Flashback: the Nokia N86 8MP was the last of the great Symbian sliders

The Nokia N95 was a high point for Symbian, but as we noted in our previous Flashback article, its success was never replicated. It was also the end for this form factor – the Swiss army knife slider phone.

The original N95 came in early 2007, followed a few months later by the much-improved N95 8GB. Our destination for today’s story is the N86 8MP, but we have to take a twisty path to get there.

2007 also brought the more affordable Nokia N81. It launched in two versions – one with basically no built-in storage but with an included 2GB microSD card and one with 8GB of built-in storage...


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vivo X100 shows up in a live photo

The vivo X100 series is about to debut later this month and numerous leaks of the design showed us what to expect at launch day, but we've never seen a vivo X100 out in the wild until now. Well, a Weibo user shared a live image of what appears to be an X100 from the back.

The device shows up in a light blue color, which we've already seen in leaked renders, but the sparkly, concentric pattern isn't as obvious as the renders would make you believe. The wavy forms of the back glass seem in line with the renders, though.

vivo X100

The camera island is as expected, except for the...


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OnePlus 12 shows up on 3C certification with 100W charging

According to previous rumors, the OnePlus 12 is just around the corner as the company is gearing up to launch the handset earlier than expected. In fact, we could see the handset appear by the end of this month in China and the latest 3C certification can attest to that.

The handset popped up on the Chinese 3C website with a 100W-capable wired charger, confirming the initial rumors that there won't be any change in the charging speed. The listing shows a charging brick with 11V/9.1A, which is exactly the same as the OnePlus 11.

However, the renowned tipster DIgital Chat Station on...


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Samsung announces the 50MP ISOCELL GNK sensor with improved dynamic range and video capabilities

Samsung announced its new 50MP ISOCELL GNK sensor boasting improved video recording capabilities and wider dynamic range for stills. The sensor is a direct successor to the 50MP ISOCELL GN1 that other OEMs and Samsung itself widely use.

Spec-wise, the GNK is identical to the GN1. The 50MP imager is 1/1.3" in size and offers 1.2µm pixels. But to improve the sensor's performance, the company used other smarts. For instance, the Dual Pixel Pro autofocus ensures sharp photos of moving objects as the focus time is greatly improved.

Additionally, the sensor can capture images with a...


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WhatsApp to soon roll out email verification

Some users using the beta branch of WhatsApp are prompted to verify their accounts using their personal emails. It looks like a limited rollout of the feature, though, as only a handful of beta users report the novelty.

Screenshot from the email verification prompt

There were early reports regarding email verification, suggesting that the WhatsApp team has been working on an email verification system since August. The new verification method aims to apply another layer of security to users' accounts. It's going to make hacking into accounts a tad more difficult.

Even though the...


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The Huawei P30 and Mate 20 series will get HarmonyOS 4 in Q1 of 2024

Huawei just announced that it will update the Huawei P30 and Mate 20 series to HarmonyOS 4 in the first quarter of 2024.

The update will only be seeded to Chinese units, but still it's a surprising development, as neither series was in the official supported list of devices. The Mate 40 and Mate 50, and the P50 and P60 series are the current generational flagships for Huawei.

HarmonyOS 4 was unveiled in the summer with a faster and more efficient Ark Engine engine, new widgets, a customizable lock screen, a Dynamic Island-esque Live Window, and more. The software is made for a...


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Samsung files a complaint against BOE

In late October this year, Samsung filed a complaint against BOE in the United States International Trade Commission, accusing BOE of unfair competition and using stolen intellectual property of Samsung to produce OLED display modules.

The two tech giants have a history. A couple of years ago, Samsung Display tried to stop the wholesalers from dealing with OLED panels in the US, as it claimed they are illegally produced in China using stolen technologies. This wasn't a direct attack on BOE at the time, but BOE responded by footing the bill for the wholesalers. These actions prompted...


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Qualcomm CEO confirms Exynos-Snapdragon split for S24 series

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon has mostly confirmed reports that the Galaxy S24 series will feature both Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Exynos 2400 chipsets.

Speaking at an earnings report conference call, he said that Qualcomm will hаve the majority market share of the Galaxy S24 series, that is coming soon. It likely means that the reports that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will exclusively use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (for Galaxy), independent on market, are true.

