Google has completed its $1.1 billion deal to hire hardware engineers from HTC.  “I’m delighted that we’ve officially closed our deal with HTC, and are welcoming an incredibly talented team to work on even better and more innovative products in the years to come,” Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president of hardware, said in a blog …

The mystery of the iPhone X’s success just got cloudier.  Apple has cut orders for parts used in its iPhone X by 60 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the iPhone supply chain. Another person familiar with Apple’s production goals said the gadget giant slashed its output targets to 20 million iPhone X units in …

Are kids ready for social media? Until December, the answer was no. Even Facebook had rules against children under the age of 13 joining more than 2 billion other people around the world who logged on to the service each month. But since then, the company has created an app called “Messenger Kids,” designed to let children communicate with people …

Jan. 31 will be a trifecta of lunar awesomeness. For the first time in 150 years, there will be a super blue blood moon. This means: The moon will be a “supermoon,” which is when the Earth is closer than usual to its satellite. The moon will be 223,068 miles (358,994 km) from Earth, instead of the average distance of …

The UK government’s system for spying on internet use and phone records has been ruled unlawful. Appeal court judges confirmed on Tuesday that the foundations of Britain’s mass digital surveillance programme give police and intelligence agencies too much leeway to access confidential information. According to the ruling, the current system doesn’t do enough to limit snooping to those involved in …

One of the most daring — and expensive — phones of 2017, the iPhone X has some great design and software features that attempt to justify the stratospheric $1,000 price. It’s got ultraslim bezels and an all-screen face, an excellent camera and cutting-edge face-scanning technology. Of course, the iPhone X has more than a few maddening feature flaws that make …

The Hawaii state employee who broadcast a false alarm about a ballistic missile attack on Jan. 13 believed a missile was really headed for the island state, according to a preliminary report from the Federal Communications Commission.  A phone screenshot shows the alert text message sent to Hawaiian citizens on Jan. 13, 2018.  Alison Teal/Getty Images The worker said in …

DTS’ Play-Fi whole-house audio system is now capable of TV audio streaming with synchronized video on select products, the company announced on Tuesday. Play-Fi has had the ability to stream audio from a 3.5mm-connected device for many years, but this is the first time we’ve been able to adjust lip-sync within the app. Previously there was a significant lag between …

Huawei’s ambitions to sell its phones in the US appear to remain just out of reach. Verizon is abandoning a plan to sell phones made by the popular Chinese device maker because of US government worries about security risk, according to a Bloomberg report Tuesday that cited unnamed people familiar with the matter.  Huawei has been pushing to sell its Mate …

At CES 2018, Sony demonstrated a prototype TV putting out a claimed 10,000 nits. That’s 10-15 times brighter than your current TV. Today’s TVs are already significantly brighter than their predecessors, which can really help the image pop, especially in bright rooms. And while high dynamic range (HDR) delivers the best home video picture quality available today, to get the most out …

The Federal Communications Commission will require emergency alerts sent to cell phones during a crisis to be more geographically precise. At its meeting Tuesday, the agency approved an item ensuring that when wireless providers send messages through the Wireless Emergency Alert system, the alerts are more targeted to individuals affected by the natural disaster or crisis in question. In some …

Snapchat is giving you more options to customize your Bitmoji avatar. On Tuesday, the social media app unveiled Bitmoji Deluxe, a new iteration of its feature that lets you create a cartoon version of yourself to use in messaging apps. With Bitmoji Deluxe, you can snap a selfie and use that as a starting point for creating your avatar. With …

The Fitbit Ionic is the company’s second smartwatch. Following the more basic approach of the Blaze, the Iconic adds mobile payments, apps and watch faces to Fitbit’s existing fitness platform. Now playing: Watch this: Fitbit Ionic is the most advanced Fitbit watch… but… 3:12 Getting your Ionic set up and ready to help you keep tabs on your overall health …

Apple may be the target of a federal investigation for using software to slow down older iPhones, according to a report from Bloomberg. The news agency reported Tuesday that the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether Apple violated securities laws when it issued a software update that slowed the performance of iPhones with …

 Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that’s taken over our lives. Hey, Google, I choose “Save Me!” Glenn Chapman/Getty Images This is personal. I’ve often feared a coming nightmare where far too many people, adults and children alike, are saying and shouting “OK, Google” into the ether. (“Hey, Google” is the only other current option.) During …