Author: zppiot
Just 24 hours or so after offering the biggest discount to date on the rugged Apple Watch Ultra 2, Amazon is looking to take care of bargain hunters with more… conventional tastes as well by slashing a rare 160 bucks off the list price of the Apple Watch Series 9.You once again need to be okay with a love-it-or-hate-it red case color and matching red sport band hue if you want to drop the $499 regular price of a 41mm 4G LTE-enabled Apple Watch Series 9 to under $350. If you ask us, that’s certainly a “sacrifice” worth making if…
During its largest US creator summit, “For Creators: Future Formats Summit,” TikTok made some interesting announcements regarding creators and the many ways they can monetize their content.For example, the social giant revealed that it will upgrade the Creator Portal to the Creator Academy. The change is meant to provide all creators with regularly updated resources, courses, articles, videos, and insights. Currently, the Creator Academy is in testing, but the support tool will be available in the coming weeks in seven different languages, with more to come, which can be accessed in-app via Creator tools.Another important TikTok change involves the Creativity…
A surprising report out of Korea states that chips Samsung Foundry says will be made with its 2nm process node might actually be produced with its second-generation 3nm node. If this sounds confusing and misleading, you’re absolutely correct. Imagine being a Samsung Foundry client expecting to have chips made using the cutting-edge 2nm node next year and finding out that they were produced using the second-gen 3nm node.In other words, Samsung Foundry is renaming its second-generation 3nm node 2nm. Per Wccftech (via ZDNet), an executive in the fabless semiconductor industry (which simply means that his company doesn’t own any fabrication…
How can we separate Waze from Google Maps? After all, both services are owned by Google and when you get down to it, both are tasked with getting you from point “A” to point “B” quickly and safely. But there are some differences between the two. Google is more of a concierge navigation app as it will recommend restaurants, hotels, and landmarks, and the app also points out what passes for entertainment when you arrive at your destination.Waze announces six new features for its iOS and Android appsWaze is focused on the journey. Using its crowdsourced data, the app will…
Complaints about the Play Store being down came in from Android users in U.S. cities like Seattle to Android owners unable to search for any new apps in Southwest Brazil. One DownDetector subscriber wrote, “Play Store not searching for apps. Just keeps spinning and spinning. I guess it is playing with the spinning thing instead of doing its job at being a store.”According to the Google Play Status Dashboard, an issue with the Play Integrity API started creating the issue at around 10:37 am ET and it ended at 11:40 am ET. The Play Integrity API helps app developers check…
Google Fi Wireless, the MVNO wireless phone plan brought to you by Google, has announced changes to the pricing of its “Simply Unlimited” plan. Starting today for new customers, and rolling out to existing customers after April 4th, 2024, the prices for plans with three or more lines will be increasing as follows:Three lines: The cost for three lines on the Simply Unlimited plan will increase from $80 to $90 per month.Four lines: Accounts with four lines will go up from $80 to $100 per month.Five and six lines: There are also increases for five-line accounts (going up to $125/month)…
iOS 17.4 is now available to download and has landed just as the deadline set by the EU to comply with the Digital Markets Act is about to expire. To install the update, go to Settings, navigate to General, and tap Software Update. Many of the changes introduced with the update are meant for consumers residing in Europe and they are a direct result of the Digital Markets Act which aims to create a fairer business environment by imposing obligations and restrictions on tech titans with a dominant position in the market.iPhone users in Europe will have more options than the App…
MediaTek was the top chip manufacturer in the fourth quarter of 2023 as 117 million smartphones were shipped with its silicon during the October through December period. That was a 21% increase year-over-year for the chipmaker whose flagship chip, the Dimensity 9300 application processor (AP) had a unique configuration. The Octa-core SoC carries four Cortex-X4 Prime CPU cores and four Cortex-A720 Performance CPU cores. No low-power CPU cores are found inside the Dimensity 9300 AP.A far distance back from MediaTek was Apple. The company shipped 78 million iPhone units during Q4 2023 with each phone carrying one of the tech…
