Cam Bunton, Editor at NewGeekGuide – Cam has been passionate about tech since his dad bought the family’s first Commodore AMIGA back in the late 80’s. He’s been in the tech industry (writing and making videos) since 2010, and joined NewGeekGuide as the resident video producer and product reviewer in 2015. He sometimes writes news and reviews for 9to5Mac too.
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Last year at CES, ASUS showed off a number of new competitive smartphones boasting the ZenFone brand name. Among them was the 3x optical zoom-equipped ZenFone Zoom. Since then, we’ve heard very little else about the photography-focussed Android device. Until now…
Huawei is expected to have a large presence at CES this year. With its plans to increase its market visibility in the US, the Las Vegas-based trade show is the perfect opportunity to show off its best smartphones and tablets. According to Evan Blass, we should expect to see the MediaPad M2 10 among them.
If a leaked set of renders from SuomiMobiili is anything to go by, this is what the 10-inch tablet will look like:
With its rectangular home button on the bottom bezel, its design is similar to many of Samsung’s Galaxy-branded tablets. From the renders, it appears as though the rear panel is mostly made from metal, with a plastic panel running all the way along one side which plays home to the camera and LED flash, and presumably also acts as a window for the various antennas.
Specification-wise it’s claimed that the tablet will feature a full HD 10.1-inch display, 2GB RAM, Huawei’s Kirin 930 processor, an 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera and either 32GB or 64GB internal storage. US prices aren’t given, but SuomiMobiili expects the 32GB and 64GB models to retail at €349 and €449 respectively in Europe. Roughly converted to dollars, that’s $376 and $484 respectively, although actual pricing will almost certainly differ in the States.
The leak certainly seems official, and Evan Blass has a pretty solid track record, so we’re fairly confident this is legit, but there’s always a chance this isn’t authentic, however small.
LG has shown its hand at Vegas this year and announced a couple of new mid-tier smartphones for the budget-conscious consumer at CES 2016. LG claims that both of the new devices have been inspired by nature, and are the first to offer the company’s ‘glossy pebble’ design language which is aimed at a younger target market. Both the K10 and K7 run Android and feel premium, according to the company’s press release…
Today at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, Acer announced its next lineup of budget-friendly Chrome OS and Android based products. It announced a brand new Chrome desktop with Intel Core processors, a small, durable Chromebook and an affordable tablet…
With Samsung expected to launch its next flagship Galaxy S lineup within the next couple of months, the frequency and number of leaks is increasing. Over the past 24-48 hours there have been a few notable leaks showing off the front panel of the redesigned smartphone, along with specifications and models numbers of the next generation Galaxy devices…
Prepare for an influx of announcements from all the major tech companies over the coming days, CES 2016 is well and truly upon us. First out of the blocks is Lenovo who showed off a brand new 13-inch ThinkPad. The ThinkPad 13 will come in both Windows and Chrome OS flavors, and is priced right in the middle of the market…
Holiday season may have ended, but that doesn’t mean companies are ready to stop discounting products. We’re heading in to 2016, and have just seen an influx of new products hit the market in the last few months. That means older versions of gadgets are now available cheaper.
One such device is the original Moto 360. Head on over to Woot and you can snag the champagne gold version of Motorola’s first Android Wear watch for just $149 with either the 18mm or 23mm strap. That’s down 35% from the original list price of $229.
As a reminder, here’s a rundown of the specs:
The Moto 360 was arguably the first attractive, fashion-forward smartwatch running Android Wear. The champagne metal version emphasized that focus on design further. By the time the second generation was released towards the end of last year, Motorola had competition from the likes of Huawei, LG and Apple. Coming in to 2016, competition is only going to get fiercer as traditional watch-makers get involved in the wearable tech market. Both Fossil and TAG Heuer have launched Android Wear watches, and we expect other well-known fashion brands will do the same this year.
It’s New Year’s Eve, so it’s time to crack open the champagne. Champagne version of the OnePlus X that is. They’re now available in limited quantities in Europe and Hong Kong, and will be coming to the US soon. This is our unboxing…
Following some very strong quarterly results, Huawei today revealed that 2015 was a resounding success. Although it was a little light on details, the company (as reported by WSJ) saw its full-year revenue for 2015 rise to 390 billion yuan (roughly $60.1 billion USD). That’s up more than 35% on the full calendar year previous…
The BlackBerry PRIV has officially been on the market now for a couple of months, and is seen by many as the device which will make or break the Canadian smartphone-maker. While the first ever Android-powered BlackBerry has been available from AT&T and Verizon for a little while now, the US’ #3 carrier T-Mobile, is yet to start selling the device through its own official retail chains. That could all be about to change according to a leaked roadmap obtained by PhoneArena.
The calendar details retail launches and events T-Mobile staff need to be aware of and prepare for. The January roadmap clearly indicates that employees should be preparing for a ‘BlackBerry Venice Launch’ on January 26.
