Honor 6 Plus out officially as Huawei climbs the high-end niche

The Huawei Honor 6 Plus, after a number of leaks that teased us about its purported high-end features, has finally launched in China. The smartphone is undoubtedly Huawei’s proof that it can make a flagship-level device at a price so much lower than other manufacturers, and it highlights a dual 8MP rear camera setup, somewhat similar to what HTC had done with the One M8.

Let’s get right on to the meat of the stuff. The Huawei Honor 6 Plus has a big-ish 5.5-inch IPS display that shows visuals at 1080p. This screen is powered by Huawei’s very own proprietary Kirin 925 chipset – which has an octa-core processor in a big.LITTLE layout, four Cortex-A15 and four Cortex-A7 cores. This is backstopped by a Mali T628-MP4 graphics chip and an ample 3GB of RAM. The Kirin 925 chip also allows for LTE Cat.6 connectivity at 300Mbps download speeds. All of these run on a skinned Android 4.4.4 Kitkat OS called EMUI 3.0 (or Emotion UI 3.0).

Huawei says that the rear 8MP dual camera setup allows for more detail (more pixels) in your images, especially night images. Taking cues from HTC’s playbook, Huawei's dual-lens setup allows users to refocus photos, adjust their simulated aperture (from f/0.95 all the way to f/16) and apply all the filters you want (tilt shift, sketch, comics, etc.). The front-facing camera also has an 8MP resolution.

If you have this device in your hands, you will at once appreciate the metal frame around the unibody design. Clearly a huge effort has also been given to slimming down the Honor 6 Plus at 7.5mm – one of the slimmest phones around. On the right side of the frame you will see the dual SIM slots, and a microSD slot that allows the 16GB or 32GB internal storage to be expanded to 128GB. Finally, the device also sports an 3,600mAh battery, which will presumably allow you a day and a half of usage without charging.

The Huawei Honor 6 Plus is out to the market in two flavors (all in China as of now) – a dual-SIM single LTE model, which is priced at around USD$323, and another dual-SIM version where both slots support 4G LTE, which will cost around USD$404. Take note that the pricing – given the flagship level specs – is still way lower than most flagship level devices.

SOURCE: Huawei

Story Timeline

• Huawei Honor 6 scheduled for June 24


• Huawei Honor 6 unveiled with octa-core chipset and 5-inch 1080p display


• Huawei Honor 6 Plus shows up at China’s TENAA

OnePlus and Wave brings MaxxAudio technology to the One

More often than not, the audio that comes from our mobile phones is not something to sing home about. Something is lost in transferring sound technology to our small and compact smartphones and tablets. OnePlus, the makers of the elusive the One has now partnered with Waves Audio to bring the Maxx Audio technology and make your One sound better.

If you're not familiar with MaxxAudio, it is a technology used by some headphones, speakers and Bluetooth speakers that enhances the psychoacoustic sound by making the bass deeper, the highs clearer, and the volume levels louder than the usual. The result is a more immersive sound whether you're jamming alone on your headphones or playing music from your speakers at a party. So imagine that kind of sound power on your mobile device and that is what OnePlus and Wave are promising to deliver.

The MaxxAudio will be custom tuned for the speakers of the One as well as their Silver Bullet earphones and the JBL E1+ headphones, in case you feel like listening to your jams on your own. There are also 10 equalizer presets for different kinds of music that you might listen to, like classical, jazz, rock or R&B. You will also be able to control the amount of bass, treble and volume balance that you want to flow through the speakers or headsets.

Cyanogen Inc, the parent company of OnePlus, will be bringing the major update to the One by January next year, so you have to be satisfied with your ordinary sounding mobile phone speakers until then. Steve Kondik, the CTO of Cyanogen claims that they have tried to perfect the AudioFX app and the software integration to bring an unmatched sound quality on audio devices.

SOURCE: OnePlus

OnePlus One “mini” leaked, Dec. 17 event teased

The OnePlus One is a device that is almost characterized by contradiction. Labeled as the "flagship killer", the smartphone did arrive with high end specs and a price to die for, but it also ended up being widely unavailable except from invites. And more recently, just when it launched in India, it saw Cyanogen practically withdrew support for its OS for devices sold in India. Despite that, it seems that the Chinese startup wants a repeat, but this time in a smaller scale.

Leaked photos have started to appear of what is reportedly the OnePlus One Mini, a variant of the flagship that is smaller in more than just the size. Naturally the full range of specs isn't yet available to us, but it will supposedly bear a 5.0-inch screen, compared to the 5.5 inches of the original. Hopefully, it will at least be 720p in resolution, which might very well be the case considering OnePlus' motto of "Never Settle". That said, they will be settling for something less in line with the reduced size, like a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 which, though slower, at least boasts of an octa-core arrangement and 64-bit architecture. An interesting feature is that both front and back cameras are noted to be 8 megapixels.

As to when this device will make its debut, there is some speculation that it will happen tomorrow, December 17th. The startup has been teasing its Wednesday event over several social media networks. Of course, it isn't spilling everything, other than that it has two new products to reveal to its fans. It does, however, hint that at least one of them will be related to fitness and health. Judging by recent trends, it might very well be a smartwatch or at the very least a smart fitness band.

