Phones

There are currently two open source Linux phones trying to make their way into regular consumers' hands and one of them is getting all the spotlight but not all for good reasons. Although it was the first to launch and, on paper, has the better specs, Purism's Librem 5 is garnering some controversy, raising questions on its capability to ship a finished product in a few months. As if it didn't have enough to worry about, Purism just started pre-orders for a version of the Librem 5 that's 100% made in the USA and costs three times the regular Librem 5 that has yet to ship in its final form.

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The Galaxy S11 may be Samsung's crowning glory for the beginning of 2020 but it won't be a measure of success for at least one Samsung business. Just like in years past, the flagship will have two versions differing only in the mobile processor used. This year, however, might be the writing on the wall for Samsung's own silicon as the models using the new Snapdragon 865 will reportedly be used in more markets compared to the Exynos 990.

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It seems that Sony is giving its loyal customers and early holiday gift, though, to be honest, it's something that should be a normal state of things rather than the exception. Owners of the Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 flagships have been pleasantly surprised by notifications telling them an update is available. And not just any update, mind, but one that carries with it the promised Android 10.

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Cameras, 5G, and AI seem to be the pillars that the mobile market will stand on next year. Those features are, of course, always present in the premium and flagship phones that start at $600 or higher. Those with less constrained resources will naturally feel a bit left out but, fortunately for them, smartphone hardware is getting cheaper as well too. At least that seems to be what HMD Global is trying to sell with the Nokia 2.3, perhaps one of few if not first entry-level Android phones to claim AI-powered features, particularly in the camera.

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If you were hoping to have a new phone that combined the S Pen and a headphone jack this year, better put your plans on hold. For reasons still unknown, Samsung is reportedly delaying the launch of the Galaxy Note 10 Lite as well as the Galaxy S10 Lite from December 2019 to mid-January 2020. And that's for India, the first market where these two will debut, which suggests that global launch will come a bit later, putting it dangerously close to the expected unboxing of the Galaxy S11.

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The next Star Wars movie will be released on the 20th of December, and Samsung has a special edition smartphone to sell in celebration. Naturally, Samsung's made the phone available before the release of the film, with a pre-order option starting tonight. Because what better way to celebrate a movie than with a smartphone that'll cost over 100x the cost of a ticket to said movie?

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The newest code update for Pokemon GO reveals a few details about the future of the game - starting with the move Flying Press! This is a very special move that only TWO Pokemon have EVER used in the history of the Pokemon franchise. But wait, you might be saying, we aren't even done releasing Generation V (Gen 5 Pokemon from the Unova region, and the game Pokemon Black and White) - how could we already be seeing Pokemon from Gen 6?!

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Qualcomm just recently announced the evolution of its 3D ultrasonic fingerprint scanning technology and, truth be told, we did find it to be a huge step forward. 3D Sonic Max, as it is called, checks off almost all the complaints that real-world users had with it on the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10, at least on the company's demo units. Unsurprisingly, hopes are running high that this new piece of tech would be adopted by more smartphone makers, including Apple. But while it's always within the realm of possibility for the 2020 iPhone to have it, it could be a huge step back as far as Apple is concerned.

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We're near the end of the year so, unsurprisingly, companies and news have started to become more "forward-looking" in preparing for 2020's products. Next year is going to be a busy one for the mobile market not only because of 5G but because of an insistent push by manufacturers to thrust foldable phones into consumers' hands. After an almost catastrophic first attempt, Samsung will seemingly swing the opposite way and make the Galaxy Fold 2 more accessible less conspicuous than its predecessor, starting with the hinge.

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If you haven't noticed it yet, the big news this week is the announcement of Qualcomm's premier mobile platforms for 2020 premium and flagship smartphones. To be honest, there is almost no surprise there as the Snapdragon 865 and Snapdragon 765 showcase the natural evolution of their predecessors based on market trends. That said, Qualcomm may have indirectly helped confirm one detail about Samsung's early 2020 flagship, suggesting that the Galaxy S11 may indeed have 8K video recording capabilities.

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Today we're taking a peek at a list of devices that won't run Netflix by the end of the year 2019. Earlier literature from Netflix suggested that many of these devices would no longer run Netflix as of December 2, 2019. Some of these devices seem to have a big of lag in the cutting of this proverbial cord - but rest assured, they won't work without some hacking by the end of this month.

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As if it'd never been removed in the first place, the headphone jack is back, appearing in the latest major Samsung phone leak. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite appears to share a design language with the device leaked just yesterday with the name Samsung Galaxy A91. Samsung appears to be moving forward with sharper corners, a slightly flatter display panel, and punch-hole displays for front-facing cameras. On the back, a camera array in the shape of a rounded-corner rectangle.

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