Samsung begins One UI 3.0(Android 11) stable rollout for Galaxy Note 20 series

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Dec 15, 2020

Samsung began rolling out the One UI 3.0 based on Android 11 update for the Galaxy S20 series a couple of weeks back. Today, as per a report, the company has jumped the gun for the Galaxy Note 20 series of devices.

As Sammobile reports, Samsung began rolling out the stable update for locked and unlocked variants of the AT&T network in the US over the weekend. Accordingly, an update with build number N98xUSQU1CTL2 is rolling out to Galaxy Note 20, Note 20 Ultra devices. Plus, the update with a 2.5GB size also jumps the security patch to December 1, 2020.

That said, the update seems to be limited to the United States as of now. Considering the official schedule across Europe and other Asian countries like India indicates a January rollout, users might have to wait for a bit. In any case, the update corroborates with the early leak which said December 14 as the rollout date.

Anyway, the update for Galaxy Note 20 brings the latest Android 11 along with UI revamp and other features on One UI. Precisely, you are sure to get the latest Android features like Conversations, Bubbles, Categorized notifications. And One UI‘s perks like improvements to Quick Panel, Toolbars, Notifications, settings, and more. Besides, you can refer to our coverage to know about the features of the One UI 3.0.

While the update for Galaxy S20 FE could be a few months away, the next-in-line as per the rollout schedule are the Galaxy Fold devices, Galaxy Note 10, and S10 series.

Samsung announced the OneUI 3.0 Beta based on Android 11 back on August 5. The Public beta program began after the initial developer build and has extended to a lot of flagships including the Galaxy S10 series from 2019. Nevertheless, the stable update is here and it will expand to other regions in the coming months.

Google Phone reaches over 500 million installs on the Play Store

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Dec 15, 2020

Google Phone is the default dialer application on Pixels and Android One smartphones. This app along with Google Messages later started coming pre-installed on select devices from different OEMs. It was even made available to install on most handsets earlier this year. As a result, it has now reached over 500 million downloads on the Google Play Store.

Phone by Google is a simple and clean dialer application. It is an easy-to-use and straightforward app, unlike certain dialers apps found in Android skins by different OEMs.

Hence, select companies, mostly Chinese like Xiaomi and OnePlus started shipping their devices in certain regions with Google Phone and Google Messages, instead of their own solutions. The search giant added support for more smartphones so that interested users can directly download these apps from the Google Play Store.

Hence, the userbase of Google Phone started increasing with the help of Pixels, Android One devices, select devices from different OEMs, and users who installed them manually on supported phones. Thus, it has now finally hit over 500 million installs on the Play Store.

With more OEMs opting for Google Phone on their devices, we can expect the download figure to reach over 1 billion in the coming months or years.

(Via)

OPPO A15s India price leaked; could launch soon

By

Balaji S

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Dec 15, 2020

OPPO unveiled the OPPO A15 back in October in India. Alongside the device, it’s sibling A15s appeared on multiple certifications. And considering its presence on the radar of leaks lately, OPPO should reveal it anytime now. The latest info is a price leak which suggests that A15s might be an upgraded version.

As reported by MySmartPrice, OPPO A15s will be priced at ₹11,490($156) in India. An earlier poster leak reveals that A15s will have 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. To compare, the OPPO A15 has 2/3GB RAM and 32GB storage variants. It is now available for ₹8,990($122), and ₹9,990($135) respectively. This suggests that the A15s could just be an upgrade in memory but we will have to wait for OPPO to launch it to confirm.

Anyway, a marketing poster shows offers like 5% cashback on ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, Bank of Baroda cards, Zest Money, and more. Additionally, there are No-cost EMI options from Bajaj Finersv, HDB Financial Services, IDFC First, HDFC Bank, Home Credit, Pine Labs.

OPPO A15s Specifications(Expected)

Prior to this, the A15s was spotted on Malaysia’s SIRIM website in addition to getting Europe’s EEC, Singapore’s IMDA certifications. However, only a recently leaked poster sheds light on its specifications. It shows a similar design to the A15.

