Smartphones
ARM has developed a new generation of mobile chips that will empower smartphones and tablets of tomorrow with machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities, along with claimed significant increases in power efficiency and performance. The company's new Cortex-A75 CPU core for premium, high performance device requirements and Cortex-A55 processors for mobile power-efficient workload processing will also both be the first to feature ARM's DynamIQ technology, which gives design partners like Qualcomm more flexibility in how they pair CPU clusters. Prior to ARM's DynamIQ design, Qualcomm...
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Buzz for Samsung's highly anticipated "next Galaxy" devices, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, has reached a fevered pitch, and for good reason. When it comes to smartphone market share percentages, there's Samsung and Apple, and then there's everyone else. Huawei and Oppo might be sneaking up on the leaders, but are still in the single digits, while Samsung and Apple are currently jockeying for the 1 and 2 slots. Though Q4 2016 may have been a virtual draw (Apple with a sliver of a lead) between the two handset titans, something tells us Q1 into Q2 2017 is going to swing back Samsung's way. Pre-order...
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There's absolutely no question about it. LG obviously launched the new LG G6 right in the middle of the marketing buzzsaw that is Samsung's Galaxy S8 launch. And while it's fair to compare the G6 against the backdrop of the Samsung dynamic duo, some of the reviews I've seen so far, in my humble opinion, are unnecessarily critical of LG, largely due to timing I think. Since when did we become so jaded, like undercover restaurant critics in our own inner circle, that we can't judge a product based on its own merits? I'm not calling anyone out but I'm here to tell you that the LG G6 is likely a very...
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Shrimp on the barbie? Try Apple on the barbie. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is suing Apple over “Error 53”, which bricked iPhones and iPads last year that were repaired by third-parties. The ACCC claims that the forced software bricking violated Australian consumer law. Last February, several iPhone 6 users received the “Error 53” message after trying to upgrade to iOS 9. The message effectively bricked the phones. It turns out that these users had repaired their screens and other components through "unauthorized" third-party service centers. iPhone 6 screen replacements...
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We spent the better part of this morning at Lincoln Center in New York City attending Samsung’s Unpacked 2017 event, where the company unveiled its brand-new Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones and a few new accessories. If you missed our early coverage of the event, you can check out the initial announcement here and the new Gear 360 Camera, cool DeX Dock, and Gear VR right here. While at Unpacked 2017, however, we also got some hands-on time with both devices that we wanted to share with you. Take a look... The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are virtually identical, save for their screen sizes. The S8 features...
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Based on its features, specs and power consumption claims, Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 835 SoC (or Mobile Platform, as Qualcomm is referring to it now) was already looking like a notable improvement over the Snapdragon 820 and 821. The Snapdragon 835 is expected to provide up to 11 hours of 4K video playback and more than a day of talk time on next-gen smartphones with a single charge, for starters. However, it will also serve up hours of VR gaming and claimed general performance lifts of up to 25 percent in both CPU and graphics/gaming workloads. Regardless, until now, we could only speculate...
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Don’t be fooled by the form factor and your initial impressions -- what we have before us is not a typical smartphone. Well, technically we suppose it is, but the experience is not intended to replace your commonplace iPhone, Galaxy S, or other handset. In fact, you should not even consider running to your nearest wireless carrier to pick one up. No, instead HP is billing the Elite x3 as a corporate device flexible enough to eliminate company-issued laptops and workstations for many users. This sounds like quite a tall order. Certainly, many professionals do rely on powerful number crunching machines....
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Most Android users will be happy to know that Google is actually working to make Google Assistant as universal as possible across a myriad of devices. The AI assistant will be rolling out to all smartphones running Android 7.0 Nougat and Android 6.0 Marshmallow eventually but will also be available on some newly announced partner devices like the fabulous new LG G6 (our hands-on preview). What is Google Assistant and why would you want it in the first place? Google Assistant is an intelligent personal AI that was recently only available on Google proper devices like Pixel and...
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After months of leaks, the LG G6 has finally been officially unveiled. LG has gone completely back to the drawing board versus its predecessor, the questionably modular LG G5. In its place is a sleek, amazingly compact and efficient aluminum unibody design with a large 5.7-inch display. It's a truly premium flagship device and we got some quality hands-on time with it in New York last week. That display is the main focal point of the G6, and it has a rather unorthodox 18:9 screen ratio, which LG says allows the device to fit better in your hand. The thin bezels of the new flagship...
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The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which takes place in Las Vegas every January, is one of the prime spots for unveiling hot new hardware. In fact, manufacturers often keep tight-lipped about the new gear that they'll have on display, in order to deliver an unveil spectacle at the show. The show is the birthplace of big, expensive amazing machines, as well as more practical devices that hope to deliver worthy features at prices mere mortals can afford. We managed to get some hands-on time with one of the the latter at the show: Huawei’s Android-powered Honor 6X smartphone. The Honor 6X...
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Diamonds are the traditional tenth anniversary gift, but Apple reportedly has a little something different up its sleeve. Apple is planning on releasing a tenth anniversary iPhone 8 with an OLED display and it will likely cost upward of $1,000 USD. The 5.7-inch iPhone 8 (or iPhone X) will likely look quite different than its predecessors. It is believed that the iPhone 8 will be composed of stainless steel, instead of pricier aluminum. The back of the iPhone 8 may also be made of glass instead of metal (like its iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s predecessors). Apple has been working to remove the physical...
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When Google set out to develop and market its first Phone by Google branded device - not co-branded with a partner - and spiritual successors to its legacy Nexus brand, the company drew a line in the sand. Not only was the target to develop smartphones that demonstrated best of breed functionality and performance for the Android platform, but these devices would have features and capabilities not found in other Android devices on the market. To date, very few other smartphones, save for the LG V20 for example, are running Android 7 Nougat and there are only a handful of phones on the...
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Lenovo introduced the Google Project Tango Augmented Reality-infused Phab 2 Pro smartphone back in June and the product marked a number firsts for both the manufacturer and the industry as a whole. The Phab 2 Pro is the first consumer retail device to support Google Project Tango AR technology, with a multi-camera and sensor array that gives the smartphone the ability to sense and "see" the environment around it, and then map and render virtual augmentations in the environment for the user. The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro is also one of the largest Android smartphones on the market currently, with a ginormous...
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ASUS launched an array of products a few weeks back at its Zenvolution event in New York City. Among them was the gorgeous ZenBook 3 Ultrabook, the convertible Transformer 3, and an assortment of Android-based smartphones that carried ZenFone 3 branding. The four ZenFone 3 models that launched included the entry-level ZenFone 3 Laser, a 5.5” ZenFone 3 Deluxe, a 5.7” ZenFone 3 Deluxe, and a flagship 5.7” ZenFone 3 Deluxe Special Edition, which packs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 SoC. The specifications, build materials, and pricing for the various ZenFone 3 phones that launched are all different. The...
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