NextPowerUP NEWS

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Apple Pay's transaction volume increased by 450% in the past quarter when compared to Q2 2016. CEO Tim Cook revealed the payment system's growth during a conference call on Tuesday. Much of its growth is coming from Apple Pay's expansion into new markets.

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Nintendo Expects Switch Sales To Reach 'Relative Parity' With Wii

The Nintendo Switch is doing pretty well and it debuted on the market with more sales than had been expected. Based on its initial performance, president Tatsumi Kimishima says the company expects the console to reach "relative parity" with the Wii, which had over 100m sales.

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Google Expanding Project Sunroof Beyond US

Google is bringing Project Sunroof beyond the US. The tool, which helps people find out how viable solar panels are for their home, is launching in Germany. It was first introduced as a US-only tool in 2015. In March, it reached all 50 states in the country.

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India Gets UberEats

UberEats has launched in its fourth Asian market, India. The food delivery service is now available in Mumbai and it'll soon roll out to five other cities in the country. UberEats is also live in Singapore, Tokyo, and Bangkok. Only some of Mumbai is covered.

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NSA Collected 151M American Phone Records Despite Law Change

Despite Congress implementing restrictions on the NSA's bulk collection of phone records, the agency still collected over 151 million records of American phone calls in 2016. The FISA court system only authorized the NSA to spy on 42 terrorism suspects.

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ASUS ZenFone Zoom 3 To Launch Under Different Name In Select Markets

ASUS's latest Zenfone Zoom 3 handset is available was launched earlier this year and has yet to reach all markets. However, according to latest leaks, the smartphone won't launch under the same name in select markets. Instead, ASUS plans to launch as ZenFone Zoom S.

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Sony Preparing Android TV Nougat Update For Its TVs

Sony's supported Android TVs are about to get Nougat update if the leaked information is legit. According to a report, Sony is informing some Android TV owners about the update, which should start rolling out at some point after May, with no specific date mentioned.

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Owners Of Surface Laptop Can Upgrade To Windows 10 Pro For Free

To promote its new Windows 10 S operating system, Microsoft unveiled a new notebook called Surface Laptop. Just by looking at it, many have wondered if it is possible to install Windows 10 Pro on the notebook. Not only it is possible, but it is also free.

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Razer Shuts Down Nextbit's Community Site

Back in January, Razer announced that it has acquired Nextbit, a startup known for its cloud-centric Robin smartphone. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but CEO Tom Moss said that all 30 employees were joining Razer to work on future mobile products as part of a new unit

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Google Home Receives A Small Price Cut

Ahead of the Mother's Day, Google has just announced that its voice-activated speaker Home has received a price cut in the United States. The Assistant-powered device is priced at $129, but for a limited time, it will be available for $114, which is down $15 from its usual price.

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OnePlus 5 Confirmed By The Company's CEO

It is not a secret that OnePlus is working on its new flagship smartphone and we have already seen several teasers by the company. Now, the company has posted another teaser of the phone, saying it is working without a break, "just to make a big surprise."

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Galaxy Note 8 Won't Be The First Samsung Phone With Dual Rear Cameras

Before Samsung announced Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, many have assumed that the new flagship smartphone might pack a dual rear camera setup. That never happened, but we have heard a lot of things about the upcoming Galaxy Note 8, and one of them is the dual rear cameras.

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Minecraft's Education Edition Gets Tool To Learn Coding

A tool for learning coding has been added to Minecraft: Education Edition. The feature, known as Code Builder, has launched today in beta. It'll typically appear inside the game as a robot and users can interact with it to learn simple coding skills.

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Apple Reports Lower iPhone Sales, Higher Revenue

Apple's quarterly earnings report for Q2 reveals the company had fewer iPhone sales, but it earned a little more from its smartphone division. Sales dropped 1% year-over-year, bringing them to 50.8 million units, below the analyst anticipated 51.4 million.

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eSports Contributes To Higher Gaming PC Sales In NA

The PC market in general hasn't been experiencing growth, but the gaming PC division is doing pretty well. According to Kevin Jones, VP of Micro Center, their gaming PC sales increased 25-30% in 2016. Data from Gartner is supporting that shift in the market.

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Facebook Denies Gender Bias In Engineering Department

A report from The Wall Street Journal claims Facebook may have a gender bias issue within its engineering department, but the social network has quickly denied the claim. Facebook says the allegations are "incomplete and inaccurate." The analysis used an incomplete data set.

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YouTube Makes Significant Redesign Available

YouTube has formally opened up access to its updated look, which has a video-centric material design appearance. The new appearance also has an official dark mode, which is bound to please a large percentage of users. Eventually the design will go out to everyone.

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Google AdSense Allowing Above The Fold Mobile Ads

Google's ban on above-the-fold mobile advertisements is no longer in place. It has added an option for 300x250 ads to Adsense. Those ads will be visible without scrolling down the page, but Google says they're still "user-friendly." There had been a ban in place.

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Samsung Galaxy S8 Owners Now Reporting Display Burn Ins

There isn't a smartphone without issues and most of these issues are fixed two, three months after the announcement. Something like that is now happening with Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ models, as users are reporting more and more issues, with the latest being display burn ins.

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Users of Windows 10 S Will Be Able To Upgrade To Windows 10 Pro

After months of rumours, Microsoft has finally unveiled a modified version of Windows 10 operating system that is aimed at the education market. Previously known as Windows 10 Cloud, the new operating powers cheap notebooks starting at $189 and that competes with Chromebooks.

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[NextPowerUP]

Overwatch has already made Activision Blizzard over $1 billion in revenue, according to its Q1 2017 earnings report, making it the publisher's fastest-growing franchise. The title has 30 million registered players and most of those are playing at least monthly.

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Oculus No Longer Making In-House VR Films

Oculus is no longer focusing on internal content production to the same degree. Facebook has decided to shut down the company's Story Studio, meaning Oculus is exiting the virtual reality film production business. It'll focus on supporting external production endeavors.

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Apple Becomes The Top Wearable Maker

As of Q1 2017, Apple is the top wearable company in the world. Strategy Analytics reports the first quarter of the year saw around 3.5 million Apple Watch shipments, enabling the company to surpass Fitbit's 2.9 million shipments. That gives it a 15.9% market share.

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US Could Require Social Media Info From Some Visa Applicants

Certain Visa applicants could be forced to hand over their social media handles from the past five years before they'll be granted a Visa. A proposal from the State Department includes that requirement. The extra requirement would only be in place for around 0.5% of applicants.

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Microsoft Bringing Bots To Bing Searches

Bots are being added to the Bing search engine to make the results more useful. Details haven't been released by Microsoft, but a session at its Build conference (May 10 - 12) is titled "Chatbots on Bing.com." Developers will learn about using chatbots during the session.

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Uber Faces Criminal Investigation For Regulator-Evading Software

A piece of software used by Uber to evade regulators in areas where it wasn't welcome has landed the company in hot water with the Justice Department. Uber is facing a criminal probe due to its "Greyball" tool, which helped it hide cars from regulators.

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Amazon Adjusts eBook Deals After EU Investigation

An investigation by the EU has pushed Amazon to change its deals with eBook publishers. Under newly created terms, Amazon is no longer forcing publishers to offer the best price on the Kindle store. The company had been preventing publishers from offering cheaper prices.

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Snapchat Adding On-Demand TV Shows

On-demand TV shows are going to fill up Snapchat in the near future. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Snapchat has signed content deals with NBCUniversal, ESPN, ABC, Turner, NFL, and others. They'll be offering 3-5 minute short episodes in Snapchat Stories.

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Remastered Zombie Maps Are Headed To Black Ops 3

A DLC pack for Black Ops 3 called "Zombies Chronicles" has been confirmed by Treyarch. It's going to include remastered versions of earlier Zombie maps. Eight maps from World at War, Black Ops, and Black Ops 2 will be available. It'll arrive this month.

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Roku Gets Twitter's TV Video App

Twitter's television livestreams are now accessible on Roku devices. A new app for the platform, called Twitter for Roku, lets you stream live content like news, sports, and big events. Twitter's selection of streams is continuing to increase. It recently announced new deals.

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Report Finds American Car Ownership Could Drop 80% In 15 Years

Once autonomous vehicles are widespread and integrated into the transportation system in a public transportation-like manner, most Americans may not have their own vehicle. A report has found private car ownership in the United States is on track to decline 80% by 2030.

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FBI Director Testifies Agency Can't Access 50% Of Devices

The security on consumer-grade devices has reached a level at which 50% of mobile devices can't be accessed, according to FBI director James Comey. During a Senate oversight committee meeting, Comey testified the agency has been unsuccessful in around half of cases.

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Twitter 'Moments' Will Include Ads

Twitter's Moments section is going to become another source of revenue for the social network. Ads in the form of "full-screen vertical videos" will make an appearance in that section of the app. Company representatives discussed the ad format during an event in Dubai.

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Apple CEO Claims Apple Watch Helped Him Lose 30 Lbs

With the help of the Apple Watch's health features, Apple CEO Tim Cook managed to lose 30 pounds, according to a CNBC interview. Cook says the smartwatch can help with staying fit because it provides an extra source of motivation. He's heard similar stories from others.

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Most US Households Now Just Use Wireless Phones

Wireless phones have become more common in US households than landlines. A report from the US Department of Health and Human Services finds that for the first time in history, the majority of households only have cell phones. The wireless-only rate is now 50.8%.

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Google Street View Will Collect Business Data To Improve Maps

Google's Street View system is now going to be used to collect street names, numbers, and other business-related info. Street View cars have been capturing vast swaths of the world for years, but extracting business and street info hasn't been an easy task.

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Gmail For Android Gets Phishing Protection

In the wake of a large phishing scam affecting Google Docs and Gmail users, Google is introducing a new security feature in Gmail for Android. The feature will warn users about potential phishing emails. When you click on a link in one of those emails, a warning will appear.

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Facebook To Improve Indian Internet Connectivity With 20,000 Hotspots

Facebook is going to use a large number of WiFi hotspots to improve connectivity across India. A new internet.org project called Express Wi-Fi will help set up around 20,000 hotspots over the coming months. Those will help a lot of people get online.

