iPhone 7 and 7 Pro photographed with camera humps

Apple has gone camel on its iPhones - the cameras have humps! The iPhone 7 camera protrudes from the back as does the dual camera on the iPhone 7 Pro.

   
iPhone 7 • another iPhone 7 • iPhone 7 Pro

It's difficult to judge just how thick the hump is from a photo, but one thing is for sure - it's a lot bigger than current iPhones have. it seems to line up with a protective case, so we're maybe looking at a millimeter.

Another iPhone 7 shell was shot from a different angle - the bottom - and there are no less than three interesting things to note.

First off, the 3.5mm headphone plug is gone. Maybe it moved to the top (there's no photo of that), maybe the Lightning port is the new destination for wired headphones. The other photo of iPhone 7's camera hump came with assurance that the 3.5mm jack is still on board (but there was no photo evidence to back that up).

 
The underside of the iPhone 7 shows no 3.5mm jack, a second speaker instead

Also, there are two speaker grills. Maybe one of them is decorative, but maybe, just maybe, Apple finally decided to make the jump to stereo speakers (even if they are down-firing).

And then there are the antenna lines, a thick plastic line that (used to) pass through the top and the bottom. Apple clearly went through several iterations of the iPhone 7 and there's no way to know for certain if this is what it settled on.

iPhone 7 and 7 Pro photographed with camera humps

Apple has gone camel on its iPhones - the cameras have humps! The iPhone 7 camera protrudes from the back as does the dual camera on the iPhone 7 Pro.

   
iPhone 7 • another iPhone 7 • iPhone 7 Pro

It's difficult to judge just how thick the hump is from a photo, but one thing is for sure - it's a lot bigger than current iPhones have. it seems to line up with a protective case, so we're maybe looking at a millimeter.

Another iPhone 7 shell was shot from a different angle - the bottom - and there are no less than three interesting things to note.

First off, the 3.5mm headphone plug is gone. Maybe it moved to the top (there's no photo of that), maybe the Lightning port is the new destination for wired headphones. The other photo of iPhone 7's camera hump came with assurance that the 3.5mm jack is still on board (but there was no photo evidence to back that up).

 
The underside of the iPhone 7 shows no 3.5mm jack, a second speaker instead

Also, there are two speaker grills. Maybe one of them is decorative, but maybe, just maybe, Apple finally decided to make the jump to stereo speakers (even if they are down-firing).

And then there are the antenna lines, a thick plastic line that (used to) pass through the top and the bottom. Apple clearly went through several iterations of the iPhone 7 and there's no way to know for certain if this is what it settled on.

iPhone 7 and 7 Pro photographed with camera humps

Apple has gone camel on its iPhones - the cameras have humps! The iPhone 7 camera protrudes from the back as does the dual camera on the iPhone 7 Pro.

   
iPhone 7 • another iPhone 7 • iPhone 7 Pro

It's difficult to judge just how thick the hump is from a photo, but one thing is for sure - it's a lot bigger than current iPhones have. it seems to line up with a protective case, so we're maybe looking at a millimeter.

Another iPhone 7 shell was shot from a different angle - the bottom - and there are no less than three interesting things to note.

First off, the 3.5mm headphone plug is gone. Maybe it moved to the top (there's no photo of that), maybe the Lightning port is the new destination for wired headphones. The other photo of iPhone 7's camera hump came with assurance that the 3.5mm jack is still on board (but there was no photo evidence to back that up).

 
The underside of the iPhone 7 shows no 3.5mm jack, a second speaker instead

Also, there are two speaker grills. Maybe one of them is decorative, but maybe, just maybe, Apple finally decided to make the jump to stereo speakers (even if they are down-firing).

And then there are the antenna lines, a thick plastic line that (used to) pass through the top and the bottom. Apple clearly went through several iterations of the iPhone 7 and there's no way to know for certain if this is what it settled on.

iPhone 7 and 7 Pro photographed with camera humps

Apple has gone camel on its iPhones - the cameras have humps! The iPhone 7 camera protrudes from the back as does the dual camera on the iPhone 7 Pro.

   
iPhone 7 • another iPhone 7 • iPhone 7 Pro

It's difficult to judge just how thick the hump is from a photo, but one thing is for sure - it's a lot bigger than current iPhones have. it seems to line up with a protective case, so we're maybe looking at a millimeter.

