(UPDATE, November 5: The Android 6.0 Marshmallow OTA update for the Cherry Mobile One G1 is now available for download. You can use this guide to manually update your One G1 — that is, if you haven’t already.)
Cherry Mobile to announce ‘premium’ Flare phone on October 9
Cherry Mobile will announce a new Flare smartphone on October 9, according to an event invite sent by the local tech company today. Not much is known about the upcoming handset, but based on the invite, expect a gold color option with a silver metallic trim, suggesting that we may be looking at the most premium-looking Flare design so far. The black borders surrounding the display may give the phone a borderless appearance when the the screen is turned off. The one metric the Flare series falls short of is design, but that could change soon if what we’ve seen so …
Microsoft unveils Windows 10-based Lumia 950, 950 XL phones
Earlier today, Microsoft announced several Windows 10 devices to showcase Windows 10’s new capabilities and its full potential as a productivity platform. (A quick aside: Microsoft claims there are already more than 110 million devices running Windows 10. Yes, 110 million installations in 8 weeks.) Among those Windows 10 devices are the Lumia 950 and the larger and more powerful (and more expensive) Lumia 950 XL, which as Microsoft puts it, are all about “putting Windows 10 in your pocket” and being “the most productive phones you’ve picked up.” And those are very accurate ways of describing phones that function like a PC …
Google rolls out Android 6.0 Marshmallow to Nexus devices
Image via bgr.com Nexus owners, rejoice! Google has started rolling out the latest version of the most popular mobile operating system in the world, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, to select Nexus devices, including the Nexus 5 and 6 smartphones and Nexus 7 and 9 tablets, as earlier promised. The software update is also coming to the Android One phones like the Cherry Mobile One G1, Android’s VP of engineering said in a previous blog post. An incremental upgrade over Android Lollipop, Marshmallow adds a few nice features to Android like Doze, battery-saving tweak, and Google Now on Tap, which brings you …
Sorry, your 2015 Moto E won’t get a taste of Android Marshmallow
Google’s latest mobile operating system, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, is tipped to arrive later this week following Google’s recent press event. Which, as you may have guessed, has prompted several manufacturers, including Motorola, to spill the proverbial beans on when their respective products will receive the software update. For Moto owners, it seems the outlook is relatively positive, with the Lenovo-owned company recently confirming on its official blog that most Moto phones released in 2014 and this year will get a taste of Android Marshmallow sometime in the future. [frame src=”https://www.revu.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/moto-upgrade.jpg” target=”_self” width=”620″ height=”412″ alt=”Premium WordPress Themes” align=”center” prettyphoto=”false”] List of Moto …
Cherry Mobile MAIA Smart Tab is upgradable to Windows 10
Cherry Mobile didn’t advertise that the dual-OS (Android 4.4 KitKat and Windows 8.1) MAIA Smart Tab is upgradable to Windows 10 when the company announced the 8-inch slate earlier this week, but it turns out it is.
Android One phones will get Android 6.0 Marshmallow next week
As if you need another reason to get the brilliant and affordable Cherry Mobile One G1: In a recent blog post, Dave Burke, Android’s VP of engineering, has confirmed that Android One devices, alongside select models in the Nexus lineup, will be among the first to get a taste of Android 6.0 Marshmallow once it becomes available for download next week. (As I wrote in my review, the second-gen Android One phone will likely be upgraded to the next major software update after version 6.0, too.) Marshmallow, in case you haven’t been paying attention, is an incremental software update that …
Google unveils Nexus 5X and 6P smartphones
A year after the Nexus 6 was released, Google, as earlier reports suggested, announced not one, but two smartphones to showcase Android 6.0 Marshmallow in its purest (and best) form. Holding the torch for the Internet company’s own brand of mobile devices are the new Nexus 5X and 6P, which promise impressive performance in sleek and well-designed plastic (Nexus 5X) or metal (Nexus 6P) housings, not to mention early access to software and security updates directly from the big G itself. Let’s start with the smaller of the two handsets: the Nexus 5X. Google’s long-expected follow-up to 2013’s Nexus 5 …
Cherry Mobile unveils new MAIA series with Intel chips in tow
Confirming earlier reports, Cherry Mobile today took the wraps off its MAIA line of devices (two tablets and one handset). MAIA, which is short for Making Amazing Innovation Accessible, is Cherry Mobile’s new branding for Intel-based gadgets, the company revealed. These devices are affordable, as expected, and they run Android KitKat on Intel’s latest 64-bit chipsets. The hero product of the MAIA family is called the MAIA Smart Tab, an 8-inch tablet that can boot into Android or Windows 8.1 in seconds. It also comes with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage (16GB is allocated to Android; another …
Video shows iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus are highly water-resistant
Image via Zach Straley’s YouTube video Apple hasn’t stated explicitly that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are water-resistant, though it appears they don’t mind getting a bit wet, as YouTuber Zach Straley found out recently when he soaked the latest iPhones in a bowl of water for over an hour. In his video description, Straley wrote: “Apple’s new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus seem very water-resistant.” The YouTube clip itself, which already has more than 200,000 views as of this writing, runs 7 minutes and 43 seconds. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus appear to be working perfectly fine after …
Unofficial iPhone 6s doesn’t cost an arm and a leg in PH
