Teardown shows BlackBerry Priv display is refreshingly easy to replace [VIDEO]

By now, those of you interested in picking up BlackBerry’s long overdue entry into the Android space have likely already done so. The BlackBerry Priv — now readily available on AT&T, directly from the manufacturer, and soon, Verizon — signals the return of the slide-out physical keyboard. You know, one of the main reasons “business types” stuck around with BlackBerry through the years, despite smartphones all moving to a similar all-display form factor.

Even with all those moving parts, the Priv is pleasantly solid. Because the phone doesn’t come cheap and a sudden drop or spill is always very real possibility, repairability is could be something sitting in the back of your mind. Sure you could find a case for it, but they’re still a bit hard to come by with the sliding mechanism and curved display making it difficult to provide adequate protection without added bulk. Even then, there’s no guarantees in life.

In a new teardown video from JerryRigsEverything (yes, it’s the same guy who sparked the Nexus 6P#bendgate controversy a few weeks back) he shows just how quickly and easily it is to replace the display on the BlackBerry Priv in the event something should happen to it.

Believe or not, the entire display can be removed in a little over 5 minutes. All it takes is heating the glue located only on the sides of the display, then using a card to lift and remove it from there. That’s it. There’s absolutely no need to remove the back cover, battery unit, motherboard, or any of that nonsense. Swapping in a new display is as simple as connecting it into the tiny port, then snapping everything back into place. Easy peasy. Check out the video for yourself and let us know if repairability is a feature any of you look toward when choosing a new smartphone.

Phandroid

Adobe Premiere Clip brings easy video editing right to your Android phone (VIDEO)

While the dreams of getting something as robust as the desktop version of Adobe Premiere to edit videos on your phone may be a bit outside the realm of possibility, Adobe has introduced the next best thing. Adobe Premiere Clip is now available for Android.

Premiere Clip offers up an easy-to-use video editing platform where you can piece together your home videos or other simple projects. You can trim clips and add images, adjust lightin and add effects/transitions, and even load up a custom soundtrack. Once it’s all rendered you can easily share it with whomever you wish and however you wish. You can even take the clip back into Adobe Premiere Pro CC on your desktop PC to edit it further.

Like we said before, it’s not going to let you create the next Hollywood blockbuster entirely from your phone, but it definitely will be an invaluable tool for when you simply can’t wait to get to a desktop. The best part is that it’s all free, so long as you have an Adobe account. Get on over to the Google Play Store for the download.

Galaxy S7 chipset Exynos 8890 gets crazy high benchmark score

The Exynos 8890, Samsung's next high-powered chipset, set a new record score on the AnTuTu benchmark site. The tally of 103,692 easily topped the 79,000 recently scored by the Kirin 950 SoC, Huawei's new top-of-the-line chip (a more recent run through of the Mate 8 produced a score above 94K). We expect to see the Exynos 8890 used in the Samsung Galaxy S7 and other high-end Galaxy handsets turned out by the manufacturer next-year. The test was conducted with the chip powering the SM-G9300, which is believed to be the Samsung Galaxy S7.

Back in September, the Exynos 8890 rewrote the record books at Geekbench. The chip scored an all-time high of 6908 on the multi-core segment of the test. On the single-core test, the Exynos 8890 produced a 2294 score. The chip is produced by Samsung using the 14nm FinFET process. According to earlier reports, Samsung will be employing the Snapdragon 820 for U.S. and Chinese variants of the Galaxy S7. The rest of the world will get the version with the Exynos 8890 under the hood.

We could see the Galaxy S7 arrive with a flat-screened 5.2-inch model, and a unit sporting a 5.7-inch curved screen. Despite talk of an earlier than expected unveiling, the new flagship might be introduced to the public on February 21st. That will be the day before the MWC show begins in Barcelona. The Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Galaxy S6 were both unveiled the day before the MWC show in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In addition, the Samsung Unpacked 2016 event will take place on February 21st. Historically, the latest Galaxy flagship has been announced during one of these events.

Google Play’s Cyber Weekend sale offers huge discounts on apps, games, music, and more

Thanksgiving, while a great way to spend quality time with the family, can quickly turn into a complete mess for others. Should you feel like tuning out political debates and your crazy uncle (we all have one), you might want to check out Google Play’s Cyber Weekend sale. It’s there you’ll find select game titles marked down as much as 70%, along with other great deals on apps, music, books and more.

When it comes to games, you’ll find a handful of Square Enix titles are 50% off, popular albums from Vance Joy and Muse for only 99 cents, and app subscriptions for as much as 50% of their normal price. There’s also select magazines for 99 cents if you’re looking for some bathroom reading material, as well as 80%-off books/graphic novels, 30% off any 1 TV show season, and select movies for $6.

We have to admit, it’s not quite the 25-cent sale we saw in previous years, so we were a tad disappointed. But alas, there’s still some money here to be saved, especially if you have some Google Play credits laying around. So have a look around Google’s virtual store shelves and see if there’s anything that you like. The promo is linked below.

[Google Play Cyber Weekend Sale]

DOWNLOAD: Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes is now available for Android

In case you haven’t heard, Star Wars has a hot new game that’s now available on Google Play. It’s Galaxy of Heroes, a card game where you collect Star Wars characters to use in various turn-based battles and missions. The game features characters that span the entirety of the Star Wars timeline and universe, including the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, the animated series and even new characters from the upcoming 7th episode titled The Force Awakens.

Every card and character have unique abilities and attributes, and some even synergize with other cards to incentivize collecting. You can train your cards to get more powerful, to boot, so the more you play the stronger your heroes are.

