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Another year passed and it was a good one for the mobile world. Time truly flies when you are doing the things you love and with another year behind us, we can't help but feel happy about what we achieved. Thank you for being with us and we hope to remain your preferred tech website for 2017 as well. Our YouTube channel now has over 180K subscribers. We'll be looking to expand our video presence further still in 2017 so if that's your thing you...

The market for affordable earphones is unfortunately littered with the same sort of options; cheaply made in-ear designs with bass-heavy sound that has forever tainted the perception of the masses for what good sound is. Even when the big brands enter this space, they don't try too hard to make something good because they are afraid they will jeopardize their more expensive products. But like with other product categories, some of the Chinese companies...

Last week, the OnePlus 2 received an update in the form of OxygenOS 3.5.5. Shortly after the update started hitting units, users started complaining about their phone dropping network signal frequently. This lead to the company pulling that update. OnePlus 2 The good news is that the Chinese company has fixed the issue and has also started pushing out the fix in the form of OxygenOS 3.5.6. As is usually the case, the roll out is incremental, so...

A new Asus smartphone has been certified by the Chinese telecommunication authority TENAA. Listed as X00GD, the device is powered by an SoC with octa-core 1.5GHz processor, and sports a 5.2-inch HD display. RAM options include 2/3/4GB, while storage options include 16/32/64GB. In terms of camera, the phone features a 13MP rear unit and an 8MP front shooter. Measuring 149.5 × 73.7 × 8.85mm and weighing in at 169.5g, the X00GD runs Android 7.0 Nougat,...

Samsung has started pushing out a new security update to its Galaxy A5 (2016) smartphone. Weighing in at under 11MB and arriving as firmware version XXS3BPLA, the update brings along Android security patches for the month of December. The update is currently hitting units in Europe, although other regions should get it soon as well. If you are a Galaxy A5 (2016) user in Europe, and haven't received the update yet, be patient, as OTA toll outs are...

The Samsung Gear VR (2016), which was unveiled alongside the ill-fated Galaxy Note7, has received a price cut in the US. Specifically, Amazon US has the headset listed on its website for just under $60, or $59.99 to be precise. A quick look at the South Korean company's US website reveals that the VR headset is being officially sold for $99.99, so you get to save to save around $40 (or at-least around $35 if you include shipping charges). No word...

Back in June a rumor told us that Microsoft was only aiming to launch the Surface Pro 5 2-in-1 device in spring of 2017. This apparently has to do with the company waiting for Intel's Kaby Lake processors to become available, since they will draw less power hence aiding battery life. Months have passed and today we get a new rumor on the matter, which goes into a little bit more detail. The Surface Pro 5 is now said to be launching in the first...

For a long time now Motorola has been rumored to be reviving the Moto X line. Once these were its flagship smartphones, but now that job is reserved for the Moto Z. So the next Moto X, if there will ever be one, will sit in the company's portfolio right below the Z. That means the new X should have upper-midrange specs. At the beginning of this month we brought you a couple of purported leaked hands-on images of the Moto X (2017), and now it's time...

The new Galaxy A (2017) lineup is going to be announced on January 5. The date has been confirmed officially by Samsung via press invites and social media posts. And while we saw the Galaxy A5 (2017) and A7 (2017) make appearances on a pre-order poster, we still know nothing about those. It turns out Samsung has uploaded support pages on its official Dutch website for the Galaxy A3 (2017) and the Galaxy A5 (2017), so we now know for sure those two...

A third installment is due in our Bargain bin series that aims to establish whether you're better off shelling top-dollar for a current big-name flagship or you'd be just as fine saving a few notes and opting for a more affordable alternative. Read More........

Earlier today, we learned that the beta program for Nougat on Samsung's latest flagship pair is officially over. This was shared along with a suggested release time frame of January 2017 for the consumer version. But, if that wasn't enough to prove Samsung is really working hard on the OTA, it appears the support documentation for both models has now been updated to reflect the OS change and is already spreading across Samsung regional servers and...

The Galaxy S7 edge has been on the market for 9 months now (it was released in stores on March 11th), but it has become the standard with which all other so-called high-end Android flagships must compete. So, it’s natural that some Galaxy Note 7 users in particular are having to decide between the Galaxy S7 edge and the Google Pixel/Pixel XL. I own both the S7 edge and the Pixel XL and have had...

For 2015, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei had reported a revenue growth of 35%. However, for the ongoing year, the company expects the rate to be somewhere around 32%. This was revealed by Eric Xu, Huawei's chief executive, in a New Year's message to company employees. "The year 2016 has seen a flock of black swans - both political and economic - sweep across the globe," the CEO said. "Nevertheless, we have remained focused on our strategy...

