Meta had recently laid off 11,000 people, the majority of whom worked in their technology business. The number of sacked employees amounts to 13% of the brand’s overall workforce. Meta is preparing to eliminate two of its unreleased smartwatches and its Portal Video calling smart displays after firing the employees.
Back in June, Meta announced that it would no longer be producing any more Portal devices for consumers. Furthermore, the brand had abandoned the smartwatch in development under the codename “Milan.” According to reports, the smartwatch was scheduled to arrive in 2023. It will be priced at about $350 and will include two built-in cameras for video calls. Now, the company has made another decision to abandon its plans to launch its unreleased smartwatches.
According to the reports hovering around the internet, Meta has decided not to sell the Portal video calling hardware to businesses anymore. And there are two unreleased smartwatches, one of them is in the early stage of development while the other one is in the middle stage of development, which is also killed by the brand. The development work has been stopped officially for them, and they will no more launch in the market. The brand has not yet commented officially on the decision.
As of now, we are not sure why the company has decided to discontinue selling its Portal video calling technology and has abruptly halted development work on its unannounced wearables.
ZTE introduced the Axon 40 Ultra earlier this year with an under-display front camera and a sleek design. And now it seems we’ll soon be getting a special Aerospace edition of the smartphone. It is likely the follow-up to last year’s Axon 30 Ultra Aerospace Edition, which boasted 18GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Here are the details.
ZTE’s President of Mobile Devices, Ni Fei, recently shared a bunch of pictures clicked by the Axon 40 Ultra Aerospace edition (via Gizchina). The device has never officially been mentioned before. Fei didn’t share many details about the handset, but we expect it to carry the same specs as the original Axon 40 Ultra.
As mentioned, ZTE previously launched the Axon 30 Ultra Aerospace edition with an impressive 18GB of RAM and 1TB storage. However, there were not many cosmetic changes in the handset, except for a Taikonaut (Chinese Astronaut) logo on the back.
We can expect the Axon 40 Ultra Aerospace Edition to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, meaning it may come in a higher storage variant (probably 18GB RAM & 1TB storage) and look almost identical to the original model.
To recall, Axon 40 Ultra comes with a 6.81-inch AMOLED display panel with a Full HD+ resolution of 2480 x 1116 pixels. The panel offers a 120Hz refresh rate, 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut, 10-bit color, 400 PPI pixel density, and 1500nits brightness. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Fueling the handset is a 5,000mAh battery that supports 65W fast charging. It comes with a starting price of $800.
Inbase Buds Mini Lite is one of the unique products that I have come across when it comes to TWS earbuds, mainly because of its design. Announced in September this year, it is a compact device, that weighs only 25 grams. I have added a couple of images of the Inbase Mini Lite to show how small the Inbase Mini Lite is.
Inbase Buds Mini Lite: What’s in the box
Inbase Buds Mini Lite
The retail package of the Inbase Buds Mini Lite comprises the device, a USB to USB-C cable, a user manual, and a leaflet. As can be seen in the images, the earbuds come without ear tips.
Design and Comfort
The smooth plastic case measures under 4 cm on all four sides and weighs only 25 grams on my weighing scale. Each earbud weighs only 4 grams. It is small enough to slide into a pocket alongside a phone or wallet. Buyers are advised not to put keys or any sharp objects in the same pocket as the Buds Mini Lite to protect it from getting scratched.
Inbase Buds Mini Lite
It sports a unique design, as there are cutouts on the left and right edges of the case through which the 2-pin charging interface can be easily seen. The magnets present inside the case ensure that the connecting pins connect securely to the bottom portion of the earbuds. On the front, it has the Inbase branding, an LED indicator, and a USB-C port at the bottom. Both earbuds also have their own tiny LEDs that glow when they are put inside the case. While charging, the LED on the case remains on until the device is fully charged. According to Inbase, the Buds Mini Lite offers IPX5 sweat and water resistance. One issue that I faced with its case was that I found its lid closing too quickly.
Inbase Buds Mini Lite
The Buds Mini Lite sports a half-in-ear (semi-in-ear) design, which was popularised by the AirPods lineup. Hence, it does not come with ear tips.
The Buds Mini Lite is one of the smallest TWS earbuds that I have come across. It comes in three colours, black, white, and pink. Inbase sent me the pink variant, which looks cute and cool at the same time.
