Huawei launches new MateBook B series of business laptops

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Aug 19, 2020

Earlier today (19th August 2020), Huawei launched a bunch of new products including new laptops. This included refreshes of its MateBook X series, MateBook 13, and MateBook 14 series. However, the company also launched its first series of business laptops, dubbed the MateBook B.

In the launch event, the Chinese tech giant announced three laptop models in the B series. This includes the MateBook B5-420, MateBook B3-510, and MateBook B3-410 models:

MateBook B5-420

The Huawei MateBook B5-420 arrives with a metallic design in a deep space gray color scheme. It weighs just 1.53kg and measures a thin 15.9mm. It also features the two in one fingerprint reader/power button along with a 1 megapixel hidden camera. The notebook has backlit keyboards with dual speakers and four microphones. It sports a 14 inch IPS display, which has a high screen to body ratio of 90 percent, 2K resolution, 70.8 percent NTSC color gamut, 100 percent sRGB, high contrast ratio of 1000:1, and peak brightness of 300 nits.

Under the hood, an Intel 10th gen chip is offered, which can either be the i5-10210U or i7-10510U. A discrete NVIDIA MX350 GPU is also optional. For memory, users can opt for either 8GB or 16GB of PDDR3 RAM and 512GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. The laptop also offers Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 and is powered by a 56Whr lithium polymer battery. In terms of ports, 1 x USB-A 3.0 and 1 x USB-A 2.0 both support 5V/1.5A charging, one USB-C port, DP port, 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack, 1 x HDMI port.

MateBook B3-510 and MateBook B3-410

The Huawei MateBook B3-510 and B3-410 are essentially the same laptops which feature a metallic design as well, although, the primary difference between the two notebooks are their screen and body sizes. The former features a 15.6 inch display on 15.3mm body that weighs 1.53kg while the latter offers a 14 inch display that supports 180 degree movement and weighs just 1.38kg.

Both laptops have an FHD resolution with a 45 percent NTSC, 800:1 contrast ratio, peak brightness of 250 nits, and offer the Rheinland Low Blue Light certification as well. Similar to the B5-420, the laptops also offer a fingerprint reader/power button along with a 1 megapixel hidden camera, dual cameras, and dual microphones. Under the hood, both laptops are available with either Intel’s i5-10210U or i7-10510U processors with Intel’s UHD 620 integrated graphics card.

For memory, the laptops arrive with 8GB of DDR4 RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 are also supported. The larger variant has a 56Whr battery capacity while the latter has a 42Whr battery. Both laptop are charged via a 65W USB Type C charger and feature similar ports as well.

Price and Availability

All three laptops are currently available on the Huawei VMall and are priced at:

MateBook B5-420

i5/8GB/512GB – for 6999 yuan (roughly 1,013 US Dollars)
i5/8GB/512GB/MX350 – 7699 yuan (roughly 1,114 US Dollars)
i7/16GB/512GB – for 8699 yuan (roughly 1,259 US Dollars)

MateBook B3-510

i5/8GB/256GB – 5499 yuan (roughly 796 US Dollars)
i7/8GB/256GB – 6699 yuan (roughly 970 US Dollars)

MateBook B3-410

i5/8GB/256GB – 5499 yuan (roughly 796 US Dollars)
i5/8GB/512GB – 5799 yuan (roughly 839 US Dollars)
i7/8GB/512GB – 6999 yuan (roughly 1,013 US Dollars)

Moto G9 Plus, E7 Plus appears in high-resolution renders, Launch could be nearing

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Aug 19, 2020

In September 2019, Motorola announced the Motorola Moto E6 Plus and it unveiled the Moto G8 Plus in October. Recent reports have revealed that the Lenovo-owned company is working on the successor editions of both phones and their arrival could be close at hand. Today, reliable tipster Evan Blass shared high resolution renders of the upcoming Moto E7 Plus and Moto G9 Plus smartphones.

Moto G9 Plus renders and key specifications

The Moto G9 Plus can be seen sporting a punch-hole display with a slightly thick chin. It flaunts a trendy rectangle-shaped camera module that houses three equal-sized camera lenses and a smaller camera with an elongated camera flash. As can be seen in the renders, the Moto G9 Plus has a 64-megapixel main camera. It is an upgrade as the predecessor Moto G8 Plus featured a 48-megapixel quad camera setup.

