Samsung to Reveal Galaxy Note 7 Investigation Results This Month

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Jan 2, 2017

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 catastrophe is something Samsung will want to bury as soon as possible but they will have to wait a little while before they can do so. South Korean newspaper, JoongAng Ilbo says the company will release to the public by the middle of the month, the results of its investigations about the phone.

While the most plausible cause of the explosions circulating around is the design of the battery, Samsung’s investigation covered all possible causes.

After the first set of explosions were recorded, Samsung issued a recall in affected regions except for the ones in China whose batteries were reported to have been made by a different company and didn’t have the same issue. Things got worse when replacements given back to owners started to burst up in flames. It got so serious that airlines banned the Galaxy Note 7 from being taken aboard flights.

Research by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed that the Note 7’s battery was too big for the phone and was being compressed by the body resulting in the positive and negative terminals of the battery coming in contact with each other and causing it to overheat and then explode.

The second spate of explosions led Samsung to throw in the towel and issue a worldwide recall and provide a refund or replacement with a different Samsung phone. Some owners who weren’t affected refused to turn their phones in and Samsung had to take measures by releasing updates initially preventing the phone from charging beyond a certain level and then another update to make the phone unusable all in a bid to have them return it.

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Here’s the Stunning 140MP Photo of Seven Cities During New Year, Captured By the Huawei Mate 9

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 2, 2017

New Year is usually a time when cities are usually lit up at the hour mark to herald the birth of another promising year and what better mobile phone camera could best capture these moments than the Huawei Mate 9 . Huawei recently teased a photo containing images of seven cities, including Paris, London, New York and others, said to have been captured by the Huawei Mate 9 / Mate 9 Pro camera. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. The images speak volume of the Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro’s camera if really they were shot by the Huawei flagships.

Huawei Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro only differs in display sizes but both have the same Kirin 960 processor as well as the same 4,000mAh battery. They both have a 20MP monochrome + 12MP color sensor dual camera module at the back as well as other similar camera features like 2x zoom, Laser Focus, OIS, and dual LED flash. Up front, there’s an 8MP f/1.9 aperture shooter. Since the cameras are the same, Huawei’s claim that the photos were shot by the Mate 9 / Mate 9 Pro are not doubtful.Both the Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro run on EMUI 5.0 interface based on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.

The Mate 9 sports a 5.9-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080p resolution and a rear placed fingerprint sensor. There are six color options for this standard model including mocha gold, champagne gold, silver moonlight, ceramic white, gray sky and bright black. On the other hand, the Huawei Mate 9 Pro comes with a 5.5-inch curved flexible display with the resolution bumped up to 2K and the fingerprint placed on the front. There are four color options for the Pro variant namely amber gold, rose gold, silver and gray.

(source)

LeEco Phone with Dual Cameras Spotted Online, Priced at ¥1000 ($144)

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Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 2, 2017

A few months ago, a LeEco phone with dual cameras, a 1080p display, a 2.5GHz processor, 4GB RAM, and 32GB of storage was spotted on TENAA. Said to be the LeEco Le 2S Pro, the phone was expected to launch in September. We are already in January and the Le 2S Pro still hasn’t launched.

Then in October, another dual-camera LeEco phone with model number LEX850 was seen on the 3C website getting it’s certification. This one had a 5.7-inch 2k display, a Snapdragon 821 SoC, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and dual 13MP cameras. We thought it was going to be an upgraded version of the Le Max 2 and hoped it would launch soon, but like the Le 2S Pro above, the X850 is yet to arrive.

The news today is that another LeEco phone with dual cameras has been spotted an an online store. The store has the phone listed as the LeEco Le 2S Dual.

The online store lists the Le 2S Dual as having a 5.5-inch display, a Helio X25 processor, dual 13MP cameras on the rear, and a 12MP front-facing camera. The source says the store has pictures of the phone powered on showing it is genuine and the device’s model number is listed as LEX659.

The Le 2S Dual has the same antenna design as the LEX652 but sports a different color. There is also a fingerprint scanner below the dual-camera setup. Some say both the Le 2S Dual (LEX659) and LEX652 are the same device and that the phone was not launched last year because of the company’s financial troubles.

