Samsung Galaxy A51 5G comes to T-Mobile and Verizon starting at $499

The Galaxy A51 was Samsung’s big mid-range hit of 2020. It features an immersive 6.5-inch OLED display with a centered hole-punch camera, quad rear cameras with a 48MP sensor, and a competitive price tag of $399 in the U.S. With the influx of more affordable 5G smartphones, Samsung is adding its own mid-range 5G smartphones to its catalog. Hence, earlier this year, the Samsung Galaxy A51 5G was announced with the same design, display, and cameras, but with added support for 5G connectivity. A few months after its initial announcement, the Galaxy A51 5G will soon become available in the U.S. starting at $499—making it Samsung’s cheapest 5G smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy A51 5G XDA Forum

The Galaxy A51 5G is an important smartphone both for Samsung and for the U.S. market as most 5G devices are expensive flagships. 5G-capable flagship smartphones cost anywhere between $800 to a jaw-dropping $1200, which is partly due to the fact that 5G connectivity is mandatory for all phones powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. The Galaxy A51 5G, on the other hand, is powered by the cheaper Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, which features an integrated 5G modem (the Snapdragon X52). It’s pretty much identical to the LTE version of the device in all other aspects.

Now, for availability. The Galaxy A51 5G will become available on Samsung.com and T-Mobile starting August 7th and soon after on Metro by T-Mobile as well. Verizon users can expect the device to become available starting August 13th. The Galaxy A51 5G UW for Verizon will support the carrier’s mmWave network.

Additional carrier availability will be announced at a later date according to Samsung’s blog post. Samsung says the phone starts at a price of $499.99 which is far from “budget” but still a pretty decent price to pay for a 5G smartphone, all things considered. In comparison, the Samsung’s other mid-range 5G smartphone, the Galaxy A71 5G, has a retail price of $599.99.

Are you planning to pick one up?

		Galaxy A51 5G
Display		6.5-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED
		Infinity-O Display (1080×2400)
Camera	Rear	Quad Camera Main: 48MP, F2.0 Ultra Wide: 12MP, F2.2 Depth: 5MP, F2.2 Macro: 5MP, F2.4
	Front	Selfie: 32MP, F2.2
Body		73.6 x 158.9 x 8.7 mm, 187g
AP		Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
Memory		6GB / 8GB RAM
		128GB Internal Storage
		MicroSD Slot (up to 1TB)
Battery		4,500mAh (typical), 15W Adaptive Fast Charging
Biometrics		On-Screen Fingerprint
Color		Prism Cube Black, Prism Cube White, Prism Cube Pink

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Samsung is reportedly making a custom chip for Google that tracks body movement

When Google announced its intent to buy Fitbit, it took a big step toward becoming a major player in the fitness-tracking market. That acquisition has raised eyebrows among European regulators, but Google fully intends to go through with the deal. Now, thanks to a report from Korean publication ETNews, we may have an idea for what Google is planning to do in the wearable space — and it involves Samsung.

Apparently, Google has commissioned Samsung to design and fabricate a chip capable of tracking body movement. Google isn’t a stranger to using its own chips; the company uses its own Pixel Visual Core imaging co-processor and the Titan M hardware security module in Pixel smartphones. In these two cases, however, Google designed the chipsets themselves rather than handing off that duty to a third-party.

ETNews doesn’t provide details about which device this Samsung-made chip will make its debut in. But based on recent comments from Google’s Rick Osterloh, in which he teased Google and Fitbit creating “compelling devices for people around the world,” this movement tracking chip will more than likely appear in a new wearable made by Google.

Google’s acquisition still has to pass scrutiny from the EU, and a determination likely won’t be made until the end of this year. If that’s the case, we probably won’t see Google’s new chip show up in a wearable until 2021 at the earliest.

Notably, this report also mentions that Samsung obtained an order from Google to manufacture “more than one chip.” The other chip in question may be Google’s rumored “Whitechapel” mobile processor.

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Featured image credits: Joe Fedewa for XDA

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The Motorola One Fusion+ comes to North America for $399

Motorola has announced that its One Fusion+ mid-range smartphone will launch in North America tomorrow on Wednesday, August 5th. The Motorola One Fusion+ will retail for $399 in the U.S.

While many people might have their eyes set on Google’s new Pixel 4a, Motorola’s mid-range device is worth consideration. Not only does it feature a large, 6.5-inch FHD+ display, but it comes equipped with a quad-camera setup comprised of a 64MP main camera, an 8MP wide-angle camera, a 5MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. Additionally, it features a 16-megapixel pop-up selfie camera. This allowed Motorola to create a display that’s not interrupted by a notch or hole-punch, giving it a true full-screen experience.

