Midnight Black OnePlus 3T is already sold out in most countries

The limited edition Midnight Black OnePlus 3T is nearly sold out a month after its launch.

Still interested in buying the Midnight Black variant of the OnePlus 3T? You’ll have to act fast, as the limited edition model is sold out in most countries. In a tweet, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei revealed that the Midnight Black edition is up for sale in just two markets, Hong Kong and the UK, and that it is likely to be sold out in a few days’ time.

Aside from the matte black color, the phone is identical to the standard version of the OnePlus 3T. That means a 5.5-inch Full HD AMOLED display, Snapdragon 821, 6GB of RAM, 128GB storage, 3400mAh battery, and 16MP front and rear cameras. If you’re looking to pick one up in the UK, it’ll set you back £439. Best head to the link below to grab one before it sells out.

See at OnePlus UK

OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3

• OnePlus 3T review: Rekindling a love story
• OnePlus 3T vs. OnePlus 3: What’s the difference?
• OnePlus 3T specs
• Latest OnePlus 3 news
• Discuss OnePlus 3T and 3 in the forums

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HTC squeezes a lot of stuff in this teaser video for the HTC U 11

HTC wants you to squeeze its upcoming phone.

HTC is all set to unveil its next flagship, the HTC U 11, on May 16. Ahead of the launch event, the Taiwanese manufacturer is teasing the phone’s marquee feature in a short video where people are squeezing stuff. You should just see the video:

The HTC U 11 will feature a squeezable frame that lets you perform actions by pressing on the sides of the device. Dubbed Edge Sense, the feature will let you configure separate actions for varying grip levels. As for the phone itself, recent leaks indicate the HTC U 11 will offer a 5.5-inch QHD display, Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, 64GB internal memory, 12MP UltraPixel camera, and a 3000mAh battery.

HTC is promoting the feature as a natural and effortless way to interact with your phone. We’ll see how useful it is when it comes to real-world usage in a few weeks’ time. In the meantime, what do you guys think of the HTC U 11?

Galaxy S8 vs. Galaxy S7: Which is best for VR?

Getting the best VR experience out of your phone is absolutely a luxury, but not without actual value.

No one is going out and choosing a phone to use all day every day because it offers a good VR experience. That is never going to be the feature that pushes someone to make a purchase. That doesn’t mean it’s not a point on the sheet when considering which phone to get, and this year there’s a curious question to answer. The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S8 are fairly similar on paper, at least as far as hardware goes. How does that affect VR, and are these smaller differences actually enough to make you consider spending up to the newest model instead of saving some money and getting the Galaxy S7 on sale?

Lets break it down piece by piece, so you can see which is doing to deliver the best VR experience.

More than a spec sheet

The things that matter most when considering how a phone will perform in VR are few. You need a quality display with a decent pixel density, a processor capable of maintaining that 60fps sweet spot no matter what while flawlessly syncing audio for full immersion, and you need a battery that will get you through the fun without needing to be connected to power. It’d also be nice if heat weren’t something you needed to worry about when in VR for extended periods of time, but we’ll look at that separately down below. For now, lets look at the specs.

See? The differences sure look slight here. The Galaxy S7 display is actually slightly denser than the S8, and physically a little lighter as well. The latest Snapdragon or Exynos processor will obviously be in the latest phone, but the battery capacity is the same and both phones handle audio output the same.

Is the S8 actually better than the S7 for VR? What it really comes down to is processing power, and what that means when doing something in VR. Since most VR games are frame locked, you’re not looking for less stuttering or more detail because these games are built once for all of the Samsung Gear VR supported devices. The thing that will really show which phone is superior for VR is how much battery is consumed performing the same tasks in VR, and how much heat in generated while performing those tasks.

Busting out the thermal camera

These two phones are running as close to the same software as possible, with the same apps installed. Any background apps that can be closed have been killed, so this is as close to an identical environment as can be reasonably expected without modifying these phones. After half an hour of gaming in VR, specifically playing Wands with the new Gear VR Controller, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S8 look like this:

As you can see, the Galaxy S8 produces far less heat than the Galaxy S7, which is to be expected now that the processors are physically smaller but also more powerful in this new model. The Galaxy S8 also consumed less power while in VR, which is important.

