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IDC analytics point to 3-year decline in tablet sales

Marking the twelfth straight quarter of year-over-year decline, the third quarter of 2017 saw the tablet market slump 5.4%. Despite a bump in sales growth from 4 of the top 5 tablet retailers, the market as a whole continues its d...

Sam Medley, 06 Nov 2017 21:15

Pixel 2 XL, ask more of your phone. (Source: Google)

Google replacing Pixel 2 XLs sent to customers without Android installed

Continuing the trend of the Pixel 2 XL, a small number of users have complained on Reddit and the Ars Technica forums about receiving devices which are completely missing the operating system. Google reports that they have fixed t...

Craig Ward, 04 Nov 2017 02:05

Assassin's Creed Origins is another example of DRM gone wrong

Publishers need to protect their game from piracy, and gamers should pay for the games we play. But there is a problem when the method of DRM implementation degrades the experience of those who obtained the game legitimately.

Craig Ward, 30 Oct 2017 23:20

The Samsung J7 smartphone. (Source: Samsung)

Samsung J7 catches fire in an Indian flight causing a mid-air scare

A Samsung J7 smartphone caught fire on a Jet Airways flight bound to Indore from New Delhi causing mid-air panic. The flight staff were unable to extinguish the fire and had to drop the phone in a tray of water to put off the flam...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 21 Oct 2017 14:52

Macbook Pro: Does Apple have a problem with defective keyboards due to dust getting stuck?

Since 2015, Apple has one by one changed the keyboards on its Mac-products to the new Butterfly-design, a precess accompanied with much interest but also criticism. The new design helped Apple in their pursuit for thinner and thin...

Benjamin Herzig, 18 Oct 2017 18:18

The wolf in sheep's clothing which snuck into thousands of unsuspecting digital pens. (Source: SwiftOnSecurity)

A fake Adblock Plus extension has infected about 37,000 Google Chrome users

Posing as the world's most popular ad-blocking software, a fraudulent extension made it onto the Chrome Web Store and tricked tens of thousands of victims into installing what turned out to be a very annoying piece of adware.

John Garcia, 10 Oct 2017 21:42

A more fitting name if this trend of fails continues. (Source: CHEIL India)

OnePlus is collecting user data without permission, and you should be scared

OnePlus has dropped the ball yet again, with a user discovering a data siphon that sends his private phone information and logs to a remote OnePlus server.

Ricci Rox, 10 Oct 2017 12:33

All 3 billion Yahoo user accounts were involved in the 2013 data breach

If you held a Yahoo account in 2013, then you were almost certainly involved in the data breach. At 3 billion user accounts affected, this announcement sets the record for the largest known data breach.

Craig Ward, 04 Oct 2017 02:26

The Ataribox is an under-powered Linux PC priced to compete with the PS4 and Xbox One

In a newsletter sent out today, Atari gave some more information about the upcoming Ataribox. The console will be running a version of Linux, and users will have full access to the underlying operating system. No word on games yet...

Sam Medley, 29 Sep 2017 22:05

CBS-owned 'Showtime' joins The Pirate Bay and rogue chrome extensions in using your CPU to mine cryptocurrency

CoinHive's cryptomining JavaScript has been found embedded in the site code of two of Showtime's websites, causing increases CPU usage. The script has now been removed, but silence from Showtime leaves the question open on whether...

Craig Ward, 26 Sep 2017 17:15

All this considered, this is about par for cyber information control in most parts of the world. (Source: The Verge)

Your private data isn't so private after all, Wechat confirms

It's been a good week for privacy intrusions, with GO Keyboard being reported to siphon user data. This time out, it's the Wechat app on all the headlines, as the app's new privacy policy sheds light on how public, private user da...

Ricci Rox, 24 Sep 2017 09:56

Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016) facing charging bug after Nougat update (Source: Samsung)

Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016) with Nougat plagued by charging bug

More Galaxy A3 (2016) users who upgraded their handsets to Android 7.0 have been complaining that they cannot load the battery more than 87 percent. Even worse, it looks like none of the usual bug-fixing methods works.

Codrut Nistor, 22 Sep 2017 23:05

Equi-fail: Equifax directs customers affected by hack to fake phishing website

In another major misstep for Equifax, an employee of the credit services company responded to customer tweets with a link to a fake phishing website. The site, which was styled to look like the official Equifax site dedicated to t...

