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Updated | Dell shelves its new XPS 15 9570 BIOS

In a dissapointing but perhaps unsurprising move, Dell has postponed the release of its BIOS update for the XPS 15 9570. The news comes after the company previously said that it would release BIOS 1.7 by the end of 2018, which Del...

Alex Alderson, 11 Jan 2019 21:59

IMDb Freedrive now live, access limited to the US

IMDb's Freedive is a new video streaming service, only available in the US for now

Amazon's subsidiary has just released a free video streaming service that offers a rich collection of ad-supported TV shows like Fringe and Heroes, as well as various Hollywood movies like The Last Samurai, True Romance, Run Lola ...

Codrut Nistor, 11 Jan 2019 16:31

Apparently, the FlexPai can be folded over 200,000 times without breaking. (Source: Royole)

CES 2019 | Reviews of the Royole FlexPai are coming in - first but flawed foldable phone

Early reviews of Royole’s foldable FlexPai device have come in, and it seems the main attraction of the smartphone is what everyone expected it to be: Its flexibility. The company has done well in beating major players like Samsun...

Daniel R Deakin, 11 Jan 2019 01:05

The Dell Precision 5530 is rather expensive at the moment. (Image source: own)

Dell UK is selling a £7 million laptop

What is the most that you would pay for a laptop? Well, Dell UK must think that some people have cash to burn as it has listed a version of the Precision 7720 for over £7 million on its website. That is ex. VAT and delivery too, a...

Alex Alderson, 09 Jan 2019 14:58

The next Windows 10 version will feature "reserved storage" and you might not like it

The next major Windows 10 release will reserve 7 GB of your device's storage space to avoid failing big updates due to a Windows Update bug. Due to this bug, the system is not checking for enough space before launching after an up...

Codrut Nistor, 08 Jan 2019 20:00

A Huawei employee sent a New Year's Eve message via iPhone. (Source: Twitter)

Huawei employees reportedly fined for sending an official company tweet on an iPhone

An official Huawei Twitter account (@Huawei) has been caught sending its celebratory New Year's message from an iPhone. It was quickly picked up by the vlogger MKBHD on his own Twitter feed. A Reuters report claims that the employ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 05 Jan 2019 15:13

Apple's stock price has had a rough ride on the NASDAQ over the last few weeks. (Source: Varchev)

Apple's stock price takes a dive

Apple’s stock price plummeted on the NASDAQ today. The previous close for the Cupertino company stood at US$157.92. However, at the time of writing, the stock price had fallen to US$142.19, leaving the iPhone maker with a market c...

Daniel R Deakin, 04 Jan 2019 00:35

Google needed more than three years to patch a flaw in Chrome for Android

Back in May 2015, a serious flaw in Chrome for Android that exposed various bits of sensitive information was discovered. This security issue was ignored by Google for more than three years, but now the tech giant is finally takin...

Codrut Nistor, 03 Jan 2019 11:50

AT&T's 5G speeds may not be much faster than 4G LTE

If user tests are to be believed, the initial rollout of AT&T's 5G home internet network may be disappointing to most. Download and upload speeds aren't much better than those on 4G LTE. These tests raise concerns about the viabil...

Sam Medley, 02 Jan 2019 17:45

AirPower might never see the light of day. (Image via Apple w/ edits)

The new year is here, Apple's AirPower wireless charging mat is not

2018 has come and gone and with it the promise of an Apple-made wireless charging pad. Announced back at the 2017 iPhone X event, Apple's AirPower wireless charging mat is still MIA. At that event, Apple promised a 2018 release. H...

Sam Medley, 01 Jan 2019 17:00

At least 20 popular Android apps are still sending user data to Facebook without consent, study finds

A recent study by Privacy International found that at least 20 Android apps with install bases in excess of 10 million users automatically send user data to Facebook within one second of opening. This data is sent without user kno...

Sam Medley, 31 Dec 2018 17:56

Analysts predict that Apple may cut the number of 2018 iPhones produced in Q1.

Citi Research cuts estimate for Q1 production of iPhone XS Max by half

Citing predictions that the 2018 iPhone line may soon enter a destocking phase, Citi Research cut production estimates for the iPhone XR, iPhone Xs, and iPhone Xs Max by a collective 10% (50 million to 45 million). Most of this cu...

Sam Medley, 30 Dec 2018 23:09

Man claims iPhone XS Max exploded in his pants pocket

An article published by iDrop News reports than an Ohio man has suffered injury from his iPhone XS Max catching fire whilst in the back pocket of his pants. Apparently, the device was completely destroyed in the incident, and the ...

