Xiaomi Pocophone F1 first image appears

Xiaomi is about to launch a phone that is currently called Pocophone F1, although this might not be the final name of the device. First it was certified for Bluetooth connectivity and then popped up on AnTuTu. Yesterday, a Belarusian site listed some specs, but today we saw another leak, accompanied with a live image, this time coming from Romania, that gives slightly different spec sheet. Clearly one of the sources is wrong, but time will tell which one. The Romanian retailer PC Garage says the Pocophone F1 will have Snapdragon 845 with octa-core CPU and Adreno 630 GPU. RAM is...

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Asus ZenFone 5Z now available in the US to take on the OnePlus 6

ASUS' latest flagship is now officially available for purchase in the United States. The ZenFone 5Z was first announced back in February at MWC with a Snapdragon 845 and a 6.2-inch notched display. The phone went on to launch in Europe and Indian markets where its pricing undercuts the OnePlus 6 by $30. The phone became available for purchase today at B&H Photo, ASUS USA, and Amazon. However, as of this post's writing, ASUS and B&H have run out of stock and amazon has limited quantities with "more on the way". The ASUS ZenFone 5Z recently received a huge camera update enabling...

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T-Mobile announces "Essentials" plan that no longer includes taxes and fees

Today, T-Mobile has updated its Unlimited offerings to include a new option called Essentials. This plan would be one step below T-Mobile's ONE plan and brings the total number of different tiers to three (four, if you count T-Mobile ONE Plus International). The new Essentials plan is still unlimited like T-Mobile ONE only it doesn't offer a couple of the carrier's perks. Essentials will not offer free international roaming, free Netflix, reduced 480p streaming, and tethering will be capped to 3G (512 Kbps)speeds. T-Mobile's Essentials plan will cost $120 for four lines ($30/line)...

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Google's Digital Wellbeing feature for Android 9 Pie is now in beta for Pixels

One of the big new features Google focused on for Android 9 Pie at its I/O developer conference back in May is called Digital Wellbeing. This, however, has not made it into the final release of Pie, that started going out today. Yet if you are anxious to try Digital Wellbeing before it gets released to the general public, there's a way to do that now. You need to have a Pixel running Android 9 Pie - which shouldn't be a problem since the over-the-air rollout of the update is in full swing already. Then you just head to this page and sign up for the Digital Wellbeing beta. Of course, as...

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Pixel 3 will only have gesture-based navigation, no traditional software buttons

Android 9 Pie is out today and it comes with Google's first ever gesture-based navigation system. That, however, is opt-in at the moment, for devices that are getting updated to Pie. You can enable it if you want, otherwise you're still able to use the traditional navigation with three software buttons - Back, Home, and Recents. This situation will not remain the same going forward. For Google devices launching in the future, including the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL which should be made official at an event on October 4, the traditional buttons will be gone. Thus, the one and only...

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Essential Phone gets Android 9.0 Pie update already, on the day of Google's official release

Earlier today Google announced the official name of the latest version of its mobile operating system. At the same time, over-the-air updates to Android 9.0 Pie have started going out to devices supported by Google directly, namely Pixels. In what feels like a record-breaking achievement, there's already an OEM also sending out this update to its devices - we're talking about Essential. If you own an Essential Phone check for an update notification, or if you don't see that go into Settings and trigger it manually. Essential's been pretty fast with OS updates even so far, but this...

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Google officially releases Android P, calls it Android 9 Pie

Google is officially announcing its next major version of Android today. Called Android 9 Pie, the update is ready to roll out in its stable form and will be available for download today on Pixel devices. Devices from OEMs who were part of the beta program with Google will get their update before the end of fall this year. Android Pie is the ninth major release of Android and the successor to last year's Android Oreo. The update introduces several new features primarily centered around using machine learning to make your phone smarter. One of these is Adaptive Battery, which figures...

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Xiaomi Mi 8 appears at French online retailers, still not on Mi.com

The Xiaomi Mi 8 still isn't available on the French branch of Mi.com, but they did show up at some retailers. The postings that seem legitimate are at the pre-order stage with a vague "coming soon" for the launch date. The model with 64GB storage is priced at €500 at both Amazon and Topachat. The latter also offers the 128GB model at €560. Only Blue and Black color options are available. Xiaomi Mi 8 A Super Moderator at the Mi forums was claiming that the Xiaomi Mi 8 is available in France, Russia and other countries way back in mid-June, but this is the first evidence we've...

