News and Information from all aspects of the mobile phone industry
Four titans of the smartphone world have been plunged into conflict this week, as American warranty firm Square Trade released a video showing the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge going up against Apple’s latest in four durability challenges. It’s an entertaining video, so check it out above or see the results below!
New drawings of the unannounced iPhone were released this week, showing an iterative improvement in the look of the phone. The antenna lines, which mar an otherwise clear back side near the top and bottom, have been moved to the top and bottom edges of the phone in a curve. This allows the phone’s radios to escape the metal shell as usual, but looks much better.*
FM radio has been a standard feature in mobile phones for years, and persists to this day on some handsets. Yet modern digital radio, DAB+, has never been supported, despite its higher audio quality, larger number of stations and better real-time information. That changes this week, as LG announced their new Stylus 2 handset will come with DAB+ radio built-in.
While Windows Phone seems to be dying a slow death, HP don’t seem to have gotten the memo. They dedicated the bulk of their Mobile World Congress presence to announcing a new Windows Phone, the HP Elite X3. It’s called the X3 because it’s designed to be three devices in one: a phone that also works as a laptop and desktop PC. Let’s take a closer look at this crazy design.
Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant is at the heart of its coolest recent product, the Echo home speaker. The virtual assistant is improving quickly to rival Siri and Cortana, with lots of useful integrations that let it control your lights, answer questions, order an Uber or adjust your house’s temperature. Amazon announced Alexa is coming to two new devices this week, the Amazon Tap and the Echo Dot. Both are interesting takes on the original Echo, designed to be used in slightly different environments.