How to take better iPhone selfies

Halide is a fully featured iPhone ($899 at Amazon) camera app that gives you all kinds of control that you can’t get with the stock iOS Camera app. For times when you aren’t snapping a quick shot, Halide lets you manually set the focus, shutter speed, ISO and white balance. And you can shoot in …

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Designing an icon: How Motorola created the Razr V3

Back in 2004, three years before the iPhone drew lines around the block, a flip phone from Motorola revolutionized cell phone design, attracting plenty of fans of its own. The Motorola Razr V3 wasn’t just a lifeline, it became a lifestyle. By themselves, the V3’s features weren’t especially noteworthy, but they were packed in an sexy, incredibly thin profile that …

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Intel Whiskey Lake chips come to the ThinkPad L series

Lenovo has updated its wallet-friendly ThinkPad L series with the latest versions of Intel’s eighth-gen Core processor. The ThinkPad L390, with its traditional clamshell design, starts at $659 (‎£522, AU$915), and the two-in-one version, the L390 Yoga, starts at $889 (‎£705 or AU$1,235). Apart from the new Whiskey Lake chips, the ThinkPad L390 and L390 Yoga are pretty similar to their …

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Samsung and LG are reportedly bringing their 5G phones to MWC

Phone manufacturers and carriers alike have promised to make 5G mobile data a reality in 2019. But when will we actually get 5G-compatible phones? Perhaps as soon as February. Both Samsung and LG are reportedly announcing their 5G phones at Mobile World Congress (MWC), according to The Korea Herald. MWC is the industry’s largest annual trade show, and it’s currently …

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Holiday travel plans? Apple offers six classic audiobooks for free

Never got around to reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen? What about The Time Machine by H.G. Wells or Frankenstein by Mary Shelley? Well, now you can listen to them in audiobook form, for free. Apple now offers six classic audiobooks free to download. Plus, they’re voiced by celebrities like Kate Beckinsale, Kelsey Grammer and Tituss Burgess. The Secret …

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Best headphone deals for Christmas: Bose, Sony, Sennheiser and Jaybird

If you’re looking for a new set of headphones to give as a gift this holiday season, the first thing you’ll notice is that you’re faced with a multitude of options. There’s no shortage of headphones, which is why our “Best headphones for the holidays” roundup has so many products in it.  You can check out that full roundup, but …

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Tumblr’s ban on porn starts today

If you’ve spent time on Tumblr, odds are you’ve encountered porn. A study from 2016 showed that nearly half of its users end up seeing porn on the microblogging site. But starting today, that’s going to change. Tumblr’s ban of all adult content takes effect on Monday, Dec. 17. Tumblr, one of the oldest blogging platforms, defines adult content as “photos, videos, …

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Fitbit Versa and Ionic 3.0 software update adds more on

The end of 2018 looks like the time for major fitness watches to get key updates before those New Year resolutions hit. First came the Apple Watch S4’s awaited EKG feature. And now, Fitbit just dropped its new 3.0 software update for its Versa and Ionic watches. The update may not be as dramatic, but it adds some overdue extras. …

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Google plans $1 billion expansion in Manhattan

Google is taking another bite of the Big Apple. The search giant on Monday detailed its plan to spend $1 billion on a new campus in New York City. The 1.7 million square-foot Manhattan campus will be known as Google Hudson Square, Ruth Porat, the company’s chief financial officer, said in a blog post. The company will expand by leasing …

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Facebook Messenger adds Boomerang videos, selfie mode

Facebook Messenger has a holiday gift for you: new features that rolled out Monday. Boomerang — as hypnotic as ever. Facebook The social network is adding support for Boomerang, which lets you create brief, looped videos just like on Instagram — basically animated gifs. The company also adds a selfie mode that puts you in focus with a little added glow …

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Facebook expects to test privacy tool to ‘clear history’ in spring 2019

Facebook said Monday a promised privacy tool that will allow users to clear their browsing history on the social network is still in the works but isn’t expected to launch until next year.  In May, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced it was building a feature called “clear history” that would let users see what apps and websites they’ve interacted with …

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Google Assistant will tell you if your flight may be delayed

Google Assistant can now predict flight delays. Google Assistant will warn you of predicted flight delays this holiday season, the search giant said Monday. Over the next few weeks, the voice assistant, which rivals Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, among others, will proactively notify you on your phone about predicted delays and offer a reason if it knows why.   You …

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Facebook hits Israeli prime minister’s son with 24

Facebook on Sunday stopped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair from posting for 24 hours. The 27-year-old slammed the social network as “thought police” and shared posts it had deleted. His criticism came after Facebook removed a post in which he called for “avenging the deaths” of Israeli soldiers killed by Palestinian gunmen and suggested that Palestinians be expelled …

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