Yesterday Google announced the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5, but neither of them is coming to India for the time being. Yet Google subsequently confirmed that the Pixel 4a, which came out in August will be hitting the country on October 17. Google's official account revealed the release date and confirmed that the Pixel 4a will be sold through Flipkart. Its price wasn't confirmed, so we'll have to wait until October 17 for that. The Google Pixel 4a is powered by the Snapdragon 730G and packs a 5.81" OLED display of FullHD+ resolution. The smartphone boots to Android 10 and comes in a...

Google’s Pixel 5 doesn’t bring any major changes the to the camera hardware. The 2X telephoto camera from the Pixel 4 has been replaced with a new 16MP ultra wide camera with f/2.2 aperture and 1µn pixels. Meanwhile, the main camera remains unchanged from the Pixel 4. It’s a 12.2MP 1/2.55” sensor with f/1.7 aperture, Dual Pixel AF, and OIS. We don’t yet know how much the image quality can improved solely based on software advancements as we don’t yet have the device. Until then, let’s go over the camera features that are debuting with the Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G (they have...

With the announcement of Google’s new Chromecast device today, “Google TV” is debuting with the new hardware. “Google TV” was Google’s first smart TV platform that was co-developed with Sony, Qualcomm, Google, and Logitech that first launched back in 2010. It was an OS for TVs that offered support for streaming apps, and as a core TV operating system. The platform would eventually be succeeded by “Android TV” until this day. The new Google TV is still based on Android TV, but it’s a UI skin that’s unique to the new Google Chromecast for now, though Google did say that it would be adding...

Realme unveiled the Narzo 20 family with three members - Narzo 20A, Narzo 20 and Narzo 20 Pro. The aggressively priced trio has resonated well with the customers according to the numbers from the first flash sales - the entire stock of over 230,000 units was taken in minues. The achievement was announced on Twitter by Madhav Sheth, CEO of Realme India and Europe. He revealed that the middle child Narzo 20 sold over 130,000 units, while the Narzo 20A was second with 51,000+ and the Narzo 20 Pro sitting in third with 50,000+ devices. The trio covers a reasonably wide price range...

Marshall has announced the new Major IV Bluetooth headphones, which come with a serious boost to battery life, along with wireless charging and some design changes. One of the major improvements over the previous generation model is to the battery life. Major IV take the already impressive 60 hour battery claim of the Major III up to an incredible 80+ hours. The headphones also feature fast charging, so a quick 15 minute charge will give you 15 hours of usage. The Major IV also include a new way to charge. The headphones include wireless charging support through a wireless...

Unveiled back in March and later released in India, the Samsung Galaxy M11 is now available in the Netherlands. The device is an entry-level offering with a 6.4-inch HD+ Infinity-O LCD, Snapdragon 450 chipset and 5,000 mAh battery. It retails for €159 and will likely come to more European markets over the coming weeks though pricing may vary between countries. Galaxy M11 in black and blue Around its plastic back, the M11 comes with a 13MP main shooter alongside a 5MP ultrawide and 2MP depth helper. The front cam snaps 8MP selfies. You’ll also spot the fingerprint scanner...

Tonight’s the night – Google will fully reveal the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G, plus a couple of new smart home accessories. You can read our article on what to expect for all the preliminary details we have on the upcoming phones. Long story short, both will have 5G modems and neither will be a flagship as GOOG tries to reinvent the series. As for the smart home stuff, the new Chromecast will have beefier hardware along with a new remote with dedicated YouTube and Netflix buttons. A new Nest Home speaker is on the way as well. The stream starts at 18:00 UTC and you can follow it...

Motorola revamped the reborn Razr phone – it upgraded the chipset and camera, it also designed the patented “zero-gap” hinge. That hinge allows the screen to close so tightly that you can’t even slide a piece of paper through it. For increased durability, the hinge is made out of stainless steel (while the frame is 7000 series aluminum). Motorola’s mechanized tests show that the hinge can go through 200,000 flips – that’s over five years of use even if you flip open your phone 100 times a day. Watch Moto engineers put #razr5G to the non-stop flip test in this behind-the-scenes look at...

