Samsung Pay comes to the budget segment with the Galaxy J7 Pro

Samsung is aggressively expanding Samsung Pay in India.

After launching Samsung Pay in India earlier this year, the South Korean manufacturer is now making its digital payments service more accessible by bringing it to the budget segment —with the Galaxy J7 Pro the first device to feature the service. Samsung also rolled out another device in the Galaxy J series — the Galaxy J7 Max — which offers Samsung Pay Mini for UPI and Paytm transactions.

The Galaxy J7 Pro has specs similar to that of the standard variant of the Galaxy J7 2017, including a 5.5-inch Full HD display, Exynos 7870 chipset, 3GB of RAM, 13MP front and rear cameras, microSD slot, fingerprint sensor, 4G with VoLTE, and a 3600mAh battery. What’s new is 64GB storage, and the aforementioned Samsung Pay.

Everything you need to know about Samsung Pay in India

The Galaxy J7 Max — as the name suggests — is geared toward multimedia consumption, offering a 5.7-inch Full HD display, Exynos 7870 chipset, 4GB of RAM, 32GB internal memory, microSD slot, 13MP front and rear cameras, 4G with VoLTE, and a 3300mAh battery. Both phones come with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and retain the Smart Glow feature that made its debut last year on the Galaxy J2 2016.

It’s immediately not understandable why the larger J7 Max doesn’t offer the full-fledged version of Samsung Pay, but it looks like the retail pricing was a factor. The Galaxy J7 Pro will be available in mid-July for ₹20,900 ($320), whereas the J7 Max will be up for sale starting June 20 for ₹17,900 ($275).

The Galaxy J series is Samsung’s best-selling lineup in the country, and the availability of Samsung Pay in the budget segment has the potential for a huge uptick in the service’s adoption.

Exclusive: New OnePlus 5 render shows there’s more to the design than dual cameras

We get it, you think it looks like an iPhone 7 — but let’s be rational for a second.

Once OnePlus put out a rather revealing teaser of the OnePlus 5’s hardware, showing off its dual cameras, the focus quickly turned to one discussion: “it kind of looks like an iPhone.” A fresh render of the top-right corner of the back of the phone, obtained by Android Central, shows a few subtleties that paint a bit of a different picture.

A few shared design elements doesn’t make one phone a ‘copy’ of another.

Unfortunately we don’t have a complete look at the phone from multiple angles here, but the zoomed-in take gets the point across: this isn’t just an iPhone 7 clone. Yes it’s black, metal and curved, but the details are clearly different. Take a look at that render above — see the way the metal subtly curves from the flat back then transitions along a straight line to a flat side. That flat side carries all the way down the side of the phone — and based on previous leaks the way it meets the front glass is entirely different from the iPhone as well. It may seem like making a mountain out of a mole hill, but these are differences that will have a big influence on how the OnePlus 5 feels in your hand every day.

Thankfully the Alert Slider (which lets you switch between configurable Do Not Disturb modes) is back, and looks to be nicely crafted with a tight diamond pattern to make it easy to toggle even when you’re not looking at the phone. Yes I will grant you the fact that the wide embedded antenna lines look familiar — but you have to get antennas in there somewhere, and if that’s the best way to do them right now, so be it.

There are clearly features that make it more than just a design lifted from a competitor.

Based on the views we have right now, does the OnePlus 5 give you feelings that it shares some design elements with the iPhone 7? Sure it does — but to my eyes, it doesn’t seem to share much more than any other modern black aluminum smartphone does. You can point to specific parts of any phone out there today and find similarities to another phone.

Yes it seems as though OnePlus is going to stick with an understated, almost generic look for the OnePlus 5 — and once we see the whole thing revealed we can make those assessments. But there are clearly design flourishes and attentions to detail here that make it more than just a basic hardware design lifted from a competitor.

