TicWatch Pro 3 gets an LTE version in Europe; coming to other markets later

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Dec 1, 2020

Earlier today, Huami announced two new smartwatches in China. One of them is Aamzfit GTS 2 Mini, which we have already covered. Here in this article, we will take a closer at the second model called Amazfit Pop Pro. As the name suggests, this new wearable is a higher variant of the recently launched Amazfit Pop.

Huami Amazfit Pop Pro Featured — Amazfit Pop Pro

Amazfit Pop Pro Specifications and Features

The Amazfit Pop that launched in China is nothing but Amazfit Bip U that is available in global markets. Similarly, the newly unveiled Amazfit Pop Pro is actually the unreleased Amazfit Bip U Pro.

The Pro variant features the exact same specs as the regular model with some bonus features like built-in GPS for activity tracking, compass (geomagnetic sensor), and microphone for Xiaomi Xiao AI voice assistant (Amazon Alexa in international markets).

Apart from the above-mentioned dissimilarities, the latest wearable from Huami is Amazfit Pop inside out. That means it sports a 1.43-inch TFT LCD panel with a resolution of 320 x 302 pixels and 305 ppi. This screen is further protected by a 2.D glass with an anti-fingerprint coating.

The body of the watch is made of polycarbonate and ships with a silicone strap. It measures 40.9 x 35.5 x 11.4mm in dimensions and weighs 31g (with strap). Just like other smartwatches from the company, this model is also water-resistant up to 5ATM.

The device comes with Huami BioTracker 2™ PPG Biological Optical Sensor (heart rate sensor and SpO2 sensor), accelerometer, and, gyro sensor. It uses Bluetooth 5.0 BLE to connect with smartphones via the Zepp app and also sports NFC for contactless payments and transit passes.

As far as features are concerned, it supports 60+ sports modes, 50+ watch faces, heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen level monitoring, sleep monitoring, stress monitoring, menstrual cycle monitoring, automatic exercise detection, and PAI score.

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Other common features include clock, alarm, stopwatch, camera shutter, app notifications, call & message alerts, music playback control, weather, and find my phone.

Last but not least, the wearable is backed by a 225mAh battery, which takes about 2 hours to charge via an included magnetic charging base. The company claims the watch to offer up to 9 days of battery life on a full charge.

Amazfit Pop Pro Pricing and Availability

The Amazfit Pop Pro costs ¥399 ($61) and is already available for pre-order in China. It comes in three colors namely Carbon Black, Cherry Powder, and Pine Green.

The smartwatch will go on sale in the country from December 10 and should hit international markets as Amazfit Bip U Pro as it has already cleared Bluetooth certification.

OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Edition goes for sale on Giztop

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Simranpal Singh

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Dec 1, 2020

OnePlus recently partnered with CD Project Red and launched the OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Edition smartphone bearing a crafty design. Its bright yellow theme is visible across the buttons, bezels, and even wallpapers. The smartphone carries similar hardware as that of the standard OnePlus 8T variant. However, there’s a slight price difference, and retails for the price of $849 with 12GB RAM + 256GB internal storage.

Must See: Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G is up for Pre-Ordering at Giztop

Giztop offers free global shipping at no additional charge and offers a 2years of warranty on all devices.

The smartphone possesses a 6.5-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate with A+ rating at DisplayMate. It comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G SoC coupled with an octa-core processor and Adreno 650 GPU. A quad-rear camera is present on the rear side of the smartphone featuring a 48-megapixel primary camera, a 16-megapixel ultrawide sensor, a 2MP macro lens, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. It can record 4K videos at 30/60fps. There’s a 16-megapixel selfie camera on the front for quality selfies.

The smartphone comes with a 4500 mAh battery supporting a 65W super Warp charge. The smartphone is equipped with an in-display fingerprint reader for better usability. It runs on OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11 OS.

You can get the OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk Edition with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant for the price of $849 from Giztop.

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Must See: OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition’s wallpaper, icon packs available for download

Amazfit GTS 2 Mini launched in China: Price, Specifications & Features

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Dec 1, 2020

Huami has launched two more smartwatches in its home country China. The new models are called Amazfit GTS 2 Mini and Amazfit Pop Pro. As their name suggests, the first one is a toned-down version of the recently launched Amazfit GTS 2, whereas the second wearable is a higher variant of Amazfit Pop. Here in this article, we will take a closer look at the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini.

