Android

After Huawei presented EMUI 10 at its Developer Conference last week, more details about features and innovations have appeared online. A teaser video for the upcoming Android Q-based OS and promotional pictures offer an insight into the redesign, with Huawei having announced the commencement of its beta program too and which smartphones are included.

LG has started rolling out a new update to the G6, and it is more than just a new security patch. The former flagship is due to receive Android 9.0 Pie this quarter, with LG promising earlier this year to deliver the OS upgrade between July and September. The Q3 deadline could slip though if the company faces similar problems to what it did with getting the V30 onto Android 9.0 Pie.

The Galaxy M40 is the most expensive member of the Galaxy M lineup available right now, but it will get a more powerful — and pricy — sibling before the end of the year. According to an exclusive report, Samsung will launch the Galaxy M90 in India in the fourth quarter, but there is no technical information to talk about yet.

Realme CEO Madhav Sheth confirmed that the company will offer its own RealmeOS in the coming months instead of Oppo's ColorOS. Not much is known about RealmeOS at this time apart from the fact that it will be based on Android Q and will incorporate features based on user feedback.

Casio has released the EDIFICE EQB1000D-1A, a new watch with a case only 8.9 milimeters (mm) thick. It is also one of the brand's connected devices, which means it can connect to a smartphone app. This allows it to keep time accurately in over 300 locations.

A Russian blog may have leaked more information on when Huawei's next line of flagships, the Mate 30s, will be released. This event will allegedly occur on September 30, 2019. Other news indicates that they will indeed run Android on their launch.

Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 10 phones a few days ago and the devices have received mixed reviews, most notably for the lack of a headphone jack and the...well, the general existence of the Note 10.

LG’s next flagship smartphone the G8X ThinQ has been leaked ahead of its official unveiling at IFA Berlin next month. The device is a minor evolution of the LG G8 ThinQ in terms of its outward appearance shifting from a multi-functional wide notch to a smaller teardrop notch along with some other notable changes.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 range is still only up for pre-order but unusually a number of official Samsung accessories have already reached retail channels. Australian consumer electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi has been spotted by Notebook Check selling new cases for the Galaxy Note 10 as well as the new Wireless Charger Stand with Fast Charging 2.0 tech up to 15W.

AR-assisted navigation is one of the most interesting - and possibly useful - aspects of the Google Maps app to be unveiled in recent years. Unfortunately, it was also introduced as a Pixel exclusive. Now, however, it may be available on a wider varieity of phones soon.

The market for accessories such as screen protectors, cases and power banks in the US is now projected to attain a value of US$74.43 billion in 7 years. Headphones took the biggest piece (nearly 25%) of this space last year, and may maintain this share until 2026. However, the VR/AR headset sector is thought to be capable of the greatest growth into the next decade.

Huawei has regained the ability to trade with American-based business again...technically. US firms that wish to do so need to apply for a specific new license from the current administration. Bloomberg now reports that these are being withheld in response to China's apparent reluctance to buy more crops from the States.

Redmi is reportedly pushing an official Android Q build to some owners of the K20 Pro in China. These users had been invited to apply to a beta program to test this ROM earlier in the year. Therefore, this phone may have joined the Xiaomi Mi 9 in eligibility for advance access to this major OS update.

LG has allegedly patented a next-generation phone design in which the device in question has 3 separate segments that fold into a more conventional brick-like form factor. This is not completely unheard of; however, this patent also apparently covers a complete lack of ports for charging or other uses.

After no less than four different Samsung handsets that use the Exynos 7885, it seems there is room for at least one more. The Galaxy M10S has just surfaced on Geekbench with this processor inside, 3 GB of memory, and Android 9.0 Pie-based software. Unfortunately, this handset has no official launch date yet.

A new Geekbench database entry apparently corresponds to one of Nokia's reported upcoming round-camera phones, the 7.2. It refers to a device with 6GB of RAM and running an unnamed SoC at 1.84GHz. Its scores are not far off those of the pre-existing Nokia 7 Plus.

The YI Home Camera 3 is an AI-powered security camera. It notifies the user about possible intrusions - however, it solves the problem of potentially indiscriminate, unnecessary messages by using its new software to judge which ones will be important. The new YI camera also has a magnetic stand, so it can be installed anywhere.