The collectible card genre has exploded in recent years, so we aren’t surprised to see Disney and LucasArts take another stab at it. We say “another” because the company actually had a similar game back in 2014 named Star Wars Assault. It was a pretty fun game then, but for some unknown reason it had been removed from Google Play.

Now we know why — Galaxy of Heroes looks even better, and to have all the content from every era of Star Wars is a pretty big deal on its own. Watch the trailer above to see what it’s all about, then go ahead and download it for free from Google Play if you like what you see.

Samsung Gear S2 gets a big software update, here’s what’s new

It’s been almost a good 2 months since the Samsung Gear S2 officially launched here in the US. Today, the smartwatch is getting its first big software update. Well, the Korean version anyway. Although an official changelog wasn’t posted, XDA member “supersoulfly” was able to detail some of the new changes you should expect to see when the update — build number R732XXU2BOKF — arrives for your model. Here’s some of what’s new.

Samsung Gear S2 changelog
‘Add Widgets’ label: There’s a new ‘Add Widget’s label under the plus symbol, which makes the action easier to understand.
Auto Open Apps: When you activate this new option, apps open automatically once you stop rotating the bezel on an icon.
Vibrate When Disconnected: Under the connection settings, you can use this option so that the watch vibrates as soon as it gets disconnected with your smartphone.
Screen timeout options: 15 secs, 30 secs, 1 min, or 5 minutes.
New apps: World clock, Starbucks, a navigation app (for South Korean), and Flipboard News Briefing app.
New watchfaces: Nothing new, but the same watchfaces that were showcased during the device announcement.
Notification Indicator: There’s a little orange circle that acts as a notification indicator. It appears only when notifications aren’t set to wake up the screen.
Larger Notification Text: When you double tap on a notification, the text grows bigger so you can easily read the information. Also, when you swipe up from a notification to dismiss it, a trash can symbol appears.
Notification Reply: A smiley symbol has been replaced with a simple and more traditional icon.
Watch Face Template: When you scroll right from the watchface menu, you can use the ‘Add Template’ option to customise the watchface and save it as a template.

Compatible with any Android device (4.4+), the Samsung Gear S2 is yet another solid entry in the world of smartwatches. Although it doesn’t actually run Android (unlike most smartwatches these days), the watch features a good amount of apps and a unique rotating bezel to control some of the UI elements onscreen. The Gear S2 comes in 2 models — both standard with more modern styling, and classic for more traditional tastes. You’ll find the Samsung Gear S2 on sale right now at Best Buy for $250 ($50-off) and Amazon. Links provided below.

Buy the Samsung Gear S2: Best Buy | Amazon

Buy the Samsung Gear S2 Classic: Best Buy | Amazon

Source Phandroid

OnePlus Auctioning Ceramic Version Of OnePlus X For Charity

OnePlus decided to go and make special Zirconia ceramic editions of their OnePlus X. The material, OnePlus says, is so hard to work with that only 20% of the backs they produce are good enough to pass their quality tests. That’s probably why there will only be 10,000 of these things in total.

To kick things off, the company is offering the first five of these things up for auction. They’re doing it through eBay Giving Works which makes it easy to dedicate your proceeds to a specific cause. For OnePlus, that cause is charity: water, an organization which strives to provide fresh drinking water for challenged countries. Sounds plenty good for us.

The auctions will start at $.99, and will function just like any typical eBay auction would. All winners receive the phone itself (not just an invite like the original OnePlus 2 charity auction) as well as a physical invite to give to someone else to buy one. Whoever has the highest winning bid will also be awarded some special prize, though OnePlus wasn’t ready to reveal what, exactly, it is. It’s a good cause and a good way to ensure you are among the first to get your hands on this special OnePlus X without having to wait in a long and agonizing line for it. Check the auctions out here.

OnePlus 2 will be available to purchase for everyone (no invite required) on Black Friday

You know there’s something wrong with your sales model when, as part of hundreds of Black Fridaydeals going live in a few days — you’re simply giving people the ability to purchase your phone. That’s it.

And that’s what OnePlus is doing this coming Thanksgiving when the OnePlus 2 will officially be available to anyone willing to throw down $350 on a new smartphone. The open sales event kicks off this Friday, November 27th, and goes all the way until Monday, November 30th.

OnePlus also mentions in the the flyer they posted on social media that there will be other “holiday deals” as well, but we don’t expect the OnePlus 2 or newly announced OnePlus X to be discounted at all. More than likely, select accessories and whatnot will be marked down.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 might bring back the microSD slot

Samsung’s decision to exclude microSD slots from their 2015 flagships proved to be a very unpopular move, but the company could be looking to dodge that fire for their 2016 efforts. According to a newreport by HDBlog.It, Samsung is mulling over the possibility of reintroducing a microSD card slot for theSamsung Galaxy S7.

While the lack of the slot in the Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 5 didn’t completely doom the line as some had anticipated, we’re sure Samsung lost quite a few sales over its absence. Whether those lost sales are to blame for the overall downturn in Samsung’s smartphone shipments remains to be determined, but if they’re looking to repeat past successes then we’re sure their first consideration was to bring back some of the features they were once loved for.

We still don’t have a clear idea why Samsung ever took the microSD card slot out of the lineup in the first place. Some will be quick to point to monetary incentive — if you want more storage, you’ll have to pay Samsung a premium to get it. That’s one way to look at things, though there could be other factors — like engineering challenges — in play. This was one of Samsung’s first line of smartphones that featured a prominent block of metal, after all. It’s worth noting that Samsung’s first metal-doused phone, the Galaxy A7, had a microSD slot, so we understand if you aren’t willing to buy that story.

But the past is the past. We hope whatever reason Samsung had to exclude microSD support from their 2015 flagships will be wiped away for 2016’s expectations. As for that removable battery? We wouldn’t bet on that making a return unless Samsung suddenly falls out of love with their new premium engineering.

