Samsung sees record sales and new 3 year high operating profit in Q3 2021

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Oct 28, 2021

Earlier today (28th October 2021), Samsung Electronics have revealed its financial report for the third quarter of this year, which showcased its strong performance especially with its semiconductor business booming.

In the period between July and September, the South Korean tech giant’s net profits rose by a sizeable 31.3 percent, with the brand’s profits reaching 12.29 trillion won (roughly 10.5 billion US Dollars. The brand shared the financial figures on a regulatory filing that also showcased its operating profits rising by 28 percent in the third quarter, reaching 15.82 trillion won (roughly 13.5 billion US Dollars). Notably, the operating profit was also the largest ever since the third quarter of 2018.

During this same period, the world’s largest smartphone maker’s sales also hit a quarterly record of 73.98 trillion won (roughly 63.2 billion US Dollars). Similarly, Samsung’s operating profits were also up by 26 percent from the previous quarter, with its sales also surging by 10 percent. According to TheKoreanHerald, the primary factor that enabled the company’s strong performance was its chip unit that saw robust growth amid rising memory chip prices, improving yield rates, and higher profitability at its contract based chipmaking business.

Furthermore, its mobile business also saw gains thanks to the launch of its latest generation of foldable smartphones, namely the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3. While the company saw growth in various segments, certain areas might see a slowdown in the following quarter. Reports have surfaced that point at DRAM/memory chips pricing expected to fall by around 15 to 20 percent in the fourth quarter.

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Microsoft Surface Duo 2 becomes new Geekbench champion, dethrones Asus ROG Phone 3

By

Zohaib Ahmed

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Oct 28, 2021

Microsoft Surface Duo 2 is now the most powerful Android device in existence, at least if you swear by the Geekbench Android Benchmark Chart. The recently-released foldable tablet has been benchmarked enough times to show up on the chart, with a single-core score of 1051 and a multi-core score of 3317.

For comparison, the ASUS ROG Phone 3 that ranks second in the multi-core chart has scored 3235, which may indicate that the Duo 2 is even more powerful than a gaming phone. And in the single-core chart, the Duo 2 has overtaken the Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G‘s score of 966, becoming the new champion.

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The Microsoft Duo 2 does come with Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 888 processor and is also fitted with 8GB LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB storage, so it figures. However, enthusiasts will be aware of the fact that the Snapdragon 888 has now been succeeded by the Snapdragon 888 Plus. The chip is featured in phones like the Vivo X70 Pro+, Xiaomi Mix 4, and the Black Shark 4S – phones that are all missing from the chart.

Of course, most of the devices with the SD888+, if not all, will be outperforming the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 in terms of Geekbench scores. But they haven’t made it to the chart proving that it is incomplete.

Still, the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 can momentarily enjoy its position as the fastest overall device in the Geekbench list, at least until it’s overthrown by some other device sooner or later. But its performance comes at a huge cost too. The foldable device starts at $1,499 which is definitely no joke. This, despite it being reportedly plagued by numerous software bugs. But hey, at least it runs fast.

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OPPO A16K renders and specs leak ahead of launch

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Oct 28, 2021

At the end of August, OPPO A55 and OPPO A16K received essential certifications. The former device even went official earlier this month. Now, the latter has appeared in renders ahead of its launch. Even some of its specs got leaked.

OPPO A16K Renders Leak Featured A — OPPO A16K | Source: 91Mobiles

Industry sources of 91Mobiles have shared the renders of the upcoming OPPO A16K (CPH2349). They have even revealed the important features of the handset.

Going by the images and the name, the OPPO A16K will be an entry-level smartphone offering from OPPO. The device will house a single rear camera on a square island module and a dewdrop notch on the front. It is expected to feature a polycarbonate (plastic) build like any other phone in its segment.

As far as specifications are concerned, the handset is said to sport a 6.52-inch display with a resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels (HD+). It will be powered by MediaTek Helio G35 SoC paired with 3GB/4GB RAM and 32GB/64GB storage.

The phone will have a 13MP sensor on the back and a 5MP shooter on the front. It will run ColorOS 11.1 based on Android 11 and will be backed by a 4,230mAh battery with support for 10W charging.

Being a budget smartphone, it will lack a fingerprint sensor. However, it will arrive with a MicroSD card slot and should also have a 3.5mm headphone though it is not revealed yet.

