The Samsung Galaxy S8 is Now Available in Burgundy Red, Coming to Korea First

Samsung typically hasn't been afraid of launching different color options for their devices. Unlike companies like Apple, which offer their devices in plain colors like black, white or gold, Samsung offers a wide range of color option with their flagships, a color roster which has grown and diminished throughout the years. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, the company's current flagship devices, are currently available in Midnight Black (black), Orchid Gray (purple-gray), Coral Blue (deep blue), Arctic Silver (silver) and Maple Gold (gold). Samsung has officially announced that the Galaxy S8, which is due for a refresh very soon, will be available in one more color option: Burgundy Red.

This "burgundy red" color option was rumored to be announced a few days back, and Samsung has effectively taken to their blog to announce the new color option. The new red variant features a vibrant, elegant red glass back with matching red metal edges and the typical front black bezels. Samsung has not tried out a widely-available red color option since the Galaxy S4, and they haven't tried the color red at all since the Galaxy S6 edge Iron Man edition. So this is actually a new, refreshing change of look for Samsung's 2017 flagship. The bigger phone, the Galaxy S8+, doesn't seem to be getting the new color option as it's not mentioned throughout the announcement release.

Burgundy Red, however, will not be available globally at first. The new edition of the S8 will initially be available in Samsung's home country, South Korea, before rolling out to select markets afterward. US availability is still unknown, and we can't tell for sure if the device is actually coming to this side of the globe at all, but further availability details will be announced by each market's local Samsung offices and carriers. It is indeed a good-looking option, however, and we expect this color to become more widely available when the Galaxy S9, the successor to the S8, is officially announced.

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Source: Samsung

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Android Is Getting More Accessible With Support For Bluetooth Hearing Aids

With over a billion users of Android devices around the world, the operating system needs to accommodate users with a wide variety of needs. Smartphone accessibility is a major concern for millions of users worldwide, but it's not something many of us really think about unless you or someone you know lives with a disability. One issue on Android that users with hearing deficits have complained about for years is the lack for native support for Bluetooth hearing aids. Apple has pioneered support for directly streaming audio to Bluetooth hearing aids, but Google has lagged behind. That may change in the near future, however, as Google is now working to bring this feature to all Android devices.

A hearing aid with Bluetooth connectivity support allows users with hearing deficits to stream audio to and from their smartphone without needing to remove their hearing aid. On Apple devices, this lets users listen to music, make and receive phone calls, receive alerts/messages, start voice calls, and more. This integration is convenient for users with Bluetooth-compatible hearing aids given how important smartphones have become in our daily lives.

Several new commits have shown up in AOSP that hint at this functionality. The first one we discovered states that Android will support the G.722 codec for hearing aid support. G.722 is a wideband audio codec usually used for high quality digital voice communication, so it makes sense to see support being added for it especially in relation to hearing aids. The G.722 commit is the only hearing aid-related commit that was merged, but a new hearing-aid-profile topic has shown up with several of them mentioning that the feature is a work in progress.

Thus, support for Bluetooth hearing aids will likely arrive in the next major version of Android which is Android P given that the second Developer Preview of Android 8.1 has already dropped with near-final APIs. If you or a loved one uses a Bluetooth hearing aid, then you'll be happy to know that Android will finally support these devices in the near future.

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Detachable Chromebooks ‘Soraka’ and ‘Poppy’ Gain Wake on Voice Support

Alongside the Google Pixel 2/2 XL, Google announced a high-end Pixelbook device. For some, the fact that the keyboard is not detachable was a disappointment to hear. There has been some speculation earlier this year that Google may launch a set of detachable Chromebooks with the codenames 'Soraka' and 'Poppy' so there may still be some hope. According to the latest commits we discovered on the Chromium gerrit, it appears that these two devices are still in active development.

The commits mention that the two Chromebook devices will support "wake on voice" which allow you to turn on voice recognition using a hotword. Hotword recognition appears to support 39 languages according to the commit. Existing Android device owners will recognize this feature on their own Android smartphones, since the Google Assistant app can be called by saying "Ok Google" or more recently "Hey Google."

The Soraka detachable Chromebook is already said to be a have a camera flash, dual microphones, and a backlit keyboard. While we haven't learned many new details on the Poppy model, it will probably end up similar to the Soraka. A few benchmark leaks have pointed to what could be these devices' hardware specifications, but we remain skeptical of benchmark leaks because they can be manipulated. There have been times when leaks via benchmarks have been accurate, such as with the Razer Phone, but again take them with a grain of salt.

Though these two detachable Chrome OS devices are not yet official, Google has been making progress on Chromebook features that are better suited to a tablet-like device. For instance, Google recently added split-screen support in tablet mode and a new app launcher which makes it easier to launch apps through touch input. With the stagnation in Android tablets, perhaps Google sees a future for tablets in Chrome OS given the operating system's incredible popularity.

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Honor Announces the Honor V10 in China: Kirin 970, 6-inch 18:9 Full HD+ Display, 16MP+20MP Dual Cameras, and More

The Honor V10 has been leaked quite a few times, and information from official and unofficial sources has circled the internet for the past few months. We've known for a while that Honor would hold a global event to launch its new flagship smartphone in London on December 5. Then, Honor announced that the phone would first be made official in China. After that, we brought you an exclusive leak of the specifications of the device. Now, the date of the China launch has arrived, and as promised, Honor has announced the Honor V10 for the Chinese market.

The specifications fully match the ones we leaked in our report earlier this month. The Honor V10 is similar in specifications to its parent company's Mate 10 Pro, which was announced on October 16 alongside the regular Mate 10. However, the V10 differs in quite a few aspects from the Mate 10 Pro, and manages to have its own visual identity. So let's take a deeper look at the device.

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Honor V10 Hardware

The Huawei Mate 10 has a 5.9-inch QHD (2560×1440) RGBW LCD with a 16:9 aspect ratio, while the Mate 10 Pro has a 6-inch Full HD+ (2160×1080) AMOLED display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. Both of these phones have glass backs. This is where the Honor V10 distinguishes itself as it is a unibody metal device, similar to the Honor 8 Pro.

The Honor V10 has its own identity as in some ways, it is similar to the Mate 10, while in others, it is similar to the Mate 10 Pro. It has a display of the same size (5.99-inch), aspect ratio (18:9), resolution (2160×1080) and pixel density (403ppi) as the Mate 10 Pro, but the type of the display is different. The V10's display is LCD instead of AMOLED, which means that the effective color resolution of the Honor V10 is higher than the Mate 10 Pro's AMOLED display, as it uses a RGB matrix instead of a PenTile matrix, but it remains to be seen how the display quality holds up to the Mate 10 Pro's display.

Honor has placed the fingerprint sensor on the front of the device, similar to what we saw on the Mate 10. The device has small bezels just like the Mate 10 series, which means it fits an overall bigger display into roughly the same footprint occupied by its international predecessor, the Honor 8 Pro.

In terms of overall design, the V10 is an interesting hybrid of the Mate 10 Pro, the Mate 10, and the Honor 8 Pro. Now, let's look into its specifications.

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Honor V10 Specifications

The V10 is powered by an octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 970 SoC with an i7 co-processor and a dedicated NPU (Neural Processing Unit). The GPU is the Mali-G72MP12, which is ARM's latest-generation GPU.

The device comes in three variants. The most affordable configuration comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and then there are two 6GB RAM variants with 64/128GB of storage.

In terms of connectivity, it has a USB Type-C port, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, 4G VoLTE, and NFC. It does have a 3.5mm headphone jack, unlike the Mate 10 Pro.

It has a dual camera system, and the Leica branding is absent, as expected. It has a 16MP RGB sensor paired with a 20MP monochrome sensor, with a f/1.8 aperture and PDAF, but there is no mention of OIS in the specifications list. The sensor and pixel size are also currently unknown.

When it comes to video, the V10 supports 4K video recording. The camera system has an artificial intelligence engine that offers Real-Time Scene and Object Recognition functionality, which means it can automatically choose the best camera settings for any environment or focal point. The front-facing camera has 13MP resolution with AI self portraits, and it is supposed to have face unlock.

The Honor V10 has a 3,750mAh battery with Super Charge fast charging technology (22.5W) that is able to charge from 0 to 50% in half an hour, according to Honor. In terms of software, the phone is powered by Android 8.0 Oreo with Emotion UI 8.0 on top.

As the phone was announced in China, we don't have any information yet about which LTE bands are supported. We will have to wait for the international launch on December 5 for that.

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Honor V10 Availability and Pricing

The Honor V10 comes in Black, Aurora Blue, Gold and Red colors. It is priced at CNY 2,699 (~$409) for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version, CNY 2,999 (~$455) for the 6GB RAM with 64GB storage version, and CNY 3,499 (~$530) for the highest-end 6GB RAM with 128GB storage version. The smartphone is already up for pre-orders on Vmall.com, JD.com, Tmall.com, Suning.com, and Gome.com, and will go on sale from December 5. The device will be launched in London on the same day.

