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New Note8 leak shows awkwardly placed fingerprint sensor

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jul 21, 2017 3:03 PM CDT

Samsung revealed that they would launch the Galaxy Note8 in a month, on August 23rd. The Note8 is one of the most anticipated phones of this year, and therefore there are many rumors and leaks surrounding the device. Many people were eagerly awaiting the Note7 last year and had to either give theirs up or never get one due to the recall.

New Note8 leak shows awkwardly placed fingerprint sensor

Samsung posted a promotional poster, so we know that despite some rumors, the Note8 will keep the symmetrical design. However, there's one question that still hasn't been answered - what's happening with the fingerprint sensor?

Although we have heard many ideas, it seems that the fingerprint sensor is staying in the awkward position on the back of the device next to the camera, same as the S8 and S8+.

Continue reading: New Note8 leak shows awkwardly placed fingerprint sensor (full post)

Samsung Galaxy S8 officially discounted by up to $300

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jul 21, 2017 1:53 PM CDT

If you wanted to get the Galaxy S8 or S8+, but it was too expensive for you, now is your chance to get the device at a solid discount.

Samsung Galaxy S8 officially discounted by up to $300

For a limited time, the company is selling unlocked versions of its latest flagships for $150 off. That drops the price of the Galaxy S8 from $725 to $575 and the price of the Galaxy S8+ from $825 to $675.

You can also get another $150 discount with a qualifying trade-in. Some of the phones that you can trade-in for extra $150 off are Galaxy Note5, S5, and newer S-series phones, iPhone SE, 5S and newer iPhones, LG G4 and newer, and Google's Pixel or Pixel XL.

Continue reading: Samsung Galaxy S8 officially discounted by up to $300 (full post)

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 836 will debut with the Pixel 2

Lana Jelic | Processors | Jul 21, 2017 12:31 PM CDT

In the months leading up to the launch of Samsung's Galaxy Note8, we have heard rumors that the device might be powered by Qualcomm's yet-to-be-announced Snapdragon 836.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 836 will debut with the Pixel 2

Samsung has confirmed that the phone would be launched on August 23rd, but according to a new report, it won't feature the Snapdragon 836 but will instead be powered by Snapdragon 835, the same SoC used in S8 and HTC U11.

The same report says that Qualcomm plans to introduce the Snapdragon 836 with the Google Pixel 2. We saw the same scenario last year when Qualcomm debuted the Snapdragon 821 with Google's Pixel.

Continue reading: Qualcomm's Snapdragon 836 will debut with the Pixel 2 (full post)

Samsung to produce chips for the iPhone 9, LG batteries

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jul 21, 2017 11:08 AM CDT

While we are still waiting for this year's iPhone(s), there are already rumors floating around about next year's device allegedly named the iPhone 9.

Samsung to produce chips for the iPhone 9, LG batteries

We recently learned that Samsung would manufacture Apple's 7nm A12 chipset, which should power the iPhone 9. This is a huge accomplishment for Samsung since the company lost the deal with Apple back in 2013 to its Taiwanese rival TSMC.

According to Korea Economic Daily's report, Apple also reached an agreement regarding iPhone 9's batteries. The iPhone's L-shaped batteries should be manufactured by LG.

Continue reading: Samsung to produce chips for the iPhone 9, LG batteries (full post)

Facebook is working on a modular smartphone

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jul 21, 2017 9:40 AM CDT

In a patent published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Facebook describes a modular device that can be used as a phone.

Facebook is working on a modular smartphone

The tech giant submitted a patent for a "modular electromechanical device" that can incorporate a speaker, microphone, touch display, GPS, and even function as a phone.

This isn't the first time we have heard about such an idea. Google already tried to do something similar with their ambitious Project Ara, but it didn't make any significant impact. Interestingly, many key members of Google's Project Ara team now work at Facebook's Building 8 group, the team responsible for this patent.

Continue reading: Facebook is working on a modular smartphone (full post)

Samsung's 1st dual camera phone has an Always On Display

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jul 21, 2017 8:22 AM CDT

It has been rumored that the Galaxy C10 might be Samsung's first smartphone with a dual camera setup. The upcoming Galaxy Note8 should also have a dual camera, but apparently, the Galaxy C10 will be launched before the Note device. Since the Note8 will debut on August 23rd, it remains to be seen if the Korean giant will launch the C10 within the next month.

