Technology

Samsung has been caught deleting an ad that makes fun of Apple for not including a charging brick with the iPhone 12 — the same thing it’s rumored to be doing with its Galaxy S21 phones. The Facebook post was made by Samsung Caribbean back in October, and it had a picture of a charging brick with the caption “Included with your Galaxy” (via 9to5Google). The Facebook post that has now been deleted, adding even more fuel to the rumors that Samsung won’t be including a charger with its upcoming phones.Photo: Samsung (via 9to5Google) This isn’t the first time Samsung has deleted ads after adopting the same practice it previously mocked Apple for. Back when the Galaxy Note 10 launched without a headphone jack, Samsung deleted ads making fun of the iPhone X for not having a similar plug (ads tha...

Samsung has been caught deleting an ad that makes fun of Apple for not including a charging brick with the iPhone 12 — the same thing it’s rumored to be doing with its Galaxy S21 phones. The Facebook post was made by Samsung Caribbean back in October, and it had a picture of a charging brick with the caption “Included with your Galaxy” (via 9to5Google). The Facebook post that has now been deleted, adding even more fuel to the rumors that Samsung won’t be including a charger with its upcoming phones.Photo: Samsung (via 9to5Google) This isn’t the first time Samsung has deleted ads after adopting the same practice it previously mocked Apple for. Back when the Galaxy Note 10 launched without a headphone jack, Samsung deleted ads making fun of the iPhone X for not having a similar plug (ads tha...

Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook 2 seems like it will improve on the battery life and price of its predecessor, according to leaked Samsung slides (via 9to5Google). The previous Galaxy Chromebook was an attractively designed 2-in-1 that nonetheless faltered due to its battery life and high $999 price tag. If these slides are to be believed, then next year might hold some Chromebooks to be hopeful about. The most important change is that battery life. The slides shared by leaker WalkingCat say Samsung is targeting 12-plus hours of battery life on this new model. That’s a lot more than the measly 4 hours and 20 minutes (and the 8 hours Samsung promised) we observed in our review of this year’s model. Samsung’s slides also note the Galaxy Chromebook 2 will be the first Chromebook with a QLED, or q...

Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook 2 seems like it will improve on the battery life and price of its predecessor, according to leaked Samsung slides (via 9to5Google). The previous Galaxy Chromebook was an attractively designed 2-in-1 that nonetheless faltered due to its battery life and high $999 price tag. If these slides are to be believed, then next year might hold some Chromebooks to be hopeful about. The most important change is that battery life. The slides shared by leaker WalkingCat say Samsung is targeting 12-plus hours of battery life on this new model. That’s a lot more than the measly 4 hours and 20 minutes (and the 8 hours Samsung promised) we observed in our review of this year’s model. Samsung’s slides also note the Galaxy Chromebook 2 will be the first Chromebook with a QLED, or q...

If you’re looking for the absolute most powerful gaming hardware out there… well, you don’t want the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15. You want a desktop or a laptop that weighs seven pounds, requires multiple power bricks, and is basically a desktop. But if you still want something you can realistically carry around, the Strix is about as powerful as it gets. We’ve reviewed a number of Asus laptops this year that are members of the ROG Zephyrus gaming line — powerful, while still portable and attractive. You’d buy a Zephyrus if you want decent gaming results but also want an everyday work machine you could bring into the office or class. The Strix line eschews the latter role. These are gaming laptops. They are just for games. They’re not cheap, they’re not subtle, and they hold nothing back....

Last week, the US Department of Commerce put Chinese drone maker DJI on its Entity List, limiting how it can work with US companies. The news startled DJI’s huge American user base, including companies that rely on DJI for entire fleets of commercial drones. But it’s likely less onerous than it initially sounded — even if, like many Trump administration decisions, it comes with a dose of uncertainty. The Trump administration has repeatedly used sanctions to crack down on Chinese tech giants, sometimes on nebulous or disputed grounds. It banned US companies from dealing with Huawei and ZTE, and it’s pursued confusing, legally ambiguous bans on the Chinese social apps WeChat and TikTok. While the Entity List is primarily meant for restricting companies that threaten national security, DJI is...

