Oppo Reno3 Pro with dual selfie cameras listed by retailers

Earlier this month we saw a photo of an Oppo Reno3 Pro with dual selfie cameras which was expected to be the international 4G version of the smartphone. Today, the company launched promo pages of the upcoming device on both Amazon India and Flipkart's websites, confirming the dual punch hole camera design for the Reno3 Pro. The current Oppo Reno3 Pro comes with a Snapdragon 765G chipset, which has an integrated 5G modem. Since the Indian 5G network is nowhere near as developed as the Chinese, the new device is expected to have a 4G chipset. Our educated guess about the...

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Google's Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are a whopping $400 off at T-Mobile right now

Samsung may have just announced a bunch of flagship smartphones yesterday, but if you don't want to spend a bucket-load of money on them, there are cheaper alternatives out there, including from Google. At this point you may have thought we'd be referring to the Pixel 3a and 3a XL, but actually no. T-Mobile is running a very good promo on the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL right now. The phones are both $400 off, which means the smaller Pixel 4 is half its usual price, retailing for just $399.99. If you want to get it on installments, that's $16.67 per month for two years. The Pixel 4 XL,...

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Essential is dead, no more updates for the PH-1

Essential was the quintessential one-hit-wonder in the mobile world. And it's now officially dead. The company is shutting down. That means that the February security update is the last one the Essential Phone will ever receive. Of course, the device will keep working, but whatever happens in the future, you're not going to get any more updates. Bugs? Will forever be there. Security scares? No one will fix them. Oh and also, there's no more customer support. At all. This has been a very long time coming, seeing as how the company hasn't made a new phone since 2017. It was working on a very...

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WhatsApp reaches 2 billion users

In 2014, WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook for almost $21.8 billion - huge amount even considering that at the time the messaging app already had 500 million users. Now it looks like a bargain as the number has quadrupled. Today, WhatsApp announced that it has reached the 2 billion users milestone. That's an impressive user base growth given that in 2016, the app had 1 billion and in 2018, it had 1.5 billion users. The blog post then takes the time to remind us that WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption by default and your messages are stored on your device and not in the cloud. The...

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Breaking: MWC 2020 has been canceled because of the coronavirus

Plot twist: Mobile World Congress is not taking place this year. MWC 2020 was supposed to be from February 24 to February 27 in Barcelona, Spain, but today the organizers decided to cancel the entire thing because of fears regarding the possible spread of the novel coronavirus. Companies have been canceling their MWC or pre-MWC events in Barcelona left and right over the past couple of weeks, so this doesn't come as a huge shock, but it is nevertheless an unprecedented move in the history of the mobile world's biggest annual event. The GSM Association (GSMA), which organizes MWC,...

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Huawei confirms February 23 event

Huawei confirmed its plans for an event in Barcelona. The Chinese tech giant is holding its presentation on February 23 and the accompanying poster reveals that we'll see at least 8 Huawei devices. You should keep in mind though that the confirmation for the event came a few hours before GSMA announced that it's cancelling MWC 2020 so it's unclear if Huawei will still go through with its own show. Huawei poster and product categories If the event is to go through we should see a laptop, tablet, foldable phone, TWS earbuds, smartwatch, TV, VR headset and a car-related...

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Samsung debuts new 25W power banks and 45W car charger

With all the commotion surround the release of the new Galaxy S20 series and Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung managed to sneak in several accessories to accompany its new phones. Alongside the usual array of cases, Samsung introduced two 10,000mAh power banks as well as a 45W dual car charger. The first powerbank comes with a Qi wireless charging pad, which can top up devices up to 7.5W speeds alongside two Type-C ports which can output up to 25 watts via USB PD. The second power bank lacks the wireless charging capabilities and comes with a USB-A interface instead of one of the USB-C ports,...

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First TV ad of Xiaomi Mi 10 reveals key features

Xiaomi will release the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro flagships tomorrow in China, and we got to see their first TV ad, posted on YouTube. In the 15-second clip we can see some of the highlights the company is emphasizing - the new MIUI 11, a wide-angle shooter, a big display and the 10W reverse wireless charging. The Xiaomi Mi 10 will obviously have MIUI 11 out of the box, based on Android 10 (anything else would be a massive disappointment). The video showcases a user who easily realigns the media files in his gallery, followed by a video where another person zooms out to the wide-angle camera...

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Recording 8K video with a Galaxy S20 will take a toll on storage, but not as much as you think

Samsung's new flagship trio is capable of recording 8K video at 24fps, an industry first. Naturally, this comes with increased storage requirements, but it's not as bad as you may have thought. According to Samsung's official numbers, 1 minute of 8K video results in a 600MB file (using the HEVC codec). That's less than double the 350MB file you get when you record 1 minute of 4K video with a Galaxy S10+. The Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra will be capped to 5 minutes when shooting 8K (regardless of whether you have the Exynos or Snapdragon version). Of course, the S10 generation...

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Want to catch up to Samsung's new devices? These infographics will help

Samsung's Unpacked event yesterday was a bit overwhelming. New 108MP sensor is Galaxy S20 Ultra-exclusive? The Galaxy S20 and S20+ have 64MP telephoto cameras while the S20 Ultra has a 48MP one, but periscope zoom? The Galaxy Z Flip has a folding glass screen? How are the Galaxy Buds+ different from the Galaxy Buds? Yeah, some might have questions remaining. So Samsung put the cliff notes onto neat infographics, one for each of its new devices, so that you guys can have a neat look at all that's new. Some questions are left unanswered but that's what detailed reviews are for (stay...

