The US smartphone market is expected to settle into a flat growth path with a modest 2% increase in smartphone demands, as per a report. The latest forecast has been adjusted downward from the prior estimate of 6% YoY growth in 2022 because inflationary pressures will likely decrease demand in the upcoming quarters
According to a report by Counterpoint Research, the US smartphone market is expected to witness a 2% growth this year. Counterpoint says that it has significantly reduced its forecast for 2022 from the previous projection of 6% percent growth as the demand will be suppressed in the remaining quarters due to inflationary pressures. However, there are several scheduled industry events for 2022 that will boost low-end smartphone sales. As 3G networks become obsolete, carriers will be forced to migrate subscribers to new LTE and 5G devices.
“We began the year with strong sell-in momentum, with Q1 2022 seeing 6% YoY growth due to solid postpaid demand. However, we are adjusting our shipment forecast numbers downwards as we are increasingly seeing the impact of inflation in the US market,” said Research Director Jeff Fieldhack. “Last year, we saw supply as a much bigger issue as chipset shortages impacted smartphone manufacturing”, Fieldhack added.
The flat growth is attributed to demand issues. Americans’ purchasing habits have shifted away from technology products to experiences such as vacations and outings. Furthermore, as fuel prices rise owing to inflation, people are making fewer excursions to retailers and altering their spending behavior even more, says the report.
“Prepaid sales will be most affected by weak demand as this is the most price-sensitive segment in the US,” said Senior Research Analyst Maurice Klaehne. “This is also where any price increases for devices will be most heavily felt by consumers. We see national retailers feeling the impact of inflation, but it is more of a mixed bag. Walmart, a one-stop shop for groceries, tech products and much more, may be less impacted compared to Best-Buy, which is a very specialized tech retail store,” Klaehne further added.
The Google Pixel 6a, which was announced last month, is scheduled for release on July 28. Soon after the announcement, an unboxing video of the Pixel 6a appeared on TikTok. Now, a Malaysian YouTuber named Fazli Halim has released a hands-on video of the device to give a good look at its design from all angles.
The Pixel 6a unboxing video by Fazli shows that it looks similar to the Google Pixel 6 Pro / Pixel 6. It has a horizontal camera bar, which houses a dual-camera system. The camera bar is not less protruding as compared to the Pixel 6 Pro. The rear shell of the device seems to be made from glossy plastic.
PIxel 6a vs Pixel 6 Pro
The Pixel 6a has an AMOLED panel with an under-display fingerprint scanner, which appears quite responsive in the hands-on video. The device lacks a 3.5mm audio jack. Apart from the Charcoal edition shown in the hands-on video, the Pixel 6a will also arrive in Chalk and Sage colors.
Pixel 6a under-display fingerprint scanner
Google Pixel 6a specifications and features
The Pixel 6a has a 6.1-inch OLED panel that offers a Full HD+ resolution, a 60Hz refresh rate, and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The Tensor chip is present under the hood of the Pixel 6a. The device comes with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It boots to the Android 12 OS.
The Pixel 6a has an 8-megapixel camera for snapping selfies and video calls. Its rear shell has an OIS-assisted 12-megapixel main camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens. The device packs a 4,410mAh battery that supports 18W charging. It carries a price tag of $449.
OPPO has recently launched the OPPO Reno 8 series of smartphones in China. This month, the Reno 8 lineup may arrive in regions outside the home market. However, it seems it is not done yet with the Reno 7 series. A device named Reno 7A is in the works. 91mobileshas published the leaked renders of the Reno 7A to showcase its design and color variants.
The Reno 7A can be seen sporting a punch-hole display on the front. The device has volume up and down buttons on the left edge. Its right side features a power key. The rear camera setup of the phone has a triple camera unit and an LED flash.
OPPO Reno 7A leaked render by 91mobiles
The device seems to be equipped with an in-display fingerprint scanner. It appears that it will be available in white and black colors. Unfortunately, there is no information available on the specifications of the OPPO Reno 7A. However, the report claims that it may debut by the end of this month.
In related news, OPPO is gearing up to launch a Reno 8 series phone called the Reno 8Z in some markets. The device is expected to arrive with a 4,500mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging. It will be available in multiple variants, such as 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, and 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. It will come in colors like black and blue.
The other specifications of the Reno 8Z are yet to be confirmed. In all likelihood, it may debut as early as this month in some of the Asian markets.
Over the years, the electric vehicle industry has been rapidly growing and as more and more road users are using electric vehicles (EVs), the number of EV charging stations should also increase not only to meet demand but also for the convenience of topping up the EV wherever whenever.
As the world’s largest market for EVs, China knows that for EVs to be accessible to the general public, not only do they have to be affordable but also widely available and convenient to use. Thus, the country has publicly owned (not privately owned) EV charging stations that can charge most non-proprietary EVs on the road.
