Samsung Galaxy Note8 officially released in 42 markets including US

Samsung Galaxy Note8 officially released in 42 markets including US

The big roll out has begun. Samsung has announced that is now available to purchase in as many as 42 countries around the world. Some of the key regions that get the phone today include the US, Canada, Singapore, Korea and major European markets. The South Korean company says it will continue rolling out to additional countries in the weeks ahead. In case you missed, the handset has even started its first update, which improves the stability of the camera app. Other changes include improved wireless charging as well as overall performance.

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Latest Fire TV update brings voice input and NFL games for Prime members

Latest Fire TV update brings voice input and NFL games for Prime members

Amazons Fire TV product has seen a growth in popularity over the past couple of years. After all, its a cheaper alternative to an Apple TV and more versatile than a Google Chromecast with its dedicated remote and voice-search button. Anyway, Amazon is now rolling out a new Fire TV update with version number 5.2.6.0 that will arrive to both the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick devices. The most significant update here is the ability to input text by using the voice input button rather than having to use a directional pad on an on-screen keyboard. Note that this wont work with third-party apps that have their own custom keyboards. For example, you wont be able to use voice-input when typing something into the YouTube app. You can still use the universal search with the voice key to find YouTube videos, though! Another new and useful feature is a new magnifier tool which can zoom into the UI and even automatically follows your cursor on the screen. This will come in handy for those using Fire TV on a small television or for those who vision impairments. You might want to use the image below as a cheat sheet, though. Finally, Amazon will offer all Thursday Night Football games on the NFL app for Amazon Prime members. Just search Thursday night football with the voice button. And you can see when the next game will be on. The update is now rolling out to both the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick devices. If youd like to manually check for updates, you can head to Settings > Device > About > System Udpate. Happy streaming! |

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Motorola reveals which of its smartphones are getting Android 8.0 Oreo

Motorola reveals which of its smartphones are getting Android 8.0 Oreo

At the end of last month, Sony revealed which of its smartphones will be , and today it was time for Motorola's US arm to do the same. The Lenovo-owned company hasn't committed to any release time frames for any of these, though, so it's anyone's guess when the phones listed below will actually taste Oreo. Here's the list of Motorola phones that will be updated to Android 8.0: (AT, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon) (Verizon, unlocked) DROID (Verizon) (AT, T-Mobile, Verizon, unlocked) (Verizon, unlocked) (unlocked) (unlocked) (unlocked) Since this was shared by Motorola USA, it's obviously focused solely on handsets that have been sold officially in that country. There's no information yet about what will happen elsewhere. Also note that most of the carrier phones in the list are said to get Oreo pending partner support so there's a chance that some of them will never see an update despite Motorola's intentions (if one of the carriers says no). The absence of any version of the G4 family is notable here, since that's less than 18 months old at this point. Perhaps the end of software support this early is to be expected for a mid-range series, but owners of any G4 who care about being up to date may look to other companies for their next Android fix. |

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Essential Phone gets Oreo within two months, high-end audio accessory with 3.5mm jack coming too

Essential Phone gets Oreo within two months, high-end audio accessory with 3.5mm jack coming too

The has finally today, and with that its launch is pretty much complete across all channels. The device has already , but that's still Nougat. Wondering when to expect Oreo to drop? In the next month or two, according to Rebecca Zavin, Essential's VP of Software. She announced this through a Reddit AMA performed alongside Andy Rubin, the company's founder, and three other execs. Essential is also working on a mystery high-end audio accessory that will have a 3.5mm headset jack and a high quality DAC. As with all Essential Phone accessories, this will connect to the two magnetic pins on the back. But the second accessory to launch (following the already outed 360-degree camera) will be the charging dock revealed during the handset's announcement a few months back. On the subject of the headphone jack missing in the handset itself, Dave Evans, Essential's VP of Design said putting it in would have meant either growing a huge bottom bezel under the screen and reducing battery capacity by 10%, or having a big bump where the jack would be located. The team was uncomfortable with both of these tradeoffs, so the jack had to die. The Pure White color version of the Essential Phone is currently in build trials, and should start shipping in a few weeks. On the other hand, the Ocean Depths and Stellar Grey hues are further out because non-white/black colors are less stable in production, at least so far, and not to the company's standards. Meanwhile, the device's release in Europe is internally deemed a priority apparently. |

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Nokia 2 leaked press renders show us black and white color versions, software buttons

Nokia 2 leaked press renders show us black and white color versions, software buttons

HMD Global is getting ready to launch its next Nokia smartphone running Android, and this will in fact be its cheapest yet. We've already told you about the earlier today, but how about some leaked press renders showing the device in all its glory? Evan Blass a.k.a delivers. The is going to feature software-rendered Android navigation buttons as you can see, a first for HMD's lineup, owing to the fact that there's no fingerprint scanner on such a low-end device. Based on past rumors and leaks, the is expected to have a 4.7 to 5 720p touchscreen, the Snapdragon 212 (or 210) chipset at the helm, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, an 8 MP rear camera, and a 5 MP selfie snapper. With such lowly specs, this surely is going to be reasonably priced.

