vivo Apex 2019 is coming on January 24

Plenty of smartphone manufacturers demoed their current technologies at CES 2019, but vivo decided to do its own thing. The company showcased elements of a design, called Waterdrop, that is going to arrive on January 24. Today vivo posted another image on its Weibo profile, effectively revealing the new device will be called vivo APEX 2019. Current vivo teaser • Previous vivo teaser Almost a year ago we saw the first vivo APEX that was essentially a concept smartphone with pretty much bezel-less screen, pop-up camera and UD scanner that worked anywhere in the bottom half of...

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Google buys mysterious smartwatch technology from Fossil for $40 million

Today the Fossil Group has announced that it's entered an agreement to sell Google some secret still in development smartwatch technology for $40 million. The deal involves intellectual property related to that technology, as well as some of Fossil's R&D team's members joining Google. The agreement will eventually result in the launch of "a new product innovation that's not yet hit the market", according to Greg McKelvey, EVP and chief strategy and digital officer of the Fossil Group. The mysterious technology in question has been developed by Fossil on top of what it acquired when it...

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LG G8 leaks in CAD-based renders and video, doesn't fold, doesn't have two screens

LG's G8 has finally received the leaked CAD-based renders treatment, ahead of its possible unveiling at MWC next month. There's also a video showcasing the renders, which you can find embedded if you scroll down a bit. This is definitely not a foldable smartphone, so if LG is in fact working on something like that, then it will get another name and might be part of a wholly new, more experimental series. Other rumors have talked about an LG handset with an "attachable" second display, but we're not sure how that might work, especially on this phone that doesn't seem to have any special...

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Verizon has a Buy One, Get One free deal for iPhones, Pixels, Samsungs, and LGs

Verizon has decided to offer a pretty interesting Buy One, Get One free (BOGO) deal starting today. In essence, you buy one device from a brand and you can get another one from the same manufacturer for free. There are multiple caveats, as you'd expect, chief of which is the fact that the handset you're receiving for no cost is the cheaper of the bunch. So, for example - if you purchase an iPhone XR, XS, XS Max, or X, you can get an iPhone XR for free. Alternatively if you don't like Apple's most affordable model, the carrier will give you $750 off any other iPhone. The deal works...

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Apple iPhone XR's successor to have better LTE performance

Opting for the cheaper iPhone XR will not only get you a less impressive IPS display and a single-camera setup on the back, it will also have slower LTE speeds than the more expensive iPhone XS and XS Max. However, according to a Barclays research note, the next-generation iPhone XR will no longer be at a disadvantage compared to its peers. The upcoming "budget" iPhone will feature 4x4 MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) antenna design, which will significantly improve the LTE reception and data transfer speeds. The current high-end iPhone XS and XS Max boast a Gigabit-class LTE...

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Moto G7 with Snapdragon 625 benchmarked, could be the G7 Play

The Moto G7 has been subject to a lot of leaks lately and the Geekbench score sheet that we have here appears to reveal some of the specs of the Play model. It lists the aging Snapdragon 625 chipset and that just doesn't seem like a good fit for the main or the Plus-sized versions. Plus, we've seen solid evidence pointing at Snapdragon 632 and Snapdragon 660 SoCs. Perhaps the vanilla Moto G7 will go with the SD632 while the Plus variant will take the more powerful SD660 on board. If this is true, then we must be dealing with the budget Play model here with Snapdragon 625 and 3GB of...

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LG G7 ThinQ gets stable Android 9 Pie update in South Korea

The LG G7 ThinQ started beta testing Android 9 Pie in November with a promise to deliver the update in Q1 2019 and it's now here. Or rather, it is there - in South Korea. LG typically releases updates in its home market first and then globally a couple of months later. Here's what you have to look forward to. The change log includes Pie's gesture navigation and the battery optimization features. An LG-supplied issue is the support for dual apps, so you can use two social networking apps simultaneously. LG G7 ThinQ change log for Android 9 Pie (in Korean) The camera gained LG...

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Honor posts steady growth despite shrinking smartphone market

Huawei's sub brand Honor posted strong growth in Q3 of 2018. Its shipments in Q3 of 2018 went up 27.1% that's despite a 3.1% global slowdown in smartphone shipments. However, that's lower than the 32.9% overall growth posted by Huawei, suggesting that the sub-brand is doing worse than its parent. Honor also says that it now ranks first in market share in the mid and high-end online channel market for the same period - an enviable feat for such a young company. The company says it's on track to achieving its goal of becoming a Top 5 manufacturer in the next three years and Top 3 in the next...

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The first Android Q beta build leaks, reveals some of the upcoming features

Android Pie is yet to reach anything close to mass adoption, but Google's developers team is already busy building the new Android Q. The guys over at XDA Developers have come across the earliest build of Google's upcoming OS version tested on a Google Pixel 3 XL and shared some of its features. The build date of the ROM was just last week along with February 2019's security patch and it's up-to-date with Google's AOSP internal master. Of course, a lot of features are missing at this point, but some interesting discoveries were made nonetheless. The first thing that came out was...

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Apple loses appeal, $440M patent infringement fine stands

The patent battle between Apple and VirnetX has come another step closer to a conclusion after the Cupertino company lost its appeal over the $440 million fine. More than a year ago it was ordered to pay the sum for willful infringement of licenses for secure LTE connectivity used in plenty of iOS apps, including FaceTime. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the original verdict, but Apple is planning to appeal once more with a higher court, according to Reuters. The whole fine of $440 million is a sum of a $302 million fine, additional $41 million in penalties,...

