Blackberry is reportedly switching focus to mid-range handsets

During an interview with The National, CEO of BlackBerry, John Chen admitted that the first Android-powered BlackBerry may have been set too high for customers. Indeed, theBlackBerry Priv must have turned customers off when they found out about its near-$700 price tag. BlackBerry intended to aim the BlackBerry Priv at enterprise customers, or for a more business oriented lifestyle.

Chen also told The National that BlackBerry plans to release two mid-range devices this year. One will feature a physical keyboard like the Priv, while the other one will be an all-touchscreen phone. My guess is the all-touchscreen phone will be the lower-end handset of the bunch.

BlackBerry also announced that the Priv sold 600,000 units in Q1 of 2016. Well below the 850,000 forecasted by analysts. If BlackBerry wants to up its game, it needs to look at how successful it was in the late 2000s and try to apply the same ideas and strategies and modernize them to be able to compete with the other big players in the field.

BlackBerry forgot that just a few short years ago around 2007-2009 the success of the blackberry was thanks to the mid-range BlackBerry Curve. The Curve was a BlackBerry that all kinds of people could use and it became widely popular in the US and still remains popular even today in some areas of the world where smartphones are still a novelty.

Even in 2007-2009, BlackBerry had different models that corresponded to different people. For example, the BlackBerry Pearl was a multimedia oriented device capable of playing videos, music, and the compact keyboard (which I hope to never have to use) had two letters on a single key but offered predictive text.

Next up is the Blackberry Curve (I owned the 8530 for Sprint). It was a step up from the BlackBerry Pearl because it had a full QWERTY keyboard and offered more traditional BlackBerry Experience while marketing directly to consumers and not to enterprise customers. This phone was so popular (particularly the 8300) that it launched Research In Motion (RIM, before renaming the company to ‘BlackBerry’) into huge success at that time.

The BlackBerry Bold was the highest end of BlackBerry devices. It offered a much more comfortable keyboard, the same one found on the BlackBerry Priv which was somehow better to type on than the BlackBerry Curve’s. The later Bold models even had a touchscreen on the phone.

Let’s get back to the issue at hand (I got carried away): Can BlackBerry make better success by aiming to release mid-range devices rather than focus on a single high-end device? In a market so saturated with different kinds of smartphones, there is still a great opportunity to sell devices in the mid-range market. People who will definitely NOT buy an iPhone or Galaxy flagship might be easier to convince between device options.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 6 will be water and dust resistant, report says

So far, we've heard that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 6 will come with 6GB of RAM, a 5.8-inch touchscreen (presumably keeping the QHD resolution), a 12 MP rear camera, and 64 or 128GB of storage (maybe even 256GB).

And now a new piece of the puzzle is reportedly revealed. According to a new report, the Note 6 will be IP68 certified. That means it will be dust tight and just as water resistant as theGalaxy S7 - being able to withstand submerging into up to 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes.

The phone could also sport an iris scanner, as revealed earlier today by an intriguing import into India. Unlike its predecessor, the Note5, the new Note-series member will thankfully besold in Europe from day one. The handset could be unveiled as early as June, according to speculation from certain analysts. Then again, Samsung might also stick with its traditional schedule for Note launches and announce it in late August or early September. It's too early to be sure at this point.

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Another leak of the HTC 10 shows the handset in white

There is no doubt that HTC is really excited about the HTC 10 that it has been teasing the device left and right since the beginning of this year. This time, however, a photo was leaked through Chinese micro-blogging network Weibo.

Apparently someone who had their hands on a final unit in white, took a picture of it laying atop a greasy laptop keyboard. The unit shown had Chinese software on it but looks just like another Chinese unit that was also leaked earlier last month.

What is different about this unit was that it was white. We’d only seen units with black faces so at least we now know that HTC plans to release a version of the phone with a white bezel, perhaps with a silver finish on the rear?

HTC has already teased the HTC 10 in the past with its large beveled edge, another teaser featured the HTC 10’s speaker system and promised that it would feature the best Boom Sound experience than ever before. HTC also teased the phone’s performance, and camera(calling it “the best ever smartphone for shooting photos and videos) and finally, just today, HTC also teased the phone’s battery life.

HTC has big shoes to fill. Especially now that it’s been teasing the crap out of its new unreleased flagship. The unveiling is expected to happen on April 12 at 8AM EST time. Until then, we hope that HTC is able to deliver on all its promises.

