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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Samsung Pay launch in France seems imminent

Samsung Pay launch in France seems imminent

Back in May this year, there were that Samsung will launch its mobile payments service Pay sometime in September. It was also said that the service will arrive along with a new smartphone. And now, it looks the the launch is about to happen. Firstly because the Samsung Pay app has started arriving on compatible handsets in France, although it's not functional yet. And secondly, is set to go on sale in the country on September 15, which is tomorrow. So it's safe to assume that Samsung fans in France will be able to use the company's mobile payments service within a day or two.

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Essential Phone will finally be available in Sprint stores starting tomorrow

Essential Phone will finally be available in Sprint stores starting tomorrow

The finally a few days ago, following multiple delays. But what if you want to see it in person before you buy? What if you want to play with it for a bit and then decide if it's worth your hard earned cash? Thankfully, has you covered. Starting on September 14 (this Thursday), the Essential Phone will be available in all of the carrier's physical stores. To celebrate this incredible achievement, Sprint is offering 50% off the handset for a limited time. You need to go with the Sprint Flex Lease scheme, and you'll only pay $14.58 per month for the Essential Phone for 18 months. That translates into savings of more than $260 according to the carrier. If you're interested in the 360-degree camera accessory for the Essential Phone, you can purchase that from Sprint for $199.99 or in 12 monthly installments of $16.67.

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7 reasons to upgrade to the iPhone 8/8 Plus (and a couple not to)

7 reasons to upgrade to the iPhone 8/8 Plus (and a couple not to)

So you have an or and after yesterday's keynote you are unsure if there's any reason to switch to the or . Or maybe you're just looking to find how much of an upgrade the new models are. Either way you've come to the right place. We went through all differences between the new iPhone 8 Plus and found 7 solid ones to justify an upgrade over the 2016 to the 2017 iPhones. The iPhone 8 Plus has an all new glass back and one new color option. Apple promises that its new Ion-strengthened glass is the toughest yet on a phone. The base storage of the iPhone 8 duo is now double that of the iPhone 7 family we are finally past the point where the starting price got you storage that was borderline unusable on your main phone. The iPhone 8 Plus has a glass back for a reason it supports the Qi wireless charging standard. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus also have fast wired charging up to 50% of charge in just 30 minutes. If you own an iPhone 7 Plus you know how tediously slow it charges. Okay, the iPhone 8 Plus retained the display size, resolution and display technology LCD but the screen different. It supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 and it's a True Tone display, meaning it will read the ambient light and adjust the white balance accordingly so you'll never have too warm or too cold a screen. The camera resolution remained 12MP, the iPhone 8 comes with new, larger sensor and a better, faster image signal processor. All of this promises better focusing in low light, lower noise in lower light, real-time image and motion analysis body and face detection, wide color capture, new frame rates for video 4K at 60fps as well as slow motion 1080p at 240fps. Portrait mode on the Plus model has gotten better. It now supports Portrait Lighting, which scans a scene and let's you choose what type of light hits your subject strong, soft, studio. And you can adjust it after you've taken the shot too. This is the biggest reason by far. The A11 Bionic should wipe the floor with the A10 Fusion. It's built on a new 10nm process (as opposed to the 16nm of the A10 Fusion), it has more transistors, more CPU cores (six vs four) and a new Apple-made GPU. The A11 Bionic has 6 cores 2 high-performance and 4 power-efficient ones. The A10 Fusion has 2 of each type. The A10 Fusion chip can run either the 2 fast cores or the 2 slower ones, while the A11 can run all six at the same time. Apple promises 25% faster performance cores, 75% faster power efficient cores and 70% faster multi-threaded performance. On the other hand the iPhone 8 Plus is 20g heavier than the 7 Plus, while the 8 weighs 10g more than the 7. And that's while having the exact same ample bezels as last year's models actually those haven't improved since the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus came in 2016. A more important reason not to move to either of the iPhone 8 versions however is the iPhone X it just looks so sexy that it makes the other two as coming from a previous era. If only it wasn't as pricy as it was this would have been a much shorter story.

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Oppo R11 TFBOYS Edition shows that boy bands are alive and well in China

Oppo R11 TFBOYS Edition shows that boy bands are alive and well in China

Some people like , others like boy bands. Were not here to pass judgment, just provide the information. So here it is the now has a TFBOYS Edition. Never heard of TFBOYS? Its a boy band from China formed by TF Entertainment. The band consists of three members Wang Junkai, Wang Yuan and Yi Yangqianxi so there are three versions of the phone. Each bears the signature of one of the members, above an 18K gold-plated logo of the band. The retail box also features the logo and one of three colors for the R11 label. The spec sheet is identical 5.5 AMOLED screen (1080p), Snapdragon 660, 20MP + 16MP dual camera and 3,000mAh battery. The price is the same too CNY 3,000, while the R11 FC Barcelona Edition was pricier at CNY 3,500. The Oppo R11 TFBoys Edition will be available in limited quantities starting September 15 at 10:00 China time. (in Chinese)

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First update hits Galaxy Note8, improves camera stability and wireless charging

First update hits Galaxy Note8, improves camera stability and wireless charging

The has reached consumers in limited quantities and Samsung already has a firmware update ready right on time before the masses get their hands on the new flagship (its big rollout is set for September 15). The new firmware version N950FXXU1AQI1 improves the stability of the camera app. Wireless charging should work better as well and the overall performance of the phone has been improved. Note that the Android Security Patch level remains August, the September security enhancements are not included. The update is available to unbranded units as well as one sold by Vodafone. You can try downloading the update manually through the settings if you didnt get a prompt. (in Dutch)

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