The all new Samsung Gear VR (consumer version) is now available for $99 (VIDEO)

If you haven’t seen the plethora of reviews hitting the internets this morning, the Samsung Gear VR — the company’s second, and less-beta attempt at virtual reality — is now officially available for purchase. Compatible with (and only with) Samsung’s line of 2015 flagships, the all new Gear VR consumer version is powered by Oculus and delivers a first-class VR experience that wont break the bank.

Keep in mind this isn’t the exact same hardware as last year’s model. Aside from being compatible with a full range of Galaxy devices, the new Gear VR also features other slight revisions like a 22% decrease in weight and a revised touchpad. We know, it’s nothing too major, but when you have huge plastic goggles strapped to your head for hours on end, anything helps.

Reviews for the headset seem to be overwhelmingly positive for the most part. Check out these ones from The Verge, CNET, or Wired. You’ll find the new Samsung Gear VR at the usual retailers for the very reasonable price of $99, with some Best Buy locations even providing hands-on demos if you stop on by. Links provided below for your convenience.

Buy the Samsung Gear VR from: Samsung | Best Buy | Amazon

Google Fit update adds new exercise and nutrition features, brings it one step closer to full fitness coach

Google Fit, while a great start for monitoring basic activity throughout your day, it’s really only offered a sort of bare bones experience. But in an update rolling out today on the Play Store, Google is bringing the app one step closer to a full fledged fitness coach.

No longer just a collection of numbers, Google Fit finally gives you more detailed info on your workout routines along with tips on the type of activity you’re engaged in, whether it’s cardio or weight training, eating or sleeping. For example, you can now see real-time stats for your runs as you’re engaged in them and if you’re using an Android Wear smartwatch, you set daily challenges and watch as your watch detects whether you’re doing sit-ups, push-ups, or squats. Of course, all that gets added to your daily activity, so you can monitor and track each type for the day.

With improved 3rd party app integration, Google Fit can even show you information from your favorite nutrition and sleep applications. Google says integration is rolling out in the coming days but it should help provide better insight as to what’s going inside your body, and how well you’re resting. The goal is by keeping you informed and on top of your daily activity throughout the day, you’ll feel more inclined to make healthier choices.

You can find the newly updated Google Fit v1.55.44 via the Google Play Store link below.

Download on Google Play: Google Fit

Pepsi Phone P1 is official: 5.5-inch 1080p display, 2GB RAM, fingerprint sensor for as low as $110

Don’t bother checking your calendar, we’re no where near April 1st. But that hasn’t stopped the launch of one of the most WTF Android devices to launch in quite some time. Today, after rumors that Pepsi Co would soon launch their own branded smartphone in China, the Pepsi Phone P1 is finally official.

Packing some pretty impressive hardware for the money, the P1 has everything you’d expect from a top tier phone — 5.5-inch display, 4G LTE, 3,000mAh battery, fingerprint reader, aluminum build — only it costs a mere $200. It doesn’t look half bad either. Here’s everything else the phone offers on paper.

Pepsi Phone P1s specs
5.5-inch 1080p 2.5D display
1.7 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6592 processor / Mali 450-MP4 GPU
2GB RAM
16GB internal storage w/ micro SD expansion
Dual SIM slot
Android 5.1 Lollipop (dido OS 6.1 custom UI)
13MP rear camera
5MP front-facing camera
Fingerprint sensor
4G LTE, WiFi 802.1 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
3,000mAh battery
Dimensions: 152.2 x 76.2 x 7.7mm – 158g

The P1 is actually being manufactured by Shenzhen Scooby Communication Equipment Co. via a crowd funding campaign in China. Early bird pricing had the phone priced at $78 which already sold out, followed by higher tiers of $110 and $150 with 1,000 units available each. If the phone successfully hits its funding goal of $46,9950 by December 3rd, it will officially launch at around $200 with a special FDD-LTE variant headed to China Unicom as the P1s.

While we don’t expect to ever see availability outside of China, it’s certainly interesting to see what OEMs are capable of churning out when a little licensing money is thrown their way. How many of you would rock a phone with comparable pricing/specs under the condition that it had Coca-Cola emblazoned across the back?

Samsung BRITECELL Camera Gets Officially Announced (PHOTO)

The camera found in the Galaxy S6/Edge/Plus/Note 5 is no joke. Earlier this year Samsung was finally able to deliver a smartphone camera that, for the first time ever, was capable of besting heavy weights from Apple’s lineup with little effort. It only makes that they’d want to further improve upon camera performance for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S7 and now we may finally know how.

After a Samsung trademark for something called “BRITECELL” was uncovered a couple of weeks ago, Samsung is finally ready to make it official. Announced during Samsung’s annual Investors Forum, Samsung’s upcoming BRITECELL technology looks to improve on the manufacturer’s ISOCELL camera in a number of ways. Developed in-house, BRITECELL will feature a camera module that is not only smaller in physical size, but performs better as well. While it won’t completely eliminate the camera hump found on most of their devices these days, it could soon be a little less pronounced. Baby steps, people…

According to Samsung, their BRITECELL camera features smaller, thinner 1 micron pixels that somehow manage to be more sensitive to low light for better quality stills with less color artifact. This also reduces the height of the camera by 17% without any sacrifice to the stellar photo quality already found on Sammy’s flagships. Samsung also mentions that they were also able to improve low light auto focusing merely by fine tuning some additional software.

Unfortunately, all of the above info means BRITECELL won’t have anything to do with that rumored 1/2-inch sensor making the rounds, but it’s possible we could see that launch with the Samsung Galaxy Note 6. Who knows.

