

The affordable smartphone OEM Ulefone has released a new teaser for an upcoming device with an extra-large charge capacity. The company asserts that it will alleviate low-battery anxiety, and will thus be ideal for working or power users. The new product's price or availability has yet to be revealed.

Samsung has only just launched laptop-sized AMOLED displays in the Galaxy Book Pro line-up; now, the OEM has revealed another new party trick for these panels. They have attained an SGS certification that states they match up to this body's standards for use during gaming. They include certain levels of blur length and contrast ratio.

Samsung is currently projected to launch the Galaxy A22 smartphone in both 5G and 4G/LTE variants, which might make it a bargain in either market. The leaker Ishan Agarwal has posted new renders via 91Mobiles indicating both putative versions are to come with the same 4 colorways. However, they might differ in terms of other specs.

Xiaomi has now revealed some initial sales numbers for the Redmi Note 10 series. Early today, company executive Manu Kumar Jain confirmed that the company has sold 500 Crore worth of the Redmi Note 10 series phones, presumably in India, within the first two weeks. That translates into about US$68 million in sales.

AV1 is a fast-emerging codec that is touted as lightweight enough in terms of resource demand to, for example, enable YouTube playback on mobile devices at 4K/60fps with ease. The latest version of the popular editing app Da Vinci Resolve (17.2) adds support for the codec in Windows, as well as a plethora of other new features and upgrades.

The electronics giant Xiaomi had been banned from the US investment market following a blacklisting by the Trump administration, based on claims of the OEM's association with the Chinese military. However, Xiaomi has strongly denied this, and has now won legal action in order to reverse the action against it.

The latest form of NVIDIA's Studio standard for creator-grade laptops combine in-demand specs such as RTX 3000-series graphics, 1440p screens and device heights of as little as 16 millimeters in some cases. The company has also now officially announced the RTX 3050 and 3050 Ti platform for laptops, which are to be found in gaming machines as well as those for professionals soon.

It's easy to throw design awards at sexy products, but these exhibition holders need to do more to recognize companies with the best support services and fewest long-term product defects or warranty claims.

Samsung has announced the "industry-first" development of DRAM that combines DDR5 memory with the compute express link (CXL) connection. The OEM believes this kind of interface, based on PCIe 5.0, is the next big thing in datacenter, machine-learning and cloud computing, particularly when it comes to scalability.