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The Moto G9 Plus has a side-facing fingerprint reader. The handset will be available in bronze and blue colors. The smartphone was recently spotted at the FCC database. The listing revealed some of the key specs of the phone such as 4 GB RAM, 128 GB of storage, 5,000mAh battery with 30W fast charging support. Its other details are currently under wraps.

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Moto E7 Plus renders and key specifications

The Moto E7 Plus can be also seen in blue and bronze colors in the newly leaked renders. The handset features a waterdrop notch display. The side view of the phone suggests that it has a thick body. The smartphone has a square-shaped camera module on it back. It houses an LED flash and two cameras. The rear positioned logo of the company is integrated with a fingerprint reader.

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The leaked render does match with the live shots of the Moto E7 Plus that appeared last month. Probably, the device that appeared in live shots could be Moto E7 or some other phone from the brand. The Moto E7 Plus was recently spotted on Geekbench with specs like Snapdragon 460, 4 GB of RAM, and Android 10 OS. Another leak by Evan Blass had revealed that the phone features a 48-megapixel dual-camera system, 5000mAh battery, and 64 GB of internal storage.

Huawei MateBook 13 and 14 launched, features AMD Ryzen 4000 series CPU

By

Sean

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Aug 19, 2020

Huawei has just launched its latest MateBook series lineup alongside its flagship MateBook X, with the new MateBook 13 and MateBook 14. These laptops are the Ryzen edition, meaning, they feature AMD’s latest 4000 series Ryzen mobile chipsets.

Specs and Features

The MateBook lineup is generally built to offer great performance in a thin and light notebook form factor. This is shown to be true as the laptop scan feature Ryzen 4000 series H processors. These processors are for high performance and have a higher 35-45W TDP in comparison to regular U series chips which has a TDP of 15W. The higher end model offers a Ryzen 7 4800H which offers 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base frequency of 2.9GHz and a boost clock of 4.2GHz. It also features an integrated Vega 7 GPU.

The screen on both the 13 inch and 14 inch model can offer a 2K touch enabled display with minimal bezels on each side. Its high screen to body ratio offers a wide angle of view with support for 100 percent sRGB color gamut. Notably, the notebooks also passed the Rheinland low blue light certification, which is beneficial to the users’ eyes when using the laptop. The 13 inch variant weighs just 1.3kg and measures in at 14.9mm. On the other hand, the 14 inch model arrives at 15.9mm and weighs just 1.49kg.

Both laptops also offer a two in one fingerprint reader/power button option that can make logging into your laptop seamless. Huawei also heavily advertised the laptops speed with 1GB PPT file opening in just 2.5 seconds, and a 7.5GB folder with 300 images opening in just 2.6 seconds. The company also showcased the processor’s prowess with certain coding applications and other benchmarks as well.

Price and Availability

The Huawei MateBook 13 and MateBook 14 will be available for purchase later today (19th August 2020) in China and will be offered in three different configurations and to different colors. This includes:

MateBook 13

Ryzen 5 4600H/16GB RAM/512GB Storage – 4,599 Yuan (roughly 665 US Dollars)
Ryzen 7 4800H/16GB RAM/512GB Storage – 5,099 Yuan (roughly 737 US Dollars)
Ryzen 7 4800H/16GB RAM/512GB Storage/Touch Screen (Will launch later in the year) – 5,399 Yuan (roughly 780 US Dollars)

MateBook 14

Ryzen 5 4600H/16GB RAM/512GB Storage (Will launch later in the year) – 4,999 Yuan (roughly 723 US Dollars)
Ryzen 7 4800H/16GB RAM/512GB Storage/Touch Screen – 5,299 Yuan (roughly 766 US Dollars)
Ryzen 7 4800H/16GB RAM/512GB Storage/Touch Screen (Will launch later in the year) – 5,699 Yuan (roughly 824 US Dollars)

HUAWEI MateBook X 2020 launches in China with 3K display, pressure-sensitive trackpad, and more

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Aug 19, 2020

Huawei officially launches MateBook X 2020 in China as the successor to the original from 2017. It features a similar design as the MateBook X Pro 2020 from earlier this year and even shares most of its specifications with it. The only thing that makes it stand out is the fact that it is the first Windows laptop to feature a pressure-sensitive trackpad.

HUAWEI MateBook X 2020 Specifications

The newly announced HUAWEI MateBook X 2020 sports a 13-inch 3K ( 3000 x 2000 pixels) LTPS LCD touchscreen panel with 3:2 aspect ratio, 90% screen to body ratio, 100% sRGB color gamut, 1500:1 contrast ratio, 400 nits brightness, 178° viewing angle, and 10-point multitouch.

