Netflix drops in-app purchase option for subscriptions on iOS

Netflix has decided that it will no longer allow iOS users to subscribe to the service from within the app. Customers will henceforth will be required to signup and subscribe for the service from the website. Previously, customers could choose to subscribe to the service through the app itself on iOS. Since this used Apple's iTunes payment and subscriptions...

Citi halves forecast for iPhone XS Max production in Q1

Citi Research published on Friday updated forecasts for the production numbers of Apple's iPhones in Q1. According to the new estimate Apple is expected to manufacture 45 million units for the quarter, down from the 50 million earlier forecast. More strikingly, the brokerage lowered its forecast for iPhone XS Max production in particular by 48%....

Smaller/cheaper Galaxy Home smart speaker apparently in the works

Alongside the Galaxy Note9's announcement back in August, Samsung kinda sorta revealed the Galaxy Home smart speaker. Five months later, the product's status is still 'coming soon', but by the looks of it, another one has meanwhile been in development. So far, all that is known is that the new speaker will come in black (surprise there), and that...

Essential Phone discontinued, company working on 'next mobile product'

The Essential Phone (or PH-1) from 2017 was created by Android co-founder Andy Rubin and came with impressive hardware, promises for monthly updates, and a notch, among other traits. It lived an eventful life, though it often made the news for bitter reasons like delayed market launch, executives leaving, job cuts, and discounts to help save what's...

What is RCS and what makes it better than SMS?

SMS has been with us for over a quarter of a century and it won't go away anytime soon. But it's really showing its age and many have moved to instant messaging - WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Line, KakaoTalk - for the convenient features these apps offer over plain SMS. Recently Google has started (with the help of carriers) to push RCS - Rich Communication...

Samsung Galaxy A50 to have 4,000 mAh battery, 24 MP main rear camera

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy A50 has been revealed to carry a beefy 4,000 mAh battery through a new report today. The device will also apparently pack a 24 MP main rear camera, though that will not be the only shooter on its back. The battery capacity is certainly adequate, but still falls short of the rumored 5,000 mAh cell we are supposed to see inside...

LG G7 ThinQ will receive Android 9 Pie update in Q1 2019

If LG's rollout last month of a beta build of its upcoming update to Android 9 Pie for the G7 ThinQ in South Korea got you excited about the possibility of there being a final release going out across the globe soon, well, hold your horses. The company has now officially listed the release date for the stable Pie update for the G7 as Q1, 2019. And...

Xiaomi Mi 9 and Mi Mix 4 to have triple rear cameras, Snapdragon 855 chipset

Xiaomi's upcoming Mi 9 and Mi Mix 4 will both employ three rear cameras, according to a research note from GF Securities of Hong Kong. In their Xiaomi market performance report, the analysts mentioned that the Mi 9 is set to be the company's first smartphone with a triple rear camera. Additionally, the Mi Mix 4 is apparently going to have a periscope...

Asus Zenfone 5z gets Android 9 Pie update in Taiwan

The Asus Zenfone 5 started receiving the update to Android 9 Pie a couple of weeks or so ago, and now it's the Zenfone 5z's turn to get the same tasty treat. The update is currently rolling out for Asus' flagship in Taiwan, arriving as software version 90.10.138.157, a 1GB download. Aside from the underlying OS update, it also brings an updated security...

Sony launches new USB-PD charger with 46.5W fast charging

Sony has launched a new wall charger for USB-PD compatible devices. The charger is capable of outputting 46.5W simultaneously. The charger, model CP-ADRM2, has two output ports. The USB-C port is capable of outputting 5V/3.0A, 9V/3.0A, 12V/3.0A, and 15V/2.6A. Meanwhile, the USB-A port can output 7.5W 5V/1.5A. Together they can push out 46.5W at the...

T-Mobile launches BOGO deals for Apple and Samsung wearables after New Years

In time for the New Year, T-Mobile is launching a couple of new wearables deals as well as a free tablet deal. Let's start with the Apple Watch deal. Buy one Apple Watch Series 3 ($380) or Apple Watch Series 4 ($499) and get a second one for $200 off via monthly-bill credits. In order to qualify, you need to purchase the free Apple Watch on a finance...

vivo launches closed Android Pie beta for X21, X21 UD, NEX S, and NEX A in China

Chinese phone maker vivo has launched a new closed beta for the next version of Android for four vivo devices. The beta will allow a limited number of participants to download a non-final build of FunTouch OS 4.5 layered over Android 9.0 Pie. The source is in Chinese, so the closed beta is very likely in reference to the Chinese versions of four...

