Category: Smartphones
Xiaomi announces £99 Redmi 7A smartphone in the UK
Xiaomi has unveiled its latest budget smartphone for the UK. Dubbed the Redmi 7A, the £99 device can last two days on a single charge, claims the manufacturer. A complete upgrade over its predecessor (the Redmi 6A), it also comes with the more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 and larger 4000mAh battery. Other improvements, claims the…
HTC suspends UK smartphone sales ‘out of abundance of caution’
HTC has said that it decided to temporarily pull smartphones from sale in the UK “out of an abundance of caution” amid an intellectual property dispute. All handsets, including the HTC U12+ and Exodus 1, recently appeared as “out of stock” on their UK website while other countries still show smartphones available to buy. The…
Younger mobile phone users ‘suffering from load rage’
It takes young people in the UK less than one minute to get annoyed while waiting for phone content to download, research suggests. The survey of UK smartphone users by Chinese phone maker OnePlus suggests that young people are five times more likely to lose their temper because of slow download speeds than older phone…
Tech to help farmers detect plant diseases with smartphones
New technology that could help farmers quickly spot diseases in plants using smartphones has been developed by researchers. The handheld device for identifying problems with crops, which was designed at North Carolina State University, can be plugged into a mobile phone and used to analyse compounds that plants release through their leaves. Diagnosing diseases in…
Mobile customers to switch provider by text
Mobile customers will be able to switch provider by sending a text message from Monday under new regulator rules. Currently, people wanting to switch mobile operator and keep their phone number usually have to call their existing provider to request a “porting authorisation code” or PAC. In the process, many find themselves dealing with unwanted…
Review: Should I buy £469 Google Pixel 3a XL
Google’s attempt at taking a bigger bite out of the hardware side of the smartphone sector continues with its Pixel range, which now includes a budget version of its third handset. Jamie Harris reviews the Google Pixel 3a XL... The strongest part of Google's Pixel phones lie within its photographic abilities. With the Pixel 3a…
Vodafone users can now make mobile calls with Amazon Alexa
Vodafone customers can now make hands-free calls using Amazon Echo smart devices under their existing mobile plan, the operator has announced. Users who link their mobile number to an Alexa account – the virtual assistant that powers the smart speaker products – will be able to call any of their contacts by using voice commands…
Tech summit to discuss handling of ‘digital strip searches’ for victims of crime
Ministers will meet senior police officers and top prosecutors to discuss technological solutions for handling data from the mobile phones of victims of crimes including rape. The summit on Monday is part of the response to the disclosure scandal, which rocked confidence in the criminal justice system when a string of rape and serious sexual…
Xiaomi brings compact Mi 9 SE to the UK. Prices from £349
Chinese phone manufacturer Xiaomi has announced it is bringing its compact flagship, the Mi 9 SE, to the UK. A compact version of Mi 9, it features Qualcomm’s brand new Snapdragon 712 processor, an upgrade to the Snapdragon 710 chipset. The phone, which Xiaomi claims is comparable to a classic phone with a 5.1 inch…
Oppo and Xiaomi reveal ‘under-display’ selfie cameras for more screen space
Smartphones could soon hide the front-facing selfie camera underneath, rather than in the display, as tech giants race to find new ways to avoid notch and pin-hole designs in order to provide more screen space. Chinese handset makers Oppo and Xiaomi have launched into an early battle over the technology, revealing a taste of the…