[Hot Deal] OnePlus smartphones getting an instant discount of upto Rs 3000 via HDFC cards

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Dec 2, 2020

OnePlus is offering massive discounts on smartphones including OnePlus 8 Pro, OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8T, OnePlus Nord, OnePlus 7T, and OnePlus 7T Pro. In partnership with HDFC cards, the company is offering an instant discount of up to Rs 3000. The interested users can available no-cost EMIs of up to 6 months on select cards. Amazon has even extended the offer by bundling upto Rs 5000 off coupon with the OnePlus 7T Pro.

Note: The instant discount is applicable on Credit card EMI payments, Non-EMI payments, and Debit card EMI payments. However, the discount shrinks with Debit Card Non-EMI payments.

[Hot] The effective price for OnePlus 7T Pro goes to Rs 38,999 with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage variant. If you have an HDFC credit or debit card then grab it for another 2000 Instant discount.

Discount using 5000 off Coupon and non-HDFC card.

OnePlus 8 Pro is retailing for Rs 54,999 is available for the effective price of Rs 51,999 after a Rs 3000 instant discount with HDFC credit and debit cards. OnePlus 8 is retailing for Rs 39,999 and will be available for 37,999 with a Rs 2000 discount. Similarly, OnePlus Nord 5G gets a Rs 1000 discount, the OnePlus 7T with a Rs 1500 discount, and the OnePlus 7T Pro for a Rs 2000 discount.

The latest flagship from OnePlus i.e OnePlus 8T 5G is available for the price of Rs 42,999, but you can own it for Rs 40,999 with a Rs 2000 Instant discount.

Avail Rs 3000 Instant Discount

It is a great deal for the interested folks who missed the festive season deals.

Related: OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Edition goes for sale on Giztop

Indian Govt intervenes to solve supply issues of local companies with MediaTek: Report

By

Balaji S

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Dec 2, 2020

The Indian Government has reached out to MediaTek to mediate discriminatory allegations by Indian companies. A report says the company has been diverting the majority of its supplies to Chinese vendors. As a result, companies like Micromax and Lava are reportedly facing shortages of chipsets.

Citing its sources, ET reports that the Indian Govt’s intervention to solve the issue is to avoid further complications. Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of ICEA(India Cellular and Electronics Association) says the govt is reaching out through proper channels to MediaTek. Apparently, it is doing this to negotiate the issue that has resulted in about 95% shortage of components for Indian companies.

However, MediaTek denies these allegations. It says the entire industry is experiencing shortages globally. It adds that the main reason is the supply chain disruption due to COVID-19 in addition to demand, 5G rollout. After the outbreak of the virus, companies faced a lot of issues and even started importing devices from China. Although reports predict a revival in 2021, the market is still yet to balance the demand and supply crisis.

Anyway, while the seriousness of the allegations isn’t clear, experts believe that it could also be due to Huawei stockpiling MediaTek’s chipsets in Q2. Back in May, after realizing the extension of the US ban, it reportedly increased orders to MediaTek by 300%. Later, as the September 15 deadline was approaching, it entered survival mode by stockpiling chipsets for the next 2 years.

Coming back, the report says that if Govt doesn’t intervene, it will affect Indian companies’ goals for the PLI scheme. Previously, the govt announced incentives worth ₹50,000 crores ($6.6 billion) including PLI, SPECS, EMC 2.0 schemes. Out of this PLI(Production Linked Incentive) requires companies to manufacture high-end phones for a period of 5 years locally and achieve yearly goals to get 4-6% incentive.

That said, experts say that Indian companies will be able to reach the first-year target of the PLI scheme only if they get supplies till March 2021. And if the issue persists, it isn’t going to be a smooth ride for them. Let’s wait and see how the situation pans out after the involvement of the govt.

Samsung Galaxy Note series discontinuation confirmed by Reuters

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Dec 2, 2020

The rumor mill which has been awash in recent months on the possible retirement of the Galaxy Note lineup of Samsung smartphones has finally gotten some authentication via Reuters.

What began as an unlikely news item around August 2020 has now gained sufficient traction to warrant the attention of a reliable news outlet like Reuters. It now looks almost certain that indeed Samsung will discontinue production of its Galaxy Note line. The latest confirmation of this news comes from Reuters and is based on several credible sources having sufficient knowledge of the plans of the tech giant on the matter.

