Samsung has revealed that Samsung Pay is now supported by 70 major banks and credit unions in the United States, claiming that the mobile payments service now covers over 70% of the country's credit and debit card market. The revelation was made by the South Korean company in a press release where-in it announced that service now also also supports eligible credit and debit cards from Wells Fargo, an American multinational banking and financial services holding company. Samsung recently revealed that Samsung Pay has attracted around 5 million users and the company has processed more than $500 million in transactions since the mobile payments service made its debut in the US, something which happened in September last...


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Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 hands-on: The Snapdragon Edition
The Redmi series has always been Xiaomi's bread and butter. Combining good design, features, and reasonable performance at a very attractive price, the Redmi series has redefined for many what a good budget smartphone should be like.


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Xiaomi launches Redmi Note 3 in India
Xiaomi today announced the Redmi Note 3 for the Indian market. The phone is priced at INR 9,999 ($148) for the 16GB model, and INR 11,999 ($178) for the 32GB model. The Redmi Note 3 for India runs on the brand new Snapdragon 650 SoC and 2GB of RAM on the 16GB model and 3GB RAM on the 32GB model. It also has a new 16 megapixel camera with f2.0 aperture and phase detect autofocus. Then there's the 5.5-inch 1080p display, 5 megapixel front camera, and a massive 4,050mAh battery. The Redmi Note 3 is also the first Xiaomi phone to have a fingerprint sensor and the first Redmi phone to have a metal body. The phone runs on MIUI 7 on Android 5.1 Lollipop. The Redmi Note 3 will be manufactured in India as part of the country's Make in India initiative. The Redmi Note 3 will be available through Mi.com and Amazon, starting March 9 at 2 PM, and on Flipkart and Snapdeal at a later date. The phone will be available in silver, gold, and...


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Watch Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 India launch event here
Xiaomi is launching it's newest Redmi smartphone in India, the Redmi Note 3. The event is being held in New Delhi and is being presented by company Vice President, Hugo Barra. We already have the specs for the device, if you're interested, and something more later once the device has been announced. For now, you can catch the live stream of the keynote...


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Fitbit's Blaze smartwatch is now available for purchase
Unveiled at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, the Fitbit Blaze smartwatch is now available for purchase. The wearable device, which carries a $200 price tag, was up for pre-order until now. The watch is now listed on major US online retailers including Amazon and Best Buy. It comes with a choice of Black, Blue or Plum wristbands, although you can also purchase leather straps in three different colors for $100 each and a stainless steel bracelet for $130. In terms of functionality, the wearable offers heart rate monitoring, all-day activity and sleep tracking, music control, as well as call, text, other alerts. The company claims a 5-day battery life for the smartwatch. Source (Amazon) | Best...


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Xiaomi announces rollout of MIUI 7.2 China stable build; global build coming soon
A couple of months after the MIUI 7.1 started hitting supported devices, Xiaomi has announced the roll-out of version 7.2 of its MIUI ROM. The OTA update is currently rolling out to Chinese variants of the company's devices, while global roll-out is expected to happen soon. The devices that are now getting the update include the Mi 5, Mi 4S, Mi Note Pro, Mi 4c, Mi Pad 1, Redmi Note 4G (Single SIM), and Redmi 1S. A second set of devices - including the Mi Note, Mi 3, Mi 4, Mi 4i, Mi 2/2S, Mi Pad 2, Redmi 3, Redmi Note 3, Redmi Note 2, Redmi Note 4G (Dual SIM), Redmi Note 3G, Redmi 2A, Redmi 2 - will get it next week (around March 9). If you haven't yet received the update notification and are feeling impatient, you can also head to the company's official forum (Source link below) to download the ROM package for your device. The thread also lists full change-log for the...


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Xiaomi reportedly sells over 200K Mi 4S units first day
The Xiaomi Mi 4S was announced late last month, and the device went on sale in China earlier this week. Now, according to reports from Chinese media, over 200K units of the handset were sold on the first day itself. The Chinese company hasn't yet officially revealed the device's first day sales figures. However, a local retailer Suning revealed that it sold over 110,000 units on the launch day, of which 50,935 units were sold online, while 64,853 were sold through offline channels. Given that Suning wasn't the only retailer selling the Mi 4S in the country, the 200,000 figure reported by Chinese media seems realistic. The phone carries a price tag of RMB 1,699 (around $260), and comes in black, white, gold, and pink color...


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T-Mobile LG G4 now available for just $350
If you're a T-Mobile customer and in the market for an LG smartphone, here is a deal for you: the magenta carrier has given LG's last year flagship - the G4 - a price cut. The device (Metallic Gray model) is now available for $350, down from its previous price of $600. This doesn't seem to be an online-only deal (there's no mention of it at-least), meaning you can purchase a T-Mobile LG G4 at that price from the carrier's physical retail stores as well. For those on AT&T or Verizon, as we've already reported, you can grab an LG G4 unit for just $300. As you might already know, LG announced its newest flagship - the G5 - last month at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The device will be available to pre-order in the US in a couple of weeks from...


