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Pixel 6 series connectivity issues to be fixed by late January: Google

Earlier this month, we reported on Google Pixel 6 series network issues worsening post the December 2021 update. Now, Google has officially addressed the issue and given an expected timeline for a future patch that will fix the problem.

Google Pixel 6 series featured

According to a new note published by a Pixel Community Manager, Google paused the December software update to Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro devices after users reported calls dropping and disconnecting randomly. The Pixel team has now identified the issue and is working on a fix that will arrive sometime in late January along with all the bug fixes and features that were originally planned in December.

The late December fix timeline may not be satisfactory for all, hence Google has suggested a fix for customers who have already received the December fix and are struggling with the network issues. The search giant has advised these customers to revert back to the previous software version using the Android Flash Tool and perform a factory reset.

However, this solution will result in the loss of any data that has not been backed up and all the usual inconveniences that come with a factory reset of a smartphone. Additionally, you will temporarily lose access to all the bug fixes, features, and security patch that came with the December 2021 Pixel Feature drop.

At this point, it is a choice between the lesser of two evils that the Pixel 6 owners will have to make. As for the update, Google has stated that it is expected to roll out around late January but it can even arrive in the first or second week. So stay tuned as we will be keeping an eye on any notable developments.

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Jabra Elite 4 Active earbuds offer better sweat resistance and active noise cancellation (ANC)

Jabra’s latest wireless earbuds are the Elite 4 Active which is coming on the heels of the Elite 3 which was recently launched. The Elite 4 Active is an improvement of the Elite 3 as it offers active noise cancellation (ANC) and a much improve sweat resistance than its predecessor. The IP57 water resistance rating is an improvement from the IP55 rating of the Jabra Elite 3.Jabra Elite 4 Active

The Elite 4 Active is already available in the United Kingdom at £120 ($161) although it is yet to be announced in several other places including the United States. With a raft of recent true wireless earbuds priced much lower than the Elite 4 Active, it is seen that the new entrant into the earbuds market is high up in the segment.Jabra Elite 4 Active

The Jabra Elite 4 Active comes with 6mm drivers, offers single bud functionality, and the Hear Through mode that will amplify external sounds for a better listening experience. Only wired charging is available with the Elite 4 Active. The device can give you seven hours of listening on a full charge and normal use. However, the battery life is extended to about 28 hours when the charging case is factored in. The Elite 4 Active will not be different from the Elite 3 in terms of the strong sound quality and comfort offered by the device.Jabra Elite 4 Active

No further details on the global availability of the Jabra Elite 4 Active have been revealed by the manufacturer at this time.

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OPPO Enco M32 India launch date set for January 5

OPPO launched the Enco M32 neckband-style wireless earphones at the Reno7 series launch event in China at the end of November. A month later, the company confirms the arrival of this audio accessory in India. Let’s check out when it will be debuting in the country.

OPPO Enco M32

The OPPO Enco M32 has been confirmed to launch in India on January 5. It will succeed the OPO Enco M31 from last year with upgrades in certain departments.

For the unaware, the latest model has slightly larger 10mm drivers compared to 9.2mm on the older version. It is IP55-rated for dust and water resistance instead of only IPX5 water resistance.  

Most importantly, the Enco M32 has a much better 28-hour battery life, unlike the meager 12-hour endurance on the Enco M31. But unfortunately, in order to last longer, the newer product drops support for Hi-Res Audio and LDAC. But it does bring dual-connection feature.

The OPPO Enco M32 is offered in two colors in China, namely Cool Black and Elegant Green. As of now, it’s not known whether India will be getting both the hue options or only one.

Even if the company debuts only one color variant next week, we can expect it to announce the second version later, as it did with the OPPO Enco Buds.

Having said that, how much do you think the OPPO Enco M32 will cost in India, given it is being sold at ¥199 (₹2,331) in China? Let us know your guesses in the comment section below.

 

 

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LeEco launches Electric Water Heater S01, with LED display & antibacterial mode

LeEco has just released a new product in China. The new device in question is the Electric Water Heater S01, which, as the name suggests, is a fast thermal electric water heater.

