After shutting down in Australia, Samsung Milk Music launches in China

Earlier last month, there were reports that Samsung is shutting down its Milk Music radio service. Later that month, the shutdown was confirmed, at-least by the Australian Milk Music team. However, looks like Samsung hasn't yet completely given up on the service, as it has now been launched in China.

Focusing on local content (over a million tracks accessible) at the moment, the app is currently only available for download on the Galaxy S7, the Galaxy S7 edge and the A9 Prosmartphones in China. However, reports say that international content as well as availability on more devices will follow.

ZUK teases new phone - likely the Z2 Pro

A teaser image of a new ZUK smartphone was released by the Chinese company's CEO Chang Cheng. The image shows a black-colored sleek-looking phone with what looks like a 2.5D curved display. On the back is a camera sensor, dual tone LED flash, and an apparent laser auto-focus module.

The image - which was shared on Weibo - also had an accompanying text that read: Tremble xx5, x9, xxx6. So, without directly naming the Xiaomi Mi 5, Huawei P9, and the Meizu Pro 6, Cheng is claiming that the upcoming ZUK phone is a better alternative.

Cheng recently revealed that the Lenovo-backed company will launch a new smartphone on April 21, so it'd be reasonable to assume that the phone shown in the teaser is that particular device. Although he didn't reveal anything else about the handset, rumors say it'd be the Z2 Pro.

As rumors have it, the Z2 Pro will be powered by Snapdragon 820 SoC, and sport a full HD display. Storage will be 32GB, with RAM either 3GB or 4GB. The phone will have 13MP/5MP camera combo and run Android 6.0.1 out of the box.

Meizu m3 headed our way, stops by TENAA

A new unannounced Meizu smartphone has cropped up on Chinese regulator TENAA's website. What looks like a successor to the popular Meizu m2 brings duly updated specs in a similarly looking body.

The possible Meizu m3 comes with a 5-inch 720p LCD, much like the model it replaces. An undisclosed chipset with an 1.5GHz octa-core processor (versus the quad-core in the m2) powers the smartphone, paired with 2GB of RAM. Internal storage is 16GB, expandable by up to 128GB via microSD.

There's a 13MP primary camera on the back of the smartphone, while selfies are being handled by a 5MP unit - nothing new here. Battery capacity, on the other hand, has gotten a bump - at 2,800mAh the m3's battery packs more juice than the just-announced company flagship Pro 6.

One peculiar aspect of the smartphone that's visited TENAA is that it runs on YunOS 3.1.6, which is based on the Android Open Source Project. It's unclear yet whether a proper version will be available with Google Play Services and all.

Marshmallow beta begins rolling out to BlackBerry Priv

Over a week after BlackBerry started accepting applications for the Priv Marshmallow beta program, the beta update has started hitting the company's debut Android smartphone.

As for the roll-out, the Canadian company said that the update will be made available to a small batch of testers first, and if no critical issues are reported, all beta testers will get the update by the end of this week.

If you've signed up for the Priv Marshmallow beta, head to the BlackBerry Beta Zone (link shared below) for details on preparing your unit or making it ready to receive the update.

Wait, what? HTC's India website now lists HTC Lifestyle as SD820-powered

Just when we thought the SD652-powered HTC Lifestyle would be available in India instead of the company's SD820-powered flagship HTC 10, HTC released a statement effectively saying that nothing is yet confirmed, and it will make an official announcement in this regard soon.

And now, while we were waiting for the announcement, the Taiwanese company quietly changed the Lifestyle's specs on its India website, making them similar to the HTC 10. A quick look at the specs sheet suggests the chipset has been changed to Snapdragon 820. Similarly, the memory configuration has also been changed from 3GB/32GB to 4GB/32GB and 4GB/64GB.

If you recall, these were the only major differences between the HTC 10 and the HTC Lifestyle when we told you about the latter a couple of days ago.

So, what's really happening here? Will HTC be launching the 10 as Lifestyle in India? Or, is it that the company (after making all the specs-related changes) forgot to change the name of the handset on the India website? Also, what about the other regions where the Lifestyle will be launched?

