BlackBerry Evolve & Evolve X now official: Here’s specs, news, and everything you need to know

BlackBerry’s latest phones have 18:9 displays, face unlock, and wireless charging.

BlackBerry’s Indian licensee Optiemus Infracom has launched the Evolve and Evolve X in the country. Both phones represent several firsts for the brand, including an 18:9 display, 4000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0, wireless charging, and face unlock.

Unlike the KEY2, the Evolve and Evolve X eschew the physical keyboard for an all-screen front fascia, with both devices sporting a 5.99-inch FHD+ (2160×1080) 18:9 panel. The screen is backed by a layer of Gorilla Glass 5, and the LTPS display has a maximum brightness of 500nits and oleophobic coating.

The Evolve and Evolve X feature fingerprint sensors at the back, and BlackBerry says you’ll be able to unlock either device in just 0.3 seconds. More interestingly, both devices offer a face unlock feature as well that takes just 0.4 seconds to unlock the phone.

Both phones have a textured back that’s similar to what we’ve seen on the KEY2, and dual cameras make a comeback as well. There’s a new camera UI, and the Evolve gets an RGB + monochrome sensor whereas the Evolve X is picking up a telephoto shooter for the secondary lens. The DTEK by BlackBerry suite is installed out of the box on both phones, along with BlackBerry Hub and a battery-saver mode that lets you select custom power profiles. Both phones run Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box.

Another new addition is wireless charging, with both the Evolve and Evolve X sporting massive 4000mAh batteries. BlackBerry will start selling its own wireless charging accessory, and there’s Quick Charge 3.0 on offer as well if you prefer plugging in.

BlackBerry Evolve/Evolve X: Specs

BlackBerry Evolve/Evolve X: What’s the difference?

The main difference between both devices is the chipset. The Evolve is powered by a Snapdragon 450, while the Evolve X features the much more powerful Snapdragon 660. The Snapdragon 660 is one of the best mid-range chipsets in the market today, and the performance is on par with the likes of the Snapdragon 820.

Therefore, the Evolve X should have plenty of power on tap when it comes to day-to-day usage. However, the Evolve may not fare as well considering the Snapdragon 450 isn’t particularly powerful, as we’ve seen on the Galaxy A6+. However, BlackBerry’s user interface is more in line with Google’s vision for Android, and the lack of added bloat should make things faster.

Another key difference is the dual cameras. The Evolve X features a telephoto lens for the secondary camera, and the 12MP f/1.8 primary lens should hold its own in this category. Optiemus hasn’t shared a lot of details regarding the camera setup on the Evolve aside from the fact that the secondary 13MP camera is a monochrome sensor.

BlackBerry Evolve/Evolve X: Pricing and availability

The BlackBerry Evolve will be available with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and will retail in India for ₹24,990 ($365). Meanwhile, the Evolve X with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage will make its debut in the country for ₹34,990 ($510). The Evolve will go up for sale sometime later in August, with the Evolve X set to be available from next month.

Although both phones have plenty to offer, they’re not particularly great when it comes to value. The Evolve is going up against the Nokia 7 Plus, which has a Snapdragon 660, headphone jack, and proven cameras.

The Evolve X, meanwhile, costs the same as the OnePlus 6 in the country. Several companies have tried and failed to dethrone OnePlus in this category, and it doesn’t look like the Evolve X will be the device to do so.

What are your thoughts on BlackBerry’s latest phones?

How to block businesses from sending you messages on WhatsApp

WhatsApp’s business accounts are here to stay, but there’s an easy way to block them.

WhatsApp rolled out business accounts last year as a way to monetize its platform. With business accounts, companies can send you messages about everything from service updates, ticket confirmations, transaction-related information, and much more. The goal with business accounts is to move the conversation from SMS — where these updates were sent previously — to WhatsApp, and promote interaction between customers and local businesses.

Some businesses have taken to sharing booking confirmation and status messages via WhatsApp. BookMyShow, an Indian ticketing platform, routinely sends out tickets and registration-related information for upcoming events via the messaging platform, and even financial institutions like Citibank are getting in on the action by sending transaction confirmation messages on WhatsApp.

That said, there are plenty of businesses that are using the service as yet another way to spam users with ads and unsolicited messages. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to block businesses from sending you messages on WhatsApp, and it takes just a few seconds.

