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Dell XPS 17 launched in India, features 10th Gen Intel Core i7 and Bezel less Display

By
Sean
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The Dell XPS 17 laptop has just been launched in India, after its initial global launch back in May. The laptop is a part of the company’s premium flagship thin and light notebooks and offers Intel’s latest 10th generation Core i7 processors with a bezel less display and a dedicated graphics card.

Dell

Dell XPS 17 9700 arrives with a carbon fiber keyboard deck and joins the likes of the XPS 14 and 15 series in India. The starting price for the laptop is 209,500 INR (roughly 2,799 US Dollars) and offers 10th gen Intel Core i7 alongside 8GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, a Full HD+ display with a wide color gamut and even a discrete GPU. It will be available for purchase from dedicated stores and online retailers like Amazon and the company’s official website.

Editor’s Pick: Realme C12, Realme C15 launched in India with Rs. 8,999 (~$120) starting price

As the name suggests, the premium laptop arrives with a 17 inch InfinityEdge anti-glare display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a peak brightness of 500 nits. A UHD display variant is also available. Under the hood, an Intel Core i7-10750H CPU can be found alongside NVIDIA‘s GTX 1650 Ti. Memory configurations can be as high as 32GB of DDR4 RAM and storage is via a PCIe SSD. The laptop also offers two 2.5W stereo woofers and two 1.5 stereo tweets for audio and is powered by a 97Wh battery.

Dell

In terms of connectivity, the Dell XPS 17 feature Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2 x 2), Bluetooth 5.1, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, a full-size SD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The laptop being thin and light, measures in at 248.05×374.45×19.5mm with a weight of just 2.1 kilograms. For security, Window Hello facia recognition is also offered, while its touchpad supports gestures below a backlit keyboard.

UP NEXT: TikTok announces partnership with UnitedMasters; Oracle in talks for acquisition

 

New sanctions on Huawei by the US are now affecting other Asian companies

By
Jeet
-

Huawei is one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world, apart from being the leading telecom equipment maker globally. So, when the company gets hit, it also impacts a broad range of other companies, which are its suppliers.

As the United States government continues to clamp down on Chinese companies, especially Huawei, more and more companies doing business with the Chinese giant are now seeing the negative impact in the business.

Huawei Logo MWC 2019

For instance, MediaTek, which is the second smartphone mobile chip supplier in the world after Qualcomm, witnessed a drop of around nine percent at the Taiwan Stock Exchange. This seems to be the direct impact of the recent ban on Huawei from using chipset related technology developed in the U.S.

Another company named Novatek Microelectronics, which designs display integrated circuit drivers, saw its shares fall by eight percent. On the other hand, camera lens maker Largan Precision witnessed a 3 percent drop in its shares.

The list of companies getting hit by the new rule by the Trump administration includes image sensor supplier Sony, sensor maker STMicroelectronics, memory chipmaker Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Kioxia, Nanya Tech, and other Asian and European companies.

EDITOR’S PICK: TikTok announces music partnership with UnitedMasters; Oracle reportedly in talks for the acquisition

Several companies, including Qualcomm, have urged the United States government to relax some conditions to continue doing business with some Chinese companies. Recently, Qualcomm started lobbying the government, arguing that the ban on Huawei is driving “billions of dollars” of possible US sales to foreign chip makers like Samsung and MediaTek.

Huawei is one of the three smartphone makers to design its own chipsets through in-house unit HiSilicon Technologies. The recent sanctions have now made it impossible for the company to develop new high-end flagship chipsets.

While the United States is determined to make it impossible for Huawei to continue doing business, the company has shown tremendous growth. It managed to surpass Samsung to become the world’s leading smartphone brand, despite getting banned by the U.S. and facing issues in other Europen countries.

Huawei is now determined to become self-reliant and reduce its dependence on third-party. The company has already launched HarmonyOS as an alternative to Google’s Android and is expanding its use-case to include more devices. The company is also investing in Research & Development as well as other Chinese companies that could help make some of the hardware components locally.

UP NEXT: Huawei Chairman: Global 5G users cross 100 million with the focus now shifting towards industry applications

 

Realme C12, Realme C15 launched in India with Rs. 8,999 (~$120) starting price

By
Anvinraj Valiyathara
-

Realme recently unveiled the Realme C12 and Realme C15 smartphones in Indonesia. Today, the brand announced the C12 and C15 phones. The new C-series phones are packed with large-sized displays and batteries. These budget-friendly phones are powered by a gaming-focused chipset. Also, the Realme C15 comes with support for fast charging.

Realme C12 and C15 specifications and features

The Realme C12 and Realme C15 are packed with identical specs and they mainly differ in segments like camera configurations and fast charging capabilities. The Realme C15 has a quad-camera setup that includes a 13-megapixel main snapper, a 119-degree 8-megapixel ultrawide lens, a 2-mgeapixel b/w sensor, and a 2-mgeapixel depth assist lens. It has a front camera of 8-megapixel. The phone comes with support for 18W fast charging through microUSB.

In comparison, the Realme C12 has a triple camera setup on its back. It comprises of a 13-megapixel main camera, a 2-megapixel b/w lens, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. It has a selfie camera of 5-megapixel. The phone supports only 10W charging.

