Messaging

• The new update will allow Android users to see iPhone message reactions as emoji on text messages.
• The resolution of the videos you will send will be maintained when you send them as Google Photos links right inside the conversation. Google promises to have this same update for photos soon.
• It is now allowed to arrange your messages into Personal and Business tabs. This can help Android users to find essential conversations faster.
• One-time password messages can now be automatically deleted after 24 hours of use.
• Android users will get reminders about the messages they forgot to reply to or update.
• You will also receive reminders about a friend’s or a contact’s birthdays.
• The new Gboard grammar correction feature will detect grammatical errors and offer suggestions across your device system.
• The Emoji Kitchen now features more than 2,000 new emoji mashups available as stickers via Gboard. Pixel users can also enjoy this new update more as Gboard can convert words into stickers built with the exact text when typing in messaging apps in English (U.S.).
• Live Transcribe, which is preinstalled on Pixel and Samsung and available as a free download to all devices, is now functional even you’re offline. The Offline Mode of the app will continuously provide real-time speech-to-text captions wherever you are.

Photo Editing

• The Portrait Blur in Google Photos available for Google One member or a Pixel user will let anyone edit all kinds of photos into a subject-centered portrait. Google promises to bring it to the Photos app on Android soon.

Google TV

• Google TV now offers a personalized feed consisting of entertainment news, reviews, and more based on your preferences and activities.

Google Assistant

• Using voice, users can now give commands to Google Assistant to pay for parking via Google Pay. To give a command in paying the parking, just say “Hey Google, pay for parking” and follow Assistant prompts to pay from your phone. This new feature will also enable one to check parking status and extend it effortlessly by saying “Hey Google, parking status” and “Hey Google, extend parking,” respectively. This is available in ParkMobile street parking zones in over 400 cities in the US.

Screen Time Widget

• The widget collection now includes a new screen time widget that will show you the number of hours you consumed using your top 3 apps. The new feature will also offer a Focus mode to pause specific apps during your selected hours and Bedtime mode to silence the device and change the screen to black and white at bedtime.

Nearby Share

• The new update of the Nearby Share can now handle multiple receivers when sending files. Just tap to add more recipients during a transfer. According to Google, it is now rolling out on all Android 6+ devices.

Google Presents New Android Features and Updates for March 2022

Today, Gustave Monce (@gus33000) published the early results of their efforts to bring Windows to the Surface Duo. If you own the 128GB variant of the first-gen Surface Duo, you can try installing Windows on ARM alongside the original Android (the UEFI also allows booting Linux).

A little spoiler: the result will be barely usable.

Installing Windows on the Surface Duo is not the easiest procedure, so you need to be prepared for the unexpected and ready for troubleshooting. Still, developers took care to provide an easy-to-understand guide with detailed steps. As usual for such a project, make sure to backup all mission-critical data before proceeding.

Although the idea of running Windows on the Surface Duo sounds exciting, the project is currently in its infancy, which means almost nothing works. The system boots, but touch, network, cellular, cameras, and other essential hardware bits and pieces do not work. In other words, you cannot use the Surface Duo with Windows as your daily driver. Keep those limitations in mind before experimenting with your smartphone.

The project is compatible with the first-gen Surface Duo 128 GB (unlocked and AT&T) running Android 10 and 11. You can also try installing Windows on the 256 GB variant, but the developer says they currently target only 128 GB models. Finally, it is worth noting that you cannot use the guide to install Windows on the second-gen Surface Duo. That smartphone is not supported.

You can find everything you need to install Windows 11 on the Surface Duo here.

You can now dual-boot Windows 11 and Android on the original Surface Duo

Twitter is rolling out a change that, frustratingly, makes it a bit more difficult to see your chronological feed.

The design change, which lets you swipe between your Home (algorithmically served) and Latest (reverse chronological) timelines, was announced Thursday. To set it up, you tap the sparkle icon in the top right corner, and you’ll see the option to pin your “Latest timeline,” and if you select that, you’ll see both “Home” and “Latest Tweets” tabs at the top of the iOS app. If you use pinned lists on the iOS app, the layout might look familiar. The feature is available first on iOS, and it’s coming “soon” to Android and the web, Twitter says. (The company began testing the feature in October.)

To my great disappointment, however, I’ve found that after testing the feature, now I can’t make the chronological feed the default. Instead, I can only have Home as my default or set up the two Home and Latest Tweets tabs and swap between them as needed.

It’s not all bad. When jumping between Twitter and other apps on my phone, if Latest Tweets was the column I was looking at, it will be the focus when I return to Twitter. But when I force close and re-open the app when looking at the Latest Tweets column, the Home feed is what Twitter shows first. Twitter spokesperson Shaokyi Amdo said that the Home feed will be pinned first by default “for now” and confirmed there is no way to pin Latest first by default.

This feels like a big step back to me. Now, on iOS, any time I want to scroll through a reverse-ordered feed like I always did before, I’ll have to check first to see if I’m looking at the right feed. Fortunately, at least for now, Latest can still be the default on the web for me — including on my iPhone’s Safari.

Twitter first began rolling out its algorithmic timeline in 2016 (to some high-profile uproar) and introduced the sparkle icon to let you toggle between the algorithmic and reverse chronological feeds in 2018. To me, the sparkle always felt like a decent-enough way to let the Home and Latest timelines co-exist, but with the change announced Thursday, Twitter seems to be pushing users toward the algorithmic feed. Instagram, on the other hand, is testing bringing back its chronological feed.

Twitter makes it harder to choose the old reverse-chronological feed

The Messages app uses a standard called RCS (Rich Communication Services) as a replacement for SMS and allows for modern secure conversations. Unfortunately, things don’t always go to plan when you message your iMessage-using friends but this update hopes to fix some of the issues. With the latest updates, you’ll receive actual emojis from iPhone users, additionally, videos will no longer be blurry when sent because Google is integrating Google Photos to send links, preserving a video’s clarity.

