NextPowerUP NEWS

[NextPowerUP]

Samsung is all set to announce its next-gen flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S7, which will happen on February 21, just ahead of the MWC 2016. The company has decided to take the press conference on another level and will be the first to livestream in 360-degrees.

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Microsoft Lumia 550 Also Gets New Windows 10 Mobile Build

After releasing the new Windows 10 Mobile build for Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, Microsoft has announced that the latest entry-level phone has also received the Windows 10 Mobile update. The build version is 10.0.10586.107, which is the same as the one for Lumia 950 and 950 XL.

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HTC One M10 Leaks In White

The first quarter of the year is all about flagship devices. Next week will be very interesting with Samsung, Huawei, LG and others announcing their high-end phones. The other top-tier manufacturers, such as HTC, plan to announce their offer flagship smartphone later this year.

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Samsung Galaxy S7 Will Be Released On March 11

Samsung is going to release the Galaxy S7 on March 11 following its launch at MWC 2016 on February 21. This date comes from Techradar, which spoke with a retail source who provided the March 11 sale date. The source also said preorders should begin by the evening of February 21.

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Apple Patches Error 53 On iOS

An update has been released for iOS that addresses the system's Error 53, which can brick phones after they're repaired by third-party technicians. The update, which is for iOS 9.2.1, will fix Error 53 and help people who've had their phone disabled, according to Apple.

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Facebook Live Streaming Goes Global

Facebook's live video streaming has gone global and is now available to regular people outside of the US. With Facebook Live, which is currently limited to iOS, you can broadcast live just like you would with other streaming apps. However, Live's availability has been limited.

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Cloud-Focused Nextbit Robin Now Up For Sale

The Nextbit Robin, a cloud-centric smartphone, is now available for sale and it is going for $399. Nextbit uses a mix of cloud and physical storage to optimize the Robin, allowing you to fill up both 32 GB of onboard storage and 100 GB of space in the cloud.

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Facebook To Let Companies Send Ads To Messenger Users

Facebook plans on monetizing Messenger by letting ads into the app, according to TechCrunch. Documents from the company were obtained and they reveal how the ads will work. Once you've contacted a business with Messenger, they can then use the app to send you ads.

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Kanye West Targets Pirate Bay, May Sue Over Torrenting Of Album

Any popular album is bound to be pirated, but when Kanye West made his latest album exclusive to Tidal, he pretty much guaranteed it would be torrented more than his other works. The Pirate Bay has seen hundreds of thousands of downloads of the album.

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Apple Introduces 'Trade Up With Installments' iPhone Plan

To minimize the blow to your wallet when buying a new iPhone, Apple has introduced a payment plan option that integrates a phone trade-in. With the Trade Up with Installments plan, you can give Apple your old smartphone and the worth of that handset is taken off your new phone.

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ReFlex Is A Real Flexible Smartphone, Uses LG Display

A phone called the ReFlex has been unveiled and it's the first true bendable/flexible smartphone. The device uses a 720p Flexible OLED from LG Display and on top of the display are a plastic touchscreen and bend sensors. It runs Android 4.4 and has a battery on one side.

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Apple's Upcoming 4-Inch iPhone Uses A9 Chip

The Apple 5SE, a 4-inch handset, is reportedly going to use Apple's A9 processor. Apple is expected to come out with the phone shortly, with an unveil set to occur on March 15. Other reports have claimed the A9 would be used and an article from Bloomberg supports those claims.

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Hubble Telescope Captures Photos Of Largest Observed Black Hole

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken photos of the largest black hole ever observed by humans. Pictures were taken of the NGC 4889 galaxy, which is located 300 million light years away. Contained in the galaxy is a black hole 21 billion times larger than the sun.

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John McAfee Says He'll Decrypt San Bernardino Phone, Apple Won't Have To

John McAfee, a cybersecurity expert who developed the first commercial antivirus program and is now trying to become the US president, says he has a plan to help Apple avoid cooperating with the FBI. The FBI wants Apple to provide a way for the San Bernardino terrorist's phone.

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No Pineapple Left Behind: Performance Analysis

Overall the performance was stellar. No multi-GPU profile, but that's not really an issue when you're pulling hundreds of FPS on max. I never came across any bugs, which is remarkable for a game on such a small budget made in the personal version of unity.

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No Pineapple Left Behind Review

No Pineapple Left Behind is a bizarre satirical title that's designed to emulate how modern school systems are run. It is of course immensely exaggerated and uses the odd reference to popular culture to describe things, but its closest likeness is that of Prison Architect.

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HP Elite X3 Leaks In Live Images, Specs Also Confirmed

HP is set to announce its flagship phablet at the MWC 2016, which will be the company's first Windows 10 Mobile smartphone. Ahead of the event, a set of live images and specifications have leaked online, revealing almost everything we need to know about the smartphone.

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ARM Announces Cortex-R8 Real-Time Processor

ARM has just announced a new real-time processor that is designed to double the performance of ARM-based modem and mass storage device SoCs. The chip is based on ARMv7-R architecture and can be scaled up from single to quad-core configurations, clocked at up to 1.5 GHz.

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LG Innotek Unveils Ultra Slim Optical Bio Sensor Module_

LG Innotek, a subsidiary of LG that is known as one of the popular components and materials manufacturers today, has unveiled a new sensor module for wearables and smartphones. The new module measures heart rates, stress indices, and oxygen saturation levels.

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Huawei Mate 8 Gets Security Update

Huawei has announced that Google's latest security update for Android is now rolling out to the owners of Mate 8 phone. Besides the security updates, the Android February update also includes a number of fixes related to security, privilege escalation, and remote code execution.

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[NextPowerUP]

Continuing on from last week, this series of articles is to help keep you guys up to date with what's been happening in the gaming world, and fill you in on what's coming in the week to come. I'll be announcing game releases, interviews, as well as introducing next

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Motorola Won't Release Lollipop For DROID Ultra, Mini And Maxx

Android Lollipop operating system has become almost standard for any new smartphones, and many companies have updated their old lineup. Motorola has updated most of its lineup, but some smartphones that were expected to get the update, will not get it.

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More Live Photos And Leaked Brochure Confirm Everything We Need To Know About Galaxy S7

With only a day before the official announcement, another set of live images and official brochure has revealed everything we need to know about the Galaxy S7 smartphones. Although we already knew everything, this leak has just confirmed all of the rumours in the past few months.

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Google Creating Engineering Team In Singapore To Focus On Southeast Asia

To increase its focus on the southeast Asian market, Google is going to create a large engineering team in Singapore. The team will be Google's first in the area and the company also plans to train up to 100,000 developers over a period of 4 years in Indonesia.

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Volvo Plans To Let Drivers Ditch Car Keys, Use Phone App Instead

Volvo intends to become the first car company to move away from car keys. The company is kicking off a trial this year in Sweden in which cars will be sold without a physical key that has to be used, meaning customers can use a mobile application instead.

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Will.I.Am Has A Second Smartwatch

Will.i.am is not giving up on the smartwatch market despite his first device, the Puls, not doing well. He has introduced a new wearable, called the Dial, that will be available exclusively to Three subscribers in the United Kingdom. It accepts a SIM card.

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Google Internet Balloon Crashes During First Flight

One of Google's internet-delivery balloons from Project Loon crashed during its first flight in Sri Lanka. The balloon crashed in a tea plantation, according to local police, and individuals in the area had to pick up its pieces and bring them to the police station.

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Verizon Wins Network Test, Has Best US Wireless Service

Verizon Wireless is the best wireless network in the United States, according to RootMetrics, which has carried out some tests to determine which carrier has the best performance. RootMetrics gave Verizon a rating of 94.5, which is ahead of AT&T's 91.3.

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Yahoo Brings In Bankers, Moving Towards Possible Sale

Yahoo has taken another step towards putting itself up for sale by forming a special committee that will help decide the company's fate. The company has brought in banking advisers from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and PJT Partners who will help Yahoo.

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Apple Given 3 Extra Days To Figure Out If It'll Hack iPhone

Just in case Apple was not totally sure if it wanted to build a back door into iOS, the company has been given another three days to pick its course of action. The original order had demanded Apple give a response to the court and the FBI in five days, but that's been extended.

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ZTE Teases New Smartphone For MWC 2016

ZTE has released a new teaser for the Mobile World Congress 2016, confirming that they won't come empty-handed to the event. The press conference will take place on February 21, on the same day when Samsung and LG will announce their flagship smartphones.

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New Leaked Image Confirms LG G5's Modular Design

One of the biggest rumour of the upcoming LG G5 was the modular design, which seemed to be fake until now. Thanks to a leaked image, the LG G5 does indeed feature modular design. There will be complete mini-ecosystem of hardware add-ons and accessories.

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The Division PS4, PC Open Beta Begins Today

The open beta for The Division on PS4 and PC is opening up today. Following its arrival on the Xbox One, it has now reached all three platforms. While the open beta is available, you will have access to a new story mission that was not seen in the closed beta.

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Microsoft Translator Adds Offline, Camera Translations

An update has been released for the Microsoft Translator app that brings offline and camera-based translations to the app, though the feature updates differ between iOS and Android. Android users have received an offline AI-powered engine that works with language packs.

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Garmin Vivoactive HR, Vivofit 3 Can Tell What Activity You're Doing

Garmin has introduced two new fitness trackers that come with a software update, Move IQ, which lets the trackers figure out which sport/activity your doing. Move IQ is able to differentiate between walking, running, biking, swimming, and elliptical training.

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Facebook, Twitter Get Behind Apple In Encryption Fight

Joining WhatsApp, Google, and others, Facebook and Twitter are now supporting Apple in its fight with the FBI. The tech industry at large isn't voicing support for Apple, but many of the top tech companies are. Apple is in the process of fighting a court order.

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SpaceX Hyperloop Test Track Hit With Minor Delay

The test track for SpaceX's Hyperloop is going to open a little later than expected. Due to delays in the construction of the track, it will now move into its next phase by August (perhaps later), rather than June 2016. The track is going to be used for a competition.

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Smartwatches Are Outperforming Swiss Watches

Smartwatches are now doing better than traditional Swiss watches and much of the change in the watch market can be attributed to Apple. Research from Strategy Analytics has found more smartwatches shipped globally in Q4 2015 than watches from Switzerland.

