News briefs: Essential phone gets a repairability score of 1 out of 10

As the manufacturers try to stuff more and more things in a compact smartphone package, the devices have become harder to repair for DIY enthusiasts. Now, Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone has taken the after-sales repairability to a whole new level. iFixit found the phone to be extremely hard to repair and gave it a one out of ten score in its repairability testing.

iFixit noted that the Essential phone is tough to get into and they had to freeze the smartphone to even remove the LCD panel, which is the only way in. In the process, they ended up cracking the display. So, in case something goes wrong with your Essential Phone, the official service folks might be the only option for you, else you will most likel end up inflicting more damage on your phone. Check out the full teardown here.

Microsoft Swiftkey adds support for Chinese handwriting and a lot more

Microsoft has released a new update for the Swiftkey keyboard app in Google Play. The update brings quite a few things including support for more languages. Full change-log below

• Support for Chinese handwriting
• GIFs will display in 3 columns on larger devices
• More languages supported: Bislama, Lower Sorbian, Nuosu, Limburgish, Silesian, Venetan & Makhuwa
• Transliteration support for Sinhala & Dhivehi

Gionee M7 to bring dual camera setup, M7 Power coming on Sept 28

Gionee is planning to release a new smartphone called M7, which will feature dual camera setup on the back and bare minimum bezels.

There is no word on the release date and the company has just shared the above teaser in China. (Source)

In addition, the Chinese company will also launch the M7 Power (probably a variant of M7) phone on September 28 in Thailand. The phone is expected to include a massive battery among other features. (Source)

Huawei’s Mate 10 debuting on Oct 16

Huawei has started teasing the new Mate 10 smartphone. The company revealed the phone will be announced on October 16 in Munich. Set to be powered by the company’s Kirin 970 processor, the phone will reportedly pack a 6-inch screen.

Other details are a mystery at this point. (Source)