Mobile Devices - Page 60

Amazon has announced the launch of new versions of the Fire HD 8 tablets that are aimed at the entire family. The new range includes the all-new Fire HD 8, Fire HD 8 Plus, and the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition. The Fire HD 8 features an eight-inch HD display, 30% faster performance with 2 GB of RAM, and twice the storage space expandable up to 1 TB with a microSD card.

Amazon promises up to 12 hours of battery life per charge and easier charging using a USB-C port. The tablet also offers access to millions of movies, TV shows, songs, e-books, magazines, games, educational apps, and entertainment apps. The new Fire HD 8 retails for $89.99. The Fire HD 8 Plus has the same eight-inch display with the addition of 3 GB of RAM and wireless charging support.

The wireless charger does not come with the tablet, but it does include a 9W in-box USB-C charger for faster charging. For a limited time, the tablet also comes with six months of Kindle Unlimited for $109.99. The last of the new tablets is the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition. Huawei launched a new tablet recently for those wanting a bigger screen and more traditional Android experience.

Rumors have been flying concerning the coming Samsung Galaxy Note 20 smartphone. The latest rumor has surfaced via the YouTube channel called Greggles TV from an interview with the CEO of Display Chain Consultants, Ross Young. Young has been the source of numerous rumors focusing on the Note 20 over the last several weeks.

According to Young, the Galaxy Note 20 and its larger sibling the Note 20 Plus will be the first devices to use the second-generation Qualcomm 3D Sonic Max fingerprint reader. The fingerprint reader is an ultrasonic unit first introduced last December with the ability to read two fingerprints at the same time thanks to its large area. The larger read area is expected to bring significant improvements compared to the first generation sensor used in the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 smartphones.

Young also claims that the Note 20 devices will have the same selfie camera position as the Note 10. That means users can expect a hole-punch display. The leaker claims that the Note 20 will have a 6.42-inch display with the Note 20 Plus getting a 6.87-inch screen. Other tidbits tossed out in the latest rumor series includes up to 16 GB of RAM and batteries of 4000 mAh to 5000 mAh.

As rumors continue to persist about a Galaxy Fold 2, new rumors are going around about another device that will slot into the Galaxy Fold family. According to the latest rumor, Samsung is working on a significantly cheaper version of the Galaxy Fold that will skip some features of the original. The rumor says that the device is believed to be called the Galaxy Fold Lite 4G.

The smartphone would be a mix of parts sourced from older and newer smartphones that launched between 2018 and 2020. One way Samsung is said to be keeping costs low on the Galaxy Fold Lite is by ditching the ultra-thin glass used on the Galaxy Z Flip and relying on a plastic screen like the original Galaxy Fold.

Another cost-saving measure would be a smaller external display. The exact size of that external display is unknown, but speculation suggests it could be more like the external screen on the Galaxy Z Flip rather than what was seen on the original Fold. The cheaper device will use an aluminum frame according to reports with the external portion made out of glass to enable wireless charging.

Android fans are waiting in anticipation for the next device to land from Google in the form of the rumored Pixel 4a smartphone that's expected to compete against the iPhone SE. There have been multiple leaks of the smartphone ahead of its official unveil, most recently when Google's Rick Osterloh tweeted a screenshot that appeared to be from the 4a giving an idea of what the screen layout would look like.

A case allegedly designed for the Pixel 4a has leaked that has a rendering of the smartphone inside, showing what the device will look like. The case is thought to show the final design for the new smartphone, and the design does seem to correspond with the screenshot we mentioned before. The rendering shows a hole-punch camera on the front of the screen offset to the left.

The smartphone design appears to align with some previous rumors about the Pixel 4a. Rumors have suggested that the smartphone will feature a 5.8-inch OLED display, which would be significantly larger than the iPhone SE's 4.7-inch screen. One thing of note in the leaked case renderings is that the smartphone has a 3.5 mm headphone port.

Some rumors are circulating about the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro that suggests there will be two iPhone 12 models. One of the devices will have a 5.4-inch screen, and the other will have a 6.1-inch screen and be called the iPhone 12 Max, according to the leak. Both devices are said to have an OLED screen rather than an LCD. According to leaker Jon Prosser, Apple is working with a company called BOE for the screens in an attempt to keep costs down as much as possible.

The rumor also claims that Apple won't increase resolution on the screens as an additional cost-saving measure. The rumor also claims something that is already expected in the form of the A14 Bionic chipset along with 5G support. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Max are tipped to use 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage on the low-end. The rumor claims at 256 GB version will be available as well.

