Software

The OPPO Find X3 Pro has allegedly been spotted tearing up benchmarks prior to its March 2021 launch. Its latest leak allegedly comes directly from a cloud-testing website belonging to its OEM. It seems to affirm the screen resolution, SoC, RAM and OS associated with this premium phone.

The brand POCO has certified a new device with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and a number of other regulators. There is some evidence that this phone will be revealed as the Pro version of the X3 on its launch. To date, most of its specs remain a mystery, however, although its leaks point to NFC support, at least.

Not only will Xiaomi unveil the Mi 11 globally on February 8, but it will also reveal the latest version of MIUI. MIUI 12.5 should initially reach at least 28 devices across Xiaomi's Mi and Redmi series. Xiaomi promises that MIUI 12.5 will be faster and smoother than MIUI 12, too.

Simply called "iCloud Passwords," the new Google Chrome extension allows its users to use the same Safari passwords that they created on their Apple device with Chrome on Windows. Besides, iCloud Passwords also saves passwords created with Google Chrome on Windows to the iCloud Keychain for later use on Apple devices.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 has received another security patch update, bringing the Android One handset onto the January patch. The Mi A2 will remain on Android 10 indefinitely, but security patch updates should be headed its way until the summer.

After rolling out the Android 11 update to the Poco X2 and Mi Note 10 Lite last month, Xiaomi is now seeding a similar update to the popular Redmi Note 9S. The update is based on MIUI 12, as expected, and is slowly arriving for global versions of the phone.

Xiaomi has seeded a new update to the Mi A3, bringing the device onto the January security patch. The update, which the company has based on Android 11, also contains a working screen recorder. V12.0.4.0.RFQMIXM is rolling out as an OTA now for all devices on the global branch of Xiaomi's Android One program, including those that have already been upgraded to Android 11.

Those who want a custom ROM for their Xiaomi Mi A1 close to Google's stock offering will probably enjoy ShapeShiftOS. For me, the lack of OTA updating, the stability issues that I bumped into, as well as the rather basic customization options make this piece of code unusable as a daily driver.

LG had nominated only 1 phone to upgrade to Android 11 in 2021: the 2020 sort-of-mid-ranger Velvet. This has at least allowed it to get the device's new UI out of beta and into a stable channel, according to a user on Reddit at least. However, the update only seems to be available in South Korea at the moment.

A YouTube-based tipster has asserted that successors to the premium Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and S7+ slates are on the way. However, it seems they will be not much more than Snapdragon 888-powered versions of those 2020 models. Then again, their prices are now not expected to change either.

The latest version of iOS (14.4) is now available as a stable update. Installing it causes a new kind of "important hardware message" to pop up should an iPhone detect that its rear camera module has been unofficially replaced. Apple has also noted that the software includes patches for potentially actionable vulnerabilities.

Huawei has updated its EMUI 11 update plans globally. Not only has the Chinese company finished delivering the OS update to more devices across multiple regions, but it is now more precise in when every eligible handset should receive EMUI 11.

Earlier, the YouTuber Frankie Tech tested the Xiaomi Mi 11 and iQOO 7 - the only phones with the latest Snapdragon 888 processor at the time - in terms of their AnTuTu benchmarking performance, and found that both phones seemed to overheat in response. Now, the vlogger has pitted the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra against the Mi 11 in the same way, with interesting results.

Realme is mostly known for its phones and audio devices; however, like Xiaomi and Huawei before it, it is now rumored to get into the laptop game as well. According to a well-known leaker, the first of these new products will debut in June 2021. Meanwhile, the OEM has teased a new initiative called TechLife, which will launch in February.

MediaTek invented a whole new tier of its high-end mobile chipsets with the introduction of the Dimensity 1100 alongside its outright flagship counterpart the 1200. A new leak indicates that Vivo has a device with this new premium-ish mid-range processor in the works. It is to have 12GB of RAM and an FHD+ display.

For those who often find themselves facing way too many tabs on their tab bar, Vivaldi 3.6 comes with a second one. In addition to two-level tab stacks, the latest update for this browser also includes split-screen view and tree-style view (via the Tab Tiling and Window Panel features).

In what could come as a disappointment to GeForce RTX 3080 owners, recent Xbox and PC exclusive The Medium struggles to deliver a consistent 60 FPS, even at 1080p with ray-tracing effects disabled. Because the game readily scales to 4K, this could be an optimization issue Bloober Team and NVIDIA will soon resolve.