Samsung's 1st dual camera phone has an Always On Display

Now, new photos of the upcoming C10 have emerged showing that the phone will feature Always On Display and confirming dual rear camera setup.

The Galaxy C10 should be powered by a Snapdragon 660 and come with 6GB of RAM. There's also a possibility that some markets might receive the same device powered by Samsung's Exynos 7872 with six CPU cores. It is expected that it will ship with a 6-inch Full HD display. The phone should come in two versions, with 64GB or 128GB of internal storage.

Continue reading: Samsung's 1st dual camera phone has an Always On Display (full post)

$32 million of Ethereum stolen by hackers

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Jul 20, 2017 11:00 PM CDT

With all of the fluctuations surrounding digital currency and more specifically Ethereum, hackers were able to take a huge $32 million of Ethereum from Parity.

$32 million of Ethereum stolen by hackers

The hackers attacked a vulnerability of Parity, an Ethereum walelet that has implemented multi-sig wallets, securing 153,000 worth of Ether, valued at $32 million at the time of the theft. Parity posted a security alert on July 19, stating that the vulnerability had been fixed, adding "any user with assets in a multi-sig wallet created in Parity Wallet prior to 19/07/17 23:14:56 CEST" was still vulnerable to Ether theft.

Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood also founded Parity, with Parity quickly becoming one of the most trusted wallets available. CyberScoop has reported that a bunch of white hat hackers saved Parity users from even more devastation, taking the remaining multi-sig wallets that were filled with $75 million worth of Ether - a huge 377,000 worth. The hackers have promised to return the $75 million worth of Ethereum once the vulnerability has been fixed.

Continue reading: $32 million of Ethereum stolen by hackers (full post)

Fake AMD Ryzen CPUs have been sent by Amazon

Anthony Garreffa | Processors | Jul 20, 2017 9:50 PM CDT

There have been two consumers that have ordered AMD Ryzen 7 1700 processors from Amazon, but they didn't receive a real CPU - because in 2017, that's a thing.

Fake AMD Ryzen CPUs have been sent by Amazon

Both of the Ryzen CPUs were in fact Intel Celeron CPUs that were disguised as Ryzen 7 1700 processors. Reddit user sh00ter999 posted an image to Reddit of what was meant to be the Ryzen 7 1700, and instead it was actually an Intel Celeron processor that looked like a really poor attempt at an AMD Ryzen chip.

The "Ryzen 7 1700" shipped with the wrong, and even damanged heat sink, with packaging that looked dodgy as well. There were no pins on the bottom of the CPU, and mixed with the pinless AM4 socket, could've resulted in damaging a motherboard if someone pushed down too hard on the heat sink when installing it.

Continue reading: Fake AMD Ryzen CPUs have been sent by Amazon (full post)

Avast acquires CCleaner and Speeccy developer Piriform

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Jul 20, 2017 8:30 PM CDT

Avast has just announced that it has acquired Piriform, the developer behind CCleaner and Speccy. The deal was announced over a year since Avast coughed up $1.3 billion to acquire its rival, AVG Technologies.

Avast acquires CCleaner and Speeccy developer Piriform

Piriform makes various device performance optimization software, but CCleaner is used by a huge 130 million people, and even 15 million users on Android. In November 2016, the developer announced CCleaner had been downloaded over 2 billion times, with a Piriform product installed over 23 million times per month.

Avast CEO Vince Steckler had the following to say about the acquisition of Piriform: "We see many commonalities between CCleaner and Avast, allowing for great new products for our user bases. Avast and CCleaner are the top two downloaded products on popular download sites. They are both known by advanced users as focused on performance, so we believe there will be a great interest from our CCleaner customers in using Avast security products and vice versa".

Continue reading: Avast acquires CCleaner and Speeccy developer Piriform (full post)

Ubisoft hints AC Origins' RPG elements will be monetized

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 20, 2017 7:32 PM CDT

Ubisoft has stated that all of its games will have live services that tie into recurring player investment, hinting that Assassin's Creed: Origins may be monetized with in-game purchases and microtransactions. In a Q1 earnings call, key Ubisoft executives give more clues on how the next Assassin's Creed will continue earning money long after initial sales.

