Facebook cans seven-months-old Notify app

If you recall, back in November last year, Facebook launched a new iOS app dubbed Notify. The app was all about notifications - notifying you about things you care about or have interest in. Now, around seven months after the launch, Facebook has decided to pull the plug on the app. The company says the app's functionality will be integrated into other Facebook products, such as Messenger. Here's the complete statement from the company: Starting on Wednesday, we will begin integrating Notify functionality into other Facebook products, like Messenger, and will be removing Notify...

Huawei to launch Daydream-capable phone this fall

While it's Nexus 6P smartphone is already Daydream-supported (although only for development purpose currently), Huawei has revealed that it will launch a new Daydream-capable phone this fall. The revelation was made by Huawei's director Richard Yu (who heads the Chinese company's consumer electronics division) in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. In addition, he said that the firm's partnership with German optics specialist Leica - which started with the P9 smartphone - is a long term alliance which is expected to continue at-least for the next five years. Yu also hinted...

Officially arriving on June 15, OP3 to go on flash sale on June 6

OnePlus has announced that a total of 1,000 units of its upcoming OnePlus 3 smartphone will be up for grabs on June 6 (coming Monday) in China. That's just over a week before the device is scheduled to be officially unveiled. So, does that mean some people will be able to get their hands on the phone even before it's officially unveiled? Well, no, as the orders will begin shipping on the announcement day itself. As for the price, the company says these limited units will be available for RMB 2,999 each (around $455). However, interestingly, this is not the final price. The actual...

Google Maps' Android beta program goes live on Play Store

Google has launched an official Android beta program for its Maps application on the Play Store, making it easy for early adopters to test latest pre-release builds of the app. Those interested in joining the Google Maps beta channel can head to the Source link below. Once there, tap on the 'Become a Tester' option (make sure you're logged into your Google account). After this, just download/update the Maps app by heading to Google Play. Source

Samsung Galaxy Note 6/7 tipped to launch in August first week

According to the usually reliable leakster @evleaks, Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 6 (or Note7 according to recent reports) smartphone is expected to be launched in the first week of August. Galaxy Note 6/7 launch event is almost exactly two months away.— Evan Blass (@evleaks) June 2, 2016 Going by his words - "almost exactly two months away" - and the date of his tweet, we can say that @evleaks is pointing to an August 2 or August 3 launch for the phablet. That's a bit earlier than the "week of August 15" launch time-frame he had earlier shared. The phone has been the subject...

Acer Liquid Zest Plus with 5,000mAh battery set for July launch in Canada, pricing revealed

Acer has revealed some information on the Canadian availability and pricing of its Liquid Zest Plus smartphone. According to the company, the device will land in the country sometime next month carrying a CAD 249 (around $190) price tag. There is, however, currently no information on the handset's carrier and retail availability in the country. For those who aren't in the know, the selling point of the Liquid Zest Plus is its mammoth 5,000mAh battery which is claimed to provide three days of usage on a single charge. In case you missed, the Taiwanese firm has already announced that...

Visa is trialing its new payment ring with Olympic athletes in Rio

Visa has secured the Olympic venue as the only card to be accepted at the event. Good for them! Visa is also holding a trial with employees, partners, and Olympic athletes alike with its newest payment system ring which only requires the user to wave their ring over the terminal and the transaction will be completed. No batteries, passwords, or screen is required to use the ring. The payment ring also comes with its own card in cases where the ring is not accepted. In case you were wondering, the payment ring can also be deactivated from an accompanying smartphone app. The...

Samsung announces Gear Fit 2 and Gear IconX

Today, in an event in New York City, Samsung announced a successor for the original Gear Fit which became a quite successful fitness band/smartwatch. Samsung also announced its first pair of fully wireless earbuds called the Gear IconX. The Gear Fit uses a similarly designed vertical 1.55 inch Super AMOLED screen and is powered by a dual core 1.0 GHz processor with 4GB of storage on-board. The Gear Fit will also include an optical heart-rate sensor, GPS connectivity for tracking your outdoor activities without carrying a phone, IP68 immersion certification, and it will carry a 200mAh...

Pebble Core gains support for Amazon's Alexa

Last month when it announced its two newest smartwatches, Pebble also made the Core official. This is the company's first non-smartwatch product. It resembles the iPod Nano, and Pebble bills it a "capable fitness device that lets you leave your phone at home", as it comes with built-in 3G connectivity as well as Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi. It also has a 3.5mm jack to plug headphones into when you feel like listening to music (which it can stream over 3G or Wi-Fi). The Core unfortunately won't be out until 2017, but when it does ship it will do so with built-in support for Amazon's Alexa...

