Huawei Mate 8 official: 6-inch Full HD, Kirin 950 with coprocessor, and Marshmallow
Huawei is on an upward trajectory, both in its native China, where it just took the market lead, and the West, where the Nexus 6P is being hailed as the best Android smartphone. The company is looking to capitalize on this attention with a brand new flagship that was unveiled minutes ago in China.
Following last year’s Mate 7, and the intermediary Mate S, Huawei is now launching the Mate 8, a stylish phablet featuring the latest-gen Kirin processor, a handful of interesting features, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Details are a little scarce for now, because Huawei chose to give the Mate 8 a limited launch in China, with a full global debut to follow at CES 2015.
The Mate 8 features a 6-inch Full HD display (just like the Mate 7 before it), covered in 2.5D Gorilla Glass. The edge-to-edge design and large display give the Mate 8 a fantastic 83% screen-to-body ratio. The display itself is supposed to be improved compared to last year’s release, featuring a color range that tops 95% of the NTSC gamut.
Available in Champagne Gold, Moonlight Silver, Space Gray and Mocha Brown, the Mate 8 appears to be comparable in thickness with the 7.2-mm Mate S. Confirming the rumors, the rear of the device is dominated by a large camera module and a circular fingerprint sensor evoking the Nexus 6P. The fingerprint scanner is said to be faster and more accurate than the Mate 7’s.
The Kirin 950 processor, which Huawei launched early this month, is the first processor to feature four Cortex-A72 and four Cortex A53 CPU cores, combined with a Mali-T880 GPU. Overall, this 16-nm FinFET design should provide plenty of performance and improved power efficiency compared to last year’s Kirin 930, but the real highlight here is the i5 coprocessor, which Huawei boasts is the most powerful coprocessor on the market.
The i5 coprocessor provides hardware support for tasks like speech recognition, low-power consumption MP3, sensor hub, fused location provider (FLP) navigation, and more efficient location-based tasks. In real life, this means that tasks that don’t require the phone to be awake will be carried out more efficiently, potentially improving battery life by a margin. Things like music playback, always-on voice controls, and GPS navigation should benefit from the presence of i5.
The Kirin 950 also integrates a powerful image processor, which will wrangle the data stream coming from the 16MP camera on the back. Keeping everything humming is a 4,000 mAh battery.
The Mate 8 will run Huawei’s heavily modified EMUI 4.0, which is based on Marshmallow. Even if we need to wait for at least another month to see it in action, the fact that Huawei is only the second major OEM to launch a Marshmallow device is pretty impressive. The company teased a number of software features for the Mate 8, including voice control, a power-saving firewall, a feature called eRecovery that we assume is some type of system restore, and even a defragmenter.
The Huawei Mate 8 will be available in China from today. More details about its price and availability around the world will be revealed at CES 2016 in early January.
We will update this post with more details as they surface, so stay tuned.
Thoughts on Huawei’s new Mate 8?
Amazon’s Black Friday deals begin rolling out – Fire TV, Fire Tablet, Echo and more
Black Friday used to begin on, well, Friday. Then retailers started opening up shop on Thursdays, but times keep changing and Amazon wants you to start your holiday shopping right away. Some of their sales are… on Fire, and you can take advantage of them right away!
Amazon has fired up its Black Friday sales by offering a selection of its own devices today. Yes, you can go buy these devices right now. They include some the Fire TV Stick, Fire TV, Fire tablet and more. We will list them for you right below, along with the new and improved price points!
- Amazon Fire TV ($74.99)
- Amazon Fire TV Stick ($24.99)
- Amazon Fire Tablet ($34.99)
- Amazon Fire HD 6 ($69.99)
- Amazon Fire Kids Edition ($84.99)
- Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 ($329.99)
- Amazon Echo ($149)
There you have it, guys! A bunch of awesome deals to get your Black Friday shopping started. Who knows – maybe you no longer have to go battle a hoard of angry shoppers looking to destroy anything that gets between them and their precious deals. I am especially fond of the Amazon Echo, and am seriously considering getting one. Are you thinking of buying any of these?
By the way, Amazon has much more than its own products to offer. Their list of deals is extensive, and it will only continue growing! If you want to take advantage of more super discounts, you can check out our articles on Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday events. This is going to be a big year for the shopping weekend!
OPPO joins Black Friday craze with $100 discounts on phones, 30-50% off accessories and more
OPPO may not be from the land where Black Friday deals make the crowd go nuts, but they are not letting this unofficial holiday go by without joining the fun. The Chinese manufacturer has just given us the inside scoop on what they have ready for this Friday, November 27th, and you are in for a real nice treat!
For starters, those who purchase the OPPO R7, R7 Plus or N3 will get a $100 discount (or 90 Euros) and free shipping. In addition, OPPO accessories will receive a 30-50% discount. The third offer is a bit of a freebie, and will be a very nice addition to those who were already thinking of getting an R7 or R7 Plus. Purchasing either of those two phones will get you a free blue OPPO Selfie Stick!
OPPO reviews:
Pretty simple, right? Get $100 off OPPO’s most popular devices, a big chunk of cash off accessories and a free selfie stick if you buy one of the R7 handsets. Nothing much to think about there, but it sure is a good deal, especially considering these products are already pretty affordable. The R7 and R7 Plus are usually $399 and $499, relatively, while the N3 definitely is a bit more high-end and costs $649 (without the additional discount).
How do you take advantage of these deals? In the USA & Canada we will hace the deals available from November 27th at 0:00 EST, and the offers end on November 28th at 2:59:59 EST. Meanwhile, those of you in Europe and other markets will get this treat from November 27th o:00 GMT to November 28th 23:59 GMT.
Are any of you guys signing up for these products?!