The Reuters report is also in line with reports monitored this week from South Korea on the matter. The move is expected to highlight the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the declining demand for Samsung’s flagship smartphones, coupled with other operational and design challenges faced by the Galaxy Note series. Samsung is rumored to be planning to move its development resources production attention to its upcoming foldable phone range.

One of the sources that spoke to Reuters also confirmed that Samsung is planning to bring S Pen support to its Galaxy S21 Ultra and next foldable phone with the smart stylus being sold separately in the two cases.

The Samsung Galaxy Note series, at launch, was designed as a series of high-end Android phablets and smartphones primarily oriented towards pen computing in that all Galaxy Note models come with a stylus pen and had incorporated a pressure-sensitive Wacom digitizer and a generally larger screen. The Galaxy Note models also have software features that are oriented towards the stylus and their large screens, such as note-taking and digital scrapbooking apps, and split-screen capabilities for multitasking. The Note line serves as Samsung’s flagship smartphone model, positioned above the Samsung Galaxy S series.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed while monitoring further developments as Samsung is set to release the S21 series in January 2020.

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

Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro to launch in Indonesia on December 8

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Dec 2, 2020

The Mi 10T series made its debut in Europe in September. It then made its way to India in October. Today, Xiaomi has announced that the Mi 10T Pro will be launched in Indonesia this month.

The announcement which was made on Twitter revealed that the flagship phone will be launched in the country on December 8. The launch will be live-streamed and will begin at 7:30 PM Western Indonesian Time.

The Mi 10T Pro will be the second Xiaomi flagship phone launched in the country. Earlier this year, the Mi 10 series made its way to Indonesia but only the standard model was announced. Seeing as the Mi 10 Pro 5G didn’t launch, it is understandable why it is only the Mi 10T Pro launching in the country now. Its other siblings, the Mi 10T and the Mi 10T Lite will not be sold there.

The Mi 10T Pro has a 6.67-inch LCD display with a 2400 x 1080 resolution. The screen which has a hole in the top left corner of the screen also has a 144Hz refresh rate. The screen is covered with Gorilla Glass 5.

Under the hood is a Snapdragon 865 processor paired with 8GB of RAM. The phone comes in 128GB and 256GB versions but we don’t know if just one or both will be available when the phone launches next week.

There is a 20MP camera in front of the device while the rear is home to a 108MP primary camera, a 13MP ultrawide angle camera, and a 5MP macro camera. The Mi 10T Pro can record in 8K at 30fps and in 4K at up to 60fps. There is no audio jack but you get stereo speakers. The phone also has NFC and Bluetooth 5.1.

There is a 5000mAh battery inside the phone with support for 33W fast wired charging. Xiaomi ships the Mi 10T Pro with MIUI 12 based on Android 10.

Vivo’s Snapdragon 888-powered device running OriginOS hits GeekBench

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Dec 2, 2020

At the 2020 Snapdragon Technology Summit 2020 held yesterday, Qualcomm officially unveiled the latest Snapdragon 888 mobile platform built on TSMC’s 5nm process. The processor will power the next generation of flagship smartphones. The processor equally provides a fully integrated 5G modem.

Xiaomi‘s CEO Lei Jun did confirm that the brand will be the first to launch a Snapdragon 888-powered model which will be the Mi 11 expected in January 2021. Vivo also indicated that it will release a flagship with the new chipset in the first half of 2021.

The Vivo model powered by the Snapdragon 888 chipset has been spotted on the GeekBench database. The model appears with the model number Vivo V2056A and is powered by the Snapdragon 888 SoC listed with its codename Lahaina.

The device runs on Android 11 which will definitely have an overlay of Vivo’s custom OriginOS which is the only version running on Android 11. The device will also have 11GB of RAM.

The Snapdragon 888-powered Vivo phone is the first device to appear on benchmark database. As for the benchmark score, the Snapdragon 888 Vivo device has a single-core test score of 1135 points and a multi-core score of 3681 points. This is currently the highest score among the leaked engineering machines. The score almost doubles those of the Snapdragon 865-powered model both on the single and multi-core tests.

