Author Archives: Ewdison Then

Windows users have had it bad with updates. It’s bad enough that they’re welcomed by updates every time they start their PCs, they’re also forced to install sometimes broken updates and have to go through the cycle of reboots, hoping they’ll get a working system in the end. While not as atrocious, mobile updates still leave some room for improvement. Fortunately, it seems that Google is making some tweaks to how it does updates on Android, at least with its own Pixel phones.

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Once the butt of jokes, Apple Maps has grown up to become a serious rival to Google Maps, especially for those deep into Apple’s ecosystem who have very little trust in the search giant’s ethos. Although it still does miss out on some features, Apple is fortunately not one to slack off. No major announcement has been made but Apple Maps’ coverage is growing bigger and stronger, especially with the addition of new indoor maps and transit directions both in the US and the rest of the world.

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What’s in a name? Sometimes not much, especially when a company offers the exact same product, just under a different brand. But when giants do some rebrand, it isn’t always just for the heck of it, especially when a simple name change will cost thousands of dollars. So when Microsoft rebrands Microsoft Studios into Xbox Game Studios, it’s doing more than just changing the name. Given the news in the past few days, it reflects the company’s expanding vision and ambition for its gaming and entertainment business.

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Even while it is having not so small issues with Windows 10 updates, Microsoft seems to already be turning its gaze towards a new ambitious venture on the gaming side of its businesses. Perhaps emboldened by how its Xbox gaming and entertainment arm has been its most profitable last year, Microsoft is trying to expand its territory in ways it knows Sony and especially Nintendo will probably never do: bring its console games not just to PCs but to mobile as well.

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With the rise of unconventional smartphone designs, from elevating cameras to sliding backs to button-less whole slabs of glass, users might be left wondering if all these fanciness comes at the price of durability and reliability. The good news is that phones have become even more resilient these, even if it means they're harder to repair, too. The slightly bad news is that not all of them are that durable. With two screens front and back, the Vivo NEX Dual Display Edition almost begs to be tested. Fortunately, JerryRigEverything was only too happy to oblige.

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Nintendo has proven it wasn't out of the running yet in the gaming console race by breaking records last year with the Switch. But while Sony seems to be unfazed by the threat and remains bullish on its current strategies, Microsoft may be trying to take on the gaming market from a different angle. While the fruits are still a few years away, the company seems to be planting the seeds for an Xbox gaming experience that spans multiple devices and platforms, even those from its rivals.

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In just a few weeks, Samsung will finally and officially announce the Galaxy S10 and its variants. We may have heard and seen enough of the company’s early 2019 flagship to be too excited about them but there is one thing it might have that could steal the show. Yes, that’s the still MIA foldable phone that some even doubt truly exists yet. To add fodder to that debate, Samsung has released a teaser video for its Unpacked 2019 even that includes, among other things, its foldable phone.

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Although Google has never really been known for its expertise in photography, it is starting to make a name for itself in that area, particularly on mobile. Its work on software-based photography with the Pixel phones’ lone camera has been impressive and its recent Night Sight turns night into day. Not everyone has a Pixel phone though so it’s mildly reassuring to find out that Google might be working on something similar for its Google Duo video chat app. Plus, it’s also working on something for lovers this month.

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For the past year or so, Google has been ramping up its efforts to protect users against malicious Internet activity, from enforcing the use of HTTPS to kicking about misbehaving ads. Sometimes, however, the most effective attacks are the simplest ones. Like waiting for some user to accidentally type the wrong link in the address bar, taking them from Google to some data sucking site. Soon, however, that may be a thing of the past, at least if users heed future warnings from Chrome about URLs that look alike but are not.

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Another day, another foldable phone patent made real thanks to some fancy 3D renders. Samsung is hardly the only one interested in this new phone form factor and MWC 2019 in a few weeks might see a good number of similar prototypes. Huawei has long boasted that it, too, has a foldable phone in development though it has so far failed to show even a shadow of it. But if its words last week were true, we could see the first foldable 5G phone soon and this is how it might look like.

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It may have delayed what could have been its next hit mobile game, but Nintendo is making sure fans of its franchises won’t be too disappointed. It has just announced that it will be bringing a different Mario title to Android and iOS devices, though you have to wait for Summer to arrive before you can. But while it is actually based on a known Mario title, Dr. Mario World is probably the least inspiring game in that franchise.

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Sony Mobile might be in trouble. The Japanese electronics giant’s smartphone business is hanging by a thread and it might have MWC 2019 as its last chance to turn things around. It’s not surprising, then, that some leaks seem to suggest that its next premium smartphone would be Sony’s best yet. In fact, this latest dump of specs suggests that the Xperia XZ4 will have at least one interesting feature no other phone has.

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