Alcatel 5 and 3V listings show up on Amazon France, specs still scarce

TCL announced the revamped structure of its alcatel smartphone lineup at CES - in broad strokes, at least. Strictly speaking, no device went official then and there, and it wasn't until January 17 when the alcatel 3C kicked things off. What we have now are a few listings from Amazon France, where the alcatel 5 and alcatel 3V have been listed for...

Apple HomePod gets FCC certification, coming to market soon?

Apple's HomePod is coming and there's no stopping it now. About time, really - the smart speaker was unveiled on June 5 last year, with a market launch initially planned for December and then pushed back to early 2018. Well, early 2018 it is, and the HomePod has now received FCC certification. Apple HomePod FCC ID label location Following a rumor...

Deal: Essential Phone now available for CAD 460 on Koodo, Telus

The Essential Phone can now be snatched for a mere CAD 460 (the equivalent of around $370) in... well, Canada. Telus subsidiary Koodo is offering the PH-1 (black only) at that price free of contract, though you'd still need to have an extra CAD 15 for a SIM. the offer is live on Telus too, where the SIM card will be CAD 5 more expensive. While it's...

LG G6+ going for $599 in US ($200 off)

The LG G6+ has received a solid price cut in the US, where the unlocked version of the device is currently going for $599.99. Retailer B&H is offering the phone at that rate, down $200 from the tag the device usually carries there. As already mentioned, it's a carrier unlocked version, and is compatible with GSM and select CDMA networks (all...

KGI re-estimates Q1 iPhone X shipments with a lower number

The iPhone X has not been one of Apple's best-selling iPhone models in recent years. In fact, Apple is not selling as many shipments as analysts have predicted. While a number of 20-30 million units was estimated for Q1, Ming-Chi Kuo has given a new estimated number of 18 million unit shipments. KGI cited a couple of reasons that the iPhone X didn't...

KGI re-estimates Q1 iPhone X shipments with a lower number

The iPhone X has not been one of Apple's best-selling iPhone models in recent years. In fact, Apple is not selling as many shipments as analysts have predicted. While a number of 20-30 million units was estimated for Q1, Ming-Chi Kuo has given a new estimated number of 18 million unit shipments. KGI cited a couple of reasons that the iPhone X didn't...

Nokia 6 (2018) or Nokia 7 gets certified by the FCC ahead of its US market debut

Nokia has already promised an "awesome" MWC 2018 press event, and one of the things it may announce next month in Barcelona is a US release for one of its newest smartphones. Two models of the same device, in single and dual-SIM iterations, have recently been certified by the FCC - a necessary step before any such launch can take place. Right now...

Possible Samsung Galaxy J8 (2018) spotted in benchmark listings

Samsung decided to unify the naming of its Galaxy devices. First it was the Note, then the A series caught up with the flagship S series. A new device from the affordable J series codenamed SM-J720F appeared on Geekbench and GFXBench and sound logic suggests that a Galaxy J8 (2018) might be announced. SM-J720F on Geekbench and GFXBench The specs...

OnePlus admits credit card info was stolen from its database

OnePlus has finished its investigation into credit card theft and concluded that some users have indeed been affected. Card number, expiry date and security code have been compromised. The company recommends that you check your credit card statements and alert your bank to any irregular charges which will help you initiate a chargeback. You can contact...

LG to introduce new V30 with AI at MWC 2018

With the G7 development restarted, LG is left with no new device to present at its MWC 2018 event. Instead, the Korean giant might introduce a refreshed V30 with enhanced AI features, sources report. Current LG flagships V30 & G6 The phone will be announced with new technologies and functions and could carry the strange math formula-resembling...

Samsung denies allegations of planned obsolescence

Samsung has denied the allegations that it is slowing down its older phones. The company already stated as much weeks ago but the investigation in Italy was opened based on user reports. "Samsung does not provide the software updates to reduce the product performance over the life cycle of the device. We will fully cooperate with Italian Authority...

LG X4+ unveiled in Korea: a MIL-STD rated phone with 32-bit DAC

Each of the phones in LG's X-series has a special skill. The new LG X4+ is rugged with a MIL-STD-810G certification, similar to the X venture though at a lower price point. The X4+ puts battery life ahead of performance with 3,000mAh capacity and a Snapdragon 425 chipset (with 2GB of RAM, 32GB storage). It runs Android 7.0 Nougat on a 5.3" IPS display...

