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Alas, the Chinese smartphone company decided to release a budget successor to the Bullets Wireless 2 — the Bullets Wireless Z. The new neckband was priced at $49 as compared to $99 of the Wireless 2. OnePlus justified the low pricing with a bigger battery and comparatively inferior sound. Design and functionality If you’ve seen or used the Bullets Wireless 2, you will need to squint your eyes to observe the difference between these two....

Multiple reports and leaked internal memos suggested that in a company restructuring plan, Pei was missing. The memos noted that Emily Dai, head of OnePlus operations in India, replaced him as the head of the OnePlus Nord line — the company’s more affordable series of phones. He was also seen leading the team in the documentary the company created about the phone. Pei also played a pivotal role in establishing and growing the company in India — arguably the biggest market for the brand....

At it’s Oppo Inno Day conference today, the Chinese tech firm said that its AR glasses will arrive next year. The device will have time-of-flight (ToF) sensors to measure distances and will use simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms to gauge the area around the person wearing them. [Read: Neural’s market outlook for artificial intelligence in 2021 and beyond] ? ToF? SLAM algorithms〰️ Diffractive optical wave guide technology? Gesture & voice recognition#OPPOINNODAY20#OPPOARGlass2021 pic....

Welcome to the latest edition of Pardon The Intrusion, TNW’s bi-weekly newsletter in which we explore the wild world of security. Ransomware is quickly shaping up to be one the most significant online security threats of our era. And there’s no end in sight. Although it’s been around for several decades, the first instance of what we now know as ransomware was documented in 1989. Known as AIDS or the PC Cyborg Trojan, the malware targeted the healthcare sector via floppy disks....

But should we welcome algorithms into every aspect of our lives? In March last year, a groundbreaking documentary was released by HBO Max called ‘Persona: The Dark Truth Behind Personality Tests.’ The documentary claims to have “uncovered the frightening reality of discrimination in corporate America” due to the widespread use of personality tests. In the gripping trailer, an interviewee states, “There are algorithms that are hurting people.” But just how true is that claim?...

[Read: From sexting to politics: How emoji evolved this decade] The Polish Alternative Fuel Association (PSPA) is lobbying for the introduction of a universally recognized emoji for electric vehicles and chargers. Check them out for yourself below. The industry body, responsible for promoting EVs and associated infrastructure in Poland, has sent the two ideas to the Unicode Consortium, the organization that decides which emoticon designs make it onto our phones....

Everyone loves a good Bluetooth speaker. I mean, how else are you meant to impress everyone around you with how incredible and interesting your music taste is? Talk to them? Doubtful. Have a look at this sensual little sound box: The Bose SoundLink Color II has a range of nifty features. As you can see from the photo above, it’s small so will easily fit in a bag, or even a large pocket....

With major fintech hubs developing in London and Frankfurt as well as new regulation changes that are speeding up collaboration between banks and fintechs, some believe Europe could become a global leader in this space. This was pushed forward with the introduction of the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) in January 2018. The directive ushered in a major change in the dynamics between banks and fintechs with open banking, a practice that allows banks and third-party financial service providers to share secure access to users’ banking and financial data....

But this year, Google has thrown its hat in the ring by debuting its indigenous Tensor Chip to give the Pixel 6 a platform to showcase the company’s vision for smartphones. This massive push by tech giants into the chip game means that Qualcomm, once a leading player in the smartphone industry, will face more competition than ever. So, this year, the chipmaker is relying heavily on AI to give its new processor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, a bit more personality....

Basic accounting seldom turns out to be quite so basic. If you’re handling the books for a tiny operation, then maybe all you need is a pen and a few simple balance sheets. But it doesn’t require much growth, either in volume or staffing or vendors, before you have to start considering exactly how you’re tracking revenue, expenses, invoices, bills and more. And if your business grows, when do you begin stepping up to automated processing or payroll services or inventory management features?...

