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Apple has been granted a patent for "Management, Replacement and Removal of Explicit Lyrics during Audio Playback," giving the company technology that will automatically scan any streaming song online and remove any curses.

The company filed for the patent in September 2014, in efforts to make streaming services more family-friendly.

Apple says the tech can actually replace the swear words with beeping noises or with non-curse lyrics, similar to how cable channels replace curses when playing movies. Additionally, Apple says the tech is powerful enough to remove the words completely, leaving the background music to continue to play seamlessly.

Finally, Apple's patent also extends to audio books, suggesting Apple could edit out swear words or other explicit scenes from audio books to make them more child and young adult-friendly.

According to mobile app analytics firm Apteligent, iOS 9.3 is the most stable Apple operating system yet.

The latest release has a crash rate of 2.2 percent, far lower than previous releases and even lower than Google's Android 6.0, which currently has a crash rate of 2.6 percent.

As of writing, the "most stable" OS is still in the midst of a couple of major bugs. Some users cannot click on hyperlinks in certain apps (Apple will issue a fix soon) and a worse bug where users could not activate their Apple account in order to complete the upgrade.

Earlier this week, Microsoft launched new extensions for its Edge browser, which until recently, had none.

The company has added extensions for Pinterest, Amazon, Evernote, LastPass, Reddit, Adblock and Adblock Plus, major companies with millions of customers. Edge is still far behind in the extension department, however, where Chrome and Firefox offer thousands of extensions of all types.

There had been rumors that Microsoft was planning on adding native ad-blocking through Edge, but the company clarified that the experience would be through third-parties, namely Adblock and Adblock Plus (currently).

According to new "trusted" sources, Android Authority says there is an Android-powered Nokia smartphone in the works.

Known as the Nokia A1 (as of now), the device is expected to ship in the summer.

Unlike past Nokia devices, which were usually colorful and round, the new device has a dark, generic design including a plastic back.

The device appears to be running Android 6.x, with Nokia's Z Launcher overlay to enhance. The specs are still unclear, but the source claims the A1 features a 5.5-inch, 1080p display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652. Those specs would place the device squarely in the mid-range, where Nokia used to live and may again soon.

Just two weeks after Apple launched the devices to much fanfare, the iPhone SE and the iPad Pro 9.7 are now shipping.

Additionally, Apple has opened the devices to new markets and to retail Apple Stores, while other retailers like Best Buy will have them starting Monday.

Early reports suggest that the iPhone SE is going to be huge in China and India, while sales appear muted in the U.S. and Western Europe. Overall, most iPhone SE variations are showing 4-6 weeks shipping time, suggesting high sales around the globe.

Check out a more detailed post about the iPhone SE here: Apple unveils powerful, 4-inch iPhone SE

Foxconn has completed their acquisition of struggling display maker Sharp, although the deal was at a significantly reduced price than when it was first announced.

The manufacturing giant confirmed paying $3.5 billion for a 66 percent majority share in Sharp, a far cry from the $6.2 billion it initially bid for the company earlier this year. Foxconn, during their due diligence period, found more concerns about the company's viability, leading to the delays and the reduced price.

Sharp made waves when it accepted the foreign bid over a similar bid from a Japanese Government-backed consortium. The new deal is the largest acquisition of a Japanese company by a foreign company, ever.

"I am thrilled by the prospects for this strategic alliance and I look forward to working with everyone at Sharp," added Terry Gou, Foxconn CEO and founder. "We have much that we want to achieve and I am confident that we will unlock Sharp's true potential and together reach great heights."

A year after buying the streaming music service, it appears that owner Jay-Z may not be happy with the price he paid.

The rapper paid $56 million for the struggling company last year, and Tidal recently announced they had reached 3 million subscribers, up from the 540,000 the company allegedly had when it was acquired.

That number is up for dispute now, as Jay-Z owned Tidal has sent a letter to previous owner Schibsted ASA, accusing the company of overstating that number in order to secure a higher bid.

"It became clear after taking control of Tidal and conducting our own audit that the total number of subscribers was actually well below the 540,000 reported to us by the prior owners," Tidal said in an e-mailed statement. "As a result, we have now served legal notice to parties involved in the sale."

Schibsted was quick to deny the accusations: "We disagree with the accusations in the letter and any potential claims," said Anders Rikter, a spokesman for Schibsted. "We would like to point out that the company was listed on the stock exchange with everything that entails regarding transparent financial reporting."

Tidal offers unlimited streaming of 40 million songs for $9.99 per month, and the same in high-fidelity FLAC for $19.99 per month. The company made headlines last year due to being owned by artists including Jay-Z, Beyonce, Rihanna, Kanye West and Chris Martin, but it has so far struggled to make a dent with mainstream consumers.

