Game of Thrones is nearly halfway through its final season, and its emphasis on romance has become somewhat of a problem. While there have been some amazing moments so far - Jon Snow riding a dragon and Brienne being knighted - the first two episodes of Game of Thrones season 8 have contained lots of exposition and not a lot of action. There have been no major losses, and almost nothing has been seen of the Army of the Dead so far (with the exception of several White Walkers showing up at Winterfell)....

An employee at Apple’s manufacturing partner Foxconn has reportedly been detained by Chinese police over allegations the 40-year old man stole and sold iPhone 6 shells in the week’s leading up to the device’s unveiling. The report comes from The Wall Street Journal, which cites local reports from Communist Party-run newspaper Taihang Daily: Chinese police in recent days said that on Sept. 4, they detained an employee of Foxconn, a major Apple contractor, for stealing shells of the new phone from a factory in northern Shanxi province… The factory is in a development zone in the city of Jincheng....

iPhone assembler Foxconn is reportedly offering staff retention bonuses as it begins ramping up hiring for production of this year’s models … Digitimes cites a local report that the bonuses on offer are to existing staff who renew their contracts for this year’s production. Foxconn is also said to be aiming to improve its margins this year. A slight year-on-year decline in iPhone sales in Q4 of last year saw some suppliers suffering, though Foxconn still managed to grow its profits....

Foxconn’s Wisconsin factory is a seemingly never-ending tale of conflicting claims about what it will do and when it will do it. The latest of these is that it will now be used to make medical ventilators, to help hospitals cope with demand for intensive care beds during the coronavirus crisis. The Taiwanese company says that it will be partnering with a US medical firm … Reuters reports. The statement was backed by Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak....

CBS has ordered a pilot for Frankenstein, a police procedural show about a cop who is brought back from the dead by renegade scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The show is one of several new ideas in contention to join the network’s fall lineup this year. Beginning its life as a nineteenth century novel written by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein has been the subject of countless different adaptations. In the past few years alone there have been three different movie adaptations - Frank3n5t31n, Victor Frankenstein and I, Frankenstein - and Universal Pictures currently has a Bride of Frankenstein movie in the works, with Bill Condon attached to direct....

To some Frasier fans, Martin Crane was the heart and soul of the series. With his blue-collar common sense and traditional charm, he was a perfect foil to his grandstanding sons Niles and Frasier, both psychiatrists and both obsessed with the finer things in life. Marty was a police officer in the Seattle Police Department before he was wounded in the line of duty and forced to retire. When his eldest son Frasier moved back to Seattle from Boston to begin his job as the host of a radio psychiatry program, he begrudgingly moved in with him while he recovered....

Looking for a few apps to keep you entertained this weekend? Then have a look at the latest edition of Friday 5. Inside, we discuss Linea — a brand new sketch app with Apple Pencil support. We also talk about Moonlight, an app that lets you stream NVIDIA GameStream-compatible games to an iOS device. Those, and three additional apps are on the docket for this week’s edition of Friday 5. Have a look at our brief hands-on video inside for the full rundown....

Euron Greyjoy from Game of Thrones is one of the show’s biggest antagonizers, getting under people’s skin with his boastful attitude and cocky persona. Despite his rude manner, Euron was one of the most brilliant naval captains in Westeros, beating almost anyone in the open water. But his actions speak more than his words, earning him a place alongside Cersei Lannister in both the throne room and bedroom. With that, here are the most shameless things he has ever done....

Tyrion Lannister is one of the most popular characters in Game of Thrones. He is an intelligent and funny character who managed to endear himself to the Game of Thrones audience from his very first season. That being said, despite his popularity, he is also known for his dark side and has very little love for his Lannister family. Tyrion murdered his father and his girlfriend, so he is certainly not a hero by any stretch of the imagination....

