Android

Android malware reaches a new high (or maybe "a new low," depends on how you see it) with the Loapi Trojan, a piece of code that can push the infected devices to the limit for mining Monero tokens until they blow up.

In just a year, Xiaomi managed to go up from 6 percent to 22.5 percent of the Indian smartphone market. To get there, the Chinese brand expanded at the expense of local brands, but now they are going for Samsung's slice of the pie.

According to a recent statement by Google, its Chrome browser will begin blocking intrusive ads on both desktop and mobile websites that do not comply with the Better Ads Standards starting on February 15.

The 6-inch Huawei Mate 10 Pro phablet will reach the US via multiple carriers in 2018 and, according to Richard Yu, the details will be unveiled next month in Las Vegas.

Not long after the first unlocked HTC U11 Life units received Android 8.0, these handsets on T-Mobile receive the Oreo update as well.

The highlights of the new Galaxy A8 and Galaxy A8+ include a dual camera setup for selfies, IP68-rated protection from water and dust, as well as support for Samsung's Gear VR (a first for the A series).

Razer is offering a free Leviathan Mini portable Bluetooth speaker worth US$179 with its Razer Phone for a limited time. The deal lasts until December 20 or while stocks last.

A GSM Arena poll regarding 3.5 mm headphone jacks on phones found that 69% of those polled wouldn't consider phones without a headphone jack, 14% didn't care, 9% had switched to Bluetooth/USB-C/Lightning products, and 8% were living the dongle life.

The successful mid-range Xiaomi Mi A1 finally receives a red edition. Sadly, only Indonesia gets this new color choice for now. The rest of the world only gets to choose between black, gold, and rose gold.

Rendered images of the Samsung Galaxy S9 have surfaced, showing the S9 with a single rear camera, the S9+ with a dual rear camera setup, and both with a new fingerprint sensor placement.

The Vivo Xplay 7 has been revealed as the first smartphone to ship featuring under-display fingerprint authentication technology. Clear ID, developed by Synaptics, is twice as fast as 3D facial recognition systems like Apple's Face ID.

The SHT-W09 model name designation for the supposed MediaPad M5 is very similar to the BTV-W09 model name for the current MediaPad M3.

The Lenovo ZUK Z2 and Z2 Pro have received Oreo betas, which is an impressive feat as both were launched on Marshmallow and got updates to Nougat months after. Too bad there's little to no chance the world will ever see a ZUK Z3.

The second generation Pixels, debatably the best smartphones on the planet right now, are currently getting discounts, with US buyers getting up to a $75 price slash, and potential purchasers in the UK having the chance to snag them for up to £100 less than their RRPs.

Samsung may be the biggest smartphone manufacturers in the world but analytics claim the company's dominance is set to see a decline next year, with experts expecting a 10% decline in market share.

Google has announced that it is leaving Project Tango behind for its new ARCore technology. Similar to Apple's ARKit, Google's ARCore will power software-driven AR experiences on Android smartphones.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 is expected to be announced on February 27, at the Mobile World Congress that will hold in Barcelona. This is plausible, of course, as previous Galaxy S devices have usually been launched within a three-week window of that specified date.

Huawei and Xiaomi are two of the top six smartphone manufacturers, a noteworthy feat considering their dire lack of presence in the US. Both companies look set to remedy that, however, with reports claiming that there are deals on the cards that will see both sell devices in the US under different carriers.

Blackberry released its first Android device two years ago in 2015. The company has finally announced that it will be withdrawing software support for the device—one that cost $700 at launch and only received one major update to Marshmallow.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Disney and its subsidiary, Lucasfilm, announced a new game for PC and mobile that enabled players help BB-8 and Chewbacca defend the Millennium Falcon from porgs.

The 4.7-inch CAT S31 is now available in the US via Amazon for around US$330 and, although its specs do not match this price range, the IP68-rated water resistance and its compliance with the MIL-SPEC 810G standard for ruggedness make it a worthy choice for those who face tough environments frequently.

There's a new Blackview device on cards. The smartphone, marketed as a heavyweight business device, will feature a large 6180 mAh battery.

Honor has sent out invites for the launch event of a yet unnamed device. The event will take place on December 21, with the device expected to be the Honor 9 Lite.

Google has released data on the current market distribution of the various versions of Android. The ranking stays the same as it was last month, with Marshmallow in first, Lollipop in second, and Nougat in third. Oreo remains irrelevant, as it only just matched Ice Cream Sandwich’s 0.5% distribution, a disturbingly unprogressive rise from its 0.3% figure last month.

A member of Samsung's UK Oreo beta team has confirmed that the S8 and S8+ will receive final, stable Oreo updates in January, with the Note 8 to follow immediately after.

