Android

Phones sold through Amazon's Prime Exclusive Phone program will no longer display lock screen ads, according to the retailer. The phones, which which were sold at prices substantially lower than MSRP, will instead feature Amazon-centric apps only while retaining (most of) their discounts.

With Android Lollipop usage finally below 25 percent, Android Oreo managed to climb above the 1 percent barrier for the first time in history. Android Nougat usage also grew up by more than 2 percent in February compared to the first month of this year.

The Meizu E3 will be Meizu's next mid-range device. Purported live images of the smartphone have surfaced, with the device shown featuring dual rear cameras, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and an 18:9 display.

A tweet by Three Ireland's official account has claimed that the Xperia XZ2 is coming soon. That may mean, however unlikely, that we could have the device as soon as next month.

While disabling "OK, Google" detection on Android Wear devices was a workaround that severely limited their capabilities, a new software update finally takes care of the annoying lag issue that has been around for about a month.

The new 18:9 aspect ratio has mostly been reserved for the more expensive devices. HTC, however, is said to be set to release an entry-level device with that form factor.

LG's smartphone division has struggled of recent and the company has finally decided to cut its losses in the Chinese smartphone market.

The Amazfit Bip Android Wear smartwatch was launched in China last year, and now it can be pre-ordered in the US for less than US$100. This smart wearable with an impressive battery life is expected to start shipping in the US next month.

A bunch of Asus ZenFone 5 manual images surfaced online, and the details that surfaced next to them reveal a few intriguing things. Although this handset sports a main dual camera setup, runs Android Oreo out of the box and features a 5.7-inch display with an 18:9 ratio, there is no USB Type-C connector.

Huawei has posted kernel sources for the Honor View 10 smartphone. This follows in the wake of Huawei's announcement of the Honor Open Source Program, which aims at releasing the kernel sources and APIs to take advantage of the neural processing capabilities in the Kirin 970.

An update for Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL rolling out now finally enables the Pixel 2 Visual Core that has remained dormant since launch. The activation should reduce the load on the CPU, while also helping to boost processing performance and reduce battery consumption simultaneously.

Huawei may not have carrier support for the US launch of its Mate 10 Pro flagship Android smartphone, but that doesn't appear to have deterred the company. Customers who preorder the device will pick up a bonus US$150 voucher to help take the sting out of its US$799 asking price.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 is set for a February 25 launch, and word on the grapevine claims it will be launched with an MSRP of $850, $100 more than its predecessor.

The Moto Z2 Play is currently available for just $349.99, $150 off its MSRP.

Reports by Strategy Analytics and IDC have provided data that gives a clearer idea of the state of the global smartphone market over 2017. Samsung rests cozily at the top, Apple follows steadily, and Xiaomi sees incredible growth.

Just in time for this year's Valentine Day, the Honor 7X can now be acquired in red. Priced at US$199.99, it also comes with a free case, but the amount of units available is limited.

HMD's next smartphone, the Nokia 7 Plus has appeared in the flesh for the first time ahead of its launch. The leak suggests rumors about its specs thus far have been spot on.

During the presentation of Sony's Q3 2017 financial ressults, they announced the resignation of their current President and CEO, Kazuo Hirai, to be replaced by Kenichiro Yoshida. Hirai's time at the top was defined by a return to profitability for Sony, and he will remain with Sony Corporation as Chairman.

The company Turing Robotics Industries has filed for bankruptcy in Finland. The company was supposed to start the production of Turing Phones in a factory formerly used by Nokia but wasn’t successful in doing so.

If you are disappointed you missed the green logo edition of the Razer Phone that was made available to early adopters, Razer has launched a new Gold Edition variant with a gold logo. The limited edition model comes with special packaging and other trinkets to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Next to the 4G LTE-capable Nokia 3310, a Nokia 8 with an OLED display is also expected to drop at MWC 2018. The Sirocco name was used by Nokia more than a decade ago for a handset whose gold-plated favor retailed for more than US$2,000.

The LG V30 has made its way over to DxOMark. The device manages a rack up a total score of 82, with an underwhelming score of 73 in the video department making us leery of the entire evaluation criterion.

A list of Samsung devices to receive the Android Oreo update has been gleaned from firmware files of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. Most devices listed are no-brainers but the Galaxy S6 is a notable absentee.

The Honor 7X, one of our best value picks of 2017, is now being manufactured locally in India, at a Flex manufacturing plant in Chennai.

