Ryan Whitwam
Recent posts
Samsung's next Unpacked event will take place on July 26, at which time we'll finally get to see the company's newest foldables, smartwatches, and tablets. In advance of that, Samsung's head of mobile experience, TM Roh, has published the company's customary Unpacked teaser. It focuses mostly on the foldable elements...
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It's hard to launch a new smartphone startup at this stage, but Nothing is giving it a shot. The company from OnePlus founder Carl Pei has just released its second phone, and it's a big improvement over the first. The Nothing Phone 2 is sleek, powerful, and it has glowing light bars—what else could you want? Oh, a...
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Microsoft has been trying to close its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard for more than a year, and a recent court victory has moved the Xbox maker to within a hair's breadth of the goal line. The Federal Trade Commission failed to convince a court to block the deal, but the FTC has appealed the ruling...
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There is no shortage of companies trying to break into the smartphone market, but few ever manage to release a single phone, let alone two. Nothing, the smartphone startup brought to use by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, has unveiled its second smartphone, the predictably named Nothing Phone 2. By all accounts, it's...
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Today's AAA video games can cost hundreds of millions to produce over the course of years, so it's no surprise many publishers use anti-piracy tools to protect their games. Denuvo is one of the most effective, and therefore the most well-known of these DRM systems which has drawn the ire of many. Gamers claim Denuvo...
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Chronically online billionaire Elon Musk was forced to follow through on his proposed acquisition of Twitter late last year, and the site has changed dramatically in the intervening months. That has a lot of Twitter users searching for alternative social networks, and Meta just released one. The company's Threads app...
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It might be hard to remember, but there used to be a time when iPhone users could play Fortnite. That changed back in 2020 when Epic Games antagonized Apple by skipping the App Store billing system. Apple pulled the game, and the companies have been battling it out in court ever since. Apple came out on top in the...
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It's the time of year for spectacular, explosive light shows around the USA, but maybe your next phone will have a little light show of its own. Nothing launched its first phone last year, but it avoided the North American market. With the upcoming Nothing Phone 2, the company is headed to the US with enhanced "Glyph"...
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The jump from Pixel 6 to Pixel 7 wasn't huge, but Google didn't need to do much. The Pixel 6 was the first of the series that got everything mostly right, and the next version improved upon that. The Pixel 8, however, is shaping up to be a more substantial update. The rumor mill has already provided possible display...
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Microsoft is all-in with generative AI. After adding ChatGPT to Bing, Microsoft announced at the Build conference in May that the AI tool was coming to Windows 11 as "Copilot." Now, the first version of Copilot is rolling out. However, it won't arrive on the version of Windows 11 most people are using. If you want an...
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Google Pixel 7a - Starting at $499 The Google Pixel 7a gives you almost all the goodies from more expensive Pixels at a lower price. Class-leading cameras Sharp, bright OLED screen with 90Hz refresh Streamlined software with great features Wireless charging on board Good build quality with IP67 certification Sharp, bright display with 120Hz...
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The new Pixel 7a offers a lot for just $499, including several notable upgrades over last year's Pixel 6a. One of the improvements is a 90Hz display refresh, but now that the phone is in the wild, some owners have noticed that the OLED looks a lot less smooth in bright light. As it turns out, this is by design, but...
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We're still a few months out from the release of Google's next flagship smartphones, but leaks have pointed to a potentially major upgrade. The Google Pixel 8 might be able to power a desktop computing experience via USB DisplayPort alternate mode. So, you might be able to link a Pixel 8 with a monitor to get a...
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Google's original pitch for the Chromebook was a cheap, low-power device that connected to all your tools and data in the cloud. Consequently, most Chromebooks have modest hardware, and what few high-end Chromebooks we've seen have scarcely taken advantage of the extra power. That could be about to change with...
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At the height of the pandemic in February 2021, Spotify shared a scrap of good news when it announced Spotify HiFi. The new subscription was supposed to feature lossless music, something that many of Spotify's competitors have added with great fanfare. However, Spotify HiFi never materialized. A new report now claims...
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It's a foregone conclusion that Google is going to release new Pixel phones later this year. After stumbling more than once with its Pixel phones, Google is finally on a roll. The Pixel 6 was excellent, and the Pixel 7 built on that to become even better. We don't know everything the Pixel 8 will bring, but we do have...
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Google is on the verge of releasing its first foldable, but it won't have long in the limelight before Samsung comes roaring back. The company has already announced its next Unpacked event for July 26, but we don't have to wait to get a glimpse of the Galaxy Z Fold 5. A new leak purports to show an official render of...
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Google's Pixel phones come with excellent Android software, free from the bloatware of other phones, while also offering useful extras. Google is also living up to its promise to update Pixels with new features in regular Feature Drops. The last few have been a bit underwhelming, but the June 2023 Feature Drop for...
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It's a running gag that Google has too many messaging clients, but the core of its messaging strategy on Android is RCS. This service, sometimes branded simply as "Chat," relies on servers to relay messages, but not all carriers use the same ones. AT&T has been rolling its own RCS platform for the last few years, but...
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Blizzard released Diablo IV earlier this month in early access, giving owners of the enhanced and ultimate editions of the game a chance to explore Sanctuary a few days before the standard edition plebs. Now, Blizzard has flung the doors wide open, and the servers aren't quite keeping up. After intermittent server...
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Cloud gaming has been an option for more than a decade, but only recently have companies like NVIDIA and Microsoft hit their stride as faster network speeds unlocked cloud gaming for more players. Sony, however, isn't pushing its cloud gaming service very hard, and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida says that's intentional...
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Android is a mature platform after almost 15 years on the market, so we don't see as many major feature rollouts as we once did. Google is still finding ways to enhance its mobile platform, though. Today, Google is announcing the release of seven new features for Android phones and Wear OS watches. Some have been...
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