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Carrier alliance could improve phone authentication in 2018

Authentication is a thorny problem. Passwords can be stolen, face recognition can be spoofed and personal identification information can be hacked. The four biggest phone network companies formed an alliance so your phone can help make it better, though. Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T hope to release technology in 2018 that will improve authentication though …

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Pioneer and Onkyo offer choice of Google or Alexa smart speakers

Pioneer and Onkyo have announced two new smart speakers with a different spin — they combine multiroom streaming audio with Amazon‘s Alexa assistant. Prices will start at $250. Ever since the first smart speaker, the Amazon Echo, was released almost three years ago this category has primarily been more concerned about the “smarts” than the speaker. The Echo, the Google …

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Get a Canon wireless all

CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and follow the Cheapskate on Facebook and Twitter! Canon Regular readers know that I strongly prefer laser printers to inkjet printers. Why? Because inkjets always get …

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Samsung Galaxy Note 8 becomes top

So far it looks like Samsung has recovered from last year’s Note 7 flameout, new US sales data from the company shows. The new high-end Samsung Galaxy Note 8 phone is the best-selling Note in the US based on preorders so far, the Korean electronics giant said Friday. It declined to share details about exactly how many have been ordered …

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Samsung Rewards program rolls out into third country

Samsung wants more of us to use Samsung Pay. So it’s launching its Rewards program in Singapore, the first country in Southeast Asia and the third in the world. The Korean electronics giant previously released the loyalty program in the US and South Korea in Nov. 2016 and March 2017, respectively. The program awarded Samsung Pay users points for each …

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Yes, someone tried to set Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 on fire

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that’s taken over our lives. It’s not easily inflamed. JerryRigEverything/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET One of the great joys of a new phone release is the group of people who get hold of the device and immediately try to destroy it. This seems especially appropriate with the Samsung Galaxy Note …

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Did the Essential Phone survive our drop test?

Now playing: Watch this: We destroyed the Essential Phone 4:36 When we drop-tested the Samsung Galaxy S8, it wound up with a cracked glass back. When we drop-tested the Moto Z2 Force, the “shatterproof” screen survived — but its shiny aluminum edges got all chewed up. Essential performed its own drop tests and claims the phone survived without blemish. That …

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