Sony Xperia XA1, XA1 Plus, XA1 Ultra Android 8.0 Oreo update starts rolling out

Sony has finally started rolling out the Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Xperia XA1 series that includes XA1, XA1 Plus, and XA1 Ultra just as it promised. The update brings the build number from 48.0.A.1.131 to 48.1.A.0.116 which is based on Oreo. The update also brings February Android security patch. Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Sony Xperia XA1 series brings reminders for unfinished tasks, Xperia actions which intelligently suggests actions based on your usage with all new games and community features. Furthermore, It also brings contextual menus for app shortcuts which on long pressing will show more options for you to perform various other tasks. Since it is an Oreo update, standard Oreo features like notification channels, Background limits, Snooze notifications, Picture in Picture (PIP) display and more are accounted here. The update is around 900MB in size depending on the model you are using and we suggest you charge your phone to 50% before starting the update process. Source

Xiaomi Blackshark SKR-A0 gaming phone with Snapdragon 845, 8GB RAM surfaces again in benchmarks

A new smartphone code-named Blackshark surfaced on AnTuTu, now the phone has surfaced on Geekbench listing revealing the code-name of the phone as  SKR-A0. This is believed to be Xiaomi's first gaming smartphone under the new  Black shark brand, in which Xiaomi started investing last year. The Geekbench listing once again reveals Snapdragon 845 SoC, 8GB of RAM and Android 8.0 Oreo. Earlier AnTuTu listing revealed 160 x 1080 FHD+ 18:9 display for the phone. Benchmark scores of 2452 for the single-core and 8452 for multi-core is on par with other Snapdragon 845-powered smartphones. The scores are slightly higher than the Xiaomi Dipper that surfaced on Geekbench recently with the same SoC, but with 6GB RAM. It is believed to be Mi 7. The phone might come with a 120 Hz display to compete with the Razer Phone. Since it has been revealed in two benchmark listings, the announcement might be near. We will have to wait to find out more details about the phone. Source | Via

Honor 9 Lite gets new Ride Mode safety feature via OTA update in India, coming to Honor 7X and Honor 9i soon

Huawei's Honor Brand recently rolled out Face Unlock feature for the Honor 9 Lite smartphone in India. Today the company has started rolling out another over-the-air (OTA) update that bring new Ride Mode feature, exclusively for Honor 9 Lite smartphone in India, where numbers of road accidents are high due to several factors like distracted driving and mobile phone usage while driving  / riding. Honor said that the new feature urges consumers to follow responsible and safe smartphone usage operating a two-wheel vehicle. To enable 'Ride-Mode', you need to activate the feature either from drop-down notifications menu or by going to the phone’s Settings. Once enabled, the caller will be notified that the user is currently riding, and cannot answer calls. The feature, however, allows the caller to call the rider by pressing numeric 1 in-case of urgency or emergency. The Ride Mode update on the Honor 9 Lite will be rolled out in batches and will be available for everyone by March-end.  The new Ride Mode will soon be also rolled out to Honor smartphones like Honor 7X, and Honor 9i in future, said the company. Commenting on the roll out of the new feature,  P Sanjeev, Vice President, Sales, Huawei Consumer Business Group, said: Honor has ...

TP-Link Neffos N1 with 5.5-inch 1080p display, Dual rear cameras announced

TP-Link's Neffos brand has introduced Neffos N1 , the company's latest mid-range smartphone in the 'N series'. It has a 5.5-inch 1080p 2.5D curved glass display, is powered by MediaTek Helio P25 SoC with 4GB of RAM, runs Android  7.1 (Nougat), has 12-megapixel (monochrome + RGB) dual rear cameras, PDAF for portrait shots a and an 8-megapixel front camera. It also comes with a fingerprint sensor on the back that can unlock the phone in 0.2 seconds, features a 7.4mm ultra-slim metal body and packs a 3260mAh battery with support for fast charging that can charge the phone up to 50% in 30 minutes. TP-Link Neffos N1 specifications 5.5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD 2.5D curved glass display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection 2.6GHz Octa-core MediaTek Helio P25 16nm processor with Mali-T880 GPU 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) with NFUI 7.0 Dual SIM 12MP dual rear cameras (monochrome + RGB) with dual-tone LED Flash, f/2.0 aperture, 1.25um pixel size, Sony IMX386 sensors, PDAF 8MP front-facing camera, 86-degree wide-angle lens Fingerprint sensor 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz/5GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS 3260mAh built-in battery with fast charging The TP-Link Neffos N1 comes only in Space Black color, is priced at RM 1,099 (US$ ...

Facebook Express Wi-Fi app for locally operated hotspots released

Facebook has released the Express Wi-Fi app for locally operated hotspots for Android. The app lets users buy data packs and find nearby hotspots as part of Facebook’s distributed Wi-Fi network. Facebook's Express Wi-Fi program is live in five developing countries where users can buy and access high-speed data connectivity via local telecoms. Prior to the launch of Facebook's Express Wi-Fi, users had to go through the process on a mobile website, or directly download an app from a telecom requiring you to set up phone’s settings. Also, there wasn't any way to see where the hotspots were exactly present. The new Express Wi-Fi is available for Android and is live in Indonesia with bandwidth from telecom partner D-Net, and in Kenya through Surf. The app will tell if the Wi-Fi is turned on or not and it also lets you file reports to Facebook about connectivity or retailer issues. Express Wi-Fi offers an unrestricted version of the web for a price and bandwidth services approved by Facebook. This really gives Facebook a chance to bring people without internet connectivity to online without having to worry about net neutrality. You can download the Facebook Express Wi-Fi app directly from Play Store. Facebook in a statement has said: Facebook is releasing the Express Wi-Fi ...

Google Lens coming to more Android and iOS devices [Update: Now rolling out to iOS devices in Google Photos]

Update 2: As promised, Google has started rolling out the Lens feature through Google Photos for iOS devices as well. You just need to update the app to version 3.15.0 via the App Store. It is rolling out in batches from today and will reach everyone by next week. [HTML2] Update: Google today announced that Google Lens is now available through Google Photos app for Android for everyone (rolling out in batches) and will soon be available for iOS. [HTML1] Google Lens was first announced at the I/O 2017 event last year and since then it was only available in Google Photos and in Assistant for Pixel phones. However, Google today announced that Google Lens will roll out to more Android and iOS devices running on latest Google Photos app in the coming weeks. Lens will be available to all English-language users using the latest Google Photos app. Google also mentioned that English-language users on compatible flagship devices will get the camera-based Lens experience within the Google Assistant in the coming weeks. The company says it will add support for more devices gradually. Google Lens allows you to scan your photos for landmarks and objects and fetch more details, all within the same screen. Moving past the compatibility cycle, Google says ...

Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ get first update in India as global roll out of the smartphones begin

Samsung launched the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones in India last week. Now both the smartphones have received a new update that brings March 2018 Android security patch. It also brings improved stability to Face Unlock and camera for the Galaxy S9+ along with usual set of stability improvements and bug fixes for the phone. For me, the fingerprint sensor issue that doesn't respond after sometime has been fixed with this update. Samsung has also started rolling out the smartphone globally in about 70 countries, including Korea, the U.S., Canada, China and all of Europe, and the company said that it will roll out to over 110 markets by the end of the month. The update has build number G960FXXU1ARC5 for the S9 and G965FXXU1ARC5 for the S9+ and is about 243MB in size. Users who get these smartphones today should get the update once they boot.