Mitchel Broussard

Apple has topped Laptop Mag's Tech Support Showdown list for the third year in a row, receiving praise as "the best tech support in the business," and beating out nine other computer-making companies in the process. Laptop Mag said that its list is aimed at helping customers see who has the most reliable and clear customer service in the tech industry. To conduct the research, the magazine...

One of Facebook's Snapchat clones is launching worldwide today within Facebook Messenger, after a previous soft launch in countries including Poland and Australia. Called "Messenger Day," the new feature will allow Messenger users to post updates that disappear after 24 hours. The twist with Messenger Day, according to Facebook, is that the app's filters and features encourage users to create...

Photography app VSCO has announced a handful of new features for its users, centering around the addition of its separate GIF creating DSCO app [Direct Link] directly into the main VSCO app. Thanks to the inclusion, users can now create looping images and post them to their VSCO feeds. Similar to the camera wheel options on Instagram and in the iOS Camera, users can tap DSCO at the bottom of...

Uncertainties over Foxconn's manufacturing expansion into the United States have been raised once again, this time following comments made by company chairman Terry Gou, who spoke to reporters at an event celebrating the start of construction on a $8.87 billion display plant in Guangzhou, China (via Nikkei). At the ceremony, Gou told reporters he had just returned from a trip to Washington...

Vimeo today announced that 360-degree video support has arrived for the service's web and mobile app platforms. The update will provide a place for creators to learn and upload videos in the popular format, as well as a community hub of 360-degree video content for viewers to browse and watch flat, or using compatible VR headsets. Vimeo's 360-degree videos will support 8K content in both...

Streaming movie and TV service VUDU has confirmed that it is currently in the development stages for an upcoming fourth-generation Apple TV app, although the official launch timeline is unclear at this point. A Redditor spotted the confirmation from a VUDU engineer named Jake, who posted on the company's forums in response to a user's inquiry about the long-requested debut of a VUDU app for Apple ...

Twenty-two United Kingdom-based charities now support donations through Apple Pay in apps and on the web, making it easier for interested patrons to give money to their favorite nonprofit organizations through Apple's mobile wallet (via Civil Society). The collection of UK charities have begun accepting Apple Pay beginning today, so users can begin donating with an Apple device, including on...

Nest is in the process of making a cheaper edition of its Nest Learning Thermostat as well as a new line of home security products, according to someone familiar with the company's plans speaking with Bloomberg. Nest is said to be "seeking a bigger share of the connected home market" in its move to make a cheaper version of its flagship thermostat device. The cheaper Nest Learning Thermostat...

In a new series of leaks focusing on the United States Central Intelligence Agency, code named "Vault 7," WikiLeaks has revealed 8,761 documents discovered within an isolated network in Langley, Virginia that "amounts to more than several hundred million lines of code." The code contains what WikiLeaks referred to as a "hacking arsenal" of malware, viruses, trojans, and weaponized "zero day"...

Smart home accessory company Nest today announced the addition of two-step authentication into its mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, which will act as an extra layer of security that prevents intrusions into a user's Nest account. The company said that these extra security measures can help prevent malicious access to private information, particularly camera feeds of Nest Cam products....

Porsche and Honda today each announced new sports cars that will be compatible with Apple's CarPlay infotainment system. In its unveiling, Porsche detailed the all-new 2018 911 GT3 street-legal sports car with a 4.0 liter flat-six engine that produces up to 500 horsepower -- an engine based on the one used in all of Porsche's 911 race cars. Other than CarPlay, the Porsche 911 GT3 has a...

Fitbit today announced the Fitbit Alta HR, which the company is calling the "world's slimmest fitness wristband" that has a continuous heart rate monitor. The Alta HR launches just over a year after Fitbit debuted the original Fitbit Alta, which included new "Reminders to Move" to tell users to stand up and move around a bit, like Apple Watch stand notifications. The main upgrade for the...

A few Facebook Messenger users have noticed that the company's "Reactions" are available to use within the app and on the web, along with a long-requested dislike -- or thumbs down -- button (via TechCrunch). Similar to Tapback in the iOS 10 Messages app, to use Reactions in Facebook Messenger users simply have to hover over a specific message and tap the small emoji button. Images via ...

A new supply chain report claims that Apple is planning to use OLED for every iPhone model by 2019, with the company expected to adopt OLED panels for 60 million units of the iPhone 8 later in 2017, equating to around 40 percent of its total manufacturing run (via The Bell) [Google Translate]. Apple will double the adoption of OLED panels for the 2018 iPhone before completely migrating over to...

After a period of testing earlier in the year, Facebook recently began rolling out a new tourism feature called "City Guides" to its iOS app for a number of users (via The Next Web). Located in the Explore tab of the app -- similar to the recently expanded Weather feature -- City Guides presents users with a list of cities visited by their friends and provides recommendations on places to eat,...

The Nintendo Switch launches worldwide tomorrow, March 3, and as journalists and reviewers have had their hands on the console for the past week, news of its hardware and software features have been shared online. This week, Quartz technology reporter Mike Murphy discovered that when plugging the Nintendo Switch into a MacBook Pro through a dual USB-C cable, the Switch inexplicably acts as an ...

Apple and 52 other major companies have signed a Supreme Court brief in support of seventeen-year-old Gavin Grimm, a young transgender man who's fighting with his local school district for the right to use the bathroom of his corresponding gender identity (via The New York Times). Other than Apple, the tech companies include Amazon, Microsoft, PayPal, Twitter, Tumblr, Yelp, eBay, Airbnb, and...

Camera-focused company Snap is said to have worked on a drone that would connect to the iOS and Android Snapchat app and let users take photos and videos from aerial angles, according to sources speaking with The New York Times. Details about the drone and any of its other capabilities remain under wraps, but the work is said to help Snap "bolster" its repositioning and rebranding as a modern-day ...

Twitter today announced a list of new features for the web and mobile that plan to leverage the company's learning technology to drastically reduce harassment on the service. The updates will place more tools in the hands of the users to "control your experience," and overall Twitter said it intends to be more vocal and "communicate more clearly" about the actions it takes in the realm of...

Viewers around the world are watching more than 1 billion hours of YouTube videos every day, setting the online video service on the path to beat regular TV viewership, according to a report this week by The Wall Street Journal. The 1 billion hour milestone, which YouTube passed sometime late in 2016, is said to have been reached thanks to Google's "aggressive embrace of artificial intelligence...