Tech News

The British company Bullitt, responsible for manufacturing rugged phones under Caterpillar (CAT) and Motorola Defy brands, failed to restructure financially and had to fold. Former employees posted on LinkedIn the company is unable to service its debt, and everyone is currently looking for new jobs. According to WinFuture, the plans for Bullitt were to hand over the hardware division to a creditor-backed organization and to concentrate on the development of satellite communication devices. Cat S75 hands-on at MWC 2023 The British phone manufacturer Bullitt owned the...

We're ready with the battery life test of the Galaxy S24+ and here go the results. The Galaxy S24+ has a 4,900mAh battery - 200mAh more than its predecessor - and an LTPO panel for granular screen refresh rate control. However, the Galaxy S24+ has a higher resolution QHD+ display - a significant upgrade from 1080p. The newer phone runs an Exynos 2400 in most countries, and that's the unit we have for testing - a move away from Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and its TSMC-made 4nm process. [#InlinePriceWidget, 12772, 1#] The Galaxy S24+ posted a lower Active Use Score than its...

Samsung posted its financial results for the fourth quarter and the calendar 2023, and the results are disappointing, to put it mildly. Total sales fell down on a yearly basis for a second year in a row, and this time, the decline was 14%. Operating profit for the whole of 2023 was just KRW 6.57 trillion ($5 billion) – nearly seven times less than the KRW 43.38 trillion ($32.58 billion) posted in 2022. The company said that Q4 revenue and profit increased, compared with the previous three-month period, mostly due to improved performance and higher prices of memory, as well as the...

Samsung announced the Galaxy S24 trio two weeks ago, and the devices are now available for purchase. Open sales began today with the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24 Ultra available for immediate pickup in Black, Gray, Violet, or Yellow colors from carriers and retailers. Samsung is also selling the devices on its website in some markets, where the trio is offered in three more exclusive colors – Orange, Green, or Blue. US Galaxy S24 Galaxy S24+ Galaxy S24 Ultra 8/128GB $800 - - 8/256GB $860 ...

The OnePlus Nord N30 SE 5G has an absurdly long name and it’s the latest device to launch in the Nord lineup. It brings an entry-level mix of specs with MediaTek’s Dimensity 6020 chipset at the helm alongside 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. OnePlus Nord N30 SE 5G in Cyan Sparkle and Black Satin You also get a 6.72-inch LTPS LCD with FHD+ resolution. There’s a 50MP main camera on the back with a 1/2.76-inch sensor and 0.64µm pixels which is joined by a 2MP depth cam and an 8MP front-facing shooter. OnePlus Nord N30 SE 5G The software side is covered by OxygenOS 13.1 based on...

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman covered some new rumors surrounding the upcoming iOS 18 release in his latest newsletter. According to Gurman’s sources, iOS 18 is seen as one of the biggest software updates in the history of iOS. One of the expected big new updates is support for Rich Communication Services (RCS) in the native Messages app. Apple already announced it will bring RCS support to iPhones in 2024 which open up cross-platform features between iOS and Android phones. These include higher res media sharing, improved group chats, read receipts, typing indicators, location sharing and...

Realme today unveiled the Realme 12 Pro series, which consists of the Realme 12 Pro and Realme 12 Pro+. We've received the Pro+ model in Submarine Blue color at the office for review, but before we proceed with its tests, let's do a quick unboxing of the smartphone. The Realme 12 Pro+ comes in a yellow-colored retail package, including a protective case, a charging cable, a 67W power adapter and a SIM ejector tool. The Realme 12 Pro+ packs a 6.7" 120Hz FullHD+ curved AMOLED display with a fingerprint reader embedded, which we found to be fast and accurate in the short time we spent...

With MWC 2024 around the corner, brands are starting to confirm their plans for this year’s event. Honor will bring its Magic6 series to the global stage alongside its latest foldable Magic V2 RSR. The brand confirmed it will host its event on February 25 at 2PM local time. Magic6 series consists of the Magic6 and Magic6 Pro. Both phones run on the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset with up to 16GB RAM and 1TB storage. They also share 6.8-inch curved LTPO AMOLEDs with a peak brightness of 1,800 nits. The headlining feature on the 6 Pro is its 180MP periscope camera and both phones also...

