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Monday, April 11, 2016

Meizu Pro 6 fast charging gets a teaser prior to announcement

Meizu has officially revealed a nice Pro 6 detail in the phone's latest teaser. The Pro 6 will sport fast charging, which is either MediaTek's latest Pump Express Plus found on the Helio X25 chipset or Quick Charge 2.0 that's on the Samsung Exynos 8890 chip.

The Meizu Pro 6 fast charging teaser image
The rumor mill has been generous for the Meizu Pro 6 and the latest crop indicates the phone could sport a 10-LED flash placed below the 21 MP rear camera. RAM is rumored to be either 4GB or 6GB, while internal storage will be available as 128GB option.
The display of the Pro 6 is also from Samsung - a 5.7" QHD Super AMOLED panel. Finally, the company also revealed the back of the phone in a recent teaser.
We'll know for sure what the Meizu Pro 6 has to offer in just a couple of days on Arpil 13.

More HTC 10 images leak ahead of April 12 unveiling

A couple of more images of HTC's upcoming 10 smartphone - which has already been the subject of several leaks and rumors until now - have leaked online, showing the front as well as back of the black-colored variant.
The design, as revealed by this new set of leaked images, is broadly in-line with what we'vealready seen - a front facing camera as well as a physical home button (that's said to include a fingerprint sensor) and no HTC logo on the front; plus a round camera lens (next to LED flash and the laser focus) and a company logo between antenna lines on the back.
As for the specs, rumors say the handset is powered by Snapdragon 820, and sports a 5.2-inch QHD display. It has 4GB RAM and 32 as well as 64GB storage options.
The device has a 12MP UltraPixel rear camera (equipped with OIS and laser autofocus) and 5MP front shooter. The HTC 10 packs in a 3,000mAh battery, and also features a USB-C port for charging.
The phone is set to be unveiled online at 8AM EST tomorrow, April 12.

Sprint won't be carrying BlackBerry Priv after all

Back in January, at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), BlackBerry CEO confirmed that the Priv - which was an AT&T exclusive in the US at that time - will eventually be available from other major carries, including Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint.
While T-Mobile started selling the device in January itself, it landed on Verizon earlier last month. Sprint customers, on the other hand, have been waiting for the handset all this while. However, sadly, now it looks like the carrier has had a change of heart, with its customer care informing Priv hopefuls that Sprint won't be selling the Android device, at-least for now.
Although it isn't yet clear why Sprint has now decided against carrying the Priv, the revelation does come at a time when BlackBerry finally admitted that the phone's price tag (near-$700) was too high for customers. The Canadian company also revealed that it sold a total of 600,000 phones in its fiscal fourth quarter, which was way below the 850,000 figure forecasted by analysts.

Huawei Watch launched in India for $346

Huawei has finally launched the Huawei Watch in India. The Watch will be available on Flipkart starting today at 14:00 IST for INR 22,999, which is about $346. This is the base model that comes with a stainless steel body and leather strap, and otherwise retails for $349 in the US.
The Huawei Watch has a 1.4-inch fully circular AMOLED display with 286 PPI pixel density with sapphire crystal cover, 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor, 4GB internal storage, 512MB RAM, heart rate monitor, Wi-Fi, microphone and speaker, IP67 water resistance, and a 300mAh battery.

LG Watch Urbane drops down to $150

If you recall, back in January this year, the original LG Watch Urbane received a price cut in the US, and was being sold for $200. In case you missed out on that deal on eBay, and are still interested in purchasing the timepiece, you'll be glad to know that the device's price tag has been slashed further.
It's now going for just $150 on the online auction site. That's a solid price cut given the smartwatch's initial launch price of $349. While the deal was available on both gold and silver variants, the latter is currently being shown as out of stock. Shipping is free anywhere in the United States.
For those who aren't in the know, the Watch Urbane was launched in October 2015. It's is compatible with both iOS and Android.

Best Apps and Games of the Week

These are some of the best apps and games that came out this week.

Hub Keyboard

Microsoft's Hub Keyboard is now on iOS. It is similar to the app we saw on Android. The clipboard feature lets you access more than the latest copied text and gives a list of recently copied items. The documents feature lets you type and paste URL of your Office 365 documents in OneDrive or SharePoint. The contacts feature lets you easily enter contact information by typing their name. The only thing missing in the iOS version is the ability to type text in one language and have it translated instantly.
iOS • Android                         

Reddit


Reddit finally has an official mobile app. Currently available only in the US, UK and a few other regions, this is the quintessential reddit experience on your phone. As a bonus, you also get three months of reddit gold for being an early adopter.
iOS • Android

This

This is an annotation app that lets you type text on images with a pointer to mark out objects in the image. The app offers seven pointer styles in various configurations so you can have just the one you want.

