July, 2019

• 2 July

  China reportedly scans tourists’ phones by installing malware

  

  The Chinese government is reportedly forcing foreigners to download malware onto their phones when crossing into the country. The malware downloads people’s text messages, phone logs and calendar entries, and scans the device for around 73,000 other files, according to a joint investigation by The New York Times, the Guardian, Motherboard, Süddeutsche Zeitung and German …

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• 2 July

  An AT&T outage knocked out 911 services in multiple states

  

  AT&T cell phone users in multiple states were hit with outages that impacted their ability to contact emergency services Tuesday morning. Florida, Minnesota, Indiana, Texas and Wisconsin were among the states hit by the outage, with several taking to Twitter to alert people of alternate ways to contact emergency personnel. Landline users with AT&T were not affected.   If you …

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• 2 July

  Samsung Galaxy Fold’s screen failures have finally been fixed, report says

  

  Editor’s Note: On July 24, Samsung announced that it will sell an improved Galaxy Fold in September 2019. Samsung’s Galaxy Fold was meant to be the first foldable phone to hit the market. But screen-destroying design flaws caused the $1,980 phone to be delayed for two months and counting, as the phone was meant to launch on April 26. But …

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• 2 July

  The TCL 75

  

  All the best Prime Day deals are at Amazon, right? Nope: For a limited time, Best Buy has the TCL 75S425 75-inch Roku TV for $799.99. Regular price: $999.99.Walmart has it for the same price — which will give you option of returning it locally should it have a problem or not meet your expectations. Update: This appears to be out …

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• 2 July

  US isn’t ready for Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency, critics argue

  

  Facebook’s recently unveiled Libra cryptocurrency is facing pushback from groups concerned by unanswered questions about the digital coin. In an open letter Tuesday, more than 30 groups — including the Economic Policy Institute and US PIRG — urged Congress and regulators to impose a moratorium on Libra until the “profound questions” raised by Facebook’s proposal are addressed. Facebook is working …

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• 2 July

  Apple sued for alleged patent infringement over iOS low

  

  Apple is being sued for alleged patent infringement tied to its iOS low-power mode, core location and facedown detection across the iPhone and iPad. The lawsuit, spotted earlier by Patently Apple, claims the iPhone maker has benefited from improvements to its devices’ battery life as a result of the alleged infringements. Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET Apple introduced Low Power Mode …

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• 2 July

  Samsung chief: Galaxy Fold delay was ’embarrassing’

  

  Update, Sept. 5: We’ve gone hands-on with Samsung’s revamped Galaxy Fold ahead of its revised release later this month. Original story, last updated in July, follows. Samsung mobile chief DJ Koh admitted on Monday that he rushed the $1,980 Galaxy Fold to market before the foldable phone was fully ready. But he stopped short of apologizing to preorder buyers who never received their device.  …

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• 2 July

  Apple’s next 13

  

  Apple’s next MacBook Pro model appears to have been filed in an application to the US Federal Communications Commission. The documents say the laptop will be a 13-inch model, 9to5Mac reported Tuesday. Apple had unveiled a slight update to its MacBook Pro lineup during its WWDC event last month. Its 13- and 15-inch computers now feature Intel’s faster eighth- and ninth-generation Core processors, including an …

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• 2 July

  Nvidia FrameView gives you frame rate bragging rights for any game

  

  You can never have too many overlays — that’s got to be someone’s motto. At least Nvidia’s made one that seems pretty useful for trying to figure out why your $800 graphics card is more spud than speed demon.  The company’s new FrameView utility could help answer some other questions too: Why cut scenes are rendering as if half the …

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• 2 July

  Dish and T

  

  Dish Network may have saved T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint.  According to CNBC, Dish and T-Mobile have reached a deal on the assets T-Mobile would be divesting as part of its planned $26.5 billion merger with Sprint. The deal, the report notes, is pending Department of Justice approval.  The DOJ has been looking at Dish as a potential fourth carrier in …

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