Items tagged with Mobile
Over the past handful of years, Google has really amped up its efforts to keep users safe on its Android Play Store. However, it often feels like the more protections Google puts in place, the more fierce the malware gets. Today we learn of yet another piece of malware that has managed to permeate itself throughout the Play Store, and the implications of being infected with it are downright scary. Called "SonicSpy", this piece of malware has found home in a huge number of different apps found throughout the Play Store. Most recently, it found its way into an app called Soniac, a messaging...
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LG's upcoming V30 flagship smartphone looks to offer a lot of what people want, and the company has been releasing bits and pieces of information over time to help whet our appetites. Last week, we learned that the phone will sport a 6-inch OLED display with curved bezels and a resolution of 2880x1440. Today, we learn a bit more about its camera. If you asked a room full of people what feature they'd want to see improved on their phone, chances are many would say "the camera", even if they have one of the top options available. People simply want better, clearer photos, and with its dual camera...
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A sometimes unfortunate thing about loving a vendor's hardware is the fact that the same kind of care that makes you love the device itself might not be shown towards the software solution. Sometimes, too much care can be given, resulting in a bloated OS that can become sluggish. Many vendors have come to their senses over the years, as we've seen a trend of more and more companies decide to go with stock Android on their devices - or at least stock Android with minor modifications. We now find out that Lenovo is the latest company to jump on this bandwagon of clean OSes, as its upcoming K8...
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If history is any indication, LG is getting ready announce another handset as part of its V series. This will most likely take place during a press event at this year's IFA in Berlin, Germany. While LG has not come right out and said it will be announcing the V30 at IFA, the hints are anything but subtle—the letter V is splashed across a press rendering of a new smartphone with rounded corners, along with the words "Save the date" printed on top. That date is August 31, one day before IFA officially kicks off. And on the bottom corner, LG's press rendering says, "Berlin, Germany," which is where...
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When it comes to battery capacity, ASUS is thinking big with its upcoming ZenFone Max. Really big. ASUS is not making a lot of noise about the ZenFone Max just yet, but a listing on the company's Russian website reveals that it will wield a massive 5,000 mAh battery pack. According to ASUS, that is enough juice to power up to 40 hours of talk time in 3G mode, or up to 26 hours of non-stop web surfing over a Wi-Fi network.Want more battery stats? ASUS further claims you can squeeze our 22 hours of constant video playback before the 5,000 mAh runs dry. And in standby mode on a 4G LTE network, the...
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A current smartphone trend has seen vendors put fingerprint readers on the backs of our devices, which also might beg the question, "what else could we put back there?" According to a newly granted Google patent, a touchpad could be in the cards for the Android creator's future branded Pixel smartphone devices. If that sounds a bit bizarre, bear in mind that many patents may appear odd at first glance, but often are the sparks of true innovation. Google foresees the use of a touchpad on the back of a smartphone to grant the user additional interaction possibilities. As seen in the example image...
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We might be reaching a point where mid-range smartphones are good enough for most people. That may seem like a double-edged sword for Qualcomm, which just announced its new Snapdragon 450 processor for such devices, but there is still room at the high-end for things like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), artificial intelligence, and other tasks that push the limits of today's mobile processors. Meanwhile, mid-range devices are about to get a performance boost.The Snapdragon 450 is the first mid-range processor to be built on a 14-nanometer FinFET process. Compared...
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A Colorado dad is one step closer to getting his wish for a mobile phone ban to minors. Tim Farnum, a Denver-area father and anesthesiologist is spearheading the campaign to forbid the sale of cellphones to children younger than 13 years old as part of a broader effort to see less children engaged in hours of smartphone use on any given day. He has the attention of Colorado officials, who have drafted a proposed ballot for a 2018 vote. For that to happen, Farnum and officials would have to obtain 300,000 voter signatures to the proposal. If that were to happen, Colorado residents would then vote...
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Samsung's Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones are some of the best Android models available right now (read our review), but despite that, many of their users haven't been using them to their full potential. While Bixby Voice was revealed alongside the phone, it still hasn't made it to the United States in stable form. If you're keen on trying Bixby Voice and don't mind that it's not in stable form, Samsung has the hook-up. At its website, the company is allowing S8 owners to sign up for an early access program that will ensure they get the latest Bixby features before anyone else. Note that this...
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If you are a Canadian with a cell phone, we have some excellent news for you regrading regulations surrounding device unlocking. In this case, nearly everyone should be happy with the outcome; well with the exception of the executives at Canadian mobile carriers. Canada's CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) has just announced that beginning on December 1st, mobile carriers will be unable to charge a fee to allow someone to unlock their phone. It's a move that will save most people about $50, if they need to make use of the service. Samsung's beautiful Galaxy S8 is...
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Having identified the issue that doomed the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 and subsequently put in place more rigorous testing methods to ensure that situation does not repeat itself, Samsung is now getting ready to launch the Galaxy Note 8. That will take place sometime later this year. In the meantime, the Internet is awash with rumors and speculation, the latest of which points to the Galaxy Note 8 debuting with an Infinity Display and Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box.The Galaxy Note series is popular among people who crave a larger size handset. It was previously rumored that the Galaxy Note 8...
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Smartphones have become a big part of our daily lives. Whether it is texting a buddy or looking up driving directions, smartphones see a lot of use. That is why battery life is such an important metric. Equally as important is how fast a mobile device can charge. Qualcomm has been leading the charge in that regard with its Quick Charge technology, and its new Quick Charge 4+ program ups the ante with several improvements. "When Quick Charge 4 was announced, it promised to bring even faster charging than its predecessor, allowing a device to go from empty to 50 percent in just 15 minutes. We added...
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Once again, Andy Rubin, the co-creator of Android and former boss of Google's Android division has taken to Twitter in order to tease a smartphone being developed at Essential, a new company he started last year. Essential joined Twitter in November 2016 and has just two tweets, both of which were posted in the past 24 hours "to let you know something big is coming May 30th." We heard you @renan_batista - here's something to hold you over until next week: pic.twitter.com/QSIeXyjKNq — Essential (@essential) May 25, 2017 The most recent tweet shows a darkened image of a smartphone with an odd protrusion...
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AMD made a flurry of announcements this evening during its Financial Analyst Day presentation, one of which includes new mobile solutions that pairs the company's Ryzen CPU architecture with its forthcoming Vega GPU architecture. Or put another way, AMD is readying its first Zen-based mobile APU (accelerated processing unit) with on-die Vega graphics, both for desktops and laptops.Click to EnlargeWe're still in the process of gathering information, but here is what we know so far. Compared to AMD's 7th generation APUs, Ryzen Mobile will up the CPU performance ante by 50 percent while offering 40...
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