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Some Galaxy Note 4 batteries are being recalled due to safety concerns

Alexandra Arici
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A few days before the Samsung Galaxy Note8 is expected to launch, we’re hearing US regulators have issued a recall for select Galaxy Note 4 batteries.

Before you get your pitchforks out, let us tell you that this time around it’s nothing remotely similar to the Galaxy Note7 scandal. Actually Samsung doesn’t even have anything to do it with it.

An overheating issue became apparent with some batteries that have been installed on refurbished Galaxy Note 4 units distributed by AT&T’s insurance program and handled by FedEx Supply Chain.

The recalled Galaxy Note 4 battery

We emphasize that only these units are in danger of overheating and are thus being recalled. The Consumer Product Safety Commission website issued a notice in which it explains the batteries installed on these refurbished phones are counterfeit and pose an overheating risk.

Interestingly enough despite the Galaxy Note 4 being a three-year-old phone, these refurbished units were shipped out to customers relatively recently between December 2016 and April 2017. So far, there’s been only one report of a Galaxy Note 4 overheating, but fortunately no one has been injured.

 

To prevent any more similar occurrences from happening, FedEx Supply Chain has already started sending out new batteries to affected customers, as well as a postage paid box to return the nasty battery in.

Since the Galaxy Note 4 has a removable battery, users can simply buy a new battery to use. Those who don’t want to pay extra can just wait for the replacement battery to be shipped by FedEx.

The commission advises owners of affected Galaxy Note 4 units to stop using the phones immediately and power them down. A total of 10,000 batteries are currently being recalled.

Google Home is now able to make phone calls in the US and Canada

Alexandra Arici
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Back in May during its I/O 2017, Google announced you’ll soon be able to make calls using the Google Home speaker.

Well, the functionality is rolling out as we speak, but for the time being, only users in US and Canada will be able to take advantage of it.

Now you can simply say “Ok Google, call Lori” and the device will swiftly get your friend on the line. Users can call any landline or mobile in US and Canada for free. It works over Wi-Fi, so don’t worry about it draining your plan minutes.

But the new feature has some limitations. For starters, you can’t call another Google Home from yours or answer incoming calls. You can only ask the device to make calls.

Ok Google, call mom

Secondly, unless you’re a Google Voice or Project Fi subscriber, people you’ll be calling won’t be able to see your number when you call. Instead, they’ll see “Unknown” or “No Caller ID” so there’s a big chance they’ll ignore your call.

But Google Voice and Project Fi users can avoid all that by simply connecting their account to a Home speaker. Google says it’s working on a solution for everyone else which will become available by the end of the year.

The roll-out of this new features comes mere days after the Google Home Preview Program, which lets Google Home users try new features before everyone else – opened its gates to the public.

T-Mobile’s first 600MHz LTE network is now live, compatible phones coming soon

Alexandra Arici
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After spending $8 billion on a new low-band spectrum to improve its wireless network back in April, T-Mobile this week announced the first 600MHz LTE network is now live in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The new network, which uses Nokia equipment promises to offer better coverage in rural areas and inside buildings and less data congestion compared to the 700MHz networks which are widely deployed by most carriers today (the lower the frequency, the better the coverage).

T-Mobile promises that by the end of the year it will add ten more 600MHz additional sites in Wyoming, Northwest Oregon, West Texas, Southwest Kansas, Oklahoma, Western North Dakota, Maine, coastal North Carolina, Central Pennsylvania, Central Virginia and eastern Washington.

But there’s a caveat. Residents of Cheyenne can’t really take advantage of the perks brought along by the new technology, as compatible phones aren’t available on the market just yet.

However, the carrier revealed that Samsung and LG will launch 600MHz compatible phones by the end of the year (we’re thinking maybe the Galaxy Note8 and V30). T-Mobile also promised to make available more devices in 2018.

Even so, rolling 600MHz is a particularly tricky business, because TV stations are using the spectrum. These stations are in the process of moving to different frequencies, but the complete transition won’t happen overnight. Still T-Mobile is doing everything in its power to speed things along.

The Magenta carrier says that the FCC granted the licenses for the new network in June, and having it online by August is much faster than was expected. To compare, Verizon purchased 700MHz spectrum from the FCC back in 2008, but didn’t flip the switch on the first network until 2010.

