The Compact series by Sony used to occupy a niche of its own as it combined top-of-the-line specs with a pocketable footprint. The latter is still very much true for the just released Xperia X Compact but it no longer has the flagship specs that we're used to.
Leaks about the Nexus replacements are coming from multiple sources. The phones - branded Google Pixel - passed through Geekbench, they were certified and also some cases for them cropped up, even the screen panels. The benchmark doesn't reveal much we didn't already know - the phones will be powered by Snapdragon 820 chipsets (though a new 2nd revision) with 4GB of RAM, but interestingly the OS is listed as Android 7.1. So the Pixels will bring a new minor version of Nougat with them. Certifications for the US and international Pixel phones The Pixels, despite the Google...
In what appears to be the first lawsuit related to exploding Galaxy Note7s in the US, Samsung has been dragged to court by a Note7 user who said the phone caught fire in his pocket causing him severe bodily injuries. The incident happened on September 9. According to the user - Jonathan Strobel, who is from Florida - the explosion took place when the device was in the front pocket of his pants, something which resulting in severe burns on his right leg. His left thumb also suffered burns as he tried to remove the device from his pants. Strobel is now seeking "damages for medical...
With the iPhone 7 duo now officially out and already shipping to users, the hype is at an all-time high. Most are busy either waiting for a unit, praising the Cupertino genius or alternatively, mocking the lack of a 3.5mm audio jack and the AirPods, or if not that, coming up with outlandish ways to torture units on camera for those all-important YouTube views. You know, just the usual Apple launch activities. However, all these antics seem to have overshadowed a potentially showstopping design flaw, that was recently discovered by one Myke Hurley, seemingly almost by chance. It...
Samsung has started sending out media invites for a September 19 event in India. The invite reveals that the South Korean company will launch a new Galaxy J series smartphone. While the invite doesn't reveal the name of the phone, the words "Prime Time" are enough to suggest that the star of the event will be the Galaxy J7 Prime that was recently launched in Vietnam. If you recall, there have already been rumors that the handset will be launched in India soon. As for price, the J7 Prime is said to carry a tag of INR 18,790 (around $285) in the country. Via
Google and HTC have really been mystifying Nexus fans over the last few months. At this point in time, we are quite certain that the latter will produce and out two smartphones for Google this year, originally codenamed Sailfish and Marlin. Beyond that, however, we know little details about the pair. Even the Nexus branding seems uncertain, as more and more rumors are hinting at a new Pixel moniker. A few days ago, the Nexus launcher was officially rebranded to match said title, so, we feel fairly confident when assuming the Pixel and Pixel XL are the two devices we have to look forward...
Google is testing a new feature for its Play Store app that will allow users to queue downloads until a Wi-Fi connection is available, saving them any extra data usage charges. Currently, the app just tells users to use WiFi when they try downloading something large in size, with no option to postpone the download. With the new feature, however, you'll have the option to go ahead with the download or "Wait for WiFi." Only a small group of users is currently seeing the new feature, with Google clearly stating that the functionality could be removed, in which case apps that are queued...
Sony has started rolling out the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update to its Xperia C5 Ultra smartphone. Carrying a firmware number of 29.2.B.0.122, the update is currently hitting the device's Dual variant (with model number E5533) in Italy. As is usually the case with OTA roll outs, it may take some time for the update to hit your device. Meanwhile, if you feel impatient, you can manually check for the update by heading to your handset's Settings menu. Via
If you are planning to purchase the Android Wear-powered Fossil Q Founder, you'll be glad to know that Amazon is selling the model with stainless steel bracelet for just $191.75, which translates into a discount of $103.25 or 35%. There's, however, a catch: the deal is only available when you order the watch through Amazon Alexa, meaning you need to have an Alexa-equipped device, such as Echo. To order, all you have to do is to say "Hey, Alexa, buy the Fossil Q Founder stainless steel smartwatch," and follow the steps that ensue. Source | Via
While the Acer Liquid Jade Primo is already available in the UK through the company's official website, Microsoft UK has now also started selling the Windows 10 device through its online store. The phone carries a price tag of £449. For that amount, Microsoft is also bundling a display dock, keyboard, and a mouse with the handset. Acer, on the other hand, is also selling the phone at almost same price (£449.99), but is including a free flip-cover and desktop docking station instead. Source 1 2 | Via
YouTuber JerryRigEverything regularly performs scratch tests to many smartphones to try the durability of materials used on various components like the LED flash lens, camera lens, buttons, keys, and earpiece. He also performs burn tests to the display to somewhat simulate degradation of the pixels over time. And finally, a bend test is performed to test the phone's internal structure. Apple's infamous bendgate was a topic of controversy back when users began reporting that their iPhone 6 Plus became bent all of a sudden, just by either sitting on it or applying just intentional pressure....
