ZUK Z1 gets its first taste of Marshmallow with CM 13 nightlies

The ZUK Z1 definitely stands out from the ever-growing crowd of Chinese devices for a few good reasons. First, unlike many of its competitors, it has a strong brand backing by non-other that Lenovo, but perhaps more importantly, the handset struck an official partnership with Cyanogen from the very beginning. In an essence, the OEM tried to pick up where OnePlus left off with the OnePlus One, before the OS scandal and the strategy seems to be generating results.

The ZUK Z1 was posed to receive a Cyanogen 13 build sooner or later, given this arrangement, but we were a little surprised to see working ROMs before the end of January. Now, there is a catch, the Android 6.0 builds in question are nightlies (read not retail-ready) and come from the development branch. This means that they are prone to bugs in this early stage, as evident by the fact that two packages cm-13.0-20160120-NIGHTLY and cm-13.0-20160121-NIGHTLY were published only a few hours apart. Plus, they are marked as Cyanogen Mod and not Cyanogen OS, like the official release will be.

An official build is imminent and once it becomes available, it will start seeding to devices as a stable OTA. If you rely heavily on the ZUK Z1 and want it to function properly, we would advise you to wait on the official update, but eager developers and tinkerers can head over to the download page in the source link and manually flash the firmware today.

Source | Via

Marshmallow update rolling out to Verison LG G3

Looks like Verizon has started rolling out the Android 6.0 update to LG G3 devices on its network. A Reddit user by the name of Jrdnram_98 is claiming to have received the OTA notification on their handset just a few hours ago, and also shared the following screenshot:

As you can see, the update carries the build number MRA58K and bumps the software version to VS98546A. It also includes Google's security patch for January. Going by those who have commented on the Reddit thread so far, no one else seemed to have received the update yet.

Late last month, the LG G3 units in Poland started getting the Android 6.0 update. As you might already know, the small European country has over the time become a sort of test bed for the South Korean company's software updates. Once the roll out is successful there, the update starts hitting devices in other regions worldwide.

Via | Reddit

Android 6.0 coming to Xiaomi Mi Note as soon as Friday

Testing over folks, the Xiaomi Mi Note is getting the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update soon - should be tomorrow!

The Developer Edition already received the update and it’s firmware version MRA58K. The MIUI interface is at version 7, no surprises here.

 
A screenshot of the updated About screen

Keep in mind that this is for the Xiaomi Mi Note, not the Note Pro.

Source (in Chinese) | Via

iPhone 6c live dummy photos, 3D renders suggest a familiar design

The Apple iPhone 6c (or 7c, depending on which rumors you choose to believe) has been in the rumor mill for a while now. Even the analysts from IHS believe the phone is coming in 2016. However, there's no consensus on what design Apple will be basing the iPhone 6c - the iPhone 5s, 5c or 6s.

Well, a leaked set of live photos of a prototype dummy portray a 4" iPhone based on the iPhone 6s.

  
Apple iPhone 6c dummy unit

The specifications of the 4" iPhone are believed to include the A9 chip with 2GB of RAM. Home button with TouchID fingerprint sensor, 16GB of internal storage and 1642 mAh battery. A $400-$500 price ballpark has been quoted too, presumably off contract.

Here's a fancier view of the iPhone 6c thanks to the 3D renders of Ferry Passchier.

   

iPhone 6c renders

Thanks Sung kim for the tip

Source • Source (2)

iPhone 5e now said to be the name of the next 4-inch Apple device

The next 4-inch smartphone made by Apple has been in the rumors for many months now, yet it still hasn't become official. That may change in the next few weeks, however, if we go by some recent speculation.

One thing that's been up for debate so far is what it's going to be called. The oldest rumors have referred to it as the iPhone 6c, then some people started calling it iPhone 7c, and today a Chinese analyst says it will actually be neither of those.

According to this person, Apple will name its new 4-inch device iPhone 5e, where "e" is supposed to roughly stand for "enhanced". This model will apparently be a slightly upgraded iPhone 5s, coming with support for Apple Pay, as well as VoLTE.

The main camera will reportedly be an 8 MP unit, while the SoC running things should be the A8, paired with 1GB of RAM. In China, the iPhone 5e is expected to cost CNY 3,288, which right now means $500 or €459.

Source (in Chinese) | Via

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Hits Antutu

The Samsung Galaxy S7 is the usual state flagships are a month ahead of announcement - constantly leaked and almost entirely revealed. The case of the Galaxy S7 is a bit more interesting, because it remains unclear in what shapes and screen sizes it will be available, but that aside, we now have another confirmation on key specs.

