10 Essential Audio Upgrades You Can Get on Sale Now

With plenty of spare time, many of us are enjoying music and podcasts even more than usual. If you would like to improve your listening experience, now might be a good time to upgrade your speakers or headphones. Here are ten great deals on audio gear at the XDA Developers Depot, now with up to 75% off MSRP.

1) Skullcandy Jib Wireless Earbuds

Ideal for home workouts and listening to music on the go, these stylish wireless earbuds from Skullcandy offer six hours of battery life. They also have a mic for hands-free calls, and music controls to help you switch tracks effortlessly. Normally $29.99, they are now 56% off at $12.99.

2) Culture Audio V1 Noise-Cancellation Bluetooth Headphones

With remarkable 98% noise-cancellation technology, the Culture Audio V1 headphones are great for blocking out distractions at home. They also have 40mm drivers, AptX and AAC technology for minimal audio lag, and a smart sensor that pauses the music when you take them off. Originally $200, they are now only $49.99.

3) HCG1 Pro Gaming Headset

Rated at 4.3 stars on Amazon, this professional-quality gaming headset has huge 53mm drivers and cushioned ear pads for exceptional comfort. The HCG1 works with PC, PS4 and Xbox, with a detachable mic and built-in controls. Usually $189.99, the headset is now $103.99.

4) EVEN H4 Wireless Headphones with EarPrint Technology

These cutting-edge cans offer 20 hours of wireless listening via Bluetooth, with 40mm beryllium-coated drivers providing rich sound. They also adapt to your sonic preferences, thanks to unique EarPrint technology. Rated at 4.3 stars on Amazon, the EVEN H4 headphones are now only $79.99 when you use code SAVE60EVENH4.

5) HUB: Hi-Fi Wireless Noise-Cancelling Earbuds

It’s easy to see how the HUB earbuds raised over $1 million on Indiegogo. They offer 8 hours of battery life and 100 hours with their charging case. These earbuds are also water-resistant, while Smart Ambient Sound allows you to amplify conversations or block out distractions. Worth $250, they are currently just $71.99.

6) Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7bSV QuietPoint® Headphones

If you want pro-level sound without the premium price tag, try these certified refurbished headphones from Audio-Technica. They have wide-aperture 40mm drivers and active noise cancellation that blocks 90% of background sound. In the foreground, you get rich sound with outstanding resolution. They were $199.99 new, but refurbs are just $69.99. 

7) Audio-Technica Wireless Over-Ear Hi-Res Headphones

The newer ATH-SR6BT headphones deliver the same Audio-Technica sound wirelessly via Bluetooth. These premium cans support Qualcomm aptX, AAC, and SBC codecs, along with NFC connections. You get an impressive 30 hours of playback on a single charge. Usually priced at $169.99, they are now just $101.99.

8) Marshall® Woburn Bluetooth Speaker

Inspired by the classic amps used by rock legends, the Marshall Woburn combines great sound and style. This beauty can pump out your favorite tunes at 110dB, and built-in controls allow you to adjust the mix of treble and bass. In addition, it supports four different inputs. Normally $599.99, the speaker is now only $269.99 with free shipping.

9) Crave Octane Bluetooth Earphones

Being sweat-resistant, the Crave Octane headphones are great for getting active at home. They also have ergonomic earhooks, meaning they won’t fall out. You get 8 hours of playback on a full charge, with thumping bass and crisp trebles. Worth $49.99, they are currently just $29.99.

10) Spark Headphones

Going out at night to avoid the crowds? The Spark Headphones have built-in LED lights to help you stay visible after dark, and they can even pulse to the beat. The sound quality is excellent, and noise cancellation helps to block out passing traffic. Normally $99, they are now just $29.99. 

Prices subject to change 

More from the XDA Developers Depot

• Work-from-home accessories to keep you productive
• DIY projects to keep you entertained indoors
• New skills you can learn without leaving home

The post 10 Essential Audio Upgrades You Can Get on Sale Now appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3cEZalU
via IFTTT

Facebook Messenger Kids expands to over 70 new countries

Towards the end of 2017, Facebook introduced a new chat app aimed at kids called Messenger Kids. The new parent-approved app was essentially a kid-friendly version of its popular Messenger app which was designed to help children safely message friends and family members. The service was initially launched in the US and it soon made its way to Canada. Now, over two years since its launch, Facebook is finally rolling out Messenger Kids in more countries.

