Software

GoPro has addressed an increasingly prevalent issue for many users who have shifted their work, learning or hobbies online in a new update under development at this action-cam OEM. It confers a new function on its HERO8 Black model that allows owners who also use Macs to use the device as an FHD, wide-angle upgrade on their default webcams.

New Android 11 builds have arrived for the Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro. The builds are available to download now, although they are both in beta.

Huawei has confirmed that it will be upgrading 13 devices to EMUI 10.1 in Western Europe. The company's latest in-house OS is an incremental update on EMUI 10, which will be replaced by EMUI 11 later this year.

Xiaomi has announced that random Redmi Note 7 and Redmi Note 7S devices in India will start receiving the Android 10-based version of MIUI 11. The beta stable update has the version code V11.0.2.0 QFGINXM and if all goes well then a wider public rollout of the software for the Redmi Note 7 will follow shortly afterwards.

Canon has finally unveiled the long-awaited 2020 EOS R series of mirrorless cameras. The OEM has confirmed the former has a 45MP sensor, whereas the latter is 20MP. They also have DIGIC X image processor and 5-Axis image stabilization. 4 new RF lenses have also been launched alongside the new units.

The latest truly wireless (TWS) earbuds from UGREEN upgrade to a USB type C port for charging and to an IPX5 rating for ingress protection. They also have a Qualcomm chipset which confers some up-to-date audio specs on these new HiTune accessories. They include Bluetooth 5.0, cVc v8.0 for noise cancellation and aptX.

Xiaomi has pushed a new update to the Poco X2, but quite possibly not the one for which people had been hoping. The MIUI 12 upgrade has been extended for the Mi 9, though. However, full-screen gestures may not be arriving on the Redmi K20 Pro until a new update arrives.

LG has announced that it will be porting the UI from its recent Velvet smartphone to older handsets, including the V50 ThinQ and G8 ThinQ. Other eligible devices include the V50S ThinQ, V40 ThinQ, V35 ThinQ and G7 ThinQ. These will most likely be Android 10 updates, though.

Android 10 (Go edition) has been made available for the Nokia 1, a handset that HMD Global released well over two years ago. The update will roll out in waves and is the second OS upgrade for the Nokia 1.

iQOO has launched the Z1x as the world's latest Snapdragon 765G-powered device. It also has the 120Hz refresh rate in its FHD+ LCD screen, as promised in its hype-phase. The phone also offers a 5000mAh battery that charges at 33 watts (W) and "PC-grade" cooling for as little as 1598 yuan to its new Chinese audience.

A Twitter tipster has claimed that the upcoming Galaxy Note 20 series will not be capable of a 120 hertz (Hz) refresh rate when their displays are set to a QHD+ resolution, according to someone currently in possession of these devices. Therefore, they may be restricted to the higher rate at FHD+ only, as with the current S20 flagships. This contradicts an earlier rumor on the subject.

Google has revealed the planned launch date for Android 11, its next-generation OS. Currently undergoing public beta tests, Android 11 will arrive "everywhere" on September 8. This is probably only true for Pixel smartphones though, as have proven the case with past releases of Android.

The eufyCam 2 Pro improves on its previous generation in that its image sensor's resolution steps up to 2048x1080 (or 2K). It also incorporates night vision (color and IR), 2-way audio and a battery life of up to 12 months. This new indoor/outdoor home-surveillance kit is available through Best Buy in the US.

HarmoniQLabs is a company that has an in-house 3D-printing process to make its new TWS earbuds. The OEM claims that the resulting unique shape created is better for prolonged wear and for passive noise cancellation. These new accessories will launch via Indiegogo on July 13, 2020.

In what looks to be a pro-consumer move, purported Microsoft guidelines prevent publishers from selling “next-gen upgrades” as paid DLC. This means that Xbox Series X owners might not have to double-dip on cross-gen titles to get enhanced visuals and features.

MIUI 12 has arrived on the Xiaomi Redmi K30i 5G. The device, which most people would struggle to tell apart from the regular Redmi K30 5G, is the latest smartphone to receive Xiaomi's new OS. The company has already pushed MIUI 12 to other K30 series devices, along with other handsets like the Redmi K20 Pro and Mi 9.

