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OnePlus 7 and 7T series Android 11 update delayed due to technical issues

By
Jeet
-

It’s been some time since Android 11 released in the market and smartphone companies are now working on rolling out this new updated to their devices. OnePlus has already released the new OxygenOS update based on the Android 11 operating system to the flagship OnePlus 8 lineup.

Going by the roadmap shared by the company, the next devices in line to get the update this year is the OnePlus 7 and 7T. However, based on the new development, it seems that the new Android 11 update for these devices could get delayed.

OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11
OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11

EDITOR’S PICK: Honor CEO Zhao Ming confirms to launch flagship smartphones in the future, including Mate and P-series

The company has posted a message on OnePlus Forum informing users that the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7T series smartphones are facing data decryption failer issues after upgrading the phones to Android 11. Thus, the company says that there will be a delay and it may not be able to stick to its original plan for the update rollout.

OnePlus also added that it is working with Qualcomm‘s technical team to fix this issue as soon as possible and it seems that the solution should be available within a week. The company added that if everything goes as per the plan, then the closed beta could be released this month and open beta soon after that.

Meanwhile, details of the company’s upcoming OnePlus 9 series flagship smartphones have started surfacing online. Recently, hands-on images of the OP9 were leaked online, showcasing its design as well as some key specifications. The next-generation smartphone series is expected to go official in March next year.

UP NEXT: Motorola Capri receives FCC certification, hinting that the smartphone’s launch could be near

 

Honor CEO Zhao Ming confirms to launch flagship smartphone in the future

By
Jeet
-

Honor recently went independent after the brand was sold off by its former parent company Huawei to Zhixin New Information Technology Co. Ltd. Now, as the brand celebrates its seventh anniversary, the company’s future plans have been revealed.

Zhao Ming, Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Honor brand recently confirmed in a letter shared on Weibo that the company will soon launch its first product after going independent. We expect this to happen next month but there’s no official confirmation of the same from the company.

Honor Logo

However, Zhao Ming held a small meeting with some Honor fans, where he revealed the company’s plan for the future. He has confirmed that the brand plans to have a super flagship smartphone. From this, it seems like the company is gearing up to launch a device with top-of-the-line specifications.

Further, he added that the Honor-branded Mate-series and P-series smartphones could also get launched, which will showcase the technological advancement of the Honor, similar to how Huawei showcases its advanced technologies with Mate- and P-series phones.

EDITOR’S PICK: Amazon finally opens up its Luna cloud gaming platform to Android devices

He also added that there has always been a competition between Huawei and Honor regarding making better products and meeting the customers’ demand. But that seems to be the past as the days of friendly competition are over.

The company is now aiming to become the leading smartphone vendor in its home country China, which is currently being dominated by Huawei. As per the reports, Zhao Ming has set a target of shipping 100 million units in 2021 and it will be interesting to see how Honor manages to achieve that goal.

In order to achieve this target, Honor has already started working on setting up its supply chain by getting vendors on board. The company is also expanding its offline presence by opening up new stores in various cities.

UP NEXT: HMD Global launches its own online store to sell Nokia smartphones in the United States

 

HMD Global launches online store to sell Nokia smartphones in the US

By
Jeet
-

HMD Global, the Finnish company that is making and selling smartphones under the Nokia brand, has now launched its own online store in the United States, enabling the brand to sell its devices directly to the customers.

The launch of Nokia’s online stores comes just in time for the holiday season. The company is also offering delivery before Christmas, i.e. 25th December for some models, if the order is placed by 19th December.

Nokia Logo

EDITOR’S PICK: Xiaomi Mi QLED TV 4K 55 launched in India: Android TV 10, Dolby Vision, and 30W speakers

Ignoring the holiday season shipping, the company has promised to offer two-day free shipping to everyone, without charging the customer anything for shipping. It’s noteworthy that the eCommerce stores of Nokia don’t sell all the smartphone models and clicking on some models will redirect users to another store.

Currently, the company is selling Nokia 8.3 5G, Nokia 3.4, and Nokia 225 4G smartphones and Nokia Power EarBuds directly on its website. For all the other products, customers will be redirected to Amazon, BestBuy, etc.

It should be interesting to see how this works in the market where most of the users are dependent on their network carriers for the new smartphone. While there are devices getting sold directly to customers, but that is from established brands. Nokia certainly is an established brand but has it reached that status where customers directly purchase its smartphones in the U.S., which we will get to know soon.