Honor V10	Specifications
Dimensions	157 × 74.98 × 6.97mm
Weight	172g
Software	Android 8.0 Oreo with EMUI 8.0
CPU	Octa-core Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 970 (4x 2.4GHz A73 + 4x 1.8GHz A53) SoC, Neural Processing Unit and i7 co-processor
GPU	Mali G72-MP12
RAM and Storage	4GB RAM with 64GB of storage and 6GB of RAM with 64/128GB of storage, expandable storage up to 256GB with microSD card slot
Battery	3,750mAh (typical) / 3,650mAh (minimum) battery with fast charging (22.5W)
Display	5.99-inch (2160 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 18:9 FullView display
Wi-Fi	802.11ac (2.4GHz/5GHz)
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.2 LE
Ports	USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, Hybrid Dual Nano SIM (Nano SIM/MicroSD) Slots
Rear Cameras	16MP (RGB) + 20MP (Monochrome) Dual rear cameras with f/1.8 aperture, LED flash, PDAF, CAF, 4K video recording
Front Camera	13MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture

Our take: At a glance, the Honor V10 definitely seems to be a great candidate for an affordable flagship. It has most of the features of the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, but there are some differences as well. The display type is different; the cameras are different; and there is no mention of water resistance in the specifications list. On the other hand, it differentiates itself from the Mate 10 Pro by including a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is a major plus for consumers, particularly at this price range.

Speaking of pricing, the starting CNY 2,699 (~$409) price tag for the Chinese market seems reasonable, and the phone is shaping up to become a strong competitor to the recently-launched OnePlus 5T. The international launch for the V10 is the place where we will learn more about the device, including its international pricing. That's only a week away from today, so stay tuned!

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Source: Honor on Weibo (in Chinese)

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LG is Rolling-out Android Oreo Beta for the V30 and the V30+ in South Korea

The LG V30 was announced on August 31, 2017, but has been released in only a few markets so far. This is perplexing as the V30 is intended to be LG's premium smartphone for the second half of 2017, and it has a list of flagship specifications to match. It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, 4GB of RAM with 64GB of storage, 6-inch WQHD+ (2880×1440) P-OLED display, dual 16MP standard angle + 13MP wide angle cameras, and a 3,300mAh battery. It was released with Android 7.1 Nougat.

At the start of November, reports stated that LG would soon send an Oreo beta preview for V30 owners in South Korea. However, up till now, there have been no reports of the Oreo beta's roll-out. This changes today, as The Android Soul has reported that the Oreo beta roll-out has started for South Korea, as promised. XDA Senior Member snaketooth2017 has stated on our forums that he has received the OTA for the Android 8.0 Oreo beta on his LG V30.

According to The Android Soul's report, the Oreo beta includes the November 1, 2017 security patch. The update is 1.2GB in size and is also said to include several bug fixes and other improvements. It is also rolling-out to the LG V30+ in South Korea. The version for V30+ handsets is V300L19C, and the version for V30 units is V300K19c.

Users in South Korea will have to sign up for the beta program to get the Oreo beta on their LG V30, using the Quick Help app. If LG is accepting new members in the beta program, there will be a LG OS Preview banner within the app. The Android Soul notes that usually, only a limited number of users get to try out the beta first, given it is expected to have bugs and issues. LG has previously said that the stable Android 8.0 Oreo update for the V30 will be released in December in Korea.

XDA Senior Member snaketooth2007 received the update on his LG V30 unit. After he ran the terminal command to check whether Project Treble was present in the build, he reported that it came false. This means that Project Treble is not present in the build. It's currently unknown whether LG will include Project Treble in the stable Oreo update for the V30.

The state of Android Oreo updates is still slow and limited so far. HTC has started sending the Oreo update to the unlocked U11, while OnePlus has released OxygenOS 5.0 on top of Android Oreo for the OnePlus 3/3T. Nokia and Sony have also sent updates to the Nokia 8 and the Sony Xperia XZ Premium as well as the Xperia XZ and XZs respectively.

When it comes to beta programs, Samsung has an Oreo beta program going on for the Galaxy S8 and S8+, while the OnePlus 5 received Oreo Open Beta recently. Essential has also started a beta for the Oreo update for the PH-1. The updates will likely pick up speed as we head closer to 2018.

