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Pixel 2’s Portrait Mode Ported to some Non-Google Devices running Android Oreo There are a few contenders for best smartphone camera of 2017, and many would argue that the Google Pixel 2 & 2 XL were the best mobile shooters. That’s thanks in large part to the phone’s exceptional combination of camera hardware with Google’s prowess in image processing software as seen by their famous HDR+ technology . Ports of Google Camera with the HDR+ technology have been shown to dramatically improve the picture quality of budget phones like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and flagship phones like the Essential Phone . The Pixel 2 camera experience is largely an iterative improvement over the first generation Pixel, though it adds some polish with features such as Motion Photos, Face Retouching, and lastly Portrait Mode. The Pixel 2’s Portrait Mode is perhaps its best new feature due to how the algorithm can produce beautiful photos that focus on one or more persons. While Pixel 2 camera features

LG to Introduce Raspberry Rose LG V30 at CES 2018 LG doesn’t typically announce new flagship products at the Consumer Electronics Show. It has a history of unveiling smartphones (particularly new G series devices) at Mobile World Congress, with the release date usually following a month or two later. So it was a little surprising when LG said it’d introduce a new variant of the LG V30 at CES 2018 next week: A new Raspberry Rose color option for the V30 featuring audio tuning by specialists at B&O PLAY. LG says the new color is designed for “fashion-conscious smartphone users”, with the goal of crafting a design so outstanding it wouldn’t feel out of place in a Valentine’s Day gift basket. Source: LG As with most of LG’s unique smartphone variants, the LG V30 in Raspberry Rose isn’t expected to be available in every market. While LG didn’t announce launch pricing and every launch country, it said it’ll bring the new phone to South Korea and to key markets in Europe and Asia. LG co

Huawei P20 Schematics Reveal Three Models, Triple Rear Camera Mount Huawei is one of the biggest and most influential China-based OEMs on the planet, right up there with giants like Samsung and Apple. And while it’s looking to expand its global reach with a wireless carrier partnership in the U.S., it’s also preparing to launch its first 2018 flagship: The Huawei P20 . For the Huawei P20, the company’s changing its branding strategy slightly, skipping a few numbers in the P series and going straight for P20. We’ve covered leaks and rumors regarding the P20 before, but we’re getting a clearer look at the exterior through internal schematics. Huawei P20. Huawei P20 Plus. Huawei P20 Pro. The device will reportedly come in three flavors: The Huawei P20, the P20 Plus, and the P20 Pro. All three will feature an 18:9 display and a triple rear camera mount, but similarities end there. The P20 has a horizontally-mounted camera mount in the top-left corner, while the P20 Plus features a vertic

Micromax to Launch a $31 Android Go Smartphone in India Google announced Android Go in May 2017 at the company’s annual developer conference, Google I/O. The goal of Android Go is to deliver an optimized version of Android (currently Android Oreo ) that runs on low-end devices with 1GB of RAM or less, which will in turn allow smartphone OEMs to use less expensive hardware so they can sell devices at lower price points. There aren’t a lot of Android Go devices in the wild yet, but this week, Micromax announced that it’ll be launching a Rs 2,000 (about $31) Android Go smartphone in January. The average price of a 4G smartphone in India is Rs 6,400 (about $100), but Android Go’s coming to devices that are far less expensive. Micromax’s $31 smartphone is expected to be followed by comparably-priced Android Go phones from Intex, Lava, Karbonn, and others. Android’s middling performance on low-end devices has been a longstanding issue, but Google’s turned things around in recent years. One

CAD Renders Show off the Sony Xperia L2, Xperia XA2 and Xperia XA2 Ultra Sony’s product portfolio includes multiple smartphones across mid-range and flagship price brackets. Last year, the company launched several mid-range phones, including the Xperia L1, the Xperia XA1 and the Xperia XA1 Ultra . Rumors abound suggest the successors to these devices may launch soon, and on Tuesday, @OnLeaks published CAD renders of the Sony Xperia L2, the Xperia XA2 and the Xperia XA2 Ultra in collaboration with  Compare Raja  and  Tiger Mobiles. Source: Compare Raja and Tiger Mobiles The renders show that the Xperia L2 will have a 5.5-inch display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, and measure 149.9 x 78.4 x 9.9mm. (The screen resolution hasn’t been revealed yet, but it’s safe to say it’ll be at least HD, or 1280 x 720.) The handset may have an octa-core Snapdragon 630 system-on-chip paired with 4GB of RAM, and it’ll reportedly ship with Android Nougat on board. In terms of aesthetics, the Xperia L2 will fe

