Samsung rumored to have Gear Sport smartwatch successor in the pipeline

• Samsung is rumored to be working on a follow-up to the Samsung Gear Sport smartwatch.
• Not much is known about the fitness-centered smartwatch, but it likely won’t feature the “Gear” branding.
• The Samsung Gear Sport follow-up could launch alongside the Samsung Galaxy S10 in early 2019.

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According to SamMobile, Samsung is reportedly working on a follow-up to 2017’s Samsung Gear Sport smartwatch. Allegedly, the smartwatch’s internal codename is “Pulse” and it features the model number SM-R500.

The Samsung Gear Sport is a fitness-centric smartwatch, acting as kind of a hybrid of the Samsung Gear S3 Classic and Gear S3 Frontier. However, Samsung is doing away with the “Gear” branding, so it’s highly unlikely this Gear Sport follow-up will be called the Gear Sport 2 or have much relation to the previous Gear smartwatches.

Instead, it’s far more likely this new Pulse smartwatch will be a sportier, fitness-centric version of the highly-rated Samsung Galaxy Watch, which launched alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 in August. It’s possible the model could be called the Samsung Galaxy Sport (which would make sense), but that’s just a guess at this point.

Editor’s Pick

Samsung Gear Sport review: middle of the road

Think smartwatch and, chances are, Samsung Gear comes to mind. Running the company’s custom Tizen OS rather than Android Wear, Samsung’s Gear range has had many additions over the past few years. From fitness devices …

It’s also relatively certain the new Pulse smartwatch will run Samsung’s proprietary Tizen software instead of something Like Google’s Wear OS. There were rumors the Galaxy Watch might come with Wear OS, but that didn’t come to pass, so it would be quite surprising if Samsung did so with this new watch.

Since the Galaxy Watch launched with the Galaxy Note 9, it’s reasonable to guess that this watch will launch alongside the Samsung Galaxy S10, which we expect to see towards the end of February 2019. However, Samsung is expected to launch three variants of the Galaxy S10 so it might launch this watch on its own to avoid an over-crowded launch event. We’ll have to wait and see.

Are you excited about a sportier (and maybe cheaper) version of the Samsung Galaxy Watch? Let us know in the comments if this device is on your watch list!

NEXT: Samsung Galaxy Watch review — the smartwatch that tries to do it all

Source: Android Zone

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Deal: Grab two Google Home Minis for just $18 from Walmart

Are you looking for the perfect stocking stuffer? Well, as if Google Home Minis weren’t inexpensive enough, Walmart will sell you two of the smart speakers for just $18. At this price, you can grab a Home Mini for your entire family.

Grab this deal

Heading over to Walmart’s website, you will find that the retailer sells the Google Home Mini by itself and in a two-pack. Surprisingly, the bundled offering is still listed at $50. 

The discount can actually be found on the standalone Home Mini listing, which shows the speaker available for $29. Scroll down the page just a bit, and you should see a “Buy Together & Save” section. Here, you can buy two Home Minis together for $18, saving yourself $40.

Editor’s Pick

Google Home Mini gets a new color: Aqua (Update: Finally available)

Update, November 29, 2018 (12:10 PM EST): The October 29 launch date of the Aqua-colored Google Home Mini came and went without a peep from Google. Now, a month later, you can officially buy a Google …

This deal is only good for the Chalk and Charcoal color variants of the Google Assistant-powered speaker, so you won’t be able to snag a Coral or Aqua Home Mini for just $9 a piece. 

If you want to avoid the $5.99 shipping cost, you will want to add $17 of other goods to your cart, choose in-store pickup, or double your order of Home Minis. As it turns out, Walmart doesn’t put a limit on the number of these $18 bundles that you can buy, so grab as many as you like.

Google Home Mini

Affiliate disclosure: We may receive compensation in connection with your purchase of products via links on this page. The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. See our disclosure policy for more details.

Source: Android Zone

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You can now buy Xiaomi phones in the UK, starting with Mi 8 series, Redmi 6A

• Xiaomi has confirmed that it will begin selling phones and smart home devices in the U.K.
• The Chinese brand revealed the Redmi 6A, Mi 8 and Mi 8 Pro as the first phones that will hit the market.
• Xiaomi will also open its first Mi store in the region on November 18.

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Xiaomi has enjoyed significant growth in the European market in recent years, but it seems the Chinese brand is far from done.

