Xiaomi is expected to announce the Mi 11 and Mi 11 Pro flagship phones in Q1 next year. Since the Galaxy S21 series are expected to launch in January, there are speculations that the Mi 11 series will also break cover in the same month. Recent reports have revealed key information on display and cameras of the Mi 11 Pro. XDA Developers’ Editor-in-Chief Mishaal Rahman has shared key specs of the MI 11 phone.
A mysterious phone codenamed as Venus was found in the code of MIUI beta. At that time, the device was speculated as a mid-range phone powered by a Qualcomm chipset. Fresh information reveals that it is the MI 11 smartphone and being a flagship device, it will be equipped with the Snapdragon 875 mobile platform.
Curiously Venus was shown as mid-end in MIUI, but now is a fact that it sports Snapdragon 875. Thanks to @kacskrzhttps://t.co/MwLXqLjAFY
The Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro will be sporting a punch-hole display with curved edges. It is expected to support quad HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It is now known that the Mi 11 will sport a curved screen. Like the Pro model, it is likely to flaunt a punch-hole design. However, there is no word on whether it will support Full HD+ or Quad HD+ resolution.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 will be equipped with a triple camera system led by a 108-megapixel lens. The camera setup will also include an ultrawide shooter that will be capable at shooting macro shots. The Mi 11 will support up to 30x zoom. The other details of the smartphone are under wraps.
It is unclear whether the Mi 11 Pro has a triple or quad camera setup. A recent leak revealed that the 4-in-1-pixel binning technology will let the main camera to captures shots at 50-megapixel. It is also expected to feature a 12-megapixel or 48-megapixel telephoto lens on its back.
Major smartphone brands have a list suppliers that enables them to procure the components required to build their products for the market. However, in recent times the increased competition in these supply chains might be driving them out. Now, a couple of Samsung suppliers are also looking to branch out to other ventures to reduce their reliance on smartphones.
As the smartphone market matures, the competition between the suppliers is increasing. This makes profitability difficult as well, and force these firms to also look for a new source of revenue, as per TheElecreport. An example of this is Mcnex, which is looking to supply automobiles with camera modules. At the moment, it supplies cameras to Hyundai Motor Group. The company is currently reliant on smartphones that account for 90 percent of its sales, but is expecting an increase in demand from automobiles in the near future.
Back in 2018, these automotive camera modules accounted for 15.1 percent of its sales. This dropped to 9.2 percent in 2019, but has since gone up to 10.6 percent in the third quarter of 2020. Similarly, Powerlogics, which is another camera module supplier, is also working with Hyundai to recycle batteries. Its reliance on smartphones is also 82.9 percent as of last year. Although, it is looking to increase its shipments of protective circuit for batteries.
Other Samsung suppliers include DAP and Korea Cicuits, both of which supplied on motherboards for smartphones, that are now shifting towards the automobile industry as well. The former is supplying boards to Hyundai Mobis, which are then made for radar for Hyundai Motor Group. The list of suppliers looking to diversify away from smartphones continues and may soon have other notable suppliers make the shift as well.
Huawei has been facing a lot of issues after getting banned by the United States as the U.S. has pressured several other countries to do the same. Now, it seems that Canada could also join the list of countries that have banned Huawei from their 5G infrastructure.
Canada’s opposition parties passed a non-binding motion in the parliament which was put forward by the Conservatives. It is calling China a threat to the Candian interests and values and urges Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ban Huawei.
It is also urging the government to draft a plan to “combat China’s growing foreign operations” in Canada. Conservative leader Erin O’Toole said, “We call on the Liberal government to finally grow a spine and make a decision on Huawei’s involvement in Canada’s 5G network.”
The government has delayed deciding which companies can supply equipment for 5G networks. On the other hand, Canada’s allies in the intelligence-sharing Five Eye group, which includes the US, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand have banned Huawei. Trudeau says that the government awaits recommendations from intelligence agencies.
Canada has been stuck in the middle of the US-China trade war ever since it arrested Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on an arrest warrant from the United States. In retaliation, China arrested two Canadian citizens for alleged spying, who have been imprisoned ever since.
5G technology is now going mainstream and is said to be the next-big-thing. It offers data speeds up to 50 or 100 times faster than 4G networks. This means that it is a key element for the next generation of innovative technologies, from telemedicine to self-driving cars.
