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[LEAKED] Chinese website leaks new Snapdragon chips

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Chinese website anzhuo.cn has leaked an image of specs for new Snapdragon chips by Qualcomm. Last week Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 835, but the image reveals more details – as well as a second chip called Snapdragon 660.

Image credit: anzhuo.cn
Image credit: anzhuo.cn

It sounds like the 835 chip is going to be based on an altered Kryo 200 CPU architecture, which has eight cores – four big, four small – although the clock speeds are anyone’s guess right now. The SoC will also contain an Adreno 540 GPU and Qualcomm’s X16 LTE modem.

This chip uses Samsungs 10nm FinFET manufacturing process, which is entirely brand new and is said to bring a 30% boost in area efficiency and a possible 27% higher performance power at the same usage or 40% lower power consumption at the same performance level. The 835 chip might even work with Qualcomm’s upcoming Quick Charge 4.0.

Qualcomm’s website promises the X16 will be the world’s first gigabit-class modem, with download speeds up to 10 times as fast first generation 4G modems.

x16_gigabit

The 835 chip can also support four-channel LPDDR4X-1866 RAM, working in tandem with the UFS2.1 flash memory. The Snapdragon 835 looks like it will appear on the market in Q1 2017, and might even power the Samsung Galaxy S8.

The Snapdragon 660 SoC looks like it will use Samsung’s 14nm FinFET manufacturing process. It will be another quad-core, with four 2.2GHz cores and four 1.9GHz cores. The chip also uses the Adreno 512 GPU with an X10 LTE modem. Two-channel LPDDR4X-1866 RAM will be used with the 660. It sounds like this chip will replace the Snapdragon 652.

ZTE Axon 7, Axon 7 Mini get hefty discounts starting on Black Friday

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Not to be outdone by other smartphone makers, ZTE is discounting two of its phones for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and beyond. If you’ve had your eye on the Axon 7 or Axon 7 Mini, you will certainly want to pay attention to this weekend’s deal. We’re talking $50 and $100 discounts!

This year’s savings include:

Black Friday, Nov. 25 through Sunday, Nov. 27

  • Axon 7 Mini (Ion Gold) for $199.98 at Best Buy ($100 savings)
  • Axon 7 Mini (Platinum Gray) for $249.98 at Amazon, Best Buy, B&H, Fry’s, Newegg and ZTEUSA.com ($50 savings)

Cyber Monday, Nov. 28 – Sunday, Dec. 4

  • Axon 7 is available for $349.98 at Amazon, Best Buy, B&H, Fry’s, Newegg and zteusa.com ($50 savings)

Pretty tough stuff to pass up if you ask us!

 

Google Pixel learns two new, helpful tricks in latest update

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The Google Pixel is getting even smarter and more user friendly thanks to a new software update.  According to reports popping up on Reddit, Pixel owners who subscribe to service on Bell, Public Mobile, and TELUS the update (NPF26J) brings about two new “Moves” for the handset.

pixel_movesWeighing in at around 261MB, the build gives users the ability to double-tap the display to see alerts. Additionally, Pixel owners can raise the phone to wake it for notifications; this is similar to what happens with the Nexus 6P as well as many Motorola models.

Both features appears to be user-defined and easy to toggle on and off. As some of our favorite options in the Pixel and Pixel XL, the Moves give phone owners helpful and quick ways of navigating and using their device.

As great as this stuff sounds, it has not yet rolled out to Pixel owners in other markets. At least not as of the time of this publication.

Mr. Jump makes the leap to Android (review)

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Overview

Mr. Jump was a widely popular game on iOS, and it’s finally made its way over to Android. Mr. jump is a simple game with a charming aesthetic and challenging platforming that will surely keep you coming back.

  • Developer: 1Button & ZPLAY
  • Cost: Free

Impressions

Mr. Jump is one of those games that you hear about a lot as an Android user, not privy to those iOS exclusives. It’s a simple, challenging, and addictive platformer that everyone loves and is given heaps of praise. After what seems like all too long, Mr. Jump is finally here on Android, ported over by ZPLAY.

Mr. Jump is a cute, simplistic platformer with one-button controls and a basic premise of getting to then end without dying to advance and unlock the next stage. The game is challenging and does a generally decent job of scaling the difficulty throughout its many levels.

The trick in Mr. Jump is timing and quick thinking, and it can get very difficult in later stages to execute perfectly every time. There are different power-ups in the game as well, to help you navigate the many obstacles, which include jetpacks and infinite jumps. There are also secret areas that allow you to bypass levels and unlock even more.

The secret to Mr. Jump’s success is rooted in simplicity. The graphics are blocky, and feature bright colors and patterns pleasing to the eye. The sounds and music are fun and jaunty without getting distracting, and overall the game looks and feels great without being overly cutesy or too bland.

The developers have really done a good job of making this game play well as well and look good, and it’s evident by the success it has achieved on iOS. Mr. Jump on Android runs well, with no performance issues that I’ve experienced so far. Overall, Mr. Jump is just a very solid game to play.

