Android 9 in development for the vivo V11i, benchmark listing reveals

vivo launched a closed Android Pie beta program towards the end of last year in China, and it seems the time for updates is nearing. Oddly enough, it's none of the original devices enlisted that's now surfaced on GeekBench running Android 9.0. Instead, it's the V11i or simply V11, as it is known in India. While we haven't had the chance to test this...

Deal: Refurbished Apple HomePod for $240 in the US, today only

Apple's HomePod Siri-enabled smart speaker was never particularly affordable at $349 in the US, but at $240 you could be tempted. That's what it goes for now on Woot - or rather $239.99. Both the white and space gray color options are available. Mind you, it's not new-new, but refurbished, and comes with a 90-day Woot warranty, instead of the usual...

Exynos Galaxy S10 visits GeekBench, still behind the iPhone XS in single-core test

The Samsung Galaxy S10 has been spotted on GeekBench and the numbers are in. This time, it's the Exynos 9820 variant for South Korea (SM-G973N), and there are notable differences with the previously seen results from the S10+ in Snapdragon 855 trim. The single-core result, in particular, is far ahead of any other chip in the Android world - the current...

Here's an early look at the Samsung Galaxy S10 lineup

It wouldn't be a big Samsung announcement if months ahead of it we didn't have a barrage of leaks coming our way. Such is the case with the Galaxy S10 that's to be unveiled on February 20, and this time around we're treated to a side-by-side look of the three differently-sized (and likely and evidently - differently-specced) versions of it. Samsung...

German court stops Apple from using a deceptive statement following iPhone ban

Back in December, the German court ruled in favor of Qualcomm and moved to ban sales of those affected iPhone including the iPhone 7 and 8 models due to an ongoing patent dispute with Qualcomm. Following the ban, Apple released a statement regarding the ban. It said that while 15 retailers in Germany would no longer sell the phones, the affected...

Nokia 3.1 Plus running Android Pie spotted on GeekBench, update imminent

The Nokia 3.1 Plus was released back in October with Android 8.1 pre-loaded. Many are perhaps wondering when the Android Pie update will arrive for the Android One smartphone. Well, thanks to a new benchmark spotted on GeekBench by Nashville Chatter, the update could come fairly soon. The benchmark result shows that the "HMD Global Nokia 3.1 Plus"...

Huawei Mate 20 Pro gets 109 overall score in DxOMark, tied with another Huawei phone

DxOMark has published its evaluation of the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, giving it an overall score of 109. It technically has the highest score that DxOMark ever gave to a smartphone, but it is tied with another Huawei phone, the P20 Pro. The breakdown of the score is identical to that of the P20 Pro. The main differences in scores are bokeh, which scores...

Samsung Galaxy M10 and M20 prices leak

Samsung's Galaxy M10 and M20 have been leaking left and right lately, ahead of their official unveiling on January 28. One detail that hasn't been convincingly outed so far is how much they are going to cost. Today from "a source close to Samsung's pricing strategy" for the upcoming Galaxy M series comes news that the M10 will start at only INR 8,990...

Huawei P Smart (2019) in for review

Just last month, the Huawei P Smart (2019) became official last month and the device is already available at retailers in the UK and coming soon to other EU markets. The P Smart has been updated with a larger 6.2-inch display, newer generation Kirin 710, and a beefier 3,400 mAh battery pack. Huawei kept the unibody but strayed away from a metal jacket,...

Windows Phone is officially obsolete, Microsoft tells users to switch to Android or iOS

Yes, you did read that correctly - Microsoft has officially set a sunset date for Windows Phone. In a Microsoft support page titled "Windows 10 Mobile End of Support: FAQ" some questions are answered regarding the eventual drop of support for the Windows Phone platform. Under "What should Windows 10 Mobile customers do now?" Microsoft recommends...

Foxconn cuts 50,000 workers earlier than expected, due to slowing smartphone sales

Foxconn has cut some 50,000 contract workers from its workforce since October. The number is not unusual compared to previous years, but the timing is different as the contractors were let go much earlier this time. According to an unnamed source close to the issue the workers are from the factory in Zhengzhou, in China's Henan Province, which is...

Deal: Razer Phone 2 discounted to $699

Razer Phone 2 was announced back in October for $799. It comes with a Snapdragon 845 chipset, THX-certified amplifiers with the speakers, 120Hz IGZO QHD display and 8 GB RAM. It was initially exclusive to AT&T in the United States, but now it's available from a bunch of other retailers and carriers. To boost sales of unlocked devices, Razer is...