Inbase Buds Mini Lite
When in-ear earbuds are worn, the ear tips go deeper inside the ear, but half-in-ear earbuds can only go close to the ear canal. Nonetheless, the Buds Mini Lite fits comfortably in the ear’s curves. In my usage, the earbuds never fell off the ear, even while running. However, readers should note that they should not expect the Bud Mini Lite, which has semi-in-ear earbuds, to offer the same kind of fit.
Because the semi-in-ear earbuds have hard plastic in the part that goes inside the ear, some users may experience discomfort if they are worn for an extended period of time. I used the Buds Mini Lite several times for around 2 to 3 hours on a stretch, and those earbuds did not cause any sort of discomfort, probably because they are quite light in weight.
Connectivity and Touch Controls
The Inbase Buds Mini Lite comes with support for Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity. I did not encounter any drops in connectivity while using it. It is compatible with platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows. As soon as the earbuds are taken out of the case, they connect to the last device they were paired with.
There is no dedicated app for customizing earbuds. Users can check its battery levels by navigating to the Bluetooth settings on the paired device, as shown in the image above.
Users can tap once on either earbud to play / pause or answer / end calls. The left earbud can be long-pressed to listen to the next track. Pressing the right earbud slightly longer allows you to return to the previous track. A double tap on the left or right earbuds dials the last phone number in the call log. A triple tap on either earbud allows users to access the voice assistant. There is no way to customize these functions. Occasionally, I found the touch response a bit too sensitive, which meant I would not recognize whether earbuds registered a double tap. The earbuds lack support for smart wear detection.
Audio Experience and Call Quality
Inbase Buds Mini Lite
The Buds Mini Lite has 13mm audio drivers, but the highest volume setting does not feel high enough. So, users will find themselves listening to the highest setting. It offers a distortion-free listening experience, and the bass output is also good. It supports SBC and AAC audio codes. There is no noise-cancellation feature on the device. Hence, the call experience on the Buds Mini Lite is of average quality.
Battery Life
Inbase Buds Mini Lite
Inbase claims that the Buds Mini Lite’s earbuds offer up to 5 hours of playback time. With the charging case, it promises up to 40 hours of listening time. It offers up to 300 hours of standby time. Each earbud has a 30mAh battery, and the charging case packs a 200mAh battery.
It takes around an hour to fully charge the Inbase Buds Mini Lite. A good thing is that it comes equipped with a USB-C port for charging it conveniently. I have used the Buds Mini Lite, for nearly two months, and I found myself charging it only a few times.
Verdict
There is always a niche market for people who prefer compact devices. Hence, the Inbase Buds Mini Lite is one of the devices to consider for people looking for a lightweight TWS earbud. Except for a few issues, I did not find any major issues with the device. The Inbase Buds Mini Lite is listed for Rs 1,299 on Flipkart and Amazon. It comes with a 1-year warranty.
Disclaimer: The opinions in this review of the Inbase Buds Mini Lite are all mine and are based on my own experiences. Inbase did not have any editorial input.
Huawei never backs down. Despite the ban by the U.S. did not allow the company to use 5G components and Google Mobile Services for years, it is still alive and it keeps launching flagship phones in the global market. Recently, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro made its debut not only in Asia but even in Europe. According to DxOMark experts, it is the best camera phone out there as it conquered the highest score on the platform after their tests. Another top camera phone, at the second place of the ranking by DxOMark, is the Google Pixel 7 Pro. That is the reason why a lot of people want to know which of these devices is the best. Here is a comparison between the main specifications of the Huawei Mate 50 Pro and the Google Pixel 7 Pro.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro vs Google Pixel 7 Pro
Huawei Mate 50 Pro
Google Pixel 7 Pro
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
162.1 x 75.5 x 8.5 mm, 205 g
162.9 x 76.6 x 8.9 mm, 212 g
DISPLAY
6.74 inches, 1212 x 2616 pixels (Full HD+), OLED
6.7 inches, 1440 x 3120p (Quad HD+), AMOLED
PROCESSOR
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G, octa-core 3.19 GHz
The front panel of the Huawei Mate 50 Pro is definitely not the most beautiful you can find in the market. Unlike all the other Android flagships out there, it has a big notch on the upper part, but a lot of people will surely like the very high screen to body ratio and the curved edges of its display. However, my favorite phone in terms of design is the Google Pixel 7 Pro, not only because it has a very original rear side, but also because it comes with a punch hole display. On the other hand, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro has a higher build quality. It is built with a glass back, and an aluminum frame, and it is waterproof with the IP68 certification. It provides better water resistance as it is able to go underwater up to 6 meters deep without any damage.