Read the original post: Instagram DMs Now Powered by Facebook Messenger Back in August, Facebook began testing the integration of its Messenger chat service into Instagram . Those tests appear to have gone well, with the company making the move official for all users. Do note, users can opt into this experience immediately or choose not to. If you choose to use this, your Messenger and Instagram DM experience will become one essentially, with users able to message their Facebook friends via Instagram. With this comes a whole bunch of new features, too. For example, users can share Instagram posts more easily, Watch Together lets you watch trending videos with friends on IGTV during a video call, and Vanish Mode where users can send a message that is set to automatically disappear after it’s been seen, just like on Snapchat. Beyond all the new stuff, Facebook clarifies the following. The main change is that people using the Messenger app can now reach you on Instagram without you...

At the start of the month, Realme unveiled its 7 series phones in India. Now, we have confirmation that both phones will make their way to Europe next Wednesday. The launch keynote is scheduled for 10:30AM CEST (8:30AM UTC) on October 7. Europe, get ready for #FAS7ER charging and performance! Tune in at 10:30AM CEST on October 7th for the #realme7series European livestream launch.RT if you're reading this from Europe! pic.twitter.com/XUMc6Jx6xD— Madhav Faster7 (@MadhavSheth1) September 30, 2020 The key difference is that the European version of the Realme 7 will come with a downgraded...

Read the original post: Watch Google’s “Launch Night In” Pixel 5 Event! The long-awaited Google “Launch Night In” event happens today, so prepare your wallets. We are expecting the Pixel 5, Pixel 4a 5G, Nest Audio, and Chromecast with Google TV to be put up for purchase immediately following the fun. If you’d like to watch the event live as we wait for links to go live, you can do so below. Google’s event kicks off at 11AM Pacific (2PM Eastern). Which devices are you planning to buy? You kind of have to go for the Pixel 5 in green , right? That new Chromecast also seems like a must cop. Do any of us need new smart speakers or do we have enough? What’s the point of the Pixel 4a 5G, again, outside of its price? So much to consider.

The Xiaomi Mi Watch is coming to Europe. This is a Wear OS watch with MIUI customizations and long battery life. A big, bright display • 6 wrist straps You get a large circular AMOLED display, measuring 1.39” in diameter, so you can easily read notifications and there’s plenty of room for at-a-glance info. Speaking of, the watch can track your heart rate and blood-oxygen saturation (SpO2) as well as the ambient air pressure. The watch has 117 exercise modes and (unlike the Mi Band) there is a built-in GPS receiver, so it doesn’t need to be connected to your phone when you...

The Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite is the budget-friendly model in the T-series, even so it maintains some of the best features. This includes the 6.67” LCD with adaptive refresh rate – it goes up to 120Hz (the other two do 144Hz, but it's not a huge difference) and has multiple intermediate steps down to 30Hz. Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite The HDR10-certified display has 1080p+ resolution (20:9) and promises 84% NTSC color coverage and 450 nits of brightness. The phone is also armed with dual speakers and a Hi-Res Audio certification. Like the Mi 10T, the Lite has a 64MP main camera on the back,...

The Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro are the first Xiaomi phones with 144Hz displays. Better yet, the flat LCDs have an adaptive refresh rate and can go as low as 30Hz to fit the content. There are intermediate modes too, like 48Hz for movies, 60Hz for regular video, 90Hz and 120Hz too. Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro The displays measure 6.67” in diagonal and have 1080p+ resolution (20:9). They are HDR10-certified and put out up to 650 nits at full blast. The front is protected by Gorilla Glass 5, another GG5 sheet covers the back. The frames are made of aluminum alloy and there are fingerprint readers...

