Mystical Samsung Galaxy A device arrives on Geekbench

Samsung decided to match its Galaxy A portfolio to the Galaxy S monikers and announced the Galaxy A8 (2018) and the Galaxy A8+ (2018) in the end of 2017. A phone from the Korean manufacturer has just popped up on Geekbench with model name SM-A750FN. The phone was benchmarked with Exynos 7885 SoC that has two performance cores at 2.2 GHz and six more for efficiency at 1.6 GHz. The RAM on the SM-A750FN is 4 GB and the phone is listed with Android Oreo 8.0. All specs are the same with the Galaxy A8+ (2018), suggesting the new phone might be different in some other aspects like screen...

LG Q7+ to launch on T-Mobile with support for 600 MHz band

T-Mobile has a habit of posting future smartphones a bit too early. In this month, T-Mobile has posted a couple of mid-range devices (Moto E5 Play and E5 Plus, Samsung Galaxy J7 Star) to its support pages, all of which support T-Mobile's latest 600 MHz band for better and stronger signal. Today, a new device was spotted on T-Mobile's support site by TmoNews. The LG Q7+ is expected to hit T-Mobile very soon with support for the aforementioned 600 MHz frequency (band 71). The Q7+ is an LG Q7 with higher RAM and storage (4GB + 64GB). There's a 5.5-inch display with FHD+ resolution...

WhatsApp updated to support four-person video chat

Back in May, Facebook held its F8 developers conference where it announced new features for its Facebook family of apps. More specifically, it was at this event that WhatsApp was officially going to get group calling sometime in the future. Today, WhatsApp has officially announced that group calling for both voice and video is finally here. The messaging app also shares that WhatsApp users spend more than 2 billion minutes on WhatsApp calls per day. To start a group call, start a one-on-one video or voice call with a single person. Then, you'll see a button at the top-right...

Report: Apple Pay to make up half of all contact-less payments in 2020

A new report from Junper Research predicts that the in-store contact-less payments industry will break $2 trillion by the year 2020. 2018 is the first year that the market will break past $1 trillion, one year earlier than Juniper Research anticipated. Apple will lead the mobile payments market with Apple Pay anticipated to make up half of all mobile wallet payments globally by the year 2020. Along with Samsung Pay, Google Pay, and other OEM Pay wallets, these services will reach 450 million users by the same year. Mobile Payment transactions will make up 15% of all contact-less payments...

Samsung Wireless Charger Duo price and retail box leaks - already available in Russia

Just this weekend, we saw renders of two unreleased Samsung Wireless Fast Charge docks. One is a redesigned Fast Charger that would be updated to support the Galaxy Note9's supposed faster wireless charging (EP-P3100), and the other one was the Samsung Wireless Charger Duo (EP-N6100), which has two wireless charging areas: one upright and the other flat. Today, a new report from MobilTelefon.ru brings live images to support the renders. In fact, the Samsung Wireless Charger Duo is already available in a Samsung retail store in Russia for a retail price of RUB 6,990 (~USD...

Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium is now available in the US for $999.99

Sony's newest top of the line smartphone has just become available in the US, and right on time. The Xperia XZ2 Premium went on pre-order in the States at the beginning of the month, and around three weeks later it's now in stock at both Amazon and Best Buy (see the Sources linked below). It packs a 4K HDR touchscreen, being the first handset ever to don that setup, but living on the cutting edge of technology will cost you dearly. $999.99, to be precise. That's for an unlocked unit that will work on GSM-based carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Straight Talk, MetroPCS, and Cricket....

Asus Zenfone 3 Max ZC553KL is now being updated to Android 8.1 Oreo

Today Asus has started sending out an update to Android 8.1 Oreo to the Zenfone 3 Max ZC553KL. This particular model launched in November of 2016, so it's good to see that the Taiwanese company hasn't forgotten about it, software-wise. The Zenfone 3 Max initially ran Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, then got updated to Nougat, and now it's time for it to jump straight to 8.1. It might in fact be the first Asus smartphone to receive this specific version of the OS. Other members of the Zenfone 3 line have gotten 8.0. The new version is 15.0200.1807.406. Aside from packing all the goodies that...

Huawei Mate 20 Pro live image and spec sheet allegedly leak

Huawei's next flagship smartphone is coming this fall and it will be the Mate 20 (echoing the switch from 10 to 20 this year for the P series). A live image purporting to show the Mate 20 Pro has been leaked in China, and it portrays a device with no notch but what seems to be a very good screen-to-body ratio nevertheless. There's not a lot more that can be ascertained from the picture alone, but the same tipster that shared it has helpfully also listed some of the phone's specs. Thus, the Mate 20 Pro will allegedly have the Kirin 980 chipset at the helm (which should become...

