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ASUS' Zenfone 8 series includes a compact flagship and a flip camera
ASUS is keeping its flip camera on the new Zenfone 8 Flip, but it's also trying a new compact flagship smartphone strategy with the smaller Zenfone 8.
Xiaomi's first foldable phone has a shape-shifting 'liquid lens' camera
Xiaomi unveiled its first foldable phone, the Mi Mix Fold, which follows the same inward-folding form factor as Huawei's Mate X2 and Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 2. What makes this device stand out, though, is the "liquid lens" on one of its rear cameras.
Xiaomi's Mi 11 Ultra has a tiny selfie screen on the back
Xiaomi's Mi 11 Ultra is the first smartphone to utilize Samsung's more powerful ISOCELL GN2 sensor for its main camera, and to get the most out of it, the device packs a small screen next to the rear cameras for higher-quality selfies.
Oppo's Find X3 Pro has a 30x 'microscope' camera
The Oppo Find X3 Pro's main focus is photography, packing the same flagship sensor in both the main camera and the ultra-wide camera, both of which support 10-bit color. There's also a rare 30x microscopic camera.
ASUS' ROG Phone 5 focuses on audio quality for mobile gamers
The ASUS ROG Phone 5 has redesigned innards for better heat dissipation, weight distribution and audio performance. There's also a Pro model plus a limited edition ROG Phone 5 Ultimate, with the latter boasting a whopping 18GB of RAM.
Nubia's new Red Magic phone packs a 165Hz screen and up to 18GB of RAM
Nubia is back with the Snapdragon 888-based Red Magic 6 series gaming phone, which boasts a faster internal fan, along with two world firsts in the mobile market: a 165Hz display and up to 18GB of RAM.
Oppo demos true wireless charging on its rollable phone
At MWC Shanghai 2021, Oppo unveiled its "Wireless Air Charging" tech, which can apparently deliver up to 7.5W of power over a short distance.
Former Vertu employees are launching a new luxury smartphone
Xor is co-founded by a former Vertu designer who wants to make friendly, classy devices that nestle into your hand. And rinse your wallet.
OnePlus 8T review: More power, more features
The OnePlus 8T is a great choice among the latest crop of flagship phones. It focuses on practicality, speed and, to an extent, value. For some, this will be all they need -- at least until the OnePlus 9 comes along.
Royole's FlexPai 2 5G foldable phone costs under $1,500
Royole FlexPai 2 is available for pre-ordering via Royole’s website and JD.com, starting from just under $1,500.
ASUS kept the flippable camera for the flagship ZenFone 7 Pro
Apparently people really liked the flip camera on the ZenFone 6, so much that ASUS decided to keep this feature for its 2020 flagship, the ZenFone 7 Pro.
ASUS ROG Phone 3 preview: An upgraded gaming phone that feels familiar
The latest ROG phone is a gaming phone with tons of upgrades. And it'll still work with any peripherals that game with the ROG Phone 2.
Israel stops using phone tracking to enforce COVID-19 quarantines
An Israeli government committee has put a stop to phone tracking used to police COVID-19 quarantine enforcement.
Samsung no longer syncs keyboard data between phones
Samsung Cloud no longer syncs your phone's keyboard data, making device switches that much harder.
UK plans to ban sales of locked mobile phones
The UK's communications regulator is proposing a rule to ban carriers from selling phones that are tied to their networks. O2, Sky, Three, Virgin Mobile and some smaller carriers already offer unlocked phones, but Ofcom wants the likes of BT Mobile/EE, Tesco Mobile and Vodafone to do the same. It's also seeking better clarity for customers about whether their handset is locked.
US delays tariffs on some Chinese-made electronics until December 15th
The Trump administration announced a tariff earlier this month on an additional $300 billion of Chinese imports that was to take effect from September 1st, but the 10 percent levy will only kick in then for about half of the goods. The tariff on others -- including mobile phones, laptops, monitors, game consoles, some toys and LED lamps -- is set to be enforced from December 15th.
Most American households have abandoned their landlines
A US Health Department study has confirmed that most US citizens have completely stopped using landline phones -- shocking no-one. In a report released today, the government revealed that 50.8 percent of American households are now cellphone-only, with just 39.4 percent using both a mobile and a landline. That leaves a measly 6.5 percent of US homes that just use a landline, with the remaining 3.2 percent not owning a phone of any kind. The declining interest in landlines likely has one major culprit: the smartphone.
Phone unlocking sees sharp increase in popularity following ban in January
When the US Library of Congress ruled to make the unlocking of smartphones illegal, its motive was (obviously) to discourage the practice. But it seems that since the ban on the practice was put into effect in January, at least one phone unlocking service has actually seen a rather drastic increase in customers wishing to free their mobile phones from the grasp of a specific carrier. As VentureBeat reports, UK-based Mobile Unlocked -- a company that provides remote unlocks for a wide range of iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices -- has seen its US sales spike by 71 percent since the ban. What's more, the company hasn't been actively advertising to American smartphone owners, and yet the US is the only territory in which sales are soaring. So what is driving the popularity of the practice? There are likely several factors here, including an increased awareness of easy-to-use unlocking options, a larger number of used smartphones being bought second-hand and of course the fact that doing something illegal is just plain fun. Wait, did I say that out loud?
Gartner: Android and Samsung dominate the phone market in Q1
If you've been following the trends, Gartner's mobile phone market figures for the first quarter of 2013 won't surprise. The research firm estimates that Android was on 74.4 percent of all smartphones sold in the period, with Samsung the key beneficiary of such dominance. While the Korean behemoth doesn't release solid sales figures, Gartner believes its market-flooding strategy has paid off, topping the league with 30.8 percent market share -- Apple has a firm grip on second place, with 18.2 percent, which is well ahead of LG, which has 4.8 percent. Samsung is also king of the mobile phone space, owning 23.6 percent of the market, ahead of Nokia, which has fallen to 14.8 percent share. Gartner's research also found that feature phone sales are slowing, so we guess that it's only a matter of time before the humble candybar goes the way of the netbook.
Apple overtakes Samsung as top US mobile phone vendor
Strategy Analytics' latest mobile phone report is out, and Apple's iPhone is the winner here in the US, taking the top spot for the first time in its history. Apple displaced Samsung, which has held the title as America's most popular mobile phone brand since 2008. According to Strategy Analytics, Apple shipped 17.7 million iPhones in the quarter and grabbed a 34 percent market share. Estimates for Samsung suggest the carrier shipped 16.8 million phones for a 32.3 percent market share. LG came in third with 4.7 million units that account for 9 percent of the mobile phone market here in the US. These numbers include both smartphones and feature phones, which makes Apple's chart-topping performance that much more impressive. [Via Apple Insider]
