Everything Else

News: The Sensors in Your Phone Are Giving Hackers Your Passwords & Other Secret Information

It's safe to say most of us know the dangers of online security. We know there are people trying to steal our most sensitive information, and we try our best to prevent that theft. But new research is showing what we're doing might not be enough, as the sensors in our phones may be telling hackers everything they want to know.

News: Lyft Secures $500 Million in Funding to Help Compete Against Uber

The ride-sharing company Lyft has managed to secure $500 million in funding, which will certainly help its ongoing competition with Uber. According to recent reports, the cab firm is currently valued somewhere between $6.9 billion and $7.5 billion, but this still pales in comparison to Uber's estimated $70 billion valuation.

News: Anchor Brings Quality Call Recording to the Masses with New 'Interview' Feature

As someone who grew up adamantly complaining every time my parents dared to turn on talk radio in the car, I can admit it's a bit weird that I have a love affair with podcasts. I can't help it! Even though podcasts are essentially the modern-day customizable talk radio, I choose to defend my all-out obsession with pointing out how popular they are (I mean, SNL even picked up on the trend).

News: Showtime Will Now Let You Download TV Shows & Movies for Offline Viewing

Have you ever wanted to catch up on Homeland or Shameless, but are out and about and don't want to use up your data? Those problems are for days of old now, as Showtime has announced their mobile app will allow titles to be downloaded and viewed without an internet connection.

News: Project Zero Finds iPhone & Android Open to Bugs in Broadcom's Wi-Fi Chips

No one is safe anymore, it seems. Google's Project Zero has just uncovered how easy it is for attackers to target your phone's Wi-Fi chip, which is essentially a mini processor for Wi-Fi that detects and processes networks.

News: Downloads for Encrypted Messaging App Signal Have Almost Doubled Since Trump Took Office

Signal, the encrypted messaging app, has seen 1.4 million downloads in just the first quarter of 2017—roughly twice the downloads it received in the same period last year. Rani Molla at Recode attributes this to Donald Trump's inauguration, as the private messaging service saw a 40% increase in US downloads between Election Day and the end of the first quarter of 2017.

News: Google & Top Android Partners Sign Groundbreaking Patent Peace Deal

Google and eight top Android partners have just signed the Android Networked Cross-License, nicknamed PAX. On the surface, this looks to be a peace treaty of sorts that could end several patent wars.

News: The Galaxy S8 Is the First Phone with the Longer-Range & Higher-Speed Bluetooth 5.0

Headphone drama has been all the rage in the past year, with Apple killing off the headphone jack and trying to force AirPods upon its users (Apple, stop trying to make tiny, expensive, easy-to-lose earbuds happen. It's not going to work).

News: Lyft Now Offering a Commuter Ride-Sharing Option Called 'Shuttle'

Lyft is experimenting with commuter ride sharing by debuting a new "Shuttle" option, which offers pickups and drop-offs along select routes, much like a metro bus would do. The company is trying out the new option in San Francisco and Chicago, but if all goes well, we might all be ordering a pickup soon through Lyft's new Line ride share option.

News: Snapchat Has Made This App Explode

Bitmoji has experienced explosive success this year thanks to Snapchat. The app allows users to create their own personal emoji and send responses to other friends, and even though it's only two and a half years old, this customizable emoji app is growing at an impressive pace.

News: Apple Expected to Fall Behind Android in App Sales This Year

For a long time, Apple has kept the upper hand on Android as far as app revenue is concerned. However, this tradition looks likely to change this year, as Android's app sales are expected to surpass Apple's.

News: This App Notifies You Every Time a Trump Tweet 'Triggers' Your Stocks

Every time Donald Trump tweets about a stock you own, Trigger Finance, or just Trigger—the app founded on the "if this, then that" rule to track and invest in the stock market—alerts you with a notification for real-time analysis of financial data.

News: Step Right Up, Your Dunkin' Donuts Coffee Is Now Ready to Go with Waze's New Order Ahead Option

Oh, Waze—you know, that Google-owned traffic navigation app that tempts drivers into stopping at local food joints like Dunkin' Donuts and Taco Bell? Well, now you can even order a large iced coffee through the app before you even arrive at a fast food hotspot.

