Mobile Devices - Page 52

Well... the future of Samsung has been cemented with the next-gen Galaxy S23 family of smartphones to exclusively use Qualcomm's next-gen Snapdragon 8 Gen2 SoC.

This normally wouldn't be news, as Samsung uses its in-house Exynos chips alongside Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs in its smartphones, but now the Galaxy S23 is going all-in with Snapdragon. A new multi-year partnership between Samsung and Qualcomm will start in 2023, "expanding the use of Snapdragon platforms for future premiums Samsung Galaxy products globally".

We now have confirmation of the rumors from a few weeks ago, where we heard that Samsung's next-gen Galaxy S23 smartphones wouldn't have a Samsung chip inside, but rather they'd use Qualcomm designs. Now, it has been officially confirmed by both sides.

Samsung currently offers its Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone with different SoCs inside depending on the market, with some markets getting the Exynos 2200-powered Galaxy S22 Ultra, and other markets with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen1 SoC.

But for their next-gen Galaxy S23 family of smartphones, rumor has it Samsung will drop the use of its in-house Exynos SoC and move into the warm, loving arms of Qualcomm and its next-gen Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. The news is coming from analyst and insider Ming-Chi Kuo, who outlined it pretty easily:

Samsung has been losing the SoC race for a while now, and while the new AMD RDNA 2-powered GPU inside of the Exynos 2200 SoC was meant to be something great, it was a steaming pile of shit. Apple is doing kick-ass things with its A series of mobile processors, with the next-gen A16 SoC dropping inside of the iPhone 14 later this year made on the newer TSMC N5P process node.

The new ASUS ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone has been teased for a while now, with more and more details over the last few days... but now we have the official announcement. It's not just the new ROG Phone 6 that we've got, but an even higher-end ROG Phone 6 Pro gaming smartphone, too.

ASUS is powering its new flagship gaming smartphones with Qualcomm's very largest Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 chip, and what should be a gorgeous 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel (2488 x 1080 resolution) with a super-smooth 165Hz refresh rate, and Gorilla Glass Victus protection on the front, with a 720Hz touch sample rate.

The company is keeping the hardware inside of both the ROG Phone 6 and ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphones nearly identical, apart from RAM and SSD configurations. ASUS kicks things off with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but you can go up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM + 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage.

Xiaomi has just announced its beast new flagship 12S Ultra smartphone, where it has collaborated with image specialist Leica and taps Sony's impressive new 1-inch IMX989 sensor.

Inside, the new Xiaomi 12S Ultra smartphone is rocking Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chipset: cooled by what Xiaomi calls its "3D cooling system". Xiaomi offers a couple of versions of its new 12S Ultra smartphone with 8GB or 12GB of RAM configurations, with 256GB or 512GB of storage. There's a large 6.73-inch AMOLED display with a gaming-smooth 120Hz refresh rate, too.

Xiaomi also includes a large 4860mAh battery inside of the flagship 12S Ultra smartphone, with 67W of fast charging, 50W of wireless charging, and even 10W of reverse wireless charging (if you need to wirelessly charge up your wearable, or a friend's smartphone).

ASUS has given the world a better look at its next-gen flagship ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone, with a huge image gallery to gawk at. Check it out:

WinFuture posted the images of the ASUS ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone, with a slick Matrix LED screen on the back that shows off the ASUS logo in the best way possible. ASUS uses a similar feature on its Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop, which ASUS calls the "AniMe Matrix" so expect something similar for the ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone.

You can see here that this is the black variant of the ASUS ROG Phone 6 smartphone, while the other leaks covered the white variant. I like both, but the white ASUS ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone looks real dapper. I didn't expect to say that about a bright white phone, but here we are.

ASUS isn't a stranger to totally ridiculous gaming smartphones, but holy hell is the new ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone absolutely ridiculous. I mean... seriously, look at the cooler... a COOLER, on a smartphone:

In some new leaked photos from Evan "@evleaks" and 91Mobiles, the flagship ASUS ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone and its insane cooling accessory. The new ASUS ROG Phone 6 is going to be a mobile gamine powerhouse, which is why the ridiculous cooling accessory is being offered. The new renders, give us a sneak peak before the July 5 reveal of the ROG Phone 6.

I would love to see just how many people buy, and use the crazy cooling accessory for the ASUS ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone, because it truly is gigantic. Just how hot are the internals in it running that it needs this cooler. ASUS is offering the "AeroActive Cooler 6" as its new snap-on fan for the ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone, which while huge, does look awesome.

ASUS is preparing its totally bonkers new gaming smartphone with the soon-to-be-announced ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone. We've got some of the leaked specs, and man they're pretty crazy.

Inside, the new ASUS ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone will reportedly rock Qualcomm's fastest Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 processor, a crazy 18GB of RAM, and an FHD+ display with a Samsung-made OLED panel, cranking at a gaming-smooth 165Hz.

