Google Play Books app on Android gets a redesign

Google has finally updated the Android version of the Play Books app with the new Material Theme design. The app now features a uniform white color theme across the screen, with a redesigned tab bar, smaller thumbnails with rounded corners, new typography and an overall cleaner look. The design of the new app is consistent with the new Material Theme that Google has been propagating throughout all its properties. While the new design decision is generally appealing, the slow manner in which it gets rolled out is really frustrating. Not only is Play Books on Android getting this...

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Google discontinues Chromecast Audio

Google has confirmed that it is discontinuing the Chromecast Audio. In a statement sent to Android Police, the company said, Our product portfolio continues to evolve, and now we have a variety of products for users to enjoy audio. We have therefore stopped manufacturing our Chromecast Audio products. We will continue to offer assistance for Chromecast Audio devices, so users can continue to enjoy their music, podcasts and more. Chromecast Audio was a small and affordable way to stream audio from your phone to a pair of active speakers with a line-in or optical input. The device...

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VLC soon to get Apple AirPlay suppot on iOS, Android and probably Windows

At CES 2019, VLC revealed that it has plans to implement support for AirPlay so you can stream all of your videos on Apple TV from your Android or iOS device. Unfortunately, it's still unclear when the feature will be rolled out but the lead developers over at Videolan said they are planning to introduce it with the next major update VLC 4. For now, the app can stream to your Chromecast. Moreover, the support for AirPlay will likely extend to Windows as well since VLC is modular and it may not depend on the target platform API making it compatible with all operating systems. Via

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IMDb announces Freedive, a free video streaming service with ads

IMDb has announced that it is launching a new video streaming service in the US called Freedive. The major draw of this service is that it will be free of cost and will be ad-supported. While IMDb previously had some amount of video content in the form of short-form original series, trailers and interviews, this service will be offering full-length movies and television shows. Of the list of content currently available, IMDb highlighted TV shows such as Fringe, Heroes, The Bachelor, and Without a Trace as well as Hollywood movies like Awakenings, Foxcatcher, Memento, Monster, Run...

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Sony Mobile exec hints that the Xperia Compact line has been axed

Sony Mobile is undergoing restructuring to make it competitive again. This includes new leadership and a new strategy, we'll see the first step of that at the end of February. "We are going to be announcing products at MWC. What we present there will be a first step showing the direction we are going." Mesa adds that Sony is hoping to deliver a "much better camera experience", but doesn't go into detail (the Xperia XZ4 is rumored to become Sony's first triple camera phone). It's important to note that Shigeki Ishizuka was brought in as Head of Development, a veteran of Sony's successful...

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Samsung remembers its past milestones as Galaxy nears its 10 year anniversary

The Samsung I7500 Galaxy was announced in April 2009 - Samsung's Android phones turn 10 this year. Galaxy would grow to become the biggest smartphone line in the world, but it had to go through many innovations and milestones to get here. Samsung has a history of innovative devices and their DNA can still be seen in modern Galaxy gadgets. In 1999 it brought mobile entertainment to a new level with a TV phone. It's 1.8" color screen makes today's 6+ inch slabs look like pocket IMAX theaters. That same year the SPH-WP10 watch phone was unveiled, the grand-daddy of the Galaxy...

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Two Huawei employees arrested in Poland over spying allegations

Two Huawei employees had been arrested in Poland over allegations of spying for the Chinese government. This is the second incident after Huawei's CFO got arrested in Canada. Now the Polish counterintelligence agency believes it has hard evidence of Huawei's employees' wrongdoings. One of them is Polish while the other one is Chinese. The Chinese national is a sales director while the Polish is a former high-ranking official at Poland's internal security agency. Both of them will remain in custody for the next three months and could face up to 10 years in prison. Huawei, on the...

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Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) surfaces on Geekbench running Android Pie

Obviously, Samsung has prioritized its 2018 and 2017 flagships to receive the Android 9.0 Pie updates first but it appears that the company has already baking the Pie for a 2017 midranger, the Galaxy A7 (2017). The evidence is a Geekbench listing of the phone running the latest Google OS. The score sheet doesn't reveal anything out of the ordinary except that it's running Android 9.0 Pie, which in turn means that the software is already in development or even better - it has entered the testing stages. We just hope it won't be long enough before Samsung seeds the update. Source |...

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Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 arrives in the UK for £499

Xiaomi introduced the Mi Mix 3 slider and promised the phone would arrive in Europe with 5G in the first quarter of 2019. While the next-gen connectivity is still a mere wish, the actual device popped up in Spain yesterday and now it's on its way to the Albion. Xiaomi is launching the slider in the United Kingdom on January 16 with a promo price of £449 for the first 100 phones. The Mi Mix 3 was introduced in at least three memory options with up to 10 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. Sadly, Europe will get only 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage in order to maintain a lower price tag. Once the...