According to a recent blog post from the company, Messenger Kids will now be available on both iOS and Android in over 70 more countries, including India, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Singapore, and more. Along with expanding the service to more countries, Facebook has also introduced a couple of new features in Messenger Kids that will help parents connect kids with their friends. Here are all the new changes included in the latest update for Messenger Kids:

Supervised Friending

When Messenger Kids was launched initially, it only allowed parents to invite and approve contacts for their child. With the new Supervised Friending feature, parents will get the option to allow their kids to accept, reject, add or remove contacts, while still maintaining the ability to override new contact approvals from the Parent Dashboard.

As an added security measure, parents will be notified whenever their kids take any friending action through the app and can override the action instantly. The new feature is already rolling out to Messenger Kids in the US and will gradually roll out to other regions in the near future.

Connecting Kids Through Groups

Messenger Kids will now also allow children to join parent-approved groups that are supervised by a trusted adult. These approved adults will also be able to connect other kids to the group whose parents have also granted the same approval.

The new groups feature is also rolling out to users in the US and will gradually be rolled out to other regions. In case you’re a teacher, coach, or any other leader who’d like to make use of this new feature, you can access it by following this link.

Public Profiles for Kids

Messenger Kids is also making it easier for kids to find and connect with more friends on the platform by giving parents in the US, Canada, and Latin America the option to make their kid’s name and profile photo visible.

However, the public profile will only be visible to friends of their kid’s contacts and their parents, kids of the parent’s Facebook friends, and kids of people parents invite to download the Messenger Kids app. The feature is already live in the US, Canada, and Latin America, and will roll out to other regions in the coming weeks.

Messenger Kids – The Messaging App for Kids (Free, Google Play) →

---

Source: Facebook Newsroom

The post Facebook Messenger Kids expands to over 70 new countries appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3cPB0FJ
via IFTTT

Nubia Play 5G with 144Hz display and Snapdragon 765G launched in China

After launching the flagship Nubia Magic 5G last month, Nubia is back again with yet another gaming-oriented phone. The company officially unveiled the Nubia Play 5G in China through an online launch event. The new Nubia Play 5G aims to deliver a superior gaming experience on budget and as such, it retains many of the premium features from its big brother.

Nubia Play 5G: Specifications

Specification	Nubia Play 5G
Dimensions and Weight	171.7 x 78.5 x 9.1 mm 21og
Display	6.65″ FHD+ (2340 x 1080) Super AMOLED; Notchless display with thin top bezel 144Hz refresh rate 240Hz Touch Response Rate 4096 auto brightness adjustment levels
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G: 1x Kryo 475 (ARM Cortex-A76-based) Prime core @ 2.4GHz 1x Kryo 475 (ARM Cortex-A76-based) Performance core @ 2.2GHz 6x (ARM Cortex-A55-based) Efficiency cores @ 1.8GHz Adreno 620 GPU
RAM and Storage	6GB LPDDR4X + 128GB UFS 2.1 8GB + 128GB 8GB + 256GB
Battery & Charging	5,100 mAh battery 30W fast charging via USB PD
Rear Camera	Photo: Primary: 48MP Sony IMX582, f/1.79 Secondary: 8MP wide-angle Tertiary: 2MP Super Macro Quaternary: 2MP Depth Sensor
Front Camera	12MP selfie shooter
Other Features	3.5mm headphone jack Bluetooth 5.1 Dual-frequency GPS 5G SA/NSA Pressure Sensitive capacitive buttons on side frame In-Display Fingerprint Scanner
Android Version	Nubia UI 8.0 based on Android 10

---

The main highlight of the Nubia Play 5G is the notchless 6.65-inch AMOLED display which offers an insane 144Hz screen refresh rate, a 240Hz touch sampling rate, and supports up to 4096 levels of automatic brightness adjustment. It’s worth noting that the Nubia Play 5G is only the second phone on the market that offers a 144Hz screen refresh rate, the first being the Nubia Magic 5G. There is no notch or punch-hole display over here, as Nubia has chosen to go with a thin top bezel for the front camera and other front sensors. We agree with this choice, as it makes sense on a gaming phone where the bezels provide some holding and grip area when playing games in landscape orientation.

On the inside, the Nubia Play 5G is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G octa-core processor built on Samsung’s 7nm EUV process along with Adreno 620 GPU, LPDDR4X‌ RAM, and UFS‌ 2.1 flash storage.

In the camera department, the Nubia Play 5G packs a quad-camera setup on the back, consisting of a 48MP‌ Sony IMX‌582 primary sensor, 8MP ultra-wide lens, 2MP macro lens, and 2MP depth sensor. On the front, it has a 12MP selfie shooter.

Just like the Nubia Magic 5G, the Nubia Play 5G also features pressure-sensitive buttons to allow gamers to seamlessly execute multi-finger operations in shooting games such as PUBG and Call of Duty. Moreover, the device comes equipped with “ICE 2.5 cooling system” which employs a 61mm liquid cooling tube and heat dissipation materials such as graphite and thermal gel to quickly cool down the smartphone. Nubia claims its cooling system can bring down the CPU temperature by up to 16 degrees Celsius.

