Android

Samsung announced a brand new SoC, the Exynos 990, yesterday. The chipset's support for 120 Hz displays and 108 MP cameras may have led the public to believe it would be the SoC powering the Galaxy S11 phones but that will apparently not be the case.

The Pixel 4 phones have caught a lot of flak for being unable to record 4K video at 60 fps. According to a discovery, however, it would seem that the devices were originally able to do that but the feature ended up not making it to release software.

Huawei's 2019 Enjoy series is marked by its Kirin 710F SoC. Now, a new variant with this same processor has joined its siblings on sale. The Enjoy 10s has a 6.3-inch waterdrop-notched display, and comes in 1 RAM/storage configuration.

Xiaomi has released a stable build of MIUI 11 for the Redmi 7, but perhaps not the version for which people had hoped. While other devices in the first phase of the MIUI 11 rollout are receiving Android 10-based builds, the Redmi 7 is getting Android 9.0 Pie instead. The same goes for the Redmi 7a and Redmi K20 too.

Did you buy into the RED HYDROGEN project? Well, founder Jim Jannard has announced that the company is being wound up, effectively canning the HYDROGEN Two. However, there could be some positive news on the horizon for HYDROGEN One owners, with the release a much-anticipated camera accessory imminent, apparently.

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 now has an upgrade to MIUI 11, the Chinese company's version of Android 10. The update brings plenty of new features including improved screen casting, a system-wide dark mode and a new gesture mode. Mi Mix 3 owners can download the build now.

Xiaomi could be preparing to unleash a Mi Note 10 on a practically unsuspecting market soon. An image of alleged packaging material has been shared online, which of course could be fake. However, if it is genuine, then the crafty Chinese manufacturer has seemingly decided to skip the Mi Notes 4 to 9.

The Google Pixel 4's 90 Hz Smooth Display feature seems to be dependent on the display brightness setting and not on the 'content' as was originally claimed by Google. This was first discovered by a Redditor and subsequently confirmed by other reviewers as well. Although there is a way to force 90 Hz in the Developer settings, by default, the Pixel 4's screen can refresh at 90 Hz only if the brightness slider is set above the 75% mark.

As a current flagship tablet, the Samsung Galaxy S6 gets only the best hardware. This includes the Snapdragon 855 high-end SoC as well as at least 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage space. As the first tablet from Samsung, the Galaxy Tab S6 also offers a dual camera with a 13 MP resolution.

Motorola has launched 3 new Moto-series phones today (October 24, 2019). They include the already well-leaked G8 Plus and G8 Play. The Lenovo-owned brand also unveiled the E6 Play, another variant of the pre-existing E6. It also expanded the availability of the One Macro to various regions including Latin America and Australia.

Recently, Amazon may have accidentally spoiled the launch of the NVIDIA SHIELD TV Pro, an upcoming update to the 2017 streaming machine. A new leak indicates that the OEM has indeed prepared a 4K HDR streaming stick as well as the usual full-scale box. It apparently has 8GB in internal storage, whereas the SHIELD TV Pro has 16.

Fancy a Huawei Mate 30 or Mate 30 Pro? Well, it looks like you will need to join the back of the queue, as the Chinese company is running an invite-only sale for both devices. You can register your interest now, although this does not guarantee entry into the "exclusive group" that will be offered to purchase a device.

While the Asian market has been producing a series of successful smartphone brands in the past few years, we have also come across some manufacturers who prefer to look good rather than do good. Our review of the BV9700 Pro showed that Blackview is one of those manufacturers.

iFixit has now published its Pixel 4 XL teardown, with the new Google phone earning a 4/10 repairability score. The report also reveals some previously unknown details of the phone's hardware, most notable being that of the 90 Hz QHD+ AMOLED display.

Asus has now joined the list of OEMs to send out an Android 10 build to their smartphones. The Taiwanese OEM is currently rolling out the Android 10-based ZenUI 6 beta build to users of last year's flagship, the Zenfone 5Z. The Zenfone 6's rollout is expected to follow soon.

The LG K50 offers plenty of attractive features for just under €200 (~US$223), including an appealing design and a large display. Its cameras and system performance are on par with its competitors too, but two issues prevent it from being a smartphone that we could recommend.

Huawei has faced more than its fair share of troubles this year but the company's sales figures are completely unaffected and have even grown. The Chinese company has now confirmed that it has sold 200 million devices this year, over two months earlier than when it hit that same milestone last year.

Realme makes good value for money hardware but are usually panned by enthusiasts for their software. The company has identified that flaw, however, and is set to shake things up by adopting a new skin said to be similar to stock Android.

Samsung has officially launched the Exynos 990 SoC along with a new 5G Exynos Modem 5123. Both are expected to find their way into the Samsung Galaxy S11 and other high-end devices from the company in 2020.

A Linux user has discovered that Disney+, Disney's new streaming service, doesn't work on his Fedora machine. The problem lies with the DRM used by Disney, which implements the highest possible security level. However, Disney has stated that the streaming service will work with Android devices and Chromebooks, both of which are built upon Linux.

Two UK Banks, National Westminster and Royal Bank of Scotland, have removed their respective mobile banking apps from the Google Play Store for Samsung Galaxy S10 users. Citing security concerns, it's likely the banks' decisions were driven by the recent news that the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner used in the S10 could be fooled with a cheap silicone screen protector.

Qualcomm has commissioned a Signals Research Group (SRG) study of 5G performance, efficiency and general UX in those countries and cities to which the new radio bands have been rolled out. It reportedly found that 5G can achieve up to 10X performance compared to 4G/LTE. In addition, it is also capable of 5 times the download speeds than the older standard.