The Pocophone F1 finally gets 960fps slo-mo video recording and night mode

Pocophone's developer's team rolled out the beta build of MIUI 10 last month for the Pocophone F1 carrying much-anticipated features like super slo-mo video recording and a special night mode for the stills. Now the stable version of MIUI 10 v10.2.2.0 is rolling out. The patch enables 960fps super slo-mo in the default camera app in addition to the...

vivo unveils brand new color and font

This year vivo will put a new coat of paint on its brand - Pantone 2386, specifically (the old color was 2925 C). And it is retouching its logo with a new font. The redesign will debut in China first, but will go global in by the end of March. Are you ready? Here's the new logo with the new color: Okay, that was a bit underwhelming. But the font...

Xiaomi President smashes a walnut using a Redmi Note 7 in slow motion

The Redmi Note 7 looked solidly-built in its official teardown video, but there's only one real way to prove that a phone is tough - smash a walnut with it. Okay, maybe that's not the proper way to do it, but who are we to argue? After all, this video was posted by Lin Bin, co-founder and President of Xiaomi. And not just that, the video was shot...

Netflix posted 35% YoY growth and 29 million new paying subscribers

Netflix just posted its annual stats recording a revenue of $16 billion in 2018. That's around 35% growth year-over-year while doubling its operating profit to $1.6 billion. The revenue growth is primarily due to an increase in paying subscribers - in 2018 the company lured 29 million new paying subscribers the year and 9 million of them came in...

Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy A9 (2018) Android Pie update is already in testing

The Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy A9 (2018) are both being tested with Android 9.0 Pie and will likely get the update by April (along with the Galaxy A8+ (2018)). The confirmation for both the Galaxy A8 (2018) and the Galaxy A9 (2018) has come in the form of certification forms in the Wi-Fi Alliance wherein both are running Android 9.0. Samsung...

Xiaomi opens its biggest European Mi Store in Paris

Today Xiaomi is taking a new step in its expansion in Europe. The company opens the biggest Mi Store on the Old Continent in Paris, France, at the famous Champs-Elysees street. Although the launch is scheduled for 1 PM local time, some people started lining at sunrise with temperatures around 0 degrees Celsius. The new Mi Store The official photos...

vivo Apex 2019 is coming on January 24

Plenty of smartphone manufacturers demoed their current technologies at CES 2019, but vivo decided to do its own thing. The company showcased elements of a design, called Waterdrop, that is going to arrive on January 24. Today vivo posted another image on its Weibo profile, effectively revealing the new device will be called vivo APEX 2019. Current...

Google buys mysterious smartwatch technology from Fossil for $40 million

Today the Fossil Group has announced that it's entered an agreement to sell Google some secret still in development smartwatch technology for $40 million. The deal involves intellectual property related to that technology, as well as some of Fossil's R&D team's members joining Google. The agreement will eventually result in the launch of "a new...

LG G8 leaks in CAD-based renders and video, doesn't fold, doesn't have two screens

LG's G8 has finally received the leaked CAD-based renders treatment, ahead of its possible unveiling at MWC next month. There's also a video showcasing the renders, which you can find embedded if you scroll down a bit. This is definitely not a foldable smartphone, so if LG is in fact working on something like that, then it will get another name and...

Verizon has a Buy One, Get One free deal for iPhones, Pixels, Samsungs, and LGs

Verizon has decided to offer a pretty interesting Buy One, Get One free (BOGO) deal starting today. In essence, you buy one device from a brand and you can get another one from the same manufacturer for free. There are multiple caveats, as you'd expect, chief of which is the fact that the handset you're receiving for no cost is the cheaper of the...

Apple iPhone XR's successor to have better LTE performance

Opting for the cheaper iPhone XR will not only get you a less impressive IPS display and a single-camera setup on the back, it will also have slower LTE speeds than the more expensive iPhone XS and XS Max. However, according to a Barclays research note, the next-generation iPhone XR will no longer be at a disadvantage compared to its peers. The upcoming...

Moto G7 with Snapdragon 625 benchmarked, could be the G7 Play

The Moto G7 has been subject to a lot of leaks lately and the Geekbench score sheet that we have here appears to reveal some of the specs of the Play model. It lists the aging Snapdragon 625 chipset and that just doesn't seem like a good fit for the main or the Plus-sized versions. Plus, we've seen solid evidence pointing at Snapdragon 632 and Snapdragon...

LG G7 ThinQ gets stable Android 9 Pie update in South Korea

The LG G7 ThinQ started beta testing Android 9 Pie in November with a promise to deliver the update in Q1 2019 and it's now here. Or rather, it is there - in South Korea. LG typically releases updates in its home market first and then globally a couple of months later. Here's what you have to look forward to. The change log includes Pie's gesture...

