It’s been quite a year for HTC, what with price drops for the HTC Vive, the launch of the HTC U11 flagship phone, and the sale of a big chunk of its smartphone operations to Google. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that Google sale, we’re going to see fewer HTC phones in 2018 according to reports. The first will be the HTC U11 Plus, which we already know a lot about, except when it’s actually going to go on sale. Turn it up to 12The second phone launch HTC has pencilled in for next year is of cours

Image credit: AmazonAmazon’s voice-controlled Echo devices were quite the popular gifts this Christmas, judging from the way the Alexa app shot up to the top of the list of the most popular free apps on the iOS App Store on Christmas Day. The jump is thanks almost entirely to new users, as the App Store ranks free apps according to downloads. In this case, the downloads were likely almost entirely from people who were trying out their new Echo devices shortly after unwrapping them. Connect the D

The company posted a video of the 15-foot transmission back in 2014 , which likely still gives a decent idea of how the FCC-certified version works. Riding the airwavesCurrent wireless charging technology relies on inductive charging coils that require the smartphone or other device to physically touch the charger, but the WattUp works by converting electricity into radio frequencies that are then beamed at the device. (This is especially remarkable as Energous was once rumored to be partnering

Here are a few ideas we’ve come up with to help you turn that plastic currency into great home cinema tech. Of course, all this being said, if your budget is a little larger than the miniscule amounts below, don’t miss our guides to the best TV, best soundbar and best game consoles to outfit your home theater with the latest, greatest … and slightly more expensive tech. Let’s start with the Roku Streaming Stick+, the all-new streaming device that crams 4K HDR-ready hardware into a streaming stic

For those who support net neutrality, 2017 has been a tough year. Net neutrality is the principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should treat all internet traffic equally. Nothing drastic … yetWith the net neutrality laws repealed, ISPs have much more control over the internet. If that happened, net neutrality supporters would need two-thirds of the House to overturn Trump’s veto. That could, after all, influence votes, and with net neutrality a hot-button issue, it could influence a l

Bigger Nintendo Switch game cartridges means more data and less reliance on memory cards, but Nintendo is pushing back the roll-out of 64GB cartridges for the Switch until 2019, after originally planning to introduce them during the second half of next year. The WSJ also says certain developers may wait for 64GB game cartridges to become available for the Nintendo Switch before launching certain titles, rather than releasing smaller versions that work with the Switch’s existing capacities and me

That doesn’t mean your WhatsApp app will suddenly stop working after the cut-off point – December 31 – but it will mean you won’t be able to create accounts on BlackBerry or Windows Phone, and no further updates will appear. Windows 8.1 Mobile and Windows 10 Mobile will continue to be supported for the time being, but considering Microsoft looks to have abandoned its mobile OS platform, it’s probably only a matter of time before WhatsApp disappears from here too. ‘Tis the season to upgrade”These

Apple launched three phones this year: the bezel-busting iPhone X and the more traditional iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. CIRP reckons the iPhone X accounted for around 30 percent of total iPhone sales in the first 30 days it was on sale, 9to5Mac reports. The older iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, meanwhile, weighed in with around a fifth of total sales, or 20 percent. Still, it’s interesting to note that in this analysis the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have come out on top. No numbers are mentioned by C

Most Bitcoin wallet software connects to other servers to verify Bitcoins (BTC) you’ve sent and received. The official Bitcoin Core client is a ‘full’ node in that it downloads the entire Bitcoin blockchain and processes all new transactions on the network. In this guide, you’ll learn how to set up your own full node with the official Bitcoin Core client. Click ‘Download Bitcoin Core’. This is where you’ll store your Bitcoin wallet as well as your copy of the Bitcoin blockchain which currently i

Super PS4 deals and Xbox One X bundles took centre stage for us, and there have been some great laptop and TV deals too. View today’s deals: VeryAO is another store on the up and it’s been a regular visitor on our selection of cheap TV deals all year round. View today’s deals: CDKeysThe Zavvi Boxing Day sales are usually worth a look, especially for film and TV fans. Just look how much money you can save on this 55-inch Sony Bravia 4K TV deal at just £629 from Argos. Epic value right there, musi

