The new in the world of technology

I’ve spent a little over a week with the HTC U11, and I  really  like it so far. I’ve been using the Taiwanese model (which isn’t fully compatible with US networks), so I’m waiting for the US version to arrive before I publish my full review of the new HTC flagship. But in the meantime, I wanted to give you my initial thoughts after one week with the HTC U11. As far as the look and feel are concerned, the phone retains a lot of the design language that we first saw with the  HTC U Ultra . But things are a lot more refined on the U11. For starters, the large camera bump found on the U Ultra isn’t present this time around. And, with the U11 featuring a smaller 5.5-inch display, the handling experience is more comfortable. The edges of both the front and back glass curve down to meet the metal frame, which gives the U11 a very seamless feel with no sharp or rough edges, similar to what Samsung has done with the  Galaxy S8 . It is comfortab...

Andy Rubin’s Essential Products has revealed a new device that goes head to head with Amazon’s Alexa-powered speakers and the  Google Home . Called the Essential Home, it’s basically a digital assistant for your house that is equipped with a round screen and can be activated with a question, a tap, and even a glance. So, what exactly does it do? Well, it allows you to control your music, set timers, and control your lights, among other things. Of course, you can also ask it a bunch of different questions and it should provide you with an answer right away. It basically does more or less the same thing as its competitors. However, the company does claim that the device is a lot more focused on privacy. Unlike the Google Home  and Amazon Echo, for example, which work by sending your data to a remote server, the Essential Home is designed to talk to devices over your in-home network in order to limit sending data to the cloud. Unfortunately, a lot of the details...

There’s a lot of demand for smartphone OLED displays on the market. That’s why LG Display has decided to invest 4 trillion won (around $3.5 billion) to set up a new production plant called P10, which will help it increase the production capacity of OLED panels. The report comes via  The Investor  and claims that the new plant will be up and running in the second quarter of 2018. Additionally, LG Display also plans on increasing the production of OLED displays at its two current plants, the E5 and E6. By 2019, the company’s production capacity is expected to be around 120,000 units per month. LG Display will still be way behind the market leader Samsung, which can produce twice as many OLED displays every month. The tech giant is currently by far the biggest player in the industry with a market share of more than 95 percent. Samsung’s dominance might change over the next few years as LG Display, as well as a few other companies, will increase the production of O...

The Essential phone, the new handset from Android creator Andy Rubin, is finally here. The smartphone was unveiled on the official Essential.com site (via  The Verge )   earlier today, which outlined all of the key details about the upcoming device. The handset features a near bezel-less display that hugs the central front-facing camera at the top of the device face (similar to the front camera setup shown in  a recent LG patent .) That screen doesn’t cover  quite  the whole body, though, and the Essential features a noticeable chin at the bottom of the handset. On the back, you’ll find a fingerprint scanner and a unique sensor setup — and you may notice a lack of branding. The essential is made from a combination of titanium and ceramic which should make it pretty durable. On the back, you’ll find a fingerprint scanner and a unique sensor setup — as well as a complete lack of branding. The device itself is made from a com...

When I opened up Apple’s new  Clips app  yesterday, as I’ve been doing for the past few days, I was greeted with the same photo-capture screen that’s prioritized in all the social “story” apps.  Take a picture! Capture video! Share! Share everything!  they scream at you. I added some text overlays and emoji, and fumbled my way through Live Titles, the feature that’s distinctive to Apple Clips. And eventually, I shared my Clips. But it took a while. Because Clips take a while. After Apple  first announced its Clips video-making app a couple weeks ago , a lot of people — including me — wondered whether this was the company’s attempt to grab some of the attention that’s been siphoned by social apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. After using the new Clips app for the past five days, it’s become clear to me that this is  not  Apple’s attempt at a “social” app, at least, not in the way that social networks work. Instead, it’s a video-making ...

While Apple this week released its new iPad and talked about its  upcoming plans for an iMac Pro,  let’s not forget its other productivity machine got a refresh not too long ago. The MacBook Pro —  with  and  without  the Touch Bar — is Apple’s flagship laptop, and right now it’s available at up to $250 off. If you’re more in the market for tablets — and you happen to live near a Staples — you might be able to find the shiny new iPad for $30 off. And if you prefer spending less than $100 for a tablet, Amazon’s taking $10 to $20 off of its Fire devices. LAPTOPS At  Amazon  and  Best Buy , get up to $250 off select models of the newest MacBook Pro — with or without the  Touch Bar . We’re not exactly sure how long the prices will be discounted; some of these models are included in Best Buy’s  2 Day Sale which ends tonight , and Amazon is showing low stock on a few models so you may want to act fast. $200 off Apple MacBook P...

In anticipation of Samsung’s shiny new Galaxy S8, I’ve gone back to using the smartphone it is replacing, the Galaxy S7 Edge, and what I’ve (re)discovered is a device still very much worthy of the flagship title. A year after its release, the S7 Edge remains one of the very best smartphones you can buy, and that’s only going to get better once its price gets dinged by the S8’s arrival this month. I really didn’t set out to re-review the S7 Edge; all I wanted was to remind myself what Samsung’s TouchWiz interface was like, so as to be able to best judge the company’s changes in the 2017 iteration. But then I started admiring the S7 Edge’s screen. And I got an appreciation for the battery life that comes from a class-leading 3,600mAh battery. By the time I’d taken a few decent photos with the camera, I was convinced sufficiently to swap my SIM card over from  my beloved Pixel  and extend this Samsung test drive. Now, am I saying the S7 Edge is better than the Pixel? O...