It was made official in November that OnePlus would be updating its current-gen flagship handsets to Android Nougat by the end of 2016. OnePlus has kept true to that promise as Carl Pei (CEO of OnePlus) confirmed that the company has managed to release the final stable version of the OS on 31st December, 2016. The Oxygen OS v4.0 firmware based on Nougat 7.0 is now live and rolling out to OnePlus 3 and 3T smartphones around the world via OTA.

Some of the changes that this update will bring to the two devices include the following.
Improved shelf customization
Redesigned notification menu and settings overlay
The ability to reply to messages from the notifications menu
The ability to change icons in the status bar
Multi-window support
Support for custom DPI
Quick Launch for third-party applications

Available only to the OnePlus 3 earlier, the Open Beta 1 program is now also available to the OnePlus 3T, as announced by the OEM. If you want, the beta firmware is available for downloading and flashing manually onto your OnePlus 3/3T, but keep in mind that this will make your device a part of OnePlus's beta release cycle and the subsequent OTA updates will keep coming accordingly. If you don't want that then just wait a few days until the official, stable version arrives for your smartphone.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

The speculations regarding the next OnePlus smartphone's numbering was right on point, as made evident by the Chinese OEM itself today. The rumors were confident that the next OnePlus would be named OnePlus 5, intentionally skipping the number 4 for superstitious reasons. The superstition behind the belief in work is (allegedly) the fact that the Chinese associate the umber 4 with death. We are not sure about the story, but whatever the reasons are, they were right! OnePlus has just released a teaser image on Weibo which you can check out above. It shows the 1+ Logo and a text that simply reads, "HELLO 5." The image was accompanied by some added text which read, "Hey Summer! Give me five."

In case you haven't figured it out already, the "HELLO 5" is a confirmation that the next smartphone from the company's stable will indeed be called OnePlus 5. The text on the other hand, clearly teases a summer release. If we were to make an intelligent guess, we would say that the phone will be released at least in China by the end of July (latest), if not sooner. The dual camera module at the back, the SD 835 chip and the 3,600mAh Dash Charging battery sounds amazing, but we do hope the resolution is bumped up to 1440p this time around.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

The OnePlus 5T is supposed to replace the OnePlus 5 and the company has confirmed that once stocks clear out, OnePlus will not be making any more OnePlus 5 models. However, does it mean that you should buy the handset? Well, that is not an easy question to answer but we will try to do that here.

OnePlus smartphones were once famous for selling flagship hardware at unbelievably affordable rates, but those days are long gone. Make no mistake, in nations like India and the company's own home country of China, the phone is still a lot cheaper than other flagships such as the Galaxy S8, Galaxy Note 8, Pixel 2, etc. Nevertheless, in America and Canada particularly, the carrier offers and Samsung's own offers make these flagships almost as affordable as the OnePlus 5T, but with better hardware. The OnePlus 5T cannot beat flagships from other more established OEMs in terms of display quality, camera or even water resistance (it doesn't have any!) and if it cannot even beat the price by much, they need to up their game. Nevertheless, if you are in one of those regions where the 5T is a lot cheaper than its competition, it makes for a good buy. By the way, if you already do have an OnePlus 5, do not even bother to buy a 5T because everything about the two phones is identical, except the full-screen display and the back-mounted fingerprint scanner. It might look a bit better, but that facelift doesn't warrant buying a 5T by any logical means.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

OnePlus has already launched the higher and Pro variants of the OnePlus 9 back in March 2021 and now the entire series is finally available in the market as of today. However, you can purchase the regular base model along with the slightly cheaper variant 9R as well online via Amazon. The devices are available through amazon, but will be limited for Prime users as a form of an early access sale. The devices will go for open sale officially from tomorrow 15 April 2021. You can also purchase the devices with bank offers for SBI card users that offer some additional discounts.

OnePlus 9 is the company's latest flagship smartphone and powered by the Snapdragon 888 Soc, paired with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage as well. The phone is powered by a massive 4,500mAh battery that also comes with 65W fast charging. The phone is 6.55-inches with 2400x1080 pixels with 402ppi and 20:9 aspect ratio. The display comes with features like reading mode, night mode, vibrant color effect, and ultra-high video resolution,

OnePlus 9 has a triple camera system with 48MP primary camera, 50MP ultrawide camera sensor, and a 2MP depth camera sensor. The device camera allows you to shoot up to 8K video at 30fps, 4K video at 30,60fps, and 1080p video at 30,60, and even 240fps. The selfie camera is of 16Mp and comes with auto-HDR feature and 1080p video at 30fps. The device is powered by a Li-Po 4,500mAh non-removable battery that comes with 65W fast charging and 15W wireless fast charging. The phone is available in winter mint, arctic sky, and astral black colors.

OnePlus 9R has a strong Gorilla Glass 5 build front and back with aluminum frame. The phone has a fluid AMOLED display with 120Hz and HDR10+. The device features a 6.55-inches screen with 1080x2400 pixels resolution and 20:9 aspect ratio. The device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G and runs on Android 11 with OxygenOS 11 on the top. The OnePlus 9R doesn't have any external card slot but comes with 128GB/256GB internal storage and 8GB/12GB RAM configurations.

