Moto 360 (2015) alleged render shows full 360-degree display, new watch strap [LEAK]

It was 3 weeks ago we got a sneak peek at what could have been a Moto 360 successor courtesy of a Lenovo exec showing off prototypes on the Chinese blogging site, Weibo. More recently, details of the device of what could be the Moto 360 (2nd Gen) — codename Smelt — were uncovered by us, with the device boasting a 360×360 display.

Today, new alleged image of the watch is making the rounds and once again, comes to us from the Weibo. Now, it’s unclear where this person obtained the image, or even if its legit, but it does show a render of a watch that looks extremely similar to what the Lenovo exec was showing off the other day.

The image shows a very similar disc/hockey puck-like design, with new watch straps that feature metal attachable arms. It’s interesting because the previously leaked photos of the prototype device also had arms, but they were attached the smartwatch’s metal frame. These are more like inserts.

Also worth pointing out is the physical button is smack dab in the center, like last year’s model and not off towards the top as in the previous leak. You’ll also notice the the “flat tire” bezel, which housed the watch’s display drivers, is also not present in this render, which we admit looks great.

As is the case with most “leaks,” take this with a huge grain of salt. It’s been a little over a year since the original Moto 360 was officially announced, so we bet we’ll be seeing more of this Moto 360 followup in the weeks leading up to Google I/O 2015.

[Weibo]

HTC One E9 leak shows a phone plastered with glossy material

Looks like HTC’s working on a new phone with some stylish good looks. It’s being called the HTC One E9, and it was leaked by a familiar source in @upleaks. Details are slim right now, but we can see that the phone borrows design cues from the best of both the mid-range and high-end tiers of HTC’s device lineup.

The front of the device is more akin to an HTC One M8 / M9, complete with BoomSound speakers and a bezel with an oddly-placed logo. Flipping it to the rear reveals what appears to be a glossy plastic material that’s often used for HTC’s Desire lineup.

An earlier leak suggested the device would come with some pretty capable hardware:

• 5.5-inch QHD display


• 2.2GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6795 chipset


• 3GB of RAM


• 32GB if internal storage


• 20 megapixel camera

Not bad, though fans of Qualcomm’s might opt to pass. HTC is said to be launching the device in China before month’s end, so we’ll have to wait until then before we’re let in on any other details. Would you buy one if it were made available in your area?

Latest HTC One M9+ leak shows a phone that looks like One M9 and has a 5.2-inch display

HTC didn’t unveil the HTC One M9 Plus (said to be branded as M9+ by the time it hits retail) like we were hoping and expecting them to, but that doesn’t mean it’ll simply disappear from the rumor mill. The latest information from OnLeaks reveals a couple of new details about the device.

The photo above shows a mockup of the latest prototype OnLeaks saw, and there’s some bad news: it looks like an HTC One M9, only taller and with more gizmos (with said gizmos being the home button / fingerprint scanner splitting the boomsound speakers on the front, as well as the dual camera on the rear. This design is vastly different from the original prototype as shown by @Evleaks.

The screen size of the HTC One M9+ will supposedly be just 5.2 inches, a far cry from phablet territory we were told to expect. That’s about .2 inches bigger than the current HTC One M9, so the devices should provide similar viewing experiences (though the design of the chassis could make its ergonomics differ significantly).

Speaking of the chassis, we also caught wind of the exact dimensions at 150.9 x 72.5 x 10.15 mm. For comparison’s sake, the HTC One M9 clocks in at 144.6 x 69.7 x 9.6 mm, which means the M9+ will be just a hair thicker in depth and a bit more wide thanks to its increased display size.

Even with an increased display size we’re not totally crazy about it being taller than the HTC One M9 by nearly 6 millimeters, but that is necessary to house the supposed fingerprint scanner and dual camera. We’ll have to wait to see its final design to judge whether it makes for a device that’s comfortable to hold vs one that’s needlessly long.

It’s worth noting that there has yet to be any confirmation that HTC is still planning to release this device. As it stands they’re in the very early stages and they could easily decide to scrap the launch if they feel it’s not worth it (which, if the above design is accurate, is becoming increasingly apparent that it isn’t).

[via Twitter 1|2]

HTC sends invites for HTC One M9+ revelation April 8th in Beijing, new images leak

HTC had a big shindig in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago to unveil the HTC One M9, and now the variant we were really hoping to see could be due April 8th. The company is sending invites to Chinese press to show that they have “More Than One” device on tap this year, and they’ll be unveiling the latest in Beijing.

