Google opens its own repair center in the US for mail-in service

Google doesn't have physical locations to perform service on its devices like Apple has Apple Stores all over the US. Google's warranty service website has recently been updated with referenced to an in-house Repair Center where Google will officially be performing repairs. After all, Google should be taking care of its own MadeByGoogle hardware. Mail-in repairs could take anywhere from 7-10 business days after shipping your device to the Repair Center. Currently, the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, or Pixel 2 XL are all supported. If you have a Pixel Book, you'll have to take it into a...

Read More

Apple releases watchOS 5.0.1 with bug fixes

Apple has issued a new update to watchOS shortly after the major 5.0 release last week. Version 5.0.1 is a bug fix release and fixes some of the minor issues in 5.0. Of the three mentioned fixes, two relate to fitness tracking. The third issue has to do with charging. These problems may not be affecting everyone (we didn't notice anything) but if you did then you'd be glad to know they are fixed. At 37.3MB, it's a quick download although as usual, the watch will take its own sweet time installing it and will require you place it on the charger.

Read More

Facebook security breach affects 50 million accounts

Today Facebook has announced that earlier this week it discovered a security issue that affected almost 50 million accounts. This was tied to a vulnerability in the code that impacted "View As", a feature that lets people see what their own profile looks like to someone else. Attackers exploited that vulnerability, and that allowed them to steal Facebook access tokens which they could use to take over people's accounts - 50 million of them. Access tokens are the equivalent of digital keys that keep people logged into the social network so they don't need to re-enter their password every...

Read More

The redesigned Wear OS 2.1 by Google is finally rolling out to smartwatches today

It's been a month since Google announced the newest redesign of Wear OS (previously known as Android Wear). And today Wear OS 2.1 is finally starting to roll out to a smartwatch near you. It's currently being pushed to all compatible wearables. If you're wondering what those are, the list is huge - any device that was released after the announcement of Android Wear 2.0, and even those that got updated to Android Wear 2.0. It's easier to list the wearables that won't be getting the new update, and those are the LG G Watch, Samsung Gear Live, Moto 360 (1st gen), Sony Smartwatch 3, and the...

Read More

Non-plus Nokia 7.1 colors and price revealed

A renown tipster on Twitter just offered a plausible explanation about the confusion surrounding the upcoming Nokia 7.1 Plus smartphone. A tweet from Roland Quandt popped up that can be interpreted in two ways - that the phone is going to be launched as the Nokia 7.1 without the Plus version or that there are actually going to be two smartphones coming to the 7-series. Nokia 7.1 (4/64GB) Blue or Steel, 399 Euro. No Plus in that name.— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) September 28, 2018 Given the contradicting rumors about the Nokia 7.1 Plus' front panel lately, our bet is on the second one....

Read More

Huawei quietly launches MediaPad M5 lite tablet with four speakers, 10.1-inch display

Without any fuss, Huawei added a mid-range tablet on its website - the MediaPad M5 lite. It boasts an aluminum unibody and a quartet of speakers. The MediaPad M5 lite is built around a 10.1-inch 16:10 display with 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution and it's driven by a rather outdated Kirin 659 SoC. The memory variants are two - 3GB + 32GB and 4GB + 64GB. The iconic feature, however, appears to be the quad Harman/Kardon-tuned loudspeakers that work with Huawei's Histen 5.0 sound system to mimic 3D surround sound. An ample 7,500 mAh battery ensures long multimedia and gaming sessions,...

Read More

OnePlus 6T teases the in-display fingerprint reader

The OnePlus twitter account has been focused on the 6 until now, but the first teaser tweet for the OnePlus 6T just came out. It features the hexagonal "T" logo of the upgraded model and almost certainly hints at the in-display fingerprint reader (which was already officially confirmed). You can see "Unlock The Future" flash quickly, almost as a subliminal message. This isn't the first teaser, an ad even showed a glimpse of the phone. OnePlus 6T. It's coming. pic.twitter.com/Wrdt9sCdIs— OnePlus (@oneplus) September 28, 2018 The reply tweets below the teaser are about what you...

Read More

Samsung announces the Galaxy Watch Golf Edition

Samsung just announced a new version of its recently released Galaxy Watch called Galaxy Watch Golf Edition. As you've probably guessed by its name, it's directly aimed at golf fans. Galaxy Watch Golf Edition The Galaxy Watch Golf Edition is a follow-up to last year's Gear S3 Golf Edition and is only available in South Korea initially. The watch itself is essentially the same as the vanilla Galaxy Watch plus the smart Caddie app that makes navigating through golf courses a lot easier. Additionally, the app can do record and shot tracking so you can track your progress. The...

