Android

Although this touchscreen smartwatch was announced back at CES and was supposed to hit the market by the end of this summer, Misfit has just confirmed that the US$199.99 wearable is facing a two-month delay.

Contrary to popular notion, Verizon has started to seed the Android Oreo update to Google Pixel phones on its network much before any other major US carrier has initiated the process.

The Californian startup Upthere joins Western Digital one year after receiving US$77 million in venture funding, but the financial terms of this new deal were not revealed to the public yet.

Google has removed nearly 300 apps from the Play Store after researchers identified that they were infected with malware. Around 70,000 users in over 100 countries have been affected.

Google has announced its new Certified Android devices program. Designed to give customers the guarantee of a malware-free device out of the box, it is the company's latest effort to clamp down on Android security.

Gionee is the second Indian company to release smartphones with 18:9 displays. The unannounced Gionee codename SW17W08 was listed in GFXBench, and it features a 6-inch display with 1440x720 resolution, a 2.6 GHz octa-core MediaTek Helip P25 CPU, 4 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage.

In the continuing habitual setback for Microsoft in its mobile endeavors, the NYPD will soon be scrapping its 36,000 odd smartphones running Windows Phone 8.1 for iPhones. The department is taking the decision in the wake of Microsoft halting updates for the ill-fated mobile OS.

This 6-inch phablet with more memory than before is now available for US$209.99 exclusively on GearBest. Its buyers get a chance to win a 4 GB Alpha, the older Maze Blade smartphone, or a protective case for the Alpha.

The Honor 6C may have launched in Europe but the Chinese market is still yet to get it, with Huawei positioning the lower mid-range offering as a rival to the just released Redmi Note 5A.

The LG V30 builds upon the audio prowess of its predecessor, the LG V20, by featuring an ESS Sabre 32-bit Quad DAC complete with presets and digital filters to offer an audiophile grade experience even with not-so-capable audio hardware.

This budget handset that has the same camera setup as the Mi 6 flagship currently retails for the equivalent of US$220 in China and next week it will finally hit other markets.

Blackberry is in talks with device manufacturers to license their security enhanced Android build, according to the India Times. Blackberry already has three brand licensing deals, and this move would increase the market coverage of their software.

The BV8000 Pro sports a 5" FHD display, 6 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage, a Helio P25, and a 4180mAh battery. Being a rugged phone, it also comes with an IP68 certification.

The Xperia XZ sports a 5.2" FHD display with Corning Gorilla Glass, 3 GB of RAM, up to 64 GB of storage, a Snapdragon 820, a 23MP rear camera, a 13MP selfie shooter, and a 2900mAh battery.

Sales figures by analytic firm Gartner imply that there are nine devices running on Android for every one running on iOS. Samsung leads the smartphone market comfortably, with Apple coming in second and Huawei a close third.

The budget Huawei tablets come just one month after the launch of the Matebook X, Matebook D, and Matebook E and two months after the launch of the Honor 9 in the United States.

The new Idol handset that surfaced recently on GFXBench appears to be on its way. A set of (apparently) official press images has just leaked online thanks to Roland Quandt, alongside the confirmation of the handset's main specs.

Samsung has made a huge stride in the battery technology behind its smartphones released this year, but has made little mention of it anywhere until now. According to its mobile chief, the new Note 8 will retain an impressive 95 percent of its capacity after two years.

This handset comes in addition to the six ZenFone 4 variants that have been recently released. Its main highlight is the 16 MP front camera and is expected to hit Malaysia for around US$210.

HTC is said to be potentially eyeing a sale of the company among a range of strategic options currently being evaluated. Another option being considered is the sale of its burgeoning Vive VR headset business.

This 5-inch handset uses a MediaTek MT6737 processor, next to just 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal storage, and a 2,200 mAh battery. The price and launch date are not public yet, but we might find out the details soon.

