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DSCC: Samsung will lead the foldable smartphone market with over 80% share by year-end

Foldables are said to take over the world of smartphones in the next few years. We can already witness their success, thanks to devices from Samsung, Motorola, and Huawei. The South Korean giant is clearly a market leader in this segment. A new report by Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) also confirms the same providing more insights into this new breed of mobile devices for the year 2020.

Samsung Logo Blue Featured

The report by DSCC says that Q2 of 2020 is expected to be the record period for foldable panel shipments this year. The firm also forecasts Galaxy Z Flip to the top-selling foldable of the entire 2020, followed by Galaxy Z Fold2, Motorola razr, and Galaxy Z Flip 5G.

Talking about brands, Samsung will account for more than 80% of the market by the end of 2020.  The report adds that this is due to Huawei’s inability to launch the Mate X2, no thanks to the US ban.

Further, clamshell foldable smartphones will cover 60% of the market, again due to the absence of Mate X2 with an in-folding screen. As for display cover, UTG (Ultra Thin Glass) will lead with more than 80% share.

Whereas, Nitto and Colon have a dominate share in foldable polarizers and CPI (Colorless Polyimide) respectively over Sumitomo Chemical. Lastly, Qualcomm has over 95% market with Snapdragon 855+ leading the chart, followed by Snapdragon 865+.

 

POCO X3 confirmed to launch in India on September 22

Xiaomi’s POCO brand has just confirmed that it would be launching the POCO X3 in India on September 22. The confirmation comes in form of a video teaser which also touts the device’s camera to have autofocus onboard.POCO X3

The POCO X3 is the successor to the Poco X2 which was launched earlier this year in the Asian country. The X2 was a rebadged Redmi K30 4G which some didn’t find impressive. The brand seems to have taken that into consideration as this time around, the X3 is not a rebranded Redmi phone.

The phone has been listed on Flipkart and the product page contains renders of the device. The renders show that the X3 will have the same design as the POCO X3 NFC that was launched recently in Europe. The main difference between both models may be the absence of NFC on the Indian version.

As a reminder, the POCO X3 NFC features a 6.67-inch FHD+ Dot Display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate. The 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate creates an incredibly smooth and responsive experience superior to most flagships on the market.

The phone happens to be the first model that is powered by a Snapdragon 732G processor paired with 6GB of RAM. There are also 64GB and 128GB storage options. The device packs a side-mounted fingerprint sensor integrated with the power button rather than integrated into the display. There is equally a quad-camera setup at the rear and at the front, a centrally placed punch-hole houses the selfie camera.

 

Get $30 OFF Poco X3 on Giztop (Coupon Code Inside)

Poco announced its brand new Poco X3 model in Europe last week featuring a 120Hz display and Snapdragon 732G. The phone succeeds the extremely popular Poco X2 model and builds on the best features of its predecessor.

POCO X3 NFC010 featured

Now, Giztop is offering $30 OFF of the Poco X3 NFC model till September 30, effectively bringing down its price from $229 to just $199. The phone retails in Europe and other regions at the standard $229 price tag, so this is a significant discount on its international retail price.

All you have to do is use the following coupon during checkout and you’ll get $30 OFF.

Coupon: POCOX3

Purchase Link: Giztop Poco X3

This coupon code is valid for both 6GB + 64GB and 6GB + 128GB models. So you can effectively get the Poco X3 NFC 128GB model for just $219 after discount.

Poco X3 DiscountThe Poco X3 NFC was launched in Europe last week for EUR 229 for its 6GB+64GB model and EUR 269 for the 6GB +128GB variant.

It comes with a large 5160mAh battery with a 33W fast charge, a 64MP quad-cameras, and MIUI 12 based on Android 10.

GizTop is currently accepting pre-orders for the Poco X3 and orders will start shipping by the end of September.

 

Google Meet gets background blur while Duo gets support for screen sharing

Google has rolled out two new features for two of its apps that users should find incredibly useful. The new features are for Google Meet and Google Duo and they improve how you use both apps.

For Google Meet, users will now be able to blur their backgrounds during video calls. When you turn it on, it blurs your background in a similar fashion as a photo taken in portrait mode. The feature has been available on some other video calling apps such as Skype, and it comes in handy seeing as most folks are working from home these days and there are times your apartment is untidy or you have objects in the background.

Google says the feature is available for only devices with 4 cores and higher that support hyper-threading. Unfortunately, it is not available on Chromebooks and mobile devices. Google says ChromeOS and mobile apps will get it later.

To blur your background, you can do it right in a meeting or before a meeting. When in a meeting, all you have to do is click the More button at the bottom right and turn on background blur. To turn it on before a meeting, go to meet.google.com, select the meeting, at the bottom right of self-view, click turn o background blur and then join now.

Google says those having issues using background effects can turn on hardware acceleration. To do this, open Chrome > Settings (top left corner) > System > use hardware acceleration when available.

 

Google Duo

For Google Duo, you will now be able to share your screen with friends and loved ones. So if you need to browse photos or plan activities, this should be easier to do and should eliminate the need to send screenshots.

This feature is available for all Duo users.

 

Xiaomi monitors may soon launch in India

Xiaomi India has a habit of sending out surveys before launching any new products. Back in July, the company shared a survey for televisions and based on that the company launched Mi TV 4A Horizon Edition last week in the country. It may even launch further new models at the Smarter Living 2021 event scheduled for September 29. That said, the fim has now sent out a new survey for monitors.

Mi surface display
Mi Surface Gaming Monitor / Mi Curved Gaming Monitor 34″

Xiaomi sells a wide variety of products in India but it debuted its laptops only this year. Now, the company seems to be interested in bringing its monitors to India, as per a survey shared by the company with MIUI 12 Pilot Testers.

This survey asks the participants a total of 15 questions, which include preferred size, type of the panel, resolution, refresh rate, response time, color gamut, price, and more. 

Currently, Xiaomi sells the following 3 monitor models on Mi.com China.

However, globally, it only sells the curved monitor. But since India is one of the key markets for the company outside its home country, it may debut one of those upcoming monitor models in the region, which was leaked in May.

Anyway, this is just a speculation from our end based on the official Xiaomi India survey form. Hence, we would consider you to take this piece of information with a pinch of salt.

 

Huawei patents technology that can predict female menstrual cycle

Huawei, the major consumer electronics maker, has patented new technology which isn’t a regular patent for a smartphone or the likes, but rather in the field of medicine. The patent describes a new technology that can help predict the menstrual cycle for females.

The patent was found in the IncoPat website database and has been created to accurately map the monthly cycle for females. While not particularly known for it, the Chinese tech giant has dabbled with medical equipment in the past. So this might be another one of their one off creations that would seek to make lives more convenient for its large customer base.

Huawei Logo MWC 2019

According to the patent, the technology offers a method and an appartus (or technical equipment/machinery) through which, women can predict their physiological cycle. This method comprises of taking various measurements throughout a month, including when the user is asleep to accurately map the entire physiological parameters. Through these measurements, the device in question could accurately estimate the upcoming cycle based on any changes that might have occurred during the days leading up to it.

 

Oppo patents smartwatch with a round 3D curved display

Oppo, the known smartphone manufacturer, has recently patented a new smartwatch. This new wearable features a round 3D curved display along with a digital crown. It might be the next iteration of the company’s Oppo Watch.

Oppo

The Oppo Watch launched with a 3D curved display back in March 2020. However, it didn’t feature a circular display but a rectangular one. This made many draw similarities with the Apple Watch. So, the Chinese tech giant might be trying to distance itself from being a mere clone. The patent was filed back in 2019 with the CNIPA (China National Intellectual Property Administration), which was published earlier this week.

