Software

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 received the Pie update in certain regions last month and Samsung is also now sending the March security to those models. Note 9 users in certain markets are also getting the security patch, interestingly, even ahead of the new Galaxy S10 phones.

A Huawei device with the model name VOG-L29 has surfaced on Geekbench today (March 12, 2019). It has exhibited 2019 flagship specs and the scores to go with it. They have beaten up-to-date entries for the P20 Pro on the same database by a considerable margin.

War Thunder 1.87 "Locked On!" is a massive update to Gaijin Entertainment's popular vehicular combat title and — just like its predecessors — has a suggestive name. The game now features French helicopters, new cruisers, rank VII ground vehicles, advanced supersonic jets, complex radar systems, and more.

Motorola promised Oreo for the Moto G4 Plus when it launched in 2016 and went back on its word a year after. Media outcry over that betrayal forced the company's hands, making them promise Oreo as initially agreed. It's been eighteen months since then, though, and the Moto G4 phones are only just starting to receive the Android Oreo OTA.

The Twitter account @NTAuthority has posted a video in which a Pixel 3 XL appears to boot into Windows. The OS' logo shows up at the start of this process, which is followed by not much more than a blue screen with what appears to be a command window. Should the claim prove true, it appears that Windows can run on yet another device not intended to do so.

The Galaxy S10 flagship series may have already demonstrated that it is having no trouble with its sales. However, Samsung has arranged a few perks to ensure that the new phones keep flying off shelves. They involve YouTube Premium and Spotify deals; on the other hand, their availability is region-dependent.

Early adopters can keen to get their hands on the Android Q beta will have a wider range of devices from which to choose this time around. Android developer Illiyan Malhev has revealed the even more OEMs will be on board for the Android Q beta testing program expected to launch at Google’s I/O 2019 developer conference in May.

Microsoft has recommended that Windows 10 users suffering from problems with graphics or mouse performance degradation in certain games should uninstall the latest update for the ubiquitous operating system. KB4482887 was rolled out for “quality improvements” but has ironically affected quality in a number of crucial areas.

The Xiaomi Mi Max 3, like all Mi Max devices, is sold with the unique feature of having a huge screen. This generation has a 6.9-inch FHD display, which is matched by few other phablets. Units of this model worldwide are now eligible for an official update to the Pie-based MIUI 10.

The 6T is the first OnePlus flagship to be sold through a US carrier: T-Mobile. These units are now receiving a notification for a new update that confers RCS messaging. This new form of messaging on Android brings expanded features and capabilities compared to the old one.

After the March security update, users of the Pixel 3 phones are reporting stability issues with their camera apps. The app apparently lags heavily and tends to completely glitch out during use. This, of course, begs the question of what exactly the Pixels are good for if their cameras are unreliable.

The South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT has warned that South Korea is likely to miss the current approximate deadline at which 5G should be available in the country. This was estimated to be at the end of March, but now may be pushed back until later in the year. The authorities have cited costing disputes with providers as one factor in this delay.

Microsoft is open sourcing the code of Windows Calculator on GitHub in a bid to encourage developers learn more about Microsoft technologies by reviewing the code used in the app. Developers can now use Windows Calculator functionality in their own apps and participate in code review and feedback via GitHub. Microsoft will continue to finally test and flight the app in Windows builds as usual.

The popular tech YouTuber Lewis Hilsenteger has posted a video to his channel claiming that the new Samsung Galaxy S10 series' Face Unlock security can be hacked. Hilsenteger demonstrated this by holding his Galaxy S10+ up to a 2nd phone playing a video of his face, which appeared to successfully unlock the former's screen.

Proton Technologies AG, the company behind the popular encrypted email service ProtonMail, has issued a press release to reveal it has been awarded €2 million in funding from the European Commission (EC). The company plans on using the money to develop encrypted services such as its ProtonDrive file storage application.

A new update to the latest version of MIUI may expand the function of the under-display fingerprint sensor found in the latest Xiaomi flagships. It involves activating an array of app shortcuts when this module is used. The new feature will be found in the Mi 9, 9 SE and some versions of the Mi 8.

