Back in April, Microsoft started selling the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus “Microsoft Experience” at its retail stores across the US. What makes the devices different is that when you connect them to a Wi-Fi network, a Microsoft customization is applied that brings the company’s apps such as OneDrive, Cortana, and Outlook to the flagships.
Now, Microsoft has started selling the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus on its website as well. The unlocked version of the S8 retails for $725, while its bigger brother will set you back $825 — the same as on Samsung’s website.
Samsung Good Lock is a very popular system that allows you to customize and tweak the user experience on certain Samsung devices, including the brand new family of Samsung Galaxy S10 phones.
Unfortunately, Good Lock only works in specific areas of the world, namely the United States, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, the U.K., and Canada. If you live outside of those areas, Samsung Good Lock is unavailable to you.
However, there is now a third-party, unofficial workaround to this problem: an app called Nice Lock which works all around the globe and supports the same official modules as Good Lock.
Each iteration of the Note phone family has brought a lot more than just beefed up specs, there’s also plenty of S Pen enhancements both on the software side and even in the design of the pen itself. Without further ado, let’s jump in and take a look:
Improved sensitivity, new pen choicesFor the Note 4, the S Pen has been enhanced to have higher level of sensitivity from 1024 levels to 2048.
The OnePlus 8 series launch is a week away, but we already have a ton of rumored specs to pore over. The stream of leaks continues today though, as a comprehensive list of specs have surfaced online.
The details come via reliable journalist Roland Quandt of WinFuture, and it corroborates some of the rumored specs we previously heard about the series.
For one, Quandt’s report also mentions that the vanilla OnePlus 8 will offer a 6.
Everyone’s got their own pick for Smartphone Brand of the Year. This year we saw smartphone manufacturers bring their best devices to market, but so many were so similar. How can we choose one that did better than the rest?
Each year, we give this award to a brand who we think was most impressive, and moved their smartphone portfolio forward. This year, the same incumbents from last year pushed on to new heights, joined by new-to-market companies such as HMD (under the Nokia Phones banner) and Razer (after their acquisition of Nextbit).
Without so much as an official announcement, Google has started rolling out Android 4.2.2 to several Nexus devices. So far, the latest flavor of Jelly Bean is heading to two Nexus tablets, the Nexus 7 (non-3G) and Nexus 10, as well as the Galaxy Nexus (takju).
So, what exactly does Android 4.2.2 (JDQ39) offer? The official changelog isn’t out yet, but here’s what some folks have reported.
More secured ADB Bluetooth audio streaming bugs fix Download notification now shows remaining time You can toggle WiFi and Bluetooth on/off by long-pressing them in Quick Settings Performance enhancements New notification sounds (wireless charging and low battery) The last bit seems to be destined for the Nexus 4, but oddly enough, Google’s latest flagship phone is yet to receive the Android 4.
Not too long ago we reported that the HP Slate 7 wouldn’t be making it into storesuntil June. The good news is that HP kept its original promise to deliver the slate in April after all, with the tablet popping up on HP’s retail site for just $170.
As a refresher, the HP Slate 7 is powered by a dual-core Cortex A9 processor. Other specs include 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, microSD, a 1024×600 resolution 7-inch LCD display and Beats Audio technology.
TL;DR
A US-based law firm is looking into whether or not to initiate a Google Pixel 3 class-action lawsuit. The firm is investigating whether alleged defects of the Pixel 3 line are hardware related. If the team finds there’s enough evidence to suggest Google shipped Pixel 3 phones with defective hardware, the suit would likely move forward. It seems that every time Google releases a new Pixel smartphone, the devices are inevitably plagued with accusations of hardware defects.
TL;DR
Microsoft released a set of high-end wireless headphones at the end of 2018. Now, both Apple and Sonos are reportedly also making premium over-ear headphones. Why don’t high-end headphones made by Google exist? In October last year, we found out that Microsoft had secretly developed a set of high-end over-the-ear headphones which eventually hit the market as Microsoft Surface Headphones. The noise-canceling cans are intended to directly compete with the industry-standards of the Bose QC35 and Sony WH-1000XM3.
HTC U11 Plus (U11+)The HTC U11 Plus began life as the Pixel 2 XL. To its credit, HTC still put it out after Google tapped LG and the U11 Plus has become the best phone HTC has ever made. The only problem is, it won't be coming to North America.
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What does it take to make a good phone great? The Android landscape is littered with the corpses of good phones nobody bought, and HTC has made more than its fair share of them.