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Samsung reports its weakest profits since late 2016

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Galaxy S10 lineup
Samsung's latest flagship phones are doing well, though.
Photo: Samsung

Samsung has reported its weakest profits in two years as first quarter earnings suffered from weak smartphone and memory chip sales.

While Samsung said that it expects things will be get better in the second half of the year, the immediate outlook isn’t great. Samsung posted operating profits of $5.4 billion for the quarter, its smallest since late 2016. By comparison, this quarter last year raked in $13.4 billion.

Foxconn CEO may be headed to White House to discuss Wisconsin factory

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iPhone sales drive Apple’s biggest supplier to big profits
Plan for Foxconn's Wisconsin factory seem to have changed along the way.
Photo: CBS

Departing Foxconn chairman Terry Gou is reportedly heading to the U.S. where he will have a meeting at the White House. The subject of the meeting will be Foxconn’s plans to open a factory in Wisconsin.

Foxconn maintains that it’s working hard to deliver the factory it received $4 billion in tax breaks for. However, behind-the-scenes dealings suggest that the company may be trying to renegotiate terms.

Antitrust regulator hasn’t decided whether to approve T-Mobile and Sprint merger

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t-mobile
Date for completing the deal has been pushed back three months.
Photo: T-Mobile

T-Mobile and Sprint have pushed back the date for completing their proposed controversial merger to July 29. The reason? Because the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division chief says that he has not yet decided whether or not to approve the deal.

Previously, the deal was supposed to be completed this week. If it takes place, it will combine the no. 3 and no. 4 wireless providers in the United States.

Future iPhones could boast MicroLED displays

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iPhone XS Max
And Foxconn wants to build them for Apple.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple could use next-gen MicroLED displays for a future iPhone, a new report claims.

The report claims that Foxconn, Apple’s biggest supplier, is working hard to win MicroLED orders from Apple — and the iPhone is singled out as the likely recipient.

Robotics startup that graced the stage at WWDC closes

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Anki
These tiny robot cars once looked like the future of gaming.
Screenshot: Apple

Robotics startup Anki, which graced the stage at WWDC in 2013, has closed up shop. The company previously raised more than $200 million in funding, but it had seemingly burned through the money.

Anki revealed this week that it will lay off its entire staff of almost 200 people. The startup previously enjoyed acquisition interest from the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and Comcast.

VP helping lead the charge for a 5G iPhone departs company

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2020 could be Apple's greatest year so far
A veteran Apple VP who was a big proponent for a 5G iPhone is leaving.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The Apple vice president in charge of sourcing 4G and 5G iPhone modems has left. The departure of Rubén Caballero comes as this part of Apple’s business is in transition, with Qualcomm once again available to provide these vital components.

It seems developing a 5G iPhone is going to continue to be more difficult than one might expect.

Thrilling iPhone 11 video shows off all the rumored features

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iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max rumors video
This concept video rolls together all the rumors about the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max.
Photo: Hassan Kaymak/ConceptsiPhone

A new video wraps up all the unconfirmed reports about Apples next handset. And there’s a lot to work with. Details about the iPhone 11 have been leaking out steadily, even though the launch is still half a year away.

Watch it now:

Privacy-preaching Apple gets low marks in trust survey

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Apple Trust in Tech survey
No winners here.
Chart: Tresorit

Even though CEO Tim Cook repeatedly says privacy and personal data are important to Apple, a huge majority of surveyed consumers still don’t trust the iPhone maker to lawfully protect their information.

All seven of the tech giants mentioned in a YouGov survey received jarringly negative results from an undisclosed number of respondents from the U.S. and United Kingdom.

2019 iPhone lineup may finally come with 18W charger

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18W charger
Apple currently charges $29 to buy the 18W charger separately.
Photo: Apple

Freshly leaked details about the 2019 iPhone lineup claim customers can expect faster-charging capabilities right out of the box.

While Apple added faster-charging powers to the iPhone since the iPhone 8, it’s been giving customers the same 5W charger that has been used for years. That is finally set to change this year though as Apple is reportedly planning to include an 18W charger in the box with new 2019 iPhones.

Roland’s new Bluetooth speaker doubles as a guitar amp

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Roland’s BTM-1 would look at home on a Russian billionaire’s yacht.
Roland’s BTM-1 would look at home on a Russian billionaire’s yacht.
Photo: Roland

If you play an electric musical instrument, and you also listen to music from your iPhone, and you also (perhaps) have a pink neon flamingo on your nightstand (bear with me here), then you will L-O-V-E the new Roland BTM-1, a combo Bluetooth speaker and guitar/synth amp.