It is powered by up to 10th generation Intel Core i7-10510U processor paired with up to 16GB 2,133Mhz LPDDR3 RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD. Unfortunately, none of the variants features a dedicated GPU.

Further, the body of the laptop is made of magnesium-aluminium alloy and it weighs only about 1Kg. Also, it measures only 284.4 x 206.7 x 13.6 mm in dimensions. Since it is slimmer than most thin and light laptops in the market, it uses a fanless heat dissipation system.

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Talking about the elephant in the room, the pressure-sensitive trackpad included in this laptop makes it the first Windows laptop to come with this hardware. Huawei calls it Free Touch, which is vaguely inspired by Apple’s Force Touch trackpad on MacBooks. It is capable of detecting various pressure levels and even provides vibration feedback.

Other features of this new Huawei notebook includes 4 x speakers, 2 x microphones, pop-up camera, backlit chocolate keyboard, fingerprint sensor, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, 2 x USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, 42Whr battery, and support for 65W fast charging.

HUAWEI MateBook X 2020 Price and Availability

Variant	Price
Intel Core i5-1021U 8GB + 512GB	7,999 yuan ($1,156)
Intel Core i5-1021U 16GB + 512GB	8,999 yuan ($1,300)
Intel Core i7-1051U 16GB + 512GB	9,999 yuan ($1,445)

It comes in four colors namely Frost Silver, Interstellar Blue, Green Mountain Daisy, and Cherry Blossom powder. But not all the colors are available at launch.

The new Huawei notebook will be available for pre-order starting August 19 and will go on sale from August 24. It is currently limited to China but will be certainly hitting other markets like any previous laptops from the company.

Huawei reportedly planning to manufacture its own chipsets

By

Sean

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Aug 19, 2020

Huawei is apparently planning on manufacturing its own chipsets. Reportedly, the Chinese tech giant will be announcing its plan on creating its own semiconductor chips without requiring any US equipment or components.

According to an RT News report, sources have claimed that Huawei is already considering this route seriously and that part of their manufacturing of chips will be ready by the end of this year. In other words, the company will begin its chip manufacturing process, at least partly, by the year end and compete with industry giants like Samsung, TSMC, Intel, and more.

The move from Huawei is said to be a way to bypass the US, which has been pressuring the Chinese OEM. For those unaware, the US government introduced certain sanctions that banned its chip supply from TSMC, and are further extending the ban to include its supply chains as well. However, the report suggests that the restrictions on Huawei only push it forward to build its own chip manufacturing process.

Unfortunately, this report is still unconfirmed so take it with a pinch of salt for now. Furthermore, RT News is funded partially or wholly by the Russian government, so the legitimacy of its claims is rather in the gray at the moment. Huawei has yet to comment on the matter either, although, manufacturing semiconductors is an extremely complicated process so we will have to wait and see if the company actually manages to pull this move off.

New class-action lawsuit against Google alleges Play Store monopoly for Android app distribution

By

Jeet

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Aug 19, 2020

Google has been hit with a class-action antitrust lawsuit which alleges that the search engine giant is participating in anti-competitive practices, including exclusionary behavior associated with a 30 percent fee on Play Store transactions.

The complaint against the company comes on the heels of lawsuits filed by Epic Games against Apple and Google for removing its online game Fortnite from their respective app marketplaces for violating guidelines.

The new class-action lawsuit against Google talks about “ongoing abuse of its market power, including the exclusion of competition, the stifling of innovation, the inhibition of consumer choice, and Google’s imposition on app developers of a 30% transaction fee.”

It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It states that Google has engaged in rampant antitrust behavior, including anti-competitive contracts, strategic abuses of its dominance in other Android apps. It also lists the exploitation of deficits in consumer knowledge, and the cultivation and exploitation of malware fears to promote its own apps marketplace Play Store.

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It also states that Google has improperly attained and maintained a monopoly in the United States market for Android OS distribution services as well as in-app product payment processing services.

The lawsuit seeks to recoup losses suffered by Android app developers for the monetary injuries they have suffered due to Google’s anti-competitive monopoly in the distribution and payment processing the plaintiff has identified. The suit also seeks treble damages and injunctive relief against Google for its violation of federal antitrust laws.

Both Google and Apple are under the scanner for potential anti-competitive practices. However, Apple has lately been under scrutiny for unfair App Store policies and preferential treatment to select developers and companies.

