Yesterday, XDA Recognized Developer Maxr1998 published his own build of TWRP for the ASUS ZenWatch 3. This build was made possible thanks to joeykrim and T10NAZ, as Maxr1998 used their guide for the ZenWatch 2 to compile the kernel and recovery.
We've been watching the trend of preferred smartphone displays shift from LCD to AMOLED over the last year or two. Samsung is the company who showed their dedication to the technology even when it was more expensive than an LCD panel. Some people have been put off due to burn in issues when the technology wasn't mature, but this issue has improved lately and most don't have problems with it anymore. This isn't to say that burn ins aren't still happening because they are, but we're just seeing less reports about it with typical smartphone use. The biggest change in AMOLED panel adoption rates though, happened when prices were dropped so they could compete with LCD panels. No matter how much better a piece of technology is, most companies will not look into using it if the price is too high.
So as AMOLED panels are becoming more affordable, we're starting to see more companies use in them in their products. A new report says shipments of flexible AMOLED panels are expected to hit 150 million next year in 2017. In a market where smartphone shipments exceed 1.4 billion, 150 million doesn't sound like a lot. However, this will be an important milestone for the technology as this estimate is actually three times the number we saw shipped this year.
Samsung has dominated the flexible AMOLED panel shipments for years, but there are other companies like EverDisplay Optronics and Visionox who are able to manufacture a small number of these types of panels. This is actually an interesting point for the technology as we're seeing the demand for these panels outweigh the rate in which they can be produced.
So, do you prefer a smartphone that has an AMOLED panel, or do you still opt for devices that are using the matured LCD panels?
OnLeaks, in collaboration with Android Authority, has been able to show us what an upcoming Motorola smartphone could look like. As with most of OnLeaks' reveals, this render is based on factory CADs and have had its details filled in by the artist. This device was originally reported as being the 2017 Moto X, however a new tweet from the man behind OnLeaks suggests it could actually be a phone called the Moto C.
One of the biggest takeaways from these renders is the absence of the pogo pins. It's these pogo pins on the lower back of the recent Motorola phones that has enabled the company's Moto Mods modules. So while there are aspects of this phone that resemble the Moto Z (like the size and shape of the camera), this leak suggests that it will not support the company's modules in any way, shape, or form.
It's not guaranteed that Motorola will be using the company's Moto Mods for all of their products, it would make sense to have them on their premium phones. The Moto X has never been known for its top of the line specs, but it was considered an upper mid-range/lower high-end device. So this, along with the use of microUSB instead of USB Type-C adds even more credence that this is the Moto C that OnLeaks mentions in his tweet.
We don't see the sensors in all four corners of the phone like they used in the 2015 Moto X, and this could be yet another sign that it is not the 2017 Moto X. Still, the phone looks rather solid; it has a slight curve to the back of the device that makes it seem like it would be comfortable in the hand. As with all rumors though, we should take this one with a grain of salt and wait to see what Motorola comes out with next year.
There have been a lot of eyes on some of the bigger smartphone OEMs from China due to their incredible growth over the last couple of years. Companies like Huawei, LeEco and Xiaomi have become common names around the Android enthusiast community, and for good reason. We're seeing an expansion coming from these companies that can only be compared to the likes of Samsung in certain cases.
Incidentally, this type of growth is difficult to maintain because at some point you just reach a saturation point. Xiaomi broke company sales records in 2014, and had originally projected to hit 100 million in 2015 before they were forced to lower those estimates. We've talked about LeEco's financtial issues over the last couple of months now, and while Huawei is currently doing good, they too cannot expect to continue growing at the rate they have been.
So it makes sense that we're now seeing reports that Chinese OEMs like Huawei, Xiaomi and LeEco are reducing the number of component orders for the first quarter of next year. The report says Xiaomi wasn't able to perform as well as it had hoped during the third and fourth quarter of this year. So they're expecting this trend to continue into the first quarter of 2017 and this has resulted in them ordering fewer components as well.
With LeEco being less aggressive than before, it just makes sense that they will be more conservative with their component orders than normal. This isn't to say that these three smartphone OEMs aren't making a profit anymore. Instead, it just seems to indicate that they're unable to continue growing at the rate they have been lately. What will be interesting is seeing if these companies can keep their current customers, and maintain their current sales numbers, rather than losing them to other competitors in the region.
As we enter the final days of the year, it's time to get your opinion on all the events, news, releases and controversies that we witnessed so far in 2016.
In the name of change and "courage", we were treated by OEMs with what will likely go down in history as a failed experiment or as a pivotal point in smartphone evolution, depending on how the future shapes up. As has been a recurrent theme this year, Android OEMs took some rather controversial steps in an effort to distinguish themselves from the competition.
So, our question to you is,
What was the worst OEM decision of 2016? How does this decision affect you and your smartphone usage? How did the decision affect the OEM and its short term sales and reputation? Did other OEMs follow suit and adopt the decision, or are they playing it safer?
Let us know in the comments below!
Feature Image Credit: /u/RainieDay
OnePlus has been plowing through these open betas for its Nougat update on the OnePlus 3 lately. We saw the 8th open beta released toward the end of November, and now we're already up to number 10. This could very well be the last open beta update we see for the OnePlus 3 before the official Nougat OTA begins to roll out. Remember, OnePlus told us that they had plans to release Nougat for the OnePlus 3 before the end of the year.
Since we're two days away, this 10th open beta will either be very short, or they will decide to delay the official rollout. We are betting on the latter happening, but it really is anyone's guess at this time. The 10th open beta for the OnePlus 3 can be downloaded and installed right now though, and the majority of the changes coming with this update seems to be optimizations. This is actually a good sign as it shows they are winding down the development of the update and are making the software as stable as possible.
So as far as optimizations goes, we're told this update improves both system performance as well as battery consumption. So if you felt the device was sluggish, or used more battery life than it should have in the last update, then this one could solve those issues for you. The 10th open beta update also optimizes WiFi performance, and the fingerprint unlocking speed as well. Lastly, we're told they have optimized the quality of the Expanded Screenshot feature as well.
Some people were experiencing a bug when reverting back to the default theme after a reboot, and this issue has been fixed in the latest update. There was also a bug with the lock screen clock in portrait mode, and that has been fixed too. The last thing in the change log says they have added a Data Saver feature to the core OS for those who have expensive data plans. OnePlus asks that you use this form to provide feedback on the UI/UX of the update, and you can discuss the update right here in our own OnePlus 3 forum.
