Articles by Derrek Lee

Signal is dealing with some server issues because of the influx of WhatsApp users.

What you need to know

Signal is facing server issues due to a rapid increase in user activity.
The company is currently working to increase its server capacity and fix the problem.
Many disgruntled WhatsApp users are switching to Signal and Telegram over privacy matters.

WhatsApp has dug itself into a hole, thanks to Facebook’s recent announcement about how users of one of the best messaging apps will be required to share their information with the social media platform. Users did not take kindly to that, and since the announcement, swaths of WhatsApp users have left the app and are taking their chats to Telegram and Signal. While millions of new users may sound fine and dandy, the companies now have to deal with a sudden spike of user-activity, and it’s causing outages.

Users of Signal’s messaging app may notice that the app is currently experiencing server issues. Apparently, it has been down s…

American investors can no longer invest in Xiaomi.

What you need to know

The Trump administration has placed an investment ban on Xiaomi.
It’s being alleged that Xiaomi is a “Communist Chinese military company”.
American investors have until November 11th to divest their holdings with the company.

Not a week before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated into office, the Trump administration is taking its last moments to flex its proverbial muscles. Reuters reports that Xiaomi, along with nine other Chinese companies, has been placed on an investment blacklist by the Trump administration. These companies are alleged to be part of the “Communist Chinese military” and American investors are being told to refrain from investing with them.

It’s unclear where these allegations stem from, but it’s concerning nonetheless. The U.S. government is making American investors divest their holdings in these companies, and have until November 11th to do so. As XDA-Developers notes, Qualcomm …

Giving S Pen support to the Galaxy S21 seems to have inspired Samsung.

What you need to know

Samsung has stated that it’s committed to bringing the S Pen to more phones.
The statement seems to suggest smartphones outside of Samsung’s flagships could receive support.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the first Galaxy smartphone outside of the Note lineup to support the S-Pen.

One of the defining features of the Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphones is the S Pen support on the Ultra, as it’s the first time Samsung has included support for the stylus outside of the Note series. It got us wondering whether or not Samsung planned to get rid of the Note series altogether and merge it with the S-series.

In a statement made to SamMobile, Samsung effectively confirmed that it is working on bringing the S Pen to more of its devices:

We are committed to innovating new mobile experiences that flow seamlessly and continuously to make our consumers’ lives easier and better. We’ve made the bold decision t…

Samsung Pay is losing the MST reader for contactless payments.

What you need to know

The Galaxy S21 doesn’t come with support for magnetic stripe technology (MST) in the U.S.
MST is what Galaxy devices use for contactless payments at terminals that don’t support NFC.
Samsung states that the feature will not come to future devices.

Samsung seems to be stripping quite a few features from its Samsung Pay service. Recently the company abruptly ended its rewards program, at least as it pertains to transactions made through the Samsung Pay app, meaning there’s one less avenue for users to accrue points with the service. The most recent change comes along with the new Galaxy S21 and is a bit more significant as it was one of the main features that gave it a leg up over Google Pay.

Android Police confirms that the Galaxy S21 will no longer support magnetic stripe technology (MST), at least in the U.S. If you’re unfamiliar, MST is what lets Galaxy smartphones make contactless payments a…

With the Galaxy S21, Samsung is no longer trying to push Google away.

What you need to know

Samsung announced a partnership with Google to integrate its Nest services with SmartThings.
One UI 3.1 on the new Galaxy S21 smartphones comes with Google Discover Feed by default.
Both companies worked to improve Android Auto and include SmartThings integration to control smart home devices and routines from your dashboard.

Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event had some great things going for it. The Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphones were of course the star of the show, and the new Galaxy Buds Pro could arguably be some of the best wireless earbuds on the market right now. But one of the most important things to come out of the event wasn’t the products, but the presence of Google.

Samsung and Google seem to have had a rocky relationship over the years. As Samsung grew larger and larger, eventually becoming the largest Android manufacturer in the world, it began to grow less and less reliant on…

Samsung’s Galaxy Smart Tag+ will be available later this year.