Ubisoft hints AC Origins' RPG elements will be monetized

French games-maker Ubisoft has made a tremendous transformation in the last few years, and its digital-first strategy is paying off big. Instead of focusing on single-release games, Ubisoft has embraced the next evolution of gaming which sees digital titles being treated as a service--the Games-as-a-Service trend, or GaaS--to ensure its games keep pulling in revenues months or even years after release. One of the main ways it achieves this goal is by infusing microtransactions into its games. While online multiplayer games like Rainbow Six: Siege and For Honor are obvious choices for this monetization path, traditional game like Assassin's Creed are prime targets as well.

The Assassin's Creed series is no stranger to in-game microtransactions, and I expect the upcoming Egypt-based Assassin's Creed: Origins to be no different. I've already predicted that Ubisoft will monetize AC: Origins with loot boxes that contain randomized items, gear, or skill buffs, and now key corporate Ubisoft execs are adding weight to these predictions. In a recent Q1 earnings call, Ubisoft exec Alain Corre hints that the company may use Origins' heavy RPG focus as a path to recurring revenues.

Continue reading: Ubisoft hints AC Origins' RPG elements will be monetized (full post)

Google Pixel XL 2 looks amazing in the new concept video

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jul 20, 2017 6:16 PM CDT

Google's Pixel smartphone was one of the best phones of last year, and the company confirmed that its successor would come this year.

Google Pixel XL 2 looks amazing in the new concept video

We recently learned that LG will be making the upcoming Google Pixel XL 2 smartphone and that it should feature a "squeezable" frame that activates Google Assistant. This feature would be similar to HTC's Edge Sense introduced with its latest flagship, the U11.

While not much is know for sure at this point, there are some rumors floating around, and Concept Creator has posted a short video on YouTube showing a concept of the upcoming Pixel XL 2 based on recent reports.

Continue reading: Google Pixel XL 2 looks amazing in the new concept video (full post)

Samsung reveals the Galaxy Note8 launch date

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jul 20, 2017 4:49 PM CDT

Samsung has just revealed the launch date of the highly-anticipated Galaxy Note8. As rumored, the phone will be unveiled on August 23rd at an event in New York.

Samsung reveals the Galaxy Note8 launch date

The promotional poster also reveals a few things about the upcoming phone. Of course, we can see the stylus which is expected with the Note line, but also that the phone will feature Infinity Display.

We recently saw some reports that Samsung could move away from the symmetrical design of the S8. However, according to the poster, the Note8 will be very similar to the S8 and S8+.

Continue reading: Samsung reveals the Galaxy Note8 launch date (full post)

LG launches Q8, mini version of the V20

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jul 20, 2017 4:26 PM CDT

Ahead of the V30 launch, LG has quietly launched the Q8 smartphone, which could be best described as a mini version of the V20.

LG launches Q8, mini version of the V20

The phone features a 5.2-inch QHD panel with a secondary display to the side of the selfie camera. The back is also similar to the V20 with dual camera setup.

The Q8 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 and comes with 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage, expandable with a microSD card.

Continue reading: LG launches Q8, mini version of the V20 (full post)

Blizzard killing support for WinXP, Vista this October

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 20, 2017 3:21 PM CDT

Blizzard is making good on its promise to kill off support for legacy Windows operating systems in its popular franchises.

Blizzard killing support for WinXP, Vista this October

Blizzard has announced that Windows XP and Windows Vista users will no longer be able to play StarCraft II, World of Warcraft, Diablo III, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm after the killswitch is flipped in October.

"Starting in October of this year, we will begin the process of ending support for Windows XP and Windows Vista in World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm," the games-maker wrote in a recent forum post.

Continue reading: Blizzard killing support for WinXP, Vista this October (full post)

Nintendo's Fire Emblem mobile game rakes in $114 million

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 20, 2017 2:12 PM CDT

Nintendo's third smartphone game is booming, raking in considerable six-month sales.