Ahead of a possible further move into the U.S. next month, Xiaomi has confirmed that it is bringing the Mi 8, Mi 8 Pro and several other products to the U.K market.

Editor’s Pick

These are the best Xiaomi phones

Xiaomi has a lot of fantastic phones, and they all offer great value. The company does most of its business in China and India, but it’s slowly expanding to Western markets as well. You can …

Xiaomi announced its U.K. product portfolio at an event held in London earlier today. The Beijing OEM also reaffirmed its plans to open the first Mi store in the region in London’s enormous Westfield shopping center on November 18.

The star attraction is the Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro, which debuted in China at the end of September. The premium entry in the Mi 8 series comes with 8GB of RAM, and has a £499.99 price tag. Essentially an upgraded version of the regular Mi 8 with an in-display fingerprint sensor, the Mi 8 Pro is outfitted with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 SoC, 128GB of storage, and a 3,000mAh battery with Quick Charge 4+.

Meanwhile, the standard Mi 8 packs the same chipset, but offers 6GB or 8GB of RAM, 64GB/128GB/256GB of storage, and a 3,400mAh battery. The Chinese brand didn’t announce a price for the standard model at the launch event.

In addition to the brand new Mi store, you can also grab the flagships from U.K. carrier Three. Xiaomi had previously announced its partnership with Three’s parent company, CK Hutchinson, back in May. Xiaomi also displayed a list of Mi 8 Pro retailers during the launch event, including Amazon, Argos, Carphone Warehouse, and Currys PC World.

The star attraction is the Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro.

The Mi 8 and Mi 8 Pro also feature a 6.21-inch Super AMOLED display (2,248 x 1,080 resolution), a dual-lens rear camera (12MP f/1.8 + 12MP f/2.4) with 2x optical zoom, IR face unlock technology, and runs Android 8.1 Oreo.

Aside from Xiaomi’s blatant iPhone X/iPhone XS lookalike (a comparison Xiaomi really wants people to make), the company is also bringing the Mi Band 3 to the U.K. for £26.99. Xiaomi adds that the first 10,000 Mi Bands will be sold for £19.99. Three has also confirmed that it’ll be selling a special bundle, featuring the Mi Band 3 and Redmi 6A, for £99.99.

The Mi ecosystem releases don’t stop there, as the company is also bringing the Mi Electric Scooter to the market for £399.99 (the first 100 units will be sold for £299.99). And if that’s not enough, the company said it was bringing “dozens” more products to the market, including the Mi Electric Toothbrush, Mi Box streaming box, Mi Smart Kettle, and a 10,000mAh power bank.

Opinion: The Xiaomi Mi 8 is the iPhone X clone nobody wanted: How did we get here?

With Chinese OEMs like Huawei and more recently OnePlus continuing to expand in the U.K. market, it’ll be interesting to see if Xiaomi can follow its local rivals and attract the same level of attention in the region.

Coincidentally, today’s launch comes less than 24 hours after the Pocophone F1 — the year’s hottest flagship killer on a budget from Xiaomi’s new Pocophone sub-brand — became officially available in the U.K. via Amazon.

What do you make of Xiaomi’s latest expansion? Was the Mi 8 Pro the right phone to kickstart its U.K. ambitions, or would the flashier Mi Mix 3 have been a better candidate? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Android Zone

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Fitbit products aren’t syncing correctly with Android 9 Pie, but there’s a workaround

• Fitbit users are reporting that their Fitbit devices do not sync to their phones running Android 9 Pie.
• Fitbit support staff are aware of the issue and working on a fix.
• For the time being, there is a workaround fix that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.

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The stable version of Android 9 Pie launched in early August. But just because the software is stable doesn’t mean that every company was prepared for the update to arrive.

Not long after the release of Pie, people with Samsung wearables (including fitness trackers, smartwatches, and headphones) noticed that they were unable to sync with the Samsung Gear app. Samsung released a fix not long after. Now it seems that Fitbit is facing a similar issue with Fitbit users unable to sync their devices with smartphones running Android 9 Pie.

Editor’s Pick

Fitbit Charge 3 is here: Water resistant, Fitbit Pay support, and a working SpO2 sensor

Fitbit’s Charge lineup is likely the most popular fitness tracker series in history, and today we’re getting an upgrade. The Fitbit Charge 3 is here with a ton of hardware improvements, a sleek design, and …

Users on the official Fitbit forums are coming out in droves to exclaim their frustration with this debilitating flaw. Fitbit support reps have chimed in periodically to say that the company is aware of the issue and working on a fix, but no timeline has been divulged.

