Huawei P20 Pro survives scratch, burn, and bend testing but gets wounded in the process

The Huawei P20 Pro is the latest smartphone to be put through the now-routine scratch, burn, and bend testing by Zack from YouTube channel JerryRigEverything. Huawei's newest flagship starts off decently, but finishes the test in not the best shape. The screen scratches only with a level 6 Mohs pick, and at level 7 there's a deeper groove. Huawei fits the P20 Pro with a plastic screen protector from the factory, but doesn't advertise that there's Gorilla Glass of any kind on top of the display panel. It's just 'tempered glass' of the generic variety. That seems to be a problem...

Samsung officially launches 128GB and 256GB Galaxy S9 and S9+ in the US

Today Samsung has decided to bring the 128GB and 256GB Galaxy S9 and S9+ to the USA. Both iterations will become available to pre-order tomorrow, on May 1. They will be released on May 18, exclusively at Samsung.com. We assume the company has surveyed the market and figured out there wouldn't be a lot of demand for these storage versions. Otherwise, selling them exclusively through its online store wouldn't make a lot of sense. Of course, you can still use microSD cards (up to 400GB) even with these models, for a possible maximum grand total of 656GB on your phone if you splurge and...

LG V30 ThinQ long-term review

F5 refreshes the page in the web browser on your computer. So what's the Oppo F5, then? Is it a refresh of sorts, too? Or maybe it's a refreshing mid-range smartphone that's trying to look like it's more expensive than it actually is. Refreshing, but not niggle-free. Pretty, but not without its faults. Good in most areas, frustrating in others.

Is the Xiaomi Mi 7 coming on May 23?

Xiaomi could unveil the Mi 7 on May 23 if a new official-looking poster is to be believed. The poster looks real enough and features a burning 7 and the date May 23 along with the Mi logo, which usually adorns Xiaomi teaser posters. But the image isn't of very high quality and it hasn't been posted on Xiaomi's official Weibo account but is instead found elsewhere on Weibo. Of course, that doesn't discount the information and the teaser as false. We're just advising caution at this point. The Xiaomi Mi 6 was announced a year ago in April, which puts the timing right on the...

Motorola Moto G6 now in stock in the UK, sim free

The Motorola Moto G6 is now in stock SIM free in the UK with domestic and international shipping available. The Moto G6 in Deep Indigo is priced at £219, which coincides with official pricing in the Netherlands where the Moto G6 is listed at €250. Currently only UK retailers Unlocked-Mobiles and Clove have the Moto G6 in stock. Others have the device projected for a May 9th availability. Meanwhile the Moto G6 Plus is also expected to fill the shelves on May 9 while the Moto G6 Play will make become available later on in May. Hat tip to James! Source 1 | Source 2

HTC U12+ sample photos detail two 12MP cameras with f/1.8 and f/2.6 aperture

A few sample images have surfaced, shot with an unknown HTC device which could prove to be the U12+ - HTC's next flagship. The samples aren't spectacular in and of themselves, but they share some valuable information regarding the unnamed phone's camera equipment. For starters we're looking at two distinct apertures - f/1.8 and f/2.6. There's a single camera sample shot with the wider f/1.8 aperture and the rest are shot with the narrower f/2.6. All four images are 12MP. So this means that the HTC U12+ has a dual camera with a 12MP f/1.8 main snapper and a second (perhaps telephoto)...

Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018) and A6+ (2018) prices leak

Leak by leak, the Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018) and Galaxy A6 (2018) are becoming ever clearer and now we have their expected prices as well. The Galaxy A6 (2018) will be priced between €300-€340 while the Galaxy A6+ (2018) will carry a price of €360-€400. Otherwise the newly rumored specs follow what has been leaked and rumored so far, only instead of a Snapdragon 625, the bigger Galaxy A6+ (2018) is projected to have a Snapdragon 450. The Galaxy A6 (2018) will have a 5.6-inch Super AMOLED of 1440x720px resolution, an Exynos 7870 chipset with 3GB or in some countries 4GB of RAM, a...