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Honor 9 Renders Leak Online, Another Phone Without 3.5mm Headphone Jack

Apple was one of the first companies that ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack on its flagship smartphones, and many other companies, including Xiaomi and HTC, followed the trend. Today, a set of Honor 9 renders leaked online from all angles, revealing the absence of 3.5mm port.

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iPhone Graphics Chips Supplier_Launches Formal Dispute Against Apple

As Apple started working on its own graphics solution, its GPU chip manufacturer Imagination Technologies opens dispute process with the Cupertino company related to intellectual property, after the two companies failed to reach agreement.The company believes that Apple can't

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[NextPowerUP]

Smartphones with dual rear cameras are slowly becoming a trend and more companies are working on such devices. Gionee is getting ready to launch a successor to last year's Gionee S9 and according to leaked information, there will be at least two variants.

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Unknown ASUS Handset With Dual Rear Cameras Appears On GFXBench

The Taiwanese tech giant ASUS appears to be working on a new smartphone that has now been benchmarked on the GFXBench. The handset has model number ASUS X00ID, but the model number and GFXBench listing don't really reveal the smartphone's real name.

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Spotify Rolls Out 'Codes' For Easy Sharing

A feature that'll make sharing and discovering music easier on Spotify has been introduced. Its new "Spotify Codes" feature generates unique codes for any piece of content on the platform. You can scan a code using the camera function found in Spotify's search bar.

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Windows' Snake Malware Expands To MacOS

A piece of malware known as Snake that's existed on Windows for years is now showing up on MacOS. The malware involves a fake Adobe Flash Player installer that can get around MacOS' Gatekeeper feature. When present, it can add a backdoor to the OS' file system.

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YouTube, Warner Extend Music Streaming Deal

Warner has extended its music licensing agreement with YouTube despite its discontent with the way piracy is handled by the platform. This extended licensing deal ensures copyright holders get paid for legal streams. Warner released a statement showing it's not entirely pleased.

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HoloLens Inventor Thinks Phones Are Already Dead

Alan Kipman, inventor of Microsoft's HoloLens augmented reality device, believes the smartphone format is already dead. The future, Kipman told Bloomberg, will involve devices that can offer "mixed reality," such as the HoloLens. Microsoft's CEO appears to share that viewpoint.

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Google Drive Contains Over 2 Trillion Files

Google's cloud storage service, Google Drive, passed 2 trillion files in April 2017. That stat was revealed by Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's VP for G Suite, during the company's Cloud Next event in London. The service also has more than 800 million users.

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Facebook Could Add Original Shows In June

We're only a month away from Facebook introducing some original shows, reports Business Insider. The social network is planning to launch a set of "TV-like shows" sometime in June. Around two dozen shows are already close to launching and more will eventually arrive.

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Spotify Claims Apple Is Abusing Its Market Position

Spotify has filed a letter in Brussels claiming Apple is operating in an anticompetitive way by abusing its dominant market position. The letter was also signed by Deezer and Rocket Internet. It also takes aim at Google since both companies have allegedly become "gatekeepers."

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Samsung Also Uses Different Storage Chips In Galaxy S8 And Galaxy S8+

Just days after Huawei has been accused of using different RAM and storage chips in its flagship P10 and P10 Plus smartphone, which greatly affect the performance, it appears that another top-tier company has been doing the same thing with its flagship lineup.

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Apple Watch Gets New Bands From Coach

According to Strategy Analytics reports, Apple has surpassed Fitbit in wearable shipments. The company shipped around 3.5 million Apple Watch, while Fitbit had only 2.9 million shipments. Apple Watch has been very popular since the release and the device is now getting more band

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Lenovo IdeaPad 720S Leaks Online, Features Slim Bezels

As smartphones started getting displays with smaller bezels, notebook manufacturers started to follow the same trend. Lenovo's latest 14-inch model, the IdeaPad 720S, is not yet official, but the laptop has now leaked online, revealing its final design.

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Intel's Next-Gen ULV Quad-Core CPU Spotted On GFXBench

Intel has recently launched its quad-core ultra-low voltage processors for notebooks that are based on Kaby Lake architecture, but if you are not in a hurry to buy a new laptop, then you should wait for the successor to Kaby Lake that isn't far away.

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Scratch Test Shows HTC U Ultra Is Extremely Scratch Resistant

Many flagship smartphones come with Corning's Gorilla Glass protection, which has proved over the last few years. As the company is developing its next-generation glass, some companies have decided to experiment with some other materials, like HTC with sapphire.

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Samsung Might Release Refurbished Galaxy Note 7R With Exynos 8895

Samsung is gearing up to launch a refurbished version of the Galaxy Note 7. The phablet has recently received certification from the FCC and was spotted on Geekbench and GFXBench, which showed the same specifications as the original model. However, it appears that a second

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HTC U 11 Design Revealed In Render Video

HTC's upcoming flagship smartphone fist leaked back in April, when we got our first good look at the HTC U 11. As the company's scheduled press event is approaching, more details about the phone are leaking and we now have a chance to see the phone from all angles.

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HMD Global Starts Shipping Nokia 3310

The company behind Nokia's return to smartphone market has just announced that the modern version of the iconic Nokia 3310 phone is now shipping. The phone has been available for pre-order in a number of countries, but the company has not announced the region or country where

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Opera Max 3.0 Now Released, Features New Design

The Android powerful data management and data savings tool has just received an update. The new 3.0 version brings an all-new design "optimized for easier use of the powerful data savings and data management tools inside Opera Max." Aside from updated design,

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Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Spotted On User Agent String

Current flagship smartphones all look great, but we have to admit they aren't very resistant to drops and scratches. For those that are looking for flagship smartphone that still looks decent, but is more durable, Samsung Galaxy Active lineup could be for them.

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Snapdragon 845 Listed By Qualcomm, TSMC Starts Trial Production

Qualcomm might be having some small production issues with Snapdragon 835, which is more because of Samsung's and TSMC's 10nm production node immaturity, but other than that it pretty much dominates the high-end market. That doesn't mean the company can relax now.

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[NextPowerUP]

Instead of just giving people a list of recommended games, Valve's Steam will now tell users why they believe a game is suitable. With a change that'll make Steam's recommendation algorithm more open, users will see a list of reasons why a game is being suggested.

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Microsoft Quickly Fixes 'Crazy Bad' Windows Exploit

Microsoft has issued a special patch to address a "crazy bad" Windows Defender exploit first reported by Google's Project Zero over the weekend. Tavis Ormandy and Natalie Silvanovich, two Project Zero researchers, reported the security hole on Twitter.

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New York Sues Time Warner Cable Over Low Speeds, Especially For Netflix & League Of Legends

Time Warner Cable (TWC) is facing a lawsuit from New York attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman over unacceptably low performance. According to Schneiderman, Time Warner Cable intentionally provided consumers with service that was slower than advertised.

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OnePlus 5 Leaked Sketches Reveal Dual Front And Rear Cameras

From the first rumour, we knew that OnePlus' next-generation flagship smartphone would pack dual rear cameras. However, according to hand-drawn sketches of the OnePlus 5, the smartphone will actually have both front and rear dual cameras, bringing the camera performance to

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China's Top Payment Service, Alipay, Reaching US

The biggest mobile payment service in China, Alipay, is coming to the United States. Alipay already has 450 million users around the world, with nearly all of those coming from Asia, particularly China. It's entering the US through a partnership with First Data.

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Amazon Prime Adding Live Concerts

Amazon's Prime subscription now comes with a new perk: exclusive live concerts. It's also selling tickets to the events exclusively to Prime subscribers, while everyone else in the program can watch the events for free. The first events are being held in London.

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Samsung Starts Shipping Gear 360 (2017), Free 128 GB Card Included

The official UK launch for Samsung's latest 360-degree and VR camera is set for May 12, but some customers will get it ahead of the launch. The Gear 360 (2017) is already shipping to customers in the United Kingdom who previously pre-ordered the device.

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Amazon Echo Show Will Go On Sale On June 28 With A Price Tag Of $229

Earlier today, The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon's new Alexa-powered device is close to being official. Now, another report has more details about the new Echo model. Apparently the new device will be called "Echo Show" and will be priced at $229.

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Qualcomm Unveils New Mid-Range Snapdragon Chipsets For Mobile Devices

As promised, Qualcomm has officially took off the wraps from its next-generation mid-range chipsets for mobile devices. Although we expected to see three new chips, the company announced only two, successors of last year's Snapdragon 653 and Snapdragon 626.

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OnePlus 3T With 128 GB Of Storage Officially Discontinued

We've been hearing a lot about the upcoming OnePlus 5 and the company has officially confirmed that the phone will be announced this summer. Another confirmation of that is the availability of the OnePlus 3T as the 128 GB variant is no longer listed on the company's website.

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AT&T Offers $200 Trade-In Credit Towards Galaxy S8, S8 Plus

AT&T is offering $200 off the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus in the form of a trade-in credit, bringing them down to $549 and $649, respectively. Customers must provide an eligible working device that's worth at least $20. The deal is only available until May 31.

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Dead Island 2 Still Being Developed

Even though it's been six years since the first Dead Island was released, Dead Island 2 hasn't been abandoned. According to Deep Silver, the game's publisher, the sequel is currently in development. Sumo Digital, a British game developer, is actively working on the title.

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Amazon Echo With Touchscreen Might Be Unveiled Tuesday

Amazon may introduce a new Echo model with a touchscreen on Tuesday. The Alexa-powered device recently showed up in leaked pictures and now The Wall Street Journal claims Amazon is close to introducing it for $200. It also has a camera and is capable of video calling.

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Instagram Adds Ability To Share Photos From Mobile Site

Instagram has significantly updated its mobile website such that it's no longer necessary to install the network's app to post photos or view the Explore tab. This may improve access to the social network in areas with slower wireless networks. Browsing had been the only option.

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Waze Lets Users Record Their Voice For Directions

Google's popular Waze navigation app is now letting users record their own voice to give themselves directions. Waze has already featured a range of voices, including ones from T-Pain and Mr. T. Users can enter the "settings" area and open "sound and voice" to add their voice.

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FCC Reports DDoS Attacks Against Net Neutrality Comment System

DDoS attacks hit the FCC's comment system, which is currently being used to accept comments regarding a proposed net neutrality rollback, on May 7 and May 8. It was initially believed the high volume of comments was responsible for the comment system being unavailable.

