Baidu gets permission to test self-drivings cars in California

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Jan 28, 2021

Chinese technology giant Baidu, which is better known for its search engine, has a diversified portfolio of products and services. The company is now moving a step closer with its smart car in the United States.

Baidu has received permission to test its fully autonomous vehicles without a safety driver in California. With this, the company has become the sixth one to receive permission to test driverless cars.

The Chinese company had first received permission to test autonomous vehicles, with safety drivers, in 2016. With this new permission, the company can now test three driverless vehicles in Sunnyvale, located in the San Francisco Bay Area.

It now plans to start testing its autonomous vehicles — Lincoln MKZ and Chrysler Pacifica, day and night within Sunnyvale. However, the company has not yet revealed a timeframe about when it will actually start testing.

In China, Baidu has been testing autonomous vehicles without a safety driver in Beijing and Changsha since last year. Last year, AutoX, another Chinese company, was given permission to start testing driverless cars in California.

Baidu has been focusing a lot on its automotive business. Recently, the company partnered with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which is China’s largest private automotive group, to make electric cars in China.

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Samsung Galaxy XCover 5 receives FCC certification, likely to launch soon

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 28, 2021

Recently, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy XCover 5 rugged smartphone with SM-G525F model number was spotted at the Geekbench benchmarking platform with some of its key specs. Now the handset has received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S. With FCC (via. MySmartPrice) certification in tow, it appears that it will not take much time for the Galaxy XCover 5 to go official.

The FCC listing has revealed that the Samsung Galaxy XCover 5 will carry support for 15W charging. Unfortunately, the listing has no information on the other specs of the device.

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The Geekbench listing of the phone had revealed that it would be powered by the Exynos 850 chipset. The upcoming Galaxy M12 is also speculated to arrive with the same chipset. The Geekbench appearance had further revealed that the device has 4 GB of RAM and it is loaded with Android 11 OS.

The Galaxy XCover 5 had appeared in the news for the first time back in November 2020. At that time, it was reported that its model number is SM-G501B. It was also speculated that the device carries support for 5G connectivity. However, it is now believed that the SM-G501B model number does not belong to the forthcoming XCover rugged phone. Since the new phone has Exynos 850 onboard, it will not support 5G connectivity.

The Galaxy XCover 5 is expected to replace the XCover Pro handset that went official in January 2020. The ruggedized phone came with a 6.3-inch IPS LCD FHD+ screen, Exynos 9611 chipset, 25-megapixel + 8-megapixel dual-camera system, a 13-megapixel selfie camera, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and a 4,050mAh battery with 15W charging support. It was made available with a price tag of 499 euros in Europe.

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Apple Watch saves the life of a British cyclist caught in a flooded river

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 28, 2021

US tech giant Apple has over the years proven to be a leader in terms of innovative products. The Watch series is one of the Silicon Valley company’s innovative products. Over the years, there have been several reports by persons whose lives were saved by the watch. The Apple Watch continues to save lives. The latest instance is that a cyclist who was rescued after calling for help with Apple Watch in a flooding river in the UK.

According to the report, the unknown cyclist was carried by the water current one mile downstream on the swift Wye River. He managed to grab a branch by the water and called for help.

“While holding onto a tree branch tightly, he talked to our fire control personnel through his Apple Watch,” said rescue commander Sean Bailey. “It worked very well for us and actually helped us find him as soon as possible.”

Bailey said that the cyclist “was caught up in the turbulent river very quickly, but we were very surprised by his ability to save himself,” he continued.

The Wye River flows through Rosewas in Hereford, close to the border between England and Wales. In January, the local area issued a flood warning for this river.

Apple Watch can make calls via LTE or via a paired iPhone. It also has an emergency SOS function, which can contact the local government and send text messages to the emergency contact person designated by the user.

(via)

360 X100 Max Robot Vacuum Cleaner launched for 2699 yuan ($416)

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 27, 2021

Chinese tech company 360 may be out of the smartphone market but the company’s smart home business is still growing stronger by the day. The company has added a new product to its growing list with the launch of the 360 X100 Max Robot Vacuum Cleaner.

