Software

Redmi is reportedly pushing an official Android Q build to some owners of the K20 Pro in China. These users had been invited to apply to a beta program to test this ROM earlier in the year. Therefore, this phone may have joined the Xiaomi Mi 9 in eligibility for advance access to this major OS update.

A new Geekbench database entry apparently corresponds to one of Nokia's reported upcoming round-camera phones, the 7.2. It refers to a device with 6GB of RAM and running an unnamed SoC at 1.84GHz. Its scores are not far off those of the pre-existing Nokia 7 Plus.

The YI Home Camera 3 is an AI-powered security camera. It notifies the user about possible intrusions - however, it solves the problem of potentially indiscriminate, unnecessary messages by using its new software to judge which ones will be important. The new YI camera also has a magnetic stand, so it can be installed anywhere.

Honor has released its latest fitness band to the Indian market, via Flipkart. This new model has a full-color AMOLED display, an estimated 14 days of battery life and 50-meter water resistance. However, it will soon have competition from an upcoming Xiaomi counterpart, which has much the same specs.

The Galaxy A70 is one of Samsung's low-to-mid tier devices for 2019. Some members of its series have gained actual or rumored alternative versions with the suffix 's'. Now, new Geekbench listings suggest that the A70 is also getting one - with the exact same specs.

Huawei’s in-house HongMengOS is here and its shipping name is officially HarmonyOS. The idea behind the naming is that is a scalable micro-kernal that can work across internet of things devices right through to TVs, wearables and smartphones.

The OnePlus 3 and 3T are now about 3 years old. Despite this, they are still receiving new software updates from their OEM. The latest of these include new security patches for Android 9.0 (Pie). The same can be said for their predecessors, the 5 and 6 lines.

ZTE's high-value sub-brand Nubia has just released its latest phone. The Z20 looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy S10, if that phone had an additional display on its rear panel. This new device is powered by the Snapdragon 855 Plus SoC, up to 8GB of RAM and a 4000mAh battery with 27-watt fast charging.

Many people have gotten used to summoning a ride in a paid driver's car from their phone. A new analysis of this market indicates that such services (known collectively as "shared mobility") now challenge the traditional industries behind vehicle use and ownership. It also suggest that autonomous cars may be the way forward for the ride-hailing business of the future.

A prominent Google-news blog claims to have heard from its sources that the Pixel series will be upgraded to 6GB of RAM in 2019. The 2 upcoming phones are also now slated to feature 90-hertz refresh rates, a feature that is to be termed "Smooth Display". Finally, the devices will stick with the memory SKUs from last year.

Huawei's first TV is in fact slated to be released by its sub-brand Honor, and is to be called the Smart Screen. It may be reasonable to assume that this product will run Android for these larger devices. However, the OEM is now rumored to deploy one of its own long-anticipated OSs on the new product.

World of Tanks 1.6 comes with four new British light tanks, reworked Personal Missions (about 40 of those leading to the Object 279), an improved interface for interacting with decals — alongside new decals and fonts, as well as the removal of friendly fire and ramming damage. Friendly kills are now possible — by pushing allies off cliffs or flipping them upside down.

More social media users buy from brands they follow on Facebook compared to 7 other social networks studied, according to a new report. This is because social media has increased the ability of companies to reach out to consumers, and vice versa. Facebook is likely to be the most successful medium as it is the biggest and promotes brand-recognition most effectively.

The ASUS ZenFone 6 won plaudits for its almost stock Android experience, but a recent software update has been causing havoc with some handsets. According to an ASUS engineer, the update has caused some motherboards to malfunction, resulting in crashes, reboots, bootloops or dead devices.

Nintendo has reportedly picked up IGZO technology for its upcoming 2019 Switch models. This type of backing for IPS-LCD screens has resulted in positive reviews for other OEMs in the past, as it can conserve power while offering a high contrast ratio. The IGZO panels now linked to this new console are to come from Sharp.

iOS 13 will bring a few new features to iPhones upon its release later this year, several of which are focused on protecting user privacy. One such update will block background processes from collecting user data, something that several messaging apps like WhatsApp Facebook Messenger apparently rely on for receiving VoIP calls.

