Samsung Finally Releases a New Tizen Phone, But It's a Device from Old-Age

 By Unknown on May 14, 2017       

Smartphones have come a long way from what they are in 2011 or 2012. But Samsung just took us back to the initial stages of smartphone era by launching the Samsung Z4, the successor to Tizen OS's Samsung Z3 released back in 2015. 

Samsung has been betting big on the Tizen OS to replace it with Android, but it is just a dream for the firm. The new Samsung Z4 doesn't inspire confidence in any aspect- design, specs, and pricing. 

The phone comes with specifications such as a 4.5-inch WVGA display, 1.5GHz quad-core chip, 1GB of RAM, and a mere 2050mAh battery. The specs are just unbelievable on paper, considering we're in 2017. But, Samsung has its own reasons to release the smartphone. 

Coming to the USP of the phone, it's the Tizen OS, which is the less secured OS, not many apps in the store, and many other drawbacks. Not at all a great thinking from the world's best smartphone brand, not at all. 

Google is Promising to Fix Slow Android Updates for OEM Phones With the 'Project Treble'

 By Unknown on May 13, 2017       

Google has announced yet another project that will fix the slow Android updates in its partner phones. The 'Project Treble' from Google will fix the slow Android upgrades. Google with the Project Treble will 're-architect' the core Android. 

Google says that it can achieve the same by “re-architecting Android to make it easier, faster and less costly for manufacturers to update devices to a new version of Android.” So, Google will separate out the vendor implementation section controlled by chip makers.  

“With a stable vendor interface providing access to the hardware-specific parts of Android, device makers can choose to deliver a new Android release to consumers by just updating the Android OS framework without any additional work required from the silicon manufacturers,” says Google. 

The Project Treble is already integrated into the Android O Developer Preview. In the past as well, Google started various projects to fasten the Android OS upgrades, but all of them went in vain. Hopefully, the Project Treble should solve the issue. 

The So-Called Moto X (2017) Will be Called as Moto X4

 By Unknown on May 13, 2017       

It's raining Moto X (2017) leaks nowadays. Yesterday, we saw a presentation video allegedly confirming the specs of the phone and now, popular tipster, Evan Blass claims that the phone won't be called as Moto X (2017). 

Instead, the Moto X (2017) will be named as Moto X4. Seems somewhat unusual, right? But, Blass is pretty sure that Motorola will name is as Moto X4. 

If you recall, Motorola released three generations of the Moto X- the Moto X, Moto X2, and the Moto X Style, which was the third generation. And, it's no wonder that Motorola is looking to resume the product portfolio by naming it as Moto X4. 

Let's stop calling it "Moto X 2017," eh? pic.twitter.com/dBnUr5n7CU

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) May 13, 2017

The Moto X4 will feature a 5.5-inch Full HD glass layered with 3D glass on top. It will be powered by the Snapdragon 660 chipset along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The device will sport dual camera at the back, metal body, and a 3800mAh battery. 

This is the Moto X (2017) With Dual Camera, 3D Glass, Metal Body, and IP68 Rating

 By Unknown on May 12, 2017       

Motorola's Moto X (2017) was in the limelight some days ago because it was touted as the company's first dual camera smartphone. Several people imagined that Motorola has killed the Moto X series and replaced it with the Moto Z series. But, that not the case folks as Moto X (2017) will be released alongside the rumoured Motorola smartphones. 

And now, a strange video has been leaked online, where some one is demonstrating the features of the Moto X (2017). At the background, the key specifications of the device are listed. The video says that the phone will be powered by the recently announced Snapdragon 660 SoC with 4GB of RAM. 

There will be a 5.5-inch display up front, but what's interesting is that it will have a 3D glass on top, rather than the regular 2.5D curved glass. With the 3D glass, the display will be more curved and it will be the world' second smartphone to boast of 3D glass after Huawei Honor Magic. 

The device will have a dual camera at the back, but the implementation is a msytery. The smartphone will have metal body and will be an IP68 dust and water certified one. There will be a beefy 3800mAh battery with Quick Charge support. Surely, it will be Quick Charge 4.0 as the Snapdragon 660 officially support it. 

Motorola may launch the device in coming days, but no official confirming yet. With the leak coming as a presentation one from Motorola, there's no barrier to call it as a fake one. That said, these might be the final specifications of the phone. 

VIA: Reddit

Motorola Moto Z2 Play Grey Color Variant Along With Style Mods Leak Online

 By Unknown on May 12, 2017       

Last month, we saw a render of the Moto Z2 Play is Crown Gold color, and now we have a render of the Lunar grey color variant of the same Z2 Play along with its Style Mods. As seen with the Moto Z Play, the Z2 Play will also get style mods in five colors. 