Powering all these things up is a massive 5,100 mAh battery with support for 30W fast charging via USB-PD‌ and it’s also compatible with Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 standard. On the software front, the Nubia Play 5G runs Android 10 out of the box with Nubia UI‌ 8.0 on top.

Pricing and Availability

The Nubia Play 5G comes in three memory configurations in China and its pricing details are as below:

• 6GB + 128GB: CNY 2,399 (~₹26,000 / $339)
• 8GB + 128GB: CNY‌ 2,699 (~₹29,000 / $381)
• 8GB + 256GB: CNY 2,999 (~₹32,500 / $423)

The Nubia Play 5G is available for pre-order in China right now and will go on sale officially starting April 24, 2020. Nubia hasn’t revealed any details regarding the international availability of the phone just yet but we hope to hear more on that front in the days to come.

The post Nubia Play 5G with 144Hz display and Snapdragon 765G launched in China appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3cAzZ47
via IFTTT

Hungama launches on AppGallery as Huawei and Honor’s online streaming platform of choice for India

Huawei’s app distribution platform AppGallery has now on-boarded India-based streaming service Hungama as the streaming platform of choice for Huawei and Honor smartphones in the country. For the unaware, Hungama offers both music and video streaming services in India as part of its Hungama Music and Hungama Play apps, respectively. Thanks to the partnership, Huawei and Honor smartphone users in the country will now be able to enjoy unlimited music and video streaming by downloading the respective apps from Huawei’s AppGallery.

The partnership will give users access to Hungama Music’s vast library of over 10 million songs and music videos in over 20 Indian and international languages. Additionally, on Hungama Play, users will gain access to over 5000 movies in Hindi, English and other regional languages, over 1500 short films, original shows, over 7500 hours of kids and TV content, and over 150,000 short-format videos across various genres like music, film gossip, humor, spiritual, and more.

In a statement regarding the partnership, Charles Peng, President of Honor and Huawei India Consumer Business Group, said, “We are delighted to team up with Hungama and foray into a liaison which offers a perfect amalgamation of technology, entertainment and exceptional experience to the users of Huawei & HONOR. Huawei AppGallery has been growing at an unprecedented pace with 400 million active users present over 170 countries. We have always valued native collaborations across our business operations and look forward to strengthen our developer base to create a holistic mobile ecosystem. This association is a step forward to further strengthen our efforts to build a smarter future and provide innovative app experience to our users.”

Commenting on the partnership, Siddhartha Roy, COO of Hungama Digital Media said, “Our understanding of India’s digital landscape and its consumers has allowed us to create the most engaging music and video streaming services in the country – Hungama Music and Hungama Play. In addition to offering a diverse library, we have always paid emphasis on building a robust distribution network. We are glad to partner with Huawei and offer our apps on the Huawei App Gallery to users in over 170 countries. We are certain that Huawei & HONOR device users will appreciate our apps for their wide library and intuitive interface. Huawei’s engineering and business teams were extremely helpful and we look forward to working closely with them in the future as well to build more such experiences.”

In case you own a Huawei or Honor device, you can now head over to the AppGallery on your smartphone and download Hungama Music and Hungama Play to start streaming your favorite music and movies right away. It’s also worth noting that Huawei isn’t the first company to partner with Hungama to offer music and video streaming services on its devices. Xiaomi’s Mi Music and Mi Video services, which were launched in India back in 2018, are also powered by Hungama Music and Hungama Play, respectively.

The post Hungama launches on AppGallery as Huawei and Honor’s online streaming platform of choice for India appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/34U2rLL
via IFTTT

HMD Global rolls out Android 10 update for the Nokia 2.3

Nokia’s affordable smartphone portfolio continues the legacy of receiving steady software updates as the entry-level Nokia 2.3 has now started to receive stable Android 10 OTA in various regions. The phone was launched back in December 2019 with Android Pie onboard and it was originally scheduled to get the Android 10 update during Q1 of 2020 as per HMD Global’s update schedule. The COVID-19 outbreak might be the reason behind the delay, as a bunch of other Nokia phones missed the timeline as well.

The Nokia 2.3 is eligible to get two years of OS upgrades and three years of monthly security updates by virtue of the Android One program and HMD Global’s strategy. This means that this budget phone will also receive Android 11, but in due time. Talking about the current Android 10 build, it is labeled as software version V2.230 and weighs about 1.11GB. The OTA also brings in all the new features that Google rolled out with Android 10, like the system-wide dark mode, full-screen gestures, smart replies for apps, and much more. However, HMD Global decided to ship one-month-old March 2020 security patches with this build, which is quite an unsatisfactory move.

