Black LG G7 ThinQ gets the leaked press render treatment too

We've already seen the upcoming LG G7 ThinQ in a group press render showing all its color versions, and then the gray (or silver) variation got a close-up. Now it's time for the exact same thing to happen to the G7's black iteration, courtesy of the press render you can see below, which comes from Evan Blass, @evleaks. Of course it doesn't show anything new - the screen's notch is still there (its chin too), the dual rear cameras are vertically aligned on the back, the fingerprint sensor is below those, and then there's the G7 ThinQ branding, so you never forget about the phone's...

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Xiaomi Redmi S2 allegedly receives 3C certification

Xiaomi has a new device in development, according to recent rumors: the Redmi S2. This model was apparently the one passing through TENAA a few days ago, and now it's been given the go-ahead by 3C as well (that's Compulsory Certification of China). Hence, its launch day could be right around the corner. The 3C certification doesn't reveal any specs, but according to TENAA and past rumors, the Redmi S2 will come with a design reminiscent of the Redmi Note 5 Pro. It will boast a 5.99-inch 18:9 touchscreen with 1,440x720 resolution, a dual rear camera setup with one sensor being 12 MP,...

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Snapchat announces second generation Spectacles, cost $150

Snapchat has announced the second generation model of its Spectacles, a pair of sunglasses with a built-in camera that records and uploads to your Snapchat account. The second generation model brings a host of changes. The glasses are now smaller, making them more comfortable to wear and carry around. They are also water-resistant, so you can wear them in the pool. The camera hardware has been updated, with HD resolution videos. You can record 10, 20 or 30 second clips. A second microphone now captures audio better. You can now also capture still images, something that you...

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Check out our Nokia 7 plus video review

You read our written review of the Nokia 7 plus, now you can watch our video review as well. There's a lot to love about this mid-ranger (like the copper-colored highlights) and its price is already starting to dip. It's the only phone in HMD's lineup with a taller than 16:9 aspect ratio, though this might change very soon with the launch of the Nokia X6. Either way, the X6 is rumored to sit below the Nokia 7 plus, so when it comes to capabilities it's this or the Nokia 8 Sirocco. Speaking of, the dual camera on the 7 plus is fairly similar to what's available on the flagship Sirocco...

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Possible Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 specs include Snapdragon 660 chipset

It has been over a year since the last Xiaomi tablet, so hints of the Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 are coming just in time. The info was dug up by @FunkyHuawei who explores ROM configurations for clues of hardware features. The tablet will be powered by a Snapdragon 660 chipset, according to its build.prop. There's no info on RAM size and the presence of a microSD card is not quite certain. The screen of the tablet will have 320 dpi, though that doesn't tell us much of its size and resolution. Info on the Mi Pad 4 cameras is more certain - there will be a 13 MP OmniVision OV13855 on the back...

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LG G7 notch settings pictured

The LG G7 ThinQ will let you hide the notch. A spy shot shows a setting called New Second Screen, which allows you to toggle this on and off and even enable virtual rounded corners on the display below the notch. There also seems to be an option to change the background color for the status bar, though we're not quite sure how that will work - black hides the notch, anything else doesn't. Most of the options seem variations of black/gray, but then there's the rainbow option at the right. It's also worth keeping in mind that (according to the rumor mill) the LG G7 will have an RGBW...

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Samsung Galaxy A6+ live images show Infinity Display

We already showed you the new Galaxy A6+ (2018) renders with dual cameras the other day. Now a live photo arrived, showing the device in the flesh. The National Communications Commission in Taiwan's certificate of a phone with model number M-A605G/DS included live photos, revealing the Infinity Display. Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018) front and back It wasn't something that we didn't expect - rumors of a tall display arrived two weeks ago from an HTML5 benchmark website. The Galaxy A6+ (2018) is said to have the same resolution as its sibling the Galaxy A6 (2018), but will up its...

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nubia Red Magic's international launch is an IndieGoGo campaign

There's a spotty history of launching mobile devices through a crowdfunding campaign, but ZTE has decided to do just that with the nubia Red Magic. It's currently on IndieGoGo for a month-long campaign to raise $50,000 (at the time of this writing, it has collected over $16,000). $50,000 is a paltry sum to launch a new device, so this is more of a publicity stunt than an actual need for funds. Anyway, you can put down $400 - 23% lower than the launch price of $520 - to reserve a Red Magic phone (and get a free dband skin in the process). This perk will expire tomorrow at 8 am GMT. Nubia...

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Verizon leaks HTC U12 key specs

Verizon has a platform called Open Development for encouraging the development of new products, apps, and services beyond the company portfolio. Along with the design & build part, there is also a Showcase part where many devices, licensed to work with the Verizon network, are listed. According to a listing of the HTC U12, the phone will have Super WQHD LCD with 6" diagonal. It also reveals the battery capacity of 3,500 mAh and Android Oreo. For obvious reasons the Verizon Open Development listing has used the image of the year-old HTC U11 instead. The U12 is said to arrive with...

