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OnePlus 6 passes through TENAA ahead of official launch

Andrew Myrick
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We already know that the OnePlus 6 will be unveiled on May 16th at an event in London. However, the device had not yet been certified by either the FCC or China’s TENAA certifications.

OnePlus 6 on TENAA

That has changed, as the handset has passed through TENAA, revealing some specs. Unlike other TENAA listings, the one for the OnePlus A6000 does not give us a look at the device.

READ MORE: Here’s everything we know about the OnePlus 6

On the spec front, the certification reveals a chipset clocked at 2.45GHZ. This may be a bit odd to some, as the Snapdragon 845 is clocked at up to 2.8GHz. However, OnePlus likely turned things down a bit to help save on battery life.

The certification also confirmed that there will be a model with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. We are expecting OnePlus to stick with its recent trend of offering handsets with up to 8GB of RAM, so there’s no concern here.

Moving back to the battery, the certifications confirm a 3,300mAh battery will be on board. This is a bit disappointing, but hopefully, the underclocked CPU will help keep the device trucking along.

When it comes to the dimensions, the OnePlus 6 will measure in at 155.7 x 75.35 x 7.75mm. As for the display, OnePlus will use a 6.28-inch AMOLED display, with a resolution of 2280 x 1080.

Surprisingly, this will be even larger than the display found on the OnePlus 5T. Although the included notch is likely the culprit for this increase in display size. Nonetheless, OnePlus has already confirmed that there will be software tweaks to hide the notch if you want to.

Finally, the TENAA listing confirms some specs in the camera department. On the front, the OnePlus 6 will sport a 16MP sensor, which will likely also be able to act as a face unlock.

Moving to the rear, we will again have a dual-camera setup. There will be a primary 16MP sensor and a secondary 20MP lens, which falls in line with previous leaks and rumors.

We’re just under two weeks away from seeing the official launch of the OP6. Sound off in the comments below and let us know whether you’re excited for this handset to finally be released.

LG V35 ThinQ is most likely the exclusive LG phone headed for AT&T

Alexandra Arici
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We previously told you AT&T confirmed that it will not be stocking LG’s latest flagship, the G7 ThinQ. Instead, the carrier is going to offer a new exclusive LG phone beginning this summer.

In the official statement, the company said that it already offers a “strong lineup of devices from LG”, but failed to mention any more details regarding the upcoming handset.

Now a new report coming out of AndroidHeadlines reveals that the phone in question will most likely be the LG V35 ThinQ. It’s not the first time the V35 ThinQ gets mentioned, as the phone first leaked last month.

LG V35 ThinQ leaks in official-looking renders

Yet this time around, we get also get a couple of renders to look at. And as you can see from the images, the V35 ThinQ looks almost indistinguishable from the LG V30S ThinQ, which recently went up for pre-order in the US. The frontal pic also clearly shows that the phone is registered on AT&T’s network.

According to the info available, the upcoming phone will apparently take advantage of a 6-inch QHD+ OLED display with 80% screen-to-body ratio and won’t have a notch. It will also include a dual rear camera setup à la G7 ThinQ (two 16-megapixel sensors) and a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC.

Need more proof that the V35 ThinQ is indeed the mysterious LG phone headed for AT&T? Recently, reliable leakster @evleaks revealed in a Tweet that the V35 ThinQ (Emma) will arrive around the same time as the G7 ThinQ.

What’s more, a second phone in the V series, the V40 ThinQ (Storm) will launch towards the end of summer/ early fall.

At this point, it’s unclear at the moment in what ways the V35 ThinQ will be superior to the V30S ThinQ or G7 ThinQ. We’ll have to assume the improvements are going to be significant, otherwise, it wouldn’t make much sense.

Of course, nothing has been confirmed just yet, so take this info with a grain of salt for the time being.

