Samsung is prepping for Thursday when we’ll see the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ officially announced. In the rush to get ready the Samsung France site let it slip that the S6 edge+ will go on pre-order on August 21.

The pre-order ends on September 3, which means that deliveries will start on September 4. That’s for France, though there’s no reason to think the rest of the EU will be any different.

You might not want to wait that long to hit the “Buy” button though, Samsung is offering a free pair of Level On Bluetooth headphones and three months of Google Play Music.

Meanwhile in the UK, MobileFun has revealed various Galaxy S6 edge+ accessories. There’s a keyboard cover for £60, a wireless charging pack for £65, Clear View Cover for £40, S View Cover and Glitter Cover Cases for £35, Flip Wallet Cover for £25 and Glossy Cover Case for £20.

Anyway, the Samsung France page is now gone and there was no indication whether or not the Galaxy Note 5 will launch alongside the large S6 edge.

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In today’s highly dynamic and even chaotic mobile realm there is little certainty in terms of roadmaps and release schedules. Apple, however, is still upholding the values of diligence and continuity and, as expected, a new wave of iPhones is inbound on September 9. In keeping with the long-standing naming convention, we can also be fairly sure that these will be the iPhone 6s and the 6s Plus.

This means than in all likelihood Apple is going to continue its new phablet line, but there has also been mention of a successor to the infamous iPhone 5c. Previous rumors brought us info on the smaller smartphone and even a few alleged shots of its casing, but the estimated launch date was a few month after the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. However, Evan Blass from @evleaks now claims that all three devices might launch together this September. He has a pretty good track record for correct information, so we are definitely inclined to believe the scoop.

If this is the case, we may be looking at Apple’s largest smartphone unveiling to date, with size factors catering to any user’s needs. As for the iPhone 6c itself, we don’t know much yet, but according to some recent speculations, the small device will only carry over the 4.0-inch display size from the 5c and correct most other aspects that turned the 5c into a market flop.

Sounds like iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and 6c will all arrive concurrently.— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 11, 2015

Instead of being a cheaply-repackaged last-generation device, like the iPhone 5c was, the 6c will allegedly come with a new generation chip, based on either Samsung’s 14nm or TSMC’s 16nm manufacturing process. That means that hardware won’t be directly borrowed from the iPhone 6, which runs of a 20nm A8 chip. There has also been talk of a metal chassis and a larger 1715 mAh, in place of the 1500 mAh pack in the 5c.

In any case, this is not confirmed yet and shouldn’t be taken for certain. We should have the full story come September 9 at Apple’s annual…

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These are busy times for Xiaomi, with the company prepping for the launch of its MIUI 7 Android overlay first in China on August 13 and then globally 6 days later. Rumors hinted that the first date may also witness the unveiling of the somewhat overdue Redmi Note 2 and a listing on Oppomart has appeared to corroborate them. The retailer lists the smartphone as out of stock for the moment but the entry comes complete with a price and specs, though they raise more red flags than answer questions.

For starters, the $249 price is nearly twice as much as the predecessor and the Redmi Note 2 is no longer the bargain package the original Redmi Note was. That said, the smartphone appears to have better hardware to show for it, if only it was more in line with the info already outed by Chinese certification authority TENAA.

Anyway, according to the retailer, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 will sport a 5.7-inch FullHD display (TENAA states 5.5 inches) with 2D glass on top, which we’d be inclined to just call glass. However, the description below the 5.7-inch headline reads a 5.5-inch display, and is otherwise a direct copy from the Mi Note page, so it could very well be a mistake.

The Snapdragon 615 chipset that’s quoted to power the device is more believable, as it’s been mentioned in the same sentence as the Redmi Note 2 as early as last October. 2GB of RAM is becoming the bare minimum in the midrange, and the smartphone will have it covered, while the 16GB of internal storage is likely going to be expandable via microSD, since the previous generation was. The 13MP/5MP camera combo appears to be carried over as well.

What’s more exciting is the 3,600mAh battery capacity, but it is again at odds with the certification docs, which listed it at 3,020mAh. Interestingly, the Redmi Note 2 is said to be running on the MIUI 6 over Android 4.4 KitKat, which makes it a less than perfect ambassador for the seventh OS version, due to be announced in a couple of days.

All of the above creates the strong impression that the listing is just a placeholder, but it’s not unheard of for TENAA to get specs wrong in the past, so you never…

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The highly awaited OnePlus 2 will finally go on sale today outside of China. The phone will be available for purchase in Europe and North America at 4:00 PM HKT and in India at 4:00 PM IST.

As before, OnePlus is using an invite system so only those who have the invite will be able to buy the phone for now. To get the invite you will have to sign up in the reservation list, which has over 3.5 million people in it now, so good luck getting an invite any time soon.

For now, only the 64GB variant is available in Sandstone Black for $389 in the US. The 16GB model and back cover options will arrive later.