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OnePlus One Marshmallow update now seeding

We reported on the Marshmallow update for the OnePlus One being in final testing the other day, in the words of company co-founder Carl Pei, and he gave a rather vague promise that the rollout will start "very soon". Well, those who read that as "maybe another month left to go" will be pleasantly surprised today.

Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow is beginning to roll out for the OnePlus One, the company has shared in a post on its own forum. Cyanogen is ready to push the CM 13.0 release with internal designation ZNH0EAS26M to OnePlus' first ever smartphone.

As is customary with all such firmware update matters though, not everyone will get it on day one, so patience is appreciated, Helen from OnePlus says.

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Apple releases iOS 9.3.1 to fix crashes caused by tapping links

iOS 9.3 was released to the public on March 21, the same day as Apple's big event where it unveiled the iPhone SE and iPad Pro 9.7 (both of which are now available, by the way). Yet here we are just 10 days later and the company has deemed it necessary to already issue an emergency update for its mobile operating system.

iOS 9.3.1 is now rolling out to supported iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch units across the world. Its only function is to fix a very nasty bug that somehow made the cut to the final version of iOS 9.3. This bug will render your Apple device useless after tapping on links in Safari and other apps.

Thankfully, after you update your device to iOS 9.3.1, the crashing and unresponsiveness associated with tapping on links in certain circumstances will happen no more. So clearly this is one update that you should apply as soon as possible, especially if you have been affected by this bug.

Nothing else is included in this iOS release, so you don't get any new features or anything like that. Then again, iOS 9.3 itself comes with plenty of those, and it's only been out for everyone since last week, so that makes perfect sense.

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LG G5 now available for purchase in the US

As scheduled, LG's newest flagship smartphone - the G5 - is now available for purchase in the United States. AT&T has listed the device on its website, and is selling it for $688 sans contract. Those opting for the carrier's Next plan can get the phone for as low as $22.97 a month.

As you might already know, the G5 comes with a free battery and charging cradle in the US. On top of that AT&T is offering a $49.99 LG G Pad X 10.1 on a 2-year agreement to those purchasing the phone on the carrier's Next plan.

You can also get a LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE smartwatch for $99.99 on contract. As for colors, the AT&T LG G5 is available in all four options including silver, titan, gold, and pink.

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Huawei saw 37% annual revenue growth last year - biggest since 2008

Chinese company Huawei recorded an annual revenue of RMB 395 billion ($61.10 billion) in 2015, which translates into an year-on-year growth of 37%. This is the company's biggest annual revenue growth in the past seven years.

Huawei's net profit for the year stood at RMB 36.9 billion, up 32 percent from the RMB 27.9 billion figure it reported the year prior. The company's handset division played an important role in this with a 44% jump in shipments. In case you don't already know, Huawei became the first smartphone company in China whose shipments crossed the 100 million mark in a year in 2015.

The company's carrier business - which now accounts for around 59% of the company's revenue - also saw a jump of 21.4% last year primarily due to China's adoption of 4G mobile technology.

Huawei's growth is "a direct result of strategic focus and heavy investment in our core businesses," said Guo Ping, one of the CEOs. The company expects its annual revenue to increase to $75 billion this year.

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HTC 10 swings by FCC ahead of announcement

The HTC 10 is now approved by the FCC making the phone that little bit readier for its launch. HTC will officially unveil its upcoming flagship on April 12 in an online events.

An interesting bit revealed by the regulatory is that there are actually two new HTC models - the 2PS6200 and 2PS6500. Unfortunately, there are no photos provided in the documents, as HTC has requested the FCC to withhold public information disclosure. It's also unclear what the differences between the two are, but we are guessing it boils down to network bands support.

HTC 10 is expected to have a 5.1" QHD screen of the Super LCD 5 variety (not AMOLED), a Snapdragon 820 chipset with 4GB of RAM and a USB Type-C port. HTC has hinted the 10 will have a "very compelling camera" (12MP UltraPixel say the rumors).

You can expect the HTC 10 to come in a variety of colors including black front with black or silver rear, and a white front with white or gold rear.

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Alleged Meizu Pro 6 mini and m3 note leak ahead of announcement

The Meizu Pro 6 and the Meizu m3 note has been popping in our rumor section for quite some time. The Meizu Pro 5 mini was part of the rumors for quite some time, but it got cancelled due to production delays.

