Oppo K9 Pro September 26 launch confirmed on Weibo

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Sep 22, 2021

Recently, the Oppo K9 Pro smartphone was confirmed to launch on September 26 with the courtesy of retail websites like Suning and JD. Today, Oppo has officially revealed the launch poster of the smartphone on Weibo affirming its September 26 launch.

The poster reveals the design of the Oppo K9 Pro smartphone and also confirms its colour variants. The smartphone will launch in two colors – Black and Gradient.

According to the poster, the Oppo K9 Pro seems to feature a triple camera system at the rear. It is a vertical camera island and it is expected to have a 64MP main lens, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 2MP depth-sensing lens.

Moving to the rest of the specs, the smartphone was spotted with a 6.43-inch punch-hole display with a Full-HD+ resolution. It will be an AMOLED panel with super-thin bezels. The phone will feature a 16MP front camera for selfies.

Under the hood, the smartphone is expected to come powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC. It will be paired with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. The 5G phone will pack a 4,400mAh battery with fast charging support.

As for security, the phone has an in-display fingerprint scanner and support for face unlock. It will run on Android 11 out of the box with Oppo’s custom skin on top of it.

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Huawei Nova 9 series rumor roundup: Specs, Price, Colors & More – What to Expect!

By

Pranav Sawant

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Sep 22, 2021

Huawei is expected to launch a new smartphone series dubbed the Huawei Nova 9 on September 23 in China. The series was in the leaks several times and plenty of its specs have been learned. Today, we’re rounding up all the details learned so far about the upcoming Huawei Nova 9.

Huawei Nova 9 Rumor Roundup: What to Expect?

Back in June, the Huawei Nova 9 came into existence. Soon after it was leaked, the phone series was spotted on official certifications like TENAA. The Huawei Nova 9 series will comprise of two phones – Nova 9 & Nova 9 Pro.

Display and Design

The duo will come with a punch-hole panel with thinner bezels. Both phones have a curved screen on the sides. The major difference between the two will be the display size. The Nova 9 features a 6.57-inch OLED display with a single punch-hole camera on the upper-middle side. The Nova 9 Pro, on the other hand, has a larger 6.72-inch screen with a dual punch-hole camera on the upper left side.

Cameras on the Huawei Nova 9 and Nova 9 Pro

Moving to the cameras, the series is expected to come with a quad-camera system. The main sensor in both phones will be a 50MP lens, followed by an ultra-wide lens, and two 2MP sensors on the Pro model.

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Upfront, there will be a 32MP single selfie camera on the vanilla and a 32MP + 32MP dual selfie camera on the Pro model. The selfie camera is expected to record 4k videos.

Hardware and Software

A specs leak of the smartphones revealed that the series will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 4G chipset paired with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. As for the battery, the Nova 9 will be backed up by a 4,300mAh battery supported by a 66W fast charging support. The Nova 9 Pro is touted to have a smaller 4,000mAh battery with a faster 100W fast charging support.

Pricing, Color variants, and Availability

Recently, the Huawei Nova 9 series appeared in live images and it revealed that the phones will come in variants like 8GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage. However, the pricing details of these variants are still under wraps.

As per the renders, the series will come in multiple color options like Black, Blue, Green, and Purple.

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HP launches an 11-inch tablet with a 13MP flipping camera, stylus pen & more!

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 22, 2021

PC maker HP has announced the release of a new 11-inch tablet that can function as a laptop via its keyboard accessory and also features a flipping webcam. The new tablet will go on sale from December 11 and starts from $499. This comes after the brand unveiled the Envy 34-inch All-In-One Desktop PC.

The Microsoft Surface Go tablet is the closest product that bears some semblance with the new HP tablet. It could thus be a direct competitor of the new HP tablet. The announcement by HP also indicated that the new tablet has a 13MP rear camera which can be moved either vertically or horizontally and can be flipped 180 degrees to operate as a webcam.

The manufacturer is claiming that the new tablet which features a rear-facing camera that can be flipped around the short edge of the tablet’s display to function as a webcam is the first time a tablet will sport such a feature. This is in addition to also offering the highest resolution for such a front-facing camera when it is used as a webcam.

