Mobile Devices - Page 10

A foldable Apple product only seems inevitable at this point, but officially, the device, or devices, have only been rumored.

However, with foldable devices being proven to be a viable form factor for smartphones, it seems like a no-brainer that Apple will release a foldable iPhone. But why hasn't the company done it already? In Apple fashion, the company is never early to a new market, and when it does finally jump in, it makes sure its version of an already established product has that Apple shine. In the instance of a foldable smartphone, Apple won't release that device until the dreaded crease problem in the display has completely been solved.

A new report from the Korean blog Yuex1122 states Apple is close to selecting the display supplier for its foldable display, and this supplier will need to "adhere to the technical requirements," which includes impact resistance and crease prevention. Moreover, previous reports indicate Apple is trying to make an extremely thin device that's half as thin as current iPhone models -- so when the device is folded it's the same thickness as a standard iPhone.

The banning of TikTok across the United States and its unavailability in both app marketplaces has created enough demand that people are now selling smartphones with the app installed.

TikTok was banned across the United States on January 19 as the US government determined last year the app was a national security risk for its ties to the Chinese government. The banning involved the app being removed from both app marketplaces (iOS and the Play Store), and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were banned from hosting the service.

However, the latter part of the ban has now been revoked thanks to President Trump's 75-day extension he granted, but the app still isn't available on app marketplaces, meaning users who didn't already have the app downloaded on their device aren't able to access it.

Samsung has just wrapped up its Unpacked event, where it subtly teased the release of a tri-fold smartphone, which would put Samsung, one of the world's leading smartphone manufacturers, into the new category originally started by Huawei.

Close to the end of the Samsung Unpacked event, the South Korean manufacturer teased the future of Galaxy devices and how Gemini Live will play a big part. Head of Customer Experience Jay Kim briefly mentions a multi-fold device, and behind him, we see a device with a triple-screen and presumably two hinges. The image of the device confirms long-time rumors that Samsung has been preparing to release a tri-fold smartphone, which, if it releases in 2025, will mean Samsung is scheduled to release four foldable devices this year: Galaxy Z Fold 7, Flip 7, Flip FE, and the unnamed tri-fold device.

9to5Google reports Samsung's first tri-fold will feature a monster display that measures between 9.9 inches and 10 inches when fully opened. If true, it would make it significantly larger than the 7.6-inch display on the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Additionally, the publication reports Samsung is teeing up the release of the tri-fold for Q3 2025, which puts it in line with the release of Samsung's other foldable devices. Notably, Samsung is only manufacturing 200,000 units of this new tri-fold, which indicates the company isn't planning on it being a massive success in terms of units shipped and is more so providing an option to power users that want the absolute bleeding edge of the company's technology.

Samsung has officially teased its upcoming Galaxy S25 Edge smartphone, its new ultra-slim handset that will compete against Apple's purported iPhone 17 Air later this year.

The kicker? It won't be launched globally, and will experience a staggered release according to the folks at Android Authority who chatted with a Samsung spokesperson. Samsung teased its new Galaxy S25 Edge smartphone during its Galaxy Unpacked event where it unveiled the new Galaxy S25 family of smartphones, with an ultra-thin design, flat edges, a flat display, and dual rear-facing cameras.

We don't know what is inside the new Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge smartphone, but rumor has it that we'll see the ultra-thin smartphone at just 6.4mm thick with a 3000mAh to 4000mAh battery, and a 200-megapixel camera on the rear like the flagship Galaxy S25 Ultra that was just announced at Galaxy Unpacked.

Samsung has just announced its new Galaxy S25 series of smartphones, including the new Galaxy S25, S25+, and flagship S25 Ultra handsets. Check them out:

Samsung's new Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ smartphones feature the same 6.2-inch and 6.7-inch displays as their predecessors. We've also got a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom. The new Galaxy S25 has a 4000mAh battery, while the Galaxy S25+ features a 4900mAh battery.

Samsung's new Galaxy S25 in its base form starts with 128GB of storage, while all of the new Galaxy S25 smartphones feature the company's latest One UI 7 software, which is based on Google's new Android 15 operating system. The regular Galaxy S25 features 25W wired charging, while the Galaxy S25+ features 45W charging speeds.

