Tag Archives: Rumours

Android, iOS, Mobile, News

WhatsApp boosted with flurry of new features

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Exciting times ahead for WhatsApp users as we round up the many new features coming very soon to your device!

Improved privacy features for messaging and calls

WhatsApp made great strides in privacy for messaging apps, when they introduced view-once messaging. Now, this process will get a whole lot easier. Spotted on a WhatsApp beta build on the Play Store, simply long-tap the send button to send a view-once message. This will also apply to sharing view-once photos and videos, though at the moment, GIF formats will not be able to be shared this way as reported by WABetaInfo.

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Image source: WABetaInfo

Another boost to privacy, WABetaInfo have previewed a new feature called “Protect IP address in calls”. This feature can be toggled to mask your IP address by relaying calls through WhatsApp servers, making it harder to trace your location. While more secure, the feature comes at the cost of a small reduction in call quality. Another security feature for calls was the option to silence unknown callers. This toggle feature will stop calls from unknown callers ringing, while still showing up in your Calls tab.

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Image source: WABetaInfo

Text formatting and enhanced media sharing

We can now expect more personalization and utility in messaging thanks to the new text formatting feature coming to WhatsApp. WABetaInfo showcased formatting tools such as syntax for blocking code snippets, quoting specific text, and creating text lists. There will also be a new “Quote”, which improves upon the existing “Quote message” feature. This will allow you to now quote specific parts of messages instead of the whole message.

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Image source: WABetaInfo

WhatsApp will also be addressing another key issue; sharing HD media. As reported by 9to5Google via the Verge, there is a new “HD” button available when adding an image to a message. Selecting it brings up two options; standard quality (1600 x 1052) and HD quality (4096 x 2692). Recipients will also have the option to keep the standard quality or HD quality versions when on slow connections. No details on how compressed the images will be as of yet. WhatsApp will also give the same choice for HD video, as reported by TechCrunch. Users can now opt to send their videos either compressed to the current app standard of 480p or toggle HD video of 720p.

Native macOS app may be a reality soon

Great news for Mac users, WhatsApp will soon be available as a native macOS app. As reported by Tech Radar, the new app is already available to download for free via WhatsApp servers. However, if you prefer to use the Mac App Store, you will have to be patient as it is not available as of yet. Along with the new app, you can also expect integration with native Mac features such as “drag and drop” for easier media sharing and longer chat histories. There will also be enhanced call features, with capacity to connect 8 people on video call and 32 people on audio call. You can also join a group call after it has started, see your call history and opt to receive call notifications even when the app is closed. Alongside this features, you will also get the expected functionality of WhatsApp including end-to-end encryption and cross-platform support. Mac users will need to have a system running on macOS 11 Big Sur and powered by Apple chipsets; at least the Apple M1, to be able to use this app. If you don’t meet those requirements, don’t fret as there is always WhatsApp web.

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Image source: Meta

Screen sharing and quality of life improvements

Another big addition coming to WhatsApp will be screen sharing over video calls. Keeping up with competitors like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, WhatsApp will now allow sharing of your phone or desktop screen as reported by Android Police. You can choose to share a specific app or your whole screen over a video call. Screen sharing will be protected by end-to-end encryption. The drawbacks are audio cannot be shared in screen sharing. To further support this feature, WhatsApp will allow video calls in landscape mode, to take advantage of your screen’s real estate. The feature might be coming sooner than expected. Keep a lookout for a Share button in the bottom action bar in your next video call.

WhatsApp screen share changelog
Image source: Android Police

WhatsApp is also rolling out some quality of life enhancements to improve your app experience. This includes a revamped UI for Settings and the chat list along with a dedicated “You” page which houses your account information. There will be some minor visual enhancements, including the profile picture moved to the top right of the home screen.

WhatsApp new UI
Image source: WABetaInfo

Along with this UI update, Android Police has reported a new, sleek animation on the button when switching between audio message and video message. The icons jump up and twist when changing from a mic to a camera. This makes it easier to know which type of message is being composed, in addition to the existing floating tooltip. And finally, Android Police also reports the addition of a new page encouraging users to create their own Community. With WhatsApp being a staple for group chats, the Community feature will help organize messaging for larger groups of people. This is especially useful for neighborhood, schools and even select work groups. There is also a handy Get Started button that will help walk you through creating your first Community.

