Tech news

In the next few months, Cox "customers will be able to combine Cox Mobile and Cox Internet". Cox recently launched Cox Mobile for Cox Internet customers, but with separate billing. http://dlvr.it/Sk6VzG

A report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reveals that the Reality Pro mixed reality headset will not need an iPhone nearby to set up and run. http://dlvr.it/Sk3ZnQ

The World Mobile Congress is upon us, we're hours away from the official start of the biggest event in mobile tech. Here's what to expect! http://dlvr.it/Sk3ZYC

TCL this week took the wraps off three new affordable Android phones coming to the US next quarter. All three share a similar "minimalist" design and will sell for under $200. * The TCL 40 XE 5G is TCL's most affordable 5G phone to date at just $169. It's powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset paired with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. Its 6.56-inch HD+ display has 90 Hz refresh and TCL's NXTVISION display technology. The main camera is 13 megapixel. * The TCL 40 X 5G is basically the same phone but with a better, 50 megapixel main camera. It will sell for $199. * The TCL 40 XL is only 4G (using a MediaTek G37 chipset) but thanks to that trade-off, it offers a few upgrades for an even lower price. It has a larger screen at 6.75 inches, it has more built-in storage at 128 GB, it has a 50 megapixel camera like the 40 X, and it has stereo speakers. Yet it will sell for just $149. All three phones have a 5,000 mAh battery, side fingerprint reader, and ...

While Apple was focused on common attack scenarios, criminals devised a simple strategy to steal iPhone users' digital life. http://dlvr.it/Sk1Q0X

Microsoft has added its (in)famous new AI-powered Bing chatbot to several of its mobile apps. The service, previously only available on the web and desktop apps, acts like an intelligent search engine that you can have a complete conversation with. The Bing service is based on ChatGPT from OpenAI. On mobile, Microsoft's Bing app, Edge browser app, and the Skype app now include access to the chatbot in both Android and iOS versions. In Skype, the chatbot can even be added to a group conversation. http://dlvr.it/SjzD1x

At the MWC trade show in Barcelona next week, Qualcomm will demo stable diffusion AI image generation software running completely within an Android phone powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The technology generates whole images with only simple text descriptions as input, similar to popular cloud-based services such as DALL-E 2 and Midjourney. By running the software completely on-device, Qualcomm is demonstrating that stable diffusion AI technology is possible on mobile devices without costly cloud infrastructure. Qualcomm's AI research team created the software using Qualcomm's existing AI development stack already available to partners. The demo uses a 1-billion-parameter AI model and goes through 20 steps to generate the final image. It takes 15 seconds to generate a 512x512-pixel image, comparable to services like Midjourney. http://dlvr.it/SjwK2B

Google released Android 13 QPR2 Beta 3.2 to eliminate a nasty bug that caused the screen on some Pixel units to flash green. http://dlvr.it/SjsCsf

Where is the Galaxy Tab Fold? http://dlvr.it/Sjp6yp

OnePlus has released teaser images of the OnePlus 11 Concept device that was initially teased at their launch event, and its most noticeable characteristic is a very Tron-like aesthetic. http://dlvr.it/Sjl5GL

Looking for the smoothest Android experience on a budget? We have you covered. http://dlvr.it/Sjl54P

They're not the newest and most advanced Samsung earbuds around, but the noise-cancelling Galaxy Buds 2 are incredibly attractive right now at the crazy low price of $84.49 a pair. http://dlvr.it/SjhDvr

T-Mobile customers who use credit cards to pay their monthly bills will no longer get AutoPay discounts soon, being essentially forced to switch their payment method to a debit card or bank account. http://dlvr.it/Sjf7NV

Samsung's hot new Galaxy S23 family, the equally fresh OnePlus 11, and the slightly older but decidedly eye-catching Motorola Edge 30 Fusion are the headliners of another packed weekly list of top tech deals. http://dlvr.it/Sjf79t

Ironically, the new Galaxy S23 becomes "less Samsung" to reach the iPhone's level of power and efficiency! Samsung had to cheat on Exynos with Qualcomm, Google. Was it worth it? http://dlvr.it/Sjc62W

How popular is Apple outside of the US? http://dlvr.it/Sjc5wX

A lawsuit filed against Apple, Google, Alphabet and several top executives claims that the firms illegally conspired to illegally dominate the global search business. http://dlvr.it/Sjc5ly

More than half of buyers opted for the most expensive S23 model. http://dlvr.it/Sjc5Ws

Samsung today announced Message Guard, a new security feature that protects Galaxy S23 phones (which go on sale today) against zero-click attacks delivered as images in messages. Samsung will update other Galaxy phones with the feature later this year. Message Guard intercepts incoming images before they reach Samsung Messages and Messages by Google, sandboxing and inspecting the files before they can carry out an attack. Only once Message Guard ensures a file "cannot infect the rest of your device" does it become available to the messaging app for viewing (processing an image for viewing is when this kind of attack can occur.) Samsung also committed to extending Message Guard to third party messaging apps "at a later date". http://dlvr.it/Sjc5Jd

Entry-level Samsung Galaxy A04 is finally getting its Android 13 update. http://dlvr.it/SjYPm4

Samsung has started rolling out an OS update that brings several key features of the new S23 series to older high-end models such as the Galaxy S22, S21, and S20 series. The update is also rolling out for the S21 FE, S20 FE, Z Fold4, and Z Flip4, and soon the Z Fold3 and Z Flip3. The One UI 5.1 update adds Expert RAW features as part of the Galaxy Camera app, bringing new pro-level options and a new Photo Remaster tool. (Only higher-end models will get this feature.) Samsung Notes with Google Meet offers new real-time collaboration tools. The update also includes new connectivity and integration features with Galaxy Book laptops. There's also a new weather widget, and "Modes and Routines have expanded to enable custom wallpapers, ringtones, touch sensitivity and fonts". http://dlvr.it/SjYPXb

Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon X75 Modem-RF System, the world's first to support 5G Advanced (3GPP release 18). It supports a number of new capabilities in the 5G standard that will improve maximum possible data speeds, and makes a number of other internal improvements to boost performance in various areas. It is the first chipset to support up to five carrier aggregation, and up to ten component carriers in mmWave. It is the first to support FDD+FDD carrier aggregation on the uplink, and FDD MIMO offers up to 50% better uplink throughput. The X75 supports more band combinations than ever, enabling more carrier aggregation (more bandwidth for higher speeds) on more networks. A new, simpler architecture (with a single transceiver for both sub-6 and mmWave) takes up 25% less space on circuit boards and offers 20% power savings. A new 2nd-generation AI processor includes the first Tensor accelerator in a 5G modem, and offers 2.5x the AI processing performance compared to the X7...

Apple has released security patches for most of its devices and OSes, including iOS, that users should install immediately. They fix several issues, including one where "processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution." http://dlvr.it/SjRXFD

By no means what we'd call conventionally affordable, the rugged Apple Watch Ultra is... less expensive than ever after a new record high Amazon discount of 69 bucks. http://dlvr.it/SjNdB7

The new $699 OnePlus 11 would be the best-value Android phone you can buy right now. Unless you buy a Pixel 7. http://dlvr.it/SjKpS4

If you're looking for the top Google Pixel 7, OnePlus 11, Apple Watch, and iPad discounts (and more) before Valentine's Day, look no further than our latest weekly deal roundup right here. http://dlvr.it/SjHpJQ

Reddit employees were the target of a phishing attack which tricked one employee leading to a security breach. http://dlvr.it/SjFs89

Google's stock Android 13-running Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro powerhouses are on sale for T-Mobile customers at a massive $500 discount again with a new line of service and no trade-in. http://dlvr.it/SjFrzc

I guess you can teach an old tech giant new (pricing) tricks... http://dlvr.it/SjCFbq

Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X35 chipset is designed to bring 5G to a wide variety of non-phone devices, including wearable devices like smartwatches, kids watches, health monitors, and XR glasses. The X35 implements NR-Light, a special flavor of the 3GPP release 17 5G standard optimized for such applications. By de-emphasizing raw data speed, NR-Light enables the X35 to be smaller, simpler, and cheaper. More importantly, the X35 is the most power-efficient modem chipset Qualcomm has ever made; it uses approximately half the power of the 4G LTE Cat. 4 chipsets it is designed to replace. Yet it still delivers faster data speeds than those chipsets, at up to 220 Mbps downlink and 100 Mbps uplink. The X35 also delivers many other benefits of 5G, including low latency, precise positioning, and 5G voice (VoNR). The X35 includes Qualcomm's advanced 5G enhancements such as envelope tracking and Smart Transmit. The X35 benefits carriers with the inherent spectral efficiency of 5G, and by ...

OnePlus today launched its next flagship phone globally. The OnePlus 11 5G builds on the OnePlus 10 series with upgraded specs in most areas. It has unprecedented 80-watt fast charging in the US version (100-watt outside of US), but no wireless charging. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor supports ray-traced graphics. It's paired with up to 16 GB of LPDDR5x RAM and up to 256 GB of UFS 4.0 storage. Simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi makes the OnePlus 11 the first phone certified to power upcoming Snapdragon XR glasses. The 3rd-generation Hasselblad camera system includes three rear cameras (main, 2x tele, and wide), all of which have Sony sensors with 32–50 megapixel resolution. A dedicated 13-channel multi-spectral color sensor enables more accurate white balance and saturation. The camera app includes new "TurboRAW" HDR and Hasselblad portrait modes. The 6.7-inch AMOLED display has QHD+ resolution, dynamic refresh up to 120 Hz, and 10-bit color. It's certified for Dolby Visi...

Pretty much every single Apple Watch Series 8 model is on sale at Best Buy right now for $70 less than usual, marking new all-time low prices across the board. http://dlvr.it/Sj327X

It seems retailers in China are desperate to sell Apple's latest iPhones this year. http://dlvr.it/Sj31mY

High pay is what attracts the blue-collar employees that Foxconn has working its iPhone assembly lines. http://dlvr.it/Sj0HsZ

Analytics firm Kantar notes that the iPhone saw its market share rise in nearly all of the markets it followed during Q4. http://dlvr.it/ShyKDx

Samsung has "unpacked" its latest batch of flagship smartphones, namely the Galaxy S23 series. Which model is the best one, though? http://dlvr.it/ShwQY4

EE also lets you save a guaranteed £336 on your new Samsung S23 if you trade in an eligible Samsung phone http://dlvr.it/ShsrQZ

Nothing CEO Carl Pei has confirmed that the company's next phone will officially be available for the US market. "We decided to make the U.S. our No. 1 priority in terms of markets," Pei says. The company's first phone, the Nothing Phone (1), has a distinctive pattern of functional light-up elements on the back, but was only sold in Europe and Asia. Even imported, it did not have good support for the frequency bands used by US networks. The Phone (2) will not only support US networks, but be certified by US carriers. The new phone will be "more premium" and launch in late 2023. http://dlvr.it/Shpz1h

The U.S. performed the coup de grace on Huawei by extending its ban to include 4G chips from U.S. chip designer Qualcomm. http://dlvr.it/Shm4F6