Huami Amazfit GTS 2 Mini Featured — Amazfit GTS 2 Mini

Amazfit GTS 2 Mini Specifications and Features

The newly launched Amazfit GTS 2 Mini is a smaller and slimmer version of Amazfit GTS 2 that debuted in late September. It sports a 1.55-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 354 x 306 pixels and 301 ppi. The panel not only supports 50+ watch faces but also AOD functionality.

The body of the wearable is made of aluminum alloy, however, the bottom part features a plastic build. Further, the watch ships with a silicone strap and the whole product is 5ATM water-resistant.

Being a watered-down variant, the smartwatch measures 40.5 x 35.8 x 8.95mm in dimensions and weighs 19.5g. Both these measurements don’t include the strap.

Like any other new Amazfit watch, this one also comes with Huami BioTracker 2™ PPG Biological Optical Sensor (heart-rate sensor, SpO2 sensor), accelerometer, gyro sensor, compass, ambient light sensor, vibration motor, and microphone.

The wearable connects with smartphones via Bluetooth 5.0 BLE through the Zepp app and has built-in GNSS (GPS, GLONASS) for activity tracking. Additionally, it also has NFC for contactless payments and transit passes.

Talking about features, it supports 70+ sports modes, hear-rate monitoring, blood oxygen level monitoring, sleep monitoring, menstrual cycle monitoring, stress monitoring, automatic exercise detection, and PAI score.

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It also sports other common features such as clock, alarm, stopwatch, weather, music playback control, camera shutter, app notifications, call & message alerts, find my phone, and Xiaomi Xiao AI voice assistant.

Lastly, the smartwatch is backed by a 220mAh battery that charges via an included magnetic charging base (takes about 2 hours to charge fully). Huami claims the watch to offer 14-day battery life with mixed usage, 7-day battery life with heavy usage, and whopping 21-day battery life when used in basic watch mode.

Amazfit GTS 2 Mini Pricing and Availability

The Amazfit GTS 2 Mini is priced at ¥699 ($106) and comes in three colors namely Deep Pine Green, Rose Powder, and Obsidian Black. It is already up for pre-order in China will go on sale starting December 10.

Last but not least, the wearable should reach other markets in the coming days.

Philips moves HC in India to stop Xiaomi from selling phones that infringe on its patent

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Dec 1, 2020

Philips has moved the Delhi High Court to prevent Xiaomi, and its other related businesses in India, from manufacturing and selling certain smartphones that infringe on its patented technology.

For those unaware, the Chinese tech giant has allegedly infringed on technology patents that were owned by Philips, the known consumer electronics maker, who is now seeking to restrain the former from manufacturing, assembling, importing, selling, offering for sale, advertising and selling on third party websites that include any UMTS enhancement (HSPA, HSPA+) and LTE technologies, which infringe on Philips’ patents, as per a LiveMint report.

At the moment, the court has directed Xiaomi and other defendants to maintain their bank accounts operated in India, with a balance of 1,000 crores (roughly 136 million US Dollars). According to the court order passed on 27th November 2020, “It is made clear that the defendants are bound by the statement given by their counsel. The defendants shall file the details of the bank accounts operated in India where the amount of ₹1,000 crore is being maintained, on or before 2 December 2020.”

The next date of hearing for the matter is on 18th January 2021. Philips also sought an ad-interim order of injunction be granted directing the Central Board of Excise and Customs to issue instructions to custom authorities at every port in India. In other words, the company is seeking to stop the import of Xiaomi smartphones, especially those that infringe on its patented technology.

Reliance Jio partners with Vivo to launch Jio exclusive smartphones in India: Report

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Dec 1, 2020

Reliance Jio is apparently planning to partner with Chinese smartphone maker Vivo to launch “Jio exclusive’ smartphones in India. The company is also in talks with other brands for similar partnerships, which will offer various benefits to customers.

Reliance Jio is partnering with multiple brands as well. This includes smartphone makers like Lava, Karbonn, Vivo, and more. The Indian telecom giant is also giving customers various offers alongside these exclusive smartphones to attract a larger crowd. The benefits include OTT subscriptions, shopping benefits, discounts, and a one time screen replacement as well as per an ETTelecom report.

