Nexus phones to be discontinued

If recent reports on the internet are true then the nexus 5x and the nexus 6p of last year are the last of the nexus's.

 As we all know there have been many leaks of the new "nexus" phones that Htc is making but now rumors claim that the phones may not have any branding at all. Not the htc logo on it and not the nexus logo on it. Nexus phones are pretty much known for their distinctive "Nexus" logo on the back but now if its going away , maybe we'll see a new brand start withing Google.

Nexus phones had stock google software pre loaded and thats what made them special. However as we can see google is planning to change that as it has released the new google launcher ,which if rumors are true , will only be present on the new google phones. Also we've heard that google is planning to change the ui for the new phones coming out. Nexus phones were known for "stock pure android" but now for the upcoming phones google stated "the phones will come out with tweaked vanilla interface and additional software". 

However all we can do right now is speculate as these are still reports and rumors and nothing has been confirmed as of yet.What do you think then? is the nexus brand gone? Comment your thoughts down below.

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Corning releases new Gorilla Glass SR+ for wearbales.

Corning today released a new product, the Gorilla Glass SR+. This new variant is especially designed for wearables such as smartwatches and smart bands.

 According to corning ,the Gorilla Glass SR+ has 70% better damage resistance and 25% better surface reflection as compared to previous alternatives used on wearables. Corning also says that it achieves scratch resistance coating that of "alternative luxury cover metals" (probably sapphire crystal).

The improved optics now means better readability due to less reflections outdoors and idoors. It also means less brightness is needed and this can affect the battery , thus improving battery life in the process.

The Gorilla Glass SR+ is expected to be present on the upcoming smart wearables later this year.

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Apple to officially release the next gen of Iphones on the 7th of Sept.

As it was initially rumored , Apple is going to hold an event on the 7th of September for the unveiling of the new set of IPhones.  As you can see the by the picture above the invite is pretty simple but it still manages to instill some suspense by telling us the exact date of the launch event.

Although there have been countless rumors and renders of the new upcoming iphones , we still have no clear idea what to expect as apple has kept everything under wraps. We might be seeing just two IPhones instead of three like rumored before and the name might not even be the same. Recent reports suggest that these new iphones my be called the IPhone 6SE and the IPhone 6SE plus.

However all this should be taken with a grain of salt as nothing is still confirmed as of yet. The only thing that is, is the date for the launch event.  So all that is left for us to do now is to sit back and count the days in suspense!

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Google's Duo hits 5 million donwloads.

 

Google released its video calling app last week and to no one’s surprise, it quickly rose up to be the top android app in the Google play chart listings in the U.S. It had crossed the 5 million mark in just a few days as it was expected to. As you can see down below Sundar Pichai  , Google’s Ceo tweeted this to let us know about the milestone

Google has been very keen to push out this app so that people around the world can get in touch , even those who don’t have a decent internet connection. You can read more about the app here and download it from the Google play store by clicking on this link.

 

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Xiaomi releases the Redmi Note 4

 

As expected Xiaomi officially released the Redmi Note 4 today. The device is powered by MediaTek's deca core Helio X20 SOC and it sports a full Hd 1080p 5.5 inch screen. 

 

The Phone comes in two variants. You can either get it in the 2gb/16gb configuration or the 3gb/64gb configuration. In terms of software , The Redmi Note 4 runs on Miui 8 on top of marshmallow. The phone also sports a 13Mp rear shooter and a 5Mp front facing camera.There is also a fingerprint reader present on the back of the phone and the phone itself is made from a metal unibody design.

This Xiaomi device is priced at $135 for the 16gb model and $180 for the 64gb variant.However it is currently only available in China and there is still no word on when it will land in other markets.

 

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The Best Phone that Everyones not buying. The HTC 10.

Perhaps one of the best phones of this year was released by Htc. The Htc 10 is one of the best phone overall in departments like the camera , perfomance and especially build quality.

Htc is known for creating phones that scream premium with their unibody metal design and chamfered edges. The Htc 10 thus incorporates all these elements in its design and perfects its design by combining the design elements from Htc flagships from years past. Last year the M9 was critisized for not bringing anything new to the table but this year htc showed us its true potential. 

The Htc 10 isnt far behind in the specs department too. It has a Snapdragon 820 with 4 gigs of ram and 32 gigs of storage with the option to expand via micro sd card.
It also sports a 5.2" 1440p screen and combined with the small bezels on the front, the phone looks gorgeous. speaking of small bezels , the bottom bezel also sports a fingerprint reader and that same button acts as a home button too. Now some of you may be thinking why i havent mentioned the famous "boomsound" speakers that are exclusive to htc phones only. Well thats because this year htc decided to remove the front firing speakers and place a fingerprint reader there instead.