Pricing is in line with the leak we talked about last month that tipped the iPhone 12 would start at $649. The iPhone 12 Pro line will include the Pro and Pro Max. Rumors suggest 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays sourced from Samsung. The displays will have Super Retina XDR branding and support 120 Hz ProMotion tech that surfaced in 2017 with the iPad Pro.

It hasn't been very long since Samsung launched its new Galaxy S20 family of smartphones. Despite them having been on the market for only a short time, the rumor mill is already looking to what Samsung will launch next. The device is believed to be called the Galaxy S21, assuming Samsung doesn't throw a curveball again and call the device the S30. Some rumors have surfaced that claim a change is being made to the camera specifications for the Galaxy S21 smartphone.

The rumor suggests that the laser autofocus is being dropped from the feature list. One of the S21 development models reportedly has a 150-megapixel primary sensor, a 64-megapixel telephoto sensor, a 16-megapixel wide-angle sensor, and a 12-megapixel macro sensor. Past rumors have suggested that Samsung was considering removing the time-of-flight sensor starting with the Note 20 expected this year.

However, this Galaxy S21 rumor suggests that the feature is still integrated. Two versions of the smartphone are claimed to be in testing. One of the smartphones reportedly has Optical Image Stabilization for the primary camera, the telephoto sensors, and the front selfie camera. The other unit in testing reportedly has optical image stabilization for the main, telephoto, and wide-angle cameras.

Details on the LG Velvet smartphone have been leaking for a while, and the smartphone has now gone official in Korea. One key feature for the smartphone is support for a Wacom stylus and up to 4096 pressure levels. The smartphone also comes with the Nebo handwriting app preinstalled, allowing users to get the most out of the stylus support.

The official specifications mirror the specs leaked previously and include a 6.8-inch POLED display with a 20.5:9 aspect ratio. Native resolution is 2460x1080, and the smartphone runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 processor. The SoC is paired with 8GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Storage expansion is possible via a microSD card slot.

The rear camera array has a 48-megapixel main camera, along with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. The front camera is a 16-megapixel unit. Power comes from a 4300 mAh internal battery that supports fast charging. Other features include an in-display fingerprint scanner and IP 68 dust and water resistance.

Samsung and AMD cooked up a mobile GPU partnership in the middle of 2019. The fruits of that GPU partnership aren't expected until 2021, according to previous AMD statements. Since the partnership was first announced, few details have surfaced. New information claims that despite the coronavirus pandemic, Samsung and AMD are still on track to hit that 2021 release date.

AMD is reportedly in the process of optimizing the custom GPU that will be integrated into Samsung devices in the future. More recently, a glimpse of what smartphone fans can expect from the chipset surfaced with leaked synthetic early test scores from GFXBench. Those leaked scores showed that the AMD GPU for the coming Samsung flagship devices scored 181.8 frames and the Manhattan 3.1 test.

That's about 13% better performance than the Adreno 650 used in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. The AMD GPU also averaged 138.25 in Aztec Normal and 58 frames in Aztec High. Those results are said to be about three times better than the Adreno 650. Expectations are that the AMD Radeon GPU will first turn up inside Galaxy smartphones with the Samsung Exynos 1000 SoC, which is believed to be the name for the successor to the Exynos 990.

One of the biggest smartphone launches in recent memory wasn't a very expensive and high-end device; it was the budget-priced iPhone SE. That smartphone launched at $399 and was widely hailed for packing the fastest processor around into a mid-range device. Samsung has competition for the new iPhone SE in the form of the Galaxy A51, which has now been widely launched in the US.

The Samsung Galaxy A51 is priced at the same $399 that the iPhone SE demands with one major caveat for those who value performance. The Galaxy A51 uses a Samsung Exynos 9611, which is inferior to the Apple A13 Bionic processor that's found inside the new iPhone SE. Samsung shouldn't feel too bad considering that the $400 iPhone SE processor is faster than every single Android phone on the market, even the S20 Ultra.

Where the Galaxy A51 shines compared to the new iPhone SE is in screen size. The A51 has a 6.5-inch screen with 2400x1080 resolution compared to the iPhone SE with its 4.7-inch display and 1334x750 resolution. Samsung's offering also has an in-screen optical fingerprint reader. The A51 has a camera array that may be more appealing to some users with a 48-megapixel primary camera, 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, 5-megapixel macro camera, and a 5-megapixel depth camera.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone was once the top of the line device from the company. It's now several generations old. As happens in the smartphone world as devices age, they eventually lose support from the manufacturer for OS and security updates. Samsung's Galaxy S8 has been around for about three years now, and Samsung announced this week that it would be ending monthly updates for the smartphone.

That doesn't mean that the Galaxy S8 is being abandoned altogether, rather than monthly updates as it's been getting will now change to quarterly updates. The last major software update for the S8 and S8+ was the bump to Android Pie. Despite not getting another major OS update, monthly security fixes had been offered for the phone.