Realme 12 Pro and 12 Pro+ are now official with telephoto lenses – a first for the number series. The duo was announced for the first time in India, and both variants have a luxurious variant developed jointly with Swiss watchmaker Ollivier Saveo. Realme 12 Pro & 12 Pro+ The 12 Pro brings a classic 2x optical zoom for portraits, while the 12 Pro+ is the first phone by the company to pack a periscope lens in front of the telephoto camera. Realme 12 Pro The 12 Pro has a 6.7” OLED panel with curved sides. The screen supports 120 Hz refresh rate, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, and...

OnePlus launched the 12 and 12R for the international market this week (they were already available in China). This includes the US, where the market isn’t as competitive as Europe and Asia and is dominated by Apple and Samsung. But check this out – $800 buys you a proper flagship with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, plenty of memory (16/512GB thanks to a free upgrade) and a 6.82” QHD+ LTPO display. The cameras are quite good (50MP main, 64MP 3x tele and 48MP ultra wide, plus a lovely 32MP selfie camera), though daytime video recording could have been better. Our only other complaint is that the phone...

Here we are at the end of Week 4 of 2024. The top stories continued to be about Samsung's Galaxy S24 series but Google's upcoming Pixel 9 series managed to steal some of the spotlight. We saw renders both of the Pixel 9 Pro and of the Pixel 9. Here's the summary - the Pixel 9 Pro will adopt a flat display and sides, shrink the screen from 6.7" to 6.5", and do away with the visor camera island in favor of a pill-shaped one. There are three cameras inside - likely a wide, ultrawide, and periscope zoom. The Pixel 9 renders reveal that the 6.1-inch device will also be flat front and back. The...

Last week marked the international debut of the Redmi Note 13 series and are now on pre-order in the UK. Shipping is set to start on February 1, which is just a few days away (Thursday). The Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro+ flexes a 200MP main camera (1/1.4” sensor) with OIS and a basic 8MP ultra wide. It has a 6.67” 1220p display, a 120Hz AMOLED panel with 12-bit colors and Dolby Vision. The phone is powered by the Dimensity 7200 Ultra and a 5,000mAh battery with 120W fast charging (wired only). Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro+ ...

The Honor Magic6 Lite is now available in Europe and we have one in the office for review. For the €400 price, the 8/256GB phone ships with a USB cable, though Honor is generous enough to sell you a 66W SuperCharge adapter at check out for just €1 - down from €30. You also get the Earbuds X5 and Honor's screen protection (1 replacement in the first 12 months) for free, further sweetening the deal. The Honor Magic6 Lite is a similar phone to the Magic5 Lite but it adds a higher-res main camera - 108MP vs 64MP - a bigger battery - 5,300mAh vs 5,100mAh - and a bigger, higher-res...

The Samsung Galaxy S24 unveiled last week has landed at our office for review. We've got the Amber Yellow color, but regardless of which color you go for, the retail package remains the same - it includes a charging cable, a SIM ejector tool and some paperwork, and that's it. If you want a protective case or a power adapter, you'll have to shell out more money. The Samsung Galaxy S24's US, Canadian, and Chinese models are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, while the European version we have here has the Exynos 2400 SoC at the helm. The smartphone runs Android 14-based One UI 6.1...

The OnePlus 12 and 12R are almost here – shipments in India will start on February 6. The flagship model combines the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with a 6.82” QHD+ 10-bit 120Hz LTPO display and a fairly powerful camera system (50MP main, 64MP 3x tele and 48MP ultra wide). The 5,400mAh battery showed solid endurance (though it doesn’t last long when gaming), plus it’s super fast to charge back up either over a wire (100W) or wirelessly (50W). OnePlus 12 (pre-booking) pre-book for ₹2,000coming on Jarnuary 29 (Amazon) ₹2,000...