Samsung Gear S3 and Gear Sport currently available at discounted rates

The Samsung Gear S3 and Gear Sport have been officially discounted in the US. The South Korean company is offering a flat $70 discount on both smartwatches, bringing down their price to $280 and $230, respectively. It's worth mentioning that the deal is available only on the non-LTE models. Apart from Samsung, third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy are also offering similar discounts. No information on when these promos end. For more info, head to the Source links below. Source 1 2 3 4

Xiaomi raises Redmi Note 5 Pro and Mi LED TV 4 55" Indian prices to cover for higher taxes

Xiaomi is raising the Redmi Note 5 Pro and Mi LED TV 4 55" prices in India to cover for the new 10% duty on PCB (Printed Circuit Boards) imports in the country. The price hike is only marginal - the Redmi Note 5 Pro price has been increased by INR 1,000 (roughly €12) while the Mi LED TV 4 55" by INR 5,000 (around €60). So starting May 1 the TV will cost INR 44,999 while the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro will start at INR 14,999 for the 4GB+64GB model and INR 16,999 for the 6GB+64GB one. Xiaomi will honor all pre-orders on the previous INR 13,999 price. Xiaomi's Indian Head Manu...

Nokia X6 will be announced on May 16 in China

Nokia is prepping a press event in Beijing on May 16 in honor of its Nokia X6 smartphone. It was rumored that the Nokia X would come on April 27 but that was proven to be the start of a 6 day conference that Nokia is holding in China - from April 27 to May 2 - to promote its entire new lineup of smartphones. The Nokia X6 is one of those smartphones. The X6 has been displayed to the general press, which is how we got some clear hands-on photos of it, but the device is locked so we can't gauge its specs. Nokia X invite for May 16 (click for larger image) Now Nokia has issued an...

BlackBerry 'Athena' leaks in live images, could be called KEY²

Shortly after it was spotted on TENAA's website, the BlackBerry Athena has leaked in live images. Design-wise, these newly leaked images are inline with what TENAA had revealed. Here's one of the leaked images: The second one shows the device on the left, and an image clicked by the phone on the right. Note the BlackBerry KEY² moniker at the bottom of the image on the right. Well, the moniker/watermark doesn't make anything official, as this can be done using tools/apps that are widely available. However, the name does make sense given it's the successor to the Keyone. As...

Samsung Galaxy A6+ TENAA listing reveals 6-inch display, 3,500mAh battery

The Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018) has been spotted the website of China's telecom regulatory authority TENAA. While it's already known the device features an infinity display (18.5:9 aspect ratio), the listing confirms few other major specs. Firstly, the images re-confirm a dual camera setup on the back as well as a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. As per TENAA, the handset has a display size of 6-inch and a resolution of 2220×1080 pixels. It's 160.1×75.7×7.9mm in size and packs in a 3,500mAh battery. Rumors say the Snapdragon 625 SoC powers the Galaxy A6+ (2018) and there is 4GB...

Weekly poll: Xiaomi Mi A2, hot or not?

The pure Android movement is picking up speed and when combined with mid-range hardware, it has the potential for great mainstream phones. Like the Xiaomi Mi A2), the second Android One phone by the company. It expands the screen vertically - from 5.5" 16:9 to 6" 18:9 - in virtually the same body. And it upgrades to a Snapdragon 660 chipset, which offers the added power of four Kryo 260 cores. Options with more RAM and more storage is available as well, though if budget is a concern, then the microSD slot will be the preferred way to get more storage. Compared to its predecessor, the Mi...

Meizu 15 in for review

We went to China's beautiful Wuzhen town to witness the Meizu 15 debut and we were left feeling very positive about its prospects. Now we get to welcome the handset in our office as it joins our review queue, so we are wondering if the positive impressions will stand. What we have here is a phone that's oblivious to modern fads. It as a traditional 16:9 screen like the phones of yesteryear, a physical home button under it and not so much as a semblance of a notch anywhere on its metal-clad body. Don't take the Meizu's refusal to join the notch trend as a sign that the 15 is an...