OnePlus 5

• Latest OnePlus 5 rumors
• OnePlus 5 confirmed to have Snapdragon 835
• OnePlus 3T discontinued to make room for OnePlus 5

OnePlus

Nokia 8/9 flagship Android phone: Release date, rumours and specs

Nokia announced three Android handsets at Mobile World Congress 2017, marking the company’s return to smartphones. It also announced the new Nokia 3310.

Missing from this line-up of devices is anything that breaks out of the affordable end of the market. The Nokia 6 offers premium design, but in many cases the specs don’t climb out of the end of the market that’s entry- or mid-range.

Prior to the launch of the Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3, there were plenty of rumours of a high-end device. With that device not seeing launch at MWC 2017, we’ve been keeping track of where all the rumours now sit for Nokia’s future flagship.

Nokia 8, Nokia 9 or Nokia P1: The name

• Formerly Nokia P1
• Now known as Nokia 8
• Might be Nokia 9

Nokia has done a good job on keeping its device names quiet. Rumours originally focused on the D1C and the P1, with the thinking that the D1C become the Nokia 6. The Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 didn’t feature in rumours, but that could be because lower tier phones are often ignored, while flagship phones are often over inflated by expectation.

The name Nokia 8 first came from a leak claiming to be the forthcoming handset, but it was firmly rebuked by Qualcomm, who said this was just a Snapdragon prototype. But the Nokia 8 name stuck. Nokia Power User then obtained information from an unnamed source, which referred to the new flagship as the Nokia 9, while another Nokia Power User post said the Nokia 8 will in-fact be a premium, mid-range device instead. 

In reality, we have no idea exactly what Nokia’s future device will be called.

Additionally, it’s worth pointing out that P1 was never clarified either: it could easily have been the working name for Nokia 5.

• Nokia 6 preview: A solid start for the new Android Nokia

Pocket-lint

Nokia 8/9 design

• IP68 protection suggested
• Metal build rumoured

In terms of design, it’s said that the Nokia flagship phone will offer a premium metal design. In terms of details, apart from metal, there’s been talk of IP68 water and dust protection in the Nokia 8 flagship device.

All the Nokia Android phones so far have started life as a block of 6000 series aluminium, so we’d expect a flagship to be exactly the same to maintain the same story about quality that HMD Global – the company making the new Nokia phones – has been telling. Some of the early rumours about Nokia 8 were based on Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 shell leaks, so there’s currently very little to go on when it comes to design. 

There’s an unsubstantiated rumour that it will be based on the Sharp Aquos P1 – hence that codename that’s been circulating – but that seem very unlikely: with HMD putting so much work into the entry-level devices, it’s unlikely to rebadge a Sharp phone for the flagship.

There’s also a continuing rumour that the Nokia flagship will come in two sizes with similar specs, taking a similar approach to Apple, Huawei and Samsung.

YouTube user Concept Creator has posted a video showing an in-depth look at what they he expects the Nokia 8/P1 to look like. It’s certainly a gorgeous design, combining glass and metal to produce a high-end, premium device. It places the SIM-card and Micro SD card tray on the bottom left edge and a complex camera on the back with a glass covering – but it’s just fan art for the time-being.

• Nokia through the years: 30 best and worst phones, in pictures

Nokia 8/9 hardware specs

• 2560 x 1440 pixel display
• 5.5-inch display, could be two sizes
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
• 4 or 6GB RAM

There’s a possibility that the Nokia will come in different sizes, although a rumoured 5.5-inch 2560 x 1440 resolution display will put this device in flagship contention. The existence of two different sizes has been suggested a number of times, although there may be been confusion caused by the Nokia 6 and Nokia 5.

The Nokia 8 will likely opt for something powerful under the hood like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, a new chipset for 2017, and that’s a rumour that’s already appeared, backed by 6GB of RAM. This rumour continues, although Snapdragon 835 is turning into the holy grail of chipsets in 2017 and its longer development cycle is thought to be governing the scheduling of a number of devices.