Honor posts steady growth despite shrinking smartphone market

Huawei's sub brand Honor posted strong growth in Q3 of 2018. Its shipments in Q3 of 2018 went up 27.1% that's despite a 3.1% global slowdown in smartphone shipments. However, that's lower than the 32.9% overall growth posted by Huawei, suggesting that the sub-brand is doing worse than its parent. Honor also says that it now ranks first in market...

The first Android Q beta build leaks, reveals some of the upcoming features

Android Pie is yet to reach anything close to mass adoption, but Google's developers team is already busy building the new Android Q. The guys over at XDA Developers have come across the earliest build of Google's upcoming OS version tested on a Google Pixel 3 XL and shared some of its features. The build date of the ROM was just last week along...

Apple loses appeal, $440M patent infringement fine stands

The patent battle between Apple and VirnetX has come another step closer to a conclusion after the Cupertino company lost its appeal over the $440 million fine. More than a year ago it was ordered to pay the sum for willful infringement of licenses for secure LTE connectivity used in plenty of iOS apps, including FaceTime. The US Court of Appeals...

Redmi Note 7 is getting Xiaomi's Night Mode

If you weren't already impressed with Redmi Note 7's 48MP camera maybe Night mode will change your mind. This update was announced on MIUI's official Weibo page and will be released "later" (with no further clarification). The Redmi Note 7 is the first of its siblings to feature the large 1/2" ISOCELL GM1 sensor with 48MP resolution. Individual pixels...

Oppo R19 and vivo X25 to arrive with pop-up cameras

The summer of 2018 was an exciting period for envelope-pushing smartphone designs and camera setups. First the vivo NEX arrived with a pop-up selfie shooter just to be overshadowed by the Oppo Find X a while. According to a popular Chinese leakster, both companies are planning to bring the periscope selfie camera design to their next flagships, meaning...

First Xiaomi Mi 9 renders are here, it and the Mi 9 SE get certified in China

Unofficial renders of the Xiaomi Mi 9 have hit the web and while they are not the usual CAD-based affair, they hit all the key points from the rumors so far. Starting from the back, there's a triple camera with a 48MP main module. The other two reportedly have 18MP and 8MP sensors. Speculative Xiaomi Mi 9 render Going to the front, the screen is...

Sony Xperia XA3, XA3 Ultra and L3 receive Bluetooth certifications

The Sony Xperia XA3 and XA3 Ultra have been in a holding pattern for a while. One of the few remaining hold-ups was a certificate from the Bluetooth SIG and they have that now. The XA3 was benchmarked with Snapdragon 660 and 6GB of RAM. It will have a 5.9" 1,080 x 2,160px screen. You can feast your eyes on these CAD-based renders, the dual camera...

Amazon Echo Input now available in India

Amazon has launched the Echo Input in India. It is priced at INR 2999 ($42). The Echo Input is the cheapest of the Echo range. It is essentially the Echo Dot but without the built-in speaker. This means it relies entirely on being connected to a speaker system. The Echo Input is aimed at those who not just want an affordable way to use Alexa in their...

nubia Red Magic Mars with 10 GB RAM now up for sale

The ZTE subsidiary nubia introduced its gaming smartphone Red Magic Mars back in November with three memory options - 6/64 GB, 8/128 GB, and 10/256 GB. The first two are selling for quite some time, but the most powerful is only now becoming available online. The phone comes in Camo color, costs CNY3,999 and can be bought today and shipped tomorrow....

Google Pixel 3 Lite leaks in full in a hands-on video

It's happening all over again. Google's production and supply chain let a whole unit escape months ahead of announcement. The Google Pixel 3 Lite has just starred in a hands-on video - just like its more expensive siblings, the Pixel 3/3 XL did last year. According to the video, the Pixel 3 Lite is coming this spring right after the Google I/O conference....

Samsung's Galaxy Fold (SM-F9000) gets certified by CMIIT

The Samsung Galaxy F or Fold is spotted going through the CMIIT (China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) which means that Samsung plans to bring the Galaxy F to the Chinese market. This just in time as Samsung's Unpacked event next month will likely see the debut of the Galaxy F. The main model number is SM-F9000, likely followed...

vivo launches Xchange trade-in program in India

Chinese phonemaker vivo is launching a new trade-in program in India. It lets you exchange your old phone for credit towards a new vivo phone directly from vivo's online store at shop.vivo.com/in. Cashify.in will be handling the exchange program for vivo and as a promotional offer, vivo will offer an additional INR 1000 to anyone turning in an old...

