Mihăiță Bamburic

It is difficult to imagine what the PC market would look like today had Microsoft not introduced the Surface RT and Surface Pro back in 2012. The software giant created a category, set the benchmark for high-end productivity-oriented tablets, and pushed rivals, like Apple, to compete in this space.

Despite this, Canalys CEO Steve Brazier and Lenovo COO Gianfranco Lanci believe that the Surface line will be put out to pasture by 2019. Why? The Surface business is not a huge money-maker for Microsoft, making it harder and harder to justify the cost to produce new devices and the low margins involved.

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The iPhone is rarely the first smartphone to bring a new technology to market, but when Apple decides to implement a novel feature it typically gets it right from the start. This also seems to be the case with the TrueDepth camera on the iPhone X, which is said to be a few years ahead of the Android competition.

TrueDepth works as an iris scanner and front-facing camera on the iPhone X and, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple's rivals will need around two and a half years to offer the same level of functionality on their Android smartphones.

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Visual Studio Code is an amazing cross-platform code editor which has managed to attract a significant following in recent years, not least because of its support for extensions. In just a couple of clicks, users can add various languages, like Python, Ruby and Java, and create new software.

For example, if you want to write Java code, there is a pretty nifty extension made by Red Hat, called Language Support for Java(TM) by Red Hat, that features things such as IntelliSense and basic Eclipse and Grade project support. And, now, Microsoft is building upon it by adding a debugger to the mix.

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Synology has expanded the DS418 line with the introduction of the new DS418play. The NAS, which joins the DS418 and DS418j in the consumer-oriented four-bay range, is optimized for multimedia content.

The claim to fame of the DS418play is that it can transcode up to two channels of H.265 or H.264 4K content at the same time, which basically means that you will be able to stream two 4K videos at the same time on a smartphone and tablet using the NAS' processing power.

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There are few smartphones that attract as much attention as a new OnePlus flagship. And it is easy to understand why. You get pretty much everything that you expect from a flagship device, but at a fraction of the cost. That recipe has not changed with this year's OnePlus 5.

Though it has not changed dramatically on the outside, the new "flagship killer" is more powerful and exciting than ever. It's also more expensive, which brings up an interesting question: Is the OnePlus 5 still special in today's crowded market?

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When HMD announced a revamp of the famous Nokia 3310 early this year, one of the first things that stood out was the limited cellular support. The new Nokia 3310 only works on 2G networks.

While that may be fine in some parts of the globe, there are many markets which no longer support anything below 3G. And that means the new 3310 is useless there. HMD has addressed this in a new version of the device.

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Google Cloud Platform has introduced per-second billing for App Engine, Cloud Dataproc, Compute Engine and Container Engine users, following a similar announcement made by rival AWS last week.

However, while Amazon's cloud arm announced that the new pricing scheme, which involves a one-minute minimum, will apply to EC2 customers starting October 2, the per-second billing on Google Cloud Platform's aforementioned cloud services is live now. Previously, customers were billed by the minute.

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There are times when you may not want to use the App Store or the recovery mode to install macOS 10.13 High Sierra on your Mac. So Apple gives you the option of creating a bootable USB drive. You can use it anytime and anywhere to quickly get the operating system running on any compatible Mac. An Internet connection is not even required as everything you need is already on the drive.

Creating a bootable macOS 10.13 High Sierra USB drive is very easy. All you need is a Mac, as the tools provided for the process are only available on OS X and macOS, and a USB drive with a capacity of 8GB or more. I will also explain how to use a dedicated third-party tool, in case you decide that this option suits you better.

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I have to admit that when I wrote the April Fools piece Bill Gates loves his new iPhone 5s, can now beat Bono at Candy Crush a few years ago, I did not expect the former Microsoft CEO to actually abandon Windows Phone for a rival platform. But, it happened -- though I was only half right.

Bill Gates did not switch to the iPhone (although the new iPhone line is pretty cool), going with an Android smartphone "with a lot of Microsoft software" instead. This is huge, if you think about it, as Gates basically acknowledged that Windows 10 Mobile just isn't good enough for him.

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GoPro started a trend when it launched the Hero4 line with 4K video recording. Today, it is pretty much impossible to find a new action camera that does not advertise this feature -- even when, in reality, most are not actually capable of it.

The Hawkeye Firefly 8S is different. It is the first action camera that I have tested that offers true 4K video recording. It is also among the most affordable options on the market, which, on paper, makes it great value for money. But how good is it in the real world? I've tested it to find out.

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Apple's Safari has more security vulnerabilities than Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer combined, according to a new report from Google's Project Zero.

Using an automated testing tool called Domato, Project Zero's Ivan Fratric analyzed the most popular desktop browsers and discovered two security vulnerabilities in Chrome, four in Firefox and Internet Explorer, six in Edge and 17 in Safari.

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If taking great photos and videos is important to you, then the iPhone 8 Plus is the best smartphone that you can get right now. That's according to camera testing site DxOMark, which says that Apple's new flagship range tops its charts in nearly every category, featuring "outstanding image quality."

The iPhone 8 Plus comes ahead of every other smartphone in DxOMark's mobile rankings, including the smaller iPhone 8 which takes second place. It basically wipes the floor with every other rival flagship, including the well-received Google Pixel and HTC U11.

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Xiaomi has joined a long list of companies as a member of the Wireless Power Consortium, the group that is behind the popular Qi wireless charging standard -- which may very well be a standard feature on its next Mi flagship.

Xiaomi has not made an announcement, but the fact that it is now listed on WPC's website as one of its members is enough to make it official. It joins the likes of Apple and Samsung as a backer of Qi wireless charging.

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A few years ago, the only way you could get updates for core apps on your Android device was through operating system updates. Then, manufacturers realized that it would be much easier -- for everyone involved -- to have new versions distributed through Google Play or their own app store.

OnePlus has reached the same conclusion, and today it announces that updates for Community, Gallery, Launcher and Weather will be rolled out through Google Play, in what is referred to as "Individual Application Update."

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Stack Overflow has introduced a salary calculator to help developers get a better idea of how much money they should earn. The tool takes into account important information such as job location, years of experience and technologies used to reveal what it considers to be typical salaries.

Stack Overflow says that the results are based on the data collected in its yearly developer survey. The salary calculator currently supports five markets -- Canada, France, Germany, US and UK -- and seven major cities -- Toronto, Paris, Berlin, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and London.

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