Romdhane Marble

We're less than weeks away from the end of the year and many companies have decided to share their future plans with their fans. Twitch is among those companies that want to offer their customers a sneak peek at what's to come. As far as the mobile app goes, Twitch has major plans for next year. The company announced that it will launch a native streaming service from the Twitch mobile application. The functionality will be especially created to allow streamers to stay in touch with their community even when they're on the move. Basically, Twitch users will be able to stream live from their smartphones as much as they want, whenever they want. According to Twitch, when the new service will be launched, it will default to the IRL category. Even though streaming from the Twitch mobile app is not yet available, those who want can sign up to take part in a closed beta if they want to test it before it goes live for everyone. ...

Confirming a  recent rumor , Verizon Wireless today released the  Kyocera DuraForce Pro , a rugged smartphone that's been available on AT&T and Sprint since earlier this year.  Made for customers in need of a tough handset, the Kyocera DuraForce Pro can survive drops from up to 5 feet (1.5 meters), while also being dust- and water-resistant (IP68-certified). Interestingly, this is the world's first rugged smartphone to feature a wide-angle action camera, which sits next to a regular 13 MP rear camera and lets you shoot full HD video underwater.  Sporting a 5-inch 1080p Sapphire Shield display, the Kyocera DuraForce Pro is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor, further offering features like LTE connectivity, a fingerprint scanner (embedded in the power button), 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of expandable storage space, and a 3240 mAh battery. A dedicated Push-to-Talk button is also on board. The Kyocera DuraForce Pro currently runs Androi...

A few days ago, we told you that  Google Keyboard had been renamed Gboard  and would soon be available for your Android powered device. Today, we have some good news. The Gboard app can now be downloaded and installed directly from the Google Play Store. The keyboard has a number of features built right in such as Glide typing (that's when you spell out words by swiping your finger along the screen. Google Search is also integrated into the keyboard, although you will need to turn on the feature inside the keyboard settings. Other features include emoji and GIF search, and multilingual typing allows you to quickly change the language you're typing in. With the app, voice typing allows you to dictate your emails and texts; if you have a large-screened device, the one-handed mode allows you to pin the QWERTY to the left or right of the screen.With support for 36 new languages, Gboard now works with 120 different languages overall. To install Gboard on your Android ...

The other day, we told you that TCL was going to be designing, manufacturing, selling, promoting and handling customer service for BlackBerry's new handsets. Considering that the BlackBerry DTEK50 and BlackBerry DTEK60 are both actually re-branded TCL related phones (the former is the Alcatel Idol 4 and the latter is the TCL 950. Alcatel is a joint venture between TCL and Alcatel-Lucent), this is a process that has already begun. BlackBerry CEO John Chen has said that he would honor his promise to release one last home-grown model sporting a physical QWERTY keyboard. And while images of a phone called the BlackBerry Mercury have been disseminated, something more exciting appears to be on the way. First of all, some of TCL's Twitter accounts have been using the hashtag #TheNewBlackBerry along with the image that you'll find in the slideshow. And secondly, a cryptic tweet from Steve Cistulli, the President and GM of TCL Communication i...

When Google launched  PhotoScan  last month, we were sort of impressed by the app's premise and intuitive design, but we were also disappointed with the results it produced. Back in November, PhotoScan was only capable of outputting images with a maximum resolution of 2000 x 2000 pixels (roughly the equivalent to what a 3 MP camera would produce size-wise). This, coupled with the fact that PhotoScan was easily confused when cropping and that the final results also exhibited quite a bit of compression, turned us off from Google's new image scanning app. Google has just released a new update for PhotoScan that bumps its output resolution to 3000 x 3000 pixels (roughly around 5 MP), which is a definite improvement over the previous version. The app has also become a bit smarter when it comes to cropping. The previous version of PhotoScan was easily confused by straight lines, so placing the photo you wanted to scan on a plain surface was essential. This update improves t...

Good ol' Mega Man Legendary Japanese video game developer Capcom announced that next year will see the release of all classic Mega Man titles on mobile. All of the Blue Bomber's iconic NES adventures will land on both iOS and Android in Japan in 2017. The press release makes no mention of the games coming to the West, but we'd say there's a big chance this happens sometime following the Japanese release. Mega Man is one of the most recognizable video game characters and has starred in over 100 titles. The first six games in the series, the ones that are launching on mobile next year, first came out on the Nintendo Entertainment System between 1987 and 1993. The first six titles starring the Blue Bomber are notorious for their unforgiving difficulty but are fondly remembered by gamers for their innovative for the time non-linear game design, tight controls and awesome action-packed gameplay. From the single screenshot accompanying Capcom...

Courage - Nintendo has risked the wrath of Mario-loving Android users with its iOS exclusivity It's taken Nintendo a good while to bring an official Mario title to mobile devices and finally,  Super Mario Run launched yesterday  for iOS. It's not available for Android users just yet but in apparent attempt to capitalize in on the hype, a number of knock-off versions have popped up on Google Play. This follows  a Nintendo-themed title that sneaked into the App Store  prior to Super Mario Run's launch, and since there's no legit alternative for Droidsters, fake versions will probably thrive. Just like  Flappy Bird  and so many other popular titles before it, Super Mario Run presents a chance for opportunistic devs to rack up the downloads. From  Mario Run Jumper  to  Super Plumber Run , the Play Store has a broadening selection of not-so-Super Mario games for your to try.  It's likely that Super Mario Run will make...