Google Assistant Go has most features of the full Google Assistant app but was designed to work with Android Go handsets, so it lacks hands-free voice activation, reminders, controls for smart home devices, and other advanced capabilities.

According to the new Sony Xperia update policies, the Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact should get both Android P and Android Q, since they both launched with Android Oreo onboard. Sadly, the mid-range Xperia handsets might not get the same treatment.

Introduced last year in India as a lightweight version of the YouTube app, YouTube Go reached 14 other markets since then. Now, it expands to 130 more countries and also gains a few new features, but many markets with fast networks such as South Korea or Japan are still being left aside.

Are you an Android user wishes your phone had a huge notch in the display, a la the iPhone X? Chinese OEM Oukitel has you covered. Their new U18, available for pre-order today, is a USD $159 Android alternative to Apple's flagship. However, this notch lacks any obvious utility beyond aesthetics.

The Huawei P11, or P20 depending on who you ask, has been confirmed to be set for a March 27 launch, at an event scheduled to hold in Paris.

The HTC U11, starting today, will see a price slash that shaves $100 off its regular retail price. The deal ends on February 15.

An unknown Sony Xperia device has made its way over to FCC with a 5-inch display and measurements that point towards an 18:9 display ratio.

OnePlus has released a report that points towards a significant growth in its sales numbers, with smartphone shipments seeing a 55% year-on-year growth and revenue said to have doubled.

Android Oreo is finally rolling out for the Huawei Mate 9 in the US. This update includes the January 2018 security patch from Google and Huawei's EMUI 8.0 custom interface.

The Helio P70 made a huge splash in the waters last week when it was benchmarked. It looks like we'll be getting a device powered by the SoC as early as next month, as an announcement by Ulefone claims the company's upcoming T2 Pro smartphone will feature the chipset.

Sony has apparently struck a deal with LG, one that will see future Xperia flagships feature LG's OLED display panels.

Live images of Meizu's upcoming 15 Plus have surfaced, showing a device with nigh-nonexistent bezels and what appears to be a lack of a visible fingerprint sensor.

Although the new stable MIUI ROM for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 carries the build number 9.2.4.0, it still uses a Marshmallow core. Sadly, it seems that this Snapdragon 650-powered handset will never get Android Nougat.

Although Google Assistant has been around for a while, it still lacks the ability to use a custom hot word, something that Motorola's Moto Voice introduced back in 2014. Fortunately, it looks like this issue will be fixed soon.

The direct successor of the 5.5-inch ZenFone 4 Max has just received its WiFi certification on January 26. The upcoming handset will obviously launch as the ZenFone 5 Max and runs Android 8.0 Oreo.

Thanks to improved focus and machine learning, Google has been able to remove 700,000 bad apps from the Play Store, 99 percent of which were caught before being installed by any users.

Microsoft has decided to purchase PlayFab, a company that provides services for building, launching, and growing cloud-connected games. PlayFab's extensive list of clients includes names like Rovio, Atari, and Disney.

Google has officially welcomed the talent that it purchased from HTC for US$1.1 billion. The team from HTC has been behind the development of the Pixel and Pixel 2 smartphones and will continue to design and develop future Pixel devices.

Xiaomi may be set to announce the launch of the Mi Mix 2S, an update to the Mi Mix 2 that was released back in September, and it could be the first device to feature the new Snapdragon 845.

Vivo's upcoming flagship, the Xplay 7, could be the first device to feature 10 GB of RAM. That's impressive, by all means, by we're not sure how useful it would actually be.

A study by Chinese analytic firm Jiguang has provided data that throws some light on the demographical userbase of Xiaomi and Huawei smartphones in China.

HMD Global Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas has recently confirmed that the Nokia 2 will jump straight to Android 8.1 to get advantage of the memory optimization features, but the Nokia 3 will also receive the first Oreo beta soon.

The Mi 7, Xiaomi's next premium device, is set for a post-MWC announcement. The device has also been touted to launch with a price tag close to the $500 mark.

Mexico has just become the second country in Latin America to get Samsung Pay, after Brazil. The local launch partners include Banorte, Citibanamex, HSBC, Santander, Clip, iZettle, and others.

The device that arrived at FCC features the ID code SRQ-ZTEBLADEV9 and its specs confirm some of the previous leaks, such as 2 GB/3 GB RAM and 16 GB/32 GB storage variants. Fortunately, the operating system pre-installed is Android 8.0 Oreo with January's security patch.

The new Skagen Falster smartwatch runs Android Wear and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip. Depending on the strap/color combination, it can be purchased for US$275 or US$295.