Apple releases first betas for iOS 11.4, tvOS 11.4 and watchOS 4.3.1

On Monday, April 3, Apple released the first betas for its upcoming iOS 11.4, tvOS 11.4 and watchOS 4.3.1 releases. These arrive less than a week after the official releases of iOS 11.3, tvOS 11.3 and watchOS 4.3. iOS 11.4 In addition to squashing bugs introduced in iOS 11.3, being a point release, iOS 11.4 introduces some additional functionality. During its March 27 Educational Event Apple announced that iOS 11.4 would launch the ClassKit Framework, used in conjunction with a new iPad app called Schoolwork that helps teachers and students keep track of assignments and...

Here are all the Android devices updated with Treble support

You may have heard a great deal (or none at all) about Project Treble. The reason that it is sort of a big deal is that it is Android's ongoing solution for the problem that Android has faced since the very early days of its existence: fragmentation - this happens when the latest version of Android is updated and OEMs (namely, Samsung) take a long time to update its heavily skinned devices to the latest version of Android. By contrast, iOS does not have this issue since Apple controls both the hardware and software of the iPhone. Treble sought out to help end fragmentation (or at least...

Android security update for April brings many fixes for Pixel 2, Pixel, and some Nexus

Google releases a monthly security bulletin that contain its newest security updates and sometimes functional updates. Today, Google has released the full list of fixes and changes that will come with the April OTA update. Some of these fixes and updates apply to only Pixel 2(XL) devices while others apply to the HTC-made first-generation Pixel (XL) phones. Here are few updates mentioned in the update. Assisted dialing support for Pixel 2 Improve VoLTE - VoWi-Fi handover during emergency calls for all Pixels Reduce delays upon opening certain apps for Pixel 2 Enable IMS911...

Alleged Nokia 9 spec sheet leaks with triple cameras and in-glass fingerprint scanner

Last we've heard of the Nokia 9 was early last month when a report surfaced about a supposed Nokia 9 with a "best in-class" smartphone camera. Today's leak just might support that idea, although, we should still proceed with skepticism. There's a long list of alleged specifications that looks very well put together. There's a lot here but we're only going to take a look at the most significant features. There's a 6.01" AMOLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio: the golden standard in smartphone displays for 2018. Around back is a ceramic back plate with an "18 karat gold finish" which...

Samsung Galaxy S6 models will no longer get security updates

Samsung's Galaxy S6 was released in Q2 of 2015 and marked a new chapter for Samsung as it shed itself of cheap plastic body's and went towards glass and metal for the Galaxy S. The phone launched with Lollipop (5.0) out of the box and received the latest version of Nougat as its latest major Android update. Since then, it has been receiving regular security updates that help to protect against new vulnerabilities as per Google's monthly security bulletin. Samsung's security website no longer lists the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, and Galaxy S6 Active as devices that are...

Partial YouTube outage: Channel pages are returning with error 500

Many folks are tweeting that they are unable to see any YouTuber's channel pages, only to be met with an internal error 500. We just tried to open 10 channels from videos in our YouTube feed and all of them return the same error "500 Internal Service Error". Surprisingly, MKBHD's channel is seemingly the only one visible and working just fine. Even Casey Neistat's channel is returning the same error. Edit: MKBHD's Channel is down again. Current message when trying to open a user's YouTube Channel on a desktop. It's a little too late for this to be an April Fool's day prank and...

OnePlus 6 official teaser confirms the name, says it will have "the speed you need"

The OnePlus 6 is coming soon and today the Chinese company has decided to start its marketing campaign for the device in earnest. Thus, OnePlus has outed the first official teaser video for its next flagship smartphone. It's only four seconds long, but it manages to confirm the OnePlus 6 name. It also tells us that this phone will pack "the speed you need". 6et ready! pic.twitter.com/bmvI75xphm— OnePlus (@oneplus) April 2, 2018 OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has already confirmed that his company's next handset will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 chipset, and that's where that speed...

Meizu 15 and 15 Plus star in new hands-on images

Meizu is celebrating a big milestone in 2018 - 15 years since the company was founded back in 2003. To properly mark the occasion, it's preparing to launch a couple of new smartphones, aptly named Meizu 15 and Meizu 15 Plus, respectively. These have been leaking at a steady pace in the past few weeks, and today we get three more hands-on images showing them. Meizu 15 and 15 Plus leaked hands-on images As you can see, the Plus model will be unsurprisingly Plus-sized. For both it and the Meizu 15, the front-facing camera is centered above the screen, while the bottom bezel...

