The race is on for the OEM that will be the first to launch a Snapdragon 888-powered flagship. Xiaomi had earlier hinted that it would be the first to launch a phone bearing the latest Qualcomm flagship chip. The race is apparently for the swift as Samsung has also hinted that it will announce the Galaxy S21 in January 2021. This has just been confirmed by TM Roh, the President and Head of Samsung’s mobile division.
The Samsung mobile division head wrote a blog post which among other things outlined with admiration what the company accomplished in 2020. He also rolled out the tech giant’s plans for next year. Apart from the Galaxy S21 launch date, the Samsung chief also confirmed that the device will come with S Pen support, something that is associated with the Note series in the past.
Find some important quotes from the post below:
“Thank you to everyone who supported us in 2020. I look forward to sharing more in January!” concludes the post, shortly after this promise: “We’ve also been paying attention to people’s favorite aspects of the Galaxy Note experience and are excited to add some of its most well-loved features to other devices in our lineup.”
While the S Pen support will be one of the features, it will most likely be limited to the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Samsung may also extend it to the foldable Galaxy Z-series but that wasn’t stated.
Further, Roh disclosed that the company will expand its portfolio of foldable smartphones since the Note series will be rested. He hinted that foldables will become more accessible, which seems to affirm rumors that there will be four Galaxy Z foldable smartphones next year.
“Be on the lookout for super-intelligent, pro-grade camera and video capabilities in 2021,” Roh added. There are rumors that the Galaxy S21 Ultra will use a next-generation 108 MP main sensor and will have up to 10x periscopic zoom capability.
Huami announced two new smartwatches today, one of which is the Amazfit GTS 2e. This new smartwatch brings the models under the Amazfit GTS 2 series to three which is a lot considering last year’s GTS watch was only available in one model.
Amazfit GTS 2 vs Amazfit GTS 2e vs Amazfit GTS 2 Mini
When the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini was announced, I wrote an opinion piece on why the smartwatch was a better purchase than the standard Amazfit GTS 2. Now that there is a third model now, we are sure our readers will want to know which of these three watches is worth purchasing. We hope this post makes it easier for you to choose from the lineup. First, let’s have a spec by spec and features comparison of the features of all three watches:
Amazfit GTS 2
Amazfit GTS 2e
Amazfit GTS 2 Mini
Display and Resolution
1.65-inch Super Retina AMOLED Display with 3D glass
34I PPI
1.65-inch Super Retina AMOLED Display with 2.5D glass
341 PPI
1.55 inch AMOED Display with 2.5D glass
301 PPI
Material
Aluminum Alloy with optical Diamond-like Carbon Coating
Heart rate measurement
SpO2 measurement
Sleep tracking
Temperature measurement
Heart rate measurement
SpO2 measurement
Sleep tracking
Women's health management
Battery capacity and battery life
246mAh
Typical usage - 7 days
Basic Watch mode - 20 days
246mAh
Typical usage - 14 days
Basic Watch mode - 24 days
220mAh
Typical usage - 14 days
Basic Watch mode - 21 days
Dimensions and weight
42.8 x 35.6 x 9.7 mm
24.7 grams without the straps
42.8 x 35.6 x 9.85 mm
25 grams without the straps
40.5 x 35.8 x 8.95 mm
19.5 grams without the straps
Colors
Obsidian Black, Dolphin Gray, and Streamer Gold
Obsidian Black, Dark Green, Roland Purple
Obsidian Black, Rose Powder, and Deep Pine Green
Price
¥999
$179.99
€169
£159
¥799
¥699
The table clearly shows the differences between the three smartwatches which cuts across multiple areas including the display, features, and price. Below, we will focus on the major differences
Display and Materials
This is the part of the smartwatch users will interact with the most, so it will most likely be the dealbreaker or dealmaker for anyone who is considering any of the three watches.
