LG Officially Announces the G Pad III 10.1 Tablet

While most sales figures seem to indicate the tablet market is dying, some OEMs like Samsung and LG are still producing new ones year after year. Images of this new LG tablet were actually leaked by Evan Blass yesterday, but since then he has deleted the tweet. We weren't given any additional details about the device though, so all we had to go on was an image of both the front and the back of the tablet.

Early this morning the South Korean technology manufacturer officially announced the LG G Pad III 10.1 tablet. Many people were hoping the flap on the back of the device was a way to swap out the battery, but it turns out this is a kickstand for the tablet (that allows an adjustment of up to 70 degrees). The device itself is a tablet with a 10.1″ 1080p display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Inside we have an unnamed octa-core SoC with the CPUs clocked at 1.5GHz.

It will have 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot built in. There is a 5MP camera on the front and back of the device. The tablet's dimensions are said to be 256.2 x 167.9 x 6.7 to 7.9mm, and the device will weigh in at 510 grams. We're told it has a 6,000mAh capacity battery and will have Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow installed on it right out of the box.

LG has launched the device in South Korea as of today, but we'll likely see it released in other markets in the future. It comes with a price tag of KRW 429,000 (which is about $360 right now). If you're liking the specs of this tablet, but wish it came with a stylus, then you'll want to wait. LG says they'll be releasing another variant of this tablet that comes with a stylus in early 2017.

Source: GSM Arena

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A GM at Lenovo Says They’ll Release a New Tango Phone in 2017

Google has been publicly working on Tango for close to three years now, and they've made a lot of progress along the way. Tango uses special sensors to map out the physical world so that it can be placed in a virtual one (on a tablet or a smartphone).

So far, this technology has been used to make some unique AR games, a few utility apps, and some businesses are using it to help you visualize their products right in your very own home.

At the start of this year, Lenovo made headlines when they announced the company was going to be releasing the first consumer smartphone with Google's Tango built into it. Until then, we had only seen this technology used in devices that were built for developers to tinker with. Ahead of Lenovo's Tech World conference, the company announced the device would be launched in June of this year, but it was ultimately delayed until the Fall.

Then, at the start of November, Lenovo officially launched the Phab 2 Pro at a tempting price point of $500. Lenovo says about 4,000 developers purchased the device when it was launched, and this was followed by another 2,000 at a second hackathon. Reviews so far have been a hit or miss with most people saying the Tango platform is intriguing, but clearly in its early stages of development.

Recently, Jeff Meredith, general manager and vice president of Lenovo's Android and Chrome Computing Business Group, confirmed that Lenovo would be releasing a follow-up Tango smartphone sometime in 2017. While Meredith didn't go into details about the new phone, he did say that Lenovo expects to see similar products from their competitors. Saying that we will see multiple new Tango devices throughout 2017 that are not produced by Lenovo.

What do you think of the Tango platform so far? Is this something you want in your next smartphone, or do you feel it is a gimmick right now?

Source: Tom's Guide

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LG Says an LG V20 Bootloop was Caused by a Cheap USB Type-C Cable

Over the last few years, LG has had a serious issue with their smartphones going into a bootloop at seemingly random times. This didn't seem to be a huge issue with the Nexus 4, LG G2, or the Nexus 5, which are all manufactured by LG.

However, since the LG G3, there seems to be some underlying issue that is causing a bootloop on their smartphones. We've seen many reports about the LG G3, LG G4, LG G5 and the LG V10 all having some sort of bootloop issue.

It seemed like the reports of bootlooping devices increased with the release of the LG G4 and it was around this time when LG released an official statement about it. LG was quoted as saying that the LG G4 bootloop issue was caused by "a loose contact between components." Many have agreed with LG as they noticed the issue can be caused (as well as fixed in some cases) by heating up the device for an extended period of time.

We've also seen a number of issues surface around the new USB Type-C standard. Some OEMs have implemented USB Type-C into their phone in a way that has caused an issue with spec compliant USB Type-C cables. This has become such an issue that a new authentication spec was announced for new and upcoming USB Type-C cables. This was created so the customer knows whether or not a cable has been manufactured properly.

