Software

The wearables OEM Mobvoi is slated to launch a watch with cutting-edge Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon for that form-factor soon. However, its latest release definitely doesn't fit this bill. Nevertheless, the TicWatch GTX packs sleep-tracking, heart-rate monitoring and 14 workout modes into a device with a normal price of US$60.

An industry insider speculates that Huawei will release a HarmonyOS-powered smartphone in late 2020. It will reportedly be a low-cost 5G-ready smartphone exclusive to the Chinese market. Huawei is expected to tell us more about its plans with HarmonyOS at its developer conference this September.

NVIDIA's cloud-gaming platform GeForce NOW announces seven additional titles today (August 20, 2020), one of which is also Steam's latest release. It is based on the popular TV show Peaky Blinders, and has been up for pre-order until now. Therefore, customers can stream their new title as well as load it on their own PC.

Purported details of the PS5 UI have been leaked by a seemingly disgruntled game developer who claimed to have been working on the latest Call of Duty title. In the meantime, a fan has utilized the official PlayStation 5 boot screen to come up with a fresh-looking UI concept for the next-gen console.

Nubia launched its second-generation flexible display watch in China at the start of August 2020, and it has been exclusive to that market since. Now, however, the OEM has broadened its availability by making it a reward on a Kickstarter campaign. It has attracted nearly 7 times its original goal at this point.

Augmented reality (AR) may emerge as a prominent medium for content and entertainment in the future. At least, Samsung appears to think so, as it has reportedly claimed a new form of the glasses that facilitate it at the South Korean intellectual property office. Should this be the case, the resulting product may look more like sports AR goggles than anything.

Huawei is issuing new updates to the Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro, P20 and P20 Pro. The round of updates brings the older flagships onto the July set of security patches and fixes multiple CVEs.

New stable MIUI 12 updates have been made available for the Redmi K20 Pro and Mi 9T Pro. The updates are rolling out to global and European handsets now as OTA packages.

The prolific leaker Roland Quandt now claims to have laid hands on product images for Fitbit's next wave of smartwatches and fitness trackers. They include possible new generations of the familiar Versa and Inspire lines. However, there is also a completely new name that may encompass various recent health-wearable trends.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite has received a new update. The update brings the August security patch to the device and is arriving as an OTA. Xiaomi is rolling out the update to global handsets, albeit on a partial release for the time being.

GeForce NOW is NVIDIA's cloud gaming solution that allows access to any titles a user may have acquired regardless of the power of their PC. These possibilities are now officially open to those with Chromebooks, thanks to a new beta. It may allow the app to launch even on these often ultra-light machines.

Xiaomi has rolled back the MIUI 12 upgrade for the Redmi 9, which the company began issuing late last month. In its place comes a fresh version of MIUI 11. The new update is rolling out to handsets now.

The Samsung Galaxy M31s is a mid-ranger that has thrived in its main market (India) due to its extra-large 6000mAh battery. Now, it seems this same screen-time champion is headed to Italy. The OEM's division in this country seems to have given it a support page, despite the fact it is not yet sold there.

The Mi 8 Explorer Edition, Mi 9 Lite and Mi 9 SE have all grabbed the MIUI 12 update. The update is rolling out to the Global, European and Russian versions of the Mi 9 SE.

Huawei has updated its EMUI 10.1 upgrade plans for Africa, the Middle East, Western Europe and North-East Europe. The OS upgrade has now commenced for almost all handsets, albeit only those that Huawei has deemed capable of running EMUI 10.1 anyway.

The iQOO 5 series is a new line from this Vivo sub-brand that has been hyped with its novel spec of 120 watt charging. Now, on their launch, it is revealed that the Pro variant is the one with this new ability. However, the iQOO 5 still offers its Snapdragon 865 SoC, 120 hertz refresh rate and 12GB RAM top-end SKU.

The ability to complete point-of-sale transactions using wearables alone represented a market worth US$285.47 billion in 2019, according to new market research. However, this value is also now thought to grow until it reaches $1.37 trillion by 2027. This trend may be influenced by an increasing demand for novel ways to pay that are contactless as well as cashless.