Huawei is set to announce the launch of the new Enjoy 7S at an event in Xi An, on December 13. The mid-ranger shares a lot of similarities with the Honor 9 Lite. So much, in fact, that we're tempted to claim that they're the same device in slightly different packages.

Despite apparently weak sales, Essential appears to be committed to developing its Essential Phone PH-1. In its latest Reddit AMA, the company revealed it is bringing Treble, tap to wake and EIS to the device in the forthcoming Android 8.0 Oreo update.

Google is continuing its rollout of Assistant to older Android devices, including tablets for the first time. First introduced on the Pixel last year as an exclusive feature, it has been some time coming.

A unnamed high-end smartphone will arrive with Synaptics new Clear ID under-display fingerprint authentication tech in January. According to Synaptics, the new technology is twice as fast as 3D facial recognition technology as featured on the iPhone X.

According to the number of downloads of its camera app, Essential has sold no more than 50,000 units. While the accuracy of this number is arguable, hitting such a low volume of sales may not be as bad for the start-up as it sounds.

The 2017 annual major release of AMD's Radeon Software has arrived, called the Adrenaline Edition. In addition to a refined UI, the main features it brings are an in-game overlay that allows performance monitoring and on-the-fly setting changes, as well as a mobile app that can be used to monitor performance or handle recording and streaming settings.

Xiaomi's flagships are usually among the first to be released in the year, and it looks like the next-gen offering, the Mi 7, could be launched within the next few months. The device is touted to launch alongside a plus-sized version, with both coming with tasty price tags and top of the line features.

Honor's President, George Zhao, has confirmed in an interview that the brand's current devices like the 7X, Honor 8, Honor 9, Honor 8 Pro, and Honor V9 will all get updates to Android Oreo. The 7X, in particular, is of interest, as there's a significant chance that it gets Treble.

The Nokia 6 (2018) has made its way over to TENAA, with the listing on the Chinese agency's website showing images of what we should expect from the mid-ranger with the model number "TA-1054".

Some references to what could be the successor to the MediaPad M3 have surfaced online via an UAprof.xml file. The references point to a similar display resolution as the M3 and the OS version to be Android 8 Oreo.

Google has released three new experimental apps for both Android and iOS devices. Each utilizes experimental stabilisation and rendering algorithms to deliver fun and interesting visual effects.

In the spirit of the holiday season, Motorola is currently offering a number of great deals on its smartphones. Devices like the Moto X4, Moto G5 Plus, Moto Z2 Play and others currently benefit from this, which means you can nab any of them on the cheap right now.

There's another Honor device on the cards, as the company has announced its intentions to hold another launch event on December 13. Nothing is known about this device except for the fact that it will feature quad cameras.

Google has revealed the list of Android Wear devices that will be getting an update to Android Oreo. The upgrade looks more about bringing the Wear base OS inline with the Android smartphone OS, rather than bringing major new features.

Honor President George Zhao has declared the company's intentions to rule the Indian smartphone market by 2020, a goal it hopes to achieve by releasing bang-for-buck devices under the Rs 10,000 price point.

The Nokia 6 was released way back in January, which means we're about set for the launch of its successor, the Nokia 6 (2018), possibly at MWC in February. Details of the device have surfaced online, painting the picture of a rather enticing device.

The Mi Note 3, Xiaomi's new mid-ranger, made the journey over to DxOMark, with the device recording a score of 90, which places it in the same bracket as devices like the first-gen Google Pixel and the iPhone 7 Plus. Not bad for a two-month-old device that currently goes for as low as US$300.

Andy Rubin, founder of Essential and creator of the Android OS, went on a leave of absence at the tail end of November over a case of perceived misconduct during his time as an executive at Google.

Samsung has multiple patents for various styles of foldable smartphones. It is unknown if the manufacturer will utilize bendable displays for the rumored Galaxy X.

Google has asked developers whose apps use the accessibility permission to email them with how their app uses this permission to enhance user experience so that they can assess "responsible and innovative" use of the permission. While doing this they have put a pause on the 30 day 'modify or remove' notification they had previously given developers.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 received its Oreo beta weeks ago, so it's a bit surprising that Note 8 users have been left in the lurch. Only until now, though, as what looks like a stable internal Oreo build for the flagship has finally surfaced, with users testing it out and confirming its validity.

The Onyx Boox Max 2 Pro is a powerful (if expensive) eReader tablet with a huge 13.3-inch hi-res E-Ink display. The reader boasts a quad-core processor, a full version of Android 6.0, and a highly responsive E-Ink display, but there are a few drawbacks.