Alle Artikel über Smartphones

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has published a patent application filed by Google Technology Holdings LLC for an “electronic device having pivotably connected sides with selectable displays.” This could be a joint project with Motorola, as some of the drawings included in the application show the company’s famous batwings logo.

Qualcomm's patent war against Apple has escalated this December following bans in China and now Germany on the sale of iPhones. Intel has now accused Qualcomm of "stifling competition" in a scathing Intel Newsroom article that alleges Qualcomm's actions will only serve to "reduce innovation and increase prices."

A number of Pixel 3 and 3XL owners have reportedly taken to the Google Product Forums to complain about issues with voice-calls on their devices. These problems apparently include low-quality in-call audio, connection issues and more. On the other hand, there are claims that the December Android 9.0 software update is a solution in some cases.

Famed leakster Ishan Agarwal shared a picture of an internal OnePlus meeting talking about a new phone prototype. This could be the 5G OnePlus phone that the company plans to launch in early 2019. The picture shows the device sporting a circular camera bump and presence of red and light grey variants. If news so far is true, this phone could launch as a distinct lineup with its own set of premium features and pricing.

Samsung's 6.3-inch camera-centric mid-ranger that features no less than four cameras on its back is now finally ready to hit South Korean shelves. The 6 GB/128 GB memory/storage variant will be available for purchase in South Korea starting December 21 for the equivalent of around US$530.

The Android Pie update for the ZenFone 5 series is expected to arrive in January 2019 but an early version of the ROM is now available for manual download. The ROM appears to be intended for the Brazilian market but can actually be installed on any international variant. Those who have tested this ROM say that users will encounter a few bugs and they should rather wait for the official FOTA rollout.

The Honor View 20, or V20 as it is known in China, has appeared on the Huawei Vmall online shop. The device will be available to pre-order in China from 10:08 Chinese Standard Time (CST) on December 20.

Tencent Games has asserted that it has drawn level with Epic Games' Fortnite in terms of mobile user numbers for its own game, PUBG. This means that PUBG has made it to about 200 million users. It is estimated that both games also have the same approximate number of users who play at least once a day (30 million).

HTC might only be a shadow of its former self nowadays, but it looks like 2019 will not bring any noticeable changes. Even worse, the company's president, Darren Chen, has recently revealed that the next HTC flagship will be "an extension of the latest U12 Plus" instead of an entirely new device.

Are you tired of using Photoshop to clear the background from your photos so you can replace it? The makers of remove.bg clearly thinks you are. It offers a service in which its AI identifies the main subject matter of any image, then makes the background around it transparent.

Samsung is planning to release a 5G version of the Galaxy S10 that is currently codenamed "Beyond X", according to details that have emerged online. The device will be the flagship Galaxy S10 model, which the company could announce at its Galaxy UNPACKED event next February.

A Forbes reporter had a replica of his own head, made via 3D-printing, commissioned from a company that specializes in the same. He was able to use this object to unlock four Android phones (from different OEMs), but not an iPhone X. This suggests that Face ID remains the more powerful device-security tool.

Leaving aside the waterdrop notch, the recently teased Xiaomi Play looks like just another mid-range offering that sports a dual camera and a circular rear-mounted fingerprint reader. The leaked specs include an unnamed octa-core processor, up to 6 GB of memory, and 32 GB to 128 GB of internal storage space.

While many people still think that Turing is trying to get some more money without delivering anything solid and the HubblePhone will turn out to be nothing else but vaporware, the company has just promised to compensate the customers who paid for a Turing Phone Dark Wyvern and have not been refunded yet.

Although there is no official information about the upcoming Huawei P30 series, a few Olixar protective cases have been listed for pre-order by MobileFun already. These accessories reveal that the P30 Pro is a handset that sports a display with a waterdrop-style notch, as well as a quad main camera setup.

Supporting both Purism's own PureOS Linux-based operating system and Ubuntu Touch, which is now being developed by the UBports team, the Librem 5 smartphone is supposed to hit first customers next year, in April. However, the first developer kits are already shipping to those who already placed orders.

A new post to the Android Developers Blog details the measures Google is taking to address the issue of fake reviews or ratings on the Play Store. They are described as a combination of AI and human expertise. The post claims that they have already resulted in the removal of millions of reviews from the Store.

Less than 40% of all smartphones are thought to have LCD (or a variation on it) these days. This was reported as part of a new release from the analysis firm IHS Markit. It indicates that the type of panel once only associated with high-end Samsung phones are becoming much more commonplace and popular with manufacturers.

