Ten years is a long time. Nearly long enough to forget that Google — and for that matter, Apple — have the ability to control some parts of your phone over the internet. And maybe quietly change things without your permission. But Google made a very public mistake last week, and it’s raising the specter …
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Qualcomm’s Toq smartwatch was so big it dwarfed my wrist. Rectangular and thick, it weighed down my arm and almost restricted my motion. I had to cut the wrist band, which contained the battery in the clasp, to precisely fit my wrist. It was a watch that only an engineer could love. And I sure wasn’t an engineer. That, in …
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The new iPhone XS and XS Max start at $1,000 and rise sharply from there. Ouch. The iPhone XR is more affordable at $749, but it’s not available for preorder for about another month. Thankfully, there are deals to be had on Apple’s new flagships. Four of them come from the Big Four carriers, while the fifth (and arguably best) …
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To get an idea of how small the electronic elements are on the Apple A12 Bionic chip at the heart of the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, first squint really hard at a human hair. It’s thin, obviously. But it’s still thick enough that you could fit about 10,000 of an A12’s electronic components across its width. That miniaturization …
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The $1,000 phone may not be as shocking this year as it was when Apple first broke the barrier with 2017’s iPhone X, but the amount you’re asked to cough up for a premium handset is hardly chump change. The newly announced iPhone XS and August’s Galaxy Note 9 both start at a grand, and the higher-storage models go up …
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Another use for the fingerprint sensor on your MacBook Pro or Android phone: a password-free way to log into websites and web apps with the Chrome web browser. In the Chrome 70 beta, fingerprint web authentication is now enabled by default for Android and MacOS, according to an official Google blog post. (No word on Windows laptops or iOS devices yet.) …
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Microsoft has apparently reversed course on a Windows 10 test feature that sought to warn people from installing Chrome, Firefox and other browsers that challenged Microsoft’s own Edge. A new “fast-ring” test version of Windows, Insider Preview Build 17760, no longer interrupts the installation of rival browsers, a CNET test shows. Earlier this week, an earlier test version of Windows …
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The Razer Phone 2 is coming soon, and it looks a lot like its predecessor. The second version of the gaming-oriented Razer Phone will apparently be announced Oct. 10, according to this invite that CNET just received from the company: Enlarge Image We’ve blacked out the address, since the company probably doesn’t want everyone showing up. Razer, redacted by Sean Hollister/CNET Mind …
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Now you can identify tens of millions of songs. On Friday, Google said it has integrated its Sound Search function into Now Playing, a music recognition feature, to faster and more accurately and faster match songs. Sound Search works on Google’s Search app, Google Assistant or any Android phone. To use the service, start a voice query. If there’s music playing near …
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Samsung will unveil a new Galaxy device next month that offers “4x the fun.” On Friday, Samsung sent out invitations for the launch of a new device at “A Galaxy Event” on Oct. 11. The invite doesn’t include a time or location, but says the event will be livestreamed on Samsung’s site. “Samsung’s newest Galaxy device is bringing more ways to …
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