Android Security Bulletin for January 2018 is Live, OTA and Factory Images Now Available Just like clockwork, Google releases a new Android Security Bulletin at the beginning of every month, and the January bulletin went live on Tuesday. With it, the search giant published a rundown of exploits that were fixed in this month’s patch and where they originated in the system. All of the vulnerabilities were of the critical or high-security variety, and so this security update is of utmost importance. Luckily, it’s already available in factory images for the Google Pixel and the Nexus 5X / Nexus 6P . Most of the fixes pertain to Android’s media framework. The worst exploit patched in the January Android Security Bulletin let remote attackers make specially crafted files that’d allow remote code execution on your smartphone — if you weren’t careful, a malicious file downloaded from the internet could’ve given full control of your phone to a hacker. The patches for other device components

Samsung Will Highlight 3 New C-Lab Projects at CES 2018 We’ve talked about Samsung’s C-Lab (Creative Lab), which  offers Samsung employees a chance to experiment with side projects that could turn into full-blown startup companies , a few times in the past. And today, Samsung announced that it’ll be showcasing three projects from seven startups that have been spun off from C-Lab at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The first of the three new C-Lab experiments is something called S-Ray (Sound-Ray), a portable directional speaker. The idea was to engineer a smaller, lighter, and more portable sound system that could be easily transported from place to place — ideal for folks who like to listen to music in public but dislike using earbuds or earphones. Next is GoBreath , a health device for people who suffer from postoperative pulmonary complications after general anesthesia. They sometimes have difficulty recovering, so a doctor employed at the Samsung Medical Center in

Xiaomi Mi A1 Mod Adds Fingerprint Wakeup After Reboot, Night Light, and More The Xiaomi Mi A1 was the first smartphone from the company to ship with Android One , so it isn’t surprising that it’s received a lot of attention since its released. Android One devices sometimes don’t have the same functionality as standard Android phones. But thankfully, XDA Senior Member  Rajeev  created a Xiaomi Mi A1 mod that adds features such as fingerprint wakeup after reboot, which lets you wake the display with third-party lock screen apps, and auto brightness, which adjusts the display’s brightness level to ambient light sources. Here’s the full list of changes: Features Added Fingerprint Wakeup Added voLTE Symbol Instead of HD Added Invisible Power Button in Statusbar Added Night Light Added Auto Brightness Added 4 Row Quick Tiles (v2) If you’re raring to get started, head to the XDA Forums for a full list of installation instructions. Note that while the mod works with any Nougat 7.1.2 build on

Nokia 5 Camera App Reveals 4 Unreleased Nokia Phones One of 2017’s greatest developments was the comeback of Nokia  in the form a licensing agreement with holding company HMD Global. The company’s new Android-touting smartphones had solid spec sheets, durable and premium designs, close-to-stock Android firmware, and reasonable price tags. HMD Global established itself as a solid, affordable alternative to Android juggernauts such as Samsung or HTC, and it has even bigger plans for 2018. Along with a refresh of last year’s Nokia phones, it’s preparing to launch all-new handsets in almost every price bracket. Thanks to a crafty developer at MySmartPrice who decompiled the Nokia 5 ‘s camera app, we have a better idea of what Nokia and HMD Global have in store. The application’s directory points to the existence of four unreleased smartphones: The Nokia 9, the 7 Plus, the Nokia 4, and the Nokia 1 . Source: MySmartPrice The camera app doesn’t, however, give insight into any of the smartpho

