Motorola Droid Turbo 2 Marshmallow update starts rolling out today

Verizon first started pushing out the Android 6.0 update to the Motorola Droid Turbo 2 earlier last month, but the roll-out was halted shortly thereafter (update details were pulled from their website) due to unknown reasons.

The good news is that the software update page is live again on Verizon's website, and the carrier now says the update will start hitting the Turbo 2 units on its network today - March 1.

The update will be rolled out in two parts, with the first one bumping the software version to 23.31.24, and the second part - which actually brings Marshmallow - arriving as 24.14.10. In case you don't already know, the update was already being soak tested for the past few days

Verizon BlackBerry Priv could be available to pre-order this week

Looks like Verizon will begin taking pre-orders for the BlackBerry Priv this week. Replying to a user query on Twitter, Jeffrey Nelson - who is the VP of Communications for Verizon's consumer and enterprise businesses - effectively confirmed that pre-orders will go live on March 3.

This comes less than a couple of months after Nelson revealed that Verizon will start carrying the Android-powered handset "by the end of March (if not sooner)." The Verizon variant was certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in December.

Reports say the carrier will start selling the device on March 11, which is the same day when Samsung's newest flagships - the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge - will be released worldwide.

Lenovo is working on a 4.7-inch ZUK smartphone, rumor claims

A new rumor out of China today claims that Lenovo's sub-brand ZUK is busy working on a 'mini' smartphone of its own. This will apparently come with a 4.7-inch 720p touchscreen, thus appealing primarily to people who consider most of today's handsets too big to handle properly.

The small ZUK device will be offered in two hardware options, with either 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage, or 3GB of RAM and 32GB of space.

It's said to employ MediaTek's Helio P10 chipset, which comes with an octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU that can be clocked at up to 2 GHz, and the Mali-T860MP2 GPU.

The phone will have a fingerprint scanner, though its placement is unclear for now. Also not known at this point is whether Lenovo will choose to simply shrink the Z1's design (shown in the image above) for this 'mini' handset, or go with something new.

Other details haven't been leaked yet unfortunately, so it's impossible to tell if the international version will run Cyanogen OS (like is the case with the Z1). And pricing is still a mystery too. Hopefully this wasn't just a baseless rumor and more information about the 'mini' ZUK phone will emerge soon.

Acer won't bring the Liquid Jade 2 to the UK but will sell the Jade Primo

Last week at MWC in Barcelona Acer announced the Android-running version of its much-hyped Jade Primo smartphone (which runs Windows 10 Mobile). The Android device is calledLiquid Jade 2, and we have some bad news if you live in the UK and want one.

It turns out that Acer will not officially be selling the Liquid Jade 2 in the UK. While an actual reason for this hasn't been given, we assume the company knows this handset wouldn't gather a lot of interest, in a sea of pretty similar Android-running offerings.

The flip side of all this is that Acer is apparently anxious to be bringing the Jade Primo to the UK. It will be sold both directly to enterprise customers, but also to consumers who want it. The Primo supports Microsoft's Continuum feature in Windows 10. An exact release date for the phone isn't available yet, but we assume it's going to be in stores pretty soon.

Upcoming 7-inch Galaxy Tab A and Galaxy Tab E portrayed in leaked press renders

Samsung is apparently going to unveil a couple of new 7-inch tablets soon. One will be sold as the Galaxy Tab A, while the other will bear Galaxy Tab E branding. The latter device has been leaking a lot lately, with full specs having been outed as well as a round of renders allegedly showing it.

Earlier today prolific leaker Evan Blass, also known as @evleaks, has decided to make things interesting and out a new set of press renders for the 7-inch Tab E. However, accompanying it in the image you can see below is the upcoming 7-inch Galaxy Tab A.

The Tab A is to the left in these shots, while the right side belongs to the Tab E. What's immediately obvious is that the E models have larger side bezels. The backs of the upcoming Tab A and Tab E devices are pretty much interchangeable.