Another iPhone 7 shell was shot from a different angle - the bottom - and there are no less than three interesting things to note.

First off, the 3.5mm headphone plug is gone. Maybe it moved to the top (there's no photo of that), maybe the Lightning port is the new destination for wired headphones. The other photo of iPhone 7's camera hump came with assurance that the 3.5mm jack is still on board (but there was no photo evidence to back that up).

 
The underside of the iPhone 7 shows no 3.5mm jack, a second speaker instead

Also, there are two speaker grills. Maybe one of them is decorative, but maybe, just maybe, Apple finally decided to make the jump to stereo speakers (even if they are down-firing).

And then there are the antenna lines, a thick plastic line that (used to) pass through the top and the bottom. Apple clearly went through several iterations of the iPhone 7 and there's no way to know for certain if this is what it settled on.

vivo X7 stars in extensive photo shoot ahead of June 30 announcement

On June 30 vivo is finally going to make its two newest phones official. We're talking about the much-leaked, much-teased X7 and X7 Plus. Just yesterday we saw the latter in a bunch of hands-on pictures, and now it's the smaller X7's turn to star in a photo shoot of its own.

As you can see, the images really leave nothing to the imagination, showing the device from all possible angles (and against some interesting backgrounds, we might add).

   
vivo X7

The X7 will be part of the so-called premium mid-range. Already confirmed specs (through official teasers) include Qualcomm's Snapdragon 652 SoC powering things and a 16 MP selfie camera. The X7 has also been rumored to come with 64GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, a fingerprint scanner embedded in the Home button underneath the screen, very narrow side bezels, a 5.2-inch 1080p touchscreen, a 21 MP main camera, and a 3,000 mAh battery.

   
Even more vivo X7 images

Pricing is unfortunately still a mystery, but this being vivo don't expect the handset to be extremely cheap.

TCL (alcatel) is probably making BlackBerry's next smartphone

The next BlackBerry smartphone will be unveiled next month, according to the company's CEO. He's also previously said to expect two cheaper offerings this year compared to the high-end Priv - one with a physical keyboard and one without.

That all-touchscreen model could be the one seeing the light of day in July, as it turns out. And TCL, the Chinese company best known elsewhere for making alcatel-branded phones, might be the one manufacturing it.

There's not a lot of evidence for this yet, however, and what we do have is mostly circumstantial, as they'd say. But bear with us. A TCL device with the product name DTEK 50 has been certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance, which is odd because DTEK is the name of the privacy suite that ships on the BlackBerry Priv. But wait, there's more! The model number for TCL's device is listed as STH100-2, which strangely manages to fully adhere to BlackBerry's way of using model numbers for its products (case in point - the Priv is STV100-1).

This is all corroborated, let's say, by an older rumor that claimed BlackBerry and TCL signed some kind of cooperation agreement a while back. That mumbling went on to say that the first result of this new partnership would be the smartphone we've known from past leaks as the BlackBerry Hamburg, which would apparently be based on the alcatel Idol 4.

The Hamburg will come with a 5.2-inch 1080p touchscreen and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset, as revealed by a benchmark run. The Idol 4 has the exact same screen size and resolution, but uses the Snapdragon 617 instead. That said, all of the other specs of the Hamburg that were leaked through that benchmark result are identical to the Idol 4's.

So it could be the case that this new BlackBerry will be nothing but a rebranded alcatel Idol 4 with a different SoC. On the other hand, it might look different but be based on the same innards as the Idol 4. Or it could be a different phone altogether and the specs matching is just a coincidence. We'll know for sure next month.

Alleged vivo X7 Plus leaks in live photos

We are already well aware that vivo is working on the X7, as well as its bigger X7 Plus sibling. These are said to be the spiritual successors to the vivo Xshot and according to some official teasers will be unveiled on June 30.

