Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR
Honor is now the third biggest smartphone maker in China, massively outranking its former owner Huawei. Vivo and Oppo continue to outsell their competitors in the country, holding onto a combined 44% market share. Apple grew 62% year-over-year in the country. It’s been nearly a year since Huawei spun off Honor as an independent company. But while the former has floundered in all regions since, Honor has been on an upward trajectory, especially in its home market.
Late last night, HTC sold off part of its R&D workforce to Google in an attempt to right the ship after a years-long slump. The $1.1 billion cash injection will keep the lights on at HTC in its original form and help keep the dream alive for a little while longer – far better than what happened to Nokia when it was struggling.
Google is now set to take some 2,000 or so of HTC’s ‘Powered by HTC’ research and development team and make them Googlers who will be set on a new hardware mission.
HyperX Chargeplay ClutchThe HyperX Chargeplay Clutch is an amazing accessory for the Nintendo Switch. It brings a new level of comfort and versatility to the Switch when using it in handheld mode. Its premium build and large rechargeable battery make the price worth it. However, this accessory will only be truly valuable to folks who use the Switch in handheld mode a majority of the time. At this price, it wouldn't be worth it if you simply leave your Switch docked most of the year.
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
The OnePlus 10 Pro has finally launched in international markets to take on the best phones out there. Besides the revamped design and updated processor on offer, it also features an upgraded second-generation Hasselblad-tuned camera system. While OnePlus flagships almost always undercut the competition, they’ve slowly crept up in price over the years. Thankfully, the company has reversed that trend this time around, even if only by a small amount.
Overall, the OnePlus 8 renders don’t look too different from the original CAD-based renders we saw from @OnLeaks back in October (geez, this phone leaked early).
On the front, we have a nearly bezel-less display interrupted only by a small cutout in the upper left corner for the single selfie camera. On the back, we have what appears to be a triple-lens camera module, LED flash, and the “new” OnePlus logo the brand launched last week.
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
We first reviewed the Sony Xperia 1 III back in July 2021, calling it Sony’s best smartphone to date. It wasn’t perfect though, due to the high price tag and missing features compared to contemporary flagships. But it still made for a great purchase for Sony fans thanks to the multimedia focus, unique camera experience, and 4K 120Hz screen.
We posted our six-month-later review over the weekend and asked readers whether the phone was still buying after all this time.
Magisk Manager, an app that made it possible to run Android Pay and Pokemon Go on rooted phones, has been removed from the Google Play Store for violating its malicious behavior policy. The app, which could hide software modifications from apps that require unaltered operating systems, was pulled on Google‘s authority, and its lead developer, topjohnwu, was emailed with an explanation of the decision.
The dev suspects that the app conflicts with two Google policies specifically: “Apps that introduce or exploit security vulnerabilities,” and “Apps or SDKs that download executable code, such as dex files or native code, from a source other than Google Play.
The name is 2000. AME 2000. That’s the James Bond-style intro we think Motorola Solutions should prep for the company’s latest Android-based device that comes with a locked down, user-friendly platform.
Mind you, we’re not talking about the Motorola that was acquired by Google last year, but the smaller company that worked as a separate Enterprise Mobility Solutions and Public Safety division for the old Moto until 2011.
With that out of the way, let’s focus on the AME 2000 Secure Mobile Solution.
Am I the only one surprised to hear Plex for Android actually couldn’t play local files in the past? Plex, the service meant to liberate your media, apparently was limited by the boundaries of your network. This changes with the latest update, though.
Plex has been updated to version 6.0, which includes one major improvement – the player can now reproduce local media files from the phone or SD card. Supported formats include MP4, MKV, AVI, WMV, and WMD.
When it comes to Apple leaks, there are some leakers who are better than others. The two most prominent people who deliver accurate leaks most of the time are “l0vetodream” and “Kang,” both of whom operate on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo.
Allegedly, Apple’s team of lawyers has now targeted some of these prominent leakers. Recently, Kang reported receiving a letter from these lawyers that declares they must stop posting leaks.