LG G4 Gets Its First Official Video Teaser

LG is expected to unveil its new flagship smartphone, the G4, on April 28. Until then though, the South Korean company shared quite a lot of info about the upcoming high-end device.

After showing us the “groundbreaking” rear camera that's supposed to be one of the LG G4's main strong points, the South Korean handset maker is shows us the amazing Quad HD display that will be embedded into the smartphone. The first official video teaser of LG G4 is all about the display, so if you were wondering what kind of screen the smartphone will boast, now will be a good time to take a look at this less than one minute video. For those who don't know yet, the G4's 5.5-inch Quad HD IPS capacitive touchscreen display supports 2560 x 1440 pixels resolution, just like Samsung's Galaxy S6. However, the LG G4 might provide a lesser amount of ppi than Samsung's flagship smartphone.

LG G4 Quad HD display is 25% brighter than other screens

Since LG has already revealed some details on the phone's camera, we already know the G4 will pack a 16-megapixel rear-facing photo snapper, as well as a no less impressive 8-megapixel camera in the front for perfect selfies and video calls. Software-wise, LG G4 will ship with Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system out of the box and the latest version of LG UX 4.0 on top. The rest of the smartphone's specs are only rumored, so take it with a grain of salt until LG comes with an official announcement. That being said, word is that the G4 might be equipped with a hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor in order to avoid any overheating issues.

If not for these overheating problems that were previously reported in case of HTC One M9, the LG G4 would have been powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset. There's no word on the amount of RAM and storage, but it should pack at least 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory, along with microSD card slot for memory expansion. LG fans should stay tuned for more info on the company's upcoming flagship smartphone, as additional details are expected to emerge in the coming days.

LG G4 (back)
Image credits to LG Mobile

LG G4 : Official Teaser Video (Display)
Video credits to LG Mobile Global

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Huawei’s New P8 Flagship Comes with a Sleek Frame and Ingenious RGBW Camera Sensor

As anticipated, Huawei is holding today a media event to launch its flagship device, the P8. With this new model, the company has dropped the Ascend moniker to the advantage of a cleaner nomenclature focusing only on digits and letters.

The new Huawei P8 is here and the company’s CEO has introduced the phone as a product that wants to “ignite creativity.” The device arrives with a metal frame and a 6.4 mm / 0.25 inch thick body, which is not the thinnest on the market (that’s the Coolpad Ivvi that comes with a 4.7mm / 0.18 inch frame), but pretty sleek nevertheless.

Huawei's new flagship does not have a 2K display

The Huawei P8 arrives with a 5.2-inch IPS display (1080p pixel resolution), with the screen taking up to 78.3% of the front thanks to the sleek bezels that put the Galaxy S6 to shame. In the photography department, the P8 takes advantage of a camera sensor with four types of sub-pixels including Red, Green, Blue, and White. This should make the snapper more efficient in low-lighting environments. The 13MP main camera also benefits from optical image stabilization and can also rotate up to 1.6°, which is double than what the iPhone 6 Plus camera can do. Another interesting detail is connected to the image processor, which Huawei says is of DSRL quality. But that remains to be seen.

The selfie frontal camera is of an 8MP variety.

Moving on, the new phone bundles the so-called new Signal+ tech which features two antennas, one living at the bottom and another one at the top, so users can switch between them in just 33.5µs with the advantage that the calls and data connection are not affected. Huawei promises customers will experience 50% less dropped calls and also get a 6.8 increase in call connection rates too.  The phone can pick out the best Wi-Fi signal from the crowd via Wi-Fi+.

Will the Huawei P8 manage to take the focus off the Samsung Galaxy S6?

Just as we were anticipating, the new P8 takes advantage of the company’s own HiSilicone Kirin 930 chip with 2GHz octa-core CPU on the inside, fitted with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. 

The phone has 4G and dual-SIM option. The phone will be made available in four colors including mystic champagne, prestige gold, titanium gray, and carbon black. It also runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with EMUI 3.1 on top, which brings along an interesting feature in the form of salled Knuckle Gesture. This feature allows users to double tap on the screen to take a screenshot using their knuckles and then crop it out also with the help of their knuckles.

For those interested in the new Huawei P8 you should know that the 16GB model will go on sale in Europe starting in May 2015 for around €499 / $530. The 64GB version will be offered for a bit a more expensive tag of €599 / $635.

