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

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Nov 19, 2020

OnePlus announced the OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition in China on November 2. The device not only has the Cyberpunk 2077-inspired accents in the outer body but has exclusive wallpaper, icon packs. Now, as per a report, the icon pack is extracted successfully and working fine on a few older OnePlus devices.

Oneplus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 limited edition unboxing:

As reported by Piunikaweb(source), the icon pack has been extracted by a user name “Pink Leopard elf” on Chinese OnePlus forums. However, the link isn’t accessible outside of China as it asks for a login and a mobile number with ‘+86’ country code to download. That said, few users on OxygenOS forums were quick to access it. Hence, if you need to explore the OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 wallpapers/Apk you can take a look at it below:

Besides, according to a few members, the Cyberpunk 2077 wallpaper is not that easy to get. Apparently, it is in a video form, and setting it via a third-party App seems to be a bit difficult. Nevertheless, there is a lower resolution version of the wallpaper available on the Chinese forums. In case you are keen to try it you can get it from here.

That aside, the icon pack on the Chinese forums seems to be for the HydrogenOS 10/11. Users of OnePlus 7 Pro, OnePlus 7, 8 Pro, 8T reported that the icon pack works fine. However, some on OxygenOS forums said that its either has half-baked icons or doesn’t work for them. This is understandable considering it’s just an extract & repack for other devices and it isn’t uncommon for it to be a bit buggy.

Anyway, talking about the icon pack itself, we got to see a glimpse of it on the hands-on pictures of the OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition. It has all the accents of the game baked into the icons with certain system apps having red-colored outer rings. For the unware, the device is a celebration of the upcoming role-playing action game “Cyberpunk 2077″ developed by CD Projekt.

Although it’s internally identical to the vanilla 8T, it has a complete overhaul of the outer design. There is a three-stage design on the rear with AG glass mid-segment and a carbon-like design at the bottom. As mentioned earlier, it has a special packaging, stickers, badge, icon pack, AOD style, and camera filters resembling the game.

OnePlus releases kernel source code of Nord N100 and Nord N10 5G

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Nov 19, 2020

The OnePlus Nord N100 and OnePlus Nord N10 5G are the brand’s most affordable new smartphones. Unlike the company’s other devices, these two are limited to certain regions like Europe and the US where it is yet to debut. Surprisingly, the latter handset even made its way to Singapore a few hours ago. Before that, the kernel source code for both these phones went live.

OnePlus smartphones are popular among developers and custom ROM users. The company is known for releasing kernel sources on time. Hence, the brand has published the code of its latest budget smartphones on time.

With the help of this, developers can start working on custom recoveries like TWRP (Team Win Recovery Project), followed by custom ROMs, custom kernels, and mods. The new Nord duo could become popular in this niche community, thanks to their affordable price tags.

However, we don’t think they will be as famous as certain Xiaomi smartphones that are sold worldwide. The popularity of Nord N100 and Nord N10 5G may boost if the brand extends their availability.

Nevertheless, we can expect the development to be steady as these two phones will be only receiving a single major update to OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11. With regular custom ROM releases, customers of these handsets can continue using the phone for years rocking the latest Android version and security patch.

(Via)

Huawei’s first Customer Service Center to deploy robots opens in China tomorrow

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Nov 19, 2020

Huawei is always striving to be ahead of the pack when it comes to innovation. The company is set to open its first customer service centre in China. The centre will house several innovative products including some that are yet to be unveiled but fans will have the opportunity to try out for the first time.

The centre will be located at the Beijing Sanlitun Yingke Center and the centre will offer the highest level of service that can be received at any of Huawei’s previous service centres. What makes this stand out is said to be the use of a brand-new maintenance model. This model is different from the traditional service store where one person accepts and the other person repairs.

At the Huawei Customer Service Center (Beijing Yingke Center), a “face-to-face” service seat arrangement is deployed. There will also be a fully transparent spare parts storage area. With this sort of arrangement, consumers can directly communicate with professional engineers about equipment and also discuss maintenance plans. They even get the change to observe the entire process of maintenance and spare parts delivery.

Furthermore, the Huawei Customer Service Center (Beijing Yingke Center) will deploy intelligent robots to perform tedious tasks such as searching for spare parts, receiving spare parts, and spare parts registration. Apart from that, engineers can save more time to serve consumers.

