HTC to launch entry-level Desire 12, leaked retail box confirms

HTC might be posting one negative record after another, but the company hasn't given up hope and keeps pushing out new devices. A leaked retail box of an HTC phone revealed the Taiwanese company is going to launch a low-end device with basic specs dubbed Desire 12. Android Authority reported that the HTC Desire 12 will have a Mediatek chipset and 3 GB RAM, coupled with 32 GB storage and a microSD slot for up to 2TB more. The display is going to be 5.5" with HD+ resolution (1440 x 720 pixels), meaning a tall 18:9 ratio panel. There will be one snapper on the back with 12 MP sensor,...

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iOS 11.2.6 starts rolling out, contains fix for Indian language character bug

Apple has started rolling out a new iOS update that bumps the version to 11.2.6. The new version contains fix for a recently discovered bug which allowed users to send a specific Indian language (Telugu) character to another iPhone resulting in app as well as device crash. iOS 11.2.6 fixes the Indian character bug pic.twitter.com/ZCrYNVAu49— Mat' (@matteyeux) February 19, 2018 Apple had promised a minor update to fix the aforementioned bug, and with iOS 11.2.6, the company has fulfilled the promise. Moving on, the release notes for the update reveal another change: fix for an issue...

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Alleged Xperia XZ2 Compact prototype leaks ahead of MWC

A reader left a comment on a post from Xperia Blog with an alleged photo of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact that is set to be announced at the MWC which kicks off this upcoming weekend. The commenter claims that the device next to the Xperia Z5 Compact is actually a prototype of the Xperia XZ2 Compact. The commenter also says that the picture might not represent final hardware and may be different from what Sony announces on stage at the MWC. The device has a curved bottom design, which deviates from Sony's usual blocky slab design. Sony Xperia Z5 Compact (left) next to alleged Sony...

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Honor 9 Lite comes with free Bluetooth earphones in the UK

While Samsung is offering a free pair of Gear IconX truly wireless headphones with a purchase of a Galaxy Note8 or S8 in the US, Huawei's online-first sub-brand Honor is doing a similar thing in the UK. Over there, when you buy an Honor 9 Lite smartphone from the company's official online store, you will receive a pair of Bluetooth wireless earphones for free. They are apparently worth £69.99 on their own, and that makes this a pretty good deal considering that the Honor 9 Lite itself will only set you back a cool £199.99. The phone can be bought in black or blue, and the headphones...

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Samsung Galaxy S9+ hits Geekbench with record-breaking scores for Android

With less than a week to go until their official announcement on Sunday, a few hours ago almost every single detail regarding Samsung's Galaxy S9 and S9+ was leaked. And yet, while we've already seen the Exynos-powered S9 going through Geekbench, it's only now that its sibling's run has been added to the benchmark's database. The S9 already had very respectable results, with a single-core score of 3,648 and a multi-core score of 8,894. The S9+, however, beat even that, as you can see, scoring 3,773 and 9,024, respectively. To put that result into perspective, consider that in...

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LastPass now supports Oreo's native Autofill

The password managing app LastPass has added support for Android Oreo's Autofill framework, which means it will fill app logins and forms more seamlessly on Android. However Chrome and apps that haven't been updated to support Oreo's autofill framework will require you to revert to the old way of autofilling logins through the accessibility-based option. LastPass announced that it's working on support for Oreo's Autofill framework back in April of 2017. However early issues prompted LastPass to release a separate beta app in which to continue work on the Oreo Autofill...

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Samsung Galaxy S9 leaks leave little to the imagination

The Galaxy S9 duo is just six days away from its official announcement, but press renders and specs just leaked, revealing all the key specs of the Samsung flagship. The Galaxy S9 will be the first Snapdragon 845 smartphone that will sell in the US, while the other markets get the Exynos 9810-powered device. Samsung Galaxy S9 in Titanium Gray The phone will have the same Infinity Display as the Galaxy S8 on the front, while the fingerprint scanner and camera now occupy the back in a vertical setup. The bigger Galaxy S9+ will come with dual cameras, as previously...

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More Nokia 9 cases break cover, renders show off the curved sides of the screen

The Loch Ness Monster is lucky that it doesn't need a case, otherwise its photo will be plastered all over the news. The Nokia 9 is not so lucky - here's another round of cases. The render for the first really emphasizes the curve of the screen's side while the second is more subtle, but the curvature is still plainly visible. Tudia Merge case for the Nokia 9 Shockproof TPU case for the Nokia 9 One detail not actually shown on these renders is the alleged dual selfie camera. Admittedly, neither of these cases cover the front so that part probably is...

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Sony posts vague teaser for its MWC event

Sony is keeping its cards close to its chest - it announced that it will hold an MWC event on Monday, February 26, and it just posted its first teaser. The teaser is a short video showing the wavy lines, evoking the Xperia wallpapers, and a hand holding them up. Join us. 26.02.2018 #SonyMWC pic.twitter.com/n6IQ82XRVZ— Sony Xperia (@sonyxperia) February 19, 2018 How does this tie into the rumored 18:9 screen of the Xperia H8266 (which is, perhaps, the Xperia XZ2)? An OLED screen? The potential lack of a 3.5mm jack? People on Twitter are trying to guess, but the company's official...

