KB-Technologies

Unofficial preliminary specifications Network Technology GSM / HSPA / LTE 2G bands GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 (dual-SIM model only) 3G bands HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 4G bands LTE Speed HSPA, LTE GPRS Yes EDGE Yes Launch Announced Not announced yet Status Rumored Body Dimensions - Weight - SIM Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)   - IP68 certified - dust/water proof over 1.5 meter and 30 minutes Display Type AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors Size 5.5 inches Resolution 1440 x 2560 pixels (~534 ppi pixel density) Multitouch Yes Protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5   - Always-on display Platform OS Android 8.0 (Oreo) Chipset Qualcomm MSM8998 Snapdragon 835 CPU Octa-core (4x2.5 GHz Kryo & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo) GPU Adreno 540 Memory Card slot microSD, up to 256 GB (uses SIM 2 slot) Internal ...

The ever expanding list of Android Pay supported banks/financial institutions has been updated yet again. This time, a total of 24 new names have been added, including Bank of Idaho, Beehive Federal Credit Union, Citizens Bank (WI), Community National Bank & Trust of Texas, and Duke University FCU. Other names are First Community Bank (TX), Great Plains Bank, Guaranty Bank & Trust Company of Delhi, Gulf Winds FCU, Mascoma Savings Bank, Meadows Bank, Meriwest Credit Union, Nascoga Federal Credit Union, One Bank & Trust, N.A., Pen Air FCU, Security Federal Bank, Texas Brand Bank, The Bryn Mawr Trust Co., The State Bank and Trust Company, TrueCore FCU, Wauna FCU, West-Aircomm FCU, Westmoreland Community FCU, and Xplore Federal Credit Union. With this, the total number of banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions in the US that support Android Pay now stands close to 1,000 (996 to be precise). Via | Google

It has come to light that T-Mobile has pushed out a new update to Samsung Galaxy Note8 units on its network. Arriving as version N950USQU1AQ15 and weighing in at under 200MB, the update includes some stability improvements related to the Navigation app, Google Maps, and the Weather Widget. Reportedly, the update also brings along Android security fixes for the month of August. It's already a week since the roll out began. However, in case you haven't received the update yet, be patient, as you likely see the notification soon. Source | Via

Looks like the Huawei Mate 9 could be receiving the Oreo update soon. The device with Android 8.0 on board has been spotted listed on benchmarking website Geekbench. For what it's worth, this is not the first time we are hearing about the Mate 9 Android 8.0 update - back in April this year, we saw a glimpse of Oreo-powered Mate 9 (the ROM was in early development stage at that time). A benchmark appearance doesn't guarantee, but does indicate that final testing is going on and if everything goes fine, roll out should begin sooner than later. Source | Via

The Nokia 8 variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage was recently spotted in documents of the US FCC. And now, according to a new report, the model has been officially confirmed by HMD. The report notes the company has confirmed the variant will be made available in Europe (Germany, specifically) next month on October 20. It'll only be available in Polished Blue color option though. As for pricing, the device will carry a tag of €669, which is €90 more than what the regular 4GB/64GB version carries. There's currently no information on exactly when the variant will arrive in other key markets around the world, including the US, where even the standard Nokia 8 isn't available yet. Source

The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus have dominated the camera game according to DxO’s latest camera testing procedures with scored of 94 and 92, respectively. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium was also reviewed by the camera reviewers and scored 83 points. Considering that smartphones have been competing for DxO’s top spot including the Google Pixel and HTC U11, Sony doesn’t seem to be trying on the camera front. Either that, or DxO’s testing protocols aren’t in Sony’s favor, we’ll let you be the judge. DxO says that Sony does a well enough job with still photography and video, but doesn’t break any new ground or try to really challenge the other leaders of the pack. It did poorly in DxO’s new Zoom and Bokeh tests, which pulled the weight of the score down. The XZ Premium does have one innovation unique to the brand, and that’s the 960 frame-per-second super slow-motion video capture. Otherwise, the XZ Premium has a pretty solid autofocus performance in images and videos, as we...

