C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
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OnePlus phones will not get the previously announced “unified OS.” The company has decided to stick to Oxygen OS for its global devices outside of China. After announcing plans to shift its phones to a new “unified OS” in 2022, OnePlus has unexpectedly decided to junk the move. The company confirmed during a media roundtable that Oxygen OS and Color OS will remain separate entities in the global market.
The Pixel 4 is a decent upgrade over the Pixel 3, but not everyone wants to buy a new device to get the fancy bells and whistles. A major selling point to the Pixel line is its software updates, so many Pixel owners look forward to Google backporting future features to their current handsets.
Unfortunately, one useful Google Pixel 4 feature doesn’t look like it’s coming to previous Pixel devices even though it is most likely possible: screen attention.
A good argument could be made that the most powerful flagship phones that are available to purchase right now are the Samsung Galaxy S10, the S10 Plus and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro. All three phones have displays that are over 6-inches, all three have triple rear camera setups and all three have the current fastest mobile processors on the market.
Of course these three big handsets have considerable differences, and they could influence which one you may want to eventually purchase.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is available in several colors, including Pebble Blue, Marble White, Amber Brown, Garnet Red, Sapphire Black, Titanium Grey, and La Fleur. Despite the wide range of colors the phone comes in, it looks like T-Mobile is only interested in selling two colors at one time. An internal memo has confirmed that the carrier is dropping the Pebble Blue color which is available on the carrier in favor of Titanium Gray.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup is well underway in Russia and to celebrate Samsung is updating its AR Emoji for the Galaxy S9 series with new football/soccer-themed animations.
“AR Emoji Football Edition” lets users create personalized animated emojis similar to those introduced with the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, only this time you can add a national flag for any of the competing countries onto your cheek to support your team.
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The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 has received a four out of 10 rating from iFixit for its ease of repair. The gadget repair outlet criticized the amount of glue used in the Samsung phablet. iFixit also bemoaned the need to remove the rear panel for all component repairs. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 isn’t a big upgrade over its predecessor at first glance, and that also seems to be the case when it comes to repairs.
NVIDIA closes out the month of January by rolling out the 6.3 Experience Update for its Android TV-based Shield TV set-top box. This is a rather major update as it adds some new app support, along with the usual security patches and firmware improvements.
NVIDIA’s support page for the Shield TV shows that the 6.3 update adds support for viewing footage from Nest Cam cameras on your TV. If you own a Nest Cam in your home, you can now use the Shield TV’s support for Google Assistant to simply say, “Show me the front door camera” to begin viewing the live footage from your Nest Cam location.
We’ve already seen leaked renders of the device, and now teen tipster Ishan Agarwal has revealed a purported price tag of €849 to €859 (~$932 to ~$943). The leaker says this is for a 12GB/256GB model.
If confirmed, this would make the OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition the most expensive OnePlus phone yet. By comparison, the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition retailed for €699 (~$767). That particular model served up 10GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, offering 2GB more RAM than the OnePlus 6T.
Samsung is ready to release yet another smartwatch. Well, kind of. Called the Simband, this modified Gear S will allow developers to take fitness tracking to an unprecedented new level, at least should things go well. Built into an unassuming Gear S, things get interesting when you take a look at its band, complete with a dizzying array of sensors. The device, along with its accompanying SAMIIO software, was announced back in late May, with limited developer distribution.
David Imel / Android Authority
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Sony has rolled out a new Android 11 update to its Xperia 1 II. The update brings a number of features once unique to the Xperia Pro. This includes the ability to use the phone as a Sony Alpha camera monitor. Sony launched the Xperia Pro as a professional photographer aid and a smart external video monitor. Now, it seems that this aspect of the phone is no longer unique.