Today (27 January 2021), OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei launched his first company formed since leaving that OEM in 2020, and it's...Nothing. This new brand-name apparently applies to new and innovative tech Pei and his team plan to build from the ground up with no reference to what has gone before. However, there is still no word on what forms these products are to take yet.

The Sony Xperia 10 II is finally receiving the Android 11 update. Its version number is 59.1.A.0.485, and it is approximately 1GB in size. Apart from the usual Android 11 features, the update also adds a new Battery Care feature.

LG has added more features to the Wing with its latest software update. Currently rolling out in South Korea, V11b-Jan-19-2021 adds dedicated scroll functionality to the second screen's touchpad, among other changes.

Wireless smart tags for possession-tracking seem to be one of the major trends for mobile device OEMs in 2021. According to a new patent application discovered on the CNIPA database, OPPO may be the next to jump onto this bandwagon. Its new Bluetooth tag looks much like that of Samsung's, although there are no indications as yet that the two would work in the exact same way.

Huawei has now blessed owners of the Mate 10 Pro with yet another update after the last one was sent out back in October. The update brings a security patch for some major vulnerabilities, which should gladden the hearts of Mate 20 Pro owners after their phones were delisted from Huawei's update schedule this month.

The DOOGEE S88 Pro stood out among toughphones with its 10,000mAh battery and the "robot-eye" LEDs in its rear panel. The new S88 Plus retains these, but also comes with 8GB of RAM, as opposed to 6GB in its predecessor. It also packs reverse wireless charging so as to share its giant capacity in an emergency, and has a special introductory price for its launch on AliExpress.

The Samsung Health Monitor app has finally acquired the CE mark of approval in Europe. This means that the Galaxy Watch3 can finally use its electrocardiogram (ECG) and blood-pressure monitoring features, as can the Galaxy Watch Active2, across the European Economic Area (EEA). This is also true of the UK, UAE, Chilean and Indonesian markets.

Samsung has partnered with Tesla to supply its cars with processors for their "auto-pilot" functions in the past, although the silicon in question has come from 14 nanometer (nm) process nodes. However, a Korean news outlet now asserts that these automotive SoCs are to evolve all the way to 5nm soon. They might control in-car entertainment as well as self-driving abilities in the future.

Motorola seems to be carrying on with its new 2021 trend of resort island-based code-names for its upcoming budget phones. The latest of these is apparently the "Ibiza", a device rumored to launch with the new Snapdragon 480 SoC for budget 5G phones. It may also have been registered with the Wi-Fi Alliance, suggesting it will be here soon.

XDA contributors claim to have found code in the latest version of the OnePlus camera app for new features that are likely to launch alongside the upcoming 9 flagship series. They include distinctly pro-sounding abilities including Focus Peaking and Tilt-Shift. It seems the OEM is also going trendy with other features such as Moon Mode and Starburst.

Millions of people search for news on Google or Facebook; therefore, those tech behemoths should pay media outlets for their content. At least, this is the Australian government's position in a dispute with the companies in question. Google has responded by threatening to deprive the country of its Search service.

Without any noticeable problems on my handset after a few days of use, Android 11-based crDroid 7.2 proves to be an almost perfect choice for those who want to keep around the Xiaomi Mi A1 for at least another year or two without making any compromises in terms of security and capabilities.

The betas for Android's next major update may not be too far away at this point. This version is the one now rumored to implement a feature in which a phone can respond to double-taps on its rear panel to open shortcuts. Android 12 is also said to add App Pairs, a new form of split-screen mode, as well as more effective third-party app-market access.

The Redmi Watch - or Mi Watch Lite for global markets - has been spotted on the BIS regulatory documentation, hinting that it will launch in India soon. It is slated to be the Redmi-branded version as it has been registered under that name. By any name, it has a 1.4-inch square face, 5ATM water resistance and up to 9 hours of battery life.

Xiaomi has sent out the stable Android 11 update to a few of its phones, and the next in line is the Poco X2. The Poco mid-range phone is now receiving the stable beta Android 11 update along with the January security update. The Redmi Note 9 4G is getting its first taste of Android 11, too.

Capcom recently released Resident Evil Village Maiden as a surprise demo for PlayStation 5 owners. With just months to go before the game's May 7th release, Village Maiden gives us a (horrifying) glimpse of what's to come.

