Huawei’s P9 flagship is launching with P2i liquid repellant nanotechnology
Review: HTC 10 – Not just a great Android device, but a great smartphone in general
As an “Apple guy” the HTC 10 has been the one smartphone that I’ve immediately identified with in the Android ecosystem. That’s not to say that there haven’t been other Android devices that I’ve enjoyed or wanted to use, but I’ve always connected with HTC.
That probably has something to do with the fact that the HTC Wizard was the first “smart” phone I’ve ever owned. That phone ran the now defunct Windows Mobile and featured a resistive touch screen. Needless to say, I’ve long been a fan of the Taiwanese company, and its passion and desire to put out well-designed products continues to resonate with me in 2016.
So it’s with great empathy and concern that HTC has been struggling as of late. To be honest, the HTC 10 feels like the company’s make or break — the major fork in the road, if you will.
It’s very possible that the HTC 10 will be the release that paves a path to one of two destinations. Fortunately, I can report that this is a phone that’s good enough to pave that path in the right direction. It’s a phone that lives up to its billing, and in many ways exceeds expectations. It’s definitely not perfect, but it’s the best-looking and most complete HTC offering that we’ve seen thus far.
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Speck offers Clear Protection for the new Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge
Samsung’s latest flagship devices bundle in several new features and capabilities, and they critically cap off these additions with shiny new black, silver, and gold color schemes, so the best way to protect the new device is the award-winning transparent CandyShell Clear from Speck. Samsung has done many things to improve the reliability of the new Galaxy smartphones, including new waterproofing and dust-resistance technology, but the devices will still be prone to damage from drops, scratches, and nicks.
WSJ: Lenovo will release a likely Moto-branded smartphone in July
Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang said today that the company will launch a new smartphone for the US in July, according to comments reported by The Wall Street Journal. Earlier this month at CES, the company announced that the Motorola brand name is actually being phased out around the world.
Roundup: 5 best ‘disruptive’ Android phones – flagship specs without the price tag
I won’t lie, in recent months I’ve found the traditional flagship smartphone market decidedly boring. Although phones from the likes of LG, Samsung, HTC and Sony are all steadily improving all they time and — by all accounts — are very good phones, they all cost a small fortune. The price of flagships from the “big” manufacturers can be anywhere between $500-$900, which is a heck of a lot to spend on a small pocket computer. With the prices steadily rising, it’s created the perfect opportunity for smaller companies to take advantage and release great devices that cost less. In my mind, if it’s below $400 full retail, has a full HD (or better) display and an octa-core processor, that makes it a flagship killing, disruptive smartphone…
HTC teases another press event, this time for September 29
Battered mobile technology manufacturer HTC has a new press event scheduled for September 29, to be held in Hankone, Japan, where a “double flagship” device will be released. That’s according to an image spotted by popular Twitter user @upleaks, who says in his tweet that the image was posted to HTC’s account on Weibo, the Chinese social networking equivalent to Twitter…
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Samsung Galaxy S6+ August 21 preorder date ‘accidentally’ leaked
Samsung is set to announce the brand new Galaxy Note 5 alongside the Galaxy S6 Edge+ at an Unpacked event on Thursday, this week. Although the company hasn’t officially shed any light on what it intends to reveal, we’re pretty certain by now that the aforementioned phones will be shown off. With the number of leaks, including the most recent retail photos, it’s hard not to be confident of that fact. What we weren’t entirely sure of was the exact retail launch date.
Thanks to some sharp eyes from Dutch Samsung blog, Galaxy Club, we can see that the French Samsung site accidentally revealed the pre-order time frame, before promptly removing the information. Roughly translated, Samsung’s site says the phone will be available to pre-order between August 21st and September 3rd, perhaps suggesting a September 4 retail launch. What’s more, there’s a special where customers get a free pair of Level On headphones and three months of Google Play music with the Galaxy S6 Edge+.
While this leak seemingly confirms the pre-order date for French customers, it doesn’t reveal anything pertaining to its global launch schedule. We’re yet to discover if the US, UK and other nations will all receive their devices on the same date. Although we’d hope Samsung would synchronize the launch multi-nationally, we can never be sure with the giant Korean tech giant. It has prioritized Europe often in the past. Thankfully, we only have two days left to wait before Samsung reveals all.
