Amazon offers discounts on most Fire tablets

If you're a fan of Amazon's Fire lineup, and are in the market for a tablet, here's some good news: the retailer is currently selling most of the Fire tablets at discounted rates, including the Fire HD 7, HD 6, HDX 8.9, HD 10, as well as the Fire Kids Edition.

The 7-inch Fire tablet, for example, is currently going for $39.99, down $10 from its usual $49.99 price tag. Similarly, the HD 6, 10, and HDX 8.9 are now available for $69.99, $179.99, and $399.99, down from $99.99, $229.99, and $479.99, respectively.

The Fire Kids Edition and Fire HD Kids Edition have also received a price cut of $20 and $50, respectively. For more information on the deals, head to the Source link below.

WhatsApp working on native Windows and Mac apps

After launching WhatsApp on web, the company may be working on native apps for Windows and Mac.

Twitter account WABetaInfo found screenshots of WhatsApp translation website where you can see references to download links for Windows and Mac applications.

It's not clear why WhatsApp would want to invest in developing native apps when it already has a web client, which is easier to develop, can be updated automatically anytime they want without the user having to download anything, and also support uploading files and desktop notifications in browsers like Chrome and Safari. Only reason one can think of is support for audio calls, which is currently not possible with the web client and can be achieved with the native app.

We are not sure yet how far the desktop apps are in terms of development.

Huawei Watch variants 'Jewel' and 'Elegant' now available in the US

Back in January, Huawei announced two variants of the Huawei Watch - Jewel and Elegant - targeted at the female audience. After a rather long wait, the two variants are now available in the US.

Jewel and Elegant are internally identical to the standard Huawei Watch but externally try to conform to women's watch design. This means a lot of gold plating, narrower bands in colors and textures that are not 'black' and 'boring', respectively. And also a bit of bling on the Jewel variant, in the form of Swarovski zirconia crystals surrounding the display. The crown has also been redesigned to fit the overall design.

Both are available through Best Buy, Newegg, and B&H Photo, at $499.99 for the Elegant and $599.99 for the Jewel. Best Buy and Newegg will give $50 off on each and B&H Photo will give a $50 gift card instead.

Best Apps and Games of the Week

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

Videorama

Videorama is a video editor for your iPhone or iPad. You can combine multiple photos and video clips, overlay animated text, add music and sound effects, apply special effects and filters, and then export your file.

iOS

Fluenty

Fluenty is a quick and easy way to reply across multiple messaging platforms on your Android phone. When you get a notification from one of the supported apps (including FB Messenger, WhatsApp, Hangouts, KakaoTalk and SMS), Fluenty will show a notification on your lockscreen including a handful of quick replies that are automatically generated for the message you receive. This is particularly useful if you have an Android Wear watch and can just tap on any of the replies to respond quickly without taking out your phone. If you want, you can also quickly reply manually from within Fluenty without even opening the messaging app.

Android

Android TV

Google has released an app for iOS to control your Android TV. If you're one of the five people in the world who have iOS devices but chose to get an Android TV (instead of an Apple TV that would work better with your iOS ecosystem) then you now have a way of controlling it from your iPhone or iPad.

iOS

Angry Birds Action

Angry Birds is back, and it's barely recognizable anymore. Like an ageing actor who went through some severe plastic surgery that didn't go well, the birds look different and not in a particularly good way (although the look is to match the upcoming animated movie). The game is a combination of pinball and the usual aim, pull, and release Angry Birds gameplay.

iOS • Android

Loop Drive 2

In Loop Drive 2 you drive around in circles. That's pretty much all you do, but it's not as simple as it sounds. As you drive around the circuit, you will face increasing number of cars on the road that you can crash into. You can just hit the brakes to avoid them but that's all you can do. Your goal is to go around as many times as you can without crashing into any other vehicle.

iOS • Android • Windows 10

Huawei P9 battery life

Huawei's latest flagship - the P9 - comes with a 5.2" IPS 1080p display and is powered by a newer Kirin 955 chip with an octa-core processor, efficient Mali-T880 MP4 GPU and 3GB of RAM. It has a sealed 3,000 mAh battery. The supplied charger is a regular 5V/2A, but that's still enough to fill about 35% of the battery in half an hour.