The Chinese consumer electronics maker just launched the Electric Water Heater S01 that sports a large LED display. Furthermore, it has a capacity of 25 liters and has a 5000W fast heating function. The LeEco Electric Water Heater S01 has a thickness of 290mm, which is smaller than conventional water heaters that have are usually 100mm larger. In other words, it has a more compact design and form factor.

LeEco

As per official claims, this water heater can even be opened and washed as well. Its upper and lower regions have double layered heating pipes that enable it to have a continuous supply of water. Notably, the electric water heater also has three modes, including warm water mode, summer bath mode, and winter bath mode. Users can cycle between these different modes with just a single button. One of its high lighting features is the antibacterial mode, which makes the water safer for the users.

At the moment, the product is currently in the Chinese market for a price of 1,169 Yuan (roughly 185 US Dollars) and is currently available on LeTV Mall. With the launch of the new Electric Water Heater S01, the brand is expanding its consumer electronics product portfolio in its home market.

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Lenovo teases 135W USB-C PD 3.1 charger that will likely ship with new Legion laptops

Lenovo‘s China marketing director today teased the company’s 135W USB Type-C charger for the upcoming Lenovo Legion laptops. The charger comes with support for PD 3.1 charging protocol, meaning that the Legion laptops will be supporting the standard as well.

The new USB-PD (Power Delivery) 3.1 standard was announced by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) back in May 2021 with an increased extended power range. This significantly boosts its charging power when compared to PD 3.0 from 100W to 240W.

After adopting the new protocol, Lenovo’s more premium laptops, Legion and regular ones both will likely be ditching the traditional square port charging interface. This means that such laptops will be compatible with a whole lot more chargers and that you’ll likely only be needing a single USB-C charger to power all of your devices.

Lenovo is working on a number of products to expand its Legion lineup, some of them being the Y90 gaming phone, Y700 gaming tablet, and the Y7000P gaming laptop, all of which are set to release sometime in 2022.

The Legion Y7000P gaming laptop is set to feature a 2K display with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a 165Hz refresh rate. More specifications are unknown at the moment, although we can expect more in the coming days.

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realme GT2 series will come with realme UI 3.0 and all of its goodies from factory

The upcoming realme GT2 series will be booting into realme UI 3.0 out of the box, Xu Qi, vice president of realme has revealed.

realme UI 3.0 adopts a brand new visual style that spans across the UI, whether it’s the system or apps or even the icons. With it, you get a number of new goodies like Omoji using which you can create 3D avatars of your own face to better express yourself. Privacy has gotten a bump too, thanks to Enhanced App Permissions Control.

realme gt2 ui 3.0 xu qi weibo

The Android skin was released in October this year and is based on Android 12, and as such, comes with most of the Android 12-specific features too, one of them being an enhanced privacy dashboard.

realme has also gone big on fluidity with new animations and the inclusion of an AI Smooth Engine and Smooth Animation Engine. The duo not only helps with stuff like app launch speeds and better RAM management but also makes games run smoother.

realme gt2 ui 3.0 xu qi img

And from the GT2 series, at least the realme GT2 Pro is expected to be launched on January 4th and will be coming with the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, paired with the Diamond Ice Core Cooling System Plus for efficient heat dissipation.

In addition, the device will also be equipped with an industry-first 2K+LTPO AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and more.

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Moto Edge X30 gets performance patches for Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and more in a major update

The Moto Edge X30 from the Lenovo-owned Motorola brand launched as the world’s first Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 smartphone. Being the first device in the market with the latest Qualcomm flagship chipset, it had several optimization issues. The company tried to fix some of them in a software update rolled out a few days back. Now, the firm is rolling out yet another update with a host of optimizations.

Motorola Moto Edge X30
Motorola Moto Edge X30

Accordion to the official Motorola Weibo account, users of Moto Edge X30 can expect a new system update with firmware version SOSC32.16-49-4 in China. Though the update is termed as major with a long changelog, it only weighs 236MB.

First and foremost, the fresh software update for the Moto Edge X30 bumps up the security patch level to January 2022. Thus, the handset becomes one of the few phones like OPPO Reno 10x Zoom and Galaxy A51 to be on the latest security patch level.

