LG V30S ThinQ and 256GB V30S+ ThinQ launched in Korea, price revealed

LG announced V30S ThinQ , the company’s first ThinQ mobile device with integrated AI features ahead of MWC 2018 last month. Today the company launched these smartphones in for the South Korean market and also announced the price. LG also confirmed that existing V30 customers will get these new AI features starting tomorrow in Korea. The LG V30S  ThinQ has Vision AI that brings AI CAM – Analyzes subjects in the frame and recommends the optimal shooting mode among eight categories: portrait, food, pet, landscape, city, flower, sunrise, and sunset. QLens – Scans QR codes to offer information as to where to buy the product online at the lowest price as well as recommendations of similar items. Supports Food, fashion and celebrities or detailed information of landmarks such as buildings and statues. Bright Mode – Uses algorithms to brighten images by a factor of two for better looking photos without the noise. It also has Voice AI that allows users to run apps and change settings through voice commands alone. It works alongside Google Assistant offering direct selection of specific functions, eliminating the need to search through menu options. Apart from the A.I features, it has similar specifications of the V30. LG V30S  ThinQ specifications 6-inch (2880 x 1440 pixels) QHD+ ...

Samsung QLED TVs with Direct Full Array, Bixby and Premium UHD TVs announced

Samsung at the company’s First Look in New York event has introduced a array of QLED, UHD and Premium UHD TVs. The company says that the TVs come with groundbreaking design elements, enhanced picture quality, and smart, intuitive capabilities. The new QLED TV features Direct Full Array, Bixby and Ambient Mode for an immersive viewing experience. The latest line-up of TVs come with the new Ambient mode which provides useful information throughout the day even if the user isn't watching anything. It can play music as well as display news headlines, traffic reports, and weather updates. An interesting aspect of the new Ambient mode is that it can mimic the pattern on the wall for wall-mounted TVs giving it an astonishing visual effect. They also feature a new One Invisible Connection which basically is one slim cable that combines both user's power and AV data to the TV. It is available up to 15 meters and eliminates the needs of placing the TV near data or power outlets. Bixby is finally making its way into the premium line of Samsung TVs. The QLED TVs smart capabilities offer a great way to set up the TV and find content. It uses the Samsung's new SmartThings app to reduce the time taken to set up ...

Facebook Messenger lite finally gets video calling

Facebook Messenger Lite for Android has finally received the long-awaited video calling feature giving an opportunity to stay connected with friends and family. Video calling is one of the essential features in Messenger as it brings the ability to chat live face-to-face.  [HTML1] According to Facebook, there were a total of 17 billion video chats in Messenger in 2017 which is twice as many video chats compared to 2016. Now the company is bringing the same feature to Lite users with the same rich and expressive face-to-face conversations as those who use the core Messenger app. The Facebook Messenger lite includes most core messaging capabilities like sending text, photos, links, and audio calls to people and the app is just 10MB in size. Furthermore, you can also upgrade from audio call to a video chat while still in the call by tapping the video icon in the bottom right corner of the screen. The update is now rolling out to Lite users, it should be available to everyone in the coming days. Source

Microsoft Windows 10 in S mode for all Windows 10 editions coming in 2019

Microsoft just confirmed that Windows 10 in S mode for all Windows 10 Edition is coming in 2019. To be clear, 10 S will be a ‘mode’ of existing versions, but not a distinct version. The S Mode will lock down Windows 10 and can only run Microsoft Store apps. It will work the same way as the dedicated Windows 10 S operating system was built to do. Microsoft will bring the “S Mode” for Windows 10 Home, Enterprise, and Pro versions of the operating system. The Windows 10 S configuration was offered initially as part of the Surface Laptop and it is widely adopted by the Windows user for its performance and reliability. [HTML1] Like it was previously reported, if a user wants to switch out of S mode, they will be able to do so at no charge, regardless of edition. However, Windows 10 Pro customers with S Mode enabled will have to pay $49 to get access to a full version of Windows 10 Pro. Microsoft says that it is expecting new Windows 10 devices with S mode will be available in the coming months. Users will have the option to buy a new Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro PC with S mode ...

OnePlus 6 with 19:9 full-screen display with a notch, Snapdragon 845 surfaces in benchmarks

OnePlus 5T is just a couple of months new and it not stopping the company from working on its upcoming flagship; the OnePlus 6 codenamed A6000. Two images of the flagship OnePlus 6 have surfaced online recently and now the phone is again spotted in Benchmark results with an impeccable score.   The leaked benchmark scores reveal a score of 276510 beating the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s that will be introduced on March 27th. Considering the phone will be powered by the flagship Snapdragon 845, this score isn't surprising. Furthermore, the leaked image that surfaced recently reveals a glass black with the support for wireless charging. In line with the current flagships, the OnePlus 6 will also have ultra-slim bezels which isn't surprising since we have the 18:9 aspect ratio on the OnePlus 5T. However, the OnePlus 6 will have a 19:9 aspect ratio to fit a notch on top where the front camera and other sensors will reside. It is also the first OnePlus phone to feature a glass back which will also eliminate the possibility of  Lava Red and Sandstone White designs. In terms of specifications, it might sport a 6-inch display, 6/8GB RAM variants, and storage might go up to 128GB. It runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with Oxygen ...