The United States banned Huawei last year claiming that it poses national security because of the company’s alleged ties with the Chinese Communist Party, without showing any proof. However, Huawei has denied all such allegations.
With online privacy and data security becoming an increasing issue in recent times, various companies have taken multiple steps to secure their own systems. Now one would expect the general public to do the same, but it seems that a few have yet to realize just how terrible their passwords are.
So, lets look into some of the worst offenders of this year. The original list was compiled by NordPass, which is a password manager, and was reported by GizModo. As per the company’s list, there are still millions people using highly insecure passwords like “123456” AND “password” for their various login credentials. The worst part is that some of these passwords in the top 20 are the usual suspects that appear frequently in this list every year.
Unfortunately, while the password might be easy to remember and convenient for the user, they take less than a minute to crack. This also holds true to the other numerical variations like, “000000” or “123123.” Furthermore, this also extends to any other simple alphabetical passwords that generally use adjacent letters on a QWERTY format keyboard like “qwertyuiop” or “asdfghjkl.”
Here are the top 20 worst passwords of 2020:
123456
123456789
picture1
password
12345678
111111
123123
12345
1234567890
senha
1234567
qwerty
abc123
Million2
000000
1234
iloveyou
aaron431
password1
qqww1122
In this day and age, data breaches and cyberattacks are still a possible threat, more so for enterprises/businesses. But, this is also indicative of how a simple unique variation in passwords or making them complex goes a long way in online security for your various accounts. All of the aforementioned passwords were exposed more than 100,000 times. It is also advised to used 2 factory authentication with any service that offers it for added security.
Today, Honor Mobile shared a new post on its official Weibo account, confirming that the recently launched Honor Band 6 will be available for pre-booking again. The company also answered some of the user’s queries on the microblogging platform.
In response to one of the questions related to the service, Honor said that the company will work with its partners to offer security updates and after-sales services to the products on-sale as well as those products that have already been sold.
This is in line with the message that was shared by one of the company’s executives soon after the sale of Honor was confirmed. Now, the confirmation coming from the company’s official account on Weibo breathes a sigh of relief for existing users of Honor’s products who were wondering about the after-sales service for their devices.
A few days ago, Huawei sold off its Honor sub-brand to Zhixin New Information Technology Co. Ltd., which is a consortium of over 30 agents and dealers of the Honor brand and the Shenzhen Smart City Development Group Co.
The step was taken to ensure that the brand survives. Lately, Huawei has been facing a lot of issues as the United States keeps on imposing sanctions on the Chinese giant. It has restricted the company from procuring necessary components to keep its business running. However, there’s a ray of light as the United States has started issuing licenses to several companies to continue doing business with Huawei, including Intel, AMD, Sony, Samsung Display, Qualcomm, and others.
Apple has announced that the company has agreed to pay $113 million to settle lawsuits over allegations that the company secretly throttled or slowed-down performance in older iPhone models — a controversy which is known as ‘batterygate.’
When the reports first came out about Apple slowing down the performance of older models of the iPhone, the company denied them. Later, the company said that it did so in order to extend the battery life.
This was seen as the company’s effort to nudge users to purchase the newer iPhones. Around 34 states in the United States, including Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, and the District of Columbia opened a probe into the matter.
Now, the matter being settled by Apple by agreeing to pay $113 million in a financial penalty and legal commitment to be more transparent in the future. However, as with many such settlements, Apple did not admit to breaking any laws or any other wrongdoing.
Apple slowing down older iPhone‘s performance was deemed deceptive as the company had never disclosed such information. With slower performance, many users believed that the only option left is to upgrade to the newer model, generating millions of dollars for Apple.
Soon after the throttling issue was made public, Apple apologized and launched a battery replacement program. As a part of that program, it offered batteries for older devices for $29 and also added a new battery management feature to iOS.
Earlier this year, Apple agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit regarding this same matter, by paying $500 million. This meant that the users of iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, and SE running iOS 10.2.1 or later would get $25 in compensation.
If the reports are to be believed, then the South Korean giant Samsung is gearing up to launch its next-generation S-series flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S21 lineup, in January 2020, weeks earlier than the usual timeline.