In this article, we’re evaluating how AMD performed over the course of 2017, and it’s certainly been a mixed bag. AMD has had a year of two distinct things: processors and graphics cards. Ryzen processors first hit the shelves back in March, immediately attracting a great deal of praise from the press and punters alike. Graphic detailHowever, when it comes to the other big pillar of AMD’s consumer business – graphics cards – the company won’t be so pleased. AMD’s trump card for 2017 was GPUs bas

What news of the Samsung Galaxy S9, one of the most hotly anticipated phones of 2018? Well the newest bit of gossip we’ve heard (or rather seen) suggests Samsung’s next flagship is going to keep the faith with the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack. While the source is reasonably reliable, don’t take this as a given just yet – we’re still a couple of months away from seeing the Galaxy S9 get its official unveiling. With Apple, Google and plenty of other phone makers ditching the headphone jack in

This article is brought to you by Mac Life magazine. If you’d like to read more articles like this then subscribe to Mac Life magazine, and save an extra 10% off a subscription – it’s also the perfect gift for any Apple fan. Prune device backupsWe recommend backing up your iOS devices to iCloud and also manually to iTunes, but the latter takes up space on your Mac. Don’t forget the trashThe Trash isn’t things you’ve wiped from your Mac, but items that are awaiting deletion. Until you empty the T

Image credit: NintendoThe Nintendo Switch is undeniably a hit , and it’s all the more remarkable for achieving that success without a subscription-based online service such as Xbox Live on the Xbox One and PlayStation Network on the PlayStation 4 . Nintendo does, in fact, eventually plan to launch such a service called Nintendo Switch Online, but according to a page on the official Switch site for Italy , we could be waiting until the autumn of 2018 for it. Not long after WCCFTech spotted the da

If you’re an enthusiast who’s already upgraded to a six-core, 12-thread (6C12T) processor, Coffee Lake might not seem like a big deal. What’s more, unlike the mesh topology used in Skylake-X, Coffee Lake sticks with Intel’s ring bus. The problem is that Coffee Lake uses the same LGA1151 socket as Skylake and Kaby Lake, except the pin-out has changed, and a new chipset and mobo is required. Not to be outdone, Intel could release an 8C16T Coffee Lake chip – alhough that would require a new die. An

While I always eagerly await the giant strides computing technology makes with each new year, in 2018 I’m looking forward to some of the smaller revolutions, that may not be quite as flashy, but will have just as profound an effect on the way we use our computers. Microsoft and Qualcomm’s partnership in 2017 to bring ‘always on’ laptops with much improved battery lives should really begin to bear fruit in 2018, with a number of powerful Snapdragon 835-powered devices coming throughout the year .

When configuring a VPN, there are several choices for encryption protocols which can be used, and among these, one of the more popular options is currently OpenVPN. The whole point of a VPN security protocol is to provide a high level of security, and OpenVPN excels at this. In fact, there are commercial OpenVPN providers that take the OpenVPN protocol, and turn it into a VPN client for their users. Of all the VPN encryption protocols, OpenVPN is considered to have a strong suit here, as it can

There are few things more exciting for a photographer than getting a new camera. For this effect you’re going to need to set the camera to shoot in shutter-priority mode – turn the mode dial on the camera so S (or Tv on Canon cameras) is selected. Set your camera to shoot in aperture-priority by turning the mode dial on the camera so A (or Av on Canon cameras) is selected. In terms of settings, this is a simple shot that could easily be shot even in Auto, although to be sure the best camera sett

Despite there being more OLED TVs than ever, 2017 proved that the tech is probably never going to be affordableFor a decade now, OLED TVs have felt like they’re on the cusp of becoming mainstream. Sony announced its first OLED TV (the XEL-1) at CES 2007, and Samsung revealed its own Full HD OLED TV in 2008. Released in 2008, the 11-inch XEL-1 was Sony’s first consumer OLED TVJust one manufacturer, LG, stuck with the OLED TV tech. But look closely and you’ll realise this isn’t quite the competiti

Free apps sometimes have a bad reputation, but many are gems that are so good you won’t believe they’re free. After that, it’s the best entertainment apps (surely the best reason to own an iPad…) and a variety of categories on the following pages to tickle your fancy. Free app of the week: Laugh & Learn Shapes & Colors Music Show for BabyLaugh & Learn Shapes & Colors Music Show for Baby is a two-part game designed for children as young as six months old. The best free entertainment apps for iP