Realme C15 and Realme C12
Realme C15 and Realme C12

Editor’s Pick:  iQOO 5, iQOO 5 Pro launched with 120W fast charging, 120Hz curved display, and 50MP triple cameras

The Realme C12 and C15 feature 6.5-inch LCD displays with waterdrop notch. Both phones support HD+ resolution and 20:9 aspect ratio. Both handsets feature Helio G35 chipset and LPDDR4x RAM. These phones offer users with eMMC 5.1 storage and a dedicated microSD card slot.

The Realme UI based Android 10 OS runs on Realme C15 and Realme C12. Both phones draw power from 6,000mAh batteries. Both phones support reverse charging.  They are also fitted with rear-facing fingerprint scanners. The C12 and C15 offer users with common connectivity features such as dual SIM support, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS. microUSB, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Realme C12 and Realme price in India

Here is the pricing and availability of the Realme C12 and Realme C15

  • Realme C12: 3 GB RAM + 32 GB storage – Rs. 8,999 (~$120)
  • Realme C15: 3 GB RAM + 32 GB storage – Rs. 9,999 (~$137)
  • Realme C15: 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage – Rs. 10,999 (~$147)

The Realme C12 comes in colors whereas the C15 can be bought in colors like Power Blue and Power Silver. Flipkart and Realme.com will begin with the sales of the C12 and C15 on Aug. 24 and Aug. 27 at 12PM, respectively.

At the event, the company also announced Realme Buds Classic for Rs. 399. Its first sale will be carried on Realme.com and Amazon India on Aug. 24. Later, these devices will be also made available in India through offline channels.

UP NEXT: Realme rumored to hold launch event September 1

 

Apple responds to Epic, says it ‘won’t make an exception’ for Fortnite

By
Sean
-

Apple has just responded to its latest dispute which has emerged with Epic Games. The known game publisher had recently had its popular game, Fortnite, removed from both Google Play and Apple App Store, since it brought in a new feature that lets users bypass the app stores for in game microtransactions. This caused Epic to respond with a lawsuit for both tech giants. Now, Apple has responded, saying it ‘won’t make any exceptions.’

Apple

According to an official statement by the Cupertino based company, “We very much want to keep the company as part of the Apple Developer Program and their apps on the Store. The problem Epic has created for itself is one that can easily be remedied if they submit an update of their app that reverts it to comply with the guidelines they agreed to and which apply to all developers.” Epic believes that both Google and Apple’s business operations on their app stores are anti competitive, and has filed a lawsuit accordingly.

Editor’s Pick: OnePlus 18W charger gets certified by TÜV Rheinland; should be for a cheaper Nord phone

This entire scenario was apparently planned months in advance as Epic Games responded with the lawsuit immediately after it got removed from both online stores. For those unaware, game developers that use either App Store or Google Play have to give either Apple or Google a 30 percent cut in any in game digital purchases. In other words, ordering a book or food is different, from buying a Fornite skin online, which must be bought through the platform’s respective payment system.

Apple

Thus, when Epic silently introduced the new bypass payment mechanics into its popular video game title, it was promptly removed from both platforms. At the moment, Apple has offered till the 28th of August to make changes to this system, and has said that this is a simple fix to the problem. If the publisher fails to comply, then it will be kicked out from its developer program, as reported by The Verge.

UP NEXT: TikTok announces partnership with UnitedMasters; Oracle in talks for acquisition

 

TikTok announces partnership with UnitedMasters; Oracle in talks for acquisition

By
Jeet
-

At a time when TikTok has been banned in one of the most important markets, India, and is facing the same issue in the United States, the short video social media platform has announced its first music partnership.

The ByteDance-owned company has announced a music distribution partnership with indie music distributor UnitedMasters. It will now allow artists on TikTok to tap into the platform and then distribute songs directly to other music streaming services.

TikTok

This new deal seems to be a good easy-to-reach strategy for indie artists who can now circumvent traditional record labels to reach young music fans on the social video app. TikTok says that the platform has already helped several artists to further growth, including Lil Nas X, Ambjaay, StaySolidRocky, Powfu, BENEE, Y2K, bbno$ and others.

UnitedMasters, on the other hand, has grown its lineup to over 400,000 artists in the past 18 months, with a combined 5 billion streams and over a half-million distributed tracks. The company takes a 10 percent share of the revenue for music it distributes and allows artists to retain their rights.

EDITOR’S PICK: Samsung announces plans for 6G technology; Launch expected by the end of the decade

Another interesting development in the on-going TikTok-relate circus in the United States is the entry of a new player for the acquisition talks. While Microsoft is already in talks with ByteDance for the acquisition of TikTok’s business in the United States, Oracle has now also joined the list of companies interested to acquire stake.

As per the report, the software giant has already held preliminary talks with TikTok’s parent company ByteDance and is also working with venture capital firms including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital.

It is being said that Oracle is “seriously considering” to acquire TikTok’s business in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The development comes at a time when Donald Trump has signed an executive order ordering TikTok to sell its U.S. business within 90 days.

UP NEXT: Hundreds of vulnerabilities in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset puts millions of Android phones at risk

 

Huawei Mate40 Pro camera module design leaks online ahead of launch

By
Jeet
-

Chinese giant Huawei is now gearing up to launch its upcoming flagship smartphone — Huawei Mate40 series. Now, ahead of the phone going official, the design of the Mate40 Pro’s camera module has been leaked online.