As per the leak, OPPO A15s will have a 6.52-inch HD+ display. The resolution is probably similar to the predecessor(1600×720 pixels). Further, it will feature an ‘AI Triple Camera’ suggesting that it could have the exact same specs as the A15. If true, it will host a 13MP main, and 2x2MP sensors on the rear squircle layout.

Other expected specs are MediaTek Helio P35 SoC, a 4,230mAh battery, a 5MP selfie camera, and more. OPPO hasn’t made the device official yet.

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

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Dec 15, 2020

Microsoft China had an event today during which it announced its digital whiteboard, the Surface Hub 2S 50. The product launched was announced back in 2019 but it has just landed in China.

The Surface Hub 2S will sell for CNY 72,888 (~$11,137) and will ship with the Surface Hub 2 Camera and the Surface Hub 2 Pen. Buyers who want the Steelcase Roam which allows the board to be wheeled around will have to purchase that separately.

The APC Charge Mobile Battery that provides up to 2 hours of backup power when moving the whiteboard around or when there is a power cut also has to be purchased separately. Unfortunately, the Chinese price tags for these two accessories were not revealed. In the USA, the Steelcase stand is $1450 while the battery is $1400.

EDITOR’S PICK: Microsoft confirms Xbox cloud gaming is coming to PCs and iOS next year; more countries too

The Surface Hub 2S has a 50-inch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio and a 3840 x 2560 resolution. The whiteboard isn’t just a giant touch display but packs the internals of a computer. There is an 8th Gen Intel Core-i5 processor inside with 8GB of RAM, Intel’s UHD Graphics 620 integrated GPU, and 128GB of M.2 SSD storage.

In 2020, those specs may not be powerful enough but the good news is that you can also use the board as a monitor if you connect your own PC via the HDMI input port. Other connectivity ports are a single USB A port, a USB-C port, an ethernet port, and a Mini DisplayPort for output.

Microsoft originally planned to make the internals of the Surface Hubs 2S upgradeable via a cartridge that has a more powerful processor and GPU but the plan was canceled in February. Microsoft didn’t say if it plans to announce the cartridge at a later date but we hope it revives the plan.

The Surface Hub 2S also has a much bigger model that is 85-inches in size. It will go on sale early next year for $21,999.

Xiaomi Mi 10T series can be now purchased from Amazon India

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Dec 15, 2020

Xiaomi launched the Mi 10T series in India in mid-October ahead of Diwali festive season. Since then, both the smartphones in the series have been exclusive to Mi.com and Flipkart. But not anymore, as they can be now bought from Amazon India as well.

Usually, Xiaomi does not bring its flagship smartphones to India. But with fierce competition, the company debuted Mi 10 earlier this year in the country. This handset was initially exclusive to Amazon India and Mi.com. But it was later made available on Flipkart, in addition to offline stores.

Similarly, India’s largest smartphone brand debuted the Mi 10T series consisting of Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro as Flipkart and Mi.com exclusive products a few months back. Now, just like the Mi 10, their availability has also been extended to offline stores as well as Amazon India.

The American eCommerce giant is also running a promotion for these handsets. Customers who purchase either of these two phones via ICICI Bank Credit card or ICICI Bank Credit/Debit Card EMI can avail flat ₹3,000 cashback.

Therefore, interested customers can get the Mi 10T for ₹32,999 and Mi 10T Pro ₹36,999 effectively. It is worth noting that this offer is only valid until December 31, 2020.

Google officially discontinues the Google Home Max

By

Balaji S

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Dec 15, 2020

Recently, Google Home Max got a huge $150 off during the company’s Black Friday sales. Now, after three years of launch, Google is discontinuing its powerful smart speaker.

As reported by Engadget(via XDA), Google says that it has sold the remaining units of the Google Home Max on its Google Store. If you recall, Google announced the Hi-Fi speaker with an AI support back in October 2017. Even to the present day, it remains on one of the powerful speakers with 2xTweeters, and 2xwoofers.