Now, with a few days left for the smartphone to go official, the Samsung Galaxy S21 powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 chipset has appeared on the benchmarking platform Geekbench.
As per the listing on the benchmarking platform, it managed to score 3,319 points in the multi-core test. Surprisingly, the score is quite low when compared to the same smartphone powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 2100 chipset, which managed to score almost 4,000 points on Geekbench.
Samsung has been launching two variants of its Galaxy S-series flagship smartphone based on the chipset used. The Qualcomm-powered models are made available in the United States, South Korea, and China while the rest of the world gets Exynos-powered variants.
Most users have been complaining about getting the Exynos variant in their region as the Qualcomm-powered model offers better power management. However, it seems that the tables have turned this time if the benchmark scores are to be believed.
It’s interesting to see Samsung Exynos 2100 outperforming the Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 chipset. Both of them are said to have the same CPU architecture with X1 Core which will reach 2.91GHz in Exynos 2100 while in SD875, it will reach 2.84GHz.
Reports indicate that the three Cortex-A78 cores will be clocked at 2.81GHz on Samsung’s chipset while they will be running at 2.42GHz on the Qualcomm processor. Also, the four Cortex-A55 cores in SD875 will be at 1.8GHz while the Exynos 2100 will have them running at about 2.21GHz. Thus, Samsung’s chipset is performing better in the multi-core tests.
Do note that these are just the benchmark results leaked online and it remains to be seen how the device performs with real-world usage. The wait for the official launch of the Samsung Galaxy S21 series phones isn’t long as they are expected to go official in the second week of January 2021.
Redmi is expected to announce the Redmi Note 9 5G series before the end of this month. Like the predecessor Note series phones, the Note 9 5G lineup is also expected to receive a good response from the audience. There are speculations that the launch date of the Redmi Note 9 5G series will be confirmed tomorrow. Today, the company took to Weibo to confirm that it has sold 140 million units of the Redmi Note series across the world. According to Omdia research organization, the Redmi Note 8 series became the second bestselling smartphone in the world in the first half of 2020.
Xiaomi introduced the Redmi Note series was introduced in 2014. In 2019, apart from announcing the Redmi Note 7 series, it also revealed that Redmi has become an independent brand. The sales of the Note 7 series exceeded 10 million units in 4 months and its global sales have so far exceeded 40 million units. It is undoubtedly one of the most successful product lines of the Redmi brand.
Redmi General Manager Lu Weibing said that the reason why Redmi Note has become the common choice of 140 million users worldwide is that it offers some of the flagship features in the 1000 Yuan price segment, information transparency which gives users the right information about the product and removing all unreasonable premium, and it adheres to consistent product quality.
In Q4 2019, Redmi launched the Redmi Note 8 series in various markets. In March this year, the company unveiled the Redmi Note 9 series in some markets like India. However, since Redmi Note 9, Note 9 Pro, and Note 9 Pro Max did not support 5G connectivity, these products were not released in China.
Weibing confirmed that Redmi will soon launch the Note 9 series in China. The specifications of the Redmi Note 9 5G and Redmi Note 9 5G Pro are already known since they have emerged in TENAA’s database. Reports have revealed that the Note 9 Pro 5G will be the world’s first phone to feature the 108-megapixel Samsung HM2 lens.
At the beginning of November, popular tipster @OnLeaks shared the renders of a Motorola phone that has a model number of XT-2117. It is expected to arrive as the next-generation Moto G Play smartphone. Since the official name of the device was not known, the tipster referred to it as the Moto G10 Play. Now the handset has appeared at the Geekbench benchmarking platform to reveal some of its key specs.
On Geekbench, the XT-2117 seems to have appeared with Moto G Play (2021) moniker. The exact name of the chipset that fuels the device is not clearly mentioned. It only states that it is driven by a Qualcomm processor that has a base frequency of 1.80GHz. Tipsters are claiming that it is driven by the Snapdragon 662 chipset.
The listing further reveals that the device has 3 GB of RAM and it is preinstalled with Android 10 OS. It scored 253 in the single-core test and 1233 in the multi-core test of Geekbench.
The CAD renders of the smartphone that earlier this month revealed that it is equipped with a punch-hole display and its rear is fitted with a triple camera system. It has a side-facing fingerprint scanner.