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Apple iPhone 7 Could Get A Blue Shade, Images Leaked

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 2, 2017

Apple launched the iPhone 7 along with the iPhone 7 Plus last Spring and they both were available in Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, Black colors as well as a new Jet Black finish. If the latest rumor is anything to go by, the iPhone 7 is likely going to get a new color variant soon and it is a blue shade.

Images of the iPhone 7 adorning a blue shade was leaked recently on Weibo and honestly, it looks cool especially with the antenna band having a black coloration. We would have been tempted to think this was another concept image but the device looks real and even could be seen inside its box casing in one of the leaked images.

Apple seems to be shifting from its traditional offerings on the iPhone in order to appeal to more potential customers in markets such as India and China. The company recently changed the base storage of its models from 16GB to 32GB and recently, there were rumors of a red color variant coming with the iPhone 8 billed for later this year.

As a reminder, the iPhone 7 sports a 4.7-inch Retina HD display with 3D touch. The flagship device comes with a new quad-core Apple A10 Fusion chipset. There is a new 12MP iSight camera with 6-element lens, f/1.8 aperture, High-speed Sensor (60% faster, 30% efficient), support for 4K video recording and quad LED dual-tone flash. It also has a new 7MP Facetime camera up front. The iPhone 7 comes with 2GB of RAM and 32GB, 128GB and 256GB built-in storage options. Other features include the latest iOS 10, IP67 rating meaning it is water and dust resistant. There is also a new home button and this houses the fingerprint sensor and the non-removable battery onboard also has some improvements.

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Sony Xperia X (2017) Image Leaked: Sports Thinner Bezels on All Sides

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Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 2, 2017

Sony has been around for a pretty long time, making phones years before a lot of the brands in the market now thought of doing so. However, for a while now the company has been recording losses but managed to record some profits in Q2 2016. Their flagship last year, the Xperia XZ is expected to get a newer model less than a year after its launch but it seems that is not the only phone hitting the shelves soon as a leaked image of an upcoming Xperia X (2017) has just surfaced online.

The image appears to look like a sort of packaging for the Xperia X and shows that Sony is doing away with some of its trademark design language such as the huge bezels usually present on its phones. The Xperia X (2017) sports thinner side bezels and smaller upper and lower bezels but I still see no need for the lower bezel being that thick, since Sony uses on-screen buttons and places its fingerprint scanner on the side.

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Xiaomi Mi 4 Explodes While Charging in Classroom

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 1, 2017

Xiaomi‘s exploding phone saga continues with the news of a Xiaomi Mi 4 exploding inside a classroom packed with students while it is being charged. Although, incidence of Xiaomi’s devices exploding are very rare, they sometimes occur all the same and this is one of such times.

According to the report, the Mi 4 was plugged into a charging source while the owner was using the phone inside a classroom in China when the explosion occurred. Although other details are sketchy, the photos of the incident points at the battery as the likely culprit. The battery was charred and in turn led to the melting of the plastic back cover of the smartphone as well as the damaging the plastic frame of the phone. Thankfully, no one was reported to have sustained any injury during the incident.

The Xiaomi Mi 4 isn’t a new smartphone in Xiaomi’s lineup. First released in 2014, the Mi 4 came with a 5-inch 1080p IPS display and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801(MSM8974AC) quad-core processor with a clock frequency of 2.5GHz. The device has 3GB RAM and two storage versions of 16GB and 64GB respectively. The device cram a 3080mAh battery which is reputed to achieve full charge in 2.5 hours. Are we looking at a defective battery here or a case of using the wrong charger. We wouldn’t know until an investigation is carried out. We’ll keep you posted about that whenever further details pop up.

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Specs Leaked In Detail: Octa-core Kryo280 architecture on a 10nm process!

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 1, 2017

Qualcomm has officially confirmed that it will reveal the brand new Snapdragon 835 chipset in detail at the upcoming CES event in Las Vegas. But someone decided to leak the details of the chip a couple of days in advance.