Samsung and Apple under investigation in Italy over planned obsolescence

The Italian Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) has officially opened an investigation against Apple and Samsung over reduced performance of older phones. The Apple thing isn't new, but late last year Samsung publicly stated that it doesn't slow slow phones down. AGCM received consumer reports claiming otherwise. The exact charge is that these...

vivo X20 Plus UD with under-screen fingerprint scanner to arrive on January 25

Just three days after the vivo X20 Plus UD with a fingerprint scanner under the display arrived on TENAA, its price and launch date were leaked on Twitter. The popular leakster Zyad Atef suggests the phone will arrive on January 25 and will cost CNY3,998 ($625/€510). vivo X20 Plus UD renders The vivo X20 Plus UD looks like the regular X20 Plus -...

Google confirms Android Auto pixelated display issue

For past several months, Android Auto users have been complaining about an issue that causes the display on their car's head unit appear to be very pixelated. Following is a screenshot shared by one of the complainants: Going by user reports, the problem doesn't seem to be specific to any particular car manufacturer or model. Similarly, complaints...

Razer Phone 2 launches in September, perhaps alongside Project Linda

Last year Razer entered the smartphone space with its eponymous device which made quite a splash with a 120Hz display panel and huge battery. The gaming company is already planning its next handset, according to a new rumor. The Razer Phone 2 will reportedly be released in September, which means an official unveiling at IFA seems likely. This information...

New ZTE handset with Android 8.1 Oreo on board gets Wi-Fi certified

ZTE is no longer making the Axon 7 and the Chinese company hasn't announced a successor for this device yet, instead choosing to focus on the foldable Axon M, which is due to launch in its home market this week and Europe by the end of March. However, ZTE is apparently working on a new smartphone, as revealed by a recent Wi-Fi certification. The...

WhatsApp introduces Business app

WhatsApp has launched a new WhatsApp Business app for small business owners to communicate with their customers. A lot of businesses already use WhatsApp and with this they can be more efficient and provide information better. Businesses can download the new app and set up their account. Compared to the standard app, the Business app will allow additional...

4G speeds in US recover after unlimited plans crashed them

2017 was a good year for mobile users in the United States - Verizon launched its unlimited data plan, T-Mobile responded by one-upping its costs, AT&T followed two weeks later, and Sprint went one step further with prompting users to switch from Big Red. But the Unlimited 4G revolution came at a price - speeds went south. The situation improved...

Apple iPhone X long-term review

The introduction of Face ID and the removal of the Home button has resulted in a paradigm shift in the way we interact with our iPhones. Three of us have been using the iPhone X since launch and this long-term review covers what the iPhone X is like to live with on a day to day basis and we are ready to answer what's good and what's bad about it...

Samsung starts mass producing GDDR6 chips for next-gen graphics cards

Samsung has started mass production of GDDR6 memory chips. They are bound for next-generation graphics cards, consoles, servers and other applications where a high bandwidth is required. These chips are built on a 10nm process and have a capacity of 16 gigabits - a major improvement over Samsung's 20nm 8 gigabit GDDR5 chips (which went into mass...

Honor View 10 gets face unlock through OTA update

Huawei has announced that the Honor View 10 will get face unlock feature in an upcoming OTA update. The rollout has already started and will be available to everyone by January 24. Face unlock works similarly to other phones, where the phone will unlock the screen when you look at it. If your eyes are closed, the phone will not unlock. Due to the...

MIUI 9 comes with Game Speed Booster, here's how it works

MIUI 9 update was announced in July, and a global rollout began on November 2. Xiaomi said that 40 devices would get the latest version of the user interface, including phones from 2012. One of the new features of MIUI 9 is smart system optimizations to make the device run faster. It comes with Game Booster that should improve the overall performance...

Deal: Huawei discounts Honor 9 and Honor 6A in Europe

Huawei is celebrating Honor Day. Okay, the holiday is not real but the discount is. Two phones are on offer: the premium mid-ranger Honor 9 and the entry level Honor 6A. The best deal is in the UK, but it will last only until the end of today. The Honor 9 is £300 (down from £380) while the 6a is £100 (down from £150). You can snag one online from...

Samsung patent says future selfie cameras may sit behind the screen

Fingerprint readers were pushed to the back by shrinking bezels but may return to the front, except they'll live below the screen. You can't put a selfie camera on the back, however, which resulted in notches on some phones - like the iPhone X and the Essential Phone. But can cameras join the fingerprint reader and live below the screen too? Patent...

chaiOS vulnerability can block iPhone's messaging, freeze devices

A newly discovered vulnerability in Apple's iMessage lets ill-meaning people to completely freeze the app on and even restarts the iDevices by simply sending a link. The bug named "chaiOS" was taken down from the platform and the account was shortly suspended, so at least finding it wouldn't be too easy. 👋 Effective Power is back, baby! chaiOS bug:Text...

