A new BlackBerry device which will once again ditch the keyboard will be released in October.

News emerged that a new BlackBerry device will become available sometime in October this year. TCL representatives confirmed the news during the 2017 IFA conference held in Berlin, Germany.

While an exact release has yet to be announced, it is known that the new device will be abandoning the hardware keyboard, one of the most successful features of the BlackBerry KEYOne. It was also presented as being water-resistant, among others.

New BlackBerry Device Should Come With Quite a Battery Life

According to the reports, this new device will mark quite a departure from the usual BlackBerry smartphones. The fact that it will lack a keyboard is already quite a significant change from its developer. That it will reportedly be waterproof is yet another departure from the staple models.

The new BlackBerry device will also reportedly have quite a battery life. It will apparently be able to power the smartphone through 26 hours worth of “mixed use”.

As with previous TCL-manufactured device that came before the BlackBerry KEYOne, this new one will also reportedly run on Android. But this will be BlackBerry’s own very-secure version of the operating system.

Presently, no details or insights have been given on what this new BlackBerry device will look like. Nor on its power, build, or durability.

François Mahieu nonetheless declared that the company plans to stick to BlackBerry’s established conventions. These include a long battery life combined with durability and high-security standards.

Mahieu is the Global GM of BlackBerry. He continued by saying when discussing the company’s market strategy, that BlackBerry is just “playing with different cards”.

For the moment, this seems to be working out as the BlackBerry KEYOne received praises for its high sales numbers. While half of its sales were attributed to enterprise fleet, the remaining percentage was made up by individuals acquiring the phone to use it at work.

People buying the device for just personal use were not represented in these statistics.

Some other details about the device are that it will be dust-resistant and a touchscreen smartphone.

Image Source: Flickr

The launch of Google Pixel 2 is closer than you’ve thought! Pixel smartphones’ fans should be thrilled to find out that on October, 5th they will be able to hold the new Google Pixel 2. The second generation of Pixel smartphones is here. Evan Blass made this announcement, saying that the new device will sport a Qualcomm Snapdragon 836 processor.

The Launch of Google Pixel 2 is near

This processor can provide higher GPU and CPU clock speeds compared to Snapdragon 835. The new Snapdragon 835 is not necessarily the next generation chip. On the other hand, specialists indicate that this could be a suitable title for the Snapdragon 845. Both Samsung and LG are working on this one and most likely it will be featured in 2018 flagship smartphones.

The Google Pixel XL 2 and Pixel 2 may have a similar design to the first-generation models. However, they may sport a smaller glass top section of the rear. Apparently, HTC is responsible for making the new Pixel 2 smaller. Furthermore, the launch of Google Pixel 2 will reveal that the device borrows U11’s squeezable sides. On the other hand, the Google Pixel XL 2 will be developed by LG.

The second generation of Pixel smartphones will be launched on October 5th

Both smartphones lack dual cameras, just like most of the new smartphones releases nowadays. Furthermore, rumor has it that Google imitated the latest iPhones by removing their headphone jacks. The launch of Google Pixel 2 will show fans that the device bears other useful features, too. It will have a screen resolution of 1440p, 128GB of storage and 4GB of RAM.

Summing up, if Blass leaked information will prove to be accurate, then we can only expect for the best. The new smartphones will most likely have impressive features that everyone would be curious to discover.

Source: flickr

Samsung confirmed the release of its second flip phone for 2017

If you thought the age of flip phones was over, you were wrong. Samsung has already announced the release of two such devices. About a month ago, it confirmed the incoming of Samsung Galaxy Folder 2. Last week, the official news regarding another folding smartphone arrived. Leader 8, or SM-G9298 has been officially confirmed for China, but there’s no news regarding its availability in other parts of the world.

A new Samsung flip phone

Samsung was quite generous with details regarding the new flip phone, as its specifications are already here. Leader 8 should come with a strong case made of aluminum alloy, and a full HD display of 4.2 inches both on the outside and on the inside of the fold.