The security updates will now only be offered quarterly for the S8 and several newer Android devices from Samsung, some of which are newer than the Galaxy S8. Only Samsung's flagship devices typically receive monthly updates. Some newer Galaxy devices, including the A71 5G, A41, A31, A11, M11, and the Tab S6 Lite, never received monthly updates and were always on the quarterly schedule.

Google's SVP of devices and services, Rick Osterloh, recently sent out a tweet that seemed innocuous enough. The tweet was celebrating a badge he had earned on the Fitbit that was for walking 7,900 miles. The tweet was made on May 4th, and what he tweeted isn't what has Pixel fans excited.

What was exciting is that the tweet was accompanied by a screenshot taken from the smartphone he's using, which appears to be the unannounced Google Pixel 4a. The screenshot doesn't brag that it's from the Pixel 4a. What gives it away is that the status icons at the top are significantly shifted to the right.

The shifting of the icons to the right would be to accommodate the hole-punch display that's been leaked a few times. Scuttlebutt suggests that the screenshot is from a Pixel 4a device that's been customized by Pixel Themes. Other interesting tidbits that can be gleaned from the screenshot include that the original resolution of the image, according to Twitter, is 2048x945, which is admittedly an odd resolution for a smartphone.

Typically, smartphone makers keep their plans for future devices close to the vest. Leaks certainly aren't uncommon, but rarely will you find a smartphone manufacturer who confirms future devices ahead of their official unveiling. However, Samsung recently did just that with confirmation in its Q1 financial results that the Galaxy Note 20 and the Galaxy Fold 2 are both coming in the second half of 2020.

Samsung went so far as to call the new devices "differentiated products in the premium segment." The confirmation of the devices coming in the second half of 2020 comes after a rumor surfaced last week that the Note 20 would use an upgraded chipset. A new report says that Samsung had originally planned to use the Snapdragon 865+ chipset, but production delays caused by coronavirus meant that chipset wouldn't arrive in time.

Instead, the Note 20 will use Samsung's own upgraded Exynos 992. Another potential implication here is that devices launched in the United States could have an older Snapdragon under the hood instead. Forbes reports that a licensing agreement is in place that prevents Samsung from selling flagship smartphones with Exynos chips in the United States.

The Motorola razr smartphone hasn't turned out to be a very popular device so far taking flak for a fragile design and few redeeming qualities. One of the biggest downsides with the smartphone is the price for many at $1499.99. That high price tag and issues that have turned up with the device in reviews have made the razr not so popular with buyers.

Anyone interested in the smartphone that was turned off by the price alone may find a deal that Motorola is offering on its official website very appealing. The deal is appealing assuming that you want two of the smartphones rather than one. Motorola is offering a buy one razr, get one free deal that allows you to mix-and-match colors. The deal essentially makes the price of the smartphone $750 each.

A lower price tag certainly won't make up for fragile build quality that has seen the screen peel at the fold of some devices or a Snapdragon processor that is slower than other similarly priced devices. However, for those who put more value on style than performance and want to be the first among their friends to get a folding device, the special deal may be precisely what they're waiting for.

Motorola is officially talking up the Edge+ smartphone touting the device as supporting the fastest 5G in the world. It supports the Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network and has Wi-Fi 6 integrated. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 mobile platform. The Snapdragon 865 platform has an AI engine able to process 15 trillion operations per second.

The Snapdragon processor is paired with 12 GB of DDR5 RAM, and 256 GB of UFS 3.0 storage. It has a 6.7-inch display that wraps 90-degrees around each side to produce what Motorola calls the Endless Edge display. The screen does support HDR10+ and has a 90 Hz refresh rate.

The rear the smartphone has a 108MP Quad Pixel primary camera sensor promising "unmatched quality." The triple camera system also has integrated Micro Vision capability for up-close details. The second sensor is an 8MP telephoto lens that has 3x optical zoom. The third sensor is a 16MP ultra-wide-angle lens that fits up to four times more of what's around you into the shot. The rear camera is capable of recording 6K UHD video at 30 fps.

One of the many challenges that smartphone users are facing during the coronavirus pandemic is having to use their device while wearing a mask or gloves. For iPhone users who take advantage of Face ID to unlock their smartphone, having to wear a mask due to coronavirus means that the phone won't unlock. As it stands now, users have the option of waiting until their device times out to be able to swipe up to enter a passcode or remove their mask.

Apple has released updated software that allows users to unlock their iPhones more quickly without using Face ID. With the new software, there is no need to wait for the device to timeout to enter the passcode. All the user needs to do with the software installed is swipe up to enter their passcode without having to wait for a Face ID error and timeout.

