Budget phone service FreedomPop will expand its smartphone lineup with a new phone that can use Wi-Fi for mobile voice, text and data. Los Angeles-based FreedomPop is one of a number of companies looking for new ways to offer cheap phone service. T-Mobile, Cablevision and other companies also offer Wi-Fi service and hotspots to help …

Running into screen flicker woes with your new Surface Book or Surface Pro 4? Microsoft’s latest patch should fix the problem. Some owners of the new Surface devices had been complaining that their screens would flicker. Even those who installed the latest updates, including Microsoft’s October firmware update, said they were seeing the problem. Now the company says it has …

Still want to buy a PC that comes with Windows 7 or 8.1 from the get-go? You’ve got less than a year. Updated late October, Microsoft’s “Windows lifecycle fact sheet” shows October 31, 2016, as the “end of sales for PCs with Windows preinstalled” for both Windows 7 Professional and Windows 8.1, a change spotted by CNET sister site ZDNet. …

Samsung is selling more phones at lower prices as it tries to compete with the growing influence of lower-end rivals. The South Korean mobile phone vendor reported last week a ” significant increase” in smartphone shipments in the third quarter over the same period last year. But Samsung’s more expensive phones now account for a smaller piece of the pie, …

Microsoft’s Windows 10 is gaining traction, but at a snail’s pace. The newest flavor of Windows captured a 7.94 percent share of all Web traffic generated by desktop operating systems in October, according to NetMarketShare. But growth has been decelerating since the opening 5.21 percent seen in August. The slower uptake in Windows 10 adoption over the past two months …

Apple TV is adding music to Siri’s search repetoire. The 2015 edition of Apple TV comes packed with the Siri voice assistant to help you perform tasks and search for items by voice. In terms of finding media, the search option is limited to tracking down movies and TV shows, though you can search across multiple content sources. Apple TV …

BlackBerry is aiming to drum up more interest in its upcoming Android phone with a couple of new video ads. Released Wednesday, the first ad is more technical as it spotlights a few of the key features in the Priv. The second one shoots for a kinder, gentler approach with a series of dreamlike images designed to convey the security …

Skype unveiled a new version of its iPhone app with 3D Touch, filters and better ways to manage your conversation. Skype for iOS version 6.5 incorporates 3D Touch to let you access certain Skype features directly without having to navigate the entire app. Available in Apple’s iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, 3D Touch recognizes different levels of pressure on the …

Interested in getting the new Apple TV? You can now preorder one at Best Buy. The retailer is offering the 32 gigabyte version for $150 and the 64GB version for $200. Clicking the preorder button gives you an option to pick up the Apple TV at your local Best Buy outlet or ask for it to be shipped to your …

The use of smartwatches and fitness trackers will surely surge in the US in the coming years, but don’t expect anything like mass adoption. This year, around 39.5 million US adults will purchase wearable devices, a rise of about 58 percent from 2014, research firm eMarketer said Wednesday. The number of buyers will double to 81.7 million by 2018, it …