Sunday debate: Are phone cases necessary?

Is there a case for phone cases? Paul, who's got the hump, and Yordan discuss. Paul: "Cases are like clothes" Over the years my views and uses of phone cases have evolved. Initially, when I started to drop serious amounts of cash on phones, my first and only thought was about protecting my investment from drops and its looks from those scratches that build up over time. In those early days I had some fugly clothes adorning my smartphones. I cringe when I think back to the yellow and black Defender "bumblebee" case from Otterbox that I had on my iPhone 3GS. Yes, it protected...

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/sunday_debate_are_phone_cases_necessary-news-32578.php

What will Apple call its 2018 iPhones - we look at all the options

With the introduction of the 2017 iPhones, Apple backed itself into a corner regarding its naming convention, so how it will proceed in 2018? After all it currently has three phones using two diferent types of numerals, a skipped digit and a Plus version. In our recent article '2018 iPhones: Everything we know so far' we briefly touched on the possible names Apple could adopt for its upcoming iPhones. As it turns out, this in itself generated quite a lively debate so we thought we'd go over the available options. The introduction of the iPhone X resulted in Apple having three flagship...

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/what_will_apple_call_the_2018_iphones-news-32560.php

Weekly poll results: Xiaomi Mi A2 gets a warm welcome, A2 Lite needed to do better

The Xiaomi Mi A2 was well received by the voters in last week's poll. We were surprised to see that most people miss the 3.5mm headphone jack and the microSD slot more than they missed the telephoto camera. It goes to show that simple components that don't add much to the bill of materials can significantly impact the desirability of a phone. The microSD slot is important as Xiaomi is offering the Mi A2 with 32GB as base and that isn't much. So you need to spend an extra €30 if you want usable storage. Speaking of price, about a third of people are holding out for a discount or a promotion...

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/weekly_poll_results_xiaomi_mi_a2_gets_a_warm_welcome_a2_lite_needed_to_do_better-news-32583.php

Counterclockwise: HTC is the foundation upon which modern smartphones are built

Last year HTC celebrated its 20th birthday. The company was founded in Taiwan on May 15 1997 as the High Tech Computer Corporation and it initially intended to build laptops. Pretty soon it started building pocketable devices - Pocket PCs as they were called back then - and soon moved to smartphones. One of its first was the HTC Blue Angel aka Qtek 9090 or i-mate PDA2k or O2 XDA IIs or one of several other names. See, HTC was an ODM, it built the hardware for other companies but didn't sell devices under its own brand. And if you spotted the XDA name, that's where the famous forum got its...

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/counterclockwise_htc_was_a_foundation_upon_which_modern_smartphones_are_built-news-32588.php

Sony Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra get July security update

Sony is pushing a small OTA to Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra users. It brings the build versions up from 50.1.A.10.40 to version 50.1.A.10.51. The payload seems to consist entirely of a security patch, dated 1 July 2018. As per quite a few user reports, the previous firmware build for the pair of handsets apparently caused some Bluetooth connectivity issues. Even though it's too early to call it one way or the other, the initial feedback seems to confirm there is sadly no fix present in this package either. If you happen to own an Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra, be sure to hit up the...

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xa2_and_xa2_ultra_get_july_security_update-news-32600.php

Pre-ordering the Galaxy Note9 will get you 15,000 V-Bucks in Fortnite Mobile

Mobile gaming is already a huge deal and the latest rumor about Samsung partnering with Epic Games for the [Galaxy Note9]|(https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note9-9163.php) launch, comes to only further confirm this. Just the other day, news broke that Samsung and Epic Games are planning to release Fortnite - the PC game that already took over iOS - exclusively to Galaxy Note9 owners for 30 days. Today, a string in Epic Games' website suggest that both companies are extending its partnership even further. When buying the Galaxy Note9, you will get 15,000 virtual in-game currency...

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/preordering_the_galaxy_note9_will_get_you_15000_vbucks_in_fortnite_mobile-news-32599.php