Honor 9 European launch event: Watch the #LightCatcher livestream here

Honor, the fun and funky sub-brand of Huawei, is expected to launch the Honor 9 in Europe today, 27 June, and you can watch the action right here on Pocket-lint.

It’s calling the launch event “Meet the #LIGHTCATCHER” and you can watch it via the livestream below.

It starts at 1pm BST (2pm CEST) so you can watch it from then.

The Honor 9 was officially announced for the Chinese market earlier in June and while the UK and Europe might get a modified version, there are many clues as to the specifications we can look forward to.

It has a 5.15-inch Full HD display with slightly curved 2.5D glass. The Kirin 960 processor runs the show, with two variants available in China – one featuring 4GB of RAM and 64GB, and one with 6GB of RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of storage. We don’t yet know which we’ll get.

A microSD card slot is available to expand that by up to 256GB.

A dual camera is on the rear, with two sensors – one 20-megapixel the other 12-megapixel.

It has a 3,200mAh battery, Android 7.0 Nougat on board and Huawei’s EMUI 5.1 layered on top.

Price details and stockists are yet to come in, as are which coloured variants will make it to the UK.

Panasonic DMP-UB400 Ultra HD Blu-ray player review: Packs a punch for an affordable price

Panasonic was one of the first companies out of the gate with an Ultra HD Blu-ray player in 2016. The UB900 – still the flagship player from Panasonic – offered superb handling of the new 4K disc format, but came at a price that would only attract home cinema purists.

In 2017, there’s a bigger shift to move the format along, delivering players at more affordable prices. The UB400 on review here is a perfect example of such a player.

But when you’re dealing with Ultra HD Blu-ray, should you be stepping down to more affordable players, or shooting for the more capable models?

Panasonic UB400 review: Design and remote

• 320 x 199 x 45mm
• Looks like a “mini UB700”

The first thing you’ll notice about the UB400 is that it drops the size down from the normal 400mm width to 320mm, so it’s more compact than some of the other players on the market. This has been something that’s often been associated with more affordable devices, but in many cases there’s not the need for such a large player anyway – especially when the rear panel isn’t fully loaded with connections.

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Panasonic has adopted the glossy front from both the UB900 and UB700 for this model too, giving a seamless finish – there’s no drawer, just the angular edges to that frontispiece. The rest of the body is black metal, but you’re unlikely to spend any time looking at that.

• A closer look at Panasonic’s Ultra HD Blu-ray player line-up: UB900, UB700, UB400, UB310, UB300

There’s no display on the UB400, just a single red LED which will indicate power. There is a cooling fan on the rear and there’s some residual noise from this as it keeps the innards cool. 

The remote for the UB400 is essentially the same as that of the UB700. It’s plastic and features plenty of buttons – indeed, there are more than you’re likely to ever use. However, there are some special buttons, like the “playback info” button that will report what formats and standards you’re playing, which is one that we geeks especially love.

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A new addition – and also one of the features making its debut here – is a button called “HDR setting” which essentially lets you change the brightness of the HDR effect (which we’ll talk about in more later).

Panasonic UB400 review: Connectivity

• 2x HDMI (one a dedicated audio connection)
• 2x USB
• Ethernet and Wi-Fi
• Optical audio

Although the UB400 slims down a little, it still delivers a full range of connectivity that will suit most users. First and foremost there are two HDMI connections on the rear, one dedicated to audio, meaning you can have a connection that runs to your TV for the visuals and a separate feed to an AV receiver for the audio. 

This not only gives you flexibility, but if you’ve got a new 4K TV, but an older sound system that lacks 4K pass-through, you can still have the audio piped directly into that. For those with fewer connections, there’s also an optical audio output on this player, so you can easily hook into most legacy systems.

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When it comes to network connectivity, there’s an Ethernet connection on the rear so it can be hardwired to your network, or there’s the option of Wi-Fi. Exactly which you’ll want to use depends on a full range of considerations, such as whether you plan to use the smart features of this player to stream content either from online sources or from your local network.

Finally there are 2x USB connections. These till again allow you to add media, or hook-up a HDD with more video files, should you wish.

