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Analysis: How even Huawei's use of AOSP may be in jeopardy with the US-China trade war
The common understanding is that since AOSP is open source, Huawei cannot be blocked from using it. I am here to tell you that, unfortunately, is not true.
With the recent trade restrictions that were placed on Huawei, its partners such as Google, Qualcomm, Intel, and others were forced to end all future agreements with Huawei, including revoking Huawei’s Android license. The common understanding is that since AOSP is open source, Huawei cannot be blocked from using it and this will just result in fragmentation with two different versions of Android across Europe and Asia. One with Google’s Android licensing and Play Store and one with alternate branding and a separate app store, much like what happened with Bada/Tizen and the Samsung Wave and Z devices. I am here to tell you that, unfortunately, is not true. Huawei can potentially be blocked from using AOSP, Tizen, KaiOS, PureOS, and Sailfish OS as well.
Flutter 1.5 Bridges the Gap, Adding Support for Web, Embedded, and Desktop
Flutter 1.5 takes a massive step forward, creating a single native platform for the entire development process from development through to publishing!
It was just a year ago that Google first announced the Flutter Beta at MWC. Since then, Flutter has grown by leaps and bounds to quickly become arguably the best framework for multi-platform coding across iOS and Android. This year at Google I/O 2019 they are taking it beyond mobile with the launch of Flutter 1.5. It is now possible to develop one application for everything from your Raspberry Pi, to your Google Pixel 3a, to your Pixelbook, all the way up to your custom built PC.
Android Jetpack Rockets Forward With Cameras and Biometrics
Android's next step forward in ease of development is here with a massive update to the Kotlin-first Android Jetpack Support Libraries!
The speed and ease of development have been core focuses of the Android platform practically since day one. Right from the beginning, Google set out to lay the foundation for how to support the greatest number of devices in the easiest possible manner on already available phone hardware. Last year at Google I/O 2018, Google laid the foundation for the next generation of Android support libraries with Android Jetpack. At Google I/O 2019, Google is taking their support libraries to the next level with a series of new releases from an easier to use Camera library with CameraX to a simple way to integrate Biometric Authentication of the user's choice with Biometrics Prompt.
Qualcomm Spectra 380 Launched: World's First ISP With Integrated AI
The Qualcomm Spectra 380 takes a massive leap forward in computational photography and camera AI. Read all about the massive improvements coming this year!
Yesterday in Hawaii at the Snapdragon Technology Summit, the long-anticipated Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 was launched. While the new chip brings various substantial changes (from significantly more accurate GPS to the first new 2.4 GHz WiFi version in a decade, to 5G cellular connectivity), the discussion keeps coming back to imaging and the massive improvements that the Qualcomm Spectra 380 brings.
Qualcomm's Second-Gen Spectra ISP Brings Massive Improvements to Smartphone Photography
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 features a powerful imaging processor, the second-gen Spectra ISP, that substantially improves on its predecessor.
At the Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii on Wednesday, Qualcomm finally took the wraps off its newest Snapdragon Mobile Platform: The Snapdragon 845. A crucial component of the new system-on-chip is the Spectra 280 Image Signal Processor (ISP), the co-processor that accelerates on-device processing. It's been redesigned from the ground up in the Snapdragon 845, and there's a lot that's new.
It has been 24 years since MP3 originally released, and despite many efforts by various groups over the years to replace it (with attempts such as Vorbis, AAC, WMA, and others), no one has succeeded yet, but that may be changing. Unlike with video codecs, people are no longer directly searching for a royalty free audio codec to replace the most popular codec (MP3), as earlier this year MP3 itself officially became royalty free with the expiration of its remaining patents. That doesn’t mean that we have reached the end of audio codec development though. We still can benefit from further codec improvements, especially in low latency and low bandwidth situations, and that is where Opus comes in.
HTC 10 and HTC One A9 Android 7.0 Nougat Kernel Source Code Released
The Android 7.0 Nougat kernel source code for the HTC 10 and HTC One A9 have finally been released, paving the way for AOSP-based custom ROMs.
HTC just announced that they have published the Android 7.0 kernel source code for the HTC 10 and the HTC One A9. These newly published sets of kernel source code will go a long way towards helping with the development of Android 7.0, AOSP-based custom ROMs for these devices.
Xiaomi Mi Note 2 XDA Review: A Capable Flagship and a Solid First Step Onto the World Stage
Check out XDA's extremely in-depth Xiaomi Mi Note 2 review and learn how it compares to similarly priced phones. Did Xiaomi make the right move?
Xiaomi’s worldwide launch has been heralded for years, and with the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 it looks like the final pieces are falling into place. As Xiaomi’s first flagship phone to offer a model with worldwide frequency band support, the Mi Note 2 offers an exciting look into what we can expect from Xiaomi as they continue to expand internationally.
