Indian pricing for Galaxy Note20 series leaks and it is far from cheap

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Jul 28, 2020

Xiaomi has been rolling out Android 10 stable update to its budget Redmi smartphones since last month starting with Redmi 7A. The whole Redmi 7 series including Redmi Note 7 Pro, Redmi 7, and, Redmi Note 7 got the update. Later, the company started seeding out Android 10 to Redmi 8. Followed by that, Redmi 8A has now begun to get a similar treatment.

The Redmi 8A is the third device in the Redmi 8 series to get Android 10 update after Redmi Note 8 Pro and Redmi 8. Like previous rollouts, the update is initially limited to the Chinese version of the handset.

The Android 10 stable update for Redmi 8A comes with build number V11.0.2.0.QCPCNXM and July 2020 security patch. We can expect similar build for other regional variants of the handset.

Further, this could be the only Android update for this phone, however, it is eligible for MIUI 12, which may roll out sometime later in August or September.

Having said that, Xiaomi’s one of the best-selling smartphones worldwide, the Redmi Note 8 is yet to receive Android 10 update and so is the Redmi 8A Dual aka Redmi 8A Pro.

We expect either of these two above-mentioned devices to be next in line to get Android 10 stable update.

(Via)

Vivo patents a new smartband with a Curved Display

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Jul 28, 2020

Vivo has recently patented a new smart band. Although, what sets this wearable apart from the company’s previous offerings is the inclusion of a curved display along with a heart rate sensor.

According to a new patent that surfaced on the CNIPA database (China’s Intellectual Property Administration) earlier today (28th July 2020), Vivo is possibly working on an interesting wearable gadget. Looking at the patent images, the new Vivo smart band resembles similar offerings from both Xiaomi and Realme. Although, the dial differs slightly with rounded corners on a rectangular frame.

The top of the device also appears to have a cutout for a speaker, while the display is curved over the edges. This might be a new entry in the fitness band category from the Chinese tech giant. However, it is still too soon to tell, and finer details are unavailable at the moment. The patent doesn’t reveal any specifications either, nor is the exact touch surface made known in the images.

Moving to the straps, they follow a conventional design, but with one notable inclusion. One strap arm detaches to unveil the charger strip hidden underneath it to charge the device. This would be a welcomed addition since it would eliminate the hassle to carry an additional USB charger cable. The feature was also seen in the Realme Smart Band, so it seems inspiration was drawn from the product.

Flipkart Quick launched, a 90 minute local delivery service for over 2,000 products

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Jul 28, 2020

Earlier today (28th July 2020), Flipkart launched its new local 90 minute delivery service in India. The new service is dubbed as Flipkart Quick, which will have users receiving over 2,000 products in categories including, grocery, dairy, meat, and stationery items.

The new delivery will debut in Bengaluru and it will be expanded to six other cities over the course of the next few months. This will also tie in with the company’s Supermart store, which specifically sells groceries. Through Flipkart Quick, customers can order certain items, with a minimum delivery fee of 29 INR (roughly 39 US Cents).

The orders will then be delivered between 6 am to midnight on the day of the order. Furthermore, the online store will also offer the option to choose between the 90 minutes delivery option or book delivery within the next two hours as per their convenience. According to Flipkart, the new service is being introduced to digitalize the local general and grocery stores within the country.

At the moment, it is available in Bengaluru regions like Whitefield, Panathur, HSR Layout, BTM Layout, Banashankari, KR Puram, and Indiranagar. Flipkart Vice President, Sandeep Karwa stated that “While we start with our dark store (no-walkin) model, wherein we enable sellers to store inventory close to the consumer; this model has the potential of encouraging local entrepreneurship and enabling new business strategies and partnerships.”

Huawei dominates China with nearly half of the smartphone market share

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Jul 28, 2020

Huawei is dominating the Chinese smartphone market. The company currently has a hold of nearly half of the smartphone market share in the region and is one of the leaders in the 5G market as well.

