Marshmallow-based CyanogenMod 13 nightlies now available for several new devices including OP2

Alternative Android OS developer Cyanogen has released the Marshmallow-based CyanogenMod 13 nightly builds for a number of new devices. The list includes the OnePlus 2,Yu Yureka, Moto X Pure, Oppo R5 and R5s, and the Xperia Tablet Z.

The nightlies bring Android version 6.0 to these devices. Keep in mind that the builds may contain bugs as they usually aren't stable. Plus, installing them may not only result in a bricked device, but also void your handset's warranty.

In case you missed, the OnePlus 2 has already started receiving the official Marshmallow update.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 official photos leak prior to launch

Twitter leak aficionado @evleaks has tweeted what appear to be official images of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab S3. The upcoming slate passed TENAA certification last month and should be released soon.

Specifications have also been detailed, as both the 9.7" and 8" variants of the Galaxy Tab S3 leaked in February.

The Galaxy Tab S3 will launch with the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It will have 3GB of RAM, 32GB storage, 8MP/1080p main camera and 2MP/1080p selfie. 150Mbps LTE will be an option. The chipset is a Snapdragon 652, which has four Cortex-A72 and four A53 CPU cores.

Both the 8" and 9.7" variants share a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. The battery of the 8-incher is 4,000mAh and that of the larger one is unknown at this point.

Asus Zenpad Z8 leaks with SD650 SoC, 8-inch display

A new Asus tablet - dubbed Zenpad Z8 - has leaked courtesy of the usually reliable leakster @evleaks who posted an image of the device along with some of its key specifications on Twitter.

The leak says the tablet is powered by a Snapdragon 650 chipset, and sports an 8-inch (1536x2048 pixel resolution) display. It has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable internal memory. The camera department is handled by an 8MP rear unit and a 1.8MP front shooter.

According to @evleaks, the tablet is headed to Verizon. There was, however, no word on when it would be launched and what price tag it would carry.

HTC stops manufacturing Nexus 9

After the Nexus Player got axed, it’s now the turn of the ill-fated Nexus 9 tablet. HTC has confirmed to CNET that the company is stopping the manufacturing of Google’s latest Nexus tablet.

The Nexus 9 was announced back in October 2014 alongside the Nexus 6. Being the second Nexus device manufactured by HTC, long after the very first Nexus One, there was some excitement around it. However, the tablet got almost universally panned in reviews, particularly for its poor build quality and quality control issues, not to mention the high price that didn’t sit well with consumers who are already not too keen on Android tablets. The Nexus 9 wasn’t quite the success story the Nexus 7 was and as such was mostly just warming Google’s online shelves for the past year, until it was pulled from there last month.

It remains to be seen if Google will follow it up with another Android tablet later this year or perhaps take a break from the Android tablet market.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Iris with biometric technology lands in India

Samsung has been investing heftily in its local India research and development divisions lately and consequently, more and more interesting offers and innovations, tailor-made for the fast-growing market have started to appear. The latest such device is the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Tab Iris, which as its name suggests, is equipped with specialized iris-recognition technology.

The model is meant to be used with certain biometric-based services within the government, like Aadhaar - a centralized biometric and demographic database, operated by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) agency. The tablet is fully compatible with said system and is also STQC-certified and thus proudly wears the "Made for India" moniker as a tool aimed to simplify adoption and usage of the Aadhaar system among others.

As for the device itself, it is far from a tech powerhouse by today's standards. It is based on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite, which it might actually based on, with its 7.0-inch, 600 x 1024 pixels display. It also packs a quad-core processor, clocked at 1.2 Ghz, 1.5GB of LPDDR3 RAM and 8GB of expandable storage.

The 193.4 x 116.4 x 9.7mm, 327 gram tablet has a 5MP camera on the back, alongside the iris-recognition hardware itself. There is also Wi-Fi b/g/n on board, Bluetooth 4.1 USB host functionality, which might come in handy and a 3600 mAh battery pack powers the show. The only notable absence seems to be 4G, which is odd, considering the Korean giant's push towards the technology in its India-tailored offers of late.

The price point for the Galaxy Tab Iris is set at INR 13,499, or around $200, but most units are likely to arrive in bulk orders for professional use, rather than see much exposure on the end user market.

Marshmallow update starts hitting Nvidia Shield Tablet LTE as well

When Nvidia started rolling out the Marshmallow update to the Shield Tablet K1 back in April this year, it said that the original Shield Tablet - including LTE models - will also get the update in a few weeks.

In-line with that time-frame, the original Shield Tablet started receiving the update a couple of weeks ago, and now the update has started hitting the LTE variants of the tablet as well, at-least in the US.

The update brings Android 6.0.1, and includes Android security patch for the month of March, as well as several other features, improvements, and bug fixes. Head to the Source link below for the complete change-log.