Daniel R Deakin, 30 Dec 2018 22:04

This, but with phones. (Source: Jokideo)

Opinion | Smartphone OEMs and the curious case of false advertising

Competition in the smartphone industry has led to sketchy advertising practices, especially in China where such shenanigans are almost encouraged. Fake camera samples, technically correct claims, and a circus of intentional crooke...

Ricci Rox, 30 Dec 2018 10:00

The LG G7 ThinQ may see Pie in the first few months of 2019. (Source: Wired)

LG G7 ThinQ now rumored to receive update to Android 9.0 in early 2019

The LG G7 ThinQ will reportedly have access to an official, stable update to Pie (Android 9.0) in the first quarter of 2019. This is according to a Korean-language document that appears to be a company roadmap for the software upd...

Deirdre O Donnell, 29 Dec 2018 15:38

Novel accessories such as the 360-degree camera didn't help set alight sales for the PH-1. (Source: Essential)

Essential Phone now out of stock...permanently

Essential Products has revealed that there are no plans to add “new inventory” to its stock of Essential Phones, which basically means the device is being discontinued. The smartphone was released in August 2017 and was widely com...

Daniel R Deakin, 29 Dec 2018 01:23

A former senior Apple executive is criticizing the OEM's decision to "tolerate" the issue of Bendgate 2018. (Source: Apple)

Bendgate 2.0: Former senior Apple executive reportedly returned iPad Pro due to defects

Michael Gartenberg describes himself as "Former Sr. Marketing Director @Apple, ex Jupiter Research, Gartner & other stuff" on his Twitter bio. He also now implies that he is unhappy with the iPad Pro 2018's build quality on this p...

Deirdre O Donnell, 28 Dec 2018 19:02

The update temporarily introduced horizontal swiping to shocked Instagram users. (Source: NBC New York)

Instagram users are revolting...against horizontal scrolling

A test feature rolled-out by Instagram has been met with the apparent universal disapproval of the social network’s army of fans. The updated software meant Instagram users had to swipe through feeds in a horizontal manner rather ...

Daniel R Deakin, 28 Dec 2018 01:02

The ultra-slim Apple iPad Pro 2018 may be prone to bending, but apparently that's just fine by Apple. (Source: Apple)

Apple executive reiterates company's support for iPad Pro 2018 design

'Bendgate 2.0': the saga continues; an iPad Pro customer who emailed Tim Cook about the situation in which the US$799+ devices arrive deformed out of the box claimed to have gotten a response. This reply was not from Cook himself,...

Deirdre O Donnell, 22 Dec 2018 19:07

The Nokia 8 receives its stable Pie update but it's quite half-baked

HMD Global sent out the Android Pie update to the Nokia 8 a few days ago. This is the second major OS update the device has now received and will likely be the last. The update itself leaves a lot to be desired, however, with a fe...

Ricci Rox, 21 Dec 2018 09:51

Chinese OEM Gionee declares bankruptcy after CEO gambled away US$144m at a casino

Chinese company Gionee has finally filed for bankruptcy and is set for liquidation. The company is said to owe over US$3 billion to banks and suppliers, a situation compounded by reports of CEO Liu Lirong squandering over US$140 m...

Ricci Rox, 21 Dec 2018 09:47

Microsoft issues patch for Internet Explorer vulnerability found by Google

Microsoft has issued a patch to fix a day-zero security flaw in Internet Explorer that affected a myriad of versions and systems. The flaw, which affected IE's scripting engine and how it handles memory, could allow attackers to b...

Sam Medley, 20 Dec 2018 23:06

The four tech giants all currently have market caps in excess of US$700 billion. (Source: Android Authority)

American tech giants continue to take a beating in the stock market

Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google (Alphabet Inc.) have been experiencing further depressions in the stock market, according to recent NASDAQ data. Apple has seen its stock price fall under US$160 as Microsoft continues to lead ...

Daniel R Deakin, 20 Dec 2018 23:04

The Pixel 3 and 3XL may have yet more issues. (Source: Engadget)

Pixel 3 and 3XL users allege call-quality issues in their phones

A number of Pixel 3 and 3XL owners have reportedly taken to the Google Product Forums to complain about issues with voice-calls on their devices. These problems apparently include low-quality in-call audio, connection issues and m...

Deirdre O Donnell, 20 Dec 2018 17:30

HTC U12+ could get a new variant in 2019

HTC's next flagship could be an "extended" U12+ and already looks like a failure

HTC might only be a shadow of its former self nowadays, but it looks like 2019 will not bring any noticeable changes. Even worse, the company's president, Darren Chen, has recently revealed that the next HTC flagship will be "an e...

