Weekly poll results: Galaxy Note20 booed, Ultra gets standing ovation

The poll results are in and we have good news and bad news for Samsung. The Galaxy Note20 Ultra is shaping to be a proper hit, winning the approval of over half of the over 30,000 people to vote. The Galaxy Z Fold2 is also showing increasing interest in the form factor, while the vanilla Galaxy Note20 got snubbed. The detailed breakdown shows that over 45% find the Galaxy Note20 Ultra an awesome phone, worthy of its sky high price tag. A further 7.6% would be looking to get it should they get a deal. Not surprisingly the Exynos 990 chipset powering the phone in some regions is causing...

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Xiaomi Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 Basic review

Introduction Here's a mouthful - the Xiaomi Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 Basic are a cheaper version of the Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 announced earlier this year. They lack support for LHDC high-def audio and that's the only difference between the regular and the Basic models. The Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 Basic are the global version of the Mi AirDots 2 SE that launched in China in May. We are not sure why Xiaomi had to complicate their name so much, though we assume copyright laws and sounding similar to AirPods were at least partially to blame. Case and design The...

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OnePlus Gallery gets 4K 60FPS video editing, photo casting to OnePlus TV with the latest update

OnePlus smartphones launched in recent years can record 4K videos at 60FPS, but when it comes to editing them, users have to rely on third-party apps. Well, that changes with update 3.12.28 for the OnePlus Gallery app, which brings in 4K 60FPS video editing support. OnePlus 8 Pro Additionally, the update also lets users project photos to the OnePlus TV from the Gallery app and squashes some bugs. Here's the full changelog of update 3.12.28 for the OnePlus Gallery app: Fix issues including sharing photos from gallery, red color, and photo missing Fix slow-motion video...

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A new Instagram update merges DMs with Messenger chats

More than a year ago, Facebook announced its plans to merge Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger chats into one app and early signs of this effort and with the most recent update, Instagram's DMs are getting a major overhaul. Reportedly iOS and Android Instagram users in the US are receiving an update telling them that they can message their friends on Facebook through the Instagram app even if they don't have an Instagram account. The update also makes DMs a lot more colorful, in line with the current Messenger chat aesthetics. Also, the icon in the upper-right corner of the Instagram...

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OnePlus releases trailer for its first Nord feature film premiering on August 18

OnePlus released a four-part series titled New Beginnings on YouTube last month about the OnePlus Nord, and now the Chinese phone maker has released a trailer for its first feature film that's set to premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on August 18. OnePlus Nord OnePlus says it turned the New Beginnings documentary series into its first feature film, but it's still unclear if OnePlus just stitched all four episodes of New Beginnings into one and decided to call it a "feature film", or if it did include new, previously unseen footage to it. We'll find that out on Tuesday,...

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Verizon's Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 (2019) gets Android 10 update

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 (2019) received the Android 10 update earlier last month, and now it's the Tab A 8.0 (2019) locked to Verizon's network that's getting a taste of the latest version of Android. The Android 10 update for Verizon's Galaxy Tab A 8.0 (2019) sports version number QP1A.190711.020.T387VVRU2CTG9 and bumps up the Android security patch level on the tablet to August 2020. The new build also comes with new features, which include Live Transcribe, Sound Amplifier, and Focus Mode. The update also brings in improved navigation gestures and camera...

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Huawei's general license just expired leaving older devices in limbo

For over a year now, Huawei and its US partners got a temporary license allowing them to cooperate and have trade relations, which was extended on several occasions, but since yesterday, the license has expired. Any smartphones manufactured before May 16 2019 are still eligible to receive security updates from Google and general updates to Google apps, but there's a catch. If by any chance Huawei breaks any compatibility with Google's apps during a software update, Google won't be able to collaborate on the issue even if Google already provided the update and the security...

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OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro get some bug fixes and August security patch

With the latest OxygenOS 10.5.13 for India and 10.5.12 for Europe, the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro get some important bug fixes related to the Ambient display feature as well as August security patch from Google. The changelog says that there are some stability improvements under the hood and the overlapping characters on the Ambient display have been resolved. Of course, other small bug fixes are in order too. There's also a brief mention of improved shooting effects with the front-facing camera, but not much detail has been given on the matter. It appears to be a staged rollout, as usual,...

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Samsung Galaxy Watch3 gets ECG-certified in the US

Good news for Galaxy Watch3 owners in the US - FDA appears to have given the green light and it's now officially ECG-certified in the country. This was made clear with a firmware update that the US users started getting. The ECG monitor on the watch is one of its key features, just like Apple's Watch and the Galaxy Watch Active2, for example, and it's a shame that only a couple of markets can take the full advantage of the hardware. At least for now, only South Korea and the US have approved the ECG monitor. Additionally, the firmware adds VO2 Max measurements so you can check...

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Samsung Galaxy S21 to come without ToF sensor

Samsung's recently announced Galaxy Note20 flagships came without ToF sensors and a recent report coming out of South Korea claims that the Galaxy S21 will also come without the ToF modules. Samsung decided to drop the ToF sensors on the Galaxy S21 because there aren't enough use cases for this technology right now. Besides, the indirect ToF technology Samsung uses is less powerful than the direct ToF technology used by Apple. The latter is developed by Sony, and Samsung couldn't get it since Apple has an exclusive deal with the Japanese tech giant. Samsung Galaxy S20+ (on left) and...

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Moto E7 Plus specs leak: Snapdragon 460 SoC and 48MP dual camera

The Motorola Moto E7 Plus was spotted on Geekbench last week running Android 10 with an octa-core processor at the helm paired with 4GB RAM. Now an image posted by reliable leakster Evan Blass on Twitter tells us more about the Moto E7 Plus. The image reveals that Moto E7 Plus will be powered by the Snapdragon 460 SoC that was announced back in January. The chipset will be paired with 4GB RAM and the smartphone will have 64GB of storage. Although there might be other memory configurations as well. For photography, the Moto E7 Plus will come with a dual camera on the back with Night...

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Security research firm found serious exploits in Qualcomm chips

Check Point security researchers found a serious threat to everyone using Qualcomm-powered smartphone, which as of 2019 is about 40% of the market. The researchers call the exploits "Achilles". Check Point found more than 400 lines of code vulnerabilities all in the digital signal processors of Qualcomm's SoCs. Of course, they are keeping most of the details a secret to minimize the risk of someone using the exploits. The hacker can potentially record calls, steal data, install malicious software that can't be uninstalled and even brick the device. Qualcomm has already started...

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Google Pixel 4a review

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