Meizu's OS Flyme is known as simple and easy to work with. In order to keep being relevant and useful to everyone, the newest Flyme 6 will come out tomorrow with a big update. Meizu already revealed the system update a month ago along with a list of devices that will get it. The most interesting feature is called "Time Machine" and will feature backup for contacts details you deleted two years ago. It looks a lot like Apple's feature that has the...

We told you about a leaked HTC device named Ocean several weeks ago and now thanks to a Taiwanese source we have more info about it. Being named HTC Ocean Note, the device will have between 5.5 and 5.7-inch display and as far as we see in the renders, there is no physical keys on the front. But something else is also missing and this is big - the 3.5 mm audio jack is gone. This will be the second device for HTC without the feature after they ditched...

As per a few recent and rather interesting leaks, Meizu has a few intriguing devices already in the works and a slew of announcements allegedly planned for 2017. Considering all this, it is hardly surprising that a new and mysterious device has now been brought to our attention with a pair of official-looking renders. Sadly, the source shares little about the actual model, and its hardware and is a bit less reputable than we would have liked, but...

Throughout the entire year we’ve brought you some fantastic deals on Samsung products as part of our Daily Deal program. This is going to be our last deal for 2016 and it’s a good one, particularly if you’ve been meaning to try out Samsung’s virtual reality headset. If you have been on the fence about picking one up, head over to Amazon right now and buy a new Gear VR for the New Year in just $60. The...

Samsung has confirmed that the Nougat beta program for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge is at an end, and the company has said that it will do its best to release the final update by the end of January. Samsung isn’t promising anything, but it certainly seems confident of meeting the provided time frame, as revised user manuals based on Android 7.0 are now available online for both devices. The revised Galaxy S7 edge manual is available in English,...

Xiaomi's YI division is set to showcase two new products at CES 2017, the YI 4K+ action camera and the YI Erida drone. The YI 4K+ is the third action camera from the company and will be the first in the world to have 4K recording at 60fps. Meanwhile, the YI Erida drone is the world's first to have a full carbon fiber body. The drone is capable of reaching 120 km/h speeds and 40 minutes of flight time. It includes the YI 4K action camera that can...

The ZTE ZMAX was made official for T-Mobile way back in 2014. The phone launched with Android KitKat and never got updated to even Lollipop - yes, it still runs KitKat. However, that hasn't stopped ZTE and T-Mobile from pushing out security updates to the device. After receiving an Android security update in May, the ZMAX has now started getting November's security patch. Weighing in at over 17MB, the update arrives as software version Z970V1.0.0B35....

While we already knew it's happening soon, Samsung has now confirmed that the Galaxy S7/S7 edge Nougat beta program is ending today. The confirmation came in the form of a notice issued to those who are part of the program. The Galaxy Beta Program was launched by the South Korean company in the second week of November, and the firm released five updates as part of the program, with the latest one coming just a couple of days ago. With the beta program...

According to a new rumor, Samsung will launch a couple of Windows 10-powered tablets at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017. One of the tablet will carry the model number SM-W720, the other will be SM-W620. Galaxy TabPro S Gold Edition Nothing else is known about the tablets at the moment, but going by their model numbers, the SM-W720 seems to be the successor to the existing Galaxy TabPro S (SM-W700), while the SM-W620 is said to...

If you are in the US and are planning to purchase an unlocked LG V20 smartphone, here's a deal for you: LG is currently running a promo where-in it's offering a 200GB memory card (worth $249) for free with each purchase of the smartphone. A quick look at the South Korean company's official US website reveals that while both silver and titan color variants are available for purchase, the deal is only available on the latter. There is currently no...

We picked up a post on Weibo yesterday which suggested that Samsung might be ending the Galaxy S7 Nougat beta program soon. The company has released five versions of the Android 7.0 beta firmware for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge so far and it has now confirmed that the Galaxy S7 Nougat beta program will indeed be ending today. Samsung has posted a beta notice for members of the program in the Galaxy Members app confirming that the program...

The BlackBerry Mercury smartphone has leaked again. Specifically, a screenshot of Android 7.0 on the device has been leaked, allegedly confirming a display of 1620x1080 pixel resolution (420 ppi density). The leak came in the form of a tweet from popular tipster Roland Quandt. Here's a screenshot of Android 7.0 on the BlackBerry "Mercury" BBB100-x. 1620x1080 resolution 420dpi. http://pic.twitter.com/yoevL8IHc4— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) December...

Looks like a successor to the BLU Vivo XL will be outed soon. Dubbed Vivo XL2, the yet-to-be-announced device has been spotted on the website of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The image of the phone shows the white colored variant, clearly revealing the placement of camera sensors and flash. The FCC documents also reveal that the handset will offer expandable memory support and run Android OS, although specific details weren't outed....