Panasonic UB400 review: Performance and playback

• HDR effect control
• Same video processing as UB900
• Supports 3D

The important thing to note about the UB400 is that it offers the same video processing engine as Panasonic’s top two players, meaning it’s pictures are every bit as good looking. There has been some evolution of the 4K HDR space since we reviewed the first two players and accordingly you’ll find things like the option to convert HLG content to regular HDR for playback on TVs that might not support that standard. 

• What is Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) and why should you care? 

There are plenty of settings to control the playback, so you can specify the particulars of the TV to which the player is connected, such as whether it’s a 10-bit panel (such as the Samsung QLED Q7F we tested it with), or a 12-bit panel, like the LG OLED B6.

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In most cases, however, there’s no need to change anything (ensuring that the TV itself has the HDMI port you connect to on the right settings) and you can safely leave things on the automatic settings – which is what Panasonic recommends.

There are also a number of controls on the audio front, so you can choose whether the Dolby and DTS decoding is handled by the player, outputting PCM, or you can have your receiver do the decoding. Again, this very much depends on what hardware you already have and what formats are supported. 

As with Panasonic’s previous players, we found that the performance is excellent, delivering that crisp 3840 x 2160 resolution, boosted with HDR. We tested the player with the Samsung QLED Q7F and the Samsung MU7000 televisions, both delivering stunning results, surpassing the quality of 4K streaming. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Ultra HD Blu-ray really is the superior format for next-gen entertainment. 

One of the new introductions on the UB400 is that HDR settings feature. We’ve seen this sort of option appearing in a number of different places – some TVs will let you change the HDR effect and now this player will too.

The odd thing is that HDR was first pitched as being “as the director intended” with the source telling the display exactly how bright it should be and so on. That idealistic position hasn’t lasted long, then, as if you want things to be brighter, you can just hit the button and change the settings from the player for the movie you’re watching. It’s actually fairly convenient, more convenient than diving into your TV’s settings, and from the standard you can select natural, light and bright.

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Flipping to natural might give things a little lift, although ultimately you’ll have to decide whether your TV needs to be adjusted as a larger issue, or if you just want to lighten something that’s a little too dark for your tastes. We found that the top two settings (light and bright) cause a noticeable loss of contrast, with highlights losing detail and shadows losing those crisp blacks. We tested this in some of the dark scenes of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and, generally speaking, it’s a little too easy to destroy the fidelity of those scenes. 

Flip over to regular Blu-ray and that HDR setting is no longer an option. Blu-ray is very well handled by this player with richness and detail, ensuring that those last-gen discs still have plenty to offer, including support for 3D. DVD plays nicely too, but as home TVs are growing larger, there’s only so much you can do to cater for the comparative lack of resolution.

Overall, the performance of this player is very good and priced as low as £250 on Amazon.co.uk at the time of review, it ultimately helps bring Ultra HD Blu-ray to more people.

• 17 best 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays available to buy now

Panasonic UB400 review: User interface and streaming services 

• Netflix, Amazon Video and other services
• Basic menu system

So far, everything we’ve covered has been positive, as this player offers almost all the benefits of the top-tier players (bar higher-end sound outputs) at a fraction of the cost. But it also adopts some of the elements of those players that are weaker.

Pocket-lint

Starting at the front, the UB400 is a little slow to turn on and off. This was the same with the UB900 and we can’t help thinking that it could be faster. That said, disc loading is pretty fast once you get going.

Panasonic’s biggest problem really lies in the UX, or user experience, once you get into the menus. The main menu is rather dated, lacking the sort of consumer-friendly sheen you get from Samsung’s players, for example. If you’re just loading a disc and playing it, that really doesn’t matter too much, although those who want to tinker in the settings will find it’s a little clunky navigating around.

There’s a jarring difference in the main menus and the menu for the network services and there seems to be no good reason for that – it feels like two different people worked on design and then just lumped them together.