The new HP 11-inch tablet can be operated with its keyboard accessory both in portrait and landscape mode. This provides greater versatility for the webcam. The new tablet is also compatible with HP’s Tilt Pen which further enhances the functionality of the tablet. The keyboard and Tilt Pen accessories offer some innovation to the device. There is also a USB-C port for connecting more accessories and charging the tablet. The fingerprint reader is built into the power button on the tablet.

The new HP 11-inch tablet is powered by an Intel Pentium Silver N600 processor, it runs on Windows 11 S mode. The tablet offers 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage available for the tablet. While the tablet itself will be sold at $499, the additional keyboard accessory could cost up to $100, thus bringing the projected price of the new tablet to $599. As we get closer to the launch date, more details will surface on the product.

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Piaggio Gitamini is a compact, cargo-carrying robot that can follow its owner

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 22, 2021

Piaggio is an automotive company with widening interests in cargo-carrying robots. The company has just announced the introduction of its second cargo-carrying robot called Gitamini. Piaggio Gitamini is indeed a smaller version of the Gita, the first cargo-carrying bot by Piaggio Fast Forward, an arm of the Italian automotive company. The Gitamini comes at a price of $1,850.

Gitamini has two large wheels, a central trunk, a machine vision system that enables the bot to identify and follow its owner like a dog. The robot can carry cargo up to 20 pounds inside its enclosed interior. The robot itself has a weight of 28 pounds. It can move a distance of 21 miles which outshines that of its predecessor. The Gita although has a carrying capacity of 40 pounds, can only move a distance of 12 miles.

The robot has lots of cameras and sensors that enable it to accurately map its surrounding. The radar functionality is a new addition that is absent in Gita. The array of sensors helps the robot to navigate through the terrain and follow its owner. By standing in front of the robot and pressing the lock button on the bot. The trunk can also be locked.

There are no anti-theft measures apart from the lock mechanism for the trunk. However, the company insists that this does not affect the deployment of robots to cargo carrying operations. The robot is priced at $1,850 and it is difficult to hazard a guess on the segment of the market that may want to shell that amount on a robot just for carrying loads. There are other challenges apart from the lack of an anti-theft mechanism, like difficulty in moving up or down the stairs.

The Gitamini is available for purchase on October 15 via the product website. The company will hope its relative success with the more expensive Gita will be extended to the new cargo-carrying robot.

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Deal: Grab Beelink GTR 2750H Mini PC at a discount price of $733 [Coupon Inside]

By

Simranpal Singh

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Sep 22, 2021

Beelink is globally known for its exceptional computer hardware and other electronics gadgets. The newly launched Beelink GTR 2750H Mini PC is now on sale with a 6% discount using coupon code – STSPXYDB26G8. It is time-limited deal, and we expect the interested users to grab it before October 30 at the discounted price of $733 ~~$779~~.

Must See: Get Beelink GT-R 4K Mini PC with Ryzen5 CPU, Radeon RX Vega 8 GPU and WiFi 6 for starting price of $379.99

Beelink GTR 2750H Mini PC comes with AMD Ryzen 7 2750H processor clocked at 2.3GHz with turbo boost up to 4GHz. It offers L1 cache of 384KB, L2 cache of 2MB, L3 cache of 4MB with four cores and 8 threads to offer stable and reliable performance. It is designed to offer flawless and lag free performance coupled along with 8GB DDR4 RAM and 256GB SSD. Howevver, interested users can expand the the RAM up to 64GB and even offers expansion for M.2SSD and 1TB 2.5-inch SATA drive.

It can run extensive graphics processes with Radeon RX Vega 10 Graphics GPU. Moreover, it offers 4K Ultra HD content, 3D rendering and modeling to offer utra-clear visual effects. However, dual HDMI and DP pports ports offers extensive compatibility with external monitors.

Beelink Mini PC is bundled with fast fingerprint recognition and protects privacy way better than password pinputs. THere’s a dual Gigabit Ethernet LAN port, WiFI 6, and Bluetooth 5.0 in connectivity. However, the interface offers 6x USB 3 ports, 2x RJ45 1000, 2x HDMI ports, 1x Type-C port, fingerprint identification, 1x DP, 1x DC, and 1x Audio Jack.

Overall, it is a great deal to grab the Mini PC at a reduced price of $733.