The Huawei Customer Service Center (Beijing Yingke Center) will officially open on November 20. (via)

Before now, Huawei had opened a number of flagship stores in China and three Experience stores in Europe. In January this year, the Chinese tech giant announced its first unmanned store in China. The smart unmanned store supports online ordering and on-site purchase. It is equipped with a robot arm that is responsible for taking out the goods. When it was opened, there were speculations that it was an indication of more to come. Indeed, the company has a lot of innovative ideas in store.

UP NEXT: Oppo X 2021 unveiled as the world’s first smartphone concept with an extending display

A new info says the Galaxy S21 series is coming in February and not January

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Nov 19, 2020

Multiple reports have said that the Galaxy S21 series will be launching early next year. A leaker even revealed that the Galaxy Unpacked event is set for January 14. Now, new info says that Samsung will launch the phone in February just as it did this year.

The report is from Android Headlines and they say got the info from an insider source, one that is trustworthy, which is why they are making it public. The source revealed to them that the launch will hold in February but didn’t reveal the exact date.

This is the first report saying that the Galaxy S21 series will launch in February as practically everyone has reported a January launch date. Nevertheless, we advise our readers to take all info about the launch date with a pinch of salt until there is an official announcement.

It is possible that the phones were scheduled for a January release date but new developments have caused the date to be pushed back to February.

Qualcomm is yet to announce the Snapdragon 875 processor which will power the Galaxy S21 series in select markets. Samsung is also yet to unveil the Exynos 2100 that will ship with the Exynos variants of the S21 series. There is a Snapdragon summit scheduled for early December and the chipset should be announced there, however, there are concerns that the processor may not be available early enough for it to start appearing in phones in January.

The Galaxy S21 series includes the standard Galaxy S21, the Galaxy S21 Plus, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra. There will also be a Galaxy S21 FE but that should arrive much later in the year. All phones will support 5G, have displays with a 120Hz refresh rate and run One UI 3 based on Android 11 out of the box. It has also been reported that the Galaxy S21 Ultra will have support for the S Pen, a first for the Galaxy S series. However, the stylus will have to be purchased separately.

BOE loses the orders for Apple iPhone’s OLED panels to Samsung and LG yet again: Report

By

Balaji S

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Nov 19, 2020

China’s BOE has once again managed to lose the display contract of the iPhone going into next year. And it will have to wait for another six to seven months to reinstate Apple’s confidence.

The report by TheElec says that BOE’s B7 line at Chengdu, Sichuan Province has failed Apple’s review program for OLED supply. This reminds us of an early incident at the B11 line which also failed due to less yield rates(20%). The report notes that the B7 is older than B11 and was used for supplying OLED displays to Huawei.

The fact that the plant was far away from meeting the Cupertino Giant’s demand sends an alarming message for BOE to revamp its quality control. This means it can apply for the proposal again only by H1 next year(2021). And even if it passes the test, it might be allowed to supply only for the refurbished iPhone 12 models.

Coming back, the B7 line was reportedly used to make an on-cell OLED display for supplying to Huawei Mate 40 series apart from main Samsung, and LG vendors. Unfortunately, this plant didn’t meet Apple’s standards for making the cut into the iPhone deal. The review process, which began in September, seems to have lasted only for a month.

Do note that BOE has also failed Samsung’s testing for Galaxy S21 series before the orders went to its sister Samsung Display. Thus, the new failure yet again clears the air for Samsung Display and LG. They are likely to be the prime suppliers for the next iPhone, probably iPhone 13 series after the 12 series.

Talking about them, the next year’s iPhones, early reports indicate that it will have a 120Hz refresh rate screen. And two of the 4 models next year will reportedly adopt the LTPO(Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide) display designed by Apple.

Here is where BOE is reportedly lagging behind rivals like Samsung Display and LG. Report says that Samsung, which already applied the LTPO tech on Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. And LG which already has the infrastructure, and equipment(at Paju factory) for it, are ready for the tough job.

Galaxy Xcover 5 could be Samsung’s first 5G rugged smartphone

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Nov 19, 2020

Samsung is one of the few companies producing rugged devices for field workers. The company sells both rugged tablets and smartphones called Galaxy Tab Active and Galaxy Xcover respectively. A newer model in the former product category was only announced in late September in the form of Galaxy Tab Active3. Now, as per new findings, the company could be working on Galaxy Xcover 5.

