Another rumor claims HTC working on next-gen Nexus devices

Back in January this year, there were rumors that like 2015, there will be two Nexus phones in 2016 as well, and both will be manufactured by HTC. Now, another rumor has cropped up that not only adds weight to the previous one, but also reveals some new information.

The latest rumor comes from the usually reliable leakster @evleaks, who also revealed that the two Android N-powered Nexus devices that HTC is manufacturing are internally being called as the M1 and S1.

Sadly, nothing else was revealed, especially in terms of their specs. However, if you recall, previous rumors claimed that one of the devices will sport a 5-inch display, while the other will come with a 5.5-inch screen.

Nextbit Robin "cloud phone" receives Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update

The Nextbit Robin smartphone comes with cloud storage integrated into its customized Android OS. And starting today it also comes running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow underneath Nextbit's additions.

The update to the latest version of Google's mobile OS has started rolling out to Robin owners across the globe. It has all the goodies that you'd expect from Marshmallow, but it also comes with the most recent security patches.

"Additional processor tuning" should give you better battery life and improved performance, and the all-new audio tuning at the driver level apparently makes the phone sound clearer (both when using its dual speakers as well as with headphones, even with the volume turned all the way up). Finally, the camera app has been completely overhauled, which results in much faster picture taking and better quality shots.

The Nextbit Robin is now available to buy from Amazon too, for the same $399 price for an unlocked unit. It's compatible with AT&T, T-Mobile, and other companies operating on those two carriers' networks.

Two upcoming Android-powered BlackBerry devices get pictured

BlackBerry's next two Android-running smartphones have been portrayed by a few leaked images today. The handsets are apparently codenamed Hamburg and Rome, respectively, following the Canadian company's long-standing tradition of using cities for its devices' codenames.

The Hamburg either doesn't have a physical keyboard at all, or it could be a slider like the already launched Priv. The two leaked images depicting it don't shine any light on that aspect, unfortunately. Still, we do get to see its entire front fascia, as well as two of its dimensions.

It will be 146mm long and 78mm wide, as you can see. The second image (seen below) shows us the new BlackBerry logo in a close-up shot. The Hamburg seems to be made from metal, and it features a speaker grille underneath the screen. The power button is on the left side, while the other buttons are on the right.

The Hamburg should reportedly become available in the second half of the year for around $400. So it's going to be a mid-ranger.

Next up we have the Rome, which clearly has a physical keyboard. It's placed under the screen, but this isn't a slider, instead emulating the form factor of the Passport somewhat. The same new logo is present here too.

Unfortunately no specs have been leaked alongside these images, and for the Rome there isn't even a rumored release time frame to speak of (or any word on pricing). So we'll have to wait for some new leaks to get that information.

EE is taking pre-orders for its exclusive White Pearl Galaxy S7 and S7 edge

In the UK, EE has started taking pre-orders for a new color variant of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the S7 edge. This is called White Pearl and it's a hue that will be exclusive to this particular operator in the UK. So if you live over there and want to grab one of Samsung's newest flagships in white, you'll have to go with EE as your network of choice.

You can buy the Galaxy S7 for £9.99 when paired with a Pay Monthly plan that costs at least £45.99. For this amount of cash each month you'll get unlimited minutes and texts as well as 4GB of data. The S7 edge also starts at £9.99 upfront cost, but to snag it at this price you'll need to go with the £55.99 plan, which offers unlimited minutes and texts and 20GB of data each month.

Of course there are many other options to choose from, so make sure you go through the entire list of contracts before you make up your mind. Both White Pearl handsets will become available on May 6.

Meizu m3 records 4.5M pre-registrations in a day

The Meizu m3 - which was announced a couple of days ago, recorded a total of around 4.5M registrations in just 24 hours. This was revealed by an official statement by the Chinese company.

Priced at RMB 599 or around $92 (2GB/16GB version) and RMB 799 or around $125 (3GB/32GB version), the device comfortably surpassed the company's Pro 6 flagship in terms of first day pre-orders - the figure for the latter stood at 3M. Keep in mind that those numbers aren't actual pre-orders and no cash has exchanged hands just yet.

The handset will be available for purchase starting April 29 from the Meizu Mall and other official re-sellers in China.

MediaTek Helio X30 posts a smashing Antutu score, built on 10nm process

Analyst Pan Jiutang revealed on Weibo today the MediaTek Helio X30 chipset will be manufactured using a 10nm manufacturing process. According to him, the Helio X30 will come with ten CPU cores - the Cortex-A35 will be used for non-demanding tasks, while the heavy lifting will be done by the yet unreleased "Artemis"

Additionally, the X30 will support up to 8GB of RAM and come with a PowerVR GPU. Jiutang also provides a presentation slide, which shows the MediaTek Helio X30 scores 160,000 points on the Antutu benchmark, beating the Snapdragon 820 by 30,000.MediaTek's plans the Helio X30 to be its flagship chipset for 2017. The analyst reveals that until then the company aims to optimize power consumption. There are no details on which devices will use the upcoming chipset.

LG X Cam details revealed - 13MP 78° + 5MP 120° camera, 5.2" screen

The V10-like LG X screen is already on sale, but it's only now that we get the full details on the LG X Cam. This one is more of an affordable LG G5 as it shares its defining feature - the dual camera setup on the back.

It features one 13MP 78° and one 5MP 120° camera (compared to 16MP 78° + 8MP 135° for the G5). There are Pop-out Picture effects similar to the G5.

The LG X Cam itself is a slender 6.9mm and features 3D Arc Glass on the front with a brushed metal look.