 

Now instead of the speakers being in the front , a single speaker is placed in the bottom. The speaker is still very loud and of good quality but since its at the bottom , the sound is firing in a different direction and not directly towards you. Therefore you may find yourself cupping the bottom part of the phone in order to get decent sound quality.

Now onto the camera. The Htc has a 12megapixel camera with a 1.8 aperture lens.

This isnt the best camera out there but it is deffinitely the most consistent and reliable. Photos come out decent enough and can be shared on social media without any problems. 

 

As you can see pictures come out looking good for the most part and look more than good enough to share with your friends on social media.

In the software department the Htc 10 runs on Htc's Sense. Coupled with the Snapdragon 810 and 4 gigs of ram performance is good and there will be no hiccups.

The ui plays an important part in the performance of the phone and since htc's sense is optimized pretty well for the phone , lag will be non existent on it.

The Htc 10 may not be the perfect phone or the best phone out there but this Htc gets the job done and in the end that is the most important quality of a phone.However the reason why this phone isnt so popular in the market is becuase of its price. The Htc 10 is priced at $699 USD and in the age of budget premium smartphones like the OnePlus 3 and the Zte Axon 7 , The Htc 10 just wont sell as much. Even the best phone right now, The Galaxy S7 , is cheaper than this phone.

Comment your thoughts on the Htc 10 down below!

 

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Motorola Droid Genesis Gives project ara a run for the money

 

I wrote an article about Motorola's Modular Phone and how it wasnt "truly modular". The only modular phone in the works is project ara however a new concept phone has arose and its from the same company , Motorola.

A designer in the U.S ,Ke’Don Franklin, who's incharge of designing the phone said that he wants to bring back the original design of the Droid and we can see that in this render. The modules look similar to the modules used in project ara but have different vibe to it. The pins on the back are the same as Google's project Ara and most of the things will resemble Project Ara. 

However one thing in which this phone will be different from Project Ara is that it will have the verizon logo on it or as many people like to call it "the verizon tramp stamp".

So what do you think about this modular phone from Motorola. Will they do it right this time or is this just a hoax?comment your thought down below.

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Missing features(Nexus launcher, Google search assistant and new soft keys) from Nougat coming in the First update

 

Now that google has finally started rolling out the much awaited Nougat update people have noticed something odd. As we know there were reports that there will be certain new features namely The Nexus Launcher , a new google search assistant and new software keys . We even had a leaked version of the nexus launcher to try.

However to many of us it came as a surprise that google had not included these features in the first stable build of Android 7.0 Nougat. One would certainly expect them to since their were so many developer previews before this. 

Well according to recent reports directly from google , they are going to add these features in the first Maintenance Update to Android Nougat. It also seems that google is planning to release their new nexus phones , both of them made by htc may i add ,  in early October and with the new nexus phones out google will release the First maintenance update. This would make the new Nexus phones to be the first phones on the market to have these features preinstalled on them. 

What do you think about this? Was google right not to include these features in the first stable build of its new android version? comment bellow your thoughts. 

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Twitter on IOS gets Night Mode

 

As we all know the twitter application on android received an update in which users were able to switch to night mode to make the white background black. This feature however was not available on IOS earlier but fear no more , twitter just released its night mode feature on its IOS app too.

I have explained in an earlier article how hormones can effect our sleep patterns and how interfering with the hormones can cause loss of sleep. Thus to prevent insomnia , many apps have released a darker version of their app so people can rest easily at night after using their phones.

Will this feature be used by the populous or will it simply be discarded as another "Gimmick".

Comment down below your thoughts.

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Poke-fever fading away.

 

Remember the game that promised virtual reality and how one could "actually see" the pokemon while catching it? Well According to some app and market intelligence firms , Pokemon go servers are loosing traffic. 

There was a time when one had to wait for the servers to clear up as so many people at a time were indulged in the game. However now that is not the case. People have seemed to have moved on from the poke craze now that they have experienced it , not to mention the bans that some countries have  imposed on the game itself causing it to loose much of its user base.