New update brings back Stamina Mode for the Xperia Z5 family

It's back! Stamina Mode has made a return to Sony's Xperia Z5 family of devices, after having been removed when the updates to Android 6.0 Marshmallow started going out. Now a new software update, with build number 32.2.A.0.224, is in the process of rolling out to Sony's Xperia Z5, Z5 Dual, and Z5 Compact (and the Z5 Premium should follow soon). This one will make your phone run Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, but most importantly for those who love long battery life it brings back Stamina Mode, Sony's own interpretation of a low power consumption state. The new Stamina settings are...

Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet now comes with a metal shell, 64GB storage

Amazon spruced up its Fire HD 10 tablet with a new Silver Aluminum option. The metal option is priced the same as the Black and White plastic incarnations of the tab. Also, there's a new storage option - 64GB - that is available with the aluminum shell only. That one costs $290 with special offers, $305 without. The cheapest option is the 16GB model (there's a microSD card slot) for $230 (with special offers). Other than finish and storage, the specs of the Amazon Fire HD 10 have not changed. It has a 10.1" screen with 1,280 x 800px (149ppi), a quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM, Dolby...

Moto G4 Plus hands-on: First look

Motorola deserves credit for turning the budget Android phone market on its head back with the original Moto G. But since then a lot has happened and many new overeager disrupters have joined the game.

The Samsung Galaxy Note7 edge might feature a dual-camera setup

The next in line in Samsung's iconic phablet family has been flooding the rumor mill and captivating everybody's curiosity for quite some time now. And as August draws near, so does Samsung's typical announcement window for Note devices and with that, more and more details are starting to slip through the cracks. The latest industry insider scoop on the upcoming Note hints at a dual main camera setup. According to the source, Samsung Electro-Mechanics (Semco) is already working on said system and it will, allegedly, be ready to make its debut on the Note7 or perhaps its rumored...

OmniVision has a new 1.55-Micron sensor to power high-end smartphone cameras

OmniVison has become a household brand name when it comes to sensors and chances are you have used a device equipped with one of its sensors. The new Motorola Moto G 4 Plus, for instance, utilizes the company's 1/2.4-inch OV16860 16MP sensor with some impressive results, but it should pale in comparison with the new OV12890. It is a 1/2.4-inch type 12MP sensor, which fits into a 10 x 10 x 6 mm camera module, making it ideal for use in new high-end smartphone offers. The sensor is capable of capturing 12MP stills at a rate of 45 fps, as well as 1080p video at up to 240 fps and 4K...

Galaxy Note5 voted America's most loved phone, iPhone 6s Plus comes second

Samsung must be feeling quite proud of the Galaxy Note5 after the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) pronounced it America's favorite smartphone. The organization gave the Note5 86/100 points in its nationwide poll. The iPhone 6s Plus received 85/100 points, leaving it in a second place. The Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note 4 share third place with 84 points. The iPhone 6s is fourth just one point below. Here's the complete ranking below. Interestingly, Samsung isn't the most reliable smartphone brand according to the poll. Nevertheless, it's close by to Apple, which is...

Samsung Pay lands in mainland Europe starting with Spain

¡Hola! ¿Cuánto cuesta? Samsung Pay is launching in Spain, finally getting a foothold on the mainland after the UK launch. Research showed that among Spaniards aged 35 to 65, 64% pay with a credit or debit cards for most or even all of their purchases. And they have to carry more than two cards to do it. At launch, partner banks are CaixaBank and imaginBank, Abanca and Banco Sabadell will join soon. Here are just some of the venues that will accept Samsung Pay: Cepsa, Cervecería La Sureña, Domino's Pizza, El Corte Inglés, Fridays, Ginos, Grupo DIA, MediaMarkt, Mercadona, Phone House,...

A 4.3" Xiaomi mini spotted in the wild, allegedly with S820 chipset

The fate of compact flagships hangs in the balance as Sony killed off the Xperia Z brand and the fabled Z Compact. Does Xiaomi hold the salvation for fans of petite but powerful phones? A rumor attached to a photo details a 4.3" Xiaomi that will be powered by the Snapdragon 820 chipset. The screen will have 720p resolution, which shouldn't be a problem (wasn't for the Compacts). The unnamed Xiaomi mini is expected to have a 13MP main camera on the back and a fingerprint sensor on the front. Additional specs include 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage. The price is rumored to be CNY 1,800...

