Software

Vivaldi 2.8.1664.35 arrives less than three weeks since the release of the 2.7 update, but it only features various tweaks and fixes that aim to provide "a smoother browsing experience" alongside images toggle via keyboard and a few new bookmark customization options. Those who missed the news should know that a beta for Android handsets is also available.

Huawei has unveiled its latest line of flagship phablets on stage today in Germany as scheduled. It is powered by the new Kirin 990 processor, and also has variants based on the 5G version of the same. However, the complete lack of Google apps and services during the EMUI 10 parts of the show was inescapable.

Business Insider has published a new report that claims to offer an insight into the development of Google-brand smartwatches. It also outlines the nature of the "secret" technology purchased by this company from Fossil, which allegedly results in hybrid devices that are removed from the pure Wear OS device that may be expected of a first-gen Pixel Watch.

Google's I/O 2019 event saw announcements for plans to bring Chrome's Incognito Mode to mobile services such as Search. This is now reportedly in testing for Maps. It is accessed by tapping the avatar associated with a Google account within this app.

The Nokia 7.2 is HMD Global's first phone with a triple rear camera. Now, the brand has revealed its inaugural release date in the US: September 30, 2019. The 7.2 will be an Android One device in this country, and will be sold in a single 4GB RAM SKU.

Good news V30 owners, LG has not forgotten about following through on its promise to bring Android 9.0 Pie to its former flagship. The South Korean company nixed a recent build last month, forcing people to remain on Android 8.0 Oreo. Now, the Android 9.0 Pie rollout has been restarted, with builds hitting several countries. Only over a quarter late, right LG?

Astragon Entertainment has announced that its popular PC title, Bus Simulator 18, has come to the Playstation 4 (PS4) and Xbox One. This game involves a fictional city with 12 "vibrant" districts, 8 high-fidelity models of the vehicle in question and a multiplayer mode. It can be downloaded now for US$39.99 from the Microsoft and PS Stores.

The Live Free truly wireless earbuds are the latest products from the company JAM Audio. It is claimed that they are smaller and more comfortable than their predecessors. They also come in a handy case that is rated for a battery life of 54 hours or more.

HTC has confirmed that Yves Maitre, a former executive at the telecommunications company Orange, is its new chief executive officer (CEO). His predecessor, Cher Wang, will remain at the Taiwanese OEM as the head of its board. This executive will focus on products such as the VIVE XR ecosystem and the HTC 5G Hub.

Today, (September 17, 2019) Xiaomi has unveiled its latest Android TVs in India. The are of the new 4X series, and come in 65-, 55- and 43-inch variants. They include the latest features from their OS, including an in-built Chromecast, Google Assistant and a Data Saver setting.

The PRT-B50 is a new PRO TREK model that can connect to a smartphone app via Bluetooth. Unlike some other Casio watches with this ability, however, this new product has a non-digital watchface. Its physical hands can be used to do things such as point to a saved location.

The long-awaited iOS 13 update is coming this Thursday and the list of compatible devices starts with the iPhone 6s/6s Plus and the iPhone SE. The changes it will bring include a Dark Mode, faster Face ID, a new home screen, and more. Sadly, iPad users will have to wait at least two more weeks until their slates will get updated as well.

Seemingly without warning, Verizon has started rolling out Android 9.0 Pie to the LG V30. The update, which should be available over the air (OTA) right now, weighs in at 2.25 GB and is downloadable from LG Bridge too. The rollout is the first we have seen for the V30 since LG pulled the worldwide Android 9.0 Pie release for its former flagship last month.

Huawei unveiled a new line of smart glasses along with the P30 smartphone series. However, nothing has been heard of them since. Now, however, they have reportedly been released to the Chinese market in several different styles and opacities.

Google Assistant had been reported to gain a dark theme at the start of 2019. However, this update did not get to all users at once. Now, it appears that the Mountain View giant is pushing this change again. This new roll-out, which also affects the Google App, has been observed in a small number of countries thus far.

AnTuTu Benchmark has reported that it has completed testing of the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max. They have all scored well over 400,000 points each, meaning that they can probably compete well with equally new Androids. However, unlike these devices, only 4GB of RAM have been detected for all of the most recent Apple devices.

Hearkening back to the early days of RPGs and channeling their 8-bit art styles and epic-yet-simple storylines, Artifact Adventure Gaiden DX is an interesting game that tries to add a dash of the modern to a tried-and-true gaming genre. While the game offers some fun early on, gameplay grows stale and repetitive.

