boAt partners Dixon to foster Made-in-India wireless audio products

-

Jan 20, 2022

The OPPO Find N is the company’s first foldable smartphone. It was announced in mid-December and has been on sale multiple times since then. The device is so popular that the firm manages to sell the entire stock during every sale. Because the phone is not only cheaper than the competition but also offers an interesting set of features, including a folding screen without a crease. One of the company executives recently bragged about the creaseless nature of the handset.

OPPO Find N No Crease 100000 Folds Durability — OPPO Find N with no crease | Source: Pete Lau (Weibo)

CEO of OnePlus Pete Lau is also the Chief Product Officer of OPPO. Earlier today, he posted a picture containing two OPPO Find N units on Weibo.

According to his post, one of these units is his own, while the other one is from the R&D department. The latter has been folded 100,000 times. He asks his followers to guess the units.

By looking at the image, we don’t see any crease on either of the two units. We get to see similar comments from netizens as well. It is difficult for anyone to spot the odd one out.

The OPPO Find N is devoid of any crease as it uses a teardrop-shaped hinge. Even the Motorola Razr 5G has a similar implementation, however, it happens to develop creases after prolonged usage. Interestingly, that’s not the case with the OPPO model.

Oppo find N Review outer cameras — OPPO Find N

Additionally, the OPPO Find N’s foldable display has a better 8.4:9 aspect ratio. Hence, it is smaller than the Galaxy Z Fold3 but still houses a slightly larger battery.

If Samsung wants to lead the foldable smartphone market, it is high time the South Korean tech giant improves its devices before the Chinese competitors debut their products in global markets.

Tecno Pova Neo with 6,000mAh battery and 5GB of additional RAM launched in India

By

Pranav Sawant

-

Jan 20, 2022

Transsion Electronics’ Tecno has officially launched the all-new Tecno Pova Neo smartphone in the Indian market. The smartphone has the same specs as the previously launched Nigerian model, but on top of that, it comes at a cheaper price in the Indian region.

The Tecno Pova Neo costs Rs 12,999(~$174) for the sole 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant in India. This is slightly cheaper than the ~$177 price tag of the phone in Nigeria.

The phone comes in Obsidian Black, Geek Blue, and Power Black color variants. The device will go on sale from January 22 via authorized retail stores in India. Interestingly, those who buy the phone in the initial sale will get a free pair of the Tecno Free earbuds worth Rs 1,499.

Tecno Pova Neo Specifications

The Tecno Pova Neo comes with a large 6.8-inch DotNotch display sporting an HD+(720 x 1640 pixels) resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. It has 480 nits of peak brightness and a narrow bezel design. The smartphone has a textured back at the rear, which apparently makes it easy to hold.

It comes equipped with a dual-camera system featuring a 13MP main lens and an unknown secondary lens. It has an 8MP selfie camera with an f/1.8 aperture. The smartphone comes with a quad-LED setup at the rear.

Inside, it is powered by the MediaTek Helio G25 SoC paired with 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 128GB of eMMC 5.1 internal storage. Tecno is offering a 5GB of virtual RAM expansion feature where the phone will borrow 5GB from its internal storage to use it as additional RAM. It packs a 6,000mAh battery with an 18W fast charging support. It runs on Android 11 out of the box with HiOS 7.6 on the top.

The company claims that the phone will get up to 43 hours of talk time and up to 55 days of standby on a single charge. It has dual-SIM support with 4G LTE connectivity, WiFi 802.11ac, and Bluetooth v5.1. It features a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB Type-C port as well.

RELATED:

MediaTek working on Wi-Fi 7 chips, holds an inaugural tech demo

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

MediaTek has just announced its Filogic series products that feature Wi-Fi 7 technology. The new standard is said to allow 4K to 8K video streaming and “metaverse grade” connectivity as well.

