Mobile Devices - Page 46

Xiaomi has officially unveiled the Redmi 12 smartphone, a budget device that is replacing the Redmi 11 that was already on offer.

The new phone isn't likely to compete with many iPhones or high-end Android devices and the specifications bear that out. They aren't bad of course, but there are areas where you can see Xiaomi saving money in order to hit a price point.

Those specs start with a 6.79-inch FHD+ resolution display with a 90Hz refresh rate. Nestled in that display you'll find an 8-megapixel camera, while a main 50-megapixel camera takes care of photography needs around the back. It isn't alone though - there's an 8-megapixel ultrawide and 2-megapixel macro lens keeping it company.

The iPhone 15 lineup is expected to be announced later this year and if that's the case, we can expect four new models to arrive. Now, we're being told that two of those models are going to get camera upgrades that were previously limited to only the Pro iPhones.

According to the report by IT Home citing supply chain sources, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will both get new 48-megapixel cameras. Those cameras are currently available in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, but not the iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Plus.

With that in mind, it would appear that Apple is going to change its previous method of only giving the Pro iPhones the new camera sensors. If that's the case then iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus buyers can look forward to more detailed images as well as support for 48-megapixel ProRAW photos.

Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 15 lineup later in 2023, likely around the first couple of weeks of September. And now a new report suggests that prices are going up across the board.

While the report believes that all of the 2023 iPhones will be more expensive than those that they replace, it's the 1TB iPhone 15 Pro Max that could make the eyes water. According to Economic Daily News, the phone will cost around $1,800 which would make it the most expensive iPhone to date.

Not that buying any of the other iPhones will be a cheap endeavor, though. It's thought that all of the iPhones will see a price hike of as much as 20% depending on the model in question.

If you've been waiting to get your hands-on the next big phone from Nothing, you won't have to wait too much longer. That's because the company has finally confirmed when the Phone (2) will be unveiled - and it isn't all that far away.

In a post to Twitter, Nothing confirmed that the Phone (2) will be unveiled on 11 July. That's just a month away, and while the company didn't go into details about what the phone will have up its sleeve we do have some bits and pieces that we're pretty confident in already.

At the top of that list is the fact that we're expecting the Nothing Phone (2) to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip. Qualcomm had already confirmed that one of its chips would be used months ago and while some had hoped for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, that doesn't appear to be in the cards.

The Google Pixel line of phones has always been one that has been the go-to for people who want some of the best cameras around. That definitely didn't change with the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, and even the Pixel 7a got some camera upgrades earlier this year as well. Now, all of the attention is beginning to turn to what comes next.

What comes next is of course the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, and a new leak claims to have details about what the cameras of those phones will have to offer. That leak comes via Android Authority which cites an unnamed source from inside Google, so make of that what you will.

The most interesting bits of information found in the leak begins with the fact that the Samsung ISOCELL GN1 found in the Pixel 7 lineup is being removed and then replaced by the upgraded GN2 model from the same company. That'll be used in the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, with a larger sensor likely improving photographs taken in low-light conditions in particular. Less motion blur should also be noticed, too.

Ahead of the expected reveal of the Galaxy S24 Ultra in the first quarter of 2024, a renowned leaker has showcased the camera specifications.

Samsung rolled out massive changes to its Galaxy S23 Ultra, specifically the primary camera that got massive upgrades such as a 200-megapixel rear camera and a new selfie camera.

According to leaker Ice Universe, the Galaxy S24 Ultra won't experience the same degree of changes, or many changes at all, compared to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, as the S24 is rumored to have the same 200-megapixel Samsung HP2 primary camera sensor, a 12-megapixel Sony IMX564 sensor for its ultra-wide lens and a 12-megapixel Sony IMX754 telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is a phone that we've seen conflicting rumors about over the last few months. Some believe that it's real and on the way, others suggested that there will be no FE, or Fan Edition, version of the latest Galaxy S lineup. Now, a new leak claims to have pictorial proof of the battery that will power the phone when it is eventually made official.

