Xiaomi is a huge smartphone maker in many parts of the world, but not in the US. When the company announced its Pocophone sub-brand, there was some hope it could come to American shores. That doesn't appear to be the case, at least not officially. You can already purchase the Pocophone F1 from several US eBay sellers, but there are a few things to know before you do.
Read MorePocophone F1 lacks support for Widevine L1, HD playback in Netflix and other apps don't work
Xiaomi's Pocophone F1 has already made waves in the smartphone industry for being incredibly affordable; a ~$300 phone with a Snapdragon 845 processor is virtually unheard of. Budget phones are inherently going to have some tradeoffs, and a less-obvious one has been discovered: lack of support for Widevine L1 DRM.
Read MoreThe Play Store's new 'app signatures' aren't DRM, and sideloading isn't in danger
Earlier this month, Google announced that it would start adding metadata to applications downloaded from the Play Store. The metadata serves as proof that an APK originated from the Play Store, allowing devices to verify that the app hasn't been tampered with. However, there is a growing misconception that this is a form of DRM (Digital Rights Management), which simply isn't true.
Read MoreOnePlus updating its 5 and 5T to play HD Netflix, but you have to send your phone back to get it
OnePlus' phones are a great value, but they've each individually had a few drawbacks. One negative they all had in common, though, was a DRM deficiency. None of the company's handsets supported the correct Widevine level required for HD playback in Netflix. Distress on the subject came to a head late last year, and OnePlus surprisingly announced that it would add the feature in the future. In a comment on OnePlus' forums today the company confirmed that it was now able to update handsets to support it, but the process will require that you physically send the phone back to OnePlus for the update.
Read MoreOnePlus 5 and 5T can't play Netflix in HD, but the feature will be added at some point
The OnePlus 5T is one of our favorite phones at AP. It's a fantastic value, improving on its predecessor without costing a whole lot more. But there is still one unfortunate disadvantage to using one. Like OnePlus' older phones, it doesn't support the correct DRM level for HD playback on services such as Netflix. But OnePlus has promised us that this will be corrected in the future for the OnePlus 5 and 5T.
Read MoreNetflix is suddenly reappearing on the Play Store for some previously banished modified devices
This May, Netflix started blocking rooted and unlocked devices from downloading the company's app on Google Play. It was an unfortunate restriction that locked out many people and stirred up a lot of anger. Over the last week, some of us at AP have started noticing the app reappearing, even though our devices still don't pass SafetyNet/Google Play device certification.
Read MoreNetflix confirms it is blocking rooted/unlocked devices, app itself is still working (for now)
Earlier today, Netflix started showing up as 'incompatible' on the Play Store for rooted and unlocked Android devices. However, the app itself continued to work fine, leading some (including myself) to think it could have been an accident. However, Netflix has now confirmed to us that blocking modified devices from downloading the app was intentional.
Read More
Unlocking The Bootloader On Sony's Xperia Z3 And Z3 Compact Causes Poor Low-Light Camera Performance Thanks To DRM [Update: Sony Updates Policy Text]
You know those scary warnings that show up whenever you unlock the bootloader on a phone? "We can't be held responsible... blah blah... reduced functionality... blah... fiery death... blah blah blah." Sometimes they aren't kidding. Users who have unlocked the new Xperia Z3 Compact have found that low-light camera performance drops considerably. It turns out to be because of DRM in Sony's image signal processing.
The Best Of AP
[Deal Alert] O'Reilly Knocks 50% Off All eBooks And Videos In Honor Of Day Against DRM
When it comes to publishers, few names stand out in the technical world like O'Reilly. With literally thousands of books and videos, there are topics ranging from Programming to Business, and Fitness to Photography. Not only does O'Reilly print under its own name, but it also owns several other brands including: Wiley, Packt Publishing, No Starch Press, and more. Almost every developer probably has a small stack of books with the trademark line-drawn animals on the covers.
In honor of Day Against DRM, O'Reilly has cut the price of everything in its entirely library by half. The discount applies to both books and videos, and it even includes brand new releases.
Read More
Android Humble Bundle 5 Adds Three More Games To Sweeten The (Already Great) Deal
What's better than getting a bargain on cool Android games? Contributing to charity in the process, obviously. The Android Humble Bundle is currently in its fifth incarnation, and invites gamers to choose their own price to support developers and charities like Child's Play and the EFF. The current deal already includes six DRM-free titles, but the good folks behind the Humble Bundle have brought back three games from Humble Bundle 4 for a total of 9 games.
The returning games are Sword & Sworcery, Crayon Physics Deluxe, and Splice. This bundle already included Beat Hazard Ultra, Dynamite Jack, Solar 2, NightSky HD, Super Hexagon, and Dungeon Defenders.
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