Sony CEO: Xperia phones are here to stay

The Guardian interviewed Sony CEO Kaz Hirai, who talked in depth about the company's various divisions, but we found his thoughts on the smartphone segment the most interesting. First, the good news: Sony Xperia phones are here to stay. Now the bad: phones may not be. Hirai believes the future lies elsewhere but to capture and lead this future market,...

HMD'с CPO promises an awesome MWC 2018

HMD started the year early and unveiled the new Nokia 6 (2018) on January 5, but was quiet at CES. It seems that the company has been saving the good stuff for MWC - the Chief Product Officer, Juho Sarvikas, promises it will be "awesome". Мо Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/hmd_cpo_promises_an_awesome_mwc_2018-news-29214.p...

Google shows design prototypes of the Pixel 2 in an interview with the lead designer

Google's blog, The Keyword, interviewed the lead designer behind the Pixel 2 phones and other Google products. Here's a rare look behind the scenes and some insight into why the gadgets were built as they are. Ivy Ross, the lead designer, says that the most important design principle is "human". By that she means that cold, hard screens need to be...

Xiaomi admits fault for WhatsApp obsolete bug, issues a fix

Last weekend Xiaomi users complained about a problem with WhatsApp. When opening the app, it read "This version became obsolete. Please go to the Google Play Store to download the latest version", but when they did, it just said the application is up to date. WhatsApp said it is a third-party issue and today Xiaomi acknowledged the fault and said...

Apple will let you disable CPU slowdown with next iOS update

After it was discovered that Apple is slowing down the chipsets as their batteries age, the public outrage was so massive, that the company had to issue an official statement in order to avoid further lawsuits. According to Tim Cook, iOS 11 users will be able to opt out off the slowdown with the next update, scheduled for March. Tim Cook "We're going...

Google says fix for WiFi issue with Chromecast built-in devices coming today

Last week, we reported that an issue with devices like Chromecast dongle or Google Home is preventing WiFi networks from operating properly. Google quickly confirmed the problem, even before it came to light that the issue is widespread. Now, the Mountain View company has announced that the fix for the problem will start rolling out via a Google...

alcatel 3C goes official in Italy with 6" 18:9 screen, €129.99 price tag

The alcatel 3C got the leaked press render treatment a week ago, and in the meantime it's already been officially announced in Italy. This is the first device to go official from alcatel's newly revamped roster, that was teased at CES. All of the phones should be showcased at MWC next month. The 3C comes with a 6-inch 1,440x720 display with the oh-so-trendy...

Samsung's dedicated AI chips to outclass Apple and Huawei in the second half of the year

Apple and Huawei have already introduced AI-focused chipsets last year, the A11 Bionic and Kirin 970, respectively. Not one to allow itself to be left out of the latest trends in the mobile world, Samsung is reportedly working tirelessly on a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) of its own. For mobile devices, the company is said to have already reached...

Huawei video teases new fast charge tech - 48% in 5 minutes... but there's a catch

Huawei's Watt Lab is talking up a next-generation quick charging technology, which could fill a phone's battery to 48% in just 5 minutes. The setup shown in the video is a bit unconventional, however. The good stuff starts around the 50 second mark. You can see that the battery has many more connectors than a battery you find in phones today. Subdividing...

BlackBerry Keyone Bronze Edition arrives in China

BlackBerry had an event at CES 2018 where the company introduced a Bronze edition of the Keyone. When we had a hands-on with the device, we were told the phone would arrive in the EU, Middle East, and Asia. Today Blackberry announced the start of pre-orders for the new color option on its Weibo page, making China the debut market for the Bronze variant....

Deal: Samsung Galaxy Note8 (Exynos, dual-SIM) on eBay for $725

Another day, another Samsung Galaxy Note8 deal. This one is from eBay (US-based seller) and asks $725 for the stylus-packing flagship. It's the dual-SIM Exynos version of the phone, which should work in most places in the US. Note that AT&T's Band 30 and T-Mobile's Band 71 are not supported (those have already rolled out to some of the larger...

Exynos 7872 unveiled: hexa-core CPU with A73 cores, plus an iris scanner

Samsung officially unveiled the Exynos 7872 chipset, which we already saw on the Meizu M6s. The new chip is part of the mid-range Exynos 5 series, but packs some more upscale features. It is built on a 14nm process and features a hexa-core CPU with two clusters: 2x Cortex-A73 (2.0GHz) + 4x Cortex-A53 (1.6Ghz). The graphics power is supplied by a...