UP NEXT: Micron Technology to expand its workforce and set up Center of Excellence in India

 

Motorola Capri receives FCC certification; Launch could be near

By
Anvinraj Valiyathara
-

Earlier this month, TechnikNews had leaked about the existence of two upcoming mid-range Motorola phones that are codenamed as Capri and Capri Plus. The leak revealed that the XT-2127 model number belongs to the Motorola Capri phone, whereas the Plus edition has an XT-2129 model number. The XT-2127 smartphone has today bagged certification from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S., which indicates that its launch may not be far away.

The FCC appearance of the Motorola Capri has not revealed any of its major specs. The listing shows that it carries support 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,and NFC. The exact product name of the Motorola Capri is not known yet.

Editor’s Pick:  Motorola-branded 4K Android TV dongle may soon launch in India

Previous reports have revealed that the Motorola Capri is a Snapdragon 460 powered smartphone. It is expected to feature a waterdrop notch display that supports an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. Its exact screen size is not known yet. It is expected to arrive with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage.

For capturing selfies, it could be featuring an 8-megapixel lens. The backside of the phone is expected to feature a quad-camera system housing a 48-megapixel primary shooter, an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens, a 2-megapixel macro lens, and a 2-megapixel depth assist lens.

On the other side, the Motorola Capri Plus is expected to feature a 90Hz HD resolution display and a selfie camera of 13-megapixel. The rear camera setup of the phone may feature a 64-megapixel main camera, a 13-megapixel superwide lens, a 2-megapixel macro lens, and a 2-megapixel depth helper. It is unclear which processor is present under the hood of the device. It is likely to arrive in two RAM versions like 4 GB and 6 GB and storage choices like 64 GB and 128 GB. The Capri and Capri Plus are expected to go official in Q1 2021.

UP NEXT: Motorola Razr 5G Gold variant preorders starts from December 22

 

(via)

Huawei Nova 8 Pro real images ahead of launch

By
Anvinraj Valiyathara
-

Yesterday, a Weibo user shared the live shots of the Huawei Nova 8 smartphone that is all set to break cover on Dec. 23. A few hours later, another Weibo user released the real-life images of the Huawei Nova 8 Pro to showcase its design.

Huawei Nova 8 Pro real-life images

As it was seen yesterday, the Huawei Nova 8 has a top-center selfie camera cutout on its display. However, the Nova 8 Pro can be sporting a curved edge screen with a pill-shaped camera cutout at the top-left corner. The camera cutout houses dual selfie snappers.

The back panel of the Huawei Nova 8 Pro has the same oval-shaped camera module found on the vanilla model. The Nova and Huawei brand names can be seen towards the bottom of the phone’s back panel.

While the top edge of the Huawei Nova 8 Pro has a microphone, its bottom has a SIM card slot, another microphone, a USB-C port, and an external speaker. A volume rocker and a power key can be found on the right edge of the phone.

Editor’s Pick: Huawei releases HarmonyOS 2.0 Developer Beta version for smartphones

Huawei Nova 8 Pro specifications

The Huawei Nova 8 Pro has a 120Hz supporting OLED panel with 80-degree curvature at its edges. It is equipped with a 16-megapixel dual selfie camera setup. The rear shell of the phone has a 64-megapixel + 8-megapixel (ultrawide) + 2-megapixel (macro) + 2-megapixel (depth) quad-camera system. The smartphone supports dual scene recording through the front and rear cameras simultaneously.

The Nova 8 Pro will arrive with a 66W fast battery. However, its battery size is not known yet.  The handset is expected to arrive in 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage versions. It is expected to carry a starting price of 4,000 Yuan (~$612).

UP NEXT: Huawei launches new AppGallery promotion to support businesses during pandemic

 

Samsung Galaxy A72 5G renders reveal it is an enlarged A52 5G

By
Habeeb Onawole
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The Galaxy A72 5G is a mid-range phone Samsung is expected to announce next year. The phone first appeared in the news back in September when a leak said it will have five rear cameras. However, another leak surfaced recently that said the phone will have four rear cameras. CAD-based renders have now surfaced and they confirm that the Galaxy A72 5G will indeed have a quad-camera setup on the rear.

Galaxy A72 5G render

The A72 5G is the successor to the Galaxy A71 5G that was announced in April and its design doesn’t seem to have changed much. It has a centered punch hole which appears to be smaller in diameter than that of its predecessor and the back is home to four rear cameras that are housed in rectangular glass.

EDITOR’S PICK: Samsung records highest smartphone shipments in 3 years in Q3 2020

Steve Hemmersoffer a.k.a. OnLeaks, who published the renders on Voice, says the rear panel of the Galaxy A72 5G is “glasstic” while the frame that goes around it is aluminum. The general appearance of the phone is very similar to that of the Galaxy A52 5G whose renders leaked last week with the only visual difference being the size of both phones.

