Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 coming to India on October 10

Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 coming to India on October 10

Xiaomi will be launching the new smartphone in India on October 10, 2017. The company sent out invitations to the Indian media for the event today. The Mi MIX 2 was announced last month as a successor to last years that started the bezel-less design revolution. The new Mi MIX 2 improves upon almost every aspect of the original but is much smaller and more manageable. The Mi MIX 2 will also be a new flagship phone from Xiaomi being launched in India in a long time. The last time Xiaomi launched a flagship phone in India was last year with the Mi 5. The Mi MIX 2 could be a way for Xiaomi to test the waters in India and it is unique enough that buyers might be persuaded to look beyond the badge and spend big bucks on it. We should be getting a closer look at the device once it launches.

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Amazon announces new Echo, Echo Plus and Echo Spot

Amazon announces new Echo, Echo Plus and Echo Spot

Amazon has expanded its family of Alexa-powered devices by adding four new Echo products, the new Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Spot and the Echo Connect. The new Echo is a complete redesign of the original Echo that was launched three years ago and went on to define the category. The new model has an improved speaker system comprising of a tweeter and a 2.5-inch down firing woofer with Dolby processing for improved audio quality. It also includes second generation far-field technology for so it can hear you even better even in a noisy room. Lastly, the new Echo comes in a variety of shell colors, including Charcoal Fabric, Heather Gray Fabric, Sandstone Fabric, Oak Finish, Walnut Finish and Silver Finish. The new Echo is priced at $99.99 and will be available October 31. The Echo Plus looks oddly identical to the original model but also comes in a new Silver finish along with Black and White. The Echo Plus includes smart home hub functionality that lets it communicate and control all the smart home appliances in your house, from your lighting to your thermostat, security cameras, door locks and more. On top of that it will do everything that the standard Echo will do. The Echo Plus is priced at $149.99 and will be available October 31. As a limited time offer, a Philips Hue bulb is included with your purchase of the Echo Plus. Then there is the brand new Echo Spot, which looks like an alarm clock and has a small circular display on the front that works pretty much the same way as the display on the Echo Show. It does everything the Echo does but the display gives you real time feedback on your queries, along with being able to show you things like the weather without having to ask for it, or scroll song lyrics or do video calls or play a video. Not that you'd want to watch videos on a 2.5-inch circular display on a device with a 1.4-inch speaker. The Echo Spot is priced at $129.99 and will be available December 19. Lastly, there is the Echo Connect, which is a companion device for other Echo devices requires one of the other Echo devices to work. It connects to your home phone and then allows you to make calls from your Echo devices. Once connected, you can just ask your Echo to call someone and the call will be routed through the Echo to Echo Connect to your landline connection to whoever you are calling. You can call local or international, depending upon your connection, and calls to 911 are also allowed. The Echo Connect is priced at $34.99 and will be available December 13.

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Made for Google certified accessories debut, initially from 26 partners

Made for Google certified accessories debut, initially from 26 partners

Starting today, the Made for Google program for certified accessories makes its debut. As the name implies, this is akin to Apple's Made for iPhone program, which certifies accessories for use with its devices. In a similar fashion, you'll see a Made for Google label on the box of every accessory that has been certified by the search giant for use with its hardware products. Made for Google was unveiled on stage today at the company's hardware launch. Initially there will be 26 partners selling Made for Google accessories, you can see all of their logos in the screengrab below (taken from the live video stream of the event). Some of these companies' certified accessories are already up for grabs from the . Phone cases, USB-C cables, earbuds, dongles, power adapters, lens kits, tempered glass screen protectors, car chargers they're all there ripe for the picking. And when you buy a Made for Google accessory, you're theoretically less likely to encounter compatibility issues because it was supposedly tested before receiving that badge.