Best and worst smartphone trends of 2018

Another year has passed and a whole bunch of devices has gone through our office. We have completed more than 80 smartphone reviews in 2018 and what an exciting year in tech it was! Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/smartphone_trends_of_2018-review-1871.p...

Samsung Galaxy Note9 will get Android 9 Pie on January 15

It looks like Samsung will deliver on the promise of Android 9 Pie on the Galaxy Note9 in January. The Galaxy Note9 is currently in the beta testing phase but is listed on an official Samsung Turkey site as due for Android 9 update on January 15. Samsung delivered the Android 9 firmware to the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, earlier than expected, a few...

Xiaomi Mi 8 gets Night Mode and 960fps slow mo with MIUI 10.1.2.0

Xiaomi is adding Super Night Scene and 960fps super slow motion video recording to the Xiaomi Mi 8 and Mi 8 Explorer through the global MIUI 10.1.2.0 update. The firmware weighs 288MB and is not to be mistaken with the Chinese update that was seeded in early December, following a beta test in November. Both features premiered with the Xiaomi Mi Mix...

A case render gives us a conceptual look at the Galaxy S10 Lite

Thanks to a concept render, obtained from a case maker, we get to see what the Galaxy S10 Lite will roughly look like. The render shows a phone with a a flat screen with a punch hole for the selfie camera, thin and even bezels all round, a headphone jack, a side-mounted fingerprint reader and wireless charging. Since the two other Galaxy S10 models...

Huawei finally makes the P Smart (2019) official, ships January 2

After unofficially going on sale earlier this month, the Huawei P Smart (2019) is now officially official. The specs haven't changed but we'll rehash them just in case. The P Smart (2019) has a 6.21-inch IPS LCD of 1080x2340px (with Eye Comfort Mode or Blue Light Filter, in layman's terms), a 12nm Hisilicon Kirin 710 paired with 3GB of RAM, 64GB...

Foxconn to assemble Apple iPhones in India next year

Earlier this week, rumors suggested Apple and Foxconn are moving the production of 2019 iPhones from China to India. Today, Reuters confirmed the Taiwanese supplier and contractor will use its plant in Sriperumbudur, a town in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The state's Industries Minister M C Sampath said the plant is already used for making Xiaomi...

Samsung will tuck the speaker into the display as it did with the selfie camera

Samsung has already shown off a phone with a selfie camera inside the display and we expect the Galaxy S10 to follow suit. But the next step in the fight against the top bezel is removing the traditional loudspeaker and using the display as one. We've heard of this before - Samsung is planning to use piezoelectric actuators embedded into the display...

EMUI 9 starts hitting global Huawei P10 devices

Huawei initially announced that all Kirin 970 phones would be getting EMUI 9.0, but no word on any other devices. Later, the company started recruiting beta testers for more devices, including the 2017 flagship Huawei P10. Today we received a tip from Malaysia in our mailbox, revealing the manufacturer has started issuing a stable build to global...

Latest OxygenOS Open Beta arrives for OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T

OxygenOS Open Beta has just started hitting the OnePlus 6 and the OnePlus 6T. The builds are respectively number 10 and number 2, but they both bring the same updates and features. According to posts on the OnePlus forum, there are improvements to the System, the Phone, Gallery, and Launcher apps. OnePlus 6 The latest open beta build has polished...

ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 gets firmware update in India

ASUS has started rolling out a new firmware update for the ZenFone Max Pro M2 in the Indian market. The update, version WW-15.2016.1811.177, is about 1.62GB in size. The update includes the following changes: 1.Camera effect optimization 2.Update audio parameter 3.Upgrade Fingerprint FW 4.Upgrade Touch FW 5.Improve display edge 6.Upgrade Google security...

Nokia 9 PureView to be announced during the last week of January

One of the longest awaited flagship smartphones in history has to be the Nokia 9 PureView. Ever since HMD Global started making handsets under the Nokia name people have been anxiously anticipating the company's first true contender for the top of the line space. And now we may actually be only one month away from the official unveiling of the Nokia...

Google Fit will add monthly challenges as part of #GetFitWithGoogle in time for New Year

Today, Google announced a new initiative for new and existing Google Fit users. In honor of the upcoming new year and in honor of the many people who make resolutions only to give them up in the first month, Google is going to offer monthly fitness challenges on the Google Fit app in hopes that they'll help Google Fit users stay on track. Right now,...

Google will reportedly launch both Pixel 3 "Lite" devices on Verizon this spring

We've been hearing rumors and speculation about two new Pixel devices said to be "Lite" versions of their already-available Pixel 3 counterparts. Renders of the phone have already leaked, giving us an idea of what these premium mid-rangers might look like - in the Pixel 3's likeness. The latest piece of news from Android Police claims that the Pixel...

