Samsung Galaxy S8 gets new update, keeps the same November security patch

Samsung smartphones that will receive an update to Android Pie will move from Samsung Experience UI to One UI. According to previous info, the Galaxy S8 is in tow for such a switch, but if you have received the latest update, prepare to be disappointed, because it brings neither new OS nor updated security patch. Samsung Galaxy S8 update info The new software update is version G950FXXU4CRKG / G950FOXM4CKR1 / G950FXXU4CKR1 and is 451 MB in size. According to the log, it brings device stability improvements and bug fixes, along with "new and/or enhanced features" and "further...

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LG X5 arrives in Japan, it is actually the LG G7 One

LG G7 One made its first appearance back at IFA 2018 in Berlin with stock Android and impressive Snapdragon 835 chipset. The Android One phone has been rolling out on markets slowly, but we just got a tip the device arrived in Japan. Interestingly enough, the device is listed as LG X5 Android One, but it remains the same handset specs-wise. The LG X5 comes with the very same year-old flagship chipset and 4 GB RAM. There is only one option of storage - 32 GB, but at least there is a microSD slot on the phone for up to 512 GB more. All phones from the LG G7 series share the same...

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Instagram Direct adds support for voice messages

Instagram Direct, the area of the service where you chat with your friends either one-on-one or in group settings, is getting a new feature today. You should file this one under the "how could it possibly have taken this long?" category, because we're talking about voice messages. It's basically a carbon copy of the walkie-talkie like system that Facebook Messenger has had for the past five years. It works exactly the same, it has the same limitations, everything. And since Facebook owns Instagram, it's baffling that it took this long to incorporate the feature. Perhaps Instagram has...

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Samsung Galaxy S9 gets a new Android Pie beta update in the US

Samsung is sending out another beta update of Android 9 Pie to the Galaxy S9 and S9+ in the US today. It's a bit smaller than the one that went out at the end of November, but it does contain a very long list of bug fixes and general improvements. It's also packing the December 2018 security patch level. If you're part of the beta program for Android Pie in the US, you should get the update notification shortly. Once you install the 589MB software release, your S9 will be on version G960USQU3ZRL5. New Android Pie beta update for Galaxy S9 The fixes inside are based on the...

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Xiaomi's 48 MP phone might be a Redmi with a hole in the display for the selfie cam

Xiaomi President Lin Bin shared an intriguing teaser image a few days ago, revealing that his company is working on a smartphone with a 48 MP main camera, which is to become official next month. Rumor had it this would be the Mi 9, but apparently that's not the case. A new report today claims it will instead be part of the Redmi series, traditionally the one that has focused on affordability more than anything else. What's more, this device will also be Xiaomi's first with a hole-in-display design. Like the Huawei nova 4, the Honor View 20, and the Samsung Galaxy A8s, the hole will be in...

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Apple Pay reportedly coming to Germany really soon

According to sources in the banking industry related to the German blog Macerkopf, Apple is finally going introduce its Apple Pay system as early as this week. In fact, many believe this will happen tomorrow. Tim Cook confirmed that Germany will get Apple Pay before the end of 2018 back in July and it appears that the firm will hold on to its promise. The mobile bank N26 and Comdirect are expected to be among the first to adopt the payment method. We can only wait now as Apple's official German website says "coming soon" when you go to the Apple Pay section. Source (in German)

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Nokia 8.1 launched in India, goes on sale December 21

HMD Global has launched the Nokia 8.1 in India. The phone is priced at INR 26,999 ($372) and will be available in only one variant, starting December 21, with pre-orders starting December 10. The phone can be purchased across all major offline retailers as well as online through Amazon and Nokia.com. The Nokia 8.1 is a mid-range smartphone. It has a 6.18-inch, FullHD+ IPS display. It runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chipset and comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage. The phone has a dual camera on the back with 12MP f1.8 primary camera with Zeiss optics and OIS....