SunShine Now Supports Android Oreo on the HTC U11 Modding HTC devices can be a pain — they use what’s called an “S-ON/S-OFF” system.  It was previously possible to mod the HTC U11 with S-OFF using the SunShine tool on Android Nougat , but with the update to Android Oreo , the functionality broke. Now, SunShine’s been updated to support Android Oreo on the HTC U11. SunShine 3.5.18 brings u11 support on Oreo https://t.co/XGKyeU7YGx — TheRootNinja (@TheRootNinja) January 2, 2018 SunShine costs $25, but it’s the only S-OFF solution available for the HTC U11’s newest firmware. (The license is non-transferable, but can be used as many times as you’d like on the device you choose.) The only catch is that it’s temporary — after a reboot, you’ll have to run SunShine to mod again. Changes made while S-OFF’s enabled don’t persist across sessions, so there’s no need to worry about your phone becoming unbootable if you make a change that S-ON blocks. Simply reboot the U11, run SunShine to unlock i

WhatsApp No Longer Supports BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, and Windows Phone 8 Back in February 2017, the Facebook folks behind WhatsApp gave a glimpse into their plans for future development. They included dropping support for BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, the Nokia S40, the Nokia Symbian S60, Android 2.1 and Android 2.2, Windows Phone 7, and the iPhone 3GS/iOS 6 by the end of 2016, but recently, the list was amended with new EoL (end of life) dates for BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, and Windows Phone 8 operating systems. The WhatsApp team announced in a support FAQ this week that it’d discontinued development for BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, and Windows Phone 8 on December 31, 2017. It’s no longer possible to create new accounts or re-verify accounts on smartphones running those operating systems, though the app’s core messaging features will continue to work for the time being. WhatsApp also clarified that the S40 will be supported until December 31 2017, and that Android devices

Report: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 to Launch in Q2 2018 with Dual Cameras The international variant of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4  launched in January 2017, and it went on to become India’ best-selling smartphone of 2017 . It’s no surprising, then, that expectations are riding high on its successor, the Redmi Note 5. Since late last year, rumors of the Redmi Note 5 have been flying around the internet. In October, a Xiaomi device with an 18:9 display was certified by TENAA , and in November,  leaked photos of an 18:9 Xiaomi device appeared on social media . Most recently, in December, Xiaomi released the Redmi 5 and the Redmi 5 Plus in China with 18:9 (2:1) displays . The phones haven’t launched internationally yet, but this week, a MIUI moderator said that the Redmi 5 Plus would take the place of the rumored Redmi Note 5 in some markets. However, that seems increasingly unlikely. A new rumor from China suggests that Xiaomi is set to announce the Redmi Note 5 this year. It’s reportedly being t

LeEco Le Max 2 Gets Unofficial EUI 6 with Android Nougat LeEco’s financial challenges are an open secret, and they’ve started to affect the company’s ability to support devices like the LeEco Le Max 2. Luckily, XDA Senior Member  KuranKaname  was able to get his hands on a EUI 6 ROM for the LeEco Le Max 2 that’s based on Android 7.x Nougat. It has a few bugs here and there, including problems with the fingerprint sensor, biometric sensors, and APKs installed from USB storage sources. But other than that, the ROM’s working on multiple devices in LeEco’s portfolio: X820 4/32GB, 4/64GB, 6/64GB, 6/128GB. Gray/rose gold X821 4/32GB, 4/64GB, 6/64GB, 6/128GB. Gray/silver/gold X822 4/32GB, 4/64GB, 6/64GB, 6/128GB. Gray/silver/gold X829 4/32GB, 4/64GB, 6/64GB, 6/128GB. Gray/silver/gold/rose gold If you’re the proud owner of a LeEco Le Max 2 and don’t mind getting your hands a bit dirty, head to the XDA Forums for a full list of instructions. Be aware, though, that you’ll have to root the Le Ma