In the meantime, some users have had success using a workaround technique that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. The workaround steps are below:

1. Open the Fitbit app and start the sync process. It will say “looking…”
2. While it is looking for your device, quickly go to Android Bluetooth settings, choose Pair New Device, and select the tracker as if to pair it for the first time.
3. Switch back to the app and the sync process should complete.

For what it’s worth, this workaround worked for us on the first try when we synced a Google Pixel 2 XL with a Fitbit Versa. However, according to forum users, this workaround gets a sync only some of the time for many people, so you might have to attempt the three steps several times before seeing a successful sync.

If you are facing this issue, keep an eye on the Fitbit forum post here to see if reps make any announcements about a permanent fix.

NEXT: Hands-on with the vivosmart 4, Garmin’s Fitbit Charge 3 competitor

Source: Android Zone

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New LG V40 ThinQ renders and video detail triple-camera setup and headphone jack

Slashleaks

Just a few days ago, we got our first look at LG’s upcoming flagship smartphone, the LG V40 ThinQ. Now, notable leaker OnLeaks has teamed up with Slashleaks to bring us even more high-quality V40 renders.

If you saw the original V40 leak last week, there isn’t a ton of new information to gather from these renders. But who doesn’t want to see some leaked eye candy from an unannounced phone?

The V40 ThinQ, as you can see, is sort of an amalgamation of the recent V35 ThinQ and G7 ThinQ. It’ll supposedly come with an all-glass design, a big 6.3-inch screen (complete with a notch at the top), and will measure approximately 158.8 x 75.8 x 7.8–8.2mm. These renders and dimensions are based on factory CAD images, so we wouldn’t be surprised if they’re spot on.

Related

All the exciting things phones could do with a triple camera

We might see more phones with triple cameras in the future, if the latest Samsung Galaxy S10 rumors are true. The Huawei P20 Pro’s triple sensor setup already produces some impressive results, with its high-resolution 40MP …

Take a look at the design video attached above. The video gives us a much better look at the triple-camera setup on the back, as well as the USB Type-C port, bottom-firing speaker grill, and headphone jack. We can also see an extra button below the volume keys that will likely be used to launch Google Assistant.

Rumor has it LG will launch the V40 ThinQ sometime in September, with the device going on sale as early as October 5 in some regions. Be sure to check out the full leak on Slashleaks for more high-quality renders, and read our rumor roundup article for even more information about the upcoming flagship.

Are you liking the V40 ThinQ so far?

Source: Android Zone

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Motorola Moto Z3 review: Is the promise of 5G enough?

The introduction of the original Motorola Moto Z in 2016, with its attachable Moto Mods, was exciting. It was new and refreshing, and having attachable parts to add more functionality to your smartphone was unheard of in the smartphone industry. We’re now on the third generation of the Z line with the Moto Z3 but Motorola seems have lost its momentum. Aside from its future promise of 5G speeds, the Moto Z3 does very little to make it a compelling product otherwise.

So is the Moto Z3 worth buying, and if so — who is the target audience? That’s what we aim to answer in this Moto Z3 review.

Design

The Z3 recycles the same glass sandwich design of the Z3 Play with identical dimensions and no headphone jack.

The Moto Z3’s design is identical to the recently released Moto Z3 Play. There used to be a clear distinction in design between the Play and non-Play versions of the Z line, but this is no longer the case. Aside from the Verizon stamp on the back of the Moto Z3 and the blue color of the Z3 Play, you won’t be able to tell the difference. The Z3 has the same glass sandwich design of the Z3 Play, with identical dimensions and no headphone jack.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The design is sleek, comfortable to hold, and extremely thin. I’m a fan of the side mounted fingerprint sensor — it’s in a perfect position for your thumb if you use your smartphone in your right hand and very quick to unlock. For left-handed users, it won’t be quite as easy to use and is not in the best location for registering multiple fingerprints.

Display

The screen is a comfortable size for productivity and great for more casual activities like gaming and watching Netflix.

