Touchscreen

Some users of Android smartwatches have complained that Google Maps fails to show any information following its newest updates. This issue was originally thought to affect Ticwatch devices only, but has also been reported on watches from other OEMs. To date, it appears that uninstalling updates is the only valid fix.

A handful of official-looking press renders for the upcoming Motorola Razr 2019 foldable smartphone have found their way online. The leaked images show the Razr leaning casually against its magnificent packaging, the supposed full contents of the box, and the Razr in a partially folded state but with its main display facing away from the camera.

It’s been reported that Dell’s powerful Alienware Area-51m gaming laptops will not be receiving panel upgrades to 240 Hz in 2019. More and more OEMs are turning to this particular refresh rate as a major selling point for updated notebooks, but it seems the Alienware Area-51m will be stuck at a maximum of 144 Hz for the time being.

Nintendo's latest earnings report covers the years ending March 2018 and 2019. They show generally positive results, including a 13.7% year-on-year increase in net sales. The text of this report also states that the release of Pokemon Shield, Pokemon Sword and the Link's Awakening remake are indeed set for this year.

The well-known smartphone industry tipster Ice universe has sparked a flurry of speculation with two enigmatic tweets pertaining to Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 10. His two clues consisted of the simple line “Da Vinci is symmetrical,” which was followed by a tweet containing a picture of the famous Vitruvian Man drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci.

Google is currently running a sale on the Pixel 3 and 3 XL until May 6. The deal applies to all colours and storage options. At launch, the Pixel 3 and 3 XL cost up to US$899 (£839) and US$999 (£969) respectively, but they are now down to a minimum of US$599. Only while stocks last, mind.

Samsung PR is in overdrive. After delaying the public release of the Galaxy Fold following reports of numerous display issues, the company is now doing its best to shut down any negative press about the foldable smartphone.

The A9 was added to OPPO's store without an official announcement, and the store page does not even reveal the full specs. OPPO most likely used the MediaTek Helio P70 SoC to power the A9 and added 6 GB of RAM plus 128 GB of storage. Also included are a large 6.53-inch FHD+ IPS screen and a 4,020 mAh battery, together with a 16 MP selfie cam and a 16 MP + 2 MP dual-cam on the back.

While ZTE is still recouping from last year's bans, the company is certainly not holding back when it comes to 5G tech, as the company is ready to launch its first 5G-comaptible handheld in a few weeks. The Axon 10 Pro integrates Qualcomm's X50 5G modem and the Snapdragon 855 SoC, which can be couple with up to 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold was supposed to see an official release tomorrow (April 26, 2019). However, as many of us know by now, teething problems uncovered by reviewers have postponed the launch of this next-gen smartphone. A tweet allegedly referencing an AT&T email suggests that it will now take place in June.

As part of its international roll-out, the European prices for the OPPO Reno series have been announced. The base model will cost €500 (about US$557), whereas the one with 10X zoom will be €800 (~US$892). The 5G variant of the same will be €100 (a total of $1003) more than this.

As rumored, and completely expected, Samsung will launch a 5G variant of the Galaxy Note 10. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg spilled the beans on the yet to be officially unveiled device during the company’s fiscal Q1 2019 earnings call.

Microsoft’s Surface sales are up 21 percent in strong signs that its bet on hardware is starting to pay off. It is now the seventh quarter in a row that its Surface sales have topped US$1 billion.

A patent has been unearthed that shows one of Xiaomi’s ideas for solving the problem of the notch. In the drawings contained in the application, Xiaomi has gone with a stick-out notch that stretches beyond the normal display area of the smartphone. The stick-out notch is filled with two cameras facing the front while the rear of the notch is left bare.

Update: New table included summarizing the deals involved. The price cuts are relatively minor at just $5 to $20 for the smartwatches and tablets while the MateBook X Pro laptop gets a permanent and more attractive $150 to $200 savings.

Specifically designed for selfie fans, the new Redmi Y3 from Xiaomi comes with a 32 MP frontal cam that offers AI enhancements for low-light pictures, portrait enhancements, and also provides a face unlock feature. The handheld is powered by the Snapdragon 632 SoC coupled with either 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB storage or 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB storage. There is a bright 6.26-inch display with 720p resolution and a generous 4,000 mAh battery, as well.