He didn't elaborate further, but it's as official a statement as can be expected. The majority of the market share makes sense, given that...


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The Apple M3 Max matches the M2 Ultra in Geekbench

Apple's just-announced M3-equipped MacBooks are in the hands of reviewers and the Geekbench scores are pouring in. They revealed the potential of the M3 Max chip - it scores around 3,000 in single-core and around 21,000 in multi-core on Geekbench 6.

Those numbers put the M3 Max close to the M2 Ultra inside the Mac Pro and Mac Studio, which scores around 2,800/21,000. The M2 Ultra is a 5 nm, 60 W chip with 24 cores (16 performance, 8 efficiency), while the M3 Max is a 3 nm, 30 W chip with 16 cores (12 performance, 4 efficiency). The M2 Ultra has a 76-core GPU, while the M3 Max does with...


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Oppo Find X7 Pro coming with Sony LYT-900 sensor, Xiaomi 14 Ultra and vivo X100 Pro+ to follow

A new report from the famous Chinese tipster, Digital Chat Station suggests the upcoming Chinese flagships Oppo Find X7 Pro, Xiaomi 14 Ultra and the vivo X100 Pro+ will come with an upgraded 1-inch Sony sensor called Lytia LYT-900.

According to the leak, all three companies are already testing the new hardware and the results are promising. The sensor will introduce a new DCG (Dual Conversion Gain) technology, which probably refers to the new stacked design that Sony has been pushing for the past year. So far we've seen smaller imagers that claim to match the performance of a 1-inch...


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YouTube Premium price increases in select markets

YouTube started a massive campaign against ad blockers, preventing those who use them from viewing content. The company urged users to opt for the Premium tiers instead that have no ads, among other benefits.

Today, customers from all corners of the world, started receiving an email that their monthly fee will increase. As of November 1, YouTube Premium is getting a price hike in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Chile, Germany, Poland, and Turkey. This applies to all tiers – Premium and Music Premium.

YouTube Premium features

The price increase will apply to new users while...


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Poco C65 launching on November 5

Poco is gearing up to launch its next C-series smartphone next week and we now have some some details about the device. Poco C65 will launch on November 5 and will come as a successor the Poco C55 which launched back in February. The upcoming model will feature the same MediaTek Helio G85 chipset paired with 6/8GB RAM and 128/256GB storage.

Poco C65 poster

The back will feature a 50MP main camera alongside two unspecified modules housed in an updated camera island design. Poco C65 appears to have the same design as the Redmi 13C which leaked back in September. Based on speculation,...


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iQOO 12 breaks cover in new hands-on images

The iQOO 12 is all set to debut in China next week and ahead of the big announcement we have another pair of hands-on images of the upcoming flagship. Reliable tipster Digital Chat Station shared these images of the iQOO 12 on his Weibo account. The latest images corroborate previous leaks regarding the phone's design.

iQOO 12 in black and white

The white colorway sports BMW M Motorsport branding while the black unit appears to have a textured finish. The front packs a flat display with symmetrical-looking bezels and a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera. The iQOO 12 will...


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Nokia takes legal action against Amazon and HP over video streaming patent infringements

Nokia – the Finnish telecom equipment maker is suing Amazon and HP over the unauthorized use of a mix of video streaming-related essential patents. Nokia filed a lawsuit in a Delaware federal court and has also filed similar lawsuits across Germany, India, the UK and the European Unified Patent Court.

Nokia clarifies that Amazon Prime and Twitch platforms are using Nokia-patented technology for video compression, content delivery and content recommendation amongst others. HP devices were also found to violate Nokia’s patented video streaming tech.

Nokia claims it offered Amazon and...


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vivo unveils Origin OS 4 with improved power management and memory efficiency

The vivo Developer Conference began today with the introduction of Origin OS 4, based on Android 14. It brings a bunch of new features, a UI redesign and improvements in performance, but sadly there are no plans for bringing it to phones outside China.

International units were already confirmed to receive Funtouch 14.

Improvements in performance include faster app response, enabled by a "virtual graphics card". It reduces opening and closing times of apps by 36% and boosts frame rate stability by 70%.

What actually happens is the OS prioritizing the onscreen task, allocating...


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