The image of the upcoming Huawei Mate40 Pro’s camera module has been posted on Weibo, which showcases four camera sensors placed in a circular module while a rectangular element in the middle seems like an LED flash.

Huawei Mate40 Pro Camera Module Leak

There’s a possibility that the phone may be equipped with a triple-camera setup and not a quad-camera setup given that while there are four camera positions in the image, only three on them have diaphragms. This indicates that the fourth element could be for some other type of sensor, like laser focus.

In related news, tempered glass for the protection of Huawei Mate40 series smartphones has also leaked online. From the leaked image, it seems that the series will come with a curved screen for a better screen-to-body ratio.

EDITOR’S PICK: Huawei Chairman – Global 5G users cross 100 million with the focus now shifting towards industry applications

Recently, the company’s executive revealed that the Mate40 series could be the last from the company to come powered by the high-end Kirin series chipset as the company will stop making the flagship processors on 15th September after the new U.S. sanctions.

Another report has revealed that the Huawei Mate40 is expected to run the EMUI 10.X version while the Pro model could be the first smartphone from the company to be running the latest EMUI 11, which the company has been working on for quite some time.

The Huawei Mate40 series is expected to come in four models and the Mate40 Pro is reportedly codenamed “Noah”. While nothing much about these upcoming devices is known at this time, the phones are expected to go official next month.

UP NEXT: Hundreds of vulnerabilities in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset puts millions of Android phones at risk

 

Vulnerabilities in Qualcomm chipset puts millions of Android phones at risk

By
Jeet
-

Researchers have found that Snapdragon series smartphone chipsets from Qualcomm, which is widely being used in Android devices, has over 400 instances of vulnerable code that puts millions of users at risk.

Check Point, a cybersecurity firm has found that the DSP (Digital Signal Processor) used in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset has the vulnerable code which it is calling “Achilles” and is claimed to impact phones to be used as a spying tool.

Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor

An app can bypass the usual security measures and can then access phone’s photos, videos, GPS, and location data, that too without the owner knowing about it. The attacker can also lock the phone with all the data stored, rendering it useless. It can also be used to store unknown and unremovable malware on the device.

The research firm has said that it has notified Qualcomm about its findings, as well as government officials and affected vendors. Given that millions of Android devices are at risk, the company has not published the details about its findings.

EDITOR’S PICK: iQOO 5, iQOO 5 Pro launched with 120W fast charging, 120Hz curved display, and 50MP triple cameras

It is also being reported that Qualcomm has now fixed the issue but the affected devices can only be secured once the phone manufacturers start pushing the relevant updates and security patches to the affected phones, which is likely to take time.

In a statement, Qualcomm said that it has worked hard to validate and fix the issues. It also added that the company has not found any evidence of the Achilles vulnerability being exploited in the wild.

UP NEXT: United States reinforces restrictions put on Chinese giant Huawei’s access to chips and other technologies

 

Realme rumored to hold launch event September 1

By
Anvinraj Valiyathara
-

Realme is yet to confirm a date for its next launch event. Since Realme CMO Xu Qi has teased the arrival of new phones, it appears that the company could be gearing up to launch new phones in China soon. It is speculated that the Realme 7 or X7 series may go official on Sept. 1. A latest post from Realme’s Weibo account suggests that it may confirm the launch date tomorrow.

Yesterday, Realme CMO released a Weibo post carrying an image of 7up can along with “new soon” text. It is being speculated that the number 7 could be a hint that Xu Qi could be teasing the arrival of the Realme 7 or X7 series. His other post suggests that the new phones will have a thin form factor and still offer a good battery life.

According to a Chinese tipster, apart from ZTE and Honor, Realme could be holding a launch event on Sept. 1 in China. While Honor is expected to announce wearable devices, ZTE will be launching the ZTE Axon 20 5G as the first-ever smartphone with an under-display selfie camera.

Editor’s Pick: MediaTek Dimensity 800U midrange 5G chipset announced

Yesterday, tipster Digital Chat Station from China had claimed that the two upcoming Realme phones measure 8.x mm and they are backed by 4,300mAh and 4,500mAh batteries.  The two phones are also said to be equipped with 65W fast charging.

Based on recent reports, it can be said that the RMX2176 and RMX2121 could be the two upcoming Realme phones. The RMX2176 measures 8.1mm in thickness while the RMX2121 has a slim profile of 8.5mm. The TENAA listings of both phones have revealed that they are equipped with dual-cell batteries. The rated value of one of the batteries of RMX2176 is 2,100mAh while that of RMX2121 is 2,200mAh. TENAA has recently another Realme phone with RMX2200 / RMX2201 with a 4,890mAh rated battery. Hence, it may not be the phone that the tipster talked about.

A recent leak had revealed that the Realme RMX2176 has a 4,300mAh battery. The RMX2121 has been spotted at 3C’s database with a 65W fast charger in the recently. While the RMX2121 has appeared at 3C, it’s listing at TENAA is yet to get populated with full specs.