Furthermore, the report also claims that the company has already partnered with Chinese tech giant Vivo to launch Jio exclusive smartphones in the country. Just last week, the company launched the Vivo Y1s that arrived with a Jio lock in offer that provided benefits worth 4,550 INR (roughly 62 US Dollars) by recharging 249 INR (roughly 3 US Dollars) or above on a Jio SIM. Reportedly, these ‘Jio Exclusive’ smartphones will be priced under 8,000 INR (roughly 108 US Dollars).

The budget oriented devices are likely to attract Jio Phone users to make the switch. Companies like Lava and Karbonn are known names in the Indian market for their entry level Android devices. Previously, Reliance Jio partnered with a Chinese firm iTel to sell low cost smartphones. Thus, the move from Reliance could likely be an expansion of this plan and the launch of the Vivo Y1s might have been just the start for Jio exclusive Android smartphones in India. We’ll offer updates when more information is available so stay tuned.

Qualcomm next gen flagship chip might be called the Snapdragon 888

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Dec 1, 2020

A new report has suggested that the next flagship processor from Qualcomm might be called the Snapdragon 888 5G. This chip will be the successor to the Snapdragon 865 SoC and the name might be chosen over the widely rumored Snapdragon 875 processor.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G!

The Flagship processor (I think?) for all Android phones next year. Excited to see the improvements. Also, A GSMArena Commenter seemingly knew it before us all haha. Official announcement should be soon. #Snapdragon #SnapdragonSummit #Snapdragon888 pic.twitter.com/MOCLBKGTlb

— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) December 1, 2020

According to a tweet by known leakster Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24), the upcoming flagship processor from Qualcomm will be called the Snapdragon 888 5G. If this is true, the chip will be the common processor for most premium grade Android handsets for 2021. The tweet also arrives after a comment was spotted on GSMArena. The commenter apparently knows about the name before others and believes that the official name is 888 over 875.

So far, every teaser or leak has pointed at the new chip being the Snapdragon 875 but that might not be the case. Furthermore, Realme CEO Madhav Sheth also teased the upcoming Qualcomm launch with a tweet that said “Qualcomm 8 _ _.” It is currently unknown why the company would shift the naming towards SD888 and skipping the SD875. Although, it might have to do with the significance of 8 being one of the luckiest numbers in China, which is commonly associated with inviting wealth as well.

Unfortunately, we do not have any credible source to back the claim either at the moment. So take this report with a pinch of salt. The known chip making giant is hosting its Tech Summit 2020 event later today (1st December 2020) and it is expected that the next gen flagship processor will be unveiled then. So stay tuned for more, as we will be providing updates when more reliable information is available.

Apple patents new biosecurity system for headphones, supports voice commands and silent gestures

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Dec 1, 2020

Earlier today (1st December 2020), an Apple patent was published by the US Patent & Trademark Office. This new trademark was related to next gen AirPods and future Apple over the ear headphones, which will support a new sensor for bioauthetication.

Looking at the patent, we can observe that the new hearables arrive with various sensors that use self-mixing interferometry signals of a self-mixing interferometry sensor to recognize user inputs. In simpler terms, the devices can map the users’ input through voice commands or silent gesture commands. These sensors might be “used for bioauthentication and/or audio conditioning of received sound or voice inputs to a microphone.”

For those unaware, the silent gesture aspect implies that the device would be able to detect inaudible words forming with the jaw and tongue of the user. In other words, the sensor on the headphones might be able to detect skin deformations and detect any possible commands through it. One of the image also showcased an AR/VR headset from Apple. This headset might feature similar sensors that can detect both voice commands and silent gestures from the user, as per a PatentlyApple report.

The patented bioauthetication circuit and its related processor may be used to store vocie patterns from the user. Meaning, the users voice patterns could be stored locally in the headphones or next gen AirPods and could use learning algorithms to train the security system to better recognize the users’ voice. Unfortunately, this is still just a patent and we have no way of confirming if the company is actually working on such a product at the moment. The feature does seem interesting, although, its real world applications are still at uncertain.

