Two new Amazon Fire TV devices are reportedly headed our way

A new report from AFTVnews claims we’re getting more Amazon Fire TV options this year. There will be two new devices, supposedly, and one is coming next month. Both devices will have 4K HDR video support at 60 frames per second. The “mid-tier model,” which looks like a square Google Chromecast is the one we’re expecting in October and will reportedly be priced within the US$60 to $80 range.

Meanwhile, the more exciting model, which is expected to come out later this year or early in 2018, is considered the high-end Fire TV. It’ll reportedly have far-field microphones and an integrated speaker, meaning it might be able to support remote voice commands. With an LED light bar, it might mean this model gets Alexa support. The estimated price for this model is over $100.

There might be trouble looming in HTC’s future

The HTC U11 is the company's latest attempt at winning over the public

It looks like HTC is in enough trouble to want to consider strategic options. At least that’s what a new report from Bloomberg suggests. The Taiwanese company is supposedly looking at its strategic options, which, in business speak, is they’re looking to put the company up for sale because of financial issues. The options HTC is supposedly looking into is spinning off its VR arm or selling off the company itself. According to people familiar with the matter, HTC has supposedly held talks with companies including Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

Considered one of the pioneers of Android smartphones, HTC has been struggling in the current mobile market as Samsung and Apple dominate the premium market and its Chinese competitors like OnePlus and Xiaomi introducing budget-friendly yet spec-heavy smartphones. It also doesn’t seem to be doing so hot in the virtual reality space. The Vive VR system recently got a US$200 price cut to help improve sales. IDC estimates HTC has sold around 190,000 units in the first quarter of the year, putting it in third behind Samsung (489,000) and Sony (429,000 units) in the same period. Whether this deal pushes through, we can’t say yet. HTC and Google have declined to comment on this report.

Is there a ‘Star Wars’ Obi-Wan Kenobi movie in our future?

It’s not exactly a new rumour, but with the untitled Han Solo film now in its final stages, it seems the fixation is moving towards the other possible standalone movies from the Star Wars universe. And the rumour mill this time is saying a solo Obi-Wan Kenobi movie might be in the works, or at least in its very early stages. The Hollywood Reporter claims Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry might be taking the helm for this project. The director behind Billy Elliot and The Hours is reportedly in early talks with Lucasfilm to have him oversee the development and writing of the film.

Lucasfilm has been planning to release more standalone films and it isn’t an unusual thought that we’d get an Obi-Wan film, especially with Alec Guinness even getting an Oscar nomination for taking on the role in the original trilogy. Ewan McGregor took on the role in the prequels. But if they want to take a look at a younger Obi-Wan, he might not be able to reprise the role. We’d just have to wait and see. The wait might be a while, though.

Huawei tipped to unveil Mate 10 on October 16th

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei is tipped to be releasing the next iteration of its Mate line in a couple of months. On an image that looks like it could be an official invite or teaser, the words “Meet the device worth waiting for” written on top of a backdrop that has the number 10 on it. The image also shows details about the event: October 16, 2017 in Munich, Germany. Whether this is real or not, we should find out soon enough. For now, the rumoured specs of the Mate 10 are said to include an almost bezel-less 6.1” 18:9 screen with 2160 x 1080px resolution, a Kirin 970 processor, 6GB of RAM, Android 7.1 Nougat, and dual rear camera setup.

Source: GSMArena