Google Pixel 3 XL prototype leaks in live images with a notch and chin

Over the past few weeks, we've started seeing more and more rumors about Google's Pixel 3 and 3 XL, smartphones due to be officially introduced at some point in October. The bigger model will have a screen notch, according to past leaks, while the smaller one won't. Coming today to confirm half of that theory are two images depicting a prototype Pixel 3 XL in all its glory, front and back. Here they are for your viewing pleasure (click the thumbnails for higher-res versions). Google Pixel 3 XL prototype The device looks strikingly similar to the Pixel 2 XL from the back, with...

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Amazon announces Fire TV Cube with hands-free voice control

Amazon has announced the Fire TV Cube, a new product in its series of media players that is controlled entirely by voice. The Fire TV Cube is built almost like an Echo, which means it includes eight far-field microphones so you can talk to it directly without needing a remote and it can hear you even over the sound of the television. You can tell it to turn on the television or just directly tell it to play your favorite content. It can turn on the television automatically over HDMI-CEC and then automatically navigate itself to the particular content, even if it is within a non-Amazon...

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MediaTek is readying an upgraded Helio P60 chip with emphasis on AI

With AI starting to be a big part of our lives, manufacturers continuously push more and more AI-related technologies into their handsets. In response, chip makers have to produce capable hardware that can take the load. Well, MediaTek is planning to do so by optimizing its current flagship Helio P60 chip. The Helio P60 has had a pretty successful launch this year and has attracted numerous Chinese smartphone OEMs like Oppo and vivo. MediaTek has also outed the first mid-range 12nm chip based on TSMC's manufacturing process, the Helio P22, and has sold like a hot cake in China and...

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Upcoming Snapdragon 1000 might have 12 W TDP, take on Intel directly

Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 850 a couple of days ago, its first chip exclusively targeted at laptop-style devices. Sure, it's a slightly overclocked 845, but it's a start. More info is surfacing about the Snapdragon 1000 and it will be more powerful than expected. It will reportedly have a TDP of up to 12 W, nearly double the TDP of the S850 and massive for ARM chip. For comparison, Intel's U-series - e.g. 8250U and 8550U - are rated at 15 W and have four cores with eight threads each. Intel's cores are huge compared to the typical ARM core, but then software isn't great at using...

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Alleged Sony Xperia XZ3 specs leak - an XZ2 with XZ2 Premium dual camera?

A purported spec sheet of the Sony Xperia XZ3 has leaked in Japan, ushering the phone into the rumor mill. The sheet points to a meek update over the Xperia XZ2 - a slightly bigger battery, more RAM (6GB) and the dual camera from the Xperia XZ2 Premium - 19 MP (25mm, f/1.8, 1/2.3" 1.22µm) + 12 MP B/W (f/1.6, 1/2.3", 1.55µm). The selfie camera seems to be the same 13MP f/2.0 snapper. The Xperia XZ3 is also slightly thinner and lighter than Sony's current phone. If these leaked specs turn out truthful, then the Xperia XZ3 will retain the 5.7-inch 2160x1080 LCD and Snapdragon 845...

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Samsung Galaxy A9 Star and A9 Star Lite pricing revealed

Samsung semi-unveiled the Galaxy A9 Star and A9 Star Lite a coupled of days ago and started accepting pre-orders. Except details on price and shipping were vague at best. Not any more - the two phones ship out on June 15. Here's what these phones are about and how much they cost. Samsung Galaxy A9 Star The Samsung Galaxy A9 Star shares many similarities with the A6+, but it's not identical. For one, it has a larger 6.3" Super AMOLED screen with 1,080 x 2,220 px resolution (and no notch). And the design is noticeably different too. The dual camera is tucked into the upper left corner...

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Honor's new earbuds measure your heart rate and have Hi-Res audio

Honor 9i and Honor Play surely stole the show yesterday at Huawei's event, but let's not forget that one more cool device was announced - the Honor Earphones. With all the wireless earbuds nowadays, Honor is sticking to the cords but compensates with a fresh new feature for the sporty types out there. These buds measure your heart rate because why not? According to Honor, since the human ear is filled with a lot of capillaries, it measures the heart rate more accurately compared to the conventional wrist trackers. A dedicated app is needed to use the feature and works with most...