Anyway, Google says that existing users will get support for the speaker going forward. In fact, it says it is committed to deliver sound and home audio features for Assistant-enabled products. Hence, it will continue to offer software updates and security fixes to the Google Home Max.

In case you don’t know, Google’s Home is a bunch of products that fall under the smart speaker category. Launched back in 2016, the original Google Home has been succeeded by other iterations. Recently, the company announced a Nest Audio Smart speaker for $99 which is a spiritual successor to the Google Home.

Having said that, the Google Home Max has 2×4.5-inch woofers and 2×0.7-inch custom tweeters. Measuring 13.2×7.4-inches(WxH), the stereo speaker weighs about 5.3kg. Besides, the speaker unit is covered inside an acoustic transparent fabric and polycarbonate body. It has 4xLED indicators, touch controls for volume, play/pause music, Assistant, and mic toggle.

The Google Home Max also has Smart Sound. It adapts to the environment and its position to throw audio accordingly. It supports audio over Bluetooth, and others like YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, and Google Play Music. You can also use the always-ready Google Assistant to control the speaker.

With the end of Google Home Max, the company is sending a message that it might kill the Home branding in the future and carry forward with Nest products. However, we will have to wait and see how Google’s Smart Audio products widen in the future.

vivo patents a foldable smartphone design with stylus

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Dec 15, 2020

Last week, it was revealed that there will be a total of four foldable smartphones from OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi combined in the second half of 2021. It is worth noting that all these three brands are yet to debut their first foldable but they have patented various designs in the past few months. A new such patent by vivo has now emerged.

According to LetsGoDigital, Vivo Mobile Communication filed a design patent with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) in February 2020. Titled ‘Display panel and mobile terminal’, this patent got approved and published in October 2020. However, the publication seems to have found it only now and they even created 3D renders for visualization.

As per the documentation, this design features an inward folding screen that unfolds into a tablet. In other words, it is identical to Samsung Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Fold2. But it sports a unique hinge design with a silo for a stylus.

This silo is nothing but a gap at the folding point of the display panel. Hence, the included stylus is as long as the device and has a tip made of soft rubber material to avoid scratches on the screen. Further, It does not fall from the silo when placed inside as it remains attached magnetically. Also, the damaged part of the stylus can be replaced.

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Apart from the above-mentioned details, the patent does not say much about this design because it is only about the foldable panel and stylus. That said, vivo may utilize some part of this design in one of its upcoming foldables, however, we cannot say that for sure as companies file a wide variety of patents every now and then.

Huawei launches new AppGallery promotion to support businesses during pandemic

By

Sean

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Dec 15, 2020

Huawei has just announced that it will be launching a new specially designed promotional package on its mobile application platform, AppGallery. This promotion is to help bring the benefits of e-commerce and online retail to businesses and app developers during this time of crisis.

As per the company’s official notes, the campaign aims to boost and support brands and enterprises that are facing hurdles in operations due to the state of the market caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. Thus, the Chinese tech giant is providing benefits to businesses by offering prominent positioning on its AppGallery’s ‘Collections’ tab, which highlights e-commerce brands.

This is a sliding banner on the home page of the platform and offers free advertising to brands worth up to 2,500 Euros (roughly 3,000 US Dollars). Any brand or content provider can sign up for this promotion anytime from now until the 31st of December 2020. In other words, Huawei is offerings brands advertising/exposure to its 36 million active monthly userbase of AppGallery in Europe for free.

At the moment, the Chinese smartphone maker is targeting three specific business groups with this offer, including businesses that currently have no presence on AppGallery; second, being businesses with apps already available on the platform but are also “willing to upgrade to Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) in order to gain from the platform’s additional advantages and increased audience”; and finally, the third being “e-commerce businesses whose apps already integrated with HMS.”

