Microsoft Lumia 950 XL (unlocked, single SIM) selling for $565 in US

The XL variant of the Microsoft Lumia 950 flagship smartphone is now selling for $565 in the US. Expansys USA has the unlocked, single SIM model listed for that price – the retailer usually sells it for $700.

While Expansys is selling both white and black color versions at the discounted rate, the latter is currently out of stock. A quick look on Amazon reveals that the retailer is currently selling the same model (RM-1085) for $590, and has both white and black color options in stock.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has the Lumia 950 XL (both colors) listed for $649, although none of them is available for purchase as of now – the listing currently shows ‘Email me when available’ button instead of ‘Buy’ or ‘Add to cart’.

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Motorola Droid Turbo 2 owners reporting mysterious green line on display

Several users of the Motorola Droid Turbo 2 smartphone are reporting an issue with their device where-in a vertical green light appears on the device’s display. A quick look at Motorola’s forums reveal that the issue dates back to November last year.

A user who goes by the name of Venoran posted his side of the story on Motorola’s forum, revealing that when he approached Verizon (Droid Turbo 2 is Verizon exclusive in case you don’t know), he was told that “you must have dropped or hit this phone really hard, it’s not shock-proof!”

He was also shown an internal Verizon e-mail containing a picture of the phone affected by the green light issue, and titled “Droid Turbo 2 is Shatterproof, not Shock-proof.” All this while he maintained that he never, ever dropped his phone.

Thereafter, Verizon reps asked him to approach Motorola, which finally agreed to issue a new unit as replacement.

Coming back to the issue, users say the green light is almost always there when the display is on, with some even saying that it widens with time. There’s no information yet on whether it’s a software or hardware issue.

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Sony announces new high-speed XQD and SD memory cards

Sony announced new ultra high-speed XQD and SD memory cards along with adapters for newly launched cameras such as the Nikon D5 and the D500 that were launched at CES.

The XQD-M series of cards have a read speed of up to 440MB/s and read speeds of 150MB/s, which should be perfect for burst capture of RAW images, 4K internal recording, and quickly transferring all that footage onto your computer. The XQD cards have a sturdier design for additional reliability.

The new SD cards are UHS-II compliant and offer read speeds up to 260MB/s and write speeds up to 100MB/s.

Sony also announced a new UHS-II supported card reader (MRW-E90) for quick transfers to a PC. It supports both the new XQD and SD cards that were announced and connects over USB 3.1.

Availability and pricing will be announced…

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BlackBerry CEO: BB 10 far from dead; another Android phone this year

BlackBerry CEO John Chen has said that the company’s BB 10 operating system is “far from” dead. He made the comment in a post on the company’s official blog, where-in he also revealed that BB 10-powered phones such as Passport, Classic, and others will be getting security and privacy enhancements this year.

“The coming version 10.3.3 will be certified for NIAP compliance, meaning it will have passed the strictest government-grade security tests, enabling us to further support our government and regulated customers who use BlackBerry 10 devices and demand the highest levels of security,” he said in the blog post.

“We are also planning a version 10.3.4 for later this year with even more security improvements.”

While we already know that BlackBerry will only be launching Android phones in 2016, Chen revealed that only one such device will be launched in 2016, adding that the company will be sharing its road-map at an appropriate…

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Microsoft Lumia 650 clears the FCC hurdle

Just a few days ago, some documents confirmed that the Microsoft Lumia 650 will come in both single- as well as dual-SIM variants, carrying model number RM-1152 and RM-1154, respectively.

Now, the single SIM variant – the RM-1152 – has been certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States, suggesting it could soon be launched there.

Recently, a live image (shown below) of the Windows 10 smartphone leaked, showing the phone at an angle, and confirming that its outer frame is made of metal.

As for the specs, from what all has been rumored until now, the Lumia 550 is powered by a Snapdragon 210 SoC and sports a 5-inch 720p display. RAM is 1GB, while the device packs in a 2,000mAh battery.

