Articles about Smartphone

Few people can claim to like the ads that have become part and parcel of smartphone usage, but for the most part they can be endured. But what about when a minor inconvenience that merely infringes on your time becomes even more of a nuisance and actually starts to kill your phone battery?

According to an investigation, this is precisely what has been happening. An ad fraud scheme has been uncovered that invisibly plays videos lucrative video ads on handsets, earning money for fraudsters and draining the batteries of Android handsets.

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If you opted to replace your iPhone battery on the cheap -- avoiding Apple and opting for a third-party instead -- on a subsequent trip to your nearest Genius Bar you will have found that you were ineligible for repairs.

It did not matter if your problem was in no way related to the battery, Apple took a hard line: if you had replaced the battery yourself, you were getting no further help. But leaked internal documents show that the company is softening. Genius Bar and Apple Authorized Service Provider technicians are now permitted to carry out work on phones with non-Apple batteries.

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In recent years, both Apple and Samsung have been expanding into health-related areas, bringing a range of wellbeing services to users. Now Samsung has announced that it is teaming up with popular sleep and meditation app, Calm.

The partnership means that users of Samsung Health will be able to take advantage of things like mindfulness and guided meditation, as well as sleep and relaxation tools.

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At MWC last month, OnePlus did not -- as many people had hoped -- show off the OnePlus 7, opting instead to give visitors a hands-off glimpse at a 5G prototype. But a new leak gives us an idea of what we might expect to see in the upcoming handset.

In a video, the OnePlus 7 is shown to have virtually no bezels, and a 6.5-inch screen is unencumbered by a notch or hole punch cut-out. This is thanks largely to the use of a camera that pops up out of the top of the handset.

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The age of the folding phone is upon us. Gone are the days of prototypes -- now we have hardware we can actually buy... or at least will be able to very soon indeed. Both Samsung and Huawei have unveiled foldables in recent days, but how do they stack up?

The two companies have taken different approaches with the Galaxy Fold and the Mate X when it comes to the hinging, but there are also specs to consider -- and, of course, price. So how do the two flagship foldables compare?

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Google has a history of changing its mind about messaging services, launching and closing them left, right and center. The company now seems pretty invested in its Messages platform, and has been gradually adding more and more features to increase its appeal.

Google's latest move sees it bringing Assistant integration to the Messages app so you can get one-tap access to AI-powered help and information. The company also says that it remains committed to RCS (Rich Communication Service) and wants to bring the standard to more Android users.

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If you balked when the price of the Samsung Galaxy Fold was revealed ($1,980, in case you missed it), the price tag attached to the newly revealed Huawei Mate X may trigger heart failure. At $2,600, the 5G folding smartphone is, the words of Huawei's Richard Yu, "very expensive", but you will get a lot of phone for your money.

The Mate X is scheduled for release in the middle of the year, and it differs from the Samsung Galaxy Fold in an important way. While Samsung's offering opens up to reveal a large screen on the inside, Huawei has instead opted to wrap the foldable screen around the front and back using the unique Falcon Wing Mechanical Hinge. In folded mode, this is a 6.6-inch smartphone; opened up, it is an 8-inch tablet. The price may be extraordinarily high, but you get some impressive hardware.

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The founder of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, has hit back against Trump's ban on the use of his company's hardware because of concerns about Chinese espionage, saying "there's no way the US can crush us". The US has been trying to encourage other countries to follow its lead in shunning Huawei, but the UK has said it will not stop the company -- which is due to launch its P30 range of smartphones next month -- from getting involved in the rollout of 5G networks.

Ren also lashed out at the US, saying that the arrest of his daughter and Huawei CFO, Meng Wanzhou, was politically motivated.

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Fans of Nintendo's Italian plumber and his racing antics have been keenly waiting for the launch of Mario Kart Tour, the mobile version of Mario Kart. There's some bad news though: you're going to have to wait a little longer than expected.

The game was previously planned for a March launch, but things have been very quiet from Nintendo. In its Q3 earnings report, the company revealed that the game has been pushed back to summer.

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A new Android Q leak suggests that Google is ready to copy another of the features iOS users have come to know and love: facial unlock.

There are already a number of Android handsets -- including recent phones from OnePlus -- which have their own implementation of the biometric security feature, but with Android Q, it is looking as though the feature will be hard-baked into the operating system.

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The inclusion of a system-wide dark mode in Android Q is something that has been rumored for a little while now, and a new leak of the next version of Google's mobile operating system seems to confirm this.

A leaked build of Android Q not only features a customizable dark mode option, but it also shows that Google has tightened up permissions to help improve privacy. There are also exciting references to a Desktop Mode feature which would appear to be similar to Samsung DeX in making it possible to connect a phone to a monitor and use it like a desktop computer.

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Google has reminded developers that their apps will be removed from the Play Store if they request SMS or Call Log permissions. The policy change was announced last year, and over the next few weeks the app removal process begins.

While these particular permissions have been used to give Android users a choice of dialers and messaging apps, Google says there have also been instances of abuse. The company is introducing far stricter restrictions in the name of privacy and protecting user data.

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It's not all that long since Apple celebrated becoming a trillion dollar company, but then just last week it issued a profit warning and its value plummeted. Hot on the heals on this comes the news that Apple is cutting production of new iPhones for the current quarter by a significant amount.

The Nikkei Asian Review reports that Apple is slashing production of its current trio of iPhone models by 10 percent in the January-March quarter.

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If you want to be part of the in-crowd, adding a dark mode to your software is essential. Google has already shown a lot of love for gothic hues, and it looks set to continue this with Android Q -- or Android 10, if you prefer.

Over on the Chromium Bug Tracker, Google worker Lukasz Zbylut appears to confirm that Android Q will feature a system-wide dark mode, with all preloaded apps offering the option natively.

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Just a few days ago, a lawsuit was filed against Apple accusing it of using misleading images in advertising to disguise the notch of the iPhone XS. Now it is OnePlus that has been accused of editing advertising images of its phones, this time to make the bezel of the OnePlus 6T seem smaller.

The company was called out on Twitter after people noticed that the OnePlus 6T featured in promotional videos appeared to have a much smaller "chin" than the real-life phone.

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