Mobile Devices - Page 112

Samsung has its own problems with the US government recalling Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, but now Apple has hit a snag with iOS 10, with some users reporting their iPhones and iPads were being bricked after the new OS upgrade.

T-Mobile has now warned its customers against upgrading to iOS 10 on their current iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone SE models. T-Mobile took to their website saying that the iPhone could "lose connectivity [to the T-Mobile network] in certain circumstances" by upgrading to iOS 10.

You can get around this issue, but it's a headache: you'll need to totally power down your iPhone and restart it. Apple is expected to push out an update for this issue in the next 48 hours.

The US government has announced an official recall of Samsung's troubled Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, but now there's positive news that the company could release its new Gear 360 Pro camera alongside the new Galaxy S8 smartphone.

SamMobile has an exclusive report, where they've said: "we've received information that the company is working on a new 360-degree camera. Dubbed Gear 360 Pro, the camera might be announced alongside the Galaxy S8 early next year".

What would the new Gear 360 Pro do? It would have improved image and video quality, alongside new features. Samsung is also working on iOS compatibility for its current crop of 360-degree cameras, which should arrive soon.

Samsung has hit a new speed bump with its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone recall, with the US government now stepping in and putting its foot down through an official recall by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Samsung is also rumored to release the Galaxy S8 early, to help with the PR disaster caused by the Note 7 recall.

With an official recall program with the CPSC, we should see Note 7 replacements happening in larger numbers, with over 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones needing to be replaced. The CPSC has already warned consumers that they shouldn't use, or charge their Note 7 smartphones.

There are reports that Samsung will soon push an update for the Note 7 that will cap the battery at 60% charge, which should prevent anymore fires and explosions. The CPSC posted on its site, saying: "Consumers should immediately stop using and power down the recalled Galaxy Note7 devices purchased before September 15, 2016. Contact the wireless carrier, retail outlet or Samsung.com where you purchased your device to receive free of charge a new Galaxy Note7 with a different battery, a refund or a new replacement device. Go to www.samsung.com for more details".

With people being burned and their cars, or houses setting on fire from the battery-related problems on the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung could push the negativity out of consumers' minds with the early release of the Galaxy S8. We've also been hearing that Samsung could remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from the Galaxy S8, replacing it with a proprietary connector... ugh.

Samsung is rumored to be much closer to being finished with the Galaxy S8 than previously thought, with the company possibly unveiling the new Galaxy S8 ahead of time. KB Investment & Securities analyst Kim Sang-pyo talked with The Korea Herald, saying: "If Samsung's flagship smartphone launch is delayed to the end of the first quarter of next year, the profitability of the mobile business division could be worsened next year".

He continued: "Regardless of the sales resumption, an earlier launch of a new quality flagship model seems to be the most realistic solution to dealing with the current recall crisis". The impact that the Note 7 recall is hurting Samsung in a big way, with $36 billion wiped away from their shares, the early launch of the Galaxy S8 could actually be a saving grace.

Apple launched their new flagship phones last week - iPhone 7 and 7 Plus on September 7th. Fans are already lined up in front of Apple stores waiting for September 16th when first iPhones arrive in stores. Reports say that one fan started waiting in front of an Apple Store on August 25th, two weeks before the iPhone 7 was officially launched.

But for those who are having second thoughts about the new iPhone, we decided to take a closer look at what improvements the iPhone 7 brings, and we asked an expert his opinion.

The iPhone 7 critics will point out that the new iPhone doesn't have a headphone jack, and to be honest, Apple haven't really given any good alternatives, which may happen next year. Also, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are marked IP67, not IP68, which means they are splash proof but not submersible. If you take a closer look at Apple's ad, you will also notice (if you don't blink) a warning saying: "Water resistance IP67 under IEC standard 60529. Liquid damage not covered under warranty". So, if your iPhone 7 dies from water damage, Apple will not replace it.

When Apple revealed the new iPhone 7 without the headphone jack, the world stopped - finally asking if Apple had gone too far with its courage. Now there are rumors that Samsung's next-gen Galaxy S8 smartphone will also not have a headphone jack, and that's not good.

Digital Music News says it has a source in South Korea that is in "the broader supply chain of Samsung's smartphones" that the new Galaxy S8 smartphone could have its own proprietary connector, just like the iPhone, moving away from microUSB and USB Type-C connectors on the Galaxy S7, and Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.

Samsung's new connector would be incompatible with the Lightning ports on the iPhone, so there would be a proprietary connector that will annoy countless people. The stretch for profits goes wide and far, it is the courage that drives these companies to release some of the most popular products in the world without the standard we have on millions of devices - all without a clear benefit of what a proprietary connector provides, over the convenience of a 3.5mm jack.