Nokia 5.1 Plus is the latest handset to get updated to Android 9 Pie

Today HMD Global started rolling out the update to Android 9 Pie for the Nokia 5.1 Plus. The company had promised that it would deliver the update by the end of the year, and it has kept its promise, if by just a few days. The new software is version V2.09B, arrives as a 1.2GB download, and it has the December 2018 security patch level included....

Moto G7 to launch in Brazil in February, before MWC

The Moto G7 is shaping up to be a major release for Motorola as it relies on this model for a big chunk of its sales. Last year, Motorola globally launched the G6 lineup consisting of the Moto G6, Moto G6 Plus, and Moto G6 Play in Sao Paulo, Brazil in April. This year, Motorola is expected to take a slightly more aggressive approach to the timing...

MediaTek Helio P90 flexes its synthetic muscle on AnTuTu

MediaTek's upcoming upper-midrange chip Helio P90 has gone through its first benchmark, scoring 162k on AnTuTu. The score was achieved on an unknown device with 6GB of RAM, running on Android 9 Pie. This score puts the Helio P90 in the same ballpark as the Snapdragon 670 (~150k) and the Snapdraon 710 (~170k). The MediaTek Helio P90 is configured...

Sony WH-CH700N wireless noise canceling headphones review

The CH700N is Sony's latest pair of wireless noise-canceling headphones. After the excellent 1000XM3, Sony sought to create a more affordable version that will be accessible to more people, and thus the CH700N was born. The new headphones promise comfortable wireless sound, active noise cancellation, and excellent battery life. Today, I will be taking...

Instagram switches to sideways scrolling just in time to ruin your holidays

Instagram, your favorite place to see cat photos, week old reddit memes, rejected TikTok videos, ads and occasionally pictures of your friends, has now completely changed the way the timeline works. While the service has had a vertically scrolling timeline since it launched back in 2010, the company today started rolling out a server-side update...

Motorola P40 images appear to reveal punch hole camera

Motorola launched its P30 smartphone series as a continuation of the Moto X devices as a part of the Android One program. The P30 Play arrived on the global scene as Motorola One, while the P30 Note is called Moto One Power where Google services are available. The 2019 iteration of an Android One phone is likely to be called Moto P40 and the first...

Realme is readying a mid-tier A1 for early 2019

Realme is reportedly preparing to launch a new smartphone dubbed A1 in early 2019 that will sit between the Realme C1 and the Realme U1. According to unconfirmed sources the Realme A1 will be available in Black and Yellow. The rest is still a guessing game - a screen similar to U1's 6.3-incher with a dewdrop notch and a camera setup on the rear along...

Moto G7 Supra for Cricket surfaces with a regular notch

According to a press render, obtained by Evan Blass, Cricket will launch one of the Moto G7 phones under the name Moto G7 Supra. Judging by the regular notch and going by recent unconfirmed renders the phone in the image is either the Moto G7 Play or Moto G7 Power. The Moto G7 and G7 Plus appear to have water drop-styled notches. This would mean...

Huawei nova 4 with punch-hole screen camera arrives for sale

Huawei announced the nova 4 with punch-hole screen camera and Kirin 970 chipset back at December 17 and now the phone arrived for sale. It has only one memory option - 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, but has two versions, depending on the main camera - High Edition and Standard Edition. Huawei nova 4 The better option comes with 48 MP f/1.8 main shooter,...

More Nokia 9 case renders solidify penta-camera design

We are getting closer to the Nokia 9 becoming more than vaporware. Although still without official acknowledgement from the phone maker, a supposed Nokia 9 is said to feature a penta-camera setup that might carry Nokia's "PureView" branding to the next level. Today, a new case render leak shows us a couple more angles of the alleged Nokia 9. The...

Google will transition Android Messages web app from Android.com to Google.com

This piece of news, perhaps trivial, indicates something deeper going on with Google and its Android brand. A new commit spotted in Chromium's Gerrit source code management reveals that Google intends to transition its web portal for sending and receiving SMS and MMS messages. If you use the Android Messages app (which was eventually renamed to just...

Top 10 most popular reviews of 2018: Q3

Moving on from Q1 and Q2, it's time to look at the phones that shaped the months of July, August and September. This is the time of the Pocophone F1 - the most read review not just in Q3 but in the entire year. Xiaomi made a seismic stir in the mobile landscape with this one - a Snapdragon 845-equipped phone with infrared face scanning, stereo speakers...

