Tech news

T-Mobile has a deal for new and existing customers. Starting November 5th, those adding a new qualifying watch line can receive for free one of two different timepieces. http://dlvr.it/SBTjZ8

TCL today announced the TCL 20 A 5G, a 5G phone for under $200 coming to Visible next month. The company also announced the TCL 20 XE, a $120 4G phone coming to Metro by T-Mobile tomorrow, and Boost next month. * The TCL 20 A 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 chip, paired with 4 GB RAM, and 64 GB storage (expandable). It supports sub-6 5G, including C-Band (band 77). The 6.52-inch display has HD+ resolution. The battery is rated 4,500 mAh and the phone supports 18-watt fast charging. The 16-megapixel main camera is joined by a 5 megapixel wide camera and 2 megapixel macro camera. A 13 megapixel selfie camera sits in the display notch on the front. It ships with Android 11 and also features a fingerprint reader, Bluetooth 5.1, dual-band Wi-Fi, a dedicated Google Assistant button, headset jack, and USB-C with OTG. It has a matte gray finish. * The TCL 20 XE is a similar size, with the same 6.52-inch HD+ display, rear fingerprint reader, fast charging, headset jack, dual-band...

Final Fantasy games are enjoying a tremendous amount of hype after SquareEnix finally brought released the Final Fantasy VII Remake last year. http://dlvr.it/SBT8rz

The FCC has proposed opening up the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for access by text message in addition to voice calls. The Lifeline is accessible by dialing 988. The proposal would let people send a text to 988 to reach emotional support. The Lifeline already supports text chat via the web. If the proposal passes an FCC vote next month, US wireless carriers would have until July 16th, 2022 to implement the routing for texts sent to 988. http://dlvr.it/SBT8rs

Google has worked with WhatsApp to let people move their WhatsApp chat history from an iPhone to a new Android phone. The feature builds on the existing transfer feature of Android 12 that can import apps, SMS, iMessage history, photos, videos, contacts, calendars, and more from an existing iPhone. The transfer features work over a wired connection, requiring a Lightning-to-USB-C cable. The new WhatsApp transfer feature ensures thread integrity by blocking new messages on the old device while the transfer is in progress. http://dlvr.it/SBT8q4

Google has announced a forthcoming update to Android called Android 12L. The "L" stands for large screens. The new features are exclusively for tablets and foldable phones that unfold to tablet-like size. The update brings a new two-column layout to the notification shade and lockscreen, and similar layout optimizations for quick settings, overview, home screen, system apps, and more. A new taskbar provides quick access to favorite apps, and makes it easier to invoke split-screen mode. The company is also making new large-screen APIs and design guidelines available to developers. The APIs include a way for apps to be "fold aware", so the app's layout can account for the location of a display fold. Developers can access a preview version of Android 12L today. Google plans to release 12L "early next year, in time for the next wave of Android 12 tablets and foldables." http://dlvr.it/SBQGLw

Anker has launched MagGo, a new line of wireless chargers compatible with Apple's MagSafe magnetic wireless charging system, introduced with the iPhone 12 series. The MagGo lineup includes several unique new designs. * The 623 Magnetic Wireless Charger is a dual charger with a simple, stylish design, ideal for a nightstand. The compact cylinder shape has a top pad that tilts up to 60º and can hold an iPhone 12 or 13 vertically or horizontally while charging it at 7.5 watts. When the top part is tilted, a second charging pad is exposed that can charge a wireless earbuds case at 5 watts. The 623 is available in dark gray, white, Misty Blue, or Lilac Purple. It's available now for $80. * The 637 Magnetic Charging Station is a multi-function wireless and wired charging hub designed to live on your desk. Like the 623, it can charge an iPhone wirelessly at 7.5 watts while holding it up an angle. On the back are two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, and three AC outlets. The USB-C por...