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Three, UK Carrier, Will Block Ads On Network Level

UK wireless carrier Three is going to block advertisements on its level, preventing the worst ads from reaching users. Three is working with Shine on the ad-blocking implementation and it says the ad blocking gives subscribers "control, choice, and greater transparency."

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Optus, Huawei Reach 1.4 Gbps Download Speed Testing 4.5G

Optus and Huawei are engaged in tests of a 4.5G wireless network and their latest test reached a new speed record. Huawei says it was able to reach 1.41 Gbps during a live trial of the network, with the trial taking place in Newcastle. 4.5G should be able to roll out prior to 5G.

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[NextPowerUP]

HTC One M10 has already leaked in both Black and White, and now first image has emerged online. Unlike previous renders, the image actually shows the working phone with the latest Sense user interface, which doesn't seem to have undergone any drastic changes.

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Microsoft Might Release Flagship Lumia Phone With Snapdragon 820 In Q2

Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL smartphones might have flagship specs, but not many people actually think they are high-end products. Therefore, Microsoft is now working on another flagship smartphone that should be released by the end of Q2, or early Q3 2016.

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Oppo A30 Officially Announced, Looks Like OnePlus X

Oppo A30 is the latest smartphone from the company that looks the same as the OnePlus X Champagne edition. If we compare the design of both smartphones, it is really hard to find a difference, and the specifications are also very similar. The price will be revealed in near future

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Alcatel Announces Idol 4 And Idol 4S Phones

Alcatel is the first to unveil its products for Mobile World Congress 2016. The company has announced its new flagship smartphone Idol 4 and Idol 4s models, replacing its Idol 3 series. The handsets have already leaked in the past, so the specs list doesn't surprise much.

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LeEco Le Max Pro To Go On Sale On February 23

One of the first smartphones to be announce running Snapdragon 820 chipset is now rumoured to go on sale next week. The LeEco Le Max Pro smartphone will go on sale in China next Tuesday, on February 23, but only 1,000 units will be available on that day.

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Oppo To Unveil Next-Gen Wireless Charging Tech

Oppo won't miss the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2016, but the company won't announce only new smartphones. Alongside, it is rumoured to unveil its next-gen wireless charging tech. Fast charging and long battery time are something high-end phones should have by default.

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LG K10 Launches In Europe, Costs Only €249

The budget LG K10 is now available for purchase in Greece, while other European countries should get it in upcoming weeks. The retailer is asking €249 for the handset that is powered by Snapdragon 410 SoC. Customers can also pay for the handset in 12 installments.

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LG Now Accepting Registrations For G5 Phone

With less than a day before becoming official, LG has started accepting pre-registrations for the flagship G5 smartphone in the United States. With endless rumours and leaks, there are not many things we don't know about it, except how the modular design actually works.

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Google Removing Ads From Right Side Of Desktop Searches

Google is getting rid of all right-side advertisements in its desktop search results. The company usually displays ads across the search page, but it is going to switch to only showing them on the top and bottom of the results. Google will sometimes have a fourth top ad now.

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HTC A16 Leak Reveals New Mid-Range Smartphone

Images of what is allegedly the HTC A16 have come out and they reveal what the new mid-range handset is going to look like. The six leaked images come from well-known leaker Evan Blass and the pictures weren't accompanied by any device specs or release information.

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US Justice Department Claims Apple's Back Door Refusal Is A 'Marketing Strategy'

The United States Department of Justice is hitting back at Apple's claim that it cares about user security too much to cooperate with the FBI and provide a back door into iOS. According to a filing from the Justice Department, Apple is refusing as a "marketing strategy."

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Samsung Pay Has 5M Users, Processed $500M In 6 Months

Samsung's mobile payments service, Samsung Pay, has grown to 5 million users and $500 million in payments in just six months. The company says most of its current registered users are from South Korea and the United States. Samsung will expand Pay's reach shortly.

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Valve Turning Team Fortress 2 Into An eSports-Ready Game

Valve is soon going to add features to Team Fortress 2 that will make the game ready for eSports competitions. The company says it will begin a round of beta testing for a competitive matchmaking mode in the coming week. Only some players will have access to the beta.

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Facebook Messenger For Android Adds Multiple Account Support

The Facebook Messenger app on Android has been updated with support for multiple accounts, allowing you to easily switch between users. Facebook says this feature will help families who normally use just one device when accessing the massaging service.

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Motorola Won't Release Lollipop For DROID Ultra, Mini And Maxx

Android Lollipop operating system has become almost standard for any new smartphones, and many companies have updated their old lineup. Motorola has updated most of its lineup, but some smartphones that were expected to get the update, will not get it.

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More Live Photos And Leaked Brochure Confirm Everything We Need To Know About Galaxy S7

With only a day before the official announcement, another set of live images and official brochure has revealed everything we need to know about the Galaxy S7 smartphones. Although we already knew everything, this leak has just confirmed all of the rumours in the past few months.

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Google Creating Engineering Team In Singapore To Focus On Southeast Asia

To increase its focus on the southeast Asian market, Google is going to create a large engineering team in Singapore. The team will be Google's first in the area and the company also plans to train up to 100,000 developers over a period of 4 years in Indonesia.

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Volvo Plans To Let Drivers Ditch Car Keys, Use Phone App Instead

Volvo intends to become the first car company to move away from car keys. The company is kicking off a trial this year in Sweden in which cars will be sold without a physical key that has to be used, meaning customers can use a mobile application instead.

More...

Will.I.Am Has A Second Smartwatch

Will.i.am is not giving up on the smartwatch market despite his first device, the Puls, not doing well. He has introduced a new wearable, called the Dial, that will be available exclusively to Three subscribers in the United Kingdom. It accepts a SIM card.

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[NextPowerUP]

At MWC 2016, Sony has re-imagined Xperia brand with new smartphone series. Dubbed the Xperia X, the lineup consists of three phones - Xperia X, Xperia XA and Xperia X Performance. The lineup has something for all customers, from mid-range to high-end smartphones.

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Lenovo Announces Yoga 510, Yoga 710 Convertibles, And IdeaPad MIIX 310 2-in-1 Tablet

Apart from announcing two new phones and three new tablets, Lenovo has also showed some love for notebook users. The company has officially announced two new convertible laptops dubbed Yoga 510 and Yoga 710, alongside new Windows 10 based tablet IdeaPad MIIX 310 2-in-1 tablet.

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Lenovo Unveils New Tab 3 Tablet Series

Alongside new Vibe K5 and Vibe K5 Plus smartphones, Lenovo has also announced something for the tablet-loving crowd. The new Lenovo Tab 3 tablet series consists of Tab3 7, Tab3 8 and Tab3 10 Business models, and aims both consumer and business users.

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Lenovo Introduces Vibe K5 And Vibe K5 Plus

The first announcement from Lenovo was the budget Vibe K5 and Vibe K5 Plus smartphones. They share the same platform except for a few hardware differences. Considering its specs, the phones are well priced and will set you $129 and $149, respectively.

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Alcatel Unveils Entry-Level Pop 4 Lineup At MWC

After announcing flagship Idol 4 and Idol 4S smartphones two days before the MWC officially started, the company has now also announced new smartphones for budget-oriented customers. The new Pop 4, Pop 4+ and Pop 4S fall into entry-level to mid-range category of handsets.

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HTC Refreshes Desire Lineup With Three New Phones

At Mobile World Congress 2016, HTC has re-announced One X9 handset and refreshed Desire lineup with three new smartphones. Unlike the One X9, the Desire 825, Desire 630 and Desire 530 smartphones come with brand new design and improved specifications list.

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HTC Re-Announces One X9, Packs Mid-Range Specs Into Beautiful Body

Back in December, HTC has officially announced mid-range One X9 smartphone, which was now re-announced at the Mobile World Congress 2016. The handset is expected to reach markets in North Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the rest of Asia by the end of this month.

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Samsung Unveils A 360-Degree Lightweight Camera

Besides announcing flagship smartphones, Samsung has also unveiled something new. The company has made the first step into the virtual reality with the new Gear 360 camera. The new 360-degree camera is expected to go on sale sometime in the Q2 and will compete with LG's camera.

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Samsung Announces Flagship Galaxy S7 And Galaxy S7 Edge Smartphones

The waiting is finally over! Samsung has officially took off the wraps from its flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. It looks like rumours have been legit as there are almost no new details that we didn't know about, but they still look impressive.

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Xiaomi To Use In-House Smartphone Chips Beginning 2H 2016

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is reportedly set to begin using its own phone processors in the second half of 2016. The Xiaomi-designed chips will primarily be used in entry-level and mid-range RedMi Note phones, according to a report from Reuters.

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HTC A16 Specs Leaked, Appears To Be Entry-Level

The HTC A16's specs have leaked online and it appears the phone will be an entry-level device instead of a mid-range phone. A leakster, @LlabTooFeR, posted the specs, which include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 201 processor, 1.5 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of expandable storage.

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Samsung Dongle Collects Car Data, Provides WiFi Hotspot

Samsung has launched a dongle, the Samsung Connect Auto Dongle, that can provide your vehicle with 4G LTE wireless service. The device was introduced at MWC 2016 and in addition to functioning as a hotspot, the dongle collects important car data for analysis.

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Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages Arrive On February 24

Google will begin the roll out of its Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) on February 24, according to Ad Age. The feature is similar to Facebook Instant Articles in that it optimizes the mobile display format of articles to help them load faster and look nicer.

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Google Tests Article Recommendations In Chrome

Google is experimenting with the addition of article recommendations in its Chrome browser. The experiment includes placing article links on the new tab page in Chrome and the recommendations will be made based on your traffic history and other factors.

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LG Enters VR World With LG 360 VR Headset

LG has officially entered the virtual reality market. The company introduced a headset at MWC 2016, the LG 360 VR, that operates via a smartphone connection. Unlike the Galaxy Gear VR and similar products, the phone is tethered to the LG G5, but the phone doesn't dock.

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Huawei MateBook Launches, Costs $699

Huawei's Surface competitor, the MateBook, has launched and it is going to be sold for $699+. The tablet runs Windows 10 and it can be used with a $129 keyboard case. An optional pressure-sensitive stylus is also going to be available for an additional $69.

