Mobile Technology Science / News

Since its admission in 2004, Gmail has become the go-to email account for the internet at large. Over 1.2 billion bodies use it, so Google has wisely connected to add appearance that abode the needs and wants of its assorted user base. For US and UK users, one of these new appearance is the adeptness to alteration money. Gmail lets you accelerate or appeal money application Google Wallet. The desktop adaptation has had this affection for a while, and the Android app afresh added this functionality. With a few touches, you can accelerate money to anyone forth as they are amid aural the United States (if you are located... more

Razer aloof appear their aboriginal flagship Android smartphone, appropriately called the Razer Phone. While adaptable gaming admirers are abiding to adore the Razer Phone, the buttery-smooth 120 Hz affectation makes this an ambrosial advantage for anyone in the bazaar for a new phone. If you've aloof best up the Razer Phone or it's affronted your interest, actuality are ten alarming tips to hit the arena running. Whether you're an able on Android or a newcomer, anniversary new phone brings some different appearance that crave a bit of tweaking. We're activity to booty a attending at a few old favorites, in accession to the new display... more

Google aloof formed out a advocate affection to its Pixel accessories — Google Lens. Previously, Lens had alone been accessible in the Photos app, but now, whenever you appetite to apprentice about article in the absolute world, you can aloof accompany up Google Assistant, about-face on the camera, again let Google's acclaimed AI assay the scene. For the time being, Google Lens is alone accessible on the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, and Pixel 2 XL. So if you own one of Google's contempo flagship phones, aloof accomplish abiding to amend the Google app, again analysis out this adviser to see how Lens absolutely works. There's a scattering of quirks... more

Google aloof formed out a advocate affection to its Pixel accessories — Google Lens. Previously, Lens had alone been accessible in the Photos app, but now, whenever you appetite to apprentice about article in the absolute world, you can aloof accompany up Google Assistant, about-face on the camera, again let Google's acclaimed AI assay the scene. For the time being, Google Lens is alone accessible on the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, and Pixel 2 XL. So if you own one of Google's contempo flagship phones, aloof accomplish abiding to amend the Google app, again analysis out this adviser to see how Lens absolutely works. There's a scattering of quirks... more

Samsung aloof appear that the Galaxy S8 is accepting a beginning covering of paint, ablution a bittersweet red blush of the flagship in their home bazaar of Korea. There is currently little advice about whether this blush will appear to the US for the S8, but this could be a examination of things to come. The Galaxy S9 is set to access in January and may additionally appear in a admirable red variant. There is antecedent for Samsung to absolution absolute all-embracing colors, alone to affection them as accepted options in after flagships. Back in 2015, the Blue Topaz Galaxy S6 accustomed in bound markets and never saw... more

The Essential Phone didn't accept a hot alpha aback it was appear aback in August. A delayed release, poor camera performance, and aerial amount tag led abounding to abstain the contrarily well-received device. But afterwards a few software updates and amount drops, it's now a abduct of a deal. The aggregation abaft the Essential PH-1 has been alive adamantine on acclimation their aboriginal smartphone's flaws. They've has pushed out abundant updates (mostly acclamation the camera performance), including one that fabricated them the aboriginal non-Google phone to add the November 2017 security patch. The PH-1 is additionally one of the few devices... more

Most of the chargeless apps you'll acquisition on the Play Store accept ads. These ads are alone — in added words, they're for articles and casework Google believes you ability be absorbed in. The way Google knows about your interests is by accession abstracts from your smartphone, including your area and app usage. While alone ads accept their advantages, the accumulating of abstracts is unsettling. Google is able to aggregate this abstracts application what is accepted as an announcement ID. This is a different identifier absorbed to a packet of abstracts that contains $.25 of your browsing habits and history, admitting it is... more

We've been active the Essential Oreo Beta on our PH-1 over the accomplished anniversary and accumulation a account of important changes. If you're absorbed in accepting the Beta yourself, we alike put calm a quick adviser on how to do that. Now that we've ran bottomward the best new features, let's booty a attending at all of the bugs and achievement issues in Android 8.0. Many of the bugs mentioned actuality are listed in Essential's official absolution addendum for the Beta Program. You should consistently apprehend these addendum anxiously afore installing Beta software on any device. We'll dive added into anniversary of the bugs mentioned in the... more

Essential afresh launched their Android Oreo Beta Program, accessible to all owners of their PH-1 flagship. We abundant a quick and accessible adjustment for installing the beta on your device. With every beta program, there are apprenticed to be affluence of new appearance and a few bugs, as we begin out with the Galaxy S8 Oreo Beta. Let's booty a attending at what's new with Android 8.0 on the Essential Phone. Notification Channels & Notification Dots Two big user-facing appearance in Oreo affair how you ascendancy and collaborate with notifications. Notification channels acquiesce users to booty diminutive ascendancy of their... more

The OnePlus 5T was aloof released, and it's packing several new advantageous features. While abounding OnePlus 5 buyers are activity balked with the quick absolution cycle, lots of admirers are still clamoring to buy the new device. Aside from the beyond screen, best of the fizz about the 5T has centered about the new face alleviate method. Thanks to a able hack, you can now get this affection on about any phone! In accession to actuality acutely accurate, the new adjustment speeds up the all-embracing unlocking process. Google already congenital face unlocking into the Smart Lock affection of Android, but it has a significant... more

Essential afresh launched their Android Oreo Beta Program, accessible to all owners of their PH-1 flagship. We abundant a quick and accessible adjustment for installing the beta on your device. With every beta program, there are apprenticed to be affluence of new appearance and a few bugs, as we begin out with the Galaxy S8 Oreo Beta. Let's booty a attending at what's new with Android 8.0 on the Essential Phone. Notification Channels & Notification Dots Two big user-facing appearance in Oreo affair how you ascendancy and collaborate with notifications. Notification channels acquiesce users to booty diminutive ascendancy of their... more

