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Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are scheduled for a grand launch this weekend at the Galaxy Unpacked event, just ahead of MWC 2018. While Samsung's smartphone announcements are anticipated by millions globally, several rounds of leaks and renders haven't left much to imagination about the upcoming flagship duo. Another set of rumours claim that early buyers of the Galaxy S9 series might be able to get their hands on one before they hit market shelves. Additionally, newer high-resolution renders of the Galaxy S9 have surfaced online offering a clearer picture ahead of the launch event. According to a report by The Investor, the Samsung Galaxy S9 range will be available in global markets starting March 16. In Samsung's home ground South Korea, however, telecom operators SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus are expected to initiate pre-orders from February 28 and early buyers will reportedly get their units delivered between March 9-15, a day before public availability. Ke

Samsung is all set to take the covers off the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ on Sunday, reveal its 2018 flagship Galaxy S-Series handsets. While the South Korean company readies itself for its Galaxy Unpacked event in Barcelona, ahead of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018, a teaser of the upcoming smartphone series has already been listed on Flipkart. The popular online retailer has posted images and a video that was already released by Samsung last week. As seen on the Flipkart page, a teaser showcases the number "9" alongside the words - "Camera. Reimagined" - echoing the teasers shared by Samsung. This essentially indicates that the company will bring some major upgrades to the camera features in the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. The fact that cameras might be the biggest focus of this year's Samsung event, is further, elaborated by another video that has been posted on the page. The video teases various camera elements such as flash, iris, photo tagging, selfie

With the hope to retain its market presence in 2018, Qualcomm on Wednesday announced a list of innovations that are designed to enhance wireless connectivity as well as to bring new experiences to the world of virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI). The San Diego-based company has announced the first integrated 802.11ax-ready Wi-Fi chip solution called WCN3998, which includes 2x2 antennas and supports WPA3 encryption. The company has also unveiled a new VR Reference Design based on the Snapdragon 845 SoC and an updated TrueWireless Stereo technology. The new developments will reach customers later this year. First things first, Qualcomm has introduced the WCN3998 as its very first solution to bring support for the upcoming 802.11ax Wi-Fi standard to future smartphones, tablets, and notebooks. The new Wi-Fi module not just enhances Wi-Fi speeds to new levels by doubling the network throughput but also reduces Wi-Fi power consumption, as per the company's clai

Google's Android is the most popular mobile OS in the world but it doesn't have a particularly great track record when it comes to long-term software upgrades and regular security updates. Apart from Google's own Pixel range and a couple of phones from HMD Global and Motorola, OEMs rarely push out Android OTAs after 24 months of launch. For the enterprise market, all that is set to change as Google launches its new 'Android Enterprise Recommended' programme. Phones under this programme can expected to get monthly security updates, within 90 days of release, for a minimum of three years. In a blog post on Wednesday, Google announced the enterprise-focused Android Enterprise Recommended programme for devices that are said to meet "an elevated set of specifications for hardware, deployment, security updates, and user experience" helping businesses protect sensitive information from external threats. OEMs that are part of the programme will receive

Apple is in talks to buy storage chips from Yangtze Memory Technologies, a move that would mark the iPhone maker's first buy from a Chinese memory chipmaker, the Nikkei reported on Wednesday. Apple will use these chips in new iPhone models and other products for sale in the Chinese domestic market specifically, the Nikkei reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. Both Apple and Yangtze Memory did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this week downplayed a suggestion that the company might issue a special dividend to shareholders with some of the $285 billion (roughly Rs. 18.24 lakh crores) in cash that the company is now able to bring back from overseas. At an annual shareholder meeting at Apple Park in Cupertino on Tuesday, Cook responded to a question on whether the company might double its dividend in the wake of changes to United States tax laws that allowed corporations to bring back overseas cash at l

Apple said on Thursday a bug in some versions of its operating systems is causing its devices to crash when a single character in Telugu, an Indian language, is sent to the device or typed in text editor. The company was working on a fix for the iOS 11, the macOS High Sierra, watchOS 4 and tvOS 11versions that the bug affects, an Apple spokesperson said. The company said older versions were not affected by the bug and added that Apple had already fixed the issue in the current beta versions of the operating systems. Devices running on iOS 11 are affected and crash when any application receives the character, reports claimed. Apps become unresponsive, including Apple's iMessage and third-party applications like WhatsApp, Gmail and Facebook messenger, the news reports said. However, some apps like Telegram and Skype seem to be unaffected, the report said, adding that an Italian blog Mobile World spotted the bug.