The Moto Z2 Play won't feature drastic changes from the Moto Z Play because Motorola promised that the Moto Mods will fit their devices for the next two years. 

Not only in the form of design, the device won't feature any drastic hardware changes as well. The phone will feature the same 5.5-inch display with increased brightness levels. The Snapdragon 626 will power the phone, but this time around there will be 4GB of RAM and 64GB onboard storage. 

The Z2 Play will use the same camera sensor as the Moto G5 Plus along with 5MP front-facing camera with dual tone LED flash. The battery size may also be trimmed down to 3000mAh, which will be a huge downgrade. 

SOURCE

Samsung Updates its Launcher in Google Play Store and it's Galaxy S8 Launcher

 By Unknown on May 12, 2017       

Samsung has released an update to the TouchWiz Home launcher, and the update takes the launcher to the one seen on Galaxy S8/S8+. The update makes it to version number 6.1.02, and it's the same version as Galaxy S8 launcher. 

The Galaxy S8 launcher has various new features, and it's much faster than the previous TouchWiz launcher. The biggest change is the scrapping of app drawer icon, which can now be accessed by swiping up from the home screen. 

Samsung did not release the update for all the countries, and it is currently available in the US and other European countries. You can grab it from the Play Store or sideload the APK by downloading it from apkmirror.com. 

Also, make a note that the launcher works only with Samsung devices and that too devices running Android 7.0 Nougat only. If you've a Samsung Marshmallow device, then wait for the Android Nougat update. 

2017 Google Pixel With Codename Taimen and Android O Spotted on Geekbench

 By Unknown on May 11, 2017       

It might be early, but here's the news: The 2017 edition of Google Pixel has been spotted on Geekbench with codename 'Taimen.' Earlier rumours said that Google is working on three Pixel phones- walleye, muskie, and taimen. 

The Google Taimen is said to a smartphone with a 6-inch display, and the device will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset and will feature 4GB of RAM, according to the listing. Also, at the time of testing, the device was running Android O. 

Not many details have revealed by the Geekbench listing, but we're expecting to surface in coming weeks. That said, it's now almost confirmed that Google is working on three Pixel smartphones this year. 

Also, the three Pixel phones will be separated by the screen size and battery capacity, same as what we saw with Google Pixel and Pixel XL last year. There are no details about the Walleye and Muskie as of now. 


Via: Techupdate3

Google Play Store v7.8.16 Brings New App and Notifications Icons

 By Unknown on May 11, 2017       

Google seems to have to play with the icons of its app ecosystem. The search giant some months ago revamped all its app icons with a new material design. But left out the essential Google Play Store.

And now, the newly rolling Google Play Store v7.8.16 finally brings a new app icon, and that's the same one, which Google tested earlier. And yeah, it's time to say goodbye to the basket type Google Play app icon. 

Also, another cosmetic change is the new notification icon for the Google Play Store, which is now similar to the new Google Play Store icon but has a tick icon inside it to indicate the application as installed. 

Well, the new update is already rolling out globally, but it will take some time to reach on your device, and it depends on the location where you're living. However, you can always head over to apkmirror.com and download, install APK manually. 

Google is Testing Search Bar in Notification Panel and This Concept Video Shows How it May Look

 By Unknown on May 11, 2017       

A few days back, folks at Android Police tore down the APK of Google App beta 7.1 and said that the company is working on adding a search widget in the notification panel and today, a reddit user has posted a video on how it may look when Google really implement it. 

As you can in the see in the YouTube video, he has imagined two scenarios- one is the normal Android style Google search bar and the other one is the Fuchsia OS-based search bar, and it looks far better than what we had imagined when the news broke out.

The primary intention of having a search bar in the notification panel is to quickly search the user queries. Some might think it as a redundant feature as the home screen already has the search bar, but in the Pixel phones, Google has moved it to just a small 'G' letter in the left corner.

As of now, there's no info on when this feature will officially roll out, but it will be added in the next Android OS upgrade to the Pixel phones.

Asus partner with Home Credit India to offer buyers 0% interest on phones

 By Vaibhav Jain on May 10, 2017       

Home Credit India Finance Pvt. Ltd, one of India’s leading NBFCs and Asus have partnered to offer users an easier and hassle-free way to purchase Asus smartphones in India. Home Credit India is now offers a zero percent interest on smartphone purchases.

Through the association, Home Credit India offers interest free EMI for consumers looking to buy Asus smartphones. Home Credit customers may purchase a Asus smartphones at 0% interest rate from over 8500 retailers across the country.