The invitation shows a device that looks to be similar to the rear of an HTC One M9, except it has the same dual camera setup we’ve seen on previous leaks instead of the lone camera featured on the company’s 2015 flagship — this, folks, is likely the HTC One M9 Plus.

That’s all we can tell from the company’s official teaser, though we know the device will have a couple of key differences up front. The main one is that there will be a physical home button smack dab in the middle of the bottom set of BoomSound speakers and will have dual functionality as a fingerprint scanner. The display is also a tad bigger, though at 5.2 inches (if OnLeaks’ most recent information is to be believed) it’s not the phablet-sized monster we were expecting.

The device is expected to have Quad-HD resolution at 2560 x 1440, 3GB of RAM and a 20 megapixel camera sensor. It might also have MediaTek’s 64-bit Octa-Core MT6795T.

Oh, and it looks like the mockup made by @OnLeaks was about as accurate as accurate can be — the in-the-wild shots seen below definitely show a device that looks like a slightly bigger HTC One M9 with a fingerprint scanner.

Its Chinese debut might suggest this device won’t be made available for many other regions to start, though we’ll have to wait for official word from HTC to be clued in on their exact plans.

[Weibo, Nowhereelse.fr via Engadget]

Oppo could be working on a smart watch that takes just 5 minutes to charge [LEAK]

One of the biggest drawbacks of a modern smart watch is that they can’t quite live up to the battery expectations we demand. That’s why Pebble and their week-long battery is a big deal, and why people were likely disgusted at the Apple Watch’s 18-hour rating.

Oppo could change that with the smart watch they’re rumored to be working on. The company is supposedly making a smart watch that can go from 0 to 100% in just 5 minutes of charging. It might not make the battery last as long as we’d like, but to be able to top up in just 5 minutes gives us a lot more flexibility in when and how we choose to charge the thing.

The charging time will be made possible thanks to the company’s next-generation VOOC charger, a solution used for turbo charging their latest smartphones. Since smart watches naturally have much smaller batteries than smartphones then it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they can get such speedy charge times.

As much as we’re hoping this rumor is true, it is still just a rumor. For what it’s worth, we know OnePlus —  a very close ally of Oppo’s — is at least thinking about the possibility of introducing a smart watch. The company sent consumer surveys asking folks what they think about wearables. OnePlus isn’t Oppo, of course, but the two share design and engineering facilities so it’s possible they could be bouncing ideas off each other.

[via Twitter]

 

HTC One M9+ renders leak again, still looks like the M8

Many people were expecting HTC to show off two devices at Mobile World Congress, but instead we just got the mildly disappointing HTC One M9 (our review). The second device is rumored to be named the HTC One M9 Plus. It’s a variant with a slightly bigger display, fingerprint scanner, and the Dual Camera from the One M8. A new leaked render shows off the M9+ and it’s still not terribly exciting.

If you thought the One M9 wasn’t enough of a change the One M9+ is even less. From the back it looks nearly identical to the One M8. The camera is still round and the second Dual Camera is still present. This device is rumored to have a 5.2-inch quad-HD display, MediaTek processor, 3GB of RAM, and a 20MP camera. We were originally expecting the M9+ to launch alongside the M9 as a phablet, but it’s looking more like this is simply a variant for other countries.

HTC will officially announce the One M9+ at an event in China next week. What do you think of this device? Is this what the One M9 should have been? Do you prefer the One M9?

[via @upleaks]

This is the 9.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 [LEAK]

Samsung has a new tablet on the horizon, though we wouldn’t expect anything less from the world’s leading Android manufacturer. It’s the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, which stands to be the direct sequel to yesteryear’s flagship slate. As such, we’d expect the device to have top-line specs.

Unfortunately we don’t have much of an idea of what will be under the hood at this point, as @onleaks only provides a screen size of 9.7 inches, a width of somewhere between 5.5 and 5.9 inches, and a rather dull render.

He did note that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2’s design was inspired by the Samsung Galaxy S6, but we were already expecting as much. The device is sure to be prepped for a summer launch as its predecessor was so it shouldn’t be long before more details come to light.