Leaks and speculation are firing up as we approach Samsung's Unpacked 2025 event on January 22. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim is the latest leaked addition to the Galaxy S25 series.

As the name suggests, the model aims to provide a slim profile for smartphone users, minimizing weight and depth. New renders released by leakers OnLeaks and SmartPrix showcased generic iterations of the new model. The device clocks in with a rumored 6.4mm depth, making it 15% thinner than the S24. It's also expected to ship with a Snapdragon 8 Elite, Samsung One UI 7, and 12GB of RAM. The aforementioned leakers also stated that the S25 Slim's cameras will feature a 200MP main camera, 50MP ultrawide, and a 50MP telephoto lens with 3.5X optical zoom.

The S25 Slim appears to be pushed in tandem with Apple's own thin phone - the iPhone 17 Air. Which is rumoured to be Apple's thinnest iPhone at 6mm thickness. However, reputable leaker Evan Blass, who recently brought us information on the S25 series AI features - took to his X account, stating, "[S25 Slim] will almost certainly not be offered through US carriers". Clarifying that the information was relayed from a 'historically trusted source".

Samsung Unpacked is just two days away. The highly anticipated event, announced at CES 2025, conjured all kinds of speculation regarding the Galaxy S25, the new AI features, and potential announcements such as the Galaxy Ring 2.

A good chunk of the speculation has been squashed following a series of leaks from smartphone leaker Evan Blass. A key portion included a promotional video from Samsung highlighting the S25 series and its associated Galaxy AI features. Among these included:

The standout feature appears to be the Gemini Assistant. In the promotional video, a user asks Gemini to "find a pet-friendly Italian restaurant with outdoor seating and send it to Tony." This ability to search and compose a message in one tap highlights the assistant's potential. However, the true practicality of these features will only become clear once they're in the hands of users.

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025 is right around the corner, where we'll be introduced to the new Galaxy S25 Ultra flagship smartphone, a tease of the new Galaxy S25 Slim, OneUI 7, Ring 2 teaser, and more. Here's where to tune in:

We should see Samsung unveil its new family of Galaxy S25 smartphones including the Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra smartphones at Galaxy Unpacked 2025. The company should also tease its ultra-slim Galaxy S25 Slim smartphone that has been in the rumor mill for a few months now, its new Ring 2, OneUI 7, and more.

Samsung could even unveil a new pair of smart glasses like some new AR glasses or an XR headset, with teh company recently teaming with both Qualcomm and Google on XR headsets. Samsung will be moving all-in on using the Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC with the new Snapdragon 8 Elite processor inside of the Galaxy S25, and even Micron LPDDR5 memory... with no Samsung parts inside of a Samsung Galaxy S25 smartphone.

During a press conference at CES 2025, Samsung Vice Chairman and CEO Han Jong-hee has outlined the company's plans to roll out a proprietary subscription service entitled the 'AI Subscription Club' for Galaxy phones and mobile devices.

As reported by ET News, the service aims to revolutionize the distribution of smartphones and tablets, shifting from installment-based sales to a subscription model that includes maintenance services. The service allows users to pay a subscription fee to own the Samsung Galaxy phone or tablet of their choice. However, no details were provided regarding pricing, tiers, or conditions of phone rentals. The service is expected to launch in February, in conjunction with a subscription service for highly anticipated AI robot 'Ballie'.

In December 2024, Samsung already launched an 'AI Subscription Club' in Korea for household appliances - TVs, refrigerators and washing machines. The service operates on monthly subscription fees, allowing users to choose durations of up to 60 months, with the option for early termination. It is fair to assume that the mobile & Ballie iteration of the service will operate on a similar model.

We're used to seeing e-ink technology in e-readers: the Kindle Paperwhite, the Kobo Libra series. Recently however, TCL has been pushing the boundaries by integrating this technology into mobile phones.

Previous models, such as the TCL 40 NXTPAPER and TCL 50 NXTPAPER, introduced reflection-free displays but were often criticized for their shortcomings in camera quality, software support, and processing power.

The latest model, the TCL 60XE NXTPAPER 5G, seeks to address these issues. It offers a 6.8-inch FHD+ screen with a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, 256GB of storage, and 8GB + 8GB of RAM-impressive specs for its $199 price point. The phone also boasts a 50MP main camera and a 32MP AI-enhanced front camera. Despite these upgrades, the standout feature remains its innovative NXTPAPER display. 

