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TechnikNews Weekly # 025: New Fossil Smartwatches, Android 9.0 Pie, Samsung News and more

Picture: TechnikNews
(Post picture: © 2018 TechnikNews)

An eventful week here TechnikNews. Starting with the latest smartwatches from Fossil to the unpacked event from Samsung. Like every Sunday, we collect all the important news in TechnikNews Weekly for you together.

Fossil's new smartwatches

Also this year, Fossil presented two new smartwatches: the Q Explorist HR and the Q Venture HR. There are not many differences between the two models - apart from the size, both models are identical. Fossil has installed some things that a smartwatch should always have for the first time this year. This includes NFC, GPS and a heart rate monitor. In addition, this year the watches are waterproof to 30m for the first time. The battery should last one day, the watch is charged within two hours using the charging cradle. The operating system is Wear OS from Google. Both watches are now available at a starting price of € 279. The test report for the watches will follow shortly here on our blog.

Android 9.0 Pie is here

Just one day later, the first finished version of Android 9 Pie was released for the first users. Pie is available for all Pixel devices and for the Essential PH-1. Of course, there are also some new features this year, such as Adaptive Brightness, Adaptive Battery and Digital Wellbeing. The many design and user interface changes are striking. Space has now been created in the status bar for a notch, everything is rounder and more colorful, the launcher has been slightly revised and you can now optionally navigate through the OS using gestures.

Will the Google Pixel 3 (XL) be unveiled anytime soon?

The Google Pixel 3 (XL) will likely be unveiled on October 4th. An entry on FameBit suggests this. From this it emerged that Google is looking for influencers in Canada for a new campaign video. This should be ready by October 4th and will also be published on this day after the performance.

We also reported this week that from the Pixel 3 onwards, you can only navigate through the OS with the new gestures from Android 9.0 Pie. With all current Pixel devices you should still be able to select the navigation buttons. Other manufacturers are currently not yet forced to follow the same path as Google.

This is what the new multitasking menu looks like (Image: Android Central, 2018)

Source code from Snapchat ended up on Github

This week, parts of the Snapchat source code ended up on the Github platform due to a leak in an update for the iOS app. The corresponding repository has already been deleted - but the code continues to spread. Snapchat became aware of this at the beginning of August and started a take-down request. However, the code continues to spread on the Internet. A user on Twitter asked if anyone else had parts of the source code. Moments later, he received several replies with links to the service's code. It is currently still unclear how Snapchat will proceed against the ongoing spreads.

End of Newton Mail

Later in the week, Cloudmagic CEO Rohit Nadhani announced the end of Newton Mail. The shutdown of the service is to take place on September 25th, new memberships will no longer be accepted. In cooperation with the Play Store and the AppStore, subscriptions will be refunded for the most part. Reason for the shutdown: Newton could not prevail against the competition.

To say goodbye, all users of the app are notified via email. (Image: TechnikNews/Screenshot)

Beta phase for Android 9.0 Pie at Huawei

Huawei started an internal testing phase for Android 9.0 Pie this week. It is assumed that the first tests with flagships like the Huawei P20 Pro will take place, tests with mid-range and entry-level devices are likely to follow. However, it will probably still be a while before the first Huawei devices will get Android 9.0 Pie, since Huawei has to adapt its own EMUI interface as well.

Leaks to the Pixel 3 XL

A Telegram user published an unboxing video for the Pixel 3 XL this week. This contains almost all the interesting details about the upcoming smartphone. Several interesting things stand out in this clip. For example, you can see that there are in-ears with a USB-C plug in the packaging. In addition, the glass on the back now “flows” around the aluminum part, the familiar “window” made of glass no longer exists. The comparatively large notch on the front above the display is noticeable. It is also very likely that the Google Pixel 3 XL will have front stereo speakers again. All further information can be found in the article.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 presented

On Thursday, Samsung presented its latest flagship at an event in New York. The biggest innovation of the Note 9 is a revised S-Pen. The hardware has also been increased: For example, there is now a model with 512GB of internal memory for the first time. Along with this, there is now also 8GB of RAM. What the other specs are, read in the article linked below. Hopefully we will soon be able to take a closer look at the Note 9 - a review will of course then appear on our blog.

Galaxy Watch: Samsung Smartwatch presented with a new name

With this generation of smartwatches, Samsung has now crushed the “Gear” watches. Except for small changes, the watch remains pretty much the same as its predecessor. There are two models, one of which is intended for women or thinner arms. The women's variant is a little cheaper but also a little weaker. In which points they differ and how much the watches cost:

A new smart speaker is here: This time from Samsung

All good things come in threes. Samsung also followed this principle and presented a smart speaker that is currently exclusive to the USA. The language assistant Bixby runs on this, but at the moment he does not yet have any knowledge of German. The griller-like speaker (as reader Klaus finds his way around) has eight microphones and six loudspeakers. There is also a subwoofer for rich sounds. When the speaker will finally come to us and Bixby will finally learn German, it has not been mentioned. No information has yet been given about the asking price either.

Beta phase started for Fortnite for Android

It's finally starting! Together with the presentation of the Note 9, the launch of Fortnite for Android was announced. Currently, the game remains Samsung-exclusive for a few weeks, but will later be available on selected smartphones. Certain requirements must be met for the smartphone to be compatible with Fortnite. We mentioned in our article how you can already play the game with a powerful smartphone. You will also find the full list of which devices are currently supported there.

Spotify and Samsung enter into partnership

It remains exciting: Spotify and Samsung have joined forces with the Unpacked event. In the future, they will cooperate and pre-install Spotify on every Samsung device and make it available. It will also make life a lot easier for music fans with a Samsung device. Playback should work seamlessly on every Samsung device and continue there directly. We have explained in more detail how this should look in the article.

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David Haydl

David lives in Graz and has been there for around half a decade TechnikNews, also editor-in-chief for some time. He regularly provides the site with news, test reports and the like TechnikNews Weekly, which was his idea to launch. He likes to spend his free time outdoors, listening to a lot of music (and clearly too loud) and some podcasts on all kinds of topics, and also likes to go running. He enjoys the time that remains with his charming girlfriend or in front of the TV.

David has already written 1245 articles and left 116 comments.

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