Last but not least, the product will measure 164 X 75.4 X 7.85mm in dimensions, weigh 175g, and will arrive in three colors (black, white, blue).

OPPO is yet to make an official announcement regarding the launch of OPPO A16K.

Snapdragon 898 and Dimensity 2000 feature identical ARM architecture: Tipster

By

Sean

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Oct 28, 2021

Qualcomm and MediaTek are gearing up for the launch of their next generation of flagship mobile processors that will compete against one another in the high end smartphone segment. Now, a new leak has just revealed the architecture of both SoCs (system on chip).

This leak arrives from known Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station who revealed that both the Snapdragon 898 SoC and the Dimensity 2000 will be based on the same ARM based architecture. The Qualcomm and MediaTek chipsets will feature the latest ARM Cortex X2 super cores along with the Cortex A710 and Cortex A510 cores. In other words, both chips will be based on ARM’s V9 architecture.

For those unaware, the X2 super cores and A710 cores are high performance cores while the A510 cores are geared for efficiency. This leak is in line with our previous report that had stated that both chips will be nearly identical in terms of their CPU. On the other hand, the difference will come down to the GPU, with the Qualcomm chip featuring an Adreno GPU while the MediaTek processor have an ARM Mali GPU.

So, we can expect the Snapdragon 898 to have an edge over the Dimensity 2000, since the Adreno has traditionally been faster over the Mali GPU. But, this might not be reflected in the CPU side since the Dimensity 2000 features higher clock speeds of 2.85GHz over the 2.5GHz clock speed on the Snapdragon 898 processor for their X2 and Cortex A710 performance cores. Notably, the tipster also stated that the upcoming high end Qualcomm and MediaTek chips will be based on the 4nm technology from TSMC as well. But it remains to be seen how both chips stack up against each other.

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HONOR made a strong comeback in China beating Xiaomi in Q3 2021

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Oct 28, 2021

Counterpoint Research has released its report on China Smartphone Market for Q3 2021. According to the firm, sales dropped by 9% YoY but increased by 3% QoQ. It is worth noting that the second quarter of 2021 witnessed the lowest Q2 sales since 2012. Hence, the QoQ improvement in the last quarter is negligible.

HONOR 50 Pro All Colors Rear Featured — HONOR 50 Pro

In Q2, the sales of smartphones in China plummeted as the competition could not fill the void left by HUAWEI. Whereas, in Q3, the lack of new features did not create enough demand for smartphones. At the same time, the industry went through component shortages.

Talking about bands, vivo continued to lead the market with a 23% market share, closely followed by OPPO with a 20% market share. As HONOR made a strong comeback with multiple products, it easily beat Xiaomi to take over the third position with a 15% market share.

India’s largest smartphone brand slipped to fourth place with a 14% market share in its home country. Apple, HUAWEI, and realme completed the chart with 13%, 8%, and 4% market shares respectively.

Unsurprisingly, HONOR was the fastest-growing smartphone brand in China in Q3 2021. Its market share almost doubled from 7.7% in Q2 2021 to 14.7% in Q3 2021 as the company’s sales grew 96% QoQ. It was expected as the brand is not only favored by the locals but over 30 distributors and retailers are its investors.

The HONOR 50 series and HONOR 20 were one of the top-sellers in the country last quarter. The HONOR Magic3 series, on the other hand, is not expected to be a major sales contributor even in the future.

HONOR’s biggest competitor will continue to be Xiaomi as both brands have a huge presence online. It will be interesting to see how these companies with stack up against each other in the coming quarters.

As far as the new market leaders are concerned, vivo and OPPO grew 21% YoY and 26% YoY respectively. However, their best-selling models were sub-$500 handsets like vivo S10, vivo S10 Pro, vivo Y31s, vivo Y52s, OPPO Reno6, OPPO A55, and OPPO A93.

Other Chinese OEMs are still struggling to make a name for themselves in the premium segment after the downfall of HUAWEI. Hence, Apple iPhones are currently the only most-preferred high-end smartphones by consumers in China.

Last but not least, 5G smartphone sales accounted for 79% of the total smartphones sales in China in Q3 2021. HONOR 20 and Redmi 9A were the only 4G-enabled devices in the top 10 best-selling smartphones list. Lack of 4G chips contributed to the increase in 5G phone sales but they also played a key role in an overall sales decline.