Samsung-Galaxy-Xcover-4s — Samsung Galaxy Xcover 4s

According to GalaxyClub (via SamMobile), Samsung could soon launch a mysterious smartphone with model number SM-G501B. This handset was even spotted on HTML5TEST running Android 11. Going by its model number, the publication believes it to be Galaxy Xcover 5.

This phone is said to come with 5G connectivity. Therefore, the Galaxy Xcover 5 could be Samsung’s first 5G rugged smartphone. Also, as of now, the publication has not found any evidence of a 4G-only variant. Hence, if it exists, it should bear the model number SM-G500F.

Having said that, though no information is available about its specifications, we can speculate it to come with mid-range features like any other Galaxy Xcover device. Thus, it may feature a mid-range 5G chip like Exynos 880, Snapdragon 765, or Snapdragon 690 to name a few.

Samsung SM-G501B Galaxy Xcover 5 HTML5TEST

Further, it will probably feature an LCD panel as they have a longer lifespan than OLED displays. That’s because companies don’t buy rugged devices for their field workers every year. In fact, Samsung releases newer models after a long period of time.

Anyway, we expect to know more about this phone in the coming days ahead of its official announcement, which will mostly happen via a press release as companies usually don’t do launch events for this type of product.

Xiaomi launches ultra light Mijia Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Lite for 499 Yuan ($76)

By

Sean

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Nov 19, 2020

Earlier today (19th November 2020), Xiaomi launched a new MIJIA product. It is the MIJIA Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Lite. The device is priced at 499 Yuan (roughly 76 US Dollars) and will be available from November 20.

The vacuum cleaner from MIJIA weighs just 1.2 kilograms and is built from light but durable materials. Despite it being light, it still manages to pack a compact motor and battery. Its light weight also helps in it being used to clean and remove dust from high places. The MIJIA Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Lite is equipped with a high speed brushless motor that has a suction power of up to 17kPa.This motor enables the product to output a continuous and strong suction power that can also be used in two different levels. It also sports a triple high efficiency filter as well.

In a full charge, the vacuum cleaner’s battery life can run for up to 45 minutes. So, users would easily be able to cover an entire house of both medium to large sizes on a single charge. Furthermore, the device has an electric bristled floor brush on the front which works through an independent motor drive. This enables it to rotate at high speed, which can remove fine dust particles from in between floor tiles and other areas as well. The suction nozzle has a flat design that makes it convenient for the user to clean the dust and lint from different surfaces.

Xiaomi India sold over 13 million devices during Diwali festive season

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Nov 19, 2020

The Diwali festive season is the biggest shopping period in India. Brands usually launch new products a month ahead of the country’s popular festival of lights and promote them heavily with discounts, freebies, and other offers. This year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, companies continued their regular annual tradition. As a result, Xiaomi India sold over 13 million devices.

Xiaomi is India’s largest smartphone and smart TV brand, as per all the leading research firms except Counterpoint Research. Though the company’s immediate competitors are Samsung and vivo, the largest threat is realme, which is the fastest smartphone brand to hit 50 million shipments.

Hence, we feel like Xiaomi shared its achievement during Diwali sales just because realme did it yesterday. In case you have missed it, realme sold over 8.3 million devices, which is obviously way less than Xiaomi’s 13 million number. But the company seems to feel insecure and for good reason as realme has been a force to reckon with since its inception.

Having said that, let us take a look at the sales figure shared by Xiaomi India in a press release.

According to Xiaomi Data Center, the company registered its highest-ever sales by selling over 13 million devices. Out of which, over 9 million were smartphones. Mi 10T Pro, Redmi Note 9 Pro Max, Redmi Note 9 Pro, Redmi 9 Prime, Redmi 9, and Redmi 9A were some of the best-selling models.

Further, the remaining 4 million units consisted of smart TVs, Mi Ecosystem products, and accessories. Out of this, 450K+ devices were smart TVs and other Home Entertainment products like Mi TV Stick and Mi Box 4K, which were among the top-selling streaming devices across Amazon India and Flipkart.

Xiaomi says that the demand for 4K televisions was much more than last year and 50/55-inch TVs saw over 50% growth. That’s not all, the sales of Mi Air Purifiers increased by 100% and new products like Mi Watch Revolve and Mi Smart Speaker witnessed a great response from consumers.