There’s a clear divide when it comes to folding phones with the more compact flip models often marketed as trendy fashion accessories while the larger book-style foldables are aimed at power users who need space for multi-tasking on the go. Honor decided to try and fuse both style and productivity with its V Purse and we finally got to spend some time with the device to see how it fares in the day-to-day. Honor CEO George Zhao described the V Purse as a “phy-digital fashion statement” back at its unveiling - a digital purse with interchangeable straps that also happens to be a large...

Canalys posted a report on smartphone sales in China for the last quarter and the full calendar year of 2023. According to the analysis, companies shipped 5% fewer devices compared with 2022, which was already the worst year in a decade. The Q4 period showed signs of recovery with only a 1% decline, or 73.9 million in total. Huawei was the “dark horse” as it emerged to fourth place and almost doubled its shipments compared to the same time last year. The final quarter of the year, generally addressed as a holiday period in other regions, saw the launch of the iPhone 15 lineup,...

Porsche unveiled its new second-generation Macan as an all-electric model, based on VW's latest 800V PPE platform. It's an innovative EV with a 100 kWh battery built into the car's underside with up to 270 kW DC charging (10-80% in just 21 minutes), two electric motors with a total output of up to 470 kW (639 ps), and up to 613 km of WLTP range. Inside, the car is cleverer still. It's among the first to be powered by Google's Android Automotive OS - a standalone OS, which runs on the car. Unlike Android Auto, which is your phone being mirrored on the car's infotainment, the Macan's...

Apple announced big changes to app distribution on its iOS App Store in the EU by opening up its mobile operating system to alternative app stores. While the change is currently only limited to the 27 EU member states, Epic Games is already eyeing a comeback for its hit title Fortnite. Epic Games announced it will bring its own Epic Games Store to iOS later this year which will feature the hit battle royale game. Epic has yet to provide an official launch date for its iOS games store. This is big news considering the history between Apple and Epic Games and how Apple removed...

Huawei introduced the entry-level Enjoy 70 back in December and is now launching the phone in overseas markets under a new name – Huawei nova Y72. The device appeared on the company website in South Africa with the same design, marketing visuals, and even the dedicated X Button for quick app access. The nova Y72 features a 6,000 mAh battery and a 50 MP main cam at the back alongside 2 MP auxiliary shooter. The detailed specs are yet to be published, but we are looking at a Kirin 710A chipset and 6.75” LCD with 720p resolution. The big battery supports 22.5W wired charging...

The Google Pixel 8a should arrive in May, if we take the 7a's realease as a guideline, and the number of recent leaks makes it plausible. The latest is a couple of retail package photos, showing the phone's coming black, and with 27W charging support (charger not included). The phone on the box looks exactly like the high quality renders of the 8a we saw back in October - the first of a series that recently included the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro. The design on the retail box also matches with live photos of the Pixel 8a from September. Google Pixel 8a retail box The Pixel 8a,...

Samsung Galaxy S24 pre-orders in South Korea reached a new high, reported local media. Almost 1.2 million devices were pre-ordered in the first week, surpassing the 1.09 million mark of the Galaxy S23 lineup for the same period. ETNews said the company is on track to reach 36 million shipments of the new flagships, which would be a new high since the 30-million-record of the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ duo, launched five years ago. Samsung is seeing increased interest in its devices not only online, but in physical stores as well. People are flocking to feel the phones in person and...

Google rolled out its first Pixel feature drop for the year and it brings a trio of coveted features for the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro as well as some of Google’s older devices, smartwatches and tablet. Circle to search which was announced during the Galaxy S24 series launch is officially confirmed to arrive to Pixel 8 and 8 Pro on January 31. The feature allows you to search for information on your screen by holding down the home button/nav bar and Magic Compose is making its grand appearance inside the Google Messages app for Pixel 6 and newer devices. The feature offers generative AI...