The Galaxy A72 5G is said to pack a 6.7-inch display which should be a Super AMOLED panel with a 1080p resolution. The display is flat, has slim bezels around it, and will have a fingerprint scanner behind it.

The renders show the phone has an audio jack at the bottom along with a USB-C port and a five-hole speaker grille. The dimensions of the phone are given as 165 x 77.4 x 8.1 mm. The thickness goes up to 9.1 mm when you add the camera bump.

The Galaxy A72 5G should come with the 5nm Exynos 1080 processor that will make its debut in the Vivo X60 series later this month. It should run One UI 3.0 based on Android 11 out of the box. When Samsung launches the phone next year, its price tag is expected to be about $599.

UP NEXT: Samsung Galaxy A52 4G variant spotted with Snapdragon 720G

 

Amazon opens up its Luna cloud gaming service to Android devices

By
Jed John Ikoba
-

Amazon’s cloud gaming service, Luna, has now been extended to Android devices, the company announced on Tuesday. Similar to what obtains with the iOS version of Luna, users can directly access the cloud gaming services via the Chrome web browser, as there is no need to download any app.Amazon Luna

Luna came on stream a few months back, specifically in October and it was at that time, only available on PC, Mac, Fire TV, iPhone, and iPad (through web apps). There is a monthly fee, payment of which guarantees access to a channel of games for the interested user. 

Presently, only two channels are functional. The Luna Plus channel has a monthly fee of  $5.99, while the  Ubisoft Plus channel with an access fee of $14.99-per-month offers Ubisoft games and can connect to Ubisoft Plus on PC and on Google’s cloud gaming service, Stadia. Luna is presently only available in the US, and access can be gotten from here.

Luna’s Android version currently works on a few devices like Pixel, Samsung, and OnePlus, and it is expected that Luna will have support for more Android devices as it expands access in the coming months.

The following devices now have Luna functionality: Pixel 4XL, 4A, 4A 5G, 5; Samsung Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, Note 10, Note 10 Plus, S20, S20 Plus, S20 Ultra, Note 20, Note 20 Ultra, OnePlus 7, 7 Pro, 7 Pro 5G, 8, 8 Pro, and Nord 7T, 7T Pro, 7T Pro 5G smartphones.

Luna is compatible with Android 9 or higher and Chrome version 86 or newer. Gaming enthusiasts can now play games from a wide array and it is also possible to link up with Luna controller as well as the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One controller.

UP NEXT: Exclusive: Xiaomi Mi 11 scheduled for December 29 launch

 

(via)

 

Google Stadia is now available for iOS devices in beta

By
Habeeb Onawole
-

Apple has made it difficult for game streaming services to provide an iOS app for iPhone and iPad owners. The solution these streaming services have adopted is to provide access via the web browser on these devices. The latest to do so is Google Stadia as they have finally brought their services to Apple devices more than a year after launching on other platforms.

The announcement was made today on Twitter by the official Stadia account. The tweet includes a short video teaching users how to access the service and it is pretty straightforward. Below are the steps:

  • Launch your Safari iOS browser
  • Go to Stadia.com
  • Sign in with your Google account
  • Begin to play

You can add a web app shortcut to the homescreen to make it easier to access as shown in the video.

 

EDITOR’S PICK: Apple iPad launching in Spring 2021 to feature bigger display and better chipset

Stadia on iOS works with the official Stadia Controller and also works with the DualShock 4 and Xbox One Controllers. All of these controllers connect to the iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth. If you don’t have a controller, you can enable the touch gamepad feature when you launch a game.

Google’s iOS launch comes shortly after Microsoft announced that it will be bringing its Xbox cloud gaming service to PCs and iOS next year. However, Google is not the first to do it, other game streaming services such as NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW  announced the service can now be accessed via the Safari browser back in November. Amazon’s Luna is also available via a web app for iPhones and iPads.

UP NEXT: Google patents a fitness tracker design similar to Amazon Halo

 

Twitter acquires video chat and screen-sharing startup, Squad

By
Jed John Ikoba
-

Twitter has acquired video chat app Squad, and it seems plans are already afoot by the company to incorporate the app’s group video chat feature as a new feature on Twitter.

