Rumour Roundup: Nokia D1C, Moto X 2017, BlackBerry Mercury and more

The year 2016 is about to end, but that is not going to stop the rumour mill from churning out new devices. We saw some impressive smartphones this year and many more are are yet to be seen. Some of the most awaited smartphones include the Samsung Galaxy S8 and we definitely can’t wait to see how Nokia will make a comeback next year. Oh and rumours for the iPhone 8 are already pouring in, which will mark the iPhone’s 10th anniversary.

Here are some of the most popular rumours from the last two weeks.

Moto X 2017

When Moto launched the Moto Z series, it was presumed to replace the Moto X series. However the company had clarified, that the ‘Z’ is totally different league with its unique Moto Mods. While 2016 didn’t see a Moto X, the coming year could get one. Pictures showing a Moto smartphone with a metal body and a round Moto 360 dial-like rear camera were leaked recently. If it turns out to be a genuine one, then this could be the successor to the Moto X Style.

LG G6

The LG G5 turned out to be a disaster for the company as it didn’t sell all that well. The company made a quick move to introduce the modular smartphone with removable modules at bottom, but sadly it wasn’t enough to lure customers. We are expecting a successor to arrive next year and considering the leaks and rumours, the new LG G6 will not be a modular smartphone. It is however expected to come with an iris scanner and LG Pay, the company’s own payment system. Rumoured specs include a Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4 to 6GB of RAM and Android Nougat 7.0.

ZUK Edge

Lenovo owned Chinese smartphone vendor ZUK is expected to announce a new smartphone this year called the ZUK Edge. Now the name suggests an interesting display but leaked images show a traditional flat display. Judging by the rumoured specs we believe that it will be a bumped up version of the ZUK Z2/ Lenovo Z2 Plus. The smartphone is expected to feature a Full HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor with 6GB RAM, 64GB and 128GB storage variants, 13MP and 8MP cameras along with Android 7.0 Nougat.

Nokia D1C

A lot of people will be happy to hear this. Nokia is coming back and this time with Android. Thanks to a company called HMD Global, the Nokia name will once again be among the list of mobile handsets. The company is expected to return early next year with a new handset running on Android 7.0. A smartphone with the codename D1C has been leaked on numerous occassions, but we still don’t have any concrete details. The handset could be a mid ranger coming in two variants sporting a Snapdragon 430 SoC with 2GB/3GB of RAM and 16GB/32GB of storage. This will probably be an initial offering followed by a more high-end smartphone from the ‘new’ Nokia.

BlackBerry Mercury

BlackBerry is done making smartphones. The company announced back in September that it will shutdown hardware bussiness due to a 31.8 percent fall in second-quarter revenue this year. However, the company is now out and is selling rebadged smartphones made by Alcatel. But before the company says good bye to hardware, there could be one last hurrah! A bunch of leaked images on Weibo show a BlackBerry smartphone with a full physical QWERTY keyboard and a touchscreen. Running on Android 7.0, leaked benchmark scores point to a 2GHz octa-core Snapdragon, 3GB of RAM, a 4.5-inch full HD display with an aspect ratio of 3:2, a 3,400 mAh battery, 32GB storage and an 18MP primary camera along with an 8MP selfie shooter.

Meizu Pro 6 Edge

Chinese smartphone makers have started adopting curved displays and Meizu is also expected to announce it’s own handset. The Meizu Pro 6 Edge has just leaked in a few pictures showing that the smartphone is probably all set to go for a launch. It is rumored to feature a Samsung Exynos 8890 processor along with a Samsung AMOLED display with a 2K resolution.