Apple Music Classical app reached six markets in Asia earlier this month – Japan, China, Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Back then it urged users to “pre-order,” and today, two weeks after the initial launch, the service is finally available. Welcome to Apple Music Classical, Japan, China, Korea, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. What is the first thing you are going to listen to? https://t.co/lwnF4Dx4ua pic.twitter.com/rOjuXWYDY3— Apple Music Classical (@AppleClassical) January 23, 2024 The service is free for all Apple Music subscribers but also works with a standalone app. It...

vivo is looking to expand its V30 series smartphones following the debut of the V30 Lite back in December. We now get our first look at the vivo V30 5G which is coming soon to the Philippines. The accompanying teaser image shows the phone featuring a curved screen with a punch-hole cutout. The back appears to have a square camera island but we don’t get any details on the camera modules. vivo V30 5G teaser vivo V30 5G is expected to debut as a direct successor to last year's vivo V29. The accompanying teaser message on vivo Philippines boasts about the V30 5G’s camera performance,...

Honor introduced the Magic V2 smartphone back in July 2023 at an event in China. The company promised a European unveiling later in the and demoed the device at IFA Berlin without any details about pricing and availability. Over four months after the European unveiling where we had some hands-on experience, the wait is finally over. Honor scheduled a launch event for January 26 at 2 PM CET, where the Magic V2 will be properly announced with a price tag and availability timeline. The Magic V2 was the slimmest foldable at launch, and it still is, over six months after being announced...

Nokia and Oppo have signed a multi-year patent cross-license agreement covering 5G standard essential patents. This latest development follows a lengthy patent infringement lawsuit between the two companies dating back to 2021. The process involved several legal battles across Europe, Asia and Australia and saw Oppo and OnePlus phones and smartwatches stopped from sale in Germany. We are delighted to have reached a cross-license agreement with Oppo that reflects the mutual respect for each other's intellectual property and Nokia's investments in R&D and contributions to open standards....

Xiaomi brought the Pad 6 Pro to China in April 2023; now it is time for the Pad 7 lineup. According to Digital Chat Station, the new flagship tablet will be launched next month, and it will have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. The leakster suggested there is a Pad 7 incoming with last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, while the Pro should have the current top-tier SoC by Qualcomm. This would be a massive improvement over the previous Pad 6 lineup, where the Pro and the Max had a one-year-old chip, while the vanilla version we reviewed last summer had a dated Snapdragon 870. The Pad 7 could...

A couple of weeks ago Samsung announced two rugged devices – the Xcover7 phone and the Tab Active5 slate. However, pricing was not revealed at the time, so we had to wait until now to find out. By the looks of it, only the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active5 is coming to the US. It will be available in the first quarter (January-March) with prices starting at $550. This is presumably for the LTE version, there should be a 5G model as well. In the UK, the Samsung Galaxy Xcover7 is already available through the Samsung Business page for £350. The tablet (5G variant) is marked as “coming soon” and...

It has been quite a wait, but the day is here – the OnePlus 12 and 12R are going global and the new OnePlus Buds 3 will be joining them. This hardware has been available for a while now, though only in China, so you should tune into the global launch. The event starts at 2:00pm GMT. Besides the 12-series flagship, we will see the OnePlus 12R technically for the first time, though this is basically a rebranded OnePlus Ace 3. The R-phone will offer a more affordable alternative to the premium OnePlus 12. And pricing is pretty much the only unknown about these devices – we already have the 12...

Motorola announced two new affordable Moto G phones in Europe with the Moto G04 and Moto G24. Both phones feature 6.6-inch IPS LCDs with a 90Hz refresh rate, Android 14, 5,000 mAh batteries and plastic frames. Moto G04 has a Unisoc T606 chipset paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. Moto G24 gets a MediaTek Helio G85 alongside 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. Moto G04 Moto G24 features a more capable 50MP main cam and a 2MP macro lens while G04 features a single 16MP main cam. Both phones feature punch hole cutouts for their front-facing shooters with the G24 offering an 8MP...