Also, don’t think that a flip phone should be less powerful than other smartphones. It will bring the winning combo of 4GB RAM and a processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 821. The internal storage is also generous, namely 64GB, and also supports microSD. Also, the flip phone has both a rear and a front camera of 12MP and 5MP respectively.

Where will the phone be available?

The flip phone is compact, and it weighs only 235 grams. Also, it features a 2,300mAh battery, and can be charged both through a cable and wirelessly. Since it’s a Samsung device, it also comes with support for special features, such as S Voice, Secure Folder, or Samsung Pay.

At first, the Samsung flip phone will be available only on the Chinese market. Now, the company has to announce when it will be released and at what price, but many customers are curious if it will bring the device on other markets as well.

Samsung is on a roll of releasing flip phones, as it has already launched Galaxy Folder 2. This one also sports a series of impressive features, and might indicate the flip phone is not actually gone.
Image Source: Flickr

Razer wants to manufacture a phone created especially for gamers

Several reports suggest Razer, the company well-known for making professional gaming accessories and laptops, is now thinking of releasing a new device for its target audience. This device would be a smartphone created especially for hardcore gamers. However, producing such a phone might not actually be that easy from a financial point of view.

Razer needs serious financial means to create the phone

This is an ambitious project, so Razer will seek the selling of shares to achieve the necessary funding to develop the phone. Therefore, it will open a public offering in Hong Kong which aims to achieve between $3 billion and $5 billion in valuation. Also, many think the company is going to file for an IPO near the end of this year.

However, most people didn’t find it surprising that Razer was thinking of getting into the smartphone business. At the beginning of this year, the company purchased Nextbit. They declared that, despite the acquisition, it will still remain independent, but the issue hasn’t been discussed much.

How should the device look like?

Given that Razer wants to make a phone for hardcore gamers, it makes much sense to produce it under its own name, and not Nextbit. Even so, this might not be enough to help it start this business. The product might be created for gamers, but the smartphone market is already dominated by strong competitors like Apple or Samsung.

We have to admit that the idea of a smartphone made by a company specialized in gaming equipment is pretty promising. This makes us wonder how Razer is going to tackle a phone made for gaming. The device might be able to stream PC games, or fashion it with VR capabilities. We cannot tell for sure, so all we can do is make speculations.
Image Source: Pexels

The Unicode update brings new emojis on iOS

Apple brings good news for all emoji lovers. The company’s CEO has just announced that, by the end of the year, all the platforms supporting iOS, macOS, or watchOS will receive new emojis featuring foods or even fantasy themes. The announcement came as a celebration for World Emoji Day which, apparently, has been acknowledged worldwide.

All kinds of new emojis on iOS

Apart from this weird but fun celebration, Apple also included these new emojis as a way to deal with the new Unicode 10.0 standard. The update brought a series of 8,158 characters, 56 of which are new smiley faces.

If you like the cute little faces and objects to accompany your texts, you are probably curious about what they will display. Just to offer you a small preview, we can disclose several of the characters you are about to see. Those which will join the line of smiley faces are Crazy Face, Exploding Head, or Face with Monocles.

A Sandwich emoji will also be included, and we can say this one was absolutely necessary. What is slightly more unusual is the whole amount of emojis with fantasy themes, for all geeks out there. Among these characters, you will see Zombies, Mages, Merpeople, Fairies, Elves, Vampires, or Genies.

These come with the latest Unicode changes

If you are aware of the Unicode changes, then you should already be familiar with some of these concepts. However, Unicode only establishes the emojis and the new characters. Then, each manufacturer has to settle for a design. This is why it might take a while until emojis actually get on the device.

This waiting time is highly dependent on the manufacturer. The beta version of Android O, for instance, already has the new emojis available. Apple didn’t reveal when they will come on iOS, but they will most probably be released at the same time with the fall update for iOS 11.