At an event in Beijing today, Lenovo announced the flagship Z5 Pro GT — the world's first smartphone to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC and also the first to feature 12 GB of RAM. Apart from the raw processing power, the Z5 Pro GT is very much identical to the Z5 Pro that was launched in China last month. Lenovo has also announced the mid-range Z5s sporting a rear triple camera setup. These handsets are competitively priced but are currently exclusive to the Chinese market.

HTC has released a new phone, the Desire 12S, the latest in a brief list of smartphones to come out of the company's stables this year. Like the Desire 12 duo that was released at the start of the year, though, the Desire 12S doesn't get quite a few things right.

Huawei may have found stiff opposition from a number of governments since the new year but the company's smartphone division is definitely on the up. The company has confirmed that it will have sold 200 million smartphones this year by Christmas, a massive 30% increase from last year's 153 million figure.

The Xiaomi POCO F1 has reportedly received an update to official stable Pie, following a recent beta to test the same. However, it's not all good news for fans of the device: some users have claimed that it no longer includes an option to hide the notch in the UI. The update has brought other apparent problems, most notably unusual battery drain.

The Galaxy S10 rumour mill is in full swing, and now the device has supposedly been seen on a South Korean subway. The device in question sports the Samsung Infinity-O display that the company recently announced with the Galaxy A8, but the camera cut-out is in a different position to other recent Galaxy S10 leaks.

Many Android phones, flagships and budget flagships included, often fail to integrate Widevine L1 support into their software. As a result, they lack the ability to play DRM-protected content such as that provided by Netflix in full HD or HDR. The Mate 20 series was one of these; however, this series has finally acquired the ability to stream in HD, while the Mate 20 itself can do so in HDR.

UMIDIGI has released details on its upcoming new smartphone, the F1, on its official website. This device will come with Android Pie out of the box, as well as SD card support and a 5,150mAh battery. UMIDIGI claims that inbuilt AI helps the battery last longer over time by learning usage patterns and habits.

Huawei, earlier today, launched its new sub-premium phone, the Nova 4, in China. The device features a Kirin 970, a triple rear camera setup including a 48 MP sensor, a camera hole, and a 3750 mAh battery. Prices start at $450.

More renders and a live image of the upcoming Honor V20's retail box have surfaced. The Honor flagship is expected to be launched in China next week and will come with a 48 MP camera.

Razer has unleashed a version of its Raiju controllers for smartphones. It is ostensibly designed to compete with similar products made by Xiaomi and Asus, although it may fit devices besides the company's own gaming-focused smartphones. The 'mobile' Raiju features the Mecha-Tactile action buttons found on the Ultimate variant of this controller.

This week, Qualcomm succeeded in its petition to a Chinese court to have the sale or import of several iPhone models banned in the relevant jurisdiction. The company is also pushing the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to take similar action. The ITC has stated that it will review the case and release its final verdict next year.

An infographic published by LetsGoDigital makes for interesting reading for those curious about how the foldable market could end up playing out. Unsurprisingly, it seems Samsung and Huawei will be the first major manufacturers to offer this exciting form factor to consumers, with Microsoft and Apple willing to bide their time, possibly to see how the market develops.

A new report uncovered by LetsGoDigital has claimed that Samsung’s upcoming foldable smartphone could sport a total of up to 6000 mAh in battery capacity. Apparently, there will be two separate cells, with one in each half of the flexible handset. Other rumored specifications include the presence of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and a dual 12 MP main camera.

According to some preliminary leaks, the Huawei Nova 4 was to be released about two days from now. Today, the company has given credence to this rumor, and has also announced the location of this event. It may unveil a phone with a 'punch-hole'-style display that is new to Huawei and should help compete with next-generation phones from other companies such as Samsung.

During the launch event for the latest series of iPhones, many tech correspondents remarked on the company's official images which gave the impression that the devices lacked the profound notches that do in fact exist. It appears that this strategy worked too well in the case of one consumer, who is now reportedly suing Apple for misrepresenting the XS Max's appearance.

Despite winning a victory against Apple earlier this week, Qualcomm is continuing to pressure the iPhone manufacturer in China. Qualcomm is petitioning Chinese courts to expand the ban of iPhone sales to include the iPhone XR, Xs, and Xs Max. However, Apple is claiming that these devices should not be included in the initial ban as they run iOS 12. Chinese courts have yet to make a decision.