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Xiaomi Pocophone F1 specs detailed by online store

The Xiaomi Pocophone F1 is not having a great day when it comes to privacy - following the benchmark scores, its specs were put on display by a Belarusian store. There are no images and you can't always trust store specs, but they seem to line up with previous rumors. For starters, the chipset is pegged as Snapdragon 845, which is what we expected given the benchmark leak. The screen is a 6.18" IPS panel with 1080p+ resolution and since the aspect ratio is 18.7:9, we think that a notch is a given. The expected camera specs are confirmed as well with more details. The dual rear camera is...

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Report: Dual-SIM 6.1-inch iPhone will be a China exclusive

According to a report from Taiwan-based publication United Daily News Apple could launch a dual-SIM iPhone exclusively for China. The device in question will be the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone that's projected as the budget in a trio that also features an updated 5.8-inch OLED iPhone and a completely new 6.5-inch OLED iPhone. It seems ever so likely that Apple will launch a dual-SIM iPhone in 2018 - we first heard about it in April and later a line of code was discovered in iOS 12 that seemed to solidify the rumor. It would make sense for China to be among the markets Apple targets with...

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Nokia 8110 4G review

Ah, the memories. Even in its silly, banana-yellow attire, the new Nokia 8110 4G just seems to tickle the nostalgia bone the right way. After the wave of retro-enthusiasm, sparked by the Nokia 3310 (2017), HMD decided to sink its teeth into the Nokia resurrection game even further. Out came the peculiar curved slider that recently landed in the office for review.

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Huawei announces Honor Play in India with Kirin 970 processor

It hasn't been too long since the last one but Huawei has launched yet another smartphone in the Indian market. This time it is the Honor Play, yet another mid-range smartphone from the company. The Honor Play is priced at INR 19,999 ($290) for the 4GB model and INR 23,999 ($349) for the 6GB model. The phone will be available exclusively on Amazon India, starting August 8. The Honor Play is basically the Nova 3 that was launched in India two weeks ago, but with few changes. Both phones have a 6.3-inch, 2340x1080 IPS display, Kirin 970 chipset, and a 3750mAh battery. The Honor...

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Fossil unveils new Q Venture and Q Explorist with HR sensor, built-in GPS and more

Fossil introduced the fourth generation of two of its Android Wear smartwatch lines - meet the Fossil Q Venture HR and Q Explorist HR. They are available for pre-order and will ship out on August 26. Fossil Q Explorist 4th generation The main difference between the two is size - Explorist is 45mm in diameter, Venture is 40mm. This means the exchangeable bands are different too, 22mm and 18mm respectively. The price, however, is identical, $255 for a leather band and $275 for a stainless steel band. As you can tell by the name, both watches have heart rate sensors....

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Razer Phone 2 to arrive in Q4 2018

Razer launched its first gaming smartphone back in the beginning of November and we were there to witness the historical event. The next iteration of the Razer Phone is poised to arrive by the end of 2018, according to company VP Chen Xiaoping. Speaking at the annual game conference China Joy 2018 in Shanghai, he said the new phone should be expected in China by December, revealing such a device is already in the pipelines. Chinese media suggest the phone might be the first with Snapdragon 855 since Qualcomm usually also announces its flagship chipset in early December. Chen...

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The budget 6.1-inch iPhone pictured with bigger single camera

A few blurry pictures captured in the wild suggest that the 2018 iPhones will feature a bigger main camera sensor (or at least module). The image below features what's most likely the "budget" 6.1-inch iPhone with a visibly larger camera and a relocated LED flash - no longer next to the camera. Alleged 6.1-inch iPhone with bigger single camera A few other shots of what appear to be iPhone dummies show the 6.1-inch iPhone in Black and White, also sporting a wider camera than the current iPhone 8. Alleged look at the 5.8-inch iPhone in black and white The final two...