Set a Reminder from Android’s Share Menu with Remindee There are a number of different ways to set a reminder on Android, and one of the most convenient is the Google Assistant . It’s always just a long-press of your phone’s home button away (on supported devices), but it isn’t perfect — it obscures the foreground application. That’s why XDA Senior Member  crazyfool_1  made Remindee, a new tool that aims to reduce the number of steps involved in creating a reminder. Once it’s installed, you’ll see a new Remidee option in Android’s share menu, which lets you set a reminder quickly and easily from any application.  Assuming you’re viewing a webpage, tweet, image, or text you want to be reminded about, hitting the app’s share button and tapping Remind Me creates the reminder. It’s as easy as pie. Check out Remindee in our Apps and Games forum tags : android auto, android wear, android device manager, android 1, android phone, android messages, android studio, android tablet, android em

T-Mobile Moto Z2 Force Android Oreo OTA Captured, Here’s How To Install It The Android Oreo update for the T-Mobile Motorola Moto Z2 Force started to roll out a few days ago, according to users on our forums . Over-the-air (OTA) updates can take some time to roll out, however, so if you would rather not wait then XDA Senior Member joemossjr  has a guide just for you. He captured the OTA link and has published a guide over on our T-Mobile Moto Z2 Force forums to show you how to install the update right now. Plus, the guide also shows you how you can get root access on the latest build. Android 8.0 Oreo for the T-Mobile Z2 Force came a week after the Verizon variant started to receive the update and a month after the initial soak test in Brazil . The update brings your standard Oreo feature additions such as picture-in-picture mode support, Autofill API, notification channels, background app limitations, and more. In addition, the update also brings the December security patch which

Magisk Module Adds aptX HD and iOS 11 Emoji to the Razer Phone The Razer Phone is Razer’s first attempt at making a smartphone. It packs a 120 Hz variable refresh-rate display (the first of its kind in western markets), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, 8GBs of RAM, 64GBs of internal storage with a microSD card slot, and a 4,000 mAh battery. For the software, it basically runs a near-stock build of Android 7.1 Nougat with a few custom additions like a pre-built Nova Launcher and the Razer Game Booster app for tweaking some settings on a per-game basis. Apart from that, there’s not much else to customize. Now that root access is possible on the phone, however, XDA Senior Member raimondomartire  has put together a Magisk Module that adds Qualcomm’s aptX HD Bluetooth audio codec, iOS 11 emoji, and more. The module, titled Rayglobe Module, is available over on our Razer Phone forum. The full list of features is as below: Build.prop mods for volume and more audio steps Themed YouTube Ser

Get Google Pixel 2’s Portrait Mode on the Pixel, Nexus 5X, and Nexus 6P The camera on the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL is seen as one of the best smartphone cameras this year. Google put a lot of thought into how to tweak their camera software , and it really shows. Google Camera and its HDR+ algorithm is highly sought after, prompting some developers to go as far as porting it to other devices. Other Pixel 2 camera features such as Motion Photos and Face Retouching have also been ported to some devices , and now, the most popular camera feature,  Portrait Mode ,   is now available on the first generation Google Pixel & Pixel XL , Google Nexus 5X , and Nexus 6P . This development is thanks to XDA Senior Member Charles_l  who publishes Google Camera mods on his website  Chromloop . His previous mods have brought features such as Zero Shutter Lag (ZSL) with HDR+, 60FPS video recording at high resolutions, and the aforementioned Motion Photos and Face Retouching features. His c

Dirac partners with AAC Technologies to Bring Enhanced Audio Quality to Smartphones, Smart Speakers, and more For the past few years, audio quality in mobile devices has become an increasingly higher priority. There was a time when audio quality was valued only by a few smartphone vendors, but that trend is slowly changing. We have seen the arrival of smartphones which specifically promote great audio quality as a feature, such as HTC’s smartphones since the One M7 as well as LG’s V series flagships . We have also seen the rise of stereo speakers in mobile, better DACs (such as Qualcomm’s Aqstic DAC ), and in general, a better audio experience. However, there still remains quite a way to go for smartphones to improve in audio quality. This is why AAC Technologies and Dirac Research have partnered to build first-of-their-kind audio systems that integrate Dirac’s audio processing technology with AAC Technologies’ micro-speaker technology. Dirac Research is an audio technology company wh

