Android

Samsung released the S10 phones a few weeks ago and is hoping to use the devices as a tool in a bid to claw back its lost market share in China. It appears to be working, too, with sales said to be already twice that of the Galaxy S9 phones.

Samsung has come up with some clever ads over the years as it battles Apple for smartphone supremacy. Spotted in Sydney, Australia by Notebookcheck, this latest billboard is one of the first interactive campaigns we’ve seen with what would otherwise be a static poster.

The next Huawei flagships are due to launch on March 26, 2019. However, a leaker claims to have gotten hold of genuine promotional images for the two phones ahead of this event. These posters are for the French market, and show what could be special launch-day offers for that region.

Could a phone establish data connections and load webpages independent of either WiFi or a SIM card? Volk Fi apparently thinks so. This company is currently advertising its first smartphone, the Volk One, which can apparently form part of its own 'mesh network' with every other unit of the same around it.

Xiaomi has a thriving presence in Ukraine, with numerous physical stores and online sales through partner websites. This now extends to the new Redmi 7, the second device line to be sold under the OEM's latest sub-brand. Its availability has been announced on Mi Ukraine's Facebook page.

Reports have just emerged that the European Commission has disciplined Google for anti-trust-related business practices. Coincidentally, the company has issued a new blog post outlining its new measures to ensure that there is "choice and competition" among digital services for users in this region.

Although there is nothing special about it except the gargantuan battery size, the Energizer P18K Pop might prove that many people would pay more than US$500 to get the world's longest-lasting smartphone that has the technical specs of a US$200 mid-ranger otherwise. However, Energizer must hit the US$1,200,000 goal first.

The launch date for the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G flagship smartphone has been announced as April 5. Unsurprisingly, the device will go on sale on this date in the manufacturer’s home country of South Korea. The price for the 5G model of the S10 series has yet to be confirmed, but it is expected to be around 1.5 million won (~US$1330).

The Huawei P30 phones are billed to be launched on March 26, next week, but a Norwegian retailer has revealed all we could hope to know about the P30 Pro. Notable features include a triple rear camera setup and a ToF sensor, a 4200 mAh battery, and a curved display.

The Moto Z3 was something of a flop last year, and Motorola will be hoping to make up for that with the Z4 this year. Renders of what appears to be the Moto Z4 have surfaced, showcasing the device with a waterdrop notch and, rather bizarrely, just one rear camera.

Amazon debuted a new version of their entry-level Kindle eReader with four front lights. The new eReader is the cheapest electronic book with a light, coming in at $90. This is $10 more than the previous base-level Kindle. Other than the front lights, not much has changed from earlier Kindles.

Today, the European Commission has fined Google €1.49 billion for abusing its market dominance of online search adverts. The company has now been fined over €8.25 billion by the Commission in less than two years for illegal practices.

A phone that may be the next generation of the Meizu 16 line is yet again the subject of a post on SlashLeaks. This time, it is described as a case for this new phone. It indicates that the OEM will drop the usual central position for the rear cameras for a triple-sensor in one corner.

Although handsets like the Oppo F11/F11 Pro and the RealMe 3 have been shipping with it onboard for a while, Android Pie-based Color OS 6 has finally received a proper official launch as well. This piece of code should be rolling out as an update for older Oppo handsets soon, but the roadmap is not available yet.

Motorola's One Vision smartphone appears to be the same as the previously leaked P40 model, which is intended for the Chinese market only. Surprisingly enough, Motorola chose to add a Samsung Exynos 9610 SoC and only 3/4 GB of RAM, with 32/64/128 GB storage options. The 6.2-display will get FHD+ resolution and a punch-hole selfie, while the rear dual cam setup will include a 48 MP sensor.

Sony is set to launch a new Xperia device, the Xperia 4, in the coming months. The Xperia 4 is said to be a replacement for the Xperia Compact flagship line, but it's looking more and more like a poor one.