Google said that while these updates improve the experience, it needs Apple to do some of the work by joining the rest of the industry and adopting RCS. Google says by doing this, Apple will make messaging more engaging and more secure, no matter the device people are using.

Another change coming to Messages is the introduction of the Personal and Business tabs to help you separate your messages. There will also be an option to automatically delete your one-time password messages after 24 hours to help keep your inbox clean. Google said that these changes launched in India initially and that they’re now coming to the United States. Hopefully, everyone else can get this update soon.

Finally, the Messages app is introducing two types of nudges. One of the nudges will remind you to say happy birthday to your friends and family and the other will remind you to reply to messages that you could have missed or need to follow up on so that nothing important is ignored.

Google reveals several new features coming to its Messages app

Google is working on a tool that should let you “archive” certain apps to help free up space on your device. In a blog post, Google explains any app with the feature will let you partially uninstall it, shrinking the app down by about 60 percent without removing it completely.

It does this by creating a new type of APK (Android Package) — otherwise known as the guts that make an app functional on your device — that it calls archived APKs. As Google points out, archived APKs are much smaller and save all your data until you restore it, bringing it back to its original size. The feature will become available to developers with the Bundletool 1.10 release, but it won’t be functional until Google launches the feature to the general public “later in the year.” Developers can also choose to opt-out of archived APKs, which Google also goes over in the blog post.

There still aren’t any details on how the feature will present itself on Android — perhaps it will appear alongside the uninstall option when you long-press an app’s icon. Either way, archived APKs seem like they could be great for anyone (specifically, me) who has a graveyard of seldom used apps and isn’t fully committed to letting go of them just yet (but also doesn’t want them to take up tons of storage space). Archiving and then restoring them should be much quicker than reinstalling an app, and will likely consume a lot less mobile data when you’re not on Wi-Fi.

Android’s archive feature will partially uninstall apps until you need them again

Apple’s rolling out its highly anticipated iOS 15.4 update next week. The update, which has been in beta since January, comes packed with an array of exciting new features offering improvements to the overall user experience.

Apple doesn’t pinpoint an exact release date, but it may become available as an update starting on March 18th. This is the same day Apple’s new iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro with sleek green finishes become available. As noted on the press release, each phone will ship with iOS 15.4, so it would only make sense to launch the update on the same day.

iOS 15.4 brings a mask-friendly Face ID that makes it possible to unlock your phone while wearing a face mask, a feature that works surprisingly well (in the beta, at least). Apple previously tried to address the face mask issue by creating a feature that bypasses Face ID and instead verifies your identity using your Apple Watch — that is, if you even have one. The new update should make the process of unlocking your phone a lot smoother while wearing a mask and shouldn’t require you to repeatedly type in your passcode or have an Apple Watch strapped to your wrist.

Apple’s new Tap to Pay feature is also rolling out with iOS 15.4, transforming compatible iPhones into terminals for contactless payments. This means you might see more merchants using their iPhones as a sort of digital cash register, potentially replacing Square’s card readers that plug directly into iPhones. The feature supports payments using Apple Pay, NFC-enabled credit and debit cards, as well as other digital wallets.

Moving along, iOS 15.4 introduces a new safety feature for AirTags, Apple’s item-tracking device that, unfortunately, has been used to stalk people. The update includes a notification that warns users against using AirTags to track someone’s location without their consent, building upon the anti-stalking features Apple released in February.

Other notable features include a fifth American voice for Siri, which Apple has confirmed belongs to a member of the LGBTQ+ community. iOS 15.4 also serves up a platter full of 36 new emoji that you can use to spice up your messages, including a melting face, a person peering through their fingers, and an awkward biting lip icon that’s fated to achieve the same notoriety as the eggplant emoji.

iOS 15.4 will be compatible with any device that supports iOS 15, ranging from the first generation iPhone 6S to the iPhone 13. You can view the full list of compatible devices here.

iOS 15.4 is set to release next week

The main upgrade in the third-gen iPhone SE is the A15 CPU that replaces A13 in the 2020 model. Still, Apple does not compare it apples to apples with the previous model. Instead, the company says the latest iPhone SE is 1.8x faster than iPhone 8 with its A11 CPU. You can expect less impressive performance uplifts when compared with the A13 or A14 chip.

Apart from upping the performance in the most affordable iPhone, the A15 CPU enables 5G support.

iPhone SE 2022 also received “an all-new camera system” with the same 12-megapixel sensor and f/1.8 aperture. It supports Smart HDR 4, Photographic Styles, Deep Fusion, and Portrait Mode. Like the 2020 model, iPhone SE 2022 offers a single-lens camera system. Wide and telephoto cameras are available in more expensive models.

Besides a new CPU and refreshed cameras, iPhone SE 2022 remains the same budget iPhone Apple introduced in 2020. The screen still has a somewhat tiny 4.7-inch diagonal with a 1334x750 resolution. The only difference is that it is now covered with Ceramic Shield glass, which is more resistant to cracks.

Apple says the latest iPhone SE has a better battery life thanks to the more efficient CPU and “the latest generation battery chemistry.” Still, you probably should not expect this phone to become a new battery champ.

iPhone SE 2022 will be available for preorder on March 11, 2022, in 30 countries. Sales start on March 18, 2022. Customers can choose from three colors (Starlight, Black, and Product Red), and storage options include 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB. Prices start at $429.

Apple unveils third-gen iPhone SE with A15 CPU and eight-year-old design

The scientists at the University of Surrey are hitting two birds with one stone in the invention they unveiled earlier this March: a recycled wearable device that can be powered by the wearer’s movement.

