smartphones

566 'smartphones' stories May 2011 - September 2015

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Huawei Ascend Mate S photos and press render leak ahead of launch

Cam Bunton Sep 1 2015 - 7:48 am PT

Just one day before it’s due to unveil its next smartphone and give us a refreshed look at its smartwatch, Huawei’s next Ascend Mate has shown up in form of leaked photos and press renders. Previous leaks showed us pre-release versions of the device and suggested it would be an all-metal device, similar to the Ascend Mate 7. Taking design cues from the HTC One series, it has the familiar antenna bands on the top and bottom as well as a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Rumored specifications suggest this isn’t a flagship phone. The supposed 5.7-inch display on the front has a resolution of 1080×1920, and it’s powered by a Kirin 935 processor with 3GB RAM. One interesting feature mentioned by Steve Hemmerstoffer is that the device could feature Force Touch-like technology, similar to the pressure sensitive touch screen tech found on modern MacBooks and the Apple Watch. The camera on the back is expected to pack in a 20MP sensor while the front camera will allegedly be 8MP.

Evan Blass had his say on the device today too, with what looks to be the official press render of Huawei’s Ascend Mate S. If accurate (which his leaks almost always are) we can expect the device to ship in black, white and gold hues.

It wasn’t long ago that Huawei started sending out invites to its IFA event. The invites themselves strongly hinted at the ‘S’ in the device name, a rumor which is seemingly confirmed on the screen of the leaked device. Sadly, for those who like a pure Android experience, it looks as though these devices will ship with the opinion-dividing EMUI custom skin. Still, it won’t be long until we finally see how a Huawei smartphone runs on stock Android. The Chinese manufacturer is expected to be one of Google’s partners for the two rumored Nexus phones due to land later this year.

Sony Xperia Z5 family shows up on video, including 5.5-inch Premium model

Cam Bunton Aug 31 2015 - 3:04 am PT

Ahead of its official press announcement in Berlin later this week, Sony’s upcoming flagship smartphone family has been shown on video in what appears to be a pre-release interview recording with press, which somehow managed to find its way to YouTube. The video is in French, and YouTube’s auto-translating tool isn’t the hottest. Still, we’re now expecting Sony to release a trio of smartphones.

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Leaked BlackBerry ‘Venice’ photos show Android-powered QWERTY slider in the flesh

Cam Bunton Aug 29 2015 - 3:43 am PT

If there has been one thing missing from the Android smartphone market over the past few years, it’s a great device with a physical keyboard. In fact, ever since the T-Mobile G2 (HTC Desire Z) hit the market in 2010, there’s been nothing worth paying attention to. That’s why — to me — the rumored BlackBerry Venice is the most exciting phone of the year so far. At least, the most exciting unreleased phone of the year. As each week goes by, the chances of it becoming a real product get stronger. For the first time, the Android-powered BlackBerry has been shown of in real, leaked hands-on photos.

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Google rolls out attractive, new apps search UI

Cam Bunton Aug 28 2015 - 2:52 am PT

It looks like Google has been working behind the scenes to make searching for apps a much more intuitive and better-looking experience on Android. As spotted by the folks at Android Police, if you go searching for apps from the default search feature in Android, you’ll now get a very attractive, Material-themed grid of apps. Although it doesn’t work for every single term, simply search for anything followed by ‘apps’ and it’ll bring up a grid of downloadable options from the Google Play Store.

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As promised, Samsung Pay beta program opens to US users

Cam Bunton Aug 27 2015 - 9:43 am PT

Samsung has officially launched its mobile payment service in the US. Perhaps the only catch, apart from the fact that it’s only available to customers with the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, Note 5 and S6 Edge+, is that it’s being labeled beta. As of right now, there aren’t many financial institutions supporting Samsung Pay. Samsung Pay Beta is “by special invite only” and Bank of America and U.S. Bank customers with credit, debit or small business cards you can apply as long as they have a Samsung Account.

While it may not be entirely useful today, Samsung Pay does have the potential to be more ubiquitously useful than Android Pay in retail. Reason: it not only works with NFC-equipped machines, its technology also enables it to work almost anywhere there’s a card machine with a magnetic-strip reader too. Samsung officially announced Samsung Pay at its Unpacked event in March, but had to push back the public launch to September. The service officially launches in the States in one month.