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There are also the defacto streaming services on offer – supported by the dedicated Netflix button on the remote. If you want to use this player to watch BBC iPlayer, Amazon Video or YouTube, those services are there. However, the experience is clunky compared to any major smart TV.But that’s also the reason that this low point might not matter: the 4K HDR TV you’ll be connecting this player to almost certainly offers those services too, so you might never have to use them on this player.

Verdict

Ultra HD Blu-ray has had its time as an enthusiast format: an expensive nicety for the early adopter. With 4K TV adoption increasing, we can’t settle the argument as to whether Ultra HD Blu-ray will find as many fans as streaming 4K content, but we’re happy to say it’s the best quality of the bunch.

The Panasonic UB400 doesn’t make any huge breakthroughs, but it does launch with prices that are a lot more appealing. Panasonic also undercuts itself with the UB300, which loses the second HDMI and Wi-Fi of the UB400, but sees the price tumble another £50, accepting a design that’s a little more basic.

• Best 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray players 2017

For home cinema enthusiasts there’s a lot of high-end choice now available. The UB900 is much more advanced as an audio player, as is the Oppo UDP-203, both looking to deliver the best there is and bringing a wider package for those high demand users.

But for everyone else, the UB400 makes perfect sense. It plays well, it’s affordable and it doesn’t scrimp on essential connectivity, making it an easy route to Ultra HD Blu-ray enjoyment.

The alternatives to consider

Pocket-lint

Samsung UBD-K8500 Ultra HD Blu-ray player

Read the full article: Samsung K8500 review

Oppo UDP-203

Read the full article: Oppo UDP-203 review

Pocket-lint

Panasonic DMP-UB900

Read the full article: Panasonic UB900 review

Honor 9 arrives in UK with dual cameras and ultra-shiny Sapphire Blue finish

When it comes to mid-level phones, Honor has long been one of the go-to brands to consider. To call the new Honor 9 “mid-level” would arguably be a disservice, however, given the serious spec and standout design positives of this affordable smartphone.

The Honor 9 is the update to the Honor 8, embodying a similar presentation: the slender 7.45mm device comes with a Sapphire Blue finish, which catches light and reflections as if it’s multi-layered, in a way that few other handsets can (save for the HTC U11).

Look closer, however, and it’s clear the design has had more attention for this iteration. The Honor 9’s 3D curved glass back and 2.5D glass front give the device a real appearance of depth, with that 5.15-inch 1080p screen almost jumping off the surface of the phone.

Spec-wise, the Honor 9 pulls in a specification much like the Huawei P10: there’s a Kirin 960 processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, updated dual cameras (20-megapixel monochrome and 12-megapixel colour), and a ceramic fingerprint sensor as the headline features.

If anything the Honor 9 makes the Huawei P10 a nonsense choice. Given the Honor is £380 – which is about a £185 saving compared to the Huawei – it does make us wonder why the Chinese maker continues to run its two brands so closely alongside one another.

We’ll be at the Honor 9’s European launch and will be picking up a device for review. So keep an eye on the site in the coming weeks for a full review.

If you’re already tempted by what you’ve seen then the Honor 9 is available for pre-order right now, priced £380, or will be available via Three on contract from 3 July 2017.

Honor 9 vs Honor 8: What’s the difference?

If you’re looking for a relatively affordable mid-level phone then Honor’s unveiling of the Honor 9 may well have sparked your interest – and not just because of its spangly Sapphire Blue finish. For this £380 phone delivers plenty of bang for your buck.

Compared to last year’s Honor 8

, the newer model delivers some nips and tucks on the design front, enhanced dual cameras, along with revamped innards for greater power – but without a significant price bump between the two generations.

Here’s the skinny on how the Honor 9 differs from the Honor 8.

Honor 9 vs Honor 8: Design

• Honor 8: 145.5 x 71 x 7.5mm; 153g
• Honor 9: 147.3 x 70.9 x 7.45mm; 155g
• Honor 8: rear-mounted fingerprint scanner
• Honor 9: front-mounted ceramic fingerprint scanner

At first glance the two phones have a similar look – mainly because of that distinct blue finish (grey-white and black are also available in the Honor 9) and the way it catches light. In the Honor 9 the rear is a 15 layer build, with a three-dimensional curve for added depth.