Last but not least, Mi Bands continued to be among the best-selling products in the fitness category, and ‘Made in India’ Mi Power Banks hit 10 million sales during this period.

realme 7 5G launches in Europe with Dimensity 800U, 48MP camera, & more

By

Balaji S

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Nov 19, 2020

realme launched the realme 7 series of 4G devices in Europe back in October. Today, the company has brought yet another model in the 7 series but with next-gen 5G connectivity. Priced at £279($369.88), realme says the device is currently the most affordable 5G smartphone in the market.

realme 7 5G Europe Prices, Availability, Offers

The realme 7 5G sadly comes only in a single 6GB LPDDR4x RAM, 128GB UFS 2.1 storage variant. The device, which will be available in the Baltic Blue variant, is priced at £279. However, it will be sold at a discount rate of £229($303.59) on Amazon from November 27 to 30. This is on the occasion of Black Friday Deals on the e-commerce platform.

realme 7 5G Europe Specifications – Display, CPU, 5G

realme 7 5G features a 6.5-inch LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It has a screen-body ratio of 90.5% and a touch sampling rate of 180hz. Under the hood, it is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 800U 5G SoC. Realme says the upgraded CPU will give an improvement of 11% in performance and 28% in GPU. That said, it’s no slouch for gaming tasks too. Realme’s new “competition mode” helps improve touch response by 35%, game performance by 20%, along with Game Space, and Game assistant features.

Talking about the highlighting factor, 5G, Realme 7 supports dual-5G connectivity and supports multiple carrier aggregation. Precisely, it supports 12 main Global frequency bands like n1, n3, n7, n20, n41, and more. It also supports dual-channel Network acceleration wherein you can have improved speeds by combining both 5G & Wi-Fi.

Camera, Connectivity, Battery

For cameras, it has a 16MP selfie camera tucked inside the top-left punch-hole. It supports features like bokeh, AI beauty, HDR, Super Nightscape. On the back, you get a rounded-rectangle layout with a 48MP f/1.8 main lens, 8MP 119-degree FOV ultra-wide, two 2MP macro, and B&W lenses. The rear camera supports cinema mode(21:9 aspect ratio), Chroma boost, Tripod mode, and more.

Other features include a fingerprint sensor(on power button), face unlock, Dolby Atmos, Hi-Res audio, 5,000mAh battery with 30W Dart charging, OTG Reverse wireless charging, Super Power Saving, USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS for navigation. The device runs Realme UI based on Android 10.

That said, apart from realme 7 5G, realme also launched Realme Watch S(£74.99), Realme Buds Air Pro(£79.99).

List of companies that could launch the Snapdragon 875 Smartphones early tipped

By

Balaji S

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Nov 19, 2020

Qualcomm will likely unveil the Snapdragon 875 SoC in December first week. Ahead of the launch, key specifications of the flagship processor have already been leaked. Now, a tipster shares the first batch of upcoming devices with Snapdragon 875 in China.

According to tipster Digital Chat Station(via sina tech), Honor won’t launch a Snapdragon 875 powered device even if it can. This is understandable considering it recently unhitched itself from Huawei. Additionally, the company already has a lot of challenges ahead of it like sales, software support, and other challenges.

Moving on, according to the tipster, the following companies will launch the first batch of Snapdragon 875 smartphones in China:

Companies likely to launch the Snapdragon 875 devices early

Xiaomi– incl.* Redmi, Black Shark.
Vivo– incl.* iQOO.
Oujia Holdings– incl.* Oppo, realme, OnePlus.

*incl.-including

That said, among these, we know a few devices that are already in the rumor mill recently. For instance, Xiaomi will likely darn the Snapdragon 875 SoC first on its flagship Mi 11. However, will the other brands announce it before the year 2020 ends? Well, we feel that Xiaomi, out of all will mostly be the frontrunner to announce a new flagship smartphone. But, there are chances that companies like Vivo, iQOO, Realme, OPPO will follow suit.

Accordingly, the tipster also says that those who miss the cut-off window will carry over their launches to January. Besides, OPPO’s Reno5 series that is recently in the news is expected to have Dimensity 1000+ SoC. However, it’s Find X3 series could very well feature the Qualcomm’s flagship SoC. OnePlus’ 9 series of devices aren’t expected to come out until Mid-March of next year.