Nokia 8 is now official with “Bothie” camera, OZO audio and liquid cooling

Alexandra Arici
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After months of waiting, Nokia’s come back flagship is finally here. HMD – the Finnish company licensing the right to produce Nokia phones – unveiled the Nokia 8 during a press event hosted in London.

The phone arrives to compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8. But even if the new smartphone brings similar specifications to other top-end rivals, Nokia has decided to stick with the more classical design. Meaning that the Nokia 8 features consistent bezels thus going against the industry trend of slimming down bezels as much as possible.

The 7.9 mm-thick phone packs a 5.3-inch display with 2560 x 1440 resolution and takes advantage of a Snapdragon 835 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The product is made of a single piece of 6000-series aluminum and will be offered in glossy Polished Blue and Polished Copper colors, as well as in matte Tempered Blue and Steel options.

Below the display sits a fingerprint scanner and the capacitive navigation buttons, while the 3.5mm headphone jack lives on top and the USB-C port is at the bottom.

HMD is bringing back the always-on display with the Nokia 8 which shows calls, emails and text messages (and soon social network notifications) on a small section of the display.

The device is powered by a non-removable 3,090 mAh battery that can be recharged quickly thanks to Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 3.0 technology on board.

It runs a nearly-stock Android 7.1.1 Nougat version and you can be sure it will receive the Android O update soon after Google will make it available.

It’s also important to note that the Nokia 8 takes advantage of liquid-cooling technology which at least on paper, should keep it cool under heavy use.

Any stand-out features? Nokia and HMD are betting on photography and video with the Nokia 8 by introducing the so-called “Bothie” mode (or Dual Sight). The Nokia 8 is the first Nokia Android handset to come equipped with Carl Zeiss optics on the back and on the front. All sensors are of 13-megapixel variety, with the mention that the primary camera is actually a dual setup offering f/2.0, laser and phase detection autofocus, Carl Zeiss optics, OIS and dual-LED.

What about the “Bothie mode”? It will basically activate both the front and back cameras to let you capture photos and videos. The video produced will then broadcasted via Facebook or YouTube natively through the camera interface.

Furthermore, the phone also takes advantage of spatial audio technology, which Nokia previously used in its futuristic camera for filming VR – the OZO. This means that videos shot with the Nokia 8 will capture 360-degree audio.

HMD plans to release the Nokia 8 as soon as September in Europe with a price tag of approximately $706. Unfortunately, no details about a potential US launch were shared with the press, but hopefully the new phone will make it across the pond at some point.

Strategy Analytics: Samsung Galaxy S8 becomes best-selling Android smartphone in Q2 2017

AndroidGuys
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The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ were unveiled with typical fanfare when they were announced earlier this year, and, while receiving cheerful reviews from reviewers, have been accused of smaller sales numbers than last year’s Galaxy S7 series. Samsung responded to the claims with a statement that Galaxy S8 sales were 15% greater than Galaxy S7 sales. A new report from Strategy Analytics says that Samsung’s Galaxy S8 has become the best-selling Android smartphone in the world in Q2 2017 with 19.2 million smartphones shipped.

“We estimate Samsung Galaxy S8 shipped 10.2 million units for third place and 3 percent marketshare worldwide in q2 2017. the galaxy s8+ captured fourth position with 9.0 million shipments and 2 percent marketshare globally.”

-Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ proved to be invincible on Google’s Android platform (the closest Android-powered smartphone to the Galaxy S8 series was the Xiaomi Redmi 4A), but they were still no match for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which saw shipments of 16.9 million and 15.1 million in Q2, along with 4.7% and 4.2% global marketshare respectively. Smartphone shipments saw a year-on-year growth of 5.5% when comparing Q2 2017 to the same quarter last year.

The Galaxy S8 features a 5.8-inch Infinity Super AMOLED display with a Quad HD+ resolution of 2,960 x 1,440p and 18.5:9 aspect ratio, Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 835 or Exynos 8895 SoC (depending on market), 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage with a 256GB-capable microSD card slot, an 8MP front/12MP rear Dual Pixel (f/1.7) camera combo, and 3,000mAh battery, not to mention the iris scanner, fingerprint scanner, and IP 68 water and dust certification. The Galaxy S8+ has a 6.2-inch display, equal in all other specs except its 3,500mAh battery to its smaller-screened sibling.

