Here is Google's Nearby Sharing feature in action

Last year, an XDA teardown suggested that Google was working on a new file sharing protocol that would supersede Android Beam - the NFC and Bluetooth based file-transfer solution that was discontinued in Android 10. Thanks to XDA Developers we are finally getting a demo of how the feature will work - and it's very similar to Apple's AirDrop. The feature is (un)officially called "Nearby Sharing" and works with the same components as AirDrop: It requires Bluetooth and Location to handshake with the devices and Wi-Fi to complete the data transfer. Like AirDrop, you can decide whether...

Read More

Realme C3 passes through FCC, launch is imminent

Realme's upcoming C3 smartphone just cleared FCC and even though there's not much info in those listings, there are a few takeaways from the documents. First and foremost, clearing the FCC means that launch is pretty close. Secondly, it's evident that the handset will come out with the latest ColorOS 7 based on Android 10 - the company teased its custom UI heavily for the past couple of months. Images from the FCC documents And finally, there's a rough schematic of how the phone would look from the back and it's probably safe to assume that it would have three cameras...

Read More

9 more LG phones are getting Android 10 this year

LG doesn't have the best reputation in terms of firmware updates for its older devices, but it's working to improve it. Android 10 has already been seeded to two LG phones - the G8 ThinQ and Korean units of V50 ThinQ 5G have received the latest version of Android. A new press release from LG Italy sheds more light on the company's plans to bring Android 10 with LG's UX 9.0 to nine more devices in 2020. These include the LG V40 ThinQ, international units of the V50 ThinQ, G8X ThinQ, G8S ThinQ, G7 ThinQ, K50S, K40S, K50 and Q60. The international V50 units are first in line for the...

Read More

Sprint is offering a discounted screen repair for your Galaxy phone

Sprint has launched a repair program for some Samsung Galaxy smartphones. The eligible phones include the Galaxy S7, S8-series, S9-series and the Galaxy Note8. And yes, the latest Galaxy flagships are not covered. Anyway, if you are in possession of such phone, you can stop by at one of Sprint's offices and get your phone's screen fixed for just $49, even if you are not a Sprint customer. That's a pretty decent deal. Luckily, owners of a different Galaxy phone with cracked screen may also be eligible for a $150 credit towards the purchase of a new device. Keep in mind, though, that...

Read More

More details surface about the Oppo Find X2's cameras and 120Hz display

Earlier this week, a report surfaced about the Sony sensors on the upcoming Oppo Find X2. Today's report brings overlapping information about the cameras, along with details about the display, and a co-processor that works alongside the Snapdragon 865. The report comes from a leakster on Weibo. The Oppo Find X2 was already reported to feature a 120Hz 6.5-inch display and today's leak adds to it that the "ultra clear" screen will have a 240Hz touch sampling rate. In addition to the QHD+ resolution (3160 x 1440 px) the display will also feature 80-degree edges, so not quite the waterfall...

Read More

US will broaden the ban on Huawei in 2020

The US is working to broaden the scope of the ban on Huawei in 2020. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross revealed to Bloomberg that the government is working on new rules aimed to deny even more US-related technology to Huawei. Up until this point if 35% or less of a company's business is done in the US it was allowed to export products to Huawei. The US is reportedly looking to decrease that number to 10% or less, severely limiting the number of US-based companies allowed to trade with Huawei. According to the report the US government is working on a regulation that would deny Huawei...

Read More

Apple resists EU push for common phone charger, says it will stifle innovation

The EU has been pushing for a common charger plug for mobile phones for over a decade now, but there's always been one firm holdout - Apple. Last week the European Parliament made an amendment to a draft law that would make a common charger essential for phones (and other wireless gadgets). This week, Apple issued a response. Cupertino warns that a common charger will stifle innovation and be troublesome for consumers. To prove its point, Apple commissioned a study, which found that the move to a single standard will incur costs of €1.5 billion, far greater than the predicted €13 million...

Read More

Lenovo M10 FHD REL tablet arroves with SD450 and 7,000 mAh battery

Lenovo may no longer be selling its smartphones in India but the company's Android tablet line is still going strong and the latest entrant is the M10 FHD REL. It packs a 10.1-inch FHD IPS panel with fairly thick bezels, a 5MP selfie cam and dual front-facing speakers. The back hosts a single 8MP camera. The Snapdragon 450 powers the whole thing with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage which can be expanded via the microSD slot. The software front is covered by Android 9 Pie. The tablet packs a beefy 7,000 mAh battery which sadly charges over microUSB. Other notable features include...

Read More

Honor V30 Pro review

Read More

Galaxy S20 dummies shown on video, the Ultra has a bigger camera bump

Phone accessory store Mobile Fun is getting into the leak business - it posted a video showing off replicas of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S20 trio. Previously, we've seen 3D printed dummies, which are based on 3D CAD models, but these replicas are used by factories in China to test cases and other accessories for the real phones. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra dwarfs previous members of the S-series, it's about the same size as the Galaxy Note10+, a bit taller, actually. The Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+ are more conservative, their height and width are only slightly larger than those...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy M21 key specs confirmed by Geekbench

Samsung announced the Galaxy M20 last January and it's due for a successor - the Galaxy M21 has just appeared on Geekbench confirming its approaching announcement and revealing some key specs in the process. The Galaxy M21 sports model number SM-M21F, and according to the benchmark database, it will boot Android 10 and have an Exynos 9611 SoC with 4GB RAM at the helm. Geekbench doesn't reveal the rest of the specs of the Galaxy M21, but rumors have it that it will arrive with dual or triple rear cameras and two storage options - 64GB and 128GB. The Galaxy M21 is also rumored to...