According to Wang Heng, Vice President, Global Partnerships and Eco-Development at Huawei Consumer Business Group, “We want to galvanize businesses and app developers in the e-commerce retail industry to accelerate their listing on AppGallery before the end of the year. Huawei mobile users are looking for great ideas and inspiration while they are in or in-between lockdowns, and becoming part of AppGallery, particularly with the extra exposure and promotional boost we can deliver, will ensure these apps are positioned front and center of their search.”

The new AppGallery promotion can have businesses avail a number of benefits, which include:

Top 5 inclusion in AppGallery’s ‘Collection’ tab which features on the Home Page and highlights themed or seasonal collections of apps.
Sliding banner ad featuring the apps on the Home Page.
Access to AppGallery’s ‘Gift’ tab, which allows businesses to make special offers to users.
Access to Push notifications to make consumers aware of key messages and information.
In-country technical support team for app integration and dedicated business support to optimise experience in Huawei ecosystem.
5 or 10 days-worth of free advertising on AppGallery worth €250 per day.

POCO is now one of the top 5 online smartphone brands in India

By

Sean

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Dec 15, 2020

POCO has now entered into the top 5 positions in India’s online smartphone brands. The company released a statement earlier today (15th December 2020) and marks another milestone for the Chinese tech giant in the region.

POCO India broke into the top 5 list of online smartphone brands, in terms of volume. This arrives after the company saw a very successful festive season during the months of October 2020. At the moment, POCO India is the fourth in the nation as per a report from IDC India, an analysis based firm, titled “National Monthly Smartphone Tracker, October 2020”. Notably, the company achieved this despite only announcing its independence back in January of this year.

The company noted that “A strong and clear portfolio of smartphones such as POCO X3, C3, M2, and M2 Pro meant POCO cruised through the year with a strong community voice going for it.” For those unaware, POCO is an independent brand that was originally a subsidiary of the popular Chinese company, Xiaomi. POCO originally arrived in India with the POCO F1 and has since launched a number of budget friendly devices in the affordable and mid range segment in the Indian smartphone market.

OPPO Enco X tipped to launch in India in January 2021

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Dec 15, 2020

In October, OPPO launched OPPO Enco X as its flagship truly wireless earphones at the OPPO TV S1/R1 launch event in China. Priced at ¥999 ($153), this TWS offers sound tuned by Dynaudio, in addition to ANC (Active Noise Cancellation). As of now, it is only available in the brand’s home country. But it is said to soon debut in India in January 2021.

With HUAWEI’s decline in the global smartphone markets, competitors like OPPO, vivo, realme, and Xiaomi have been pushing their products in more regions than ever before. As a result, they have already entered the top 5 in most regions.

Talking particularly about TWS, India witnessed a huge growth in the last quarter as most people are still continuing their work and education from home. Almost all the major brands have their presence in the country, in addition to domestic brands like boAt that leads the segment.

Chinese brands usually don’t bring most of their products to global markets, especially India. But this year, it all changed. OPPO has debuted almost all of its audio products in the country. Hence we are not surprised to learn that the company has plans to launch its premium TWS – OPPO Enco X in the country in January 2021, as per Mukul Sharma (@stufflistings).

Although nothing is known about its pricing for India, we can expect the company to price this product aggressively (under ₹15,000) like its other truly wireless earphones. Anyway, when it launches in the region, it will be competing against the likes of Galaxy Buds+, Galaxy Buds Live, maybe even the upcoming Galaxy Buds Pro.

Having said that, we also expect OPPO to debut the OPPO Enco X in other markets as well.

Samsung dominates the Foldable Smartphone market in 2020

By

Sean

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Dec 15, 2020

Samsung had a clear dominance in the foldable smartphone market in 2020. The company held a market share of over 90 percent during this year. Although, big changes are expected to arrive in 2021 as the foldable handset market is expected to grow further next year.

According to a DSCC report, the foldable display panel shipments have risen by 454 percent over 2019 to 3.1 million units in 2020. This is further expected to rise by another 394 percent in the following year with estimated shipments being valued at 462 million US Dollars. Notably, these figures are actually lower than initial projections due to US sanctions against Huawei, which is preventing the company from launching the Mate X2 that was expected to arrive in Q4 of 2020.