We'll have to wait for HTC to issue a clarification on this.

US may not get 64GB HTC 10

As you might already know, HTC's latest flagship - the HTC 10 - comes in 32GB and 64GB storage options. However, if you are in the US, and are planning to buy the 64GB variant when it becomes available, there is some bad news: US may not get the higher memory model.

This was effectively confirmed by HTC's Senior Global Online Communications Manager Jeff Gordon while replying to a user query on Twitter.

Keep in mind, however, that the HTC 10 supports expandable memory. So, storage should not be a big problem even if you go for the 32GB model. As for the device's US availability, aside from AT&T, the other three of the 'big four' carriers will be carrying it - the handset costs $700in the country.

Samsung Galaxy J7, LG Stylo 2, and Kyocera Hydro Reach launch at Boost and Virgin Mobile on Friday

This Friday will be a very busy day for Sprint's prepaid brands, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile. The former will see no less than three new smartphones launching on April 15, while the latter will have to go with two out of three. The trio in question consists of the Samsung Galaxy J7, LG Stylo 2, and Kyocera Hydro Reach.

The Galaxy J7 arriving at Boost and Virgin isn't this year's iteration, instead it looks to be last year's model, but it does have a couple of upgrades compared to the internationally available unit. Namely, it sports 2GB of RAM, and it's also running Android 6.0 Marshmallow right out of the gate.

The J7 also has a 5.5-inch 720p Super AMOLED touchscreen, 16GB of expandable storage, a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP selfie cam, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615 SoC with a 1.4 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU, and a 3,000 mAh battery. It will be sold by the prepaid carriers for $229.99 plus tax (and obviously sans contract).

The LG Stylo 2 is the successor to the G Stylo from last year. It boasts a 5.7-inch 720p IPS touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP selfie snapper, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 410 chipset (with a 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU), 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 3,000 mAh battery. It runs Android Marshmallow and comes with a stylus as its name implies.

The Stylo 2 will be priced at $179.99 plus tax and will arrive at Boost this Friday and at Virgin on May 9.

Finally, the Kyocera Hydro Reach has a 5-inch 540x960 touchscreen, a 5 MP rear camera, a 2 MP front-facing unit, a 1.1 GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and a 2,160 mAh battery. It runs Android 5.1 Lollipop. Its main claim to fame is the fact that it's water and dust proof. It will cost $99.99 plus tax.

Android N Developer Preview 2 is out

A month or so ago Google surprised the mobile world by launching the first developer preview of Android N way earlier than expected. And now the search giant is pushing out Android N Developer Preview 2 to those who've installed the first one.

While technically this is the third developer preview release for Android N, the second onecame immediately after the first and was only meant to fix some bugs.

Today's Android N Developer Preview 2 packs in some new features as well. Apps can define intent shortcuts, which users can then add to their launcher to get stuff done quicker. For example, one such shortcut would let you send a message to a specific contact, or start navigating home in a mapping app.

Emoji Unicode 9 support is baked in too, which means people emoji will look more human. There are also skin tone variations built in, and Unicode 9 glyphs such as bacon, selfie, and face palm.

Certain general API changes have made the cut, as well as bug fixes of course, and a new 3D rendering API called Vulkan should help developers offer "a significant boost in performance for draw-call heavy applications". The full developer-focused details can be found at the Source link below.

If you're already running the Android N Developer Preview, this update will be rolling out to you over-the-air in the following days. Otherwise, if you want to start testing now, just go hereand enroll one of your Nexus or Pixel devices in the Android Beta Program. You'll then receive the update shortly (also OTA), no other actions are necessary. Finally, you can download the new release and flash it manually if you're into that type of thing.

Google notes that the Android N Developer Preview is still not ready to be used as a daily driver on your main device, because it's not optimized for performance and battery life.

