Galaxy Z Flip3, Z Fold3 become Samsung’s first foldables to run stable One UI 4.1

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Mar 15, 2022

HONOR annou nced the HONOR 50 series for global markets at the end of October 2021. The company only brought the HONOR 50 and HONOR 50 Lite outside mainland China. These handsets debuted with Magic UI 4.2 based on Android 11 with GMS (Google Mobile Services). Months later, the brand now reveals when these smartphones will be updated to the latest software.

According to HONOR, the Android 12 update for the HONOR 50 series in international markets will arrive as Magic UI 6.0. The HONOR 50 will be the first to receive it in Q2 2022, followed by HONOR 50 Lite in Q3 2022.

The timeline shared by the company is lackluster by today’s standards. Considering that these are the only two main phones from the brand for global markets, it is even worse. Hopefully, HONOR improves its software situation sooner than later.

At the same time, it would be great if new HONOR smartphones made their way to international markets a bit earlier. The HONOR 50 series initially debuted in China in June 2021. But it took the company 4 months to announce it for global markets.

Similarly, the HONOR 60 series already went official in the brand’s home country in December. However, there’s still no official word from the company regarding its availability outside mainland China.

vivo X Fold to be one of the first foldables with dual under-screen ultrasonic fingerprint sensors

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Mar 15, 2022

vivo’s very first foldable smartphone codenamed ‘butterfly’ and named vivo X Fold is expected to be launched in April. After being spotted in the subway, revealing its near-crease-less front, the device’s under-screen ultrasonic fingerprint solution has now been exposed.

Tech blogger @Feiwei on Weibo today posted an image of what looks to be the disassembled displays of the vivo X Fold — both inner and outer ones. Both displays appear to have ultrasonic fingerprint sensors, which Feiwei describes as being more advanced and easier to use compared to side-mounted fingerprint sensors that most other foldables use.

The vivo X Fold will rival the OPPO Find N and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3, both of which have side-mounted fingerprint scanners, giving the vivo foldable an edge.

In addition, leakster Digital Chat Station had earlier said that the vivo X Fold comes with punch-holes in both the center of the outer screen as well as the center of the right half of the inner screen. The display will be a 2K+120Hz E5 LTPO screen from Samsung with support for DC dimming.

It is worth mentioning here that the vivo X Fold has already been certified by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and has even obtained 3C certification, meaning its launch is imminent.

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OnePlus Nord 2 OxygenOS 12 Closed Beta program commences for Indian users

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Sudhanshu

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Mar 15, 2022

OnePlus has announced the commencement of the OxygenOS 12 Closed Beta testing program for the OnePlus Nord 2 devices. The announcement came through a post on the OnePlus Community forums.

Currently, the beta program is limited to OnePlus Nord 2 users in India and does not include the Nord 2 PAC-MAN Edition smartphones. The company is recruiting around 200 people for the closed beta program and states that this time around, the Closed Beta testing phase will be shorter than before and therefore the company will only release a few OxygenOS 12 builds through its duration.

The company plans to recruit 200 OnePlus Nord 2 users for the program. Selected users will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the company. In order to be eligible, you need to meet the requirements below:

1. You are using a OnePlus Nord 2 India variant
2. You are an active OnePlus Community member
3. You are willing to regularly communicate and report issues/suggestions to the OnePlus team on Telegram
4. The CBT version is not the stable version, which is still in development. After updating to CBT version, you’ll remain to be patient and tolerate its instability and accept all risks which might be caused by it.

If you meet these requirements and want to participate in the Closed Beta testing program, you can follow this link to the registration page.

As for people wondering about the stable Android 12 update for the OnePlus Nord 2, since the company is just commencing the Closed Beta test now, we can expect to be followed by an Open Beta test and then a stable version release. So we might be looking at a Q2 2022 release date for the stable OxygenOS 12 for the OnePlus Nord 2.

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OnePlus 9, 9 Pro to get ColorOS 12.1 update by March-end

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Mar 15, 2022

The OnePlus 10 Pro made its global debut in China in January. It is the first-ever OnePlus Pro series phone to release first in the brand’s home country. Also, it is the first handset to ship with ColorOS 12.1 Two months later, one of the company executives reveals when the last-generation OnePlus flagship smartphones will get an update to the fresh version of ColorOS.