Android's Quick Settings card gives you accessible admission to assertive accomplishments from any screen, but the tiles accessible are abundantly abased on your phone's OEM skin. For instance, the Google Casting button that can casting your absolute awning has been absolute to Nexus and Pixel devices, alike admitting added phones accept the requisite software to use it. Fortunately, there's a way to add it on any accessory active Nougat or higher. This Google Casting asphalt lets you mirror your phone's awning assimilate addition accessory such as a TV, and all it takes in agreement of accouterments is a Chromecast or Google Cast-enabled accessory like... more

Razer aloof fabricated a big footfall into the adaptable industry by absolution an complete barbarian of a smartphone. The gaming-centric Razer Phone tries to accommodate the best acquaintance for its ambition audience: Gamers. With that in mind, they created a top-tier accessory with some of the best specs accessible on Android. But how does it analyze to the accepted blueprint champion, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8? Samsung continues to use the Note calendar to advance the banned of smartphones. Despite a little catch due to aftermost year's array problems, the Galaxy Note 8 still boasted the best blueprint area of any Android device... more

After assorted leaked references in Samsung apps, the Oreo Beta Program for the Galaxy S8 and S8 is official. Yesterday, we acquaint a abounding changelog from users that acquired the beta a day early. The amend brings abounding new appearance from Oreo to the S8, including notification channels and autofill API support. If you're quick, you can accept your Galaxy S8 in the beta today. Samsung acquaint an official advertisement on their blog, account the rollout on November 2. The aboriginal affair to agenda is that the alone S8 variants acceptable for the beta in US are the T-Mobile, Sprint, and Unlocked models. If... more

This week, Samsung clearly kicked off the Oreo Beta Program for the Galaxy S8 and S8 in North America and several added markets. The abounding account of changes is absolutely substantial, so we'll be active through them in a alternation of posts account what's new. First up, the Galaxy phones accede notification channels from Android 8.0. With the advertisement of Android Oreo, Google abundant a new adjustment for demography diminutive ascendancy of your notifications. Complex messaging and amusing media apps generally accept altered types of notifications they advance to you on a circadian basis. One key archetype is Twitter... more

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were congenital by altered manufacturers. This is appealing accepted ability amid Android admirers at this point — Google's abate Pixel 2 was congenital by HTC, while the beyond Pixel 2 XL was congenital by LG. What would the Pixel 2 XL attending like if HTC had followed through and delivered on the beyond phone for Google? Today we accept some answers. Earlier this year it was appear that HTC had been appointed to body both phones, but their beyond alternative (codename Muskie) was scrapped in favor of LG's. Many wondered why Google fabricated the somewhat aberrant accommodation to accept two OEMs build... more

With the V30, LG has absolutely delivered an amazing smartphone that hits all the above appearance consumers want. Amazing camera, admirable edge-to-edge display, abundant array life, baptize resistance, and bland achievement — there isn't abundant not to like about the LG V30. Unfortunately, it does ache from abundant bloatware acknowledgment to the carriers. The acceptable affair is, clashing in the past, you are not ashore with it. Whether you bought your V30 from Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, or Sprint, you'll acquisition absolutely a bit of accidental apps preinstalled on your device. Combine that with the bombastic apps that LG... more

It was a acceptable weekend for OnePlus 5T rumors — it looks acceptable the 5T will be aboriginal actualization in New York, and we got a blueprint aperture that supports the rumors we've already heard. However, conceivably the best 5T account came from OnePlus' CEO himself: The OnePlus 5T may amount $600 or less. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau was spotted on Weibo Nov. 6, responding to a catechism about whether 4,000 yuan (roughly $600) would be abundant to acquirement the accessible OnePlus 5T. Lau's acknowledgment was abbreviate and to the point: "Enough." If this is true, the OnePlus 5T should accept a amount tag of $600 or less, accouterment above competition... more

Threats to your aloofness and security are everywhere, so attention your abstracts should be the accomplished antecedence for anyone with a smartphone. However, one blackmail abounding bodies discount is the aggregation who food the operating arrangement your Android phone runs — Google. Google offers lots of abundant software and casework for free. But if Google isn't charging for these services, how can they be the world's best admired brand? The acknowledgment is simple: If the artefact is free, you're the product. Google has begin that advertisers are accommodating to pay added money than consumers. If Google can get their software... more

One of the best genitalia of actuality an Android user is the endless alarming features. Many of these appearance are acclaimed and user-facing, like custom figure packs and launchers, but some get absent in the shuffle. Back at Google I/O 2016, Android Instant Apps were alien to developers and enthusiasts. Since then, the affection has apparent a added rollout, but few users are acquainted of it. If you're out and about, the aftermost affair you appetite to do is download a ample app. At the aforementioned time, you generally ascertain an app that would account you appropriate now, at this actual moment. This is area Android Instant Apps... more

Google bent a lot of abuse for the Pixel 2 XL's POLED affectation issues, behindhand of whether the problems were absolute or perceived. It's too backward to arrangement addition awning architect at this point, but Google is accomplishing the next-best thing: Fixing as abounding user complaints as accessible with software updates. A few users on Reddit accept already accustomed the aboriginal beachcomber of display-related software tweaks in the November security amend for Pixel devices. Aboriginal is a new ambience which addresses complaints that the Pixel 2 XL's colors were too bland. A new "Colors" sub-menu in the Affectation settings... more

OnePlus has clearly accustomed us a date for back the OnePlus 5T will be announced. We've accepted about best of the specs for a while, and we aloof begin out about the abeyant pricing, so a absolution date is the final allotment of the puzzle. Consider this addle solved. Today, OnePlus teased the absolution date, the advertisement day, and the area of the barrage event. On November 16, 2017, at 11 AM in Brooklyn, NY, OnePlus will barrage the 5T. We additionally abstruse that OnePlus is affairs tickets to the accident for about $40. Not alone will you accretion admission to the event, but additionally accept their accepted backpack... more

The Oreo Beta for Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8 is official and accessible to download on your device. Now that we accept the amend in hand, we've started account several of the changes and features. We've already looked at the new Notification Channels functionality, so in this post, we'll booty a attending at several improvements to Samsung's banal keyboard. While some Android users adopt to install third-party keyboards on their device, Samsung's absence keyboard has a loyal afterward amid Galaxy fans. In the past, one of my capital gripes with the Samsung keyboard was the blunder of predictive... more