Other specs include a large 5,000mAh battery, Android 10, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor, 128GB of storage, and 6GB of RAM. It also features a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is good news for users who prefer wired headphones. The one big downside compared to the Pixel 4a is software support. Motorola has promised to deliver at least one major OS update to Android 11 as well as 2 years of security updates. That’s less than Google’s promise of 3 years of OS and security updates for the Pixel 4a.

Specification	Motorola One Fusion+
Dimensions and Weight	162.9 x 76.9 x 9.6mm Plastic body 210g
Display	6.5″ FHD+ (2340 x 1080) IPS LCD; 19.5:9 aspect ratio HDR10 support
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G: 2x Kryo 470 Gold (Cortex-A76-based) cores @ 2.2GHz 6x Kryo 470 Silver Cortex-A76-based cores @ 1.8GHz Adreno 618 (600MHz)
RAM and Storage	6GB RAM + 128GB
Battery & Charging	5,000 mAh battery 18W TurboCharger
Rear Camera	Primary: 64MP, f/1.8, 0.8μ Secondary: 8MP wide-angle, f/2.2, 1.12μ Tertiary: 5MP Super Macro, f/2.4, 1.12μ Quaternary: 2MP Depth Sensor, f/2.4, 1.75μ
Front Camera	16MP pop-up f/2.0 selfie shooter
Other Features	3.5mm headphone jack Bluetooth 5.0 Dual-frequency GPS Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac USB Type-C, USB 2.0 Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner Dedicated Google Assistant button
Android Version	Android 10 with Motorola Experience

We actually reviewed the Motorola One Fusion+ and found it to be a fantastic mid-range option. “The Motorola One Fusion+ feels like a complete bundle of everything that you essentially need to make a good mid-range smartphone,” we said in our review, adding that it’s an “easy choice” who those looking for well-rounded performance.

Motorola One Fusion+ Forums

The device will be available unlocked from Motorola’s website starting tomorrow. The device is also already available in several European countries for €299 and in India for ₹16,999.

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Via: Engadget

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T-Mobile launches the first nationwide standalone (SA) 5G network

Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are competing to deliver next-generation 5G connectivity to hundreds of millions of Americans. While Verizon is deploying its high-throughput, low-latency mmWave network in new U.S. cities every month, T-Mobile and AT&T are rapidly expanding their slower but more accessible sub-6GHz networks across the country. T-Mobile, in particular, has aggressively upgraded its 5G network after acquiring Sprint’s 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum. Now, the carrier has announced a major milestone in its 5G deployment efforts: The rollout of a nationwide standalone 5G network.

For those unfamiliar, the vast majority of 5G networks around the world are considered non-standalone (NSA) as 5G radios are broadcast using existing 4G LTE infrastructure as the backbone. While that allows carriers to more quickly provide 5G access thanks to the broad availability of existing 4G infrastructure, the downside is that download, upload, and latency won’t meeting consumer expectations of next-generation 5G connectivity.

AT&T is using a technique called Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to operate both 4G LTE and 5G NR simultaneously on the same network band, but this is only a stopgap solution to ease the carrier’s transition from a non-standalone to a standalone (SA) 5G network. T-Mobile, however, doesn’t need to use DSS (which incurs performance penalties), as it has a lot of mid-band spectrum in which it can offer 5G service.

Now, T-Mobile is leveraging its extensive cellular spectrum holdings to be the first to deploy a nationwide SA 5G network. The company is boasting up to 40% lower latency and 20-30% faster download and upload speeds while testing its new SA 5G network, according to VentureBeat citing T-Mobile VP Karri Kuoppamaki. In addition, T-Mobile says that they’ve expanded 5G coverage by 30%, allowing them to provide service to nearly 250 million Americans in over 7,500 cities across 1.3 million square miles. This expanded coverage is now possible because, under T-Mobile’s new SA 5G network, a 600MHz 5G signal can cover much more distance from a single tower. In contrast, under T-Mobile’s previous NSA 5G network, 600MHz 5G was combined with mid-band LTE to access the core network, so the 5G signal could only travel as far as the mid-band LTE signal.

VentureBeat states that T-Mobile will continue to operate its NSA 5G network as it transitions to full SA 5G coverage.

One of the other benefits of SA 5G for consumers may be improved smartphone battery life. That’s because, according to VentureBeat, smartphones connected to standalone 5G networks won’t need to simultaneously have their 4G LTE and 5G NR radios active. Many existing 5G smartphones support SA 5G, though not every device will be capable of connecting to T-Mobile’s new 5G network. Sprint and T-Mobile devices with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X55 modem will for sure be capable of connecting to the new network.

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EU to launch investigation into Google’s Fitbit acquisition

Last year, Google announced its intent to acquire Fitbit, an American technology company that focuses on wearable technology, saying the move was about “devices, not data.” Even with Google making these assurances, however, the European Commission this week revealed plans to launch an investigation into the acquisition, citing concerns over the search giant’s access to health data and its position in online advertising.