The Honor 9 also does away with the rear-positioned fingerprint scanner of the Honor 8, instead placing a ceramic one to the front, much like a Home key as you’ll find on an increasing number of devices these days.

Size-wise, it’s great to see the Honor 9 sticking to a similar footprint to the earlier Honor 8. This isn’t a giant phone – there’s the Honor 8 Pro for that – which means it’s easy to hold in the one hand. The Honor 9 has even trimmed a couple of millimetres in width compared to the Honor 8.

Honor 9 vs Honor 8: Display

• Honor 8: 5.2-inch, 1920 x 1080 resolution IPS LCD
• Honor 9: 5.15-inch, 1920 x 1080 resolution IPS LCD with 2.5D glass

By marginally condensing the size of the device, the Honor 9 also has an ever so slightly smaller screen than the Honor 8: it’s 5.15-inches rather than 5.2-inches.

Resolution is one and the same for the two devices, however, at 1080p. No qHD resolution to be found here, but that’s no surprise and, realistically, not a necessary spec requirement at this scale and price point.

Honor 9 vs Honor 8: Battery, hardware & software

• Honor 8: 3,000mAh; Honor 9: 3,200mAh battery capacity
• Honor 8: Kirin 950 (2.3GHz) chipset, 4GB RAM; Honor 9: Kirin 960 (2.4GHz) chipset, 4GB RAM
• Both: dual SIM / second slot acts as microSD card expansion
• Both: EMUI 5.1 software skin over Android 7.1

In addition to the updated design, the Honor 9 also ramps things up on the hardware front. With the latest Kirin 960 processor, paired with 4GB RAM, this device is every bit as powerful as the Huawei P10. That’s a generational step-up compared to the Honor 8.

Both phones come with a microSD slot (it’s the second SIM slot) to expand the on-board memory. And with 64GB as standard, the Honor 9 has plenty of storage on offer as standard (the Honor 8’s starting capacity is 32GB).

On the software front, the Honor 9 delivers a similar experience to what you’ll find in the mother brand Huawei P10. With Android 7.1 running in the background and EMUI 5.1 running over the top of that, it’s a user experience that’s rather heavy on alerts and battery-saving methods. The Honor 8, by comparison, is still running Android 7.0 and EMUI 5.0.

Speaking of battery, the Honor 9 ups the capacity to 3,200mAh – which is a 200mAh increase compared to the Honor 8. That’s great news considering the smaller form factor of the new phone. Here’s hoping for a proportional increase from life per charge.

Honor 9 vs Honor 8: Cameras

• Honor 8: Dual 12-megapixel rear-facing cameras
• Honor 9: 20-megapixel monochrome, 12-megapixel colour rear-facing dual cameras

Perhaps the biggest play of all is the Honor 9’s upgraded cameras. To look at you might not think the two devices appear that different: they both have two optics arranged side-by-side peering out of the rear.

The Honor 9 goes down the Huawei route of opting for a 20MP monochrome and 12MP colour one, however, rather than using two colour sensors – the second with a mono filter via software – in a similar fashion to the Huawei P10. The main difference in the Honor 9 compared to Huawei is that there’s no Leica affiliation and, thus, the software is slightly different, as are the optics.

Both Honor 8 and Honor 9 have the ability to use their two cameras to depth map scenes, providing the opportunity to create background blur in software after shooting. It’s possible to see this in real-time with the Honor 9, even in video mode.

Honor 9 vs Honor 8: Conclusion

Overall the Honor 9 is a really interesting proposition – even more so in 2017 because so many manufacturers’ products have risen in the price stakes. The Honor 9 is only £10 more than the Honor 8 was at launch but, crucially, it’s £60 less than a OnePlus 5 and a massive £185-or-so less than the Huawei P10. Indeed, its only near competition is from the solid but ultimately less interesting Samsung Galaxy A5.

So while the Honor 9 may look like a minor tweak compared to last year’s Honor 8, its progress in terms of design and features, plus stubborn price point positioning, make it one lucrative mid-level purchase indeed.