Huawei trademarks MateDisplay and MateScreen for a new display technology

By

Jeet

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Aug 19, 2020

Screen technology has made quite a progress in recent years and thus, we are now seeing devices with a foldable display, under-display sensors, and more. Now, it seems that China-based Huawei is gearing up to unveil a new display technology.

A report from LetsGoDigital reveals that Huawei has filed a trademark application for a new type of display. The company is trademarking two names — MateDisplay and MateScreen, but nothing much is known about it at this point. It is being speculated that this could be for the upcoming MateBook X laptop or a new foldable smartphone.

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Since the trademark is for MateDisplay and MateScreen, it’s pretty much confirmed that the new type of screen is limited to the Mate lineup of devices from Huawei. While the company has not revealed anything, we expect to know about it in the coming days.

Most of the reports hint at the new display being used in the upcoming MateBook X laptop but there’ a possibility that it could be for the upcoming foldable smartphone. The Huawei Mate X or Mate Xs have an outwards folding screen but its successor will have an in-ward folding display and thus, the name could be for this new screen technology.

The Huawei Mate lineup is well-known for the high-end flagship smartphones but the company is now looking to expand the lineup to include more products. It is reportedly planning to launch wireless earphones in the form of MatePods or MateBuds and a docking station named MateStation. It could also launch a smartwatch under the Mate branding. If this is the case, then we should know more about it in the coming months.

Realme X7 and Realme X7 Pro to debut on September 1

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Aug 19, 2020

A Chinese tipster had recently claimed that Realme will be holding a launch event on Sept. 1 in China. Even Realme CMO Xu Qi was recently seen sharing teasers of the upcoming Realme phones through his Weibo account. Today, the company released an official confirmation that it will be launching the Realme X7 series on Sept. 1

The Realme X7 series launch event will take place at 2 PM (local time) on Sept. 1. The company has revealed that the Realme X7 series phone will be sporting slim form factor and 120Hz curved AMOLED display. The series includes two phones namely, Realme X7 and Realme X7 Pro and they are equipped with fast charging capabilities. Also, they are 5G-ready smartphones.

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Rumors are rife that the Realme X7 and Realme X7 Pro are both equipped with support for 65W fast charging. It appears that the RMX2176 phone that was approved by the TENAA authority recently is the Realme X7. The TENAA certification had revealed the full specs and images of the phone. This handset is yet to appear in the database of 3C certification.

The model number of the Realme X7 Pro could be RMX2121. This handset had appeared in TENAA’s database with few specs and images. The handset has also bagged approval from the 3C authority.

Realme X7 and Realme X7 Pro specifications

The RMX2176 phone has 6.43-inch OLED FHD+ display, Snapdragon 765G, 32-megapixel front camera, 64-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-megapixel quad camera system, and 4,300mAh battery. The handset measures 160.9 x 74.4 x 8.1mm and weighs 175 grams.

The Realme RMX2121’s TENAA listing had revealed minimum details such as 160.8 x 75.2 x 8.5mm dimensions, 6.55-inch display, and a dual-cell battery. It could be a flagship phone fueled by the Snapdragon 865 SoC.

Android 11 removes camera picker function in favor of the built-in camera app

By

Jeet

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Aug 19, 2020

Android has come a long way when it comes to the security and privacy of users. However, with increased security for the mobile operating system comes several restrictions, blocking some of the features.

In a similar move, it is now being reported that with the new Android 11, the company is blocking the ability for users to select third-party camera apps to take pictures or videos on behalf of other apps.

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With the Intent system, where you use an app to take photos but if the primary purpose of the app is not photography, then it will present you with a list of apps installed on your phone to capture photos. But now, with Android 11, it won’t show option and will directly open the built-in camera app to take photos.

This is happening as in Android 11, the company is removing three specific intents — VIDEO_CAPTURE, IMAGE_CAPTURE, and IMAGE_CAPTURE_SECURE. So, these actions will now be performed with the pre-install camera app without giving options to choose from.

While Google is citing privacy and security as a reason to remove these three intents, the company has not provided any details about why it is a security or privacy-related issue.

The current Android 11 beta release version has this newly enforced behavior. It remains to be seen if Android CTS (Compatibility Test Suite) requires this or will OEMs be allowed to change it back to the previous rules, but the chances look slim.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold could soon launch in China

By

Jeet

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Aug 19, 2020

Lenovo had showcased its ThinkPad X1 Fold laptop with a foldable design at CES 2019 and unveiled the commercial version of the same at Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year in Las Vegas.