New features may already be in your hands

There are no exact dates when the new features will be available, but as it is a staged roll out, you may already have the chance to experience the enhanced WhatsApp. With the addition of these new features, WhatsApp is making great strides in keeping up with the competition. In fact, they may just end the year as the best messaging app in the market!

Health, Lifestyle, News

Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Series Rumour Round-Up

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With Samsung’s big Galaxy Unpacked event happening on August 10, we thought it’d be a good time to round up all the rumours behind the devices poised to make their global debut at the event. We’ve already covered all the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 rumours. There’s still one show stopper coming at the event – the Galaxy Watch 5 series.

Better Specs, Maybe a new Sensor

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 series was its first outing running OneUI Watch on top of Google’s Wear OS. Even with new software, the company managed to introduce new features and up the ante when it comes to their wearables. It’s going to be an interesting year for the Watch series with Samsung delving deeper into health metrics and applying them to the medical field. In fact, rumours are rife with Samsung bolstering the Watch5 series with an additional body temperature sensor for better tracking of sleep and perhaps other metrics.

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The Galaxy Watch 5 series will seemingly come with Samsung’s own Exynos W920 processor. The processor was announced last year and specifically built for wearable tech like the Galaxy Watch series. It looks like the series will be consisting of two entries – The Galaxy Watch5 and the Galaxy Watch5 Pro. If you’re wondering where’s the classic? It seems like Samsung will be doing away with the navigator design of the classic for the new Pro.

Minor Design Tweaks with 50 Hours battery

The Watch5 Pro comes with a few design changes – the most obvious being a raised circular bezel. Apparently, this will be where Samsung’s digital rotating bezel feature gets slightly more tactile. In addition, the Pro will also be made of more premium materials including Sapphire Glass and titanium.

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Aside from these differences, the Galaxy Watch5 and Watch5 Pro will have similar designs. Samsung’s new design language gives the Galaxy Watch a more sporty and edgy look. The bands are now meeting the body of the Watch and becoming a contiguous fluid structure. It looks like Samsung has also redesigned the straps opting for a design with a clasp or magnet instead of the usual pin and holes we’re used to seeing.

The regular Galaxy Watch5 seems to be continuing the tradition of having two sizes: a 44mm and a 40mm version. These versions will come with different-sized AMOLED displays. The smaller 40mm version is tipped to be coming with a 1.19-inch display while the 44-inch one is tipped for a 1.36-inch display. In addition, it looks like we can expect better battery life with the increased battery size of the Watch5 series. The smaller version is rumoured to come with a 284mAh battery while the larger 44mm version will come with a 410mAh battery. That said, both are expected to deliver about 50 hours of usage on a single charge. It is also rumoured to come with a 10W fast charger in the box.

Rumoured Pricing

According to the leaks, it looks like the Galaxy Watch5 series will be priced at a lower price point than its predecessor. The Watch5 40mm (Bluetooth Only) is rumoured to be retailing at €259 (MYR1,177.13) while the 44mm version will be priced at €286 (MYR1,299.77). The Pro on the other hand will be retailing at €430 (MYR1,954.21) for the 45mm Bluetooth-only option.

Editorial, News

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Rumour Round-Up

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With Samsung’s next Unpacked event around the corner, it’s time we looked at the rumours surrounding one of the devices we’re expecting to see – the Galaxy Z Fold 4. We rounded up the rumours surrounding the Flip 4 earlier this week, you can catch up on that here.

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Source: Twitter (@Onleaks)

Unlike the Flip 4, there aren’t too many rumours surrounding the Z Fold 4. However, the first thing that has surfaced is a possible renaming of the lineup. It looks like the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is getting a rename. Samsung will be streamlining the names and dropping the “Z”. So, moving forward, the Z Fold 4 will simply be the Galaxy Fold 4. While not official just yet, we hope it’s true. Dropping the “Z” simplifies the lineups and gives them both independent identities.
Update (8/8/2022): A new leak shows that Samsung is likely keeping the Galaxy Z moniker.