The Honor 9 is available now, priced £380. It will be available on contract in the UK exclusively with Three from 3 July 2017.

EU fines Google a record $2.7 billion for abusing product searches

The European Commission’s long-running investigation into Google has finally come to an end, and it’s not good news for the search giant. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager confirmed today that the company has been fined €2.42 billion ($2.72 billion) for unfairly directing users to its own products rather over those of its rivals. It’s the biggest financial penalty the Commission has ever handed out, eclipsing the €1.06 billion ($1.4 billion) charge incurred by Intel back in 2014.

In a statement, Vestager said: “Google has come up with many innovative products and services that have made a difference to our lives. That’s a good thing. But Google’s strategy for its comparison shopping service wasn’t just about attracting customers by making its product better than those of its rivals. Instead, Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results, and demoting those of competitors.

“What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules. It denied other companies the chance to compete on the merits and to innovate. And most importantly, it denied European consumers a genuine choice of services and the full benefits of innovation.”

The European Union’s antitrust authority had been looking into Google’s unfair search practices since 2010. Google and the Commission’s previous chief made numerous attempts to settle over the years, but nothing was resolved.

However, an investigation was finally opened in April 2015, with Google being brought to task over the prominence of its price comparison service Google Shopping. It accused Google of unfairly weighting results so that when a user performed a search for a product, its own service would always return items either at or near the top of the search results.

Evidence showed that rival sites like Kelkoo and Twenga weren’t given an equal chance, with some appearing only on page four of Google’s native (or algorithmic) search results. Google’s shopping service wasn’t subject to its own generic search algorithms, so it didn’t see any drastic demotions.

Although it’s not illegal for Google to be the dominant search engine, it does have a responsibility to ensure it doesn’t abuse its position by taking actions that negatively affect its competition. This includes tweaking its results so that its own services appear higher in the results than links to sites operated by rival shopping sites. By doing this, Google was “depriving European consumers of genuine choice and innovation.”

The Commission found that when Google Shopping links applied the tweak, rival websites in France saw traffic dip by 80 percent, rising to 85 percent and 92 percent in the UK and Germany respectively. “These sudden drops could also not be explained by other factors,” the Commission said. “Some competitors have adapted and managed to recover some traffic but never in full.”

In a blog post, Kent Walker General Counsel at Google said that the Commission’s decision “underestimates the value” of its price comparison service and that the company will seek to appeal the ruling. “Given the evidence, we respectfully disagree with the conclusions announced today,” Walker added. “We will review the Commission’s decision in detail as we consider an appeal, and we look forward to continuing to make our case.”

Google has been told that it must comply with the ruling and “end the conduct” within 90 days or face additional fines. Penalty payments can reach up to 5 percent of Alphabet’s — Google’s parent company — daily average worldwide revenue. Google must decide how it will achieve this and must notify the European Commission within 60 days of its plans.

It could get worse for Google, too. Not only can regulators from each EU member state now file their own civil actions for damages, but the search giant is also the subject of two other European Commission probes.

The first concentrates on the Android operating system, in particular Google’s alleged offer of unfair deals to Android phone makers to promote its own apps and services. The other relates to Adsense and how Google has potentially abused its position by restricting third-parties from displaying search advertisements.

Source: Europa

The Morning After: Tuesday, June 27th 2017

Welcome to Tuesday. Nintendo is reviving the SNES, Amazon’s Echo with a screen is here and we look at how iOS 11 is shaping up.

The mini console will include the never-before-released ‘Star Fox 2.’
The SNES Classic is real, arrives on September 29 for $80

The delicious rumors are true: Nintendo is gearing up to launch the SNES Classic, a miniaturized version of the glorious original Super Nintendo Entertainment System. According to Nintendo’s Twitter account, the system will be available on September 29 with 21 games built in — including the never-released Star Fox 2. Perhaps the best news is that the company is trying to ensure the SNES Classic won’t sell out quite as quickly as its predecessor — although it seems the console will only be around for a little while.