Whether this finally confirms that there is really going to be a Galaxy S23 FE or not remains to be seen, but some people seem pretty convinced that we will finally see this new phone sooner rather than later.

The battery itself was spotted by Galaxy Club in a certification listing from Safety Korea. The battery carries the model number EB-BS711ABY which matches the SM-S711 model number that is thought to be for the Galaxy S23 FE. However, the certification doesn't confirm what capacity the battery has which means that we can't have a guess at how well the Galaxy S23 FE will fare in the battery life stakes.

If you live in Germany and were planning on picking up a new phone, you're going to have one fewer company to look into. That's after Vivo followed the lead of OnePlus and Oppo by pulling out of the country, halting sales of its phones in the process.

The move follows a ruling over a patent battle with Nokia that saw Vivo and the other two companies lose. As a result, Vivo says that it's no longer selling its phones in Germany. However, those who already have a phone will continue to receive customer support when required while future software updates have also been secured, the company says.

Interestingly, WinFuture notes that Vivo could license the WLAN patents required to continue selling its phones in the country but appears to have chosen not to. The retailer does note that Germans who really do want to get their hands-on a Vivo phone can still do so via other European countries, although that is perhaps an extra layer to the purchase process that most people are unlikely to want to go through.

The next round of flagship phones will likely be powered by a new chip, and that chip is shaping up to be one well worth getting excited about.

That new chip is of course the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 from Qualcomm, with the silicon set to replace the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that powers flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S23 lineup. Now, new details show the upcoming chip's expected performance when compared to the old one, and it makes for good reading.

The information comes via Twitter leaker Revegnus, with the stats suggesting that there will be up to a 30% speed improvement depending on the type of thing you're doing.

The iPad continues to try and convince the world that it's a real laptop replacement and in many ways, it's proven that to be the case. But so far it's been found lacking in one key way - there was no way to connect a proper webcam.

Sure, the iPad comes with a webcam built in but that's no good if you want the camera angle to be different or, heaven forbid, you just want a really good image out of a proper webcam. But that's all changing when the iPadOS 17 update arrives later this year.

That's because Apple is finally adding USB webcam support to the iPad with the release of iPadOS 17. The update is expected to ship in September, so there is still a little time to wait. But when iPadOS 17 lands podcasters around the world will rejoice.

The iOS 17 update looks set to make a huge improvement to the App Store and it's one that many of us had forgotten that we even wanted in the first place.

The change is the addition of a download timer, one that will give people an idea of how long it will take to complete a download from the App Store. The new timer will appear beside the button that can be pressed to stop a download and only appears on downloads that are relatively large. Downloads that complete within a couple of seconds won't bother displaying a timer, it appears.

The change was noted by Mastodon user Matt Birchler and is also likely to apply to the iPadOS 17 update, although that is yet to be confirmed. However, the same feature hasn't made the jump to the Mac App Store, at least not in the first developer beta of macOS 14 Sonoma.

Apple developer accounts have historically cost $99 to get a hold of, but for that, you also get access to Apple's developer relations teams, resources, tools, and, of course, beta releases. Those beta releases include macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS. Now, it seems that everyone can download those betas free of charge instead.

The news means that people who register for a free developer account will be able to download Apple's latest and greatest developer beta updates without having to pay the usual $99 fee. What's more, it also means that they won't have to wait for Apple to release updates to the public beta channel, either. In the case of the iOS 17 beta, that was expected to involve a weeks-long wait. Now, people can download iOS 17 right now - and they can do it for free.

The change was first spotted by iSoftware Updates with Apple updating its developer website documentation to outline the difference between a free developer account and one that will continue to cost $99 per year.

Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event will be for the first time held in Seoul, South Korea, and now details about the contents of the event are unraveling.

The Galaxy Unpacked event being held in Seoul will focus on the foldable category, with reports indicating that Samsung is preparing to unveil its next-generation Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Samsung announced the news and wrote that Seoul was specifically selected for its role in "influencing global trends" through its dynamic culture and innovation. Latest rumors suggest Samsung has made some progress on removing the crease from its foldable displays.