The Taiwanese chipmaking giant is just announced that it is working on Wi-Fi 7 chips and also held an inaugural tech demo. According to the company, the new standards would be able to sustain improvements through advancements like multi link operation (MLO) technology. Furthermore, the next generation of Wi-Fi should be able to use new 320MHz channels. The brand has also suggested that users looking to purchase Wi-Fi 7 enabled products should look out for specs like 4K quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM).

These product may also offer multi user resource unit (MRU) features, also rated to address interference. The new standard is estimated to offer a 2.4 times jump in speed over Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E. Notably, MediaTek believes that the technology will ship with its latest Filogic Wi-Fi 7 based products sometime next year. In other words, the standard will become the industry norm next year, which is in line with our previous report as well.

According to Alan Hsu, corporate vice president and general manager of the Intelligent Connectivity business at MediaTek, “The rollout of Wi-Fi 7 will mark the first time that Wi-Fi can be a true wireline/Ethernet replacement for super high-bandwidth applications. MediaTek’s Wi-Fi 7 technology will be the backbone of home, office and industrial networks and provide seamless connectivity for everything from multi-player AR/VR applications to cloud gaming and 4K calls to 8K streaming and beyond.”

RELATED:

Samsung Galaxy A53 back panel images surface online

By

Sudhanshu

-

Jan 20, 2022

The Samsung Galaxy A53 is an upcoming mid-range smartphone from Samsung. The device is expected to launch soon as it has made an appearance on Geekbench, BIS, and China’s 3C database. Now, live images of the device have surfaced giving us the first looks at its back panel.

A 91mobiles report has revealed images of the back panel as well as the internal design of the upcoming Galaxy A53.

1 of 3

The new images are in line with the previous Galaxy A53 renders and showcase five cutouts on the camera island. Four of these are expected to hold a quad-camera setup, and the fifth cutout will hold an LED flash.

So far, the device has been tipped to sport a 64MP primary sensor, a 32MP ultra-wide, a 5MP macro lens, and a 5MP depth sensor. on the front, the device is expected to come with a 12MP selfie shooter.

The Galaxy A53 is expected to feature a 6.46-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. The device has previously been revealed to come in Snapdragon and Exynos SoC variants for different regions.

These chipsets are rumored to be the Snapdragon 778G and the upcoming Exynos 1200. The device will likely offer up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. it is also rumored to ship with a 5000mAh battery with 25W fast charging support, however, the packaging box will only contain a 15W charger. The phone is also likely to omit the 3.5mm audio jack.

The Samsung Galaxy A53 is expected to release in Q1 of 2022 while lower-tier models like the Galaxy A33 and the Galaxy A13 are expected to launch in the month of February.

RELATED:

Here’s the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 with a fully usable cover display

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 is one of the company’s latest foldable smartphone. It adopts a flip phone styled clamshell folding design and features a small cover display. But unlike the large secondary screen on the more expensive Galaxy Z Fold3, this one doesn’t offer complete functionality. Or does it?

According to an AndroidPolice report, a developer has undertook the task of making the small cover screen, which is usually used to display notifications and other basic information, into a full fledged phone display. In other words, you can use it as the primary screen when the device is in its folded state. The mod was made by developer jagan2 and is currently is available on the XDA forums.

This new solution is dubbed the CoverScreen OS and allows users to access a full app drawer, open apps, and even take actions from notifications right from the cover display. Without the mod, one would have to open up the flip phone and take actions via the larger primary panel. Notably, users can also flip the orientation to portrait to make certain app easier to use.

Looking at the images on the forum, CoverScreen OS does not appear as intuitive to use as the primary display. Meaning, it won’t be replacing the larger screen, however, its still a welcomed addition that expands the functionality of the small cover panel. So for those interested, you can click on the link above and try it out yourself.

RELATED:

Xiaomi 12 Ultra rear design detailed and compared to vivo’s upcoming flagship phone

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

Xiaomi officially lifted the curtains on its Xiaomi 12 flagship lineup but the rumored Ultra model was absent with the launch. Previous rumors had set a March or April release for the device, similar to last year’s Mi 11 Ultra, and new details about it keep emerging.