Taiwanese phone maker HTC might be looking to unveil its latest smartphone dubbed the "HTC Desire 12" in 2018. According to online reports, this will be an entry-level smartphone with a full screen, 18:9 aspect ratio display and an affordable price tag. We can expect the smartphone to be announced at MWC 2018 in Barcelona, considering the flagship HTC U12 is not likely to be unveiled at the tech show. Renowned tipster Evan Blass took to Twitter earlier this month to reveal specifications of an upcoming HTC phone codenamed "Breeze". In another tweet on Wednesday, however, Blass claimed that this phone would "come to market as the HTC Desire 12." While he mentioned no details around the launch or availability, he did mention that it could be an entry-level phone and that "it should be priced to reflect that." He also mentioned that the Desire 12 will sport a 5.5-inch display (full-HD+ or HD+), a MediaTek SoC, 2GB RAM, 16GB inbuilt stor

Qualcomm Inc on Friday called a meeting with Broadcom Ltd to discuss the latter's $121 billion bid constructive and opened the door to more talks, but continued to reject the proposed deal between the semiconductor companies. Qualcomm's response raises the stakes in a battle over what would be the technology sector's largest-ever acquisition. The two companies have less than three weeks to negotiate a potential deal until Qualcomm shareholders are asked to vote on a challenge by Broadcom to Qualcomm's board of directors. Qualcomm has been seeking to walk a fine line between resisting Broadcom's acquisition approach, which it says undervalues it and is fraught with regulatory risks, and demonstrating to its shareholders and proxy advisory firms that it is willing to engage to secure a better deal if possible. "While the current Broadcom proposal is unacceptable, our board is intensely focused on maximizing value for Qualcomm stockholders, whethe

LG recently said it was taking a break from its annual launch cycle, but that does not mean there are no flagship smartphones to show this year. The company, earlier, claimed that it would launch new smartphones as they were needed, including more variants of its popular G and V-Seies of handsets. To that end, the company earlier this week said it would launch a new variant of the V30 - thought to be called the V30s - at MWC 2018 that begins next week. Now however, rumours have started surfacing that LG is planning to unleash a new flagship phone, codenamed Judy. The South Korean company was expected to launch its flagship smartphone LG G7 at MWC 2018. However, reports had suggested a potential delay in the arrival of the successor to LG G6 - now, it's said to arrive in June, and not be called the G7. Similar to the G6, the new smartphone's key attraction could be the display. As reported by VentureBeat, LG will pack a 6.1-inch, 18:9 aspect ratio screen in Judy. The MLC

Google has conducted a trial of a new technology that will help 911 operators figure out the location of cellphone callers more accurately, media reported. The test included tens of thousands of 911 calls over the span of two months in several states in the US and had encouraging results, The Wall Street Journal reported late on Friday. The 911 system, which turns 50 this month, has often struggled to locate cellphone callers.  Saving a minute in response times can save up to 10,000 lives a year, according to the federal regulators. With the help of Google's new technology, about 80 per cent of the 911 calls could more accurately locate data within the first 30 seconds. The tech giants' data also dramatically reduced the estimated radius of a call's location from 522 feet down to 121 feet and arrived faster than carrier data, the report said. This improvement in tracing the location data can also help dispatchers in cases where the caller might

Essential Products, the makers of the Essential Phone, on Friday announced the launch of new variant of smartphone - Halo Gray. Earlier this week, Essential Phone got three new colour variants - Copper Black, Ocean Depths, and Stellar Gray. While the Halo Gray variant looks very similar to Stellar, there is one big difference between the phones. The newest Halo Gray variant comes with Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant built-in, and costs less. "In case three new Essential Phone colours weren't enough, today we're unveiling Halo Gray, the first Essential Phone to come with Alexa built-in. Halo Gray is available for pre-order exclusively from Amazon starting today," the company announced on Twitter. As detailed by Essential, the new Halo Gray variant is now available for pre-orders via Amazon.com, and will go on sale from February 21. While the new colour variants - Copper Black, Ocean Depths, and Stellar Gray - all cost $599 (roughly Rs. 38,500), and

