OnePlus finally launches TV, but it might take a while to get it

August 23, 2019

OnePlus has been working on a TV for a while now, and we will finally have it in the flesh from September. The company states that the unit which will have a great sound and audio quality has been well built to suit just about any room you want to put it in. Seeing what they have done with smartphones since they began releasing those, we trust them on that promise.

This TV will be different from the virtual TV that Apple is touting and that makes sense. However, it might take a while for the rest of the world to get this TV since OnePlus wants to focus on the content aspect of things for now.

Thus, they will be launching the product in India where they get to work with a lot of content providers to get that aspect right before moving on to other parts of the world.

Till it gets here, all we can do is sit tight and watch the reviews to see how this TV aims to stand out from the competition out there.

Google brings Live View feature on Maps to AR-enabled Android and iOS devices

O. Christopher

August 12, 2019

Google brings Live View feature on Maps to AR-enabled Android and iOS devices

Google debuted the Live View feature when they launched their Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL units, helping users see a real-time layout of the streets they are walking so that they get better directions.

Of course, this is one of those features that leveraged the AR capabilities of smartphones to work, but it was made exclusive to the Pixels at that time – which we can say is a great marketing decision.

Starting today, though, you don’t have to own a Pixel phone to have the Live View feature work on your device.

Google has now made it such that all iPhones with the ARKit and Android devices sporting ARCore can now enjoy the same feature. When in the Maps app, all you have to do is choose a waypoint and then click on the Live View option at the base of the page. That will let you look at the streets with your camera while navigating to your preferred destination with real-time sights of where your next step should be.

Honestly, we believe this to be one of such updates that will greatly improve the way we interact with the apps.

Lenovo Invalid shows up on GeekBench with powerful SD 8cx under the hood

O. Christopher

August 11, 2019

Lenovo Invalid shows up on GeekBench with powerful SD 8cx under the hood

Lenovo is working on a new laptop, but they don’t want us to know about it yet. Thanks to a listing on GeekBench, though, we can now tell for sure that the Lenovo Invalid will come with a QUALCOMM Snapdragon 8cx under the hood.

Of course, we believe that name is just a codename for now till the company settles on the actual name they want to launch their device with.

For those who do not know, the new chipset from Qualcomm is said to bring twice the speed and performance on the SD 850 chipset which only launched last year. That will surely be some boost to the former laptops that this manufacture has in the market.

For now, though, there is no word on what this device could be. Since we have seen it show up on GeekBench, a launch cannot be that far away anymore.

Renders of Galaxy Book S show a stunning design

O. Christopher

August 4, 2019

Renders of Galaxy Book S show a stunning design

We mentioned seeing the Galaxy Book S a couple of days ago, and we now have press renders to support that claim.

Since the launch of the Galaxy Book 2, it seems this is the company’s answer to fans who have started demanding another Windows-based device with the same shell and form factor. From the press renders that leaked today, we now have a hint at what the official design of the unit will be.

The first thing that we noticed is that Samsung deviated from the 2-in-1 approach which they had on the Galaxy Book 2, deciding to make this one a full-blown laptop having its screen attached to the keyboard.

One thing we love about the display is how slim the bezels are, showing Samsung is making a cross from their mobile phone tech into laptop science. On the top of the screen is a camera for video calls and selfies, for those who love to use their laptop for such things.

One other thing the render shows is the USB C port on the left side, but we could only see one. Chances are there are more of these on the right side of the laptop. Besides that, there is also an opening which could either a jack for the headphone or a microphone port.

While there is no word from Samsung on this nit yet, some spotting on GeekBench shows that it comes with the Snapdragon 855 chipset out of the box while carrying 8GB of RAM. Hopefully, this one also launches alongside the Galaxy Note 10 on August 7.

New Google Assistant update reads your messages to you

O. Christopher

August 4, 2019

New Google Assistant update reads your messages to you

The Google Assistant just got a new update that would make it even more useful for many.

After applying the update, the Assistant will now be able to read your messages to you from some third-party apps. Of course, you would have to grant it the permission to do this before it works – in a bid to ensure your privacy is upheld.

The best thing about the new update is that you also get to reply to the messages (via voice, of course) with the Assistant.

For those who use their Google Assistant well enough, they would know that you can do this on the normal text messaging app already. However, the update doesn’t come with support for either Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. If you were on Android Auto, though, that is another ball game entirely.

Since this is a fairly recent addition, we don’t expect everything to work well out of the box. Being Google, though, it is worth a shot.