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OnePlus will hold its next Open Ears community event in India next month

OnePlus will hold its next Open Ears community event in India on July 7. if you're not familiar with Open Ears - it's an event at which OnePlus meets with select users and fans to discuss specific topics related to OnePlus' services and products. The India-based Open Ears will focus on Products and OnePlus will hand pick 30 people to participate in the event - all expenses paid. Registration for the Open Ears event is open until June 12. OnePlus prides itself on being a community-driven company. It held previous Open Ears events in Hamburg and London, getting feedback from its...

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BlackBerry Key2 hands-on review

In a sea of smartphone sameness, there are very few outliers, that can still boast a unique angle of their own. Most of TCL's lineup still proudly fits into that category. Understandably, all the turbulence and leadership change in recent years did result in some plain devices, like the DTEK models. On the flip side, devices like the Keyone embody the classic BlackBerry spirit in full.

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BlackBerry Key2 is a love letter to physical buttons and sharp edges

At an event held in New York, today TCL officially announced the few remaining details we didn't already know about the BlackBerry Key2, which was leaked heavily in the past couple of days. Unsurprisingly, the Key2 is a continuation of the Keyone in almost every respect. It retains the squarish form factor that's highlighted by an iconic physical keyboard and a 3:2 aspect screen and adds a dual camera on the back - a BlackBerry first. The camera is a dual 12MP with a regular f/1.8, 1.28um, and a telephoto f/2.6, 1.28um that's used for optical zooming as well as portrait shots with...

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vivo accidentally leaks its upcoming vivo NEX and NEX S, only one has in-display fingerprint

We've heard a lot in about the upcoming spectacular vivo devices based on the APEX concept phone, which is rather expected with the nearing launch on June 12. The latest leak, however, comes from vivo's official website, so the information should be as accurate as it gets. vivo NEX and vivo NEX S The vivo NEX S and vivo NEX were showcased for a brief moment on vivo's website revealing almost everything you could think of. It also confirms the latest report claiming that the vivo NEX S is actually the premium version of the phone while the vivo NEX is a slightly toned-down...

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Watch the BlackBerry KEY2 announcement livestream here

We saw multiple new devices announced the recent weeks - the new phone season is in full swing. The next big planned announcement is by TCL, the owner of the BlackBerry brand. The Chinese company will introduce the Key2 in New York today at 3PM UK time (10 AM local NY time), and you can watch it below. The BlackBerry Key2 might appear for the first time at an official event, but the full specs sheet already leaked yesterday, including 4G bands, dimensions, preloaded apps, etc. The new phone will have 4.5" panel and will keep the 3:2 ratio we saw in the first iteration - the BlackBerry...

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HTC Desire 12 and Desire 12+ go live in India

Launched back in March, the two low-end HTC devices, the Desire 12 and Desire 12+, make it to the Indian market as well. It's obvious that the Taiwanese company is trying to make a dent in the Indian market where Samsung is losing some ground to the Chinese manufacturers, namely Xiaomi, vivo and Oppo, but will this be enough? HTC Desire 12 Anyway, since both Desire phones have had their official global release, the specs are hardly of anyone's surprise. The Desire 12 comes with 5.5-inch low-res (720x1440), tall 18:9 display, quad-core MediaTek MT6739 chipset, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of...

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MIUI 10 goes global - performance, camera and UI improvements

Just a week ago, Xiaomi announced its high-end trio, the Mi 8, Mi 8 Explorer Edition and MI 8 SE and the latest version of its MIUI skin along with it. Today, with the Redmi Y2 in India, the company is officially rolling out the MIUI 10 as well. The new interface focuses on speed, re-designed UI, cool new nature sound notifications and bokeh portraits without the second camera. The UI is now more refined and utilizes the new tall screen ratio and full-screen displays. The recent menu has been revamped as well to better display the content of the apps. The performance improvements...

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Oppo Find X to have a telephoto lens with optical zoom

Oppo is launching its true flagship Find X on June 19. The company confirmed the news on Tuesday with a press release, and now all it has left is to tease various features until the device is launched. The latest post on the Chinese social network Weibo is an image of a person with a telescope, looking at the sky. A cryptic text, roughly translated as "Galileo looked at the sky and reached the universe", suggests that the Find X is likely to have massive optical zoom since the astronomer and mathematician is the inventor of the telescope. We already know that Oppo is capable of...

