Posts From Skanda Hazarika

Skanda Hazarika
Skanda Hazarika 118 posts

DIY enthusiast (i.e. salvager of old PC parts). An avid user of Android since the Eclair days, Skanda also likes to follow the recent development trends in the world of single-board computing.

[Update: Galaxy S9, Note 9, Z Flip] Samsung Camera Controller lets you take photos from the Galaxy S20 using your Galaxy Watch

[Update: Galaxy S9, Note 9, Z Flip] Samsung Camera Controller lets you take photos from the Galaxy S20 using your Galaxy Watch

June 3, 2020
A number of major OEMs maintain their own app store besides Google Play Store for the sake of offering device-specific exclusive content, or for setting up an alternative app distribution platform without relying on the Mountain View giant. Samsung's Galaxy Apps, later rebranded as Galaxy Store, is a perfect example of this tradition. The Korean...
[Update: June 3 builds] Download the MIUI 12 Closed Beta for Xiaomi and Redmi devices

[Update: June 3 builds] Download the MIUI 12 Closed Beta for Xiaomi and Redmi devices

June 3, 2020
The latest version of Xiaomi's custom Android skin - MIUI 12 - is finally here. The company has dropped the curtain yesterday, alongside the Mi 10 Youth Edition launch event in China. Compared to MIUI 11, the stable version of which was released less than six months ago, MIUI 12 brings in a slew of...
Developers bring Android 10 and Project Treble to the HTC U11

Developers bring Android 10 and Project Treble to the HTC U11

June 3, 2020
HTC's smartphone division might not be dead after all, but the whole software update situation around existing HTC phones is a big mess. The Taiwanese phone manufacturer is having a hard time delivering the Android 10 update to its phones, with the HTC U11 Life being an exception due to its Android One branding. The...
Download: Xiaomi rolls out MIUI 12 beta stable update to the Mi 9, Redmi K20/Mi 9T, and Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro

Download: Xiaomi rolls out MIUI 12 beta stable update to the Mi 9, Redmi K20/Mi 9T, and Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro

June 3, 2020
Xiaomi unveiled MIUI 12 in their home country more than a month ago. Since then, the company has been conducting a closed beta testing of its latest custom Android skin on a number of Mi and Redmi smartphones in China, but those builds don't come with Google Play Services or any pre-installed Google apps. The...
Sony uploads the kernel source code for the Xperia 10 II and Xperia 1 II

Sony uploads the kernel source code for the Xperia 10 II and Xperia 1 II

June 2, 2020
Back in February, Sony unveiled their “Mark 2” lineup, i.e. the flagship Xperia 1 II and the mid-range Xperia 10 II smartphones via an online event. Months after the initial announcement, the phones are now available for pre-order across Europe as well as in the US. On the software side, both of these devices run...
Unofficial LineageOS 17.1 brings Android 10 to the Realme 1

Unofficial LineageOS 17.1 brings Android 10 to the Realme 1

June 1, 2020
As most of you should already know, the Realme brand has its roots in OPPO, which is itself owned by BBK Electronics. The Realme 1, the first smartphone under the Realme brand from before the company spun off from OPPO, ran ColorOS, a customized Android software designed by none other than OPPO itself. To differentiate...
Bootloader unlocking method has been found for the Sprint LG G8 ThinQ

Bootloader unlocking method has been found for the Sprint LG G8 ThinQ

June 1, 2020
The LG G8 ThinQ received its stable Android 10 update back in December of 2019. The Sprint variant of the phone (model number LM-G820UM0) quickly followed suit as it picked up the same update a month later. However, the Korean smartphone OEM hasn't whitelisted this device for official bootloader unlocking, thus users can't install third-party...
Samsung rolls out the June 2020 security update to the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy Note 10

Samsung rolls out the June 2020 security update to the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy Note 10

June 1, 2020
At the end of April, Samsung rolled out the May 2020 Android security patch update to a bunch of its phones, including its flagship Galaxy S20 lineup. That came shortly before Google published the May 2020 Android Security Bulletin (ASB) and rolled out the patches to the Pixel family of phones. In case you're wondering...
Night Vision uses the ToF camera on the Samsung Galaxy S20+, Note 10+, and S10 5G to let you see in the dark

Night Vision uses the ToF camera on the Samsung Galaxy S20+, Note 10+, and S10 5G to let you see in the dark

May 30, 2020
Hardware-backed facial recognition in the Android smartphone world often relies on Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors. Samsung, for example, utilizes the ToF module on the 5G variant of the Galaxy S10 to power their 3D face unlock mechanism. The ToF camera tracks the distance between two objects based on the constant speed of light. Developers have also...
Realme 5 and Realme 5s start getting Android 10 with Realme UI

Realme 5 and Realme 5s start getting Android 10 with Realme UI

May 29, 2020
Launched back in August 2019, the Realme 5 was one of the first phones from the Chinese brand to feature the mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chip. The affordable quad-camera phone comes with a 12MP primary camera and runs ColorOS 6 on top of Android 9 Pie. Within a few months, Realme refreshed the device with...
[Update: Accidental] OxygenOS 10.5.9 disables the OnePlus 8 Pro’s color filter camera, even on the global variant

[Update: Accidental] OxygenOS 10.5.9 disables the OnePlus 8 Pro’s color filter camera, even on the global variant

May 29, 2020
The OnePlus 8 Pro comes with a quad rear camera setup, with the 48MP Sony IMX689 taking much of the attention. But in recent days, the primary sensor falls behind the 5MP Color Filter camera in terms of media coverage in the last few days. While OnePlus advertised it for camera filters that can be...
Xiaomi Mi 8 SE/9 SE/9 Lite and Mi 8 Lite/Max 3 Android 10 kernel source code now available

Xiaomi Mi 8 SE/9 SE/9 Lite and Mi 8 Lite/Max 3 Android 10 kernel source code now available

May 28, 2020
Qualcomm debuted their 700-tier chipset series with the release of the Snapdragon 710 SoC back in 2018, and Xiaomi was the first smartphone maker to adopt it with the Mi 8 SE. Later on, Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon 712 SoC with a little performance boost over the Snapdragon 710, and Xiaomi once again was first in...