Software

Google Play Services for AR is the new name for ARCore, the SDK necessary to develop augmented-reality (AR) features within Android apps. The Mountain View giant has announced that a long list of new phones (and some tablets) are now compatible with it. This will enable many to use AR apps and games for the first time.

One of LG's latest OLED TVs has won Best of the Best in its Red Dot Design Award category. This model, the 65GX, is a 65-inch SKU of the "Gallery" series. The OEM has also won gongs from this association for a new Wallpaper-series TV, as well as for one of its state-of-the-art 8K series.

Most IP and Wi-Fi-connected home security cameras are designed to simply detect suspicious movement on a property. However, the Lumus may improve on such products from Reolink in that it also has a built-in spotlight. This augmentation is intended to deter potential intruders from the home.

MIUI 11 has not been around for long, but Xiaomi may have already ceased development for the OS. Set to be replaced by MIUI 12 later this year, a quickly deleted roadmap claims that Xiaomi will start issuing betas in late Q3 2020.

Waiting for Android 10 on your Redmi Note 7 or Redmi Note 7 Pro? Well unless you are willing to install builds, then Xiaomi will have you waiting for a while yet. That's right, the OS upgrade may be in development, but there is no ETA in sight for releasing it.

Xiaomi has extended the rollout of the latest Android 10 update for the Mi A3, despite there being seemingly endless reports of it being as buggy as the last update that the company was forced to pull. Ignore Xiaomi's recklessness and do not install V11.0.8.0.QFQMIXM on your beloved smartphone.

The OnePlus 8 Pro gets featured on the AI Benchmark leaderboard but seems to have mustered a rather mediocre score in the benchmark when compared to other flagship phones powered by the Snapdragon 865 and even some of the Kirin 810-powered phones. Leading the pack is the Kirin 990 5G in the Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G, which is indicative of Huawei's prowess in NPU design.

Taiwan's NCC regulator has reportedly cleared a new set of TWS devices from Google. This suggests that the Pixel Buds debuted last year will see successors in 2020. However, it is difficult to guess from their new putative leak how the 2 generations might differ.

Cloud gaming is an emerging alternative to user-owned PC set-ups, in that the massive amounts of GPU power required to sustain it are accessed remotely. Its market had an estimated value of US$12.53 billion in 2018. However, a new report estimates it could acquire an additional ~$44 billion over the next 7 years.

Amazfit has announced that its iF Design Award for the innovative ZenBuds came in during the week of World Sleep Day this year (March 13, 2020). These TWS earbuds, appropriately enough, have been created in order to support improved nightly rest. They do so through an ultra-light and compact build, ANC and stress-busting features.

Xiaomi has been furnishing its smartphones with Android 10 updates of late. The Mi 9 SE is the latest of the bunch to receive Google's latest OS, with Xiaomi pushing out updates to EU, Global and Russian handsets simultaneously.

Fitbit has thrown many of the normally pay-walled aspects of its ecosystem open to all users as they continue to cope with the ongoing pandemic. This offer comprises 90 days of its Premium package, which includes advanced sleep-tracking options and customized workouts for free. It is open to existing and new users of this platform.

HMD Global has launched a new product, which is for an Android phone rather than being one. Known as "Connect", it distributes data-only SIMs that operate based on a sort of pay-as-you-go model. The user buys data "packages" to use on such a card, which expire after a set number of days.

The blog SvetApple has just published revised iPhone 12 renders that incorporate every leak and rumor concerning these upcoming new devices. They include the idea that they may come with the ground-breaking LiDAR functionality debuted in the 2020 iPad Pro. This makes their camera humps into more cohesive-looking squares.

The Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite and the Mi Max 3 global variants are finally receiving the stable Android 10-based MIUI 11 update after having had an initial rollout in China. Both updates weigh-in around 1.8 GB and come with the February security patch. The updates, though stable, are still being seeded only to a few users and will roll out to others if all goes well.