Their specs could be similar too, but that's not certain yet. The Tab E is supposedly coming with a 7-inch 1,280x800 touchscreen, a 1.3 GHz processor, 1.5GB of RAM, and 8GB of built-in storage. It will also get a 4G-capable iteration. It will be headed to the US alongside other markets.

LG G5 supports QuickCharge 3.0, Galaxy S7 is only 2.0, what's that about?

One would assume that when you're fitting Qualcomm's latest and greatest chipset in a smartphone, you'd want to be making good use of all of its advantages over the competition. One would be wrong, apparently.

Samsung's top-end offerings this year, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, only support QuickCharge 2.0, and not the third iteration of Qualcom's fast charging tech, optional on the Snapdragon 820. The LG G5, on the other hand, is QuickCharge 3.0-capable. 3.0 should be up to 45% more efficient than 2.0, Qualcomm's product info states, and while it can work with USB Type-C ports, implementation with the older microUSB connectors is still possible.

Why doesn't the S7 support it then, we're asking ourselves, and one potential reason is that the coexistence of Snapdragon and Exynos powered S7's calls for a unification of charging standards and the Exynos 8890 is not fully compliant with Qualcomm's specifications.

On the other hand, the lack of a QuickCharge 3.0 badge on Samsung's phones doesn't necessarily mean that the S7 and S7 edge won't charge equally fast - after all, the Koreans have had a similar (and compatible) solution to Qualcomm's for past generations of Exynos-powered devices, and chargers have been interchangeable between the differently specced versions.

Still, this makes for a nice argument for the LG side in the G5 vs. S7 battery debate, alongside the fact that the G5's power pack is removable, while the Galaxies have their cells sealed in. Samsung camp can counter with higher capacities and wireless charging (fast wireless too) and we can picture the ongoing forum quarrels lasting for a while. A word from Samsung on the matter would also help in understanding what exactly is the case.

Vivo Xplay 5 with 6GB RAM leaks in more live pictures, specs in tow

Vivo Xplay 5 has been in rumorlnad since September 2014. First it was rumored to be the first Snapdragon 810 smartphone, but then the leaks stopped suddenly.

The new 2016 year brought us lots of new information on the Vivo Xplay 5 though - dual-edged screen, Snapdragon 820 chip, 6GB RAM. Apparently the Xplay 5 have been upgraded with the latest technologies on the market.

The latest rumor spills the beans on the Vivo Xplay 5 major specs - a 5.43" Super AMOLED Quad HD display, Snapdragon 820 chipset with 4GB of RAM, a 16MP camera with a dual-LED flash, LTE connectivity, 128GB storage, fingerprint sensor, and a 3,600 mAh battery.

Vivo Xplay 5 runs on Android, probably Marshmallow, and will be skinned with Funtouch OS with split-screen support for running two apps side by side.

The most recent RAM specs, leaked on those slides and the AnTuTu test, contradict with the previous rumors and even with Vivo's confirmation on the 6GB, but there is a good chance the missing 2GB are actually given exclusively to the GPU. Or maybe a throttled version is on the way, too.

The new live pictures just confirm the design with dual-edged screen and premium build.

The Vivo Xplay 5 is expected to go official tomorrow in China, so stay tuned.

Android Marshmallow unofficially arrives for legacy Xperia models

We always talk about it here, the beauty of Android is that developers are free to play around with it and see what they get. Today, the “what they get part” is an Android Marshmallow custom ROM – the latest and greatest version of Android – now tweaked to work on the older models of the Xperia line, particularly the ones from 2011. Most of these models topped out at official builds of Android (4.1) Jelly Bean and Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, you would never think they’d still have a taste of Android 6.0

.We’re going back to times when Sony still played tag team with Ericsson (hence, Sony Ericsson) and the models included in this experiment are the Xperia Arc/Arc S, Live with Walkman, Xperia Neo V, Xperia Neo, Xperia Pro, Xperia Mini Pro, Xperia Neo L, Xperia Active, Xperia Mini, Xperia Ray, and the Xperia Play. XDA developer “mikeioannina” has put out an unofficial ROM based on CM13, which as we know is the CyanogenMod ROM based on Marshmallow.

