Author Archives: Ewdison Then

Audio-only social media platform Clubhouse has been at the center of attention of the Internet since last year. While it enjoys a certain level of popularity, the network itself has been very limited in who it is able to reach. Clubhouse opened its doors to a few Android users last week but, in contrast to its pace in the past months, it is quickly expanding the app's availability to everyone in the world. That is, presuming you already have an invitation to join the still exclusive club.

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Despite being perhaps the world's most popular web browser, Google Chrome is also notorious for being a resource hog, especially when it comes to memory and battery. Some also feel that Chrome can be a bit slow or even sluggish, especially as the number of tabs and sites you've been to grows. Of course, Google has also taken steps to make Chrome on desktops faster and its latest trick will be to make the pages you've been to load faster by keeping them longer in the browser's cache.

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Although it is one of the biggest social networks in the world, Instagram is able to get away with one rather big sin. It's still a mostly smartphone-only affair, refusing to embrace tablets and even desktops to some extent. While Instagram does have a presence on web browsers, it's meant only for viewing and, only recently, messaging with other users. That may be changing, however, and the Web interface might finally let users make posts while still ignoring tablets.

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There is no shortage of gaming handhelds today running a full Windows 10 OS, at least if you know where to look. From the GPD WIN 3 to the AYA Neo to the new ONEXPLAYER, there are now a few choices when it comes to bringing your PC games with you on the go. Back in 2014, however, that idea was revolutionary and a small team tried to make that happen before anyone else did. Of course, the Smach Z went via the crowdfunding route and, while it was successfully funded, it has now become yet another anecdote on how such dreams not only fail but also deprive people of their hard-earned money.

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Google is notorious for its many projects, some of them very expensive and some of them even involving partners and customers that rely on such products. When Google launched its own game streaming platform, it wasn't surprising that some regarded Stadia with uncertainty, especially about its future. Despite all the worrying news of late, Googler Nate Ahearn says that Stadia is "alive and well", which is what you'd expect to hear from Stadia's developer marketing lead.

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Samsung has been making big promises and improvements to the way it rolls out Android updates but some might feel it only applies to its high-end phones. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case and Samsung has also been paying attention not only to its mid-range Galaxy A series but also to its tablets. Of course, carriers might not always be as fast and it's only two months later that Verizon's version of the Galaxy Tab S6 is getting its overdue One UI 3.1 with Android 11 update.

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Almost all phones, especially the high-end ones, are actually capable of handling mobile gaming, even the graphics-intensive ones. Dedicated gaming phones, however, add some special features aimed to make gamers' lives easier. That includes keeping their phones from burning down from all that activity. Instead of just advanced cooling technologies, some gaming phones go old school and actually put fans inside the phone. Ridiculous as that may sound, Samsung may have actually taken notice and might be implementing its own phone fan in the future.

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The entire tech world has been plunged into another crisis while still wallowing in the COVID-19 pandemic. A global shortage in semiconductor components, specifically microchips and processors, are rocking companies from carmakers to, of course, consumer electronics manufacturers. Smartphone OEMs seem to be taking things in stride but the shortage may have finally caught up with Samsung whose newest mid-range phones are now reportedly delayed because of that.

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It still has no date, which makes one wonder if it will ever launch at all, but the Huawei P50 is already shaping up to be an intriguing phone, and not all in good ways. For one, it is expected to be the first-ever phone to ship with Huawei's own Harmony OS, letting the public finally see if it's really Android underneath or not. The most unusual part of the phone, however, might be its camera design and it seems that leaks can't exactly agree on how cameras inside it will look.

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Google is positioning Chrome OS and Chromebooks as the ultimate productivity weapons, especially in this day and age of remote work and schooling. Ironically, they are also one of the last to jump on one of the most important bandwagons in this day and age of remote work and schooling, video chats and conferences. Many of the apps and services for these require Windows or macOS or even Linux, and those that do run in Web browsers sometimes don't even work well compared to those other operating systems. Case in point is the rather complicated case of noise cancellation, something that may be soon to Chrome OS at long last.

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As always, it seems that technological innovations are coming full circle. The quality and conveniences of wireless audio made their way from earphones to hearing aids a few years back and now advancements in ear care are coming to consumer audio accessories. Bose, a name renowned for its audio technology, is taking advantage of that cycle and is launching the SoundControl Hearing Aid, its first stab at such a product but one that doesn't need a doctor's appointment to acquire.

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MMOs have never really gone away but they have definitely moved on from cookie-cutter RPGs. Some of the most popular ones like Destiny 2 do have RPG elements but focus more heavily on the cooperative and competitive aspects of gameplay. As massive as these worlds may be, however, some of them are still confined within the worlds of their respective platforms, even if they're actually available on multiple ones. Destiny 2 finally breaks down those barriers with Cross-Play support that just went live well ahead of its estimated launch date.

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