According to the new set of leaked images, the Snapdragon 835 will use a Kryo280 octa-core architecture. The company claims the 280 is its most efficient architecture till date, which really sounds exciting. Further, thanks to the improved efficiency, the Snapdragon 835 boasts of 50% power reduction as compared to the old Snapdragon 801 chip. This means in 2017, we will have not only powerful smartphones but also phones which will last longer than previous generation models.

So, there will be two sets of cores in this architecture — 4 x performance cores @ 2.45GHz and 4 x efficiency cores @ 1.9GHz. The Snapdragon 835 also comes with a faster Adreno 540 GPU with support for DX12, OpenGL, ES and Vulkan applications. Other noted features of the new chip include Hexagon 690 DSP, Spectra 180 and the fast X16 LTE modem. The processor also comes with support for Qualcomm Haven Security (full biometric suite).

Since the SD835 is based on 10nm process, its smaller and much more compact than Snapdragon 820. This will translate into thinner and smaller smartphones, with more room for other components like battery.

Overall, the Snapdragon 835 processor seems to be a worthy update to the powerful SD821.

Note that these are just leaked images which haven’t been confirmed by the company yet. But the details are in line with what we expected from the chip.

(source)

Meizu M5S with 2GB RAM, Octa-Core Chip Spotted on GeekBench

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 1, 2017

According to the leaked Meizu product schedule plan that made the rounds last week, the Meizu M5S is slated as the first in its lineup billed to be unveiled next month, February 2017. Ahead of the expected February launch, the M5S has appeared on Geekbench database, with a result that affirms it mid-range specs.

Before now, the Meizu M5S has gotten its 3C certification in China and had also pass through TENAA for certification. According to the TENAA listing, the M5S sports a 5.2-inch 720p display, a 1.3GHz octa-core processor, a 13MP rear camera, a 5MP selfie camera, and a 2930mAh battery. The phone was also listed to be available in up to three different RAM versions of 2GB, 3GB and 4GB, as well as three storage versions of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB respectively.

The version that ran through Geekbench is listed as having 2GB RAM onboard, which is apparently the base version. Geekbench also lists the device as packing a 1.3GHz octa-core chip identified as the MediaTek MT6753 chip. This also rhymes with the processor type listed on the leaked Meizu 2017 product plan. On the test results, the M5S could only manage a single-core test score of 572 points, and a multi-core score of 2481 points. In addition, the device is also listed as running Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box.

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Microsoft Lumia Weibo Account Renamed to Nokia Mobile Phones in China!

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 1, 2017

It is already a known fact that Microsoft has relinquished its stake in Nokia and now the Nokia brand name is back. Apparently, in a clear demonstration of the return of the Nokia brand and the demise of the Microsoft Lumia brand, the official Microsoft Lumia Weibo page is reported to have been renamed as Nokia phones.

This is no doubt an indication that the Nokia brand has been repositioned to take over all the structures of the now defunct Microsoft Lumia globally. On September 2, 2013, Microsoft announced that it was buying out Nokia’s devices business for $7.2 billion. By then, Nokia was already swimming in troubled waters, facing financial difficulties as a result of a late transition to Android phones. Although Microsoft had hoped to turn around the fortunes of the company, that didn’t happen as the Lumia brand just refused to fly.

In a bid to offload its excess luggage, Microsoft announced that it is selling off its feature phone assets to a subsidiary of Taiwanese firm Foxconn Technology and newly-established firm HMD Global for $350 million, around May last year. This move marked the return of the Nokia brand into the market. Already, the company has released a couple of feature phones and is all set to unveil its Android smartphones.

Although the Weibo page’s name has now been changed to reflect the new ownership, it can still be observed that the background image is still that of Microsoft Lumia. Perhaps this is to allow for a slow transition, so as not to confuse fans. Perhaps, some more changes and maybe a couple of announcement will pop up from the new account soon. We’ll be on the watch out for that.

360 Mobiles New Smartphone Spotted on TENAA with Impressive Specs

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 1, 2017

A new smartphone from 360 Mobiles has been spotted passing TENAA certification. This new device is expected to be its first smartphone for 2017.

