Panasonic Lumix FT7

Panasonic Lumix FT7: Rugged in orange, blue, and black.

Panasonic has announced the Lumix FT7, a new compact camera aimed at the more adventurous among us. This is a rugged camera, meant to be used outdoors and perhaps in turbulent situations. At the same time, Panasonic doesn’t want its rugged nature to mean that it has to compromise on resolution, granting the FT7 4K capabilities.

First, let’s dive into just how rugged this shooter is. Panasonic says the FT7 is waterproof up to a depth of 31 meters, which translates to 102 feet. The camera is also shockproof for drops up to 6 feet, and freeze proof down to temperatures as low as -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). So, while the camera can’t quite withstand sub-zero temperatures, it can handle a lot before the cold starts to cause problems.

The FT7 is also dustproof and pressure resistant up to 220 lbf. It comes equipped with a compass and altimeter, so it’s something of a multifaceted device in that regard, good for not just taking pictures but also for finding your bearings as you’re on an adventure. You can even use the flash as a torch light without the camera active, allowing you to illuminate dark areas without having to snap a bunch of pictures of it.

The camera comes equipped with a 20.4-megapixel sensor that’s paired with a 28mm lens which supports 4.6x optical zoom. True to its rugged nature, it uses optical image stabilization to make sure that your images don’t turn out blurry, which is certainly handy for any number of outdoor activities. The 3-inch display around the back has been outfitted in tempered glass, which shouldn’t be surprising considering the FT7’s billing as a resilient device.Finally, the FT7 can record video and capture photos in 4K, with a couple of burst shooting modes that allow you to pick the best images from a collection of quick snapshots. All in all, it doesn’t sound like too bad a camera, especially if you need one that can stand up to the elements. We’ll see it launch in July in three colors – orange, blue, and black – with a price tag of £399. There’s no word on whether or not the FT7 will make its way to the US, but we’ll keep an ear to the ground for more.

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Dell’s New XPS 15 9570

Dell is rolling out the XPS 15 9570, the new laptop that’s succeeding the 9560 model.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem to have changed much from the previous version. However, there are a lot of significant upgrades under the hood.

Dell’s refresh of the tried-and-tested laptop is labeled as the “new XPS 15” in town. Just like its predecessor, it comes with a 15.6-inch IPS display with an FHD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution or a 15.6-inch touch screen that boasts 4K Ultra HD (3,840 x 2,160). Needless to say, it’s equipped with the PC maker’s InfinityEdge technology.

Now the components powering it are where things start to get really interesting. It sports eighth-generation Intel Core processors, and there are three choices to choose from: Core i5-8300H, Core i7-8750H, and Core i9-8950HK.

While the base option only supports the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630, the others house an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB of VRAM.

In terms of RAM, it starts out at 8 GB and 16 GB of RAM to 32 GB of RAM. Meanwhile, there are loads of storage options in store. Users can pick a 1 TB SSHD, 256 GB SSD, or even a 1 TB SSD.

All versions come with Waves MaxxAudio Pro stereo speakers, a 720p webcam, and dual array digital microphones. When it comes to connectivity, it has two USB 3.1 ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, a Thunderbolt 3 port that supports a 40 GB data transfer rate, a headset jack, an SD card reader, and a noble lock slot. On the wireless front, it has Bluetooth 4.2 and Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi.

One notable difference between the base model and the rest is its three-cell 56 WHr battery. The others all have a six-cell 97 WHr battery.

It has a height of 0.45 to 0.66 inches, a width of 14.06 inches, and a depth of 9.27 inches. The version with a 56 WHr battery, an SSD, and a non-touch display weighs at 4 pounds, while the one packing a 97 WHr battery, SSD, and a touch display is at 4.5 pounds.

The new XPS 15 9570 is already available on Dell’s website. The most affordable option is set at $999.99, and the other starting points go for $1,399.99, $1,499.99, and $2,549.99. The most expensive choice among the selection can get even beefier with a Core i9-8950HK, but that’ll add $350 to the price, totaling to $2,899.99.

Just to be clear, buyers who fork over $2,899.99 will get the model with a 32 GB of RAM, 1 TB SSD, a GTX 1050 Ti, a 15.6-inch 4K Ultra HD touch display, and, of course, a Core i9-8950HK.