Yesterday at Microsoft's BUILD event, Windows head Terry Myerson announced that there are now over 270 million devices running Windows 10.

Microsoft has long said they want the operating system running on 1 billion devices by the end of next year, so they are moving at a solid pace.

As expected, Windows 10 is the fastest growing Windows ever, especially given its price tag of $0 for most consumers.

Myerson also introduced Microsoft Windows 10 Anniversary edition, a free update coming in July that promises a host of new features, including better stylus support for tablets and touchscreen Windows 10 devices and the long-awaited ability to run Windows 10 apps from the Windows Store on your Xbox One.

Square Enix has released a new trailer and the launch date for their upcoming Final Fantasy XV, one of the biggest releases in years.

The game will be available for Xbox One and PS4 on September 30th.

Development of the game began in 2006 as part of Square's "Fabula Nova Crystalis Project" to create a bunch of standalone games spun off of Final Fantasy XIII, but it has clearly evolved since.

Check out the trailer here:

According to a new report, AT&T is looking to build its own version of Android thanks to some help from ZTE and Cyanogen.

The sources claimed that ZTE was building the phones running on the Android variant, but export sanctions ended that part of the deal before it could really start. Cyanogen already offers an Android variant that is moving further away from Google every day, and there are over 10 million users of the fork.

If true, the operating system would be similar to Amazon's FireOS, which is based on Android and supports Android apps, but is controlled by Amazon.

For the time being, the plans are still in early stages and AT&T may just drop it completely in the future. If they proceed, the move would be one of the largest ever to break away from Google and Android, as AT&T has over 110 million subscribers and significant marketing power.

Source:
Information

Nintendo has confirmed that their first smartphone app, Miitomo, will reach U.S. consumers tomorrow.

Additionally, the gaming company will release the app in numerous other countries, including the European and Australian markets. To date, the app has only been available in Nintendo's hometown Japan.

Miitomo lets users create their own Mii and profile based on their interests and then you can interact with other Miitomo users and friends in a virtual social network. Nintendo makes money through in-app purchases of items for your Miis.

AT&T has announced this week that it will increase monthly data caps for its U-verse home broadband service, including adding a new unlimited tier.

The first tier, which includes users who pay for speeds that vary from .8Mbps to 6Mbps, will now get 300 GB per month, up from 250 GB per month. On the opposite end, those that pay for 100Mbps+ will now get a 1TB cap, double the previous limit. For an additional $30 per month, you can have unlimited data.

AT&T is one of a few companies to implement data caps for home broadband service (thankfully) and the new unlimited option is incredibly overpriced but some rural users have no other options, which is a shame.

The new plans will go into effect on May 23rd.

Thanks to a high-profile album launch by Kanye West, HiFi streaming service Tidal now claims 3 million subscribers.

45 percent of the subscribers pay for the $19.99 per month, hi-fidelity, lossless audio/video tier with the rest paying for the standard $9.99 tier. The regular tier grants access to 40 million tracks and over 130,000 music videos including exclusives and original content.

Tidal can thank Kanye for the jump in subscribers. 'The Life of Pablo,' which was made available exclusively through the service in February, topped 250 million streams in its first 10 days of release, a very significant figure.

Sony has confirmed that its 4K movie streaming service Ultra will launch early next month, letting customers buy and stream movies in 4K (Ultra HD) resolution.

The service is set to launch on April 4th and will be supported on all Sony 4K TV sets.

"We wanted to give consumers a streaming option that showcased the best 4K content that we can offer with the ease of a streaming service," said Sony Pictures Entertainment VP Jake Winett.

While there will be primarily older titles available, there will also some new releases including "Concussion," "The Night Before" and "The Walk." The titles will sell for $30 each, and there are no traditional rentals at this point.

Ultra is also connected to cloud movie service UltraViolet, which means you can upgrade your SD and HD movies saved to the service into 4K for $12-$15 and access the films elsewhere.

EBay has acquired auto industry advertising and marketing technology company Cargigi, and the company's product will replace eBay's own Dealer Center.

The auction company called the "acquisition" small and did say the Cargigi team of 30 will all join eBay.

Ebay also says the acquisition will help them "build out its structured data capabilities for the vehicles industry," including giving dealers more access to analytics.

Cargigi was founded in 2009, and their tech helps dealers to get their ads in front of targeted audiences, including through Craiglist and other sites including social media. Cargigi also offers analytics related to how their ads are performing, tools to monitor competitors, and easy tools to enhance their photos before posting with listings.

"After making a significant impact on the automotive sector early on, Cargigi quickly became one of the top classified marketing service providers for thousands of dealerships nationwide. As Cargigi has continued to scale, it has remained singularly focused on innovating and creating great products," added Cargigi founder Tony Hoang.