Google Duo now lets you record 30 second voice or videomail

Google's flagship video calling app; Duo is finally getting a new feature that is a long overdue. The update now lets you record a 30-second voice or video in case the person whom you are trying to call isn't available to take a call. You can now record a small video clip in case the person you’re calling declines or misses your call. Once you are done recording the video or voice, you can directly send it to your friend or family member, who will receive the mail on their Duo app. To play a video message you’ve received from someone, you need to simply tap their contact icon. https://youtu.be/oT6Xd5QsBOE After you’ve watched the video message, you can tap the “Call now” button to easily call that person right back. However, the video messages will automatically get deleted within 24 hours after you watch it the first time, but you can always save your favorites locally to your phone. Like the video calls, video messages will also be secure and end-to-end encrypted. The feature has just started rolling to Android and iOS but might take some time before it reaches every user. Source

Huawei P20, P20 Lite and triple LEICA lens-camera P20 Pro press renders surface

After several leaks we now have the press renders of the Huawei P20, P20 Lite and P20 Pro smartphones that will be announced officially later this month, thanks to @evleaks. This also shows camera specifications of the phones and display notch for all where the earpiece, sensors and the front camera are present. The fingerprint sensor is present on the front for the P20 and the P20 Pro, but it is located on the back on the P20 Lite. The P20 has LEICA SUMMILUX-H1:1.6/27 ASPH lens, P20 Lite has DUAL LENS 1:2.2/26 ASPH camera and the top-end Huawei P20 Pro with triple cameras comes with LEICA VARIO-SUMMILUX-H1:1.6-2.4/27-80 ASPH lens. [HTML1] [HTML2] According to earlier rumors, the P20 and P20 Pro will run Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1 on top and are expected to be powered by Kirin 970 SoC. The P20 Lite specifications were revealed  yesterday. Huawei P20 Lite rumored specifications 5.84-inch (1080 x 2280 pixels) Full HD+ 2.5D curved glass display Octa-Core Kirin 659 processor (4 xA53 at 2.36GHz + 4 x A53 at 1.7GHz) with MaliT830-MP2 GPU 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0 16MP rear camera with LED flash, Hybrid zoom, secondary 2MP camera 16MP / ...

Android P Developer Preview with display cutout / notch support, HDR VP9 video, Multi-camera support and more now available

Google has announced Android developer preview for Android 'P', the next major Android release, ahead of Google I/O 2018 in May, just like it did for Android N and O. Google said that the next version of Android will bring Indoor Positioning with Wi-Fi RTT, Display cutout or notch support, Enhanced messaging experience, Multi-camera support, HDR VP9 Video, HEIF image compression, ImageDecoder for bitmaps and drawables, Data cost sensitivity in JobScheduler and more. Android P is now available for Pixel, Pixel XL Pixel 2, and Pixel 2 XL devices on the Android developer website here. Stable release is expected in Q3 2018. Google said that Android Beta is not currently available for Android P. Preview 2 along with first Android  beta will be available in May, Preview 3 with final APIs in June, Preview 4 (release candidate for testing) around July and the final Preview 5 in Q3 before the final release. New features in Android P Indoor Positioning with Wi-Fi RTT:  Android P adds platform support for the IEEE 802.11mc Wi-Fi protocol—also known as Wi-Fi Round-Trip-Time (RTT)—to let you take advantage of indoor positioning in your apps. On Android P devices with hardware support, your apps can use the new RTT APIs to measure the distance to nearby RTT-capable Wi-Fi ...

Global refurbished smartphone market saw 13% growth 2017, 140 million units shipped: Counterpoint

According to Counterpoint, Global refurbished smartphone market was up 13% in 2017 with over 140 million units shipped. 2017 has been a complete contrast with the global smartphone market that grew a mere 3% last year and is outperformed by the refurbished smartphones. Refurbished phones are usually pre-owned smartphones that are rejuvenated or repaired to be sold again in the market. According to Counterpoint, a total of 25% of pre-owned phones are sold in the market. These sales depend on available quantity, demand for a specific model or variant including color, storage, and brand. Of all the refurbished brands, Apple and Samsung dominated the market  much like the new smartphone market. The two brands combined hold responsible for close to three-fourths of the refurbished smartphone market. However, Apple leads by a significant margin and in terms of revenue, the two smartphone giants generate more than 80% of the revenue in the refurbished smartphone market. Commenting on this trend, Research Director, Tom Kang, said: With 13% growth, refurbished smartphones are now close to 10% of the total global smartphone market. The low growth of the new smartphone market in 2017 can be partially attributed to the growth of the refurb market. The slowdown in innovation has made two-year-old flagship smartphones comparable in design and features ...

WhatsApp beta for Android gets adaptive launcher icon

WhatsApp V2.18.74 beta for Android brings adaptive launcher icon which is a part of the Android O. The latest icon looks almost similar to the one that we have seen years ago replacing the older more shadowy one. WhatsApp rarely changes its identity, but falling in line with Android O, WhatsApp has made the icon more modern even if you don't like it. The new icon is similar to the old one, except that it is now placed in an encased mask that takes shapes depending on what you set your adaptive icons. If you're using a launcher that supports these icons you can now set it to default which is a circle, square, rounded square, squircle, and teardrop. WhatsApp beta with version number V2.18.74 brings the new set of adaptive launcher icons. You can download the WhatsApp beta from Play Store if you're already a beta tester, if not you can grab the APK from here and side-load it manually. Via