You can check out our hands-on of the phone…

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A new brand is born and its first phone aims to impress – meet the Lenovo-owned ZUK and the ZUK Z1. Details about both are a bit scarce at the moment, but the Z1 has already gone through its first review (it’s in Chinese, so you might need help from Google Translate).

A metal frame holds the 5.5″ IPS screen with 1080p resolution, the back is glossy plastic. The phone itself is 8.9mm thick, which thankfully means a beefy 4,100mAh battery. It comes with a fast 2.5A charger too.

The ZUK Z1 is powered by Android, of course, version 5.1 skinned with the in-house ZUI software. It runs on a Snapdragon 801 chipset rather than Qualcomm’s new 64 bit models. It’s hooked up to 3GB of RAM and 64GB of storage (no microSD, 53.6GB free).

ZUK Z1

Below the screen is the U-Touch home button, which sports a fingerprint reader for added security. It’s also used for some quick gestures throughout the UI. The company will launch LG-like flip cases with a round window for a virtual clock.

The Z1 camera uses a 13MP Sony IMX214 sensor, a popular sensor but unlike most phones with it this one comes with optical image stabilization. You also get an 8MP camera on the front.

The phone is a dual-SIM handset with 4G LTE for wireless connectivity and USB Type C for wired connectivity.

The ZUK Z1 is priced at CNY 1,800 ($285/€258). It’s not entirely clear when it will launch just yet.

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The Axon Pro is ZTE’s ambitious entry into the fiercely competitive market for high-end smartphones in the United States. Before the newcomer’s arrival, the Chinese manufacturer has been moving mostly low-end and mid-range handsets across the Atlantic.

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The Huawei Watch, which was unveiled back in March at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC), could soon be launched in the United States – one of the company’s official US websites says that the wearable is “right round the corner.”

If you aren’t in the know, the smartwatch has already been certified by the FCC, which is also usually a strong indication that a launch is near.

It’s worth mentioning that the Chinese company had originally mentioned the “around the middle of the year” time frame for the release of its first Android Wear running smartwatch. There have also been rumours that the launch has been delayed until September or October due to some “incompatibility issues with Android Wear.”

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The Sony Xperia M5, which was announced last week alongside the Xperia C5 Ultra, will carry a price tag of around $410 in Taiwan. According to ePrice, the device will set you back 12,900 TWD in local currency, which translates into $408.

This comes just days after the Xperia C5 Ultra was spotted listed on the company’s Hong Kong website, revealing a HK$ 3,298 ($425) price tag. The handset will cost 11,900 TWD ($375) in Taiwan.

For those who aren’t aware, the Xperia M5 is what Sony calls the ‘super mid-range’ smartphone. It is quite similar to some of the Xperia Z series devices. On the other hand, the Xperia C5 Ultra is the successor to the Xperia…

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Google’s co-founders have announced the creation of a new public holding company called Alphabet that will include all of Google’s current products. The move is aimed at making Google’s operating structure cleaner and more accountable.

“What is Alphabet? Alphabet is mostly a collection of companies. The largest of which, of course, is Google. This newer Google is a bit slimmed down, with the companies that are pretty far afield of our main Internet products contained in Alphabet instead,” said CEO Larry Page in a blog post.

The new slimmer Google includes divisions such as search, ads, maps, apps, YouTube, and Android. While newer businesses such smart home division Nest, commercial fiber division – Google Fiber, investing arms Google Ventures and Google Capital, Life Sciences and Calico, X Lab, and others will be managed as separate entities under Alphabet.

Each company under Alphabet will have its own CEO. For example, former Chrome and Android head Sundar Pichai has been appointed as Google’s new CEO. On the other hand, Alphabet will have Larry Page as CEO and Sergey Brin as President.

Alphabet will also replace Google as the publicly-traded entity. All shares of the latter will automatically be converted into the same number of shares of the newly-created company. “Google will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet. Our two classes of shares will continue to trade on Nasdaq as GOOGL and GOOG.”

Starting Q4 this year, Google financials will be provided separately from the companies under Alphabet.

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Samsung may be getting ready to unveil the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ in just a few days, but the Korean company is apparently already working on the Galaxy S7 too.

Today a leaked document surfaced in China purporting to depict an internal Samsung communication. It shows support for “MSM8996” (that’s the model number for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset) and “Jungfrau” being added to the company’s software development plan for Android M.

Jungfrau has so far been rumored to be the codename of the Galaxy S7. So this could mean that Samsung is currently starting to test the Snapdragon 820 inside its next flagship. Obviously it’s far too early to tell if the company will choose to keep this SoC for the final hardware of the device, but it’s still promising news for Qualcomm.

After a few years in which it supplied Samsung with chipsets for at least one version of its yearly flagship, in 2015 the Korean company chose to go all-in with its Exynos silicon. But things might change again next year, it is apparent from this leak.

The Snapdragon 820 may in fact be fully detailed by its maker as soon as tomorrow, if some past mumblings turn out to have been accurate. Qualcomm’s next top of the line chip should be out in devices either by the end of this year or in early 2016.

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