Huawei P8
Image credits to Huawei

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Bluboo X550, Phone Comes with Android 5.1 and Huge 5,300 mAh Battery, Just $169

Android 5.1 has been released not so long ago, so not many devices take advantage of it at the moment. Some Nexus devices are rocking the new OS, while manufacturers like Motorola have promised to soon provide the update for some of its models.

Nonetheless, Chinese OEMs are struggling to impress the masses and sometime very much succeed in doing so. It’s the case of little-known device maker Bluboo, which is gearing up to release the X550 model. The phone is interesting for a number of reasons, including the fact that it sports a 5,300 mAh battery which should allow for a stand-by time of up to 30 days.

The Bluboo X550 should arrive with a 5.5-inch display (we don’t know what resolution, but don’t expect 1920 x 1080 pixels), a quad-core MediaTek MT6735 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. The model hasn’t launched yet, but when it does, customers will be able to pick it up internationally for the meager price of $169 / €159.

Most importantly, for this amount of money, you’ll get your hands on an Android 5.1 handset. You can check out the gallery below to see what the phone looks like in real life. Bluboo photographed its model (8.9 mm / 0.35 inches in thickness) next to the iPhone 6 Plus, which is a bit sleeker (7.1 mm / 0.27 inches).

Bluboo X550 has a huge battery

Bluboo X550 in black and white

Bluboo X550 back and front
Images credits to PhoneArena

Bluboo X550, front view

Bluboo X550 compared to iPhone 6 Plus, display view

Bluboo X550 compared to iPhone 6 Plus, back view

 Bluboo X550 in hand
Images credits to Bluboo forums

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Sony Xperia Z4 Might Be Announced by April 20

The high amount of leaks concerning the Xperia Z4, Sony's next flagship smartphone, indicates that the Japanese company is readying for a launch event.

Although Sony hasn't confirmed yet when exactly its next flagship handset will be launched, information coming from Japan points to a release for this month. It looks like Japanese media claims that Sony is set to announce a new Xperia smartphone by no later than April 20, GforGames reports. Unfortunately, there's no telling whether or not this smartphone will be the Xperia Z4 that everyone is waiting for, but since we've already got a lot of info leaked in the last couple of days there's a high chance that this will be unveiled by the end of the month. Sony has already confirmed that it will only launch a single flagship smartphone each year, which means that the Xperia Z5 will probably be introduced in 2016 if the Japanese company keeps its word.

5.2-inch FHD display and Snapdragon 810 CPU

Back on Xperia Z4, we already know quite a lot of information regarding the phone's specs sheet, but none of it has been confirmed by Sony yet. According to these rumors, the Xperia Z4 will be equipped with a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor clocked at 2GHz, 4GB of RAM and either 32 or 64GB of internal memory. Word is the smartphone will also pack microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 128GB), as well as an Adreno 430 graphics processing unit. On the back, Sony Xperia Z4 should boast a 20.7-megapixel photo snapper, while in the front there will be a 5-megapixel camera for video calls and selfies.

We also know that the smartphone will ship with Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system out of the box and a 5.2-inch full HD (1080p) capacitive touchscreen display.

Alleged Sony Xperia Z4
Image credits to in2mobile.gr

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Android 5.0 Lollipop Now Rolling Out to Sony Xperia Z3 Dual, Z1, Z1 Compact and Z Ultra

As promised last week, Sony has just kicked off the rollout of the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for a handful of Xperia Z smartphones.

The Japanese company confirmed several days ago that Xperia Z3 Dual, Xperia Z1, Xperia Z1 Compact and Xperia Z Ultra will be getting the Lollipop update this week. Well, it looks like beginning today, Sony fans who own one of the smartphones mentioned earlier should start checking them for the highly anticipated Android 5.0 Lollipop update. Sony also confirmed that from next week, it will start pushing the same update to Xperia T2 Ultra and Xperia C3. The Japanese handset maker announced earlier this month that these two smartphones will be among the few non-Xperia Z devices that will receive an upgrade to Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system.

Last but not least, the Xperia Z series, including Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR and Xperia Tablet Z will start receiving the Lollipop update in a few weeks time. A certain release date for the update hasn't been confirmed yet, by Sony stated that it will announce the rollout launch when it happens.

No other smartphone will be update to Lollipop beside those announced today With the original Xperia Z series, Sony will finish the deployment of Android 5.0 Lollipop for its smartphones that are now available on the market.