At the Snapdragon Technology Summit, Vivo Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Hu Baishan stated: “The vivo brand and the iQOO brand will soon launch mobile phones equipped with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G mobile platform. With the blessing of Snapdragon 888, the flagship products of vivo and iQOO will also bring consumers better image and photography capabilities, a more powerful gaming experience, as well as high-speed and convenient 5G connections and more intelligent functions.”

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

Alleged Samsung One UI 3.0 update schedule appears online

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Dec 2, 2020

Samsung has been beta testing One UI 3.0 based on Android 11 for a while now. However, the company is yet to release an official list of eligible devices as well as update schedule. But now, we finally have an alleged update timeline, courtesy of Samsung’s community app.

Recently, Samsung had posted the One UI 3.0 update roadmap for users of the Samsung Members app in Egypt. This list was first shared by TizenHelp (via XDA Developers).

This timeline should be mostly limited to Egypt but still, it gives us a rough idea about the Android 11 update rollout for Samsung devices worldwide. Anyway, let us take a look at this list but make sure to consider this piece of information with a pinch of salt.

One UI 3.0 Alleged Update Schedule

December 2020
- Galaxy S20
- Galaxy S20+
- Galaxy S20 Ultra
January 2021
- Galaxy Note20
- Galaxy Note20 Ultra
- Galaxy S10
- Galaxy S10+
- Galaxy S10 Lite
- Galaxy Note10
- Galaxy Note10+
- Galaxy Z Flip
- Galaxy Z Fold2
February 2021
- Galaxy Z Fold
March 2021
- Galaxy Note10 Lite
- Galaxy A51
- Galaxy M31
- Galaxy M30s
- Galaxy M21
- Galaxy Tab S7
April 2021
- Galaxy A50
- Galaxy M51
May 2021
- Galaxy A80
- Galaxy A71
- Galaxy A70
- Galaxy A31
- Galaxy A21s
- Galaxy Tab S6
- Galaxy Tab S6 Lite
June 2021
- Galaxy A11
- Galaxy M11
- Galaxy A01
- Galaxy A01 Core
- Galaxy Tab A
July 2021
- Galaxy A30
- Galaxy Tab S5e
August 2021
- Galaxy A30s
- Galaxy A20s
- Galaxy A20
- Galaxy A10s
- Galaxy A10
- Galaxy Tab A 10.1
- Galaxy Tab Active Pro
September 2021
- Galaxy Tab A 8.0

As we mentioned in the beginning, this above-mentioned One UI 3.0 (Android 11) update roadmap is unproven. But since it comes directly from the Samsung Members app, the official update timeline should be similar nevertheless.

Samsung might begin the One UI 3.0 stable rollout tomorrow(December 3)

By

Balaji S

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Dec 2, 2020

Samsung is busy perfecting it’s latest One UI 3.0 based on Android 11 with the beta program. The company, despite encountering several bugs, is on course to launch the stable build as soon as possible. And it might start tomorrow as a report says a stable version for Galaxy S20 is coming on December 3.

As reported by Tizenhelp, the Samsung support team has reportedly said that Samsung Galaxy S20 will get the stable version of One UI 3.0 based on Android 11 tomorrow i.e December 3. Accordingly, a screenshot shared by the report shows an alleged reply of a Samsung representative to a Korean user.

It says(Google Translated) that the schedule is on December 3 but information regarding this will appear on Samsung Members App. For the unware, Samsung is currently running a Beta program for the One UI 3.0. To try out the features, users will have to signup for it on the above-mentioned app under ‘One UI‘ banner. Coming back, the reply also includes a disclaimer that the update schedule may change even after the rollout. That is, it might get suspended if a bug is encountered.

This is understandable considering its Beta program hasn’t been that smooth, to say the least. After testing the One UI 3.0 Beta with developers, Samsung kicked off the program for users of Galaxy S20 and followed it up with various flagships including the yesteryear Galaxy S10. Although the company was right on track, it encountered issues like battery drain, lock-screen bug.

However, after overcoming the issues, it has reportedly stopped Beta updates for S20, and Note 20 series already in South Korea. This further strengthens that stable update isn’t that far away. That said, as the report states, the reply is for a community member in South Korea.

This suggests that just like every OTA update, Samsung could initially release it in South Korea before expanding to other regions. Let’s wait and see if this turns out true tomorrow.

