Geek Lane

The successor to the Vibe K4 Note has finally arrived in India with Lenovo launching the K5 Note at an event today. Apart from the big announcement, Lenovo also managed to surprise us with another launch, which is quite difficult to do in today’s world of leaks and rumors. The second device isn’t new, but is essentially an upgraded version of the Vibe K5 Plus, with the original being launched in India back in March. There isn’t a lot different with the upgraded iteration, but comes with an additional gig of RAM, with 3 GB, and the expandable storage capabilities have been enhanced to support a 128 GB microSD card. Other specs remain the same, with the device featuring a 5-inch Full HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 processor, and a 2,750 mAh battery. Despite the upgrades, the great news is that Lenovo has kept the price the same as the original, and the upgraded Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus will also be priced at just Rs 8,499 (~$127). Let’s move on to the star of the show,...

We’ve seen a lot of changes in the Android Developer Preview program since its inception in 2014 with Android L. While Lollipop only saw one developer preview, Android M would end up offering three previews. With Android N, Google has upped its game even further, with the fifth and final preview of Android 7.0 Nougat arriving earlier this month. So what’s next for Android 7.0 and its release cycle? Typically final versions of Android don’t arrive until October, but with the aggressive development schedule we’ve seen with Nougat, we can’t help but wonder if the update will arrive a bit earlier this year. If Evan Blass (aka @evleaks) proves correct, the answer is “yes, it’s coming next month”. Android 7.0 releases next month, with the 8/5 security patch. Sorry Nexus 5 owners, no Nougat for you 😢 — Evan Blass (@evleaks)  July 30, 2016 Further backing up Evan’s claims, a recent post on reddit   claims one Nexus 6P user was accidentally pus...

If you own a Xiaomi device, you must be sore at the fact that none of the currently available virtual reality (VR) headsets are optimized for MIUI. The Chinese powerhouse is about to fix that by launching its first-ever VR headset on August 1, going by the company’s latest teasers. Xiaomi is well-known for its aggressively-priced smartphones and wearables, but most consumers are unaware that it also offers IoT and smart home automation products, such as air-conditioners and bedside lamps, in China. With VR becoming the buzzword in the consumer tech industry, Xiaomi was also expected to soon jump on the bandwagon. Cheap Google Cardboard-inspired devices, as well as highly expensive VR headsets such as the HTC   VIVE and the Oculus Rift,  have already arrived in the market, though none of them are optimized to work with Xiaomi’s devices which run the MIUI. There have been rumors of Xiaomi working on its own version of a VR headset, which was recently confirmed by ...

LG posted its  second quarter earnings  earlier today, in which the company revealed that a new phone in the V series will make its debut later this quarter. While LG didn't name the device, it is likely that it'll be  called the V20. LG didn't specify a launch date, but rumors suggest that the phone will be unveiled sometime in the month of September, barely 10 months after the LG V10 hit store shelves. The expedited timeline may have something to do with the company's mobile business, which recorded a loss of $132 million this quarter and $170 million in Q1 2016. Samsung's decision to unveil the Galaxy note 7 on August 2 may also have played a part. Either way, the V20 is coming this quarter, most likely in the month of September. With the LG G5 failing to meet expectations, LG needs a strong contender to the Note 7 in the V20. Last year's V10 was a decent phone in many regards, but LG wasn't able to translate that to strong sales. Here's ho...

In case you missed it, a week or so ago some poor guy posted a  CCTV video on Facebook  showing him casually working at his desk when his phone catches fire and explodes. That was a  Xiaomi Mi 4i. Xiaomi  has now officially responded to the incident and vowed to replace the device. Assuming the guy isn’t emotionally scarred from the experience and has decided to go back to feature phones for good, I guess that’s a positive thing. Xiaomi sent the following statement to  XDA Developers  on the incident: We take such matters seriously and we have already been investigating the matter. We have been in touch with the customer and will be getting his device this week to do further investigation. In the meantime, we have offered a replacement phone to the customer. While the cause of the explosion is not yet know, hopefully Xiaomi will be able to get to the bottom of it once the damaged device is in hand. Besides a rash of Samsung fires a few years ago...

Amazon's Alexa has been able to control some smart home products, like Belkin WeMo switches or certain Wi-Fi-connected lightbulbs, for many months, but the intelligent assistant hasn't been able to control your doors. Well, until now. Amazon said this morning that it has partnered with San Francisco-based hardware startup August to allow Alexa to control August door locks. This means that you can say to your Amazon Echo speaker, "Alexa, lock the door" and, provided that your Amazon and August devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, the door will lock. It is the ultimate lazy person move, perhaps even more so than using your voice or an app to turn off your lights when a light switch is an arm's length away. A few things worth noting: first, this is the first smart lock Alexa works with. Second, you can't use Alexa to  un lock your door, because that would pose some security issues if someone could stand outside of your door or a window...