Meizu MX6 now tipped for H2 launch

If you're eagerly waiting for the successor to Meizu's MX5 smartphone, looks like your wait isn't going to end anytime soon. The device, which was previously rumored to be made official in April-May time-frame, is now said to be launching in H2, 2016.

The latest rumor comes out of Meizu's home country of China, and if it's true, we'll have to wait at-least a couple of more months for the device.

Being the subject of only a handful of rumors so far, the MX6 (which is what the device is likely to be called) is said to be powered by a MediaTek Helio X20 SoC with 10-core CPU and Mali-T880 MP4 GPU, and sport a full HD display.

Other rumored specs include, 3GB/32GB memory configuration, 21MP/8MP camera combo, 4,000mAh battery, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Lenovo starts rolling out Vibe P1 Marshmallow update

Lenovo has started rolling out the Marshmallow update to its Vibe P1 smartphone, which was launched late last year. The Chinese company announced the roll-out in a post on its official forums.

"We expect Marshmallow to be rolling out for the Vibe P1, P1A42, over the next few days," the post said. However, comments left by users following the aforementioned announcement post suggest that the update has already started hitting units in India.

Given that the OTA roll out has just begin, it may take some time for the update to hit your device. However, if you're feeling impatient, you can manually check for it by heading to your handset's Settings menu.

HTC 10 will be available at Sprint on May 13

It looks like Verizon may have some kind of short-term exclusivity on the HTC 10 for the US carrier market. Mere hours ago the company nicknamed Big Red started taking pre-orders for the device, with a "ship by" date of May 5.

And now Sprint has officially announced availability details for the HTC 10 too, and it turns out it will launch the smartphone later than Verizon. The HTC 10 will be out at Sprint starting on May 13.

Price-wise, the only information that the Now Network has put out so far is with regard to purchasing the device on an installment plan. The HTC 10 will be $0 down and $26 per month for 24 months. That adds up to a grand total of $624, which is probably also going to be the full retail price for the phone at Sprint. That makes it cheaper than what Verizon is asking for sans contract, but in terms of installment plans Big Red has the better offer right now - for a limited time the total of your payments for the 10 over two years will reach just $548.

Upcoming LG K series smartphones get benchmarked with Snapdragon 430

LG is working on adding new members to its K family of smartphones. This has been made obvious by a couple of listings in a benchmark's online database. Someone has tested both the LG K530 and the K535 in Geekbench, and this has resulted in us finding out a few of their most important specs, courtesy of the benchmark's info tab.

The K530 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 430 chipset (which has a 1.2 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU and the Adreno 505 GPU), aided by 2GB of RAM. The prototype tested ran Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. The processor's clock speed actually shows up as 1.4 GHz in the benchmark, but Qualcomm's official documents say it doesn't go over 1.2 GHz, so that's probably an error of some type in Geekbench.

This is sort of confirmed by the fact that the K535's clock speed is listed as 0 MHz. The K535 has identical specs to the K530, save for it coming with 3GB of RAM. This makes us think the two models here could in fact be two different versions of the same upcoming smartphone, especially since LG likes to launch many different iterations of its mid-rangers, with various spec changes between markets.

The K530 and K535 are both a step up in specs compared to the existing K10, so expect them to feature higher in the K series than that - K11, perhaps. It's still unclear when either of these phones will get official.

HTC 10 goes on pre-order at Verizon, Bell is exclusively selling it in Canada

Right on its previously announced schedule, today Verizon has started taking pre-orders for the HTC 10. The phone is available for a limited time for $100 off its usual price, but only if you grab one using a device installment plan.

If you do go that route, you'll pay nothing upfront, then followed by 24 monthly installments of $22.83. That all adds up to around $548, compared to the $648 full retail price. Verizon promises that pre-ordered HTC 10 units will be delivered to you by May 5.

Up north in Canada, as you may know already, Bell is the exclusive carrier partner for the HTC 10, which means you have to buy it from that company if you want it with a contract (there's also the choice of purchasing unlocked, of course).

And now the HTC 10 is actually available to buy from Bell. It will set you back CAD 349.99 with a new two-year contract (starting at CAD 80 per month), or CAD 899.99 sans long-term service agreement.

UK: Silver Galaxy S7 and S7 edge exclusive to Carphone Warehouse, available now

While the white color version for the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge is exclusive to EE in the UK (and pre-orders have just started), it turns out that the silver hue for the Korean company's flagships is exclusive to Carphone Warehouse.

However, if you're a fan of the silver S7 or S7 edge you don't need to wait any more before you purchase either device. They're already available at Carphone Warehouse.

If you opt for a Pay Monthly arrangement, the recommended deal for the S7 has it costing £59 upfront with a £36 per month plan. This nets you 10GB of data and unlimited minutes and texts on the Vodafone network, but the deal ends next Wednesday.

For the Galaxy S7 edge, you pay £129 upfront, and get the exact same contract - once again only until Wednesday. Note though that these are merely the best value for money plans according to Carphone Warehouse, but you can choose from many more if you go through the whole list.

SIM-free, the S7 costs £549 and the S7 edge is priced at £639.

Two new Sony phones leak through benchmark, one has a 16MP selfie cam

Thanks to the entries in an online benchmark database, two upcoming Sony smartphones have been outed today. For now their exact names aren't known, they go only by their model numbers.