First sale of Redmi Note 9 series exceeds 300,000 units in China

By

Balaji S

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Dec 2, 2020

Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note9 series of smartphones a week ago in China. And as per the reports, first sale of Redmi Note9 5G Pro exceeds several thousand units in the country. Additionally, Redmi has also shared the official sale figures of the entire Note9 series.

Redmi Note 9 Series China — Redmi Note 9 Pro (Left), Redmi Note 9 (Center), and Redmi Note 9 4G (Right)

Redmi Note9 series comprising of the Note9 5G, Note9 Pro 5G, and Note9 4G went on sale at 0:00 China time on December 1. And according to Redmi’s official Weibo post, the first sale of the entire Note9 series exceeds 300,000 units. Previously, Xiaomi sold about 300,000 units of the Redmi Note 8 Pro in first sale back in 2019. That said, the company hasn’t shared the official figures of individual units yet.

Anyway, the data for the entire Note9 series is according to reports from Xiaomi store, JD.com, Tmall, and Suning stores as of December 1, 12:00 local time. Besides, as reported by Mydrivers, Jingdong shares the first sale figures of the Redmi Note9 Pro 5G. It says that more than 10,000 units of the device got sold out in just 52 seconds. Although a steady figure for the device isn’t available yet, we can imagine it breaking every record in the future.

In fact, the device deserves it as it has all the reasons to earn it right from the first Redmi 108MP camera smartphone to bringing 5G to the masses. The Redmi Note series of devices has always been the center of attraction for Xiaomi. For instance, the sale of the Note 7 series exceeded 10 million in just 129 days while the Note 8 series did it even quicker.

Additionally, an official report by the company shows that the sale of all the Note lineup so far has exceeded 140 million units globally. Anyway, let’s wait for a bit to know how the Note9 series performs in the coming months.

Galaxy S21+ leaks in high-quality 3D CAD renders

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Dec 2, 2020

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S21 series in mid-January. The series will consist of three models namely Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra. The design of this trio has already leaked. However, we have only seen the detailed renders of the base model and the high-end model so far. But not anymore as new high-quality 3D CAD renders of Galaxy S21+ have emerged.

The renders of Galaxy S21+ silver color variant come from the Italian case maker Pigtou in collaboration with a leakster called xleaks7 on Twitter.

According to the leak, the phone will feature an identical design as the other two models. It is said to flaunt a 6.8-inch flat display with a centered punch-hole camera. But according to a previous leak, this handset will come equipped with an FHD+ AMOLED panel (LTPS) with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Further, the back of the device, which is yet to be determined (glass or polycarbonate) will house a unique triple camera design. This setup will include a 12MP wide-angle shooter, a 12MP ultra-wide angle snapper, and a 64MP telephoto camera.

As for buttons and ports, the volume rockers and power key will be located on the right side, whereas the USB Type-C port, speaker grille, and primary microphone will be at the bottom. The left side will be empty as the SIM card slot along with the secondary microphone will be at the top.

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Other features of this smartphone include Qualcomm Snapdragon 888/Exynos 2100, One UI 3.1 based on Android 11, 4,800mAh battery, 5G, WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.1. Last but not least, the Samsung Galaxy S21+ will be available in three colors namely Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, and Phantom Violet respectively.

Almost 60% of the smartphones shipped in Q3 2020 featured quad-camera setup

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Dec 2, 2020

Smartphones killed the digital camera market a long time ago. In fact, phones have now become the only camera for most users. The improvements in mobile photography and videography throughout the years have been phenomenal. Handsets with multiple cameras have now become a norm. In fact, phones with quad-camera setup shipped more in quantities in Q3 2020.

Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra Camera Module Featured — Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra

According to the market research firm Omdia (via GSMArena), almost 60% of the smartphones shipped in Q3 2020 had a quad-camera setup. Xiaomi ranked first in this segment, closely followed by realme. Other top OEMs were OPPO, HUAWEI, vivo, and Samsung respectively.

Out of the above-mentioned brands, OPPO and realme were the only companies to not ship phones with a single camera during this period. Also, it is worth noting that realme hasn’t launched a single camera smartphone in a very long time.

On the other hand, Apple topped the chart for single-camera phones, thanks to two of its bestsellers – the iPhone XR and the iPhone SE 2020. Interestingly, Xiaomi came second, followed by Samsung, HUAWEI, and vivo respectively.