Antutu reports that the SM-G930F has been spotted running the benchmark, and it's the vanilla 5.1-inch version with QHD display resolution (Samsung will reportedly stick to that for 2016 flagships). More importantly, the smartphone is powered by the in-house Exynos 8890 chipset, in this (historically speaking) international F version. That obviously doesn't mean there won't be a Snapdragon 820 version, on the contrary.

RAM is quoted at 4GB and internal storage is 64GB, but that second number seems too generous for a base model. Additionally, the benchmark states that the smartphone does indeed pack a 12MP primary camera, so the move to fewer but larger pixels is happening. On the front, Samsung is sticking with 5MP for another generation.

And we know you were hoping for a score, but alas, there isn't such a number in Antutu's Weibo post. However, with the smartphone being in a pre-production testing phase, the figures wouldn't have been indicative of final devices anyway. So let's just patiently wait it out until MWC, when the Galaxy S7 is set to become official.

Source | Via

Another Xiaomi Mi 5 Leaked and its the white Variant

Just over a week after its black variant leaked online, another image of the Xiaomi Mi 5 has surfaced, showing off the white-colored model this time. The new image was posted by someone on Weibo (China's Twitter), and the device in it has design similar to the one revealed in last month's leaked renders.

The upcoming flagship device has already been the subject of several leaks and rumors until now. What's been confirmed so far is that the handset is powered by Qualcomm's latest SD820 chipset, and will be launched after the Chinese Spring Festival (which falls on February 8 this year).

Its rumored specs include 5.2-inch QHD screen, 4GB RAM with 16GB as well as 64GB internal memory options, 16MP/8MP camera combo, and 3,600mAh battery. The phone is also said to have a fingerprint scanner, and come in two different versions.

Via

Asus Pegasus 5000 unveiled in Chinese market

Asus topped up its model lineup, or at least its Chinese section with a new mid-range handset today. Named  the Pegasus 5000, it comes as the latest addition to the Pegasus line, after the Pegasus 2 Plus hit stores in December 2015. To further explore its family tree, the Pegasus 5000 seems to be a successor for the Pegasus X002, when it comes to its internals it basically seems to be a slightly stripped down version of the Pegasus 2 Plus X550.

We initially caught a glimpse of the Pegasus 5000 a few weeks ago in a certification, so the mid-ranger has little to surprise with in terms of hardware. It is powered by an octa-core processor 1.3 GHz Mediatek MT6753 SoC and has a 5.5" FullHD display. The main camera is a 13MP shooter with an LED flash and there is a 5MP selfie one on the front. The Pegasus 5000 is 4G enabled with Cat.4 LTE and has dual-SIM functionality. Local connectivity includes Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0. A 4850 mAh battery runs the show.

As for memory options, there is a base model with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage, like the aforementioned certification described. But, there is also a 3GB one, again with 16GB of space. Both versions will be available from China Telecom for CNY 1,299 (about $198) and CNY 1,799 (about $273), respectively.

Source (in Japanese) | Via (in Romanian)

Apple is now pushing iOS 9.2.1

Apple is now pushing iOS 9.2.1 to all supported devices


Today Apple has commenced the rollout of the update to iOS 9.2.1 for all supported iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch units out there. The general release starts today following a beta version of iOS 9.2.1, which went out to eager testers last month. In the meantime, an iOS 9.3 beta has been outed as well for those who are part of Apple's beta testing program.
As its version number implies, iOS 9.2.1 is not a big release. It doesn't come with new features, it only focuses on bug fixes, performance improvements, and reliability enhancements.
Included is a fix for an issue that could prevent the completion of an app's installation when using an MDM server. For now it's unclear if the battery indicator bug that we've reported on yesterday is also fixed in iOS 9.2.1. Surely though some other unnamed improvements are in too.

Today Apple has commenced the rollout of the update to iOS 9.2.1 for all supported iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch units out there. The general release starts today following a beta version of iOS 9.2.1, which went out to eager testers last month. In the meantime, an iOS 9.3 beta has been outed as well for those who are part of Apple's beta testing program.
As its version number implies, iOS 9.2.1 is not a big release. It doesn't come with new features, it only focuses on bug fixes, performance improvements, and reliability enhancements.
Included is a fix for an issue that could prevent the completion of an app's installation when using an MDM server. For now it's unclear if the battery indicator bug that we've reported on yesterday is also fixed in iOS 9.2.1. Surely though some other unnamed improvements are in too.