This is the Samsung Galaxy S8

 Behold. The Samsung Galaxy S8 a month before you’re supposed to see it. This image comes from professional leaker, Evan Blass, who is responsible for a good chunk of the mobile phone leaks. The image here shows a redesigned Galaxy phone. It lacks physical buttons and still has the wrap-around screen of the Galaxy S7 edge. The bezel is smaller than past models, taking up just a tiny… Read More

Google quietly launches Meet, an enterprise-friendly version of Hangouts

 Google has quietly launched a new video conferencing application called Meet by Google Hangouts, which is designed for HD video meetings. The web and mobile application appears to be the latest addition to Google’s lineup of business products known as G Suite, though product page on the G Suite website listed in the app’s description page on the App Store is not yet live. The… Read More

Google calls time on the Pixel laptop

 In a small meeting with journalists at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, Google’s senior vice president for hardware Rick Osterloh dropped a little bit of news: it looks like the Pixel laptop — Google’s premium Chromebook and the original product bearing the Pixel name — has hit the end of the line after just two iterations. The Pixel brand these days is… Read More

Google Play now considers user engagement, not just downloads, in ranking games

 Google is making a significant change to how its app store, Google Play, will work in terms of making the best games more easily discoverable by end users. At the Game Developers Conference, the company announced that it recently tuned its app store algorithms to take into account user engagement, and not just downloads in order to better reward quality titles, as opposed to those that are… Read More

Apple to release $1k iPhone with curved screen and USB-C, WSJ says

 Apple is said to have something special planned for the 10th anniversary of the iPhone and rumors have circulated for months speculating on different features. This report by the WSJ is the most detailed yet, citing anonymous sources who state there will be a high-end version of the next iPhone that will sport exclusive hardware. According to the report, at least one new iPhone model will… Read More

FCC Chairman pledges to roll back net neutrality regulations during European address

 As Ajit Pai took the stage for a speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this morning, CNBC anchor Karen Tso noted that the newly appointed FCC Chairman’s top priority has been the dismantling of net neutrality, a cause, she added, that would likely make him popular with many in attendance at the world’s largest mobile show. Pai started his talk rather humbly, telling the… Read More

Skype is killing off its WiFi service March 31 to focus on ‘core’ features

 Skype, the Microsoft-owned service that helped pioneer and popularize the rise of voice and video calls over the internet, is killing off one of the features that it added in later years to try to make the service more ubiquitous, especially among roaming users: on March 31, the company is killing off its WiFi service, which let users buy Wi-Fi access in paid public hotspots. Read More

Xiaomi’s new Mi5c is the first phone to be powered by its custom chipset

 Xiaomi may be skipping Mobile World Congress, the year’s biggest phone show, but it is still making news this week after it unveiled its first processor and the first phone it is powering. The device is the Mi5c, an updated model of its 5.15-inch Mi5 that it launched at Mobile World Congress last year. The Mi5c is powered by the Surge S1, Xiaomi’s first SoC chipset and its bid… Read More

Walmart’s app will now let Pharmacy and Money Services customers skip the line

 Walmart is today rolling out an updated app that will allow those visiting the store’s Pharmacy or Money Services desk to skip having to wait in line, the company says. After entering their personal information in the app, customers can order prescription refills or fill out other necessary paperwork from their phone. When they arrive at the store, they will then get in a… Read More

Hater, an app for finding someone who dislikes the same things as you, to expand beyond dating

 Not a fan of Trump? Can’t stand country music? Think selfie culture is the worst? Wouldn’t go camping if someone paid you? Bonding over the things you hate can be more powerful than bonding over what you like, studies have shown. Now, a new dating app called Hater can help you find better matches by focusing on those things you and others mutually detest. Yes, an app that connects… Read More

Car companies are now coming to MWC too

 There are four automotive manufacturers at the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona this year: Daimler, BMW, Ford, and Peugeot. And if CES is any indicator, expect more to follow in the next few years. Peugeot is going the furthest in bringing a world-premiere concept car to MWC, the Peugeot Instinct. The car demonstrates the company’s partnership with the Samsung Artik Cloud IoT… Read More

Facebook digs into mobile infrastructure in Uganda as TIP commits $170M to startups

 While Google is using MWC to show off some of its advances in native apps on mobile devices — specifically in chat apps — the world’s biggest chat app company is doing something completely different. Today, Facebook announced that it is building a 770-kilometer (500-mile) fiber backhaul network in Uganda, in partnership with India’s Airtel and wholesale provider BCS… Read More

This is probably the Samsung Galaxy S8

 Samsung is set to announce the Galaxy S8 smartphone in late March, but the two videos and a couple images embedded here appear to show working units. The videos show the phone’s refined design. The curved screen of the S7 remains as does the 3.5mm headphone port. The phone looks very similar to its predecessor though it’s missing the physical and capacitive buttons found on… Read More