Check out these Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s camera samples and gestures demo

During the first day we spent with the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s, we focused on introductions and a hardware overview. We've had a bit more time with it now and we want to share our thoughts on the updated UI (and its gestures) along with camera, including testdriving the HDR mode. As you may have heard, Xiaomi is on a path to give you as much screen real estate as it can and the way to do it doesn't include a notch. Instead, the company slimmed the bezels as far as they would go and even removed the familiar Android navigation buttons. These buttons have been replaced with gestures - swipe...

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ discounted in India

With the S9 out, everyone expected the prices of Galaxy S8 phones to drop - and they have! Samsung's Indian site has cut the prices by about 15%. Head to Samsung.com for the deals. Original price Discounted price Samsung Galaxy S8 INR 57,900 INR 49,990 Samsung Galaxy S8+ INR 64,900 INR 53,990 Samsung Galaxy S8+ 128GB INR 70,900 INR 64,900 Presently, this beats the prices at Flipkart, though a seller (not Samsung) on Amazon promises slightly better prices. The Galaxy Note8 has not been...

Google to launch a mid-range Pixel phone in India

The Indian smartphone market keeps growing and evolving with every new day and Google has taken notice. According to at least four senior industry executives, the Alphabet company is planning to make an aggressive move in India that will include a new mid-range smartphone, a new Pixel phone by Diwali and the launch of Pixelbook soon. Google is also expected to spend a lot on marketing for its consumer products, with plans to take on rivals as Apple, Samsung and Amazon. Trade meets took place in Malaysia, the US and the UK, where even some Indian retailers took part. According to one...

Rumored OnePlus 6 price $50 higher than 5T's, storage upgrades will cost more too

With the 5T out of stock, the OnePlus 6 can't be far from store shelves. Some say that it will be unveiled by the end of the month with shipments scheduled for a couple of weeks after that. Which raises the question of how much? OnePlus has a tendency to up the price of each new model and rumor has it that the 6 will be no exception. The rumored prices are as follows: $525 for the base 64GB model, $600 for the 128GB one and $700 for the top of the line 256GB model. Note that these are prices for China (converted to dollars), so American and Euro prices should be higher due to additional...

Galaxy S9 vs. Xperia XZ2 shootout

Samsung has the Plus, Sony has the Compact, but the two companies see the base size differently. It's these regular versions that we'll now be taking a closer look at - this is the Galaxy S9 versus Xperia XZ2 camera comparison.

LG G7 leaks: RGBW screen with a notch and a chin, 16MP F/1.5 dual cam

Info on the LG G7 is not available publicly, but some has come out from behind closed doors. The phone will allegedly use an M+ LCD, an RGBW panel that promises to cut power use by 35% thanks to dedicated white pixels. It's not a new idea, but previous implementations have been less than stellar. That screen will have a notch, as seen in this leaked glass panel and also CAD-based renderings of the device itself. The notch will house the selfie camera, earpiece and ambient light sensor at least. In terms of size, we're looking at a 6" screen with a taller than usual 19:9 aspect...

Huawei Honor 7A unveiled: Oreo on an 18:9 screen and a modest budget

Huawei unveiled the Honor 7A, a phone built in the spirit of the View 10. It is an affordable entry-level device, however, launching in China at CNY 800 ($130/€105) for the 2GB/32GB version and CNY 1,000 ($160/€130) for the 3GB/32GB version. It will be available tomorrow at Huawei Mall, Tmall and JD.com. The phone boasts an 18:9 screen, 5.7" in size and with 720 x 1,440px resolution. Good thing too, as the Snapdragon 430 chipset doesn't have the best GPU. Anyway, a fingerprint is still available, though on the back instead of below the screen. The dual camera on the back is has a...

Samsung J720F to launch as Galaxy J7 Duo

At the beginning of 2018, a Samsung phone with the SM-J720F moniker appeared on Geekbench and GFXBench and we thought the phone is going to be called Galaxy J8 (2018), following the trend of unifying names that the Korean company started. According to some code obtained by one of our readers, the phone will appear under the name Samsung Galaxy J7 Duo in India. Bootloader and file system of Galaxy J7 Duo One of the images, the bootloader screen, reveals the first thing you'll see once you power on the device. It has 16:9 ratio and 1280 x 720 pixels, meaning the Galaxy J7...

Google Home to launch in India on April 10

As previously reported, Google will be launching the Google Home devices in the Indian market. According to a invite we received from Google this morning, it seems the launch will happen on Tuesday, April 10. While the invite doesn't specify exactly what the event will be about, the description states that it's 'something that's bound to keep you talking for a long, long while'. The invite also has a donut theme, which makes me think that Google will only be launching the smaller, donut-sized Google Home Mini in the Indian market. It also makes sense to start with the smaller...

