Android

Huawei, earlier today, launched its new sub-premium phone, the Nova 4, in China. The device features a Kirin 970, a triple rear camera setup including a 48 MP sensor, a camera hole, and a 3750 mAh battery. Prices start at $450.

More renders and a live image of the upcoming Honor V20's retail box have surfaced. The Honor flagship is expected to be launched in China next week and will come with a 48 MP camera.

More than a decade after its founding, Tumblr has finally reached a critical point and has decided to turn into "a better, more positive" version of itself by banning adult content, including nudity (with some exceptions). The new guidelines will be enforced starting today, but the affected pages will not disappear overnight.

Razer has unleashed a version of its Raiju controllers for smartphones. It is ostensibly designed to compete with similar products made by Xiaomi and Asus, although it may fit devices besides the company's own gaming-focused smartphones. The 'mobile' Raiju features the Mecha-Tactile action buttons found on the Ultimate variant of this controller.

It has been reported that Samsung is working on a new tablet, which could end up being the latest addition to the Galaxy A series. The SM-P205 slate is expected to feature 32 GB of storage and will come in either black or gray. The South Korean manufacturer only recently introduced the Galaxy Tab A 10.5-inch device and the flagship Galaxy Tab S4.

An infographic published by LetsGoDigital makes for interesting reading for those curious about how the foldable market could end up playing out. Unsurprisingly, it seems Samsung and Huawei will be the first major manufacturers to offer this exciting form factor to consumers, with Microsoft and Apple willing to bide their time, possibly to see how the market develops.

A new report uncovered by LetsGoDigital has claimed that Samsung’s upcoming foldable smartphone could sport a total of up to 6000 mAh in battery capacity. Apparently, there will be two separate cells, with one in each half of the flexible handset. Other rumored specifications include the presence of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and a dual 12 MP main camera.

According to some preliminary leaks, the Huawei Nova 4 was to be released about two days from now. Today, the company has given credence to this rumor, and has also announced the location of this event. It may unveil a phone with a 'punch-hole'-style display that is new to Huawei and should help compete with next-generation phones from other companies such as Samsung.

Despite winning a victory against Apple earlier this week, Qualcomm is continuing to pressure the iPhone manufacturer in China. Qualcomm is petitioning Chinese courts to expand the ban of iPhone sales to include the iPhone XR, Xs, and Xs Max. However, Apple is claiming that these devices should not be included in the initial ban as they run iOS 12. Chinese courts have yet to make a decision.

Facebook has informed its developers of "a photo API bug" that allowed third-party apps to access photos uploaded to the social media's servers, regardless of whether the user then chose to share these images on their timelines or not. The company has admitted that this new flaw had been in effect for eight days in September 2018 and may have affected as many as 6.8 million users who logged in on those dates.

The next generation of the Samsung Galaxy S line is rumored to come in several variants, which include an SX Lite for the first time. This SKU is also now reported to come in a new color for the rear panel. The color schemes for the remaining versions have also been outlined, and may contain fewer surprises.

The Huawei Nova 4 is set to be released on December 17. However, it now seems as though we may already know everything there is to know about the phone. This apparently now includes the device's color options.

Asus has announced the resignation of the company’s long-term CEO, Jerry Shen. However, the executive plans to maintain a relationship with the Taiwanese manufacturer in his new position as chief of a start-up called iFast. In a change of marketing strategy, Asus intends to shift its focus on to gamers and power users in regard to future mobile product releases.

Initially thought to be an answer for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855, Samsung's Exynos 9820 or Huawei's Kirin 980, the Helio P90 seems to be aimed at premium mid-to-high-end phones. It still uses the 12 nm manufacturing process, so it cannot really compete with the latest high-end SoCs, but it does come with a more powerful GPU and an impressive APU 2.0 A.I. architecture that supports Google Lens and ARCore applications.

New leaks suggest that Huawei is to release its own smart TV product, and that it may be here as early as the first half of 2019. This is based on claims that the company has filed a patent for a "Huawei AI Window". The rumor may make sense, as more and more traditional smartphone OEMs are moving into this new market.