As of this writing, it is not known whether the rumored 360 Mobiles smartphone will belong to its N-series or Q-series devices. However, its photos have surfaced through TENAA listing.

A small red-colored circle can be seen below the display of the mysterious 360 Mobiles smartphone. This design for the Home Button seems to be inspired from Nubia phones. The ambient sensor and front-facing camera above the display.

The smartphone is expected to feature a unibody metallic chassis with a thickness of 8.5 mm. The rear panel of the device houses the main camera. Below the camera, there is an LED flash and fingerprint scanner.

As far as the specifications of the rumored 360 device is concerned, it is expected to house a 5.5-inch full HD display. An octa-core processor working at 1.8 GHz is expected to power the device along with 6 GB of RAM. Its native storage will be of 32 GB.

Its other specs include 8-megapixel front-facing camera, a 13-megapixel rear camera, Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS and an in-built battery of 3,920 mAh capacity. Currently, the pricing and launch date of this rumored device is not known.

360 Mobiles does not sell its smartphones outside China. However, in the home country it is quite famous mainly because of its affordably priced smartphones. In the recent past, it has released smartphones such as 360 N4S, 360 N4A, 360 Q5 and Q5 Plus.

HTC Ocean Note Unveiling as HTC U Ultra on January 12?

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 1, 2017

In December 2016, HTC began sending invitations for its January 12 launch event. Even though the company is silent on the device that will be unveiled at the upcoming launch event, speculations have it that the rumored HTC Ocean Note will launch as HTC U Ultra on the said date.

The invitations that were sent out last month carries a large-sized ‘U’ on a purple colored background. According to well-known leakster, @OnLeaks, an unverified source has revealed that HTC Ocean Note phablet is rumored that is unveiling on Jan. 12 as HTC U Ultra.

Got it from an unverified source but I put that here anyway… 😏#HTC Ocean Note = HTC U Ultra = 6″ display = no 3.5mm Jack…

— OnLeaks (@OnLeaks) December 31, 2016

The alleged phablet is expected to house a 6-inch display. Just as previous leaks have suggested the phablet does not feature a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Since it is expected to feature a USB Type-C port, it may allow users to listen to music by connecting headphones to the new port.

A leaked information coming from Taiwanese retailer named Eprice suggests that the HTC Ocean Note (aka HTC U Ultra) will be arriving with an outstanding rear camera. It is expected to be so good that its DxOMark score is rumored to be highest over other smartphones. Currently, the Google Pixel has the highest DxOMark score of 89.

HTC Ocean Note seems to belong to a new series of smartphones from the Taiwanese company. It will be a dual SIM smartphone with its first SIM carrying support for 4G connectivity and its second SIM will support 3G networks.

It is speculated to be available in color choices like Black, White and Blue. Several leaked images of its case suggests that will be housing a stylus.

The other two rumored smartphones that are expected to belong to the new series are HTC Ocean Smart and Ocean Master. The Ocean Smart is expected to arrive with midrange specs whereas the Ocean Master is speculated to be graced with flagship specs.

Early rumors have revealed that the HTC Ocean Master will be a concept phone that will not feature any physical buttons. Instead, its edges are expected to include sensors that can perform appropriate actions for controlling volume and launching camera by touching on the sides of the phone.

OnePlus Fulfils Promise and Releases Android Nougat for OnePlus 3/3T

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Dec 31, 2016

It appears OnePlus is not only great at making phones but they have also included fulfilling promises. When the OnePlus 3T was launched, the company promised that it was going to release a Nougat update for it and the OnePlus 3 before the end of the year.

Most people must have thought the update wouldn’t be coming anymore seeing as we are literally at the end of the year, but OnePlus is not one to disappoint its fans as they have released the final and stable version of Android Nougat.

The new update comes in the form of Oxygen OS 4.0 and is already rolling out to some users. Changelog for both devices are the same and are listed below:

Upgraded to Android 7.0 Nougat
- New Notifications Design
- New Settings Menu Design
- Multi-Window View
- Notification Direct Reply
- Custom DPI Support
Added Status Bar Icon Options
Improved Shelf Customization

If you have not received the update, you can manually check but if it is still not available, you should be patient as the update will roll out gradually to users.