Of course, all these improvements don’t really amount to jack squat until we can see it for ourselves. We’ll have to wait a little longer before we get our hands on whatever upcoming handset uses Samsung’s new BRITECELL camera, although we have a feeling it could be next year’s Galaxy S7. Stay tuned!

Sony rolling out new camera app to Z5 series smartphones (VIDEO)

Sony is rolling out an updated camera app for the new Xperia Z5 series of smartphones. The app was first shown off at IFA earlier this year.

The new camera app focuses on simplifying the interface. You can now switch between the four main camera modes - Manual, Superior Auto, Video, and Xperia Camera apps - simply by swiping on the screen. The settings menu is now also more accessible and the various settings in Manual mode can be changed by swiping the sliders on the screen.

The update will be available to download in the 'What's New' application on your device.

Google rewarding Maps reviewers with 1 TB of Drive storage (VIDEO)

It may not be that well-known, but Google Maps actually has its own Yelp rival built right in, allowing users to leave reviews, photos, and information about restaurants, attractions, and other locations. It's called Local Guides, and now Google is upping its incentives for users who continually make contributions. Among the rewards are the chance to win a new Nexus smartphone and access to beta features before others, but one of best may be 1TB of free storage for Google Drive.


Participating is simple for users, with those who already leave reviews and other information just needing to keep doing what they normally do. Leaving a review, adding photos, updating information, adding a new location, and even answering questions from others will score users points.

After just a few points they'll be eligible to enter the drawing for a Nexus. Between 5 and 49 points will grant them access to Google product betas, while 50 to 199 points will recognize their efforts with a Local Guide badge next to their name, letting others know posts by you are from a trusted source.

It's at 200 points and above when the bonus cloud storage reward kicks in, with users getting 1TB of Google Drive storage for free, something that normally costs $9.99 per month. Those who really show their dedication and earn 500 points or more can apply to attend Google's inaugural Local Guides summit in 2016, where they'll be able to meet other Guides and see the Google campus.

Those who are eager to begin participating can keep track of their progress by updating to the latest version of Google Maps on iOS or Android, and then navigating to the app's Contributions tab.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 now includes a warning label to show how to insert the S-Pen

The big roar made over Samsung’s S-Pen design flaw (where it could get stuck and break the S-Pen detection sensor) was brushed off by a simple “read the manual” response, but that doesn’t mean Samsung isn’t going to take preventative measures. While the company maintains that the phone is designed just fine, they’re making sure owners know exactly how the S-Pen should be inserted into its holding bay.

The company is now including a warning on the label that is wrapped around the phone when you first take it out of its package. It’s something that should be common knowledge — the tip of the pen goes in first, just as you might naturally do on some notebooks with a pen holder.

This warning was actually in the user manual (you know, that thing that no one ever reads but swears they did when they call technical support) when the phone launched, but having it up front and center should hopefully cut down on S-Pen incidents. And if you are still unfortunate enough to mess it up, be sure to take a look at some alternate steps to recovery before you yank the thing out and break it.

Google+ is rolling out a dramatic redesign with bigger focus on Collections and Communities

Say what you will about Google+, it’s actually grown a pretty strong following, not just among Android enthusiasts, but those that take have taken the time to find their niche. I guess that’s why in a new update hitting the web today (and soon, mobile apps), Google+ is being redesigned from the ground up to focus on doing what it does best: Collections and Communities.

Upon signing in, users will be presented with a completely redesigned home stream and with what Google is calling a “drastically simplified” product. That means everything from posting, searching, and connecting with others should be easier than ever. Google is putting a big focus on navigation that’s centered around Collections and Communities, which is helpful for finding others with shared interests.

Google says that in a way, things are still beta and not every Google+ feature has found its way into the new redesign. Because those will come at a later time — along with updates to their mobile apps — you may want to roll back the update or hold off for now. In either case, updating on the web is as simple as clicking the “Let’s go” prompt, and you can always go back to the “Classic” design by clicking the button in the lower left-hand corner. Enjoy!

Googler recommends against buying OnePlus USB Type-C adapter

Remember that crusader/Googler/awesome guy who has been reviewing the USB Type-C products out there to make sure they’re 100% compliant with the standard and safe for use? Well, his latest discovery involves an adapter from a high-profile manufacturer: OnePlus.

According to him, OnePlus USB Type-A to USB Type-C adapters are not up to spec, noting that the adapter uses the wrong identifier resistor. The issue is that phones which charge at 3A — which most devices employing USB Type-C do — will always request 3A from the cable. If the cable doesn’t properly handle 3A then it can potentially damage both the cable and the phone itself.

But that’s not to say the USB cables are bad for OnePlus’s own phones. The product should be just fine to use with the OnePlus 2 as it doesn’t request that much amperage for charging. The warning is more for owners of other devices like the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X or the new Chromebook Pixel who might have purchased the OnePlus adapter to use as an extra for their devices.

And just because your device appears to be charging fine right now doesn’t mean there’s you won’t have issues in the future. There’s no telling what could happen if you charge your device using out-of-spec accessories in the long haul.

The point here is that it’s better to be safe than sorry. Get the official Google cables, or buy one of the green-lit products featured in the engineer’s Amazon reviews. You may have to shell out more money, but it would amount to a drop in the bucket compared to replacing one of these devices should they get damaged. In the meantime, he’s hoping OnePlus gets the message and starts making products which are fully compliant with the standard so folks won’t have to worry in the future.

Phandroid

Leaked roadmap shows Samsung devices getting Android Marshmallow in December

Android Marshmallow is still trickling out to devices. The roll-out has been slow, but more and more devices are getting a taste of Marshmallow every day. A leaked document suggests that Samsung will start updating their top devices very soon. According to the chart, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 andSamsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will get Marshmallow next month.

