Software

The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE now has an upgrade to MIUI 11, which is based on Android 10. It confers various upgrade-specific features such as gesture-based navigation and system-wide dark theme. This build also adds MIUI's new Focus Mode, which is suspiciously similar to OnePlus' Zen Mode.

Just 26 days after its release, Apple has reported that 50% of all iPhones are running iOS 13. Compared to the abysmal history of Android OEMs' software updates, the high adoption rates for the newer versions iOS continue to be a strong feature of the iPhone brand.

Xiaomi has announced the existence of the Mi Surface via its Weibo channel. It is a 34-inch 1500R-curved monitor with a 21:9 aspect ratio. This new panel is also rated for AMD FreeSync and 121% of the sRGB color space. The Mi Surface is to be released on October 21, 2019.

LG has earned a bad rap for its awful software update policies. The South Korean company may be looking to shake things up, though, as it's announced that the G8 ThinQ and V50 ThinQ will get early builds of Android 10 this month.

Fitbit has expanded access to its Spotify app to the first-generation Versa and Versa Lite. The Ionic fitness watch is also included in this update. It enables these wearables to manage playback and podcasts on the music streaming platform, and to control other devices that can use the same.

Huawei UK has launched the Nova 5T. It is essentially the Honor 20 with a new name and a new region. Fans of everyday Android may be glad to learn it will be released with Google Play Services.

1More is the ODM responsible for Xiaomi's audio wearables. However, it also releases these products under its own brand. The latest of these are truly wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC).

A device called the "OPPO PCCT30" has posted scores on the Geekbench 5 website. This model number is currently believed to belong to a second-gen Reno 5G smartphone. Its new benchmarking scores reveal that it is powered by the Snapdragon 855 processor, but could have done better by this chipset.

The Surface Book 2 and Surface Book 2 15 may be innovative devices, but they have suffered from two critical problems in recent months. Microsoft now claims to have fixed the NVIDIA dGPU disconnects and BD PROCHOT-related throttling issues that have affected some machines since at least the summer. The fixes should prompt the re-release of Windows 10 version 1903 for the Surface Book 2 series too.

At the turn of this year, LG promised to deliver Android 9.0 Pie to the G6 and V20 by Q3 2019. Has it delivered? If you are a G6 owner then possibly, but many are still awaiting Pie on their handsets as we head ever deeper into Q4. By contrast, LG has offered only the faintest of glimmers for the V20, with all variants missing the self-imposed Q3 deadline.

Google also announced its new Nest Wi-Fi home product at the 2019 Pixel launch event. It consists of scalable router and point units in various muted colors. A single 802.11s router covers up to 2200 square feet of space each, whereas each point doubles as a smart speaker.

The Nest Mini is a new Connected Home devices launched by Google at its latest live event. It is a smart speaker with integrated Assistant functions and touch controls. It is now up for pre-order at a price of US$49.

Google unveiled its second-generation Pixel Buds at its 2019 'Made By' event. They are truly wireless products that, as the OEM claims, have been designed to be as compact and streamlined as possible. Nevertheless, they are rated for 5 hours of battery life, or 24 hours from their charging case.

Nikon has launched the new and expansive NIKKOR Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens. This product name may sound familiar as it has been chosen to honor an iconic lens of the past. The new S-series lens has manual focus and an aperture of up to a whopping f/0.95.

Qualcomm has announced that over 30 manufacturers have taken the Snapdragon X55 modem up in order to produce their 5G fixed wireless broadband consumer-premises hardware. This means the equipment carriers and ISPs will install in homes in order to access this relatively new form of broadband is highly likely to integrate this modem.

Now is the time to try One UI 2.0, if you own a Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10+ or Galaxy S10 5G that is. Samsung has opened its One UI beta program once again, with the company giving the world the first taste of its Android 10-based OS. One UI 2.0 makes some useful refinements over the last stable release, including an improved dark mode among others.

It seems that AMD has listened to its customers, having added support for its Radeon Image Sharpening algorithm to Radeon Vega GPUs. Last month the company claimed it had no immediate plans to do so, but it would bring RIS to the Vega series if there was enough interest. Good news then, Radeon RX Vega 56, RX Vega 64, Vega Frontier Edition and Radeon VII owners?