The Meizu Pro 6 was less from the flagship phone I expected. It was an ill-focused combination of high-end features with second-rate hardware, and despite the force touch gimmickry, the Pro 6 couldn't achieve its Pro 5 predecessor coolness. Eventually, Meizu understood it made some bad decisions down the road and tried to make up for those with the Pro 6s and Pro 6 Plus. Although the Pro 6s shrank the size, and returned to the Super AMOLED screen,...

If you're interested in the LG V20 but so far haven't bought one because of how expensive it normally is, here's something for you. A word of caution, though - you need to be OK with having Sprint as your carrier. If that's not a problem, and you act fast, you can pick up a V20 for half its usual price. The offer is valid for both new customers as well as existing ones looking to upgrade. The catch is that you have to use the device payment plan,...

A new leak from China today claims to show us Meizu's smartphone launch roadmap for 2017. The image you can see below is said to depict an internal document from the Chinese company, neatly detailing every single smartphone it plans to launch next year, along with the month of its introduction and the chipset used. So let's dive in. The first announcement is coming in February, when the M5S is reportedly coming, powered by MediaTek's MT6753 SoC....

Lately more and more device makers have started taking Android security patches seriously, deploying them only a few weeks after Google releases them, and making them available for at least their high-end handsets. To drive that point home, today Verizon has started sending out over-the-air updates for a whopping 11 Android smartphones. All of the updates contain nothing more than the latest security patches, but this is quite a feat - owners of...

It has been a while since Samsung launched a Windows-powered tablet and we have now received unconfirmed information that the company is going to launch two Windows tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show 2017 in Las Vegas next month. Not much is known about the tablets at this point in time. One of the tablets is likely going to bear model number SM-W720 which suggests that it’s going to be a successor...

Yesterday a rumor talked about HTC unveiling the second generation Vive VR headset at CES in just a few days. The new model would be wireless, making it a much more interesting design compared to its predecessor. While the Vive 2 may turn out to be wireless after all, it's certainly not coming at CES. This has been stated in clear terms by HTC itself to UploadVR. Here's the full official statement on the matter: There is no truth to the rumor of...

Will the Samsung Galaxy S8 have a 3.5mm headset jack, or won't it? We've already heard some rumors saying the Korean company will once again emulate Apple and ditch the analog connector, and today a new report might have confirmed that. Not directly, though. Samsung is now said to be launching wireless in-ear headphones alongside the Galaxy S8, whenever the smartphone becomes official. It's still unclear whether these will be bundled with the smartphone,...

The Korea Fair Trade Commission isn’t afraid to throw down the hammer when necessary (Samsung SDI became one of its victims during the Samsung C&T-Cheil Industries merger back in September) against those who seek unfair and unethical practices in business. According to the antitrust watchdog, Qualcomm has been found guilty of collecting 1 trillion won (around $825 million USD) in dishonest profit...

Dual rear cameras are starting to appear on more and more smartphones lately, and the next one to sport such an arrangement is ZTE's Blade V8. The phone will be made official at CES in early January, but it's been leaked today in Russia in a few live images. The Blade V8 is apparently going to be positioned by ZTE as a direct competitor to Huawei's Honor 8, which is an affordable handset with good specs (and, incidentally, a dual rear camera of...

Ready for a new rumor regarding Apple's iPhone lineup for 2017? Well, here we go. According to some unnamed "Taiwan-based supply chain makers", Apple will release not two, but three new iPhone models next year. The usual 4.7" and 5.5" sizes will come with LCD screens just like every single one of their predecessors. However, a new 5.8-inch model will be outed too, and this one will feature an AMOLED display. Samsung will be the sole supplier of...

2 million Galaxy Note 7 devices worldwide have been returned as part of Samsung’s global recall, but slightly less than 1 million devices remain in the wild – a testimony to the resolve of some users to hold onto a phone despite the metaphorical handwriting on the wall. While US carriers have confirmed their final Galaxy Note 7 update release dates and are making good on them (T-Mobile is the first in the US), Samsung is still taking measures to...

Samsung isn't great at keeping secrets. After we told you about the specs of the 2017 Galaxy A phones, their design and announcement date, now we also know their price. Malaysian department of Samsung has revealed Pre-order prices for Galaxy A5 (2017) and Galaxy A7 (2017) - the first is 1699 RM or almost $380 and the latter is 1899 RM / $425. With any purchase there is also free Level U PRO wireless headphones which otherwise costs 399 RM or about...

Windows 10 quickly made gamer fans thanks to perks like DirectX12. Now a new report has it the OS will become even more game-friendly. According to Microsoft tipster WalkingCat, the latest build of Windows 10 (14997) has a DLL file named "gamemode.dll". Of course this doesn't mean that such feature is ready but he already voiced opinions about such mode months ago. It appears as if the mode will allow Windows to adjust resources allocated to the...

