Facebook is reportedly throwing its hat in the ring to compete with Clubhouse, the buzzy social app based on audio chats. The social media giant’s employees have been ordered to develop a product, known internally as Fireside, that’s similar to Clubhouse, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. An invite-only …
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Carl Pei’s Nothing company has Google’s backing, and it’s building an ‘ecosystem’ of devices
Two weeks ago, OnePlus founder Carl Pei officially launched his new venture — a consumer electronics company called Nothing. It might not sound like much so far, but Nothing is backed by GV (previously Google Ventures), which invested $15 million in the company. This entirely financed the company’s latest funding round, according to a press release issued Tuesday. GV is …
Read More »Mi 11 review: Xiaomi’s latest tour de force rivals Samsung’s Galaxy S21
The Mi 11 is Xiaomi’s inaugural global flagship for this year. Launched in February, it’s advertised as a phone for a “new generation of movie lovers,” whatever that means. The Mi 11 has a 6.5-inch OLED display, and houses Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 888 chipset, and with a 120 Hz display that features a peak brightness of 1,500 nits. It might …
Read More »Cheapskate exclusive: Get a lifetime ZipDrive personal
Here’s a real problem: You have a big library of music or movies, but not nearly enough space on your phone to hold it all. Similar problem: You’ve shot a bunch of photos and videos on your phone, and now your storage is nearly full; you need an easy way to offload the extra. (This is especially problematic now that …
Read More »Google Photos app working on ‘pinch
Google Photos appears to be working on a pinch-to-zoom style feature for video editing, according to a report from Android Police on Monday. In a post, a Reddit user also described having accidentally discovered the feature. “[W]hile playing back a video, I double tapped my screen accidentally and the video filled the screen,” the user posted. “I could also pinch the …
Read More »Samsung Neo QLED TVs available for preorder starting at $1,600
After a massive year of sales Samsung is one of the first TV makers out of the gate with new 2021 models, available for preorder now and arriving in March. They comprise four series of the Neo QLED TVs first announced last month at CES, ranging in size from 55 to 85 inches and including both 4K and 8K resolution. And as you …
Read More »Hey, Siri, what happened to you?
I remember the introduction of Siri on the iPhone 4S way back when. This was going to be a magic Apple feature that no one could ever catch up to. Instead of having to dig through settings and apps, you could just talk to your iPhone. Competitors, however, soon popped up. Who could forget S Voice, the forgettable voice assistant …
Read More »Bill unveiled to reduce Section 230 protections for social media companies
New legislation from Sen. Mark Warner would make changes to Section 230, which shields social media companies from liability for content published by users of their platforms. Loosened legal immunities could expose the companies to more lawsuits over what’s posted on their sites. Virginia Democrat Warner introduced to the Senate on Friday his Safe Tech Act, otherwise known as the …
Read More »Review: Samsung’s Galaxy S21 is the no
The Galaxy S21 lineup is now available. Before you buy one, the biggest takeaway you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G, along with the Galaxy S21 Plus 5G and Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, is that Samsung cut the US price of each by $200 (the savings are less in other countries). Clearly this wasn’t done out of generosity …
Read More »Google considered using drones for firefighting
Google asked the US Federal Aviation Administration for permission to test a drone for monitoring and fighting fires. However, its drone plans, which were published Thursday in the federal register, have since been extinguished. The request came from Alphabet’s Google Research Climate and Energy Group — not the company’s Wing subsidiary, whose drone delivery service was certified by the FAA …
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