Mitchel Broussard

Licensing for MP3, the digital audio coding format that Apple used for music downloads on the original iPod, has officially ended. The announcement comes from The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (via NPR). The Fraunhofer Institute owns the patent rights related to selling encoders and decoders of the format to developers, and recently announced that its "mp3 licensing program for ...

Following the release of mobile games Miitomo, Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, and the upcoming Animal Crossing iPhone app, Nintendo's next big franchise coming to smartphones will be The Legend of Zelda, according to sources speaking with The Wall Street Journal. The sources said that Animal Crossing will hit mobile devices sometime "in the latter half of 2017," and a smartphone version of T...

Drone videographer Matthew Roberts today uploaded a new video about Apple Park, this time showcasing the construction progress that Apple has made on its new campus over the past year. The video starts in June 2016 and goes up through Roberts' most recent drone updates in April and May 2017, where last minute pieces of construction were being put into place as the first small batch of employees...

Accessory manufacturer Satechi today launched a new $99.99 Type-C Pro Hub for the 13-inch and 15-inch 2016 MacBook Pros, featuring a total of seven ports to make up for the inclusion of only Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports on the 2016 MacBook Pro. The new hub is similar in design to the Type-C Hub compatible with Apple's original 12-inch Macbook, but includes two Thunderbolt 3 dongles that take up ...

Google this week announced an update coming soon to its iOS Google Allo app, which will introduce neural network-generated stickers that are personalized to match your own distinct look. The company said that the new feature will combine neural networks and the work of artists to turn your selfies into unique sticker packs, which can then be used in Allo, the company's messaging app. The...

At its Build 2017 conference this morning Microsoft announced that its upcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will include integration with iOS, allowing developers using Microsoft Graph to link desktop apps to mobile apps on both iPhone and Android devices (via The Verge). Users will be able to start apps on a Windows computer and, with the help of Microsoft's AI Cortana, pick up their iPhone...

A patent application published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office today details a new Apple service where users could make inquiries and talk with the company's AI assistant Siri through Messages (via AppleInsider). The new patent is similar to a filing the USPTO published late last year, but now includes deeper integration with audio, video, and image files. Similar to chatbots...

After spending months in preview, Microsoft today is officially launching its Visual Studio coding platform for the Mac (via VentureBeat). Visual Studio allows developers to code applications using Microsoft's integrated development environment (IDE) on Apple's macOS platform, which they can sync across both Windows and Mac devices. Thanks to integration with Xamarin, a cross-platform software ...

Sprint today announced plans to develop and deploy a wide-scale 2.5GHz 5G network in partnership with Qualcomm and SoftBank, with the intent to provide the service and products compatible with it to customers in "late 2019." Sprint's 5G network is said to use the New Radio standard developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, a group of telecommunications organizations that oversee the ...

When Apple Music launched in 2015, one of the biggest complaints from users and critics centered on the somewhat confusing user interface of Apple's first foray into music streaming. Although the app was redesigned last year in iOS 10, concerns were then raised around the oversized nature of Apple Music's new typography and artwork. This week visual design student Jason Yuan, who studies at...

Spotify this week has launched a new discovery tool called "Spotify Codes," which gives users a way to easily share and find new music within the Spotify app on iOS and Android. The feature works by generating a unique code that users can take a picture of, guiding them directly to the piece of content that the code represents. Users can generate a Spotify Code for any song, artist, album, or...

Visa has partnered with payments startup Current and today the companies are launching a new "smart debit card" and iOS app that aim to give kids and parents more autonomy and security when it comes to doling out spending money (via TechCrunch). The new Current card functions like any other Visa debit card, allowing teens and younger kids to spend money without needing cash, but comes connected...

Amazon today debuted an all-new touchscreen Echo device, which it's calling the "Echo Show," following a report from yesterday that said the company was gearing up to debut the new Echo as soon as today. As was expected, the Echo Show is a smart home speaker system that has all of the features of the basic Echo system with an additional 7-inch touchscreen. With the addition of a touchscreen,...

Uncertainty over which company will end up with Toshiba's much-sought-after NAND chip unit -- the second-biggest in the world -- has deepened today with a report by Reuters, which states that the Japan-based Toshiba is now facing legal actions from its business partner and chip unit bidder Western Digital. The U.S.-based data storage company is claiming that Toshiba has violated a contract by...

Mother's Day takes place in the United States this Sunday, May 14, and Apple is gearing up to launch an all-new challenge in the Activity app for Apple Watch owners in order to celebrate the national holiday. The challenge will begin showing up in the Activity app this Friday, May 12, but will only be open on Sunday. To accomplish the challenge, users will have to complete a walk, run, or...

Following a few reports from last year that centered upon Apple's intent to restore the historic Carnegie Library in Washington D.C. and outfit it as a prime destination for Apple retail, the company has now shared a few renderings and details about the location with The Washington Post. The location will be home to Apple's new "Today at Apple" events, which will include concerts, art...

A year after the public disagreement between Apple and the FBI, which centered on the passcode-locked iPhone 5c of the San Bernardino terrorist, one of the major questions remains how much the United States government and the FBI paid for the tool it used to crack open the iPhone. That question became so focused upon that a trio of news organizations filed a lawsuit to find out the exact amount...

It's been a few months since the last few rumors regarding Foxconn's potential manufacturing expansion into the United States, with company chairman Terry Gou placing uncertainty on the reports at the time. Now, sources in the Taiwan supply chain are once again claiming that Foxconn -- one of Apple's biggest suppliers -- is currently talking with both the U.S. federal government as well as...

An unreleased Prince concert film and a documentary about the making of the film could be heading exclusively to Apple Music, according to sources close to the Prince estate (via Billboard). The late singer's estate is said to be shopping around the rights to the concert film and doc to a variety of streaming services, namely including Apple Music and Spotify. The agreement for the two films...

After nearly two years of being absent from the fourth generation Apple TV's app lineup, Amazon Prime Video is reportedly on its way to Apple's set-top box and could arrive for Prime subscribers to download and watch videos as soon as this summer. The news comes from Recode, citing sources familiar with the plans of each company who said that Apple and Amazon are "close to an agreement" in...