Sarab Loh

Samsung Galaxy S9+ handled on video 03 JANUARY 2018 Well, this is ahead of schedule – the  Samsung Galaxy S9+  just appeared in a short hands-on video. And it’s a fully working unit too... though we have a sneaking suspicion it’s a copycat rather than the genuine article. There’s not much to say about the front – it’s dominated by an Infinity Display as expected. But it’s not centered, the bottom bezel is thicker than the top one. And what’s with the chunky Power button? The app drawer is even more telling – there’s an FM radio app for one, which the original will (sadly) lack. Not to mention that there’s no Galaxy Apps shortcut. And S Planner is now Samsung Calendar, there’s no Heart rate app (it’s Samsung Health), we can go on. The video shows a brief glimpse of the camera app which differs from the app on the Galaxy Note8. Not that Samsung can’t change the design, but we’re missing the “x2” button, which switches over to the telephoto camera (which is seeming...

Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ memory configurations 08 JANUARY 2018 The  Samsung Galaxy S9 / S9+  have already been the subject of several  rumors and leaks , and unsurprisingly, new ones are continuing to pop up. The latest one - out of China - is suggesting the devices' RAM and storage variants. The rumor says the Galaxy S9 will be available in 4GB RAM and 64GB/128GB storage options. As for the Galaxy S9+, it'll come in 6GB RAM and 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB variants. Here's the translated version: According to insider revealed S9 / S9 + will launch the following memory with: S9 DDR and Flash Combo 4 + 64 & 4 + 128, S9 + DDR and Flash Combinations 6 + 64 & 6 + 128 & 6 + 256. Taking into account the market demand, Samsung will not push 512 combinations. As you can see, there's also a reference to 512. From what we could understand - and corroborated by other reports as well - there may even be a 512GB storage model, although that'll be offere...

Leaked Samsung Galaxy S9 retail box unveils specs 12 JANUARY 2018 The  Samsung Galaxy S9  is  coming next month at MWC 2018 , but some specs might have been outed by an alleged retail box that got pictured. Although most of the specs look similar to the current Galaxy S8, there a couple of interesting additions - stereo speakers and variable aperture for the Dual Pixel 12 MP camera. The box says f/1.5 / f/2.4, meaning Samsung will implement a variable aperture like the one in the  Chinese-exclusive Samsung W2018 . We haven't seen a variable aperture flagship since the  M8910 Pixon12  and the  Nokia N86 , but maybe Samsung found new use for it. The camera will also shoot Super Slow-mo videos, so we might finally see 1000fps videos that were  rumored back in early 2017 . Another nice feature that should have come earlier is stereo speakers, tuned by AKG. Now proper stereo speakers are unlikely given the leaked renders as they indicate e...

Galaxy S9 promo videos tease slow-mo camera, 3D emojis 14 FEBRUARY 2018 Samsung Mobile Korea just unleashed three teaser videos for the  Samsung Galaxy S9  and  Galaxy S9+ . They are short (15 seconds each), but contain less than subtle hints about the key features of the upcoming flagships. The first video is all about speed. But pay attention to the end of the video – the second the “9” appears, time slows down to a crawl. That’s clearly a reference to a  slow-motion camera . The second video is shot in the dark. That is until the “9” appears and the image brightens up considerably. Samsung has been pushing low-light performance for several generations, but the S9 duo is supposed to have an  f/1.5 lens  with a variable aperture. And finally, the third video. This demos the 3D emoji that the rumor mill was buzzing about yesterday. We get a distinctly “animoji” feel out of it.

Moto G6 family surface: chipset, battery and price 14 FEBRUARY 2018 Yesterday, we caught our  first glimpse  of the Moto G6 family, which will feature 18:9 screens. Today, we get three more pieces of the puzzle: chipset, battery and price. The Moto G6 Plus, the top model, will sport a Snapdragon 630 chipset powered by a 3,250mAh battery. It will allegedly cost $265/€250. The base Moto G6 scales back a bit with a Snapdragon 450 and a 3,000mAh battery. This one is projected to cost $234/€190. Both the G6 and G6 Plus will have 1080p+ screens.   Motorola Moto G6 If you want a large battery, however, the Moto G6 Play will boast 4,000mAh capacity. Coupled with the slow but efficient Snapdragon 430 (and lower screen resolution, 720p+), the battery life should be stellar. This one will cost the least - $187/€152. These chipsets will provide incremental upgrades on processing power and efficiency. Motorola’s current G5 line-up is built around Snapdragon 625 and 43...

Huawei phone gets leaked, looks like the Honor 7X [Update: Mate SE] 17 FEBRUARY 2018 Update: As our reader Hafiz Ng pointed out, the phone in question appears to be a Huawei Mate SE, which has a  US support page , but not an actual product page just yet. The original article follows. Renders of a yet-to-be-announced Huawei phone have surfaced online - in high resolution and two color schemes. Now, not to be ungrateful to Evan Blass for digging up the images, but we're inclined to disagree with the leaker calling the phone a 'Huawei-branded  Honor 8 Pro ' - it's more of a Huawei-branded  Honor 7X  in our book.     Unnamed Huawei phone, model number BND-L34 Of course, to be fair, Huawei's entire naming scheme is a complete mess with seemingly identical phones called entirely different names across the world. We won't pretend we know marketing better than the marketing teams at a huge corporation though, and we'll move on. The renders @evleaks...