Camera quality has been a major pain point for owners of Android Go phones, due to the quality of hardware the phones sport. Computational photography is Google's bread and butter, though, and the newly launched Camera Go app is expected to deliver much-improved camera performance to the extreme budget Android Go devices.

Private Internet Access is currently offering some great deals on its Virtual Private Network (VPN) service. While the monthly subscription stands at US$9.95 each month, a 6-month plan can be had for the equivalent of US$5.99 a month. However, the best deal to be had is the yearly VPN service, which would cost the same as US$2.85 a month to subscribers.

OnePlus introduced a new facet of its OxygenOS called Instant Translation during its last product launch. It allows a phone to generate automatic captions during live video chats. This function has finally been added to new Open Betas for the 7, 7T, 7 Pro and 7T Pro.

Déjà vu, Mi A3 owners. Xiaomi has now pulled the latest update for the device, which would have brought Android 10 to many devices. Seemingly as bug-ridden as the first Android 10 update, Xiaomi needs to get its act together.

Google has already rolled its own form of rich communication services- (RCS) based messaging to US users, as well as some other markets across the globe. Now, Spain is the latest to join this list. Interested Android owners can try it out via the company's own-brand Messages app.

The OPPO A11 is a budget phone with quad cameras from 2019. Now, it appears it has a successor destined for markets such as that of Thailand (and also possibly Indonesia). However, it seems this phone is, if anything, even more low-end than the existing model.

Microsoft recently unveiled DirectX 12 Ultimate, a rebrand for the DirectX 12_2 featureset. Graphics cards that are DirectX 12 Ultimate Compatible will have feature parity with the next-gen Xbox Series X.

Following protracted speculation, Samsung has debuted the Galaxy A41. It has a 6.1-inch SuperAMOLED display with a U-shaped notch and a 3500mAh battery. It also has an IP68 ingress-protection rating and 4GB of RAM.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro has gotten off to a great start, with Amazon selling out of stock within minutes in India. However, there are conflicting reports about whether the device supports L1 or L3 DRM certification. The device may not be capable of streaming Netflix in HD even if it has the former, though.

Hoping that Xiaomi would release an update for your Mi A2 that would the numerous bugs that Android 10 introduced? Think again, as Xiaomi has opted for a different tactic instead.

Geekbench 5's database has just turned up a new entry for a "Samsung SM-T307U". This model number may be for a tablet, in which case it would be a slate running on the Exynos 7885 processor and 3GB of RAM. As if to underpin this putative upcoming device's bargain nature, it is described as running Android 9.0 (Pie) rather than the newer 10 version.

The Mi 9 Lite and Mi CC9 have now started receiving a stable Android 10 update globally. Already rolled out to Chinese handsets, Xiaomi has now extended the Android 10 upgrade to Global and Russian devices. Those enrolled on the European branch of MIUI may be in for a wait until Android 10 reaches them, though.
Xiaomi has now rolled out the Android 10 upgrade to EU handsets.

Advanced Protection is a program offered by Google to those potentially in need of enhanced mobile-device security. The Mountain View giant has announced some new changes to its policies. They include a built-in blocker for side-loaded, non-Play Store apps.

Redmi has just announced a launch date for a phone called the Note 9S in Malaysia. Now, a new entry on the Geekbench 5 website for this device returns the same specs as the Note 9 Pro. This suggests the 2 products are one and the same.

With COVID-19 forcing millions of employees to work from home, network software company DH2i just made its DxOdyssey “unVPN” free for stay-at-home workers until August 31st.

The chances of the Mi A1 receiving Android 10 look increasingly slim, with Xiaomi issuing a new underwhelming update for its first Android One smartphone. Expect to see Xiaomi and Google abandon the Mi A1 altogether by the end of the year.

Owners of the Mi A3 have been waiting for the release of an Android 10 build that fixes the bugs Xiaomi's OTA last month calamitously introduced. A new update has now been released for the phone, but it appears to be rather disappointing.