The Amazfit GTS 2 and GTS 2e both have the same screen which is a 1.65-inch Super Retina Display. Where they differ is in the glass covering the screen – you get a 3D curved glass on the former while the latter has 2.5D glass. Apart from aesthetics, the screens are the same. So you can’t go wrong with either of them.
However, the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini has a smaller and less sharp AMOLED display. It is not bad but it won’t measure up to that of its siblings.
Coming to materials, Huami uses the same material for the case of all three watches which is commendable. It is aluminum alloy but the finish is different and that is one of what makes them different.
The Amazfit GTS 2 lineup supports a plethora of sports modes – 90 modes on the Amazfit GTS 2 and GTS 2e while the GTS 2 Mini has 70, which is more than sufficient if you ask me.
All three of the watches support the basics too such as heart rate measurement, blood oxygen level detection, and sleep tracking. The GTS 2e adds temperature measurement, a feature not available on the more expensive GTS 2 and the more affordable GTS 2 Mini. According to Huami, you can use the temperature sensor to measure ambient temperature and also the skin (surface) temperature of the wearer.
The Amazfit GTS 2 Mini’s own unique feature is support for women’s health and it is surprising it is the only one of the three that has it. This will make it appeal more to women as the menstrual calendar along with reminders for periods and ovulation will surely come in handy.
The Amazfit GTS has its own unique features too, one of which is built-in storage that allows users to store their own songs on the watch. Another feature it has is support for Bluetooth calls, so you can pick calls on it and talk back as it has not only a microphone but a speaker too. It is also the only one that connects via Wi-Fi.
Battery life
The Amazfit GTS 2 and Amazfit GTS 2e have the same battery capacity but the latter has better battery life. The Amazfit GTS 2 Mini which has a smaller battery but of course smaller screen also has a great battery life too that matches that of the Amazfit GTS 2e.
Price
The Amazfit GTS 2 is the most expensive of the three, and Huami may justify that with its sharper display, built-in storage, support for calls, and more premium finish. The Amazfit GTS 2e is more affordable while retaining most of the features of its sibling. It also has a significantly better battery life which is one of the cons of the Amazfit GTS 2.
The GTS 2 Mini is the most affordable of them all and that low price is due to the tradeoffs in the screen size and type, fewer sports modes, and motor type. Its battery life also matches that of the new Amazfit GTS 2e.
Conclusion
I already said there isn’t a compelling reason to get the Amazfit GTS 2 since there is the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini, and the launch of the Amazfit GTS 2e further reinforces that point. The GTS 2e packs the same display as the GTS 2, most of its features, and a way better battery life at just ¥100 more than the Mini model. All of these make the Amazfit GTS 2 a hard sell.
So if you want to pick up a model from the second-gen GTS series, the Amazfit GTS 2e or the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini are what we will consider first before the Amazfit GTS 2.
Twitter has been slapped with a fine over a bug that made private tweets appear public. This marks the first-ever sanction against a cross-border firm after the new GDPR dispute resolution mechanism. What’s more surprising is that the bug had occurred in early 2019.
As Reuters reports, Ireland’s DPC(Data Protection Commission) has imposed a fine of 450,000 euros ($547,000) on Twitter. Besides, this is a result of a 2019 investigation according to which Twitter violates Article 33(1) and 33(5) of the GDPR. Precisely, some of the users’ private protected tweets became public due to an Android App bug.
This doesn’t go well with the DPC as GDPR law requires a company to notify the breach of privacy on time(within 72 hours) and document it properly(scope of vulnerable data, security measures, etc.,). However, Twitter has responded to this saying that it occurred due to an “unanticipated consequence of staffing between Christmas Day 2018 and New Years’ Day”.
For the unware, GDPR is Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation. Made in 2016, the new law is in force since May 2018. Its scope widens to the European Union and the European Economic Area. DPC, on the other hand, is a lead privacy supervisor for many tech giants including Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Google in the EU region.