Secondly, the software build brings along Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 performance optimization patches from Qualcomm. It also adds Bluetooth support for Snapdragon Sound.

Further, the update comes with updated first-party applications and new features like global search, separate control center, separate notification center, 5G switch, and double-click power button gesture for contactless payments. It also arrives with fixes for abnormal power consumption and others,

Lastly, the rest of the changelog mentions optimizations for a myriad of things, such as gaming performance, network performance, CPU/GPU scheduling, charging performance, camera performance, and screen brightness algorithm to name a few.

 

 

 

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Apple moves order from Foxconn to Luxshare over $275 billion deal with China: Report

Apple has apparently raised its focus on its Chinese suppliers. The company will be shifting its orders from its primary Taiwanese supplier Foxconn to China based Luxshare.

Apple

The Cupertino based giant is rumored to have made a secret deal with the Chinese government. This deal would have the former invest in local companies. Furthermore, new details from The Information have revealed that Apple is moving more of its orders to China based companies due to this deal. The report adds that the brand’s CEO Tim Cook is making taking this step to aid Beijing in expanding its local tech industry.

As of right now, the company’s AirPods earbuds are assembled by Luxshare, which was previously made by Taiwan based firms. In other words, Taiwanese suppliers no longer held a monopoly. This even enabled Luxshare to jump up the ladder of Apple’s supply chain. So, it doesn’t seem far fetched to say that Luxshare might soon dethrone Foxconn’s top seat. As per the report, the deal between the iPhone maker and China is worth 275 billion US Dollars.

Apple

Additionally, the investment deal is Apple’s attempt to “curry favor with Beijing.” For those unaware, China is a key region for the company, with the market accounting for 20 percent of its revenue and more than 15 percent of all iPhone sales. Keep in mind that this is still unconfirmed so take it with a pinch of salt for now and stay tuned for more updates regarding this matter.

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OPPO Find X5 key specifications tipped well-ahead of launch

OPPO announced the Find X3 series of flagship phones in March this year. The Chinese manufacture will be unveiling the Find X5 lineup in Q1 2022. Probably, it will be announced in March 2022. Well ahead of the launch, a tipster from China has shared the key specifications of the vanilla Find X5. Before reading ahead, readers are advised to digest the leak with a grain of salt as some of the details may not be accurate.

OPPO Find X5 specifications (Rumored)

The OPPO Find X5 will feature a 6.78-inch Samsung E4 AMOLED LTPO display that offers a 1Hz to 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, 2K resolution, and 10-bit colors. The Dimensity 9000 chipset will power the device with up 8 GB / 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM.

The Find X5 will house a 5,000mAh battery that supports 80W SuperVOOC fast charging and 50W AirVOOC wireless charging. The X5 may come with 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage.

OPPO Find X5 Render
OPPO Find X5 / X5 Pro renders by OnLeaks and Prepp.in

The X5 may feature a 32-megapixel Sony IMX615 front-facing camera. Its rear camera setup will include a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 primary camera with OIS support. It will be accompanied by a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 free-form ultrawide lens and a 13-megapixel Samsung S5K3M5 telephoto camera with 2x zoom and OIS support.

The Find X5 series also includes a Find X5 Pro and Find X5 Lite handsets. Recently seen CAD renders of the OPPO Find X5 / X5 Pro revealed that it will be sporting an irregular shaped camera module and a punch-hole display on the front. The Find X5 Pro is expected to come equipped with the  Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. In addition, there could be some camera-related differences in both models.

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AirPods audio quality being held back by Bluetooth bandwidth limitations, reveals Apple acoustics VP

The Apple AirPods are undoubtedly one of the most popular audio devices on the planet, but behind their runaway success is obviously a ton of research and innovation involved. And that’s something Gary Geaves, Apple‘s vice president of acoustics, has talked about through an interview with What HiFi (via 9to5Mac), providing insights into some of the challenges faced while designing the latest AirPods.

But perhaps the most interesting takeaway from the interview was the bit about Bluetooth’s low max bandwidth actually holding back AirPods from achieving their true potential.