The device has a quad camera at the rear side with 48MP primary camera, a 16MP ultrawide, a 5MP macro, and a 2MP depth camera sensor. The phone allows you to shoot up to 4K video at 30,60 fps, 1080p at 20,60,240 fps. The selfie camera features a 16Mp camera sensor that allows video up to 1080p at 30fps. The device comes with stereo speakers but doesn't' have any 3.5mm jack. OnePlus 9R is powered by a 4,500mAh non-removable battery with 65W fast charging. The phone is available in carbon black and lake blue colors.

Xiaomi launched the Redmi K30 Pro series in the Chinese market in March this year. The series had Redmi K30 Pro and Redmi K30 Pro Zoom edition. Xiaomi is one of the leading smartphone manufacturers. Giztop is now offering the Xiaomi for a considerably lower price. The phone features 6GB RAM and 128GB ROM model would normally set you back $549, but you can get your hands on it for a much less price at $499 through Giztop.

If the phone still doesn't fit with your budget, all you need to do is to apply coupon RK30100 at the time of checkout. The coupon will save you $100 more, by bringing the price further down to $399. The phone is available in blue and white colors. If you want the upper-end variant of the phone, you might want to check out the model that ships with 8GB of RAM and offers 128GB of internal storage. While the phone is normally sold at $649 on the aforesaid model, Giztop is giving you a chance to purchase the phone only for $599.

The Xiaomi Redmi K30 Pro features a 6.67-inch AMOLED FHD+ display with a fingerprint scanner embedded under the screen. It is powered by a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor along with a competent Adreno 650 GPU under the hood. The phone houses a four-camera system with a 64MP lens, 13MP, 5MP, and 2MP at the rear side of the display. For the front-facing camera, the phone houses a 20MP pop-up camera for taking selfies and video calling. The phone is backed by a 4,700mAh battery and runs MIUI 11 based on the Android 10 operating system.

The Chinese brand Xiaomi launched a new smartphone Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro but this is a renamed version of the Redmi K20 Pro which was already launched back in May. It follows the Xiaomi Mi 9T which was itself a renamed version of the Redmi K20. The Redmi versions are available in China, while the Mi 9T models are manufactured for European countries. The rebranding will make sense to some people as Redmi brand isn't well known outside China.

The Mi 9T Pro has some more desirable features than Mi 9T. It has a rear panel with a nano-holographic finish which gives a stunning look. If you hold it in the hand, you can have at an eye-catching flame effect appeared to be deep below the surface. It looks fantastic, and comes in either red or black, but appears to be missing the blue color from the Mi 9T. the body is made of Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and rear. Xiaomi has chosen a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED screen for the Mi 9T, with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels.

With Mi 9T Pro the device goes notch-less as the selfie camera is a pop-up unit on top of the phone. The device is equipped with a 20-megapixel selfie camera, joined by a triple-lens camera on the back, made of a 48-mega pixel main lens, a 13-mega pixel wide-angle lens, and an 8-mega pixel telephoto lens. The phone comes with Android 9.0 Pie out of the box. The Mi 9T Pro has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chip, compared to the Mi 9T's Snapdragon 730. It comes with 6GB of RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage space. The battery has the same 4,000mAh capacity but gains faster charging. It is announced for release in Europe, the Mi 9T Pro costs 400 euros, or about $443, for the 64GB model, or 450 euros/$500 for the 128GB phone.

Xiaomi owns one the cheapest 5G phone yet in the Redmi 10x series, starting just from $224 in China. But the company is already looking ahead for future projects in terms of connectivity technology. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun told the news agency Xihuan News that they have already started to invest in the preliminary research on 6G technology. The executive didn't reveal much detail about the research plans, but probably, they'd be joining the likes of Huawei and Samsung in confirming work on 6G.

It looks like the Chinese company isn't stopping at mobile technologies, as Jun says Xiamoi is already started to conduct research on satellite internet and how they can integrate it in smartphones. Satellite internet is a key technology that can make internet accessible for people living in rural areas, where traditional mobile networks and fixed-line infrastructure failed to fulfill the desired range. Xiaomi offers several internet-based series in China, so increased internet penetration via satellite internet should ultimately benefit the company.

The executive also apparently stated that Xiamoi has cleared its 4G smartphones in China to make way for 5G technology. It is unclear that if this means Xiaomi is solely offering 5G phones in China, as the company just released the Redmi 10x 4G alongside the 5G series. And chipset manufacturers haven't revealed truly low-end 5G processors just yet, which means Xiaomi could likely still release 4G phones in the sub-$150 tier in China. Nevertheless, the firm's focus on 5G phones makes sense at home, as all the major networks in the country have switched to the new connectivity standard. But with the likes of India and several other markets yet to switch to 5G, 4G devices are still clearly important for the brand outside China.