Like they do every December, websites across the internet are rounding up their best posts and stories from the year. That includes the website for the Center for Global Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which highlighted its top five stories for 2020. And coming in at the number one spot, the health agency picked… mosquitoes. Specifically, it picked its recognition of World Mosquito Day, where the center called attention to a mosquito species called Anopheles stephensi, which spreads malaria. It’s certainly an interesting choice, considering the CDC spent the year battling a global pandemic. Not to knock mosquitoes! They’re very important, and they’re very deadly. But COVID-19 didn’t even make the number two slot — it clocked in at number three. Infectious di...

Telegram is adding a new group voice chats feature that’s similar to an always-on Discord room. Voice chats are now part of existing text chats, and operate as a persistent option to speak live with friends or family. As they’re always available, you can dip in and out of voice chats just like you would in a Discord room or call. Telegram is supporting “a few thousand participants,” so even bigger groups for things like live events will include voice chats. The feature appears at the top of an existing group chat, if enabled, allowing anyone to join the conversation freely. On the desktop versions of Telegram for Windows and Mac, you can also use a push-to-talk key for voice chats to control your microphone input. Telegram’s new voice chat overlay for Android.Telegram Telegram has also bui...

An FCC listing confirms that Samsung’s S Pen stylus can be used with the company’s upcoming flagship Galaxy S21 Ultra phone. The confirmation, first discovered by Android Authority, comes in a test report for model number SMG998B. The discovery lends clarity to recent statements from Samsung mobile president TM Roh, who said that some of the “most well-loved features” of the Galaxy Note will be coming to other Samsung devices in 2021. The FCC test report explicitly describes an EUT (Equipment Under Test) device that can be used with an S Pen in both hover and click modes. “The EUT can also used with a stylus device (S Pen). The EUT operates with the S Pen in two different inductive coupling modes of S Pen motion detection (Hover and Click) operating in the range of 0.53 –0.6MHz.” The relev...

Under new proposed regulations from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, it may become much easier for the government to track bitcoin transactions. And while there’s currently a 15-day comment period open, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are calling foul because that period includes Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. The proposed regulations in question, which were filed at 4:20PM ET on December 18th, are about private wallets. Let’s say I am a famous and fancy cryptocurrency investor, and I do some trading on Coinbase. If I have my own private wallet that I want to transfer my money to, I will have to identify myself as the wallet’s owner if I’m sending more than $3,000 in a transaction. And if I want to do busin...

Sony Pictures saw a “bit of a boom” in interest from Hollywood creatives who want to work with a studio committed to theatrical releases, according to the company’s CEO. The uptick in interest comes just after WarnerMedia announced its 17 movies planned for 2021 will premiere on HBO Max the same day they hit theaters. For WarnerMedia executives trying to figure out how to bolster subscribers for its new streaming service and release films in an era when the return to theaters is uncertain, the move makes sense. Plus, WarnerMedia executives will tell you they’re still committed to theatrical releases, pointing to Tenet’s release. Others in the industry will point to Tenet as a reason for the HBO Max move. While Sony could sell a title to a streamer — the company sold Tom Hanks’ Greyhound to...

Substack plans to take a “hands-off approach” to determining who can use its newsletter platform and “resist public pressure” to remove writers seen by some as “unacceptable.” In a blog post this afternoon, the company outlined a relatively lax content moderation policy designed to let writers know they won’t be removed from the platform as long as they comply with basic rules. While it does have a short list of prohibitions, Substack says that “readers and writers are in charge.” The idea is that readers don’t have to pay for or subscribe to writers who they don’t agree with, and writers can leave — and take their mailing lists with them — if they don’t like the platform. “We just disagree with those who would seek to tightly constrain the bounds of acceptable discourse,” the platform’s c...