In the following month (January), the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge will get the update, followed by the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Samsung Galaxy Note Edge in February. TheSamsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Alpha are listed in the “Phase 1” roll-out, but still waiting for approval.

“Phase 2” of the roll-out includes a bunch of older and less popular devices, like the Galaxy A8, A7, A5, A3, E7, and E5. These devices will likely be looking at Q2 of 2016 before they get updated. The good news is Samsung will be updating their top devices in the next couple of months. We would like to see the Galaxy S6 be included in the first month, but January is better than nothing.

Source - Phandroid

Benchmark score shows Exynos 8890 will be the next king of multi-core performance

It's that time of year again in the mobile realm, when we wait impatiently as each major chip vendor unwraps its latest and greatest creation that could be powering your future flagship device. This time around promises and stakes are high, which is why we can't wait for a battle royal to take place, so we can crown a benchmark king (at this point it is likely we are more in it for the numbers and "bragging rights", rather than usability, but it is what it is).

The next big five we have our sights on are all here – Apple's A9 has been around for quite some time, due to the different release schedule, and still packs quite the punch. And, in camp Android, Samsung's Exynos 8 Octa 8890 is already official and so are the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and Huawei's new hope – the Kirin 950. Last, but not least, the Mediatek Helio X20 has also been here for a while.

Benchmark scores have been flying all over the place, but it has been rather hard to pinpoint one set of comparable data. A new Chinese source claims to have done just that and the results spell out one thing loud and clear - the Exynos 8890 is the ultimate multi-tasking monster this generation has to offer.

The aggregated numbers come from Geekbench3 and present a neat and clear overview of how the top chip manufacturers and their respective creations stacked-up throughout the years. This time around, we can see that Samsung has a sizeable lead in multi-core performance with a whopping 7,400 points. Mediatek is runner up with 6,500 points and close by is the Kirin 950 with only a hundred less at 6,400. Apple's A9 is definitely lacking in this department scoring just 4,436.

Still, don't be too quick to throw out your iPhone, as the Cupertino flagship may have only two cores, but they pack an incredible punch. An earlier chart, courtesy of the same source puts that in perspective, claiming that the A9 is capable of churning out 2,527 points on a single core, whereas Samsung's new custom-build cores can only reach 2,270.

But putting the endless Android vs iOS flame war that such data inevitably fuels, the fact is that it is still way too early to judge any kind of real-world performance on any of the next-get chips. All we can do is play the waiting game and see what each one delivers to end users in its future host devices.

Source - GSM Arena

Gmail will soon warn users when incoming email is unencrypted

Google has announced plans to implement a feature in Gmail that’ll notify you when an email is coming from an unencrypted source. This is convenient and important in a couple of different ways:
If you’re unsure that the line isn’t secure you can refrain from sending sensitive information in your email responses.

If the person you’re emailing has power to change it, it gives you an opportunity to tell them they should get with the encryption program.

Google went into detail about how far email encryption has come to now, and what they plan to do to help continue to push it forward in the future. Be sure to check all of that out right here if you’re interested. In the meantime, we’ll be waiting patiently for the aforementioned Gmail feature to make its way to our inboxes.

Huawei develops 3,000mAh battery that charges to 48% in only 5 minutes

Whatever the motivations behind it, the current trend in mobile seems to be devices that are increasingly growing thinner every year. While that’s great for bragging rights, the problem is this sometimes comes at the cost of battery capacity. Sure we have more power efficient processor to tackle this, but at the end of the day they still need mAh to make them tick.

Attacking the battery life issue from a different angle are advancements to how quickly our smartphones and tablets fully charge. We know Qualcomm has Quick Charge 3.0 on the way (capable of going 0-80% battery in only 30 minutes), but new tech from Huawei looks to beat even that. By a lot.

Announced on the Huawei Fans Club Blog, Huawei’s Watt Lab showed off a new kind of lithium-ion battery that can charge 10 times faster than those other guys. Using heteroatoms they bonded to the molecule of graphite in anode — which offer increased charging speeds without a decrease in energy density or battery life — Huawei was able to charge a 3,000mAh battery (620 Wh/L energy density) to 48% in only 5 minutes, which allowed for ten hours of call time. Don’t believe them? There’s of a video of it in action here. There was also a smaller 600mAh battery that could hit 68% in only 2 minutes, more suited for smaller devices like wearables.


Huawei believes their breakthrough could lead to a “revolution” in electronics devices like smartphones, wearables, mobile power supplies, and even electric vehicles. It seems every few months we read about some new advancement in battery tech, only to find it’s not really well-suited for consumers devices. There’s no telling when Huawei’s new battery life will hit market (if ever), but it’s an exciting breakthrough none-the-less.

Click here to see video 

Google launches YouTube Music for an endless stream of your favorite music videos (VIDEO)

Remember those days of coming home from school, flipping on the TV, and watching an endless stream of music videos on MTV? Neither do we. But if there was some alternate reality where something like that happened, YouTube Music would be like that. It’s a new app Google is launching that, as the name suggests, is focused only on music. Just picture what would happen if Pandora and YouTube were to have kids.

The app is free to download and although having YouTube Red (which you’ll be given a free 14-day free pass for tying out YT Music) makes the whole experience better (ad-free listening, background music play, audio-only mode), it’s entirely possible to enjoy this without it. Just be prepared for the usual assortment of ads to popup in between music.

A YouTube built just for music
Any video, album, or artist starts a non-­stop station
Personalized stations learn your tastes
A home tab with recommended tracks just for you
A trending tab to stay up on the newest releases
New songs and artists in ‘On the rise’
The latest hits in ‘The Daily 40’

Using it is simple. Just fire up a song from your favorite artist and watch as YouTube Music builds a station based on that. You can like music (or dislike) videos just like in the YouTube app, and there is a handy slider for adjusting station variety. It’s quite literally a music video-only YouTube experience and only further adds value to Google Play Music/YouTube Red’s monthly service fee.