The Irish watchdog already has a total of 20+ cases pending so far. Generally, it has the power to impose a fine up to 4% of a company’s global revenue or €20 million, whichever is higher. Plus, the new sanction is the first against a US firm after the new Dispute resolution system as mentioned above.
Accordingly, it empowers a national regulator to make a decision before consulting with other regulators of the EU. Anyway, Twitter’s response to the final ruling also says that it is fully responsible for this mistake and remains fully committed to protecting the privacy and data of our customers.
The 2020 edition of Mobile World Congress, shortly referred to as MWC, was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The organizers, GSMA even refunded the amount for attendees and companies. Moving forward, it recently rescheduled the MWC Barcelona event to June 2021 for better interests. Now, the organization announces that MWC Shanghai 2021 will return as a physical event.
Credit: GSMA
GSMA(formerly: GSM Association) in a press release(via PR Newswire) announced the details of the in-person event. For starters, MWC 2021 Shanghai, China, will take place between February 23-25 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). The theme for MWC 2021 is Connected Impact. Besides, people who attend the 2021 edition will witness 5G, AI, IoT, smart home, and many such breakthrough technologies.
Some of the exhibiting companies at the event include China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, CICT, Ericsson, H3C, Huawei, Nokia Shanghai Bell, and ZTE. Out of the entire list of keynote and sessions speakers, some notable keynote speakers include:
Ken Hu, Rotating Chairman, Huawei
Yang Yuanqing, Chairman & CEO, Lenovo
Xu Ziyang, CEO, ZTE
Yang Jie, Chairman, China Mobile
Ke Ruiwen, Chairman, China Telecom
In addition to in-person events, MWC also says it will allow an online international audience from around the globe. The virtual experience will cover content, networking, and exhibition of the event.
That said, the event has four types of passes- Online Pass, Full Exhibition Pass, 5G Smartphone Conference Card, VIP Meeting Card. You can take a look at their pricing below:
Online Pass- 390 RMB($59.64)
Full Exhibition Pass- 690 RMB($105.5)
5G Smartphone Conference Pass- 6,200 RMB($948)
VIP Pass- 6,300 RMB($963.39)*
*This is a discounted price. Original price is 9,000 RMB($1376)
In case you didn’t know, MWC is an annual trade show. It showcases new concepts and technologies from smartphones, networking companies, etc., every year. Coming back, as per the official press release, MWC 2019 witnessed about 500 exhibitors and 65,000 attendees from around the world.
However, it is hard to expect such an audience next year given the pandemic is easing out very slowly. Nevertheless, if you are interested in visiting the event, you can book the passes here-> MWC Shanghai 2021 Pass.
Realme made an official announcement today but it isn’t for a smartphone or any other smart gadget. Instead, the company unveiled its first mascot known as Realmeow. The mascot is a reflection of the vision of the company and is said to be the brand’s so-called Chief Trend Officer.
The Realmeow mascot is designed by famed animator Mark A. Walsh in conjunction with Realme’s design team. The designer is a regular when it comes to animation as he has worked on numerous animation films like Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. Realme says the mascot is 18 years old showing that the company is trying to appeal to Gen-Z.
It comes in Realme’s typical yellow and sports stylish laser glasses. Realmeow, whose name sounds like a cat and has some physical attribute of one, loves to skate, dance to hip-hop, and listen to rap. It also aims to deliver Realme’s message to be more daring, original, and be a trendsetter.
1 of 4
Realme disclosed that Realmeow will be a regular on marketing materials and also be an integral part of the design of future products. Already a Realmeow exclusive gift bag has leaked continuing a Realme Buds Air Pro, Realme Smart Watch S, Realmeow Hand Bag, and a Realmeow face mask.
Realme describes itself as an emerging mobile phone brand that is committed to offering mobile phones with powerful performance, stylish design, and sincere services. The company established in 2018 has continued to see a rise in its market share in several regions. From India where it was first established, the company has expanded to more markets in South-east Asia, Europe, and China. The brand is eying a further expansion into more markets driven by a powerful and innovative product regime.
