Nokia 7 Plus gets Dual 4G VoLTE support via OTA update in India

HMD Global launched the Nokia 7 Plus Android One smartphone in India last month, but it had support for 4G VoLTE in one SIM, while the other SIM supports only 3G, as we had mentioned in the review. As the company had promised earlier this month, the phone has received support for 4G VoLTE on both the SIMs via the latest V2.22A update. The changelog just mentions user interface enhancements and improved system stability. The company at the launch event said that it will add Face Unlock feature via an update, but it is not available in this update. Hope we will see it in the next update. The Nokia 7 Plus also comes with Treble support with A/B system partition for seamless updates. It was one of the first smartphones to get Android P beta. The V2.22A update for the Nokia 7 Plus is 441.7MB and also brings Android security patch for May 2018.

YouTube Music streaming service announced, comes in free ad-supported and ad-free paid versions

Jumping back and forth between YouTube and music streaming services might be seeing their final days as YouTube just unveiled 'YouTube Music' streaming service. The company says that it is a new music streaming service is made for music with the magic of YouTube.  This service is aimed at making it easier to explore and personalize the world of music. Whether you want to listen, watch or discover, it’s all here. It has official songs, albums, thousands of playlists and artist radio plus YouTube's catalog of remixes, live performances, covers and music videos; all simply organized and personalized. YouTube Music gets a brand new reimagined mobile app and brand new desktop player that is designed for music.  Also, it will also have the music videos that people expect from YouTube. It is also adding new and iconic videos from "God’s Plan" and "Havana" to "Thriller," "Sledgehammer," and more. It is also making discovery of music much easier and personalized. The company is offering a new ad-supported version of YouTube Music for free, and it is also launching YouTube Music Premium, a paid membership with features like background listening, downloads and an ad-free experience for $9.99 a month. However, if you are a subscriber to Google Play ...

Netflix adds HDR support for Sony Xperia XZ2, Huawei Mate 10 Pro and Huawei P20

Netflix is now bringing HDR support for Xperia XZ2, Huawei Mate 10 Pro and P20 smartphones. While more and more smartphone with HDR-capable displays is launching, app developers must bring the compatible feature to take advantage of the capability. Netflix has already rolled out HDR support for  Sony Xperia XZ Premium, LG V30, Galaxy Tab S3, Galaxy Note8, Xperia XZ1, Razer Phone, and Galaxy S9. New to join the list is the Xperia XZ2, Huawei Mate 10 Pro and P20 bringing the total HDR compatible smartphone to ten. Smartphones that support Netflix HDR and Dolby Vision Huawei Mate 10 Pro Huawei P20 LG V30 Razer Phone Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 Samsung Galaxy S9 Sony Xperia XZ Premium Sony Xperia XZ1 Sony Xperia XZ2 Along with the three phones, Huawei MediaPad M5 has also been added to the HD compatibility list. So, if you own any of the said phones, you can update the Netflix app from the PlayStore, but do note that will need a UHD subscription plan to view HDR content. Source | Via

YouTube adds automatic artist, songwriter, label and publisher credits to videos

YouTube starting today is adding artist, songwriter, label and publisher credits to videos. It will answer those questions with “Music in this video” crediting the one who contributed to the music. The company is adding credits to more than half a billion videos. Not only this feature will give due credits to the artists, but it will also let the music lovers discover the information on both music videos and for the first time on any platform. Users can click on “Show more” to see more detail about the artists and songwriters, and the labels and publishers who represent them, including a link to the Official Artist Channel and official music video when available. This provides more opportunities for artists and songwriters to reach YouTube’s diverse audience. The company says that it is just a start and will expand the scope and quality of data to ensure all creators are credited as completely and accurately as possible. Commenting on the new addition, YouTube in a blog post said: Bringing “Music in this video” to the diverse content that exists on YouTube is made possible due to the data and technology behind Content ID, which allows copyright owners to identify and manage their content on YouTube. It’s also possible ...

Instagram is working on ‘time spent’ usage insight tool

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom has just confirmed that the company is building 'time spent' usage insight tool following Google's Dashboard feature with new time management controls. Incidentally, there is a code present in the Instagram app that reveals “Usage Insights” feature that will show users the “time spent”. [HTML1] It is not clear if the app would show the total time spent which could be scary to look at if you are constantly on the Instagram app. Furthermore, Instagram is also working on a new commenting interface with a row of quick-add emojis and an @ button for tagging friends. Kevin Systrom in a Tweet has said: "we're building tools that will help the IG community know more about the time they spend on Instagram – any time should be positive and intentional." This sounds like the company is trying to potentially reduce the usage and add to the limited time spent in the digital world. While it is an adorable gesture from Instagram to include usage insights feature, it still needs to see how transparent Instagram would be in the coming days when the feature is rolled out. Adopting the upfront nature of letting users know how much time they spend in the digital world ...