The handset measures 165.3 x 75.4 x 9.5mm and it houses a 6.5-inch display. The TUV certification of the device has revealed that it is packed with a 4,850mAh battery that supports 20W fast charging. The other details of the smartphone are under wraps.
Motorola is also working on another phone named the Moto G Stylus 2021. A recent leak revealed that it has a 6.8-inch FHD+ punch-hole display and it could be fueled by the Snapdragon 675 chipset and 4 GB of RAM. The handset is likely to come with other specs like 128 GB of storage, 48-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-mgeapixel + 2-megapixel quad-camera setup, a 16-megapixel selfie camera, a side-facing fingerprint reader, NFC, and a stylus.
Apple is unarguably the most valuable smartphone brand in the world and this is mostly tied to the price of the iPhone models. The latest iPhone 12 series are among the most pricey smartphones around with the iPhone 12 Pro Max at the top end of the ladder. The model starts at $1099 for the base variant. Little wonder a delivery man was tempted to make way with a staggering 14 units of the iPhone 12 Pro Max that he was supposed to deliver for a customer.
The delivery guy whose name was given as Tang works for the delivery company of Chinese shopping platform Meituan-Dianping. According to the report, an Apple authorized store clerk in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province of China had on November 14 placed an order at Meituan Delivery to have a package containing 14 brand-new iPhone 12 Pro Max delivered at another Apple store.
After Tang collected the package, instead of delivering it, he reportedly cancelled the order and paid just 10 yuan for defaulting. He then bolted with the phones which are each valued at 10,000 yuan (around $1,500). The Apple store clerk who requested for the delivery to be made was then unable to contact him.
However, he was traced within a short space and after he was nabbed, ten unopened iPhone 12 Pro Max units were recovered from him. He had already tampered with four of the iPhones. He reportedly opened one for personal use, one was used to pay off debts by a friend. The third unit was mortgaged to a pawn shop at 9,500 yuan. Finally, the fourth unit was sold to a mobile phone dealer at a low price of 7,000 yuan. Like a treasure hunter who stumbled on a chest filled with gold, Tang went on a spending spree after selling off two of the units. He bought a new dress and rented a BMW car for fun at a price of 600 yuan per day. All four units were subsequently recovered by the police.
Meituan has since banned the culprit from its network for life and has issued an industry-wide blacklist. He will also likely face criminal prosecution.
Apple products have often been the recipient of such attempted heist. Not too long ago, five Amazon employees in Spain were arrested while attempting to cart away iPhones worth over $500,000 from a logistic centre in Madrid.
The suspects were uncovered by Amazon after launching an internal and covert operation after significant disparities were observed in the weights of several phone boxes. Hidden cameras at the logistics centre subsequently unmasked the culprits, who had replaced the phones in the boxes with other things.
WhatsApp may be far behind Telegram when it comes to features but the messaging app has been getting a stream of new features lately. If you are a beta tester, then disappearing messages and the new advanced wallpaper settings that let you dim your wallpaper and choose a custom one for each chat should be live for you already. The good news is that even more interesting features are coming soon.
The folks at Wabetainfo have found evidence of WhatsApp working on a new feature that will allow you to mute videos before sending them to a contact or to your status.
A screenshot that gives us an early look at how the feature will work shows that there is now a speaker icon right next to the duration and file size details on the left side of the screen. Folks will be able to tap it to mute the audio of a video they want to share with a contact or put on their status. The feature is still under development and not yet available for even beta testers. Nonetheless, we hope it will arrive before the end of the year.
Another feature that has been discovered is under development, and one a lot of users will love is “Read Later”. This feature takes archived chats to another level and has been reported to be a replacement for it (archived chats). As you can see in the image below, it says Archive is now read later.
When you put a conversation under “Read Later”, you will not receive new notifications from the chat. The description in the image says that users will not get notifications for messages from chats placed under “Read Later”.
1 of 2
There is also an edit menu under Read Later that lets users select multiple chats and remove them from the archive at the same time. A settings menu also allows you to choose if you want to save received media to your gallery, backup chats under the category, and have chats get automatically unarchived when you receive a new message.