Apple HomePod may launch soon as supplier reportedly ships first batch

Apple missed the holiday rush as it delayed the HomePod to early 2018 while Amazon and Google cashed in. Cupertino still hasn't nailed down the exact launch date, but info from one of the suppliers suggests that it's coming soon. Inventec has started shipping an initial batch of 1 million units, says an anonymous insider source. Apple has contracted...

Deal: Free AKG Bluetooth headphones with Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note8 in the U

The Galaxy S9 is right around the corner but now might be a good time to snatch last year's flagship on a deal. Samsung offers free AKG Y50BT Bluetooth headphones with the purchase of a Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Galaxy S8 Active and Galaxy Note8 in the US. The deal can be found on the online retail platform Shop Samsung. To claim the gift, you have...

Xiaomi will update 40 devices to MIUI 9

Hats off to Xiaomi - it supports its devices for a long time. A long time. The company announced that it will update 40 devices to the latest MIUI 9 software. Some flagships already got it, but there are some really old devices on this list - some dating back to 2012! Admittedly, MIUI 9 is based on Android 7.0 Nougat, but it is heavily customized....

Samsung Pay reaches 3M users in India

Yesterday we told you that the Galaxy On7 Prime is available from today in India. There was an official launch event where Sandeep Singh Arora, Vice President of Marketing at Samsung, introduced the phone. He also stated that 3 million users in India have already signed up for Samsung Pay since its introduction in March 2017. Sandeer Singh Arora...

Sony sets a date for its MWC 2018 event

Bright and early in the morning of Monday, February 26 Sony will unveil new devices. That's the third day of the MWC. Of course, the press invite just promises technological innovation without telling us exactly what we'll see. The rumor mill forecasts a high chance of Xperia XZ Pro - Sony's foray into OLED displays coinciding with a switch to 18:9...

Meizu introduces the M6s with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner

You've read the rumors, and you've seen the leaks - now is time for the official unveiling of the Meizu M6s. The Chinese company introduced today the phone with an 18:9 tall screen, new Exynos 7872 chipset with hexa-core CPU and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner that unlocks the screen in 0.2 seconds. While the position of the sensor below the power...

OnePlus 5T open beta 2 adds new OnePlus Switch app for switching between devices

OnePlus has released OxygenOS Open Beta 2 for the OnePlus 5T based on Android Oreo that comes with a whole host of improvements and some new features. The most notable addition is a new OnePlus Switch app designed to make it easy to switch to a new OnePlus device from an existing one from any Android brand. Another addition is a new clipboard feature...

Honor 9 Lite launched in India with quad-camera and FullView display

Huawei has launched its latest Honor 9 Lite in the Indian market. The phone is priced at and will be sold exclusively through Flipkart. The Honor 9 Lite is the latest mid-range smartphone from Huawei. It has a 5.65-inch, 2160x1080 18:9 "FullView" LCD. It has a 13MP camera on the front and back and a secondary 2MP camera on the front and back, making...

Samsung unveils Galaxy Note8 PyeongChang 2018 Limited Edition

The 2018 Winter Olympics is taking place in PyeongChang, South Korea between February 9 and February 25. Samsung, as one of the main sponsors of the Games, will give more than 4,000 personalized Galaxy Note8 devices to athletes and IOC staff. The phones will have a shiny white back panel with a golden five-ring Olympics logo. The Galaxy Note8 PyeongChang...

Moto X5, G6, G6 Plus, and G6 Play promo images leak alongside spec details

When it rains, it pours - at least that seems to be the case for Motorola-related leaks today. No less than four different models have been outed, from two of the company's series. And all of these could conceivably become official at MWC next month. The Moto X5 is probably the strangest of them all, with its iPhone X-like notch and white software...

alcatel 3V specs and press renders leak

alcatel is revamping its branding and product strategy this year, coming out with three distinct series - 1, 3, and 5 - all with 18:9 screens. Some of the lines will have multiple devices, and it already looks like the '3' tier will be the most crowded. We've already seen leaked press renders of the alcatel 3C, and today the 3V got the same treatment....

BlackBerry Motion Review

As BlackBerry continues to release BlackBerry hardware, the company is slowly reestablishing itself in the smartphone industry. Even toward the end of the year, we still encounter a large number of people that don't know that BlackBerry is relevant again. Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/blackberry_motion-review-1706.p...