The LG V20 might be one of the most underrated smartphones of the year. The handset packs in a tremendous amount of power and features, but LG kind of shot itself in the foot with the release of the phone. In addition to being falsely advertised as the first phone to run Android Nougat, its release during the same window of the iPhone 7 also wasn't the best move that we've ever seen. Even with this being the case, there's no denying that the LG V20 is one of the best phones out there for content consumption and creation. In an effort to keep expanding their latest flagship to as many markets as possible, LG has announced that the V20 will officially be available for purchase in India starting on Tuesday, December 6th. The phone will be available through both retail outlets and Amazon India for the price of ₹54,999, and that equates to around $805 USD. To make the deal a bit sweeter, LG will be including a free pair of B&O Play in-ear headphones with each purchas...

Android-based Nokia D1C concept image It it is pretty evident that even in this day and age Nokia still has a loyal brand following and name recognition, which might be enough to give it an edge in the crowded Android market. That is why we asked you last week if you would get a Nokia Android phone for the sake of old times and that logo on the chassis. A surprisingly high number (40%) of our 2580 respondents answered affirmatively, while equally impressive 51% are open to the idea, provided that the specs and design prove alluring. Less than 9% think it's too late for Nokia to make any inroads with an Android phone, which bodes well for the purported Nokia Android launch in the spring. Nokia is back with Android phones! This might be the thought on the mind of every nostalgically inclined Nokia fan after today's HMD press release that they will indeed be  launching Android phones  with the venerable brand next year. For those Nokia aficionados of y...

LG's next flagship phone is expected to be called the LG G6. That is the easy part to figure out. What isn't so easy is figuring out what features will be included on the device. According to a report out of Korea published today, the LG G6 will be waterproof. One LG executive was quoted as saying that there is high demand for a waterproof handset in Japan because of the humid and rainy weather. The report adds that this will mean the end of replaceable batteries on LG's flagship phone, which in turn means the end of modular capabilities. Considering that LG was schooled by Lenovo/Motorola on that subject, dropping it might be considered a positive. And speaking of positives, the word is that LG will be using a more expensive waterproofing technique using adhesive rather than the cheaper tape employed by Samsung. While 3M makes the tape used by Samsung for its waterproof  handsets, companies such as Hitachi, Henkel and 3M are competing for the adhesives contract wit...

The Meizu X is now official The Meizu X is now official, having been unveiled today by the manufacturer. The handset is equipped with a 5.5-inch AMOLED screen with 2.5D double-sided glass. With its 1080 x 1920 resolution, the X features a 401ppi pixel density. The MediaTek Helio P20 chipset is under the hood, containing an octa-core 2.3GHz CPU and the Mali-T880 GPU. There are two different variants of the phone. One carries 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM with 32GB of internal storage. The other version  comes with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM along with 64GB of native storage. The rear-facing 12MP camera includes a Sony IMX 386 sensor with a pixel size of 1.25µm and PDAF laser auto focus. The front-facing camera weighs in at 5MP. Keeping the lights on is a 3200mAh battery with mCharge rapid charging. A 3.5mm earphone jack is included, as is a fingerprint scanner embedded in the home button. It can unlock the device in .2 seconds. The Meizu X also offers VoLTE capabilities an...

One of the features we modern smartphone lovers crave the most right now is long and reliable battery life. For the past few years, manufacturers have gotten performance, camera, and displays down pretty well, but the race for thinning out devices has taken its toll on battery life. Currently, a regular smartphone with a display around 5 inches and proportions like the Galaxy S7 will have a juice box with a capacity of about 3,000 mAh. And sure, phone makers and software developers have managed to optimize energy usage immensely bu developing power-efficient hardware and not-so-power-hungry software, but there's still room for improvement. Some manufacturers get that there are users out there that would rather carry a brick of a device that has a massive power bank in its trunk than a thin phone that can't last 5 hours of heavy usage. These are few and far in-between, but the resulting devices are usually worth a mention, if only for the "interesting facts"...

To finish 2016 on a high note, Meizu took to Twitter to announce the Pro 6 Plus, a refresh of its flagship smartphone that features some savvy new specs. Housing a bigger, 5.7-inch 1440 x 2560 AMOLED display, the handset is powered by the Samsung Exynos 8890 chipset, the same unit that drives the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, rather than a MediaTek chip. There are 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of internal storage. The smartphone also offers a fingerprint sensor, a heart-rate monitor, and 3D Touch technology. There's a 12MP camera on its back, which utilizes the Sony IMX386 CMOS sensor that Meizu previously used in the MX6 smartphone. This time, though, the camera module is paired with Samsung's image signal processor and optical image stabilization system, which ought to provide better-looking photos. Hi-Fi audio, global LTE support (with the likely exception of the United States), and USB Type-C connectivity complete the configuration. Powered by a 3400mAh battery w...