The 360 X100 Max Robot Vacuum Cleaner is the brand’s flagship robot for 2021 and is presently on pre-sale on Jinggdong. It carries an initial price of 3299 yuan (~$508) but with a deposit of 11 yuan, buyers will get to pay 2699 yuan (~$416), which is 611 yuan off.

The robot vacuum has as its selling points features such as trinocular hidden radar, ultra-thin fuselage avoidance, 3300Pa suction, identification carpet, and a 520ml electronically controlled water tank.

The X100 MAX is 360’s first trinocular lidar matrix robot vacuum and it is equipped with one LDS liDAR and two OLS LiDAR sensors which can make the sweeper effectively perceive the home environment in three dimensions.

With dToF scanning technology and 360 Indoor Unmanned Driving Brain 5.0, it can achieve more accurate mapping, more comprehensive whole-house planning, and realize early detection and active avoidance of obstacles and easy card areas, making it smarter.

Forward obstacle avoidance LiDAR can quickly and accurately identify hundreds of obstacles such as power strips, slippers, pet feces, body fat scales, etc., and send them back to the processor for real-time calculations, so as to perform active obstacle avoidance recognition and avoid entanglement and mistakes.

At the same time, it uses the same dToF scanning technology of Apple and NASA’s Mars Rover to run at a nanosecond speed to accurately construct a house map, restore the whole picture of the home, and ensure complete cleaning, covering all rooms.

The 360 sweeping robot X100 MAX machine top version uses Nidec’s new brushless motor, about 27000 rpm, can provide a maximum of 3300Pa surging suction, nowhere to hide the hair dust, deep clean the floor of the home.

In terms of mopping, it comes with a 520ml electronically controlled large water tank, which can tow a large apartment of 300 square meters at a time. It supports the fine towing mode, and the whole house is towed twice.

Microsoft says its Xbox Game Pass subscribers have reached 18 million; other businesses record growth too

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 27, 2021

Microsoft has recorded a significant increase in the number of subscribers for its Xbox Game Pass service. The tech giant revealed in its second-quarter financial results that its subscribers now number 18 million – an increase of 3 million from the previous quarter.

The service which starts at $9.99 competes with other services such as NVIDIA’S GeForce Now and Google’s Stadia. Game Pass has over 100 games that users can download and play on their console for the period their subscription is active. They can also decide to buy the games (at a discount price) if they want and continue to play even if their subscription has expired. Games not bought are no longer playable once the subscription expires.

Microsoft has acquired a number of game studios in a bid to increase its game library. The biggest of them is Zenimax Media, which is the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, the game publisher behind The Elder Scrolls, Doom, and Fallout.

Xbox Game Pass is not the only area where Microsoft has recorded growth. The company said it recorded quarterly revenue of $43.1 billion and a net income of $15.5 billion, an increase of 17 percent and 33 percent respectively.

The new Xbox consoles – the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X – which launched last quarter and even way into the quarter are said to be the most successful in the company’s history. CEO Satya Nadella is quoted to have said that they sold the most devices ever in a launch month.

According to The Verge, Microsoft’s CFO, Amy Hood, said they expect demand to be significant for the new quarter, however, supply will still be limited. Both consoles are currently listed as out of stock on Microsoft’s own site and at partner stores.

Microsoft’s Surface business has also recorded an increase in revenue of 3% and is now worth $2 billion, a first for it. It is expected to grow as the demand for laptops and PCs increases. Office 365 consumer subscribers have also increased by 28% to 47.5 million and Microsoft’s cloud business, Azure, recorded revenue growth of 50%.

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Huawei Mate 40E rumoured to ditch a 50MP IMX700 sensor for a 64MP OV64A one

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 27, 2021

Huawei officially released its latest flagship the Mate 40 series in October last year, including the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, Mate 40 Pro+, and Mate 40 RS. According to previous news, the Huawei Mate 40 series also includes a low-profile model which is said to go by the name Mate 40E.

Noted tipster Digital Chat Station has now revealed that the Mate 40E was originally scheduled to launch with a 50-megapixel Sony IMX 700 sensor onboard as the main camera but presently, due to the shortage of components, it will be replaced with a 64-megapixel sensor.

The 64-megapixel sensor is an Omnivision OV64A sensor with a 1/1.34-inch outsole, a single pixel size of 1um, support for four-in-one pixels up to 2um. The sensor also supports three exposures, four-in-one HDR, on-chip combination, and the tone mapping function can provide stable and high-quality image output.

