If you have been keeping a close eye on the news section, then you surely remember the mystery Huawei smartphone that popped up in a GFXBench score card yesterday. The test itself was failed and held no indication of performance, but the specs sheet of the Huawei NXT-AL10 was revealed and by all accounts, it looks to be the eagerly-anticipated Huawei Mate 8, powered by the company’s new SoC – the Kirin 950.

Today, a new GeekBench leak, bearing the same NXT-AL10 model number offers a new twist to the story. This time around, there is a performance score and it is quite flattering for the Kirin 950, which managed a whopping 1710 points on single-core performance and 6245 on multi-core. Now, these numbers might not be a hundred percent accurate, especially since it’s a pre-production unit and there is even a mismatch in the frequency between the two benchmarks (GeekBench says 1.8 GHs, while GFXBench lists 1.2 GHz), so it is early to say whether this does the Kirin 950 justice.

Still, if we have to make some preliminary comparison, it looks like the new Kirin 950, obliterates Samsung’s current crown jewel – the Exynos 7420, which can do about 1486 points on single core tests and 4970 on multi-core. That is an impressive achievement, especially considering HiSilicon’s track record of putting out underpowered chips. Still, it is not exactly fair to pit an upcoming chip against one that is already being used today and other chip vendors also deserve some attention. You might find the following table helpful, but bear in mind that the scores are preliminary.

Chipset
Single-Core
Multi-Core

Samsung Exynos M1 Mongoose – 2.3GHz
2,294
6,908

Samsung Exynos M1 (Mongoose) – Power Saving
1,710
4,896

Samsung Exynos M1 (Mongoose) – Ultra Power Saving
1,100
3,209

Samsung Exynos 7420
1,486
4,970

Apple A9
2,487
4,330

HiSilicon Kirin 950
1,710
6,245

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
1,731
4,970

The Apple A9, for instance scores a hefty 2,487 points on single core and 4,330 point on all cores and Samsung’s upcoming M1 Mongoose custom-core SoC is said to be capable of up to 2,294 points on single core and 6,908 points on multi. Also, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 has to be mentioned with reported GeekBench scores of 1731 points and 4970 points, respectively. And last, but not least, there is the MediaTek Helio X30, which is already rumored, despite the fact that its predecessor – the X20 is still on its way to user markets. With its unique four-cluster deca-core design, it also shows benchmark-breaking potential.

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Microsoft has started rolling out a new firmware update to the recently-released Surface Book laptop and Surface Pro 4 tablet. The “System Firmware Update – 11/2/2015” brings several improvements and fixes, including the one for screen flickering issue.

As per the change log, the HD Graphics 520 driver (v20.19.15.4308) has been updated to fix the flickering issues, and the display audio driver (v8.20.0.659) has been updated to make it compatible with the updated graphics driver.

In addition, the Surface Embedded Controller Firmware for both devices has been updated to improve system stability, while the Surface Pen Settings driver now includes support for future functionality on Windows 10. Separately for the Surface Book, Surface System Aggregator Firmware has been updated to improve the keyboard and trackpad experience.

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Vertu changes hands yet again. The luxury phone maker is going to Hong Kong-based called Godin Holdings and private investors, three years after being sold by Nokia to investment fund EQT VI. The deal has received the required approvals.

It seems that Vertu will keep its manufacturing plant in Hampshire in the UK, but it is parting way with CEO Massimiliano Pogliani. Pogliani was appointed head of Vertu after the Nokia sale.

It’s not clear how much the extravagant manufacturer was sold for, both parties decided to keep that private. Back in 2012, Nokia allegedly got $200 million for a 90% share in the company, keeping 10%.

“We believe VERTU is operationally stronger today with a leading position in the luxury mobile phone market. VERTU is now ready to take the next step in its development together with a new owner,” says Caspar Callerström, Partner at EQT Partners AB.

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The Motorola Droid Turbo 2 is built like a tank with layers of armor, five in total. It starts off with a hard-coated exterior layer, then the crack and shatter-proof second layer, a dual touch layer (primary and backup), a flexible AMOLED display that absorbs shocks and finally an aluminum chassis to provide rigidity.

So, what happens when all five layers meet the pavement, face first? And again and again? If you can stomach watching a flagship plunge to the ground, here’s a drop test video (complete with gratuitous slo-mo view of the impact).

Impressive stuff from Motorola, hopefully other makers will take note. Us clumsy folk will appreciate…

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Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi will begin selling its handsets in Africa this month, with South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya becoming the first African countries where the company’s devices will be available for purchase.