While we haven't seen many reports of the LG V20 bootlooping, there have been a few. An LG Service Center was able to take a look at one of these last week and they believe they know what caused the issue. The LG representative says the bootloop was caused by a cheap USB Type-C charging cable. However, a well known USB Type-C tester, Nathan K, says it is unlikely an issue caused by a USB Type-C cable "unless exceptional situations arose."

Source: iT Chosun (Korean)

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Unofficial AOSP 7.1.1 Nougat Lands on the MT6753-based Ulefone Metal

After bringing the latest Android to a bunch of MediaTek devices, Team M.A.D. has extended the Android 7.1.1 goodies to another phone: the Ulefone Metal. Head on over to the thread to find out more!

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ElementalX Kernel Available for the OnePlus 3T!

XDA Recognized Developer flar2 has brought his ElementalX kernel project to the OnePlus 3T. The ROM is centered around stability and includes many features like sweep2wake, sound control and advanced color control.

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The Story Behind the UMi Z

This has been a breakout year for Chinese upstart UMi. In 2016 they've put their efforts into developing global markets and creating products for people around the world. Starting with UMi Touch, the first user-defined smartphone from the company, they been responding actively to the feedback from their customers. Their top products this year have been the Umi Super, Max, Plus and Plus E, many of which we've written about on XDA.

2016 UMi Z in silver

UMi's latest high-end smartphone is the Z, and the company has gone to great lengths to make the phone as impressive and premium as possible, all while not going into flagship-price territory. That's one of the things we like most about UMi–their devices offer really great features and specs at low prices.

When it comes to the specs, the Z packs the Helio X27 Deca-Core CPU clocked at 2.6GHz, the top tier of the X20 family. This SoC is available exclusively for LeEco (Chinese market) and UMi (Global market) at launch.

The processor uses the Tri-Cluster CPU architecture which allows the CPU to activate the most powerful cores only when necessary, while using the more energy-saving ones for simpler tasks. This is a good solution for having power when needed and reduced energy consumption when we use the phone lightly.

The battery is a 3780mAh unit and is made by Sony. Why not go for 4000mAh, which has been the battery capacity of most recent UMi phones like the Super and the Plus/E? According to the company, this slightly smaller unit allows a better optimized internal space and dimensions, and reduced body weight. Moreover, since the X27 has the tri-cluster technology for optimizing power consumption, overall battery duration is better than many 4000mAh phones in the market. And with PE+ fast-charging, it doesn't take long to power up the phone.

For the Z, UMi had more room for internal components which allows for better thermal management. A lot of processes and state-of-art machines were used to craft the premium body.

For cameras, UMi equipped the same 13mpx Camera with Samsung S5K3L8 sensor both on the front and the back of the phone. You can always take high quality selfies thanks to the great sensor, even in low light. The rear camera has PDAF and Laser stabilization so you won't have to worry about blurry pictures. Focus is immediate and noise is reduced also thanks to the latest Mediatek ISP technologies. With four LEDs used in the flash lamp, the scene will always be bright with natural colors, allowing nice photos taken in various light condition.

The UMi Z includes the premium NXP TFA9890 speaker driver IC, which enables 9.5V boost voltage from an integrated DC/DC converter. Increasing the voltage headroom in the audio driver IC prevents amplifier clipping and keeps sound quality high at maximum volume.

The 5.5″ FHD display manufactured by Sharp is a high color-saturation 95% NTSC gamut unit with 17% better overall color saturation for a richer viewing experience. The display is protected by Dragontrail glass.

This phone is shipped with android Marshmallow but is expected to receive a Nougat update within the coming month.

Pre-sale will start on the 26th of December. The listing price is $279.99. You can visit UMi's website and participate to the "subscribe surprise" event, where you will obtain a special prize if you purchase UMi Z after participating.

Thank to UMi for sponsoring this post.

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Theme Your Phone With Substratum

Substratum is one of the hottest theme engines out right now. This video is a bit of an introduction to this theme engine and an explanation of what it can do. Follow our expanding playlist of videos focused on homescreen design here.

 

Follow the official thread on the XDA forums.

Download Substratum on the Play store here:

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