Samsung recently stopped the Android 8.0 Oreo update for its Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones, just days after it began to roll out, without any warning or explanation. However, after taking some time, Samsung has now confirmed details why it suddenly halted the Galaxy S8's Oreo update. As it turns out, the Android 8.0 update for the Galaxy S8 lineup had arrived with an issue - unexpected reboots for some users. "Following a limited number of cases where Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices have rebooted unexpectedly with the Android 8.0 Oreo, we have temporarily stopped the rollout of the update," the South Korean giant told SamMobile in a statement. Samsung also noted that investigations are ongoing and the rollout will resume soon. "We are investigating the issue internally to ensure that the impact to the affected devices is minimised and the rollout of the update can resume as quickly as possible," the company said. Samsung had taken a lot of time t

While its formal launch is still a few days away, an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session made its way to Reddit to report the early impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S9 from someone who claimed to have played around with the upcoming smartphone for about 20 minutes. In other news, Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ cases have been put on sale in a variety of colour options that confirm the presence of a back-facing fingerprint sensor. The flagship Galaxy models are expected to debut at a pre-MWC press conference in Barcelona later this month. The initial impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S9 that are publicly available on Reddit essentially details its design. The device in question is claimed to be a "very close to production" Galaxy S9 unit that has been specifically designed for the US market. This means it should have a Snapdragon 845 SoC, unlike the Exynos 9810 SoC-featuring global Galaxy S9 variant. The very first things that Redditor praised in the AMA session were the stereo

Celkon Mobiles has launched the Celkon UniQ in India with a price tag of Rs. 8,999. Taking on options such as the Tecno Camon i, Moto E4 Plus, and Samsung Galaxy J3 Pro, the new smartphone flaunts a metal body and a fast front-facing fingerprint sensor. Exact availability details haven't been disclosed yet. The dual-SIM Celkon UniQ runs Android 7.0 Nougat and features a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display and 2.5D curved glass protection. It is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core SoC, coupled with 3GB of RAM. On the part of optics, the handset has a 16-megapixel rear camera sensor along with an LED flash and an 8-megapixel front camera sensor with a "Moonlight" flash. For storing content, the Celkon UniQ has 128GB of onboard storage that is expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB), which is supported by a dedicated slot. The smartphone has 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, and Micro-USB. Besides, it packs a 2700mAh battery. Late last year, Celkon Mobile

Apple is in talks to buy storage chips from Yangtze Memory Technologies, a move that would mark the iPhone maker's first buy from a Chinese memory chipmaker, the Nikkei reported on Wednesday. Apple will use these chips in new iPhone models and other products for sale in the Chinese domestic market specifically, the Nikkei reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. Both Apple and Yangtze Memory did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this week downplayed a suggestion that the company might issue a special dividend to shareholders with some of the $285 billion (roughly Rs. 18.24 lakh crores) in cash that the company is now able to bring back from overseas. At an annual shareholder meeting at Apple Park in Cupertino on Tuesday, Cook responded to a question on whether the company might double its dividend in the wake of changes to United States tax laws that allowed corporations to bring back overseas cash at lower

iOS 11 reportedly has a bug that can crash your iPhone as well as block access to your Messages app, as well as third-party apps like Facebook Messenger, Gmail, Outlook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. The bug takes effect when a particular Telugu character is received, or even just pasted into a text area. This reportedly leads to iOS applications becoming frozen and inaccessible, and sometimes the whole operating system crashes. As per Italian blog Mobile World, which spotted the bug, the issue not only affects iOS devices but any Apple product, including watchOS and macOS. As we mentioned, the bug involves a particular Telugu character. When this character is sent to devices, Apple's iOS Springboard crashes upon receiving the message. This reportedly happens when a user sends the symbol and iOS shows it as a notification. Moreover, if the character is received within an app, such as WhatsApp or Twitter, that particular app will crash. Also, all attempts to re-open the app

HTC’s President for the Smartphone and Connected Devices Business Chialin Chang has resigned from his position. The resignation, which is effective immediately from February 14, has brought the company to the brink of extinction. Chang joined the Taiwanese smartphone company in 2012 and served the board as its Chief Financial Officer and Head of Global Sales before leading the Smartphone and Connected Devices Business division. The move comes months after Google decided to buy the smartphone design and engineering team from HTC for $1.1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,000 crores), and it could be the outcome of the plan that was reportedly aimed to streamline the company’s smartphone lineup this year. On a page dedicated to its investors on Wednesday, HTC made the latest announcement. The company hasn’t revealed any replacement for Chang yet. Further, the reason for the resignation is mentioned as a “personal career plan”. It is, however, reported by some local news sources that the de