See Now: 27 Most Inspirational And Motivational Quotes By Influential Leaders In Tech

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Google releases third beta

Developing for both Android and iOS usually involves working with two codebases, two UI frameworks, and two different design languages. There have been many projects over the years to remedy this problem, but they usually result in apps that don't work well or don't look native. Google unveiled its 'Flutter' framework at the 2015 Dart developer summit, allowing developers to quickly create native iOS and Android apps.
The first beta was released during Mobile World Congress this year, and today marks the arrival of the third beta. In the accompying blog post, Google says Flutter is now ready for production use:
Over the last year, we've invested tens of thousands of engineering hours preparing Flutter for production use. We've rewritten major parts of the engine for performance, added support for developing on Windows, published tooling for Android Studio and Visual Studio Code, integrated Dart 2 and added support for more Firebase APIs, added support for inline video, ads and charts, internationalization and accessibility, addressed thousands of bugs and published hundreds of pages of documentation. It's been a busy year and we're thrilled to share the latest beta release with you!
The third beta includes localization support for right-to-left languages, improved accessibility, a powerful widget inspector, and preliminary support for Firebase ads. Visual Studio Code is now an officially-supported IDE, and Flutter is now a "first-class toolkit for Material."
You can find more information about Flutter Beta 3 at the source links below.
For More:Click Here

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Nikon D850

Category: Full frame
Sensor size: 864 sq. mm
Megapixels: 30.4
What we like: 4K video and a host of other modern features.
What we don’t: The D850 above is so impressive that it overshadows the 5D Mark IV.
Lenses: 10 Great Canon EF (Full Frame) Lenses

Canon’s 5D Mark IV was at the top of this list for much of last year, until the release of the Nikon D850 that is. When you put the two head to head, it’s flat out hard to argue that the Canon is better. It has lower resolution, inferior autofocus (although it does have dual pixel), and doesn’t offer much in the way of additional features or functionality. Having said that, the 5D Mark IV is a quality camera and all that most Canon professionals and enthusiasts will need. If you already own a bunch of L series glass, sticking with Canon is a fine choice. And as we’ve come to expect, this is an arms race and Canon likely will respond in kind.

Who should buy the 5D Mark IV? It’s Canon’s top full-frame DSLR not built specifically for action (that would be the 1DX Mark II). The 5DS R below is a nice choice for professional landscape and portrait photographers who can afford super expensive lenses, but most people won’t be able to take full advantage of the sensor. And the 6D series Mark II is great from a value perspective but doesn’t offer the resolution or features of the 5D Mark IV. For these reasons, it’s the top overall Canon on this list.
For More Click Here

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Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality is a fascinating  way to travel using nothing more than the power of technology. With a headset and motion tracking, VR lets you look around a virtual space as if you're actually there. It's also been a promising technology for decades that's never truly caught on. That's changing with the current wave of VR products.

Oculus has the popular Rift, HTC and Valve have the Steam-friendly Vive, Sony launched the excellent PlayStation VR, Samsung recently added a separate controller to its Gear VR, and Google's Daydream is steadily growing from the remains of Google Cardboard. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Windows 10 mixed reality platform and a variety of hardware manufacturers working on it are waiting in the wings. There are a lot of promising headsets across a lot of different price and power spectrum.

The Big Question: Mobile or Tethered?

Modern VR headsets fit under one of two categories: Mobile or tethered. Mobile headsets are shells with lenses into which you place your smartphone. The lenses separate the screen into two images for your eyes, turning your smartphone into a VR device. Mobile headsets like the Samsung Gear VR and the Google Daydream View are relatively inexpensive at around $100, and because all of the processing is done on your phone, you don't need to connect any wires to the headset.

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Apple iPhone X

Twenty years ago, Apple’s slogan was “Think different” - who knew it would be so appropriate two decades down the line?

The X is the biggest shake-up for the iPhone since, well, ever. It ditches the signature home button, waves goodbye to bezels and scans your face instead of your fingers. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.

These sweeping changes aren’t just for show, though. They completely transform the way the iPhone works, basically forcing you to forget a decade of muscle memory.

That might sound like a big ask, but it’s worth the effort: the X might not be without a few quirks, but it’s comfortably the best iPhone to date.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: that notch. Impossible to miss, right?

The X might have the thinnest screen bezels of any iPhone, but it could only get there by ditching the physical home button. That also meant getting rid of TouchID fingerprint scanning, so instead we get FaceID facial recognition.

