Google is testing a monthly subscription service that lets you access a library of Android games and apps on its Play Store, Android Police reported Wednesday. We got the first hints about the search giant’s Play Pass service last year, but it seems even more relevant with Apple Arcade looming. The report showed screenshots of …

World-renowned National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden wants to show you how to fight back against against corporate surveillance. On Thursday, Snowden called out both Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram, leveling allegations of spying at the social network.   “In the weeks ahead, I aim to explain how each of these sites spies on you, and methods to limit how much …

The personal information of around 2,500 Los Angeles Police Department officers and 17,500 LAPD applicants has reportedly been stolen in a data breach. Information included names, email addresses, dates of birth, partial employee serial numbers and passwords, NBCLA reported Monday, citing several officials.  The LAPD confirmed the data breach to CNET Thursday, saying it is working with its city partners …

Verizon’s CEO Hans Vestberg threw a few punches of his own Thursday in the 5G marketing wars. Responding to jabs from T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray, Vestberg told investors on the company’s quarterly conference call that his company will have “real 5G” that gives “the right sort of performance” that customers expect from Verizon in the “right moment.” The comments come …

Last week, the Securities Exchange Commission slapped Facebook with a $100 million fine for its part in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The complaint might now be settled on US soil, but the arrangement has raised new questions about Facebook’s handling of the situation for politicians in the UK who are also investigating the company’s actions. The UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, …

Liking tweets and retweeting them are fine ways to support your favorite Twitter personalities. But you know what’s better? Cash. And now the Brave browser lets you put your money where your mouse is.  Brave has built a Twitter tipping system into the newest version of the ad-blocking browser, released Thursday for Windows, MacOS and Linux. The online gratuity service, …

A video claiming to be a hands-on of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ has been posted on YouTube by British online mobile accessories retailer Mobile Fun. The 4-minute video goes into extreme detail, showing off what it says is the upcoming handset from every angle possible. Mobile Fun said it got the dummy phones from a phone case company, …

The headphone jack on phones had a good run, but like all good things, it eventually must end. That end seems to have finally arrived with Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 10 line.  After being one of the last holdouts against the trend of ditching the headphone jack, it appears that Samsung is going to do just that for the Note 10 …

Smartphone makers, led by Samsung and Apple, have been jacking up prices over the last few years. Consumers, however, have been pushing back. And now there’s new data that shows it’s harder than ever to compete in the ultrapremium tier of phones.  Apple and Samsung this week reported earnings for the June quarter that didn’t convey much optimism in the …

Lyft debuted its new electric bike model just last month, and it’s already having issues with the vehicle. One of its e-bike’s battery packs, which are connected to the bike frame, appears to have exploded in San Francisco on Wednesday, according to the San Francisco Examiner.  This is the second time this has reportedly happened in the past week. Another …

Texas is joining a multistate lawsuit seeking to block T-Mobile’s $26.5 billion takeover of Sprint, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Thursday. A group of 15 attorneys general across the country are pushing back against the merger, which was OK’d by the Justice Department last week. “We are more confident than ever that enforcing our antitrust laws — as …

Alongside iOS 13.1, Apple released iPadOS. It’s the first time Apple‘s iPad has had its own operating system. There’s a lot of feature overlap and parity between iOS 13 and iPadOS, but by giving the iPad its own OS, Apple can begin to separate how the two devices work. One of the more notable changes to iPadOS, outside of the multitasking …

Intel’s finally unveiled the mobile Core CPU product lineup based on its 10th-gen Ice Lake architecture, and suffice it to say that buying a laptop in the coming months probably just got a little more complicated. Expect to hear about the first models around the IFA show the first week of September and to be able to start shelling out …

US President Donald Trump announced plans Thursday to levy an additional 10% in tariffs against another $300 billion in Chinese goods starting Sep. 1. In a tweet, Trump said this would not include the $250 billion worth of Chinese goods already tariffed at 25%.  The tariffs could result in pricier gaming consoles, iPhones and laptops, given that many tech companies …

The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday on new rules to go after illegal robocallers based overseas. But it’s unlikely to be the final death knell for the scourge of robocalls. Instead it’s yet another tool in the toolbox to deter the onslaught of calls, the agency said. The FCC says it received more than 35,000 consumer complaints about caller ID …