On the other side, the RMX2176’s TENAA listing has revealed that it has a 6.43-inch FHD+ OLED punch-hole display with high refresh rate, a 32-megapixel camera, a 64-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-megapixel quad-camera system, Snapdragon 765G, 6 GB / 8 GB of RAM, and 128 GB / 256 GB of storage. It has an in-display fingerprint reader and lacks an external storage slot. The handset is yet to appear in 3C’s database.

UP NEXT: Realme C11 will launch in Europe on August 26

 

(via)

MediaTek Dimensity 800U midrange 5G chipset announced

By
Anvinraj Valiyathara
-

MediaTek has announced a new chipset called Dimensity 800U that brings 5G capabilities for midrange smartphones. The 7nm chipset is now a part of the Dimensity family of SoCs that include members like the Dimensity 720, Dimensity 820, Dimensity 800, Dimensity 1000+, and Dimensity 1000.

The Dimensity 800U is an octa-core chipset that includes two ARM Cortex-A76 cores that ticks at up to 2.4GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores that clocks at up to 2.0GHz. For graphics, it comes with ARM’s Mali-G57 GPU and it is equipped with an independent AI processing unit (APU).

The 5G modem of the Dimensity 800U support 5G + 5G dual SIM dual stand, dual VoNR (Voice over New Radio), sub-6GHz NSA / SA networks, and 5G two carrier aggregation (2CC 5G-CA). There is MediaTek 5G UltraSave technology onboard that manages the operations of the modem based on network environment and data transmission quality for improving the battery life of mobile devices.

Dimensity 800U
Dimensity 800U

Editor’s Pick: ZTE’s Ni Fei shares render showing the front of the Axon 20 5G

Devices featuring the Dimensity 800U can include LPDDR4x RAM (up to 2133MHz) and UFS 2.2 storage. The SoC supports Full HD+ displays with 120Hz refresh rates. For enhanced visual experience, it supports HDR10+ and MediaTek’s MiraVision PQ engine with HDR optimization for different kinds of videos.

The IPS of the Dimensity 800U supports up to 64-megapixel image sensors and as many as four rear-facing cameras. Other features of the Dimensity 800U include support for multiple trigger words for different voice assistant, dual-mic noise reduction, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.1

MediaTek has claimed that the Dimensity 800U is designed to deliver 11 percent and 28 percent faster CPU and GPU performance, respectively compared to the Dimensity 720 chipset that debuted last month. Phones featuring Dimensity chipsets are yet to release in markets outside of China. The company recently confirmed that Dimensity powered smartphones will debut in markets outside of China in Q3 this year. At present, there is no word on the first phone that will be arriving with the all-new Dimensity 800U SoC.

UP NEXT: MediaTek teams up with Intel to unveil the T700, its first 5G laptop chips

 

 

ZTE’s Ni Fei shares render showing the front of the Axon 20 5G

By
Habeeb Onawole
-

History will be made on September 1 when ZTE unveils the first commercially-available phone with an in-display front-facing camera. Ni Fei, the president of ZTE, has released a render that shows the front of the said device which will launch as the Axon 20 5G.

The image shows the phone will have pretty slim bezels, however, the bottom one is a bit thicker than the rest. The Axon 20 5G has three buttons on the right side of the frame. You can already tell they are the volume control buttons and the power button. The left side is bare and we can’t see the top and bottom.

ZTE Axon 20 5G official render

The wallpaper used for the phone shows the front-facing camera design that the mobile industry as adopted in recent times. There is the left-cornered punch hole and the centered punch hole on the left while the pill-shaped punch hole and the motorized pop-up selfie camera are on the right. The image in the middle depicts the under-display camera which is not visible.

The Axon 20 5G will have a 6.92-inch FHD+ OLED display. It will be powered by a 2.4GHz octa-core processor believed to be the Snapdragon 765G, have up to 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. The under-display camera is a 32MP sensor while the back is home to a 64MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP quad camera setup.

ZTE will ship the phone with a 4120mAh battery, an in-display fingerprint scanner, and Android 10 out of the box.

UP NEXT: Huawei patents all-screen fingerprint unlock technology for smartphones

 

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra survives JerryRigEverything’s durability test

By
Jed John Ikoba
-

Samsung‘s latest Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has been put through Zack Nelson’s durability test. The evaluation sees the phone undergoing several categories of testing to determine its durability which includes scratch, bend and burn tests.Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

The first test is usually the scratch test beaming the searchlight on Corning’s latest Gorilla Glass Victus which features on the Not 20 Ultra first. The test using the Mohs hardness scale shows the device started getting some scratches at level 6 with deeper grooves at level 7. That is because Victu is still glass but with more strength.

The LED screen didn’t recover from the burn test which leaves a chunk of the display permanently damaged. The display still works fine and even with scratches, the under-screen fingerprint sensor still works perfectly.

Further, the phone handles the bend test pretty well with no damage when pressure is applied. The durability test also afforded us an opportunity to take a look at the S Pen stylus and other components crammed inside the body including a tiny lithium-titanate (LTO) battery at the top and charging coil near the tip of the pen.