New Bee M50 is a comfortable Bluetooth headset with clear audio and Bluetooth multipoint! http://dlvr.it/SBPnFS

Samsung is live with some crazy limited-time deals on tech products, today only. http://dlvr.it/SBPnF0

With iOS 15.1, Apple now allows you to migrate your vaccination certificate from the Health app to Wallet. http://dlvr.it/SBPn9c

The new 50 5G and 50 Lite are Honor’s first smartphones to run Google Mobile Services since the big schism between the Chinese company and Huawei. http://dlvr.it/SBLGj8

The Japanese pop artist Fujii Kaze teased his new music video for the song MO-EH-YO hours before the official announcement of the Pixel 6 series. http://dlvr.it/SBLGgy

Qualcomm today announced four new Snapdragon chips to power next year's smartphones, across a variety of price points. While some of the chips are genuinely new, others are minor variants of existing chips that seem to address the global supply-chain issues affecting the chip industry. The most significant new chip is the Snapdragon 695, which is a significant upgrade over the 690 with the addition of mmWave 5G. It's also more powerful, with 30% faster graphics performance, 15% faster CPU, and 10% faster clock speed. It also upgrades to a newer 6nm manufacturing process for better power efficiency. Qualcomm also introduced "plus" versions of two existing chips. The new Snapdragon 778G Plus and Snapdragon 480 Plus are both 5G chips with specs almost identical to the existing (non-"plus") chips. The 778G Plus has the "boosted performance" of a 2.5 GHz clock speed instead of 2.4 GHz, a minor difference. Qualcomm says these new chips will "provide...

Sony today revealed the Xperia PRO-I, an $1,800 phone with the same 1-inch camera sensor found in Sony’s line of RX100 standalone cameras. The 12-megapixel Exmor RS sensor has dual apertures (f/2.0 and f/4.0) and ZEISS Tessar T optics. The main camera is joined by 12 megapixel wide and telephoto cameras on the back, as well as a "3D iToF" and RGB-IR sensors. The front has an 8 megapixel camera and 6.5-inch 4K OLED display with 120 Hz refresh and HDR, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. The PRO-I is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip alongside 12 GB RAM and 512 GB storage, expandable with memory cards up to 1 TB. The battery is 4,500 mAh and the phone supports USB-PD fast charging. The phone has excellent support for 4G and sub-6 5G networks of Verizon and T-Mobile, including new C-Band networks coming soon to the US. It does not support mmWave 5G like the original Xperia Pro. Other features include IP68 rating for water and dust, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort and...

Earlier this year, Motorola announced a partnership with Bullitt to make a new range of rugged phones. On the FCC web site, a new phone has become public that seems to be the first product of that relationship. The Motorola Defy has a unique design with a single sharp corner that serves as a lanyard attachment. FCC documents reveal several details of this unannounced phone. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 chip and a 5,000 mAh non-removable battery. Its triple rear cameras include macro and depth cameras. It has Motorola's signature fingerprint reader integrated with the Motorola logo on the back. It also has NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi, a memory card slot, and a headset jack on top. The right side features a programmable shortcut button, in addition to volume and lock buttons. The only two variants approved so far are not optimized for US networks, (they don't support LTE in band 12,) so Motorola and Bullitt may be targeting other markets around the world, at least initi...

Xiaomi teased its next budget phone - the Redmi Note 11 - on Weibo a couple of days ago, and now the company continues to leak stats via the Chinese network. http://dlvr.it/SBGdj3

The Squid Game TV show has given birth many related apps that try to feed on its popularity, which is the perfect opportunity for cybercriminals to create scam apps. http://dlvr.it/SBGdj0

iOS 15 brought this hidden rain map feature to the Weather app on iPhone. http://dlvr.it/SBGdhv

Why buy the AirPods 3 when you can have the AirPods Pro with MagSafe for almost the same price? http://dlvr.it/SBGdhq

The Google Home branding is a bit of a mess right now. The company was using it for all of its smart home gadgets until 2019 when suddenly Google started to phase out the “Home” part in favor of the new “Nest” moniker. http://dlvr.it/SBGdhS