The China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, abbreviated as EVCIPA, has published a report this week that announces that the country has successfully built 87,000 new public EV charging stations across the country in just only the month of May 2022, compared YoY to 2021, the number of EV charging stations has increased by 60.5%.
Total Public EV Charging Stations Nationwide in China for each month. Source: EVCIPA
As of May 2022, the EVCIPA reported that there are a total of 1.419 million public EV charging stations across the entire country of China, which include 613 thousand DC charging stations, 806 thousand AC charging stations, and 485 AC-DC integrated charging stations.
In the report, EVCIPA notes the top 10 provinces that have the most public EV charging stations in the country (as of May 2022) and its ranking is as shown:
Guangdong – 281,000 units
Shanghai – 109,000 units
Jiangsu – 107,000 units
Zhejiang – 103,000 units
Beijing – 102,000 units
Hubei – 81,000 units
Shandong – 71,000 units
Anhui – 67,000 units
Henan – 55,000 units
Fujian – 51,000 units
The report notes that just these 10 provinces account for 72.3% of all public EV charging stations available across the country. The electricity generated is mainly utilised on electric buses and privately owned electric vehicles, with honourable mentions such as China’s electric logistics vehicles and electric taxis, that account for a smaller proportion of the transportation electricity grid.
Source: South China Morning Post
In May 2022, the total EV charging electricity power consumption nationwide was about 1.56 billion kWh in a month, an increase of 140 million kWh from the previous month, an increase of 83.1% year-on-year, and a month-on-month increase of 10.0%.
China’s public EV charging infrastructure however is not monopolised by only one company, instead, EVCIPA notes that there are 15 top companies in the country operating the EV charging stations for the public. The full list of the Top 15 companies is as follows with their units of charging stations in China counted:
Xingxing Charge – 278,000 units
Special Call – 277,000 units
State Grid – 196,000 units
Cloud Quick Charge – 178,000 units
Xiaoju Charger – 71,000 units
Weijingyun – 51,000 units
Shenzhen Automotive Power Grid – 46,000 units
China Southern Power Grid – 41,000 units
Yiwei Energy – 37,000 units
Huijingyun – 33,000 units
SAIC Anyue – 24,000 units
Wanma Aichong – 23,000 units
Wancheng Wancharge – 22,000 units
China Potevio – 21,000 units
Weilan Quick Charger – 13,000 units
All these 15 charging station operators accounted for 92.4% of the total public EV charging stations across the country, and the remaining operators accounted for 7.6% of the total figure.
Source: China Daily
On a closing note, the report findings state that despite more EVs on the road, EV users need not worry about fighting for a spot at the charging station because EV charging stations are popping up in the country more rapidly than ever. In fact, the current ratio of stations to EVs in China is 1:2.1, which means that the construction of new EV charging stations can still keep up with the demand from EV users on the road.
This week, Huawei has officially published a new patent in China for the general public, and it is not your conventional smartwatch, earbuds or smartphone electronics patent. Instead, the patent that Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd had published is one on quantum computing, the next revolutionary step of how our technology will run in the next 10 years.
The patent is listed as patent number CN114613758A, and from the patent listing, Huawei has developed a type of “quantum chipset and quantum computing device”.
Huawei’s new type of quantum computing device aims to solve the current issues of producing quantum chipsets which include the complexity of manufacturing a quantum chipset and the low yields of the quantum chipsets when compared to the existing mainstream computing chipsets of today. In turn, with this new type of quantum chip, not only will it be easier to assemble in the future but also more units can be successfully produced with higher yields, meaning adopting more market share in the industry.
Huawei’s Quantum Chipset
In the patent listing, it states the fundamentals of the architecture of Huawei’s newly developed quantum chipset:
A substrate, M sub-chips, a coupling structure and a cavity mode suppression structure
Each sub-chip includes N qubits, and M sub-chips are arranged on the surface of the substrate at intervals
The coupling structure is used to realize the interconnection between the M sub-chips
The cavity mode suppression structure is arranged at the edge of each sub-chip and/or in the gap between the M sub-chips and is used for increasing the cavity mode frequency of the quantum chip.
Here, the term M and N refers to a positive integer. ‘M’ is greater than 1, meanwhile, ‘N’ is greater or equal to 1.
The M sub-chips in the quantum chip will reduce the strain of manufacturing and will improve the production yield. For example, when a sub-chip happens to suffer from a defect, only the sub-chip will be discarded, and the overall chipset can be fixed or reused to prevent it from further being more electronic waste.
Quantum computing, heralded as the next generation of computing aims to cut down on the Internet and computing speeds up to 10 times that of today. For example, let’s say a modern-day supercomputer took 108 days (3 months) to compute 62.8 trillion digits of pi, if we were to theoretically use a future quantum computer, it could hypothetically calculate 62.8 trillion digits of pi in only 10 days (1.5 weeks), which is much faster than 3 months.
