LG shows the full G5 Jason Statham commercia

After teasing us with a few short trailer of its latest ad campaign for the G5, LG has finally released what looks to be the full version of the video. However, we sincerely hope that this is merely the first episode in a series of videos as it is just so incredibly entertaining.

Jason Statham simply knocks this role out of the park, or rather these twenty or so roles, as he plays every character in the thirty second clip. Subway passenger, street performer, restaurant customer, or motorbike stuntman - the British action legend just seems like the perfect and at the same time worst possible fit for each persona, giving off his own patented mix of calm, collected, somewhat menacing and yet humorous vibe. It just works and you should definitely check it out for yourself!

The ad part of the video is most-likely intentionally subtle, but the main emphasis is on the morphing and playful nature of the LG G5. You can learn more on the modular design in ourin-depth review.

The LG G5 is launching today in South Korea and tomorrow (April 1) in the US

Microsoft Edge browser will get native ad-blocking support

At its ongoing Build 2016 conference, Microsoft has confirmed that the next version of its Edge Web browser will include native ad-blocking support. This will make Edge one of the few exiting Web browsers - the list currently includes Opera (developer edition) and Brave - that offer such a feature.

Aside from native ad-blocking, there are many other features that the new version will bring along, such as support for extensions and integrated Bing translator. It's worth mentioning that Microsoft Edge currently has a very low market share - the figure stood at around 1.5% in December last year.

Google Calculator arrives on Play Store with support for Android Wear

After apps like Calendar, Camera, and Keyboard. another core Google app has hit the company's Play Store: Google Calculator. Yes, the Calculator app is now available for download from Google's marketplace, meaning now it can be installed on any Android phone.

The app listed on Google Play carries a version number of 6.0, compared to Calculator 5.2 that shipped with latest Android. So, what's new? While the design remains more or less the same, the updated app includes support for Android Wear.
To download the latest version of the Google Play app, head to the Source link below.

Two Lenovo phones with same specs spotted on GFXBench

A couple of new Lenovo-branded smartphones have been spotted on GFXBench, and curiously, both have same specs. They are powered by MediaTek MT6735P SoC and sport a 5-inch HD display.

RAM is 2GB, while internal memory is 16GB. The camera department is handled by an 8MP rear unit and a 5MP front shooter. Both come with Android 6.0 Marshmallow pre-installed.

While nothing else is currently known about the devices, their model numbers - XT1700 and XT1706 - does indicate (XT followed by four numbers) that they are actually Motorola handsets, with reports suggesting we could be looking at next-gen Motorola Moto E, or a Lenovo Moto E may be?.

New Skype update brings Bots feature

As part of its ongoing Build 2016 conference, Microsoft rolled out a new feature to its Skype messaging app. Dubbed Skype Bots, the feature is described by the company as "a new way to bring expertise, products, services and entertainment into your daily messaging on Skype."

The Redmond, Washington-based company demonstrated the feature by showing off a Cortana integrated Skype client where-in the virtual assistant acted as a Skype Bot to help users identify people, places, and things in their messages, as well as display more info about them.

In addition, it could also perform other tasks, including calendar management, travel and hotel bookings, and more.

The Skype Bots feature is currently only available through messaging, although Microsoft says that in future, it will be available for audio and video calling as well. Here's an example of a Skype Video bot:

The Bots feature is rolling out to Skype's iOS, Android, as well as Windows clients. Microsoft has also released a new Skype developer program for developers to get started building Bots right away - hit the Skype Developer link below to know more about it.

Microsoft announced new Cortana features, Outlook, Android, and third-party app integration

Microsoft has announced some new features which will be rolling out to Windows 10 customers in the next coming months. Cortana is now going to be incorporated with Outlook and will be able to check your email and calendars in order to help you keep track of your own emails.

Cortana will be able to take context of your emails and things you commit to and will automatically create events that correspond with such events. Cortana will also be able to send an email to a contact with an attachment. The demonstration shows the presenter ask Cortana to “Send Chuck that PowerPoint I was working on last night.” Then, Cortana found a PowerPoint and asked the presenter if it was the one he was referring to.

Along with these powerful Outlook integrations, Cortana will also be able to show you your text messages from an Android phone, right on your Windows 10 desktop. Cortana will even move your calendar events around in order to accommodate your new event.

Also coming to Cortana will be new APIs for developers to create integrations for third-party apps. Things like calendar apps, restaurant reservations, and ticket purchasing as well. Microsoft’s idea for Cortana is to let her assist you in many different ways and this could be a huge advantage for Microsoft to leverage more information services to customers on the largest desktop platform in the world.

Beta Marshmallow build of OxygenOS for OnePlus 2 is now accessible to all, not OTA though

A couple of weeks ago OnePlus started soak testing its update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow for the OnePlus 2 with a few users to check for bugs and whatnot. That test was not an open one, but things have changed now.

Starting today you too can download and try a beta build of Marshmallow for the OnePlus 2, namely OxygenOS 3.0. You do need to manually flash it though, because it's not available as an over-the-air update. That's because the Chinese company wants to make sure all possible kinks have been ironed out by the time the OTA rollout starts. The good news is that this build will receive OTA updates, so when the final Marshmallow build hits the OnePlus 2 you'll get it too even if you've decided to test the beta.