Apple also topped the list of dual-camera smartphones, courtesy of 2020’s best-selling handset iPhone 11. Whereas, vivo stood first in terms of triple camera handsets, realme led the chart of dual-camera smartphones, HUAWEI was the only top company to ship penta-camera phones in the last quarter.

Anyway, we all know that most of these multi-camera smartphones have useless low megapixel macro and depth sensors. But the general public does not feel the same. Hence, quad-camera phones were popular in the third quarter of 2020.

Note: HUAWEI includes HONOR, Xiaomi includes Redmi and POCO, and lastly, vivo includes iQOO.

OnePlus records strong growth in Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands with the Nord

By

Sean

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Dec 2, 2020

OnePlus saw strong growth in Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands in the third quarter of this year. This growth arrived as its smartphone shipments more than doubled thanks to its upper mid range handset offerings.

The Chinese smartphone maker recorded its highest ever shipments in a quarter, which was backed by its smartphone range within the 250 to 399 US Dollars price. The company saw great success through this range, which was mostly accredited to the OnePlus Nord. According to a CounterointResearch report, the company saw the fastest growth in Finland during Q3 2020, noting a 209 percent sequential growth. Notably, it was the only brand apart from Xiaomi to also record positive growth within the declining market. This even had the company become the top 5G smartphone brand in terms of units in the region with a 53 percent market share, beating Samsung with its 35 percent market share.

In Denmark, the company was again one of the fastest growing OEM, marking another doubling growth over the previous quarter. However, Samsung managed to still stay ahead of the Chinese brand in this market with a 38 percent market share for Android smartphones compared to the 25 percent market share of OnePlus. The Nord helped make the brand the second largest 5G smartphone brand in Q3 2020 in the region.

Arriving to the Netherlands, the positive trend continues as the company recorded strong growth in another declining market. Here, OnePlus marked an impressive 412 percent annual growth in Q3 2020 despite the Dutch market falling by 8 percent. The region is dominated by the South Korean tech giant with a 52 percent market share, while Oppo and Apple arrived second and third respectively. Despite not making the top 3 spots, the Nord still managed to become the third most popular smartphone in the region, accounting for 11 percent of the total shipments during this period. Looking at these results, we can only expect the brand to grow further in all of the three regions.

Indians spend 2,400 INR ($32) on average on fixing out of warranty Smartphones

By

Sean

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Dec 2, 2020

Indians apparently spend an average of 2,400 INR (roughly 32 US Dollars) on servicing their smartphones that are out of warranty. The report arrives after a study was conducted over major cities in the country.

According to the report, one in every four smartphones users in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Noida, and Ahmedabad visits a service center within just 6 months of purchase. In recent times, after sales service has also become increasingly important for brands and CounterpointResearch has found one of the most common problems faced by Indian users and the average expenditure on fixing out of warranty smartphones.

Issues related to charging, software, sluggish/hanging operations, and display were few of the most common problems faced by Indian customers as per a survey. Furthermore, when these devices are out of warranty, the people usually end up spending an average of 2,400 INR. Interestingly, the survey also found that 8 out of the 10 people that visit service centers are satisfied with the after sales service.

As per Senior Analyst Pavel Naiya, “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many after-sales service processes have been affected in India and abroad. Under these circumstances, leading brands have taken initiatives to digitize the service delivery process, reduce wait times and maintain contactless delivery.” The analyst further added that this resulted in “two-thirds of the respondents received their smartphones within a day while about half of the respondents said that the parts required for the service were available at the service center.”

Other notable findings in the report included Oppo being one of the fastest in terms of after sales services. Realme came in a close second with its turnaround time having 73 percent and 72 percent, respectively, of the customers receive their handsets back within a day. Vivo arrives third with 68 percent. On the other hand, Xiaomi rated the highest on “explanation of the problem” and the solution. This translates to higher knowledge and soft skills of the customer support executives in comparison to other brands.

Honor strengthens its offline channels after independence from Huawei

By

Sean

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Dec 2, 2020

Honor is currently working on strengthening its offline layout and offline distribution channels after becoming independent from Huawei. The company is expanding the number of its physical retails stores and has already raised the number since September.

