The new Huawei P20 with three rear cameras shows that the Chinese phone maker is able to push the technology envelope, and so does its latest patent for a foldable phone.

It shows what is obviously a smartphone with a bendable display in several diagrams, according to the new Huawei patent filing the Dutch publication LetsGoDigital discovered today.

The idea behind a futuristic-looking, bendable phone is to give users a tablet-sized display (ideal during long commutes), but let you fold it up into a smartphone-sized form factor (to slip into a pocket).

There's no telling if Huawei will be able to pull off a foldable phone design in time for the sequels to the Huawei Mate 10 Pro or P20 and P20 Pro next year. However, it has indicated that it's very keen to beat Samsung and Apple to a bendable phone. 

Getting rid of that gap

What's holding back Huawei –  the world's No. 3 phone manufacturer behind Apple and Samsung of phones – from launching the world's first truly foldable phone?

It doesn't want to a with a gap in the middle of two screens, according to comments from Huawei CEO Richard Yu. That's exactly the design of the ZTE Axon M.

Huawei's new patent seems to solve that problem with a bendable display, but that's merely on paper. There are no signs of Huawei foldable prototype hardware yet.

The other issue may be the durability of such technology. We were recently told that the science behind such a display isn't there to endure so many folds.

Samsung, Lenovo, Sony, LG, Apple and now Huawei all appear to be sketching out plans for a truly foldable phone. It's only a matter of time for one of them to claim that coveted world's first title.

• 48 hours with the new iPad (2018): our first impressions

Apple launched iOS 11.3 today, marking the biggest update for the iPhone and iPad since iOS 11. It's also just in time for the new iPad 2018 release date on March 30.

The new software brings about several important features, chief among them the new battery health menu. It measures the maximum capacity of your battery. Our nearly five-month-old iPhone X now display 99%, meaning it can charge up to 99%.

This new submenu in battery settings menu comes after it was discovered that Apple was slowing down the performance of older devices. The company's explanation was that it did this in order to maintain battery life and reduce impromptu shut offs. The reason was good – the lack of a public explanation that it was doing this was poor.

Better AR with iOS 11.3

We got to experience new AR features with iOS 11.3 when testing out the new iPad 2018 this week. This is thanks to ARKit 1.5.

With iOS 11.3, new AR apps like Boulevard AR can more accurately map to vertical surfaces like walls and doors, horizontal surfaces like tables and chairs and, importantly, irregular shaped surfaces like circular tables. 

All of this is an important development, as Apple is extremely bullish on augmented reality apps, especially for classrooms.

Four new Anomoji

There are four new Anomji ready to populate and animate your iPhone X Messages app. You'll find a lion, bear, dragon and skull when you download iOS 11.3. We're now up to 16 Animoji masks.

Like the previous 12 Animoji characters, Apple is able to animate these masks using 50 different facial muscles movements. It's all captured by the TrueDepth camera and A11 Bonic chipset, a pairing that's exclusive to the iPhone X.

Other iOS 11.3 features

The release notes for iOS 11.3 don't stop there. Apple is debuting Business Chat in Messages to let you communicate directly with businesses in the retail, finance and hospitality field. 

Health records are here to help patients of more than 40 health systems view their medical records from multiple institutions. Apple wisely encrypts this data and puts it behind a passcode.

Apple's updated Data & Privacy menu a part of iOS 11.3, just in time for the company to look more on top of it than Facebook when it comes to your privacy protection.

Apple Music now has music videos with iOS 11.3, and Apple is highlighting the fact that you can watch them ad-free.

This is likely the significant iOS 11 update with front-facing features before Apple launches the iOS 12 beta at its WWDC 2018 keynote on June 4. It's reportedly out to solve a lot of those pesky iOS 11 problems.

• 8 things Apple didn’t announce at its New iPad event that we still expect in 2018

Following months of research and nominations we are delighted to confirm the first five nominees for the 2018 Mobile Power 50.

We feel that these five nominees meet the criteria and show influence beyond their existing roles, in addition to imbuing their businesses with their values and who we feel serve as an inspiration to the rest of the trade. 

