Huawei partners with Qwant to provide search services on P40 series in Europe

Huawei has been finding new ways to make its devices more appealing and usable since the company is not allowed to use Google Services. Now, the Chinese manufacturer has signed a contract with a French company called Qwant that offers search engine services. All Huawei P40 devices in France, Italy, and Germany, will have the search pre-installed, while everyone else can download it from the Huawei AppGallery. The partnership is "born out of shared commitment to protect users' data privacy and security". According to the press release Huawei and Qwant engineering teams worked...

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Huawei brings P40 lineup to China

The Huawei P40 series was announced last month and even went on sale in Europe two days ago. Yet it's only now making it to the maker's homeland of China. The vanilla P40 starts at CNY4,188 while the base model of the Pro variant costs CNY5,988. There's also a special edition of the P40 Pro, which comes in a single 8GB/256GB configuration and costs CNY6,888. The P40 Pro+, which is the most advanced smartphone in the lineup, starts at CNY7,988. The P40 and P40 Pro are available for purchase in China through VMall, whereas the Pro+ will go on sale in June. You can check out the table...

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Samsung Galaxy Xcover 4s receives Android 10 update too

Samsung has been on quite a roll lately, updating its mid-range smartphones to Android 10 left and right. Only in the past day or so we've seen three models be graced with the new software, and now it's time for another - the Galaxy Xcover 4s. Samsung just made the Xcover FieldPro available for sale in the US, and it has announced the Xcover Pro back in January, but the Xcover 4s is the model that it launched back in July of last year, with Android 9 Pie on board. This is now being taken to Android 10 with One UI 2.0 on top. As always, the rollout is happening in batches,...

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Sony Xperia 10 II gets priced in the UK, will be available on June 15

Sony unveiled the appallingly named Xperia 10 II mid-ranger back in February, at its online event that should have happened at MWC - but then the conference got cancelled because of the COVID-19 shenanigans. The company has since given guidance on the phone's recommended retail price in the EU, and that is €370. But up until now we didn't know how much it would cost in the UK when it eventually launches there. Thanks to an online retailer, this has become clear. The Xperia 10 II is priced at £319.98 in the country. You can pre-order one already if you hit the Source linked below,...

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Apple Music has pledged up to $50 million in advance royalty payments to indie labels

Apple recently sent out an email to many of its signed smaller music labels, laying-out a good-faith plan for advancing royalty payments to artists in need. Apparently, the fund can provide up to $50 million in payments to help artists weather the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. These are difficult times for the music industry globally. Livelihoods are at risk, with multiple sources of income that our industry relies on vanishing overnight. Apple has a deep, decades-long history with music, and we are proud to be in close partnership with the best labels and artists in the world. We want to...

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Huawei launches its first OLED TV, the Vision X65 with 120Hz refresh rate

Huawei just announced its first OLED TV, called Vision X65. It employs a 65-inch OLED panel with 120Hz refresh rate. Of course, HDR is also on the list of features and Huawei says it can go up to 1,000 nits peak brightness according to the company it's the world's largest display on the market that passes the German TUV Rheinland certification for eye care. For the ultimate viewing experience, the TV also boasts 14 speakers that output up to 75W. There's a pop-up camera mechanism on the top housing a 24MP ultrawide-angle camera used for video calls that's driven by the...

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Netflix improves parental controls, now you can PIN protect whole profiles

Netflix introduced age-based parental controls back in 2018, now the company has enabled even more features to help you control what the little ones are watching. The PIN protection has been extended to cover whole profiles and restrict viewing only to titles matching a selected age group. Previously, you could only put select films and series behind a PIN lock. You still have the option to target individual titles, Netflix will hide them completely from your kids' profiles. Parents' profiles can also review what the kids' profiles have been streaming. Another great option is to...