Shortly after the Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) surfaced on Zauba, the Galaxy A7 (2017) has also been spotted on India's import/export tracking website. The listing reveals that the device sports a 5.7-inch display and carries an INR 13,716 (around $205) price tag - as always, keep in mind that pricing information on Zauba is not always correct. It's worth mentioning that the device has already been spotted on GFXBench with 5.5-inch display, though we've seen GFX get the size wrong. Anyway, other specs that the benchmark listing had revealed include octa-core 1.8GHz CPU, 3GB/32GB memory...
Back in June, there were reports of Intel getting orders from Apple for modem chips that would be used for various wireless connectivity which would go into AT&T variants as well as some other versions of the new iPhone 7. Source: Chipworks Chipworks performed a teardown of the iPhone7 which did not stop at just taking the unit apart. The teardown goes even further into the specific chips used in the ‘A1778' iPhone 7 model which they have gotten their hands on. This model is used on AT&T or T-Mobile and other GSM networks. It's not known (but likely) that the CDMA variants...
Huawei doesn't want Microsoft to have all the fun. Last month, Microsoft ran an ad making jabs at the iPad Pro. Microsoft took the opportunity to show viewers that the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 offers a trackpad, more powerful processor, runs full desktop office, and has external ports. Meanwhile the iPad Pro "Just got a keyboard" Huawei is releasing an ad campaign of its own with the Matebook, and joins the party showing off its light build, and fingerprint sensor, since that's what all it has over the Surface Pro 4. So although the Huawei Matebook runs full Windows 10, just like the...
After having made its way to Cricket already, the LG X power is now also available at Boost Mobile, one of Sprint's prepaid brands. The X power's main claim to fame is its big 4,100 mAh battery, which Sprint claims will be good for 33 hours of talk time. This version of the X power also comes with a different chipset compared to the international model. Gone is the MediaTek MT6735, its place taken by the MT6755, also known as Helio P10. This comes with a 1.8 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU - a big upgrade compared to the 1.3 GHz quad-core processor in the vanilla X power. The handset...
Next week, on September 21, LeEco will announce its latest flagship smartphone, the Pro 3. The Chinese company has been teasing the device quite a bit recently, including by bashing Apple on certain occasions. Suffice to say, it's feeling pretty confident in its next handset. While we've had quite a few leaks about the Pro 3's specs so far, we haven't seen it in live images. Well, until now. A Chinese actor has gotten hold of a unit, and decided to share a couple of photos of it on Weibo, China's Twitter equivalent. LeEco Le Pro 3 Normally you might be inclined to take such...
If you live in Australia you had the possibility of being one of the first people in the world to go into an Apple store and leave with an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus today. And that's exactly what one enterprising individual did. He bought both, in fact. So now that he has in his possession Apple's two latest and greatest smartphones, what is he to do? Well, drop them. Again and again. For 12 times in total, from two different heights. That's the obvious answer, isn't it? See for yourself how (or if) they managed to survive this torture in the video below. Yes, this claims to be the...