According to Dr. Bhaskar Dudem, project lead and Research Fellow at the University of Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute, the wrist device the team has unveiled is made from recycled materials – discarded paper wipes and plastic cups.

“It won’t be long until we have to ask ourselves which of the items we own are not connected to the internet,” Dr. Dudem said. “However, the current internet-of-things (IoT) revolution highlights the simple fact that our planet doesn’t have the raw resources to continue to make these devices which are in such high demand. Our research demonstrates that there is a path to creating sustainable technology that runs on electricity powered by us, the users of that technology.”

The prototype device can send Morse code and runs through the energy harvested from the wearer’s movements. It works using the materials called “Triboelectric Nanogenerators” that become electrically charged after coming into contact with one another. The materials generally use static charge to gather energy from the movements via the electrostatic induction process.

Due to its promising capability, the scientists realized the technology’s potential to change the smartwatch industry. Now, the team is focusing on plans to use it on the said wearable device, believing that it is a future game-changer for the consumer, medical and security sectors. 

“The core mission of the Advanced Technology Institute is to help build a world where clean energy is available to all,” said Professor Ravi Silva, Director of ATI at the University of Surrey. “Our energy-harvesting technology embodies this key mission, and we stand ready to work with industry to ensure this technology reaches its full potential.”

UNIS Scientists Develops Energy-harvesting Wearable Device Made From Recycled Materials

In a rather short blog post, Andrei Popescu, VP of Engineering for Android, confirmed that Microsoft Surface Duo will get Android 12L "later this year". The foldable device recently became eligible for Android 11. Although the development of Android 12L for Surface Duo seems to be going quickly, Google hasn’t committed to a concrete roadmap yet.

Android 12L seems to be the first iteration of Android since Honeycomb that has been intentionally optimized for large-screen devices such as tablets as well as foldable devices. However, Popescu has categorically noted that Android 12L is not a fork or another parallel version:

Starting later this year, we'll bring 12L to your favorite tablets and foldables with planned updates from Samsung, Lenovo and Microsoft. And we'll continue to build more features and functionalities to help you make the most of your larger screen devices in Android 13 and beyond.

It basically means Android 12L merely focuses on new form factors. Its core features will be baked into Android 13 and beyond. Google has previously demonstrated how Android 12L users can "drag-and-drop any app from the taskbar to enter split-screen mode so you can do two things at once". Last year, the company had revealed how the dual-paned notification screen also offers quick controls on one side and notifications on the other.

Microsoft Surface Duo arrived in late 2019 with Android 10. After waiting for more than two years, users started receiving Android 11. Moving ahead, it seems Microsoft will skip Android 12 development and deployment for Surface Duo/Surface Duo 2, and instead, jump straight to Android 12L.

It is interesting to note that Microsoft Launcher already offers several of the functions and UI elements that Android 12L promises. However, there’s a lot more to the OS. The APIs that Google will offer for Android 12L should help developers optimize their apps for foldables, dual-screen devices, and tablets.

Microsoft Surface Duo will get Android 12L confirms Google, and it's not a fork

The upcoming charger reportedly uses gallium nitride for more compact internals, increased power output, and better efficiency. It will join Apple's 140W USB-C GaN brick unveiled alongside the redesigned MacBook Pro in 2021.

There is no information on whether Apple wants to replace the current 20W USB-C charger or the more expensive 30 W USB-C charging brick. All we know is that the accessory will offer about 30 W power output and a new form factor.

Various manufacturers already offer different GaN chargers that boast higher power and compact designs. Besides, some available options are less expensive than Apple's official 20W USB-C charger. Moving to GaN will be a welcomed change considering a somewhat uninspiring power output and a chonky size of the current 20W USB-C charger.

On March 8, 2022, Apple hosts an event where the company is expected to reveal a third-gen iPhone SE alongside a new iPad Air. Ming-Chi Kuo does not say whether the new charger will show up during the presentation.

Of course, do not expect Apple to ship the new charger with iPhones in the box. Apple stopped selling iPhones with chargers and EarPods in 2020 to reduce e-waste and carbon footprint. At the same time, ever modern iPad comes with the 20W USB-C charger in the box.

Apple may release a new 30W GaN charger this year

Strangely, the new darker dark mode which is being tested on Google’s Android search app isn’t the same shade of black as the one currently being rolled out on desktops, however, it still looks great if you’re afraid of the blinding brightness of light mode. 

As spotted by 9to5Google, this change is most notably being applied to the background of Google’s Discover page, where the new dark mode uses an almost black colour value of #171717, a stark change from the lighter grey #202124 that we’re all used to.

Similarly to the desktop darker dark mode which is steadily being rolled out, this feature should be a great benefit for those with OLED displays, since it should conserve the limited battery life of your mobile device while also making colours pop thanks to the added contrast. 

Unlike the desktop darker dark mode, however, this change is not currently widely available as it is not yet being officially rolled out to all users. To access the new dark mode for yourself you’ll need to be in the latest 13.8 beta from the Google Play Store.

Google’s darker dark mode is coming to Android

“We value the feedback we receive about our products and after careful consideration, we plan to roll out a software update soon so users can control the performance while running game apps,” Samsung spokesperson Kelly Yeo said in a statement given to The Verge.

This statement comes after Samsung was caught, seemingly red-handed, throttling all but benchmarking tools on Galaxy S22 phones through the company’s preinstalled Game Optimizing Service.

Using this ‘service’ Samsung reportedly almost halved the performance of around 10,000 apps including social media apps such as Instagram and Tiktok, as well as games such as Genshin Impact. 