The Squad app allowed users to share their screens in both mobile and desktop settings in group video chat mode. Reports emanating from TechCrunch says that the app has been shut down by Twitter as the interfacing seems to have begun in earnest. Twitter

Ilya Brown from Twitter’s Product team let us into the unfolding development by sharing the news in a tweet a few days back. Brown expressed excitement to be afforded the opportunity to share the information that the Squad team will be joining Twitter to provide new and exciting ways for people to interact, express themselves, and join in the public conversation. Brown went further to state in the tweet that interactive audio and video chats are very important requirements in the future direction of the app and align with the type of conversations Twitter is hoping to introduce.  

With hints provided by Brown on having a similar feature on Twitter very soon, it was expected that the Squad app will be out of service almost immediately. The Squad app was subsequently shut down on December 12.  

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A group video chat tool would certainly not be the first new feature to change the way that users interact with each other on Twitter. The social media giant launched the fleets feature in November 2020, which allowed users to express their thoughts in a temporary, story-like template that disappears after 24 hours.

Twitter account holders could see the number of persons that had viewed their fleets, and also respond to individual fleets via direct message.Squad

Twitter’s fleet feature follows the precedence laid by Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and a few others who already have a story feature in their platform.

Twitter has also announced that stickers and live broadcasting would be integral parts of fleets, going forward. 

We keep our fingers crossed as we wait to see whether Twitter will provide Squad-like video and screen-sharing in the app soon.

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Yeelight Debuts Smart LED Bulb M2 that supports Google Seamless Setup

By
Greeva Agnihotri
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Decent lighting can change the whole mood and ambiance of the space, but a smart light can add fun and convenience. It allows one to control the brightness, power, and color simply through voice controls. Yeelight is one of the leading smart lighting brands in the world and has recently taken this concept to another level by introducing a new member- Smart LED Bulb M2 (Color). It is powered by Google Seamless setup and enabled by Seamless Setup in the Google Home app.Yeelight Smart LED Bulb M2

Yeelight Smart LED Bulb M2 is one of the first smart lights in the Asia Pacific to support Seamless Setup in the Google Home app. It allows the user to command google for turning the lights on/off, control brightness, or change the colors just by using their voice. The Seamless Setup enables one to easily set up Smart Home devices in the Google Home App without having the need to download another app to link or purchase a third-party hub.

For Seamless Setup, the user will need to have a Google Assistant-enabled device like a Google Nest Mini or Google Nest Hub. Yeelight Smart LED Bulb M2, being a Bluetooth bulb, enjoys off-premise access using Google Assistant-enabled devices. It offers higher reliability and lower latency, leveraging the power of local. Furthermore, the bulb reaches a luminance of up to 1000ml that is quite bright and efficient enough for regular use.

Yeelight’s collaboration with Google has proven to be a progressive improvement towards the smart home experience, in addition to becoming one of the first smart lighting brands in the Asia Pacific to adopt Google Local Home SDK.Smart LED Bulb M2

According to Eric Jiang, the founder and CEO of Yeelight, Smart LED Bulb M2 is designed to work with Hey Google to give users the comfort of controlling it through voice command, which will allow them to have a fun and convenient experience while using the smart light.

The introduction of Yeelight Smart LED Bulb M2 is a significant milestone for Yeelight as it puts the company on the global radar. Yeelight is widely integrated with mainstream AIoT platforms, including Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Samsung SmartThings, establishing itself as one of the top smart lighting brands in terms of compatibility with smart home systems. Keep your spaces illuminated by building a smart home with Yeelight.

$98.99 Blackview A80 Plus Launches, Dubbed as Budgeted Battery King

By
Greeva Agnihotri
-

According to a recent render, Blackview is all set to launch a new smartphone in the A-series, one of the most successful families in the brand’s portfolio, for persistently delivering top-notch products with cutting edge technology. Blackview’s latest introduction- A80 Plus, has a powerful battery and a quad-rear camera setup. It will make its debut on December 15th with a discounted price of just $98.99. This phone has created quite a stir with its budged price range and an impressive spec sheet. Let’s take a look at what it has to offer.Blackview A80 Plus

Specifications

Blackview A80 Plus boasts a 6.49-inch waterdrop display with In-cell technology and a 90.3% screen-to-body ratio for an immersive viewing experience. It is powered by Mediatek Helio A25 12nm processor and has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory to allow convenient multi-tasking. Blackview’s flagship comes with an Android 10 operating system to let the user enjoy the latest features and functions.