Samsung afresh formed out the Android Oreo Beta Affairs for the Galaxy S8 and S8 in North America and internationally. We showed you how to accept your accessory in the beta affairs and acquaint a abounding account of changes you can apprehend with the update. Now that we've had some time to use Oreo on our Galaxy S8, we're accessible to attending at these new appearance in detail. When Samsung upgrades their phones with a new Android version, we consistently apprehend a few surprises on top of the changes Google implemented in the abject code. With the Oreo beta on the Galaxy S8, we were not disappointed. Samsung has revamped... more

With their aboriginal attack at the adaptable market, Razer alien a accessory that looks at the smartphone differently. Instead of absorption on basal bezels or an amazing camera, Razer absitively to accomplish a phone for gamers. So how could Razer ambition the growing adaptable gaming market, which is projected to accomplish $40.6 billion in all-around acquirement in 2017? It starts with the IGZO LCD Display. IGZO is a technology Razer is accustomed with. Currently, their Razer Blade and Blade Pro laptops use this tech in their displays. But clashing OLED and LCD, IGZO isn't a blazon of console — instead, it is a component... more

While millions agilely anticipate the abiding Android 8.0 absolution for the Galaxy S8, the beta is already in the agrarian and readily available. Notable improvements accommodate notification channels and the revamped Samsung keyboard. One aspect generally disregarded are new customization options, a huge allotment of Android. Let's booty a attending at what's new for customization on the S8's home awning in Oreo. Samsung has afresh fell in adulation with colorization of their UI. One of the ancient Galaxy S8 updates this year brought the advantage to accept custom colors for the aeronautics bar. With Samsung Experience 9.0, we... more

There are a lot of anniversary tech deals starting to crawl out as Black Friday approaches. We've already angled up some of the best deals for Android, iPhones, and headphones, but Google aloof alone a big advertisement for users of their Project Fi MVNO service. Now through December 17, you can acquire yourself a chargeless Moto X4 or Chromecast by apropos your accompany and ancestors to Project Fi. The action to acquire the chargeless accouterments is appealing simple. Each Fi user has a different barometer articulation begin central your Project Fi annual on the web portal. Simply archetype and adhesive your barometer articulation assimilate all of... more

Just as we started active through the appearance arranged into the Android Oreo beta for the Galaxy S8, Samsung has started blame out the additional beta to acceptable devices. According to DroidVendor, the amend is rolling out as body G955USQU1ZQK1 for the Galaxy S8 Plus. The rollout should access as an OTA for anyone that is currently active the aboriginal beta. The aboriginal Oreo beta for the S8 brought several notable improvements and new features. Samsung revamped their banal keyboard with new themes, account options, and bigger accuracy. Home awning customization acquired able-bodied options like... more

Samsung aloof began rolling out the Oreo Beta 2 to registered users of the Galaxy S8 and S8 . The update's changelog promises the admittance of the October 2017 security patch. Unfortunately, afterwards downloading the update, we've noticed this is not the case. Omission of the added contempo security application is notable in that it leaves accessories accessible to several accepted exploits, such as KRACK. The KRACK Wi-Fi vulnerability affects about all Wi-Fi affiliated accessories because it's an affair with a Wi-Fi protocol, not a distinct OS or belvedere like Android. It affects computers, smartphones, tablets, and... more

After afresh actuality in the account for accession PII (personally identifiable information) for analytics and after-sales support, OnePlus has addition security problem. An alone activity by the name Elliot Alderson apparent an app in OnePlus accessories that can accredit basis admission with one command. Although we as Android users aspire to basis our devices, we are acquainted of the accident that acclaim provides. With an app that simplifies the process, millions of accessories are now vulnerable. Rooting provides arrangement admission to Android devices. By accessing the basis folder, users can accomplish changes that would... more

There are a lot of anniversary tech deals starting to crawl out as Black Friday approaches. We've already angled up some of the best deals for Android, iPhones, and headphones, but Google aloof alone a big advertisement for users of their Project Fi MVNO service. Now through December 17, you can acquire yourself a chargeless Moto X4 or Chromecast by apropos your accompany and ancestors to Project Fi. The action to acquire the chargeless accouterments is appealing simple. Each Fi user has a different barometer articulation begin central your Project Fi annual on the web portal. Simply archetype and adhesive your barometer articulation assimilate all of... more

OnePlus aloof took the wraps off their new flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 5T. The phone has an absorbing blueprint list, including a Snapdragon 835 processor, 6.01" FHD affectation at 2160 x 1080, 6 or 8 GB of RAM, 64 or 128 GB of storage, 3,300 mAh battery, and the alarming Dash Charging technology. This accelerated about-face to a new accessory has abounding OnePlus 5 early-adopters affronted and activity duped. Aside from the new affectation admeasurement and aspect ratio, the specs on the 5T are identical to the OnePlus 5 apparent beneath than bristles months ago. Both phones affection AMOLED affectation technology, both abutment the DCI-P3... more

The latest Samsung Oreo Beta amend for the Galaxy S8 brings an absorbing cardinal of new customization features. On the lock screen, we've apparent the addition of new colorization options for the alarm and cellophane notifications. Not to be forgotten, the Always On Display is accepting some new alarm styles and colors. Samsung accustomed a cardinal of different alarm styles for the Always on Display at barrage of the Galaxy S8 beforehand this year. With the S8 Oreo Beta, we're accepting alike added to accept from (seen below). To set a custom style, arch to Settings –> Lock Awning and Security and accomplish sure... more

There are a lot of anniversary tech deals starting to crawl out as Black Friday approaches. We've already angled up some of the best deals for Android, iPhones, and headphones, but Google aloof alone a big advertisement for users of their Project Fi MVNO service. Now through December 17, you can acquire yourself a chargeless Moto X4 or Chromecast by apropos your accompany and ancestors to Project Fi. The action to acquire the chargeless accouterments is appealing simple. Each Fi user has a different barometer articulation begin central your Project Fi annual on the web portal. Simply archetype and adhesive your barometer articulation assimilate all of... more