Google applied for a temporary general license (TGL) in order to keep older Huawei devices compatible with its Android app ecosystem even after this OEM was placed on the US administration's Entity List in May 2019. However, this TGL has now expired, leaving the future function of many phones worldwide in some doubt.

The Redmi Note 7 finally received the stable Android 10 update for the European models a few days ago. The update bears the build number "V11.0.1.0 QFGEUXM" and weighs 2.0 GB. Sadly, it also appears to come with a few bugs.

LG USA has announced that every customer who buys an eligible OLED TV from its 2020 line-up will also get a pair of TONE Frees as a promotional gift. They are this OEM's latest TWS earbuds that are tuned by Meridian and are rated for up to 18 hours of battery life. This offer is valid until the end of August 2020.

The popular messaging app Telegram marks its seventh year of business today (August 14, 2020). It has ushered this anniversary in along with a new feature: video calling. It now exists in alpha form, boasting picture-in-picture and end-to-end encryption, but only for its Android app thus far.

Geekbench 5 now lists a set of results for a "HMD Global Nokia 8 V 5G UW". The last part of this elongated name suggests that it can use Verizon's ultra-wideband (or UW) form of the latest mobile-data standard, and may thus be locked to or at least sold through the carrier at launch. Therefore, this device, should it be real, may be a rebranded 8.3.

Xiaomi has started upgrading three more devices to MIUI 12. The Mi 8 Pro, Mi 8 Lite and Mi Max 3 join the dozens of smartphones that have already received Xiaomi's latest OS.

The EOS R5 is a recently-released, near-US$4000 Canon full-frame mirrorless camera that can shoot 8K RAW - but for only about 20 minutes straight. This, according to the OEM, is due to the need to protect its processor from overheating. However, a teardown documented on Baidu has found that this same silicon may have been underserved in the way of thermal protection.

Samsung recently announced that it would improve its long-term software support to three years for its flagship phones starting with the Galaxy S10 series. New information indicates such support may trickle down to the Galaxy A-series, however, with the Galaxy A71, A51, and A90 being the most likely to enjoy that perk.

Today (August 13, 2020), Mobvoi launched its latest Earbud Gesture product on the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. The OEM was able to score its goal twice over within the first hour of this project going live. The TWS devices in question are rated for up to 50 hours of battery life with their case.

Android 10 has reached the Xiaomi Redmi 8 in Europe after similar rollouts for the global edition of the device. The Redmi Note 7 has received the same upgrade in Russia too, while MIUI 12 has been re-released for the Redmi Note 9 globally.

The Poco F2 Pro received the stable MIUI 12 update a few weeks ago, and it appears the update broke an important feature. Owners of the Poco F2 Pro running the build "MIUI 12.0.1.0" have complained about the lack of Widevine DRM L1 support, with their phone now unable to stream HD content from platforms like Netflix.

Huawei has updated its EMUI 10.1 upgrade plans in seven regions. The Android 10-based OS should now have now reached almost-all eligible devices in Central Asia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Japan and Russia.

Xiaomi has unveiled MIUI 12 for India. Announced in a livestream, the company has confirmed that it will start by upgrading 7 devices to its latest OS in the country. It seems to have forgotten that it began rolling out MIUI 12 to handsets in India months ago, though.

Xiaomi has expanded the release of its latest OS for the Poco F2 Pro and Redmi Note 9. MIUI 12 has now reached the Redmi Note 9 in India and is available for more POCO F2 Pro handsets in Indonesia. The two devices have already received MIUI 12 in other regions, too.

Xiaomi has made the MIUI 12 Global stable ROM for the Redmi Note 8 Pro available as part of a wider rollout. The software update for the Global variant of the Redmi Note 8 Pro had already been partially rolled out but now everyone with this particular model should soon find an update notification awaiting them.

Xiaomi has officially announced that a new MIUI 12 beta stable update has started being pushed out for the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro and Redmi K20 Pro testers in Europe. The software version is V12.0.2.0.QFKEUXM and will only be available to users who have been assigned with testing duties.