According to a TechSina report, Honor has already opened multiple new stores across its home country, China. The new retail stores are available in regions like Chengdu, Lanzhou, Wuhan, and Xiamen, and will soon also include other regions as well. Furthermore, it is also reported that the Chinese budget smartphone maker has even been working on two new Honor experience stores, which will open sometime in December 2020.

One of the experience stores will be in Chengdu Vientiane City while the other will be in the Nanjing Gemdale Plaza. A third Honor experience store is also slated to open in January 2021 and will be in Taiyuan. This showcases the company’s accelerated focus on offline channels that began back in 2015, and as of the end of 2019, there are more than 2,300 offline Honor stores in China.

Back in July 2020, Zhao Ming, Honor President stated in an interview that the the company’s offline sales had surpassed its online sales for the first time in the previous six months. For those unaware, Huawei sold Honor to Zhixin New Information Technology Co. Ltd. in November. Now, it seems that Huawei’s ex-subsidiary might become its rival in the Chinese smartphone market, with its recent aggressive push towards offline sales.

Huawei pushes for Southeast Asia with its 5G deal in Indonesia

By

Sean

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Dec 2, 2020

Huawei Technologies have faced increasing pressures in the west and having already faced multiple bans in regions like the UK and the US. However, the company is also focusing on the Southeast Asian region, as it landed the 5G deal in Indonesia.

The Chinese tech giant is a known leader in the telecommunication equipment and has entered into an agreement with Indonesia to develop talent in 5G technology and its related fields in the region. The company is set to train 100,000 people to become proficient in digital technology, especially in sectors regarding cloud and 5G networking. Huawei will even set up its internal employee training in the country based on the memorandum of understanding.

According to a NikkeiAsia report, the memorandum is the first of its kind for the government. According to as source close to the matter, “With Huawei’s help, we expect to bring the level of our human resources up to international standards.” The Chinese telecommunications giant will also be collaborating with a government agency to push the development of artificial intelligence and 5G networking. Notably, Huawei’s contribution doesn’t end there as the company will also be providing technological cooperation to Indosat Ooredoo, which is the second largest telecom carrier in Indonesia, for the installation of 5G infrastructure in the country’s Jakarta capital region.

Another source close to Telekomunikasi Indonesia stated that “Huawei equipment are 20-30% less costly, and the quality is advancing,” when compared to equipment from Nokia and Ericsson. The company’s push in the region showcases its efforts for the Southeast Asian region. Huawei is also established a 5G research center in Thailand and is spending to support local startups and is already investing in the third data center in the country, which should be completed by next year.

OPPO patents a smartphone design with 15x hybrid zoom camera

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Dec 2, 2020

With Huawei’s smartphone market share dropping, Xiaomi and OPPO came out as the beneficiaries in the third quarter of 2020 in Western Europe, as per IDC. The former has had a presence in these regions for a while now. But the latter has now begun to take advantage of Huawei’s situation. In order to excel, OPPO has also been filing various patents in the past few months. One such new smartphone design patent with a 15x zoom camera has emerged.

Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications filed this new smartphone design patent in July 2020. It got approved and published last month on November 6. As usual, LetsGoDigital was the first to find it and the publication even teamed up with Concept Creator (Jermaine Smit) for 3D renders.

According to the patent documents, this OPPO smartphone design includes a curved display on the front with a centered punch-hole. In case you do not know, for some unknown reason, only Samsung has released OLED smartphones with centered punch-hole so far.

But recently, Fujitsu Arrows NX9 F-52A became the first non-Samsung with such a display. However, this device will be limited to Japan and will only go on sale in late January. Hence, we think that this exclusivity has now ended and we may see more consumer-ready handsets as well as design patents with centered punch-hole OLED display in the future.

Coming back to the patent, the back of the handset houses a horizontally aligned triple camera setup. The original sketches do not have any text, but the 3D renders by Jermaine include ‘15X ZOOM’ lettering below the LED flash since this phone supports up to 15x hybrid zoom, as per documents.

If this sounds similar, then you aren’t alone. That’s because OPPO filed a similar smartphone design patent but with a circular pop-up camera module instead of a punch-hole. In other words, the placement of the selfie camera is the only major difference between these two designs.