The Google Camera app v7 has leaked out and has been torn down. This has resulted in references to a slew of new abilities that may debut in the Pixel 4 and 4XL. They include the Mountain View's versions of Samsung's Motion Blur and Audio Zoom. They may also extend to real-time HDR edits, phone astrophotography and a new form of depth-perception.

GX is a version of the Opera browser specificially designed with gaming in mind. It has been available as an early-access build since June 2019, and has proved so popular that it has accrued over 1 million downloads to date. Opera GX offers Twitch support, a section for new releases and a network limiter.

The Kirin 990 SoC is the latest LTE chipset released by Huawei. A phone that purports to be a new model from this OEM has appeared on the Geekbench results database. It suggest that this new processor is a good match for the Snapdragon 855 Plus.

The Samsung Galaxy M10s now seems to be official. It has appeared on the Android Enterprise database, which reveals it to be a device with 3GB of RAM and 32GB in interal storage. Unlike the original M10, it also has a 6.4-inch display and a fingerprint sensor.

The Motorola One line of smartphones has seen multiple new additions this year. A new phone with a name that fits in among them has just appeared on Geekbench. It may run on the MediaTek Helio P70 SoC and has 2GB of RAM.

The latest major update to War Thunder comes with Chinese ground and air tech trees for a total of no less than 38 new pieces of military hardware, as well as 8 helicopters, 12 aircraft, 11 ships, and 7 ground vehicles for other nations. The list of changes also includes a few new locations and missions, thermal sights and night vision devices, a map rotation filter, and more.

9to5Google claims to have learned that Google has a new Call Screen-like function for the Assistant in the works. It may become known as "Hold my Phone", and will enable a device's AI to handle a phonecall that has gone on hold by itself. This, apparently, will involve alerting the user when a respondent has come back on to the line.

A OnePlus executive has been spilling more details on its first-gen smart TV, in order to build hype ahead of its launch. The latest of these hints is that its back panel will be finished in a carbon-fiber effect. It will also support Dolby Vision and have a dedicated image processor.

Huawei has announced its EMUI 10 roadmap at IFA 2019, and the company is aiming to deliver its custom version of Android 10 to over 30 Huawei and Honor devices. At least 10 devices including the Mate 30 series will be running EMUI 10 before the end of the year, with the rollout continuing to Q2 2020 and beyond. EMUI 10 will feature Google Services for existing handsets too.

Still holding out on seeing your LG G6 or V20 running Android 9.0 Pie? Well, while LG remains tight-lipped when this month it plans to release the OS upgrade to both devices, but changes to the Android Enterprise Solutions Directory point towards it being soon. Do you reckon that LG will keep to its Q3 2019 schedule for rolling out Android 9.0 Pie to the G6 and V20?

EMUI 10 beta builds are here, but Huawei has not opened the program to all models and variants. Read on to find out which devices are eligible for an early look at Huawei's custom version of Android 10 and how to install it on your handset.

After a rather long wait, Vivaldi is finally available for mobile devices. This powerful web browser can be taken for a spin only by Android users for now as a beta piece of code, but it already features private browsing, the Note tool with cross-device sync capabilities also available for desktop users, screenshot snapping, and more.

Hisense has brought some new and large TVs to show off at this year's IFA. They include an 85-inch QLED XD panel that is also 8K and voice-command responsive. The company also showed off a new Sonic Laser product, which is the first of its kind capable of scaling down to 75 inches.

TCL, a name perhaps better known for TVs, has unveiled its latest mobile device at IFA. The PLEX is a 6.53-inch FHD+ phone with a 24MP punch-hole camera. It has triple rear cameras, one of which is 48MP, and AI enhancements for the same. The PLEX also has T-Cast, an app that allows it full control over certain smart TVs from the same brand.

Huawei has taken to IFA to unveil new wireless earbuds alongside the Kirin 990 SoC. They are the latest in the Freebuds line of wearables, and are thus AirPod clones (in their looks at least). These 3rd-gen products have a dedicated dual-Bluetooth chipset of their own, "intelligent" noise cancellation and a unique charging case.

The anticipated successor to the Pixel 3 has appeared on Geekbench. It shows that the device has 4GB of RAM, is powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC and runs Android 10. Therefore, it stands a decent chance of actually being a Google phone - however, the leak does have some inadequacies.