????? Happy #WorldEmojiDay! ? We’ve got some ? new ones to show you, coming later this year! ?? https://t.co/xBR9ZJ7l4g pic.twitter.com/fhDrr4J5KG

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) July 17, 2017

Image Source: Pixabay

Microsoft might be preparing a new smartphone to replace the antiquated Windows Phone OS

It’s now official that Microsoft will no longer release any kind of support for Windows Phone, and Windows 10 Mobile might soon join these lines. However, the company will not disappear completely from the mobile market. It has already released the concept for an upcoming device, known under several names, including Surface Phone, Cellular PC, or Surface Mobile.

Several rumors indicate a Microsoft Surface Phone is approaching

There have been many leaks and rumors so far, but the official information is still scarce. Therefore, we don’t have a complete picture of how the Surface Phone might look like, but we can try to put all the pieces together and at least get a preview.

So far, people have been asking a few questions regarding the upcoming device. They are wondering if Microsoft already has a prototype ready for the Surface Phone, and how this prototype might work. Will it run a PC-like Windows 10, or the already existing Windows 10 Mobile? However, the most bugging of questions is the date when the new device will be released, or at least a list of all its specs and features.

When will the new device be released?

So far, rumors indicated of a so-called “cellular PC” running Windows 10 on ARM, and several devices which were testing a new OS for mobile. Some suppliers even claimed the device will definitely be called Surface Phone. This is good to know, but the main piece of information we ask for is a release date.

Most probably, the device is undergoing testing as we speak. This means that it should take between 6 and 18 months to launch. Until the Surface Phone, or whatever it will be called, gets on the market, there will surely be more leaks and rumors to satisfy our unending curiosity.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Google rolled out an update hoping it could fix the issues encountered by users on Pixel phones

Last year, Google launched the long-acclaimed Pixel and Pixel XL phones, but they didn’t quite reach the expectations of the users. Many of them reported their devices froze for no reason, which significantly reduced the performance of the phones. Therefore, the company decided to release an update to fix this bug.

An update to solve the Pixel freezing issues

Google took notice of these freezes, and wanted to come to the help of its users. Therefore, the company announced that this bug should be fixed by the June security update. They have already started rolling it out, so users who experienced freezing issues should shortly get rid of them.

Everything sounds perfect so far, but will this update actually solve the freezing issues? The manager of the Pixel user community declared that these issues, as well as other problems regarding the performance of the device, might have several causes. Therefore, users should offer feedback even after they install the update and report any other problem they experience.

The update worked for some users, while for others didn’t

So far, Google couldn’t pick up a clear pattern of freezing. Users reported using the camera while the phone froze, or being in a call, or just ending a call, and the only solution they could find was to force-shut down. In fact, some new posts on the forums have already appeared regarding the update. For some, the update fixed the problem, while others still have to struggle with it.

While one user who usually encountered the problem rarely said the update made his phone quicker. On the other hand, others complained about it. Some of those who didn’t experience any freezing events declared that, after installing the update, had to deal with micro-freezes of several seconds while they scrolled or typed.

This is bad news for Google, as it seems that this bug was not as easy to fix as they have thought. If they want to maintain their users happy, they need to find a quick solution to deal with the issue and optimize the Pixel phones once and for all.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Samsung is nostalgic about flip phones, so it might bring a new version of W2017

Several rumors are here to entertain the most nostalgic of tech enthusiasts. It seems like Samsung really wants to revive flip phones, and is planning to release a new version of their latest folding phone W2017. The device should be coming to Samsung’s home country, South Korea, but maybe it will reach other countries as well.

Samsung wants to bring flip phones back

Samsung really seems like it has some sort of passion for flip phones and refuses to let them die. The company already has a history in releasing crossovers between the old school phones and Android-equipped smartphones.

It all started in 2013, when they released the Galaxy Golden. Then, in 2015, Samsung came with the Galaxy Folder, quickly followed by Galaxy Golden 2 in 2016. The latest folding phone in the series was W2017, which launched last November. However, these phones were available only in certain countries. For instance, W2017 was sold only in China.

A new W2017 with top specs

Now, rumors suggest that Samsung will bring a new W2017 version, and will add South Korea on the list of countries which will benefit from the device. However, this is not official information. Samsung has not confirmed any of the rumors, so it did not reveal an official launch date.