Skullcandy has released Vert, a new set of Bluetooth wireless earbuds. Unlike most products in this category, however, they are not of the typical "neckbud" form-factor. Instead, the buds are linked to a dial-like clip-on module, which may fit in better with pursuits needing heavy gloves or helmets.

OPPO has launched a new phone, the K5. This event has proved a series of leaks true, as the phone has a new-ish Snapdragon 730G processor, 6GB SKUs and a quad rear camera with a 64MP sensor. The K5 is also the first device to feature a VOOC 4.0 battery.

OnePlus has already provided users of its recent 7-series phones with OxygenOS based on Android 10 in the form of official Open Betas. However, those who have not opted into this program can also now upgrade to this new ROM on their devices. It contains numerous 10-specific updates and improvements.

Xiaomi phones may be upgraded to telephoto lens capable of as much as 50X digital zoom in the near future. Furthermore, their optical zoom specs may improve considerably in the same generations. This rumor has srung from alleged findings that code in MIUI 11 outlines these functions.

Just two months after the release of Q, Huawei is now sending out the stable Android Q-based EMUI 10 update to owners of the Mate 20 Pro outside China. The OTA weighs in as a heavy 4.42 GB download.

The Nokia 6.2 has been launched in India, albeit to comparatively little fanfare. It is a 4GB RAM device with 64GB of internal powered by the Snapdragon 636 SoC. It also has a round camera housing with a triple camera.

An XDA contributor claims to have found an option to switch a screen's refresh rate from 60 to 120 hertz (Hz) in MIUI 11. This suggests that there is an upcoming Xiaomi phone with this spec in development. This would leap-frog the new industry standard of 90Hz nicely.

The Android Instagram page has recently posted a short video that hints at a dark theme for Google Maps in the near future. It appears to cause every aspect of the app, including the map-markings themselves, to conform to a color palette that is much less bright.

A phone calling itself the Vivo V1936A has appeared on Geekbench, rocking what appears to be the Snapdragon 855 processor and 8GB of RAM. This has led to speculation that this device is linked to iQOO, an emerging high-end sub-brand of this OEM. To date, it has produced a more powerful 5G flagship as well as other phones of varying premium status.

OnePlus held a launch event for its 7T series today (October 10, 2019). The OEM also went over OxygenOS 10 - which is based on Android 10 - a new software update that will ship on these new phones and come to older ones soon. Its developers have also implemented a new instant translation feature for video chats, which will come to this ROM soon.

OnePlus has unveiled its second-gen McLaren Edition phone today (October 10, 2019). It is a 12GB/256GB version of the new 7T Pro (which was also unveiled today) with a signature black-and-orange finish. Other highlights of the OEM's latest show included the 7T and its series' UK pricing.

According to the Steamworks developer site on Steam, Valve is working on a feature that will automatically add online multiplayer support to local-only multiplayer games. Remote Play Together is expected to launch in beta during the week of October 21. Details like network speed requirements are still unknown at this point.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro is set for an Indian-market release on October 16, 2019. However, it appears that this is not all its parent company Xiaomi has to debut on that date. MIUI, its OS skin, has teased a launch of its own in the same country at the same time.

The Motorola One Macro has become official in India, and will sell for a price of INR 9999 (or about US$140). It is a triple-camera phone, one of which takes 2MP photos with a pixel size of 1.75 microns. The OEM claims that this allows it to get 5X closer to a subject than the average phone.

HMD Global has announced an OTA update to Android 10 for the Nokia 8.1. It is the first of this brand's phones that were included in the beta program for the OS in question to see the stable version. It upgrades the 8.1 with Dark Mode, navigation gestures and the September 2019 security patch.

Realme has revealed that the X2 Pro's display will come with a touch-sampling rate of 135 hertz (Hz). This means that the upcoming Snapdragon 855 Plus flagship may have enhanced user-input responses to go with its 90-hertz display refresh rate. Its camera prowess has also been teased on Weibo.

Samsung has announced that it will start a new beta program for One UI 2.0, its latest software skin based on Android 10. Unfortunately, it may only apply to those who own Galaxy S10-line devices in South Korea to start off with. However, this is a good indication that it will spread worldwide before too long.

