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The Meizu 15 Plus offers a perfect blend of great hardware and poor, shackling software

Meizu launched the Meizu 15 Plus a few days ago. The device offers a lot of features that would thrill Android enthusiasts—a 16:9 display, slim bezels, no notch, etc—but is ultimately let down by its less than spectacular software...

Ricci Rox, 27 Apr 2018 18:42

Apple iTunes available in the Microsoft Store app late April 2018

Apple iTunes hits the Microsoft Store

Although it was initially supposed to become available via the Microsoft Store before the end of 2017, Apple needed some additional to make iTunes ready for the Windows platform. When installing from the Microsoft Store, the iTune...

Codrut Nistor, 27 Apr 2018 15:55

The symbol Google is using to denote the Fuchsia OS. (Source: Google)

Google’s mysterious Fuchsia OS set for Android app support, could signal OS unification plans

Google has not had much to say about the Fuchsia OS, its new operating system currently under development, but little hints have popped up here and there — the latest clue is apparent support for Android Runtime. If Fuchsia OS gai...

Sanjiv Sathiah, 27 Apr 2018 06:01

Amazon's total revenue for 2017 was US$177.86 billion. (Source: Phys.org)

Amazon, Intel, and Microsoft post impressive quarterly results

Amazon, Intel, and Microsoft have all published quarterly financial reports showing better than expected results. Microsoft revealed revenue of US$26.8 billion while fellow tech giant Intel managed revenue of US$16.1 billion for t...

Daniel R Deakin, 26 Apr 2018 23:46

Update: Download now available | Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) now available

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS "Bionic Beaver" is here and brings quite a few changes to the OS. Users upgrading from 16.04 LTS will notice quite a few aesthetic changes; 18.04 LTS brings the switch back to the GNOME desktop to the long-term su...

Sam Medley, 26 Apr 2018 18:39

Google Tasks app for Android now available (Source: Google Play)

Google launches the Tasks mobile productivity app

Freely available for both Android and iOS devices, the brand-new Google Tasks mobile app simply provides another way of adding tasks from the other G Suite apps without using the task management features of Google Calendar or Gmai...

Codrut Nistor, 26 Apr 2018 17:47

ZTE dual-notch design patent, ZTE Iceberg concept might become a product someday (Source: Mobiel kopen)

The Iceberg is back: ZTE patents a dual-notch handset

The ZTE Iceberg concept that surfaced on the iF World Design Guide might have seemed nothing more but another over-the-top design, but now a patent showing a similar device has been spotted online. Now, it only remains to see if Z...

Codrut Nistor, 26 Apr 2018 14:30

Opera Touch browser for Android (Source: Opera Blogs)

Opera Touch is a new mobile browser optimized for one-handed use

Opera Touch is a new mobile browser from Opera Software that is only available for Android now, but an iOS version will arrive later this year as well. Its main highlight is Flow, a feature that syncs the desktop Opera browser wit...

Codrut Nistor, 25 Apr 2018 20:25

Chrome's Canary channel gets a visual overhaul, new features

The developer channel for Google's Chrome browser ("Canary") is sport a new coat of paint as well as some useful features. While all of these changes may not make their way to the Stable channel, the new design language echoes wha...

Sam Medley, 25 Apr 2018 04:59

BattleTech received funding of US$2.78 million on Kickstarter. (Source: RockPaperShotgun)

Strategy titles BattleTech and Frostpunk released

Fans of the strategy genre will be pleased to learn that the games BattleTech and Frostpunk have been released today. The former, developed by Harebrained Schemes, gives the player the opportunity to control enormous BattleMechs o...

Daniel R Deakin, 25 Apr 2018 01:46

The global semiconductor market enjoyed 2016-2017 growth of 21.6%. (Source: VR Zone)

Report places Samsung ahead of Intel in semiconductor market

A press release from research company Gartner has stated that Samsung has overtaken Intel as the world’s largest semiconductor vendor. The figures for 2017 show the South Korean company gaining 14.2% of the global market share whi...

Daniel R Deakin, 24 Apr 2018 22:47

Among businesses Cortana is in first place, followed by Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa. (Source: Spiceworks)

Cortana ranked as the most popular virtual assistant for businesses

A member survey of IT professionals done by Spiceworks has found Cortana to be the most widely implemented virtual assistant in North American and European businesses. Siri follows closely behind with Google Assistant and Alexa ha...

Craig Ward, 24 Apr 2018 19:51

Part of the code that exploits the Tegra SoC's boot ROM. (Image: Github)

New method of hacking Nintendo's Switch claims to be "unpatchable"

A newly discovered hardware exploit allows for the execution of arbitrary code on devices powered by Nvidia's Tegra processors. This includes Nintendo's wildly popular Switch, which has been under the scope of several hacking grou...