Open WhatsApp from the app drawer or home screen.
Select the business account you’d like to block from the chats tab.

Select Block from the action card at the bottom of the message window to block a particular business.

You’ll also be able to block businesses from the action menu. Select the three vertical dots on the top right corner.
Tap Block.

You’ll see a dialog box with several options. Hit Block to block a business from sending you further messages.

With the Facebook-owned service increasingly looking to monetize, you’ll start seeing new ways to interact with businesses, including a shortcut button that let you immediately start a conversation with a particular brand. However, if you’re not keen on receiving flight updates or transaction-related messages on WhatsApp, the option to block businesses will always be available.

Patent Licensing Company WiLan Wins $145.1 Million From Apple in Patent Dispute

A Southern California jury has awarded Canadian patent holding company WiLan $145.1 million in an ongoing patent dispute with Apple, WiLan announced today.

Apple’s iPhones were found to infringe on two patents (No. 8,457,145 and No. 8,537,757) related to wireless communications technology.

WiLan, a company owned by Quarterhill, describes itself as “one of the most successful patent licensing companies in the world.”

Apple’s legal dispute with WiLan has been going on since 2010, when WiLan claimed Apple had violated one of its Bluetooth related patents. In a case separate from today’s, WiLan had demanded $248 million in damages from Apple, a battle that it lost in 2013 when a a jury ruled in Apple’s favor.

Tag: Patent lawsuits
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Explaining Open Source and Its Importance

It can be difficult choosing the right tools for your company, but open source software is a great option for businesses across all industries. With open source, you have products with a design that is accessible to the public. This type of licensing agreement not only provides access to the underlying design of the product, but it also means that people can use the work in new ways.

Individuals are able to modify it for different purposes or integrate the product into new works. The idea is that if the design is open and accessible, it will encourage users to experiment and innovate, eventually leading to an advancement of the technology.

While the term is most commonly associated with software, you can find open source concepts in a wide range of other industries. It can be leveraged for online IT training and improving various internet browsers. However, for the purposes of this post, we are going to focus on what open source means in the context of the software industry.

What is Open Source?

When software is open source, it means the underlying source code is accessible to the public. This provides all users with the opportunity to inspect the code and look for ways that it can be modified and improved. Along with making these adjustments, users can look for flaws and vulnerabilities to enhance performance and make the software more secure.

Beyond this, open source offers the chance to use the open source code to create derivative works or include the open source software as a part a larger project. It also means that people around the world can use the program for a wider range of purposes than may typically be allowed with most proprietary software.

With proprietary software, you’re accessing a program that is essentially the property of a business or individual. The source code is not public and users are not allowed to make modifications without prior authorization from the owner.

There will also be limitations on the use based on the licensing agreement between the owner of the software and the user. Microsoft Office would be a good example of proprietary software, while Open Office would work as an example of open source software that serves a similar purpose.

How Open Source Works

The lifecycle of an open source program starts with a person or group developing a piece of software that they decide to make available to the public. Once it is open, others can inspect the source code, use the software how they see fit, and modify it to add new features or make improvements. With the collective knowledge being shared amongst all users, everyone benefits from the efforts of the entire community.

Since most open source software is free, people assume that it means that all works based on open source software must be too. This is not the case, however. Developers can still sell their work to the public, but they can’t copyright or patent any work derived from the open source program. In addition, they have to make the code public.

When your product code is public, it means that someone else could inspect it, find a way to make it better, and give the product away for free. For this reason, most businesses do not try to sell open source products directly. Instead, they tend to sell services and tools that work alongside the the existing product.

Open Source and the Internet

Open source is not just important to software developers; open source technology is also important for the internet. Many of the technologies that now power the internet are open source. You have various web servers that run on systems from Linux and Apache.

In addition to that, you have many of the world’s largest tech companies starting to open some of their proprietary technologies up to the open source community. This includes projects like Google Open Source and a wide range of open source technologies from Facebook.

By making technology more accessible, open source is a force that spurs innovation. Open source communities are responsible for some of the most important advances of our day. As developers and businesses see the benefits, more of them are going to continue to make some of their resources open source.

Attacker stole user data from Reddit through employee accounts

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An official update posted by Reddit reveals that an attacker broke into a few systems on the company’s network and stole user data. The theft consisted of a 2007 database backup containing salted hashed passwords along with “some” current email addresses. Reddit is currently working with law enforcement as they investigate the breach.

