Week 9 in review: 6GB of RAM in a smartphone, iPhone 5se unboxed

The mobile world is slowly getting settled back to normal after MWC and our news section over the past week reflects that. With the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5 out of the way the 4-inch iPhone 5se has returned to the top of our hot topics, now unboxed for the camera.

Various Xiaomi-related events happened during the week, and you were pretty interested in reading about those. Most notably, the Redmi Note 3 was launched on the Indian market, but also the Mi 5 reportedly gathered 14 million registrations for its first sale.

In a world’s first, the Vivo Xplay 5 Elite broke the 4-gig RAM barrier, and will be offered with 6GB of operating memory, putting some budget laptops to shame. HTC’s next flagship was supposedly going to be called M10, then it wasn’t, a teaser was released, and a camera sample leaked. The Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro was spotted on AnTuTu, revealing specs, and the Huawei P9 also showed up on a couple of occasions.

Android N screenshots revealed some of the upcoming changes in Google’s next OS version, while the current Marshmallow, coupled with TouchWiz, uses 8 gigs of your 32GB Galaxy S7 storage – made a much bigger deal in the comments, than it actually is.

Aaand we’re back to the Galaxy S7/S7 edge, which broke pre-order records, started shipping earlier than promised, got torn down, and went through some torture tests. Oh, and also feature QuickCharge 2.0, unlike the LG G5 which gets Qualcomm’s 3.0 version of the charging tech.

To read the details on these and more, follow the links below.

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Apple iPhone 5se unboxed in front of a camera
The iPhone 5se is rumored to be announced later this month and go on sale shortly after.

Xiaomi launches Redmi Note 3 in India
Comes with a brand new Snapdragon 650 processor and a massive 4050mAh battery.

vivo Xplay 5 Elite goes official with 6GB RAM, Vivo Xplay 5 announced too
All metal Vivo Xplay 5 and Vivo Xplay 5 Elite go official, both feature dual-curved displays.

Xiaomi Mi 5 scores over 14 million registrations for its first sale
The sale begins tomorrow – 10AM China time.

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge pre-orders break records
The Galaxy S7 edge is better liked with 64% of customers opting for one.

LG G5 supports QuickCharge 3.0, Galaxy S7 is only 2.0, what’s that about?
Qualcomm’s website states that Samsung’s flagship is stuck on the older-gen charging tech.

HTC One M10 name confirmed, camera sample shown
EXIF data of the lone image reads HTC_M10h, 9MP in 16:9 ratio suggests a 12MP 4:3 sensor.

Lucky customer gets Galaxy S7 edge early, screenshots galore
An early Galaxy S7 edge owner posts screen shots of the largely-anticipated Samsung Galaxy S7 edge’s UI and software features.

Android and TouchWiz take 8GB of your Samsung Galaxy S7 storage
At least, 8GB of Galaxy S7’s storage are occupied by the OS and the launcher.

Watch Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 India launch event here
Company’s first Redmi phone with metal body and fingerprint sensor.

Early mockups speculate Android N UI changes
New mockups describe early Android N screenshots which bring along new UI elements, animations, transitions and redesigned notifications and toggles.

HTC outs first teaser video for the One M10
In it, the Taiwanese company boasts that it’s hard at work finding ways to make smartphones even better.

Samsung Galaxy A9…

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Samsung launches Notebook 9 series of Ultrabooks

Samsung has launched the new Notebook 9 series of ultraportable laptops. The series consists of four models, one of which has a rotating display.

The base model has a 13.3-inch 1080p display with 6th gen Intel Core i5. It has a battery life of 10 hours and is priced at $999.

The second model has a larger 15-inch 1080p display, Core i7, and 12 hours of battery life for $1199.

The third model called Notebook 9 Spin has a 13.3-inch 3200×1800 rotating display that can be turned around and folded flat. It’s powered by a Core i7 and has a battery life of 7.3 hours. It is priced at $1199.

