Week 51 in review: awaiting the Galaxy S8 and new Nokia flagships in 2017

With just a week left of 2016, we can't really expect any more major events. It is instead the time to reminisce and look back on the past 12 months and also prepare and speculate on what the new year has to offer.

As far as the first point goes, there were at least a couple of notable calamities in the market this year and as December comes to an end, we are happy to finally see some proper evaluation and closure for some of the unpleasant situations. Samsung is ready with its official investigation of the Note7 saga, which should hopefully mark its final chapter. LG is also hoping to leave its V20 bootloop troubles behind in 2016.

On a far more positive note, the industry seems more hopeful then ever about the future of the legendary Nokia brand, especially after two new flagship offers leaked. The Samsung Galaxy S8 is already gathering a lot of attention. Samsung really has to knock it out of the ballpark this time around on both the Galaxy and Note fronts to make up for the unfortunate events surrounding the Note7. Hopefully, this will nudge the eagerly-anticipated foldable concept phones towards a release as well.

In other news, the ZUK Edge is now finally official and so are a few LG handsets and new color options for the Oppo R9s and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4.

Two Nokia flagships leak - a powerhouse and a cameraphone to debut at MWC

Both devices will run on Snapdragon 835 and come with Android Nougat out of the box.

Samsung's investigation of the Note7 debacle complete, findings report sent out to labs

The report is yet to be released to the public, but there's plenty of time until the end of the year.

4.6-inch Xiaomi Mi S reportedly on the way with Snapdragon 821, 4GB of RAM

It's been a while since we've seen a true flagship-grade small smartphone, and this may just be the next one.

ZUK Edge is official with Snapdragon 821, slim bezels

Lenovo offers the ZUK Edge with 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64GB of fast UFS 2.0 internal storage.

Sony Xperia XZ emerges as top late 2016 flagship after Note7's demise

In Apple-land, adoption of the iPhone 7 is slower than that of its predecessor from two years ago.

Nougat update could bring fingerprint gestures on current Galaxy devices

Samsung's reply to a beta tester leads to believe the S7's fingerprint scanner could be updated with more features with the Nougat update.

Nougat update confirmed for Xiaomi's Mi Note, Mi 4c, Mi 4s, and Mi Max smartphones

The confirmation came in the form of a Weibo post from a company representative.

Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) and Galaxy A5 (2017) to hit Europe next month

Specifically, the devices will be available in western European Union in mid-January.

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge getting a $170 discount for the holidays

The units in question are offered SIM-free in the US - a great option if you don't want to get tied up with carriers.

Samsung Galaxy S8 may be 15-20% more expensive than the S7

The figures come from experts at Goldman Sachs, who think the S8 will cost more to make than the S7, and this will reflect in the final price.

LG partners up with Apple, Google, and Microsoft to develop foldable display panels

Partnership suggested by a report out of South Korea, no specific time frame for mass production has been cited.

Xiaomi is unveiling a new Mi Notebook Air with 4G support on December 23

A teaser image has surfaced referencing the event and showing a new version of the company's laptop.

Nokia files new patent infringement lawsuits against Apple in the US and Europe

The infringement claims cover 32 patents and have been filed in three regional courts in Germany and one District Court in the US.

Beast Mode could be a feature of the Galaxy S8 as Samsung files for trademark

The Korean company seems intent on outfitting its next flagship with a switch that enables top performance.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 may be delayed until April, so that it's free from MWC's bustle

Reportedly, the event will be held in New York, moving the S8 away from the launch grounds of its forefathers.

Next Samsung Galaxy Note phone to pack an LG-made battery

Talks are on, and nothing is finalized yet, but a deal seems likely.

Xiaomi releases blue and black Redmi Note 4

For now, the two new color versions are only available in China, but we assume they're headed to other markets eventually.

LG officially announces 2017 K series and Stylus 3 smartphones

All the handsets will be showcased at the upcoming CES 2017 show.

Apple AirPods disassembled by iFixit, given the lowest score possible

X-ray images show the chips were poorly soldered, which hints that Apple was in a rush.

Super Mario Run breaks record for most-launch-day downloads in App Store history

2.85 million downloads on day one is more than three times as many as Pokemon Go did a while back.

LG blames cheap USB Type-C cables for V20 bootloops

An LG Service center has reportedly concluded V20 bootloops were caused by cheap USB-C cables.

Cancelled Samsung Galaxy Note7 still has more users than LG V20, HTC Bolt and OnePlus 3T

More than 90% of Note7 units sold have been recalled and yet it's one of the more popular Android flagships.

Redmi Note 3 gets Marshmallow update

MIUI 8.1.1 update rolling out to the global variant that finally brings the Marshmallow update to the device.

Red Oppo R9s is now official, goes on sale on Christmas eve

Specs-wise, there aren't any changes. Pricing remains the same as well.