Honor X30i launched with lightweight aluminum alloy body and Dimensity 810 chip

By

Zohaib Ahmed

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Oct 28, 2021

Honor Mobile officially launched the new Honor X30i smartphone through a product launch event held this afternoon. Its main highlight is its design which is quite boxy, not unlike the iPhone 13 series, and its slim and light build. The phone weighs just 175g and has a thickness of 7.45mm.

The weight is quite less for a device with a large 6.7-inch LCD display. Devices of such size have lately begun crossing the 200g mark, so the Honor X30i one should feel like a breath of fresh air. The display has a 2388×1080 resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. It is surrounded by extremely thin bezels granting the device a 93.6% screen-to-body ratio.

The frame of the mobile phone is made of customized high-strength lightweight aluminum alloy, which has been chamfered to improve grip. The slim 7.45mm profile has been achieved by the use of a multi-layer polyurethane composite ultra-thin screen and a low-dielectric ultra-thin PCB circuit board.

In terms of performance, the Honor X30i is equipped with MediaTek Dimensity 810 5G chip, fabricated using a 6nm process. The chip features 2×2.5GHz A76 power cores and 6×2.0GHz A55 battery-efficient cores (big.LITTLE). The chip is backed by GPU Turbo X and Link Turbo X technology to enhance the game and call performance.

The Honor X30i’s battery capacity stands at 4000mAh with support for 22.5W fast charging.

For photography, the phone has a 48MP main camera on the rear that’s complemented by a 2MP depth-of-field lens and a 2MP macro lens. The phone also sports a super night scene shooting function, intelligent multi-frame synthesis algorithm, and a vlog function for recording through both front and rear cameras at the same time.

The memory capacity of Honor X30i starts at 6GB, which can be expanded to 8GB using the memory expansion feature. The prices of all of its variants have been listed below:

6GB+128GB (1399 Yuan / ~$219)
8GB+ 128GB (1699 Yuan / ~$265)
8GB+256GB (1899 Yuan / ~$297)

The phone is currently only available for pre-orders in China. It will be going live commercially from November 5. An announcement for a global launch hasn’t been made yet.

RELATED:

Ulefone Power Armor 13 custom key operation detailed in the video

By

Simranpal Singh

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Oct 28, 2021

Ulefone Power Armor 13 was unleashed by the company a few months ago featuring a massive 13200 mAh battery. The smartphone adds impressive advancements over the predecessor carrying improved SoC, display, and battery life. Ulefone is best known to satisfy the customers with its own in-house rigorous testing. Similarly, the company is showcasing the full potential of the smartphone’s custom key in a new video.

The smartphone already hosts plenty of useful features, and the custom key enhances it a step ahead. As in the video, the custom key can be assigned 6 different functions using a single press, double press, and a long press. The user can choose varied functions like toggling flashlight, sound recording, flashlight, taking a screenshot, and can be used as a shutter for clicking underwater photos. It even allows the user to activate YouTube or PTT with multiple button presses.

Must See: Deal: Get Ulefone Power Armor 13 Smartphone for $350 (Retail Price $400)

On the other hand, Ulefone Power Armor 13 carries a 13200 mAh battery with 33W fast charging and 5W reverse charging. It carries an infrared distance measure gun along with endoscope support. The smartphone features a 6.81-inch display having a triple rear sensor while carrying a 48MP primary sensor. It runs on Android 11 and offers support for four navigation systems.

The useful key can offer a lot of convenience to the users. However, Ulefone Power 13 Power Armor 13 is now on sale. You can know more about the device by heading to the official website.

Related: Ulefone Power Armor 13 passes rigorous Quality Test with flying colors

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra display to break record for peak brightness: Report

By

Sean

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Oct 28, 2021

Over the last couple of weeks, we have reported on various rumors and leaks regarding the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S22 series. Now, new information has just surfaced that reveals that the top end Galaxy S22 Ultra model has apparently broken the company’s previous record for the highest peak brightness.

According to known tipster @UniverseIce, the high end Galaxy S22 model will break the highest record of the South Korean tech giant’s OLED display panel. In other words, the screen will output peak brightness that is higher than any other smartphone from the brand. The tipster further added that Samsung would “obviously” be keeping the best screens for itself.

