Xiaomi crowdfunds the Mi Portable Electric Air Compressor in India

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Jul 14, 2020

Amazon has just unveiled the Dash Cart, its reinvention of the regular shopping cart. The company announced Dash Cart earlier today (14th July 2020), and is capable of scanning your items as you place them in the cart. This will help people skip the busy checkout lines.

The Dash Cart from the e-retailing giant is essentially a mobile version of Amazon Go. For those unaware, Amazon Go is a store with no checkout since it used hundreds of cameras on the ceiling that automatically checkout the items that the customers pick up. In other words, a similar experience with automatic scanning, bringing the store on wheels.

According to Dilip Kumar, vice president of Amazon’s physical retail and technology, “Our primary motivation for building this was to be able to save customers time. The alternative solutions are standing in the express checkout lanes or fumbling through self-checkout stations.” The service will debut at Amazon’s Woodland Hills, California, grocery store.

This store was unveiled back in November 2019 and is a part of the company’s plans for creating a new supermarket chain in the region. These stores will offer both Dash Cart along with conventional checkout lanes. The new smart carts are Amazon’s take on recreating and replacing the old squeaky and unbalanced shopping carts and adding a techie upgrade to them.

(Via)

Xiaomi 100W Super Charge Turbo phone has entered mass production, Could launch next month

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Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Jul 14, 2020

Last year, Xiaomi showcased its 100W Super Charge Turbo fast charging solution in a video. This technology is capable of fully charging a 4,000 mAh battery in just 17 minutes. Now, after more than a year later, a smartphone with support for this tech has entered mass production according to the latest leak.

The mystery 100W Xiaomi smartphone has been rumored for a while now. A 120W Xiaomi charger with model number MDY-12-ED was recently certified by China’s 3C. This adaptor could come bundled with the said phone.

Xiaomi’s fastest charging phone was tipped to launch by the end of this year. But the new tip by Digital Chat Station suggests it might be unveiled next month itself as the company has begun to mass manufacture it.

The tipster says that this handset will also support fast wireless charging, however, he did not mention the rate of charging. Earlier this year, Xiaomi demoed its 40W wireless charging and therefore, there is a little chance of it to debut on this mystery phone. At least, we can expect 30W wireless charging like the Mi 10 series.

Additionally, when a blogger asked Wang Teng, the Product Director of Redmi brand regarding the announcement of 100W charging, he replied that they have already announced this tech earlier. He added “what’s next, you figure” (Chinese translation) indicating the imminent launch of this phone in line with the latest leak.

Having said that, Xiaomi’s 100W smartphone is still a mystery. It could be either the rumored Mi 10 Pro Plus, Mi Mix 4 or maybe something else altogether.

Huawei sees positive trend in the financial report for H1 2020

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Jul 14, 2020

With the calendar crossing the half yearly mark, Huawei has announced its financial report for the period. In the report, the Chinese tech giant has witnessed a positive trend with both its revenue and net profit increasing by 13.1 percent and 9.2 percent respectively year on year.

The financial report revealed that Huawei generated 454 billion Yuan (roughly 64 billion US Dollars) in revenue. Out of this, the carrier business brought in 159.6 billion yuan, while the enterprise business brought in 36.3 billion Yuan. The company’s consumer business, which includes smartphones, generated 255.8 billion Yuan in revenue.

Looking at these figures, it is clear that more than of Huawei’s income is from its consumer business that has it sell tablets, smartphones, wearables, and many other products across the globe. Although, the networking gear and carrier provider aspect of its operations is brought the ban on the company, and accounts for just 35 percent of the total revenue.

Additional reports regarding financial figures of the first half and second quarter are expected to arrive later this month. These will hopefully provide a larger picture of its global smartphone market as well. The first half of 2020 suffered the brunt of the Coronavirus pandemic, so the figures will reveal how Huawei stands amongst its various other competitors.

(Via)

Samsung and Microsoft expand partnership for smart buildings and property management

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Jul 14, 2020

Earlier today (14th July 2020), Microsoft announced that it is continuing to expand its partnership with Samsung to bring a digital transformation for real estate development and property management industries across the globe.

The new strategic alliance between both tech giants will have both companies work to optimize energy management, equipment maintenance, and more. This partnership will utilize Microsoft’s productivity cloud services and Azure IoT platform and Samsung’s smart devices and SmartThings platform. The announcement also builds on Microsoft’s $5 billion investment into the security of its own IoT.

This collaboration will allow Microsoft to expand its IoT technology into newer markets, with the help of Samsung. In other words, saving millions to develop its own smart devices. Furthermore, real estate development and property management industries will also have to depend on this joint venture to improve their existing building maintenance and management processes.

According to Sam George, corporate vice president, Azure IoT, Microsoft, “This collaboration with Samsung opens up new opportunities for further innovation in the real estate development and property management industries. Together, we’ll bring the best of Microsoft’s trusted, easy-to-use and secure Azure IoT platform, Azure Digital Twins, and Dynamics 365 Field Service technology with Samsung’s expertise in connected devices and appliances to streamline building operations and maintenance.”

Samsung is expecting 6G to launch commercially by 2028

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Jul 14, 2020

Samsung Electronics is expecting that the next generation of networking will arrive as early as 2028. The South Korean tech giant says that 6G would be commercialized by 2028 and will go mainstream by 2030.

