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WhatsApp has started testing a companion app for the Apple Watch, reports WABetaInfo. This app allows Apple Watch users to view messages and media in their WhatsApp chat list, send new messages without waiting for a notification, and send message reactions using emojis. Additionally, users can send audio messages and dictate messages using voice input. However, it's worth noting that the Apple Watch still needs to be connected to an iPhone with WhatsApp installed for users to do everything we mentioned above, because this app is a companion app rather than a standalone...

A new report by Omdia is out today and it crowns Samsung as the winner of the smartphone sales game in the third quarter (July to September). The Korean company shipped 60.6 million devices for a 19% market share, growing 6% over Q3 2024. Apple is second with 56.5 million shipments and 18% of the pie, growing 4% from the year-ago quarter. Xiaomi is in third with 43.4 million shipments, 14% market share, and a 1% growth year-on-year (YoY). Transsion (owner of Infinix, iTel, and Tecno) is in fourth with 28.6 million shipments, 9% market share, and the biggest YoY growth of the top five at...

Earlier this month, the Poco F8 Ultra got certified for sale in Thailand by NBTC, and today the same has happened to the Poco F8 Pro. This is rather interesting because the F7 Pro and F7 Ultra only launched in March, and we're barely seven months removed from that moment. And yet, these certifications came much earlier than they did for the F7 series, which strongly implies that we'll see the F8 Pro and F8 Ultra getting official way sooner than next March. And since they've been certified very close to each other, we're assuming they will launch together just like their predecessors did...

Quick question - which is safer? Android or iOS? A lot of people would instinctively pick the latter, and argue that it's Apple's 'walled garden' approach that makes it so - in fact, Apple itself keeps saying something like that every time the EU is trying to make it open up some other part of its ecosystem. But things are not always what they seem. And at least in one specific way, Android is actually safer than iOS. We're talking about protection from scams. A YouGov study says iOS users are 65% more likely than Android users to report receiving three or more scam texts in a week, while...

Today WhatsApp has announced that it's started supporting passkey-encrypted backups. What this means in practice is that you can use your fingerprint, face, or screen lock code to encrypt your WhatsApp chat backups, instead of having to resort to memorizing a password or a "cumbersome 64-digit encryption key", WhatsApp says. The company goes on to explain that "with just a tap or glance, the same security that protects your personal chats and calls on WhatsApp is applied to your chat backups", so they are always "safe, accessible, and private". The feature is expected to roll out...

Apple unveiled the M5-powered iPad Pro earlier this month, and now the folks over at iFixit have disassembled one in order to take a look at its insides and ascertain how repairable it actually is. It's the 13" model, by the way, which is just 5.1mm thick. That thinness in itself makes repairs harder, since every component needs to be insanely tightly packed, with the screen mounted flush against the internals. And the only way to get in is through the screen, unfortunately. Obviously, taking the screen off without cracking it isn't easy to do, but at least Apple is providing repair...

Tariffs have been a major topic in the tech world this year, with the ongoing US-China trade war, but it seems we’ve reached a turning point. President Trump came to an agreement with Xi Jinping to reduce tariffs on Chinese goods from 57% to 47%. In addition, China is suspending its restrictions on US rare-earth mineral imports for one year. This latest development is a breath of fresh air as the Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese goods reached 145 % at their peak earlier this year. This is certainly good news for Apple, which was one of the companies that suffered the most from...

Last month, we used a Realme GT8 Pro prototype to run early benchmarks of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The phone was officially unveiled last week and is preparing to launch globally next month, so we are ready to do some proper benchmarking. Even better, in the meantime we have reviewed several competing flagships, so we can have a better look at the key chipsets for the next twelve months. There are those that run on the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 like the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max. Others picked the Dimensity 9500, e.g. the vivo X300 Pro. And there’s the Apple A19 Pro inside the iPhone 17...

We’ve seen an influx of E Ink devices from brands like Onyx with its Boox Palma 2 and P6 Pro and now Bigme - an established player in the E Ink device market has announced its HiBreak S smartphone. HiBreak S comes in a monochrome E Ink version (left) or a Kaleido 3 color E Ink panel (right) It comes in two versions, with one sporting a traditional monochrome E Ink display and a second version featuring a Kaleido 3 color E Ink panel. Regardless of which one you pick, they measure 5.84 inches and feature a 24Hz refresh rate and a 36-level adjustable color temperature. The monochrome...