A new Nokia phone has passed China Compulsory Certification (3C). Listed as TA-1000 from HMD Global, the device comes with standard 5V/2A charging support, but that's about all the info we get here. While 3C doesn't reveal any of the handset's key specifications, it is likely not a flagship smartphone given the lack of fast charging support. So, it's possible that we're looking at the Nokia E1 here. The device is rumored to be powered by an entry-level...

How much will the Galaxy A5 (2017) and the Galaxy A7 (2017) cost? Between all the leaks that have given us details on Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy A smartphones, information on the phones’ pricing has eluded us. Rightly so, as pricing and availability are two valuable nuggets that don’t usually rear their heads before a device gets launched. But that isn’t going to be the case for the A5 (2017) and A7 (2017), as we now have the pricing for at least...

Qualcomm officially announced via a series of tweets the debut of Snapdragon 835 at a CES keynote next week. The highly anticipated chipset will come with Quick Charge 4 technology which will give devices 5 hours of battery life with 5 minutes of charging. Qualcomm also claims that a smartphone with the CPU could be charged from 0 to 50% within 15 minutes. The Technologies division of the San Diego-based company stated that every fourth consumer...

Huawei has started pushing out the Nougat beta update to its Nova smartphone. Currently rolling out in China, the update arrives as firmware version B321 and is being rolled out to select 500 Nova (B153 variant) units. It's worth mentioning that the Huawei G9 Plus started getting the same beta build a couple of days ago. The P9 Plus, on the other hand, also started receiving a Nougat beta build (version B352) yesterday. In case you missed, the P9...

We reported a few weeks back that Samsung might remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from the Galaxy S8, similar to what Apple, Motorola, and LeEco have done this year. Later, we reported that the company has multiple prototypes, and some of them do have 3.5mm headphone jacks. Still, the company might be pushing towards wireless audio. We’ve received information about the company’s plans to launch...

The last days have been quite interesting for Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge users. Samsung rolled out several updates to the Android Nougat beta program with the 5th version being available in UK and South Korea since yesterday. According to a Weibo source the beta updates are going to end soon as Samsung is now ready to deliver a stable version to all flagship devices. The Korean manufacturer didn't officially confirm the end of the test...

It’s still not too late to get yourself a New Year’s gift, and a wireless soundbar can be a pretty good purchase. A wireless soundbar setup not only improves the audio experience in your living room but also keeps it pretty neat as there are no wires running down your carpet or floor. If you’re interested in adding a soundbar to your TV setup, have a look at this 3.1-channel wireless soundbar from...

Samsung is having a few cool monitor announcements lined up for CES 2017. The centerpiece seems to be the CH711. The particular model offers a significantly curved (1,8000R curvature) 2560 x 1440 pixel panel in 27-inch and 31.5-inch sizes. Other notable features on the monitor, include a wide 178-degree viewing angle and 125% sRGB coverage. The ergonomics also seem well thought-out, with a stand that can be used for cable management and an optional...

We’re back with this week’s Themes Thursday! Out of dozens of themes released that were released this week for compatible smartphones, we’ve shortlisted five that you might end up liking. Samsung has designed Field, Simple Desert, and Yellow Boat themes, and all of them are free to download. If you’re still in a Christmas mood, you should check out the cute Greeny Christmas theme pack. Too bad that most of the New Year themes are too flashy to recommend. Which...

Those waiting for Super Mario Run on Android are about to get their prayers answered. The game has landed on the Play Store, although for nowit is only available for pre-registration. All this does is alert you when the game is available for download. There is no information on when the game will actually be available for download. Super Mario Run released on iOS earlier this month to a lot of fanfare. The first proper game from Nintendo for the...

Samsung will soon unveil the new Galaxy A (2017) series. The company’s Malaysian arm has already sent out invitations for the launch event on January 5th which takes place a few hours before Samsung’s CES 2017 press conference. Official press renders of the Galaxy A3 (2017) and Galaxy A5 (2017) were leaked online yesterday. We’ve now come across the retail mode video for the Galaxy A7 (2017) so it’s...

The puzzle that is Samsung Galaxy S8 is coming together piece by piece. Today we get to learn more about the chipset. Report from China claims that Samsung's Exynos 8895 will come in two or even three different variations. The Exynos 8895M and Exynos 8895V will feature octa-core processors with four Exynos M2 cores at 2.5GHz and four Cortex A53 cores at 1.7 GHz. The GPU will be ARM's finest unit Mali-G71. The 8895M edition will be using a 20-core...

Twitter announced that a new feature is coming to the popular livestreaming app Periscope. Users will soon be able to stream live video in 360-degree glory. Starting today, everyone will be able to view and interact with 360 videos in both Twitter and Periscope. These videos are marked with a "LIVE 360" badge. 360 Sunset in Florida. First ever #Periscope360 with @Brandee_Anthony http://ift.tt/2hQ4QOf Alex Pettitt (@Alexpettitt) December 28, 2016...