On September 2, Samsung officially announced its recall of all 2.5 million Galaxy Note7 units sold until that point. As you surely know by now, this has to do with the batteries in some of these phones being prone to overheating and catching fire. After that announcement, Samsung and its partners stopped selling the Galaxy Note7, understandably. Replacement units for those who had received the phablet prior to September 2 are already on the way in some places (and will reach more countries next week). But what about people who didn't grab a faulty Note7 but would want to purchase a...
The Apple iPhone 7 is now available in stores, though getting one is no easy task as the traditional lines in front of Apple stores have formed once again. The iOS flagship is launching in 28 countries first. We collected pricing info for the US, the UK and Europe if you're interested. Fair warning, though, you might want to order it online, getting one is tough. Availability is spotty too, the iPhone 7 Plus is nowhere to be found and while the smaller model is mostly available, the coveted Jet Black is out of stock. And be prepared for a long wait. Some people are lucky - like Ty Moss,...
iFixit has been particularly speedy in delivering its patented tear-down treatment to Apple's new devices this year. After taking a stab at the iPhone 7 Plus, now the new Apple Watch Series 2 is up. And may we add that the destruction here is far from pointless. Just like opening up the phablet revealed the 2900 mAh capacity of its battery, popping open the smartwatch unearthed a 273 mAh one - bigger than the original. Apple has always been particularly non-descriptive when it comes to such hardware details, but noting them definitely puts things into perspective. For instance, the...
The iPhone 7 Plus is just hitting the stores and iFixit have wasted no time tearing it down. The iPhone 7 Plus teardown shows a number of interesting things. Firstly, the battery is 2,900mAh Li-Ion (3.82V, 11.10Whr), and not 2,675mAh, as previously reported. The iPhone 6s Plus has a 2,750mAh battery. Furthermore, only the right speaker grille at the bottom of the phone actually has a speaker behind it. The one on the left is only for balancing the design. The removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack is cited by Apple to tremendously help with the task of waterproofing the phone....
Earlier this year, Microsoft had announced the Desktop Bridge that would allow developers to migrate their desktop apps to the new Modern UI and make them available on the Windows Store. The company has announced that these apps are now being made available for download on all Windows 10 devices, including computers, smartphones, and Xbox One. The first apps to be made available include Evernote, Arduino IDE, doubleTwist, PhotoScape, MAGIX Movie Edit Pro, Virtual Robotics Kit, Relab, SQL Pro, Voya Media, Predicted Desire and korAccount. More apps will be coming in future. Desktop...
The LG V20 is the first phone to launch with Android 7.0 Nougat, but it marks another important first - it's the first to support AWS-3 LTE. If you haven't heard, AT&T, Verizon and Dish recently spent tens of billions buying up AWS-3 spectrum in large metropolitan areas in the US while in Canada, the Wind network is planning to roll out AWS-3. With the extra spectrum, these carriers will be able to offer fast, reliable LTE connection. AT&T claims it will cover 96% of US population, but the rollout is slow - serious coverage is expected no sooner than 2018. Verizon should add AWS-3 in...
The Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro - which was made official in China back in March this year and made its way to Malaysia in June - has now arrived in India. The device carries a price tag of INR 32,490 (around $485), and will be available for purchase from Samsung stores and e-commerce websites in the country starting September 26. To refresh, the Galaxy A9 Pro is powered by Snapdragon 652 chipset, and sports a 6-inch full HD display. It comes with 4GB RAM and 32GB internal memory, and packs in a huge 5,000mAh battery. In terms of camera, the phone features a 16MP rear unit and an 8MP...
Bback in March this year, there were reports that Spotify's Japan launch is on the cards. Now, TechCrunch is reporting that the music streaming company will launch its services in the Asian country sometime this month. Local business publications say Spotify Premium would cost around 1,000 yen ($10) per month. The launch in Japan - which is the world's second largest music market based on sales - would come nearly six months after Spotify arrived in Indonesia. The company is also said to be focusing on India as its next launch market in Asia, but there is nothing concrete to report...
