Facebook Messenger’s new features for couples arrive in time for Valentine’s Day

Right on time for Valentine’s Day, Facebook Messenger is introducing new features for couples who are taking the steps toward officially defining the relationship. The messaging platform will include special effects, different ways to personalize your conversations, and more starting on February 14.

Valentine’s Day was one of the most active days for chats in 2017, so the company decided to look into exactly how people were romantically expressing themselves. This data was then applied to create different ways for users to interact on the special day this year. It could also be Facebook’s way to push you toward finally defining the relationship.

The new features will apply to those who update their relationship status on Valentine’s Day and beyond. The valid relationship types specifically include “In a Relationship, “Engaged,” “In a Civil Union,” “Married,” “In a Domestic Partnership,” and “In an Open Relationship.”

Once you’ve made the changes to your profile, you’ll receive a notification in Messenger that will open up to a conversation with your significant other. Within the message window, there will be a heart shower effect that will fall across your screen when you open up the conversation.

To easily access the window, your loved one will also remain the first person on the Active tab — so you’ll be able to see when they’re online. You’ll also be able to personalize your conversations, with options to set your own custom text color, nickname, or emoji.

Other features include a variety of filters and effects in the Messenger Camera. Your options will include a heart eyes filter — which features an animation — as well as a Queen of Hearts filter and a falling candy heart effect. The filters will also be available to use on Messenger video chat.

A handful of brands have been thrown into the mix in case you need to put together some last-minute plans. With bots on Messenger, you can find recipes with the Food Network, plan a movie night with Fandango, and more. You can also use the iHeartRadio bot to choose from different playlists set around the special day or order flowers straight through the 1-800 -Flowers bot.

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Honor 9 Lite vs. Honor 9: Can little brother take down its impressive sibling?

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Honor, which released the Honor 7X at the end of 2017 to rapturous applause, is the current king of the budget device. But Honor isn’t finished there — it has cooked up another fantastic-looking budget phone with the Honor 9 Lite. With an 18:9 display, a bezel-less design, and an incredible four camera setup, the Honor 9 Lite is picking up where the Honor 7X left off. But how does it fare against its namesake, the Honor 9? The Honor 9 is a solid midrange device, and a fine example of why you don’t need to spend a lot to get near flagship-level specs. Let’s take a closer look and see how they match up.

Specs

Honor 9 Lite

Honor 9

Size
151 x 71.9 x 7.6mm (5.94 x 2.83 x 0.30 inches)
147.3 x 70.9 x 7.5mm (5.80 x 2.79 x 0.30 inches)

Weight
149 grams (5.26 ounces)
155 grams (5.47 ounces)

Screen
5.65-inch IPS LCD display
5.15-inch IPS LCD display

Resolution
2160 x 1080 pixels (428ppi)
1920 x 1080 pixels (428ppi)

OS
EMUI 8.0 (over Android 8.0 Oreo)
EMUI 8.0 (over Android 8.0 Oreo)

Storage
32GB (EU), 64GB (China)
64GB, 128GB

MicroSD card slot
Yes, up to 256GB
Yes, up to 256GB

NFC support
Yes
Yes

Processor
HiSilicon Kirin 659
HiSilicon Kirin 960

RAM
3GB (EU), 4GB (China)
4GB, 6GB

Connectivity
GSM / HSPA / LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
GSM / HSPA / LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Camera
Dual sensor 13MP & 2MP rear, dual sensor 13MP & 2MP front
Dual sensor 12MP & 20MP rear, 8MP front

Video
1080p @ 30 fps
2160p @ 30 fps

Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.2
Bluetooth 4.2

Audio
Headphone jack, bottom-firing speaker
Headphone jack, bottom-firing speaker

Fingerprint sensor
Yes, rear-mounted
Yes, under the display

Other sensors
Accelerometer, proximity, compass
Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass

Water resistant
No
No

Battery
3,000mAh
3,200mAh

Charging port
Micro USB
USB-C

Marketplace
Google Play Store
Google Play Store

Colors
Midnight Black, Sapphire Blue, Glacier Gray, Navy, Seagull Gray, Magic Nightfall, Pearl White
Glacier Grey, Sapphire Blue, Midnight Black, Gold, Blue Bird, Robin Egg Blue