Sam Medley, 21 Sep 2017 23:58

SafeBrowse's 4.4 start rating is starting to drop. (Source: Chrome Webstore)

A Chrome extension now takes your CPU cycles to mine cryptocurrency for the developer

Following on from The Pirate Bay's 24-hour trial of using a cryptomining script to generate revenue rather than using advertising, we now have a Chrome extension which is trying the same thing. Unfortunately for the developer, the...

Craig Ward, 19 Sep 2017 21:22

Motorola flips again, promises Android O for Moto G4

People complained, and Motorola listened. In a statement issued today, Motorola has promised to make good on its marketing and update the Moto G4 Plus to Android Oreo. Unfortunately, there is currently no time frame on when the up...

Sam Medley, 18 Sep 2017 23:00

Equifax security breach blamed on known web vulnerability in Apache Struts

One week after announcing a major data breach affecting over 143 million consumers, Equifax is pointing blame at a security vulnerability in the Apache Struts web framework. However, the vulnerability was publicly announced in Mar...

Sam Medley, 14 Sep 2017 22:15

Swelling batteries in the XPS 15 9550 have caused displacement of trackpads rendering them useless. (Source: User Crashnorun on the Dell Support Forum)

PSA | Dell offers to replace swelling XPS 15 9550 batteries for free, even if out-of-warranty

There were problems with batches of 84Wh batteries in the XPS 15 9550 that led to the battery bulging and pushing against the trackpad. Once the swelling was bad enough, it not only hindered the trackpad function but also posed a ...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 10 Sep 2017 17:17

Android 8 'Oreo' bug can cause large amounts of mobile data use

A bug in Android 8 'Oreo' is causing the operating system to ignore any connected WiFi networks and default to using mobile data.

Craig Ward, 08 Sep 2017 23:57

Equifax announces major security breach affecting 143 million customers in the U.S.

Equifax announced today that the personal information of over 143 million American consumers was compromised in late July. Items such as birth dates, social security numbers, and even drivers licenses were stolen by hackers, in ad...

Sam Medley, 07 Sep 2017 23:57

Does that budget smartphone actually use both cameras on the back? (Image: Mrwhosetheboss, YouTube)

Dual-camera dupe: some smartphones with dual-camera setups only have one camera enabled

A few videos recently posted to YouTube took a closer look at the Doogee Mix and found that the dual-camera setup actually uses one camera and some software tricks to simulate effects that would otherwise require two camera module...

Sam Medley, 06 Sep 2017 16:14

Lenovo has been fined US$3.5 million and had restrictions placed on pre-installed software on their systems in the United States. (Source: Geralt/Pixabay)

Lenovo fined US$3.5 million for pre-installing adware on some laptops in 2015

The saga about some Lenovo laptops coming pre-installed with adware in 2015 has now come to an end with the results of their court case being announced a few hours ago. Lenovo must pay a fine of US$3.5 million and has had some res...

Craig Ward, 06 Sep 2017 01:07

Promotional material showing the cancelled Microsoft Surface Mini. (Source: Twitter | @evleaks)

More pictures plus official specs for the ill-fated Surface Mini, well, surface

The Microsoft Surface Mini never saw the light of day, but a pair of leaked images have, and they show the device from a trio of angles, as well as its specs in detail.

John Garcia, 02 Sep 2017 21:46

Andy Rubin issues apology for Essential customer privacy debacle

After a massive privacy foul-up, Essential's Andy Rubin has issued a formal apology to customers that had their personal information emailed to other customers. Essential will provide affected individuals with a one-year subscript...

Sam Medley, 31 Aug 2017 15:34

NY Mayor Bill de Blasio with NYPD deputy commissioner for IT, Jessica Tisch. (Source: NY Post)

NYPD contemplating on replacing 36,000 odd Windows Phones with iPhones

In the continuing habitual setback for Microsoft in its mobile endeavors, the NYPD will soon be scrapping its 36,000 odd smartphones running Windows Phone 8.1 for iPhones. The department is taking the decision in the wake of Micro...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 29 Aug 2017 08:20

Latest XPS 13 9360 1.0.7 BIOS update purportedly bricking systems

In what could be another potential PR headache for Dell, the latest 1.0.7 BIOS update for the XPS 13 may be accidentally rolling back systems. It's recommended that XPS 13 owners do not install this latest update until Dell either...