After releasing the vanilla Nord, OnePlus came up with two more affordable smartphones after several years spent releasing flagships only. The new series includes the mid-ranger OnePlus Nord N10 5G: a device providing 5G connectivity and great specifications at a pretty affordable price. But does it have the highest value for money you can expect in this second half of 2020 or is it all about 5G and there is something better in the market? In order to let you find out, we decided to compare it with the best-selling POCO X3 NFC and the Realme 7 Pro: the Xiaomi and Realme phones with the highest value for money released recently.
OnePlus Nord N10 vs Xiaomi POCO X3 vs Realme 7 Pro
Quad 64 + 8 + 2 + 2 MP f/1.8, f/2.3, f/2.4 and f/2.4
32 MP f/2.5 front camera
BATTERY
4300 mAh, fast charging 30W
5160 mAh, fast charging 33W
4500 mAh, fast charging 65W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Dual SIM slot, 5G
Dual SIM slot, splash proof
Dual SIM slot, splash resistant
Design
None of these devices offers a stunning design like flagships, but they are still pretty nice phones when it comes to aesthetics. The POCO X3 NFC has not the most beautiful look but it comes with a higher build quality: it features an aluminum frame and the IP53 certification making it dust resistant and waterproof. My favorite one is the Realme 7 Pro because it has a thinner and lighter design, as well as a cleaner look and a more compact body. Its body is entirely made of plastic, but the look is actually better. The OnePlus Nord N10 5G is bigger, thicker, and heavier than Realme 7 Pro, but more compact than POCO X3 NFC.
Display
The king of the display here is the Realme 7 Pro for a simple reason: it has a Super AMOLED display instead of an IPS panel. So, it provides more vibrant colors and deeper blacks. Further, it has an in-display fingerprint scanner. But you should not underestimate the POCO X3 NFC despite it has an IPS panel. The POCO X3 NFC comes with a 120 Hz refresh rate and HDR10 certification allowing for great image quality. Most people still consider 60 Hz AMOLED panels a better choice, but the POCO X3 NFC still offers a nice screen. The OnePlus Nord N10 5G is inferior to both with its 90 Hz IPS display.
Specs & Software
If you need the highest performance, you should opt for the OnePlus Nord N10 5G. Despite it has a chipset from Snapdragon 6xx series, it is actually more powerful than the Snapdragon 732G and the Snapdragon 720G found on its rivals (we are talking about both CPU and GPU performance). Further, unlike its two opponents, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G supports 5G connectivity. The POCO X3 NFC has a slightly stronger chipset than the Realme 7 Pro, but the Realme 7 Pro comes in a variant with more RAM: up to 8 GB. All are based on Android 10, but OnePlus already confirmed that the Nord N10 5G will only get one major Android update.
Camera
On paper, the best rear camera setup belongs to the POCO X3 NFC. While it offers the same main camera as its rivals, it actually comes with better secondary sensors including a 13 MP ultrawide camera. If you need better selfies, then you should go for the Realme 7 Pro with its 32 MP front camera.
Battery
The POCO X3 NFC has a longer battery life thanks to its huge 5160 mAh battery, but the Realme 7 Pro charges a lot faster thanks to its 65W fast charging technology. And the Realme 7 Pro takes the silver medal when it comes to battery life thanks to a 4500 mAh battery and its efficient display.
Price
POCO X3 NFC is priced at €229/$271 globally, Realme 7 Pro can be found for less than €300/$355, and OnePlus Nord N10 5G starts from €349/$414. If we exclude the 5G support, OnePlus Nord N10 5G is inferior to its two rivals. Realme 7 Pro has the best display and faster charging, as well as the most interesting design, while POCO X3 NFC has a bigger battery. I would personally go for the Realme 7 Pro as it is more balanced: what would you choose?
Huawei’s woes are far from over but the Chinese tech giant may have found an unusual ally in the CEO of Ericsson, which is one of its main rivals in the network and telecommunications business.
Borje Ekholm, the top executive at the Swedish company has kicked against his country’s Huawei ban. Speaking to the Financial Times, he says the decision will hurt competition. He is quoted to have said – “I belong in that category that believes competition makes us longer term, a better company. It may be painful shorter term but longer term it drives us to be more innovative and make better products for our customers,”.
Sweden announced a Huawei ban last month after advice from its armed forces and security forces; stating the reason as due to the Chinese company’s “extensive intelligence gathering and theft of technology”.