In any case, if he is talking about the order of the launch in the list, Xiaomi will lead the pack with Vivo, and Oppo following it. Having said that, there is very little information about brands like Realme, iQOO, Black Shark, Redmi, Vivo who are used to launch flagships around February-May. Hence, it will be interesting to see if they jump-start giants like Samsung to grab a bite of the market share in 2021.

OnePlus Nord N10 5G debuts in Singapore for S$449 ($333)

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Nov 19, 2020

In late October, Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus launched OnePlus Nord N100 and OnePlus Nord N10 5G in Europe. The company even confirmed that these handsets will be hitting the US. But the brand did not say anything about Singapore, the region where the latter device has been now announced.

Last week, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G was spotted on Singapore’s IMDA certification bureau. Now, the phone has officially launched in the region priced at S$449 ($333). The handset will be available at a discounted price tag of S$399 ($296) for customers pre-ordering it from the OnePlus Shopee Official Flagship Store from November 21 to 30.

The OnePlus Nord N10 5G is the cheapest 5G smartphone in Singapore, unlike in Europe. The device comes with modest specs and will be only receiving a single major update to OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11.

It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 chipset paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 internal storage. On the front, the phone flaunts a 6.49-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2400 pixels) IPS LCD panel with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 16MP punch-hole selfie camera.

The body of the handset is made of plastic, compared to glass and metal build on OnePlus’ flagship smartphones. The back of the phone houses an L-shaped quad-camera setup consisting of a 64MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide unit, a 2MP macro shooter, and a 2MP monochrome sensor. The rear panel also includes a traditional capacitive fingerprint sensor.

Other features of this device include support for microSD Card, dual-SIM, SA/NSA 5G, dual-band WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, dual-band GNSS (A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack, and USB Type-C 2.0.

Last but not least, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G runs OxygenOS 10.5 based on Android 10 and is backed by a 4,300mAh battery with support for Warp Charge 30T (30W) fast charging.

(Via)

Honor to face new challenges by competing against its ex-parent company Huawei

By

Sean

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Nov 19, 2020

After being spun off from Huawei, Honor is set to be a successful independent brand. However, the Chinese smartphone maker might face new challenges by competing against its ex-parent company.

Honor becoming independent could have the company see some positives as well, with its supply chain from Taiwan benefiting by sidestepping the US trade ban and also be a notable contender to other Chinese brands like Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and others, as per a source. According to the DigiTimes report, Huawei’s decision to retain its high end phone business and sell off its budget friendly handset business is similar to those from other Chinese tech giants like Xiaomi with Redmi and Oppo with Realme.

Although, the relations between Honor and Huawei might not be as ironed out as the relations between the other Chinese brands, said the source. Furthermore, the US government would also keep a close eye on the development of the situation regarding Honor, whose new management team is said to comprise of Huawei officials. Its initial product development, supply chain management, and even manufacturing will also reportedly rely on the ex-parent company.

But this might be good news for consumers as the now independent Honor brand could launch smartphones that offer high price to performance ratio. This would be similar to what Realme and Redmi did to tap into the premium grade flagship market segment. Although, it remains to be seen just how well the the company performs and whether it would be as successful as the other now independent subbrands.

Redmi Note 9 5G series likely to debut on November 26

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Nov 19, 2020

Earlier today, Redmi confirmed that it sold 140 million units of the Redmi Note series across the world. One of the reasons why it was able to achieve such a milestone is that it offers flagship-grade features at an affordable price. Reports have claimed that the Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G will be the first phone to feature the Samsung HM2 108-megapixel lens. Hence, Redmi fans are eagerly waiting for the company to confirm the launch date of the Note 9 series. While the date is expected to be revealed tomorrow, a Chinese tipster (via) has shared an image that reveals that the Note 9 series will go official on Nov. 26 in China.

The poster reveals that the Redmi Note 9 series will break cover at 8 PM (local time) on Nov. 26. As far as pricing is concerned, the Redmi Note 9 5G is likely to be priced around 1,000 Yuan (~$151), whereas the Note 9 Pro 5G may cost around 1,500 Yuan ($228). There is a 4G model too, but it is not clear whether it will launch as Redmi 10 4G series or a Redmi Note series phone.