That being said, I do have an issue with the difficulty scaling in some places. For the most part the game is a decent challenge, but in some levels, including the first one, the game seems unusually hard and I miss jumps that I seem to have timed correctly.

I don’t know if it’s just me or if the game is actually that difficult in places, but sometimes Mr. Jump can get frustrating and make you want to throw your phone in anger. Despite that, I still enjoy Mr. Jump and that challenge certainly encourages you to keep trying, until you finally beat that one level that has been plaguing you for days or weeks.

Conclusion

Mr. Jump is, in my opinion, a perfect example of a mobile game. It’s simple, yet challenging – engaging, yet not overbearing. Most of all, it’s fun and addicting without being a time-consuming mess.

It’s cute and has polish and substance, and just the right amount of infuriating challenge that will bring people back to playing again and again. Mr. Jump checks all the boxes for a great, fun game and I am sure it will find similar success on Android that it has on iOS.

HTC 10 Evo is an international take on Sprint’s HTC Bolt

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HTC today announced the 10 Evo as an international version of the Sprint’s most recent smartphone, the HTC Bolt. Slated to go on sale in markets outside of the United States, it essentially drops the three-channel carrier aggregation in favor of the more common LTE bands used in Europe and other countries.

The HTC 10 Evo features a 5.5-inch quad HD display with curved glass and Gorilla Glass 5 protection, a 16-megapixel rear camera with an aperture of f/2.0, and a 3,200mAh battery. Inside we find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chip with 3GB and 32GB of storage space. Users who need more capacity can insert a microSD card up to 2TB.

Other specifications include a front-facing 8-megapixel camera with selfie light, USB Type-C charging port with Quick Charge 2.0, and BoomSound Adaptive Audio headphones. Wrapped in a unibody metal chassis, the 10 Evo comes with an IP57 rating to protect against water and dust.

Pricing and exact availability has not yet been made available. Sprint’s HTC Bolt, for what it’s worth, runs about $600 so we might expect something in that realm.

Take advantage of BlackBerry’s nifty Black Friday discounts

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BlackBerry might not be so popular with customers anymore but the company still offers a few worthy devices. Speaking of which, the Canadian ex-smartphone maker is offering a set of pretty decent discounts for Black Friday.

The Canadian company has already kick started its Black Friday deals which include a couple of Android smartphones and some BlackBerry OS products as well.

BlackBerry boasts 53% discounts on select smartphones and there are some pretty high-end models included in the list.

The cheapest of them all is the BlackBerry Leap which is now available for $159 from the regular $199. The phone has a 5-inch display with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution and ships with BlackBerry OS 10.3.1.

blackberry-dtek50Moving along we find the previous-gen DTEK50 has been discounted from a regular $299 to $229. This Android phone already has a successor, the DTEK60 which is not included in the promotion sadly.

Up next we have the atypical Passport models in Silver and Black. The Silver model is now $299 down from $549, while the Black version is $249 down from $499. Both handsets run on BlackBerry 10.3.2.

But we’re an Android site, so we’re going to draw your attention to the BlackBerry Priv – a high-end phone from the Canadian company which runs Google’s mobile OS.

blackberry-privPreviously a hefty $649, the device now features a more acceptable $299 price tag. The devices boasts a 5.4-inch display with 1,440 x 2,560 pixel resolution and a Snapdragon 808 under the hood working in concert with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The phone features Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out the box.

As we were saying above, despite BlackBerry not leading smartphones sales anymore, the company offers pretty nice discounts. By comparison Samsung’s Black Friday promo lists doesn’t impress much. Android fans might want to look towards HTC instead.

Google Home speaker available for $99 (save $30) on November 23

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On the market for a connected speaker? Why not consider buying the recently unveiled Google Home. The devices hasn’t been out long but Google will be offering it with a discount on Black Friday.

Starting on Wednesday, November 23 the Google Home will be available for only $99, down from $129. We don’t know how long the promotion will be available, so if you want the speaker you best wake up early on said date.

google-homeA competitor to Amazon’s Echo, Google’s Home connected speaker aims to deepen the smart home experience. The device takes advantage of Google Assistant whose machine learning capabilities are used to hold conversations and answer questions with context awareness.

amazon-echoThe Google Assistant handles a lot of complicated queries, being able to deliver translations, weather information or set up routes on Google Maps. Google Home is also compatible with Cast, which means users can wirelessly send favorite songs to the speaker for playback.

Now you can have all that in your home for $99. However, if you miss your chance at getting the Google Home speaker from Google itself, you should know that Walmart will also be offering the device for the same price during its Cyber Week Deals which starts Friday Nov. 25 at 12:01 a.m EST.

Sprint LG G5 is receiving Android 7.0 Nougat update

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Not so long ago we told you that the Android 7.0 update started rolling out for users in South Korea. Back then we told you it might be a while before the new build made its way to owners of the LG G5 in the States.

Well it seems that Android 7.0 Nougat is finally landing on the US LG G5 – the Sprint version. User karizmaaa posted a bunch of screenshots on Reddit, showing us how Nougat looks on the LG’s current flagship.