Allen Ngo, 23 Aug 2017 04:57

Hacking your phone through the touchscreen? Yes, it can be done. (Image: Shattered Trust)

New research paper demonstrates smartphone security hole in replacement hardware

A research team has successfully compromised a smartphone by injecting malicious code into the drivers for the touchscreen. The code allows full access to the device, including the ability to alter files, use the phone's camera, d...

Sam Medley, 22 Aug 2017 23:36

Nokia 8 Android flagship will not reach the US market via official channels

Nokia 8 to skip China and the US

While the Nokia 8 is an interesting flagship that would surely gain quite a few fans in China and the US, HMD Global has revealed that this handset will not arrive in these two markets.

Codrut Nistor, 21 Aug 2017 21:55

Google Nexus 6 Android handset gets 7.1.1 Nougat once again

Nexus 6 gets Android 7.1.1 for the second time

After releasing this update back in January and then rolling back to Android 7.0 due to various bugs, Google finally upgrades the firmware of the Nexus 6 to Android 7.1.1 Nougat.

Codrut Nistor, 17 Aug 2017 11:30

Recall issued for Samsung Galaxy Note 4 batteries

Replacement batteries shipped as part of AT&T's Insurance program have now been recalled due to concerns about the batteries overheating and creating a fire hazard. Samsung has placed blame squarely on FedEx Supply Chain.

Sam Medley, 16 Aug 2017 23:35

Saygus V Squared Android phone might finally launch in 2017

Saygus V Squared hits FCC

After countless delays, the crowdfunded Saygus V Squared handset was labeled by everyone as vaporware, but this might have been wrong. The phone has apparently cleared the FCC and might finally reach the market.

Codrut Nistor, 15 Aug 2017 11:15

MIUI security flaws allow uninstallation of security apps and easy copying of data

eScan, a software security company, has reported on a number of vulnerabilities in Xiaomi's MIUI. The two principal ones allow the uninstallation of security apps and the transferring of phone data without prompting for the user p...

Craig Ward, 12 Aug 2017 17:58

The Surface Pro has faces issues with power management, throttling, backlight bleed, and even noise.

Microsoft defends Surface family after Consumer Reports labels Surface products "unreliable"

Microsoft executive Panos Panay has attempted to defend the reliability of Microsoft's Surface family of products following Consumer Reports's failure to recommend the Surface products based on surveyed high rates of failure.

Douglas Black, 11 Aug 2017 14:31

25 percent of Surface Pro owners will experience reliability issues, claims Consumer Reports

Meanwhile, Apple is sitting happily at first place for having the most reliable laptops and tablets.

Allen Ngo, 10 Aug 2017 19:35

A PlayStation 4 controller utilising DualShock 4 vibration technology. (Source: Sony)

Immersion CEO claims Sony's DualShock technology lags behind Microsoft and Nintendo

The President and CEO of Immersion Corporation, a company which develops game controller vibration features, is claiming that Sony's DualShock is using 90's technology, putting it well behind the competition. Immersion currently l...

Craig Ward, 09 Aug 2017 23:58

Oppo R11 smartphone gets Android 7.1.1-based update that removes the status bar notifications

ColorOS update leaves Oppo R11 without status bar notifications

While the Marshmallow-based ColorOS 3.0.0i firmware for the Oppo R9s and R9s Plus shows notifications in the status bar, the Nougat-based ColorOS 3.1 update for the R11 comes without this popular feature.

Codrut Nistor, 08 Aug 2017 16:20

The HP Elite X3 is currently the highest-end smartphone running Windows 10 Mobile. (Image source: HP)

Windows may be moving to a unified mobile/desktop OS

According to rumors, Microsoft may soon be killing of development of Windows 10 Mobile in favor of pursuing a unified operating system that more closely ties development and features of the desktop version of Windows to a retooled...

Sam Medley, 08 Aug 2017 00:01

BLU's tweet announcing their product are back online. (Source: Twitter)

BLU phones back on Amazon following privacy fears

After privacy concerns caused Amazon to delist some phones by budget smartphone manufacturer BLU, the products are once again available through the online retailer. Although BLU has denied allegations of any wrongdoing, privacy is...

Sam Medley, 05 Aug 2017 22:47

The recent driver update has stopped Windows Hello from activating facial recognition. (Source: Own)

UPDATE | Newest driver update makes the Surface Pro 4 blind

The latest driver update from Microsoft has stopped Windows Hello from activating the IR camera needed for facial recognition on some Surface Pro 4's. However, the problem with the screen vibration bug might also have been fixed.