The smartphones that’ll go on sale include the Redmi 2 and Mi 4. As for the price, while the former will carry a tag of around $160, the latter will set you back around $320. Xiaomi has appointed the Mobile In Africa (MIA) Group – which has presence in 14 African countries – as a full-service distributor for these markets, providing importation, logistics, marketing, and support services.

“We see Africa as the next frontier for smartphone growth and we are excited to be partnering with MIA Group to offer consumers in these three countries our high-quality smartphones at amazing prices,” said Xiaomi’s Global Strategy Director Raymond…

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Last week, Chinese company LeTV updated its Le series with the new Le 1s smartphone, which is a CNY 1,100 ($173) handset featuring a MediaTek Helio X10 chipset and sporting a 5.5″ IPS LCD display of 1080p resolution.

Now, exactly a week later, the company has revealed that it has received more than a whopping 11 million pre-orders for the device, amounting to around $1.91 billion. The handset is scheduled to go on sale in China today.

Other specs of the Le 1s include 3GB RAM, 32GB non-expandable internal memory, 13MP rear and 5MP front camera, fingerprint sensor, and Android 5.1.1-based EUI skin on…

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Huawei has launched a promotion where those purchasing the Huawei Watch along with the company’s Nexus 6P smartphone will get $50 off on the smartwatch. The offer, however, is available only in the US.

The promotion is only valid for purchases made directly from Huawei through its GetHuawei.com online store in the United States. Another thing worth mentioning is that the deal doesn’t include the gold color variant of the smartwatch.

Those interested in the deal will just have to log in to their Huawei Store account and add a Nexus 6P and Huawei Watch to their cart. At checkout, $50 will be automatically deducted from the cart total. However, keep in mind that Huawei is expected to begin shipping the handset only in “early to mid-December” time frame.

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If you are a heavy user of Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage service, you are not going to love this.

Microsoft has announced that it is getting rid of the unlimited storage option for Office 365 Home, Personal, or University subscribers. The storage is now limited to 1TB.

Additionally, 100GB and 200GB plans will no longer be available to new users, and will be replaced with a 50GB plan for $1.99 per month from 2016.

Lastly, free OneDrive storage has been dropped from 15GB to just 5GB for all users. The 15GB camera storage bonus has also been dropped. This will be effective starting 2016.

For existing Office 365 customers, if you have over 1TB of data stored, you have 12 months to find that data a new home before it is deleted. Same for free users with over 5GB of data. Users of 100GB and 200GB plans will not be affected.

So why did Microsoft decide to do this all of a sudden? The company’s reason is that some people were misusing the unlimited storage options by backing up entire movie collections and DVR recordings, amounting to as much as 75TB for some users. So basically, because a small number of users were “abusing” the system (“abusing” in quotes because technically Microsoft did promise ‘unlimited’ storage, so the people were well within their rights to upload as much content as they want), Microsoft is now gutting the storage options for all customers.

Seems fair….

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Less than a couple of months after the Meizu Pro 5 was made official with 5.7-inch screen and Samsung Exynos 7420 chipset, there are reports that the company is following it up with a new handset named Pro 5 Mini.

The new handset’s highlight is said to be its chipset – it is said to be powered by the Mediatek Helio X20 10-core SoC, which was announced back in May this year. Other known specs of the device include 4.7-inch Full HD display, 32GB/64GB internal memory options, and a metal build.

As for the price, the 32GB model is said to carry a tag of CNY 1,999 ($315), while the 64GB model would set you back CNY 2,499 ($395). There was, however, no word on when the device would be made…

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Looks like Verizon will soon announce a couple of new LG-made, kids-focused wearable devices. According to a tweet sent out by the usually reliable leakster @evleaks, the wearables in question are the LG GizmoPal 2 and GizmoGadget.

LG GizmoPal 2 (blue) and LG GizmoGadget (red) for VZW. http://pic.twitter.com/oglBjCj7aB— Evan Blass (@evleaks) November 2, 2015

The LG GizmoPal 2 (in blue above), as the name suggests, is the successor to last year’s screen-less GizmoPal, which had limited phone functionality and offered GPS connectivity. A quick visual comparison of the two devices reveals that the sequel now has a screen, and it would be safe to assume that it would include all the main features of its predecessor.

There’s currently no information on how much the new wearable devices will cost and when they’ll be available, although considering that the year-end holiday season is close, the launch shouldn’t be too far…

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