There’s talk of different RAM quantities too and there’s some logic there perhaps: when launching the Nokia 5, the company said it didn’t need 3GB of RAM because of the size (unlike the Nokia 6). The Nokia 6 has 3GB RAM, but the Nokia 6 Arte Edition has 4GB of RAM, so we can already see a trend of fluctuating the RAM around devices.

Nokia’s current Android devices all feature Micro-USB, but most other recent launches have moved to USB Type-C. The existing Nokia Android phones also all offer microSD card slots, so we’d imagine that convenience feature will be on the Nokia 8 too, perhaps with dual SIM as standard too. 

However, the unnamed source that leaked the supposed full specs of the new flagship, didn’t mention a microSD card slot at all, and also claimed the battery would be non-removable. It’s possible the Nokia 8 will therefore have a unibody design. 

Pocket-lint

Nokia 8/9 camera

• 23 or 24-megapixel camera
• Zeiss optics?

There’s a passing mention of a 22.6-megapixel camera early on in Nokia rumours, although the rest of the specs are wildly out of touch. However, this rumour has since been repeated in the form of a 23-megapixel camera, likely to be the Sony hardware launched in the Xperia Z5. That has since been replaced by a 19-megapixel sensor in the Xperia XZ Premium, which would appear to be more advanced.

Nokia’s Symbian swansong before the whole Microsoft thing was the 808 PureView. In some ways this was demonstrative of everything that was going wrong at Nokia, presenting a slightly under-specced phone that was too expensive, sitting on an operating system that lacked the consumer ease of the iPhone and the maturing Android (we’re talking 2012, remember the burning platform?)

But it gave us the 41-megapixel PureView camera and that trumped everything else around at the time. PureView, with Zeiss lenses, continued into the Lumia line and the next big hit was the Lumia 1020 (pictured above) again punching hard with the camera in 2013. PureView is a Microsoft trademark, however, and still appears to be registered to Microsoft.

Aside from the talk of a 23-megapixel sensor, there’s some flip-flapping around Zeiss. Zeiss lenses were a common feature on Nokia phones and as Zeiss still provides plenty of lenses, there’s nothing to stop Nokia exploring this option. When asked on Twitter, Nokia clarified that its current phones don’t have Zeiss lenses, but didn’t go as far as confirming that they will be on future phones.

Pocket-lint

Nokia 8/9 software

• Pure Android Nougat 

One of the underlying themes of the new Nokia phones is that they all run pure Android Nougat, with Google Assistant. Nokia was keen to point this out and Google was keen to say how happy the were that Nokia was doing this. They even made a special pin badge to celebrate.

On the Nokia 6, 5 and 3, the only change from stock Android is the tweaked camera. There’s no bloatware, no pre-installed apps or anything else. We’d expect the Nokia 8 to be exactly the same.

Nokia 8/9 release date and price

• June 2017 suggested

With Nokia launching three handsets already in 2017, all due for launch in Q2 2017, there are few rumours around about when to expect a flagship device launch.

However, rumours have fallen into line with the rest of the Snapdragon 835 rumours, suggesting June. There’s also a price of 4000 yuan for the smaller handset and 4500 yuan against the larger, suggesting that this phone might be launched into China first.

An unnamed source has told Nokia Power User that the Nokia 8 will be released in Q3 of 2017, perhaps July or August, with an asking price of €749/$699.

Perhaps in-keeping with these dates, a device from HMD Global has passed through the FCC. There’s very little detail, but this could be the Nokia 9 getting certification.

We’ll keep our eyes peeled for rumours and update you when we know more.

Apple 3D Touch tips and tricks: Get the most out of the your iPhone

Apple’s pressure sensitive display technology, called 3D Touch adds a vast array of options to the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus.

Thanks to the technology, the displays on board the newer iPhones don’t just recognise gestures like tap, swiping and pinching, but force too, allowing for clever shortcuts into and within various apps.

