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Launched in India back in January 2017, Samsung Mall will apparently go down on June 30. This piece of bad news reached the users of this service in the shape of a notification message on their handsets. However, the official website still does not show any information regarding its imminent closure.

Vade Secure is an email-security company that produces a series of reports called "Phisher's Favorites". The 2019 first-quarter (1Q2019) issue shows that the targeting of social media by this kind of hacker has increased by 74.7% compared to 1Q2018. Facebook and Instagram are prominent example of the sites in question.

Arun Maini is a popular tech YouTuber who claims to be in contact with the also-famous leaker IceUniverse. The former has reportedly gained even more detail on the upcoming Galaxy Note "Pro" variants than the latter has posted to Twitter.

Google will release its first mid-tier smartphones on May 7, 2019. It has been all but confirmed that they will be called the Pixel 3a and 3a XL. New tips on the subject claim to have more details on their prices in USD, as well as a new possible Geekbench score for the 3a.

New Moto Z4 renders have seemingly confirmed more features about the upcoming flagship smartphone. The Z4 will have dual-microphones, USB Type-C charging and even the hallowed headphone jack.

A report from market analyst company Counterpoint Research has stated that Apple’s iPhone X was the best-selling smartphone in the world in 2018. Top 10 charts for both the world and China were shared online and while Apple has dominated the global market, it seems the domestic manufacturer Oppo is the top dog in its home market.

In an issue reminiscent of Apple’s iPhone 4 ‘Antennagate’ woes, it appears that Samsung’s flashy new Galaxy Tab S5e is suffering from Wi-Fi signal attenuation issues when users place their hand in a certain position on the device. The problem is repeatable and has been encountered by several users according to SamMobile.

The company behind the crowdfunded laptop shell still has its order page live, despite admitting privately to backers that it has run out of money with potentially thousands of orders still unfulfilled.

Huawei is rumored to release its first TV this year. Most recently, the outlet Nikkei Asian Review has reported that this product could have an 8K resolution when it comes out. It also alleges that the same device will have its own 5G connectivity.

LG had planned to release its first-ever 5G smartphone, the V50 ThinQ, by now. However, some less-than-specified technical difficulties obliged the OEM to delay this event. It has now announced a new launch date for the phone: May 10, 2019.

Even though the OnePlus 7 Pro 12 GB RAM version has similar hardware specs compared to Samsung's Galaxy S10+ model, the GeekBench scores appear to slightly favor the Chinese smartphone. It should be noted that the high-end OnePlus 7 Pro version with 12 GB RAM will cost almost 50% less and it also comes with a better display.

The Unisoc Tiger T310 combines 3 ARM Cortex-A55 cores and 1 A75 core. This arrangement, as the OEM claims, makes it the world's first quad-core 4G/LTE SoC for smartphones. Therefore, the new chipset is a potentially affordable way to gain near-state-of-the-art performance.

One of Huawei's best smartphones this year is hundreds of dollars off just three to four months after its initial launch. If you're in the U.S., however, you'll have to give up the original warranty for the new cheaper price.

Noted tipster Ice universe appears to have gone back on his slightly cryptic comment about the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 (the Pro 4G version) coming with 25 W fast charging capability. The leaker admitted the probability of this was giving out the “wrong message”. However, another rumor that has been around for some time is that the Note 10 will get a pop-up camera.

In one of the greatest Indiegogo fails ever, the Energizer "brick smartphone" with an 18,000 mAh only managed to gain 11 backers. The sum pledged was US$15,005 — not much more than 1 percent of the US$1,200,000 fixed goal that had to be reached for the Power Max P18K Pop to enter production.

While the overall smartphone market may be down, Huawei is bucking the industry trend by confirming its position as the number 2 smartphone maker in the world ahead of Apple. While both Apple and Samsung lost ground, Huawei enjoyed incredible year-over-year growth with a 50.3 percent increase in smartphone sales.

The latest update for the Galaxy Note 9 makes it easier to switch between taking regular and wide-angle selfies. The firmware updates the device to the April Android security patch too and introduces an option to automatically schedule Night Mode. Frustratingly, not all devices will receive these features this month though.

