Essential Phone gets new Android 8.1 Oreo build with April security patch, Bluetooth 5.0, stability fixes and more

Essential rolled out the Android 8.1 Oreo update back in March with features like better multitasking, improved notifications and more. Today the company is rolling out a new 8.1 Oreo build with April security patch, Bluetooth 5.0, modem stability fixes and more. The new build includes the newest April security patches, which Google just pushed out to the Pixel phones. It also includes the Bluetooth 5.0 certification, modem stability fixes, proper handling of external game controllers, and other general bug fixes. Though the device has support for Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, it is only now the company is providing, since the software for the same wasn't there up until now. The company is doing a really good job in pushing out timely updates to the Essential PH-1, the phone is already running on the latest Android version out there. The new Android 8.1 Oreo build comes with a version number OPM1.180104.141 and is already started rolling out to users, you can check for the update from the system setting>about phone.

Honor 10 with 5.8-inch FullView display, 6GB RAM, dual rear cameras surfaces in promotional image

Honor has scheduled an event in London on May 15th where the company is expected to introduce the Honor 10 flagship smartphone. While the phone has been in the news for quite some time, today we have our first glimpse at the phone thanks to the promotional image that has been leaked in China. The poster of the handset has been spotted in the wild. Going by the leaked poster image, for now, only the back of the phone is visible,  the Honor 10 also has a very distinct multi-color pattern on the phone's back reminiscent of the recently launched Huawei P20and P20 Pro, but not identical though. The phone features a dual-rear camera, but there is no fingerprint sensor present on the back, meaning that it might be placed on the front below the 5.8-inch FullView display. Just like the Huawei P20-lineup, the Honor 10 is also expected to have a top-notch on the front. According to the recently surfaced specifications, the Honor 10 is expected to be powered by the Kirin 970 SoC, 6GB RAM, and 256GB of storage. It is expected to run on Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.1 on top. It is also widely rumored that the company would announce the phone in ...

Twitter delays the implementation of new ‘Account Activity API’ that would kill third-party clients

Twitter for months is now trying to push users to its own app showcasing its hostile behavior towards third-party apps. Features like group DMs, polls, and Moments never made it to third-party apps. In fact, it also introduced a token limit a few years ago causing popular clients to stop working suddenly.  [HTML1] Back in December Twitter announced that a stream-line of APIs would stop working from 19th June 2018 as they will be replaced by a new Account Activity API. This service is open to large 3rd party app companies to try out, however, small developers have not been granted access to it making all third-party Twitter clients use the Twitter's legacy APIs. This made Talon, Tweetbot, Tweetings, and Twitterrific publish apps-of-a-feather.com outlining the upcoming Twitter's API changes and how it would affect them and encouraged users to trend the hashtag #BreakingMyTwitter. Once it started trending, the official Twitter Dev account responded and announced that the API cutoff would be delayed; “delaying the scheduled June 19th deprecation date,” said in a Tweet. It also mentioned that it “will provide at least 90 days notice from when the Account Activity API becomes available,” no specific time and date are available as of now. Though Twitter is backing out, for now, it is unclear if the 'Account ...

Snapchat rolls out TrueDepth-Optimised AR Lenses for iPhone X

Snapchat is now rolling out their first TrueDepth-Enhanced AR Lenses for iPhone X and is now officially implementing Apple's TrueDepth camera technology in its Lenses selfie-feature. With the new silent update, iPhone X users who use Snapchat will be able to use augmented reality masks pop-ups that take advantage of the Apple's facial mapping technology. Snapchat will use the Apple's facial mapping technology to impose mask on the user's face more realistically and track their motion more accurately. The lenses include a Mardi Gras-esque mask, a Day of the Dead skull, and a pretty gold-plated eye cover. Snapchat also says that the lenses will reflect the surrounding light more realistically. The TrueDepth camera blurs the background in these lenses and accurately applies small details and 3D objects. At present, there are only three Lenses that utilize TrueDepth, but we can expect more to come as we move forward. The app will only have access to the visual facial mapping data, not the data that is used to unlock the iPhone X through Face ID, according to the developer's agreement. Apple says that Face ID mathematical image data is encrypted upon generation and is secured in the device itself, so no would have access to it. Snapchat update with the new TrueDepth-Optimised AR Lenses for iPhone X ...

Facebook to eventually allow everyone to unsend messages

After retracting messages sent by Mark Zuckerberg from the recipients’ inboxes, Facebook confirmed that it would soon let everyone unsend messages and is already considering how to build this product. However, the ability won't be coming anytime and might take several months. The company also clarified that it would no longer retract messages of executives until the feature is available to everyone.  Facebook never really informed users or to the public for that matter regarding the retractions of the CEO’s chats. However, Facebook has now confirmed the news to TechCrunch after contacting Facebook with evidence of messages that have since disappeared. With the company confirming the feature of an unsend button, it dampened the backslash it received by making Zuckerberg look like a beta tester of the function. However, Facebook didn't disclose any timeline as to when the feature will be rolling out or how it is planning to implement the unsend feature. According to TechCrunch report, the possible solution is giving an option to the sender to set a timer, and once it runs out, the message will vanish from both inboxes much like how Zuckerberg's messages were retracted. However, there is no way to tell if this would be the final solution or if the recipients will be notified ...