It has been projected that Nintendo is preparing 2 new versions of its latest console this year. One of them, a 'budget' model, has been slated for a release in 2 months in a new Bloomberg report. It also states that the other 2nd-gen Switch will be a "modest upgrade".

The OnePlus 7 Pro could cost the rough equivalent of $US928 in one of its markets. At least, this is what the prolific leaker Ishan Agarwal has apparently heard. A Tweet from this individual has set out the apparent memory SKUs of this upcoming phone, as well as their respective prices in Euros.

Update: The original deal is back. The barely six-month old HP Spectre x360 13 convertible is now $500 USD off. If you were considering a Pavilion or Envy before, then we recommend looking into this flagship Spectre instead as it offers a stronger and sleeker aluminum chassis design.

The latest figures on the global premium smartphone market reportedly show that OPPO increased its share of it by a stunning 863% in 2018. This stripped out comparable performances on the part of competitors such as Xiaomi and even Huawei. On the other hand, it did not threaten Apple's place at the top of this market.

Samsung has expanded the list of devices supporting its Linux on DeX project. Originally supported only on Galaxy Note 9 and Tab S4 devices, it is now supported on the Galaxy S9, S9+ and the Galaxy S10 range along with the Tab S5e.

A photograph of a man holding what is claimed to be the upcoming “Redmi 855” flagship smartphone in his hand has been uploaded to the Chinese social network site Weibo. The whole thing seems incredibly spurious at first until it’s pointed out that the man in question just happens to be the Redmi CEO, Lu Weibing.

Huawei recently confirmed that the Mate X launch is still scheduled for June and the Chinese company could become the first ever to release a foldable smartphone. Samsung still has no ETA for the Galaxy Fold after it delayed the launch, meaning that Huawei has a fair chance to pull ahead by delivering a more affordable and overall sturdier design.

The tech leaker Stephen Troughton-Smith has supported a rumor that an iPad will gain the ability to pair properly with a mouse with the next iOS update. This new feature will allegedly be a new accessibility option in the new upgrade. However, it is not clear if the rumor applies to wireless, wired or both in terms of these peripherals yet.

A photography blog claims to have discovered a specs sheet for a new Canon sensor with a whopping 63MP resolution. This new module is intended for a full-frame (i.e. 35mm) camera, and has pixels of 37 micrometers in size. Should this leak prove real, this new sensor could compete well with new 60MP counterparts from Sony.

Lenovo's latest flagship smartphone has been released today (April 23, 2019), as scheduled. Its launch confirms the presence of a quadruple rear camera, which incorporates a 48MP module as expected. Besides this, it has a Snapdragon 855 processor, a 12GB RAM variant and a 4000mAh battery.

Max J. went ahead and leaked most of the specs for the upcoming OnePlus 7 series in a Twitter post. The "revolutionary" 6.7-inch 90 Hz screen with 3,120 x 1,440 will only be featured on the Pro / 5G versions, as the regular version gets a 6.4-inch screen with 2,340 x 1,080 resolution. The Pro will also get rear triple cam setups and 4,000 mAh battery, while the regular one features only two rear cams and a 3,700 mAh battery.

The second iteration of Samsung's large-screen Android tablet for media consumption that will come to AT&T in the US has just been spotted online and it sports a few noticeable changes. The Galaxy View 2 has a 17.5-inch display — down from the 18.4 inches of its predecessor — and features a hinged kickstand.

Although the Galaxy Fold has been officially delayed, it looks like two more such models are in the pipeline. For now, they are known as "Type G" and "Type S," but there is no official information regarding their commercial names or release date yet. However, at least one of them is rumored to be announced by the end of the year.

Samsung has announced that it is delaying the launch of the Galaxy Fold. The decision was made following issues experienced with the display by reviewers through a combination of mishandling and potential engineering concerns.

In accordance with previous reports, the Realme 3 Pro has been released to the Indian market today (22 April, 2019). It offers the Snapdragon 710 processor in a package with up to 6GB of RAM, an AI-enhanced selfie camera and gradient color options. The Realme 3 Pro starts at the equivalent of US$200.