Honor appears to be be marching along with the Xiaomi in terms of its fitness band products. To compete agaisnt the Xiaomi Band 5, Honor came up with a improved Band 6 fitness band carrying a large display and some smarrtwatch features. It is a hybrid band which lies in between fitness band and SmartWatch category availabel for the effective price of $56.99 from Gearbest.
The user gets additional $3 discount while paying via Paypal. The offer is valid for the first 1000 orders, so we suggest you to grab it as soon as possible. Honor Band 6 is available in three different colors of Black, White and Pink.
The device carries a 1.47-inch color display along with 2.5D Cirved Glass Design. It carries a fast magnetic suction charging and provides 10-14 days of battery standby upon full charge. It supports convinient blood oxygen monitoring which can accurately detech blood pressure. Moreover, the device comes with a support for 10 different professional sports and activities including riding, walking, swimming and others.
It is 5ATM waterproof which makes the fitness band more practical and useful. The smart band comes in three different color options of Meteorite black, Seagull grey and Coral pink.
It’s a limited time deal on Gearbest. Make sure to grab the maximum discount before the sale fades away.
Apple is planning to boost the iPhone production in 2021 according to a Nikkei report. The move comes at a time when it already faces shortages of several components for the iPhone 12 series.
According to the report, Apple is planning to make 96 million iPhones in H1 2021. That’s a 30% YoY increase which is reportedly due to the demand for its 5G devices. Apple brought the 5G connectivity to iPhones with the iPhone 12 series. Since then, there has been a good demand for the devices in Europe, China, and other Asian markets. In fact, it’s initial demand forecasted a two-week recovery period due to shortages of supplies.
Anyway, the report says Apple has directed suppliers to get ready for the target which also includes iPhone 11, and iPhone SE. Further, Apple is also planning to take it deep with a total of 230 million iPhone shipments next year. Recently, Apple got pushed to 4th place by Xiaomi in Global Smartphone Shipments.
Precisely, the company has so far shipped 116 million iPhones in 2020. Out of this, the majority of shipment is from the 5G devices according to the report. Either way, it has crawled back up with just a 1% YoY dip in shipments so far. And with the global smartphone market’s recovery far away in 2022, Apple has no choice but to crank it up a notch and do something.
However, Apple has a main concern to address in order to achieve the next year’s target. Although the report says Apple has enough stocks of processor, it has been increasingly facing shortages of components. A recent report on IC shortages for iPhone 12 Pro which could last till Q2 2021 gives more bad news.
That’s not all as the report says in spite of reallocated parts of the iPad to the iPhone 12 range, Apple is chasing for other components to meet demand. Experts also say that even though a positive atmosphere lies ahead in 2021, Apple won’t benefit from Huawei’s absence, unlike other companies. Either way, Apple’s target for 2021 is a 20% YoY increase from 2019.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 is an Octa-Core CPU built on the 11nm LLP process. As per the official press release, the SoC brings a minute performance upgrade over the predecessor. Accordingly, it has a Kryo 460 CPU clocked at 2.2GHz compared to 2.0GHz on the Snapdragon 675. However, the GPU on the 678 is the same Adreno 612 but Qualcomm says it has increased the performance.
For the unware, Kryo is a series of semi-custom ARM cores that Qualcomm uses on its Snapdragon SoCs. Here, the Kryo 460 refers to Cortex A76 and Cortex A55 cores. Out of this, 2xA76 high-performance cores are clocked up to 2.2GHz as mentioned by Qualcomm.
Snapdragon 678 Specifications
For specs, the SoC supports display up to FHD+ with a max resolution of 2520×1080 pixels and 10-bit color depth. For cameras, it has a 14-bit Qualcomm Spectra™ 250L ISP. This supports a single camera up to 192MP and a single/double camera with MFNR up to 25/16MP respectively. Here, MFNR refers to Multiple Frame Noise reduction.