Highlights

Apart from the decent software, A80 Plus is equipped with a 13MP quad rear camera that is on par with its modern flagship counterparts. With an impressive 4680mAh battery capacity, this phone can easily last throughout the day on just a single charge. It has two SIM card slots in addition to a separate microSD slot. This smartphone comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack and weighs only 180g with 8.8mm thickness. To add to its versatility, the Blackview flagship also supports NFC payments.Blackview A80 Plus-3-

 

Design

Blackview has certainly made significant improvements in A80 Plus’s design by enhancing it with sleek bezels and a waterdrop notch. As for the body, this device features a 3D aesthetic design with rounded corners and a slim form to offer a comfortable grip and a classy appearance. To complete the look, Blackview has neatly arranged a vertical quad-rear camera set up near the fingerprint sensor. Furthermore, it comes in 3 color variants- Red, Gradient Blue, Green, and Black.

Blackview A80 Plus is marketed with the slogan “quad-camera, budget king,” and the company states that it is unbeatable for its budgeted price.
A80 Plus will go on sale at Aliexpress from December 15th with a discounted price of just $98.99, with $179.99 being the phone’s actual cost. So hurry and make the most of this opportunity.

Micron Technology to expand workforce, setup Center of Excellence in India

By
Balaji S
-

Micron Technology is ready to expand its workforce in India. The company’s Managing Director for India has told the Hindu Business Line that it will hire more employees in the next three years. Further, the company is also planning to establish a Center of Excellence and expand industry-academia collaboration in the country.

Micron LPDDR5

As per the report(via Digitimes), Anand Ramamoorthy, Managing Director of Micron Technology (India), says the company will increase headcount. Precisely, it will recruit about 3,600 more employees. This would bring the final tally to 5,000 employees by 2023. He says that the company has rapidly expanded by tripling the headcount in the last 12 months.

For the unware, Micron Technology is a US-based memory chip maker. Its portfolio of products includes computer memory, computer data storage, dynamic RAM(DRAM), flash memory(NAND flash), and USB flash drives. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, the company has expertise in SSD, graphics memory, and LPDDR5 DRAM for 4G and 5G smartphones.

EDITOR’S PICK: Micron has yet to receive a license to sell to Huawei, may lead to fall in sales

As for India, the company, in 2018, allocated $3 billion for investment in Hyderabad. Moreover, it’s expanded a lot in the Asian region as well. In fact, it has back-end fabs in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and China. In case you don’t know, back end of line (BEOL) is where individual parts mingle with the wiring on the wafer.

However, the company reportedly is far away from setting up a production line in India. Although things are looking good for the country in the distant future, it isn’t going to make haste decisions regarding this right now. Still, the company is ready for academic tie-ups in the country.

Ramamoorthy says that Micron has authorized its University Research Alliance of Micron (URAM) to facilitate industry-academia collaboration for research and innovation in memory design. According to the Indian Minister of Electronics & IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Micron has also agreed set up a center of Excellence in memory and storage systems with Govt. of India.

UP NEXT: Microsoft Surface Pro 8 CPU, Memory variants listed online; could launch in early 2021

Qualcomm unveils the QCC305x SoC series for Truly wireless earbuds

By
Jed John Ikoba
-

Qualcomm has today unveiled the QCC305x wireless chip series. The chip is said to be designed mainly to help its customers differentiate across a range of tiers in the very fast-moving truly wireless earbud category. This is coming several months after the QCC514X and QCC304X chips were announced earlier in March.Qualcomm QCS400 series

The QCC305x SoCs is the latest addition to the mid-tier Qualcomm QCC30xx series of SoCs. The platform expands the wireless audio use cases delivering powerful support for many of the firm’s premium audio technologies.

Further, the QCC305x features support for the forthcoming Bluetooth Low Energy Audio standard which makes it possible for early-adopting OEMs to commence the development of an end-to-end implementation with smartphones and truly wireless earbuds supporting the exciting new audio sharing use case.

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James Chapman, vice president, and general manager, Voice, Music, and Wearables, Qualcomm Technologies hinted that: “We are entering a new era for the expanding truly wireless earbud category, which is diversifying at a terrific rate bringing new use-cases and feature enrichment to products in virtually all tiers.”

“Not only do our QCC305x SoCs bring many of our latest-and-greatest audio features to our mid-range truly wireless earbud portfolio, but they are also designed to be developer-ready for the upcoming Bluetooth LE Audio standard. We believe this combination gives our customers great flexibility to innovate at a range of price points and helps them meet the needs of today’s audio consumers, many of whom now rely on their truly wireless earbuds for all sorts of entertainment and productivity activities.”

