Another SD820-powered Windows Phone device spotted on GFXBench

Last month, when a Snapdragon 820-powered Windows Phone device – dubbed HP Falcon – was spotted on GFXBench, we first treated the news with skepticism as there had been no news (or even rumors) whatsoever on that front, but subsequent reports confirmed the existence of such an HP device.

Now, exactly a month later, another SD820-powered WP device has been spotted on the benchmarking website. Aside from the latest Snapdragon chipset, it sports a 6-inch QHD display and features 20MP rear and 12MP front cameras.

Internal memory is 43GB, while RAM is listed as 1.5GB, something which isn’t inline with other specs and suggests that at least some of these numbers aren’t correct. Although there have been rumors of Microsoft already testing SD820-powered 2016 Lumia flagships, we’d still advise you to take the latest news with a pinch of salt.

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75% of Apple’s mobile devices are now running iOS 9

Apple has released its latest iOS adoption numbers, revealing that the version 9 of its mobile operating system now powers 75% of compatible devices. This means that three out of every four mobile devices from the company are currently running iOS 9.

The number stood at 70% last month, and 66% the month prior. So as you can see, the iOS 9 adoption has been steadily increasing. In fact, back in September last year, when the adoption crossed the 50% mark within just five days of the OS’ launch, Apple said it is the fastest rate ever seen by the company for a new OS iteration.

Just recently, Apple released the first beta of iOS 9.3 for developers. It includes features such as multi-user support for iPads (although at the moment it’s only available for schools) as well as Night Shift, which adjusts the colors in your device’s display to make sure that your eyes aren’t exposed to the bright blue light after sunset.

Just in case you aren’t aware, the adoption numbers are calculated based on the usage of Apple’s App…

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Nexus 6 deal alert $250 – How much longer can this possibly last?

The Nexus 6 was by no means a sluggish or crappy phone. Motorola did an excellent job of embodying the Nexus language into a hardware package to compete with other flagship smartphones.

Today, the Nexus 6 is on sale in Amazon US for $249. The company really needs to get rid of these phones and they seem to be struggling to do so.

We really don’t know how much longer these deeply discounted sales of Motorola’s Nexus 6 are going to continue. If you’ve been on the fence about getting an unlocked Nexus 6 of your own, now is your chance. Remember, these phones are even equipped to be fully functional on Sprint or Verizon.

The Nexus 6 launched in the fall of 2014. While its hardware is still plenty powerful for today’s standards, unfortunately, the market did not allow it to age very well. The Nexus 6 has dropped a full $400 below the original price which is good for people wanting to buy one now, but bad for those who financed the phone (like me) through a carrier like T-Mobile.

The Nexus 6 is available for $249.99 on amazon for the Midnight Blue or Cloud White in 32GB configurations or $299.99 for the 64GB model in only Cloud White. The Midnight Blue in 32GB seems to be taking a little longer to ship while the other two are shipping…

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Group video calls are coming to Skype for iOS, Android, and Windows 10 Mobile

Ten years ago, Skype launched free video calling, and the now Microsoft owned company is in a celebratory mood. It goes on to stress that it’s been no less than six years since it took video calls to mobile phones, and now it’s ready for the next logical step.

That is – group video calls are coming to the three big mobile platforms. This feature will be available soon in Skype for iOS, Android, and Windows 10 Mobile. The move makes perfect sense when you consider that over 750 million people have downloaded Skype onto an iOS, Android, or Windows mobile device.

The rollout of group video calls for the iOS, Android, and Windows 10 Mobile Skype apps will take a few weeks, but you can try out the new feature sooner if you use this link to pre-register.

Skype is boasting that in these past ten years, its users have made more than two trillion minutes of video calls. The next trillion is bound to be reached faster especially with the launch of group video calling on…

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LG G4 on US Cellular is now getting Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Following its release in South Korea, Europe, and for units having been sold by Sprint in the US, the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for the LG G4 has now reached US Cellular. Specifically, G4 devices bought from this carrier.

The update is rolling out in stages, as you’d expect, so it may be a few days before you see that coveted notification showing up on your particular G4.

The new software brings with it the 6.0 release from Google, as well as some unnamed security enhancements. It also removes the MobiTV and Mobile Data Security preloads, according to the release notes.