Weekly poll results: Moto G6 Plus is a star, the other budget models fail to impress

The Moto G6 Plus is the mid-range Motorola worth having, our poll reveals. With over half the votes, this €300 model completely dominated its siblings. The difference between it and the non-Plus G6 include a drop to a 4-series Snapdragon chipset, which many deemed untenable. The reduction in screen diagonal - from 5.9" to 5.7" - proved less of an issue. We were surprised that neither of the large battery models - the Moto G6 Play (4,000 mAh) and Moto E5 Plus (5,000 mAh) - proved particularly popular. The latter especially seems attractive, that's a lot of battery life for €170. But...

BlackBerry Athena spotted on TENAA website

BlackBerry has always played a game of its own within a pretty specific niche of the smartphone market. Despite all the turmoil surrounding the legendary brand in recent years, that has remained mostly true under TCL management, as well. Having said that, 850,000 BlackBerry Keyone units shipped, might not sound like much, but it was apparently enough to merit a successor. BlackBerry Athena Codenamed "Athena", it was first spotted in a few detailed renders earlier this month. But given the visual similarities with the original Keyone, those were subject to some forgery...

Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018) stars in how-to video guide

Information on Samsung's eagerly-anticipated Galaxy A6 (2018) duo has literally been pouring into the rumor mill over the last few weeks. In case all the renders, live photos and certification filings weren't revealing enough for your taste, today brings a lengthy, well-shot and official-looking how-to video tour on the regular Galaxy A6 (2018) as well. Frankly, it's not everyday that we get such an in-depth look at the design and features of a still unannounced headset, so we urge you to enjoy the high-resolution YouTube clip for yourself. Besides a few nice glamour shots and a...

Coolpad Cool 2 now official: metal body and extra-tall display on the cheap

Coolpad has been keeping a rather low profile lately, with not much in the way of new device announcements. As for LeEco - the other party behind the "Cool" line of devices, it's current financial situation is a bit unfortunate. Still, things might just be looking up within the joint venture, if the release of the new entry-level Cool 2 is any indication, that is. The handset follows the extra-tall aspect trend of the day, rocking a 5.7-inch, 18:9, HD+ (1440 x 720 pixel) LCD panel. It also comes complete with a sleek 2.5D layer on top and rounded display corners - another hint of...

Xiaomi reportedly working hard with TSMC on its custom Surge S2 chipset

A little over a year ago, Xiaomi officially showcased its in-house developed, custom Surge S1 chipset. At the time, it came off as a rather bold step in a territory, typically only traversed by big-name players, the likes of Samsung and Huawei. Unfortunately, the whole endeavour dies out quickly. Still, it seems Xiaomi hasn't given up on the idea yet. With its increased popularity, market expansion and, consequently, order and supply chain volume hikes, it seems the Chinese OEM is now confident enough to take another stab at a custom SoC. According to industry sources, Xiaomi has...

Xiaomi Redmi S2 spotted in the wild: high-res photos and detailed specs

Xiaomi has been stirring things up quite a bit in the rumor mill lately. As promised, the Mi 6X/ Mi A2 was unveiled on April 25, but the event notably skipped over any details, regarding the eagerly-anticipated Redmi S2 handset. After a few rumors, followed by the obligatory trips to TENAA and the 3C certification authority, it's pretty clear the budget device is well on its way to a release. That might just be sooner than we though, since pre-production units seem to already be floating about in the open. In this particular case, a source out of the Czech Pepublic, appears to...

ZTE patents another dual notch display smartphone design

Saying that ZTE and especially its smartphone business is currently in a rather tough spot is kind of an understatement. With a ban from purchasing Qualcomm chips already in effect and rumors of a potential Android licence revoke, it really does seem like the company's entire handset business is in jeopardy. ZTE, however, seems to be rather undeterred by all the commotion, or at least positive enough to continue its design work. A recent patent filing, with China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) shows a new ZTE handset, featuring a pair of screen notches. It comes hot on...