Display
The displays of these two phones are close in terms of quality, but I personally prefer the panel of the Google Pixel 7 Pro. It has an AMOLED panel with a diagonal of 6.7 inches showing the images with a Quad HD+ resolution of 1440 x 3120 pixels, an adaptive refresh rate from 1 to 120 Hz (LTPO technology), HDR10+ certification, and a peak brightness of 1,500 nits. The Huawei Mate 50 Pro has an OLED display with a diagonal of 6.74 inches, one billion colors, a Full HD+ resolution, and a 120 Hz refresh rate. The Huawei Mate 50 Pro is very interesting because it offers two advanced methods of authentication: besides an in-display fingerprint reader, it supports 3D facial recognition thanks to a TOF 3D sensor placed in the notch above the display.
Specs & Software
The chipset of the Huawei Mate 50 Pro is more powerful if compared to the Google Pixel 7 Pro. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 mobile platform built with a 4 nm production process and sporting an octa-core architecture composed of a Cortex X2 CPU running at a max frequency of 3.19 GHz, three Cortex A710 CPUs running at 2.75 GHz, and four Cortex A510 CPUs running at 2 GHz, as well as an Adreno 730 GPU. The chipset is paired with 8 GB of RAM and either 256 or 512 GB of native storage. However, due to the U.S. ban, this phone does not support 5G and Google Mobile Services, replaced by Huawei Mobile Services. The Google Pixel 7 Pro has an inferior chipset: the Google Tensor G2 (built at 5 nm), but it also comes with more RAM, 5G, and Google Mobile Services.
Camera
According to DxOMark, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro is the best camera phone ever and we do not deny what it said. It has a 50 MP main camera with variable aperture and OIS, a 64 MP periscope sensor with 3.5x optical zoom, and a 13 MP ultrawide sensor. The main camera of the Google Pixel 7 Pro looks slightly inferior, but the telephoto lens looks better with a 48 MP resolution and 5x optical zoom.
The battery of the Google Pixel 7 Pro is bigger and it provides longer battery life, while the Huawei Mate 50 Pro offers faster charging speeds.
Price
You need €1200 or $1200 to purchase the Huawei Mate 50 Pro, while the Google Pixel 7 Pro is available for just $900 or €900, so it has a higher value for money. Which one would you pick?
StreamView has unveiled the Nokia Streaming Box 8010 with a new ARM chipset. The Streaming Box 8010 has an almost identical look to the 8000, its predecessor. It runs on Android TV 11 powered by the upgraded ARM chipset. It uses the Amlogic S905X4-K chipset with four ARM Cortex-A55 cores and a Mali-G31 MP2 GPU.
The new streaming box is more powerful and comes with a bigger memory capacity than the 8000 model. It doubles the RAM of its predecessor and quadruples the storage of the 8000. The improvements courtesy of the upgraded ARM chipset put the new product on a higher-performance pedestal.
The Nokia Streaming Box 8010 has 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. So you can install more apps from the large pool available on Android TV 11. The Streaming Box 8010 can output 4K videos with a frame rate of 60 fps. It however needs to be paired with a compatible TV or monitor.
The Nokia Streaming Box 8010 supports Dolby Atmos and can be connected wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 6. The Streaming Box 8110 uses HDMI, USB-A, and USB-C ports. StreamingView also included an Analog AV port on the streaming box.
The StreamView 8000 still sells for around €70 ($73), while the 8010 costs €129 ($135). Both streaming boxes can be ordered directly from StreamView.
The EICMA 2022 has seen a raft of innovative, durable, and powerful e-bikes showcased by various brands. Spanish automaker SEAT will not be left out as it has unveiled the Mo 125 performance e-scooter during the event. The Mo 125 Performance comes with a sportier look and packs a great performance with it. Indeed, the new e-bike offers more power, speed, and agility.
The Mo 125 Performance has a 7.5kW motor which can output a peak power of 11.5kW. Its power performance is slightly better than that of the Mo 125 base model. The Mo 125 standard e-bike has a 7kW motor that peaks at 9kW. It can go from 0 to 50km/h in 2.9 seconds, better than the 3.9 seconds to achieve the same speed for the standard model. The new e-scooter also features the e-Boost function that helps when overtaking or getting out of a jam. The e-boost feature gets the Mo 125 Performance to reach a top speed of 105km/h.