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LG G5 Announced, Features A Modular Design

LG has announced its G5 smartphone at MWC 2016 and one of the core parts of the phone is its modular design. The 5.3-inch handset has a bottom piece that can separate from the rest of the phone, providing an attachment point for modules. LG has introduced two modules.

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HTC Vive Given $799 Price Tag, Available In Early April

HTC has finally announced the Vive's price tag and release date. The virtual reality headset is going to enter the market at $799 and it will be available in early April 2016. Preorders for the Vive kick off on February 29, according to HTC's announcement in Barcelona.

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Microsoft Might Release Flagship Lumia Phone With Snapdragon 820 In Q2

Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL smartphones might have flagship specs, but not many people actually think they are high-end products. Therefore, Microsoft is now working on another flagship smartphone that should be released by the end of Q2, or early Q3 2016.

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[NextPowerUP]

As promised, Oppo has officially announced its new charging technology at the MWC 2016. The new VOOC Super Flash Charge technology is able to fully charge a device in just 15 minutes thanks to a newly developed low-voltage pulse-charge algorithm and other technical innovations.

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Fallout 4 For PC Gets Mod Support In April

Official support for modding will be added to Fallout 4 on PC in April. Support for mods is coming after the release of Automatron, the game's first DLC, according to director Todd Howard. After it is released on PC, mod support will arrive on consoles.

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EV Charger Company Making Wireless Charger For Tesla Model S

Wireless charging is soon going to be available for the Tesla Model S, but it won't be coming from Tesla. Plugless, an EV charger company, is coming out with a wireless charging system for Tesla's premium electric vehicle. The system will provide 20 miles per hour of charging.

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Valve Tool Tells You If Your PC Is Vive Ready

Valve has released a tool that will let you know if your computer is ready for use with the upcoming HTC Vive. The Vive is coming out soon and it was created by HTC and Valve. Valve's SteamVR Performance Test Tool can be used to determine how well the Vive will work.

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Vivo Confirms Snapdragon 820 CPU And 6 GB Of RAM For Xplay 5

With the latest released teaser, Vivo has just confirmed all the previous rumours about the upcoming Xplay 5 flagship. According to the teaser, the flagship smartphone will indeed feature Qualcomm's high-end Snapdragon 820 chipset and impressive 6 GB of RAM.

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ZTE Rolls Out Android Marshmallow To Axon Pro Owners

Amongst announcing new products at the Mobile World Congress 2016, ZTE has announced that the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update is now rolling out for the Axon Pro owners. The update is only available for Axon Pro, while the Axon owners will get it soon.

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Imagination Technologies Introduces Next-Gen PowerVR GPUs

The well-known mobile GPU manufacturer has just introduced new, more powerful and efficient GPU family. The new PowerVR Series8XE GPU family is aimed at the entry-level mobiles and embedded market, and brings up to 100 percent boost in performance per mm2 compared to rival GPUs.

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SanDisk Launches Extreme Pro MicroSD Card

Nowadays mobile storage is pretty satisfying compared to a few years ago, but the improvement of the camera performance and other things, there is need for even more storage. There are various cheap microSD cards, but if you need the best then SanDisk has something for you.

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Archos Announces Diamond 2 Plus And Diamond 2 Note Handsets

The French company Archos has announced two new smartphones called Diamond 2 Plus and Diamond 2 Note. The Plus variant comes in Black and White colors priced at €249, while the Note model comes in Silver priced at €299, and both will be available in May.

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Lightroom For Android Adds RAW Shooting

An update is headed to the Adobe Lightroom app on Android that comes with added support for RAW shooting. The app can be used to shoot in DNG (an Adobe format), but you will need to have a phone that supports RAW shooting for the app's feature to work.

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Halo 5 Microtransactions Have Brought In Over $1.5 Million

Microtransactions have been a pretty good source of revenue in Halo 5: Guardians. Microsoft says they've brought in over $1.5 million and that's up from the $1 million that was reported in December 2015. Revenue is being allocated to the Halo World Championship.

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Alcatel Unveils Plus 10, Its First 2-in-1 Tablet

Besides announcing flagship Idol 4 lineup and entry-level Pop 4 series, Alcatel has also announced its first 2-in-1 tablet that looks like a handy little device. Dubbed the Alcatel Plus 10, the device runs on Windows 10 and is expected to hit the shops in the EMEA region in June.

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Verizon Begins 5G Field Tests Near Headquarters

Verizon plans to be the first US wireless provider to have a 5G network and it is heavily investing in new network technology development. The carrier says it has begun 5G tests in the field and it's working with Samsung on the tests. It's trialing the technology in vehicles.

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Gionee S8 Gets Announced, Features Metal Body And 3D Touch Display

As expected, Gionee has announced a new flagship smartphone at this year's MWC 2016. The new Gionee S8 smartphone comes with sleek metal body, high-end specifications and mid-range price. The phone comes in Rose Gold, Grey and Gold colors priced at €449 Euro.

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Federal Authorities Say No Hoverboard Is Safe

There is no hoverboard you should be using right now, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). John Drengenberg, director of the CPSC, says the hoverboards should pass the regulator's certification to show they are safe for regular use.

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MediaTek Announces New SoCs Aimed At Mid-Range Phones And Fitness Devices

MediaTek has announced new member of the P family of chipsets dubbed the Helio P20. The chipset is expected to reach retail products in the second half of 2016, and comes with great improvements over the P10. Alongside, the company has announced new SoC for fitness devices.

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Acer Liquid Zest And Liquid Zest 4G Handsets Get Announced

At this year's MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Acer has unveiled their new flagship smartphone. Alongside the flagship Liquid Jade 2, the company has also announced more affordable Liquid Zest and Liquid Zest 4G phones, which will go on sale in EMEA region in April priced at €109 and €149

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Acer Liquid Jade 2 Provides 1 TB Of Hybrid Storage

Acer has introduced a new Android smartphone, the Liquid Jade 2, which offers 1 TB of mixed storage. The "hybrid" storage setup for the phone includes 32 GB of internal storage and an additional 1 TB of cloud storage. Acer hasn't fully explained the setup.

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Galaxy S7 Teardown Reveals Liquid Cooling System

The first teardown of the Galaxy S7 has been completed and it reveals the phone's liquid cooling system. That system uses flat copper piping and provides cooling for the CPU and GPU, both of which can generate a fair amount of heat in the right circumstances.

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ZTE Unveils Blade V7 And Blade V7 Lite Smartphones

ZTE Blade V7 and Blade V7 Lite are the latest additions to the Blade series, announced today at the Mobile World Congress 2016. The smartphones come with mid-range specifications and will be available later this year in various European countries, but no word on pricing yet.

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[NextPowerUP]

Before announcing the flagship Mi 5 smartphone, Xiaomi has unveiled the more affordable Mi 4s smartphone. The handset will replace the last year's Xiaomi Mi 4i and is supposed to find its place somewhere between the Mi 4 and the new Mi 5 smartphones.

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Xiaomi Announces Flagship Mi 5 Smartphone

Another flagship smartphone has been announced at Mobile World Congress and this time it is from Xiaomi. The long rumoured Xiaomi Mi 5 is aimed at the most demanding users and will compete with other flagship phones such as Galaxy S7, G5, Xperia Z5 and others.

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Fitbit Is The Leader In Wearables, But Market Share Is Dropping

Fitbit is still the biggest wearable device maker in the world, but its share of the industry is dropping. A report from IDC shows Fitbit shipped 21 million units in 2015, which is up from 10.9 million in 2014. That's a significant increase, but smaller than Xiaomi's.

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Eero Router Now Shipping, Claims To Eliminate Dead Zones

The Eero router is now headed to those who preordered it and the team behind the router claims it has managed to get rid of WiFi dead zones. If your home is large enough, you will normally encounter areas with little/no service, but Eero has addressed the dead zones.

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Spotify Migrating Entire Service To Google Cloud

Spotify is moving off its own data centers and migrating into another company's cloud. Unlike many companies, such as Netflix, which have picked Amazon Web Services, Spotify has moved to the Google cloud. Google has a massive cloud infrastructure that it's built for years.

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Samsung Details Its Dual Pixel Technology

Samsung has announced the long anticipated flagship smartphones at the MWC. The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge look great both live and on paper, but there are some key improvements, especially in the camera department with the new Dual Pixel technology.

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Telegram, Encrypted Messaging App, Reaches 100 Million Users

Telegram has positioned itself as a secure alternative to messaging apps like WhatsApp and it's been quite successful in doing so. The app now has over 100 million active users, which is up from 60 million in May 2015. Telegram has only existed for a few years.

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Amazon Enters Clothing Industry With Fashion Labels

Amazon has decided to become a part of the fashion industry by introducing seven fashion labels. The brand names recently appeared and it has been confirmed they are all owned by Amazon. They include Society New York, Lark & Ro, Scout + Ro, and Franklin & Freeman.

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Vivo Xplay 5 Renders Leak Online

There are so many choices these days and every new flagship smartphone would be enough for 99% of people, it only matters which one suits you best. Vivo has also a phone for flagship battle and according to latest details and renders, the Xplay 5 is a real thing.

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DJI Launches Care Repair Service For Its Drones

If you have never tried controlling a drone, there is a high possibility to damage one. If you own a drone made by DJI, then there is another chance for your damaged drone. The company has just announced a repair service called Care, that is available for its drones.

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ARM Introduces 32-Bit Cortex-A32 Processor For IoT Applications

After announcing new Cortex-R8 real-time processor, ARM has announced a replacement for the Cortex-A7 and Cortex-A5 processors. The new "ultra-efficient" Cortex-A32 processor is designed for use in embedded applications and Internet of Things connected devices.

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Western Digital Reaffirms Plans To Acquire SanDisk

Western Digital is well-known for its hard drives, but to strengthen its position and increase ability to make flash memory storage chips, the company has agreed to buy SanDisk for $19 billion, which was almost canceled because of one of its biggest shareholders.

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Haier Announces Stylish High-End Smartwatch

A Chinese consumer electronics company primarily known for manufacturing domestic appliances has just announced a new high-end smartwatch at the MWC 2016 in Barcelona. The biggest difference over other premium watches is it uses custom Android 6.0 Marshmallow-based ROM.

