Moto 360 Sport already running out of steam? Google Store shuts down sales

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

For Android devices, it’s almost a badge of honor getting listed for sale in the Google Store. It’s not like Google sells just any hardware, so you’ve got to be something special to make it into this exclusive club. Beyond Google’s own Nexus lineup, that includes some third-party Android TV boxes, but maybe the easiest way to get your hardware in the Google Store is to launch an Android Wear smartwatch. Today we’ve got big questions about the fate of one of those wearables, as Google appears to have shut down sales of the Moto 360 Sport.As you may recall, the ...

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Oppo, Vivo rise to join Huawei as top-selling Chinese OEMs

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

When we’re looking at the biggest smartphone brands around, it’s almost not even worth paying attention to the top two: Samsung dominates the market, and Apple’s got itself a reasonably comfortable second-place spot. But move a little further down the list, and the fight starts getting interesting. Huawei’s been a distant third for a while now, but could the company ever get to the point where Apple needs to be worried? And while Xiaomi and Lenovo ...

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BlackBerry Priv pricing hits new low (and just in time for Marshmallow)

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

There’s no getting over it: the BlackBerry Priv is one unusual smartphone, and that means it’s not going to be for everyone. From the unusual vertical-slider design, to the beefed-up security software, to the simple fact that this is an Android phone built by BlackBerry, the Priv is anything but your typical smartphone. But even if all those oddities end up endearing you to the handset (and don’t get us wrong; there’s a lot to like here) there’s still been one big stumbling block keeping the Priv from making its way into the hands of more users: a seriously ...

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Google no longer selling Nexus tablets, as Nexus 9 leaves the Google Store

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Google’s been selling Nexus hardware for years, offering shoppers a chance to take home a “pure” Android experience with some of the best software support in the business. Starting as a phone-only affair, the lineup’s since matured with tablet options, as well as multiple handsets selling alongside each other. But in recent years, Google’s love affair with Nexus tablets seemed to be waning, and the last such model we got was 2014’s Nexus 9. Now the era of that HTC-made tablet is ...

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HTC Nexus codenames leak: will we meet Marlin and Sailfish later this year?

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

We got 2016 started with some rumors that weren’t talking about new flagship phones a couple months away, or summer’s hot new models, but instead some high-profile handsets probably landing until closer to fall: Google’s next Nexus phones. Coming off a year of two such models, from two different manufacturers, the rumor suggested that Google would come back with another pair of handsets, but this time from one OEM: HTC. In the months since we haven’t heard any better theories about ...

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Supposed “iPhone Pro” schematic reflects a number of current hardware rumors

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

This year’s iPhone lineup is one that could mark some big changes for Apple’s hardware, and over the past few months a series of leaks and rumors have attempted to shape our expectations for the phone. Bold moves could include dropping the phone’s analog headphone jack in favor of a digital-only audio interface, and super-charging the photography experience for Apple’s new Plus model with a dual-rear-camera setup. Some leaks have even seemed a little hard to believe at first, ...

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Are these BlackBerry’s next phones? Leak shows off models Rome and Hamburg

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

BlackBerry has this uncanny knack for keeping itself in the news year after year, despite its smartphone market share fading away into oblivion. But already this week we’ve heard about the latest software update to hit a BlackBerry phone, as the Android-based Priv gets its big Marshmallow release, and now we find ourselves checking out a possible leak that might just reveal the next generation of BlackBerry’s handset lineup, as a set of renders and pics attempt to reveal the phones ...

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Microsoft looks prepared to have Win10 Anniversary Update ready for OS’s first birthday

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

It’s been just about a month now since Microsoft gave us our latest look at where Windows 10 is headed, sharing news of the forthcoming Windows 10 Anniversary Update during its Build 2016 keynote. The feature-packed release, formally know by codename Redstone, is set to deliver things we’ve already spotted in testing through Insider previews, like support for the Bash shell, Continuum beaming, an easy dark mode toggle, and

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Industry pressure grows to move audio away from headphone jacks – it’s not just Apple

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

For as different as smartphones can be, we all expect them to provide certain basics: you start with a touchscreen, add a couple cameras, and toss in a bunch of standard wireless connectivity options. For the better part of forever, that list has also included an analog 3.5mm headphone jack, making connecting headphones or external speakers a snap. But lately it’s felt like the tide is turning away from the classic port, buoyed by rumors that Apple could drop the headphone jack entirely for its next ...

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Nextbit Robin scores camera, audio, performance tweaks in big software update

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

More than most phones, the Nextbit Robin is a handset really defined by its software, deriving from that code its ability to intelligently offload apps and media the cloud. So we were understandably excited late last month when word arrived about some forthcoming Robin software updates, especially one due to land sometime in April that would bring the phone enhancements like a significantly faster camera and optimized speaker ...

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Microsoft reaffirms its Windows 10 Mobile commitment to insiders

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Microsoft’s interaction with mobile tech has been nothing short of uneven over the years. It found some early success with PDAs, but the rise of smartphones left the company behind. Windows Phone felt to many like a catch-up effort, but one that never quite managed to compete on the same level of Android or iOS. With Windows 10 Mobile, there was the hope that Microsoft might finally be ready to play with the big boys, but the months since the platform’s launch have been anything but cause for optimism: flagship phones that failed to catch on with the public,

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Apple quarterly revenue, iPhone sales take a hit, but services are going strong

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Last time we checked in with Apple’s quarterly finances, we discovered a mixed bag of fortunes: yes, Apple was bringing in more money than ever before, but its once-unstoppable growth looked like it may have finally succumbed to a changing market, as iPhone growth ground to a halt. Ever since, we’ve been bracing for more mixed-to-not-great news, especially as predictions looked to declining iPhone shipments. Today the company share its latest figures, and ...

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Huawei Honor V8 benchmarks raise confusing questions about phone’s silicon

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Some phones languish around in the rumor-space for what feels like forever, dropping hints of their existence here and there, but failing to generate a lot of buzz and proceed to launch on a timeline where we still care about them. Then there are those phones that waste no time at all in going from early rumors, to tons of evidence, to a formal launch. Huawei’s upcoming Honor V8 feels a lot more like one of those latter handsets, and we’ve gone from a teaser just one week ...

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Upcoming Samsung wearables leak: Gear Fit 2 wristband, Gear IconX earbuds

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

It used to be that Samsung was king of the wearables market, cranking out new models faster than most of us could keep up. But lately we’ve really seen the company start slowing things down: last year’s Gear S2 is still coasting along steadily, and sometimes it feels like Samsung’s let VR’s rise distract it a little from other wearable pursuits. But we’ve still heard whispers about where Samsung’s efforts could be headed next, and today we score a major ...

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HTC leads $100m Vive X investment effort to fund new VR companies

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

With the era of consumer VR now upon us, as products like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive welcome users into high-quality virtual worlds the likes of which they’d previously only dreamt about, exciting new opportunities are unfolding before companies and content creators looking to tap into the burgeoning VR market. Encouraging their efforts isn’t just good for users, ...

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