The Mo 125 Performance is an exciting bike due to its maneuverability which makes navigating the traffic situation or racing on a track as seamless as it can be. It has a fully-adjustable Ohlins rear shock that allows the rider to fine-tune the ride for optimal comfort. It also features the SHAD seat which provides more comfort during the ride.
The e-Boost provides added power for a maximum of 30 seconds. It can be deployed again after a two-minute rest period. The quick power available with the Mo 125 Performance is modulated by its solid braking system. The e-bike comes with high-performance Galfer discs and pads for solid braking performance. The bike’s 5.6kWh battery delivers a range of 133km, slightly lower than the base model. The scooter’s lithium-ion battery pack can be charged fully in 6-8 hours. SEAT says the Mo 125 Performance will be available at the end of Q1 2023. No pricing details are available yet for the e-bike.
Piaggio has announced the 2023 edition of its popular Piaggio 1 e-scooters. Piaggio made the announcement during the 2022 EICMA in Milan, Italy. The new model consists of three e-scooters – the Piaggio 1, Piaggio 1+, and Piaggio 1 Active. The new Piaggio urban mobility vehicles can reach top speeds of 37mph and have a range of 60 miles under Eco mode.
The Piaggio 1 and Piaggio 1+ mopeds have an allowable top speed of 28mph (~45km/h) and a range of 34 miles (~55km) and 60 miles (~97km) respectively. The Piaggio 1 Active comes with the traditional scooter design and delivers a top speed of 37mph (~ 60km/h). The three variants of the Piaggio 1 series offer a variety of uses for customers. All three models also come with a removable battery setup for easy charging.
Design-wise, the 2023 Piaggio 1 sports a minimalist and lightweight design. It is easier to ride and is well suited for daily urban commute safety. The Piaggio 1 lineup’s electric motor is built on the rear wheel and is suited for urban movement with lots of stops and starts. It also delivers more power when making a hilly ascent. The bikes can reach a peak power output of 3kW for the Active and about 2.4kW for the mopeds. The powerful motors of the Piaggio 1 series provide a significant increase in acceleration for all three e-scooters.
The solid frame of the bike assures improved safety and they also come with the reliability that Piaggio has achieved for its products over time. The bikes also come with a digital instrumentation panel, full LED lighting, and keyless operation. There is spacious under-seat storage in the bike that can hold your helmet and other stuff. The color options available for the new Piaggio e-bike are grey, white, black, Sunshine Mix, Arctic Mix, and Flame Mix. The last three color options are two-tone colors targeting the youth.
Piaggio is yet to provide availability details for the new e-scooters but we expect that to be soon. Pricing information is also lacking at this time.
Defunc, a known audio product manufacturer, has now entered the Indian market. It’s a Stockholm-based audio brand and has entered India with an aim to give tough competition to existing audio product-oriented brands. The brand has partnered with Delhi-based Salora International Limited, a leading consumer electronics company, for the brand’s sales and marketing distribution in India. Let’s check what products they have introduced officially in the country.
The company joined the Indian market with two variations of WiFi home speakers and five earphone varieties. When it comes to WiFi home speakers, there are two models available: one with a 40W output and one with a 100W output. They will be available in two colour options: grey and black. Coloured speaker fronts, custom printed fronts, adjustable floor stands, and wall and corner mounts are all included. It also supports Alexa Voice Service (AVS).
Moving on to the earphones, they are as follows: Defunc True Basic, Defunc True Talk, Defunc True Sport, Defunc True Audio, and Defunc True Music. The earphones are designed primarily for normal conversations, sporting activities, music and entertainment, and gaming. They have IPX 4 and 5 waterproof ratings, are sweat-resistant and provide a totally immersive audio experience. All of the earbuds support fast charging.
In terms of pricing, the 100W WiFi Home Speaker costs INR 36,999 (~$459), while the 40W WiFi Home Speaker costs INR 21,999 (~$273). All five TWS earbuds are priced differently, and we do not yet have accurate pricing information for all of the earbuds. However, the cheapest variety costs INR 2,499 (~$31), while the top-of-the-line model costs INR 5,499 (~$68). The products are expected to be available in the country by the end of the year in all offline outlets in India’s main cities. Details on online availability will be released soon.
