Samsung is working on a Pro variant of the recently-launched Galaxy A9 smartphone, according to a new report. The variant carries a model number of SM-A9100, and is aimed at the Chinese market.

Samsung Galaxy A9

The report also notes that development for the device’s firmware is currently in progress. As for the specs, there’s no word yet, although it’d be safe to assume that it’ll have at-least some bumped up specs compared to the regular model.

Sporting a 6-inch screen and packing in a 4,000mAh battery, the A9 was made official last month. It went on sale in China earlier this month, carrying a price tag of around…

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Several top executives at Twitter, including global media VP Katie Jacobs Stanton, senior engineering VP Alex Roetter, product VP Kevin Weil, as well as VP of Human Resources Brian Schipper have chosen to leave the company. This was confirmed by CEO Jack Dorsey after there were reports suggesting that they’ve been asked to leave.

Was really hoping to talk to Twitter employees about this later this week, but want to set the record straight now: http://pic.twitter.com/PcpRyTzOlW— Jack (@jack) January 25, 2016

While not explicitly mentioned by Dorsey in his tweet above, Jason Toff – who heads the company’s Vine video streaming service – has also confirmed his departure, revealing that he’s joining Google to work on virtual reality.

Personal update! I’m joining Google to work on VR. So much exciting potential there.— Jason Toff (@jasontoff) January 25, 2016

If you recall, co-founder Dorsey returned as the company’s new CEO back in October last year, a few months after former CEO Dick Costolo stepped down. Shortly after Dorsey assumed the new role, Twitter announced that it will cut up to 336 jobs, or 8% of the company’s total workforce.

Earlier this month, the company’s stock hit an all time low – below $20 a share for the first…

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Rumors of HTC working on an entry-level tablet aren’t new. While reports about an H7 tablet cropped up back in May last year, a Zauba listing (shown below) from June 2015 reveals a 7-inch Desire T7 tablet with dual-core processor, costing around $170.

Now, a device named HTC IV5001-A has been spotted on GFXBench. Like the Desire T7 tablet mentioned above, this new device also has a 7-inch screen (6.9-inch to be precise) and is also powered by a quad-core CPU (Spreadtrum SC8830 SoC).

RAM is 1GB, while internal memory should be 16GB. As for the camera department, both front and back shooters are 5MP. The listing also reveals that the tablet runs Android 5.0 out-of-the-box, and includes connectivity options such as Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, and WiFi.

Reports say the device could be announced at this year’s Mobile World Congress, which is scheduled for next…

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These are some of the best apps and games that came out this week.

Music Memos

Apple released a new app for its iOS devices. Called Music Memos, the app is essentially a recorder app to record your voice or instruments. The app can differentiate between the two, and when it detects instruments it can also detect the instrument and the tempo and then provide a suitable drum and bass background that goes with what and how you’re playing. The app is designed for musicians to quickly record their ideas wherever inspiration strikes in high quality uncompressed files that can be organized and shared with others or backed up and synced on iCloud.

Price: Free

Download: iOS

Adobe Voice

Another recorder app, this time from Adobe. Adobe Voice was previously iPad exclusive but v2.0 now also brings it to the iPhone. Adobe Voice lets you record your voice and then adds images and a suitable background track to it to create a quick animated video in very few steps. This can then be used in a presentation, whether it’s in an office meeting or a classroom.

Price: Free

Download: iOS

CornerTube

CornerTube is a picture-in-picture YouTube app for the iPad. It allows you to play a YouTube video anywhere in a floating window. The app scans your clipboard for any YouTube video links. Any copied links immediately appear in the app widget in Notification Center. Tapping it instantly opens the video in a floating window. It also adds an option in the share sheet, so if you find a YouTube link somewhere, just share it to the app to open it in a window. The app works with older iPads, such as iPad Air, and iPad mini 2, so you don’t need the latest model to use picture-in-picture.

Price: $1.99

Download: iOS

Kickstarter

Kickstarter finally has an Android app. Now you can find and back all those crazy, weird ideas without having to use the mobile site on your Android device.

Price: Free

Download: iOS • Android

I Have no Mouth, And I Must Scream

I Have no Mouth, And I Must Scream is a point and click adventure game that released on the PC back in 1995. Based on a novel of the same name, the game takes place in a post apocalyptic world 109 after a supercomputer named AM wiped out humanity. The last five survivors are immortal, who are being tortured by AM for eternity. Not exactly a fun, light hearted story but the game is known for its puzzles, story, and atmosphere. It’s a bit long in the tooth visually but otherwise worth a shot.

Price: $3.99

Download: iOS •…

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The droids battled it out last week, now it’s time for the clash of the platforms. And it’s as if we anticipated your vote on the previous poll and picked just the right droid to pit against the iPhone 6s Plus and the Lumia 950 XL – the Galaxy Note5.

The trio represents the best the three OS’s have to offer, and in a way makes for the ultimate shootout – the winner is to be crowned the best smartphone, period. Okay, such absolutes are obviously flawed, as no one phone can work for everyone, we know that. But we now set on to find out which of the three you like the most.