You can find the download page for the test build over here. The new software comes with all the goodies that Google packed into the Marshmallow release, of course, but also a new OnePlus Camera UI, a new wallpaper picker, better Shelf UX, general performance improvements, faster fingerprint scans, improved Settings menu readability, as well as the March security patches. Full flashing instructions can be found at the Source link below.

ZTE A2017 visits AnTuTu as well, could be the next Axon model

The Huawei P9 and iPhone SE aren't the only smartphones that have been revealed to have been put through the paces of the AnTuTu benchmark today. The ZTE A2017 joins them, and this might just be the Chinese company's next Axon-branded handset.

Earlier this month the A2017 was spotted in the GFXBench database sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset and 4GB of RAM. Now those specs have been confirmed by AnTuTu's info screen, along with other hardware details.

The ZTE A2017 has a QHD touchscreen (which GFXBench pegged at 5.5"), a 20 MP rear camera, an 8 MP selfie shooter, 64GB of storage, and it runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.

The phone has managed to score an impressive 140,086 points in AnTuTu, which is more than the Xiaomi Mi 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S7. That's quite impressive, so ZTE's next flagship device will definitely be no slouch.

MIUI Global Beta ROM based on Marshmallow now available

A few days ago the stable release of the MIUI ROM based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow was released for the Xiaomi Mi 3, Mi 4, and Mi Note in China.

As of today, the stable Marshmallow-based MIUI 6.3.17 is available in Global Beta and can be installed on the Xiaomi Mi 3, Mi 4, and Mi Note outside China.

Being a global ROM means the devices outside China can use Google Play Services and Play Store.

Xiaomi Mi 5 was the device to introduce the Android Marshmallow with MIUI 7, but Xiaomi seems to be working hard on bringing the update to as many devices as possible.

If you have an international Mi 3, Mi 4, or Mi Note, then you can follow the source link below for download and installation instructions.

Apple iPhone SE enters AnTuTu, matches the iPhone 6s Plus score

Apple iPhone SE is pretty much an iPhone 6s within a smaller chassis. It runs on the same Apple A9 chip with 2GB of RAM, has the same 12MP rear camera, but a smaller and lower-resolution screen.

The iPhone SE has passed the AnTuTu 6 benchmark already, and you can check it out how it stacks against its stablemates.

Obviously, the iPhone SE offers stellar performance. We expected nothing less since it has one of the fastest chipsets on the market and the lowest resolution screen (1136x640 pixels) to power.

The iPhone SE begins shipping tomorrow in many markets worldwide. We'll be grabbing one for a proper review, so stay tuned.

Huawei P9 stops by AnTuTu with Kirin 955, scores short of 100K

There's now only a week until the Huawei P9's official launch, scheduled for April 6. Can't hurt if we get to know a few more bits in advance though, this time courtesy of AnTuTu. The benchmark maker has listed the upcoming Huawei flagship, complete with specs and test results

Huawei P9 on AnTuTu (click for full size)

The concise specsheet names just the basics, among them a Kirin 955 chipset with Mali-T880 MP4 GPU, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Display resolution is quoted to be FullHD, and previous info points to a 5.2-inch diagonal.

As you probably know, the P9 will have a dual-camera setup on the back. You may think that the "8MP + 13MP" entry in the camera field indicates the resolutions of those two cameras, but no - that's AnTuTu's customary way of specifying front and rear cameras.

We're also given a glimpse into the P9's performance. The 96,043 score is nothing spectacular in today's world where the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5 go upwards of 130K. It is, nonetheless, an improvement over the regular Kirin 950 inside the existing Huawei Mate 8.

Oppo says the F1 Plus is identical to the recently-announced R9

We have been hearing a lot about the Oppo F1 Plus lately and most fans have come to expect it as the next iteration of the Oppo F1 "selfie expert", with hints of an even better front camera experience and a fingerprint reader. This all sounded exciting, but today Oppo brought an end to that, clarifying that the F1 Plus won't be a new model, but merely the Oppo R9 for international markets.

That definitely clears the air and puts to rest the various rumors about the handset. As per the recent China announcement of the R9 and R9 Plus, the F1 Plus should be equipped with a 5.5-inch, FullHD AMOLED display, fitted inside a shell measuring 151.8 x 74.3 x 6.6m, with a minimal bezel size of 1.66mm. The rest of the specs sheet includes a Mediatek Helio P10 chipset with four of its Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.0GHz, and the other four at 1.0GHz, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.

The camera department offers an interesting twist that might just be worthy of carrying on the "selfie expert" title. The R9 and presumably the F1 Plus as well, actually has a higher resolution front-facing camera 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.

The rebranded Oppo F1 should come to Malaysia on April 7. So, with that clarification on Oppo's lineup there is only one logical question remaining - what happens with the R9 Plus, which is now also official in China? Currently, Oppo has shown no indication that it intends to release the 6-inch phablet internationally as well, but we will be sure to keep an eye out for any developments.