Photo of alcatel 5 flagship leaks

Photo of alcatel 5 flagship leaks

At IFA 2017 we saw alcatel unveiling four new phones, all of them falling in the affordable or midrange brackets. We havent seen a flagship since the with Windows Phone which was launched 18 months ago. Yet, posted a photo that clearly indicates we will soon see another premium device dubbed alcatel 5. The image reveals the new phone will have one camera on the back with dual-tone dual-LED flash, accompanied by a fingerprint scanner. The front panel will have an 18:9 display that has no side or bottom bezels. The top is occupied by two selfie cameras, the proximity sensor and what appears to be an LED flash. In order to stand out, alcatel will also implement some design elements the back appears to be brushed metal, while the top and bottom side will have a shiny golden effect. There are no specs to reveal just yet, but TCL Communication, the owner of the alcatel brand, is holding an event at CES next week where we might see the debut of the alcatel 5.

Read More

Users with Android 8.1-powered Pixels and Nexuses are reporting swipe issues

Users with Android 8.1-powered Pixels and Nexuses are reporting swipe issues

Looks like the Android 8.1 update has brought along some annoying issues for users of Google's Pixel and Nexus branded devices. A large number of reports on Reddit as well as the company's own online forums indicate users are facing swipe-related problems with their units post the update. Reports say actions like swiping up to bring lock screen, swiping to dismiss lock screen notifications, or swiping to answer or decline calls not only require extra effort, but multiple tries as well, thus making the entire user experience quite annoying. For its part, Google has just said it's looking into the problem. So no official acknowledgement yet, and hence no information on when the problem will be fixed. |

Read More

Google sold more than one Home device each second since Home Mini started shipping

Google sold more than one Home device each second since Home Mini started shipping

Google has revealed that it sold more than one Home series product every second since the Home Mini began shipping in October last year. That roughly translates into a total of around 6 million units. There was, however, no information on exactly how many Home, Home Mini, and Home Max units were sold in the period. The announcement was made by the company in a recent blog post, wherein the search giant also noted that its Assistant software is now available on more than 400 million devices, including smart speakers, phones and tablets, headphones, watches and even TVs. The virtual assistant is now accessible in a dozen countries, from France to Japan, offering help in 8 languages around the globe.

Read More

Oreo for Asus ZenFone 4 (ZE554KL) begins rolling out

Oreo for Asus ZenFone 4 (ZE554KL) begins rolling out

Asus has started pushing out a new update to its smartphone. Arriving as version V15.0405.1711.76, it's a major update that brings along Android 8.0 Oreo (which is inline with ). The change-log published by the company includes features like more friendly setting UI design, background limits, autofill, smart text selection, and picture-in-picture. So as you can see, all the Oreo goodies are included in the update. Given the fact that it's an OTA roll out, it might take time for the update to hit your device Asus says it'll take about one week for the system to complete the autopush.

Read More

Verizon Google Pixel 2 bootloaders can be easily unlocked

Verizon Google Pixel 2 bootloaders can be easily unlocked

Verizon may officially not allow bootloaders to be easily unlocked, but it has now come to light that the process is as easy as unlocking bootloaders of non-carrier Pixel 2 units. According to an XDA report (which cites forum posts from several of its own members), a simple fastboot command (specifically, ) does the trick. It's worth mentioning that the method described in detail in the XDA report we're referring only works with the standard Pixel 2. Users of the are currently out of luck. Also, there are high chances that the carrier will quickly get the hole plugged, so those interested in getting their Verizon Pixel 2 units bootloader unlocked may have to act fast. |

Read More

iFixit drops the prices for its iPhone battery replacement kits to $29 or lower

iFixit drops the prices for its iPhone battery replacement kits to $29 or lower

Earlier today we saw that Apple for not clearly communicating that it was capping the performance of certain older iPhones when their battery health degraded and offering to drop the price of battery replacement for these devices down to $29 for the entire year of 2018. Now, iFixit has announced that it too will be slashing the prices for all of its iPhone battery replacement kits down to $29 or lower. These kits are available from and all the way back to iPhone 4S. A typical iFixit battery replacement comes with the battery along with all the tools that you would need to open up the phone and replace it yourself. This is where it gets tricky and where you need to read closely before you open a new tab and order one of these for yourself. The person replacing the battery is you. Not a certified Apple professional but , a person with $29 and some spare time. Like most phones today, iPhones are not meant to be opened by non-qualified personnel. If you mess something up, that's on you, not iFixit and certainly not Apple, who will be more than happy to charge you even more to fix whatever you broke on top of that battery. The most important thing to consider is that the display is glued to the phone. After you unscrew the phone you literally have to pull out the display using the provided suction cup. If you snap a cable or the display itself while doing this, that's another $129 to get the display fixed. So while this is a great option for those devices that are not part of Apple's replacement program and for people who know what they are doing, if your device is one of those specified by Apple then it's best to have the experts do it for you.

Read More

Amazon India teases upcoming Samsung Galaxy On smartphone

Amazon India teases upcoming Samsung Galaxy On smartphone

Amazon India is teasing a new upcoming device from Samsung. The landing page talks about a 'new way to shop', 'superior performance', and a 'stunning new look' before ending with 'coming soon'. We believe it is a successor to one of Samsung's older mid-range devices. Perhaps a 2018 Galaxy On7 or On8. That's pretty much all we can gather from the dark side view of the device and the fact that it says 'Shoot. Shop. ' in the teaser. The page also talks about a new way to shop, suggesting a new payment system. Both, Samsung and Amazon, have their payment systems in India, Samsung Pay and Amazon Pay, respectively. We can't say for sure whether you will be able to use Samsung Pay to purchase items on Amazon or use Amazon Pay to purchase items in stores on your Samsung phone. Amazon hasn't even given a date, so we will have to wait and see what comes out of this partnership.

Read More