In a new leak, Digital Chat Station said that the new ASUS ROG Phone 6 gaming smartphone would have a 6.78-inch FHD+ 165Hz OLED Samsung "direct screen", a Snapdragon 8 Gen1 processor, 18GB of RAM, a 6000mAh dual battery with 65W fast-charging support, a 64-megapixel "triple camera" system, under-screen fingerprint sensor, measure in at 10.39mm thick, and it'll weigh 229g. It's a big boi gaming smartphone, that's for sure.

Apple has been accused of "intentionally crippling" web apps, so users are forced into downloading native search apps such as Safari.

The accusations come from Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who explained in a post that web apps on iPhone are forced to use WebKit to develop web-based apps, and within this WebKit are a slew of problems that Apple has reportedly ignored for approximately 15 years. Apple guidelines dictate that all apps listed on the App Store are prevented from unrestricted public channels, hence developers turning to web-based applications as a workaround.

The Telegram founder says Apple forces developers to use WebKit for all browsers on iOS, which means users can't simply download Firefox or Chrome to get around the issues. Additionally, since no improvements are being issued for the WebKit so developers can improve the performance/experience of web-based apps, it seems that Apple is attempting to steer users to Safari where it can collect its 30% commission.

Black Shark has just unveiled their latest flagship gaming smartphone, the new Black Shark 5 Pro which has some rather incredible specs in your hands.

The new Black Shark 5 Pro gaming smartphone has the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen1 processor, up to 16GB of super-fast LPDDR5 memory, and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It wouldn't be a new flagship gaming smartphone without a high-end, super-fast refresh rate display with the new Black Shark 5 Pro gaming smartphone featuring a 144Hz AMOLED display with 720Hz touch sampling... so your actions are near instantaneous at that point.

Black Shark cools its new gaming smartphone with "anti-gravity Dual VC liquid cooling" so that you can have "speed beyond gravity". There's also a magnetic pop-up trigger, 108-megapixel triple-camera system, and a dual-zone pressure-sensitive 144Hz OLED flexible display. The 120W Hyper Charge is capable of fully charging the Black Shark 5 Pro gaming smartphone in just 15 minutes.

Developers that are currently exploring Apple's coming iOS 16 update have posted screenshots online revealing Nintendo controller support across the OS.

The news reported by TechSpot points out that Apple has already given support for Xbox and PlayStation controllers, and according to developers digging through the iOS 16 developer preview OS and providing screenshots of the backend, Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers can now be connected.

Notably, developers have stated that both Joy-Con controllers can be connected at once, and "you can dynamically switch between using both joy-cons as a single controller or 2 separate controllers" by simply holding the screenshot and home button at the same time. This feature is particularly helpful for mobile gamers that are wanting to play a two-player local match on a single Apple device.

1TB in your smartphone isn't something new for Android users, but it will be new for Samsung's flagship foldable smartphone with the new Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold 4 smartphone will be revealed and released later this year, with rumors suggesting Samsung will offer a 1TB variant of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 foldable smartphone. The current Galaxy Z Fold 3 is offered in 256GB and 512GB variants, so a bump to 512GB and 1TB for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 feels like an appropriate upgrade.

The company offered up to 1TB of storage on its highest-end smartphones for a few years now, usually joined by 512GB internal storage and 512GB microSD storage -- but then the company offered 1TB internal storage without a microSD card with the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

The European Union (EU) has agreed to implement a mandated charging standard on Tuesday, June 7th, 2022.

EU member states and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) believe having a standardized charging cable for electronic devices will reduce electronic waste (e-waste). Apple, however, maker of the iPhone and its proprietary Lightning cable for charging, believes that move will stifle innovation.

A USB Type-C port for charging will be required on portable devices like smartphones, digital cameras, headphones, headsets, portable speakers, and E-readers, starting in late 2024. However, the law will allow laptops more time to adapt to the upcoming change.

Mobile phones have become a massive part of almost everyone's lives, but have you ever wondered how many times you check your phone in a day?

Asurion, a private insurance company that provides insurance for smartphones, tablets, and consumer electronics, published a study back in 2019 that found the average American checks their phone at least 96 times throughout a 24-hour period, which accounts for approximately 8 hours of sleep. 96 times a day means the individual was checking their phone once every 10 minutes.

A follow-up to that study was recently released and found that 96 times a day has drastically increased to 352 times a day, which has taken that 10-minute figure down to just once every 3 minutes. Notably, the study consisted of 2,000 American adults of a variety of different ages. Furthermore, the study found that out of all participants, 20% were unable to go without their phone for more than a few hours and that 75% of the participants reported taking their phone with them to the bathroom.

Google's next-gen Pixel 7 family of smartphones will have their in-house Tensor SoC made by Samsung, according to the latest reports out of Korean news site Digital Daily.

