Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Android Pie second beta update with camera fixes released; Galaxy A7 and A9 2018 update expected in March

Samsung had pushed out Android Pie beta update for the Galaxy Note8 early last week and the company is now rolling out the second update. This fixes various issues such as camera app force-close when shooting slow-mo video, viewfinder freezing and undetected music stored on the microSD card and more.  The update size is around 705MB and carries the version number N950FXXU5ZSAB. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Android Pie update is currently under beta testing, the final stable release is expected sometime in February 2019. Like the Note 8, the S8 and S8 Plus are also currently under beta and are also expected to receive similar second-update. Apart from the flagships,  Android 9.0 update for the Galaxy A7 (2018) and Galaxy A9 (2018) are scheduled for March, according to Samsung Turkey. Source 1, 2

Xiaomi teases Redmi Note 7 with 48MP camera is launching in India soon

After Redmi Note 7 with 48-megapixel rear camera was introduced in China earlier this month, Xiaomi's Redmi by Xiaomi’ brand has teased the launch of the smartphone in India soon with upside down text and a photo of Manu Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director along with CEO Lei Jun holding the smartphone. ɐƃǝʎɐɐ ǝɯᴉʇ ɐud∀ ɐƃǝʎɐɥɥɔ ǝd ʎɹʇsnpuI ɐƃǝʎɐɯnɥƃ ɹɐs ɐʞ qɐS ɐƃǝʎɐɐ˥ #ԀW8ᔭ ɐƃǝʎɐɐ ǝɯᴉʇ ɐud∀ pic.twitter.com/4CcoWosp25 — Redmi India (@RedmiIndia) January 24, 2019 Redmi Note 7 specifications 6.3-inch (2340 ×1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:5:9 2.5D curved glass display, 1500:1 contrast ratio, 450 nits brightness, 84% NTSC Color Gamut,  Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection Octa Core Snapdragon 660 14nm Mobile Platform (Quad 2.2GHz Kryo 260 + Quad 1.8GHz Kryo 260 CPUs) with Adreno 512 GPU 3GB LPDDR4x RAM with 32GB storage, 4GB / 6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 64GB storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Android 9.0 (Pie) with MIUI 10 Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD) 48MP rear camera with LED Flash, f/1.8 aperture, 0.8μm pixel size, PDAF, EIS, 5MP secondary camera 13MP front-facing camera Fingerprint sensor, IR sensor 3.5mm audio jack, AK 98937 Smart PA Dimensions: 159.21 x 75.21 x 8.1mm; Weight: 186g Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4 /5GHz) Bluetooth 5, GPS + GLONASS, ...

LG MWC 2019 Premiere announced for February 24, LG G8 expected

LG has posted a teaser video on its social channels announcing its 2019 Premiere at the MWC 2019 in Barcelona on February 24th. The teaser says 'Goodbye Touch' hinting at gestures for the smartphone. As rumored earlier, we can expect the LG's flagship G8 smartphone at the event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O1KLGxJE40 The LG G8 is said to be powered by Snapdragon 855, feature triple rear cameras, QHD+ notch display, 3.5mm audio jack with Quad DAC, glass back with metal frame and under-display cantilever-conduction speaker. Recent report revealed that LG’s 5G smartphone will be a part of a completely different series and will launch later in March of 2019. There were also a report that it will launch smartphone with a second screen attachment for MWC 2019. The LG MWC 2019 Premiere takes place at CCIB (Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona) on February 24th at 10 AM CET (2:30 PM IST). We should know more details in the coming weeks.

