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We're far from a Google Pixel 4 release, but already possible codenames are beginning to pop up on the AOSP Gerrit . While the code-names "salmon" and "medeka" are likely to be the long-lost Pixel Watches that Google reportedly held back on last year , there's still hope that they could also refer to the upcoming Google Pixels that will launch later this year. The fact that these code-names refer to watches and not phones is backed up by the fact that practically everyone on the commit log is a part of the Wear OS team in some capacity. Here are the upcoming Google device codenames #leaked : #salmon and #medaka . None of the devices has a notch and medaka is most probably the rumored Pixel Watch. More info should surface soon. — Till Kottmann (@deletescape) January 25, 2019 Further evidence which suggests that these are watches and not phones is that the commit refers to them as "chin devices." A "chin device" typical...

If I wanted to describe Xiaomi with one word, it would be "affordable." Xiaomi devices, even the higher end ones, are known for being more on the "cheap" side without compromising the overall experience—just look at examples such as the POCO F1 and the Redmi Note 7 . But Xiaomi has several affordable devices, with some cheaper or better than others. What Xiaomi has not launched, however, is an Android Go phone. This is set to change now apparently. Thanks to renown technology leaker Ishan Agarwal on Twitter, images of the Xiaomi Redmi Go have now surfaced online, showcasing what could be Xiaomi's first Android Go-based smartphone as well as its specifications. As expected, it's not something that will blow you off your seat: a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 is powering everything under the hood, coupled with a measly 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage. It's not great, but it's as good as it gets for a low-end Android phone. Here's your first look a...

Facebook's CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg plans to unify the infrastructure of all three of Facebook's messaging services — WhatsApp , Instagram, and Facebook Messenger. All three services will continue operating as stand-alone apps, but they will operate from the same underlying messaging infrastructure. As reported by the NYTimes , Zuckerberg is asserting his control over the company's sprawling divisions in order to reconfigure how WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger function at their most basic level. Zuckerberg has also ordered all the apps to incorporate end-to-end encryption, which will be a significant step forward for user privacy as currently, only WhatsApp encrypts its messages by default. By stitching the infrastructure together, Facebook can increase the utility of the social network by keeping users highly engaged within its ecosystem, giving them fewer reasons to turn to rival services. The company would also be able to build up its advertising ...

Google loves a good puzzle and they typically use Google I/O as an excuse to get people tinkering . The annual puzzle went out just a couple of hours ago , but the dates have already been discovered by a developer of Lawnchair Launcher. The event will be held May 7-9th at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California once again. May 7/8/9 Shoreline Amphitheatre Mountain View, CA Also Hi secret Google account @internaltest189 Why was 6 afraid of 7? #transmissionreceived https://t.co/VwWG7e8vXU pic.twitter.com/jobD6zmSBR — Till Kottmann (@deletescape) January 25, 2019 Kottman found the dates in a json file that has since been deleted. Text in the file clearly states "Join us for IO 2019 at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California May 7th through 9th."  This is not how the puzzle was meant to be "solved," but the cat is now out of the bag. We'll have to wait and see what Google has in store for those who solve the puzzle l...

In 2018, smartphone manufacturers hopped on the notch bandwagon to trim as much of the top bezel as they could. Towards the end of the year, we saw device makers experiment with slider mechanisms and punch hole displays . While we haven't seen any evidence that the Korean manufacturer LG will do away with the display notch on its upcoming G8 ThinQ, we have heard rumors that the company is experimenting with "Sound on Display" technology. This was corroborated last week when the first CAD renders of what's purportedly the LG G8 ThinQ was published, and now, thanks to an anonymous source, we have the first press render of the G8 which matches what we saw last week. From the renders shown below, we can see that the LG G8 ThinQ has dual rear cameras that are horizontally aligned like the LG V40 ThinQ but unlike the LG G7 ThinQ . We're not sure about what sensors LG is packing on the rear of this device, but we would be shocked if LG ditches their signature super-w...

Late last year, we had leaked the patch notes of PUBG Mobile's 0.10.0 update , which had brought over new features like the Vikendi snow map, Snowmobile vehicle, cross-server matchmaking and many more features. Our leak turned out to be completely accurate, even though the snow map did not feature in the beta release of the app. While we still await more feature leaks from our trusted source on the stable release, we have information regarding the Beta version of the game. PUBG Mobile Beta has been updated to version 0.11.0, featuring a collaboration with Resident Evil 2 and a new special game mode to celebrate this collaboration. This game mode is called RE2: Sunset, which is a time limited event featuring the base Erangel map and the same objectives, but with the added twist of zombies. Bosses and Zombies from Resident Evil 2 will spawn on the map, and killing them will grant players resources and items. Other notable changes in this update are the addition of the Moonl...