According to a LetsGoDigital report, the Oppo smartwatch in the patent features a rounded display built on a rectangular housing. On the bottom, numerous sensors can be observed, which are likely to monitor heart rate and more. The sides feature a button and a digital crown that are necessary for basic controls. Unfortunately, it is still unknown if the company is planning on actually launching such a wearable gadget or whether it is just covering all bases.

Oppo

Three variations of the smartwatch were patented, with the first featuring a rounded 3D curved display on a rectangular housing while others sported a more square shaped flat display. This might be for a more affordable variant. The last one was a fully rounded 3D curved display but built upon a circular housing, with a unique looking aesthetic that would probably be paired with kinds types of straps.

 

Xiaomi India schedules Smarter Living 2021 event for September 29

Xiaomi is on a launch spree since the beginning of this year in India. After releasing a wide variety of smartphones, some laptops, and televisions, the company has scheduled another event for September 29 called “Smarter Living 2021”. The teaser image shared by Xiaomi hints at a number of products that will be unveiled at this virtual event.

Xiaomi Smarter Living 2020 Event India September 29

Last year, Xiaoami held a similar launch event in India at which the company introduced new Mi TV models, Mi Smart Water Purifier, and Mi Smart Band 4 to name a few. We can expect the firm to announce a follow-up to these products and much-more going by the teaser.

That said, the teaser image with SMARTER LIVING 2021 art includes outlines of the following Xiaomi ecosystem products.

Apart from these products, Xiaomi may also launch new Mi TVs according to a report from July. It may also introduce new laptop models but we wouldn’t stress on it.

Anyway, what we can tell for sure is that the company will definitely launch Mi Smart Band 5 and Mi Watch Revolve as per the teaser picture and a leak from reliable tipster Ishan Agarwal.

 

Huawei has been abandoned by chipmakers in China: Report

Ever the US sanctions ended chip supply from TSMC to Huawei, the Chinese tech giant had placed its bets on various Chinese chipmakers and even started a few joint projects as well. However, it seems that the company might have just been abandoned by these semiconductor based companies in its home country.

huawei

For those unaware, the US had enforced new restrictions that cut off Huawei’s chip supply. Ever since then, rumors and reports had surfaced pointing at the company looking into alternatives through other companies like MediaTek and Qualcomm. But recent sanctions have reinforced the restrictions, as Huawei and its suppliers now are required to obtain a special license if they use American made technologies. This caused the company to go into “survival mode,” with the deadline being September 15.

According to a DigiTimes report, Huawei had been aggressively stockpiling on chips just before the deadline. And now, any additional shipments have been suspended. But the issues for the Chinese smartphone maker doesn’t stop there as it is being reported that Chinese chipmakers have also quietly suspended shipments to Huawei. This ao includes all the joint development projects the companies had been working on together.

Huawei Logo MWC 2019

The reason for this is apparently due to fear of being targetted by the US for supplying Huawei. Industry sources close to the matter have revealed that the local chipmakers have suspended shipments since the US might also pressure them for being in breach of the US trade restrictions. If true, this would add another obstacle in Huawei’s operations that would deal a devastating blow that will be felt once its chip inventory finally dries up.

 

Huawei brings in Russian engineers to help develop HarmonyOS

Huawei has brought in is research and development team from Russia to join in the development of the company’s proprietary operating system, dubbed HarmonyOS (or HongMengOS in China).

Huawei

According to a GlobalTimes report, the Chinese tech giant’s Russian R&D team has around 1,500 staff in cities including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Novosibirsk. This Russian team has been in close contact with Huawei’s development partners to help the research product be “more compatible with Huawei’s mobile ecosystem.” Earlier this month, the company had announced HarmonyOS 2.0, with its beta arriving in December 2020 and smartphone roll out sometime in 2021.