Prominent tipster Digital Chat Station through a post on Weibo has now given some new insight into the rear camera design of the ‘superphone’, and it seems to sit well with previous leaks.

Through an amusing sketch, the tipster revealed that the Xiaomi 12 Ultra will adopt a huge camera module design that will span the entire width of the phone. The outer part will be rectangular while the inner part where all of the camera lenses will reside will be circular.

The same post compares the look of the phone to a “high-end new flagship” from vivo, most likely the vivo X80 series. The Xiaomi 12 Ultra and vivo X80 flagship will feature very similar camera module designs but there is one subtle difference — the vivo phone’s circular camera island will be aligned to the left. The Xiaomi 12 Ultra’s, on the other hand, will be more symmetrical and aligned to the center.

xiaomi 12 ultra artwork by dcs — Xiaomi 12 Ultra (top) vs alleged vivo X80 flagship (bottom) by Digital Chat Station

The Xiaomi 12 Ultra is expected to feature a quad-camera setup very similar to its predecessor, with one of the lenses featuring 5x periscope telephoto capabilities. It will be powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC and feature a crazy fast 120W wired fast charging solution.

The vivo X80 series is set to launch soon as well and several of its specifications have already leaked.

RELATED:

nubia Z40 flagship series to be released in February with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, custom 35mm lens

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

nubia through a Weibo post today dropped some new details about the next iteration of its flagship phones, and it’s most likely the nubia Z40 series. The company says that the devices will be the “most powerful Z series flagships in history” and that they will be released in February.

The teaser images shared through the same post reveal that the Z40 series will be equipped with the industry’s first custom 35mm optical master lens. This focal length is ideal for events, portraits, street photography, and the like.

On top of that, the nubia Z40 series will feature the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor that will be cooled by new aerospace-grade heat dissipation materials.

nubia’s current flagship phone is the Z30 Pro, launched in May 2021. It is powered by the Snapdragon 888 processor and features a quad-camera setup at the rear, out of which three sensors have 64MP resolution while the fourth is 8MP. The battery is sized 4200 mAh and supports 120W fast charging (100% in 15 min).

It is expected that the Nubia Z40 series will once again be equipped with a periscope telephoto lens and will have rich starry sky photography capabilities.

RELATED:

Global Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G tipped to feature Snapdragon 690 SoC, MIUI 13, and more

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

Just a few hours back, we learned about the primary specs of the global Redmi Note 11. Now, the specifications of the international Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G have also emerged on the internet. Let’s check out the features of this anticipated smartphone from Xiaomi.

Redmi-Note-11-Pro-Global-Variants- — Redmi Note 11 Pro Global/International Variant | Source: MySmartPrice

According to tipster Yogesh Brar, the global Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G will sport a 6.6-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The device will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 SoC paired with 6GB/8GB LPDDR4x RAM and 128GB UFS 2.2 storage.

The phone will house a triple rear camera setup consisting of a 108MP primary sensor, an 8MP secondary sensor, and a 2MP tertiary sensor. On the front, it will have a 16MP shooter for selfies and video calls.

Despite releasing in 2022, the handset will debut with Android 11. However, it will ship with MIUI 13, which is the latest version of Xiaomi’s mobile operating system. Finally, it will be backed by a 5,000mAh battery with support for 67W fast charging.

According to previous leaks, the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G will be available in three colors, namely Graphite Gray, Polar White, and Diamond Dazzle. The smartphone will have dual stereo speakers, an IR blaster, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a flat frame design, a centered punch-hole display, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

The Redmi Note 11 series is scheduled to launch in international markets on January 26.

OPPO outlines battery-less IoT devices powered through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

Sure, batteries have grown safer and more efficient than ever before, but OPPO seems to think that they’re not the future, at least for IoT devices. A research paper titled “Zero Power Consumption Communication” published by the company outlines a future full of battery-free IoT gizmos that will instead rely on Bluetooth, WiFi, and mobile phone signals for power.