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Google Chrome Improves Offline Features On Android

Google has introduced some changes to its offline features for Chrome on Android. With the updated version of the app, services like Pocket are becoming significantly less useful. You can now save any article just by long-pressing a link and hitting "Download Link."

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T-Mobile Ends Free 200 MB Data Offer For iPads

T-Mobile is no longer offering 200 MB of free data with new iPads on the network. As of May 7, new iPad activations don't come with free LTE data per month. T-Mobile first offered its Free Data for Life plan in 2013. You'll no longer have the data upon upgrading.

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Apple Extends Warranty For iPad Pro's Smart Keyboard

The iPad Pro's Smart Keyboard accessory now comes with a three-year warranty. Apple revealed in an internal memo to retail stores that it would extend the warranty due to "functional issues" with the keyboard. Hardware issues have led to various problems.

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Russia Blocks WeChat For Not Registering With Government

WeChat is facing a ban in Russia because it never registered with the government. Tencent, the app's owner, was supposed to register with state authorities since WeChat distributes information online. It's in discussions with state officials to figure out how to proceed.

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[NextPowerUP]

The US will soon announce an expansion of laptop-related restrictions to European nations, according to US and European officials. Laptop restrictions were first implemented against flights originating from 10 Middle East airports in March of this year.

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Germany Received 85% Of Energy From Renewables In Late April

Germany broke a local record during the last weekend of April by getting 85% of its electricity from renewable energy sources. That electricity came from wind, solar, biomass, and hydroelectric. Germany's coal-based power stations basically stopped working.

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Verizon Beats AT&T To Buy Straight Path For $3.1 Billion

Verizon has reportedly beat AT&T in a bidding war, enabling it to acquire Straight Path and its spectrum for $3.1 billion. The Wall Street Journal reports Verizon sent in the bid after AT&T announced it was buying Straight Path for $1.6 billion in April.

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FCC Flooded With Fake Anti-Net Neutrality Comments

Thousands of illegitimate anti-net neutrality comments have taken up a lot of space in the FCC's comment section. The agency is currently accepting comments from the public regarding its proposed rollback of net neutrality regulations. Most of the fake responses are the same.

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Nielsen Finds 64% Of Americans Over 13-Years-Old Are Gamers

The majority of Americans over the age of 13 can be described as gamers, according to a report from Nielsen. Its 2017 report on the gaming market found 64% of people in the US could be considered "gamers" in 2016, up from 63% in 2015. Many of those people use mobile devices.

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Snap Reports Poor Q1 Performance, Lost $2.2 Billion

Just after going public, Snap has reported a pretty bad quarter. The company had $149.6 million in revenue during the first quarter, missing its expected $158 million. That's a quarter-on-quarter drop of around $16 million. It also had a net loss of $2.2 billion.

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Google Acquires VR Studio Behind Job Simulator, Rick & Morty

Google has purchased one of the most successful virtual reality studios, Owlchemy Labs. The Texas-based company is responsible for Job Simulator and Rick & Morty: Virtual Rick-ality. While announcing the acquisition in a blog post, Owlchemy said it "couldn't be happier."

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Mass Effect Series Placed On Hold For Now

The future of Mass Effect is currently in limbo due to the disappointing performance of Andromeda. According to Kotaku, publisher EA has placed the series "on ice" for the time being. That doesn't mean a new title will never be released, but a new game isn't in development.

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Periscope For Android Adds 360-Degree Video

Support for 360-degree video streams has been added to Periscope's app on Android. The highly requested feature now lets people with an Insta360 Air camera broadcast live in 360-degrees from a smartphone. Streams in that format will have a special badge.

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Toyota Using Nvidia Tech For Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles created by Toyota will be based on Nvidia's Drive PX system. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, announced during the company's GPU Technology Conference that the automaker had decided to use the PX at the core of its self-driving vehicles.

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Microsoft Emma Watch Can Help Parkinson's Patients

Microsoft has created a wearable device that could help reduce limb tremor in those with Parkinson's. The Emma Watch is a wrist-worn device that uses "vibrating motors" like those in smartphones to "distract the brain" in such a way that abhorrent muscle activity is reduced.

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Star Wars Battlefront 2 Is Three Times Larger

Star Wars Battlefront 2 comes with enough content to make it "three times the size of the original," EA said during an earnings call. We've known for a while that the game is going to be much larger in an attempt to overcome some of the complaints about the first Battlefront.

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HP Announces Elite x2 1012 G2 Detachable Laptop For Enterprise

The first-generation Elite X2 1012 G1 was praised by its great build quality, battery life and ease of serviceability. HP has now announced its successor that features a better hardware, but also improved design with reduced thickness of the bezels by 10% for a larger display and

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Verizon's Wear24 Smartwatch Now Available For Purchase

The carrier nicknamed Big Red has just announced that its smartwatch is now available for purchase. Just as promised, the Wear24 is now available in stores and online. If you're willing to sign a contract, the watch will cost you $299. Otherwise, it is priced at $349.

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ASUS VivoBook Pro 15 With GeForce GTX 1050 Now Official

Earlier this month, ASUS unveiled two new budget notebooks powered by Intel Apollo Lake processors and Windows 10 Home operating system. Both laptops are part of the VivoBook lineup and feature an 11.6-inch display. Now, the company has unveiled a larger and more powerful member

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New Renders Show Oppo's Find 9 Handset

The long rumoured successor to the Find 7 smartphone, which was unveiled back in 2014, is still under the development. There has been a lot of talking and leaks about it, but have not heard anything from Oppo about the launch of Oppo Find 9. It is possible that Oppo has

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Replacement Galaxy S8 Displays Not Too Costly

For its 2017 flagship smartphones, Samsung designed a new display called Infinity Display. Both the display and rear side use hardened Gorilla Glass 5, one of the best glass solutions on the market, but even the Glass 5 is still prone to breaking relatively easily.

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Image Of iPhone SE (2017) Leaks Online

Apple is rumoured to be working on three new smartphones for 2017 and many think that the third model is the iPhone 8. However, the third model could be a member of the affordable Apple SE lineup and a leaked image shows us how the iPhone SE (2017)'s rear might look like.

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Facebook Demoting Sites That Have Spammy Ads

Much like sites that peddle fake news, websites that host spammy advertisements are going to see less traffic from Facebook. The social network is tweaking its algorithm to demote domains that feature spammy and misleading ads. Those sites won't have as large of a reach.

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Spotify Offering Half-Price Discount To Capital One Users

Spotify and Capital One have partnered to let certain customers receive a 50% discount on a premium subscription to the music streaming service. If you sign up for Spotify Premium with a Capital One Quicksilver or QuicksilverOne card you'll get the service for $5 per month.

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[NextPowerUP]

Ransomware based on leaked NSA hacking tools is spreading around the world and has already shown up in dozens of nations. On Friday, Kaspersky estimated there were at least 45,000 infected computers. Most are located in Russia, Ukraine, India, and Taiwan.

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Sprint, T-Mobile Return To Merger Discussions

Sprint and T-Mobile are once again talking about a possible merger, reports Bloomberg. Preliminary "informal" discussions are taking place between SoftBank (the biggest Sprint shareholder) and Deutsche Telekom (owner of T-Mobile). Earlier merger talks were set aside.

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Halo 6 Isn't Going To Be At E3

The next entry in the Halo franchise won't be introduced during E3 2017 next month. Although 343 Industries has a "little something" planned for the event, it's not going to show Halo 6. It confirmed the lack of a Halo announcement in a post on Reddit.

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iPhone 8 128 GB May Cost $1000

Simona Jankowski, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, has released a research note to investors stating the iPhone 8 is likely to cost $999.99 for the 128 GB version. Consumers will be able to double that, bringing the storage to 256 GB, for just $100 extra.

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Street View Images Integrated Into Google Maps For Android

Google Maps for Android now comes with some images from Street View, specifically those showing turns. On the directions screen, users can see actual images of the moves they need to make rather than just knowing the street to look out for and its distance.

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Uber, Waymo Case Sent To Department Of Justice

The judge overseeing Waymo's lawsuit against Uber has decided to refer the case to federal prosecutors with the Department of Justice. Although US District Judge William Alsup isn't saying Uber is guilty or should be criminally charged, this investigation was deemed necessary.

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Minecraft Reaches Nintendo Switch

Minecraft has been released for the Nintendo Switch. It comes with all of the same features found in the other console versions of Minecraft, including its multiplayer mini games. Even if you're using the handheld setup, Microsoft says it should offer 720p 60 fps performance.

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Google Announces Project Treble, First Step Towards Faster Android Updates

Google might be one of the key players when it comes to mobile operating system, but Android is still far from perfect. One of the main problems of the system about which users are always complaining is a painfully slow update system, which takes few months to reach non-Nexus

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Apple Invests $200 Into Corning And Its Gorilla Glass Technology

For some time, Apple was thinking about releasing iPhones with sapphire models, but according to its latest investment, the company is now focused on glass. As a part of the recently announced $1 billion fund aimed at investing in US-based manufacturing, the first company to get

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Samsung Galaxy S8 And S8+ Not Using Fast Charging While They'Re In Use

Samsung has had very painful experience with the Galaxy Note 7 and to prevent that from happening every again, the company has implemented various safety features, both in production and software. Some of those things have been included in the new Galaxy S8 lineup.

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New Moto X (2017) To Be Called Moto X4, More Details Also Revealed

The last Moto X smartphone was announced back in 2015 and although we thought that we won't see new Moto X handset, the company has different plans. The new Moto X smartphone might not be a high-end model, but it will be announced in very near future.

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OnePlus 5 Renders Leaked, Shows Rear Panel

Most top-tier companies have released their flagship smartphones, but there are still some that have been very competitive in the past. OnePlus is one of them and the upcoming OnePlus 5 smartphone has now leaked via Weibo, revealing its dual-rear cameras.

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Valve Releases Steam VR App For 360-Degree Videos

Valve has come out with a 360-degree video viewer for the Steam VR platform. The app, called Steam 360 Video Player, is currently in beta and it'll arrive on desktop soon. With a single click, you'll be able to playback content on your Rift or HTC Vive.