According to Samsung’s spokesperson, the Game Optimizing Service was designed to help games achieve a level of “great performance” while also “managing the device temperature effectively,” which suggests the range of phones is a little too powerful for their own good. 

This statement given to the media was echoed in an official announcement from Samsung on its Members app, which has been translated by Twitter user Dohyun Kim. In this statement, it was similarly promised that there was an update coming to the Game Optimizing Service to “provide an option to prioritize the performance as soon as possible.” 

Unfortunately for owners of the Galaxy S22 range of devices who are looking to get the most out of their phone, and don’t mind things getting a little toasty, there’s no official word on just how long a wait “as soon as possible” might be. 

Samsung has addressed reports of Galaxy S22 throttling, promising a fix

According to a report published by The Elec, Samsung is currently working on a new type of OLED display based on what the sources claim to be a "two-tandem structure." A two-tandem OLED panel would mean twice the brightness and four times the life expectancy compared to displays based on a single tandem structure. Samsung is internally calling it T1, with 'T' stands for tandem.

iPads featuring displays based on two-tandem structure are unlikely to debut anytime soon. If the report is to be believed, these iPads featuring the new display technology will debut sometime in 2024. The report also claims that the new two-tandem structure OLED displays will also be introduced to MacBook and iMac devices at a later date.

The mass production of T1 displays is expected to begin in 2023 and may first be used by the company itself in its smartphones and tablets. Meanwhile, the iPad and Mac devices will use the T2 displays, which will be the successor of T1. Commercial production of T2 displays is set to begin in 2024.

Apple is currently transitioning to mini-LED display technology for its iPad and Mac devices. Although not confirmed, one of the reasons why Apple is switching to mini-LED technology could be the price factor—they are significantly cheaper than OLED and micro-LED panels.

The report doesn't detail why the company wants to adopt a two-stack structure OLED panel instead of sticking to mini-LED. While the manufacturing cost of an OLED panel is higher than that of a mini-LED display panel, for Apple and Samsung, the two-tandem OLED may have a more favorable cost-benefit ratio.

Source: The Elec, The Korea Herald; via SamMobile

Future iPads may use a new type of OLED display manufactured by Samsung

The latest hotfix update carries OxygenOS 11.0.15.15 and includes fixes for freezing issues when sharing pictures in Gallery. However, the update includes no other changes apart from the fix. You can see the full official changelog below.

Changelog

Meanwhile, OnePlus has already rolled out the February 2022 security patch to many of its flagship and mid-range smartphones, including OnePlus 9RT, OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro, OnePlus Nord 2, OnePlus Nord N100.

However, it’s worth noting that the update will be available for every OnePlus Nord CE user from today. Also, you can manually check for an update on any OnePlus smartphone just by navigating to Settings > System > System updates.

In other news, OnePlus recently announced 150W SuperVOOC fast-charging technology with the promise of taking the battery from 0 to 100 percent in just 15 minutes. OnePlus is also adding this fast-charging technology to one of its upcoming mid-range smartphones.

OnePlus is pushing an important ‘hotfix update’ to OnePlus Nord CE

As noted by Android Authority, several people over on Korean forums have investigated Samsung's Game Optimizing Service (GOS) and found out that it "optimizes games" by throttling over 10,000 possible apps. The full list is compiled in an Excel file here, but download it at your own risk.

The list contains several popular apps including TikTok, Microsoft Office, Instagram, Netflix, and more. Interestingly, some of Samsung's own apps such as Samsung Cloud and Samsung Pay are in the list too. Benchmarking apps such as GeekBench 5 and 3DMark are excluded from this list.

While it's not uncommon for smartphone vendors to throttle apps, Samsung seems to be following the same trajectory as OnePlus. There are two issues with the approach of both companies. Rather than throttling apps according to some indicators or metrics, apps are being explicitly named in a list and then throttled. The other problem is that even if Samsung does need to do this, not informing users beforehand can be seen as a deceptive tactic where your phone scores excellent in benchmarks but in real use-cases, it throttles app performance in lieu of battery optimization.

Samsung is yet to comment on the accusations but we'll let you know if we get a statement.

Via: Android Authority

Samsung accused of throttling over 10,000 apps

According to a recently published press release, OPPO incorporated its self-developed BHE within the new ultra-fast 150W SUPERVOOC flash charge. As a result, the battery can effortlessly maintain roughly 80% of its original capacity, even after undergoing as many as 1,600 charge cycles. This figure is double the current industry standard, which is why it’s capable of providing exceptionally fast charging alongside the battery’s health protection.

On the other hand, OPPO’s new 240W SUPERVOOC flash charge technology marks the latest massive technological breakthrough in the industry. In only about 9 minutes, the 240W SUPERVOOC can charge a 4,500mAh battery from 1% to 100%.

OPPO’s Chief Charging Technology Scientist Jeff Zhang said:

150W SUPERVOOC with BHE

• Since it has two charge pumps, it can support up to 20V/7.5A charging.
• The adapter nearly has the same size as the previous generation’s adapter because it uses gallium nitride (GaN).
• The adaptor measures 58 x 57 x 30mm and weighs about 172g.
• Its battery health, safety, and performance are greatly improved thanks to OPPO’s Battery Health Engine.

Battery Health Engine

• It comes with two key technologies: the Smart Battery Health Algorithm and the Battery Healing Technology.
• The Smart Battery Health Algorithm can detect real-time electric potential within the battery’s negative electrodes.
• It ensures that dead lithium is kept to a minimum by automatically adjusting the charging currency and keeping it within a reasonable range.
• Battery Healing Technology ensures that the battery’s inner system is optimized and continuously repaired.

OPPO plans on incorporating BHE into most mid-to-high-end OPPO and OnePlus devices in the long run. The 150W SUPERVOOC flash charge with BHE will launch on a OnePlus smartphone in Q2 2022.