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Verizon starts Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL pre-orders, T-Mobile offers switchers $325

Verizon starts Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL pre-orders, T-Mobile offers switchers $325

Like for the original Pixels from last year, Verizon is once again the only US carrier that will sell the and in its stores. However, the phones aren't exclusive to Big Red in any way. Not only can you also buy them from Fi, Google's own carrier, but they will be available for purchase through the Google Store too. If you do want to get your Pixel fix from Verizon, though, you can now pre-order both models. The 64GB Pixel 2 is $27.08 per month with a two-year installment plan, while the 128GB version requires $31.24 each month. The 64GB Pixel 2 XL is priced at $35.42 per month, and the 128GB model can be yours if you part with $39.58 every month. If you buy either phone, you receive a new for free (which ships 2-4 weeks after activation). When you get a Pixel 2 or 2 XL on device payment, and you trade in an eligible smartphone, you can get up to $300 off. Verizon will also sell the headphones starting on November 16. The headset goes on pre-order later today, alongside the Google Home Mini. Like last year, T-Mobile has decided to troll Verizon with , banking on the fact that even the Pixels sold by Big Red are unlocked and can be used with any network including T-Mobile's of course. So if you port in a number or activate a new line of service (in both cases on the T-Mobile One plan), you will be mailed a prepaid MasterCard with $325 on it. You just need to enter your details at a special activation website. Existing TMo customers can benefit too, when they add a line of T-Mobile One or Simple Choice Unlimited. You must register for the offer and add the new rate plan to your account within 30 days of your Pixel purchase, and you need to show T-Mobile your proof of purchase. Note that you have to be the original device owner, so buying from eBay or Craigslist doesn't count use Verizon or the Google Store. While T-Mobile hasn't yet announced an end date for it, this is going to be a limited time thing. |

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Google enters the wireless headphone space with the Pixel Buds

Google enters the wireless headphone space with the Pixel Buds

All the cool kids are making wireless headphones these days and that now includes Google. Introducing the Google Pixel buds a pair of headphones connected with a fabric loop, designed to work best with a Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. The Pixel Buds have a touchpad on the right Bud that is good for swiping songs in and out, volume up and down and also invoking Google Assistant. With Google's AI at your ear tips you'll be able to get directions, start a call and naturally play music. What's even cooler is you can translate in real time with the help of the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL just speak into the Pixel Buds and the Pixel 2 will play your words through its loudspeaker in 40 different languages play the translated answer back in your ear. The Pixel Buds come in a pocket-sized wireless charging case that will top up around 24 more hours of battery life into them. Moving on to another interesting accessory, which Google showcased today the Google Clips. It's a smart little camera that's designed to capture your precious moments all on its own. Google Clips is small and can decide for itself what moments are snap-worthy. It will automatically capture short clips which you can review seconds later on your phone through the Google Clips app available on Android iOS. Google says that Clips is coming soon starting with the United States. It's designed to work with Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy S7/S8 and iPhone (6 and up). When available Google Clips will retail for $249. The Google Pixel Buds are available for pre-order today in Just Black, Clearly White and Kinda Blue. They will start selling in November beginning with the US for $159. Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia and Singapore will follow later in November.

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OnePlus 5T allegedly cancelled, OnePlus 6 to launch in early 2018

OnePlus 5T allegedly cancelled, OnePlus 6 to launch in early 2018

If you were holding out for a OnePlus 5T, perhaps you shouldnt the rumor mill thinks that its not happening. Instead, the launch of the OnePlus 6 has been pulled up to early 2018. Last year, the company launched the 3T as a way to switch to the +1 version of the chipset (Snapdragon 820 to 821) and to raise the price a bit. Well, they did upgrade the selfie cam too. This year, there will be no +1 for the Snapdragon 835 and OnePlus already played the dual camera card. Plus, it offers generous storage and RAM, so theres not much for a T version to upgrade. What will the OnePlus 6 be like? Tough to tell for now, but a move to a 6 screen the first bump in screen size of the series is not unlikely, especially if combined with an 18:9 screen and a bezel-less design. If thats true, well hear from Carl Pei and co. about it early on in the hype cycle.

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Huawei Mate 10 may cost over 900

Huawei Mate 10 may cost over 900

According to a report from France, the will have a DeX-like feature a mode that turns the new Kirin 970-powered flagship into a full-blown desktop. Allegedly, this will be done via a DisplayPort connection coming out of the USB-C port and being relayed by a dock. Curiously, this may support any DisplayPort dock, not just the Huawei-made one. A was promising that the Mate 10 is not a smartphone but an intelligent machine instead. Anyway, such goodness will not come cheap, we hear. Early (perhaps inaccurate) indications are that the will cost 930-940 on the old continent to the Galaxy Note8. To be fair, the Mates may have the best on the market with Leica helping to open up both apertures to f/1.6. And the is chock full of AI enhancements. Check back with us in a couple of weeks for the official launch. (in French) |