Sam Medley, 24 Apr 2018 17:50

LG V30 Android flagship gets ThinQ features in late April 2018 (Source: LG)

LG V30 gets ThinQ support

Just as promised, LG has issued a software update that brings the ThinQ set of artificial intelligence-driven photo capabilities to the LG V30 flagship. In addition to these features, the new software also includes a new startup s...

Codrut Nistor, 24 Apr 2018 14:50

Microsoft Teams mobile app and desktop version (Source: Microsoft)

No more support for Microsoft Teams, Yammer and Skype for Business on Windows Phone starting next month

Although Skype for Business will remain alive and well on the iOS and Android handsets, as well as on Mac and Windows desktops, Microsoft decided to stop supporting it on Windows Phone. In addition to it, Microsoft Teams and Yamme...

Codrut Nistor, 24 Apr 2018 13:05

YouTube was founded in 2005. The site was bought by Google in 2006 for US$1.65 billion. (Source: YouTube)

8.28 million videos removed by YouTube in final quarter of 2017

YouTube has released a Community Guidelines enforcement report that states the video-sharing website removed over 8.28 million videos from the platform during the last quarter of 2017. The majority of these videos, 6.68 million of...

Daniel R Deakin, 24 Apr 2018 09:39

The LAX Nightclub at the Luxor Las Vegas hotel was converted into an esports arena. (Source: Las Vegas Review)

Tencent and PUBG boost the esports sector

The esports industry is enjoying further rapid growth according to a report produced by The Esports Observer. Apparently, nearly US$2 billion has been invested in this gaming sector for the first quarter of 2018, with Tencent cont...

Daniel R Deakin, 24 Apr 2018 00:24

Windows 10 Mobile on a Lumia phone. (Source: Microsoft)

Microsoft adds mobile APIs back into Windows 10, possibly for Surface Phone

It appears that the phone call related APIs that Microsoft removed from Windows 10 in the Fall Creators Update have been added back again in Windows 10 Redstone 5 Build 17650, which rolled out to the 'Skip Ahead Insiders' channel....

Craig Ward, 23 Apr 2018 22:15

Avira Privacy Pal protection modes (Source: Avira)

Avira's Privacy Pal gives you more control over your personal data

Released last week, Avira's free Privacy Pal tool for Windows focuses on providing the user with a more precise level of control over the personal data collected and sent away by the web browsers and other apps. In addition to coo...

Codrut Nistor, 23 Apr 2018 16:15

Google Photos movie editor: old and new (Source: Android Police)

Google Photos gets new video editing tools and a white color scheme

Although it still does not feature filters and themes or the ability to add text, the movie editor inside Google Photos has just received a new interface with a white color scheme, as well as new controls and commands that aim to ...

Codrut Nistor, 23 Apr 2018 09:50

The Nokia 6 is one of the three devices to have its kernel sources released. (Source: Pocket Lint)

HMD releases kernel sources for some of its devices but it's still not all rosy

HMD has finally released kernel sources for some of its devices. The Nokia 1, Nokia 6, and Nokia 8 get to enjoy better community development, although there's something of a catch to that right now.

Ricci Rox, 22 Apr 2018 17:33

Xiaomi is set to bring Android One to the budget Redmi line

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has confirmed that the company will launch Android One Redmi devices in the near future. The company's Redmi line is widely regarded as offering excellent value for money, and the allure of stock Android on its ...

Ricci Rox, 22 Apr 2018 17:20

Deal | The Razer Phone is now available for just $600

The Razer Phone is now available for slightly cheaper than it cost at launch. The device launched with an MSRP of US$700 but potential buyers can now get it for $100 less. The deal has been on for the past two days but will end on...

Ricci Rox, 21 Apr 2018 13:54

Ripple was initially released in 2012 and has a supply limit of 100 billion XRP. (Source: Express)

Get off the Bitcoin bandwagon, Ripple is on the rise

The cryptocurrency Ripple (XRP) has been performing well lately and may hit a price of US$1.00 in the near future. Like many virtual currencies, it has dropped in value over the last few weeks, reaching a low of US$0.48 as recentl...

Daniel R Deakin, 20 Apr 2018 09:53

Windows Defender extension for Chrome (Source: Chrome Web Store)

Windows Defender now available as an extension for the Chrome browser

Available as a standalone antispyware program for Windows XP, Windows Defender shipped with Visa and Windows 7, then it replaced Microsoft Security Essentials as a full antivirus solution since Windows 8. Now, the time has come fo...

Codrut Nistor, 20 Apr 2018 00:22

PUBG Mobile 0.4.0 now available with Arcade Mode, Training Grounds area, and Dusk setting

PUBG Mobile for Android gets Arcade Mode with the 0.4.0 update

The very popular Battle Royale game, PUBG Mobile, has just received an update that brings its version number up to 0.4.0. In addition to the Dusk setting and the Training Grounds area, the update also comes with Arcade Mode, which...