The QCC305x SoCs are designed to support superior end-to-end operability from a Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered smartphone to Qualcomm-Technologies powered earbuds. The recently announced Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset to help deliver this true end-to-end experience with the Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 connectivity system, brings mobile-side support for Bluetooth 5.2, LE Audio, aptX audio, and other features providing further interoperability benefits for sound quality, wireless audio robustness, and responsiveness.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi Mi QLED TV 4K 55 launched in India: Android TV 10, Dolby Vision, and 30W speakers

 

Xiaomi Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro launched in Nigeria with non-aggressive pricing

By
Sudarshan Ravichandran
-

After teasing the Mi 10T series launch for the past few days, Xiaomi Nigeria has finally debuted the smartphones in the country. We thought the company would be only bringing the regular Mi 10T to the region. However, we turned out to be wrong as the firm has announced the Pro variant as well.

Mi 10T series featured

The Xiaomi Mi 10T series is the second generation of Mi T series of phones. Its predecessor Mi 9T series was nothing but a rebadged Redmi K20 series. But the current-gen consists of original devices but still two of them are sold as Redmi K30S Ultra (Mi 10T) and Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G (a tweaked Mi 10T Lite) in China.

Having said that, Xiaomi usually doesn’t launch its expensive products in Nigeria. But despite the global economic crisis due to the COVID-19 padmic, the company debuted most of its products in almost all the regions where it has a presence.

Hence, the Mi 10T series has made their way to Nigeria as well. Anyway, going by the comments on social media, people in the country seem not to be happy with the pricing.

Because Xiaomi has priced the Mi 10T (8GB + 128GB) at N231,000 ($608) and Mi 10T Pro (8GB + 256GB) at N265,000 ($697) respectively. To be fair, the Nigerian pricing is equivalent to that of European. 

But netizens are complaining that the same handsets cost less in countries like India and China. And it is definitely not wrong for them to criticize but at the end of day, local regulation and taxation plays a key role for any product’s price.

We hope that one day people in Nigeria could purchase Xiaomi products at a reasonable price.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi and Redmi to launch two flagship models with Snapdragon 888 SoC each

 

Get $10 off on Redmi Watch at Giztop, Limited Time Offer

By
Greeva Agnihotri
-

Redmi recently expanded its horizon and entered into the wearables category by launching Redmi Watch. It boasts multiple sports modes and sensors to help the user keep track of their health and sports activities. Currently, this watch is being sold with a massive $10 off and can be purchased for just $49 on Giztop. Redmi Watch

Redmi Watch features a 1.4-inch square display having a pixel density of 323PPI. With over 20 custom and 120+ dial options, this smartwatch allows one to choose and personalize the display according to their preference. It is enhanced with 7 sports modes for tracking both indoor and outdoor activities like running, outdoor and indoor cycling, walking, and swimming. The functions like heart rate sensor, sleep tracking, and sedentary monitoring help users keep a tab on their health. This unit stores the 24-hour heart rate data and also supports breathing training functions for added versatility.

Redmi Watch has 5ATM water-resistance (up to 50m). Its 230mAh battery can last for up to 7 days in a single charge; long endurance mode extends its battery life for up to 12 days. This smartwatch supports Bluetooth 5.0 technology, NFC connectivity and is compatible with more than 270 city bus cards, access cards, Xiaomi door locks, etc. Furthermore, this smartwatch is equipped with a built-in Xiao AI voice assistant that extends control of one’s smart home from the convenience of their wrists.Redmi Watch-1-

Packed with a host of features, Redmi Watch offers added versatility and user convenience at a reasonable price. As a bonus, this watch is currently being sold at a discounted price of just $49 at Giztop. The deal is available only for a limited time, so make the most of it.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU hits GeekBench with improved performance over its predecessor

By
Jed John Ikoba
-

A benchmark of AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800H has allegedly been leaked on Geekbench – and it has some rave reviews. The benchmark was seen on the Twitter feed by a well-known tipster ASPIK (@TUM_APISAK) and can be compared against its predecessor, the Ryzen 7 4800H, and also the existing Comet Lake-H CPUs from American tech firm Intel.

Of course, this alleged leak has to be handled with caution, but if the benchmark score is a fair representation of its performance, then the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H is well primed for serious competition to Intel’s Tiger Lake-H family of flagship processors expected to be released within Q1 of 2021.

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The Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, from Silicon valley company, AMD was featured in the soon to be released Acer Nitro AN515-45 notebook whose configuration includes a 16G DDR4 memory. As per performance, the 5800H consists of eight cores and 16 threads and was running at a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost speed of 4.45 GHz, while the overall mean performance across all cores was a stable 4.40 GHz.

