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Bubble Wrap sidelined by iBubble putting an end to popping

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The world as we know it is drawing to an end. Well, at least Bubble Wrap is, but the feeling is mostly the same. Stress reliever No. 1 is set to fall victim to practical considerations now that iBubble is here.

We’ll try to steer clear of commenting on the choice of name, but the essence is that the new product is simply easier to transport. Read more »

HTC One E9+ performance benchmarks

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We have the HTC One E9+ over at the office for our usual routine. As you probably know, that’s the company’s 5.5-inch QHD offering, the largest member of the 2015 One lineup.

Unlike the One M9, which is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, the rest of this year’s Ones, including the E9+, rely on the Mediatek MT6795 chipset. As it’s our first encounter with the SoC we were eager to test it out, and ran a few benchmarks, with the results coming after the break. Read more »

Saygus V Squared features highlighted in a set improvised videos

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The Saygus V2, or rather V Squared, is a rare bird of a smartphone. Its designers have focused on a few key areas, which typically ignite wars in the comments section, and delivered on them, at times even more than you could possibly know what to do with.

Only 5 days into the crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo, the smartphone has already reached its million-dollar goal. Trying not to lose momentum, the team behind the V Squared has uploaded a series of short hands-on videos showcasing the smartphone’s main selling points. Read more »

LG G4 shot by a French assault rifle with foreseeable consequences

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Slow-motion-filming-specialists-slash-arms-enthusiasts over at FullMag took it upon themselves to destroy an LG G4 in style and had a go at it with a French assault rifle.

More of a fun afternoon at the shooting range than an actual durability test for the G4, the endeavor yields the results you would expect from such unfairly matched opponents. Read more »

V-Moda lets enthusiasts mod $300 headphones with $40,000 custom shields

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There’s avast market for customization in the tech world and V-Moda’s approach to their headphones has always had that in mind. The company is offering buyers the option to trick out their set with custom 3D printed shields, and different models could set you back as much as $40K, we’re told.

We struggled to hit maximum and only managed about $32,000 in the configurator, $270 worth of headphones included. Read more »

Xiaomi working on its own chip for the Redmi 2 successor

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Xiaomi is apparently working on developing its own independent SoC solution to power the next iteration in its Redmi line of smartphones. The company is looking to join a group of select few manufacturers, who have engineered in-house chipsets and aim to put an end to the Qualcomm/Mediatek dependance.

The info comes from Mr. Kevin Wang, a senior executive at industry analyst IHS Technology‘s Chinese branch. Read more »

Samsung Galaxy S6 active survives 12-foot drop test unscathed

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The Samsung Galaxy S6 Active has been available for only a few days now on AT&T’s network, and keen vloggers were quick to test on camera its claim to fame. The rugged smartphone was dropped from various heights, in an decidedly unscientific manner, but sustained no visible damage nonetheless.

The test included such day-to-day accidents like dropping your phone upon taking it out of your pocket and also from head’s height when talking. The phone then meets a hard floor surface with various parts of its body, and emerges unharmed. Read more »

Oppo R1x battery life test

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The Oppo R1x stunner of a smartphone was at our headquarters for a detailed review recently. We praised the 5-incher for its design and although it failed to impress with raw performance, it posted respectable scores in the battery department.

It’s exactly battery life we’re going to focus on now, with the complete rundown now following. Read more »

Weekly poll results: Sony Xperia Z3+ gives the 2015 crowd a tough time

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Sony Xperia Z3+ emerged victorious in our last week’s poll, or at least partly so. Beating two of the current flagships and giving the third a run for its money, it would appear that Sony has gotten things right yet again.

You might have guessed who’s who in the above sentence, but the numbers may surprise you nonetheless. Read more »

Weekly poll: Oppo R7 and R7 Plus – hot or not

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This week saw the announcement of Oppo’s pair of upper-midrangers, the R7 and R7 Plus, and we had a brief hands-on time with the phones to gather some initial impressions.

We’re now offering you a chance to have your say on the phones’ appeal by asking the usual question “Hot or not?” Read more »

Oppo R1x hands-on

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We had been following closely the developments around the Oppo R1x, which was announced all the way back in January as R1C, bound for the Chinese market. The X replaced the C for the global version and the smartphone was on the roadmap for a release in April, though it still remains hard to find in online stores.

We managed to get our hands on a review unit only a couple of days ago and we’ll be doing our typical routine over the following weeks. However, a quick hands-on report was in order, which you can read here. Read more »

Sony BKB50 keyboard dock hands-on

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We’ve had the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet for review over the previous few weeks, and in case you missed that, you can find it here. Alongside the slate Sony announced the BKB50 snap-on keyboard dock which turns the the device into a compact Android ultrabook.

We received that one too, and got to spend a little quality time with it. You can read our impressions after the break. Read more »

Samsung Galaxy S6 is as powerful as 2.9M IBM 704 supercomputers from 1954, infographic reveals

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Seventy years of technological advancements have lead us to a point where pocket-sized devices now pack enough computing power to put to shame supercomputers of old. A recently published infographic by Experts Exchange shows some intriguing comparisons between supercomputers, consoles, smart watches and smartphones.

For example, the current top dog on the supercomputer front, the Chinese Tianhe-2 is capable of a staggering 33.86 PFLOPS (peta floating-point operations per second), which would take 18,400 Sony PlayStation 4s consoles to match. Read more »

Cortana reminds you important stuff in a few witty Microsoft Lumia 640 ads

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Cortana, Microsoft’s personal assistant, is the star in the latest batch of Lumia 640 commercials published by Microsoft Lumia US. The four clips highlight Cortana’s ability to keep you up-to-date on your to-do list, by showing how a timely reminder can help you avoid awkward situations.

The videos are short and funny and come just in time to promote the handset’s launch in the US. Read more »

Weekly poll: LG G4 vs the world

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The LG G4 is the new kid on the block and inevitably faces fierce competition. We invite you to share your thoughts on how LG’s latest and greatest compares to the current crop of premium offerings.

The G4 may be a little late to market, compared to the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the HTC One M9, but that should give it an advantage in technology, right? Meanwhile, the iPhone 6 Plus is in a whole different camp, but no premium smartphone shootout can be complete without Apple taking part. Read more »