While Ice Universe did reveal the record peak brightness of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the tipster refrained from offering an actual figure. Although, previous estimates of peak brightness put it around and likely over 1,800nits of maximum brightness. But that is just speculation as of right now, so take this report with a pinch of salt for now. Talking about other notable aspects of the display, we had previously covered a rumor that stated that the Galaxy S22 Ultra will feature a waterdrop notch on its 6.8 inch curved display.

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Some AirPods 3 buyers find shockingly bad build quality in ‘Made in Vietnam’ lot

By

Zohaib Ahmed

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Oct 28, 2021

AirPods 3 have made it out of storage and are finally reaching buyers who have been waiting for them excitedly for days. But the excitement quickly turned into shock upon unboxing thanks to outrageously bad build quality in some cases.

There has been a slew of complaints on Chinese blogging site Weibo about rough edges, glue overflow, and shaky parts in some AirPods 3 units. The poor workmanship doesn’t affect the looks alone though, as many netizens have also reported that the AirPods scratched the ears when worn and even produced staticky audio.

Complaints mostly hover around the ‘Made in Vietnam’ AirPods 3 and notable tech blogger Technology Xiaoxin has confirmed the problem in the variant. However, another blogger and Apple accessory supplier going by the name of Kang (via Sina Technology) has emphasized that the problem isn’t limited to the Vietnamese AirPods 3 alone. Rather, it is a batch problem with both Vietnamese and Chinese variants suffering from a poor build, although the problem could be more pronounced on the Vietnamese AirPods.

Kang also believes that quality inspection is to be blamed for the issues and that those that got AirPods 3 with jagged edges and glue residue should opt for a replacement. After all, they come expensive.

It is worth mentioning here though that all of the problems were limited to the first batch alone and have seemingly been addressed with newer batches. So if you are looking to purchase the AirPods 3 at the moment, you shouldn’t have a reason to worry anymore.

Also, the bad batch seems to have only made its way into China as we are yet to come across complaints from global users. This, however, does not necessarily mean that AirPods 3 shipped outside of the country are completely safe. With their manufacturing being handled 70% approx. by China and the rest by Vietnam, there are high chances that the same batches being sold in China have also made it to other regions.

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OPPO A54s launched; features 6.52-inch HD+ display, Helio G35 SoC, 4GB RAM, and triple rear cameras

By

Jeet

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Oct 28, 2021

Earlier this year, in May, the OPPO A54 smartphone was launched, which was then followed by a new variant with support for 5G connectivity. Now, the company has launched yet another variant of the phone, dubbed as OPPO A54s.

The smartphone has also been listed on the Amazon Italy website for the price of EUR 229.99, which is approximately $267. It comes in two color options — Crystal Black and Pearl Bluee. The company has revealed that the phone will be available for purchase in Italy from 18th November.

Coming to the specifications, the OPPO A54s features a 6.52-inch HD+ LCD display that offers 1600 x 720 pixels screen resolution, 88.7 percent screen-to-body ratio, 269ppi pixel density, and 480nits brightness.

Under the hood, the device is powered by the MediaTek Helio G35 chipset, coupled with IMG GE8320 GPU. The device packs 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM RAM and 128GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot to further expand the storage capacity up to 256GB.

In the camera department, there’s a triple-camera setup on the back that includes a 50-megapixel primary sensor with f/2.2 aperture, a 2-megapixel mono sensor with f/2.4 aperture, and a 2-megapixel macro lens with f/2.4 aperture. On the front side, the device features an 8-megapixel snapper for taking selfies and video calling.

The phone has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for added security. It has an IPX4 rating, making the device water-resistant. Connectivity options on the device include 4G LTE, Bluetooth v5, GPS/A-GPS, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The OPPO A54s smartphone runs the Android 11 operating system out-of-the-box with a ColorOS 11 custom interface. The device is powered by a 5,000mAh battery with 10W charging support. It comes with a super power-saving mode and super nighttime standby modes to reduce power consumption.

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HONOR X30 Max launched with 7.09-inch display, Dimensity 900 SoC, and more

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Oct 28, 2021

HONOR has officially launched the HONOR X30 Max alongside the HONOR X30i in China after teasing it for the past few days. The device is the brand’s latest multimedia-focussed smartphone. It flaunts a large display, dual speakers, and a huge battery for binge-watching and gaming.

