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Substratum Theme Manager Gets a UI Revamp & Performance Improvements Substratum , a mainstay in Android system theming since the Marshmallow days, received a major design revamp this week along with some security improvements and a new default theme compiler to improve performance. The new design, first teased last month , has been long-anticipated and has finally arrived. The improvements to the user interface (UI) are designed to make the app more user-friendly, and include the ability to show your installed themes in a multi-column grid to save some scrolling and the ability to return to the theme list by simply swiping down on whichever theme you currently have open. Below is a screenshot gallery of the new UI in action. Here you can find basic information about the Substratum app among other things. Tapping on the “substratum version” (currently at version 930) will send you to Github where you can see all the latest changes. You can also set the number of columns...

Qeexo and STMicroelectronics partner to bring Smarter Touch Gestures to Smartphones Since the arrival of touchscreen smartphones, smartphone vendors have been experimenting with touch gestures to replace physical buttons. webOS, Ubuntu Touch, and MeeGo have all used touch gestures in the past, and last year, Apple adopted touch gestures in iOS to replace the home button on the iPhone X. In the Android world, we are starting to see the adoption of touch gestures on a larger scale, with companies like Huawei  and  Xiaomi  all aboard the bandwagon. It’s important to know that smartphone OEMs can only integrate touch gestures if they are sourced from the right suppliers. Most people probably haven’t heard of Qeexo, but the company’s FingerSense platform powers the Knuckle Gestures which are seen on Huawei/Honor phones. Qeexo is a developer of machine learning and AI solutions for sensor data, and today, the company announced a collaboration with STMicroelectronics (a semi...

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ Oreo Beta Might End on January 15 The Android Oreo and Samsung Experience 9.0 beta for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, which kicked off in November 2017 , might finally be drawing to a close. On the Galaxy S8 subreddit Thursday, redditor  shivamchinu  posted a screenshot of an updated onboarding message in the Samsung Experience app’s  Notices  section. It contains new language that points to January 15, 2018 as the program’s end date. Source: Reddit We’ve yet to see a corroborating source, though. And even if the notice is  accurate, it isn’t clear whether it’s referring to the end of the beta program altogether, or the rollout date for new beta software (one of the newest releases,  beta 4 , hit devices on December 14). In any case, the beta’s progressing at a steady clip. Beta 4 of the Galaxy S8 and S8+’s Oreo update included a fix for flakey Bluetooth connections, excessive battery consumption, non-responsive ir...

Leak Reveals Specs of the Sony Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra, and L2 Sony has a number of mid-range smartphones at different price points, and folks who prefer the company’s affordable offerings are likely familiar with the Sony Xperia XA series, which launched in June 2016, and the Sony Xperia XA1, which hit stores shelves in in April 2017. On Thursday, a new leak revealed details about their successors: The Sony Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra, and L2. Source: VentureBeat This leak mainly focuses on the details of the XA2 and XA2 Ultra, since the source, Evan Blass, says that less is known about the upcoming Sony Xperia L2. First up is the Sony Xperia XA1, the flagship entry in the series. We’re looking at a device that will be made available in at least four different colors, and that features a 5.2-inch 1080p display. That’s an upgrade from the Sony Xperia XA1’s 5-inch 720p display. The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra, on the other hand, will reportedly retain its predecessor’s ...

HMD Global’s Nokia 6 2018 Leaks Ahead of Launch When HMD Global began selling Android smartphones with Nokia branding, it started with safe bets, and the strategy paid off — the 2017 Nokia 6 received a lot of attention for high-end specs and affordable price tag. And this year, it seems that HMD Global’s iterating on the work it started. On Thursday, a Chinese retailer prematurely leaked the 2018 version of the Nokia 6. Source: NokiaMob We’ve been hearing about a 2018 variant of the Nokia 6 for a couple of months now, and the product listing fills in the remaining gaps. The Nokia 6 2018 weighs in at 172 grams, and comes equipped with an aluminum unibody, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a 5.5-inch 1080p display. Under the hood, it packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 system-on-chip paired with 4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of storage (plus a microSD card slot), depending on the model. The Nokia 6 2018’s other highlights include a 16MP camera sensor on the ba...

Some Razer Phone Owners Experiencing Issues with the Camera App and Screen Dimming The Razer Phone isn’t bad for a first attempt. It’s Razer’s first phone, and its innovative 120Hz display won it early praise from reviewers. But some users are reporting a few glaring bugs with the camera, screen, and fingerprint sensor. Hopefully, Razer’s looking to fix all that. One bug automatically applies filters to photos even when the filters are disabled. Users report filters being applied without choosing them, leading to unintended results. Factory resetting the phone doesn’t seem to fix the issue, and it’s unclear if it affects all camera applications or just Razer’s first-party camera app. Source: Razer Forums A reply from a Razer staff on the official Razer Phone forums states that bug reports will be passed on to engineers, though that doesn’t mean they’ve confirmed the issue is present. Another bug allegedly has to do with the Razer P...

Honor View 10 Launched in India for Rs. 29,999 ($473), will be Available from January 8 Honor, a Huawei subbrand, has come a long way. It recently signaled its intention to become India’s largest smartphone manufacturer , and its affordable smartphones have done well in the country. ( 20,000 units of the Honor 7X sold within an hour over the course of three December flash sales .) The Honor 8 Pro, which launched in July 2017, was also well-received. Since then, though, the market has changed. 18:9 (2:1) displays are becoming increasingly commonplace in the affordable flagship market, exemplified by Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 and the OnePlus 5T . Honor was expected to follow suit by releasing its own phones with 18:9 displays, and the company delivered:  The Honor V10 was unveiled in China in November , and its international variant, the Honor View 10 , launched in December 5 ahead of a January 8 ship date. (The company also released the affordable Honor 7X at the same event.) Now, the H...