Samsung really wants you to use Samsung Pay, launches new cash back perk

Alexandra Arici
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Need another reason to start using Samsung Pay on your Galaxy phone? Well, Samsung just announced it will start offering cash back to customers who use the service to pay for select items.

This will be done through the new Cash Back program for Samsung Pay which has started rolling out exclusively for users in the US.

Now, when you check your Samsung Pay app, you’ll find there’s a new section in home screen which shows you exclusive offers from select retailers. Initial partners include eBay, Etsy, Instacart, Walmart and Warby Parker.

Once you’ve see an offer you like, all you need to do is to tap on it and make the purchase. You’ll instantly get a percentage back in your Samsung Pay wallet. The funds can be spent anywhere you use Samsung Pay.

Samsung’s new scheme encourages you to use Samsung Pay

Note that the new initiative is independent of Samsung’s Reward Points program, which will continue to operate as usual. Speaking of Reward Points, the company said users will be able to purchase points later this month.

So if you’re merely a few points away from getting an S-View Cover for your Galaxy S9, you’ll soon be able to buy the remaining points. As opposed to just shopping aimlessly just so you can get additional points.

Samsung launched its mobile payment service three years ago. Like in the case of Apple Pay or Google Pay, you wave your smartphone above a point-of-sale terminal to pay for goods.

Since launching the service, Samsung has expanded it beyond merely letting users pay for items with their phones. For example, it works in concert with Bixby, so you can take a picture of an item and the virtual assistant will you what it is and where can you buy it.

Now Samsung has added a new perk for Samsung Pay users to take advantage of. With the mobile payments market being as fiercely competitive as it is, Samsung Pay hopes to stand out thanks to the new cashback scheme.

Google brings even more Assistant features to Wear OS

Andrew Myrick
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Back in March, Google surprised everyone by rebranding Android Wear to Wear OS. The move hopes to inject some new life into what has seemed to be a dying breed as of late.

In fact, there has not been a new Android Wear/Wear OS smartwatch released in some time. However, that hasn’t stopped Google from working on new software updates and new features.

READ MORE: The Five Best Smartwatches

The company released its first Android P build for Wear OS at the end of March. Today, Google announced a slew of new features that are coming to a smartwatch near you.

Focused on Assistant

It should come as no surprise that this update is focused on bringing Assistant to your wrist. Sure, you could already use Google Assistant on your smartwatch, but the features were limited.

Now, we are seeing smart suggestions whenever Assistant is activated. These are “contextually relevant” questions or responses that you can select from.

In addition to having Assistant help answer any questions, Google confirmed that actions are coming to Wear OS. This means that you will be able to use your smartwatch to control your smart home products.

WearOS_BT.gif

It’s really nice being able to use your smartphone, but this is a functionality that should have been on board long ago. Nonetheless, Google is stepping its game up here and making life easier.

The last new feature coming to Wear OS smartwatches is the ability to audibly hear answers to questions. This will work whether your watch is paired with Bluetooth headphones, or if there’s an onboard speaker.

When is the update coming?

Instead of waiting until Google I/O, which takes place next week, this update is rolling out now. You should begin seeing these features available on your smartwatch over the next few days.

However, Google is also planning to show off some more features for developers. The company will be live-streaming the I/O session on May 9th at 10:30 am PST.

Let us know what you think about this update and if you are excited to see Actions on your wrist.

Seven best apps for meeting new people

Alexandra Arici
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Dating apps are all the rage right now, but not everyone is looking for romantic meetings. Some people are just looking to make new friends. Whether you are traveling or moving to a new city, the idea of going to bars and striking up a conversation with random strangers will not appeal to most people.

Luckily, you can always meet new friends by using mobile apps. And there are plenty of apps specially designed to help you meet strangers. They connect you with people you can go to events to or with locals who like showing tourists around town.

In what follows, we’ve rounded up some of the best apps for people who want to make new friends.

See Also:

As for those of you who want to get a date, we have another list of apps that will hopefully help you find love.