Availability
HiHonor

HiHonor, Amazon

Price
Roughly $250
$500

DT review
Hands-on review
3.5 out of 5 stars

You don’t have to spend a lot to get a lot from your smartphone, and the Honor 9 Lite proves it. Boasting the same Kirin 659 processor that we saw in the Honor 7X, this device has plenty of processing power. After all, the Honor 7X held up against the Moto G5S Plus, and only came in slightly slower than the more expensive HTC U11 Life and Moto X4. It’s safe to say we expect the same level of performance from the similarly built Honor 9 Lite. The 3GB of RAM (4GB on international models) is a slight disappointment, but not likely to impact performance too much. The European model of the Honor 9 Lite only comes with 32GB of internal storage, but that should be enough thanks to the addition of an MicroSD card slot — though this does take up the secondary SIM slot.

Unfortunately, money does talk sometimes, and that’s generally true of the gap between budget and midrange phones. The higher-end Honor 9’s Kirin 960 is one of Huawei’s finest chips, and it’s capable of keeping up with Huawei’s P10. It unsurprisingly blows the Honor 9 Lite’s Kirin 659 out of the water in terms of power. The other specs are similar — 4GB of RAM at the least, and a baseline model with 64GB of storage with the same MicroSD card option — but the Honor 9 is just flat-out better than the Honor 9 Lite.

Honor still hasn’t caught up with the latest advances in Bluetooth, with both the Honor 9 and 9 Lite lacking Bluetooth 5.0 — it’s 4.2 all the way here. But you will find NFC on both devices, as well as a headphone jack on the bottom of each.

In a battle of pure specs, it’s night and day. The more powerful Honor 9 takes this round.

Winner: Honor 9

Design and display

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Honor has been crafting gorgeous phones for years, and both of these handsets show off some fantastic design choices. The Honor 9 follows design trends that began with the Honor 8, with multiple layers of glass laid over metal on the rear to reflect the light in a variety of amazing, prismatic ways. It’s a design you’ll never get tired of, even though it does attract a lot of fingerprints. Unfortunately, the front of the phone isn’t as time-proof. In a world of increasingly bezel-less designs, the chunky bezels surrounding the Honor 9’s 5.15-inch screen look huge.

The Honor 9 Lite might not have the shimmery light-catching quality of the Honor 9, but it’s still a gorgeous design, with glass over aluminum giving the phone a glossy, shiny look. It’s taller than the Honor 9, as well as slightly thicker, but it’s somehow slightly lighter than its older brother. It’s around the front that we see the real difference, though — the Honor 9 Lite owes a lot to the Honor 7X’s and the Honor View 10’s bezel-less designs, with a slim forehead and chin and minimal bezels on the edges of the 5.5-inch screen. It’s a great, eye-catching design, and it bodes well for the Honor range.

Both phones have the same pixels-per-inch measurement, so you shouldn’t see a sharpness difference between the two. Both displays are full HD, but the 18:9 aspect ratio on the Honor 9 Lite obviously gives it a taller screen. Taller screen aside, you shouldn’t see any real difference between the two in terms of image quality.

In terms of durability ,it’s another dead heat. Both phones have slippery glass backs that slide off desks and threaten to shatter. They’re both beautiful but brittle, and you’d be wise to fit them out with a protective case. There’s no waterproofing on either of these phones, and they’re mostly even when it comes to potential damage.

With so much coming up even, the more up-to-date design of the Honor 9 Lite takes this round.

Winner: Honor 9 Lite

Camera

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Honor has been quite strong in phone camera tech recently, so it comes as no surprise that both of these phones pack formidable shooters. The dual-lens camera on the Honor 9 was one of our favorites when we reviewed it, and although camera technology has continued to advance and get better, the 12-megapixel and 20-megapixel sensors in the Honor 9 still acquit themselves very well. The 20-megapixel lens houses a monochrome sensor, which works with the 12-megapixel lens to enhance the lighting of photographs to create great low-light shots. It can also be used alone, providing wonderful monochromatic images. The two lenses also deliver a “bokeh” effect, and the camera software has a Portrait Mode that can be used to great effect in shooting solo images of people.

