According to Ed Fernandez in an editorial he wrote for CNBC—titled “The demise of the smartphone is inevitable, and necessary”—the smartphone’s days are numbered. Fernandez’s line of reasoning runs the gamut from plausible to specious. While his claims about the narrowing of the smartphone market have plenty of solid ground to stand on, the technology Fernandez claims will supplant smartphones ...

Kickstarter has answered the prayers of grandparents, hermits, and minimalists everywhere. Already having crossed its goal of $200,000 with over a month to spare, the ultra-simplified Light Phone is on its way to becoming a reality. At first glance the device more resembles a garage door opener or a small television remote than a modern mobile phone. Shipping May 2016 ...

A great many people have come to know the joy of browsing the internet on their computers completely free of advertisements through the browser ad-on Adblock Plus. The popular extension is “used by over 50 million people” according its Chrome Web Store page. Adblock now looks to expand into new territory by developing a browser for Android, bringing their program ...

Thrifty individuals—the sort that hold onto old appliances and electronics until they self-combust—are a notoriously elusive and fickle market. Rather predictably, it is tough to wrangle a demographic  that is loath to spend money to sustain survival, let alone on new consumer electronics. None the less, this is the market that Scratch Wireless hopes to corner. The bait with which ...

Known primarily in the United States for its desktop’s, laptops, and computer parts, ASUS is set to make a foray into the North American smartphone market with the ZenFone 2.  The ASUS ZenFone 2 faces an uphill battle against more entrenched competitors as it moves in on the territory of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6. Those looking ...

Apple yesterday confirmed to The New York Times their purchase of global positioning company, Coherent Navigation.  MacRumors got wind of the acquisition before the official announcement, reporting that Coherent Navigation’s CEO, Paul Lego, and co-founders, William Bencze and Brett Ledvina, had already made the transition to new positions at Apple. Apple has not officially released the reason for the purchase, ...

Despite launching the Apple Watch over a month ago, Apple has had significant trouble actually getting the device into customers’ hands. The Apple Watch is not yet available in retail stores. It can only be ordered online, and even that has proven troublesome.  Apple’s manufacturing woes have been twofold.  According to Quanta Computer’s Vice Chairman CC Leung—as reported by DIGITIMES—Quanta ...

Depending on who you ask, Apple’s planned-obsolescence scheme is either a bizarre quirk or a sign of Apple’s transformation into a diabolical dystopian mega-corporation.  Either way, the scheme enters its next phase on June 9, 2015. An internal document from Apple, as reported by 9To5Mac, details the iPhone and Mac models that Apple will be declaring “obsolete.” This does not ...

Last month Microsoft offered to provide users of Windows 7 and 8.1 with the upcoming Windows 10 for free. Terry Myerson, Executive Vice President of Operating Systems at Microsoft, clarified to Reuters shortly thereafter that the upgrade would include “all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine,” meaning that anyone with Windows 7 or 8.1—regardless of whether it was purchased or pirated—could ...

Popular music streaming service, Spotify, has built a reputation on the gargantuan library of music it provides users with in exchange only for their willingness to listen to the odd advertisement. Spotify also offers a premium service that eliminates advertisements and allows paid subscribers to download music to listen to offline. According to Digital Music News’s sources, however, the paradigm ...