Mitchel Broussard

After previously giving four Microsoft Surface devices a purchase "recommendation" status, Consumer Reports today has pulled that status from the Microsoft products. The publication said that because of "poor predicted reliability" in comparison with rival brands, it can no longer recommend any Surface laptops or tablets to consumers. The decision specifically targets four Microsoft Surface...

Ride hailing app Uber today announced an in-app chat feature that lets riders and drivers communicate with one another without leaving the app. Uber said this update allows drivers to better communicate with riders when sudden road closures or other delays happen en route to the rider's location. Riders can also send chats to drivers to indicate where they're waiting for the car, or give a...

A group of 28 developers in China have enlisted a local law firm to file a complaint against Apple in a case alleging that the company engaged in "monopolistic behavior" during some of the actions it has taken to regulate the App Store in China (via The Wall Street Journal). Lin Wei, an attorney with Dare & Sure Law Firm, filed the complaint this week and targeted Apple for removing apps from ...

Yesterday, HomePod firmware revealed that the iPhone 8's facial recognition software will seemingly support Apple Pay, multiple facial profiles, and third-party apps. Now, as the uncovering of Apple secrets within HomePod firmware continues apace, developer Steven Troughton-Smith has revealed details on Twitter about the iPhone 8's virtual home button, stating that it "resizes" as needed to fit...

Apple supplier Lumentum has received over $200 million in bookings for the rest of the 2017 calendar year, related to components for vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL), believed to be aimed at Apple's advanced 3D sensing camera on the iPhone 8. The bookings represent a noticeable increase in revenue for the supplier, in comparison to a reported $5 million in 3D sensing revenue during ...

After an introduction at CES in January, and an expected launch date of April 2017, Chamberlain's MyQ Home Bridge has today been made available for users to purchase. For users already in the company's MyQ ecosystem, the MyQ Home Bridge will upgrade any MyQ garage door opener with the addition of Apple's HomeKit. This will allow users to control their garage door with Siri, set scenes within...

During its quarterly earnings report yesterday, Disney revealed that it plans to remove all of its content from Netflix and debut a streaming service of its own in 2019. The announcement didn't make clear which exact Disney-related pieces of content might be found within that service, but more information from the earnings report has been shared today by TechCrunch, with Disney CEO Bob Iger...

During a new episode of The Talk Show on Daring Fireball, John Gruber touched on the topic of the open floor plans that Apple has implemented within its new campus, Apple Park. Unlike office spaces at One Infinite Loop and other Apple-owned buildings -- which give most employees their own office -- Apple Park sports a large open floor plan with long tables for programmers, engineers, and other...

A new supply chain report today described strong July sales for component suppliers in the iPhone supply chain, hinting at an increase in momentum for production on the 2017 iPhones. Furthermore, sources speaking with DigiTimes have said that all three of the new iPhones -- the "iPhone 8," "iPhone 7s," and "iPhone 7s Plus" -- have now entered volume production. The supply chain sources...

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...