Read More

Motorola is working on a 5G version of the foldable Razr 2019

The Motorola Razr 2019 is powered by an uninspiring Snapdragon 710 chipset, which among other things means no 5G connectivity. However, a subsidiary of Motorola Mobility is set to unveil a 5G version of the phone. It will be shown off at the Wuhan International Expo Center in the city of Wuhan. That's no coincidence as the phone will be manufactured there as well, at the Lenovo's factory in the city. It's not clear if the 5G-connected Motorola Razr will be sold globally, for now it sounds like a "no". EE is already taking pre-orders for the UK, Verizon will sell the phone in the US...

Read More

Samsung's AirDrop alternative, Quick Share, is weirdly cloud based

Android 10 killed Android Beam, but makers don't seem happy with Google's proposed replacement. Samsung is expected to unveil its own alternative, Quick Share, at the Unpacked event for the Galaxy S20 and Z Flip phones. This feature is similar to AirDrop, it allows you to share files with nearby phones. Strangely, it will be at least partially cloud-based - you will be able to upload a multimedia file to the Samsung Cloud and stream it to a Samsung SmartThings device. This comes with heavy restrictions though, files are capped at 1GB each (only a few minutes of 4K video) and you can...

Read More

vivo to introduce two iQOO phones in India next month, one with 5G

vivo officially announced today that it will expand its iQOO brand to India. In an interview with The Mobile Indian, the marketing director of iQOO India revealed that we will see two phones in the country by the second week of February. Both devices will have similar design and specs, but one of them will support 5G networks, which will make it the first 5G smartphone in the country. vivo iQOO Pro and vivo iQOO Pro 5G Gagan Arora, the senior executive that is responsible for the marketing of the brand in India, revealed both phones will be identical in terms of features, but...

Read More

Google I/O 2020 scheduled for May 12-14

Google is set to host its annual I/O developer conference between May 12 -14. The big event will take place at Shoreline Amphitheatre located near Google's HQ in Mountain View, California. Google CEO Sundar Pichai also confirmed the date and location in a tweet. Cosmos aligned. We'll be back at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View for this year's #GoogleIO on May 12-14! pic.twitter.com/3bZqriaoi1— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) January 24, 2020 Last year's Google I/O brought us the first budget Pixels with the 3a duo alongside the Nest Hub Max and plenty of Android software features,...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip will bring SD855+, 1" external screen, two 12MP cameras

As February nears and Samsung's Unpacked event is just three weeks away the leaks surrounding the Galaxy Z Flip are giving us a clearer picture of what to expect from Samsung's second foldable phone. A new Twitter post from Max Weinbach who previously revealed details about the S20 lineup is giving us a much better picture of the Z Flip's hardware package. Starting with the display, we are getting a Dynamic AMOLED panel covered with Ultra Thing Glass (UTG) and it will apparently feature a crease at the folding point. This is to be expected with foldable devices but the UTG...

Read More

Second Poco phone incoming in February

Yesterday Poco India's General Manager said we should expect the first phone by the newly independent brand by the end of the quarter. Today the company took it to Twitter and narrowed down the launch to "next month", which is February. The tweet said "don't trust unofficial leaks, here's an official one", but the interview in the link is pretty much the same as the one from yesterday, including confirmation that Poco will use Xiaomi's manufacturing lines and distribution channels. Currently, Poco is trying to make it work as a separate brand. It will have its own sales team,...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+ names officially confirmed

Samsung is introducing a trio of Galaxy S flagships, and their S20 moniker was all but confirmed at this stage it's always nice to get official backing. Today two of the phones with code names SM-G980F/DS and SM-G985F/DS have been certified for use in Thailand by the local NBTC organization with the names Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+. Samsung Galaxy S20 and Samsung Galaxy S20+ certifications The model numbers are in line with previous flagships, and the letter F in the end usually is used for the international units that are not carrier-locked. The DS add-on means Dual-SIM, but...

Read More

Realme's next phone, fitness band are coming in February, VoWiFi this month

Last month, Realme's Indian CEO Madhav Sheth said that the company is launching its first fitness band in H1 2020, which was teased after the India launch of 5i earlier this month. Details are scarce about the Chinese phone maker's fitness tracker, but we now know that it's arriving next month. Realme's fitness band Madhav Sheth confirmed this in the latest episode of #AskMadhav. Besides, Sheth also said that the company will start rolling out the VoWiFi feature for its smartphones this month, with the X2 Pro being the first in line to get it. In February, VoWiFi will arrive...

Read More

Apple contracts Broadcom for $15 billion in wireless components

A new filing with SEC reveals that Apple has entered two separate contracts with wireless component maker Broadcom for $15 billion in wireless components. According to the filing, Broadcom will provide specified RF components and modules to Apple to be used in hardware devices over the next three and a half years. Apple currently uses Broadcom components on the iPhone 11 lineup for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. As per analyst Patrick Moorhead or Moor insights, the filing suggests future iPhones could be supplied with Broadcom components for LTE connectivity - but Broadcom components...

Read More