DC's awful advancing new Justice League cine is aperture tonight, and Google aloof pushed out a nice amusement for Android admirers branch out to the movie. Over on the official Android Twitter account, we begin a few absolute "Android x Justice League" wallpapers featuring our admired bugdroid. These wallpapers appear address of Google's advance for the Justice League cine aural the Android Pay app. The Android Pay promo allows users to aggregate the assorted heroes through authoritative purchases in the app. One downside to these wallpapers is the abominably low resolution, but they still look... more

There are a lot of anniversary tech deals starting to crawl out as Black Friday approaches. We've already angled up some of the best deals for Android, iPhones, and headphones, but Google aloof alone a big advertisement for users of their Project Fi MVNO service. Now through December 17, you can acquire yourself a chargeless Moto X4 or Chromecast by apropos your accompany and ancestors to Project Fi. The action to acquire the chargeless accouterments is appealing simple. Each Fi user has a different barometer articulation begin central your Project Fi annual on the web portal. Simply archetype and adhesive your barometer articulation assimilate all of... more

Samsung kicked off their Android Oreo Beta 2 cycle out beforehand this week. The cardinal of new appearance is a bit added dispersed than on the aboriginal beta, but we did administer to acquisition a few things of interest. The aboriginal beta already bigger the lock awning decidedly with new wallpaper color-matching for the clock. With the newest update, we additionally get the adeptness to abuse the accuracy of lock awning notifications. To change the accuracy of your lock awning notifications, artlessly arch in to Settings, again "Lock Awning and Security." From there, you will tap on the "Notifications" category, as... more

OnePlus aloof took the wraps off their new flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 5T. The phone has an absorbing blueprint list, including a Snapdragon 835 processor, 6.01" FHD affectation at 2160 x 1080, 6 or 8 GB of RAM, 64 or 128 GB of storage, 3,300 mAh battery, and the alarming Dash Charging technology. This accelerated about-face to a new accessory has abounding OnePlus 5 early-adopters affronted and activity duped. Aside from the new affectation admeasurement and aspect ratio, the specs on the 5T are identical to the OnePlus 5 apparent beneath than bristles months ago. Both phones affection AMOLED affectation technology, both abutment the DCI-P3... more

Google launched the Pixel 2 XL with a different pinch-to-zoom affection in the YouTube app. The affection is appealing basic, acceptance users to aggrandize the video to full-screen on accessories with 18:9 aspect ratios with a simple compression gesture. Considering its simplicity, it was aberrant that the affection was bound to the Pixel 2 XL. Today that exclusivity has concluded as the affection is rolling out to the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8 , Note 8, LG V30, and LG G6. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 curve launched with a zoom button in YouTube, but yesterday, several users appear this button actuality removed. Shortly after... more

Chis Lacy's Action Launcher is calmly one of the best third-party home awning apps for Android. If you're absorbed in the basal affection set of this absorbing app, analysis our our overview of the top bristles launchers on Android. Today, we're demography an all-embracing attending at the cast new Adaptive Folders affection included in the latest update. With Android Oreo, Google alien adaptive icons to change the appearance and attending of your custom icons and accomplish the UI added appealing. Developers abide Adaptive Icons in two layers, a cellophane beginning band and a solid accomplishments layer, which are cut into... more

Razer took to the date this ages to bare their new flagship phone, abundantly alleged the Razer Phone. The accessory is targeted at gamers, but has a account of specs that accomplish it an arresting circadian disciplinarian for any user. Its headlining affection is an 120HZ IGZO display, the aboriginal of its affectionate in a flagship smartphone appear in the US. Tonight, Razer clearly opened up orders for the new phone on their website. When the Razer phone was aboriginal announced, the alone advantage for absorbed buyers was to ascribe their email for approaching advice about the absolution date. That delay has now appear to an end... more

Essential aloof alone the Oreo Beta Program for their flagship PH-1 phone. Users accept been agilely apprehension this amend as the aboriginal Nougat builds of the PH-1 software accept suffered from abundant achievement issues and lag. The acceptable account is that you can grab the Oreo amend today with a few simple steps. The advertisement of the Oreo Beta Program went up on Essential's website beforehand today. In adjustment to accept in the beta, you will alone charge your email address. Before proceeding with these accomplish you should booty agenda of the Release Notes acquaint on the Beta Program page. Essential mentions... more

Despite apropos with SafetyNet, Google absolutely cares about root. Every phone they advertise has an unlockable bootloader, so you can toggle a ambience and accelerate a Fastboot command, again alpha aflame custom firmware appropriate away. The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL abide this tradition, and now they accept an official basis method. This basis adjustment uses Magisk, so you'll still be able to comedy Pokémon GO, use Android Pay, and adore all the little things that added basis methods about break. It's somewhat involved, but really, all you accept to do is download a archetype of your phone's cossack image, application it with... more

The Android Oreo Beta for the Galaxy S8 and S8 has been accessible for about two weeks. Samsung started rolling out the Beta 2 amend backward aftermost anniversary in the UK, and aloof bygone in the US. Unfortunately, the US adaptation of the amend firmware (G955USQU1ZQK6) accomplished a analytical bug with the phone app at launch. As a result, Samsung has absolutely pulled the US Beta 2 amend for the time being. It appears the Oreo Beta 2 amend began in the US about 12 PM EST on November 13. Shortly after, abounding users over on Reddit appear a bug that absolutely dead corpuscle reception. The affair seems to... more

So you're cerebration about downloading the Galaxy S8 Oreo beta, but you're not abiding if it's abiding abundant to use. It is a beta, of course, so you ability appetite to delay for others to accord it a try. Over the accomplished ten canicule I've acclimated the Galaxy S8 active Android Oreo as my circadian driver, active bottomward the best new features. Let's booty a attending at the bugs, the performance, and the array life. With any beta release, there are apprenticed to be some bugs. These bugs generally booty the anatomy of force-closing apps, apathetic animations, or poor camera performance. With the Oreo amend for the Galaxy S8, the bugs are... more