You can check out the durability video from below.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra beats Huawei P40 Pro in Camera Performance with a DxOMark score of 130

 

Xiaomi’s official Mi 10 Ultra teardown video shows off the internals

By
Jed John Ikoba
-

To mark its 10th anniversary, Xiaomi unveiled a slew of products last week. At the top of the pack is the Mi 10 Ultra. The flagship device arrives with several standout features including 120W wired fast-charging support, a periscope lens and more.

Xiaomi has now released a teardown with of the Mi 10 Ultra giving us our first glimpse of the internals. As revealed, the Mi 10 Ultra won’t be released outside China meaning it may not be possible to find a teardown video of the device on YouTube. XIaomi Mi 10 Ultra teardown

The video clip isn’t a long one, having a duration of two minutes but enough to showcase all the details there is to see. The first component that is visible when the back panel is yanked off is the NFC chip and the coil for the 50W wireless charging.

The video contains a reminder of the blazing speed at which the device can charge when the charger that ships with it is used. The phone can go from 0 to 100% in 40 minutes. The charging speed is even faster with a wired charger which tops the 4500mAh battery in 23 minutes.

The rear camera setup is also unveiled in the video including the periscope cam which bends light through a prism that goes into the main sensor. The main cam is a 48 MP Sony IMX586 sensor.XIaomi Mi 10 Ultra teardown

Further, we get to see three cooling solutions which Xiaomi implemented on the Mi 10 Ultra. This includes a graphene-copper sandwich for the chipset, RAM, storage, and modem; additional graphene sheet, combined with a copper cooling chamber with vapor underneath the front panel; and an additional highly-conductive film, sitting right between the optical fingerprint scanner and the OLED, helping to dissolve the heat across the 110 sq.cm display.

The phone is also shown to feature an X-axis vibration motor sitting right below the battery and to pack a dual stereo speaker system.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra beats Huawei P40 Pro in Camera Performance with a DxOMark score of 130

 

 

US reinforces restrictions on Huawei’s access to chips and other tech

By
Habeeb Onawole
-

The United States government has announced that it plans to reinforce its restrictions on the Chinese tech giant, Huawei. The move is to further prevent the manufacturer from gaining access to available chipsets and thus crippling its business even more.

Reuters reported earlier today that the US Commerce Department wants to prevent Huawei from purchasing chipsets using third parties which they have been doing. With the new rule, the use of American software or fabrication technology is banned and will require a license said Wilbur Ross, the Commerce Secretary.

We don’t want their equipment in the United States because they spy on us –  Donald Trump, President of the United States

Huawei has denied that it spies for the Chinese government but it appears its words have fallen on deaf ears.

The new rule will make it even harder for Huawei to continue its operations. Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State said in a tweet that the US government has “dealt a direct blow to Huawei and the Chinese Communist Party by further limiting Huawei’s ability to acquire U.S. technology and compromise the integrity of the world’s networks and Americans’ private information.”

About a month ago, the UK government announced that Huawei was banned from the UK’s 5G networks. They also issued a ban on the purchase of Huawei equipment which will take effect on January 1, 2021. Carriers that have already set up 5G networks using Huawei technology have been given until 2027 to have them removed.

UP NEXT: Leaked Huawei Mate 40 series specs reveal it will have liquid lens camera

 

International variants of Mi 9 SE and Mi 9 Lite receive MIUI 12 stable update

By
Sudarshan Ravichandran
-

Xiaomi has been updating a plethora of smartphones to MIUI 12 since its official announcement in late April. The company is currently updating its 2018 handsets to stable version in China. Whereas, internationally, the update has begun to hit certain 2019 devices. The Mi 9 SE and Mi 9 Lite are the latest phones to get it.

Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite Featured

The Xiaomi Mi 9 and Mi 9 Pro were one of the first smartphones to get MIUI 12 stable update in June in China. Later, the Mi 9 SE also received it in July. Now, the global, Europe (EEA) and Russian variants of the latter device along with Mi 9 Lite have also begun to get MIUI 12 stable.

Both the devices launched with Android Pie in all the markets and were updated to Android 10 earlier this year. However, as the Mi 9 SE is a bit older handset, it came with MIUI 10. On the other hand, Mi 9 Lite, which is basically a rebadged  Mi CC9 debuted with MIUI 11.

Therefore, MIUI 12 update is the second and first MIUI update for these phones respectively. The build numbers for their update are as listed below.

Xiaomi Mi 9 SE
Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite

Global

 v12.0.1.0.QFBMIXM v12.0.2.0.QFCMIXM
EEA v12.0.1.0.QFBEUXM

v12.0.2.0.QFCEUXM
Russia v12.0.1.0.QFBRUXM

v12.0.2.0.QFCRUXM

That said, since these two devices have only received a single Android update so far, they are also eligible for Android 11. However, they may probably get it next year even though Google will officially release it in Septemeber.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro, Mi 8 Explorer Edition, and Mi Max 3 updated to MIUI 12 stable in China

 

(Via 1, 2)

iQOO 5 Pro vs Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra vs Vivo X50 Pro+: Specs Comparison

By
Michele Ingelido
-

The newly-announced iQOO 5 Pro is one of the most original and powerful smartphones out there. A lot of people did not expect such a phone from a so young brand, but it came and it has all the potentialities to compete with the most advanced devices released from the best brands. The handset debuted in the Chinese market and we think there is no better way to understand its potentialities than comparing it with other Chinese-exclusive devices. iQOO is a brand launched by Vivo and the iQOO 5 Pro has a few important things in common with the Vivo X50 Pro+: that is why we decided to include it in this comparison. We also included the latest top-tier flagship by Xiaomi: the Mi 10 Ultra. Let’s discover who is better.

