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smartphones

OnePlus 2 to go on sale from August 11

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After teasing us for more than a month, OnePlus has finally announced the OnePlus 2. The phone is touted as a “2016 flagship killer” and although the phone’s hardware might not kill the competition, it’s price certainly does (read below for the pricing).

OnePlus has refined the second iteration with a clean design and aluminium-magnesium alloy frame that gives it the much-needed durability, along with looks of course. The phone will come in OnePlus’ signature Sandstone Black but if you like some colour in your life, then there’s also shades like Bamboo, Black Apricot, Rosewood and even Kevlar.

The device that we are looking at comes with a 5.5-inch Full HD Display, Dual SIM 4G LTE support, 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC with 4GB RAM, 64GB internal memory and 3300mAh battery. There’s also a fingerprint sensor on the front, USB Type-C port and an alert slider for quick access to custom notification settings.

Moreover, the OnePlus 2 runs OxygenOS based on Android 5.1 and features 13 megapixel rear-facing camera with a 5MP wide-angle front lens.

OnePlus will sell the OnePlus 2 through an invite-based system and will be up for purchase for a very attractive Rs 24,999. The 16GB with 3GB RAM will sell later this year for Rs 22,999.

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OnePlus 2 invite system is officially live

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You’re now free to sign up on the OnePlus website for a chance to win an invitation to buy the company’s next smartphone, the highly-anticipated OnePlus 2.

Like its predecessor, the OnePlus One, you can’t just pick it up in any old phone shop. It will only be available for purchase with an invite, at first anyway.

You better not waste time, though, as the invite list is already stacking up. Over 100,000 people have already reportedly signed up, so it’s best to get it straight out of the way rather than run the risk of missing out.

There shouldn’t be the same inventory problems as last time though. OnePlus recently confirmed that it was holding 30 to 50 times the launch inventory for the OnePlus 2 compared to the OnePlus One, so there should be enough to go around.

As well as opening the floodgates, OnePlus has also made its virtual reality launch app available on the Play Store. It will let you watch the OnePlus 2 launch in 360-degree virtual reality. Obviously, though, you must need a VR headset for your phone as well as the Android app running.

Like this? Check out New Moto X (2015): everything we think we know.

BlackBerry may be forced to stop making phones

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BlackBerry has had a rough time of late, and it’s all down to money – or the lack of it rather. While it’s planning a comeback this year, CEO John Chen says the Canadian firm might have to get out of the smartphone game all together if the money doesn’t start rolling in soon.

“At a certain point in time, the economics take over,” explained the CEO.

The Bloomberg report reads: “If the current state continues for a long ‘long time’ and drags down the company’s shareholders and balance sheet, it wouldn’t be right to keep going.”

We can’t say we’re too surprised. After all, BlackBerry’s fall from grace has been well documented. When Chen joined the company, the company’s share of the smartphone market had slumped to less than one per cent, but sadly even his efforts have failed to make the required impact.

In the most recent quarter, the company’s smartphone turnover fell to $263 million – that’s 31 per cent down year-on-year. BlackBerry has also developed a number of handsets since Chen joined, including the Passport and the Classic, but the duo have not sold well.

BlackBerry’s next handset is widely tipped to be a premium Android phone dubbed the ‘Venice’ – which we got a first-look at earlier this month – followed by a low-end device known as the ‘Prague’.

Time will tell whether teaming up with Android was the right move. For BlackBerry's own sake, it needs to be. Otherwise BlackBerry will have no choice but to jump ship and try something new, BlackBerry PCs perhaps?

Marshall to rock out with its own Android phone

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Rather than just being a generic Android phone with the Marshall logo slapped on the back, it does look as though this Android, called the Marshall London, might be a top pick for audio nuts.

First of all, it uses a good-quality Wolfson WM8281 DAC to make the most of high-quality digital audio files.

Then there are the speakers. The Marshall London has two front-facing speakers, although we’ll have to wait to see whether they’re better than the HTC One M9’s pair. Apparently they’re 13 mm x 18 mm in size, which seems large for a phone.

The London is also one of the only phones we’ve come across with share-happy dual headphone jacks, each with their own volume control. They’re old-fashioned dials too. No volume buttons here.

Finally, it has dual MEMS microphones to let you record loud audio without that ugly clipping sound you get with most phones.

Aside from the music angle, though, this is no Galaxy S6-worrier. It has a relatively small 4.7in 720p screen, Snapdragon 410 CPU and 8-megapixel main camera.

It doesn’t look like it’ll come cheap, either. A Swedish Krona pre-order price of 4995 equates to £370. That’s a lot of cash for a phone of this size and power. Those speakers has better be good.

Don’t forget to check out our predictions for the forthcoming iPhone 6S.

Samsung reveals its slimmest Android phone in China

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Samsung has had a hard time keeping the Galaxy A8 under wraps and now the company has officially announced the phone. Touted as Samsung’s slimmest phone, which is just 5.9mm thick, the Galaxy A8 has been announced for the Chinese market.

The phone is clearly inspired from Galaxy S6 and in fact seems to better the flagship phone in some department. For instance, the Galaxy A8 has a larger 3050mAh battery and microSD card slot, which are missing from the Galaxy S6 family.

Apart from that, the phone has mid-range hardware with 5.7-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display, Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor, dual SIM support, 2GB RAM, 16MP main camera, 5MP front-facing camera, 4G LTE, fingerprint sensor and 16GB or 32GB internal memory.

The phone will sell in China for now but expect it to hit other countries soon.

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