New render of the rumored Lumia Saana leaks out

A couple of days ago, there were reports that Microsoft is working on a new Lumia device (internally code-named Saana). The following was the first leaked render of the rumored device.

Now, another render of the Saana has leaked (see the image below), showing the back of the mid-range handset.

As for the specs, the smartphone (RM-1152) is said to be powered by a Qualcomm MSM8909 Snapdragon 210 chipset, and sport a 5-inch 720p display. It is expected to feature 8MP rear camera and microSD card slot, pack in a 2000 mAh battery, and include Glance Screen support. The photo also confirmed previous reports that the smartphone won’t have a dedicated camera…

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Chrome for iOS update brings Split View support on iPad

Google has issued an update to its Chrome web browser for iOS, bumping it to version 46.0.2490.73 and bringing features like Autofill as well as Split View support on certain iPads.

With Split View support, you can now use the web browser side-by-side with another app, allowing you to, for example, chat while surfing the Web. The feature, however, will only be available on the iPad Air 2 and mini 4 – it’d be safe to assume that the upcoming iPad Pro will be part of the list as well.

The update also brings Chrome’s Autofill feature – already available on desktop and Android – to iOS, making life easier for you as you won’t have to re-enter credit card information every time you buy something using your device.

The updated app is now available for download from Apple’s App Store (click the Source 1 link below).

Source 1…

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HTC exec on One A9’s iPhone-like design: It’s actually Apple who copied us

Ever since HTC launched its new One A9 smartphone, it has been heavily criticized for making a device that looks like an iPhone 6 clone. Now, a senior HTC executive has came to the defense of the handset as well as the company, saying that it was Apple who originally copied one of their phone’s design in its iPhone 6.

“We’re not copying. We made a unibody metal-clad phone in 2013. It’s Apple that copies us in terms of the antenna design on the back,” said HTC’s North Asia President Jack Tong.

If you’re wondering, Tong is referring to the One M7 smartphone from 2013, which sported an aluminium body as well as antenna lines on its back. So, while his statement does carry some weight given that the iPhone 6 came in 2014, it still doesn’t justify the fact that the One A9 seems to have copied almost every other design aspect from Apple’s new…

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After announcing layoffs, Twitter’s new CEO is now giving away a third of his stock to employees

Twitter’s newly-installed CEO Jack Dorsey has announced that he’s giving away one-third of the company stocks he owns to employees. If you’re wondering, that’s exactly 1% of the company, which translates into an estimated $214 million. He made the announcement in a tweet on the micro-blogging service.

🐥⚡️ I’m giving ~1/3rd of my Twitter stock (exactly 1% of the company) to our employee equity pool to reinvest directly in our people.— Jack (@jack) October 23, 2015

The move, quite clearly, is aimed at boosting the morale of the employees, given that the company is currently facing layoffs – just last week, it was announced that up to 336 jobs, which translates into 8% of the company’s total workforce, will be cut. Dorsey has also recently given back 15 million shares of Square, another company he heads, to its employees.

As for me: I’d rather have a smaller part of something big than a bigger part of something small. I’m confident we can make Twitter big! ✌️— Jack (@jack) October 23, 2015

If you aren’t in the know, former executive officer of Microsoft Steve Ballmer recently announced that he has bought a 4% stake in Twitter, making him the third largest individual shareholder in the…

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Microsoft’s phone business takes a hit in Q3

Microsoft has released its earnings report for Q3 2015, and while most of the company’s businesses have performed well, the phone business has taken a hit – revenue was down a disappointing 54% compared to the same period last year.

This means that the Redmond-based company managed to sell around just 5.8 million Lumia phones in the previous quarter, compared to 9.3 million it sold in Q3 2014. Quarter-on-quarter sales were also down – a total of 8.4 million Lumia’s were sold in Q2 this year, which, for the matter of fact, was up compared to Q2 last year.

For this quarter, the software giant is pinning its hopes on the recently announced Windows 10 Mobile flagships – the Lumia 950 and 950 XL. Both are now available for pre-order across Europe, and are also listed on the US Microsoft Store website – the company has already confirmed that the Lumia 950 will be an AT&T exclusive in the US for a limited…

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BlackBerry Priv clears the FCC hurdle

BlackBerry’s Android-powered Priv smartphone has cleared the FCC hurdle, which means it’s now ready to go on sale in the United States. Three different versions of the device have been certified, having model numbers STV100-1, STV100-3, and STV100-4.