Last week, Verizon sent notifications to about 8,500 customers which comprised of about 19,000 cellular lines in 13 states, that they would be disconnected as of October 17. The reason for this is that these subscribers were using too much data while roaming off of Verizon’s network grid. Roaming data is expensive for carriers and Verizon doesn’t seem to want these stragglers to burn a hole in its operating costs. This would give those who received the notifications just about a month’s time to find a new carrier or be disconnected. Not only is this inconvenient to the customers, but it could also be expensive for those living in such remote areas with a lower cost-of-living. Since that notification, we have become aware of a very small number of affected customers who may be using their personal phones in their roles as first responders and another small group who may not have another option for wireless service Aside from the legal vs moral consequences of dropp...

You can now get the Essential PH-1 (hands-on here) from Best Buy retails stores in the United States. The blue and yellow retail store’s preorder period is over and you can now place an order for the Black Moon version of the Essential Phone and you can even pick one up in the store. It might be a good idea to check if your local store has one before making the trip. The Pure White model, on the other hand, isn’t available just yet, though it is listed as “coming soon”. On Best Buy’s website. The Essential PH-1 has a 5.8-inch edge-to-edge display that it calls “Full Display”. Aside from having a unique-looking display, the Essential PH-1 is made of top-shelf materials and features a very attractive, yet minimalistic design. Internally, the PH-1 offers Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of non-expandable storage. Source | Via

Oreo is Android’s latest version release, and as with every release, there are always going to be kinks and issues that need to be ironed out in the following maintenance update. A considerable amount of users have been reporting that the Google Clock App is crashing. As a result of this, the moment a pre-set alarm goes off, the App Crashes and goes silent, causing many of these unsuspecting users to run late to work. You can find these over at Reddit. Google Clock App If you are running Android Oreo, you might want to check to make sure that your Alarm app is working as intended. An easy way to do this is say “OK, Google, set alarm for 1 minute”, and then wait to hear it go off. If your Google App is indeed crashing, you should install another alarm clock app until a fix is figured out or Google acknowledges that it’s an issue. Source | Via

The infamous 'Check for updates' button has been around on Android for what seems like forever now but in all this time it has been about as useful as the close door button on the elevator, which most of the time doesn't seem to do anything. Google developer Elliott Hughes has taken to Google+(!) to inform everyone that the button isn't actually useless anymore. The previous behavior was to check if an update is available and only when the update was readily available to your device and was somehow missed by the automated background check for update will it pull the update. With the new improved button, the device will now actively request for the update and even if your device isn't in the current rollout group for the update, because you are manually requesting for the update, the update will be delivered to you. This means no more impatient stabbing of the button wondering if you are in the rollout group yet or not. Of course, this is ...

You've already seen the new iPhone 8 scratch, burn, and bend tested, and now it's time for us to get a look at its internals - literally. iFixit has created another comprehensive teardown, and its victim was the iPhone 8 this time around. The handset became available today, and this information should help those that are looking to repair it on their own at some point. The iPhone 8 gets a 6 out of 10 repairability score (10 being easiest to repair). That's one point less than what the iPhone 7 Plus managed last year. The iPhone 8 provides straightforward access to the two components that are most likely to be repaired, namely the display and battery. You do need proper tools and knowledge, but performing such replacements is definitely possible. Wireless charging, a new feature for an Apple device, means there will be less strain on the Lightning port, which is good because in the past that's been a common point of failure. Water and dust seals ...

With sales of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus starting today, DxOMark has published comprehensive reviews of both handsets' cameras. Lo and behold, they have jumped straight to the first two spots in the DxOMark rankings, leaving the HTC U11 and Google Pixel in the dust. The Pixel used to be the king of DxO until the U11 got the same score of 90. Now though, the iPhone 8 Plus' camera becomes the best that the lab has ever tested, with a score of 94. The iPhone 8's shooter isn't far behind, ranked No.2 with its 92 points. The iPhone 8 Plus shines in picture taking, with a record-breaking Photo score of 96, while for recording videos it gets a score of 89 - tied with the HTC U11 and slightly below the Pixel's 91. The iPhone 8 Plus has "outstanding image quality" and "an industry-leading Portrait mode". It is at the top of the charts in nearly every category, while its advanced software means it does "an amazing job" ...