The Honor 9 Lite follows suit with two lenses on the rear, but that’s mostly where the similarities end. The Honor 9 Lite has a 13-megapixel lens paired with a 2-megapixel lens that provides the “bokeh” effect, as well as allows for use of Portrait Mode. However, there’s no dedicated monochrome sensor, so any monochrome shots will be via a filter, and low-light performance won’t be as good. However, we expect the camera to still be of good quality, much like the Honor 7X, so it’s not out of the game yet. It’s around the front of the phone that you find the major selling point — two selfie lenses. Boasting another 13-megapixel and 2-megapixel pairing, this setup allows for Portrait Mode and bokeh around the front of the phone as well as the back, so you can expect exceptional selfies from the Honor 9 Lite.

We haven’t had time to judge the Honor 9 Lite’s quality yet, but we have faith in Honor’s ability to deliver an extremely solid camera suite. With the quad-camera setup on the Honor 9 Lite, it will be a winner for selfie addicts, but we can’t see the main camera competing with the shooter in the Honor 9.

Winner: Honor 9

Battery life and charging

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

While this category is often easy to call, it’s still among the most crucial elements of the phone. After all, what’s the point in a phone that’s so powerful it doesn’t last the day? Some people might be fine with that, but others will definitely have issues. Both of these phones are packing decent battery sizes, but the Honor 9 holds an advantage, with its 3,200mAh capacity just edging out the Honor 9 Lite’s 3,000mAh. That’s not to say the Honor 9 will definitely last longer than the Honor 9 Lite — review testing will reveal that — but it’s fair to assume that a larger battery capacity on the same software will produce better results.

The Honor 9 also has the advantage of a USB-C charging port, and the additional charging speed and utility that offers. The Honor 9 Lite is stuck with a Micro USB port, and a lack of any fast charging really hurts this phone, especially when the Honor 9 can juice up 40 percent in just 30 minutes.

There’s a clear winner here. The extra capacity and fast charging hand the Honor 9 the win.

Winner: Honor 9

Software

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Honor uses Huawei’s Emotion UI (EMUI) Android reskin on its phones, and it’s fair to say that EMUI has come a long way. Both of these phones run the latest version, EMUI 8.0 (based on Android 8.0 Oreo), and if you’re a fan of stock Android, you definitely won’t like EMUI. It’s about as far from stock Android as you can get, but if you’re not too worried about that, then there’s a lot to love. EMUI has some pretty strict power-management tools, but it’s easy enough to turn those off. It’s also easy to uninstall the preinstalled apps that come with each device.

There’s not much to say about any real differences between the two devices since they both run exactly the same software. It’s probable that the system runs slightly smoother on the Honor 9, just because of the increased power under the hood. Are you likely to notice much difference? We think not. This is a tie.

Winner: Tie

Price and availability

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Here’s the bad news for you if you’re in the U.S. — neither of these phones is easy to get your hands on. Honor is a sister company of Huawei, and Huawei recently had some issues trying to get its phones into the stores of U.S. carriers. While you can get your hands on an imported model from another territory, you’ll be limited to 3G speeds on GSM networks like T-Mobile and AT&T, and won’t get any support on CDMA networks like Verizon and Sprint.

The Honor 9 is currently available and will set you back roughly $500. For that price, you get specs on par with 2017 flagship-killers like the OnePlus 5. While it might not be able to keep up with the biggest boys, it’s a solid midrange smartphone that gives you great value for money.

Like the Honor 9, there’s been no official U.S. release set for the Honor 9 Lite yet. Based on pricing in other regions, we reckon you could get this phone for around $250. For that price, you get the quad-camera suite, and all the mod-cons you expect from the latest EMUI software. However, it does take a power hit compared to the Honor 9. Buyers must decide whether the extra $250 is worth paying.

The difference here is too tough to call. If you’re a power user, the extra oomph offered by the midrange Honor 9 is what you need. But if you need a cheap phone that does everything fairly well, then the Honor 9 Lite is for you. Figure out which person you are, and pick accordingly. This has to be a tie.