Honor 7X gets Oreo in the US on April 30

If you own an Honor 7X bought from the US, you'll be happy to know that the release of the update to Android 8.0 Oreo for the phone is now right around the corner. Honor's US Twitter account has announced that the rollout will commence this following Monday, on April 30. Aside from upgrading the Android stack, it also makes the phone jump to the latest version of Huawei's UI overlay: EMUI 8.0. So aside from Google's tweaks, such as picture-in-picture and the Autofill API, you'll also be getting a new face unlock feature, the ability to connect to two Bluetooth devices at once, a...

Apple officially discontinues its AirPort series of wireless networking products

Apple has officially confirmed that it is discontinuing its AirPort series of wireless networking products. This includes the two wireless routers, AirPort Express and AirPort Extreme and the AirPort Time Capsule, which was a wireless router with a hard drive for data backups. AirPort Extreme Bloomberg had published a report back in 2016 that alluded that Apple has stopped development on its wireless range of products, although Apple never officially confirmed that until now. The products continue to be sold and will still be sold through all official channels until stock...

LG Watch Timepiece details leak, it will be a hybrid smartwatch with Wear OS

According to a new rumor, LG is working on a new wrist worn wearable. It will be called LG Watch Timepiece, and will run Google's newly renamed Wear OS. That said, this won't be a straight-up smartwatch in the vein of the LG Watch Sport or Style, both models which launched last year. Instead, the Timepiece will be a hybrid, containing a mechanical clock setup alongside the smart functions. This apparently caters to a demographic that is looking for the best of both worlds - analog and digital. The Watch Timepiece has a stainless steel body, IP68 certified water and dust resistance, as...

Apple iTunes now available on the Microsoft Store for Windows 10

Apple has finally released the iTunes desktop client for Windows on the Microsoft Store, after announcing it in March of last year. Those on Windows 10 can head over to the store to download the app right now for free. Yup, it looks the same For those wondering, no, this isn't any different from the standard Windows client. It doesn't look any different and it certainly doesn't work any different. It's not even a UWP compliant app. If you already have the apple.com version installed then there is hardly any reason to install this. Still, it's a good thing overall. Not everybody...

Huawei P20 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S9+

1x, 2x... 5x. Zooming smartphone cameras are no longer a novelty - in fact a numbers race is forming. Asus' Zenfone Zoom couldn't make waves, but Huawei appears on the right track to do so with the P20 Pro and its 3x zoom camera. We figured we'd pit it against the Galaxy S9+ - the latest phone to come out with what's become the standard 2x zoom.

Huawei P20 Pro becomes the company's best-selling phone in Western Europe

The Huawei P20 Pro broke the company's sales records in Western Europe. The phone along with its Huawei P20 sibling were already proven successful in China when they sold $15 million worth of phones in 10 seconds. Back to Europe, the P20 Pro launched a month ago (on March 27) and since then it has surpassed the Huawei P10 Plus (the previous record holder), outselling it by a whopping 316%. Most of those sales are coming from the UK, France and Germany. The first triple camera phone has piqued people's interest in other regions as well - "Huawei P20" is one of the hottest queries in...

HMD teases the return of Nokia N-series

Our wish may be coming true - HMD is expected to revive the X-series and the N-series may be next. The company's Weibo account posted a commemorative post about the Nokia N-series and how it was launched on April 27 2005, 13 years ago. On that day at a press conference in Amsterdam the Finns unveiled the Nokia N70, N90 and N91. But the post comes with an invitation - as vague as it is, it seems to be an invitation for the unboxing of a new phone. The rumor mill has been abuzz with Nokia X6 leaks, but could this be a double reveal? HMD's Nokia N8 teaser from Weibo Of course the...

First flash sale of nubia Red Magic ends in seconds

Yesterday was a big day for nubia sales when the ZTE subsidiary announced a bunch of flash sales on JD.com. One of them was the initial launch of the Red Magic gaming phone, which saw all its 10,000 units sold out in exactly 37 seconds. The Red Magic phone was one of three devices, selected by nubia fans to appear for a flash sale, with the other two being the new Z18 mini and last year's flagship Z17S. The price tag of CNY2,499 ($399) and CNY2,999 ($479) did not stop nubia fans from depleting the stock in no time. Next flash sale will take place on Tuesday, May 1 at 10 AM....