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Oppo Announces Sensor-Based Image Stabilization Tech

On the second day of MWC 2016, Oppo has announced two new technologies - the Super VOOC tech that charges smartphones in 15 minutes and the sensor-based image stabilization. Dubbed the SmartSensor Image Stabilization, it is the first sensor-based image stabilization tech.

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Microsoft HoloLens Start Menu Shown In Leaked Video

The HoloLens' augmented reality start menu has been shown in a leaked video that showcases the product's interface. In the video, Microsoft's Actiongram app is detailed and we get to see how the app is located in the HoloLens, thereby revealing the device's start menu.

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Activision Blizzard Closes $5.9 Billion Acquisition Of King

Activision Blizzard has finished its acquisition of King, the company behind Candy Crush, for $5.9 billion. This deal makes Activision Blizzard the largest game network on Earth with over 500 million users, since it puts Candy Crush under the same roof as games like WoW.

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Justice Department Wants Apple To Unlock 12 Other iPhones

The Justice Department and FBI's request to have Apple provide a backdoor into the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone has received a lot of attention, but the Wall Street Journal says the Justice Department also wants "about 12 other iPhones" to be unlocked.

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BioShock Remasters Likely Headed To PS4, Xbox One

Remasters of the BioShock series appear to be headed to the current generation of consoles. A Brazilian ratings board has listed some details about a bundle called BioShock: The Collection. That upcoming bundle is headed to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

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HTC One M10 Rear Shown In Leaked Photo

The upcoming HTC One M10 has leaked again, with the latest leak revealing the handset's rear. The photo was originally from a Weibo account, though the post has since been deleted. In the photo, the One M10's back is shown, allowing us to check out the phone's body.

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T-Mobile Unboxes The Galaxy S7 Underwater

T-Mobile has released an unboxing video for the Galaxy S7 that showcases the phone's waterproof nature. Des, a product manager, is shown unboxing the phone entirely underwater in a pool while wearing a snorkel and goggles. The phone can be used underwater for 30 minutes.

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[NextPowerUP]

There were some rumours that Samsung jumped into the race, but it looks like Sharp has accepted Foxconn's offer and will be acquired for $6.2 billion. The company will acquire two-thirds of Sharp, which is the largest acquisition of a Japanese tech firm by a foreign company.

More...

OnePlus 3 Coming In The Q2, To Feature Completely New Design

The company got so much attention with the latest flagship OnePlus 2 smartphone, but phone as well received as the first OnePlus One. Today, new rumours have appeared online saying that OnePlus is working on its successor and will introduce it sometime in the Q2.

More...

HTC Teases Upcoming One M10 Handset

HTC has started teasing us with images of upcoming flagship One M10 handset. Codenamed HTC Perfume, the smartphone is expected to go official sometime in March, but won't reach shelves until May. Those details are of course not confirmed by the company.

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Viber 5.8 For iOS Now Supports 3D Touch

Viber has just announced that a new version of iOS app is now available. The new app comes with new features, including the 3D Force Touch support for iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, which was already available for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and a few other applications.

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ZOPO Announces Speed 7C And Speed 8 Smartphones

As promised, ZOPO has officially announced two new smartphones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The ZOPO Speed 8 handset powered by Helio X20 SoC was unveiled today by the MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, alongside the cheaper Speed 7C smartphone.

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Siri Reportedly Headed To Mac This Year

Apple's digital assistant, Siri, will reportedly make its way to Mac this year. 9to5Mac reports Siri will be introduced to Mac with the next version of OS X, which is going to arrive in 2016. Siri will be located in the menu bar next to the Mac's clock and Spotlight icons.

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Time Inc Interested In Buying Yahoo

Time Inc has joined the list of possible Yahoo acquirers. Sources told Bloomberg that bankers from Citigroup, who are helping Yahoo negotiate deals, provided a presentation about Yahoo to Time executives. Joe Ripp, Time's CEO, is very interested in Yahoo.

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Wordpress Turns Google AMP On By Default For Users

Google's accelerated mobile pages (AMP) have arrived and they've immediately been adopted by Wordpress, which is used by around 60 million websites. AMP improves a site's mobile presence by reducing the data load of pages and speeding them up for visitors.

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HP Extends iPass Agreements, PCs Come With Free WiFi

HP has extended its agreement with iPass, providing customers with unlimited WiFi service around the globe. Many HP computers will come with a free WiFi pass that'll work with the millions of iPass hotspots that exist. Customers receive service for two to three years.

More...

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Story Trailer Released

Sony has released a new trailer for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and it provides a closer look at the game's storyline. A fair amount of Uncharted 4's gameplay has already been shown, though this trailer does provide a different look at the upcoming game.

More...

Xiaomi Demonstrates Mi 5's Optical Video Stabilization

There seems to be no end to great things about the Xiaomi Mi 5. Following the announcement of its flagship Mi 5 smartphone at MWC 2016, the company has released a new video comparing its new 16-megapixel rear camera against iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus.

More...

Uber Begins Transporting People With Motorcycles

Uber has added another transportation option that's only available in Bangkok, Thailand. The service, UberMOTO, lets you get around on the back of someone's motorcycle and Uber hopes the service will be useful in cities where traffic congestion is significant.

More...

Meizu PRO 5 Mini Production Postponed Indefinitely Due To Earthquake

Meizu has no clue when its PRO 5 Mini smartphone will enter the market now that an earthquake in Taiwan has largely destroyed the facilities that had been working on it. Until now, Meizu hadn't publicly acknowledged the phone, but it did while discussing the earthquake on Weibo.

More...

Germany To Use Trojans To Spy On Suspects

Trojans will be used by the German government to spy on suspected criminals. The German Interior Ministry has approved the use of Trojans and the one that's been developed, referred to as Bundestrojaner, can track a user's web activity, conversations, keystrokes, and webcam use.

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CS:GO Prize Pool Grows To $1 Million

Valve has increased the size of the prize pools for its Counter Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship. The pool for each event is now up to $1 million and Valve says the growth it has seen in the game's community is behind its decision to invest more money.

More...

Sony Holding PlayStation VR Event On March 15

More information will come out about the PlayStation VR on March 15, which is the date Sony has given for its next VR event. Little has been said about the virtual reality headset for months, but we are close to learning a bit more about it. The event is at GDC.

More...

Apple Calls For Congress To Decide On Phone Encryption, Security

Apple wants Congress, not the courts, to decide whether it should be forced to build a back door into iOS to skirt around encryption. The Associated Press (AP) reports Apple is going to push for Congress' involvement and Apple believes it has a good chance of a positive ruling.

More...

Mastercard Soon Rolling Out Selfie Pay In UK, Other Markets

MasterCard's "selfie pay" system for payment confirmations has been trialed in the US and Netherlands, and now MasterCard is bringing it to 15 other countries by the summer. With selfie pay, you can confirm a payment via facial recognition, allowing you to avoid pin codes.

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Doom For Xbox Preorders Come With Original Games

If you preorder Doom for Xbox One, you can receive the original Doom games for free. Preorders are now live on the Xbox Store and the store says preorder customers can, for a limited time, receive Doom and Doom 2. Those games will be delivered within 10 days of your purchase.

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Facebook Reactions Launches Worldwide

The popular social network has just launched an alternative to the Like button, a set of new emoticons that express different responses to a post. The Facebook Reactions are rolling out globally as we speak, but it could take time to reach all users of the social network.

More...

[NextPowerUP]

Apple was rumoured to launch the new iPad Air 3 and iPhone 5se on March 15, but new information suggest some big changes. Instead of the iPad Air 3, Apple will launch the iPad Pro with 9.7-inch display alongside iPhone 5se, and the launch date isn't March 15, but March 22.

More...

BlackBerry Acquires British Firm Encription

The Canadian smartphone manufacturer has announced that it has acquired UK-based cyber security consultancy Encription. The terms of the Encription deal were not disclosed, but it should give BlackBerry opportunity to improve and sell some of its own security products.

More...

Verizon Releases Security Update For Galaxy Tab S2

Verizon Wireless has just announced a new software update for Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, which has been tested to optimize device performance, resolve known issues and apply the latest security patches. The exact changes aren't released, except it comes with February security updates

More...

OnePlus 2, OnePlus 3 And Xiaomi Mi 5 To Get Windows 10 Mobile ROM

Windows Mobile platform isn't the main choice for any people buying a new smartphone, especially the flagship one. Microsoft is aware of that and has decided to change some things about it. The company allegedly plans to release Window 10 Mobile ROMs for certain flagship phones.

More...

HTC One M10 To Have "Very Compelling Camera" And Three Storage Options

HTC One M10 is getting more specifications leaked as we are approaching its official announcement date. The smartphone is expected to go official in March and will hit the market in May. Its biggest advantage looks to be a camera, which will be "very, very compelling."

More...

Samsung Galaxy S7 To Lock To The Carrier Of The First Inserted SIM Card

Samsung has decided to make things different with the new Galaxy S7 lineup, and not only in the hardware or design things, but also software side. According to leaked slide, Samsung decided to lock the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge to the carrier of the first inserted SIM card.

More...

Intex Aqua Fish With Sailfish OS To Launch This April

Jolla is having a small crisis, but the company is determined to bounce back with a new smartphone that will be powered by its latest Sailfish operating system. Jolla had partnered with two companies - Intex, to develop the phone, and Mi-Fone, to launch the phone in Africa.

More...

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ Gets Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow

The owners of the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ are starting to report that the latest Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update is now rolling out, following the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, and Note5. The update seems to be rolling out only in the company's home country of South Korea.

More...

Xiaomi Mi 5 To Launch Only In Core Markets

Xiaomi's VP Hugo Barra introduced the Mi 5 flagship smartphone two days ago at the MWC 2016 event in Barcelona. Due to positive first impressions, he decided to share some details on the availability and they are not great. The phone will be available only in core markets.

More...

Huawei Honor 6 Updated To Android 6.0 Marshmallow

As promised, Huawei is now rolling out the latest Google operating system to the owners of Honor 6 smartphone. The owners are now reporting to be receiving the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update OTA, which is around 700 MB in size and updates the build number to H60-L04C675B810.

More...