240W SUPERVOOC

• OPPO has pushed the limits of high-power flash charge technology with the 240W SUPERVOOC, as users will only need 9 minutes to charge a 4500mAh battery to 100%.
• It comes with three charge pumps.
• The power the handsets receive is convertible to 10V/24A.
• OPPO has already tested the technology for heat dissipation, ensuring that it’s safe for use.
• It has five safety protection measures and a specially-made intelligent control chip. This chip can control and manage the voltage, current, and temperature of the 240W SUPERVOOC.
• OPPO installed 13 temperature sensors in the smartphone it comes with, ensuring temperate protection and fewer chances of overheating.

OPPO Reveals High-Speed Flash Charging Breakthroughs

Google up its game in providing easy access to emergency contacts. It has begun the rollout of Fast Emergency Dialer (FED) to various Pixel units, allowing users to call different emergency services with just a slide of a finger.

According to the Google Support Page, the FED feature will allow the individual to conduct calls even with the phone locked since it is located in the lock screen and emergency menu of the Pixel phones. When trying to access it through the lock screen, the FED will be in the form of a swipe on a slider. Nonetheless, Google still provides the option for the Traditional Emergency Dialer (TED) that will allow users to dial phone numbers manually. You can choose this connection option with emergency services in the Personal Safety app.

FED has capabilities to make emergency calls convenient and faster for everyone, which can be handy in times of unexpected events. According to Google, the FED has three main features. First is Quick Access, which allows one to call an emergency number with one action through the slider. Second, FED will automatically find emergency numbers and put them on your phone whenever you are in other places. Last, FED will also offer and search for multiple emergency numbers in your area, such as those from Police, Fire, or medical services. This can be helpful for travelers who need instant help in foreign lands; however, Google noted that FED isn’t available in all regions or areas, and its availability will depend on the user’s carrier and other circumstances. In that case, the Pixel phone will automatically opt for TED.

On the other hand, while the FED is basically designed to be accessed through the slider of a turned-on lock screen, Google also mentioned that the feature can be accessed in other ways depending on the Pixel device you have. For Android 11 and earlier and Android 12 on Pixel 5 and earlier, the FED can be accessed by holding the Power button for 5 seconds, tapping Emergency, and using the slider in the emergency menu. Meanwhile, Android 12 on Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro can summon FED with power and volume buttons. To do this, just press the two buttons simultaneously, tap the Emergency, and use the slider in the emergency menu.

Google Starts Fast Emergency Dialer Rollout to Pixel Lockscreens

This will be HTC's first major move in a long time following a considerable period of no-show where it neither announced its withdrawal from the market nor released any flagship smartphone since 2018 when it launched the HTC Exodus 1. However, during this time, the company has kept itself occupied with selling low-end phones in select markets.

HTC's Vice President, Charles Huang stated that the company has plans of incorporating particular metaverse capabilities in the upcoming smartphone. However, Huang did not shed light on the hardware and capabilities of the device that is set to be presented as soon as next month.

WinFuture suggests that the integration of metaverse capabilities is because the company is targeting users who would like to employ HTC's smartphone for VR and AR applications. Correspondingly, HTC's co-founder and CEO, Cher Wang, mentioned that HTC aims to keep on investing in the VR product market on an extensive scale.

Presently, we do not know if the new flagship phone will be available in Europe. To know more, we'll have to wait until there are further statements from the company.

Source: WinFuture via PhoneArena

HTC comes out of hibernation, teases new metaverse-focused smartphone

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona has returned. But it's not the same as before. Yes, the event has been changing over recent years—from Samsung holding its own events for its Galaxy flagships before the showcase comes around to the pandemic disrupting the annual event for the past two years.

But MWC 2022 has found itself in a strange middle ground. True to form, Samsung revealed its latest Galaxy S22 series weeks in advance of the event, while major brands such as Sony said they wouldn’t have a presence at the event at all. Furthermore, OnePlus, often a big reason to tune into MWC each year for its latest flagship launch, has been strangely AWOL (it launched the OnePlus 10 Pro in China and nowhere else thus far).

Instead, mobile brands like TCL, Nokia, and Motorola are holding the fort. This may not be the most prestigious of fields, but they came with a raft of announcements to keep things interesting.

Outside of the companies whose products are readily available in the US, there was more on the agenda. Brands like Realme, Honor, and Xiaomi all had hardware to show. Perhaps most interesting for US onlookers is what Oppo unveiled. Oppo is a sister brand to OnePlus, and their ties have grown ever closer of late. The Oppo Find X5 Pro, revealed just ahead of MWC, even sports a Hasselblad partnership—a new team-up that came to the OnePlus 9 Pro last year.

Fortunately, aside from this oddly limited showing from the phone world, there was more to get excited about at MWC 2022. Laptops, 2-in-1s, tablets, and a few surprises have come to the rescue of the Mobile World Congress this year.

Despite lacking a flagship phone launch at the event, we actually return to a top tech brand for one of the most interesting sets of products for MWC 2022: Samsung, which revealed the Galaxy Book2 Pro and Galaxy Book2 Pro 360.

The first iterations were no-frills in terms of design, just well-built, stylish, and super thin—alongside top ultrabook specs. The Galaxy Book2 Pro and Book2 Pro 360 look to continue the trend. You still get all that we just mentioned but with a 2022 dose of the latest Intel chips, Thunderbolt 4, FHD 1080p webcam, and 65W USB-C charging capabilities. The Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro has a starting price of $1,050 (£999) and the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 starts at $1,250 (£949).

While Samsung’s laptops are top notch and great for right now, they aren’t devices to get you excited about the future of computing. At this year’s MWC, Lenovo and Huawei have covered that in the laptop space.