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OnePlus confirms new Bullets Wireless are coming as new images leak

After talking about its new wireless charger yesterday, OnePlus has also officially confirmed that a new version of the Bullets Wireless headset is on its way. The company confirms the fast-charging capabilities of the new headset - plugging them in for 10 minutes will give you enough battery juice for 10 hours of listening time. The current Bullets Wireless 2 charge just as fast, so this hasn't changed. The new models are rumored to have improved battery life, however, from 14 hours on the current model to 20 hours. The tweet avoids calling the new model by name, which is...

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OnePlus 8, 8 Pro full specs and pricing leak ahead of April 14 unveiling

Specifications of the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro leaked last month, telling us how the duo will differ. Today, we are looking at their full specs sheets, complete with pricing info courtesy of a Slovakian retailer which leaves little to the imagination ahead of the April 14 unveiling. OnePlus has already confirmed that 8 and 8 Pro will be powered by the Snapdragon 865 SoC, and from a previous leak, we know that both smartphones will have two memory versions - 8GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB. However, today's leak reveals that the 256GB option will not be available in all color variants. The two...

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Huawei P40 review

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Google will require all new Android 11 devices to support seamless updates

Some major changes are coming to Android phones - any new device that wants to ship with the upcoming Android 11 and Google's own Play Services, needs to include what is known as a virtual A/B partition scheme. This means that the device should have two copies of some of its important system partitions, with one being actively used and the other one available to be updated, without leaving the Android environment. So no more waiting around in a recovery screen for Android to apply a major update to your system and "optimize all the apps". VTS update For some of you, this might...

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Samsung unveils Galaxy A71 5G and A21 as the 2020 A-series heads to the US

The 2020 models from Samsung's Galaxy A-series is coming to the US - the first models will be available tomorrow with more options (including a couple of 5G-connected phones) scheduled to arrive in the summer. And yes, the roster includes two brand new devices, including the 5G version of the Galaxy A71. However, we'll start with the two phones that will become available tomorrow. The Samsung Galaxy A51 will be in the first wave. It will cost $400 for the 4/128GB version. We have a full review covering the phone if you want to know more. The Galaxy A01 is the other phone launching on...

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Sony shows off PlayStation 5 DualSense controller

Sony keeps revealing bits and pieces about its upcoming Playstation 5 console and now we get to see its DualSense controller, which is a radical departure from the DualShock in terms of design. PS5 DualSense controller A shift to a two-tone design almost looks like somebody slipped a slick white case over parts of a DualShock. While the aesthetics are sure to be polarizing, the standing similarities with a DualShock are actually a good thing, since Sony appears to be leaning on well charted ground when it comes to ergonomics once again. The new DualSense does look a bit beefier...

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Honor 30 Pro official images surface

Honor President Zhao Ming released a set of official press renders for the upcoming Honor 30 Pro which is set to debut on April 15 alongside the vanilla Honor 30. We can see the back design complete with the quad-camera setup, expected to be headlined by a 50MP Sony IMX700 main shooter with a massive 1/1.28" sensor. Alongside it, we can spot the periscope module as well the two other sensors, which are yet to be detailed. The new images also show out the same purple/silver color as seen in a recent promo poster for the device. The Honor 30 Pro is expected to arrive with a 6.57" OLED...

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Samsung Galaxy A71 5G passes through Geekbench with Qualcomm chipset

While the Samsung Galaxy A71 has been out since January, its rumored 5G version is yet to materialize. We've already come across several certifications from agencies like TENAA, 3C as well as on Geekbench with the Exynos 980 chipset. Now, a new Geekbench listing for the device with the SM-A716U model number (which should be the US version of the phone) shows us it will arrive with a new Qualcomm chipset codenamed "Lito" which boasts an 8-core CPU and base frequency of 1.8Ghz. The same SoC was also spotted on an upcoming LG phone just yesterday. The new Samsung device also boasts 6GB RAM...