An official announcement from HMD Global’s CPO Juho Sarvikas regarding this update is not up at the time of writing this article, but we can spot a relevant discussion thread on Nokia Community forums. Once again, the company has decided to choose an incremental rollout model to avoid spreading potentially showstopper bugs. The Android 10 OTA for the Nokia 2.3 should reach 10% of the consumers across the globe as part of the initial wave, while a 100% rollout is expected by April 26. Interestingly, the current list of approved markets doesn’t include the US, albeit the phone is sold there via Best Buy and Amazon. This could change in the near future, though.

---

Thanks to Twitter user @MohaHotlain for the screenshot!

The post HMD Global rolls out Android 10 update for the Nokia 2.3 appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2Y2QMIO
via IFTTT

Twitter is starting to show quoted retweets on Android and iOS

Keeping track of conversations on Twitter can prove to be a nightmare, especially if you’re using your phone to access the social media platform. In order to make it easier for users to keep track of replies, the company has previously experimented with a couple of different features. Back in April last year, Twitter first tested new label tags to help users keep a track of the original author in a conversation and the people mentioned in the original tweet. Then, earlier this year in March, the company started rolling out threaded replies on Android which made browsing through replies a whole lot easier. And now, according to a recent tweet from prolific reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane), the platform is starting to show quoted retweets on Android and iOS.

It turns out Twitter is actually testing the ability to view quote tweets!

via @calcsam https://t.co/lRFELR6kxm

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) April 21, 2020

For the unaware, Twitter currently lets you retweet both with and without a comment. However, regardless of what you do, the platform doesn’t have a way to let you see what comments people made alongside their retweet unless you click on the “Retweets” button and then check the profile for each person who retweeted the tweet. In order to simplify this process, Twitter is now testing a new UI that separates all retweets into two tabs — those with comments and those without comments.

It looks like this! pic.twitter.com/HaVoRMO6T5

— Divia contact trace presumed positive cases Eden (@diviacaroline) April 21, 2020

As you can see in the tweet above, the tabs list down all the retweets based on whether or not they have a comment and the retweets that do have a comment show the comment alongside the original tweet.

can confirm as well, but i’m seeing a slightly different UI pic.twitter.com/UCsE2AH9GL

— Mehedi Hassan (@mehedih_) April 21, 2020

Twitter is currently testing this feature with a handful of users on both Android and iOS, but the feature has a slightly different UI on each platform. As you can see in the tweet above, the Android version doesn’t have two separate tabs and only has a single button to show all retweets with comments. As of now, it isn’t clear which UI will be released when the feature finally rolls out to more users and we currently have no information on the release timeline. We’ll update the post as soon as the feature rolls out to a broader audience.

The post Twitter is starting to show quoted retweets on Android and iOS appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3eLdw6q
via IFTTT

Digital Wellbeing v1.0.3 renames Wind Down to Bedtime Mode and adds a new charging trigger

A new Digital Wellbeing beta, version 1.0.306697358.beta, is rolling out on the Google Play Store and it brings along some useful additions to the app including a name change and UI overhaul to the Wind Down mode, a new charging trigger and more.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

The most notable change this new beta introduces is the renaming of the Wind Down mode to the Bedtime mode — which in our opinion more aptly describes the function this mode serves. Accompanying the name change, the UI of the former Wind Down (now Bedtime mode) has been revamped while the iconography has also been updated everywhere including the Quick Setting tile and Focus Mode.

We first learned about this new UI and quick setting tile through an APK teardown of Digital Wellbeing, version 1.0.302017577.beta, that we published earlier this month. With this update, both of these changes are fully implemented and functional for users.

Besides, the update adds a new way to trigger Wind Down/Bedtime Mode: while charging at night. With this enabled, Bedtime Mode will only turn on past a certain time and when the phone is plugged in. The additional requirement will be useful for users who may want the mode to be triggered once they have reached home, and not before.

Finally, when you pause Bedtime Mode and then tap on the notification, a pretty new fullscreen activity is shown to the user. Here, the user can tap “add 30 minutes” as many times as they want to keep pushing back when Bedtime Mode starts.

Digital Wellbeing 1.0.306697358.beta is now live on the Google Play Store and you can grab the update by clicking on the link below. It’s worth noting that this update is only available in the beta channel and thus, will not show up if you haven’t joined the beta program.

Digital Wellbeing (Free, Google Play) →

---

Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.

The post Digital Wellbeing v1.0.3 renames Wind Down to Bedtime Mode and adds a new charging trigger appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3btbllT
via IFTTT