Historically LG has been quite good at delivering updates and finally Nougat builds have started to be released into the wild.

lg-g5-nougat-1-2-3LG’s other flagship, the V20 was released with Android 7.0 Nougat onboard, so this update puts the two premium phones on par, software-wise.

LG G5 users can now enjoy new features like split-screen mode, new quick settings and notification shade plus an enhanced Doze mode.

lg-g5-nougat-7-8-9Interestingly karizmaaa notes on Reddit that LG threw in a built-in DPI changer (measure of a display’s pixel density). You could previously change the DPI via a complicated ADB procedure. However, the Nougat update allows LG G5 users to simply change the DPI of the UI to 544, 640 and 720.

lg-g5-nougat-4-5-6Sprint is the first carrier to deliver the Nougat update to the LG G5 but hopefully more will follow suit soon enough.

Recently Motorola kicked off the Android 7.0 Nougat update for the Moto Z and Moto Z Force. More devices are expected to receive the update in the near future.

Samsung for its part has open a Nougat beta testing program for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, so it might be a while before the company’s surviving flagships get the latest taste of Android.

Other OEMs like HTC, Sony or Huawei are also expected to start delivering the update to their flagship products.

Google’s latest figures show that Android 7.0 is installed on only 0.3% of all Android devices. Hopefully the numbers will grow soon.

Instagram gains live video and Snapchat-like disappearing photos features

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Popular image-centric app Instagram just received an update, adding a host of new, useful features. After teasing the feat earlier this month, Instagram announced the new live video feature is official in the app’s Stories section. Other novelties include dispreading photos and video in direct messages and group chats.

Instagram Stories debuted in August allowing users to share each moment of the day via slideshows that vanish after 24 hours. Now users will be able to broadcast live in Stories, as well.

new-instagram-feats-2In a move that reminds us of Snapchat, Instagram says that Instagram Stories live video will disappear shortly. And if one of your followers screenshots your Instagram Story live video, Instagram will let you know via a Notification. You’ll also be allowed to see how many people viewed your video.

Getting started is easy, just swipe right from your feed to open the camera. You’ll notice a new “Start Live Video” button. Let your friends known you are live by pinning a comment everyone can see. On the other hand, you have the option of turning off comments altogether.

new-instagram-feats-4Once you are live a “Live” indicator will appear under your profile photo. Instagram also makes available a “Top Live” category so you know which stories are trending, in case you feel like checking out popular videos.

Instagram now supports disappearing photos and videos for individual direct messages, but also groups. Instagram boasts that over 300 million users take advantage of direct messages on a daily basis. However, you should remember that for the photos/video to disappear you will need to create them with the “Stories” tab.

new-instagram-feats-3The direct messages inbox icon got an overhaul and you can notice it’s now in the shape of a paper airplane. It’s located in the top right corner of your feed.

Instagram is rolling the new features out today, so you should expect to see them soon. You’ll need to update to the latest version of the app.

Here are Walmart’s Cyber Monday deals and promos

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We’re a few days before the Black Friday / Cyber Monday shopping holiday and most companies and retailers have already posted their discounts and promo lists. It’s the case of Walmart which has sent us a detailed view of its Cyber Monday promotions.

Before we tell you what you can expect to find at Walmart, note that Shop Black Friday deals on Walmart stats on Thursday morning. In Walmart brick and mortar stores the discount fest begins on Thursday evening at 6pm local time. Last but not least, Shop Cyber Week deals on Walmart.com open on Friday at 12:01 am EST.

Here’s what you can get:

Cyber Week Deals – starts Friday Nov. 25 at 12:01 a.m. EST

google-home

  • Samsung 60-inch, 1080p HD Smart LED TV – now $579 + $80 Walmart Gift Card (save $1,120)
  • Google Home – now $99 (save $30)
  • Promark P70 VR Drone – now $50 (save $99)
  • Quadrone Hyrid Drone – now $99 (save $30)
  • Fujifilm Instax Mini 75 Instant Camera – now $49 with Mini Film 10pk (save $20.99)
  • Polaroid Cube+ Action Camera with Wi-Fi – now $99.99 (free shipping)

Walmart offers discounts on several other products including robotic vacuums, camping combo sets and clothing items.

  • Cyber Monday Deals starting Monday, Nov. 28 at 12:01 a.m ESTsamsung-65inch-4k-ultra-hd-led-smart-tv
  • Samsung HDTVs with over 50% off
  • Samsung 65-inch 4K Ultra HD LED Smart TV – now $999 (save $1,200)
  • VIZIO 50-inch 4K Ultra HD SmartCast Smart LED TV – now $379.99 (save $148)
  • Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming laptop – now $999 (save $300)
  • Call of Duty Dragonfly Drone with Camera – now $89 (save $10.99)

dell-inspiron-15-gaming-editionIf you’re a fashion lover, then you will be happy to know that Cyber Monday deals at Walmart also include discounts on sunglasses from Prada, Gucci, Miu Miu and on watches from Omega or Michael Kors.

In case you don’t find anything to your liking here don’t forget to check out alternative options including Best Buy, Amazon, Samsung or Geek Buying.