Game of Thrones appears to be teasing a Northern rebellion and a divided Westeros in the series finale. The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones angered some fans, but it definitely moved things forward - King’s Landing fell, Daenerys went full-blown Mad Queen, and Cersei finally died in the rubble of the Red Keep while trying to escape. With Cersei gone and Dany crazy, it’s clear that the finale is going to be all about the conflict between Jon and Daenerys, and that could well mean a Northern rebellion....

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Game of Thrones’ “The Long Night”. In the wake of the Night King’s shocking defeat, it may be a good time to remember that Game Of Thrones has been successful by defying audience expectations. The wildly popular HBO series has become a cultural phenomenon through its continued subversion of normal fantasy storytelling tropes, routinely blurring the lines between the protagonists and antagonists as it’s gone on....

A range of apps have been updated today with limited-time promotions, in aid of the (RED) charity. Apple has participated in the event with an update to GarageBand, offering a limited-edition In-App Purchase that makes over 300 new drum, guitar, synth and bass loops available as an In-App Purchase. All proceeds from the sale of this expansion pack go directly to the (RED) charity, which sends the money to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria....

Here’s an excerpt from the Google blog: The net effect for you, the smartphone loving consumer, is two-fold: one, it quashes innovation and startups, since you have to have a well-heeled legal department to survive these patent suits and two, because companies are buying patents for $4.5 billion just so they can sue other companies, it’s upping the cost of technology to you. I added my own emphasis above—that’s $15 for every Android device....

While Frontier is best known for its rural DSL internet service, the company has been expanding its fiber network. Frontier’s 2 Gbps service will be available to approximately 4 million customers in 19 states as part of its launch. This 2 Gbps service is symmetrical; this means you’ll get 2 Gbps speeds both up and down. So, what kind of speed does that give you in real-world terms? Well, you can download Fortnite, which comes in at 10GBs, in about two minutes....

There has long been debate about the future of the Lightning port in the iPhone. Will Apple stick to this, replace it with USB-C, or move straight to a fully wireless iPhone — one without any ports at all? There’s fresh discussion today prompted by a claim that Apple will do none of these things, and instead use a Smart Connector on the iPhone 13… That claim comes from a Twitter account with no track record, so there’s no reason to give it any weight....

Update: Apple asked us to remove the posters. As part of Apple’s campaign to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Mac, it released ‘Apple 30’ themed posters cleverly composed with the names of every Apple employee, corporate and retail alike. While the physical posters are located on Apple’s campus, the company decided to release digital versions on their internal system so current employees could locate their names amid the vast sea of alphabet....

Most of you are probably already familiar with Apple Park, Apple’s iconic new campus that opened in 2017 and has hosted pretty much every Apple event since then. Despite this, the campus is not open to the public, which makes us even more curious about its structure. Luckily we can now get a better look at Apple Park, thanks to an internal app the company made for employees that is called “Tour Apple Park....

As the final season of Game of Thrones draws close, we look forward to what the remaining episodes will reveal. In the recent seasons, some of the show’s biggest mysteries have been answered. Jon Snow’s parentage. The identity of Joffrey’s killers. All these questions have been answered and yet there are still so many that remain. One of the biggest mysteries going into Season 8 is the Night King. Despite being the true villain of the series, we know very little about the leader of the army of the dead....

Surprisingly, the Game of Thrones series finale didn’t have too many deaths, which means quite a few characters survived it all - but whom? Game of Thrones is easily one of the deadliest shows in television history, with its shocking deaths sometimes coming out of left field. In the Game of Throne series finale, the big death was Daenerys Targaryen, who was stabbed by her nephew and lover, Jon Snow. But Jon Snow wasn’t executed for his crimes....

If they survive Game of Thrones season 8, Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) and Gendry (Joe Dempsie) should end up together. It may be presumptuous to assume one or both will survive the Great War against the White Walkers but, if they do make it to the end of season 8, Arya and Gendry are an ideal match to continue their Houses and lineage. Arya and Gendry come from backgrounds as opposite as you would find in Westeros: the second daughter of Lord Eddard Stark (Sean Bean) grew up (and rebelled against being) a Lady in Winterfell....