While this beta software is ready, Apple hasn't yet said when the final version will launch. The Face ID solution is one of two fixes that are said to be coming aimed at addressing issues that have surfaced during the coronavirus pandemic. In iOS 13.5 beta 3, the software will be introduced that is necessary for applications to develop contact tracing.

iPhone 12 rumors have been making their way around the Internet for a while now. The latest rumor comes from Jon Prosser, an Apple leaker with a history of accuracy. Prosser says in a tweet that he saw speculation on iPhone 12 prices and decided to go to his sources to see what sort of pricing was expected for the iPhone 12 models.

According to sources, the cheapest iPhone model will start at $649 and feature a 5.4-inch OLED screen, two cameras, and 5G capability. Next up the list is a 6.1-inch iPhone 12 with OLED screen, 5G support, and dual cameras for $749. The first step into the iPhone 12 Pro range will be the 6.1-inch OLED 5G packing model that features three cameras and a LiDAR sensor for $999.

The most expensive device in the iPhone 12 range will be the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max. The high-end smartphone will feature an OLED screen, 5G, and three cameras along with a LiDAR sensor for $1099. These prices are essentially the same that they are for the current iPhone 11 range.

Certainly, one of the best parts of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra smartphone is the camera system. We got a closer look at that camera system last month during the teardown of the Ultra. Not everything with the launch of the Galaxy S20 Ultra has gone according to Samsung's plan. The latest complaint from users of the smartphone are issues with cracks.

Several users have reported cracking in the glass around the rear camera. Some users have seen a fracture that runs across the entire camera area. Some have reported that the glass shatters suddenly and for no reason. At least one user has reported a crack in the glass that runs directly across the main lens, making the camera useless.

One man says his Galaxy S20 Ultra, and the one belonging to his wife, both have cracked glass on the cameras, and neither device has been dropped. Both of their smartphones were kept in cases, and the cracks occurred when they were being carried in pockets. Samsung has a history of problems with its high-end smartphones over the last several years, with the worst being devices that spontaneously caught on fire.

LG has confirmed the specifications for its new flagship smartphone call the LG Velvet. The device set to launch next week, and now fans know what to expect. The smartphone has a 6.8-inch 20.5:9 aspect ratio OLED display and both the screen and the back cover will have curved sides.

Velvet will be 74.1 mm wide with LG promising the width makes the device easy for consumers to handle. Stereo speakers will balance sound with artificial intelligence software designed to control the volume and optimize sound. On its back, Velvet will have a 48-megapixel main primary lens along with an eight-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a five-megapixel depth sensor.

The front selfie camera will be a 16-megapixel unit. LG says that the cameras will support ASMR recording to improve sound quality on recorded videos. Under the hood will be a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 5G SoC. Power will come from a 4300 mAh internal battery. The smartphone will have a headphone jack, which is something that many people appreciate.

One question that's been on the minds of many Apple fans and shareholders is when will the next iPhone generation launch. The coronavirus pandemic has caused significant delays for Apple, as it has for most of the world and other smartphone makers. A new report surfaced that claims that Apple is still gearing up for the next iPhone generation launch this fall, but it's launch plans could change.

According to the new report, mass production for the new iPhones has been pushed back about a month. That doesn't mean Apple couldn't announce the smartphones in September as it usually does, but it does mean that the devices may not be available to purchase the same month they are announced. The report also claims that Apple is planning four new iPhone models.

The new models are said to include one with a 5.4-inch screen, a pair of 6.1-inch screen models, and a high-end model with a 6.7-inch screen. It's unclear if all or only some of those models have been delayed. The original report started with the Wall Street Journal and claimed that the "flagship iPhones" would be delayed, which could indicate only the high-end models.

Huawei has launched a new mid-range tablet for its home market of China called the Huawei MatePad 10.4. The tablet has a 10.4-inch screen and runs on a Huawei Kirin 810 octa-core processor. The Chinese company has also wrapped in support for pen input, four speakers, four microphones, and a microSD card reader.

The tablet was unveiled in China with availability set for April 26 starting at 1899 yuan. That is equivalent to about $270. The base version of the tablet includes 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. A mid-range version of the tablet features 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage selling for the equivalent of $310.

The high-end version of the tablet will feature 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, and 4G LTE connectivity for around $350. All versions of the tablet share the same 10.4-inch screen with 2000 x 1200 resolution and up to 470 nits of brightness. Power comes from a 7250 mAh internal battery. The front and rear cameras are both 8MP. All versions of the tablet feature 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, and USB 2.0 Type-C ports. The Huawei MatePad 10.4 measures 245.2mm x 155mm x 7.4mm and weighs 450g.