If you meet the criteria, have one of the company’s newest smartphones and want to give it a try, head on over to Samsung’s beta signup page to apply.

LG debuts ‘Rolly’ universal, rollable Bluetooth keyboard

Cam Bunton Aug 27 2015 - 1:06 am PT

In a press release early this morning, Korean tech giant LG announced that it wants to grab a bigger share of the mobile accessories market. It wants to do so with Rolly Keyboard, a wireless, portable, rollable universal keyboard. Opened, it forms a four-row keyboard with close-to full size keys. What makes the keyboard unique is the method by which it’s stowed. Unlike the traditional single fold down the middle, each row of keys has a hinge, enabling the user to roll it up in to a ‘stick’.

Rolly Keyboard is powered by a single AAA battery and uses two Bluetooth 3.0 channels to pair to two separate devices and enable easy-switching between them, similar to the Microsoft Foldable Keyboard we reviewed recently. What’s more, it also features two arms to hold smartphones or tablets upright. It’s made from polycarbonate and black ABS plastic and LG claims it “offers satisfying tactile feedback often not found on flexible silicone keyboards”. Judging from the selection of keys on the device, it seems it’s going to be compatible with multiple platforms. Instead of offering a separate row for extra function keys for tasks like media playback, volume etc. LG has opted to use an individual ‘Fn’ key which — when pressed with a labelled key — will allow users to skip tracks, play/pause, change volume, pair devices and much more. And it won’t be alone on the accessory market his year:

“LG Rolly Keyboard is just one of the many premium input devices we’ll be unveiling in the coming months as we expand our accessories offerings,” said Seo Young-jae, vice president in charge of Innovative Personal Devices at LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “The goal was to create a product that could add more value to LG smartphones and tablets at the same time offering a unique design proposition that hadn’t been explored before.”

LG will show off its Rolly Keyboard at IFA in Berlin at the beginning of next month and launch in the U.S. in September. Pricing and availability details will be shared once it’s available to consumers. Along with the keyboard, LG is expected to announce a range of new Android-powered G Pad tablets in an attempt to compete directly with Samsung.

Eat24 finds Android customers less healthy than their iPhone counterparts

Tom Maxwell Aug 26 2015 - 7:28 pm PT

Sorry, Android users: Popular online food ordering service Eat24 has determined that you are less healthy on a nutritional basis than owners of Apple’s iPhone. That’s based on data it collected from its mobile app over a three month period, tracking information regarding how ordering habits differed across the rival platforms.

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Android Marshmallow reportedly almost triples Nexus 5 standby time

Cam Bunton Aug 24 2015 - 7:12 am PT

Android M, now revealed as 6.0 Marshmallow, could lead to much healthier standby battery life on your favorite smartphone according to some testing done by German blog Computerbase. Taking two Nexus 5 smartphones (one running Lollipop, the other Android M), the site ran side-by-side standby time tests and discovered that the Marshmallow-flavored Nexus achieved standby time nearly three times as long as its Lollipop-powered counterpart.

It’s a case of Android 5.1.1 versus the very first Dev Preview of Android M, and the latter’s standby time is significantly improved over the former. After 24 hours of leaving both devices on standby, the Nexus running Lollipop was down 12% while the M-powered Nexus was down just 4.5%. It was similar after 48 hours with the phone running 5.1.1 down by 24% and the Android M device down by only 9%. Using some basic arithmetic the site calculated that the Nexus 5 running Android Lollipop could last a maximum of 200 hours on standby while the Nexus running Android M could go a total of 533 hours. Rounding up, that’s 2.7 times longer.
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Sony Xperia Z5 Compact shows up in leaked promo image

Cam Bunton Aug 21 2015 - 3:18 am PT

A fresh, official-looking, image of the upcoming Xperia Z5 Compact has shown up in a new leaked promotional photo courtesy of Dutch tech blog, TechTastic. There’s nothing entirely remarkable about the image itself, but the very fact the device is showing up in promotional images prior to launch is a good indication that Sony is preparing its marketing ready for its arrival.