Facebook’s Oculus has announced that its two newest VR headsets will begin shipping on May 21. The Oculus Quest is the company’s first all-in-one VR gaming system while the Oculus Rift S is the successor t the original Oculus Rift headset and is targeted at more serious VR gamers with decent PC gaming rigs.

The smartphone will be available first in Switzerland on the Sunrise network and will retail for CHF 847 (~ US$830). The Mi Mix 3 5G will cost closer to €599 (~ US$671) globally though and will feature the Snapdragon 855, which incorporates the 5G capable X50 modem.

HiSilicon will include 5G modems in all Kirin 985 SoCs, company representatives in Taiwan have confirmed. Manufacturing will begin in Q3 ready for Huawei's probable announcement of the Mate 30 series in October.

Meizu's next major phone release after the 16s may be the 17. A Chinese blog claims to have gotten hold of promotional images that point to 5G for this device. It also now claims that Meizu may apply the design for the failed Zero concept phone to the 17.

The Verge has reported on access it was allowed to a near-production unit of the upcoming OnePlus 7 Pro. The outlet is in a position to state that one of the phone's main cameras has 3X optical zoom as a result. In other news, IceUniverse has claimed to be able to affirm the notchless, curved nature of the 7 Pro's screen.

Google has admitted its Pixel 3 line of flagship smartphones isn’t selling well. Although failing to break out unit sales numbers at its Q1 conference call, the company cited unspecified pressures in the premium smartphone market for its poorer than expected sales.

AOSP-based Android 9 Pie ROMs are now available for the eight-year old HP TouchPad thanks to the efforts of the custom ROM community. The HP TouchPad, abandoned soon after release, originally ran webOS but was quickly adopted by enthusiasts who managed to successfully port several Android OS versions to the tablet. While certain functionality such as Bluetooth and Camera are still being worked upon, testers claim that the tablet is able to run the latest Android update just as new.

Apple already announced its Apple Arcade gaming service, and Samsung clearly does not want to miss on this big opportunity, as the gaming industry is enticed by streaming services like the Google Stadia. Samsung's upcoming PlayGalaxy Link service should be announced soon, and rumor has it that the Korean giant could also launch a gaming smartphone along with it.

The Royole FlexPai had been available in China in December 2018, but only in pre-order form. No new units have been offered in subsequent events - until now. The company had reportedly put the flexible phone back on the retail site Tmall in April 2019.

The Pro variant is OnePlus' newest marketing tag, and will be used for the first time to differentiate one variant of the upcoming 7 flagship from another. DisplayMate has announced that it has given this phone its "highest A+" rating. Therefore, the OnePlus 7 Pro now goes into its May 2019 launch under this additional expectation.

Nintendo is currently looking for people to apply to the beta-testing phase of the upcoming mobile game Mario Kart Tour. At the moment, the company is only accepting applications from Android users (although the game is planned for iOS too). The application schedule window is already open, but it is only available to potential testers living in either the US or Japan.

Nubia has officially announced the Red Magic 3 gaming smartphone in China. The Red Magic 3 offers a very impressive spec sheet and is also one of the first phones to feature a controllable fan for active cooling of the SoC. Other highlights include a 90 Hz AMOLED screen, programmable trigger buttons on the body, and an IP55 rating for dust and water resistance.

Redmi has finally revealed the selfie camera solution for the upcoming Redmi 855 flagship smartphone. The company has opted to go for a pop-up camera, regardless of the general manager’s insistence that the brand would not be utilizing this method. Apparently the phone will also come with a 4000 mAh battery and support for 18 W fast charging.

Some users of Android smartwatches have complained that Google Maps fails to show any information following its newest updates. This issue was originally thought to affect Ticwatch devices only, but has also been reported on watches from other OEMs. To date, it appears that uninstalling updates is the only valid fix.

