vivo V3 Max spotted on TENAA with octa-core CPU, 3GB RAM

A couple of days after vivo teased the V3 and V3 Max the latter has been spotted on the website of Chinese regulatory TENAA. The listing reveals a 1.5GHz octa-core CPU and 5.5-inch TFT Full HD display.

Other key specs that have been revealed include 3GB RAM, 32GB expandable internal memory, and Android 5.1.1 Lollipop OS. The image reveals a rear fingerprint scanner as well. Available in golden color option, the device measures 153.90 × 77.10 × 7.58mm and weighs in at 168g.

There's currently no official word on the vivo Max's availability or pricing.

Oculus Rift shipments begin

Three months after it went up for pre-order, the Oculus Rift has started shipping, with deliveries beginning March 28. This was announced by Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe in a tweet.

As you might already know, the Facebook-owned company has priced the Oculus Rift at $599. Paying that much gets you the VR headset itself (complete with built-in headphones and microphone), as well as the sensor, an Xbox One controller, and the Oculus Remote.

Recently, the company also announced a list of 30 VR games that it said will be launched alongside the headset on March 28. In case you missed out on pre-orders, you can buy the device from Oculus' website, although shipments for orders placed now is expected to begin in June.

iOS 9.3 roll-out is temporarily on hold for some older models

Software development is an almost endless process of introducing bugs and consecutively trying to remove them, hopefully without causing any more. There is no such thing as perfect software, nor perfect users, for that matter and Apple, just like any other large-scale software vendor makes no exception to the rule. In a new development around the recently released public iOS 9.3 update, Cupertino found itself battling issues, which has necessitated a temporary halt in the roll-out for certain older devices.

The problem seems to be in the update procedure, mixed in with some forgetfulness on the user's part. Apparently installing the OTA on certain older devices requires you to enter your iCloud credentials. Before you do so, or if you fail to remember them, the device remains unusable. Apple has already posted an official workaround that seems to involve syncing with iTunes and getting the credentials from there, so, if you have found yourself in the activation brick situation on an older Apple device (iPad 5s, iPad Air and earlier), you can try it out.

Updating some iOS devices (iPhone 5s and earlier and iPad Air and earlier) to iOS 9.3 can require entering the Apple ID and password used to set up the device in order to complete the software update," an Apple spokesperson told iMore. "In some cases, if customers do not recall their password, their device will remain in an inactivated state until they can recover or reset their password. For these older devices, we have temporarily pulled back the update and will release an updated version of iOS 9.3 in the next few days that does not require this step.

In the meantime, as already mentioned, Cupertino has stopped seeding the update to the affected devices and has promised to provide a new version that does not require the activation step in the next few days.

Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro sales starting on April 6

Unveiled at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, the Xiaomi Mi 5 went on sale in China earlier this month. However, of the three of its variants, only two (3GB/32GB and 3GB/64GB) were made available for purchase.

For those waiting for the launch of the Pro variant (4GB RAM and 128GB internal memory), here's some good news: the device will go on sale in China on April 6. In case you don't already know, the Huawei P9 and Meizu m3 note are already scheduled to be unveiled on the same day.

As for the Mi 5's international availability, Xiaomi's VP Hugo Barra has already said that the flagship will only be available in the company's core markets, so importing one might be the only chance for the western world.

OnePlus 3 with SD820 SoC and 16MP camera spotted on AnTuTu

The successor to OnePlus' last year's OP2 smartphone has been spotted on AnTuTu, revealing some of its key specs. The listing reveals that the OnePlus 3 is powered by a Snapdragon 820 chipset and sports a 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution display (screen size is said to be 5.5-inch).

It has 4GB RAM and 32GB internal memory. In terms of camera, the handset features a 16MP rear unit and an 8MP front shooter. In addition, the listing also reveals a model number of A3000, and Android OS version 6.0.1.

As for the phone's unveiling, we're yet to hear an official word on it. However, OnePlus is reportedly holding an event on April 7 in China's capital city of Beijing, and speculations are rife that the OP3 will be the star of the event.

LG G5 'Lite' with Snapdragon 652 spotted at TENAA

You can add China to the countries that will get the LG H848, aka LG G5 Lite. That's an unofficial name, the phone is called just "LG G5," but the reduction in specs is enough to earn in that moniker.

The major change is in processing power - gone is the flagship Snapdragon 820, replaced by an upper mid-range Snapdragon 652. It's actually a solid chipset with four Cortex-A72 and four A53 cores, but the Adreno 510 has big shoes to fill by having to drive the 5.3" QHD screen (the Adreno 530 is one of the most powerful mobile GPUs right now).

The RAM has been cut back to 3GB (down from 4G on the "full fat" G5). The S652 version for Latin America was justified as a cost-cutting measure, we guess the reasoning for China is similar - there you can get a metal-clad phone for prices the West can only dream about.

Anyway, the LG H848 still has a modular design, a dual 16MP (narrow) + 8MP (wide) camera setup, 32GB of storage and Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The S652 chipset is fully capable of 2160p video capture, which was an issue with earlier 6-series phones.

New info on the the Samsung Galaxy S7 active - code name Poseidon suggested

If you have been keeping a close eye on the news section lately then you might remember the mysterious SM-G891A, that was spotted in a package heading towards AT&T a couple of days ago. The scoop was originally picked up by Evan Blass (@evleaks), along with a quite justifiable assumption that the device currently undergoing testing at the carrier is actually an upcoming Galaxy S7 active.