MeetMe

What it is:

A social app which lets you chat with people nearby, but also with folks from around the world.

Why we like it:

  • The app allows you find people nearby who share your particular interests. Having things in common represents the basis of a strong friendship, right?
  • MeetMe includes video chatting and streaming. It lets you go beyond just typing and allows you to forge a connection faster, even before you meet in person.
  • The app has been installed by 100+ million people, so it’s quite diverse. You’ll get plenty of options.

Install MeetMe

Bottled – Message in a Bottle

What it is:

Bottled puts a fun twist on the whole idea of meeting new people. It’s part game, part social app and revolves around the concept of message in the bottle.

Why we like it:

  • Write a personal message and release it into the unknown. It will eventually be picked up by a person from around the world.
  • In the meanwhile, you sit on your island awaiting message in the bottles yourself. Keep the bottle to connect with the person who wrote the message or let it drift back to the sea. You can also collect additional items, by opening the treasure chests that float ashore.
  • You can follow the journey of your bottles in real time.
  • Cheeky Captain will pop up from time to time and test your knowledge of the world.

Bonus: You don’t have to sign up with Facebook

Install Bottled – Message in a Bottle

Speaky – Language Exchange

What it is:

Speaky provides you with a good excuse to meet new people. Learn how to speak a new language by connective with natives. Then perfect your talking skills by meeting up.

Why we like it:

  • Want to learn a language? The easiest way is to speak your way through perfection. Speaky lets you connect with “pen” plans who are also native speakers of languages like Spanish, French, German, Chinese and more.
  • The app lets you find native speakers with similar interests.
  • It has a handy text correction feature.
  • Intuitive interface, so you can easily tell who is a native speaker of which language and which tongue they are trying to learn.

Install Speaky – Language Exchange

Skout

What it is:

An app for meeting new people which encourages you to broadcast yourself.

Why we like it:

  • The app allows you to chat and meet new people by preference and proximity.
  • You can broadcast yourself or see what other people’s streams.
  • The app has an easy-to-navigate interface.
  • Share pics and statuses, just like on Facebook.

Install Skout

Meetup

What it is:

Looking to do something around town? Try Meetup and find the coolest meeting groups that focus on the things you love.

Why we like it:

  • The app lets you meet people who have the same hobbies.
  • It facilitates meetings in different areas including Tech, Fitness, Photography and more.
  • You can easily filter Meetups by date or city, which makes it a perfect app for travelers too.

Install Meetup

Nearify

What it is:

Need someone to attend an event with? Try Nearify, an app for meeting people who love the things you love.

Why we like it:

  • Love music or dance or theater? Never miss an event with Nearify. The app offers a daily personalized list of events near your location of choice, so you’ll always be in the loop.
  • See the events your friends are attending and join in the fun.
  • The app lets you follow your favorite artists and track their events. Although the database is pretty scarce at the moment.

Install Nearify

Worldpackers

What it is:

An app designed for travelers, which helps you meet new people and get accommodation for free in exchange for helping out the hosts.

Why we like it:

  • Worldpackers helps you travel the world on the budget, but also to meet inspiring locals and forge new relationships.
  • Finds you work exchange and volunteering opportunities all around the globe.
  • The app lets you contact and confirm your stay with the host.

Install Worldpackers

Not doing anything this weekend? Then why don’t you give one of these apps a chance and see if you can find your next hangout buddy?

AT&T won’t carry the G7 ThinQ in favor of an unknown ‘exclusive’

Andrew Myrick
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The LG G7 ThinQ was just announced yesterday, marking the first LG flagship of the year. However, not all carriers are jumping on board with AT&T leading the way.

AT&T says no

According to The Verge, AT&T confirmed that the G7 ThinQ will not be coming to the GSM carrier. Instead, AT&T will be offering a “new LG device this summer”.

With all of the issues that LG has been dealing with over the last few years, this comes as another blow. Sure, AT&T will be carrying an exclusive LG device later, but that doesn’t help the company now.