Prior to the release of its 2018 flagship, OnePlus had publicly committed to bringing Pie to its 2016 and 2017 phones. This week, the company partially delivered on this promise, releasing a new beta of its OyxgenOS software based on the newest version of Android for the 5 and 5T. The beta also includes the new OnePlus UI for Pie.

Samsung is likely a few months away from unveiling its Galaxy S10 line-up, but that has not stopped yet more leaks and speculation from appearing online. Now there are reports that a "major tech retailer" in the UK has approached Gizmodo with pricing for all three rumoured S10 models.

OnePlus launched the OnePlus 6T a few months and, for the first time ever, sold the device under the umbrella of a US carrier. That move has apparently paid off in style, with the company confirming that the OnePlus 6T has outsold the OnePlus 6 by 249% in the US.

Huawei has announced the launch of its new budget Enjoy 9. The phone will sport dual rear cameras, a Snapdragon 450, and a big 4000 mAh battery. A fingerprint reader is missing, however, and there may just be better value options on the market.

A product page for the Sony IMX607 CMOS sensor for smartphones has surfaced on Weibo. It is described as a 38 megapixel (MP) Exmor RS module with "advanced noise reduction", a novel dual Bayer-and-white HDR coding array and ambient light detection. Therefore, it may have enhanced low-light detection performance.

IDC has published a report with forecast projections for global smartphone shipments in 2018 and 2022. The research company expects a drop of 3% in 2018 followed by a small increase in 2019 that will carry on through to 2022. The total units shipped for 2018 is estimated at 1.42 billion while the 2022 estimate is put at 1.57 billion. Android should maintain a comfortable lead in terms of platform used.

Xiaomi has showcased the fact that 5G is for IoT devices too. This was done via a Tweet by a company spokesperson, containing a video showing how quickly the 5G-enabled variant of the Mi Mix 3 could relay commands to a connected lamp. Therefore, 5G may be an exciting prospect for smart-home fans too.

Gizchina claims to have unearthed a slide showing details on the specs of the upcoming Huawei 'punch-hole' camera pioneer device, the Nova 4. This slide appears to clearly indicate that this phone will have two separate variants, one of which will have a novel 48MP sensor in its triple-rear-camera setup and one that will not. This slide also suggests that the Nova 4 will ship with the Kirin 970, not the 980.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 is still probably months away from release. However, this has not stopped the case-maker Olixar from designing a whole range of cases for it already, or the e-tailer site MobileFun from posting a product page for them, prices and all. The Galaxy S10 in these images appears to mimic an earlier leak.

The Vivo NEX 2 is here, although it has officially launched as the NEX Dual-Display Edition. As previously leaked, the device drops the pop-up camera for a secondary display on the rear of the device. It also boasts some serious camera chops to help users take full advantage of its unconventional design.

Contrary to news circulating earlier today, Samsung has confirmed that rumors of the Galaxy S10 including a cryptocurrency cold wallet are merely speculation. The rumors stem from EU trademark filings made by Samsung earlier this month related to blockchain-based technology. This news is a stark reminder to never take a rumor as anything more than a guess.

A phone that may have been the Vivo Nex 2 - as this phone has been alleged to come with 10GB in RAM and the Snapdragon (SD) 845 appeared on Geekbench recently. However, another device from the same company with a completely different model number has surfaced on this same benchmark site. Oddly, this 'new Vivo' also has the SD 845 and 10GB RAM.

Honor recently unveiled a new feature to address slow connections in situations of overloaded or throttled public WiFi in its newer smartphones. This adaptation, known as Link Turbo, is described as capable of delivering consistent data-transfer speeds regardless of how busy a certain wireless service is. In practice, it appears it may be a different or improved form of aggressive hand-over to LTE in a phone's OS.

OnePlus unveiled its special McLaren edition of the 6T today in the UK. This version of the OEM's current flagship comes with 10GB of RAM and improved fast charging. The McLaren Edition will become available in two days and cost US$699.

Samsung announced the new Galaxy A8s in China yesterday and while the device's Infinity-O camera hole may be the biggest talking point, an even bigger point of contention is the fact that the phone lacks a 3.5mm jack. This will be the first time Samsung has removed the headphone jack from a mainstream phone.