Xiaomi Mi 5 Tested Against Galaxy S7 And LG G5

MWC 2016 has been very interesting, especially for the flagship segment where we could see the announcement of Samsung Galaxy S7, LG G5 and Xiaomi Mi 5. Those three phones will go head to head in the upcoming months and according to first result, the Mi 5 have a slight advantage.

More...

17.3-inch Maingear Nomad VR Gaming Notebook Gets Announced

Maingear has announced 17.3-inch Nomad VR gaming notebook that has just got refreshed with desktop Skylake and GTX 980 graphics. The laptop is based on a Clevo barebone and should be enough for the upcoming virtual reality headsets and other gaming titles.

More...

Panasonic Announces Rugged Smartphones With Windows 10 And Android_

During Mobile World Congress, Panasonic has announced two new smartphones running Windows 10 IoT Mobile Enterprise and Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. Dubbed Toughpad FZ-F1 and Toughpad FZ-N1, the rugged smartphones are expected to go on sale in March and in summer, respectively.

More...

Google And Lenovo Officially Announces Partnership For Project Tango Phone

Two tech giants have officially announced partnership for the Project Tango smartphone, which is expected to go official this summer. There are still no official details regarding pricing and availability, but according to reports the smartphone will be priced at around $500.

More...

Gmail For Android Gets Rich Formatting, Instant RSVP

Google has updated its Gmail for Android app, adding rich text formatting and instant RSVP to the email software. The new text editing options let you underline and italicize words, as well as change the background color of text. Those options had only been on the web before.

More...

Huawei Taps Leica For Smartphone Cameras

Huawei has partnered with Leica to improve the performance of its smartphone cameras. The Chinese phone company is working with Leica (Germany), which is known for creating very expensive lenses and cameras. Their partnership was announced at the CP+ show in Japan.

More...

Samsung Creates 256 GB Chips For Smartphones

Samsung is building 256 GB flash chips that will be used in smartphones, providing them with good read speeds and larger amounts of storage. The chips use the Universal Flash Storage 2.0 standard and they have read speeds twice as high as regular SSDs at 850 MB/s.

More...

LG Not Making A Nexus Phone This Year

LG is not going to come out with a Nexus phone this year, according to a company executive who spoke with CNET, but LG remains "totally happy" with its relationship with Google. Since 2012, LG has been behind multiple Nexus phones, including the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and Nexus 5X.

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Pokemon Sun And Moon Launching February 26

Nintendo is expected to announce two new Pokemon games tomorrow. The Pokemon game series is turning 20 this week and Nintendo has scheduled a Pokemon Direct event for February 26, at which point we should be introduced to Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon.

More...

Twitch Chat Replays Being Added For Recorded Casts

Twitch is now going to save chat logs from live broadcasts and make them available when you watch a recorded stream or highlight. The Chat Replay function syncs up the recorded stream to the chat, making it seem as though you are watching an interactive broadcast.

More...

[NextPowerUP]

Continuing on from last week, this series of articles is to help keep you guys up to date with what's been happening in the gaming world, and fill you in on what's coming in the week to come. I'll be announcing game releases, interviews, as well as introducing next

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Early Popcorn Time Fork Officially Announces Return

An early version of the Popcorn Time project, a Netflix-like service for torrented files, has announced its return following a mysterious week of resumed operations. An update for the service, Hail Hydra, has come out from an anonymous group of developers.

More...

Case Maker Leak Confirms iPhone 5se Uses iPhone 5s Design

Renders from an iPhone case maker have reportedly leaked and they reveal the iPhone 5se, Apple's 4-inch handset, is going to stick with the iPhone 5s' design. These renders were created in preparation for upcoming announcements, but they ended up online.

More...

Nintendo Confirms Two Pokemon Games For 3DS, Arriving This Year

Nintendo has announced two Pokemon games, confirming rumors that appeared earlier in the week. The games, Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon, will arrive near the holidays for the 3DS. Nintendo announced the games during a six-minute Nintendo Direct presentation.

More...

NASA Gives SpaceX Five Cargo Missions Worth $700 Million

SpaceX has been awarded five additional cargo missions to the International Space Station. NASA gave those missions to SpaceX instead of Orbital ATK, which has not been given any extra trips for its existing contract. SpaceX's new missions are worth around $700 million.

More...

Nintendo Reduces Forecasts, 3DS Sales Fall Short

Nintendo has dropped its forecasted financial performance for fiscal year 2016 due to low sales of the new 3DS and 3DS XL. It believed it was going to ship 7.6 million units between April 2015 and March 2016, but it now looks like it will only ship 6.6 million.

More...

Apple, FBI Will Testify Before Congress On Encryption Next Week

Apple and the FBI are scheduled to testify before Congress next week in order to provide politicians with differing views on encryption. Apple has said it wants Congress to decide whether strong encryption should exist and it'll begin arguing its case in that arena soon.

More...

Microsoft Ends Project Astoria, Not Assisting Android To Windows Porting

Microsoft has ended its plan to help developers port apps from Android to Windows 10. The company's Project Astoria was going to make the porting process easy through the use of bridge tools, but that project has been cancelled. Microsoft introduced Astoria at Bridge 2015.

More...

Foxconn Pauses On Sharp Deal, Discovers Large Liabilities

Foxconn's $6.2 billion acquisition of Sharp is now on hold due to Foxconn's discovery of significant liabilities at Sharp that hadn't been disclosed. The liabilities could be worth "hundreds of billions of yen," and that has resulted in Foxconn halting the deal.

More...

Google Launches DeepMind Health, Will Use Software To Improve Health

A division within DeepMind, an artificial intelligence company owned by Google, has been announced and it's focused on improving healthcare. DeepMind Health will use software to help health workers identify possible complications with their patients.

More...

Nissan Disables App That Can Be Used To Hack Electric Vehicle

Nissan has disabled a smartphone app that was used by hackers to take control of its Leaf electric vehicle. The app, which is the primary smartphone companion for the Leaf, could be used to remotely operate some parts of the car, security researchers found.

More...

Mercedes Replacing Many Assembly Line Robots With Humans

In a break from the usual trend of robots taking over human jobs in the workplace, Mercedes has gotten rid of many assembly line robots and replaced them with people. This change has come about due to the robots being unable to handle the large amount of customization available.

More...

Xbox One, PS4 Getting Resident Evil 4, 5, And 6 This Year

Some of the older Resident Evil games are going to be released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this year. Capcom says it is coming out with remastered versions of Resident Evil 4, 5, and 6 for the platforms and they will be released over the course of 2016.

More...

YouTube Tool Lets You Blur Any Moving Object In Video

YouTube has introduced a new video editing tool that lets you blur out any moving object in your video. All you have to do is draw a box around the object and YouTube will process your video so that the object remains blurred, even if it's moving around a bit.

More...

Microsoft's Hub Keyboard On Android Integrates Other Apps

Microsoft has released a keyboard app on Android that is not found on its own mobile platform. The company's Hub Keyboard is able to reduce app-hopping by integrating some app functions, such as sharing, translations, and document searching in OneDrive.

More...

Facebook Unveils Full-Screen Mobile 'Canvas' Ads

Facebook has introduced a new advertising option for its network on mobile devices. During an event in New York, Facebook introduced its 'Canvas' interactive mobile ads. The ads take up your entire display and contain content like slideshows, videos, photos, and descriptions.

More...

Apple Hires Top Signal Developer

Apple has hired a lead developer of Signal, an encrypted messaging app that even NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden openly supports. Frederic Jacobs has announced he will be working at Apple moving forward and his time at the company begins in the summer.

More...

Samsung Pay Beta Arrives In China

Samsung's mobile payments system, Samsung Pay, is now operational in China. Its arrival in that market comes a week after Apple Pay reached China and both services are up against strong competition from some of China's domestic payment options, like WeChat Wallet and Alipay.

More...

Microsoft Is 'Wholeheartedly' Supporting Apple In FBI Case

Microsoft has announced it is "wholeheartedly" supportive of Apple's stance in the company's case with the FBI. The FBI has requested Apple provide what's effectively a backdoor into iOS, but Apple believes doing so could broadly compromise security and set a bad precedent.

More...

Facebook Live Streaming Arrives On Android

Facebook's live video streaming is no longer exclusive to iOS users. The broadcasting feature is now on Android as well, beginning with people in the United States. On iOS, Facebook Live is already operational in the US and abroad. International Android users will get it soon.

More...

[NextPowerUP]

Samsung is reportedly interested in acquiring Tidal, a music streaming service that's owned by Jay-Z. A report from the New York Post says Samsung has reignited its talks with Tidal, though Tidal has also been exploring mergers with Google and Spotify.

More...

Oculus Receiving An Exclusive Card Game 'Dragon Front'

The Oculus Rift is going to receive an exclusive collectible card game in the spring. Dragon Front, a game from High Voltage Software and Oculus, was announced by Oculus on its blog. Dragon Front is the first exclusive title that's been announced since preorders began.

More...

Sprint Returning To Two-Year Contracts

Sprint stopped offering two-year service contracts to its customers in January 2016, but the carrier is bringing them back. Its website now lists a 2-year service deal as one option for customers, joining an installment plan, paying the full price, or leasing their device.

More...

Court Overturns Apple's $120 Million Win Against Samsung

One of Apple's patent infringement cases against Samsung has gone from being a $2.2 billion claim to a $0 claim. The latest ruling in the case from the US Circuit Court of Appeals has determined Samsung doesn't owe Apple the $120 million it was awarded by a jury in 2014.

More...

Nintendo NX, New Zelda Said To Launch In 2016

We may see Nintendo's new console and a new Zelda game before the end of the year. Information from a "verified source" has been posted online by a NeoGAF user and that information includes Nintendo's plan to launch the NX alongside a new Zelda sometime in 2016.

More...

HTC Confirms New Flagship Coming 'Soon', Is Interested In Mobile VR

HTC has confirmed it is going to announce a new flagship smartphone shortly and the company is also exploring mobile virtual reality. The confirmation comes from Drew Bamford, HTC's Creative Labs corporate VP. HTC's rumored One M10 is said to include 4 GB of RAM.

More...

Early Popcorn Time Fork Officially Announces Return

An early version of the Popcorn Time project, a Netflix-like service for torrented files, has announced its return following a mysterious week of resumed operations. An update for the service, Hail Hydra, has come out from an anonymous group of developers.

More...