While every other video and audio streaming company is either battling it out or raising its subscription costs sans ads, Tidal today made a surprising move: slashing the price of its high-quality lossless audio plan. This bold change positions Tidal as a truly compelling option alongside streaming giants like Spotify and Apple Music.Previously, Tidal’s HiFi lossless subscription cost $20 per month—almost double the price of Spotify’s popular $10.99 plan. Now, Tidal is dropping the price to match Spotify’s exact cost. With the HiFi and HiFi Plus tiers gone and combined into one TIDAL tier, the service will now cost you…
Consumers in the world’s largest smartphone market have spoken and after the first six weeks of 2024, iPhone sales have plunged 24% in China year-over-year. Counterpoint Research explains that an unusually strong January 2023 along with tough competition is responsible for the huge decline. Part of that competition comes from a resurgent Huawei which is still riding the stunning success of the Mate 60 series.Announced last August, the Mate 60 line is powered by the first 5G Kirin chip produced for Huawei since 2020 when U.S. export rules were put in place. These rules prevent foundries using American technology from…
Google’s Pixel a series devices soared in popularity due to the good balance of specs and price they offered. They have steadily been rising in price though and per a new rumor, another hike is on the cards for the Pixel 8a.The Pixel 7a was a significant upgrade over the Pixel 6a and a higher 90Hz refresh rate, increased megapixel count, and wireless charging justified the price increase from $449 to $499.WinFuture has learned from German retailers that in addition to a 128GB model, Google will also release a 256GB variant this year. The Pixel 7a starts at 499 euros (~$541.79) in the…
Fintech company Klarna, which powers e-commerce transactions for some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including Expedia, Macy’s and Nike, is at the forefront of AI adoption. It has integrated artificial intelligence across the company, most notably with an AI chatbot that it recently said does the equivalent work of 700 customer service agents. Klarna, which employs roughly 4,000 people, recently released statistics that show how efficient and effective the tool has been, wading into the thick of sensitive and high-stakes debates about the role of generative AI in business, how humans interact with it and its implications for the…
Samsung fans who have been requesting a vertically scrolling app drawer are in luck. After previously removing the option, it appears that Samsung has listened to user feedback and will be bringing this feature back through its Good Lock customization suite.According to SamMobile, a Samsung Community moderator confirmed that the Good Lock “Home Up” module of the upcoming One UI 6.1.1 update will include the return of vertical scrolling. While an exact release date for the update isn’t confirmed, the timing suggests that it might arrive sometime later this year. For those unfamiliar, Samsung Good Lock is a powerful customization…
Instagram rolled out several DM features yesterday to improve the user experience. However, it wasn’t the only Meta app that got some love, as its sister app, Threads, also got a small but convenient update designed to streamline how you interact with it.The latest Threads iOS update (v 321.0) introduces new in-app swipe controls, making it easier than ever to navigate through the “For You” feed. Several Threads users have mentioned this new feature, along with screenshots and screen recordings of how it is currently working for them. However, neither the @Threads account nor Instagram Head @Mosseri have made an…
Priced at $799.99 back in the day, the 6.1-inch Galaxy S23 with no Plus or Ultra characteristics was permanently marked down to $699.99 following the official announcement of the (lightly) upgraded Galaxy S24 family. That didn’t exactly feel like an irresistible value proposition, which is why it was definitely nice to see Amazon add an extra $100 discount with no strings attached yesterday.Luckily for bargain hunters in love with powerful Samsung handsets, that’s precisely what has arrived in the form of a sweet new Best Buy promotion aimed squarely at Verizon and AT&T customers. These can reduce the Galaxy S23’s…
Today looks like a pretty good day to buy one of the best smartwatches out there at an impressive discount, but if the cheaper-than-ever Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and Apple Watch Ultra 2 don’t impress you much, perhaps the Garmin Venu 2 Plus will hit the spot.This is not the newest entry into the company’s “mainstream” Apple Watch-rivaling lineup, but the 2023-released Venu 3 and Venu 3S haven’t really brought enough radical upgrades to the table to make their 2022 predecessor obsolete… just yet.That’s especially true with the Venu 3 duo priced at $450 and very rarely marked down…