Apple is pushing out its new iOS 10 update with some users reporting that their iPhones and iPads received over-the-air updates to iOS 10, and have been completely bricked - needing to be restored through iTunes.

Gizmodo reported that there are plenty of Twitter results with people experiencing iOS 10 update problems, where the over-the-air update is causing it, versus updating it over their computers. In a statement to Recode, Apple said that they had found the problem, saying: "We experienced a brief issue with the software update process, affecting a small number of users during the first hour of availability".

Apple continued: "The problem was quickly resolved and we apologise to those customers. Anyone who was affected should connect to iTunes to complete the update or contact AppleCare for help".

Samsung recently announced a global recall of all Galaxy Note 7 phones cause of its battery issues that already led to some pretty tragic events. A 6-year old boy who burnt his hand while using the Galaxy Note 7 is just one of many reported accidents caused by this phone.

Samsung reacted pretty fast and appealed to all of its customers to return the Note 7. Regardless, some users seem pretty stubborn and are still using potentially harmful devices. To encourage users to return the devices, Samsung now plans to issue a software update for the Galaxy Note 7 that will prevent them for overheating. Their plan is to limit the battery charging to 60 percent which will certainly have an impact on the users.

AP reports that Samsung advertised the patch, which should roll out on September 20th for South Korean users, on the front page of Korean newspaper Seoul Shinmun. It is unclear weather or when the patch will go global.

Samsung is really hurting right now with Galaxy Note 7 smartphones exploding all over the place, with a 6-year-old boy in New York City being burnt after the Note 7 he was watching a video on blew up in his hands.

Well, Samsung is also hurting with its shares, bleeding an out of this world $26 billion over the weekend - roughly 6.9% since Friday, reports BGR. Samsung is also set to lose another $1 billion or so with the global recall on the Note 7, and even the FAA and other agencies are telling Note 7 owners to turn their smartphones off before they get on the plane, or even put it with their checked-in luggage.

What now? Samsung will continue to slide until people forget about these issues, but $26 billion over the weekend is a mind-boggling amount of money - no matter how big the company is.

Samsung has had multiple events around the world where its new Galaxy Note 7 has caught fire or exploding, with the recent one seeing a 6-year-old boy in NYC being burnt after the Note 7 he was watching videos on exploded.

The company has been rumored to have discussed the possibility of remotely disabling Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, with one Note 7 owner on Reddit being told that every "recalled" Galaxy Note 7 would be remotely deactivated by Samsung after September 30. Samsung has said that this won't happen, with Android Central reaching out to the company, where they were told "this is not something the company has stated, and that all official guidance will be published on its website".

Personally, I think Samsung should remotely deactivate Note 7's around the world after September 30, leaving a message on the handset to return it to the place of purchase. It keeps everyone safe, without having to worry about people not returning the phone and possibly having their Note 7 explode at a random point in time in the future.

If you thought the huge 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus or 5.7-inch display on the Galaxy Note 7 - which exploded in a 6-year-old boy's hand in NYC yesterday, then prepare yourself for the massive 6.8-inch screen on the ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra smartphone.

The 6.8-inch display rocks a native 1080p resolution with an IPS panel, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, 3GB and 4GB offerings, and a microSD card slot that will allow you to install a 256GB microSD card. ASUS will be offering the new ZenFone 3 Ultra in three colors: Rose Pink, Glacier Silver, and Titanium Gray - while the pricing will start from $479.

Google's upcoming new smartphone series is nearly here, with the company reportedly moving away from naming the new handsets 'Nexus', and instead they'll instead be named Pixel, and Pixel XL.

HTC is manufacturing the new smartphones with the smaller Pixel smartphone turning up in new 360-degree renders, with 'Sailfish' looking to rock a USB Type-C port instead of a typical micro USB port. There's also some dual stereo speakers which can be seen to the left, and right of the new USB Type-C port.

It looks like we can expect a 5.2- or 5.3-inch 1080p display, while inside HTC seems to be using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820/821 processor, with 4GB of RAM. We should expect 32GB of storage, a 12MP rear-facing camera backed up with an 8MP front-facing camera, and joined by a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Another Galaxy Note 7 smartphone has exploded from its battery-related problems, with a 6-year-old boy using Samsung's latest handset while it burst into flames while he was watching videos.

The New York City boy's grandmother, Linda Lewis, told the New York Post that the fire was serious enough that it set off fire alarms in her house. Lewis took her grandson to the Downstate Medical Center where he received treatment to the resulting burns on his body. Lewis told the Post: "he doesn't want to see or go near any phones. He's been crying to his mother".