MediaTek MT6893 with 622K+ AnTuTu score spotted ahead of official announcement

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Dec 1, 2020

Last month, MediaTek released a teaser of its upcoming high-end chipset. It is a 6nm SoC with 3GHz Cortex-A78 CPU. Rumors are rife that it could be the MediaTek MT6893 that appeared in recent reports. The chipset is likely to go official at some point this month. Ahead of the launch, the MT6893 has appeared on AnTuTu benchmarks to reveal its performance and key specifications

In the screenshot below, the MT6893 SoC can be seen powering a prototype unit that is mentioned as “alps.” The listing reveals that the chipset features 4 x Cortex-A78 CPU and 4 x Cortex-A55 CPU that clocks up to 3GHz. For graphics, the SOC is equipped with a Mali-G77 MC9. The chipset supports LPDDR5 RAM, UFS 3.1 storage, and at least a 90Hz refresh rate. The alps device is seen running on Android 11 OS.

The “alps” has 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of native storage. The device scored 175,351 in the CPU test, 235,175 in the GPU test, 123,535 in the memory test, and 88,348 in the UX test. It has scored an average benchmarking score of 622,409. The SoC was spotted at Geekbench with 4108 single-core test scores and 11204 multi-core test scores.

Editor’s Pick: MediaTek acquires Intel’s Enpirion Power Solutions business for $85 million

It appears that the high-end chip by MediaTek is capable of delivering performance similar to the Snapdragon 865 mobile platform. Rumors have it that apart from the MT6893, the Taiwanese chipmaker is also working on its variants such as MT6891 and MT6895.

These SoCs are expected to arrive in the market with Dimensity branding. At present, there is no information available on the phones that will be powered by the upcoming Dimensity chipsets.

realme teases a smartphone powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888

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Dec 1, 2020

A few hours from now, Qualcomm will be hosting the annual Snapdragon Summit 2020 to announce its next-generation flagship Snapdragon chipset for smartphones. The new silicon, which will be the successor to the Snapdragon 865, is expected to be based on a 5nm process. Now, ahead of its official unveiling, realme execs tease a new device powered by this chipset.

Qualcomm is the leading player in the global application processor market. All the Android smartphone OEMs use the American chipmaker’s Snapdragon 800 series chipset for their flagship devices.

The Sand Diego-based company usually announces its flagship processor in December at the Snapdragon Summit event, which takes place in Hawaii. But this year, due to the pandemic, the chipmaker will be organizing a virtual (online) event.

That said, according to an official press release by Qualcomm, executives from Sony ‘Mobile Communications Inc., OnePlus, and Xiaomi will be one of the many speakers. Sony’s Mitsuya Kishida and OnePlus’ Kyle Kiang are said to talk about mobile gaming. On the other hand, Xiaomi’s Lei Jun will share a ‘product update’, which is expected to be Mi 11 series.

But now, out of nowhere, realme China’s Xu Qi Chase and Madhav Sheth of realme India/Europe also tease a smartphone powered by Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 800 series chipset. Their social media posts read a cryptic message ‘8_ _’.

For those unaware, up until a few hours ago, the next-gen Qualcomm flagship chipset was thought to be called Snapdragon 875. But now, multiple people from the industry are teasing it to feature a different branding. Most of the teasers reveal it to be called Snapdragon 888. Anyway, we will know more about this SoC very soon.

As for realme, their first Snapdragon 888 smartphone should be an X series device or the rumored Ace series phone.

Samsung leads smartphone market in Gulf region in Q3 2020: Report

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Dec 1, 2020

Samsung Electronics has maintained its top spot in the smartphone market of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region in the the third quarter of this year, as per a new report from earlier today (1st December 2020).

Samsung accounted for 45 percent of the Gulf smartphone market in the period between July and September in terms of smartphones units. This is up from 40 percent from the previous quarter of this year. The news arrives from IDC (International Data Corp), a known analytics based research firm and was reported by YonhapNewsAgency. According to Akash Balachandran, a senior research analyst at IDC, “With its large portfolio of models in the entry-level and mid-range price bands, Samsung not only maintained its leading position but also captured share lost by Huawei.”

Apple arrived second in the region and had a market share of 15 percent in terms of units, which was down from 18 percent for the second quarter of this year. The drop was likely due to the delay of its iPhone 12 series launch. Chinese smartphone vendors also followed close behind the Cupertino based giant with Huawei accounting for 13 percent of the market share, and Xiaomi holding 12 percent of the Gulf smartphone market.