Samsung kicked off their CES 2025 campaign by announcing a range of powerful new monitors, laptops and AI-powered TVs.

Keeping with momentum: Samsung officially pencilled in the date for their long-awaited Galaxy Unpacked event. This keynote will focus heavily on mobile innovation. With particular attention to AI , and most notably, the highly anticipated reveal of the Samsung Galaxy S25. 

Hosted in San Jose, California, on the 22nd January, the official press release from Samsung proclaims the event "The next big leap in mobile AI experiences". 

Samsung's next-generation Galaxy S25 smartphones are expected to see the South Korean firm move into the warm harms of processor competitor Qualcomm, using its new Snapdragon 8 Elite processor over its in-house Exynos 2400.

Not only is Samsung using its competitors' processor but it's also using its competitors' RAM with rumors swirling that the Galaxy S25 smartphones will use LPDDR5 memory from US-based Micron. In some recent Galaxy S25 benchmarks that turned up on Geekbench, the chip inside has a single score of 2986 points and 9355 points in multi-corer results.

The chip inside of the Galaxy S25 tested had its first 6 corers clocking in at 3.53GHz, while the other 2 corers clocked at a faster 4.47GHz. The information from the Geekbench run show Samsung's next-gen Galaxy S25 smartphone running a Qualcomm Arm-based processor (at least for the international model), while the international model of the Galaxy S24 used Samsung's in-house Exynos 2400 processor, the new Galaxy S25 is a full shift into the world of Snapdragon chips.

Google's next-gen Pixel 10 Pro smartphone has turned up in concept form with a beautifully redesigned look, featuring a vertical camera setup, 4000 nits of brightness, and more. Check it out:

In a new share from concept creator 4RMB, we have Google's next-gen Pixel 10 Pro smartphone looking sharp with thinner bezels on the display and a hole-punch camera on the front, protected from new Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for improved drop protection and scratch resistance.

The display has been bumped up for the Pixel 10 Pro concept smartphone, with a 6.9-inch display with up to 4000 nits of peak brightness. The Pixel 10 concept has a 5300mAh battery with 45W of fast charging, a 64-megapixel main camera backed up by a 64-megapixel wide camera with improved low-light photography and a third 64-megapixel telephoto lens with up to 50x optical zoom capabilities.

Apple has long been rumored to be working on a foldable device that will shake up the market, with rumors previously indicating the company is developing a foldable iPhone and foldable iPad.

Both of these rumored devices have recently been discussed in several reports, with most of these reports accurately stating Apple is still many years away from either of these products being released, but they will emerge slightly sooner than expected. According to the Display Supply Chain Consultants, analysts that evaluate display-based products, Apple will be releasing its foldable iPhone in 2026, which runs contrary to previous rumors citing a purported leaked Apple roadmap that stated the foldable iPhone would arrive in 2028.

As for the foldable tablet, the Display Supply Chain Consultants describes the device as a foldable iPad Pro in the report, which would make sense when tying in previous leaks from reliable Apple insider and Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who wrote Apple's foldable iPad will be approximately the size of two iPad Pros side-by-side. Additionally, it is rumored that Apple will be throwing its all into the new foldable iPad, which is why it has gained the "Pro" moniker. Moreover, the folding technology is relatively new, so it makes sense for Apple's foldable device to fall under its "Pro" product catalog.

If it's a Google Pixel, it's likely there is leaked information about the upcoming generation floating around somewhere on the internet.

Google's Pixel lineups have notoriously suffered from early leaks in the form of renders, insider information, and even images of devices, and even though it wasn't very long ago that Google released its Pixel 9 generation, we are already hearing about what's insider the Pixel 10. According to an exclusive report from Android Authority, Google's Pixel 10 generation will use an unreleased MediaTek 5G modem, presumably the T900 modem. The publication reports a Google insider has confirmed to them MediaTek has been selected over competing offering from Samsung and Qualcomm.

