Halide is arguably the best camera application on iOS and is now even better in its latest version 1.16 update. With this, the developers are improving the raw capture experience, memory management and also introducing something new called Rescue. Let's talk about Rescue first. Rescue is a data loss protection feature that prevents losing images in case something critical goes wrong while shooting. It could be something like the phone running out of battery, getting a call or just a bug in iOS or Halide that could cause the shot you've just taken to never be saved to the photo...

The upcoming Apple iPhone 9, the successor to the iPhone SE from 2016, has been rumored for a long time now, and it looks like we're finally getting very close to its official introduction. A few weeks ago a report talked about the phone being delayed indefinitely because of the COVID-19 outbreak, but apparently Apple may have had a change of heart. According to a new report, the company held an internal meeting to discuss how to proceed, and the conclusion of said meeting is that the iPhone 9 will get official on April 15. It will then become available on April 22. It's unclear if the...

Samsung has recently had an interesting track record regarding Android security updates, which have at times come out before Google had a chance to release them for its Pixels. The situation is the same this time around. The Galaxy S20 family is now receiving an update that includes the April 2020 security patch level. So far the rollout is happening in Taiwan and Hong Kong, with Korean units set to receive it very soon. Aside from the new security fixes, the new software also packs some general camera improvements. The build number is G98x0ZHU1ATCT, where "x" is to be a different...

Today HMD Global has announced the start of the rollout of the Android 10 update for the Nokia 7.2. This phone was released last September, running Android 9 Pie. Although it, like most other Nokias, is part of the Android One program, which in theory should ensure quick Android OS upgrades, obviously that's not working out as it should. Android 10 has already been out for more than six months at this point, and countless other handsets that aren't part of Android One have been updated to this version. Anyway, let's call it "better late than never". HMD's rollouts have apparently...

The global COVID-19 crisis has pretty much reverberated in every aspect of life around the world in one way or another. One thing most companies and governments have really started to re-evaluate and kick into full throttle is remote working. A new decision in the United Arab Emirates comes as a great example. Officials there have decided to lift bans on Google Hangouts Meet, Cisco Webex, Avaya Spaces, BlueJeans and Slack. All services previously officially unreachable from within the country. The connection between these is clear and this decision comes hot on the heels of another...

Samsung's Galaxy S6 Lite is coming on April 2 and we've already seen the key specs and pricing for the LTE model which appeared in a listing on Amazon Germany. Now, a new set of renders and pricing info for the Wi-Fi-only version surfaced thanks to noted tipster Ishan Agarwal confirming a €399 base price for European markets. New Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite renders The rest of the spec sheet remains identical to the previously seen leaks with a 10.4-inch FHD+ LCD complete with support for Samsung's S Pen stylus. We also get a clear look at the bottom of the slate which houses the...

Dark Sky , the weather app we’ve been using since it first launched for Android back in 2016, has officially joined Apple. The main takeaway from this is that Apple will cease availability of Dark Sky for Android and other platforms, beginning July 1. If you’re currently subscribed to Dark Sky when it shuts down for Android on that date, the team says you’ll receive a refund. About the Android app. The app will no longer be available for download. Service to existing users and subscribers will continue until July 1, 2020, at which point the app will be shut down. Subscribers who are still active at that time will receive a refund. This is one of the sadder announcements in a while. I will greatly miss Dark Sky’s forecasts and hyperlocal precipitation alerts. // Dark Sky Dark Sky App Acquired by Apple, Will Kill Android App on July 1 is a post from: Droid Life

Samsung has been a major manufacturer of LCD panels for smartphones in the past several years, but this is about the end. Reuters reports that the Korean company is planning to end the production of these displays in the factories in China and South Korea by the end of this year. The company revealed in a statement that the plants in its home country will be upgraded to be production lines for quantum dot screens - the more advanced panels that Samsung markets as QLED. The decline in demand across the globe for LCD panels for smartphones and TV screens is the main reason for the...