The Moto Z3’s 6-inch 18:9 AMOLED screen is also identical to the Z3 Play, which again isn’t a bad thing. It is surrounded by thin bezels, has vibrant color, and the FHD+ resolution keeps everything looking sharp. The screen is a comfortable size for productivity and great for more casual activities like gaming and watching Netflix. It’s bright enough to be visible in direct sunlight, and Motorola’s software includes a color mode for adjusting the temperature and saturation of the screen.

Performance

The Moto Z3’s specs are a significant upgrade over the Z3 Play, though it ships with last year’s flagship Snapdragon 835 processor instead of the 845 we’ve seen in most 2018 flagships. This doesn’t ruin the experience by any means. The 835 is still an extremely fast processor and the 4GB of RAM is more than plenty.

The Moto Z3 ran smoothly, handling any task I threw at it. It performs well with normal everyday tasks such as reading emails and social media and can handle the most graphically demanding games from the Google Play Store. I would have loved to see how Fortnite runs on the Moto Z3 for this review but it isn’t on Epic’s compatibility list for now.

I didn’t expect much from the 3,000 mAh battery but it definitely lives up to Motorola’s claim of all-day battery life.

Battery life on the Z3 was surprisingly just as impressive. I didn’t expect much from the 3,000mAh battery but it definitely lives up to Motorola’s claim of all-day battery life. I was able to consistently achieve more than five hours of screen-on time. I usually ended the day with 20 percent battery left in the tank. My usage varied from day to day, but a typical day for me included some light gaming, watching YouTube, reading emails, and the typical social media. Standby time was also excellent with the Z3 ranging anywhere between 16 to 20 hours off the charger.

Hardware

Although the excitement for the Moto Mods has waned, Motorola is still leveraging it as a reason you’ll want to buy the Moto Z3.

Related

Moto Z3’s Mod reveals the problem with 5G

Wow, would you look at the antenna hump on that Moto Z3 5G Mod? I’ve not seen anything like it since my Dad’s Nokia 6110. But credit to Motorola, the company has form when it comes …

The main reason anyone should buy a Moto Z smartphone is for the Moto Mods — it’s a big part of why these smartphones exist. Although the excitement for the Moto Mods has waned, Motorola is still banking on it being a reason to want the Moto Z3. The latest addition to the Moto Mod lineup is the 5G Moto Mod, which will enable 5G data speeds and presumably make the Z3 a better smartphone. It won’t be available until early 2019, but if you want to be one of the first to hop on a 5G network when it goes live, the Moto Z3 will be the phone to do it with. The 5G Moto Mod will initially only work on Verizon’s network and the Moto Z3, but the possibility of it working on other networks and prior Motorola devices are not out of the question.

Camera

The Moto Z3 comes with dual 12-megapixel cameras on the rear. The primary 12-megapixel shooter features f/2.0 aperture and laser autofocus. The secondary sensor is of the monochrome variety for true black and white photos, better details when capturing stills, and portrait mode photography. An 8-megapixel camera is on the front for selfies. It’s also capable of software-based portrait photos. The camera experience is identical to the Z3 Play, with the same features, like Cinemagraphs for capturing animated stills and Google Lens integrated in the Motorola camera app.

Overall, I was happy with the quality of the images from the Moto Z3’s camera. It performs well in good lighting or bright outdoor situations. Images are sharp, detailed, and colorful. It worked perfectly for taking pictures of everything from close-ups of food to wide outdoor landscapes. Dynamic range was good enough that I rarely ran into situations where highlights were overblown or shadows were too dark.

The camera faltered in low light, which isn’t surprising given its lack of OIS. Once the sun starts to set or you walk into a dimly lit bar, the quality diminishes very quickly. Images become very soft and muddy, and the colors are washed out. Depending on the subject, the camera has a much harder time grabbing focus in dark scenarios. In most situations, the camera produces more than adequate results but don’t expect much from it at night.

Note: The camera samples in this review are resized. You can check out the full gallery of Moto Z3 camera samples at this Google Drive link, or see a preview of the camera samples in the gallery below.

Motorola Moto Z3 camera samples

Software

See also

Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play review: The best cheap Android phones you can buy

The beauty of Android is that you can buy a phone no matter how much cash you have to spend. If you’ve got upwards of $800, buy a Pixel 2 XL or Galaxy S9 Plus. …

The Moto Z3 offers the standard Motorola software experience, running Android 8.1 Oreo with the usual suite of Motorola additions, such as the wrist twist to launch the camera, Moto Display, and the double chop action to turn on the flash. You can also use iPhone X/Android Pie-like navigation gestures in lieu of the default navigation keys. Otherwise, the experience is about as close to stock Android as you can get without using a Pixel.