That figure, which increased from 60 percent in June, marks the highest recorded by digital asset firm CoinShares since it started tracking Bitcoin’s hash rate almost two years ago. According to CoinShare’s data shared with Hard Fork, Bitcoin miners in Sichuan, China are responsible for 54 percent of its global hash rate. “Out of the remaining 35 percent of [global] miners, we estimate that 31 percent of global [hash rate] production is evenly split between Washington, New York, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Siberian Federal District of Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Iran,” said CoinShares....

Their evolutionary history is interesting, too. It parallels humans’ in many ways. Elephant ancestors originated in Africa, just like ours. Their descendants, among them mammoths, went out of Africa to inhabit other continents. And in the process they evolved the largest brain of any land animal. It weighs around 5kg, while our own brains weigh 1.4kg. But what drove this particular element of elephant evolution? Even though the fossil record of elephant ancestors is rich – with almost 300 species described – we simply haven’t known the answer for a long time....

There’s a lot of great displays out there, but this one is a much-needed, esoteric departure from the feature-bloated monitors in the status quo. As a gamer and someone who dabbles in film and photography, I appreciate a top-of-the-line monster of a monitor like Alienware’s huge curved screens or Apple’s mind-blowing displays. But in my day-to-day life I really don’t need the Ferrari or Lamborghini of screens for everything I do....

First off, the S1 is a bit of an uproven commodity. As far as we can tell its Selpic’s first product – the company has another, the slightly larger S1+ on Kickstarter right now – but so far, there’s a lot to like. It’s a quality product that appears to have a solid, thoughtful design. It’s not much to look at, but the design is very functional. Essentially, you grab the printer in one hand and hold the “P” button down as you drag it across whatever surface you intend to print on....

But there’s also a middle ground in scooters like the Mercane WideWheel, distributed exclusively by FluidFreeRide in the US. Capable of hitting 25 miles per hour and 20 miles of range, the WideWheel is one of the most well-rounded scooters on the market, with few caveats. It won’t break the bank compared to similarly-powered scooters, coming in at $999 or $1,200 depending on whether you opt for the single (500W) or dual-motor (1000W) configuration, respectively....

Sometimes, even the best writers can use a bit of a boost. There are only so many ways a person can put a collection of words together on a page before they all start deteriorating into mush and completely losing their power. Nobody wants to think one of those brick wall moments will strike in the middle of an important email or smack in the center of a major project....

The bill is an amendment to the country’s telecommunication act that will stop companies like Apple and Google from using their in-app purchase system in app stores exclusively. If any app store operator fails to comply they’ll have to pay 3% of their South Korean revenue. Both companies have faced scrutiny the world over related to the commission they collect from app developers. These companies charge a 30% fee for in-app purchases with certain concessions for small-time developers....

A report from a Korean outlet notes that Samsung is developing the S21 series under the code name “unbound.” While there might be three versions of the phone: the Galaxy S21, the Galaxy S21+, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the S-Pen will be only available with the high-end Ultra version. The report also hints that there’s no certainty yet if the Korean tech giant will release a new Galaxy Note in the second half of the next year....

Korean news outlet Ajunews and the founder of Display Supply chain Consultants (DSCC), Ross Young, separately reported this development. Both sources said the Korean tech giant is working on the Galaxy Fold 2 under the project name Champ. [Read: Surprise: The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip’s ultra-thin folding ‘glass’ scratches like plastic] The new device will reportedly have a huge 7.7-inch screen when unfolded. Samsung is also testing an under-the-screen camera technology to provide a notchless display....

On DxOMark, the Note 10 scored a 113 total score for the primary camera, just barely nudging ahead of the 112 achieved by Huawei P30 Pro and Samsung’s own S10 5G. (Well, technically the Note 10+ 5G, but the results should be indicative of the family’s performance.) Things get a bit messier when you look at the score breakdown though. The Note lags a notch behind the P30 Pro in the Photo category (118 vs 119), but pulls ahead thanks to its improved video performance (101 vs 97)....