Codrut Nistor, 19 Dec 2018 22:09

Apparently, these models would not need much work to be able to unlock the Androids of their human counterparts. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

A 3D-printed head created for news report could fool Android's Face Unlock, but not Apple's Face ID

A Forbes reporter had a replica of his own head, made via 3D-printing, commissioned from a company that specializes in the same. He was able to use this object to unlock four Android phones (from different OEMs), but not an iPhone...

Deirdre O Donnell, 19 Dec 2018 18:21

Updated | Dell confirms that it is fixing the XPS 15 9570 GPU issue that it previously denied existed

Dell has backtracked on its decision that the XPS 15 9570 does not have an NVIDIA GPU issue. The company has informed us that it is working on a fix that it aims to roll out via an updated BIOS by the end of this month. Update:...

Alex Alderson, 19 Dec 2018 17:36

NASA server room, NASA servers compromised in October 2018 attack

NASA has been compromised in October, the magnitude of the breach is still unkown

Yesterday, NASA revealed that a possible compromise of its servers where personally identifiable information was stored has been under investigation since October 23. The servers have been secured since then, but NASA and its cybe...

Codrut Nistor, 19 Dec 2018 09:09

The POCO F1 has been upgraded to Pie, but it may not be that sweet any more. (Source: YouTube)

POCO F1 gets a new software update, but it reportedly breaks notch-hiding feature

The Xiaomi POCO F1 has reportedly received an update to official stable Pie, following a recent beta to test the same. However, it's not all good news for fans of the device: some users have claimed that it no longer includes an o...

Deirdre O Donnell, 17 Dec 2018 19:02

Tumblr guidelines change in-app notification December 17, 2018 no more porn

Looking for porn? You can scratch Tumblr from the list

More than a decade after its founding, Tumblr has finally reached a critical point and has decided to turn into "a better, more positive" version of itself by banning adult content, including nudity (with some exceptions). The new...

Codrut Nistor, 17 Dec 2018 11:35

This Settings option is a recent addition to Windows 10, and may be on by default. (Source: Windows)

Windows 10 may track your app-using history even if you've deactivated it

The most recent versions of Windows 10 has an option in settings that apparently prevent the OS sending your activity history to Microsoft. However, HowToGeek has reported that these options may be insufficient in the case of app-...

Deirdre O Donnell, 16 Dec 2018 14:57

After "password" the next worst whole-word password is "sunshine". (Source: BetaNews)

"123456" and "password" are officially 2018's worst passwords

A list of the 100 worst passwords of 2018 has been published online, and “123456” and “password” have taken the top two spots. These howlers are closely followed by the equally poor “123456789,” “12345678,” and “12345.” The annual...

Daniel R Deakin, 16 Dec 2018 01:43

An example of the offending official iPhone XS Max image in question. (Source: Apple)

Apple facing yet another lawsuit, this time over 'misleading' iPhone XS Max marketing material

During the launch event for the latest series of iPhones, many tech correspondents remarked on the company's official images which gave the impression that the devices lacked the profound notches that do in fact exist. It appears ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 15 Dec 2018 19:15

Qualcomm goes for the throat, asks China to ban sales of iPhone Xs, Xs Max, and XR

Despite winning a victory against Apple earlier this week, Qualcomm is continuing to pressure the iPhone manufacturer in China. Qualcomm is petitioning Chinese courts to expand the ban of iPhone sales to include the iPhone XR, Xs,...

Sam Medley, 14 Dec 2018 21:31

Google will kill Google+ sooner due to bug that exposed data of 52.5 million users

A recent software update to a Google+ API left some data of 52.5 million users exposed and available to app developers. The data included rudimentary user information, including names and birth dates. As a response, Google has mov...

Sam Medley, 12 Dec 2018 05:12

The Sony PlayStation Classic was launched on December 3, 2018. (Source: Digital Trends)

Hacked PlayStation Classic plays games from USB flash drive

It has been reported that the new Sony PlayStation Classic has already been hacked, even though the console has only just been released. Apparently, hackers have been able to run software on the device using a USB flash drive, aft...

Daniel R Deakin, 11 Dec 2018 23:12

No, the Galaxy S10 will not ship with a cryptocurrency "cold wallet"

Contrary to news circulating earlier today, Samsung has confirmed that rumors of the Galaxy S10 including a cryptocurrency cold wallet are merely speculation. The rumors stem from EU trademark filings made by Samsung earlier this ...

