Huawei receives patent for gaming smartwatch

Huawei has received a patent for a gaming smartwatch, a listing with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) revealed. The application initially filed in December 2017, is following earlier patents with the Chinese Intellectual Office from 2015 and 2016 for further development of the technology. The patent allows the smartwatch to be operated via the watch strap, enabling multiple gestures for gaming features like steering a car's wheel or going in different directions in first-person shooters. There is also a fixing band, attachable to the watch strap, enabling a virtual...

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New OTA update brings Face Unlock to the Honor 8 Pro

Even though Android Oreo 8.0 arrived in early February for the Honor 8 Pro and Honor 9, the much-anticipated Face Unlock feature wasn't included in the update for the former. However, owners now report that an OTA update fixes that. The update is a tad over 500 MB in size and it is being rolled out "in small batches". It also includes smart lock screen notifications - privacy feature that hides the notification content on the lock screen and prevents unauthorized people from reading them. The new firmware also brings the Android March security patch. Via

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Kantar: Xiaomi expands its presence in Europe in Q1 2018

Report from Strategy Analytics has put Xiaomi at 4th place on the global scene, and today Kantar Worldpanel released similar information for Europe: Xiaomi is in Top 4 across the big five markets in Europe. Along with Samsung, Apple, and Huawei, the manufacturers account for over 75% of smartphone sales in Q1 2018. Redmi Note 5A - one of Xiaomi's bestsellers Xiaomi turned its attention to Europe late, though it has quickly gained ground since, says Dominic Sunebo, Global Director of Kantar Worldpanel. Xiaomi's online business model in Asia worked well in Europe too with promising...

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Samsung's new PRO Endurance microSD cards excel in reliability

Samsung just announced its PRO Endurance lineup of microSD cards that aim to deliver 25 times better endurance compared to its speed-oriented PRO EVO cards. The PRO Endurance family should meet the requirements for reliable storage used for intensive video monitoring, surveillance and dash cams. The microSD cards come in three sizes - 32GB, 64GB and 128GB promising up to 100 MB/s of sequential read and 30 MB/s of sequential write speeds. All three variants are also rated differently depending on their endurance. For instance, the 128GB model will give you 43,800 hours of video...

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Asus Zenfone Live L1 Android Go phone debuts

Today Asus announced a new entry-level smartphone - the ZenFone Live L1. It is the first Android Go-powered smartphone by the company and Indonesia is going to be its debut market. The device sports a 5.5-inch HD+ display (1440x720) with 18:9 aspect ratio, Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 SoC paired with 1GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot. There's a 13MP PDAF main camera and a 5MP front-facing snapper that's also used for face unlock. The smartphone features a impressive for its size 3,300 mAh battery unit. As we already mentioned, the smartphone is powered...

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Google confirms it's nurturing social-gaming startup Arcade

Google has a division called Area 120, which lets employees build small startups, with products from successful ones getting integrated into the search-giant's main product lines. What's making headlines now is the confirmation from the company about a new startup, dubbed Arcade. It's basically a social-gaming startup founded by a young, 21-year old Google employee Michael Sayman. Photographer: Daniel Garzon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Nothing much is known about the product Arcade is building, except that it'd have no relation whatsoever with existing social networks, with phone...

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Samsung Galaxy Note9 surfaces in China's MIIT certification

With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ done the rumor mill is shifting its attention to the upcoming Galaxy Note9. The latest piece of information comes from a leaked certification document by China's MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology). The two listings show two different model numbers - SM-N9600 and SM-N9608. These are likely two different versions for the Chinese market if Samsung sticks to its usual naming. Unfortunately, the certification paper doesn't disclose any additional information, but at least the application confirms that development is going...

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OnePlus 6 Avengers: Infinity War Special Edition packaging leaks

The OnePlus 6 is expected to launch two weeks from now on May 16. Alongside the standard version, we expect to see an Avengers: Infinity War Special Edition. Thanks to this leak by India Today Tech, we can see what the packaging for the special edition will look like. Similar to the Star Wars Special Edition launched last year for the OnePlus 5T, the Avengers: Infinity War Special Edition comes in a larger black box. The Kevlar pattern for the Avengers logo suggests the phone might have a Kevlar finish, something we have previously seen on OnePlus cases in the past. The box will...

