R.I.P. BB10: BlackBerry is fully committed to Android in 2016

Priv won't be the last BlackBerry powered by Android. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of AndroidBlackBerry has confirmed that all of the handsets it releases in 2016 will run Android. The Canadian company has all but given up on its own BlackBerry 10 operating system following the release of Priv, its first Android-powered smartphone, late last year. It’s still unclear exactly how successful Priv has been so far, but some

The post R.I.P. BB10: BlackBerry is fully committed to Android in 2016 appeared first on Cult of Android.

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Huawei has already sold a million Mate 8 units

Huawei’s latest flagship smartphone – the Mate 8 – went on sale in China early last month. At that time, there were reports that the device sold out at many retailers on the launch day itself, leading us to believe that it’s in great demand.

The latest information we’ve received confirms that the handset is indeed selling like hotcakes in the Asian country. According to the company’s CEO Yu Chengdong, over a million units of the smartphone have already been sold in China.

That’s more or less inline with what Huawei was expecting given that prior to the device’s China launch, the company’s smartphone division head He Gang had said that they’re planning to manufacture a million Mate 8 units per month.

For those who aren’t in the know, the Chinese company has already announced the first-wave of international markets where the flagship will be launched. The US, unfortunately isn’t in the list, despite the handset being FCC approved…

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HTC expands the One A9′s color range with new pink model

HTC hasn’t said if sales of the HTC One A9 are meeting its expectations, but the company has decided to add a pink version of the phone to its lineup. The pink HTC One A9 will join the other Carbon Gray, Opal Silver, Topaz Gold and Deep Garnet color options, but you’ll only be able to find it in Taiwan. In HTC’s home country, the 16GB HTC One A9 is priced at NT$14,900 ($450 USD) while the 32GB model sells for NT$15,900 ($480 USD). That price is roughly 10% cheaper than what the phone goes for in the US and nearly 25% less than what it sells for across Europe.

We’re sure there are a lot of factors that are considered when deciding the price of a phone for different markets, but we have a hard time seeing why the mid-range HTC One A9 carries a higher price tag than the flagship HTC One M9 in Europe.

HTC-One-A9-all-color-variants_1

HTC-One-A9-Pink_1

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Apple screen components leak in photos, possibly from the iPhone 7

It’s 2016 and you know what that means – a new iPhone lineup from Apple is on its way. Out of a credible source in Taiwan now comes yet another fresh rumor about the Cupertino handsets, to add to the growing pool of hunches, obscure predictions and speculation.

This new set of shots is about as close as we have come to actually seeing one of the new iPhones, but don’t get too excited, as it seems to depict a backlight illumination component. Now, we can’t really guarantee anything, but the source is quite credible and the Apple logo can clearly be spotted on one of the cables, so, we’ll give the photos the benefit of the doubt.

If we assume that the hardware in question is for the new iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, one would naturally expect Apple’s 3D touch “mesh” to be present as well, but a detailed inspection reveals it is nowhere to be found. That could mean that the component is actually for the rumored iPhone 6C – a successor to the still very controversial “affordable” iPhone 5C. Sadly, despite this observation, no actual additional information can be acquired from the photos. They are nothing more than a curiosity at this point.

However, we do have a few other rumors about the iPhone to explore, like the possibility of an OLED display, but other sources do suggest that the switch from LCD might come as late as 2018. There has also been word of possible waterproofing in the iPhone 7 range, along with 3GB of RAM, also no visible antenna stripes and a lack of a 3.5mm audio jack on some or all of the models.

Source (in Taiwanese) |…

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New Intel Compute Sticks come with Core m processors

Smart sticks let you turn any display into a smart one, but the Windows-powered ones have been underwhelming, even the one by Intel. Well, the chip giant is having another go at it and this time the results are much better.

There are three options, the top-specced one is powered by a Core m5 vPro processor, that’s a lot of computing power on something you tuck behind the TV. There’s a more affordable but still powerful Core m3 version and an Atom x5 one for the no-thrills experience.

The Core m versions come with 4GB of RAM, much better than the 1GB/2GB of the original. You also get 64GB of built-in storage, plus a microSD slot and two USB 3.0 ports to expand storage. The Atom x5 version has 2 gigs of RAM and 32GB storage, also one of the USB ports drops to 2.0.

You’ll probably use it for a keyboard/mouse anyway (unless you use Bluetooth ones). There’s on-board dual-band Wi-Fi ac so that saves a port.

All three sticks end with an HDMI 1.4b plug which supports 4K at 24Hz and 3D 1080p at 60fps (but no 4K @ 60fps or 3D). All three versions have hardware decoding for the new HEVC/H.265 standard, but it seems like the Atom version is limited to 1080p (even though the chipset should support 4K).

Intel Compute Stick: Atom x3 • Core m3/m5

Note that Windows 10 costs extra on the Core m3, an extra $100 over the $300 base, while the $160 Atom model gets it for free. As for the Core m5 stick, that one will cost $500 and comes only without an OS. They go on sale next month.

Source |…

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