According to a new report by Counterpoint, the Chinese tech giant accounts for 46 percent of all smartphone sales in China. This amounts to more than the market share of its rivals including Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi combined. It also marks the highest market share held by Huawei in its entire history in China, with sales being 14 percent higher than the same period back in 2019.

Notably, the news arrives during the time where Huawei’s products have been criticized and shunned in various western countries. Furthermore, the company’s international sales have declined sharply as well. However, Huawei has invested heavily in its home country where it is still growing strong despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and scrutiny.

This also arrives after the company lost TSMC as its chip supplier due to US sanctions. In China, the smartphone market has declined by a total of 17 percent, with competitors like Vivo losing 29 percent market share, Oppo witnessing a 31 percent decline, and Xiaomi falling by 35 percent in the same period. The decline is also primarily due to the viral outbreak, although, the situation is better than in early 2020.

One of the segments where Huawei dominates is the 5G handset market. The company has a foothold of about 60 percent for 5G devices in China, where the most number of 5G enabled smartphones are sold. Interestingly, one in every three smartphones sold in China was 5G ready. Similar to Huawei, even Apple made great strides in this period, with its growth being even higher than the Chinese brand, reaching a 32 percent rise year on year.

Xiaomi is working on “Back Tap” gesture for MIUI 12

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Jul 28, 2020

Smartphones grew bigger every year and with the introduction of bezel-less long displays, gesture navigation became a norm. Although the 2017 iPhone X popularised it, these gestures date back to Palme Pre from 2009. Now, as iOS and Android have become a matured operating system, new releases mostly bring subtle changes.

But lately, Google and Apple have been working more on accessibility features. Recently, Apple introduced back tap gestures in iOS 14 and even Google has been working on a similar feature. Joining the bandwagon, Xiaomi is too developing gestures called “Back Tap” in MIUI 12.

Ever since Xiaomi announced MIUI 12, it has been continuously seeding weekly beta releases to supported devices in China. These builds contain new features, which later make their way to the stable channel after feedback from users.

According to findings by XDA Senior Member kacskrz in the latest MIUI 12 beta build, the company seems to be working on back tap gestures identical to iOS 14. The developer tried to enable them in settings but it doesn’t work as of now, at least on his Redmi Note 7.

Currently, it offers five actions to choose from by either double-tap or triple-tap and they are as listed below.

Take a screenshot
Turn on torch
Control center
Notification shade
Launch camera

Maybe, when this feature goes live for all users, Xiaomi may add more options like launch a specific application or trigger Google Assistant.

Apart from this, the Chinese smartphone maker is also working on the following features for its MIUI 12 Android skin.

Intel faces lawsuit over the delay of its 7nm chips

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Jul 28, 2020

Intel recently announced another delay in its plans for launching its first 7nm chips. The chipmaker giant faced issues with the process nodes and had to delay the launch by 6 months, which has now caused the company to face a lawsuit.

Despite Intel’s revenue being up by 20 percent in its Q2 2020 financial report, the company had to delay its 7nm process by another 6 months. This is quite the news as its primary competitor, AMD, is already a year ahead in the same category. This also caused a sharp decline in Intel’s share prices while AMD saw a stock jump, getting ahead of its rival for the first time in 15 years.

Although the bad news didn’t end there as earlier this month, the Hagen Berman law firm put out a call to several Intel investors that have suffered heavily. According to a report from TechSpot, the law firm hinted at a possible class action lawsuit against the chipmaker, and also seek to start an investigation into an alleged security fraud as well.

Hagens Berman stated that on multiple occasions Intel assured of the 2021 launch of its 7nm chips and has misled its investors. However, a defect mode caused the yields to degrade overtime for its 7nm process. This has led the company to invest in a contingency plan which will have Intel use 3rd party foundries, with chips hitting the market only by 2022.

At the moment, the law firm is investigating, whether the company has misrepresented and concealed manufacturing and performance issues regarding its 7nm chips. Furthermore, it is also trying to reach out to whistleblowers with sensitive information regarding the matter saying, “Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC.”