If you've ever owned a OnePlus device and considered tinkering with it, chances are you might have come across a few custom kernels on our forums. If so, then you may have heard of the work done by XDA Recognized Developer Sultanxda . He is best known for his work on custom ROMs and kernels, such as his unofficial builds of CyanogenMod (and later LineageOS ) for OnePlus devices. I've personally enjoyed his work on my OnePlus 3T , and I know many others have as well. Sultanxda has now released a custom kernel for the Google Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 3 XL . Here are the main features of the kernel, according to the developer: Compiled with the latest  official GCC toolchain  for the kernel Removed lots of excessive bloat (improves security and performance) Fast fingerprint unlock and screen power on Improved app launch performance Simple LMK: a custom LMK (Low Memory Killer) that improves memory management CPU Input Boost: a custom CPU boost driver to keep the phone...

While we don't typically cover what happens in the mainline Linux kernel realm, it's important for us to keep track of what's going on with each new kernel release since Google mandates a minimum Linux kernel version requirement with each new release of Android. The recent decision to extend LTS releases from 2 to 6 years will play a major role in reducing security patch fragmentation since device makers will have to do less work in backporting security patches. Plus, the mainline kernel does often integrate new features that are relevant to mobile devices. For example, the first Release Candidate build for the next LTS version of the kernel was recently released—Linux kernel 5.0 RC1. There is still a month or two left before the stable release, but we can already take a peek at what's coming in the upcoming release. I'll highlight some of the updates that are relevant to mobile devices, but I recommend you look over the full changelog if you're at all inte...

Update 1 (1/24/18 @ 10:02PM CT) : Juho Sarvikas, CPO at HMD Global, has announced that the 2017 Nokia 5 is now receiving the stable Android 9 Pie update. This is in line with the update roadmap he disclosed just the other day. The original article follows. We don't recommend you flashing this build anymore, though. It seems like almost every day we're writing about a Nokia phone getting Android Pie . The latest device to get the goods is the Nokia 5, but this is not an official release. An early internal Android Pie beta build for the Nokia 5 has leaked in our forums. The original poster even shared a hands-on video with the build. Nokia 5 XDA Forum Launched in early 2017 , the Nokia 5 has a 5.2-inch display, Snapdragon 430 SoC, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 13MP camera, and a 3,000 mAh battery. The device received  Android Oreo   not that long ago,  which makes Android Pie the second major Android release that HMD Global has sent to the device. XDA Senior Membe...

Update 1 (1/24/19 @ 10:56PM CT) : Samsung has launched the Galaxy A8s in South Korea as the Galaxy A9 Pro. We've been talking about the Galaxy A8s for a few months now and there were many things that were unclear when we first began seeing rumors about the device. Since Samsung revealed their new Infinity Display styles, we've been wondering which devices would get which style. The Galaxy A8s is the first to come with the Infinity-O display and we got our first look at it (based on a concept render) back in November of last year. The device officially launched last month and we finally got a clear look at the display. However, it only launched in China, but we're now seeing a new model number pop up in an FCC listing that suggests it will be launched in South Korea in the near future. See, the base model number for the Samsung Galaxy A8s is SM-G887. We see this style of modeling number system among all of Samsung's mobile devices and they always follow a patt...

The Xiaomi Mi A2 is one of the best mid-range devices in the Android One program. I owned the device for a few months and it never let me down. Its more-than-capable hardware specifications with the latest version of Android helped me power through basic day-to-day tasks. Other than some flaws like low display brightness and slower flash storage, I didn't have many complaints about the device. Monthly security updates have also been a treat. Unfortunately, it seems the latest monthly update is causing a rather nasty problem for some Mi A2 users. There are plenty   of   users on different forums that report their Mi A2 devices are bootlooping after the latest January 2019 security update . Apparently, after installing the update, the users' Mi A2 simply refuses to boot into Android. Currently, there we haven't seen any statements from Xiaomi about the update causing the issue for these users. We are hoping that they will acknowledge the issue and halt the update. I...

Xiaomi doesn't launch all of its products outside China, with the wider ecosystem of products largely focused on its home market. But the company has a solution on offer in the new ShareSave platform (h/t: XDA-Developers ). ShareSave is being positioned as a "cross-border e-commerce platform" with a community focus, according to a blog post by the Chinese manufacturer.  Xiaomi's platform offers several discount options, such as buying with a friend to earn a discount for both parties, up to 100 percent discount when enough people join your drop group, and the ability to contribute cash to support your favorite products.  Fortunately, you can reportedly buy products on your own if you don't want to pester your loved ones or jump through extra hoops to save a few cents. These purchase options mean nothing if the platform has a lackluster selection of ecosystem products, but it seems like Xiaomi is off to a solid start. We've got Bluetooth keyboards...

Welcome to our Android 8.0 Oreo update tracker . Following its public release in August 2017, Oreo is steadily finding its way to more and more Android smartphones. Google has been working to reduce fragmentation and ensure that more devices receive the latest Android version in a timely fashion. It's still a work in progress though; the Android 8.0 Oreo update is still far from widespread, as the Android version distribution figures show . You're probably wondering "When will my phone get Oreo?" This tracker will help with that question. We're collecting all the information we can find on the rollout of Android 8, including past OTAs and upcoming releases. Without further ado, here's what we know so far about the Android 8.0 Oreo update. Android 9 Pie is here! Check out our Android Pie update tracker What's new in Android 8.0 Oreo? We have all the features here Android Wear update tracker Got Oreo? Note: There is a poll embedded within...