Although we are still in the infancy stages of developing the future of quantum computers, the promise of quantum computing seems attractively limitless with faster internet searching, lightning-quick financial data analysis, shorter commutes, more effective cancer drugs, better weather prediction and more.
Micron Technology is a US-based multinational semiconductor company that has operations in Japan and Taiwan for its chipmaking business. And as both Nikkei Asia and ITHome report, the tech giant will start mass-producing advanced DRAM memory chips at its Japanese Hiroshima plant in Q4 this year.
ITHome reports that on a press media visit to Micron’s A3 chip manufacturing factory, Micron‘s Taiwanese division director, Lu Donghui announced that the A3 factory will be introducing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment in the second half of the year, to prepare early for the mass production of 1-gamma DRAM that is due to launch in 2024.
And as for 1-Beta DRAM Mass Production, it is reported that 1-Beta DRAM will be initially manufactured in Japan, and then the production will switch over to the Taiwanese plant later. For context, the current 1-Alpha DRAM is manufactured in the Taiwanese plant.
And the report by ITHome seems to be valid, as another news outlet, Nikkei Asia has reached out to Chief Business Officer at Micron, Sumit Sadana, regarding the news of 1-Beta DRAM production.
Nikkei Asia quotes Sadana that the company will start mass-producing advanced DRAM memory chips at its Hiroshima plant by the end of the year, which falls in Q4 2022.
The company is coordinating with the Japanese government and business partners, such as equipment makers, to start producing them in Japan as well, Sadana said in an interview. He did not reveal the size of the investment in the Hiroshima plant but said manufacturing such chips generally requires new equipment and clean rooms.
Micron is expected to determine the scale of its investment based on government subsidies and other factors.
DRAM is used for temporary data storage in a wide variety of electronics, including smartphones and servers. And for Micron’s naming scheme, the company had already mass-produced its 1X, 1Y, 1Z and 1-alpha DRAM. The 1Xnm process is equivalent to 16-19nm, 1Ynm is equivalent to 14-16nm, and the 1Znm process is equivalent to 12-14nm. According to industry sources, the latest 1-alpha, 1-beta and 1-gamma may be equivalent to 14-12nm, 12-10nm and 10nm respectively
Micron has announced in 2021 plans to invest $150 billion in memory manufacturing and research and development worldwide over the next decade. With the company laying out plans for 1-beta production, industry watchers are looking to see where it will manufacture the next-generation 1-gamma DRAM, which is targeted for mass production in 2024.
Earlier in March this year, Lenovo announced its 2022 Lenovo Legion Y7000P and Y9000P series of gaming laptops that are powered by Intel’s 12th Gen Alder Lake Mobile CPUs for the Chinese market.
And today in June, the brand has yet again released another series of gaming laptops – the Legion R7000P and R9000P, which from the exterior looks identical to the earlier announced Y7000P and Y9000P, but this time around, the R7000P and R9000P are equipped with AMD’s latest Ryzen 6000H series of CPUs and NVIDIA’s top of the line RTX 3000 GPUs.
Lenovo Legion R7000P 2022
Let’s start with the comparatively lower-priced Legion R7000P. The gaming laptop sports a 15.6-inch 2.5K 165Hz IPS LCD display that has a resolution of 2560 * 1440 pixels and covers 100% of the sRGB colour gamut.
Lenovo Legion R7000P 2022
It comes with two CPU configurations for the buyers to choose from: the AMD Ryzen 5 6600H and Ryzen 7 6800H. Both of these CPUs are built on AMD’s latest Zen 3+ architecture and promise much better performance and power efficiency compared to its x86 competitors.
Graphics-wise, buyers can configure the laptop to come with an in-built Nvidia RTX 3050 GPU or RTX 3050 Ti GPU onboard, and both GPU options max out at 95W. The launch pricing for all the spec configurations is as follows.
The Lenovo Legion R7000P is equipped with industry-leading 16GB of DDR5 4800 MHz RAM, and 512GB of fast PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. As for the battery, it has an 80Wh cell and supports 135W of wired fast charging via USB-C PD. It comes with Windows 11 Home pre-installed and is officially available for pre-order from today onwards and goes on sale on June 17th.
Lenovo Legion R9000P 2022
The more expensive sibling in the lineup, the Lenovo Legion R9000P, sports a larger 16-inch 2.5K 165Hz IPS LCD display, that has a resolution of 2560 * 1440 pixels and can reach 500 nits of peak brightness, along with some more premium features such as support for HDR content and DC Dimming.