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HTC Desire 626 review: Affordable, attractive and flawed [Video]

Cam Bunton Aug 20 2015 - 7:18 am PT

HTC may be in financial difficulty, but it’s still churning out decent phones. One of the most recent to hit the market is the Desire 626. It’s a competitively priced, attractive mid-range device. But with the new 3rd-generation Moto G on the market, is it worth buying?

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Opinion: Fake HTC leak proves smartphones have become totally commoditized

Tom Maxwell Aug 19 2015 - 9:43 am PT

Vice president of market research firm IDC Bryan Ma speaking to CNBC last week after Samsung’s unveiling of the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+:

If you look at the rest of the Android space, admittedly even the stuff they announced last night, it kinda just blends in with the rest of the market. I don’t know if there was that much that differentiated it from the rest of the pack aside from some minor features. And that’s what’s hitting other players like HTC… It’s really just the case where a lot of these products are becoming a lot of the same thing.

I’m not trying to be a negative nancy here, but to prove Ma’s statements here look no further than the “leak” of a purported new HTC phone that spread around the blogosphere this morning (mockup turned out to be one that popular leaker @evleaks created back in 2013). 6-inch display, 4GB RAM, 3,500mAh battery capacity, water-resistance, extremely thin bezel, similar rear design to every other flagship HTC smartphone from the past few years — nothing outlandish, nothing hard to believe.

And that’s kind of the point. It’s so easy to make up a spec sheet like this out of thin air, and there wouldn’t be many around to doubt that HTC might make another phone with just marginal changes. I could have made up a spec sheet in real-time as I wrote the post about it and mine would’ve been similar to the one that spread around this morning.

Not that this lack of annual user-facing revolutionary hardware changes is a bad thing….
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Best Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ cases already available to order

Cam Bunton Aug 18 2015 - 9:33 am PT

After first unveiling its new phablets five days ago, Samsung will start selling the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ smartphones this week. Some carriers will be selling it already, while others are waiting for the official August 21st release date. Chances are, you don’t want to take any risks with damaging your precious and ludicrously expensive smartphone. It may fare better than the S5 in drop tests, but it’s probably best for you not to test that, on purpose or by accident. With that in mind, check out some of the cases already announced by some of the best accessory makers around.

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Google expands Android One to North Africa with launch of Infinix HOT 2

Cam Bunton Aug 18 2015 - 6:36 am PT

Following the recent expansion to Pakistan, Thailand and Myanmar, Google is continuing to roll out its Android One devices to more countries. Today marks the first day of the program’s availability in Africa. Google announced this morning that Android One is making its way to North Africa with the budget-friendly Infinix HOT 2 smartphone in Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Morocco.

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Project Ara delayed until 2016, looking for new locations in US

Cam Bunton Aug 17 2015 - 12:58 pm PT

The Project Ara team just announced through its Twitter account that its modular smartphone won’t hit the public until next year. It had initially planned to get a test launch up and running towards the end of this year, but it seems Google has come up against some stumbling blocks. As it explained on Twitter, chief stumbling block was not being able to predict the number of variations possible. It stated there were far more iterations than they’d originally thought.

Just before announcing the delay, the company stated that it’s looking for new locations to test the product in the U.S:
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Google announces Android M’s full name: Marshmallow

Cam Bunton Aug 17 2015 - 10:21 am PT

Android M’s software features have already been announced, but what hasn’t been announced is what the ‘M’ stands for. In our early poll, you decided Marshmallow was the most likely choice, and that’s what Google’s gone with. Earlier today, Jeff Sharkey shared a photo of the covered statue on Google Plus, and now the tarp is off! It’s our favorite green robot clutching on to a Marshmallow.

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High quality Huawei Nexus renders published based on “detailed blueprints”

Cam Bunton Aug 15 2015 - 3:38 am PT

Yesterday the well-known leaker, Steve Hemmerstoffer teamed up with uSwitch to leak digital renders of the purported upcoming LG-made Nexus. Today, the two are back with their first look at what could be this year’s flagship Nexus device. As rumored multiple times, this device is expected to be manufactured by Huawei, one of China’s biggest Android OEMs.

