Leaks / Rumors

Essential has filed a patent with the USPTO for “image capture with a camera integrated display.” Could this mean the American technology company is working on a method to remove the selfie camera from the polarizing top notch position that many manufacturers have currently adopted? Would new sensor-positioning technology be introduced in a future Essential smartphone release?

We could very well see a Nokia 9 this year sporting an in-display fingerprint sensor. The information comes from a source close to NokiaPowerUser and goes on to say that 2018 flagships from HMD Global are also likely to sport a notch to maximize the display area given the native notch support in the upcoming Android 9.0 P OS.

The new Huawei Y9 (2018) that was unveiled in Thailand shares many specs and features with the existing Mate 10 Lite and Honor 9 Lite. Its main selling points are the large 2:1 IPS display, the four cameras, and the capable HiSilicon Kirin 659 mid-range processor. Powered by a generous 4,000 mAh battery and loaded with Android 8.0 Oreo, the Y9 (2018) will hit the market in black, blue, and gold.

The Sony tablet with an E-Ink display that was recently spotted on the FCC website has the model name DPT-CP1, so it is probably a successor to last year's DPT-RP1. Made by Netonix, this slate features WiFi, Bluetooth, and NFC, but the FCC listing does not reveal any of the main technical details. However, the document confirms that this device has reached the mass production stage, so its launch is imminent.

Intel is apparently viewing the possible acquisition of Qualcomm by Broadcom as a potential threat to its communications semiconductor business according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The company is also reportedly exploring various fallback options in the event the Qualcomm takeover materializes.

PlayStation 5 is most likely not going to be released this year, but dev kits being distributed this early could mean that the next version could be launched in 2019 at the soonest. Sony might also be concerned that the XBox One X is taking over the PS4 Pro sales and the company might want to release a new system as soon as possible.

ASRock is more likely to produce MXM graphics cards for its own mini PC lineups rather than get into discrete gaming and mining card production. However, considering the AMD partnership and the current GPU crisis, ASRock could help ramp up the graphics card production and bring down GPU prices.

As revealed by the images that recently surfaced on Weibo, the upcoming ZTE Nubia N3 is a rather peculiar Android handset. Although it features a quite capable mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor and a 5.99-inch display with a 2:1 aspect ratio, it comes with large bezels and only features a micro USB port for charging and data transfer. At last, we should also mention the stock Android 8.0 Oreo firmware.

Venezuela’s Petro cryptocurrency has been called “illegal” and “unconstitutional” by the country’s National Assembly. Bitcoin has suffered another fall in its current exchange value, with the virtual currency's latest closing price standing at US$9434. In Japan, the Financial Services Agency has been throwing its weight around and has issued business suspension orders to two cryptocurrency exchanges.

A report published by the highly respected journal Science has estimated that fake news is 70% more likely to be retweeted than true news. The study found that false information which was rapidly shared online through social media reached more people than the truth did. The research also pointed out that fake news travels much faster than real news.

This year's MWC may have marked a turn in the smartphone market. While the latest flagships were generally iterative improvements on last year's models, the budget and mid-tier segments have begun to explode. The best phones may not be getting cheaper, but cheap phones are definitely getting better.

A new leak has confirmed that the OnePlus 6 will, in fact, feature a notch. This comes just weeks after OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei denied similar rumors on Twitter. The device will also feature a Snapdragon 845, a rear fingerprint reader, and dual rear cameras.

The teaser image that was posted on Weibo reveals an iPhone X-style display with a similar notch as that of Apple's flagship that more and more Chinese brands seem to be after these days. The VIVO V9 will have a 24 MP front camera, but there is no other piece of information to talk about at this stage. However, we expect a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 4 GB of memory or more, and a 2:1 display.

Vivo’s Apex concept phone was one of the more interesting products on display at the recent Mobile World Congress. The device offered a massive screen-to-body ratio, an in-display fingerprint sensor and a cool pop-up camera. The Chinese technology company has now unveiled this concept device in its homeland and reports of further specification details and possible future production have appeared.

There are reports that EA Dice is working on the next installment of the Battlefield video-game series, with the developer possibly launching the new game later this year. The game was originally known in-house as Battlefield 2 but has apparently now been renamed Battlefield V. It will be set in World War II and may feature cosmetic loot boxes rather than pay-to-win microtransactions.