Nokia X live photos leak ahead of launch

The Nokia X, expected to debut as Nokia X6, is expected to go official any moment now, but there was still enough time for a final leak. Live photos of the phone popped on the Chinese social network Baidu revealing the device in all its glory and confirming the rumor that Nokia is also implementing the notch on its display. Nokia X6, is that you? The Nokia X appears to have a 19:9 screen with the small cutout housing the selfie camera, earpiece and the proximity sensor. The side bezels are pretty skinny, while the chin of the phone is a bit thicker and has room only for...

Oppo A3 arrives officially with a tall screen and a notch

Oppo just announced its latest A3 mid-range phone. Geekbench and TENAA listings from earlier suggested Helio P60 chipset and a leak popped up with a notch and today both got confirmed. Other key specs include 128 GB storage and latest Android Oreo. The Chinese company presented the phone with ultra-thin bezels and a cutout on its display for the camera and the speaker. That way the LCD is a 6.2" panel with 19:9 ratio and Full HD+ resolution. Oppo A3 Oppo A3 has an octa-core CPU at 2 GHz and a Mali-G72 MP3 GPU paired on the latest Helio chipset. The RAM is 4 GB, which...

Gionee launches the affordable F205 and S11 Lite in India

The Indian division of Gionee just announced the Gionee S11 Lite and the Gionee F205 with tall screens. Both phones were unveiled at an event in China back in November, but this is the first time they arrive outside their domestic market. The S11 Lite and F205 bring features like Face Unlock and bokeh selfie effect at an affordable price tag in the sub 15K category. Gionee F205 The Gionee F205 has a 5.45" tall screen with HD+ resolution. The device is powered by MediaTek 6739 chipset with four Cortex-A53 CPU running cores at 1.3 GHz. There is a basic 8 MP snapper, coupled with an...

SwiftKey for Android updated with toolbar customization, support for new languages

SwiftKey for Android has received a new update that brings a handful of new features. You can now customize the toolbar, new languages are supported, while a couple of issues have been ironed out. To begin with, you can customize the toolbar by turning features on or off as well as rearranging them in the order you desire. The list of newly supported languages include Aja, Blackfoot, Seychellois Creole, Kazakh (Latin), K'iche' and Quechua (Southern). Another new addition is the expansion of Location Sharing feature to 24 new countries, and an Emoji panel-related change that lets...

LG G6 Oreo update coming next week, company confirms

LG has confirmed that the Oreo update for its G6 smartphone will start rolling out at the start of next week - April 30. The company's home country of South Kora will be the first market to get it, followed by other regions around the world. In Korea, the update will be launched through the company's Software Upgrade Center (which was launched just a month ago), and will be available both over-the-air and as manual install using LG Bridge. Aside from the usual Oreo goodies, the G6 update will also include some AI features from the V30s ThinQ. The company says Oreo roll out for the...

Budget friendly Samsung Galaxy J2 2018 debuts with focus on shopping and social media

Samsung has launched a new smartphone dubbed Galaxy J2 Pro. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC with quad-core CPU, and sports a 5-inch qHD Super AMOLED display. RAM is 2GB, while internal memory is 16GB. The camera department is covered by an 8MP main shooter and a 5MP selfie unit. Measuring 143.8mm x 72.3mm x 8.4mm, the device packs in a 2,600mAh battery. No word on the Android version, although it's likely to be Nougat. Carrying a price tag of INR 8,190 ($123), the Galaxy J2 2018 comes in gold, black, and pink color options. It's available for purchase in India...