According to Reddit, the leaked database backup includes usernames and salted hashed passwords used between the site’s launch in 2005 through May 2007. It also includes email addresses, public content and private messages. Reddit users with data contained in this backup will be notified to reset their passwords. Those who created a Reddit account after May 2007 are not affected in this specific portion of the breach.

If you’re not familiar with the “hash” term, hashing converts a password into a value with a fixed length that cannot be reversed without lots of computing power. “Salting” means throwing an additional, random secret value into a password so that hackers can’t use dictionary attacks. Servers create a new randomly-generated salt for each password and hashes them together using cryptography.

Reddit also said the attacker gained access to email digests from noreply@redditmail.com sent between June 3 and June 17, 2018. As shown above, the digests connect usernames to email addresses and also highlights subscribed subreddits. Those who don’t associate their email address to their Reddit account and/or unchecked the “email digests” option in their account are not affected.

Still, that’s not all. Because the hacker had read access to Reddit’s storage systems, the attacker obtained source code, internal logs, configuration files and employee workspace files. On the end-user side, the 2007 database and email digests were the source of the attacker’s treasure trove.

How did the attacker infiltrate Reddit? Through “a few” compromised employee accounts tied to Reddit’s cloud and source code hosting providers. These accounts were protected by two-factor authentication through SMS messaging, which isn’t the most secure form of credential verification. Reddit suggests everyone move to token-based two-factor authentication like facial recognition, fingerprint scanning, and USB-based keys.

“Although this was a serious attack, the attacker did not gain write access to Reddit systems; they gained read-only access to some systems that contained backup data, source code and other logs,” the company reports. “They were not able to alter Reddit information, and we have taken steps since the event to further lock down and rotate all production secrets and API keys, and to enhance our logging and monitoring systems.”

Reddit discovered the breach on June 19, which took place between June 14 and June 18. After discovering the breach, Reddit worked with its cloud and source code hosting partners to understand what the attacker accessed. The company also reported the hack to law enforcement and began messaging user accounts. Reddit took additional steps to better secure its network as well.

Reddit suggests that users reconsider their passwords if they’ve been in use for years on the site and/or elsewhere. Reddit also suggests using strong, unique passwords and authenticator apps to take advantage of the site’s two-factor authentication feature.

Editors’ Recommendations

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Snapchat now uses speech recognition to animate your face

Feel strange sticking out your tongue to get that Snapchat Lens to change? Snapchat’s latest Lenses react instead to audible keywords. Rolling out starting Wednesday, August 1, the new Lenses animate using specific trigger words.

First spotted by TechCrunch, the new lenses use speech recognition instead of facial recognition to identify when to trigger an animation. You can ask Alexa for something using single-word triggers to animate the augmented reality mask. Saying “OK” for example will bring up the hand symbol in one while saying “love” brings dancing hearts in another. On-screen instructions let users know what word will trigger the effect.

The update follows the first audio reactive lenses earlier this year, but react to specific words instead of changing with the volume like the lenses launched this spring. Snapchat also has Lenses that play audio and voice-altering options. The voice-activated Lenses join other animated options, like opening your mouth to barf rainbows to gain a slobbery puppy tongue.

The animated lenses could prove popular with video, using the keywords to add the effect at a specific point in the recording. The Lenses also work for taking stills, before, after or during the animation. Since there is no requirement to stick your tongue out or raise your eyebrows, you can smile, duck lip (but please don’t) or make whatever expression you can maintain while saying, or just after saying, the keyword.

The audio-sparked Lenses are already heading out to the Lens carousel, but some users may not see them for a few days as the feature rolls out. Like other Lenses, Snapchat says the app will update periodically update with new options.

Augmented reality lenses are a major focus for the social network, this year alone launching custom face filters in Lens Studio, Lens Explorer to find new Snapchat’s new Snappables Lenses are AR games you play with your face, and Snappables. The latter are game-like Lenses, where the game is controlled by your movement or the touchscreen. Other games use the user’s photo.