Vivo iQOO 5 Pro vs Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra vs Vivo X50 Pro+

Vivo iQOO 5 Pro Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra Vivo X50 Pro+
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT 159.6 x 73.3 x 8.9 mm, 198 g 162.4 x 75.1 x 9.5 mm, 221 g 158.5 x 72.8 x 8 mm, 182 g
DISPLAY  6.56 inches, 1080 x 2376p (Full HD+), AMOLED  6.67 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), OLED 6.56 inches, 1080 x 2376p (Full HD+),  AMOLED
PROCESSOR Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, octa-core 2.84 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, octa-core 2.84 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, octa-core 2.84 GHz
MEMORY 8 GB RAM, 256 GB – 12 GB RAM, 256 GB 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 256 GB – 12 GB RAM, 256 GB – 16 GB RAM, 512 GB 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 256 GB – 12 GB RAM, 256 GB
SOFTWARE  Android 10, iQOO UI  Android 10, MIUI Android 10, Funtouch OS
CONNECTIVITY  Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS  Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS
CAMERA  Triple 50 + 8 + 13 MP, f/1.9 + f/3.4 + f/2.2
16 MP f/2.5 front camera		 Quad 48 + 48 + 12 + 20 MP, f/1.9 + f/4.1 + f/2.0 + f/2.2
20 MP f/2.3 front camera		 Quad 50 + 8 + 13 + 8 MP, f/1.9 + f/3.0 + f/2.5 + f/2.2
32 MP f/2.5 front camera
BATTERY  4000 mAh, fast charging 65W  4500 mAh, fast charging 120W Quick Charge 5, fast wireless charging 50W and reverse wireless charging 10W 4315 mAh, fast charging 44W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES Dual SIM slot, reverse wireless charging, 5G Dual SIM slot, 5G Dual SIM slot, 5G

Design

The iQOO 5 Pro and the Vivo X50 Pro+ offer a premium and unique design. The former debuted in a BMW Edition with two color variants: a carbon black version and a leather variant. The latter comes with a leather back as well, but it is not customized by a car manufacturer. On the other hand, it has a very elegant curved display. The most attractive devices are definitely iQOO 5 Pro and Vivo X50 Pro+. Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra is still a premium device when it comes to the design, but it is a classic glass sandwich with an aluminum frame just like most of the flagships out there.

 

Display

In each case, you get amazing displays. All of these handsets feature an OLED panel with a Full HD+ resolution, a high 120 Hz refresh rate, the HDR10+ certification, and very high brightness. There is nothing negative to say about the displays. They are not the most advanced displays in the market, but they are great high-end panels. Given that there are only marginal differences between the displays of these phones, we recommend focusing on the other specifications instead of looking for the device with the best display. Note that Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra comes with stereo speakers, so it should provide better audio quality.

 

Hardware/Software

If we talk about hardware, we can tell you almost the same concept we told you in the previous paragraph of this comparison. iQOO 5 Pro, Vivo X50 Pro+, and Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra all feature a Snapdragon 865 chipset, as well as LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 native storage. In its most expensive configuration, Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra wins the hardware comparison because it offers more RAM (up to 16 GB) and more internal storage (up to 512 GB). All of these devices get Android 10 out of the box, but with different customized UIs.

 

Camera

Besides coming with flagship-class hardware, these three phones are also amazing camera phones. The Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra and the Vivo X50 Pro+ are actually superior to the iQOO 5 Pro, at least on the paper. They both look awesome with their incredible optical zoom capabilities, flagship-class sensors, and more. According to DxOMark, at this moment, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra is the best camera phone in the market. But DxOMark never reviewed a Vivo phone and we believe the X50 Pro+ with its gimbal camera will be a valid opponent.

 

Battery

Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra has a bigger battery and, given that it features similar components to its two rivals, it should last more on a single charge. Further, it has the fastest charging technology alongside the iQOO 5 Pro, with a 120W power. However, the iQOO 5 Pro will charge faster due to its smaller battery capacity. With the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra, you also get the fastest wireless charging technology with a 50W power.

 

Price

The starting price of the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra is $999/€841, Vivo X50 Pro+ begins at $790/€665, and iQOO 5 Pro starts from €610/$724. It costs more, but Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra looks like the most complete device of the trio. The iQOO 5 Pro wins the value for money award.

 

 

Vivo iQOO 5 Pro vs Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra vs Vivo X50 Pro+: PRO and CONS

Vivo iQOO 5 Pro

PROS

  • Very fast charging
  • Reverse charging
  • Original design
  • Gimbal camera

CONS

  • Smaller battery

 

Vivo X50 Pro+

PROS

  • Gimbal camera
  • Original design
  • Great selfie camera

CONS

  • Slower charging

 

Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra

PROS

  • Bigger battery
  • Very fast charging
  • Higher-end memory configuration
  • Stereo speakers
  • Amazing cameras

CONS

  • Price

Mobvoi Earbuds Gesture TWS earbuds announced; available for crowdfunding

By
Habeeb Onawole
-

Mobvoi has a new pair of TWS earbuds and they are the first pair of earbuds from the manufacturer to not go by TicPods. The Mobvoi Earbuds Gesture as they are officially known is currently being crowdfunded on Indiegogo.