Borje Ekholm – CEO of Ericsson | Image source: Ericsson
The ban means that Swedish carriers can not use technology and products from Huawei (and ZTE too) for their 5G networks. They have also been given till 2025 to phase out both Huawei and ZTE technology from their existing infrastructure. Huawei is appealing the ban and that is said to have caused the postponement of Sweden’s 5G spectrum which was scheduled for November.
Ericsson’s CEO also revealed that it has collaborated with Huawei on industry standards even though they are big rivals. The Financial Times’ report also says that Ericsson may be protecting its business in Huawei’s home country of China where it has won several deals.
Mr. Ekholm also warns that the focus should be on rolling out 5G coverage as soon as possible so that Europe is not playing catch up as it happened in the case of 4G where China and the US rolled out 4G fastest which ha led to them being the major players in the app business.
The OnePlus Nord N100 is the cheapest OnePlus smartphone in the history of the Chinese manufacturer. The phone which is priced at €179 in Europe and £179 in the UK, has a punch-hole 60Hz HD+ display among its features, or so we thought.
According to Android Authority, the OnePlus Nord N100 they purchased for review has a 90Hz refresh rate. They then contacted OnePlus who retracted its earlier info about it having a 60Hz refresh rate and confirmed that the phone indeed has a 90Hz refresh rate. The official spec sheet also states it has a 90Hz refresh rate. So why did we get different info at launch?
The N100 is equipped with a 90Hz display. Actual refresh rate depends on settings, applications used, and processing limitations – OnePlus
Why OnePlus did not say why it didn’t market the phone’s high refresh rate, Android Authority has come up with a theory that says it is because it is not a “Fluid Display”.
OnePlus prides itself on the quality of its phones’ displays and the smooth experience users will get when they use them. However, the Nord N100 is a budget smartphone, actually a rebadged OPPO A53, and its entry-level specs will not provide a Fluid Display experience.
OnePlus Nord N100 display specs
So rather than market the feature (90Hz refresh rate) and get dragged in the mud for the performance and drop in display quality, they decided to go with a 60Hz refresh rate. This is just a theory and not OnePlus’s official statement.
Nevertheless, the OnePlus Nord N100 has a high refresh rate and users will be able to switch between a 60Hz refresh rate and a 90Hz refresh rate. We don’t know if the high refresh rate will convince users to purchase the phone but it is worth knowing.
The Nord N100 is already available for purchase in Europe. It has a 6.52-inch LCD display, a Snapdragon 460 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable storage, triple rear cameras, stereo speakers, an audio jack, and a 5000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging.
Google might be working on a budget Chromebook with an AMD Ryzen processor. Today, it has been spotted on Google Play Console which reveals key specifications of the device.
Representative image: Google Pixelbook Go
This new tip comes from 91Mobiles, who have spotted the codename ‘Zork’ and specifications like CPU, RAM, and display specs. According to the listing, the Chromebook will be powered by AMD’s Ryzen 3 3250C CPU. Now, if you recall, this is not the first Chromebook with an AMD processor.
HP and Acer were the frontrunners of introducing Chromebooks powered by AMD CPUs back in early 2019. Their Chromebook 14, and 315 respectively were the first Chrome OS devices to be feature AMD’s A4 CPU. Later, a few Chromebooks have hit the market with the latest one being the HP Pro c645 Chromebook Enterprise. It powers the same AMD Ryzen 3 3250 CPU found on this listing.
Moving on, the listing shows the device has a FHD display with a 1920x1080p resolution and 160 DPI. For memory and GPU, there is a 4GB RAM and AMD Radeon Vega 3 graphics. Previously, a similar device with the codename ‘Zork’ was spotted on Geekbench(via MSP). This including another listing with AMD Ryzen 7 3700C, 8GB RAM denotes that Google might price the Chromebook across segments.
Interestingly, the Google Chromebook in testing seems to run on Android 9 as shown by the listing. However, we feel that it might be due to the emulator testing and the final version will just run Chrome OS. Apart from this, there is no other info on the listing.
Will this debut under the Pixelbook series? Only time will tell. That said, this is not the only Chromebook Google has been working so far. Another Chromebook, likely to be a successor of Pixelbook Go, codenamed ‘Halvor’ with 11th gen Intel CPU, 16GB RAM, Touch screen, 3.5mm jack, and more is in the works.