 Winner: Tie

Overall winner: Honor 9

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Money talks. And so does power. Despite looks that are oh-so-2016, the Honor 9 wins thanks to a better processor, extra storage, solid and dependable camera, and a large fast-charging battery. But that’s certainly not to say the Honor 9 Lite isn’t a fine budget phone for those who find themselves drawn to it. With its balance of power, style, and value, the Honor 9 Lite comes out well. With this being Honor’s first smartphone of 2018, the Chinese company is off to a very good start.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Honor 9 Lite hands-on review
• 4 cameras and a mirror-like finish make the midrange Honor 9 Lite stand out
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• Honor 7X vs. Nokia 6: Can Honor beat the Finnish veteran?
• Honor 7X vs. Moto E4 Plus: Big-screen budget battle

Give the iPhone X a headphone jack with this crowdfunded case

Case maker Encased has launched an IndieGoGo campaign for its attempt at an iPhone case that restores the 3.5mm headphone port.

The decision to remove the venerable headphone jack was one of the more divisive elements of the iPhone 7. But good or bad, the continued absence of the port from the latest iPhones, and the decision of other manufacturers to follow suit seems to confirm that it isn’t coming back now that it’s gone.

But it’s a breach that accessory makers have jumped into feet first to plug. While we’ve seen cases that restored the headphone jack for the iPhone 7 and Apple-sponsored accessories that offer headphone support, we haven’t really seen too many high profile cases attempt to restore that most divisive of ports to the new iPhone X. That is, until Encased launched its IndieGoGo campaign on February 8.

Named “AudioMod,” the case has raised over $3,000 of the required $10,000 in less than a week, with a month left to raise the remaining funds. While we always stress the importance of being aware of the dangers of crowdfunding, it’s pretty obvious why so many people have taken the plunge and bet their money on this accessory. While the resurrection of the headphone jack is one of the major selling points of the AudioMod case, that isn’t all it’s packing.

The case also comes with an additional battery that keeps your iPhone X charged, with Encased claiming that the battery should double your iPhone’s battery life. It features a smooth, sleek style that matches the style of the iPhone, and though it’s chunky if you’re used to slim gel cases, it’s relatively svelte for a battery case. It’s also on the cheaper side for battery cases, with the base tier costing only $49. However, the campaign does warn that this is a 50-percent discount for a limited number of backers.

Encased also has more options for you if you’re really not a fan of phone cases. One of the funding tiers also includes the AudioMod powerbank — an external battery that also comes with the ability to split the iPhone’s Lightning port into a headphone jack and charging port. It’s a fun little addition, and it’s the perfect solution for anyone who digs the Audiomod’s functionality, but can’t abide hiding their iPhone’s style.

The Audiomod case is going to be available for the iPhone X, the iPhone 7, and iPhone 8. According to the IndieGoGo page, Encased is planning on having this case out to backers in March, but if you can’t wait for a new case, then check out our favorite iPhone X cases and iPhone X battery cases.

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Samsung is fixing its terrible emojis in Samsung Experience 9.0

If you’re waiting for the Android 8.0 Oreo update from Samsung, then you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that Samsung will also be updating its emoji library to bring some of its more tortured emoji into line with other emoji libraries.

If you’re wondering if this is such an important thing, then you’re probably right. It’s not that big a deal. However, if the horror of emoji-imparity is not something that happens to you, don’t underestimate the impact it can have on other people. Check out how it affected poor sweet Jessica Chastain on Twitter (via The Verge).

Is this a Samsung thing?!The shocked emoji is what I put in my tweet and is what I see when I go on my twitter. A friend forwarded me an article that referred to it. The emoji is completely different! Is that what all of you see? Its drooling. Now I look like a pervert… pic.twitter.com/F3aaRSBzng

— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) February 1, 2018

Those of us who use Samsung devices pretty much exclusively might not have realized quite how large a difference there is between emojis on the current Samsung Experience and other platforms, but Emojipedia breaks it down pretty simply.

Emojipedia

The “rolling eyes” emoji from Samsung Experience 8.5 might be the only guy at the party who looks like he’s having a good time, but it’s pretty obvious that there’s a pretty massive difference between that emoji and supposedly similar “rolling eyes” emojis from other companies. Simply put, you’re not going to be sending the message you think you’re sending, and in the world of 260-character tweets and SMS messages, such a mistake could be deadly. To your street cred.

It seems that Samsung has overhauled the majority of its icons. Most people-style emojis have been changed to a more usual yellow color, the dancing girl has got her class back, and the screaming face is much less anime. There’s also been a disarmament, with the pistol changing into a water gun, and — most importantly — the crackers emoji changing to the cookies it was always meant to be. Who says crackers when they mean cookies? That’s an emoji-crime quite clearly as egregious as Google’s terrible hamburger.

