AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) was discontinued last October by Yahoo (Oath) and now Yahoo is killing its own messenging platform. Yahoo Messenger has been around for years, but they can't compete with Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat and others. The thing is, Yahoo is directing people to another messenger app they started testing a while ago called Squirrel. It's beta and invite only, but you can request access here. I have no idea why they'd kill one to start another. It makes as much sense as Google having three messaging apps for Android. None.

“There currently isn’t a replacement product available for Yahoo Messenger,” the company writes. “We’re constantly experimenting with new services and apps, one of which is an invite-only group messaging app called Yahoo Squirrel (currently in beta).” Squirrel is a group messaging app Yahoo started testing last month.

Source: TechCrunch

Qualcomm has been doing a lot of awesome things over the past few years in terms of chip designs. They have built most of the smartphone processors as well as a ton of IoT chips, VR Headsets and a bunch of wearable processors as well. They really have a solid product line with their Snapdragon processors and they are in virtually all flagship devices. They've just stepped up their game again and released the Snapdragon 850 - a chip that is designed entirely for Windows PCs that support ARM. The beauty of this chip is that it is clocked in a 2.96GHz and the chip includes a camera processor that captures 4K and HDR. In addition to those nifty tidbits, it also includes Qualcomms X20 LTE modem that enables 1.2Gbps transfer speeds, and up to 25 hours of battery life on a thin-and-light PC. Zing!

So how is a made-for-PC chipset different from one for a phone? Not much, really. Since the Snapdragon 850 is meant to be used in devices bigger than a smartphone (like laptops and convertibles), it can run at higher clock speeds without overheating. The extra space in larger chasses allows for better dissipation. Thanks to the faster 2.96GHz clock speed (among other tweaks), the Snapdragon 850 is about 30 percent faster than the 835.

Source: Engadget

We have just posted up Episode #436 of Weekly Tech Update! In this episode we will be discussing Canon embraces digital only, the subscription you can't pass up and of course Apple's WWDC highlights. We have those stories and more...

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We have just posted up Episode #435 of Weekly Tech Update! In this episode we will be discussing Amazon bans return junkies, PS4 is nearing the end of its life and YouTube is tardy to the music party. We have those stories and more...

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Apple has started paying their back taxes to Ireland, which unless they can get the courts to overturn them, come out to a whopping 13 billion Euros ($15 billion USD). In the grand scheme of things this won't hurt Apple too much if the decision stands up but it is an interesting start as countries go after big businesses that have been avoiding taxes with elaborate schemes. Reuters has the story.

The European Commission ordered Apple in August 2016 to pay the taxes it ruled it had received as illegal state aid, as part of its wider drive against what it says are sweetheart tax deals usually used by smaller states in the bloc to lure multinational companies and their jobs and investment.

A constant topic of discussion in the tech world is how internet video will mean the end of cable companies, however, while subscriptions are dropping, it really isn't as bad as predicted. Since 2012, 3.4 million people have cut the cord but it hasn't bankrupted any of the major players. The first quarter in 2018 saw 285,000 users which is once gain about the average over the past couple years. DSLResports has the full story.

The cord cutting phenomenon saw a slight slowdown during the first quarter, with the nation's biggest pay TV providers losing "just" 305,000 subscribers during the first quarter. According to the latest study from Leichtman Research, that's a notable improvement from the half a million subscribers the industry lost one year earlier. That said, Leichtman's numbers tend to be notably lower than many Wall Street analyst estimates, and the cord cutting phenomenon is expected to heat back up during the second quarter, when many college students go home for the summer.

ZTE has announced that they'll be shutting down their global operations as a result of the sanctions that were placed against them by the US government. ZTE was one of the more promising smartphone makers and has some pretty decent devices. Thanks to some issues with them withholding information from the US government, the US has banned American companies from exporting technology to ZTE and as a result the company has decided to shut down all together. ArsTechnica has the full story.

One of the leading Chinese smartphone makers, ZTE, is shutting down global operations in the face of crippling sanctions levied by the US government. ZTE is China's number-two smartphone maker, and as recently as last year it was the number-four smartphone vendor in the US.

"The major operating activities of the Company have ceased," ZTE wrote (PDF) in a Wednesday announcement to stock market traders in Hong Kong.

ZTE's business became untenable after a US government order banned American companies from exporting technology to the Chinese smartphone maker. ZTE is heavily dependent on US-made components, especially Qualcomm chips and Google's Android software stack.

We have just posted up Episode #434 of Weekly Tech Update! In this episode we will be discussing the founder of WhatsApp quits, Sprint and T-Mobile talk about a merger and finally, we talk about what's next for Bitcoin. We have those stories and more...

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Somehow Twitter remained profitable for a 2nd quarter in a row. Not going to lie, I didn't see this one coming after Twitter lost money for many years consecutively but seems to have at least temporarily stopped the bleeding. CNET has the full story.

The company, meanwhile, has had a hard time finding growth, both in terms of profits and in terms of users. So its latest numbers may offer a ray of hope.

For the quarter that ended March 31, Twitter counted 336 million users who log in at least once a month. That's less than a sixth of the more than 2 billion that Facebook counts, but it's up from 330 million in the final quarter of 2017.

The question is whether that'll amount to anything more than a blip. In a March note to investors, analysts at Oppenheimer Equity Research declared that even if Twitter regains user growth momentum and increased advertising, "long-term utility" is "still unknown."