The OnePlus Watch is coming to India, according to a new regulatory certification posted by a well-known tipster. It has been presumed that this wearable would have a round face; however, the new registration specifies 2 variants with different model numbers. Therefore, a square-faced option from OnePlus might be back on the cards.

Realme's first-ever smartwatch was an Apple Watch clone, whereas its second had a round face and a Pro variant. A new FCC registration reveals the OEM has gone back to a square face for its next wearable. It has an on-trend blood oxygen monitor, as well as "dynamic" heart-rate tracking and IP68 ingress-protection.

A Chinese news outlet has recently broken the story that OPPO and OnePlus - two heretofore independent brands under the BBK Electronics umbrella - will "merge" their research and development efforts. This leak, which might mean the 2 OEMs start producing much more similar products soon, has been confirmed to some extent by OnePlus.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite has begun the new decade with a new update, and one that brings it onto the January 2021 Android security patch. The Mi A2 Lite will not receive an OS upgrade beyond Android 10, but it will continue to receive security patch updates for another six months.

It has been reported that Samsung has had to pause the rollout for the Android 11 One UI 3.0 update for the Galaxy S10 series. The reasons for the halt have yet to be divulged but it’s likely bugs have been discovered. The Samsung Galaxy S10 Android 11 One UI 3.0 update was only first made available a couple of weeks ago.

The OPPO CPH2173 is an upcoming device that has been spotted in several leaks over the last few weeks. Based on its alleged specs, it is likely to be a Find X3-series flagship. It has now been certified by the FCC and 3C authorities, showing that it has a dual-cell 2200mAh battery and what seems to be a new version of ColorOS.

Samsung has announced the latest in its EVO series of SSDs. The OEM is pitching the 870 at users with network-attached servers (NASs) as well as consumer PCs. It is rated for top SATA read and write speeds and for 30% performance improvements over its predecessor.

Carl Pei is well known as the co-founder of the successful smartphone brand OnePlus. However, he has since left this company with plans to start another. It will launch on January 27, 2021; in the meantime, Pei has tweeted that he is giving 10 MacBook Airs with the new M1 chipset away, presumably to drive hype for his own new products.

According to a T-Mobile representative, the LG V60 ThinQ should start to see Android 11 within a few days. The publication of the Android 11 kernel source code for the Verizon model points to a wider OS upgrade being on the cards, too.

The Snapdragon 888 is Qualcomm's latest flagship-grade mobile processor, and as such is only available in a tiny handful of phones to date. The first 2 of these, the iQOO 7 and Xiaomi Mi 11, have already exhibited thermal-management problems while in the hands of a reviewer. Hopefully, this is not a sign of things to come for the rest of 2021.

Apple's TV+ is its answer to other streaming platforms such as Netflix. One year's worth of free access to the service was bundled with compatible hardware bought at its September 2019 launch. That offer was then extended so as to end in February 2021 - however, the OEM has now prolonged it again until July.

In addition to the security patch dated January 2021, the OxygenOS 10.5.9 software update for OnePlus Nord N10 handsets also comes with improved network stability and optimized power consumption. Sadly, there are no fixes for the broken pocket mode and AR services yet, as well as a few other minor bugs.

The OPPO Band is a 2020 fitness tracker with a blood-oxygen sensor that launched in China for about US$31. Now, it has reportedly acquired an EEC certification, which suggests that it may go on sale in Russia soon. Therefore, this could this be the first of further global releases for the device.

Xiaomi is now expanding its Android 11 rollout to include its mid-range devices, with the Mi Note 10 Lite being the latest to receive the update. The update doesn't bring MIUI 12.5 but it's slowly rolling out to the global variant of the phone. The global Redmi Note 8 is getting a spanking new update, too.

Not many rugged phones come in main colors other than black or have horizontally-oriented quad rear cameras. However, the F150 B2021 offers both. Its OEM has set it at a regular price of US200; however, it is down to $110 for its debut on Banggood or AliExpress.

One week after releasing the update for the Galaxy Z Fold 2, Samsung is bringing the Android 11-based One UI 3.0 software update to its predecessor as well. The Samsung Galaxy Fold is receiving the new firmware already in France and the UAE (LTE version), as well as Switzerland and the UK (5G version).

Xiaomi has taken to its official Weibo account to enlist about 27 devices that are eligible to receive a closed beta rollout of the MIUI 12.5 update. The list of devices includes the upcoming Mi 11 flagship and goes as far back as the Redmi Note 7 released in early 2019. The closed beta is currently limited to China and a global release will follow soon.