iPhone

Qualcomm and partners such as Ericsson have been developing 5G for commercial use in (hopefully) 2019. The two companies have conducted data call tests for the latest release (15) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) using the new Qualcomm X50 modem.

A new Reddit post contains images of cases that could have been designed for iPhones. However, both examples of these new cases also do not appear to fit the iPhone X. Therefore, they may be intended for the anticipated new 6.1- and 6.5-inch display models. Both cases bear Speck branding.

Device unlocking using an owner's face has become quite popular. Unfortunately, offering truly secure, flexible and effective facial scanning in your product can get difficult and expensive. MediaTek claims that its new take on this form of identification is neither, and is furthermore at least as good as Face ID.

Google is celebrating its 10th anniversary of Chrome with the release of a considerable update (Chrome 69) for the browser. It features a substantial UI redesign, as well as a new password generator. This version will be available for mobile and desktop.

Apple has announced that it is offering free logic board replacements for affected iPhone 8 devices purchased between September 2017 and March 2018 in select markets. Apple said that a small percentage of iPhone 8 devices had a defective logic board that resulted in unexpected restarts and frozen screens.

Apple's next-generation iPhone and Watch have been leaked in press renders. Said to be called the iPhone XS, the new iPhone is depicted in Gold while the new Apple Watch Series 4 confirms rumors it would pick up a larger display.

The Tesla Wireless Charger surfaced on the company's official store but was removed after less than a day. This power bank features 5 W wireless charging and USB Type-C wired charging at 5 V and 1.5 A, has a rather modest capacity of 6,000 mAh, but it lives up to the Tesla name and sports a not-so-friendly US$65 price tag.

Apple is expected to launch three new iPhone X successors this September and apparently, the company is referring to them as 'S' devices as they are externally similar to the iPhone X and only sport internal upgrades. The largest iPhone of the bunch will be a 6.5-inch model internally referred to as 'D33'. The 'D32' is the upgrade to the current 5.8-inch iPhone X while 'N84' will be the cheapest of the lot and will sport a 6.1-inch LCD screen and come in multiple color options.

Apple has filed a patent that may contribute to the voice assistant Siri's functionality in the future. It may impart the ability to recognize different voices and attribute them to corresponding users on new versions of the software. This could give the assistant software a much-needed boost in its relevant marketplaces.

WhatsApp has distinguished itself among messaging apps through its ability to eat your storage. However, a new agreement between the Facebook subsidiary and Google mean that WhatsAapp backups will no longer clog up space on the Drives of its users.

Apple attracted some criticism when it removed Touch ID from the iPhone X. However, a new leak suggests that the company is working on a new form of fingerprint scanning for its next-generation flagships. This new purported system may leave the home button in the past.

A fresh rumor suggests that Apple could be adding Pencil support to its 2018 iPhones. The addition would give the iPhone the direct ability to compete with the just-launched Galaxy Note range, in addition to differentiating it from the Galaxy S 10.

PUBG Mobile crossed 100 million downloads this month, cementing it as one of the most popular Battle Royales for smartphones and tablets. Despite its success, it still trails behind Fortnite, which hit 100 million downloads last month on iOS only. The new Android version of Fortnite may spell trouble for PUBG Mobile and Tencent games.

A recently-released piece of marketing by Huawei Taiwan appears to take the same approach with which Samsung have targeted Apple in the past. The apparently jokey image and text may make fun of the "innovation" involved in the design of the Galaxy Note 9.

Preorders for the Galaxy Note 9 have already started. The prices associated with this event confirm what has been suspected for months: the new Samsung phablet will set you back considerably. The prices also compare well with those of the iPhone X.

The European Union is looking into the current fragmentation in smartphone connectors and has setup an inquiry to see if a single connector type can be mandated across all smartphones. While the issue of multiple plugs is almost passe, Apple's Lightning Connector differs from the standard micro-USB or USB-C connector that is common amongst Android smartphones prompting the EU to investigate if some sort of standardization can be achieved.

A developer has turned up yet another icon that may represent another new Apple device. This one may correspond to the putative iPhone XI Plus. It may also be larger than its nearest predecessor, and retain some of its main front-panel features.