According to Geaves, AirPods are built using custom-made components entirely with plenty of stuff in the hardware department optimized for outputting the perfect sound, including a “complicated acoustic system,” “carefully tuned bass port,” and a new custom amplifier.

airpods 3 featured

However, while AirPods do sport hardware capable of achieving the best possible sound quality, Bluetooth acts as a hindrance on the software end:

“Obviously the wireless technology is critical for the content delivery that you talk about”, he says, “but also things like the amount of latency you get when you move your head, and if that’s too long, between you moving your head and the sound changing or remaining static, it will make you feel quite ill, so we have to concentrate very hard on squeezing the most that we can out of the Bluetooth technology, and there’s a number of tricks we can play to maximise or get around some of the limits of Bluetooth. But it’s fair to say that we would like more bandwidth and…I’ll stop right there. We would like more bandwidth.”

When conceptualizing the ‌AirPods 3‌, Geaves said that the AirPods team “looked very closely” at the strengths of the second-generation AirPods. The “effortless open fit” that doesn’t create a seal in the ear is a big draw of the AirPods, but designing around the lack of a seal “creates challenges for the audio team.”

Geeves then went on to explain the real reason behind adding Adaptive EQ, which is an AirPods 3 feature, to the AirPods 3. Turns out that it’s actually the seal-less design of the AirPods that’s to blame. According to the acoustics VP, the sound people experience will be “significantly different, especially the bass” because no two ears are the same. The solution for the limitation was a piece of tech that would tailor audio to the shape of one’s ear — and that’s exactly what Adaptive EQ does.

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Lenovo teases Legion Y90 design, features RGB lighting on the rear

Earlier today (31st December 2021), Lenovo released another teaser for its upcoming gaming smartphone, the Legion Y90. We had previously reported on some of its specs and features, but the latest teaser showcases the design of the smartphone.

The company shared the new teaser on its official Weibo account (a Chinese microblogging website), with the image poster showcasing the device’s rear panel. Looking at the image, we can see the silhouette of the handset from the rear, with the iconic “Y” Legion logo being illuminated via RGB lighting. Notably, this design looks quite similar to the Legion Phone 2 Pro, which also featured RGB lighting on the back.

Lenovo

Furthermore, the teaser poster also showcases a slight bump on the middle of the rear panel. This design was also seen in the Legion Phone 2 Pro, so we can expect a thinner upper and lower region with a bump in the middle segment, which will also house its Double Turbo Fan Supercharged Liquid Cooling System. This is an active cooling mechanism that features a physical fan that helps keep the temperature in check during intensive takes like mobile gaming.

Talking about the device, it is set to sport a 6.92 inch Samsung E4 AMOLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate and HDR support as well. Under the hood, the Legion Y90 is rumored to come powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 flagship SoC that will be paired with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. We have covered a roundup for this device, so you can click HERE to check that out as well.

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Honor Magic V to debut with Magic UI 6.0 in January, launch seems imminent

While popular Chinese smartphone brands like Realme, OnePlus, and iQOO are gearing to launch their newest flagship phones in the beginning days of January 2022, Honor is looking forward to launching its first foldable phone called the Honor Magic V. Honor President George Zhao took to Weibo today to reveal what to expect from the brand in 2022. He also added to share some information on the Magic V.

Honor George Zhao msg

Here is the machine-translated text of what Zhao shared on Weibo. He said, “2021 is the year when Glory starts its independent growth and welcomes the return of smiles. It is also a year of gratitude. Thanks to all the friends who accompanied, encouraged, and supported Glory. We are well aware that the mobile phone market has never been a top game, but a never-ending technological breakthrough.”

“In 2022, competition in the market will become more intense, and the only way to win the respect and recognition of consumers is to continue to make breakthroughs and innovations. Honor always adopts an entrepreneurial mentality and adheres to the concept of extreme productism to create products and experiences that exceed consumer expectations. Despite the hard work, the mad sand is blown out before the gold is reached. I wish you all a happy new year and always smile!” As can be seen in the above screenshot, Zhao used the unannounced Honor Magic V to write the Weibo post.