Now, the company has shared a teaser poster of the Thinkpad X1 Fold on its Weibo account, which hints that the company is all set to launch the foldable laptop in China. However, there’s no confirmation about this development.

The teaser poster shared by the company reveals only one information about the foldable laptop — its weight. It is mentioned that the product weighs just 999 grams and the poster also includes a render of the laptop.

When the device was unveiled earlier this year, it was said to have a 13.3-inch flexible OLED display panel with a screen resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels and a 4:3 aspect ratio. There’s also a Microsoft’s Windows Hello-compatible camera on the bezel.

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It is powered by a special Intel chipset which has not yet been specified but is said to have “hybrid technology”. The device packs 8GB of RAM and 1TB SSD storage and is equipped with a battery that promises 11 hours of usage on a single charge.

Since it’s a foldable laptop, both the top area and the bottom area have a display panel. It arrives with an additional wireless keyboard for those who prefer it, but users can use the laptop without attaching the keyboard.

In the software department, it is likely to come powered by the Windows 10 Pro operating system with the company’s own solutions and optimizations or the foldable screen. It remains to be seen if we will see anything related to the Windows 10X, which has been postponed by Microsoft, along with Surface Neo.

At the time of unveiling the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, the company had said that the shipments could start from mid-2020. It is priced at $2,499, which roughly converts to about 17,298 yuan in China.

Honor Watch GS Pro teased to launch soon in China

By

Jeet

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Aug 19, 2020

Honor, a sub-brand of Huawei, has today officially confirmed that the company will soon launch a new smartwatch in its home market China — Honor Watch GS Pro. While the company has teased the launch, the exact date has not been revealed yet.

Making the announcement about this smartwatch, the company shared a teaser image on Weibo, along with a caption that reads: “Honor Watch GS Pro will be released soon, from the city to the outdoors, accompanying you to explore the 10,000 possibilities in life!”

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Although the company has not revealed any information related to the watch, we know that the device carries model number KAN-B19 as the product was recently certified by the Economic Commission for Europe. The teaser image also hints that the smartwatch will come with a circular dial design.

We expect to get more information about this Honor Watch GS Pro in the coming days and the company could make the device official in a couple of weeks. An announcement related to its launch date could happen in the coming days.

The most recent smartwatch launched by the company is Honor Magic Watch 2, which comes powered by the company’s own Kirin A1 chipset, a 1.39-inch AMOLED display, 15 different sport modes for tracking, and 455mAh battery for two weeks of usage.

Google Assistant now allow users to send audio messages to their contacts

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Aug 19, 2020

Google Assistant may not be the most popular virtual assistant around but Google is sure looking to expand its functionalities with preference given to globalization of the app. The Silicon valley-based company has now announced new feature for the virtual assistant.

In a blog post, Google disclosed that users will now be able to send audio messages to contacts using Google Assistant. That will come in handy in scenarios where one is too tired to type on a phone or when the hands can’t be used to hold a phone for any reason. With Google Assistant, the owner can then use their voice to dictate a message.

According to Google, Voice-messaging is the modern-day walkie-talkie and is the easiest way to send a quick note to friends and family. The company also hinted that the feature will be available on Android smartphones and you won’t need to hold down the little mic icon to record the audio message. The feature will be available in English-speaking countries around the globe, as well as in Portuguese in Brazil.

You can make use of this feature with the voice command, “Hey Google, send an audio message”. The smart assistant will ask you who you want to send an audio message to and what message you’d like to record. Alternatively, you can say “Hey Google, send an audio message to Paul saying I’m on the way.”

Apart from the audio message feature, Google also flaunted five other cool ways in which Google Assistant’s voice prompt can be utilised including getting help reading web articles and snapping a selfie.

Xiaomi explains the technology behind the Mi TV Lux transparent TV design

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Aug 19, 2020

There are some who belong to the school of thought that Xiaomi is a copycat but the Chiese tech giant has often found a way to silence such critics with innovative products. The Mi Mix readily come to mind in this regard and recently, Xiaomi unveiled the Mi TV Lux, a transparent OLED TV.

In case you are at a loss as to how the company was able to pull off such technological feat, Xiaomi has shared some details of the transparent TV’s design. The details include how the components that were supposed to be at the non-existing back panel was moved to the round base of the TV which doubles as the stand.

The processor, sound hardware and other electronic components that come to play in the working of the TV were fitted into the base. There is also a heat sink and the whole base is dotted with vents to help with convective cooling.