We think those that listen to top 40 or popular music on the radio will feel right at home — most of those song are accompanied by a music video. For those with most obscure tastes, you may have trouble finding your favorite indie videos or you’ll just run into a lot of those videos with static album art. For everyone else, downloading the app is free so give it shot.

Android Wear can switch to LTE, works without your smartphone

Your next (or first) Android wearable needs not for Bluetooth or Wifi. Android Wear's cellular support has finally arrived, just as the first compatible watch starts to ship. LG'sWatch Urbane 2nd Edition crams an LTE radio beneath its circular 480 x 480 screen, with models that'll work on AT&T and Verizon — carriers that are both selling the watch in the US this week.


As noted before, these LTE-compatible watches will share phone numbers with your phone, but pack all that's necessary to work even when your phone is far, far away. As long as both watch and phone can connect to your carrier, LTE Android Wear devices will be able to send and receive messages, Google things, and run your favorite apps.

Taking calls is also doable if you like talking at your wrist. Google's own announcement highlights marathons and errand-running as examples where you might leave your phone behind, and as smartphones have expanded in size, for those of us that Must Be Connected At All Times, an LTE wearable might fill the gap nicely. AT&T starts selling the LG watch online today and in-store this Friday, while Verizon subscribers will be able to preorder starting today.

Game on: Acer Predator 8 now available to pre-order, ships later this week (VIDEO)

If you've seen and liked the Acer Predator 8, a new gaming-oriented tablet announced in September, you should be happy to find out that the device is now available to pre-order in the US. Although it was supposed to be released on November 6, the Predator 8 will be shipped only starting November 17, and you can pre-order it either directly from Acer, or from Newegg (check out the two source links at the end of this article).

The Predator 8 has an unusual design that reminds us of Alienware's laptops, its standout elements being the 4 red font-facing speakers (with surround sound).

Powered by a quad-core Intel Atom Z8700 procesor clocked at 1.6 GHz (with Turbo Boost up to 2.4 GHz), the new Acer slate sports an 8-inch IPS display with 1920 x 1200 pixels and tactile feedback, and runs Android Lollipop - though we assume that an update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow will be available in the near future. Other features include a 2 MP front-facing camera, a 5 MP rear camera, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of expandable storage space, and a 4550 mAh battery. The tablet also comes with Predator MediaMaster, a feature that lets users customize their video and audio settings in search for better gaming and multimedia experiences.

The Acer Predator 8 costs $299.99. Mind you, this is a Wi-Fi-only tablet, and we don't know if Acer is planning to release a 3G/LTE variant of it.

Source - Phonearena

Samsung officially unveils Exynos 8 Octa 8890 chipset, likely headed for Galaxy S7

Hot on the heels of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 unveiling, Samsung has revealed their own next-gen chipset that is likely to be inside most of their 2016 flagship products. It’s the Exynos 8 Octa 8890, a 64-bit Octa-Core chipset that has all the juice you’d expect from a Samsung kit.

It’s built on a 14nm FinFET process, and is the first single-chip Exynos that combines their custom ARMv8-based CPU with an LTE Category 12/13 modem. Samsung didn’t go into extreme detail about the custom CPU cores, but they suggest it’s 30% faster and 10% more efficient than the Exynos 7. The custom cores will make up the high-end part of the chipset, and ARM’s Cortex-A53 will be used on the lower end. It’ll also sport Mali-T880 graphics which should be able to rival the top-line option from Qualocmm’s lineup quite easily.

Samsung says mass production for the chip will begin by the end of this year, and it’s possible that they’ll be ready to go in time for the Samsung Galaxy S7, which we’re hearing could launch as soon as February or March 2016.

BlackBerry Vienna leaked, Android-powered QWERTY with a more traditional design

Striking while the iron is still hot, BlackBerry could be looking to launch another Android-powered device — the BlackBerry Vienna -- this time with a more traditional candy bar form factor.

We’re not entirely sure how successful the launch of the BlackBerry Priv was, but the device seemed to receive a relatively warm reception. Striking while the iron is still hot, BlackBerry could be looking to launch another Android-powered device — the BlackBerry Vienna.

Carrying a more traditional BlackBerry design, the Vienna has a candy-bar form factor with a full QWERTY keyboard that occupies the front of the smartphone. It’s tough to tell from the leaked renders alone, but the keyboard almost appears to be the same size as the Priv’s, only with less screen real estate to play around with.

It’s possible BlackBerry could tweak the final design of the Vienna before its release, so the actual device could look slightly different once launched. Unfortunately specs or other hardware details weren’t revealed, so you’ll have to keep guessing like the rest of us. What do you guys think? Would you favor this form factor over the slide-out QWERTY keyboard of the Priv?

Source - CrackBerry

The Rufus Cuff - More than a Smartwatch. A Wrist Communicator. (VIDEO)

Billed as a “wrist communicator”, the Rufus Cuff actually surfaced back in 2014 on Indiegogo, but is now up for pre-order for new customers with a price starting at $249. So what exactly does a wrist communicator do? Basically, it’s a mini-tablet that’s attached to your wrist.

The Rufus Cuff is powered by a TI Cortex A9 processor, has a front facing camera for selfies and video conferencing, a 1175 mAh battery, a 3.2-inch TFT display, and features both GPS and WiFi. Storage options include either 16, 32, or 64GB, and the software is based on Android KitKat. There’s no cellular support here, so you will need to tether the Cuff to your phone or keep it hooked to WiFi.