The iPhone 8 is the newest phone to come out of Apple and as is the tradition, it must go through the Internet's torture test. More specifically, the JerryRigEverything durability test where phones get scratched, burned, bent and generally go through hell. The iPhone 8, however, survives through all of this, which isn't a surprise since last year's iPhone 7 did well, too. There are some things to note from this video The glass front and back are about as scratch-resistant as the front glass on the iPhone 7 so Apple's "most durable glass ever on a smartphone" claim will likely be regarding the impact resistance rather than scratch-resistance. The sapphire lens cover for the rear camera is not 100% pure sapphire and is about as scratch resistant as the glass used elsewhere on the phone, which is to say it's good but not as good as pure sapphire would be. The phone uses improved ingress protection around the sides that does not pop...

Now that the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have finally become available to purchase in the first wave of countries, Apple is starting its big marketing push for its latest smartphones. The company released the first ad for the duo today. It's basically a list of 8 things to love about the new iPhone 8 - a pretty quick and concise way of sharing what it thinks are the duo's main selling points. In case you can't watch the video embedded above, here's what you're missing. Apple says the iPhone 8 is special because it has the most durable glass ever in a smartphone, the new Portrait Lighting mode for pictures, wireless charging, the most powerful and smartest chip, a better camera, water resistance, a new Retina HD display (although the only new thing here is the True Tone support), and augmented reality functionality. 8 standout features for the iPhone 8, in fact. Earlier today, the handset was put through a torture test assessing its durability, ...

Network Technology GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE 2G bands GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900   CDMA 800 / 1900 / 2100 - A1863 3G bands HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 - A1863, A1905   CDMA2000 1xEV-DO & TD-SCDMA - A1863 4G bands LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 13(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 25(1900), 26(850), 28(700), 29(700), 30(2300), 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500), 66(1700/2100) - A1863, A1905 Speed HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (4CA) Cat16 1024/150 Mbps, EV-DO Rev.A 3.1 Mbps GPRS Yes EDGE Yes Launch Announced 2017, September Status Coming soon. Exp. release 2017, September Body Dimensions 158.4 x 78.1 x 7.5 mm (6.24 x 3.07 x 0.30 in) Weight 202 g (7.13 oz) SIM Nano-SIM   - IP67 certified - dust and water resistant - Water resistant up to 1 meter and 30 minutes - Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certifie...

Network Technology GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE 2G bands GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 CDMA 800 / 1900 / 2100 - A1864 3G bands HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 - A1864, A1897 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO & TD-SCDMA - A1864 4G bands LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 13(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 25(1900), 26(850), 28(700), 29(700), 30(2300), 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500), 66(1700/2100) - A1864, A1897 Speed HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (4CA) Cat16 1024/150 Mbps, EV-DO Rev.A 3.1 Mbps GPRS Yes EDGE Yes Launch Announced 2017, September Status Coming soon. Exp. release 2017, September Body Dimensions 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm (5.45 x 2.65 x 0.29 in) Weight 148 g (5.22 oz) SIM Nano-SIM - IP67 certified - dust and water resistant - Water resistant up to 1 meter and 30 minutes - Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified) Displa...

Also known as Apple iPhone 10, Apple iPhone Ten Network Technology GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE Launch Announced 2017, September Status Coming soon. Exp. release 2017, November Body Dimensions 143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7 mm (5.65 x 2.79 x 0.30 in) Weight 174 g (6.14 oz) SIM Nano-SIM - IP67 certified - dust and water resistant - Water resistant up to 1 meter and 30 minutes - Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified) Display Type Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors Size 5.8 inches (~82.9% screen-to-body ratio) Resolution 1125 x 2436 pixels (~458 ppi pixel density) Multitouch Yes Protection Scratch-resistant glass - Dolby Vision/HDR10 compliant - Wide color gamut display - 3D Touch display - True-tone display Platform OS iOS 11 Chipset Apple A11 Bionic CPU Hexa-core (2x Monsoon + 4x Mistral) GPU Apple GPU (three-core graphics) Memory Card slot No Internal ...