READ MORE: What’s the Difference: LG G7 ThinQ vs Samsung Galaxy S9

Instead, this just means that whatever device comes to AT&T later will be limited to one carrier. Another product with limited availability is unlikely to help dig LG out of the trenches.

With the Galaxy S9 available on every major US carrier already, this move is rather questionable. It almost seems that other OEM’s are just giving up and aren’t truly trying to take on Samsung anymore.

Nonetheless, we’ll have to wait and see what mystery device LG is working on. I wouldn’t bet that it’s a version of the V30 successor, as that has been a major release.

READ MORE: When will you be able to buy the LG G7 ThinQ?

But if the carrier is willing to hold off on the G7 ThinQ, then I would have to think we might have another flagship on our hands. Nonetheless, we’ll be sure to keep an eye on what’s going on.

Let us know if you think this is a good move for AT&T and LG. Be sure to also sound off about whether you think OEM’s are simply conceding to Samsung at this point.

New Samsung patent shows off embedded fingerprint scanner

Andrew Myrick
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As the bezels on our devices continue to get smaller, this means that front-mounted fingerprint scanners are on the move. Many OEM’s, including Samsung, have opted to move these to the rear.

However, there are a few others that are attempting to develop a scanner that is embedded in the display. Vivo was the first to the market with this technology, which was shown off at CES 2018.

We have been expecting to see a response from Samsung. It seems that we now have an idea of what could come to a future Sammy device.

Samsung Embedded Fingerprint Scanner

A new patent filing shows us what Samsung could have planned for a future handset. The scanner would be embedded in the lower-third of the display.

From there, the sensors would begin reading the necessary biometric information. If it is you who is unlocking the device, then access would be granted like normal.

But the interesting aspect of what Samsung is doing is taking advantage of the AMOLED display. The embedded scanner would use the “light-emitting property” of the display.

This means that the display around your finger would be lit up, allowing the scanner to work. The patent filing even shows the process that would take place with the different bits of technology.

According to 91mobiles, this is the same technology that is used by Vivo’s X21 UD. Synaptics is the maker of this tech, but it’s unknown whether Samsung would be using the same sensor.

Hold your horses

While a lot of folks want to jump to conclusions, we should take a step back. It’s extremely improbable that the Galaxy Note 9 would feature this technology.

Just because a patent has been filed and/or granted, that has no bearing as to when the technology will be released. Samsung has been struggling with this embedded fingerprint scanner technology for the last few years.

It seems that there is finally some light at the tunnel, although. If this tech is coming to a Samsung device, it likely wouldn’t be until next year at the earliest.

It’s clear that this could be the next trend in smartphones. However, it’s simply too early to tell, and most OEM’s are fine with using a rear-mounted scanner.

Let us know what you think about this new patent in the comment section below.

Samsung introduces the Galaxy A6 and A6+, stylish phones with advanced cameras

AndroidGuys
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Recently, Samsung is announcing its new Galaxy A6 and A6+ phones. While the Galaxy A series sits below the Galaxy S series as far as specs go, the A6 line is no slouch. The Galaxy A6 and A6+ tout Samsung’s “Infinity Display,” metal builds, and impressive rear AND front cameras.

Both phones have metal housing instead of glass, and on the back are visible antenna lines. They also both sport the new 2:1 aspect ratio standard. Samsung’s more flagship notable features are on both devices as well, including Always-On display, App pairing, Bixby, and Samsung Pay (NFC Only though). With all that though, the primary focus of these phones are their great cameras.

The Galaxy A6 has a 5.6” HD+ (720p) Super AMOLED display with a 16MP front-facing camera and a 16MP rear-facing camera. Powering the screen is an octa-core processor and a 3000mAh battery. It also comes with either 3GB or 4GB RAM and 32GB or 64GB storage.

