News

Flash Plus 2 is an exciting sub-$200 phone from the brand formerly known as Alcatel

Published

on

When I hear the word Alcatel, I get flashbacks from the very late nineties, when apart from the likes of Nokia and Motorola, it too made cellphones. I can still remember the first Alcatel One Touch, a larger and rounder Nokia 5110 look-a-like.

Almost 20 years later, Alcatel is staging a comeback. Over the last few years the company has generated a reasonable amount of interest in its Flash line – budget smartphones with reasonably good specs.

But despite its rich past, this week, mother company TCL announced it was dropping the Alcatel branding from Flash phones and creating Flash as an independent brand. Albert Wong, general manager of Flash 3C tells GadgetMatch the moves was inspired by Flash’s younger demographic. “We found actually the people who buy online are much younger. They have a different behavior.”

The first new Flash smartphone is the Flash Plus 2, announced this week. At under $200, its probably one of the most interesting phones this year. Sure, it doesn’t offer anything innovative, but the Flash Plus 2 offers features and specs that not even all midrange smartphones offer.

Alcatel-Flash-Plus-2

A 5.5-inch, 1080p display fronts the user, while an octa-core Helio P10 chipset from MediaTek takes care of everything else from computing to running Android Marshmallow. The Flash Plus 2 is available with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage, or you can get it with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage. It also The Flash Plus 2 is also equipped with a 3,000mAh battery, a 13-megapixel rear camera, and a 5-megapixel front-facer that offers a Beauty mode for photos and video (yes, video!).

Of course, the design choices that led to the Flash Plus 2 are equally noteworthy. The phone goes metal, with chamfered edges and a curved back that gets a brushed finish for a premium look and feel. As far as sub-$200 phones go, it’s also among the few that has a fingerprint sensor for added security and more.

It’s this disruption that Flash hopes will be the key to its success. We’ve been impressed many times this year by manufacturers offering great midrange smartphones, but with its competitive price point, the Flash Plus 2 is in a league of its own in the segment.

Like many up-and-comers, Flash is focused on building its community of users and offering its phones exclusive via online partners. “The most important thing for us is to satisfy our consumers.”

According to Wong, many new features of the Flash Plus 2 came from understanding user pain points, like the phone’s front-facing flash and its dedicated micro SD card slot. The community will also have a say in color options for its upcoming replaceable metallic casings for the Flash Plus 2.

Available in silver and gold paint jobs, the Flash Plus 2 will debut later this month across Southeast Asia, including Malaysian, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Flash executives tell GadgetMatch they believe APAC is one of the biggest open markets for mobile phones, where they can skip operators and resellers and sell directly to consumers. The company also promises to offer higher-end products later this year.

[irp posts=”2875″ name=”Flash Plus 2 review”]

Gaming

The Steam Controller literally screams when you throw it

Please throw it at padded surfaces only.

Published

on

We love harmless Easter eggs. Think of Chrome’s jumping dino or Android’s yearly quirk. It’s always fun when a device or app hides a special surprise for those in the know. Today, Valve is keeping the tradition alive by putting a screaming Easter egg in its new Steam Controller.

The first of its trio of new hardware, the Steam Controller converts the iconic layout of the Steam Deck into controller form. Besides offering an accessible controller, it also connects seamlessly to Steam, offering an easy doorway to plug and, literally, play.

Since it launched on May 4, users have already been playing around with their Steam Controllers. Presumably, this also includes a few rage moments that involve throwing the controller over a frustrating game.

If you threw your controller already, you might have heard an interesting surprise. As spotted by users online, the Steam Controller lets out a Wilhelm scream whenever it’s thrown.

For the unaware, the Wilhelm scream is the world’s most iconic scream. If you’ve watched a few movies, there’s a high chance that you’ve heard it before, as it’s often used as a background scream in many, many movies.

Notably, this has a cooldown of approximately one minute, so you can’t spam it over and over again. This also works on padded surfaces, so you don’t need to throw your controller at a hard wall. It’s just one of those nice Easter eggs that add a little spice to a favorite controller.

All that said, please don’t throw your Steam Controller at hard surfaces.

SEE ALSO: The Steam Controller is coming out on May 4

Continue Reading

Gaming

Assassin’s Creed Hexe leak reveals the return of a major character

Is Ezio Auditore coming back?

Published

on

Assassin’s Creed Nintendo

Undoubtedly, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is the most hype that the franchise has enjoyed in a while now. A lot of gamers are excited to replay one of the most prolific entries in the vast history-hopping series. But Black Flag isn’t the only entry getting some eyeballs. The mysterious Codename Hexe is also getting some love, and we might finally have some more information about the game, thanks to a new leak.

In 2022, Ubisoft teased Codename Hexe as a darker entry in the franchise. Four years later, the game is still shrouded in mystery. Today, a leaker (@xj0nathan on X) has shared some interesting details about the game.

For one, the game will reportedly be set during the Wurzburg Witch Trials in the 17th century, confirming earlier rumors that the setting would be dark one. Adding to that, Codename Hexe might have most of its gameplay in forest biomes, using a lot of trees to parkour around.

The return of an icon

Confirming rumors is just a tiny part of the leak. The more interesting bit is the alleged return of the franchise’s most beloved character: Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

Ezio has not been seen in an Assassin’s Creed game in over a decade. His story concluded in Revelations (with a neat epilogue in a short film called Assassin’s Creed: Embers).

In Codename Hexe, the iconic assassin will reportedly return to mentor the game’s protagonist named Anika. Currently, it’s unclear how he appears in the game’s setting. Some rumors hint that Isu technology might be involved.

Finally, the leak concludes with a blurry photo. Unfortunately, Ubisoft has been taking down reposts of the photo, so we won’t include it here. The original leaker himself took it down as well. It can, however, be described as a female assassin trudging through a dark forest with creepy lights in the background. It doesn’t reveal a lot of details, but it’s substantial enough to warrant takedowns.

SEE ALSO: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced launches on July 9

Continue Reading

Apps

Instagram takes on Snapchat yet again with new Instants feature

Posts disappear after they’re viewed once.

Published

on

The popularity of Snapchat’s competitors is as fleeting as their disappearing messages. However, despite how volatile the market is, Instagram wants to try again with a new feature (and app) called Instants.

Pardon me if you’ve heard this premise before. Instants is a feature that lets users share disappearing photos. However, unlike the 24 hours allotted for Stories, Instants will disappear right after a friend views them, but they can still react and reply to them.

The idea of Instants is to trim the excess fat from what Instagram is these days. Instagram’s Adam Mosseri admits as much when he said users want as easier way to shoot content.

As such, users won’t have access to Instagram’s editing tools. They also can’t upload pre-shot content from their camera roll. Like its contemporaries like BeReal, the new Instants feature is about living in the moment and sharing exactly what users see.

Despite disappearing after a single view, Instants will be automatically archived, so they can be reuploaded as normal Stories later on.

It isn’t the Wild West, though. Even if it pares down all the extra features, Instants will still use the safety features available to all of Instagram. Users, especially young ones, can mute and block others’ Instants. Likewise, parents will have control over when and how their young children interact with the feature.

SEE ALSO: Instagram wants a feature that works like Discord

Continue Reading

Trending