A handful of official-looking press renders for the upcoming Motorola Razr 2019 foldable smartphone have found their way online. The leaked images show the Razr leaning casually against its magnificent packaging, the supposed full contents of the box, and the Razr in a partially folded state but with its main display facing away from the camera.

At least one of the four expected variants of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 10 phablets will come with a 4500 mAh battery, according to an image of a battery found on a consumer website for South Korean KC certification. At almost the same time, it has been reported that the same device will also support fast 25 W charging.

Firefox for Android will begin to fizzle out later this year. Mozilla is moving their ailing mobile browser into an extended-support update scheme in order to focus on a new mobile browser: Fenix. Firefox for Android will continue to receive minor updates until Fenix is ready to launch, at which point Firefox will move into end-of-life.

Motorola has just released the kernel source code for Android 9 Pie for the Moto G6 Play. This release should make it much easier for modders and developers to create Android Pie-based custom ROMs for the handset, extending its life a bit. Motorola is one of the few companies left that still routinely releases source code for its handsets.

A law firm has filed a suit against Epic Games on behalf of its client, a musician who believes his trademark appearance and moves have been stolen in order to build one of the Emotes found in the game Fortnite. These Emotes are Battle Royale features that often require micro-transactions in order to be enabled.

The OnePlus 5 and 5T have been updated to OxygenOS 9.0.5, a software update that raises the 2017 flagships' security patch level to April 2019. It also addresses some problems with calls in third-party apps reported by users. This update also makes the first-party phone app more stable.

The latest OPPO smartphones use OZO, a form of audio capture developed by Nokia. This claim can reportedly be found in the latter's first-quarter financial report for 2019. The rest of this report apparently makes for less intriguing reading.

The well-known smartphone industry tipster Ice universe has sparked a flurry of speculation with two enigmatic tweets pertaining to Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 10. His two clues consisted of the simple line “Da Vinci is symmetrical,” which was followed by a tweet containing a picture of the famous Vitruvian Man drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci.

An upcoming feature that recently debuted in the latest Android Q beta may not be officially seen until next year. Scoped Storage, a feature that hopes to curtail app permission issues by sandboxing applications, has been found to break legacy applications under some common circumstances.

Six apps from Chinese developer DO Global have been found to secretly collect user data and send it to Chinese servers. While these apps have now been removed, this issue has once again turned a spotlight on a serious privacy problem that continues to plague the Google Play Store: unwarranted app permissions.

Google is currently running a sale on the Pixel 3 and 3 XL until May 6. The deal applies to all colours and storage options. At launch, the Pixel 3 and 3 XL cost up to US$899 (£839) and US$999 (£969) respectively, but they are now down to a minimum of US$599. Only while stocks last, mind.

Huawei will sell the P Smart Z in Emerald Green, Midnight Black and Sapphire Blue. The device will be marketed as the P Smart Pro in some countries and is equipped with a Kirin 710 SoC, 4 GB RAM along with 64 GB of storage. The P Smart Z will have a 4,000 mAh battery too and will retail for €210 (~ US$234).

Samsung PR is in overdrive. After delaying the public release of the Galaxy Fold following reports of numerous display issues, the company is now doing its best to shut down any negative press about the foldable smartphone.

China Unicom has deployed a 5G network in an area of Shenzhen called the Qianhai-Shekou Free Trade Zone. This makes China one of only 3 countries with the new generation of wireless networks. The carrier is now planning exhibitions of 5G applications in the Zone.

The A9 was added to OPPO's store without an official announcement, and the store page does not even reveal the full specs. OPPO most likely used the MediaTek Helio P70 SoC to power the A9 and added 6 GB of RAM plus 128 GB of storage. Also included are a large 6.53-inch FHD+ IPS screen and a 4,020 mAh battery, together with a 16 MP selfie cam and a 16 MP + 2 MP dual-cam on the back.

While ZTE is still recouping from last year's bans, the company is certainly not holding back when it comes to 5G tech, as the company is ready to launch its first 5G-comaptible handheld in a few weeks. The Axon 10 Pro integrates Qualcomm's X50 5G modem and the Snapdragon 855 SoC, which can be couple with up to 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.