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Samsung Forms A Separate Contract Chip Manufacturing Unit

With such competitive market, it is very important to release next-generation products first. This is extremely important for the contract chip manufacturers that make chips for various products, as every new node brings further improvements and tends to secure many new contracts

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Samsung Galaxy Note 7R Available For Purchase In China, Comes In Two Variants

Officially, Samsung has yet to announced the refurbished Galaxy Note 7R. However, according to Chinese retailer listings, the smartphone is already available for purchase and from what we can see, two variants are available, and the only difference is the battery size.

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LG Denies Rumours That It Will Make Pixel 3

Google is currently focused on its next-generation smartphone lineup, the Pixel 2, and although the phones have yet to be announced, we already have our first Pixel 3 rumours. It has already been rumoured that several companies are interested in Google Pixel 3

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HP Now Removing Keylogger From Affected Laptops

Earlier today, a security research company Modzero revealed that some HP notebooks come with keyloggers out of the box, which can track everything typed on a keyboard. The firm discovered a keylogger in audio drivers issued by HP in 2015 that record every keystroke entered.

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Xiaomi Opens Its First Retail Store In India

As promised last week, Xiaomi has officially announced its first Mi Home retail store location in India, the company's second biggest market. Located in Phoenix Market City Mall, Bengaluru, the store will allow customers explore Xiaomi's product line.

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HTC U 11 To Feature 360-Degree Real-Life Recording

We are less than a week away from HTC's scheduled press conference, where we'll finally see the announcement of a brand new flagship smartphone. The HTC U 11 is rumoured to pack features that have not been available so far, and another teaser only confirms that.

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Acer and HP Windows Mixed Reality Dev Kits Up For Pre-Order

The first Windows Mixed Reality development kits made by HP and Acer are now officially available for pre-order. This was now announced by Microsoft, who has listed the virtual reality headsets in the Microsoft Store. Developers can expect their kits to be shipped later this

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[NextPowerUP]

General Motors' Maven car-sharing service has expanded to its largest market, New York City. Maven launched more than a year ago and has so far entered 17 markets in North America. In New York City, the service initially has a fleet of over 80 vehicles.

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Judge Lets Uber Continue Autonomous Vehicle Work, Bans Levandowski From Lidar Development

As Waymo's case against Uber moves forward, Judge William Alsup has issued a ruling that'll be somewhat helpful to Uber. The company can continue its autonomous vehicle project, but Anthony Levandowski has been barred from any Lidar-related work at Uber.

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Audi, Volvo To Use Android For Upcoming Cars

An Android-based operating system will sit at the center of upcoming vehicles from Volvo and Audi. Through new partnerships between Google and the automakers, they'll end up using an infotainment system based on Android 7.0 Nougat. Google Assistant integration is present.

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Amazon's Worth Grows To $459B, Twice That Of Walmart

Walmart was formed in the 1960s and has stores all across the world, while Amazon was formed in the 1990s and is almost exclusively known for its online businesses. Despite those differences, Amazon's value is now twice that of its largest physical retailer competitor.

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Asus May Be Killing The ZenWatch Line

Asus isn't moving forward with its ZenWatch Android Wear smartwatch line, reports Digitimes. Sources along the company's Asian supply chain claim development of the smartwatch lineup is ending. It's decided against releasing additional ZenWatch devices due to low sales.

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Samsung Chromebook Pro Now Up For Preorder

Preorders have begun for Samsung's Chromebook Pro, which was first revealed during CES earlier this year. It's more expensive and powerful than Samsung's other model, the Chromebook Plus, which was also introduced at CES. It has a release date of May 28.

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Steam Summer Sale 2017 Date Leaks

This year's Summer Sale on Steam is going to run from June 22 to July 5, according to information leaked on Reddit and PCGamesN. That date showed up in a developer-only post, which can be seen in the included screenshot. We're still waiting on verification, of course.

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Fake WhatsApp URL Spreads Adware

A malicious website pretending to be associated with WhatsApp is spreading adware. It's located at "whatsapp.com," yet the characters are replaced with those from the Cyrillic alphabet, making it easier to appear legitimate. The URL could definitely trick people.

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Google Assistant For iOS May Be Announced At Google I/O

Google Assistant could be headed to iOS within the next couple months. Android Police reports Google might reveal the app during its I/O event this week, which would indicate a release is just around the corner. Assistant has expanded to many devices in recent months.

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Lyft Working With Waymo On Autonomous Vehicles

As Waymo (Alphabet) fights Uber in court, it is also partnering with Uber's greatest competitor, Lyft. They're going to work together on autonomous vehicle technology, increasing the possibility that Lyft could overtake Uber as a result of faster developments.

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Hackers Connected To Vietnamese Government Attack International Targets

Security firm FireEye reports hackers "aligned with Vietnamese government interests" are targeting companies, journalists, and governments around the world. They've been carrying out cyberattacks for at least 3 years. The implicated group is known as OceanLotus.

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Latest Netflix For Android App Doesn't Run On Rooted Devices

Rooted Android phones and tablets won't be able to use the latest version of Netflix. The app now comes with an updated DRM system that fully relies on Google's Widevine DRM. As a result, it typically won't run on a device that's been rooted. Widevine offers content protection.

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Nintendo Creating Zelda Game For iOS

Nintendo is working on a Legend of Zelda title for iOS, reports the Wall Street Journal. It'd be the first time Nintendo has come out with a mobile Zelda game and it'd continue the company's relatively recent venture into mobile gaming. We may not see it for months.

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FTC Cracking Down On Tech Support Scams

The FTC has begun an initiative to crack down on tech support pop-up scams. According to the agency, its "Operation Tech Trap" involves a "nationwide and international crackdown" on scams. These scams often involve security alert-like pop-ups that get people to spend money.

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Google AdSense Will Often Punish Individual Pages, Not Sites

If a website page contains content that violates Google AdSense's policies, the entire website may no longer be affected. With an update to the service's policy, Google says individual pages may lose ads, but the rest of a site could remain unaffected.

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FCC Comments Clearly Support Net Neutrality

Comments submitted to the FCC in response to its proposed rollback of net neutrality regulations are clearly in support of the regulations, according to an analysis from Jeffrey Fossett. Once you remove a set of spam comments, the alternative position dominates.

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MasterCard Partners With Verifone and Global Payments To Speed Up Chip-And-PIN Payments

A month after MasterCard announced addition of fingerprint sensor technology to physical credit cards, which wouldn't require a PIN to verify your identity, the company has now announced that it has partnered with payment processing companies Verifone and Global Payments to make

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Microsoft Rumoured To Bring New Fluent Design To Phones As Well

At the recent Build conference, Microsoft announced a new Fluent Design System that was previously known as Project Neon. During the announcement, the company never mentioned anything about bringing it to phones, but according to a new report, it will.

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Samsung Launches Galaxy J3 (2017), Priced At $179.99

The South Korean tech giant has just updated its affordable smartphone lineup with a new 5-inch device. The Galaxy J3 (2017) has just been officially announced and is available to buy in the United States, where AT&T has it listed on its website with a price of $179.99.

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Unlocked LG G6 Launches In The US; T-Mobile Ends "Buy One Get One Free" Promotion

LG's latest flagship smartphone was available in the United States for a couple of months now, but only from carriers. The company has now announced that unlocked models are finally available in the country and can be ordered for $599 from retailers like B&H and Amazon.

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[NextPowerUP]

Facebook's Open Compute Project may have stolen server and rack technology from BladeRoom, a UK data center company. A case against Facebook is underway and a district court judge in California has laid out the timeline for the proceedings. Blueprints were allegedly stolen.

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Apple Pay Arrives In Italy

Apple Pay has officially launched in Italy and it comes with support from 3 banks. The mobile payment system is initially working with Boon, Carrefour Banca, and UniCredit. Cards from Visa and MasterCard will be accepted. It's been slowly expanding around the world.

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Chinese Drone Owners Will Need To Register With The Government

Like in the US, China is setting up a drone registry system that'll mandate all drones over 250 grams be registered with the authorities. Inappropriate piloting behavior has led to flight groundings in China, affecting thousands of people's travel plans.

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The Shadow Brokers Claim More Leaks Are Coming

More NSA secrets are going to leak this summer, claim The Shadow Brokers. The hacking group says more tools from the US spy agency have been stolen and it's going to set up a monthly subscription model for accessing security exploits. It revealed the exploit behind WannaCrypt.

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Discord Messaging App Grows To 45M Users

Discord, a chat app that's become very popular among PC gamers, is now at 45 million users. It's only been around for a couple years and it's quadrupled in size in about a year. The app reported 11 million users back in July 2016. 200 million messages are exchanged per day.

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Tesla's Elon Musk Refused To Work With Uber On Autonomous Vehicles

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick approached Tesla's Elon Musk last year to see if the companies could work together on autonomous vehicles. According to a new book called Wild Ride, Musk turned down Kalanick's offer. He called the proposal "too far out" at the time.

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Facebook Working With The Trevor Project To Help Prevent Youth Suicide

Facebook has partnered with The Trevor Project, a suicide hotline aimed at young people in the LGBTQ community. With the partnership, more suicide prevention tools will become available in Messenger. It'll be easier for people to connect with The Trevor Project as a result.

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Resident Evil 7 Still Expected To Ship 10M Units

Despite disappointing early sales, Capcom still believes Resident Evil 7 will eventually have over 10 million shipments. The game's 3.5 million shipped copies failed to meet Capcom's expectations for the latest fiscal year, which was 4 million copies.

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ASUS ZenWatch 3 Now Receiving Android Wear 2.0 Update

Recent rumours suggest that ASUS will kill its ZenWatch smartwatch lineup due to poor sales. The company is reportedly shipping an average of just 5,000 to 6,000 ZenWatch units per month across the product line, which is too low for the company. This could be another company that

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Google Might Unveil High-End VR Headset Today At I/O

Google I/O developer conference is about to begin and we are eager to see what has Google prepared for us this year. It is safe to say that we'll see more about the next version of the mobile operating system, the Android O, but some people also think we might see the next-gen VR

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Moto Z2 Force And Z2 Play Leak In Press Render

Motorola has been busy lately with the work on 2017 smartphone lineups. The company recently unveiled the entry-level Moto C and Moto C Plus smartphones and is now prepping to launch new handsets under the Moto Z, Moto X and Moto E lineups this year.