Nokia 8 has now started receiving Android 8.1 Oreo update. The update comes just weeks after HMD Global released a beta test programme for the flagship handset that was running Android 8.0 Oreo until now and recently received the February Android security patch. The company’s Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas on Tuesday announced the latest update rollout through a tweet. “We are rolling out Android Oreo 8.1 on Nokia 8! Get the sweetest Android to date,” Sarvikas tweeted. As per the official changelog, as spotted by folks at AndroidPolice, the Android 8.1 Oreo update (version 4.84A) for the Nokia 8 includes battery saving navigation buttons, a revamped power menu, new settings menu, and Bluetooth battery percentage. It also comes with various core Android features such as Neural Networks API, Autofill framework updates, and a SharedMemory API. Besides, you can expect performance improvements and bug fixes, including a corrected hamburger emoji with cheese slice on top of t

Oppo A71 (2018) has been launched in India just days after its initial availability in Pakistan. The new smartphone, which is the successor of the last year's Oppo A71, is available with a price tag of Rs. 9,990 and is already available for purchase through Flipkart. It will soon go on sale through Amazon and Snapdeal. It comes in Gold and Black colour options. Last month, Oppo announced a price cut on the original Oppo A71 in the country that brought it to as low as Rs. 9,999. The smartphone was debuted in the Indian market originally in September last year at a price of Rs. 12,990 following its initial listing in Pakistan and Malaysia. As an upgrade over last year's model, the Oppo A71 (2018) comes with an AI Beauty Recognition Technology that is claimed to be based on a global image database to beautify the key areas on a face. There is a proprietary Bokeh effect as well to blur the background on your selfie shorts using a built-in smart arithmetic optimisation to

Vivo has announced that it is set to bring Android Oreo to its various smartphone models. The new Android version will debut on as many as seven Vivo smartphones that belong to the X series, including the Vivo X20, Vivo X20 Plus, Vivo X9s, Vivo X9s Plus, Vivo XPlay6, Vivo X9, and Vivo X9 Plus. Importantly, the Android Oreo experience will come through a Funtouch OS upgrade that is scheduled for April this year. Ahead of releasing the final Android Oreo builds, Vivo is supposed to launch a beta version, as per the information available on Vivo forums in China. Details about the beta release are likely to emerge through the official forums in the coming future. Moreover, following the new beta release, Vivo will push Android Oreo via an OTA (over-the-air) update. You need to run the latest software version on your Vivo smartphone in order to get the newest Android flavour. To check the availability of a new software version, you need to go to Settings > About phone > Syste

Apple 's annual software upgrade this fall will offer users plenty of new features: enabling a single set of apps to work across  iPhones ,  iPads  and  Macs , a Digital Health tool to show parents how much time their children have been staring at their screen and improvements to Animojis, those cartoon characters controlled by the  iPhone X 's facial recognition sensor. But just as important this year will be what Apple doesn't introduce: redesigned home screens for the iPhone, iPad and  CarPlay , and a revamped Photos app that can suggest which images to view. These features were delayed after Apple concluded it needed its own major upgrade in the way the company develops and introduces new products. Instead of keeping engineers on a relentless annual schedule and cramming features into a single update, Apple will start focusing on the next two years of updates for its iPhone and iPad operating system, according to people familiar with the change. The company will

Xiaomi's first product announcement of 2018 for India is scheduled to take place on February 14 in New Delhi. While the company hasn't officially revealed any of the products that are set to arrive, the Chinese phone maker and its online partner, Flipkart, have sent out their fair share of hints. While the Redmi Note 5 has already been hinted at for launch on that date, the latest product page from Flipkartand a teaser video from Xiaomi point towards the launch of the first ever Mi TV in India - quite possibly, the latest Mi TV 4. A teaser page went live on Flipkart earlier this week that details features of an upcoming product from Xiaomi. It can be deduced that this will be the Xiaomi Mi TV 4, as it is Xiaomi's only product to sport a "Slim 4.9mm body." This variant was showcased by the company at CES 2017, and could become its first smart TV to launch outside of China. However, there are no details around which model - 49-inch, 55-inch, or 65-inch - wi