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Galaxy S9 and S8 help push Samsung to record Q1 profits

The Galaxy S9 duo helped propel Samsung Electronics to record operating profits for the first three months of this year. It took in an operating profit of $14.5 billion on $56.2 billion of revenue. That represents an operating margin of 25.8%, up 6.2 percentage points year over year. The S9 didn't do it alone, the older Galaxy S8 still sells well as do other premium models. Mobile accounts for $26.4 billion of the consolidated revenue, but only $3.5 billion of the profits. Samsung wants to keep this rolling by expanding its experience stores and offering more trade-in deals. It's...

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Canalys: Smartphone market in China hits rock-bottom with 21% decline in Q1

Two days ago we reported that Oppo was the market leader in shipments on the Chinese market, but today's detailed statistics from Canalys bring worrisome details. According to the analysts, smartphone shipments suffered a hard decline of 21% in Q1 2018 on a yearly basis. This is the worst drop Chinese market faced since the beginning of 2012. Top four vendors are all domestic companies - Huawei (along with Honor), Oppo, vivo, and Xiaomi. While Huawei saw modest 2% growth in shipments to 21 million units, Oppo and vivo saw a 10% decline with respectively 18 million and 15 million...

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LG reports record profit in Q1 but phone division keeps struggling

LG Electronics posted its Q1 financial results, noting consolidated sales of KRW15.12 trillion ($14.1 billion) and operating profit of KRW1.11 trillion ($1.03 billion). This is a result of 3.2% sales rise and 20% income jump, marking the highest Q1 profit ever and the highest quarterly profit since the summer of 2009. LG G7 ThinQ The overall picture might be looking good for LG, but the Mobile Communications division is still in the red for the staggering 11th quarter in a row. Sales of phones were about KRW2.16 trillion (or $2 billion). Last year the Q1 report saw $176,000 in...

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Apple planning to simplify iPhone name in future

Apple might introduce simpler branding for its phones according to an analyst from Guggenheim. In an investor note, Robert Cihra from the analyst company says Apple will use the upcoming cycle to change the iPhone naming pattern. This would happen only to the successors of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus - the flagship would keep its X suffix to denote its standing. Will the iPhone follow the iPad? Making a change in naming is not something new at Cupertino. Apple has been playing with The New iPad and numbers for its tablets, which in the long run has delivered more confusion...

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Google confirms Inbox by Gmail will soon be iPhone X-compatible

Google has confirmed that the iOS version of its Inbox by Gmail app will soon be compatible with Apple's notch-totting iPhone X. Also, this didn't make the column, but: Inbox for iPhone X is coming. Google says soon. It did a bunch of crazy one-off interface stuff that the X totally broke, and it took way longer to update then Google expected. (Also Gmail is clearly more important.)— David Pierce (@pierce) April 25, 2018 As you can see, Google says a lot of Inbox features were broken due to the unorthodox display of the iPhone X and that's the reason it took so long for the company...

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New OnePlus 5/5T OxygenOS beta build brings double-tap to lock feature

A new OxygenOS beta was just released for the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T smartphones. Arriving as Open Beta 9 for the former and Open Beta 7 for the latter, the update brings a handful of changes, related to Launcher and File Manager. The update includes the double-tap to lock screen feature. It also features improved searched history for App drawer. Now coming to the File Manager-related change, the scanning logic for large files has been optimized. Head to the Source link below to access the official announcement as well as other beta builds related instructions. Source

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Amazon fixed an Alexa flaw that allowed devices to eavesdrop

It has come to light that Amazon recently fixed a serious bug in Alxea that allowed devices powered by the voice assistant to secretly listen to users' conversation and even send a transcript of whatever it listens. Basically, after Alexa processes a command, it's supposed to stop listening until the user says a wakeup or hot word like "Echo" or "Alexa" again. However, it was discovered that it's possible to make Alexa listen indefinitely by taking advantage of its "Reprompt" feature (for complete details head to the links at the bottom). Researchers at security firm Checkmarx...

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Samsung SM-J260G could be company's first Android Go phone

A new Samsung smartphone has been spotted in a benchmark listing. Listed on Geekbench as SM-J260G, it's an entry-level smartphone that could be well be the South Korean company's first Android Go attempt. As you can see, this is a low-end handset with 1GB RAM, but runs Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box. Android Go is an iteration of Oreo aimed at smartphones with modest hardware, while Samsung doesn't typically release its entry-level devices with the latest available Androive version. Oh, and the motherboard is listed as "universal7570_go." So enough indications that SM-J260G is an...

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