Huawei Mate 40E has been certified as early as last month. The information shows that the machine will use a 6.5-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 2376 x 1080 pixels and a chip with a main frequency of 2.86GHz said to be the Kirin 990 5G chip.

The Kirin 990 5G is the flagship 5G chip that Huawei previously launched on the Mate 30 series. It uses the world’s leading 7nm+ EUV process at the time. It has a native integrated 5G baseband with a smaller area and lower power consumption. The flagship SoC of Vinci-based NPU has strong overall performance.

In terms of appearance, the mate 40E maintains the same design as the Mate 40 model. The front uses a notch curved screen, and it also supports a 90Hz refresh rate. The back also uses a ring-shaped camera module solution.

At present, Huawei officials have not disclosed relevant information about the Mate 40E. However, since it has passed the network access certification, that is an indication that the device will be launched pretty soon.

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Motorola Edge S opens for pre-orders with $50 discount on Giztop

By

Simranpal Singh

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Jan 27, 2021

Motorola Edge S has been officially released a day ago with its 6.7-inch LCD screen having 90Hz refresh rate. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G processor coupled with Adreno 650 GPU, the device is powerful inside and beautiful outside. If you already have your eye on the device, then you can now avail $50 Off on the device from Giztop.

Must Say: Motorola Ibiza (XT2137) clears WiFi certification

Giztop is running an Early Bird Sale offer by which you can apply the coupon code: MES50 to get $50 Off on the Edge S before Feb 28. With the offer, you can get the device for a price as low as $449.

Early Bird Sale coupon code: MES50, $50 Off before Feb 28.

GRAB NOW

If you’re unversed, the Motorola Edge S comes with 64MP rear quad-cameras and 16MP+8MP dual front cameras. 6GB/8GB LPDDR5 RAM, 128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 Storage and a 5000mAh battery fuel the device with 20W of fast charging support. The device runs MY UI which is based on Android 11 OS. That being said, head over to the GizTop website and book your piece today itself by saving $50.

Related: Motorola Edge S is 2021’s first flagship killer: Snapdragon 870, six cameras, and a starting price of ~$310

Ulefone Armor 10 5G extreme test result shows impressive resilience

By

Simranpal Singh

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Jan 27, 2021

With modern smartphones being nothing but a metal frame sandwiched between two fragile glass slabs, Ulefone Armor 10 5G is a fresh breath of air. If you’re among those who use the smartphone rashly then the device is for you. The Ulefone Armor 10 5G is theoretically tested to last normally between -20℃ and 60℃. Here is a small video in which the rugged phone is stretching its muscles in extreme conditions.

Must See: Ulefone Note 10 entry-level smartphone goes official

As it’s evident from the video, the Ulefone Armor 10 5G can withstand harsh conditions which otherwise a normal phone would have never tolerated. Needless to say, the device’s resilience can be a really useful feature for users residing in extreme temperatures. It’s also evident that the device can tolerate external pressure to a large extent as the tester had hit the ice. But nothing happened to the device.

According to Ulefone, the Ulefone Armor 10 5G features high-end hardware to offer an unparalleled experience to you. The rugged smartphone features MediaTek Dimensity 800 5G SoC with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. There’s a 64MP quad rear camera powerful enough to meet most of us photography craze.

Additionally, the Armor 10 5G boasts a 6.67-inch FullView display, 5800mAh battery with 15W wireless charging. You’ll get face and fingerprint as biometric unlocking options. Other features include NFC, Google Pay support, and much more. Though bummer, the smartphone ships with the Android 10 OS. However, we can expect an upgrade to Android 11 sometime in the future.

Interestingly, you can grab the Ulefone Armor 10 5G at a special discount price of $399.99 on Banggood. The $399.99 price tag is $70 lower than the actual sale price of the Ulefone Armor 10 5G, which is $469.99.