Opus 1.2 Codec Arrives on Your Phone: High Quality Audio at 32 kbps
The Xiph.Org Foundation has launched the Opus 1.2 audio codec, which brings substantial improvements for realtime audio. Learn all about how it changed!
The Xiph.Org Foundation just announced their latest improvement to the Opus audio codec with the release of their libopus 1.2 encoder. With this latest improvement, Xiph.Org has managed to make Opus usable for fullband stereo audio at just 32 kb/s, which will pair well with the upcoming royalty-free AV1 video format in the WebM container to bring higher quality audio and video on slower connections.
Benchmark Cheating Strikes Back: How OnePlus and Others Got Caught Red-Handed, and What They've Done About it
OnePlus and Meizu have been caught cheating on benchmarks. XDA investigates how it happened, and what can be done to prevent it from happening again.
A few years ago there was a considerable uproar, when numerous major manufacturers were caught cheating on benchmarks. OEMs of all sizes (including Samsung, HTC, Sony, and LG) took part in this arms race of attempting to fool users without getting caught, but thankfully they eventually stopped their benchmark cheating after some frank discussions with industry experts and journalists.
Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge Exynos Android 7.0 Nougat Kernel Source Code Released
With Nougat 7.0 coming out of beta for the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, Samsung has publicly released the kernel source code. Download it here.
Last night Samsung publicly released the kernel source code of their Nougat update for the Exynos based Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge devices, on par with their Android 7.0 rollout.
Ulefone Metal XDA Review: An Often-Hilarious Trainwreck of a Phone, But a Step Forward For Ulefone's Developer Relations
Check out XDA's extremely in-depth Ulefone Metal review and learn how it compares to similarly priced phones. Did Ulefone make the right move?
The Ulefone Metal is an entry level smartphone with a premium finish, that just can't quite stick the landing. It comes incredibly close to being a phone with good price-performance (especially thanks to Ulefone releasing the kernel sources and trying to support developers), but some issues with polish and a couple “What were they thinking?”-style design decisions create a questionable user experience (for now).
Google’s SafetyNet has been a huge thorn in the side of anyone who wants to use Android Pay while having full control over their phones. Until recently, it has mostly been about disabling Android Pay on devices with Root, but a couple days ago, Google took it one step further -- they are triggering SafetyNet even on devices with unlocked bootloaders.
We reached out to Qualcomm to get a better look at the Snapdragon 821 processor that is making an appearance in the upcoming Google Pixel and Pixel XL, the Asus ZenFone 3 Deluxe, the Xiaomi Mi 5s, and the LeEco Le Pro 3. With the Snapdragon 821 in the Pixel phones running at the same clock speed as the regular Snapdragon 820, many people were asking what benefits the new SoC brings, and why choose it if they’re not going to use the higher clock speeds it can bring.
Sony IMX378: Comprehensive Breakdown of the Google Pixel's Sensor and its Features
We reached out to Sony to try to learn a bit more about the IMX378 sensor that is used by the upcoming Google Pixel and Pixel XL phones. Learn all about it!
We reached out to Sony to try to learn a bit more about the IMX378 sensor that is used by the upcoming Google Pixel and Pixel XL phones, as well as by the Xiaomi Mi 5S. Unfortunately, Sony was not able to distribute the datasheet for the Exmor RS IMX378 sensor just yet, but they were extremely helpful, and were able to provide us with some previously unreleased information about the IMX378.
Facebook just announced Facebook Messenger Lite, a new low-resource version of Facebook Messenger (much to the disdain of the developers of Lite Messenger for Facebook), joining Facebook Lite in their portfolio.
A Look Back at AMD’s History and Future in the Mobile Market
In this article, we take a look at AMD's history and how it could be the right time for them to re-enter the mobile market!
Ten years ago, AMD bought Canadian GPU manufacturer ATI Technologies, in an attempt to expand their portfolio, and to work towards integrated systems like we are seeing with their Fusion APUs (not to be confused with the other just announced Fusion chip), and with mobile SoCs today. Shortly after the acquisition, they sold off some of their non-core business units in order to focus on CPUs and GPUs for desktops and laptops.
Geekbench 4: How The Processor Ranking Changed Under the New, More Accurate Benchmark
GeekBench 4 has changed its algorithms to deliver more accurate, representative results. Find out how the chipset ranking has changed under the benchmark!
Geekbench 4 has been released, and we’ve seen a bit of a rebalancing of scores. Some chips have seen their scores rise, while others have fallen drastically. With Geekbench 4, Primate Labs have attempted to create the most accurate version of Geekbench yet, and they seem to have done a fantastic job.