Qualcomm says the 3rd gen Qualcomm® AI engine supports camera features like portrait mode, low-light, laser auto-focus, 4K video at 30fps, 5x Optical zoom, slow-mo(up to 1080p at 120fps), and more. It also supports HEVC(High-Efficiency Video Coding) and has Accelerated EIS support.
As mentioned above, the Adreno 612 GPU is the same as the predecessor. However, Qualcomm says this SoC is optimized for Unity, Messiah, NeoX, and Unreal Engine 4, among other top games, and more.
Similarly, the SD678 has the same X12 LTE modem. As the name suggests it doesn’t support 5G. However, it supports peak download, upload speeds of 600,150 Mbps respectively. There is Dual-SIM VoLTE and 3x20MHz downlink carrier aggregation support as well.
As for connectivity, we have Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, Beidou, Galileo, GLONASS, GPS, QZSS, SBAS for navigation. For ports, you get USB-C with USB-3.1 support.
Other features include 8GB DDR4 RAM at 1866MHz, video playback up to 4K with HEVC, AVC codec support, Qualcomm® aptX™, aptX™ HD audio, audio playback up to 4W, Quick Charge™ 4+ technology, and more.
The Nova 8 is a new Huawei phone scheduled to launch on December 23. While Huawei has already teased the design of the phone with a poster announcing its launch date, two photos that have surfaced on Weibo are the ones that give us our best look at the smartphone and its unique rear camera design.
The poster shows that the Nova 8 (or Nova 8 Pro) will have a curved display with a double punch hole for two front-facing cameras. The curved screen has caused the power and volume buttons to be close to the back of the phone in a fashion similar to the Mate 40.
The rear of the phone is the more interesting part of the phone’s appearance with its large camera housing that is shaped like a really big pill. There is a single large sensor at the top and below it are four holes that house other cameras and an LED flash.
The poster confirms that the phone will have a 120Hz refresh rate and also have support for 66W fast charging. Another feature it says the phone has is a Vlog Mode that allows the user to record from both the front and rear cameras at the same time.
A tweet by Teme (@RODENT950) says the primary camera is a 64MP sensor and it will be paired with an 8MP ultrawide angle camera, and two 2MP sensors which should be for capturing the depth of field details and macro photography.
A second photo which was also posted by Digital Chat Station on Weibo shows a brand ambassador holding the gradient pink variant of the phone. The image shows that there is a Nova logo at the bottom of the screen.
Amazon has just announced that its virtual assistant, Alexa now supports a Live Translation feature, allowing users who speak different languages to communicate with each other. The complex process will involve the virtual assistant translating both sides of such a conversation.
Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition
At the moment, Alexa can translate English, Spanish, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Hindi, with the Live Translation feature. Amazon said the feature is supported on Echo devices with the location set to English U.S.
The Live Translation feature draws support from existing Amazon systems and features, including Alexa’s automatic-speech-recognition (ASR) and its text-to-speech systems. These, in combination with Amazon Translate, as well as the whole gamut of Amazon’s machine learning models, designed and optimized for conversational-speech translation all combine seamlessly to produce the Live Translation feature, Amazon said in a recent statement.
The berthing of this translation feature opens up new vistas in real-time communication, providing exciting possibilities with the seeming demolition of the communication barrier.
Similar to what obtains with most ASR systems, Amazon said that the live translation system incorporates both an acoustic model and a language model, both models combining to provide insights for the ASR system to decide between alternative interpretations of the same sequence of phonemes.
To provide users with a near-natural experience, Amazon adapted Alexa to a conversational speech by modifying its end-pointer to accommodate longer pauses for the Live Translation feature. Alexa uses the end-pointer to determine when a person has finished speaking. Alexa can also easily identify pauses in the middle and end of sentences.
Search engine giant Google also offers a similar feature called Interpreter Mode. It is yet to be seen how the two services square up side by side, but this certainly provides an additional option for live translation and inter-language communication.