Whatever it will be, the industry will most likely be keeping an eye out for this rather intriguing company. Despite the initial, and some would contend still ongoning, popularity, OnePlus is currently facing quite a number of challenges, both from within its own fanbase as well as its partners. These two new products might be the break that OnePlus needs to put it back on the chart.

SOURCE: Google+, Weibo

VIA: GSMArena

Google Adds New Features to Drive, Sheets, Slides and Docs

In the last few months, Google has been working very hard to adapt all its apps to the new Material Design UI paradigm. Overhauling the UI was a big deal, but one of the main goals in app development is adding new features. Everyone loves features, so Google stepped up and delivered quite a few to several of its first party Android apps.

Google has pushed out updates of the following applications: Docs, Sheets, Drive, and Slides. The first thing you’ll notice are full hamburger menu icons. In addition, Docs now allows users to specify line spacing in the paragraph section, where users select one of the predefined values. Unfortunately, they can’t be edited manually. Sheets also received some tweaks, seen in new scroll bars that should help you to find your location in the document.

Slides users can now also insert and manipulate lines, shapes, and text boxes. You can move those objects freely and do something like this:

The above updates aren’t all–Google has good news for LibreOffice and OpenOffice users. Drive has gained the ability to import Open Document Format into the respective apps. You can even search for content by saying “OK Google, search for [something] on Drive”. Your results will then be available and opened through the Drive app.

These applications are now gradually making their way to end user devices via the Play Store. However, those who want to get in on the updates a bit early can head over to the via link below for the all important APK download.

[via Android Police]

The post Google Adds New Features to Drive, Sheets, Slides and Docs appeared first on xda-developers.

Lollipop beta for Samsung Galaxy Note 3 accidentally slips through

The beta Lollipop build for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 might just have slipped through cracks in security, allowing some users to get the OTA update early and accidentally. From a post in the XDA forums, it looks like a user in Vietnam was able to download an update to Lollipop for his Galaxy Note 3, although it looks like it’s not the final build yet.

A Vietnamese user apparently saw the Android 5.0 update as part of the list of available updates via the Samsung-update website (see pic of website below). The accidental update has most likely been taken down now, but not before some people were able to download it.

Looking at the images in the gallery below, it looks to be an early build – thank goodness for that. Most people are saying that the white background on the menus will continue to give the Galaxy Note 3 poor battery life, as they will need to light up more pixels for that. Hopefully the menu background color will be fixed in the final build, yes?

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3’s update to Lollipop might not be as comprehensive as some people think it should be, with the device being the next generation after the current one. But it would still be a great upgrade, considering all the features of Android 5.0.

VIA: XDA

Story Timeline

• Galaxy Note 3 pitted against iPhone 6 Plus in #bendgate test


• Consumer Reports look into #bendgate, Galaxy Note 3 is strong


• Android Lollipop previewed on Samsung Galaxy Note 3

SwiftKey releases Frozen-themed virtual keyboards in time for Christmas

It's been a year since Frozen-mania snowstormed its way into the theaters and children's (and adults!) hearts. But it's still not over, especially if your kids still break out into song (okay, admit it, you too) when they hear the opening notes of "Let It Go" or beg you for Olaf plushies this Christmas. SwiftKey says it's better late than never as they release Frozen-themed virtual keyboards for you and/or your kids.

If you're not yet familiar with SwiftKey, it's a keyboard replacement for your smartphone or tablet that uses the "Flow" trails when typing out (or gliding out) words on your device. With the Frozen themes, it adds snow flakes that accumulate and eventually melt when you flow your messages. There are six character themes that will be in the background of your keyboard. You can choose from Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven, Anna and Elsa, Anna, and the entire family. If you need us to explain who these people are to you, then maybe this theme isn't for you.

Of course you need to install the SwiftKey for Android app before you can enjoy the Frozen themes. Then open the keyboard and long press the bottom left-hand 123 key for the settngs menu. Go to Themes and then the SwiftKey Store to find the themes that you want. It might take some time for you to get used to SwiftKey, but if you really want to have the Arendelle princesses and their friends on your keyboard, then you better learn fast.

SwiftKey for Android is free to download from the Google Play Store. The Frozen themes are available for $4.99 for the entire pack of six or just $1.99 for each character theme. You can buy them from the SwiftKey Store.

SOURCE: SwiftKey

Chicken Invaders 5 Clucks its way to Android

Chicken Invaders is a new game that has landed on the Android operating system that puts players into a battle against invading intergalactic chickens. These intergalactic chickens are focused on getting revenge for the oppressed chickens of Earth.

In the game, the chickens are trying to block the sun to freeze out life on Earth. The player travels around the galaxy to gather components for an ancient artifact that can defeat the chickens. The game sounds interesting and looks very cool from the video trailer that released alongside the game.

The game debuted December 9 and is currently at version 1.00ggl. It has been installed between 1000 and 5000 times so far. It is a free download, but the game is supported by in-app purchases.

Those in-app purchases cost $1.23 per item. Android 2.3.3 or higher is required to play the game. The download is 27MB in size. Check out the video to see more of what the game is about. So far, it has a rating of 4.2 on Google Play with 145 reviews.

SOURCE: Google Play