OnePlus overtook Samsung and Apple to become the biggest smartphone brand in India's premium smartphone segment, with the OnePlus accounting for 30% of sales of premium devices in Q2.

Thanks to record-breaking P20/Pro smartphone sales and additional support from the secondary Honor brand, Huawei snagged Apple's second place for most handhelds sold in Q2 2018. The Chinese company also aims to break into the U.S. market, a move that could pose some serious problems for Samsung's leading position.

Approximately 23 percent of all current smartphone users in the United States are using a Samsung model. Sales of the latest Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus smartphones, however, have been sluggish with a worldwide userbase that is less than one-third of the iPhone X.

If reports are to go by, the upcoming 12.9-inch and 10.5-inch Apple iPad Pros are all set to go almost bezel-less. These iPad Pros will also be getting the Face ID feature and in all likelihood, will be ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack.

In the backdrop of Qualcomm's earnings call for this quarter, the company stated that Apple intends to use only Intel modems in the coming iPhone release and thus, Qualcomm will not be supplying modems for the next iPhone. It remains to be seen if Intel would be the preferred supplier or Apple would be looking at alternatives such as MediaTek.

The upcoming OS 12 update for the Apple HomePod is slated to bring a slew of new features to the smart speaker including the ability to make and receive calls when paired with an iPhone and set multiple timers. With the upcoming MacOS Mojave update, the HomePod can also be controlled directly from the Mac.

The last of Siri's co-founders, Tom Gruber, has announced his retirement from Apple. Siri was acquired by Apple in 2010 but two of its founders left in the succeeding years. The news comes in the wake of Apple recently appointing Google's former head of Machine Intelligence, John Giannandrea, as Chief of Machine Learning and AI Strategy.

Research firm Blancco has published a Mobile Device Repair and Security Report that throws up some interesting facts. The report puts Samsung as the OEM with the highest failure rate among Android manufacturers and the Xiaomi Redmi 4 as the specific model with the highest failures in 2017. In the Apple camp, the iPhone 6 was the device with the highest failure rate.

Leakster Ben Geskin tweeted a photo showing the front glass panels for the three iPhone models Apple is expected to announce this September. All the panels sport the now infamous notch and while all of them are edge-to-edge displays, the 6.1-inch panel has slightly thicker bezels compared to the other two.

A comparison of various different quick charge technologies has shown that Huawei SuperCharge has the highest charge rate, along with OnePlus Dash Charge. Meanwhile, the non-OEM specific technologies trail behind, as does Apple Fast Charge.

If there is one area that Apple has been seriously lagging Google, it is in the effective application of AI technologies to advance its flagship iPhone. Enter Google's former head of Machine Intelligence, John Giannandrea, who is now Apple's first official Chief of Machine Learning and AI Strategy.

Ming-Chi Kuo is back with Apple predictions and expects the 2018 iPhone range to pack several new color options including blue, red, gold and orange. The new colors will vary according to model, with the gold color reserved for the 2018 iPhone X sequel.

A German engineering student has designed a 'mobile airbag' case that protects your phone by detecting when it has been dropped and deploying springs to cushion the fall. The prototype has won a national mechatronics award in Germany, and the product will be launched in Kickstarter later this month.

Latest leaks show that the iPhone 9 and the iPhone X Plus will feature bigger screens compared to last year's iPhone X. The Phone 9 gets a notched 6.1-inch display, but only one camera on the back, while the iPhone X Plus boasts a big 6.5-inch notched screen and features a tri-camera rear setup. Apple is also rumored to finally ship the 2018 models with an 18 W USB-C charger with Fast Charging tech.

Apple just released the first public Beta of iOS 12. Committed Apple users can download the Beta for free from Apple's site, but be warned - as beta software, there are quite a few bugs still being worked out. Still, this is the only way to get some of the new features in iOS 12 for free.

Despite all the leaks and rumors about the successor of the iPhone SE, it seems that Apple has recently decided to stop its development. Insiders familiar with the inner workings of the Cupertino giant mention that three other handsets are in the making, all featuring large screens (between 5.8 and 6.5 inches in size).

