Articles about Smartphone

The iPhone X was among the best-selling smartphones in major markets like Europe, Japan and US in December, according to a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. Apple's flagship helped iOS gain market share in five major European markets.

Kantar Worldpanel ComTech's report comes just after Nikkei claimed that iPhone X was selling bellow expectations. Nikkei based its analysis on supply figures from Apple's partners, which may not accurately reflect consumers' interest in the flagship.

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Virgin Mobile has announced plans to offer Certified Pre-Loved iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets in the US. Starting in February, the company will be offering the phones for between $379.99 and $429.99.

It is already possible to buy a Certified Pre-Loved iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus from Virgin Mobile, and by adding the newer handsets to the program, the company is offering a cheaper way to buy a more recent iPhone.

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Smartphone buyers are not all that impressed with the iPhone X. According to a new report released by Nikkei, Apple saw "slower-than-expected" sales in major markets like US, Europe and China during the holiday season.

Nikkei claims that, as a result, Apple has decided to halve the production target for its flagship smartphone in the first quarter of 2018 from 40 million units to 20 million units.

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Phone-maker OnePlus has had a tough time of things in the press recently with claims about users' clipboard data being mined, and the problems following a credit card breach. A second suggestion that the company was sending clipboard data back to China surfaced recently, but the company has been quick to deny any wrongdoing.

Suspicions were raised when a OnePlus user noticed a file called badwords.txt which includes a list of words such as "chairman," "private message" and "address."

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Using any smartphone means having to work within its storage limitations. The prevalence of cloud services has taken some of the strain off physical storage, but running out of room locally can still be an issue.

To help with this problem, Google offers Files Go. Now the company has updated the app to make it an even more powerful tool for freeing up space. The app can now handle SD cards and tablets, and includes a new option to change file associations.

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Just a couple of weeks ago a French watchdog announced that it was investigating Apple about the "planned obsolescence" of iPhones. Now Italy is also looking into both Apple and Samsung after complaints that the companies are purposefully slowing down older phone models.

Apple has already admitted and defended the fact that it slows down older iPhones, saying that it is done to ensure the best performance from aging batteries -- later saying that an upcoming update will make the slowdown optional. In Italy, both Apple and Samsung stand accused of reducing handset performance to "induce consumers to buy new versions."

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After you've used a messaging app, it's hard to go back to SMS. You can't share files, get read receipts, group chats or share emoji. It's archaic, but the good news is that there is an alternative.

It's called Rich Communication Services and it offers many of the features that we have come to love on messaging apps. Google is one of the biggest adopters, offering support for RCS in its Android Messages app. And, today, it announces that Huawei, one of the largest Android vendors, will integrate it in its Android smartphones.

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Security firm Kaspersky Lab has revealed details of a highly-sophisticated Android trojan that takes advantage of multiple vulnerabilities to gain full control of a device. Skygofree has capabilities that have never been seen in the wild before.

In the malware's arsenal of weapons is the ability to track user location, record audio, connect to attacker-controlled networks, monitor messaging apps, intercept text messages, take photographs, and much more. Kaspersky says its capabilities are "reminiscent of Hollywood spy movies."

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Following accusations that children are addicted to iPhones, Apple has said that it will introduce improved parental controls in iOS.

At the weekend, an open letter from a group of investors expressed concern about the overuse of Apple devices by children and teenagers. Responding to the letter, Apple says that while it considers itself a leader when it comes to parental controls, it will make the feature even "more robust" in the future.

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When you think of elegant computers and devices, your mind probably goes to Apple, and rightfully so. After all, the iPhone-maker has long pioneered the concept of technology being more than just function. With Apple, exterior design is equally as important as the internals. The first iMac, for instance, showed that a computer could be more than a beige tower.

Nowadays, there are many other companies that focus on external beauty, but one in particular really shines in this regard -- Huawei. That manufacturer sells elegant phones, tablets, computers, and more. Its previously announced Mate 10 Pro had many people drooling (including yours truly), but tragically, it was not available in the USA. Today, however, Huawei announces that the much anticipated smartphone is finally coming to the country sandwiched between Mexico and Canada.

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A new beta of the Android tweaking tool Xposed Framework has been released. The big news is that the release brings support for Oreo, something of a surprise considering how recently Google pushed the latest version of its mobile operating system out of the door.

The latest Xposed Framework release comes mere months after Nougat support was added. While the Oreo-supporting release will be welcomed by mobile tweakers, the developer says it should be treated as a beta, and may be buggy.

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One of the fun aspects of Android is that you get to choose from many different devices. Unlike Apple iOS, where you are fairly limited, Google's operating system can be had on many phones and tablets, from companies like LG, Samsung, HTC and more. Unfortunately, unless you buy a Pixel or Nexus device, you often don't get a "pure" Android experience. Not to mention, community support can be limited due to locked bootloaders and other nonsense.

That's why the OnePlus devices have been such a breath of fresh air. These phones are no-nonsense, with purposeful design, and a fairly pure Android OS experience. Best of all, there is a wonderful community for support. Not to mention, they are affordable too. Today, the company announces that its latest flagship, the OnePlus 5T, will soon be available in a very limited edition color -- Sandstone White. Despite having the same specifications and just being a new color, the company says the phone "is the most complex device we have ever built."

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Barely a week seemed to go by in 2017 without news of a new data breach exposing customer or commercial data.

But just how bad was it? File transfer specialist Ipswitch has put together an infographic looking at the year in breaches.

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Advertisers are keen for their ads to be seen, that goes without saying. But it's more important to be seen by the right people, hence the explosion in targeted advertising. Social media is a great way to gather massive amounts of data about people and deliver ads accordingly, but some mobile games take things further.

There are a large number of games for both iOS and Android which include Alphonso software. This uses smartphones' microphones to record audio which is then used to determine which TV shows and commercials you're watching -- and then deliver targeted ads accordingly. Is this being done in secret? Not really. Details of the activities are included in Alphonso software's privacy policy.

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After admitting to slowing down older iPhones, Apple subsequently apologized for the lack of transparency about the issue. In addition to the apology, the company also announced that iPhone owners would be able to replace their batteries at a discounted rate of $29 starting in late January.

In an update to the original statement, Apple has now brought forward its replacement program so you can get a new battery for your iPhone 6 (or later) handset starting right now. Alternatively, you can do it yourself, with a discounted iFixit kit.

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