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Oppo F7 caught boosting performance for benchmarks

A Vietnamese blogger took the time to analyze Oppo F7's benchmark results and saw something fishy. It appears that Oppo once again was caught cheating in benchmarks. Last year the Oppo F3 was accused of cheating and now the F7 follows. According to the blogger, the Helio P60 processor scored much higher on AnTuTu than it should by boosting all of its cores to 2.0GHz. To confirm this, the author created a fake and basically empty AnTuTu Benchmark app with the same package name as the real one (com.AnTuTu.ABenchMark). When he ran the app, the Oppo F7's cores boosted once again up to 2.0GHz...

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Xiaomi files for an IPO in Hong Kong

Xiaomi has filed an IPO in Hong Kong, marking the first tech company listing in the special administrative region in recent times. This is a result of loosened rules for allowing companies with multiple classes of shares to raise equity. The report from Bloomberg says Xiaomi is looking to raise at least $10 billion in the IPO, valuing the company at $100 billion. This will most likely be the biggest offering for a tech company in 2018 and the biggest since Alibaba's IPO for $25 billion in 2014. The initial public offering lets public investors join the company that was just...

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Huawei P20 Pro and Lite launch in India, exclusively on Amazon

As promised during the official launch of the P20 Pro and P20 Lite, Huawei is releasing both of its new phones today in India, exclusively Amazon paired with some cool launch offers. The P20 Pro is priced at INR64,999 ($975) while the P20 Lite's asking price is 19,999 INR ($300). The Huawei P20 Pro's early bird promotion gives you instant 5,000 INR ($75) discount if you are a member of the Axis Bank Card valid until 7th of May. There's also a trade-in offer up to 6,000 INR ($90) and a no-cost EMI variant for up to 12 months starting at 5,417 INR/month. As for the Huawei P20 Lite,...

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New leak shows Motorola Moto Z3 Play in flesh

After leaked renders, a new Motorola Moto Z3 Play image has surfaced. It reveals a design in line with what we've already seen so far, including missing fingerprint sensor both from back and front. In case you aren't aware, the device is expected to come with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor - either inside the power button, or on the left side of the device. The leak reconfirms the Moto Z3 Play's model designation - XT1929. Plus it also reveals OS version (Android 8.1.0) and security patch level (May 1). Other specs that have previously been revealed include Snapdragon 636...

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HTC U12+ coming on May 23 with two dual cameras and a mystery

HTC found a creative way to tease the unveiling of its new phone - a photo of its components. We're most likely talking about the HTC U12+ with the U12 Life perhaps involved in some fashion. Either way, the new device(s) will be shown at a May 23 event. The components can tell us plenty. You can see two small camera modules near the top, likely the front camera. Then there are two larger modules (to the left and to the right), which would combine to form the main camera. The components of an HTC U12+ (click for full size) But then there are two more components with ribbon cables...

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SA: Xiaomi now the 4th largest smartphone maker globally

Oppo may have plans to change it, but at this point Xiaomi has overtaken the BKK subsidiary in Q1. The data comes from Strategy Analytics which released its latest report on global smartphone shipments. Samsung and Apple remain the top two players, but the market as a whole shrunk by 2.4%. Samsung shipped 78.2 million phones between January and March, capturing 22.6% of the market, compared to a very similar 22.7% share last year. Apple stays at second with a slight increase from 50.8 million to 52.2 million shipments, which translates to a higher market share of...

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Twitter app UI with bottom navigation bar being tested

Twitter's mobile app on Android might get an updated UI in the near future. The company is testing a major UI change that moves the navigation bar from the top to the bottom of the screen. Several beta users of the app have already spotted the change - take a look at the screenshot shared by one of the users. The change aims to make navigation more convenient, especially for those with smartphones featuring large tall displays. While the layout of the bar remains the same, you can no longer swipe left or right between tabs on the bar. Sadly, this seems to be a server-side switch,...

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 gets WiFi certified

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 has hit another milestone on its way to going official - the device has been certified by the WiFi Alliance. The certification doesn't reveal much in terms of specifications, only mentioning the model number (SM-T835) and OS (Android Oreo). Reports say firmware development for both WiFi and LTE models of the tablet has begun, with builds carrying following version numbers: T830XXU0ARDA and T835XXU0ARDA. No information yet on availability, but an IFA launch is being speculated. Rumors and sightings so far have revealed the following details for the device:...

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Nest Temperature Sensor goes on sale for $39

The Nest Temperature Sensor has been on pre-order since it was announced back in March this year and now it has finally started shipping. It's available with for $39. You can order the accessory from both Google Store as well as Nest's official website, although it's currently showing as out of stock at the former. You can place these sensors in your rooms so that your Nest thermostat is aware which room should be a certain temperature at a certain time of day. Keep in mind that the device is only compatible with the Nest Thermostat E or the 3rd gen Nest Learning Thermostat....

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