Report: iPhone XR made up 32% of iPhone sales in its first month

Today, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (or CIRP) released a new report that estimates how well iPhones sold relative to others. Since Apple no longer releases the number of units sold, it's more difficult to know exactly how well the iPhone is selling especially since multiple reports have showed signs of iPhone sales dwindling. This year,...

LG Electronics joins Korean FTC in lawsuit against Qualcomm

LG is the latest smartphone maker to join the KFTC (Korean Fair Trade Commission) and other companies in the lawsuit against Qualcomm. While Samsung's withdrawal didn't do the lawsuit any favors, LG's new stance strengthens the KFTC's case again, particularly with LG being a Korean company. According to Business Korea industry sources claim that...

Galaxy S10+'s chin to be comparable to that of the iPhone X, smaller than Mate 20 Pro's

Another day, another leak about one of the members of Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S10 family. This time around a purported screen protector for the Galaxy S10+ has been outed. Not only that, but it's been used for an impromptu chin comparison, between the S10+ and the iPhone X as well as the Huawei Mate 20 Pro. As you can see from the images below,...

OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T are now receiving Android 9 Pie

OnePlus has over the past few weeks released two beta builds of the Android 9 Pie update for the OnePlus 5 and 5T, and now the stable version is rolling out. The finalized version of the update is headed to the company's two handsets from last year. It arrives as OxygenOS 9.0.0, based on Android Pie. It contains the December 2018 security patches...

Huawei Honor 10 Lite review

The Honor 10 Lite is an expected addition to the brand's mid-range lineup and it hopes to ride on the success of the original Honor 10. So how did Honor go about making a Lite version of a phone, which is already somewhat of a Lite version of the flagship Huawei P20? The feature set has been trimmed across the board but the Honor 10 Lite is still...

Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ is finally getting Android Pie update

Just a week after the new beta build of Android Pie for the Galaxy S9 phones, Samsung started seeding the final build. The company is pushing the package to devices mostly in Europe, but according to sources, the UAE and Turkey are also already receiving the latest OS and UI. The European countries where Samsung is officially pushing the update are...

Xiaomi launches Mi Fan Sale on Amazon India

Xiaomi is known for selling its devices at affordable prices, but some phones got even cheaper. The company introduced the No. 1 Mi Fan Sale on Amazon India, discounting the Redmi 6A, Mi A2, Redmi Y2, Redmi 6 Pro, and Redmi Note 5 Pro devices with up to INR3,000 off their price. Phone Price (in INR) Discounted price (in INR) Xiaomi Mi A2 6/128 GB...

Samsung Galaxy S10 to come with a swipe gesture from the selfie camera

Samsung Galaxy A8s was introduced with an Infinity-O display earlier this month. The front-facing camera is embedded in the screen and since the phone is China-exclusive, we expect the solution to become global with the Galaxy S10 arrival. According to sources, you can start the selfie camera when the phone is locked simply by swiping from the actual...

Huawei to surpass Apple and take second place at the global market

Huawei Technologies sold over 200 million smartphones in 2018, reaching an astounding increase of 30%, compared with its 153 million sales in 2017. According to Nikkei Asian Review, the P20 series helped a lot and the results should boost the Chinese company to second place on the global market, surpassing Apple. Even if the company managed to increase...

Honor V20 (View 20) officially announced in China with a 48 MP main shooter

After the tease in the early days of December, the Honor View 20 is now official. It was just released in China under the name Honor V20, with a global launch scheduled in Paris, France, for January 22. The phone comes with an on-screen punch-hole selfie camera, while the back panel is equipped with a 48 MP Sony IMX586 main shooter and a 3D ToF sensor....

Top news of 2018: Q3

With the FIFA World Cup raising competitive spirits, we decided to run our own championship - the Smartphone World Cup. The final pit the Galaxy S9+ versus the OnePlus 6 and it became our most-read news article for Q3 (and here's the result of the match). The launch of the Xiaomi Redmi Y2 caused a disproportionate amount of excitement for a $140...

Xiaomi launches 128GB variant of Poco F1 Armoured Edition in India

Xiaomi has launched a new variant of the Poco F1 (globally known as Pocophone F1) in India. More specifically, this is a variant of the Armoured Edition. While previously this particular color variant could only be purchased in the top of the line configuration of 256GB storage and 8GB RAM, the new variant has 128GB storage and 6GB RAM instead. This...

Xiaomi launches 128GB variant of Poco F1 in India

Xiaomi has launched a new variant of the Poco F1 (globally known as Pocophone F1) in India. More specifically, this is a variant of the Armoured Edition. While previously this particular color variant could only be purchased in the top of the line configuration of 256GB storage and 8GB RAM, the new variant has 128GB storage and 6GB RAM instead. This...