HONOR X30 Max Specifications and Features

The HONOR X30 Max ( KKG-AN70) sports a 7.09-inch TFT LCD panel with a resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels (FHD+), 16.7 million colors, and an RGBW pixel arrangement. The canvas covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and offers a 90% screen-to-body ratio with a dewdrop notch.

The display can go as low as 2 nits of brightness while consuming content in the dark and as high as 780 nits of brightness under sunlight as well as during HDR10 content playback. It is also TÜV Rheinland-certified for low blue light emission.

To go with the big screen, the phone also features dual stereo speakers with support for HONOR Histen Sound. These speakers are rated to output 78dB sound at full volume.

Despite a giant footprint, the handset only has a dual rear camera setup consisting of a 64MP primary sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. There’s also an 8MP front-facing shooter inside the notch.

As far as performance is concerned, it is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB/256GB storage. On the software front, it runs Magic UI 5.0 based on Android 11.

Connectivity options on the smartphone include dual SIM, 5G, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.1, GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou), NFC, USB Type-C, and 3.5mm headphone jack. It has all the essential sensors like an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, proximity sensor, compass, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Finally, the HONOR X30 Max is backed by a 5,000mAh battery with support for 22.5W fast charging and it measures 174.37 x 84.91 x 8.3mm in dimensions with 228g weight.

HONOR X30 Max Price and Availability

The HONOR X30 Max will retail for the following price tags in China.

HONOR X30 Max Storage Configurations

8GB + 128GB – ¥2,399 ($375)
8GB + 256GB – ¥2,699 ($422)

HONOR X30 Max Colors

Magical Night Black
Charm Sea Blue
Titanium Silver

The handset is already up for pre-order in the country. It will be available via a special early bird sale at 12 AM on November 1. The device will officially go on sale at 10:08 AM on November 11 (Singles’ Day).

Xiaomi to launch a Redmi flagship phone with Snapdragon 870: Tipster

By

Sean

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Oct 28, 2021

While Xiaomi is gearing up for the launch of its anticipated Redmi Note 11 series, a tipster has revealed interesting information about another device that might arrive soon. Apparently, the company is also planning on launching a new budget flagship Redmi smartphone as well.

The news arrives from known tipster @数码闲聊站 who shared this news on Weibo (a Chinese microblogging website). On the social media website, he shared that the company will be launching a new Redmi branded flagship handset that features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870 processor. As of right now, the Redmi K40 is a flagship smartphone that features this processor and arrives at a very competitive price point.

So it seems odd that the company will launch another model that would compete with its own handset offering. Unfortunately, apart from just revealing the processor, the tipster refrained from sharing any other details regarding this upcoming flagship device. Although, since it sports the Snapdragon 870, it will likely be positioned somewhere between premium grade handsets and upper mid range devices similar to the Chinese tech giant’s Redmi K40.

Notably, Xiaomi had launched the Redmi K30S Extreme Commemorative Edition after the launch of the K30 series last year. In other words, the device in question might also be a part of the Redmi K series and could possibly be another new variant of the K40 series as well. Keep in mind that this is still an unconfirmed report so take it with a pinch of salt and stay tuned for more as we will be providing updates when additional information is available regarding this smartphone.

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POCO M4 Pro 5G smartphone all set to launch on November 9

By

Jeet

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Oct 28, 2021

The upcoming POCO M4 Pro 5G smartphone has been leaked a few times online as the company gears up to launch it as a successor to the POCO M3 Pro 5G which was launched earlier this year in May.

Today, the company has confirmed that the upcoming POCO M4 Pro 5G smartphone will be officially launched on 9th November. It will be an online event taking place at 08:00 PM GMT +8 timezone (05:30 PM IST).

The POCO M4 Pro 5G smartphone is being teased by the company with a tagline “Power up your fun” but the company has not yet revealed anything else, such as specs or features related to the upcoming device. But we expect the company to tease some of the features as the launch date nears.

The phone was recently spotted on Geekbench with a model number “21091116AC” where “C” refers to the device being a Chinese variant. The listing revealed that the device is powered by the MT6833P which is likely to be the MediaTek Dimensity 810 chipset. However, some reports indicate it to be Dimensity 700 processor. Further, the device will pack 8GB of RAM but we expect a couple of more memory variants.

In the software department, it has been confirmed that the phone will be running the Android 11 operating system out-of-the-box with the company’s own MIUI custom user interface skin on top with POCO Launcher.

