Snapdragon 810

The Sony Xperia Z5, Z5 Premium and Z5 Compact have all had price cuts before they’ve even hit the market. Prices were revealed just a few days ago, and Sony has already seen fit to adjust the price points.  Perhaps in response to the sense of disbelief at how expensive they would be…

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Two last minute leaks seemingly confirm the Sony Xperia Z5‘s existence, and show off the smartphone in some of the best quality images we’ve seen yet. A retail store poster appears to reaffirm previous rumors that we’re going to see Sony announce a small, medium and large version of the Xperia Z5 at IFA a little later today.

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In a press release this morning, Qualcomm announced a brand new technology to help keep us protected from potential malware threats on our smartphones. Smart Protect will be built into chips in the near future and provide “real-time, on-device machine learning designed to support accurate and effective detection of zero-day malware threats for improved personal privacy and device security”. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 chip will be the first to feature the new technology when it hits the market in 2016.

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There’s no getting away from OnePlus‘ effect on the market. From the very beginning it planned to be disruptive and offer consumers what they really wanted: A flagship phone at a low price. Despite controversies and frustrations over its marketing and invite-based purchases, OnePlus has gone on to sell over 1.3 million units of its first smartphone. That may not seem like much in a market where companies sell millions of phones. But this is just one phone, made by one small company that most consumers still haven’t heard of.

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OnePlus sparked conversation, controversy and frustration last year when its sought-after debut smartphone launched. Its invite system meant you could only get hold of a OnePlus One if you received an invitation to buy one. With the OnePlus 2 — due to be announced in 11 days — the company will still have an invite system in place, but promises that it is “new and improved”.

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The onslaught of OnePlus posts teasing out each individual facts about its upcoming phone, the OnePlus 2, continues. Today the company is responding to more concerns about overheating, as well as about the price of the OnePlus 2.

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In a post to its community forums, OnePlus today unveiled which CPU its much-anticipated OnePlus 2 will use – Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810. The company said that the Snapdragon 810’s unmatched speed and ability to multitask while maintaining battery performance had them coming back to it over and over again during their search for the right processor. But don’t worry, the company says it will be version 2.1 of the chipset, a version that they collaborated on with Qualcomm engineers to integrate and fine-tune for the OnePlus 2’s hardware and software, and that (apparently) won’t overheat.

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HTC hasn’t been having the best run lately and that continues today. After promising this past Wednesday at an investor meeting to reinvigorate its line through a new product in October and “improved design and innovation,” the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has posted bleak earnings results for the month of May with revenue of NT$10.79 billion (US$347 million), down 50% over the same month last year and down 11% from April’s revenue of NT$13.5 billion (US$440 million). Revenue for April was down itself 33% from the month prior and 38% from April 2014.

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HTC CEO Cher Wang during an investor meeting yesterday apologized for the company’s poor performance in recent months. According to the Taipei Times she attributed it to “poor operational efficiency and overly conservative marketing strategy amid fierce competition in the global market.”

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Google’s existing Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 handsets

With Google reporting falling revenues from its Nexus devices, and having seemingly abandoned the original concept of an affordable vanilla device in favor of more expensive devices, the future of the product line was looking a little uncertain. But a new rumor says that Google will indeed be continuing the Nexus program – and not just with one new smartphone, but two.

Android Police cites a “reliable source” in suggesting that Google is partnering with two different manufacturers: with LG for a 5.2-inch smartphone code-named Angler, and with Huawei for a 5.7-inch phablet code-named Bullhead … 
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Rumors regarding the successor the popular OnePlus One smartphone began emerging earlier this year and now a mysterious device from the company has appeared in GeekBench test results. While the results don’t reveal much, the show what is likely the OnePlus 2. The device appears to be running Android 5.1 and features an 8 core processor, likely in the 4+4 setup, clocked at 1.55GHz.

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The Snapdragon 810-equpiped HTC One M9 lights up like a Christmas tree during a benchmark

You may recall reports earlier this year about the HTC One M9 overheating during benchmark tests, with many claiming the issue was due to a flaw in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor. Tim McDonough, the chipmaker’s VP of marketing has finally spoken out about the problem, claiming that the rumors are untrue and there is, in fact, no problem with the chip overheating…

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<a href="http://9to5google.com/2015/03/16/xperia-z4/">Xperia Z4 renders</a>

Two pieces of Android news for Sony fans today including believed specs on upcoming hardware and official word on software updates for current smartphones and tablets.

First up is what could be hardware specs for the upcoming Sony Xperia Z4 smartphone. We saw renders of what could be the Xperia Z4 earlier this month, and now bench results capture what we could expect to see inside Sony’s next flagship…
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It looks like there is definitely some truth to evidence suggesting that the Snapdragon 810 has been facing some problems with overheating. Dutch site Tweakers has taken the HTC One M9 through a series of tests, and it looks like overheating problems with Qualcomm’s processor are still very much a valid concern. Specifically, while running GFXBench, the site has recorded the HTC One M9 to have a surface temperature of around 55 degrees Celsius—or 131 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Samsung today has officially unveiled the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge at its event in Barcelona during Mobile World Congress. The devices feature a new design as well as all sorts of updated specifications under the hood. Gone is the classic all-plastic look and feel and in is a mixture of glass and metal.

Check out our hands-on and comparison video below:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8E4LrEKgkY]

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One of the worst-kept tech secrets in recent memory, the HTC One M9 was finally announced today on stage by CEO Peter Chou at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. None of the specs were much of a surprise though the 20 megapixel sapphire camera and new configurable DotView cover will make some headlines. Under the hood is Qualcom’s new flagship 810 processor which HTC calls the fastest mobile processor in the world.

As for the appearance, I’m not sure I’m a fan of the Dual-Tone finish tweeted below but that beats the Pink version of the M9 IMHO.

[tweet https://twitter.com/htc/status/572052425693138944]

Me? I’ll skip the Sense 7 and will take a GPE if/when it comes out thank you very much.

Huge gallery and hands-on video below. We’ll have more HTC updates as they happen.
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Samsung this morning has taken the wraps off of a new octa-core Exynos processor that is widely expected to be the processor used in the upcoming Galaxy S6 flagship. Samsung says that the Exynos 7 processor is built on a 14nm processor and has eight cores. The company touts that it is “designed for next-generation flagships.”

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Bloomberg is reporting that the Samsung Galaxy S6 will be released in two versions, one of them with a wraparound screen similar to the Note Edge but curving around both left and right sides of the display.

Samsung Electronics Co. plans to release two new versions of its top-tier Galaxy smartphone next month, including a model with a display covering three sides, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter […] The second model to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Spain will only have a front-facing display.

Earlier claimed renders had also suggested a curved screen, though with some confusion about whether the wraparound would be on only one side, like the Edge, or both sides as now claimed by Bloomberg … 
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Rumors regarding overheating issues with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor have plagued the chip since it was introduced last year. A report back in December claimed that the issues of the Snapdragon 810 could cause delays to the Galaxy S6, LG G4, and Sony Xperia Z4. In its earnings report today, Qualcomm has seemingly confirmed issues with the processor, adding that it has lowered its outlook for the second half of 2015 because of the problems.

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