WhatsApp is reportedly working on animated stickers in its latest betas. This enables a user to superimpose a a moving piece of art (e.g. a drawing or character) on a message. A blog has also apparently found that the app is going to replace its existing emoji design with a new one.

The Nokia 9 PureView's in-display fingerprint reader has been the subject of many a debate, and the company has sent out OTAs that were supposed to improve it. A new video, however, shows a Nokia 9 PureView being unlocked by an unregistered fingerprint, and a packet of chewing gum afterwards. And no, we're not making this up.

Samsung is reported to have postponed the launch of the Galaxy Fold in China. The Chinese launch was to take place at two separate venues, one in Hong Kong and the other in mainland Shanghai. Although no official reason for the delay in Hong Kong has been provided, the Shanghai launch postponement related to issues with the venue.

Dell has a very limited sale on at the moment for certified refurbished Dell XPS 15 9560 laptops. One particular SKU comes with an Intel Core i7 processor from the Kaby Lake series, a discrete GPU in the shape of an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050, and a generous 1 TB M.2 PCIe SSD. A usual price of US$2,306 is advertised for this laptop, but with the sale and a coupon it can be picked up for US$1,365.03.

Yota is an OEM associated with innovative dual-screen phones of the same name. It made its last such device in 2017, and hadn't been heard from since. Now, it has emerged that Yota has filed for bankruptcy in the Cayman Islands.

Chuwi could be launching an 8-inch mini-computer that comes with a choice of Intel Gemini Lake processors in the not too distant future. The device, which is currently known as the iLife NG08, may be rebranded as the Chuwi MiniBook for market release. The little laptop features a Full HD touchscreen, 4 to 8 GB RAM, and it even has an integrated fingerprint scanner.

Huawei's latest flagship is the P30 Pro, a phone that has many advantages over its 2018 counterpart. It now appears that it also performed better in the JerryRigEverything bend test than the P20 Pro. On the other hand, it seems this premium device has potential deficiencies in other areas.

A smartphone leaks blog claims to have unearthed a patent filed by LG in which a phone with a triple selfie camera is depicted. The phone in question could easily be a V50 ThinQ, except for the three distinctly lens-like sensors visible in its notch. This, then could suggest the next generation of LG phone design.

Samsung has been copping a lot of flak for the highly publicized issues that some of the Galaxy Fold review units it has in circulation. However, some of these critics fail to adequately credit Samsung for pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Note: The views expressed here represent the views of the author alone and don't necessarily reflect the views of Notebookcheck.

A finely crafted concept video of a Samsung Galaxy Note 10 phablet has been posted on YouTube. The creator of the video has specifically stated that it is not based on leaks, which helps explain some differences between the device shown in the clip and what is currently expected from the real thing.

Apple is not ready to make the jump to foldable designs for the time being, but luxury modification company Caviar from Russia might be able to inspire the Californian giant with its impressive iPhone Z concept. The Z-shaped folding pattern allows for quite a few interesting uses, including a laptop mode, a selfie mode, and a screen mode.

The C-Force CF015C weighs just 700 g and is 6 mm thick, yet packs a 4K, 15.6-inch display that boasts 100% sRGB coverage. The CF015C is currently available for US$199 on Kickstarter and ships in June.

The pop-up selfie camera is an increasingly common alternative to the display notch in smartphones. A Chinese media outlet claims that Meizu has joined the list of OEMs who are at least planning such devices. This version may rise from a central position in the top of a given chassis.

Dell has a couple of standout offers in its deals section at the moment. Shoppers can get a hefty discount on a brand-new Dell XPS 13 powered by an Intel Core i7-8565U processor, or if you fancy something much bigger the manufacturer has knocked US$860 off the price of an Alienware 17 gaming laptop, which comes with an 8th Gen Coffee Lake SoC and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 OC GPU.

As HP's first 15.6-inch Chromebook, the unit carries narrow bezels and many design influences from the smaller 14-inch Chromebook series including dual USB Type-C, Bang & Olufsen audio, 802.11ac, and a premium metal design.