After afresh actuality in the account for accession PII (personally identifiable information) for analytics and after-sales support, OnePlus has addition security problem. An alone activity by the name Elliot Alderson apparent an app in OnePlus accessories that can accredit basis admission with one command. Although we as Android users aspire to basis our devices, we are acquainted of the accident that acclaim provides. With an app that simplifies the process, millions of accessories are now vulnerable. Rooting provides arrangement admission to Android devices. By accessing the basis folder, users can accomplish changes that would... more

Root, TWRP, Xposed, Magisk, custom ROMs — afore you can accept any of these, the aboriginal affair you should do is alleviate your bootloader. Thankfully, the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are some of the best modder-friendly phones out there, so you alone charge to accelerate a distinct fastboot command to alleviate the bootloader. For the uninitiated, the bootloader is a allotment of software on your phone that endless up the amount OS — anticipate of it like BIOS for Windows. But by default, the bootloader will alone amount official firmware files from the accessory OEM, which agency you can't beam custom accretion images like TWRP to... more

As smartphone users, we live in dangerous times. The value of phones continues to rise, making them prime targets for thieves. In 2015, the FCC estimated that one million phones are stolen each year, and with several devices starting to hit the $1,000 mark now, these numbers are sure to rise. But what do you do if you fall victim to phone theft? Unfortunately, there's always chance that you or someone you love will have their smartphone stolen. Replacing the phone, although costly, is easy to do — but your precious data is still vulnerable. If a thief is savvy enough, they can access the... more

We've had a lot of fun digging into the Oreo update for the Galaxy S8. Thus far, we compiled a full list of the biggest changes and ran down some of our favorites. One of the most user-facing components on a smartphone is the camera. Samsung made sure to add some nice tweaks to the camera UI in Oreo too, bringing it more in-line with the camera on the Galaxy Note 8. The biggest change to the Galaxy S8 camera app in Oreo is the new default UI. This interface will look familiar to anyone using a Note 8 on a daily basis. Perhaps the two biggest changes are located in the top row of toggles... more

Because of the way Google Play works, Android has a "bad app" problem. Google allows any developer to upload an app to the Play Store, regardless of if it works, how it looks, or whether or not it can harm users. Malware scanning happens primarily after apps are uploaded, and though Google has recently taken steps to safeguard users with its Play Protect program, you don't have to depend on them. Android has several tools accessible to users which provide protection. By combining secure technology with good decision making, you can protect yourself from most malicious apps. You can also apply... more

The Galaxy S8 Oreo Beta has been out for just over a week now. Over that time, we've taken a look at some of the best new features and improvements. One area of smartphone software that never gets much love in updates is the lock screen. Samsung changes that in the Oreo beta, bringing new colorization options that match lock screen info to your wallpaper. One of the most noticeable home screen improvements for the S8 on Oreo is the addition of colored folders to match your personal style. Samsung is bringing a similar custom color option to the lock screen. To enable the color-matching... more

Since the release of the T-Mobile G1, the Play Store has been flooded with apps that claim to improve performance by clearing cache and storage. These apps are typically useless, rarely providing more than a temporary fix which Android undoes immediately. As Android has continued to improve cache and storage management, such apps have become more trivial. However, there are few decent ones out there. The apps which we recommend are not the most popular, because many users still believe some of the more outrageous claims made by other cache and storage cleaners. But these apps do provide great... more

Nova Launcher continues to push the boundary of features available to home screen launchers. While most users are waiting for their OEMs to send out the Android 8.0 update, Nova provides access to many of Android Oreo's features to the 99.8% of devices currently using an older version. However, Nova tries not only to add new features but to improve their design. A few weeks back, TelsaCoil Software released an update that added the search widget to the dock as found on the Pixel 2 lineup. Unlike the stock launcher with the Pixel 2 and 2 XL, Nova made the search widget optional so you could... more

There may be many third-party file managers for Android to choose from, but until now, Google offered no proprietary option. Enter 'Files Go,' which, while initially anticipated for December, is now available for you to try. After the beta version of Google's files manager leaked online, Google decided to release it to the pubic via the Google Play Store. Caesar Sengupta, Vice President of Product Management for Google, announced the release in a Tweet Thursday morning: Looks like some of you found our Files Go Beta :-) We thought we'd make it available for a few more of you on the Play... more

Now that we've had significant time with Samsung's Oreo Beta for the Galaxy S8, many interesting features have come to light. As we continue using the new software, we have uncovered more subtle changes. The home screen already received a few new customization features, it's only fitting that the edge screen get some love, too. The edge screen idea has been a huge part of Samsung's flagship strategy in recent years. One of the coolest things to show your friends with an edge screen phone is the edge lighting effect. This allows your phone to light the edge screen when you receive an incoming... more

Battle Chef Brigade is like next-level farm-to-table cooking. You play a chef in a culinary competition where you slay monsters, hack them up for ingredients, and solve puzzles in the kitchen to create succulent dishes. Part puzzler and part action-platformer, it’s the third title from Trinket Studios. Publisher Adult Swim Games will serve it up […]

It’s no secret that AI is being applied to virtually everything, but this was a big week for enterprise conversational AI. Salesforce’s Einstein debuted a platform for businesses to deploy bots on apps and websites, Facebook Messenger is coming to the web, and Microsoft Word now has a Resume Assistant imbued with intelligence from LinkedIn. […]

Wandersong wants to save the world through music. It’s a joyful side-scrolling adventure starring a bard and all the colors of the rainbow. After developer Dumb and Fat Games raised funds on Kickstarter, it planned to release it on PC and Mac. It’s now partnered with Humble Bundle to bring it to the Nintendo Switch […]

Unity Technologies is bringing in some of the talent that worked on Ratchet & Clank and Sunset Overdrive to help beef up the optimization and performance of the Unity game-development engine. The company announced today that it has hired Mike Acton and Anreas Fredriksson, who both previously worked for Insomniac Games studio. Acton and Fredriksson will […]

Nintendo Switch is getting Doom this week, and that has a lot of people curious about how the technical wonder runs on the hybrid home/handheld console. The answer to that has two sides. In docked mode on a TV, Doom is rough. But if you take the same shooter and play it in handheld mode, […]

PRESS RELEASE: ScaleFactor, the smart finance and accounting platform that enables businesses to operate in real-time, today announced a $2.5M seed round with Next Coast Ventures, Techstars Ventures, Firebrand Ventures, Matchstick ...