We now know quite a bit about the new handsets and today's fresh leak offers a glimpse of one of the the devices out in the open along with some extra hardware info. Judging by the scale of the unit in question, we are probably looking at the bigger vivo X7 Plus, said to come with a 5.7-inch display. Also, we are fairly certain this is not an actual functioning device, but rather a dummy one.

Regardless, it does look the part and for what it's worth, is probably what the end product is going to look like. As far as design goes, there is really nothing all that surprising, as it does follow the company's traditional styling. The fingerprint reader appears to be embedded in the home button on the front, as one is absent from the back, but that was already revealed through another one of vivo's teasers.

After some initial mix-up regarding specs on the X7, industry sources now seem to agree that at least one of the devices will be powered by a Snapdragon 652 SoC along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. There has also been word of a 6GB RAM, plus 128GB storage version. The 16MP primary shooter is certain at this point as well.

As for price, we have been hearing some conflicting reports. Apparently the basic one will cost somewhere along the lines of CNY 2598 or CNY 2698 (about $400), while the alleged upper tier should be CNY 3288 (around $500).

FC Barcelona Oppo F1 Plus hands-on

What do FC Barcelona players Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta have in common? Well an educated guess would be the Oppo F1 Plus Barcelona edition is going to be their next smartphone.

This is the second special edition phone to come out of Oppo's partnership with Barcelona football club. The first one was the R7 Plus and was sold in a limited quantity of just 5,000 units. The F1 Plus Barcelona Edition is more special, though as it sports the club’s blue and red colors.

    
The Barcelona colors shine bright under the spotlight

The FC Barcelona infused experience begins with the box itself. It sports a faux-leather finish with Oppo's logo placed proudly next to FC Barcelona's. In terms of content there are no surprises though - it holds a VOOC charger, a USB cable and headphones.

  
The accessories in the specially designed box

The specifications of the phone are quite irrelevant, really, as no one will ever ask you about them. Why? Because they’ll be ogling the 18K gold plated Barcelona logo at the back.

   
The Oppo F1 Plus Barcelona edition sports an awesome paintjob

Underneath the fancy Barcelona paint job, the hardware is identical to the regular F1 Plus. This means it sports a 5.5-inch FullHD display, Helio P10 chipset, 4 gigs of RAM and 13MP/16MP camera duo.

Oppo’s special packaging includes a cool case, the inside of which is laser engraved with the signatures of the aforementioned footballers. Despite its coolness, though, you probably wouldn’t want to cover the even nicer blue back of the phone.

  
The phone's special case is nice to the touch • The FC Barcelona logo 18K gold

The customizations stretch to the software as well. Oppo has made a special blue-red theme to match the phone’s exterior. You get special Barcelona-themed icons, lockscreen and homescreen wallpapers.

Finally, the Gallery also hosts high-res photos of Messi, Neymar, Suarez, Pique and Arda Turan. Not sure what are you going to do with those (or why just those 5 were included), but it's certainly a touch many fans will appreciate.

    
FC Barcelona Oppo F1 Plus boasts a special UI theme

The phone’s price is yet unavailable and the phone is launching in select markets. China, Singapore, and Indonesia are the first to receive it with more to be added in the coming months.

Deal: Samsung Galaxy S7 dual-SIM for $540 in the US

The US is getting a nice deal on the Samsung Galaxy S7 (the dual-SIM version) - $540. That's a bit better than $565-$575 prices over at Amazon.

This is the G930FD model, which covers the LTE bands of all major US carriers. European carriers are covered as well for what that's worth since this is a US deal.

The Galaxy S7 is available in Black, Gold and Silver. Extended 2 and 3-year warranty is available for $60 and $80 respectively. Note that this offer will expire in 8 days.

BlackBerry to reveal more about its upcoming mid-range smartphones next month

While we already know that BlackBerry is planning to out two mid-range Android phones this year, there has been no information on exactly when they'll be launched. That was, however, until now, as the company's CEO has dropped hints that one of the two could be unveiled as soon as next month.

BlackBerry CEO: John Chen

During a conference call with investors, when Chen was asked about these upcoming phones, he said, "I’m not really prepared to unveil that. I guess, I was thinking about doing that more in July timeframe. I have spoken about having two of them in between now and the end of this fiscal year, and they usually they both of them more in the mid range and mid to high, not going to be a high end phone."