Congratulations to the first 5 nominees for the 2018 Mobile Power 50:

• Sarah Edge, General Manager UK & Ireland, HMD Global
• Gareth Turpin, Sales Director, O2 
• Pierre Coppin, Head of Propositions and Planning, Sky Mobile 
• Henri Salameh, Global Commercial Director, STK
• Jeff Dodds, Managing Director, Virgin Mobile

Please join the debate on the Mobile Power 50 website, where you can nominate somebody who you feel serves as an inspiration to the rest of the trade - Nominate here. 

The 2018 Mobile Power 50 is the definitive list of the most influential figures in the UK mobile industry during the past year. The list has been compiled after in-depth interviews with key senior figures across the industry, from operators and retailers, to manufacturers and distributors 

Previous winners of the Mobile Power 50 Person of the Year:

2017: David Dyson, CEO, Three UK
2016: Sebastian James, Group CEO, Dixons Carphone
2015: Sebastian James, Group CEO, Dixons Carphone
2014: Andrew Harrison, CEO, Carphone Warehouse
2013: Olaf Swantee, CEO, EE
2012: Simon Stanford, VP of UK & Ireland telecommunications and networks division, Samsung UK
2011: Guy Laurence, CEO, Vodafone UK
2010: Tom Alexander, CEO, Everything Everywhere
2009: Andrew Harrison, CEO, Carphone Warehouse
2008: Kevin Russell, CEO, Three UK

For any more information on our Mobile Power 50, or  to get more involved in the Mobile Industry Awards please contact [email protected]  

A steady stream of leaks has more or less confirmed that the Moto G6 is coming sooner rather than later, but now we’ve seen it from just about every angle.

A new batch of photos has leaked purporting to show the sixth generation of Motorola’s affordable phone, and it looks more dapper than ever. It’s getting seriously hard to tell so-called budget phones from mid-range contenders and flagships these days.

Taking a tour around the photos we can see a front-facing fingerprint sensor, which is a design staple of Moto phones – although it’s a bit slimmer than before, as the company looks to be squeezing its full name onto the front of the phone, according to leaked images from a site called Killer Features.

While previous generations of the G-series phones push a consistent design through its Plus and Play variants, it looks as though that might change slightly with the G6 family. This and other leaks show that the G6 will likely have a fingerprint sensor on the front, and the G6 Play leaks that we've seen show it on the back near the rear camera.

All in the family

The Moto G6 looks to be taking a hearty scoop of influence from the Moto X4, which possesses much of the design flourishes we’re seeing here. There’s curved glass, and a dual rear-facing camera system, and overall its just appears to be a huge step up in build quality from previous iterations of the budget phone.

Where the G6 looks to strike out on its own is with its 18:9 aspect ratio, with the phone sporting a screen that’s taller than those from the last generation. Another feature that could make this phone a must-buy is the likely inclusion of Android Oreo software, which has yet to appear on the Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus, despite Moto’s September 2017 commitment to delivering the big update.

Via PhoneArena

• The Moto G6 Plus and Moto G6 Play might have leaked, too

The Huawei subsidiary, Honor, might have another budget smartphone on the way but in the meanwhile, the design and specifications of the Honor 7A have been leaked on Slashleaks.

The leak shows a render of the new Honor smartphone with an impressive tall display with 1440x720 resolution but a micro USB charging port, which is behind the times. A USB type C port gives faster transfer speeds and better throughput capabilities. 

The Honor 7A doesn’t feature a fingerprint sensor, which probably means that the phone will use facial authentication for unlocking the device along with the usual PIN, pattern and swipe options. 

The dual rear camera has a 13MP primary sensor and a secondary 2MP sensor. The front camera, on the other hand, has an 8MP sensor for selfies. 

The smartphone runs on the Snapdragon 430 paired with 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage featuring Android Oreo 8.0 with the EMUI 8.0 layered on top. It’s uncertain from the render whether the memory will be expandable or if the device with employ a microSD card slot. 

The Honor 7A is powered by a 3,000mAh battery, which is underwhelming but battery life will ultimately depend on the phone’s performance.

The leak also says that the Honor smartphone will launch tomorrow, 30 March, in China for 1499 RMB, which is approximately Rs 15,536. This will put it in competition with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, Xiaomi Mi A1, Nokia 6, Moto G5S Plus, Honor 9i and LG Q6 Plus. 

• Huawei P20 Pro release date, price, news and features
• Honor 9 review
• Honor 9 and Honor 8 Pro are now being upgraded to Android Oreo