LG G Pad X 8.3 is a sleek new tablet headed for Verizon [LEAK]

Verizon is getting themselves a new tablet from their South Korean friends known as LG. This is the LG G Pad X as leaked by Evan Blass, the retired holder of the famed @evleaks Twitter account. We first heard word of the tablet yesterday, though the gracious leakster didn’t have a render to offer up at that time.

Not much is known about the tablet at this time, though Blass did earlier mention that the tablet would have an “8.3” moniker attached to it, which no doubt refers to its screen size in inches. We can also see  stylings of Android 5.0 Lollipop throughout the render’s user interface.

We can also see there will be both rear and front-facing cameras, as well as rear-facing stereo speakers. Oh, and two nice Verizon logos do well to remind you which carrier this device is for. The device appears to have some sort of brushed metal finish on its rear, though it’s possible this could just be some other type of material with a brushed metal look.

One last thing of note: the widget on the home-screen of the LG G Pad X curiously shows May 28th, which is a Thursday. Is that the day Verizon will look to make this thing available? Could be, though it’s been a long time since a company has released a device on the date shown on its calendar. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

[via @evleaks]

Alleged OnePlus 2 leak shows phone could have wooden back with fingerprint scanner

The OnePlus 2 is on its way, and the OnePlus team has started their unapologetic hype train leading up to the big July 27th reveal. Sad news for them, though, as PhoneArena seems to have procured shots of the thing ahead of launch.

There are 4 initial takeaways just by taking a quick glimpse at the photos:

1. It does resemble the OnePlus One ever-so-slightly.


2. It seems to have a metal frame, though this could just as easily be a plastic border made to look like metal.


3. The back appears to sport wood, which would be a very nice touch (but could also be a premium wooden cover that won’t come stock with the device).


4. There’s some sort of dimple on the back cover. The OnePlus logo is clearly visible beneath it, so one could surmise that the dimple is the fingerprint scanner rumored to be part of the kit.

And that’s just what we know from this supposed leak (it’s not known how reputable the source of the leak is). OnePlus has already spilled the beans on a couple of device details, such as the fact that it’ll use USB Type-C, as well as confirming the use of a modified Snapdragon 810 chipset that goes easy on the heat.

Other rumors suggest we’ll be getting another large screen in the 5.5-inch to 5.7-inch range which has a strong chance of boasting 2560 x 1440 resolution. The phone will also obviously launch with Lollipop-based OxygenOS. One last tidbit confirmed by the company is that the device will cost more than 2, which doesn’t exactly give us a solid price tag but at least tells us to expect the base storage model to cost higher than its predecessor.

[Updated to note that there’s a chance this could be a fake render.]

[Update] Full Samsung Galaxy S6 Active specs leak on Samsung’s own site

Samsung and AT&T are gearing up to announce the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active soon. We’ve seen early renders of the device in camo-doused colors, and now @evleaks has delivered another shot of the thing in a more traditional color scheme of gray/black.

But that’s not all — the Samsung Galaxy S6’s full spec sheet is already sitting on Samsung’s own website, and it reveals everything we need to know about the device. The early takeaway is that rumors that this was going to be more like an enhanced Samsung Galaxy S5 were wrong.

This thing has all the same internals as the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge we’ve reviewed, except it houses all of them in a rugged case that can take a beating. Unfortunately it does lack a fingerprint sensor, but we imagine that sacrifice was necessary for a device that can potentially find itself submerged in water for long periods of time.

Otherwise, here’s the phone you can expect to get once it’s finally made official:

• 5.1-inch 2560 x 1440 Super AMOLED display


• Octa-Core Exynos 7420 chipset (2.1GHz and 1.5GHz cores)


• 32GB of UFS 2.0 storage (and we’re also hearing there will be a microSD slot, though the site doesn’t mention it)


• 16MP rear camera with 4K video recording, 5MP front camera


• Bluetooth 4.1, WiFi ac Dual-Band MIMO, GPS, NFC, Heart Rate Sensor, Infrared Blaster


• 5.65 x 2.78 x 0.27 inches , 138g


• 2,550mAh battery


• Android 5.0 Lollipop

With it appearing on Samsung’s own support site it’s only a matter of time before we see some official details. In the meantime let us know if you’ll be saving some coin to grab this one over the more stylish (yet less durable) originals.

[Update]: Someone must be in trouble. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Active page is no longer available for viewing.