Oppo Reno4 series sees healthy sales, company’s 5G handset sales grows by 50% in June

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Jul 28, 2020

With 5G networking being more widely adopted, smartphones that take advantage of the newer and faster bandwidth have become increasingly more popular. Now, a new report from ITHome reveals that the Oppo Reno4 series is seeing good sales, with the company’s overall 5G handset sales growing by 50 percent month on month in June 2020.

At the moment, top smartphone brands are fighting to capture a better footing in the emerging 5G handset market in the region. Back in June 2020, Oppo launches its Reno4 series that offered the newer and faster bandwidth along with great performance with a price of around 3,000 Yuan (roughly 428 US Dollars). Since its launch, market analysts and research has revealed interesting new data regarding the market.

Despite the overall smartphone sales being affected by ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the 5G smartphone market has exceeded expectations. The annual sales volume of 5G enabled devices is expected to hit 150 million units, up from 120 million units from last year. In June, the launch of the Reno4 series helped boost Oppo’s 5G smartphone sales, with an increase of 50 percent month on month when compared to May.

The market analysis also revealed that the sub 2,500-2,999 Yuan (roughly 356 to 428 US Dollars) is by far the most popular price point at which customers tend to buy 5G smartphones. Hence, the Reno4 series with its sub 3,000 Yuan price point fits perfectly with the market demand and price to performance value. Furthermore, this even led to Oppo witnessing four consecutive weeks of sales growth.

OPPO Find X2/X2 Pro receive GPU driver update in China

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Jul 28, 2020

Qualcomm introduced support for updateable GPU drivers for its flagship Snapdragon 865/865+ and mid-range Snapdragon 765/765G chipsets. Xiaomi was the first company to deliver an update to the Adreno 650 GPU present in its Mi 10/Mi 10 Pro and Redmi K30 Pro/K30 Pro Zoom Edition. Now, Oppo becomes the second OEM to join this bandwagon by updating its Find X2/Find X2 Pro.

The GPU driver update for Oppo Find X2/Find X2 Pro is currently limited to the Chinese variant of the devices. The update is available as an app in the company’s official app store. Merely, installing this app will update the GPU driver.

Unfortunately, installing the same APK on the international version of these handsets does not increment OpenGL version as per XDA Developers. Hopefully, the company soon releases a separate app for the global version of the Find X2 series on the Google Play Store.

It is worth noting that even Xiaomi is yet to make the GPU update available for the global variants of Mi 10/Mi 10 Pro and POCO F2 Pro.

Updateable GPU drivers enable quick delivery of new features of OpenGL or Vulkan API to users via the official app store present on the supported smartphones. After Qualcomm, even ARM announced support for it in late June.

Apple is being sued by Koss for infringing on wireless headphone technology

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Jul 28, 2020

Koss, the known headphones maker, is suing Apple for a number of patent infringements regarding its wireless headphones technology. The former has accused the Cupertino based giant on infringing on 5 of its patents, regarding wireless headphones and their operation.

According to a report from PatentlyApple, Koss has met up with Apple four times to discuss the allegations. Although, the latter has yet to admit to the infringement. The lawsuit against Apple might not be the only one, as Koss hinted at other possible firms that have infringed on its technology as well. The lawsuit reads “Apple and others are reaping enormous benefits due to John C. Koss’s vision, and Koss Corporation’s commitment to that vision, for more than six decades.”

Koss is suing Apple mainly around its Striva range of headphones. Apparently, the “whole listening ecosystems having been built around the techniques Koss conceived of over a decade ago.” Meaning, Apple saw great success in the hearables market at the expense of Koss and its technology. The company said that “Apple is liable to Koss in an amount that compensates it for such infringement, which by law cannot be less than a reasonable royalty.”

Koss met up with the smartphone giant four times over the course of over two and a half years period, including multiple email exchanges. The hearables brand also “provided Apple with claim charts identifying how Apple infringed certain of Koss’s patents, including each of the Patents-in-Suit.” Unfortunately, Apple has yet to make a public statement regarding the matter. So stay tuned for more updates.

Smartphone shipments from Chinese brands could see double-digit decline in 2H20

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Jul 28, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has already disrupted the economy and the businesses are struggling to survive. While smartphone brands are not in the struggling stage, they are looking at a massive dip in sales, and thus, revenue.