Craig Ward, 02 Aug 2017 17:41

This is the second time this year that a broadcom WiFi chip has caused security issues. (Source: Business Insider)

Broadcomm WiFi can be hacked on iPhone and several modern Android phones

A Black Hat researcher has found a vulnerability with Broadcom wireless chips used in various phones including iPhone, Nexus, and Galaxy S phones. This bug allows a hacker to overflow the memory in the wireless chip and execute co...

Craig Ward, 30 Jul 2017 23:13

Apple is not the only company forced to either cooperate with the Chinese government or face losing access to the market, but they are the largest. (Source: Shutterstock)

Apple pulls VPNs from Chinese App Store

Apple has pulled a number of censorship-defeating tools from their App Store in China, citing Chinese law. The move to accommodate the Chinese government deprives many in the country of access to information.

Douglas Black, 30 Jul 2017 09:48

Lightweight, elegant, and performant, at least according to Huawei's marketing. The latter is debatable.

Huawei MateBook X exhibits massive throttling

Is it acceptable to refer to a notebook that loses up to 37 % of its initial performance after a few minutes of high load already as performant? We are faced with this conundrum once again with the latest Huawei MateBook X with it...

Alexander Fagot, 28 Jul 2017 17:40

Liron Damir, the head of UX, has left Essential. (Image source: LinkedIn)

Lead designer of the Essential phone leaves the company

The head of UX for Essential, Liron Damir, has left the startup to work at Google in the Google Home division. This marks the third departure of a key employee at Essential in as many months.

Sam Medley, 28 Jul 2017 00:09

Fairphone will stop software and hardware support for its first device

The Fairphone, which was meant to be an easily repairable, long lasting smartphone, will no longer be supported. Fairphone, the company behind the device, will no longer sell replacement parts and has halted software development.

Sam Medley, 24 Jul 2017 18:20

Chinese security forces in Xinjiang are reportedly checking residents for whether or not they have installed the spying app. Failure to have the app installed can lead to up to 10 days detention. (Source: Twitter/即时中国大陆映像)

Some Chinese residents forced to install government spyware on phones

The Chinese government has made the installation of surveillance software on phones mandatory in the north-western city of Urumqi. Urumqi is the capital of Xin Jiang province, which is home to most of China's Turkic Uighur minorit...

Douglas Black, 22 Jul 2017 10:29

The iPhone 7 uses an Intel modem for AT&T and T-Mobile variants, while the rest use a Qualcomm part. (Source: Extreme Tech)

Intel paints Qualcomm as anti-competitive bully in public statement to ITC

Intel has weighed in on the Qualcomm vs. Apple suit with a public statement in response to a request for comment by the ITC. In the statement, Intel alleges that Qualcomm is a bully, using the court system to crush competition. In...

Douglas Black, 22 Jul 2017 09:12

Users found that using a proxy could triple their bandwidth on the affected sites. (Source: ArsTechnica)

Verizon allegedly throttling Netflix and Youtube

Verizon "unlimited" subscribers have complained about YouTube and Netflix being throttled to 10Mbps, resulting in decreased video quality in some situations. Verizon later admitted to testing"optimizations", but denied that they h...

Douglas Black, 22 Jul 2017 06:41

Soon OnePlus 5 owners will be able to dial these three numbers without worrying if their phone will reboot. (Source: Own)

OnePlus 5 OTA update for the emergency call bug expected soon

OnePlus has been in contact with the original user who reported the 911 reboot bug, and they have successfully tested a bug fix that has stopped the phone from rebooting when dialing emergency services. It is expected that they wi...

Craig Ward, 21 Jul 2017 06:09

Yesterday's memes are now today's news. (Source: Know Your Meme)

Facebook to allow paywalled articles later this year

Facebook is reportedly working on a paywall system to access shared articles.

Douglas Black, 20 Jul 2017 04:59

A comparison between the Surface Pro 4 and a faulty Surface Pro 2017 showing the excessive backlight bleed on the latter. (Source: Surface Guy)

Complaints growing regarding excessive backlight bleed on Surface Pro 2017

Microsoft uses their line of Surface devices to help set an example for OEMs; however, their quality control appears to have slipped a bit as over 200 users have claimed on the Microsoft forums that their devices are showing exces...

Craig Ward, 19 Jul 2017 11:22