The last model is the Notebook 9 Pro, which has a 15.6-inch 3840×2160 display, Core i7, and 6.5 hours of battery life. It is priced at $1399.

All models have 256GB flash storage, 8GB RAM, and run Windows 10.

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Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge to allegedly launch in India next week

According to a report by BGR India, Samsung could be launching the next generation flagship Galaxy S7 and S7 edge smartphones in India as early as next week.

The exact date is unknown, the Economic Times believes it will be around March 8 and that the phone will go on sale in the third week of March with prices matching the iPhone 6s in India.

ET also believes Samsung will be spending about $15 million worth on marketing the phone in India, an unprecedented amount for the company, to compete against the iPhone that has a massive reputation in the Indian market.

You can check out our hands-on of the S7 and S7 edge here.

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Pokémon Go will begin field testing in Japanese Beta later this month

Nintendo’s highly anticipated mobile game scheduled for release this year (still no estimation as to when the game will actually launch) will begin undergoing actual Beta testing in Japan late this month.

The Beta program is intended to improve the existing build of the new mobile geo-based game. Users in Japan can sign up for the Beta but some areas you wander in might not even work. Even these users who are unable to use the Beta are required to keep the content of the unreleased game under wraps. So we might be able to see some early leaks in the next couple of months.

Users are asked for their name, smartphone type (iOS or Android phone), Ingress username, and the level that you’ve reached on Ingress. The Ingress questions are optional to answer, but it would be in The Pokémon Company’s best interest to select users who have experience with the GPS based game with essence of capture-the-flag.

Pokémon Go was announced this past fall for release on mobile platforms: iOS and Android. The game was influenced by Niantic Labs first GPS based game called Ingress. Google was once the parent company of Niantic Labs until Nintendo invested into the independent company.

When the trailer came out in the fall, gamers everywhere flipped their shit. They’d now be able to play Pokémon outside in the real world and other Pokémon trainers and maybe even encourage the younger generation to go outside and explore.

If you haven’t already, check out the Pokémon Go trailer release back in September.

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Telus delays Marshmallow updates for Galaxy Note5, S6 edge, S6 edge+

The carrier Telus has some problems with the Marshmallow updates for the Samsung Galaxy Note5, Galaxy S6 edge, and Galaxy S6 edge+. Previously the Note5 and S6 edge+ were supposed to get the Marshmallow firmware on March 9 while the S6 edge update was scheduled for March 16.

As it turns out, Telus had some minor setbacks, and those updates will be postponed for a few days. The Note5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ updates will arrive on March 13 while the S6 edge firmware will be ready for distribution on March 30.

The regular Galaxy S6 Marshmallow update for the Telus model is still coming on April 13, no changes…

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Google files patent for popup books with AR elements

The first time I’ve ever seen anything with Augmented Reality was when using the AR cards that came with the Nintendo 3DS. This blew my mind back in 2011: You set a card on a coffee table or a desk and looked through the handheld console’s telescopic 3D screen to find some characters pop up right out of the card. Moving the handheld around the card shifts the view of the 3D character on the screen.

Google filed a couple of patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office which outlined a story telling experience enhanced with AR elements that could be interacted with.

The first patent was filed for an “interactive book” using pressure and motion sensors that are built into the pages. Next, a small lens would project images onto the pages depending on what the user presses or does to the pages. There would also be speakers embedded in the device to add to the experience.

The other patent was for a kind of tablet that is embedded into the book, then, every page in the book has a secondary ‘vertical page’ of sorts which would display content that compliments the physical page.

As always, patents don’t usually mean something will become real products, not even experimental hardware may ever be a reality. Even at this point In time, I’m surprised that we haven’t really seen a sort of children’s book with AR or VR elements used to enhance it.

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Samsung to shut down Milk Music, reports say

I remember when I was working as a Samsung rep inside Best Buy last year, I was instructed to install Milk Music and Milk Video to every Samsung Phone that we handled. Many customers loved the idea of free radio stations with no ads for a year, and I am sure most of them didn’t like the idea of continuing to pay for premium service after the year was up.