See More: Ulefone Armor Mini 2 rugged smartphone with IP68 rating launched

Qualcomm unveils 4th-Gen Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 27, 2021

US chipmaker Qualcomm who, earlier this week signed a collaborative agreement with Veoneer to produce driver-assisted automotive systems, has now introduced its 4th generation Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms. The release of the systems was during the company’s Automotive Redefined: Technology Showcase event. In addition, Qualcomm also unveiled the Snapdragon Automotive 4G and 5G Platforms which it considers as critical building blocks for future automobile designs. The 4th generation Automotive Cockpit Platforms are designed to be the engine room for high-performance all-round computing and processing, that could be seamlessly extended to commercial applications. It comes in three variants – Performance, Premiere, and Paramount, for entry-level, mid-level, and supercomputing platforms, respectively. In addition, over-the-air (OTA) updates will be easily available throughout the vehicle’s lifecycle, with its Car-to-Cloud with Soft SKU capabilities.

The new automotive platforms also have the 6th generation Kryo CPUs, the Hexagon Processors, Qualcomm’s AI Engine, 6th generation Qualcomm Adreno GPUs and its Spectra ISP, providing all-round capabilities and resulting in various assisted platforms experiences like the cockpit, augmented reality heads-up-display (AR-HUD), infotainment and in-cabin monitoring services

Qualcomm is also expanding the connectivity capabilities of these platforms with the Snapdragon Automotive 4G and 5G Platforms. Drawing from the rich resource of technologies such as integrated Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other precise positioning technologies, the platforms can easily connect vehicles to the cloud for improved experiences.

During the event, Qualcomm also stated that the predecessor Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms are being adopted across tier-1 suppliers such as LG Electronics Inc, Google LLC, Panasonic Corporation, Visteon Corporation, among several others, and vehicles having these platforms are projected to be available commercially later this year.

In his remarks, Nakul Duggal, the senior vice president of Qualcomm said that their 4th Generation Automotive Cockpit Platforms will continue to be developed as they strive to deliver advanced digital cabin solutions and reinvent the driver, passenger, and rear-seat entertainment and contextual awareness experience.

Leak: Colors and configuration of Redmi Note 10 and Redmi Note 10 Pro for India

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 27, 2021

It has been almost a year following the launch of the Redmi Note 9 series in India and the anticipation for new models is rising already. The successor is expected to arrive as the Redmi Note 10 series and in the past few weeks, it has been spotted o various certification agencies. Now, a new leak has revealed the configuration as well as the color variants of the models heading to India.

In an exclusive leak provided by Ishan Agarwal via the Indian publication, MySmartPrice, two Redmi Note 10 models will be announced in India – the standard Redmi Note 10 and the Redmi Note 10 Pro. Knowing Redmi (read Xiaomi), we can expect other models to come later.

Redmi Note 10 Pro

According to the leaker, the Redmi Note 10 Pro will be available in two RAM variants and three storage configurations. The base configuration will have 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. There will be a second 6GB RAM variant that has 128GB of storage while the last will have 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Xiaomi India will offer the phone in three colorways – Bronze, Blue, and Gray. We also expect at least one more colorway to be announced down the line.

Redmi Note 10

The Redmi Note 10 will be available in two configurations. The base configuration will have 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage while the second configuration has 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Seeing as the Redmi Note 9 sold in India comes in three configurations, we can expect a third configuration.

The phone will come in three color options too at launch – White, Green, and Gray – but more color options may be announced later.

The two phones are expected to launch in February in the country. Other markets should get them later and likely under different names or with different specifications.

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Google Lens gets Offline translation support on Android

By

Balaji S

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Jan 27, 2021

Google lens was unveiled back at Google I/O 2017 and it was initially exclusive to Pixels. Months later, it became a standalone application available for other Android devices in 2018. Regardless of this, the translation feature of it was only available online but had an offline feature under development for a while. That ends today as Google is rolling out this feature to the users of Android.

First reported by 9to5Google(via XDA), the Offline Translation support of Google Lens is rolling out to Android users. This update, being a server-side one, might take a few days to reach everyone. Either way, to avail the offline translation, users first need to simply open the Google Lens App.

Then choose the “Translate” option and Select the Language menu that appears at the top. Here, unlike before, a Download icon will appear beside the language that is available. As you press it, the package file will get downloaded onto your device.

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After this, you can use the feature offline, i.e, without Internet connectivity. It’s worth noting that the offline translation works equally well as the online mode. I checked it myself and found that on pointing to an image, the results show up almost instantly.