According to sources close to 9to5Google, Google is finally going to deliver two different sizes with its upcoming Pixel Watch 3. One of the existing users' main complaints is the lack of size choice as many feel the 41mm version offered is too small. Well, that may finally change with the Pixel Watch 3, which will be offered in two sizes, with one of them being the original 41mm. It makes sense too, given that all of Google's smartwatch competitors have more than just one size option. Unfortunately, the leak doesn't go into much detail and for now, it's probably safe to assume that...

Apple announced its Vision Pro back in June, but its official pre-orders in the US only started last week. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates that Apple sold between 160,000 to 180,000 units of its Vision Pro, which is now sold out and shipping estimates set for 5-7 weeks. While initial demand is strong, Kuo expects it to taper off once the early adopters gets their orders in. Estimated shipping times did not change in the two days following the Vision Pro’s pre-orders going live which is not usually the case for other Apple devices like the iPhone where demand continues to grow with...

We've been testing the Oppo Find X7 Ultra at the office and have now completed its battery life test. We're not done with the review but we thought we'd share the endurance numbers while we're working on the rest of the tests. The Oppo Find X7 Ultra has the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, which is built on a supposedly more efficient 4nm node than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and the chip is mated to a sizeable 5,000mAh battery. It would've been even better if the battery was a 5,400mAh unit as on the OnePlus 12, but the Find X7 Ultra is hefty enough (221g), so perhaps the selected capacity is a...

With all the excitement following the Galaxy S24 seris launch, it’s time to check out some early benchmark tests. YouTuber NL Tech posted a detailed video of all three Galaxy S24 series phones going head to head in the most popular benchmarking apps - Geekbench 6, AnTuTu and 3DMark. The S24 and S24+ models are equipped with the Exynos 2400 chip while the S24 Ultra is rocking a slightly overclocked “for Galaxy” version of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It’s important to note that all three phones are running pre-release firmware, so their scores will likely differ from the consumer-ready...

Samsun's Galaxy S24 series is here and it marks the most imporant announcement of the year so far. Samsung purposefully pushed the series' announcement two weeks earlier than the S23's and they'll ship nearly a month earlier than their predecessors. That gives Samsung plenty of time to establish some market dominance and give Apple's iPhone 15 series a proper fight. The Galaxy S series has become somewhat of a tame affair in these last few years but that's the norm when you have a mature market. Still, there are some noteworthy aspects of the Galaxy S24 series - this is our hot...

This week’s unpacked event brought Samsung’s latest flagships – the Galaxy S24 trio. You can check out our hands-on review for an introduction to the new features and hardware upgrades. And if you’re curious what all those AI features are all about, watch these videos. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is a rethink on how the long telephoto lens should work – instead of a fixed 10x lens, Samsung went for 5x magnification and a high resolution 50MP sensor that offers high quality zoom between 5x and 10x. And more, it enables 8K video recording and 4K @ 120fps from the tele camera. ...

The new Samsung Galaxy S24 series has three phones and it feels like it has three tiers too – Ultra, Plus and basic. With pre-orders starting up and shipping a couple of weeks away, it’s time to start thinking about whether one of these three is the right phone for you and which one. We have a hands-on review to help you decide. Galaxy S24 • Galaxy S24+ • Galaxy S24 Ultra Back to the tiers. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is an all-out flagship. It will exclusively use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset globally. It has a new titanium frame and new Gorilla Glass Armor. It...

This week’s unpacked event brought Samsung’s latest flagships – the Galaxy S24 trio. You can check out our hands-on review for an introduction to the new features and hardware upgrades. And if you’re curious what all those AI features are all about, watch these videos. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is a rethink on how the long telephoto lens should work – instead of a fixed 10x lens, Samsung went for 5x magnification and a high resolution 50MP sensor that offers high quality zoom between 5x and 10x. And more, it enables 8K video recording and 4K @ 120fps from the tele camera. ...