Travel search giant Skyscanner has acquired Twizoo, a U.K.-based platform that identifies user-generated content on Twitter for companies to use as part of promotional campaigns on their websites. The deal represents Skyscanner’s sixth known acquisition of all time, and its first since being acquired itself last year by Ctrip, one of China’s biggest online travel companies, […]

Say this for the French: They manage to keep their sense of humor in the face of a crisis. First, a massive butter shortage has swept the country this fall. Now, much of the country has woken up to find itself with limited internet, thanks to a power outage that has kneecapped the country’s largest […]

A few months ago, Natural Cycles began marketing itself as a certified contraceptive app. That’s right, no condoms or pills, just an algorithm that accurately tracks a woman’s ovulation cycle. Today, the Stockholm, Sweden-based startup announced that it has secured $30 million to continue its efforts in the women’s health space. EQT Ventures led the […]

Spain’s Digital Legends and South Korea’s Gamevil teamed up to release the realistic mobile shooter Afterpulse in 2015. The game got more than 10 million downloads and won various awards. The previous game was shut down by Gamevil in October. But now Digital Legends, the developer of the game, has taken over and is re-publishing the […]

Despite weak infrastructure and poor power supply, Nigeria stands out as one of Africa’s top tech hubs — something that was confirmed last year when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited the capital, Lagos. But to boost innovation even further, the country desperately needs a well-functioning WiFi system, which Tizeti has been trying to provide through […]

Path Out is an autobiographical role-playing game that goes beyond just telling a story through dialogue and quests. You play as a cartoon version of Abdullah Karam, a Syrian refugee who now resides in Austria. As you help him escape the civil war in his homeland, videos from present-day Karam pop up in the corner, and […]

There is very little doubt that Equifax’s negligent security practices were a major contributing factor in the massive breach of 145.5-million Americans’ most sensitive information. In the wake of the breach, EFF has spent a lot of time thinking through how to ensure that such a catastrophic breach doesn’t happen again and, just as importantly, […]

PRESS RELEASE: Since June 2017, the number of Ethereum smart contracts has quadrupled from 500,000 to over 2 million. For cryptocurrencies and blockchain change-makers, it seems like a good thing. That is, until there's a hack. And...

Nvidia is giving PC gamers the chance to power their rigs with the Force, and (as usual with such product tie-ins) you can choose the light side or the dark side. Two new Collector’s Edition versions of the GeForce Titan Xp GPU is launching this month for $1,200. These capable video cards features Star Wars […]

Grand Theft Auto V came out in 2013, and it is still selling millions of copies. Take-Two revealed today as part of its financials for the second quarter that total sales for the open-world game are now at over 85 million. Grand Theft Auto V originally released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but the […]

Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau wants to make sure that the company’s strong performance for the third quarter that ended September 30 isn’t a fluke. The social mobile game publisher reported net income for the second quarter in a row — the first time it has done so since going public in 2011. In an interview with […]

Zynga has acquired the mobile card game studio of Turkey’s Peak Games for $100 million in cash. The move is one of the biggest acquisitions Zynga has made under Frank Gibeau, who became CEO in March 2016. It’s also a big validation for Peak Games’ strategy of focusing on casual card games that are popular […]

Salesforce Research unveiled a new technique today that’s supposed to speed up machine translation using AI by doing away with one of the historical limitations of those systems. Instead of translating word by word, the system will now generate whole sentences at once. The approach massively accelerates the process of machine translation compared to the […]

IO Interactive is launching the GOTY Edition of its 2016 Hitman action adventure today, and the independent studio is using this as an opportunity to update fans on the state of franchise. IO left Square Enix this past summer after the publisher announced plans to sell the studio. Now out on its own, IO wants […]

Microsoft launched its Xbox One X console around the world on Tuesday morning, billing the video game machine as the world’s most powerful console. The Xbox One X features 4K resolution games and high-dynamic range (HDR) lighting. Microsoft claims it has 40 percent more performance than any other console, and that the machine now has […]

Byond is launching a publishing platform for companies to create augmented reality, virtual reality, and 360-degree applications. It’s one more set of tools designed to get enterprises and brands to take the plunge into promising new technologies. The Los Angeles-based startup has created the Byond Immersive Suite to make it easier for companies to create, […]

Call of Duty: WWII may return to the “boots on the ground” origin of Activision’s military shooter franchise, but the latest entry in the series has also borrowed a handful of elements from the publisher’s other major shooters: Destiny and Overwatch. I finished the WWII single-player campaign over the weekend, and it was nothing special. […]

Amazon Web Services announced today that its latest high-performance cloud virtual machines are generally available for customers. That means businesses will be able to spin up C5 instances in the cloud that are built to handle applications requiring large amounts of compute capacity. For example, the new instances will be well-suited to applications like video […]

Monzo, a U.K.-based startup building a mobile-first banking service, has raised £71 million ($93 million) in a round of funding from Stripe, Goodwater Capital, Sequoia’s Michael Moritz, Passion Capital, Thrive Capital, and Orange Digital Ventures. This latest tranche takes the company’s total funding to £106 million ($140 million) and values the London-based startup at £280 million ($366 […]

(Reuters) – I.am , the tech startup founded by pop star and entrepreneur will.i.am, has raised $117 million in venture funding, the company told Reuters on Monday as it announced its entry into the corporate computing market with a voice assistant for customer service. The company, founded in 2012, initially focused on consumer electronics devices such […]

SPONSORED: Presented by Intel Tech companies famously start in unusual places, like a basement, dorm room, or garage. Developer Tripwire Interactive takes that mythology one step further: Its first office space was on the second floor of a church in Roswell, Georgia. Fortunately, the staff didn’t mind that the dozen or so people working upstairs were […]

Google and Salesforce announced a massive strategic partnership today that’s aimed at driving value across their mutual customers. As part of the deal, Salesforce plans to use Google Cloud Platform infrastructure as a preferred partner to power the tech titan’s international expansion. Google, for its part, will use Salesforce as its preferred CRM provider for […]

