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Data encryption has been around for decades, but it has taken on a more political tone in the past few years. There has been a strong market push to encrypt messages and data on smartphones, but there has also been a strong pushback from governments who want a backdoor for the sake of security or other interests. For companies like Facebook, however, encrypting data like WhatsApp messages is both a selling factor and a potential business killer. Now the social networking giant is allegedly researching ways to still glean some juicy data for advertising purposes without breaking the security of encrypted data.

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You can probably be forgiven if you've forgotten that HTC still makes Android-powered devices. We definitely haven't heard from the company for a long while, at least as far as smartphones are concerned. HTC has mostly been focusing on making sure its Vive VR ecosystem doesn't suffer the same fate as its mobile business, which can be difficult given the Oculus grip on the VR market. It turns out the company may have been silently working on a tablet, which is already rare for HTC, with an unusual feature for a tablet, especially a mid-range one.

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NVIDIA is already making big plans on its investments in the Arm ecosystem, most of which hinges on its acquisition of the UK-based company currently owned by Japan's SoftBank. We haven't heard much about the status of that process recently, but the latest news that has just surfaced isn't that encouraging, at least for NVIDIA. The acquisition has already been uncertain as far as the UK is concerned, and insiders are now saying that the country is inclined to reject the bid over national security concerns.

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Samsung's upcoming products scheduled for next week may have little left to surprise us, thanks to leaks, but those are still all unofficial and, at times, shady. Nothing beats an official confirmation, of course, but we can also make do with an unofficial hands-on, presuming it's the real deal. That's exactly what's happening with what may be the least spectacular device in the Unpacked event next week, as the Galaxy Buds 2 gets unboxed even before Samsung gets the chance to.

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We've covered a lot of Network-Attached Storage or NAS products here at 88gadget.info, especially as the data storage needs of people get more complicated even at home. These NAS devices can sometimes even function as your personal cloud services, which can be accessed both locally and remotely. For some people, however, the simplicity and straightforwardness of Direct-Attached Storage or DAS is more convenient and, more importantly, more affordable. TerraMaster's D5 Thunderbolt 3 is one such DAS option in the market, and we take it for a spin to see if it's worth the price it's asking for.

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It seems that Wear OS market players are finally starting to come together to push the smartwatch market as a more coherent force. Google's Wear OS 3 release might force smartwatch makers to finally upgrade their hardware to meet the software's requirements, while component makers like Qualcomm and Samsung are stepping up their game to meet that upcoming demand. While it still has barely any users, Qualcomm might already be preparing the Snapdragon Wear 4100's successor, at least based on the chip maker's own source code.

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The past 18 months have thrown the smartphone market royalty into disarray. It was no surprise that Huawei was dethroned from its coveted spot but getting booted out of the world's Top 5 was still painful. Samsung barely maintains a lead in the global market after a decrease in shipments, while Apple remains stable against all odds. Amidst this reshuffling, Xiaomi is emerging as the strongest contender, having surpassed even Samsung last quarter, at least in Europe.

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It's just a week away, but it seems that the rather positive image that Galaxy Z Fold 3 rumors have been painting may have hit a snag. Yes, the third-gen foldable phone and tablet in one might still have some of the newest technologies and innovations that the phone maker has to offer, but it might also come with a matching price tag. Some leaks about the Galaxy Z Fold 3's price isn't matching up to earlier rumors, but this latest one adds a bit of hope, even if small.

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Bluetooth might be the standard way for accessories to wirelessly communicate with smartphones, but the technology hasn't exactly been easy to use or even reliable all the time. In addition to connectivity issues, the pairing process between devices can sometimes be cumbersome and inconvenient, leading to the creation of technologies to ease that pain. Given that context, it's a bit strange that Samsung is changing what has become a standard process for pairing earbuds into something different and potentially more inconvenient for the Galaxy Buds 2.

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The digital content market has a big problem with piracy and most still resort to DRM technologies to fight it. Theft, however, has been a problem for millennia, and various tools, systems, and laws have been put in place to deter it, sometimes ineffectively. These days, retailers have resorted to technology-based solutions to either prevent theft or catch thieves, and Home Depot is applying a rather novel idea to discourage shoplifting by requiring its power tools to be activated at a register before they can be used.

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Some might not like to admit it, but Apple has always been a trendsetter, whether it actually creates new technologies or builds up existing ones. It was actually late to the wireless charging train, but its adoption provided a much-needed mark of confidence for the technology. Now it is pushing wireless charging further by utilizing its expertise in magnets to make a simple but important change, a change that has inspired Realme to push its own MagDart system to keep phones from slipping off chargers and vice versa.

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The Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 have been leaked to death, but those aren't the only ones coming next week. The Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic are also set to share the spotlight, and now it's the smartwatches' turn to get a massive leak that spills all the beans. We've already seen the design that's expected for Samsung's first Wear OS smartwatches, but now we also hear about the admittedly impressive things that will make it tick.

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