Liu Fengshuo, the president of the OnePlus product lineup, revealed on Weibo that the last year’s OnePlus 9 and Oneplus 9 Pro will be soon updated to ColorOS 12.1. According to him, these devices are expected to receive the latest version of OPPO’s mobile operating system based on Android 12 by the end of March.

Per his post, the update is still in progress. Hence, if there are any issues with the software builds, then the rollout could get delayed. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen though OnePlus is known for software mishaps these days.

With that being said, the ColorOS 12.1 update for the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro will be limited to China. Because it is the only country where these phones run ColorOS instead of OxygenOS. In fact, they are the first OnePlus-branded smartphones to ship with ColorOS out of the box.

As far as new features are concerned, ColorOS 12.1 comes with HyperBoost tech for gaming, AI features for a smooth experience, and other minor tweaks.

HUAWEI Maimang 11 budget phone makes TENAA appearance, launch imminent

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Mar 15, 2022

The HUAWEI Maimang 11 has reportedly passed the network access audit of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology with model number TYH622M.

The device appears to be a successor to the HUAWEI Maimang 10 that was launched in December last year by China Telecom for 2,299 yuan ($360). Maimang was previously known as Huawei Maimang but has changed ownership and is now under China Telecom, likely due to the US ban.

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The information released by the Ministry shows that the HUAWEI Maimang 11 is equipped with a 2.2GHz octa-core processor, which looks to be the Dimensity 700 (via IT Home). This is actually a downgrade from the Dimensity 720 that powered by the Maimang 10.

In addition, the Maimang 11 is equipped with a 6.745-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 1600×720, a 5900mAh battery, an 8MP front camera, and 48MP+2MP dual cameras. The device measures 168.3×77.6×8.98mm and weighs 199g. It retains the 3.5mm headphone jack and has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.

Color options are three — black, blue, and white. Memory configs include either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of internal storage.

China Telecom is yet to announce the release date of the upcoming phone but we’ll be keeping an eye out for that. It isn’t clear if the device will be sold outside of China.

RELATED:

Realme GT2 & GT2 Pro Indian launch officially teased

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Sudhanshu

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Mar 15, 2022

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Realme launched its current flagship dubbed the Realme GT2 series back in early January in China. The brand has been rumored to debut the smartphones in other markets like India and Europe soon.

Realme GT 2 Pro poster — Realme GT 2 Pro

Now, Realme has officially teased the upcoming launch of the GT2 and GT2 Pro in India. The brand took to Twitter to announce that their flagship smartphones will soon arrive in India.

The wait is over!
Arriving soon in India and it’s going to be#GreaterThanYouSee.

Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/6JbDn4KuwW

— realme (@realmeIndia) March 15, 2022

The company has not mentioned a specific launch date, however, a recent report revealed that the smartphone is set to debut in Indonesia on March 22, 2022, so we can expect the Indian launch to happen on the same date.

Realme GT2, GT2 Pro specifications

The Realme GT2 has a 6.62-inch AMOLED FHD+ 120Hz display, a 16-megapixel front camera, and a 50-megapixel (main, with OIS) + 8-megapixel (ultrawide) + 2-megapixel (macro) triple camera unit. It is equipped with the Snapdragon 888 chip and a 5,000mAh battery with 65W fast charging.

The Realme GT2 Pro comes with an AMOLED panel with a WQHD+ 1440×3216 resolution and support for 120Hz variable refresh rate (1-120Hz). Its touch sampling rate can reach 1000Hz and its peak brightness reaches 1400nits.

For photography, you get a triple-lens setup at the rear comprised of a Sony IMX766 50MP OIS main camera, a 50MP ultrawide camera, and a 40x microscope lens. Upfront, there’s the 32MP Sony IMX615 for selfies.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip powers the device, complemented by up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage.

The phone’s battery is sized 5,000mAh with 65W charging support, promising a full charge in just 33 minutes.