Samsung seems to have given up on Milk Music and reports say Samsung is going to shut it down for good. The idea of having a music service that is exclusive to Galaxy phones was a great idea, however, the problem was that Samsung didn’t leverage it as well as it should have, it didn’t give customers a compelling music service that wasn’t already a lot like Pandora.

Even so, Samsung has left Milk Music out of its new lineup of TVs when there was no mention of being able to use the music service. Also, Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 edge announcement in MWC last month didn’t make any mention of Milk Music either.

Let’s not forget that Samsung pulled the plug on Milk Video after just one year of launching the service in 2014. What did you all think of Samsung’s Milk Music? Did you find it compelling at all? Did you ever use it on any occasion?

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HTC 10 reportedly won’t have a version running Windows 10 Mobile

It looks like you’re not likely to see a Windows logo on an HTC smartphone ever again. Or not anytime soon, anyway. Back in 2014, the One (M8) for Windows was basically the Windows Phone running version of the Android One (M8). Hence, some people may have hoped for HTC to pull the same stunt with this year’s upcoming flagship device, which will be called 10. The hopes were there despite the fact that 2015’s One M9 did not get a Windows variant.

According to Evan Blass (of @evleaks fame), neither will the HTC 10. He firmly stated today that there won’t be an iteration of the HTC 10 running Windows 10 Mobile.

So it turns out that HTC has chosen to stick with Android alone for its smartphones, at least for the foreseeable future. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a high-end Windows-powered handset, HP has surprisingly announced one at MWC – and obviously there’s also Microsoft’s very own Lumia 950 and 950 XL…

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OxygenOS 2.2.1 update for the OnePlus 2 brings RAW support to the default camera app

A new software update has started rolling out today for the OnePlus 2. It’s not going to change the underlying Android version unfortunately (so no Marshmallow for you), but it does come with some bug fixes and improvements.

Chief among the latter is the added RAW support for the preinstalled OnePlus Camera app. RAW image capture has been supported in third-party apps ever since a previous update in September of last year, and now this is finally part of the built-in app as well.

You’ll also find that compatibility for Bluetooth devices and Ultra SIM has been improved, along with a GMS 3.0 upgrade. Roaming issues should have been mitigated, Romanian language support has been added, as well as some security patches. Finally, a fix has been deployed for an occasional image corruption issue in OnePlus Camera.

As you might expect, the rollout will be incremental, so it may take a few days (or even weeks) for the update to reach your OnePlus 2 unit. But it is on its way, so all you can do is…

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Samsung Galaxy TabPro S now available for purchase

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy TabPro S tablet at CES in early January. It’s a 12″ premium slate running on Windows 10 with a 12″ Super AMOLED QHD display, and 6th generation Intel Core M dual-core 2.26GHz processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. a 5MP AF rear camera and a 5MP front snapper.

Now, Samsung has finally made the Galaxy TabPro S tablet available throughout Europe. You can get it in the Netherlands via the official Samsung online store. Amazon UK and Amazon DE, among other retailers, have the slate in stock. Too.

You can choose between 128GB and 256GB SSD options; you can also opt for an LTE-enabled model. The OS is also configurable – you can either get Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro.

Finally, there is a full-sized keyboard cover bundled within the retail box, and it comes with a touchpad and a flexible hinge.

Oddly, Samsung UK has the TabPro S on pre-order, and it will ship on March 16, but you can get it through Amazon UK right now.

The prices are the same we confirmed a while ago – the Wi-Fi 128GB SSD with Wind 10 Home options costs €999, add €100 for Windows 10 Pro, and another €100 for LTE capabilities. Note that the 4G model ships only with Windows 10 Pro.

So, if you liked the tablet and its keyboard, now you can place your order. Additionally, you can get the official Bluetooth Pen and the port hub with HDMI and more USBs.

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