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock – A Story of Incremental Improvements

Samsung seems to be opting for a new tick-tock strategy when it comes to its smartphones. This year, we saw the Galaxy S and Galaxy A series retain nearly identical designs to their predecessors. That seems to be the case with the Galaxy Fold 4. Leaked renders from @evleaks and @Onleaks show the familiar design we saw with the Fold 3.

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Source: Twitter (@UniverseIce)

That said, there are minor changes in the sizes of the smartphone that have been rumoured. Of note, it looks like the Galaxy Fold4 will be sporting a different aspect ratio compared to the Fold 3. Up front, on the cover display, the Fold 4 is rumoured to get a slightly wider and shorter panel with a 23:9 aspect ratio. Inside, the main display will be sporting a 6:5 aspect ratio. That said, it looks like the sizes of displays aren’t changing. The Fold 4 will continue to sport a 6.2-inch HD+ AMOLED display on the cover and a 7.6-inch main QXGA+ AMOLED display. Both are rumoured to retain the 120Hz refresh rate. It will come in a tad smaller with its dimensions at 155 x 130 x 7.1mm.

Powerpacked Internals

The Galaxy Fold4 is also tipped to continue being a full-on flagship. It will be coming with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. It looks like this is being complemented with 12GB RAM and up to 512GB of internal. Doesn’t look like the Fold 4 will support memory expansion via a microSD card. There are rumours that the phone may also have an option with 1TB of internal storage. However, there has been no corroboration so far – so we’d take this particular rumour with a grain of salt.

Source: Twitter (@evleaks)

The phone is also tipped to be incorporating a slot for the S-Pen. However, the renders that have surfaced show otherwise. That said, Samsung upped production of S Pens back in April 2022 which could point to it being included in the box with a Fold 4.

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It looks like Samsung may be upping the ante when it comes to the fingerprint scanner on the foldable. If the rumours check out, the Fold 4 will be coming with an under-display fingerprint sensor. But this won’t be a normal one, instead, it’s rumoured that the fingerprint sensor will be two-sided. That is to say that one side will be under the cover display and the other under the same place on the main display. However, from the leaked renders, Samsung may have decided against this.

Better Cameras, Same Battery

Together with the updated specifications of the Z Fold 4, it looks like Samsung is finally giving the foldable good cameras. It’s expected that the camera setup for the Z Fold 4 will continue to be a triple camera array. However, it’s getting a bump in the main sensor with a 50-megapixel main sensor. This will continue to be complemented byh a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor and a 12-megapixel telephoto sensor. The latter is getting a bump from 2x to 3x this year. The underdisplay shooter is expected to make a return on the inner screen. It’s rumoured that this will be a 16-megapixel sensor. The cover display, on the other hand, is getting a 10-megapixel one.

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Together with better cameras, the Z Fold 4 is also getting better protection with the rumoured inclusion of Gorilla Glass Victus+. However, when it comes to battery, it seems like we may bee gettingthe same 4,400mAh battery we saw last year. It also looks like the Fold 4 will be giving Samsung’s 45W charging a pass and sticking to the standard 25W charging.

Pricing & Availability

We’re expecting the prices of foldables to get more affordable this year. This could very well be spearheaded by the price point of the Z Fold 4 if rumours are true. Last year, the Fold 3 came in at USD$1,799 a USD$200 price drop from the previous year. This trend may just continue this year especially with rumours pointing to a price drop on b othe the Fold and the Flip.

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Samsung has already been offering a an MYR200 voucher if you tune in to their website if you pre-register for a pre-order. The money can be used to redeem a discount on your purchase of their foldable smartphone. Since, this is the case, we expect that pre-orders will begin in select regions immediately after the Unpacked announcement. Given previous announcements and pre-orders, we’re comfortable assuming that Malaysia will be among the first regions to have pre-orders available. We’re expecting availability on the last week of August 2022.

Android, Mobile, News

Samsung Galaxy Flip 4 Rumour Round-Up

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The Samsung Galaxy Flip 3 was arguably the tipping point for consumers when it came to foldables. It was more accessible and also provided features and experiences that made sense to consumers. This year, with the Samsung Galaxy Flip 4, we’re expecting Samsung to bring a more tailored experience while maintaining the familiar form factor of the Flip series.