Lenovo Legion R9000P 2022
The laptop only comes with the top-end Zen 3+ based AMD Ryzen 7 6800H as the CPU, and for the dedicated graphics, you can opt for either the RTX 3060 GPU that maxes out at 140W or the higher-performing RTX 3070 Ti GPU that maxes out at 150W. The pricing for the Lenovo Legion R9000P is as follows:
The laptop is equipped with industry-leading 16GB of DDR5 4800 MHz RAM, and 512GB of fast PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage as well.
It comes with a large 80Wh battery onboard and charges 300W with the included barrel plug charger in the box with support for 135W USB-C charging. It comes with Windows 11 Home pre-installed out of the box.
The Legion R9000P 2022 is officially available for pre-order from today onwards and goes on sale on June 17th.
There is an indication that we may be close to an international launch of the Xiaomi Electric Scooter 4 Pro e-scooter manufactured by Segway-Ninebot. The Electric Scooter 4 Pro has gotten the European Declaration of Conformity certification. Xiaomi published the Declaration of Conformity document which was in six languages. The languages included English, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish, and French.
The conformity document specifies that the Electric Scooter 4 Pro is produced by Ninebot Tech, which we know, was acquired by Segway. The document also indicates that there are three variants of the Electric Scooter 4 Pro. Although the differences are not clear at this time, the models are DDHBC20NEB, DDHBC21NEB, and DDHBC23NEB. While no details are available on the expected release date, we know it is imminent.
The Segway-Ninebot team is behind the production of the Xiaomi Electric Scooter 3 Lite. The new Electric Scooter 5 Pro lineup is expected to come with significant improvements. Pricing and global availability details are also not known yet. The Xiaomi Electric Scooter 4 Pro will likely be available across Europe. The standing e-scooter sports a simple design but its detailed specs are speculative for now.
Last week, Samsung‘s latest Smart Monitor M8 was made available for pre-reservation in India for a deposit amount of INR 3,000. Now, the company has finally revealed the pricing and availability of the monitor.
Samsung Smart Monitor M8 Indian pricing & availability
The Smart Monitor M8 is priced at INR 59,999. It will officially go on sale starting June 15, 2022. Customers who pre-reserve the monitor will receive an INR 5,000 coupon and freebies such as Galaxy Buds2 and a wireless keyboard.
Specs & Features
The Smart Monitor M8 has a 4K UHD 32-inch display with 60Hz refresh rate. It comes with HDR 10+ support, 99 percent sRGB color coverage, 400 nits of brightness, and 1.07 billion colors.
The monitor can double as a Smart TV as it runs on the Tizen OS and comes with an IR remote. It can also work as a SmartThings Hub as the monitor provides full compatibility with Samsung’s IoT ecosystem.
The monitor comes with a movable magnetic SlimFit Cam for crystal-clear video calls, and the built-in Video Call application supports the most popular calling apps, including Google Duo. Connectivity options on the monitor include Bluetooth 4.2 and WiFi 5 along with a micro HDMI port and two USB-C ports, one of which is capable of 65W reverse charging.
The smart monitor also has two 5W speakers with tweeters built into featuring a 2.2-channel setup giving users an experience that’s closer to that of surround sound. The monitor weighs in at 9.4KG and comes in Warm White, Sunset Pink, Daylight Blue, and Spring Green colors.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 is expected to launch on Aug. 10. The company is also expected to announce the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 series alongside it. Well ahead of the launch, TechTalkTVhas shared the real-life images of the Z Flip 4 to reveal its design.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 leaked images
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 hands-on images show that its overall appearance is identical to last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 3. Starting from the front, the Z Flip 4 offers marginally thinner bezels. It continues to feature a foldable screen with a centrally positioned punch-hole. The source claims that the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s display has a shallower crease as compared to its predecessor.
The size of the hinge looks significantly thinner than the Galaxy Z Flip 3. Hence it appears that it could be lighter than the previous model. However, there is a visible gap when the device is closed. The cover display also appears a bit bigger than that of the Flip 3.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 hands-on images by TechTalkTV
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 hands-on image
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 hands-on images by TechTalkTV
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 hands-on images by TechTalkTV
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 continues to sport a dual-tone design. Besides the cover display is a dual-camera system. It is also equipped with a side-facing fingerprint scanner. The leak also claims that the Z Flip 4 will offer a bigger battery life. There are two reasons behind it. The first one is that it is equipped with a bigger battery, which is couple with a more efficient chipset.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 has a 3,700mAh battery like the Galaxy S22. It will carry support for 25W fast charging. It may also support wireless charging. Previous reports have revealed that it will come with a 6.7-inch AMOLED FHD+ 120Hz foldable screen, Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, up to 12 GB of RAM, up to 512 GB of storage, Android 12 OS, a 12-megapixel (main) + 12-megapixel (ultrawide) dual-camera system, and a 10-megapixel front camera. It comes in colors like Graphite, Bora Purple, Pink Gold, and Blue.