LumiCharge made a good impression among tech correspondents with its first-gen desk lamp. This product had an LED clock, not to mention ways to charge iOS and Android smartphones with built-in wired connections. Now, the company is back on Indiegogo with the LumiCharge II, which adds wireless charging to this set-up.

A new report has detailed Xiaomi's sales numbers for the fourth quarter of 2018. The company managed to beat its profit estimates for the quarter but also suffered from a heavy quarter-on-quarter drop in revenue from smartphone sales.

Blackview's latest offering is one for those looking for a cheap phone with decent software and adequate battery performance. The A60 features a 6-inch HD display, dual rear cameras, and a beefy 4080 mAh battery.

A hands-on video of a Samsung Galaxy Fold has been uploaded to YouTube. The clip in question is actually focused on unlocking the smartphone; however, the thing that is immediately apparent is how noticeable the crease down the middle of the device is. The Galaxy Fold will be officially launched on April 26.

Samsung is on a roll. The company released the Galaxy A20 in Russia yesterday and has now launched another device, the Galaxy A40, in the Netherlands. The A40 sports a 5.9-inch Super AMOLED display, dual rear cameras, 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of storage.

Xiaomi's sub-brand, Redmi, yesterday, launched its latest device, the Redmi 7, in China. The budget phone features a 6.26-inch display, dual rear cameras, a Snapdragon 632, and a massive 4000 mAh battery. Prices start at US$105.

Vivo has announced its newest devices in a Chinese event today (March 19, 2019). They are the X27 and X27 Pro. The X27 has 2 variants with either the Snapdragon (SD) 675 or 710, although they both have the same screen and single pop-up selfie camera. The Pro version has a larger display, and a more novel wider pop-up module with a dedicated flash.

Already available in China, the Xiaomi Mi Pay mobile payments service has been tested in India in the second half of 2018. In the meantime, the Chinese company obtained the approval of the Reserve Bank of India, and Mi Pay is now ready to take on PayU, WhatsApp Pay, and the other similar services.

In the second instalment of this two-part Shot on Galaxy S10+ story, I’ve spent the last couple of days in Melbourne at the Albert Park Street Circuit and in around town. The Galaxy S10+ has proved to be a reliable companion with excellent battery life and the ability to take great shots in a range of conditions.

Call of Duty Mobile is now official and should hit Android and iOS handsets later this year. Although there will not be a battle royale mode at launch, Activision has confirmed that this free-to-play title should offer this treat at some point in the future. Obviously, this "unique Call of Duty battle royale experience" will be accompanied by more content.

Although Samsung will reveal at least three Galaxy A models on April 10, some members of this family are already available for purchase here and there. The latest arrival is the ~US$215 Exynos 7884-driven Galaxy A20, a 6.4-inch device with an Infinity-V display, 3 GB of memory, and 32 GB of internal storage.

The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 has been launched today (March 18, 2019) in China. As expected, it is powered by the Snapdragon 855 processor, has a 6GB RAM base model and has a 6.39-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. This panel has some interesting HDR features, touted to enhance gaming and media experiences.

Not long after the successful completion of the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign with twice the initial goal of US$100,000, the UMIDIGI S3 Pro is now available globally. The price tag has gone up to US$279.99, but this Helio P70-powered handset with a 48 MP main camera setup remains an attractive handset.

ZTE could be set to push the innovation envelope in the coming months. The company is said to be working on a flagship, the Axon S, which will feature 5G support, a side sliding mechanism, a 95% screen to body ratio, and five cameras in total.

The teaser image that comes with the invite to Samsung's launch event that will take place on April 10 in Bangkok, Milan, and São Paulo suggests that at least three new Galaxy A handsets with different screen shapes will be the stars of the show. However, there are no technical details to talk about at this stage.

Samsung’s latest Galaxy S10 models pack a serious punch and have been getting very positive reviews on the whole. This includes the Galaxy S10+, which picks up dual-front facing cameras to go with its triple-rear facing camera array. But there is one thing missing from Samsung’s camera equation that is letting it down when compared with the iPhone.