Peak Design is having a sitewide sale right now on its popular tech bags and accessories that you might want to browse through if you are a camera guy, frequent commuter when we aren’t all quarantined, or just like nicely built, functionality smart bags. At the moment, Peak Design has 20-40% off “almost everything,” including their newest Everyday Backpack and Messenger. The big deals are on their V1 product line, though, like the original Everyday Backpack, Everyday Messenger, Tote, and Sling products. I point this sale out today because these are the bags you’ll see on a majority of tech bros should you visit a conference or press event where there may gather. And there’s a reason for that: the bags are great. I’m one of those tech bros! I have used an Everyday Messenger in tan (pictured above) for a couple of years now and love it. As someone who used to change bags once or twice a year because most bags suck, this is the one I’ve stuck with and don’t see myself changing from. ...

It's been almost a year since the US government blacklisted Huawei, banning local companies from doing business with the Chinese giant. That in turn resulted in the company losing its Android license and hurt its smartphone sales anywhere outside of China. And the company says it's hurting its business a lot. Despite the increase in revenue by 19.1% year-over-year, the president of Huawei's Western Europe business, Vincent Pang, says that 2019 was a big challenge for the firm. Without Google Services, Huawei's phones are really hard to sell abroad. And the a resolution of the...

Google pulled its Pixel 3 listing on the Google Store last night, bringing an end to the life of a phone line that will likely be forgotten. Not that the Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL were bad phones, they simply failed to succeed on the scale that Google needed them to. Sales were disappointing , the set of specs (like 4GB RAM) frustrated potential customers, and the 3 XL had that notch. My lord, that damn notch. The image above is probably the memory that will stick forever with me for the Pixel 3 line. It’s the face of a tech product that knew in a self-aware state that it was doomed to a life of ridicule. It’s the face of a device begging for sympathy as it showed up late to the notch party in the worst possible way, wearing the old outfit because the memo on the change went into their spam folder. The Pixel 3 XL’s notch screamed, “I know I look this way, but Google built me too far in advance and then waited 6 months too long before it released me.” With that said, we reviewed both th...

OnePlus loves a good tease, so it’s no surprise that the company’s CEO, Pete Lau, just confirmed a few specs for the upcoming OnePlus 8 devices. Over on the company’s forum, Lau talks about the DNA of OnePlus, that not only being the “Never Settle” motto, but also the words fast and smooth . Believe us, not every phone is fast and smooth, but over the years, OnePlus has delivered in this area, so we know they have what it takes to make a phone with good performance. According to Lau, good performance stems from the hardware and software levels, with components always playing a key role. In that same breath, the company has confirmed that the OnePlus 8, the OnePlus 8 Pro specifically, will feature not just a 120Hz refresh rate display ( we learned that in January ), but also a Snapdragon 865 processor, high amount of LPDDR5 RAM, as well as UFS 3.0 storage. After mentioning those specifics, Lau goes over why each one is important in making the upcoming phones fast and smooth. Nat...

The latest midrange offering from vivo is the S6 5G. It brings an AMOLED screen, four cameras, dual-mode 5G connectivity and a 4,500 mAh battery alongside Samsung's Exynos 980 chipset which it shares with the vivo X30 and X30 Pro. The vivo S6 5G sports a 6.44-inch AMOLED display of FHD+ resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels) with a waterdrop notch where we find the 32MP selfie cam. The panel comes with a tall 20:9 aspect ratio and features an in-display fingerprint reader. Around the back, we find the circular hump which houses 4 cameras. The 48MP main camera is paired with an 8MP...

The eagerly-anticipated OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are right around the corner now. After more than a few setbacks and uncertainties, OnePlus finally seems to have settled on announcement dates for the phones. You can tune in for the global event live stream on YouTube on April 14 at 3PM UTC. As per a new official Weibo post, the OnePlus 8 generation will make a debut in its home country on April 16. Understandably, with another live online event. This one scheduled for 7PM local time. Event banner As for the OnePlus 8 Lite, which we now know could come under the OnePlus Z...

Honor started its Global Fans Day 2020 - a two-week campaign where most of its products are discounted in over 18 countries. The deals include the Honor 9X smartphones, Honor MagicWatch 2, and the Honor 20 Pro flagships. To boost its campaign, Honor is joined by famous sportspeople, gamers, influencers and other celebrities like the photographer Murad Osmann, who is better known as the creator of the #FollowMe trend. Honor 20 Pro • Honor 20 Since most of the world is under quarantine and we can't really leave our homes, Honor is launching the products on its website hihonor.com and...

