Asus has revealed yet another Zenfone 2 variant, this time boasting an updated Intel chipset. The refreshed Asus Zenfone 2 Deluxe Special Edition packs an Intel Z3590 chip with quad-core CPU running at 2.5GHz. There’s 4GB of LPDDR3 RAM and 256GB of internal storage, further expandable via the microSD card slot.

The rest of the specifications remain virtually unchanged. The camera setup consists of a 13MP Pixelmaster camera on the back and a 5MP shooter on the front. A non-removable 3000mAh keeps the show running. At the front, there’s a 5.5″ 1080p display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

The Asus Zenfone 2 Deluxe Special Edition will be offered in Silver Polygon and Carbon Night, but so far we have neither a release date nor a…

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It is no secret that Sony has been struggling on the mobile market for quite some time. But thankfully for the Japanese giant, its business extends far beyond the mobile realm and there are a lot of other company branches that are actually doing quite well. Sony’s gaming business is definitely one of the leading divisions when it comes to turning a profit and it is only natural for the company to try and nurture it as best it can.

In a move to strengthen the PlayStation business as a whole, Sony has decided to merge Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) – responsible for creating the console hardware and Sony Network Entertainment, which runs the PlayStation Store and Network as well as the PlayStation Vue streaming service. The new business unit is entitled Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and will begin operating on April 1. Interestingly enough, it won’t inherit SCE’s headquarters in Tokyo, but will rather operate out of San Mateo, California. It will be headed by president and global CEO Andrew House. He commented on the merge, saying:

By integrating the strengths of PlayStation’s hardware, software, content and network operations, SIE will become an even stronger entity, with a clear objective to further accelerate the growth of the PlayStation business. Along with our business partners, SIE will develop pioneering services and products that will continue to inspire consumers’ imaginations and lead the market.

The merger constitutes a strong effort to ensure the future of the PlayStation business and to also get one step closer to the US consumer market and understand fan needs better. Initially, PlayStation users shouldn’t notice any change to the services they are using. However, it is likely that in the long run, the new Sony Interactive Entertainment division will be a lot more active than its predecessors in creating and delivering interesting new experiences.

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The vivo Xplay5S, which is said to be the successor to the Chinese company’s Xplay3S smartphone, will be powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 820 chipset and will have 4GB of RAM. This was revealed in an Antutu listing of the device.

If you recall, this is not the first time that SD820 SoC and 4GB RAM have been rumored for the Xplay5S. However, what’s new here is the 5.5-inch QHD display as well as the 16MP rear and 8MP front shooters, which is a downgrade from the 6.0-inch 4K display and 21MP/12MP camera combo rumored earlier.

Meanwhile, Chinese analyst Jan Jiutang says that the handset will ship with a whopping 6GB RAM, juts like the Huawei P9. It’s unclear what that assumption is based on, but we’ll have to wait a while longer to find out who’s…

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Apple released a minor update to the new Apple TV yesterday, which bumps up the version number to 9.1.1. The update primarily focuses on minor bug fixes and performance improvements, except for one major addition, assuming you are really into podcasts.

Apple’s Podcasts app is now finally baked into the OS, which means you can watch or listen to all the podcasts that you have subscribed in iTunes or on the iOS Podcasts app on your television. The app was previously part of tvOS beta but now available in the latest stable release.

The next major update slated for Apple TV is tvOS 9.2, which will bring more features, such as Bluetooth keyboard support and app…

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LG Electronics has released its Q4 2015 financial results, revealing that the company sold 15.3 million smartphones in the October-December period. For the full year, the South Korean company sold 59.7 million units, slightly up from the 59.1 million number it achieved in 2014.

Of the 15.3 million units that LG sold last quarter, nearly 11 million were LTE models, making this the first time that the quarterly sales of LG’s LTE-powered smartphones have crossed the 10 million mark.

The company’s mobile division reported a revenue of 3.78 trillion KRW ($3.26 billion) in Q4. Although the figure was down 0.4% year-on-year, it was up 12% compared to Q3 2015 thanks to improved smartphone sales in the North American market, led by the V10 flagship. The division’s operating loss also improved compared to the third-quarter.

Talking about LG Electronics as a whole, the Q4 net loss stood at 140.4 billion KRW ($117 million), down from the 205.6 billion deficit the company reported in the same quarter of 2014. Over all, for 2015, the net income was 249.1 billion KRW, which is down 50.3% compared to…

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The Android app of popular cloud storage service Dropbox now boasts of over 500 million installs. The app has hit the milestone less than six years after it was launched.

Although Dropbox for Android is still halfway when compared to competitor Google Drive (which crossed the 1 billion milestone in October last year), the achievement is no less impressive considering the app doesn’t comes pre-installed on most Android devices like the Google’s offering.

Back in June last year, Dropbox announced it has more than 400 million registered users worldwide, although it didn’t reveal how many of them are monthly active…

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A new update for the Windows 10-powered Lumia 550 smartphone has been quietly released by Microsoft. The update bumps the firmware version of the handset from 15461.48007 to 15503.21007, while the OS version remains the same.

What’s worth mentioning here is that the update is reportedly only available through the Windows Device Recovery Tool, meaning it isn’t currently rolling over-the-air (OTA). Keep in mind that if you use the the Windows Device Recovery Tool to update your device, you’ll lose all your data.

There’s currently no official information on what the update includes, although given that it’s already available via the recovery tool, an official announcement (followed by an OTA roll-out) shouldn’t be far…

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Inline with its August 2015 commitment of providing monthly security updates, Samsung has now announced the roll-out of this month’s Android security patch.

As always, the company said the update is for “major flagship models,” but didn’t list any specific handsets. FYI, previous months’ updates rolled out to the Galaxy Note5 as well as the Galaxy S6 family, among others.

The update includes patches – including those for several critical issues – from both Google as well as the South Korean company. While Samsung provided details on several publicly known issues, it didn’t disclose any information on some, presumably citing security…

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LG unveiled the K7 and K10 smartphones at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this month. A week after that the company revealed plans for the entire K-Series, which also includes the K8, K7, K5, and K4. Now, the K4 has been spotted listed on LG’s Russia website.

The listing reveals that the device is powered by a MediaTek MT6735M SoC and sports a 4.5-inch (480 x 854 pixel resolution) IPS display. RAM is 1GB, while internal memory is 8GB, although expandable. The device packs in a 1,940mAh battery.

In terms of camera, the K4 features a 5MP rear unit and a 2MP front shooter. Offering dual-SIM functionality and 4G LTE support, the handset runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box. It measures 131.9 x 66.7 x 8.9mm and weighs in at 120g.

Source (Russian) | Via…

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If you are in the US, and are planning to purchase the LG-made Google Nexus 5X, here is a deal for you: BuyDig (via eBay) is offering the 16GB model for just $299 and the 32GB model for $349.

And that’s not it. Those purchasing either of the models will also get a $20 Visa gift card, which will arrive in 6-8 weeks. The models on offer are North American variants, meaning they’ll work with all major US carriers.

Close to 200 units of each have been sold at the time of writing, and the seller says the models are available in limited quantities. So, make sure you act fast if you want to purchase the handset.

Officially, the 16GB model is being sold for $349, while the 32GB iteration will set you back $399.

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