Despite Motorola’s clean and intuitive software, being a Verizon exclusive means it’s mucked up by a ton of bloatware. In addition to the entire catalog of apps Verizon continually likes to shove in consumers’ faces, there is an excess of third-party applications such as Slotomania, Final Fantasy XV, Bank of America, eBay, WeatherBug, and FanDom. You can uninstall these apps to free up storage and clean up the software, but it’s an unnecessary hassle.

Motorola also recently announced that the Moto Z3 is on the Android 9.0 Pie update list. The company says it’ll start rolling out the update this fall, so it shouldn’t be long until the Z3 is running the latest version of Android.

Specifications

	Motorola Moto Z3
Display	6.01-inch Super AMOLED 2,160 x 1,080 resolution 18:9 aspect ratio Corning Gorilla Glass 3 79 percent screen-to-body ratio
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 2.35GHz, octa-core
GPU	Adreno 540
RAM	4GB
Storage	64GB MicroSD up to 2TB
Cameras	Rear cameras 12MP main sensor with f/2.0 aperture, 1.25μm pixels Phase-detect and laser autofocus, dual-LED flash Front camera 8MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture, 1.12μm pixels
Audio	Front-facing speaker USB Type-C No 3.5mm jack USB-C to 3.5mm adapter included
Battery	3,000mAh battery Non-removable 15W TurboCharger USB Type-C
IP rating	Splash-resistant p2i No IP rating
Video Capture	720p (120fps), 1080p, 4K (30fps)
Security	Side-mounted fingerprint sensor Face unlock
Software	Android 8.1 Oreo
Dimensions and weight	76.5 x 156.5 x 6.75mm 156g

Moto Z3 pricing & final thoughts

Compared to other 2018 flagships, the Moto Z3 is relatively cheap. It’s $480 outright from Verizon — oddly cheaper than the more mid-range Z3 Play — but the cheaper price means you don’t get a Moto Mod bundled in the box. If you’re on Verizon, the Moto Z3 is a great deal for the price. It’s a good smartphone with no major faults, it just isn’t exciting.

The exciting part comes later down the road when 5G speeds become available. Like a fine wine, the Moto Z3 will only get better with time. However, that is still many months away. I don’t imagine many people will want to invest in a phone with dated specifications for the promise of future technology.

So that’s it for our Moto Z3 review. What do you think of Moto’s latest? Let us know in the comments.

Next: Moto E5 Play and E5 Plus review: All good things come to an end

Source: Android Zone

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Discover the smallest Linux computer that is open source, customizable, & wireless

Start your week off right with the VoCore 2 mini Linux computer. A programming powerhouse at your fingertips.

The VoCore 2 is open source hardware. It has WIFI, USB, UART, and 20+ GPIOs, but it’s only one inch square. Amazing really, since it could be used to control your smart home.

Also included in this deal is the Ultimate Dock, into which you can slide a microSD to give your gadget extra storage capabilities.

The applications of this tiny computer are virtually endless. With a bit of easy-to-learn coding you could use it as a VPN gateway to secure your network, an airplay music streaming station, a private cloud to store your data, and so on. It’s a tech tinkering dream.

Some VoCore 2 ideas:

• Write code for the VoCore 2 in C, Java, Python, Ruby, JavaScript, and more to enhance its functions.
• Plug in a microSD card to the Ultimate Dock and create a personal cloud server.
• Attach a USB webcam and create a home security camera.
• Link to a microphone to execute voice commands like Apple Siri or Amazon Echo.

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Possibilities abound, and right now at TechDeals the VoCore 2 is a great deal. Get this mini computer now while the price of has been dropped to $42.99. Indulge your own inner nerd!

To find the deal and learn more hit the button below.

Check it out!

The AAPicks team writes about things we think you’ll like, and we may see a share of revenue from any purchases made through affiliate links. To see all our hottest deals, head over to the AAPICKS HUB.

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Looking for a new phone or plan? Start here with the Android Authority Plan Tool:

This smart tool lets you filter plans by phone, price, data tiers, and regional availability. Stop overpaying for cell service you hate and a phone that you’re tired of. Use our Compare Phones & Plans tool to fully customize your mobile experience and painlessly transition from one carrier to another!

Source: Android Zone

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