iQOO Z5x announced with Dimensity 900, 50MP camera, and 120Hz screen

iQOO announced the Z5 last month, and today it followed up with the Z5x. The iQOO Z5x is built around a 6.58" FullHD+ 120Hz LCD with a waterdrop notch for the 8MP selfie camera. Around the back, we get a 50MP primary camera joined by a 2MP macro unit. Under the hood, the iQOO Z5x has the Dimensity 900 SoC with up to 8GB RAM and up to 256GB storage. The smartphone runs Android 11-based OriginOS 1.0 out of the box and comes with the virtual RAM feature, allowing you to extend RAM virtually by up to 1.5GB on the 6GB RAM variant and up to 4GB on the 8GB RAM model. The Z5x has a...

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Here are all the US carrier promotions for the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro

Google kicking off pre-orders for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro on the same day of the announcement was a nice treat. Here's a roundup of each US carrier's pricing and promotions for buying a Google Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro. Source: Google Google Fi Google's own MVNO network Fi is offering two payment plans for the Pixel 6 duo. Whether you get the Pixel Pass or not, pre-orders will include a voucher redeemable for a pair of Google Pixel Buds A-Series. Folks who port their phone number into Fi will receive a $200 Fi bill credit as well. Pixel Pass includes the phone payment, plus...

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Android 12 Beta is coming back in December to test feature drops early

Amidst today's Google Pixel 6 announcement, Google's Android 12 Beta has been updated to the stable release on Pixel devices. Normally this would mark the end of the Beta program until Android 13's Beta program launched next year but starting with Android 12, the Beta program will continue with Android 12 in December. The announcement was made on Reddit /r/android_beta by Official Google Account. Basically, if you are still enrolled on the Android 12 Beta on a Pixel device at this moment, you'll receive a future Beta build of Android 12 in December. These updates will aim at testing new...

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Android 12 supports native app clone profiles for certain apps

Android 12 is already official but some new details emerged via the official Android 12 Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) which reveals a new native app clone feature for Pixel users. This allows users to have separate instances of the same app say an instant messaging client for example. I've been giving the Android 12 CDD a *very* thorough read, and I just discovered something quite interesting.Looks like Android 12 quietly added a new profile type called "Clone." Android seems to finally natively add app cloning support, without the weird work profile hack!— Mishaal Rahman...

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Amazon Music adds Spatial Audio support for more devices

The Amazon Music service rolled out limited support for spatial audio in 2019, today it adds support for more devices and even more albums you can listen to. This feature is free for subscribers on the Unlimited tier. 360 Reality Audio is now supported on Sony’s SRS-RA5000 or SRS-RA3000 wireless speakers, as well as home theater systems like the HT-A9, HT-A7000 or HT-A5000. Amazon’s Echo Studio is supported too, of course. This works through Alexa Cast on Android and iOS devices. Dolby Atmos support for the Sonos Arc and Beam (Gen 2) soundbars is coming in the next few...

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Google Pixel Pass gets you a Pixel 6 or 6 Pro and a bunch of services from $45 per month

Aside from phones today Google also made the Pixel Pass service official. This was leaked a few days ago, and now it's unveiled. It's a subscription service that costs $45 per month for the Pixel 6 and $55 per month for the Pixel 6 Pro. With both plans, you're getting the respective phone as well as YouTube Premium with ad-free watching and background play, YouTube Music Premium with ad-free listening, 200GB of Google One cloud storage, Google Play Pass with access to hundreds of games and apps fully free of any ads and in-app purchases, and Preferred Care coverage "to cover life's little...

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Google's new Pixel Stand (2nd gen) charges Pixels faster than other phones

Google just unveiled its 2nd generation Pixel Stand wireless charger and it's already on sale on the company's online store. But even if you want to spend the $79/€79 on one, you'll still be met with an 'Available Soon' roadblock. The new Google Pixel Stand is a Qi-capable wireless charger that can top up the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro at up to 23W and regular Qi-ready phones at up to 15W. There's a built-in cooling fan that Google promises is nearly perfectly silent. Google is shipping a 30W USB-C charger and a 1.5m USB-C cable with the Pixel Stand (2nd generation) and the stand itself...

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Android 12 now available for Pixel 3 and above, factory images available

Google's Fall event has just wrapped and while we were listening to the Pixel 6 duo getting announced, Google is now seeding the final version of Android 12 and it is now available for all Pixel smartphone dating back to the Pixel 3. In addition, the factory images are available to download as well. If you currently have a compatible Pixel device, you can head to the System Settings and check for a System Update. We were able to pull the update from the final Beta build of Android 12, but the latest stable release of Android 11 will update too. We've not tested pulling the...

