Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge now on sale

No more pre-orders - the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge are now on sale. This also means some of you missed your chance to score a free Gear VR.

Not US buyers, though, there you get a free Gear VR and a 6-game bundle (an estimated value of $150).

Vodafone Germany will also throw in a Gear VR if you buy a Galaxy S7 or S7 edge. O2 Germany is giving you a free 32GB card instead.

In the UK, O2 offers a half deal - the Gear VR is half price when you buy an S7 (before April 21). EE is throwing in a 32GB microSD, a Juice Wireless charger and a screen protector.

Nexus 5X discounted on the Google Store till March 27 in India

While India gets ready to celebrate Holi, Google decided to join the festivities with a sizable discount on the Nexus 5X.

If you buy the Nexus 5X from the Google Store, you can get an INR 4,000 ($60) discount on the MRP. Currently, the phone is priced at INR 27,900 ($415) for the 16GB model and INR 31,900 ($475) for the 32GB model without the discount.

Of course, some of the other retailers like Amazon and Flipkart have been offering the Nexus 5X at even lower prices for a while now but this discount does close the gap a bit.

The discount is valid until March 27. Unfortunately, it is limited to the Nexus 5X and not available on the Nexus 6P.

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 gets 20% price cut in India

Launched in India just a couple of months ago, the Surface Pro 3 has received a solid price cut in the country. The 2-in-1 detachable is now listed on Amazon India for INR 58,990 (around $880), down from its launch price of INR 73,990 (around $1,100).

For those who aren't aware, the Surface Pro 3 landed in India in January this year, although only in a single variant that comes with Core i3, 4GB RAM, and 128GB storage. The 12-inch device runs Windows 10 Pro out-of-the-box.

A quick look at the Microsoft US store reveals that the same variant is currently available there for $599, down from its usual price of $899.

Q Motion is Fossil's first wearable that tracks sleep

Watch and accessories company Fossil has updated its Q series of wearables with a new device. Dubbed Q Motion, the wearable is basically a cylindrical shaped tracker that not only tracks user's activity, but sleep, too - making it the first wearable fitness device from Fossil to do so.

Being an activity tracker, the Q Motion obviously tracks your movements. In addition, it also vibrates whenever user receives smartphone notifications - the device is capable of filtering notifications through its companion app installed on the user's phone.

The wearable also includes a "smart tap" feature that, as the name suggests, lets you tap on the device a set number of times to initiate actions like playing music on your phone, finding your phone, and taking a selfie.

The Q Motion will be on display at SXSW next week. It will go on sale sometime this summer carrying a $95 price tag.

Reminder: 3G-enabled Samsung Gear S2 Classic goes on sale tomorrow

Everyone seems to have forgotten about Samsung’s 3G-connected smartwatch which is also set to go on sale at the same time as the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.

March 11, the same day as the official release of the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. Among all the madness of news surrounding the impending launch of the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, Samsung’s Gear S2 Classic will be going on sale at AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

The only carrier who didn't bother to put a pre-order link on its website was T-Mobile. AT&T shows the pricing at $250 with 2-year service agreement. Which is still crazy for such a device but I guess when you consider the monthly service fee for maintaining a connected watch, it KINDA justifies it?

Verizon lists the price as 350 with a 2 year contract or 400 outright. You're better off paying the device off and you'll make the 50 dollars back in 10 months seeing as it costs only $5 per month to maintain a connected device.

The Gear S2 Classic is a smartwatch which features a more traditional watch design on the rotary-style dial and metal bodies with interchangeable bands.

LINE introduces new group calls for up to 200 people

LINE brings you a new way to talk to people, a way that you might never have to use, but if you want to, you can! LINE is bringing group voice calls to chat groups of up to 200 people.

“Calls can be initiated from within group chats or multiple person chats, and a notification message will be sent to all of the users participating in the chat. The number of people currently participating in the call can also be confirmed from within the chat. An icon is displayed above the user icon of the person currently speaking at the time, enabling users to easily communicate with each other.”

The feature is first rolling out to all countries outside of Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and Indonesia. These countries will follow soon after. These countries hold a huge chunk of LINE’s users and an update like this needs to be rolled out in stages.

The feature is expected to come to LINE for Mac shortly after.

Huawei P9 leaks in more live photos

The Huawei P9 hasn't exactly been keeping a low profile despite the fact that it is yet to be announced. The smartphone has been featured extensively in various leaks over the past few months, which is generally a good thing, but once overdone is now causing more confusion than anything else.

We've seen a couple of different renders of the P9 with rather contrasting design features, but a newly leaked set of live photos seems to coincide quite closely with the most recent batch of renders, finally providing some proof of the alleged final design.

The Huawei P9 will have a thin metal body, with a plastic insert on the back, quite reminiscent of the Huawei P8 or the P8lite. The dual rear camera setup also seems to be confirmed, although we are yet to learn any definite specifics about the shooters. There have been rumors stating that in light of the recent partnership with Leica, the P9 could be the first mobile device to feature camera tech and possibly even software by the photography legend.