Razer has unveiled its Wolverine V2 Pro gamepad compatible with a PS5 console. The new Wolverine V2 Pro is a premium gamepad that is being primed to compete with some of the luxury accessories in the market. These include the Sony DualSense Edge and Microsoft’s Xbox Elite.
The Razer Wolverine V2 Pro seems to be much more pricey and is about half the price of the PS5 console itself. It comes with rear paddle buttons, swappable thumb pads, and mecha-tactile button switches. The new Razer gamepad also features hyperspeed wireless connectivity using a special dongle for lower latency operations. Some reviews of the Wolverine V2 Pro say it lacks a killer feature that could stand it out in the crowd. The new Razer gamepad is priced at $250 and it should be loaded with features to justify that price tag. It has an Xbox-type of layout and is highly customizable. Among the high-end game controllers in the market, the Wolverine is the most expensive, followed by the DualSense Edge and the Xbox Elite.
The Wolverine V2 Pro comes in the standard PS5 colorway, unlike the Xbox Elite, for example, with customizable colors. It bears the 2009 Apple Store milk white, electric blue, and black. Razer says its new high-performance wireless controller is officially licensed by PlayStation. It also comes with loads of next-gen features for top-tier competition play via either the PS5 console or a PC. The Wolverine V2 is available for order from the Razer website and will start shipping on December 31. Razer is also offering other accessories to enhance the gaming experience, including the Razer Kaira Pro and the Universal Grip Tape.
Poco X4 made its debut earlier this year, and it wasn’t quite what we had hoped from the Poco X3’s successor. Nevertheless, the company now seems to be working on the Poco X5 5G, and it might launch soon since it has already bagged a few certifications. Recently, the handset has been spotted on the FCC and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) websites. Let’s look at the details.
Poco X5 5G has been spotted on the BIS and FCC certification sites with model numbers 22101320I and 22101320G, respectively (via MySmartPrice). The FCC listing hints the device will have a rectangular camera module design and support dual-band Wi-Fi. Further, it is revealed that the Poco X5 will come with a 4900mAh battery, which will likely be advertised as 5000mAh.
The FCC suggests the handset will have the n5, n7, n38, n41, n77, and n78 5G bands. On the software front, it will run MIUI 14. The Indian variant of the smartphone has been spotted on the BIS website with model number 22101320I. As usual, the listing did not reveal any specs about the device but suggested an imminent launch.
As MySmartPrice rightly points out, POCO India’s chief Himanshu Tandon recently hinted that the company will launch a new phone, likely the Poco X5 5G. The brand should announce the launch date of the handset soon. We’ll keep you posted.
It is rumored that the upcoming Poco handset will come with an IPS LCD panel that will offer a 120Hz refresh rate. Poco X5 is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ SoC, which is also found on the Nothing Phone (1).
Whatsapp is the most popular messaging platform in the world. It enables users to chat both in person and in groups. The platform also has end-to-end encryption. However, it has been involved in a number of disputes in the past. Now, Whatsapp has apparently made certain changes within its program to minimize the burden of notifications on its users. Let’s take a look at what WhatsApp did.
Recently, WhatsApp increased the limit of people who can join a single group from 256 to 1024 persons. However, the main downside of the limit upgrade is the notifications. If you don’t manually disable the notifications in the groups having many active participants, your device may be flooded with notifications. And this is surely going to bother you a lot. However, the brand has now come up with a solution for it.
According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp beta version 2.22.23.9 includes a new feature in which groups with more than 256 people are automatically muted by default. This applies to groups that you join when they reach 256 members. WhatsApp will also automatically mute groups when the 257th member joins. If you choose, you can unmute the group manually. It might be feasible if the group is well-moderated, and you want to participate in the discussion.
This change in large-group behavior is being implemented gradually, although just a few beta testers appear to have access to it for the time being. The function is pretty handy, and we anticipate that it will be included in the stable version of WhatsApp shortly, but the messaging service has not stated a date or acknowledged working on the feature at all.
When it comes to its meet and video call services, Google‘s strategy has been pretty confusing. The company launched several systems over the past few years, including GTalk, Google Allo, Google Duo, and Google Hangouts, before discontinuing them. Google Meet, which was recently integrated with Google Duo, is the company’s latest platform. And now, the design of the upcoming Google Meet has apparently been modified. The Meet’s new revamped UI was shown on Samsung Smart TVs.