However, things change in terms of value, with Apple leading with a 46.3 percent market share, followed by Samsung with a 30.8 percent market share in Q3 2020. Notably, the overall GCC smartphone market also declined by 0.9 percent quarter on quarter, down to 4.16 million units. In terms of value, the market fell by 11.6 percent quarter on quarter to 1.16 billion US Dollars.

Out of the entire Gulf region, Saudi Arabia accounted for 52.6 percent of all smartphone shipments in the GCC region in the third quarter of 2020. The UAE (United Arab Emirates) arrived second with 24.1 percent of the total market. Ramazan Yavuz, a senior research manager at IDC added that, “Brands like Apple and Samsung will also post a strong performance in the upcoming quarters with newly released models in their portfolios. Chinese vendors, focused on driving penetration in the region, will continue their marketing investments, all of which will translate into a well-performing market in the short to mid-term.”

ZTE Axon 20 5G Extreme Edition with leather-back and 12GB RAM unveiled

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Dec 1, 2020

In September, ZTE astonished smartphone enthusiasts by announcing the ZTE Axon 20 5G as the first-ever handset featuring the under-display camera technology. Recently, the company started teasing the arrival of its Extreme Edition. Today, the Chinese firm finally announced the ZTE Axon 20 5G Extreme Edition that features a leather back and more amount of RAM than its regular version.

The regular Axon 20 5G came with a glass back and 8 GB of RAM. The newly announced ZTE Axon 20 5G Extreme Edition features a long-lasting and wear-resistant leather back that gives it an extremely delicate and soft appeal. The Extreme Edition has arrived with 12 GB of RAM. The rest of its specs are identical to its regular version. The Chinese firm is yet to confirm the pricing of the new handset.

Editor’s Pick: ZTE Blade 20 Pro 5G arrives with a curved display, slim design, and 64MP quad-cameras

ZTE Axon 20 5G Extreme Edition specifications

The Axon 20 5G has a 6.92-inch OLED display that offers a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2460 pixels. It is loaded with MiFaovr based Android 10 OS. For capturing selfies, it has an under-screen camera of 32-megapixel. The rear-facing camera module has a 64-megapixel main shooter, an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens, a 2-megapixel macro lens, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor.

The smartphone houses a 4,220mAh battery that supports 30W fast charging. It is fueled by the Snapdragon 765G chipset. The handset comes with LPPDR4x RAM and UFS 2.1 storage. It also features an in-screen fingerprint reader.

In related news, ZTE today confirmed the existence of the ZTE Axon 30 flagship phone. It revealed that the smartphone will be arriving with the industry’s most powerful and pioneering imaging functions. It could be one of the first Snapdragon 875 chipset powered smartphone to go official in China.

Sony confirms Android 11 rollout schedule for its Xperia smartphones

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Dec 1, 2020

After a bit of delay, Google officially launched the latest Android 11 operating system a few months ago. Soon after that, many smartphone makers announced their schedule for the rollout of this new version.

Now, Sony has confirmed the Android 11 firmware rollout roadmap for its smartphones, reports Xperiablog. From what the company has revealed, the rollout for the update is set to start from this month and the first device to get it is the Sony Xperia 1 II — the company’s current flagship smartphone.

Along with the newer version of Android, the smartphone will also get support for slow-motion video recording in 4K HDR at 120 frames per second (fps). However, Xperia 1 II is the only smartphone to get the update this year.

Two other smartphones from the company — Xperia 5 II and Xperia 10 II will be getting the Android 11 update by the end of January 2021. A month after that, in February 2021, last year’s smartphones — Xperia 1 and Xperia 1 will get the latest update.

EDITOR’S PICK: Apple slapped with €10 million fine in Italy for misleading commercial practices

The company has not revealed information about any other smartphones from the brand getting the update. This could be because Sony has not planned to release the Android 11 update for any other devices.

Meanwhile, there are reports indicating that the Japanese company is working on the successor to the Xperia 1 II and Xperia 10 II smartphones which are now expected to get launched in the first quarter of 2021. It is also being claimed that Sony could bring back its Xperia Compact lineup next year.