There are requirements if you want to bring your old Xperia model back to life, or at least give it a run at Marshmallow. First, a particular build based on ICS is needed – your phone must have the ICS 4.1.B.0.587 build on it before you start, and it is required that you have a fast SD card (class 10 or higher) to work with, and empty is good.

The complete instructions are over at the official XDA thread, so click on over at the source link below. Remember, always back up data that you need before going through anything like this. Who knows, that old phone might contain stuff that you forgot you had.

Xiaomi Mi 5 scores over 14 million registrations for its first sale

Xiaomi announced its newest flagship - the Mi 5 - at MWC last week. The device is all set to go on sale in China starting March 1 - tomorrow. In case you're wondering how many people have registered for tomorrow's sale, the figure stands at over 14 million. This was revealed by the Chinese company itself.

That's quite impressive, and is even said to be a new record for the company as the milestone was achieved in less than a week after the $300 handset was unveiled.

As for the sale, it begins 10AM China time, and will see the company offering only the white color variants of the 3GB/32GB and 3GB/64GB models. There's currently no word on when other versions, including the higher-end ceramic back variant will be available for purchase.

Teaser confirms camera-centric Oppo R9

Oppo has released a new teaser that confirms the existence of the rumored R9 smartphone. It seems to be a camera-centric device given that the Chinese text in the teaser translates as "This time, it is worth and other '9' point. #OPPO New camera phone R9 #."

Sadly nothing else was revealed, but given that the Chinese company has finally confirmed the handset, we expect to see more teasers and leaks in the coming days. A leak last year suggested that the device looks almost identical to the iPhone 6s Plus.

Specs-wise, from what all has been rumored until now, the Oppo R9 will be powered by a Snapdragon 820 SoC and sport a 6-inch (1440 x 2560 pixel resolution) display. It will come with 3GB or 4GB RAM and 64GB of expandable internal memory.

In terms of camera, the handset will feature 21MP rear unit and a 13MP front shooter. Packing in a 3,700 mAh battery, the R9 will run Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box

T-Mobile Galaxy S7/S7 edge pre-orders shipping already

While Samsung's newest flagships - the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge - are officially scheduled to go on sale starting March 11, looks like a few lucky people in the US will have their pre-orders delivered before that date.

One of the country's "big four" carriers, T-Mobile, has already started shipping the pre-orders - many of those who pre-ordered the device(s) are getting their shipment notifications. Last year too, a few lucky ones got their T-Mobile Galaxy S6 pre-orders delivered before time.

In case you missed, the South Korean company's mobile chief Koh Dong-jin recently revealed that the Galaxy S7 flagship will be available in 60 countries in the first wave of its global launch.

No SD820-powered LG G5 for Latin America; SD652 version will be available there

Remember the LG H840 which was spotted on GFXBench earlier this month with Snapdragon 652 chipset and 3GB RAM? We initially thought that it could be a 'lite' variant of LG's latest G5flagship, but turns out it's a special LG G5 model aimed at specific markets.

While LG made no mention of an SD652-powered G5 at this year's MWC (where the flagship was unveiled), it has now come to light such a souped-down variant exists and will be available in Latin America at-least.

Confirming that Latin Americans won't officially get the standard SD820 G5, LG's Sales manager for Chile, Cristián Correa, said that the decision was taken based on the feedback they received from several operators in the region as well as keeping in mind the currency appreciation in Latin America.

What's more, the LG 360 virtual reality headset - one of G5's friends - will also not be available in the region. Correa cited Latin America's lack of interest in VR as the reason behind the move.