From CNET: The smart speaker became available for advance orders in the online Apple Store in the US, UK and Australia on Friday. While you can typically put in an order for new Apple products at 12:01 a.m. PT, the HomePod wasn't available until just before 5:45 a.m. PT.

A little patience was...

From The Verge: Walmart has struck a deal with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten that will see the US company become the exclusive mass retailer of Kobo e-readers. Co-branded Walmart and Kobo apps will be released for ebook and audiobook content, which will be available through Walmart's website...

From PC Mag: Apple's iPhones aren't exactly cheap, in fact, the iPhone X set the price bar even higher when it was priced at $1,000. But Apple knows there's a market out there for more budget-friendly smartphones, which is why we got the iPhone SE back in 2016. Now a refresh of that entry-level...

From The Verge: Google is releasing a new version of Chrome to users this week, and it includes a number of new interesting features. The best addition is the ability to mute entire sites that autoplay videos. There are a number of sites on the web that have decided to annoy users by playing videos...

From PC Mag: Google parent Alphabet on Wednesday announced the formation of a new independent cybersecurity business called Chronicle.

Born in the web giant's X moonshot factory in 2016, Chronicle is "dedicated to helping companies find and stop cyber attacks before they cause harm," the company's...

From CNET: For years, fans and analysts had anticipated Nintendo's move to smartphone gaming -- expecting to see ports of popular Mario titles, or a portable version of the Wii and Wii U's virtual console games. What we got, however, was something completely different. Nintendo's first mobile game...

From PC Mag: Media streaming service Plex is embracing virtual reality.

Plex, for the uninitiated, organizes all your media content — movies, TV shows, music, and photo collections — and streams it to your devices. Now you can stream that content in virtual environments. Imagine watching your...

From ComputerWorld: Microsoft last week added an auto-save feature to the core applications in Office for Mac 2016, matching what Windows users were given in August.

AutoSave is available only to Office for Mac 2016 users who are also subscribers to Office 365.

With the refresh to Office for Mac...

From CNET: Antitrust regulators for the EU have hit Qualcomm with a billion-dollar fine Wednesday for paying Apple to use only its chips.

The European Commission regulators have accused the chip giant of violating antitrust laws by making payments to ensure exclusivity.

But big as it is, the fine...