Do you own a OnePlus 3 or OnePlus 3T and have received the Nougat update? Do let us know what you think about the new features.

Happy Holidays!!!

ASUS X00GD Shows Up AT TENAA: Sports 4850mAh Battery and Runs Android Nougat

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Dec 31, 2016

ASUS has a new phone in the works and it seems a launch isn’t far off as it has been spotted on TENAA’s website getting its certification. The phone with model number X00GD runs Android Nougat out of the box making it the first ASUS phone to run the new Android OS.

The ASUS X00GD also comes with a large 4850mAh battery. Not the largest we have seen on an ASUS phone (the Zenfone Max/Max Pro sports a 5000mAh battery) but which is pretty big too and should last for at least two days since the display is just 5.2-inches with a 720p resolution.

The device weighs 169 grams thanks to the large battery and measures 149.5 x 73.7 x 8.85 mm. There is an unnamed 1.5GHz octa-core processor under the hood, a 13MP rear camera with dual LED flash, and an 8MP front shooter.

There are multiple variants, so you should get either 2GB + 16GB, 3GB + 32GB, or 4GB + 64GB. ASUS is never one to ditch the memory expansion slot even on their flagship Zenfone 3 Deluxe with 256GB of storage, so irrespective of the variant you settle for, you can throw in a micro SD card to get more storage.

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New Interesting Honor Phone Coming to CES 2017, Honor Magic?

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Dec 31, 2016

Huawei has no doubt, had a highly successful year this 2016, with statistics showing the company surpassed its yearly target of selling 140 million units of its phones this year. What better way to consolidate on that success than to begin the New year with a launch event in one of the most lucrative smartphone market which is also one of Huawei’s target market. Huawei’s Honor brand has teased via Twitter, that the company will be unveiling a brand new “epic” Honor smartphone at CES 2017 holding in Las Vegas on January 3.

The company was short of announcing the name of the smartphone but the teasers point to a device with dual cameras and that the phone’s camera acts perfectly in low light with an accompanying image purportedly captured by the phone. There is really nothing new about a dual camera smarphone as Huawei has already got the Honor 8 selling in the US with a dual camera setup. What is likely to drop is the innovative Honor Magic which was unveiled in China recently. While we can’t be very sure about that, it is likely that Huawei will introduce the Honor Magic in the US market where it will be affordable to many.

The Huawei Honor Magic has in its arsenal, a beautiful, sleek design with an hardware setup that makes it a powerful smartphone capable of withstanding the toughest of softwares. Apart from the dual cameras, the Honor Magic also comes with a dual curved display on both the front and back, giving it a unique look. The Honor Magic sports a 5.09-inch AMOLED display with 2K resolution. The device also tag along the Kirin 950 chipset as well as 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage.The device supports NFC and has a fingerprint sensor embedded under the home button. There is a dual camera setup at the back sitting horizontally with the LED flash at the side. The device crams a 2900mAh battery onboard which is touted as being capable of achieving 90% charge in just 30 minutes.

In addition, Huawei is said to unveil the EMUI 5.0 at CES 2017 and coincidentally, the Honor Magic runs on EMUI 5 based on Android Nougat. The Honor Magic is priced at 3699 Yuan (~$533) and that’s a very cheap price tag if you take into consideration the rich allure of design and specs it packs.

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Moto X (2017) Leaks in Renders and Video

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Dec 30, 2016

Motorola (Lenovo) didn’t release a Moto X this year, instead we got the Moto Z, the 4th Gen Moto G series, the Moto E3 Power, and the Moto M; even though we kept getting rumors that Motorola was still going to release a Moto X 2016.

Less than 48 hours to the end of the year and leaks for a phone said to be the Moto X (2017). The leaks which were released by @OnLeaks who is known for his track record of posting accurate leaks, also includes a 360° video of the upcoming phone.

On first look, what you’ll notice is that the Moto X (2017) is not sporting that ugly square fingerprint scanner present on the Moto Z series and Moto G4 Plus. It now has that pill-like design that can be found on Samsung phones. However, this one appears to be shorter and bigger, probably in a bid to compliment the big bezel its sitting on. The Moto X (2017) also brings back the audio jack which is positioned at the bottom of the phone.