It takes two cameras (one regular, one IR) an IR dot emitter and separate IR flood illuminator to accurately scan and recognise your face in less than half a second, and all that tech takes up space.

The way it bulges out into the display is certainly unique. It’s a bit like Marmite - you either love the distinctive look, or you hate the way it intrudes on your screen space. After a week with the phone, I’m in the former camp - although the effect it has on software is another matter.

Open an app that hasn’t been updated yet and you’ll get massive black borders at the top and bottom of the screen, or left and right when you’re in landscape. The notch is unmissable in this mode when you open Safari, with certain web pages looking downright ugly.

Apps that use Apple’s autolayout fill the screen, but not always how you’d expect - sometimes blocking out the battery indicator or losing UI elements offscreen. Even apps that have been updated can look a little funky.

The fact that big names like Spotify didn’t have updated apps ready to go on launch day is a bit of a joke.

But anyway, back to the screen itself. It’s a 5.8in panel, technically making it larger than the iPhone 8 Plus, but the 19.5:9 aspect ratio means it’s more like an iPhone 8 stretched vertically. Add in the notch and that’s quite a lot of dead space in certain apps and games.

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LG G6

LG G6 release date, news and rumors:

Update: The LG G6 launch date has been set! Mark February 26 in your diary, as LG has sent out save the dates for a MWC 2017 event on that date.

The LG G6 will be the South Korean firm's flagship smartphone for 2017, taking over from the questionable G5.

The LG G5 certainly wasn't boring though. With two rear cameras and an accessory slot that allowed you to modify the hardware it was a phone that really thought outside the box.

But while these extras were great, it didn't nail all the basics and failed to sell well, so there's plenty of room for improvement for the LG G6.

Rumors for what LG is planning on its next flagship phone are growing steadily - here's everything we know so far about the LG G6.

The LG G6 release date is almost certainly February 26, as the company's press conference is scheduled for noon in Barcelona.

LG's actually spells out the time and date without mentioning the new phone, but it does frame the invite in a hint-driven 18x9 aspect ratio – the same as the rumored LG G6 extra-wide screen.

Furthermore, a YouTube video direct from LG confirmed it will be launching  in February 2017.

The video doesn't confirm it's the LG G6 either, but it would make sense as the LG G5 was announced in February 2016 and launched in April. The LG G4 also landed in April, so April 2017 seems a good bet for release date of LG G6.

If it's launched in February, it may not take two months to come out as LG said the G6 is launching "in the very near future."

A report from "industry insiders" also suggests the company wants to release the LG G6 closer to the announcement date and will push to get the phone on sale in late February or early March.

LG G6 design

Hottest leaks:

A luxurious look

A glass or metal body

No modules

Rumor has it LG will be stepping up the design of the G6 to a more premium look and quality than we've seen on previous phones. An anonymous source told Korean site ChosunBiz LG will be using a tempered glass back on the new flagship.

The LG G5 had a painted aluminum body, which some didn't like. Being glass it may not be as durable as a full-metal jacket would be, but that may be the price we pay for a better looking phone from LG.

Then again, LG might not be moving away from metal after all, with another source claiming the G6 will have "a highly reflective metallic material on the rear."

While we haven't seen leaked images of the handset yet, we have, courtesy of @OnLeaks seen renders supposedly based on an official factory CAD.

The leak adds that the dimensions are apparently be 148.8 x 72.3 x 8.3mm, which would make it a similar size to the LG G5, but marginally thicker.

Whatever design it gets, the focus according to LG is on "aesthetics and usability."

The interchangeable modules - or what LG calls "friends" - are out by the sounds of things, with LG's chief technologist Skott Ahn saying that LG is moving away from modular designs. 

It's a decision we've been expecting, with an earlier report from the Electronic Times in Korea saying the same thing, while another source claimed the decision had been made in order to make the LG G6 waterproof.

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DJI Mavic Pro

• The DJI Mavic Pro folds down as small as a bottle of water, making it small enough to bring with you everywhere.
• New OcuSync transmission system offers up to 4.3 miles (7km) of transmission range. Fly at up to 40mph (64kmh) or for as long as 27-minutes.
• ActiveTrack, TapFly and other smart features make professional looking video effortless. True 4K, fully stabilized ensures smooth footage
• Obstacle Avoidance combined with sensor redundancy increases flight safety and reliability.
• Vision positioning paired with GPS a
  nd GLONASS ensures precise positioning indoor and outdoors.