As you can see above, a preview of the images with the ‘offline’ tag below will appear in the results. You can always tap on the tick mark of the language to remove the package if you don’t like it.

Google has been updating the Google lens application with a lot of features since its inception. Some of the prominent ones include recognizing handwritten texts, copy the scanned text, solve maths and science questions, and more.

As a result of this, it gained immense popularity, and opening it to other Android devices made it reach 500 million downloads on the Play Store recently.

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Android 11 is now available for the Sony Xperia 10 II

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Jan 27, 2021

Sony has been rolling out the Android 11 update for its devices for the past few weeks. All the eligible smartphones have started receiving the update, except the Sony Xperia 10 II. Now, the company has begun to seed the update for this phone as well.

According to XDA Developers, the Android 11 update for the Sony Xperia 10 II is currently live in South East Asia. The update comes with build number 51.1.A.0.485 and weighs 993.5MB in size. Just like any other OTA update, it is only available for select users and should be hitting the units in the other regions in the coming days.

Anyway, if you own this handset, you can head over to Settings > System > System update to check manually for the update.

That said, the latest major update for the Sony Xperia 10 II brings all the goodies of Android 11, such as chat bubbles, smart device controls, and new media controls in the quick settings panel to name a few. Other than these, the update also adds a feature called Battery Care that allows users to set the maximum charging limit so that the battery’s longevity can be increased.

As per the update timeline shared by Sony, this device should be receiving the Android 11 update in February. However, the rollout has begun early just like the other eligible smartphones. Hence, we expect the company to finish seeding the update to all the handsets in all the regions by next month.

Redmi 8, 8A get MIUI 12 update in India

By

Balaji S

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Jan 27, 2021

Xiaomi announced the MIUI 12 alongside the Mi 10 Youth Edition smartphone launch event in China back in April 2020. Days after this, it started the pilot testing program in India. However, the affordable smartphones started receiving the stable update only a few months later. The latest to join the list are the Redmi 8 and Redmi 8A devices.

The MIUI 12 update for Redmi 8 and 8A in India comes a couple of weeks after they started receiving it in multiple regions. The update for Redmi 8 has the firmware version V12.0.1.0.QCNINXM while the Redmi 8A‘s firmware is V12.0.1.0.QCPINXM. The former weighs around 2.1GB while the latter is about 1.8GB in size.

It’s also worth noting that both the devices will still run on Android 10 OS. Considering the devices launched with MIUI 10 and Android 9 Pie out of the box, this is not a big issue. Xiaomi usually bundles all the necessary Android features on its UI and for OS, they have already received one major update to Android 10.

With MIUI 12, both the Redmi 8, 8A get the second major UI update from the company. Hence, don’t expect another one as they are mere entry-level smartphones. Additionally, this update also changes the security patch to January 2021.

As for availability, this is currently in the Stable Beta stage which means only a few users will get it initially. After finding that it doesn’t have any major issues, the company will roll it out for everyone via OTA(Over-The-Air).

So far Xiaomi has updated other oldies like Redmi 7A, Redmi 6 Pro, Redmi Note 7/7S, Redmi Note 8, 8 Pro, to the latest MIUI 12 in India.

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AMD recorded almost 1000% jump in profit in Q4 2020

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 27, 2021

California-based semiconductor company, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Inc has reported a massive financial performance up to Q4 of year 2020. Drawing from a very solid performance from its products powering gaming consoles like PlayStation and Xbox, as well as powerful PCs and CPUs, the company has been recording massive returns from its investments last year.

The full year earnings released by the company has shown that it was able to eclipse its year-on-year performance for each quarters of 2020. The figures are really impressive for the US chipmaker and indicate greater things ahead.

According to the financial report, the revenue for Q4 2020 was $3.2 billion, which was about 53% higher than the $2.1 billion realized in Q3. The profits also reflected a humongous rise from $170 million in Q3 to $1.78 billion in Q4, up 948%. The profit figures of the company, therefore, imply that it was able to ramp up its profits by up to one billion US dollars from October to December of 2020.

In comparison with the overall performance of the company in the previous year, its revenues went up 45% from $6.7 billion in 2019 to $9.76 billion in 2020, a difference of more than 3 billion US dollars. The year-on-year profit also witnessed a 630% climb from $341 million in 2019 to $2.49 billion in 2020.