Hooked

Hooked is an interesting chat app, where you read other people's chats. These aren't exactly real chats, but more of short stories written by people in a chat format. There are various 'genres' of chats available, so you can start reading whatever you're interested in, and they are kept short so it doesn't feel like you're reading a novel. You can also write your own chat and submit it to the app for others to read. The app highlights the currently trending chats and you can also comment on the ones you read.

Facebook Messenger

Facebook introduced two new features in the Messenger app. The first is Messenger Code, which is essentially a QR code that lets you add anyone by scanning their code through your app. The second is usernames, which now lets you have a user name on Messenger, as well as a custom m.me/username URL for yourself.
iOS • Android

Zero Click

Zero Click is an app by Domino's, which lets you order a pizza without pressing a single button. As long as you take out the time to fill your profile with your favorite order and your address ahead of the time, all you have to do next time is open the app and it will automatically order the preset pizza after waiting ten seconds. Just make sure you don't open the app accidentally.
iOS • Android

PKTBALL

PKTBALL is the latest game from Laser Dog. It is an insanely addictive and fast paced arcade game, which is essentially tennis but played by swiping your character around to where the ball is. The game moves at a rapid pace so you have to be quick on your fingertips and move your character quickly to return the ball back. Miss the ball twice and you lose. There are plenty of characters and courts to unlock. You can also play multiplayer with up to four people on the same device.

Chameleon Run

Chameleon Run is a high speed running game. Jump to avoid gaps and black spaces and switch color mid-air to match the platform. Fail to either of that and it's game over. Collect all the objects in the level or finish it without changing color even once to get additional stars.
iOS • Android

Disney Crossy Road

Disney Crossy Road brings the familiar Crossy Road gameplay to the world of Disney. The game is chock-full of Disney characters from across different properties (with the notable exception being Star Wars), all redone in the Crossy Road style blocky 3D graphics. The last part is something I'm personally not fond of as the characters somewhat lose their essence when turned all blocky like that. The game changes the level design to match each characters and you can keep playing or pay up real money to unlock the remaining characters.
iOS • Android • Windows 10

Wooden cases for Galaxy S7 and iPhone 6s Plus by Carved review

Motorola was the first to make the wooden cases more than just an exclusive accessory available to select few. Sure, the Moto G and Moto X wooden panels looked beautiful, but a piece of wood isn't the thing that sells phones.
Three years ago we were all about the faux-leather cases and panels. We witnessed many a phone by Samsung come with such design, but it was the LG G4 and it real leather back that did it best.
Now however we are back to arguing between glass and metal, and buying silicone or plastic cases/skins, the market needed something fresh. And here is where Carved thinks it can help.
The company makes cases of wood - they can be solid cases made entirely of wood, traveler or slim cases made of wood and rubber-like plastic, or just a wooden skin you glue on the back of your phone.
Today's level of technology allows you to paint any piece of wood any color and put a stamp on it. And if this were the case with Carved, I'd have probably put it side by side with all other case makers. But no, Carved has indeed made a difference with its inlay designs.
The best example is this Galaxy S7 New York Skyline Inlay Traveler Wood Case - a pretty self-explanatory name I'd say. The bottom of the case has been made of two different pieces of wood, judging by the wood pattern, and yet those have been carved with excellent precision.
At first, I thought the black layer has been glued on top of the lighter one, but this isn't the case. No, those are two separate pieces, like yin and yang, fitting together perfectly.
The NY Skyline Traveler Case made the Galaxy S7 rather thick, but it fulfills its purpose to keep it safe during trips and vacations, and make it look cool all the time.
I did a sort of experiment among my friends - my male friends said the Galaxy S7 looked cool, but lost its charm with this case. My female friends absolutely loved it. The case also proved to be a real head turner in the subway.
There are lots of different inlay designs you can choose from. And you can put this design on a solid wood case, a slim or a regular (traveler) case, or you just can get the wood piece only (called skin) and put it on the back of your phone, case-free.
The wood skins are available only for a handful of Apple iPhone models, as are the solid cases. The traveler models fit not only iPhones, but Galaxy S4, S5, S6/edge/edge+, S7/edge, and the Nexus 6P. Finally, the slim case models are only for iPhones and iPad mini.
The Pluto Slim Case for the iPhone 6s Plus we got is very beautiful - the Pluto stamp sits great on the black wood like a lonely planet within the black space, as is actually the case. Well almost, as Pluto isn't a planet anymore.
Anyway, the Pluto Slim Case fits great on the iPhone 6 Plus and doesn't make it too bulky. While it fits the 6s Plus model, it's uncomfortable to use the Power Key and the silencer because of the extra thickness of the 6s Plus Carved probably didn't account for. You should have this in mind.
The cases are made of wood and high quality plastic, and they are definitely something exquisite that will spice up your smartphone. All cases improve the overall protection, which might be worth the extra thickness and weight to some.
If you fancy a wooden case, you should definitely give Carved's offers a try. Their designs are gorgeous and you can even make your own case. The products come packed within nice paper boxes with personal touch, some stickers, and messages from the Carved's creators.
Your phone will stand out when wearing a Carved case. And they make a nice gift for a lady friend, which is another plus for Carved - buying a present for a female friend is one of the toughest task nowadays.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Weekly poll: Huawei P9 and P9 Plus - hot or not