Having dealt with leaks from T-Mobile like this a lot in the past, I can say it certainly looks like the genuine article, and there’s little to suggest it’s not legitimate. But with every leak comes the usual note of caution. Plans can — and often do — change. T-Mo has been known to change things up because of leaks, or because they’re simply not ready when they thought they would be.
With T-Mobile’s recent comments on BlackBerry, it’s clear the company has a lot of time for the former smartphone giant and plans to offer its products. Following a very public fallout, the two firms finally made up when the carrier officially started selling the BlackBerry Classic a few months back. Now it seems T-Mo is willing to offer more of the manufacturer’s wares on its store shelves.
In 2015, the smartphone or, more specifically, the Android smartphone market reached tipping point. What you can get for your money now compared to 12 months ago is pretty astounding. It started with the sub $300 Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 in March, and ended with the $100 BLU phone equipped with a full HD screen. With 2016 almost here, we’re right in the thick of a race to the bottom, and the price drops are being driven primarily by Chinese companies.
If 2016 is the going to be the year of anything, it’ll be the year more western consumers will be handing over their hard-earned cash for something designed and made in China. These are the companies to watch:
Looking at the Chromebook market, you could be forgiven for thinking it’s just the modern iteration of the netbook age. Small, cheap, underpowered plastic laptops that offer very little to anyone wanting a higher-end experience in a portable and affordable package. Dell changed that with the Chromebook 13. Now you can get a premium Chrome OS laptop without spending silly money on a Pixel. The Dell Chromebook 13 starts at $429 for the base model, and climbs to $899 for the top-tier. In the UK, it ranges from £484 to £856…
Hitachi Maxell has developed a new lithium-ion battery which could increase a portable product’s capacity without increasing its battery’s thickness. In fact, it has twice the capacity of its current technology, thanks to a newly developed silicon-based material used as the battery’s negative electrode.
The new technology, named ULSiON, uses a composite material made by coating the surface of its Silicon-based layer with carbon. Although typical silicon-based negative electrode layers tend to expand and contract, causing swollen batteries, the new technology reduces that risk significantly by using fine silicon particles.
Using the ULSiON technology, Hitachi will be able to make batteries that are really small, but don’t sacrifice capacity.
“(By using the new material,) we will realize compact lithium-ion batteries that have a width of 13mm or less and an energy density twice as high as that of the existing product of the same size,” the company said.
In practice, this could mean smartphone makers can continue to make slim devices with small, but powerful batteries. Perhaps more importantly, the ability to make small batteries with high capacity is ideal for the rising demand for wearable technology. Smartwatches with 2-day battery life could potentially be much smaller and thinner. Or even better, smartwatches could retain their current thickness and have 4-5 day battery life.
Hitachi expects that the ULSiON-based Li-on batteries will be used in compact devices, like wearables. It also expects demand for this technology to be in high since space is a premium, but long battery life is ideal, and current batteries don’t quite cut it.
Hitachi Maxell will show off its new battery tech at the 2nd Wearable Expo in Tokyo between January 13-15.
According to a new report by analytics firm, Flurry, more Android phablets were activated than any other sized Google-powered smartphones. In fact, if the companies app-tracking tools are accurate, half of all Android activations over the holidays were large-screened mobiles…
Yesterday, a report stated Samsung would look to make the regular and ‘Edge’ versions of the Galaxy S7 in two different sizes. While the Galaxy S7 would features a 5.2-inch screen, it’s reported that the S7 Edge will have a larger 5.5-inch display with curved secondary screens on either side of the screen. A leaked schematic — created by Shai Mizrachi and published afterwards by Android Authority — reveals a little more detail, and shows the size differences more clearly.
In the leak, the S7 and S7 Edge are shown alongside the current Galaxy S6 and, perhaps of most interest, is that the S7 has the same dimensions as the S6, despite having a larger screen. This would indicate that Samsung has worked a little on trimming down the bezel further. It’s also interesting to note, the S7 appears to have curves near the edges on the back, similar to the Galaxy Note 5, presumably to make it more comfortable to hold.
As for the difference between S7 and S7 Edge dimensions, the schematic indicates we’ll see a 2.5mm difference in width and 8mm difference in height.
There are a couple of other tidbits worth noting. Firstly, the metal frame shown in the top-down view suggests Sammy is changing the design somewhat. The S7, as previously mentioned, has bigger curves on the back, while the S7 Edge has them on the front. What’s more, the camera protrusion appears much smaller on the upcoming models, while the IR blaster seems to have been removed completely.
Otherwise, it’s very much the same from Samsung. As previously rumored, the design doesn’t look as though it’ll change much from this year’s form factor.
When Google released Android 6.0 Marshmallow, it removed one of the most useful Do Not Disturb features, and that was the ‘until next alarm’ option. For those unfamiliar, it allows you to turn off all notifications until your morning alarm goes off and saves you being woken up at a ridiculous time. With 6.0.1, the feature returned, but recently it seems to have vanished again.
