Mobile Devices - Page 95

After Samsung has launched its new Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones, and before Apple has yet to counter with its iPhone 7S and iPhone 8/X release - Microsoft's Alex Kipman has kicked the house of cards over by saying "The phone is already dead. People just haven't realized".

If we consider there are 1.5 billion smartphones expected to ship this year alone, and that Microsoft has virtually none of that pie, it's not hard to see how the company can have a skewed view on things. Sure, augmented/mixed/virtual reality headsets and devices will be really cool new technologies and products, but I don't see how the smartphone is "dead" and we all haven't "realized" it yet. Kipman didn't say when the smartphone would start showing signs of death, but with Apple recently being called one of the most valuable companies in the world - again - I wouldn't worry just yet.

When the rumors about the name and specs of the OnePlus 3T successor started floating around, the company decided to put an end to them and confirm that they will, in fact, launch the OnePlus 5 this summer.

And while they are still quiet about the specs and we haven't seen any official previews of the phone, OnePlus published the first teaser on its Weibo account.

Read also: OnePlus 5 confirmed, arrives this summer

Back in 2015, Oukitel launched the K10000, a smartphone that stood out because of its enormous 10,000 mAh battery, which could fully charge three iPhone 6s Plus units and still have 10% battery life left. Now the company is preparing to launch its successor.

The rumored K10000 Pro is expected to have the same insane 10,000 mAh batter, but it should come with spec improvements.

The screen size is expected to stay the same, 5.5-inch, but with a higher resolution, 1080p. The K10000 Pro should be powered by MediaTek's octa-core 1.5Ghz processor, and according to the rumors, it will come with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.

The OnePlus 3T is the company's current flagship released in November last year. The phone comes in two versions - with 64GB or 128GB of internal storage.

However, there are some reports that the company has decided to discontinue the 128GB version of the device. A quick look at the company's website shows that the device is indeed unavailable at the moment.

It could be that the company wants to focus on the upcoming OnePlus 5, which they recently confirmed and announced its launch in the summer.

OnePlus has recently confirmed that they will launch the OnePlus 5, the successor to the OnePlus 3/3T, this summer.

The highly-anticipated smartphone should be the company's flagship that could compete with the recently launched Galaxy S8.

We know that the device will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835, but other specs are still a bit vague. OppoMart recently listed the OnePlus 5 on their website at a price of $449, and according to them, the phone should come with 6GB of RAM, 64GB/128GB of internal storage, and dual rear camera setup (12MP+12MP).

The Moto Z Play was announced back in August last year, and now, the company is preparing to unveil its successor, the Moto Z2 Play.

According to Evan Blass at VentureBeat, the Moto Z2 Play will be slightly thinner and lighter than last year's model, which would put the device more in-line with the rest of the Z series. However, to make the phone thinner, the company had to compromise somewhere which resulted in smaller battery capacity, according to the report. The original Moto Z Play had a 3,510 mAh battery, while the Moto Z2 Play is expected to feature a 3,000 mAh one.

The display will remain the same, 5.5-inch Super AMOLED with 1080 x 1920 resolution, but the other specs of the phone will receive an upgrade.

As we earlier reported, it seems that OnePlus intends to skip the OnePlus 4, since the number 4 is considered unlucky in China, and name their new flagship OnePlus 5.

Now, the company has confirmed that we are indeed looking at the OnePlus 5 name for the successor to the OnePlus 3/3T.

OnePlus also confirmed to The Verge that its next flagship will arrive this summer.

Huawei Honor 8 received a lot of positive feedback, and it seems that the company could soon unveil its successor - the Honor 9.

A recent photo leak reveals that the company decided to ditch the headphone jack, if the photos are credible, of course. According to the leak, the Honor 9 will come with a dual rear camera setup, the same as the Honor 8.

Another change should be the position of the fingerprint sensor. Leaked images reveal that the fingerprint sensor should now be embedded in the home button, which is the same move that the company did with the Huawei P10.

As we earlier reported, it seems that OnePlus intends to skip the OnePlus 4, since the number 4 is considered unlucky in China, and name their new flagship OnePlus 5.

OppoMart has listed the OnePlus 5 on their website, complete with specs and a price of $449. Since the phone still hasn't been officially unveiled, take this with a grain of salt, but the specs seem to match the previous leaks.

The OnePlus 5 is expected to be powered by Snapdragon 835, and it should come with 6GB of RAM, and 64GB or 128GB of internal storage.

After launching the F3 Plus back in March, Oppo has launched another 'selfie expert' - the Oppo F3.

The phone is powered by Mediatek MT6750 chipset with octa-core CPU and comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, expandable with a microSD card.

What makes this phone a 'selfie expert' is a dual front camera setup - a 16MP unit with f/2.0 aperture plus an 8MP F/2.4 wide-angle. The rear camera has 13MP.

If you haven't heard about the current Qualcomm vs. Apple licensing problems, Bloomberg is reporting that Qualcomm is going to change the game with their next move.

According to their sources, Qualcomm is going to ask the US International Trade Commission to block Apple from importing their iPhones in both Asia, and the US - months before Apple will launch its next-gen iPhone.