Ending the conversation, turning on or off the webcam, enabling/disabling the microphone, opening the video in a pop-up window, and enabling/disabling video effects are all available in the newly upgraded video conference interface. According to the screenshots, the group video call can include up to four participants. The app is available on Samsung’s Tizen app store, but no compatible TV models have been identified as of yet; nevertheless, it should work with smart TVs that have a webcam.
The refreshed Google Meet app has an optimized UI for the big screen and is easier to use with the TV’s remote controller. Unlike the Google Duo app, which had a white theme, the Google Meet app has a dark UI, which is easier on the eyes. Once you log in, it shows all your contacts and recent group calls on the New Call screen, making it easier to initiate video calls.
The newly refreshed UI does look neat and minimalistic. The platform now has a refreshed look and the usability has now been further simplified. Apart from this, we don’t think there are some end-to-end changes done inside the programme of the platform.
What do you think about the new refreshed UI of Google Meet? Do let us know by dropping a comment in your words down below.
HyperX – a gaming brand owned by HP, recently entered the gaming monitor space with the new Armada series of monitors. As part of the debut, the company introduced the Armada 25 and Armada 27 monitors in the West back in August. Now that gaming monitors have entered the Indian market, let’s take a look at their specs and pricing.
The HyperX Armada 25, as the name suggests, is a 24.5-inch monitor. It offers a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and supports a 240Hz refresh rate, making it ideal for e-sports gaming. The monitor offers outstanding images and rich colors. With its IPS panel and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, the Armada 25 offers 1ms response times with overdrive in addition to variable refresh rates. The display offers a peak brightness of 400 nits and covers 99% of sRGB.
On the other hand, HyperX Armada 27 comes with higher-end specs and better performance. It is a larger 27-inch monitor that offers a Quad HD 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. It comes with a refresh rate of 165Hz for smoother graphics.
The Nvidia G-Sync compatibility on the monitor lets it support variable refresh rates, and the IPS panel allows for 1ms response times. This monitor covers 95% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, and its 400 nits of brightness allow it to achieve DisplayHDR 400 certification, which means it can display HDR at an entry level.
The two HyperX Armada monitors come with an ergonomic arm and desk mount. The arm extends or retracts, allowing ergonomic viewing. They are also comparatively easier to setup since they come with two mounting options (C-clamp or grommet) and a quick-release system.
The HyperX Armada 25 gaming monitor’s price in India is set at Rs. 42,590. While the Armada 27 gaming monitor comes with a price tag of Rs. 46,290.
Xiaomi launched the Mi 10 series back in 2020. The lineup included premium but value-for-money handsets like Mi 10 and Mi 10 Ultra. Both handsets gained huge popularity among users thanks to their high-end imaging capabilities, good performance, and excellent battery life. Now, it has been reported that the two OG handsets are being sold on TikTok at a discounted price. Let’s look at the details.
Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Ultra are being sold in China through TikTok (via ITHome). The standard Mi 10, which debuted with a price tag of $563, is now available on the video-sharing app for 2299 yuan ($323). While the higher-end Mi 10 Ultra is being sold at $492 (launch price $745).
To recall, the Mi 10 Ultra was launched back in 2020 with serious internals. It came with a truly impressive camera system consisting of an OmniVision 48MP sensor with an OIS lens, a 48MP Sony sensor with a 5x zoom lens, a 12MP portrait shooter, and a 20MP camera with a 12mm ultra-wide lens.
It has a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display that offers 1080x2340px resolution, a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 386ppi; 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support, 800nits brightness, and 1B colors. It was powered by a Snapdragon 865 processor paired with up to 16GB RAM. The device packs a 4,500mAh battery that supports 120W fast charging, 50W wireless charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging.
The standard Mi 10 also comes with a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display like the Ultra model but offers only a 90Hz refresh rate. The handset featured a 108MP main camera that was accompanied by a 13MP ultra wide angle unit, a 2MP macro, and a 2MP depth sensor. It is backed by a 4,780mAh battery that supports 30W wired charging and 30W wireless charging.
The wearables segment comprises of fitness trackers, smartwatches and audio devices. As per International Data Corporation (IDC), the wearable market in India grew 56.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022 i.e. the period from July to September. All three product categories contributed to 37.2 million shipments compared to 23.7 million units in the same period last year.
