Will selfie cameras be hidden behind the screen? Samsung patent seems to think so

Patent drawings showing what it'll look like with the selfie camera, earpiece, and sensors placed behind the screen

With bezels continuously shrinking, placing key components are becoming a bit of an issue. We’ve seen recently how the fingerprint sensor is being moved behind the glass display, are front cameras next? A new Samsung patent suggests so. They take this a step further by moving even the earpiece as well as proximity and ambient light sensors. Xiaomi tried putting the earpiece below the screen with the Mi Mix but it apparently didn’t sound great. But no one has attempted to put the selfie camera behind the glass. We aren’t sure the technology exists just yet.

An early patent, which has been referenced by Samsung, Apple, LG, and others, suggests a transparent OLED that has a high refresh rate and could turn the screen on and off to let the camera have a look during inactive periods. But for now we have to wait and see if this ever comes into fruition. Perhaps it might but it’s too early to tell. For now we need to live with notches and weirdly placed cameras as a response to slimmer bezels.

Source: GSMArena

New Instagram feature might show just how addicted to the social network you are

There’s a new feature that’s on by default on Instagram, and you may or may not like it. It shows people you private message or tag in your Instagram Stories when the last time you were on the app. It’s apparently showing up for both Android and iOS users. If you would prefer to keep how often you are on the app, you can just scroll to the bottom of the settings menu and turn off the toggle beside the “Show Activity Status” option. If you do this though, you won’t be able to see when other people were last online.

Source: Business Insider

Razer rumoured to be launching the Razer Phone 2 in September, possibly alongside Project Linda

Is this in our immediate future?

Late last year, Razer launched its first entry into the smartphone market and it seems they’re not stopping there. Rumour has it the gaming peripherals company is already planning to release its second smartphone. It’ll supposedly launch in September, which means it could make an appearance at IFA. This information supposedly comes from “an internal source” but, of course, we can’t verify the veracity of the information at the moment.

One interesting thing to note is the possibility that Razer might launch its Project Linda laptop dock alongside the second iteration of the Razer Phone. Of course, that is if the dock becomes more than a concept. It’s said that Razer execs will decide in the next few days where to make this happen. Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan hinted in a Twitter reply to Marques Brownlee (MKBHD on YouTube) that this might be a possibility. For now, we’re keeping our eyes peeled for any confirmation.

Source: GSMArena

YouTube’s new monetization rules kills ad revenue for small creators

It’s not a good time to be a small content creator on YouTube these days. Google just announced some new changes to its monetization rules and smaller channels are going to suffer for it. Under the new guidelines, channels will need to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within the last year to be eligible to earn ad revenue. Before YouTubers just needed 10,000 total views to be able to run ads on their videos. Now, even bigger channels that are part of Google’s Preferred program will have their content manually reviewed before ads will run on these videos. These new rules will be enforced starting February 20.

Source: Gizmodo