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Nokia 2 will come with a huge 4,000mAh battery

Nokia 2 will come with a huge 4,000mAh battery

Hey, remember when Nokia 2 ? Buried under a mountain of wireless connectivity tests was the battery capacity a whopping 4,000mAh! Thats a huge jump over the 5, 6 and 8 models, all three of which have around 3,000mAh. The doesnt use a lot of power not because its very efficient (its a 28nm chip), its just not very powerful. Couple that with the rumored 4.7-5 screen of modest 720p resolution, the battery life should be stellar. Certainly better than HMDs current entry level phone the Nokia 3 and its 2,630mAh battery. Anyway, the FCC also lists the charger 5V at 2A, a typical phone charger in other words. We werent expecting fast charging (the 5 and the 3 dont have it either), but that chunky battery is going to take a while to fill up at this rate. |

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Apple iPhone X display: how big is it, really?

Apple iPhone X display: how big is it, really?

The has a 5.8 screen... except it doesnt. You can see on the official site that the 5.8 measurement is for a rectangular screen while the X has rounded corners. But thats a minor quibble, the bigger issue is that theres a cutout at the top of the screen, which limits the usable area. The aspect ratio of the new Super Retina Display is 19.5:9, wider than even Samsungs 18.5:9 (LG and Xiaomi use 18:9). But again, the cutout means you get a small screen that you can practically use. In fact, ignoring the top portion leaves a screen thats just about 18.5:9 in aspect ratio. If you were to just use 16:9 the traditional widescreen format that basically all TV shows and YouTube videos use youre left with what is effectively a 4.96 screen. This gives you slightly more area than the iPhone 8 about 10% more surface area for video. But you do get extra area vertically for apps, website and instant messaging (especially since the keyboard eats up vertical space). Now lets imagine that the iPhone X has an 18.5:9 screen and a secondary screen above that (the horns around the cutout). Then the diagonal is equivalent to that of a 5.56 screen. That is smaller than the 5.8 Galaxy S8, a phone that is taller but slightly narrower. This is due to the curved sides, which cancel out some of the bezel when it comes to the width of the phone. Lets compare with the and now. They have perfectly straight screens no curves of any kind. You get nearly 30% more surface area than the small 8 (and a taller and slightly wider display). Against the bigger 8 Plus, you lose about 5% surface area (and the display is both shorter and narrower). In short, the iPhone X offers a screen thats about as big as that of the 8 Plus, though content will have to fit on a narrower screen 61.8mm vs. 68.5mm. Youre in for some extra word wrapping.

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Facebook's group video chat app Bonfire starts rolling out

Facebook's group video chat app Bonfire starts rolling out

A couple of months ago, there were reports that Facebook is working on a standalone group video chat app. Well, now the company has started rolling out the app, dubbed Bonfire. The roll out is limited at the moment, restricted to iOS users in Denmark. Bonfire lets you perform a video chat with several participants at the same time. It is reportedly similar to the Houseparty app, which is currently quite popular among teens. This new Facebook app offers ability to apply Snapchat-like effects. Not only that, you can also share pictures to Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. When asked to comment on the app, Facebook issued the following statement: At Facebook Inc we continue to build and test new products and services. We already have many great experiences for people to video chat in groups, or as individuals, across the family of apps, including Messenger. We are interested in how everyone uses technology and how we can build great experiences for them. Were running a very small test in Denmark of an app we call Bonfire. We have nothing further to share at this time.

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Apple iPhone X screen to body ratio compared

Apple iPhone X screen to body ratio compared

Calling the new breed of phones bezel-less is a bit of a misnomer they do have a bezel, just much smaller than traditional phones. Still, its how theyve come to be known and now even Apple makes one. But screen to body numbers get thrown around and some of them are not . Things like rounded corners and display cutouts make things yet more complicated, but we took the time to calculate the actual numbers, accounting for all the deviations from the classic rectangular screen. So here it is. The measures among the best. However, even the , the sequel to the phone that started this craze (though not the first bezel-less phone) isnt on top. That honor falls to the . If youre wandering how the Mi Mix 2 fell from the top, its about proportion. The original had a 6.4 screen, this one has a 5.99 screen. So while the bezels have about the same thickness, they are measured against a smaller screen. Also note that the official images of the Mix 2 are quite misleading they show a phone with an 88.8% screen to body ratio, a 7.5% exaggeration by Xiaomi. We have to say that the usable area on the iPhone X is slightly less than the 81.49% number suggests the two horns on top are only good for notifications but not content. Well compare the Super Retina Displays surface area to a traditional 16:9 screen in the next article. PS. in case you're wondering why the Galaxy S8/Note8 were not included, it's because the curved sides of their screens make such measurements quite difficult.

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