Oppo R17 spy shots offer a clear look at the new smaller notch

With the R15, Oppo adopted the notch. With the R17, it might shrink it down. We saw photos by TENAA, but the one of the front was too dark to make out any detail. These two images from Weibo show an Essential-style notch, though with a slightly different design. By the looks of it, the Oppo R17 will house only a selfie camera and an earpiece in its notch. Look at the separate glass panel in the second photo, it gives a better look. It's not clear where the proximity sensor and ambient light sensor go in this setup. Oppo R17's notch is smaller, looks like the F9 notch • Just the...

Amazon is planning to give Prime Video a big makeover

Could user profiles and better personalization features be coming to Amazon’s Prime Video app at long last? The company’s new Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke just teased that a major upgrade to Amazon’s streaming video app is in the works – and she already has it running on a phone in her office, she said.

The exec was speaking at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in L.A., according to reports from AdWeek [paywall], TheWrap, and Deadline, when she mentioned the app’s big makeover.

And while Salke’s statements were light on key details – like when such an effort would reach end users, for example, or what changes, exactly, would be in store, there’s plenty of room to speculate on what Prime Video’s app today lacks.

For starters, unlike competitors such as Netflix and Hulu, Prime Video’s app doesn’t focus on making personalized recommendations about what to watch next.

Instead, the interface features a number of content groupings of shows or movies that are “included with Prime.” These are organized by category and type – like “Comedy Movies” or “Recently Added TV,” for example. It also showcases content that’s top rated, popular, or trending, along with some of its own editorial recommendations, like a section for Amazon’s “Original Movies” or its “Exclusive TV.”

A row may be dedicated to suggestions things to watch next based on viewing history, but it’s easily overlooked. Overall, the interface has always felt more focused on pushing Prime content in a variety of ways, rather than helping you discover new things you’ll actually like.

What makes this worse is that Amazon doesn’t offer user profiles, where household members could each have their own watchlist and set of recommendations – features that are standard on rival streaming apps today, including Hulu, Netflix, and even newcomers like YouTube TV.

And though Amazon does offer parental controls to lock down viewing, it doesn’t allow parents and kids to keep separate profiles where adult content is actually hidden from children.

These would all be obvious areas of improvement for a new Amazon Prime Video app, along with a better mechanism for discovering Prime Video’s optional add-on subscriptions, known as Prime Video Channels. Amazon today lets users build their own a la carte TV service by selecting premium channels like HBO, Showtime, Starz, CBS All Access, and more. But the Prime Video app itself doesn’t make channel suggestions in any sort of personal way – it simply offers an interface where you can browse through all of them.

But Amazon’s Prime Video Channels are rapidly becoming a driving force for over-the-top viewing, accounting for 55 percent of all direct-to-consumer video subscriptions. Amazon could easily revamp this feature to make it an even better selling point for Prime Video app users.

And of course, Amazon could still do a better job of highlighting its own originals – especially as it now has Emmy award winners and new nominees to promote – but in a way that feels more in tune with the viewers’ interests.

The company has at least publicly acknowledged that profiles are something it knows users want. In fact, it has even responded to incoming tweets with comments that explain how profiles aren’t available “at this time,” or “yet,” or say that’s a “good suggestion” when people offer feedback.

As for Salke’s statements, the most she offered is that the new Prime Video interface is “much more intuitive,” which hints towards improved navigation and how she finds it be “sort of seamless the way they’ve actually…” well, something – she cut herself off from that last reveal, by saying “I don’t know if I should give it away. It’s cool!”

Uh-huh. Good one.

She does say that the team wanted to develop the best UI (user interface) to line up with Amazon’s investment – meaning, apparently, the app should better highlight Amazon’s ~$4+ billion spent on original programming this year.

She also mentioned some of its upcoming high-profile series, like the sci-fi fan favorite “The Expanse,” which Amazon rescued from Syfy’s cancellation; the new “Lord of the Rings” project; and the Julia Roberts thriller “Homecoming,” directed by “Mr. Robot’s” Sam Esmail. Plus, she referenced three new series, including “The Expatriates,” from Nicole Kidman’s production company; Lena Waithe’s exec-produced horror series “Them;” and the sci-fi romantic comedy from “The Office’s” Greg Daniels, called “Upload.”

Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer finally arrives for $530

Xiaomi announced the Mi 8 series in three flavors - a regular version, a cheaper Mi 8 SE and a premium variant with see-through back and in-house Face ID solution, called Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer. The phone is finally arriving at the Mi Store, as announced by the company, for CNY3,699 which is nearly $530. The phone has a Snapdragon 845 chipset, coupled with 8 GB RAM. Storage is 128 GB, although this is all you get - no microSD slot on board. The screen is 6.21" Super AMOLED panel with a cutout on top for the selfie camera, speaker, and advanced facial recognition software, simply...

A pickaxe for the AI gold rush, Labelbox sells training data software

Every artificial intelligence startup or corporate R&D lab has to reinvent the wheel when it comes to how humans annotate training data to teach algorithms what to look for. Whether it’s doctors assessing the size of cancer from a scan or drivers circling street signs in self-driving car footage, all this labeling has to happen somewhere. Often that means wasting six months and as much as a million dollars just developing a training data system. With nearly every type of business racing to adopt AI, that spend in cash and time adds up.

Labelbox builds artificial intelligence training data labeling software so nobody else has to. What Salesforce is to a sales team, Labelbox is to an AI engineering team. The software-as-a-service acts as the interface for human experts or crowdsourced labor to instruct computers how to spot relevant signals in data by themselves and continuously improve their algorithms’ accuracy.

Today, Labelbox is emerging from six months in stealth with a $3.9 million seed round led by Kleiner Perkins and joined by First Round and Google’s Gradient Ventures.

“There haven’t been seamless tools to allow AI teams to transfer institutional knowledge from their brains to software,” says co-founder Manu Sharma. “Now we have over 5,000 customers, and many big companies have replaced their own internal tools with Labelbox.”

Kleiner’s Ilya Fushman explains that “If you have these tools, you can ramp up to the AI curve much faster, allowing companies to realize the dream of AI.”

Inventing the best wheel

Sharma knew how annoying it was to try to forge training data systems from scratch because he’d seen it done before at Planet Labs, a satellite imaging startup. “One of the things that I observed was that Planet Labs has a superb AI team, but that team had been for over six months building labeling and training tools. Is this really how teams around the world are approaching building AI?,” he wondered.

Before that, he’d worked at DroneDeploy alongside Labelbox co-founder and CTO Daniel Rasmuson, who was leading the aerial data startup’s developer platform. “Many drone analytics companies that were also building AI were going through the same pain point,” Sharma tells me. In September, the two began to explore the idea and found that 20 other companies big and small were also burning talent and capital on the problem. “We thought we could make that much smarter so AI teams can focus on algorithms,” Sharma decided.

Labelbox’s team, with co-founders Ysiad Ferreiras (third from left), Manu Sharma (fourth from left), Brian Rieger (sixth from left) Daniel Rasmuson (seventh from left)

Labelbox launched its early alpha in January and saw swift pickup from the AI community that immediately asked for additional features. With time, the tool expanded with more and more ways to manually annotate data, from gradation levels like how sick a cow is for judging its milk production to matching systems like whether a dress fits a fashion brand’s aesthetic. Rigorous data science is applied to weed out discrepancies between reviewers’ decisions and identify edge cases that don’t fit the models.

“There are all these research studies about how to make training data” that Labelbox analyzes and applies, says co-founder and COO Ysiad Ferreiras, who’d led all of sales and revenue at fast-rising grassroots campaign texting startup Hustle. “We can let people tweak different settings so they can run their own machine learning program the way they want to, instead of being limited by what they can build really quickly.” When Norway mandated all citizens get colon cancer screenings, it had to build AI for recognizing polyps. Instead of spending half a year creating the training tool, they just signed up all the doctors on Labelbox.

Any organization can try Labelbox for free, and Ferreiras claims hundreds have. Once they hit a usage threshold, the startup works with them on appropriate SaaS pricing related to the revenue the client’s AI will generate. One called Lytx makes DriveCam, a system installed on half a million trucks with cameras that use AI to detect unsafe driver behavior so they can be coached to improve. Conde Nast is using Labelbox to match runway fashion to related items in their archive of content.

Eliminating redundancy, and jobs?

The big challenge is convincing companies that they’re better off leaving the training software to the experts instead of building it in-house where they’re intimately, though perhaps inefficiently, involved in every step of development. Some turn to crowdsourcing agencies like CrowdFlower, which has their own training data interface, but they only work with generalist labor, not the experts required for many fields. Labelbox wants to cooperate rather than compete here, serving as the management software that treats outsourcers as just another data input.

Long-term, the risk for Labelbox is that it’s arrived too early for the AI revolution. Most potential corporate customers are still in the R&D phase around AI, not at scaled deployment into real-world products. The big business isn’t selling the labeling software. That’s just the start. Labelbox wants to continuously manage the fine-tuning data to help optimize an algorithm through its entire life cycle. That requires AI being part of the actual engineering process. Right now it’s often stuck as an experiment in the lab. “We’re not concerned about our ability to build the tool to do that. Our concern is ‘will the industry get there fast enough?'” Ferreiras declares.

Their investor agrees. Last year’s big joke in venture capital was that suddenly you couldn’t hear a startup pitch without “AI” being referenced. “There was a big wave where everything was AI. I think at this point it’s almost a bit implied,” says Fushman. But it’s corporations that already have plenty of data, and plenty of human jobs to obfuscate, that are Labelbox’s opportunity. “The bigger question is ‘when does that [AI] reality reach consumers, not just from the Googles and Amazons of the world, but the mainstream corporations?'”

Labelbox is willing to wait it out, or better yet, accelerate that arrival — even if it means eliminating jobs. That’s because the team believes the benefits to humanity will outweigh the transition troubles.

“For a colonoscopy or mammogram, you only have a certain number of people in the world who can do that. That limits how many of those can be performed. In the future, that could only be limited by the computational power provided so it could be exponentially cheaper” says co-founder Brian Rieger. With Labelbox, tens of thousands of radiology exams can be quickly ingested to produce cancer-spotting algorithms that he says studies show can become more accurate than humans. Employment might get tougher to find, but hopefully life will get easier and cheaper too. Meanwhile, improving underwater pipeline inspections could protect the environment from its biggest threat: us.

“AI can solve such important problems in our society,” Sharma concludes. “We want to accelerate that by helping companies tell AI what to learn.”

Huawei Nova 3 review

The Nova 3 and the P20 Pro are incredibly close in terms of hardware save for the display, the battery and that amazing camera system on the P20 Pro. But the P20 Pro costs twice the money, which makes the Nova 3 look like a steal. But do specifications tell the complete story? And how does it compare against the OnePlus 6? Let's find out.

Nokia and T-Mobile announce a $3.5 billion deal to build the carrier's 5G network

Nokia published less than stellar results in Q2 - the network business was slow, but it's supposed to pick up as carriers start building their 5G networks later this year. And it's already happening, the Finnish company just announced a multi-year partnership with T-Mobile. The $3.5 million deal will see Nokia furnish T-Mobile US with hardware, software and services to develop and deploy a nation-wide 5G network. Sprint customers can also look forward to the 5G future thanks to the merger with T-Mobile. The network includes both wide-coverage 600MHz bands and the high-capacity 28GHz...

OnePlus 3 and 3T to get Android P update

OnePlus has announced that the two year old OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T will also be getting the Android P updates. The company revealed this information on their forum. OnePlus specified that they have been listening to user feedback and have taken this decision as a result. However, the company also mentioned that because they are now focusing their efforts on the Android P update for the 3/3T, they are skipping the Android 8.1 update for either devices (they currently run on Android 8.0). As for when the update will go live, we don't know. OnePlus said the Android P roll out...

iPhone dummies pictured: 6.5" iPhone 11 Plus and 6.1" iPhone SE Plus

@VenyaGeskin1 is perhaps better known for his speculative renders, but this time around he is mixing it up with photos of iPhone dummy models. Specifically the 6.5" and 6.1" versions of the 2018 Apple phones. The phone in white is the top iPhone model - iPhone 11 Plus - you can tell by the dual camera on its back rather than by the notch on its front - all new iPhones will have notches. The black device is the budget 6.1" iPhone - iPhone SE Plus - though this one might be getting delayed. It will use an LCD panel, which is reportedly causing trouble, the other new iPhones will go...

Oppo shows F9 Pro, confirms it will have VOOC and tiny notch

Earlier today Oppo teased the arrival of the F9 on the Twitter page of its Malaysian division. The phone was expected to have a Pro variant and today the version was confirmed on the official page of the company. The Oppo F9 Pro appeared in its first official image, revealing a triangle-shaped notch and VOOC charging. The Oppo F9 Pro will have dual cameras on the back in a horizontal layout. The color of the back panel will change from red through pink to violet, but it is yet to be revealed if it will be light-based or the pattern is fixed. The frontal appearance is also...

Asus Zenfone Max Pro (M1) launches in Europe on August 13 at €250

The Zenfone Max Pro (M1) has gone up on the official Asus web store in Spain and costs €250. Units will be available August 13. This is the model with 6GB of RAM and 64GB storage (ZB602KL). We snooped around other regional Asus web stores, but there's nothing yet. Maybe things will change in a couple of weeks, the phone doesn't show up in searches on the Spanish site either, which suggests that it was added very recently. The Zenfone Max Pro (M1) boasts a 5,000mAh battery that powers the efficient Snapdragon 636 chipset. On the software side is a pure Android (8.1 Oreo in this...

Huawei sends invites for IFA keynote, Kirin 980 incoming

Huawei has sent out invites for an IFA keynote to be held on August 31. Chances are that there will be no new phones unveiled, but new hardware instead - the Kirin 980 specifically. Not a huge surprise, last year the company unveiled the 970 at IFA. We won't see a new Honor device either as the sub-brand is holding its own event in Berlin. The keynote itself is just 45 minute long too. As for the Kirin 980 chipset, the unofficial info we have so far is that it will have an octa-core with a big and a little cluster. The rumor pointed to a "Cortex-A77" core, even though there's no...

Sony Xperia XA3 certified in China, to arrive with tall screen [Updated]

Update: The Sony Xperia XA3 will have a tall screen, according to a Japanese source. Reported by telefoonabonnement.nl, the screen resolution will be 2160 x 1080 pixels which is Full HD+ with an 18:9 ratio. Original story follows: Sony is having an announcement at IFA in exactly one month, and some suggestions pointed to a new XZ-branded phone, probably an Xperia XZ3 with one camera. We might also see the Xperia XA3, which is in the pipelines too - it was recently approved by the Eurasian Commision. Latest leak comes from China, where the Xperia XA3 popped up on TENAA. The...

Flipkart preparing to launch Galaxy On8 as exclusive version of the J8

The Samsung Galaxy J8 launched in India last month and it is already a hot seller. The company will reportedly also launch a version called Galaxy On8, which will be an online exclusive for Flipkart. Flipkart already sells the J8, so what gives? The catch seems to be the pricing - the J8 is INR 19,000 while the Galaxy On8 is set to cost INR 1,000 less than that. Samsung Galaxy J8 (should be identical to the Galaxy On8) The retailer has a history of of similar moves. It rebranded the J6 as the Galaxy On6 as its own exclusive with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage (vs. 3GB / 32GB...

Canada is no longer selling this Alcatel phone due to radiation concerns

Alcatel has temporarily stopped selling the Alcatel U50 in Canada after it failed to meet government-set wireless radio frequency energy exposure limits. These are limits that aim to regulate the amount of radiation devices can emit. The Alcatel U50 is a budget device that was first released in late 2017 and sold by Bell, Telus and Freedom Mobile.

Despite failing to comply with government regulations, a spokesperson for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada confirmed to MobileSyrup (via Android Headlines) that the phone is still safe to use. They explained that the government limits have a “50-fold safety margin below the threshold for adverse health effects,” and that the U50 fell well within these margins.

Editor's Pick

What is 5G, and what can we expect from it?

You've likely heard the term a lot recently, but what is 5G? Good question. Simply put, 5G networking is the next major evolution of mobile wireless technology. It will empower customers with even faster data connections, …

The brand confirmed to MobileSyrup that it is working on a software update to fix the issue and that the phone should be available again soon. Existing Alcatel U50 models have not been recalled, which also suggests the problem isn’t severe.

All smartphones produce low amounts of non-ionizing radiation due to features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 4G. While it is known that ionizing radiation can be harmful, according to the National Cancer Institute, there is no consistent evidence that exposure to non-ionizing radiation poses a cancer risk.

Next up: Are smartphones really harmful to our health?

For the first time ever, OnePlus surpasses Samsung to lead the premium smartphone market in India

According to the latest analysis of the Indian smartphone market by Counterpoint Research, OnePlus surpassed Samsung to lead the premium smartphone segment for the first time ever for a full quarter.

For the second quarter of this year (Q2 2018), OnePlus led the premium smartphone segment for the first time ever in India, capturing 40% of the market driven by the debut of its latest device, the OnePlus 6. OnePlus was also the fastest growing brand in the premium segment (+446%) while shipments for Apple and Samsung declined YoY.

Interestingly, a few days ago, it was reported that Samsung has bounced back in the overall Indian smartphone market, after being displaced from the top spot it has held for a long time by Xiaomi.

Now at number two, Samsung captured 34% share of the premium segment with shipments declining 25% YoY due to decline in shipments of Samsung Galaxy S9 as compared to Galaxy S8 last year. Interestingly, Apple’s share in the premium segment in the last quarter (14%) is its lowest ever due to decline in shipments of iPhone 8 and iPhone X.

In terms of smartphones, OnePlus 6 was the best-selling model in premium segment, pretty much why it catapulted the brand to the top of the leaderboard.

Earlier, the company had shared that it sold one million OnePlus 6 units around the world in just 22 days making it the fastest selling device in the company’s history. India remains an important market for OnePlus, contributing to almost a third of its global revenue.

The OnePlus 6 was followed by Galaxy S9 Plus and OnePlus 5T. The latter was pushed aggressively by OnePlus during the first half of the quarter to clear off the inventory to make way for OnePlus 6.

The top three brands Samsung, OnePlus, and Apple contributed to 88% of the overall premium market as compared to 95% a quarter ago due to new players in the segment led by Huawei (P20), Vivo (X21), HMD Global (Nokia 8 Sirocco) as well as LG (V30 Plus). In the last few months, brands like Asus, Huawei, and Vivo have launched premium smartphones in India to take on the OnePlus 6.

Sony XZ2 Premium now available for the low, low price of $1,000 (Updated)

Update 07/30/2018 at 5:57 p.m. EST: The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium is now available from Amazon and Best Buy for a whopping $999.99. We have yet to get our hands on one to tell you whether or not the high price tag is worth it, but we were quite fond of the less expensive Xperia XZ2. If you’re interested in reading more about this phone, check out our original coverage below.

Original Article: Sony’s Premium-branded Xperia devices generally represent the company’s most cutting-edge efforts. The Xperia Z5 Premium offered a 4K display, the XZ Premium delivered a 4K HDR screen and the slowest slow-motion on a phone, and the Xperia XZ2 Premium, well… it has a dual-camera setup.

A first for the company’s flagships, the phone combines a 19MP f/1.8 main camera with a 12MP f/1.6 monochrome shooter. Sony claims that the pairing, in conjunction with the “AUBE” image signal processor, enables ultra low light results “previously only seen in interchangeable lens cameras”. The firm adds that the pairing can hit ISO levels of 51,200 for stills and 12,800 for video.

The pairing also delivers monochrome shots (naturally) as well as a “Bokeh” mode for portrait-style effects. But in a twist, you’ll have to wait until the third quarter of the year for an update to bring these features. Otherwise, the front plays host to a 13MP f/2.0 shooter for your selfies. Much like the Xperia XZ2 duo revealed at MWC 2018, the Xperia XZ2 Premium offers 960fps super slow-mo in both 720p and 1080p flavors.

Sony has also been making a big deal out of the 5.8-inch 4K HDR screen which, when coupled with 4K HDR recording, allows you to watch your recorded clips at native quality. You’ve still got what appears to be a 16:9 display and sizeable bezels here, although the latter plays host to stereo speakers.

As for horsepower, the Xperia XZ2 Premium packs a Snapdragon 845 chipset, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage. All of this is kept chugging along by a 3540mAh battery that features Qi wireless charging.

In the design department, you’re looking at a rear-facing fingerprint scanner and an IP65/68 water/dust resistant body with no headphone jack. Sony is promising a headphone adapter in the box if you don’t care for Type-C headphones or Bluetooth sets.

Editor's Pick

Android smartphones with the best battery life (July 2018)

Some people might think that the most important feature in a smartphone is its display size. Others believe it comes down to a phone's processor performance, or the amount of RAM, or how much storage …

Taken together, the new phone definitely seems like one step backward and one step forward, and the large bezels and lack of a headphone jack certainly make it look like a compromised design. Usually phones ditching the 3.5mm jack serve up a modern design too. Here’s hoping the dual-camera system is as good as Sony claims.

The Xperia XZ2 Premium will be available globally this summer with pricing TBC. Let us know your thoughts on Sony’s latest in the comments!

You can now visit any website using Daydream VR. Even that one.

One thing the Daydream VR platform has been missing since its launch is full access to a web browser. But today, Google is finally bringing the Chrome browser to Daydream VR.

Although Chrome on Daydream VR is optimized in certain ways for virtual reality functions, it is a full-fledged browser that you can use to access any website on the internet. Essentially, if you can visit it on your phone, you can visit it in Daydream VR.

You also have access to your bookmarks, voice search, history, and incognito mode, just as you would expect.

Editor's Pick

Mobile VR headsets – what are your best options?

Standalone VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive do their job brilliantly but both come at a premium. The Rift will set you back $499, while HTC’s option currently retails for $599. If …

Google is also introducing a Daydream-specific feature to Chrome called Cinema Mode, which will optimize web videos to better fit the VR view.

Cinema Mode + incognito mode + access to any website = fun times.

The Chrome app is available now for both the Daydream View headset as well as the Lenovo Mirage Solo, which also runs on the Daydream VR platform. As long as you are on the latest version of the Chrome app on your phone, you will be able to launch Chrome right from the Daydream home screen.

If you are using the Lenovo Mirage Solo, you will have to visit the Google Play Store within the headset to download the application.

Click below to update to the latest version of Chrome on your Android smartphone.

Deal: Get Six Sigma certified for $79 (includes exam fee)

Project management certification is a golden ticket in many industries, so at AAPicks we love finding great offers on training programs. Today’s Lean Six Sigma deal particularly caught our eye. 

The Lean Six Sigma Project Manager Certifications bundle gives you 37 hours of accredited training in the globally-recognized Six Sigma and Lean methods, all for just $79. Quite an offer indeed, but what really impressed us is that it actually includes a certification too.

In such a competitive field, employers rely heavily on certifications to thin the herd. Having recognized qualifications on your resume will often be a decisive factor as to whether you bag yourself an interview.

The Lean Six Sigma bundle at a glance:

This masters program is hosted by Simplilearn, one of the leading providers of certification courses. The Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course is accredited by the IASSC. That exam isn’t included, but with all the materials and four simulation exams, you’ll be more than ready to cruise the assessment.

The Lean Management Course goes one better. High quality content, real world examples, simulation exams and the actual exam fee are all included. You’ll get a globally-recognized certification for the price of a steak dinner, and all streamed to your device.

On Simplilearn’s website you’ll see this learning kit advertised for $2,299, so if you pick it up while it’s on offer for $79 you’ll save an extraordinary 96% on the retail price. It’s little wonder that well over 4,000 people have already enrolled.

What are you waiting for? Hit the button below to find the deal and start building your future.

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.

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

Xiaomi finds room for fake circuitry in Mi 8 Explorer Edition, but not a headphone jack

The Xiaomi Mi 8 is yet another iPhone X clone – some might argue the most blatant iPhone X rip-off yet.

But the Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition at least differentiates itself with some beefier specs and a sleek transparent back that shows off the meticulously designed innards of the smartphone.

There’s just one problem: those innards aren’t the actual gizmos powering the phone. What you see through the transparent back is an inert circuit board that is entirely for show and covers up the actual circuits hidden beneath, which we now know for certain via Android Police.

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Hands-on: The controversial Xiaomi Mi 8 offers incredible value for money

Xiaomi announced the Mi 8 a couple of weeks ago, sporting some specs that would probably make you raise an eyebrow. The Mi 8 comes in three variants: First up, the “regular” Xiaomi Mi 8, then …

In other words, Xiaomi found a way to cram a fake circuit board into a smartphone entirely for aesthetic purposes…without increasing its thickness as compared to the vanilla Mi 8. Now why can’t it do that for something useful, like I don’t know, a headphone jack?

I guess since the iPhone X doesn’t have a headphone jack it would ruin the look.

Xiaomi declared back in May when it announced the Explorer Edition that circuitry shown under the transparent back is “real.” However, what it must have meant with that statement is that the circuitry “exists” and is not a sticker, hologram, or another facsimile of a circuit board, because here’s a photo of the component:

Android Police

You’ll immediately notice that everything is very well-organized in an almost uncanny valley way. You’ll also notice that there are no BGA pads – and thus no way for these “components” to interact with one another electronically.

So yeah, the circuit board is “real,” just entirely non-functional.

This may seem like splitting hairs but it is profoundly disappointing that Xiaomi has been defending the Mi 8 Explorer Edition’s most distinctive feature as being “real” when it is, in fact, fake. Sure, it shouldn’t really affect your love or distaste for the device, but it certainly makes the feature much less cool.

Maybe another phone will come out that has a non-functional headphone jack. That would be hilarious.

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

10 best money making apps for Android!

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Everybody needs a few extra bucks now and then. However, we’re not so foolish as to try to make you believe that you’ll earn a living sitting at home doing nothing. There are no apps that can make you that much money. However, we do know of a few that can make you a buck or two here and there. Over time, that can build up to enough to treat yourself. Here are the best money making apps on Android.

Here are some more money related app lists!

15 best shopping apps for Android

10 best Android apps to sell stuff

Amazon Seller

Price: Free / $0.99 per item sold / $39.99 per month

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Amazon is one of the world's largest retailers. You can be a part of it if you want to. An Amazon Seller account lets you sell things on the service right alongside every other item. This is a great way to clear out the garage, make a few bucks, or even start a selling business. They let you do it for free. However, you do pay $0.99 for every item you sell. Those who sell tons of items may fair better with their $39.99 per month subscription that omits the $0.99 charge. In any case, this is right up there with eBay when it comes to money making apps.