This comes just a day after the handset briefly showed up on BlackBerry’s official online store, revealing a price tag of $750 for the unlocked model in the US and $949 in Canada, as well as a shipping date of November 16.

While a couple of retailers (Carphone Warehouse in the UK and Rogers in Canada) are already accepting pre-orders for the Priv, BlackBerry is expected to begin allowing consumers to pre-register for the smartphone on Friday (today).

Source |…

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LG Nexus 5X is quite easy to repair according to iFixit

The crafty folks from iFixit got their hands on the brand new LG Nexus 5X and gave it the mandatory teardown treatment. Google’s entry level smartphone walked away with the stellar repairability score of 7, thus meaning that it is quite easy to mend if broken.

iFixit gave LG props for making the Nexus 5X with modular components that are easy to replace if necessary. Components are put together via standard Phillips screws, so tools are easy to find too.

A perfect repairability score eluded the smartphone due to battery that’s not easily replaceable by users, as well as display that’s fused to the glass. Such setup requires both parts to be replaced in case the display gets damaged.

As is the case with most high profile teardowns, iFixit has also uploaded a video review of the process. See it below….

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T-Mobile gives you a Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Tab A for free with trade-in

T-Mobile is running an interesting promotion this weekend only. Starting today and until Sunday, you can in fact get both a Samsung Galaxy S6 and a Samsung Galaxy Tab A for free from the magenta carrier.

The catch? Well, there are several, actually. First off, in order to get the devices for free you need to trade-in an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note5, Galaxy Note 4, or Galaxy Note Edge. Only if you bring in one of these smartphones will you be able to pick up a brand new Galaxy S6 for free.

Then there’s the fact that you’ll need to get wireless service from T-Mobile, which isn’t surprising we assume. Yet if you cancel that, you lose the promotional pricing – meaning that you either have to return the S6 or actually pay it off in order to keep it.

As for the tablet, to also receive a Galaxy Tab A 8.0 for free, you only need to add a data plan for it to your account. You can do this when grabbing the Galaxy S6, naturally.

All in all a pretty compelling offer, this, especially if, for example, you own a Samsung Galaxy S5 from last year and would like to exchange it for this year’s model without additional…

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Redesigned Google Play Store is now rolling out

Last week an upcoming redesign of Google’s Play Store for Android was first pictured, featuring a major reorganization of categories as well as more modern looks.

And today this new Play Store design has started rolling out, with some people already seeing it on their Android devices. Unfortunately (or not), there’s nothing you can do to speed up the process if you haven’t got the new paint job already.

The new design isn’t part of a new version of the Google Play Store app for Android, instead it’s something that gets activated by the search giant server-side. And since Google loves staged rollouts, we assume this too will take at least a few days to reach all Android devices out there. Still, at least from now on we know for sure that it’s on the way.

The update comes with two big sections, Apps and Games being one, Entertainment being the other. You’ll find movies, TV shows, and books under the Entertainment heading from now…

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Leaked Verizon info sheet sheds more light on the Droid Turbo 2

As we’re now mere days away from the grand unveiling of Verizon’s new Droids, the upcoming Motorola Droid Turbo 2 understandably keeps on leaking every day. And the carrier itself has already unveiled the look of the device’s back, through a short teaser video. Yesterday we got a look at the back cover models that will be available through Moto Maker, and today a purported info sheet originating at Big Red has been leaked.

This is apparently meant for Verizon employees to get a quick hang of the Droid Turbo 2’s main differentiating features. As you can see, the “shatterproof” screen we’ve been hearing so much about is confirmed once again.

The Droid Turbo 2 is said to sport 48-hour battery life, as well as fast charging support, with 13 hours of charge being available after just 15 minutes plugged into a power supply.

The camera is a 21 MP unit, probably the exact same one found in the already launched Moto X Style and Moto X Play, undoubtedly Motorola’s best effort in the space in recent years. The selfie cam is a wide-angle affair with 5 MP resolution, while microSD card support will provide storage expansion capabilities up to 2TB.

That’s it for now, but you should probably expect to see more leaks about the Droid Turbo 2 until October 27, when it will finally become…

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