Less heat is always good. Under these conditions, the Galaxy S8 will basically never show you a heat management warning while in the Gear VR. While it is rare to see a heat warning in a Galaxy S7, this phone sits much closer to that line most of the time in VR. More heat means more stress on the battery, which often means faster deterioration over time. This isn’t a huge concern with the Galaxy S7, but it is something to keep in mind when comparing the two.

Which is better for VR?

The truth is, both of these phones offer a great VR experience. You’ll find a slightly better overall experience with the Galaxy S8, but is that difference enough to justify spending the extra money? Probably not on its own. If you found other features on the Galaxy S8 good enough to push you over that buying line, like the retina scanner or double the internal storage, a slightly better Gear VR experience with noticeably less heat would be icing on that cake.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

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HTC again confirms squeezy sides on HTC U with official teaser, see it here

HTC will unveil its new flagship Android smartphone on Tuesday 16 May but has already confirmed its name and one of the handset’s long-rumoured new features: squeezable sides.

The company has posted an official teaser video for the phone, entitled “HTC Squeeze the Brilliant U”, which follows up on a previous tweet and invitation to watch the launch event live.

Added to the invite for the launch event, received by Pocket-lint last week, it cements the name, “HTC U”. It also shows a variety of different objects being man-handled, a reference to the touch-enabled sides of the phone many have previously reported on and HTC itself has hinted at before.

There are also a couple of new, vague shots of the phone in the teaser so it’s well worth a watch.

The HTC U, formerly known as Ocean or HTC U 11, is thought to sport a 5.5-inch WQHD 2560 x 1440 display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 12-megapixel rear camera and 16-megapixel front-facing camera.

It is also said to come with 64GB or 128GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot for expansion, Android 7.1 Nougat and HTC’s own Sense 9 UI.

There have been plenty of rumours in the build up to the May event. You can read the best of them here: HTC U 11 ‘Ocean’: What’s the story on HTC’s next flagship?

Where to buy Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus in the UK

It’s that time of the year again — one of the most important dates in the smartphone launch calendar. Today, the UK gets its hands on Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, and whichever size you’re eyeing up, you won’t be disappointed. They are easily two of the best handsets on the market right now, with the lack of bezel around their gorgeous “Infinity” displays a particularly striking feature. Though Samsung’s Bixby assistant still needs some training, they are both blazing fast with batteries big enough to get you through two days of normal use. And if you didn’t pre-order one right away, these are all the places you can pick one up from today.

Galaxy S8

The Galaxy S8 might be the smaller of the two, but it still has a huge display and a truly stunning design. For those sorts of looks, you’ll need to spend big. There’s no right or wrong way to finance such a purchase, but the usual rules apply — skimp on the upfront payment and you’ll have to pay more on the monthly plan, and vice versa. Three has some of the cheapest monthly plans, however the lowest, at £35 per month, only comes with 500MB of data. Hope you don’t like streaming on the go…

If you want go SIM-free, you’re best bet is probably to buy from Samsung direct. A few retailers such as Carphone Warehouse and Buymobiles are stocking the phone, but their prices are pretty much the same. At £689, it’s an expensive phone, but you do have the option of financing it on a monthly basis through Samsung’s Upgrade Programme.

Galaxy S8 Plus

The larger Galaxy S8 Plus obviously demands slightly deeper pockets. It is, however, one of the best phones that money can buy, so unsurprisingly it has a price-tag to match. There aren’t too many deals to be had, but we like the one O2 offers for £42 per month, with unlimited texts, minutes and 500MB of data. If you’re willing to spend a little more, you can double your monthly data cap for £46 per month, or grab 3GB for £49 per month.

The Morning After: Friday, April 28th 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

A new Nintendo portable (don’t get too excited though), a mobile 3D printer that might be ready for your future Mars homestead, and one of Nintendo’s most influential employees is calling it a day. Plus: It’s earnings season!

