From The Verge: Amazon’s Echo devices will be released in Australia and New Zealand in early February. Customers can preorder an Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, or Echo Plus online from today and the devices are expected to ship early next month. The devices will also be available to buy directly from major...

From PC Mag: The reboot problem affecting Spectre/Meltdown-patched systems is more widespread than initially thought, Intel announced Wednesday.

Last week, Intel revealed that "a few customers" have experienced higher-than-usual system reboots after applying the firmware updates. At that time...

From CNET: According to NPD Group, which tracks US video game sales, 1.5 million Nintendo Switch systems were purchased during December -- more than any other video game system. With more than 4.8 million systems sold in the 10 months since its release, the Switch is the fastest-selling home console...

From The Verge: Microsoft first launched its new 13- and 15-inch Surface Book 2 laptops back in November, but the larger model has only been available in the US so far. Starting today, the 15-inch Surface Book 2 will be available in 17 new countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada...

From PC Mag: In a Tuesday blog post, Facebook Messenger Head Davis Marcus admitted that the app has "become too cluttered" as of late.

"Over the last two years, we built a lot of capabilities to find the features that continue to set us apart. A lot of them have found their product market fit; some...

From CNET: The OnePlus 5T is one of the best phones you can buy today -- but for now, you can't buy it with a credit card.

Following customer complaints about fraudulent activity on their credit card after using it on the company's site, OnePlus is disabling credit as a payment form. OnePlus'...

From PC Mag: It's time for more tipping with Tencent—again. Apple and Tencent have reached a deal over tipping on WeChat, a super-popular social media app that allows users to send each other monetary donations, or tips, for content they enjoy.

To put it another way, WeChat's tipping feature is...

From The Verge: OnePlus is investigating reports of customers’ credit card details being stolen after they bought goods from the smartphone maker online. The investigation began after a poll posted by users on OnePlus’ forums found that many customers had experienced the same problem. In the poll...

From CNET: Lyft went from Uber's smaller and less-familiar rival to solid competitor in the US last year.

Growing at a rapid rate, the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company provided passengers with 375.5 million trips in 2017. The increase marked a 130 percent rise in the number of rides from...

From PC Mag: Patches and upgrades are normally pretty predictable —or, at least, most companies can give a decent estimate for when services might come back online after a routine upgrade cycle. Kraken, a popular cryptocurrency exchange, was stuck in upgrade Hell for much, much longer than it...