Redmi 8A users will be pleased to know that they don't have to wait long for the MIUI 12 update. A Mi Community Forum moderator has stated that the device will get the software in August. It shouldn't be long before Xiaomi makes a beta version of the software available to the general public.

LG has brought a host of changes to the V50 ThinQ. The new update follows the introduction of a desktop mode to the dual-screen device earlier this year.

Samsung has announced that the latest firmware updates for the Galaxy A51 and A71 port some features that had heretofore been exclusive to the OEM's flagships to these mid-rangers. They mainly consist of camera-app upgrades such as the addition of Live Focus, Single Take and Smart Crop.

Vizio has announced new additions to its collection of soundbars, which are available either now or later in 2020. They are headlined by the Elevate 5.1.4, which stood out in its category at CES 2020 due to its Adaptive Height Speakers. These rotating parts activate to deploy content with the high-end audio tech it supports.

Huawei will reportedly start making the EMUI 11 update available to eligible devices in Q3 2020. Owners of the Huawei Mate 30, P30, P40, and Nova 5 series will receive it first. Alternatively, it is also expected to make its way to a host of Honor phones in the form of Magic UI 4.0.

Be glad, PlayStation 4 owners; a new jailbreak is on the way. Developer @theflow0 has now announced the existence of a kernel exploit on PS4 running firmware 7.02 or older. The kernel exploit currently has to be chained with a firmware 6.72 WebKit exploit.

The Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite are two-years-old now and have both received two major OS updates. While owners of the phones may reserve some hope over their prospects of getting Android 11, new information clarifies that such hopes are pointless.

The iQOO Z1x is set to launch on July 9, 2020 and to rock the Snapdragon 765G processor on this date. However, the OEM has yet to confirm any more details on the new phone's internals. A new Master Lu listing for a device with an unfamiliar model number is now linked to the upcoming mid-ranger, however, and may show what it can do with 8GB of RAM.

A new study conducted in June 2020 by the company TeamBlind indicates that 33% of the workers who participated in it have been given a date on which they can resume office work. This figure varied when corrected for location or company, however. 57% of the respondents stated that they would keep working from home given the opportunity, however.

Advertised as "the only app to download MIUI 13 on your device" and apparently updated on June 23, the app created by Madhav Developers looks like a piece of code — possibly malignant — that should not have been allowed on Google Play. However, one thing is certain - MIUI 13 is not available for the public yet.

Huawei has confirmed that its next OS, EMUI 11, will be arriving in August. Based on open-source Android 11 without any Google apps or services, EMUI 11 will land on the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro this quarter before making its full debut on the Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro later this year.

Recent China Beta versions of MIUI 12 suggest that Xiaomi is developing its answer to Top Shot, Google's machine-learning photography tool. Called AI shutter, the feature appears to have similar functionality to Top Shot and may eventually make its way to stable MIUI 12 builds.

Panasonic has announced pricing and availability data for its new RB-M500B and RB-M700B wireless headphones. Both feature 40 millimeter (mm) neodymium drivers housed in ergonomically-designed ear-pads, although only the latter features active noise cancellation (ANC). They are also designed to enhance bass using this OEM's XBS DEEP technology.

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 may not receive MIUI 12 until September. The device, which Xiaomi released in October 2018, is on Round 2 of the company's MIUI 12 Release Schedule. However, it is not eligible for its fledging Mi Pilot progam.

The widget is lacking at the moment, but it's at least easy on the eyes with direct controls for brightness, colors, power plan, and live recording or streaming. A more fully-featured version of the widget is expected to come later in the year.

MIUI 12 firmware for owners of the Redmi Note 8 Pro in India has been restricted to official testers who were part of the Mi Pilot program so far. However, it appears that Xiaomi is expecting the testing period to be completed soon, as the MIUI 12 India ROM should start rolling out “shortly”.

A new feature update coming to Chrome 86 looks set to make serious reductions in its resource usage. The experimental feature could extend battery life considerably on laptops by shutting down certain background tasks in open tabs.

LG has updated the portable variants of its XBOOM speaker line-up. These new PL7, PL5 and PL2 models feature an equally renewed design that incorporates Meridian technology for their audio clarity. They can also be controlled via an iOS or Android app and respond to voice commands.