It is noted that the profits, according to the company, included a Q4 income tax holiday of $1.30 billion associated with what it termed valuation allowance release.

This new revenue and profit performance, according to AMD is a new record, far exceeding the corporate expectation of the company, whose projections were a bit less enthusiastic due to a weakened demand consequent on the coronavirus pandemic.

It is noted that the company has several business concerns outside the production of consumer-grade chips, although more than 50% of the Q4 revenue came from the computing and graphics segment of the industry. The strong Q4 revenue was attributed to the powerful Ryzen processors’ sales.

However, the company continues to struggle to meet the demand for some of its premium products like the new Radeon 6000 cards, as well as the Radeon HD 7970 which had experienced some form of scarcity.

(via)

OnePlus Watch: Everything you need to know before the launch

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Jan 27, 2021

OnePlus has been teasing to launch a smartwatch for a very long time. Finally, it seems like the time has come for it as the brand’s fist smartwatches have begun to get certifications. Yes, you heard it right, OnePlus could be releasing not one, but two watches. Let us take a look at everything that has leaked about these wearables so far in this article.

OnePlus Watch Design

According to the OnePlus Health app, the Chinese smartphone maker may release two smartwatches. One of them will have a circular dial and will bear the model number W501GB. Whereas, the second watch with model number W301GB will sport a square-shaped dial.

Both these wearables have been certified by India’s BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). Hence, we could expect them to release in the country just like the OnePlus Band, which was launched in early January as OnePlus’ first wearable product.

Oppo — The OnePlus Watch could be similar to the already available OPPO Watch

That said, these watches could debut as ‘OnePlus Watch RX’ and ‘OnePlus Watch’ respectively. Also, they are expected to be either rebranded or tweaked versions of OPPO Watch RX and OPPO Watch respectively. Out of these two, the former is yet to go on sale.

OnePlus Watch Software

OnePlus was expected to ship its smartwatch with Google Wear OS. But unfortunately, it may not be the case, as per a reliable leaker. Even the OnePlus Health app confirms the same.

Hence, we can expect these wearables to run in-house software. Therefore, it may not have support for third-party applications.

In a nutshell, if this happens to be true, then the OnePlus Watch and OnePlus Watch RX will not be anything but fitness trackers disguised as smartwatches.

OnePlus Watch Limited Edition

At least, one of the two OnePlus smartwatches was initially planned to release alongside the OnePlus 8T. It could have been the one with the square dial (W301GB) since it was certified by Singapore’s IMDA in late August 2020 itself.

As this watch was supposed to launch in the second half of last year, the company even had plans to launch a Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition along with the OnePlus 8T model with the same theme.

We are aware of this variant as its straps were leaked in early November. Anyway, it is not sure if this special edition will be ever released now. But maybe, there could be a different limited edition instead.

OnePlus Watch Launch Date

OnePlus is yet to officially announce the launch date of the OnePlus Watch. But the company’s CEO Pete Lau has revealed that it will be released in early 2021.

OnePlus Watch Pricing and Availability

OnePlus was born as a flagship killer brand. Since its inception, the company’s products have been cheaper than the mainstream high-end products. Therefore, we believe the firm’s smartwatches could be affordable just like its smartphones and other products.

As far as availability is concerned, the OnePlus Watch and OnePlus Watch RX should hit the shelves in almost all the markets where the company has its presence.

Amazfit T-Rex Pro and Amazfit GTR 2 eSIM and more are coming this year

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 27, 2021

Huami launched several smartwatches under its Amazfit brand last year. This year is expected to be no different as we expect those watches to get successors alongside new models too. A leak has revealed some of the smartwatches the manufacturer has planned, one of which will have an eSIM.

Amazfit T-Rex Pro/T-Rex 2

The Amazfit T-Rex launched last year as the manufacturer’s first rugged smartwatch. It was also one of the first products announced by the manufacturer in 2020. Now a successor is on the way and it may launch as the Amazfit T-Rex Pro or Amazfit T-Rex 2.

The smartwatch has been spotted at the FCC where it is listed under both names mentioned above but with the same model number – A2013. Images seen in the FCC document show that the Amazfit T-Rex Pro/T-Rex 2 will have a round screen just like the first-gen model. It also shows that the watch will have GPS and workout detection.