Samsung’s Note 5 and S6 Edge+ are expected to share similar specifications, including a 5.7-inch QuadHD AMOLED display, an octa-core Exynos processor and 4GB RAM alongside a 16MP main camera and wireless charging. The one feature that should set the Note 5 apart from its sibling is the redesigned S-Pen, which will again act as the unique selling point for Samsung’s flagship phablet.
OnePlus announces that the OnePlus 2 will feature a USB Type-C port (Updated)
Update: Images of the company’s USB-C cable have now been leaked online by the company itself…
Here comes the next little detail about the OnePlus 2. According to a tweet this afternoon from OnePlus, the company’s upcoming OnePlus 2 flagship phone will be one of the first — if not the first — to sport a USB Type-C port.
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Android Lollipop for Sprint’s HTC One E8 rolling out now
Almost daily, Android Lollipop makes its way to yet another slew of handsets across a variety of carriers. Yesterday, HTC’s Mo Versi (the guy who is basically the bringer of all the update joy to HTC device owners) came out to say that Sprint’s HTC One E8 has been approved for Lollipop and that the update would begin rolling out “tomorrow.” Well, tomorrow is today.
HTC One (E8) Sprint owners! Lollipop update has arrived! TA received and OTA to start tomorrow. Thanks, Mo
— Mo Versi (@moversi) May 21, 2015
If you’re an owner of the Sprint HTC One E8, be sure to keep an eye on your phone for the software to roll out over-the-air. If you’re the owner of another important device that has yet to receive Android Lollipop, keep your eyes on this space. Even though we’re going into Google I/O 2015 next week with some devices still not updated, it’s only a matter of time before your handset gets Lollipop, too.
It won’t be long before we’re doing Android “M” rollout posts.
HTC posts four new clips promoting the HTC One M9 (Video)
HTC has posted 4 new videos to its YouTube channel to promote its current-generation flagship, the HTC One M9. The clips feature a few important new features of the company’s new flagship, including HTC Sense Home, low-light photo capabilities, BoomSound, and HTC Connect. Check them out below:
LG G4 coming to Sprint in June, T-Mobile offering early access sweepstakes starting today
Carriers have just begun announcing availability of the newly-unveiled LG G4 flagship, and it looks like the device will start hitting the major carriers sometime during the summer. Sprint says the phone will be available in June, while T-Mobile has launched an early-access sweepstakes (but has yet to announce general availability).
We’ll keep this post updated as more carriers announce their plans for the new phone…
Update: Verizon says that the phone is coming “soon.”
https://twitter.com/VZWnews/status/593083505384493057
The LG G4 gets unboxed before its official unveiling today (Gallery)
Thanks to a user on Weibo, new images have surfaced this morning showing what is purportedly the LG flagship scheduled to be announced later today. Showing its many rear cover designs—including the much-advertised leather variant—the photos give us a glimpse inside the retail packaging many will surely be unboxing in the coming weeks.
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LG unveils new 5.5-inch QHD display for the upcoming G4
LG’s upcoming G4 flagship isn’t set to be unveiled until later this month, but the company this evening has announced one feature of the upcoming device. In a press release, LG Display unveiled a new 5.5-inch QHD LCD panel. LG claims that it has achieved a “quantum jump” in color gamut and brightness with this display, while also and perhaps more importantly, reducing power consumption. The display is also much thinner than any display before, according to LG.
HTC launches the One M8s, an M8 with toned-down specs and a cheaper price tag
HTC has today launched the M8s, a cheaper version of last year’s M8 flagship with specs that are just a bit less like a flagship. Taking a look at the above image, you might notice that the device isn’t like the cheaper “C” version of the iPhone 5—rather, the design of HTC’s new handset is almost exactly the same in terms of outer appearance. On the inside, though, there are definitely some compromises that will clearly set this handset apart from HTC’s current One M9 flagship.
This is why the HTC One M9 is called the HTC One M9
Jeff Gordon is probably one of the most vocal HTC higher-ups on Twitter, being the source of many a tease about the company’s continual smartphone endeavors. He’s also very often the first to tell the world about software releases and other important HTC-related updates. Today he was especially engaging, coming out to talk a bit about the company’s flagship smartphone line, but specifically on the origin of the HTC One Mx naming scheme…
T-Mobile shows us the best picture yet of the Samsung Galaxy S6
In T-Moble’s new “Six Appeal” microsite, they throw out the above image which plainly shows the Galaxy S 6 profile with its curved display beaming out some magenta. March 1st is the day of announcement but something tells me we’ll hear more before then.
