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One-time Taiwanese smartphone giant HTC has said this weekend that there will be job cuts in the future for the company as it tries to stymie falling profits.

In addition, the smartphone maker will release less models in the future, instead returning to just high-end models that it hopes can compete against Apple and Samsung. High-end models also come with much higher margins.

"The cuts will be across the board," Chief Financial Officer Chialin Chang said. "They will be significant." The cuts are expected to be made in the Q3, Q4 2015 and Q1 2016.

As recently as 2011, HTC had over 10 percent of global smartphone shipments but has since fallen out of favor as Samsung and Apple control the high-end and Chinese OEMs control the low end. The company now has less than 3 percent of global shipments.

At the end of July, Chinese startup OEM OnePlus announced their next flagship device, the OnePlus 2.

With high-end specs and a low price, the device immediately gained the attention of the tech world and it appears there is certainly some interest in the smartphone.

The company revealed yesterday that 2 million people had signed up for the company's invitation reservation list, and as of writing that number has just about hit 3 million.

If you buy a OnePlus 2 you will get a 5.5-inch 1080p display powered by a custom Snapdragon 810 v2.1 processor and 3 or 4GB or RAM depending on the model you choose. The selfie cam clocks in at 5MP while the standard camera is 13MP with OIS and two-tone flash. The phone is also the first device to launch with the USB-C connector, will include a fingerprint scanner and runs on Android 5.1 with the OxygenOS user interface overlay on top.

Most importantly, OnePlus has managed to keep their margins razor thin and keep the price low, as well, with the 16GB storage/3GB RAM model selling for just $329 and the 64GB/4GB RAM model selling for just $389.

The phone is available on August 11th.

If you have been following the smartphone industry for a few years it should be painfully obvious that Apple is about to release a new iPhone – or a few – in couple months. This is also what BuzzFeed's John Paczkowski says, citing inside sources.

According to Paczkowski, Apple is going to organize the event on the week of September 7, most likely on Wednesday the 9th. That would make it the same day as last year.

In addition to new iPhones Apple will reportedly reveal a new Apple TV, and even new iPads – although still maybe not an iPad Pro. Apple likes to spread the products out a bit and have a separate event for iPads but this might not be the case this year.

Apple has updated its website and the store link is nowhere to be found. The web store that sells all Apple products and selected accessories has now been integrated in to the product pages.

As you might imagine Apple doesn't want to remove its store altogether. Instead, it has made it easier to buy the products straight from the product pages. The accessories have now been moved under the appropriate Apple product.

There are some other changes as well. Under Music you can now find Apple Music, iPods, and iTunes. And there is a completely new Bag icon on the right that acts as your shopping basket, as well as Account information, Favorites and Orders.

Apple's Eddy Cue told USA Today earlier this week that the company "thrilled" about the Apple Music numbers. According to Cue, Apple Music has accumulated a total of 11 million subscribers during the first month.

Apple Music launched in early July with a three month free trial that has now been activated by over 11 million people. Two million of those accounts are so called family plans, which can be used by up to six family members.

After the three month trial expires Apple Music single subscription will cost $9.99 and the family plan five dollars more at $14.49. The numbers while "thrilling" do not really tell how many will opt to pay for the subscription and how many are just to trying it out for free.

Spotify told in July that it has currently 20 million paying subscribers and another 55 million that are using their music service's ad-supported version. Apple Music does not have a free model, but one of the Apple Music's unique features is the free to listen Beats 1 online radio.

Chinese startup OnePlus will introduce a second smartphone this year before Christmas.

Co-founder Carl Pei made the announcement during an interview, but did not elaborate much more except to say that it "may or may not" be more powerful than their recently announced flagship OnePlus 2.

"When I saw the prototype for [the new] phone I was like 'Holy sh*t, that's going to be my daily driver,' but then when the OnePlus 2 production version came out it's also super nice, so it's really hard to decide now what to use," Pei said. "It's going to be amazing, but today I'm not going to talk about it."

The OnePlus 2 will begin shipping this month.

Two days after the Indian government blocked access to 857 popular porn sites, the sites have returned following major public outrage.

The government's department of telecom has told ISP to unblock sites that "do not have child pornographic content." The government also denied that they were morally policing their people, but instead trying to prevent minors from accessing pornographic sites.

"I reject with contempt the charge that it is a Talibani government, as being said by some of the critics. Our government supports free media, respects communication on social media and has respected freedom of communication always," said Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

ISPs were not happy with either decision, concluding that the latter is also unreasonable. "How can the government put the responsibility on us to see whether a website carries child pornography or not?," the head of the India Internet Service Providers Association noted.

A few months after announcing its redesigned Xbox One dashboard, the company has confirmed a release time frame.

Microsoft says Windows 10 will launch for the console in November, powering the dashboard.

Most of the updates around the dashboard are simplifying the design, but there will be speed and performance upgrades, as well along with the integration of Cortana, Microsoft's voice activated digital personal assistant.

For example, you can ask Cortana to record your gaming and then publish it, or start or a party, or plenty of other things without needing to actually move (if you have Kinect, of course).