Every day, Chrono.gg features a single game at a discount. To get the word out about these one-day sales, the digital retailer works with YouTube creators and broadcasters on the livestreaming platform Twitch. It wants to help people find new games, with an added bonus of enabling YouTubers and Twitch streamers to get a revenue share from […]

GUEST: The phrase “Sputnik moment” refers to the October 4, 1957, launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, by Sergei Korolyov for the Soviet Union. It was this American fear of the technological gap between the United States and the U.S.S.R. that ignited the space race to put a man on the moon. Nowadays […]

Beneath Death Coming’s cheery graphics lurks a dark sense of humor. As the tiny sprites go about their business, they’re blissfully unaware that you’re plotting their deaths. You play as the Grim Reaper in the debut title from Chinese indie developer Next Studio, which is now available on Steam Early Access for PC. As the Grim […]

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds won’t launch on Xbox One until next month, but players aren’t waiting to get into some battle royal action on consoles and PC. Epic’s Fortnite, which has a free last-player-standing mode, has surpassed 20 million total players, according to the developer. This is not earning any money directly for Epic, but it is […]

PRESS RELEASE: Seven Bridges, the leading biomedical data analysis company, today announced that it has been selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support the NIH Data Commons Pilot Phase. As a corporate service provider, Seven...

EXCLUSIVE: Southeast Asia’s PC online and mobile game revenue is projected to reach $2.2 billion by the end of 2017, and it could rise to $4.4 billion by 2021, according to a new report by market researcher Niko Partners. This year’s forecast is higher than in the past, mainly on the strength of esports and new hit […]

Today provided a brutal reminder of how fundamental shifts to mobile technology has caused a profound upheaval in the semiconductor market that is transforming some of the biggest names in the industry. The move away from desktop computing started long ago. But the increasingly powerful smartphones we carry, the explosion of so-called Internet of Things […]

PRESS RELEASE: Tinyclues, provider of a leading artificial intelligence (AI)-first marketing solution, today announced its launch in North America. Tinyclues, launched in 2013, has been expanding rapidly in Europe out of London and Paris,...

As it has been for more than a decade, Twitter became the place to look for breaking news updates following the Texas Church Massacre on Sunday. And as it has been increasingly in recent years, Twitter became a hive of lies, propaganda, misinformation, and fake news. People searching for the name of the alleged shooter […]

(Reuters) — Amazon is cutting prices of products from third-party sellers on its website, moving beyond its more typical method of discounts on items it sells directly. The “discount provided by Amazon” applies to products including board games and technological gadgets offered by other merchants as the holiday season approaches. The retailer has been trying […]

GUEST: The title of the most popular vehicle in the electric car market has created a long and highly competitive race between Tesla and Chevrolet. Though the two brands offer vastly different versions of electric vehicles, they seem to be the two makes dominating electric vehicle sales in 2017. Reports show that the top spot for […]

OPINION: A trailer for Blood & Truth from Sony’s London Studio, like a preview Oculus showed earlier this month for an upcoming war title from Titanfall creator Respawn Entertainment, makes it clear that Sony and Facebook are financially supporting what its executives think gamers want to play in VR. The goal: drive the sale of more […]

GUEST: Optimizing ads are a hot topic these days, and we’re constantly witnessing disruption aimed at improving advertising transaction standards. Why? At the end of the day, it’s all about one thing — helping publishers maximize their revenue, and part of that discussion has been around a topic called header bidding. What is header bidding? Header […]

GUEST: So you want to create the next bitcoin. Wonderful! But before you crack code, you’ll need to revisit English 101, because the blockchain community demands a white paper with every project. What’s a white paper? It’s a document that describes your project. How do you make one? Here’s a handy guide of best practices from […]

GUEST: In the beginning was Bitcoin, the only blockchain we thought we’d need. Then Ethereum came along and launched us into a multi-blockchain world. Since then we’ve seen many new blockchains emerge with their various different protocols, financed by their various different tokens. One of the the key doctrines of this era was Joel Monegro’s seminal […]

Below find a carefully chosen selection of five Alexa skills worth trying from new, trending, and otherwise noteworthy voice apps available in the Alexa Skills Store on Amazon.com, which now has more than 20,000 skills. In case you missed it, Alexa Routines for the creation of scheduled tasks or custom commands launched for the first […]

GUEST: While there is nearly universal agreement that artificial intelligence offers the promise of revolutionary benefits, recent survey findings from Gartner reveal almost 60 percent of organizations surveyed have yet to take advantage of the benefits of AI. Perhaps even more surprisingly, only a little more than 10 percent of surveyed businesses have deployed or implemented […]

Earlier this week at a private PlayStation press event in San Francisco, CA we got the chance to go hands-on with a full, updated build of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR for PlayStation VR (PSVR) and came away impressed. Previous demos were teleportation movement only and now they’ve added full, smooth locomotion features with both Dualshock […]

Blizzard revealed the details of the upcoming Overwatch League season at its annual fan event BlizzCon in Anaheim, California. The first match kicks off on January 10, and 12 teams will compete throughout the season for a spot in the play-offs, which start on July 11. Season tickets will go on sale on November 6. […]

(Reuters) — Communications chipmaker Broadcom Ltd is planning to unveil a bid for smartphone chip supplier Qualcomm Inc by Monday, three sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, an attempt to create a roughly $200-billion company through the biggest technology acquisition ever. A tie-up would combine two of the largest makers of wireless communications […]

Hearthstone is mostly a multiplayer game. But its next expansion, Kobolds & Catacombs, will introduce a compelling new solo experience when it launches next December for PC and mobile. Dungeon Runs will be a free mode. It has players picking a class, starting with a weak-ish premade deck, and fighting random computer-controlled bosses. If you […]

GUEST: The sharing economy relies on a distributed workforce, shareable assets, and peer-to-peer transactions and contracts. Uber and Airbnb are probably the most famous examples, allowing people to make money by sharing their homes and their cars. Now blockchain technology is making it possible to earn money by sharing a whole new set of assets, such […]

The Remedy Entertainment sci-fi adventure Quantum Break is 178.1 GB on the Xbox One X. If, like me, you have a 1TB data cap with your internet service provider, downloading that one game will consume more than one-sixth of your total for the month. With games at these sizes, consumers now have to consider both […]