The device will come with 5G NR connectivity, along with support for GSM, WCDMA, LTE, 5GHZ Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GNSS, and FM. Previous reports have indicated that the smartphone will come with support for 33W fast charging technology.

If the company’s track record is any indication, then the phone is likely to be rebranded version of a Redmi smartphone. There are reports suggesting that the POCO M4 Pro 5G will be a rebranded version of Redmi Note 11 smartphone.

RELATED:

Nvidia’s Arm acquisition deal now faces formal investigation by the European Union

By

Jeet

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Oct 28, 2021

Nvidia’s acquisition of ARM has been facing obstacles ever since the company announced the deal and in the latest setback, the European Union antitrust regulators have now opened a full-scale investigation into the acquisition of ARM, a deal worth $54 billion.

The antitrust regulator will be looking into the concerns about the deal leading to higher prices, fewer options to choose from, and reduced innovation. The Commission said that it would make a decision about the deal by March 15, 2022.

This full-scale investigation comes after a preliminary review during which Nvidia reportedly offered concessions that were viewed as insufficient by the European Commission.

Nvidia has not disclosed what these concessions are but it has previously said it would maintain ARM as a neutral technology supplier to soothe concerns from customers such as Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, and Apple, among others.

EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said: “Whilst Arm and Nvidia do not directly compete, Arm’s IP is an important input in products competing with those of Nvidia, for example in datacentres, automotive and in the Internet of Things. Our analysis shows that the acquisition of Arm by Nvidia could lead to restricted or degraded access to Arm’s IP, with distortive effects in many markets where semiconductors are used.”

Commenting on this, Nvidia spokesperson said: “We are working closely with the European Commission through the regulatory process. We look forward to the opportunity to address their initial concerns and continue demonstrating that the transaction will help to accelerate Arm and boost competition and innovation, including in the EU.”

A couple of months ago, the UK regulator found that the acquisition of ARM by Nvidia could damage competition and weaken rivals, and required a further lengthy investigation.

For the uninitiated, NVIDIA, the world’s biggest graphics card, and AI chips maker announced the acquisition of ARM last year. SoftBank had acquired ARM back in 2016 for 31.4 billion US Dollars. ARM is a known chip designer with its architecture being one of the most popular designs used in most smartphone chips.

RELATED:

Samsung One UI 4 beta testing program ends for the Galaxy S21 models

By

Jeet

-

Oct 28, 2021

Samsung had recently opened up the Beta program for its upcoming One UI 4 custom user interface based on the Android 12 operating system. While the program started a little late than expected, it moved at a rapid pace.

Now, the South Korean technology giant has announced that it has concluded testing of the One UI 4 Beta on the Galaxy S21 series smartphones, reports TizenHelp. The development comes after Samsung released a third beta update in its home country.

Making an announcement on the company’s community forums, Samsung revealed that it does not need any more participants for the program and is now gearing up to launch the “full version” or stable build of the One UI 4 soon.

The third beta update for One UI 4 is around 975MB in size and carries software version G998BXXU3ZUJG / G998BOXM3ZUJB / G998BXXU3ZUJB. As for the changes, it brings improved voice command recognition in the camera app and some bugs fixes. The company says that the update is based on the stable AOSP 12.0 codebase. It also bumps the Android security patch level to November 2021.

samsung-one-ui-4-0-beta-2-material-you-1

samsung-one-ui-4-0-beta-2-material-you-3

As of now, there’s no exact timeline known for the stable version rollout of the Android 12-based One UI 4 but it should be released in the next few weeks, before the end of this year. Do note that this is only for the Galaxy S21 series phones, followed by the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Flip 3 foldable smartphones.

Given that the third beta update appears to be rolling out in the company’s home market South Korea, it should not take long for it to be available in other regions where the beta is live, including the United States. Note that only the Galaxy S21 models are eligible for the beta, and none of our models appear to have received the update.

RELATED:

POCO M4 Pro 5G smartphone appears on Geekbench ahead of launch in China

By

Jeet

-

Oct 28, 2021

POCO has been launching value-for-money smartphones and the company’s new M-series has become popular. The company is gearing up to launch the POCO M4 Pro 5G smartphone, which has surfaced online a few times.

Now, the upcoming POCO M4 Pro 5G has been spotted on benchmarking platform Geekbench, revealing some key details about the device, including its processor and memory capacity.