The investigation is expected to last 90 days, which means the Google-Fitbit deal can’t close until the end of this year at the earliest. Google said it hopes to build “compelling devices” once the deal is done, so the investigation will certainly put a damper on the search giant’s future plans — at least for now.

In a press release, the European Commission said data that’s collected via wrist-worn devices could provide Google with a major advantage in online advertising markets. “By increasing the data advantage of Google in the personalization of the ads it serves via its search engine and displays on other internet pages, it would be more difficult for rivals to match Google’s online advertising services,” the commission said.

Google, meanwhile, claims the acquisition is about providing customers with more choice. In a blog post on Tuesday, Google’s Rick Osterloh said that Google’s AI and Fitbit’s hardware expertise will “increase competition in the sector” and result in better wearables that are more affordable. Osterloh went on to say that Fitbit users have the choice to review, move, or delete their data, which will be siloed away from its ad tracking business. “We’ve been clear from the beginning that we will not use Fitbit health and wellness data for Google ads,” Osterloh said. “We recently offered to make a legally binding commitment to the European Commission regarding our use of Fitbit data.”

Despite Google’s commitments, the European Commission still believes Google will use data as a result of the transaction, giving the search giant an unfair advantage for advertising purposes. Google doesn’t currently make its own wearable devices but instead develops the Android-based Wear OS platform which is used in smartwatches made by the Fossil Group, Xiaomi, OPPO, Mobvoi, and other companies.

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Google Play Music is shutting down for everyone in October

For those of you who still love and use Google Play Music, I’m sure you’ve heard of this news by now…but Google is killing off the service and replacing it with YouTube Music. Since YouTube Music launched in 2018, both it and Play Music have coexisted even though Play Music was no longer in active development. Google slowly added new features to YouTube Music to convince people to migrate from Play Music, and more recently, introduced a migration tool to transfer your songs, albums, and playlists. The goal was to get people to fully migrate to YouTube Music so that Google can shut down Play Music. That day will soon arrive: Google Play Music is shutting down for everyone by December 2020.

According to the official YouTube blog post on the matter, the final stage of Play Music’s shutdown will go pretty quickly. Starting in September in New Zealand and South Africa and October for the rest of the world, you won’t be able to use Play Music anymore. This means that you won’t be able to stream from the app or, well, use the app at all. Google will, however, still hold onto your Play Music data until December so you still have time to migrate all your uploads, playlists, and purchases over to YouTube Music, or if you have any podcasts, to Google Podcasts. After December, however, the service will be killed off once and for all.

The other way you can save your content is to use Google Takeout to download all your purchased and uploaded content. Google will notify you before you lose access to what’s on your Play Music account, but be mindful that you only have a few months left before all of it is gone forever.

On the bright side, Google has already built most of Play Music’s features into YouTube Music, so after migrating, most users won’t miss much. Google Play Music is dead, long live YouTube Music. (Feel free to vent in the comment section if you need to, though.)

Google Play Music (Free, Google Play) →

YouTube Music - Stream Songs & Music Videos (Free, Google Play) →

Google Podcasts: Discover free & trending podcasts (Free, Google Play) →

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Files by Google starts rolling out a Safe Folder to hide your private files

Files by Google is a file manager app for Android that started out as a simple file cleaner and browser for Android Go Edition devices, but it has grown so popular over the years that Google essentially made it the de facto file manager app in Google Mobile Services. The app has received a handful of new features over the years, and the latest one that’s now rolling out to users is a Safe Folder to hide your private files.

Back in June, we spotted a new “Safe Folder” feature in development in the Files by Google app. The Safe Folder appears as a button in the “Collections” section of the “Browse” tab. Files added to the Safe Folder can only be accessed after entering a 4-digit PIN but can be freely moved in or out of the folder. Google encrypts the files in the Safe Folder, meaning they can’t be decrypted if you ever forget the 4-digit PIN. Furthermore, the Safe Folder isn’t saved to the cloud, so you can’t transfer its contents between devices.

The Safe Folder feature is currently rolling out for users with Files by Google version 1.0.323, according to AndroidPolice. You can download this version from APKMirror or from the Google Play Store link embedded below.

Our tipster informed us that the feature is available for them on the Android 11 Beta, but there’s no indication the feature requires a specific Android version. One issue you may come across when seeing the feature for the first time is a notice that the feature isn’t supported anymore—yes, even though it just started rolling out, Google has already prepared for its eventual deprecation. We have no idea what Google plans to do with this feature, so at the moment, I would advise against using the Safe Folder to store any critical documents.

Files by Google: Clean up space on your phone (Free, Google Play) →

Thanks for the tip, @Alpertcr7!

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