Samsung working on new chipset solely for the Note 10 launch

O. Christopher

August 3, 2019

Samsung working on new chipset solely for the Note 10 launch

Before now, Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy Note devices launched in the same year have always used the same Exynos chipsets. If that is anything to go by, it means the Galaxy Note 10 series for this year should have used the same Exynos 9820 chipset we have on the Galaxy S10 family.

Well, that is not going to be the case.

Samsung took to their Twitter account today to announce an Exynos 9825 – and it needs no telling that this would be some next level processor to what the ordinary Exynos 9820 offers. It also goes without saying that the artificial intelligence capabilities and overall performance will be better.

Samsung did make a note to remind us though.

Going by some mumblings in the industry, the new chipset is made on a 7nm process as opposed to the 8nm process which birthed the 9820. That alone means there would be improvements in the battery life. If the artificial intelligence capacity is what we are hoping for, all of processing, camera and such will be better pronounced.

Facebook to rebrand Instagram and WhatsApp soon, but you might not like it

O. Christopher

August 3, 2019

Facebook to rebrand Instagram and WhatsApp soon, but you might not like it

Facebook is the owner of both Instagram and WhatsApp, but not everyone knows that. To fix this oversight on the part of many, the social media giant is now planning to roll out a new update that would rebrand the apps for good.

There is no official word on the matter yet, but some inside sources claim that we could see this rebranding happen soon. When that happens, it might be time to see all the simplicity sucked out of both apps.

In a way, they could require the influence of Facebook to work, helping the social media giant reclaim its spot and gain some more momentum at a time when it seems that they have reached saturation. Likewise, ads from Facebook may start making their way onto both platforms.

For now, we have no timeframe as to when this change will become active or what it will bring at all. Till then, we can only keep our fingers crossed while hoping it doesn’t ruin things as we know it.

Google is trying its hands at social media again with a new app

O. Christopher

July 13, 2019

Google is trying its hands at social media again with a new app

Google has always been looking for a way into the social media game (as if they don’t have enough data on all of us already), but there hasn’t been much of headway for them. Just a couple of months ago, they even shut down the Google+ platform which they had been promoting for a while now.

Now that they are back with a platform called ‘Shoelace,’ they have yet another shot at gunning for the top in this social media race.

Apparently, Shoelace isn’t like any other social media network. Instead of wanting to connect people from all around the world, the app is based on linking up people in a certain community. Such a small niche is one that hasn’t been tapped in a while, and it would make sense for Google to try something out there.

Besides, it is worthy of note that there is no website for this service yet. For now, it is available on only Android and iOS. Speaking of availability, the app is still being tested – so only users with an invite code get to download it. Furthermore, it is being tested in the New York region for now.

The results of this test will tell whether there will be a global rollout, or this one will fall into the heap of other developmental projects from the search engine giant.

Honor 9X confirmed to launch with the new Kirin 810 chipset

O. Christopher

July 4, 2019

Honor 9X confirmed to launch with the new Kirin 810 chipset

The all-new Honor 9X from Huawei is expected to make the market on the 23^rd of July, and it has already been confirmed that it will have the latest Kirin 810 chipset under the hood. This is the current top of the line chipset from the manufacturer, and it was just announced a couple of weeks ago.

This new chipset was developed under the 7nm process, carrying a total of eight cores and a maximum clock speed of 2.27GHz. For graphics rendering, the chipset is paired with a Mali-G52 MP6 to give the best performance.

Speaking of performance, it has been said that the current chipset is about 162% faster and better than its predecessor. If it can deliver on such a promise, we are surely in for a performance treat when the Honor 9X does make the market.

Facebook Plans to Rid App of Red Notification Dot

O. Christopher

June 29, 2019

Facebook Plans to Rid App of Red Notification Dot

It started as a ploy to keep users glued to the app, but the famous red notification dot that appears over the Friends, Group and Marketplace tab on the Facebook app according to reports might kiss the world goodbye as Facebook is looking to provide a way to turn them off.

A series of switches in the app’s settings have been discovered by app specialist Jane Machun Wong, which would let the user disable the dots for Groups, Marketplace, Profile and Menu. It was also confirmed that the toggles are available for a lot of users on both Android and iOS all over the world.

This change might be a part of Facebook’s master plan to create a more fun environment while surfing the site and this could be affirmed by the feature released last year. Dubbed ‘Your time on Facebook,’ that shows various photo montages of the media kept on your timeline as well as letting you see different photos of family birthdays and celebrating how long you’ve being friends with your contacts.

Hopefully, the addition of the ability of disable those annoying red notification dots might be the “crème de la crème” of their aim to get users more responsive while making the app less demanding.

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