Earlier this year, the social network launched a new way to monetize the app’s popular Lenses with shoppable AR filters. The filters are unique to the specific product and include a link to the product.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Facebook helps you filter out unwanted news posts — but only temporarily
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The Galaxy Tab A 10.5 is cheaper than the Tab S4, with the same screen size

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 may be getting all the attention, but Samsung also announced another tablet on Wednesday, August 1 — the new Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5.

The new tablet features a 10.5-inch display, like its more expensive cousin, but that is perhaps the only similarity between the two. Most of the other specs are more midrange, with the tradeoff being that the tablet will likely be far cheaper than the Galaxy Tab S4 — though we don’t know the price of the Galaxy Tab A 10.5 just yet.

Unlike the high-resolution display on the Galaxy Tab S4, the screen on the Galaxy Tab A comes in with a 1,080p display. It also swaps the 4GB of RAM for 3GB and offers 32GB of storage, though thankfully that can be expanded upon with a MicroSD card slot. Under the hood, there is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor, and the tablet doesn’t offer S Pen, an Iris Scanner, or Samsung DeX support. Thankfully, it does have the same 7,300mAh battery, and considering the lower-power processor and lower-resolution display, that should translate to a pretty excellent battery life.

On the back of the tablet, you will find a rear-facing camera that comes in at 8 megapixels, with the front-facing cam offering a 5-megapixel sensor.

Not too much is know about pricing or availability for the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 just yet. The tablet was announced in Europe for 330 euros for the Wi-Fi only version, or 390 euros for the LTE version. That equates to around $385 or $455, respectively. Samsung says that while the tablet was announced in other regions, U.S. availability will be announced at a later date. We expect the pricing to be slightly different in the U.S. — after all, almost $400 for a Snapdragon 430-equipped tablet is a little over the top.

This isn’t the first tablet in the Galaxy A series we’ve seen. The new offering joins the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8, which is an even more budget-friendly device that has been out for some time now. Then there’s the Galaxy Tab A 10.1. We assume that the Galaxy Tab A 10.5 will ultimately replace the 10.1, as they’re very similar in size and the Tab A 10.1 is getting a little dated considering its 2016 release date.

Editors’ Recommendations

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• Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 hands-on review
• The Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 is a tablet and computer rolled into one
• Firefox to take another crack at putting ads in new browser tabs
• What to expect at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in August

Huawei just overtook Apple as the second-largest smartphone seller

Huawei is moving up in the world. According to a new report from Counterpoint Research, the company has surpassed Apple to become the second-largest smartphone brand in the world in terms of units sold, after having shipped more phones than Apple during the second quarter of 2018. The report notes that Huawei was able to achieve the feat on the strength of its excellent premium phones, as well as a slew of midrange and budget devices, including those in the Honor sub-brand.

It’s pretty huge news, not just for Huawei, but for the smartphone industry as a whole. For the past seven years, the top two spots have been dominated by Apple and Samsung. Samsung is still at the top of the food chain, after having captured a whopping 20 percent of smartphone shipments.

Of course, it’s likely the rankings will change a bit over the next year. The second quarter or the year is one of the slowest for Apple, which is about to head into another upgrade cycle. This will almost certainly put Apple back in the second position, even if only for a quarter or two. On top of that, considering Huawei’s growth, it’s possible Huawei could eventually take out Samsung too — though we expect it to be a while before that happens.

In total, Huawei captured 15 percent of smartphone shipments, while Apple came in third with 11 percent. Xiaomi finished fourth with 9 percent, Oppo was fifth with 8 percent, and Vivo sixth with 7 percent. Also interesting is the fact that HMD Global was the fastest-growing brand compared to the same quarter last year. While in the second quarter of 2017, the company only shipped around 500,000 smartphones, in the second quarter of 2018, it shipped 4.5 million, with Counterpoint estimating a massive 782 percent growth. OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Huawei all also exhibited fast growth, though none anywhere near as fast as HMD Global.

The average selling price of a smartphone also shifted quite a bit. While Samsung’s average selling price largely remained the same, Apple’s grew by 20 percent, thanks largely to the fact that the iPhone X is more expensive than any iPhone before it. Huawei’s average selling price also grew, up by 28 percent, as did Xiaomi’s, which jumped 14 percent. It’s likely that trend will continue as we head into an era of ultra-premium smartphones.

Editors’ Recommendations

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Huawei Mate 20 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!

Huawei’s next flagship family is looking awfully exciting.