While the development of its own operating system has been directly influenced by the recent pressures from US sanctions, the company has not abandoned the Android platform. For those unaware, Huawei lost access to Google mobile services back in 2019 as it faced a ban. Since then, the restrictions have been reinforced to make it harder for Huawei to gain access to US made technology.

Huawei
Powered By HarmonyOS logo

At the moment, the company is facing an extensive ban, with its supply chain being threatened to be cut off. So the news of the Russian team working on HarmonyOS 2.0 implies that the company is rushing to get the new OS out in time before it possibly completely loses access to the Android OS system.

 

Realme 7i real images emerge ahead of tomorrow’s launch

Realme will be announcing the Realme 7 and Realme 7i smartphones in Indonesia tomorrow. The specs of the Realme 7 are already known since it has already debuted in India earlier this month. While the Realme 7i is a new smartphone, its entire specs have surfaced in recent reports. A fresh leak gives a look at the real Realme 7i smartphone.

The Realme 7i can be seen in the Polar Blue color edition in the leaked shot. Apart from blue, the smartphone will be available in Aurora Green color. The rear side of the phone features a 64-megapixel quad-camera system and a fingerprint sensor.

The other does not show the entire display of the phone. However, it does reveal the key details of the smartphone. The Realme 7i (RMX2103 model number) has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of built-in storage. The Snapdragon 662 chipset fuels the smartphone and its preinstalled with Realme UI 1.0 based Android 10 OS.

Shown above are some more images of the Realme 7i that have surfaced on Instagram.

Realme 7i specifications

Past reports have revealed that the Realme 7i has a 90Hz 6.5-inch HD+ display with punch-hole design. It has a 5,000mAh battery with 18W charging support. It has a 16-megapixel front camera and a 64-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-megapixel quad camera system.

(source 1, 2, 3|via 2, 3)

 

 

Honor Hunter V700 Gaming Laptops launched, features NVIDIA RTX 2060 and 10th Gen Intel i7

Two years back, Honor entered the laptop segment with its MagicBook range of sleek and affordable notebooks. Today marks another milestone for the company as it enters a new product category with its new Honor Hunter brand. The first device in the Hunter brand is the high-end Honor Hunter V700 gaming laptop targeted at gamers who are looking for the best performance in a portable form factor.

Hunter Gaming Laptop Design

While many focus on the specifications of a gaming laptop, its design is just as important if not downright crucial. Honor has focused on both gaming aesthetics and heat management with its new Hunter series of laptops. The body of the new gaming laptop lineup is made from an anodized aluminum alloy body. For the RGB lovers, the Hunter logo on the rear panel lights up, and so does the keyboard and air vents that also have LEDs that light up the base, all of which can be controlled and customized.

Honor Hunter V700 Fingerprint
Honor Hunter V700 Fingerprint Scanner

Despite the laptop being only 19.9mm thick, Honor has boasted of its thermal management capabilities. Even with its beefiest variant, the laptop still ran cooler than other gaming laptops from competing brands. While other laptops ran over 90 degrees Celsius in synthetic benchmark and stress testing, the Honor Hunter only reached 89 degrees Celsius, which is impressive for a laptop that runs a processor that reaches 5GHz in clock speeds. The company accredited its better thermal performance to its new fan designs, which sucks in more air for cooling. This is also supplemented by the radiators and 240 cooling fins built into the laptops.

Honor Hunter V700 240 heat sink fins

Notably, despite heavy usage, the keyboard and, in particular, the WASD key positions barely saw temps higher than 48 degrees Celsius, which should make it comfortable for gaming for long hours. Furthermore, the hinge for the screen has also been tested 50,000 times to ensure the quality and durability of the laptop over the course of a few years.

Hunter Gaming Laptop Specs & Hardware

Arriving at the specs of the new Honor Hunter Gaming V700 laptops, the series features Intel‘s 10th gen processors, namely the i5-10300H or the i7-10750H. All three variants arrive with 16GB of dual channel RAM, with either 512GB or 1TB worth of NVMe SSD storage. Customers also get to choose between NVIDIA‘s GeForce GTX 1660 Ti and the RTX 2060 for graphics.

The display on these laptops is a 16.1 inch panel which is surrounded by narrow 4.7mm bezels. Since its a gaming laptop, Honor is offering a 144Hz high refresh rate support along with 100 percent sRBG color gamut. Through these specs, one can expect to hit high FPS in competitive games like CS:GO, Valorant, DOTA 2, and League of Legends. It even supports WiFi 6 for better connectivity during online gaming.

Honor Hunter V700 Wi-Fi 6

Honor has also placed an emphasis on the audio output of these gaming laptops, which is an area most OEMs cut corners in. The Hunter V700 series features nahimic 3D surround sound audio, which helps in making the gaming experience more immersive. Interestingly, the laptops will also support wireless smartphone game streaming, which allows one to play mobile games by mirroring on the bigger screen of the laptop.

Honor Hunter V700 Nahimic 3D Audio
Honor Hunter V700 Nahimic 3D Audio

Hunter Gaming Laptop Battery & Ports

For ports, the Hunter V700 series features:

  • 1 x HDMI 2.0
  • 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1
  • 1 x USB Type-C
  • 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack
  • 1 x USB 2.0
  • 1 x RJ145 port
  • Power port

The battery is rated at 56Wh, which should get users a decent battery life with regular use, but it is advised to game only when the laptop is plugged in.

Honor Hunter Gaming Laptop Price & Availability

The Honor Hunter V700 Gaming Laptops are available in three variants:

  • i5-10300H / GTX 1660 Ti / 512GB – 7499 Yuan (roughly 1,109 US Dollars)
  • i7-10750H / RTX 2060 / 512GB – 8499 Yuan (roughly 1,257 US Dollars)
  • i7-10750H / RTX 2060 / 1TB – 9999 Yuan (roughly 1,479 US Dollars)

These will be available for purchase from 27th September 2020 and customers can also get the Honor Hunter Battle Armor Backpack to go along with the laptop, which is priced at 499 Yuan (roughly 74 US Dollars). The company has even collaborated with Cherry for a mechanical gaming keyboard with Cherry MX key switches. Looking at the pricing of the laptop, it is clear that it is competitively priced in comparison to offering from other brands with similar pricing. The deals around the 1000 US Dollar mark and below the 1500 US Dollar mark especially are on the sweet spot for pricing when considering the specs of these laptops.

 

Moto E7 Plus likely to launch soon in India

Motorola India has started teasing the arrival of a new smartphone in India. The tweet which confirms its arrival showcases the rear design of the phone. The image suggests that the Lenovo-owned company could be soon launching the Moto E7 Plus smartphone in India.

The teaser image reveals that the phone has a blue-colored rear with a square-shaped camera module that houses two cameras and an LED flash. It also features a rear-facing fingerprint scanner.

Motorola recently unveiled the Moto E7 Plus smartphone in Brazil. The above-shown teaser suggests that the E7 Plus will be soon debuting in India. The smartphone is selling in Brazil with a price tag of ZAR 1,349 (~Rs 6,000; ~$82). The smartphone comes in two colors such as Navy Blue and Amber Bronze.

Moto E7 Plus specifications

The Motorola Moto E7 Plus has a 6.5-inch Max Vision display that supports HD+ resolution. The Snapdragon 460 chipset and 4 GB of RAM powers the smartphone. It comes with an internal storage of 64 GB and a microSD card slot. The My UX based Android 10 OS runs on the Moto E7 Plus.

It has a front camera of 8-megapixel with f/2.2 aperture. Its rear is flanked with a 48-megapixel main camera with f/1.7 aperture and a 2-megapixel depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture. The device houses a 5,000mAh battery.

 

 

HUAWEI MatePad 5G 10.4 launches in China with Kirin 820 and quad-speaker

HUAWEI MatePad 5G 10.4 launches quietly in China just after a few hours from the announcement of Apple iPad 8th Generation and iPad Air 4th Generation. It is the company’s first mid-range 5G tablet with design cues from its premium MatePad Pro lineup.

HUAWEI MatePad 5G 10.4 Dark Ash
HUAWEI MatePad 5G 10.4 Dark Ash

HUAWEI MatePad 5G 10.4 Specifications

As the name suggests, the newly launched Huawei tablet flaunts a 10.4-inch IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 2000 x 1200 pixels, 225ppi, 10 point multi-touch, anti-fingerprint coating, 85° viewing angle, TÜV Rheinland certification for low blue light emission, and also supports input from HUAWEI M-Pencil.

It is powered by HiSilicon Kirin 820 chipset paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage with support for microSD card up to 512GB. Thanks to this silicon, it comes with 5G connectivity, dual-band WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.1.

HUAWEI MatePad 5G 10.4 Fritillary White
HUAWEI MatePad 5G 10.4 Fritillary White

Apart from the above-mentioned internals, it also features all the required sensors like compass, ambient light sensor, hall sensor, and gravity sensor. Further, a 7,250mAh battery runs the show, which the brand claims to offer 12.5 hours of battery life.

Other features of this tablet include 8MP fixed focus (FF) rear-facing camera, another 8MP sensor on the front but with autofocus (AF), power key, volume rocker, 4 microphones for better noise reduction, quad-speaker with HUAWEI Histen 6.1 Sound and Harman Kardon tuning, 22.5W fast charging, and EMUI 10.1 operating system based on Android 10.

HUAWEI MatePad 5G 10.4 Pricing & Availability

The new HUAWEI MatePad 5G 10.4 is priced at 3,199 yuan ($473) and is limited to China for now. It will be available for pre-order starting September 16 in the country in two colors namely Fritillary White and Night Ash. The tablet will go on sale from September 23.

 

Honor Watch GS Pro and Honor Watch ES officially launched in China

Earlier this month, during IFA 2020, Huawei sub-brand Honor had announced two new wearable devices — Honor Watch GS Pro and Honor Watch ES. Today, the company has launched both of them in its home market China.

Honor Watch GS Pro

Honor Watch GS Pro

This is the company’s first rugged smartwatch which comes with MIL-STD-810G certification. It features a massive 790mAh battery that is claimed by the company to offer a maximum 25-day battery life.

The Honor Watch GS Pro supports over 100 workout modes including skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and others. It comes with a circular AMOLED display, which measures 1.39-inch and offers a screen resolution of 454 x 454 pixels and 326ppi pixel density.

Honor Watch GS Pro China

It also has an optical heart rate sensor, SpO2 sensor, accelerometer, gyro, barometer, compass, and ambient light sensor along with built-in GPS. It is powered by the company’s own Kirin A1 chipset and runs LiteOS.

As for the build, the casing is made of stainless steel and reinforced polycarbonate. It comes in three colors — Polar White, Tidal Blue, and Desert Grey. The Honor Watch GS Pro is priced at 1,599 yuan (~$237) and will go on sale in China from 23rd September.

EDITOR’S PICK: Realme executive teases a new flagship smartphone series powered by 5nm Snapdragon 875

Honor Watch ES

The Honor Wach ES is targeted towards fashionable consumers. It features a 1.64-inch rectangular AMOLED display with 456 x 280 pixels screen resolution, 326ppi pixel density, and a 70 percent screen-to-body ratio.

Honor Watch ES

Just like the GS Pro, this one too is powered by HiSilicon Kirin A1 and runs the company’s own LiteOS. There’s support for 95 workout modes and 12 animated workout courses. The device also packs an optical heart-rate sensor, SpO2 sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, and ambient light sensor.

Honor Watch ES China

It is water-resistant up to 5ATM pressures and offers basic smartwatch features such as app notifications, alerts for calls & messages, sleep tracking, stress-level tracking, menstrual cycle tracking, and more.