Due to the lack of any major competitor, the South Korean tech giant dominated the market with new launches this year. In 2020, the company released the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which were two of the best selling foldable handsets in the year, both in terms of units shipped and revenue. On the basis of panel procurement, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 led the market with a 65 percent market share followed by the Galaxy Z Flip 5G with a 27 percent market share.

Furthermore, the report also states that the company is focusing more on its foldable Z series over its flagship Note series. In the coming year, Samsung is expected to launch no less than 3 foldable handsets, which will likely include Z series phones and their respective 2nd generation iterations. This period would likely also have Samsung Display aggressively push its display technology to help other brands to enter the market as well with its UTG (Ultra Thin Glass) cover solutions.

Samsung Galaxy A52 4G variant spotted with Snapdragon 720G

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Dec 15, 2020

Recent reports have revealed that Samsung is working on the Galaxy A52 5G smartphone. The handset had appeared with its model number SM-A526B and Snapdragon 750G chipset at the Geekbench benchmarking platform last month. A new variant of the phone with model number SM-A525F has appeared (via) on the same benchmarking site. It appears to be the 4G edition of the device.

The Geekbench 5 listing reveals that the Galaxy A52 4G is driven by an “atoll” processor, which is nothing but the Snapdragon 720G SoC. The listing further reveals that the phone has 8 GB of RAM and it runs on Android 11 OS.

The Galaxy A52 4G scored 546 in Geekbench’s single-core test and it recorded a score of 1703 in the multi-core test. There is no word on the other specs of the Galaxy A52 4G. It remains to be seen whether its other specs are identical with its 5G model.

Editor’s Pick: Samsung set to supply more OLED panels to Apple for iPhones in 2021

The Galaxy A52 5G was spotted with Snapdragon 750G, 6 GB of RAM, and Android 11 OS in the Geekbench 5 tests. The renders of the 5G variant surfaced earlier this month revealed that it will be arriving with a punch-hole display and a rectangle-shaped camera module with four cameras on its glass-like plastic rear. The handset measures 159.9 x 75.1 x 8.4mm and houses a 6.5-inch FHD+ display. The handset is also expected to feature an in-screen fingerprint reader.

The Galaxy A52 5G is likely to arrive with a pricing of $499. It is likely that the smartphone may go official before the end of 2020 or in early January.

Redmi Watch hands-on: A solid Budget smartwatch with NFC

By

Paco Zheng

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Dec 15, 2020

Redmi’s Note 9 series in China was accompanied by another device last month, the Redmi Watch. Given how smartwatches are gaining a lot of popularity and is all set to further grow in the coming months, the Redmi Watch with its super affordable price tag could turn out to be an attractive option in its price segment.

We finally got the Redmi Watch in our China office last week. So this is our quick Redmi Watch hands-on and we hope we answer most of the questions you have about the new watch.

Redmi Watch has a Simple Square design

The Redmi watch has a simple square 2.5D curved display, similar to the Apple Watch series. You get a single button on the right side, but most of the operations can be performed via the touch screen.

The square display has its set of advantages. You get a more screen real estate to display text messages and other data as compared to a traditional round dial smartwatch.

Note that the display area is quite small and there are thick black bars on the top and bottom part of the 1.4-inch 320 x 320 pixel resolution screen. However, the black background in the interface helps hide these thick bezels.

Redmi Watch is Light-weight and Compact

The Redmi watch is pretty compact with the following dimensions: 41mm x 35mm x 10.9mm. It weighs just around 35 grams, so you can wear it all the time even while sleeping.

The back sensors don’t protrude much from the body, so the wearing experience is good. The sides of the watch is also polished and curved, so it doesn’t feel cheap.

The watch comes with an optical heart rate sensor, six-axis sensor, geomagnetic sensor, and an ambient light sensor.