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HMD will update the current Nokia phones to Android P

HMD will update the current Nokia phones to Android P

HMD the current Nokia roster to Android 8.0 Oreo but the company has committed to do more than that it will update these phones to Android P as well (the next major Android version). All the current Nokias launched on Nougat and will live to see two major OS updates. Thats better than many Androids get, especially on the lower rungs of the ladder where the Nokia 3 lives. We guess those are the advantages of running near-stock Android HMD doesnt have to do as much to push out the update. Anyway, HMDs Chief Technology Officer has commented that the company is open to unlocking the bootloaders of its phones. This will ensure that once the official updates stop that wont be for a while, but still you can load up Lineage OS or something similar and keep your phone up to date and secure. The bootloader may have to wait, though, at least until the devs have pushed Oreo out the door. The and the updates should be out by the end of the year. |

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Facebook Messenger Lite arrives in the US, UK, Canada, and Ireland

Facebook Messenger Lite arrives in the US, UK, Canada, and Ireland

The is now available in the US, UK, Canada, and Ireland. This will be very good news for those who are annoyed at the sheer number of features packed into the 'normal' Messenger app, but still need to use this platform for communication. Messenger Lite started off as a project meant to be released in a handful of developing (and mobile data-starved) countries. Hence, it was built with a focus on operating with as few resources as possible, including on the phone hardware side. But it caught on with people from across the world, who started installing it from unofficial sources. The unique selling point here? Probably something along the lines of 'it's Messenger, but with no bloat'. The Lite app back in April, including some developed ones, and it now looks like it will soon be available everywhere, serving as a less heavy alternative to the original app. The tradeoff with Messenger Lite involves giving up on features such as Messenger Day, camera effects, as well as the third party developer platform.

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Sony Xperia XZ1 lands in Canada on October 26

Sony Xperia XZ1 lands in Canada on October 26

While it's in the US, the hasn't gone on sale in Canada yet. That's about to change by the end of this month, however. The XZ1 will officially become available up north on October 26. You'll be able to purchase one from Bell or Freedom Mobile if you're into grabbing your handsets straight from carriers. If you'd rather go the contract-free, unlocked unit route, we assume Amazon will have some in stock too. Pricing hasn't been announced yet unfortunately, but given the fact that it launched in the US costing $699, be prepared to see it marked up to at least CAD 899 in Canada maybe even CAD 1,000. With a contract, you may only need to pay CAD 400 to 500 upfront. The XZ1 units sold in Canada will have a working fingerprint sensor in their side-mounted power button, unlike the ones that are out in the US. And that's good news for anyone who enjoys the convenience of unlocking a phone quickly and securely.

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Oppo F5 appears on posters in the Philippines

Oppo F5 appears on posters in the Philippines

, but Oppo already decided to launch a successor to the phone, dubbed selfie master. Its name is Oppo F5, and it already started popping up on various advert places. We got a tip that the phone appeared on two posters with celebrities Alden Richards and Sarah Geronimo. The Oppo F5 will have one camera on the back and will also appear to be the first Oppo F-series device with a fingerprint scanner on the back, shaped in an oval form. The poster does not reveal much about the design, but it comes with a slogan Capture the real you and a Selfie Expert moniker below. This most likely means the Oppo F5 will have dual cameras on the front. Sources also reveal that an Oppo store is about to be opened in a shopping mall in the suburbs of the Filipino capital Manila. Probably it will coincide with the launch of the F5, but we are yet to hear more about the phone. The handset is rumored to come with 6 display with an FHD+ resolution of 2880x1440 pixels in an 18:9 ratio.