Editor’s Pick: Redmi K40 Pro likely to flaunt high refresh rate display and faster charging technology

Recent reports have revealed that the Redmi Note 9 5G will be heading to markets outside of China as the Redmi Note 9T. The Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G is believed to be a modified version of the MI 10T-Lite. The only major difference between the two phones could be the presence of a 108-megapixel lens on the Note 9 Pro 5G. While the Pro model is expected to arrive with a 120Hz refresh rate display and Snapdragon 750G chipset, the vanilla model is also expected to feature a high refresh rate display and Dimensity 800U SoC.

The alleged Redmi 10 4G is expected to break cover in the global markets as the POCO M3. POCO has recently confirmed that the Snapdragon 662 powered the M3 will be announced on Nov. 24.

Redmi Note 9T with Dimensity 800U clears SIRIM certification

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Nov 19, 2020

Redmi, the sub-brand of Xiaomi is all set to launch the Redmi Note 9 5G series in China. The brand is yet to announce the launch date but the devices have already leaked multiple times. One of them is also expected to launch in global markets as Redmi Note 9T. This handset has been spotted on the SIRIM certification bureau.

Xiaomi launched a plethora of 9th generation Redmi smartphones in the form of Redmi 9 and Redmi Note 9 series worldwide. However, the latter did not release in China as the country is pushing 5G handsets.

Hence, Redmi is set to launch a special Redmi Note 9 5G series consisting of Redmi Note 9 5G and Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G in the country. The former bears the model number M2007J22C. This very same device will be launching in international markets as Redmi Notre 9T with model number M2007J22G, as per FCC.

This phone has now cleared Malaysia’s SIRIM (Standard and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia) certification as well, in addition to IMDA and EEC. Also, the IMEI number found in FCC documents has been registered with C-DOT CEIR IMEI verification as well. That means this smartphone will be launching in Asian markets, including India.

For those unaware, this handset’s predecessor Redmi Note 8T was only made available in European markets. The only major difference between it and the regular Redmi Note 8 is the presence of NFC.

On the other hand, the Redmi Note 9T is an overall different phone from the regular Redmi Note 9. The former not only includes 5G connectivity but also a different design and set of features.

According to TENAA, FCC, and 3C, the upcoming Redmi Note 9T will come with MediaTek Dimensity 800U, 6.53-inch IPS LCD FHD+ panel, 4GB/6GB/8GB RAM, 64GB/128GB/256GB internal storage, 48MP triple camera setup, 13MP punch-hole selfie camera, MIUI 12 based on Android 10, NFC, 5,000mAh battery, and 22.5W fast charging.

Qualcomm announces its first esports tournament in India with a prize pool of 5,000,000 INR ($67,323)

By

Sean

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Nov 19, 2020

Qualcomm Technologies is stepping into the realm of esports in India. The known chipmaker has just launched the Qualcomm Snapdragon Conquest Tournament that has a total prize pool of 5,000,000 INR (roughly 67,323 US Dollars).

The tournament from the company is a part of its first esports initiative in the region, which has a notable mobile gaming community. For those unaware, India is one of the largest smartphone market in the world, with its mobile gaming industry rising as well. Furthermore, increased internet penetration has drove mobile gaming as a whole forward in the country. Now, Qualcomm aims to offer players the chance to win big with its new tournament for Garena Free Fire.

Snapdragon Conquest is set to be a multi stage tournament centered around various events throughout the year. This would enable competitive gaming across different mobile game titles and is designed “to engage mobile gamers across all segments and levels of proficiency.” The tournament kicks off with Free Fire Open 2020, which has a price pool of 5,000,000 INR (or 50 Lakhs). Garena Free Fire is a popular title in the Battle Royale genre, similar to PUBG Mobile. Finer details regarding the tournament and more should be available soon. The company also plans on having live broadcasts and player livestreams as well on the side, which is to “provide aspiring gamers the opportunity to learn and increase their own proficiency.”

According to Rajen Vagadia, Vice President, Qualcomm India stated that, “India is a mobile-first industry. The phenomenal rise of mobile gaming in India is driving not just the demand for better devices in the industry but also need for a richer ecosystem and more diverse opportunities for mobile gamers. The Snapdragon brand is known for delivering superior gaming experiences. Our work with the larger ecosystem of OEMs, game developers and publishers, is helping us learn and provide an upgraded gaming experience across multiple price tiers. We are really excited about the launch of Snapdragon Conquest, our new gaming program. With Snapdragon Conquest, we are creating a community that challenges the competitive skills of gamers, allowing us a deeper understanding of the gaming needs of all our users in India.”