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First camera samples by the 48MP camera of the Honor View 20

Earlier today, Honor announced a bunch of new tech that's supposed to make it to its future smartphones and the 48MP camera sensor is one of them. It takes advantage of the Quad Bayer tech. The camera uses Sony's IMX586 CMOS sensor with 0.8µm pixel size. It's will surely be part of the upcoming Honor View 20. Thanks to its Quad Bayer method that stacks four adjacent 2x2 pixels into the same color, photos appear sharper and without much noise even in challenging low-light scenarios. To show off its amazing capabilities, Honor published a bucketload of camera samples some of which are in...

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China bans local sales of iPhone X, 8 and older for violating two Qualcomm patents

Qualcomm scored a win in its legal battle with Apple - a Chinese court has issued a preliminary order banning the import and sale of select Apple phones in China. The affected models include the iPhone X, iPhone 8, 8 Plus and older models going back to the 6s generation. Apple violated two patents held by Qualcomm, the court has found. They relate to resizing photos and navigating apps on a touchscreen. These are software patents and Apple claims that iOS 12 does not violate them. The company also issued a statement saying "all iPhone models remain available for our customers in China"....

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Vivo starts selling the Y93s - a Y93 with a Helio P22 and double the storage

Vivo has retooled its Y93 with a MediaTek Helio P22 chipset (to replace the Qualcomm Snapdragon 439), doubled the built-in storage to 128GB an appended an s to the name - meet the vivo Y93s. The phone is built around the same blueprint - a 6.2-inch 720x1520px display with a teardrop-styled notch for the 8MP f/2.0 selfie camera. There are two other cameras on the vivo Y93s - a 13MP f/2.2 snapper paired to a 2MP f/2.4 depth-sensing second camera. vivo Y93s The aforementioned Helio P22 chipset is on par with the Snapdragon 439, on paper. Both feature eight Cortex-A53 cores that...

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Huawei nova 4 arrives at TENAA with a triple camera, including a 48MP sensor

The Huawei nova 4 will be unveiled on December 17, a week after its sibling, the Honor View 20. The two handsets share the punch hole selfie camera on the front and the 48MP main camera on the back. You can just about make out the "48MP AI camera" label in these photos posted by TENAA. But that's only one of three cameras on the back of the nova 4. So that's where these two otherwise similar phones diverge - the Honor phone will rely on the huge 1/2" sensor for everything, the Huawei phone has extra hardware. Huawei nova 4 (photos by TENAA) The setup looks similar to the...

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A patent details Apple's AirPower wireless charger potential smart features

In a recent patent from Apple, the mythical AirPower wireless charging mat makes an appearance. Although there's no mention of the name in the document, it's easy to assume that we are talking about the very same device and it goes into details about the features. By now, we know that the AirPower charging mat can be used to charge multiple devices simultaneously such as your iPhone, AirPods and Apple watch. But while it does that, it can also communicate with each and every one of them in more than just one way. The charger gives unique IDs of the charged devices in order to track...

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Honor claims to be No. 1 e-brand in China, shows impressive growth globally

While the people were captivated the Honor View 20 announcement - the first phone with a 48MP camera - the Huawei offshoot took the opportunity to show how much it has grown. It claimed the title of "No. 1 Smartphone E-brand in China" (as in one focused on Internet retail). It topped Xiaomi both in number of phones sold and in generated sales. This is based on the last 9 quarters (so just over 2 years). Honor also claims 150% growth in the overseas market. It is among the leading brands in Europe and is showing impressive in India and Malaysia. The Honor View 20 is also the...

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Xiaomi unveils Black Shark Gamepad 2.0, discounts original phone for the holidays

Xiaomi has unveiled version 2.0 of its Black Shark Gamepad and it's a significant improvement over the original. It costs $90/€80/£70 normally, but you get a 20% discount off that if you bundle it with the original Black Shark phone. That currently goes for €420/£360, €80/£80 off its usual price. Note that the original controller is bundled for free with this phone (and no, the Black Shark Helo isn't available in the West yet). Back to the Black Shark Gamepad 2.0. It now has two parts, left and right, that attach no either side of the phone like the Joy-Cons of the Nintendo Switch. These...