Mobvoi Earbuds Gesture

The new earbuds have a black matte+gloss finish and an in-ear design with silicone tips that provides passive noise cancellation. The selling point of the Mobvoi Earbuds Gesture is its support for head gestures, a feature that debuted first on the TicPods 2 Pro. The feature allows owners to accept or reject incoming calls by nodding or shaking their head twice.

There is also support for touch controls, so you can tap the earbuds to play/pause playback, switch between tracks, activate the voice assistant (Google Assistant and Siri), and also accept, reject, or end calls.

Mobvoi Earbuds Gesture

Each earbud has a 90mAh battery capacity while the charging case has a 600mAh battery capacity. The earbuds which have an IPX5 rating will last up to 10 hours on a single charge, and with the case (charges via USB-C), you get an additional 50 hours of playback. There are dual-microphones on each earbud for noise cancellation during calls and you can use each one independently.

The Mobvoi Gesture Earbuds will sell for $67 to those who back the campaign on Indiegogo with a promise to begin shipping in October. After the campaign ends, the earbuds will sell for $130.

UP NEXT: Mobvoi renames its ANC headphones and ANC earbuds

 

Blackview BV9900 Pro Android 10 version goes on presale via the official store

By
Simranpal Singh
-

Blackview BV9900 Pro which was launched earlier this year as the world’s fastest thermal rugged smartphone has started receiving Android 10. The device features some exceptional features like water and drop resistance, a top-notch display, thermal imaging camera, powerful processor, and high-end cameras. The new update brings all the useful features of the Android 10 OS including the improved dark mode, revamped UI, navigation gestures, and much more.

blackview bv9900 pro

Must See: Top 5 Blackview waterproof and rugged smartphones to enjoy summers flawlessly at the beach

Blackview BV9900 Pro houses a MediaTek P90 SoC, 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 128GB storage, and 48-megapixel rear camera. There’s a 4380 mAh battery with 18W wired and 10W wireless charging. A 5.84-inch FHD+ waterdrop display is present with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 display. There’s an added advantage of Heart Rate Monitor, Baromaterer, and NFC chipset.

Blackview BV9900 Pro brings several new features with Android 10. We have listed some of them below.

Dark Theme

Android 10 brings improved Dark Theme on Blackview BV9900 Pro smartphone. It saves eyes from blue light exposure on white displays or backgrounds in the night time or in dark environments. The feature reduces the luminance of the display.

Grayscale Mode

blackview bv9900 pro

While reading an ebook or using a phone for elongated hours, the grayscale mode can really help the users to reduce eye strain.

The whole User Interface is tweaked with the Android 10 update.

Navigation Gestures

blackview bv9900 pro

The latest update also brings new navigation features which makes it easy for the user to interact with the phone. Rather than pressing the buttons, the swipes are more fluidic and make some features easily accessible.

Improved Efficiency

Blackview BV9900 Pro efficiency increased with the new drawer and Clone Phone options. Clone Phone enables users to migrate all the data including call logs, SMS, notes, recordings, photos, music, video, applications from one device to another.

Enhanced Security and Digital Wellbeing

The new update brings Digital Wellbeing which allows the users to set Parent Controls and even intimates the user for any over-usage.

Blackview BV9900 Pro Android 10 variant is available for presale via Blackview Official Store. However, the old device units will also get the Android 10 update starting from the next month.

Moreover, there are some other Blackview models like BV9900 Pro, BV6300 Pro, A80, Tab 8, and BV4900 are also up for grabs via AliExpress. You can also join the Giveaway to win Blackview “Space Capsule” phone for free.

BV4900 – Inspired by space capsule for 10 Lucky Guys

Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro, Mi 8 Explorer Edition, and Mi Max 3 updated to MIUI 12 stable in China

By
Sudarshan Ravichandran
-

MIUI 12, Xiaomi’s 10th-anniversary Android skin has been rolling out to eligible devices since its official announcement in late April. After the 2020 and 2019 smartphones, the stable update is currently being pushed to 2018 handsets in China. The Mi 8 Pro, Mi 8 Explorer Edition, and Mi Max 3 are the latest phones to get it.

Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition Featured

Xiaomi launched a total of five models in the Mi 8 series in 2018 consisting of three flagship handsets and two toned-down versions. One of the higher-end and mini models, Mi 8 and Mi 8 Lite already received MIUI 12 stable update in July and August respectively in China.

Now, the top devices in the series, Mi 8 Pro and Mi 8 Explorer Edition have begun to get this long-awaited update in the company’s home country. The build numbers for their update are v12.0.1.0.QECCNXM and 12.0.1.0.QEHCNXM respectively.

Similarly, the last phone in the Mi Max series, the Mi Max 3 is also being blessed with MIUI 12 stable update. The update comes with build number v12.0.1.0.QEDCNXM for this giant smartphone of its time.

We expect Xiaomi to roll out this update to the international version of these handsets in the coming days like it is doing with the previous phones.