For now, the scheme is only available for selected Zenfone Smartphones including the Zenfone 3 Max 5.2, Zenfone 3 Max 5.5, Zenfone 3s Max, Zenfone 3 5.2 and Zenfone 3 5.5. Below are the Scheme details:

Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom with 5000mAh battery is now up for Grabs in the US for $329

 By Vaibhav Jain on May 10, 2017       

The Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom is now officially available in the U.S. just for $329 and that’s a pretty crazy low price for a Smartphone with such an amazing specifications. 

Just like the 2015 Asus Zenfone Zoom, the Zenfone 3 Zoom prioritizes mobile photography with optical zoom. The device features a 12MP dual-camera setup which can magnify up to 12X with digital zoom. 

The Zenfone 3 Zoom comes with a 5.5-inch AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass 5 protection, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage with microSD card slot (expandable up to 2TB). The device runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow and will be soon upgraded to Android 7.0 Nougat. Asus also plans to add RAW support with Nougat.

The Camera centric smartphone comes with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 processor paired with a huge 5000mAh battery. You can grab the Zenfone 3 Zoom via  Best Buy and Amazon.

Confirmed: The Iconic Nokia 3310 (2017) Will be Available in Germany from May 26!

 By Unknown on May 10, 2017       

Speculations are rife about the comeback brand Nokia smartphones availability as the vendor said they'll be available from Q2 2017 at the launch event in MWC 2017. While the company chose to keep silent over the availability, e-commerce sites started taking pre-orders of the phones in various countries. 

Especially in European countries, the Nokia 3310 was up for pre-order from different sites, and all of them mentioned the same shipping date as May 26. Nonetheless, the date was not confirmed by HMD back then. 

However, the company has now confirmed that the iconic Nokia 3310 will be available to purchase in Germany from May 26, the same date as what e-commerce portals mentioned. This news is posted by Roland Quandt on his Twitter handle as he received an official info from the company. 

That said, the official global availability of the feature phone is yet to be known along with Nokia's Android phones availability as well. 

Indians are Consuming More than 50 Million WhatsApp Video Minutes Per Day More Than Any Other Country Globally

 By Unknown on May 10, 2017       

Back in November 2016, WhatsApp introduced the video calls feature to its platform, and the company now says Indians are in love with the feature. According to the Facebook-owned company, Indians are consuming a total of 50 million video minutes each day.

This number may not be a surprising one as an excess of 200 million users are active on WhatsApp, making it the largest than any other country. 

Across the globe, the company is receiving a total of 340 million video calls, out of which 50 million is from India. The video calling feature is a huge hit for the company because of its simple user interface. 

Currently, WhatsApp has over 1.2 billion active users, and the number is significantly increasing with every passing day. The company is also working to add various new features to the application. 

Meizu Officially Releases its Flyme 6 OS to OnePlus 3T and Various Other Smartphones

 By Unknown on May 10, 2017       

Some days ago, it was tipped that Meizu will release its Flyme OS to other Qualcomm chipset powered smartphones. Meizu, a couple of days ago officially released its Flyme OS 6 to a good number of smartphones. The notable smartphone here is the OnePlus 3T. Yes, you can now install Meizu's Flyme OS 6 in a OnePlus 3T. 

Other smartphones included in the list are Nexus 6P, ZUK Z2, Xiaomi Mi Note, Xiaomi Mi 3, high-end Redmi Note 3, Nexus 6, Redmi Note 2, and various other phones. Meizu also said that it would be adding more smartphones to the list in coming days. 

However, the real surprise is that the OS being released to Qualcomm chipset smartphones as all the Meizu smartphones are powered by MediaTek chip. Also, it's easy to sideload a ROM to any MediaTek chip that the Qualcomm ones. 

As expected, the procedure to get the ROM on the supported device is by flashing it, and for that, you need a device with an unlocked bootloader. You can download the firmware by clicking the link below. 

Meizu Firmware download

Grab the Fuchsia OS Demo app for Android [Apk Download]

 By Vaibhav Jain on May 10, 2017       

Google has already started working on its next operating system for Smartphones and Tablets that is not based on Linux called as Fuchsia. Instead, the Fuchsia OS will be based on the search giant's own kernel 'Magenta.'  

The default system UI for Fuchsia OS will be called as Armadillo. Armadillo and other Fuchsia apps are built on Google Flutter SDK, and the apps can be used on any platform- Android or iOS or Fuchsia OS.

If you’d like to see Armadillo in action, you can grab the APK file and Install it on your Android device from the below link. Armadillo will give you the first Alpha look at what Google’s next OS will be.

Armadillo's UI has a one big vertical scrolling page with incomplete application cards. To the bottom center we have just a home button, which shows a user’s profile. You can also combine two applications (Multitasking) by just long pressing a card and throwing it into another card.