Emojipedia

Samsung isn’t stopping with just these changes. It’s adding 239 new emojis to the lineup, bringing its emoji library in line with the new Emoji 5.0 standards, and adding brand-new skin color variations to existing icons as well. All humor aside, emojis are a part of how we communicate today, and while it’s nice to have variety across platforms, Samsung’s emojis have probably led to more than a few of us looking a tad silly from time to time. These changes will roll out with the latest Samsung Android 8.0 Oreo.

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Mobile ‘PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ games for China market look impressive

Chinese game giant Tencent announced in November that it would be bringing a version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds to mobile devices in China. It seemed like an impossible task given the game’s less-than-ideal performance on PC and Xbox One, but two separate games are now in their testing stage on the Chinese iOS and Android stores, and the footage we’ve seen has us hopeful they come to other regions.

The first of the two offerings is called PUBG: Exhilarating Battlefield (some have translated it as “Thrilling Battlefield”), and it’s designed to emulate the basic structure of the original PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. You are dropped onto a giant map filled with 99 other players all looking to be the last one standing, and you can fully customize your character with many of the same tools available on the other versions. It includes first-person mode and third-person mode, and without the virtual buttons on the screen, it’s quite difficult to tell it apart from the PC version. Frankly, the framerate in the mobile game often looks better than it does on Xbox One X.

The other game is PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds: Army Attack, and it’s a little bit different. In addition to containing naval battles, it has snappier combat that feels like it was designed with the platform in mind. Kills come quickly, and large hit markers help you to determine if you’re doing damage. Like its sibling game, it runs at a buttery-smooth framerate on the iPhone X.

So, which of the two has taken off in China? Actually, both of them have. Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad revealed that the two games had 75 million players preregister, and they are currently first and second on the Chinese iOS download charts.

Given the original PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds‘ popularity on both PC and Xbox One, the latter of which already has 4 million players in just a few months, it appears the two mobile titles are certain t be a hit overseas. We’re hoping Tencent expands its vision for a global launch, as well as a version on the Nintendo Switch. All we want is to eat a chicken dinner with the power of the Joy-Con controllers.

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Tune in and chill out with the best radio apps for Android and iOS

While there are plenty of streaming services these days that allow you to listen to practically any song you want, anytime, some may long for the days of old-fashioned radio. If you prefer to tune in and check out with a playlist that is out of your control, or listen to a talk radio show a la This American Life, there are plenty of apps out there to help. Here are our favorite radio apps for Android and iPhone.

TuneIn

If you like variety, TuneIn Radio is one of the best apps around for listening to the radio on your mobile device. The app offers a vast library of programs, including local radio shows, sports stations, podcasts, and more. The interface is clean and easy to navigate, and the sound quality is good. TuneIn’s most notable flaws are that it can take an annoying amount of time to buffer when you select a program, and the app does sport some ads. If you can get past those inconveniences, the experience is worth it.

Available from:

Google Play iTunes

NPR One

If you want a constant stream of great news programs and informative podcasts, NPR One is the holy grail of radio apps. National Public Radio (NPR) purveyor of award-winning journalism, has created an app that make its content accessible wherever, whenever. Users can listen to their preferred local National Public Radio station, or listen to any of the network’s nationally syndicated shows. In addition to a strong library of NPR programs (All Things Considered, Planet Money, and so on), NPR One also showcases podcasts from companies like Gimlet.

Available from:

Google Play iTunes

iHeartRadio

This popular radio app serves its users a banquet of live radio streams. You can listen to rock, rap, jazz, comedy, sports, or other types of programming, sampling shows from across the country, as well as streams tailored to your interests. The app displays information about the current song and artist, and you can approve of songs you like or disapprove of songs you don’t. For a monthly subscription, you can gain access to additional features, such as the ability to skip tracks or even save them.

Available from:

Google Play iTunes

SiriusXM

Satellite radio company SiriusXM makes its content available on mobile devices through the SiriusXM app. If you already have a SiriusXM subscription for your car, you get streaming included. Otherwise, you can select a subscription plan that appeals to you, such as Mostly Music or All Access. SiriusXM offers over 200 channels, offering music, news, and even talk radio (such as The Howard Stern Show). The app itself sports a clean interface, and a variety of useful features.