Pressing and holding icons will launch menus and the pressure at which you press also affects what you see and the selections you are offered. Here are just a few things 3D Touch allows you to do and some tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your iPhone everyday.

• Best 3D Touch apps for Apple iPhone
• These are the coolest hidden features in iOS 10

Apple

Don’t miss the slo-mo moment

A deep press of the Camera app, followed by a slide of your finger down to the Record Slo-mo option will make sure you don’t miss any crucial cat moments.

Go back in time

No, sadly Apple has not invented a time machine but you can reminisce about what you were doing a year ago. A deep press on the Photos app will allow you to select One Year Ago, taking you to all the images you took 12 months previous.

Sketch away

The Notes app doesn’t just have to be for writing shopping lists, it can also be for sketching them. Deep press on the Notes app, hit the New Sketch option in the menu and draw away.

Start Timer

Whether you want make sure you get a perfectly boiled egg, or ensure you hold a plank for 30 seconds, there’s a deep press for that too. Unsurprisingly, it’s the Clock app you need to deep press this time, no pun intended, followed by Start Stopwatch or Start Timer in the menu.

Take a selfie

Just as you can start recording Slo-mo video with a deep press of the Camera app, you can also take a selfie. Gives you a couple of extra seconds to get the perfect one at least.

Mark your location

Ever lost your car in a carpark? If yes, this is the shortcut for you. A deep press on the Maps app will allow you to mark your location down to the inch so you’ll never forget where you parked again.

VIP access

If your inbox is inundated with emails, put the ones that matter to you into the VIP list. Following this, a deep press of the Mail app will show you the VIP section and how many unread messages you have in it without opening the app.

Call a favourite

Need to call one of your top four favourite contacts quickly? A deep press of the Phone app will allow you to call them with another tap, as well as create a new contact or search for one.

Record meetings or classes

Perfect for the times when your attention span may not be working at full capacity. A deep press of the Voice Memos app will allow you to select New Recording, meaning that Monday morning meeting or lecture will be recorded for you to play back later. Warning, it is not likely to be any more interesting the second time round.

Private browsing

Search history is great, sometimes. For the times you’d rather not have everything recorded, a deep press of the Safari app will bring up the option of New Private Tab. Your browsing history won’t be saved and the website you visit is asked not to track you.

Redeem an iTunes gift card

If you’ve been lucky enough to receive an iTunes gift card, deep pressing the iTunes Store or Apple Store app will bring up a menu, one of the options of which is Redeem enabling you to spend away.

Access your recent books

Want to carry on reading your book on your commute? A deep press of the iBooks app will bring up a menu giving you access to your recent books, as well as the search feature.

Create the perfect photo

There are several third-party apps that also support 3D Touch, with YouCam Perfect being one of them. This app allows you to touch up your photos, as well as take photos. A deep press on the YouCam app will take you to straight to the camera or the editing screen depending on your selection.

Upload a photo to Facebook

Just taken a new profile picture for Facebook? Deep press the Facebook app and tap the Upload Photo/Video option. The Facebook menu also offers a search option, status upload option and the option to take a photo directly.

Get yourself home missing the traffic with Waze

Need to get home quickly after work and avoid as much traffic as possible? Deep press on the Waze app and hit Drive Home. The app will then navigate you home the fastest way possible providing you’ve previously set your home address in the app. There is also the option to Drive to Work in the menu, along with searching an address and sending your location. 

Send a Tweet

Want to send a quick Tweet? Deep press the Twitter app and hit New Tweet to get your 140-word thought out super quickly. The menu also offers the option to send a new message and search.

Log your water intake on Fitbit

For those who use Fitbit to monitor their activity, you can use a deep press to quickly add your water intake. It’s also possible to log food and weight, as well as track an exercise.