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Likely Pixel 3 announcement date revealed

The Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL will most likely launch on or around October 4. On that date there will be a flood of YouTube videos detailing people's experiences of switching from a non-Pixel phone to a Pixel 3. How do we know? FameBit is a Google-owned service that connects companies looking to do some marketing with social influences. A posting on the service asks Canadian creators to prepare just such videos. And those will go live on (you guessed it) October 4. Google is recruiting YouTubers to help promote the upcoming Pixel 3 phones The date isn't a huge surprise - the...

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Oppo F9 key specs leak

Oppo F9 was teased by the company last week with a miniature notch. It will also have a Pro version that will support VOOC fast charging, but the rest of the specs were still unavailable. Now, according to a tip in our mailbox, we know the chipset, camera setup and plenty other important specs of the upcoming selfie-based midranger. AndroidPure reported the Oppo F9 will have Helio P60 chipset that has octa-core CPU. This is exactly the same platform the Oppo F7 had, which would be a first, since Oppo always updated its chipset in every new device from the F portfolio. Memory will...

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Fortnite could remain Galaxy-exclusive for months after Galaxy Note9 exclusivity ends

Fortnite is the biggest Battle Royale game currently and its launch on Android may change how things are done. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeny confirmed that the game will be exclusive to Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note9. But the deal with Samsung doesn't end there. After the first month, Fortnite for Android will be available only through the Galaxy App store for the following 2-3 months. Some info from promo materials for Huawei's Honor Note 10 seemingly confirms the timing for the game's wide release. After the Galaxy exclusivity ends, Fortnite will still not be available on the Play Store....

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Xiaomi Pocophone F1 flexes high score at AnTuTu benchmark

The upcoming Xiaomi Pocophone F1 has passed through the AnTuTu benchmark, posting an impressive 285k result - as per the leaked screenshot below. The benchmark shows the device as the Poco F1, leaving little doubt as to which device it is. Xiaomi Pocophone F1 on AnTuTu The screenshot doesn't outright show the chipset but the score itself puts it in Snapdragon 845 territory - as earlier reports have suggested. It outshines the likes of the OnePlus 6's AnTuTu score. There's still no word on when we can expect the Xiaomi Pocophone F1, but we know it will be among (if not) the...

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Asus Zenfone Live (L1) with Android Go edition launches on Best Buy

The roster of Android Oreo Go Edition phones in the US is growing - Best Buy and Asus partnered up to launch the Zenfone Live (L1). The phone is available today exclusively on Best Buy. It costs $110 with no plan, but you can save $50 if you buy a pre-paid package from AT&T, Cricket or Simple Mobile. Asus Zenfone Live (L1) The specs include a 5.5" 720p+ screen, Snapdragon 425 chipset, 1GB of RAM, 16GB storage and a microSD slot (the 2GB/32GB version isn't available). There's also a relatively big 3,000mAh battery, plus an 8MP camera on the back, 5MP on the front, both of...

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Xiaomi Mi 8X leaks in live images

Xiaomi announced the Mi 8 series on May 31 in three iterations - vanilla Mi 8 with a fingerprint scanner on the back, Mi 8 Explorer with an under-display fingerprint scanner and a transparent back panel, and Mi 8 SE with a fingerprint scanner on the back and a Snapdragon 710 chipset. According to the latest leaked images, the series is about to get a fourth variant, which is going to be a mixture of all three phones. The alleged Xiaomi Mi 8X The Mi 8X, according to the leakster that posted the images on Weibo, will have Snapdragon 710 and an under-display fingerprint scanner....

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Oppo A5 will launch in India next week, priced at INR 15,000

Oppo could launch the Oppo A5 in India next week and the rumored price is INR 15,000/€190. The information comes from alleged retail sources. Oppo launched the A5 in China at the beginning of July for CNY 1,500/€190. A few days later the Oppo A3s arrived in India and at the time it was reported to be the local version of the A5 but it has 2GB of RAM, whereas the A5 has 4GB. The rest of the Oppo A5 specs are a 6.2-inch 720x1520px IPS LCD (with a notch), a Snapdragon 450, a dual 13 f/2.2 + 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor and a 4,230mAh battery. At its purported price it will butt heads with...

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