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Huawei is selling Honor to government-backed consortium
The deal will create a new parent company for Honor, with Huawei holding zero ownership
Earlier this month, it was reported that Huawei was looking to sell its budget sub-brand Honor to a consortium, potentially saving Honor from the various trade embargoes placed on its parent company. The deal has now gone through, ceding control of Honor to a government-backed group of companies.
Qualcomm can now sell chips to Huawei again, but not any with 5G
Huawei is also asking the UK to reconsider its ban
The trade ban on Huawei by the United States finally took full effect in September, forcing Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony, LG, and other hardware suppliers to stop selling to Huawei. Qualcomm has been pushing for an exemption to sell chips to Huawei, and now the company has been granted a limited license to do just that.
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The OnePlus 8T was only released about a month ago, but it has already received several software updates to address various bugs. Less than a week after the last upgrade started to roll out, OnePlus has now released a new OxygenOS build for the 8T, containing another round of bug fixes and performance improvements.
Google is adding tutorial videos to Chrome for Android
The videos will cover web searches, offline support, and more
Google Chrome is already (mostly) simple to use, but there is plenty of functionality that isn't well-documented or easily discoverable. That could be why Google wants to add video tutorials to the browser, which are now being tested in the Chrome Dev and Canary channels.
Klipsch has produced high-end audio gear for over 70 years, and the company released a pair of true wireless earbuds last year: the Klipsch T5. The earbuds sound great and have a unique design, and now you can get them for $69.97 on Amazon — a reduction of $30 from the usual price.The T5 earbuds offer oval-shaped tips, USB Type-C charging, 8-hour battery life (plus another 24 hours with the case), and a unique metal case designed after Zippo lighters. We reviewed them last year, and found that they offer fantastic sound, but they lack some of the more advanced features present on other high-end earbuds. There's no active noise cancellation, music doesn't automatically pause when you take the buds out of your ears, and so on.
Pluto TV likely suffered a security breach affecting 3.2 million accounts
Pluto says it is investigating
Pluto TV is one of the leaders in the free online TV industry, offering dozens of ad-supported channels corresponding to real-life networks (NBC, Nick, etc.) and various topics (old movies, gaming, etc.). However, it seems like Pluto TV has suffered a security breach, with millions of account details from 2018 now available online.
The Galaxy Note10 is a year old, but it's still one of the best phones you can buy right now, especially considering it was given an extra year of OS updates. Now you can get one for $699.99, a discount of $250 from the original price.The Note10 is equipped with a Snapdragon 855 chipset, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage (with microSD expansion), a 6.3" AMOLED screen, triple rear cameras (12MP wide, 12MP zoom, 16MP ultra-wide), and a 3,500mAh battery. The phone shipped with Android 9 Pie, but was updated to Android 10 in January. Samsung already confirmed the Note10 will get Android 11 and 12.
Get the 64GB Galaxy Tab A7 for just $200 ($80 off)
Samsung's new budget tablet is already heavily discounted
Samsung released its newest budget Android tablet last month, the Tab A7. It was already a good deal when it launched at $230 for 32GB storage, but now you can buy the upgraded 64GB model for just $199.99.The model on sale has a 10.4-inch 200 x 1200 LCD screen, a Snapdragon 662 chipset, 3GB RAM, and 64GB of storage (with microSD support). That's more than enough horsepower for media streaming and basic games. It comes with Android 10, and it should get an update to Android 11, if previous A-series tablets are any indication.
Pokémon Go now lets you transfer your pocket monsters to other games
Your critters can now be moved to Pokémon Sword and Shield
Pokémon Go might not be as popular as it was at launch, but it still has a massive player base across Android and iOS. However, you've never been able to transfer Pokémon caught in Go to other games, even though official transfer tools (starting with Pokémon Bank) have existed for years. Thankfully, that's finally changing.
Google confirms future Pixels won't get unlimited Photos storage
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One of the selling points for Pixel phones was unlimited original-quality backup to Google Photos, but starting with the Pixel 3a and Pixel 4, there was only an option for unlimited "high-quality" backup. According to a new report, future Pixel phones might not even have that, placing them on the same level as all other Android devices.
Google released the Pixel Stand in 2018, alongside the first Pixels with wireless charging (the 3 and 3 XL). It has gone on sale a few times since then, but now you can get one for just $53 from Amazon. That's a savings of $26 from the usual price.The Pixel Stand is a Qi wireless charging dock, capable of charging Pixel phones at up to 11W, and other devices at the standard 5W speed. Pixels switch into a special mode when docked into the Pixel Stand, which can display a photo gallery and manage Do Not Disturb. Check out our full review here for all the details.
PUBG Mobile plans return to India with modified game and $100 million investment
No blood effects for Indian players
India banned the incredibly-popular mobile shooter PUBG earlier this year, partially due to concerns over younger players becoming addicted, but mostly due to the game's ties with China-based publisher Tencent. PUBG was banned along with hundreds of other Chinese apps, but now it might be coming back.
HMD Global has been one of the leaders in budget Android phones for a while now, using the Nokia brand to sell a wide variety of devices. The Nokia 9 PureView was the company's first shot a flagship phone, but it had a few issues and was only available unlocked. HMD has now returned with a new high-end option: the Nokia 8 V 5G UW.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Destiny 2: Beyond Light, and more arrive on Google Stadia
More games capped at 30FPS
November has been an important month for Google's game streaming service, and we're not even two weeks in. Far Cry 5 and Far Cry: New Dawn arrived, family sharing finally became available, and Stadia Premiere Edition is now free to some YouTube Premium subscribers. Now there's even more good news for Stadia players.
Wyze has made a name for itself by selling smart home products at unusually-cheap prices, with varying success. The company started teasing a robot vacuum recently, and now the product is official. In typical Wyze fashion, it's also cheaper than most of its competitors.The aptly-named Wyze Robot Vacuum has all the usual features you would expect from an autonomous cleaner. It maps your home using an array of sensors, and cleans the floor with three configurable suction modes. You can also use the Wyze app to set schedules, check where it has vacuumed, and even set virtual boundaries.
Samsung phones are having problems with fast wireless charging
The issues may have started with a recent security update
Wireless charging is a notoriously finicky technology, with different standards and implementations for faster speeds that aren't compatible with each other. However, there appears to be a growing number of people experiencing problems with fast Qi charging on Samsung phones, even with docks that worked perfectly before a few months ago.
Google One passes 100 million installs on Play Store
The number is partially boosted by pre-installations
Android devices have to include at least some of Google's own applications if they want access to the Play Store (which is an issue on its own), so it's not too surprising when one of the company's apps reaches a significant number of installs. The management app for Google One is the latest application to reach 100 million installs, placing it in the same range as Google Classroom and YouTube Studio.
LineageOS 17.1 arrives on the OnePlus 5T, Galaxy S5, Fxtec Pro¹, and others
Fresh off the build servers
LineageOS is the most popular custom ROM around, bringing new Android updates to abandoned phones, and a stock-like experience (with or without Google software) to newer devices. The last time we covered the project, it added support for a handful of phones from Huawei, Sony, Xiaomi, and OnePlus. Since then, many more devices have made their way to the official roster.
Last week, speculation started swirling about a Verizon variant of the Nokia 8.3 5G. HMD Global, maker of Nokia-branded Android devices, later released a teaser about a special product launch. Now the phone is official, carrying the distinction of being the first Nokia flagship phone on a major US carrier since the Windows Phone days.
Lenovo currently sells two alarm clocks with Google Assistant built-in: the older Smart Clock with a touchscreen, and the newer Smart Clock Essential. Both products are now at their lowest prices yet, beating the previous records by $1.