The phone runs on Android Marshmallow with the latest Emotion 4.1 launcher. Huawei promises an energy-efficient chipset and software package. Indeed, we found lots of battery optimization options in the new Emotion UI, which you can enable and will save you battery by limiting background app usage, processor performance, and more - depending on your needs.

Of course, we do our battery test without those battery optimizations to calculate the raw power of the device. We set the screen to 200 nits and begun our routine. In case you've missed in our review, the Warm color option for the screen turned out to be more accurate than the Normal one.

Our first test gauges the 3G talk time, and the P9 did very well lasting almost 15 hours.

Standby battery life was gauged in the Performance mode, which does not put any limits on the hardware. The Standard mode will add a couple of hours to the rating while the Ultra Power Saving will keep your phone alive for quite some time. Even without any optimizations, Huawei P9 proved to be power-efficient when left on standby.

Overall, the Huawei P9 scored a 75h rating, which means you can count on the battery to last just a few hours north of 3 days if you do an hour each of calling, browsing the web and video playback a day. Such usage pattern may be somewhat artificial, but we've established it, so our battery results are comparable across devices.

There is also the so-called ROG power-saving, which lowers the native resolution down to 720p and will give you more battery life when playing games.

The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.

Sony Xperia Agent hands-on

Sony invited us to its Tokyo headquarters not so long ago and there the company showed us wondrous gadgets. One of them was the Sony Xperia Agent - a personal assistant for your home.

Right now, there are more unknowns than known things about it. Sony hasn't decided on a final design and a release date remains unclear. But the company is adamant that it strongly plans for this product to go out in the market, as it would be quite helpful to assisting with the management of your busy schedule.

Sony's currently on the lookout for potential partners, who'd like to expand the Xperia Agent's capabilities. While we don't know if Sony has found any yet, the company said that after MWC it had quite a few inquiries about it.

We know you want to see the Xperia Agent in action, so hit up the video below for the hands-on action.

That projection that you saw isn't really bright and its maximum resolution is just 1366 x 768 pixels. It'll certainly be interesting to see how the Sony Xperia Agent project pans out, though.

New phones of the week

This week HTC raised some eyebrows with its reluctance to let go of the One series. It unveiled the HTC One S9, which is decidedly less exciting than it sounds.

It's essentially a mid-range phone in a One M9 body. Yes, the stereo speakers are back on the front, but the rest a bit of a disappointment after the big promise of the HTC 10 and especially at this price - €500!

The phone has a 5" 1080p screen, a Helio X10 chipset with 2GB RAM, 13MP camera, a measly 9.24GB left from the 16GB storage. The fingerprint reader has gone missing too. At this point, the One A9 is so much better.

The Meizu m3 is on the opposite end of the price scale - a highly affordable $92. You get plenty for it - a 5" 720p screen, an octa-core processor with 2GB or 3GB RAM, 13MP camera and a selection of lively color options.

The m3 already scored 4.5 million registration (it took just 24 hours). Granted, registrations are not the same as pre-orders, but it's enough to show higher interest compared to the Meizu Pro 6 (which scored 3 million registrations).

The Huawei Honor 5C was announced Friday and has a lot in common with the still-unofficial P9 lite. With a 5.2" 1080p screen, a Kirin 650 chipset, a 13MP main camera and a fingerprint reader, this phone is ready to give the HTC a run for its money.

And it has a metal body at just $140, slightly more if you want the 4G version.

The new phone with the lowest price this week wasn't the Meizu, it was the ZTE Blade L5 Plus. At the equivalent of $85, it offers Android 5.1 Lollipop on a 5" 720p screen, quad-core processor with 1GB RAM and an 8MP main camera.