Just two DsNintendo’s new 2DXL is coming July 28th

We weren’t expecting more new hardware from Nintendo, but that’s what they unveiled last night. The new 2DS XL brings the power of a 3DS XL, but without the added dimension. Easy enough to understand, right? The clamshell system will go on sale in the US July 28th for $150.

Perfect for DIY home building on an alien planetMIT’s mobile 3D printer built the largest structure to date

The Digital Construction Platform consists of a large hydraulic arm mounted on caterpillar treads, and it can build a 12-foot tall, 50-foot wide igloo in 13 hours, running on solar power. Don’t believe us? Just check out the video.

Yes, they have a permit.Apple’s self-driving test vehicle spotted on the streets of Silicon Valley

We’ve seen any number of test mules loaded up with LiDAR camera equipment, but yesterday one rolled out of an Apple building in California. The Lexus SUV sported some “off the shelf” equipment instead of custom designed hardware, but one way or another Project Titan is rolling out.

The Triton 700 is slightly thicker and less powerful than a Razer BladeAcer’s new Predator gaming laptop has one weird trick

Who doesn’t want a trackpad located above the keyboard?

It’s not just about making your selfies look better.Why Amazon wants to replace your mirror with a camera

Amazon believes you’ll spend $200 on a camera that’s both an extension of your smart home and the ultimate fashion accessory. The Echo Look is designed to help you look your best every morning, guiding and improving your style every time it’s used. But what it represents, and what Amazon gets out of it, could be a much bigger deal for the future of fashion. In short, the company hopes it’ll get some good data-based insight into how to sell you more clothes.

And the ones they do have are old and damaged.NASA is running out of functional spacewalk suits

NASA already spent over $200 million on developing a next-gen spacesuit, but it’s still years away from conjuring up a working unit. That’s a bigger problem than you might think because according to NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency is quickly running out of (PDF) functional suits needed for spacewalks. The iconic white suits you see the ISS crew wearing today are the same units made for astronauts 40 years ago.

Data is now broadcasting.Cassini probe survives first dive between Saturn and its rings

NASA’s Cassini probe has emerged unscathed after its first dive between Saturn and its rings. The spacecraft’s ground team had to spend 20 hours wondering whether the probe was doing well or whether it plunged to its death a few months too early. Thankfully, it got back in contact with NASA at 2:56AM EDT today, April 27th. By 3:01 AM, it started beaming back precious data about the planet’s atmosphere, including the unprocessed images of Saturn’s features above.

Takeda brought the world the analog stick, ‘Punch-Out’ and the Wii.Nintendo’s hardware visionary is calling it a day

Alongside yesterday’s impressive earnings report, Nintendo announced that long-serving employee Genyo Takeda is stepping down as company director this June. Holding the title of representative director and also sitting alongside Miyamoto as “Technology Fellow,” Takeda has played a key role in defining both Nintendo’s hardware and software. During his 46 year career at the Japanese games giant, Takeda’s credits include producing/directing Nintendo classics like Punch-Out!! and Pilotwings 64 plus designing the N64’s analog stick.

But wait, there’s more…

• Sony Q4: PlayStation 4 has never been more important to Sony
• Amazon Q1: It’s ‘doubling down’ on the Echo ecosystem
• Alphabet Q1: Google’s AI and hardware push wasn’t crazy after all
• Microsoft Q1: Surface revenue falls by 26 percent
• ‘Tropes vs. Women in Video Games’ says goodbye
• Nerdcore artist Mega Ran takes us on a Gameboy nostalgia trip

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t subscribe.

YouTube searches for its next star with a cover competition

YouTube is looking for the world’s next star, and it’s asking Ludacris and Ryan Seacrest to help it happen. Seacrest’s production company are making “Best. Cover. Ever”, for the video service, with famous musicians mentoring contestants that enter by covering one of their songs. The best two entrants will appear on the show, hosted by Ludacris, with the eventual winner getting to duet with established musical talent.