Scan a barcode on MyFitnessPal

If you’re calorie counting and logging through MyFitnessPal, 3D Touch comes in very handy. A deep press on the MyFitnessPal app will allow you to Scan a Barcode to instantly log what you’re about to eat. The menu also has an option to log food and weight, as well as search for restaurants.

Upload a photo to Instagram

Just like Facebook, Instagram also has 3D Touch built in allowing you to upload your latest picture with a deep press and a tap on New Post. The Instagram 3D Touch menu also consists of viewing activity, searching and viewing direct messages.

Start a new WhatsApp chat

Good old WhatsApp supports 3D Touch too, allowing you to start a New Chat, Take a Photo or Video, Search or visit your Starred Messages. It also pulls up your recent four chats so you can access them easily.

Continue watching with Netflix

Want to carry on watching the next episode of House of Cards on your commute? No problem. A deep press on the Netflix app will give you a Continue Watching option taking you straight to where you want to be. There’s also the option to visit Trending Now, your lists and Search.

Get yourself somewhere with Citymapper

Citymapper is an amazing app for getting you around and 3D Touch makes doing that just a little bit faster. A deep press on Citymapper will give you the option to Get Me Somewhere, Get Me Home, Nearby Stops and Share My Location on WhatsApp. Simples.

Send money with PayPal

A deep press on the PayPal app will allow you to view your PayPal activity, as well as request money and send money. Once you’ve selected the option you want, you’ll need to sign in but it saves the faff of trying to find the app in the first place.

The Morning After: Wednesday, June 14th 2017

Welcome to the middle of the week. It was Nintendo’s turn to dominate E3, the world’s biggest gaming show. Super Mario Odyssey is coming to the Switch this October, Intel is making VR better and the Atari 2600 is back. Kind of.

The sequel the series deserves is coming to Nintendo Switch.
‘Metroid’ is really, truly back

Oh boy. We thought Nintendo’s E3 showcase would center entirely on Super Mario Odyssey, but it had another bombshell for us. A decade after the last main title, Metroid is truly coming back. We’re getting Metroid Prime 4.

We built a base at E3 to help you go beyond the show floor.
Live from Engadget’s E3 2017 stage: interviews, panels and more!

Every year at CES we build a stage, invite fascinating people to chat with us, and take a closer look at what really matters at the show. It’s a blast! In fact, we have such a good time that we decided to do it again, only this time at E3 — the epicenter of the gaming universe for the next few days. Join us as we discuss the news of the day and issues facing the industry, accompanied by a mix of masterminds and developers. Oh, and don’t worry: We’ll have plenty of time to play some new games too. You’ll find our full stage schedule right here.

Cut the rope.Intel’s HTC Vive add-on offers the best wireless VR connection we’ve seen

Meet DisplayLinkXR, the WiGig-based setup that uses those gigabit data speeds to connect your PC and VR headset wirelessly. We still don’t know how much it will cost or when it will be available, but the technology is impressive. No matter how ridiculous the action got in Space Pirate Trainer, Devindra Hardawar reports that it was indistinguishable from his wired HTC Vive setup at home.

Something to look forward to?
The Xbox One X is aspirational in the purest sense of the word

The Xbox One X is the world’s most powerful console (even though we didn’t see one in operation as all demos were running on the white dev kits), but to get the most out of it, you’ll probably need to make some upgrades. Beyond the box itself, you’ll want an HDR-compatible 4K TV, and Dolby Atmos-ready audio system. Of course, if you’re buying one, you probably already have that stuff and are just waiting to plug it all in.

Time to dust off those old carts, just leave E.T. where it is.Atari 2600 fans get the revival console they deserve

If you want to play retro Atari 2600 games, there’s plenty of options, but a new console offers support for the original cartridges with all the modern day perks. The RetroN 77 plays most, if not all, of the original game cartridges in glorious 1080p, at a modern aspect ratio right out of the box.