Khronos Group recently announced the official launch of Vulkan’s ray-tracing extensions. The platforms ray-tracing features will largely deliver parity with Microsoft’s existing DXR 1.1 standard, with the exception of some nifty performance options.

PlayGalaxy Link is a feature of some Samsung Galaxy flagships by which PC gaming can be done on these devices via a streaming connection. Or was, rather: the OEM has announced that it will wrap this resource up by March 27, 2020.

Mi A2 Lite owners have had a bad time of things lately. With the device's Android 10 update causing bootloops on some units, Xiaomi has now urged people to bring their affected handsets in for repair. The company is hoping to release a new Android 10 OTA later this month, too.

Apple has announced that only developers from specific credible entities can publish apps pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic on the App Store. This is being done to curb the spread of misinformation and provide users access to reliable sources. Eligible developers can also chose to get their app approved faster than the conventional App Store approval process.

Samsung's Android 10-based One UI 2.0 rollout continues; this time with its mid-range phones, the Galaxy A40 and A80. Both phones are now receiving the One UI 2.0 update with all the typical features like system-wide dark mode and new navigation gestures.

With 900 million devices running Windows 10 back in late September 2019, it was quite obvious that Microsoft would reach the next milestone this year. Yesterday, the Redmond giant announced that "over one billion people have chosen Windows 10 across 200 countries resulting in more than one billion active Windows 10 devices."

LG's 2020 OLED TV line-up includes 8K models for the first time. These panels feature the CTA's 8K Ultra HD certification and an 88-inch option. However, their series also starts at a whopping US$19,999.

Since its launch in 2004, Call of Duty has amassed numerous new variants and widespread success worldwide. Now, new research shows that this line of games is ranked second in terms of console units sold as of January 2020. Black Ops 3 is mostly responsible for this achievement.

While the Redmi Note 8 Pro has already received Android 10, it seems that Xiaomi is putting the OS upgrade on hold for the Redmi Note 8 until at least next month. Released to handsets today, the latest MIUI 11 update remains on Android 9.0 Pie and only brings a handful of changes.

Released earlier today, War Thunder 1.97 "Viking Fury" is the game's first major update of the year and comes with a full Swedish ground forces tech tree, over 20 new ships, ground vehicles, helos and aircraft for other nations, two new locations, as well as multiple bug fixes and under-the-hood improvements.

The CineBeam projectors support 4K UHD content and LG's ThinQ AI. Now, they also support Amazon Alexa thanks to a new software update. This applies to the HU70LA and HU85LA variants of this series.

Realme 6 handsets are receiving an OTA update that adds a Night Mode and 120 fps slow motion video recording to the phone's 16 MP front camera. The update also brings the March 5 Android security patch and the Soloop video editing app.

The Nokia 7.2 was originally promised to get the Android 10 update in Q1 2020. We're at the end of Q1, however, and that plan appears to have been scrapped with official confirmation that the phone will receive the update in Q2 instead.

Xiaomi's Android 10 rollout slowly continues. After sending out the Android 10-based MIUI 11 update to the Mi 8, Mi 8 SE, and Mi 8 Lite, the Chinese company is now providing the stable global update to the Mi 8 Pro.

Rejoice, PlayStation 4 owners, a new jailbreak solution is coming your way. Popular developer @theflow0 has announced the discovery of a new vulnerability on firmware 6.20 of Sony's outgoing console, with a kernel exploit and jailbreak solution now on the cards.

Microsoft has announced that those with Samsung Galaxy S20-series devices can also now use their Windows 10 PCs for rich communication services- (RCS) enabled messaging. This feature is apparently available in the latest Insider's Preview Build and to the public in general. The same Preview includes further new Your Phone features.

Motorola is currently thought to have a smartphone called the Edge planned for release this year. It has been rumored to rock a waterfall-type display. XDA contributors claim to have live images that show this is in fact the case.