As for the rest of the specs on the Huawei P9, the rumors are abundant but also somewhat confusing. There might be as many as four variants of the handset, but we have come to expect something along the lines of a 5.2-inch display, the company's latest Kirin 950 SoC and 4GB of RAM, perhaps even a whopping 6GB in the top-tier model.

Huawei recently announced an unveiling event for April 6 this year where the P9 will be the star attraction.

Oppo's upcoming R9 to feature a fingerprint scanner that unlocks in 0.2 seconds

Given that Oppo's upcoming R9 smartphone is scheduled to be made official on March 17(next week), the company has been running a teaser campaign for the device over the last couple of weeks.

Continuing the campaign, a couple of new teasers have been released by the company revealing that the R9 will feature a front-facing fingerprint sensor capable of unlocking the phone in just 0.2 seconds.

                             

In addition, the Chinese company also reportedly dropped hints about the handset being ideal for making mobile payments - if you recall, there have already been reports that several smartphone manufacturers in China are planning to release their own payments service, although Oppo wasn't named explicitly.

Coming back to the R9, the device (along with the R9 Plus) has already been spotted on TENAA, revealing a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED touchscreen and a 1.95 GHz octa-core processor. Other specs include 4GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, 2,850 mAh battery, and two 16 MP cameras.

As for the price, the handset is expected to carry a tag of RMB 2,498, which translates into around $385 at current exchange rates.

MIUI 7.2 starts hitting second batch of Xiaomi devices

Last week, Xiaomi announced the roll-out of version 7.2 of its MIUI ROM, revealing that the update will hit devices in batches. The first batch that got the update included the Mi 5, Mi 4S,Mi Note Pro, Mi 4c, Mi Pad 1, Redmi Note 4G (Single SIM), and Redmi 1S.

The good news is that the update has started hitting the second batch of devices, too. These should include the Mi Note, Mi 3, Mi 4, Mi 4i, Mi 2/2S, Mi Pad 2, Redmi 3, Redmi Note 3,Redmi Note 2, Redmi Note 4G (Dual SIM), Redmi Note 3G, Redmi 2A, and Redmi 2.

If your device falls in the second batch, you'll soon received an OTA notification, if not already. Alternatively, those feeling impatient can also download the update package from official MIUI website (head to the MIUI link below).

Samsung Z1 successor reportedly in the works

Samsung has outed a couple of Tizen-powered phones until now: the modestly-specced Z1 and a comparatively more powerful (although still entry-level) Z3. While the former was launched back in January last year, the latter arrived in October. Now, there are reports that a successor to the Z1 is in the works.

Samsung Z1

The Z1(2016) is said to carry a model number of SM-Z150, and feature an AMOLED display like the Z3. Aside from this, nothing else is currently known about the handset, including when it's going to be available and what price tag it will carry.

The report comes just a few weeks after an SM-Z510 - which is alleged to be the Samsung Z5 - was spotted listed on Zauba. Assuming that the Z1(2016) and the alleged Z5 are different phones, the latter could well be the successor to the Samsung Z3.

Samsung announces global launch of its Galaxy S7/S7 edge flagship smartphones

While it was already confirmed that Samsung's newest flagship smartphones - the Galaxy S7and S7 edge - will officially go on sale starting March 11, the company has now made a formal announcement in this regard.

"Samsung Electronics today announced the commercial launch of its new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge around the globe including US, Europe, Singapore, Australia and Korea, starting from today," the South Korean tech giant said in a post on its website today.

In case you missed, Samsung's mobile chief Koh Dong-jin has already confirmed that the handsets will be available in 60 countries in the first wave of their global launch. Just yesterday, he revealed that pre-orders for the devices have been stronger than what the company was expecting..

A couple more photos of the HTC One 10 leak ahead of phone’s launch

HTC, is taking its sweet time preparing for the launch of the HTC One 10 also codenamed ‘HTC Perfume’ in even earlier leaks. Perhaps it’s waiting for all the Samsung Galaxy S7 hype to be over before releasing its newest flagship.

After seeing the rear of the phone in leaks, renders and teasers, I finally understand why HTC decided to go with such a large chamfered edge. It’s more for ergonomics than aesthetics. The oversized chamfer gives the edges of the rear of the device a tapered edge, such that will make holding the device a more pleasurable experience.

The front of the device gives us a look at the homescreen of the device and judging by that weather widget, we could assume this leak originates from Beijing. We can also see a fingerprint scanner right below the screen now joined by two capacitive buttons on either side. A departure from the on screen buttons of the HTC One M9.

The company hasn’t been doing so hot in the past couple of years so let’s hope this phone will be HTC’s game changer for the year. If it doesn’t, at least HTC could pray that its alleged future partnership with Google could help get it out of deeper waters.