Mitchel Broussard

Former software engineer Scotty Allen has posted his second video to YouTube this week, in which he decides to modify an iPhone 7 in order to add a functional 3.5mm headphone jack into the smartphone. On the Strange Parts website, Allen explained that he spent four months on the project, working in Shenzhen, China assembling the tools, going through 7 custom circuit boards designs, and 3...

Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller and his wife Kim have donated $10 million to Bowdoin College's Coastal Studies Center on Harpswell Sound in Harpswell, Maine, as a user on Reddit pointed out today. In a press release, Bowdoin explained that the gift will allow it to "substantially expand" the facilities in which students perform ocean research and study...

T-Mobile today announced that its T-Mobile ONE family plans will come with free Netflix subscriptions beginning September 12, allowing plan members to stream Netflix content at no additional monthly charge. To qualify, users will need two or more paid voice lines on a T-Mobile ONE family plan, and if customers already pay for a Netflix subscription, the un-carrier will cover the cost of the...

As its hunt for original television and film content heats up, Apple is now reportedly looking to land film distribution rights to the James Bond film franchise (via The Hollywood Reporter). Warner Bros. is said to be the front contender, but Apple and fellow tech company Amazon are both in "hot pursuit" of the spy series. Sony's distribution rights for James Bond films ended with the release...

We're six days away from Apple's iPhone 8 reveal event, set to be the first major product unveiling taking place at Apple Park, in the new Steve Jobs Theater auditorium. To get fans ready, Bloomberg today posted a detailed look into the internals of the Steve Jobs Theater, highlighting a few well-known facts while also sharing new tidbits of information about the building that's dedicated in...

Facebook has begun testing out a new commenting feature on iOS and Android devices, allowing users to choose a custom colored background for their comment that all Facebook users will see underneath the original post. As of now, only "a small fraction" of users have noticed the new feature on mobile (via Evert Groot and The Next Web), so it appears this is just one of many early-on tests that...

Apple has begun sharing tips to users on iPhone and iPad concerning the newest features of iOS 11, which is expected to debut sometime later this month. Users on Twitter and Reddit pointed out the new iOS 11 Tips section starting last night, noticing a few push notifications that encouraged them to read up on tips for Control Center, Siri Translate, the new iPad Dock, and more. Users on iOS...

Nearly two weeks after being unveiled at an event in New York City, and with a week and a half still to go before it launches to customers on September 15, Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 smartphone has received its first batch of reviews posted online today. Many publications marked the Note 8's large 6.3-inch "Infinity Display" as a step forward for Samsung, compared the smartphone's "Live Focus" bokeh ...

After announcing the "Smart Writing Set" earlier in February, Moleskine today unveiled the newest product in this line, called simply the "Smart Planner." The new planner will allow users to jot down appointments and reminders within a weekly calendar area of the notebook, which will then be automatically digitized and synced to Apple iCalendar or Google Calendar formats (via TechCrunch)....

Apple has announced that its newest retail store will be opening on Saturday, September 16 within the shopping district known as Tianyi Square, located in Ningbo, in the Zhejiang province of China. As with all Apple retail grand openings, Apple Tianyi Square will open at 10:00 am local time. Under the leadership of Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts, the company began aggressively expanding...

With Labor Day coming up in the United States on Monday, September 4, a collection of retailers have launched notable discounts on a variety of Apple and Apple-related products and accessories. Companies like Best Buy, Staples, and Belkin have debuted savings on select MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, Beats products, Apple accessories, and more, so we'll list some of the best deals below. Many of the ...

Ahead of Apple's now-confirmed September 12 media event, during which it's believed to announce the newest versions of the Apple Watch, iPhone, and Apple TV, Men's Health was invited to visit Apple's secret exercise lab where activity data on its wearable device is collected. Apple invited the media to its Apple Watch lab before the launch of the original Apple Watch in early 2015, and now Jay...

Several months after Yahoo warned users of a third data breach that occurred between 2015 and 2016, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California has said that breach victims now have the right to sue the company, allowing them to pursue breach of contract and unfair competition claims (via Reuters). Previously, Yahoo argued that these individuals lacked grounds to sue the company, but Koh ...

Hundreds of chief executive officers, chief operating officers, chairmen, presidents, and other business leaders have added their signatures to an open letter asking President Trump to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The program protects young adults brought illegally into the U.S. -- called "Dreamers" -- and grants them the "basic opportunity to work and...

Sphero today unveiled all-new iPhone-controlled Star Wars toys, including R2-D2 and a new character from Star Wars: The Last Jedi called BB-9E (via TechCrunch). This latter droid is described as originating from the same astromech series as BB-8, but is instead associated with the villainous First Order. Similar to Sphero's BB-8 droid from 2015, BB-9E (priced at $149) comes with a set of...

A collection of ARKit demos have steadily released over the summer following the announcement of the developer platform at WWDC this past June, and now we're merely weeks away from ARKit's debut alongside iOS 11 sometime in September. Today, item tracking company Pixie Technology announced the newest iteration of its "Pixie Point" tracker, which will use a few miniature-sized finding devices and...

Garmin today announced three new wearable devices that it will debut at IFA 2017, including the vívomove HR, vívosport, and vívoactive 3. The Garmin vívoactive 3 closely resembles Apple Watch in terms of features, with Garmin's device tracking heart rate, packing in 15 indoor and outdoor activity apps, and supporting a new "Garmin Pay" contactless payment solution. Garmin Pay supports Visa and ...

Sony today announced a collection of new products that it plans to showcase during the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Germany this upcoming weekend. One of the biggest additions to the company's line-up is a new smart home speaker, called the LF-S50G wireless speaker, which looks similar to Apple's upcoming HomePod, has a built-in Google Assistant, and is being pitched with a "high...

Bidding for Toshiba's much-sought-after memory chip unit was supposed to end in June 2017, after first kicking off in March, but the manufacturer is still fielding bids from multiple interested parties, most recently including a $17.4 billion offer from Western Digital. Likely due to Western Digital's legal action against Toshiba's decision to sell the NAND chip unit, talks surrounding that offer ...

In early 2016, AT&T began its first test of a fixed wireless 5G cellular network within Austin, Texas and expanded that test to new local businesses this past June, including a car wash, an apartment unit, and a church. Today, the carrier announced that its test of next-generation 5G cellular connectivity will be expanding to new businesses and residential customers in three new U.S. cities by...