The Snapdragon 660 is used in several high-end phones while the 630 isn’t getting much love. Both are mid-range (so affordable) 14nm chips (so power-efficient), but only one of them uses the faster Kryo cores. A new chip may be coming to bridge the gap between these two. The Snapdragon 635 will also be built on a 14nm LPP process and will use an octa-core Kryo processor – 4 big cores, 4 small. The rumor does not mention clockspeeds, though (the two clusters of the S660 run at up to 2.2GHz / 1.8GHz). The GPU promises to be 20% faster than the Snapdragon 625 GPU. If true, that’s not much – Qualcomm was promising a 30% boost for the GPU inside the 630 over the 625. A potential explanation is the Snapdragon 635 Plus – the same chipset but with both processor and graphics running at higher clock speeds. Production for both is set to begin in the first quarter of next year. Qualcomm allegedly also has plans for a Snapdragon 670 – the first 10nm 6-series chip. It w...

Earlier today we told you about a billboard, revealing the launch date of the new Pixel phones by Google. Two devices are expected to arrive - the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL and the latter just popped up on FCC. The Pixel 2 XL will be built by LG and come with a 6” FullVision screen like the one in the LG V30. The device is not actually listed with the “Pixel” branding at FCC’s website, but there are several points that lead to this assumption. The model name G011C has the same first letter as “Google”. It also comes close to the G011A (aka the Pixel 2) that stopped by the FCC last month. Source | Via

Hey, remember when Nokia 2 passed through the FCC? Buried under a mountain of wireless connectivity tests was the battery capacity – a whopping 4,000mAh! That’s a huge jump over the 5, 6 and 8 models, all three of which have around 3,000mAh. The Snapdragon 210 chipset doesn’t use a lot of power – not because it’s very efficient (it’s a 28nm chip), it’s just not very powerful. Couple that with the rumored 4.7-5” screen of modest 720p resolution, the battery life should be stellar. Certainly better than HMD’s current entry level phone – the Nokia 3 and its 2,630mAh battery. Anyway, the FCC also lists the charger – 5V at 2A, a typical phone charger in other words. We weren’t expecting fast charging (the 5 and the 3 don’t have it either), but that chunky battery is going to take a while to fill up at this rate. Source | Via

The Apple iPhone X has a 5.8” screen... except it doesn’t. You can see on the official site that the 5.8” measurement is for a rectangular screen while the X has rounded corners. But that’s a minor quibble, the bigger issue is that there’s a cutout at the top of the screen, which limits the usable area. The aspect ratio of the new Super Retina Display is 19.5:9, wider than even Samsung’s 18.5:9 (LG and Xiaomi use 18:9). But again, the cutout means you get a small screen that you can practically use. In fact, ignoring the top portion leaves a screen that’s just about 18.5:9 in aspect ratio. If you were to just use 16:9 – the traditional widescreen format that basically all TV shows and YouTube videos use – you’re left with what is effectively a 4.96” screen. This gives you slightly more area than the iPhone 8 – about 10% more surface area for video. But you do get extra area vertically for apps, website and instant messaging (especially since the keyboard eats ...

Calling the new breed of phones “bezel-less” is a bit of a misnomer – they do have a bezel, just much smaller than traditional phones. Still, it’s how they’ve come to be known and now even Apple makes one. But screen to body numbers get thrown around and some of them are not quite accurate. Things like rounded corners and display cutouts make things yet more complicated, but we took the time to calculate the actual numbers, accounting for all the deviations from the classic rectangular screen.     The competitors (not to scale) So here it is. The Apple iPhone X measures among the best. However, even the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, the sequel to the phone that started this craze (though not the first bezel-less phone) isn’t on top. That honor falls to the LG V30. Screen to body ratio Apple iPhone X 81.49% LG V30 83.24% Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 82.63% If you’re wondering how the Mi Mix 2 fell from the top, it’s abo...

