Tech Industry

Amazon Web Services is launching a new service (via The Wall Street Journal) this morning called “WorkMail,” an enterprise email and calendar solution that the Seattle-based company believes will bring a wide variety of improvements to a space that is largely controlled by Microsoft and Google.

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Just one day after T-Mobile unveiled its Smartphone Equality program letting loyal customers avoid credit checks, Sprint has announced a new promotion specifically targeting T-Mobile customers with an offer to make switching carriers easier. Sprint’s latest buyback and trade-in offer joins the carrier’s existing ‘Cut Your Bill in Half’ promo which encourages AT&T and Verizon customers to switch; T-Mobile was notably missing from that offer. Here’s how Sprint details the new promotion for T-Mobile customers:
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T-Mobile often rolls out “Un-carrier” initiatives that intend to challenge its competitors (which sometimes get copied), and John Legere’s latest announcement for the company is no different. The T-Mobile CEO shared today that the carrier soon start offering the same financing options to customers with weak credit as it provides for well qualified customers. The program is called Smartphone Equality, and here’s how it works…
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While rumors that Samsung was in talks to acquire BlackBerry for as much as $7.5 billion ultimately proved to be untrue, the two smartphone makers remain interested in working with one another. “We want to work with BlackBerry and develop this partnership, not acquire the company,” J.K. Shin, head of Samsung’s mobile phone business, told The Wall Street Journal.
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Bloomberg on Monday reported that Taiwanese handset maker HTC will unveil its flagship One M9 smartphone and first smartwatch in March. HTC is widely expected to announce the new products at Mobile World Congress as part of its press event scheduled for March 1st.
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Following some Nexus 6 users complaining about the smartphone’s back cover coming unglued, The Times of India reports that Motorola is aware of at least a few devices affected by the problem. The handset maker tweeted earlier this week that it has received at least a few complaints about the defect, but fortunately appears to be willing to help affected customers replace their devices.
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Sprint announced on Friday that it will be expanding its smartphone leasing program to cover the LG G3 and Galaxy Note 4. Beginning today, new and existing individual and business customers can purchase the LG G3 for $15 per month or the Galaxy Note 4 for $25 per month with zero down payments through the Sprint Lease program.
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Citing “highly credible sources,” SamMobile reports that Samsung’s next-generation Galaxy S6 will have a touch-based fingerprint scanner for improved usage. Samsung has equipped several of its devices with fingerprint scanners in the past, dating back to the flagship Galaxy S5, but each has used swipe-based technology that often resulted in identification errors.
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PwC—short for PricewaterhouseCoopers—is a large multinational professional services network, and the company announced in October of last year that it would begin working with Google to bring “a variety of new and innovative technologies to companies around the world.” Reading that sounds unspecific and, frankly, because Google is always working on new technology, these kinds of announcements don’t really catch the eye of the public.

Today, though, PwC has announced a specific venture that Google is joining, and this one intends to reimagine the military health system in the United States…

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T-Mobile continues to shake up the wireless industry by introducing a number of affordable plans and options as part of its ongoing Un-carrier initiative. Today, the carrier announced that it is expanding choices for prepaid customers with new Simply Prepaid plans for as little as $40 per month. The new plans will be available for new and existing customers starting January 25th.
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Google is getting serious about its self-driving car initiative.

Reuters reports on Wednesday that Google has entered discussions with several top automative manufacturers about self-driving cars, including General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen and Daimler, the German company behind Mercedes-Benz. The company has also partnered with a number of auto suppliers to develop and refine self-driving systems and components, such as Continental AG, Robert Bosch, LG Electronics and Nvidia.
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The latest numbers from app metrics tracking firm AppFigures reveal that Google’s Play Store topped Apple’s App Store based on total number of apps and developers for the first time in 2014. Google moved ahead of Apple with 1.43 million Android apps in the Play Store, compared to 1.21 million on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
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If you’ve somehow missed the overflow of coverage from CES 2015 last week, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. During the show we took a look at the latest devices and accessories that are expected to be released throughout 2015. The show was packed with new smartphones, home automation tools, cases, and some unexpected surprises. If you didn’t catch all of the coverage from the show, check out the roundup below with links to everything that we found interesting…

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Along our CES 2015 journey we stopped over at The House of Marley to take a look at some of the new gear they have launching this year. If you’re not familiar with the company, they create a wide range of audio accessories which are crafted from natural and recycled materials. In the video below, we took a closer look at the Legend ANC headphones and Chant Mini Bluetooth speaker…

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Smart lock maker August announced its latest device today at CES 2015 simply dubbed ‘Connect’. The August Connect is an WiFi-connected device that plugs into a power outlet in your home to provide the Bluetooth-connected August Smart Lock with a constant Internet connection. August says its latest accessory enables several new features for owners of its smart lock product…
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