HTC 10 goes on pre-order in Romania early, for a hefty €740

Well, I’m starting to understand why HTC may be considering a cheaper version of the HTC 10 - one Romanian phone retailer is charging RON 3,300, or $830/€740, for a pre-order. This is for the 32GB version, which is available in Gold, Silver and Grey.

The phone is expected to go on sale April 15 so this price may not be final, but it’s likely fairly close. And if that’s true, the 10 will cost more than the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the LG G5 and as much as a basic iPhone 6s.

Not that this is uncharacteristic of HTC, but the company needs to generate revenue, so it can’t afford to scare away potential buyers with a steep price tag. It’s already at a disadvantage for launching so late.

The HTC 10 will take the rounded aluminum design of the A9 and spruce up the specs to flagship level - 5.15” QHD screen (LCD probably), Snapdragon 820 chipset with 4GB of RAM and a 12MP camera.

Xiaomi's new Redmi 3 Pro adds fingerprint scanner and 3GB RAM

Xiaomi has unveiled a Pro variant of the Redmi 3 smartphone. The main difference between the new device and the standard Redmi 3 phone is that the former features a fingerprint sensor and has 3GB RAM 32GB stotage boost.

Other specs remain same, meaning the Redmi 3 Pro also sports a 5-inch HD display, and is powered by a Snapdragon 616 chipset. Camera department is handled by the same 13MP main and 5MP front shooters, while battery also remains unchanged at 4,100mAh.

The handset also offers support for dual-SIM functionality and runs Android 5.1 Lollipop OS. Connectivity options include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS/A-GPS, and microUSB 2.0, while color options include silver, grey and gold.

Carrying an RMB 899 ($140) price tag, the Redmi 3 Pro will go on sale starting April 4, the day when Xiaomi's Mi Fan Festival kicks off.

KGI: 2017 iPhone to have AMOLED screen and a 5.8" model

According to the latest report by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo at KGI Securities, the company will completely revamp its 2017 iPhone line-up. The analyst is still adamant that Apple will release its upcoming flagship smartphone with AMOLED screen, but instead of doing so in 2018 his forecast has changed to next year.

In addition, the 2017 iPhone will have a curved display and curved glass body, building on the design foundation set by the iPhone 4. The "completely new form factor" will have narrow bezels and a comfortable grip. The size of the 2017 iPhone Plus display remains the previously rumored 5.8" in size. This means the flagship iPhone lineup of 2017 will have 4.8" and 5.8" size options.

Mr. Kuo says that Apple will likely choose a glass back design instead of ceramic for the 2017 iPhone due to the difficulties of controlling the tolerance of ceramic. According to him this will also allow Apple to adopt wireless charging.

There's no solid evidence for those claims, so take them with a pinch of salt, as there's a lot of time until 2017 and plans might change.

Meizu m3 note spotted on AnTuTu with Helio P10 SoC, 3GB RAM

Meizu's upcoming m3 note smartphone has been spotted on the AnTuTu benchmark. The listing reveals that the device is powered by a Mediatek Helio P10 chipset and sports a full HD display.

Other key specs that the listing reveals include 13MP rear and 5MP front camera, 2GB/16GB and 3GB/32GB memory configurations, and Android 5.1 Lollipop. If you compare, these specs (except for the 3GB RAM variant) are broadly inline with what has already been rumored.

Previous reports have also suggested that the phone - which is scheduled to be unveiled on April 6 - will have a 5.5-inch screen and pack in a 3,200 mAh battery. As for the price, the 16GB variant is said to carry a tag of RMB 799 ($122, €109), while the 32GB model will cost RMB 999 ($153, €137).

Xiaomi unveils new Wi-Fi ac router, BT speaker and water purifier

Soon everything in your house can carry the Xiaomi brand - we saw the Wi-Fi enabled rice cooker, now let's look at the rest of the Mi Ecosystem lineup.

Xiaomi Mi Router 3

It starts with the heart of a Wi-Fi network, the router. The Mi Router 3 features four antennas with Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac support for three times the performance of the previous generations. Unlike the Mi Router 2, this one doesn't seem to come with terabytes of storage, but Xiaomi offers music and video streaming content through an exclusive app.

The Xiaomi Mi Router 3 will cost CNY 150 ($23).

Xiaomi Water Purifier 2

The Xiaomi Water Purifier 2 can easily handle the whole household - it uses reverse osmosis to remove even the smallest impurities at a rate of 1 liter a minute. At that speed, it can fill 76 barrels of water each day. It is Wi-Fi enabled, of course, so you can track the quality of water on Android and iOS devices.

The Xiaomi Water Purifier 2 weighs in at 11.8kg and CNY 2,000 ($310).

Xiaomi Bluetooth Speaker

Finally, the only thing without Wi-Fi is the Xiaomi Bluetooth Speaker. It's a 5W speaker with BT4.1 connectivity and a 1,200mAh battery that will last up to 7 hours of continuous playback. It measures 60 x 60 x 93.3mm.

The Bluetooth Speaker is quite affordable at CNY 130 ($20).

Truecaller bug puts 100,000,000 users's privacy at risk

There is no doubt that Truecaller offers a splendid and truly natural upgrade to the otherwise really analog service that is voice calling. If you are not in the know about the app, it is simply an interactive directory for the smartphone age, that offers extra functions like blacklists, online statuses and access to aggregated personal info (address, photo, email etc.).

However, when dealing with sensitive personal data on such a big scale, hiccups are typically quite scary, as Truecaller can already attest. The last such scare was when hackers have discovered a potential exploit that could allow access to any user profile on Truecaller.