Notably, there are only three companies providing 5G modems: Qualcomm, Samsung and MediaTek. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X75 modem is used in Apple's latest generation of iPhone, but the Cupertino company is reportedly moving away from Qualcomm's chips to pursue its own in-house modems. As for Google and MediaTek, it's currently unknown what drove Google to tap the Taiwanese semiconductor company for its upcoming Pixel generation or what the modem will offer the end user in terms of performance capabilities.

There is a distinct annoying difficulty in getting files off an iOS device and onto a Windows machine, especially when you know how easy it is with an Android. Microsoft is trying to solve that problem, and has explained how in a recent announcement.

Redmond has taken to its Windows Blogs to share how it plans on bridging the gap between operating systems, and according to the announcement, Windows Insiders will soon be able to "seamlessly share files" between an iPhone and a Windows 10/11 machine when both devices are connected via Phone Link, and the Link to Windows app. There are some requirements for this new feature, but it's more than likely you will have already met the criteria.

An iPhone needs to be running iOS 16 or higher, and the Link to Windows app on your iPhone needs to be version 1.24112.73 or higher. Phone Link version 1.24112.89.0 or higher is also required. Additionally, those interested in taking advantage of this new feature to quickly move files from their iPhone to their Windows machine will also need to opt into the Windows Insider Program. It should be noted that some users are reporting that this feature is not working as intended for iPhone users running the recently released iOS 18.2 version.

Microsoft planned to add a new feature to its Xbox App for Android devices in November: the ability to purchase and play Xbox games directly from the Xbox App. According to Microsoft and Xbox executive Sarah Bond, the new feature is 'ready to go live' but is being held back because Google is requesting a stay while it appeals a legal decision that would allow exactly that.

Google is appealing the ruling in the Epic v. Google case, which deemed that its Android app store, the Google Play storefront, is an illegal monopoly. Google would have to allow and distribute third-party app stores within Google Play while giving third-party app stores access to all Google Play apps. There's more to the ruling, but with Google appealing the decision, Microsoft isn't able to launch its Xbox store alternative.

"At Xbox, we want to offer players more choice on how and where they play, including being able to play and buy games directly from the Xbox app," Sarah Bond wrote on social media platform Bluesky.

Apple has been rumored to be working on a new ultra-thin iPhone that's pegged to be launched sometime next year as part of the new iPhone 17 line-up.

It was only recently that an Apple analyst, Jeff Pu, agreed with the rumored thickness of the new device being 6mm, making this new iPhone the thinnest the company has ever released. For perspective, Apple's latest iPhone 16 and 16 Plus measure 7.80mm thick, and the thinnest iPhone ever made was the iPhone 6 at 6.9mm thick.

According to a new report from The Information, "iPhone 17 Air" prototypes are measuring between 5mm and 6mm thick. While this doesn't sound like a large reduction, it is pretty severe, which is why Apple engineers have had to make concessions as to what features are included in the rumored device.

Apple's purported iPhone 17 Air smartphone is expected to be the thinnest iPhone the company has ever released, with Apple analyst Jeff Pu agreeing that the iPhone 17 Air will be around 6mm thick.

In a new research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu agreed with previous rumors of the purported iPhone 17 Air being 6mm thick. He said: "We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model".

If we compare that against Apple's latest iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus smartphones which are 7.8mm thick, while the higher-end iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are thicker at 8.25mm (the same thickness as the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max). The new iPhone 17 Air (or iPhone 17 Slim, or iPhone 17 Thin, or whatever Apple ends up calling it) being 6mm will be pretty remarkable, revolutionary even.

ASUS has introduced its new ROG Phone 9 Pro and ROG Phone 9 gaming smartphones, featuring up to an incredible 185Hz refresh rate and an amazingly awesome 648 programmable mini-LEDs on the back... that you can play games on. Check it out:

The new ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro and ROG Phone 9 gaming smartphones both feature a 6.78-inch AMOLED panel with an FHD+ resolution and up to 2500 nits of brightness. ASUS is ushering in a blistering 185Hz refresh rate on its new ROG Phone 9 handsets, but with games that are enabled by ASUS Game Genie will you get 185Hz.

On the back, there's 648 programmable mini-LEDs that can be tweaked, with the AniME Vision display giving a totally custom look to your new ASUS ROG Phone 9 gaming smartphone, and the back of the phone can even be used to play games.