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Google Tensor chipset announced with barely any official details

Now that the new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are finally fully official after months of controlled leaks and teasers, Google has also issued a blog post purportedly talking about its Tensor chipset, which is powering the two new phones. The company isn't at all interested in letting us in on any details of the SoC, however. There are literally zero specs in its entire 18-paragraph post, but thanks to Engadget we found out that we're dealing with a chip built on a 5nm process, with a CPU that has a tri-cluster architecture, with two big ARM Cortex-X1 cores running at up to 2.8...

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Google's Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are all about smarts and imaging

After months of leaks and a few weeks of teasers that left almost no mystery remaining, Google's Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are official. A marked departure from last years' mid-range hardware the new Pixels have top-notch specs focused on performance, smarts, and photography. It starts with Google's custom-developed Tensor chip. The 5nm SoC has an octa-core processor with two whole Cortex-X1 powerful cores - the first phone with more than one. There are also two mid-level cores as well as four power-efficient ones. The custom image processor takes computational photography on the Pixel 6 phones to...

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Russia's communications regulator is looking to slap Google with an up to $240 million fine

Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, issued fines totaling RUB 32.5 million ($458,000) to Google for not deleting content that was deemed illegal. However, the company has not paid those fines yet, so now the regulator is planning to take the search giant to court, reports Reuters. Roskomnadzor will seek between 5% and 20% of Google’s turnover in Russia. Last year Google brought in RUB 85.5 billion from the country, so those 5-20% work out to between $60-240 million. The regulator announced earlier this month that it is seeking to slap Facebook with a similar turnover...

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Watch the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro debut live here

Google is finally getting back in the flagship game with the launch of Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones. The unveiling is scheduled to take place today, at 5 PM GMT (1 PM EDT/7 PM CEST/22:30 IST). The event will be live-streamed on YouTube and we’ve embeded the video below so you can follow it live. Both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro devices will have a flagship chipset, unlike their predecessors. The platform will be called Tensor and is said to be co-developed with Samsung and based on the unreleased Exynos 9855 5nm chip. If you are early you can head this way to get a reminder...

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Apple iOS 15.1 RC version out for beta testers

Before making its official release on October 25, Apple’s iOS 15.1 received a Release Candidate (RC) build that adds the coveted SharePlay functionality. The update weighs in at 5.46 GB and comes alongside RC version builds of macOS 12.0.1 Monterey, iPadOS 15.2, watchOS 8.1, and tvOS 15.1. iOS 15.1 RC build update screen (image: XDA Developers) With SharePlay users can enjoy watching content together with friends over FaceTime and supported third-party apps. The latest build also brings ProRes video capture on iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max as well as support for COVID-19 vaccination...

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Beats Fit Pro to launch on November 1, images and features leak

Apple unveiled the new AirPods 3 TWS earphones yesterday and now a new report claims the Cupertino-based tech giant will follow that up with the Beats Fit Pro TWS earphones on November 1. This information comes from 9to5Mac, which claims the Beats Fit Pro are similar to the Beats Studio Buds launched a few months ago. The Fit Pro will feature Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and have Apple's H1 chip at the helm for fast pairing with Apple devices and Hey Siri. The TWS will also support quick pairing, battery levels, and custom controls through the Beats app on Android devices. The...

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Oppo K9s will have a 120Hz display, 64MP camera

The Oppo K9s will be unveiled tomorrow, October 20, a follow-up to the original K9 and an alternative to the K9 Pro from last month. While the full reveal is tomorrow, the company has been dropping details about the spec sheet. Here’s what we have so far. The K9s will be powered by a 5,000 mAh battery – that’s larger than both the original K9 (4,300 mAh) and the K9 Pro (4,500 mAh). However, its 30W fast charging won’t be quite as fast as on the previous models (65/60W). Oppo K9s official details: 5,000 mAh battery, 30W charging • 64 MP camera • 120 Hz display •...

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Apple M1 Max inside the new MacBook Pro 16" tested, blows past previous models

With the M1 Apple already had one of the fastest laptop chips around, but yesterday’s M1 Pro and M1 Max raise the bar even higher. How high? The first Geekbench result is out and it wipes the floor with the last MacBook Pro 16”, which came out in 2019. The MacBookPro18,2 ran the test with an Apple M1 Max chipset. This should be the MacBook Pro 16” since it’s currently the only one with the Max chip (the new 14” model should get it too at some point). The laptop in question was configured with 32 GB of RAM and ran macOS 12.4. A quick peek at a MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i9-9880H –...