The US Department of Justice will file a lawsuit against Google next week, reports Reuters citing three inside sources. This suit will accuse the company of trying to undermine rival search engines (Microsoft’s Bing and others). By limiting their access to data about users and their preferences, Google is preventing its rivals from improving their search and advertising platforms. The search giant has denied these accusations. The DoJ is also looking into Google’s ad business that sells space for ads under search results as well as the tools to run such ads. State attorneys...

With the Kirin 1000 chip shortage that Huawei is experiencing, there were speculations the Huawei Mate X2 won't come around until next year. But the new Wi-Fi certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance is indicating otherwise. Screenshot from the Wi-Fi Alliance certification The fact that Mate X2 had passed the certification process clearly indicates that its launch is around the corner. Other than the fact that it would support Wi-Fi 6 and run EMUI 11, there's nothing else that could be of any interest in the actual listing. In other Huawei foldable phone news, the Mate Xs has...

Xiaomi is about to unveil its Mi 10T series, and we expect two flagships on stage - the Mi 10T and the Mi 10T Pro. A Mi 10T Lite might be joining them too - we've heard less about that one, but that's likely down to its mid-range nature. The event is scheduled for 12 noon UTC and will be streamed live for all fans to enjoy. We’ve embedded the video below so you can tune in from the comfort of your home or office. The Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro are expected to be pretty similar with the camera being the key difference. While the vanilla version will bring a 64MP main shooter, the Pro...

As you may know Google takes 30% from in-app purchases on most apps in the Play Store and the company has now declared that it plans on enforcing it more strictly starting September 30, 2021. Google said that about 97% of the apps in Play Store already use the store's system for in-app purchases and are compliant with the policies. Still major apps like Spotify and Netflix, for example, ask for your credit/debit card directly, circumventing the Google system and the commission that comes with it. Recently, Epic Games found itself in hot water with both Google and Apple after refusing...

The vivo V20 lineup was introduced last week in Thailand, but today the midrangers are finally going on sale, hitting Southeast Asia and becoming the first phones in the world to ship with Android 11, out of the box. The family includes three phones - vivo V20 SE, vivo V20 Pro, and vivo V20. The initial announcements brought us all the specs of the first two, but the middle option is only now getting detailed. The vanilla vivo V20 is powered by the Snapdragon 720G, coupled with an 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, the latter expandable via a dedicated micro SD slot. At the front, we...

Earlier this month, we saw a report about the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra’s battery and now we have more proof that it will indeed launch with a 4,855mAh cell. A recent certification from China’s 3C agency reveals the next Ultra flagship in Samsung’s lineup will carry a battery with the EB-BG998ABY model number which features a rated capacity of 4,855mAh. This will likely translate to a typical capacity of about 5,000 mAh. Galaxy S21 Ultra battery listing The G998 digits in the listing reveal we’re indeed talking about the S21 Ultra here. Like the recent S21+ battery listing, the S21...

vivo just delivered a new midrange smartphone for the Taiwanese market. With quad cameras, 33W charging, and a Snapdragon 765G chipset, the vivo X50e is the cheapest 5G-enabled member of the X50 lineup. There’s a 6.44-inch AMOLED screen complete with an in-display fingerprint scanner. The panel covers 103% of the NTSC color space, while its waterdrop notch houses a 32MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. Around back is the diamond shaped quad camera setup, consisting of a 48MP main camera with f/1.79 aperture, a 13MP telephoto camera, an 8MP ultrawide shooter, and a 2MP macro...

Realme’s China is going to introduce a new phone from its Q family, speculated to be called Realme Q2. While the original Realme Q was merely a rebranded Realme 5 Pro, this one is likely to be an entirely new handset with an OLED screen and 65W fast charging. The phone with model number RMX2173 has appeared on AnTuTu, scoring nearly 520,000 points, equaling flagship-tier phones' results like the Galaxy S20 or Honor 30 Pro+. A previously published TENAA listing of the phone said it comes with 2.4GHz CPU, which matches the Snapdragon 765, but the score doesn't align. Either the...