Lenovo announced a lot of productivity laptops for home and business, as well as some gaming laptops, tablets, and more. However, the pick of the bunch is the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s Gen 1.

This is a new device for Lenovo, and what makes it a standout is that it's the first device to be announced that features the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 chip—Snapdragon’s latest PC system-on-a-chip (SoC). It’s exciting because Windows on ARM has shown it can facilitate excellent hardware like the super thin and stealthy Surface Pro X, but compatibility and performance issues have reigned thus far.

Following the success of Apple moving to ARM for the likes of its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 14-inch—providing big efficiency gains while still maintaining performance—Windows transitioning to a similar chip architecture feels like an inevitability. But it has been a rocky road, and every new Snapdragon PC chip and Windows update seems to bring promises of improved compatibility. The ThinkPad X13s Gen 1 will be the first opportunity to put an 8cx Gen 3 chip and Windows 11 on ARM combination through its paces.

While this next product from Huawei won’t be landing on US shores, it’s worth consideration in markets where Huawei remains available—like the UK, Europe, and China. The Huawei MateBook E is the company’s first attempt at a Surface Pro–like 2-in-1 device.

The tablet component is very thin—a hurdle the rejuvenated Surface Pro 8 attempted to clear but then fell foul with poor battery life and active fans. It will be interesting to see if Huawei has been able to get the balance right.

Then, there's the Kindle and reMarkable-like Huawei MatePad Paper—a 10.3-inch e-ink tablet looking to address both your e-reading and note-taking needs.

Rounding things out for Huawei is the MateStation X, an all-in-one with serious iMac vibes. There's no dedicated GPU, just an AMD mobile chip, putting it in competition with the latest colorful M1 Mac.

Returning to one of the brands that tried its hardest to keep the “mobile” in Mobile World Congress, TCL wasn’t shy about venturing into other categories, too. TCL expanded its tablet range with its NXTPAPER MAX 10, TAB 10 HD 4G, and TAB 10s 5G. TCL’s NXTPAPER devices offer a paper-like canvas to accommodate drawing and note-taking while still giving you other tablet goodness such as a slim bezel FHD+ display for showing off movies and TV shows.

TCL’s other tablet options are more traditional and get much of their appeal from big battery life: 5,500mAh for the TAB 10 HD 4G, and 8,000mAh for the TAB 10s 5G, as well as low prices.

Information on availability is to come for the NXTPAPER MAX 10 in the US and Europe, with pricing starting at €269 (~$304/£227). The TCL TAB 10 HD 4G is available now in Europe, with US availability to come, at a starting price of €179 (~$202/£151), while the TCL TAB 10s 5G will go on sale later in the year, starting at €349 (~$394/£294). TCL also revealed a new higher-end TAB PRO 12 5G is on the way, with a large display for an entertainment and productivity focus.

All these new and interesting non-mobile-phone products beg the question: Why are other product categories taking center stage? Yes, after the pandemic not all companies seemed keen on MWC 2022, like the aforementioned Sony. Also, phone manufacturers that don’t have a big presence in the US now make up a sizable chunk of the show’s lineup—such as Xiaomi, Oppo, Realme, and Honor. The absence of a new OnePlus flagship really doesn’t help, either.

However, to see why the markets outside of phones—in particular, compact devices for productivity and entertainment—Microsoft chief product officer and Surface hype man Panos Panay may have given us the answer on January 26 in a Windows blog post titled “A new era for the PC.” Panay cited analysts Canalys who noted that the PC market had seen its largest growth in a decade over 2021—a level of growth that was 27 percent higher than 2019.

Moreover, brands like Qualcomm are keen to push the narrative that PCs are becoming more of a mobile experience, too, an argument that is getting easier with Apple’s move to traditionally mobile-phone housed ARM chips on its laptops.

“The PC is here to stay. It’s going to become more powerful … It’s going to become more mobile,” are the words of Qualcomm senior vice president and general manager Alex Katouzian in a blog post on the future of the PC.

Why is the mobile phone show full of other devices that facilitate working and playing from home? These companies believe it’s what the people want, and are keen to oblige.

The Most Intriguing Launches at MWC 2022 Weren’t Phones

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Intel Arc GPU squeezes into Samsung’s lightweight Galaxy Book2 Pro

We’re here at Mobile World Congress 2022 in Barcelona, where a raft of new devices have been unveiled. It certainly isn’t the biggest year for mobile phones at the event, particularly for products coming to the US. Notably missing are the splashy releases by Samsung we've seen in years past. 

Nevertheless, HMD Global (maker of Nokia phones), TCL, and Motorola have done their best to keep the gadget-reveal hype going. Meanwhile, a brand like Oppo (in the absence of a major new model from sister brand OnePlus) is highlighting what’s on offer for a global audience, with the US sadly missing out on a heavy hitter.

TCL and HMD are two brands without the strongest showing in Barcelona, with a wide range of tech being launched. As such, TCL takes pride of place in this roundup with two dedicated entries.

The straightforward phone launches from TCL come in the form of a new TCL 30 5G, TCL 30+, TCL 30, TCL 30 SE, and TCL 30 E. (That's not confusing at all.) They're successors to the 20 series from 2021. The big news here are the prices—the most expensive is the 30 5G at €249 (roughly $280 in US dollars), and the price drops in a sliding scale down to the 30 E (€139). US pricing and availability have yet to be confirmed, but the 30+, 30, and 30 SE are all available to buy now in Europe, and the other two models are set for release in April.

And the specs offer good value for the money. Each phone gets a 50-MP triple-camera setup, except for the TCL 30 E, which settles for a 50-MP dual camera team-up.  The displays and big batteries are likely to appeal to many. The TCL 30 5G, TCL 30+, and TCL 30 all get 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED panels. The full range is sporting roughly a 5,000-mAh cell, which should offer battery life well into a second day. 