Hunt to your heart’s content early next year.‘Monster Hunter: World’ is the series’ first worldwide unified release

Monster Hunter X sold 3.2 million copies in roughly its first month, and while the series hasn’t been nearly as popular here in the States, however that could change early next year when the newest title, Monster Hunter: World, drops worldwide, all at the same time.

Huh, is there a reason you might be shopping for a new TV?
Vizio’s color-rich M- and P-series 4K TVs go on sale

Right on time, Vizio announced that its new M- and P-series Ultra HD sets are arriving on store shelves. You can run down to Best Buy or Walmart or wherever and check them out for yourself before bringing them home to feather your Xbox One X (or PS4 Pro, or Switch… we guess) nest.

New console. New worlds. New hat.

‘Super Mario Odyssey’ comes to the Switch October 27th

When Nintendo teased Odyssey as a refreshing return to form, it didn’t give us a lot to go on. We knew Mario would explore an Earth-like metropolis named New Donk City. We knew he could dance. We knew he had a magic hat. Now, we know when we’ll be able to play it all: Today at E3, Nintendo announced that Super Mario Odyssey would launch on October 27th. (And we got to play it: hear our thoughts on it very soon.)

But wait, there’s more…

• Tesla Model X earns a perfect NHTSA safety rating
• E3 hasn’t forgotten about PC gaming
• ‘Yoshi’ on Switch is more cardboard, less yarn
• This worm grew a second head after a trip to space
• Uber board member makes sexist joke on sexism conference call, Uber board member resigns

Qualcomm’s new chips will give rise to more smart speakers

The smart speaker trend started with Amazon’s Echo, and now includes Google Home and Apple HomePod, but it could get a lot more crowded thanks to Qualcomm. It has just unveiled a reference “smart audio” design, including microphone, speaker and voice recognition tech that OEMs can use to build their own products without starting from scratch. What’s more, it includes support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so OEMs will be able to add those voice assistants to a wider variety of audio products.

On top of the “smart” aspect of smart audio, Qualcomm is also taking care of the “audio” part. It showed off new DDFA audio amplifier tech and an audio development kit (ADK) that will help companies build wireless Bluetooth speakers, headphones and other products. The aim is to get manufacturers building smarter speakers or headphones “without significantly increasing integration time or cost,” Qualcomm VP Anthony Murray said in a statement.

The tech is powered by Linux and Android Things and includes “far field” multi-microphone technology that allows for wake words like “OK Google,” beamforming and echo cancellation. It also includes high-performance Bluetooth and WiFi support, playback of audio codecs like FLAC, MP3 and OggVorbis and support for Qualcomm’s AllPlay audio system that lets you network speakers together. As mentioned, it also offers Alexa and Google Assistant support, so companies could theoretically build in one or both of those.

There aren’t that many AllPlay speakers out there — Hitachi, Panasonic and Monster are the most notable companies making them — so Qualcomm is no doubt hoping more firms will adopt its chips. The upside for consumers could be a lot of decent quality speakers that you can scatter around your house without spending Sonos or Bose levels of cash. The chips are expected to be available in Q3 2017, with Alexa and Google Assistant support to follow a bit later.

Source: Qualcomm (1), (2), (3)

Firefox 54 Promises Faster Browsing on Macs With Limited RAM

Mozilla yesterday announced the release of Firefox 54 web browser with new multi-process architecture that promises to make browsing with multiple tabs open faster and more stable, especially on computers with 8GB of memory or less.

With the latest release, Firefox uses up to four processes to run web page content across all open tabs. This means that a heavy, complex web page in one tab has a much lower impact on the responsiveness and speed of other tabs, according to Mozilla:

The old Firefox used a single process to run all the tabs in a browser. Modern browsers split the load into several independent processes. We named our project to split Firefox into multiple processes ‘Electrolysis’ (or E10s) after the chemical process that divides water into its core elements. E10s is the largest change to Firefox code in our history. Besides running faster and crashing less, E10S makes websites feel more smooth. Even busy pages, like Facebook newsfeeds, spool out smoothly and cleanly.