There have already been rumors that Samsung is working on a 'C' series smartphone dubbed Galaxy C9. In fact, the device's existence has even been confirmed by Zauba, where it was spotted last month. Now, a new rumor has revealed the launch time-frame for the phone. The rumor says that the handset will arrive sometime in the October-November time frame, which is basically within a couple of months from now. Sadly, nothing much is known about the device at this point in time, except that it will sport a 5.7-inch full HD display, something that was corroborated by the latest...
The Samsung Focus app, not to be confused with the 2010 Samsung Focus handset is now officially available. The software is listed for free on the Google Play Store and up for grabs for anyone with a Samsung, running Android 6.0.1. The App is all about productivity. Much like BlackBerry's signature Hub, it provides one centralized location for your communication needs. That means quick access to e-mail inboxes, Contacts, Events, Memo and Tasks. All of these are woven together and share a common search function and can easily exchange information as well. For example, you can quickly...
Around a week after being spotted on a benchmarking website, the Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) has now surfaced on Zauba, a website that tracks India's import and export. The listing reveals 3 units of the 4.7-inch device being imported from South Korea for testing purposes, as well as a price tag of INR 10,287 (around $155) per unit - keep in mind that pricing information on Zauba is not always correct. Specs-wise, from what all has been revealed so far, the device is powered by an octa-core 1.5GHz processor, and sports a 720p display. It has 2GB RAM and 8GB internal memory, and...
Shortly after the US CPSC announced an official recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphone, Samsung US has apologized for the whole fiasco. The apology came in the form of a video featuring Tim Baxter (President & COO of Samsung Electronics America). He also revealed that a total of 130,000 units have been exchanged so far. In case you don't already know, around 1 million Note7 phablets have been recalled in the country, meaning the figure shared by Baxter stands at just 13% of the total faulty units in the US. However, with Samsung confirming that replacement units will be...
Samsung Galaxy Note7 users in Canada who participated in the exchange program have started receiving their replacement units, presumably making Canada the first country where new Note7 devices have begun shipping. The company had earlier given a shipping date of September 19. While there have been reports that the new lot will have a blue S on the box as well as green-colored battery indicator instead of white, that appears not to be the case with the units that have so far arrived in Canada. There's, however, a small black square located on the box. If you are in the US and...
According to a new report, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) - which has just announced an official recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note7 - is also looking into reports of other Samsung smartphones catching fire. As per the report, there have been at-least six incidents worldwide where Samsung phones other than the Galaxy Note7 have caught fire or posed a risk to user safety. "Those include a man in Port St. Lucie, Florida, who says his Galaxy S7 was charging in his car when the car caught fire; a woman in the U.K. whose Galaxy S7 appeared to melt and start smoking in a...
AT&T's prepaid-wireless brand Cricket offers many entry-level smartphones and 4G LTE plans starting at $30 per month with taxes included and even offers an unlimited 4G LTE plan for $65 with Autopay. There's word that the pre-paid carrier might also begin selling the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, direct from the MVNO. A source tells us that the carrier will begin selling the new iPhones starting on Friday September 23 and will initially only carry the matte black and rose gold models. Though, it's not certain if the pre-paid network will initially carry the iPhone 7 Plus as Apple's already...
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has finally announced an official recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphone, making it illegal to sell or resell the faulty units in the country. The agency is asking users to "immediately stop using and power down the recalled Galaxy Note7 devices purchased before September 15, 2016." The agency also revealed that a total of 1 million units of the phablet were sold prior to September 15, with Samsung receiving 92 reports of batteries overheating in the country. These included "26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property...
In its latest campaign, Motorola hosts a focus group with a bunch of loyal iPhone customers. What the moderator did was ask them about the latest iPhone 7 announcement and what they thought of it. Some were clearly not impressed by the improvements made by Apple. Then the focus changes to what the moderator calls an "iPhone 7 prototype" (which was actually a Moto Z). The participants are intrigued by the phone and its Moto Mods, even prompting some to incorporate how they would use these accessories in their daily lives. The Mods shown to the group were the snap-on battery pack, SoundBoost...