Features a Multipurpose Single button

The Redmi watch comes with a single button on the right side. The button serves multiple functions like lighting up the screen, opening up the tile-based list of app menu, returning to the previous menu, and even calling up XiaoAI assistant (Chinese only).

Its Features are similar to the Mi Watch

Almost 80% of the features of the Redmi Watch is similar to the Xiaomi Mi Watch, including switching songs, controlling the volume, receiving messages, measuring heart rate, sports tracking, and so on. The biggest difference between the two watches is that the Redmi Watch lacks the ability to accept or make phone calls since it doesn’t feature an eSIM.

Note that Redmi’s new watch cannot accept calls or reply to text messages. Also, you need to manually change the language of the watch via the connected app. We couldn’t find an option inside the watch settings.

The Watch can be used to make NFC payments/ bus cards

Redmi Watch comes with NFC support so you can make retail payments as well as access transport cards using the watch in China.

You should get around 7 days of battery life with its 230mAh battery.

The Redmi Watch is very Affordable

For 299 yuan ($46), the new watch offers a lot of value for your money. It has a simple square design with most of the features that you would expect from a smartwatch. NFC support (in China) is definitely an added plus. Retailers like Giztop has the watch listed for sale for $59.

So what do you think of the Redmi Watch? Are you planning to get one? The Redmi Watch is available for $49 on Giztop before December 15.

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

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Dec 15, 2020

After months of leaks, the Nokia 5.4 mid-range phone has finally gone official in Europe. It has arrived as the replacement for the Nokia 5.3 that went official in March this year. While the handset features a round-shaped camera module like its predecessor, it has a refreshing punch-hole display design on the front. Some of the major highlights of the Nokia 5.4 handset include a tall aspect ratio screen, a Snapdragon 6-series chipset, 48-megaipxel quad cameras, and a large-sized battery.

Nokia 5.4 specifications and features

The Nokia 5.4 has a 6.39-inch IPS LCD display that produces an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1560 pixels and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The phone boots to Android One edition of the Android 10 OS and it comes with a dedicated physical key to access the Google Assistant. A fingerprint reader is placed on the backside of the smartphone.

Sitting on the front side of the phone is a 16-megapixel selfie snapper. The round-shaped camera module on the backside of the phone has a 48-megapixel primary shooter, a 5-megapixel superwide lens, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth helper. For an enhanced experience, while video shooting, the Nokia 5.4 comes with built-in OZO audio with wind noise cancellation.

Editor’s Pick: Nokia C1 Plus 4G with a 5.45″ HD+ display, Android 10 Go launched for €69

The Snapdragon 662 SoC fuels the Nokia 5.4 with up to 6 GB of RAM. The phone offers users up to 128 GB of native storage. HMD Global has offered 10W charging support for the 4,000mAh battery of the smartphone. On the connectivity front, the Nokia 5.4 offers users options such as dual SIM support, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The polycarbonate-bodied handset measures 160.97 x 75.99 x 8.7mm and it weighs 180 grams.

Nokia 5.4 pricing and availability

The Nokia 5.4 has arrived in the European markets in options like 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage, 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, and 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage. The base model carries a price tag of 189 euros (~$229) and it has arrived in color options such as Polar Night and Dusk. The smartphone will be heading to other markets like North and South America, the Middle East, Africa, and India.

The Nokia 5.4 buyers can avail accessories like a Nokia Clear Case, and a Grip and Stand Case. Apart from launching the Nokia 5.4, the Finnish brand also announced other products such as an 18W fast wall charger and an 18W fast car charger.

Motorola Razr 5G Gold variant preorders starts from December 22

By

Sean

-

Dec 15, 2020

Earlier today (15th December 2020), the official Weibo account, a Chinese microblogging website, of Motorola announced that its Gold variant of the Razr 5G will be available for pre orders starting from 22nd December 2020.

Looking at the promotional image poster, we can observe that the device in question is a Motorola Razr 5G model but features a Gold color scheme. This gold color tint covers the rear of the smartphone, along with the sides and bottom. This model is exclusively available in China alone, with its official name being Motorola Razr 5G Tian Xuan Gold.