The TV’s display is an OLED panel which is selected because it can work without a backlight as opposed to a transparent LCD TV that would have needed an external light. But then, an OLED isn’t naturally transparent. So what Xiaomi did was to design the RGBW matrix is a unique way which sees only half of the panel getting covered with pixels, while the other half is left transparent. The pixels are fine enough that you can’t see them at a normal viewing distance and the gaps between them are equally tiny, so you can’t see them either – it all merges into a seemingly normal sheet of glass.

The display panel has a 55-inch glass bonded to the OLED panel using UV-curable glue to keep it protected. The TV also has a thin metal frame that surrounds the edges of the glass in order to give the TV a rigid build.

OPPO’s Next-Gen Hybrid Zoom Technology brings sharper images across all focal lengths

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Aug 19, 2020

OPPO has taken the wraps off its next-gen hybrid optical zoom technology. The new camera technology still uses a periscope lens but with a new configuration. OPPO says the next-gen camera tech brings better zoom and an improvement in image quality thanks to a stacked periscope zoom lens structure.

The new hybrid zoom technology uses a 7-element lens in the setup shown below. They are grouped into three and work together to adjust the focus. The module is said to have a focal length of 85 mm to 135 mm as a result of the flexible movement of two of the groups of lenses. OPPO says using f/3.3 and f/4.3 apertures, the groups are able to fully utilize the optical capabilities of the lenses.

The press release says there is a new large sensor with a maximum output of 32MP that “incorporates Fusion, a multi-focal length image fusion technology, multi-camera field-of-view alignment technology, and super-resolution algorithms to deliver a focal length coverage of 85mm to 280mm.”

OPPO said its engineering team had to rebuild the imaging module structure and designed a more versatile medium-focal length imaging system. This system is made up of a 16-bit high-precision driver IC and corresponding auto-focus and optical image stabilization modules.

The job of the driver IC is to precisely control the movement of the two flexible groups of lenses. OPPO says it was developed on the need for a step-zoom on longer distances and claims it significantly enhances zoom precision, delivering stable and sharper images.

OPPO next generation hybrid zoom technology module camera sample

OPPO included some sample images taken with the new camera system. The image above, from left to right, was taken at a wide-angle, at 85mm equivalent focal length, and at 135mm equivalent focal length. The new sensor supports 4-in-1 pixel binning and allows for full HD at both near and far distances.

The new hybrid zoom technology has improved how users shoot at 85mm and 135mm focal lengths. OPPO says users will be able to take real and accurate images even with complexities and changes in lighting. The images above show the previous generation at 85mm and the next-gen hybrid zoom’s 85mm equivalent focal length. The image below shows samples shot taken at 135mm focal length with the one on the right taken with the new hybrid zoom technology.

OPPO next-gen hybrid optical zoom technology 135mm focal length — Sample photo taken at 135mm with the next-gen technology on the right

OPPO didn’t say when we should expect the new hybrid zoom technology in a commercial device, but if it is launching another flagship this year, it may ship with the new camera technology.

Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro is coming with support for wireless charging

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Aug 18, 2020

Back in May, Huawei filed a trademark application for “Mate Watch”. In June, a leaker revealed that the watch will run HarmonyOS and will be launched alongside the Mate 40 series. Based on new reports, we may be getting another watch too, one with a familiar name.

Huawei has received multiple certifications for a new smartwatch called the Watch GT 2 Pro. There is a chance this is the smartwatch that will launch alongside the Mate 40 series rather than the HarmonyOS-powered Mate Watch.

The Watch GT 2 Pro has been certified by various agencies including the FCC, Europe’s ECC, Malaysia’s SIRIM, and Singapore’s IMDA. It has been reported that one of the key features of the upcoming smartwatch whose model number is VID-B19, is support for 10W wireless charging.

The watch will have the same 455mAh battery capacity as the Watch GT 2 but we cannot say if the battery life will be the same. One of the selling points of the Huawei Watch GT 2 is its 2-week battery life. The upcoming pro version should pack more features compared to the Watch GT 2 and the Watch GT 2e, and of course have a higher price tag.

The design of the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro is unknown but we expect it to have a circular dial like its predecessors and be available in multiple sizes.

Zenfone 7 official teaser confirms the return of flip cameras

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Aug 18, 2020

The Zenfone 7 launches next week, and in what can be termed a surprise, no leaks have revealed what the phone looks like. While there have been rumors that ASUS will keep the flip camera design of the Zenfone 6, a new official teaser has now confirmed it.