The two mega tech giants are fighting over Qualcomm patents that it holds, giving it power to charge Apple for their iPhones as they use IP that Qualcomm holds. Apple is legally bound to pay for Qualcomm's technology, as Apple itself has patents and charges for them - and to make it worse, Apple stopped paying Qualcomm their owed technology license payments.

After last year's problems with the Galaxy Note7, Samsung launched their latest flagship, the Galaxy S8, at the end of March. The South Korean company reported huge interest in their device and the first reviews and customer's feedback seem positive.

Samsung invested a lot in marketing, and it paid off. Everyone is talking about the phone, while LG's G6 or Huawei's P10 remain in the shadow of S8.

IDC's report on smartphone shipments in the first three months of 2017 revealed that Samsung is still on top of the list with 79.2 units shipped, and that was before the Galaxy S8 hit markets.

Samsung and LG have long been known as the two leaders in both display technology and enabling unique bezels on their devices thanks to those displays. Samsung just launched the S8+ with a dual curved infinity HDR display while LG launched the G6 with a thin bezel and HDR.

These manufacturers, among others, are all working towards nearly bezel-free displays.

A new report indicates that Samsung and LG are working towards OLED displays capable of quad curved displays that cover 98% of the front of the phone which would complete LG and Samsung's vision.

Xiaomi phones are extremely popular in Asia, but they have yet to conquer the world. Their absence from certain markets, especially the US market, is preventing them from taking an even bigger share of the market and is affecting their global market share rank. And the thing is...Xiaomi doesn't lack the customer's interest. So why aren't they present in the US? And when will they be?

Wang Xiang, Xiaomi's senior vice president who recently took over the role from Hugo Barra, helped answer those questions.

In an interview with CNET, Xiang said that the Chinese manufacturer's phone will launch in the US "in two years, if not sooner."

ZTE has launched a new smartphone - the Blade MAX 3. The phone features a 6-inch display with 1080 x 1920 pixels.

The device is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 625, and it comes with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage expandable with a microSD card.

The ZTE Blade MAX 3 features dual rear camera setup (13MP + 13MP) and a 5MP front shooter. Other features include a fingerprint sensor and a 4,000 mAh battery.

Google's Pixel smartphone was one of the best phones of last year, and the company has confirmed that its successor will come this year.

The original Pixel device was launched in October last year, so we won't see the Pixel 2 anytime soon. However, rumors are already floating around with the latest one being that the device will be powered by a Snapdragon 835.

Snapdragon 835 is Qualcomm's latest SoC, so although it makes sense for Google to use it in their newest device, have in mind that the phone won't be unveiled for another few months. This suggests that Google will launch the Pixel 2 before Qualcomm releases their new yet to be announced platform.

The display on Samsung's new Galaxy S8 is already mind blowing, but the South Korean giant doesn't want to sit on its hands - with rumors flying that the company will begin production of its 7th generation AMOLED panels in Q2.

PhoneArena reports: "Samsung Display has continued research to diversify its OLED portfolio to include foldable OLED, chip-on-plastic OLED and 800ppi high-resolution OLED". Now this is pretty big news, as the rest of the OLED makers are still working on their 6th gen panels, while Samsung leads into its 7th gen. The big golden nugget of news is that Samsung is working on "chip-on-plastic OLED" displays, and "800ppi high-resolution OLED".

Now, where would Samsung use an 800PPI high-res OLED display? For me, the purported Galaxy Note 8 smartphone would make sense - as the Galaxy S9 won't see the light of day until 2018. 4K displays in smartphones aren't really a thing right now, except for Sony's current 'Premium' line of smartphones - so if I had to place any bets, I'd say Samsung's upcoming Note 8 will rock a massive, and oh-my-gosh beautiful 4K-capable 800PPI display.

HTC's latest flagship, announced in April last year, was called the HTC 10 so when we first started hearing about this year's flagship, the HTC 11 was a logical name choice.

However, shortly after the company announced the U Ultra and U Play in January, the rumors started floating around that the Taiwanese company would name their latest flagship the HTC U.

According to the latest report from Evan Blass, a trustworthy leaker, neither rumor is correct. Or both are true. Blass says that phone would be named the HTC U 11. This information reportedly arrived from an individual briefed on the company plans.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ cost more than their predecessors, and the reason for that, according to a report by IHS Markit, is that the costs of manufacturing the new devices are higher.

The new Samsung Galaxy S8 with 64GB of internal storage carries a BOM (bill of material) cost of $301.60. After the basic manufacturing costs are added, that amount rises to $307.50.

This makes the costs of materials in the Galaxy S8 $43.34 higher than the costs of the Galaxy S7 and $36.29 higher than the total build cost of the Galaxy S7 Edge. The unsubsidized price for the 64GB Galaxy S8 starts at around $720.

HTC has announced that their next flagship will be unveiled on May 16th.

The company also published a short teaser on their Twitter profile with a tagline "Squeeze for the Brilliant U." This clearly indicates that the device will feature Edge Sense technology.

Edge Sense feature will allow you to control a number of customizable actions with gestures that you perform on the U's metal frame (instead of the screen). You will be able to perform actions such as turning the volume up or down by swiping along the left of right sides of the device.