The new Google Pixel 7 family of smartphones should see its "Cloudripper GS201" Tensor chipset made on Samsung's 4nm node, and use PLP (panel-level packaging). PLP is used in chipset manufacturing, where it swaps part of the process to use a square panel instead of a round wafer for not only reduced waste but reduced per-unit costs.

Samsung made the "Whitechapel GS101" Tensor chip that powered Google's current-gen Pixel 6 family of smartphones, on the Samsung 5nm LPE node. Samsung will reportedly kick off mass manufacturing of the new Tensor SoC this month, with an October 2022 release expected for the new Pixel 7 smartphones.

Samsung has absolutely dominated the foldable smartphone market, with competitor Google and its purported foldable smartphone still waiting in the wings... nowhere to be seen, and now reportedly delayed.

Google was expected to unveil its new foldable products at its recent Google I/O 2022 conference, but it didn't happen. The Elec reports: "Google has postponed the launch of its first foldable smartphone again". Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) has now tweeted: "Hearing from multiple sources in their supply chain that the Google foldable launch was delayed till next spring..."

We don't exactly know why the foldable Pixel was delayed, but rumor has it Google isn't happy with the design of its foldable. Especially in the fact of Samsung and its now third-gen foldable Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 foldable smartphones.

Heading toward the iPhone 15, Apple was rumored to switch its stance on its charging ports for devices, going from the current Lighting Port to USB-C.

Now those rumors appear to have taken a turn as reports indicate that Apple is planning on rolling out Lighting Ports for its AirPods Pro 2 charging case, a switch that will swap out USB-C for Lighting. The news comes from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who explained in several tweets that the upcoming next-generation AirPods will launch sometime during the second half of 2022, and will feature a Lightning Port.

Previous rumors have indicated that Apple is closing out the Lighting Port on its devices and will switch to USB-C for future iPhones and accessories. However, these are just rumors, and nothing has been confirmed nor denied by Apple. In other AirPods-related news, a 12-year-old boy's eardrums were allegedly ruptured after an amber alert was triggered. More on that story can be found below.

Google has taken to its blog to announce that it's Street View's 15th birthday, and with its birthday comes some new upgrades for users and Street View's camera.

Google explains that Street View originally started as a "far fetched idea" from Google co-founder Larry Page, but now the application is comprised of more than 220 billion images from over 100 countries and territories, which makes up the world's largest 360-degree map. Even though Google Maps and Street View have come further than Google could have imagined when the ideas were first conceived, the company states that it's still planning improvements.

Street View will be getting a new camera system that will allow Street View to keep up with the extremely fast pace the world changes. The camera will weigh less than 15 pounds, be customizable, features lidar, laser scanners, and more. Additionally, the new camera will also be able to fit onto any car, making it easier for Google's partners around the world. Lastly, Google states that the new camera will appear on iconic Street View cars next year.

Motorola has some new smartphones in the works and has recently taken to a Chinese website to tease some of their upcoming hardware.

Operating under Lenovo, Motorola has teased via Weibo some new details about its smartphones while also confirming when one of the devices will be launching. According to the first post by Motorola, one of its upcoming smartphones will be a foldable device that will feature a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. Notably, this device will be launching sometime in July 2022.

Furthermore, the company teased another device which is depicted as foldable in the graphic and will also feature a 200 megapixel (MP) camera. According to Engadget, rumors have previously pointed toward Motorola's upcoming 200MP device being called the "Frontier," that's expected to sport 125-watt fast-charging and a 6.67-inch OLED display at a refresh rate of 144Hz. It should be noted that these are just rumors for the time being and that ahead of its launch in July, Motorola is expected to announce official details.

Huawei has just announced its new foldable smartphone is available, introducing the new Mate Xs 2 foldable smartphone with its huge 7.8-inch OLED display.

The new Huawei Mate Xs 2 foldable smartphone rocks a 7.8-inch OLED with a 2480 x 2200 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Huawei announced the new Mate Xs 2 foldable phone earlier this year, but now it's available in China starting now... and then Europe and other western markets.

What makes the Huawei Mate Xs 2 different to the leader of the foldable smartphone race: Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3 -- is that the Chinese manufacturer uses a foldable panel that folds outwards. Samsung, and others, have their displays fold in... keeping the internal (the larger) display protected when closed and in your pocket.

A team of researchers out of Germany has provided evidence of iPhones still being hackable even when powered off.

The researchers come from the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany and have been able to identify an exploit that came with a new feature in iOS 15. The new feature allows for the iPhone's "Find My" application to continue running for a few hours after the phone is powered off, which is very helpful for users who have had their device stolen.

The continued tracking is done through the phone's Bluetooth, NFC, and ultra-wideband chips, as all three maintain a lower-power mode despite the phone appearing off. The researchers were able to find an exploit in the Bluetooth firmware that they say could be modified to run malware. However, the conditions for this exploit to present itself need to be favorable, as explained by security researcher Ryan Duff who spoke to Motherboard about the researcher's recently released paper.