GSMArena giveaway: Enter to win an HTC 10, get discount codes on cases

The HTC hype has been real lately, so we bring you our latest giveaway where you can enter for a chance to win an HTC 10, courtesy of our friends over at Spigen. They will also toss in a case bundle for the lucky winner!

The HTC 10 has been getting a lot of hype lately. HTC did a great job of building it up with its later-than-usual release and months of teasing prior to that. The HTC 10 really is a compelling little phone which definitely stands up with the other competitors.

The HTC 10 unit will be provided by Spigen and will be fulfilled once it becomes available in retail stores.

How to enter

• Share the news about the giveaway via your Twitter account (1 entry). You can do that once per day and each tweet will grant you a new entry.
• Set an avatar for your GSMArena account (1 entry). You need to log-in on our site using either Facebook or Google+ and then visit your account page and set an avatar or Gravatar. Important: to claim the entries you only need to enter your nickname, but if we detect that you did it without setting an avatar you will be disqualified. Also, if you already have an avatar or Gravatar, you can just claim the reward - there's no need to change it.
• Refer friends for extra entries (1 entry per referred friend).
• Follow us on Twitter (1 entry). Again, if you are already following us there's no need to do anything - just claim the reward.
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel (1 entry). If you have already subscribed there's no need to do anything - just claim the reward.
• Follow Spigen on Twitter (2 entries). Check out the website of the Giveaway sponsors.
• Like Spigen on Facebook (2 entries). Check out the Facebook page of the Giveaway sponsors.
• Follow Spigen on Instagram (2 entries). Check out the Instagram profile of the Giveaway sponsors.

Good luck!

Spigen is a company based in Irvine, California USA and they have been generous enough to sponsor this giveaway for our readers. Stick around for our next giveaway soon!

Giveaway rules

• The giveaway is open to people 18 or older residing in the Continental United States. We are sorry about that but those are the rules of the giveaway sponsor.
• The submission and winner drawing process is operated by our partners from Gleam.
• We cannot be held responsible for lost shipments or items damaged during shipping
• Only 1 registration per person - you can collect multiple entries, but don't register more than one email and then claim entries with them. If we detect multiple registrations by the same person they will be disqualified.
• GSMArena reserves all rights to make changes to the giveaway in case of unforeseeable circumstances.
• The prize will be shipped directly by our partners from Spigen.
• Winner will be asked for carrier of preference and prize will be fulfilled when the device becomes available.

HTC 10 Cases & Codes

Thin Fit Case / Gunmetal @ $5.99 / Code: INX9LDAZ / Link: HERE

Rugged Armor Case / Black @ $5.99 / Code: 9QOVDNXY / Link: HERE

Ultra Hybrid Case / Crystal Clear @ $5.99 / Code: AZS2MLCT / Link: HERE

Galaxy S7 Edge Cases & Codes:

Rugged Armor Case / Black @ $5.99 / Code: 89P5RA4C / Link: HERE

Tough Armor Case / Gunmetal @ $6.99 / Code: R7IJYEHJ / Link: HERE

Marshmallow update for AT&T One M8 and One M9 hit by further delays

Three of the Big Four carriers in the US have already rolled out Marshmallow to the HTC One M8 and M9 units on their network. So we can say the Marshmallow update for AT&T-branded M8 and M9s is already delayed.

Worse still, it has been revealed that the update has been hit by further delays. The revelation was made by the Taiwanese company's VP of Product Management Mo Versi on Twitter.

The reason behind the delay wasn't revealed, although given that HTC is claiming to get the approval in next couple of weeks, it's reasonable to assume that either the problem wasn't that big, or the company caught hold of it and sorted it out quickly.