Case Maker Leak Confirms iPhone 5se Uses iPhone 5s Design

Renders from an iPhone case maker have reportedly leaked and they reveal the iPhone 5se, Apple's 4-inch handset, is going to stick with the iPhone 5s' design. These renders were created in preparation for upcoming announcements, but they ended up online.

More...

Nintendo Confirms Two Pokemon Games For 3DS, Arriving This Year

Nintendo has announced two Pokemon games, confirming rumors that appeared earlier in the week. The games, Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon, will arrive near the holidays for the 3DS. Nintendo announced the games during a six-minute Nintendo Direct presentation.

More...

NASA Gives SpaceX Five Cargo Missions Worth $700 Million

SpaceX has been awarded five additional cargo missions to the International Space Station. NASA gave those missions to SpaceX instead of Orbital ATK, which has not been given any extra trips for its existing contract. SpaceX's new missions are worth around $700 million.

More...

Nintendo Reduces Forecasts, 3DS Sales Fall Short

Nintendo has dropped its forecasted financial performance for fiscal year 2016 due to low sales of the new 3DS and 3DS XL. It believed it was going to ship 7.6 million units between April 2015 and March 2016, but it now looks like it will only ship 6.6 million.

More...

Apple, FBI Will Testify Before Congress On Encryption Next Week

Apple and the FBI are scheduled to testify before Congress next week in order to provide politicians with differing views on encryption. Apple has said it wants Congress to decide whether strong encryption should exist and it'll begin arguing its case in that arena soon.

More...

Microsoft Ends Project Astoria, Not Assisting Android To Windows Porting

Microsoft has ended its plan to help developers port apps from Android to Windows 10. The company's Project Astoria was going to make the porting process easy through the use of bridge tools, but that project has been cancelled. Microsoft introduced Astoria at Bridge 2015.

More...

Foxconn Pauses On Sharp Deal, Discovers Large Liabilities

Foxconn's $6.2 billion acquisition of Sharp is now on hold due to Foxconn's discovery of significant liabilities at Sharp that hadn't been disclosed. The liabilities could be worth "hundreds of billions of yen," and that has resulted in Foxconn halting the deal.

More...

Google Launches DeepMind Health, Will Use Software To Improve Health

A division within DeepMind, an artificial intelligence company owned by Google, has been announced and it's focused on improving healthcare. DeepMind Health will use software to help health workers identify possible complications with their patients.

More...

Nissan Disables App That Can Be Used To Hack Electric Vehicle

Nissan has disabled a smartphone app that was used by hackers to take control of its Leaf electric vehicle. The app, which is the primary smartphone companion for the Leaf, could be used to remotely operate some parts of the car, security researchers found.

More...

Mercedes Replacing Many Assembly Line Robots With Humans

In a break from the usual trend of robots taking over human jobs in the workplace, Mercedes has gotten rid of many assembly line robots and replaced them with people. This change has come about due to the robots being unable to handle the large amount of customization available.

More...

Xbox One, PS4 Getting Resident Evil 4, 5, And 6 This Year

Some of the older Resident Evil games are going to be released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this year. Capcom says it is coming out with remastered versions of Resident Evil 4, 5, and 6 for the platforms and they will be released over the course of 2016.

More...

YouTube Tool Lets You Blur Any Moving Object In Video

YouTube has introduced a new video editing tool that lets you blur out any moving object in your video. All you have to do is draw a box around the object and YouTube will process your video so that the object remains blurred, even if it's moving around a bit.

More...

[NextPowerUP]

The 4-inch iPhone SE--Apple has reportedly dropped the "5"--is going to feature a 12 megapixel camera, according to a research note from KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Earlier reports had pointed towards an 8-megapixel camera for the phone, but that may not be the case.

More...

Apple Will Add Encryption To iCloud Backups

Apple is going to secure future iCloud backups with encryption, which will protect them from hackers and from government requests. The current system allows the government to request Apple hand over information from a backup, but that'd no longer be the case with encryption.

More...

WhatsApp Soon Removing Support For BlackBerry, Old Platforms

WhatsApp is getting rid of its support for older platforms, meaning you must have a fairly new mobile OS come next year. The messaging app is removing support for many versions of Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. Even BB10 will be affected by the change.

More...

YouTube Team Will Work To Reduce Copyright Violation Claims

YouTube's copyright claim system is broken, according to many YouTubers, and the site is responding by forming a team that'll combat bad claims. A post on Google's support forum from a member of YouTube Policy explains that mistakes do happen and they need to be minimized.

More...

Oculus Receiving An Exclusive Card Game 'Dragon Front'

The Oculus Rift is going to receive an exclusive collectible card game in the spring. Dragon Front, a game from High Voltage Software and Oculus, was announced by Oculus on its blog. Dragon Front is the first exclusive title that's been announced since preorders began.

More...

Sprint Returning To Two-Year Contracts

Sprint stopped offering two-year service contracts to its customers in January 2016, but the carrier is bringing them back. Its website now lists a 2-year service deal as one option for customers, joining an installment plan, paying the full price, or leasing their device.

More...

Court Overturns Apple's $120 Million Win Against Samsung

One of Apple's patent infringement cases against Samsung has gone from being a $2.2 billion claim to a $0 claim. The latest ruling in the case from the US Circuit Court of Appeals has determined Samsung doesn't owe Apple the $120 million it was awarded by a jury in 2014.

More...

Nintendo NX, New Zelda Said To Launch In 2016

We may see Nintendo's new console and a new Zelda game before the end of the year. Information from a "verified source" has been posted online by a NeoGAF user and that information includes Nintendo's plan to launch the NX alongside a new Zelda sometime in 2016.

More...

HTC Confirms New Flagship Coming 'Soon', Is Interested In Mobile VR

HTC has confirmed it is going to announce a new flagship smartphone shortly and the company is also exploring mobile virtual reality. The confirmation comes from Drew Bamford, HTC's Creative Labs corporate VP. HTC's rumored One M10 is said to include 4 GB of RAM.

More...

Early Popcorn Time Fork Officially Announces Return

An early version of the Popcorn Time project, a Netflix-like service for torrented files, has announced its return following a mysterious week of resumed operations. An update for the service, Hail Hydra, has come out from an anonymous group of developers.

More...

Case Maker Leak Confirms iPhone 5se Uses iPhone 5s Design

Renders from an iPhone case maker have reportedly leaked and they reveal the iPhone 5se, Apple's 4-inch handset, is going to stick with the iPhone 5s' design. These renders were created in preparation for upcoming announcements, but they ended up online.

More...

Nintendo Confirms Two Pokemon Games For 3DS, Arriving This Year

Nintendo has announced two Pokemon games, confirming rumors that appeared earlier in the week. The games, Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon, will arrive near the holidays for the 3DS. Nintendo announced the games during a six-minute Nintendo Direct presentation.

More...

NASA Gives SpaceX Five Cargo Missions Worth $700 Million

SpaceX has been awarded five additional cargo missions to the International Space Station. NASA gave those missions to SpaceX instead of Orbital ATK, which has not been given any extra trips for its existing contract. SpaceX's new missions are worth around $700 million.

More...

Nintendo Reduces Forecasts, 3DS Sales Fall Short

Nintendo has dropped its forecasted financial performance for fiscal year 2016 due to low sales of the new 3DS and 3DS XL. It believed it was going to ship 7.6 million units between April 2015 and March 2016, but it now looks like it will only ship 6.6 million.

More...

Apple, FBI Will Testify Before Congress On Encryption Next Week

Apple and the FBI are scheduled to testify before Congress next week in order to provide politicians with differing views on encryption. Apple has said it wants Congress to decide whether strong encryption should exist and it'll begin arguing its case in that arena soon.

More...

Microsoft Ends Project Astoria, Not Assisting Android To Windows Porting

Microsoft has ended its plan to help developers port apps from Android to Windows 10. The company's Project Astoria was going to make the porting process easy through the use of bridge tools, but that project has been cancelled. Microsoft introduced Astoria at Bridge 2015.

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Foxconn Pauses On Sharp Deal, Discovers Large Liabilities

Foxconn's $6.2 billion acquisition of Sharp is now on hold due to Foxconn's discovery of significant liabilities at Sharp that hadn't been disclosed. The liabilities could be worth "hundreds of billions of yen," and that has resulted in Foxconn halting the deal.

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Google Launches DeepMind Health, Will Use Software To Improve Health

A division within DeepMind, an artificial intelligence company owned by Google, has been announced and it's focused on improving healthcare. DeepMind Health will use software to help health workers identify possible complications with their patients.

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[NextPowerUP]

The HTC Vive's preorders began on February 29 and in the first 10 minutes of the preorder period, 15,000 units were sold. Each unit costs $799, which means the preorders have already given HTC upwards of $12 million. The Vive's early success was announced by HTC's Shen Ye.

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Android Pay Headed To The UK This Month

Google has announced it will bring Android Pay to the UK by the end of March. The contactless mobile payment system uses NFC, like Apple Pay, to replace normal card and cash payments. Apple Pay is already available in the UK and Samsung Pay is going to arrive later in 2016.

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One M10 Leaks On HTC Site, Sample Shots Available

HTC isn't set to announce the One M10 smartphone until later this year, but its name has been accidentally confirmed by HTC itself. The name was included in the HTML code for an official web survey, so we at least know the phone will be called the One M10.

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Google Begins Directly Selling Cardboard VR Viewer

Google is now selling its Cardboard virtual reality viewer through the Google Store, opening up direct sales for the first time. The $15 viewer had previously been a part of bundles or had been sold by third-party sellers. You can purchase two headsets from the store for $25.

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New York Judge Sides With Apple In Phone Unlocking Case

In a case that's similar to the widely discussed San Bernardino phone unlocking case, a judge has come down on the side of Apple and against the FBI. Judge James Orenstein ruled the FBI could not require Apple unlock an iPhone 5S running iOS 7 under the All Writs Act.

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Apple Still The Top Phone Brand In US, Samsung Leads In EU5

Apple is still the preferred smartphone brand in the United States, but Samsung is leading the market in the EU5, according to Kantar Worldpanel. In the EU5 (France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK), part of Samsung's dominance comes from smaller relative high-end sales.