In Mozilla’s own tests comparing memory usage for various browsers, it claimed that Firefox used significantly less RAM in macOS than both Safari and Chrome. The group has published an article on Medium explaining how the new E10s architecture works.

In one section titled “Why Chrome gets too hot when Firefox does not”, Mozilla writes that Chrome’s method of creating separate processes for each open tab can end up with each one consuming hundreds of megabytes of RAM, whereas Firefox reuses processes and content engines to limit memory usage.

By default, Firefox now creates up to 4 separate processes for web page content. So, your first 4 tabs each use those 4 processes, and additional tabs run using threads within those processes. Multiple tabs within a process share the browser engine that already exists in memory, instead of each creating their own.

Mozilla claims that Firefox’s considerate memory usage means users with 8GB of memory or less can browse the web without the browser hogging resources, allowing them to do other things on their computer. Meanwhile, users with more than 8GB of RAM can bump up the number of content processes that Firefox uses to make it even faster.

To change the number of content processes Firefox uses, enter about:config in your address bar, and adjust the number for the dom.ipc.processCount setting (we’ll be exposing a visible preference for this in an upcoming release).

Users can test out the claims by downloading Firefox 54 for free from the Mozilla website.

Tags: web browser, Mozilla, Firefox
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Instagram now lets you hide your embarrassing pics in a special place

Why it matters to you

The new feature gives you even more control over your Instagram content.

If you’ve ever shared an image on Instagram that you later felt is a little on the embarrassing side or doesn’t seem to fit with your existing collection, there’s now a way to get rid of it without wiping it from your account. In that way, you might come back to it later and think it’s not so bad after all and decide to repost it on your profile page, or you can simply hold it in a private collection, for your eyes only.

Instagram started testing its new Archive feature with select users last month, and launched it on Tuesday as part of its latest update — v10.21 — for iOS and Android users.

“Your profile is a representation of who you are and evolves with you over time,” Instagram said in a post introducing the new feature. “With Archive, you now have more flexibility to shape your profile while still preserving moments that matter.”

So how do you use it? Well, to archive a photo or video that you’ve already posted, first tap “…” at the top of the screen and then select “Archive” from the list of options that appear. To view your archived content, tap the new circular arrow symbol on the top right of your profile page. Should you ever decide to return a post to your public collection, simply tap the “…” again, and select “show on profile” from the list. It’ll immediately return to its original spot on your public profile page, there for all to see.

Oh, and archiving a photo or video retains all the likes and comments, so there’ll still be there if you decide to repost.

It seems Instagram is hoping the new feature will encourage its users to think twice about deleting content, though that may prove tough with those — particularly teens — already in the habit of keeping only their favorite 25 images on their profile, deleting content as and when required.

If users transfer their images to their Archive rather than delete them, they’ll probably dive into that Archive from time to time, increasing the amount of time they spend interacting with Instagram and potentially increasing their exposure to the service’s ads as they move around inside the app.

An Ohio judge is ordering drunk drivers to download Uber as part of sentence

Why it matters to you

Any effort to tackle drunk driving has to be a good thing, though we’re not sure how many repeat offenders will request a ride when they need to.

Convicted drunk drivers who escape jail time are likely to lose their license for a time and be told to pay a hefty fine. Face justice in a court near Cleveland, Ohio and you could also be ordered to download Uber and Lyft to your smartphone as part of your sentence.

Judge Michael A. Cicconetti of Painesville Municipal Court is thought to be the only judge in the country insisting that drunk drivers sign up to the ride-hailing services so that they might reach for their smartphone instead of their car keys next time they guzzle down one too many.

Cicconetti has been giving out the order since May to those caught driving under the influence, the HuffPost reports.

“There’s nothing crazy about it,” Cicconetti told local media outlet News Herald when asked about his creative approach to dealing with drunk driving. “It’s just common sense. Now that we have the technology and most people have the ability to do that, why not make it part of their sentence?”