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Meizu To Launch Bezel-Less Phone Next Year

Pretty much every new flagship smartphone in 2017 needs to have bezel-less display, otherwise it is considered as a failure. Even Apple is working on a radical redesign of its mobile phones, and according to GizmoChina, Meizu needs one more year to develop and starts selling such

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HTC U11 Beats Google Pixel On DxOMark

Just a day after the launch of 2017 flagship smartphone, HTC U11 is already making a statement. On the paper, the phone looks great. It has great specifications and some unique features, but according to real tests, it is also proving to be one of the best devices out there.

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New Assassin's Creed Confirmed For This Fiscal Year

Shortly after a screenshot and title for a new Assassin's Creed entry leaked, Ubisoft has confirmed the next game in the series will be out this fiscal year. It confirmed the upcoming title as part of its earnings report. Very little was released about the game.

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Tencent Reportedly Working On eSports-Themed Amusement Park

Tencent, a large Chinese investment firm and owner of League of Legends developer Riot Games, is interested in building an eSports-themed business park, animation studio, and theme park. According to its plan, Tencent is going to place all of those in the same location.

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Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone Returns To Company

To help guide Twitter's future, co-founder Biz Stone is returning to the social network. Stone was one of the first four founders of Twitter back in 2006, but he decided to leave the company in 2011 in order to work on other projects. He has an unspecified role.

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LG Watch Sport For Verizon Cancelled

A version of the LG Watch Sport is not going to be released for Verizon, reports Droid Life. The LTE-ready model has been entirely cancelled. Initially the Watch Sport was supposed to offer LTE on Verizon and AT&T. The Verizon model was first delayed.

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First Amazon-Based 4K TVs Launch, Begin At $450

The first 4K televisions running Amazon's Fire TV software and its Alexa digital assistant are entering the market starting at $450. A low-cost lineup from Element will be sold under both the Element and Westinghouse brands. You can preorder them on Amazon's site.

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Microsoft, UN Working Together To Track Human Rights Abuses

The United Nations is working with Microsoft to track human rights abuses around the world using big data. With this "landmark" partnership, they'll work towards combating human rights violations by tracking and predicting abuses. Microsoft is giving a $5 million grant.

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Far Cry 5 Officially Announced By Ubisoft

Far Cry 5 has officially been announced by Ubisoft and given a general release date of the current fiscal year. It was revealed ahead of the company's earnings call. Ubisoft is targeting a release by March 31, 2018. Ubisoft isn't releasing much about the title right now.

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[NextPowerUP]

Destiny 2 for PC isn't going to be released through Steam, PC's largest game store. Instead, it's exclusive to Blizzard's Battle.net platform. Destiny 2 is using Battle.net for purchases as well as for online gameplay. It'll be the first non-Blizzard game to use the platform.

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Destiny 2 Beta Test Arriving This Summer

Destiny 2 won't be fully out until September 8, but a beta test is going to start earlier this summer. Bungie says gamers will have access to a free beta prior to the release, yet it didn't mention when that beta will become available. The game will be out on consoles and PC.

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Google Daydream Has Over 150 Apps

More than 150 apps have been built for Daydream, Google's virtual reality platform. That milestone was announced during I/O 2017, a year after Daydream was introduced by the company. Daydream was announced during I/O 2016 and a headset arrived in November.

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Facebook Lands Weekly MLB Game Streams

Live MLB baseball games will be streamed on Facebook on a weekly basis. Those games will air on Friday beginning this week. The first game is the Rockies vs. the Reds at 7:10 a.m. ET and it'll be available here. All US users can view the live baseball content.

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Amazon Establishing Drone Research Center In France

Amazon is setting up a new drone research center in France to increase its work on Prime Air. The Prime Air Development Center is located in Clichy, France, placing it in a suburb of Paris. Around a dozen software developers will initially be working at the facility.

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Uber Freight Launches For Long-Haul Trucking Jobs

Uber has a new app that's aimed at a different market than usual. Its new Uber Freight service will connect truckers with long-haul jobs. The platform is being marketed as an easy way for companies to get things moved and for truckers to find more work.

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FCC Votes Against Net Neutrality

Even though most of the comments received by the FCC were in favor of net neutrality, the agency has voted to overturn regulations. A 2-1 vote on Thursday came down in favor of a rollback. This begins the process of eliminating certain rules and changing the way ISPs are treated.

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Microsoft To Open First African Data Centers In 2018

Ahead of Google and Amazon, Microsoft will begin opening data centers in Africa next year. It'll start operating its cloud services from centers in Cape Town and Johannesburg, both of which are in South Africa. Those services include Azure and Office 365.

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Twitter Will No Longer Respect 'Do Not Track'

Twitter has updated its privacy policy, with one of the changes being that it'll no longer respect Do Not Track requests. Do Not Track is supported by all of the major browsers and it lets sites know you want to opt-out of cross-site tracking. Enforcement is up to the site.

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Oppo R11 Confirmed To Launch Very Soon

Oppo has recently announced its latest selfie-centric smartphone, the Oppo A77, and has now confirmed that it is gearing up to introduce the R11, a new mid-range smartphone. The company has also released the first official teaser for the smartphone and confirmed the presence of

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Huawei MediaPad T3 7.0 Launches In The US, Costs Only $89

Huawei has just announced that its latest member of the MediaPad T3 lineup of tablets has just arrived in the United States. Out of three new models that were announced last month, and were expected to launch at the same time, only one is now available for purchase.

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Motorola Moto Z2 Force Leaks In A Press Render, Confirms Dual Rear Cameras

Following the leaks of mid-range Moto E4 and E4 Plus smartphones, another Motorola handset has now leaked online ahead of its official launch. Motorola has yet to officially announce its new flagship lineup, but the Moto Z2 Force has now leaked in an official-looking press render

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Take A Look At The Upcoming Microsoft Surface Pro

On May 23 in Shanghai, China, Microsoft will hold a press conference where it will unveil a much-anticipated successor to the Surface Pro 4. The new Windows 10-powered tablet is simply known as the Surface Pro, since Microsoft already confirmed that the Surface Pro 5 doesn't

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Samsung Chromebook Pro Delayed, To Be Released By The End Of May

Samsung's flagship Chromebook that was unveiled earlier this year at CES 2017 ahs been postponed. The Chromebook Pro was expected to launch this week, but talking to The Verge, Kan Liu, senior director of product management for Chrome OS, has confirmed that the laptop will start

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Android Pay Coming To New Markets, New Features To Launch As Well

Google's mobile payment service has recently launched in the United Kingdom, but during its developer conference Google I/O 2017, the company announced an expansion of Android Pay, upgrades to its Payment API, new loyalty features for merchants, and more.

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Refurbished Galaxy Note 7 To Launch As Galaxy Note FE

Samsung is preparing to launch a refurbished Galaxy Note 7 and since there were a lot of problems with the phablet, the company and many other organizations want to ensure that the device is safe to use. For weeks now, the refurbished device was rumoured to be called

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LG Stylo 3 Plus Launches In The US

LG Stylo 3 Plus is the latest smartphone from the South Korean company in the United States. The phone is now available from T-Mobile for $9 down and $9 a month on Equipment Installment Plan, or for $0 upfront and $10 a month with JUMP! on Demand. It can also be purchase

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Lenovo Restructures Its Business In China, Creates Two New Divisions

Besides refreshing its notebook lineup with new devices, Lenovo has also announced a plan to restructure its business in China due to changing computer industry and losing its place as the world's top PC vendor according to the recent market research by IDC.

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Lenovo Updates Its Laptop Lineups, Introduces Five New Models

Lenovo just announced that it is updating the IdeaPad and Legion gaming laptop lineup and introducing a new Flex 2-in-1 laptop. The IdeaPad is updated with three new models - the 720S, 320S and 320, the Legion lineup is refreshed with a new model Y920, while the new 2-in-1 is

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OnePlus Confirms Name Of Upcoming Flagship Phone, Camera Made In Partnership With DxO

Following a number of leaks over the last few months and official teasers, OnePlus has now officially confirmed the name of its upcoming flagship smartphone. OnePlus 5 is the name of the upcoming phone, just like the rumours were saying. If you didn't know, the company decided

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[NextPowerUP]

Full Android integration, including Google Assistant, is in the works for vehicles. A new version of the Assistant tool has been designed to offer some car-specific features not found on the devices currently offering the feature. It works with 3D mapping and satellite images.

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Vast Majority Of WannaCrypt Victims Have Been On Windows 7

Windows 7, not Windows XP, has been the most problematic operating system during WannaCrypt's spread. A report from Kaspersky found 98% of all known infections occurred on versions of Windows 7. The 64-bit version accounted for over 60% of infections on its own.

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New Browser Act Proposed To Protect Browser Data

The Senate voted in favor of rolling back browser data privacy protections in April, but now certain protections could be restored. A new bill, known as the BROWSER Act (Balancing the Rights of Web Surfers Equally and Responsibly), would require user opt-in.

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Apple Doesn't Appear To Be Adequately Deleting iCloud Notes

iCloud notes are thought to disappear from Apple's system after a 30-day grace period that begins the moment a note is put in the trash. But Apple doesn't appear to be fully removing the content. ElcomSoft researchers found the notes aren't actually going away.

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37,000 Workers At AT&T Go On Strike

37,000 AT&T employees who are also members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) are going on strike. Since the company will effectively lose 14% of its workforce for the time being, it's possible some retail stores could temporarily shut down.

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Personal Drones No Longer Need To Be Registered With The FAA

A Washington DC court has ruled in favor of consumers who don't want to register their personal drones with the federal government. Due to the ruling, personal drones no longer need to be registered with the FAA, at least for now. This stems from a January 2016 lawsuit.

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Tesla Extends Free Supercharger Access Offer

Although Tesla officially got rid of its free Supercharger access offer for new customers starting January 15, Tesla is partly walking back that change. It's now letting any existing Tesla owner receive free, unlimited access to the Supercharger network.

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Bitcoin Jumps Over $2,000 For The First Time

Bitcoin has continued to reach new heights during the past few weeks. It surpassed its highest ever value and kept on going, bringing the cryptocurrency over $2,000 for the first time. That gives the market cap of the currency a value of $32.92 billion.

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Facebook Lets You Check Notifications From Instagram, Messenger

Facebook's mobile app is now integrating notifications from the company's other large apps: Instagram and Messenger. With the new notifications, which first showed up on iOS, users don't need to flip between apps as often. The notification icon has also been updated.