Available from:

Google Play iTunes

Pandora

Pandora launched back in 2000 — when the internet was still a vast and wild wasteland — with a simple goal: Help users find new music they like using bands and songs they already listen to. More than a decade later, services like Spotify incorporated music discovery features into their own streaming empires, but Pandora remains a popular service, and for good reason. Users create a playlist by inputting an artist or song they enjoy. Pandora then finds songs with similar musical stylings, and users can upvote songs they like or downvote songs they don’t. The app has a clean design, and is easy to navigate. While it is free, users will have to put up with the occasional ad.

Available from:

Google Play iTunes

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Google wants to bring Allo’s ‘smart reply’ to third-party messaging apps

Google’s “smart reply” feature has been rolling out to a few apps over the past few years and aims to give users a way to quickly and easily respond to messages without having to type them out every single time. The feature first showed up in Gmail, however since then it has rolled out to Android Messages on Project Fi devices, and Allo.

Now, it looks like Google’s Area 120 team wants to bring the feature to every messaging app. The new feature, to be available on Android, is called “Reply,” and includes both first-party and third-party messaging apps, according to the sign-up form for Reply.

“You probably get a lot of chat messages. And you want to be there for people, but also for people in the real world. What if replying were literally one tap away?” Area 120 asked in an invitation it sent out to testers, according to Android Police. “Reply puts the Smart Reply you may know from Google right into notifications from the chat apps you use most often.”

It looks like the feature could get pretty smart, too. Images included with the invitation show a message asking when a user can be home, with the response seemingly pulling information from Google Maps to generate the reply “13 min.”

The feature could also change depending on the status of your phone. In the email, it notes that you could turn your phone to “Do Not Disturb” while you’re driving, after which Reply could silence notifications and send a response to the sender saying that you’re unavailable.

It’s highly likely that the functionality of Reply is tied to Google’s Gboard, especially considering the third-party app compatibility. It’s a pretty nice touch that the feature could work with apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, which are by far the most popular messaging apps out there.

If you’re interested in the feature, you can sign up to be a tester — though there is no guarantee that you will end up being selected. We also don’t know what form this feature will eventually take. It could be an app, or it could simply be a feature that gets built into Android.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Google introduces Allo’s Smart Replies on Android Messages
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Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Note 9

Concerned the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus will be a little too small for your hands? Want a smartphone that borders on the comically large? The Galaxy Note range is for you, and the Galaxy Note 9 is likely to be the next model released. The phone isn’t official yet, but there is plenty of talk about its design, specs, and features already. Here’s everything you need to know about the Galaxy Note 9.

Fingerprint sensor

The Galaxy Note 8 has both a finger and a face unlock system, so how will Samsung improve on this for the Note 9? Don’t expect an under-display fingerprint sensor, despite repeated rumors Samsung has been working on the technology for some time. Technical difficulties are being cited by sources speaking to The Bell, as the reason Samsung won’t be hiding the fingerprint sensor under the screen on the Note 9.

The same industry source said the fingerprint sensor will be on the back of the phone, like the Note 8, and samples are being spotted with this feature. Samsung has apparently been trying to implement the under-display sensor with its large Infinity Display for two years, but hasn’t successfully completed the task to the satisfaction of the engineers, due to problems related to manufacturing, quantity, and accuracy. Another anonymous source in the industry said under-display sensors are difficult to commercialize at this stage, but thinks Samsung will solve the problem in 2019.

Name and release date

As sure as the Galaxy Note 8 followed the Galaxy Note 7, the Galaxy Note 9 will follow on from 2017’s flagship big-screen phone. But when will it arrive, and will the naming convention continue? Samsung said it began work on the Galaxy Note 9 immediately after completing the Galaxy Note 8, and was, “considering how to approach the development of the next Note by evaluating the latest model and looking for ways to improve upon signature features like the S Pen.” This suggests the Note 9 will be an evolution of the Note 8, rather than a reinvention.

If a name change is coming, it has not been rumored, but a leak did hint at the code name: Crown. Rumors from the end of 2017 suggested Samsung may launch the Galaxy Note 9 in August, around the same time as it did with the Galaxy Note 8, and production was set to begin during the first three months of 2018.