The one obvious downside is that only some of these devices are guaranteed to get one Android OS upgrade (to Android 13) and two years of security updates.

It wasn’t all about quantity for TCL though, with some quality inbound in the form of interesting concept devices. First, there’s the TCL Fold 'n Roll. The name says it all here: This phone is both foldable and rollable, allowing you to both extend the display and shrink it down to size, then close it shut. 

Next is the 360-degree Ultra Flex, again continuing TCL’s useful theme of explaining it all in the name. This foldable can be closed shut with the screen on the inside or the outside. The final one, in some ways, combines both these ideas. The TCL Surround Display features a display on the front when closed. Then, when open, you get a larger display on the front and a display half the width on the back. It’s an interesting look, but the practical benefits remain unclear.

It's worth noting that we've yet to get our hands on TCL’s foldable line, and this is not the first time we’ve seen such devices. These are all just concepts, so it's unlikely we'll see any of them available for sale, though TCL has been hinting that it might launch a foldable this year.

Motorola is keeping things simple at MWC 2022, with one phone headlining its offering—the Edge+ (technically announced last week). The brand’s latest flagship sports the top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, a swift 144-Hz screen refresh rate, and a triple-camera setup with optical image stabilization. 

The design is as straightforward as it gets, but additional appeal comes from three years of bimonthly security updates and two OS upgrades. That's still not as great as what Samsung now offers, but it's a start. Oh, and there's a stylus, like on the new Galaxy S22 Ultra. 

The phone is listed at $1,000, but Motorola is offering an $899 starting price for the first few weeks of the phone's launch—which suggests that you should probably never pay $1,000 for it. Motorola didn't share any official release dates.

Closely following TCL when it comes to the sheer number of devices being revealed at this show is HMD Global, which makes Nokia phones. Along with new earbuds and wireless headphones, the company showcased three new smartphones. 

The top dog is the Nokia C2 2nd Edition—a modest device you can expect to be super cheap. It comes with a 5.7-inch display, up to 32 GB of internal storage (expandable to 256 GB via MicroSD), and a single 5-MP rear camera. This model also comes with a removable 2,400-mAh battery (you read that right, and no, you haven’t gone back to 2010), and a headphone jack.

Next, there’s the Nokia C21 and C21 Plus. The smaller model also comes with a removable battery, while the Plus does not. Both models have a 6.5-inch HD+ HDR display. So in this case, “Plus” does not indicate a larger size. Instead, the Plus offers a higher megapixel count on the camera and a larger battery. Both also offer a headphone jack and a fingerprint sensor. Pricing and availability are yet to be confirmed for all these new models.

Weirdly, HMD didn't tie a feature phone announcement with its lineup, though that might be because it announced a remake of the Nokia 2760 as a flip phone at CES 2022 (alongside four other smartphones). 

Oppo phones aren't readily available in the US, but the company often creates impressive flagship experiences that rival the likes of Samsung, Google, and Apple elsewhere in the world. The new Find X5 series is no different.

The Oppo Find X5 Pro is the flagship, sporting a unique look that has evolved from its previous version. Rather than having an angular camera bump on the rear that looks like it has been attached after the fact, here the camera module is molded and blends in. 

That’s not the only thing that may make the phone’s design divisive; the black color option is extremely shiny and reflective—showing off even the slightest smudges and prints. Here's hoping the white version won't have the same issue.

Oppo’s cameras have long been a selling point. Here we get a 50-MP main camera, a 50-MP ultrawide, and a 13-MP telephoto. Interestingly, while this device is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, Oppo has opted to use its own MariSilicon X Imaging NPU to power the image processing. This will certainly make for an intriguing point of comparison against flagships using Qualcomm's processor. 

Oppo has also adopted a Hasselblad partnership, following in the footsteps of its sister company OnePlus. The partnership here is for software only, with some Hasselblad-themed styles included.

The final big proposition of Oppo’s latest is super speedy 80-watt wired charging and 50-watt wireless charging—both backed up by a pleasingly sized 5,000-mAh battery. The phone is set to start at £1,049 (about $1,400) in the UK, making it one of the pricier flagship phones around.

The next three phone brands don’t quite reach the heights of Oppo in showing US phone buyers what they're missing, but they certainly represent added choice across the rest of the world. You may be familiar with Poco, a Xiaomi subsidiary that got plenty of praise for its Pocophone F1 back in 2018, though it never made it to US shores.

Poco now has a wide range of phones, with its MWC offering consisting of the new Poco X4 Pro 5G and Poco M4 Pro. Like many budget phones outside the US, these brands focus on cramming flagship-worthy speed into a low price bracket, and they often come with a surprisingly strong camera, particularly when compared to brands like HMD Global. 

The X4 Pro, for example, offers a 120-Hz AMOLED display, a 108-MP camera, and 67-watt charging—all at a starting price of €299 ($336/£250). The Poco M4 Pro, despite lacking 5G, looks interesting with its 90-Hz AMOLED screen, triple-camera setup, and MediaTek Helio G96—a chip range that typically favors mobile gaming performance compared to Snapdragon’s offerings. This too comes in at an extremely low price: €219 ($246/£184).

Realme, another sister brand of Oppo and OnePlus, has been on a similar path to Honor as we approach this MWC. Both brands have typically offered value-for-money options but are now are hoping to get in on some flagship action.

Realme’s headliner is the GT 2 Pro. This phone was launched in China on January 4, but now it's coming to the rest of the world … er, except for the US. It sports plenty of top specs, but its most interesting feature is what it's made of—the GT 2 Pro is constructed from a bio-based polymer. It’s a combination the company believes promotes both style and sustainability. Bio-based polymers are made up of renewable raw materials alongside nonrenewables like fossil-fuel-based carbon.

