Posts From Chris Merriman

Chris Merriman
Chris Merriman

I am the UK News Editor at XDA Developers. I’ve been writing about technology for over a decade for the likes of The Inquirer, where I was Associate Editor, Computer Shopper UK, and IT Pro. I’ve also appeared on Sky News, BBC, Al Jazeera and recently left a long-running weekly tech news spot on TalkRadio UK. My love of technology comes from my family who hail from the pioneering days of Silicon Valley - in fact my Grandfather worked on Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. I’ve been using smartphones (and reading XDA) since the HTC Canary in 2003. I’m also a smart home obsessive. You can find me tweeting as @ChrisTheDJ or email me at [email protected]

The best true wireless earbuds launched at CES 2021

The best true wireless earbuds launched at CES 2021

January 15, 2021
Bluetooth earbuds have been nothing short of a revolution. It’s been the elimination of all those fiddly wires that have finally given phone vendors the confidence to dispense with jack sockets, which have been in use in some form for 140 years. That has actually contributed directly to the slimmed-down design of modern handsets. But...
Samsung SmartThings integration with Google Nest goes live

Samsung SmartThings integration with Google Nest goes live

January 15, 2021
Google and Samsung have confirmed that the promised tighter integration between Google Nest and Samsung Smartthings has been launched, following its announcement at the end of last year. Although quietly announced alongside yesterday's Samsung Unpacked launch, reports on Reddit suggest it actually went live at the start of the week, offering control for Nest cameras,...
[Update: DoJ Investigation continues] Google completes Fitbit buyout after months of scrutiny

[Update: DoJ Investigation continues] Google completes Fitbit buyout after months of scrutiny

January 15, 2021
Google has confirmed that its buyout of wearables maker Fitbit has completed, bringing to an end 13 months of investigations in the US and European Union. The deal is said to have cost Google $2.1bn, where it will sit as a Google subsidiary, not an Alphabet division. The biggest prize for Google is the estimated 29m...
Ring rolls out end-to-end encryption for video doorbells and security cameras

Ring rolls out end-to-end encryption for video doorbells and security cameras

January 14, 2021
Ring has announced the rollout of end-to-end encryption (E2EE), first revealed in Fall 2020, for a selection of its products, as it tries to bolster confidence in its security credentials. The Amazon-owned smart security brand has raised more than a few eyebrows with its policies in recent years and will be hoping to bridge the...
Oculus is bringing multi-user accounts and app sharing to the Quest

Oculus is bringing multi-user accounts and app sharing to the Quest

January 14, 2021
Facebook-owned Oculus has announced plans to bring two of its most-requested features to the Oculus Quest VR headset. (Sadly, neither is the ability to log in without a Facebook account). Multi-User accounts, which will allow several accounts to log into the same device, and app sharing, which allows those users to access each other's apps. Oculus...
The Astro Slide is a 5G phone from Planet Computers with a physical keyboard

The Astro Slide is a 5G phone from Planet Computers with a physical keyboard

January 14, 2021
Planet Computers, the company which has carved a name for itself in creating QWERTY phones with old school PDA credentials and a choice of operating systems, has announced a revised specification and release date for its third creation, the Astro 5G Slide Transformer. As the name suggests, it will be the UK company’s first 5G model...
These are the WiFi 6e routers announced at CES 2021

These are the WiFi 6e routers announced at CES 2021

January 13, 2021
WiFi 6e has been one of the big talking points of this year’s CES. For the uninitiated, Wifi 6e marks a change in wireless networking that we’ve only seen once before: the use of a whole new band — 6GHz on top of 5GHz and the old faithful (but ridiculously congested) 2.4GHz. If you’re thinking “I...
AMD unveils Ryzen 5000 mobile processors based on the 7nm Zen 3 architecture

AMD unveils Ryzen 5000 mobile processors based on the 7nm Zen 3 architecture

January 12, 2021
AMD has taken the covers off its much anticipated AMD Ryzen 5000 mobile processors, heading to gaming notebooks and ultra-portables during 2021, and described in the company's CES keynote as  “the most powerful PC processors ever built.” Following on from the Desktop range, revealed last October, there are two distinct ranges, the H-Series for gaming...
PSA: Adobe Flash is officially dead and gone

PSA: Adobe Flash is officially dead and gone

January 12, 2021
Adobe Flash diehards - this is it: the last, final, beyond-the-penultimate end. From today, Tuesday 12th January 2021, Adobe Flash is no more. Stop us if you've heard this one before, but this time, that doesn't just mean blocked by browsers, or unsupported. It simply will not work, bringing to an end two decades of...
Google Chrome to default to HTTPS when typing in URLs

Google Chrome to default to HTTPS when typing in URLs

January 12, 2021
Google Chrome is testing a change which would see the Omnibox automatically default to the encrypted (HTTPS) version of a page, without going to the unencrypted version first. The move could shave valuable fractions of a second from page loading times and reflects the company's policy of prioritising encrypted websites in search results, brought in...
Arlo and Alarm.com made touchless video doorbells

Arlo and Alarm.com made touchless video doorbells

January 12, 2021
They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and it seems that's true of the global pandemic, which has seen not one, but two contactless doorbells being announced at CES, from Alarm.com and ex-Netgear subsidiary Arlo. The Alarm.com Touchless Video Doorbell works using a doormat sensor which rings when the caller steps on it....
DJI among new additions to US ‘entity list’ of Chinese tech firms

DJI among new additions to US ‘entity list’ of Chinese tech firms

December 18, 2020
DJI, the Chinese drone-making behemoth, has been added to the US Commerce Department's 'Entity List' which lists companies the US considers a threat to national security. Firms on the list are effectively banned from trading with the US, meaning that, in effect, US firms can no longer export components or software to SZ DJI Technology...