Moto G6 family confirmed to have 18:9 screens, G6 Play's chipset leaks 13 FEBRUARY 2018 Last month a huge leak told us that the upcoming  Moto G6 ,  G6 Plus , and  G6 Play  would all sport 18:9 touchscreens, and this has been confirmed by their listings in the database of HTML5test. While the aforementioned leak mentioned 2,160x1,080 resolution only for the G6 and G6 Plus (and 1,440x720 for the G6 Play), if the data in HTML5test is accurate then it looks like all three will actually sport the higher-res display. The G6 Play will have the model number XT1922, and according to its recent Wi-Fi certification it will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430, and launch running Android 8.0 Oreo. That's the same SoC employed by last year's  G5S , by the way. Alongside the G6 Play the Wi-Fi Alliance has also certified a couple of other unannounced Motos, the XT1924 and XT1944, both of these coming with the Snapdragon 425. Given the lower-end chipset, these ...

Gmail Go for low-end devices arrives on Google Play 14 FEBRUARY 2018 Google keeps releasing versions of its apps taileored for smartphones with less than 1 GB of RAM. After  YouTube ,  Gboard  and  Google Assistant , now Gmail also gets a Go version. The app is available on Google Play, but can be downloaded in a limited set of countries and only by devices running Android 8.1 Oreo. There is also an link shared by APKMirror if you want to try and side-load it.         Gmail Go screenshots Gmail Go does almost everything the regular mail app can. It uses less RAM and loads images on demand. When combined with Gboard Go, for example, the data consumption goes even lower, although you will not be able to insert all the GIFs. If you don’t like how Gmail Go performs, you have to uninstall it from the Play Store instead of going into the Settings on your phone.

Samsung Galaxy S9+ with Snapdragon 845 hits AnTuTu with 6GB of RAM 14 FEBRUARY 2018 The  Samsung Galaxy S9+  (SM-G9650) – the one with a Snapdragon 845 chipset – was spotted by AnTuTu in its database. Surprisingly, this version has 6GB of RAM rather than 4GB like the  Exynos 9810 version  we saw on Geekbench yesterday. The rest is a familiar story, starting with an 18:9 screen with resolution defaulting to 1,080 x 2,220px (of course, that’s set in software, the hardware will be QHD+). The OS is Android 8.0 Oreo as expected and there is 64GB of built-in storage.   Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon 845) specs and score on AnTuTu The benchmark score is interesting too. It matches Qualcomm's reference design and outscores the 2017 chips. Note that we’re yet to see how the Exynos 9810 version of the phone will perform on AnTuTu. Leaked Geekbench scores show an advantage in single-core CPU performance, but AnTuTu is a compound benchmark that includes thing...

Apple updates HomePod support page, warns about marks on wood 14 FEBRUARY 2018 A number of HomePod owners have started noticing rings left on wooden surfaces, particularly those with oil-based finishes. The silicone in the base of the HomePod can react to oil on a molecular level, causing these marks or rings. This type of problem is not specific to the HomePod, in fact, all kinds of speakers (or anything with a silicone base like an Amazon Echo Dot) can cause these kinds of marks on wood. Because of this, Apple has updated its HomePod support page with the following information regarding the HomePod and wooden surfaces. It is not unusual for any speaker with a vibration-dampening silicone base to leave mild marks when placed on some wooden surfaces. The marks can be caused by oils diffusing between the silicone base and the table surface, and will often go away after several days when the speaker is removed from the wooden surface. Apple offers the following advice if...

Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 1 official images leak 15 FEBRUARY 2018 Nokia keeps expanding its portfolio after adding  a 2018 version  of the highly popular  Nokia 6  and silently launching a  Nokia 7  in the last two months. Two more devices are bound to arrive, and latest leaked press renders on Twitter unveil spicy details - a  Nokia 7 Plus  is coming with dual cameras and will be on the Android One program. An ultra-cheap  Nokia 1  is also on its way with what looks like a removable back panel. Nokia 7 Plus The Nokia 7 Plus  arrived on Geekbench several weeks ago  with a Snapdragon 660 chipset and 4 GB RAM. The renders today  support previous rumors of a tall 18:9 screen , a fingerprint scanner on the back, below the cam setup, coupled with dual-tone LED flash. The renders also show two of the colors - Pearl White and Brownish that could be Black, depending on lighting, with both devices having orange accents. ...

Motorola launches Limited Edition Z2 Force bundle in India with TurboPower Mod 15 FEBRUARY 2018 Motorola has launched the  Moto Z2 Force  in India. The phone is priced at INR 34,999 ($547) and will include a Moto TurboPower Mod. The phone will be available online through Flipkart and offline through Moto Hubs across India, starting February 15, 23:59 IST.       Moto Z2 Force The Moto Z2 Force is currently the flagship device in Motorola's range. As the name suggests, it is part of Motorola's rugged series of devices that include the ShatterShield display that has a plastic layer over the display that is resistant to cracking under stress. The body is made out of rugged 7000 series aluminum. The phone is splash-resistant.         Moto TurboPower Mod Apart from that the Z2 Force has a 5-5inch, 2560x1440 POLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 6GB RAM, 64GB expandable memory, dual 12MP camera with color and monochrome se...

Essential Phone launches Amazon-exclusive ‘Halo Gray’ alongside three new colors 16 FEBRUARY 2018 When the Essential PH-1 launched, it was available in Black Moon and Pure White.  Yesterday , Essential announced three new color options for its  PH-1  including Ocean Depths, Stellar Gray, and Copper Black, all of which are limited editions. This a nice contrast to all the bright red color coats we’ve seen pop up over the past few months. Today, Essential launched a new Amazon-exclusive surprise color option called Halo Gray. It features a matter gray ceramic back with a matte silver titanium frame. Additionally, the Amazon model will come with the Alexa App pre-installed. This color will also be a limited edition like the other new paint combinations, so they’ll only be available until the company runs out. Three new colors announced include Ocean Depths (aqua teal matte back with bright gold frame), Stellar Gray (soft matte gray ceramic with black frame), and C...