OnePlus 6 Marvel Avengers Limited Edition smartphone announced

OnePlus just announced the OnePlus 6 Marvel Avengers Limited Edition smartphone in China, ahead of the launch in India later today. It has a custom 3D Kevelar-textured glass back with Corning Gorilla 5 protection. It has 6 layers of optical coating, and has Avengers logo in gold, in addition to OnePlus logo. The Alert slide is in Golden color in this edition. It was in Red color in the Star Wars edition and Lava Red versions of the OnePlus 5T. In addition to the smartphone, it also comes with a case styled like Iron Man. There is also a Captain America medal inside the box that is shown in the picture, but it will vary in each box. Other specifications including the 6.28-inch Optic AMOLED display, Snapdragon 845, 16MP + 20MP dual rear cameras, 16MP front camera and 3300mAh battery are same as the original OnePlus 6. The OnePlus 6 Avengers Edition comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage and is priced at 4199 yuan (US$ 660 / Rs. 44,695 approx.) compared to the base OnePlus 6 6GB RAM with 64GB storage version that costs 3199 yuan (US$ 502 / 34,050 approx.) in China. The Avengers Edition will go on sale from May 22nd in ...

Samsung suspends Galaxy S7 Android Oreo update over random reboots

Samsung started rolling out the Android 8.0 Oreo update to the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge in the UK recently, the company is now suspending the update because some devices are experiencing random reboots. The company has even sent out an official statement with instructions for those who are experiencing rebooting phones. Early reports regarding the random reboots started from a Vodafone UK store who received more than a 100 calls in one day regarding the issue. Post which users have started emailing the CEO of Samsung UK. As for those who have already updated to the Oreo will have to visit a local Support Centre to restore the phone. If you can't visit a service center, a factory data reset via Recovery Mode is recommended. Samsung in a statement said: Following a limited number of cases where Galaxy S7 devices have rebooted unexpectedly with the Android 8.0 Oreo, we have temporarily stopped the rollout of the update. We are investigating the issue internally to ensure that the impact to the affected devices is minimized and the rollout of the update can resume as quickly as possible. Source

Facebook begins rolling out voice posts, achieve stories, and new cloud storage starting from India

Facebook is rolling out new features to its flagship app which includes Voice Posts, Stories archive, and new cloud storage features. The new cloud storage feature will let you save photos and videos directly to your account in the Facebook cloud. You can share voice messages with friends, and archive your favorite Facebook Stories. The silver lining here is that the announced features will start rolling out in India, and will hit the rest of the world in the coming weeks. The new change to the Facebook's camera app who are shooting photos and videos will be presented with new options to save them directly to their Facebook accounts; this feature will definitely preserve local storage on phones with limited internal storage. The media saved will only be visible after the user login's to Facebook account. Facebook is also adding a new audio option to share voice messages as Voice Posts. Furthermore, Facebook is also rolling out an archive feature which lets users save the Facebook Stories they value the most. While these features might be an upside for the users who are into sharing things with friends and family on Facebook, it also raises the question of how secure the data is. Source

Microsoft said to launch low-cost Surface tablets to take on iPad Pro

Microsoft said to be planning on launching low-cost tablet lineup that will stand up against the iPads. The company might launch the surface branded tablets as the second half of 2018. Microsoft has tried this before back in 2012 with the launch of original Surface RT. Since the Original Surface RT didn't work out so well for Microsoft, the company shifted the focus to expensive Surface Pro which again helped in bringing more demand to iPad Pro line-up which Apple launched in 2015. As for the new Surface low-cost tablet, it is said to sport a 10-inch screen and will have rounded edges like an iPad and a USB Type-C connectivity. It is also expected to be 20% lighter than the high-end models, meaning that it might come with a smaller battery. Like before, Intel will be the supplier of the main processor and graphics chips for the device, according to the sources. Microsoft continued to fail in finding the right spot with the Surface devices as well as to introduce a flow of new choices to keep growth steady. The fiscal year that ended last year June saw a 2% decline in Surface revenue owing to the aging Surface Pro line. However, the revenue rose 32% in the most recent ...

LG G7 ThinQ roll out begins starting from Korea, official price revealed

LG introduced its flagship G7 ThinQ  smartphone earlier this month, and we got to know the price of the phone in UK and Europe from retailers, soon after the announcement. Today, the company has launched the phone in South Korea and also announced that it will roll out in key markets in Asia, the Americas and Europe soon, which is expected later this month or early June. LG G7 ThinQ specifications 6.1-inch  (3120 x 1440 pixels) 19.5:9 FullVision Super Bright IPS Display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU LG G7 ThinQ – 4GB LPDDR4x RAM with 64GB (UFS 2.1) storage / LG G7+ ThinQ – 6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB storage (UFS 2.1), expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD Android 8.0 (Oreo) with LG UX 16MP rear camera with f/1.6 aperture, 71-degree wide-angle lens, secondary 16MP camera with 107-degree super-wide-angle lens with f/1.9 aperture, LED flash 8MP front camera with 80-degree wide-angle lens,  f/1.9 aperture Fingerprint sensor, Dedicated Google Assistant button Water, dust resistant (IP68), MIL-STD 810G certified Dimensions: 153.2 x 71.9 x 7.9mm; Weight: 162g 3.5mm audio jack, 32-bit Advanced Hi-Fi Quad DAC, Boombox Speaker 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 5 ...