Before you get too freaked out, the process does require access to your phone's IMEI address, which isn't too easy to obtain. Hackers claimed that obtaining it could allow them to steal or even alter details such as account name, gender, profile pic, home address and just about anything else Truecaller has on record for you. Allegedly, the method could even be used to modify account settings and tamper with stuff like spam filters and blacklists, potentially even disrupting the your phone experience.

Thankfully, whatever the exploit was, Truecaller has acted quickly and has already patched the bug. However in order for the fix to start working, you need to update their app. Hopefully, the problem won't escalate any further.

Microsoft to add Handoff-like feature on Windows 10

Apple was the first to offer the so-called Continuity feature between the Mac OS X and iOS. The service itself is called Handoff and allows you to begin a task on a Mac machine and continue it on an iOS device, or vice versa.

The Handoff works via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and the compatible apps automatically notify you for Handoff-enabled devices in close proximity. If there is such a device, you can continue browsing, writing mails, docs, or notes on another device.

Windows 10 took a different approach with Continuum - thanks to the unified apps (a feature many were hoping Apple will bring) you can connect any compatible mobile device (phone, phablet, tablet) and use the full-blown desktop mode of apps like MS Office, Maps, OneDrive, File Explorer, Edge and Skype.

Continuum, whether you are using a dock to connect peripherals, or not, transforms your mobile device into a PC workstation.

And now Microsoft is rumored to be working to expand Windows Continuum with a Handoff-like feature. If true, this will allow compatible Windows 10 devices to exchange and migrate data between compatible apps in real time.

The new Continuum support is expected to come with the planned Redstone update for Windows 10 later this year. Microsoft has nothing to detail yet, but maybe we'll get to hear something on the upcoming BUILD conference kicking off tomorrow.

Jason Statham stars in the first LG G5 TV ad

LG has officially announced Hollywood superstar Jason Statham will be starring in the G5 ad campaign. Statham will showcase the G5's modular prowess while also highlighting "the fun and playful experiences possible" with it.

LG has hired creative agency Energy BBDO and filmmaker Fredrik Bond for the TV spot.

Here's a taste of the series of ads that are about to hit the web starring Jason Statham.

Did you notice that Statham plays every character in the clip above? You're welcome.

Xiaomi announces Mi Ecosystem sub-brand

Although Xiaomi's core products are smartphones, smart televisions, and smart routers, the company has dabbled in other product categories, such as water purifiers, and air purifiers. These products have been made by other brands for Xiaomi, for whom Xiaomi acted as a business incubator.

The company has now announced that it will be collating all these products under a new sub-brand called Mi Ecosystem. It also announced the latest product to be part of this brand, the Mi Induction Heating Pressure Rice Cooker.

Xiaomi's Rice Cooker is Wi-Fi compatible and connects to your phone through an app. You can set it manually or let it figure out how to cook that particular brand of rice by scanning the pack, and the cooker currently supports over 200 brands of rice. It also supports cooking other kinds of rice, such as brown rice, crispy rice, and even cakes. You can set it to cook these items automatically through the app, which supports 2450 heating methods.

The cooker employs a magnetic relief valve to precisely control the pressure inside. The lining material is grey cast iron that has undergone 69-step process. The PFA powder coating prevents the rice from sticking to the bottom.

The Mi Induction Heating Pressure Rice Cooker is priced at RMB 999 ($153), which is 40% less than the comparable high-end rice cooker.

GoPro drops Windows Phone support

Back in December last year, action camera maker GoPro promised to update their Windows Phone app with support for Windows 10 Mobile. However, it has now come to light that the company has dropped the support for Microsoft's mobile platform.

"Please keep in mind that the previous post stating that we support Windows phones was back in the beginning of December of last year, and as is the nature of technology things change fast," a GoPro support member wrote while replying to a user query on the company's website.

"That being said, we definitely do offer legacy support for Windows phones. This means we will do all we can to help out in getting your phone and camera connected, but we will no longer adding updates and new features to the Windows platform." The company has also stopped advertising Windows Phone support - GoPro's website now only shows Google Play and Apple App Store as the download options for its app.

This comes shortly after the company discontinued its budget HERO series of cameras.

PlayStation VR on PCs? Possible, says Sony executive

As you might already know, one needs a Sony PS4 to get started with the company's PlayStation VR headset. But what if you could try it with your PC instead? While that's certainly not possible at the moment, the good news is that Sony seems to be open to the idea of making the headset compatible with PCs.

"Since PlayStation 4 shares a lot of its components with PCs, the possibility is there," said Masayasu Ito, Sony Computer Entertainment’s senior vice president. He, however, made it clear that PC compatibility is not the priority at the moment. "At the moment we are focused on games and we are not ready to make any announcements at this stage, but I’d say there will be an expansion into various fields."

In case you don't already know, the $500 PSVR Launch Bundle is already available to pre-order, while the $400 PlayStation VR core bundle will be up for pre-orders today. Launch is scheduled for the month of October.

Verizon Galaxy S7/S7 edge users can now download Samsung's Web browser

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge users on Verizon can now access Samsung's Android Web browser. The browser app, which didn't come pre-installed on the handsets and was being shown as 'incompatible' with the devices until now, can now be downloaded from Google Play.

The browser was in news last month when Samsung rolled out an update to it that brought along support for ad blocking - basically, the South Korean company added a new API that developers can use to build ad blocking extensions for the browser.

Samsung's launch partner for the feature was the Adblock Fast app, the team behind which claimed that the extension allows webpages to load an average of 51% faster.