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Showing posts from February, 2020

Flashback: LG G3 pioneered 1440p phone screens and Laser AF

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The LG G2 showed the world that a screen with thin bezels is a great thing. The LG G3 pushed that design further with a larger and sharper display - the first 1440p panel in the industry. And it came surprisingly fast. LG G3 The HTC Butterfly had the first 1080p screen on mobile, it came out in January 2013. A year and a half later, the G3 arrived with the first-ever 1440p display. Technically, Oppo announced the Find 7 first, but LG was first to market so we think it's fair to call the G3 "first". The 5.5-inch "True HD-IPS+" LCD panel had a pixel density of 534ppi, which is...

Xiaomi Black Shark 3 triple main camera shines through in a new drawing and a live photo

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Xiaomi is expected to take the wrapping off of its new Black Shark 3 gaming handset in just a few days, on March 3 and naturally, the leaks have been intensifying accordingly. While cameras are understandably not going of be the main focus of this device, it is still good to get at least part of the scoop early. A new rough drawing of the phone has surfaced online, offering a better look at its back design, including what is a rather particular arrangement of a triple-camera setup. #Xiaomi #blackshark3 #blackshark3pro This is what the new gaming smartphone will look like. The render of the...

IDC reports India wearable device market is booming, with basic wearables and Xiaomi at the helm

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The IDC (International Data Corporation) recently published its Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device tracker for Q4 2019 and it is chuck-full of intriguing numbers. India definitely stood-out in this new statistic. The local market managed to close yet another record year in wearable device shipments, with an overall growth of 168.3% YoY and a total of 14.9 million units sold. Digging into the numbers further, we find that basic wearables, or in other words, devices that can't run third-party apps, dominate the market with a 96.2% share, up 177% YoY in 2019. Their counterpart "truly smart"...

Telus will release Android 10 for Galaxy S9 and Note9 on March 9

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Canadian carrier Telus began rolling out the Android 10 update with One UI 2.0 for the Galaxy S10 trio on December 16, and now it has updated its website to reveal the rollout of Android 10 for Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+ and Galaxy Note9 will commence on March 9. Another Canadian carrier, Fido, also updated its website saying the rollout of Android 10 for the S9 duo and Note9 is expected in March. No specific dates are mentioned but once we have those, we'll update you. Source 1, Source 2 | Via

Samsung Starts Shipping Galaxy S20 Units, Possibly Arriving as Early as Monday

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Galaxy S20 pre-orders appear to be rolling out, with quite a few buyers letting us know that their orders have shipped. One of our personal orders has shipped so we can confirm this, a Galaxy S20, with expected delivery scheduled for this upcoming Monday, March 2. Others are seeing Tuesday, March 3 as their delivery date. That’s a good few early days before the official launch date of March 6. Another unit of ours, an S20 Ultra, appears to have not yet been shipped. Guess we’ll just keep twiddling our thumbs. Galaxy S20 buyers, get your shipping notice yet? Cheers Lewis, Mark, and Brandon! Samsung Starts Shipping Galaxy S20 Units, Possibly Arriving as Early as Monday is a post from: Droid Life

Dirac’s Android app seeks to improve the audio quality of your existing headphone

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If you’re deeply interested in the audio quality on your smartphone, Dirac is probably a name you’ve heard before. We’ve covered the company a few times here on XDA. Dirac is a Swedish audio research company that develops audio software used by many OEMs. There’s a decent chance you’ll find Dirac’s technology in the device you own . Their latest product is all about utilizing your headphones to their maximum potential. What is it? The new product is an Android app that is intended to optimize the sound profile on your specific set of headphones. Something you may not realize is headphones apply their own processing to accentuate certain aspects of music. Manufacturers do this to highlight the capabilities of their headphones, but this can create audio that musicians and/or DJs don’t like. A similar thing happens with TV manufacturers. Some TVs will artificially change the refresh rate of movies, which annoys directors and actors because it’s changing the way the content was intend...

Oppo Find X2 Pro specs sheet leaks once again

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As we are nearing the scheduled March 6 unveiling date for the Oppo Find X2 pair of phones, the leaks and rumors are starting to align a bit better. Sadly, we can't necessarily pinpoint the exact differences between the CPH2020 vanilla Find X2 and its CPH2025 FInd X2 Pro sibling. If rumors are to be believed, the pair seem to look very similar and are even likely to share most spotlight features, to some extent - like the 120Hz refresh rate. Oppo Find X2 Pro specs Today brings yet another nifty summary and re-iteration of the main specs of the top-tier Find X2 Pro. Like many...

OnePlus expected to show off a new concept device on March 3

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OnePlus India posted a short video clip on Twitter to tease a new device that will be revealed on March 3. The video doesn't really help us ascertain what exactly this product is, but thanks to OnePlus UK, we know it's not a phone or any other commercial product, meaning we are not going to hear anything about the OnePlus 8 series. You can check out the clip below and tell us in the comments what you think this product could be. 2020 is the year of surprises. Can you guess what's coming up? pic.twitter.com/EWWi1MEwo0— OnePlus India (@OnePlus_IN) February 28, 2020 Some photos have...