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Uber Could Fire Anthony Levandowski If He Doesn't Comply With Court Orders

Former leader of Uber's autonomous vehicle division, Anthony Levandowski, could lose his job if he doesn't fully comply with court orders. Levandowski received a letter from his employer informing him of the potential consequences of his current actions.

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Destiny 2 Release For Nintendo Switch Isn't In The Works

Destiny 2 has only been announced for PC, Xbox One, and PS4, and it doesn't seem like the game is going to come out for the Nintendo Switch. According to Bungie project lead Mark Noseworthy, a Switch version isn't in the company's plans. It'll be out September 8.

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Over-The-Air Update Brings CarPlay, Android Auto To Many Ford Vehicles

Ford's first over-the-air software update has brought CarPlay and Android Auto to a range of 2016 vehicles. Every car using the Sync 3 infotainment system can receive those features via a wireless update. Customers can also install the update at a dealership or via a flash drive.

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Nintendo NES Classic Outsold PS4, Xbox One In April

Nintendo had both the first and second best selling consoles in the US last month, reports NPD. The Switch had more sales than any other system and the NES Classic managed to beat Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One. The NES Classic was a hit from the moment it came out.

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Counter-Strike Events Will Be Streamed On Facebook

Facebook's livestreaming has largely been devoid of any gaming content, but that's beginning to change. The social network is going to become home to livestreams of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive events. ESL, a major eSports company, has signed a deal with Facebook.

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Destiny 2 Beta Test Arriving This Summer

Destiny 2 won't be fully out until September 8, but a beta test is going to start earlier this summer. Bungie says gamers will have access to a free beta prior to the release, yet it didn't mention when that beta will become available. The game will be out on consoles and PC.

More...

Google Daydream Has Over 150 Apps

More than 150 apps have been built for Daydream, Google's virtual reality platform. That milestone was announced during I/O 2017, a year after Daydream was introduced by the company. Daydream was announced during I/O 2016 and a headset arrived in November.

More...

Facebook Lands Weekly MLB Game Streams

Live MLB baseball games will be streamed on Facebook on a weekly basis. Those games will air on Friday beginning this week. The first game is the Rockies vs. the Reds at 7:10 a.m. ET and it'll be available here. All US users can view the live baseball content.

More...

Amazon Establishing Drone Research Center In France

Amazon is setting up a new drone research center in France to increase its work on Prime Air. The Prime Air Development Center is located in Clichy, France, placing it in a suburb of Paris. Around a dozen software developers will initially be working at the facility.

More...

Uber Freight Launches For Long-Haul Trucking Jobs

Uber has a new app that's aimed at a different market than usual. Its new Uber Freight service will connect truckers with long-haul jobs. The platform is being marketed as an easy way for companies to get things moved and for truckers to find more work.

More...

[NextPowerUP]

Just like Microsoft, Huawei has also held a press conference today, to introduce three new devices - MateBook X, MateBook E and MateBook D. All three models are unique, with MateBook E being a convertible, while the other two MateBooks are notebooks.

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Microsoft Surface Pro Is Now Official, Starts At $799

Many of us have expected to see a new Surface device today and Microsoft has fulfilled our wishes. The company has dropped the numbering scheme and launched a new device called Surface Pro. While it looks pretty much the same as the old Surface Pro 4, it is a completely different

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ASUS VivoBook S15 Leaks, Reveals Thin Display Bezels

The bezel-less trend seems to be affecting notebook market as well. Many already available models are being refreshed with bigger displays, but same physical size thanks to thinner bezels, while new models are also in the works like ASUS VivoBook S15, which was briefly listed on

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HP Announces New Spectre X2 2-in-1 And Envy Laptops

Ahead of Microsoft's Shanghai event, HP has announced that it has updated its Spectre and Envy notebook lineups. Both lineups feature slightly redesigned exterior and a lot of improvements under the hood, and all notebooks will go on sale sometime next month.

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Samsung Launches New Galaxy S8 Promotion, Buy One Get One Free

If you are a T-Mobile customer and in search for a new smartphone, maybe the latest promotion from Samsung could interest you in the Galaxy S8. The company is now offering "2-for-1" deal in the United States, where you buy one Galaxy S8 from Samsung's website and get a second

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OnePlus 5 To Have Up To Five Color Options

OnePlus smartphones have great design, but if you are looking for different color options, you either need to look elsewhere or buy a case for the phone. Possible good news is that OnePlus might finally launch more color options with the upcoming OnePlus 5 smartphone.

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LeEco Planning Massive Layoffs In The US

The well-known Chinese company is about to announce another big failure. Following the financial crisis, LeEco is about to announced another round of layoffs that may happen as soon as Tuesday and is allegedly preparing to lay off 80% of its US staff.

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Upcoming Apple iPad Pro Models Surface In New Renders

For the second half of 2017, Apple is preparing two new iPad Pro models with a 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch displays. Thanks to render artist Benjamin Geskin, we have renders for both the unannounced 10.5-inch Apple iPad Pro and a 12.9-inch iPad Pro model.

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Meizu Unveils M5c Handset With 2 GB RAM And HD Display

As promised, Meizu has officially announced a new mid-range smartphone called M5c. The exact price tag isn't known, but it will be under $275 and will launch in Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Mainland China, France, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy,

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iPhone SE Leads In Customers Satisfaction

The annual American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has found the small 4-inch iPhone SE outperforms every other phone. It received a score of 87/100, coming out ahead of the iPhone 7 Plus and devices from other companies. 20 other models received scores of 70 to 85.

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Apple, Nokia End Litigation And Sign Licensing Agreements

Apple and Nokia are no longer locked in legal battles. Instead, they're cooperating and signing agreements. Nokia agreed to drop its lawsuit against Apple in order to sign a multi-year patent license agreement instead. Nokia will provide some "infrastructure" tech to Apple.

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Amazon Now Selling TV Channels Beyond The US

Amazon isn't just selling TV channel subscriptions in the US anymore. The company is now offering channels in the UK, Austria, and Germany. Its Amazon Channels service includes various local and global channels. The service grew out of an expansion to Amazon Video.

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Three Chinese Companies Capture Quarter Of Global Smartphone Market

Nearly a quarter of global smartphone sales during the first quarter of 2017 came from just three Chinese companies: Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo. Together, they took 24% of the market, according to Gartner's data. The quarter had a total of 380 million unit sales.

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Google's AlphaGo Beats World's Best Go Player In First Match

AlphaGo, an artificial intelligence system built by Google's DeepMind, has won against the best Go player in the world. It's already won the first of three matches against Ke Jie, who's considered the top human player. AlphaGo beat another well-known champion last year.

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Daimler Starts Constructing $562M Battery Factory

To enable the release of many electric vehicles over the next few years, Daimler has begun constructing a $562 million lithium-ion battery factory in Germany. The automaker plans to release 10 new electric models within three years. The batteries will also be used for storage.

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PS Now Reaches 70M Monthly Users, PS Plus Has 26.4M Members

At the end of 2016, Sony reached 26.4 million paying PlayStation Plus members, the company announced during a Corporate Strategy Meeting briefing. It also now has 70 million monthly active users on PlayStation Network. Sony didn't say when it considers a user "active."

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Instagram Adds Reversible 'Archive' Option For Posts

For people who are unsure about keeping up a post on Instagram, the social network has added an "archive" option. The new feature is a bit less severe than outright deleting your post. When you archive something, Instagram lets you restore it whenever you like.

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Pokemon Go Likely To Receive Legendary Pokemon This Summer

Archit Bhargava, global marketing lead at Niantic, teased the upcoming availability of legendary Pokemon in the developer's Pokemon Go mobile game. During an acceptance speech at the 21st Annual Webby Awards, Bhargava said, "this summer will be legendary."

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Companion App For Echo Look Is Available

Amazon has released an app to go along with the Echo Look, a recently introduced device that can judge your style. The Echo Look is powered by Alexa and features a camera. With the app, you can see live previews from the camera, take a picture, and compare styles.

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Next Nest Cam Could Have 4K, Motion-Enabled Zooming

The next iteration of Nest's home security camera could be an even greater threat to burglars. Android Police reports the Alphabet-owned company is working on a camera model that offers 4K technology and the ability to zoom when motion is detected in its field of view.

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[NextPowerUP]

Acer Spin 1 is another product from Acer that was announced today, ahead of Computex 2017 trade show in Taiwan. The lightweight 2-in-1 convertible starts at $329 in the United States and will start shipping in July, and optional active stylus is sold separately.

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Xiaomi Unveils Mi Max 2, A 6.44-inch Phablet With 5,300 mAh Battery

Just like it was promised a few days ago, Xiaomi has unveiled a new treat for all Mi fans. The Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is finally official and comes with various improvements over its predecessor. The main improvements are new display, more efficient Snapdragon SoC and a larger battery.

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Google Will Track The Offline Impact Of Online Ads

Google is enhancing its advertising system to track the impact that online ads actually have on offline purchases. At its annual advertiser conference, Google announced a tool that'll track the way people spend money in brick-and-mortar stores. Clicks are connected to purchases.

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AlphaGo Is Now The Top Go Player In The World

Google's AlphaGo, a piece of artificial intelligence from DeepMind, is officially the best Go player in the world. It won for a second time against Ke Jie, a 19-year-old who also happens to be the world's top champion. With that second win, Jie can't come back.

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Study Finds Apple Watch Has The Most Accurate Heart Rate Monitoring

The Apple Watch may be superior to other wearables and fitness devices for heart rate tracking. A study compared the Watch to the Basis Peak, Fitbit Surge, Microsoft Band, Mio Alpha 2, PulseOn, and Samsung Gear S2. Data from 60 participants was available.

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Republicans Supportive Of Straight-To-Voicemail For Robocalls

Republicans in the US want robocallers to be able to fill up people's voicemail. The Republican National Committee (RNC) has written to the FCC in support of a straight-to-voicemail plan. If such a plan were implemented, spam calls that don't trigger a ring could fill your inbox.

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Facebook Updates Mobile Trending Topics Section, Puts More Emphasis On News

Facebook is increasing its focus on news on mobile devices with an update to the Trending Topics section. The network previously hid trending topics within the search area. Now you'll see them directly in your news feed. This will give news content more exposure.

