Mitchel Broussard

Snap Inc. has announced that users will now be able to share the Discover section's Official Stories, unpartnered Our Stories, and Search Stories with anyone who isn't on Snapchat. The company confirmed to MacRumors that this Story sharing feature does not cover the sharing of a user's own personal Stories outside of the app. To share a Story, Snapchat users can tap and hold on tiles in...

A new report out today by Recode examined how major technology companies spent a record amount of money lobbying the United States government in 2017, over issues like net neutrality, encryption, immigration, and more. In total, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google spent about $50 million lobbying the government last year, and of that Apple alone spent $7 million. Apple CEO Tim Cook attending ...

Within the HomePod's pre-order date and launch announcement today, Apple confirmed that the smart speaker's multi-room audio and stereo features won't be making it into the device at launch. Instead, users will be able to activate these features sometime "later this year" in a free software update. Multi-room audio with Apple's AirPlay 2 protocol will be aimed at customers who purchase more...

AT&T has launched the "AT&T Smart Wi-Fi Extender," a device built to enable a stronger and more consistent Wi-Fi signal throughout your home. AT&T's product is one box that keeps devices connected to the internet as you move from one room to another, and customers can purchase additional boxes for bigger homes. The Smart Wi-Fi Extender is designed for customers with an AT&T internet...

Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV both launched in the spring of 2017, offering customers over-the-top live television streaming options in line with established services like Sling TV and DirecTV Now. Today, sources revealed to CNBC that Hulu with Live TV now has 450,000 paid subscribers -- "not including recent promotional customers" -- while YouTube TV has just over 300,000 as of the...

Amazon today opened up its checkout-free grocery store "Amazon Go" to the Seattle public, continuing a plan that the company says has the potential to "dramatically alter brick-and-mortar retail" (via Reuters). The new grocery store experience begins when customers walk through a turnstile and scan the Amazon Go app on their iOS [Direct Link] or Android device, which notifies the system that...

Target has kicked off the week with a discount on the Apple Watch Series 1 from 2016, offering the 38mm model for $179.99 and the 42mm model for $209.99. Each device is available in aluminum with a Sport Band in either White or Black. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the...

Apple shared a new video on its YouTube channel today that shows off selfies taken with the iPhone X. The 38-second video cycles through a collection of selfies taken by iPhone X owners using the smartphone's front-facing TrueDepth lens system and Portrait Lighting effects. The ad also includes poetry by Muhammad Ali. Portrait Lighting has been the focus of a few recent Apple videos,...

The Beats Pill+ Bluetooth speaker has received a notable discount today at two retailers, with the White model specifically getting marked down to one of the lowest price points seen for the device. At both Target and Amazon you can get the Beats Pill+ in White for $116.99, which is over $30 lower than the speaker's more common sale price of $150. When it first launched in 2015, Apple sold the...

Rock band Def Leppard has added its back catalog of music onto Apple Music and other streaming services today, following a years-long "power struggle" with Universal Records over the band's digital song rights. Now, as Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott explained to TeamRock.com, new executives at Universal Records have thought differently about the band's streaming catalog, leading to the ...

Facebook is testing a feature that will let users post stories on Mac and PC, in an effort to further make the ephemeral sharing feature stick on the platform. Once the test rolls out wide, Facebook users will be able to click an "Upload Photo" button to share pictures and videos to their story, or "Open Camera" to record a story with a webcam. Images via TechCrunch The test also includes...

LivingSocial has brought back a deal centering on Apple Music, which last appeared in November. With the offer, you can get a four month subscription to Apple's streaming music service for free, adding one extra month onto the existing three month free trial and saving you $9.99. Like the previous offer, LivingSocial's deal is only available for new subscribers who sign up for individual...

In November, AT&T shared its plans to launch its "5G Evolution" network -- which isn't true 5G -- in select areas of Minneapolis as part of its overall plan to boost cellular coverage in the city during Super Bowl LII. This week, three of the major United States cellular carriers -- AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile -- each outlined their own plans to ensure that customers retain quality coverage in...

Many Facebook Messenger users have taken to social media today to point out a frustrating keyboard bug occurring within the iPhone app (via TechCrunch). According to the affected users, Messenger is "totally broken" and freezes after they type a few words in a chat window. Users have tried force closing the app, as well as deleting and reinstalling it, but nothing has yet fixed it. Facebook...

Mobile game developer Jam City this week launched the first trailer, as well as revealed a few new details, for its upcoming iOS and Android role-playing game set in the Harry Potter universe, called "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery." The game shouldn't be confused with the other upcoming Harry Potter iOS game, "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite," which is the augmented reality title being created by...

Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and other technology companies have sent a message to the Trump administration through various Washington, D.C. lobbying groups, urging President Trump to keep protecting spouses of immigrants who work in the U.S. with H-1B visas. The companies reportedly fear a "looming end" to the program that protects these spouses and allows them to work in the U.S., as it...

A little over one week after Apple investors urged the company to do more to protect children from smartphone addiction, a new column by The New York Times writer Farhad Manjoo has looked into potential ideas that Apple could implement in a future iOS update to curb addiction for all users, including kids. Manjoo spoke with Tristan Harris, former design ethicist for Google and owner of Time...

HomePod supplier Inventec has begun shipping the smart speaker to Apple, with an initial shipment "of about 1 million units," according to industry sources speaking with the Taipei Times. Apple is said to have sent out a shipment notice to companies in the HomePod supply chain in early January, and now that the first supplier has answered the notice one source stated that HomePod should be...

Thomson Reuters today published its first "Top 100 Global Technology Leaders" list, designed to pinpoint and celebrate "the industry's most operationally sound and financially successful organizations." The list's top five companies are Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, IBM, and Alphabet. Apple sits in sixth place, followed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, SAP, Texas Instruments, and...

Facebook vice president of messaging products, David Marcus, posted an update on Messenger today, outlining the app's successes in 2017 and hinting at what the team has planned for 2018. In the post, Marcus mentioned that the Messenger team knows the app has become "too cluttered." Because of this, they have planned a big update for 2018, which will introduce a simplified and streamlined...