Your old Chatter Telephone, arguably your first mobile phone, is now back as real-honest-to-goodness handset that uses Bluetooth to sync with your iOS or Android handset. http://dlvr.it/SBCP7V

Epic opposes Apple's request for a stay that could stall a major ruling in the Epic v. Apple lawsuit for years while Apple exhausts all of its chances to overturn the judge's ruling. http://dlvr.it/SBCP7Q

Waze users will soon have the app updated to feature full dark mode. That means instead of just being able to view the map in dark mode, the entire UI will have a dark background with white text. http://dlvr.it/SBCP7L

Leaker shares Galaxy S22 Ultra battery and charging specs, and glass protector images. http://dlvr.it/SBCP7G

Photos allegedly showing the AirPods Pro 2 have surfaced. The images apparently shoot down talk of a stemless design and display two changes to the charging case. http://dlvr.it/SBCP6h

The U.S. approved 113 licenses to Huawei allowing certain equipment to be shipped to the company even though it remains on the Entity List and can't access its U.S. supply chain. http://dlvr.it/SB91B9

SNAP lost $32 billion in valuation after reporting that Apple's App Tracking Transparency and the supply chain disruptions are impacting advertising results for the company. http://dlvr.it/SB91B2

Forget to redeem the free Pixel Buds-A Series buds you are supposed to receive with a Pixel 6 pre-order from the Google Store? No worries! Google has your back. http://dlvr.it/SB919r

Have you ever done the math on how much you are actually paying to upgrade your smartphone every year? http://dlvr.it/SB919c

Next Thursday, October 28th, Apple will release its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings numbers covering the period from July through the end of September. http://dlvr.it/SB918Z

Here's how to set up iCloud Data Recovery Service on iOS 15. http://dlvr.it/SB6Bk1

Here’s an interesting development - Google is apparently starting to license its Stadia technology to other companies. http://dlvr.it/SB6Bjn

Almost all Apple products, especially the new and hot ones, are getting shipment delays... this could potentially be really bad for the holiday shopping season: for buyers, and for Apple as well. http://dlvr.it/SB6Bjb

Surprisingly, Google didn't cease the Android 12 beta after Android 12's official release, but is probably gearing for Android 12.x with an unspecified beta coming this December. http://dlvr.it/SB6BjQ

Google is lowering the fees it charges app developers for specific categories of transactions made via Google Play, the company's app store. For apps that offer a paid subscription, (such as dating, fitness, and education apps,) Google's cut of the subscription fees will now be a simple 15% at all times. Previously, it was 30% for the first year of a subscription, then 15% in following years. Google is also tweaking its Play Media Experience program to make many music and e-book providers eligible for rates as low as 10%. Previously, the program's lowest rate was 15%. The Play Media Experience program requires that content providers make their content available beyond Android, across all relevant Google platforms, such as WearOS, Android Auto, Android TV, and Google Cast. http://dlvr.it/SB6Bff

The popular app for runners and cyclists Strava is teaming up with Samsung to offer Galaxy Watch owners sixty days of its Strava Premium subscription for free. http://dlvr.it/SB2RmJ

Here are the best fast chargers we picked for your Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. http://dlvr.it/SB2RmC

Here's a list of all the Google Pixel models that are getting Android 12. http://dlvr.it/SB2Rly

Google has made the final version of Android 12 available for Pixel 3 and newer Pixel phones. The new OS includes many new privacy features as well as scrolling screenshots and easy Wi-Fi login sharing. http://dlvr.it/SB2Rlk

The newest version of Google's Phone app includes two major new features that make it easier to call businesses that make you navigate a menu tree and/or wait on hold before reaching a representative. The first feature, Wait Times, automatically displays a graph showing current and projected wait times for any specific toll-free number you're about to dial. If wait times are unusually long, you can quickly see when in the day or week they are likely to be shorter. The second feature, Direct My Call, automatically listens to and transcribes automated menus, turning them into a visual menu with simple on-screen buttons. The two features are available initially only on the new Pixel 6 series phones. Google often rolls out these types of features to new Pixels first, then to older Pixel models. Some such Pixel features are eventually made available to non-Pixel phones. http://dlvr.it/SB2RkP

