Best Buy laptop deals: Save up to $250 on midrange models

It’s slim pickings for budget laptops at the moment with the combination of the coronavirus outbreak causing supply chain issues and prepandemic office dwellers picking up a cheap laptop to work from home. If your budget can stretch past $500, however, you’ll find a greater number of midrange laptops in stock. Such a machine is …

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Facebook sees strong user growth as coronavirus pandemic creates uncertainty

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites. Facebook’s first-quarter revenue and user numbers beat Wall Street expectations Wednesday, even as the social media giant cautioned that the coronavirus pandemic has caused “unprecedented uncertainty” for the future of its ad business. Facebook has seen a surge in people using the social …

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Upgrade your Marco Polo video chat app to HD for $5 a month

Amid coronavirus lockdowns and quarantines, video chat app Marco Polo saw a 16x increase in new signups and a 3x increase in activity. To aid in the increase in business costs, the free video chat app is adding a subscription service for users who want to upgrade their service. The new subscription services, called Marco Polo Plus, includes HD video, …

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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra phones are reportedly cracking around the camera

Samsung’s new Galaxy S20 Ultraphone is reportedly seeing a few issues, with some users complaining of a crack in the glass around the rear camera. Some have seen a slight fracture across the phone, while others have seen their glass shatter abruptly, according to a Digital Trends report Wednesday. You can see some of the complaints on Samsung’s user forum, …

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Google, Samsung offer free smartphone repairs to first responders

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites. With social distancing guidelines in place, smartphones have become vital tools for staying connected with friends and family. As a thank you to first responders, Samsung and Google have teamed up with uBreakiFix to offer free smartphone repairs to those on the front …

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TikTok surpasses 2 billion download mark

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites. TikTok, the popular video-sharing app known for its quirky 15-second videos, continued its rapid growth in the first quarter, despite concerns that users are putting their privacy at risk. The app has been downloaded more than 2 billion times from the Apple App …

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Qualcomm expects a steep drop in phone shipments as coronavirus hurts demand

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites. Qualcomm on Wednesday became the latest company to confirm what everyone expected: The novel coronavirus pandemic is going to hurt phones sales. But a bright spot will be 5G, which should be just as strong this year as the company earlier predicted.  Qualcomm, …

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Apple, Google deliver early tools to public health authorities for coronavirus tracking

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites. Apple and Google are delivering the first tools for their coronavirus tracking technology on Wednesday to certain public health authorities, with the aim of improving the technology before the software’s full release in mid-May.  During the initial testing phase, a limited group will …

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Amazon, IBM and Microsoft race to bring global access to quantum computing

In the heady world of quantum computing, there’s a race afoot. Across the globe, tech giants are building their own machines and speeding to make them available to the world as a cloud computing service. In the competition: IBM, Google, Microsoft, Intel, Amazon, IonQ, Quantum Circuits, Rigetti Computing and the newest to uncloak its quantum computing plans, Honeywell.  They’re all …

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How to pick the best iPad keyboard trackpad case

Yes, the iPad is a computer. But is it a computer that can really replace your laptop or desktop? That depends on whether you can deal with the opportunities and restraints of iOS (or as it’s now called for iPads, iPadOS). Seriously, iPads can do a heck of a lot. Your iPad can supplement your Mac or PC to the …

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Google rumored to release Pixel 4A next month

Google may be planning to release its rumored Pixel 4A next month. Mobile carrier Vodafone will offer the Pixel 4A in Europe starting May 22, according to German site Caschys Blog, citing internal documents from the company.  With this year’s Google I/O canceled due to coronavirus concerns, it’s been unclear when or where Google might debut the rumored Pixel 4A. The company …

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Google’s Zoom rival, called Meet, is now free to consumers

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites. Google on Wednesday said it’s making its teleconferencing service, called Google Meet, free to consumers. The move takes aim at Zoom, the rival video chat service that’s become a household name during the stay-at-home era spurred by the novel coronavirus. Previously, Meet was …

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TV providers asked to stop charging customers for live sports

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites. New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday asked seven cable and satellite TV providers to cut or eliminate fees linked to live sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies are continuing to charge customers for live sports programming, despite the fact that events …

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This AR contact lens startup is gaining steam despite Magic Leap’s struggles

There’s little debate that, as tech pushes further into our lives, we’ll soon be using augmented reality glasses that overlay computer images on the real world. While we still don’t know when that’ll happen, or what companies we’ll be buying them from, investors are making their bets — including a $159 million bet with a small contact lens startup called …

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Apple makes iPhones easier to unlock without Face ID as many wear masks

Apple is including a new feature in iOS 13.5 developer beta 3 so users can unlock their iPhones faster while wearing a medical mask or facial covering because of COVID-19. Though not mentioned in the iOS release notes published Wednesday, the Face ID changes are meant to make it simpler and faster to get to the passcode field by swiping up …

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