While one can applaud the success of Niantic , the developers of the Game , there were also some flaws in Pokemon Go that may have caused the decline in its fanbase. The tracking system for example , At first the app showed specific distances then came the footsteps and after that Niantic just removed all indications and caused people looking for Pokemon to go in circles , literally. Another feature that they failed to implement in the game was the abillity to batle with fellow trainers. Although one could find gyms and battle there , fighting one to one battles with trainers is a whole other thing and is also a vital part in the Pokemon franchise as seen in its games as well as the anime. Another very important thing that they missed was the ability to trade Pokemon. Every one of us have known about Pokemon cards and have had a collection of them at one point in our life. Trading of Pokemon cards was an essential part of Pokemon becoming famous. 

Perhaps becuase Niantic was unable to implement certain things its user base is declining. What do you think about Pokemon go loosing popularity? will it still have the influence on the mobile gaming industry as it once did? Comment your thoughts down below.

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Medals for the Tokyo Olymipics 2020 to be made from scrap phone metal.

 

According to a publications firm in Japan , Nikkei , the organizers of the summer 2020 Tokyo Olympics want the medals that are awarded to the competitors to be made from smartphones. Yes , Gold , silver and copper is found in smartphones as these materials are used due to their properties such as easy conductivity and malleability. Thus when recycled , these precious metals can be used for several other purposes , one of them being getting turned into Olympic medals.

In fact Japan in 2014 recovered 143 kg of gold , 1566kg of silver and 1112 tons of copper just from discarded phones and electronic waste. In 2012 only 9.6 kg of gold , 1210 kg of silver and 700 kg of copper was used in the making of the medals for the London Olympics. Thus it seems that Japan can easily turn its e-waste into premium medals that are very much symbols of victory. 

So if we really think about it , Victors of the 2020 Tokyo summer Olympics would be wearing discarded smartphones around their necks , recycled anyway!

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Samsung may start a Program for selling refurbished phones.

 

 Do you want the new Galaxy Note 7? obviously you do , who doesn't? but do you have $900 to shell out just to buy this phone?

Samsung has been releasing some very eye catchy phones since the last two years but unfortunately not many people can afford these lavish phones. Fortunately for these people there are companies like OnePlus, ZTE and Asus that offer high end specs at a budget. These companies therefore threaten Samsung's user base as many people switch to those shiny, premium smartphones like the OnePlus 3 which are half the price of Samsung's Flagships. 

According to reports, Samsung has therefore decided that it will start a program for selling refurbished phones at a lower price. These are the phones that the customers return to the company due to some defect and the company repairs the phone making it look like new.  These are thus essentially repaired phones but at least the phones are repaired by the company itself and are "Officially refurbished", hence reducing the risk of any other defect.

The program could start as soon as early 2017 but there is still no news on what the pricing will be of the high end refurbished phones. 

What do you think about Samsung starting this program. Are you willing to buy a refurbished Note 7 even if its Officially refurbished from Samsung itself ? 

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Batman themed Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Injustice edition leaked.

 

As we all know Samsung released its Batman edition of the Galaxy s7 earlier this year and now , according to this leaked picture, we might be seeing a bigger version of the "Bat Phone". The Galaxy Note 7 might also be getting the injustice version of the phone.

There seems to be a bat logo imprinted o the back of the phone and its colour, jet black, just like the Samsung s7 injustice version. Not only will you be seeing the batman logo on the outside but since Samsung has brought back its theme store, we can enjoy the batman theme on the software side too.

Onto the pricing then. We know that the s7 version of the phone isn't cheap by any standards and is priced at $1,035 USD. Judging by the fact that the normal version of the Note 7 is more expensive than the s7, the Note will then priced even higher than the injustice version of the s7. 

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A little too much inspiration? The Oppo F1s

 

The first thing that pops into mind when we look at the Oppo F1s is "Where have i seen that before?". Oppo, just like many other Chinese companies out there , likes to take inspiration form Apple's Iphone. I this case the Iphone 6 and the 6s.However the question at hand here is that can the device perform as well as it more popular counterpart or is it just another trick by a Chinese company that wants us to believe that we can have a premium smartphone at a budget?

The Oppo f1s is very similar to the iphone 6 and 6s and so has the same ergonomic feel in the hand. The phone is a delight to hold onto and as soon as we grab hold onto it , the device just screams premium. Aside from its body , the Oppo f1s also shines in the camera department. It has a 16mp front facing shooter and also has a led light just for those selfies. The pictures taken by the camera are incredibly detailed and the colours look good for the most part. While it may seem surprising , the device has a 13mp shooter at the back opposed to the 16mp one on the front, but make no mistake, megapixels dont mean better picture quality and that is exactly the case here. The camera is very detailed , has good low light performance and performs decently good overall.Powering the beautiful handset is the  octacore Mediatek MT6750. 