ZTE Axon 20 5G Extreme Edition officially revealed, Launch expected soon

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Nov 19, 2020

ZTE announced the ZTE Axon 20 5G smartphone in September. It arrived as the world’s first smartphone with an in-display selfie camera. Hence, the smartphone can offer a truly full-screen experience. Today, the company took to Weibo to confirm the arrival of the ZTE Axon 20 Extreme Edition.

The ZTE Axon 20 Extreme Edition can be seen sporting an orange-colored back panel. It has a large-sized Axon branding on it. The rear side of the phone also features a quad-camera system. Since the device is dubbed as Extreme Edition, it is likely to feature a different chipset.

The Axon 20 5G was fueled by the Snapdragon 765G. At present, there is no word on the specifications of the Axon 20 5G Extreme Edition. Hopefully, the Chinese brand will soon share more details on the Axon 20 5G Extreme Edition. While the front design of the phone is not shown, the Chinese text on the poster states that it also features an in-screen selfie camera.

Editor’s Pick: ZTE Blade A7s 2020 launched finally with 6.5-inch display, 16MP triple cameras and 4,000mAh battery

ZTE Axon 20 5G specifications and features

The Axon 20 5G has a 6.92-inch OELD display that produces a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2460 pixels. A fingerprint sensor is integrated under the display. It is preinstalled with Android 10 OS and MiFavor 10.5. The Snapdragon 765G SoC is assisted by 6 GB / 8 GB of RAM. The phone comes with up to 256 GB of native storage.

The Axon 20 5G has a 32-megapixel under-display camera. It has a quad-camera setup that includes a 64-megapixel primary lens with f/1.8 aperture, an 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor with 120-degree FOV, a 2-megapixel macro lens, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. It is backed by a 4,220mAh battery that supports 30W fast charging. The handset is available in colors like black, gold, purple, and blue in the home market.

Apple Mac Mini teardown offers a look at the new M1 Chip on the smaller logic board

By

Sean

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Nov 19, 2020

A teardown of the newly launched Apple Mac Mini offers a real world look at the company’s new custom made M1 chip. The new Apple Silicon is soldered onto a smaller logic board than its 2018 counterpart.

The teardown had just recently surfaced and was shared on Reddit. Looking at the images, the M1 is the silver chip as seen in the images. It is labeled with APL1102 and features a 8 core CPU and 8 core GPU along with a 16 core Neural Engine, I/O controllers, and more. Furthermore, the unified system memory is also visible on the right side of the chip, which takes up lesser space than a traditional RAM stick used in previous Mac mini models that helps in making the logic board smaller, as per the MacRumors report.

Although the smaller size also has its own issues. With the unified system memory, users can no longer consider upgrading their RAM, which was possible in the previous Mac mini. Thus, customers would have to make a more thought after choice between the 8GB and 16GB memory variants when buying the latest Apple Mac mini model. Similarly, the SSD storage is also soldered to the logic board, so internal storage is not upgradeable either.

So, it is advised that one should carefully choose the different memory and storage configuration based on their personal and professional workload. Apple is seemingly unifying its product portfolio even further, with the new chips being based on ARM that is a common architecture for smartphones. This move would also help them better optimize their new Macbooks and Mac mini lineups since they are behind both the hardware and software.

These vivo and iQOO smartphones will get OriginOS update

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

Nov 19, 2020

Yesterday, vivo announced its new Android skin called OriginOS. The latest mobile software by the company is totally different than its predecessor Funtouch OS. In other words, vivo overhauled its existing software with new design elements and features in such a way that one cannot believe that both were developed by the same company. That said, a day after the conference, the Chinese smartphone maker has revealed all the eligible devices along with update timeline.

According to the official Weibo account of OriginOS, a total of 33 vivo and iQOO-branded smartphones will be updated to the new operating system. The announcement post also reveals that the new software will come pre-installed on the upcoming X series flagship smartphones.

Having said that, the company has divided the rollout into the following three batches.

Before January 31, 2021
Before the Chinese New Year (February 12, 2021)
Q2 2021

Also, just like OPPO ColorOS 11 update schedule, this one also only denotes the starting of the Open Beta rollout. That means the final stable build will take a little bit more time to reach the end-users.