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Gionee S11 pops-up on TENAA with a 6-inch, 18:9 FullVision AMOLED display

Gionee S11 pops-up on TENAA with a 6-inch, 18:9 FullVision AMOLED display

Gionee is definitely keeping busy lately. Only a few days ago the company the and and a recent suggest a third budget-oriented 18:9 device is on the way as well. Well, now we can bump the count with at least one more handset the Gionee S11, which recently showed up on the Chinese certification authority's website as well. It seems Gionee has really taken the ultra-wide aspect ration trend to heart, since the S11 is listed as using a 6.01-inch, 1080 x 2160 pixel AMOLED panel. Likely the very same FullVision one used in the M7. You definitely won't hear us complaining, since it has all the right signs to really impress. At least on paper, that is. TENAA also shares the unit they received runs on a 2.5GHz octa-core chipset, coupled with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Taking after its predecessor, the Gionee S11 will also have a total of four cameras two on the back and two on the front. By the looks of things, the setup won't really be changed and will consist of 16 MP + 8 MP on one side and 20MP + 8MP on the other, respectively. According to TENAA, this is all crammed into a body, measuring 155.8 x 72.6 x 6.95mm and weighing in at 178 grams. This includes a sealed-in 3,600 mAh battery. Other mentioned specs are a fingerprint reader on the back and an Android 7.1.1 Nougat-based OS. Interestingly enough, a device with the Gionee S11 moniker popped-up on GFXBench recently as well. The benchmark also reports a 6-inch, 1080 x 2160 pixel display and a 16MP main camera so far, so good. However, other details don't really match up, like the quad-core MediaTek MT6763 chipset, 4GB of RAM and 4MP selfie cam. Since the S10 does have two other variants, we can expect to see the same from the S11, which could explain the mismatch. Here's hoping we get some official info from Gionee soon. | |

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Amazon Alexa calling + messaging now available in UK, Germany, and Austria

Amazon Alexa calling + messaging now available in UK, Germany, and Austria

Amazons Echo is able to get software updates very easily. After all, the physical device itself acts as a capsule equipped with mics and speakers for Amazons cloud service, which the Echo communicates with. Amazon Alexa gained a significant new feature a few months ago that allowed Amazon Echo owners to get in touch with their family and friends who also use the Amazon Echo. This new feature is now available to the Amazon Echos European markets: UK, Germany, and Austria. If you head into your Amazon Echo app, where the app will request access to your contacts. Once set up, youll be able to say Alexa, make a call, then state the name of the person you are trying to reach. If you know others who also use an Amazon Echo, youll be able to place calls with them or anyone mobile who has the Amazon Alexa App installed. The Amazon Alexa calling feature also comes bundled with a feature that lets you send voice messages to your friends and family. When Alexa flashes green, this means you have a message waiting, to which you can say Alexa, hear my messages. Another more recent Amazon Echo feature that we anticipate will hit Echos Euro markets is the new Drop in feature. This lets you open the mic and speaker connection between two Amazon Echo devices in the same household.

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WhatsApp finally gets its own emoji set... sort of

WhatsApp finally gets its own emoji set... sort of

After years of using Apple's emoji set across all of its versions, WhatsApp has now finally designed its own emoji set, which is available to those running the latest Android beta. One look at it though and things don't look quite different. Indeed, the set looks awfully similar to the outgoing Apple emoji set, with some elements of the new Android Oreo emoji set with a dash of Twitter emoji set thrown in. While all of these are based on a common instruction from Unicode and it makes sense for them to look similar to reduce lost in translation between devices, they are a bit too similar. WhatsApp started using Apple's emoji set back in the day because Android back then had no support for emoji. To make sure the emoji sent by iPhone users would be seen on Android devices, WhatsApp integrated the entire Apple emoji set within its application. Even later on when Android did get emoji support, it still made sense for WhatsApp to have the Apple set to ensure compatibility as not all Android devices had emoji support and some looked different than others. Right now I am not entirely sure if this set will be only available on non-Apple devices or across all platforms that WhatsApp is available on. I guess it makes sense to still use the native Apple emoji set on Apple devices as these emoji do look quite similar. Maybe that was the purpose in making them look so similar and WhatsApp probably just wanted to stop using Apple's set, possibly for legal reason (although it is still a mystery how they got around to using it all these years). This set will eventually make its way to the final build and likely to the desktop versions as well.