Apple slapped with €10 million fine in Italy for misleading commercial practices

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Dec 1, 2020

The antitrust authority in Italy slapped a fine of 10 million euros (roughly 12 million US Dollars) on Apple earlier this week. The company is being fined for “aggressive and misleading” commercial practices for its iPhones.

According to an ET report, the regulators said in a statement that the Cupertino based giant had been advertising certain aspects regarding its iPhones that might not be true. The primary culprit here is the water resistance claims that the company offered. Apparently, the water resistance claim only held true in certain controlled environments, which was never clarified to its customer. In other words, real world scenarios for its water resistance did not hold up quite well, and that this false claim has been tracked down till the iPhone 8

Furthermore, the issue also extends towards its warranty service as well. Apple added a diclaimer that stated that its iPhones were not covered under warranty if they suffere damage from liquids. This essentially tricked the customers that believed that their phones were water resistant, but could not seek support in the case of the device getting damaged due to exposure to liquids, as stated by the antitrust body.

Unfortunately, Apple has declined to comment on the matter at the moment. So stay tuned for more, as we will be providing more updates when more information is available regarding the matter, or when the company finally publicly addresses the hefty fine it faces in Italy.

vivo opens OriginOS beta registrations for X50, S7, NEX 3S, iQOO, and iQOO Neo3

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Dec 1, 2020

Last month, Chinese handset maker vivo unveiled OriginOS as the latest version of its mobile operating system. A day after the announcement, the company also revealed the list of eligible devices and their update timeline. Now, the company has begun to recruit beta testers for 5 smartphones.

According to the update schedule shared by vivo, a total of 33 vivo and iQOO-branded smartphones will be updated to OriginOS in China. This roadmap only tells about when these devices will be getting beta builds and therefore, the actual stable rollout for all the eligible phones may complete later than the suggested Q2 2021 time period.

That said, out of 33, 11 devices are scheduled to enter the beta program before January 31, 2020. Hence, as promised, vivo has now opened registrations for the first five handsets and they are as follows.

The beta recruitment for the above-mentioned phones will take place from December 1 to 10. However, though the company is providing 10 days time to register, only 200 seats are allocated for each smartphone. Lastly, the beta rollout will commence from December 15 (tentative date).

So that means the stable release for regular users may only happen in January 2021 at the earliest. And above all, this program is only limited to China and vivo is yet to officially announce OriginOS for global markets along with eligible devices and update plans.

Everything you need to know about vivo OriginOS

Apple faces IC shortages for iPhone 12 Pro, supply constraints to last till Q2 2021

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Dec 1, 2020

The Apple iPhone 12 series was recently launched and has been well received in the market. The 2020 iPhone from the company has seen great global sales which has even surpassed expectations. Although, despite a healthy demand, Apple is struggling with supply constraints, which was caused shortages of certain models due to the lack of critical components.

Apple iPhone 12 Featured — iPhone 12 series

According to a UDN report, the iPhone 12 series is still exceeding expectations in terms of sales. However, certain models like the iPhone 12 Pro are still in short supply. The primary reason for the lack of inventory is the shortage in some key ICs for the device. These components are crucial for the handset, which cannot be assembled due to supply constraints.

Unfortunately, it seems this issue will stay for a while as the report also believes that the issue will continue till next year. As per the report, the foundries are tightly packed with orders at the moment, and their capacity to make advances process wafers and the shortage of packaging and testing will continue forward till the second quarter of next year. The source added that the Cupertino based giant cannot keep up with the supply gap for the iPhone 12 Pro, which is larger than the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The key ICs Apple is lacking for the iPhone 12 series will also an impact on the company’s supply chain and its overall annual smartphone shipments for the year of 2020. Furthermore, with the demand for advanced process chips growing even more in recent months, Apple will find it difficult to stock up its inventory as the foundries are running at maximum capacities.

ZTE Axon 30 flagship smartphone to pack powerful camera capabilities

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Dec 1, 2020

A few months ago, China-based ZTE launched Axon 20 — the world’s first smartphone featuring an under-display camera technology. Earlier this month, the company launched an upgraded version of the same, dubbed as Axon 20 Extreme Edition.