The new flip phone might come with some exclusive features. Among them, there is Samsung Pay, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, wireless charging, or scanner for fingerprint. If this was not enough, rumors also suggest resistance to water and dust, front and rear camera or 5 and 12 megapixels, respectively, and storage of 64 GB.

Besides, the phone should sport two OLED screens of 4.2 inches each. This would make it quite big when it is open. After all, it is not a classical flip phone, but it sure reminds us of the trend which swept up the early 2000s.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Moto Z2 Play, Thinner but with Less Battery Life

The Moto Z lineup is anything but thick. Actually, Motorola’s first ever generation of modular smartphones are maybe the slimmest available on the market right now. Still, it seems like the company is still not happy and will reduce the thickness of the new Moto Z2 Play device. However, there is a price Motorola will pay and that is battery life. Its predecessor had a very praised 3510mAh battery. It seems like this one will only have about a 3000mAh battery. This will also reduce the running time of the device from 50 hours to only 30. The new Moto Z2 Play is powered by the Android 7.1.1 system.

Slimmer, but with a cost

The original Z Play model, which was actually the most affordable one out of the three available, was the thickest one of them. It was a little under 7 millimeters thick and weighted 165 grams. Reduced in weight and size, the new Z2 Play is getting closer to the original Moto Z device. That one was 5.19 millimeters thick.

It is worth noting that all the components of the new Moto Z2 Play are going to receive updates. From the chipset which will be a Snapdragon 626 this time, to the memory and storage departments. The new Moto Z2 Play will have a 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage capacity. The Super AMOLED display is one of the only things which will remain the same. It will stay at 5.5-inch diagonal with a 1080 x 1920 resolution. Maybe Motorola wants to make sure that all of their MotoMods will be compatible with all the devices form the Z series.

Motorola is back in business

As for the camera, the selfie one will remain the same at 5-megapixels. However, the company wants to reduce the main camera’s resolution while making its imaging quality better. So, the Z2 Play will have a 12-megapixel, f/1.7 component with dual autofocus pixels, instead of the previous 16-megapixel camera. It will come in two colors, Lunar Gray and Fine Gold. The Moto Z2 Play is the first of a series of smartphones from Motorola which will be released during this year. It remains to be seen how will the fans receive them.

Image source: gsmarena

A leak of the HTC 11 retail box shows the amazing specs of the new device

New leaks suggest that it was worth the wait for HTC fans. After trying to make a comeback for a few years now, the company will probably earn the flagship title with their new HTC 11. May 16^th is the big day when the device enters the markets.

HTC has no longer been present among the top smartphone manufacturers lately. After releasing the landmark device One M8, they failed to produce a new smartphone to reach the same glory. However, judging from the leaks, HTC 11 might become the highlight of their history.

Some sources supposedly succeeded to leak the retail box of the new phone. This is exciting for all fans and tech enthusiasts, as they display a series of strong specs. First of all, it will offer a huge amount of power, as it features the same processor used by Samsung for their Galaxy S8 devices, namely Qualcomm Snapdragon 835.

Besides the strong processor, the new HTC comes with several other specifications. It comes with 4 or 6 GB of RAM, 64 or 128 GB storage, and even a microSD of 2 TB. The high resolution is supported by a 5.5-inch display, accompanied by Adreno 540 graphics and special protection for the screen.

HTC 11 will also allow you to take great photos. The rear camera sports 12 megapixels, while the front one will provide high-definition selfies in 16 megapixels, adding the special Selfie Panorama feature.

Among the other available features, there’s water resistance, a scanner for the fingerprint, noise cancellation, and a strong 3,000 mAh battery. The edges will also be touch sensitive, so you will be able to open apps just by handling and squeezing them.

Note that these rumors are not official yet, so we cannot confirm the authenticity of these specs. However, the leaks sound promising, and we might be witnessing the rebirth of HTC among the smartphone leaders.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons