HMD Global: No Official Bootloader Unlock Method for the Nokia 8

A lot of people have a soft spot for the Nokia brand due to the company's history in the cell phone market. Before smartphones were a thing, Nokia was a big player in the mobile phone business, with millions of devices sold around the world. As smartphones took over, the dominance of Nokia fell to the wayside. Eventually, Microsoft acquired the company's phone business, but that venture died down as well once Microsoft started to give up on the Windows Mobile business. Some of the founding members of Nokia branched off to form HMD Global, and this fledgling company secured a licensing agreement to start selling smartphones with the Nokia brand name.

This made a lot of Android fans happy, and many of us eagerly waited for the company to start selling new devices. They started off competing in the low-end and mid-range market with the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and Nokia 6 and there are even rumors of a Nokia 2 currently in development. But was the Nokia 8 that enthusiasts had their eye on because it would be their first flagship Android smartphone. Reports went back and forth about which countries it would be released in, though, and there's some indication it might come to the United States.

HMD Global has done rather well in the eyes of many Android enthusiasts. They've shipped phones with stock Android and have often times beat out Google when it comes to monthly security updates. They have even promised all of their current devices will receive the Android Oreo update.

They've ticked a lot of the right boxes to fancy our interests, but one piece of the puzzle has been left out: the bootloader. Juho Sarvikas is the Chief Product Officer at HMD Global, and in a recent tweet speaking about the Nokia 8 he confirmed they would not be offering an official bootloader unlock method "due to security." While this could change in the future, this announcement is disappointing for those of us who may have wanted to flash a custom ROM or kernel onto the device.

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Source: @sarvikas

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Second Generation of Amazon Echo is Smaller, and More Powerful and Less Expensive

The first connected smart speaker from Amazon, dubbed the Echo, was released back in 2014 and received mixed reviews at first. As time has gone by the device has become more popular and has spawned a number of other devices such as the Echo Dot and the Echo Show. Today, the company is holding an Alexa-themed launch event and has just announced the second generation Amazon Echo which will launch for just $100.

Since the initial launch of the Amazon Echo, the company has seen a number of competitors from the likes of Google, Microsoft and soon to be Samsung and Apple. To stay ahead, they have been working with a ton of 3rd-party companies to add support for the Alexa platform. They even launched the Amazon Echo Dot as an affordable way for customers to outfit their entire house without spending a fortune while also offering the Echo Show for those who wanted more out of the device.

Today, Amazon has announced the second generation Amazon Echo that is smaller than the original while actually being more powerful too. This new product will go on sale later today for less than its predecessor (at $100), and it will have its own dedicated bass tweeter to help improve the audio experience for the new multi-room audio feature. The new Amazon Echo also received a new design with a cloth exterior that is similar to Google Home to help it fit in with modern house decor.

Along with the new Amazon Echo, the company has also announced the Echo Connect which will be priced at $35. The goal here is to take advantage of the product's new calling feature by letting land line phones plug into the Echo Connect and take advantage of Amazon Alexa's new calling feature, with free calls to the United States, Mexico and Canada. Both devices will go on sale later today with the new Amazon Echo being offered in a 3-pack for $150.

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Source: The Verge[/button

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OnePlus is Seeking Feedback on Potentially Revamping the Alert Slider

For years, virtually all Android smartphones and tablets primarily handled their sound profiles via software. Sure, you could press and hold the volume down button until it triggers this sound profile, but that took more time or effort than the solution found on other platforms, namely the iPhone. Not unlike its fruity competitor, OnePlus decided to incorporate a piece of hardware that was dedicated to handling these sound profiles. It is now known as the alert slider, and the company is asking for feedback on how it is currently implemented, and what can be improved.

Over in the /r/OnePlus subreddit, an employee spoke about a comment they received from a OnePlus 5 owner. In said comment, the company received some constructive criticism about how OnePlus was using the alert slider. Some people in the community feel they only need two options (vibrate and silent) while others would rather it switch between ring, vibrate, and then total silence.

It's definitely hard to please everyone with such a feature so they decided to reach out to the community and learn how most wanted the alert slider implemented. So, if you have a OnePlus smartphone or simply want to offer your thoughts and ideas, click through the source link below to take the survey that has been created using Google Forms. Your thoughts and ideas may help transform how the company is using the alert slider on their phones.

Interestingly enough, I remember that back when the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T were being criticized for their "touch latency" issues, the company had said that they were working on it. And when it was fixed, a tweet from co-founder Carl Pei read "touch latency" with a checkmark next to it followed by "alert slider", without such checkmark. So it's possible that OnePlus has been discussing whether or not to adjust how the alert slider works since April of this year.

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Source: Google Forms

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Are You Excited for the Pixel 2 / Pixel 2 XL and Other Google Announcements?

We are exactly one week away from Google launching a new batch of hardware to the world. So far, we have heard about a miniature version of Google Home, a premium Google Pixel Chromebook, an updated version of Daydream View and two new Pixel smartphones from both HTC as well as LG. The smaller of the two new Pixel smartphones will be from HTC and we've seen it stop by the FCC, some colors and pricing details, and an alleged live photo of the device.

The Pixel 2 XL will be manufactured by LG and seems to be taking design cues from their LG G6 and LG V30 smartphones. Our own sources have revealed what should be the new hardware specs for these two devices, features such as stereo speakers, always listening and portrait mode, and an always on display, HTC's squeeze feature and multiple display profiles. So with all of this in mind, we ask you:

Are you looking forward to a specific device at Google's hardware launch event next week? What do you think of the new Pixels based on what we know so far? Are you considering an upgrade at all, and if so, what do these devices need to convince you?

Join the discussion in the comments below! 

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Sony’s Next Flagship Smartphone to Feature a New Design

Last year we saw a big transition in the smartphone market where OEMs were focusing on improving the quality of their camera like never before. This year, there's been a clear trend where the goal is to reduce the bezels any way possible. Sony though, they've been using the same design for their smartphones for a few years now and they're starting to look dated. However, Sony's India managing director Kenichiro Hibi has announced their next flagship smartphone will feature a completely new design.

Sony calls their current hardware design Ominbalance, and it definitely offers a focused and signature style for the company. They've been using it since they launched their first X series smartphone and now it seems the company is looking to change that up with their new generation of products. They were unable to give specific details about the changes that were coming with this new design (such as a 2:1 aspect ratio, or bezel-less design), but they were able to confirm that changes are coming.

Many feel this is definitely long overdue too as customers have been asking for a new design for a couple of years now. HTC felt the wrath of the community when they were unable to make significant improvements to the design of their smartphones. And with the G5, LG learned that making changes just for the sake of making changes wasn't a good idea either. So it will be interesting to see what the Japanese smartphone OEM can come up with for their next flagship.

We weren't given a date for when we should expect this new flagship design, but Mr. Hibi did say it was coming "soon." They have a history of releasing a new flagship every 6 months so it's possible that we'll see it in the first half of next year. The company also confirmed they are holding their ground in the mid-range segment and that they do not have any plan to leave anytime soon.

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Source: The Indian Express

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XDA User Turned a Macbook Pro Into a DIY Samsung DeX Laptop

Along with the Galaxy S8 and S8+ announcement earlier this year, we also got to know Samsung DeX. This wireless-charging dock allows you to connect your Galaxy S8, S8+ or Note 8 as a desktop computer, allowing you to do things you would normally do on a proper desktop platform, like web browsing, sending emails, getting work done, and so on. However, the biggest deal-breaker with DeX is that you need a keyboard, a monitor and a mouse laying around in order to use your phone with those. This doesn't allow you to get things done on the go, as getting DeX to work on a laptop is not exactly a plug and play process as it is on the desktop. And if you already have such peripherals, and the money to buy a Samsung flagship, you probably have a PC as well anyway.

Luckily, XDA Junior Member kreal was not afraid to get his hands dirty in order to make a DIY Samsung DeX laptop dock. He took an old MacBook Pro from early 2008, removed the motherboard and other internals, got a couple of powerbanks, cobbled up some cables, and after a lot of hard work, hacking and effort he managed to get the Samsung DeX interface to boot up in the MacBook Pro's 1440×900 display. He documented the process in full in our Galaxy S8 forums.

If you'd like to get your hands dirty with a laptop and a Galaxy S8, go ahead and check the forums to see the process, step by step, with pictures included. However, have in mind that it's a pretty hacky process, and there's no actual guarantee that things will go fine and dandy: you're on your own. After all, cracking open a laptop and replacing all the internals is not for the faint of heart at all, and you might void a few warranties (though we are use to that here). The author of this project has also made a video of the laptop dock booting the DeX interface flawlessly with his Galaxy S8, and he's also answering questions from users in the thread.

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Source: Forums

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Google Removes YouTube from the Amazon Echo Show, Says it Violates their ToS

Amazon and Google have been going back and forth for a few years now. They seem to not want to play nice with each other  due to the large competitive overlap of their products and services, and in some case it's resulted in a worse user experience for the end user. We see this conflict with products such as Amazon Prime Video, Google Home and more. This week, users found that their YouTube application was no longer working on the Amazon Echo Show as access to it was removed by Google.

This rivalry between Google and Amazon is nothing new and it's something that has had a negative impact on users for years (though, at the same time, such competition likely had many unseen benefits). For example, the Amazon Prime Video application has never had support for Chromecast because Amazon wants you to buy their Fire TV Stick instead. This upsets Google and so they found a reason for them to remove the application from the Play Store. Thankfully it's back now, but it still doesn't have support for Chromecast.

Amazon holds a grudge too and not only refuses to sell the Chromecast on their website, but also refuses to sell the Google Home in their store as well. Searching for either of these two Google products shows Amazon's alternative towards the top of the list, again a result of the overlap between both their products and services. While competition itself certainly pushes these companies to leapfrog each other with their respective endeavors, a sizable chunk of their customers would like to see Google and Amazon meet somewhere in the middle to make everyday services simpler and more seamless.

Now, Google says that Amazon's implementation of YouTube on the Echo Show violates their terms of service and creates a broken user experience for the customer. Amazon is seemingly upset about it because they feel there isn't a technical reason as to why Google did this, and that they did so without an explanation to Amazon or a notification to their customers.

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Source: TechCrunch

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