Performance for the most part is good and it handles basic tasks like surfing the web or social media with ease. Gaming is also handled by the Oppo f1s like a champ and there are no hiccups in the performance department.The screen on the F1s is of the IPS variety and is measured at 5.5 inches, the resolution being only 720p. Now onto the Software. the F1s runs on Color Os 3.0 which is a custom skin on top of android 5.1, which by today's standards , is getting old. The software looks and feels very much like Apple's ios even to the degree that some of the icons are the same or feel the same.

The Oppo F1s feels and looks like the Iphone , inside and out, and perhaps someone who doesnt know about oppo may even mistake it for an iphone.However is the same as the iphone? Most deffinitely not. Although it may feel and look like the iphone there are certianly many key features of Apple's Iphone that the F1s is missing. And so there you have it folks. The Oppo F1s is a great phone to buy for its price and i would deffinitely recommend it to anyone who is currently on the lookout to buy a premium phone on a budget but make no mistake THIS IS NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR THE IPHONE. 

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Android 7.0 Nougat, Whats New?

As we all know the next version of android is upon us and we'll be getting the full version of it on August 22nd , according to recent reports. This article therefore serves as a last minute refresh for the new features baked into Nougat and what we can expect out of the new software from the Mountain-view company.

1.Screen Savers
Android in this incarnation is giving a new name to one of its old features , Daydream. Screen savers have the same purpose as google's daydream but is now the new Platform for VR.

2.Faster Multitasking
Now you can double tap the recents button and switch between your two most used apps that are open in the background. Say for example you're in Facebook and want to switch to Instagram. Assuming that you were previously using Instagram before going on Facebook , double tapping the recents button would automatically take you to Instagram.

3. Multiwindow
Multiwindow has been a very important and a useful feature for many users but sadly this feature isn't available on all devices except some Samsung and lg devices.However Google's Android 7.0 aims to bring this functionality to all the phones with Android 7.0 installed as it will be baked into the framework of the new software.

4.Lockscren Wallpaper
Previous stock android versions did not have any option to change the lock screen wallpaper and users had to resort to gimmicky third party apps for this purpose. Android Nougat will now allow users to change the lock screen wallpaper as it is natively supported from inside the stock software.

5.Bundeled Notifications

On previous versions of android if you had several notification for the same app, for example Facebook, then you would have to go into the app itself in order to respond or view those notifications. Google's new software will now allow you to view and respond to all your notifications right from your notifications panel by dragging your finger downwards while holding on the notification. Speaking of the the notification panel, Google has also changed the look and animation of the notifications bar and it is now more fluid than ever. You can Also customize the quicksettings tiles in the quicksettings menu and choose the layout according to your preferences.

These were some of the main few changes that Google has in store for us. People with Nexus's , brace yourselves for the new version of android!

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Siri coming to whatsapp?

According to a recent screenshot that was taken and has been leaked on the internet , it seems that Siri support is coming to WhatsApp in the near future. It should be noted that currently Siri is only supported within Apples native apps and a handful of chosen third party apps.

However this should be changed as Apple releases its IOS 10. IOS 10 aims to bring Siri support to third party apps which includes WhatsApp. This means we can send text messages as well as place calls in an instant without even touching our phones!

This could also mean that Siri will itself be improving with future updates and its jurisdiction within the iOS ecosystem will be increased , thus revealing the true potential of on of the best virtual assistants on the market right now.

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Sony set to release a plethora of devices on its IFA event

Sony had stated last month that it will be having a press conference at the IFA 2016 and now it has started to send invites to the event itself. While it is still not clear what Sony is planning to release during the conference i can safely say that it plans to unveil a bunch of devices ranging from headphones to an actual new Sony phone.

While it is still not clear what the model of the phone is , there are rumors that it will be the Sony Xperia XR that has also been leaked before on several occasions. Judging  by the fact that there have been no reports of another phone being released other than the Xperia XR , It is most probable that Sony will be unveiling the much awaited phone with its new design language.

Alongside it Sony looks set to showcase the PlayStation VR once more, a pair of headphones, a Bluetooth headset, a camera of some sort, a new TV, and some other things too

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Samsung working on the C9?

According to recent rumors , Samsung may be working on a new phone in its C series of  metallic uni-body phones.Samsung had already entered into the premium smartphone market with the launch of the S6 with its metal sides and glass front and back , however , earlier this year Samsung decided to go all out and release two all metallic phones resembling HTC's design language.