A leak from Nils Ahrensmeier, who posted details of the OnePlus Watch and OnePlus Band earlier this month, revealed in a tweet that the Amazfit T-Rex Pro has the codename “blancw”.

Amazfit Release list:
Amazfit T-Rex Pro (blancw)
Amazfit Health Watch PRO (jiuhuashanpro)
Amazfit GTR 2 eSIM (volga)
Amazfit GTR 2 LTE (volgaw)#AmazfitGTR2 #AmazfitGTS2

— Nils Ahrensmeier (@NilsAhrDE) January 27, 2021

The tweet also mentioned the names of other upcoming models which are listed below:

Amazfit Health Watch Pro

The Amazfit Health Watch launched as a China-exclusive health-based wearable back in 2019. Now, a successor is in development almost two years later under the codename “jiuhuashanpro”. There is a chance that this too will be exclusive to China.

The first-gen model has support for NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things), a special low-power radio standard for communication. It allows the watch to send health information to emergency health services in real-time without the need for connecting to a phone. It also has ECG and fall detection. We expect the new model to have these features and more when it launches.

Amazfit GTR 2 eSIM and Amazfit GTR 2 LTE

At CES 2021, Huami announced that it has an LTE version of the Amazfit GTR 2 planned for launch later this year. However, it appears there will be two versions. Alongside the Amazfit GTR 2 LTE which has the codename “volgaw”, there will also be a version with an eSIM called the Amazfit GTR 2 eSIM with the codename “volga”.

There is no info on when these smartwatches will be announced but they will most likely be spread across the year.

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Twitter rolls out a fact-checking portal called ‘Birdwatch’

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 27, 2021

Twitter on Monday, January 25, announced a new community-driven, fact-checking platform named “Birdwatch”. The motivation behind the concept is that Twitter users will be able to add contextual notes and comments to tweets considered misleading or containing false misinformation

This new intervention is part of the company’s moves to shore up its ability to identify and take some action against misleading or false tweets in the aftermath of the Donald Trump presidency.

Twitter said it intends to expand its fact-checking capability beyond content that falls short of the established rules and is tapping from the rich resource of its users who may be able to provide a greater perspective to issues that will help to curb misleading tweets better than what obtains presently.

The Birdwatcher community is open to anyone who has not broken any of Twitter’s rules, has a verified phone number and his account is linked to an email. Two-factor authentication should also be enabled on the account. Obviously, the community would serve a greater purpose with their numbers and diversity, and Twitter is encouraging its users to join this community to help curb misinformation on the platform.

🐦 Today we’re introducing @Birdwatch, a community-driven approach to addressing misleading information. And we want your help. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/aYJILZ7iKB

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) January 25, 2021

The Birdwatch program is at the pilot stage presently, as Twitter pursues a full test run of the platform for its full deployment. It tweets with Birdwatch context live on a specific website, and users can only see the notes if they visit the site. There are plans to integrate the Birdwatch notes into Twitter more directly.

Public information on a possible community-based fact-checking initiative was first made around early 2020 and has taken up to a year to come to fruition.

The context notes from Birdwatch will look different from regular comments. There is a link on the Birdwatch portal that provides all the notes for any tweet, as well as the perception of the Birdwatcher (e.g. Misleading information, false information, etc), as well as the public identity of the Birdwatcher.

Although the concept could still be seen to be in development, it may also be subject to negative use, as Birdwatchers may specifically target a tweet to cast aspersions on it, when it may indeed not be false or misleading. Twitter may also be thinking in this direction, as they plan to provide some editorial and fact-checking algorithm to establish the reputation of potential Birdwatchers and their notes.

OnePlus launcher from OxygenOS 11 can be now installed on select Android 10 devices

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Jan 27, 2021

OnePlus was once known for providing faster updates. But unfortunately, that is not the case anymore. With an increase in its product offerings, the brand began to grow slower in delivering updates. As a result, its devices are now mostly out of date, in terms of security patches. Also, the company is yet to deliver the stable Android 11 update for its 2019 flagships. But ahead of it, the firm has updated the OxygenOS 11’s OnePlus launcher to run on older devices.

