Yesterday the two biggest Korean smartphone makers both unveiled their respective flagship smartphones for 2016. The Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5 each have their own strengths, of course, and you can read more about those in our detailed hands-on reports for them.

Today, mere 24 hours after they’ve both had their big events, LG has already taken to Twitter to mock its main competitor’s new smartphone.

Think not what your phone can do, but what you can do with your phone #LGG5 #G5TheRealDeal http://pic.twitter.com/P3m9jbU00v— LG Jordan (@LGJordan) February 22, 2016

LG obviously thinks its G5 is better than the Galaxy S7, and wants you to know that too. Apparently the number “7” is better used in a list of ‘friends of the G5’ instead of the name of a new handset. Or something along those lines.

LG clearly wants to emphasize the modularity of the G5, which is one area where Samsung’s Galaxy S7 simply can’t compete. On the other hand, it remains to be seen whether this will actually have any effect on sales of the two devices – LG would like that to be a positive one for the G5 and a negative effect for the S7. But given the history of the two brands, that could be unlikely.

Thanks for the tip,…

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As you might already know, LG’s newest flagship smartphone – the G5 – was unveiled at the ongoing Mobile World Congress yesterday. If you are in the US, and are planning to purchase the device, here’s what we know about its availability and pricing so far:

AT&T

AT&T has confirmed that it will carry the LG G5 as well as its companion devices including the 360 CAM virtual reality camera, LG 360 VR, and the LG 360 Sound Bluetooth speaker. The pricing and availability-related information will be shared in the coming weeks.

Sprint

Sprint will also offer the flagship handset along with the LG 360 Cam and LG TONE Platinum companion devices. The carrier said that pricing and availability date will be announced soon.

Verizon

Verizon said it will start offering the G5 as well as “select” companion devices this spring. Silver and titanium color variants of the phone will be available.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile just confirmed that it’ll carry the flagship smartphone. All other details including the device’s price and availability will be made available later.

Online retailers

Among major online retailers in the US, only Best Buy has currently announced that it’ll be carrying the handset, with pre-orders beginning March 18.

So, as you can see, details are scarce at the moment, but the good news is that all of the Big Four US carriers will be carrying the device. We’ll share more information on the G5’s availability and pricing as soon as we hear something about it.

Source (AT&T) | Sprint | Verizon | Best…

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As you probably know, Samsung finally made the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge official yesterday, following many months of leaks. We’ve gone hands-on with the two devices, we’ve taken an in-depth look at the camera they are sporting (paying special attention to the autofocus mechanism), and we’ve even seen a teardown of the S7 already.

And now we have some new information about the camera which is included in both the Galaxy S7 and the S7 edge. Despite what many rumors had claimed, Samsung hasn’t used its own Britecell sensor. This is obvious from the camera’s specs, when you consider that the Britecell sensor has 1 micron pixel size, while the S7 duo employs one with pixels that are 40% larger.

It turns out that the sensor Samsung is using for the S7 models is made by Sony, and its model number is IMX260. This follows in the footsteps of the IMX240 which was used last year in the Galaxy S6 line and the Note5. Both the Galaxy S7 and the S7 edge should use this Sony IMX260 sensor in all markets, which means image quality is going to be the exact same everywhere. Interestingly, the front-facing camera’s sensor is identical to the one from 2015’s flagships.

On the other hand, it looks like Samsung has developed a custom audio chip for the S7 family. A device info app identifies this as the “Lucky CS47L91 Sound” – and “Project Lucky” was actually the codename for the Galaxy S7. So it could be that this is a custom-made chip by the Korean company. Hopefully it will enable higher-quality audio when compared to past top of the line Samsung…

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HP managed to surprise us at the MWC with the announcement of a Snapdragon 820-powered flagship – the Elite x3. The 6″ phablet is running on Windows 10 Mobile and supports Windows Continuum.

You can read more about the HP Elite x3 over at our MWC 2016 Various brands…

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Adobe’s suite of mobile tools has really exploded with functionality recently to take full advantage of the advancements in hardware and software. The latest update to Lightroom on Android now has RAW support for mobile photography enthusiasts to enjoy. The version also adds a few other features like split toning and haze removal that have been part of the iOS build since last year. In fact, Adobe actually claims that the main reason for the update is this feature parity, but the added bonus of RAW support could turn out to be the bigger draw.

Google has been integrating RAW capture API’s inside Android since Lollipop, and that is precisely what Adobe has leveraged to save stills to Adobe’s DNG format. In contrast, Apple does not allow that functionality within iOS, not yet at least. The feature should work on most any recent Android device, but as with all hardware-dependant features within Google’s mobile OS, your mileage may vary.

You can download the new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom app from the Google Play store at the source link…

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Gionee unveiled the narrowest phone with a 5.5″ screen, ever! We handled the Gionee S8 briefly and it has a lot more to offer than just a narrow build. It has a seamless metal body and a 1080p AMOLED screen, plus a camera that just loves shooting in the dark.