Honor Magic V Design Teaser

Honor has self-developed the industry’s thinnest hinge patent technology for the Magic V foldable to provide users with the most practical folding screen solutions. Apart from announcing the Magic V, the company will also unleash the Magic UI 6.0, which has been designed with the goal of creating an experience comparable or better than iOS.

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OnePlus 9, 9 Pro receive fixes for OxygenOS 12 system upgrade issues, 5G connectivity

OnePlus rolled out Android 12-based OxygenOS 12 stable update for the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro earlier this month. Unfortunately, it did not go as planned. The brand had to halt the rollout due to bugs. Even after a re-release, customers are facing some issues. To address them, the company is now seeding out yet another software update for the handsets.

OnePlus 9 Pro Morning Mist Featured 03
OnePlus 9 Pro

According to an official announcement post on OnePlus Community, the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro are receiving a new system update. The latest software builds for the smartphones arrive with firmware version C.40.

  • OnePlus 9

    • India: LE2111_11_C.40
    • North America: LE2115_11_C.40
  • OnePlus 9 Pro

    • India: LE2121_11_C.40
    • North America: LE2125_11_C.40

Yes, you heard it right. OxygenOS OS’ firmware numbers are now similar to OPPO’s ColorOS. This is obvious as OxygenOS 12 is nothing but a fork of ColorOS 12.

Going by the official changelog, the update fixes system upgrade failure faced by some users. Also, it fixes the inability to access 5G networks. Both these major issues should be not present in a stable release in the first place. Anyway, at least, the brand has fixed them now.

Like any other OTA software update, this one is also being rolled out in batches. It should be available in markets other than the aforementioned regions in the coming days.

OnePlus 9, 9 Pro OxygenOS 12 C.40 Official Changelog

    • System
      • Fixed the issue of system upgrade failure in specific scenarios
    • Network
      • Fixed the issue of being unable to access the 5G network in some scenarios

 

 

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Apple iPhone 13 delivery times improve as supply catches up with demand

The supply of the Apple iPhone 13 series seems to be improving as the production is finally balancing out with demand. With the expected delivery times also shortening, prospective buyers are also seeking out higher end iPhone 13 models.

Apple
iPhone 13 Pro series

The news arrives from known investment bank JP Morgan (Via AppleInsider). Samik Chatterjee, the lead analyst from JP Morgan, stated that the lead times for the iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max stabilized in the fifteenth week. As of right now, the delivery times have averaged out to 3, 3, 5, and 3 days respectively for the models mentioned above. Notably, this is nearly the same as the 2, 2, 5, and 5 days delivery time from the previous week.

Talking about the US market, which is also the largest market for iPhones, lead times for the higher end iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max stabilized around one to two days. On the other hand, iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 dropped to 0 days. Meanwhile in China, another key region for the Cupertino based giant, Apple iPhone 13 lead times settled to 0, 0, 5, and 1 day in the fifteenth week. These are clear indications that Apple’s supply chain is catching up with the demand.

Apple iPhone 13 iPhone 13 Mini Featured
iPhone 13 & iPhone 13 Mini

While the overall lead times for the entire lineup have improved, the premium variants still have a slightly higher delivery time. Chatterjee further added that the supply balancing with demand is a positive from Apple for the fourth and final quarter of this year. Furthermore, the optimal inventory levels would likely be reached by the brand in the first quarter of next year.

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Samsung Galaxy S21 FE India launch in January, configurations, chipset details emerge

Samsung may announce the Galaxy S21 FE in the first week of January 2022. It is expected to arrive in multiple markets in the same month. Well-known tipster, Ishan Agarwal has collaborated with 91mobiles to share vital information on the Indian edition of the Galaxy S21 FE. The tipster has claimed that the smartphone will launch in January in India.