The Xiaomi Redmi K30 series was launched in the Chinese market in the first quarter of this year. The series comprises two flagship smartphones - Redmi K30 Pro and Redmi K30 Pro Zoom edition. Xiaomi is one of the most reliable mobile phone manufacturers and you can expect a quality product from them even when the price suddenly gets some cut. The Giztop, China's one of the most popular e-retailers, is offering Xiaomi Redmi K30 pro for a considerably lower price. The phone comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage that was sold at $549, but you can get almost $100 discount at Giztop.

Another variant comes with 8GB RAM and offers the same 128GB internal storage. The phone comes with a 6.67-inch AMOLED FHD+ display with 1080x2400 pixels and weighs only 218g. The phone has a Gorilla Glass 5 front and back with an aluminum frame that gives it an elegant look. The device has support for Dual-SIM. The super AMOLED touchscreen can show 16M colors. The phone comes with an Android 10 operating system out of the box and powered by Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865.

The phone has a quad-camera system with a 64MP primary camera, a 5MP secondary telephoto macro camera, a 13MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP depth camera lens. For the front photography, a 20M pop-up camera capture self-portraits and video calling. The phone has a massive 4,700mAh battery and runs MIUI 11 based on Android 10. The phone is available in Neon Blue, Phantom white, electric purple, cyber gray.

ASUS has just started to roll out Android Marshmallow updates to the ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE500KL) and this package addresses something that many users had been complaining about since launch. The ZenFone 2 Laser, in addition to all other ZenFones in the series, comes preloaded with plenty of apps that some users may find annoying. If you are not a fan of the preloaded bloatware either, you will be happy to know that this latest update will not only upgrade your phone to Android M, but will also remove most of those applications by default.

Here is a list of all the pre-installed applications which will no longer be a part of your ZenFone 2 Laser, once it has been upgraded to Android 6.0 with Build number 13.10.6.16_M3.6.44.

ASUS Backup

ASUS Calendar

ASUS Email

ASUS Messenger

Data transfer

Dr. Eye

Dr. Safety

EZ Ding

Google+

Google Settings

iReader

Mirror

Omlet

Party Link

PC Link

Photo Frame

Puffin Browser

Remote Link

TripAdvisor

What's Next

Yahoo Shopping

Zino

There will also be a few new apps installed on your ZE500KL once you perform the upgrade, but thankfully, the list is not nearly as long as the list above. Dr. Booster, Google calendar and Google Messenger are the only three new applications that you will find on your phone post upgrade. If the package has already arrived on your smartphone, here are a few things that we recommend for you to keep in mind before you go through with the download and installation.

Backup your data and move all media files to your micro-SD card.

Move all applications to your internal storage because after this update, your ZenFone 2 Laser will lose support for APP2SD.

Stay signed into your Google and ASUS accounts in order to be able to use the Multi-user feature on your smartphone.

Once you are done, let us know if you really like the bloatware free experience or would you have preferred it if the Taiwanese company left a few of the removed apps on board?

Author: Saikat Kar (Tech-journalist and enthusiast)

Android smartphones continue to get better each year with better cameras, faster processors and new apps.  Many of these phones are also much cheaper.  This does it make it difficult when choosing an Android smartphone.  This article will look at some of the top Android phones to buy.

Samsung Galaxy S8

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is considered the best Android smartphone and comes with a 5.8 inch screen.  The display is large and fills almost the entire face of the phone.  It has a great processor, loads of storage space, a slot for an SD card and it is fully waterproof.  The camera takes high quality photos and videos.  Some reviews have said the phone may be a bit overwhelming, but Samsung has added many features into this phone which means there is a feature for everyone.  The phone is aesthetically appealing filled with great features and is a great choice for a wide range of users.  It may be advisable to spend a bit more to get the Galaxy S8+, which is a bit bigger and has more battery life.  A drawback of this phone is that the fingerprint scanner is located on the back of the phone and the facial recognition does not work as well as expected. 

LG V30

The LG V30 is a great phone and takes over from the G6.  The V30 is designed using metal and glass, but is slimmer and has subtle curves.  The phone is easy to hold even though it has a 6 inch display.  Internally the phone is well made, comes with a great camera and is ideal for playing the online Blackjack Canada has to offer.  Even though the pixels are small the standard shooter takes exceptional photos and the secondary shooter comes with a wide angle camera.  The LG software is easy to use and this phone does all the necessary basics really well and looks good.  There is also a V30+ available which has more storage space which makes it more value for money.  The built-in quad DAC makes great sound, better than most phones.  It's a pricey phone, but offers good value for money.

OnePlus 5

The OnePlus 5 comes with the latest Android OS, 7.1 Nougat and Snapdragon 835 CPU and has been compared to the iPhone X.  It has a rear and front camera.  It has received rave reviews for being the best Android phone and the Chinese manufacturer of this phone has made improvements from the OnePlus 3 and 3T.  The OnePlus 5 comes with a slick design and loads of power.  The display, AMOLED, is vibrant and bright and has a fast fingerprint scanner.  It does not have a micro SD card and the battery life is not great, generally lasts for about a day, but the price is worth it considering the features. 