On the front is a 5.2" 1080p screen, almost the size of the G5 screen (but without the resolution). The phone runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow on a weak-ish 1.14GHz octa-core processor and 2GB RAM. The 2,520mAh battery is a bit disappointing too.

Xiaomi Mi 5 Gold Edition to be available for purchase starting April 29

Xiaomi has announced that the Gold Edition of the Mi 5 will go on sale later this week - April 29 (10 AM). The announcement came on Weibo.

The new variant will be available in two different versions: a standard version powered by Snapdragon 820 SoC (clocked at 1.8GHz) with Adreno 530 GPU, and having 3GB/32GB memory configuration, and a higher-specced version powered by an overclocked (2.15GHz) SD820 chipset with Adreno 510 GPU, and having 3GB/64GB memory configuration.

As for the price, the standard version will carry a tag of RMB 1,999 (around $305), while the other version will set you back RMB 2,299 (around $355). In addition to the Gold Edition, the white color model of the Mi 5 Pro (featuring 3D Glass back) will also go on sale the same day, costing RMB 2,599 (around $400).

Keyever develops a 3.5" bar Win10 phone with a physical keyboard

A bit of an oddball of a smartphone coming out of China answers a question we haven't heard asked. A company called Keyever has come up with a design for a smartphone with a bar form factor and a physical keyboard that runs Windows 10.

The display on the smartphone is a 3.5-inch AMOLED unit with qHD resolution (540x960px), complete with touch support too. The smartphone is said to be powered by one of Qualcomm's latest 600-series Snapdragons. A generous 3,000mAh battery should be plenty for that display and hardware.

      Keyever Windows 10 bar phone

It's the keyboard that is the headline feature here, and it's also one where the engineers remain undecided, the source says. While the phone in the renders sports a numeric keypad, a full QWERTY option is being considered as well. The rear camera setup isn't final either, hence the pixelized back.

Keyever is shooting for a launch later this year, with Q3 being the target. Its intended price is said to be in the whereabouts of CNY 1000 ($155).

Security updates hit Samsung Galaxy A8 and Galaxy A3

Samsung has started rolling out security updates to a couple of its A series smartphones, including the Galaxy A8 and Galaxy A3. The former (model SM-A800F) is getting the April security patch, with the update bumping the firmware version to A800FXXU1APD1.

On the other hand, the Galaxy A3 update - which bumps the firmware version to XXU1BPC2 - brings the security patch for the month of March as well as several stability-related improvements. Currently, only unlocked and Vodafone variants in Europe are getting this update.

Unfortunately, none of the updates bring Android Marshmallow. If you haven't received the update notification yet, you can either wait or check for it manually by heading to the Settingsmenu on your handset.

Xiaomi Mi 5 and Redmi Note 3 went on open sale in India, all out of stock

Xiaomi has just launched the Mi 5 and the Redmi Note 3 on the Indian market and the two smartphones are now available for open sale - no registrations required. That is, no initial registration is required to purchase the phone, you still need a Mi account.

The Mi 5 is priced at INR 24,999 ($375), while the Redmi Note 3 goes for INR 9,999 ($150) for the 2GB/16GB version and INR 11,999 ($180) for the higher-specced 3GB/32GB variant.

All this is fine and dandy, but a couple of minutes into the process, the two phones were already listed as out of stock. Same goes for the 20,000mAh power bank, with a price tag of INR 1,699 ($25).

Whether Xiaomi couldn't anticipate the high demand for the smartphones, or it did, but that's all it had in the warehouses, we don't know. Then again there's the other possibility that the whole thing is a marketing stunt to create some more hype around the already popular devices. Either way, we'll try to keep you updated when you'd be able to get your hands on one.

Apple Q2 2016 financial results show first ever YoY fall in iPhone sales

Apple's 2016 Q2 results (that's the quarter ending in March) are out showing a revenue slowdown for the company. Quarterly revenue was $50.6 billion compared to $58 billion for the same period last year. As a result, net income is also down to $10.5 billion from $13.6 billion from Q2 2015.

The reason behind the revenue decrease are the lower iPhone, iPad and Mac sales. iPhone sales declined by 16% compared to Q2 last year (first YoY drop in the iPhone history) from 61.2 million to 51.19 million units. This lead to a drop in revenue of north of $8 billion or 18.42% (from $40.28 billion to $32.86 billion).

Apple expects this trend to continue in the next quarter. According to the company the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus enjoyed incredibly high demand due to their larger displays, and it's hard for the "S" versions to keep up.

In the Americas, Apple's revenue fell by 10%, while in China and in Asia Pacific by a noticeable 26% and 25%, respectively. It's not all bad, as in Japan revenue grew by 24%.

The iPad sales continue to decline - they've dropped by 19%, from 12.60 million units to 10.25 million units. Macs saw the smallest drop at 12%, from 4.6 million units to 4.03 million units.

Here's how Tim Cook commented on the quarter results.

Our team executed extremely well in the face of strong macroeconomic headwinds. We are very happy with the continued strong growth in revenue from Services, thanks to the incredible strength of the Apple ecosystem and our growing base of over one billion active devices.

As you may know, the company includes the Apple Watch, Apple TV, iPod and Beats headphones into the "Other Products" category. It managed to grow by nearly 30% from $1.69 billion to $2.19 billion. Apple CFO Luca Maestri hints that most of that growth is attributable to the Apple Watch.

Apple's expects revenue and profit margin to continue their decline in the upcoming quarter. Revenue is expected to be in the $41-$43 billion range and profit margins between 37.5% and 38%. For reference, in Q3 2015, Apple made $49.6 billion in revenue.