Meizu is considered one of the top China brands. We reviewed their Meizu M2 Mini and found it to be a great little bargain mobile. (more…)
Author: Damian Parsons
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Smart scalpel detects cancer
Human brain surgery may soon get several steps easier, as a “smart scalpel”, which can detect cancerous brain tissue will soon begin human trials. (more…)
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Xiaomi Redmi 3S vs Redmi 3 Mini preview
Xiaomi has taken a cue from Elephone and is now releasing new models about as fast as we can get them reviewed. The next new model up is the Redmi 3S aka Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro. (more…)
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New bio-degradable mobile from Elephone
They successfully released the Elephone Trunk, and then Elephone Ivory. The latter we declined to review due to the controversial nature of the naming scheme; if you search ‘Ivory’ on Google images, the first images that come up won’t be huge, beautiful mammals, but piles of Elephant tusks.
We reached out to Elephone marketing lead, Jiao Longwei, and let him know about the poor choice of ‘Ivory’ for a model name. Jiao Longwei eventually agreed, but the boxes and marketing materials had already been printed. He stated, “In the future, we will make this up to our fans.”.
Now two months later we had another chance to chat with Jiao Longwei over Skype:
Jiao said (edited for grammar), “This is our way of making up for our previous insensitive mistake. To our fans, please try to not look at the model name, but at the quality we bring to our fans. We are now donating 10% of all net from our new models: Elephone Poo and Elephone Dung to elephant conservation in India and Thailand. We hope you will support us and buy Elephone Poo, and don’t forget Elephone Dung, the Lite version of Elephone Poo.”
Elephone Poo and Elephone Dung specifications:
- SoC Poo: MTK6797 Helio X20 (Dung: MT6753)
- CPU: 2-core [email protected] + 4-core [email protected] + 4-core [email protected] (Dung: 8-core Cortex-A53)
- GPU: Mali-T880MP4 (Dung: T720)
- Display: IPS OGS 5.5″@1080P
- RAM: 3GB (Dung: 2GB)
- ROM storage: 32GB (Dung: 16GB)
- Compass: Yes
- Gyroscope: Yes (Dung: No)
- Outer material: 35% bleached and processed elephant dung reinforced with 65% bio-degradable polymers (outside case only)
- Inner: Magnesium alloy
- OTG: Yes
- Dual-SIM: Yes (*)
- TF SD expandable: Yes (*Single-SIM+TF or Dual-SIM)
- Battery: 4000mAh (Dung: 3000mAh)
- 2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900
- 3G WCDMA: 900/2100
- 4G LTE: 800/1800/2100
The phone looks great stylewise and we hope the final product can match the style of the prototype shown here.
As we see there are two different versions: Elephone Poo and Elephone Dung. Elephone Poo looks very strong, and Elephone Dung is quite powerful as well. According to Jiao Longwei, the two different models are identical in terms of style and only differ by some specs.
The Elephone Poo will be released in May at retail of $179.99, with the lite version: Dung, to follow Poo in June at $159.99.
let’s hope Poo and Dung are solid releases
If you’re looking for a stylish, bio-degradable mobile, there’s no better time than now to snatch one up.
We’re impressed with how Elephone turned themselves around and released Elephone P8000; let’s hope Poo and Dung are solid releases as well.
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Android N features overview
Android Marshmallow 6.0 was first announced 28-MAY-2015. It wasn’t until OCT-2015 that the final build was released.
As of MAR-2016, 2.3% of devices on Play Store are running Android 6.0, and it’s estimated that 24% of the those devices are CM / CyanogenMod. (more…)
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Android N may get Indian dessert name
“What will Google name the next Android version?”, one of the biggest questions of the year in the mobile world as we all know has traditionally been the name of a desert or snack.
With ‘N’, we have a couple of possibilities including Nutella and Nougat. According to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, he will be asking his mom for advice on this one, or it may go to the fans for a vote.
Nan Khatai Sundar being of Indian descent may have us seeing an Indian dessert name, especially as he may be giving sway towards his mother’s vote, a sweet son indeed. Some Indian dessert possibilities are Narikol Laru, Narali Bhaat, Neyyapam, Nan Khatai, and Narkeler Naru.
We won’t know for at least several more months. Nutella is the strong betting favorite at the moment, but perhaps it’s time for Android to put a little culture into the name, especially since we see huge support of Android coming from India.
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Google releases $150 Photoshop plugins for free
This excellent set of plugins was created by Nik Software, but Google bought them out in 2012. If you haven’t heard of Nik Software, they’re the team behind Snapseed and Snapchat, which Google now owns.
These plugins originally sold for $100 a pop, coming to a total of $500 if you wanted them all. Google eventually released a package deal where they could be purchased as a set of 5 for $150.
As of today, Google has made them 100% free, and anyone who previously paid for them in 2016 can get a refund. (more…)
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MediaTek Imagiq dual-camera ISP system here now
It’s not just Huawei, LG and Apple getting in on the dual-camera parade; MediaTek has joined the battle with their new Imagiq image signal processor (ISP).
To be featured on the just officially announced MTK6797 Helio X20, and the already released Helio P20, Imagiq ISP is a hardware-based solution built from the ground up to work with dual-camera systems on mobile devices. (more…)
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Huawei P9 flagship coming with dual-cameras
As the cost of mobiles plummet, manufacturers race to set themselves apart and find ways to keep flagships exorbitantly priced. For a time, it was 1080P displays, OTG, gyroscopes, and Touch-ID, but we’ve come to a point where all of this can be had in the $150-$225 range.
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Android N feature preview JIT Just-In-Time app compile
As those who often flash ROMs, and anyone who’s done an OTA or factory reset know, one of the most frustrating things with Android is waiting for it to compile our apps on first boot. (more…)
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MobileHike.com website down
Approximately 24 hours prior to this post MobileHike.com stopped loading. We thought at first this was a DNS or server issue, however as of 12 hours ago MobileHike now points to GoDaddy default.
In addition, some registrars are now showing the site has transferred ownership from a China address to an India address.
We had the optimistic thought that perhaps MobileHike.com had accidentally let their domain name lapse and someone had snatched it up. Unfortunately, old registrar info shows that the domain wasn’t set to expire until 13-MAY-2016.
Either MobileHike.com changed their registrar info, or they cancelled their ownership of MobileHike.com and someone else snatched the domain.
Regardless, we have no contact from them within 24 hours and our Skype contact has not replied. Their site is down and registrar info has changed. At this point we assume it’s not a DNS/site/server problem.
Old registrar 
Old registrar 
Old registrar 
New registrar We recommend any users who have purchased from MobileHike.com begin the refund process ASAP. Do not wait.
Make sure to gather all relevant information. Screenshots of the domain down, any sales confirmation screenshots, etc…
Our sympathies to anyone who needs to deal with this.
There is a thread at ChinaPhoneArena.com, or you may comment here with questions or comments. Please keep it civil. Regards.
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Researchers find video games may not be socially so bad afterall
Often the affect of video games on children is thought to be negative. Turns out this may not always be the case. In fact, according to this research, the trend is the opposite. (more…)