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Source 1: XDA Forums Thread for LG V30 Android Oreo BetaSource 2: The Android Soul

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Google Awarded a Patent for an Automated and Motorized Pixelbook Lid

Last month at Google's big hardware launch event, the company revealed their premium Chrome OS laptop to the world. It comes in three different versions (ranging from an i5 to an i7) and it is much, much more expensive than the traditional Chromebook that is on the market today. Some feel it may not offer enough to validate its price tag, but Google doesn't seem to be phased by those comments. In fact, the company was recently awarded a new patent that details an automated and motorized lid for what looks like a Pixelbook.

The patent goes into detail about how it works and it seems to use a number of different sensors to accomplish its goal. The first thing it checks for is to make sure you are near the device. This is likely possible through communications with your smartphone and by checking that the accounts of both devices are the same. Then another sensor waits until the person has touched/tapped a touch-sensitive designated area of the back of the Pixelbook lid. Once this has been detected, the Pixelbook then automatically opens and unlocks the device for you.

At first this seems like a lot of work just to cut out 3.5 seconds of repetitive hassle, but in practice it could be as convenient as the double tap to display feature that most phones have today. Once you get into the habit of doing, going back to the traditional method could feel archaic. It's interesting to note that the patent doesn't stop here either. Since we all sit at different angles and distances from a laptop, it wouldn't be a very good feature if it didn't open up properly.

Google is also using the camera sensor to look for your face and stop opening the lid at a point it feel is optimal for you. This idea is quite interesting for a market that hasn't had much innovation lately, and it's more in-line with the quirkiness Microsoft has introduced via its Surface products. But as always, this is only a patent and it may never make it into a final product.

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Source: Patently Mobile

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Facebook joins AOMedia to promote Royalty-Free AV1 Video

As Google's new open source AV1 video standard nears completion, the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) has announced that Facebook will be joining them to promote the AV1 video compression format.

Facebook joining AOMedia means that, going forward, they will likely be integrating AV1 video technology into their platforms (including Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and Whatsapp) for use on compatible devices, allowing for higher quality video, reduced data usage, and more stable video streams.

With Facebook becoming a member of the Alliance for Open Media so late in AV1's development cycle, they likely will have limited input into the first version of AV1. Facebook's initial impact on AV1 will be more heavily felt in terms of helping drive widespread adoption of the format. Despite that limited involvement in AV1's development, Facebook may intend to be more heavily involved in the development of the eventual successor AV2. By joining AOMedia now, they are laying the foundation for their future influence on the standard.

Interestingly, as part of the agreement to join AOMedia, Facebook is being considered a founding member of the organization, despite joining more than two years after its inception. This title comes with increased governance responsibilities compared to what general members see, and in turn gives Facebook a greater say in the Alliance For Open Media's path forward. Facebook joins Amazon, ARM, Cisco, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netflix, and NVIDIA as a founding member.

It is frankly a bit shocking how quickly AV1's support is growing. At this point in the development cycle for its predecessor, VP9, essentially only Google had announced support. By comparison, the list of companies that have announced support for AV1 is now at 32 and counting, and the format hasn't even been finalized yet. Despite that initial lack of support however, VP9 has simply taken the internet by storm, with its royalty-free nature allowing it to be easily integrated into services, software, and hardware, including in places where it would be impossible to use the royalty-encumbered HEVC video compression format. This early support is a fantastic sign for how quickly and extensively AV1 will be adopted once it is released, and will help create a competitive royalty-free future for video compression.

AV1's early support goes beyond just the sheer number of companies backing it, however. What is really surprising is how many key players in specific crucial industries are involved in promoting and developing it as members of AOMedia. Here is a quick look at a couple industries, and which companies in those industries are already involved in AV1:

A non-exhaustive list of major companies in select industries

	AOMedia Members	Not Yet Members
OS Vendors	Google, Microsoft	Apple, Red Hat, Canonical
Browser vendors	Google (and all Chromium based browsers, like Opera), Microsoft, Mozilla	Apple, Alibaba Group (UC Browser)
Processor designers	AMD, ARM, Intel, Broadcom, NVidia	Apple, Qualcomm
Video streaming platforms	Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Youtube (Google), Facebook, BBC	Twitch, Vimeo, HBO, Snapchat
Video conferencing platforms	Skype (Microsoft), Cisco, Adobe, Vidyo, Polycom, IBM	Zoom, Citrix

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For the full list of members of the Alliance of Open Media, check out their About Us page.

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