Meet Threads, a standalone app to chat with your Instagram Close Friends

Last November, Instagram announced a feature called Close Friends which lets you share your Stories with select followers. Almost a year later, the company announced a new app called Threads which is designed to be used with Close Friends. Threads makes it easier to share pictures and videos with people in your Close Friends list by letting you add their profile pictures at the bottom of the screen. You simply have to take a picture or shoot a video, tap on their photo, and swipe up to send. The app also has an inbox dedicated to the people in your Instagram Close Friends list. This...

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Alleged OnePlus 8 renders suggest hole-punch selfie cam; wireless charging rumored

A new rumor about a future device comes right on the heels of the OnePlus 7T launch, before the newly announced device is even available to purchase. @Onleaks and CaskKaro have co-released a set of renders for what's supposedly the OnePlus 8. The render looks very identical to the OnePlus 7 Pro from earlier this year, but there are a couple of differences that are only visible through a microscope. OnePlus 7 Pro The first and most noticeable difference is probably the paint job. The 7 Pro launched with a Nebula Blue color, which was a blue gradient that faded to a much...

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Report: Apple will launch iPhone SE 2 with iPhone 8 design and A13 chipset

The iPhone SE launched in 2016 and it was a re-release of the iPhone 5's smaller hardware in a time when the 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhones seemed too large. The iPhone SE was essentially an iPhone 5 body updated with new internals and the camera of an iPhone 6S. It was meant for those who preferred a smaller, more pocketable iPhone. Rumors of a successor to the iPhone SE began swirling in 2017 and would have featured the same 4-inch form factor. Well, it's been over two years since then and rumors are again ramping up about a possible iPhone SE. The report comes from long-time Apple analyst...

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OnePlus 7T gets OxygenOS 10.0.3 with improved photo quality

Today OnePlus has sent out the first software update to the 7T that was announced last week. This update is OxygenOS 10.0.3 and it brings with it some general bug fixes and improvements, along with important camera stuff - like improved photo quality, enhanced stability of the camera system, and some UI improvements as well. So for that reason alone this is clearly an update you should install as soon as you get it - which for most people will probably be once they take their brand new OnePlus 7T out of the box. As usual though, the rollout is incremental, so if you already have a...

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OnePlus opens a new experience store in India

OnePlus has opened a new flagship experience store in India. It is located in the country's financial capital city of Mumbai at High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel. The new store is the second of its kind in Mumbai. It spans over 1000 sq.ft and is located in one of the busiest locations in the city. For the launch of the store, OnePlus planned several activities, including workshops, zumba, peripheral arts, gaming activities and performances by various artists. OnePlus is also offering INR 2,000 cash back to any HDFC card holder on purchase of a OnePlus 7T or OnePlus 7 Pro till October...

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No plans for 5G BlackBerry phone any time soon says TCL exec

Once at the forefront of the smartphone industry, Blackberry was on the verge of extinction before it was acquired by TCL several years go. With the absence of major exposure and new models in the past year, future BlackeBerry devices will likely remain as affordable midrange offerings. At a recently held CCS Insight Predictions event, TCL's marketing GM Stefan Streit said that the company doesn't have plans to introduce 5G BlackBerry phones any time soon. It's not an entertainment device and you can already get your email really fast. We can have a lot of fun with 5G and where...

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Samsung's exclusive Fortnite skin "GLOW" is now available for download

The exclusive GLOW outfit and Levitate emote for Fortnite are now available to Samsung owners. While they celebrate the release of the Galaxy Note10 duo (the name refers to Aura Glow), owners of older premium Samsung phones and tablets can get them as well - going all the way back to the S7. You'll find the full list of supported devices below. Note that you'll need to download Fortnite from the Galaxy Store or Game Launcher for the outfit and emote to appear. You can find the full details on how to get them here. You can keep the GLOW outfit and Levitate emote for yourself of...

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The Pixel 4 will have a Dual Exposure features, many camera samples leak

As we saw in the leaked specs list, the Pixel 4 will have a new image processing chip - the Pixel Neural Core (the previous generation hardware is called Visual Core). There will be changes to the camera app as well, including a new Dual Exposure feature. This mode will allow you to separately control the highlights and shadows in the photo. So, it's sort of line manual HDR mode (HDR takes a short exposure for the highlights and a long one for the shadows and then merges the two images). Here's short video showing the dual slider in action: And here are some camera samples...