As per the IDC report, smartwatches registered a massive 178 percent YoY growth. Brands sold 12 million smartwatches in the Q3 2022 compared to 4.3 million in Q3 2021. Meanwhile, shipments of fitness trackers declined 80 percent. Earwear category recorded 33 percent change with 25 million units sold compared to 18 million during the corresponding year.
boAt led the overall wearable market with 32.1 percent share whereas Noise came second with 13.8 percent share. Fire Boltt sits at the third spot with 8.9 percent share. OnePlus and Realme bagged the fourth and fifth spots respectively with 8.2 and 4.2 percent share in the market respectively. Realme was the only brand that recorded a negative 18.5 percent year-on-year market share decline.
Now coming to the smartwatch category, Noise led the market with 216.5 percent YoY growth. The brand’s ColorFit Caliber and ColorFit Icon Buzz accounted for more than 30 percent of shipments. Fire Boltt’s Ninja Pro Max, Ring 3 & Ninja Bell smartwatches pushed the brand to the second spot. boAt came in third place thanks to Xtend and Wave Call smartwatches.
In the truly wireless segment, boAt had 41.1 percent share courtesy of Airdopes 141 and 131 which were top sellers. Noise maintained the second position whereas OnePlus bagged the third spot with 6.8 percent share due the contribution of Bullets Wireless Z2. Mivi grew by 1921.1% YoY in the earwear category and is in fourth place in the TWS headset category.
Samsung has picked up the pace with its One UI 5 update program. The firm recently released stable updates to its older flagship smartphones and even to the mid-range Galaxy A33. Now, it has begun rolling out stable One UI 5 based Android 13 build to two new mid-rangers— Galaxy A33 and Galaxy A73. The update is currently being seeded in select regions, with a wider rollout expected in a few weeks.
The stable One UI 5 update for the Galaxy A73 5G is currently being released in Malaysia with firmware version A736BXXU2BVK2. The update doesn’t bring the November 2022 security update, though. While the Android 13 update for the Galaxy A33 5G is rolling out in Europe with firmware version A336BXXU4BVJG.
The new update is reported to bring all the new features Google introduced with the latest version of Android and also some Samsung-exclusive features. However, the new software still features the October 2022 security patch and not the November 2022 security patch. It has a download size of around 2GB, so it’s better to use Wi-Fi if your carrier deal is not data heavy.
If you are a Galaxy A33 or Galaxy A73 user living in Europe or Malaysia, you can download and install the Android 13 update by going to Settings, tapping on the Software update, and selecting “Download and install.” Other regions will likely receive the update in a few days, so keep an eye out for an OTA notification.
Talking about the update itself, One UI 5 comes with a slew of changes and improvements. It has a better Material You implementation, stacked widget support, a built-in OCR feature to extract text from images, Bixby Text Call, One UI Modes, and much more. The software also introduces a new Maintenance Mode feature that will allow users to hide their data from service technicians when the device is under repair.
A Vivo model said to be the iQOO 11 has appeared on GeekBench. The smartphone is listed on the benchmarking platform with model number V2243A. It was revealed by a recent report that the iQOO 11 and 11 Pro heading to the Chinese market have V2243A and V2254A model numbers. The iQOO 11 also appeared on the IMEI database with the same model number.
The Geekbench listing shows that the device will run on the unannounced Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor codenamed Kalama. The processor is paired with 11GB RAM, which isn’t likely the topmost model. The device also runs on the latest Android 13 operating system out of the box.
On the benchmark score, the Vivo V2243A smartphone has a single-core running score of 1451 points while on the multi-core test, it pooled a total score of 4681. The chipset is shown to have a super core with a frequency of 3.19GHz.
The iQOO 11 had earlier been certified by China’s 3C showing that the device will be equipped with a powerful 120W charger. Previous reports also show that the device will pack a flat Samsung E6 AMOLED display with 2K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate support. The device will also feature PWM dimming. The topmost model is tipped to have a 16GB and 512GB memory combination.
There is no word yet on the launch date for the iQOO 11 but it is expected to launch alongside the iQOO 11 Pro.
OPPO is expected to debut the Find N2 next month in China. It will be the second-generation foldable smartphone from the brand and the successor to the last year’s model. Rumours also suggest that OPPO will announce the Find N Flip alongside the N2. Key specifications of the OPPO Find N2 have leaked online in the past.