Word is Niantic plans to add the ability to trade Pokemon between players, but the developer hasn't yet confirmed when exactly the new feature will be available in Pokemon GO. A new rumor claims Niantic will release a major  Pokemon GO update  in December, which will add the long-awaited feature, as well as over 100 new normal and Legendary Pokemon. Players will also be able to raise their Pokemon as soon as they have been hatched from the eggs.  The information comes from the analysis of the game's code by people associated with web scanner PokeVS. Although it's not surprising that some of these features will be introduced into the game, it remains to be seen when exactly  Niantic  will announce them. Among the new  Legendary Pokemon  that developer will add in a future update there's Mew and Mewtwo. Other Pokemon that will be added in the December update include names like Celebi, Lugia, Pupitar, Entei, Raikou, Blissey, Milt...

The Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro is expected to be unveiled next month. The handset recently was run through the Geekbench benchmark test which revealed a limited number of specs. The model number is SM-C7010. According to Geekbench, the device carries a Snapdragon 625 SoC inside, equipped with an octa-core CPU that was running at 2.21GHz during the test. 4GB of RAM is included, and Android 6.0.1 is pre-installed.  The phone  did appear on India's Zauba import-export site . That listing showed that the Galaxy C7 Pro will carry a 5.7-inch screen, most likely with a 1080 x 1920 resolution. Four units were shipped into India from Korea with each one valued at the equivalent of $199 USD. That doesn't mean that the phone will be priced at that level when it is launched. The value is computed just for regulatory purposes. So just how did the Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro do on the Geekbench test? The phone scored 1000 on the single-core test and 5679 on the multi-core test. The ph...

Not that it comes as a huge surprise, but allegedly the first phones with the freshly-announced  Snapdragon 835  will be Samsung's  Galaxy S8  and the  Xiaomi Mi 6 , according to Keving Wong, the CEO of research shop IHS for China. Qualcomm announced that the powerful 10nm chipset is already sampling with customers, and it will apparently be  produced in Samsung's foundries  with engineering input from the world's largest phone maker.  Alleged Xiaomi Mi 6 prototype Furthermore, Kevin Wong discloses that both the Galaxy S8 and Mi 6 are expected to be released in March, which, coincidentally, is right after Samsung is tipped to unveil its spring flagship before the MWC expo starts.  The S8 may come powered by both a homemade Exynos chipset, and a Snapdragon 835 for the US versions, that is why Samsung might have wanted to have a final say over its production and power optimization details. ...

The  Lenovo Moto M  launched slightly over two weeks ago in China with the XT1662 model number. Today, the phone has turned up in the UAE with a model number of XT1664. This variant features a stock version of Android, and Lenovo tell us that the unlocked phone will work with most U.S. carriers including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. One big difference between the two Moto M units is found under the hood. Instead of the MediaTek Helio P15 SoC that powers the model unveiled in China, the handset announced today happens to have the Snapdragon 617 chipset under the hood. That means that the device has an octa-core 1.5GHz CPU inside, along with the Adreno 405 GPU.  The XT1664 offers a model with 3GB of RAM/32GB of internal storage, along with one sporting the 4GB of RAM/64GB of internal storage found on the XT1662. A 128 capacity microSD slot is available for those seeking additional storage. A hybrid dual nano SIM tray includes one tray that doubles...

The Oppo A57 has been launched this morning in China. The phone features a 5.2-inch LCD screen with 2.5D curved glass and a 720 x 1280 resolution. Driving the phone is the Snapdragon 435 chipset carrying an octa-core 1.4 GHz CPU, and the Adreno 505 GPU. 3GB of RAM is inside along with 32GB of internal storage. A 128GB capacity microSD slot is available for those seeking additional storage. The model supports Dual SIM capabilities and features a 16MP rear-facing camera with an f/2.2 aperture and PDAF laser focus. Selfie lovers will be happy to hear about the 13MP front-facing snapper that can also be used for video chats. A 2900mAh battery keeps the lights on, and ColorOS 3.0 runs on top of Android 6.0. The Oppo A57 measures 7.65mm thick, and weighs 147 grams. It is available in Gold and Rose Gold and will be offered for sale starting on December 12th. The phone is priced at the equivalent of $231 USD. A global rollout is expected with details coming at a later date. ...

It's officially Black Friday, and while there have been plenty of savings up for grabs since the beginning of the month, even more are now upon us with the official shopping day finally here. Smartphones are easily one of the most popular product categories for a lot of shoppers this time of year, and if you're in the market for one under $100, Amazon's latest deal on the LG Stylo 2 just might be for you. The LG Stylo 2 may not be the most exciting phone around, but for the price that Amazon is asking right now, it sure does make for a great deal. The Stylo 2 boasts a massive 5.7-inch screen with a resolution of 1280 x 720 HD, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor keeps light, everyday tasks snappy and smooth. The camera package consists of a 13MP camera on the back and an 8MP selfie shooter, and a large 3000 mAh battery should prove for more than enough juice. However, perhaps the most unique aspect about the phone is its included stylus. The stylus ...