Related: Buy Beelink Gemini T45 Mini PC for a Lowered Price from GeekBuying [Coupons]

The Nokia G50 is yet another Snapdragon 480 phone from HMD Global

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Sep 22, 2021

It was just a few days ago that HMD Global announced it has a launch event scheduled for October 6. You’d expect that any product announcement it has planned will be unveiled on that day but that isn’t the case as the manufacturer has unveiled a new smartphone today – the Nokia G50.

The Nokia G50 is the fourth smartphone from Nokia to be powered by the Snapdragon 480 5G chipset, the other three being the Nokia X10, Nokia X20, and the Nokia XR20 rugged phone. It is also the first of the Nokia G-series to have 5G support.

The new smartphone has the Nordic design we have seen HMD Global use for its other phones. The back is flat but curves at the edges and at the middle is a cookie-shaped camera housing that is home to three rear cameras.

The Nokia G50 has a 6.82-inch display with an HD+ resolution and a V-notch for the 8MP front-facing camera. The main rear camera is a 48MP sensor with autofocus and it comes with a 5MP ultrawide angle camera and a 2MP depth sensor. Camera features include selfie video stabilization, watermarking, and Super Night Selfie.

The Snapdragon 480 5G processor is paired with 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage. There is support for storage expansion via a MicroSD card that allows for up to an extra 512GB of storage.

There is a fingerprint scanner buried under the power key and you can use Face Unlock if you prefer that. The phone also has a dedicated Google Assistant key, an audio jack, and an FM radio. There is a 5000mAh battery under the hood with support for 18W fast charging via a USB-C port. The Nokia G50 has NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, and WiFi 6.

The Nokia G50 runs Android 11 out of the box and it will receive 2 years of OS updates and 3 years of monthly security updates. The phone will ship with a charger, headset, jelly case, screen protector, and a Type-C cable. It will also come with a free 30-day trial of ExpressVPN.

The phone will be available in October with a starting price of €270.

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Microsoft Surface Go 3, Surface Slim Pen 2 & Ocean Plastic Mouse Official

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 22, 2021

Microsoft first launched the Surface Go laptop as a decent and its most affordable PC ever in 2018 and the device enjoyed a massive reception. This spurred the company to release the Surface Go 2. The second-gen model turned out to be one of the best cheap laptops you’ll find around but then, the US tech giant has now updated the series with the unveiling of the Microsoft Surface Go 3.

In terms of the design, the Surface Go 3 isn’t very different from its predecessor. However, Microsoft crammed new gen Intel processors under the hood. The device is powered by the Intel Pentium GOLD 6500Y and Intel Core i3-10100Y processors. The upgraded chips are said to bring an improvement in performance by up to 60 percent over the predecessor.

The Surface Go 3’s processors are backed by 4GB or 8GB of RAM respectively. The laptop also comes with 64GB of eMMC memory but there will be up to 256GB SSDs on the Commercial Channels. It comes with a USB-C port, Surface Connect, 3.5mm audio, a microSD card reader, and a Nano-SIM slot (on the LTE models).

The device runs Windows 11, and the camera supports Windows Hello facial recognition. The Surface Go 3 starts at $399 for the base model.

Microsoft Surface Slim Pen 2

Microsoft also unveiled an all-new Surface Slim Pen 2 which is a worthy upgrade over the Slim Pen. This model magnetically fits into the Surface Pro 8’s keyboard and features better haptics. The haptic functionality is included to make writing and drawing feel more realistic. Microsoft says that it’s extending the haptic tech to work in several apps, and it showcased the stylus being used in Adobe Photoshop. The artist on display claimed that its sharper tip makes it easier to use and more responsive. The Slim Pen 2 is powered by a custom Microsoft G6 chip and can work with all the products the company unveiled today, including the Surface Pro 8, the Surface Go 3, the Pro X, and the Surface Duo 2 via its pen cover.

The Surface Slim Pen 2 is available for pre-order today for $129.99 in the US.

Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse

Also launched today is the Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse. Just as the name implied, the new Microsoft mouse is a product of the company’s recycling and sustainability drive. The mouse’s shell is made of 20 percent recycled ocean plastic and packaging that is 100 percent recyclable.

Microsoft had pledged in August last year to pursue a goal of zero-waste operations by 2030 and put an end to the use of single-use plastics in packaging by 2025. The company is on course as the mouse’s packaging box is entirely recyclable. Microsoft also mentions a free mail-in program so people can send their old mice for recycling.