The Geekbench listing reveals that the phone carries the model number “21091116AC” where “C” refers to the device being a Chinese variant. This indicates that the phone’s launch in China could happen very soon.

It also reveals that the smartphone will come powered by the MT6833P which is likely to be the MediaTek Dimensity 810 chipset. However, some reports indicate it to be Dimensity 700 processor. Further, the device will pack 8GB of RAM but we expect a couple of more memory variants. In the benchmark tests, the device has managed to score 603 and 1779 in the single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.

As for the software department, it has been confirmed that the phone will be running the Android 11 operating system out-of-the-box with the company’s own MIUI custom user interface skin on top with POCO Launcher.

The POCO M4 Pro 4G was recently spotted on FCC, which revealed that along with 5G NR connectivity, the phone will also have support for GSM, WCDMA, LTE, 5GHZ Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GNSS, and FM.

Previous reports have indicated that the smartphone will come with support for 33W fast charging technology. If the company’s track record is any indication, then the phone is likely to be rebranded version of a Redmi smartphone.

As of now, there’s no information about the phone’s full specifications, memory variants, pricing, and availability information. However, we expect POCO M4 Pro 5G to soon get launched in the Chinese market, followed by its launch in India and other regions.

RELATED:

Deal: Get Xiaomi Redmi G Gaming Laptop for $1500 at Banggood

By

Daily Deals

-

Oct 28, 2021

Xiaomi Redmi G Gaming Laptop 2021 is now available globally at a promotional sale price of $1499.99 (inclusive of VAT) only at Banggood. This promotional sale ends on 31 October.

WHERE TO BUY

Xiaomi Redmi G Gaming Laptop at $1499.99 @Banggood

Designed for pro gamers and e-sports enthusiasts, Xiaomi Redmi G Gaming Laptop 2021 comes with a 16.1 inch 100% sRGB 300nits IPS Display and is powered by the 11th Generation Intel Core-i5 processor. Fitted with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX3050 GPU, the laptop gives you an amazing gaming and visual experience.

Key Features:

Windows 10 OS Installed (Support Win11/Linux installed）
16.1 inch 100%sRGB 300nits IPS Display with 1920 x 1080P Resolution
144Hz Refresh Rate Screen For Smoother Gaming Experience
Intel Core i5-11260H Hexa Core Twelve Threads, 2.6GHz up to 4.4GHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX3050 GPU Direct Support Higher FPS
16GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM 512GB Expandable M.2 PCIe SSD
1.0MP Front Camera for Photos and Video Chat
Full-Sized Keyboard with Backlit Function
Thunderport4 Support PD 100W Charging
55Wh Battery and 180W Charger

The USP of Xiaomi Redmi G Gaming Laptop 2021 lies in its competitive pricing which is one of the best in its segment. And till 31 October you can get Xiaomi Redmi G Gaming Laptop 2021 at a discounted price of $1499.99 (inclusive of VAT) only at Banggood. This is a limited-time offer. So place your order asap.

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Intel officially announces its latest 12th Generation Alder Lake processors

By

Jeet

-

Oct 28, 2021

Marking a new era for the company, Intel has officially announced its latest 12th Generation Alder Lake chips. The lineup is led by the company’s flagship Intel Core i9-12900K CPU which the brand claims to be the “world’s best gaming processor.”

The announcement comes months after Intel first teased the Alder Lake chips earlier this year in January during CES 2021. Later, in the month of July, the company revealed more details about its hybrid architecture approach.

Unlike the 11th Generation processors, the newly announced 12th-gen processors are very different from what Intel has been offering. The chips are manufactured using Intel 7 process and are the first to use the company’s new hybrid architecture.

This new hybrid architecture is a combination of different cores on the same chip — Big, high-powered performance cores called P-cores and small, low-powered efficient cores called E-cores. This time, the hybrid architecture is coupled with a hardware-based optimization tool called Intel Thread Director for streamlining performance.

The P-cores are for handling the powerful, single-threaded tasks, while E-cores take care of background processes and multi-tasking. Intel Thread Director is officially supported by Windows 11 and the company worked with Microsoft to optimize performance.

Intel has announced three new chips as a part of the 12th Generation Alder Lake lineup, which is led by the Intel Core i9-1200K model. It offers 16 cores, including eight P-cores and eight E-cores. With 24 threads, the chip is capable of reaching clock speeds of up to 5.2GHz using Intel’s Turbo Boost Max 3.0 technology.