Although HMD Global unveiled the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835-powered Nokia 8 Sirocco at MWC 2018 as its top-of-the-line device to arrive this year, an exclusive report reveals that at least two handsets with a Snapdragon 845 inside are scheduled to be introduced later this year. The first one is the 5.5-inch Nokia 8 Pro, and its 5.7-inch sibling is rumored to hit the market as the Nokia 9.

According to VentureBeat's editor and popular Twitter leakster Evan Blass, the first Developer Preview release of Android 9.0 should arrive in around two weeks. Although there are a lot of name-related speculations, he only named "Pumpkin Pie" as a personal preference. Other desserts that could turn into Oreo's successor include Popsicle, Pecan Pie, Pastry, Popover, Pandoro, and Praline.

According to a report, technology company Broadcom Limited could be redomiciling to the US in the near future, possibly by May. The company is currently based in Singapore and has a co-headquarters in San Jose, California. Broadcom was bought out by Avago Technologies in 2015 for a deal worth US$37 billion and the newly combined company was then renamed Broadcom Limited.

The ThinkPad A series is a line of Lenovo ThinkPad laptops created solely for the use of AMD CPUs. According to a leaked roadmap that Notebookcheck attained, this series could be refreshed in the third quarter of 2018. It seems likely that these refreshed models will be the ThinkPad A285 and ThinkPad A485 and that they will feature Ryzen Mobile.

The rumor that we might see the legendary Motorola Razr series coming back to life is not new, but this time it comes from a Lenovo official. One year after making a similar statement at MWC 2017, Yang Yuanqing said that the Motorola Razr "will be developed or realized very soon." Sadly, Lenovo's CEO did not mention any technical details or a possible launch date for now.

A recently published Apple patent describes a "Dual display equipment with enhanced visibility and suppressed reflections" and the device pictured in it looks like a MacBook with an OLED touchscreen area that replaces the traditional keyboard and trackpad combination. Lenovo tried this with the Yoga Book and it apparently failed, so it remains to see if an Apple MacBook with a touchscreen keyboard hits the market or not.

Next to the alleged Galaxy J4 and Galaxy J6, as well as the US variant of the updated Galaxy J3, an Exynos 7870-powered Samsung handset was spotted on Geekbench. Codenamed SM-J800FN, this one is expected to launch as the Galaxy J8 and runs Android 8.0 Oreo. Older rumors mentioned it would feature 4 GB RAM, 64 GB internal storage, and a 5.5-inch 720p display, but nothing is official yet.

Surprisingly enough, Huawei is not present at MWC 2018 with any Android Go handset. However, it seems that such a device is almost ready to hit the market. References to the Huawei Y5 Lite (2018) with Android Oreo Go edition onboard were recently spotted in some firmware files. Shortly after that happened, this MediaTek-powered handset apparently arrived at the FCC as well.

The two images that allegedly show the upcoming OnePlus 6 flagship surfaced on a WhatsApp group, where it was posted by someone claiming to be an insider familiar with the matter. One of these images confirms a previous rumor that mentioned a front with a notch similar to that of Apple's iPhone X. The other one shows a back with a vertical dual camera setup and an oval-shaped fingerprint reader.

Samsung could be looking for a name change to its flagship Galaxy S series and rumors are rife that the next Samsung flagship might not be referred to as the Galaxy 'S10'. Samsung's mobile head, DJ Koh, did not refute the rumors and said while a name change is being contemplated upon, the Galaxy brand is here to stay.

A leaked render of the Moto E5 Plus smartphone has revealed an interesting detail: The device is likely to come with a dual camera system. The E5 range is expected to be an update of Motorola’s E4 range, which was released in June 2017. The render shows a number of differences from the predecessor. Details in regard to price and release date have yet to be confirmed.

The AirPower wireless charging mat was originally announced in September, 2017 at an Apple media event. According to reports, this handy device could be shipped by the American tech giants in March. The mat uses the Qi standard for wireless power transfer and should have multi-device charging capability. There has been no official confirmation from Apple yet.

As Samsung has been shipping over 70 million smartphone units each year for the last two years, it certainly seems likely the South Korean company is not short of loyal fans. But will these loyal fans be willing to shell out on the new Galaxy S9 and S9+ flagships when they discover the astronomical price tags? According to a new leak, expect to fork out €841 (~US$1037) for a brand-new Galaxy S9, while the Galaxy S9+ will cost €997 (~US$1229).

A report from Bloomberg has stated that Apple is working on some upgrades for its popular AirPods product. The original wireless Bluetooth earbuds were released in 2016 and have contributed significantly to Apple’s successful “Others” division (which includes the Apple Watch). It is rumored an upgrade of the AirPods with a new custom-designed chip will be released later this year, with a water-resistant upgrade being developed for next year.