The paper reveals that OPPO has actually successfully built a zero power consumption communication system, verifying that the technology can work at least in principle. The perks of the system include no battery, a minimal size, ultra-low power consumption, and ultra-low cost.

According to OPPO, IoT devices of the future will be able to obtain energy directly through Bluetooth, WiFi, and mobile phone signals, resulting in smaller, longer-lasting, and lower-cost devices.

At present, most electronic devices are completely dependent on batteries for power, and batteries have multiple limitations associated with them. They take up a lot of space, are expensive to manufacture, and have limited lives, not to mention their environmental impact after they’re trashed.

The zero power consumption tech by OPPO will work by collecting RF (radio frequency) energy from wireless signals sent by RF sources such as TV towers, FM towers, cellular base stations, and WiFi access points. Communication will be achieved by modulating such incoming signals and relaying them elsewhere.

OPPO believes that this would allow devices to act as low-power-using communication beacons in heavy industry, transportation, smart homes, or even wearables. Other potential uses include battery-free location tags and long-distance tracking tech for species like migratory birds.

While the potential of the technology looks boundless, it appears that it will be limited to devices with extremely low energy needs — and that definitely does not include smartphones. Still, OPPO has surely done its bit in inching closer to a battery-free world.

RELATED:

realme 9 Pro+ tipped to sport Dimensity 920 SoC, OIS-enabled camera, and more

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

Realme is all set to unleash a number of realme 9 series smartphones in the coming days. It has already debuted the family with the launch of realme 9i. Last week, we learned some details about the realme 9 Pro. Today, the same source is back again with information on realme 9 Pro+. At the same time, the brand has also officially confirmed the existence of this model.

The renders and primary specifications of realme 9 Pro+ come from @OnLeaks (via Smartprix). According to the images, the Realme 9 Pro Plus will look identical to the Realme 9 Pro and other recently launched Realme smartphones. A few minutes after this story went live, Realme itself confirmed the arrival of the said device.

In other words, the phone’s rear panel will include a rectangular camera island with three sensors arranged in a manner forming a triangle. Wheres, on the front, it will sport a display with a punch-hole at the top left corner.

As far as specs are concerned, the Realme 9 Pro Plus will flaunt a 6.43-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and an in-screen fingerprint sensor. It will be powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 920 SoC paired with up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.

The device will arrive with a triple camera setup consisting of a customized 50MP Sony sensory with OIS, an 8MP secondary shooter (probably ultra-wide), and a 2MP tertiary sensor. For selfies and video calls, it will use a 16MP shooter.

Last but not least, the handset will be backed by a 5,000mAh battery with support for fast charging.

We expect to learn more about the forthcoming Realme 9 Pro Plus in the coming days.

Huawei Auto COO believes fully autonomous cars will arrive in 5-10 years

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

Wang Jun, who in September 2021 got appointed as the COO of Huawei’s Intelligent Automotive Solution Business Unit, expressed his views on the development of smart cars during the 17th Super Car Forum today.

Wang said that Huawei originally specialized in the telecommunications field and its 30+ years of experience with ICT technology will help it benefit greatly as it forays into the smart car industry.

He also emphasized that Huawei aims is to help other companies build good cars, because of which it has partnered with BAIC, Changan, and GAC, all of which are major players in the EV market in China.

When the true potential of software-driven cars is achieved, Wang believes that true driverless cars will arrive and “change the current state of cars” forever.

This, in his view, will be realized within the next five to ten years and will eventually lead to a paradigm shift in car design. Cockpits have always favored the driver but after the realization of unmanned driving, the cockpit will be designed around the passenger (via IT Home).

Accordingly, in addition to investing heavily in intelligent driving technologies, Huawei is also investing in intelligent cockpits. The HarmonyOS ecosystem will be playing a major role in this, making it much easier for new companies to adopt smart technologies and communications to build smarter cockpits.