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Surface Laptop Studio: A Surface Studio in a portable form factor

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Sep 22, 2021

Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Studio launched today and it is a pretty interesting device. As the name says, this is a laptop but it packs some of the features of the Surface Studio. If you call this a portable Surface Studio, you are not off the mark.

The Surface Laptop Studio looks like a regular Surface Laptop in its default state called Laptop Mode. However, its form factor transforms when you pull the 14.4-inch PixelSense Flow touch display with a 2400 x 1600 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate forward such that it covers the keyboard but leaves the trackpad visible. This mode, which is called Stage Mode, is more convenient if you want to write on the screen or switch to a touch-based input. It is also great for playing games and watching movies.

The display can be extended further towards you until it lays flat like a tablet and is covering the keyboard and trackpad. Microsoft has dubbed this Studio Mode and is best for when you are creating such as writing, painting, or drawing. The device also has an area underneath where users can store the Surface Slim Pen 2.

The Surface Laptop Studio is different from that of the Surface Book which has a removable display so you can use the computer as a tablet. Microsoft says that the Surface Laptop Studio is a culmination of years of work and development in areas such as display, hinges, and chipset.

The Dynamic Woven Hinge is made of woven fabric with embedded cables that can bend 180 degrees.

With respect to its specs, the Surface Laptop Studio has a quad-core 11th Gen Intel processor (available in Core i5 and Core i7 variants), integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti GPU (i7 model) with 4GB of VRAM, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of removable SSD.

For ports, there are 2 USB 4.0 ports with Thunderbolt support, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Surface Connect port. The Surface Laptop Studio has Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 6, Quad Omnisionic speakers with Dolby Atmos, dual far-field microphones, Windows Hello face authentication camera, a 1080p webcam.

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Microsoft says it will run Windows 11 Home out of the box and come preloaded with the Xbox App and a free one-month trial of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Included in the box is a 60W Surface Power Supply for the Core i5 model while the Core i7 model gets a 95W charger.

The Surface Laptop Studio has a starting price of $1599.99. It is available in only one color – Platinum – and can be purchased starting October 5.

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Microsoft Surface Duo 2 arrives with a bigger screen, 5G & triple rear cameras

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 22, 2021

Microsoft today held a launch event that saw the US company released several interesting products. One of the major highlights was the launch of the Microsoft Surface Duo 2. The foldable phone takes over from the Surface Duo that was launched last year but is still basically a dual-screen-totting phone.

The Surface Duo 2 features the same impressive folding design heralded by the first-gen Surface Duo but it comes with several improvements. The Surface Duo left many persons disappointed with some of its components. Microsoft improved on the build and addressed the complaints by fans. The company also included features that make it easy to share stuff between the two displays.

The Surface Duo 2 sports a bigger dual-screen setup with both displays coming in at 8.3 inches and support for a 90Hz refresh rate. The display has a slight curve on the screen allowing users to check the time or view missed notifications without flipping the device open. The dual-screen is also covered by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass. The two displays are connected by a hinge that allows you to open it like a book or prop it up like a tent.

The device is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor which is a big upgrade over the Snapdragon 855 chip utilized by the first-gen Surface Duo. The processor brings support for 5G connectivity, yet another big boost over the Surface Duo which only supported 4G connectivity. Microsoft claims the Duo 2 is the thinnest 5G device on the market. The processor is paired with 8GB of RAM while there are 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options.

The phone now packs a triple rear camera setup which includes a standard 12MP wide-angle, a 16MP ultrawide, and a 12MP telephoto camera system. The front camera is a 12MP sensor. You also get optical image stabilization (OIS) on the main and telephoto lenses of the device. The phone also comes with NFC for contactless payment.

The interface is optimized to allow for more functionality between the two displays. The company revealed that about 150 games, including Asphalt Legends 9, Modern Combat 5, and Dungeon Hunter 5, are optimized for using one screen as a controller while viewing the game itself on the other screen.

The Surface Duo 2 retains the white paint job featured on the first-gen model but also comes in a black color option. The dual-screen phone is already up for pre-order in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan and will start shipping on October 21. It starts at $1,499 for the 128GB version while the 256GB storage version will retail for $1599. The top-end 512GB storage version carries a hefty price tag of $1,799.

