Mitchel Broussard

Facebook has removed two of its standalone apps from the iOS App Store: the high school chat app "Lifestage" and community-focused gathering place "Groups." Lifestage had been on the App Store since August 2016, while Groups had been around as a standalone app since 2014. The company discussed the closure of Groups directly on its website (via TechCrunch), assuring users that the feature will...

The official Wikipedia app for iOS [Direct Link] has been updated this week with an all-new dark mode, letting users adjust the app for better Wikipedia browsing and reading in low-light environments. Aside from expected darker colors, the new dark mode is said to include "image dimming," so brighter pictures aren't as harsh when scrolling through Wikipedia entries. A separate option in...

Last month, Apple supplier Japan Display reportedly asked local banks and its own shareholders for around $897 million to fund part of an "extensive" restructuring effort of its business, which would see the supplier's manufacturing output shift from LCD to OLED panels. Now, the company is said to be seeking an outside partner to help pay part of the funds (via Nikkei). Japan Display is...

A Foxconn employee has allegedly taken new images of the iPhone 8's internals and posted them to the Chinese social networking site Weibo over the weekend, providing a look at the inside of Apple's OLED iPhone that's expected to be announced next month. The images lack a layered glimpse into the iPhone's internal components, so they were probably not taken via x-ray and were more likely captured...

France and Germany are looking to stop tech companies like Apple from exploiting tax loopholes in their respective countries. The loopholes are said to have allowed Apple to "minimize taxes and grab market share" at the expense of Europe-based companies. France will draft and propose a list of "simpler rules" that will be aimed at creating a "real taxation" law for non-European companies,...

Eros Group, a movie production company based in India, is said to be looking at potentially selling its entire media library to Apple, further boosting the Cupertino company's foothold in the Indian smartphone and entertainment markets. The $1 billion deal is said to also include interest from companies like Amazon and Netflix as potential competitors to win Eros Group's library of films and...

In July, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo made the claim that the OLED iPhone 8 will come in fewer color options than LCD models of the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus, in a bid by Apple to maintain the iPhone 8's "boutique image." Kuo never made it clear exactly how many colorways that might entail, and a few new images today provide a glimpse into one potential possibility, although their...

The newest discovery found within the HomePod firmware has shed some light on the iPhone 8's facial recognition software, and how it could potentially scan a user's face even when the smartphone is lying flat on a table. Uncovered by iHelp BR, code within the firmware related to "Pearl," which is Apple's internal name for the new facial recognition system, also includes multiple references to the ...

As we enter the season of iPhone production ramp-up stories, news out of Apple's supply chain today reports that Samsung Display is gearing up to operate seven of its next-generation OLED lines at full capacity in August, all of which are dedicated to Apple and the iPhone 8. According to ETNews, the OLED ramp-up follows a series of inspections that Samsung made on each of the seven lines over...

Apple supplier Wistron is preparing to expand its India-based iPhone manufacturing, with production geared towards the next-generation iPhone SE, according to local sources (via Focus Taiwan). Apple is hoping to build its share of the Indian smartphone market by giving Wistron the majority of the orders for the new iPhone SE, which is said to ship in the first quarter of 2018. Wistron was...

While the new emojis of Unicode 10 have yet to launch, Unicode President Mark Davis this week revealed a collection of new emojis have been added as "draft candidates" for potential release in Unicode 11 in 2018 (via Emojipedia). The news came out of the quarterly Unicode Technical Committee meeting, and up next the Unicode Consortium will decide on the list of final candidates at its Q4 2017...

We're a little over one month out from the expected September unveiling of the ten year anniversary iPhone, which has come to be known as the "iPhone 8" ahead of release. While recent HomePod firmware discoveries have essentially confirmed the iPhone 8's edge-to-edge design and front-facing sensor bar notch, it's still unclear how iOS 11 will be incorporated into all of these drastically...

In a new 45 page report by Mark Schaffer of Repair.org, Apple, Sony, and other tech industry companies have been targeted as the reason behind lagging green electronics standards in the United States, which are meant to establish an overall set of environmental leadership specifications for the design, usage, and end-of-life phases of electronic devices. According to Repair.org, Apple and...

In May, Lyft launched a "Round Up and Donate" program where riders can opt in to have the app round up their fare to the nearest dollar, and automatically donate the difference to one of a few participating organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and the ACLU. This week, Lyft announced that it's going to match donations made by riders when they pay for their trips using Apple Pay...

MixBin Electronics has recalled about 263,000 iPhone cases that were filled with liquid glitter, following "at least" 24 reports of users facing skin irritations, being burned, and even getting permanently scarred after the cases broke and the liquids seeped out. The cases were sold by Amazon, Henri Bendel, Tory Burch, Nordstrom Rack, Victoria's Secret, and MixBin itself, and were for the iPhone...

Google Earth for iOS today received a major update that brings a collection of new features to the interactive mapping app, as well as introducing 64-bit app support so it can run on iOS 11 devices. Apple reminded developers over the summer that once iOS 11 launches to the public, it will cease support of 32-bit apps altogether and only allow 64-bit apps and app updates to be submitted to the App ...

Two months after rolling out Plex Live TV to iOS and Android TV devices, Plex today announced that its live streaming TV feature is now available for users on Apple TV. In addition, on any app where Plex Live TV is available, Plex Pass users will be able to use a new "Time Shift" feature, meaning they can scrub back and forth through any live broadcast, as well as pause it. We’re...

Last week, a source in the Taiwanese supply chain reported that Facebook has entered into small production on a smart home speaker with a touchscreen, preparing to compete with companies like Apple and Amazon in the smart speaker market. A report by Bloomberg this week has continued that rumor, and added onto it by claiming the company is in fact working on two separate speaker devices to release ...

In the continued release of Apple news originating from developers digging through HomePod firmware, we now have some of the first user interface sounds that HomePod users could be hearing once the smart home speaker launches this December. Developer Avery Magnotti discovered the sounds within a file named "audioOS" of the HomePod firmware that Apple released this past weekend. In order of...

Mophie today announced the release of a new high capacity mobile battery called the Powerstation USB-C XXL, which is aimed at the latest MacBook and MacBook Pro models. The accessory includes a 19,500 mAh battery, which Mophie said will provide up to 14 hours of extra battery, or "more than one full charge" to a MacBook. The Powerstation USB-C XXL includes one USB-C port and one 5V/2.4A...