According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, Apple is currently redesigning the chargers and the charging interface for its next-gen iPhones and iPads. The iPhones expected to arrive next year will probably drop the existing Lightning connector and replace it with USB Type-C, but — unsurprisingly — Apple still has to confirm this.

Apple's App Store Review Guidelines have recently been updated with a section dedicated to cryptocurrencies. In sum, Apple's app stores (iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS) will no longer allow apps that create or generate cryptocurrencies. Crypto wallets and trading apps are still kosher to distribute, but the rules surrounding these kinds of apps have become much more strict.

iPhone X clones are a dime a dozen, and the latest device to join that hallowed list is the subtly-named Ulefone X. The new device may be a shameless clone but it does look good on paper, which is more than can be said for a few other devices in that niche.

The latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 12, refines a few existing features while introducing few new ones. All said, iOS 12 is exciting for the Apple fanbase, but it seems like the iPhone is playing catch-up to Android.

Join us as we share our thoughts during Apple's WWDC 2018 developer conference.

A report from analytics firm App Annie has stated that the iOS App Store has made revenue of over US$130 billion from July 2010 to December 2017. The report offers a number of incredible statistics, including the fact that 170 billion downloads were made between the same dates mentioned above, and that there are now over two million live apps available on the App Store.

A report from the research company Gartner has stated that global sales of smartphones in the first quarter of 2018 have risen slightly from figures issued in the same quarter of 2017. Over 383.5 million smartphones were sold in 1Q18 compared to 378.5 million units sold in 1Q17. Samsung was the quarter’s largest vendor, with 78.5 million sales.

Reports have started to surface of customers complaining that their iPhone X rear camera lens covers are cracking, even though they haven't been dropped. Apple uses sapphire crystal for its lens covers which are resistant to scratching, but are more susceptible to cracking under pressure than Corning Gorilla Glass.

Apple could beat Qualcomm to market with the first consumer smartphone equipped with a 7 nm SoC. Its custom A12 processor is predicted to power the next generation of iPhone and iPad devices coming later this year. As usual, the iPhone maker is keeping quiet until its annual WWDC press event next month where refreshed MacBooks are also rumored to make an appearance.

The iPhone SE 2 has been in the headlines for a few weeks now. The successor to the pint-sized, cheaper iPhone released two years ago is on its way, and could very well be released sooner than expected, in September.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Apple has teamed up with investment bank Goldman Sachs to produce a joint credit card. The Cupertino-based company already has a deal with Barclaycard in regard to financing purchases of Apple products. Apparently, the upcoming card may feature the Apple Pay brand.

Leaker Ice Universe claims that TSMC is manufacturing A12 prototypes using the new 7 nm process, and the performance gains over the current A11 are considerable, sitting at ~30%. However, the power consumption is not on par with what 7 nm chips should yield, and this could be caused by the lacking lithography. The A12 SoCs should be launched next year wit the tri-cam smartphones.

According to a Yuanta Securities report, Apple already expressed its interest in integrating rear tri-camera setups for its upcoming high-end smartphones. The future iPhones could get 5X optical zoom per lens and it looks like there will be at least a 12 MP sensor. Apple's tri-cam devices are slated to be released in 2019.

Despite concerns that Apple might miss its targets for the quarter, the company has instead returned record numbers for its fiscal Q2. The Cupertino giant raked in a net profit of US$13.8B for the quarter on gross revenue of US$61.1B.

Ming-Chi Kuo, serial leaker of Apple's product plans, has left KGI Securities. The news could mean a slow down in the number of accurate leaks about Apple's product plans, much to the relief of many an executive at Apple's Cupertino HQ.

Barclay's analyst Blayne Curtis is predicting that Apple will stop bundling the Lightning to 3.5mm audio adapter with the iPhone released this fall. If this prediction comes true, iPhone users that want wired audio would have to separately purchase the adapter at a small (but annoying) additional cost.

TSMC has revealed that its new 7nm FinFet process will deliver mobile chips that are at least 20 percent faster and 40 percent more efficient. It has also revealed that it has developed two separate 7nm FinFet tracks, one optimized for mobile applications, the other for "high performance computing applications."