Meizu Zero with in-display fingerprint sensor, waterproof unibody 3D design without ports or buttons announced

Meizu has announced Zero, the company's latest top-end smartphone with an unique design that gets rid of all the ports and buttons ahead of the Vivo APEX 2019 announcement tomorrow. This gets rid of the 3.5mm audio jack, which is not surprising, but this also doesn't have a USB Type-C port, instead it only relies on custom designed 18W wirless fast charging. The company says that uses have to rely on Bluetooth for wireless audio listening. It has a waterproof body with IP68 ratings and uses mSound 2.0 screen sound technology that uses the phone's screen as a speaker. Meizu says that it has advanced internal layout and better audio materials for improved sound quality that is better and louder compared to earlier technologies. It features pressure-sensitive power and volume buttons using Meizu-specific mEngine 2.0 on the sides like the HTC Edge Sense squeeze interaction. It uses eSIM, so it gets rid of the SIM slot as well. [embed]https://media.meizu.cn/video/zero-feature.mp4[/embed] This has a 5.99-inch AMOLED display, is powered by Snapdragon 845, features an in-display fingerprint sensor, 12-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX380 sensor along with a 20-megapixel secondary telephoto lens with Sony IMX350 sensor  and a 20-megapixel front facing camera, similar to the Meizu 16th. Meizu Zero ...

Apple rolls out iOS 12.1.3 with Bug Fixes for HomePod, iPad Pro, CarPlay, Messages and more

Apple has started rolling out minor iOS 12.1.3 update for iPhone and iPad after beta testing for a few weeks. This includes several bug fixes affecting iPad Pro, HomePod, CarPlay, and more. It also finally fixes the issue that could cause  restarts or that could cause Siri to stop listening. It also fixes Audio performance issue when using some third-party apps is improved on iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) and iPad Pro 11-inch models. The iOS 12.1.3 comes after the iOS 12.1.2 that fixed eSIM bugs on iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, while iPad owners got iOS 12.1.1 update last month. iOS 12.1.3 includes bug fixes for your iPhone or iPad. Fixes an issue in Messages that could impact scrolling through photos in the Details view Addresses an issue where photos could have striped artifacts after being sent from the Share Sheet Fixes an issue that may cause audio distortion when using external audio input devices on iPad Pro (2018) Resolves an issue that could cause certain CarPlay systems to disconnect from iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max This release also includes bug fixes for HomePod. This update: Fixes an issue that could cause HomePod to restart Addresses an issue that could cause Siri ...

Xiaomi rolls out final MIUI 10.2 update for Redmi Note 3

Redmi 1S, Redmi Note/Prime, Redmi 2/Prime were the devices which redefined their respective price segments back in 2014-15 and helped Xiaomi becoming an established player in India but it was Redmi Note 3 that paved the way towards making company India's No. 1 smartphone brand. The device is almost three years old now and so, Back in December, Xiaomi announced that MIUI 10.2 will be the last update for the devices including Redmi Note 3 and Mi 5. Last year, it dropped software support for some devices including Redmi 1S, Redmi Note 4G, Redmi 2, Redmi 2 Prime, Mi 4i that were launched in 2015 or before. [gallery size="medium" ids="273481,273480,273482"] As per users on Mi Community, Redmi Note 3 has started receiving MIUI 10.2.1.0.MHOMIXM update which is 178 MB in size. The update is based on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) but Xiaomi has managed to enable Split Screen and Quick Switch on devices running Android 6.0. In the changelogs, Xiaomi has mentioned that it has updated the Android security patch on the device but it still runs on July 2018 security patch similar to MIUI 10.1.1.0.MHOMIFI that was rolled out last month. Check out the changelog below, System Fix: Updated Android security patch Phone Fix: UI elements for switching between cameras during video calls were displayed incorrectly Lockscreen, ...