According to the research by DigiTimes, the Chinese smartphone brands could witness a double-digit decline in the second half of this year. The reason being attributed is that the demand in the local market hasn’t fully recovered yet.

OnePlus 8 Pro vs iQOO Neo 3 featured (27) — OnePlus 8 Pro (Left) and iQOO Neo 3 (Right)

Another reason behind the decline of Chinese smartphone shipment is that the export of shipments has still been restricted in some overseas markets as the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t under control yet.

The report adds that compared to Q1 2020, China’s smartphone shipments grew 43.3 percent to 157 million units in Q2 2020. However, the figures are still down by 15.2 percent when compared to the same period in the previous year.

With exports being limited, smartphone brands in China were forced to focus on the domestic market. As a result, Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi account for 82.3 percent of China’s smartphone shipments in Q2 2020.

EDITOR’S PICK: iQOO confirmed to showcase its flagship smartphone with 120W charging technology support at ChinaJoy

Although almost smartphone brands witnessed a decline in shipments compared to the previous year, Huawei is the only company to register a 2.1 percent growth in the second quarter. Xiaomi, on the other hand, saw a massive 27.1 percent decline because of the setback in overseas shipments.

To boost smartphone sales, companies are now looking to bring it new technologies at an affordable price point, including 5G, super-fast charging, among others. Despite that, the companies won’t see much growth because of the sluggish market.

It’s not just the Chinese market that is facing the issue. India, which is the world’s second-largest smartphone market, witnessed a 48 percent year-on-year decline in the second quarter of this year.

Xiaomi patents a Smartphone with built in Wireless earphones

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Jul 28, 2020

Xiaomi has always been keen on experimenting with design and upcoming technology. The Mi Mix Alpha Concept smartphone is a great example of its innovative philosophy and, now, a new patent has revealed a unique smartphone that arrives with a built in wireless headset.

According to a report from LetsGoDigital, Xiaomi applied for the patent with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) which was published on 24th July 2020. In the patent, the aspect that stood out the most regarding the smartphone is undoubtedly the two earbuds that are housed on the top of the device. Similar to a stylus, the wireless earphones are housed within the smartphone’s body and can be pulled out for use and stored back in with ease. This would eliminate the need for carrying an additional charging case.

Even the earphones are unique, with the heads of the hearables being able to bend. In other words, when not in use, they face upwards to be stored and bend to the side to fit the users’ ears. Furthermore, the earphones can also be kept slights out of their handset’s housing to have it act as a speaker for calls. Looking at the wireless headsets, these also bear a resemblance to the Xiaomi Mi True Wireless earphones. The smartphone in the patent doesn’t particularly stand out, but it does feature a full screen body on the front with minimal bezels.

Unfortunately, while this design seems quite useful and appealing on paper, it might have certain negative impacts on the device itself, like water resistance or additional battery drain. Although, it is also unknown whether the Chinese tech giant would make such a device, or if it’s just covering all bases at the moment. So, let us know in the comments section down below if you’d like Xiaomi to launch this device.

Huawei TalkBand B6 launch confirmed for July 30

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Jul 28, 2020

Huawei just unveiled Maimang 9, a mid-range 5G smartphone in China yesterday. But the company is already teasing a new product launch for July 30. Although the teaser doesn’t say much, we think it to be Huawei TalkBand B6, the successor to TalkBand B5 from 2018.

This is not the first time we are hearing about Huawei TalkBand B6, a fitness band cum Bluetooth headset. The wearable is in the news since last week due to a couple of leaks, which shed some details about this upcoming product.

The major difference between the new TalkBand and its predecessors will be its display. Even the teaser image kind of confirms the same. Unlike previous iterations of the wearable with flat-screen, the forthcoming TalkBand B6 is said to sport a 1.53-inch flexible AMOLED display.

Another big change will be the presence of the company’s in-house HiSilcon Kirin A1 chip. The same chipset powers the brand’s TWS and smartwatches such as Huawei Watch GT 2 and Huawei Watch GT 2e.

