HP Elite X3 hands-on

HP managed to surprise us at the MWC with the announcement of a Snapdragon 820-powered flagship - the Elite x3. The 6" phablet is running on Windows 10 Mobile and supports Windows Continuum.

What's most interesting about the HP Elite x3 is the IP67 certifications for water and dust resistance, as well as the MIL-STD 810-grade salt, fog, humidity, transport shock and thermal shock resistance. How about that?

The HP Elite x3 has a big 6" display of 2K resolution (1440 x 2560) and runs on the Snapdragon 820 chipset with 4GB of RAM and 64GB expandable storage. The built-in 4,150 mAh battery should come in handy, too.

The phone is mostly made of matte plastic, which surprisingly attracts lots of smudges and fingerprints.

The speaker at the bottom is covered with a glossy piece of metal - a nice accent of the B&O speaker. The irregularly dotted pattern is novel and looks beautiful.

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge to allegedly launch in India next week

According to a report by BGR India, Samsung could be launching the next generation flagship Galaxy S7 and S7 edge smartphones in India as early as next week.

The exact date is unknown, the Economic Times believes it will be around March 8 and that the phone will go on sale in the third week of March with prices matching the iPhone 6s in India.

ET also believes Samsung will be spending about $15 million worth on marketing the phone in India, an unprecedented amount for the company, to compete against the iPhone that has a massive reputation in the Indian market.

You can check out our hands-on of the S7 and S7 edge here.

Telus delays Marshmallow updates for Galaxy Note5, S6 edge, S6 edge+

The carrier Telus has some problems with the Marshmallow updates for the Samsung Galaxy Note5, Galaxy S6 edge, and Galaxy S6 edge+. Previously the Note5 and S6 edge+ were supposed to get the Marshmallow firmware on March 9 while the S6 edge update was scheduled for March 16.

As it turns out, Telus had some minor setbacks, and those updates will be postponed for a few days. The Note5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ updates will arrive on March 13 while the S6 edge firmware will be ready for distribution on March 30.

The regular Galaxy S6 Marshmallow update for the Telus model is still coming on April 13, no changes here.

HTC 10 reportedly won't have a version running Windows 10 Mobile

It looks like you're not likely to see a Windows logo on an HTC smartphone ever again. Or not anytime soon, anyway. Back in 2014, the One (M8) for Windows was basically the Windows Phone running version of the Android One (M8). Hence, some people may have hoped for HTC to pull the same stunt with this year's upcoming flagship device, which will be called 10. The hopes were there despite the fact that 2015's One M9 did not get a Windows variant.

According to Evan Blass (of @evleaks fame), neither will the HTC 10. He firmly stated today that there won't be an iteration of the HTC 10 running Windows 10 Mobile.

So it turns out that HTC has chosen to stick with Android alone for its smartphones, at least for the foreseeable future. On the other hand, if you're looking for a high-end Windows-powered handset, HP has surprisingly announced one at MWC - and obviously there's also Microsoft's very own Lumia 950 and 950 XL duo.

OxygenOS 2.2.1 update for the OnePlus 2 brings RAW support to the default camera app

A new software update has started rolling out today for the OnePlus 2. It's not going to change the underlying Android version unfortunately (so no Marshmallow for you), but it does come with some bug fixes and improvements.

Chief among the latter is the added RAW support for the preinstalled OnePlus Camera app. RAW image capture has been supported in third-party apps ever since a previous update in September of last year, and now this is finally part of the built-in app as well.

You'll also find that compatibility for Bluetooth devices and Ultra SIM has been improved, along with a GMS 3.0 upgrade. Roaming issues should have been mitigated, Romanian language support has been added, as well as some security patches. Finally, a fix has been deployed for an occasional image corruption issue in OnePlus Camera.

As you might expect, the rollout will be incremental, so it may take a few days (or even weeks) for the update to reach your OnePlus 2 unit. But it is on its way, so all you can do is wait.

Samsung Galaxy TabPro S now available for purchase

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy TabPro S tablet at CES in early January. It's a 12" premium slate running on Windows 10 with a 12" Super AMOLED QHD display, and 6th generation Intel Core M dual-core 2.26GHz processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. a 5MP AF rear camera and a 5MP front snapper.