LG's new Rolly Keyboard 2 rolls up along five key rows

Remember the LG Rolly Keyboard? A wireless portable keyboard that could be folded into an easy-to-carry stick. Well, a successor to that device has been unveiled. Appropriately dubbedRolly Keyboard 2, the new keyboard contains several improvements over its predecessor.

While the first-gen Rolly had four rows of keys, the successor rolls up along five. LG has also added a tab at the bottom that the company claims makes it easier for users to open the keyboard. While using the same Bluetooth tech, the Rolly 2 is capable of pairing up to 3 three devices, compared to 2 devices on the original one.

The Rolly Keyboard 2 carries a price tag of around $110, and will be available for purchase in LG's home country of South Korea. There's currently no information on if and when it will be available in international markets.

New Nvidia Shield Tablet K1 update brings Android 6.0.1

Nvidia has started rolling out a new update to the Shield Tablet K1 that adds Vulkan support and brings Android Marshmallow version 6.0.1 to the tablet. Aside from the Android 6.0.1 goodies, the update - which bumps the software version to 1.2 - also includes Android security patch for the month of March, as well as several other features, improvements, and bug fixes.

Here's the complete change-log:

• Supports the new Vulkan API for high-efficiency access to SHIELD’s graphics hardware

• Adds Android 6.0.1 changes including:

        Repositioned Navigation Buttons in Landscape mode & Updated Emojis

        Double Tap Power Button to launch SHIELD Camera app

        Do Not Disturb Until Next Alarm

• Support for Android Doze mode & additional power optimizations

• Adds USB MIDI support

• Adds memory compression enhancement

• Improved Wi-Fi connectivity when waking from sleep

• Fixed Compass functionality

• Fixed Gamepad Mapper issues

• Fixed issues with moving apps to SD card

• Fixed Doom 3 HDMI output issue

• Repositioned Lasso Capture icons in landscape mode

• Update to Android 6.0 Security Patch Level March 1, 2016

• Overall stability and security enhancements

The company says the update will start hitting he original SHIELD Tablet (including LTE models) in a few weeks from now.

Mystery phone revealed: Sony Xperia X's front-facing camera shoots great selfies

We came up with a puzzle for you to solve yesterday and here's the answer - the 13MP image was captured with the front-facing camera of the Sony Xperia X (sans Performance, but the two cameras are actually identical).

Clues were abundant - so much so that we resorted to deliberately asking you to ignore them. Well, those who called our bluff were right, there were plenty of correct answers in the comments, but we didn't expect less from our knowledgeable readership.

The selfie camera of the Xperia X shoots images up to 4,160 x 3,120px resolution - fairly common for a midranger's primary shooter. It uses a Type 1/3" sensor, which is rather large for a front-facer, where the smaller Type 1/4" and 1/5" sensors are usually used. A 6-element lens directs light into it, through an f/2.0 aperture. There's also autofocus in a world of almost exclusively fixed-focus selfie cameras, so all in all, it's a pretty impressive specsheet.

Sony Xperia X selfie sample

But with cameras, numbers come second to image quality and the Xperia X's front snapper delivers. The image is sharp and detailed, colors are vivid, without being over the top and dynamic range hardly leaves us wanting. We're less thrilled about the abundance of chroma noise in darker areas, but not to the point we'd call it a deal-breaker.

So, in just two words - we like. There's more to like about the Sony Xperia X though, and we'll be sharing more of our experience with the smartphone in the coming days, so stay tuned.

LG is now selling batteries and charging cradles for the G4, G3, and V10 for $15 each, $10 when bundled

LG is holding an interesting limited time deal for accessories in the US, as it turns out. You can save 60% when you buy a replacement battery, 50% when getting a charging cradle, and a whopping 70% when combining the two into a bundle.

The smartphone models for which you can purchase these accessories at such steep discounts are the G4, G3, and V10. Do note however that only the battery is available for the G3.

No matter which one you pick, each battery or charging cradle now costs only $15. But when you pair a cradle with a battery for the same device, you'll only pay $20 total. That's quite the offer, so make sure you take advantage of it if you own one of these handsets and feel you need either a new battery, a battery charging cradle, or both.