Further, it is expected to feature Bluetooth 5.2 for connectivity with a maximum range of 150 metres. Also, the leaks confirm USB Type-C port with support for fast charging.

According to leaks. the Huawei TalkBand B6 like the company’s fitness bands and smartwatches will have features like heart rate sensor, SpO2 sensor, fitness tracking, sleep tracking, app notifications, weather, Xiaoyi AI voice assistant, and more.

Last but not least, it is tipped to come in a total of three variants and four color options. They are stainless steel, beige leather, and silicon version in Black and Red color paint job.

TSMC witnesses record-breaking rise; briefly becomes the world’s 10th most valuable company

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Jul 28, 2020

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which is the world’s largest contract manufacturer, has witnessed a record-breaking rise in its shares with a boost of $72 billion this week.

As per the report, for a brief time, the company had become the world’s 10th most valuable corporation before paring gains, thanks to a record 9.9 percent rise. With the company’s valuation going beyond $410 billion this week, it surpassed some of the giants, such as Johnson & Johnson and Visa, among others.

TSMC is one of the most important companies for Taiwan as it maintains much influence on the Taiwanese financial markets. The company itself has pushed the Taiex past a three-decade-old record.

The company is also attracting foreign investments which have led to increasing demand for the local currency. As a result, the Taiwan Dollar reportedly rose 1 percent today (28th July 2020), which is the strongest since April 2018.

EDITOR’S PICK: Vivo-backed iQOO to showcase its flagship smartphone with 120W charging support at ChinaJoy

One of the reasons behind the boost for TSMC is the recent announcement from Intel in which the company warned that it is behind schedule to manufacture 7nm chipsets and could outsource production.

Intel is expected to outsource its production to TSMC as the company is a leader in the silicon fabrication business. But it is not only TSMC which has witnessed a surge in shares. Samsung Electronics and China-based SMIC‘s shares also climbed 5.8 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively.

As per the report, Intel and AMD are fighting over TSMC’s 7nm capacity. Intel is set to license the 6nm variant of TSMC’s 7nm technology while AMD could become TSMC’s largest customer next year on the 7nm node, as Apple is moving to 5nm.

Realme C15 with 13MP quad cameras, 6,000mAh battery and 18W fast charging debuts for ~$137

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Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 28, 2020

Last month, Realme announced the Realme C11 entry-level smartphone in Malaysia. It was also brought to the markets like Indonesia and India. Today, the Chinese firm unveiled the Realme C15 phone in Indonesia. In terms of specs and price, the smartphone is positioned higher than the Realme C11. Some of the highlights of the Realme C15 are quad rear cameras, a behemoth battery with rapid charging support.

Realme C15 specifications

The Realme C15 has 164.5 x 75.9 x 9.8mm and it weighs 209 grams. The device is fitted with a 20:9 aspect ratio display of 6.5 inches. The HD+ IPS LCD display has a mini-drop notch at the top and it is shielded by Corning Gorilla Glass.

Editor’s Pick: India smartphone market declined by 48% in Q2 2020, Realme slipped to the fifth position

The rear-mounted AI-powered quad-camera housing of the Realme C15 has a 13-megapixel main shooter with f/2.2 aperture, a 119-degree 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor with f/2.25 aperture, a 2-megapixel black & white lens with f/2.4 aperture, and a 2-megapixel retro lens. The quad cameras provide users with features such as Super NightScape, ultra-wide mode, HDR, time-lapse, slow-motion recording, and 30fps 1080p video recording. An f/2.0 aperture 8-megapixel camera is available on the front side of the Realme C15.

The Realme C15 draws power from a 6,000mAh battery. The handset supports 18W fast charging through microUSB. The Realme UI based Android 10 OS comes preloaded on the C15.

The Helio G35 chipset that fuels the Realme C11 also powers the Realme C15 with 3 GB / 4 GB of LPDDR4x RAM. The phone comes with 64 GB / 128 GB of storage. It has a dedicated microSD card slot. A fingerprint reader is placed on the polycarbonate rear of the C15. Its other features are dual SIM support, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, and 3.5mm headphone slot.