Kernel source code for Motorola Moto Z2 Play Oreo update is now available

The Moto Z2 Play Oreo update started rolling out earlier this month, and now, Motorola has released the kernel source code for the update as well - it's posted on GitHub. So if you are from the developer community, and have been waiting for the company to do this, here's you chance to take a look at what's going on in the Oreo update at the code level, and come up with a custom ROM (if that's your aim). Source | Via

Black LG G7 ThinQ gets the leaked press render treatment too

We've already seen the upcoming LG G7 ThinQ in a group press render showing all its color versions, and then the gray (or silver) variation got a close-up. Now it's time for the exact same thing to happen to the G7's black iteration, courtesy of the press render you can see below, which comes from Evan Blass, @evleaks. Of course it doesn't show anything new - the screen's notch is still there (its chin too), the dual rear cameras are vertically aligned on the back, the fingerprint sensor is below those, and then there's the G7 ThinQ branding, so you never forget about the phone's...

Xiaomi Redmi S2 allegedly receives 3C certification

Xiaomi has a new device in development, according to recent rumors: the Redmi S2. This model was apparently the one passing through TENAA a few days ago, and now it's been given the go-ahead by 3C as well (that's Compulsory Certification of China). Hence, its launch day could be right around the corner. The 3C certification doesn't reveal any specs, but according to TENAA and past rumors, the Redmi S2 will come with a design reminiscent of the Redmi Note 5 Pro. It will boast a 5.99-inch 18:9 touchscreen with 1,440x720 resolution, a dual rear camera setup with one sensor being 12 MP,...

Snapchat announces second generation Spectacles, cost $150

Snapchat has announced the second generation model of its Spectacles, a pair of sunglasses with a built-in camera that records and uploads to your Snapchat account. The second generation model brings a host of changes. The glasses are now smaller, making them more comfortable to wear and carry around. They are also water-resistant, so you can wear them in the pool. The camera hardware has been updated, with HD resolution videos. You can record 10, 20 or 30 second clips. A second microphone now captures audio better. You can now also capture still images, something that you...

Check out our Nokia 7 plus video review

You read our written review of the Nokia 7 plus, now you can watch our video review as well. There's a lot to love about this mid-ranger (like the copper-colored highlights) and its price is already starting to dip. It's the only phone in HMD's lineup with a taller than 16:9 aspect ratio, though this might change very soon with the launch of the Nokia X6. Either way, the X6 is rumored to sit below the Nokia 7 plus, so when it comes to capabilities it's this or the Nokia 8 Sirocco. Speaking of, the dual camera on the 7 plus is fairly similar to what's available on the flagship Sirocco...

Possible Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 specs include Snapdragon 660 chipset

It has been over a year since the last Xiaomi tablet, so hints of the Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 are coming just in time. The info was dug up by @FunkyHuawei who explores ROM configurations for clues of hardware features. The tablet will be powered by a Snapdragon 660 chipset, according to its build.prop. There's no info on RAM size and the presence of a microSD card is not quite certain. The screen of the tablet will have 320 dpi, though that doesn't tell us much of its size and resolution. Info on the Mi Pad 4 cameras is more certain - there will be a 13 MP OmniVision OV13855 on the back...

LG G7 notch settings pictured

The LG G7 ThinQ will let you hide the notch. A spy shot shows a setting called New Second Screen, which allows you to toggle this on and off and even enable virtual rounded corners on the display below the notch. There also seems to be an option to change the background color for the status bar, though we're not quite sure how that will work - black hides the notch, anything else doesn't. Most of the options seem variations of black/gray, but then there's the rainbow option at the right. It's also worth keeping in mind that (according to the rumor mill) the LG G7 will have an RGBW...