HTC U11

The HTC U11 comes with a 5.5 inch 2 K display which allows for great quality videos and has 4GB RAM and a Snapdragon 835 CPU.  It has squeezable sides that allows for quick launching of apps.  The camera, although only a 12MP takes good quality photos from the back and the front camera has a 16MP camera. The HTS U11 has Liquid Surface design and offers two colours at the same time, a unique and fun feature of this phone.

Blackberry KEYone

The BlackBerry KEYone may be a strange inclusion on this list, but this phone is efficient and has great battery life.  It has a 635 Snapdragon chip and it has a keyboard which will appeal to some users.  It is a great phone and also comes with a good camera.

Even in 2018, Apple, Samsung and Google were competing only with each other in the smartphone camera battle and the Pixel 2 was leading only by the narrowest of controversial margins. Right now though, only the Google Pixel 3 is still on the top 3 list, with the likes of the iPhone XS Max and the Note 9 not even making it anywhere onto the top 5 spot! According to the latest rankings on DXOMARK, the top three positions are held by the Huawei Mate 20 Pro (116), the Huawei P20 Pro (109) and the Google Pixel 3 (107). While these results have not been officially published on their site yet, the leaked screenshot you see above has been all but confirmed by multiple reliable sources. Just in case you are not aware, DXOMARK is basically the most reliable and trusted benchmarking source when it comes to ranking D-SLR cameras and smartphone cameras after rigorous testing in various conditions.

It is clear now that the Chinese brands are not only offering similar hardware at better price points than Samsung or Apple, but they are actually producing better hardware too! The Huawei Mate 20 Pro is so far ahead of the curve that it's almost embarrassing for the rest of the competition to be honest. Consider the fact that 

Saikat Kar

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has not hit the European smartphone markets for the first time. They are targeting consumers in the premium and budget-category of the smartphone industry there. The company is one of a few Chinese manufacturers who went international after achieving the considerable success in their homeland over the past decade. China is a huge market due to its population and is considered the second biggest hub of the smartphone manufacturers. Vivo isn't the biggest in China yet but doing good in its own capacity.

The only chinese company that has made it to European countries so far is Huawei, but now Vivo hopes to make its debut with fully-featured and affordable handsets. Denny Deng, the head of Vivo's European business said, "We are truly excited to showcase our first ever line-up of smartphones for the European market. To ensure we had a clear understanding of the market, we spoke to 9000 consumers across Europe, to understand how these devices are integrated into their daily life.

The company has launched Vivo X51 5G as the first flagship smartphone for the consumers who prefer to buy a high-end handset. The phone comes with full support to next generation networks without an additional cost. The main selling points are imaging capabilities, supported by a Gimbal camera system that compensates for natural shaking and distorted movies or images. Meanwhile the Y20, Y70, and Y11 are mid-range devices that aim to deliver as much capability as possible for the price. Vivo has also planned to offer Android and ditch the highly customized user interface to attract western consumers. The smartphone will support Google Assistant rather than Vivo's own alternative.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum by Digiarty Software brings the unique feature of copying DVD to Android devices. It perfectly bridges the gap between the last gen DVD technology and next gen portable media storage by enabling DVD ripping, copying and playing on all Android smartphones and tablets.

Why You Need a DVD Copy Software for Android Devices

In case you are wondering why one may need a DVD copy software to begin with, then you are probably unaware of the fact that Android can't decode encrypted DVD content. What it means is that since all original movies, songs, videos etc. on physical discs are encrypted by default, you can't copy any such content from a DVD to Android devices, without first using a DVD copy software like WinX DVD Ripper Platinum to rip the content and make it compatible with the Android OS.

What WinX DVD Ripper Platinum DVD Copy Software Brings to the Plate

Now that we have discussed why we can't load content from DVD to Android devices directly and need a separate DVD ripper software to do get it done, it's time to take a look at the features which makes WinX DVD Ripper Platinum the leading DVD copy software in the market.

Preventing Loss of DVD Content and Quality

Whether it's 720p high definition or a 1080p Full High Definition video content, WinX platinum can help you rip the DVD without any loss ion quality whatsoever. Furthermore,. Once you have your DVD content stored away in soft format on smartphones, tablets, hard drives or even a SD card, it isn't just limited to the physical life of the DVD disc anymore!

Even when you just clone (1:1) the content to an ISO Image file or convert it in MPEG2, MP4, 3GP, MKV, WebM and TS or any other format that you want with the WinX DVD Ripper Platinum, no quality is lost whatsoever. The developers even provide constant updates for new formats, so that users can continue to rip new DVD formats without facing any issues.

Play Your DVD Content on ANY Device

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum can rip and convert any DVD content (Music, movie, workout videos, etc.) into so many formats that TV sets, PCs, Macs, Android smartphones and tablets, iOS devices, USB/Micro-SD/HDD, Xbox gaming consoles, PlayStation Portables and just about every other device which supports audio/video playback will now be able to recoignize and play your DVDs!

How to Use WinX DVD Ripper Platinum?

The steps are pretty intuitive, but here‘s a small step-by-step tutorial to help you get started, post installation.

Step 1 - Either insert the DVD via an optical drive, or load any ISO image or DVD folder.