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Blackberry Priv now available from Verizon
If you've been waiting for the Android-powered Blackberry to arrive at big Red, your wait is now over. Verizon is offering the Blackberry Priv for the full retail price of $720 or $30 per month for a period of 24 monthly payments. The Blackberry Priv is Blackberry's first comeback out of a ditch it dug itself in. It features a 5.4 inch 1440p display, Snapdragon 808 Hexa-core processor, 18MP camera, 3GB of RAM, and a 3410mAh battery. The phone also features a display that slides up to reveal a physical QWERTY keyboard, the same kind that Blackberry has pioneered into its own hardware for years. Source |...


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New report suggests iPhone will get OLED displays in 2017
A new report from Chinese organization Nikkei says that Apple has been reaching out to Samsung in and LG in December of this past year to see if they are able to produce insane volumes of OLED panels for releasing an OLED iPhone in 2017. Reports also say that this deal with Samsung and LG could be up to $12 billion. This new 2017 goal does seem realistic and possible because of the way Apple refreshes its iPhones every other year. The physical device has very similar dimensions but components, sensors, or features might change with the newer iteration. If the iPhone 7 comes out this year (which in accordance to the last 8 iPhones, this is the only logical step), then the iPhone 7S would be launching by later next year in 2017. An OLED display could be in that list of new hardware changes for the iPhone 7S. OLED displays offer vivid colors, darker blacks, and more energy efficient operations than LCD panels have done in the past. Samsung has been using its own AMOLED panels for many different Galaxy phones in the past several years. This is the time when Apple needs to think outside the box a little bit more and perhaps take more risks. Last year's financial reports released from Apple have already shown a stunt in growth of iPhone sales and everyone is watching Apple's next moves. Source |...


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AT&T holding open insurance enrollment until April 30
Carriers often don't do this sort of thing, but when they do it may be a big deal for you. Normally when you purchase a device through your carrier, you have the option of adding insurance to your device from day 1 up to 30 days in case you need some time to think about it. After that, you cannot enroll any longer and any damage repairs will need to be paid out of pocket. AT&T is allowing customers a second chance to protect their smart devices with an open enrollment of smartphone insurance for those who wished they got it before they dropped their devices. This open enrollment period started yesterday, March 1 and will last all the way until April 30. If you are on AT&T and haven't already enrolled your device, AT&T offers three different ways to do that with plans from $7.99 for a single device to a multi-device plan for $29.99. Source |...


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Google is piloting a Hands Free mobile payment service, no need to take phone out
Google is testing a new payment service totally separate from Android Pay. It will allow customers who have their hands full (one of the few examples given is if you are shopping with small children) or customers who are just lazy, to pay in-store without taking out the phone and with minimal interaction. Here's how it works: your phone must have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled before using Hands Free and most of us already have those two things enabled. Bluetooth Low Energy in conjunction with location services provided by Wi-Fi prepares phones for payments by communicating with beacons installed at the registers. The customer will simply tell the cashier that he or she is "paying with Google", then the cashier verifies the image and initials with the customer and confirms the payment. A notification is then sent directly to your device, confirming the payment you just made. The problem with these kinds of payment methods is they require even more hardware in order to accept these Hands Free payments and this is not idea in a world where NFC terminals payments are still limited as to where they can be used. This pilot is currently only available in the South Bay Area of California for select locations of two merchants: McDonald's and Papa John's. Still, it's nice to see Google coming up with these new pilot programs, even though, Google has ventured its nose into places it shouldn't have and ended up shutting down these unused services. But kudos to Google for actually taking the risks. Source |...


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Google Photos for Android update revamps navigation, renames Collections
The team behind Google Photos has announced a new update for the service's Android app today. This has started rolling out through the Play Store, but since Google loves staging these things it might take a few days before it reaches you. The new version of Photos brings with it a bottom navigation bar, which lets you quickly jump to the Assistant, Photos, or Albums views. The bottom bar is reminiscent of the one introduced with the latest redesign of the Google+ app for Android, and as such it might not go down well for some, especially since it's always present. The other new thing in the latest Photos release is that aforementioned Albums section. This is in fact the old Collections view, only renamed - based on user feedback, it turns out. The Albums area now comes with a scrolling carousel on top, giving you "easy access to your shared albums, people, places, things, animations, collages, movies, and device folders", according to Google. All of these changes are on their way to the iOS version of the Google Photos app too, but for now they can only be found on...