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Last but not least, the handset has a power key on the right side, volume buttons on the left side, and a USB Type-C port at the bottom along with a speaker grille and a primary microphone. Concept Creator has included a 3.5mm headphone jack for fun, but do note that the original sketches do not have it.

Having said, unlike the design patent with a circular pop-up camera module, this one can be easily implemented without much complexity. Hence, OPPO can bring this design to the market if the company wants to.

France to seek help from EU if US retaliates against its digital tax

By

Sean

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Dec 2, 2020

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said earlier this week that France will retaliate with the European Union if the US decides to implement its trade sanctions in January over recent French tax on digital services.

For those unaware, the Trump administration announced back in July that it would levy additional duties of 25 percent on French cosmetics, handbags, and other imports. These are valued around 1.3 billion US Dollars. The changes in customs arrived after France announced its digital services tax, with its implementation being on hold till January 2021. According to Le Maire, “If there are American sanctions against the French decision, which … is the application of French law, we will immediately seek a riposte at the European level.”

The French Finance Minister said this in a meeting with the European Union regarding the digital services taxation. Notably, France had suspended collection of its digital services tax till January, as international negotiations were under way to rewrite the rules of cross border digital taxation, as per a Reuters report. At the moment, about 140 countries are involved in these talks, with negotiations to last till mid 2021. The discussions were stalled as the US was reluctant to sign on a multilateral deal ahead of its presidential elections.

Furthermore, France has already sent out notices to companies that are liable to pay the December installment of the tax. It is expected that the taxes will raise over 400 million euros (roughly 482 US Dollars) in 2020 alone. The French Finance Minister also pledged that the country will revoke the French tax as soon as international agreement was reached. Meanwhile, trade partners of the US are also waiting to see what stance the next6 president Joe Biden will take on the matter.

Vivo V20 Pro 5G with 44MP dual selfie cameras, 64MP triple cameras and Snapdragon 765G launched for Rs 29,990 (~$407)

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Dec 2, 2020

In August, Vivo launched the Vivo S7 5Gv in China. The same was rebadged as the Vivo V20 Pro 5G in Southeast Asian markets. Today, the Chinese brand announced the Vivo V20 Pro 5G phone in India. It has arrived as the second 5G-ready handset after the Vivo X50 Pro from the brand in the country.

Vivo V20 Pro 5G price in India

The Vivo V20 Pro 5G for India comes in a sole version of 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and it priced at Rs 29,990 (~$407). The phone is now available for purchase in Sunset Melody and Midnight Jazz colors through online and offline platforms. Customers buying the phone online can take advantage of offers like Rs 2,000 instant cashback on ICICI Bank credit and debit cards, up to 12 months no-cost EMI, and Rs 2,500 additional discount on exchange. Offline purchasers can avail of offers like 10 percent cashback through ICIICI Bank cards, Bank of Baroda credit card, and Zest Money. Some of the other offers available offline include Rs 101 Bajaj FinServ offer, one-time screen replacement, Vivo Upgrade program, and more.

Editor’s Pick: Vivo Y51 to reportedly launch in India later this month

Vivo V20 Pro 5G specifications and features

The Vivo V20 Pro 5G houses a 6.44-inch AMOLED screen with an in-display fingerprint scanner. The screen that features a wide notch produces a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels and an aspect ratio of 20:9. The Snapdragon 765G chipset powers the phone with LPPDR4x RAM and UFS 2.1 storage. It has a microSD card slot for additional storage.

The Android 11 OS that is customized with FunTouch OS 11 comes preinstalled on the Vivo V20 Pro 5G. It is backed by a 4,000mAh battery that is coupled with 33W rapid charging technology. The back panel of the V20 Pro 5G has a triple camera system that comprises of an f/1.89 aperture 64-megapixel primary camera, a multifunctional 8-megapixel camera that can not only shoot superwide shots, but also macro images, and a 2-megapixel mono lens. The rear cameras support Super Night Mode and 4K video shooting.

The V20 Pro 5G is blessed with a dual selfie camera system that includes eye autofocus enabled 44-megapixel main camera and a 108-degree 8-megapixel ultrawide lens. The front camera can capture stunning shots in low-light conditions and it comes with impressive vide shooting capabilities such as 4K selfie video, slow-motion selfie video recording, and Dual View function that can shoot footages through the front and rear cameras at the same time.

