A lot of things happened last week in the world of technology. For instance, the first gaming smartphones of 2022 made their debut, Microsoft finally brought Android apps to Windows, Google announced Chrome OS Flex, and many more.
We have compiled all these and other important stories from last week in this article as part of our weekly roundup series. Let’s go through them only by one.
As always, we would like to inform you that the stories featured here are based on our opinion and they are listed in no particular order. As your stance may vary, we would like to know your top picks in the comment section at the end of this post.
Top Stories from Last Week
1. Redmi K50G – A gaming smartphone like no other
On February 16, the Redmi K50G went official in China as the first device in the Redmi K50 series. The gaming smartphone is the successor of last year’s Redmi K40 Gaming Edition. It not only comes with a new branding but also updated specs for a starting price of ¥3299 ($521).
The handset is unlike any other gaming smartphone in the market. It features a subtle design instead of being flashy. There’s also a Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team Edition of this phone.
The Redmi K50G offers features like a 6.67-inch 120Hz OLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, LPDDR5 RAM, UFS 3.1 storage, liquid cooling system, magnetic shoulder buttons, quad speakers, x-axis linear vibration motor, three WiFi antennas, 64MP + 8MP + 2MP triple camera setup, 20MP selfie camera, 4,700mAh battery, and 120W fast charging.
The handset was also accompanied by Redmi’s first gaming router dubbed as Redmi Router AX5400.
2. REDMAGIC 7 Series – Gaming smartphones with all bells and whistles
The REDMAGIC 7 series includes two models, namely REDMAGIC 7 and REDMAGIC 7 Pro. The duo was unveiled on February 17. The specs of these phones are nearly identical, except for a few additional features on the Pro.
They come with a 6.8-inch FHD+ 165Hz OLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, LPDDR5 RAM, UFS 3.1 storage, liquid cooling system, cooling fan, 4,500mAh battery, and 120W fast charging. On the other hand, the Pro model arrives with a dedicated in-house gaming chipset called Red Core 1, an under-display camera, and up to 135W fast charging.
The REDMAGIC 7 and REDMAGIC 7 Pro start at ¥3,899 ($616) and ¥4,799 ($758) respectively. Apart from regular colors, they also come in a transparent edition.
3. Nothing teases entry into the smartphone category
Carl Pei’s Nothing may soon enter the smartphone category. Cryptic tweets by the executive and the official Android and Snapdragon handles on February 16 hint at an imminent announcement.
So far, the year-old company has one product in its portfolio in the form of Nothing ear (1), a critically acclaimed pair of truly wireless earphones. Other than a smartphone, it is also being rumored to release a power bank called Nothing power (1).
Probably, the firm may reveal more details at MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2022, which is scheduled to kickstart on February 28.
4. HONOR ranked second in China in Q4 2021
Within a year from being sold by HUAWEI to Zhixin New Information Technology Co. Ltd., HONOR’s smartphone shipments reached the second position in its home market China in Q4 2021.
The brand was only second to Apple with a 16.7% market share as compared to 7.5% a year earlier. Though the iPhone maker had a 21.7% share in the final quarter of last year, it only grew 13% YoY, while HONOR’s growth skyrocketed by a 100% YoY.
The HONOR Magic3 was also the most-shipped premium Android smartphone during this period.
5. realme 9 Pro series brings flagship camera to mid-range
After teasing for days, the realme 9 Pro series made its debut on February 16 at last. The most interesting of the two phones is definitely the realme 9 Pro+.
The Pro+ looks like a budget smartphone with a huge chin and a 90Hz AMOLED display. But it comes with a flagship 50MP Sony IMX766 primary camera, which gives tough competition to almost every handset in the segment and above.
The device starts at ₹24,999 for the base 6GB + 128GB memory configuration in India. The brand is also expected to release a Free Fire Limited Edition soon. But its availability in India is a mystery as the mobile game was recently banned in the country by the central government.
6. Chrome OS Flex makes your old PCs and Macs useful
Chrome OS Flex is nothing but an official Google release of Cloudready whose developer Neverware was acquired by the search giant in December 2020.
With Google at the helm, this fork of Chrome OS designed to run on Windows and Mac could get popular once it releases to the public after the early access. The Mountain View-based tech giant claims that the operating system can be installed on devices that are up to 13 years old.
Though it doesn’t offer all the features of the regular Chrome OS at the moment, it is more than enough to make an old laptop or desktop with less powerful hardware useful.
7. Possible Pixel 7 series appear in Android 13 code
With the release of Android 13 Developer Preview 1, details of the next-generation Pixels have started emerging. According to a report by 9to5Google, the upcoming Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are codenamed Cheetah and Panther respectively.
They will be powered by a new Tensor chip codenamed Cloudripper. Carrying model number GS201, this SoC will likely arrive with an Exynos Modem 5300 with model number g5300b.
Unfortunately, that’s all the information available regarding the successors of Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
8. Windows 11 users can now use Android apps natively
Microsoft finally brings Android apps support for Windows 11 in the stable channel. Once updated to build 22000.526, users will be able to install a limited number of Android applications from the Amazon App Store.
Unfortunately, the feature is currently limited to the United States. It should be available in more regions in the coming days.
9. ColorOS hits 500 million users globally
OPPO’s ColorOS has come a long way since its inception. The once hated Android skin by international critics has now become one of the most preferred ones.
At the same time, with the entry of the company into new markets, its shipments are in increasing trend. Hence, it is not surprising to learn that the monthly active users of ColorOS have exceeded 500 million globally.
The number could go even high if OnePlus also switches to ColorOS in international markets.
10. Motorola Frontier – An upcoming smartphone with a 194MP camera
Motorola is soon expected to release a high-end smartphone codenamed Frontier. Last week, we got to see this phone in a high-quality image in almost all the angles.
The device is rumored to come with a 194MP Samsung S5KHP1 primary camera, a 5MP Samsung SKJN1SQ03 ultra-wide camera, a 12MPl Sony IMX663 telephoto camera, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ SoC, and a 6.7-inch curved OLED display.
11. Foldable smartphone shipments increased by 264.3% in 2021
Last week, a report by IDC revealed that the shipments of foldable smartphones totaled 7.1 million units in 2021. For comparison, the number was only 1.9 million in 2020.
In other words, the foldable smartphone market grew by a whopping 264.3% YoY. The market research company forecasts the growth to hit a compound annual growth rate(CAGR) of 69.9% by 2025.
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