Step 2 - Run WinX DVD Ripper Platinum and select the DVD/ISO file, after clicking the DVD Disc tab.

Step 3 - Select the DVD Backup Mode/Device Profile from Output Settings.

Step 4 - Select the To MP4/MP3/MPEG/3GP or any of the other long list of formats that you need the DVD to be ripped in.

There is a simpler alternative which lets you choose the manufacturer of your Android smartphone (To Samsung, To Huawei, To Sony, etc.), so that the DVD is automatically ripped in a format that best suits the manufacturer's usual playback capacities.

Step 5 - For those that want to enhance or customize the final content to their liking, WinX Ripper Platinum also allows users to set/change the video/audio codec, output quality, audio volume, frame rate, resolution, subtitles and much more.

Step 6 - Click the Browse button, select the destination folder and click on Run.

That's it for your part, because now you just have to sit back and watch the DVD get ripped according to your desired criterions, at 32X real-time speed, as WinX DVD Ripper Platinum utilizes your PC's CPU and GPU to hardware accelerate the whole process! Most tasks are completed in roughly 5-minutes or less.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum is Free to Download and Use

You know that you have a confident and reliable developer behind the software, when they allow a trial period, which is exactly what Digiarty Software always has on offer with their releases. Try the WinX DVD Ripper Platinum software out for free first before purchasing it, to know how useful it can actually be. They also have a 30-day money back guarantee, in case you want to try the fully featured package without any risks.

Snapchat is one of the most popular messaging servicess among the teens. It's been around for over three years now and even though it's yet to monetize its user base, things are going very well for it. There were even rumors Snapchat refused acquisition bids from Facebook and Google worth $3 to $4 billion.

It seems the Snapchat CEO was right to turn those offers, if real. The company is estimating its value at $10 billion as it prepares for another round of financing.

Apparently Yahoo is very close to investing $20 million into Snapchat. It has done such investments before and they turned into billions of profits later.

Source

The beta version of the Chrome browser often brings unique features to its Android users and this time around, they have introduced something that is sure to become an instant fan favourite. If you update your Chrome Beta to the latest version 54, it will now be able to play YouTube in the background. Prior to the update, videos would pause the moment you exited the app, like it does on most browsers. Post the update, a play/pause button will appear in your notifications panel on exiting the Chrome Beta browser, which you can then use to continue playing the video in the background, while accessing other apps on your device. Needless to say, users who largely listen to audio content on YouTube will particularly appreciate this feature.

If you are streaming music from a website on the Chrome Beta Browser, it will continue to play in the background on exiting, just like a dedicated music streaming application. Even though this is exciting news, there's a high chance that this feature will be excluded in the next update unfortunately. Let's not forget that playing videos in the background is a feature of YouTube Red, which is a paid subscription based service. As this free feature makes paying for the same thing on the YouTube app unnecessary and both are owned by Google... you can do the math.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

Today, Google Now is currently rolling-ut to Chrome 33 stable channel users. Showing the same information cards as your Android smartphone.

Google Now on the desktop contains a subset of the cards you'd see on Android including package shipping status, weather, and directions to frequent destinations. The Chrome notification icon will sit in your Windows system tray or the OS X menu bar. If you don't have Google Chrome 33 stable click on the logo below to download Chrome on your desktop.

Download HERE

Samsung has just officially unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S6 with an all New Metal-frame design and Dual-Glass panels (font - back). The new combination of materials works great indeed and the Galaxy S6 is arguably, the most beautiful Galaxy smartphone to date. However, this time around the Galaxy S6 isn't dust and water proof though.

Samsung Galaxy S6 packs a 5.1" Super AMOLED screen with Quad HD resolution resulting into the amazing 577 ppi density. It is protected by the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The hardware Home key once again doubles as fingerprint sensor and supports the new Samsung Pay service.

Samsung Galaxy S6 duo comes with a new ISOCELL camera sensor with 16MP resolution. The camera is enhanced with optical image stabilization, phase detection autofocus and has a single-LED flash. Quite expectedly, 4K video recording is supported.

Finally, the Galaxy S6 runs Android 5.0.2 Lollipop Out-of-the-box enhanced with the latest TouchWiz UX with Material design and cleaner interface and lost of new features included on the new TouchWiz UX. This time around Samsung has partnered with Microsoft, instead of Dropbox, and will be offering 115GB OneDrive storage for 2 years to each Galaxy S6 user.

The S6 is powered by the Samsung's own 64-bit Exynos 7420 chipset, built on a 14nm process and thus more energy-efficient and producing less heat compared to 20nm Snapdragon 810.

Samsung Galaxy S6 will launch on April 10th in 20 markets, followed soon by even more countries in May. The Galaxy S6 will be available in White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, Blue Topaz.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Specs & Prices

Samsung has just officially unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with Dual-edge curved screen, Metal frame and Dual-Glass panels (font - back). The new combination of materials works great indeed and the Galaxy S6 Edge is arguably, the most beautiful Galaxy smartphone to date. This the second curved edge smartphone Samsung release after the Note Edge.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge packs a 5.1" Super AMOLED screen with Quad HD resolution resulting into the amazing 577 ppi density. It is protected by the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The hardware Home key once again doubles as fingerprint sensor and supports the new Samsung Pay service.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge duo comes with a new ISOCELL camera sensor with 16MP resolution. The camera is enhanced with optical image stabilization, phase detection autofocus and has a single-LED flash. Quite expectedly, 4K video recording is supported.