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Galaxy S8

new leak shows off the Galaxy S8’s all-screen design:

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 can’t get here soon enough. Leaks and rumors have painted a very clear picture of the phone: it’s going to be a device like nothing Samsung has made before. Sure, it’ll have curved edges and great OLED displays, but these displays will be bigger and better than anything we’ve seen on a Galaxy S phone so far. And for the first time in years, this accomplishment will be achieved without increasing the phone’s size compared to its predecessor.

Now, a brand new leak shows us exactly how impressive this all-screen Galaxy S8 design will be.

The image below shows us what seem to be screen protectors for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. According to Android Police, they’re the closest thing we’ve had so far to seeing the real display design headed to the Galaxy S8.

Mind you, these are not Galaxy S8 components that will go on top of the actual OLED displays. Instead, they’re the kind of accessories that you can expect from other companies.

“Based on what we’ve heard from our sources, who attest these panels are a very close match to the actual devices, these images are the best representation we’ve seen yet of the unreleased Samsung phones,” Android Police says.

The image was first posted on a Twitter account a few days ago, and it started making the rounds of Android blogs yesterday.

Według mojego dostawcy szkieł S8 nie będzie miał wersji flat O.o Ma być S8 i S8 Plus. Do tej pory się nie mylił… pic.twitter.com/sExMoISPY4

— DforDesign (@dfordesign) January 16, 2017

What makes these panels more believable than the plethora of recent Galaxy S8 case leaks is the sensor and camera arrangement on the top bezel — and wow, that bezel is small. Android Police notes that there’s space for an iris sensor up there, a detail not observed in previous renders. And yes, there’s no home button on the lower bezel, which means it could be embedded into the phone’s screen.

The blog also noticed one other design feature in this image that has not been seen on any other smartphone. It appears that the display’s corners will be round themselves, the site notes, which is “a very significant design change compared to almost any other smartphone on the market.” The image also seems to indicate that there’s not going to be a flat Galaxy S8 this year, but that’s just speculation at this point.

Samsung is expected to show the Galaxy S8 behind closed doors at MWC next month, and unveil the product during a media event in late March.

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Nokia P1

Nokia P1 Flagship Android Phone's Price Leaked; Rumoured to Be Launched at MWC 2017


After the Nokia 6 launch, the first Android phone with Nokia branding in three years, HMD Global has now been tipped to launch its Android-based Nokia P1 smartphone at MWC 2017; the smartphone's price has been leaked as well. Further, it has been suggested that the smartphone will be based on the Sharp Aquos Xx3 (seen alongside) smartphone, which was launched last year in Japan.

Nokia P1 Price
The Nokia P1 price is expected to start around $800 (roughly Rs. 54,500) for the 128GB model and around $950 (roughly Rs. 64,700) for the 256GB variant, as per a report by Russian publication Worket (via PhoneArena).

Nokia P1 Features and Specifications
The Nokia smartphone has been tipped to run Android Nougat out-of-the-box and sport a 5.3-inch display, covered with Gorilla Glass 5, with either full-HD or QHD screen resolution. The Nokia P1 is expected to pack Snapdragon 835 SoC coupled with 6GB of RAM.

In terms of optics, the Nokia P1 smartphone is expected to feature a Zeiss-certified 22.6-megapixel rear camera, as per the report. In terms of water and dust resistance, Nokia P1 is expected to be IP57-certified. The phone has been tipped to feature a 3500mAh battery with support for quick charging. There is a fingerprint scanner on the right of the device as well, as per the report.

HMD Global, which currently holds the licence to manufacture and distribute Nokia phones, has already sent out invites for its MWC 2017 event on February 26 where the company is expected to launch more Nokia smartphones. So far, the company has launched the Nokia 6 smartphone in China, with no plans to bring it outside the country. A leaked Nokia roadmap suggests that as many as 7 Nokia Android phones are in the works for 2017, with Nokia 6 just the first of these.


Smartphone buyers in China have shown interest in the Nokia 6, which garnered within 24 hours 250,000 registrations for the first flash sale, which will be held on January 19. Over 1 million people have registered to buy the Nokia 6 on the flash sale so far.
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Xiaomi’s 4K Mi Box is Google’s newest Android TV device

Today's announcement of Google Home is likely to be the most exciting "living room" news that comes out of the company's annual developers conference, but that doesn't mean TV has been completely forgotten. Google today announced a bunch of new hardware partners for Android TV and Google Cast, its two solutions (just two!) for watching web content on TV screens.

