Instagram Reportedly Testing Multi-Photo Album Uploads on the Android App

HIGHLIGHTS

• Feature was spotted by users of the Instagram v10.7.0 Android app
• It lets users select multiple files from their smartphone galleries
• For now, the testing doesn't allow posting to the photo-sharing network

If you feel constrained by your inability to share multiple photos on Instagram in a single move, a new feature will soon make your vacation look beautiful in a single album.

According to a report in Droid Life on Thursday, Instagram is testing a new feature in the Android app that lets users share multiple photos from their smartphone's gallery as an album on the photo-sharing network.

Only advertisers are able to share multiple photos from their gallery currently which users can swipe through horizontally, but with the test, it looks like the feature may make its way to all 600 million Instagram uses soon.

 

"Users can select up to 10 photos from their galley, slap on filters to each photo they choose, then upload the photos as an album to your timeline. From your followers' perspective, they will see the album and can then slide through the various shots, liking photos as they go," the report noted. While users can select photos and apply filters, they cannot yet upload the entire album to their Instagram timelines.

So for, only limited users can see the feature on Instagram v10.7.0 for Android, the latest version of the app that's available from Google Play. The Facebook-owned company looks to be testing the feature with select Android users for now, as not everyone with the app can see it. It's probably a server-side update that may be enabled in a future version, or, in switched on for other users soon. Some users report that they are seeing the feature in the beta version of the Android app - there's no telling when iOS devices will get the new feature.

Do you see the new feature in the Instagram app for Android? Do let us know in the comments section below.

OnePlus, Meizu Are Reportedly Cheating on Benchmark Scores

HIGHLIGHTS

• OnePlus and Meizu have been blamed for Benchmark cheating
• This is done by tweaking with the CPU
• OnePlus said that it will rectify it with the next update

In a new development, OnePlus and Meizu have reportedly both been found to be artificially boosting their benchmark scores to fool critics and users. The OnePlus 3T and Meizu Pro 6 Plus were found to have been tweaked to show slightly higher scores than they deserve.

In the past, many OEMs including Samsung were reported to have cheated to elevate their benchmark scores. These unethical measures were lambasted, and Samsung rolled back the fraudulent practice after a major backlash.

XDA Developers claims to have uncovered that OnePlus was using cheats to achieve a higher score on benchmarks. Furthermore, the increase in score was minimal, and the need to indulge in fraudulent practices for such a little perquisite was questionable.

"OnePlus was making it CPU governor more aggressive, resulting in a practical artificial clock speed floor in Geekbench that wasn't there in the hidden Geekbench build. It wasn't based on the CPU workload, but rather on the app's package name, which the hidden build could fool," the report said.

When OnePlus was contacted, it swiftly promised to fix it in a future OxygenOS update. 'In order to give users a better user experience in resource intensive apps and games, especially graphically intensive ones, we implemented certain mechanisms in the community and Nougat builds to trigger the processor to run more aggressively. The trigger process for benchmarking apps will not be present in upcoming OxygenOS builds on the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T," the company's spokesperson told XDA.

As for Meizu, XDA Developers found that Meizu Pro 6 Plus switched to 'Performance Mode' from its normal 'Standard Mode' whenever it sensed benchmark apps. It had further tweaked Performance Mode that be even more aggressive than usual when entering a benchmark app. The company has not reacted to XDA Developers' criticism.

This also gives a fair warning to all buyers to not take benchmark scores as the final word on a smartphone's performance. The only certain way to know how a device will perform is by using it for a while.

Huawei P8 Lite (2017) With Android 7.0 Nougat Launched

HIGHLIGHTS

The Huawei P8 Lite (2017) comes with a 5.2-inch display
It runs on Android 7.0 Nougat
There's a 12-megapixel rear camera with LED flash

Huawei has announced a new version of its P8 Lite smartphone that launched two years ago. The Huawei P8 Lite (2017), on paper, is a slightly better version of the P9 Lite smartphone that launched last year.
Apart from the confusing naming, the timing of the launch of this smartphone is very odd, as the company is expected to launch the P10 Lite in a few weeks. In any case, the Huawei P8 Lite (2017) comes with a 5.2-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixel) display. It is powered by the company's in-house Kirin 655 octa-core SoC paired with 3GB of RAM. The smartphone runs on Android 7.0 Nougat and offers 16GB of internal storage. The storage is further expandable (up to 128GB) via a microSD slot.
As for optics, the Huawei P8 Lite (2017) comes with a 12-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and autofocus, and an 8-megapixel front camera setup for selfies. The dual-SIM device packs a 3000mAh battery and supports LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, and NFC as well. It has a fingerprint scanner at the rear as well.
  The Huawei P8 Lite (2017) is a big upgrade from the original P8 Lite in all departments. It's got a bigger display, better processor, more RAM and battery, and even a better camera. However, when compared to last year's P9 Lite, the smartphone has negligible upgrades - the most notable being a slightly better processor.


The Huawei P8 Lite (2017) is priced at EUR 239 (roughly Rs. 17,300) and will be available in the German market in Black colour by the end of January. It, understandably, costs much higher than the P8 Lite, but is less expensive than the P9 Lite (EUR 299 at launch, which roughly translates to Rs. 21,600). The device will also be made available in White and Gold colour options, and in a single-SIM variant in the coming weeks.
Interestingly, GSMArena notes that this device could launch at the P9 Lite (2017) in Latin America. Only Huawei can tell the reason behind this bizarre naming and upgrade system  

                                                           
                                                              Huawei P8 Lite (2017)                                

                                                      KEY SPECS                      NEWS

                                                     Display                            5.20-inch

                                                     Processor                       octa-core

                                                     Front Camera                 8-megapixel

                                                     Resolution                      1080x1920 pixels

                                                     RAM                                3GB

                                                     OS                                   Android 7.0

                                                     Storage                          16GB

                                                     Rear Camera                 12-megapixel

                                                     Battery Capacity           3000mAh