China’s search giant, Baidu Inc is putting plans afoot to actualize the design and production of its own electric vehicles. In actualizing the plans, the company has had discussions with some automakers. This latest move pits Baidu in line as the race among tech firms to develop smart cars gathers momentum.
The search-engine giant is also into the design and development of autonomous vehicles and internet connectivity infrastructure and will consider contracting the manufacturing, to an automaker or in the alternative, create a majority-owned company with automakers.
Baidu thus joins its peers like Tencent Holdings, Amazon, and Alphabet, which have done a lot in research and development in automobile technology or invested in smart-car auto firms.
Baidu has held preliminary talks, although no definitive decisions were reached, with some Chinese automakers on possible business collaboration, insiders have said. The insiders spoke under the cover of anonymity since they were not authorized by Baidu to speak on the issue.
Baidu on their part declined to comment on the matter. The automaker, GAC, mentioned among those that have had discussions with Baidu, stated that it has a strategic partnership with the search giant and that any further cooperation was subject to discussion. Geely said it was not aware of such talks while FAW failed to respond to inquiries.
Baidu established its autonomous driving division Apollo in 2017 and it supplies AI-generated technology and other ancillary jobs to automakers such as Geely, Volkswagen, Toyota, and Ford.
Baidu also operates autonomous taxi service Go Robotaxi with safety drivers on board in Beijing and a growing number of Chinese cities, with plans to scale up expansion in the next three years. It recently got clearance to test five cars in Beijing unmanned.
Building cars would represent a dramatic shift in the company’s plans to diversify and shore up income forecasts outside its core business model as a search engine, where revenues fell short of projections in 2019.
The OnePlus Nord N100 is the cheapest OnePlus smartphone ever. This handset was announced for Europe and the US after the OnePlus 8T launch in late October. However, it is yet to go on sale in the latter region. Ahead of it, the phone is receiving its fourth system update.
The latest update for the OnePlus Nord N100 comes with build number OxygenOS 10.5.4. Just like the previous update that was rolled out in the fourth week of November, this one too brings a couple of fixes.
These fixes are for the phone not waking up under certain circumstances and certain known issues. The new update is also said to improve system stability.
OnePlus Nord N100 OxygenOS 10.5.4 Official Changelog
System
Fixed an issue where the phone may not wake up under certain circumstances
Fixed known issues and improved system stability
For those unaware, Oneplus smartphones that launched in the second half of 2020 have been receiving multiple updates since their launch worldwide. All of these updates are related to fixes.
Hence, it suggests that the brand has been facing difficulties in providing stable software builds with the increase of its product portfolio. We hope OnePlus finds a solution to this problem soon. Because the company is expected to introduce more categories in the coming months.
Gearbest is offering Mijia USB Rechargeable Sonic electric Toothbrush at a discount price of $8.99. The company is offering a 33% discount on the actual retail price of $13.48. The device is set to receive another $3 discount if you buy in the bulk quantity and the total goes beyond $50. Xiaomi Mijia USB Rechargeable Sonic Electric toothbrush is currently available only in White color for $8.99 via Gearbest.
It is even available in pack of three pieces for $25.99. The retailer is claiming for fast shipping throughout the globe.
Mijia USB Rechargeable Sonic is an ideal electric brush carrying stronger cleaning ability, effective gum care, more comfortable brushing experience and weak handheld shock. It consists high frequency vibration motor and also carries a 360 degree Multi-Dimensional cleaning Oral Cavity.
The device carries two cleaning modes – standard and soft for stain removal and sensitive teeth, respectively. The brush comes with a 2 minutes scientific brushing and 30 seconds zone reminder. It can easily work for 30 days upon charging the 700 mAh battery for 4 hours.
However, it measures 8.07 x 2.28 x 2.44 inches in size. The package will come with a electric toothbrush handle, a brush head, a usb charging cable and a manual.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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