Months ahead of its launch, the OnePlus 7 has appeared in sale-page form on the retail website GizTop. It contains a list of specs with many details that may be plausible for this new release. On the other hand, there is no guarantee that it will prove accurate.

The Samsung Galaxy S10e is one of the new additions to the flagship series. It has the smallest screen (and price) of all its variants, yet retains many of the new features associated with it. The S10e has been made available on Boost Mobile today (March 8, 2019) at an out-right price of US$749.

Leica has launched the Q2, the second generation of its high-end full-frame sensor module. It is capable of 4K/UHD recording, 47.3-megapixel image capture, and expanded crop functions. The new Leica Q2 also has some degree of water-ingress protection for all-weather use.

Thanks to the latest update for the PlayStation 4 and the addition of an officially supported app in the Apple App Store, the PS4's Remote Play is now available on compatible iOS devices. However, since iOS doesn't natively support the PS4's DualShock 4 controllers, gamers will have to resort to on-screen controls or a supported third-party solution.

A thin majority - 52% - of all households with broadband connections in the US now watch content that can be found, bought or sourced online on their connected TVs. These findings have been reported by Parks Associates. They have also discovered that this activity is now more popular among such households compared to other leisure pursuits - even gaming.

Multiple new entries for the same device - a 'blackshark AAA' - have appeared on the Geekbench 4.3 database. They are all powered by the same SoC, which is likely to be the Snapdragon 855. Interestingly, all but 2 of the 10 listings specify 12GB of RAM.

Ghidra, the NSA's own reverse-engineering software, is now open source and freely available for download. The Agency voluntarily open-sourced the decompiler in an effort to benefit the cybersecurity community. Ghidra is a software decompiler that allows users to more easily see how a computer executes a program and is finely-tuned to be more user-friendly.

The OPPO F11 Pro has been characterized as a phone that would come out with a pop-up selfie camera on release. These leaks have been vindicated at its launch. It was also joined by the F11, a second variant of the same basic phone, but with a water-drop notch to house its own front-facing camera.

According to a new report in the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo has at least started to intervene in order to prevent disproportional amounts of in-game transactions in the titles it has licensed to Android and iOS developers. This may reflect the increasing drive to regulate such charges, which can lead to significant profits as a result of using free apps.

The Meizu Note 9 is one of a handful of phones that rocks the new 48MP Samsung camera sensor. It has been launched today in China for prices ranging from about US$208 to $238, depending on the variant selected. However, it will not be on sale until March 11, 2019.

A new feature in Facebook's Messenger app - Dark Mode - has been in the works for some time now. A Redditor has recently noticed that it can be activated by sending a specific emoji. The new Mode may particularly benefit those with light sensitivities or whose devices have OLED screens.

The new version of Microsoft Edge, a browser whose development is now driven by that of Chromium's, has been leaked in a set of images by Neowin. They show a browser that will indeed ring a number of bells for those who follow the open-source project. However, there is a Microsoft extensions store and Bing integration.

HMD Global released the Nokia 9 PureView a few weeks ago, and the first batch of camera reviews from various outlets are finally in. While photos taken by the flagship's five rear cameras are excellent, it’s become painfully obvious that the phone's cameras weren’t designed for the average smartphone user.

Essential has informed PH-1 phone users that the latest security patch from Google is now available. However, the March update brings a welcome new feature for owners of the Essential Phone: Support for Google’s Digital Wellbeing app. A concept video of the rumored Essential Phone 2 (PH-2) has been entrancing viewers with its looks and supposedly “leaked” information.

Some Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL smartphone owners have been reporting that the March update for their devices has optimized read/write storage performance to a considerable degree. Images of AndroBench comparisons between February’s update and March’s update show some benchmark results drastically improving.

Xiaomi released its first iterations of the Mi Max line in 2016, and they have received regular software updates ever since. However, the OEM has announced that the Mi Max and Mi Max Prime will see its final stable build in April 2019. It will be MIUI 10.3 based on Android Pie.

An Indian Twitter user has alleged that an Android TV to which he had access allowed him to see all the other accounts linked to the same via the Google Home app. The bug in question also could have let him put their Google Photos-stored images up on the screen. Google has responded by temporarily suspending the app options involved.