The Nokia 4 will be one of HMD's budget releases for the year. The device is said to be powered by a Snapdragon 450—Qualcomm's new 14nm SoC that records performance figures similar to those of the Snapdragon 625.

Apple has made an international regulatory filing with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) that suggests the company is preparing to release two new products in the iPad line-up. The filing lists two tablets with model numbers that have not been associated with the iPad before: A1954 and A1893. There is some speculation that the devices could be the next iPad refresh.

The successor of the ZTE Blade X Max is rumored to launch in mid to late spring. Apparently ready to hit the market as the ZTE Blade X2 Max, it looks a lot like its predecessor. The list of rumored specs includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450, 3 GB or 4 GB RAM, at least 32 GB internal storage, as well as a 6-inch full HD display. This phablet will probably launch with Android Oreo customized by ZTE onboard.

At the end of last week, the Huawei Mate SE was listed on both Amazon and B&H Photo Video. Even more, it also got an official page on Huawei's website. However, all these listings of the rebranded Huawei Honor 7X were removed since then. The US$249.99 Mate SE apparently will come in grey and gold, but now it looks like we have to wait for it to get a proper release.

The Xperia line may be a getting a refresh in the form of the Xperia XZ2 Compact if a photo posted on Xperia Blog is to be believed. The photo, which was posted by a commenter, claims to show off a prototype of the small form factor flagship rumored to appear at MWC 2018 next week.

Facebook's upcoming smart speakers are expected to arrive in July, reveal insiders familiar with the matter. Sporting 15-inch touchscreen displays, they are also supposed to provide video chat and social features.

The Nokia 8 Pro is expected to hit the market in August-September with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 onboard. Obviously, nothing has been confirmed by HMD Global yet.

Sony has released a new video clip in relation to the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2018 event that does not actually feature a physical handset. What new smartphone development is Sony possibly planning to reveal at the trade show in Barcelona next week?

South Korean tech giant Samsung has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a flying display device. Illustrations of the device show it to look like a cross between a tablet and a quadcopter.

Intel unveiled plans for a prototype of their discrete GPU at the San Francisco ISSCC (IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference) late last week. The 14 nm dGPU, which is still in an early prototype stage, features 1.5 billion transistors and is clocked between 50 - 400 MHz, which may hint at a focus on efficiency over raw power.

The Samsung SM-T835 device that surfaced on GFXBench appears to have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor onboard, next to 4 GB RAM, 64 GB internal storage, and a 12 MP main camera. This 10.5-inch slate runs Android Oreo and is expected to feature a stylus, a detachable keyboard, as well as AKG-tuned speakers.

Notebookcheck recently reported on a new smartphone being developed by HTC, however, the device was codenamed "Breeze" at the time. This new model is now expected to be the upcoming HTC Desire 12.

The Samsung Galaxy S9+ with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor apparently scored an impressive 265,267 AnTuTu score, obliterating the Snapdragon 835-driven Samsung Galaxy S8+ which scores around 170,000 points.

Huawei is widely expected to reveal new devices at MWC 2018 which may include the latest tablets in the MediaPad range. Leaks about the MediaPad M5 report that three variations will be made available.

According to an alleged leaked CPU roadmap for 2018, Intel may be releasing the Core i7-8550H and Core i5-8400H. The Coffee Lake CPUs are designed for laptops, but the i7 is unique; it features 6 cores and 12 threads.

All PC manufacturers are eagerly awaiting the release of the upcoming mobile Hexa-Core processors from Intel (codename: Coffee Lake). According to a leaked internal document, HP may be working on new Elitebook convertible laptops with these new chips.

The upcoming smartphone could be showcased at MWC 2018 together with the Zenfone 5 family. Being a gaming device, Asus could also opt to release it under the ROG brand.

While the Redmi Note 5 is headed for India and expected to arrive on February 14, it looks like the Mi TV is going to be introduced locally on the same day.

There are rumors that Amazon is in the process of developing new artificial intelligence chips to be used in hardware that features the company's virtual assistant, Alexa. The chips could help reduce response times by utilizing speech recognition software.

Not long after the regular ZenFone 5 surfaced online, the Asus ZenFone 5 Lite was spotted in black, white, and red, next to a few technical details. Both handsets are expected to feature a vertical dual camera setup on the back and should be unveiled at MWC 2018.