The GT2 series is preinstalled with the Android 12 OS and Realme UI 3.0. Other key features include LPDDR5 RAM, UFS 3.1 storage, an in-screen fingerprint scanner, and 65W fast charging.

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Apple supplier Foxconn mulls building new factory in Saudi Arabia: Report

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Mar 15, 2022

Foxconn, one of the primary supplier of Apple, is apparently in talks with Saudi Arabia regarding the construction of a new factory in the region. The company is mulling building a 9 billion US Dollar facility in the country.

According to a WallStreetJournal report, the supplier plans on setting up this site for the production of microchips, electric vehicle components, and other electronics as well. The report adds that Saudi Arabia is currently reviewing Foxconn’s offer to build a dual line semiconductor contract manufacturing factory, which is also simply known as a “foundry.” This new site will be situated in the region’s Neom. The city is known to be a tech focused city state that is currently being developed in the desert, as per sources close to the matter.

Unfortunately, the company and Saudi Arabian authorities have yet to officially comment on this news. For those unaware, Foxconn is a major supplier of the Cupertino based giant, but in recent times, it has been expanding its operations outside of consumer electronic products. The company is now diversifying its production to include electric vehicles as well, which has recently becoming popular in the automobile industry.

This news also arrives amid ongoing frictions between the US and China. Apart from Saudi Arabia, the firm is also planning on potentially building a production project in the United Arab Emirates as well. In other words, it plans on moving its production sites outside of China for technologies not related to consumer electronic gadgets.

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Apple starts selling refurbished models of iPhone 12 & iPhone 12 Pro

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Mar 15, 2022

Earlier this week, Apple started to sell new refurbished smartphones. These models were the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, that are currently available in the United States. This marks the first time that the company has sold these models under the refurbished category.

For those unaware, the iPhone 12 series was first launched back in late 2020. Now, the Cupertino based giant is relaunching the series in the US, but only the base iPhone 12 and the higher end iPhone 12 Pro models are listed as refurbished. In other words, prospective buyers do not have the option to buy an iPhone 12 mini or even the top end iPhone 12 Pro Max.

As of right now, the 6.1 inch iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro refurbished models are available for purchase in multiple color variants and even their different storage configurations. Customers can even opt for delivery or schedule a pickup from select Apple Store locations. Similar to previous generations, the new refurbished devices will be sold for a discount of around 15 percent compared to the brand new models. So now, an unlocked iPhone 12 with 64GB of internal storage can be purchased for 619 US Dollars in the US.

Meanwhile, the same model retails for 729 US Dollars for a brand new iPhone 12. These new refurbished phones will be unlocked and SIM free. Furthermore, the iPhone 12 models will come with a new battery and a new outer shell as well as a new white box that includes all the usual accessories like manuals and a USB-C to Lightning cable. Notably, the refurbished models are also covered under Apple’s standard one year warranty and its extended AppleCare+ coverage.

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MIUI 13 pilot update reportedly bricking some Mi 11 series devices

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Mar 15, 2022

The MIUI 13 update has undoubtedly been quite controversial, mostly due to the fact that it has presented barely anything to global users other than new wallpapers. Still, a quicker-than-last-year rollout has helped compensate for that a bit, with Android 12 now reaching a few budget devices as well. But as Xiaomiui reports, the company may have got another screw-up in its hands.

1. MIUI 13 (based on Android 12) bricks phones, thats true lol (Xiaomiui team bricked Mi11,Mi11U,Mi11Lite5G etc. thx to MIUI13 update and we paid EDL Auths for unbricking)

2. MIUI India Stable corrupts persist partition, thats why camera dies.

(Mi 11 Ultra, dies from MIUI13) pic.twitter.com/fKGoo441OM

— xiaomiui | Xiaomi & MIUI News (@xiaomiui) March 13, 2022

Bricked devices as a result of new MIUI updates isn’t exactly something new for Xiaomi. Initial ‘stable beta’ Android 12 rollouts had late last year rendered some Mi 11 Ultra and Mi 11 units useless. As if that wasn’t enough, MIUI 13 now looks to be having a similar effect on not just the aforementioned devices but also the Mi 11 Lite 5G (via Notebookcheck).