SanDisk announces new Dual Drive USB Type-C flash drives

SanDisk has announced the second generation of its SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive USB Type-C flash drives. The new drives come with an updated design and higher capacity models. The drives, for those not aware, feature a sliding design, with a USB Type-A connector on one end and a Type-C on the other. This allows you to plug in the drive to your computer whether you have a standard Type-A connector or the new MacBook with a Type-C connector. The Type-C connector also allows the drive to be plugged in and used with newer Android devices being launched. The drives are based on USB 3.1...

X-Men themed LG X phones coming soon to Europe and the Americas

Superheroes dominate the movie theaters and soon they will conquer mobile phones as well. LG is cross-promoting its X-series of phones with the new X-Men movies. These "themed" phones will launch in July for Europe, the US and Latin America. The two new phones from yesterday - LG X Power and LG X Style - are linked to Professor X ("Long Lasting Power") and Mystique ("Fabulously Flawless Looks") respectively. LG X Power, Professor X • LG X Style, Mystique The first duo - LG X Cam and LG X Screen - are Cyclops ("Extraordinary vision") and Nightcrawler ("Agile and...

The $23 Xiaomi Mi Band 2 is now official

After quite a few leaks and even a couple of early pre-sales events, Xiaomi's latest fitness tracker was officially unveiled today. Despite its name, the Mi Band 2 is actually the third installment of the extremely popular wearable, but offers a major upgrade over its predecessors. The Mi Band 2 now comes with a lot more tech on board. On top of the already familiar step counter, sleep tracker, heart-rate measurement and notification alerts, the accessory now has an OLED display instead of the usual three LED array and a round physical button on the front. This allows the Mi Band 2...

Facebook Messenger lands on Windows 10 Mobile

If you are a Facebook fan and own a Windows 10 Mobile handset, here's some good news for you: the social networking company has finally made its Messenger app available on the mobile platform. The app - which is currently in beta, meaning it may contain some bugs - is now listed on the Windows Store and can be downloaded from there. Following is a list of features included in the app: Get notifications so you never miss a message See when you have messages waiting for you with a live tile Send photos, videos, GIFs and more Bring your conversations to life with...

Huawei P9 gets a gold bath from Goldgenie

Goldgenie has started offering its customary precious metal plating service for the Huawei P9. The options include 24K Gold, Rose Gold and Platinum. Price is set at £1500, phone included, but we gather there will be differences depending on which coating you actually choose. Half of the sum needs to be deposited for Goldgenie to start melting the metals. The P9 is the latest in the line of Huawei flagships, and comes with a 5.2-inch FullHD display and in-house Kirin 955 chipset. Its headline feature is the dual camera on the back - a Leica-branded 2x12MP setup with one...

Windows insiders can now use notification syncing from mobile to PC

Microsoft recently unveiled a few interesting features in the latest Windows 10 Preview Build. If you are subscribed to the Insider program, getting the latest build 14356 should enable the notification syncing feature, that the Microsoft has been hinting at for quite some time. It allows Cortana on your mobile device (Windows 10 Mobile or Android) to send its notifications to the PC. In order for this to work on Google's mobile OS, however, you need to get Cortana version 1.7.1 or higher, a link for which can be found in the source. If everything goes smoothly and requirements are...

Google Hangouts updated with support for Direct Share

Google has pushed out a new update to its Hangouts messaging app that brings along support for Direct Share, a feature that the company introduced in the Android Marshmallow OS. As the name suggests you can now directly share stuff - including photos, videos, or even links - with the Hangouts contacts whom you frequently interact. This is the only major change included in the update, which is currently rolling out to Hangouts for Android. Via | Google Play

Verizon Galaxy Note 4 starts getting Marshmallow update

Shortly after rolling out the Marshmallow update to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7, Verizon has now started pushing out the update to Galaxy Note 4 units on its network. It bumps the software version to N910VVRU2CPD1. The update brings Android 6.0.1, meaning all the usual Marshmallow goodies are included. In addition, it also beings along other features/improvements such as Wi-Fi calling, update to app icons, Ultra High Quality Audio and Android for Work. Head to the Source link below for more information on the update. As is usually the case with OTA roll-outs, it might take some...