Apple iPhone 12 users are facing drops in LTE and 5G services when traveling

By

Sean

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Dec 2, 2020

The Apple iPhone 12 series launched over a month ago and was the first lineup from the company to feature 5G network support. Although, it seems that certain users are facing a major problem as their new iPhone units are unexpectedly dropping both 5G and LTE services.

Apple iPhone 12 Featured — Apple iPhone 12

According to a 9To5Mac report, iPhone 12 users have been facing this issue especially when they are traveling or driving. At the moment, it is unclear just how widespread the issue is, but a couple of hundred posts have surfaced on online forums. Apparently, users have been claiming that the issue might be with the way the iPhone 12 handles switching between towers. An iPhone 12 user affected by this issue even managed to recreate the issue when traveling. Notably, he did not face the issue of losing service on his older iPhone 11 Pro.

Similarly, many other users have also come forward complaining about the issue. Reportedly, Verizon and AT&T service users are the worst affected by the issue but the issue also extends to T-Mobile users as well. People that are facing this issue have been sharing their grievances on sites like Reddit and other official channels like Apple support, but so far, no fix has been made available.

Unfortunately, it is still unknown what is actually causing the issue, but we can expect Apple to soon respond to the issue as the number of people facing the problem has been seemingly growing. So stay tuned for more updates and let us know in the comments section down below if you have been facing the issue with your iPhone 12 handset.

Samsung aims to make foldable smartphones thinner and lighter

By

Jeet

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Dec 2, 2020

Samsung is one of the few major smartphone makers that has launched a foldable smartphone. While it debuted its first such device last year, it is now working on a third-generation foldable smartphone. This shows that the company is quite serious about this category of products and has a plan for the future.

In line with that, during the Samsung 2020 Investor Forum, Li Zhongmin, Executive Officer at Samsung Mobile states that the company will now promote the smartphone market from “stock competition” to “incremental competition.”

Talking about the foldable smartphone, he says that they are not expansion phones but a whole new lineup in itself. He has also revealed the South Korean giant’s future plans for foldable smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G Mystic Bronze — Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G

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The company is now planning to make the foldable phones thinner and lighter in the future. Currently, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 weighs 282 grams and measures about 16.9 in thickness when folded. He adds that while customers are currently buying such phones because of the novelty, the company is now planning to focus more on portability, design, and productivity.

Samsung is already working towards that goal. The company’s foldable device launched this year comes with Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG) that offers better picture optimization as well as more durability. It also made design changes, especially with the hinge part that now prevents dust from entering.

The foldable smartphone market is in the very early stage of development and in the future, we expect to see some amazing design and form-factor. A primary example of that is the recently showcased OPPO X 2021 Concept Smartphone that features a rollable extending display.

Apple VR headset may use Fluid filled lenses that can help users with bad eyesight

By

Sean

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Dec 2, 2020

While there have been multiple rumors regarding an Apple AR/VR headset and its features, a recent report states that it might sport fluid filled lenses that will allow it to also work for users with bad eyesight.

According to an AppleInsider report, the Cupertino based giant’s augmented reality/virtual reality headset might feature fluids that can deform to the shape of lens to help improve the eyesight of the user. In either an AR or VR headset, the integral aspect is the ability to see the virtual content. However, since a headset will generally have the display at a close proximity of the users’ eye, which might cause discomfort overtime. Generally, a VR headset uses optical lenses positioned between the eyes and the screen, so being able to adjust the perceived focal distance for the user might make it more comfortable to use.

At the moment, the technology used generally would have the lenses shift distances from the user to change the perceived focal length. Furthermore, this still creates an issue if the user has bad eyesight, which may require a change in lenses to completely remove the issue. This would cause users to remove their glasses before using the VR headsets since changing the lenses isn’t practical. But Apple might be able to working on a fix for the issue with a recent patent titled, “Electronic device with a tunable lens.”

In the patent, the company suggests that the problem of lens selection and switching could be eliminated by using a single lens system. The iPhone maker proposes taking advantage of fluid and pressure to make adjustments through a malleable lens that would require little input from the user. To sum things up, Apple might be working on creating a series of lens components around a central fluid chamber, which can be adjusted by inflating or emptying to change their optical properties.

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