The phones everyone's talking about this week - Huawei P9 and its bigger and more capable bro, the P9 Plus. The headline in both of them are their dual cameras, but they're not one dimensional, the two of them.
Dual polls it is. The thing is the P9 Plus has everything the P9 does, and then some. Hot as the P9 may be, we fear the Plus might not get the attention it deserves, if they go at it together.
Starting with the P9 (manufacturers should probably think of monikers for the plain non-Plus-Max-edge models so us tech journos can have it easy), we're already getting the full package - an aluminum body, top-notch CPU, those two cameras, the blazing-fast fingerprint sensor on the back. What more can we ask for?
Yes, the matter of size - 5.2" is okay-ish, but more has to be better. In the case of the P9 Plus, 5.5 inches doesn't sound like a major bump, but there's the Mate 8 at 6", and a possible P9 Max in the future to think about, so Huawei's reasoning would be clear even at this point.
But there's more than diagonal at play here - the P9 Plus has Pressure Touch. You can't overlook the fact that the Mate S top model (itself a unicorn of a smartphone) has a 5.5-inch AMOLED display and so does the P9 Plus. Apparently Huawei is actually ready with the supply of those 3D-Touch-like panels and they will finally be hitting the streets.
There's also the added battery capacity - a smidge more than the increase of screen area needing to be lit up, though the entirely different technology makes these calculations debatable. And then, there is another feature that sets the Plus apart though - the stereo speakers.
So, are you with us on this one - is the P9 Plus the better Huawei flagship this season? Okay, that's not the actual question. Is the P9 Plus hot or not?

Poll results: Samsung Galaxy S7 retains lead over LG G5

The rematch produced the same outcome, nearly down to the last percent. After the LG G5 submitted to the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge a month ago, it had another go over the past week, this time at the Samsung Galaxy S7 (flat).
The results are in and for the most part they're identical - only the G5 has an extra one in a hundred this time and the distribution is 43% to 57%, still in the Galaxy's favor. Apparently that's the best the G5 can do, even though it brought friends to the fight.
Whether the general public is not yet ready for all that modularity, or the S7 is just the better overall package, we can't be sure. What we did establish though, is that the G5 shoots better photos than the S7 - and guess what, that still didn't affect the poll results.


Edge will soon block non-essential Flash content on the page

Microsoft has announced that the future versions of Edge will be less tolerant to stray Flash content on web pages.
The browser will soon be updated to automatically pause all non-essential Adobe Flash content on the page; this includes animations and ads. Only essential content, such as videos and games will play automatically. This will reduce power consumption and improve performance, especially on tablets and ultrabooks.
Last year, Google announced a similar change in Chrome, and later dropped support for Flash ads entirely couple of months back.
Microsoft will be providing the updated version of Edge in the upcoming Windows 10 build 14316 onwards. The company is also encouraging web developers to move away from Flash and adopt more open web standards.

Marshmallow to hit T-Mobile's LG V10 next week

Everyone seems to be getting Marshmallow these days, and even if the general reaction is "well, about time", it's still great that more phones get to be running on Google's latest OS version. The LG V10 is already a member of that club, but these being regional and carrier-specific matters, the rollout has so far taken place in South Korea and in Turkey, as well as Verizon's units in the US.
Apparently, T-Mobile will follow suit next week, wacky product manager Des Smith has disclosed on Twitter. Well, about time.

If you happen to have forgotten, the LG V10 is a beast of phablet, with a 5.7-inch QHD screen plus an extra strip on top, which can display time and notifications, and also serve as a list of shortcuts to most used apps - it's like an always-on display, only better. And then there's the unique manual control you're getting when shooting video, right down to choosing the frame rate between 1fps and 60fps and fine tuning the audio levels captured by the 4 mics. Check out our review, we have those covered in detail.

Hasselblad announces 100MP H6D-100c and 50MP H6D-50c

Hasselblad, maker of high-end modular medium format cameras, has announced the new H6D-100c and the H6D-50c, the former with an amazing 100 megapixel CMOS sensor and the latter with 50 megapixel CMOS sensor. Other than the high still resolution, the 100c can also do 4K video in RAW, a first for a medium format camera, while the latter can only do 1080p30.
Both cameras have shutter speeds that go from 60 minutes to 1/2000th of a second, increased ISO range (up to 12800 on 100c), 15 stop dynamic range on 100c and 14 stops on 50c, 1.5fps burst mode on 100c and 2.5fps on the 50c, USB 3.0 with Type-C connector, Wi-Fi, HDMI, dual card slot (CFast + SD), 3.0-inch 920k dot touchscreen, and full support for H lens range.
The H6D-100c is priced at $32,995/€28,900 and the 50c at $25,995/€22,900.