A leak related to the Snapdragon 845 processor put the Galaxy Note 9’s release down as September 2018, which may refer to when sales start, fitting in with an August announcement.

Design

We know the Galaxy Note 9 will be big, but will it be much different to the Note 8? In a surprising statement, Samsung’s president of mobile, D.J. Koh, said the 2018 Note phone may have a foldable design, provided it could overcome various technical hurdles. He didn’t elaborate further. Samsung’s foldable phone, often referred to as Project Valley or Galaxy X, has always been viewed as a separate device to the Note range.

Since this statement was made, no other rumors about a foldable Note 9 have spread, and like the fingerprint sensor it may have been put on hold for the 2018 phone. Another report from The Bell says the Note 9 will have a 6.3-inch OLED screen, making it the same size as the Galaxy Note 8.

Specification

The Galaxy Note is Samsung’s productivity powerhouse phone, and we’d expect the Note 9 to have specs to match this remit. What will make the Note 9 special? Samsung said it’s investigating “signature Note features” to upgrade on the Note 9, including the S Pen stylus. However, the statement was made early in the phone’s development, so plans may change by the time the phone reaches store shelves.

Qualcomm is likely to supply the processor for the Note 9 in some regions. The phone was listed on a leak of the devices using the Snapdragon 845 in 2018. While this will probably apply to phones released in the United States, other regions may have a Note 9 powered by a Samsung-designed Exynos chip.

That’s all we know about the Galaxy Note 9 at the moment, but we will update here with more rumors, news, and hints about the big-screen Samsung phone.

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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X24 will likely be its last LTE modem

Talk about 5G has been ramping up the past few years now, with bold claims about a nationwide rollout by 2020. That target date is increasingly likely — especially since carriers have promised to start deploying their 5G networks starting late 2018. Qualcomm, one could argue, is at the forefront of the 5G rollout. While not every electronics manufacturer uses Qualcomm’s processors, a staggering number of smartphone manufacturers do, and the company has extensive partnerships with car manufacturers and carriers around the world, and more. Qualcomm is undeniably a major player in the 5G world.

One year ago, we attended Qualcomm’s annual 5G Day and learned of its grand plans for what 5G should look like. At 2018’s 5G Day, some of its plans have started rolling out, starting with a new LTE modem.

The tech is here

The technology that will be used in the initial rollout of 5G is already here. In October, Qualcomm unveiled the X50 modem as the first chip capable of connecting to the millimeter waves used in 5G networks. Just last week, the company touted an extensive list of partner companies set to use the X50 in their devices, along with carriers that will use it in their 5G testing this fall.

Qualcomm’s X50 Modem

But before speeding toward 5G — there are still many improvements to be made with LTE and Wi-Fi technologies. Carriers in the U.S. have started rolling out gigabit LTE connections over the past year, and that super-fast 4G LTE connection is set to play a huge role in connectivity as a whole for 5G.

Enter Qualcomm’s newest modem: The Snapdragon X24 LTE, which is the company’s most extensive LTE modem yet, capable of connecting to a wide range of bands. It’s the first chip to use the seven-nanometer process, which gives it a smaller footprint and lets it draw less power for the same performance, and it is also capable of super-fast gigabit LTE connections up to two gigabits per second. It’s up to the carriers to offer those kinds of speeds.

Qualcomm said the X24 will likely be its last LTE-specific modem. In other words, its next-gen modems will be led by the successor to the X50, and will connect to the waves used in 5G networks, as well as all the previous network generations. Currently, the X50 modem does not have backward compatibility, which is why devices that use it still need an LTE-capable modem.

While 5G modems are available to manufacturers, it may still be a year or so before we see the X50 in a handset. Qualcomm’s manufacturing partners have committed to launching a phone with the X50 in 2019 — so while carriers begin rolling out their 5G networks in 2018, that doesn’t mean you will actually be able to connect to them just yet. These rollouts will also likely be limited to certain cities or regions.

So what?

Who doesn’t want a faster internet connection? In case you’re questioning the point of these gigabit speeds, well, it’s not really about you.

