As smart TVs become the only option, your privacy choices fizzle out

If you’re worried about your privacy, there are precautions you can take like staying off social networks, using cash or watching out for certain apps. But when it comes to watching television, more and more you’re out of luck. Smart televisions collect a massive amount of data on viewers, through a technology called Automatic Content Recognition. It recognizes everything you’re …

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Trump’s China tariffs would mean pricier phones for you, CTA report says

A new study details how President Donald Trump’s $300 billion tariff proposal on imported Chinese goods could harm US consumers. The study, commissioned by the Consumer Technology Association, highlights how the prices of phones, laptops, tablets, video game consoles and toy drones from China would rise significantly as a result of the potential tariffs.  The price of phones imported from …

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Stock up on batteries with 25% off AmazonBasics alkalines

So many tech items these days rely on rechargeable batteries, it’s easy to forget we still need regular old alkalines for lots of things: game controllers, drone remotes, TV remotes, kids’ toys, garage-door openers, smoke alarms and so on. Good news: For a limited time, Amazon is taking 25% off many AmazonBasics batteries when you apply promo code POWER25 at …

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Pixel 4 teaser photo reveals a whole new Google

Google did something un-Googley last week: It officially released an image of the Pixel 4, the next version of its flagship phone. This is a phone we all expected to appear, based not just on rumors, but also on Google’s pattern of an annual October release. Teasing a photo of an unannounced phone is a move we expect from LG …

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FCC’s Ajit Pai wants to auction more 5G spectrum

The Federal Communications Commission is set to decide whether to auction off 2.5GHz spectrum for 5G mobile use. The meeting on July 10 is part of the Facilitating America’s Superiority in 5G Technology (5G Fast) program, FCC Chair Ajit Pai said Tuesday. 5G, already launched in the US by Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, is the next-generation network being used by …

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How to survive with an iPhone and a Windows computer

Using an iPhone or iPad ($170 at Amazon) with a Windows PC as your main computer has always been a tricky setup. You’re forced to accept that you’ll miss out on Apple services such as iMessage and won’t be able to easily sync photos between your computer and iPhone, like through AirDrop. If you pay for extra iCloud storage and rely …

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Here come the dark

If you like your text white on a black background, good news: Browser support for dark mode websites is hitting the big time. Apple built dark mode support into its Safari browser for MacOS and Mozilla followed suit with Firefox. But now dark mode website abilities are coming to Google’s Chrome, Microsoft’s newly overhauled Edge and Apple’s Safari on iPhones and …

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Microsoft might add dedicated Office key to its keyboards

You’ve been seeing the dedicated Windows key on Microsoft’s keyboards for years, but we might see an Office key soon. The company asked people who’ve tried keywords with such a key for feedback, as spotted by regular Microsoft leaker WalkingCat. You can even see a concept design showing what the Office key might look like. the Office key concept https://t.co/TAuu7l8y8W …

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Google Calendar is back after global outage

Google Calendar is back after a more than two-hour outage Tuesday morning. At 10:31 a.m. PT, Google’s G Suite team tweeted: “We’re all clear folks!” The service had been down for users around the world, showing 404 pages and error messages instead of important meeting and event information. Problems started to crop up early in the morning, and Google tweeted that …

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Google Chrome blocks malicious web address tricks

Google added two new Chrome security features Tuesday: a warning about website addresses with suspiciously substituted characters and a tool that lets you report suspicious websites. The moves augment a feature called Google Safe Browsing built into Chrome, Android, Gmail and other services designed to keep you from opening malicious websites. The character substitution detector — a bigger problem nowadays …

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LG V50 ThinQ 5G goes on sale at Verizon on June 20

Verizon has another 5G phone coming for customers ready to experience a faster mobile network. However, those folks with the new device will have to be in certain areas to notice the difference. LG’s V50 ThinQ 5G phone will go on sale Thursday for Verizon customers for $999 according to a press release Tuesday. This will be the third phone …

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Nintendo’s mobile Dr. Mario World cures your iOS, Android ills on July 10

Nintendo’s mustachioed mascot brings his medical knowledge to iOS and Android in Dr. Mario World on July 10, and you can register for virus-killing puzzler now. In this match-three puzzler, you use colored capsules to kill corresponding viruses. Nintendo posted a video showing how it plays. The video also reveals how the game’s microtransactions work.You can use diamonds to continue …

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Security firm Cellebrite says it can unlock any iPhone

Apple continued its security push this month during its WWDC event, where the iPhone maker unveiled new iOS features designed to keep your data private. One security company, however, says it can unlock all Apple devices and extract the data. Israel-based Cellebrite says on its website that it can “bypass or determine locks and perform a full file system extraction …

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App Store publishers pull in more cash from Apple than Google Play, report says

Apple’s top app publishers are making around 64% more in gross income than those on Google Play, according to mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower. During the first quarter of 2019, the report said the top 100 App Store publishers made $83.8 million in average gross income, while Google Play’s top publishers saw around $51 million. People are continuing to …

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