The new leak reveals that the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE heading to India will be equipped with the Exynos 2100 chipset The device will come in two choices such as 6GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage. The S21 FE will come in four colors such as White, Purple, Olive, and Graphite.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G renders white
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G renders 

The Exynos 2100 edition of the S21 FE is also rumored to release in global markets. It’s Snapdragon 888 SoC powered edition is likely to release markets like the U.S. and China.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE specifications (Rumored)

The Galaxy S21 FE has a 6.4-inch AMOLED FHD+ 120Hz refresh rate. It has a 32-megapixel front-facing camera and a 12-megapixel (main, with OIS) + 12-megapixel (ultrawide) + 8-megapixel (telephoto, with OIS) triple camera unit. The device is likely tor un on Android 12 OS and the latest edition of One UI.

The Exynos 2100 / Snapdragon 888 chip will be accompanied by 6 GB / 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB / 256 GB of native storage. It may house a 4,500mAh battery that supports 25W fast charging. It will also support wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.

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Alleged Vivo Pad to offer high refresh rate display, Snapdragon 870, massive battery

Vivo’s first tablet that is speculated to debut with the Vivo Pad name is expected to launch in the first half of 2022.  Its first-ever leak from last month claimed that it will be powered by the Snapdragon 870 mobile platform. Now, well-known tipster, Digital Chat Station has shared some key information about the Vivo tablet.

The tipster revealed that the Vivo’s tablet will feature a high refresh rate display. However, he did not reveal the size of the screen. He added that it will be offering a full-screen experience as it will feature equally sized bezels. It is unclear whether the tablet features an OLED or LCD panel.

Vivo Logo Featured

The Snapdragon 870 powered tablet may pack a battery of around 8,000mAh capacity. It was reported back in June a battery with BW-B1 model number and 8,040mAh typical capacity, might power the upcoming Vivo tablet. The tipster further claimed that the tablet’s OS will offer an experience similar to the OriginOS for Fold.

The other details of the tablets are expected to emerge in the coming weeks. All major Chinese smartphone OEM brands are working on foldable devices and tablets. While Vivo is exepct4ed to launch its first tablet in the first half of 2022, it is speculated to announce multiple tablets in the coming year. In related news, Vivo is expected to announce foldables and laptops in the coming year.

The first quarter of 2022 has is likely to see the arrival of the Vivo X80 series of smartphones. The company is also said to be working on a NEX branded premium flagship.

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Bajaj Auto’s new 500,000 sq ft. electric vehicle plant to start production from June 2022

Bajaj Auto, on Wednesday, announced a Rs 300 crore investment for its new EV manufacturing plant in Akurdi, Pune. The plant covers half a million square feet, employs over 800 people, and will be able to produce 500,000 electric vehicles every year. Further investments will be flowing in from a number of suppliers who will be injecting another Rs 250 crore.

Cutting-edge tech including robotics and automation will be employed across all operations, whether it’s fabrication, painting, logistics, or material handling (via 91mobiles). Assembly and quality assurance will be done there as well. Bajaj says that systems being used are designed with flexibility in mind and will hence leave plenty of scope for product customizability.

bajaj chetak electric featured
Bajaj Chetak Electric

Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto, had the following to say to the press:
“In 2001, Bajaj 2.0 took off on the roaring Pulsar. In 2021, Bajaj 3.0 has arrived on the charming Chetak. Going forward, for the Bajaj portfolio, except for implementing one state-of-the-art ICE platform that is currently under development, all our R&D resources are now laser-focused on creating EV solutions for the future. This alignment reflects our belief that light EVs for sustainable urban mobility is an idea whose time may finally have come.”

The Akurdi facility will be benefitting from Bajaj’s cutting-edge R&D center situated adjacent to it, allowing greater collaboration and faster delivery of next-gen EVs from the company.

Bajaj will debut the Chetak-inspired Husqvarna electric scooter next year, following which the Husqvarna electric motorbike is also expected to be released.

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Ola offers S1 electric scooter buyers free upgrade to the S1 Pro, but with a catch

Ola Electric is offering upgrades to the buyers of its standard S1 electric scooter for free. So, if you bought an S1 in India, you are eligible for an upgrade to the top end, S1 Pro model, but with “terms and conditions applied.”

Ola S1

For those unaware, Ola is a ride hailing service based Indian company that is quite popular in its home market. Recently, it had announced that it was entering the electric vehicle market, with its S1 electric scooters. While the company saw great response to its new vehicles and a number of orders, many early buyers began complaining after receiving the first deliveries of the S1 scooters. We had reported on customers complaining about multiple quality related issues and more.