The Microsoft Surface Duo could arrive ahead of schedule, but with last-gen hardware

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Back in October, Microsoft delivered at least a couple of surprise announcements with a re-imagined new take on the foldable form factor. There was the dual 9-inch display laptop/tablet, dubbed the Surface Neo and more-interesting for us - the Surface Duo. A dual 5.6-inch handset device, running Android, of all things. Both of these gadgets were shown-off in a really early stage of development and promised with a vague time frame of Holiday season 2020. That was kind of the plan in the first place - to try out a new, more open development process on the pair, with plenty of outside...

Download: Xiaomi Mi A3 and Redmi Note 8 Pro receive Android 10 updates

The Mi A3 and the Redmi Note 8 Pro are amongst Xiaomi’s highlight devices for 2019. While the Redmi Note 8 Pro carries Xiaomi’s mid-range portfolio on its shoulders, the Mi A3 takes charge of Android One duties, giving users an option to officially use Google’s Android instead of MIUI on a Xiaomi device. Despite their importance in Xiaomi’s lineup, the devices have oddly lacked behind when it comes to Android 10 updates. But now, the wait is finally over, as both, the Xiaomi Mi A3 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro are now finally receiving their official Android 10 updates. Mi A3 The Xiaomi Mi A3’s Android 10 update was promised for mid-February 2020 , but we recently reported that the update was delayed because of the effects of the novel Coronavirus. The health emergency imposed by COVID-19 is a genuine issue, and we can’t really blame Xiaomi for this delay. Xiaomi had mentioned that there is no new date decided for the update, but surprisingly, we now have access to the official...

Samsung Galaxy A41 renders reveal Infinity-U display and triple rear cameras

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Renders of the Samsung Galaxy A41 that passed through Geekbench last month have surfaced, revealing its design. The Galaxy A41 will pack an Infinity-U display, which is said to measure between 6" and 6.1" diagonally, and house a 25MP selfie camera inside the notch. Around the back, it has a triple camera setup with a 48MP main unit. The back panel doesn't have a fingerprint reader, which means the phone will either come with an in-display solution or will rely on Face Unlock for biometric authentication. The images also show us the volume rocker and power button - placed on the...

Nubia details the new active cooling fan solution on the upcoming Red Magic 5G

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Despite its mouthful of a name, the ZTE nubia Red Magic 5G has really been blowing-up in the rumor mill lately. Joking-aside, the new gaming powerhouse is now a bit overdue, since it was originally supposed to be unveiled at MWC 2020 and is now headed towards a domestic market release instead. That could potentially lead to a major change in media exposure, which is why the company appears to be taking steps to keep the hype train going for as long as it can. President Ni Fei already has a history of teasing certain aspects of upcoming products, including the Red Magic 5G. Though,...

Xiaomi needs a better way to unbrick its devices instead of Authorized Mi Accounts

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Over the years, Xiaomi has become the golden boy of the Indian smartphone market. From being just a starter entity in 2014 to becoming the leading smartphone OEM in the market for several quarters in a row in 2019, it’s certainly been a wild ride for Xiaomi. We here at XDA-Developers have witnessed the company grow from the urban regions of China and move towards conquering markets in Southeast Asia and more recently, make headways into parts of Europe too. Xiaomi has also matured as a smartphone OEM — practices that were previously shoddy and questionable have matured and evolved into better practices as the company figured its way around. And while there’s definitely always room to improve for even the best of entities, Xiaomi is at a good spot as a smartphone OEM right now, one where they can be proud and humble at the same time. In this article, we’d like to highlight one area where we feel Xiaomi can improve in 2020: making it easier to unbrick its devices . To give you a complet...

Realme Band with color display, IP68 rating, Cricket mode launching in India on March 5

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The Indian fitness band market will soon heat up once again as Realme is all set to announce its first-ever fitness tracking wrist band in India. There were multiple leaks and rumors surrounding the Realme Band and now the company themselves have confirmed that they will indeed be launching the new Realme Band at their next launch event — taking place in New Delhi on March 5th. The event page for the Realme Band has gone live on Realme’s website which has, in turn, revealed the design and some key details of the fitness band. As per the Realme’s event page, the band will feature a large color display with a circular touch-sensitive button at the bottom. It will be available in at least three color options: Yellow, Black, and Olive Green. It will feature heart rate monitoring along with 9 sports modes to track activities such as biking, hiking, walking, running, spinning, hiking, and more. It even has a Yoga mode and Cricket mode which Realme says they have designed specifically for t...