It can be difficult to keep up with all the phones Huawei releases over the course of a year, but one that continues to stand out from the pack is the Mate 10 Pro.

The Mate 10 Pro is a gorgeous and powerful piece of tech that made a splash in various countries but was unfortunately held back from greatness in the U.S. thanks to continuous pushback from the government.

Huawei’s expected to follow-up on the Mate 10 Pro’s greatness with the Mate 20 Pro and two other versions to accompany it, and even if it once again gets heat from the States, it’ll still likely be one of the best phones you can get early next year.

The latest Mate 20 news

August 1, 2018 — Leaked firmware suggests the Mate 20 will ship with Android P, have a 4,200 mAh battery, and use the Kirin 980

We’re likely a couple months out from an official announcement from Huawei regarding its Mate 20 phones, and just in time, the rumor mill has kicked into full gear with a ton of info that was recently shared in firmware files obtained by XDA Developers. The files outline three phones — the Mate 20 Lite, Mate 20, and Mate 20 Pro — but focuses mostly on the mid-tier option

The Huawei Mate 20 will reportedly ship with a large 6.3-inch OLED display, and as expected, use Huawei’s next-generation Kirin 980 processor. To accompany this, we’re expecting 6GB RAM, 128GB of internal storage, and a seriously huge 4,200 mAh battery.

And, to help you charge that battery pack, Huawei is finally going to jump on board the wireless charging train.

Not much is detailed about the other two phones, but there is mention of the Mate 20 Pro including an in-display fingerprint sensor similar to what we’ve seen on the Mate RS and Vivo X21.

All three phones will likely ship with Android P and Huawei’s EMUI 9.0 skin on top of it.

All the big details

How many phones will there be?

Similar to last year, we’re expecting three different versions of the Mate 20 family — including the Mate 20, Mate 20 Lite, and Mate 20 Pro.

The Mate 20 will be the mid-tier option, whereas the Mate 20 Lite is the most affordable and the Mate 20 Pro is the most expensive/powerful.

If Huawei follows a similar launch pattern compared to the Mate 10, we’ll only get the Mate 20 Pro in the U.S.

How much will the Mate 20 cost?

Before we can speculate about how much the Mate 20 family will cost, we need to first look at last year’s pricing.

• Huawei Mate 10 Lite — £280
• Huawei Mate 10 — £699
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro — £799

The Mate 10 Pro started off with a $799.99 price in the U.S., but right now, can be purchased on Amazon directly from Huawei for just $549.99.

I expect we’ll see similar pricing for the Mate 20 lineup, with an increase of £20 – £50 here or there thanks to the rumors of a 4,200 mAh battery and in-display fingerprint sensor.

When will it be released?

As for when we’ll be introduced to the Mate 20 series for the first time, we’re likely looking at an announcement within the next couple of months.

The Huawei Mate 10 family was announced on October 16, and a year before that, the Mate 9 was unveiled on November 24.

Huawei Mate 10

• Huawei Mate 10 Pro review
• Huawei Mate 10 series specs
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro U.S. review: Close to greatness
• Join the discussion in the forums
• More on 2016’s Mate 9

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 is a cheaper version of the Galaxy Tab S4

There’s still no word on price, but it should be a lot less than $650.

Samsung just announced the Galaxy Tab S4 as its flagship tablet for 2018, and while it has a lot to get excited about, the $650 price that accompanies it certainly is a downer.

For those of you that want a new tab but don’t feel like shelling out that kind of money, Samsung also unveiled the more affordable Galaxy Tab A 10.5.

As its name suggests, the Galaxy Tab A has a 10.5-inch TFT LCD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200. That’s not as impressive as the Super AMOLED panel found on the Tab S4, but it still retains slim bezels and the 16:10 aspect ratio.

Under the hood, you’ll find the Snapdragon 450, 3GB RAM, 32GB of expandable storage (up to 400GB), and a large 7,300 mAh battery. Other specs include an 8MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, Android 8.1 Oreo, LTE support, and USB Type-C.

Although the Tab A 10.5 doesn’t support DeX or come with an included S Pen, it can still use the Book Keyboard Cover and Charging Dock accessories that are being sold alongside the Tab S4.

There’s still no word on pricing or availability for the Galaxy Tab A 10.5, but we’ll update this article once that info is made available.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 hands-on preview: The two-faced tablet