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The problems for the social networking giant Facebook continue to mount as yet another data-sharing scandal has exploded. The New York Times (NYT) has published a thorough investigation detailing Facebook’s data sharing practices, and reported that the social network provided some well-known tech companies with access to hundreds of millions of users’ data without their consent. Interviews with former Facebook employees and its corporate partners, as well as hundreds of pages of documents obtained by the NYT, confirmed that Facebook made the questionable arrangements with partners such as Amazon, Spotify, Netflix and Microsoft. These alliances enabled the companies to “read, write and delete users’ private messages, and to see all participants on a thread”. The records revealed, that “Facebook allowed Microsoft’s Bing search engine to see the names of virtually all Facebook users’ friends without consent. The social network permitted Amazon to obtain users’ names and contact information…

To improve emergency services and to better locate callers, The European Commission has approved a regulation that will require new smartphones to include satellite and Wi-Fi location. The integrated chipset with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) must deliver access to the EU’s satellite system Galileo, which provides accurate positioning and timing information. Currently, most emergency services are faced with the challenge of only being able to locate troubled mobile callers within an area of several kilometers. However, the proposed use of satellite and Wi-Fi systems will enable 112 emergency number callers to be located within a range of less than 100 meters. Galileo-enabled devices receive signals for positioning, navigation and timing. This satellite system has been servicing around 400 million users, and this summer the system was supplemented by four more satellites, which were successfully launched from the European spaceport. Every additional satellite steadily improves Galileo’s performance, and,…

Verizon Media Group has announced the launch of a new Yahoo app, available for iOS and Android. This multi-purpose app serves as a daily guide, providing breaking news, weather forecasts, the latest sport updates and much more. It creates a personalized information hub for the user, and is an effective amalgamation of the company’s other products, such as Mail, Search, Newsroom, Finance. One can watch the latest and most popular videos from across the Yahoo network in the Watch tab, where Yahoo editors provide daily content. The app includes a flexible sign-in with a Yahoo Mail account or a non-Yahoo email address, including Gmail, Outlook and AOL. If the user location data is enabled on the mobile device, it is possible to take advantage of coupons for local retail outlets, cafes and restaurants. There’s also a “Deal of the Day” from partners such as eBay, as well as the ability…

Three telecommunication giants, Verizon, Motorola and Samsung, have shared some good news and provided updates regarding progress with the long-awaited 5G network. Verizon has announced that they have successfully accomplished the connection of a 5G-upgradeable Motorola smartphone using a Qualcomm 5G modem and Samsung’s 5G technology to their 5G network. The team performed tests that included video calling and Internet browsing by means of a 5G link. According to Bill Stone, vice president, Technology Development and Planning for Verizon, “In the past two years, we have consistently led the world in 5G, including launching the world’s first commercial 5G service last month”. Obviously upbeat about this successful test using an actual smartphone, he assured, “We will be the first to offer a 5G upgradeable smartphone on our network in 2019.” Verizon’s 28 GHz spectrum and Samsung 5G New Radio solutions were employed to complete the transmissions. The 5G-enabled…

The world’s top smartphone manufacturer, Samsung, has provided the first tantalizing glimpse of their very real, foldable phone at the Samsung Developer Conference 2018 in San Francisco. This advancement in display technology has been widely discussed throughout the year, and Samsung has finally revealed their highly-anticipated version of the technology called the Infinity Flex Display. “When it’s open, it’s a tablet offering a big screen experience. When closed, it’s a phone that fits neatly inside your pocket,” explained the senior vice president of Mobile Product Marketing at Samsung, Justin Denison, while demonstrating the device. The prototype boasts a 7.3-inch tablet display that can be folded over and over again without any signs of wear or degradation. The device is supported by the Android OS, allowing users to run up to 3 applications simultaneously, driving smartphone functionality to the next level. “The Infinity Flex Display represents an entirely…

The first 5G smartphones are expected to debut in 2019, however Apple is in no rush to jump on this technology train, according to a report by Fast Company. The tech giant is expected to launch their 5G iPhone in 2020, with an Intel 8161 5G modem chip installed to enable access to the cutting-edge network. This news does not come as a complete surprise, since Apple tends to wait for new technologies to become fully developed before adding these technologies to their devices, such as occurred with 3G or LTE enabled Apple gadgets. In the meantime, Intel has fallen out of favor with Apple, since the chip manufacturer seems to be unable to solve the overheating problem with their forerunner 8060 chip. While this issue is not serious enough for Apple to approach Qualcomm and initiate discussions about 5G modem chip development for the iPhone, there have been…

The Asian electronics manufacturer HTC has officially announced the pre-order of a product creating the latest buzz in the crypto world – their blockchain-enabled smartphone called Exodus 1. According to the Exodus website, the smartphone can only be purchased in cryptocurrency – for 0.15 Bitcoin or 4.78 Ethereum – which, at the moment, converts to around 960 US dollars. The expected shipping date is December 2018, making the Exodus phone the perfect end of year gift for blockchain enthusiasts. The new smartphone will have a 6 inch Quad HD+ display, 16 MP dual rear and 8 MP dual front cameras, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. Yet these usual specifications are not what makes this phone unique. The intriguing blockchain side of the phone will include a hardware cryptocurrency wallet called Zion, which was developed by HTC. To keep…

Google has officially announced that its next ‘Made by Google’ event will take place on October 3rd in New York City. While the company remains very secretive about the hardware that will be launched at the event, the key devices expected to be unveiled are the Google Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 3 XL smartphones. Thus far, the corporate giant has not yet made their major competitors Samsung and Apple tremble with envy nor fear with its previous versions of the Pixel phone, but the highly-leaked Pixel 3 devices might change that situation. If the rumors are true, the Pixel 3 XL device will have a controversially large notch, while both the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL should sport dual front-facing cameras, an Android 9 Pie operating system and glass backs for wireless charging. Along with the new smartphones, the Google PixelBook 2, a new version of Pixel Buds,…

The Chinese equipment manufacturer Huawei recently expressed its intention to surpass Apple in the smartphone market in 2018, and it seems that these plans are becoming a reality. According to IDC, Huawei shipped 54.2 million mobile devices units in the second quarter and moved to the second position, only to be outpaced by the ultimate leader Samsung. Looking at the total market share from Q2, Samsung maintains a strong 20.9%, while Huawei controls 15.8%, closely followed by Apple’s 12.1%. “The continued growth of Huawei is impressive, to say the least, as is its ability to move into markets where, until recently, the brand was largely unknown,” commented the program vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, Ryan Reith. Huawei’s recent push into Europe, the Middle East and India has secured its position among the top smartphone manufacturers. And while the US carriers are still instructed by the government to…

While 5G maintains its dominant position in telecom news headlines, Qualcomm has made a major move towards the realization of this disruptive technology with the announcement of the first fully-integrated QTM052 5G NR mmWave  and QPM56xx sub-6 GHz RF modules for mobile devices. These antennas will be used in conjunction with the Snapdragon X50 5G module to achieve the stellar target speeds of 5G networks. “Qualcomm Technologies’ early investment in 5G has allowed us to deliver to the industry a working mobile mmWave solution that was previously thought unattainable, as well as a fully-integrated sub-6 GHz RF solution. Now, these type of modem-to-antenna solutions, spanning both mmWave and sub-6 spectrum bands, make mobile 5G networks and devices, especially smartphones, ready for large scale commercialization,” commented the president of Qualcomm Incorporated. Even though the mmWave signals can offer the critically higher speeds that are essential for this cutting-edge network, they can…