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New version of OnePlus 8's Interstellar Glow color surfaces

The OnePlus 8 will be available in a color called "Interstellar Glow", but leaks haven't quite managed to nail down the exact hue. When we first saw it, it had deeply saturated colors, going from purple to warm yellow. New renders of the same color have surfaced, which show much lighter colors. This version looks more like opalescent white. Here's a side by side comparison: OnePlus 8 Interstellar Glow: New hue • Old version It's quite likely that OnePlus tried out several different options before deciding on the final look. It has happened before - for example, one of the...

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Samsung Galaxy J6 now getting Android 10

Samsung announced the Galaxy J6 with Android 8.0 Oreo back in May 2018, which picked up the Android 9 Pie update in last April and is now receiving Android 10 which could be its last major software update. The new build has version J600GUBU6CTC8 and comes with One UI 2.0 and March 2020 Android security patch. A detailed changelog of the update is currently unavailable, but you can expect it to bring in the usual Android 10 and One UI 2.0 goodies. The Android 10 update is currently seeding in Panama and is available for units with model code SM-J600G, but it should hit other units...

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Three Oppo Reno phones get ColorOS 7

Oppo introduced its ColorOS 7 roadmap earlier this year, and now the time has come for the first phones to get their firmware updates. First in line are the Oppo Reno (and its Inspiration Edition), the Reno 10x Zoom (as well as the FC Barcelona Edition), and the Reno Ace (plus the Gundam Edition). The update is based on Android 10 and brings system-wide dark mode, but with a ColorOS twist. There is a revamped UI, customizable icons, better color system, and new sound effects. All the custom editions will get new wallpapers, as well as a "refined desktop experience", and there is a new...

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Xiaomi Mi A3 starts receiving stable Android 10 for the third time

The Xiaomi Mi A3 smartphone is part of the Android One program so you'd expect it to get speedy OS updates. However, Xiaomi has really struggled with the Android 10 update, which was twice retracted - first over major bugs and phone bricks and then because of fingerprint issues. Third time is the charm and now a stable ROM is seeding once again to Mi A3 users. The package designation is V11.0.11.0 QFQMIXM and should be hitting Mi A3 devices OTA. The easiest way to get it is to click the notification that has arrived, and if such isn't available, maybe you've disabled automatic...

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Here's our best look yet at the Samsung Galaxy A71 5G

The Samsung Galaxy A71 5G received TENAA certification last month, revealing its design and specs in the process. Now a new set of renders of the A71 5G have been delivered by Evan Blass, which give us our best look yet at it and confirm color options. The Galaxy A71 5G doesn't look all that different from its 4G counterpart - it has a punch hole display and an L-shaped quad camera setup on the back, which has vertical lines running through it like the 4G model. Galaxy A71 5G But if you look closely, you can notice that the 4G version has a diamond-cut pattern on its back panel...

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Antutu's global Top 10 for March has 6 Samsung flagships phones, Redmi Note 8 leads mid-range chart

After releasing the Chinese chart, Antutu has now published its March chart for the 10 best-performing flagship smartphones globally. Data was collected from March 1 to March 31 and the scores shown are averaged. These numbers are based on a sample size of over 1000 tests run on Antutu Benchmark 8 for smartphones released globally. Six of the Top 10 devices in the list are all variants of the Samsung Galaxy S20. The top spot is taken by the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. This, and the number 2 slot (taken by the Galaxy S20+) are both Snapdragon variants of the...

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Microsoft executive posts first photo shot with Surface Duo

The Microsoft Surface Duo was first announced last year at Microsoft's Surface event and is Microsoft's vision of what a smartphone should be able to do with its dual hinged display form factor. Today, Panos Panay, Microsoft's Chief Product Officer posted the first image shot with the Surface Duo to Instagram. If you recall the product video of the Surface Duo, it doesn't have any cameras on its exterior, so we do believe we're looking at an image shot with the internal/selfie camera. Panay says the photo was shot by his son Costas working from home. Of course, Instagram applied a...

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