Samsung Galaxy A6+ live images show Infinity Display

We already showed you the new Galaxy A6+ (2018) renders with dual cameras the other day. Now a live photo arrived, showing the device in the flesh. The National Communications Commission in Taiwan's certificate of a phone with model number M-A605G/DS included live photos, revealing the Infinity Display. Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018) front and back It wasn't something that we didn't expect - rumors of a tall display arrived two weeks ago from an HTML5 benchmark website. The Galaxy A6+ (2018) is said to have the same resolution as its sibling the Galaxy A6 (2018), but will up its...

nubia Red Magic's international launch is an IndieGoGo campaign

There's a spotty history of launching mobile devices through a crowdfunding campaign, but ZTE has decided to do just that with the nubia Red Magic. It's currently on IndieGoGo for a month-long campaign to raise $50,000 (at the time of this writing, it has collected over $16,000). $50,000 is a paltry sum to launch a new device, so this is more of a publicity stunt than an actual need for funds. Anyway, you can put down $400 - 23% lower than the launch price of $520 - to reserve a Red Magic phone (and get a free dband skin in the process). This perk will expire tomorrow at 8 am GMT. Nubia...

Verizon leaks HTC U12 key specs

Verizon has a platform called Open Development for encouraging the development of new products, apps, and services beyond the company portfolio. Along with the design & build part, there is also a Showcase part where many devices, licensed to work with the Verizon network, are listed. According to a listing of the HTC U12, the phone will have Super WQHD LCD with 6" diagonal. It also reveals the battery capacity of 3,500 mAh and Android Oreo. For obvious reasons the Verizon Open Development listing has used the image of the year-old HTC U11 instead. The U12 is said to arrive with...

Galaxy S9 and S8 help push Samsung to record Q1 profits

The Galaxy S9 duo helped propel Samsung Electronics to record operating profits for the first three months of this year. It took in an operating profit of $14.5 billion on $56.2 billion of revenue. That represents an operating margin of 25.8%, up 6.2 percentage points year over year. The S9 didn't do it alone, the older Galaxy S8 still sells well as do other premium models. Mobile accounts for $26.4 billion of the consolidated revenue, but only $3.5 billion of the profits. Samsung wants to keep this rolling by expanding its experience stores and offering more trade-in deals. It's...

Canalys: Smartphone market in China hits rock-bottom with 21% decline in Q1

Two days ago we reported that Oppo was the market leader in shipments on the Chinese market, but today's detailed statistics from Canalys bring worrisome details. According to the analysts, smartphone shipments suffered a hard decline of 21% in Q1 2018 on a yearly basis. This is the worst drop Chinese market faced since the beginning of 2012. Top four vendors are all domestic companies - Huawei (along with Honor), Oppo, vivo, and Xiaomi. While Huawei saw modest 2% growth in shipments to 21 million units, Oppo and vivo saw a 10% decline with respectively 18 million and 15 million...

LG reports record profit in Q1 but phone division keeps struggling

LG Electronics posted its Q1 financial results, noting consolidated sales of KRW15.12 trillion ($14.1 billion) and operating profit of KRW1.11 trillion ($1.03 billion). This is a result of 3.2% sales rise and 20% income jump, marking the highest Q1 profit ever and the highest quarterly profit since the summer of 2009. LG G7 ThinQ The overall picture might be looking good for LG, but the Mobile Communications division is still in the red for the staggering 11th quarter in a row. Sales of phones were about KRW2.16 trillion (or $2 billion). Last year the Q1 report saw $176,000 in...

Apple planning to simplify iPhone name in future

Apple might introduce simpler branding for its phones according to an analyst from Guggenheim. In an investor note, Robert Cihra from the analyst company says Apple will use the upcoming cycle to change the iPhone naming pattern. This would happen only to the successors of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus - the flagship would keep its X suffix to denote its standing. Will the iPhone follow the iPad? Making a change in naming is not something new at Cupertino. Apple has been playing with The New iPad and numbers for its tablets, which in the long run has delivered more confusion...

Google confirms Inbox by Gmail will soon be iPhone X-compatible

Google has confirmed that the iOS version of its Inbox by Gmail app will soon be compatible with Apple's notch-totting iPhone X. Also, this didn't make the column, but: Inbox for iPhone X is coming. Google says soon. It did a bunch of crazy one-off interface stuff that the X totally broke, and it took way longer to update then Google expected. (Also Gmail is clearly more important.)— David Pierce (@pierce) April 25, 2018 As you can see, Google says a lot of Inbox features were broken due to the unorthodox display of the iPhone X and that's the reason it took so long for the company...