The 5800H processor allegedly has a score of 1,475 in the Geekbench 5 single-core test, and 7,630 for multi-core performance. This means that it has chalked up an impressive 35% performance than the Ryzen 7 4800H in single-core, and this ought to concern Intel, virtually set for the impending release of its Tiger Lake CPUs. In addition, the ability to boost at 4.45 GHz would imply that the Ryzen 7 5800H could out-perform the Intel Core i9-10900K by about 5% in single-core performance.

In reality, the difference in performance looks minimal and insignificant, but in putting it in perspective, note that the Ryzen 7 5800H is a mobile chip within a notebook, whilst the Intel Core i9-10900K is a full desktop processor with a much higher power limit (35W vs 250W).

There has been much activity in the highly competitive segment of processors and chips in 2020. The Ryzen 5000 Mobility CPUs will likely be announced at CES 2021, as an indication that the intense competition will continue at least beyond 2021. So AMD and Intel are just two players in a widening field of competitors pursuing the production of faster and energy-efficient CPUs.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi Mi QLED TV 4K 55 launched in India: Android TV 10, Dolby Vision, and 30W speakers

 

Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max is just a point short of topping DXOMARK display rankings

By
Balaji S
-

DXOMARK has released the display test results for the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max. And the device performs well in all departments. In fact, it is just one point short of topping the charts.

iPhone 12 Pro Max DXOMARK

According to the test report, Apple‘s iPhone 12 Pro Max gets an overall score of 88. As per the official rankings, it now sits second to Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. To compare, its sibling iPhone 12 Pro, which recently scored 87 points, sits in third place. Anyway, with these points, it also shares the second place with OnePlus.

Precisely, the company’s 2019 flagship OnePlus 8 Pro also scores 88 whereas Samsung’s Note 20 Ultra tops with 89 points. Talking about Apple’s 2020 flagship, it has a slightly larger 6.7-inch OLED display compared to 6.5-inches on the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Anyway, let’s look at the display specs below:

  • 6.7 inches OLED display (87.4% screen-body ratio)
  • Dimensions: 160.8 x 78.1 x 7.4 mm (6.33 x 3.07 x 0.29 inches)
  • Resolution: 1284 x 2778 pixels, (458 PPI)
  • Aspect ratio: 19.5:9
  • Refresh rate: 60 Hz
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That said, DXOMARK says that iPhone 12 Pro Max performs exceptionally well in rendering contents almost in every lighting condition. Some of its strong points include the peak brightness, HDR10 contrast in video playback. Additionally, it also handles the aliasing effect well with smooth transitions in gaming.

However, just like the predecessors, this also seems to be affected by too much of the color cast. The report says that the display puts out a strong yellow tint in almost all tested conditions. That’s not all as the device seems to be a bit dull in low-light scenarios and adding a strong blue light filter impacts reading at night.

To sum up, Some of its Pros are well maintained HDR10, gamma levels and aliasing effect, smooth transitions across lightings. It has cons like yellow cast(almost all scenarios), low low-light brightness along with occasional flicker, too much darker while playing SDR contents.

UP NEXT: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G Snapdragon version scores lower than Exynos variant in DxOMark test

Nokia C1 Plus launched in China for ¥499 ($76)

By
Sudarshan Ravichandran
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After unveiling the Nokia C1 Plus for international markets, HMD Global has now launched this entry-level smartphone in China priced at ¥499 ($76). It will go on sale starting Christmas Day (December 25) in the country.

Nokia C1 Plus Featured

The Nokia C1 Plus is a device targeted at first-time smartphone buyers. It features a 5.45-inch IPS LCD panel on the front with a resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels (HD+), 18:9 screen-to-ratio, and a 5MP selfie camera with an LED flash above it.

The back of the phone houses another 5MP shooter, again accompanied by an LED flash. Further, the volume rocker and the power key are located on the right side. Whereas, the 3.5mm headphone jack is at the top, and the MicroUSB port, the microphone hole, as well as the speaker grille are at the bottom.

EDITOR’S PICK: Nokia PureBook X14 launched in India with metal body, Intel Core i5, Dolby Vision, and more

 

The device is powered by an unknown quad-core processor clocked at 1.4Ghz. This silicon is paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. Because of its low-end hardware, the handset runs Android 10 Go Edition.

Other features of this phone include dual-SIM, 4G LTE, single-band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, GNSS (GPS, A-GPS), FM Radio, microSD card slot (up to 128GB), proximity sensor, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and 2,500mAh removable battery with support for 5W charging.

Last but not least, the Nokia C1 Plus comes in two colors – Red & Blue, measures 149.1 × 71.2 × 8.75mm in dimensions, and weighs 146g.

