Apple

Thanks to the Battery Health settings that appeared in the latest beta, owners of iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 handsets will be able to disable performance throttling and to keep their devices running at full speed. However, iOS 11.3 has no launch date yet.

In a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee chairman, Apple has hinted at possibly offering a rebate to customers who bought replacement batteries at full price because of the "Batterygate" controversy. Apple reduced battery prices from $79 to $29 in an attempt to appease users who saw an iOS update throttle their devices. Users were not notified beforehand that the software would slow down performance.

Apple Inc. is still the world's best-selling tablet manufacturer according to recently released figures from IDC. Apple shipped more units in 2017 than both Samsung and Amazon put together.

DigiTimes claims that component suppliers are getting increased orders from Apple and that new iOS and MacBook devices are slated for debut starting March 2018.

In contrast to many other smart speakers, Apple's HomePod will not support streaming over regular Bluetooth. You'll need an iOS device to stream music as the speaker only supports Apple's proprietary AirPlay protocol.

The first negative holiday quarter of iPhone sales growth suggests that rumors of weaker than expected iPhone X demand were on the money. Despite a record holiday quarter, Apple missed analyst expectations for iPhone sales.

Are you an Android user wishes your phone had a huge notch in the display, a la the iPhone X? Chinese OEM Oukitel has you covered. Their new U18, available for pre-order today, is a USD $159 Android alternative to Apple's flagship. However, this notch lacks any obvious utility beyond aesthetics.

The popular messaging app Telegram and variant Telegram X have vanished from Apple's App Store due to 'inappropriate content', although founder Pavel Durov claims that the apps are gone because of a minor issue and should resurface soon.

Apple confirmed that the US Government has asked questions regarding intentional throttling of old iPhones and reaffirmed that it would not degrade the customer experience to force upgrades.

The vertical reading mode introduced by Vivaldi Browser 1.14 is one of the best ways for reading texts in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. Next to this new feature, the update also brings customizable web panels and Markdown support for notes.

Although this subject has been around for a while, analyst Mark Gurman has just unveiled a new launch period for the new iPads. Obviously, Apple did not confirm or deny the Q4 2018 launch of its next-gen tablets yet.

Microsoft has decided to purchase PlayFab, a company that provides services for building, launching, and growing cloud-connected games. PlayFab's extensive list of clients includes names like Rovio, Atari, and Disney.

Although we heard rumors involving an ARM coprocessor for Macs already, this time they come from Bloomberg Technology. According to them, Apple might launch three new Mac models in 2018 that feature an ARM coprocessor for improved security.

Although the amount of Google Play app downloads in Q4 2017 is more than double the number achieved by Apple's App Store, the tables turn when talking about the revenue they generated. In this area, Apple leads by about 95 percent.

New predictions from KGI Securities reveal more details about the upcoming iPhones this year. The new report reiterates earlier predictions and outlines the display and component suppliers for the 6.1-inch model while also predicting the RAM and battery capacities of the other models.

The latest developers beta for Apple's WatchOS 4.3 brings back Apple Music integration, improved fitness information in the Siri watch face, and a new portrait charging mode. Apple's WatchOS holds a 57 percent share of the smartwatch market.

KGI Securities revealed some more information about what can be expected of iPhones in 2018. Alongside the details, the report also implied that the iPhone X will be discontinued than be discounted due to low sales. Apple watchers, however, say this is highly unlikely.

Qualcomm is facing a EU€997 million (US$1.2 billion) fine from the European Union for anti-competitive practices based around a five year contract (2011 - 2016) with Apple which imposed a financial penalty if Apple sourced 4G LTE modems from any of Qualcomm's competitors. Qualcomm is also being investigated for intentionally selling modems below cost price in order to force a competitor out of the market between 2009 and 2011.

Going by the huge orders placed by Apple for LCD modules for a new 13-inch MacBook, it appears that the Cupertino giant might soon retire the iconic MacBook Air as it does seem out of place with the new MacBook range.

Apple's wireless HomePod speaker is finally launching on February 9 for US$349 with pre-orders starting tomorrow in the US, UK, and Australia. The HomePod features an enhanced Siri experience, spatial awareness, and a wide soundstage.

Launched earlier today, Firefox 58 promises to deliver smoother graphics, improved support for progressive web apps on Android devices, faster page loading, tracking protection, and more.

Apple is well behind the smart speaker 8-ball when it comes to the launch of its Siri-powered HomePod. First unveiled in June, it has now received FCC certification suggesting its launch can't be too far away.