Now, Samsung has finally made the Galaxy TabPro S tablet available throughout Europe. You can get it in the Netherlands via the official Samsung online store. Amazon UK and Amazon DE, among other retailers, have the slate in stock. Too.

You can choose between 128GB and 256GB SSD options; you can also opt for an LTE-enabled model. The OS is also configurable - you can either get Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro.

Finally, there is a full-sized keyboard cover bundled within the retail box, and it comes with a touchpad and a flexible hinge.

Oddly, Samsung UK has the TabPro S on pre-order, and it will ship on March 16, but you can get it through Amazon UK right now.

The prices are the same we confirmed a while ago - the Wi-Fi 128GB SSD with Wind 10 Home options costs €999, add €100 for Windows 10 Pro, and another €100 for LTE capabilities. Note that the 4G model ships only with Windows 10 Pro.

So, if you liked the tablet and its keyboard, now you can place your order. Additionally, you can get the official Bluetooth Pen and the port hub with HDMI and more USBs.

Huawei P9 looks different in new leaked renders, passes FCC, might not be outed on March 9

MWC has come and gone and Huawei hasn't yet unveiled its next flagship smartphone, theP9. When the Chinese company sent out invites for a March 9 event in Berlin a couple of days ago, we assumed this would be when the P9 would finally get official. But now it turns out that may not be the case.

According to a report from China, Huawei will not be unveiling the P9 on March 9. Unnamed company officials have confirmed that the phone exists and is being worked on, but the project has apparently suffered some delays. These have to do with the need to improve some technical issues related to the much-leaked dual camera setup on the P9's back. Because of this, the release of the handset is reportedly delayed by a whole month.

An exact date (either for the presentation or the start of sales) hasn't been mentioned, but we should all rest assured that the P9 will be out "in the coming months". The same source claims the P9 will not have 6GB of RAM, as previously rumored, nor a brand-new Kirin chipset - thus it's likely to use the same Kirin 950 found inside the Mate 8 phablet.

Moving on, some new renders allegedly depicting the Huawei P9 have been leaked, as you can see. Though they confirm that dual camera setup once more, they are different than the last two batches - gone is the laser autofocus this time around, and the fingerprint sensor on the back is now round, and it was shown to be more squared in the past. Furthermore, the positions of the front-facing camera and proximity sensor are changed too.

So now the actual design of the P9 has gotten quite unclear, with two differing perspectives both being claimed to be leaked renders of the real thing. Hopefully you've had a healthy serving of salt nearby for this one.

An additional P9-related tidbit is that the FCC has certified a Huawei EVA-L09, and this could be one of the model numbers for the top of the line device. If so, then at least one of its four versions will feature a 2,900 mAh battery, as FCC docs have revealed. The cheapest hardware iteration for the P9 is said to cost CNY 1,888 ($289 or €264), while the most expensive one is bound to go for CNY 4,088 ($627 or €571).

Verizon's Note5 is now receiving Android Marshmallow, HTC One (M8) will get it on Monday

Verizon isn't always the fastest US carrier when it comes to releasing Android updates for the handsets it sells, in fact it's usually one of the slowest. But that's not the case for the Samsung Galaxy Note5 as it turns out.

Big Red is already rolling out the update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow for Samsung's premium phablet, just a couple of weeks after the new software was first released anywhere in the world. That's some fast turnaround indeed.

Aside from all the goodies that Google's packed into Marshmallow, the update also brings with it certain improvements to Live Broadcast and Wi-Fi Calling for HD Voice users. The Amazon Appstore will no longer be preinstalled (thus dropping the number of app stores on the device to 'just' two).

As always, this one is bound to be a staged rollout, so it might take a few days for it to reach your particular Note5 unit. If you're impatient, you can always force your handset to manually check for the new software by going to Settings > About phone.

If, on the other hand, you own an HTC One (M8) bought from Verizon, you are mere days away from seeing Marshmallow on your device too. HTC VP Mo Versi has announced that the rollout will begin on March 7, which is this coming Monday.

Amazon Echo compatibility with Nest thermostats coming in two weeks

If you own an Amazon Echo and have a Nest smart thermostat, you’ll be happy to know that they will begin to communicate with each other over the next couple of weeks.