So now, it seems that the brand is offering upgrades to its customers for free. However, it isn’t without a ‘catch’. Those that receive an S1 Pro through the upgrade will not only receive the hardware benefits. In other words, the model’s software features will be locked and standard S1 buyers will have to shell out an additional 30,000 INR (roughly 404 US Dollars) to gain access to them. In a statement, the company stated that “Customers get access to the best in class hardware at the same price as the Ola S1. In the future, if you’d like to unlock the amazing software features, range, and the full potential of the Ola S1 Pro, you can do so by paying 30,000 INR.“

ola electric scooter

From the outside, both S1 models appear identical, but the Pro variant offers a larger 3.97 kWh battery compared to the base variant’s 2.98 kWh battery. Other features include ‘Hyper mode’ that is skipped on the standard model. The S1 costs 100,000 INR (roughly 1,350 US Dollars) while the S1 Pro costs 130,000 INR (roughly 1,750 US Dollars). Notably, Ola had stated before that its bookings for the Pro model were higher than the base one, thanks to these additional features. So the free upgrade might help turn over the opinion of the early buyers who can choose to opt for the software features later on.

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Realme GT2 Pro could be priced around 5,000 Yuan (~$785)

It was reported in November that Realme is planning to make its presence in the premium smartphone segment. Realme’s Vice President Xu QI revealed that the company’s premium flagship phones will be priced around 5,000 Yuan. Hence, it appears that the Realme GT2 Pro, which is said to be the company’s most premium flagship, could be priced around 5,000 Yuan. Today, reliable tipster Digital Chat Station hinted that the GT2 Pro carry similar pricing.

After facing backlash from the U.S., Huawei has been losing ground in the premium smartphone market. In its absence, other Chinese brands like Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, and OnePlus have been steadily increasing their market share in the premium segment. It appears that starting with the GT2 Pro, Realme will continue to launch expensively priced premium flagships.

Realme GT2 Pro
Realme GT2 Pro

The Realme GT2 Pro will be packed with some never-before-seen specs and features seen on a Realme flagship. It will be the world’s first smartphone to feature a 150-degree ultrawide camera and it will also be the company’s first smartphone to come feature an OIS-enabled camera.

The GT2 Pro will also be the company’s first smartphone to feature a Quad HD+ resolution display. Reports have revealed that it has a 6.7-inch AMOLED 120Hz screen with ultra-slim bezels. It will be driven by the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and will run on Realme UI 3.0 flavored Android 12 OS.

The GT2 Pro will also be the company’s first flagship phone to feature a 32-megapixel selfie camera. It has a 5,000mAh dual-cell battery that supports 65W fast charging. There will be a camera-focused version of the device, which may probably feature an under-display camera. Apart from launching the GT2 Pro on Jan. 4 in China, the company is also expected to announce the Realme GT2 with Snapdragon 888 chip.

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Nokia G50 starts receiving Android 12 stable update

Android OEMs have begun to roll out Android 12 stable update for their eligible devices. Just like last year, Samsung is ahead of everyone. But surprisingly, HMD Global is also doing better than last time. The company has now started seeding out the Android 12 stable update for its third phone – Nokia G50.

Nokia G50 Featured A
Nokia G50

According to a Nokia Phones Community member who goes by the name of Krisaal (via Nokia Power User), HMD Global has kickstarted the Android 12 stable update rollout for the Nokia G50, at least in Finland.

Since the company is known for seeding software updates in multiple markets at the same time, the latest system update for Nokia G50 should be also available in other regions. We expect the firm to reveal these first wave markets via an official announcement very soon.

Apart from Nokia G50, the Android 12 stable update is also available for Nokia X20 and Nokia X10. All three smartphones have one thing in common and that is none other than their chipset – Qualcomm Snapdragon 480.

This could be the reason why HMD Global is able to deliver the new Android update faster for these handsets compared to last year. It is easier for the firm to develop software builds for devices with the same silicon.

Hopefully, the company delivers the update to the remaining eligible smartphones on time.

 

 

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