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    Source: 91mobiles.com
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With the increasing popularity, it comes as no surprise that Samsung is looking to make their foldables more mainstream and give each model its own identity. To that end, it looks like the Galaxy Z moniker will be laid to rest. The newest generation of foldables is seemingly being rebranded as the Samsung Galaxy Flip 4 and the Galaxy Fold 4 with no “Z”s in sight.

Same, Same But Different

It looks like the Galaxy Flip 4 will be retaining the design of the Flip 3 with minor tweaks. This isn’t new when it comes to Samsung. They’ve already done this with the S22 and even their new Galaxy A series. It seems to be their MO at the moment releasing a smartphone with a new design every few years and tweaking it for the following. This tick-tock strategy may help in the long term as more people become more familiar not only with the brand but also each line’s design cues.

The Galaxy Flip 4 will be retaining the dual coloured design of the Flip 3. However, there will be minor differences that adapt to the updated tech in the smartphone. The most obvious is apparently the redesigned, slimmer hinge. While it doesn’t look like Samsung is making major changes to the hinge, according to Ice Universe on Twitter, the hinge is now significantly narrower than the Flip 3.

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Source: Evan Blass (@evleaks) via 91mobiles.com

Rumours also point to the Galaxy Flip 4 being launched with four colour options: Bora purple, Light Blue, Gray and Gold. The colours are a welcomed update to the colours of the Flip 3 but there are also inklings that there will be a Bespoke edition which will allow for more than 70 colour combinations.

Better Tech. A True Flagship.

While the Galaxy Z Flip and Z Flip 3 were flagships in their own right, their insides left a lot of enthusiasts wanting. The Z Flip, in particular, came with a dated processor and specifications that left us scratching our heads. That seems to be changing with the Flip 4. The Galaxy Flip 4 is rumoured to be coming equipped with the latest and greatest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. That’s a major upgrade which puts it on par with other flagships that have just been released in the past few months.

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    Source: 91mobiles.com
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That said, the Flip 4 seems to be a little more conservative when it comes to RAM and storage. Rumours indicate that the foldable will be coming with a max of 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It looks like there will be no support for microSD cards. The lack of microSD card support seems to be an industry standard with smartphones anyways. While there are some rumours that point to a larger 512GB version being available, nothing has been corroborated yet.

The Flip 4 is also rumoured to get a bump in battery capacity as well. While there isn’t anything solid at the moment, it looks like the battery capacity will be rated at about 3,400mAh. However, there are rumours that it may be a larger 3,700mAh. Samsung also looks to be using the same approach to battery technology as the previous Flip smartphones with the battery comprising of two units.

More Cover Display, Same Cameras?

The cover display is also getting a small upgrade. It will be a tad larger at 2.1-inches compared to the 1.5-inches previously. However, the cover display has always depended on its software not its size when it comes to functionality.

On the camera end of things, it looks like Samsung is keeping to the status quo with the dual camera setup we’ve become accustomed to on the Flip. It seems like they will also remain at 12-megapixels with a wide and ultra wide sensor. On the front, we may see the same 10-megapixel sensor or maybe a bump to a larger 32-megapixels as we’ve seen in other Samsung flagships. It also looks like the fingerprint sensor will continue to be integrated into the power button with the Flip 4.

More Affordable? More Premium?

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Source: 91mobiles.com

The Galaxy Flip has historically become more affordable with each iteration. The Galaxy Z Flip and Z Flip 5G came at such a premium that it wasn’t the most appealing foldable. However, Samsung changed that with the Z Flip 3. With the Galaxy Flip 4, rumours point to the price getting even more affordable with prices starting at about GBP£900 (MYR4,885.79). That said, more recent rumours indicate a price increase in Europe. We’ll have to wait and see.

Availability

The latest editions of these smartphones are expected to be unveiled later this month on 10 August 2022 during Samsung’s Fall Unpacked press conference. If history is any indication, we can expect pre-orders to follow immediately after the announcement. In fact, Samsung is giving customers an MYR200 voucher to put towards their purchase of the Flip 4 or Fold 4 if you register your interest for the device at Samsung.com.

We’re expecting that the Samsung Galaxy Flip 4 will be commercially available towards the end of August; probably around the 25th of August. This is based on previous announcements of the Galaxy S22 and Fold3.