According to information from GFXBench, the Sony F3216 has a 4.6-inch 1080p touchscreen, a 21 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 16 MP selfie snapper, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. It's powered by the MediaTek MT6755 Helio P10 SoC, which comes with a 1.9 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU and the Mali-T860 GPU. The prototype tested ran Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Aside from its tiny screen size, this device has specs that easily peg it to be the upcoming Xperia C6, a handset that was allegedly pictured a couple of weeks ago. It's going to be the successor to the Xperia C5 Ultra from last year (which is pictured above), and it's said to sport a 6-inch screen. This being said, keep in mind that benchmarks sometimes do get their display size estimates wrong when early prototypes are involved, and GFXBench in particular has done this before - showing 4.6" for devices with larger panels.

So the F3216 could turn out to be the C6, especially as the C5 Ultra had a big focus on its selfie camera too - a 13 MP unit with LED flash. The F3216 takes things further with a 16 MP sensor.

The other handset that's leaked because it's been benchmarked is the Sony F3311. This is a lower-end offering, apparently having a 4.6-inch 720p touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP selfie shooter, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, as well as Android 6.0 on board. At the helm is MediaTek's MT6735 chipset, with a 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU and the Mali-T720 GPU.

ZUK Z1 to reportedly land in India as Lenovo Z1

We already know that the Z1 smartphone from Lenovo subsidiary ZUK will be launched in India soon - Lenovo has started teasing the device and also sent out media invites for the launch event (date isn't yet confirmed).

However, what's new is that the phone could shed the ZUK branding for its India launch. According a report out of China, the ZUK Z1 will be sold in India as the Lenovo Z1. There was, however, no word on why the Chinese company has decided to take this step.

Given that the brand Lenovo has pretty good visibility in India, it would be reasonable to assume that the company wants to cash in on it. Online-only brand ZUK, if you recall, was anyway aimed at countering the rise of other Chinese Internet brands like Xiaomi and OnePlus.

The dedicated website that the company has created for the smartphone's India launch also does not mention the ZUK branding anywhere, so it definitely seems that the ZUK Z1 will be Lenovo Z1 in India. However, Keep in mind that Lenovo is yet to confirm the move, so until then, take this information with a grain of salt.

Samsung brings Galaxy J5 (2016) and Galaxy J7 (2016) to South Korea

The Galaxy J5 (2016) and J7 (2016), which were first unveiled late last month in China, have been officially announced by Samsung in its home country of South Korea.

Carrying a price tag of KRW 290,000 (around $255) and KRW 363,000 (around $320), respectively, the handsets will be available for purchase from local carrier KT, which will be selling them in the black and gold color options.

An important thing worth mentioning here is that the South Korean Galaxy J7 comes with 720p display and 2GB RAM, compared to the full HD display and 3GB RAM that the Chinese version features.

In addition, Samsung also revealed that the Galaxy J3 (2016) will also be landing in South Korea soon.

If you're in Europe, it's worth knowing that the Galaxy J7 (2016) is already available for purchase there, although Samsung is yet to make a formal announcement about the European launch. The J5 (2016), however, is expected to arrive there soon.

Will.i.am's Dial smartwatch now available to pre-order

Remember musician will.i.am's Dial smartwatch which was unveiled back in February this year? Well, the timepiece is now available to pre-order - Three UK currently has the device listed on its website with an estimated delivery date of May 13.

As for the price, it's available on a 2-year contract where-in you'll be required to pay £49.00 up front, followed by a monthly payment of £24.00 for 24 months. The plan includes 500MB data and 100 minutes of talk time each month. Of course, there are other plans as well.

To refresh, Dial is the musician's second attempt at wearables after the failure of Puls that was launched back in 2014. Design-wise, Dial is more like a traditional smartwatch. It can work on its own without being paired to a smartwatch, allowing you to take calls, messages, play music, and keep track of your health. It also has a voice assistant called AneedA, and a front camera.

Second-gen Moto 360 and Moto 360 Sport get $50 price cut in US

If you are a Motorola fan and are in the market for a smartwatch, here is a deal for you: the company's second-gen Moto 360 and Moto 360 Sport watches will soon be available at discounted prices in the United States.

The discount - $50 on both devices - is being offered by Verizon, and will be available starting next month (May 1 to be precise), with the deal running for the whole of the month.

The carrier currently has the Sport version listed for $300, so it will be available for $250 post discount. As for standard Moto 360, the 46mm variant with metal band for example will be available for $350, down from its current price of $400.

Aside from the Moto 360 and its Sport variant, the LG TONE PRO Bluetooth headset will also get a $10 price cut - the carrier normally sells it for $70.

32GB Moto X (2nd Gen) is now down to $199.99 unlocked

The 2nd generation Moto X is undoubtedly very old at this point. In fact, in just a few months it turns two. That's a lot in the mobile world, as you may know. That said, this was a top of the line offering when it came out, so even today it can measure up to the best mid-rangers out there in terms of performance. Oh, and from this point on it can do the same in price, too.

Motorola is currently offering up the 2nd gen Moto X for $199.99 carrier-free, and we're talking about the version with 32GB of storage. This is quite the price drop even compared to its previous level of $349.99.

You can take advantage of the deal over at Motorola's own online store for the US, and you can even use the MotoMaker service to customize your device as you want it (the price may go up, though, depending on what exact options you pick).