GUEST: We’re facing the end of the cloud. It’s a bold statement, I know, and maybe it even sounds a little mad. But bear with me. The conventional wisdom about running server applications, be it web apps or mobile app backends, is that the future is in the cloud. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are adding layers […]

Virtual reality in the home is taking off slower than expected, as evidenced by CCP Games’ decision to shut down VR game development. But there’s a good chance that VR will find a way to thrive in arcades, whether in Asia’s Internet cafes or America’s shopping malls. Should VR game makers pivot to the arcades? Greenlight […]

ANALYSIS: Google announced a notable update to YouTube Kids this week, one that gives parents a range of tools to tailor the app for their kids. Among the new features is one that lets parents create individual profiles for each of their offspring. They can set each kid up with their own passcode to keep siblings […]

GUEST: Last year I founded Genvid Technologies, a company that builds esports broadcasting tools, along with my incredible co-founders and early employees. Having spent years working for CEOs of Square Enix Holdings, before starting this company my background was in game publishing and development. I wanted to share a few of the lessons I’ve learned since […]

Cisco announced plans Thursday to bring voice control to its Cisco Spark Room series hardware, the first step in a larger plan to make an AI-powered meeting assistant available across all Cisco hardware. The Cisco Spark Assistant uses natural language processing and machine learning to understand what a person wants by harnessing technology from MindMeld, the […]

Logitech is working with developers on a solution that brings keyboards into VR using HTC’s Vive Tracker. The VR keyboard developer’s kit is being distributed to a small set of creators to make software and apps that use the capability. This Bridge kit, as it is called, could be a boon to apps like VR […]

Overwatch had a busy BlizzCon. Not only is the hit team-based shooter receiving a new hero, the healer Moira, but we’re also getting Blizzard World, a new map that’s like Disneyland meets Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo. Jeff Kaplan, Overwatch’s game director, made both announcements during BlizzCon’s opening ceremonies on November 3. That same day, we […]

After years of litigation in two countries, a federal court in the US has weighed in on a thorny question: Does Google US have to obey a Canadian court order requiring Google to take down information around the world, ignoring contrary rules in other jurisdictions? According to the Northern District of California, the answer is […]

Overwatch is getting a big update that will bring Blizzard-themed content in the form of a new map and character skins. The publisher showed off its theme-park-like Blizzard World map and costumes that make Overwatch’s heroes look like they are from Starcraft, Diablo, or World of Warcraft. As always, the map is free and you’ll […]

EXCLUSIVE: One issue Instagram faces as it continues to try and expand its userbase is how to reach folks who are in parts of the world without great internet access. That’s why the Facebook-owned company has turned to a New York-based team of engineers to help streamline and optimize its app for better compatibility with network […]

GUEST: Not long ago, reaching audiences through technologies like email was considered breakthrough. Fast forward to today, a hyper-accelerated existence in which the average human checks their smartphone over 150 times daily. This phone-fiddling translates into the average enterprise dealing with somewhere between 200 and 300 million digital signals per day, yet most can barely handle […]

Baseball is math. It’s all about counting hits, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and everything else a team needs to score more runs than their opponents. The numbers-based nature of the MLB has made it an ideal fit for the Out of the Park management sim, which debuted almost two decades ago. The OOTP Developments has grown its […]

GUEST: Technology has changed our lives in countless ways — there are more smartphones and other mobile devices in use in the United States and its territories than the entire population of the country, and we are just on the cusp of seeing driverless cars on our roads and highways. As the field of artificial intelligence […]

Networking chip design company Aquantia went public on Friday and raised $61 million in its initial public offering. The stock is trading up for the San Jose, California-based maker of network interface cards (NICs) that can transfer data on home and enterprise networks at multiple gigabits per second. The company looks to remove bottlenecks for hyperscale data […]

Blizzard debuted World of Warcraft‘s next expansion during BlizzCon’s opening ceremonies today in Anaheim, California today. It is Battle for Azeroth. The battle between the Horde and the Alliance is once again front and center. World of Warcraft launched for PC in 2004 and quickly became a sensation. Subscriptions, which cost $15 per month, peaked […]

One of the most important things I have learned while reporting on AI is that systems built on machine learning may be able to beat humans, or approximate their results, but they can often fail in ways that humans never would, and with unintended consequences. Consider the tale of a Redditor who asked earlier this week whether […]

Last quarter was typical: smartphones up, tablets down. The tablet market has now declined every quarter over the past three years. Q3 2017 saw a 5.4 percent year-over-year decline: 40.0 million units shipped worldwide, compared to 42.3 million units in the same quarter last year. The only silver lining is that the 2017 drops aren’t […]

Gamers have many ways to keep score. This column is about how I like to look at the game companies during the busy fall season. This past week saw the launches of blockbuster games including Call of Duty: WWII, Assassin’s Creed Origins, Super Mario Odyssey, and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. We also saw earnings […]

EXCLUSIVE: Startup stock exchange Funderbeam today announced that early-stage startups have raised over €5 million ($5.8 million) from investors in nearly 100 countries through its blockchain-powered platform. Funderbeam allows companies to fundraise and trade using blockchain technology. Founded in 2013 and launched in 2016, the Estonia-based company has already secured seed funding of more than $7 million from noteworthy […]

SPONSORED: Presented by Intel  “People are saying that this is the first good Superman game. The only problem is that Superman isn’t present.” Despite being the most iconic, archetypal superhero, Superman hasn’t had much fortune when it comes to games. Aside from outliers such as Injustice and the LEGO games, most of his video game outings […]

REVIEW: Microsoft has a new Xbox coming out this month, and it’s exactly like the old Xbox and also its mirror opposite. The Xbox One X is not a next-gen console. It is an Xbox One in terms of the games it can play, its operating system, and its controllers and peripherals. At the same time, […]

When you hit Prestige, or the top level in Call of Duty multiplayer, it’s usually a solitary affair. But in Call of Duty: WWII, you can share your achievement for all of your friends to see. I went to a review event for the game, which debuts on November 3, and I was able to […]