The big question is why anyone would want to wear this, and that’s a good question. The only thing I can come up with is that the Cuff is for those that want to stand out from the crowd. I mean, 3.2-inches isn’t exactly big and while having a device on your wrist means easy access to apps and games, getting this experience means you have to be okay with wearing such a bulky, likely heavy, device on your arm all day.

According to Rufus Lab’s CEO, Gabe Grifoni, they believe that having a device that isn’t “just a glorified notification center” will appeal to many in ways smartwatches don’t. Furthermore, he says “”This will replace the need for smartphones, wallets, watches, fitness trackers, everything.” A bold claim and one we doubt will come to pass.

TAG Heuer Introduces Connected, the world's first luxury Android Wear smartwatch (VIDEO)

As scheduled, Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer launched its first smartwatch at a dedicated event in New York today. Dubbed Connected, the $1,500 Android Wear-powered intelligent timepiece is inspired by the TAG Heuer Carrera, and has been developed in collaboration with Google and Intel.

Specs-wise, the watch is powered by a 1.6GHz dual core processor from Intel, and sports a 1.5-inch fully circular transflective LTPS LCD display (covered by scratch-resistant sapphire crystal) with a 360 x 360 resolution and pixel density of 240ppi. It comes with 1GB RAM and 4GB internal memory, and packs in a 410mAh battery.

In terms of sensors, it includes gyroscope, tilt detection sensor, microphone, and there's also a haptic engine. The connectivity options include Bluetooth BLE 4.1 and Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz 802.11 B/G/N).

Weighing in at 52gms, the watch is 46mm wide and 12.8mm thick, and is compatible with Android 4.3+ / iOS 8.2+. It is equipped with directional wind and weather monitoring, and also offers IP67 water and dust resistance.

"The TAG Heuer Connected includes a beautiful set of digital watch faces with classic TAG Heuer dials," said David Singleton, VP of Engineering, Android Wear, in a blog post. "You’ll be able to personalize what information you want to see: weather, step count, or calories."



Another thing worth mentioning here is that after two years you'll be able to pay an extra $1,500 and trade-in your Connected smartwatch for a more traditional Carrera watch, which carries a price tag of around $3,000.

As for availability, only the black band bracelet option is available for online purchase, while all other band color options are available in store. And as already revealed, the Connected will land in Europe on November 12.

Google finally adds offline navigation to Google Maps

Google has released the Google Maps update we’ve all been waiting for. The company today announced the addition of offline navigation, so you’ll no longer need a reliable internet connection if you want to use navigation.


How does it work? Simple: tell Google an area (city, state, or country, for example) and it’ll download that area to your device for offline use like it always has, only now it’ll be able to deliver turn-by-turn navigation without you having to be on an internet connection. Google says the offline mode is seamless, and it’ll revert to the mode when it detects you have a spotty data connection. Of course, they maintain that using it while connected offers the best experience as you can get live traffic updates.

And that’s all there is to it. This is a big feature that kept Google Maps from being the go-to navigation solution for many folks, but with this improvement it’s sure to challenge the crown of whichever app you’re using. Give it a go when it hits Google Play (and your device) sometime this week.

Blackberry could already have plans to make more Android devices [VIDEO]

Blackberry CEO John Chen recently sat down with Fox News to discuss the company’s hardware business and their newly-launched Blackberry PRIV Android phone. He hit on all the obvious points: Blackberry loves hardware and won’t easily give up on it, and that they’ll be approaching the market with a steady head and make decisions based on market response.


That said, the company is already looking ahead, with the CEO confirming that they have a range of other products already in the works after the PRIV. Unfortunately he didn’t get into details about what these devices would be. Tablets? Phones? Android or Blackberry 10?

We’re not sure what to expect from them just yet, but they’re adamant in making sure they stick to it and we’ll certainly be rooting for them to make another unique device that can actually disrupt the market. You can check the interview with Chen out in the video below.

Modular Phones Are Here – PuzzlePhone (VIDEO)

Modular phones could very well be the future of the mobile industry. Not only are they just straight up cool, but they can ultimately be more economical, more consumer orients, and more environmentally friendly. And did I mention that they’re cool?


Well if you want to be one of the first to jump on the modular phone train, then you’ll want to check out PuzzlePhone who has just launched their crowd funding campaign. Their design consists of three parts, the brain, the spine and the heart. The Brain houses the core components such as the CPU, GPU, RAM, ROM and Camera. The Spine is the main frame of the device and also holds the display. The Heart contains your battery and secondary electronics that are more user specific. As things stand right now, there aren’t many options to choose from with the only real differentiating options being storage capacity but the company hopes that developers will jump on board .

In terms of a release, the company doesn’t expect to ship till September-November of next year but if you’ve ever done any crowd funding, you know that estimated delivery dates are rarely met. Plus, Google is expected to have their modular phone out sometime next year so PuzzlePhone already has some stiff competition. Nevertheless, if you want to jump on board, their perks start at $333 USD.

Speed test: HTC One A9 vs Samsung Galaxy fingerprint sensors [VIDEO]

One of the best things about the HTC One A9 is the fingerprint sensor. The sensor is fast and reliable, just like a fingerprint sensor needs to be. If it’s not fast and reliable, you’re not going to want to use it. Samsung’s fingerprint sensor on the latest Galaxy phones was starting to feel like more of a nuisance to me. I decided to compare the sensors to see if HTC’s truly is much better.

As you can see in the video, the results were not nearly as one-sided as I thought. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus proved to be relatively fast and surprisingly accurate. The One A9 also performed well, but I was expecting that. When the One A9 failed I was able to get it right on the next try or third try, but when Samsung’s failed I couldn’t seem to get it right.

