OnePlus may have already announced its smartphone offering for this year, but many people are sticking with last year’s One. And this news is for them.

The Chinese startup’s first handset is now finally being updated to Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, which is the base for Cyanogen OS 12.1. This is now rolling out to OnePlus One devices worldwide, though in a staged fashion – which means it may take a while for your phone to notify you about the update.

If you’re impatient, however, you can go to the Source link below and download the update – either as a full ROM, or just as an incremental jump from the last Cyanogen OS 12.0 release based on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop.

The new software comes with everything that Google has included in Android 5.1.1 (mostly bug fixes), but also some Cyanogen-specific things. First off, you’ll find out that your Chrome homepage has been changed to Bing. Thankfully though, you can easily get rid of Microsoft’s search engine by using Chrome settings.

Next up is a new Phone app, one that features integration with TrueCaller, a service that lets you identify who’s calling even if you don’t have that number in your phone book. The design is a little different too.

Finally, the built-in launcher has received a new option for the app drawer, namely showing it as a vertically-scrolling list (and this is the new default). If you don’t like the Android Marshmallow-like feature, you can switch back to the paged drawer from the launcher’s settings menu.

UPDATE: The rollout has been stopped, the new software has been pulled by Cyanogen without an explanation as to why. Only 2% of the OnePlus One units out there actually managed to get it. Clearly, some issues were spotted, but what those are is a mystery. Hopefully they will get fixed soon so the rollout can…

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Today Amazon has launched a new app for Android, which is basically a new version of its Appstore, but with a twist.

It’s called Amazon Underground, and it lets you download and install apps to your Android device, just like the Amazon Appstore. However, Underground comes with something special: over $10,000 worth of paid apps included for free.

Or “actually free” as Amazon calls them – these all come without any in-app purchases. The apps are normally either paid or require in-app purchases to be usable. Some titles are OfficeSuite Professional 8, Goat Simulator, PhotoSuite 4, Frozen Free Fall, Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions, Angry Birds Slingshot Stella, and Looney Tunes Dash.

Amazon is paying the developers of these apps (and games) a certain amount depending on how much time you use them. You’ll never have to pay anything though.

With the launch of Amazon Underground, the “Free app of the day” promotion has disappeared from the Amazon Appstore. This has probably happened because you’ll find all of those “free apps of the day” inside Underground anyway – and Underground isn’t a limited-time thing either. According to Amazon, it is “a long-term program” which will receive new benefits over time.

The Amazon Underground app is free to download, but you need to go to this website to get it. That’s because the terms and conditions governing Google’s Play Store forbid developers from uploading apps that offer apps or games inside them. Underground apps and games are automatically available on Fire HD and Fire HDX…

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Last week we got word that Samsung would soon add a new letter to its alphabet soup of branding: O. This would be a new series for the Korean company, and it’s been rumored to make its debut with two devices – the Galaxy O5 and Galaxy O7.

Now it seems those names have been dropped, with Samsung opting for the even more confusing Galaxy Grand On and Galaxy Mega On instead.

A new rumor comes to fill us in regarding these two handsets’ specs. First off, the Galaxy Mega On will have the model number SM-G600 and it will reportedly sport a 5.5-inch 720p touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP selfie snapper, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC with a 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU at the helm, 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable storage, and a 3,000 mAh battery.

Its dimensions are set to be 151.8 x 77.5 x 8.2 mm, and it will weigh 145g. It will run Android 5.1 Lollipop from day one. It’s already been certified by the Bluetooth SIG, by the way.

On the other hand, the Galaxy Grand On will feature a 5-inch 720p touchscreen, an 8 MP rear cam, a 5 MP front-facing unit, the Exynos 3475 chipset with a 1.3 GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable storage, and a 2,600 mAh battery. It too will run Android 5.1 Lollipop. Its dimensions are 142 x 71.9 x 8.5 mm, and it weighs 140g.

Right now it’s unclear when Samsung plans to launch these devices, how much they will cost, or what possible need there could be for them to exist at all, given how similar their specs are to many other smartphones from the same manufacturer. Perhaps it’s all going to be in the design. Or maybe they will have some special VR features.

Source 1 • Source 2 |…

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Samsung announced three new very interesting speakers – they are all 360-degree wireless standalones. The models are R1, R3 and R5 – successors of the R6 and R7.

The new generation 360 Wireless Audio speakers offer “high-quality, balanced sound, and premium table-top design that enables them to fit seamlessly into any home.” They have a brand new interface for easier control.