The OnePlus 7 Pro's 5G variant may be coming to the US soon. The carrier Sprint has announced that its next device that will support the next-gen bands will be from this OEM. Its phones have also been available through T-Mobile in the past.

2019 has already seen evidence that the SHIELD TV may be getting a new refresh - with the new Tegra X1 processor - soon. Now, a new FCC filing points to a wholly new device with this branding. This putative device has its own code-name and references in NVIDIA's own code and scripts.

Asus has gone to the SIGGRAPH conference this year to put its creator-focused hardware in full view. It consists of PCs such as the ZenBook Pro Duo and the new StudioBook series. However, the star of this show may be the new ProArt display, the world's first to offer 1200 nits of brightness and mini-LED backlighting in a 4K HDR 32-inch panel.

OnePlus has released Developer Preview 4 for Android Q, a version of its OS that gives the user the latest insights into how it may work when it has been released for general consumption. This build has been reported to have a working form of Digital Wellbeing, as well as an updated Zen Mode. However, some of its upgrades are only compatible with 1 phone from this OEM so far.

Microsoft continues its expansion in the retail services space with a new acquisition. PromoteIQ is a leading provider of vendor marketing technology for online retailers and brands, with a client portfolio that includes names like Kroger, Kohl’s, and Overstock.com. As usual, the financial details of the deal have not been revealed.

The market for in-app advertisements worldwide is now projected to be worth approximately US$226 billion in 6 years, according to the latest research. Of these, ads on Android are thought to be capable of the highest growth. In addition, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) sector is thought to exhibit the most growth between 2019 and 2025.

Huawei will announce EMUI 10, its custom version of Android Q, on August 9 at its 2019 Developer Conference in Dongguan City, China. However, several promotional images have appeared on Weibo, the Chinese social media giant, which hint at a holistic GUI redesign and some new features.

The LG V10 and G5 were released well over three years ago, so it's something of a surprise to see them listed on LG's service bulletin as being eligible for updates. It's even more surprising when one remembers that this is LG, a company notorious for awful software support.

The Viper is the latest mouse from Razer. It is a lightweight peripheral which, as the OEM asserts, is optimized for competitive gaming. It also integrates the 5G Advanced Optical Sensor and Razer Synapse 3.

HTC initialized a roll-out of Android Pie for a 2017 phone, the U11, in May 2019. However, not all users were served with this update before it was suspended due to technical issues. It seems the OEM has rectified them, as U11 owners in Europe have reported the successful installation of this update.

The 5G tech market is now thought to be capable of hitting US$667.9 billion by the middle of the next decade. This is particularly impressive as it is also projected to accrue only $5.54 billion by 2020. This growth may be driven by a demand for streaming and for improved connectivity among industrial buyers.

OPPO and Qualcomm have collaborated in order to unveil 2 new gaming-centric features at the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference. They are Game Color Plus and Dual Wi-Fi. The former uses the Snapdragon's platform's latest technology to enhance aspects of content quality in gaming. The latter allows a phone to use 2 sources of Wi-Fi at once.

Google has announced that app developers will start seeing their ads in YouTube searches, as well as during video-streaming itself. In addition, developers can also now distribute their ads to Discover. This is the latest version of the Google Feed, and is still found on multitudes of homescreens.

Sony has invented a product called the Reon Pocket. It is a device that can change a user's personal temperature (or their perception of it, at least) while worn on the body. This unusual product is currently a part of the OEM's crowdfunded First Flight project, by which its chances of manufacture is determined by its ability to attract backers.

Drone racing is a rapidly emerging trend in applications for civilian aerial robots. DJI has announced plans to improve its support for this new sport with the first-person-view (FPV) goggles and controller set. It allows a given competitor to see and direct a race from their drone's point of view.

A leaked image on Reddit has revealed Huawei's supposed update roadmap for Android Q. Last-gen phones like the P20 Pro and Mate 10 Pro are billed to get the update, but devices in the Nova 4 and Nova 5 range are suspiciously missing.

GoPro has announced that it will refresh the companion app for its action-cameras. The updates will integrate Quik editing features directly into said app. This will enable the user to apply filters and convert footage into stories. This upgrade should also improve the GoPro app's UI in the future.