OnePlus is working on its next numbered flagship phone. A recent leak claimed that it will be debuting on the market with the OnePlus 10T moniker. However, the possibility of it being called the OnePlus 10 can not be ruled out. Now, the publication Onsitegohas published renders based on early prototypes of the smartphone. In addition, it has also leaked the key specifications of the device.
OnePlus 10 (10T) design
The OnePlus 10 renders show that it has a punch-hole display on the front. The left side of the device features volume up and down buttons. Its right spine has a power key. It is yet another OnePlus phone to lack the iconic alert slider.
OnePlus 10 (or 10T) renders by Onsitego / Yogesh Brar
Moving to the back, the OnePlus 10 sports a huge camera module, which occupies 1/3rd of the device. The squarish camera module has three cameras and a circular LED flash. The rear design of the phone seems to be inspired by the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G.
OnePlus 10 specifications (rumored)
According to the publication, the OnePlus 10 will come with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display that offers a Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. For selfies, it will feature a 32-megapixel front-facing camera. Its rear camera setup will comprise of an OIS-assisted 50-megapixel main camera, a 16-megapixel ultrawide lens, and a 2-megapixel macro camera.
OnePlus 10 (or 10T) renders by Onsitego / Yogesh Brar
The handset was expected to feature the Dimensity 9000 SoC, but the company has reportedly settled for the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chip. It will pack a 4,800mAh battery with 150W fast charging support. The other features that will be available on the device include an in-screen fingerprint scanner and stereo speakers.
OnePlus 10 price in India
The OnePlus 10 (10T) will be slotted in between the OnePlus 10R and OnePlus 10 Pro. The publication claims that it may launch in July in India and other markets.
China Telecom, besides selling telecommunications equipments and services in China, also sells smartphones under its sub-brand U-Magic in the country. And this week, the company had unveiled the U-Magic 50 5G, an affordable smartphone that can deliver 5G connectivity and high battery endurance in the entry-level market.
U-Magic 50 5G
The U-Magic 50 5G sports Qualcomm’s entry-level Snapdragon 480 5G SoC with a large 5000mAh battery to boot. The combination of a large battery with the power-efficient chipset onboard allows for longer endurance overall for the device. Paired with 22.5W wired fast charging, the fundamentals of the device seem alright for an entry-level 5G smartphone.
Coming to the screen, the U-Magic 50 5G is equipped with a 6.5-inch dewdrop notch LCD display that refreshes up to 60Hz with a screen aspect ratio of 20:9 and a high screen-to-body ratio of 89.3%. Though the resolution of the device has not been announced in the marketing materials yet.
The U-Magic 50 5G is also equipped with a set of dual stereo speakers on the top and bottom of the device. China Telecom claims that it can deliver up to 86dB of loud audio and paired with Surround Sound 9.1, the audio experience will be further elevated for the user.
Cameras-wise, the device only has a dual-camera setup with a 13MP main sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The device does not support NFC, charges via USB-C and has a 3.5mm headphone jack. The phone’s dimensions are 163.9 × 75.9 × 8.95 mm and weigh 196g.
U-Magic 50 5G
The China Telecom U-Magic 50 5G officially goes on sale in China on June 15th and will be available in only memory configuration – 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage for 1499 RMB (224 USD). Users will have 3 colour options to choose from, which are Matte Blue, Matte Silver and Black.
Realme V20 5G has been silently announced in China. The smartphone is reportedly aimed towards offline markets because of which it is unavailable for purchase online. In May, a Realme phone with an RMX3610 model number was spotted at Chinese certification sites such as 3C and TENAA. At that time, it was speculated that it could be the Realme V21 5G. However, it has now arrived in the offline market in China with the “Realme V20 5G” moniker. Here is all the information on the specifications, features, and price of the device.
Realme V20 5G specifications and features
The Realme V20 5G has a 6.5-inch LCD screen with a teardrop notch. It offers an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. It has a 5-megapixel camera on the front for selfies and video calls. Its rear-facing dual-camera unit has a 13-megapixel main camera and a 0.3-megapixel secondary lens.
Realme V20 5G
The MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset is present under the hood of the Realme V20 5G. It is equipped with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of built-in storage. It is unclear whether the V20 runs on Android 12 OS or the older Android 11 OS. The device lacks a fingerprint scanner.
The Realme V20 5G packs a 5,000mAh battery that supports 10W charging. It comes equipped with a 3.5mm audio jack. The device measures 8.1mm in thickness and weighs around 184 grams.
Realme V20 5G price and availability
The V-series Realme phones are not sold outside China. Even if it arrives in global markets, it could be rebranded as a C-series device. As far as pricing is concerned, the V20 5G has arrived with a price tag of 999 Yuan (~$149). It comes in two colors, such as Star Blue and Ink Cloud Black.