UP NEXT: Nokia 5.4 launched with Snapdragon 662, 48MP quad cameras and punch-hole display

 

Microsoft Surface Pro 8 CPU, Memory variants listed online; could launch in early 2021

By
Balaji S
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Microsoft recently announced the Surface Laptop Go, a toned-down variation for the masses. Now, the company is expected to place such powerful and upgraded processors inside the Windows-tablet ‘Surface Pro’ lineup. Now, European retailers have already listed the Surface Pro 8 along with storage versions suggesting an imminent launch.

Microsoft

According to an exclusive report by winfuture.de, the upcoming Microsoft Surface Pro 8 tablet will have a Wi-Fi-only and Wi-Fi + LTE version. You can take a look at the processor variants and their RAM, storage configurations respectively below:

Wi-Fi + LTE, i5 version

  • LTE i5 8GB/128GB
  • LTE i5 8GB/256GB
  • LTE i5 16GB/256GB

Wi-Fi only, i5 version

  • i5 8GB/128GB
  • i5 8GB/256GB
  • i5 16GB/256GB

Wi-Fi only, i7 version

  • i7 16GB/ 256GB
  • i7 16GB/ 512GB
  • i7 16GB/1TB
  • i7 32GB/1TB

Note: Here i5, i7 denote Intel® Core™ multi-core processors; According to the report, it is likely to be the latest 11th gen processors. Storage mentioned – SSD.

That said, the report says the Surface 8 Pro, apart from the above different variants, will include Surface Pen and the Surface Type Cover. Besides, as you can see above, the i7 models reportedly don’t have the LTE version. As for colors, the new tablet will likely have a Black, and Platinum Gray options.

EDITOR’S PICK: Microsoft to launch Xbox Series X in China in 2021 after getting certified

However, the LTE version doesn’t reportedly come in the Black color. And as the above names suggest, LTE will maximum support network up to 4G. This means 5G enthusiasts will have to wait a bit considering it isn’t officially rolled out in many countries. Still, as per the report, the tablet in Europe will have a wireless module, and antennas integrated directly from the factory.

The LTE version will have a maximum of 16GB RAM, while the Wi-Fi version has up to 32GB memory. Also, the previous leak indicates that the RAM would be clocked at 4267MHz. Although i7 users have limited scope with Wi-Fi only version, report says the it will be a high-end model with Core i7-1165G7 quad-core CPU, Max. 32GB RAM, and 1TB USD at  €3000 ($3,650).

Further, the Surface Pro 8 will reportedly include a 12.3-inch FHD+ display with a 3:2 aspect ratio and a 2736 x 1824 resolution. The new tablet will launch alongside the new Surface Laptops(likely 4th Gen Surface Laptop) in early 2021. While the pricing is still a mystery, don’t be surprised if Microsoft manages to also launch an AMD version with very little change from the outside.

UP NEXT: Microsoft Surface Hub 2S 50 launched in China for CNY 72,888 (~$11,000)

Facebook announces a new Instagram Lite app with less features and a ~2MB size

By
Habeeb Onawole
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Popular social media apps have lite versions which have been designed for markets where internet service is not reliable and or very expensive. These lite apps such as Facebook Lite, Messenger Lite, and Twitter Lite are also the best option for phones with low resources as they take up less space and require less processing power. Today, Facebook has announced a new Instagram Lite app, adding to the list of toned-down apps for Android phones.

Instragram Lite

Yes, this is a new one as there used to be one before which was shut down by Facebook earlier this year. The new Instagram Lite app was announced by Facebook at an event in India today dubbed “Facebook Fuel for India”. The app which is just under 2MB in file size ditches some features you will find on the main app such as Reels, Shopping, and IGTV for a faster and even cleaner experience. If you are one of those who don’t like the aforementioned features, then the Instagram Lite app is for you.

EDITOR’S PICK: TikTok App expands to Samsung Smart TVs in Europe; Available for the UK from Today

For now, the Instagram Lite app is limited to India and it is available in multiple local languages including Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu.

It is not surprising that India is getting the app first. The South-Asian country is the country with the highest amount of Facebook users – over 310 million users according to a November 2020 report by Statista. Facebook says it plans to expand availability to more countries when it is done with the testing in India. However, one should be able to sideload the APK.

The original Instagram Lite app was discontinued in May due to some unstated issues. The new app which was listed on the Play Store earlier this month already has about 5 million installs.

UP NEXT: Major lawsuits in the US seek to break up Facebook over anti-competitive practices

 

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