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it168 takes the Meizu m2 apart, makes it look easy

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It’s not iFixit, but it168 took apart the new Meizu m2 note and gives a guided tour of its internals. The phone seems easy enough to repair, most things coming apart easily with some encouragement from a screwdriver.

The m2 note is an low-cost, highly capable phablet. CNY 999 ($160) gets you a 5.5″ 1080p IGZO screen, octa-core processor (A53) running customized Android 5.0 Lollipop, global LTE and a 2160p-capable 13MP camera. Read more »

SoundHound introduces ‘Hound’, a voice search app like no other

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Google recently showed off its machine learning skills at Google I/O, but this is likely to blow even Google’s socks off. Presenting Hound, from the people who made SoundHound, the music recognition app. Hound is an app that uses voice search to find you relevant information, just like Siri or Google Now. Just that it’s way, way better at it.

Hound gives you quick search results for all your queries. You don’t have to mollycoddle it with specific queries that won’t fall within its search parameters. We already got that to quite an extent with Siri and Google Now, both of which can understand natural language fairly well, but they can still only deal with one query at a time. Read more »

Samsung Pay to launch in US and South Korea in September this year

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Over a month after announcing that its mobile payments service will be launched in the second half of 2015, Samsung has confirmed that Samsung Pay will debut this September in the United States and South Korea.

The confirmation came from the company’s Executive Vice President Rhee In Jong, who also revealed that the service will be launched in conjunction with Samsung’s next high-end mobile device, which – given the time frame – could well be the Galaxy Note 5. Read more »

Hands-on with Huawei P8 lite for the US market

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We managed to spend quality time with the freshly announced Huawei P8 lite for the US market. The smartphone is already available to order in the United States directly from Huawei’s online store.

Huawei P8 lite features the same design language as the company’s P8 flagship. Read more »

Verizon’s LG G Pad 10.1 is the latest in line to receive Android 5.0 Lollipop update

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Last month Verizon’s version of the LG G Pad 8.3 got its Lollipop update, and starting today the exact same thing will happen for the LG G Pad 10.1 sold by the carrier. Obviously though, as we’re dealing with an over-the-air update, it might take a few days before the notification pops up on all units.

Big Red has been offering the G Pad 10.1 LTE since November of last year. After applying the Lollipop update, the tablet will run Android 5.0.2 and software version VK70022A. Read more »

Moto X (2nd Gen) is now 26% cheaper in India

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The second generation Moto X, the one launched in 2014, is now the subject of an interesting deal over in India. You can purchase the device from Flipkart, the country’s biggest online retailer, for just INR 21,999.

This currently amounts to approximately $343 or €305. But what’s most important is that it’s 26% less than the normal price of the device for India, which is INR 29,999 ($468 or €415). Read more »

LG G Watch R is on the way out, starts disappearing from retailers

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Now that LG has launched the new Watch Urbane (which we’ve just reviewed), the Korean company seems to be ready to simply let the G Watch R go. Its previous wearable has started disappearing from retailers, and it looks effectively like it’s been discontinued at this point.

Asked about the situation, LG officials have apparently confirmed that the G Watch R is being wound down. Existing stocks will be sold, of course, but production may have already stopped. Read more »

Amazon Kindle Fire Kids Edition goes on pre-order in Europe for €150/£120

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It has been over half a year since Amazon unveiled the Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition and now you can almost buy one in Europe. US users have been able to grab one for months now, but now kids across the pond get to pre-order one of these as well.

The tablet is based on the Kindle Fire HD 6 (which is even cheaper), but the Kids Edition has been ruggedized to survive the hardships of being a child’s toy. Read more »

Nexus 6 is now $150 cheaper, Nexus 9 nets you $50 Google Play credit

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At the moment, Google is holding some limited time promos in its hardware store. Clearly the best deal is to be had for the Motorola Nexus 6. This smartphone is now $150 cheaper than its normal price.

That means the 32GB model can be yours for just $499, while the 64GB version now costs $549. There’s no telling how long these offers will last, by the way, so if you’ve always craved a Nexus 6 but couldn’t quite get yourself to pay the whole price, now may be the time to act – fast. Read more »

Android 5.1 to bring RAW support and lower ISO values for the camera of the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

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It’s already been rumored once before that the Android 5.1 update will bring RAW support to the camera of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. This update might make its way to devices this month or in July.

Today a new rumor comes to confirm the addition of RAW support in the camera arriving with Android 5.1 on Samsung’s latest flagships. Furthermore, lower ISO values will also be added. Read more »

Imgur finally gets a proper Android app

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Imgur is one of those services you never really pay too much attention to when using on and off. Once you get into it, however, you will quickly discover that, just like reddit, the image platforms has grown into somewhat of an internet sensation and has an amazing ecosystem of its own.

There is tons of content to discover, trends to follow and all the viral memes and jokes you can handle. After only have a web app on Android for a while, Imgur now finally has a proper native app. Its interface is quite intuitive and user friendly. It is almost entirely card-based and swiping left and right navigates the endless stream of content. A tap brings out additional options like commenting, voting and adding to favorites. Read more »

Samsung unveils designer cases for the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

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Samsung rounded up a selection of popular designers and luxury companies to create exclusive cases for its beloved Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge flagships. Swarovski, Montblanc, Romero Britto, Rebecca Minkoff and Burton were tapped to produce signature designs.

Fair warning – your sense of good taste might feel a little dizzy. Read more »

Best Buy offers Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro tablets at $100 off

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Best Buy in the USA is having a sale on the Galaxy Tab Pro tablets, each is $100 off. The most affordable model is the 8.4″ version, which currently goes for $200. That’s for the 16GB Wi-Fi version.

The same model goes for $255 on Amazon.com. Read more »

Oppo is now an official partner of FC Barcelona for three years

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Tie-ups between smartphone makers and football teams are nothing new, as you may know. But this is the first we’ve seen Oppo go this route. The Chinese company has inked a partnership agreement with FC Barcelona, one of the biggest football clubs on the planet.

The deal has been signed for three years. During this time, the Oppo brand will be visible at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, and you should probably expect to see some cooperation in the field of TV ads too. Read more »

Sony updates the Xperia Android Keyboard with new features, better responsiveness

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Sony’s custom Android keyboard is now up to version 6.6.A.0.30. The update brings about quite a few improvements and features. For one, the app should now be a lot more-responsive and fluid.

The Xperia keyboard now has a more-versatile theming engine too. Keyboard layouts can be selected per language for extra convenience. Also, word suggestion can now work for one language at a time, if you turn off Smart language detection first. Read more »