Shortly after the Xiaomi device with model number M1908F1XE was received its 3C certification, China Unicom revealed a list of 5G phones available and to be launched soon. This list includes a few handsets that have not been released yet and the Xiaomi Mi 9S is one of them. Sadly, we have no official confirmation of the fact that the M1908F1XE is the Mi 9S yet.

Honor has released its latest fitness band to the Indian market, via Flipkart. This new model has a full-color AMOLED display, an estimated 14 days of battery life and 50-meter water resistance. However, it will soon have competition from an upcoming Xiaomi counterpart, which has much the same specs.

The Galaxy A70 is one of Samsung's low-to-mid tier devices for 2019. Some members of its series have gained actual or rumored alternative versions with the suffix 's'. Now, new Geekbench listings suggest that the A70 is also getting one - with the exact same specs.

Huawei’s in-house HongMengOS is here and its shipping name is officially HarmonyOS. The idea behind the naming is that is a scalable micro-kernal that can work across internet of things devices right through to TVs, wearables and smartphones.

A listing for an unknown Qualcomm SoC has appeared on Geekbench, codenamed Kona. The possible successor to the Snapdragon 855 scored 19% more than the current flagship SoC in the single-core benchmark and 18% more in the multi-core equivalent. It even outperformed the Snapdragon 855+ by a sizeable margin too. If this proves to be the Snapdragon 865, then expect to see this performance coming to smartphones in early 2020 with a formal announcement towards the end of this year.

The OnePlus 3 and 3T are now about 3 years old. Despite this, they are still receiving new software updates from their OEM. The latest of these include new security patches for Android 9.0 (Pie). The same can be said for their predecessors, the 5 and 6 lines.

ZTE's high-value sub-brand Nubia has just released its latest phone. The Z20 looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy S10, if that phone had an additional display on its rear panel. This new device is powered by the Snapdragon 855 Plus SoC, up to 8GB of RAM and a 4000mAh battery with 27-watt fast charging.

Many people have gotten used to summoning a ride in a paid driver's car from their phone. A new analysis of this market indicates that such services (known collectively as "shared mobility") now challenge the traditional industries behind vehicle use and ownership. It also suggest that autonomous cars may be the way forward for the ride-hailing business of the future.

A prominent Google-news blog claims to have heard from its sources that the Pixel series will be upgraded to 6GB of RAM in 2019. The 2 upcoming phones are also now slated to feature 90-hertz refresh rates, a feature that is to be termed "Smooth Display". Finally, the devices will stick with the memory SKUs from last year.

Samsung removed the 3.5mm headphone jack from the Galaxy Note 10+ phones, the first time it's ever done that on a flagship. The company has stated its reasons for the removal but they all sound like, well, bullshit.

Huawei's first TV is in fact slated to be released by its sub-brand Honor, and is to be called the Smart Screen. It may be reasonable to assume that this product will run Android for these larger devices. However, the OEM is now rumored to deploy one of its own long-anticipated OSs on the new product.

Instead of launching the Redmi Note 8 as we hypothesized last week, Xiaomi held a conference and showcased its camera tech. Most notably, the 64 MP Samsung GW1 that will feature on an upcoming Redmi Note 8.

The Mi 9T Pro is hitting Europe, but Xiaomi is doing it no favours to help it step out from the shadow of the Mi 9. Dutch retailer Belsimpel has put the rebranded Redmi K20 Pro up for pre-order, but it already looks uncompetitive next to the Mi 9, which has now come down in price since its release earlier this year.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ are finally official. Although most of the details were accurately leaked ahead of launch, there are some interesting tidbits that that only surfaced during the official reveal.

US$152.1 billion will be spent on gaming software this year, according to the latest research. This work also indicates that the console sector of the relevant market will grow by the most in 2019. However, the sector for mobile apps will remain the largest.

More social media users buy from brands they follow on Facebook compared to 7 other social networks studied, according to a new report. This is because social media has increased the ability of companies to reach out to consumers, and vice versa. Facebook is likely to be the most successful medium as it is the biggest and promotes brand-recognition most effectively.