Now, the Chinese company is gearing up to launch its new flagship smartphone — ZTE Axon 30. Today, the brand has shared a video on Weibo in which Ni Fei, General Manager of ZTE’s Terminal Business Unit, reveals that the Axon 30 will come equipped with the industry’s most powerful and pioneering imaging functions.

EDITOR’S PICK: OnePlus 9 series to reportedly include OnePlus 9E alongside the Standard and Pro models

To see how much the claim of the company’s executive for the upcoming flagship smartphone holds up, we will have to first see the device. Ni Fei has not yet revealed anything about the phone’s launch but given that he has teased the device, the launch is likely to happen in the coming weeks or months.

So far, nothing is known about this Axon 30 flagship smartphone but if the Axon 20 is anything to go by, then we are expecting some impressive features and technology from the company. Axon 20 isn’t a flagship-grade device and more of a mid-range offering but still features an under-display camera technology.

As for the company’s future plans, ZTE has already outlined what its roadmap includes for the next year. At a time when most companies are splitting their brands, ZTE has revealed that it will be bringing all three of its smartphone brands — ZTE, Nubia, and Red Magic under one umbrella. It is also significantly expanding its offline presence in China and has planned to construct over 5,000 retail stores in the country.

Apple tasks Foxconn to build test unit for upcoming foldable iPhone

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Dec 1, 2020

Since the past few months, details about the upcoming foldable iPhone from Apple have been making rounds. Now, some more reports have surfaced online which indicates that the device could soon be ready for testing.

As per the report coming from China, Apple has asked its suppliers to send the required component samples for the foldable iPhone to Hon Hai Group in Mainland China, which is another name for Foxconn — the contract manufacturer for Apple iPhones.

The Chinese company has been tasked with making the foldable iPhone for testing. While Apple is gearing up to finalize the phone’s appearance and testing process, the smartphone isn’t expected to get launched before the second half of 2022.

It has also been reported that South Korean giant Samsung could be supplying foldable display panels while Nissei will be the supplier for the hinge. Apart from that, Foxconn will be responsible for assembling the first foldable iPhone.

EDITOR’S PICK: Google and Facebook face new antitrust lawsuits in the U.S.

Another report claims that Apple is deciding between OLED and MicroLED display panels for the foldable smartphone, which will also affect the method of production. While the MicroLED screen is better in terms of features, it remains to be seen if they have reached the stage where Apple could use it in commercial products.

Currently, companies like Samsung, Huawei, and Motorola have already launched their foldable smartphones in the market. While Apple is planning its first foldable phone, these brands are on their second and third-generation devices. Other Chinese companies that are working on a foldable device include the likes of Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo.

Recently, OPPO showcased its OPPO X 2021 Concept Smartphone that features a rollable extending display, which seems very interesting. However, it’s just a concept smartphone for now and the commercial viability is not yet known.

Google and Facebook could face new antitrust lawsuits in the United States

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Dec 1, 2020

It seems that Big Tech’s issues with the antitrust authorities in the United States keep piling up. As per the new report coming from WSJ, federal and state antitrust authorities in the U.S. are preparing to file new lawsuits against two of the leading tech companies — Google and Facebook.

The report adds that both the companies are facing about four more cases which are expected to get filed by the end of January 2021. This comes just weeks after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google.

As for these new legal troubles for the companies, officials in the agency are probing both Google and Facebook alleging that they abused their position in the industry to dominate the Search, Advertising, and Social Media sectors.

If the suits are to be filed, then it will be the first time Facebook faces an antitrust lawsuit in the United States. However, both companies have denied doing so and added that they operate in a highly competitive market and are offering most of their services for free that benefit consumer.

EDITOR’S PICK: Apple and Google join 6G industry group despite both only recently launching 5G phones

The Big Four, which includes Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook, have been under fire for their business practices. Earlier this year, the companies faced a congressional panel and all four are still under scrutiny from the antitrust officials.

While Apple is facing investigation over its use of App Store for possible anticompetitive practices while Amazon is under investigation from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to determine if the company unfairly uses its dominance in the eCommerce space against competitors and small traders.

Reports indicate that FTC is likely to file its case against Facebook this month while a coalition of state attorney general could file its own case against the social media giant in the coming days. It remains to be seen if both these cases are filed jointly.

Apple HomePod Mini officially launched in China for 749 yuan ($114)

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