Apple begins battery replacement program for iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max Smart Battery Case

Apple has launched a new battery replacement programs for some models of its Smart Battery Case. The program covers models for 2018 iPhones including the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max that are experiencing issues with charging. Affected Smart Battery Cases have one of two issues: The Case's battery may not be charging or charging intermittently or, the Case doesn't charge the iPhone or charges it intermittently. This applies to Cases produced between January 2019 and October 2019 and those with cases that meet the criteria are eligible for a free replacement. Customers...

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Microsoft applies for patent of Surface Neo and Duo's folding mechanism

Back in October, Microsoft's Surface event revealed the company's next form factor. The Microsoft Surface Duo and Surface Neo both feature dual displays held together with a fully rotating hinge that can be adjusted to any angle. The submission of the patent for this particular hinge mechanism has been published by the WIPO. The patent was submitted by Microsoft for an "ADJUSTABLE CLOSEURE MAGENT FOR HINGED DEVICE WITH ASSISTED OPEN". The patent includes a diagram of a single link in the hinge mechanism, which we'd imagine would be numerously used along the spine of the...

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Deal: Pixel 4 and 4 XL are $150 off, and you get a $200 Best Buy gift card too

Best Buy has decided to make Google's latest flagship smartphones more affordable for everyone. Both models are currently $150 off their usual prices, which means the Pixel 4 now starts at $649.99 instead of $799.99, while the 4 XL can be yours from $749.99, instead of the usual $899.99. But wait, there's more. Not only do you get to take advantage of the price cut, you'll also receive a $200 gift card when you buy either of these phones. It's going to be sent via email, so you need to give Best Buy a valid email address, but that's it. The caveat here is that to grab the phones at...

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OnePlus 8 5G to be sold by Verizon

OnePlus' next carrier partner in the US is going to be Verizon, according to a new rumor purportedly originating at a "source familiar with the companies' plans". So far, OnePlus has only partnered with T-Mobile in the States. That gave consumers an alternative to buying unlocked straight from the Chinese company's website. The OnePlus 8 is the phone that Verizon will sell, with 5G on board. This likely means that it will pack support for the carrier's fast but small mmWave network. It's unclear if Verizon will offer the OnePlus 8 Pro as well. OnePlus 7T, the OnePlus 8's...

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Gionee Steel 5 unveiled: entry-level phone with 5,000mAh battery

Gionee may have declared bankruptcy at the end of 2018, but the brand is still around. Here's some proof: it just unveiled a new phone, the Gionee Steel 5. The phone is built around a 6.2" IPS LCD with 720p resolution. Up top is the 13MP selfie camera in a teardrop notch. Around the back is square camera bump housing the 12MP camera and 2MP depth sensor, plus a two LED flash. The phone's best feature is probably the 5,000mAh battery. It could have benefited from fast charging, though, you only get the bare minimum of 10W. The phone features 4G connectivity and two SIM card...

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Apple to sell its two-billionth iPhone this year

The first iPhone was introduced exactly 13 years ago and has since become the Apple's most important product, generating the vast majority of its revenue. The phone that changed the industry forever is now close to another amazing milestone - its two-billionth sale. Eight different market analysts are confident that the Cupertino-based company is close to making its two-billionth sale this year. Apple is on track selling 195 million iPhones during the fiscal 2020 year, which is way more than the forecasted 186 million mainly thanks to the good holiday sales. If all goes well, the...

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Samsung brings updated 3D Scanning to Galaxy Note10+

The prowess of Samsung Galaxy Note10+'s triple camera is well documented, but its ToF module is more of an afterthought for most people. It enables depth mapping and 3D scanning which as the name implies allows you to scan objects from multiple angles to create a 360-degree model of them. The resulting 3D scans were far from ideal though as they came with multiple errors and it was especially difficult to capture people using the cool feature. With its latest update though, Samsung is aiming to improve the user experience with a dedicated "person mode". You will now get to choose...

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vivo U20 hands-on review

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Google Pay starts accepting school IDs in some US universities

Google Pay isn't only a mobile payment system for quite some time now. The app supports tickets and loyalty cards and starting soon, it will start accepting school IDs as well. Transact - a company that offers billing and payment services for students - will let users save their school IDs into Google Pay and use the phone's NFC chip to access controlled buildings in the campus such as labs and residential areas. Google Pay will also work for payments inside the campuses. So far fifteen universities and colleges across the US are planning to implement the system while Mercer...

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Deal: Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8T get $50 discounts

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 was launched back in the summer and was followed by the Redmi Note 8T that is slightly taller and comes with an 18W power brick in the retail box. The online retailer Gearbest now offers $50 discounts on both, so you can add to the 10+ million count of Redmi Note 8 shipped phones. We've provided links to the offers in the end of this article. Currently, the Redmi Note 8T is available only in Blue color. It is priced at $219.99 and comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. In order to get the discounted price, you need to type in the code GBNOTE8T1 at checkout. The...