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iPhone 7 Expected To Not Be Waterproof, Will Be Slimmer

The Apple iPhone 7 is probably not going to be waterproof, according to Mac Otakara (Japan), but it will have a slimmer design. Some of the earlier rumors said the new iPhone would be the first from Apple with waterproofing, but those rumors may be incorrect.

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Huawei Watch Gets Android 6.0 Marshmallow Update

Huawei has just announced that Marshmallow update is rolling out for the Huawei Watch owners. The new software version updates the watch from Android Wear 1.4 to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which brings some interesting new features and improved user interface.

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Oppo Confirms The Release Date Of Its R9 Phone

Oppo continues releasing teasers about the upcoming camera-centric smartphone. After the yesterday's teaser, the company has released another image, hinting at the release date. The Oppo R9 is expected to be announced in China at an event on March 17.

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Lenovo Working On A New ZUK Mini Smartphone

Lenovo's sub-brand ZUK is now rumoured to be working on a new "mini" smartphone that will be announced later this year. It is said to pack a 4.7-inch 720 display and will be offered in two hardware options - with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, or 3 GB and 32 GB.

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Samsung Galaxy S7 And Galaxy S7 Edge Supports Only Quick Charge 2.0

The latest flagship smartphones are mostly powered by the Qualcomm's high-end chipset, the Snapdragon 820. By default, the chipset comes with Quick Charge 3.0 support, which can charge up to four-times-faster than conventional charging, but the Galaxy S7 doesn't support it.

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More Images Of Vivo Xplay 5 Leak Ahead Of The Announcement

Vivo is expected to officially announce its flagship smartphone later today, but just ahead of the event, more images have emerged online. The handset was in the rumour mill since September 2014 and it was first expected to launch with Snapdragon 810.

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Sony PlayStation TV Removed From Japan

Sony has stopped selling the PlayStation TV in Japan, the first market that received it. The PlayStation TV is a microconsole which serves as a non-portable version counterpart to the Vita and it can play Vita games on a TV. It works with DualShock controllers.

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Microsoft HoloLens Developers Edition Shipping In March, Costs $3,000

Microsoft has opened up preorders for the HoloLens development edition, which will ship on March 30 and cost $3,000. The augmented reality headset is first being sold to those who plan on making software and games for the platform, and a consumer-ready version will ship later.

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Xiaomi Approaches 17 Million Registrations For Mi 5 Flash Sale

Close to 17 million people have registered to participate in Xiaomi's flash sale for its Mi 5 smartphone. The sale is taking place tomorrow and registrations were accepted until 6 PM in China on February 29. In total, 16.8 million signed up over a period of five days.

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Oppo Teases Its Camera-Centric R9 Smartphone

Oppo has released a new teaser image, confirming that its R-series is about to get a new member. The camera-centric Oppo R9 smartphone is expected to be unveiled in March and will be priced at around $350, packing high-end specifications, if rumours are true.

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HTC Vive Now Available For Pre-Order

HTC has started accepting pre-orders for the highly anticipated Vive VR headset. The company has also revealed the pricing of the Vive around the globe. If you are interested in the headset, there are some restrictions. Customers are allowed to purchase only one unit.

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Open Beta For Uncharted 4 Multiplayer Coming This Weekend

Naughty Dog is reportedly set to run a second multiplayer beta for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End this weekend on the PS4. The beta was mentioned in a post on the PlayStation Store, but that post has since been taken down. It stated the beta would run from March 4 to March 6.

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Microsoft Band 2 Gets A Price Cut, Now Priced At $174.99

Microsoft's latest fitness band has received a nice price cut of $75 and is now much affordable with a price tag of $174.99. The deal seems to be available only via Microsoft's online store of Best Buy, while other retailers are still pricing the device way over $200.

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Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro Appears On AnTuTu

Rumours about the premium Galaxy A9 smartphone are getting more intense and we can say that Samsung is really working on it. Today, the Galaxy A9 Pro has appeared on AnTuTu, a few weeks after its appearance in another benchmark database known as GFXBench.

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[NextPowerUP]

One of the hurdles autonomous vehicles must get over to be adopted is the fear drivers have of them and that fear is widespread. A survey from AAA of 1,800 drivers has found 75% would be concerned about being driven around by a fully self-driving vehicle.

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Panasonic's Firefox OS 4K TVs For 2016 Revealed

Panasonic has unveiled its DX line of 4K Firefox OS smart TVs for 2016, one of which comes with the new Studio Master HCX+ chipset, helping to deliver superior HDR performance. Those that don't have the new chipset still receive HDR from a regular HCX chip.

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Huawei Teasing March 9 Event, May Be For P9

Huawei has announced a March 9 event that will take place in Berlin, Germany and that event is probably going to be for the rumored P9 smartphone. The company's invite to the event, for some reason, includes a big photo of a beer glass and the word "beer."

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Samsung Might Sell Its Dual-Edge Display To Vivo, Xiaomi And Huawei

Several top Chinese smartphone companies, including Huawei, Vivo and Xiaomi, are allegedly very interested in the Samsung's dual-edge display that can be found on devices such as the Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy edge+ and the latest flagship Galaxy S7 edge phone.

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AMD Working On Its External GPU Solution

How many of you want to have slim, light notebook that doesn't overheat and yet to be able to play some games or do some heavy tasks from time to time? That might be doable in the near future, as AMD is determined to push external graphics card solution once again.

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Motorola Droid Turbo 2 Gets Marshmallow Update

Verizon Wireless has announced that the roll out of Marshmallow update has officially started for the Droid Turbo 2 smartphone. The Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for the Droid Turbo 2 was already available in the past, but due to unknown reasons, the roll out was halted.

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Samsung Galaxy S7 Uses 8 GB Of Storage For Pre-Loaded Apps

Users who first received their new Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones are reporting their first impressions. Although some reports suggested Samsung removed some pre-installed apps, it looks like the situation with the company's latest flagship phones are even worse.

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Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Type Cover With Fingerprint Scanner To Launch On March 15

Microsoft has just announced that it is accepting pre-orders for the Surface Pro 4 Type Cover for €179.99 or £134.99 in the United Kingdom. The accessory will be shipped to its owners later this month, on March 15 and will be available in European Microsoft Stores.

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Apple iPad Pro 9.7-inch To Feature 12 MP Camera

The upcoming event on March 21 will be all about new affordable iPhone and 9.7-inch iPad, and possible the new Watch. The upcoming tablet is expected to be a smaller version of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and therefore will feature similar specifications.

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AT&T, T-Mobile And Sprint Start Shipping Galaxy S7 And Galaxy S7 Edge Pre-Orders

T-Mobile was the first US carrier to start shipping Galaxy S7 and S7 edge pre-orders ahead of the devices' official launch, while AT&T and Sprint followed a few hours later. Some customers are reporting that they are already received their units, so you should check your mailbox

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Meizu To Use 3D Touch Display In Its Pro 6 Smartphone

The pressure sensitive displays are currently reserved only for high-end phones, such as iPhone 6s and others. The Chinese company Meizu is now rumoured to be using the same pressure sensitive display in the upcoming Meizu Pro 6 phone that is expected to arrive later this year.

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Polar A360 Allegedly Causes Allergic Skin Reactions

Companies are using various materials to make their product look better, but sometimes that can kick back. Some of you might remember Fitbit and Apple were facing problems with their products that caused skin rashes, and now Polar is accused of the same thing.

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Facebook News Feed Algorithm Starts Favoring Live Videos

Through some changes to its News Feed algorithm, Facebook has begun placing Live Videos above older video clips. Facebook's live video streaming feature is now on iOS and Android, and the social network would like more people to stream video content.

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Uncharted 4 Delayed Again, Arriving In May

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End has encountered yet another delay, pushing the game's anticipated release into May 2016. The game was previously delayed to March and then to April. A post from SCEA CEO Shawn Layden explained the delay and said it will be worth it.

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Combined PS4, Xbox One Sales Over 60 Million

Global sales of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are now over 60 million, according to EA CFO Blake Jorgensen, who last estimated the combined sales were at 55 million near the end of 2015. Jorgensen brought up the figure while speaking about VR at an event.

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Pebble Time, Time Round Get Permanent $50 Price Cut

Pebble has permanently reduced the price of its Time and Time Round smartwatches, dropping both by $50. The watches are now available for $149.99 and $199.99, respectively. In case you happened to order a watch at its higher price, Pebble is offering to refund the difference.

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Huawei P9 Leaked Images Show Dual Camera, Fingerprint Sensor

More leaked images of the Huawei P9 have come out, confirming the phone's dual camera setup, fingerprint scanner, and USB-C port. This leak follows one from yesterday that revealed the phone's metal frame. Huawei may unveil the phone in the next quarter.

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Amazon Speaking With ESPN, AMC For Live TV Service

Amazon has entered discussions with ESPN and AMC about a live TV streaming service it is interested in launching. Motley Fool reports the company, which already offers streaming video, has reached out to multiple network TV companies. ESPN and AMC confirmed the talks.

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DJI Announces New Phantom 4 Drone

After many testing, DJI has developed an all new Phantom 4 drone that is very fast and smart. The new DJI Phantom 4 comes with various intelligent sensors that prevents collisions. It is also the first drone that will be sold through Apple thanks to new partnership.

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Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge May Soon Lose Top Browser Spot

Microsoft could stop being the top browser provider in the coming months due to Internet Explorer and Edge losing market share to Google Chrome. Those browsers saw their biggest combined drop in user share (2.1%) in more than a decade during the previous month.

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[NextPowerUP]

Intel is working on an augmented reality headset that will incorporate its RealSense 3D camera technology. The headset design created by Intel will reportedly be handed over to other companies for manufacturing, so Intel won't be marketing its own version.

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Overfall: Performance Analysis

For the first few days pre-Early Access release, there were a number of crash issues relating to story building and DirectX on AMD. Once I'd let the dev know about them, they were immediately fixed in a daily build update. Since that update there has not been a single

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Overfall Impressions

The Early Access release of Overfall is this beautiful mix of Turn-Based Strategy, Rogue-like, and story-led adventure all mashed into this delightful little 2.5D seafaring format. While it may be a rogue-like title, each play through can range from a few minutes to a number

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Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro Revealed Thanks To TENAA Listing

Samsung's A-series is about to get a new, improved version of the current Galaxy A9 smartphone. The Galaxy A9 Pro has been mentioned in various places on the web, but today is finally confirmed thanks to the web listing on Chinese certification agency TENAA website.