The teaser is a 6-second video posted on Twitter by the official ASUS Deutschland (@asusde) account. The video shows the front of the Zenfone 7 which is plain and does not have a notch or punch hole. ASUS has done a good job of trimming the bezels as they are practically non-existent. We want to believe this is the same type of Nano Edge Display that ships with the Zenfone 6. The video also shows the volume rocker on the right side of the phone.

Macht euch bereit!#ZenFone7 coming soon!#FlipDeineWelt pic.twitter.com/ZdwkH8sc39

— ASUS Deutschland (@asusde) August 18, 2020

Towards the end of the video, the words “Flip Deine Welt” appear on the screen which translates to “Flip Your World”, teasing the device has flip cameras. The original tweet also has the hashtag #FlipDeineWelt.

The official ASUS global account posted a slightly modified version of the video but with the caption “Get ready to defy ordinary” and #Zenfone7 is coming soon. ASUS used the hashtag #DefyOrdinary for the Zenfone 6.

Get ready to defy ordinary.#ZenFone7 is coming soon. pic.twitter.com/5pGf4PPfsC

— ASUS (@ASUS) August 18, 2020

We expect more teasers will be released in the days leading up to the launch of the phone. Hopefully, we get to see what the rear looks like before the launch. We also hope the Zenfone 7 comes with triple cameras this time around, including a portrait lens.

Oneplus TV 32Y1/43Y1 OTA2 update brings optimizations for better experience

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Aug 18, 2020

Oneplus entered the Indian smart TV market with the launch of Oneplus TV Q1 series last year. In early July, before launching the OnePlus Nord, the brand introduced two more affordable smart TV series in the country called OnePlus TV U and Y. The latter series is now receiving OTA2 update with a number of optimizations.

The OnePlus TV Y series is the cheapest smart TV offerings by OnePlus in India. There are two models in the series namely OnePlus TV 32Y1 and OnePlus TV 43Y1. As their name suggests, they come with 32-inch and 43-inch panels respectively.

Booth the TV models share common hardware except for the difference in panel size and resolution – HD (1366 x 768 pixels) and FHD (1920 x 1080 pixels). Hence, they run the same software build and are receiving update together.

The company calls the new update as OTA2 as OTA1 was already released soon after the launch of these TVs. It adds support for more Alexa skills as well as optimizes OnePlus Connect experience, audio quality, and system memory usage.

OnePlus TV Y Series – 32Y1 & 43Y1 OTA2 Official Changelog

More skills Added to Work with Alexa
Optimized OnePlus Connect experience by offering a better connection between Mobile and TV
Optimized Audio Quality in default settings
Optimized the system and memory usage for smoother experience

According to the OnePlus Community post, the update is being rolled out in batches and will be soon made available for more users if there are no issues.

OnePlus makes searching easier for Indian users with OnePlus Scout

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Aug 18, 2020

A new feature is now available for OnePlus users in India. Called OnePlus Scout, it allows users to search for almost anything from a single search bar. The new feature comes with the new version of the OnePlus Launcher.

Before, you could only search for apps using the search bar available in the launcher. However, with OnePlus Scout, users can now search for files, contacts, locations, restaurants, and public spots. It doesn’t end there. You can also search for news and weather updates from the web and even solve math problems by accessing the Calculator app on the phone according to XDA-Developers.

OnePlus Scout is available with version 4.7.2_200818175549 of the One Plus launcher app. After the update, you will be greeted with a setup menu for the feature. It will request for permission to access your contacts, storage, and location. As you can see, it doesn’t request access to your messages, so sadly, you will not be able to search for info from there.

OxygenOS is known for its customizations and OnePlus allows you to customize certain features of OnePlus Scout. You can choose to have all the apps display when you enter the app drawer or just the search bar. You can also choose whether search results should be from other installed apps or also from the web. There is also a toggle for enabling search tips.

OnePlus Scout is a nice feature and one we hope will be available for other markets. We hope OnePlus announces a wider rollout soon.

Elephone U5 fares better against Elephone E10 in specs comparison

By

Simranpal Singh

-

Aug 18, 2020

Elephone recently unveiled its new affordable smartphone – Elephone U5 featuring some exceptional specs at an affordable price. It offers great value-for-money if we go through the specifications and design of the newly launched Elephone U5. The smartphone houses a 6.44-inch FHD+ display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and ultra-narrow bezels. There are several other advancements over the Elephone E10 which was launched earlier this year.

Both the smartphones offer decent specifications but at the present time, Elephone U5 offers better value-for-money rather than the Elephone E10. In our specs comparison, we have found that with a minimal increase in your budget you can get more than better hardware. You can check our comparison of Elelphone U5 vs Elephone E10 to get a full overview.

