Honor 8 announced for the US

As expected, Huawei's sub-brand Honor has made official its Honor 8 smartphone for the US market. The device - which is currently only available in China - will be up for pre-order in the US starting today (August 17).

You'll be able to pre-order the Huawei Honor 8 through third-party retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, B&H Photo Video, and Newegg, as well as HiHonor.com/us/. The pre-order period ends September 3. The device will be available in Sapphire Blue, Pearl White, and Midnight Black color options, although the first one will be a Best Buy-exclusive for initial 60 days.

Those pre-ordering the device will also receive a $50 gift card from participating retailers - HiHonor US offer a $50 rebate instead.

Specs-wise, the phone is powered by Kirin 950 SoC and sports a 5.2-inch full-HD display. It comes with 4GB RAM and 32GB/64GB internal memory options, and packs in a 3,000mAh battery. In terms of camera, the device features a dual-12 MP camera setup on the back and an 8MP front shooter.

    
Honor 8 in the hand at yesterday's event

Measuring 145.5 x 71.0 x 7.45mm and weighing in at 153g, the Honor 8 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow. As for price, the handset carries a $399 tag for the 32GB model and $449.99 for the 64GB one. For comparison, prices start at under $300 in China.

"Honor 8 perfectly represents the evolution of our overall product view," said George Zhao, president of Honor."It goes against established industry norms and market conventions with a higher aesthetic standard. At the same time, it balances looks with the smarts, speed, and connectivity that today’s millennial consumers demand. Honor 8 reflects our understanding of and commitment to their needs and goals."

LeEco phone with 4GB RAM and SD820 SoC spotted on GFXBench, said to be Le 2s

A new LeEco phone has been spotted on benchmarking website GFXBench. Listed as LeEco X720, the device is powered by Snapdragon 820 chipset with quad-core 2.3GHz processor, and sports a 5.5-inch FullHD display.

It comes with 4GB of RAM, while internal memory is 32GB. In terms of camera, the handset features a 16MP rear unit and an 8MP front shooter. It runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out-of-the-box.

Reports say the phone in question is the rumored LeEco Le 2S, which is said to be the successor to the Chinese company's Le 2 smartphone. A couple of images of the Le 2sleaked around a week ago.

  
Alleged LeEco Le 2s images

Previous rumors had said that the Le 2s will be the world's first smartphone packing a whopping 8GB of RAM, and will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821 chipset.

Three iPad models rumored for next year, AMOLED screens coming in 2018

Apple is prepping three new iPad models for next year, according to Ming-Chi Kuo, the world's foremost speculator on all things Apple-related (and an analyst by day). These will all come with similar designs to what we have today in Apple's tablet range, with more drastic redesigns being pushed to 2018.

In 2017, we are apparently going to see a 12.9" iPad Pro 2, but also a 10.5-inch iPad Pro - a first for Apple in that size. These two will allegedly be complemented in the company's portfolio by a lower-cost 9.7-inch tablet. The 12.9" and 10.5" iPads will both be powered by the upcoming Apple A10X chipset, built on TSMC's 10nm process. The new 9.7-inch model will feature the A9X, which is the same SoC found inside the currently selling iPad Pro 9.7.

In 2018, on the other hand, Apple will redesign its iPads, and Kuo expects the company to use flexible AMOLED displays for its flagships. Previously, the same analyst has predicted the same thing happening to iPhones in 2017. But while we wait for this dramatic revamp of Apple's slates in two years, iPad sales will keep dropping.

Galaxy Note7 release gets delayed in Russia and Ukraine because of how successful it is elsewhere

The Samsung Galaxy Note7 seems to have become a victim of its own success, in some places at least. Thus, delays are to be expected, in at least a couple of markets.

The Note7 was supposed to go on pre-order in Ukraine on August 16, with the release planned for September 2, just like everywhere else in Europe. That timeline has been changed, however. The new information is that pre-orders will start on September 7, with the device becoming available on September 30. That's quite the delay, almost one full month.

It apparently has to do with the "unprecedented demand for the smartphone in the world", so Samsung is postponing its launch in some countries in order to make sure that it will have enough initial stock in others.

The situation is similar in Russia, where the Note7 was also supposed to launch on September 2. Here though the delay isn't as bad, with the new release date being September 16 (so only two weeks later than it should have been).

In Ukraine, the phone will cost UAH 25,000 (about $1,003 or €900) and those who pre-order will receive a free new Gear VR.

Samsung Gear VR (2016) is now available to pre-order

The Samsung Gear VR (2016), which was unveiled alongside the Galaxy Note7 earlier this month, is now available to pre-order. Amazon is currently accepting pre-orders for the device, which sets you back $100 and starts shipping August 19.

To refresh, the new version of the Samsung Gear VR features various improvements over the original model, including a new deep ink blue color, a bump in total field of view to 101 degrees, extended device compatibility, as well as support for both micro USB and USB Type-C.

You can check out our detailed Gear VR (2016) hands-on here.

iPhone 7 Plus poses for the camera in black

iPhone 7 Plus poses for the camera in blackAnother day, another iPhone 7 rumor and also another twist to the never-ending mystery that is Apple's upcoming smartphone lineup. It seems like the closer we get to September and thealleged September 7 release date, the further we end up digging ourselves in an overwhelming mess of rumors.

  
Alleged iPhone 7 Plus

Today brings yet another confusing piece of the puzzle - a few shots of what appears to be a 5.5-inch iPhone 7 with a dual-camera setup, POGO pins on the back an to add a finishing touch to the mix - colored in black. Naturally, this leaves us a little perplexed. If we stick to the original theory of three iPhone 7 models - the alleged "Plus" and "Pro" being of the 5.5-inch variety, then this would definitely be the highest tier device in the mix.

So far so good, it all works out, right? However, last we heard and saw yesterday, there appeared to be only two versions of the handset, the bigger one equipped with the dual-camera, but no the POGO pins. And if quantity is anything to go by, the day before that we got pretty much the same information form yet another source.

  
Alleged iPhone 7 Plus

In light of this, we thought it better to concentrate on the photos themselves and what they do appear to showcase with confidence, whether legitimate or not. This is not the first time we are hearing about the possibility of a black color option, as well as other new finishes, likeDeep Blue for that matter. So the sight of a dark iPhone isn't exactly shocking. However, we must say it looks incredibly stylish, complete with little details like the shade of the antenna bands and we really hope this rumor turns out to be true.

Another thing we can clearly see is the absence of a 3.5mm jack on the bottom of the unit and a total of two grills. Given the current situation and influx of leaks, we are far from the idea that this could definitively settle the arguments over the audio jack or the stereo speaks, but it is yet another small grain of proof for one of the scenarios, if anyone is still keeping track.

Slide shows iPhone 7 will have wireless charging and waterproofing

Rumors about the iPhone are like fishermen's stories - they grow bolder and grander as time goes on. A photo of a presentation slide lists the highlights of the upcoming phone.

The slide shows an iPhone 7 Pro (dual cameras) but is labeled iPhone 7 Plus. That aside, the phone will run iOS 10 (obviously) and will lack a headphone jack ( a rumor that has been confirmed and denied several times by unofficial sources).

It will allegedly have wireless charging and will be water resistant. Those are two things that Apple hasn't touched, while they are becoming more and more common on Android phones.

This isn't the first time we've heard of a waterproof iPhone 7 with wireless charging, but we're still not ready to believe it. Next thing you know, people will start talking about a microSD slot.