Image via macradar.ru Local fans of Apple’s latest — and much-improved — smartphones, it turns out, don’t have to wait too long to get their hands on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, unlike in previous years where it took parallel importers weeks to bring the newest iPhone to our shores. And when they did, you could bet your bottom peso that it cost an arm and a leg to purchase even the off-contract 16GB model. (Remember the P117,585 iPhone 6 Plus that Revü Philippines co-publisher Alora Uy Guerrero wrote for Yahoo in 2014?) Not this year, though. Retailer Widget City …
Alcatel Flash 2 announced in PH, available September 30
The Flash smartphone series has been a runaway online success for Alcatel and its exclusive retailer, Lazada Philippines, sparking renewed interest in the now-TCL-owned brand. And momentum is likely to escalate, following the unveiling of the new Alcatel Flash 2 in the Philippines, one of the first countries to offer the phone (through Lazada’s local website). During the press conference earlier today, Inanc Balci, co-founder and CEO of Lazada Philippines, spoke of how well the P6,490 Alcatel Flash Plus is doing locally. He even revealed that at one point, Lazada Philippines sold as many as 29 Flash Plus phones per …
Lenovo unveils supersized Phab Plus phone in PH
Apple and OPPO aren’t the only manufacturers that have made a bet on supersized devices lately. Lenovo has thrown its hat into the ring, too, with the announcement of the Phab Plus at the recently held IFA 2015 consumer-electronics fair in Berlin. Today, Lenovo has made the product official in the Philippines. Part phone and part tablet, this new crossover from China fits a massive full-HD screen that spans 6.8 inches diagonally (whoa, nelly!) in a metal unibody casing that measures 7.6mm in depth. The Phab Plus is looking to benefit from a burgeoning trend among smartphone users: Lenovo has observed that …
OPPO PH debuts metal-clad R7 Lite and R7 Plus at aggressive prices
OPPO Philippines has today unveiled the metal-clad R7 Series phones, which are aimed at the mid- to high-end markets Apple and Samsung are courting. And if there’s anything to be taken away from tonight’s festivities, it’s that the makers of the iPhone and Galaxy handsets — and the rest of the industry, for that matter — should be taking notes on how to put together strong contenders in the smartphone space without asking for too much in return. The R7 Lite and R7 Plus retail for a reasonable P13,990 and P21,990, respectively, and based on the extensive time I’ve spent …
Confirmed: iPhone 6s, 6s Plus have 2GB RAM
Even before the Apple iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were made official a few days ago, the rumor mill has been churning with reports that Apple’s latest — and apparently much-improved — iPhones have 2GB of RAM, or double the amount of RAM than their 2014 counterparts. Well, to the surprise of nobody, it turns out that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus do have 2GB of RAM built into the new A9 chipset, according to iOS developer Hamza Sood who used the Xcode developer software to confirm the bump in memory. The last time Apple put more RAM into …
Cherry Mobile One G1 out now in stores
It may have taken a while, but the second smartphone collaboration between Google and Cherry Mobile is now available in stores, the latter announced on Facebook earlier today. The Cherry Mobile One G1 retails for P5,999, which is more than reasonable for a 4G LTE-capable phone with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, and a 5-inch, high-resolution display. And I haven’t even touched on the most brilliant aspect of the phone yet: Android software in its latest and purest form. More impressively, the G1 will continue to run the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system for at least another …
Starmobile Knight Elite is a P9,990 Xperia Z3 lookalike
The local market has seen quite a number of great finds in the midrange-phone segment, and, lucky for us, it seems like there’s no end in sight for affordable smartphones with good-to-great specs. Case in point: Starmobile just announced the Starmobile Knight Elite, which is headed to stores on September 15 with a retail price of P9,990. Not bad for a Snapdragon 615-based handset resembling the Sony Xperia Z3 with some genuinely good specs. Both front and rear panels are layered with Corning Gorilla Glass to give the Knight Elite a more upscale appearance worthy of its namesake. The Starmobile Knight …
Sorry, Apple — Android already has ‘Force Touch’
Apple’s next iPhone, as previously reported, is slated to debut this week, and the company is all but expected to bring the Force Touch feature found in the Apple Watch and a few MacBooks to its smartphone line. For those not in the know, Force Touch is Apple’s term for its touch-input technology, which allows a device or machine to differentiate between light taps and harder presses on a touch-sensitive surface. On the Apple Watch, for example, pressing firmly on the screen while in the Messages app brings up additional controls. It’s helpful — and maybe, in some cases, absolutely …
OPPO R7 Series to be sold on Lazada PH starting Sept. 15
Heads up, Android fans. The OPPO R7 Series, which includes the brilliant R7 Plus I wrote about last week, will be available on Lazada’s Philippine website starting September 15. That’s about a week from today, for those keeping count. All (known) phones under the R7 Series feature AMOLED displays and 64-bit, octa-core Snapdragon 615 processors wrapped in seamless, all-metal bodies that make them aesthetically similar to the iPhone 6. They also sport contoured-edge Gorilla Glass to make the edges of the front panel feel smoother to the touch. The OPPO R7 Series will be available on Lazada’s Philippine website starting September 15. …
ZTE Axon Elite to debut in PH end-September as OnePlus 2 rival
Chinese manufacturer ZTE may not be as popular in the Philippines as in its native China and in other parts of the world, but that may soon change with the arrival of the ZTE Axon Elite. Haven’t heard of it? You’re not alone. Few have. It was announced a few hours ago, for heaven’s sake.