Seagate has teamed up with Microsoft's Xbox team to make the first external drive designed exclusively for Xbox One or Xbox 360.

The green external device packs 2TB of extra storage to load up with games and other data, and supports USB 3.0 for top performance with Xbox One. Ditching discs and downloading games is convenient in many ways but can present a problem when it comes to capacity. The latest generation of consoles come with at least 500GB of internal storage, but upgrades are necessary sooner than you might think.

The simplest solution is an external storage device. The Seagate Game Drive for Xbox One and Xbox 360 will be ready for data transfer and storage in a matter of seconds, just plug and play.

"Free up space on your console's internal drive while consolidating 50+ Xbox One games into a single location," Seagate's product page reads.

Game Drive goes on sale later this month from Gamespot, Amazon and the other usual suspects, with a MSRP of $109.99 USD.

Are you still waiting for your free upgrade to Windows 10? It may take days or weeks to be ready for you, but if you don't want to wait then maybe this can help.

NOTE: These instructions require that you edit the Windows registry in Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, and that you have been offered (and have reserved) your free upgrade. You are completely responsible for your actions. Please also remember that these instructions do not guarantee a flawless upgrade to Windows 10, so make sure to backup ALL of your personal files and be ready to deal with a recovery operation if necessary. All you will learn to do here is force Windows to start the update for you, rather than waiting. We are not responsible for any mistake you make or problem you might encounter.

With that aside, there are several methods floating around that allow you to bypass the waiting period in Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, meaning you can begin the upgrade to Microsoft's shiny new consumer OS now. The method shown here only requires that you add or edit a registry value. It worked for us on multiple systems, but we can't guarantee it on every system.

STEP 1 - Open RegEdit and Navigate to OSUpgrade Key

Microsoft has revealed that the sequel to the Halo Wars real-time strategy game will drop during the Fall of 2016.

It is being developed by Creative Assembly (Total War) and will be available on both Xbox One and Windows 10 next fall. Microsoft used its Gamescom media presentation to show off a short video that doesn't provide much information, but we are told it will tout fast-paced action, massive battles, and an all-new Halo story.

The original Halo Wars was released in 2009, developed by the now-closed Ensemble Studios.

Check out the short video:

From the developers of Max Payne and Alan Wake, Quantum Break will arrive on April 5, 2016 and features a star-studded cast.

Quantum Break is part video game, part in-game live-action show, where your in-game choices will affect the outcome of the fast-paced fusion between game and show, "illustrating one story perceived in many ways for a completely unique entertainment experience."

It is being developed by Remedy Entertainment (Max Payne, Alan Wake) and published by Microsoft Studios, and set around a time travel experiment that has gone horribly wrong forcing time itself to break down. The story's three main characters (Jack Joyce, Beth Wilder, and Paul Serene) gain some time manipulation abilities.

It is broken up into segments of gameplay that are followed by an episode of the show.

Quantum Break features a really impressive cast that you will recognize instantly from TV shows:

• Shawn Ashmore ("X-Men: Days of Future Past") as Jack Joyce
• Dominic Monaghan ("Lost") as William Joyce
• Aidan Gillen ("Game of Thrones") as Paul Serene
• Lance Reddick ("Fringe") as Martin Hatch
• Marshall Allman ("True Blood") as Charlie Wincott
• Patrick Heusinger ("Black Swan") as Liam Burke
• Mimi Michaels ("The Ugly Truth") as Fiona Miller
• Amelia Rose Blaire ("True Blood") as Amy Ferraro
• Brooke Nevin as Emily Burke
• Courtney Hope as Beth Wilder
• Jacqueline Pinol as Sofia Amaral
• Jeannie Bolet as Kate Ogawa
• Sean Durrie as Nick Marsters

In this first look at Crackdown 3 we are shown a virtual environment vulnerable to total destruction at the player's will!

Microsoft and developer ReAgent gave a first glimpse of Crackdown 3 at Gamescom 2015 earlier today, in which we can see entire buildings being demolished and causing considerable destruction to their surroundings. The game will feature 100 percent destructible environments, we are told.

The demo shown today included pre-alpha in-game footage, with a 2016 release schedule still the goal.

Give the video from Gamescon a view.

Microsoft has announced a special edition Xbox One bundle to launch a week ahead of Halo 5: Guardians, available to pre-order immediately.

The bundle will be released on October 20, a week ahead of the Halo 5 launch. It includes a uniquely designed Spartan themed Steel Book containing a full game download of Halo 5: Guardians (which can be downloaded immediately but not played until October 27), Warzone REQ Bundle, FOTUS-class armor and multiplayer emblem. It features custom Halo sound effects too.

Inside is a 1TB hard drive to store games and other data, while an Xbox One Chat Headset is also included. The bundle also features a Guardian model by Metal Earth, Halo: The Fall of Reach - Animated Series, and Spartan Locke's Classified Orders.

It is available to pre-order now for $499.99.

Microsoft has confirmed that it will be opening its flagship Microsoft Store in NYC this fall.

The new store will be located at 677 Fifth Avenue, the former location of high-end retailer Fendi.

As with their other retail locations, the store will showcase Windows and Xbox products, as well as accessories.