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AT&T revamping data plans with fewer options at better rates starting tomorrow

Zac Hall Aug 14 2015 - 8:46 am PT

Starting tomorrow, AT&T will be revamping its Mobile Share Value plans by adjusting data tiers and plan prices for new and current subscribers. At the low end, AT&T is consolidating a few data tiers into just two options with different price points. Meanwhile, AT&T’s double digit data tiers are also being reduced, and some subscribers can potentially end up with more data at no extra cost per month or get a better rate on even higher data tiers.
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First look at Fallout for Android [Video]

Cam Bunton Aug 14 2015 - 7:54 am PT

Yesterday, Bethesda finally launched the long-awaited Fallout Shelter for Android and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. In this video, I take you on a brief walkthrough and tour of the initial game stages and how to play. If you haven’t already, you can download the game for free from the Google Play Store right now.

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OxygenOS 1.0.2 update released with Stagefright patch for OnePlus One users

Cam Bunton Aug 14 2015 - 4:14 am PT

OnePlus One users running OxygenOS can now download the security patches to deal with the Stagefright vulnerability. OnePlus One announced in a blog post this morning that Oxygen OS 1.0.2 is now available to download, and fixes what some dubbed the worst Android vulnerability in the mobile device era. Customers are advised to ensure they back up all their data before flashing. Those using OxygenOS already won’t need to reset their devices.

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Detailed LG Nexus 2015 renders leaked, show 5.2-inch screen, fingerprint sensor, more

Cam Bunton Aug 14 2015 - 3:05 am PT

For the past few weeks, rumors have surfaced suggestion Google will partner with two manufacturers this year for its Nexus phones. We’re purportedly going to see a smaller device made by LG and a larger model made by Huawei. Today we get our first look at some detailed 3D renders designed using hardware schematics sent to case-makers.

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Carrier Availability: Where to buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ in the US

Cam Bunton Aug 13 2015 - 10:13 am PT

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ have just been announced and carriers aren’t holding back in letting us know when and where we can get hold of these new devices. The US is going to be one of the first countries to get the latest flagship phablets. Here’s where you can get them and when…

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Huawei invites for September 2nd event in Berlin hint at mystery ‘S’ model

Cam Bunton Aug 13 2015 - 3:18 am PT

Huawei has started sending out invitations to an event on September 2nd in Berlin, Germany. The invites fit in perfectly with previous speculation that the Chinese manufacturer would use IFA as its platform to launch a new smartphone. What’s interesting about these invites is that they seemingly hint at the name of the upcoming device.
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Xiaomi announces new flagship Redmi Note 2: Octa-core and full HD for $124

Cam Bunton Aug 13 2015 - 1:38 am PT

Just days after releasing its last new phone, Xiaomi has announced yet another device with competitive specs at a very disruptive price point. Xiaomi calls it ‘the new monster’ and for good reason.

The Redmi Note 2 was unveiled this morning, complete with a 64-bit octa-core Helio processor, a full HD 5.5-inch display and 13MP rear camera made by Samsung. It also has dual SIM LTE support, 2GB RAM and either 16GB or 32GB internal storage. What’s more, there’s a 3,060mAh battery with Quick Charge 2.0 support. It’s compatible with 802.11ac Wi-Fi and runs MIUI 7 on Android 5.0 Lollipop.

It’s a pretty impressive list of specs for a phone that costs the equivalent of $124. Even if you go for the 32GB model, you’re still only paying around $140. Or if you want the Prime model, which comes with 32GB storage and a faster processor, you only need to part with $156. Essentially, a phone with the specs of the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3, but for $100 less.

As a bonus, the Redmi Note 2 comes in five colors: white, black, pink, brown and light blue.

Xiaomi, of course, is one of many Chinese manufacturers currently squeezing the big names out of the smartphone market in countries like China and India. By offering great specs at a fraction of the cost, products like the Redmi Note series are incredibly disruptive. Perhaps one of the big reasons HTC is struggling to gain any market value, and appeal to consumers.

LG G4c unboxing and G4 head-to-head comparison [Video]

Cam Bunton Aug 12 2015 - 12:03 pm PT

In many ways, the LG G4c is a mini version of the LG G4. Sadly, unlike Sony’s Compact series smartphones, it’s not a small phone with flagship specs. It’s less powerful, has a lower resolution screen and a smaller battery than the high-end G4. But all of that is reflected in the price difference. We’ve unboxed the device and filmed a brief comparison between the G4c and the LG G4…

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