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Teardown of new MacBook Pro shows it’s hard to fix

Apple last month slimmed down its MacBook Pro lineup and added a dynamic Touch Bar to the keyboard, ridding itself of the function keys and allowing for more creative keyboard functionality. We generally liked the result of the changes in our review, but according to a report by iFixit, they come at a cost. iFixit opened up Apple’s 13-inch MacBook …

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Amazon offers Prime discount to honor ‘Grand Tour’ show launch

The old “Top Gear” team of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May reunite this Friday to the delight of gearheads everywhere in a new auto-focused series from Amazon called “The Grand Tour.” To celebrate the occasion, Amazon’s introducing a new skill for Alexa and offering its Prime service at a discount. Amazon Prime normally costs $99 a year. Starting …

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Get three months of Mint SIM cell service for $35

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. And find more great buys on the CNET Deals page. I have no special allegiance to any phone carrier; I go wherever I can get the best deal. And it’s starting to look …

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Facebook brings Instagram and Messenger together to make social for business easier

Facebook, Instagram and Messenger will all be under the umbrella of a single app soon, Facebook has announced. With businesses in mind, Facebook is integrating all three services into its Pages Manager mobile app in the coming weeks, letting you manage messages and comments on all three platforms from one page. Pages Manager is a free app designed to help …

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Apple reportedly plans to cut App Store video fees

Apple is planning to cut in half the amount it charges to sell video services over the App Store, a move seen as assuaging concerns of its partners, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. The tech titan plans to reduce the amount of revenue it collects from subscription video streaming apps from the current 30 percent to 15 percent, Bloomberg reported, citing unidentified …

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Forgot your wallet and phone? Pay with a SmartCup

You’re at a cafe. You’ve just scoffed down bacon, eggs and a fine brew. It’s time to pay. What are you going to do, pull out your card like some kind of chump?No, says Australian carrier Optus. Pay with your coffee mug. The company has teamed up with Frank Green, who makes chip-equipped SmartCups, to conveniently let you make payments …

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Twitter convinces itself that 2016 is the worst

Social media is so over 2016. Twitter users, in particular, want the year to end but they won’t let it silently slip away. Instead, they’ve turned their disgust into a trending topic. On Facebook, people are chatting about pro wrestling and Snapchat. Social Cues is our guide on what’s trending across Facebook and Twitter. Here’s what people are talking about …

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