Author: Tapiwa Matthew Mutisi

If I were to ask for a smartphone that’s smaller than the iPhone 7 Plus but has a bigger screen, most electronics store clerks would probably think I was asking them to answer a riddle. But that’s exactly what LG sought to do with its new Android phone, the G6,…

As the chills of February give way to the renewal of March, the mobile industry kicks off its year with the grand Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. In years past, this has been the launchpad for tons of smartphone innovation — so we keep hoping for more of the same…

With all the hype around early 5G launches and tests, there’s one glaring problem: the telecom industry hasn’t really defined what 5G is. However, the super-fast wireless is starting to take shape. The International Telecommunication Union has published draft 5G specs that set performance expectations. As a user, you should…

As smartphones have proliferated, so have the kinds of people obsessed with them, from car-makers to media chieftains. Every year, they gather at Mobile World Congress, an annual extravaganza that brings together telecom companies, internet giants, handset makers and everyone in between to talk mobile computing for four days in…

Blackberry Ltd may have exited the device business, but fans of the pioneering email machine need not despair as Chinese smartphone maker TCL Communication has introduced its first Blackberry-licensed phone with the physical keyboard that was long its key allure. The KEYone combines a touch display with a physical keyboard…

Facebook has been pushing live broadcasting on the social network hard, but there’s been no serious financial incentive for us to go live there — until now. This week the company said it will begin opening up paid live broadcasting to the general public. That is, folks who have over…

Alphabet Inc’s Google announced that it will bring its digital assistant to smartphones running the latest versions of its Android operating system, vastly expanding its reach. The Google Assistant was limited to the technology company’s own products when it was released last fall, but it has steadily been expanding to…

Patrick Stewart (a.k.a. Professor Xavier) is retiring from the X-Men franchise. The actor says the new superhero film Logan (out March 3) will be the last time he plays the mutant leader, Professor Charles Xavier. Stewart made the announcement at a SiriusXM Town Hall where he appeared alongside Logan director and…

It’s been a week since YouTube sensation Felix Kjellberg (better known as PewDiePie) had to face the music for the anti-Semitic jokes he made in several of his videos. In the fallout, PewDiePie lost his deal with Disney’s Maker Studios, but the bigger blow came from YouTube directly. The company…

Firefox is testing a feature that lets you snooze tabs until later We’re all familiar with the snooze function that’s part of many email apps, which lets you temporarily dismiss a message and have it automatically resurface at a more convenient time. Now Firefox is taking the same approach and…

Whatsapp rolled out a new Status feature to all users. Instead of the text-only status that lets people know whether you’re busy or available to chat, the new Status feature uses photos, text, emojis and sketches to show what you’re doing. If that sounds familiar, it could be because it…

Were you logged out of Facebook earlier today? You weren’t alone. A rash of folks were signed out of their account and some were told that their accounts may have been compromised. As such, the social network locked access and sent out password reset emails to affected folks. Problem is,…

A Google Chrome scam that could infect your computer with malware continues to pose a threat to users, according to cybersecurity experts. Last month security company Proofpoint warned that hackers can inject script into poorly-protected web pages. The script, which targets the Chrome browser on Windows, rewrites the compromised website…

Yes, size does matter. At least when we’re talking about smartphones, according to new survey results released before the start of the Mobile World Congress. The annual mobile trade show kicks off next week in Barcelona, where we can expect to see a variety of new smartphones and mobile innovations.…

The Federal Communications Commission is approving the first devices that use a technology intended to ease data congestion on broadband networks. The agency’s Office of Engineering and Technology on Wednesday allowed the sale of Ericsson and Nokia devices that will use LTE-U. LTE-U is a type of the fourth-generation (4G)…

“Alexa” is the virtual, voice-activated assistant housed in the smash hit Amazon Echo smart speaker, and one of her claims to fame is a growing library of third-party voice apps called “skills.” Each one of them teaches her a new trick or two, and today, that library of skills hit…

There’s no end in sight to the war between Apple and Samsung. In all likelihood, competition between the two will be healthier than ever this year, thanks to a resurgent iPhone 8 and a non-explosive Galaxy Note 8. But even though neither company is teetering on the brink, Apple is…

WhatsApp rolled out the new Status feature for its billion plus users on Thursday night. This is major feature update, and it adds to WhatsApp some sort of social media functionality that apps like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat, from where this feature is ripped off, already have. But then…

After a rough February in which we lost several great movies from the Netflix streaming service, March is a bit less catastrophic. Sure, there are a few gems like Animal House or Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, but Jaws is really the only stellar piece of content we’re losing in the month of March. While…

We’re about to see a variety of Android device makers introduce their best new smartphones models at MWC 2017, but many of these devices will have a huge disadvantage when it comes to competing against the best of the best. According to current rumors, some of the top Android devices…