There isn't much known about these devices at the moment, except they'll won't fall in the flagship category, and one of them will feature a Priv-like physical keyboard, while the other one will be an all-touchscreen phone.

FYI, BlackBerry has announced its financial results for the last quarter, and the numbers don't look good. The Canadian company reported a net loss of $670 million, while revenue stood at $400 million, a drop of 40% compared to the year-ago quarter.

As for the total number of BlackBerry phones sold in the quarter, the figure stood at 500,000, which translates into a year-on-year decline of over 50%. The CEO, however, still seemed optimistic. "I really, really believe that we could make money out of our device business," he said.

Milk VR becomes Samsung VR, now anyone can upload 360° videos

VR is the new hotness in tech and multiple companies are staking their claim - YouTube has supported 360° videos for a while, Facebook (owner of Oculus) does too and now Samsung has a site for VR videos as well.

It's actually the old Milk VR that was renamed to Samsung VR and opened to everyone (Milk allowed only a select few to upload).

You can watch these videos with Samsung's Gear VR headset or if you don't have one, you can use the dedicated Samsung VR app (which is limited only to Samsung devices for now). Everyone else will have to use the website.

Naturally, Samsung expects you'll be shooting the videos with the Gear 360 camera, whichbecame available (albeit in select markets) recently. Samsung is holding seminars about working in VR and offering several $10,000 awards and a trip to New York for an awards ceremony to educate and draw in content creators.

If you're curious about Samsung VR, there are a number of interesting clips to watch: The Martian VR Experience, The Conjuring 2 - Experience Enfield, The BMW M2 - Eyes on Gigi (Hadid) and more.

Milk VR becomes Samsung VR, now anyone can upload 360° videos

VR is the new hotness in tech and multiple companies are staking their claim - YouTube has supported 360° videos for a while, Facebook (owner of Oculus) does too and now Samsung has a site for VR videos as well.

It's actually the old Milk VR that was renamed to Samsung VR and opened to everyone (Milk allowed only a select few to upload).

You can watch these videos with Samsung's Gear VR headset or if you don't have one, you can use the dedicated Samsung VR app (which is limited only to Samsung devices for now). Everyone else will have to use the website.

Naturally, Samsung expects you'll be shooting the videos with the Gear 360 camera, whichbecame available (albeit in select markets) recently. Samsung is holding seminars about working in VR and offering several $10,000 awards and a trip to New York for an awards ceremony to educate and draw in content creators.

If you're curious about Samsung VR, there are a number of interesting clips to watch: The Martian VR Experience, The Conjuring 2 - Experience Enfield, The BMW M2 - Eyes on Gigi (Hadid) and more.

Rumored iPhone 7 prices suggest storage will increase, price will stay the same

As the iPhone 7 family inches closer to announcement, more and more details are being finalized - and if this rumor is to be believed, the price has been set.

The prices come from a Chinese tipster and are in yuan. Converted to dollar equivalent, they seem pretty high but looking at the iPhone prices in China they pretty much match the current models.

For example, the cheapest option - 16GB iPhone 6s - is CNY 5,288 and the rumored price for the 32GB iPhone 7 is CNY 5,258. The top model - 128GB iPhone 6s Plus - is CNY 7,788 or just under the purported price of the 256GB iPhone 7 Plus or 128GB iPhone 7 Pro.

So, I expect the 256GB iPhone 7 Pro to be $1,050 in the US. Here are the Chinese prices and their US dollar values, but again, they should match up with the equivalent model from the current generation.

	32GB	64GB	128GB	256GB
iPhone 7	CNY 5,258 ($800)	CNY 6,088 ($925)	???	CNY 7,088 ($1075)
iPhone 7 Plus	CNY 6,088 ($925)	???	CNY 6,888 ($1045)	CNY 7,888 ($1197)
iPhone 7 Pro	CNY 7,088 ($1,075)	???	CNY 7,888 ($1,120)	CNY 8,888 ($1349)