OxygenOS 11 is the latest version of OnePlus’ mobile operating system based on Android 11. It brings a redesigned UI, which happens to be similar to Samsung’s One UI. Also, the stock launcher gets a visual overhaul.

This new launcher is only available for OnePlus smartphones running OxygenOS 11, such as OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro, and OnePlus 8T. But not anymore as the brand has rolled out a new updated build on the Play Store with version number 5.x.

The new update adds support for OnePlus phones running OxygneOS 10 (Android 10). But for some reason, it is not supported the brand’s budget handsets – OnePlus N10 5G and OnePlus N100. However, a company spokesperson has confirmed Android Police that the launcher will be made available for these two devices later this week.

That means only users of the following OnePlus smartphones can install the latest OnePlus launcher from the Google Play Store.

Lastly, as far as new features are concerned, the updated OnePlus launcher brings redesigned OnePus Shelf, Google Discover integration, new quick search gesture, and more.

Microsoft Surface Duo to release by February 2nd week in Europe, pricing appears on French retailer site

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 27, 2021

After re-introducing the Surface Duo dual-screen smartphone in August 2020, Microsoft began with its sales in the U.S. It was reported at that time that the company plans to sell the Surface Duo in markets like Europe, Canada, and Japan in Q1 2021 window. Fresh information reveals that the Surface Duo will be hitting the European markets as early as the second week of February.

According to Android Community, the Microsoft Surface Duo will arrive in the U.K. through telecom operators such as BT and EE in the second or third week of February. Other regions in Europe are also expected to receive the device around the same time.

In Germany, the Snapdragon 855 SoC powered Microsoft Surface Duo could be available by Feb. 13. Also, it is said that the company may sell a business bundle of the device in the European markets. It may include a custom Android interface and a pair of wired earphones. It is likely to land in Canada by the end of February. The report has no information on the pricing of the Surface Duo for Europe and Canada.

In related news, the Surface Duo subreddit (via. MS Power User) spotted a listing of the Microsoft Surface Duo at French retailer Darty.com. The listing was no longer available at the time of writing this post.

In the U.S., the Surface Duo ships with 6 GB of RAM. However, the European audience will the device in 6 GB as well as 8 GB RAM edition. It was listed in three variants such as:

6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage – 1,549.99 euros (~$1,875)
8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage – 1,649.99 euros (~$1,996)

The Surface Duo was listed in Glacier color and a bumper case in Graphite color priced at 44,99 euros was also found on the retailer site.

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Apple iPhone 12 mini scores 122 points on DXOMARK Camera test

By

Balaji S

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Jan 27, 2021

Apple announced the iPhone 12 mini back in October 2020. The device has a Dual-Camera setup unlike the ‘Pro’ variants of the series. Today, DXOMARK, popular for its camera reviews, has posted its Camera test results.

iphone 12 mini dxomark — Credits: DXOMARK

According to the DXOMARK report, iPhone 12 mini gets an overall score of 122. With this, it sits outside the top-10 of the website’s rankings. However, it levels with its sibling, the iPhone 12. To compare, the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max are inside the top-10 with 128 points and 130 points respectively. Currently, the crown is held by HUAWEI Mate40 Pro+ with 139 points.

As mentioned above, the iPhone 12 mini scores similar to the iPhone 12 with 132, 41, and 112 points in Photo, Zoom, and Video categories. Even in performance, the report says that the mini is almost identical to the iPhone 12 with good & accurate results, right exposures in most conditions.

Before we get into the pros and cons, let’s look at the camera specs of the iPhone 12 mini. The device has two camera sensors one of which has OIS:

12MP f/1.6 26mm Primary lens with 1.4µm pixel size; Has OIS, and PDAF
12MP f/1.36 14mm Ultra-wide lens
Dual-LED Flashlight
Features: 4K video at 60fps, 1080p video at 240fps, Dolby Vision HDR up to 30fps.

For Pros, the iPhone 12 mini gets the exposure right in Photo & Video, has Faster Autofocus, good video stabilization, and processes the Dolby Vision HDR videos faster.

However, the Cons include Shortened highlights due to limited Dynamic range(Photo), a Bluish White Balance cast in Photo & Video, artifacts like flare, ringing, and noise in low light/indoor scenes.

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