What you need to know

Samsung has announced the new Galaxy SmartTag and Galaxy SmartTag+.
The new tracker will be available on January 29th for $30.
Samsung is offering a free tag when you pre-order any Galaxy S21.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 family of smartphones have officially been announced, along with the new Galaxy Buds Pro for enhanced audio. Samsung also took a moment to talk about its new Galaxy SmartTag, which was rumored for a while as a potential competitor to Apple’s upcoming AirTags and an answer to the Tile Bluetooth tracker, which is easily one of the best Bluetooth trackers available today.

Similar to Tile, Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag can be attached to an item or pet and uses Bluetooth LE in order to communicate with your smartphone in order to locate the item with Samsung’s SmartThings Find app.

And even when your item or pet is out of Bluetooth range, the Galaxy SmartTag can be located by bouncing th…

ASUS has launched a trio of powerful new Chromebooks with a focus on work and gaming.

What you need to know

The new ASUS Chromebook CX9 and Flip CX5 are work-oriented laptops powered by 11th gen Intel processors.
The Chromebook Flip CM5 is a gaming-oriented laptop powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 processor.
Pricing and availability is not yet available for the new Chromebooks.

A few Chromebooks have been announced so far at CES 2021, such as the new Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2, and the Acer Chromebook Spin 514. ASUS has just announced a trio of powerful new Chromebooks, powered by Intel’s latest 11th gen processors and even a gaming-oriented machine with an AMD Ryzen processor.

The first new laptop is the ASUS Chromebook CX9, which is a work-oriented machine. It features a sleek design with plenty of power under the hood. There are options for Intel’s 11th gen Core i5 or i7 processors with Xe graphics, which is more than enough for Chromebook devices that rely largely on cloud com…

The Galaxy S21’s “custom colors” could be coming when the phones launch.

Update, January 13 (2:00 pm ET): ‘Custom colors’ for the Galaxy S21 smartphones will be made on-demand.

What you need to know

A new leak shows off some interesting new colors for the upcoming Galaxy S21 series.
The new colors could be regional variants or exclusive to certain memory configurations.
The Galaxy S21 smartphones will be launched on January 14th.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphones will be launched in just a couple of days but that doesn’t mean that the leaks will stop. We’ve already seen some color variants of the new smartphones, but Roland Quandt from WinFuture has just posted a new collection of photos that show off come “custom” color variants.

Some of the color variants match with what we’ve already seen, but the images show off some new ones. The Galaxy S21+ seems to be getting a new red variant to go with the black, bronze, light blue, and dual-tone purple colors. As for the Gala…

Samsung is set to launch two new wireless chargers.

What you need to know

Images have leaked of a new Wireless Charger Duo Pad.
The new charging pad is said to offer just 9W charging for phones.
Both charging pads will likely support Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Buds Pro and Galaxy Tags.

Just a day before the Galaxy Unpacked event where the trio of Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphones are set to be announced, images of some upcoming accessories have been spotted online. Both devices are wireless charging pads, the first being a single device charger and the second looks to be a follow-up to the Wireless Charger Duo Pad.

Samsung Wireless Charger EP-P1300. 9W Fast Wireless Charging. 7W Apple Wireless Charging. pic.twitter.com/CQ7OFYit9z— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) January 13, 2021

The first charging pad, which carries the model number EP-P1300, is meant for just one device at a time. According to Quandt, it will provide 9W “fast” wireless charging for Samsung devices like the Galaxy S…

Maskfone is just the mask we need while we wait for vaccines to be administered.

What you need to know

Binatone has launched a mask with a built-in mic and earphones.
The mask features media controls and a pocket for PM2.5 filters.
Users can order MaskFone with included PM2.5 filters for $50.

With CES 2021 going virtual due to the ongoing pandemic, there’s a lot of focus on how companies can improve our lives while many of us are working from home or just sheltered in place. Samsung’s latest updates to its TVs add new health features that make it easy to workout at home with an AI-assisted trainer, and the new Lenovo Tab P11 is the perfect Android tablet for families on a budget. The latest product announcement from UK telecom company, Binatone, is probably one of the most simple yet ingenious pieces of tech to come out of CES ― and it’s a mask.

The new Binatone MaskFone seeks to address one issue that many of us have, and it’s getting around muffled voices when having a …