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip hands-on review

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Nokia and HMD Global drop out of MWC 2020

The day started with a report that MWC 2020 is on the brink of being cancelled due to too much withdrawals of major companies, and today two more joined the wave. Nokia and HMD Global sent out separate press releases from their neighboring offices in Espoo, Finland, confirming the outbreak of the coronavirus Covid-19 and the concern for the health of their employees is the major reason to pull out of the event in Barcelona. HMD Global said that the conference has always been a key stage for launching new products, however, the safety of employees, customers and stakeholders is the...

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CR: Chinese smartphone market crashes due to nCoV

The detrimental effects of the Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) on smartphone manufacturers and their supply chains will have a solid impact on Q1 performance. Counterpoint Research updated its Q1 forecast for the Chinese smartphone market and total shipment estimates are down by nearly 30 percent points compared to previous calculations. Counterpoint now predicts 63 million smartphone shipments for the January-March period which is a significant decrease from the previously estimated 90 million shipments. Furthermore, Counterpoint also estimates a 70% year over year (YoY) decline in offline...

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Realme X50 Pro 5G flexes its S865 muscles at AnTuTu, supports Wi-Fi 6

Realme is working on a "pro" version of its first 5G phone and it will feature faster local connectivity and a flagship chipset. We know this courtesy of the company's CMO, Xu Qi Chase, who keeps posting teasers. The Realme X50 Pro 5G will support Wi-Fi 6 - the latest standard for home wireless networks (this is the successor to 802.11ac, recently renamed to Wi-Fi 5). You can see the little "6" indicator in this screenshot of the phone's Wi-Fi settings page. The Realme X50 Pro 5G will support Wi-Fi 6 The phone will be powered by the Snapdragon 865, we know as much from previous...

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Samsung says it can do triple folding phones, but doesn't see a use case yet

With Samsung releasing its second foldable display smartphone in less than a year, it's clear that the company wants to lead the industry into the realm of foldable devices. And shortly after the newest Galaxy Z Flip was announced, the company's mobile chief Roh Tae-moon, said that the tech is ready to release a phone that can fold in more than one place. After all, the company has been toying with the idea for some time now. Currently, the available foldable smartphones are designed around a single fold but Samsung's technology allows the manufacturer to produce a handset with...

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Galaxy S20 Ultra's 108MP sensor captures twice as much light by grouping 3x3 pixels

The first 108MP images sensor, the Samsung Bright HMX, was used by Xiaomi (that's what the "X" after "HM" stands for). Now Samsung has its own 108MP flagship and those use the HM1 sensor instead, which features some substantial changes. The large 1/1.33" sensor found inside the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra uses Nonacell technology, the followup to 2017's Tetracell. Don't worry if you slept through Latin and Greek, these basically mean 9-cell and 4-cell and are Samsung's trademarks for different Bayer filters. Nonacell merges 9 neighboring pixels (from a 3x3 square) into one large 2.4µm...

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USA says Huawei has access to network backdoors

The war between United States and Huawei keeps going, and now it seems we are entering a new phase. US Officials have gone on record saying that Huawei has backdoor access to networks from all over the globe for over a decade. National security adviser Robert O'Brien was quoted that there is evidence that Huawei "has the secret ability to access sensitive and personal information in the systems it manages and sells around the world", without revealing any more details aside from the issue being related to 4G equipment. Claims are that even though telecom makers are required to...

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Google confirms Galaxy Z Flip's split-screen interface will make it to more phones soon

One of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip's defining characteristics is its ability to split the tall 22:9 aspect ratio main display in two halves to show different types of content. The feature which Samsung calls "Flex mode" will make its way to more OEMs in the near future according to an official statement from Google. Samsung and Google worked together on the development of Flex mode for the Galaxy Z Flip, which is triggered when the screen is opened at a 90-degree angle. For most use cases, you'll see content on the top half and controls on the lower part of the screen. Some examples...

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Samsung gives free Galaxy Home Mini with Galaxy S20 pre-orders in South Korea

Samsung announced the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and Galaxy S20 Ultra at its Unpacked 2020 event yesterday in San Francisco. The smartphones are already up for pre-orders in many countries you get a pair of Galaxy Buds+ for free. But in its home country South Korea, Samsung is giving a free Galaxy Home Mini to those who pre-order the Galaxy S20 5G. And if you don't want the Home Mini, you have the option of getting the Nemonic Mini printer instead. Samsung Galaxy S20 There are other benefits as well, which include a one-time 50% off on screen replacement and a free four-month...

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T-Mobile-Sprint merger approved by federal judge

The deal between T-Mobile and Sprint was stopped in its tracks after an appeal by a group of states, led by California and New York senators. Reuters reports that a federal judge approved the deal, rejecting the claim that the proposed action would violate antitrust laws and raise prices. During the trial in December, the carriers said that a joint venture would help the companies challenge Verizon and AT&T, becoming the third-largest carrier with competitive prices and internet speeds. Joining forces would mean T-Mobile's low-band spectrum and Sprint's mid-band spectrum will...

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GSMA to decide the fate of MWC 2020 this Friday

One of the biggest tech events of the world, Mobile World Congress (MWC), is scheduled to kick off on February 24 in Barcelona, Spain. However, due to the outbreak of novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), many companies have pulled out, putting a big question mark over the event. GSMA, the organizers of MWC, released a statement earlier this week reassuring that MWC will go as planned, while also confirming that the event will have an attendance of 2,800 exhibitors. But according to a new report coming out of Spain, GSMA is holding a meeting on Friday, February 14, to decide the fate of MWC...

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