You can watch our hands-on video and read more about the Gionee S8 head to our MWC 2016 Various brands…

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Gionee unveiled the narrowest 5.5″ phone yet – just 74.9mm wide. Meet the Gionee S8. The company called out the iPhone 6s Plus, Huawei’s Mates, the Oppo R7s as examples of wider phones (after surprising amounts of comparisons between Gionee and Apple).

The Gionee S8 features a “loop” full-metal design. “Loop” here means that the antenna runs around the side of the phone. Unlike the LG G5, the S8 has traditional antenna lines, but they are painted to perfectly match the rest of the body.

The AMOLED screen has 1080p resolution and is covered with 2.5D glass. It has 3D touch too, recognizing three levels – Touch (selects), Tap (previews) and Press (opens).

The camera comes fully loaded. It’s a 16MP shooter that’s geared towards low-light shooting. It has a bright f/1.8 aperture and a RWB sensor – that means the usual green pixels have been replaced with more sensitive white ones. Gionee promises a 40% boost in sensitivity and an 80% reduction in noise. There’s also Laser focus and Phase Detection AF.

The phone records 1080p video with advanced audio capture. A 70dB high-sensitivity dual-mic system and an AKM4961 chip do the work. There’s “multi-dimensional” noise reduction and “3D recording.”

The Gionee S8 is powered by a MediaTek Helio P10 chipset (octa-core CPU) with a healthy dose of memory – 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage. The 3,000mAh can be fast charged at 18W (9V, 2A).

The phone will run Android 6.0 Marshmallow at launch and has a fingerprint reader on its Home key. Initially, the custom Amigo 3.2 skin will be used (Gionee’s own take on Android), but the 4.0 update will come out in June.

Gionee S8

The company has brokered an interesting, unique feature with WhatsApp (the popular chat app). The S8 can log into two WhatsApp accounts, so you can keep personal and work communications separate.

Also in terms of communications, the S8 is a dual-SIM phone with LTE and VoLTE.

The Gionee S8 will launch at the end of March for…

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A few days ago Meizu and Canonical unveiled Meizu Pro 5 Ubuntu Edition. The model is identical with the Android-running Pro 5 but has the latest Ubuntu OS in charge of operations.

We found the Ubuntu-running Meizu at the MWC in Barcelona and snapped a few shots, plus a brief video.

Meizu Pro 5 Ubuntu Edition

If you want to watch our hands-on video, you can find it on our MWC 2016 Various brands…

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Acer also made their mark at the Mobile World Congress this year with two smartphones – the Liquid Jade 2 and Liquid Zest.

Acer Liquid Jade 2

The Acer Liquid Jade 2 sports a 5.5″ 1080p AMOLED screen, which the company says supports 100% of the NTSC color gamut. The phone also features a beefy 21MP camera with fast autofocus and 4K video recording support at 30fps. The front-facing camera is 8MP and has 84-degree wide-angle lens.

Acer Liquid Jade 2 official photos

Under the hood of the Liquid Jade 2 ticks a Snapdragon 808 chipset with hexa-core CPU and 3GB of RAM. The internal storage is 32GB and is expandable via the microSD card slot. Pricing isn’t available yet.

Acer Liquid Zest

As for the Liquid Zest it’s a bit more tame with a 5″ 720p IPS display. It comes in 3G and 4G flavors – the 3G one has a Mediatek MT6580 chipset with a quad-core 1.3GHz CPU while the Zest 4G packs a MediaTek MT6735 with a quad-core 1.3GHz processor.

The two also differ in their DTS sound features – the Zest 3G offers DTS Sound Studio whereas the Zest 4G packs the upgraded DTS HD Premium Sound.

Acer Liquid Zest

The rest of the specs are the same and include an 8MP f/2.0 main camera with autofocus and a 5MP selfie unit. The Acer Liquid Zest will start at €109 and go up to €149 for the Zest…

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Spanish manufacturer BQ – which last year became the first company to launch an Ubuntu-powered smartphone – has unveiled a tablet running Ubuntu at the ongoing Mobile World Congress.

Dubbed BQ Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition, the device is powered by a MediaTek MT8163A chipset with 1.5GHz quad-core processor, and sports a 10.1-inch (1920 x 1200 pixel resolution) display which is protected by Asahi’s Dragontrail glass.

The tablet comes with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory which can be further expanded up to 200GB via microSD. It packs in a large 7,280mAh battery. In terms of camera, the device features an 8MP rear unit and a 5MP front shooter.

Measuring 246 x 171 x 8.2mm and weighing in at 470g, the Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition runs Ubuntu 15:04. While there’s no word on the pricing yet, it will reportedly be available for purchase in the coming weeks.

Here’s a ‘hands-on’ video of the device (in Spanish):

Via 1(Portuguese) | Via…

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