Finally, the Galaxy S6 Edge runs Android 5.0.2 Lollipop Out-of-the-box enhanced with the latest TouchWiz UX with Material design and cleaner interface and lost of new features included on the new TouchWiz UX. This time around Samsung has partnered with Microsoft, instead of Dropbox, and will be offering 115GB OneDrive storage for 2 years to each Galaxy S6 user.

The S6 Edge is powered by the Samsung's own 64-bit Exynos 7420 chipset, built on a 14nm process and thus more energy-efficient and producing less heat compared to 20nm Snapdragon 810.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge will launch on April 10th in 20 markets, followed soon by even more countries in May. The Galaxy S6 Edge will be available in White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, Green Emerald.

Galaxy S6 Edge Specs & Prices

LG brought out what will certainly be one of the most innovative products at the CES 2015, the curved LG G Flex2. It's more compact and more powerful than its predecessor, more curved and heals faster.

Starting off with the display, LG's homemade P-OLED tech has improved over the last year and the new screen has 1080p resolution (up from just 720p). Meanwhile the screen diagonal has shrunken a bit to the more manageable 5.5" (down from 6").

LG G Flex2 Full Specifications

The screen is protected by an LG-developed glass cover that is said to be 20% more durable than Gorilla Glass 3. The back has a special self-healing coating LG marked a massive improvement by cutting the heal time from 3 minutes to just 10 seconds at room temperature. Check the video below to see it in live action.

Anyway, the LG G Flex2 will be the most powerful device for a while it will be the first to bring Snapdragon 810 in consumer hands and it only renders at 1080p (not QHD!). The phone will launch with Android 5.0 Lollipop and 2GB RAM. For storage there's 16GB or 32GB, plus a microSD card. 

LG G Flex2 [Video]

As we promised here's the Full official stock Wallpapers Package of the New Samsung Galaxy Note5 with an updated TouchWiz UI version (Android 5.1.1 Lollipop).

The Wallpapers was taken directly from Note5 system dump, they are all in QHD resolution of 2560 x 2560 and about 3-4 MB each, they are scrollable and will look great on any screen. Download the full package or choose the one you like from the Google Drive Download Link below. Enjoy!

Galaxy Note5 Official Wallpapers [Drive]

Yesterday, Samsung has just launched its new phablet smartphone, Galaxy Note5 in India at a local event in New Delhi. Priced at INR 53,900 ($800) for the 32GB model, and INR 59,900 ($890) for the 64GB model.

The Galaxy Note5 is the latest in Samsung's line of Note devices. Internally, the phone is quite similar to the previously launched Galaxy S6 but features a larger 5.7-inch QHD Super AMOLED display, 4GB RAM, bigger 3000mAh battery, and Fast Wireless Charging. It also has the S Pen stylus that the series is known for.

Compared to the previous Galaxy Note 4, the Note5 loses the faux leather back finish, instead opting for the new glass back similar to the S6. The battery is also sealed in this time and there isn't expandable memory, again like the S6. The Note5, however, loses the IR blaster, that both the S6 and the Note 4 have.

The Note5 will be available in Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium starting September,20th.

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The Desire 820 was released back in 2014 and it's good to see that HTC has not abandoned it yet. The smartphone just started to receive an update package Over The Air which will not only bring Android 6.0.1 to the smartphone, but will also upgrade the Sense UI to v7.0, post installation. This is good news but we are not yet sure as to which regions the update is covering at this moment. In fact, the news came as quite a surprise and was reported first by GSM Arena after being tipped off by Rupak Thapa.

If you are using a HTC Desire 820 and have not been notified about the update yet, check for it manually. Go to Settings, tap on About device at the bottom and just select Check for updates. If the results are negative and you do not see a prompt to update your handset, there is still no need to fret. OTA updates are always rolled out in phases, meaning that all HTC Desire 820 smartphones cannot receive the update at the same time. Nonetheless, it only takes a few days before all the phases begin to roll out so just keep checking.

Author: Saikat Kar (Tech-journalist and enthusiast)

In their own words, if you are a Verizon customer who consumes an "extraordinary amount" of data while using their unlimited data plans, the company will force you to switch over to The Verizon Plan by August 31. If you decide not to change your plan even after the warning and the deadline, your connection will be cut off from the network. After the connection has been shut down, the customer will be able to activate their connection back within fifty days, on switching over to some other Verizon plan than before.