Senior XDA member 'kdrag0n' has released the new Proton Kernel for the Asus ZenFone 6. Apart from bringing several enhancements, the Proton Kernel enables a 75 Hz display refresh rate option for smoother visuals. The Proton Kernel can be installed over the stock Asus ZenUI 6 Android Pie image after a bootloader unlock.

The JBL Pulse 4 is the latest in a series of portable Bluetooth speakers that also light up as they stream audio. This iteration also has an IPX7 rating and an estimated 12 hours of playback. Its LEDs are controlled by a proprietary app, which also allows it to sync with multiple compatible devices from the same brand.

The online security company Kaspersky has reported the presence of dangerous programs in the digital versions of educational content for university students. These essays and texts were found to contain malware of varying severity and virulence. Some were described as capable of infecting whole networks from a single student's PC.

Although it is not cheap at all, the Galaxy A90 5G is Samsung's first non-flagship handset with support for the fastest mobile connectivity standard available for the masses (depending on region, of course). Sadly, although it is more expensive than most 4G flagships currently on the market, the Galaxy A90 5G will only get a new security patch every four months.

After more than a decade in the industry, Movere is joining Microsoft to boost its cloud capabilities. Movere is a discovery solution that allows for easy cloud migration, but also optimizes, monitors, and analyzes IT environments to help administrators stop wasting time for manual data gathering and processing.

Lenovo has unveiled new Yoga C- and S-series models. As expected, they conform to Project Athena and feature premium materials and features in many variants. Some also offer up to 10th-gen Intel Core processors and AI features intended to boost performance and cooling under certain circumstances

Facebook Dating is finally launching in the US for everyone after spending almost an entire year in a limited testing stage. Also available in other 19 countries across South America and Asia, Facebook Dating is expected to hit Europe by early 2020. Obviously, the Dating profile is separate from the main Facebook profile.

Motorola has announced the release of 2 new smartphones, the One Zoom and Moto E6 Plus. The former has a 6.4-inch 1080p display, a 4000 mAh battery and Dual OIS for its quad rear cameras. The new Moto E, on the other hand, is a dual-camera phone with a 6.1-inch HD+ display.

The Video Electronics Standards Association (or VESA) is the body that can confer official certifications for state-of-the art quality standards such as DisplayHDR on new screens. Its latest update to the criteria by which they are granted is called version 1.1. It calls for ultra-modern specs such as active dimming, as well as tougher yardsticks for color gamut and luminance.

Sony has revealed that the long-awaited compact variant of its 2019 flagship is called the Xperia 5. It shares an OLED "TV-grade" screen with the 1; however, this panel measures 0.4 inches less than its regular-sized counterpart. The 5 also has the same triple cameras and Snapdragon 855 SoC as the 1.

A new graphics driver from AMD will optimize performance in Gears 5 for those users lucky enough to have an RX 5700 XT graphics card in their system. The red team has made the Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.9.1 available for optional download, although ironically it could also cause a minor issue with the new title from Xbox Game Studios.

The OEM OnePlus has succeeded in releasing a build of Android 10 shortly after Google formally introduced this fresh version of the OS. It is an Open Beta compatible with the 7 series from the Chinese phone-maker. The ROM updates the UI and contains many long-awaited Android 10 features.

The latest version of Android, Android 10, is now rolling out to all Pixel handsets and non-Sprint Essential Phones. The update brings some dramatic changes to the look and feel of Android; navigation is shifting to a fully gesture-based system, privacy controls have received a deep overhaul, and many more features have been introduced to make Android 10 the most robust version of Android yet.

Instagram recently rolled out a new option in which the like (or reaction) count of a given post could be concealed from any user but the creator in question. Now, an analysis of new code in the Facebook app for Android indicates that this site will do the same. The feature is said to have been instituted for a number of reasons, some of which are related to mental health online.

The Huawei Watch GT is a popular wearable in which the in-house software LiteOS had its debut. Now, the respected leaker Roland Quandt asserts that it is to get a second generation. This smartwatch will apparently have a larger battery than its predecessor.

Some new Weibo posts purport to show the Vivo Nex 3 in a candid real-life image. Furthermore, this site has also provided what may be a full panel of this upcoming flagship's specifications. It suggests that the device will have 4G and 5G variants, a 6.89-inch screen and a top-end model with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage.

XDA contributors claim to have found references to code-names for 4 different new Xiaomi phones in this OEM's software. There is also evidence that all of these devices will have the state-of-the-art 108MP Samsung image sensor that should inform the apex of smartphone cameras going into 2020. Furthermore, it is possible that the Mi Mix 4 is not one of them.