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Flyme 9.2 update will arrive for Meizu 18 and Meizu 17 series in October

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Sep 22, 2021

At the launch of the Meizu 18s series and the Meizu 18X, Meizu also announced Flyme 9.2, the latest version of its Android fork. The new update brings tons of new features and ships with the new phones. Meizu has now revealed when its older phones will get the update.

According to the official Flyme Weibo account, the Meizu 17 series which includes the Meizu 17 and Meizu 17 Pro will be updated to Flyme 9.2 in October. The Meizu 18 and Meizu 18 Pro launched earlier this year will also receive the update in October.

Among the new features Flyme 9.2 brings is a new font. Meizu says that the new font is elegant and has more accurate symbols. It has also added new features for older users such as larger font size, a magnifier, and high-contrast colors.

Flyme 9.2 also brings a virtual RAM feature to Meizu phones. Users will be able to choose between 3GB, 5GB, and 7GB options which means a phone with 12GB of RAM can have up to 19GB of usable RAM. Another new feature Meizu has added is the auto-deletion of OTPs and single-use alarms.

Of course, this new version of Flyme doesn’t bring a new version of Android. We expect Meizu will announce a new version of its software that will bring Android 12 to its devices.

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Olympus refutes rumored partnership with Samsung for the Galaxy S22 series camera

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 22, 2021

Back in April this year, a rumor emerged that South Korean smartphone manufacturer Samsung was in talks with Japanese camera maker Olympus for a collaboration that could see Olympus producing the camera module for future Samsung smartphones. While no official statement emanated from either party at that time, the rumor mills were agog again recently. We have even seen fan-made renders of the Galaxy S22 with an Olympus branded camera.

The renowned Japanese camera maker has now denied the existence of any partnership with Samsung in relation to the design and development of the camera setup for the upcoming Galaxy S22 series. However, the reputable online platform LetsGoDigital reached out to the Japanese camera maker and it indicated that there was no collaboration between it and Samsung.

It is unclear whether indeed there were talks between Olympus and Samsung that may have collapsed at some point. Samsung has also not mentioned any partnership between it and Olympus. It is also not unlikely that Olympus has been in talks with different smartphone manufacturers on possible partnerships in the production of the camera module for their smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Concept Render — Samsung Galaxy S22 Concept

It is not uncommon to have such collaborations between traditional camera makers and smartphone manufacturers. It is believed that such partnerships yield more powerful cameras for smartphones. Indeed, smartphone makers often claim improved image processing and overall efficiency using such collaborations. Some of the partnerships that are open knowledge in the industry include Leica and Huawei, Zeis and Vivo, Hasselblad, and OnePlus, among others.

While Olympus has hinted that there was no partnership between itself and Samsung, Samsung on its part has not made any official statement either asserting or debunking the claim. The Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup may be unveiled in the first quarter of 2022 and the three devices on the lineup will be successors to the Galaxy S21 series. It promises to be Samsung’s premier flagship offering for 2022, although much of what we know currently is speculative.

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realme Smart TV Neo 32 will not run Android TV, here’s why

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Sep 22, 2021

The world’s fastest-growing smartphone brand realme has scheduled a launch event for September 24 in India. The company has confirmed to announce a number of products at this conference. One of them will be realme Smart TV Neo 32”. Unlike other smart TV models from the brand, this television will not run Android TV.

realme Smart TV Neo 32 Featured A — realme Smart TV Neo 32

When realme revealed that it will be launching the realme Smart TV Neo 32”, it also put up a teaser page on its website. The page does not mention Android TV at all.

Even after multiple teasers, there’s still no indication of Android TV. The only thing we can notice is that the television will come with ‘Youtube 2021’ built-in. We even mentioned the same in our previous article.

This clearly suggests that this particular TV will boot some other operating system. We believe it will run a Linux-based OS like cheap smart TV models from Sony.

If that’s the case, then the television may lack many features that are common among smart TVs. First and foremost, it may not have support for leading streaming platforms. The render on realme’s website only shows YouTube, Hungama Play, Eros Now, and Yupp TV.

Secondly, it may not come with a voice assistant. Although it could have Miracast, the casting experience will not be as convenient as Chromecast.

One might think it is bizarre for realme to skip Android TV. But we think the company is making a smart move. Let us explain why.

For those unaware, the price of TV panels was in rising for the past few quarters. Hence, OEMs have been hiking the price of their televisions for a while. Although the price of panels is expected to drop in Q3 2021, consumers will see the effect only by the end of this year.