Next in line is the Intel Core i7-12700K with 12 cores (eight P-cores and four E-cores), and 20 threads. There’s also Core i5-12700K which is a 10-core processor (six P-cores and four E-cores) with 16 threads. Apart from these, all three chips also come in a KF variant that lacks the integrated Intel UHD Graphics.

These new Intel 12th Generation chips also come with support for up to 20 PCIe lanes (16 PCIe 5.0 and 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes), DDR5 memory at up to 4800MT/s, and larger L3 and L2 cache sizes. The major changes in the hardware also mean that the chips will need a new Z690 motherboard that adds support for Wi-Fi 6E and USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 data transfer.

As for the pricing, the newly announced Intel 12th Generation Alder Lake chips are a bit pricier than their predecessors. Here are the pricing details:

Core i9-12900K: up to 3.2GHz P-core, 2.4GHz E-core, 5.2GHz boost — $589
Core i9-12900KF: up to 3.2GHz P-core, 2.4GHz E-core, 5.2GHz boost — $564
Core i7-12700K : up to 3.6GHz P-core, 2.7GHz E-core, 5.0GHz boost — $409
Core i7-12700KF: up to 3.6GHz P-core, 2.7GHz E-core, 5.0GHz boost — $384
Core i5-12600K: up to 3.7GHz P-core, 2.8GHz E-core, 4.9GHz boost — $289
Core i5-12600KF: up to 3.7GHz P-core, 2.8GHz E-core, 4.9GHz boost — $264

Intel isn’t stopping here. The company has ambitious plans for the hybrid Alder Lake architecture, including mobile chips and ultra-mobile chips for laptops and other portable devices in the future.

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Samsung Galaxy M52 5G appears on Samsung Brazil website

By

Pranav Sawant

-

Oct 27, 2021

After passing several certifications, the Samsung Galaxy M52 5G finally made its debut last month. The device was launched in India and Poland with mid-range specs like triple rear cameras and Snapdragon 778G SoC. Now, the device seems to land in Brazil soon as the official Samsung Brazil portal has already created a landing page for the phone.

The Samsung portal reveals the existence of the phone in Brazil and reveals a few key details. According to the page, the Galaxy M52 will be a 5G phone and it will have a base 128GB RAM option. The phone carries the model number SM-M526BZKJYO.

Apart from this, there’s nothing else to learn from the listing. However, the phone is already available in other markets. We expect the Brazilian variant to have the same specs as the global variant.

Samsung Galaxy M52 5G Specifications

The Samsung Galaxy M52 5G sports a plastic built quality and has a large 6.7-inch punch-hole sAMOLED display. It has a screen resolution of 1800 x 2400 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The display boasts a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection.

As for optics, the device features a triple camera setup with a 64MP main lens, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, and lastly a 5MP macro sensor. Upfront, it has a 32GB selfie lens. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC paired with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It has a side-facing fingerprint scanner and face unlock for added security.

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Google announces Android 12L for tablets, foldables, and Chrome OS devices

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Oct 27, 2021

Android has been criticized several times for not being designed to work on large screen devices such as tablets as compared to Apple’s iOS before it became forked into iPad OS for iPads. While Google has been tuning Android to support foldables, today’s announcement of Android 12L marks the tech giant’s major stride towards designing Android for large screen devices.

Android 12L was announced today at the Android Developer Summit as a “feature drop” that brings an optimized user interface for large screen devices such as tablets, foldable, and Chrome OS devices. Google says it has refined the UI to make Android more beautiful and easier to use on screens larger than 600sp.

Below are some of the visual changes that Android 12L brings:

A Google search bar at the top
A six-button power menu that includes bug report and screenshot
Two-column lockscreen
A dual-pane interface for the settings menu
A redesigned overview interface that shows the current app in almost full-screen while other apps are smaller
Automatic enabling of all apps to enter split-screen mode even if the apps are not resizeable
Ability for manufacturers to easily customize letterboxing
A taskbar for large screen devices to make app switching seamless

Google has said that Android 12L will be released early next year with the next wave of Android 12 tablets and foldables. However, it will be available today for developers while a developer preview will be released soon for the Lenovo P12 Pro. A beta version will also be released for Pixel phones in December.

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