It should be noted that Verizon Wireless had stopped with the unlimited plans a long time ago and this is a ploy to bring the remaining subscribers into one of their new data plans. Although they did mention that they will only contact customers who are using too much data on a monthly basis, no exact number was revealed. However, this makes one wonder, how one can possibly use too much data in a plan that's been marketed as "unlimited?" Whatever the logic at work over here might be, this is how the situation is right now, as reported by Droid-Life.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

We all got inspired from Elon Musk when he accomplished his impossible dreams but now he wants to drill hole in your skill and link your brain with smartphone apps. This new technology will allow you to control your smartphones with just your thoughts. Neuralink is one of the Musk's companies, working on neural technology for over two years, and just recently it gave its first public real peek at what this startup has been working since its launch. The startup has created a neurosurgical robot which can embed the threads similar to human hair into the brain.

So far, these threads have been tested on animals but they are hopeful to test these on humans by the end of next year. To conduct these tests on humans he would need approval from the U.S food and drug administration first. If he got the approval, he may be able to pitch a technology that can read the mind of a patient of a paralysis and transmit that data to a machine. This would open new opportunities for the disable persons. According to a Reeve foundation, there are 5.4 million people living in the US with this condition and if this technology works, it could significantly improve the quality of life of millions of people.

Neuralink is arguably one of the foremost startups dedicated to biohacking, the quest to augment human beings' physical and cognitive performance, often by performing radical experiments on ourselves. It's now facing a problem common to many biohackers: The medical system, they complain, holds back progress. On July 16, Elon Musk had a live-stream about the technology. The Must said, the event wasn't about showing off. The main reason for doing this presentation is recruiting. He wants to hire more people for the Neuralink's open positions. The company currently has 90 employees and has $158 million in funding.

Nokia announced its first lollipop tablet, Nokia N1 last month with its own UI on top which called the Nokia Z Launcher. Well, lucky enough, the Nokia Z Launcher is still in BETA stages and has been updated to version 1.0.5 with some bug fixes and now works on more devices.

The Launcher learns from your usage and picks up contextual cues (e.g. whether it's morning or evening), but the feature that sets it apart is scribbling.

Instead of having to hunt down the right shortcut though an alphabetized list, you just your finger to write the first letter and the Z Launcher will display matching apps sorted by how much you use each one of them.

The Z Launcher on the Lollipop-running Nokia N1 tablet is an exclusive version, but you can download the BETA generic version 1.0.5 from the APK link below for a small taste of the experience engineered by Nokia.

Nokia Z Launcher 1.0.5 [APK]

Good News for Android users, as Nokia HERE app is now Available for FREE on Google Play. What is HERE ?. Well, it's the famed mapping service that is still under Nokia's wing, which provides its users with completely offline navigation, has a wide array of available maps, up-to-date info for public transportation, as well as turn-by-turn voice guidance all of this free of charge.

Up until now, the app was only available for Samsung devices on one of Samsung's online app repositories. Apart from arriving on Google Play, HERE Beta also adds navigation support for plenty of new countries (Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Iraq, Libya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nepal, Paraguay, Saint Helena, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Zambia, Zimbabwe), though these countries have not been fully-mapped just yet.

Nokia Here [Play Store]

HTC Scribble is Now Available in the Play Store. HTC Scribble is one of those little add-on features in Sense that doesn't get much press... on account of it not being very useful. Scribble is basically a digital scrapbooking app made to highlight some other features of Sense, like Zoe and some rudimentary stylus support. The app was introduced on the plus-sized HTC One Max, but may be available for other One devices.

HTC bills Scribble as a super-flexible way to do everything from making a digital collage to keeping track of a budget, but aside from a few neat extras like the ability to take a photo inside the app itself, it's probably more unwieldy than dedicated apps. Text, audio recordings, and a variety of stickers can be inserted into a Scribble project, and at least some of the text can be dynamic, including basic column support.

HTC Scribble [Play Store]

Yesterday, HTC released a new device called HTC Desire Eye. This is the first Smartphone with an HTC Eye 13MP front-facing camera and flash for amazing selfies, the Desire Eye also packs a 13MP rear-camera with flash too.

Both cameras can record 1080p@30fps video. The one on the back has an f/2.0 aperture and a 28mm lens, while the one on the front has a wider 20mm lens but a smaller f/2.2 aperture.

HTC's trademark BoomSound speakers are harder to see but still on board. They flank the larger 5.2" screen of the HTC Desire Eye, an LCD with 1080p resolution. Besides selfie camera and screen size, the Eye also trumps the One E8 with an IPX7 rating water resistance up to 1m of water for half an hour.

HTC Desire Eye Specifications

The Desire Eye carries much better specs than most of the Desire family. It's powered by a Snapdragon 801 chipset with 2GB RAM and runs Android 4.4 with the latest Sense software and two camera-centric apps Eye Experience and the new Zoe.

Source

It's Here, Android 5.0 Lollipop OTA update for the HTC One M8 GPE (Google Play Edition) is now Rolling-out today to all users. The update carry the Android 5.0 build with many improvements to the M8 GPE.

Executive Mo Versi, confirmed that technical approval has been received by Google on the new firmware. There is no information at the moment concerning the same update for the HTC One M7 GPe, which will be very soon.

