Amazon Prime memberships stay strong despite price hike

Amazon raised the price of its Prime memberships in the US by 20 percent, but so far that isn’t harming renewals. That’s according to Amazon finance chief Brian Olsavsky, who said on an earnings call with reporters Thursday that Prime renewals are “looking really, really good” despite the price hike. Last week’s Prime Day sale also brought in a single-day …

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Fortnite for Android could launch exclusively on Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9

We already knew Fortnite, the biggest video game on planet Earth, would be coming to Android this summer. But if a new slate of rumors are to be believed, it could be as a timed exclusive for Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 9.  Sources speaking to both 9to5Google and XDA Developers revealed Fortnite’s Android release is likely to launch alongside Samsung’s new flagship …

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Massachusetts proposes net neutrality law to call out bad ISPs

Massachusetts plans to protect net neutrality by naming and shaming internet service providers that don’t adhere to open internet principles. Lawmakers in the state Senate have proposed a bill (S2160) that would create an “internet service provider registry” to track whether broadband and wireless providers adhere to policies that keep the internet open and neutral. That includes ensuring that content …

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That 2018 iPhone with the LCD screen might not ship until October

Add another data point to the heaping pile of rumors about the iPhones Apple may announce in September. According to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, we may not see the new, least-expensive 6.1-inch model until October. That’s thanks to possible quality-control issues with the screen’s backlight. As quoted in Barron’s as part of larger speculation on Apple’s stock performance, she …

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Amazon adds Alexa Cast for music control from your phone

Voice controls are great, but when it comes to finding, playing and controlling music, screen controls can be far easier. To that end, Amazon on Thursday added a new Alexa Cast feature to its Amazon Music app for iOS and Android.  Like Google’s long-standing Google Cast feature, you’ll be able to pull up music in the Amazon Music app, tap …

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MacOS Mojave moved System Updates: Here’s where to find them

This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference. In addition to Dark mode, Stacks and a new and improved Finder, MacOS Mojave introduces a revamped Mac App Store. A long overdue revamp at that. The Mac App Store has remained virtually unchanged since its inception in 2011 — the days of …

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Moto G6 vs. G6 Play vs. E5 Plus: A budget phone comparison

I live in San Francisco, which is one of the most beautiful cities in the world but also one of the most expensive. For that reason, I’m always on the lookout for ways to save money. Fortunately, Motorola has my back with a slew of budget and ultra-budget phones that don’t skimp out on features. In the US, there are …

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Mozilla exec says Google slowed YouTube down on non

A Mozilla engineer says Google’s redesign has made YouTube slower on Firefox and Edge. Chris Peterson, the software community’s technical program manager, tweeted on Tuesday that the video sharing site loads at a fifth of the speed on non-Chrome browsers due to its architecture, as first reported by Sofpedia. YouTube page load is 5x slower in Firefox and Edge than …

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Bluetooth pairing has a security hole. Get ready for updates

When you pair a couple of Bluetooth devices, like your phone and computer, they exchange encryption keys. But it turns out the Bluetooth specification didn’t require that both of them completely validate those keys. Well, it does now.  This comes after it was revealed Tuesday that an attacker within wireless reach could insert themselves into communications between the two devices …

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Samsung has ‘unbreakable’ OLED phone screen in the works

A future Samsung Galaxy phone (although likely not this Galaxy phone) could have a flexible screen that’s unbreakable, delivering the first truly foldable handset. The Korean electronics giant said Wednesday that its recently developed phone panel has been certified by Underwriters Laboratories, meaning it’s ready to start shipping to consumers in actual devices. Samsung said it expects the new panel …

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Google Pixel Wear OS smartwatch: rumored specs, price and release date

Google’s line of smartwatches formerly known as Android Wear, now known as Wear OS, have suffered from sameness and repetition. Lots of manufacturers, too much mediocrity and none of them really good at all. Samsung has its own imminent smartwatch revamp on its way: the Samsung Galaxy Watch. The next Apple Watch is expected this fall. How will Google keep …

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Spotify hits 83 million subscribers

 Spotify hit 83 million subscribers at the end of June, the music streaming service said Thursday.  The company continues to outshine its closest competitor, Apple Music, which had 40 million subscribers as of April. Spotify’s growth matched the high end of the range that it predicted in May. Amid a cultural shift to streaming as the most common way people listen to tunes, Spotify and …

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Samsung’s first Galaxy Note 9 video tease is kinda hilarious

Samsung’s campaign to have you love its next big phone has just begun. The tech giant has released the first of three 30-second videos teasing a phone widely expected to be the Galaxy Note 9. In the video, you see a person trying to meet up with a friend, using a phone (presumably an iPhone, Samsung’s favorite target) that’s on …

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