Breaking！ The new OPPO folding phone OPPO Find N2 is lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, less than 240g,which is a great progress of folding phones. I think It uses new materials. pic.twitter.com/zSUQ4ZTrdL
Now in a new development, popular tipster Ice Universe reveals that the OPPO Find N2 will be the lightest horizontal folding phone yet. The device is said to weigh under 240 grams which is 15 percent lesser than its predecessor that weighs 275 grams. The upcoming Find N2 is also touted to be significantly lighter than other foldables like Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, Huawei Mate X2, Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, and Vivo X Fold+. If the upcoming OPPO foldable phone indeed weighs less than 240 grams, then it will also be lighter than some classic bar phones including the iPhone 13/14 Pro Max, ASUS ROG 6D Ultimate, and more.
Ice Universe says that OPPO might be using new materials that could potentially reduce the weight of the upcoming Find N2. Horizontal foldable phones have been suffering from bulkiness and form factor problems resulting into lesser adoption.
As for the core specifications, the OPPO Find N2 is tipped to come with a 5.5-inch primary OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and a 7.1-inch interior screen. The device will reportedly be powered by a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC and be backed by a 4,750mAh battery unit with support for 67W wired and wireless charging. The foldable phone is expected to feature a 50MP Sony IMX890 main camera, a 48MP Sony IMX581 ultra-wide lens, and a 13MP telephoto camera.
The newly launched AppleiPhone 14 lineup has an all-new feature called Emergency SOS via Satellite Mode. Almost all the smartphones in the market come with the SOS mode, but the one found on the new iPhone 14 lineup is an advanced feature. The Satellite-based SOS mode on the new iPhones wil go live for the US and Canada later this month. Now, the brand has officially disclosed how much effort was put into developing this new system.
According to the company, “When an iPhone user sends an Emergency SOS message, it is received by one of Globalstar’s 24 low-Earth orbit satellites, which move at speeds of around 25,749 km/h. The message is subsequently transmitted by satellite to custom ground stations situated at strategic spots around the world.”
Cobham Satcom in Concord, California, designed and constructed new high-power antennas exclusively for Apple. Each ground station has numerous antennas that communicate with the satellites. When the message is received by the ground station, it is forwarded to either emergency services or a relay center staffed by Apple-trained emergency professionals.
The Cupertino firm paid for key upgrades to Globalstar’s satellite network and ground stations. As a result, over 300 Globalstar personnel will support the new iPhone 14 Emergency SOS service. Apple added that Emergency SOS via satellite makes use of a band reserved for mobile satellite services.
Apple spent $450 million on the entire Emergency SOS initiative. The majority of that money was spent on developing infrastructure for the feature in collaboration with satellite provider Globalstar. The feature is currently limited to US and Canadian markets, and the brand may expand the availability of the feature in the future. But as of now, the brand does not have any plan to expand outside the US markets.
Fire Boltt Ring Plus smartwatch has launched in India. It is the latest addition from the homegrown brand under its Ring series smartwatches. The device is said to feature the biggest display. The Fire Boltt Ring Plus is a budget offering and competes against other smartwatches from brands like Noise, boAt, Realme, DIZO, Redmi and others under the Rs 3,000 price segment.
The Fire Boltt Ring Plus sports a square dial and it looks identical to the Apple Watch with a traditional crown button on the top right side. The device features a large 1.91-inch screen bearing a resolution of 240 x 280 pixels. It comes with a textured strap and is water resistant up to 5 meters.
On the health-centric front, the Fire Boltt Ring Plus is equipped with a heart-rate monitor, SpO2 sensor, sleep tracker, and female health care. It comes with sedentary and hydration reminders. The wearable device packs support for more than 100 sports modes including basketball, football, climbing, tennis, and more.
The Fire Boltt Ring Plus features a built-in mic and speaker that offers Bluetooth calling support with access to a quick dialpad, call history, and contacts syncing features. There is also a voice assistant for hands-free controls. The smartwatch features Thunder Battleship and Young Bird built-in games and packs convenient features like notifications display, weather updates, camera and music control, and more.
The Fire Boltt Ring Plus carries a price tag of Rs 2,499 and it comes in Navy Blue, Red, White, Pink, and Black colours. The smartwatch will officially go on sale from Amazon starting November 12th.
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