ZUK is a Lenovo-backed company that launched its first smartphone, the Z1, recently. This runs its own ZUI in China, while internationally it comes with Cyanogen OS 12.1 based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.

Now that Android 6.0 Marshmallow has been officially released by Google, you may be wondering whether the ZUK Z1 will ever receive an update to this version. And the official answer, straight from ZUK co-founder Chen Yu, is yes.

ZUK itself is already working on the new Marshmallow-based ZUI, which is expected to be out by the Chinese New Year (which in 2016 falls on February 8).

On the other hand, it seems very likely that the international version of the ZUK Z1 will get Cyanogen OS 13 (based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow) when that’s ready, since this is still a pretty young phone we’re talking about. That said, the Cyanogen team has started work on Cyanogen OS 13 not long ago, so you probably shouldn’t expect it to hit the Z1 this year either.

Source (in Chinese) | Via 1 • Via…

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The Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset isn’t even out yet, and here we are already talking about its successor. Out of China today comes the first rumor allegedly giving us some details about the chip maker’s follow-up to the Snapdragon 820 that’s supposed to be on the market by the end of this year or in early 2016.

While the Snapdragon 820 is built on a 14nm process, the Snapdragon 830 (MSM8998) will apparently use an even smaller 10nm process. Its power efficiency will benefit from this move tremendously. As for the CPU cores, we’ll still have a Qualcomm-designed architecture, perhaps further improved Kryo cores (which will debut with the 820). So the company isn’t planning on returning to ARM designs (used on the 810) anytime soon it seems.

The Snapdragon 830 could be manufactured by Samsung, and it won’t be out until at least the second half of next year. This makes sense, of course, giving the 820 some time to shine.

Source (in Chinese) |…

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At the event where it unveiled the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, Apple also announced a new direct-to-consumer device leasing plan. Through this program, you can get an unlocked iPhone in a number of installments, straight from Apple. This basically emulates what many US carriers have started doing when it comes to device sales, but without any requirement of a service contract with a specific network.

We’ve since heard that Samsung may be planning such a lease-to-own scheme for its smartphones, and the official launch for this should happen in the next few months. In the meantime however, another Android device maker has stolen Samsung’s thunder.

It’s ZTE, as the Chinese company has just announced its own direct-to-consumer device leasing plan. This will be offered through ZTE’s website for the US, and it’s made possible by a partnership with SmartPay Leasing.

ZTE says people with any kind of credit score can apply online for such a lease, and there will be an immediate approval. You then pick the device you want and make your first payment at checkout. You can opt for 6 to 24 monthly installments. Once you’ve completed all the payments, the device becomes yours.

If you want to pay off your lease early, that’s possible for a buy-out fee ranging between 3.5% and 20%. You can cancel your lease at any time and upgrade to a different device, in which case you need to return your current device “in good working order” to SmartPay. The program will be available for people wanting to purchase smartphones such as the Axon Pro (pictured above), but also other devices such as the Spro 2 Smart…

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Ever since its unveiling back in August, the Galaxy Note5 has had a strong claim for the best phablet title. The latest generation of Samsung’s renowned productivity series definitely got a lot of fans excited, but sadly, it came with a huge twist – no plans of Europe release.

This was indeed a first for the Note line and quite an odd decision, which some have speculated was aimed at boosting popularity of the Galaxy S6 edge+ phablet in the region. In any case, despite numerous rumors and speculations on the matter, Samsung is yet to disclose any release plans for the handset. In a new development, an industry source, allegedly close to Samsung Romania, now claims that the phablet will be offered by local carriers as early as January 2016.

If true this suggests an unveiling in the rest of the EU market as well. Speculation or not, we can’t help but feel that the Korean giant has already put this logical next step off for too long.

Source (in…

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It definitely looks like LG is working on a wireless charging-enabled back cover for the V10, a phablet it unveiled at the beginning of this month. The V10 is essentially the Korean company’s current high-end flagship offering, and so it makes sense for it to receive some new accessories in the near future.

The wireless charging back cover in question has already been certified by the Wireless Power Consortium, which means LG will use the Qi standard for its V10 wireless charger.

Like the G4 before it, the LG V10 has a removable back cover (and a removable battery), and that’s what makes selling such an accessory even possible. You can buy the new Qi-enabled back cover and switch to it from the one that came with your phone without any hassle. After that point, you’ll be able to top up your V10 using any Qi-compatible wireless charger out there.

The wireless charging capable back cover for the V10 will launch outside of South Korea first, and there’s still no telling if the company will also sell it in its home market afterwards.