Codrut Nistor, 19 Apr 2018 22:29

Microsoft Translator app in action with AI-powered translation (Source: Translator)

Microsoft Translator gets AI-driven offline language packs on Android, iOS, and Amazon Fire

Thanks to the optimizations done in the last few months, the Microsoft Translator app can now use AI-powered offline translation packs without the need of a processor with hardware-accelerated AI capabilities. The new packs are 23...

Codrut Nistor, 19 Apr 2018 12:23

A report from the UK Treasury stated that the use of banks, not Bitcoin, was the most common money-laundering method. (Source: CCN)

Cryptocurrency news: Bitcoin not a magnet for crime, reports suggests otherwise

A department of the Quebec government has stated that Bitcoin is not a “magnet” for illicit transactions and that the widely believed perception of the cryptocurrency being mainly connected to criminal activity is erroneous. In ot...

Daniel R Deakin, 19 Apr 2018 04:58

In-house Facebook chips could be used in future Oculus Go headsets that currently use a Qualcomm SoC. (Source: ABC)

Facebook expected to start making its own processors

A report from Bloomberg has stated that Facebook is creating a chip-making team. Job listings have appeared on the social-networking site’s careers section that seem to point toward this eventuality. Other tech giants, such as App...

Daniel R Deakin, 19 Apr 2018 03:45

Android Oreo finally topples Jelly Bean. (Source: Google)

8 months after the release of Android Oreo, less than 5% of users have received the update

Developer metrics for the month of April have been released. The data released shows the dominance of Android Nougat in the market, with 30% of users being on that version of the OS. Android Oreo still has an utterly woeful market...

Ricci Rox, 18 Apr 2018 22:26

Former US president, Barack Obama. (Source: Twitter)

This AI video of Barack Obama is the disturbing future of fake news

An exercise in creating a humorous faked video of Barack Obama is in reality a disturbing preview of how AI can be used to manipulate ordinary people. Ironically, it turns out, AI might also be our savior from fake news at the sam...

Sanjiv Sathiah, 18 Apr 2018 12:05

ZTE was founded in 1985 and has extensive international operations. (Source: CNET)

ZTE faces potential Android loss

According to a report from Reuters, ZTE may lose its Android license. As the current seventh-largest Android-based smartphone manufacturer, this would be a massive blow against the Shenzhen-based corporation. Even just losing acce...

Daniel R Deakin, 18 Apr 2018 05:42

The Call of Duty series of games has amassed sales in the region of over 250 million units since 2003. (Source: Wccftech)

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 may not have a single-player campaign

There is a rumor that Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will not feature a single-player campaign. This may come as a surprise to the series’ legions of fans as the games have always featured a variety of campaigns for a lone player to ba...

Daniel R Deakin, 18 Apr 2018 03:24

Microsoft Azure Sphere components (Source: Blog | Microsoft Azure)

Microsoft launches Azure Sphere, its first product with a custom Linux kernel

Although Microsoft's former CEO, Steve Ballmer, called it a few years ago nothing less than "a cancer," Linux is now at the core of an IoT solution that comes from Redmond. Azure Sphere includes microcontrollers, a cloud-based sec...

Codrut Nistor, 17 Apr 2018 08:40

The first Watch Dogs title shipped over 10 million units worldwide. (Source: SegmentNext)

Clues point to Watch Dogs 3 development

Three “clues” have been unearthed that all seemingly point toward the development of Watch Dogs 3. Watch Dogs was released by Ubisoft in 2014 and was a huge commercial success. The sequel landed in 2016 and also received favorable...

Daniel R Deakin, 17 Apr 2018 03:28

Law enforcement agencies tracked the alleged hacking activity back to 2015. (Source: Medium)

Russia accused of hijacking routers around the world

Law enforcement agencies in the US and UK have accused Russia of attempting to hack routers on a global scale. The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has released an alert today entitled “Russian State-Spons...

Daniel R Deakin, 17 Apr 2018 01:40

The Vita was revised in 2013 and the OLED screen was replaced with an LCD screen. (Source: Sony)

PlayStation Vita rumored to be on its way out

British tabloid newspaper The Daily Star has reported that Sony may be planning to discontinue the PlayStation Vita handheld game console, possibly this year. The device was launched in 2011, and although it’s believed it has sold...

Daniel R Deakin, 17 Apr 2018 00:02

OnePlus 5T Android flagship gets iPhone X-like navigation gestures

OnePlus 5T gets iPhone X-like navigation gestures

Introduced with the OxygenOS Open Beta all the way back in January, the new gesture-based navigation system for the OnePlus 5T is now available for everyone thanks to the OxygenOS 5.1.0 update. Once this feature is enabled, the na...