That being said, here’s the official OriginOS update roadmap shared by vivo.

vivo OriginOS Open Beta Update Timeline

Before January 31, 2021
- vivo X50
- vivo X50 Pro
- vivo X50 Pro+
- vivo S7
- vivo NEX 3S
- iQOO 5
- iQOO 5 Pro
- iQOO 3
- iQOO Neo3
- iQOO
- iQOO Pro
Before the Chinese New Year (February 12, 2021)
- vivo NEX 3
- vivo NEX 3 5G
- vivo X30
- vivo X30 Pro
- iQOO Neo
- iQOO Neo855 Edition
Q2 2021
- vivo X27
- vivo X27 8GB + 128GB
- vivo X27 Pro
- vivo S6
- vivo S5
- vivo S1
- vivo S1 Pro
- vivo Z6
- vivo Z5
- vivo Z5x
- vivo Z5i
- vivo NEX S
- vivo NEX Dual Display Edition
- vivo NEX Screen Fingerprint Edition
- iQOO Z1
- iQOO Z1x

It is worth noting that this update schedule is limited to China. vivo is yet to officially announce OriginOS for international markets. Hence, we expect the company to drop the update roadmap for global markets at that event.

Everything you need to know about vivo OriginOS

Apple is aware of iPhone 12 display’s suffering from a Green tint issue

By

Sean

-

Nov 19, 2020

It is not uncommon for newly launched smartphones to suffer from a bug or an issue. This holds true for the new Apple iPhone 12 units as well, which suffer from a green tint issue on the displays.

iPhone 12 users have taken to online channels to report the display issue that plagues their devices. The display suffers from a greenish tint and also flickers at times. These complaints have grown in number since, with more and more units facing the issue. Posts can even be found on the Apple Support Communities page, although, a fix has yet to be announced for the problem.

According to 9To5Mac report, an official Apple document that was originally sent to Apple Authorized Service Providers had recently surfaced. This document detailed that Apple advised technicians are not to service the units suffering from this issue. Rather, the document insists that the technician notify customers to keep their iPhone 12’s software up to date. In other words, the Cupertino based giant has basically stated that a fix will arrive in the form of an update sometime soon.

At the moment, it seems like the issue is currently affecting all four models of Apple’s 2020 iPhone lineup. Notably, the issue is apparently arises when the brightness is set to any limit below 90 percent. This issue is reportedly also present in the iOS 14.3 beta. So, it is advised to keep your iPhone 12 series updated or wait for an upcoming update. At least, this assures users that Apple is aware of the issue and can expect a fix to arrive soon. Unfortunately, an exact date or ETA is currently unavailable. So, stay tuned for more updates.

Apple A15 Bionic to use N5P 5nm+ process; future chips for iPhone and Mac to use 4nm process

By

Jeet

-

Nov 19, 2020

Apple recently launched its all-new iPhone 12 lineup of smartphones, which are powered by the company’s A14 Bionic chipset. It is one of the first in the smartphone industry to be manufactured using the 5nm process.

Now, reports about the company’s upcoming Apple A15 Bionic chip are making rounds. It is believed that the technology giant is again partnering with manufacturer TSMC to push for ever smaller nodes for the upcoming processor.

According to the new report from TrendForce, the next-generation smartphone processor from Apple, which is expected to be named A15 Bionic, will be manufactured using the 5nm+ processor, which is being referred by the company as N5P.

TSMC says that the N5P node is the performance-enhanced version of the current 5nm process and is claimed by the Taiwanese company to deliver additional power efficiency and performance improvements.

This is in line with the previous report which also added that the company is planning to mass-produce the upcoming chipset in Q3 2021.

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Reports about Apple’s chip doesn’t stop there. The next chipset that will come after the A15, the Apple A16, most likely in the year 2022, is said to be based on TSMC’s 4nm process, which the company is currently working on. This should offer more improvements for performance and power efficiency.

It seems that Apple wants to be the leading company when it comes to innovations and pushing the boundaries for performance and power efficiency. This shouldn’t be limited to just smartphone chips. Given that TSMC also manufactures Apple’s newly launched M1 chipset, the advancement in the process will extend to future Apple Silicon chips as well.

Apart from the 5nm process, manufacturers like TSMC and Samsung Electronics have already started working on the 3nm and 2nm process, which are expected to be ready for mass-production by 2025.

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Before January 31, 2021

Before the Chinese New Year (February 12, 2021)

Q2 2021

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