We don't expect additional smartphones, other than those that have already mentioned in the article, to receive the Android 5.0 Lollipop upgrade. Keep in mind that if you own one of the smartphones that are eligible for the Android 5.0 Lollipop upgrade beginning today, you should manually check for it by heading to Settings / About phone / Software update. Since this is staged rollout, it may take a while until it reaches in all countries, so you may have to wait a few days for Android 5.0 Lollipop to arrive on your smartphone.

Android 5.0 Lollipop
Image credits to Google

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Samsung Galaxy A8 Specs Leak Ahead of Official Release

Samsung Galaxy A, the first metal-clad smartphone released by the South Korean company, have been successful enough to worth not one, but several sequels.

Last month we reported that Samsung filed for Galaxy A6, Galaxy A8 and Galaxy A9 names, and judging from previous experiences new devices bearing these names will most likely be launched on the market during the year. The first one to be launched seems to be Samsung Galaxy A8, which has just leaked online along with its specs. According to SamMobile, the Galaxy A8 is a mid-range smartphone that will most likely feature a premium look, just like its predecessors. Source close to the matter confirmed Samsung is indeed working to bring the Galaxy A8 to the market and some of the phone's specs have just emerged.

No news on microSD or removable battery

It appears that the next Galaxy A smartphone will be equipped with a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor and 2GB of RAM. Samsung's Galaxy A8 will be packed with 16GB of internal memory, but there's no mention of microSD card for storage expansion. Although the device is currently powered by Android 5.0.1 Lollipop, Samsung Galaxy A8 may ship with a new version of the operating system. Furthermore, the smartphone will boast a large 5.7-inch full HD (1080p) Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display. Even with that big screen, the Galaxy A8 will be thinner than Samsung's flagship smarpthone, the Galaxy S6.

Rumors has it Samsung Galaxy A8 will be only 5.9mm thin and it will weigh around 140g (battery included). We also know that the handset will be powered by a large 3,050 mAh battery, but it's unclear whether or not it will be removable. Last but not least, the next Galaxy A handset will be packed with LTE support and TouchWiz UX, the same that's been included in Samsung Galaxy S6. For the time being, the smartphone is expected to be launched in China, but we expect it to be released worldwide soon aftrwards.

 Alleged Samsung Galaxy A8
Image credits to SamMobile

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Dell Announces Venue 10 7000 Convertible Tablet with Android 5.0 Lollipop

Dell continues to believe in Android despite the lack of popularity for its tablets and smartphones launched in the past. The company's new slate it aimed at the business segment, though the price could make it a mainstream tablet.

Feature-wise though, the new Dell Venue 10 7000 is clearly a business-ready tablet. First of all, the tablet will ship with Android 5.0 Lollipop. Speaking of release, Dell confirmed the Venue 10 7000 will be available for purchase in May for $500. It will be launched in the US, Canada and China and for the extra $130 customers will be able to get the tablet along with the keyboard. Dell Venue 10 7000 is equipped with a quad-core Intel Atom Z3580 Moorefield processor and 2GB of RAM, but there's no mention of the amount of storage. There's a high chance that this will come with 16GB of internal memory.

As the name suggests, Dell's upcoming tablet sports a 10.5-inch OLED capacitive touchscreen display that supports 2560 x 1600 pixels resolution.

Free Office for Android coming this summer

On the back, the tablet packs an 8-megapixel Intel RealSense snapshot depth camera. The slate is powered by a 7,000 mAh battery and weighs around 585g. Although it might go as a heavy tablet, the Venue 10 7000 is only 6.2mm thin. There's also something for the audiophiles as well: a pair of stereo speakers placed in the front, which are powered by MaxxAudio Mobile technology by Waves. Those thinking to purchase the Venue 10 7000 should also know that Dell confirmed it will offer Office for Android on the tablet sometime this summer.

“The Venue 10 7000 gives our customers all that and more: enhanced productivity with a full-sized keyboard and Android for Work, a brilliant display and innovative features like the Intel RealSense snapshot depth camera, all wrapped in a gorgeous design,” said Neil Hand, vice president, Dell Tablet Group.

Dell Venue 10 7000

Dell Venue 10 7000
Images credits to Dell

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ASUS ZenFone 2 with 4GB of RAM Coming to India on April 23

ASUS announced the world’s first smartphone with 4GB of RAM, the ZenFone 2, back at CES 2015, and since then the Korean company has been busy launching it on several markets across the globe.

For example, we already know that the phone will launch in Malaysia on April 2, and two days later ASUS has another event scheduled, this time in India. So all ASUS fans in India can expect to see their favorite company unveil the ZenFone 2 in three distinct variants on April 23. The most affordable version of them all will be the ZenFone 2 ZE500CL, which will arrive with a 5-inch 720p display, a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2560 SoC, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 8MP/2MP camera setup, and a 2,500 mAh battery.