Is it the iPhone with its rich ecosystem, high-performance chipset and 3D touch? Alternatively, you can pick the Lumia 950 XL on the grounds of Continuum, a high-res camera and near color-perfect display? Or will the Galaxy Note5 snatch this one thanks to a balanced all-round performance, plus an S-Pen?

A week of voting starts now, go ahead and hit the thumbs-up on your favorite of the…

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As we send off the third week of 2016, let’s look back and see what excitement the news section had to offer.

The Nokia brand has been one constantly reoccurring theme these past few days and the promise of a glorious return to the smartphone realm with a new batch of devices now seems more plausible than ever. Mysterious handsets with the legendary Finnish logo have been popping up all over the place in photos, online listings and videos.

Samsung made the headlines quite a few times during the week. Galaxy S7 rumors are constantly intensifying, but it finally feels like we are getting closer to uncovering the full story about all the variants and their screen sizes. As of today, that includes a 5.1-inch basic S7 and a 5.5-inch S7 edge. The Korean giant has also been keeping busy updating its “J” family. Consequently, the Galaxy J5 (2016) and J7 (2016) have been popping up in leaks all over the place. The same goes for the refreshed “A” family as well.

In other news, HTC also has big plans for 2016, with two new Nexus phones, allegedly lined up, as well as the eagerly-anticipated release of the M10.

LG is also generating a lot of hype around the G5 flagship, due out this year. It might be a radical departure from its predecessors with volume and power buttons moved away from the back to help in crafting a thinner profile. The idea of a detachable bottom part to grant access to the battery has also been tossed around.

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Motorola’s ‘shatterproof’ Moto X Force landing in India soon
The company’s India Twitter account has posted a new teaser confirming the same.

Lenovo K4 Note up for grabs in first flash sale today
The sale, which is for the INR 12,499 ($185) priced Vibe K4 Note VR Bundle that also includes an ANT VR headset, will begin at 2pm IST

LeEco announces Le Max and Le 1s in India
Priced at $485 and $161, respectively.

Xiaomi is now locking the bootloaders on Redmi Note 3, Mi 4c, and Mi Note Pro
Xiaomi has locked the Redmi Note 3 bootloader, Mi 4c and Mi Note Pro are next.

New Xiaomi Mi 5 image leaks, shows white variant
This comes just over a week after the black variant leaked online.

Microsoft mistakenly reveals unannounced Lumia Phone X
Is it the long-rumored Surface Phone?

Mysterious all-metal Nokia resurfaces in a new set photos
The boxy device is said to be a budget-friendly offer, possibly coming this year.

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) gets benchmarked, has specs revealed
Previously, the upcoming handset was spotted entering India for testing purposes.

Samsung LED View Cover for Galaxy S7, S7 edge clears FCC
he US telecom governing body has certified a pair of accessory cases for what appear to be the Samsung Galaxy S7, and the S7 edge.

Leaked LG G5 diagram shows new design, volume buttons on the side
LG is looking ready to fully give up on the design language it’s been using for the G series up until now.

Two HTC Nexus phones coming this year, rumor claims
They will allegedly have 5″ and 5.5″ touchscreens, respectively.

Is this the new Nokia phone in the company latest video?
A large tablet shows up briefly, too.

Apple is now pushing iOS 9.2.1 to all supported devices
The new version of the company’s mobile operating system is focused primarily on fixing bugs.

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) specs spotted…

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We concluded last week’s three-way shootout with a question which one of the smartphones you liked best, and the results are in. The Nexus 6P, LG V10 and Samsung Galaxy Note5 put up quite a fight, much like they did in the shootout itself, but Samsung’s phablet emerged victorious.

Gathering 42% of readers’ votes, the Note5 had a comfortable advantage over the other two. For all the V10’s strong points, not limited to its camera and build, and the Nexus 6P stock Android appeal, the Note5 is arguably the most well rounded of the bunch, hence the overall win.

The battle for the silver was a much closer one. Only 2% split the V10 and the 6P and for a while there it could have gone either way. Eventually though, LG’s phablet edged ahead.

The Note5 returns this week for the tri-platform throwdown, and we’ll be offering you the chance to have your say on the matter, so stay…

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As it turns out, the Lenovo K4 Note is fully capable of defending its top position from last week in our Top 10 trending phones chart. The long-standing champion Samsung Galaxy J7 couldn’t reclaim its title, not this week at least, and places second in terms of interest. The Galaxy J5, on the other hand makes it back to the podium, after briefly dropping to number 4 last week.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is slowly climbing back up the chart, after it was in third spot a few weeks ago, but then almost fell off the chart in Week 1. Right after it, we find its smaller sibling, the Redmi 3.

From there on, it’s mostly Samsung, with the Galaxy J2 in sixth and the Galaxy Grand Prime in seventh. The flagships stand further down – the Galaxy Note5 is in eight, two spots up from last week, while the Galaxy S6 drops four positions to this week’s ninth. And the iPhone 5s is still going strong, participating in all three editions of chart this year.

