Mihăiță Bamburic

Android 6.0 launched over half a year ago, but even today there are still lots of devices that have yet to receive the software upgrade to Marshmallow. In fact, at the beginning of this month fewer than one in 20 were running Google's latest mobile operating system.

For BlackBerry Priv users though things are looking up. The Canadian maker has announced the Marshmallow rollout for its first Android smartphone, introducing improvements to the camera, battery, privacy, security, and more.

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It is hard to take Windows 10 Mobile seriously when Microsoft announces sales of just 2.3 million Lumias in a whole quarter. If you ever thought that the platform can actually be competitive in today's market, now is the time to wake up. This year, smartphones sales are expected to reach 1.5 billion units. If Microsoft manages to move 10 million Lumias in 2016, Windows 10 Mobile's market share would likely be around the one percent mark.

Microsoft is not the only Windows Phone/Windows 10 Mobile vendor, but it is the largest by far. It sells about 90 percent of the smartphones running the tiled operating system, so its performance has a major impact on the platform's popularity.

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Facebook Messenger is one of the most popular messaging services today, boasting over 900 million monthly active users. However, since competition in this market is increasingly fierce, to maintain momentum the social network has to keep improving its service.

Earlier this month, at its F8 developer conference, Facebook announced support for chat bots with the purpose of enabling businesses to deliver better customer support, and now it is rolling out group calling to Messenger users across the globe.

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Microsoft's Surface 3 and Surface Pro 4 are among the best tablets for enterprise use. A full-blown version of Windows, light and sturdy build, adjustable kickstand, good battery life and optional keyboard enables them to work equally well at the desk and on the go. In harsher conditions, however, some extra protection is required.

For use in the field, MobileDemand has introduced a rugged case, called xCase. It promises "unparalleled durability and superior protection" for Surface 3 and Surface Pro 4. Offered in two versions, basic and premium, I have tested the latter in a Surface 3 trim -- here are my impressions.

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Apple has announced the first MacBook refresh, a year after the introduction of its thinnest and lightest laptop. The device gets the latest Intel processors, better graphics performance, faster SSD storage and longer battery life. Also new is a rose gold finish, on top of the existing gold, silver and space gray.

The 2016 refresh for the 12-inch MacBook brings sixth-generation dual-core Intel Core M processors with speeds of up to 1.3 GHz and Turbo Boost of up to 3.1 GHz, 1866 MHz RAM and HD Graphics 515, which is said to be 25 percent faster than in the original model.

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The major messaging services are now placing a greater emphasis on their users' privacy and security, following the heated encryption debate started by Apple and the FBI. Viber has just announced end-to-end encryption support, making it the second leading player this month to introduce this feature after WhatsApp.

Viber has over 700 million users across the globe, but its end to end encryption feature will not be available everywhere right away. The company is focusing on Belarus, Brazil, Israel and Thailand first, with other markets to get the same treatment in the weeks that follow.

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One of the biggest mistakes that Microsoft has made with Windows Phone is not adding support for the latest hardware in time. For instance, while Android flagships were coming out with quad-core chips and 1080p displays, for a long period of time after smartphones running the tiled operating system still had to make due with puny dual-core chips and lesser 720p screens.

Fortunately, this is a mistake that Microsoft will not repeat with Windows 10 Mobile. The company appears to be forward-thinking this time around, as its new smartphone operating system supports all the latest hardware -- including even a yet to be released high-end processor from Qualcomm.

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Smartwatches cannot do much on their own, but with some apps they can quickly be turned into useful gadgets. The good news is that major developers are paying attention to this market, slowly adding support for the two main platforms: Apple Watch and Android Wear.

In the case of Outlook, Microsoft's popular email client for Android and iOS, support for Apple Watch arrived first, in August of last year, and now it is the turn of Android Wear to receive the same treatment. Here is what you need to know.

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Generating a shortened URL to share content may seem like a good idea, but it may also expose you to unnecessary security risks, a new research paper shows. Titled Gone in Six Characters: Short URLs Considered Harmful for Cloud Services, it explains how short URLs can be used by malicious players to plant malware, copy personal files, and retrieve all sorts of personal information, like your home address, among other things.

URL shorteners, as their name suggest, are meant to bring long links, that can contain dozens of characters, usually down to just a few letters and numbers. That has some clear benefits: shortened URLs suit SMS messages and tweets better, look nicer in conversations, and allow services to track the number of clicks for a specific link, among other things. But the fact that they only contain a handful of characters makes them susceptible to brute-force search.

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We may not have heard much about Windows 10 Mobile at Build 2016, but Microsoft is actively working on refining its smartphone operating system. Now, we have a new Insider Preview build, introduced to Fast Ring, which adds improvements and changes to Action Center, notifications, Cortana, Settings, emoji, Microsoft Edge, lockscreen, and more.

Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 14322, as it is formally known as, also comes with lots of bug fixes in tow, and a few known issues as well. Here is what you need to know about it.

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A multiport USB charger is a great tool to have if you need to top up the battery on a couple of devices at the same time. Finding the right one might prove a bit difficult though. There are lots of options available, featuring all sorts of configurations, and with support for different charging standards.

The Chotech six-port USB charger that I reviewed previously is a great all-around option that should keep most people happy for a long time, but for some folks the lack of Quick Charge 3.0 support may be a let down. So, if you have a device that supports Qualcomm's latest fast charging technology you will need to look at a different option, like Tronsmart's latest five-port USB charger which includes a Quick Charge 3.0-ready port.

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The Android flagships introduced so far this year feature an octa-core processor, typically a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820. Hardly anyone can argue that eight cores are not enough for whatever apps and games users might want to run. Meizu is an exception as with its latest high-end smartphone it is taking things up a notch.

Meizu's new Pro 6 is among the first, if not the first, smartphone to feature a 10-core processor, namely a Helio X25 chip with four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.4 GHz, four Cortex-A53 cores at 2 GHz and two Cortex-A72 cores at 2.5 GHz. On paper it looks much more impressive than a Samsung Galaxy S7 or HTC 10.

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USB Type-C products that are non standard compliant can be so dangerous that the USB 3.0 Promoter Group has introduced an Authentication protocol, to enable smartphones, laptops and other types of devices to detect out of spec USB Type-C cables and chargers.

The "authenticity" of the cable or charger will be determined "right at the moment a wired connection is made -- before inappropriate power or data can be transferred", so, for instance, there will be no risk of damaging your phone when you plug in a bad cable to charge it.

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Despite giving us some of the nicest high-end smartphones, HTC's sales have dropped sharply in the past couple of years. Today, the once-successful company is nothing but a shadow of its former self, posting revenue so low that it makes you wonder how much longer it can keep the lights on. Meanwhile, long time rivals like Apple and Samsung are watching their flagships fly off the shelves.

HTC has clearly made some mistakes, but its latest flagship is proof that things are taking a turn for the better. HTC 10 offers pretty much everything that you could want in a premium smartphone: high-quality build, top level hardware, cutting-edge features, the latest software and a competitive price.

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Outlook is without a doubt one of the most powerful email apps available on Android and iOS. It supports all the major email providers, works with popular cloud storage services, gives you access to contacts, and integrates your calendars. On top of all this, Outlook is also optimized for use in the enterprise, so it can be a great app for work too.

Microsoft is now making Outlook even better as it launches Calendar Apps. This is a new feature that is designed to give you access to more calendar sources, with Evernote, Facebook and Wunderlist being the first available services.

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