Today, we got a new picture revealing the Meizu m3 note and the Pro 6 mini. Check it out:

The Meizu m3 note is supposed to go official on April 6. It should offer a 5.5" 1080p display, Helio X10 chipset with 2 or 3GB RAM (storage dependent), and a 3,200 mAh battery. One of the key upgrades over the m2 note is the new shiny metal chassis, probably following the footsteps of the Meizu m1 metal and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3.

The Pro 6 mini first appeared in a leaked Meizu roadmap, then it should pack a 4.7" 1080p display, and run on the Helio X25 chipset with a deca-core processor. The battery behind this impressive hardware should be a 2,800 mAh unit.

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HTC 10 Mini running on Snapdragon 823 scheduled for September

The HTC 10 announcement is just around the corner - it is going to happen in 12 days, and we know most of the details already thanks to the numerous leaks throughout the past few months. We guess it's time to move onto the next big thing, which in this case is a little flagship.

Apparently the HTC 10 will be getting a mini flavor - the HTC 10 Mini. As per the leaked memo sent to selected HTC insiders, the HTC 10 Mini will feature a 4.7" display (probably a 1080p unit) and will be powered by the Snapdragon 823 chipset with 4GB of RAM.

The Snapdragon 823 chip is the same as the S820 model, but the quad-core Kryo CPU will run on a higher clock. We already heard of this new SoC two days ago with the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 leak, which reported Xiaomi's next phablet to be powered by the same thing.

Anyway, the HTC 10 Mini should be introduced this September. We'll certainly get a few more leaks until then though.

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LG G5 torture tests come online, it turns out quite sturdy

LG G5 went on sale just yesterday and it was inevitable for the flagship to pass through various torture tests for the cameras. The G5 got scratched, burnt with a lighter, and then bent for the public to enjoy.

As expected the LG G5 doesn't bend easily as it's actually a chunk of metal, except for the whatever accessory is inserted within the Magic Slot - this will surrender rather easy.

The scratch test revealed the LG G5 is actually covered by a thin layer of plastic. This process of applying small color particles on metal surface is called microdizing and allows for hiding the antenna bands within the paint.

LG actually talked about this - the layer some consider as plastic is actually a rather thick ply of paint, so we think LG hasn't lied about the metal, nor has misled on the microdizing thing - the paint is indeed hiding the antennas.

So, the LG G5 is not that prone to bending, though you can easily bend the bottom because it's detachable. It does endure screen scratches up to a certain point, but the rear is a lot easier to scratch because it's actually paint.

The teardown video reveals the LG G5 is easy to open and repair and shows its true metal nature.

We already published our LG G5 review based on a pre-production unit, but the retail unit has just arrived in our office so you should stay tuned for an update early next week.

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Okapia Air

Phone Summary

OS	Android OS 4.4.2 Kitkat
CPU	Quad-core 1.3 GHz
RAM	1 GB
Memory	8 GB, 32 GB
Display	5 Inches
Graphics	Mali-400
Camera	8 MP, 5 MP
Battery	Li-ion 1900 mAh
Price	9990.00

Technical Specification

Brand	Okapia
Operating System	Android OS
OS Version	4.4.2 Kitkat
GPU	Mali-400
Processor Clock	1.3 GHz
Core	Quad-core

Network

2G	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
3G	HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100
SIM	Dual SIM (Dual Stand-by)

Display

Type	IPS capacitive touchscreen
Size	5 Inches
Resolution	HD, 1080 x 720 pixel
Multi-touch	Yes

Body

Height	145.5 mm
Width	70 mm
Thickness	7.2 mm
Material	plastic
Colors	Black

Camera

Rear camera	8 Mega Pixels
Front camera	5 Mega Pixels
Features	Autofocus, LED flash, BSI sensor

Memory

RAM	1 GB
Internal	8 GB
External	32 GB

Connectivity

GPRS	Yes
EDGE	Yes
Speed	HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
WLAN	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes

Multimedia

Audio format	MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV player
Video format	MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player

Features

Sensors	Proximity, light, G-sensor
GPS	Yes with AGPS
FM	Yes

Battery

Type	Li-ion
Capacity	1900 mAh
Standby	up to 240 hrs
Talktime	up to 4 hrs

Availability

Announce date	July 2015
Release date	July 2015

Price

Price

9990.00