Apple 2016 and newer MacBook Pro models with touchbar report display issues due to fragile flex cables

According to several reports, users with 2016 and newer MacBook Pro models, particularly those with the Touch Bar are facing backlight issues. This results in a so-called "stage light effect" along the bottom of the display.  According to the repair website iFixit, which highlighted the issue, the underlying cause is Apple's use of thin, fragile flex cables that connect the display with the display controller board on 2016 and newer MacBook Pro models, instead of the more durable wire cables used in previous generations. https://youtu.be/xlmnOWNLbXg The normal, and repeated opening and closing of the laptops display lid can result in the thin flex cables becoming fragile and breaking over time. Since the issue takes time to manifest, the affected MacBook Pro models are outside of Apple's one-year warranty period when they start exhibiting symptoms. At this moment, it is unclear how many users are affected, but the number continues to increase. As iFixit claims, the flex cables are integrated into the display and cannot be replaced individually. Instead, the entire display assembly needs to be replaced, which in-turn becomes costly. While some customers without AppleCare+ have managed to get a free or reduced-cost repair, it appears many have been required to pay in full.  Apple so far ...

Google Chrome Manifest V3 API change might kill some ad-blocking extensions

Future Chrome update just might kill ad-blocker extensions. In October 2017, Google laid out plans to make extensions safer to use, however, these changes will reflect APIs and these might prevent most content blockers from working. Chrome extensions use a certain manifest version that determines what APIs they can and cannot use. The current manifest version is v2 and was introduced in 2012. Manifest v3 is currently under development, and will include several breaking changes to APIs, including one that affects content blockers. In a Chromium bug tracker, Raymond Hill, the developer behind uBlock Origin and uMatrix, explained that one of the changes in Manifest v3 would break complex content filtering. To put in simple, one of the suggested changes in Manifest V3 will replace the webRequest API with a new declarativeNetRequest API, which has far more limitations. Though this change has obvious performance benefits such as Chrome no longer has to wait for extensions to allow/block every network request, it would break countless extensions that rely on heavily modifying network requests. Since Manifest V3 is still under development, there's every bit of chance that Google might drop this specific API change. Source | Via

Fortnite for HONOR View20 60fps version and Honor Guard Fortnite outfit announced

Fortnite for Android comes to HONOR View20 and is also one of the few phones to support 60 FPS mode. Fortnite for Android didn't have a traditional Play Store release, instead, it is available only to compatible phones through its website. It was first released for Samsung smartphones starting from August last year and expanded to other devices later. As part of this partnership, owners of HONOR View 20 will have exclusive access to the HONOR Guard Fortnite outfit. Honor View 20 had its global launch yesterday and the phone will roll out from January 23rd. It sports a  6.4-inch Full HD+ All-View Display with 91.82% screen-to-body ratio, 25-megapixel front camera with just 4.5mm cut out, is powered by Kirin 980 SoC with GPU Turbo 2.0,  liquid cooling, up to 8GB of RAM, 48-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX586 1/2-type (8.0 mm diagonal) sensor, uses 4-in-1 light fusion that outputs better low-light images at 12MP resolution. It also has a TOF 3D secondary rear camera that lets you play games using 3D gesture recognition by capturing body movements. It has a V-shaped texture on the glass back, metal frame, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and packs a 4000mAh battery with support for fast charging.

Google to upgrade classic Hangout users to Hangouts Chat and Meet from October 2019

As mentioned in December 2017, Google starting from April 16, 2019, will transition classic Hangouts users on G Suite domains to Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet. Between April and September 2019, Google says that features from classic Hangouts will come to Chat. In October 2019, support for classic Hangouts for G Suite customers will be ended. On April 16th, 2019, for G Suite domains that have classic Hangouts enabled, Chat will also become available to users on the web and via mobile apps. They can also continue using classic Hangouts in Gmail, mobile, web or the Chrome extension. Admin changes on April 16th will let the chat admin settings control chat capability in both classic Hangouts and Chat. A new setting in the Admin console under Apps > G Suite > Hangouts Chat will be added so admins can disable classic Hangouts user interfaces at a time of your choosing. The "Google Hangouts" settings page in the Admin console will be renamed "Hangouts Meet." This setting will control both classic Hangouts video and Hangouts Meet. Classic Hangouts will be retired for all G Suite customers starting October 2019 and all remaining users will be transitioned to Chat. Between April and September 2019, Google said that it will add more features for users to ...