Xiaomi unveils the Amazfit, an affordable GPS-equipped smartwatch

Xiaomi is best known for its affordable yet solidly spec'd smartphones, but its brand certainly goes way beyond just phones, with a variety of mobile accessories, tablets, fitness trackers, and more. With no signs of slowing down, Xiaomi has announced the new Amazfit smartwatch as the latest in a growing sea of Xiaomi products.

Earlier in the year Xiaomi created a smartwatch just for kids, so it's really no surprise to see them back, this time with a fitness-focused smartwatch for us grown-ups. The watch is actually technically made by Huami, a Xiaomi sub-brand, and at least for now, seems to be destined for just the Chinese market. On the software side, this watch runs its own customized OS but interacts with your Android device using the Mii Fit app.

See also: Best smartwatches14

All the fitness tracking perks you'd expect are present, as well as all the basics you'd expect from a smartwatch like notification support and even mobile payments via AliPay. There's also built-in GPS, which Xiaomi accomplishes using what it claims is the world's first 28nm GPS sensor.

The rest of the specs are pretty standard sounding for a smartwatch, including a 1.34-inch display with a 300 x 300 resolution, a 1.2GHz processor with 51MB RAM, 4GB storage, a heart rate sensor, IP57 water/dust resistance, and a 200 mAh battery. The battery reportedly will get around 5 days of life, of 30 hours when the GPS is turned on.

As one would expect from Xiaomi, the Amazfit is very aggressively priced, set to launch in China tomorrow for 799 Yuan, or about $120. As already mentioned, there's no set plans for a US or even European launch, though anything is possible. What do you think, if this was available in your market, would you consider it?

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Google releases Crowdsource app to let you improve its services

There's a ton of hidden data collection and processing that goes into powering and improving Google's Maps, Translate, and Search services. In an attempt to gather even more data, Google has just released its new Crowdsource app to the Play Store.

Crowdsource allows users to help out with image transcription, handwriting recognition, translation validation, and map translation tasks. Handwriting recognition simply involves typing out text that you can decipher from poorly written words, while image recognition sees users attempt to identify objects from blurry pictures, such as street signs. Google says that most of these tasks will take just 5 to 10 seconds, and that the app might be a good way to whittle away a few minutes doing something constructive.

Do quick, simple tasks that have a huge impact – like improve the quality of Google Translate in your language, or of Google Maps in your country, etc. Each microtask takes no more than 5-10 seconds, so knock away a few the next time you find yourself with a few moments to kill – be it while waiting in line at the grocery store or on the train ride home. Everytime you use it, you know that you've made the internet a better place for your community.

What's perhaps a little odd about the Crowdsource app is that Google isn't offering any type of incentive or reward for participating, other than your own goodwill or boredom. Meanwhile, customers signed up to Google's Opinion Rewards receive Play Store credit for their input, and Google seems to be paying for this type of data when it's collected by other companies. Perhaps Google will introduce some rewards in the future.

Still, if you fancy helping Google out, you can download the free app from the Play Store.

Download from Google Play

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Huawei Nova, Nova Plus and MediaPad M3 coming at IFA 2016

IFA 2016 is about to unleash a barrage of device launches, press releases and general tech insanity, and like with previous editions, Huawei is going to be a big part of it.

According to trusted leak purveyor @evleaks, Huawei plans to reveal three new devices at its September 1 press event.

Huawei Nova, Nova Plus, and MediaPad M3 launching at IFA.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 29, 2016

It looks like the rumors of a brand new series from Huawei have panned off. Instead of the successor to the Mate S that we were expecting, Huawei will launch the Nova and the Nova Plus. We don't know much about these devices, but according to rumors out of China, we're looking at a new series aimed at women.

There's a very good chance the device that was spotted in the TENAA database earlier this month is actually the new Huawei Nova, and not the Mate S2 as we suspected at the time. That device featured a 5.5-inch Full HD display, a Kirin 960 SoC, 4GB of RAM, a 16MP rear camera and an 8MP front facing shooter, with a non-removable 3,500mAh battery. Not bad at all, but the price has to be right for this Nexus 6P-lookalike to be a hit.

As for the MediaPad M3, we expect another mid-range tab with a metallic build in the vein of the MediaPad M2 10, which Huawei released at CES in January.

We'll bring you all the official details on September 1, so stay tuned for that and much more throughout the week.

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Deal: 32GB international Nexus 5X for just $239.99

The Nexus 5X has been discounted quite a lot lately and now there's another chance to grab yourself a bargain. The handset can currently be found on eBay, brand new, for just $239.99, a saving worth $160 (40 percent) off the recommended retail price.

For a mid-range smartphone, the Nexus 5X packs in some pretty decent hardware. There's a hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor, a 5.2-inch 1080p display, 32GB of internal memory, and an excellent 12.3 megapixel rear camera. The only downside is the 2GB of RAM, but that shouldn't be an issue thanks to bloat-free stock Android Marshmallow software included out of the box.

The international Nexus 5X (LG-H791) model comes carrier unlocked, and will work with GSM carriers (so not Sprint or Verizon) that support the following bands in the US. Note that some T-Mobile LTE bands are missing too, leaving AT&T as the major carrier best supported by this model.