A good example of this already exists in the form of the recently launched Huawei AITO M5, developed jointly by Huawei and SERES. The vehicle offers a 10.4-inch curved LCD instrument cluster and a “semi-floating” 15.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system. The latter runs on HarmonyOS and supports 3D face recognition.

RELATED:

Instagram’s OnlyFans-like paid subscription model goes official

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

Instagram is testing a new business model in the US. The company has started a new subscription based service that will let its American users subscribe to a small number of creators and influencers on its platform.

In a recent blogpost, the Facebook owned brand announced that it began testing the new subscription model earlier this week. Furthermore, new creators will also be included in this program in the arriving weeks. As the name suggests, ‘fans’ will be able to pay a monthly fee to access the subscriber only content from known influencers and creators. This includes the Exclusive Lives and Stories as well. Back in November 2021, we had covered a report that talked about this new subscriber only feature, and now, it seems that the company has made it official.

Notably, these subscribers will also get a purple badge by their username that signals their status to the creator they are subscribed too. Talking about the pricing, the tiers have range of 0.99 US Dollars to 99.99 US Dollars a month. Although, the creators can select the price point for their subscriptions. Addressing the elephant in the room, this new model is quite similar to another popular website called OnlyFans. However, there is one aspect that sets it apart from OF.

According to Co-head of product Ashley Yuki told TechCrunch (Via TheVerge) that Instagram will not be taking a cut from the creators’ subscription revenues. Although, this will only be in effect “until at least 2023.” As of right now, there are 10 creators that are a part of the early test, which includes basketball player Sedona Prince, Olympian Jordan Chiles, and astrologer Aliza Kelly. CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg also added that “I’m excited to keep building tools for creators to make a living doing creative work and to put these tools in more creators’ hands soon.”

RELATED:

Global Redmi Note 11 to come with 90Hz FHD+ AMOLED display, Snapdragon 680 SoC: Retailer

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

Xiaomi has confirmed to launch the Redmi Note 11 series in international markets on January 26. The company is yet to reveal the models in the family. However, we have already learned about a few of them. In fact, thanks to a retailer listing, we now know almost everything about the vanilla variant.

Redmi Note 11 Global — Redmi Note 11 | Source: Shopee

The baseline Redmi Note 11 has been listed by retailer Shopee on its website with an ₱8,999 ($175) price tag for the 4GB + 64GB variant. The webpage was spotted by Twitter user @swayneverrmind (via Xiaomiui, TechInsider).

The page not only includes the entire spec sheet of the smartphone but also its images and price tag. But what’s bizarre is that the features mentioned in one of the pictures are different than those in the description section.

According to the image, the vanilla Redmi Note 11 will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chipset. It will sport a 90Hz FHD+ AMOLED display, dual stereo speakers, and a 50MP quad-camera setup consisting of an ultra-wide unit and a macro shooter. Finally, it will be backed by a 5,000mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging.

However, the product description says something else altogether. Taking a closer look at the specifications, we realized that the specifications mentioned here are of Redmi 10, which is also known as Redmi 10 Prime in India and Redmi Note 11 4G (lacks 2MP depth sensor) in China.

If the specs mentioned in the picture are true, then the international Redmi Note 11 will be somewhat similar to its predecessor Redmi Note 10, which was discontinued soon due to semiconductor shortages.

Google brings Android games to Windows, but its in limited beta

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

While Android games have been playable on PC through emulators, the latest version of Windows was announced to feature native Android apps support. Now, Google has just released some Android games for the Windows.

For those unaware, the Search Engine giant had first announced that it would bring Android games to Windows back in December 2021. The company would port these games through the Play Games app, which would use Windows 11’s Android app layer. According to an ArsTechnica report, this feature is finally being rolled out, although it is currently in a very limited beta only version.

Google stated that it is “excited to announce that some of the most popular mobile games in the world will be available at launch, including Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Summoners War, State of Survival: The Joker Collaboration, and Three Kingdoms Tactics.” Furthermore, these titles use the Play Games cloud to store achievements as well as progress, which the user will be able to sync their progress across all of your devices like PC, smartphones, and Chrome OS.