Motorola announced today that it is delaying the sales of their new flagship RAZR phone in India. The company has pushed back the sales date from the previously announced April 2 to April 15. The delay is due to the current lockdown in India set to go until April 14, 23:59 IST due to COVID-19. The government has halted the sales and delivery of all non-essential items and as such, even if Motorola wanted to, it can't realistically get the devices in people's hands before April 15 anyway. The RAZR already had a delayed launch in India, with the initial announcement and pre-orders...

DxOMark just crowned a new camera king - the Huawei P40 Pro, which achieved the rare feat of topping both the rear and selfie camera charts. The overall score makes a clean break from the pack, previously the 6 best-rated phones fell in the 124-121 range. The P40 Pro scored 128. Even better, the still camera score of 140 sets a new record. The TL;DR here is "impeccable performance across all sub-categories". Reading through the individual sub-tests, you'll either see a "Highest Score" mark or that the Huawei is within a few points of the best competition. Huawei's efforts to build the...

Three new Realme phones have entered Europe - they are available for pre-order now and will begin shipping in April. Besides Realme.com, you will also be able to find the phones on Amazon. We start with the Realme 6, which will be available from April 6 and starts at €230 for the 4/64GB version. You can have more storage, the 4/128GB phone is €270, more RAM too - the top-specced model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage is €300. Prices vary slightly by country - Spaniards, for example, will pay only €220 for the base Realme 6. By the way, we have a hands-on review of the phone if you want...

The Galaxy S20 Ultra launched with a lackluster color palette - Grey and Black - but reliable leakster Ice Universe claims that a new color is coming soon. Not an Aura Glow as some suggested on Twitter, though - the source is keeping quiet on the exact hue. The Galaxy S10 5G also launched with a limited selection of colors, primarily Black and Silver, but at least it had the Royal Gold to add some variety. The Galaxy S20+ Olympic Edition is also gold, so that's a strong candidate. The Galaxy S20 Ultra (right) looking drab next to its more colorful siblings There are more possible...

HMD was able to turn in its first positive quarter in Q4 of 2019. The company says the combination of using multiple ODMs to make Nokia phones and a more focused approach in selected markets is what led it to its first profitable quarter. The quarter was by no means all good news, as according to one analyst report HMD managed to sell under 3 million devices. HMD turned to a multi-ODM strategy to assemble Nokia phones due to a supply chain disruption in the first half of 2019. Reportedly the first devices to be manufactured by two new ODMs were the Nokia 2.2, 3.2 and 4.2. Using...

During an online webinar with tech enthusiasts and members of the media, Poco India general manager Chandolu Manmohan, confirmed that the recently launched Redmi K30 Pro will not come as the Poco F2 or Poco X2 Pro in India. The new confirmation comes after a report from last week which found a "shot on Poco watermark" corresponding to the Indian Redmi K30 Pro variant hidden in a code string of the MIUI 11 beta Camera app. This does not rule out the possibility of the K30 Pro coming to India under the Poco brand but just that it won't be called Poco F2 or X2 Pro. In addition, Manmohan...

The Honor 8A Pro arrived in Russia almost a year ago, but today the company decided to relaunch the very same device under a new moniker - Honor 8A Prime. It is the very same Helio P35-powered device, but with a new color - Emerald Green. Given the phone was a year old and was a budget device to begin with it's hardly a surprise that its internals are modest. The Mediatek chipset is coupled by 3 GB RAM and 64 GB storage, with a microSD slot for additional 512 GB. There is a single 13MP camera on the back, and an 8MP selfie shooter in a waterdrop notch. The Honor 8A Prime keeps the...

It seems the launch of the long-rumored successor to 2016's iPhone SE might come sooner than expected. According to new reports, the iPhone 9 may launch as early this week as evident by the April 5 merchandising date for a case that made its way to Best Buy. The box for the Urban Armor Gear protective case clearly states it's designed for the New iPhone 4.7", 2020 and we can see it features a similarly-sized camera cutout as other iPhone 7 and 8 cases. iPhone 9 case Apple introduced its latest iPad Pros and Macbook Air last week and given that the iPhone 9 is not a flagship, it...