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EU Approves Plan That'd Force Facebook, YouTube To Remove Hate Speech

A proposal to force companies like Facebook and YouTube to get rid of hate speech has been approved by the European Union. Before the rules are actually implemented, they must still be approved by the European Parliament. The rules are likely to pass.

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Tesla Gets Rid Of HR Head, Faces Poor Working Condition Allegations

Amid claims of poor working conditions and harassment, Tesla is swapping out its head of human relations. Arnnon Geshuri, who's been with the company for years, is leaving. This comes as Tesla figures out how to deal with allegations of unsafe conditions and other issues.

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Android Pay Headed To Canada This Month

Android Pay will launch in Canada on May 31. When it arrives in the market, the mobile payment service will work with most major credit and debit cards. Google hasn't revealed which bank partners are available at launch. Multiple expansions were recently announced.

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Facebook Spending $10,000 To $250,000 Per Original Show

Facebook is investing millions of dollars in original content for its platform. Much of the content is targeted specifically at young people. The company has reportedly signed deals with Vox, BuzzFeed, ATTN, and Group Nine Media. Those deals are for up to $250,000.

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Acer Announces Two New Iconia Tablets

Ahead of Computex 2017 in Taipei, Taiwanese company Acer has introduced a host of new devices, among which are two new Iconia Android tablets. The company did not reveal full specifications of these two new tablets as well as availability and pricing.

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Samsung Already Working On Next Galaxy S Handset

Samsung is currently enjoying the popularity of its latest Galaxy S8 lineup, but to make the equally good job with its successor, the company has already started on its development. According to Korean publication The Bell, the development of the device has reportedly begun

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iPhone 8 Leaks In New Renders And Hands-On Video

Apple is slowly gearing up for the launch of the new iPhone models and we are now getting more and more information about the handset. Another set of renders of iPhone 8 has leaked online, alongside new schematic and a video that shows the smartphone.

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ASUS ZenScreen To Launch Very Soon, Available For Pre-Order

At IFA last year, ASUS unveiled a 15.6-inch portable monitor called ZenScreen. Since its announcement, the monitor has yet to go on sale, but that is about to change. Although we'll have to wait for a few more weeks, the monitor will go on sale sometime in July.

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VAIO Introduces New Special Edition Notebook

Many companies use other top brands to name their products or launch exclusive premium device. After we have seen Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini products, VAIO has now launched a luxury notebook called VAIO Z Mercedes Benz. It is available in Japan starting at ¥250,000

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Surface Book And Surface Pro To Be Available With Windows 10 S

Microsoft hopes to spoil Google's plans with the Windows 10 S OS and Surface Laptop, and according to the latest interview, the Windows 10 S version of the Surface Laptop is just the beginning of a wider range of devices running the operating system.

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ASUS ZenFone Go 2 Goes Through TENAA, Specs And Design Now Confirmed

ASUS ZenFone Go is about to be replaced with a new model after it was available for about two years. The new ZenFone Go 2 has been spotted at TENAA, the Chinese regulatory commission, which also confirmed its design, specifications and color options.

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Kodak Ektra Launches In The US, Much Cheaper Than Expected

Koadk and Bullitt Group announced that the Ektra smartphone is now available in the United States, a few months after the phone went on sale in Europe. The price tag of the European version was set at $525 outright, but the good news is that the company realized they won't sell

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DJI Spark Is The Company Lightest, Cheapest And Smallest Drone

The popular drone maker DJI has decided to up their game and introduces a new drone. Called Spark, the new "mini drone" is also the company's lightest, cheapest and smallest drone they have ever made. It costs $499, weighs just 300g and measures 143 x 143 x 55 mm.

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[NextPowerUP]

Far Cry 5's release date has been confirmed and its debut trailer is now available. The game is going to come out on February 27, 2018, says Ubisoft. It'll be released at the same time for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Some details about the game's plot were released.

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Italian Court Lets Uber Operate In The Country

Uber isn't going to be blocked from operating and advertising in Italy. A court in Rome has ruled in favor of lifting a ban that was placed on the ride-hailing company in early April. After that ban was implemented, it only took a week for another court to put a stop to it.

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Tidal Loses Another CEO

Music streaming company Tidal continues to have a hard time holding on to its top executives. Jeff Toig, the company's CEO, is leaving. Billboard reports Toig is out and will be replaced shortly. He previously worked at SoundCloud for a couple years before joining Tidal.

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Disney Denies It Was Hacked, No Movie Was Stolen

Disney wasn't hacked after all. Despite multiple reports from the media and even some support from Disney itself, it turns out the company wasn't breached and none of its upcoming movies were stolen. Hackers were demanding a Bitcoin ransom to prevent the release of the movie.

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Nielsen Finds 92% Of Viewing By US Adults Occurs Via TV Screens

Mobile devices may be playing a progressively greater role in people's lives, but they haven't become the dominant way of viewing shows and movies. Nielsen reports 92.4% of video viewing still takes place on TV screens among adults in the United States.

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Samsung Establishing $445M Fund To Help South Korean Companies

A $445 million fund is being created by Samsung to help smaller companies located in South Korea, its home country. The fund has been announced shortly after the election of President Moon Jae-in, who claims he'll rein in dominant family-owned companies like Samsung.

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Apple News Getting An Editor-In-Chief

Apple is placing an editor-in-chief at the head of Apple News for the first time. Lauren Kern, formerly the executive editor at New York Magazine, is filling the role and will presumably work on curating content. She could help Apple make sure news sources are legitimate.

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Leaked Slides Detail ARM's New CPU And GPU Designs

Since Snapdragon 820, Qualcomm has switched back from using ARM's Cortex cores to its own Kryo cores due to various issues. The new Kryo cores are very powerful and ARM is now trying to catch up with the new Cortex processor and Mali graphics designs.

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Nokia 9 Spotted On Geekbench, Packs Snapdragon 835 And 8 GB Of RAM

If you have been waiting for flagship Nokia 9 handset, we have new information. After the recent images of Nokia 9 prototype, the handset has now appeared on the popular benchmarking website, and according to the listing, it will definitely be one of the most powerful phones in

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Apple Black Out Days Hint At iPhone 8 Release Date

During Apple Black Out Days, advisors and leaders are be restricted from requesting days for time off, which often coincides with the launch of new products. The Cupertino company has reportedly posted blackout dates for staff, which also hint at possible launch date of new

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Samsung Won't Sell Its Network Business

According to latest reports, Samsung SDS, the IT solutions unit of Samsung Group, has decided to drop plans to sell its home network systems business. The company was in talks with Ireland-based Allegion, but the company either failed to reach an agreement or decided not to go

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Huawei Watch 2 Classic Launches In The US

The sportier Huawei Watch 2 smartwatch has been available in the US since April, but some people want more traditional version. The good news is that Huawei has finally launched its Watch 2 Classic in the country, which comes with less sporty looks, a stainless steel chassis and

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Lenovo Says It Will Never Phase Out Its Phone Brand

Back in November last year, rumours started surfacing that Lenovo will phase out its brand in smartphone market and would sell only Moto-branded devices in the future. After months of rumours, Lenovo's CEO has decided to put an end to that and said there are no plans to phase out

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Qualcomm Must Pay $940 Million To BlackBerry

The ongoing dispute between BlackBerry and Qualcomm is finally over. The popular chipmaker has agreed to pay BlackBerry $940 million to settle a royalty dispute. The company needs to pay the whole amount by May 31, 2017, the same day when the BlackBerry KEYone will launch in the

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Sony Xperia XZ Premium To Launch In Red As Well

When Sony announced its premium flagship smartphone, the Xperia XZ Premium, it only unveiled two color options - Luminous Chrome and Deepsea Black, and never said anything about other options. Shortly after the launch, the company launched a third option known as Bronze Pink.

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NVIDIA Officially Introduces GeForce MX150 For Notebooks

As gamers are waiting for the next-generation GeForce lineup, NVIDIA has just officially announced the GeForce MX150 graphics card for notebooks. The MX150 is designed for low-end notebooks that are looking to boost the graphics performance slightly above the capabilities of an

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Samsung Galaxy Feel With Octa-Core SoC And 3 GB Of RAM Announced

All eyes are now on Samsung's upcoming flagship phablet, but prior the announcement, the South Korean tech giant has a few other announcement to make. The first one is the Galaxy Feel, a new mid-range smartphone that is now on sale in Japan through NTT DoCoMo.

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Huawei Nova 2 And Nova 2 Plus Official, Features Dual Rear Cameras

If you like the design of the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus, but don't need such power phone, check the latest Nova smartphones. The Chinese company has just updated its mid-range Nova lineup with two new phones, the Nova 2 and Nova 2 Plus, which have received major update over their

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Gionee Announces Three New Mid-Range Phones, One Packs Four Cameras

The long rumoured Gionee S10, S10B and S10C handsets are now official. The company has just unveiled three new smartphones, out of which the most interesting one is the Gionee S10 since it features four camera setup, two on the back and two on the front.

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Baidu's Text-To-Speech Tech 'Perfectly' Works With Many Accents

Deep Voice, a text-to-speech system developed by Baidu, can "perfectly" replicate a range of accents. The latest version of the software, known as Deep Voice 2, has learned from "hundreds of unique voices" and it only needed under 30 minutes of data from each.

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[NextPowerUP]

Back at Consumer Electronics Show 2017, Samsung introduced two new notebooks that are powered by Google's Chrome OS. Dubbed the Chromebook Plus and Chromebook Pro, the laptops were expected to launch shortly after the trade show and although the Plus variant was released

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ASUS ZenBook Pro UX550 Is A Premium 15.6-inch Laptop That Starts At $1,299

To cover all segments, ASUS has also unveiled something for high-end users. Those that are looking for a premium 15.6-inch laptop can take a look at ASUS ZenBook Pro UX550. The laptop features an all-aluminum unibody design and diamond cut edges that is just 18.9 mm thin.

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ASUS Introduces Two New Affordable VivoBook Laptops

The second announcement from ASUS during the first day of Computex 2017 trade show are new VivoBook laptops, which bring premium design to mid-range segment. The VivoBook S15 starts at $499, while the more premium VivoBook Pro 15 model starts at $799.