YouTube isn’t lacking in amateur (often amazing) covers of existing songs, but Ryan Seacrest himself reckons that covers, “are a terrific vehicle to help discover fresh talent.” For the video site, it gets to taps into those magical early years of YouTube , when users believed they had a chance of making it by putting themselves out there with a modicum of talent, an acoustic guitar and a low-res webcam. Is it still even possible to get famous through only a well-received cover track? We’ll see.

Artists that have already signed up for the show include the Backstreet Boys, Demi Lovato, Jason Derulo and Charlie Puth — most of which I have heard of. Future stars can submit their covers of “As Long as You Love Me,” “Confident” and “Trumpets” by May 19th right here, although the company hasn’t announced a launch date for the series. More musicians are set to be announced in the coming weeks.

Google Adds Media Content Links to Mobile Web and Google App Search Results

Google is rolling out an update to its search engine for iOS users that aims to make it easier to discover media content like songs and movies online (via TechCrunch).

Whenever a Google search is performed for a piece of media, the new feature shows users icons for services that offer the content, such as iTunes, Hulu, Amazon Video, Google Play, YouTube, and Spotify.

Clicking the new icons in the Knowledge Panel at the top of a search result takes the user straight to the associated service, where they can immediately start watching it or listening to it. Google will also display pricing information for the content on various services, where applicable.

Music searches will show links to streaming services like Apple Music and Pandora, but obviously there are restrictions on playback depending on whether users subscribe to the services in question.

The company says the new service links for iOS should start appearing on both the mobile web and Google Search app, which is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]

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Google Wifi Mesh-Network Router Now Available in Canada

Google made its puck-like, mesh-network based wireless home router available in Canada this week, following availability in the U.S. since December and its U.K. launch earlier this month.

Google Wifi is made to boost internet coverage throughout any home regardless of the layout, similar to products like the Linksys Velop. It achieves this by using a multi-unit set-up in which the routers communicate with each other to create a wide area of network coverage with no dead spots.

The Google Wifi router aims to be easier to manage than other routers and extenders, through the use of an accompanying mobile app, which lets owners prioritize available bandwidth for certain devices in the network, control access to specific devices or groups of devices, designate network administrators, and more.

The dual-band devices also automatically select the fastest available band using machine learning algorithms that can predict busy periods on certain bands and select the optimal one accordingly.

Google Wifi in Canada starts at $179 for a single router or $439 for a pack of three. The product is available on the online Google Store as well as at Best Buy, Staples, and Walmart, with more retailers in Canada to follow.

(via TechCrunch.)

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Malware Uses Apple Developer Certificate to Infect MacOS and Spy on HTTPS Traffic

A malware research team has discovered a new piece of Mac malware that reportedly affects all versions of MacOS and is signed with a valid developer certificate authenticated by Apple (via The Hacker News).

The malware has been dubbed “DOK” and is being disseminated through an email phishing campaign which researchers at CheckPoint say is specifically targeting macOS users, making it the first of its kind.

The malware works by gaining administration privileges in order to install a new root certificate on the user’s system. This enables it to gain access to all communications between the host Mac and the internet, including traffic flowing through connections encrypted with SSL.

The initial email pretends to be informing the recipient of inconsistencies in their tax return and asks them to download a zip file attachment to their Mac that harbors the malware. Apple’s built-in Gatekeeper security feature reportedly fails to recognize it as a threat because of its valid developer certificate, and the malware copies itself to the /Users/Shared/ folder and creates a login item to make itself persistent, even in a rebooted system.

The malware later presents the user with a security message claiming an update is available for the system, for which a password input is required. Following the “update”, the malware gains complete control of admin privileges, adjusts the network settings to divert all outgoing connections through a proxy, and installs additional tools that enable it to perform a man-in-the-middle attack on all traffic.

According to the researchers, Mac antivirus programs have yet to update their databases to detect the DOK malware, and advises that Apple revoke the developer certificate associated with the author immediately.

Back in January, researchers discovered a piece of Mac malware called Fruitfly that successfully spied on computers in medical research centers for years before being detected.

The latest discovery of malware, which appears to target predominantly European users, underlines the fact that Macs are not immune to the threat as is sometimes supposed. As always, users should avoid clicking links or downloading attachments in emails from unknown and untrusted sources.

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