Realme has launched its new X2 device for the Chinese market today. As rumored, it has an updated processor compared to that contained in its pre-existing variant, the XT. This new version is also the one coming to Europe later this month.

TCL's 2019 8-series of TVs are based on QLED technology and integrate the Roku streaming platform. They are 4K HDR panels that support Dolby Vision and 100% of the DCI-P3 color space. The new TCL 8-series will become available through Best Buy in the US.

Fedora 31, due for release on October 29th, will no longer be available as a 32-bit install. Rather, Fedora 30 is officially the last version of Fedora to support 32-bit hardware. Users on legacy hardware can expect full lifecycle support for Fedora 30 until May or June of 2020, at which time they will need to upgrade their hardware for continued official support.

Turtle Beach has released the Atlas Edge, a new USB adapter for any conventional wired headset. It is intended to enhance any headset connected to it with an in-house panel of software called Control Studio. This suite is designed to convert audio through the Atlas Edge into a "full panoramic 3D audio experience".

The latest Insider's version of Windows 10 updates the Your Phone app so that it is compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S10 series, as well as the Galaxy Fold. This allows a user to monitor battery levels, screen-mirror and sync data. However, Microsoft has stated that these new features will be available to certain regions only to start off with.

Scheduled to arrive globally this week, the PlayStation 4 system update labeled 7.0 is expected to bring Remote Play to smartphones and tablets running Android 5.0 Lollipop or later, 16-player parties, chat transcription, enhanced audio, an improved backend that should take care of most connectivity issues, system-level HDR tuning, and more.

Computational photography - or imaging that depends at least as much on software as on hardware - was worth US$7.9 billion as a market in 2018. However, the latest analysis indicates that this valuation will grow to $29 billion over the next 5 years. This market is led by companies such as Qualcomm, NVIDIA, Alphabet and Apple.

Sony has launched its latest alpha-series flagship, the a9II. This new 24.2MP premium unit is distinctly pitched at professional photographers in sports reporting and other fast-moving fields. It is designed for continous shooting while still delivering top-flight auto-focus and auto-exposure.

The blog ChargerLab claims to have found that some wireless chargers are being restricted to 5 watts (W) of power while iPhones are placed on them with the new iOS update, whereas the same devices could deliver 7.5W under the older software version. However, this apparently does not affect those brands that are sold in the Cupertino giant's stores.

Original camera samples from the Pixel 4 have leaked out, once again proving that the Pixel phones are the ones to beat when it comes to mobile photography. The samples show photos from a variety of camera modes the most interesting of which is the Astrophotography mode that lets users take stunning pictures of space.

There have been multiple reports of Pokemon GO handing out strikes preventing play to those who own certain Redmi devices. This pattern has been linked to MIUI 10.3.2.0, a recent firmware update for the phones affected. Niantic, the AR game's developer, has announced that it is now working on trying to revise them.

Google has announced that Red Dead Redemption 2 will come to its Stadia platform on it November 2019 launch. The wildly popular Rockstar game will thus be available for streaming via the new service from its very first day. At present, it is not clear if this title will allow saving across platforms.

Google has announced the re-institution of its Shopping service, albeit for users located in the US only. The company claims that the renewed feature can analyse millions of retail listings and other data in order to show customers the best deals. It is also now possible to order the resulting items directly through Google.

Chrome OS PCs have many advantages; however, one of their worst drawbacks is that system recovery requires external media. Now, it appears Google is developing an alternative method: Chromebook restore via Android phone. This new way out of a software failure can only be enacted through a specific keyboard shortcut.

The latest leaked research note allegedly sent to TF International Securities by the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo indicates that Apple does have a second-gen SE in the works. It will apparently be released in the first quarter of 2020 and be "more affordable". It is also now said to assume a form-factor similar to the iPhone 8.

During the unveiling of the Surface Neo, Microsoft also showed off an early build of Windows 10X — a Windows 10 version that is tailored exclusively for dual-screen devices. Windows 10X will allow users to run regular Win32 apps while also offering new ways of interacting with apps that are designed to take advantage of dual screens. Windows 10X will be available next year on the Surface Neo and similar devices from Asus, HP, Dell, and Lenovo.