Fitness Lovers Alert: Get Ready for the New Adidas Workout App 'All Day', Out in Beta Today

Adidas' new app All Day isn't going to be your average fitness app. Oh no, the company had the "versatile athlete" in mind when it came to creating the well-rounded program that not only encompasses fitness, but also provides nutrition plans, encourages a balanced mindset, and makes sure you get an adequate amount of rest.

News: Latest Facebook Messenger Update Adds Live Location Sharing

Facebook Messenger has now incorporated a live location sharing feature, one week after Google Maps revealed its own real-time location tool. On Monday, the social media giant announced the new feature, which will allow users to share their live whereabouts with friends at the press of a button.

News: Android Co-Founder Andy Rubin Gives Us a Sneak Peek into Essential's New Bezel-Less Smartphone

Andy Rubin, the cofounder of Android, departed Google in 2014 to go on and start his own smartphone company, Essential. Rubin first gave us a clue at what he would be working on when he announced in January that he wanted Essential to create a premium smartphone with a bezel-less edge-to-edge display.

News: Samsung's Working on an Ultra-Thin Dual Camera System According to a New Patent

Dual cameras are increasingly popular right now for smartphones, but so far, Samsung has steered clear of all the hype. However, a new patent application shows that Samsung has been working on a dual camera system of their own, featuring tech potentially more advanced than what is currently on the market.

News: The Fake Review Saga Continues—Gmail & Messenger Latest in Google Play's 5-Star Spam

Earlier last week, there were a number of fake five-star WhatsApp reviews to be found on the Google Play Store. Now, Gmail, Chrome, Messenger, and Firefox are all the latest victims to be saturated in five-star spam that wrongly refers to the word "game" in reference to non-game apps.

News: Google Docs Meets Instagram in Google's Next Social App

When it comes to social media, Google has had it a bit rough. But its next big app in this category is apparently steps away from completion, with a platform that allows small groups of users to edit and organize photos in unison.

News: T-Mobile Helps You Dodge All Those Annoying Phone Scams with New 'Scam Likely' Warnings

T-Mobile just unveiled two new services—Scam ID and Scam Block—which specifically target those pestering robo-calls that reach out to 2.4 million Americans every month.

News: 'Convert' & Watch Your Old DVDs on Your Smartphone with Vudu

Now you can watch your old copy of Bridget Jones's Diary anywhere, anytime, on your smartphone. It's a dream come true! (Disclaimer: This dream may oddly specific to me.)

News: WhatsApp Receives Thousands of Fake 5-Star Reviews After Months of Ranking Below Average

During the last few months, WhatsApp's Google Play Store ratings have been tanking—all the way down to an average of 3.4 stars from the instant messenger's usual average of 4.1. Within the last week, though, WhatsApp has received thousands of seemingly fake 5-star reviews that have bumped up the company's overall average to a 4.4.

News: Google Maps Update Brings Real-Time Location Sharing

Google Maps now allows users to share their location in real time and update their friends and family on their location and estimated time of arrival when making a trip.

News: Snapseed Update Launches Three Amazing New Tools

The newest version of Snapseed features three awesome new tools for you photo-editing enthusiasts. The 2.17 update for the editing app was rolled out on Tuesday, March 21, and its new additions are something to behold.

News: You Can Now Save Your Live Instagram Videos

Starting today, you'll have the opportunity to save all your live Instagram videos to your phone at the end of each broadcast session. The latest update to the Instagram app now allows you to rewatch already-played broadcasts and gives you the ability to share them later on.

News: Nokia Mobile Networks Head Leaves, Division Splits in Two in Face of Falling Sales

Nokia, the Finnish telecommunications company, is about to shake things up a bit after its networks sales in the final quarter of last year declined 14% compared to sales in 2015.

News: Vodafone Set to Become India's Biggest Mobile Contender

Vodafone India has merged with telecom company Idea Cellular to become India's largest mobile player this week.

News: Spotify Considers Restricting Big Album Releases to Paying Users Only

All you paying Spotify users are about to get another exclusive privilege besides getting out of all those annoying "Ever wonder what it would be like to have Spotify premium?" ads. The Sweden-based company is looking to lower the royalty fees they have to pay to major record labels for their music, by compromising on their policy that all their music be free to paying and nonpaying users. Spotify would for a limited time restrict access on major album releases to their paying subscribers.