Let’s check it out.

iOS 12.3 beta 4 arrives with fresh fixes for iPhone and iPad [Updated]

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The Apple TV app gets a raft of new features in iOS 12.3.
The Apple TV app gets a raft of new features in iOS 12.3.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple seeded the fourth beta of iOS 12.3 to developers this morning, just one week after the last beta was released. iOS 12.3 beta 4 brings with it a number of changes for iPhone and iPad, including changes to the Apple TV app, Wallet app tweaks and tons of bug fixes.

Update: The public can now also download iOS 12.3 beta 4, allowing anyone to test out the new features.

Siri is more popular than Alexa (sort of)

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Siri Alexa in voice report
So selfless, that Siri.
Photo: Apple

More consumers use Siri as a digital assistant than Amazon’s Alexa, despite Alexa being the voice behind the top-selling line of smart speakers, the Echo.

Siri’s popularity is just one of the findings of a Voice report authored by Microsoft and Bing Advertising, which suggests the voice could soon replace touch to drive the activity of our digital lives.

Leaked Motorola Razr actually looks pretty amazing

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Motorola
The new Razr has a different take on folding displays.
Photo: Motorola

Motorola is about to attempt a big comeback into the smartphone market and folding displays could be the key to making the company relevant again.

Leaked images of an alleged Motorola Razr have surfaced online revealing significant changes made to one of the most popular phones ever. While we can’t verify whether or not the image above is authentic, we have to admit, it actually looks pretty amazing.

Buy! Buy! Gene Munster thinks Apple stock is poised to explode

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Tim Cook earnings apple
Investor thinks Apple stock will shoot up 70% in the next two years.
Illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

If you’re anything like me, you perennially feel like you missed the best time to invest in Apple stock.

In fact, if Loup Ventures analyst and investor Gene Munster is correct, this may be the perfect time to invest all your worldly possessions in AAPL. According to Munster, Apple stock is poised to rocket up 70% in the next two years. That would make Apple a $1.5 trillion company.

Spotify storms ahead of Apple Music with 100 million paid subscribers

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Spotify app now playing screen
Are you a Spotify subscriber?
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Spotify has reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2019, revealing that it has passed 100 million paid users.

This gives Spotify around twice the number of premium subscribers as the last reported figures for Apple Music. However, Apple Music may still have more paid subscribers in the United States.

Despite negative headlines, Apple shares just keep going up

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Apple waives developer fees for nonprofits, others in 8 additional countries
AAPL is up 43% this year.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s second quarter earnings are going to be down from the same quarter last year. But despite Apple continuing to bear the brunt of negative headlines, its stock price just keeps going up.

A new article from CNBC notes that Apple shares are up 43% since January. That’s pretty darn impressive for a company whose biggest product, the iPhone, may have seen the end of its major growth.

Apple says parental control apps were removed for privacy and security reasons

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Woman in China temporarily goes blind in one eye after smartphone overuse
Apple introduced its own Screen Time tools with iOS 12.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple has responded to a New York Times report, claiming that it has removed various parental control apps from the App Store. Apple allegedly removed apps which offered similar features to its own Screen Time tool.

In response, Apple confirms that it did remove “several” such apps — but says that this was done due to privacy and security risks.

Why iPad + mouse = genius [Cult of Mac Magazine No. 294]

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Actually, using a mouse with an iPad sounds pretty awesome.
Actually, using a mouse with an iPad sounds pretty awesome.
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Coming soon to an iPad near you: a mouse! Don’t puke in your mouth. This is going to be cool.

Plus, get the rest of the week’s best Apple news, reviews, how-tos and opinions in the latest issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. It’s a free iOS app, and it looks great on your iPad (with or without a mouse). Or keep reading to get the week’s top stories in your browser.

Apple was in talks to buy Intel’s 5G modem business

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This Intel modem will likely power the first 5G iPhone.
Apple's love affair with Intel was short-lived.
Photo: Intel

Apple nearly purchased Intel’s smartphone-modem chip business as a way to fix its impending 5G problems on the iPhone, according to a new report.

Talks between Intel and Apple allegedly came to an abrupt halt once the iPhone-maker settled its legal war with Qualcomm. The two sides had been talking about an acquisition since the summer, but it sounds like Intel’s hopes of selling have been dashed for now.

Instagram taps seller of fake likes with multi-million dollar lawsuit

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Instagram lawsuit
A Chrome extension can bring your hidden "Likes" out in the open.
Photo: Pixabay

Facebook is suing a New Zealand-based company for selling fake likes and follows to users of its photo-sharing app, Instagram.

The lawsuit, filed today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, accuses the defendants of using different companies and websites to peddle bot-generated likes, views, and new followers, which violates Instagram’s terms of use along with U.S. computer fraud laws.