Samsung’s Multiroom App has been updated as well and supports those speakers on both Android and iOS. Finally, Samsung partnered with Qobuz and the R1, R3 and R5 supports the high-quality streaming service.

Samsung will showcase the R1, R3 and R5 at IFA in Berlin next month. They will launch in the US and EU markets in Q4 this year. The R1 is priced at $199, the R5 is set to cost $399, and the R3 is somewhere in-between – probably $299.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 4 got its last firmware update in April and it wasn’t version 5.1.1. Today, nearly 5 months later the ex-flagship phablet is finally getting Android 5.1.1 Lollipop and all of its critical fixes.

The US carrier Sprint was the first to launch the update two weeks ago, but as of today the international model is getting the same treatment. The update is available over the air and via Kies.

The new Android build features performance improvements and security fixes, but there is no info if the Stagefright vulnerability was taken care of or not. If Samsung didn’t have the time to patch the Stagefright exploit, hopefully it will do so via another update soon.

Poland is the first market to get the new 5.1.1 update, as it usually happens with the Samsung updates. In case you are impatient to get your hands on it, the official Poland ROMs are already available online (hit the source link below) and you can download and install the update via Odin.

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You don’t need to be the best if you can be the crowd favorite. The Samsung Galaxy A8 is Samsung’s thinnest smartphone yet and is certainly learning from the Note5 in some respects, but while it can’t beat it on features it’s likely to rival it on popularity.

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The saga around the existence and availability of a European/international version of the Samsung Galaxy Note5 continues. The mythical SM-N920F version has shown up on FCC and Bluetooth.org, and investigators on the matter have now spotted it on Samsung’s own website.

But before you get too worked up that the smartphone is coming to a store near you next week, you should know that the new bit of info is the SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) value of the F variant. The numbers are also the same as other versions already in existence.

A SAR number is far for confirmation on availability though, and by now the only official word from Samsung states that the Galaxy Note5 won’t be coming this side of the Atlantic this year. And even though the Korean report that claims an August 28 European launch date is the one we want to believe, there’s still no solid data to corroborate it.

Source |…

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You can expect a lot more Motorola models in the future. Lenovo has decided that in the smartphone market the brand recognition of Motorola is much stronger than that of its own brand and will integrate Lenovo Mobile into Motorola.

That’s not just a relabeling though, the President of Lenovo Mobile Group said that much of the organizational structure of Motorola will remain in place and will take lead of what is now Lenovo Mobile.

Lenovo Mobile will cut down the number of models it produces until eventually all new models come out under the Motorola brand. The combined company will rely heavily on Moto’s long experience in research and development.

Lenovo’s phone business will not be all Moto though, the company recently launched the ZUK brand. ZUK will work on the international scene and wants to become known for its high-end phones.

Lenovo’s last financial results showed a slight drop in shipments in Q1 (16.2 million) and a pre-tax loss of $292 million. This may have been the trigger for Lenovo to shift towards the more recognizable…

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Hanoi is like the El Dorado of gold-plated phones with the Karalux Store pumping out gilded versions of various flagships. It worked through the Galaxy flagship line and has just unveiled the gold Galaxy Note5 and Galaxy S6 edge+.

The engineers took the phones apart, a process that takes 10 steps. The flagship duo is made out of 7000 series aluminum, 60% stronger and lighter than stainless steel. Those metal parts are than taken through a complicated process to first lay a base, then gold plate them and finally put on a protective layer on top. It’s the same process that was used to gold-plate this Rolls-Royce.

The gold-plating process alone costs VND 8 million ($355), phone + gold plating is VND 25 million ($1110). If you’re in Hanoi, you can visit the Karalux Store where the gilded phablets are available for viewing.

Gold-plated Samsung Galaxy Note5 and Galaxy S6…

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Nearly a couple of months after making it official, Meizu has launched its MX5 flagship smartphone in India. The Chinese company had already revealed the device’s India launch plans last week.

The handset is available in the country exclusively through online retailer Snapdeal, which is selling the 16GB variant for INR 19,999 (~$300) – color options include silver black and silver white. The 32GB and 64GB variants, however, are currently not available, but will be up for grabs in the near future.

Specs-wise, the device is powered by an octa-core 2.2 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, and sports a 5.5-inch (1920 X 1080 pixel resolution) display. It comes with 3GB RAM and 16/32/64GB internal memory options, and packs in a 3150 mAh battery.

In terms of camera, the MX5 features a 20.7MP rear unit and a 5MP front shooter. It runs Android 5.1 Lollipop-based Flyme 4.5 OS. Connectivity options include 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, Glonass, and micro-USB.

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