LG has revealed that the G8X ThinQ will be released for sale in the United States on November 1, 2019. This phone is a variant of the OEM's 2019 flagship designed to work with the new Dual Screen accessory. Both devices also have US starting prices and the scope for promotional deals already.

The upcoming Power 3 is now official and ready to become the handset with the most generous battery capacity that UMIDIGI has created so far. In addition to the 6,150 mAh battery, its specs also include a 48 MP quad camera, a 6.53-inch full HD+ FullView display, and a MediaTek Helio P60 processor.

Samsung has released a software patch to fix a security flaw in the ultrasonic fingerprint readers used in the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 device families. The patch should come as a notification to users who have registered their biometric data.

Huawei opened up pre-orders for the foldable Mate X today, but the phone will only be sold in China. Shipments and retail sales will begin on November 15th. Priced at roughly US $2400, the Mate X is an expensive piece of kit, especially considering it's unlikely to be sold in Western markets. Additionally, Huawei announced a more powerful foldable, the Mate Xs, which is set to be launched in March 2020.

Sony recently announced the Sony Xperia 1 Professional Edition. The new smartphone is largely the same as the standard Xperia 1, save for a better-calibrated display, support for transferring files from Sony-branded cameras, and support for Ethernet connections via the USB Type-C port. These small features come at a massive price increase: the Xperia 1 Professional Edition will sell for ~US $1300 in Japan only later this month.

A phone calling itself the "motorola moto g(8) plus" has been benchmarked as a Snapdragon 665 device with 4GB of RAM. These specs are in accordance with previous rumors surrounding this putative device. The new results also show that it runs Android 9.0, which suggests it could still launch this year.

"Joker" is a relatively new form of malware that reportedly acts to steal contacts and sign those with infected devices up for premium SMS services. Most recently, it has been detected in a heretofore-overlooked host on Android by the Pradeo security team. This lab has had the app removed from the Google Play Store, but potentially affected users are advised to uninstall it immediately.

Meizu is slowly developing a reputation for offering good premium hardware at mid-range price points, and the newest device out of the company's stables, the Meizu 16T, continues that trend. A Snapdragon 855, Super AMOLED display, triple rear cameras, and a 4500 mAh battery. Price tag? US$280.

The Snapdragon 735 will succeed the Snapdragon 730, and details of the SoC have now surfaced, giving us our first look at Qualcomm's next-gen sub-premium chipset of choice.

A device with a model number purportedly associated with Samsung's Galaxy A51 has surfaced on the Geekbench database. However, its results depict it as powered by the Exynos 9611, and not the next-gen 8 nanometer (nm) model rumored for its 2020 line of phones. In addition, it apparently has only 4GB of RAM.

Samsung has posted a notice on its Korean website announcing that its One UI 2 beta built on Android 10 is coming soon. The One UI 2 beta has been available for the Galaxy S10 range since the middle of October but only in select markets.

A new study into user attitudes towards wearables found that health tracking is the most popular use of this electronics category. 36% of those polled reported concerns that these functions may not live up to reality, however. 10% of the respondents also said they worried about data security on these devices.

DxOMark has now published its Google Pixel 4 camera review. Going by the website's test criteria, the Pixel 4 is overall a worse camera phone than the OnePlus 7 Pro and Honor 20 Pro. On the flip side, it's somehow the the joint best phone when it comes to videos.

TENAA has certified a new phone from the Vivo sub-brand iQOO. Its specifications are nearly identical to that of the Neo, a 2019 gaming phone. However, it has what appears to be a Snapdragon (SD) 855 processor rather than the older device's SD 845. Therefore, it seems the 2 phones are an original and refresh respectively.

Huawei has launched the Nova 5z today (October 21, 2019) in China. This new phone will have few surprises for this series' fans: it has the exact same form-factor and cameras as the Nova 5i Pro. However, it does have different RAM and storage SKUs that make it a budget option compared to the pre-existing phone.

A series of tests have shown the Google Pixel 4 XL hilariously outpacing the OnePlus 7T in real-world, resource-intensive processing tasks. The fact that the Pixel 4 XL has less RAM and a weaker SoC than the 7T makes it all the more impressive.

The Honor Play was released just over a year ago and has received one major update: Android Pie. That will apparently be the end of the road for the device, which is unfair to owners of the Kirin 970-powered phone. Even worse, though, is Huawei's justification for the decision.

The Google Pixel 4 phones don't have support for shooting 4K60fps videos even though Android phones have been able to do that for well over a year. Google has now explained the rationale behind the decision but it's woefully unconvincing.

DeX is Samsung's proprietary facility that converts one of its Galaxy flagships into a desktop PC on connection to a monitor. One environment supported by the mode in Android 9.0 (Pie) is GNU/Linux. Unfortunately, its beta program will come to an end with the roll-out of Android 10.

The OnePlus 7T has undergone the JerryRigEverything test of device robustness. Unfortunately, it faltered during the last stage of this process. Therefore, it is the first in many generations from this OEM to do less than come through this veritable tech YouTube rite of passage with flying colors.

LG's South Korean telecomms company has announced the debut of its new app, "U+ AR Shopping". It enables users to transform the content of 2 popular TV shopping channels into augmented reality (AR) experiences. Consumers can then leverage them to visualize and manipulate their potential purchases in 3D.

Google introduced Digital Wellbeing in order to allow users to track and manage their phone use, which extends to a per-app basis. This feature is now integrated into a new Chrome browser update. It can be used to display screen time and how much of it is spent on each website visited.