Hopefully, it learned its lesson with the mini NES.
Here’s what Nintendo needs to do to make the SNES Classic great

Being virtually sold out everywhere wasn’t the only issue we had with the NES Classic last year. With 30 of the original console’s best games pushed to modern TVs over HDMI, it offered an excellent, easy-to-use retro-gaming experience. However, the console’s ridiculously short 2.5-foot controller cables forced players to sit uncomfortably close to their TVs, and a few user-interface flubs made the menu weirdly difficult to access. We’ve troubleshooted those issues and a few more for Nintendo.

Seeing is believing.
Amazon Echo Show review

The first Echo with a touchscreen is here, and as it turns out, it does make the Alexa experience better. Despite the angular design, Nathan Ingraham felt like it was a worthy $50 upgrade over the standard Echo, allowing him to digest information in a visual way instead of just listening to it. The video-calling feature wasn’t live for us to fully test yet, but Amazon is serious about making this an intercom device that connects to other Echos or phones running the Alexa app.

It’s facing more than $1 billion in fines.
Faulty airbags cost Takata everything

Takata, the Japanese corporation at the heart of the auto industry’s largest ever product recall, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Its faulty airbag inflators have been linked to several deaths and resulted in the recall of more than 40 million vehicles. A rescue plan will apparently see US-based Key Safety Systems snap up its “non-toxic” assets for about $1.6 billion.

Your iPad is about to become a lot more useful.
iOS 11 preview: full of promise, especially on bigger screens

The public iOS 11 beta has begun, and we’re ready to share our first impressions of Apple’s next mobile operating system. While it brings some welcome changes to the iPhone (like a revamped Control Center), there’s a complete overhaul on the way for iPads. The new drag-and-drop setup, Files app and multitasking are, according to Chris Velazco, “worthy improvements.” Are they enough to make you ditch your laptop? Probably not, but there’s a lot to look forward to this fall.

When it’s not beating world champions at Go.
Sorting Lego sucks, so here’s an AI that does it for you

Lego reseller Jaques Mattheij apparently has better things to do than sort through pieces all day, so he’s leaving the task to an automated sorter powered by a neural network.

What did you do over the weekend?
SpaceX launches and lands two rockets in a single weekend

Elon Musk’s rocket company wants to amp up the pace of its launches and proved it could handle the pressure by following up a Friday launch-and-landing with another one on Sunday. The technical problems that caused an explosion last September appear to be firmly in the rearview mirror now.

But wait, there’s more…

• What’s on TV: ‘Crash Bandicoot,’ ‘Modern Warfare’ and ‘Okja’
• Netflix cancels ‘Girlboss’ after one season
• AT&T is rapidly expanding its rural wireless internet service

A city covered in trees will fight air pollution in China

It’s easy to find buildings laced with greenery in order to reduce their CO2 footprints. But what about an entire city? That’s on its way. Construction has started on Liuzhou Forest City, a 30,000-person urban development where every building will be covered in pollution-reducing plants (over 1 million of them, in fact). They’ll also rely on geothermal energy for air conditioning and pack solar panels to collect their own energy. Logically, the transportation network will be green as well. It’ll revolve around electric cars and a central rail line that links the experimental space to the city of Liuzhou.

If all goes well, the project will absorb nearly 10,000 tons of CO2 (and 57 tons of other pollutants) on a yearly basis, and pump out 900 tons of oxygen in the process. This isn’t some far-off dream, either, as Boeri’s firm expects to complete the Forest City by 2020.

Just don’t count on these eco-friendly cities becoming ubiquitous. Even if municipalities are fine with retrofitting existing buildings, they’ll still need ideal climates to support all that flora. There’s a good reason why Boeri’s team is setting up in southern China — it’s easy to maintain plant life in an area which rarely deals with freezing temperatures. Nonetheless, this hints at a future where entire population centers fight air pollution and leave a relatively tiny mark on the environment.

Via: Designboom

Source: Stefano Boeri Architetti

Google Home now supports up to six users in the UK

Good news, Google Home owners: your smart speaker is now ready to get to know your family. The search giant has confirmed that UK Homes now support up to six users, allowing members of your household to train Google’s Assistant to recognize their voices. It also means that their music playlists, schedules and appointments can be synced, ensuring everyone gets more use out of the tiny white speaker.