A prominent tipster has posted what may be listings for Intel's USB 4 controllers. Should this be the case, it seems they will not be compatible with the traditional type A port. The material only mentions the USB 3.2 specification, with no hint of 2.0 in sight.

The THX Spatial Audio app is software developed in conjunction with Razer that may improve the immersion offered by headsets of nearly any type. Its latest update is to add Spatial Audio Game Profiles, which may improve environmental awareness or realism while playing a compatible range of titles.

Xiaomi has started issuing the Android 10 update to some Redmi Note 7 Pro handsets in India. The update is based on MIUI 11 rather than MIUI 12 and contains the July security patch. The rollout of MIUI 12 has been expanded for the Mi Note 10 and Redmi Note 8 Pro, though.

TCL has announced the latest generations of its 5- and 6-series TVs. The former has upgraded to QLED in 2020, whereas the latter now has high-end, high-density mini-LED backlighting. Both new lines have 4K resolutions and have up to 75-inch options.

Samsung has launched a new feature called AltZLife that lets users run specific applications in 'Regular Mode' and 'Private Mode'. Switching from the former to the latter requires you to input a password every time. The feature is available on Galaxy A51 and Galaxy S71 handsets in India.

The Pocophone F1 has started receiving MIUI 12, albeit on the Mi Pilot program. The update is available to the global version of the device and is rolling out in batches. According to Xiaomi, the global stable MIUI 12 update for the Pocophone F1 could arrive within a matter of days, contrary to previous information that the company provided.

Xiaomi has now started sending out the August security patch to its Android One phones, starting with the Mi A3. The update is seeding to global models of the device and weighs just 33 MB while promising to offer bug fixes.

Xiaomi's hotly-anticipated 10th-anniversary edition of the Mi 10 - or Mi 10 Ultra, according to the latest rumors - is expected to drop today (August 11, 2020). A down-to-the-wire leak purports to unbox this phone on camera beforehand, however. The video appears to confirm many primary specs of the impending super-flagship.

The MIUI 12 stable rollout for Xiaomi devices in China included in the third batch or phase of the company’s update roadmap could begin by October depending on how the second-batch rollout progresses. Smartphones that are part of the third batch include the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Mi 8 SE, Redmi 7, and Redmi Note 8.

Hisense has revealed that it is to become known as a partner to Paris St-Germain worldwide. This means its brand will become officially associated with the famous French soccer club, and that its products will be marketed during relevant games. Furthermore, the OEM will furnish this team's technological considerations.

Huawei is planning to run its in-house HarmonyOS all of its future devices. A company executive confirmed that a smartwatch running the software is due to be released later this year. HarmonyOS will eventually make its way to Huawei's upcoming tablets, laptops, and even smartphones.

The lens specialist Sigma has released the new f/1.4 DG DN Art attachment for Leica L-mount and Sony E-mount full-frame cameras. With its new arrangement of aspherical, high-refraction and special low dispersion (SLD) elements, it may be well-equipped indeed for portrait shooting. It also has a button that either allows or denies the option of audible clicking in the aperture ring.

The Mi Mix 3 5G is finally receiving a new update after months out in the cold. The new OTA brings the update with build designation "MIUI V10.3.26.0.PEMEUVF", which denotes that it's for the Vodafone EU models. This update is the July security patch and is a 496 MB download.

GoPro is an OEM nearly synonymous with outdoor pursuits and occupations. Therefore, it may come as no surprise that it posted a net loss of nearly US$51 million for the second quarter of 2020 (2Q2020). However, it is not all bad news for the popular action-cam brand: for example, its online sales model seems to be taking off.

Amidst rumors of the cancellation of Xiaomi's Android One Mi A-series, the company is still judiciously supporting its current Android One lineup. The Mi A2 Lite has now received the July update, with the 180 MB download promising to provide much-needed bug fixes.

The Mi 8 Pro is set to receive its inaugural MIUI 12 update this week, according to Xiaomi. The company has pulled back MIUI 12 for the Poco X2 because of bugs though and has suggested that the Pocophone F1 may not receive its latest OS until September at the earliest.