Huawei still thinks 6-inch phablets is the way to go
It’s been well over a year since Huawei launched its premium Mate 7 phablet, and as of August, over five million units have been sold worldwide. That’s far more impressive than the original goal of just one million phones. While the smaller Mate S has since been released, the company still believes in sticking to the masculine roots of the Mate series, which brings us to the Mate 8. Like before, this model sports the same 6-inch 1080p display spec but now also covers 95 percent of NTSC gamut. As a bonus, there’s a piece of 2.5D glass on top of that. Of course, the biggest selling point this time is the new octa-core Kirin 950 chipset which promises much higher performance and efficiency at the same time, mainly thanks to the new 16nm FinFET+ process, some more powerful CPUs (4 x Cortex-A72 and 4 x Cortex-A53), ARM’s flagship Mali-T880 GPU and integrated LTE Cat 6 modem.
HTC launches the HTC Preview program to give people an early look at devices and software updates
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HTC is struggling – let’s be honest, it’s not completely their fault (falling profit margins for all manufacturers not named Apple can’t be helping) but some of their more recent decisions haven’t exactly helped. Something that HTC hopes will help turn things around is its freshly announced HTC Preview program which will give HTC fans and interested parties a look at HTC devices and software updates before they are released. Note that signing up for HTC Preview doesn’t automatically make you eligible for a top-secret HTC device or software update, but presumably your eligibility has quite a lot to do with how you actually use your device, if the application questionnaire is anything to go by.
Naturally, to take part in the HTC Preview program, you’ll need to sign an NDA, so you know it’s serious, and HTC requires you to use whatever you get as a daily driver so that you can provide useful feedback. To be a part of HTC Preview, you’ll need to sign up and be in one of the US, Europe, or Asia. It’s a nice idea, thought HTC’s early access programs haven’t always gone to plan with plenty of leaked information prevalent for previous devices – let’s hope this time is different.
What do you think about HTC Preview? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: HTC via Android Police
The post HTC launches the HTC Preview program to give people an early look at devices and software updates appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Samsung Galaxy View ad suggests the titanic device is “Entertainment Reimagined”
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There are many words to describe the Samsung Galaxy View – huge, very large, gargantuan and monstrous all seem like appropriate words. “Entertainment Reimagined” doesn’t exactly make the list, but that’s what Samsung is trying to push in its latest Samsung Galaxy View ad which portrays the device as the perfect device for the home. Boasting the tagline “it’s not a TV; it’s not a tablet,” Samsung is presumably channelling its inner Superman, but we’re still wondering whether if that’s the right way to go about it – regardless, here’s the ad if you want to have a gander:
We can’t deny that having a 18.4-inch display around the home is a pretty convenient thing, in specific scenarios, but with smart TVs (and assorted mini PCs) becoming more and more prevalent, the benefit of the Galaxy View over a smart TV seems minimal at best. Still, starting at $499 USD, it’s not a hugely expensive device given its huge footprint, and there are definitely environments where the Galaxy View is going to excel.
What do you think about the latest Samsung Galaxy View ad? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: YouTube via Phone Arena
The post Samsung Galaxy View ad suggests the titanic device is “Entertainment Reimagined” appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
HTC kicks off new Preview Program
Earlier this evening, HTC launched a brand new Preview Program during an AMA session on Reddit in order to get feedback on devices and software from consumers before they hit the shelves. This will help the company smooth out any bugs and build a quality handset.
Signing up takes just five minutes and requires you to tell HTC what your current device is, how you use it on a daily basis and why you chose it.
Source: Preview Program
Come comment on this article: HTC kicks off new Preview Program
Lara Croft: The Shard of Life updated with new chapter
Development studio Square Enix has just started rolling out a rather hefty update for its incredibly popular Lara Croft: The Shard of Life game. The upgrade brings an entirely new chapter to the title which takes place in a mysterious new location called the Cave of Fire, a new mechanic which changes enemy behaviour and lots, lots more.
The full changelog can be seen below:
- A whole new adventure!
- 26 new puzzles in a mysterious new location – the Cave of Fire
- 1 new mechanic that changes enemy behavior completely
- New set of gems to discover: obsidian stones
- 2 new artifacts to collect
- 2 new costumes
- New achievements
- New snapshot feature added
- Support for Traditional Chinese
- Language selection menu added
To install the update on your Android-powered smartphone simply open up the Play Store, toggle the hamburger menu by swiping in from the left-hand side of the screen, select ‘My Apps’ and click on Lara Croft: The Shard of Life, then tap the update button. Alternatively, you can hit the link below to initiate the download on your handset from the Web.
Come comment on this article: Lara Croft: The Shard of Life updated with new chapter
This Rasberry Pi handheld wants to be every gadget in the world
Chances are, you’ve already got a versatile computer in your pocket — smartphones play music, record video, play games and more — but what if it was smaller, open source and completely hackable? Then you’d have something like the Poco “supercomputer,” a portable media device with the footprint of a credit card and the heart of a Rasberry Pi.
Source: Indiegogo
Lara Croft’s awesome mobile adventure adds a free tomb to raid
Lara Croft has a pretty big adventure on Xbox One this fall with Rise of the Tomb Raider, but her grand mobile mission is about grow too. Developer Square Enix Montreal announced it’s dropping “The Shard of Life” expansion for Lara Croft GO tomorrow for free on Android and iOS (sorry, Windows Phone folks) with some 26 fresh puzzles to tackle while you’re waiting in line at the grocery store. More than that, the publisher is knocking 40 percent off the game’s price — it’ll run you $2.99 for a limited time. Oh and its hosting a Twitch event tasking the game’s community to solve the new puzzles.
Source: Square Enix
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