The Librem 5, currently up for preorder through a crowdfunding campaign, is Purism's attempt to create a privacy-focused smartphone. The phone will run a mobile variant of PureOS, which is Purism's own custom GNU/Linux-based operating system.

Meizu has announced the launch of its mid-range M6 Note, and it offers a decent package for the prices listed, with the device making significant improvements over its predecessor, camera-wise particularly.

In addition to the latest security patch, this new firmware for both the OnePlus 3 and 3T brings battery optimizations, performance improvements, as well as multiple minor tweaks and fixes.

The dual-screen YotaPhone 3 is finally official, with the Russian company announcing it on its blog. The device is a marked upgrade from its predecessor, featuring larger displays and a more upmarket metal finish.

Thanks to a leaked product page, we now know several details of the upcoming Gear Fit 2 Pro fitness tracker/smartwatch from Samsung. While there aren't many changes from the previous Gear Fit 2, the Gear Fit 2 Pro will be water resistant to 50 meters.

Igexin, the developer of an advertising software kit, has been caught collecting user data and sending it back to servers in China. Their kit was used in 500 legitimate applications and used the permissions granted to those apps to collect data such as call logs. Google has disabled the compromised applications while the developers replace the advertising APIs.

Although this virtual assistant is now available virtually everywhere, the only two languages supported remain US English and Korean for now. Additional languages and devices should get Bixby support in the future, but the details are not yet public.

Twitter leaker Roland Quandt has revealed pricing details for Sony's upcoming XZ1 and XZ1 Compact high-end offerings. While both won't qualify for the bargain market, they're appropriately priced.

Even though the Canvas Infinity impresses with the 18:9 Full Vision display that is usually found in high-end models, the specs and the US$156 price recommend it as a mid-range smartphone. The model will only be available through Amazon India starting September 1st.

This 5.5-inch Android handset with a (quite outdated) Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 under the hood hits select retail stores in the UK and UAE with a custom Italian leather accompanying phone case. The price tag reads US$2,450.

A research team has successfully compromised a smartphone by injecting malicious code into the drivers for the touchscreen. The code allows full access to the device, including the ability to alter files, use the phone's camera, download malicious apps, and grant root access without unlocking the bootloader.

The X1 is Gionee's newest budget device for the Indian market. It features the MT6737, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage, a rear fingerprint reader, and a 3000mAh battery. Not a bad deal for US$140, all things considered.

The latest release of the popular custom ROM known as AOSPA to its users brings new customization options to the stock launcher, including app labeling, as well as support for Russian, Dutch, French, German, and a few other languages.

The next-gen YotaPhone has a 5.5-inch main display and a 5.2-inch monochrome touchscreen on the back. It uses the Snapdragon 625 processor and is expected to hit the market starting around US$360.

Android O has finally been released, with O standing for sweet, tasty Oreos. Updates have started rolling out for those in the Beta program, and users should be able to download factory images soon.

Hot on the heels of the Sony Xperia XZ1 leak, its smaller stablemate, the Xperia XZ1 Compact, has also surfaced in unofficial renders. The device will help to keep Sony as virtually the only Android handset maker continuing to make a high-end compact smartphone.

The SM-A5300 handset that arrived at Geekbench is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor and has 6 GB of memory, while the A5 (2017) has an Exynos 7880 chip under the hood and just 3 GB RAM.

The Redmi Note 5A has been announced and while it makes no significant improvements on the previous devices in the series, you'll still have a hard time finding better devices at that price point.

While the Nokia 8 is an interesting flagship that would surely gain quite a few fans in China and the US, HMD Global has revealed that this handset will not arrive in these two markets.

Although a few other names surfaced in the Android 8.0-related rumors we heard so far, it seems like the next major iteration of Google's mobile operating system will be named Oreo after all.

About a year after receiving Android Wear 1.5, Motorola's smartwatch is finally ready to get the features and improvements that other wearables such as the Asus ZenWatch 3 or Huawei Watch already got thanks to Android Wear 2.0.