The Motorola Razr 5G was officially announced back in September and featured a 6.2 inch foldable display that featured a clamshell design. Under the hood, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor runs the device, which is powered by a 2,800mAh battery pack. The device also houses a 2.7 inch secondary display on the outside, with its body being built from 7000 series aluminum for the frame and a stainless steel hinge.

Despite being a special edition, the Tian Xuan Gold variant is identical in terms of specs and also sports the 48 + 12 megapixel dual camera setup on the rear and 20 megapixel on the front. The company will begin taking preorders from 22nd December 2020, so for those interested, you can check out this luxury smartphone, which will likely arrive with a hefty price tag.

Amazfit GTR/GTS 2e launched in China with temperature sensor and better battery life

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Dec 15, 2020

Huami has launched two new smartwatches in its home country China. These models, dubbed as Amazfit GTR 2e and Amazfit GTS 2e are exactly the same as regular models in looks but with certain minor changes under the hood. Both of them are priced at ¥799 ($122) and are already up for pre-order. They will go on sale starting December 24.

Amazfit GTR 2e All Colors Featured — Amazfit GTR 2e

The newly unveiled Amazfit GTR 2e and Amazfit GTS 2e are cheaper than the standard Amazfit GTR 2 and Amazfit GTS 2. But they offer a much better battery life with the same capacity battery as they lack WiFi.

For instance, Huami claims 24-day battery life in normal usage and a whopping 45-day battery in basic watch mode on Amazfit GTR 2e. On the other hand, the regular Amazfit GTR 2 with the same 471mAh battery is said to run for 14 days and 38 days in these two modes respectively.

Similarly, the Amazfit GTS 2e with its 246mAh battery is advertised to offer 14-day and 24-day battery life in normal usage and basic watch mode, as opposed to 7-day and 20-day on the standard Amazfit GTS 2 with the same capacity battery.

Further, the two new wearables feature a temperature sensor, which is absent in the regular models. But to keep the price down, they neither have sufficient internal storage for the music player nor a speaker for calls. But they do come with a microphone for Xiaomi XiaoAI voice assistant.

Amazfit GTS 2e All Colors Featured — Amazfit GTS 2e

Last but not least, there’s a negligible difference between the dimensions and weight of the newer and standard models. Also, the latest models only come in the following sporty colors.

Amazfit GTR 2e
- Obsidian Black
- Dolphin Grey
- Ice Lake Green
Amazfit GTS 2e
- Obsidian Black
- Dark Green
- Roland Purple

Huawei Mate 40 preorders finally arrives months after announcement

By

Sean

-

Dec 15, 2020

Despite being launched back in October, the Huawei Mate 40 is finally available for preorders as of today (15th December 2020) and its first sales starting from 21st December 2020.

For those unaware, the Mate 40 from the Chinese tech giant is the company’s 2020 flagship and arrives with the 5nm Kirin 9000E chip. It sports a 6.5 inch curved display with a 2376×1080 resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. The touch sampling rate on the device is 240Hz and it even supports a P3 color gamut. Under the display, a fingerprint scanner is housed and it also offers face recognition technology as well.

Arriving at the camera, the Huawei Mate 40 houses a single front facing punch hole camera, while the rear sports a 50 megapixel primary sensor, a 16 megapixel ultra wide angle camera, and an 8 megapixel telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom. The flagship is powered by a large 4,200mAh battery pack, which supports 40W fast charging as well. We had also previously reported on the preorders yesterday.

Looking at the preorders, the Huawei Mate 40 5G is priced at a range between 4,999 Yuan to 5,499 Yuan (roughly 763 US Dollars to 839 US Dollars) for the 8GB RAM and 128GB storage variant and 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage variant respectively. It is currently available online on Vmall.com. The device will be available in multiple color variants including Mystic Silver, White, Black, Green, and Yellow.