Aside from its intriguing construction, a unique 150-degree ultrawide camera is another eye-catching feature that might let you ditch the awkward swivel you need to do for panorama shots. 

Realme has yet to reveal pricing and availability, but it is a brand known for drawing you in with aggressively low costs. It'll be interesting to see how much it can undercut rivals like Samsung and Oppo.

It isn’t all about budget devices for these ambitious non-US manufacturers, though. Honor, a former subsidiary of Huawei now trying to make it on its own, had its biggest launch yet at MWC 2022 with the Magic4 Pro.

The Magic4 Pro is a fully-fledged flagship with a 6.81-inch LTPO OLED display and a smart 120-Hz refresh rate. The camera system is the big sell, with a 50-MP wide, a 50-MP ultrawide, and an exciting 64-MP periscope telephoto lens for getting some great zoom shots. 

The top Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip is backed up by a healthy-sized 4,600-mAh battery and remarkably speedy 100-watt charging—wired and wireless.

Honor’s main difficulty since its revival has been widespread availability, with a confusing mix of Chinese and global launches, often falling short of making the phones easily available in Europe. Things were more promising with its previous launch, the mid-range Honor 50, which got more eyes in the UK with various retailers. Pricing and availability for the Magic4 Pro haven't been announced yet, so time will tell.

The Most Exciting Phones From MWC 2022

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With the cheap phone market dominated by big Chinese names like Redmi, Realme and Pocophone, it can be easy to forget about the stalwart mobile manufacturers – but HMD Global has just given us a reason to pay it some heed.

HMD Global, which makes Nokia phones, debuted three new super-budget mobiles as part of annual tech conference MWC 2022.

These new mobiles are the Nokia C2 2nd Edition (the original came in 2020), Nokia C21, and Nokia C21 Plus – they're all part of the company's C line, which is its lowest-end collection, compared to the slightly-higher-end G and verging-on-mid-range X families.

As we said, these are super affordable handsets. The first and last phones are launching in the UK, and we have their prices as £75 (roughly $100, AU$140) and £100 (around $130, AU$190) respectively.

Here are their specs, so you can see how they compare:

If you're confused about the C21 Plus' battery situation, it seems that you can opt between two sizes, just like how many mobiles offer you a choice in RAM and storage.

In an age where every budget phone maker is trying to put out a super-flashy, specs-heavy monster, it's slightly refreshing to see genuine true budget phones. Seriously, how many phones do you see nowadays with just 1GB RAM, or with a single rear camera?

Obviously, these devices aren't going to run like your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy device, but they're designed for people who don't need a best-in-class smartphone. They're cheap and cheery, perhaps for seniors or technophobes who can't totally put off the tech-ification of the world.

Alongside the new smartphones, HMD Global unveiled a few headphones and earbuds, and they're all affordable devices just like their mobile counterparts.

The Nokia phones are coming to the UK starting in April, but we don't know if they'll be arriving elsewhere, so we'll have to wait and see.

These aren't the only cheap phones we've seen at MWC, either. TCL unveiled its own selection with impressive rear cameras and big batteries, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. We're expecting more to launch all the time, so stay tuned in the coming days for more.

These new Nokia mobiles remind us what 'cheap phone' really means

There is much more than Android apps support for Duo users to get excited. The February firmware update also brings the latest security patches. Other noteworthy changes include device and UI stability improvements, improved system performance, and improvements to the Android Auto experience. You can see the full official changelog below.

Changelog

Notably, the update is currently rolling to the unlocked variants of the Surface Duo in North America and Europe. The company is currently testing the release for carrier-locked Surface Duos, and the update should be available in a matter of a few days.

Meanwhile, you can download the update on your Surface Duo 2 by Checking for Updates in Settings.

Surface Duo users can now run Android apps on their PCs

Reddit’s iOS and Android app gets its biggest update in years

Revenue from in-app purchases across both apps and games totaled $131.6 billion in 2021, claims a new intelligence report from Sensor Tower. The report also indicates why smartphone app developers are relying heavily on subscriptions to retain users. Consumer spending on subscription-based apps increased 41% in 2021. In 2020, the segment grew by 34%.

Consumers spent $18.3 billion on subscriptions in 2021. In 2020, the figure stood at $13 billion. That’s a massive 41% jump in revenue. Surprisingly, even after growing at such a rate, revenue from subscriptions represents just a small portion of the overall revenue from in-app purchases across both apps and games.

Subscriptions account for just 14% of the cumulative revenue from smartphone apps and games. The number may seem small, but in 2020, revenue from the subscription model, particularly in non-game apps, represented just 11.7% of the total consumer spending. Simply put, subscriptions are a lucrative source of revenue, and the sector is growing consistently.

The app categories that witnessed the most growth were shopping, entertainment, health and fitness, work, and education. In the subscriptions game, YouTube was the top revenue producer globally. The video streaming site was followed by dating service Tinder and Japanese webtoon service Piccoma.

There’s little doubt that well-established tech giants, as well as startups, are looking at subscriptions to earn a steady stream of income from smartphone users. It is no coincidence that 90 out of the top 100 top-grossing U.S. apps currently include a subscription.

Apple’s iOS ecosystem on an iPhone still commands the lion’s share in the subscriptions model. Nearly 75% of consumer spending on subscription apps came through Apple’s App Store, indicated the report. However, it is important to note that Android users increased their spending on subscription apps by 78% on a Year-on-Year (YoY) basis. Apple iPhone users only increased their spending by 31%.

Subscription revenue in apps sees massive growth, still a small part of in-app purchases