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First-gen Microsoft Band again drops to £50 in UK

If you recall, Microsoft slashed the price of the original Band to £50 in the UK back in November last year. If you missed that deal, here is some good news: the wearable has officially dropped to the same price again.

It’s exactly the same deal, as the Redmond, Washington-based company is also offering a free charging cable (normally worth £17) with the device. The deal runs through March 1, although the small and the medium variants of the Band are already out-of-stock.

Third party retailers like Amazon are currently selling the wearable in the range of £115 – £130, depending on the size.

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Samsung announces Q4 2015 earnings guidance; Y-o-Y profits grow

Samsung Electronics has announced earnings guidance for the fourth quarter of the year 2015. The company forecasted an operating profit of 6.1 trillion Korean won (around $5.08 billion), which is up around 15% compared to the 5.3 trillion won figure the company reported in Q4 2014.

However, compared to Q3 2015, when the company reported a profit of 7.4 trillion won, the profit was down around 18%. The forecast also missed market expectations – analysts were expecting the company to report a profit of around 6.6 trillion won.

Overall sales revenues are forecasted to be around 53.0 trillion won (around $46.4 billion), slightly up from the 52.7 trillion won figure reported in the same quarter of the year 2014. Samsung is expected to release final figures towards the end of this…

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Google Now weather card becomes a lot more colorful, app-like

Google is currently testing a new design for the weather card that shows up in Google Now or in Google searches on Android. While the previous card was functional, it couldn’t be called pretty. The new design aims to change that.

Furthermore, the card now looks and behaves more like an actual app. There’s a new tab system that lets you switch between the forecast for today, tomorrow, and the next ten days. The card also takes up a lot more vertical space than it used to.

Colors change based on time of day and the current conditions, and there’s a frog-like character that gets portrayed in different settings (such as beaches or hiking trips). More information is packed in the new card too. It has details about things like air quality, sunrise and sunset times, as well as certain health messages.

At the moment not many people have seen the new card, but hopefully that will change in the near future based on how well the testing goes.

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Lenovo Vibe K4 Note got 200,000 registrations in India already

Lenovo made the Vibe K4 Note official in India earlier this week, after a teaser campaign. The phone will become available on January 19 by itself, and starting on January 20 bundled with a VR headset. It will be offered through flash sales carried out on Amazon, for which you need to register in advance.

And in just 3 days from the start of registrations, more than 200,000 have been received by the retailer. This means plenty of people are interested in the K4 Note. Furthermore, registrations for the VR bundle have been closed ten days ahead of plan because of the overwhelming response seen in the first two days.

You can still register to buy the handset by itself, however, and you’ll be able to do that all the way up until January 18. Lenovo hasn’t said how many K4 Note units will be up for grabs in the first flash sale.

The Vibe K4 Note comes with a 5.5-inch 1080p touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP selfie snapper, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, the MediaTek MT6753 SoC with a 1.3 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU, and a 3,300 mAh battery. It runs Android 5.1 Lollipop. It’s priced at INR 11,999…

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Xiaomi Redmi 3 to come with large 4,100mAh battery

Just a day after revealing its display size and launch date, Xiaomi has confirmed that the Redmi 3 will come with a large 4,100mAh battery. The confirmation again came in the form of a teaser posted on Weibo.

In the Weibo post, Xiaomi also stressed that despite the large battery, the phone is thin thanks to the high energy density tech used.

So, the specs that have been officially confirmed until now include a 5-inch display and a 4,100mAh battery. In addition, it has also been confirmed that the device features an all metal body with a unique plaid design on the back.

As for the remaining specs, rumors say the handset is powered by a Snapdragon 616 SoC, has 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory, and features 13MP rear and 5MP front camera. It is said to run Android 5.1.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box.

The Redmi 3 is set to be launched next week on January 12.

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