The Moto X (2017) does share some design features with the Moto Z such as the rear camera and the position of the front shooter and sensor. Surprisingly, it does not have the connector pins found on the Moto Z, which means the phone won’t be able to make use of Moto Mods. The Moto X (2017) also lacks the thin design (it’s 9.2mm thick, measuring the camera bump) of the Moto Z which is really thin at 5.2mm. We hope the extra thickness is to allow for a larger battery.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgqYpCmMgdM[/embedyt]

@OnLeaks mentions that the Moto X will be bringing back features like the audio jack mentioned above and a microSD card slot for storage expansion. The phone will also be ditching the USB Type-C port and will have a micro USB port in its place. There are a no stereo front-facing speakers like last year’s model and no dual cameras too.

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VKWORLD Stone V3S Review: A $20 Rugged Phone!

By

Linus

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Dec 30, 2016

There are plenty of phones out there and most of them have so many smart features that some of you may not even need. I just came across a $20 feature phone and I decided to give it a try. Did I like it? Learn more in the full VKWORLD Stone V3S review.

VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gme86DEUNw[/embedyt]

UNBOXING

The phone ships with a charger, some paperwork and some extra SIM card adapters.

DESIGN and FEATURES

For $20, you get a little phone that has the IP65 rating, meaning that the phone can survive some beating. Also, it is dust and dirt resistant and the device is splash-proof.

The Vkworld V3S is a well-built phone. I love the metal used on the sides of the device, which gives a little bit of premium look and feel.

The display is definitely not the sharpest out there but it is enough for such a cheap feature phone. However, the viewing angles are bad and it is quite reflective during the cloudy day.

The nicely backlit physical keys are tactile and they are nice to the touch.

One of the key selling points of the device is a dual-LED flashlight. However, I didn’t find it brighter than your everyday smartphone.

The loudspeaker is really good as it is louder than on most of the smartphones and the sound is quite clear.

USER INTERFACE and TEST NOTES

When it comes to the user interface, you should not expect to have lots of smart features but the phone gets the basics right. We have some essential everyday apps, music player, FM radio, calendar, a few pre-installed games and so on.

Speaking of the basics, the call quality and signal reception are great.

Since you are going to use this phone mainly for the calls and other basic stuff, the battery will last you for days.

I could not kill this phone in 1 week using two SIM cards at the same time. Even if you don’t use the phone very often, the advertised 25 day standby time is a great feature to have.

CONCLUSIONS

So, there you have it, the $20 Vkworld V3S. It’s definitely not the phone for everyone since it was designed mainly for those who need just a simple phone that is well-built and it can survive a few drops and has just the basic features.

So far the phone has worked fine for me and I believe it’s worth the $20 price tag but I’m switching back to my smartphone as I can’t live without all the smart features it has.

What about you? Do you think you would need such a phone or would you rather add $30 more and buy a cheap smartphone? Let me know in the comment section down below.

Buy VKWORLD Stone V3S

Likely Samsung Galaxy S8 Benchmark Data Appears

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Dec 30, 2016

What is said to be the benchmark data of Samsung‘s next generation Galaxy S8 flagship has appeared online. The device suspected to be the Samsung Galaxy S8 was spotted on Geekbench datatbase, uploaded as very recently.

The Geekbench datatshowed the Galaxy S8 which is equipped with a Snapdragon 835 chipset recording a single core score of 1844 points and a multi-core score of 5426 points. When compared to the Apple A1o-powered iPhone 7’s score of 3300 on the single-core and 5400 on the multi-core test, the score posted by the Galaxy S8 is somewhat disappointing. We need not despair over that, though, as the device is still a work in progress and perhaps didn’t run on full steam. The processor was listed as an octa-core chip clocked at 1.90Ghz, so the clock frequency may have been reduced.