Realme C15 price

The Realme C15 will be available through the first flash sale on July 29 in Indonesia. It comes in three models such as 3 GB RAM + 64 GB storage for IDR 1,999,000 (~$138), 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage for IDR 2,199,000 (~$151), and 4 GB RAM + 128 GB storage for IDR 2,499,000 (~$172). Marine Blue and Seagull Gray are the two color variants of the Realme C15.

Samsung Electro Mechanics gets iPhone camera contract as Apple looks to diversify supply chain

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Jul 28, 2020

As the United States government continues to impose sanctions against Chinese companies, Apple is now looking to diversify its production and supply chain to reduce its dependence on the Chinese market.

In line with that, a new report coming from Korea claims that Samsung Electro-Mechanics has joined the list of suppliers of Apple for the camera parts. This seems like a major win for the Korean company, which counts Samsung Electronics as its core customer.

iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max — Apple iPhone 11 Series Camera Module

The report says that the reason behind Apple selecting Samsung Electro-Mechanics as a new camera lens supplier is to stabilize its supply chain and to reduce the cost. So far, Apple has sourced lenses from Lagan Precision and Genius Electronics.

It’s noteworthy that Samsung Electro-Mechanics has been supplying Laminated Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) and Flexible Printed Circuit Boards (RF-PCB) to Apple, so the company isn’t totally new to Apple’s supply chain. But for the first time, it will be supplying lens to the company.

EDITOR’S PICK: Apple pays a hefty amount to Samsung Display after missing OLED panel orders

The report further goes on to add that LG Innotek, which has been supplying camera modules to Apple, is also looking to expand its position within Apple Camera SCM as the company is looking for diversification of suppliers.

The development comes after the U.S. Department of Commerce puts sanctions on 11 Chinese companies for suppressing ethnic minorities in China, including O-Film Tech which provides iPhone camera modules. Apple is now expected to shift orders from Ofilm Tech to LG Innotek, which is making camera modules in factories in Gumi and Vietnam.

Apple has recently started producing iPhone 11 in India through Foxconn’s facility near Chennai. It is also being reported that the next-generation AirPods, as well as 2021 AirPods Pro, will be made in Vietnam. The company has already shifted the production of AirPods Pro to Vietnam.

China’s BOE won’t be supplying OLED panels to Samsung for Galaxy S21

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Jul 28, 2020

Samsung was reportedly looking for new OLED screen suppliers for the OLED panels for the upcoming Galaxy S21 smartphone. The company was said to be in talks with BOE for the same but a report claims that BOE won’t be supplying panels for the next-generation Galaxy S-series smartphones.

As per the report, Samsung was in talked with BOE for the OLED panels and the Chinese brand had also sent out samples for the same. However, the quality wasn’t up to the mark as per Samsung’s standard. The report adds that even after this rejection, BOE will continue its efforts to become a supplier.

BOE is one of the world’s largest LCD panel makers and the company is now looking to expand its footprints in the OLED market as well. Along with Samsung, the company also supplied samples of OLED screens to Apple for the iPhone 12 lineup, which also didn’t make the cut because of quality issues.

EDITOR’S PICK: Huawei begins counterattack, files patent infringement against Verizon, HP, and Cisco

To establish itself in the OLED market, China-based BOE is heavily investing in the technology and trying to become a supplier of the display panels for Apple and Samsung. Because of heavy investments and its ambitions, the company will keep trying to win orders from Samsung and Apple.

Samsung Electronics will continue to use OLED panels from Samsung Display for the upcoming Galaxy S21 lineup. When it comes to flexible OLED panels, Samsung Display has about 90 percent of the market share.

A recent report claims that BOE is supplying on-cell OLED panels with embedded touch sensors to Huawei for the Chinese giant’s upcoming Mate 40 flagship series. It is reported that BOE is the exclusive supplier for the Huawei Mate 40 while it is a co-supplier for Mate 40 Pro, along with Samsung Display and LG Display.

iQOO to showcase its flagship smartphone with 120W charging support at ChinaJoy

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