Samsung Galaxy A11 appears in a render with punch hole display and triple rear cameras

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Earlier this month, an image of the Samsung Galaxy A11's back panel surfaced, revealing a triple camera setup aligned vertically in the upper-left corner. Today, an official-looking press render has leaked, giving us our clearest look yet at the Galaxy A11 while also revealing a few more bits about it. The image reveals that Galaxy A11 will sport a display having a punch hole in the top-left corner. Around the back, we already know it will have a triple camera setup. But this time, we see an oval-shaped fingerprint reader on the panel. You can also see the power button and volume rocker...

Huawei is testing its own Search app for its smartphones

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Since the middle of 2019, Huawei and its subsidiaries have been on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List, which has prevented them from licensing Google Mobile Services for new devices. For the first few months, Huawei shifted its international smartphone release strategy to focus on releasing essentially rebranded versions of its existing, precertified devices. Behind the scenes, Huawei has also been working on AppGallery , its alternative the Google Play Store, and Huawei Mobile Services , its alternative to Google Play Services. With the recent launch of the Honor View30 Pro and the upcoming launch of the Huawei P40 series , Huawei will need to convince potential customers that they can live without Google apps. One of the most basic applications missing on Huawei’s Google-less devices right now is a dedicated search app, but that might be changing soon as Huawei is now beta testing the Huawei Search app. Redditor /u/ beingnull informed us that Huawei is recruiting users in ...

Oppo Find X2 live images surface

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As Oppo is getting ready to introduce the world to the Find X2 on March 6, the company has been teasing a lot of aspects of its next flagship smartphone (and its even more premium sibling, the Find X2 Pro). Now though, it's time to take a look at a bunch of leaked live images of the Find X2. Oppo Find X2 live images As you can see, the camera island on the back seems to protrude a lot from the phone's body, but at least it's not as wide as those on recent Samsungs. There's a periscope zoom module in there, up top, given away by the square opening and the "hybrid zoom"...

FCC proposes over $208 million in fines for all major US carriers over selling customer location data

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Early February, the FCC wrote a letter to the US Congress where it explained that "one or more" major US carriers was selling its customers' location data to some agencies. This practice was initially discovered back in 2018 and only how has the FCC done something to discourage it. On Friday, the FCC revealed that it was issuing a total of over $208 million in fines to all four major US carriers. T-Mobile is looking at $91 million in fines, AT&T faces $57 million, $48 million for Verizon, and Sprint may have to pay $12 million. Currently, these are proposed fines based on the FCC's...

Redmi Note 8 Pro Android 10 update escapes China

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The Redmi Note 8 Pro has been running the latest MIUI 11 for a while now, and yet everywhere across the world except China it's still been based on the rather ancient Android 9 Pie. An update to Android 10 has been in the works for months for global Redmi Note 8 Pro models, but for some reason it took this long to actually start rolling out. Don't get the champagne out yet, though. For now, a new update for the Redmi Note 8 Pro bringing Android 10 to the immensely popular mid-range device, is only going out in Pakistan, seemingly. It's unclear how long it will take for us to see it in...

10 High-Tech Chargers to Maximize Your Space and Productivity

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Every new device you purchase comes with some form of charger. However, such accessories are not always the most efficient or convenient forms of power delivery. If you would like to charge faster and save space, these options at the XDA Developers Depot are definitely worth your attention — now with up to 71% off MSRP. Naztech Fast Multi-Port Wall Charger Drawing power from a single wall socket, the Naztech charger offers two AC outlets and four USB ports. IntelliQ smart chips deliver the correct amount of power to each device, while the OmniProtect feature prevents short circuits and overcharging. Normally priced at $39.99, the charger is now only $25 . Naztech Wireless Power Hub 5 With four USB ports and a built-in charging pad, this compact hub can power all your devices. Compatible with Qi-enabled devices, the pad can fill your iPhone or Android phone at twice the speed of regular Qi chargers. Usually priced at $54.99, the Power Hub 5 is now only $44.99 . Naztech Ul...

[Update 3: 512GB S10 Lite for India] Samsung officially announces the Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note 10 Lite

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Update 3 (02/28/2020 @ 9:35 AM ET): Samsung is launching a 512GB storage variant of the Galaxy S10 Lite in India. Update 2 (01/23/2020 @ 2:40 AM ET): After the Note 10 Lite, Samsung has also launched the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite in India. Update 1 (01/21/2020 @ 3:45 AM ET): Samsung has launched the Galaxy Note 10 Lite in India. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on January 3, 2020, is preserved as below. We’ve been tracking the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note 10 Lite for a while now. The first rumors of Samsung working on “Lite” versions of the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 popped up back in October. Since then, information and leaked renders have slowly trickled in, but today Samsung made both devices official ahead of CES. Galaxy S10 Lite Galaxy Note 10 Lite Display 6.7-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Plus Infinity-O Display 2400×1080 (394ppi) 6.7-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-O Display 2400×1080 (394ppi) * Super AMOLED...