• 3G: 850(B5) / 900(B8) / 1700|2100(B4) / 1800(B3) / 1900(B2) / 2100(B1)
• 4G : LTE 700(B28) / 800(B20) / 850(B5) / 900(B8) / 1700|2100(B4) / 1800(B3) / 1900(B2) / 2100(B1) / 2600(B7) + TD2300 / TD2600

Don't forget, the Nexus 5X already has Android 7.0 Nougat factory images online and ready to go, making this a cost effective way to get your hands on the latest version of Google's mobile OS.

See also: Nexus 5X review29

This deal has the handset available in either Carbon or Quartz color options. Unfortunately, the Ice color is already sold out. If you're interested, best to hurry while stock lasts.

Buy from eBay

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Samsung unveils affordable 14nm Exynos 7570 processor

Samsung's semiconductor division has been working overtime on new processors this year, after releasing its first custom CPU core inside its high-end Exynos 8890. The company isn't ignoring the entry-level market though, having just begun mass production of a new Exynos 7570 chip.

The Exynos 7570 is a quad-core processor, featuring four energy efficient Cortex-A53 cores. This certainly isn't the most powerful CPU configuration around, but Samsung is building the chip on its cutting edge 14nm manufacturing process. Samsung states that moving to 14nm provides a huge 70 percent boost to performance and a 30 improvement in energy efficiency compared to a similar chip built on 28nm. After optimising the radio and power management circuitry, the company says it has also reduced the total chip size by 20 percent, which is another effective way to save costs.

"With Exynos 7570, more consumers will be able to experience the performance benefits of the advanced 14nm FinFET process in affordable devices," – Ben K. Hur, Vice President of System LSI Marketing at Samsung Electronics.

Samsung has packed the Exynos 7570 with some other important features that may help the company build more appetising affordable handsets. The chip features a fully integrated Category 4 LTE 2CA modem with the usual Bluetooth, WiFi, FM Radio, and GNSS options. The chip can handle displays with a resolution of up to 1280 x 800 pixels, and there's an image signal processor to support up to a 13 megapixel rear camera and 8 megapixel front camera.

Samsung doesn't say which phone will be the first to feature the Exynos 7570, but the chip has now entered mass production. We could certainly see an entry level smartphone packing this processor appear before the year is out.

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Updated Google Contacts app makes it easier to get rid of duplicates

Google is pushing out an updated version of its contacts management app, bringing some of the features available in the web version to the Android app.

The v 1.5 update reorganizes the user interface of Google Contacts. Instead of the two tabs – all and favorites – the app now just displays your entire contact list, with a sidebar menu available via the hamburger button on the left. Opening that up reveals a new section for managing duplicate contacts. That's a feature that was present on the web app of Contacts, but the process was more convoluted on the Android app.

You can now also add labels to your contacts, making it easy to organize large contact lists based on groups, for things like family, work, or school. That's another feature that was present on the web app and it's now finally making the jump to the Android app, a place where it's actually more likely to be used.

Google Contacts 1.5 is currently rolling out to all users, so it should land on your device pretty soon. Do you rely on Google Contacts or do you have another way to keep track of all your contacts?

Download from Google Play Store

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Photos of Meizu’s Star Trek edition smartphone leak

GizChina

Star Trek has certainly enjoyed its 50^th anniversary: the latest film was highly successful and the announcement of the all new TV series Star Trek: Discovery was met with much enthusiasm. Well, there's even more good news for all the Trekkies out there. If you're a fan of Star Trek, you'd be pleased to know that Meizu is preparing to launch a Star Trek themed version of the Meizu m3e in the coming weeks.

We've already seen some sci-fi or superhero themed phones before: from Samsung Galaxy phones with a twist of The Avengers to the Batman themed Nokia Lumia, special limited editions are a good way for manufacturers to promote their devices. Now it seems like Meizu will be joining in on the fun soon. As you can see from the images above, the upcoming smartphone from Meizu will have the Starfleet insignia on its back. It looks like the software will also see some intergalactic changes.

It's likely that this limited edition Star Trek themed phone will share the same specs as the regular Meizu m3e. To refresh your memory, the m3e was released earlier this month with mid-ranger specs. It's a very slim, premium-looking device made of aluminum. On the front are a 5MP selfie shooter with f/2.0 aperture and a 5.5-inch Full HD display; on the back, we have a 13MP camera with f/2.2 aperture. Under the hood is the octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 chipset, coupled with 3GB of RAM. All this is powered by a 3,100mAh battery, which should last you a full day.

See also: Meizu launches the premium but affordable smartphone, the M3E10

The Star Trek edition of the Meizu m3e is said to launch exclusively in China on September 2^nd. Although the phone itself won't be easy to get your hands on if you are outside China, we imagine the Star Trek themed UI shouldn't be too hard to import to other devices. If you're a Trekkie in China, however, the phone's release date should coincide with the release date of Star Trek Beyond, so you can go watch the film and then go right ahead and grab yourself a Starfleet smartphone!

Live long and prosper, my friends.

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