Weekly Roundup: Nokia 7 Plus, Honor 7A, Meizu PRO 7, Xiaomi Mi TV 4C 50-inch and more

This week Huawei’s Honor brand has announced Honor 7A, the latest budget smartphone. Nokia officially launched the Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 6 (2018) in India after introducing them at the MWC 2018 event. Meizu launched the PRO 7, which is the company’s first smartphone with dual displays and dual rear cameras in India. Xiaomi has introduced new 50-inch 4K HDR TV in the TV 4C line-up in China and lots more from this week in our weekly roundup. https://youtu.be/4P-VqQVbfq0 Honor has announced the Honor 7A in the 7-series, it comes with 5.77-inch HD+ 2.5D curved glass display with 18:9 aspect ratio, powered by the Snapdragon 430 with up to 3GB RAM and runs on  Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0 on top. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera along with a 2-megapixel front-facing camera to capture the depth information for portrait shots. battery. The Honor 7A comes in Black Gold and Blue colors, is priced at 799 yuan (US$ 126 / Rs. 8,250 approx.) for the 2GB RAM with 32GB storage version and the 3GB RAM with 32GB version costs 999 yuan (US$ 158 / Rs. 10,315 approx.). The device is currently available for purchase in China. Nokia has launched the Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 7 Plus, and Nokia 6 smartphones ...

Reliance Jio to deploy Massive MIMO pre-5G technology in Delhi and Mumbai cricket stadiums for IPL

Following the Airtel way, Reliance Jio has also announced the deployment of its Massive MIMO Pre-5G technology, to provide high-speed data experience to its customers in Delhi and Mumbai stadium during IPL matches. Jio will connect the stadium with Pre-5G Massive MIMO units that expand existing network capacity by five times the capacity in a 30 MHz wide band spectrum in these high user density venues, thereby improving spectral efficiency. The first venue to go live with the Massive MIMO deployment will be Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium where the first match of the IPL will be played tomorrow, April 7, 2018, and New Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla. Moreover, the IPL venues in both Delhi and Mumbai will be connected to high-speed wireless broadband solutions ranging from Massive MIMO, 4G ENodeBs, hundreds of WiFi and small cells as well. For the uninitiated, the Massive MIMO creates 3D beams both on horizontal and vertical planes towards users located within its coverage footprint. This helps in improving coverage and reducing interference across users in different beams, thereby improving signal quality (SINR) by 2-3dB. Serving multiple users by re-using the same set of resource blocks (MU-MIMO) with improved signal quality helps in improving user experience, cell capacity, and ...

Logitech K120 Hindi keyboard and MK235 Wireless Hindi keyboard combo launched in India starting at Rs. 695

Logitech today has launched the first of its kind Logitech MK235 Wireless Devanagari Keyboard Combo, as well as wired Devanagari keyboard K120 under the Digi Bharath campaign which is a part of the flagship Digital India initiative. With the Devanagari Keyboard, the company is aiming to reach 40-crore Hindi speaking people in India. The move is aimed at dissolving India’s major language barrier in technology and focus on working towards bridging the digital divide. The new keyboards in Devanagari will help people to communicate in their preferred choice of language. The Logitech MK235 Wireless Hindi Keyboard Combo is compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Chrome OS as well. It connects via a USB receiver and weighs 70.5 g. It has a range of 10 meters 2 AAA batteries for the keyboard and 1 AA battery for the mouse. The mouse also has an on/Off power button. The Logitech K120 keyboard is priced at Rs. 695 and comes with 3-year warranty. While the Logitech MK235 Wireless Hindi Keyboard Combo (with a mouse) is available at Rs. 1995 with a 1-year warranty. Both these will be available through retailers and online on Amazon.in starting from 15th April.  Commenting on the new launch, Sumanta Datta, Managing Director, India and SWA, Logitech Asia Pacific said:  We are proud and honoured to initiate Digi@भारत campaign and taking ahead ...

Xiaomi Black Shark gaming phone teased in first image ahead of April 13 announcement

Earlier this week Xiaomi's Black Shark confirmed the announcement of Black Shark gaming phone will be announced on April 13th and also confirmed that Xiaomi has invested in the company. Today the company has released the first teaser image of the phone that reveals a metal frame and green colored power button. Another image that highlights the design of the phone says that it is the first phone with "X" antenna design where there are antenna cut outs for GPS, WiFi and LTE on all the corners. The company already confirmed Snapdragon 845 SoC of the phone. Earlier rumors revealed 8GB of RAM, Android 8.0 Oreo and 2160 x 1080 FHD+ 18:9 display for the phone. The phone is rumored come with a 120 Hz display to compete with the Razer Phone. We can expect more teasers in the coming days before the phone goes official next Friday. Source 1, 2

LG forecasts highest quarterly profit in 9 years in Q1 2018

LG posted record profits of 921.5 billion won (US$ 798.3 million), up 82.4% YoY in Q1 2017. The company today released preliminary earnings results for the first quarter of 2018 which shows operating profit of 1.1 trillion won (US$1 billion), up 20.2% year-on-year, marking the highest first quarter revenues and operating profit in the history of the company and highest quarterly operating income in nine years. It expects revenues of 15.1 trillion won for the quarter, up 3.2% compared to 14.66 trillion won in the same quarter last year. This is less than 15.4 trillion won estimate by analysts. Increase in profits is expected to be due to strong sales in OLED TVs and premium home appliances, but the mobile phone division is not expected to post profits, same as the the past few quarters, but analysts predict the the division is expected to post smaller loss than the previous quarter. LG did not announce the performance of each business division. We should know the exact profit amount and division-wise results when they releases its full earnings results later this month. Source