New render leak via evleaks shows upcoming ‘Hima’ HTC One (M9) flagship in two variants
A new image, courtesy of none other than Evan Blass (@evleaks) himself, has leaked this morning showing what looks to be two variants of the upcoming “Hima” HTC One (M9) flagship. While they sport a similar physical build, the larger one includes a hardware home button while the smaller of the two does not. Interestingly, this render is a bit different than anything we’ve seen leaked thus far, straying just a bit in design from the current generation hardware…
Xiaomi valued at $45bn following $1.1bn funding round, new flagship coming in January
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun announced this morning (via Weibo) that the company has completed its latest round of funding, securing another $1.1 billion for the startup to now be valued at $45 billion total. And in light of this news, the Chinese company has mentioned that it plans to announce its next flagship device at some point next month.
Specs for HTC’s upcoming ‘Hima’ flagship leak out as phone begins carrier testing
HTC released its One (M8) flagship in March of this year, so we’re probably only a few months away from the Taiwanese company showing what it has up its sleeve for the next generation (being called the “M9” by some). Today, thanks to consistent leaker @upleaks, we’re being given an idea of what kind of power the smartphone is going to pack. And according to upleaks at least, the “M9” doesn’t exist; this particular phone is being codenamed “Hima.”
LG says flagship G3 coming within two months (Update: shot of the device leaked?)
LG has confirmed that the G3 will be made available in the second fiscal quarter of this year. That means that the device will be available within the next two months — much sooner than some were expecting, as the LG G2 launched in September of last year. The launch window was confirmed by LG in its earnings press release. The company expects “higher revenues” in the second quarter due to this flagship launch:
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Samsung confirms next-gen Galaxy smartphone coming this month w/ improved LED flash
Photo: digitaltrends.com
With the number of Galaxy S5 leaks in recent weeks, many are expecting we’ll get our first official glimpse of the device at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of February. While Samsung’s invites for the “Unpacked5” event did all but confirm an unveiling for MWC, today the company has flat out said that a new flagship Galaxy smartphone will be launched in the coming weeks. In a blog post announcing new LED flash components for mobile devices, Samsung said the technology will be “used in the next Galaxy smartphone, which is expected to be introduced later this month.”
Because high-quality smartphone cameras require a wider FOV (Field of View) angle for better picture quality, Samsung’s new reflector-integrated flash LEDs are designed to enable a great deal of flexibility by providing a wide FOV within a small space through the integration of a light source, a lead frame, and a reflector with its own optics and diffusion features.
Of course Samsung has a long line of Galaxy devices that it could possibly be referring to, but there’s a good chance we’ll see the new flagship S5 on Monday Feb. 24. The event will be live streamed at youtube.com/samsungmobile and we’ll be bringing you live coverage as new products get announced.
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Will Samsung Galaxy S III be the world’s first 1080p smartphone?
Details about Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S III smartphone seem to emerge left and right, but BGR gave a more specific run down on its version of the flagship device’s spec sheet this morning.
The publication previously said Samsung would launch the smartphone simultaneously around the world. Today, it described the device as having a 1.5GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos processor, 2-megapixel front-facing camera with an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, 4G LTE, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, Ceramic Case, and (more importantly) a 4.8-inch display in “full HD” with 1080p resolution at a 16:9 aspect.
Of course, there is significant doubt that the Samsung Galaxy S III will be the world’s first 1080p smartphone, because a 720p display on a 4.8 inch screen is already “retina.” Any smaller pixels are undetectable to the human eye—thus wasted pixels and processor to drive them.
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AT&T flagship Samsung Android slider leaks
BGR has received an exclusive photo of a Samsung Android slider headed to AT&T. There aren’t many details regarding this device, other than the fact it has a QWERTY keyboard, four-button layout opposed to three, and will be AT&T’s flagship Android device. Will this accompany the AT&T Droid Bionic varient we showed yesterday?
Update: BGR has posted photos of the Galaxy S II headed to AT&T. Check it out after the break.