A thread on Reddit deals with the issue and claims that even users who aren’t running Android Marshmallow have experienced it. Some claim to have seen it disappear from the options while looking at them. I’ve tried to set Do Not Disturb myself, and like the complainants, I don’t see the ‘until next alarm’ option anymore.
Thankfully, there is a sort-of fix: change your phone’s date to before or after the holidays. If, for instance, you change your phone’s date to January 1st 2016, it seems to reappear, suggesting this is a really weird bug, or Google was trying to make sure you spent less time looking at your phone during the holiday period. You’ll get the same result if you change your phone’s date to before December 25th, according to Android Police.
If you don’t want to mess with your phone’s date, the option should return automatically in the new year, once the phone’s date changes to January 1st on its own.
According to a report from Korean publication, ETNews, Samsung is planning to launch two versions of the Galaxy S7. Similar to this year’s Galaxy S6, there will be a regular version and a dual-curved ‘Edge’ model, but they won’t be the same size…
We’ve seen a huge rise in the number of affordable smartphones come to market with premium design and specifications over the past 12-18 months. It’s no coincidence that this has lead to a rise in the number of relatively unknown Chinese manufacturers push out of their national borders to sell their branded products overseas. Companies like Huawei, OnePlus and Xiaomi have all launched competitive smartphones at budget-friendly prices. Following in their trail is Letv, a company which has just announced its intention to launch a high-end smartphone in India for the first time.
With Samsung having launched its Galaxy A-series phones for 2016 and BLU launching the first sub-$100 1080p smartphone at the end of this year, it looks as though the trend of releasing premium-looking smartphones at affordable prices is set to continue in to 2016. One company known for releasing great, affordable smartphones is Oppo, and the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is about to launch its next small, powerful and budget-friendly smartphone…
HTC has finally launched the long-rumored One X9 in China, and it boasts some pretty decent specs in a package which costs 2399 Yuan, or roughly $370 USD when converted. There’s very little revealed about the device that we didn’t already know, and we’re unsure if/when the phone will be launched in the US or other international markets.
Like the One A9, the latest smartphone from HTC features an all-metal body, but with a separate pill-shaped panel housing the camera on the back. The manufacturer claims it takes over 300 hours of work and more than 50 individual processes to make the unibody metal chassis. The company is also keen to boast the return of capacitive buttons on the front panel, which avoids the virtual buttons onscreen taking up valuable display real estate.
Other key specifications include:
The HTC One X9 was leaked a number of times prior to today’s launch. Most recently, it showed up in a hands-on video and in a TENAA listing. Most of the details shown off in those, and in a more detailed pre-release overview, gave us a good idea of what to expect from the newly announced mid-tier phablet.
With the One X9 and One A9 both featuring premium all-metal build, and being obvious mid-tier devices, it’s clear HTC is moving away from its insistence on releasing plastic devices in the mid-range market. Whether or not this means the death of the Desire range is yet to be seen. It seems an obvious move given the rise of cheaper metal alternatives from manufacturers like Huawei, Xiaomi and BLU.
With only a couple of months (or possibly weeks) left until Samsung reveals its Galaxy S lineup for 2016, a bunch of cases for the unreleased phone have shown up online. Some cheap cases now on sale from DHGate.com allegedly fit the S7 and S7 Plus…
Having only recently been leaked online through unofficial and official sources, the largest of the Galaxy A-series family of devices has now been announced by Samsung. The Galaxy A9 has been unveiled and features a collection of impressive specs which should easily satisfy the desires of any consumers looking for a (presumably) inexpensive phablet…
At long last, The Beatles music is going to be available to stream on many of the most popular music streaming services from tomorrow, December 24th. Whether you prefer to use Spotify, Google Play, Apple Music, Rhapsody or one of many others, you’ll be able to sing along to the Fab Four’s most popular tunes anywhere you like, without having to pay to download individual songs or albums …
Earlier this month, a leaked roadmap suggested when each HTC device could expect to receive its update to Android Marshmallow. In it, the One A9 and One M9 were allegedly due to get their next updates in the first quarter of next year. While that may be true of some variants internationally, others should start seeing the update land today.
Mo Versi, the company’s US head of product management, tweeted to say that Android 6.0 for the unlocked HTC One M9 and 6.0.1 for the unlocked One A9 should be rolling out at some point over the next 24 hours. Being based in the States, we’re pretty confident this rollout only applies to the US models and — as always — those with carrier-locked, bloatware-laden versions will have to wait a little while longer before they see the newest software on their smartphones.
[tweet https://twitter.com/moversi/status/679481121604808704 align=’center’]
HTC’s One A9 was the first non-Nexus smartphone to launch with Android Marshmallow out of the box. Today’s update for users with that phone just brings some minor improvements, along with new emoji, to the Android-powered iPhone-lookalike.
For One M9 owners, this is the firs time they’ll be able to get a taste of the latest operating system from Google. Marshmallow brings a number of new features to the M9, most notable are the ‘Doze’ mode, which effectively stops the battery from running down during standby, plus the ability to ‘adopt’ a MicroSD card as internal storage.