An alleged roadmap was posted on the Mi Community forums detailing Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4 rollout of the MIUI 12 stable ROM in China. While this does list all the Xiaomi and Redmi devices likely to be covered in each phase, it does not indicate any definite timeline. Interestingly, this roadmap also includes older devices such as the Redmi 4X and the Redmi Note 4X.

The Panasonic RZ-S300W are new TWS earbuds with a non-AirPod-clone form-factor and a unique finish. A further variant of the same (the RZ-S500W) have "Dual Hybrid Noise Cancelling Technology" with an ambient mode for "best-in-class" audio isolation. The OEM also has a 3rd pair of new buds launched under its high-end Technics brand.

Nine months after release, the Redmi Note 8 is yet to receive a major OS update, even though the Redmi Note 8 Pro got its Android 10 update months ago. That is set to change, however, with new information giving Redmi Note 8 owners around the world an idea of when the Android 10 update will finally arrive.

Android has been a 64-bit OS for some time now. However, this transition has not resulted in a wholesale switch to the same in all apps. Nevertheless, Chrome has finally shown signs of migrating to this platform, starting with its newest Dev and Canary versions.

Xiaomi has officially announced that the MIUI 12 beta stable update (V12.0.2.0.QFJINXM) has started to roll out to some Xiaomi Mi 9T/Redmi K20 devices in India. The firmware has now been pushed OTA and users chosen by random should start receiving notifications to install the MIUI 12 update. The public ROM should be available soon.

Huawei is now expanding its EMUI 10.1 rollout. The company is currently sending out the EMUI 10.1 update to owners of the Mate 20 X 5G in Europe, as well as owners of the P30 and P30 Pro in South Africa, North Africa, South-East Asia, and the Middle East.

It seems likely that the MIUI 12 update for Redmi Note 9 smartphone users in Europe has been temporarily halted. A new MIUI 11 stable update has started rolling out for the Redmi Note 9 instead, which will bring the device up to date in terms of security patches. Owners of the phone in China have already started receiving MIUI 12.

Every year, Android and iOS get new features, and every year, the differences between the platforms diminish. The recent announcement of iOS 14 showcased a bevy of new features, and some of them will look quite familiar to Android users.

After sending out a global beta MIUI 12 update to the Redmi Note 8 Pro, Xiaomi has now also released a MIUI 12 update to the Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 7 Pro in China. The update bears the build designation "MIUI 12.20.7.3", and is only available for those who opted into the MIUI 12 China beta testing program.

Some phones from 2019 and 2020 that bear the Samsung Galaxy name now have OTA updates that contain the latest Android security patch. They include the S20 series, as well as the Note 10s. Some higher-end Ax0 devices are also included in this list, which has appeared markedly early in the month.

The current chief executive officers (CEOs) of Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon are reportedly required to appear before the United States' Congress later in July 2020. These events are apparently tied to proceedings related to antitrust practices. Their attendance has been confirmed by a member of this body representing the state of Rhode Island.

The hopeful PlayStation 4 homebrew scene has waited a long while for a new kernel exploit, after the release of the firmware 5.05 jailbreak back in 2018. That wait is unlikely to end anytime soon, in light of recent developments.

The stable MIUI 12 update has arrived for the Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro and Mi 9T Pro in India. The update, which is arriving as an OTA download, is live now. A corresponding OS upgrade has reached the Redmi Note 9 and Redmi 10X 4G too.

Honor has launched a pair of new Dimensity 800-powered phones today (July 2, 2020). Despite this, the 2 phones are quite different, particularly in terms of their displays. The 30 Youth Edition has a 6.5-inch 90 hertz (Hz) panel, whereas that of the X10 Max exceeds 7 inches. Both devices can be pre-ordered today.

Xiaomi has issued an important warning about the Redmi Note 8 Pro in regard to the current MIUI 12 global stable beta update rollout. The Chinese OEM is concerned that Redmi Note 8 Pro owners who are not part of the Mi Pilot program may damage their smartphones by installing the MIUI 12 update via another unofficial route.

Previous information indicated that the Redmi Note 8 would get the Android 10 update with MIUI 12 shortly. That may be in doubt now, however, as word from the Mi Forums claims the MIUI 12 update for the Redmi Note 8T—essentially a Redmi Note 8 for certain markets—is months away.