Huawei is set to unveil its new premium phone, the Honor V20, on December 26. The device will feature a single rear camera, albeit a 48 MP one.

The Pixel 3 Lite has leaked extensively over the last month, and it's almost surprising to learn that there's a bigger Pixel 3 Lite XL. The less is said about that name, the better.

Xiaomi spokesperson Lin Bin recently teased a new Xiaomi phone featuring a 48 MP camera. Initial reports claimed it could be a flagship of sorts but new information shows that is rather unlikely, as the device is said to be powered by the new mid-range Snapdragon 675.

The new Zenfone Max Pro M2 and Zenfone Max M2 handsets by Asus both feature a 6.3-inch display, but they are quite different. The first comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor and up to 6 GB of memory, while its more affordable companion sports a Snapdragon 632 chip and up to 4 GB of memory.

LG has launched a connected home brewing solution called the HomeBrew. It will adopt a Nespresso-style capsule solution that should make home brewing easier than ever, particularly for millennials keen on craft beers.

Previously reported as a possible name for Samsung's upcoming foldable handset, Rize returns as the name of no less than three devices. The Rize10, Rize20, and Rize30 smartphone models have just surfaced in three trademark documents published by the European Union Intellectual Property Office, but most details are still missing.

Although Pixel owners will probably get some exclusive treats, as usual, the Google Sounds app should work with most modern Android handsets. This app — which should be included in the December Android Update — comes with more options for the sounds used for notifications, alarms, and ringtones.

Those who love Facebook's Stories feature can finally enjoy it in their Groups as well. Group Stories has been tested starting earlier this year, and now this feature is finally available for Facebook users all around the world on iOS, Android, or desktop.

Smart fabric is a form of textile containing nano-tech threads that can form circuits and battery connections when woven together. Google has been developing its own take on this new type of electronics, in the form of 'Project Jacquard'. Its first commercial application is a jacket designed in collaboration with Levi's, with touch-sensitive sleeves that interact with a phone as a Bluetooth device might.

A picture of a prototype Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus codenamed 'Beyond 2' has leaked online and it seems to confirm the presence of the dual in-display selfie cameras as was speculated in earlier leaks and renders. The leaked image shows the device covered by an anti-leak screen protector but we can still observe the top and bottom bezels to a fair extent.

The Samsung Galaxy A8s, which is set to be the world's first Infinity-O display phone, has had all of its details officially released today. There are also real-world photos of the phone now available. This announcement confirms the A8s' previously-leaked specs, including the existence of two RAM SKUs and the Infinity-O display.

A new leak suggests that a Compact variant may launch alongside the Sony Xperia XZ4. However, if this pans out, it could be a slightly disappointing release, especially next to the full-size version. The phone portrayed in the rumors has a distinctly outmoded display design, a single rear camera and a design that does not vary much from previous years.

The IP68-rated Mobvoi TicWatch C2 is now available for purchase in the US for US$199.99. Powered by Google's Wear OS and the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, this smart wearable features NFC connectivity and has a built-in GPS, as well as heart rate monitoring capabilities.

Xiaomi is now said to be developing a new smart speaker soon. The main difference between this one and the OEM's existing line-up of such products is that this one will have both AI and a touchscreen. This rumor is derived from a new registration with Bluetooth SIG for a Xiaomi product with all the specifications necessary for the two attributes.

The iPhone XR made the trip over to DxOMark and shone, earning the highest score ever for a device with a single rear camera, and showing up other flagships with more complicated camera setups.

The headphone jack began its mass exodus away from flagships last year, with Sony ditching it on the Xperia XZ2 phones. For the first time, though, we could see a company bring back the much-wanted port.

With how much attention the Galaxy S10 and S10 have received, you could be forgiven for forgetting that Samsung also plans on releasing an S10 Lite. Details of the S10 Lite have been scarce but renders have finally surfaced.

Since the company's conception two years ago, HMD Global has sold 70 million phones. Of course, that figure also includes feature phones, and we expect the number of Android smartphones sold to be in the ballpark of 25 million, which is still impressive, all things considered.