It's September 15, so it's the official release date for the Moto G4 Play in the US. That this would happen was unveiled at the beginning of the month when the phone went up for pre-order. You can purchase an unlocked G4 Play straight from Motorola's online store for $149.99. On the other hand, you could go to Verizon's prepaid arm and nab the same smartphone for just $84.99. Although before today Big Red only said it would sell the G4 Play at some point, it's now become available at the carrier too - if you're interested in prepaid plans. And since you're getting it with such an...
With today's update (which should already be available through the Google Play Store), SwiftKey for Android has become the world's first smartphone keyboard powered by neural networks. Neural networks are very trendy these days, and they also power Prisma, the app that transforms your pictures into artworks. A neural network is inspired by the network of neurons in the human brain, and SwiftKey uses this approach to make better predictions. These are now based on word meaning and the context of the whole sentence, compared to the old model which only looked at the two last words in order...
While we already know that the new batch of Samsung Galaxy Note7 will have a blue S on their box, it is now being reported that replacement units will feature green-colored battery indicators as well. Currently, the Galaxy Note7 battery indicator - located at the top right of the screen - is white in color. Presumably, the change in color is aimed at letting customers differentiate between the faulty and the safe units. The new Galaxy Note7 with green battery indicator will be available in the company's home country of South Korea starting September 19. There's, however, no word on...
If you own an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, or iPhone SE and use it on T-Mobile, don't update to iOS 10. Not yet, anyway. The word comes straight from the magenta carrier itself, and its outspoken CEO John Legere. The reason is that after you update your device it may in fact lose connection to T-Mobile's network. That's obviously not something anyone would want, so the advice is to refrain from making the jump to iOS 10 until the underlying issue gets fixed. Apple is working to resolve the problem, and the fix should be out within 48 hours - so you don't have to wait too long to be able to...
There's comparing your product to the competition and then there's being obsessed with said competition. Microsoft seems to be in the latter camp, at least when it comes to its ads for the Surface line. These have generally featured Mac-bashing, and the latest two are no different. "Surface does more". OK, Microsoft, we get it. We'd also like to see less Macs in Microsoft ads, but maybe everyone else is enjoying the air time they get. Who knows. The second ad isn't devoid of singing either, in case you were wondering. The singing definitely appears to be what's setting apart these...
In case you missed, a recent trademark filing from HTC suggested that the Taiwanese company may launch a smartphone named HTC Bolt. Now, the usually reliable leakster Evan Blass has revealed some newsworthy information about the unannounced device. According to the tipster - who goes by the handle @evleaks on Twitter - the phone will be landing on Sprint sometime next month. An exact launch date, however, wasn't revealed. This is coming to Sprint next month. https://t.co/NdgaALiRec— Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 15, 2016 Sadly, nothing else - including specifications and...
Pandora has revamped its $5 per month subscription today. First off, there's a name change - it's no longer Pandora One, but now goes by Pandora Plus. Also, the subscription has a few new features. A predictive offline mode will switch to one of your top stations when your device loses data connectivity, and music will keep flowing. You also get unlimited skips and replays. The stuff that made Pandora One an interesting option is still there - you get higher quality streams than users of the free tier, and your experience is ad-free of course. Those using the free Pandora service...
LeEco (formerly LeTV) has outed another teaser for their September 21 event, once again taking a dig at the new iPhones - this time seemingly over the lack of fast charging technology. In case you missed, this is not the first time they've taken jabs at the iPhone 7 - one of their earlier teasers (shown below) had mocked the battery life of the new Apple phones. The Chinese company is expected to unveil the LeEco Pro 3 at the upcoming event. Specs-wise, the phone - according to the rumors and leaks we've seen so far - is powered by Snapdragon 821 chipset. It'll have two...