The Honor 30 flagship family will be officially introduced on April 15, the company revealed on Weibo. The phone's brand ambassador is the popular Chinese actor Li Xian, and for the promo poster he posed with the phone, hiding pretty much everything on the back, showcasing only the silver-purple-ish color. The Honor 30 family already has its first member - the Honor 30S was introduced yesterday with Kirin 820 5G chipset. It is the lowest standing member of the lineup and we expect at least two phones to join it - Honor 30 and Honor 30 Pro. They are likely to sport the Kirin 990 5G...

Google's online Store no longer carries the Google Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL. A Google spokesperson has confirmed to Android Police that Google has ceased sales of the third-generation Pixel smartphone. The Google Store still sells the Pixel 3a, Pixel 3a XL, Pixel 4, and Pixel 4 XL. Even if you managed to find the landing page for the Pixel 3, which isn't accessible from the Google Store navigator, all storage sizes and carrier configurations are out of stock. Last year, the Pixel 2 and 2 XL ran out of stock at the Google Store in early April, so the timing is about right. The Google...

In a world where smartphone hardware keyboards are next to extinct, a bunch of enthusiasts decided to try and shake up the market a bit with the Astro Slide 5G Transformer. This is a 5G handset that has a slide QWERTY keyboard, just like the beloved 10-year-old Nokia E7. The form factor is the most intriguing part here since specs-wise it is more of a midranger - the chipset is Mediatek Dimensity 1000 and Even if the people behind this device call it "the fastest 5G device to be announced to date". The gadget brings a single 48MP camera, a 6.53" screen with unknown ratio or...

With the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps buying a new smartphone isn't very much on your mind these days. But then again, what if your current phone broke in some way? You might not want to splurge on the thousand-pound devices out there, so Google has a deal for you. Starting today and until April 21, the already decently priced Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are getting even cheaper. The smaller model can be yours for £299, while the XL version is now £369. In both cases, the price is £30 lower than before. Not a huge amount of savings, this, but hey, every penny counts in these...

Earlier this month we found out that Samsung was apparently readying the update to One UI 2.1 for the Galaxy S9, S9+, and Note9. The information came from a company representative posting on the company's official Korean forum. Now though, a different post on the same forum by another representative strongly implies that at the time Samsung has no plans to bring One UI to its flagship models from 2018. Of course such plans might change in the future, but given how the company only focuses on security updates after two years pass from a phone's initial release, we wouldn't hold our...

A leaked render, aligning with previous leaks, confirms the Oppo Reno Ace 2 will have four shooters, lined up symmetrically in a circular setup. The image also showcases the front of the phone - it will come with a flat screen and a fingerprint scanner underneath, given the lack of any cutouts for a side-mounted sensor. The selfie camera will be in a punch hole in the upper left corner. According to TENAA, the phone is coming with a Snapdragon 865 chipset, up to 12GB RAM and a 6.5" OLED screen. The battery is expected to be around 4,000 mAh and Oppo reps revealed it will sport 40W...

Following their successful launch in India, the Realme 6 and 6 Pro are ready for their European tour. The pricing and launch dates will be unveiled tomorrow at 8:00 UTC. This is a week later than the originally planned, but the way 2020 has been going no plan is set in stone. Anyway, the Realme 6 Pro and its vanilla sibling already received several important updates. The Realme 6 got 120fps slow-mo, it and the Pro received HD support for Netflix. The Realme 6 and 6 Pro will make their European debut tomorrow We've received both phones and posted hands-on reviews, so you can find...

A week after its parent company Huawei unveiled its latest P-series flagships, Honor took the wraps off the Honor 30S. While the lowest standing member of the 30 family, the Honor 30S packs some impressive specs, premium glass and aluminum design and dual-mode 5G thanks to the new Kirin 820 5G chipset. The Honor 30S boast a 6.5-inch FHD+ IPS display with a punch-hole cutout in the top left corner for the 16MP selfie camera. The right-hand-side houses the capacitive fingerprint scanner. Around the back sits a four-camera array housed in a square setup. There's a 64MP main sensor, an ...