The new phone may be named The C9 and as Samsung's naming terminology goes , it is safe to assume that the C9 will be the largest in the series thus far. The C7 having a 5.7 inch FHD display means that we could be seeing a 6 inch phone with a FHD display, a 16MP rear shooter , 4 gigs of ram and 32 gigs of on board storage with the ability to expand via MicroSd cards. 

There is still no word on the release date as of yet but stay tuned to get more updates on the matter.

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Nokia back in the Game?

According to Mike Wang , the President of the joint team management of Nokia china , Nokia will be announcing a number of phones and tablets running android 7.0 out of the box. Nokia will most probably be unveiling the new phones at the end of 2016 and will release the phones in early 2017. There have also been some reports that nokia is working on phones with the Snapdragon 820 Soc with 5.2 and 5.5 inch QHD OLED screens.

The Finnish company , if someone remembers , back in may announced that it will be returning to the mobile industry. Lets see how Nokia makes its comeback to the very same industry that it once ruled.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Launched

Samsung , as expected , launched the 6th installment in the note series of phones in a press conference , the Galaxy Note 7. Samsung also announced that it will be available for purchase initially in these following 10 countries: US, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, the UAE and Korea.

However there have also been reports stating that those in the U.S and Canada that have pre-ordered the Blue Coral or Silver colour variant of the phone , may have to wait a little longer.As for those who live in Europe , The Korean company has set the official launch date on September 2nd.

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Huawei G9 Plus Released

Huwaei G9 Plus has been released with a Snapdragon 625 Soc on board. It has two variants , You can either get a 3gb/32gb variant or a 4gb/64gb variant in terms of ram and Rom and both variants pack a 3.340 mAh battery.

In terms of Camera it come bundled with a 16 mp rear shooter and a standard 8 mp front facing camera for those selfies. It weighs around 160 grams and is only 7.3 mm thick. As you can see . it also has a fingerprint sensor on the back . but most of the phones coming out these days do. In terms of software it comes with Android 6.0 installed with Huawei's EMUI 4.1 on top.

The phone was made official in china and the 3 gb ram variant is priced at RMB 2,399 (around $360). The pricing of the 4gb variant is still unknown but registrations for the phone have already started and it will officially ship out on August 25th.

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Modular or Just a Gimmick?

2016has been the year of the modular phone where two major companies like Lg and Motorola decided to advertise their new flagships as "Modular Phones". Now some may say that yes , these are modular phones, but are they really?

The first on the scene was Lg with its G5. People had high hopes from lg after the number of leaks on the Internet that we were finally going to have a modular phone! Sad;y what Lg released was not a Modular phone but just a normal phone with a few interchangeable accessories like an external camera and external speakers.  This is unfortunately not modular, its just a fancy gimmick. In my opinion what Lg doesnt know is that there are already devices like these on the market such as "Bluetooth Speakers". For the camera , there are some standalone cameras that can connect with your phone , wirelessly . and the viewfinder can be accessed from the phone. This does pretty much the same job.

After Lg came Motorola. Its offering was more worthy than lg's to earn the name of a modular smartphone but it still wasn't quite there yet. Motorola's take on a Modular Phone were its moto mods , where mods like an external battery or external speakers stuck on the back of the phone like a back cover would. This can be , to some extent , be described as modular as you can easily take off a mod and replace it with another. However sadly people still didnt approve fully of the Moto z being called a fully Modular phone.

The only real phone that will be truly Modular will be google's project ara phone. According to google we ca replace any part like the battery or the camera or even the screen , with a better option. This will be a revolutionary phone when released as people would no longer need to buy a whole smartphone just for one feature that is not available in their current smartphone. For example imagine a person having the perfect martphone with great internal specs, a beautiful design and a great camera. What it doesnt have is a great screen. He would no longer need to buy another phone just for a better screen rather. he would just go out and buy a modular screen and replace it with his current screen. This is essentially what people do when upgrading their pc. Imagine that coming to smartphones. There will be no more reason to buy expensive phones which still have a flaw or two in them. You can just customise your phone to your liking.

Assuming Google doesnt stop working on its Project . we could be seeing a truly Modular phone in the near future!

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Android 7.0 Nougat Release

While everyone was still speculating when the next version of android was releasing , Telus a canadian company released that Nougat is going to release on the 22nd of August. Some people knew this as a very popular leakster stated last month that google was going to release android 7.0 some time in August. We however got the news from this:

Now all of us with nexus phones which support the update can expect Android nougat in our phones by the 22th or 23rd of August, considering everything goes as plannes since this is google we're talking about who likes to take things slow.

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