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Samsung Internet browser v7.4 Beta brings handy new features

If you are a Samsung user, you've probably already tried the Samsung Internet browser, and if you did, you've noticed that it's not your usual pre-installed bloatware that OEMs usually put on your phone. Well, to be fair, Samsung does that by pre-loading tons of other apps on your Galaxy handset, but the browser definitely isn't one of them. In fact, it seems to be a pretty good alternative to Google's Chrome. And if you are a fan of Samsung Internet, you can get a taste of the latest features that the v7.4 Beta brings. The most notable feature is the enhanced Intelligent Scan....

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Xiaomi Redmi Y2 arrives in India, is a rebadged Redmi S2

Xiaomi had an event today in New Delhi where the Redmi Y2 was announced. The device was introduced by Manu Kumar Jain, VP of Xiaomi, and head of the Indian division. The Redmi Y2 arrives in India as a rebranded Redmi S2. It has a Snapdragon 625 chipset with octa-core CPU, clocked at 2 GHz. The screen is 5.99" in diagonal with a tall 18:9 ratio and an HD+ resolution (1440 x 720 pixels). Memory versions are two - 3/32 GB and 4/64 GB. Xiaomi Redmi Y2 Since the phone is selfie-centric, Manu Kumar Jain spent most of the time talking about the cameras. The selfie snapper has...

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Facebook shared user data with major smartphone manufacturers

Facebook has been under fire recently for giving data third-party apps, allegedly without user's consent. After an investigation by The New York Times, it was discovered the social media gave deep access to all major smartphone makers. Latest information revealed that the now-banned Huawei was one of them, along with three other Chinese companies - Lenovo, Oppo, and TCL (the owner of the BlackBerry and alcatel brands). They join the company of Samsung, Apple, and Amazon that were initially unveiled on Sunday. According to The New York Times, the partnership between Facebook and the...

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Sony Xperia XZ1 series and XZ Premium getting new update

Sony has started pushing out a new update to the Xperia XZ1 series and XZ Premium smartphones. Carrying a build number of 47.1.A.12.205, it's a security update that brings along Android fixes for the month of June. There's currently no information on what other changes (if any) are included in the update. As is usually the case with OTA roll outs, it may take time for the update notification to pop up on your unit, so you'll have to be patient. Via

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Now you can add Apple Maps to your website

At the ongoing WWDC, Apple has announced a major change related to Apple Maps. The company has made available to third-party developers the ability to embed Apple Maps on websites, something which can be done using the newly-launched JavaScript library MapKit JS (which is currently in beta). Here's what Apple's official website says: MapKit JS brings Apple Maps to the web. This new JavaScript library lets you add interactive maps to webpages — complete with annotations, overlays, and interfaces to Apple Maps services such as Search and Directions — to enable rich...

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Xiaomi Mi 8 SE goes on sale on June 8

Xiaomi launched its three variants of the Mi 8 in on May 31 and shortly after, the standard Mi 8 version went on sale on June 5 only to be sold in under two minutes. Now, the first ever Snapdragon 710-powered smartphone, the Mi 8 SE will be made available for purchase on June 8. Since the device comes in two memory configurations, the pricing is different as well. The 4GB/64GB model will set you back CNY 1,799 ($282) while the 6GB/64GB variant asks CNY 1,999 ($313). That's pretty good value, right? Well, if you think so too, we strongly recommend getting in line early in the morning...

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Nokia 3.1 US launch imminent as Nokia 6 and 5 get June updates

When the Nokia 3.1 was officially unveiled, HMD said the device will be available for purchase in June. Since then, the device has already got its Indian pricing confirmed, and has also gone on pre-order in Russia. And now, its US launch also seems imminent. The device is currently listed on retailer B&H Photo's website as coming soon. The price tag, as you can see, is $159, which is exactly what was revealed during the phone's unveiling. Sadly, there's currently no information on exactly when the Nokia 3.1 will go on sale in the US. Meanwhile, in a separate but Nokia-related...

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