Leaked Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) images show off its metal frame

Remember the Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)? If you can't put a face to that name, maybe these cache of images will help. They appear to be official images for the China Mobile version of the phone.

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) in Gold

These images give us a great close-up of the corners of the J5, which are very similar to those of the more premium Galaxy A (2016) lineup. A leaked manual already pointed to a metal frame, but here's more proof if you needed it.

A notch on the back cover (visible in the side shot) suggests the back will be removable. It also has a slight brushed metal texture. Two color options are shown - White and Gold.

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) in White

Additional specs (obtained from the GFX Bench database) point to a 5.2" screen with 720p resolution, a Super AMOLED, plus a Snapdragon 410 chipset with 2GB of RAM. The phone ran Android 5.1.1 during the test and had 16GB of total storage. The Galaxy J5 (2016) will have a 13MP camera with 1080p video capture.

More Galaxy J5 (2016) images

4" iPhone to be called iPhone SE, to come with 16GB storage

You've seen Apple's upcoming 4" iPhone labeled as either 5se or just "SE," but an alleged photo of its retail box suggests the Apple-preferred name is "iPhone SE" (yes, with capital letters, despite going lower case with the iPhone 5s).

The box is also marked 16GB, suggesting that this remains the base storage option. Better than the 8GB iPhone 5c, we guess, and supposedly there will be a 64GB option (again, no 32GB middle ground).

The other kind of memory, RAM, will likely go back to 1GB after growing to 2GB with the 6s generation. The iPhone SE will still use the Apple A9 chipset, though, at least that's what we hear.

It goes without saying, but we'll say it anyway - these boxes are easy to fake. For 100% true info, tune in on Monday when Apple reveals the new 4-incher.

Yesterday's iPhone 7 closeup photo is actually of the upcoming Meizu Pro 6

Yesterday a set of leaked photos surfaced online and they claimed to show the upcoming iPhone 7 and its new antenna design. Today, in an odd twist of events, Li Nan, Vice President of Chinese manufacturer Meizu, made a clarification that the device featured in yesterday's close-up shot is actually the Meizu Pro 6.

The latter, of course, is yet to be unveiled, but in order to back his statement up, Li Nan provided a photo of the back of the device with a visible Meizu logo. We are not quite sure what to call the shot in question, as it is not exactly leaked, considering its source. The development is slightly odd, but we can sympathize with Meizu if the claims of lengthy development work on the company's part for the new antenna design are really true.

However, this whole story does not negate the fact we have seen a number of other traces, pointing to an almost identical antenna design on Cupertino's next handset. The second shot in yesterdays leak, for instance, clearly features an Apple logo on the device. And the same goes for an earlier batch of renders and a shot of what appear to be exact sketches on the back panel, as well as the alleged dual-camera module to go into the iPhone 7 Plus.

Overall, the situation is shaping up as yet another "who copied who" ordeal with Meizu already looking slightly desperate to stand its ground.

OnePlus starts soak testing OP2 Marshmallow update

For those OnePlus 2 owners who are desperately waiting for the Marshmallow update, here is some good news: the company has apparently started soak testing the Android 6.0-based Oxygen 3.0 update.

The soak test brings Android Marshmallow version 6.0.1 as well as some tweaks, including home-screen customizations, new wallpapers, and a slider for alerts.

This comes just a couple of weeks after the OxygenOS 2.2.1 update started rolling out - that update brought RAW support for the pre-installed OnePlus Camera app, among other changes.

There's currently no information on when the final OP2 Oxygen 3.0 update would roll out, although given that the soak test has already started, that shouldn't take too long.

Oppo R9 and R9 Plus official: 16MP front-facers on both

The Oppo R9 and R9 Plus were just officially announced in China. The smartphones share the same design language, but under the hood there are plenty of differences.

Oppo R9

The R9 is the smaller of the two, which doesn't at all mean it's actually small - it's a phablet with a FullHD AMOLED 5.5-inch display. Oppo is proud of its accomplishments in bezel size, citing a minimal 1.66mm on the sides, and the whole thing measures 151.8 x 74.3 x 6.6mm.

The R9 is powered by a Mediatek Helio P10 chipset with four of its Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.0GHz, the other four at 1.0GHz. 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage are on board and the R9 can take up to 128GB of microSD cards in the hybrid microSD/second-SIM slot.

It gets interesting in the camera department, where the front shooter actually boasts a higher-res sensor and brighter lens than the rear one. Selfies are taken care of by a 16MP imager mated with an f/2.0 lens with a 78.1-degree field of view. On the back you have a 13MP sensor behind a 5-element lens with f/2.2 aperture and 80.6-degree FoV.

Oppo R9 Plus

The R9 Plus ups the ante in several key areas. The obvious one, and the one meriting the Plus moniker, is screen size and the R9 Plus comes with a 6-inch display, again FullHD AMOLED. Side bezels are a smidgen wider at 1.76mm, but the screen-to-body ratio is still higher at 79.3% compared to 77.7% for the R9.

Running things is the Snapdragon 652 chipset with quad-core 1.8GHz Cortex-A72's and quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A53's. RAM is 4GB here as well, and base storage is 64GB, but there's also a 128GB version. In case you want to expand on that (just how much music and photos do you have?) there's a hybrid microSD/second-SIM slot as well.

There's a bit more logic in the camera setup on the R9 Plus, and while the front 16MP snapper is the same, on the back you get another 16MP camera as opposed to the R9's 13MP unit. This one uses the Sony IMX298 sensor (like on the Huawei Mate 8) with a 6-element f/2.0 lens. Thanks to the more powerful chipset the R9 Plus is capable of 4K video recording, unlike the regular R9.

