Technology - Google News

Broadcom Returning To The US Amid Qualcomm Takeover Attempt
Look how much hotter the Galaxy S9 would be if Samsung had stolen Apple's notch like everyone else
New Alexa Feature Makes Follow-Up Commands Easier

Broadcom Returning To The US Amid Qualcomm Takeover Attempt

Posted: 12 Mar 2018 07:08 AM PDT

Broadcom is close to officially returning its headquarters to the United States and is now expecting to complete its re-domiciliation process by April 3, the still-Singapore-based company said Monday. The move may allow the technology giant to avoid added scrutiny of its attempt to acquire Qualcomm which recently faced opposition from the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. By fully relocating back to San Jose, California, the firm is likely to stop the national security panel's review of its proposed merger as the committee doesn't have jurisdiction over domestic tie-ups which a possible Broadcom-Qualcomm consolidation would technically become following the move.

The company can still expect opposition from other branches of the U.S. government due to its close ties with certain foreign entities which were mentioned by a Treasury Department official last week. Broadcom previously dismissed any allegations that its proposed tie-up would impact the U.S. in any way that isn't positive, having already vowed it will turn the country into "a 5G leader" if it manages to complete the deal. Not all industry watchers are convinced by such claims, with some pointing to Broadcom CEO Hock Tan's M&A track record that often saw his acquisitions hit with significant cost-cutting efforts on all fronts that aren't immediately profitable. Some analysts previously suggested Broadcom is primarily interested in Qualcomm's existing 5G tech that it lacks itself, whereas many of its current offerings are facing obsolescence with the advent of 5G. A number of particularly skeptical insiders even signaled Broadcom's hostile takeover attempt is primarily aimed at Qualcomm's cash reserves that it needs to pay off its own debts.

Broadcom on Monday once again dismissed national security concerns surrounding the potential deal, claiming there won't be any if the tie-up is completed given how the process of merging the two entities would never start without Broadcom's re-domiciliation being concluded. The tech giant is also quick to point out that it's largely led by American executives and hence shouldn't be deemed a foreign suitor. The Qualcomm-Broadcom showdown may see its end early next month when the chipmaker's recently delayed annual shareholder meeting is scheduled to take place, allowing its investors vote on Broadcom's director nominees, i.e. decide whether to sell the company in spite of its current management that's attempting to resist the takeover.

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Look how much hotter the Galaxy S9 would be if Samsung had stolen Apple's notch like everyone else

Posted: 12 Mar 2018 05:51 AM PDT

Samsung's new Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ flagship smartphones were released this past weekend, and there is precious little question that they're currently the hottest Android handsets you can buy. We explained as much in our in-depth Galaxy S9 review. Even still early news from insiders suggested that preorders were far lower for the Galaxy S9 duo than they were for last year's Galaxy S8 and S8+. And now we're hearing similar news about launch sales; a report out of South Korea suggests first-day sales of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ were much lower than first-day sales of their predecessors.

Did Samsung make a mistake by launching an "S" update this year? By that, we are of course referring to Apple's old practice of releasing phones that have the same design as their predecessor, but with big upgrades to performance and features. Early rumors had suggested Samsung was actually working on different Galaxy S9 and S9+ models with a big visual overhaul, but it decided to cancel those models for reasons unknown.

We'll never know if those Galaxy S9 models would have fared any better than the ones Samsung ended up releasing, but we do know one thing: The Galaxy S9 and S9+ would have looked so much hotter if Samsung had just stolen the iPhone X's notched design like just about every other Android phone maker out there.

The general tech-loving public is still torn when it comes Apple's notched display design on the iPhone X. Some love it and others hate it. Just about every comment we've seen from people who actually own the iPhone X is positive, though, suggesting that the design is adored by people who actually try it instead of just looking at pictures of it on the internet.

Most of the negative comments seem to come from hardcore Android fans, but that shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Of course, they'll have to get used to that notched design since nearly every Android smartphone maker on the planet is stealing it from Apple. The Cupertino-based company has been a leader in smartphone design since the very first iPhone debuted in 2007, so seeing the company's rivals rush to copy the iPhone X's notch shouldn't come as much of a surprise. In fact, we recently shared a graphic that shows 20 different Android smartphones that ripped off the iPhone X's design. Twenty!

We're big fans of Samsung's Galaxy S9. It's gorgeous. But now that we've seen what the Galaxy S9 would look like if it had copied Apple's iPhone X design instead of reusing the Galaxy S8's design, we kind of wish Samsung had copied Apple just like everyone else.

Graphic designer Martin Hajek has been known to dream up sleek designs of unreleased smartphones. But he also sometimes plays with designs once phones have already been announced and released, and that's exactly what he did with the Galaxy S9. In a new post on his blog, Hajek imagined what Samsung's new Galaxy S9 might look like if it had a notched all-screen design like the one Apple introduced on the iPhone X. The result, as you'll see in the following images, is fantastic.

In Hajek's reimagining, the Galaxy S9's Super AMOLED display stretches all the way down to the bottom of the phone's face. The bezels on the notched S9 are even narrower than they are on the iPhone X, though the notch at the top of the display is a bit larger. In reality, Samsung would've been able to use an even smaller notch than the iPhone X, since it wouldn't have to house all the complex components from Apple's TrueDepth camera.

There is definitely a bit of irony here. Samsung, the company that rose to become the top smartphone vendor in the world by shamelessly copying Apple's software and hardware designs is one of the only Android vendors out there that isn't stealing the iPhone X's notch. But this time around, we really wish it would have.

Check out more images of the notched Galaxy S9 on Hajek's site.

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New Alexa Feature Makes Follow-Up Commands Easier

Posted: 12 Mar 2018 07:12 AM PDT

After purchasing an Amazon Alexa-enabled device, you may have found yourself saying the wake word "Alexa" more times in a given day than you're comfortable with. A new feature called "follow-up mode" may change that.

Now available on all hands-free Alexa-enabled devices set to US English, this feature lets you make follow-up requests without repeating the wake word.

"The blue indicator light on the Echo device remains on for a few seconds, letting you know that Alexa is active and ready for your next request," Amazon explained in a support note. So, if you see the blue ring at the top of your device, you know Alexa is still listening.

This new feature is toggled off by default, so you'll need to enable it manually. To do that, just open the Alexa app, go to the menu and select Settings, select your device, then scroll down to Follow-Up Mode and use the toggle to turn it on.

Amazon noted that this feature will not work when music, books, or other audio is playing; when you end a conversation with Alexa by saying "stop," "cancel," "go to sleep," or "thank you;" or when "Alexa is not confident you're speaking to her." Alexa will not respond to follow-up requests "if she detects that speech was background noise or that the intent of the speech was not clear," Amazon wrote.

Meanwhile, Alexa has been struggling a bit as of late. The digital assistant went down for several hours earlier this month and has been freaking people out by creepily laughing, seemingly out of nowhere.

In other Amazon news, the online retail giant just launched a new sale on Fire TV devices exclusively for Prime members. Normally priced at $39.99, the Fire TV Stick, which includes an Alexa voice remote, can now be yours for just $24.99. The latest-generation Fire TV, which supports 4K and normally sells for $69.99, is now just $44.99. These prices are even lower than they were during the last Fire TV sale. If you're not already a Prime member, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial to snag the deal.

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