Xiaomi has officially launched an 8K HDMI 2.1 data cable that supports dynamic HD resolution. The Xiaomi 8K HDMI 2.1 ultra-high-definition data cable is now available in China for ¥99 (~$15). The new Xiaomi HDMI cable supports 4K and 8K video transmission at 120Hz and 60Hz refresh rates respectively.
The new Xiaomi 8K HDMI 2.1 data cable supports variable refresh rates, fast media switching, fast frame transmission, and automatic low-latency mode. The new HDMI cord also serves as an enhanced audio return transit channel. The data cable has a total bandwidth of 48Gbps and offers 3D stereo imaging technology. It also offers a high color depth of 12 bit.
Xiaomi says that the 8K HDMI 2.1 data cable offers a sensational impact and brings a great audiovisual experience. The Xiaomi 8K HDMI 2.1 data cable is compatible with 7.1/5.1 channel systems and supports Dolby Atmos. It can be used with gaming consoles, TV boxes, monitors, projectors, HD TVs, and others. Its versatility is further enhanced by its decent pricing of ¥99 (~$15).
The Xiaomi 8K HDMI 2.1 data cable is internationally certified by the HDMI Association. It is also backward compatible with earlier versions from 1.1 to 2.0. The Xiaomi 8K HDMI 2.1 data cable is available from the Xiaomi website.
Automaker Hyundai has introduced its Level 4 autonomous RoboRide service in the Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is at the heart of the deployment and will see a safety driver present for now.
Seoul’s Mayor and another city official were the first passengers in the new ride-hailing service in the Gangnam district. They were taken along a route in the district which is the only location for the service in Korea. There are no details as of now on when Hyundai will discontinue the presence of a safety driver in the RoboRide in Korea. The Ioniq 5 autonomous vehicles can accommodate up to three passengers at a time.
The Hyundai-powered RoboRide service in Korea will only be available to company employees at the start. The hailing is achieved using the i.M app, similar to the ones used by Waymo or Cruise. The i.M app was developed by Jin Mobility and it will rely heavily on AI. The Ioniq 5 itself is based on Hyundai’s Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). There are no indications of how long this pilot RoboRide service will last in Korea. The company feels this milestone is an important inflection point as it continues to internalize autonomous driving technology.
There are twenty-five districts in Seoul and the RoboRide is only active in just one. This is because the traffic lights in the other districts are not yet capable of communicating with self-driving vehicles. The data that will be gathered from the pilot scheme will aid Hyundai in integrating several components in the production of autonomous vehicles.
Apple’s M1 series of silicon processors not only exists in its Mac Minis and Macbooks but also resides on the company’s iPads as well. Thus, a cybersecurity vulnerability in the SoC could lead to many modern Apple products being affected if they were to be targeted by a malicious attack.
And after announcing the company’s new M2 silicon processors at Apple WWDC 2022, news broke out that the Apple M1 silicon has been compromised in the cybersecurity department. And as both MacWorld and 9to5Mac quoted MIT researchers, the newly discovered security flaw defeats the last line of security of the M1 SoC and cannot be patched via software updates.
The highly concerning security vulnerability in M1 is named “PACMAN” because it defeats the M1’s Pointer Authentication Code (PAC) system.
MacWorld explains that pointer authentication is a security feature that helps protect the CPU against an attacker that has gained memory access. Pointers store memory addresses, and pointer authentication code checks for unexpected pointer changes caused by an attack. In its research, MIT CSAIL created “PACMAN,” an attack that can find the correct value to successfully pass pointer authentication, so a hacker can continue with access to the computer.
Macworld quotes an MIT article with MIT CSAIL’s Joseph Ravichandran, who is the co-lead author of a paper explaining PACMAN, “When pointer authentication was introduced, a whole category of bugs suddenly became a lot harder to use for attacks. With PACMAN making these bugs more serious, the overall attack surface could be a lot larger.”
According to MIT CSAIL, since its PACMAN attack involves a hardware device, a software patch won’t fix the problem. The issue is a wider problem with ARM processors that use Pointer Authentication, not just Apple’s M1. “Future CPU designers should take care to consider this attack when building the secure systems of tomorrow,” Ravichandran wrote. “Developers should take care to not solely rely on pointer authentication to protect their software.”
MIT was able to perform the PACMAN attack remotely. The team mentions that they actually did all their experiments over the network on a machine in another room, as they described “PACMAN works just fine remotely if you have unprivileged code execution.”
Macworld reports that Apple is aware of MIT CSAIL’s findings and issued the following statement: “We want to thank the researchers for their collaboration as this proof of concept advances our understanding of these techniques. Based on our analysis as well as the details shared with us by the researchers, we have concluded this issue does not pose an immediate risk to our users and is insufficient to bypass operating system security protections on its own.”