The UltraFine 5K monitor by LG is typically marketed as an ideal companion screen for Macs or MacBooks. However, it mysteriously vanished from Apple's website not long ago. Now, it is back as a new model for this year.

A new server-side update to Google Maps has been observed to allow the user to add their own notes to their items in this app's Lists facility. Users can also now re-arrange said items to their own liking, or in (for example) alphabetical order. These tweaks may make these Lists more handy and productive.

The Librem 5's specifications have been finalized, but the hardware looks outdated. Considering the phone's $700 price tag, it's unlikely that the Librem 5 will garner any significant market share. However, the Librem 5 is focused on user privacy and "free and open" software instead of bleeding-edge specifications. In that regard, the Librem 5 is sure to be an interesting niche device.

As revealed in a YouTube documentary by IO Interactive employees, a third Hitman game is already in the works. Hitman 2 gets a new DLC today, namely Siberia (The Prison), and Hitman 3 could bring back the episodic structure that was present in the first Hitman title, which was released back in 2016.

Released at the end of last week, Action Launcher 42 comes with full theme support — light, dark, and full black options available, color matching and custom color selection for the Quicktheme feature, improved Google Discover/Now and ActionDash integration, and more. This app requires Android 5.0 Lollipop or later.

The Honor 8X and 10 may be updated to new versions of their Android skin soon. This may lead to speculation that these 2 phones may also get the next major software upgrade, which would be EMUI 10. When asked about this via Twitter, the brand's Indian division gave answers that seem to affirm this.

The legendary FPS titles Doom and Doom II are now finally available for iOS and Android handsets. While they are not free, they come for a fair price of US$4.99 each. Doom includes the "Thy Flesh Consumed" expansion and Doom 2 comes with 20 new levels, four-player co-op, and four-player multiplayer.

Rejoice V30 owners, for LG has finally released Android 9.0 Pie for its former flagship. The OS update introduces gesture controls, upgraded system apps and more. Some early adopters have reported experiencing laggy UI and gesture control issues though, which were not present in Oreo. LG has started pushing the update over the air (OTA), but there is a workaround if it is not appearing on your device.

Google Nest - the new name for this company's smart-home arm - has partnered with the Reeve Foundation to help members of the community built around this organization. They are individuals affected by paralysis or movement loss disorders. As many as 100,000 of them will receive a free Home Mini as a result of this collaboration.

The 7 is an updated version of the 6T that launched alongside the OnePlus 7 Pro flagship smartphone. It was originally sold in SKUs with either 6 or 8GB of RAM. Now, it is also available with 12GB - but this model is for the Chinese market only.

The Nintendo Switch has been extremely receptive to mods so far and the good folks over at XDA-Developers have taken things up a notch with a new release that allows Switch users to flash an Android 8.1 ROM on their consoles.

Honor now plans to release its first smart TV in the near future. This product is to be called the Vision, and will be powered by a newly-announced SoC, the Honghu 818. It will also incorporate a pop-up camera for user authentication.

An upcoming Samsung smartwatch with the model number SM-R830 has been approved by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This registration shows that the watch has a 40mm variant, and will come in stainless steel or aluminium casings. It also confirms that this device will not have the adjustable crown seen in earlier watches of this series.

The TicPods Free are some of the most prominent AirPod alternatives out there. They are made by Mobvoi, also known for the Ticwatch Pro. This OEM is selling their wireless earbuds at US$99.99, or $30 less than their recommended price.

Vivo is set to release a phone that will not only support 5G, but will also feature the latest flagship processor from Qualcomm. A promotional image supposedly associated with this phone (the iQOO Pro 5G) has leaked via Weibo. It alleges that it will have 8GB of RAM and 128GB in fixed storage, and will cost 4498 yuan (US$654) - however, ROG may have an answer to this already.

The benchmarking authority AnTuTu has released its first set of results for the upcoming Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro. They indicate that the phone has made what may be significant gains over its early-2019 variant. This is due to the graphics performance conferred by the 2 Pro's new SoC: the Snapdragon 855 Plus.

Since many major software suites are slowly moving to an online-only approach, it is not a big surprise that Microsoft has decided to rename its Office Online suite by removing the "Online" part. However, the branding change does not apply to the following server products: Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Project Online, and Office Online Server.