The speed of the two sensors was also closer than I anticipated. When both displays are turned on, it’s a very tight race, but HTC’s sensor is much faster when the display is turned off. However, I think that is more a fault of the software than the sensor. The Edge+ seemed to hang just a bit longer on the lock screen. There’s one thing that makes all of these results so impressive: processors.

The Edge+ is running with Samsung’s beefy Exynos 7420, while the One A9 is running a much weaker Snapdragon 617. It was still able to keep up. I can’t help but imagine how insanely fast the HTC sensor would be if it had an equal processor. Kudos to HTC for doing a great job. Hopefully, they will be able to replicate this experience on their next flagship phone. I’m not sure I can go back to a phone without one.

Source- phandroid

HTC One A9 ad is yet another one where you can barely see the phone [VIDEO]

HTC’s ads are getting… better. But they still have some work to do if the HTC One A9’s ad is anything to go by. The spot invites you to “be brilliant and bold,” and shows a ton of people doing just that. Hiking, running, taking great photos and jamming out to music.

The only problem is we can barely see the phone — it’s only at the end of the ad that we see the message. That’s fine, we suppose — they hook you with all the excitement in the beginning and lay the goods on you at the end. We just wish HTC would make one ad where they obsess over the phone itself as opposed to the people who might use it.

Watch the Nexus 6P go blow-for-blow with the iPhone 6S in a speed test [VIDEO]

The Snapdragon 810 in the Nexus 6P might not be the most popular chipset on the market, but it still is considered top end and it seems to perform wonderfully in phones which take proper advantage of it. Of course, not many phones take proper advantage of hardware like Nexus devices, which don’t have loads of bloat and custom UI elements to bog the experience down.


So, how does it fare up against the iPhone 6S? Well, quite impressively. DroidModderX put these two through a speed test gauntlet to see if any of the devices had a significant edge over the other. The speed test consisted of a simple procedure of jumping into apps and jumping out of them the moment they load. He then tested multitasking capabilities by opening those same apps in the same order to see if there were any forced refreshes for either of the phones.

The results? Quite nice. The Nexus 6P seemed to take the early lead, but the iPhone 6S was able to blow past it after the Angry Birds app took a few extra seconds to load. The iPhone 6S had as much as a 2 second lead by that point, but once the two devices hit the multitasking phase of the test the gap narrowed. The Nexus 6P actually ended up besting the iPhone 6S by the end of it, but only by a marginal 6/10ths of a second. Some suspect the iPhone 6S was only held back by Apple’s more drawn out animations, which is a fair point.

What will happen if the Droid 2 Turbo force drop 70 times on concrete? (video)

We are in the midst of reviewing the recently announced Motorola Droid Turbo 2, and one of the most interesting features of the phone is its supposedly shatterproof display. Any phone can survive one or two errant drops. But what about seventy?


As you can see in our video above, the Droid Turbo 2 does indeed survive all manner of droppage. The screen was certainly scratched up, the bezel took a beating, and the SIM card tray came out a bunch of times. But nothing happened that affected the functionality of the phone!

Motorola's ShatterShield Display Tested Against Competition( VIDEO)

When we first heard of the Droid Turbo 2 and its shatterproof display, we had no idea what that exactly is and how good it was. Most of us, including myself I have to say, thought that is just another marketing trick to improve sales, but new drop test has proved the opposite.


The shatterproof display on Motorola Droid Turbo 2, also known as ShatterShield display, has a total of five different layers and is extremely durable. The smartphone has been tested against all top smartphones, including Apple iPhone 6s, HTC One M9, LG G4, Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S6 edge, and Samsung Galaxy Note 5. All of them failed except one - Motorola Droid Turbo 2.

Android Marshmallow vs. iOS 9 vs. Windows 10 (Video)

Youtube channel  Amit Shukla is on your channel compared Apple's iPhone OS 9, Marshmallow Android 6.0 and Windows  10, which in truth is not out there yet in its final version. The video gives an overview of the similarities and differences in some of the basic user interface elements such as lock screen and home screen, and the system compares the notification but also some of the standard apps such as a calculator, phone, calendar and other.

Which of the three platforms is most beautiful is totally a matter of taste, while the functionality and convenience and richness of features that debate. Some will prefer the freedom and flexibility of Android, other security and guaranteed the fluidity of iOS, and third they will choose something in between in the form of Windows 10 Mobile.

Oukitel K6000’s 6,000mAh battery goes from 0 to 100% in under 2 hours [VIDEO]

Haven’t heard of the Oukitel K6000 yet? It’s a 5.5-inch device with a 64-bit quad-core MediaTek chipset, a 13 megapixel camera and 2GB of RAM. But the headline spec of the device is its massive 6,000mAh battery, something Oukitel managed to achieve by stuffing 2 3,000mAh units inside.

It must take an eternity to charge such a fat pack, no? Well… it doesn’t. The company took to YouTube with a video showing how fast it charges thanks to its included 9v/2a charger. The device was able to go from near death to 100% juice in just under 2 hours. For comparison’s sake, a 5v/1a or 5v/2a charger like the ones included with the iPhone were only able to get it up to 29% in that same time span.

Fast charging is nothing new, of course. We’ve seen it featured in many top devices, including the latest Nexus handsets, Samsung’s flagships and even some mid-range 2015 options thanks to Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0. But for a phone with 6,000mAh battery, it’s really impressive. And when you consider you could go a few days without charging the thing, we’d say a 2 hour wait time for full capacity is very, very reasonable.

Couple all of that with the fact that 5 minutes of charging can deliver up to 2 hours of talk time, and you can see why the device is getting so much attention. Unfortunately we’re still not sure when, exactly, you’ll be able to get your hands on the Oukitel K6000, but if a big battery is your concern then the wait should be well worth it.