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Redmi Note 7 is getting Xiaomi's Night Mode

If you weren't already impressed with Redmi Note 7's 48MP camera maybe Night mode will change your mind. This update was announced on MIUI's official Weibo page and will be released "later" (with no further clarification). The Redmi Note 7 is the first of its siblings to feature the large 1/2" ISOCELL GM1 sensor with 48MP resolution. Individual pixels measure 0.8µm, but they can be binned to simulate a 12MP sensor with 1.6µm pixels. Xiaomi included four sample shots with the new mode and they are indeed in 12MP resolution. Redmi Note 7: Night mode camera samples...

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Oppo R19 and vivo X25 to arrive with pop-up cameras

The summer of 2018 was an exciting period for envelope-pushing smartphone designs and camera setups. First the vivo NEX arrived with a pop-up selfie shooter just to be overshadowed by the Oppo Find X a while. According to a popular Chinese leakster, both companies are planning to bring the periscope selfie camera design to their next flagships, meaning vivo X25 and Oppo R19 are likely to have pop-up cameras and all-screen fronts. The source revealed factory parts and molds are being prepared for the new designs. Oppo is likely going for the same solution with the whole top side...

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First Xiaomi Mi 9 renders are here, it and the Mi 9 SE get certified in China

Unofficial renders of the Xiaomi Mi 9 have hit the web and while they are not the usual CAD-based affair, they hit all the key points from the rumors so far. Starting from the back, there's a triple camera with a 48MP main module. The other two reportedly have 18MP and 8MP sensors. Speculative Xiaomi Mi 9 render Going to the front, the screen is expected to have a 6.4" diagonal and a teardrop notch (though probably not as small as depicted here). The Mi 9 will most likely be powered by a Snapdragon 855 chipset and will feature very fast charging. Here's an alternative...

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Sony Xperia XA3, XA3 Ultra and L3 receive Bluetooth certifications

The Sony Xperia XA3 and XA3 Ultra have been in a holding pattern for a while. One of the few remaining hold-ups was a certificate from the Bluetooth SIG and they have that now. The XA3 was benchmarked with Snapdragon 660 and 6GB of RAM. It will have a 5.9" 1,080 x 2,160px screen. You can feast your eyes on these CAD-based renders, the dual camera design is fairly unusual (confirmed by these cases). The Xperia XA3 Ultra will have a similar design, but its screen goes up to 6.5". Sony Xperia XA3 (CAD-based renders) The third model is likely the Xperia L3. Unofficial...

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Amazon Echo Input now available in India

Amazon has launched the Echo Input in India. It is priced at INR 2999 ($42). The Echo Input is the cheapest of the Echo range. It is essentially the Echo Dot but without the built-in speaker. This means it relies entirely on being connected to a speaker system. The Echo Input is aimed at those who not just want an affordable way to use Alexa in their home but also a way to turn their regular home audio system into a smart speaker system. You just have to plug this into any active speaker system with the provided audio cable and turn it into an Alexa-enabled speaker system. The...

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nubia Red Magic Mars with 10 GB RAM now up for sale

The ZTE subsidiary nubia introduced its gaming smartphone Red Magic Mars back in November with three memory options - 6/64 GB, 8/128 GB, and 10/256 GB. The first two are selling for quite some time, but the most powerful is only now becoming available online. The phone comes in Camo color, costs CNY3,999 and can be bought today and shipped tomorrow. The gaming device has a 6" IPS LCD screen with 18:9 tall ratio and two touch-sensitive areas on the rim that act like shoulder buttons. There is also a "4D Shock" haptic feedback, stereo speakers and a dual heat pipe and convection...

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Google Pixel 3 Lite leaks in full in a hands-on video

It's happening all over again. Google's production and supply chain let a whole unit escape months ahead of announcement. The Google Pixel 3 Lite has just starred in a hands-on video - just like its more expensive siblings, the Pixel 3/3 XL did last year. According to the video, the Pixel 3 Lite is coming this spring right after the Google I/O conference. Anyway, the smartphone, codenamed Sargo, follows the same design language as its more expensive siblings but swaps out the metal and glass for plastic. Also, the SIM tray has been placed on the right side, and there are no stereo...

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Samsung's Galaxy Fold (SM-F9000) gets certified by CMIIT

The Samsung Galaxy F or Fold is spotted going through the CMIIT (China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) which means that Samsung plans to bring the Galaxy F to the Chinese market. This just in time as Samsung's Unpacked event next month will likely see the debut of the Galaxy F. The main model number is SM-F9000, likely followed by a letter that would identify the market it is intended for. "U" is for US, "F" is for EU, and "A" might be for Asia. Aside from seeing this model number in an official document, there isn't much else revealed about the device...

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vivo launches Xchange trade-in program in India

Chinese phonemaker vivo is launching a new trade-in program in India. It lets you exchange your old phone for credit towards a new vivo phone directly from vivo's online store at shop.vivo.com/in. Cashify.in will be handling the exchange program for vivo and as a promotional offer, vivo will offer an additional INR 1000 to anyone turning in an old vivo device from today through January 19. To perform an exchange with vivo's new Xchange program, you first have to go to the vivo e-store and select the device you'd like to buy. Next, click on "check availability" to confirm...

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