So far, it appears that the issue is limited to pilot testers only. Xiaomi does notify beta testers of associated risks so it would be unfair to blow up at it. But Xiaomiui says that the Mi 11 Ultra had to actually be opened up for recovery from the bricked state, which is quite a mess.

Xiaomi is also yet to acknowledge the issue. In such a case, it is advisable for pilot testers to not flash the latest update on Mi 11 series devices and wait for the next one instead. Stable users are advised to not manually flash any experimental builds for the time being.

The technical cause is currently unknown but the problem does seem to strike upon installing the OTA through the Updater app.

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Ola S1 Pro gets new GERUA color to celebrate the Holi festive season in India

By

Pranav

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Mar 15, 2022

Weeks back, Ola halted the production of its S1 electric scooter from the S1 series. This came after the company saw a huge demand for the more feature-rich Ola S1 Pro over the S1 electric scooters. Accordingly, the company encouraged the S1 users whose delivery was pending to switch to the Ola S1 Pro, followed by opening its booking window. The company is now resuming its booking window again after a few weeks’ hiatus. Interestingly, the company is adding a new color for celebrating the festive season in the country.

Ola has announced a new color called ‘GERUA’, which is an addition to the already existing colors. However, it is a limited edition color having a marigold-like oranges tone. This new Ola S1 Pro in GERUA limited edition color will be available only for two days that’s on March 17 and March 18 – the Holi festive days in India. The new color can be booked from the Ola app.

In addition to this color, buyers can also purchase other colors of the Ola S1 Pro electric scooter. Notably, those who book the Ola S1 Pro on the aforementioned dates will get the delivery starting from April 2022.

The Ola S1 Pro is a feature-rich electric scooter that comes with an 8.5kW motor and a 3.97kWh battery. The electric scooter is claimed to have a top speed of 115 km/h and is said to deliver a range of 181 km. It features a 7-inch touch-screen display and has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi connectivity. It has 3GB of RAM and comes with different driving modes. It has an ex-showroom price of Rs. 1,29,999(~$1,700).

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Samsung sold more LCD smartphones than OLED models in 2021: Report

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Mar 15, 2022

A new report has found that Samsung Electronics has sold more smartphones that feature an LCD panel than the ones that sport OLED displays technology last year. This is interesting considering the company is known for its OLED panels.

Although, smartphones with LCD panels are typically more affordable than their OLED counterparts. According to an Omdia report (Via BusinessKorea), the primary reason for this also due to the South Korean tech giant adopting LCD panels for their entry level handsets to cut costs. For those unaware, the ongoing chip shortage has caused prices for chips as well as related materials to rise. Thus, smartphones of various segments have also seen hike in pricing.

Samsung Electronics shipped around 135.8 million units of LCD smartphones, while its OLED models saw 135.1 million units in terms of sales. Looking at the shipment figures from a year prior, we can see that LCD smartphone shipments grew by an impressive 41 percent, while shipment of OLED devices fell by around 15 percent. However, the brand’s profitability also increased as shipments for LCD handsets saw a rise. Last year, the company’s LCD smartphone sales revenue rose by about 4.23 trillion Won (roughly 3.4 billion US Dollars).

This marked a whipping 740 percent increase over the same period in the previous year. The company has been a major figure that led to OLED technology becoming more popular in the handset market and has been a known player in this category since 2010. But while OLED technology has become quite popular in recent years, analysts predict that it will slow down in 2022.

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India was one of the driving factors behind global smartwatch market growth in 2021

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Mar 15, 2022

The global smartwatch market recorded a healthy 24% YoY growth in 2021 after seeing hardly any growth in the preceding year due to COVID-19. Q4 2021 alone saw over 40 million units shipped, which is the highest quarterly shipments for the category ever, the latest data from Counterpoint shows.

With newer features that help monitor health parameters like blood pressure, ECG, and SPO2 making it to cheaper watches, the market looks set to expand even further this year.