New features are rolling out to the Google Assistant, most of which are family-focused and built around smart displays.
The first of the new features is Family Notes. Users will be able to add a sticky note (reminders or to-dos) to the main screen for everyone to see. Think of it as a reminder widget.
Google has also added new chimes and sound effects for the Family Bell feature that was announced back in August. The feature allows for the broadcast of special alarms such as bedtime, breakfast time, and movie time on different smart home devices. Along with the chime, the smart speaker or display will also say what the alarm is for. Family Bell can also be customized for a specific device. It has been reported by The Verge that the feature will have the ability to pause all bells for the day.
Another interesting feature that has been added to Google Assistant is the ability to ask where family members are. All you have to say is “Hey Google, where is my family?” or “Hey Google, where’s mom/dad (specific family member name)?” and the assistant will display the last known location of all members or a specific person on Google Maps. To use this feature, you need to have a Google family account and be aged over 13. Location sharing also has to have been turned on in Maps.
Other features that Google has added include new educational features such as interactive stories – users can say “Hey Google, tell me a story” and an interactive story will appear on the smart display. Google says you can also say “Hey Google, what can I learn with my family?” and family activities that can be completed by kids will show up.
Apple is facing a lot of heat lately w.r.t to its App Store policies. It already has an Epic Games’ lawsuit pending for next year. Amidst this, the company has taken a sudden step back and made a big announcement that will appease the App developers.
Apple today announced that it’s starting(via XDAdevelopers) a new “App Store Small Business Program”. According to the program, developers who qualify have to pay only a 15% commission. Precisely, if a developer earns less than $1 million in a given year, he is eligible for the program.
This is a big change from Apple who along with Google has recently been criticized for robust commission policies(earlier it was 30% flat). Moving on, Apple says the new program will begin on January 1, 2021. Talking about the program, Apple says it will release a comprehensive details of the policy only in December. However, you can take a look at the gist of it below:
It includes Existing developers who made up to $1 million in 2020 and new developers to the App Store. They can qualify for the program and the reduced commission.
If a developer surpasses the $1 million threshold, the standard commission rate will apply for the remainder of the year.
If a developer’s business falls below the $1 million threshold in a future calendar year, they can requalify for the 15 percent commission the year after.
Anyway, with this new program, the company has reportedly covered around 98% of the companies although they account for only 5% of App Store’s revenue in 2019. According to Apple, App Store revenue in 2019 generated $519 billion revenue with 85% of that benefiting third-party developers. That said, Apple will continue to charge the old 30% commission for those who sell digital goods and services more than $1 million in proceeds.
This is probably because it’s pissed off with the issue over Fortnite, Spotify, and 12 other companies. Back in August, Apple removed Epic Games’ Fortnite game from its App Store. This is because the latter reportedly violated App Store policies and opened direct micro-transactions with a 20% discount. Although Fortnite filed a lawsuit, Apple hit back with a counteraction saying it won’t exempt the game.
Later, it even filed a countersuit demanding seeking punitive damages and a full stop to unfair business practices. This turned hot as both Epic Games, and Spotify now joined together to form a CAF for advocating the Cupertino giant reforms. Let’s hope the new change at least benefits the newcomers in the future.
The world is brimming with lots of social media apps that aggressively fight for the user’s time and attention. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, are the leading lights with millions of members, but this could change soon, as a budding French startup has launched Yubo, a social media app it believes will take on the leaders squarely. Yubo aims to take on the big guys with a seemingly different and unconventional approach.
Unlike Twitter, Facebook and the rest, Yubo doesn’t allow users to follow or like a post. Rather It aims to possibly break the notion that the social media’s virtual stage is the exclusive reserve of media icons, celebrities and so-called social media “influencers”. Yubo’s main concept is to let you meet new friends and socialize with other people in an interesting and engaging manner, with several rooms to soothe various segments of the market.
After launching Yubo, the user is prompted with a list of rooms that can be joined. An array of different rooms are available to suit the user’s preferences. In these rooms, people can stream videos real-time from their phones and also chat with other members of the room. Of course, the user is free to join any room of his choice. A lot of games and activities are available inside the room, creating a cool outlook. You can also make friends by adding room members.