Hence, the Redmi Smart TV 32 launched today costs higher at ₹15,999 than the launch price of older 32-inch TVs from Xiaomi. This is what realme is trying to avoid.

We think that the brand is offsetting the price of the panel by opting for different software. In case you do not know, OEMs have to pay license fees to use Android TV. Hence, by using some other OS, realme does not have to spend more money on software.

Also, since the brand is advertising the realme Smart TV Neo 32 as ‘Dumb TV Killer’, we can surely expect it to be cheaper than other 32-inch televisions running Android TV.

Having said that, do you still consider buying this TV if it offers great picture and sound quality for the price? The answer is yes. You can easily get access to better smart features by using any cheap Android TV streaming stick or Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Motorola’s next phone is the Moto G Pure and here is an early look

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Sep 22, 2021

The Moto G series is arguably Motorola’s most popular line of smartphones. This year, no fewer than seven new Moto G phones have been announced, a mix of 4G and 5G models. Motorola isn’t done for the year yet as a leak has revealed details of its next phone which will launch as the Moto G Pure.

The Moto G Pure is a smartphone with a mix of budget and mid-range specs. It also has a design akin to its lower-priced Moto E series as seen in the renders provided by Steve Hemmerstoffer a.k.a. OnLeaks in collaboration with the blog, Zouton.

As seen in the images and video, the Moto G Pure will pack a display with a waterdrop notch and a bigger than average chin. On the back of the phone are two dual cameras and a fingerprint scanner. It also has an audio jack at the top and the spec sheet says that it has a USB-C port.

With respect to its specs, the Moto G Pure will have a 6.5-inch display which is revealed to be an AMOLED panel. Motorola will ship it with an Helio G25 processor and the base model will have 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The source reports that earlier prototypes of the phone had an Helio P22 chipset before Motorola decided to switch to the Helio G25 for better performance.

For the cameras, we are surprised Motorola isn’t joining the 50MP bandwagon as the Moto G Pure is said to have a 48MP primary camera. The main sensor is paired with a 2MP depth sensor while the waterdrop notch houses a 5MP camera. The rest of the specs include a 4000mAh battery capacity, support for 10W charging, and a dedicated microphone for noise cancelation. A Geekbench listing already revealed that it will run Android 11.

The Moto G Pure will be available in Electric Graphite and Lagoon Green when it launches in the second week of October in North America. Its retail price is reported to be between $300 to $350 which is pretty expensive for a phone with these specs.

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Caviar unveils a Rolex-inspired limited-edition iPhone 13 Pro collection

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 22, 2021

Custom smartphones designer Caviar has released a collection of iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max smartphones that are inspired by the design of several Rolex watch models. The Caviar collection draws inspiration from its founder Sergey Kitov, who has amassed a deep knowledge of the Rolex brand designs. The new design direction for the iPhone 13 flagship offerings is seen as a huge fashion statement by some fashion buffs.

Some of the Rolex watches that have inspired this Caviar collection include the Datejust collection which has been using the Jubilee bracelet since 1945, the Yacht-Master II, the Cosmograph Daytona, and the Rolex Sky-Dweller. The designs are all reminiscent of their corresponding Rolex watch faces with all the necessary inputs that bring back the memories of these iconic timepieces.

In addition, the Benvenuto draws inspiration from the Rolex Cellini and is the pick of the current Caviar iPhone 13 collection. It is the most expensive and its sunburst pattern is engraved into 18-karat white gold and 18-karat rose gold.

The price tag of these Rolex-themed iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max collections from Caviar starts from $6000 up to $8,500. The Benvenuto Cellini is however priced from $25,000. Each of the designs will have only 99 units and Caviar has provided greater details of the collection on their website.

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Samsung merely produced 10,000 units of Galaxy S21 FE this month: Tipster

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Sep 22, 2021

The Galaxy S21 FE will be the next big release from Samsung. This smartphone was supposed to release in August but it has been delayed due to the global semiconductor shortage. According to the latest information, the company has only produced a very few units of this handset so far.

As per reliable tipster Max Jambor (@MaxJmb), Samsung only manufactured around 10,000 units of Galaxy S21 FE this month. This number is too less for a device that is expected to launch soon.

