Back in October last year, there were reports that Samsung is planning to invest a whopping 15.6 trillion won (over $14 billion) in a new chip-making factory located in Pyeongtaek, which is 75 km south of Seoul (South Korea). At that time, it was expected that the plant will start production in the second half of 2017, however, Samsung has now said that production will begin in H1 2017.

The South Korean company is also said to invest an additional 10 trillion won on the plant to boost capacity, although it isn’t yet clear when. As for what the factory will create, it is being said that while Samsung is planning to produce DRAM memory chips, some capacity could also be allocated to mobile processors if required. Read more »

Apple is now running its web crawler dubbed AppleBot to scour the web and aid search services used in Spotlight for Mac and Siri for iOS. All the search queries will now be routed and powered by AppleBot, not by Google or Bing. Support documents don’t mention when the change was initiated.

AppleBot operates similarly as the GoogleBot, and crawls the web to discover new pages as well as ones that have been updated. Read more »

Apple is allegedly getting mixed up in yet another antitrust saga, this time in relation to the Beats Music streaming service and its revival. The Cupertino giant purchased the platform last year, as part of the $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics and has since stated its intentions to revive the service.

In doing so, however, Apple might have abused its leading position in the digital music market, as industry sources claim that the company has approached more than a dozen music labels and artists with proposition of limited and exclusive rights and partnerships. Read more »

Mediatek’s latest chipset, dubbed the MT6797 Helio 20 is almost ready to hit consumer markets and the Chinese company is already promoting its new silicon. With the chip, the manufacturer hopes to build on its recent success in the mobile market and secure more supplier contracts, both with local and international brands.

In order to give prospective buyers a clearer picture of what the MT6797 Helio 20 SoC has to offer, Mediatek has pit it up against Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 in a comprehensive stats comparison chart. As it turns out, the new MT chip has a lot to offer and has a few significant improvements over its predecessors. Read more »

Having a shiny new phone has become a much sought-after experience. But springing for a high-tech handset is just the beginning and it can all be a very short-lived thrill once gravity kicks in or your new toy has an unexpected play-date with water, dust or really any of the elements. Enter cases and protectors and the thicker and uglier they are, the better they fend off unwanted damage. But if you are willing to sacrifice aesthetics, why not opt for something more than just protection, like more battery.

Mophie’s latest iPhone 6 case aims to deliver precisely this type of combined service. The product, dubbed H2PRO, is the latest in the company’s line of juice packs. Just like its predecessor, the juice pack air, it is equipped with a 2,750mAh battery, which is said to double the battery life of your iPhone 6. And according to the advertisement, it has a few other tricks up its sleeve, too. Read more »

Google has revealed that, for the first time, the number of search requests from mobile devices has surpassed the number of desktop queries in several countries around the world, including the US. The revelation was made during the second-annual Inside AdWords event yesterday.

“We’ve hit an inflection point where more Google searches are taking place in mobile than desktop in 10 countries, including US and Japan,” said Jerry Dischler, Vice President of Product Management for AdWords. “We think it’s a real turning point in digital adverting and we have been investing in mobile-focused initiatives.” Read more »

A US jury has ruled that Motorola Mobility owes Fujifilm $10.2 million for patent infringement. The suit itself started back in 2012 when Fujifilm Corp, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Fujifilm Holdings Corp took Motorola to court on claims of infringing three of its patents related to digital photography and another four having to do with wireless data transfer and Bluetooth.

The jury has ruled against all of the claims, but one, related to converting color images to monochrome. The $10.2 million settlement is far less than the $40 million Fujifilm originally sought. Motorola spokesman William Moss, commented that the company is somewhat pleased by the current outcome, but also a little perplexed, considering the Lenovo owned business has, in fact, paid for a Bluetooth license. Read more »

Dropbox has updated its iOS app to version 3.9, bringing in a new Recents tab that lists all the recently used files, as well as the ability to add comments on files. In addition, the company has also announced that in the next few weeks it’ll add the ability to create Microsoft Office docs (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files) right from within the app – this feature will be available in a separate update.

“The best part, though, is how these features work together,” the cloud storage company said in a blog post. “For example, when you’re meeting with a client to brainstorm ideas for an upcoming project, you can use the Recents tab on your iPhone or iPad to quickly pull up your last project for reference. Then you can create a Word doc to take notes as you discuss. After the meeting, you can @mention your client in a comment, so they have the notes and can add anything you’ve missed. Then when you get back to your desk, you can turn that Word doc into a full project plan.” Read more »

The folks at iFixit have managed to get their hands on the new LG G Watch Urbane, which means it’s time for yet another teardown. The G Watch Urbane is LG’s latest smartwatch running on Android Wear and also the most expensive one so far.

Even though on the outside the G Watch Urbane has a shiny gold or silver finish with new leather bands, on the inside it is still pretty much the G Watch R. iFixit found that the Urbane was quite easy to repair, with the only issue being most of the parts being glued together to save space and seal the watch from dust and water. The problem with glue is it makes it harder to put the device back together the way it was. Read more »

Uber has ceased its Kansas operations with immediate effect after state legislature overrode Governor Sam Brownback’s veto of a bill that the ridesharing startup says makes it “impossible” for the company to do business.

The Kansas Senate voted 96-25 to override Brownback’s veto of the Kansas Transportation Network Company Services Act which imposes stricter restrictions on services like Uber by requiring their drivers to not only have comprehensive and collision insurance, but also undergo a background check performed by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Read more »

Microsoft is planning to migrate all Outlook.com users to Office 365 sometime this year, according to a report from The Verge. The company says that the move will allow it to align its Office 365, Exchange, and Outlook platforms, and provide a consistent experience.

As per the report, while the Outlook.com name isn’t going anywhere, the email service will be powered by the Office 365 technology (without the subscription benefits of Office 365). Read more »

Samsung added two new lineups of memory cards to its already vast portfolio in the segment. Available in SD and MicroSD guise, the EVO Plus and the PRO Plus cards are designed with high-end smartphones and cameras, capable of capturing and handling 4K video.

Samsung’s PRO Plus cards are the more capable ones from the bunch. Read more »

Samsung has released a new hardware kit that allows you to update your older Samsung Smart TVs, including the company’s 2013 F9000 series as well as the 2014 HU series, to the latest Tizen operating system. The update claims to offer better performance with a redesigned, smooth, and fast UI.

Dubbed UHD Evolution Kit (SEK-3500U), the hardware includes a new redesigned Smart Hub, a new faster octa-core processor, more RAM, updated Touch Remote with new pointer operation, MHL 3.0 connectivity for connection to mobile devices, HDMI 2.0 ports that support 4K Video @ 60p, as well as support for HEVC and VP9 codecs. Read more »

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge might be the current “top-dogs” of the mobile world, but that definitely doesn’t mean that they are perfect. Like all sophisticated tech, various problems are expected and the enormous attention towards Samsung’s latest creations has already led to the uncovering of a few hidden problems.

Yesterday, we reported that some S6 and S6 edge units have been spotted with Samsung’s own ISOCELL camera sensor, instead of the Sony IMX240. Read more »

Facebook has inked a deal with Nokia to bring the HERE Maps to the mobile version of its website, as well as to the Android versions of its Facebook Messenger and Instagram apps, according to a new report.

Although the companies haven’t yet officially announced the deal, when reached out for comment, a Facebook spokesperson said, “We are testing Nokia HERE maps across Facebook to give us more control and flexibility in delivering a consistent maps experience,” adding that “we’re testing HERE maps in Android versions of some of our standalone apps like Instagram and Messenger as well.” Read more »