This room-centric approach by Yubo is reminiscent of Yahoo’s chatrooms at the twilight of the last century, hence may not be entirely new after all. Yubo, however, looks like an innovative improvement of the once-popular chat rooms, pioneered by the precursors of Facebook, Twitter and the likes. We keep our fingers crossed to see if the Yubo idea will gain traction to enable it to challenge the status quo in the social media space. The app is available for Android and iOS devices and can be downloaded from their respective app stores.
Alfawise is a company that focuses on delivering dynamic home technology, with its products ranging from Android TV boxes to automatic robot cleaners. To help people make their life more tech-savvy and entertaining, the company is offering up to 42% off on various products at Gearbest. Some products are up for direct discounted purchase, while others require a coupon code.
Below mentioned is the list of products with the best deals.
Alfawise Q9 Smart Home Projector
Alfawise Q9 boasts a 1920 x 1080p high resolution with a 40 – 300-inch screen size on a 1.8 to 5m projection distance. 150W LED 16000 lumens lamp beads, and 1000:1 contrast ratio delivers crisp image quality. Its multi-interface design allows various devices to connect, adding to the versatility. Alfawise Q9 Smart Home Projector is a part of the flash sale with over 42% off. One can enjoy this deal by adding a $159.99 coupon code- GBALQ902, bringing its price down to just $174.99.
Alfawise C30 Pro offers a 460 x 360mm large engraving area with a 3000mw high-intensity laser. It can easily inscribe on surfaces like wood, plastic, paper, bamboo, ox horn, and leather. Open structure motherboard and replaceable laser module enable convenient customization. Alfawise C30 Pro Laser Engraving Machine is currently up for sale with 38% off and can be purchased for just $183.99 using the coupon code- ALFAWISEC30P.
Alfawise U50 boasts a 3.5-inch touchscreen and a full metal body for stable and accurate printing. It can conveniently perform 260 x 260 x 270mm large-sized printing. The 5-step assembly and automatic feeding and unloading function further add to its versatility. Currently, Alfawise U50 3D Printer is available with a discount of 31% and can be purchased for just $209.99.It will be shipped from a local warehouse in Poland or Italy and will take anywhere between 1- 3 days to reach.
Alfawise U30’s versatile design makes it perfect for both professionals and amateurs. With 0.1 – 0.4mm precision printing, 2.8-inch full-color touchscreen, and built-in power supply, this printer offers user-convenience and enhanced functionality. Alfawise U30 3D Printer is currently up for sale with 21% off and available for just $219.99. One can enjoy this discounted price after entering the coupon code- ALFAU303D. It will be shipped from a local warehouse in Poland or Italy and will take anywhere between 1- 3 days to reach.
With the holiday season just around the corner, these deals by Alfawise may prove as an added bonus. Taking advantage of these discounts, you can even gift these products to your friends and family. The offer is up only for a limited time, so hurry.
A mysterious OPPO phone that has a model number of PDRM00 phone has received approval from the 3C authority of China. The identity of the device is not known yet. The 3C listing suggests that it could be an upper mid-range phone.
The OPPO PDRM00’s 3C appearance reveals that it carries 5G connectivity. The listing also reveals that the device could be shipping with a charger that has a model number of “VCA7JACH.” It offers maximum charging speeds of up to 65W.
At present, nothing else is known about the handset. Now that the device has received 3C certification, it may soon appear in the database of China’s TENAA authority. Probably, this device will go official in the home market in December.
OPPO is reportedly planning to launch the Reno5 series in December. Rumors have it that the OPPO PEGM00 / PEGT00 phone that was approved by TENAA earlier this month could be the Reno5. It is packed with specs lie a 6.43-inch AMOLED FHD+ display with a punch-hole design, Snapdragon 765G chipset, up to 12 GB of RAM, up to 256 GB of storage, Android 10 OS, a 64-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-mgeapixel quad-camera system, a 32-megapixel front camera, a 4,300mAh battery with 65W fast charging support.
OPPO PEGM00 / PEGT00 – the alleged Reno5
It remains to be seen whether the PDRM00 OPPO ends up as a Reno5 series smartphone. The OPPO PDSM00 is another mystery phone from the brand. It was recently spotted at Geekbench with specs like Dimensity 1000+, 8 GB of RAM, and Android 10 OS.
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