The leaker says that since the phone is said to launch next month, the production number could go up as soon as later this week or by next week. He also explains that mass production usually begins 5-6 months before launch.

Hence, the Galaxy S21 FE will likely hit the shelves by mid or late October. According to Max, this smartphone is ‘pretty useless’. He says that because the Galaxy Z Flip3 and Galaxy Z Fold3 are ‘doing great in sales’ and the Galaxy S22 series is ‘just around the corner’.

The Galaxy S21 FE was initially reported to use Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 in all the regions. Due to the global chip shortage, the device was said to launch in only a select few markets. Then, Samsung changed its plans to use both Exynos 2100 as well as Snapdragon 888 and release the device in more markets.

Samsung is yet to schedule a launch event for the Galaxy S21 FE although everything about this phone is already out.

Leaked Xiaomi CIVI retail box reveals an “environmentally friendly”, iPhone 13-like box

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 22, 2021

Earlier today, Xiaomi announced that it will hold a new product launch conference on September 27 where it will officially launch a new flagship mobile phone series known as Xiaomi CIVI. Details of the product are sketchy at the moment but the retail box of the device has now appeared online in China.

The colorful retail box bears semblance with that of the iPhone 13 series which is designed to be environmentally friendly, by reducing the amount of plastic on board. The retail box is flat, having enough room to hold only the phone. Thus, the device is likely coming without a charging adapter. But unlike Apple, Xiaomi will likely release a version with a free charger that users who want the charger can select. The charging box is also similar to that of the Mi CC series in terms of pattern and color scheme.

According to reports, Xiaomi Civi will feature a low-power photo/electrochromic back cover design which is a first for the Chinese tech giant. The phone will be powered by a Snapdragon 778G processor and a 120Hz refresh rate display.

The smartphone is expected to pack a 20-megapixel front camera for selfies while the rear camera setup will include a 64-megapixel main camera. Other sensors in the mix include an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens and a 5-megapixel macro camera. The phone will also have a side-mounted fingerprint scanner among other features.

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iQOO Z5 series roundup: Specs, Price, Variants, & More – What to Expect!

By

Zohaib Ahmed

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Sep 22, 2021

iQOO is gearing up to launch the successor to its Z3 series that was released back in April. The successor comes in the form of the iQOO Z5 series comprised of iQOO Z5, iQOO Z5 Pro, and iQOO Z5x, although the names of the individual devices haven’t been confirmed as of yet. What is confirmed though is that the iQOO Z5 will be coming with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G chipset paired with a UFS 3.1 storage and LPDDR5 RAM, the power to which will be fed via a 5,000mAh battery.

Design & Display

A recently surfaced image of the iQOO Z5 Pro reveals that the device has a punch-hole display aligned to the center. As for the rear, you get a fairly sizeable camera module that is not unlike the ones found on other recent offerings from both iQOO and Vivo.

IQOO Z5 will be sporting an LCD panel that delivers a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixel, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 240Hz touch sampling rate. The display will also have a DCI-P3 color gamut and support HDR10.

Cameras on the iQOO Z5 series

The iQOO Z5 has been officially confirmed to come with a 64-megapixel primary shooter (Samsung GW3). However, the auxiliary camera setup of the device is still under wraps. There are talks of it inheriting the same 64-megapixel (main) + 8-megapixel (ultrawide) + 2-megapixel (macro) triple camera unit from the iQOO Z3 5G though. The selfie camera is likely to have a 16-megapixel sensor.

The iQOO Z5’s camera samples suggest that it will be good at capturing shots in any lighting conditions. But of course, actual performance in the hands of the buyers will vary.

Other Specifications

iQOO has already confirmed that the Z5 will be equipped with the Snapdragon 778G chipset, LPDDR5 RAM, and UFS 3.1 storage. The 5,000mAh battery will support 44W rapid charging.

A tipster had claimed that the device may come with Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front, AG frost polycarbonate panel as the rear, and an aluminum alloy middle frame. The handset will offer other features like a side-facing fingerprint scanner, iQOO UI-based Android 11 OS, Hi-Res Audio, Hi-Res Audio Wireless, rotor motor, and VC cooling for heat dissipation.

Other features include a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack, and 5G connectivity.

Pricing & Availability

iQOO had recently revealed that it would launch the iQOO Z5 in China on September 23. Soon after, the brand confirmed a September 27 launch date for India.