Performance

Elephone U5 is powered with Helio P60 chipset housing an octa-core processor and Mali-G72 MP3 GPU. Meanwhile, the Elephone E10 comes with a MediaTek Helio P22 which houses 4 cores of 2.0GHz ARM Cortex and 4 Cores of 1.5GHz ARM Cortex which is a bit lower than that of Helio P60 cores. There’s a PowerVR GE8320 GPU on board to handle graphics.

Display

There’s a 6.5-inch punch-hole display featuring a resolution of 1080 x 2310 pixels for a wider viewing experience. Meanwhile, the Elelphone E10 offers a 6.5-inch 720 x 1560 pixels resolution only. As we can see, Elephone U5 offers a better display with Full HD resolution and provides a better viewing experience with a punch-hole camera. Elephone E10 features a waterdrop display which bares the viewing experience.

Camera

Elephone U5 hosts a 48-megapixel primary sensor, a 13-megapixel ultrawide sensor, a 5-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. The primary camera is capable of capturing detailed photos with accurate color saturation. There’s also a 24-megapixel front camera for beautiful selfies.

On the other hand, Elephone E10 features a 13-megapixel front camera, meanwhile, it also houses a similar quad-rear camera featuring a 48-megapixel primary sensor.

Other features

Apart from some design changes, there’s hardly any difference between both the devices. There’s also a 4000 mAh battery on these devices which is efficient enough to give you a day’s standby.

You can enjoy contactless payment transactions by using the NFC chip via a Google Pay. Elephone U5 is available for the price of $159.99 but you can get a $30 discount for a limited time. It is available in two color options of Ocean Blue and Black.

Lenovo launches Legion 5i, Legion 5Pi, and Legion 7i gaming laptops in India: Price, Specs, and Availability

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

Aug 18, 2020

After teasing them for a few days, Lenovo officially launches Legion 5i, Legion 5Pi, and Legion 7i gaming laptops in India. They are up for orders on the Lenovo online store and will be available across offline and retail stores in the coming days.

Lenovo Legion 5i

The Legion 5i is the cheapest gaming laptop launched by Lenovo in India today for a starting price of ₹79,990 ($1,072). It is powered by up to 10th generation Intel Core i7-10750H processor paired with up to 6GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 2060 GPU and 16GB 2,933Hz DDR4 RAM.

As for storage, buyers get up to either 1TB PCIe SSD or 1TB 7,200RPM HDD on this laptop. Though all the variants sport a 15.6-inch FHD IPS LCD panel, buyers can opt up to 144HZ refresh rate, 100% sRGB color gamut, and 300 nits of maximum brightness.

Other features of this gaming notebook include WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, 4 x USB Type-A 3.1 Gen 1, 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 with DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x RJ45, 3.5mm headphone jack, 2 x 2W Harman Kardon speakers, 720p webcam, and up to 80Whr battery.

Lenovo Legion 5Pi

The Lenovo Legion 5Pi is costlier than the previous laptop starting at ₹1,34,990 ($1,810). This laptop shares its entire specifications with the previous model. The difference between the two is this one starts at a better configuration than the former and hence the more starting price.

Another noticeable difference is that this gaming laptop come in Iron Grey color, whereas that one features Phantom Black paint job. Also, this notebook will be made available later this month.

On the other hand, the other two laptops – Legion 5i and Legion 7i are already on sale on Lenovo’s official website and will be soon available for purchase across retail stores and online portals.

Lenovo Legion 7i

The Legion 7i is the most expensive gaming laptop launched by Lenovo today for a starting price of ₹1,99,990 ($2,682). It is powered by up to 10th generation Intel Core i9 H series processor paired with up to 32GB 2,933MHz DDR4 RAM, 8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q GPU, and up to 1TB PCIe SSD.

It features 15.6-inch FHD IPS LCD screen with up to 100% sRGB color gamut, 500nits of peak brightness, and 144Hz refresh rate. As for connectivity and ports, it comes with WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, 3 x USB Type-A 3.1 Gen 1, 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 with Thunderbolt/DisplayPort/HDMI, 1 x USB Type C 3.1 Gen 1 with DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 3.5mm headphone jack, 1 x RJ45, 3.5mm headphone jack, and 1 x power-in.

Other features include 2 x 2W Dolby Atmos speakers, 720p webcam, and up to 80Whr battery.

(Via)

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