For a little extra cash, you’ll be able to grab the ZenFone 2 ZE550ML with a 5.5-inch 720p display, 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3560 SoC, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 13MP/5MP camera setup, and a 3,000 mAh battery. The top of the line version is the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML, which will be offered with a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3580 SoC, plus 4GB of RAM and NFC. Sadly, at this moment, we can’t provide you with the prices for these phones. However, ASUS has surprised us so far with affordable prices for its ZenFone 2 lineup. For example, the 4GB model sells in China for only $318 / €300.

ASUS ZenFone 2 comes to India
Image credits to ASUS

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iPad Mini 4’s Housing Leaks, Shows the Redesign You’ve Been Waiting For

Last year, Apple released an iPad mini 3 model that didn't really impress customers looking to buy a tablet. The Cupertino tech giant only added a Touch ID sensor and a new coloring option to the previous version, and voila, you had the iPad mini 3.

Most of us where actually hoping for Apple to port some of the features characteristic to the iPad Air 2 to the new mini tablet, but that didn't happen. However, the Cupertino tech giant might be looking to make things right this year with its upcoming iPad Mini 4. The folks at French website Nowhere Else have managed to get hold of a few images and a video showcasing what appears to be the aluminum case of Apple’s next-gen iPad mini.

Word of the iPad mini 4 pops up

According to the leak, the iPad mini 4 should be thinner than previous models, in the likelihood of the iPad Air 2. On top of that, the new tablet will apparently have the speaker grill located on the bottom side, just like on the latest Air pad. The upcoming tablet also seems to be lacking the mute/lock switch. The case appears to be that of a cellular version of the iPad mini 4, because one can spot a chunky antenna cutout on top. The SIM slot is also visible. Interestingly enough, while we have been hearing a lot of rumors about Apple’s upcoming iPhone and iPad Pro models, we haven’t seen anything related to next-gen mini models.

The iPad Pro model, for instance, is expected to arrive with a 12.9-inch form factor, and if rumors are to be believed, the slate will offer four speakers and a second connector port (USB 3.0). It might also arrive with an optional QWERTY keyboard and a stylus.

Will the new iPad mini feature an IGZO panel?

Yesterday, we also found out that Apple was apparently planning to use IGZO panel technology in its next-gen iPads, supplied by LG, Sharp and Samsung Display. So maybe the iPad mini 4 will also benefit from said technology. The iPad Pro also leaked in a purported image, showing an atypical setup with three FaceTime full HD cameras, one located at the top and others on the side. Is Apple looking to implement a 3D/HD video calling function? Who knows?

iPad Mini 4’s housing leaks

iPad Mini 4, back view 

iPad Mini 4’s housing, interior view

iPad Mini 4’s back panel in profile

iPad Mini 4’s back panel in profile

iPad Mini 4’s housing showing speaker grills

iPad Mini 4’s housing showing camera cutout

iPad Mini 4’s back panel, upper interior view

iPad Mini 4’s back panel, lower interior view
Images credits to @OnLeaks exclusive for NoWhereElse

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Android 5.1 Arrives for HTC One M8 Google Play Edition (GPE)

Android 5.1 has started rolling out for Nexus devices a few weeks back, and not long ago, we told you that the Motorola Moto G Google Play Edition also received the same treatment. Yesterday, it was the turn of the LG G Pad 8.3 GPe to get updated, and Google is not stopping here.

Today, we get word that the HTC One M8 GPe is also receiving the new Android 5.1 build, which arrives in the form of a 244.2MB file. It’s unclear how widespread the rollout is at the moment, so if you don’t see the new update on your phone, don’t fret just yet. It might just take a few days before the build reaches your handset. The update brings some nifty additions, including improvements concerning battery life and a new way to secure phones that have been lost or misplaced. With this update, lost Android 5.1 phones will not run unless the true owner of the handset types in their Google credentials.

The build will also bestow a list of numerous bug fixes, but won’t solve the pesky memory leakage problem users have been dealing with ever since Android 5.0 came along. That patch is probably reserved for when Android 5.1.1 arrives.

Android 5.1 Lollipop arrives on HTC One M8 GPE
Image credits to Reddit

HTC One M8 GPe is no longer available for purchase
Image credits to Phandroid

HTC One M8 GPE in hand
Image credits to CNET

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