I don’t know exact numbers, but I suspect some 80 bajillion people bought an Amazon Fire tablet on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. And why not? With prices ranging from $30 to $100, those babies were the bargain to beat. Now that you’ve got one, let’s make it better. Although the Fire tablets are pretty …
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Smart wearables are really catching on. Worldwide shipments of wearable devices reached 26.3 million units in the third quarter of 2017, an increase of 7.3 percent year over year, according to an IDC report released Thursday. But the market also showed a rising interest in smart wearables, or devices that can run third-party apps, and a waning taste for basic …
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To watch the latest episode of “This is Us” on your Amazon Fire TV, all you have to do now is ask Alexa to play it. Amazon on Thursday expanded the capabilities of its voice assistant to work with third-party apps on its TV box. The initial list includes Bravo, CBS All Access, Hulu, NBC, Showtime and Sony PlayStation Vue. …
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Does your laptop have you singing the short-battery-life blues? If you’ve updated to Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, then you’ve got a new tool to help extend your laptop’s running time. I’ll cover this new tool along with some tried-and-true battery-saving tips. Turn down display brightness Powering all of those pixels in the display is the single greatest drain on …
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The Apple Watch already has a heart rate sensor, and it can even help flag potentially dangerous cardiac conditions. Apple is working on having the heart rate sensor check for heart rhythm abnormalities (atrial fibrillation), and has just launched a heart rate study with Stanford that anyone can opt into and test. But there is a new strap for the Apple …
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Apple has raised a lot of money from its customers for HIV/AIDS work in developing countries. On Friday, World AIDS Day, it will seek to raise even more. At midnight in each market, App Store customers will see a “Today” tab that features stories about HIV/AIDS. King, the maker of the popular Candy Crush matching game, will offer limited-edition bundles …
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Google on Thursday introduced its new Datally app, which lets you monitor and save mobile data. It’s available in the Google Play store for any Android phones running Android 5.0 Lollipop or newer. You can see your usage on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis and get recommendations for how you can save more. To save data, you can …
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With the Hifiman HE4XX full-size, planar magnetic headphone Massdrop has done it again. Based on the $299 Hifiman HE400S I raved about in 2015, that one has remained my go-to recommendation for best sounding headphone in its price class, but the $169.99 Massdrop x Hifiman HE4XX feels better built. As for the sound the HE4XX has all of the HE400S’ …
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Read our full review of the Nokia 8 Sirocco, the latest Nokia phone from HMD Global. If you’re looking for a phone that lasts longer for less, the Nokia 2 is now available in the US from retailers like Amazon, Best Buy and B&H for $100. That’s a price that’s hard for wallet-watchers to ignore, especially when premium handsets can cost ten times …
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Apple may be getting into semiconductors in an even bigger way. The company may make its own iPhone power management chips as soon as 2018, according to a report from Nikkei. Currently, Apple relies on supplier Dialog Semiconductor for those processors, which are important for making sure an iPhone charges correctly and doesn’t consume too much energy. One of Nikkei’s …
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