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There used to be a time when you could easily change your phone's back colors and design without having to slap on a case or peel off a sticker. These days, you're often stuck with what you first buy, especially with a foldable phone with more limited options for cases. The color choices for Samsung's latest flagships are, unfortunately, not that varied at all but, at least for a limited time, the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Z Flip 5G each get one new color for buyers to pick.

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Although it hasn't disappeared, cryptocurrency and digital currencies seemed to have taken a backseat in recent months as far as news coverage is concerned. Given the global economy and health situation, however, interest in this new form of currency has apparently surged in the background. That may have given the group behind Facebook's controversial Libra cryptocurrency the motivation to finally push it to the market as early as January, even if it isn't the grand vision that Facebook and its remaining allies had for it last year.

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History is full of examples of people ready to take advantage of their follows given the opportunity, even during times of crises and misfortune. The launch of new hot products is easily one such opportunity and the new PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles are no exception, with eager and desperate buyers becoming easy prey for scalpers and scammers. One odd scam even involves trying to dupe people into buying what turns out to be just photos or the PS5 on eBay. Unfortunately, the low price seems to have successfully conned not a few interested bidders.

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Reports of the Galaxy Note line's demise might be exaggerated or premature. Those reports were mostly based on rumors that the Galaxy S21, particularly the Galaxy S21 Ultra, would gain the one feature that sets the two products apart. A report from South Korean media does seem to confirm that Samsung has gotten the ball rolling to give the Galaxy S21 Ultra its own S Pen. At the same time, however, it also gives Galaxy Note fans one last hope, at least until next year.

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It seems that Apple's M1 Silicon isn't yet done amazing people, even those from outside of Apple's circles. The processor's benchmarks have already been covered to death but nothing is probably more impressive than the M1's performance outside of the common and officially supported use cases. Running Windows games via CrossOver, for example, is already quite a feat but running Windows itself on top of macOS Big Sur, just like what one developer accomplished, is even more dumbfounding. Especially when it clocks better than Windows 10 ARM's "reference" Microsoft device.

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HMD Global has flooded the market with affordable Android phones but its track record on higher tiers has been less impressive. To date, only the Nokia 8 Sirocco and Nokia 9 PureView can be considered top-tier, at least based on the premium Snapdragon chips they're carrying. The latter's successor would have not been on par, at least based on the earliest information we had, but it would have given the PureView brand yet another stab at the market. Unfortunately, that won't be happening any time soon, as the Nokia 9.3 PureView has reportedly been delayed to 2021.

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AI and machine learning have become the buzzwords of today's tech world and news but, save for a few exceptions, people envision them as disembodied voices like Siri or even impersonal bits and bytes that silent work miracle behind computer screens. At CES 2020 earlier this year, Samsung and its subsidiary Star Labs showed off AI that was both relatable but also eerily too human. As if it wasn't enough to have them standing at arms' length on wall-mounted displays, it seems that Samsung is toying with the idea of bringing NEON to phones soon.

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It seems like only yesterday when the market finally caught up with 2K and now TV makers and content publishers are already pushing 8K everywhere they can. It's definitely going to take a lot of time before that even becomes as prevalent as 4K, especially considering the limitations when it comes to the availability of hardware and content. One such limitation is finally being lifted that will allow Android TV owners to watch YouTube videos in glorious 8K, presuming you meet all the requirements.

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One of the earliest promises of smartwatches was that they'd let you control your smartphone from your wrist. As the years passed, however, that functionality has taken a backseat as smartwatches become more fitness and health-centric. In fact, aside from media playback and calls, there are very few apps that take advantage of the ways a smartwatch can actually control smartphones. One of those ways is to remotely take photos or videos, something that an odd accessory from an unknown company is capitalizing on.

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Microsoft and Sony have been firing shots at each other before their new consoles launched, and now that the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are out, the competition has just gotten even hotter. This time, however, it will be gamers and critics who will be the judges and some are already calling Microsoft out for falling very short of its "world's most powerful console" boast. Naturally, the Xbox maker is saying it didn't lie, it's just that developers weren't completely prepared for the awesomeness of the Xbox Series X's capabilities, or so it argues.

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The OnePlus Nord marks the company's return to an underserved mid-tier smartphone market. By using a different name, OnePlus is ensuring that it won't be confused for its higher-end models and that consumers will be able to set their expectations right. Those expectations shouldn't be high, to begin with, but it would also be a disservice to write it off completely. As DxOMark found out, the OnePlus Nord does decently when it comes to taking photos and recording videos, as long as you don't expect to produce award-winning pieces from it.

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To say that Samsung is obsessed with foldable phones wouldn't exactly be an understatement. Ever since it showed off the idea of a flexible display and a foldable device in 2013, it has never stopped working towards that goal, no matter how long it took or costly it became. Despite having launched at least four such devices, there is definitely still room for improvement and the next foldable phone will reportedly bring the clamshell form factor on the same level as the Galaxy Z Fold 2.

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