One of these new partners is Chinese electronics company Xiaomi, which is announcing a new version of its Mi Box that will run on Android TV, support 4K, and will ship to the US. Earlier versions of Xiaomi's box were only available overseas, and supported HD video but not 4K. The new 4K Mi Box works with a Bluetooth remote equipped with voice recognition and also has built-in Google Cast tech so you can cast content from iOS and Android devices. Xiaomi hasn't said yet when the new box will be available or how much it will cost.

Google also said that new TVs from Sony Bravia and RCA will ship running Android TV, as well as a Sharp's Net Player. In Europe, Android TV will be available on Beko, Grundig, and Vestel TVs. And Google Cast will work with soon-to-ship TVs from Toshiba, Philips, Magnavox, Westinghouse, and Polaroid. The new TVs are expected to become available this summer.

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Apple Pencil

Add Apple Pencil. Erase barriers.

You may never have seen Apple Pencil before, but you already know how to use it. From the first moment, it does what you expect. And then far more. Whether you’re sketching in the park, painting a watercolor portrait, or drafting a blueprint, Apple Pencil gives you a variety of tools in a single instrument. You hold it, but it doesn’t hold you back.

Highly responsive. Virtually no lag.

The lightning-fast responsiveness of Apple Pencil separates it from other creative tools. That’s because its latency — the tiny delay between when you begin drawing and the time it appears on the screen — has been reduced to an almost imperceptible level.
iPad Pro knows whether you’re using your finger or Apple Pencil. When iPad Pro senses Apple Pencil, the subsystem scans its signal at an astounding 240 times per second, giving it twice the data points it normally collects with your finger. This data, combined with Apple‑designed software, means that there’s only milliseconds between the image you have in your mind and the one you see on the display.

Draw lines of any weight. Just apply pressure.

Within its slender case are intricate and accurate pressure sensors, capable of measuring a range of forces. The carefully positioned sensor determines precisely how hard the tip of Apple Pencil is being pressed down. Press harder to draw thicker lines. Or use a gentle touch for wispy hairlines. The variety of creative effects is virtually limitless. Which means you are as well.

Add shading with a tilt of the hand.

Two tilt sensors in the tip of Apple Pencil calculate the exact orientation and angle of your hand. As you naturally write or draw, the relative positions of these sensors can be detected by the Multi-Touch display. So you can create shading effects simply by tilting Apple Pencil the way you would a charcoal or conventional pencil.

 For Information: Apple

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Hyperloop the future of travel

There was a moment, an hour before an event last week, when 30 or so young fresh-faced people stood around their creation and posed for a group photo.

They were in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. All around them, reminders of historic innovations that began with research at this legendary college.

As the photographer clicked away, I wondered - what place in history would this photograph have? Will we look back at these 30 smiles and say "that was the team that changed the world!"?

If that is to be the case, there is a long road ahead. And indeed, it is long roads that are the motivation for this project. The MIT team is one of several working on Hyperloop, a vision for rapid travel put forth by Silicon Valley's most interesting man, Elon Musk.

He says the commute from San Francisco to Los Angeles - currently a five hour drive or an hour of flying - could be cut to 30 minutes.

Mr Musk is the boss of Tesla and founder of SpaceX, and when he published in 2013 a white paper outlining a way to use airtight tubes to propel pods at speeds of up to 700mph (1130km/h), he set a challenge to anyone and everyone who wanted to try and build the technology.

Mr Musk isn't paying the firms, but he has committed to funding a series of tests. The hope is that these will happen in August this year. The target is that by 2021 humans will be travelling on Hyperloops around the world.

The MIT team is one of more than 20 non-commercial groups also designing a Hyperloop pod - with money coming from SpaceX in the form of a competition.

That was split over two phases - a design contest, which MIT won in January, and an on-track test coming up in the summer.

But it all could be a colossal waste of time. The barriers to Hyperloop becoming a reality are enormous - and it's not just about technology.

Straight and narrow

Part of any visionary's CV is the ability to ignore the naysayers and focus on your vision. If and when you succeed, everyone backtracks and says they knew you were a genius all along.

Elon Musk is the sort of chap that is used to people telling him he's wrong. When he set out to make electric cars appeal to petrolheads, he had a lot of people to convince - but somehow, and on the brink of bankruptcy, he got some investors on board.