Tip: How to speed up your Moto Z Force

Dan Bartram
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The Moto Z Force was a great device for those looking for something hard wearing and with a bit of protection that doesn’t sacrifice cosmetic appeal. However, the device isn’t as young as it once was and with apps getting more resource demanding, you could find the Moto Z Force to be slowing down. Luckily there is a hidden feature that you can change that will instantly speed up your device.

This tip will help speed up your Moto Z Force and help reduce the impact of the aging processor and resource hungry apps, as well as the lower processing power in the device. The best bit is there’s nothing extra to install or tons of settings to change, just a simple case of changing a setting with developer options enabled.

The little hack revolves around the animations applied to transitioning between windows and turning the device on or off. By simply turning this off, it contributes to making the device seem extremely snappy and fast by reducing the delay applied to the animation.

First, you’ll need to enable the Developer Options hidden menu. To do this, go into Settings -> About Device and scroll down to “Build Number”. Now, tap on “Build Number” five times and you’ll see a notification saying that “Developer mode has been enabled”.

With that hidden menu now enabled, we can head on into it to begin fastening up our Moto Z Force.

  1. Head on in to Developer Options in Settings.
  2. Scroll down to the Drawing section.
  3. Of interest here is the Window Animation Scale, Transition Animation Scale, and Animator Duration Scale.
  4. Click on them individually to change the scale.

You are able to turn the animations off completely, or set them to 0.5x (default is 1x) so the animations will be double speed for those who would like to retain them.

You’ll notice your Moto Z Force feels substantially quicker without any hacks that affect your software, warranty, or device battery life. Let us know your comments in the section below.

Change your Android phone’s default browser to Chrome [How-To]

Alexandra Arici
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Most Android manufacturers usually bundle their phone or tables with their own web browsers. My Xiaomi Mi 4i has one and it’s super slow and frustrating to use. If you too are sick and tired of your phone automatically opening links from third-party apps in the stock browser, you should know there’s a simple way to set the device’s default browser to something better, like Google’s Chrome!

This way you’ll also have access to all your synced settings and bookmarks from your desktop while enjoying a swift browsing experience. Here’s how to do it.

1.    Open your phone’s Settings app
2.    Find the “Device” section and tap on “Apps” or “Installed apps”


3.    Find the “Defaults” button (on my Xiaomi Mi 4i it’s located centrally at the bottom, but on some devices, you might have to access Settings first to get to Default)


4.    Find “Browser” and tap to select a default


5.    Tap Chrome and voila you’re done!

The Essential Phone will finally ship next week

Dan Bartram
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After a long delay since the Essential Phone was originally announced, it seems that it will finally be ready to ship next week.

Essential is now sending out emails to those who have registered interest in the device stating that their unit will ship in 7 days.

Great news, your phone has been built! We now just need your payment details and we will ship within 7 days.

If you would like to change the items in your reservation prior to checking out, please contact our support team at support@essential.com. If you reserved an Essential 360 Camera, you will receive a separate email as soon as it’s ready to be shipped.

Your Essential Phone is unlocked, future-proof, and designed around you. For a limited time, we’ve also made it easy for you to get the phone for as low as $29.13 per month.

The device was initially supposed to launch in Summer but that came and went. Andy Ruben has been open about the reasons for the delay citing issues with certification. It seems that whatever issues were originally impacting the launch of the device have now been settled and the first batch is ready to ship.

Essential also revealed that its phone would be sold unlocked on Amazon and Best Buy as well as its website. The unlocked model retails for $699 but you can also grab a payment plan starting at $29.13 directly from Essential.

Are you excited about the Essential Phone? Drop us a comment below.

Huawei Mate 10 leaked renders reveal bezel-less display

AndroidGuys
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Huawei’s upcoming flagship, the Huawei Mate 10 is all set for launch this September or October. Months before the official launch, the image renders of the Mate 10 have now leaked online. Confirming the previous rumors, the Huawei Mate 10 indeed has an all new bezel less display according to the leaked renders.

Huawei-Mate-10-render-1

Bezel less display seems to be the recent trend among smartphones and the Mate 10 is the latest device to join this list following the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Essential phone. The leaks also suggest that the Huawei Mate 10 might sport a large 6.1 inch Quad HD AMOLED display.