Sam Medley, 11 Dec 2018 22:51

The reported tiny Chinese spy chip in question was smaller than a pencil tip. (Source: Debuglies via Bloomberg)

No Chinese spy chips found in Supermicro internal investigation

Supermicro has published a letter to its customers to explicitly state that no evidence of tampering was discovered in its hardware during a recent thorough internal review. An article from Bloomberg claimed that Supermicro produc...

Daniel R Deakin, 11 Dec 2018 20:03

The Galaxy A8s, jack very much missing. (Source: Sammobile)

For the first time, Samsung has ditched the headphone jack

Samsung announced the new Galaxy A8s in China yesterday and while the device's Infinity-O camera hole may be the biggest talking point, an even bigger point of contention is the fact that the phone lacks a 3.5mm jack. This will be...

Ricci Rox, 11 Dec 2018 15:44

Google Sounds app coming soon with Android December 2018 Update (Source: 9to5Google)

Google Sounds is a new app that brings more flexible ringtone and alarm settings, but only to some phones

Although Pixel owners will probably get some exclusive treats, as usual, the Google Sounds app should work with most modern Android handsets. This app — which should be included in the December Android Update — comes with more opt...

Codrut Nistor, 10 Dec 2018 19:00

The Crypto Pre-Order Campaign of the Turing HubblePhone K3-XR next-gen handset will start on December 13

Advertised as a multi-screen 5G smartphone with a professional camera and a mobile gaming console, the HubblePhone K3-XR Copernicus is supposed to arrive in about a year, but there are two more models — Cassini and Herschel — that...

Codrut Nistor, 10 Dec 2018 09:15

China trade risk hits American tech giants; Apple stock falls again

Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft have all suffered on the stock market today amid growing concerns over US-China trade relations. While some investors have been selling stock to reduce the chance of risk, others have been nerv...

Daniel R Deakin, 08 Dec 2018 00:25

SplitSpectre threatens both Intel and AMD processors (Source: ZDNet)

The phantom returns: Researchers discover a new Spectre CPU attack, name it SplitSpectre

Since the research team who discovered the SplitSpectre attack used SpiderMonkey 52.7.4 — the JavaScript engine in Firefox — to target both Intel and AMD chips nobody seems to be safe anymore. The attack has been successfully carr...

Codrut Nistor, 04 Dec 2018 17:22

The edited photo on Samsung's website. (Source: DIYPhotography)

Samsung nabbed passing off DSLR shots as camera samples of the Galaxy A8 Star

Months after getting caught using DSLR shots as camera samples for the Galaxy A8, Samsung has been nabbed doing the exact same thing with the Galaxy A8 Star. Companies like Huawei and Xiaomi have also been caught in similar acts o...

Ricci Rox, 04 Dec 2018 09:16

Official Samsung Twitter account caught sending tweets with...an iPhone

Huawei ambassador Gal Gadot was revealed to have been tweeting with an iPhone a long while ago and if you thought that was bad, you'd be shocked, as an official Samsung account was caught parading the streets of Twitter with an iP...

Ricci Rox, 04 Dec 2018 09:01

It's something akin to this. (Source: Videoblocks)

There have been multiple reports of bootlooping LG G7 ThinQ units

Bootloops may as well be LG's calling card at this point, as the company has a long line of devices that have displayed that behavior at certain points. The G7 ThinQ may join that special group if recent reports are anything to go...

Ricci Rox, 02 Dec 2018 07:49

A MacBook's internals can accumulate dust in some areas. (Source: MacMedics)

Apple mired in new lawsuit over lack of iMac and MacBook dust-ingress protection

Apple is facing a lawsuit pressed by 3 plaintiffs in the United States. It concerns a claim that the company has breached Californian advertising and representation laws in selling Macbook and iMacs. These plaintiffs assert that A...

Deirdre O Donnell, 01 Dec 2018 18:33

The Bitcoin bubble may not have completely burst, but it's heading in that direction. (Source: NewsBTC)

Bitcoin stays below US$4,000, approaching "capitulation moment"

Bitcoin has closed at a price of US$3,964.89 today, keeping the well-known digital currency under the US$4,000 mark. Its value actually dropped to a low of US$3,505 on November 25 but has managed to gain a little over the last few...

Daniel R Deakin, 30 Nov 2018 21:53

Apple's stock price has been on a rollercoaster this year. (Source: Google)

Despite continued struggles, Apple says iPhone XR is "most popular iPhone" since its launch

Apple became the world's first trillion dollar company this past August. Since then, the Cupertino giant has struggled to hit sales targets for its latest iPhone family. Despite this, Apple VP of product marketing Greg Joswiak sai...

Sam Medley, 30 Nov 2018 04:35