The company claims that the Honor Watch ES could offer a 10-day battery life. It comes in three colors – Meteorite Black, Coral Pink, and Icelandic White. It is priced at 599 yuan and is set to be available in China from 23rd September.

 

OnePlus to launch a one of its kind OnePlus 7T Special Edition in China

The OnePlus 7T that launched almost a year ago is finally seeing the end of its life as the company has confirmed its discontinuation. However, OnePlus has officially announced that it would be launching a unique special edition that will be the only one of its kind in the world.

OnePlus

The OnePlus 7T started sale on 15th October 2019 and will be discontinued this month of September 2020. The Chinese smartphone maker will be taking in entries for people to write about their 7T handsets on their official forums to record the memories and good wishes for the device till September 16. It is planned to be unboxed live on 17th September 2020 on Bilibili and will apparently be sent out in a unique way.

Looking at the promotional image poster for the device, this version of the OnePlus 7T features a white rear panel, which is surrounded by a silver metallic frame. Keep in mind that only a single unit of this special edition is being created and will likely be given away during the live stream broadcast on Bilibili on September 17.

oneplus 7t 500x500

Apart from the aesthetical differences in design, the device is essentially a regular OnePlus 7T on the inside. It sports a 6.55 inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2400 x 1080px and a high 90Hz refresh rate. The peak brightness goes up to 1000 nits, and it also supports HDR10+. The display has an under-screen fingerprint scanner as well. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chipsets, along with 8GB of RAM, and will either have 128 or 256GB of storage.

 

Realme executive teases a new flagship smartphone series powered by Snapdragon 875

Apple has unveiled its latest A14 chipset which is powering the newly launched iPad Air. The same 5nm chipset will be powering the upcoming 5G-ready iPhone 12 models that are set to launch in the coming weeks.

Soon after this, Redmi teased that the company will soon be launching its flagship smartphone powered by a 5nm chipset. Now, Realme executive has also teased a new flagship smartphone to be powered by Snapdragon 875 chipset.

Realme 5nm Flagship Smartphone Tease

Xu Qi, President of Global Marketing and Vice President at Realme, has shared a teaser poster on Weibo which hits at a new flagship smartphone from the company powered by a 5nm flagship chipset.

Given that most of the Android flagship smartphones are powered by Qualcomm chipset, it’s safe to assume that the phones teased by Redmi and Realme will pack the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 SoC.

The development comes at a time when there are reports claiming that OPPO has killed off its Ace lineup of smartphones and will be replacing it with a new series under its Realme brand with flagship-grade specifications.

EDITOR’S PICK: US ban on Huawei hits Japanese companies; Risks losing $10 billion in annual business

If Qualcomm is sticking to its usual schedule, then the Snapdragon 875 flagship chipset could be unveiled by the end of this year and we will start getting smartphones powered by the same some time in Q1 2021.

As per the reports, the Snapdragon 875 SoC could come with Cortex-X1 Super Core and Cortex-A78 Core. The X1 Core is 30 percent more energy-efficient than the A77 core and 23 percent more when compared to A78 core.

Apart from Qualcomm, Samsung and Huawei are also working on their next-generation flagship chipset based on the 5nm process. The Huawei’s Kirin 9000 will be powering the Mate 40 series devices and should get launched in the coming weeks.

 

Infinix Note 7 with 6.95-inch display, Helio G70, 48MP quad cameras launched for Rs 11,499 (~$156) in India

Infinix announced the Infinix Note 7 and Note 7 Lite smartphones in April. Both phones have Today, the company confirmed the pricing and availability of the Note 7 for India. Priced at Rs 11,499 (~$156), the Note 7 offers key features such as a huge display, 48-megapixel quad cameras, and a big battery.