AdDuplex: Lumia 535 pips Lumia 520 to become most popular WP device

After being the most popular Windows Phone device for almost 3 years, the Lumia 520 has finally been dethroned. According to latest data from market research firm AdDuplex, the Lumia 535 has now claimed the top spot.

The Lumia 535 now has a market share of 12.5%, ahead of 11.3% claimed by the Lumia 520.The Lumia 630, 640, and 635 round up the top-5 with the first two claiming 8.3% share each while the latter claiming a share of 6.3%.

The report also revealed some other interesting statistics. For example, Microsoft manufacturers over 97% of WP devices now, with around 80% of them running Windows Phone 8.1. Windows 10 Mobile currently accounts for less than 10% of the total.

The Lumia 640 is the top WP device in the US, while Lumia 535 tops the chart in the UK and India. For more information, head to the Source link below.

Acer Liquid Z630S hands-on

We already got a chance to handle the Acer Liquid Z630S briefly at last year's IFA in September, but we're not ones to shy away from an opportunity to examine a phone at headquarters. So when one presented itself, we grabbed it. That said, we didn't do our full battery of tests - instead, we'll just share a few impressions gathered in a setting way calmer than a venue floor.

Acer Liquid Z630S at a glance:

Body: Polycarbonate all around, removable back,
Screen: 5.5" IPS LCD, 720p resolution (267ppi)
OS: Android 5.1 Lollipop
Chipset: Mediatek MT6753, octa-core Cortex-A53 at 1.3GHz, Mali-T720MP3, 3GB of RAM
Camera: 8MP with f/2.0 lens; 1080p video recording
Selfie camera: 8MP with f/2.4 lens; 1080p video recording
Storage: 32GB built-in, dedicated microSD slot
Connectivity: LTE, dual-SIM; Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, FM-Radio;
Battery: 4,000mAh, removable

Pretty run-of-the-mill specsheet there, though credit has to be given to Acer for the generous amount of RAM and large battery capacity. The display pixel density is a throwback to simpler times, and the primary camera's resolution is also unimpressive.

You do get plenty of storage for the money, with an option for expansion, and that path isn't obstructed by pesky hybrid slots - two for microSIMs and one dedicated for microSD. The sizeable battery capacity, plus the fact that it's removable are a couple of Acer choices we can get behind too.

And since we did mention money, it's worth pointing out that the Acer Liquid Z630S' price varies widely depending on region. For example, in India the phone goes for a very affordable INR 9,999 ($150), while in Europe you'd need to shell out something like €230 ($260) - not really the best value for money.

Anyway, back to the Liquid itself. The first thing that comes to mind is that it's big. Ample bezels all-around (but especially the chin) make it more than a handful, even when factoring in its 5.5-inch display. It's marginally smaller than an iPhone 6s Plus, and that's not a company you want to be in, when talking about screen to body ratio.

There's a lip around the front glass to protect its edges, so those used to a 2.5D curve won't be impressed, but it serves its purpose, and luxury is not to be expected in this price range. Around the back, you're treated to a pseudo brushed metal finish, which looks the part.

Xiaomi's new Mi Bunny is a smartwatch aimed at kids, costs under $50

Waiting for a Xiaomi smartwatch? Well, your wait is over, and you know what, it costs only $46. Whaaat? Not so fast - it's not actually the one most of us are waiting for - it's for kids, silly. Yes, Xiaomi has launched a kid-focused smartwatch dubbed Mi Bunny (cute, isn't it?).

The device offers connectivity options including WiFi and Bluetooth, along with GPS/GLONASS tracking. It also features an SOS button pressing which sends the GPS location of the device along with a few seconds of audio recording.

Also known as the Mitu Watch, the device sends alerts when the wearer moves outside of a specified zone. It is also capable of handling voice calls - comes pre-loaded with a prepaid SIM card. Mi Bunny is compatible with phones running Android 4.2 and up.

Made of plastic and featuring silicone straps, the timepiece packs in a 300mAh battery (standby time of six days claimed) and weighs in at 37 grams.