While we already know that the new batch of Samsung Galaxy Note7 will have a blue S on their box, it is now being reported that replacement units will feature green-colored battery indicators as well. Currently, the Galaxy Note7 battery indicator - located at the top right of the screen - is white in color. Presumably, the change in color is aimed at letting customers differentiate between the faulty and the safe units. The new Galaxy Note7 with green battery indicator will be available in the company's home country of South Korea starting September 19. There's, however, no word on...
Lenovo was all over the place at this year's IFA and had plenty of new device announcements lined up. One of said unveilings was for the Yoga Book - an odd laptop/tablet mix, with a few interesting tricks up its sleeve. Users in the UK can now pre-order the device in both its Android and Windows 10 versions. The former, running Android 6.0 Marshmallow, is listed for GBP429.99, while the Windows 10 one will set you back GBP 509.99. Both more or less coincide with what was originally quoted at launch. As for availability, the Windows one has a delivery estimate of 11 business days...
Two new variants of the Asus ZenFone 3 have been certified by the Chinese telecommunication authority TENAA, revealing some of their key specs. One of the differences between the variants is memory configuration - while one of them has 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, the other has 4GB RAM and 64GB internal memory. Both are said to be powered by Snapdragon 625 chipset. They sport a 5.5-inch Super IPS LCDs, 16MP rear cameras and 8MP front shooters. There're also fingerprint sensors on the back. Weighing in at 155g, the devices offer dual SIM support and pack in a 3,000mAh battery. Color...
Retailers on the British Isles are offering free Gear VR with each Galaxy Note7, but as of yesterday, you get a bonus headset with every Samsung Galaxy S7 edge as well. A similar deal ran in most countries previously, but is now long over. Samsung brought back the deal, but only in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. To qualify for one, you need yo buy a Galaxy S7 edge by October 5 (either online or in person) and claim your Gear VR on one of the links below (needs to happen within 30-60 days). You'll get the headset within 30 days after the purchase has been verified. Claim a...
Back in June this year, there were rumors that the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5S will feature Qualcomm's ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. Now, a new leak has seemingly confirmed it. The next-gen technology - dubbed Snapdragon Sense ID - was unveiled by Qualcomm back in March last year. It relies on ultrasonic 3D scanning and works through all kind of surfaces including glass, sapphire, metal, aluminum, and plastic. The tech allows smartphone manufactures to embed the sensors within frames or panels, instead of a dedicated place like it is the case today. For example, if the sensor is...
Canon has announced the newest member of its non-so-popular EOS M series of mirrorless camera. The EOS M5 is the most serious model in the series so far, with a design that looks similar to the company's DSLR line. The M5 has a 24.2 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with an ISO 100 to 25600 range and Dual Pixel CMOS AF for fast autofocus. It can shoot up to 7fps JPEGs with continuous AF and 9fps with AF lock thanks to the new DIGIC 7 image processor. As for videos, the M5 can record up to 1080p video in 60fps in MP4 format. One of the key features of the camera is the digital 5-axis...
Samsung will rely on battery company ATL (Amperex Technology Limited) to supply the batteries for the Galaxy Note7, according to Reuters citing a person with knowledge of the company's plans. Insofar, Samsung counted on its own subsidiary SDI to get the job of supplying the phablet's battery pack. According to analysts, SDI is responsible for 70% of the battery packs used for the Galaxy Note7, whereas ATL has supplied around a third. ATL's battery packs are predominantly found in devices in China. ATL is reported to take over the battery supply for the Galaxy Note7 from now on....
Dell has refreshed its Windows-powered XPS 13 laptop. The latest version comes with Intel's 7th generation Kaby Lake processors - you can choose from Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 CPUs. While RAM options include 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB, storage options include 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. As far as display is concerned, the device comes in Quad HD + and full HD options - the former also offers an optional touchscreen SKU. Dell claims that the model with 1080p display has 22 hours of battery life. When solely used for video and Web browsing, the new laptop can last for 13 hours As...