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New leaked image portrays Huawei Mate 10 next to its predecessor

New leaked image portrays Huawei Mate 10 next to its predecessor

Huawei may insist on saying the upcoming , but it sure leaks like one. Following the huge leak from yesterday, which brought us of the , today a new image compares that device to the Mate 9 from last year, as you can see. It's not clear if this is to scale, but if it is then expect the Mate 10 Pro to be slightly narrower and perhaps a tad shorter than its predecessor. The Mate 10 Pro has a glass back, dual rear cameras with Leica branding (and f/1.6 aperture at least on the main one), a fingerprint scanner under those, and a dual-LED flash. It will be powered by the in-house developed Kirin 970 chipset, which has a dedicated neural processing unit that will enable AI features. Alongside the Mate 10 Pro, we're expecting a regular Mate 10 to launch, but also a Mate 10 Lite and a Mate 10 Porsche Edition. (in Chinese) | |

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Pixel 2 XL shown from another angle in Walmart leak that also reveals more Google Home Mini details

Pixel 2 XL shown from another angle in Walmart leak that also reveals more Google Home Mini details

Now that we're less than 24 hours away from Google's big hardware-focused event, the new Pixel smartphones simply can't stop leaking. We've seen the in a case yesterday (and ), then both the and its bigger sibling got . How about another angle for the Pixel 2 XL? Thankfully, Walmart has provided that today, after mistakenly listing its pre-order page for the Google Home Mini smart speaker, that should also get unveiled tomorrow. The Pixel 2 XL in this image is in the 'panda' color scheme as you can see. The stereo front facing speakers are clearly visible once more, as are the smaller bezels compared to last year's model and the rounded screen corners. That display should be an LG-made 6 2,880x1,440 OLED, by the way. The once before, and the Walmart listing (which has since been pulled as you'd expect) confirms the $49 pricing. It also revealed that the speaker will be shipping on October 19. |

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Galaxy Note8 joins the iPhone 8 Plus at the top of DxOMark's smartphone camera rankings

Galaxy Note8 joins the iPhone 8 Plus at the top of DxOMark's smartphone camera rankings

Last month DxOMark crowned the , awarding it an overall score of 94 in its testing. Today DxO Labs outed the result achieved by Samsung's Galaxy Note8, and it's... also 94. The iPhone 8 Plus and are thus tied at the top of the DxOMark smartphone camera rankings, for now at least. The and will get official tomorrow, and last year the jumped on the day of its announcement. Then there's the , also a possible contender for the No.1 spot, and let's not forget the either. All in all, this may be a short lived victory for the Note8 and iPhone 8 Plus, but we'll let them enjoy it while it lasts. The Note8 receives the first ever score of 100 for photography, thanks to its excellent zoom performance up to 4x, very low noise levels in low light, fast and accurate autofocus, good detail in bright light and indoor conditions, as well as the bright and vivid colors it captures. The downsides for photo capture have to do with limited dynamic range and frequent highlight clipping, as well as frequent white balance casts in bright light and indoor conditions. The bokeh effect is sometimes not visible even when the mode is enabled. In video capture, the Note8 displays good white balance and color rendering, good exposure and fast exposure convergence, a stable and fast autofocus, good noise reduction regardless of light conditions, and good stabilization. On the flip side, there's no autofocus tracking capability in default mode, and residual motion is visible when holding the camera still during recording. There's also shadow and highlight clipping in high-contrast scenes. To read the full report from DxO Labs, with many more photo samples included, make sure you jump to the Source link below.

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iPhone X retail box shows up on Apple's site

iPhone X retail box shows up on Apple's site

Perhaps unwittingly, Apple has revealed the retail box of the . The front of the box highlights the unique screen of the flagship while the boxes for the 8 and 8 Plus show the glass backs of the phones. The iPhone 7 box also showed the rear of the devices, same for the iPhone 6 generation the 6s in between did show the front, however. So, Apple has no firm rule about which side of the device should be put on the front of the box. Anyway, you can check out the prices of the iPhone X around the world . Pre-orders begin at the end of the month (October 27) and sales start in early November. | (PDF) |

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iPhone X retail box shows up on Apple's site

iPhone X retail box shows up on Apple's site

Perhaps unwittingly, Apple has revealed the retail box of the . The front of the box highlights the unique screen of the flagship while the boxes for the 8 and 8 Plus show the glass backs of the phones. The iPhone 7 box also showed the rear of the devices, same for the iPhone 6 generation the 6s in between did show the front, however. So, Apple has no firm rule about which side of the device should be put on the front of the box. Anyway, you can check out the prices of the iPhone X around the world . Pre-orders begin at the end of the month (October 27) and sales start in early November. | (PDF) |

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