A dark theme is making its way to Google Maps as some users are reporting. Google is rolling out an app-wide dark mode to Google Maps as of version 10.51.1 running on Android 11. It seems the change is gradually rolling out on the server side as updating to the latest version of Google Maps is not enough to see the option appear in the app’s settings menu. The appearance setting in the app will let you force the dark theme indefinitely or match the Android phone’s universal system theme setting. Source: Reddit u/BrokenF*ckenArm There has always been an automatic night-mode that...

In November of last year, Google announced its plans to acquire the fitness smartwatch maker Fitbit. At this point, the acquisition is still pending regulatory approvals, and according to a report from Reuters the $2.1 billion purchase will be receiving the EU’s antitrust approval. This, as per “people familiar with the matter said.” Privacy of user data remains a great concern, and the report mentions that Google offered to limit the use of Fitbit data for Google ads while more diligently monitoring the process of doing so. “We’re also formalizing out longstanding commitment to supporting...

Motorola made the new Razr 5G official earlier this month, and now it's almost ready to hit T-Mobile. That's actually one of its main differentiating points from its predecessor (aside from the improved internals) - the original foldable Razr was Verizon exclusive, the Razr 5G isn't. Anyway, back to T-Mobile. You'll find the device in stores at the magenta carrier, in Polished Graphite and Blush Gold, starting on October 2. The Razr 5G is priced at $1,399.99 full retail, and you can get it with 24 monthly installments of $58.34. However, if you activate a new line and trade-in an...

LG officially took the wraps off its Wing smartphone about two weeks ago, and we already have one at the office and are working hard on our review. In the meantime, Verizon has gone ahead and announced its pricing and availability details for the device. The Wing will be up for pre-order at Big Red from October 1, for $999.99 full retail. Of course you can also get it with 24 monthly installments, in which case you pay $41.66 per month. You can get up to $750 off when you add a line on select Unlimited plans and trade-in an eligible device. You can also get up to a $250 Verizon...

Read the original post: YouTube TV Losing FOX Regional Sports Networks… Again YouTube TV is losing your beloved FOX Regional Sports networks. Yes, again. If you’ve been subscribed to the service for the majority of 2020, you’ll remember when this same thing happened in late February , only for a last minute extension deal to be made in early March that axed the YES Network from the service entirely. This time, who knows if YouTube and Sinclair will reach a deal. The announcement was made this evening, with emails rolling out to customers. Here’s the email headed out to customers. Providing our members with 85+ channels requires contracts that are periodically renegotiated with content owners. Earlier this year, we negotiated an extension with Sinclair to continue carrying FOX Regional Sports Networks through the regular seasons for baseball, basketball, and hockey. Unfortunately, now the seasons are over and that extension is expiring. Starting Thursday, October 1, 2020, FO...

Google is rolling out an updated version of Gboard for Android TV. The update seems to be rolling out server-side, so installing the latest version of the app doesn't seem to help at the moment. The main change in this update is a complete redesign of the keyboard. Previously, Gboard would span the entire width of the display when it popped up on the bottom. The new design looks much like what it does on phones, with a narrower design that doesn't take up as much space. Oddly enough, some apps will still stretch the keyboard background across the width of the screen, even...

Read the original post: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 Review: Return of the Ultimate Couch Phone If you happened to listen to Kellen or myself during any podcast leading up to the release of this phone, you’ll know we were pretty darn hyped for the Galaxy Z Fold 2 . While it still launched with a $2,000 price, we just had to snag a couple. Last year, the original Galaxy Fold wasn’t quite right — it’s front display wasn’t very pretty with those massive bezels, plus the interior display had that big ol’ notch in the top right. This year, Samsung refined virtually everything we didn’t like about the original. We have a much improved looking outer display, the interior display now comes with 120Hz refresh and a single little camera cutout, plus the overall build quality feels so much better when compared to last year’s. Spoiler alert: Samsung knocked this foldable out of the park. However, if you aren’t sure about spending this much on a smartphone, let me walk you through the pros and cons. ...