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ASUS Unveils World's Thinnest 13-inch Convertible

At Computex 2017 trade show in Taiwan, ASUS has officially unveiled a host of new ZenBook laptops, among which is the new ZenBook Flip S (UX370), the world's thinnest convertible. The new notebook is just 10.9mm thick and is also very light, at 1.1kg.

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Galaxy C10 With Dual Rear Camera Detailed In A 360-Degree Video

Samsung will soon join the trend of phones with dual rear cameras. Although the first Samsung smartphone with dual rear cameras was expected to be the new Galaxy Note phablet, the company will first experiment with a mid-range Galaxy C10 phone lineup.

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Google's Photo Books Now Available In The United States

Besides announcing several other improvements in Google Photos, Google also unveiled a new service called Photo Books. The service gives users ability to create photo book and although Google probably wants to launch it worldwide, it is only available in the US.

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ARM Officially Introduces Cortex-A75, Cortex-A55 And Mali-G72

As mentioned in our earlier report, ARM has officially unveiled its new mobile CPU and GPU designs. The new designs are expected to start appearing in mobile devices by the end of 2017. The main focus with these new designs is powering artificial intelligence-based solutions on

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LG Talking To Qualcomm About Snapdragon 845

Many companies were not satisfied with Qualcomm about the Snapdragon 835 and the fact that Samsung had the first fresh supply of Qualcomm's flagship chipset for its flagship smartphone. The company is already talking to Qualcomm about the Snapdragon 835 successor, but reportedly

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Refurbished Galaxy Note 7 Caught In Action

Samsung is probably just days away from officially launching refurbished version of the Galaxy Note 7. Now, a new leak shows the phablet in the wild, showing the front and back panel of the handset. While the Galaxy Note 7R will remain the same in terms of overall design, it will

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US Laptop Ban May Apply To All International Flights

The US could move to ban laptops on all international flights, though a final decision hasn't been made. Elements of the Trump administration are in favor of an expanded ban. Laptops and other devices larger than phones have been banned from the cabin on Middle Eastern flights.

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UK Could Find Social Media Sites For Inadequate Content Moderation

Like other European countries, the UK is considering the implementation of fines against social media companies that don't adequately moderate their services. There seems to be support throughout the government for increased regulations covering social media.

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Nintendo To Increase Switch Production For The Holidays

In anticipation of greater interest in the Nintendo Switch later this year, Nintendo is going to increase production of the console. The Financial Times reports it is looking to reduce "customer tantrums" by increasing supply. The Switch remains somewhat difficult to buy.

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Google Offering 4-Month Trial Of Play Music

New subscribers can now check out Google Play Music for four months without paying anything. Google has introduced a trial offer that surpasses Apple Music's. Normally subscribers have been given a 90-day free trial. Play Music has both a free and ad-free paid tier.

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Xbox Game Pass Interest Is Already 'Really Strong'

Ahead of its launch on June 1, sign-ups for Xbox Game Pass are already "really strong," according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer. The subscription will give people access to a selection of downloadable titles for their console. It costs $10 per month and includes over 100 games.

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Moto Z2 Play Leaks In A New Set Of Images

Motorola's upcoming premium mid-range smartphone has now leaked in another set of images, confirming design of the phone and retail box. The Moto Z2 Play is expected to be announced on June 1, alongside a higher-end Moto Z2 smartphone. Images of the retail box mention Moto Snaps

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Google Creates A 'Personal' Tab For Your Own Content

A new "personal" tab has been added to Google's search engine, helping people easily view all of their own content. You can use the personal section to view your photos, Gmail emails, and calendar events. It can surface many of the things you've placed in Google's app suite.

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TSMC Allegedly Confirms That iPhone 8 Will Have Embedded Touch ID Into Display

Just like Samsung, Apple reportedly also had problems with embedding Touch ID into display. While Samsung ran out of time and put the fingerprint scanner on the back, Apple has managed to solve the issues it had and embedded the Touch ID into the display.

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AlphaGo Ending Its Competitive Go Career

Having beat the top Go players in the world, DeepMind's AlphaGo is no longer going to compete. It recently defeated Ke Jie, the world's top Go player, during the Future of Go Summit in China. DeepMind says the AI system's matches against Jie were its last.

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Concept Video And Images Hint At Possible LG V30 Design

LG G6 is a great looking handset and the first LG smartphone that packs Full Vision display with 18:9 aspect ratio, but the phone is lacking power compared to other Snapdragon 835-powered smartphones. That will be fixed with the LG G30, which is rumoured to pack the Qualcomm's

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'Toxic' Content Will Be Removed By Google In Vietnam

Google is seemingly going to work with Vietnam to make sure the country's laws are enforced online. As such, it'll cooperate with the Asian nation to get rid of "toxic" content, which presumably means removing things the rest of the world doesn't consider an issue.

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[NextPowerUP]

With each flagship smartphone, OnePlus manages to surprise us with both build quality and performance. For 2017, it looks like the company is preparing something big for us and has now released more details about the smartphone ahead of its release.

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Aorus Unveils New Slim Gaming Notebook With Max-Q GPU

Just like other top-tier companies, Aorus has also jumped on the Max-Q bandwagon and released a new slim gaming notebook. Called the Aorus X5 MD, the 15.6-inch notebook features NVIDIA's latest Max-Q GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card with 8 GB of VRAM.

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HP's Digital Assistant Showcased At Computex

Shortly after the first standalone smart speaker with Cortana was unveiled, HP has also joined the bandwagon and unveiled its own Cortana device at Computex 2017. The unnamed HP digital assistant will serve as an input device for Microsoft's Cortana virtual assistant, but

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Xiaomi Mi Note 3 Leaked In Another Image

Xiaomi is expected to announce a successor to the Mi Note 2 very soon and from what we heard, it could take over the crown for the best phablet in 2017. The handset, which has been subjected to several leaks and rumours over the last few months, has now leaked in another image

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Windows 10 PCs With Snapdragon 835 To Be Released By The End Of 2017

Thanks to a partnership with Qualcomm, Microsoft finally brought ARM support with Windows 10 operating system. At Computex 2017, the software giant confirmed that three top-tier companies are planning to launch Windows 10 ARM-powered computers this year.

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Microsoft Reveals Upcoming Mixed Reality Headsets From ASUS, Dell And Lenovo

Not only computers were revealed at Computex, but also other interesting gadgets such as Windows Mixed Reality headsets. At the trade show, Microsoft revealed upcoming headsets from ASUS, Lenovo, and Dell, which are almost ready for production and the masses.

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OnePlus 3 And 3T Confirmed To Get Android O Update

While we are waiting for the official launch of OnePlus 5 smartphone, the Chinese company has now revealed more details regarding the future updates for OnePlus 3 and 3T phones. It was expected, but OnePlus' CEO Pete Lau announced that company's OnePlus 3 and 3T smartphones

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Acer Showcases More Powerful Chromebook Laptop At Computex

Most of the Chromebooks out there are powered by MediaTek processor and have entry-level specs. For those that want a more powerful Chromebook, Acer has now showcased a new Chromebook that packs up 8 GB of RAM as well as a powerful Intel processor under the hood.

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Garmin Announces Approach S60 Smartwatch

If you are in a search for a new golf watch, then Garmin might have what looks to be the best golf watch on the market. The new Approach S60 comes with a Fenix-like design and a lot of built-in features. It will be available in June in either black and white for $399.99.

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Essential Confirms Its First Phone Will Be Released Next Month

Andy Rubin's first smartphone was unveiled earlier today and while its specifications and design are well known, not much was known about availability, until now. The company's CEO and co-founder of Android confirmed onstage at Recode's Code Conference that the Essential

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Nest Launches 'Cam IQ' 4K Security Cam

The Cam IQ is the latest security camera model from Google-owned Nest. As had been rumored, the device comes with a 4K video sensor and improved motion detection capabilities. With the motion detection features, the Cam IQ can notify you when it sees people.

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Apple Registers New Macs, iPads Before WWDC

Just ahead of WWDC on June 5, Apple has registered some new Mac and iPad devices in Eurasia. Consomac (France) discovered new regulatory filings within the Eurasian Economic Commission database. Those suggest five macOS Sierra-running devices are on the way.

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Spotify Expanding To Vietnam, Thailand

Spotify is going to grow its presence in Asia by launching in Vietnam and Thailand. Once it's available in those areas, Spotify will open up to over 100 million new potential users. Sources speaking with TechCrunch say the company is also working on an Indian expansion.

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Nintendo Has A New Mobile Pokemon Game

A new mobile Pokemon game is on the way and this time it's coming directly from Nintendo. Pokeland, an upcoming title for iOS and Android, requires an internet connection and Nintendo Account. An alpha test is beginning today just in Japan for Android devices.

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BlackBerry KEYone Reaches Amazon, Best Buy Today

BlackBerry's KEYone smartphone will be available from Best Buy and Amazon in the US beginning today. The phone has been teased for months and now US variants are finally going to be on the market. You can get a CDMA model from Amazon and a GSM model from Best Buy.

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Tesla's Solar Roof Faces Competition From Startup's Cheaper, Efficient Solution

Tesla isn't the only one with a solar roof product in the US. Forward Labs, a California startup, has launched its own solar roof that'll be a competitor to Tesla's solution. Forward Labs' product is cheaper, more efficient, and somewhat easier to install.

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Carpool Karaoke Reaches Apple Music In August

One of Apple Music's first exclusive non-music offerings, Carpool Karaoke, is going to arrive on August 8. The show features celebrities like Will Smith, Metallica, and Ariana Grande. Its release date was confirmed by Eddy Cue, Apples's VP of internet software and services.

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Samsung Might Not Be The Only Source For Future iPhone OLEDs

LG wants to produce OLED displays for future iPhone models in order to keep Samsung from being Apple's sole supplier. ET News reports the company is investing $3.56 billion in one of its factories to prepare itself for large OLED requests from Apple.

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70% Of Smartphone Apps Share Data With Third-Parties

Most Android and iOS apps are constantly sharing some of your data with third-party services, such as Google, Facebook, and Crashlytics. Researchers writing at The Conversation say they've found 70% of the apps they examined were connected to at least one tracker.

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Amazon Investing $5M To Have Playwrights Write Stories For Audible

Around a dozen playwrights are going to receive a combined $5 million from Amazon to create stories intended for the Audible platform. The company hasn't detailed how playwrights can apply, but it appears interested in offering more original content.

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