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The Samsung Galaxy M31 may gain a macro camera, just like the A51

Early leaks about the Samsung Galaxy M31 suggested that there will be no changes to the rear camera compared to the Galaxy M30s. However, a panel from the camera bump allegedly belonging to the M31 shows an extra hole - that's one more camera. The Galaxy A51 and A71 similarly gained an additional camera, specifically a dedicated macro module. So, it's not unlikely that the new M-series phone will follow suit. Alleged panel for the Samsung Galaxy M31 camera bump Macro cam aside, the Galaxy M31 is expected to keep the 48MP main and 8MP ultrawide cameras, the depth sensor too. The...

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Huawei Y9 Prime (2019) receiving Android 10-based EMUI 10 update

The Huawei Y9 Prime (2019) was announced last May with Android Pie-based EMUI 9. The smartphone picked up EMUI 9.1 in August and now it's receiving EMUI 10. EMUI 10 is based on Android 10 and brings in Dark Mode to the Huawei Y9 Prime (2019) along with a color scheme inspired by Morandi Color as well as Magazine Design, which seamlessly curates the on-screen content into a design similar to a magazine. Besides, the update brings in new animations with instant feedback, smooth movements, and impressive response times. EMUI 10 is currently rolling in India and you can download it...

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OnePlus to unveil its new screen technology next week

OnePlus is sending out press invites for an upcoming event in Shenzhen, China scheduled for January 13 where the company is going to introduce a new screen technology. There's no further clues as of now but according to speculation, we'll see the company's first 120Hz refresh rate screens. OnePlus event invite Some rumors suggest we could see the upcoming OnePlus 8 lineup but this would be less than three months after the release of the current 7T series, breaking the company's May and October release cycle. It's more likely that this event is just a short briefing focused on the...

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Samsung rumored to bring 5G-capable Galaxy A51

Samsung's Galaxy A50 was one of the company's best sellers in 2019 and there are high hopes to carry the momentum with its successor - the recently launched A51. According to a new report, Samsung is preparing to bring a 5G version of the A51 which will make its way to the South Korean market soon. The new device is stated to come with the SM-A516N model number. The "N" at the end of the build number signifies 5G devices for the Korean market. For reference, the international variant of the regular A51 sports the SM-A515F designation. We've seen similar naming strategy from Samsung...

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Samsung Galaxy M30s could be getting Android 10 sooner than expected

The Samsung Galaxy M30s caused quite the stir in the budget segment and is still enjoying plenty of attention. Its impressive value package is only expected to get more enticing after the arrival of OneUI 2.0 and Android 10 and a new certification shows that might happen sooner than we expected. As per the last update roadmap, Samsung put out for India and China, the M30s was expected to get the update in May 2020. However the Korean giant is clearly running ahead of schedule on most of its update efforts. Devices like the M20 and M30, for example, were scheduled for a January 2020...

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Realme X2 Pro gets Android 10-based Realme UI beta update

Realme has started rolling the beta version of Android 10-based Realme UI to the X2 Pro. The firmware sports version number RMX1931_11_C.14 and weighs around 700MB in size. The beta build of Realme UI is currently only seeding to the X2 Pro in China, but we are hopeful that Realme will expand the UI to the global version soon. Android 10-based Realme UI beta update for Realme X2 Pro Realme announced the Realme UI beta program for the vanilla X2 in India a few days ago, but the testing will commence next month. Those interested can apply here between January 20 and January...

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Huawei sells 100,000 Mate X per month

During CES 2020, Samsung's CEO revealed the company sold over 400,000 units of the Galaxy Fold, suggesting there's certainly good demand for foldable phones despite the inflated price tags that come with the breakthrough technology. Now Huawei decided to respond with information on how its foldable Mate X is doing. The Mate X is only available in China, but hte company still said that since its launch on November 15, it managed to sell 100,000 units per month. That would put the total number of sold Huawei Mate X devices at around 200,000. In the meantime, the Chinese media outlet...

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Xiaomi teases MIUI 12, may arrive in Q3 2020

Chinese phone maker Xiaomi today teased MIUI 12 - the next version of its custom Android skin and successor to MIUI 11. The company didn't reveal anything about MIUI 12, other than sharing an image on Chinese social network Weibo with its logo. MIUI 11 was announced last September and its global stable ROM began rolling out in October, so we expect the MIUI 12 to arrive during the same period. MIUI 11 brought along system-wide dark mode, improved always-on display, and Mi Lan Pro system font. It also came with new animations, wallpapers and themes, and the company also announced...

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vivo V1950A full specs revealed by TENAA, likely a Snapdragon 865-powered NEX 3 5G

An unknown vivo smartphone bearing model number V1950A bagged 3C and TENAA certifications recently, revealing the display size, battery capacity and charging speed in the process. Now the TENAA listing has been extended to include the full specs of V1950A. According to the Chinese authority's website, the V1950A is powered by an octa-core processor clocked at 2.84GHz, suggesting it has the Snapdragon 865 SoC at the helm. The smartphone runs Android 10, has 8GB RAM in tow, and will come in two storage options - 128GB and 256GB - with no microSD card slot for storage expansion. The...

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