Nintendo's Fire Emblem mobile game rakes in $114 million

Fire Emblem Heroes has made $114.9 million in revenues since its release on February 2, analyst firm SensorTower reports. These substantial earnings were generated with a rather smallish 11.7 million user install base compared to Super Mario Run's 90 million downloads in its first two weeks. Unlike Nintendo's "Mario on mobile" smartphone game, Fire Emblem Heroes has generated significant revenue from in-game purchases thanks to its specific earnings strategy.

The star mobile game leverages the massively lucrative "gacha" free-to-play business model, which sells in-game currency called "orbs" starting at $1.99 all the way up to $74.99. These in-game orbs are used to unlock new characters, upgrade stats, and other bonuses. Although the playerbase is smaller than most high-earning smartphone games, Fire Emblem Heroes is Nintendo's most profitable mobile game to date.

Continue reading: Nintendo's Fire Emblem mobile game rakes in $114 million (full post)

New leak shows iPhone 8's fingerprint reader on the back

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jul 20, 2017 1:24 PM CDT

By now you probably heard that Apple is having some serious issues regarding the placement of the fingerprint sensor. We anticipated that the fingerprint scanner would be embedded under the display on the home screen, but due to certain issues, it seems that option is out of the picture.

New leak shows iPhone 8's fingerprint reader on the back

Some reports suggest that Apple might ditch the Touch ID altogether and that the iPhone 8 might feature facial recognition only. We also saw a report stating that Apple will go with an enlarged power button on the side of the phone which will also serve as a fingerprint scanner.

Read also: Woman caught smuggling 102 iPhones strapped to her body

Continue reading: New leak shows iPhone 8's fingerprint reader on the back (full post)

Elon Musk gets approval to build NYC-DC Hyperloop

Lana Jelic | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Jul 20, 2017 12:12 PM CDT

Elon Musk has stated he has received permission to build an underground Hyperloop which will connect New York and Washington D.C.

Elon Musk gets approval to build NYC-DC Hyperloop

Musk explained on Twitter that he got a "verbal government approval" for the Boring Company to start the project.

The proposed route would include stops in Philadelphia and Baltimore, while the entire trip from New York to Washington DC would take 29 minutes.

Continue reading: Elon Musk gets approval to build NYC-DC Hyperloop (full post)

N64 Mini hinted by new Nintendo trademark

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jul 20, 2017 11:14 AM CDT

Nostalgia is massively lucrative, and it looks like Nintendo will continue stirring up millions of consumers with a Nintendo 64 Classic Edition in 2018.

N64 Mini hinted by new Nintendo trademark

Nintendo today filed a very interesting and instantly recognizable trademark in the European Union Intellectual Property Office that shows the Nintendo 64's iconic controller. As the graphic is quite similar to previous visual trademarks used in previous Nintendo "mini" consoles, it's very likely to represent a future Nintendo 64 Classic Edition micro-console to be released sometime in 2018.

Both the NES Classic Edition and the upcoming $79.99 SNES Classic Edition micro-consoles feature a distinctive controller logo on the top of their boxes. We've included a few side-by-side comparisons to illustrate.

Continue reading: N64 Mini hinted by new Nintendo trademark (full post)

ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Extreme announced, ready for Ryzen

Anthony Garreffa | Motherboards | Jul 20, 2017 7:44 AM CDT

ASUS launched their Crosshair VI Hero earlier this year when AMD launched their new Ryzen processors, but now the company has unleashed their first ROG motherboard ready for Ryzen CPUs.

ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Extreme announced, ready for Ryzen

The new ROG Crosshair VI Extreme is a new enthusiast motherboard ready for Ryzen CPUs, enthusiasts, and gamers alike who want the very best from ASUS. ASUS includes their Aura Sync RGB LED technology, dual PCIe 3.0 x16 slots for SLI/CF setups, and even a third x16 slot for CrossFire rigs (as long as your cards are dual-slot).

There's also USB 3.1 Gen 2 connectivity with Type-C and Type-A ports, GbE connectivity, and an upgraded 2x2 antenna for 802.11ac Wi-Fi. ASUS includes their latest SupremeFX S1220 codec teamed with the ESS Sabre DAC that provides great quality sound all from your motherboard.

Continue reading: ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Extreme announced, ready for Ryzen (full post)

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