For more:BBC

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Li-Fi

The term Li-Fi was coined by pureLiFi’s CSO, Professor Harald Haas, and refers to light based communications technology that delivers a high-speed, bidirectional networked, mobile communications in a similar manner as Wi-Fi. Although Li-Fi can be used to off-load data from existing Wi-Fi networks, implementations may be used to provide capacity for the greater downlink demand such that existing wireless or wired network infrastructure may be used in a complementary fashion.

With LiFi, data is transmitted by modulating the intensity of the light, which is then received by a photo-sensitive detector, and the light signal is demodulated into electronic form. This modulation is performed in such a way that it is not perceptible to the human eye.

LiFi is a category of Optical Wireless Communications (OWC). OWC includes infra-red and ultra-violet communications as well as visible light. However, LiFi is unique in that the same visible light energy used for illumination may also be used for communication.

For More: purelifi

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World cheapest smartphone

Freedom to Flaunt
All your favourite Pictures, videos and games are rendered vivid and larger than life on the 4 inch (10.2 cms) qHD IPS display.


Feedorm to Capture

With 3.2MP AF Rear Camera & .3MP Front camera capture best moments of your life. Freedom 251 with its inbuilt touchless technology is Ideal for perfect Selfie. For Selfie lovers life just got a little easier.

Freedom to Connect

Don't let a moment to share your creativity pass you by. Enjoy the boundless freedom of staying connected to family, friends or followers wherever you are with an enhanced connection that gives you everything you need at lightning fast speeds.

Freedom to Explore

Freedom 251 comes with 1.3 GHz Quadcore Processor capable of fast and responsive performance. 1GB RAM and 8GB internal memory, all the space you need. SD card support (expandable up to 32GB)

Freedom to Talk

With its 1450 mAh battery, Freedom 251 gives you more time to talk, text, Play and watch videos without needing to worry about running out of power.

For More: Freedom251

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The new Kindle Oasis

The wedge-shaped Kindle Oasis is a petite and pocketable new e-reader from Amazon that sacrifices a bit of battery life to fit in the palm of your hand.

Announced Wednesday, the Oasis is both shorter and thinner than 2014's Kindle Voyage, which means there's less space for a battery. It gets more than two weeks of battery life on its own, a sharp decrease from the Voyage, which claimed six weeks of life. To make up for that decrease, the Oasis includes a neat new accessory: a leather cover that doubles as a power source, extending the battery life for more than nine weeks.

It also comes with a new, larger price tag of $290.

The Oasis is the most significant Kindle redesign in four generations. Even though the E Ink touchscreen is the exact same size and resolution as the previous version, the 4.6-ounce device looks and feels significantly smaller.

The new shape tapers off to an impressively thin 3.4 mm on one side. The other edge is thicker for gripping, evoking a traditional book spine. The two buttons next to the screen let you flip pages one handed. An accelerometer lets the reader turn the device upside-down and automatically switches the button functions.

The contrast ratio is the same, and you can still flip pages by swiping the touchscreen. There is no warm night mode and the device isn't waterproof, but it still fits nicely in a Ziplock bag.

For More: CNN

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Huawei's P9

The smartphone landscape is changing so fast that what worked a year ago would be a disaster today.

Every manufacturer deals with it in its own way: Apple is moving at its own pace, careful to add one marquee feature in each new iPhone. Samsung seems to love tossing in a dozen odd features in the hopes something will stick (although the company's toned down the gimmicks this year). The up and coming Chinese manufacturers just try to make a good looking, powerful phone and sell it cheap. 

With its latest flagship P9 (and P9 Plus), Chinese smartphone maker Huawei — the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world according to IDC — is trying to out-Apple Apple. The P9 is an exceptionally well-built phone that sort of apes the iPhone aesthetic, but it's not cheap. And it has one very distinctive feature: dual cameras on the back. 

SEE ALSO: Huawei P9 vs. LG G5: Which dual-camera phone takes better photos?

I spent a week and a half with the P9 — the base model with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, in Mystic Silver — and the experience was very pleasant, but is it worth the 549 euro starting price?

The P9 is visually very similar to its predecessor, the P8, which is visually quite similar to the iPhone. However, with so many other manufacturers adopting the iPhone's "antenna lines" design, I wouldn't say the P9 is copying anyone. So while the design is elegant — tapered Gorilla Glass on the front and aluminum on the back — it's definitely not breaking any new ground. 

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