Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones News - Page 54

Apple's lifesaving Emergency SOS via Sattelite feature is now live in two more countries, giving iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro owners access to emergency services even then they don't have a cellular signal or Wi-Fi connectivity.

The feature was first announced alongside the iPhone 14 series of devices in September 2022 but its availability was limited at launch. Now, the feature is available in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Now, Australia and New Zealand can be added to that list.

Apple announced the news via a press release, saying that the feature is available on the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

When Google announced the Pixel Fold during the Google I/O event earlier this week there weren't too many surprises. Unfortunately, that also extended to the price of Google's first foldable as well.

Leaks had already suggested that Google would sell the Pixel Fold for around $1799 and sure enough that's exactly what was announced. That isn't all that expensive considering the competition's own prices in this particular market, but it's still a lot of money to ask people to hand over. So Google has come up with a plan.

That plan, it seems, is to try and make it easier for people to buy a new Pixel Fold by giving them insane trade-in prices on their old phone. Specifically, it looks like Google wants people to trade in their old iPhone or Samsung phone with those being the ones that are worth the most according to the company's trade-in prices.

Motorola has always been a company with something of a cult following and it always helped when it was making decent phones. The next foldable flagship from the company is now just around the corner, and it's looking pretty great.

That phone is the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra flip phone and it's expected to be announced relatively soon. But the lack of an official announcement doesn't mean that we don't know much about it and now we've also been treated to a handful of images showing three gorgeous colorways - one o which is absolutely our favorite.

The images were shared by leaker Evan Blass who posted them to this protected Twitter account. We get to see the phone in black and blue, but it's the third color that we're most interested in. It's a kind of magenta or red affair and it's possibly our favorite phone color right now. It might even be nicer than the Pixel 7a's Coral, but it's definitely a close-run thing.

When Google announced the Pixel 7a earlier this week there were a handful of colors to choose from. But anyone who wanted the best one - the gorgeous Coral color - has to buy their new phone directly from the company itself. And that posed one problem.

Those buying a Coral Pixel 7a from Google's UK store quickly spotted that the company was selling that one color for £50 more than the others. Oddly, the price hike was only in place for that one color and also only in that one part of the world. Anyone buying the Coral color anywhere else on the planet paid the same price as they would if they bought a different color altogether.

It wasn't clear exactly why that was the case and, it turns out, it shouldn't have been the case at all. Google says that the £50 markup was a mistake, adding that people will receive refunds as a result. Orders won't be canceled, thankfully. Buyers will just get their £50 back instead.

Google finally got around to announcing the Pixel 7a during its Google I/O event earlier this week and while the Pixel Fold stole the show, the company's budget offering is still a big deal. But there's a problem.

When announcing the Pixel 7a Google confirmed that it would sell for $499, which is $50 more than the previous Pixel 6a. What's more, Google decided to keep the Pixel 6a around which meant that the two were far too close together in the company's lineup, at least in terms of price. Now, that's all changed.

To make it easier to differentiate the two phones, and make the Pixel 6a an even more attractive buy, it's had a big price drop. Now, buying a Pixel 6a will cost just $349 and you might even find it for a bit less if you shop around as well. That's $100 less than it was costing just a few days ago and that makes it quite the bargain.

When Google finally announced the Pixel 7a during its Google I/O media event yesterday everything was pretty much as the leaks had foretold, including the $499 price. Except, something strange happened.

As expected, Google announced that the Coral color would be exclusive to its own online store, meaning that would be the only way to get the Pixel 7a in its best color. The problem is, if you choose that one color and happen to be in the United Kingdom, you'll pay more than if you chose any of the other ones. And nobody seems to know why.

Checking the UK Google Store shows that the Pixel 7a retails for £449 in the standard Sky, Charcoal, and Chalk colorways - Blue, White, and Black to you and me. But if you choose the Coral that price gets jacked up an extra £50 to $499 for reasons unknown.

After months or rumors and leaks, Google has finally announced the Pixel Fold during the Google I/O event yesterday. It also showed off the Pixel 7a for the first time and finally told us all when the Pixel Tablet will go on sale. But the real star of the show was that foldable Pixel. But it has a rather interesting secret.

Well, it isn't a secret now. But it was. That secret is that it can't actually open all the way. That is, it won't lay flat on a table because the hinge doesn't actually go all the way to allow the phone to open through 180 degrees. And it all seems a bit strange.

The news was confirmed by a few people who visited Google to see what the Pixel Fold had to offer before it was announced but Mr Mobile was one who explained it particularly well on Twitter. According to him, the hinge can be forced to get to 180 degrees but ti requires too much effort and, presumably, makes the user feel like something will break. That isn't something you want to happen to your new $1800 foldable.

OK, so we all know that having a longer PIN is a good way to make sure that our phones are safe and secure. But really, who wants to go about entering a PIN that's multiple digits long? That's why we have biometric security with face and fingerprint unlocks, right?

Well, sure. But sometimes entering a PIN is the only way to get in, and now Google is working on a way to make entering longer PINs less annoying.

With Android today you have to enter a long PIN and then confirm that you're done so that the phone will unlock. But the latest Android 14 beta does away with that final step, automatically signing you in when you successfully enter a PIN that's at least six digits in length. You can see it in action in the tweet embedded above.

Google is set to announce its new budget smartphone the Pixel 7a in just a day - and the leaks are still coming.

The latest rumor comes via Twitter leaker SnoopyTech who shared a couple of photos of what appears to be marketing for the Australian launch of the Pixel 7a. And while that's interesting enough on its own, what really caught our eye was what's at the bottom. It appears that Google is giving away a free pair of Pixel Buds A-Series if you buy its Pixel 7a.

Or at least, someone is. It isn't immediately clear from looking at what we see here whether this is a deal that is being run by Google or if it's something that has been put together by a third-party retailer. But if it's the former, we can likely expect that Google will run a similar promotion internationally.

If you are looking to upgrade your iPhone later this year and want to be able to enjoy improved zoom capabilities, you're going to want to iPhone 15 Pro Max.

That's following yet another report that the biggest and best iPhone will be the only one to benefit from a new zoom lens that will be made possible thanks to the magic of the periscope.

A periscope lens is one that bends light to allow for a longer distance between the lens itself and the camera sensor. That allows for the distance to be increased without making the phone thicker, and it will mean that the iPhone 15 Pro Max will have up top a 6x zoom - a big improvement over the current 3x optical capabilities.