UP NEXT: Here’s the official list of Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO, and Black Shark devices eligible for Android 11

 

(Via)

Umidigi Bison smartphone launched with rugged design, 48MP quad-camera and 6.3-inch display

By
Simranpal Singh
-

Following some rumors and leaks, Umidigi finally unveiled its new series smartphone – Umidigi Bison featuring a powerful camera and durable design. The newly launched rugged smartphone further features IP68 and IP69K water resistance certification along with a rugged design. It is a perfect companion for users who live to enjoy sports and outdoor activities. However, the company hasn’t revealed the pricing information, but it would retail below $250.

See More: Grab Umidigi S5 and A7 Pro with 18-months extended warranty at Global Fan Festival 2020

Umidigi Bison carries a quad-rear camera featuring a 48-megapixel Sony primary sensor which can even take quality photos. It is accompanied by three other sensors including a 16-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, a 5-megapixel depth lens, and a 5-megapixel macro lens. Moreover, you get a 24-megapixel selfie camera on the front for accurate colors while snapping a selfie.

It is a rugged smartphone and features IP68 and IP69K certification which confirms its water-resistant ability up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes. Umidigi Bison is also dust, dirt, and sand proof. The smartphone can easily withstand the thermal steam wash test, the high water pressure of 100 bar (1450 psi), and a high water temperature of 80-degree. A barometer sensor is also handy which can be useful to measure while you’re trekking heights or performing any other related activity.

Umidigi Bison comes with two independent customizable buttons which can be used for Push-to-Talk, underwater camera mode, and emergency call. It can be assigned different features for single click double click and long press functions.

There’s a beautiful 6.3-inch FHD+ display with edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla glass protection. The edge-to-edge protection on a rugged smartphone is difficult but it present on Umidgi Bison.

It comes with an octa-core chipset coupled with a 6GB LPDDR4X 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage. There’s a 5000 mAh battery that can sustain for a couple of days. The smartphone houses a Side-Mounted Fingerprint Sensor, Barometer, Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, and Electronic Compass.

Umidigi Bison Technical Specifications

  • Screen: 6.3″ FHD+ Waterdrop Screen
  • CPU: MediaTek, Helio P60, 4xCortex-A73, 2.0GHz & 4xCortex-A53, up to 2.0GHz
  • GPU: ARM Mali G72 MP3, up to 800MHz
  • RAM: 6GB, LPDDR4X dual-channel
  • Storage: 128GB, UFS 2.1
  • Rear camera: 48MP Sony primary camera, 1/2” image sensor, 1.6μm 4-in-1 superpixel, F/1.79 aperture, 6-element lens, 16MP ultra wide-angle camera, FOV 120° , 5MP depth camera, and 5MP macro camera, 2cm macro distance
  • Front camera: Sony 24MP, F/2.0 aperture, 5-element lens
  • Water, dust, shock resistant: IP68, IP69K
  • Dedicated keys: Two independent customizable buttons
  • Connectivity: Dual 4G / Dual VoLTE
  • GPS, Glonass, Galileo
  • USB Type-C, Bluetooth 4.2, OTG
  • Battery: 5000mAh, 18W Fast Charge
  • Dimensions: 162.5 x 79.9 x 12.8 mm
  • Weight: 250g
  • Colors: Cyber Yellow, Lava Orange

Umidigi Bison Price

Umidigi Bison’s official pricing details are not out yet, but we expect it to be under $250. The smartphone is already listed on Umidigi with the option to add it to the cart. Moreover, the company is giving away 10 units of Umidigi A7 via the company’s official website.

Related: Umidigi A7 smartphone with 6.49-inch display, and AI-Quad camera launched for $89.99; UWatch 2S also makes debut

A Nokia phone alleged to be Nokia 7.3 5G spotted on next James Bond movie set

By
Jed John Ikoba
-

HMD Global’s next 5G phone after the Nokia 8.3 5G is expected to be the Nokia 7.3. The company is expected to unveil the smartphone in September at IFA Berlin 2020. Ahead of that date, an unknown Nokia model believed to be the Nokia 7.3 has been spotted on the set of the upcoming James Bond movie No Time To Die.

HMD’s Nokia recently replaced Sony Mobile as the official partner of James Bond movies. The company had earlier hinted that the Nokia 8.3 5G will be featured a lot in the film. There are also reports that the cheaper Nokia 5.3 could make an appearance too.

But in a video shared by NokiaMob showing the visit of Prince Charles who was on a tour of the set of No Time To Die, a mysterious Nokia phone with a circular camera module was spotted. Tipster Nokia Anewlater revealed on Twitter that the device is a prototype of the Nokia 7.3.

The device is said to be an early prototype but is a reflection of the final design of the smartphone. In other words, the 5G phone will feature a circular camera bump on the rear complete with several sensors and an LED flash.

The Nokia 7.3 is rumoured to be powered by Qualcomm’s recently announced Snapdragon 690 5G chip. The device is touted to emerge as the cheapest 5G smartphone from Nokia when it is official. There are speculations that it will have a 90Hz display.

As stated earlier, Nokia is expected to unveil the smartphone at IFA 2020 while it will be released in October.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra beats Huawei P40 Pro in Camera Performance with a DxOMark score of 130

 

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