In your day-to-day life in 2018, you’re never going to achieve gigabit connections when you’re out and about. You’re not going to be the only one connecting to a network, so with higher speeds, there is simply more bandwidth to go around. That means there is a chance to get speeds of hundreds of megabits per second. That is more than enough to stream videos in 4K, stream virtual reality content, or simply download a large file quickly.

And you also should consider the fact that 5G isn’t meant to simply be a faster network for your phone. It’s about growing ecosystems. The Internet of Things is only getting bigger and more expansive. Our homes are becoming increasingly connected, as are our cars. Car connectivity is actually a great example of the potential that faster networks could unlock. Qualcomm envisions a future when every car is connected and self-driving. In a modern, human-driven car, when you want to make a lane change, you turn on your indicator before making any moves. In a connected, self-driving car, you won’t even need indicators. Your car will simply tell other cars around you it’s about to make a lane change. Ultimately, this will create safer roads and a more efficient driving experience. Cars can even communicate with other things around them. Traffic lights, for example, could change how they act based on how much traffic is flowing in any given direction.

Ultimately, there are so many opportunities for 5G to change up the tech landscape.

Hold tight for more promises

The takeaway from all this? Hold tight. Yes, you’re still going to hear about how 5G is coming for the next two years. Just because carriers start rolling their networks out this year, doesn’t mean you will experience it. Hopefully, Qualcomm, its partners, and the carriers deliver on their admirable 2020 target.

The same rings true for devices with the new X24 LTE modem. Qualcomm hasn’t announced a timeline of when we will see it in devices, which means at the moment, you have to sit tight with your current network speeds.

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CIA, FBI, and NSA chiefs say they wouldn’t use Huawei or ZTE phones

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Top officials from major U.S. intelligence agencies including the CIA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency (NSA) have suggested people should not use devices made by Chinese manufacturers Huawei or ZTE. The chiefs said they had, “Deep concerns,” over potential security risks claimed to come from using telecoms devices made by companies, “beholden to foreign governments,” during the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing this week.

This is an annual meeting where threats to the United States from around the world are discussed, and it covered a wide range of subjects, including and primarily Russian influence on U.S. politics and North Korea’s nuclear program, right down to drugs entering the U.S. from Mexico. Cybersecurity and the use of technology in espionage, however, repeatedly permeated talks.

Director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, made the opening remarks. He said the United States is under attack from, “Entities using cyber to penetrate virtually every major action that takes place in the United States,” and called cyber threats one of his greatest concerns and top priorities. Coats singled out Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea as posing the greatest threats.

Play by the rules

The Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Republican senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, later said, “The focus of my concern today is China, and specifically Chinese telecoms companies like Huawei and ZTE that are widely understood to have extraordinary ties to the Chinese government.” Burr has been a longtime opponent of Huawei and other Chinese telecoms companies in the United States, dating back to at least 2010 when he and other senators advocated blocking Sprint from using Huawei infrastructure in its network.

Burr asked officials to share their thoughts. CNBC reports that six individuals said they would not recommend private citizens use products from Huawei or ZTE. Reuters reports, however, that when questioned, the intelligence officials said they personally would not use a Huawei or ZTE product. In the South China Morning Post, it’s stated that Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas asked officials if they would recommend purchasing a Huawei or ZTE product, and none raised their hand.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia identified Huawei and ZTE as, “leading market players globally,” and added: “Most Americans have not heard of all of these companies. But as they enter Western economic markets, we want to ensure they play by the rules. We need to makes sure that this is not a new way for China to gain access to sensitive technology.” Concern over the possible security implications of Chinese smartphones and telecoms equipment is not new, and debate previously raged in 2012.

No risk

In a statement given to CNBC, Huawei said: “Huawei is aware of a range of U.S. government activities seemingly aimed at inhibiting Huawei’s business in the U.S. market. Huawei is trusted by governments and customers in 170 countries worldwide and poses no greater cybersecurity risk than any ICT vendor, sharing as we do common global supply chains and production capabilities.”

Both Huawei and ZTE sell smartphones and other connected devices in the United States; but neither are widely known. Huawei attempted to change this with the Mate 10 Pro smartphone and a deal with AT&T and Verizon, where the device would be sold through the carriers. However, the AT&T deal fell through before it could be announced, and Verizon is also rumored to have pulled out, each potentially due to political pressure.

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