Mobile

The Citizen Lab analyzed Chinese keyboard apps from Baidu, Honor, Huawei, iFlytek, Oppo, Samsung, Tencent, Vivo, and Xiaomi. It found that each of these apps — except for Huawei’s — has an exploit that can “reveal the contents of users’ keystrokes in transit.” The research group estimates these vulnerabilities impact up to 1 billion people.

Android expert Mishaal Rahman spotted an “even dimmer” option in Android 15 that allows the display “to go dimmer than normal.” There’s already an “extra dim” option you can manually toggle on, but Rahman suspects this new setting will automatically kick in when you’re in a dark area.

The Pixel 8a leaks continue. This time, Google’s upcoming entry-level smartphone appears in a short hands-on video by an apparent smartphone dealer in Casablanca — who three days ago posted that they’re getting the goods.

God, that mint is good.

And Huawei just released its premium Pura 70 series a few days ago as followup to its wildly successful and sanction-skirting Mate 60.

That’s what US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said on 60 Minutes about the in-house 5G chip powering Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro:

What it tells me is the export controls are working because that chip is not nearly as good... We have the most sophisticated semiconductors in the world. China doesn’t.

Until the end of April, Woot is selling Google’s latest mid-range smartphone unlocked for $339 ($160 off) in sea and coral.

The Pixel 8A could arrive next month, but the 2023 model is still great if you need an immediate upgrade. Its strengths include flagship-worthy performance, multi-day battery life, and a very good dual-camera system.

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Rumors suggest that Google’s midrange Pixel is getting a price bump this year. Samsung, on the other hand, is only bringing its lower priced Galaxy A35 midrange phone to the US this year — not the A55.

The A35 goes on sale in the states today with a hardy IP67 rating, stabilized main camera, and a 120Hz OLED for $399 — sounds like it could be a decent deal.

The Pura 70 lineup has four variants: the 70, 70 Plus, 70 Pro, and the 70 Ultra. Hundreds of fans lined at Huawei stores across China as stock of the top-end models sold out, according to Reuters.

A resurgent Huawei has reportedly been developing its own advanced chips in spite of US sanctions, but we won’t know what secrets the Pura 70 hides until the first teardown.

Katie Notopoulos’ take on the Humane AI pin’s screen-free proposition is a delightful read that’s slightly tongue-in-cheek (she’s the former Editor in Chief of Threads, after all) and completely relatable. I, for one, am thrilled that she’s on team Screens are Good.

Alongside its new wireless interview mic, Rode has announced a $130 smartphone cage that attaches magnetically to an iPhone, and presumably other Qi2 smartphones once they arrive. It has 33 mounting threads for lights, mics, and other accessories videographers like.

There’s also a $90 modular mount that includes a long handle and two hot shoe arms. Both ship April 24th.

That doesn’t mean users can download just any app from the web, as Apple has created a strict set of guidelines developers must meet to take advantage of the update. Apple also started letting users in the EU use alternative app stores last month.

According to IDC, iPhone sales fell by nearly 10 percent globally compared to the same Q1 last year as Chinese companies like Huawei, Xiaomi, and budget maker Transsion surged.

While Samsung won the quarter (after Apple took the lead for all of 2023), it’s still down slightly YoY and not keeping up with the 7.8 percent increase in smartphone demand.

Motorola is teasing what seems to be an “arty” new Edge phone coming next week, and it looks like we can expect fast wired charging on what the company has dubbed a “masterpiece.” That’s a bold claim, but the last Moto phone I used sure was a good-looking device — personally I’m hoping for more of that lovely vegan leather and less ugly bloatware.

Samsung is adding three new languages to Galaxy AI this spring: Arabic, Indonesian, and Russian. That’s a total of 16 languages supported across AI features like live translation and interpreter.

Samsung’s adding a few new dialects too: Cantonese, Canadian French, and Australian English. That’s really going to clear up some confusion when I tell the S24 Ultra I want to “throw a shrimp on the barbie.”