A leaked press render revealed that the Galaxy A lineup will become the second family of Samsung handsets to include at least one Android Go-driven smartphone. This Exynos 7870-powered phone will probably launch on March 22 in India and other emerging markets, such as South Africa — where the support page for the Galaxy A2 Core is already online.

A listing for the purported Xiaomi Poco F2 has surfaced on Geekbench and while we are expecting a Snapdragon 855-powered flagship killer from Xiaomi this year, the scores do not seem to reflect such high aspirations. Going by the RAM, SoC identifier, and the base clock, we feel this could be a mid-range variant of the Poco F2 or a renamed Poco F1 Lite... or even a fake leak.

Roland Quandt has posted a new article in which he claims to set out every detail on the upcoming Huawei P30 and P30 Pro prior to their launch. This includes nearly every major spec and detail of the phones, including their relative RAM capacities, camera counts, new color schemes and battery capacities.

A few days ago, a series of renders pointed to a Pixel 4 XL design with a dual selfie cam set into its screen. Now, a Twitter-based leaker alleges that the smaller device from the same upcoming line will also follow this trend. However, its punch-hole will be circular rather than pill-shaped.

There have always been rumors that Huawei was working on its own OS. Those have now been confirmed by the company, with Huawei CEO Richard Yu affirming that the Chinese monolith has a working mobile OS all geared up and ready to go, just in case.

A few days ago, a Geekbench listing showed what appeared to be a Poco F1 Lite running on Android Pie with 4 GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 660. We are leery of the whole thing, though.

Until now, we'd been led to believe that Google's upcoming mid-range devices would be called the Pixel 3 Lite and Pixel 3 XL Lite. Apparently not, as Google code points towards the devices being named the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL. Reminds us of the Samsung Galaxy S10e, in fact.

Samsung's Galaxy Fold and Huawei's Mate X foldable phones may rightfully dominate the headlines but they come with the caveat of outrageous prices. Xiaomi is set to join the foldable race in the coming months and will, in typical fashion, offer a product that heavily undercuts the competition in price.

The Huawei P30 and P30 Pro will be launched on March 26, and while the devices' selling points remain photography, both will still feature top of the line displays—in the form of Samsung-made OLED panels.

Xiaomi usually offers a 12-month warranty for its phones to customers in its home country of China. However, this was turned on its head somewhat with the release of the Redmi Note 7. The company gave an extra 6 months' worth for this phone; now, it reportedly intends to roll this out to more of its future devices.

The Galaxy S10s are Samsung's first flagships in which the front-facing cameras peek right through their high-end OLED displays. However, their future replacements may not even require the cut-out in order to fit around a camera. These panels may provide a full-screen experience by hiding all their sensors underneath them.

Xiaomi's new gaming phone, so far known as the 'Black Shark 2', has been listed by the online retailer JD.com. Although this page does not reveal its price, it allows potential buyers to reserve a unit ahead of its launch date (March 18, 2019). At this point, the final cost of the phone will presumably be revealed.

The first leak on the Google Pixel 4 devices have surfaced, in the form of a sketch of what is said to be the Pixel 4 XL. Going by the leak, we could be set to get a pill-shaped punch-hole, dual rear cameras, and an in-display fingerprint sensor on Google's next flagship.

The Sony Xperia 1 has now been listed on Amazon. The device is listed with a US warranty, so it's almost definitely the unlocked model for the US market. Sadly, it also comes with a US$999 price tag, and apparently doesn't ship until...December 31.

Over the past week or so, WhatsApp has taken to enforcing its strict anti-third-party policies. The company considers third-party versions of the messenger a security risk and is now banning users of such apps. GB WhatsApp and WhatsApp Plus are examples.

Huawei has launched its latest device, the Nova 4e, in China. The mid-ranger features a Kirin 710, 3340 mAh battery, triple rear cameras, 32 MP selfie camera, up to 6 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage. It will be sold as the Huawei P30 Lite in other markets.