Samsung set to supply more OLED panels to Apple for iPhones in 2021

By

Jeet

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Dec 15, 2020

Apple launched the iPhone 12 series smartphones a couple of months back, marking the first-ever lineup of phones in which every model features an OLED display panel.

With the increased demand, Apple is now expected to ship the highest number of OLED-featuring iPhones next year. And with that, Samsung Display is reportedly the one to benefit, thanks to the increased supply of OLED panels.

The Cupertino-based giant is expected to ship around 160 to 180 million units of iPhones with OLED displays next year, which includes the combined estimate of iPhone 12 and the upcoming iPhone 13 models.

A report from The Elec, citing sources aware of the matter, claims that Samsung is expected to ship OLED panels for around 140 million iPhones next year. On the other hand, LG Display is expected to supply around 30 million panels while the remaining 10 million panels will be sourced from China-based BOE.

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While the Korean companies predict that Apple will source around 10 million OLED screens from BOE, the Chinese company is estimating that number to be 20 million. However, it remains to be seen if Apple actually ends up getting panels from BOE given that the company has failed to meet Apple’s standard twice this year.

Further, the display technology for the upcoming iPhone 13 is expected to be advanced compared to the iPhone 12 models. As per the reports, two of the four models debuting next year will use low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LPTO) thin-film transistors (TFT) but BOE lags behind in this compared to Samsung Display and LG Display.

Ericsson files lawsuit against Samsung in the United States over patent fees

By

Jeet

-

Dec 15, 2020

Ericsson has filed a lawsuit against Samsung in the United States, accusing the South Korean giant of not adhering to its contractual commitments for various licensing patent agreements. It claims that Samsung is failing to adhere to fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms and conditions.

The company is seeking to attain a declaration that it has complied with its FRAND commitment and that Samsung has not. Ericsson claims that Samsung’s FRAND commitment is a contract between Samsung and European Telecommunications Standards Institute and it has the right to enforce this commitment as a third-party beneficiary.

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For those who are unaware, several most common technological standards are protected by patents held by companies, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Such technologies being essential, the patent holders are obliged to grant licenses on FRAND terms.

In this instance, the FRAND commitment is related to various global cross-licenses that cover patents from both the companies related to 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G cellular standards. These standards are used in smartphones, other mobile devices, and cellular infrastructure.

With several of the licensing deals set to expire next year and negotiations still ongoing, Ericsson said the payment of IP royalties may be delayed. In such case, Ericsson predicted its operating income could decline by $118-177 million per quarter from 2021 onwards.

Apple iPhone 6s survives fall from a plane and even recorded the event

By

Sean

-

Dec 15, 2020

We all worry about dropping our smartphones, which is why put up various kinds of covers and other forms of protection on the display. While a regular drop from the pocket or the accidental slip of the hand could cause some damage, a fall from a plane should be a death sentence for a handset. However, this one Apple iPhone 6s went through such an ordeal and lived to tell the tale.

According to a 9To5Mac report, Galiotto was flying over a beach located in Cabo Frio, Rio de Janeiro, for one of his projects. But while he was holding his iPhone 6s to capture the images and videos from the window of a small plane, the wind tore it away from his hand and sent his phone tumbling down. The filmmaker had already assumed the worst and expected to his iPhone to be gone for good.

Although, through some bizarre turn of events and a lot of luck, the device survived. Once on the ground, Galiotto decided to check the Apple Find My app, and was surprised to find that his iPhone 6s was alive and still functioning. Pinpointing the location he set off to find the handset in the middle of the beach. When he reached the spot he was in for even more of a surprise as the device was still intact and had almost no intense damage on its chasis.

While it did have a few minor scratches, it was mostly unaffected and was only covered with a regular screen protector and a regular silicon case. Interestingly, the iPhone was recording a video when it fell, so it even captured the entire turbulent ordeal after being accidentally dropped. The event as Galiotto put it, is ” something that, if you tell someone, they won’t believe.” You can watch the video of the events by clicking on this link here, and check out the original Portuguese report from G1.

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