Samsung Responds to Alleged Battery Issues on the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8+ If you have been following various Samsung Galaxy Note 8 communities like /r/GalaxyNote8 on Reddit, you probably know by now of a battery issue which is affecting some users of the latest flagship by Samsung. Unlike battery issues on its predecessor , the Galaxy Note 7 , this issue doesn’t pose a threat to your personal safety, but it may potentially burn a hole through your wallet as it is being reported that some Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 + units are refusing to boot up or even charge after the battery has been completely discharged. While this issue is commonly known as “deep discharge” and is known to affect devices with lithium-ion batteries, a great majority of these devices eventually recover after charging them for a while, but this doesn’t seem to be the case for some units of the latest Samsung flagships. As such, this has recently become a source of worry for many Note 8 and Galaxy S8+ owners,

Telegram 4.7 Adds Multiple Accounts and Quick Replies Telegram got one more update last week to close out 2017. The new version, Telegram 4.7, adds a quick reply shortcut and support for multiple accounts to the application’s roster of features. With the new quick reply feature, swiping left on a message allows you to quickly respond to it, saving you the trouble of tapping on the message and then hitting the reply button. https://www.xda-developers.com/files/2018/01/doc_2018-01-02_03-54-53.mp4 In addition to the new quick reply functionality, the app gained the ability to switch between multiple accounts. You can add up to three and switch between them using the left sidebar menu — you’ll receive notifications from all signed-in accounts. For developers out there (especially those who have bot-owner accounts), support for multiple accounts could be a really handy feature. https://www.xda-developers.com/files/2018/01/530102d1aadfeb724a.mp4   Telegram 4.7 is available now, and you can

Magisk v15.2 Brings Minor Fixes for OnePlus and Samsung Devices Magisk v15.0, the latest major release of the user-acclaimed systemless interface, was introduced back in December 26 — but not without minor issues that went under the radar during beta testing. XDA Recognized Developer / Recognized Contributor topjohnwu , the lead developer of the project, was quick to address some of these problems with v15.1, released just 3 days later. But it caused boot loops on devices including the OnePlus 5 or OnePlus 5T on stable/beta Android Oreo . Now, Magisk v15.2, the first update of 2018, addresses those issues and implements new SELinux policy rules that improve MagiskHide support on Samsung devices. Hop into the forums and download it now! Download Magisk v15.2 tags : android auto, android wear, android device manager, android 1, android phone, android messages, android studio, android tablet, android emulator, android tv, android p, android 17, android tv box, android browser, androi

Samung’s Detachable “Nautilus” Chromebook will Have a Sony IMX258 Sensor After releasing the Chromebook Plus and the Chromebook Pro last year , it seems that Samsung is developing a new detachable Chrome OS laptop. In November,  Chrome Unboxed  reported on a Samsung Chromebook device in development. It’s code-named “Nautilus,” and it’s a detachable model. More recently, the publication found a commit in the Chromium Gerrit confirming a few “Nautilus” specs. Here’s the relevant description: imx258: Add imx258 camera sensor PO driver VIDEO_IMX258 is added to Kconfig for this new component for camera sensor. It will enable this sensor in kernel, so the component used on samsung nautilus project could have the mipi camera support. RAW image dump is supported in this PO version. The commit makes it clear that “Nautilus” will have a camera module with Sony’s IMX258 sensor, an 13MP Exmor RS 1/3.06-inch sensor with 1.1 micron pixels. It’s in the LG G6 , Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 , and other smart

Keepass2Android Beta Updated with AutoFill Framework Support in Android Oreo There are many popular password managers on Android, but only a few stand out. LastPass is one of them, but it’s closed-source — you can’t see the code for yourself. For folks bothered by that prospect, one of the best alternatives is Keepass2Android, a port of Keepass for desktop . It lets users store and access their passwords from a cloud storage service, and features fingerprint database unlocking. Unfortunately, no matter which password manager you use,  most offer a sub-standard experience on Android. That’s because it wasn’t until Android Oreo that Google started supporting password autofill — on Nougat and older, managers like LastPass and Keepass2Android have to use Android’s Accessibility Services, which tends to introduce a slight delay. We wrote about how the lag is intentional  because of the nature of Accessibility Services. But the effect is exacerbated by password managers, which use Access