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Pocophone F1 long-term review

A little phone that isn't small. A flagship that costs a third of what you'd expect. A contradiction? No, it's the Pocophone F1. Shocking? Awe-inspiring? Yes and yes. The most intriguing handset of the year isn't the most bezel-starved, or one with sliding bits and pieces, or one with an in-display fingerprint senso

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 outscores the 710 on AnTuTu, matches it on Geekbench

An unknown device has appeared on AnTuTu, sporting the new 11nm Snapdragon 675 chipset. It scored 174K, which is a lot higher than the 155K we got with the 10nm Snapdragon 710-powered Oppo RX17 Pro. What's more interesting than the chip itself is the phone that's wielding it. Only two phones are using the Snapdragon 675 - the yet-to-be-announced Moto P40 and the HiSense U30, so the reasonable guess is that the score is from the latter. The assumption is substantiated by an unearthed Geekbench listing of the HiSense U30 with Android 9 Pie and 6GB of RAM. The phone achieved a 2.2K...

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vivo Z3i with an IPS LCD panel announced

vivo just announced another variation of its Z3i smartphone called Z3i Standard Edition. It's only available in China for now and it's essentially the same old Z3i but with an IPS LCD instead of an AMOLED screen. As you'd expect, the use of an IPS panel brings the price down to CNY 1,998 ($296). That's a 17% decrease compared to the original vivo Z3i that costs CNY 2,398 ($355). The rest is the same - MediaTek Helio P60 SoC, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage and a 6.3-inch display with 1080 x 2280 pixels resolution. The camera setup on the back is 16MP (f/2.0) + 2MP depth sensor...

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Xiaomi Yi Home Camera 3 arrives with AI notifications and Full HD video

CES 2019 is still going on in Las Vegas, and the latest announcement comes from Yi Technology. The Xiaomi subsidiary introduced the Yi Home Camera 3 with AI notifications and features, along with 1080p video quality. According to the Core Algorithm Developer Ron Fridental, no one wants to receive useless notifications. The company improved its recognition engine so you can get notified for important stuff and not some bug buzzing or car lights outside the window, as it was before. The new camera can instantly notify users of any unusual sounds within a range of 16 feet which is...

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WSJ: iPhone 11 will have triple camera, XR successor will have dual

The new generation of iPhones are still just four months old now but intel is already piling up on the iPhone 11. Earlier this week we saw the first alleged renders of the upcoming iPhone 11 and today there's a fresh report about it. According to sources close to the Wall Street Journal, the high-end iPhone 11 will gain a triple camera while the iPhone XR successor will get dual snapper on its back. The report further elaborates that the iPhone XR successor will retain the Liquid Retina (LCD) screen and that Apple will likely move to an OLED only lineup in 2020. The report doesn't...

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OnePlus 5/5T getting Oxygen 9.0.2 hot fix for WiFi connection issues

The OnePlus 5 and 5T received their Android Pie update right at the end of 2018 but it was discovered to come with annoying issues for some units. The biggest problem with the new Pie update was the WiFi connectivity. Some users report that the WiFi didn't work in select third-party apps and experienced bad WiFi stability overall. Well now a hotfix udpate e addresses that as well as the physical navigation keys of the OnePlus 5. They appear to stop working randomly. Additionally, the patch adds the missing 4G VoLTE toggle, optimizes sRGB and Reading display mode and takes care of...

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Realme 3 coming this quarter, a 48 MP cameraphone too

Realme had a great start when it launched last year, releasing five phones to offer amazing value for money and smashing a bunch of records. And it appears that it intends to keep the pace up in the new year as the latest rumor points to Realme 3 coming within the next three months. The report says Realme will introduce a phone with a 48 MP shooter, although it is unclear if it will be part of the Realme 3 series or not. In a conversation with Indian Express, Madhav Sheth, Realme CEO, revealed some of the 2019 company plans. Because of eased market restrictions in India, Amazon...

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Xiaomi launches Mi Soundbar, along with two new television models in India

Xiaomi has launched a new soundbar in India. Called the Mi Soundbar, it's priced at INR 4,999 ($71) and will be available exclusively through Mi.com and Mi Home stores starting January 16. The Mi Soundbar has eight drivers, consisting of two tweeters, two woofers and four passive radiators, all of which are powered by a 28W amplifier. The soundbar accepts optical, coaxial, RCA, and line-in inputs. It also has Bluetooth 4.2 for wireless connectivity. For whatever reason, Xiaomi does not provide a remote control for the unit, and it's not clear if it supports one at all. Overall,...

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