Infinix Note 7 price in India

The Infinix Note 7 that comes with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage is priced at Rs 11,499 (~$156). It comes in three colors such as Forest Green, Bolivia Blue, and Aether Black. The first sale of the Note 7 will be held on Sept. 22 at 12 PM IST through Flipkart.

Infinix Note 7 specifications and features

The Infinix Note 7 has a 6.95-inch punch-hole display that delivers HD+ resolution and 20.5:9 aspect ratio. The phone offers a 91.5 percent screen-to-body ratio. The handset is preinstalled with XOS 6.1 based Android 10 OS.

Infinix Note 7
Infinix Note 7

The round-shaped camera module of the Note 7 has an f/1.79 aperture 48-megapixel main lens, a 2-megapixel macro lens, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a low light video camera. The rear cameras are protected by Gorilla Glass and they are assisted by a quad-LED flash unit. The rear cameras offer features like Super Night Mode, slow-motion video shooting, and more. It has a selfie camera of 16-megapixel with screen flash and HDR+ support.

The Helio G70 chipset is present under the hood of the Infinix Note 7. It has a 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging support. It comes with other features like a side-facing fingerprint reader, AI face unlock, dual stereo speakers with DTS 3D sound enhancement, a microSD card slot, dual SIM support, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, microUSB, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

 

Samsung unveils foldable OLED panel with world’s smallest curvature

Samsung Display has today announced a new foldable OLED panel which is claimed to have the world’s smaller curvature for a commercial device. The company adds that this is first applied to the recently-released Galaxy Z Fold2 5G.

The company says that Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG) on the display helps in delivering a higher level of product excellence. This is the company’s third foldable OLED panel and comes with support for 2208 x 768 pixels screen resolution on a 7.6-inch display.

Samsung Display 1.4R Foldable OLED Panel

EDITOR’S PICK: US ban on Huawei hits Japanese companies; could lose $10 billion in annual revenue

As mentioned above, the company is the first in the world to apply a 1.4R curved display on a smartphone. The small curvature helps in enhancing the user experience as it enables the lowest verified level of blue light emissions along with improving usability.

The company also explains that to minimize folding stress, Samsung Display has optimized several technologies related to the material of the display, the panel design, and the module assembly, so that the multi-layered structure can function as a cushion when the display panel is folded.

Samsung adds that the panel has passed a folding test of 200,000 folds and has received an “Eye Care Display” certification. The new display has achieved an improved emission level for blue light of only 6.5% for comfortable long-time viewing on screen.

 

US ban on Huawei hits Japanese companies; could lose $10 billion in annual business

New sanctions imposed by the United States on Huawei Technologies and its subsidiaries are now in effect. Japan-based companies, which supplies chips to the Chinese giant, are now scrambling to replace Huawei, facing the risk of losing billions of dollars in revenue.

The ban isn’t hitting only the Japanese companies but has also made the situation worse for companies in South Korea and others. In the latest sanctions, the U.S. has banned all exports to Huawei for semiconductors made with American technology.

Huawei

As per the data revealed by research firm Omdia, Japanese companies supplied parts worth around $10.4 billion to Huawei last year. Because of the ban, Sony trimmed its capital spending plan for three years, as there’s now a gap of billions of dollars in sales from supplying image sensors to Huawei.

Sony is reportedly planning to apply for a license with the United States to continue doing business with Huawei. To replace Huawei, the Japanese company could sell its sensors to Apple and other Chinese companies. It is also looking to expand beyond mobile phones and develop sensors for a broader range of applications.

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Similarly, Renesas Electronics has now stopped supplying semiconductors for 5G network base stations to Huawei. Toshiba-backed Kioxia has also suspended shipments of flash memory, following the same route as Mitsubishi Electric.

Chinese giant Huawei has already stockpiled necessary components that should help the company continue operating normally at least for a few months. But the company’s production ability will take a hit after some time, as it starts running out of components. It remains to be seen what the company has planned to keep its business afloat.