Not many details are currently at hand about the pricing and storage variants, although the Z5 is expected to carry a price tag of around Rs 30,000 (~$407) in India. A tipster had also stated that the device may come in 8 GB/12 GB RAM variants and 128 GB/256 GB storage choices.

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Samsung Galaxy S series could be overhauled to Note lineup: Tipster

By

Sean

-

Sep 22, 2021

With the launch of the latest foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3, it seemed that Samsung might be shifting away from its high end Galaxy Note series. But now, a new report from a tipster has suggested that the company’s Galaxy S lineup could be overhauled into the next gen Note series.

The news arrives from Ice Universe who stated that the ‘Note’ is not over yet and that the “S has become the Note.” For those unaware, the South Korean tech giant did not launch a Note phone this year, and included the S Pen support for its Galaxy S21 Ultra. Previously, we had even reported on the company trademarking the name “Galaxy Flex Note” and patenting a unique phone with folding wrap around display that also supported the S Pen stylus, which hinted that the company will be reviving its Note series.

Now, Ice Universe, a known tipster revealed the big news earlier today (22nd September 2021). While this might be good news for the Note series enthusiast, it is still unlikely since the S series is also a flagship series with its own dedicated userbase. In the past, both lineups had a clear distinctions, although, the newly launched Galaxy S21 Ultra had blurred the line between the two different series.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Front S Pen — Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

But, Samsung did keep it as an S series phone that did not ship with an S Pen out of the box. As of right now, this is still an unconfirmed report so take this news with a pinch of salt for now. We have no way of confirming this information at the moment, so stay tuned for more as we will be covering any notable updates that surface.

RELATED:

Realme to announce realme UI 3.0 in October

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Sep 22, 2021

Realme had a launch event in China today during which it unveiled its latest smartphone, the Realme GT Neo2. Apart from the phone, realme also announced when a new version of its UI, realme UI, will be unveiled.

realme UI was first announced in 2019 when Realme decided to drop OPPO’s ColorOS for its own custom UI. It followed it up with realme UI 2.0 in September 2020 which its phones currently run and is based on Android 11. Now that Android 12 is almost here, Realme is set to announce a new UI that will be based on the new version of Android.

As revealed at the event today, realme UI 3.0 will be announced in October and it will come with several new features. A specific date is yet to be disclosed but we may see the new UI make its debut on a new smartphone. Realme should also provide details about which devices will get updated to the new UI and when the update will arrive.

Considering that some Realme phones have just received the update to realme UI 2.0, it is safe to presume the rollout of realme UI 3.0 will continue up until the second half of 2022.

There are no details yet about the features realme UI 3.0 will bring but unconfirmed reports have said that realme UI 3.0 will be similar to OPPO’s ColorOS 12 which was announced last week. It remains to be seen if that will be the case.

There are also rumors that the manufacturer may ditch realme UI in the future and return to ColorOS. However, considering that OPPO and OnePlus will be dropping their respective custom UIs for a unified one next year, those rumors appear to be false.

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Pokémon Unite gets a Space Themed battle pass, new skins, and more

By

Sean

-

Sep 22, 2021

Pokémon Unite has finally launched for smartphones and arrives with a space themed battle pass, brand new skins, and more. The game also includes a new Unite Squads feature to bring together different players with a similar goal.

For those unaware, the game had first launched on the Nintendo Switch back in July 2021. Now, it is finally available on smartphones as a free to play title that lets you join online battles. With its launch of the mobile platform, the game also arrives with Galactic Ghost 094 battle pass. This is a notable addition to the title, although, it is unlikely to bring a significant addition to the established lore.

Alongside the new battle pass, the game also brings new space themed items that your trainer can wear. All of these will be available for those who complete missions. Although, there will be even more customization offered to the premium users who buy the new battle pass. Furthermore, the game also arrives with the highly anticipated Mamoswine and Sylveon as playable characters for your roster along with special missions reprising the Switch launch’s bonus.

As of right now, the mobile version of the game has already generated around five million pre-registrations and for this milestone the game is also hosting an event, which will be exclusive top the mobile version. This event will rewards players with Aeos tickets, a license for Pikachu, and a Holowear for the yellow monster called Festival Style. The game will offer another 1,000 Aeos tickets if the game reached 7.5 million unique registrations.

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