Source [Twitter]

The plan all along was for the HTC One M9 to launch in HTC's backyard. But the date of the release, March 16th, had to be changed reportedly due to a software issue. Some said that the handset was having problems booting up, while others assumed that the problem had to do with the Snapdragon 810's alleged propensity to get a fever. After all, while running a benchmark test, HTC's new flagship had a surface temperature of 132 degrees fahrenheit.

But the good news is that HTC has sent out a patch that turns down the heat. A more recent reading of an HTC One M9 test unit showed the phone running at a much cooler 104 degrees fahrenheit, just two degrees higher than the HTC One (M8) ran during that aforementioned benchmark test.

So now that everything is copacetic with the HTC One M9, the handset is available for purchase in Taiwan, priced at the equivalent of $698 USD for the 32GB model. The 64GB variant, which is expected to be available at a future date, will be priced at the equivalent of $732 USD.

Source

"Three" has joined the list of carriers in the UK that offer pre-orders for the HTC One (M9). The phone is available starting at £39 a month with an upfront cost of £19.

For the price you can get 1GB of 4G data and unlimited calls and SMS. There are also 2GB 4G data and unlimited 4G data options for £42 and £47 per month but the £19 upfront cost for the device remains. The HTC One (M9) can be had in either Silver/Rose gold and Gunmetal Gray.

And if you weren't familiar yet the HTC One (M9) can also be pre-ordered in Gold from EE UK, from Vodafone UK, O2 UK and also through Carphone Warehouse with deals from O2, Vodafone and EE.

Source

Finally, HTC has just officially announced the One M9+ at a press event held in Beijing, China.

The HTC One M9+ features a 5.2" QHD 1440 x2560 pixels display and runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense 7 UI. It packs 32GB built-in storage and has a 20MP rear f/2.2 camera with secondary lens on the top for depth-sensing. For the selfie enthusiasts, there is a UltraPixel camera in the front. One major highlight of this smartphone is the 2.2GHz MediaTek MT6795T chipset armed with an octa-core CPU and 3GB RAM.

HTC BoomSound speakers with Dolby Surround sound support come on the front along with a home button which integrates a fingerprint sensor with support for the AliPay payment system in China. There is no clarity on whether the One M9+ if sold outside China will bear fingerprint sensor. The device also offers a 2840 mAh battery to power the smartphone. HTC will introduce the phone in three color options Gunmetal grey, Amber Gold, and Silver Gold color options.

HTC One M9+ Specs

HTC also announced that the HTC One M9+ won't be launching North America or Europe and it's currently exclusive to China users.

Source [HTC]

Samsung is looking to enhance the fingerprint senor's capabilities beyond that of only locking and unlocking the phone. The published patent indicates that the company hopes to bring swipe functionalities to their fingerprint scanners, which will enable the user to perform various actions by making swipe gestures on the fingerprint scanner itself. If you are not aware, then let us inform you that this sounds very similar to what the Google Pixel phones brought with them this year. Before you call out Samsung for "copying" the Pixels, note that they had actually filed for this particular patent way back in 2014.

Will we be able to swipe directly from the fingerprint scanner and launch an application from the lock screen on the Galaxy S8? We are not entirely sure to be honest. Many rumors indicate that the S8 will feature the company's first commercial bezel-less display, of which, a new optical fingerprint scanner will be an embedded part. If that turns out to be true, it is hard to tell whether that particular scanner will also be able to support the swipe functionality.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

Samsung doesn't want to take any chance when it comes to inserting the Galaxy Note 5's pen the right way. After the device was launched, many users started reporting that if the S Pen will be inserted in a wrong way, it would actually damage the internal S Pen sensor and without causing more damage it'll be practically impossible to remove the pen. Although the Korean company responded quickly, the damage was already done.

Roughly after three months, Samsung has started shipping the device with a brand new image and warning showing how to insert the pen in the specified slot. At first the warning label was shown via a YouTube video uploaded by "J. Williams". The video showcased T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Gold Platinum, and SamMobile made it surface on the internet.

From this video, it is quite evident that the warning label says "Be sure to insert your S pen with the nib pointed inward. Inserting the S pen the wrong way can cause it to become stuck and can damage the pen and your phone". Also there are two pairs of images showing the correct and incorrect way of inserting the stylus.

Interesting thing to note here is that in case of previous Note variants if someone would try to insert the pen in a wrong way, that person would experience an obstruction and it'll make the user realise that something is wrong. Sadly that's not the case with Note 5.

India is the first country to receive the latest security patches for the month of August on the Galaxy S6 Edge and other countries should follow soon. The 63MB download will change your current firmware version to G925IDVS3EPH2 and will a security vulnerability on the device, that Samsung has termed as "critical." If you are thinking that this patches up the QuadRooter vulnerability that we have been hearing so much about, you would be wrong. To the best of our knowledge, QuadRooter only affects Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is powered by the Exynos 7420 SoC. Even if there is a connection, it was not mentioned in the changelog.

There are of course other general improvements in performance and optimizations, and if you want to go into the details, just consult the changelog while installing the update or check the screenshot above. Hopefully, the regular S6 will also be getting the same update, but we are not sure if or when it is coming. In the meanwhile, be wary of shady apps and always check the permission list before allowing the software access to your device.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)