The feature is actually pretty easy to set up. Simply make sure that you have the latest version of the Google Home app on your smartphone (iOS or Android) and then find the card that says “multi-user is available.” If you don’t see it right away, hit the top-right icon to see your connected devices and select “link your account.” This should allow you to start training it.

The app will ask you say phrases like “Hey, Google” and “OK, Google” a couple of times each. The AI will then store those phrases and match them to each user when they speak, allowing it to deliver personalised results each time.

UK users have needed to wait a little while for multi-user support. Google originally launched the feature in the US in April.

Via: TechRadar

Low OLED Panel Yield Could Cap ‘iPhone 8’ Availability at 4 Million Units in 2017

Shipments of Apple’s upcoming “iPhone 8” could be delayed because of low yield rates at assembly plants and a limited supply of OLED display panels, according to a report published on Tuesday.

DigiTimes cited industry sources predicting that the shipments could end up behind schedule because of the issues, despite chipset suppliers delivering parts early and an increased recruitment drive by companies in the assembly line.

iPhone 8 render by @VenyaGeskin1

The latest speculation comes even though chipset suppliers have begun delivering related parts to the iPhone supply in the second quarter, and iPhone assemblers Foxconn Electronics, Pegatron and Wistron have been stepping up efforts to recruit more workers for their assembly lines in China, said the sources.

As covered previously on MacRumors, Samsung is the main supplier of display panels for Apple’s 5.8-inch OLED iPhone, with Apple reportedly having ordered 70 million units from the company this year.

However, although Samsung Display has promised to fully support Apple with regards to the supply of OLED panels, DigiTimes’ sources are now claiming only 3 to 4 million OLED-based iPhones will be ready for shipping before the new smartphones are unveiled at a product event slated for September.

Judging from the current supply of OLED panels, it will be difficult for Apple to ship up to 50-60 million OLED-based new iPhones in 2017, the sources indicated.

There have already been rumors suggesting the OLED iPhone will be in short supply when it launches, with the majority of the stock unavailable until later in the year, so today’s report doesn’t come out of the blue. However, the number of iPhones available at launch quoted by DigiTimes is the lowest we’ve seen so far.

Apple’s so-called “iPhone 8” will be a radical redesign compared to previous handsets, with a glass body and edge-to-edge OLED display that includes an integrated Touch ID fingerprint sensor and a front-facing camera with 3D sensing capabilities, possibly for use with augmented reality software. The new iPhone is expected to be sold alongside upgraded (but standard) 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhones.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8
Tag: digitimes.com
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Nintendo SNES Classic Mini: Release date, pre-order details, price, games and more

After the incredible success of its miniature, remade NES console, Nintendo has announced a follow-up; this time based on the much-loved Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES for short.

A Nintendo Classic Mini: SNES will be available later this year and we’ll be queuing for one, that’s for sure.

• See Nintendo Classic Mini: SNES on Amazon UK 
• See it on GAME for £79.99

Here’s everything we know about the machine and a list of the confirmed games that will come pre-installed. We’ll also update you when pre-orders go live.

SNES Classic Mini: The background

Nintendo released a miniature version of its first household games console in November last year and it sold out almost immediately. The Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom in Japan) was priced at £50 in the UK and came with 30 Nintendo games pre-installed. An included controller, shaped like the one that came with the 80s original, was included in the box and an optional second could be added for two-player games.

Apart from its size, the NES Classic Mini also included an HDMI port to connect it to a TV and clever picture upscaling technologies to ensure the 8-bit games looked good, even when expanded to fit a 55-inch or more.

Unfortunately, because it was extremely popular, gamers who didn’t manage to pre-order one prior to release were unlikely to get one for the original price. They still fetch anywhere up to £250 each on reseller sites such as eBay – five times the original retail price. Nintendo has also confirmed that it has no plans to manufacture new units in any territory.

That was more than likely because it is concentrating on a sequel instead. Like the NES was followed by the SNES in the early 90s, so too will the Classic Mini version.

The Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES Classic Mini for short, will be a smaller, self-contained version of one of the greatest games consoles of all time. It’ll come with 21 games pre-installed including, for the first time, the previously un-released Star Fox 2.

The European version looks like the EU SNES released in the 80s, while the US and Japanese versions will also ape their regional variants.

All versions come with two wired controllers.

• Can’t buy a NES Classic Mini? How to build your own retro console for just £50

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SNES Classic Mini: Release date

Although it was expected that we’d hear about the SNES Classic Mini at E3 2017, Nintendo waited a couple of weeks after the show finished to officially announce the new machine.

The SNES Classic Mini will be available in UK and US from 29 September 2017.

SNES Classic Mini: Pre-order details

Some retailers started taking pre-orders on the evening of the announcement, Monday 25 June. However, with stock levels currently unknown, they soon “sold out”. It’s worth checking though just in case they relist.

• Pre order now at GAME for £79.99
• Pre-order now at Amazon.co.uk

Alternatively, you can wait until Nintendo opens its own doors for pre-orders. And to keep informed as to when that might be, you can currently pre-register your interest on the official Nintendo.co.uk website here. The US Nintendo website states that “retailer info” is “coming soon”.

SNES Classic Mini: Price

We’re still also waiting for the confirmed UK price of the SNES Classic Mini, but it is priced at $79.99 in the States – a little more expensive than the NES Mini last year.

Some retailers who posted their pre-order pages early have listed UK prices, but they are sporadic.

Game listed the SNES Classic Mini at £79.99. Smyths Toys has it listed at £69.99. And ShopTo has it priced at £84.85. We suspect, of those, the most likely correct price is £79.99.

The extra cost (over the NES Classic Mini, which was £49.99 at launch) is due to two controllers being bundled with the system this time around. You had to buy a second separately for the NES Classic Mini.

SNES Classic Mini: Games list

The NES Classic Mini featured 30 games (although you could add more by hacking the machine), all accessible through a smart, easy-to-use scrollable menu system. You could also pause a game, return to the menu and pick it up again later.

The SNES Classic Mini will feature 21 games. As previously stated, Star Fox 2 has never been released before.

Here is a complete list including extra details on some of our favourites:

• Contra III: The Alien Wars
• Donkey Kong Country
• EarthBound
• Final Fantasy III
• F-ZERO
• Kirby Super Star
• Kirby’s Dream Course
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• Mega Man X
• Secret of Mana
• Star Fox
• Star Fox 2
• Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
• Super Castlevania IV
• Super Ghouls ’n Ghosts
• Super Mario Kart
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
• Super Mario World
• Super Metroid
• Super Punch-Out!!
• Yoshi’s Island

The games highlights…

Super Mario World

Nintendo

The crown jewel in the Super Nintendo era, Super Mario World was the 2D platformer that set a very high bar few others managed to match. For many, it was the game that convinced them to buy a SNES over the rival Sega Mega Drive.

Super Mario Kart

Nintendo

Changed co-operative racing forever. The original Super Mario Kart still holds its own today as a party game guaranteed to cause a giggle or two.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Nintendo

As top-down RPGs go, A Link to the Past is one of the very best. It might ot have the fancy graphics of the Switch masterpiece of today, but it retains the spirit and scope.

Super Metroid

Nintendo

A sideways-scrolling shooter/platformer of the highest quality. It’s often been included in lists of the greatest games of all-time.

Donkey Kong Country

Nintendo

Rare’s attempt at a 2D platformer feels very different to the Mario games. It uses more chunky, clay-like characters and some clever gameplay tropes to deliver something fresh and fiendishly difficult.

Yoshi’s island

Nintendo

Sometimes called Super Mario World 2 but isn’t really – it’s actually a prequel to the SNES Mario classic. It also features a baby Mario riding on the back of his dinosaur chum Yoshi.

F-Zero

Nintendo

To be honest, we never really liked F-Zero that much but as a forerunner to WipEout and games like it, this needs to be included.

Star Fox

Nintendo

Graphically impressive and complex for its time, this 3D space shooter is still our favourite Star Fox game ever.