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HTC outs first teaser video for the One M10
Not long ago HTC published its first teaser image for the upcoming One M10 flagship smartphone. And today the Taiwanese company is taking things one step further, having outed the first teaser video for the same device through its Turkish YouTube channel. The hashtag is still "#powerof10", with the name One M10 having been unofficially confirmed just yesterday. The video goes out of its way not to show us anything even remotely resembling the handset itself, but it is filled with great-sounding things about HTC doing its best to find ways in which to "make your phone even better". Apparently HTC employees aren't going home at night anymore, instead opting to work on the M10, with which they're obsessed, "but in a good way". Given the fact that we haven't seen an invite for the unveiling event yet, we assume we're still quite a few weeks away from that. Though HTC is surely going to tease us some more in the coming days. The One M10 will reportedly have a "very compelling" camera, three storage options (16, 32, and 64GB), a 5.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen, the Snapdragon 820 chip, 4GB of RAM, a fingerprint scanner, as well as Android 6.0 Marshmallow on...


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Will the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge bend, scratch, or burn?
Remember #bendgate? It was all the rage back in 2014, after Apple released the rather bendable iPhone 6 Plus. Ever since that point, some people have taken to constantly testing new phones for such behavior. But after a while just doing bend tests becomes boring, we assume. Hence, the video you can see below goes even further with Samsung's new Galaxy S7 edge. Aside from the obligatory bendiness review, you also get a scratch test and... a lighter trying to burn the phone. The scratch test is the most comprehensive, covering the handset's screen, its glass back, as well as the glass covering the camera lens and the plastic that's on top of the LED flash and heart rate sensor. Finally, the aluminum frame faces the knife too. The effect of the flame on the S7 edge's display is certainly interesting, as is the fact that you can't break it by bending, but the back panel does lift up at one point compromising the phone's water...


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Sony Xperia X and XA UK pre-orders kick off
At MWC last month, Sony retired the aging Xperia Z family and unveiled the new Xperia X series, comprising of three members so far - the Xperia X itself, the Xperia X Performance, and the Xperia XA. And now two of those are already up for pre-order in the UK. We're talking about the Xperia X and XA (pictured below), since the X Performance may never be sold in the UK as it turns out. At the moment MobileFun is the only online retailer offering the X and XA on pre-order. The Xperia X is priced at £529, while the XA is a much more affordable £249. Unfortunately there's no information yet about when the two devices will start shipping, so if you desperately want either one all you can do right now is pre-order and then be patient. To learn more about the new Sony phones, make sure you read our detailed hands-on report. Source 1 • Source...


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Check out our Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016) video review
Mainstream smartphones are still getting bigger and bigger every year, it seems, and Samsung couldn't help but notice this trend. As a consequence, it's expanded its 'premium mid-range' A series with a new 6-inch offering this January - the Galaxy A9 (2016). This device pairs a 1080p Super AMOLED touchscreen with the Snapdragon 652 chipset - fittingly, as it turns out, because that happens to be Qualcomm's premier upper-midrange chip. So the SoC and the entire phone itself are perfectly aligned in this respect, with 3GB of RAM in there to make multitasking a breeze. Our quick video review of the Galaxy A9 (2016) is embedded below. If you want to find out even more details about this handset, then make sure you go through our comprehensive written review as well. It should help you figure out if this device is for you or not. It certainly has plenty of strengths for its price...


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Nova Launcher Prime price is down to $0.99, get it now
Nova Launcher is one of those apps most of the Android users have tried once they had grown tired of their default Android skin. It's the most popular launcher replacement in the Play Store today, and there is a reason for that - it has a very simple UI, yet offers powerful configuration options. Nova Launcher is available for free download in the Play Store, but it has a Prime paid version, which usually costs $5. It allows gesture support, option to hide apps in the drawer, unread count badges on apps, among others. Today the Prime version costs $0.99 in the USA, Canada, Australia, £/€ 0.50 in the UK and the EU, and INR 10 in India. If you are interested in the full version of Nova launcher, now is a very good time to get it. Play Store •...


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SoundHound's Hound app now available in the US on iOS and Android
After spending some time in beta, SoundHound's Hound app is now available to download on iOS and Android, if you're in the US. Hound is a voice search app that combines speech recognition and language understanding to provide a much better experience than something like Google Now or Siri. Hound can understand complex sentences and can process multiple queries at the same time, and fetch the relevant information from the internet as well as do local tasks such as calling someone or sending a text. If you're in the States, you can give the app a try or wait for it to be made available in your region. iOS •...


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AT&T adds Microsoft Lumia 950 to its GoPhone lineup
AT&T's branded prepaid service GoPhone has now added the Microsoft Lumia 950 to its line-up, and is selling the Windows 10-powered flagship smartphone for $598.99. Both black and white color variants are up for grabs, and shipping is free. The phone is also being officially sold by Microsoft in the US, with the unlocked variant costing around $550. If, however, you're interested in the XL version of the Lumia 950, you'll be glad to know that B&H photo still has it listed for around $530 - Microsoft is selling the device for $649. In case you missed, the device - along with the Lumia 950 XL and Lumia 550 - also received a new Windows 10 Mobile build last...


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