Even though the Exynos 2400 drags behind the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in synthetic benchmark tests, even by just a little, the two chips seem to be neck to neck in real-world gaming scenarios. NL Tech tested the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra alongside the Exynos 2400-powered Galaxy S24+ with a bunch of popular Android games to see if there's any difference. The results are quite surprising, to say the least. The two handsets performed similarly in Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends and Fortnite. In Gehnshin the two chips maintained about 60fps, in PUB Mobile at...

We haven't heard anything regarding the upcoming Moto G24 in a while now, but Appuals unearthed pretty much everything there is to know about the budget handset. In addition to some official-looking renders, we have most of the specs as well as pricing for the European market. Starting with the display, the Moto G24 is expected to arrive with a 6.56-inch IPS LCD panel running at 90Hz with a modest 720p resolution. The MediaTek Helio G85 SoC is running the show paired with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Moto G24 On the back, the G24 sports a 50MP main camera...

The Samsung Galaxy S24 family is now official, but we still have to wait a few more days, or maybe more, depending on the market, for their actual release. The new devices offer mostly under-the-hood changes along with some minor design changes. For instance, all three models get their bezels trimmed, the Galaxy S24 Ultra gets a new titanium frame and now adopts a flat display design. No more curvatures. Interestingly enough, those changes haven't impacted weight and dimensions all that much, so the Galaxy S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra all have pretty much the same feel as their...

During its HarmonyOS Ecosystem development event, Huawei's President of Device Cloud announced that the HarmonyOS NEXT software system marks the second stage of development. By the end of 2024, the company expects an additional 5,000 native apps to hit the HarmonyOS app store. Huawei plans to partner up with other enterprises as well as educational institutes and train more than 100,000 developers every month to stimulate the HarmonyOS app ecosystem. Looking ahead, Huawei hopes to exceed 500,000 native apps for HarmonyOS in the near future. For reference, Apple's App Store hit 1.78...

A little late to the party but we finally have our hands on the India-exclusive Poco M6. The phone starts at just INR 9,999 ($120), which Poco claims makes it the most affordable 5G smartphone ever. The M6 comes in your typical yellow Poco packaging with a simple design and bold font on the front. The rest of the packaging is very basic; you get a cable and a standard 10W charger inside. There is no case or pre-applied screen protector, which is to be expected at this price range. The M6 is based on the MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ platform. It offers a choice of 4GB, 6GB,...

Netflix app will not work on the upcoming Apple Vision Pro, and now Bloomberg reports YouTube and Spotify also have no plans on delivering apps for the augmented reality headset. None of these services will launch a dedicated visionOS app, and their iPad apps are also not going to be enabled for the $3,500 VR headset. The services will still be accessible through its browser, but obviously the experience will be rather different. The Vision Pro is up for pre-order starting today with deliveries scheduled for February 2. And while the YouTube has a dedicated app for Meta Quest,...

Apple is rumored to bring a new Capture button on its iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max which we saw in leaked renders earlier this month. Now, The Information is reporting that Apple is testing the Capture button across the entire iPhone 16 range including the baseline iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus and we also get some more details on its additional functions. iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max renders (Capture button circled in red) The Capture button will be a physical button located on the lower right-hand side of the new iPhone 16 devices and will allow for instant image capture and...

Apple officially confirmed it will disable the blood oxygen tracking on its Watch Ultra 2 and Series 9 smartwatches in the United States. The change only applies to new sales - those watches will not be able to measure SpO2 until the legal battle is over between Cupertino and medical technology company Masimo. Current units on the market, including those that are already shipped to third-party retailers, will continue functioning as before. Users outside the United States will remain unaffected as well. Apple Watch Series 9 Disabling the SpO2 sensor is one way for Apple to continue...

Samsung launched the AI-focused Galaxy S24 series yesterday and a lot of the presentation was taken up by camera features. Many of those features are now available directly through social networking apps – this means you don’t have to snap a photo with the Samsung camera app then switch over to Instagram and dig it out of the gallery, you can just use Instagram’s camera. This works with not just Instagram, Samsung worked with WhatsApp, TikTok and Snapchat to enable the advanced image processing of the S24 series. This continues work that started back with the S22 series when computational...