Global Top 9 Smartwatch Brands Shipment Share, 2021 vs 2020 (via Counterpoint)

Moving on to brand performance during last year, it was Apple that held the top spot in the smartwatch market globally, with a share of 30%. The company also accounted for half of the total market revenue.

Samsung stood second and was actually one of the most successful smartwatch OEMs in 2021, recording QoQ growth of over 200% in Q3 2021, and continued growing well into the end of last year. Moving on to Wear OS following a partnership with Google has helped partly with that.

Huawei ranked third, continuing its launch of various high-end and kids’ smartwatches despite the US ban. However, the company’s market share dipped from 10.7% in 2020 to about 7.7% in 2021.

Smartwatch-Shipment-Proportion-by-Region-2021-vs-2020 — Smartwatch Shipment Proportion by Region, 2021 vs 2020 (via Counterpoint)

The rest of the market was captured by brands like imoo, Amazfit, Garmin, Fitbit, Xiaomi, and Noise — in order of their market share. From these imoo was actually the top choice in the kids’ smartwatch segment. Amazfit, meanwhile, expanded its position in the market in 2021, recording a 20% YoY growth.

That aside, it’s important to highlight here that India was actually one of the driving forces behind the global smartwatch market growth in 2021. The country only accounted for 3% of the global market in 2020 but grew nearly four times to close at 10% in 2021.

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Nvidia $40bn acquisition deal failing leads to Arm cutting 1,000 jobs

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Mar 15, 2022

Arm has just revealed that it might have to downsize its total workforce by around 12 to 15 percent across the globe. In other words, it might have to cut up to 1,000 jobs following the Nvidia acquisition deal falling through.

According to a SkyNews report, the UK based chip designer stated that most of the proposed downsizing will be felt in the UK and US, although, it did not reveal any finer details regarding other regions. In a statement, the company said that “Like any business, Arm is continually reviewing its business plan to ensure the company has the right balance between opportunities and cost discipline.”

The chip designer further added that “Unfortunately, this process includes proposed redundancies across Arm’s global workforce.” The news follows after Nvidia failed to acquire Arm. For those unaware, the known graphics card maker was set to takeover the chip designer for a 40 billion US Dollar deal. But, opposition from various rival firms and anti-competition regulators from various nations stopped this deal. The deal would have Team Green buy the chip designer from Japanese conglomerate SoftBank.

Notably, the Arm employees would have shared a 1.5 billion US Dollars acquisition payout and retention bonus if the takeover actually took place. But now, former Arm’s co founder, Hermann Hauser, who has since left the company claims that the deal have resulted in thousands of job being cut in the UK, as the headquarters was planned to shift to the US.

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iQOO U5x tipped to launch soon with these specs

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Mar 15, 2022

Chinese smartphone brand iQOO will reportedly launch iQOO Z6 5G in India tomorrow (March 16). Ahead of that, details about yet another upcoming iQOO phone have emerged. Dubbed as iQOO U5x, this device will be a 4G variant of iQOO U5 5G, which went official in China in late December.

According to Ishan Agarwal (via MySmartPrice), the iQOO U5x will soon launch in China. Unfortunately, he is not sure if the device will be made available in India.

The tipster says that the handset will be built around a 6.81-inch display (LCD) with an HD+ (1600 x 720 pixels) resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. It will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC paired with 4GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.2 storage. If required, the storage can be expanded up to 1TB using a MicroSD card.

The smartphone will arrive with a dual-camera setup on the rear comprising of a 13MP primary sensor and a 2MP macro snapper. For selfies and video calls, it will use an 8MP front-facing shooter. There will also be a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for security.

The phone will get its juice from a 5,000mAh battery. It will only have support for 10W charging via a MicroUSB port. It will measure 8.3mm in thickness, weigh 180g, and come in two colors (black, blue).

In addition to the exact launch date, Ishan has no information on the iQOO U5x’s software and price. We think that the handset will go official quietly with either Android 11 or Android 12 and will likely cost under ¥1,500 ($235).

Xiaomi teases its new Redmi MAX series of Smart TVs in China

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Mar 15, 2022

Earlier today (15th March 2022), Xiaomi teased the upcoming Redmi K50 series that is set to be unveiled on March 17. But, the teaser didn’t stop their as the company also shared promotional images for a new Redmi MAX series of smart TVs that will launch in China soon.

