Samsung has spent some time experimenting with its A series of devices, and this week will bring some big announcements in regards to the line. Today, Samsung is releasing the highest-end model, the Galaxy A9, in China for CNY 3,199, or roughly $490 USD. That price is a bit higher than expected, considering the A series is designed to target mid-range markets.

What does the Samsung Galaxy A9 bring to the table? Well, for that money you can get a 6-inch 1080p AMOLED display, 3GB of RAM, a 4,000mAh battery, 13-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel front-facing camera, fingerprint scanner and a high-quality build that utilizes metal for strength. As an added bonus, it’s also about to receive an update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, bringing it up to date in the software department.

A major part of the significance here is that Samsung is expected to announce US availability of the new Galaxy A series tomorrow at its CES event. While the Galaxy A series is designed to be mid-range, a price near $500 would likely alienate many mid-range US customers, while not quite snagging the high-end customers.

We’ll keep an eye on how the situation develops.

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Much like wireless charging, there is usually a big caveat to wireless earbuds that there is in fact a wire connecting the two earbuds. While this is hardly a deal breaker, there are definitely some advantages to being truly wireless and today Altec Lansing has taken the wraps off the Freedom Earbuds that offer that truly wireless experience.

Each earbud offers six-hours of battery life and the included carrying case offers a three-hour additional charge. The earbuds can be used in stereo or independently if mono is all you need at the moment. The case uses a standard USB port, so it can be used to charge other devices if you wish.

The Freedom Earbuds are IPX7-rated waterproof, which means they are ready to join you for a workout, but not for a swim. Conveniently for keeping your phone stored away while using the earbuds they have track navigation and call answer/hang up buttons on board.

Altec Lansing has also included a feature that I would have considered killing for a few times with my Moto Hint and that is the ability to track the earbuds down using the Bluetooth connection and the free companion app. The app is also used to link the earbuds for stereo performance and to switch between multiple paired devices.

The Freedom Earbuds will be available in Q2 of this year for $149.99 and come in 9 different colors.

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Most gamers will be familiar with Mad Catz, whether you get your gaming done on mobile, consoles or PC there are Mad Catz products designed to give you precision control.

Today Mad Catz has announced that they are joining the “Designed for Samsung” (DFS) program, which will require new hardware to pass Samsung’s certification process before being blessed with the DFS logo on the packaging.

These products will naturally continue to perform just fine with other manufacturers smartphones and tablets, it is simply an added bonus for Samsung owners that want to be sure they are getting a product that will perform at a high level for them.

There are no specifics regarding pricing or availability on the DFS products, but the two most likely candidates are the L.Y.N.X. 9 and L.Y.N.X. 3 controllers, which retail for $299 and $69 at present. There’s no reason to expect that pricing to change as a result of this announcement.

While NVIDIA has done an amazing job producing Android hardware that is optimized for gaming it’s good to see other companies working to make Android a first-class gaming platform.

Do any of you already own a controller for your Android smartphone or tablet or have you considered purchasing one?

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Lenovo has unveiled its 2016 CES laptop lineup, revealing its new ThinkPad 13 Chromebook. While there are a lot of cheap Chromebooks on the market, Lenovo is hoping that the ThinkPad 13 Chromebook will impress its long-time customers who appreciate traditional ThinkPad build and internal hardware that’s comparable to Windows 10 laptops. On the outside, the Chromebook features a soft-touch plastic shell with a reinforced frame, Lenovo’s signature ThinkPad keyboard, multi-touch trackpad, 1080p 13-inch display, two USB 3.0 ports, a USB-C port (which doubles as the laptop’s charging port), HDMI out connector and a 42Wh battery which Lenovo claims will power the ThinkPad 13 Chromebook for a full 10 hours. Those who choose to buy the ThinkPad 13 Chromebook will be able to choose between Core i3 and i5 processors, with RAM options up to 8GB with 32GB of internal storage.

The Lenovo ThinkPad 13 Chromebook will go on sale in June. The Core i3 model will sell for $399, but you’ll easily be able to spend more than $500 if you slap on all the available upgrades.

With more high-end Chromebooks being announced, we suspect Chromebook’s market share will grow even faster in 2016.

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CES is upon us and while most of the rumors have been broken for a while now, there’s an interesting new one indicating that Huawei may have a powerful device up its sleeve for its CES event tomorrow. That device is the Huawei P9, a stunning showcase of specs that could be one of Huawei’s most powerful devices to date.

Some of the rumored specs include a 5.2-inch 1080p display, an octa-core Kirin 950 processor and, most shocking of all, 6GB of RAM. Packing the P9 with 6GB of RAM would ensure that it has more RAM than any other device on the market. The move is physically possible, but it seems unnecessary. That being said, there are sure to be some spec hounds who would purchase the P9 based on the RAM.

The rumor of the P9 has also gained some credibility from Taylor Wimberly, the eCommerce Customer Acquisition Manager at Huawei. Wimberly shared a new promo image (pictured at top) on Google+. The image shows us a glimpse of the Huawei P9 and uses the words power and efficiency to describe it.

In addition to the P9, Huawei may be introducing a new tablet (or phablet) at the show. The Huawei Honor X3 is rumored to be a 6.2-inch tablet that will be Huawei’s fist device with a 2K display. It will also include an octa-core Kirin 950 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, 20-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The tablet will run on Android 6.0 Lollipop.

No additional confirmation has been given to the existence of the Honor X3, so we may or may not see that tomorrow.

All in all, you’ll want to keep an eye on Huawei’s CES event tomorrow.

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Oppo has developed quite a reputation for its extremely well-spec’d devices, as well as its interesting advancements in the world of smartphones. The company has experimented with revolving cameras and creating some of the thinnest devices on the market. While its portfolio is already diverse, the company has announced that it will soon be introducing a new line, the F series, which will focus on the entry-level market.

The key selling point of the entry-level phones in the F series will be the camera. Oppo has done great work with cameras in the past and will be bringing that expertise to the F series devices, giving customers an affordable option that maintains the integrity of the camera.

The Oppo F series will be a core product line for Oppo in 2016, so expect to see a lot of news coming out in regards to the F series. Oppo has said that the first device will be the Oppo F1, which is slated for launch in late January. The company hasn’t disclosed any specifics about the device yet, but you can expect a low price, entry-level specs and a powerful camera.

You can read the full press release below.

Show Press Release

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