Edifier is a Beijing-based electronics company in the industry, that is mostly known for their expertise in audio consumer electronics like speakers, headsets and also earphones. The brand is still growing in terms of gaining market share in the industry and it cannot be refuted that to quickly gain market share, your entry-level product must be affordable and high-quality for the masses.
This week, the brand announced the Edifier H180 Plus – a pair of new USB-C half-in-ear wired earphones, that are not only affordable but also decent from the specifications as well.
Edifier H180 Plus
Like newer wired earphones, the Edifier H180 Plus connects to your device via USB-C, and as for the durability of the wire, the Edifier H180 Plus is claimed by the company to be durable with a highly flexible polycarbonate coating that allows it to be resistant to scratches, entanglement, and wear and tear. In turn, you can enjoy your music worry-free from harm.
However, what’s surprising about these earphones is the audio quality. These affordable pair of earphones have officially gotten the golden seal of Hi-Res Audio, meaning sound quality can definitely punch above its weight class.
Edifier’s marketing material mentions that this is achieved with the company’s clever audio engineering. The Edifier H180 Plus is equipped with a 14mm audio driver that allows for frequency ranges from 20Hz to 40kHz, and the bandwidth is 100% higher than competing wired earphones in the market.
In addition, the software on the Edifier H180 Plus is also pretty varied. It is equipped with 4 in-built EQ sound profiles for your music needs, which are respectively: Standard, Pop, Classical and Rock. The in-built microphone is also said to provide high-quality audio recording capabilities.
The microphone is housed within the control panel that is located on the bottom side of the right earbud. And the controls are physical, as you can easily click on the power button, volume up or volume down button for immediate feedback and control.
Edifier H180 Plus
The Edifier H180 Plus comes in two colours – Black and White and goes on sale in China today for an official retail price of 69 RMB (11 USD).
The OPPO Reno8 Series just debuted in the global market with the launch of the OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G: the most affordable variant from the lineup. While we are waiting for the launch of the remaining devices from the series globally, it is worth comparing the new mid-ranger with the other handsets sold in the global market with similar price tags. Remaining under the BBK umbrella, there are two handsets sold globally with similar specifications: the Realme 9 Pro and the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G. Here is a comparison between the specifications of the OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G, the Realme 9 Pro, and the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G.
Realme 9 Pro vs OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G vs OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G
Realme 9 Pro
OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
164.3 x 75.6 x 8.5 mm,
195 g
159.8 x 73.2 x 7.5 mm,
173 g
164.3 x 75.6 x 8.5 mm,
195 g
DISPLAY
6.6 inches, 1080 x 2412 pixels (Full HD+), IPS LCD
6.43 inches, 1080 x 2400 pixels (Full HD+), AMOLED
6.59 inches, 1080 x 2412 pixels (Full HD+), IPS LCD
Triple 64 + 8 + 2 MP, f/1.8 + f/2.2 + f/2.4
16 MP f/2.1 front camera
Triple 64 + 8 + 2 MP, f/1.7 + f/2.4 + f/2.4
16 MP f/2.4 front camera
Triple 64 + 2 + 2 MP, f/1.7 + f/2.4 + f/2.4
16 MP f/2.0 front camera
BATTERY
5000 mAh, fast charging 33W
4500 mAh, fast charging 33W
5000 mAh, fast charging 33W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
dual SIM slot, 5G
dual SIM slot, 5G, reverse charging
dual SIM slot, 5G
Design
The most beautiful phone in this comparison is the OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G. It has a better look, but that is not all: it comes with a thinner and lighter design, as well as amazing RGB rings around the cameras which can be used as notifications LEDs. Last but not least, it is the only one to offer certification against water: thanks to the IPX4 certification, it is a splashproof phone. Unfortunately, all of these handsets are not built with premium materials, and they are made of polycarbonate. The Realme 9 Pro and the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G are thicker and bigger devices, so less attractive than the Reno.
Display
Are you looking for the best image quality? If so, then you should opt for the OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G. It is the only device from this trio to sport an AMOLED display: it is a panel with a 6.43-inch diagonal and a Full HD+ resolution which shows more brilliant colors and deeper blacks. It even sports an in-display fingerprint reader. On the other hand, the Realme 9 Pro and the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G are better devices for gaming: they have two IPS LCD panels, but they come with a high 120 Hz refresh rate. All of these handsets feature a mono speaker and a 3.5 mm audio jack allowing you to use classic wired earphones.