Today, the plot thickens even further, as the reputable leakster has apparently sank his teeth even further into the issue, uncovering that the SM-G891A is actually codenamed Samsung Poseidon. This is yet another clear indicator of the "active" nature of the handset in question. And, considering the already stated model number similarity with the S6 active - SM-G890A, all signs suggest an S7 active is incoming shortly.

Again, even with the new available information, the whole story still begs the question as to what exactly the S7 active will offer on top of the Galaxy S7's already impressive feature set. A bigger battery seems likely and the code name would point to salt-water resistance, but with the basic lineup now offering both waterproofing and a microSD card slot, it will be interesting to see whether the Galaxy S7 active provides quite as big of an upgrade incentive as the Galaxy S6 active did last year.

Apple Music for Android gets a widget

Apple updated the Apple Music app on Android, and changed a handful of things, including a new widget.

Now, you can have a widget for the app on your homescreen. It's nothing fancy; a 3x1 widget that shows the track info, playback controls, album art, and a like button. The widget is not resizable and I'm not sure if it's just 3x1 on my device or in general but that means it doesn't go from edge to edge and there is a 1x1 space left on the side, which is annoying.

Other than that, you can now also redeem iTunes Gift Cards in the settings to continue your membership. The Radio tab now shows what is playing on the Beats 1 station without tuning in. You can tap on the name of the currently playing song in Now Playing to go to the album. Lastly, the popular songs in an album now have a star next to them. These are all changes introduced in the Music app on iOS in 9.3 and it's good to see them making their way to the Android app so soon.

Galaxy S6 edge+ gets Android Marshmallow in India and France

Samsung has a lot on its plate right now with the launch of its smash-hit, the Galaxy S7. Even so, the company has been gradually releasing Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates for many variants of its flagship phones.

Recently, users in India and France have been tweeting with joy upon receiving the major update totaling to about 1.3GB in size. The update brings enhanced performance, improved fingerprint security (requiring users to enter an alternative method of security like pattern or PIN), Quick Connect improvements, Improvements to the batter saver, and overall UI changes here and there.

If you haven’t received the OTA notification, you can try to check for the update by going to Settings >> About Device >> Download Updates manually. From here, you can either install now, later, or schedule an overnight update.

Verizon's LG V10 is now receiving Android 6.0 Marshmallow update

During the course of this day, Sprint has sent out updates to Android 6.0 Marshmallow tomultiple Android devices it's sold, and now it looks like Verizon wants in on that action too.

The carrier nicknamed Big Red is currently seeding the Marshmallow update to the LG V10 units that people have purchased from its stores. The V10, as you may know, is LG's previous high-end smartphone, now outshined by the G5 (which is already up for pre-order at Verizon, incidentally).

After you update your V10, you'll be running software version VS99022a. This obviously comes packing all the goodies which Google has included in Android 6.0. We're talking about things such as Google Now On Tap, Doze Mode, and the new permissions, for example. We assume LG has also fixed some bugs.

Of course it's customary for these rollouts to be staged, so not every Verizon V10 unit out there is going to get the notification today - but all of them should have the software within a few days. If you're impatient you can always manually check for the new release by going to Settings > About phone > Software updates.

Reminder: Side Sync for the Galaxy S7 is pretty awesome

Side Sync is nothing new. It’s been around since the Galaxy S4 and it works all the way back to the Galaxy S III as long as you’re on KitKat 4.4 and above and it’s a pretty underrated feature of the Galaxy lineup.

You can install Side Sync on a PC or Mac and it allows you to control everything about your smartphone, drag and drop files, open apps, take phone calls, share your clipboard, and click around on a virtual version on your phone, all without root!

To get started:

• Install Side Sync on your Galaxy device from the ‘Galaxy Apps’ store or Google Play Store
• Install Side Sync on your PC or Mac from here
• Launch Side Sync on the computer first, then launch on your device
• Connect to your computer by using a Micro USB cable
• Control panel window appears

It’s worth noting that you don’t need to connect your phone directly to your computer, you can also connect with Side Sync over a shared Wi-Fi connection (not Wi-Fi direct). Though, the connection isn’t going to be as stable as a physical USB cable. You can pair the two devices with either a QR code or a 3 digit PIN that you must enter into the Desktop app.

Once connected, the control panel shows you a few icons, and a notification center. You can dismiss notifications directly from this notification center. Clicking on a notification will launch your phone’s screen in a separate window and automatically open the corresponding app. From here, you can use the mouse and keyboard to control your phone and take action upon the notification as needed. 

A row of icons above the notification window can be customized, you can add any app to this list of shortcuts to easily launch it right on your phone and bring it up to your desktop screen automatically..

A row of icons above the notification window can be customized, you can add any app to this list of shortcuts to easily launch it right on your phone and bring it up to your desktop screen automatically.

Shazam for iOS updated with even better Apple Music integration

Shazam has been updated just following the release of iOS 9.3. Before the app’s update, Shazam was able to let you tag a song, then take you to the song’s page in Apple Music. Now with Shazam 9.4.1, users can tag a song and add it to a playlist directly from the app. All tagged songs will also be added to an Apple Music playlist called “My Shazam Tracks”.

Users will also be able to listen to the entire track they just tagged without leaving the Shazam app. The song is streamed from Apple Music in the background.

These updates are made possible by Apple Music’s new iOS 9.3 update which allowed better integration of Apple Music into third-party applications. Now if only Apple would improve the experience with third-party music service apps like Spotify, Google Music, and Pandora.