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Lenovo K4 Note
RANK: 1WAS: 1

specs gallery

Samsung Galaxy J7
RANK: 2WAS: 2

specs review

Samsung Galaxy J5
RANK: 3WAS: 4

specs review

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
RANK: 1WAS: 6

specs review

Xiaomi Redmi 3
RANK: 5WAS: 3

specs gallery

Samsung Galaxy J2
RANK: 6WAS: 7

specs review

Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
RANK: 7WAS: 8

specs review

Samsung Galaxy Note5
RANK: 8WAS: 10

specs review

Samsung Galaxy S6
RANK: 9WAS: 5

specs review

Apple iPhone 5s
RANK: 10WAS: 9

specs…

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The Huawei Mate 8 is already at the office and while we are already busy preparing its full review, we thought you might appreciate a bunch of early impressions we got.

An all-aluminum design like the one of the Huawei Mate 8 is no rarity these days, particularly in the high-end, but the lack of ugly plastic inlays of different color really makes it stand out. Plastic is still there as it’s required for the bunch of antennas inside to work, but it’s been painted over and matches the rest of the back, looking like accents rather than defects. We especially like the Space gray version, though ladies might prefer the Mocha Brown one.

Having said that, at 157.1×80.6×7.9 mm, the Mate 8 is unlikely to attract a lot of female attention. Given the 6″ screen, however, Huawei actually did a very impressive job with the bezels – the new phablet is just as large as a 5.7″ Galaxy Note – if you can handle one, you’ll do just fine with the other.

The 6″ screen sticks to 1080p resolution, as Huawei believes that anything higher is merely a waste of battery and computing power. Its sharpness does suffer a bit if you make direct side-by-side comparisons, but the overall image quality seems pretty good. We detect a slight purplish tint, but contrast seems great and the screen is easily visible when outside.

Another thing to justify the ample size is the enormous 4,000mAh battery – we don’t have the exact numbers just yet, but even at this early stage it’s clear that it’s going to be one of our battery champions.

As with other devices hailing from the East, the Mate 8 launcher (based on Android 6.0) exhibits a flat style – that is, no app drawer (every shortcut goes on the homescreen, mixed in with the widgets). You get a rich app package out of the box and certain quirks (e.g. the RAM cleaning button that’s more placebo than useful).

The automatic battery manager feature that detects apps running in the background and consuming too much power and prompts you to disable them. Mind you, it’s not preventing the app from running altogether – it just doesn’t allow it to stay in the background when you are done with it.

The first smartphone to pack the new ultra-powerful Cortex-A72 cores, the Mate8 delivers blazing fast performance. Our particular unit has 3GB of RAM as opposed to 4GB on the 64GB versions, but it still breezes through its UI with no traces of lag.

The 16 MP camera seems like a large step forward over the Mate7- it comes complete with OIS and a larger 1/2.8″ sensor and a dual-LED flash. Selfie lovers will also appreciate the 8MP front snapper, which is among the highest resolution ones on the market.

The photos have nice colors although detail isn’t as impressive as we hoped. We suspect that might be due to some issues with the AF missing that we can’t quite get our fingers on just yet. We hope it’s a software issue that Huawei will address by the time the Mate 8 hits international markets, but we’ll investigate just to be on the safe side.

Huawei Mate 8 camera samples: Good and low-light

Lack of 4K video is a disappointment for a flagship in this day and age. Likely stemming from the limitations of the Kirin 950 chipset, this relegates the Mate 8 to a lower tier, compared to its direct rivals. Smooth 1080p at 60fps and slo-mo 720p@120fps are available and they look decent although far from making up for the lack of detail that a good 4K-capable camcorder delivers.

The fingerprint sensor implementation is still arguably the best on the market – located on the back as befitting a phablet and always on, the sensor lets you go from a locked screen to homescren before you have completed taking the phone out of your pocket. We had our reservations about Huawei switching to a circular sensor, but as it turned out it doesn’t make any difference to the…

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A new App Annie’s report for 2015 takes a detailed look at quite a few statistics from major app stores and a few observations from the report instantly stand out.

For one, it appears that in 2015, Google’s Play Store has registered twice as many downloads as the Apple’s App Store. The difference stood at around 60% in 2014, which means that Google’s mobile software ecosystem I truly growing at a phenomenal rate so as to outpace iOS. However, we shouldn’t fail to mention the enormous difference in market share between the two platforms and the sheer number of Android users definitely help justify the doubled app download counter. The biggest growth spurts in 2015 came from emerging markets, such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey, and Mexico.

Volume is one thing, but what does that equate to from a business perspective? The trend here is plainly clear as well – even though Apple users are downloading less apps, they are spending a lot more than their Android friends, about 75% more to be exact. In 2014, Apple’s App store also out-earned its rival by 70%, so the trend is only solidifying. Cupertino clients seem to be inclined to spend more, which has been a well-known fact for some time now and it is natural for app developers to take advantage of that with increasing efficiency.

As a final interesting observation from the report – that games still constitute around 90% of downloads and revenue on the Google Play Store, whereas for Apple that number is closer to 75%.

Source |…

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