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Google Pixel 3 Lite and Pixel 3 Lite XL 3D renders are here

We saw Google unveiling its 2018 flagships in the beginning of October, but rumors are pointing to Lite variants that are bound to arrive any time soon. OnLeaks and 91mobile released their usual 3D CAD-based renders, suggesting what the final design of the phones could be. The most prominent feature is the return of the 3.5 mm audio jack which was omitted back in 2017 with the Pixel 2 series. The Google Pixel 3 Lite will have the same 5.5" screen like the actual Pixel 3 smartphone. The new device will be 151.3 x 70 x 8.2 mm big, with the thickness jumping to 9 mm with the camera...

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Supernova Red vivo V11 Pro is now official

Two weeks ago we heard about vivo V11 Pro arriving in Red and today the rumors became reality. The company listed the device in its new color, called Supernova Red, on Amazon India. The price is INR25,990 for the 6/64 GB version, which is exactly the same offer as the Dazzling Gold or Starry Night gradient options. The vivo V11 Pro is called vivo V11 at any other market aside from China where it carries the moniker X21s. The phone has a 6.41" AMOLED screen that comes with UD fingerprint scanner and a small waterdrop notch for the 25 MP selfie camera. There are two memory options of...

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Samsung Galaxy A8s is official with a Infinity-O display and Snapdragon 710

Samsung just announced the world's first smartphone with camera hole in the display, the Galaxy A8s. Samsung calls Infinity-O design and it appears that the company beat Huawei to the punch as the Honor View 20 will be second to the finish line. Anyway, the Galaxy A8s' in-display camera isn't the only centerpiece feature of the device. It's actually a pretty capable smartphone with a powerful Snapdragon 710 chipset paired with either 6 or 8GB of RAM while the storage is 128GB. It can be expanded with a microSD card of up to 512GB. As for the screen, it incorporates a camera hole...

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Pocophone F1 gets a price cut in India

The Pocophone F1 is sold in India as Poco F1 and is being a huge hit due to its low price and its flagship performance due to the Snapdragon 845 chipset. The subbrand celebrated 700,000 sold units last week and to celebrate the milestone it slashed the price of the phone down to INR19,999, which is equal to $280/€245. Pocophone F1 New Price (in INR) Old price (in INR) 6 GB + 64 GB 19,999 20,999 6 GB + 128 GB 22,999 23,999 8 GB + 256 GB 27,999 28,999 The Poco F1 can be purchased on Mi.com and...

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Huawei Enjoy 9 chooses Snapdragon over Kirin, lacks a fingerprint scanner

Huawei has just announced the Enjoy 9 - a watered down version of the Enjoy 9 Plus that went on sale in China in October. The Huawei Enjoy 9 has a 6.26-inch 720x1520px IPS LCD, a 13MP f/1.8 + 2MP f/2.4 depth-sensing dual camera and an 8MP f/2.0 selfie camera. Huawei Enjoy 9 Buyers can choose between a 3GB + 32GB or 4GB + 64GB but both come with a lowly Snapdragon 450 chipset with no choice of Kirin available. There's no biometric means of unlocking on the Huawei Enjoy 9 - only insecure face scanning. The good news is that there's a 4,000mAh battery that should help the Enjoy...

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Honor teases the View 20 - its first phone with an in-screen camera

We are in Hong Kong for the official introduction of Honor View 20 - the world's first phone with an in-screen camera. The device is yet to be launched to the wide audience, but we got an exclusive peek of the new device. It will be the first smartphone with a 48 MP camera, implementing the Sony IMX586 sensor. Another breakthrough the Huawei subsidiary introduced is Magic Turbo - a technology allowing simultaneous Wi-Fi + 4G use, so the connection is not choking over poor public networks. Honor skipped on revealing any specs and the unit we held was in a pre-production case, hiding...

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