Tag Archives: apple-iphone

As far as Siri is concerned, you are Lego Batman

A popular meme proclaims: “Always be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Then always be Batman.” Well, here’s your chance. If you’ve got an Apple Watch, iPhone, or other device that uses Siri, you can Batman the heck out of yourself. In a promotion for the “Lego Batman Movie,” Siri will now respond to you …

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HTC readies U series phone launches in Asia, Europe

HTC’s new flagship phones, the U Play and U Ultra, are starting to make their way around the world. Chia-Lin Chang, HTC’s president of global sales, said the phone will start shipping in countries in Asia this week and in parts of Europe in March. (You can already buy it in HTC’s home base of Taiwan.) He spoke at an …

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Comeback kids: Nokia goes low while BlackBerry aims high

When Steve Jobs launched the original iPhone in 2007, its revolutionary all-touchscreen design blew away the then-dominant keyboard phones of the day: the Moto Q, Palm Treo, Nokia E62 and BlackBerry Pearl. Enlarge Image BlackBerry’s new phone channels its QWERTY soul. James Martin/CNET Back then, Nokia and BlackBerry were the smartphone standard-bearers and Apple was the daring upstart. Now, as …

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Here’s how I got better battery life for my MacBook Pro

It took six weeks of tech support calls, power usage monitoring and Genius Bar diagnostics, but I’m finally convinced my new MacBook Pro isn’t an expensive mistake. And what I’ve learned along the way can help you, too — regardless of what laptop you’re using. I bought a 15-inch Touch Bar-equipped MacBook Pro sight unseen late last year, confident that …

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Apple’s iPhone 8 may be the only new iPhone to get the steel body treatment

Apple is rumored to be releasing three new iPhones this year, the premium 10-year anniversary iPhone 8, and the more modestly upgraded iPhone 7S and 7S Plus. One big difference between the 8 and 7S models may be the phone’s body. Industry sources say that the iPhone 8 may get the new glass and steel chassis that have been rumored, …

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Facebook kills silent video: Here’s how to mute ’em again

Why are autoplaying Facebook videos suddenly screaming at you? Weren’t they supposed to be silent — and thus easy to consume in public places without subjecting you to embarassment? No more: Facebook has just decided to start autoplaying audio whenever you scroll past an autoplaying video in your News Feed, with an update rolling out today. If that’s not your …

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Apple granted patent for fingerprint

The iPhone’s home button may not be long for this world. Apple has been granted a patent for an “interactive display panel with IR diodes” — a method that would let users activate a device through a virtual home button placed within the touchscreen. The technology, described in a filing made public Tuesday by the US Patent and Trade Office, …

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Popular encrypted messaging app Signal adds video calls

If you send encrypted text messages from your phone, there’s a decent chance you use Signal. Since the app made headlines in 2015 by offering encryption between Android and iPhone, it’s grown in popularity, to the point that it’s now one of the preferred ways to tip The New York Times on a story. As of today, Signal will do …

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iPhone owners can now cheat on Apple with an Android smartwatch

Now playing: Watch this: Google’s Android Wear 2.0 is here, starting with LG Watch… 2:37 Android Wear 2.0 recently launched, adding new features and a revamped interface to Google’s smartwatch platform. The idea of using an Android Wear watch with an iPhone is admittedly, well, odd. However, with Pebble no longer around, the Android Wear lineup is a worthy alternative …

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Samsung is maybe making more Galaxy S8 phones from the get go

Now playing: Watch this: Samsung may expect a big demand for S8 right from the… 1:16 It looks like Samsung expects to sell far more Galaxy phones this year when the Galaxy S8 goes on sale in the coming weeks. The South Korean device maker will increase its first batch of shipments by 40 percent, according to The Investor, citing …

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