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Samsung Galaxy S9 pricing leak suggests a noticeable price hike

What goes up... stays up, if we're talking about the price of Samsung flagships. Unconfirmed pricing info suggests that the Galaxy S9 will cost £740 according to one anonymous source while Clove UK even claims £800. Meanwhile in Norway, the alleged pricing for the S9 is NOK 8,790 and for the Galaxy S9+ it's NOK 9,790. The country is getting the Midnight Black, Coral Blue and Lilac Purple color options. The Norwegian price for the Galaxy S9 is equivalent to $1,130/€910, which lines up with Clove's claim of £800. The old Galaxy S8 launched at £690 while the Galaxy Note8 launched at...

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Nokia 7 Plus render shows off the Black color option

The white Nokia 7 Plus has a copper trim around its front and elements on the back (the camera and the fingerprint reader). It seems that the black unit will have the same decoration. Nokia 7 Plus in Black, White and a comparison Also, the phone doesn't appear to be glossy - non-Plus Nokia 7 is available in either gloss black or matte white. Speaking of colors, we like that HMD is getting more adventurous with its hues. Nokia 7 Plus in Black, White and a comparison We expect to see the Nokia 7 Plus unveiled at the MWC, it will be HMD's first 18:9 phone. Source

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Nokia 8 Pro with Snapdragon 845 incoming

Nokia 8 Sirocco's plan for rebirth of the luxury line was revealed by a trademark from the beginning of February. According to the latest information, the company is also preparing to launch a camera-centric smartphone with the retail name Nokia 8 Pro that will sport a Snapdragon 845 chipset. Nokia 8 Pro & Nokia 9 renders The Nokia 8 Pro is going to be the retail name of the penta-lens phone with advanced camera features, previously said to be called Nokia 10. The device appears to have a fingerprint scanner below the circular setup with a similar design to the upcoming Nokia 9....

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Deal: free pair of Gear IconX headphones with a Galaxy Note8 or S8 (US only)

Samsung's Gear IconX once held a retail price of $200, but we've seen them deeply discounted too - still, you can't beat "free". Samsung US is throwing in a free pair with every Galaxy Note8 or an S8 phone, including the Galaxy S8, S8+ and S8 Active. You need to buy the phone through Samsung.com or via the Shop Samsung app. The deal is valid for unlocked phones as well as AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular phones. You have until the end of February to decide, so you can watch the Galaxy S9 unveiling before committing to an older Galaxy S8. Source

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Samsung left with excess OLED panels after Apple halved production

Samsung Display may have been left with a surplus of OLED panels, due to Apple's reduced iPhone X production. Samsung is reportedly in search of new customers to take on some of the excess panels but that may be harder than you'd think. Most manufacturers aren't ready to make the switch to OLED because of its higher cost, meaning Samsung might be facing a reduction in profits. Most Chinese manufacturers attend to lower price ranges and would prefer to stick to LCD panels, which are around 40% cheaper. Only about 5-10% of Oppo and vivo smartphones use OLED screens. Apple itself is...

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The Nokia 4 will allegedly be powered by Snapdragon 450

The same APK teardown that unveiled the Nokia 7 Plus also mentioned a Nokia 4. It didn't give much besides the name, but now more detail are coming into view. A new rumor claims Snapdragon 450 power for the mid-range handset. That actually gives it more power than the current Nokia 5 - the newer chipset is built on a 14nm process (down from 28nm), allowing the eight Cortex-A53 cores to be clocked up to 1.8GHz. The GPU (Adreno 506) is twice as fast as the one in the Snapdragon 430 chipset. We don't know if the Nokia 4 will be unveiled at the MWC - the Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 1 will...

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Samsung unveils new "Over the Horizon" ringtone for Galaxy S9

The Galaxy S9 will arrive at the end of the week, but Samsung decided to unveil the new ringtone for the flagship six days earlier. The "Over the Horizon" tune that has been the default option for Galaxy phones since 2011 got yet another new version after the 2017 jazzy and youthful version. The 2018 ringtone is developed by Icelandic composer Petur Jonsson who performs the tune on a piano. The six-tone piece starts in Jonsson version of "Over the Horizon" in the video above. The mellow sound of the piano and the drone images from Icelandic countryside "arouse the purest,...

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Asus Z01RD arrives on AnTuTu with unusual screen ratio

Asus is unveiling its latest Zenfone series at MWC 2018 next week, and at least three new phones will be introduced - a dual-cam flagship Zenfone 5, a budget-friendly Zenfone 5 Lite and the Zenfone 5 Max with presumably massive battery. An Asus phone codenamed Z01RD popped on AnTuTu during the weekend with a Snapdragon 845 chipset, presumably the star Zenfone 5. The benchmark also revealed a screen resolution of 2246 x 1080 pixels - that's an aspect just wider than 18.5:9 and suggests a notch on the front screen, as seen in a leaked image. The Z01RD will also come with 6 GB RAM...

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