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Xiaomi Asks Foxconn To Increase The Production Of Mi 5 Handset

Xiaomi Mi 5 handset looks to be the best smartphone in 2016, considering its price, specifications and design, but the company is having hard times keeping up with the demand. The company received nearly 17 million registrations prior to its first flash sale.

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Xiaomi Announces Redmi Note 3 Phone In India, First "Make in India" Smartphone

During a special press conference in India, Xiaomi announced their new Redmi Note 3 that will be manufactured in the country as part of the "Make in India" initiative. The handset is priced at INR 9,999 ($150) for the 16 GB model and INR 11,999 ($180) for the 32 GB model.

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Oppo R9 And Oppo R9 Plus Go Through TENAA

At the recent MWC 2016 event, oppo has been rather quiet, announcing only new sensor-based image stabilization tech and VOOC super flash charge tech that charges phone in just 15 minutes. Both technologies are expected to find its ways into the upcoming R9 and R9 Plus phones.

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Xiaomi MIUI 7.2 Update Starts Rolling Out In China, Global Build In The Works

Xiaomi has just announced that its latest MIUI 7.2 operating system is rolling out in China. The all-new version of MIUI is currently available only for Chinese users, but the company has also confirmed that the global build is in the works and will be released very soon.

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BlackBerry Priv Finally Available From Verizon

Those waiting for BlackBerry Priv to land on Verizon will be happy to hear that the wait is now over. The smartphone is now finally available from the Big Red, priced at $720 for the unlocked, retail mode, or $30 per month for a period of 24 monthly payments.

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HTC Releases First Official Video Teaser For One M10

HTC continues teasing people with their upcoming flagship smartphone. Following its first teaser image, the company has today released their first video teaser for the same device through its Turkish YouTube channel, and like previous teasers, not much has been revealed.

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LG Partners With GameFly, Brings Game Streaming To webOS TVs

LG has partnered with GameFly to bring console-free game streaming to its webOS smart televisions. The game streaming will be available on a number of TV models, including some of LG's high-end OLED units. GameFly already has a similar partnership with Samsung.

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Google's 'Hands Free' Lets You Make Payments Without Your Hands

Google is testing a new mobile payments option that lets you make transactions while your phone is stored away. Users in San Francisco's South Bay have access to Hands Free, an app which lets you send a payment by letting a cashier verify your identity.

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WhatsApp Adds Document Sharing, Limited To PDFs

Document sharing has been added to WhatsApp, though the feature is currently limited to PDF files. The messaging service, which just reached a billion users, has brought the feature to iOS and Android. WhatsApp hasn't formally announced the feature, but it has rolled out.

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Pentagon Launching US Government's First Bug Bounty Program

A bug bounty program for the US government is being created by the Department of Defense, which wants elite hackers to attempt to hack the Pentagon. More information will come out in the next few weeks, but says the program is called "Hack the Pentagon."

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Mass Effect: Andromeda Delayed To 2017

The release of Mass Effect: Andromeda has been pushed back into 2017, according to EA CFO Blake Jorgensen. Andromeda had been given a holiday 2016 release window, but Jorgensen now says it is coming out in EA's financial fourth quarter, which runs from January to March.

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Eurocom Launches Sky X9E VR Ready Laptop

Eurocom has just launched its VR ready "desktop laptop" that is powered by Intel i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce graphics card and a 17.3-inch display. One of the great things about this laptop is its upgradeability and focus on delivering the best performance in its class.

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Xbox One March Update Gets Detailed

Microsoft has released Xbox One March update to preview members and Xbox app beta users. A public release is expected to happen by the end of the month. As for the changes, there are many and one of the biggest is the ability to purchase backward compatible Xbox 360 games.

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Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 Gets Ceramic Bracelet

Samsung's best smartwatch is without any doubts the Gear S2, and according to the official Samsung French website, a new bracelet option is now available. The Gear S2 can be purchased with the new ceramic bracelet that is made out of hypoallergenic materials.

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Facebook Targeted By Antitrust Probe In Germany

Facebook's data collection practices are under investigation in Germany, where the Bundeskartellamt competition authority has launched a probe into the company. The authority is not investigating Facebook directly on privacy violation claims, but rather antitrust grounds.

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Fitbit Releases 'Blaze' Smartwatch

Fitbit has released its latest fitness tracker, the Blaze, for $200. The Blaze is more of a smartwatch than Fitbit's previous devices, but it still comes with fitness tracking features and continuous heart rate monitoring. The Blade can last for five days on a charge.

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[NextPowerUP]

One of the big announcements during the latest Nintendo Direct broadcast was Paper Mario: Color Splash, a new Mario game headed to the Wii U this year. The game, which is coming out later in 2016, is based around restoring color to a bland Prism Island.

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Nintendo Makes 25 Announcements In Latest 'Direct'

Nintendo's latest Direct livestream contained 25 separate announcements, with a number of new games being announced for the Wii U, 3DS, and New 3DS. In addition to new games, Nintendo introduced multiple Amiibo, which will play a role in Kirby: Planet Robobot.

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Intel To Supply Apple With Cellular Modems For iPhone 7

It looks like Intel has won a battle to supply a "significant portion" of the cellular modems for Apple's next-generation smartphone known as the iPhone 7. If true, the iPhone 7 could use Intel's latest XMM 7360 modem, which supports LTE Category 10.

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Google, Facebook, Microsoft File Amicus Brief To Support Apple

Some high-profile members of the technology industry have stepped in to assist Apple in its phone security case. Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Box, and others have filed an amicus brief in support of Apple, informing the court why Apple is in the right to question an FBI request.

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Microsoft To Launch Windows 10 Mobile OTA Update In The Coming Days

The roll out of the Windows 10 Mobile update was expected to happen by the end of 2015, but due to some problems, unknown to us, Microsoft had to postpone it. Still there are no official details when the update will be released, but some carriers have released some details.

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Dual-SIM Sony Xperia X And X Performance Pack 64 GB Of Storage

A few days ago, several retailers have started accepting pre-orders for Sony's latest high-end series, the Xperia X. Only Xperia X and Xperia XA in single-SIM variant is available for pre-order, and there are no details on when the X Performance model will be available.

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Instagram Blocks Some Links To Snapchat, Telegram

Instagram has begun blocking some outbound links on user profiles if they are headed directly to follow pages on Snapchat or Telegram. If you are trying to use Instagram to boost your presence on other platforms, it seems the social network wants to make things difficult.

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Huawei P9 New Renders Emerge Online

More and more images of the upcoming Huawei P9 are leaking online, and the latest set of images only confirm the previous renders. The smartphone will feature thin, elegant design with metal body, dual rear camera system and is expected to come in three variants.

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Sony Xperia Z5 Lineup Gets Marshmallow Update

Sony's is gearing up to launch its latest Xperia X series across the globe, but the company didn't forget the old Xperia Z series. The last-gen flagship Xperia Z5 lineup is now receiving the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow update, which has been available in Turkey for a while.

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Adobe Lightroom For iOS Updated, Now Supports Full Resolution Output

The latest version of Lightroom app for iOS from Adobe comes with a couple of new improvements and features, improving users' experience. The new update brings full resolution image output, whether it was captured with the mobile device or added manually.

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HTC Flagship Phone To Be Launched As HTC 10

HTC has already been rumoured to use different naming for its next-gen flagship smartphone, which could be assumed as none of the released teasers were mentioning the One M10. According to the reliable leakster @evleaks, the company will drop the One M10 name.

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Meizu MX 6 Concept Unit Appears, Has Curved Screen

A picture of a Meizu concept phone has leaked, providing a general idea of the design that may be used for the MX 6/Pro 6 smartphone. The phone, which is likely to launch between now and May, is said to come with a MediaTek Helio X20 processor and a Mali-T880 GPU.

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Facebook Messenger Adds Spotify Music Sharing

Facebook has made it easier to share music from Spotify, the top music streaming service, by adding song and playlist sharing to Messenger. Messenger's menu now has a button that can bring you over to Spotify, where you can select the tracks you want to send.

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Oculus Says Rift Will Reach Mac If Apple "Releases A Good Computer"

It's possible Mac users could one day get the Oculus Rift, but the release of a Rift for Mac is dependent on Apple offering a legitimately good computer. Palmer Luckey, Oculus' co-founder, stated the Mac's GPU is not strong enough in any computer to run the Rift.

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Amazon Takes Device Encryption Away From Fire OS 5

Full device encryption has been taken out of the latest version of Fire OS in a voluntary move by Amazon. The removal of encryption from Fire OS 5 leaves Kindles, phones, tablets, and Fire TV devices less secure and millions of users will be affected.

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Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) And Galaxy J7 (2016) Visit TENAA

Besides the upcoming Galaxy A9 Pro smartphone, which will be part of the more affordable A-series of smartphones, Samsung is also working on two new budget Galaxy J smartphones. The Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7, both 2016 edition, are now listed on TENAA's website.

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Xiaomi Mi 5 Expanding To More Regions In April; 20,000 mAh Power Bank To Go On Sale Again

During its press conference today in India, where the company announced their first "Make in India" smartphone, Xiaomi has revealed more details on the Mi 5, along with a few other interesting stuff. The flagship smartphone is expected to launch in India in April.

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Microsoft Finalizing Its First Major Windows 10 Update

The first major Windows 10 update, also known as the Redstone, is expected to go live sometime in June and is said to arrive with several new features, focusing mostly on the convergence of different Windows 10-powered devices like PC, Xbox and phones.

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Xiaomi Unveils Mi Bluetooth Speaker In India

The third important announcement today, following the announcement of Redmi Note 3 and availability details of Mi 5 phone, was the launch of Mi Bluetooth speaker in India. The speaker comes in Gold, Blue and Pink and will go on sale in 3rd week of march priced at Rs. 1,999 ($30).

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Amazon Echo Line Grows With 'Tap' And 'Dot'

Amazon has expanded its Alexa voice assistant devices line beyond the Echo. The eCommerce company has introduced two products, the Dot and Tap, which can fit into your life in different ways than the original Echo. Amazon's Dot is a small version of the Echo.

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