Read More

New Huawei Mate 20 teasers focus on the Kirin 980 chipset

"A higher Intelligence is coming." No, this isn't a sci-fi movie, it's the tagline of the latest Huawei Mate 20 Pro teaser. It extols the performance of the Kirin 980 chipset (like this teaser) and LTE speed (world's first to support Cat. 21). The second new teaser is... bizarre. Even more bizarre than the piano and typewriter one. We'd say it's something about Qmoji, but the text at the end reads "master the past and control the future". As the October 16 event draws near, we guess we will see more teasers that focus on the camera. The Kirin 980 is cool and all, but Huawei P20...

Read More

Nokia 7 plus now receiving Android Pie

Last month HMD Global executives promised Nokia 7 plus would be the first smartphone in the company portfolio to receive Android Pie by the end of September. After a false start on Wednesday, today the update has finally begun its rollout. Android Pie arrives "fresh out of the oven" with "a plate of new features", including Do Not Disturb Mode and Digital Wellbeing Dashboard. The Nokia 7 plus will also have Adaptive Battery, Adaptive Brightness and the new navigation button/tic-tac settings. The package is over 1400 MB in size and should be hitting Nokia 7 plus phones all over the...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy Note9's update improves camera quality

Since its launch, the Galaxy Note9 already received two updates - the most recent one addressed the Bixby button and the first one delivered extra control over the Super Slow-mo video mode. Now a third one is being seeded and it's the most significant one yet as it promises to improve the camera experience substantially. Users in Germany have spotted the OTA update that has build number N960FXXU2ARI9 and weighs in at 302MB. The changelog is all about the camera improvements - ironed out HDR issues where some parts of the image were underexposed and also changes to the low-light...

Read More

The iPhone XS sets the benchmark for drop survivability

Apple claims that the iPhone XS and XS Max have the "most durable glass ever in a smartphone". The filling in the metal and glass sandwich is "surgical-grade stainless steel". Those are some lofty claims, but can the real life hardware back them up? While there are no definitive answers, dropping the XS seven times onto asphalt should give a good indication. Especially when the last several drops are from head height. We won't spoil the results, but here are the stakes. If the front breaks, it's $280 to replace it. If it's the back, then you're staring down a $550 repair bill. Seen...

Read More

LG Watch W7 with Android Wear may launch alongside the LG V40 ThinQ

The LG V40 ThinQ event on October 3 may also bring a new Android Wear smartwatch - tentatively called the LG Watch W7. That's the same watch we heard about way back in April. Things move slowly in the world of Android Wear. That watch promised a 1.2" 360x360px screen, similar to the LG Watch Style (though perhaps an LCD instead of P-OLED). And it will use the same old Snapdragon Wear 2100, at least that's what the old rumor said. Qualcomm has since unveiled the Wear 3100 and Wear 2500, so there might have been an upgrade along the way. LG Watch Style • LG Watch Sport Those old...

Read More

SwiftKey for Android is getting two-way translation

SwiftKey has become a powerful Android keyboard alternative, offering a plethora of cool features. And it might be getting even better as the developers announced a real-time built-in translator is coming with one of the following updates. The keyboard will rely on Microsoft's Translator - hardly a surprise since the latter acquired SwiftKey at the beginning of this year. The good news is that you can still use the feature online as long as you have Microsoft Translator installed. According to the announcement, the keyboard will be able to work with 60 different languages, but it...

Read More

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 to have dedicated Xiao AI button

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is poised to be a part of the next wave of slider smartphones, right along with the Honor Magic 2 and the Lenovo Z5 Pro. Now a new leak adds a previously unknown detail about it - an AI-dedicated button on the side. The service will be called Xiao AI and will also arrive on the Xiaomi LEX, whatever that is. Having a dedicated key for the AI assistant is not a first - LG has one for the Google Assistant and Samsung does it for Bixby, while Google and HTC have squeeze gestures. Xiao AI (also seen as Xiaoai) came preloaded on the Mi Mix 2S and is widely...

Read More

Razer Phone 2 press image reveals design identical to the original

The Razer Phone 2 just appeared in another press image further confirming that the design will remain largely unchanged. We saw a frontal shot of the handset a few weeks back showing off identical appearance to the original Razer Phone. Enough politics for today. pic.twitter.com/5nUc3xdden— Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 28, 2018 Of course, we weren't sure if the render was legit at first but this new image confirms its accuracy. The first thing we've noticed is the new dual camera alignment as of now, the LED flash is in the middle and so is the whole setup. We can't tell if the...

Read More