T-Mobile is expanding its 5G footprint in the U.S. as 308 million people are now covered by its nationwide 5G service and 186 million by its mid-band powered Ultra-Capacity 5G signals. http://dlvr.it/S9ybhC

Facebook might be changing its name to reflect Zuckerberg's focus on the metaverse (metaverse is a term reflecting a virtual reality that people could escape to from the real world). http://dlvr.it/S9ybh1

The UK has signed an agreement with a Canadian-based startup company that discovered an effective way to extract 99% gold from old electronics. http://dlvr.it/S9ybgr

Samsung announced the Galaxy Z Flip3 Bespoke Edition today. For a $100 premium, Samsung will now let you choose your own frame color, as well as the outer cover glass colors. Samsung is offering five different colors for the outer cover glass (Blue, Yellow, Pink, White, or Black), which can be different for the top and bottom. You can also choose from black or silver for the metal frame. The Galaxy Z Flip3 Bespoke Edition is available today from samsung.com, starting at $1099. Samsung also announced a future service to swap cover glass colors "for a fee" "later on". http://dlvr.it/S9ybgl

Google released details of the new Pixel 6 series phones that the company has been teasing for months. The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are both high-end phones with a striking new two-tone design and the company's own Tensor chip instead of a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. Google describes the higher-end Pixel 6 Pro as the company's first true "flagship" model. The Pro has a 6.7-inch QHD-resolution display with 10–120 Hz adaptive refresh. It has three rear cameras, including a 4x periscope telephoto lens with 48 megapixel resolution, and its front camera can record 4K video. It has 12 GB of RAM and the largest battery ever in a Pixel. It also has UWB. The smaller Pixel 6 has a 6.4-inch display with 90 Hz refresh and 8 GB of RAM. Both models have an always-on display with Gorilla Glass Victus and an under-display fingerprint reader. Both models are available 128 or 256 of storage, while the Pixel 6 pro is also available with 512 GB. The distinctive "camera bar" houses...

After raising our hopes about the potentially affordable prices of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Target is back on the rumor mill with another leaked pre-order promo. http://dlvr.it/S9thyj

Ahead of Android 12 is imminent release, the anticipated weather widgets finally go live, but you can't get them on other devices just yet. http://dlvr.it/S9thwV

Apple has added possibly the lowest-tech product it offers to its online Apple Store. The Polishing Cloth wipes the display on any Apple device including the Pro Display XDR. http://dlvr.it/S9thtW

Apple today released the third-generation AirPods with Spatial Audio, a larger battery, and more. It also unveiled two new powerful chips, and more HomePod mini colors. http://dlvr.it/S9thrY

Apple today launched a completely redesigned version of AirPods. The new AirPods 3rd Generation have longer battery life, Spatial Audio (including Dolby Atmos), and a new driver for better sound quality. They also bring the Adaptive EQ feature of the AirPods Pro down to the standard AirPods. Adaptive EQ customizes sound for the unique way your ears hear different frequencies due to differing fit. They are also rated IPx4 for sweat- and water-resistant. The new, shorter buds have six hours of battery life in their own, while the new charging case holds four charges, for 30 hours total. The case can add one hour of battery life to the buds in just five minutes. The case can be charged with MagSafe wireless charging. The new AirPods are available to order today for $179, shipping next Tuesday, Oct. 26th. The old 2nd Generation AirPods will remain available at a new price of $129, down from $160. http://dlvr.it/S9thfz

This new charger from Spigen is 36% smaller than the Apple’s 20W one, yet faster. http://dlvr.it/S9py3B

Beautification is a controversial subject - on one hand, it’s like wearing a digital bra - no one knows what you actually look like until they see you in person. On the other hand, this feature can save a lot of time and sometimes even replace makeup. http://dlvr.it/S9py2x