After having applied the update, your baseband version will be US99120b, where US991 is actually the model number of the G4 manufactured for US Cellular.

Now that another carrier has jumped on the Marshmallow train for the G4, hopefully Verizon and AT&T will follow soon with releases for their respective iterations of this…

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LG Nexus 5X now starts at $349

If you’ve been wanting to grab an LG Nexus 5X but so far haven’t had the chance, this will surely make you happy. Google has announced that starting today, this smartphone becomes cheaper. Mind you, this doesn’t seem to be a limited-time promo, rather the Nexus 5X now has new pricing to speak of.

The 16GB model is offered for $349, while the 32GB iteration can be yours for $399. Both of those prices are $30 cheaper than before. For now, the new levels have only been spotted in the Google Store, but expect them to make it to the other retailers selling the Nexus 5X in due course.

The 5X was already the more affordable offering of the Nexus pair unveiled last year, and now it’s become even more so. Hopefully we’ll see some price cuts outside of the US too, but nothing’s been announced yet.

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LG “Play” teaser hits at new product for the MWC

LG slipped us a cryptic invitation – “Play begins, Barcelona February 21.” What is it? We don’t know officially, but we’ll give it a few guesses.

Obviously, we’d most want a new smartphone – a music oriented one, given the music box in the background. LG has had a few stereo speakers on its phones, but it’s pretty rare, the LG Band Play is the latest addition.

Another guess would be “music service,” but LG already unveiled a high-resolution music service for its phones back in August last year. It offers 24-bit/192kHz audio, up from the CD-quality stuff at 16-bit/44.1kHz.

Yet another possibility is Music Flow – LG’s line of multi-room speakers (think Sonos). That one was first unveiled in 2014 though.

We would need more clues to narrow it down. Whatever it is, we will be in Barcelona for the MWC to watch it…

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Google I/O will take place on May 18-20 this year

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has just announced the dates for the company’s most important event of the year. In 2016, the Google I/O developer conference will take place from May 18 to May 20 in Mountain View, California, at the Shoreline Amphitheatre.

This setting will apparently take I/O back to the neighborhood “where it all started” ten years ago, according to the exec. Further details will be communicated at a later date.

Over the past few years, I/O has become the event where Google announces the most new stuff. Every upcoming version of Android has recently been unveiled at I/O – and in the last two years this has been followed by a developer preview of the new release. We assume this will also happen in 2016. So hopefully you’ve marked your calendars…

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Google adds new options to the Android search bar

Google has been caught experimenting with options for its Android search bar. For some users, new stuff shows up when they tap on the search bar – be that in the search widget on a home screen, using the one in Google Now, or simply when performing a search in the Google app.

The new options that come up when you tap on the search bar are Recent Searches, What’s Hot, and Nearby. It’s pretty obvious what happens when you then tap on Recent Searches – you’ll get a list of those. What’s Hot shows you popular stuff, while tapping Nearby brings you to a list of things you might be searching for, just like in Google Maps.

These are, in one example, Restaurants, Gas Stations, ATMs, and Coffee shops. It’s unclear if these categories will change dynamically (and if so, based on what) or if they’ll be forever fixed.

As always with such Google experiments, the new options aren’t seen by everyone. That will only change if the search giant decides on wide availability for these features.

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HTC Windows Phone 8X won’t receive Windows 10 Mobile update

Here’s some bad, if expected, news for owners of the HTC Windows Phone 8X from 2012. The handset will not be updated to Windows 10 Mobile, the latest version of Microsoft’s OS. This has been officially confirmed by HTC’s UK arm, so at this point you really should give up all hope on the matter.

Not that there was a reason for you to have such hopes in the first place. Software support in the mobile world very, very rarely goes past the two year mark from a device’s release (with Apple and Google’s Nexus line being the biggest exceptions). And the HTC 8X is now more than three years old.

On the other hand, it’s probably frustrating to have a handset that would totally be capable of running Windows 10 Mobile with its hardware specs, but which despite this fact won’t receive the new software. HTC has stated in very clear terms that there aren’t going to be any further updates for the 8X. So you either get used to the idea of running Windows Phone 8.1 forever, or just buy a new smartphone.

It isn’t yet clear what the situation will be for the much newer HTC One (M8) for Windows, though – so that one may in fact be graced with Windows 10 Mobile at some point in the future.

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