Nubia Z18 mini to debut on April 11

First, it was the nubia Z5, followed by Z7, Z9, and Z11, but then numbering leaped to Z17. So can you guess what the name of the next series of the ZTE subbrand is? Why, the Z18, of course. Yes, nubia is apparently now matching the calendar year with its model numbers. The first phone from the Z18 series is going to be called nubia Z18 mini, according to a press invite the company sent out. The phone is said to have 24 MP dual cameras and will be announced on April 11. The mini version of the expected Z18 flagship lacks any specs in the rumor mill, but it will probably be much...

Samsung Galaxy S8 Active on AT&T getting Oreo

AT&T has started pushing out a new update to Galaxy S8 Active units on its network. It's a major update that arrives as build number G892AUCU2BRCS, and brings along Android Oreo. In addition to all the usual Android 8.0 goodies, the update also includes security fixes for the month of March. As is usually the case with OTA roll outs, it may take time for the update notification to pop up on your device's screen. There's currently no information on when S8 Active units on T-Mobile and Sprint will get the update. The regular Galaxy S8, in case you aren't already aware, has been...

PUBG Mobile for iOS and Android Review

PUBG or PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is finally on mobile. After releasing on Windows in March of 2017 in early access beta form, with the 1.0 release along with the Xbox One release coming out in December, the game has now been released on iOS and Android worldwide after a brief period of China exclusivity. I tried it on six different devices to see what the mobile experience of the game is like. Before I begin with the review, here is a brief primer on the game. PUBG is what is now known as the battle royale style of game. While not the first game of this type, it's the one that made it...

Top 10 trending phones of week 13

Xiaomi Redmi 5 Pro's reign as the most popular device in our database finally ended this week as the vivo v9 pushed it down to second place. In third we have the Huawei P20, which was announced on Tuesday, while the Oppo F7 made a strong comeback to capture fourth. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 was unfazed by all the action around it and retained fifth, ahead of the Galaxy S9+. The Asus Zenfone Max Plus keeps its place in the top 10, although it lost quite a bit of ground and is now seventh, just edging out the Xiaomi Mi A1. Another newly unveiled phone - the Huawei Mate RS Porsche...

New phones of the week - yet another big week

Last week was huge in terms of phone announcements, bringing us 16 new devices, including some high-flyers like the Oppo R15 and vivo X21. This week couldn't match the sheer number, but it more than made up for that with quality. The first device announced this past week wasn't a phone but the Acer Chromebook Tab 10. It went live on Monday along with the 25MP selfie cam Oppo F7. Tuesday was the biggest day in terms of announcements. Apple revamped its entry-level iPad but the spotlight belonged to Xiaomi and Huawei. Xiaomi unwrapped the Mi Mix 2S with a new dual camera and...

Weekly poll: is the Huawei P20 Pro the flagship you wanted?

We're starting to understand why marketing departments love huge numbers they can push. "What's that, Samsung and Apple? Your camera shoots only 12MP photos? How quaint!" When you have the only 40MP camera on the market like the Huawei P20 Pro has, the ad basically writes itself. You can take a gander at the camera samples we took - both in the native 40MP mode and the 10MP supersampled mode. One is great during the day, the other does its magic at night. What do you think? DxO loves it. We have to say that the hybrid zoom was quite impressive. It's a combo of the 3x telephoto lens (8MP...

Sunday debate: What matters more - performance or camera

This week we discuss which phone would you pick if you had to choose between one that is faster and the other that takes better photos. And yes, we know ideally you'd have both, but each manufacturer prioritizes different things when designing their phones so normally you have to pick your priorities too. Victor: Invest in the performance you need now, so you don't start hating the experience later. First, let's get one thing straight here - a good camera experience is very important on a modern smartphone. It's the device that you are most likely to have at hand at all times...

Weekly poll results: it's a tie! Huawei P20 Pro and Xiaomi Mi 2s loved equally

Well, we did not expect that - when we asked if you're more interested in the Huawei P20 Pro or the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s, we thought that surely one of the two will prevail. Sure, we asked a couple of days before the phones went official, but there we extensive leaks. Plus, the phones were unveiled this Tuesday, so you had plenty of time to change your mind. However, the phones remained of absolute even popularity - when we stopped the poll, the difference in votes was less than 10. That's good news, we think. The Huawei P20 Pro is a camera monster with a notched screen and a hefty price...