Samsung Galaxy S10+ live photo reveals the dual selfie cam

Samsung is having an Unpacked event in San Francisco on February 20 and we expect to see at least three new phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S10+ with four cameras on the back and two on the front in a cutout of the Infinity-O display. There might be more than a month to the official launch, but the S10+ already appeared in a live photo, posted...

LG is introducing foldable smartphone at MWC 2019

CES 2019 is behind our backs, and we're looking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. Xiaomi already confirmed their presence, while Sony started handing out invites. Another big player that will join next month is LG, and according to sources from South Korea, the maker will introduce a foldable smartphone. The new device will not...

Google signs 32-bit only apps' death penalty

Google is cleaning house - starting on August 1 2019 it will no longer accept new apps or app updates that do not support 64-bit processors. You will still be able to download the old versions of those apps, however. Note that games built with Unity 5.6 or older will be exempt from this and can still be updated. There's a way around this - 32-bit...

Galaxy S10's UD fingerprint reader won't work with screen protectors

Troubling news for those of you who want to keep a screen protector on your phones for some extra peace of mind. According to the latest rumor, the Galaxy S10's under-display fingerprint reader won't work with screen protectors. The vanilla Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy S10+ will make use of a new in-display fingerprint tech. It is believed that they...

Apple's foldable phone to take a different approach, will launch in 2020

Samsung is preparing to introduce its new and exciting foldable Galaxy smartphone on February 20, followed by other manufacturers such as Huawei and LG. Of course, Apple wouldn't want to be left out and it's working on a design of its own, except it is taking a totally different approach. Or at least that's what a Samsung exec believes. While the...

Samsung Galaxy M10 to have 6.2" screen, Exynos 7872 chipset

The Samsung Galaxy M10 will be the smallest of the new M-series, but that doesn't make it less relevant. Leaked specs by way of a manual show that it will have a 6.2" screen (720p+) with a teardrop notch (the so-called Infinity V). The nfo suggests that the chipset will be an Exynos 7872, not 7870 as Geekbench reported. This means a move from eight...

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 passes the torture test with flying colors

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is one of the hottest flagships right now and it offers a mechanical sliding mechanism that's just like the Honor Magic 2 and the Lenovo Z5 Pro. But is it sturdy enough to challenge the classic smartphone design and hold up to the torture tests of JerryRighEverything? Yes, like a champ! The durability test kicks off in the usual...

Motorola RAZR may return as a $1,500 foldable phone

Once upon a time RAZR phones were on top of the world. Lenovo and Verizon may pull a Jurassic Park on us and resurrect the former king. WSJ is reporting that new Motorola RAZR phones will be available as soon as February, exclusively from the US carrier. It will be a foldable phone with a price tag of around $1,500 according to sources. The phones...

Samsung kicks off Galaxy S8/S8+ Android Pie beta program as well

After launching the beta program for the Galaxy Note8 yesterday, Samsung is now launching the Galaxy S8 and S8+ beta program as well. Owners of the two phones will be able to register and participate starting today. The Samsung Members app currently only accepts participants from India but we are sure other markets will get it soon enough. For instance,...

Sony announces a6400 with improved autofocus and flip out display

Sony has launched the a6400, the newest model in its range of APS-C mirrorless interchangeable lens camera system. The new model sits below the flagship model in the series, the a6500, and above the older a6300 model. The a6400 boasts of an improved autofocus system, that features 425-point PDAF system that can lock focus in 0.02 seconds. It also...

Nokia 8.1 now available in the UK

The Nokia 8.1 has arrived in the UK and it can be yours for £380. Currently, only the 4/64GB model is available, with Blue/Silver and Steel/Copper color options. You can find it at Clove UK. Note that this phone is a successor to the Nokia 7 plus, which made its debut in March last year at £350 (it has since dropped to £288). We checked, but there...

Xiaomi official MWC 2019 event is scheduled for February 24

Xiaomi launched the Mi Mix 3 slider at the end of last year in China with a Snapdragon 845 chipset. The company promised a 5G variant for the European market in Q1 2019 and the now we have an exact date for its debut. A company representative confirmed Xiaomi will have a media briefing on February 24, the day before the MWC 2019's official start....

Meizu working on three Snapdragon 855 phones, one of them for gaming

In a Weibo post, the founder of Meizu, Jack Wong, revealed its plans to release three Snapdragon 855-powered smartphones this year with the first two coming as early as May. The phones are Meizu 16s, 16s Plus and 16T. The first two are direct successors to last year's Meizu 16 and 16 Plus while the 16T is going to be a gaming-oriented smartphone....