Samsung has reportedly finally started the rollout of Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. The update will initially be available for those who helped beta test the build, and eventually will be rolled out to all users of Samsung's Galaxy S8 flagships. The firmware version G955XXU1CRAP for the Galaxy S8+ is now available in Germany, with other markets (including India) expected to get it soon. Update: Gadgets 360 readers say the Galaxy S8 Oreo update is now rolling out in India as well. The South Korean giant's current flagship models in the Galaxy S series are now receiving the much anticipated Android Oreo software update, reports SamMobile. Beta testers in Germany have spotted the update on their handsets. The update for beta testers is Apart from the flagship range, Samsung is also expected to release an Android Oreo-based OTA update for the Galaxy J7 Prime and Galaxy Tab E 8.0, among other devices. US carrier T-Mobile had tipped this develop

Clearly looking to push hardware boundaries further, Chinese giant Vivo reportedly has plans to launch a smartphone with nearly 100 percent screen-to-body ratio in coming months. Rumoured to be called Vivo X30, the Vivo Xplay7, or even a concept phone, this leaked handset appears to have no bezels at all, and could be the first phone in the market with such a design. This is the second major Vivo leak in a week, after the company's rumoured handset with 10GB RAM was leaked earlier this month. As spotted by PlayfulDroid and previously seen on Weibo, Vivo is seemingly working on developing a phone with an all-screen design. The leaked images reveal the design, which raises doubt over the incorporation of a selfie camera, ambient light sensor, and earpiece on the phone. The phone is expected to sport a large full-HD+ (1080x2160 pixels) display like the one seen on the Vivo X20 or Vivo X20 Plus. Additionally, we can expect the phone to sport an under display fingerprint se

More than a dozen global smartphone and PC OEMs have tied up with Qualcomm to incorporate the Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem on to their mobile devices. Qualcomm has said the first smartphones featuring its X50 5G NR modem will hit the market in 2019, with Chinese brand Vivo promising such a handset next year. Major mobile phone OEMs joining hands with Qualcomm to incorporate the 5Gmodem in their future smartphones include the likes of Xiaomi, Nokia brand licensee HMD Global, Sony, LG, HTC, Oppo, and ZTE. Other OEMs that have partnered with Qualcomm are Fujitsu, Inseego/ Novatel Wireless, NetComm Wireless, Netgear, Sharp, Sierra Wireless, Telit, Wingtech, and WNC. Devices by these OEMs will be built around the sub-6GHz and millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum bands starting next year. Apart from smartphones, the new Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem will be available on Always Connected PCs, Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) - including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Extend

Moto Z2 Force is set to launch in India on February 15. Lenovo-owned Motorola on Friday sent out invites for the launch event of the Moto Z2 Force model. The formal invitation confirms that the company is launching the new smartphone, bundled with Moto TurboPower Pack Mod that debuted in the country in last December carrying a price tag of Rs. 5,999. The Moto Z2 Force was unveiled in July last year and went on sale in the US through various carriers in August. It comes with a starting price of $799 (approximately Rs. 51,460). Motorola hasn't announced any details about the price and availability of the Moto Z2 Force in India. However, the invite that has been rolled out to the media reveals that the company is hosting the launch event live on YouTube at 12 noon on February 15. Based on the invite, it's possible that the Moto TurboPower Pack Mod will be bundled with the smartphone, since it's already been launched in the country. The Moto TurboPower Pack Mod inclu

Continuing the trend of declining tablet shipments, the Q4 2017 saw yet another drop of 7.9 percent year-over-year. As per an IDC report, 49.6 million tablet units were shipped worldwide last quarter, compared to 53.8 million units in the same quarter in 2016. While Apple continued to stay at the top spot, Amazon has managed to overtake Samsung to become the second biggest tablet vendor by market share. It should be noted that the estimates reported by IDC take into account both slate form factors and detachables, which means tablets that come with keyboards. Amazon's tablet sales worldwide soared by 50 percent in Q4 2017 and passed Samsung in terms of total shipments. Amazon sold 7.7 million tablets in the last quarter while jumping ahead of Samsung, which sold 7 million units, a decline of 13 percent year-over-year. Amazon's market share jumped from 9.6 percent to 15.6 percent while Samsung managed 14.1 percent. IDC says, "Amazon.com was able to steal the second