Android

YouTube may be the household name when it comes to online videos and some music but when it comes to monetizing that popularity, it has nothing on Netflix, Spotify, or even Apple Music. YouTube Red was Google's attempt at turning the free video streaming service into a business, lumping together a variety of subscription-only features, whether you have need for all of those or only some. So far, however, it hasn't exactly taken off, pushing Google to launch a new YouTube Music service that will hopefully make things a bit less confusing.

Continue Reading

Just when it seems that Samsung may have slowly, very slowly, turned over a new leaf as far as updates go, it might be giving users reason to regret it. Major Android updates no longer take forever and has now been reduced to a few months but it seems that the price to pay for speed it stability. Reports are coming in that Samsung has just halted the rollout of the Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, but that's just the latest in a string of update problems.

Continue Reading

When word of the Xiaomi-backed Black Shark gaming smartphone went out, it was compared to the Nintendo Switch. When it launched, it ended up only being half a Switch. Nonetheless, it seems that Nintendo's wildly successful hybrid portable console has inspired not a few in the smartphone market to take that same road less traveled. One of those is a startup simply called Wonder whose dreams for an Android-powered gaming-centric smartphone is both like the Switch but also not like it.

Continue Reading

It seems that Samsung may have not been burned badly enough by the Galaxy Note 7 catastrophe in 2016. Either that or it is slowly transitioning to a new and more permanent release cadence. Since the Galaxy S8 last year, Samsung has been moving its flagship launches earlier and earlier, shifting away from the company's once predictable strategy. Korean media are now reporting that not only will the Galaxy Note 9 be launched earlier this year, so will the Galaxy S10. And Samsung may have a lot of reasons for doing so.

Continue Reading

Today we're taking a peek at a bunch of ways in which the OnePlus 6 is different from its competition. That means different from iPhone X, different from Samsung Galaxy S9+, and different from the LG G7 ThinQ. The OnePlus 6 was revealed in full this afternoon for the first time, and it'll be released to the public on the 22nd of May.

Continue Reading

Today we're having a peek at the OnePlus 6 in full detail. This device is the newest in a line of devices from a brand that's aimed to set itself aside in the market in a number of ways. Where before it was all about offering a high-end device at a low price, now it's all about offering a premium device at a decent price. The OnePlus 6 has a notch and a headphone jack and a big fat display up front.

Continue Reading

HTC hasn't been doing so well lately, at least not in the smartphone market. A large chunk of its mobile team have been shuffled over to Google. The company mostly remains afloat thanks to its VIVE VR platform. Still, there are some in the company that strongly believe that HTC still has something to offer that no one else can, starting with ambition and audacity. The newly revealed HTC Exodus concept phone is being called as the way of the future, just as the blockchain and cryptocurrency on which it revolves around has been called similarly. But just like blockchains and cryptocurrency, it might be a technology too far into the future and too ahead of its time.

Continue Reading

There were rumors that LG, like HTC, would be cutting down on its flagship devices this year. Apparently that's not entirely true. While LG has yet to actually show any sign of having something for later this year, like an LG V40, it isn't done with modifying last year's V series phone. After the LG V30 and the LG V30S ThinQ comes the LG V35 ThinQ. And if this leaked spec list is true, it's going to be an LG G7 ThinQ in a V30's clothing.

Continue Reading

Smartphones these days have become so pretty and even durable that there are those who prefer their mobile companions to be naked. Their only hesitation often comes from the drab and common black, white, and gray colors on their smartphone's rear. That is why some manufacturers have taken pains to distinguish their smartphones' backs by design, color, or even both. Take for example the Galaxy S9 ad S9+, whose glossy glass backs now come in gold and the ever so rare red hues.

Continue Reading

Despite year after year of delays, it seems that the in-display fingerprint scanner, alternatively called a fingerprint on display (FOD), is still a goal among smartphone makers. Some are just taking a different route. Vivo, for example, used Synaptics' optical fingerprint scanner on its X20 Play UD, the first commercial phone to sport that feature. But being under the phone's screen and, therefore, subject to the same wear and tear as the display might raise some doubts and concerns over its reliability. To answer those questions, YouTube Marques Brownlee, a.k.a. MKBHD, puts that FOD to the test.

Continue Reading

Wear OS by Google, the wearable platform formerly known as Android Wear, is based on Android and, therefore, technically and legally open source. But just like Android itself, development doesn't exactly happen in the open completely and there are some parts that are proprietary to Google. That is especially frustrating for smartwatch believers, especially when their wearables get abandoned and outdated. Now they might have a choice with the first stable release of AsteroidOS, a completely open source operating system designed not just to run on Wear OS smartwatches but also to give the community a hand in its development.

Continue Reading

This afternoon Google product manager Sandeep Waraich revealed a set of new ways to use Google Pixel Buds. This new set of features works with the same hardware as before - no upgrade needed. All Pixel Buds users will need is a software update loaded before taking any new actions.

Continue Reading