As usual, Geekbench data usually reveals little about the specs of the device. In this case, the Galaxy S8 is revealed as running Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box and would have 4GB RAM crammed inside. In addition, earlier rumors had tipped the Galaxy S8 to be the first device to use the Bluetooth 5.0 technology and lots of other innovative features. The flagship is said to also come with a design devoid of a physical home button and would have a curve display. The launch date of the Galaxy S8 is presently enmeshed in controversy, as the initial MWC 2017 launch date is now rumored as unlikely.

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Meizu & Qualcomm Finally Settle Their Issues, Sign Patent Licensing Agreement

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Dec 30, 2016

The lingering dispute between Meizu and Qualcomm which had led to Meizu smartphones not featuring Qualcomm SoCs may have finally been put to rest. Qualcomm today announced that it has signed a patent license agreement with Meizu which grants Meizu the worldwide license to develop, manufacture and sell smartphones with CDMA2000, WCDMA, 4G LTE (including “triple mode”GSM / TD-SCDMA / LTE-TDD) terminals.

Qualcomm recently signed the same agreement days back with fellow Chinese company Gionee and earlier in August, the company put pen to paper with Vivo under similar terms. Under this term, Meizu will pay royalties to Qualcomm for use of these bands on their smartphones.

The new agreement, according to Qualcomm’s statement, addresses all patent disputes between Qualcomm and Meizu in China, Germany, France and the United States. It would be recalled that Qualcomm had dragged Meizu to court in Europe and the US over patent infringement, but both parties have agreed to take appropriate steps to terminate or withdraw the patent infringement action and related patent invalidity or other related litigation.

Coincidentally, a leaked product lineup plan for Meizu in 2017 had included a Meizu M device said to get a December 2017 launch date and coming with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 chip onboard. Turns out the leaked document was indeed correct. In addition, Meizu has confirmed it would use Qualcomm processor at the end of 2017 but the company failed to mention the name or details of the smartphone that would pack the Qualcomm SoC. The year 2017 is sure looking to be a year of great surprises and expectations on the smartphone industry.

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ZTE’s Blade V8 Wants to Join The Mid-range Dual Camera Phones

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Dec 30, 2016

The Blade series is ZTE’s line of mid-range phones. Although priced lower than the Axon and Nubia series, the Blade phones sport the same high level of build quality found on the more expensive lines. The company has a new phone in the works and it is expected to be unveiled at the Consumer Electronic show which is starting next week.

The new phone called the ZTE Blade V8 is expected to be the line’s first dual-camera midranger, competing with the likes of Xiaomi’s Redmi Pro and LeEco’s Cool1 Dual.

The ZTE Blade V8 pictured above will have a 5.2” 1080p display just like you have on the Blade V7, a 1.4GHz Snapdragon 435 processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The dual rear cameras will be a combination of a 12MP sensor and a 2MP shooter. Sources say both sensors will work together to allow you take pictures with bokeh effects and even shoot stereoscopic 3D pictures that can be viewed with a VR glasses. The dual sensors of the Blade V8 will also allow you take quick pictures of fast moving objects without the need for focusing.

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Qualcomm Signs Patent License Agreement with Gionee

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Dec 29, 2016

Qualcomm has announced that it has signed a new 3G and 4G patent license agreement with Chinese phone maker, Gionee. The terms of the agreement grants Gionee a royalty-bearing patent license to develop, manufacture and sell 3G WCDMA , CDMA2000 and 4G LTE complete devices for use in China. The license also include 3-mode GSM, TD-SCDMA and LTE-TDD bands.

Under the terms of the agreement, Gionee would also make payment in royalties for use of these patents which belong to Qualcomm. It could be recalled that fellow Chinese phonemaker, Vivo also reached similar agreement with Qualcomm recently and Qualcomm did reveal that it is in agreement with the top 10 smartphone makers in China over similar license.

Acording to Liu Lirong, group president of Gionee, “Having access to the latest technologies from Qualcomm, through this license agreement, will allow us to continue to design innovative and powerful devices for consumers across all demographics.” Gionee will definitely increase its portfolio soon with smartphones having these bands on board, especially 4G LTE which is the rave of the moment. The company has a large market in Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia and a shift ti 4G LTE enabled smartphone on its devices will no doubt increase her followership. Meanwhile, Qualcomm is already working on the 5G band.

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