Wine 3.0 is now available as the second annual release of this well-known compatibility layer and arrives more than 24 years since the initial release. This new version comes with improved compatibility with Android, Direct3D 10 and 11 support, and more.

Although Huawei remains the leading brand in the Chinese smartphone market, the best-selling smartphone in 2017 was the Oppo R9s, with a market share of 3 percent.

Thanks to a partnership with Alibaba-owned AutoNavi, the Google Maps service returns to China, but with a few feature limitations needed to get the approval of the local government.

A new study shows that there is strong consumer interest in smart speakers. As many as one in six households in the US have purchased a smart speaker with sales peaking during the recent holiday period.

Dell Mobile Connect offers a way to securely link a PC and smartphone for shared notifications, calls, text (SMS), and screen mirroring.

Anker Innovations, who is perhaps best known for their line of portable power banks, has announced a mammoth power bank, an Alexa powered car kit, and the expected availability of the Nebula Capsule

Data by app intelligence platform Sensor Tower has shown Apple's dominance over Google in the smartphone app market. The iOS App Store, for example, recorded close to twice what the Google Play Store did, with the combined revenue of both services closing in on US$60 billion in 2017.

Asus has put forward another eGPU offering this CES. With an external 330W power supply and all-aluminum chassis, the XG Station Pro aims to be quieter and sleeker than competitors.

With the massive vulnerabilities recently discovered in Intel CPUs, the main question on everyone's minds are when affected devices will be updated to guard against possible exploits. Apple is ahead of the game; apparently, the latest versions of their various operating systems protect against Meltdown, and a fix for Spectre is coming to Safari in the next few days. The best part? These mitigations have no perceptible effect on performance.

The Canadian app development toolkit makers Buddybuild have joined Apple, where they will become a part of the Xcode engineering group. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The unconfirmed reports point towards 16 million units of a supposed 6.5-inch iPhone by the end of the year.

Microsoft has applied for a patent for a new type of clamshell peripheral device that functions both as a phone dock as well as an independent VoIP speaker for the PC. The device could be launched as an accessory for the iPhone.

Popular trivia app, HQ Trivia, is now available for Android users in the United States and Canada. The free-to-play app is immensely popular on iOS and players can actually cash out real money by answering questions correctly.

Many Android games have been found to track the user's TV viewing habits for displaying ads. The games use software from Alphonso that collects data from the phone's microphone, identifies the audio stream, and displays targeted advertising.

Although there is no official launch date for it yet, a Google Duo developer confirmed on Twitter that a special version for tablets is currently in the making.

While the new iMac Pro is not end-user upgradeable, Apple component supplier, OWC, did a teardown of the latest iMac Pro base model and found that the RAM and SSD can actually be upgraded if needed.

Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato have emerged victorious in the legal battle against Apple in naming their brand after Steve Jobs. Their company currently produces clothing and plans to enter into electronics very soon.

In emails to The Verge, HTC and Motorola have clarified that they do not slow down phones as the batteries start wearing out. This comes in the wake of Apple's now controversial policy of slowing down phones with ageing batteries.

Apple and Computer History Museum will jointly release the source code for Lisa, one of Apple's first commercial OSs to feature the GUI. The source code, currently being reviewed by Apple, will be made available for free in the public domain very soon.

Although it lacks some advanced features, the Garmin Vivofit 4 activity tracker comes for less than 80 bucks and promises to deliver more than a year of autonomy on two SR43 replaceable batteries.

Although the Apple Watch already features heart monitoring capabilities, the tech giant headquartered in Cupertino is currently testing a smartwatch that sports an EKG capable of detecting some cardiac problems before they become serious.

More than just becoming available for Apple's tablets, Civilization VI is also the first game in the series to deliver the full desktop experience to those playing it on a slate.

More users of older iPhones are now claiming an improvement in performance after a battery replacement. One posted a couple of screenshots on Twitter showing the CPU being underclocked to less than half of its stock speed before returning to normal after a new battery was swapped in. Updated with response from Apple.

Apple is looking for a way to 'converge a toaster and a refrigerator' by means of creating its own version of a unified app platform similar to what Microsoft currently has in Windows 10. The unified app platform will enable apps to seamlessly scale and work across iOS and macOS.

According to a recent statement by Google, its Chrome browser will begin blocking intrusive ads on both desktop and mobile websites that do not comply with the Better Ads Standards starting on February 15.

A GSM Arena poll regarding 3.5 mm headphone jacks on phones found that 69% of those polled wouldn't consider phones without a headphone jack, 14% didn't care, 9% had switched to Bluetooth/USB-C/Lightning products, and 8% were living the dongle life.