Earlier this month, a 3C certification listing of the Honor 30S suggested that the smartphone might be the first from the company to feature Huawei’s all-new HiSilicon Kirin 820 5G platform. At the time, we had no information about the new chipset from the company, except for the fact that it would be a mid-range chip with 5G support. Now, at the recently concluded Honor 30S launch event in China, the company has finally announced the Kirin 820 5G chipset. As expected, the HiSilicon Kirin 820 5G platform is targeted at the mid-range smartphone segment and it’s a minor step up from the older Kirin 810 platform. Much like the Kirin 810, the new chipset is based on a 7nm architecture and consists of four ARM Cortex A76 big cores and four ARM Cortex A55 little cores. However, unlike the Kirin 810, which had all of its A76 cores clocked at 2.2GHz, the Kirin 820 5G has one A76 core clocked at 2.36GB, while the other three are clocked at 2.22GHz. Thanks to this new approach, the Kirin 820 ...

The LG V60 ThinQ was recently introduced and launched to the wider public as LG’s newest flagship smartphone. We recently went hands-on with it , and we found it to be a reliable flagship smartphone that is decently priced. While the phone itself doesn’t have many “wow” factors, it does come with a Dual Screen attachment, a feature we’ve seen in previous LG smartphones that basically adds a second screen to your phone for multitasking purposes. Turns out, however, that there’s more than what meets the eye when it comes to the phone and its Dual Screen accessory. Now we know that the device, as well as its respective Dual Screen attachment, can work with Active Stylus pens. LG V60 ThinQ XDA Forums Active pens are basically input devices with electronic components that allow them to act as a pen to a display or touch panel. These are normally found in devices like Wacom graphics tablets, and they’re basically what makes them so good for digital illustration. They have features like to...

Xiaomi is preparing several new Redmi models for launch - the latest to make the mandatory trip through the 3C is the M2003J15SC, likely to be the Redmi Note 9 or even the Redmi 9. It will have 4G connectivity, unlike the M2002J9E we saw a few days ago, which packs a 5G modem. Both phones have something in common - the 22.5W fast charging support. However, this one is manufactured by Xi'an BYD Electronics, the 5G phone is made by FIH. The 5G phone may be a branded as a K30 device while this 4G handset will likely fill a gap in the Redmi Note 9 series (namely, the non-Pro model). The...

The Samsung Galaxy S20 lineup of devices was recently released after a hot round of rumors and leaks, with the Snapdragon 865/Exynos 990 processor, 5G connectivity support, amazing cameras (and in the case of the S20 Ultra, a mammoth 108MP camera), high refresh rate displays, and much more. They serve as successors to the Galaxy S10 lineup, and worthy ones at that. The S20 series was also the first set of devices to be released with One UI 2.1, which is based on Android 10 and comes with some additional features and improvements over the previously-released One UI 2.0. XDA Forums: Galaxy S20  ||  Galaxy S20+  ||  Galaxy S20 Ultra   Turns out, however, that this software also comes with a few improvements to Samsung DeX. As spotted by @ Kuma_Sleepy on Twitter, Samsung has announced on its Korean community forum that the Galaxy S20 comes with some software improvements in One UI to Samsung’s desktop interface. The first new feature is the ability to snap a wi...

LG’s mobile division has been tumbling for a while; that’s not a secret to anyone. And that is precisely the reason why they may be looking into shaking things up internally to renew interest. Last year, they disrupted their normal release cycle — an LG G-series smartphone by the start of the year and an LG V-series phone by the end of the year — to announce both the LG G8 and the LG V50 at the same time. This year, however, we only saw the LG V60 (which our own Joe Fedewa is currently reviewing ) with no signs of an LG G9 anywhere. While we’ve heard of a whole host of rumors regarding this device , we might end up not seeing an LG G9 after all. We’ve had clues about such a change for a while: in late January, Android Police’s Editor-in-Chief David Ruddock claimed that LG is altering their release schedule. He stated that the company will release the V series alongside Samsung’s Galaxy S series this year, which ended up being true as the V60 ThinQ recently launched. At the same time...