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eBay

Price: Free

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Lots of people have tons of stuff that are worth some money. eBay can help you turn that stuff into actual money. Pretty much everybody knows how eBay works. You put your stuff up on a listing. People then buy it and you ship it out. You can sell pretty much whatever you want from books and cloths to electronics and even furniture or cars. We recommend selling larger items locally because shipping can be challenging, but otherwise this is where you want to start when selling stuff. It's definitely among the best money making apps and the most recognizable for sure.

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Etsy

Price: Free

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Many people are artists, tinkerers, and creators of some sort. People like that can use an online shop like Etsy to sell their various arts and crafts. You can find a variety of stuff there and virtually all of it is handmade, limited edition, or one of a kind. Shop owners can sell whatever they want really. The app itself is called Sell on Etsy. It lets you manage your shop, your orders, and your listings. You can also chat with potential buyers and do other stuff. This is a great way for the artistically inclined to make a few bucks. The app will help them do that.

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Ibotta

Price: Free

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Ibotta is a lot like other rebate apps. The basic idea with both apps is the same. You do stuff like go grocery shopping and buy the stuff you were going to anyway. The app helps you earn cash back on those purchases. The process is that you pick out things that you're going to buy, go buy them, and then verify the purchase. The app then sends you money via Paypal, Venmo, or gift card. Like most, it's not going to earn you a whole lot of money. However, when used with other money making apps, you can get a pretty penny. It's worth a shot at least.

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Make Money - Passive Income Ideas

Price: Free

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Make Money - Passive Income Ideas is exactly what the title suggests. Unlike the scam ones where they make bold promises they can't keep, this app tells you what is within the realm of possibility. Along with a list of 60 jobs that you can do from home, it also offers up a list of relevant skills that you'll need to do them. Some of them are easier than others. For instance, starting a blog or a YouTube channel are a couple of the ideas. It won't generate money on its own, but it does help give you ideas on how to do so without a whole ton of effort. It's one of the promising money making apps.

DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

Here are some more awesome apps for you to check out!

10 best Android budget apps for money management

10 best productivity apps for Android

PayPal

Price: Free

DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

Paypal is a powerful platform. Most know it because of eBay. However, you can use the platform to run virtually any business. It can accept payments from virtually anywhere and you can use it to manage invoices, payments, and sales from various websites if you want to. There is another app by PayPal called PayPal Business that is made specifically for small business owners. It won't make you money on its own, but it can help if you have an idea for a business.

DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

Square Point of Sale

Price: Free

DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

Square Point of Sale is an app that lets you accept credit card payments from people. You'll need to get a little device that plugs into your phone, but after that, you can swipe cards and collect money. Using this, you can sell pretty much whatever you want pretty much wherever you want. Like Paypal, the app itself won't generate any money for you. You'll have to find willing customers. However, the ability to accept money in situations where you normally can't is helpful. The app is free to download and signing up gets you a free magstrip reader.

DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

Surveys on the Go

Price: Free

DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

Surveys on the Go is an app that lets you complete surveys for money. Unlike many where you get points or Google Opinion Rewards, this one pays out in cash. Admittedly, there are only a few surveys available during any given month. Thus, don't expect to be rolling in dough. However, it's good for those who just want to earn a few extra bucks here and there. The app itself is a little blandly designed, but it's easy enough to use. It's not an absolute must, but it is one of the stable money making apps as long as you don't expect the moon.

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Uber

Price: Free

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The service industry is reaching out into mobile in a huge way. Uber and Lyft are transportation services that hire real, actual people. You drive other people around and make money doing it. Additionally, there are drivers for food delivery services like GrubHub, UberEATS, etc that work much the same way. Even pet sitting apps like Rover and DogVacay need people to sit for other people's animals. The service industry is starting to boom on mobile and everything I listed above has an app. They all make for great money making apps. It's worth checking their sites to see if they're hiring (they almost always are).

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YouTube

Price: Free / $12.99 per month

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YouTube is a decent source of passive income if you don't mind the hard work. It's probably difficult to get into well established areas like tech, news, etc. However, if you can find a good niche and a decent audience, you can make a few bucks every month. Don't expect tens of millions of subscribers, but the right kind of content, consistency, and a good work ethic can score you enough to get by. It's tough, competitive, and it requires some creativity. However, many people make a fine living off of YouTube.

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10 best job search apps for Android

If we missed any of the best money making apps on Android, tell us about them in the comments! To see our complete list of best app lists, click here.