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Star Wars director shoots short film using the iPhone 11 Pro

Apple likes to use film directors to show off how awesome the latest iPhone camera is and the iPhone 11 Pro is no exception. It tapped Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Knives Out), George Nolfi (The Adjustment Bureau) and others to shoot short films using just the phone. Here's Rian Johnson's film, "Paris 9/19". Last year, Steven Soderbergh shot the movie Unsane entirely on an iPhone 7 Plus (in case you missed it, check out the trailer here). This movie got a full theatrical release and grossed $14.2 million worldwide, by the way, and has an 80% Certified Fresh score on...

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Samsung Galaxy Fold long-term review

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The FCC posts photos the ZTE Blade 20 and its 5,000mAh battery, Blade A5 (2020) spotted as well

The FCC has published more information than usual about two upcoming ZTE phones - the Blade 20 and Blade A5 (2020). This includes everything from photos of the phones themselves to the quick start guide (that's much more than the FCC usually publishes before a device is official). Let's start with the ZTE Blade A20. It adopts the square camera island design that's reminiscent of certain recent flagships. On the front, there's a waterdrop notch for the selfie camera. The manual doesn't offer much detail about the cameras, unfortunately. ZTE Blade 20 (photos by FCC) Photos...

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Huawei Enjoy 10 will offer punch hole display and dual camera setup

Earlier today we saw an upcoming Huawei device with the product number ART-TL00x pop up on Chinese certification agency site TENAA. Now Evan Blass shared a press images of the device confirming it's going to be called Enjoy 10. The phone will essentially be a lower-cost alternative to the Enjoy 10 Plus which was unveiled last month. The new render gives us a clearer view of the screen and its punch-hole camera in the top left corner. Around the back, we have a dual-camera setup and flash. There is no physical fingerprint reader on the back of the Enjoy 10 and given that it will be a...

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Google Shopping relaunches in the US, Lens now offers ideas on what to wear

Google Lens can now offer "style ideas" for how to dress up - just point it to an item of clothing and it will show you photos of people wearing it, which you can use as inspiration for a complete outfit. This complements the existing functionality of finding similar clothes based on a photo. Here's a demo of how it works. First you need a photo - you can snap one on the spot or use an existing image from Google Photos (screenshots work just as well). Then Lens will offer a list of similar items (with price range filters), followed by photos of people wearing that particular item of...

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New Xiaomi Mi Band 4 update brings screen off timeout settings

The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4 is one of the most popular smart bands around with its robust feature set and affordable pricing. The smart band has been out for several months and now Xiaomi is bringing a new update which adds a useful auto screen off timeout adjustment. Users will now be able to set screen timeout anywhere between 5 and 10 seconds. In addition, Xiaomi has expanded the custom watchface selection and improved the swim tracking. The new firmware's version is 1.0.7.04. It is already rolling out in Turkey and is expected to arrive in more regions soon. Source

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Realme X2 Pro will actually come with 50W SuperVOOC charging

The upcoming Realme X2 Pro will be the company's first true flagship spec'd phone with a 90Hz Fluid Display, Snapdragon 855+ chipset and 64MP main camera. Now Realme went ahead and revealed yet another feature of the upcoming device - it will feature 50W SuperVOOC charging. Interestingly enough the company teased that the X2 Pro will come with the newer 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 yesterday but it appears that this was an error as the tweet has been deleted since. 🔋Charging your phone completely in 35 minutes?⚡️With realme X2 Pro, its possible thanks to its 50W SuperVOOC...