The ASUS ZenFone 6 won plaudits for its almost stock Android experience, but a recent software update has been causing havoc with some handsets. According to an ASUS engineer, the update has caused some motherboards to malfunction, resulting in crashes, reboots, bootloops or dead devices.

Thanks to the new 7 nm EUV manufacturing process, the Exynos 9825 is expected to match and even surpass Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855. The exact core clocks for the new SoC will be revealed with the launch inf the galaxy Note 10. Due to it not integrating a 5G modem or LPDDR5 support, the Exynos 9825 is definitely not a new generation chip, and more like a revision of the original Exynos 9820.

A tech blog claims to have dug up a new patent for a phone that looks suspiciously like a POCO F1, albeit with more cameras and a punch-hole display. As this design is indeed attributed to the OEM Xiaomi, it may just be possible that the cost-effective flagship-killing brand is not dead after all.

It is crazy what hype Huawei can conjure up for its upcoming Smart TV series. Over 100,000 people have already pre-ordered the Honor Smart Screen TV before its official launch in China, effectively doing so blindly.

Xiaomi has revealed that it will be the first smartphone maker to feature Samsung’s brand new 108MP ISOCELL sensor. The super sensor will debut it in its forthcoming Mi MIX 4 that is also expected to pack a Snapdragon 855+ setting it up to be a powerhouse all-screen flagship.

LG has unveiled an intriguing video teaser for a multi-screen smartphone set to be unveiled at IFA Berlin next month. The teaser shows a smartphone that can fold out to double its display size but could even offer a tertiary display or what may be a translucent secondary display.

The OnePlus 7 Pro's 5G variant may be coming to the US soon. The carrier Sprint has announced that its next device that will support the next-gen bands will be from this OEM. Its phones have also been available through T-Mobile in the past.

2019 has already seen evidence that the SHIELD TV may be getting a new refresh - with the new Tegra X1 processor - soon. Now, a new FCC filing points to a wholly new device with this branding. This putative device has its own code-name and references in NVIDIA's own code and scripts.

Vivo's next product launch is slated to be a 5G-capable smartphone that may also be powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus SoC. This device, which will go under the OEM's new sub-brand iQOO, has reportedly been photographed in the hands of a conference attendee. It appears to have fairly standard-issue styling for a 2019 flagship.

Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active 2 smartwatch is powered by the Exynos 9110 SoC and comes in two sizes — 40 and 44 mm — both with a Super AMOLED display with 360 x 360 pixels. Available in LTE and non-LTE versions, this new smart wearable has a wide range of features and it even allows its users to watch YouTube videos.

A new leak has surfaced, claiming that at least one of the Galaxy Note 10 phones will feature a 90 Hz display. The OnePlus 7 Pro was the first phone to bring that feature to the mainstream market, and it would seem that Samsung has also adopted it.

Going by our calculations, Xiaomi has two devices in the works for imminent launch. One could be the Redmi Note 8 with the new 64 MP Samsung GW1, while the other will be a gaming phone powered by the new MediaTek Helio G90T.

Although the name of the upcoming Sony Xperia 2 is not set in stone yet, the Japanese company has recently trademarked one of its features, namely S-Cinetone. While this name suggests a photo- or video-related function, there are no technical details to talk about. However, the trademark documents reveal that Sony's next-gen devices will use a 21:9 display.

The next-gen modular, ethical — built using conflict-free tin, tungsten and tantalum and fair trade gold — Fairphone handset has just been spotted on Bluetooth SIG. Sadly, all that we know for sure is that the Fairphone 3 comes with Bluetooth 5 connectivity and its other specs should make it superior to its Snapdragon 801-powered predecessor.

OnePlus has released Developer Preview 4 for Android Q, a version of its OS that gives the user the latest insights into how it may work when it has been released for general consumption. This build has been reported to have a working form of Digital Wellbeing, as well as an updated Zen Mode. However, some of its upgrades are only compatible with 1 phone from this OEM so far.

The market for in-app advertisements worldwide is now projected to be worth approximately US$226 billion in 6 years, according to the latest research. Of these, ads on Android are thought to be capable of the highest growth. In addition, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) sector is thought to exhibit the most growth between 2019 and 2025.