The Trump administration is further tightening restrictions on Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei, making it more difficult for the company to get chips for its devices. And a temporary general license that offered a reprieve for Huawei customers has now expired and won’t be extended, making it harder for older Huawei devices to receive Android updates from Google.
The US Commerce Department said…
ZTE is set to become first to market with a smartphone featuring an under-display camera. The Chinese company announced today that it’s launching the ZTE Axon 20 5G in its domestic market on September 1.
Smartphone makers have for several years dabbled with designs to…
Telegram launches one-on-one video calls on iOS and Android
August 16, 2020
Secure messaging app Telegram has launched an alpha version of one-on-one video calls on both its Android and iOS apps, the company announced, saying 2020 had “highlighted the need for face-to-face communication.”
In a blog post marking its seventh anniversary, Telegram…
Apple stumbled into a war with the gaming industry, and the future of iOS is at stake
August 15, 2020
Apple has always had a complicated relationship with the game industry, but this month that relationship slid into a bitter and very public legal and regulatory war that could shape the future of iPhone apps. The first escalation occurred when Apple laid out in clear terms why it has no plans to ever approve cloud gaming services from its tech rivals Google and Microsoft. The second was when Apple…
Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 review: time for a change
August 14, 2020
Five years since the first Apple Watch and a full seven years on from Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, we know what a smartwatch is. We know that it’s not going to replace your smartphone anytime soon, that it will need to be charged every day or two, and that its best functions…
Samsung’s affordable midrange 5G phone, the Galaxy A51, is finally available at Verizon. Compared to other phones released within the past year, the $550 Galaxy A51 5G UW is one of the more affordable 5G phones right now: $900 cheaper than the (discontinued) Samsung’s…
Epic Games sued Google over pulling Fortnite from the Google Play Store Thursday evening, following a similar lawsuit against Apple.
We might have expected that. What we didn’t expect: Epic claims that Google forced phone manufacturer OnePlus to break off a deal that would have seen a special Fortnite launcher preinstalled on OnePlus phones — and demanded that another Android phonemaker, LG…
A number of iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users are now reporting that iOS is showing a random error message related to the iTunes Store. According to some reports on social networks, the error message appears unexpectedly after opening any app installed on the device.
The…
Following its removal from the Apple App Store, Fortnite has also been kicked off of the Google Play Store for Android. Earlier today, Epic Games snuck in an update for both the iPhone and Android versions of the game that allowed users to pay Epic directly for in-app…
Epic Games sues Apple over App Store rules, says it would create a competing iOS app store if allowed
August 14, 2020
Epic Games has filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple today, following the removal of Fortnite from the App Store. Epic argues that Apple has used a “series of anti-competitive restraints and monopolistic practices,” specifically citing the App Store and associate In-App Purchase guidelines.
The backstory: Epic Games snuck in a direct payments feature to the Fortnite app on iPhone and…