A couple of months ago, there were reports that Facebook is working on a standalone group video chat app. Well, now the company has started rolling out the app, dubbed Bonfire. The roll out is limited at the moment, restricted to iOS users in Denmark. Bonfire lets you perform a video chat with several participants at the same time. It is reportedly similar to the Houseparty app, which is currently quite popular among teens. This new Facebook app offers ability to apply Snapchat-like effects. Not only that, you can also share pictures to Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. When asked to comment on the app, Facebook issued the following statement: "At Facebook Inc we continue to build and test new products and services. We already have many great experiences for people to video chat in groups, or as individuals, across the family of apps, including Messenger. We are interested in how everyone uses technology and how we can build great experiences for t...

The BlackBerry Krypton, which is expected to be the next smartphone by the TCT-owned brand, has received certification from the FCC in the US. As is usually the case, the FCC certification doesn't reveal much about the device, however, there are a couple of things to note. Firstly, the name Krypton is clearly mentioned in the filenames. And secondly, there's a graphic included as well, although it doesn't give away much about the device. The device has already been certified by Bluetooth SIG and WiFi Alliance (WFA). As for specs, rumors so far say the Krypton will be powered by either Snapdragon 625 or 626 SoC, and sport a Full HD display. There'll be 4GB RAM, and a 4,000mAh battery to keep the lights on. The phone is said to be made official sometime next month. Via

Last month, serial leakster Evan Blass revealed the next generation Google Pixel smartphones will be officially unveiled on October 5. However, if a newly-spotted Google billboard is anything to go by, the devices may arrive a day earlier. Agreed, the billboard doesn't explicitly say anything, but the words "Ask more of your phone," followed by Google's logo and the date are strong indications that the company is talking about a new phone, details related to which will be outed on October 4. For what it's worth, last year's Pixel event also happened on October 4. The upcoming devices have already been the subject of several leaks and rumors - you can access all of them by heading here. Via

Google is offering users with defective Nexus 6P units (purchased directly from the company's online store) a brand new Pixel XL smartphone as replacement. This has been reportedly going on for some time now, but came to light recently. Even units out of the original 1-year warranty are eligible for the upgrade. It's worth mentioning that whether or not you'll get a Pixel XL as replacement depends on your region. Reportedly, those in the US and Canada are definitely getting it, while users in UK aren't lucky enough (it's a hit and miss there actually). Australians, on the other hand, are only receiving the Nexus 6P as replacement. Also, if you are Canada, you'll likely get the 32GB Pixel XL, while those in the US are getting the 128GB variant. As clear from the screenshot above, your replacement unit will arrive before you ship your defective Nexus 6P unit, which is good, but before that happens you'll see a temporary authorization for ...

Apple’s new TrueDepth camera for the iPhone X sure is impressive but it also sounds familiar. It works by using a projector to cast 30,000 dots on your face, which it then reads with an infrared camera. This sounds much like how the Microsoft Kinect works.   The dots used in structured light 3D vision The Kinect uses several approaches to get a good 3D image. One is called structured light – the projection of a known pattern of dots and using machine learning to reconstruct a 3D scene. This is done with a dot projector and an IR camera, same as on the iPhone X. But a regular color camera is also used to do something called depth from stereo. Basically, it uses depth of field to guess how far things are (things that are further away or closer than the focus distance are blurry).     Components of the Microsoft Kinect Apple doesn’t explicitly say if it uses the color image sensor, but we think that it does – that’s why the flood illuminator...

A new Sony smartphone has been spotted in a benchmark database. Listed as Sony H4233 on GFXBench, the device is powered by a Snapdragon SoC with octa-core, 2.2GHz processor, and sports a 6-inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. RAM is 4GB, while internal memory should be 64GB. The handset features a 21MP rear camera and a 15MP front shooter. It runs the latest Android OS - Oreo, version 8.0. There's currently no information on what the retail name of the device will be or when it might be announced. Source | Via