Huawei’s consumer division chief, Richard Yu, recently mentioned in an interview that the Huawei Mate 10 will be better than the iPhone 7 in many aspects like the battery and the display. The recent leaks seem to be in line with his announcement as the Mate 10 might launch with a humongous 4000 mAh battery.

Huawei-Mate-10-render-2

Other rumors regarding the specifications are that the Mate 10 will have a dual camera setup and Optical Image Stabilization. The position of the speakers and the fingerprint scanner are the same as its predecessor, the Huawei Mate 9. The device is expected to be priced more than $1000 and will be launched at an event in Munich, Germany.

Gear Up: Braven’s summer line is as sporty as it is practical

Scott Webster
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With some of the hottest days of the year happening lately, we often find ourselves spending time at the pool or beach. There are few things that feel as good as a dip in the water when temps reach 90’s or higher.

One of the first things we like to grab when we head out for some pool time is a speaker. What better way is there to get in a long playlist, podcast, or audiobook than to relax and soak in the summer sun with water?

We’ve been playing with some of Braven’s new audio products and find them to be solid offerings. One, the Stryde 360, is a portable speaker while the other two, the Flye Sport and Flye Sport Reflect, are wireless earphones. The trio are equal parts stylish and practical. We have long been a fan of the devices that come out of Braven and think these are as good as anything else we’ve tested.

Longtime readers have likely seen a Braven review or two here over the years. Its speakers are some of our favorites as they often deliver excellent sound with long battery life and other features. Some offer internal batteries and power for charging your phone, others are waterproof and/or rugged, and a few models include all of the above.

In what is a first for Braven, the Flye Sport and Flye Sport Reflect are wearable audio products. We’ve seen headphone companies get into speakers; this is a speaker company dabbling with earphones. First introduced in January at CES 2017, the two sets are aimed at users with more active lifestyles. While they may seem similar on the outset, the earphones are more different than you might believe.

Stryde 360

With a retail price of around $100, the Stryde 360 is a diminutive cylinder of a speaker. Don’t let its size fool you; it brings more to the party than you’d expect. As part of the Active Series from Braven, it features the brands signature fluorescent green/yellow and grey color scheme. Moreover, it also means it has the IP67 waterproof protection you’ll want when lounging poolside.

Because of its shape, the Stryde 360 delivers audio in a 360-degree manner. In other words, there’s no need to worry that one side hears music better than another. Just set it wherever you want and enjoy the tunes. With 12 hours of playtime, the speaker boasts a 2500mAh internal battery and features voice control.

We really like the size and portability of this one; it’s plenty of power and rich sound for most needs. It’s a great desktop or picnic table speaker that fits in your backpack or summer bag without taking up much space at all. We’re in love with the color scheme that Braven’s adopted as of late, too.

Flye Sport

If you’re looking for a pair of lightweight, practical earbuds, the Flye Sport should be on your list of contenders. Featuring 12 hours of playback time and a tangle-free flat ribbon style cord, the Braven fit any ear with multiple bullet tips.

The Flye Sport are IPX5 water resistant so feel free to toss these in when you’re out hitting the powder later this year. The integrated microphone makes it easy to make and take calls; it can also be used for voice activated commands. Moreover, you’ll have full control over playback and volume. Offered for about $50, you can get them in four color combos: Grey/Red, Silver/Green, White, and Black.

Flye Sport Reflect

Take your fitness game up another level with the Flye Sport Reflect, a set of earbuds with a flat, reflective cable. You’ll stand out to passersby and drivers, even if you’re out running at dawn or dusk.

Not only are these earbuds water resistant, but they’re also designed to withstand sweat, too. This is key if you plan to do some long term running or expect to get sweaty. Like the aforementioned set, this one also comes with an integrated mic and playback controls. In addition to variable bullet tips, the Sport Reflect also come with two types of earhooks to help keep them snug in your ears.

The Flye Sport Reflect are charged by a portable power bank by simply connecting them to the metal contacts. With a 1A USB output, you can also use the charging unit to juice up your phone. The LED status lights keep an eye on things, alerting you to approximately how much is left inside.

Pick these up in four colors (Grey/Red, Silver/Green, White, and Black) for approximately $100 through Braven.

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