Both smartphones have a fingerprint sensor on the front below the display, marking a departure from the rear-mounted solution on the R7 Plus. VOOC Flash Charge is present on the two (but not the crazy fast Super VOOC we saw at MWC), and the R9 has a 2,850 battery capacity, while the Plus stretches that to 4,120mAh. Another shared property, and one that doesn't sound too good, is the OS version - Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, when Android N previews are already out.

The Oppo R9 and R9 Plus both come with 4G LTE support, naturally. Wi-Fi 802.11 ac is only available on the R9 Plus, the R9 is limited to the slower standards. Another connectivity difference is Bluetooth - v4.0 on the R9, v4.1 on the R9 Plus (to better deal with interference with LTE frequencies).

The Oppo R9 is priced at CNY 2,799 in China ($430), and is available for pre-order now, with shipments scheduled to start on March 24. The R9 Plus is obviously costlier at CNY 3,299 ($510) for the 64GB version and will hit Chinese shelves on April 12. Global availability remains to be detailed.

WhatsApp now offers text formatting, can send Google Drive docs

WhatsApp has always tried to stay ahead of the curve in a lot of ways, but, with an impressively busy beta release schedule, it is often hard to keep track of every novelty and how it found its place inside the app. The following batch of features can be found in version 2.12.535 of the app and appear to be new.

WhatsApp now supports a bit of text formatting. Just like in Google+, if you surround something with asterisks, it becomes bold and using underscores, produces italics. Sadly, that's about it and even dashes don't produce the expected strike-through effect. However, it is worth noting that both formatting options also work in notifications. And while we are on the topic, the sender name now appears in bold within notifications for improved legibility.

Another area with a lot of improvement is the document sending feature, that was first introduced to WhatsApp a couple of weeks ago. Now it has an extra menu option titled "Browse other docs". Clicking it allows you to fetch documents from your Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive accounts. Currently, it seems to work with PDF's, as well as basic Docs, Sheets and Presentations, which also get converted to PDF before being sent, most likely to avoid compatibility issues at the receiving end.

The final new feature has to do with the Chat backup to Google Drive feature. Sadly, the syncing process is still done on the main thread and blocks you from using the app like in previous versions. However, now the pop-up offers a progress bar, so you can at least have some idea how much time the process will take.

Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL now AU$100 off in Oz

In today's round of Lumia discounts, Microsoft's flagship Lumia 950 and 950 XL are AUD 100 ($76) off - in Australia obviously. The Lumia 950 is now listed at AUD 899 ($690), while its bigger bro goes for AUD 1029 ($785).

Both deals are available on Microsoft's Australian store as part of the March Madness sale. Other offers include the Microsoft Band 2 at AUD 330 ($250), AUD 50 off, and the top-specced Surface Pro 3 (i7 CPU, 512GB SSD) listed at precisely AUD 2,294.15 ($1752.83). That Surface is the most savings you can get during the promo, in absolute terms that is - AUD 404.85.

Alleged Alcatel Idol 4 Pro render leaks

While the idol 4 - which was unveiled by Alcatel last month at this year's MWC - is yet to go on sale, rumor mill is already abuzz with a Pro variant of the device. After early specs, now a render image of the latter has leaked online courtesy of tipster @evleaks.

In case you aren't already aware, unlike the standard variant (which is powered by Android), the Idol 4 Pro is said to run Windows 10 Mobile. And as for the newly-leaked image, as @evleaks also notes, the device is quite similar to the Idol 4s (show below) in looks. The latter was also unveiled at MWC 2016.

The Alcatel Idol 4s

Specs-wise, the Alcatel Idol 4 Pro is said to pack in a Snapdragon 820 chipset, feature a 1080p display, and support Continuum. Other key specs, as well as pricing and availability information isn't yet available.

US Cellular will reportedly start selling LG G5 on April 1

While we already know that LG's newest flagship smartphone - the G5 - will land in the United States sometime in early April, there has been no information on the exact launch date. However, that was until now.

A new report is suggesting that carrier US Cellular will start selling the G5 on April 1, with pre-orders beginning March 28. As for the price, the report says the device will carry a tag of $636 sans contract, $199 on a regular 2-year agreement, and $26.50/month for a period of 24 months.

If true, the report reveals that US Cellular will be among the first carriers in the country to offer the G5, and also gives us an idea about what other US carriers would likely charge for the handset. In case you aren't already aware, Best Buy will start taking pre-orders for the device March 18 - tomorrow.

Report says Windows 10 Mobile rollout will finally begin today

The Windows 10 Mobile roll-out for older Windows Phone devices will finally begin today, according to a new report which cites a person familiar with the Redmond, Washington-based company's plans.

The update will follow what is being called as a 'pull model,' where-in devices selected to receive the update will have to initiate it manually, meaning there won't be any OTA notification. "A Microsoft-triggered push model will follow at an undisclosed date," the report notes.

There's currently no information on the complete list of devices that are scheduled to receive the update, although the report says Microsoft will make a formal announcement in this regard today.

Samsung Music now on the Play Store

Samsung put up its music app on the Play Store, but there's a catch - it's currently compatible only with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge.

So, why bother? Simple - this means Samsung can push out updates for the app independently of TouchWiz updates. Note that this is a beta version of the app.

Samsung Music supports MP3 AAC and FLAC and can send music over DLNA, with additional interactions with Samsung smart devices (tablets, TVs).

You can grab the app from here, again, we only managed to download it on S7 units.

Twitter for Windows 10 now available on mobile

After releasing the app on Windows 10 desktop last year, Twitter has now brought the app to mobile as well.

Twitter for Windows 10 on mobile brings features such as Moments, group messaging, video sharing, and being able to quote tweets, features that have been available on iOS and Android since their inception.

Twitter also updated the desktop app and added the much requested dark theme mode, which is also available on the mobile app.