25 February 2018

Samsung’s AR Emoji taps creepy avatars and Disney characters to compete with Animoji


 We’ve known for a while that Samsung’s been planning an Animoji competitor for its latest handset. Now that we’ve actually seen (the admittedly clunkily named) AR Emoji in action, we can testify to the fact that it’s some combination of compelling and creepy. That last part first. Like the iPhone X, the Galaxy S9 takes advantage of its on-board face scanning technology… Read More

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Samsung’s DeX docking station gets revamped, turning a smartphone into a trackpad


 If you were having any doubts about Samsung’s commitment to its DeX, consider them assuaged. The company introduced its smartphone docking hardware with the Galaxy S8 and has talked up a new version for every big phone release since then — and today’s big Galaxy S9 reveal is no different. We were pretty lukewarm on the idea — or at least skeptical of how big a niche such… Read More

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With the Galaxy S9, Samsung put the fingerprint sensor where it belongs


 The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a beautiful phone with a critical flaw. The fingerprint sensor is in the wrong damn spot. A phone is only as good as its usability and, to me, the S8 is crippled with its fingerprint sensor located off center. It drives me mad but Samsung finally righted the wrong with the S9. Samsung just announced the latest Galaxy phone and we spent some time with it. It’s… Read More

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The Samsung Galaxy S9 arrives March 16 for $720, with AR emojis, real-time translation and a better camera


 Samsung didn’t leave too much up to the imagination this time out. The hardware giant took a little wind out of its own sails back at CES when it announced it would be launching its latest flagship sometime this month. And then, of course, the invites went out, bearing a giant number “9.” Read More

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Samsung’s Galaxy S9 wants to turn the camera into a new home screen


 The Galaxy S8 and S8+ already had one of the better smartphone cameras in the industry, and the Galaxy S9 and S9+ both seem to be top contenders to secure Samsung a place among the best options out there in 2018, too. But the most interesting thing about the camera might just be how central it is to the S9 and its launch. A home away from home(screen) Samsung is fully aware that people spend a… Read More

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With the Galaxy S9, Samsung put the fingerprint sensor where it belongs


 The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a beautiful phone with a critical flaw. The fingerprint sensor is in the wrong damn spot. A phone is only as good as its usability and, to me, the S8 is crippled with its fingerprint sensor located off center. It drives me mad but Samsung finally righted the wrong with the S9. Samsung just announced the latest Galaxy phone and we spent some time with it. It’s… Read More

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Samsung’s Galaxy S9 wants to turn the camera into a new home screen


 The Galaxy S8 and S8+ already had one of the better smartphone cameras in the industry, and the Galaxy S9 and S9+ both seem to be top contenders to secure Samsung a place among the best options out there in 2018, too. But the most interesting thing about the camera might just be how central it is to the S9 and its launch. A home away from home(screen) Samsung is fully aware that people spend a… Read More

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Nokia unveils its new slate of Android smartphones starting at $85


 Nokia — in its newest iteration as a licensed brand of HMD — is a long way off from its glory days, the years when it not only set the pace for innovation in the mobile phone market, but also led it as the world’s biggest handset maker. Today, the company took its latest step in rebuilding itself as it unveiled a slate of Android-powered smartphones — the Nokia 1, the… Read More

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HMD/Nokia’s smartphones join Google’s Android One program ‘leading the charge’


 Alongside HMD’s big bet on reviving the legendary Nokia brand and business through a licensing deal and a new wave of handsets that it is unveiling today at MWC in Barcelona, the company also announced another interesting piece of news: it has entered a new partnership with Google, where HMD/Nokia is now a leading participant in Google’s Android One — a program where Google… Read More
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Nokia 8110’s slider ‘Matrix’ feature phone returns with 4G and a €79 price tag


 Nokia’s 8110 — the distinctive ‘candy bar’ feature phone with a slider opening — was once the phone that everyone wanted but no one could afford, made popular through the Matrix film franchise. Now HMD, the company that has the license to make Nokia phones, is hoping for a hit by bringing it back. Today, at MWC in Barcelona, Nokia officially took the wraps off the… Read More

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ZTE will deliver the first Android Oreo (Go Edition) handset for the U.S. market in March


 Things have been mostly quiet on the Android Go front since Google announced the low-power mobile operating system back in May — aside, of course, from an unexpected name chance to the decidedly less catchy. Android Oreo (Go Edition). One of the things that’s made the offering unique from the start, however, is that unlike most of these sorts of lite offerings targeted at the… Read More

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ZTE brings premium features to its mid-range Blade line


 ZTE’s one of those workhorse smartphone companies you don’t hear much about, aside from the occasional misguided flirtation with a bizarre form factor, a la the dual-screen Axon M. But the Chinese handset manufacturer still powers away and manages to produce some solid handsets at bargain bin prices. The company hasn’t officially announced pricing on the Blade V9 —… Read More

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Huawei launches its new MediaPad M5 tablets


 Tablets may not be the most exciting product category these days, but they also aren’t quite as dead as some pundits would like you to believe — and for Huawei, they are actually a growing business. Indeed, the company argues that it’s now the third largest tablet maker in the world. It’s no surprise then that the company today unveiled two (or three, depending on how… Read More

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Huawei launches its new MediaPad M5 tablets


 Tablets may not be the most exciting product category these days, but they also aren’t quite as dead as some pundits would like you to believe — and for Huawei, they are actually a growing business. Indeed, the company argues that it’s now the third largest tablet maker in the world. It’s no surprise then that the company today unveiled two (or three, depending on how… Read More

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Watch Samsung’s MWC conference live right here


 Samsung’s press conference at MWC in Barcelona is happening today. The conference starts at 6 PM CET (5 PM GMT, 12 PM EST, 9 AM PST). You can also check out our liveblog to get our commentary on Samsung’s news. And of course, everybody is waiting for the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+. Details about the company’s new flagship devices already leaked, but we don’t know much… Read More

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Watch HMD unveil Nokia phones live right here


 HMD is holding a press conference at MWC in Barcelona to showcase some Nokia-branded phones. The conference starts at 4:00 PM CET (3:00 PM GMT, 10:00 AM EST). HMD licenses the Nokia brand so that the company can release smartphones under the Nokia brand. It isn’t the company we used to know and love, but it still says Nokia. So get ready for some new Nokia phones running Android. You… Read More

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Watch Samsung’s MWC conference live right here


 Samsung’s press conference at MWC in Barcelona is happening today. The conference starts at 6 PM CET (5 PM GMT, 12 PM EST, 9 AM PST). You can also check out our liveblog to get our commentary on Samsung’s news. And of course, everybody is waiting for the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+. Details about the company’s new flagship devices already leaked, but we don’t know much… Read More

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