Source |…

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Global research firm TrendForce has outed its smartphone shipment report for Q3 2015. It shows that worldwide smartphone shipments for the period grew by 9.1% over the previous quarter and total 332 million units.

Samsung is still the market leader, but its market share in Q3 has fallen below the 25% mark. As a result, the company has reduced its projected Galaxy S6 shipment to 40 million units. Notably, the company is yet to ship 10 million units of its newly launched Galaxy Note5 phone.

However, the company continues to lose ground in the low-end and mid-range smartphone spectrum due to fierce competition by Chinese makers. By TrendForce estimates, Samsung will see its first even decline of annual smartphone shipments in 2015 with 1% year-on-year drop.

On the other hand, the company anticipates Apple to keep the momentum of the iPhone 6 duo with the new generation iPhone 6s family. The company is expected to ship a total of 223.7 million units in 2015.

Chinese smartphone vendors are leading in volume and are responsible for 150 million units. That’s a 16.3% increase quarter-over-quarter. Most notable of all is Huawei, which did above what analysts were expecting.

Huawei becomes the first Chinese smartphone brand to reach 100 million units in shipments and cements its position as the third-largest vendor worldwide.

In spite of Xiaomi’s rather unsuccessful attempt to enter the high-end market with the Mi Note, the company is still on track to sell a lot of mid-range devices like the Redmi Note 2 and Mi 4c in the second half of 2015. The company is expected to ship a nudge below 100 million units in 2015.

Source |…

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Global research firm TrendForce has outed its smartphone shipment report for Q3 2015. It shows that worldwide smartphone shipments for the period grew by 9.1% over the previous quarter and total 332 million units.

Samsung is still the market leader, but its market share in Q3 has fallen below the 25% mark. As a result, the company has reduced its projected Galaxy S6 shipment to 40 million units. Notably, the company is yet to ship 10 million units of its newly launched Galaxy Note5 phone.

However, the company continues to lose ground in the low-end and mid-range smartphone spectrum due to fierce competition by Chinese makers. By TrendForce estimates, Samsung will see its first even decline of annual smartphone shipments in 2015 with 1% year-on-year drop.

On the other hand, the company anticipates Apple to keep the momentum of the iPhone 6 duo with the new generation iPhone 6s family. The company is expected to ship a total of 223.7 million units in 2015.

Chinese smartphone vendors are leading in volume and are responsible for 150 million units. That’s a 16.3% increase quarter-over-quarter. Most notable of all is Huawei, which did above what analysts were expecting.

Huawei becomes the first Chinese smartphone brand to reach 100 million units in shipments and cements its position as the third-largest vendor worldwide.

In spite of Xiaomi’s rather unsuccessful attempt to enter the high-end market with the Mi Note, the company is still on track to sell a lot of mid-range devices like the Redmi Note 2 and Mi 4c in the second half of 2015. The company is expected to ship a nudge below 100 million units in 2015.

Source |…

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Welcome to out new blind camera test! We are putting the hottest phablets of the season head to head: the iPhone 6s Plus and the Galaxy S6 edge+ are demonstrating their imaging skills.

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Samsung’s latest Galaxy Note 5 ad is out and focuses on dealing with times of low battery charge. An issue even more important when removable batteries aren’t an option. The company’s Battery Pack with Fast Charging 2.0 comes to save the day.

The portable battery pack is 5,200mAh in size and its fast charging capabilities will fill in nearly 50% of the Note 5’s 3000mAh battery in 30 minutes. Naturally, you can use the Battery Pack with the latest crop of Samsung smartphones like the Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. Any device with Quick Charge 2.0 technology will also be able to benefit from the battery pack’s swift charging.

The Samsung Battery Pack comes at a rather steep price of $69.99 on Amazon, but if you’d like to quickly charge your devices on the go, it’s a viable option.

Check out the Samsung Battery Pack ad:

Source |…

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LG recently announced the high-end V10 smartphone with secondary display and a duo of front-facing cameras. While the device – which is currently only available in South Korea – is available in several color options, you can now get it gold plated for a more premium look.

Vietnam-based company Karalux has added the smartphone to their portfolio, and will have it gold plated for you. The firm says the process takes about 3-4 continuous working hours to complete. “Because the shell of LG V10 is made of stainless steel, the gold-plating process is quite easy and quick,” said Quang Tu, Technical Director of Karalux.

As always, a special layer will be coated on the smartphone’s surface to protect the gold layer. As for the cost, the whole process will set you back VND 4 million (around…

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