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iOS 13.2 beta reveals that AirPods with noise-canceling are coming

Every now and then we hear about a variant of Apple's AirPods with noise-canceling coming up but this is probably the first solid evidence we got. A few lines of code and a glyph in the just released iOS 13.2 beta reveals that they are on the way. The new AirPods will look exactly very much like the current version, but with an added aperture for the extra microphone. iOS 13.2 beta also gives out that the upcoming noise-canceling AirPods can work in two modes - with NC turned on or off. Their model code is also confirmed - B298. Source

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Full Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL specs revealed in latest leak

The Pixel 4 smartphones, expected to arrive in two weeks, have leaked piece by piece. Now 9to5Google obtained the full specs sheet, revealing all you need to know about the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. One thing that immediately grabs the attention is the battery capacity - the Pixel 4 will have 2,800 mAh, while the 4 XL will come with a 3,300 mAh power cell. That's a bit of a setback, since the Pixel 3 had a 2,915 mAh unit, while the Pixel 3a rounded up to 3,000 mAh. The 4 XL variant is also nothing spectacular, matching the battery in the Pixel 3a XL. Google appears to be...

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Redmi 8 to be unveiled on October 9

Redmi 8A debuted last week and now the 8 proper is about to follow it. Redmi announced that it will unveil the Redmi 8 on October 9, with India being its first market. Redmi hasn't revealed any specs of the Redmi 8 yet, but if rumors are to be believed, it's the Redmi 8A with dual rear cameras and a fingerprint reader. Mi fans, it's time to add #BatteryCameraAction to your #Diwali celebrations. 🎉Bringing you a Redmi phone that has everything moooooooore! 😱Why stop yourself from bingeing🔋, playing🎮 and clicking📸 more?RT if you know what's coming....

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Check out our Microsoft Surface Duo hot take video

Microsoft announced a slew of new products yesterday but arguably the most exciting one is the Surface Duo smartphone. This is the first phone from the company in quite a while and the spokesperson on the stage implied several times that this isn't just a phone - it's a Surface. And in a way, he is right. The Surface Duo smartphone carries most of the Surface DNA from its bigger siblings, the Surface laptops and tablets, while introducing a slightly different take on the foldable phone form factor. Here, watch our video to see why we are so excited about Microsoft's first smartphone in...

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Xiaomi official retracts his words about "no Mi Mix 4"

The brand promotion manager of Xiaomi said last week that people should stop asking about an incoming Mi Mix 4 because there is no such phone. Today he cleared that foreign media for misquoting him, what he intended to say was that there was no Mi Mix 4 at the Xiaomi launch. However, in his post on Weibo, Mr. Edward did not confirm the phone is coming either - he simply said: "I haven't said there is no Mi Mix 4 and I am not confirming there is a Mi Mix 4". Latest post, machine-translated by Google Obviously fans wanted the Mi Mix 4 to be real and filled forums with questions...

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Huawei Mate 30 series reaches Malaysia

The Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro have hit the shelves in their second market - Malaysia. The vanilla Mate 30 comes in 8GB/128GB configuration and is priced at RM2,799 ($670/€610), while the Pro version comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage and costs RM3,899 ($930/€850). The Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro will be sold through retailers Courts, Harvey Norman and SenQ, as well as carriers Celcom, Digi, Maxis and U Mobile. However, as a part of the Exclusive Ownership Campaign the Mate 30 Pro will be initially only available for loyal Huawei users who own at least two Mate series smartphones. Its...

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"Oh So Orange" Google Pixel 4 shown in renders

In the latest Pixel 4 leak, we have official renders of the device in the new "Oh So Orange" colorway. The orange shade is subtle and has hints of pink which appears more muted than previous encounters of the device. The new render also shows the side profile of the orange Pixel 4 which features a black colored frame and light pink power button. Previously the orange Pixel 4 was spotted on a billboard ad in New York. Just yesterday, two other Pixel 4 and 4 XL renders showed us the Just Black and Clearly White versions which are the other two colors expected at launch. The official...

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You can no longer install Google apps on the Mate 30 Pro

The Huawei Mate 30 Pro launched without pre-installed Google Services. Soon after the launch, a backdoor was found allowing you to side-load them on the device using the LZPlay app, which is found on Google Play Store. However, this method comes with a risk, according to developer John Wu because it relies on Huawei's undocumented MDM API so the workaround is no longer an option. The LZPlay app has been pulled off the LZPlay.net website and users who have already installed the apps are at risk. Besides, the apps don't even work anymore. They don't pass any SafetyNet tests and...

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