Category: Featured News

After rumors have been circulating on the subject for a long time, the tech giant made its official announcement.

For a long time, rumors have been circulating about a replacement for the Nexus line and now Google Pixel has been announced. The tech giant has announced a new line of high end smartphones. These will take the place of the Nexus flagship mobile devices.

There have been leaks popping up all over the web for the Google Pixel (Sailfish) and the Pixel XL (Marlin).

The company has announced the Google Pixel’s existence and has been suggesting that an October 4 unveiling could be expected. It had been indicating that the unveiling would break away from the traditional rectangle and would be made of an oblong with rounded edges. That said, one of the Google websites (madeby.google.com) is indicating a device with the classic rectangle shape. It contains a graphic that starts from the look of the Google query box and that transforms into a phone. Aside from that graphic, the webpage says “Oct. 4” as well as the Google “G” symbol and the opportunity to enter an email address to receive notifications of updates.

The Google Pixel will be the next among a number of hardware products released with its branding.

Though there had been recent rumors and claims of leaks that showed two new Nexus phones built by HTC, those plans have changed. In August, Android Central reported that the new HTC devices would no longer bear the Nexus name. Moreover, another source, Android Police, recently reported that upcoming Pixel and Pixel XL devices would become “the first phones built by Google.”

The teaser webpage created by Google appears to be confirming the claim Android Police had made. That said, the Android Police report said HTC would be manufacturing the devices, despite the fact that Google designed them.

The industry has been watching the tech brand for a new device such as smartphones ever since the Project Ara experimental modular phone initiative was shut down.

It will be interesting to see what predictions and reports make it on to the scene until the official Google Pixel launch on October 5.

A supplier in China has reported that a joint probe pointed to “outside factors” as the cause of the Galaxy Note 7 problems.

The Samsung phone fires in the Galaxy Note 7 have made their way to China. Videos of the exploding mobile devices went viral last weekend. Some stores in the country pulled them from the shelves while some new owners sought to return them.

However, the South Korean electronics company released a statement following device test results.

So far, the Samsung phone fires don’t appear to be caused by faulty batteries, as had been suspected. At least, that is what the company has been saying following the results of tests conducted on the devices. At least one of the exploding Galaxy Note 7 phones was heated from the outside, not internally, said Samsung.

The electronics giant has said that the small number of Galaxy Note 7 phones that were set aside for presale in China are not among those containing faulty batteries. There have been battery issues in versions of the device launched in other countries. The company is currently dealing with the recall of 2.5 million units in the United States and 9 other countries.

China is the largest smartphone market in the world, but it has not been impacted by the Samsung phone fires recall.

That said, it isn’t yet clear whether or not the statement from Samsung will be enough to assuage the concerns of consumers and merchants. The world has already watched the company cope with the massive recall of the first wave of fire-prone batteries in the smartphones. For a device that already retails for over $800, this could cause people – and stores – to think twice.

The widespread news of the exploding phones in China could be very problematic to the company, regardless of whether or not they are to blame. The fact that this is occurring in the largest phone market in the world must be causing some sweat to break out.

The tests were conducted by the battery supplier for the Chinese market phones, Amperex Technology Ltd. It conducted the tests jointly with Samsung using one of the devices that were part of the Samsung phone fires in China. The examination revealed that the battery hadn’t been the source of the problems.