According to Lu Weibing, Redmi General Manager, the Chinese tech giant is planning on upgrading the Redmi Max series of smart TVs across the board. Furthermore, these new large TVs will also be unveiled alongside the new Redmi K50 series in the brand’s home market. Xiaomi had just announced new laptops and TVs today, including the likes of the RedmiBook Pro 2022 that featured 12th Gen Intel chip and the new Redmi MAX smart TV model as well, which received its “biggest update in history.”

Recently, we had covered a Bluetooth SIG and 3C certification, which listed the Redmi MAX 100 inch Giant Screen TV. In other words, this new teaser basically confirms that the new MAX TV will feature a humongous 100 inch panel. This model will also be the successor of the Redmi Smart TV 98 inch MAX that was released back in 2020. The predecessor sported a 98 inch panel and offered 4K resolution, so we can also expect a similar resolution if not higher with the upcoming model.

The Bluetooth SIG certification also revealed some additional information, like support for Bluetooth 5.0. Meanwhile, the 3C listing showed that it will support the usual 60Hz refresh rate. Unfortunately, this is all the information we have regarding this new Redmi MAX series TV, so we will have to wait for the official launch to know more details regarding the new smart TV.

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realme 9 5G SE gets first update with a fix for refresh rate switching issue

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Mar 15, 2022

Last week, realme launched the realme 9 5G SE (Speed Edition) in India. The smartphone went on sale starting yesterday (March 14). At the same time, the company had also started rolling out the first software update for it. Let’s take a look at the changes.

According to an official announcement post on realme Community, the brand has begun to push a new software build for the realme 9 5G SE in India. The first-ever system update for the handset arrives with firmware version RMX3461_11.A.06.

Per the official changelog, the latest build brings a fix for a refresh rate switching issue, which is responsible for app stutters. It also comes with fixes for some known issues to improve system stability. Finally, it also arrives with March 2022 security patches.

The new software update is said to be seeded out in batches. Anyway, as the smartphone is on sale for only a couple of days, almost all buyers should be greeted with this update while setting up the phone. Therefore, most of them will not have to face the aforementioned app stutter issue caused by improper refresh rate switching.

Talking about the device, the main highlights of realme 9 SE are Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G chipset and 144Hz display (LCD). It is priced at ₹19,999 and ₹22,999 for 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 128GB memory configurations respectfully.

Moto Edge 30, G52, E32, & Lenovo K15 spotted on certification websites, may launch soon

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Mar 15, 2022

Motorola is apparently gearing up to launch a number of new products. The Lenovo owned brand will be launching new smartphones under its Moto E, G, and Edge series. These new models have been spotted on various certification websites recently, which hints at their imminent launch.

According to a MySmartPrice report, the Motorola E32 was spotted recently on multiple certification websites, and now, additional new models have also surfaced on these websites. Apart from the E32, the company is also gearing up to launch the Edge 30, G52, and the Lenovo K15 as well, which were spotted on the TDRA, FCC, Wi-Fi Alliance, and EUT certification websites.

The Motorola Edge 30 features the model number XT2203-1, while the Moto G52 comes with model number XT2221-1, the E32 has the XT2227-3 model number, and the Lenovo K15 has the model number XT2227-4. For those unaware, the vanilla Motorola Edge 30 will be the successor to last year’s Edge 20. Similarly, the Moto G52 will succeed the Moto G51 from 2021, meanwhile, the Lenovo K15 is likely a rebranded version of the E32 for China.

Furthermore, the Motorola Edge 30 and Moto G52 were also spotted on Wi-Fi Alliance and the database reveals that both smartphones will come with dual band Wi-Fi support and run on Android 12 out of the box. Notably, the edge 30, G52, and E32 were even spotted on the EEC. The E32 is expected to come with Android 11 out of the box. The Moto G52 was spotted on the FCC certification database and EUT database and will apparently launch in 4G and 5G variants.

RELATED:

Apple iPhone 14 to skip mini model & launch in 4 variants with advanced satellite features

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