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Job listing suggests Apple planning to make Apple Maps available on other platforms as well

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Apple is planning to make its mapping service – which is currently exclusive to iOS and OS X – available on all platforms via the Web, according to a job listing posted by the company last month.

First spotted by tech analyst Benedict Evans and titled Maps JavaScript Engineer, the listing seeks a web technology expert to help make maps work seamlessly on the web. “This role requires a deep knowledge of the JavaScript language, plus a solid understanding of the performance and compatibility issues that arise when delivering a cross-platform web solution,” its description said. Read more »

Hands-on with Huawei P8 lite for the US market

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We managed to spend quality time with the freshly announced Huawei P8 lite for the US market. The smartphone is already available to order in the United States directly from Huawei’s online store.

Huawei P8 lite features the same design language as the company’s P8 flagship. Read more »

Apple will not unveil new Apple TV hardware at WWDC

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According to a report in The New York Times, we will not see a new Apple TV at WWDC. Past rumors suggested that the Cupertino giant will unveil a new set top box with the same CPU as iPhone 6.

Apple’s change of hears took place over the past couple of weeks. Read more »

Verizon’s LG G Pad 10.1 is the latest in line to receive Android 5.0 Lollipop update

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Last month Verizon’s version of the LG G Pad 8.3 got its Lollipop update, and starting today the exact same thing will happen for the LG G Pad 10.1 sold by the carrier. Obviously though, as we’re dealing with an over-the-air update, it might take a few days before the notification pops up on all units.

Big Red has been offering the G Pad 10.1 LTE since November of last year. After applying the Lollipop update, the tablet will run Android 5.0.2 and software version VK70022A. Read more »

Moto X (2nd Gen) is now 26% cheaper in India

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The second generation Moto X, the one launched in 2014, is now the subject of an interesting deal over in India. You can purchase the device from Flipkart, the country’s biggest online retailer, for just INR 21,999.

This currently amounts to approximately $343 or €305. But what’s most important is that it’s 26% less than the normal price of the device for India, which is INR 29,999 ($468 or €415). Read more »

LG G Watch R is on the way out, starts disappearing from retailers

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Now that LG has launched the new Watch Urbane (which we’ve just reviewed), the Korean company seems to be ready to simply let the G Watch R go. Its previous wearable has started disappearing from retailers, and it looks effectively like it’s been discontinued at this point.

Asked about the situation, LG officials have apparently confirmed that the G Watch R is being wound down. Existing stocks will be sold, of course, but production may have already stopped. Read more »

Apple recalls Beats Pill XL because it’s a fire hazard

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If at some point you’ve bought a Beats Pill XL speaker, you might want to send it back to Apple (which now owns Beats as you may know). That’s because the company known more for its iPhones and Macs has had to issue a voluntary recall of all Beats Pill XL units ever sold across the US and Canada.

The reason for that has to do with the fact that the speaker’s battery can overheat, thus posing a fire hazard. All color versions of the wireless speaker are affected, as you’d imagine (the internals are obviously the same). Read more »

Amazon introduces free shipping on small items for all customers

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In an effort to court budget-conscious customers, Amazon has started offering free shipping on small items – including make-up, earplugs, and mobile phone accessories – without any minimum order or membership requirements.

Dubbed Fulfillment by Amazon Small and Light, the service covers goods that weigh under 8 ounces (230 grams), measure under 9x6x2 inches, and are priced at less than $10. While orders will be fulfilled via the company’s new shipping hub in Florence, Kentucky, deliveries will take 4-8 business days. Read more »

Huawei TalkBand B2 launches this week, brings smarter fitness tracking for $180

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Huawei unveiled the second generation TalkBand. The TalkBand B2 now integrates with the Jawbone UP Smart Coach app and is smarter about tracking your exercise.

It will be available very soon in three styles – black and white sports versions, plus a classier gold-tone and leather model. Read more »

Apple loses trademark case against Philippine company behind My|Phone

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Apple has lost a trademark case against Solid Group, a Philippine-based tech company behind My|Phone. The Cupertino-based giant had contended that the name is “confusingly similar” to the iPhone, and is “likely to deceive or cause confusion.”

“This is a case of a giant trying to claim more territory than what it is entitled to, to the great prejudice of a local ‘Pinoy Phone’ merchant who has managed to obtain a significant foothold in the mobile phone market through the marketing and sale of innovative products under a very distinctive trademark,” said Nathaniel Arevalo, director of Philippines’ Intellectual Property Office (IPO), adding that there is “absolutely no confusing similarity between My|Phone trademark (of Solid) and the iPhone trademark (of Apple).” Read more »

A simple string can send Skype into an endless crash loop

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Just a few days ago, information surfaced about a strange string that can crash the iOS Messages app. The bug became pretty viral, caused a lot of controversy and apparently sparked an interest in such exploits. So much so, that a similar hack has now been found for Skype.

The Microsoft-owned messenger also appears to be susceptible to malicious messages and it turns out that it requires a lot less effort than the complicated spell-like message that plagued Apple’s messenger. If you send any message containing the string “http://:” to a Skype contact their client will most-likely crash and keep on crashing after a restart. Read more »

AMD launches 6th Generation Carrizo A-Series processors

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AMD has announced the new 6th Generation A-series processors previously codenamed “Carrizo” and built on the 28nm fabrication technology. Three new Carrizo family A-Series models are announced – A8, A10, and FX – for the notebook platform. These new mobile chips promise twice the gaming performance and two times the battery life against the Intel’s offerings.

The new AMD A-series processors pack 12-computing cores which include 4 CPU cores based on the Excavator microarchitecture and 8 GPU cores based on the 3rd Generation Graphics Core Next architecture. The new A-series aim to deliver the premium level Windows 10 experience along with the support for new DirectX 12 graphics standard. Read more »

Intel announces Thunderbolt 3

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After two years since Thunderbolt 2, Intel has taken the wraps off the new Thunderbolt 3 protocol, and there are some major and exciting new features here.

By far the biggest improvement is the switch from the standard DisplayPort that we saw for Thunderbolt 1 and 2 to the more modern USB Type-C. Along with making it more modern and infinitely easier (since there is no wrong way to plug in a USB Type-C cable) it also provides Thunderbolt access to the USB protocol with Intel’s new Alpine Ridge controller, which was absent in the previous versions of Thunderbolt. This means Thunderbolt 3 has support for USB 3.1, Thunderbolt, DisplayPort, and PCI-Express protocols. Read more »

Xiaomi Yi Camera Night Vision Edition goes official

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Xiaomi announced its third camera today – the Yi Camera Night Vision Edition. It has the same design as the original Yi Camera, and has nothing to do with the Yi Sport/ Mi Sport Action Camera we saw a few months back.

The new Yi Camera Night Vision has a 940mm infra-red camera sensor and so it doesn’t need any kind of artificial light. Besides the new sensor, the rest of the functionality remains the same – it snaps pictures, records HD video (probably with 20fps) and is Wi-Fi-enabled and can stream live picture. Read more »

Valve launches 2-week no fuss refund policy on steam games, DLC and more

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Valve’s game distribution service Steam has been updated with a new refund policy. Under the new Steam Refunds policy, you can file for a refund for any reason within 14 days of game purchase and game play of less than two hours.

No matter if your PC didn’t meet the hardware requirements, the game was purchased by mistake, or you just didn’t like the game after playing it for an hour – Steam will grant you a refund. Read more »