Lewis said that the family has been in contact with Samsung, but didn't comment further. Samsung recently announced a global recall, advising all Galaxy Note 7 owners to turn off, and return their smartphones - with new stock arriving in a few weeks.

Samsung has been in the headlines recently after it has recalled all of its new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones over faulty batteries that have been catching fire and causing actual mayhem and thousands of dollars of damage, but now it's here again with the announcement of a new flip phone: the Galaxy Folder 2.

Samsung's new Galaxy Folder 2 is exactly what you think it is, a smartphone in the older flip phone style from years ago when Motorola had its smash hit Razr flip phone. Well, Samsung has crammed a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor (8-core CPU at 1.4GHz), with 2GB of RAM, and a 3.8-inch TFT LCD with a native resolution of 800x480.

Inside, there's a 1950mAh battery while an 8MP rear camera and 5MP front-facing camera keep you snap happy with your new flip phone. Samsung is pushing its new Galaxy Folder 2 in China for now, but would this even be on your radar if it was available in your country?

Apple announced the new iPhone 7 at today's event in San Francisco. In the weeks that led to this announcement, there were a lot of rumors about what Apple might and might not include in the new iPhone model and it turns out - most of them were true.

The biggest question was weather or not the new iPhone will have a headphone jack. The answer is a big - no. No, it won't.

Apple decided to get rid of it and offer ear buds that connect through lightning. But...here is the catch, Apple also includes an adapter if you wanna use your old headphones.

Apple announced the new iPhone 7 at today's event in San Francisco. In the weeks that led to this announcement, there were a lot of rumors about what Apple might and might not include in the new iPhone model and it turns out - most of them were true.

The biggest question was weather or not the new iPhone will have a headphone jack. The answer is a big - no. No, it won't.

Apple decided to get rid of it and offer ear buds that connect through lightning. But...here is the catch, Apple also includes an adapter if you wanna use your old headphones.

LG has made its new V20 smartphone official, with their latest handset being a successor to the very interesting V10 from 2015. The original V10 rolled out with a dual-screen feature that had LG using a strip of the LCD at the top as notifications for quick glances, but the new V20 boasts its own new design, an improved camera, and audiophile-grade music playback.

The new V20 smartphone has a 5.7-inch QHD (2560x1440) IPS-based display, with a smaller second screen at the top - just like its predecessor, which is used for app shortcuts, notifications, and other uses like a personal signature.

The second screen might not sound like something you'd use, but since it provides a separate space for your notifications, it actually would come in handy. LG adds that the second screen is now brighter, and has improved contrast over its predecessor.

Well, I don't even know how to start writing this news, but Turing Robotic Industries has just announced the highest-end smartphone the world has ever seen with the upcoming Turing Monolith Chaconne.

The upcoming monster smartphone rocks 3 x Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 processors for a total of 24 CPU cores, a huge 18GB of RAM, a 6.4-inch 4K display, 768GB of internal storage with two microSD cards that expand that to 1.2TB, and a massive 60-megapixel rear-facing camera backed up by a 20-megapixel front-facing snapper.

Turing has included a special slide-out keyboard, augmented reality with parallel tracking and mapping, and something it calls A.L.A.N. which will have more details soon. The Turing Monolith Chaconne won't be released until 2018, and I'm scared to know what pricing we're looking at when it does arrive.

Earlier this week, Samsung issued a global recall of its new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, and since it announced the news before the weekend, the stock market hasn't had time to reflect. Well, those hours are ticking past, and we're now walking right into the warm arms of Monday morning.

Bloomberg is reporting that Samsung has shipped around 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones since its launch on August 19, and if every single one of them is replaced, it will cost Samsung around $1 billion.

If you are like me, and have purchased (and love) your Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, you can opt into returning it to your place of purchase. Obviously you don't need to do this, but Samsung has said that each and every Galaxy Note 7 is affected by the fault, so if you want to play it safe, get your Note 7 swapped over as soon as you can.

Google's older Nexus 7 tablet from 2013 was one of the first popular Android-based tablets, as it had a great price, fast internals and an at-the-time fast processor, that let it stand away from the iPad and make its own impression on the tablet market. Well, rumor has it Google is working on a Nexus 7 successor with Huawei.

The rumor is coming from notorious leaker Evan '@evleaks' Blass, who has said that Huawei will be manufacturing the new 7-inch tablet, and it'll be released before the end of 2016.

Previous reports have stated that Google will drop the Nexus branding from its upcoming smartphones, and instead they'll be called Pixel and Pixel XL. If the new tablet is on its way from Google, it shouldn't be a stretch of the imagination that it'll be called the Pixel Tablet, should it?