A high price tag and “lack of interesting innovations” could see iPhone X demand slump, some tech industry analysts are warning, predicting disappointment at Apple come 2018. The flagship iPhone was undoubtedly one of the most eagerly-anticipated launches of this year, though it brought with it an eye-watering price tag along with no small amount of controversy. Now, there are … Continue reading
This week we’re diving into the final two Pokemon GO events for the masses of players playing during their end-of-year holiday break. Most trainers playing Pokemon GO this week are either on a break from school or have a bit more time during their day this week at work than normal – as such, there’s a whole lot of Pokemon … Continue reading
Aboard the International Space Station, an A4-size flag of the United States hangs next to a 1:100 model of a space shuttle. The memento, placed there by the last crew to fly on shuttle Atlantis, is meant to be retrieved by the next batch of astronau…
Garmin has introduced a new wearable activity tracker called the vivofit 4. The company says that this daily activity tracker’s battery can go over a year without requiring a charge. It has been designed to be worn around the clock and is swim and shower-safe. The vivofit 4 has an always-on color display mated to a sleek and comfortable band.
The Garmin vivofit 4 starts tracking steps right out of the box. It encourages users to keep moving with a colored move bar that fills up when the user has been stationary for too long. The vivofit 3 also assigns daily step goals based on the user’s current activity levels to gradually get them to lead a more active lifestyle.
Garmin’s new wearable device can provide additional features when paired with a smartphone. The features include sleep tracking, intensity minutes, and more. The vivofit 4 is capable of detecting changes in a user’s movement and automatically capturing and classifying activities such as biking, running, swimming, and using an elliptical.
It also doubles as an everyday watch with a clock, countdown timer, stopwatch, and multiple alarms. There’s even a weather widget for a quick look at the day’s weather.
The Garmin vivofit 4 is now available for purchase from Amazon.com for $79.99. The interchangeable accessory bands can also be purchased for $19.99 each.
Garmin’s New Vivofit 4 Activity Tracker Doesn’t Need To Be Charged For A Year , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
There are countless websites live today that hijack a visitor’s CPU to mine for virtual currencies like Bitcoin. They do that without the visitor’s consent or knowledge in order to make money for themselves. It’s unethical and a breach of trust but sadly it’s something that doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, particularly with digital currency values soaring in recent months. Opera has now developed a feature that will prevent these websites from using a visitor’s PC to mine for digital currency.
Opera will soon release version 50 of its web browser. The beta has already been released and it comes with the NoCoin feature. The feature will protect users from cryptocurrency mining by websites.
The company has eliminated cryptocurrency mining scrips that overuse a device’s computing ability. Opera 50 users will be able to prevent websites from doing this by simply enabling the browser’s ad blocker. Once this feature is enabled, pages that have scripts for mining digital currency will be blocked in a similar way that the built-in ad blocker blocks ads.
It has shared an example of the load that the CPU is put under when a cryptocurrency mining script runs on a machine and just how much can be freed up instantly when such scripts are blocked.
The beta version of Opera 50 is now available for download. The stable version should be out in the near future.
Opera’s Next Update Brings Anti-Bitcoin Mining Feature , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
As the legal dispute between Apple and Qualcomm shows no signs of ending anytime soon, it’s now predictably being reported that Apple wants to reduce its reliance on its legal foe. According to a new report, the company is looking to ink a partnership with MediaTek to source baseband modem chipsets for the iPhone in 2018. Apple currently sources these chipsets from Qualcomm.
Apple has gradually been reducing its reliance on Qualcomm ever since the lawsuit was filed earlier this year. Reports suggest that Apple has transferred orders for almost half of all iPhone modem chipsets from Qualcomm to Intel.
It was first reported back in October this year that Apple was thinking about sourcing modem chipsets for the iPhone from MediaTek. The latest report suggests that MediaTek meets all three key principles on which Apple judges its suppliers – they must be technologically competitive, they must have comprehensive product blueprints, and that they provide robust logistical support.
The report even goes so far as to claim that Apple and MediaTek may also collaborate on future products like smart speakers and wireless chargers. If that’s true, MediaTek chips might find their way into products like the HomePod at some point in the future.
There’s hasn’t been an official confirmation of this yet, though, so nothing is set in stone right now.