Codrut Nistor, 16 Apr 2018 22:20

The #DeleteFacebook movement may be gaining traction. (Source: Hillary Fox)

9% of Facebook users in the US have deleted their accounts over the past few weeks, study claims

A study by Tech.pinion has shown Facebook's ever-dwindling fortunes in the eyes of the public. According to the study, 17% of the population has deleted the app from their smartphones since the details of the recent privacy violat...

Ricci Rox, 16 Apr 2018 20:59

Razer Phone gets Android 8.1 Oreo stable mid-April 2018 (Source: Razer)

The Razer Phone gets Android 8.1 Oreo stable

The Android 8.1 Oreo OTA update for the Razer Phone has started its rollout earlier today. Its list of features includes multiple optimizations, an improved visual layout, as well as the latest security patches and bug fixes. The ...

Codrut Nistor, 16 Apr 2018 17:32

Nokia 3 budget Android smartphone (Source: HMD Global)

Android Oreo stable hits Nokia 3 in India, the Night Light feature is now gone

Although the stable Android Oreo firmware for the Nokia 3 smartphone brings a faster boot time, autofill, picture-in-picture mode, Instant Apps, Google Play Protect, and the April security patch, it also takes away a feature that ...

Codrut Nistor, 16 Apr 2018 13:05

Confidential Mode feature in Gmail (Source: The Verge)

Confidential Mode coming soon to Gmail

The upcoming Gmail design update aims to bring the desktop user experience closer to that provided by the email service on mobile devices. The list of features currently being tested includes smart replies, snooze, a new sidebar, ...

Codrut Nistor, 16 Apr 2018 09:57

Game designer Yu Suzuki is the director and producer behind all three Shenmue titles. (Source: Sega)

Shenmue I and II coming to the PC this year

Sega has announced its classic adventure games Shenmue and Shenmue II will be made available for the PC sometime this year. Shenmue was originally released for the Dreamcast console in 1999, with a sequel coming out shortly afterw...

Daniel R Deakin, 14 Apr 2018 08:37

It has been 30 years since the release of the original Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console. (Source: Famitsu)

Sega reveals Mega Drive Mini console

The Japanese video-game developer Sega has unveiled a Mega Drive Mini console at the recent Sega Fes 2018 event. The original Sega Mega Drive (known as the Genesis in North America) was released in Japan in 1988, and it ended up b...

Daniel R Deakin, 14 Apr 2018 06:13

A welcome change. (Source: Business Today)

Xiaomi promises to release kernel sources for its devices but there's a catch

Xiaomi has a terrible history with releasing kernel sources—a direct violation of the General Public License. The company looks to have seen the light, with a company spokesperson declaring that devices will now have their sources...

Ricci Rox, 14 Apr 2018 00:51

BioShock Infinite alone sold over 11 million units. (Source: Polygon)

Rumored BioShock game in development

A report from Kotaku about the video-game company Hangar 13 has mentioned the development of a new BioShock game. BioShock Infinite was the last release in the popular series from 2K Games, and that title came out in 2013. There h...

Daniel R Deakin, 14 Apr 2018 00:16

Telegram founder Pavel Durov, Russia bans Telegram mid-April 2018 (Source: Bloomberg)

Russian authorities ban Telegram

Less than a month since it managed to reach 200 million users within a 30-day period, Telegram Messenger has to take a serious blow as the Russian authorities decide to ban its use in the country. The reason for this decision is t...

Codrut Nistor, 13 Apr 2018 22:05

The Microsoft Surface Dial is most useful when used on-screen with supported applications. (Source: Microsoft)

Firmware update finally brings on-screen Surface Dial support to the Surface Pro 4

Artists, designers, and editors with Surface Pro 4's can now enjoy full on-screen controls when using a Surface Dial on their Surface device. The Surface Dial provides basic functionality for all Bluetooth 4.0 LE equipped Windows ...

Craig Ward, 13 Apr 2018 18:56

In April 2016, Bitcoin's price was still under US$500. (Source: CoinDesk)

Bitcoin's value rises by nearly US$1000 in barely two hours

Bitcoin’s price rocketed for a short period on April 12, soaring from US$6,852 to US$7,834 in the space of barely two hours. The virtual currency’s value has been dropping consistently since December 2017, when it enjoyed record p...

Daniel R Deakin, 13 Apr 2018 07:41

Strong sales for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice meant it broke even in around three months. (Source: Ninja Theory)

Nintendo and Hellblade big winners at 2018 BAFTA Games Awards

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has held its annual award ceremony for the video-game industry. The 2018 event was a great success for Nintendo, which took home three prizes, and for the dark fantasy action...

Daniel R Deakin, 13 Apr 2018 00:37