Facebook has informed its developers of "a photo API bug" that allowed third-party apps to access photos uploaded to the social media's servers, regardless of whether the user then chose to share these images on their timelines or not. The company has admitted that this new flaw had been in effect for eight days in September 2018 and may have affected as many as 6.8 million users who logged in on those dates.

The next generation of the Samsung Galaxy S line is rumored to come in several variants, which include an SX Lite for the first time. This SKU is also now reported to come in a new color for the rear panel. The color schemes for the remaining versions have also been outlined, and may contain fewer surprises.

The respected Apple-focused business analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has made a departure from the general consensus in his industry that the Cupertino company will see 200 million iPhones sold in 2019. Kuo now asserts that this number will be significantly reduced compared to 2018. He has also revised his previous estimate on this subject for the first quarter of next year downwards.

The Huawei Nova 4 is set to be released on December 17. However, it now seems as though we may already know everything there is to know about the phone. This apparently now includes the device's color options.

Asus has announced the resignation of the company’s long-term CEO, Jerry Shen. However, the executive plans to maintain a relationship with the Taiwanese manufacturer in his new position as chief of a start-up called iFast. In a change of marketing strategy, Asus intends to shift its focus on to gamers and power users in regard to future mobile product releases.

Initially thought to be an answer for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855, Samsung's Exynos 9820 or Huawei's Kirin 980, the Helio P90 seems to be aimed at premium mid-to-high-end phones. It still uses the 12 nm manufacturing process, so it cannot really compete with the latest high-end SoCs, but it does come with a more powerful GPU and an impressive APU 2.0 A.I. architecture that supports Google Lens and ARCore applications.

Chrome 73 is now rumored to add a feature that can organize tabs into certain sets to the browser. This may be most reminiscent of the similar function that Microsoft is reportedly set to bring to Windows File Explorer in the future. In addition, it is now alleged that Google will add a dark mode to Chrome 73 for Macs.

New leaks suggest that Huawei is to release its own smart TV product, and that it may be here as early as the first half of 2019. This is based on claims that the company has filed a patent for a "Huawei AI Window". The rumor may make sense, as more and more traditional smartphone OEMs are moving into this new market.

Prior to the release of its 2018 flagship, OnePlus had publicly committed to bringing Pie to its 2016 and 2017 phones. This week, the company partially delivered on this promise, releasing a new beta of its OyxgenOS software based on the newest version of Android for the 5 and 5T. The beta also includes the new OnePlus UI for Pie.

Samsung is likely a few months away from unveiling its Galaxy S10 line-up, but that has not stopped yet more leaks and speculation from appearing online. Now there are reports that a "major tech retailer" in the UK has approached Gizmodo with pricing for all three rumoured S10 models.

OnePlus launched the OnePlus 6T a few months and, for the first time ever, sold the device under the umbrella of a US carrier. That move has apparently paid off in style, with the company confirming that the OnePlus 6T has outsold the OnePlus 6 by 249% in the US.

Huawei has announced the launch of its new budget Enjoy 9. The phone will sport dual rear cameras, a Snapdragon 450, and a big 4000 mAh battery. A fingerprint reader is missing, however, and there may just be better value options on the market.

A product page for the Sony IMX607 CMOS sensor for smartphones has surfaced on Weibo. It is described as a 38 megapixel (MP) Exmor RS module with "advanced noise reduction", a novel dual Bayer-and-white HDR coding array and ambient light detection. Therefore, it may have enhanced low-light detection performance.

IDC has published a report with forecast projections for global smartphone shipments in 2018 and 2022. The research company expects a drop of 3% in 2018 followed by a small increase in 2019 that will carry on through to 2022. The total units shipped for 2018 is estimated at 1.42 billion while the 2022 estimate is put at 1.57 billion. Android should maintain a comfortable lead in terms of platform used.

Xiaomi has showcased the fact that 5G is for IoT devices too. This was done via a Tweet by a company spokesperson, containing a video showing how quickly the 5G-enabled variant of the Mi Mix 3 could relay commands to a connected lamp. Therefore, 5G may be an exciting prospect for smart-home fans too.

Gizchina claims to have unearthed a slide showing details on the specs of the upcoming Huawei 'punch-hole' camera pioneer device, the Nova 4. This slide appears to clearly indicate that this phone will have two separate variants, one of which will have a novel 48MP sensor in its triple-rear-camera setup and one that will not. This slide also suggests that the Nova 4 will ship with the Kirin 970, not the 980.