Apple May Source iPhone Modem Chips From MediaTek Next Year , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Samsung is yet to confirm when it’s going to unveil its next flagship device, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. Reports suggest that the handsets might be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress 2018 in the last week of February. If that’s true, Samsung will then release the Galaxy S9 in the following month. A report out of South Korea claims that the Galaxy S9 release will take place in early March.
Samsung isn’t expected to conduct a special launch event for next year’s flagship like it did for the Galaxy S8 in the last week of March 2017. The existing flagship was then released across the globe in mid-April.
The report claims that Samsung will start mass producing the Galaxy S9 from January and that it has already placed orders for components that will be required during the production process.
The launch is once again expected to take place at the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona come February. The report mentions that Samsung is going to release the Galaxy S9 in early March. A precise date has not yet been revealed, though.
Recent reports suggest that the Galaxy S9 is going to look a lot like its predecessor. The Galaxy S9+ is said to feature a dual camera system at the back while the Galaxy S9 will just have a single camera. The handsets will run Android 8.0 Oreo and are expected to cost the same as the Galaxy S8 did when it was launched earlier this year.
Galaxy S9 Release Reportedly Takes Place In Early March , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Google is reportedly thinking about opening physical retail stores in India to boost the sales of its Pixel smartphones in this crucial smartphone market. India is one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets in the world and estimates from market analysts suggest that Google’s flagship handsets are lagging behind the competition in India. Google is thus believed to be opening physical stores in the country so that it can boost the sales of its Pixel smartphones.
A local news report claims that Google has hired a former senior Apple executive to lead its retail charge in India. One source expects that Google’s physical stores may open their doors in the second half of next year.
Google has reportedly been encouraged by the response that it saw at the dozen or so pop-up stores that it launched in malls across India recently. It showcased the Pixel 2 handsets at these pop-up stores and also educated customers about the features that they offer.
It’s also believed that Google will sell some of its other products at these stores, such as its Google Home smart speakers, Chromecast devices, Pixel notebooks, and Daydream virtual reality headsets. It would make sense for the company to do so.
At least two prominent malls in the country have said that they have received requests for space where Google’s stores will be set up. The company hasn’t confirmed this, though, only saying that it doesn’t comment on rumors and speculation.
Google May Open Physical Stores In India To Boost Pixel Sales , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
There has been a lot of speculation about the iPhone X demand. The new flagship was expected to be in very short supply initially due to production issues. The supply seems to have cleared up but there are concerns about the demand now. Most of Apple’s suppliers are based in Asia and these concerns about the iPhone X demand are hurting them.
Several Apple suppliers have seen their stock prices fall for two days straight after a report suggested that the iPhone X demand will come in below expectations in the first quarter. Some market analysts have also backed up this possibility.
The report claimed that Apple is going to trim its sales forecast for the iPhone in the first quarter to 30 million units. The initial plan was 50 million units so if the figures are accurate, it would suggest that the iPhone X has underperformed by quite a margin.
Market analysts partly blame the low demand on the iPhone X’s price. The handset starts at $999. There have also been reports recently suggesting that Apple might cut the iPhone X price early next year to boost demand for its new flagship.
Apple hasn’t commented on the speculation and rumors surrounding the demand for its new handset. It has also not disclosed quarterly sales targets for the iPhone X so it’s not possible to ascertain whether the handset is performing up to or below its expectations.
iPhone X Demand Concerns Hurt Apple’s Suppliers , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
LG joined the list of OEMs running beta programs for Oreo last month by launching its own Android 8.0 beta program for the LG V30 and LG V30+. The first beta firmware that it rolled out for both handsets weighed in at 1.2GB. It included all of the features that Oreo brought to the table. LG has now released the stable version of the Oreo update for the V30.
There was just one caveat, though. LG launched the Android 8.0 Oreo beta program for the V30 and V30+ in South Korea. It didn’t say if and when the beta program will be expanded to other markets.
Almost a month after rolling out the first beta Oreo update for the V30, LG has now rolled out the stable Android 8.0 Oreo update for the LG V30. However, much like the beta program, the stable version of the update has also been released in South Korea only.
LG says that it implemented feedback from more than 500 users who enrolled in the beta program to further tweak the firmware. It still hasn’t confirmed when Oreo for the V30 is going to be released in other markets across the globe.
Given that the year is almost over, it goes without saying that the LG V30 will receive its Oreo update in other markets at some point early next year.
LG V30 Oreo Update Released , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
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