The Galaxy A6+ has dual rear cameras, sporting 16MP and 5MP lenses, capable of Samsung’s Live Focus effect. Behind the 6.0” FHD+ (1080p) Super AMOLED display is a ridiculous 24MP front-facing camera. Under the hood, we’ve got a stronger octa-core processor and a 3500mAh, with the same amount of RAM and storage.

While the phones will be available in early May, they aren’t scheduled for Northern American markets. First, they are coming to Europe, Latin America, and Northern Asia, then out globally elsewhere. Unfortunately, we weren’t given a price either; but what do you think of the Galaxy A6 family?

The Nokia 6.1 comes to the US with Android One onboard

Andrew Myrick
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0

Although the LG G7 ThinQ was just introduced, we are still awaiting quite a few new smartphones. Getting back into the budget game, Nokia has announced the new Nokia 6.1.

Nokia 6.1 Launches

This device is also being touted as the “Nokia 6 2018” due to its similar design to its predecessor. On the spec front, we don’t have anything super crazy, as we have a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Powering the Nokia 6.1 is the Snapdragon 630 chipset, which has been coupled with 3GB of RAM. We also have 32GB of onboard storage, with a microSD card slot with support up to 128GB.

When it comes to the cameras, there is a standard 8MP sensor on the front. On the rear, we have a 16MP lens with an f/2.0 aperture and a dual-tone flash.

As you can see in the image above, there is a fingerprint scanner placed just below the camera module. Finally, the Nokia 6.1 also includes a respectable 3,000mAh battery.

Android One onboard

What makes the Nokia 6.1 so special comes in the software department. Nokia is joining the Android One brigade, meaning that the device will sport a vanilla Android experience.

READ MORE: What’s the difference: Android Go vs Android One

This also means that the handset is guaranteed to see software updates for two years. On the security side, updates will come to the device for the next three years.

Price & Availability

Since this device rocks Android One and mid-range specs you won’t have to worry about a hefty price tag. The Nokia 6.1 is priced at just $269 and will be made available from Amazon and Best Buy on May 6th.

The catch here is that the device is GSM-only. This means that you will be to use just AT&T or T-Mobile.

Buy the Nokia 6.1!

Google Now Launcher is gone, here are some of the best replacements

Andrew Myrick
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The launcher is the most used “application” on any Android smartphone. So when Google released its own version many Android purists rejoiced.

However, Google confirmed the retirement of its launcher back in 2017. The app has continued to work for just about everyone, until a few days ago.

Android Central has found that the Google Now Launcher is incompatible with just about every handset. There are a few outliers, such as the BlackBerry KeyOne, but even the Galaxy S9 can’t run the app.

What this means for those who currently have it installed, is that it will continue to work, without updates. But if you opt to get a new device, or wipe your current phone clean, you will lose access.

With that, we are taking a look at a few replacement options for you to consider.

Nova Launcher

Nova Launcher Logo

Nova launcher is arguably the most customizable launcher on the Play Store. The app features so many different configurations that you can create any layout that your mind can think of.

The best part is that if you somehow haven’t already purchased Nova, there’s a free version to get your feet wet. If you want to dive all the way in, you can pick up Nova Prime for $4.99.

Download Nova!

Action Launcher

If Nova is the best launcher, then Action is the second best. The app has been around for quite some time and has been seeing regular updates to add more customization features.

What sets Action apart from the rest is the inclusion of the “Shelf” feature. This is similar to what’s found on the OnePlus OxygenOS launcher. Recent updates have focused on bringing more Pixel features to the application, and it’s available for free.

Download Action!

Lawnchair Launcher

Lawnchair started out as an open-source project but turned into something much bigger. After seeing much popularity for offering a stock experience, Lawnchair’s developers opted to release its app on the Play Store.

Instead of the boring barebones experience, Lawnchair gives you the stock experience with a slew of customization features. You can even use your favorite icon pack and more.

Download Lawnchair!

 

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