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Nikkei: Google will produce more than 7 million Pixel 6 phones, a huge increase over previous models

Google will unveil the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro later today and the company really believes that the new models will succeed in capturing more market share than before. Nikkei reports that the search giant has asked its suppliers to produce more than 7 million units. That’s double all the Pixel shipments of last year. According to data from the IDC the total phone shipments for Google in 2020 added up to 3.7 million. That puts things in perspective. Even the Pixel 5a 5G, which was unveiled earlier this year, is predicted to surpass its predecessors – Google’s suppliers have been tasked with...

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Honor 50 finally hits first international market with GMS, $400 price tag

The Honor 50 will be the first phone of the now independent smartphone company with Google Mobile Services. We expect it to hit Europe on October 27, but it has just been introduced in Malaysia. The device is already up for pre-order with two memory options and in all four colors, including the Honor Code design. The Honor 50 helped Honor to an impressive rebound in China. It comes with Snapdragon 778G chipset and a 6.57" OLED display of 120Hz refresh rate. The phone packs a 108MP main camera and an 8MP ultra-wide unit on its back, as well as a 4,300 mAh battery with 66W fast...

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Realme Watch T1 announced: NFC, Bluetooth calling, and offline music playback

Realme hosted an event in China today where it unveiled two new smartphones - GT Neo2T and Q3s. Alongside those Realme announced its first smartwatch in China, dubbed Realme Watch T1. The Watch T1 comes with some features that aren't available on previously launched Realme smartwatches sold in the global markets, including voice calls through Bluetooth 5.0, NFC for payments, and 4GB of storage onboard, which allows you to store up to 500 songs on the smartwatch so you can listen to music directly on your Bluetooth earphones/speakers without requiring a smartphone. The rest of the...

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Xiaomi CEO says the company will mass produce its first car in 2024

After announcing its electric car subsidiary back in March this year, during an investors' meeting, Xiaomi's CEO confirmed that its electric vehicle production is on track. In fact, Lei Jun believes the mass production of said car will start in the first half of 2024. Xiaomi completed the registration of its EV arm in August and is planning to invest $10 billion in it in the next ten years. It has also acquired DeepMotion - a firm that works on self-driving technologies - and has been hiring employees for its new business like crazy. However, it still remains unclear whether Xiaomi...

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Realme GT Neo 2T and Realme Q3s unveiled

Realme held a product launch event in China earlier today where it introduced the GT Neo 2T and Realme Q3s smartphone alongside the Realme T1 smartwatch. GT Neo 2T is actually a rebrand of the Realme GT Neo aka Realme X7 Max 5G which launched earlier this year though it comes with a slightly altered back design in Jet Black and Glaze White color options as well as 65W fast charging. Realme GT Neo 2T GT Neo 2T brings a 6.43-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and punch hole cutout for its 16MP selfie cam. The internals are handled by the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 chipset...

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iQOO Z5x will come with a 120Hz screen

The iQOO Z5x is arriving tomorrow, and we know it will be powered by the Dimensity 900 SoC and feature a 50MP dual camera on the rear. Now a day ahead of the event, iQOO reveals a few bits about the smartphone's screen. The iQOO Z5x will pack a notched display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate. We don't know the screen's diagonal, but it is likely an LCD panel. iQOO Z5x will pack a 120Hz screen with waterdrop notch iQOO says the Z5x will come with Wi-Fi 6 and have a five-layer liquid cooling system onboard. It also shows us the smartphone in a new color....

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Nearly 30,000 OnePlus 9RT phones sold in first flash sale

The OnePlus 9RT arrived last week with a Snapdragon 888 chipset. It was launched for sale in China, and the domestic division has now reported what a success the first flash sale has been. According to the Weibo page of OnePlus, the 9RT sales brought CNY100 million (about $15 million) in just five minutes, which is equal to anywhere between 26,000 and 32,000 units. OnePlus 9RT colorways: Black • Silver • Green The OnePlus 9RT is sold in China in three memory configurations - 8/128 GB for CNY3,299 ($515), 8/256 GB for CNY3,499 ($545) or 12/256 GB for CNY3,799 ($595). A quick...

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