PSA: TrueCaller Is Sharing Your Phone Activity

TrueCaller is sharing your phone activity by revealing the last time your phone was used to contacts. The application used to identify unknown callers launched in 2009 and has faced a wealth of privacy concerns before.

News: WhatsApp Stops Trying to Be Like Everyone Else & Brings Back Its Text-Based Status Option

In February, the popular Facebook-owned WhatsApp Messenger service jumped on the "stories" bandwagon and replaced their in-app, text-based "About Me" status (you know, those lovely little messages where you can say "Sleeping" or "Not Sleeping" under the tiny nub of your profile picture). Taking its place was a clone of Snapchat's Stories feature, continuing the social media giant's recent trend of shamelessly copying Snapchat.

News: McDonald's Tests Mobile Ordering Using Geofencing to Ensure Your Order Is Hot & Fresh When You Get It

It's 2017 and finally ordering "fries with that" at McDonald's is an even easier prospect for all you lovers out there ball and chained to the fast food game. The great big golden arches are moving one step closer to making your order as golden as it ought to be through a mobile ordering app using geofencing technology to track your location.

News: Google Home's New 'Listen' Tab Makes It Easy to Discover Music You'll Love

Google Home now helps users to discover new music with an added "Listen" tab in the app. The feature offers suggestions based on the Cast-enabled apps on a phone, while offering other apps to download if you'd like to broaden your musical horizons. The playlists are curated to your individual taste and will adjust for different artists and activities, which is a pretty nifty feature. This means that Google Home can cater to your momentary mood change with music, which is a welcome addition to...

News: Google Assistant Updates Add Screen Search Button & Tweaks the Search Interface

Google Assistant has introduced tappable shortcuts on the Google app for Android, iOS, and Google.com this week.

News: Oppo F3 Plus Will Come with a Dual Camera Selfie Shooter

Selfies' reign on social media and pop culture has not really lost any steam since it was declared the word of the year back in 2013. We've had the much-mocked selfie stick, and even an ill-fated TV show named after the term. So what's next? Well, if you're phone maker Oppo, you're banking on the next big selfie-thing being the dual selfie camera.

News: Google's Allo Seems to Leak Search & Location History in Chats

Google's personal messaging service Allo could reveal your search history and other private information to friends if the Google Assistant bot is called upon in chats, according to a story from Re/code.

Rumor Roundup: All of the Cool New Gadgets to Look for at Mobile World Congress 2017

It's that time of year again. The world's largest electronics companies are sending representatives to the annual Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, and for gadget lovers like us, that means we'll get our first look at some of this year's biggest upcoming flagship smartphones.

News: Qualcomm Introduces the Snapdragon 835—The Processor That'll Power Your Next High-End Phone

The Snapdragon 820 and 821 were met with praise last year, receiving almost no complaints compared to their overheating predecessor, the Snapdragon 810. But now, all eyes are on Qualcomm to see what goodies they have in store for us this year, as their new SoC, the Snapdragon 835, will be revealed this week at CES 2017.

News: New Uber Update Lets You Travel to a Friend & Use Custom Snapchat Filters

Uber has recently been updating their app on a weekly basis to ensure that users have the smoothest travel experience possible. The entire UI was recently redesigned to increase user-friendliness, the total app size was reduced to improve performance, and an intelligent shortcuts feature was added which tries to guess your next destination.

News: Bluetooth 5 Is Here—But It Won't Make Your Headphones Sound Better

Bluetooth 5 was announced and made officially available on December 7, 2016. It comes with a handful of improvements to speed, range, maximum device connectivity, and anti-interference from other nearby devices. While this might be great for those special few who use Bluetooth on a daily basis to send and receive (or steal) data, what about the average Joe?

News: Project Fi Beats T-Mobile in Download Speeds & Reception

Google's new Project Fi cellular carrier has been making waves across the mobile industry, so we decided to put it to the test against T-Mobile, one of the more established networks. For the actual testing, we slapped a SIM card from each carrier into two identical Pixel XL phones, which offer full compatibility with both networks.