Other rumors suggest that the Galaxy Z Flip 5 will be powered by a Snapdragon 9 Gen 2 chip, similar to the Galaxy S23. As for the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Samsung has been making improvements with every installation into the Galaxy Fold line, from a prominent crease in the very first Galaxy Z Fold in 2019, to a now nearly invisible crease in the latest Galaxy Z Fold. There are expectations that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 will be no different in terms of improvements, with buyers expecting improved hinge mechanics that remove the gap and enables the screen to fold completely flat.

Apple's WWDC 2023 opening keynote is now just a matter of hours away and there are plenty of rumors that point to what the company plans to announce. We've seen various rumors relating to the hotly-anticipated Reality Pro headset, but there might be a free upgrade coming for hardware that we already have.

That upgrade could make Siri much easier to use, especially if you're someone who finds that you have to get the digital assistant's attention using the "Hey Siri" command a lot. Because that command might finally be going away.

That doesn't mean that you won't be able to get Siri to respond without pressing a button or anything else so draconian, however. Instead, it now appears that Apple is finally ready to shorten that wake phrase - choosing to simply go with a quick "Siri" instead.

Unlike its first phone, Nothing is bringing the Phone (2) to the United States and the company will officially announce more details about the phone at some point next month. Now, the company has confirmed a couple of little tidbits of information ahead of time relating to software and the Phone (2) display.

The news came via a series of tweets posted to the social network that confirmed a couple of interesting things, especially for those who thought the Phone (1) was a little on the small side.

Perhaps the most notable part of the tweets was the fact that Nothing will make the Phone (2) as sustainable as possible. To do that it says that it is committed to continuing to offer three years of Android updates as well as four years of security updates - something that should ensure that not only do Phone (2) buyers get new features but that they're also protected in terms of security flaws and whatnot.

Every year Apple shares details about how many of its active devices are running the latest and greatest version of its software. Today it did exactly that, updating developers on how well adopted iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 have been since their release towards the end of 2022.

According to the figures, which were posted to the App Store section of Apple's developer website, 90% of all iPhones introduced in the last four years are now running some flavor of iOS 16, a figure that is impressive for developers who want to be able to build apps against the latest APIs.

That figure falls to 81% when all active iPhones are taken into account, but it's still almost identical to the figures from last year's iOS 15 release.

Microsoft just pushed out an update for its Surface Duo and Duo 2 devices with a nasty sting in the tail, in the form of a bug that causes the hardware to reboot randomly.

This gremlin in the works was reported by Surface Duo owners on Reddit after the May 2023 update, with the restarts happening seemingly without any rhyme or reason, making for a serious headache, as you can imagine.

A staff member on Microsoft's Answers.com help forum said the company is actively investigating the problem.

Apple iPhone owners who have just updated to iOS 16.5 are in some instances finding their battery life has been severely hampered, and charging times are reportedly affected too.

Macworld was quick to spot the complaints, of which there are quite a few, hitting various online forums and social media platforms.

The tech site also flagged up the Apple Support account responding on Twitter, as you can see in the above tweet, noting that it's 'normal' for an update to cause your apps and phone to go through a period of adjustment - and it might take 48 hours to return to normality.

Surface Pro X owners have doubtless been scratching their heads after the cameras on these devices suddenly stopped working.

The problem? Apparently, Microsoft has been lax and let a security certificate expire, so The Register reports.

The tech site points out the plentiful complaints online (on Reddit, and Microsoft's support site, Answers.com) from users no longer able to use their camera for, say, an important video meeting. Or indeed logging in with Windows Hello.

The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are both expected to be announced later in 2023 alongside the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, and it's now being said that we can expect the phones to borrow a feature from last year's best iPhones.

In 2022 the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max both gained a new 48-megapixel camera, but the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus both had to make do with the 12-megapixel camera that everyone was familiar with from previous models. That's apparently going to change this year.

That's according to analyst Keff Pu from Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities. Pu's research note was seen by MacRumors which says that the new 48-megapixel camera will use a three=stackes sensor that will allow it to capture more light, possibly resulting in improved image quality.