Unfortunately, regular apps are currently not available in the beta, but users can download them through the Amazon App Store or through side loading. The company has even launched a beta sign up and a developer site as well. So for those interested, here are the minimum requirements for your system:

Windows 10 (v2004)
Solid state drive (SSD)
Gaming-class GPU
8 logical cores of CPU
8 GB of RAM
20 GB of available storage space
Windows admin account
Hardware virtualization must be turned on
Compatible PC device and configuration

As per Good, the official release will vary based on the region, but beta testings will begin in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. Additional regions will soon be included later this year.

RELATED:

AirPods and Siri team up to save New Jersey designer’s life after a freak accident

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

A New Jersey designer has detailed how her Apple AirPods managed to save her life after she sustained a serious head injury while alone in her studio.

60-year Susan Putman who works as a floral designer often listens to music through her AirPods while working, and who could have thought that her love for music would actually help save her life one day?

“I was working on a four-foot horseshoe wreath, and I stepped back to look at it and I forgot its box was sitting on the floor,” she told People (via Apple Insider). “I must have been very conscious about not smashing the wreath because I tripped and flew maybe 8 ft. in the air and my head landed against these metal poles.”

susan putman airpods — Susan Putman (Credit: Susan Putman)

Putman says she wasn’t sure if she lost consciousness after the freak accident, but upon coming back to her senses she remembered she had her AirPods in and simply said, “Hey Siri, call 911.”

The wearables worked as expected and Putman was immediately connected with a 911 operator who stayed on the line until police and paramedics arrived.

“The only thing I remember is the two police guys getting there and one is holding a towel to my head, and he says to the other one to tell the ambulance to get there right now because I was losing a lot of blood,” she says. “Honestly, if it had been another 15 minutes, I’m not sure I’d be here. There’s no doubt about it — if I didn’t have my AirPods in, I would’ve died.”

At the hospital, Putman received seven staples across the side of her head and even got diagnosed with a concussion, because of which she couldn’t look at screens of any kind for a month. Since then, she has made a full recovery and is back in her studio to work on floral arrangements, again with her AirPods in and music playing.

Putman thereafter has been sharing her tale with friends and family and found that most were unaware that the AirPods could be used in such a way. “I’ve had so many friends buy AirPods as a result of this and learn how to use Siri,” she says.

RELATED:

Oppo Reno7 & Reno7 Pro confirmed to launch in India soon

By

-

Jan 20, 2022

Oppo has officially confirmed that the Reno7 series will be launching in India soon. The lineup was first launched in China last year and included the Reno7 5G, Reno7 Pro 5G, and Reno7 SE 5G.

The Chinese smartphone maker shared the news on Twitter, and even confirmed its availability via the popular e-retailer, Flipkart. Looking at its listing on this platform, we can observe that the brand teases some of the upcoming series’ features. This includes the “World’s first Sony IMX709 Ultra Sensing Sensor” for the 32 megapixel selfie shooter. Similarly, the rear features a “Flagship Sony IMX766 Sensor,” which is a 1/1.56 inch 50 megapixel camera.

In other words, the Reno7 lineup that is launching in India is likely identical to the one launched in China last year. The tweet also labels the upcoming devices as the “Portrait Expert” and “The Most Advanced Reno Camera System Ever.” Unfortunately, Oppo refrained from revealing any other finer details like launch date or pricing and availability as of right now. Although, previous reports do hint at its possible pricing.

Reportedly, the Reno7 will be priced somewhere between 28,000 INR and 31,000 INR (roughly 376 to 416 US Dollars) while the Pro variant might be launched for around 41,000 INR to 43,000 INR (roughly 550 to 580 US Dollars). Keep in mind that this is still an unconfirmed report so take it with a pinch of salt for now, and stay tuned for more updates.

RELATED:

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra and Galaxy S22+ spotted on NBTC ahead of launch

By