Download Fuchsia OS Demo app - Here
(Compiled by Bradshaw | Via HotFixIt)

OnePlus 5 Spotted on Geekbench Benchmarking Site With Insane Scores

 By Unknown on May 09, 2017       

Currently, the talk of the town is the Chinese smartphone vendor, OnePlus's upcoming phone, the OnePlus 5. While the Company yesterday officially confirmed the name of the phone, it is now spotted on benchmarking site Geekbench. 

As you can see in the image below, it clearly states that the phone will bear a model number A5000, which was rumoured earlier as well. The device has a single core score of 1963, which is below the scores of Apple iPhone 7 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S8+. 

However, the phone achieved a multi-core score of 6687, higher than any other smartphone released till date. The device was running Android 7.1.1 Nougat while running the benchmark test. 

Until now, no phone has achieved the scores as the OnePlus 5. In fact, the other Snapdragon 835 powered smartphones such as the Galaxy S8 duo, Xiaomi Mi 6, and Sony Xperia XZ Premium all have fewer benchmark scores. 

SOURCE

Google's 'Fuchsia' OS Under Development; Now Has a New Functional UI

 By Unknown on May 09, 2017       

From the past few years, it was regularly rumoured that Google is building its own operating system that is not based on Linux called as Fuchsia. Instead, the Fuchsia OS will be based on the search giant's own kernel 'Magenta.' 

Back in August 2016, the Fuchsia OS was just a command line, and now, it has a wild user interface with a card-based design, claims Ars Technica. The UI was first spotted by Kyle Bradshaw at Hotfix, and the interface servicing the default system UI for Fuchsia will be called as Armadillo. 



Armadillo and other Fuchsia apps are built on Google Flutter SDK, and the apps can be used on any platform- Android or iOS or Fuchsia OS. As you can see in the video above, the Fuchsia OS may support both smartphones and tablets. The OS might be an entire card-based UI.

The video also shows that the cards can be aligned with each other to use it as a multi-window mode and yeah, there are Google Now suggestions as well. 

There's no info on why the Fuchsia even exist? Is Google planning to replace Android and Chrome OS with Fuchsia? There might be something about the new OS at the Google I/O 2017 event due to commence next week. 

Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 and 660 Mobile Platforms Built on 14nm Manufacturing Process Announced

 By Unknown on May 09, 2017       

Chip maker Qualcomm at its tech event in Singapore has announced two new mobile platforms- Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 and 660. Both the chipsets are mid-range chips, which will replace the Snapdragon 653 and Snapdragon 625 respectively. 

Both the new platforms bring noticeable changes on paper. Both the chips are built on 14nm manufacturing process and can support up to 8GB of RAM. The Snapdragon 630 can support two dual cameras up to 13MP+13MP, and the Snapdragon 660 has the capability of two 16MP+16MP. 

Both the chips has X12 LTE modem, which was earlier seen on Verizon and Sprint devices and even in the Snapdragon 820 SoC. The Snapdragon 660 and Snapdragon 630 now supports machine learning and advanced camera processing. That said, these chips are 20 percent and 10 percent faster than the previous generations. 

Qualcomm said that the Snapdragon 660 would be seen on devices from June and the Snapdragon 630 will be released in Q3 2017. 

Google I/O 2017 App Can Now be Downloaded from Google Play Store

 By Unknown on May 08, 2017       

Following its tradition, Google has released a dedicated app for its Google I/O 2017 app on Google Play Store. The application is available for free to download and has all the events which are lined up at the event. 

However, the major purpose of the application is that it reserves your seat for the event. Also, the application has all the events already completed in the recordings form, which you can watch later after missing the event. 

Also, you can set reminders for the events if you're attending the show. There are various other features which make the application a must downloaded one if you're attending the show. And for others, you can download it later to watch all the missed events. 

That said, if you have the Google I/O 2016 app installed on your phone, an update will appear in the Google Play Store. Just update it and you'll be on the Google I/O 2017. 

Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S7 in the US Starts Receiving Android 7.0 Nougat Update

 By Unknown on May 08, 2017       

Samsung has already rolled out the Android Nougat update to its Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge in most of the regions. However, the unlocked units in the US were left out carriers started pushing the update.

Nonetheless, the unlocked Galaxy S7 Edge started receiving the update some days ago and again, the unlocked was left out. And now, several users of the unlocked Galaxy S7 started receiving the update, which means that the South Korean giant is finally rolling the upgrade. 

The update is rolling out to unlocked Galaxy S7 with model number SM-G930U, and it weighs 1.226GB in size. Do make a note that you should have at least 2.5GB free space left on your phone. 

The update rollout is yet to be stated by Samsung, and it may reach all the unlocked Galax S7's in the US in coming days. 

Via: Reddit