Specs & Software
These three handsets come with exactly the same hardware setup. They are all powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 695 5G mobile platform by Qualcomm built at 6 nm and running at a max frequency of 2.2 GHz. The chipset is paired with up to 8 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB of internal storage that you can furtherly expand with a micro SD. Note that, while Realme 9 Pro and OnePlus CE 2 Lite 5G come in a 6/128 GB memory configuration and run Android 12 out of the box, the OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G only provides 8 GB of RAM and it still runs Android 11, even though it is based on ColorOS 12. This means that Reno8 Lite will get fewer Android updates.
Camera
These three handsets come with exactly the same camera departments, with the exception of the Realme 9 Pro. All of them sport a 64 MP main sensor and a 2 MP macro camera, but the Realme 9 Pro replaces the useless depth sensor of the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G and the OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G with a useful ultrawide sensor. That is why the Realme mid-ranger wins the camera comparison.
The weak point of the OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G is the battery life if we compare it to its opponents. In order to provide a thinner, lighter, and more compact design, OPPO equipped the device with a smaller battery: the capacity is 4500 mAh. With the OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G and the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, you get bigger 5000 mAh batteries. So, even though the Reno8 Lite 5G has a more efficient AMOLED display, its two rivals have longer battery life. All of these phones feature 33W fast charging.
Price
The starting price of the Realme 9 Pro is €259/$272, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G starts from €299/$315, and the OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G sells for €399/$420. Note that the price of the first two is referred to the memory configuration with 6 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage, while the Reno8 Lite only comes with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Overall, the Reno8 Lite 5G is a more interesting phone because of its AMOLED display and better design, but the other two come with big batteries, more affordable prices, and a 120 Hz refresh rate which may attract a lot of customers.
Realme 9 Pro vs OPPO Reno8 Lite 5G vs OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G: PRO and CONS
After the standard Reno 8 and Reno 8 Pro Plus went on sale last week, the Oppo Reno 8 Pro has now officially gone on sale in China for only 2999 RMB (US$ 447)!
The Oppo Reno 8 Pro will be officially available with 3 memory and storage configurations that go up to 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage. The official pricing in the country for the Oppo Reno 8 Pro is as follows:
8 GB + 128 GB – 2999 RMB (US$ 447)
8 GB + 256 GB – 3199 RMB (US$ 477)
12 GB + 256GB – 3499 RMB (US$ 522)
Oppo Reno 8 Pro
The Oppo Reno 8 Pro is the world’s first smartphone equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC, built on Samsung’s 4nm manufacturing process. The SoC is claimed to feature higher performance than its predecessors, the Snapdragon 778G and 780G processors, on the more advanced node.
However, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 isn’t the only silicon processor under the Oppo Reno 8 Pro as the device also features the company’s in-house self-developed MariSilicon X ISP imaging chip, which debuted earlier in the year on the brand’s flagship offering – the Oppo Find X5 Pro. With a dedicated ISP, the Oppo Reno 8 Pro aims to outperform videography and photographing capabilities in its segment.
The cameras on the Oppo Reno 8 Pro are also stacked as it features the same flagship Sony IMX766 primary sensor as the Oppo Find X5 Pro, with an 8MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro sensor to round up the triple camera island on the back. The selfie camera is also using a flagship-grade sensor as well from Sony which is the Sony IMX709.
Oppo Reno 8 Pro
Coming to the display, the Oppo Reno 8 Pro has a 6.62-inch Full HD+ Samsung E4 flat AMOLED display with 2,400 x 1,080 pixels of resolution, reaching up to 1300 nits of peak brightness and a 120 Hz refresh rate. Powering the device is a generous 4,500mAh battery with Oppo’s signature 80W SuperVOOC fast wired charging.
Other features of the Oppo Reno 8 Pro include its Linear X-axis vibration motor, support for NFC and a single bottom-firing speaker. The device is equipped with flat aluminium edges and is available in 3 colour options: Champagne Gold, Laidback Blue and Midnight Black.
Ever since the launch of the OnePlus 2 back in 2015, the brand has provided the iconic alert slider on its devices. Although, after the merger of OnePlus and OPPO, many of the devices from the brand have come out lacking the slider.
OnePlus 6 Alert Slider
This was mainly due to most of the mid and lower-end devices that OnePlus has launched in recent times being rebranded OPPO devices. However, with the launch of the OnePlus Ace/ OnePlus 10R, many customers were left confused as that being a premium mid-range device also lacked an alert slider.
OnePlus 7T
Now, tipster Yogesh Brar’s recent tweet has revealed that there might be very few devices that come with an alert slider from now on. According to the tipster, the recently launched OnePlus Nord 2T was the last mid-range device to carry an alert slider. Going forward, the alert slider will only be offered in the Pro models along with some OPPO flagships.
This means that customers will have to shell out some serious cash to enjoy the physical alert slider in the future. Currently, there is no clarification as to why this decision was made. But it might be to keep the feature more exclusive or it could be due to OnePlus using rebranded OPPO devices as their mid-range offerings.
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