Samsung introduced a new affordable Galaxy M series to its portfolio last year to take on brands like Xiaomi in the online market. The new lineup kicked off with the launch of the Galaxy M10 and the Galaxy M20 , which were essentially upgrades for the company’s Galaxy J series. Since then, the company has launched several great smartphones in the Galaxy M series, including the Galaxy M30, Galaxy M40, Galaxy M10s, Galaxy M30s, Galaxy M31 and, most recently, the Galaxy M21 . Earlier this month, we saw leaked renders of another upcoming smartphone in the series — the Galaxy M11 — and the company has now officially unveiled the device. As per a report from GSMArena , the Samsung Galaxy M11 recently appeared on the Samsung UAE website with a design identical to the one we saw in previous leaks. The device features a 6.4-inch HD+ LCD with a hole punch cutout in the top left corner for the selfie camera. While the company hasn’t revealed the exact chipset powering the Galaxy M11, the list...

According to a new report from China, Oppo's Reno5 series will launch in May. The news comes from reliable leakster Digital Chat Station and is the latest example of the shortening product cycles in the smartphone world. It also appears that Oppo will skip out on the number "4" as it is considered bad luck in China due to its association with death. Oppo Reno5 series release date rumor The Reno3 series was launched in China just three months ago in December while the international variants made their debuts earlier this month. Apart from the rumored launch date, specs for the Reno5...

Amazon Germany is ahead of schedule and already put the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite on pre-order and set the release date as April 2. This is the LTE version of the tablet and is priced at €430. There will almost certainly be a Wi-Fi only version, but no 5G one - if you want to go faster than 4G, you'll have to get a Galaxy Tab S6 5G instead. Anyway, Amazon was also kind enough to supply some specs. The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite has a 10.4" screen and supports the S Pen stylus, of course. There's no word on the panel type or the chipset, but a previous leak pointed to LCD (instead of AMOLED...

Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch Active 2 alongside the Galaxy Note 10 series in August of 2019. It is a fitness-focused smartwatch powered by Tizen and packing all of the features you might expect from a Samsung smartwatch by now. The device was announced over 6 months ago and has been available for purchase throughout that time. And one of the headlining features of the new smartwatch is its ECG sensor, but support for it has been notably absent since it was first released. ECG, or electrocardiogram, is a tool that tracks the electrical activity of your heartbeat. Physicians can analyze the ECG output to determine if there are any abnormalities in the heartbeat pattern or rate, such as atrial fibrillation, tachycardia, etc. The ability of a smartwatch to record your heart’s electrical activity could be a lifesaver within this context. However, because implementing this technology delves into the realm of medical devices, the U.S. FDA (and equivalent regulatory agencies in other c...

A report from South Korea claimed that the LG G9 will be relegated to mid-range status, but now additional info has surfaced as to why. Reportedly, this is a branding shake-up spearheaded by LG Electronics VP Yeon-Mo Lee. The goal is to bring back the LG Chocolate brand, which was popular before smartphones took over. It was a design-focused series that had some memorable entries like LG BL40 New Chocolate and its 21:9 screen (unheard of back in 2009). The LG G9 itself won't be a throwaway phone, claims the report. The company put a lot of effort into it, making it "very different"...

OnePlus is now a premium smartphone brand, leaning into the category of luxury products such as the OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition or the Concept One . But almost everyone who has enamored the brand knows that it started very humbly. It focussed its energy on flagship-grade devices sans the flagship pricing. However, every new series was accompanied by an increase in prices and that has left a vacuum for a powerful mid-ranger in the segment. After not having launched any other mid-ranger in over four years since the OnePlus X , the company may now be mulling a comeback in the sub-flagship segment with the alleged OnePlus 8 Lite branded as the OnePlus Z, a leak suggests. Last week, XDA’s own Max Weinbach tweeted about the likeliness of OnePlus reintroducing X series. A couple of days later, Max’s sources confirmed that this smartphone’s appearance lines up with the purported OnePlus 8 Lite’s hardware. The source referred to it as “OnePlus Z” and said the hardware matched the previo...