The Adrenalin 2019 Edition unifies Radeon and Vega GPUs under a single software umbrella for faster updates. Owners of Kaby Lake-G laptops and NUCs, however, will be out of luck.

Microsoft has announced a useful new feature for Office on phones or tablets: the ability to convert an image of a table into one in Excel. The app will use optical character recognition (OCR) and AI to deliver this promising new function. However, it will be exclusive to Office 365 subscribers on Android at first.

The short-video app TikTok has seen its billionth download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store combined. It has also rivalled Facebook and surpassed Instagram for app install counts in 2018. It was also the most-downloaded non-game app in the US in January 2019.

Samsung is now offering the ability to remap the Bixby button on older flagships such as the Galaxy Note 9, S9/S9+, Note 8, and S8/S8+. The update is available via the Galaxy Store and allows the user to select a custom app to launch with either a single or double tap of the Bixby but not both. This means Bixby Home will continue to be available and the user cannot totally disable it.

The eighth season of Epic Games' Fortnite comes with two new locations - Lazy Lagoon and Sunny Steps — as well as pirates, ninjas, and "a ship load of new fighters" that will join the battle. The season's Battle Pass comes with more than 100 brand-new exclusive rewards and comes for the same price of 950 V-bucks.

Asus has recently revealed a detailed Android Pie update roadmap that includes a wide range of handsets that mainly belong to the Zenfone 4, Zenfone 5, and Zenfone 5 families. However, the official ZenTalk forum topic is currently under moderation (or has been removed), so we should expect some changes to the list mentioned above.

Google engineers are developing a 'back/forward cache' to reduce the latency with which Chrome returns to a previous page, or goes forward from one. This involves saving an entire webpage in memory, JavaScript included. While this may enhance the browser's UX, it also implies privacy issues.

The Google Home app can act as a one-stop shop for all your smart-home appliance control needs. Its latest update also adds the ability to tune the color of connected bulbs or lamps. This is opposed to the simple on-off switch found in previous versions.

Meizu's next flagship smartphone, projected to be called the 16s, is linked to new images posted on SlashLeaks. They show a phone with a traditionally-placed selfie camera, but in an ultra-low-profile forehead. The bezels on this device are also minimal, so as to create a decent illusion of a full-screen display.

The HERO7 Black is the top-spec'd SKU of its GoPro camera series. It is now available in a limited-edition alternative finish, Dusk White. This version will be released on March 3, 2019 on gopro.com and selected retailers worldwide.

Spotify has announced that it is now available in India bringing its total number of markets to 79. Spotify is a late entrant to the country that has already has local and international providers trying to outdo each other and hence is launching India-exclusive plans that are a lot cheaper and provide full control over the free plan unlike other international markets. Warner Music, however, isn't too happy about the launch.

There is a new alternative to the foldable phone already. Nubia has unveiled the Alpha, a device with a screen that curves along a wide watch-like form factor. This display is 4 inches long, and operates using the Snapdragon 2100 wearables processor.

At least three new games based on Frank Herbert's sci-fi epic Dune will be making their way to consoles and PC over the next six years. Funcom, the developer behind Conan Exiles and Conan Unconquered, has signed a contract with Legendary Studios to build at least three new Dune games. Exact details are still spotty, but rumor has it that Funcom is currently working on an open-world multiplayer Dune game.

Energizer, a brand known better for disposable lithium-ion batteries, has brought new smartphones made under its name to MWC. One is an extremely typical mobile device, although it has a dual pop-up camera. Another is a foldable prototype with specs to challenge Samsung or Huawei in the same regard.

The Swiss watchmaker group Swatch has filed a complaint with US legal authorities to the effect that Samsung has impinged on its trademarks. This is connected to the design of some downloadable watchfaces for Gear-line smartwatches. The company will look for hundreds of millions of US dollars in compensation for this breach.

Guo Ping, Hauwei's current chairperson, has appeared on stage as part of a conference at MWC19. He asserted that the company is not involved in activities that amount to cyber-spying on behalf of the Chinese govermment, as the U.S. has alleged. Guo also called for improved regulation and assignation of responsibility in the coming global 5G infrastructure roll-out.