This new integration will allow users to simply tell Alexa to change the thermostat temperature to a specific temperature. Alexa’s new Skills feature uses contextual information to learn about the user’s preferences such as telling Alexa that you are leaving your home and Alexa would know to turn the thermostat off. Or you could tell Alexa to “tell the thermostat that I’m too hot.”

Nest also states that if you use IFTTT, there are already more than 50 recipes that you can use in conjunction with your Nest thermostat and Amazon Echo.

This weekend you can grab an Honor 5X in the UK for just £149

Huawei has been selling the Honor 5X in the UK for quite a while now. You can opt to buy the phone from its maker's official online store for £189.99. Yet if you choose a third party online retailer and do the deed this weekend, you can save £40.

That's quite a lot given the already pretty small price of the Honor 5X. The deal is offered byClove, and you can take advantage of it by using the promo code MAR5X16 when you go through checkout. This will lower the price of the device all the way down to £149, making the Honor 5X even better value for money than it already was.

The one caveat is that you need to buy the handset before 11:59 pm on March 6 - that's this Sunday, so you basically need to act at some point during this weekend.

The unit you're buying is SIM-free. The Honor 5X has a 5.5-inch 1080p touchscreen, a 13 MP main camera with LED flash, a 5 MP selfie snapper, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 616 SoC (with a 1.5 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU), 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, LTE, and a 3,000 mAh battery. It runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop underneath Huawei's EMUI 3.1.

You can now claim your freebies for Galaxy S7 and S7 edge pre-orders in the USA

If you pre-order the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge from certain retailers you have been promised free stuff, most often - the Gear VR headset ($99 value) with a bunch of compatible games. Samsung Promotions official website is now live and allows you to claim your freebies.

You must choose the retailer where you pre-ordered your Galaxy S7 or S7 edge and then you can learn what's your prize.

AT&T, Metro PCS, Sam's Club, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Walmart, Verizon's Retail, pre-orders will receive Gear VR bundled with some compatible games. First they need to claim their prize via the Samsung Promotions website, otherwise they will not get any free stuff.

By the way, T-Mobile is throwing a 12-months free Netflix subscription in addition to the Gear VR bundle.

Users who pre-ordered at BestBuy, Costco, Sprint, and Target will get their Gear VR bundle delivered directly to their home without any further verification.

Verizon Online is the only retailer to allow you to choose between the Gear VR with six games bundle of the dark gray model or the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch (sold for $300 separately).

All who pre-order the Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge between February 23 and March 18 are eligible for some free hardware. The supplies are limited though, so if those matter to you, consider placing an order sooner rather than later. The same goes for claiming the free stuff.

HTC 10 leaks in brand new press renders and live images

A very short while ago we told you about the fact that HTC won't be selling its next flagship smartphone as the One M10 (like everyone anticipated), instead opting to go with the much simpler moniker of HTC 10. And now, to complement the new name, two well-known leaksters have unleashed a torrent of new images of the device. First off, Evan Blass gives us full press renders for the upcoming handset.

Now in case you're wondering how these renders would translate into real-life images of the HTC 10, wonder no more. Three live shots of the phone have been shared by @onleaks. Here they are for your viewing pleasure (make sure you click on the thumbnails to get the full-size pictures).

Along with these, @onleaks has also revealed some "prototype specs" for the HTC 10. It's supposedly coming with a 5.15-inch QHD touchscreen, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 chipset on board, 4GB of RAM, a 12 MP main camera, and a USB Type-C port.

None of these are surprising, of course, as we've heard about the 10 sporting these exact innards many times before. The 12 MP camera on the back should be of the UltraPixel variety, meaning it will be incredibly similar to the solution Samsung's chosen for its Galaxy S7and S7 edge. Camera comparisons between the HTC 10 and the S7 will thus be very interesting indeed, especially as HTC itself has already claimed that its phone's camera will be "very compelling".

HTC has already started teasing the handset, with an image and a video so far, but the company should probably just set an announcement date already, now that these leaked renders and pictures are out. At this rate, we assume a full spec list will be revealed pretty soon, so HTC might not want to drag things along any further.