He added, “It doesn’t cost anybody anything to install it and activate it, and it’s far cheaper than paying the thousands of dollars you’d have to pay for another [offense].” It’s not clear, however, how many repeat offenders will remember they have Uber as an option when they’re three sheets to the wind.

Still, the judge said he believes courts across the country should follow his example, though he was keen to point out that he’s not done any kind of deal with the companies concerned: “I’m not promoting Uber or Lyft. I have no monetary interest in Uber or Lyft,” he said, adding, “In the next 20 years, they’ll have self-driving cars anyway so we won’t have to worry about it.”

Uber and Lyft occasionally promote their services as a safe way for sloshed car owners to get home at the end of a big night out. A couple of years back, a marketing stunt by Uber involved a special kiosk set up in downtown Toronto that was essentially a breathalyzer linked to Uber’s network of local drivers. Late-night revelers passing by the kiosk were encouraged to blow into it and, if they were drunk, were offered a free ride home courtesy of the service.

In the run up to last year’s Fourth of July celebrations, the San Francisco-based company partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and local law enforcement agencies in 25 cities across the U.S. to publicize drunk driving alternatives, and also offered discounted or free rides in those cities on the day itself.

Not to be outdone, Lyft teamed up with Budweiser for a few months last year to offer free rides home on weekends for plastered partygoers in some parts of the country.

While the data appears to be mixed for studies looking at the impact of ride-hailing apps on drunk driving, Judge Cicconetti, for one, will be hoping his unusual court order will start to show positive results.

Xiaomi Mi 6 benchmarks: Putting the Snapdragon 835 to the test

It’s time to see how the Xiaomi Mi 6 holds up in benchmarks.

The Xiaomi Mi 6 is one of the first phones to be powered by the Snapdragon 835. Built on Samsung’s 10nm FinFET node, the chipset offers a laundry list of improvements over last year’s Snapdragon 820 and 821, including a new semi-custom octa-core Kryo 280 CPU with four cores clocked at 2.45GHz, four cores at 1.90GHz, and an Adreno 540 GPU.

Synthetic benchmarks aren’t indicative of real-world usage, nor do they highlight a device’s user experience. For instance, the Galaxy S8 with its Snapdragon 835 (or the Exynos 8895) absolutely crushes it when it comes to benchmark scores, but the numbers don’t reveal the odd stutter that’s still present in the UI.

That said, benchmarks are an important metric to a lot of users, and more often than not, a high score in apps like AnTuTu forms the basis for a purchasing decision, particularly in markets like China and India. Without further ado, here’s a look at how the Xiaomi Mi 6 fares next to the competition:

Geekbench

Geekbench 4.0 (Higher is better)

The Mi 6 holds its own against the Exynos 8895-powered Galaxy S8+ at both single-core and multi-core benchmarks, and edges out the Snapdragon 821-toting OnePlus 3T, Mi 5s, and the Mi Note 2 when it comes to multi-core scores.

AnTuTu

AnTuTu Benchmark (Higher is better)

Xiaomi’s phones have always fared well in AnTuTu, and the Mi 6 is no different. With an overall score of 173614, the flagship is one of the best devices in the market today, at least according to AnTuTu.

3DMark

3DMark (Higher is better)

One of the key areas of improvement with the Snapdragon 835 is with regards to the GPU, and that’s evident in the 3DMark scores. The Mi 6 outpaces the Mali-G71 MP20 GPU on the Exynos 8895 by a considerable margin, as well as last year’s Adreno 530 on the Snapdragon 821.

The Mi 6 ticks a lot of right boxes, and is one of the fastest phones in the market today. The phone has a much better design when compared to last year’s Mi 5 and Mi 5s, and the software situation has also improved considerably, with the phone running Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box.

The dual rear camera configuration is also a significant upgrade from last year, and overall the phone is one of the best that Xiaomi has launched to date.