Earlier today (14th July 2020), Samsung released a white paper titled “The Next Hyper-Connected Experience for All.” This outlined the company’s vision for 6G networking. It mentioned all the “technical and societal megatrends, new services, requirements, candidate technologies, and an expected timeline of standardization.” In other words, an early roadmap of the next generation of communications made through experiences with 5G.

According to Samsung, ” While 5G commercialization is still in its initial stage, it’s never too early to start preparing for 6G because it typically takes around 10 years from the start of research to commercialization of a new generation of communications technology.” Sunghyun Choi, Head of the Advanced Communications Research Center said that the company has already launched the research and development of 6G technologies.

It had taken the world 15 years to reach 3G from 2G networking, and since then, 5G is available just 8 years after. The company expects this trend to accelerate further in the future. Samsung is expecting a peak data rate of 1,000 gigabits per second with air latency lower than 100 microseconds and 50 times the peak data rate of 5G. The performance and the architectural requirement for 6G will include various optimizations to improve network design and overcome limitations of mobile devices.

Interestingly, the flexibility of the next generation will bring newer network integration and even AI (artificial intelligence) applications. Although, the use of AI would also need to arrive with certain trustworthiness regarding security and privacy, both of which are major concerns that are likely to arise.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 likely to arrive with 64MP triple camera setup and 10MP front camera

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 14, 2020

Samsung will be holding the Galaxy Unpacked event on Aug. 5. Multiple reports had claimed that the company will be launching the Galaxy Fold’s successor called the Galaxy Z Fold 2 along with the Galaxy Note20 and Galaxy Z Flip 5G at the event. However, a reliable tipster recently revealed that the Fold 2 will not be announced next month, but it may go official in early September. Nevertheless, a new report on South Korean publication ETNews has revealed some key details of the Galaxy Z Fold 2.

The report states that the Galaxy Z Fold 2 has an inner screen of 7.7 inches. The Y-OCTA technology S-AMOLED display will be arriving with support for up to 120Hz refresh rate. The screen will have an Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) coating.

The cover display of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 could be of 6.23 inches. Past reports have revealed that it will support the traditional 60Hz refresh rate. Both displays will sport a punch-hole design. Like the predecessor model, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is also expected to arrive with a side-facing fingerprint reader.

Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 🔥 Render based on latest leaks

Collaboration @byteinsiders x @BenGeskin pic.twitter.com/lN9XMCSHzE

— Ben Geskin (@BenGeskin) July 5, 2020

Editor’s Pick: Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 press renders leaked; Showcases design with keyboard cover and S Pen

The report reveals that the Z Fold 2 will have a front camera of 10-megapixel. The rear side of the device will have a triple camera system that will comprise of an ultrawide lens of 12-megapixel, a wide-angle sensor of 12-megapixel, and a 64-megapixel telephoto sensor.

It is already known that the all new Snapdragon 865 Plus mobile platform will drive the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2. Hence, it will carry support for 5G connectivity. It has a dual-part battery with a combined capacity of 4,365mAh battery with 25W fast charging. The publication reveals the foldable phone will also 15W wireless charging. Speculations have it that the Galaxy Z Fold 2 will be made available in 256 GB and 512 GB storage choices.

(source|via)

Foldable OLED producers make screens thinner by replacing polarizer with color filters

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Jul 14, 2020

Color filters are apparently replacing polarizers in foldable variants of OLED panels (organic light emitting diode) in the near future. This change would bring various improvements for the display technology along with multiple benefits.

According to a new report from UBI Research, known firms that manufacture such foldable OLED displays are working on bringing color filters that will allow panels to become thinner and brighter. For those unaware, Polarizers can be found in OLED panels and are used to deflect reflections from external lights.

The versions of OLED that is currently available in the market generally stack and encapsulation layer, polarizer, optically clear adhesive, a cover window on top of the light emitting layer. Furthermore, the cover window is made from a polyimide film or ultra thin glass (depending on the manufacturer).

While vendors were already using polarizers with a thickness within the 10 micrometer range over the 100 micrometer ones used in previous generations, this is still considered thick and lowers the overall brightness of the OLED panel. Notably, Chinese display maker BOE had showcased a foldable OLED panel back in 2017, which utilized a lower temperature color filter instead of a polarizer. The company said that the was “100 times thinner and 23% more bright than OLED panels that used polarizers.”

(Via)

OPPO A72 5G specifications, renders and pricing leaked

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 14, 2020

An OPPO with PDYM20 / PDYT20 model number was recently by the TENAA telecom authority of China. The handset has a design like the OPPO A92s 5G that went official in China in April. Hence, it was speculated that it could be its lower version dubbed as OPPO A92 5G. Today, the PDYM20 phone emerged in China Telecom’s product library. The listing reveals that the phone will be released in China by the end of this month as OPPO A72 5G.

OPPO A72 5G pricing and variants (Rumored)

The China Telecom listing states that the OPPO A72 5G will be arriving in China variants. The 4 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, and 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage editions of the smartphone are mentioned with respective price tags of 1,699 Yuan (~$243), 1,799 Yuan (~$257), and 1,999 Yuan (~$286).

Simple Black, Oxygen Purple, and Neon purple are the three color variants of the OPPO A72 5G. The handset is expected to release in the home market by July 31. The pricing for unreleased phone listings on China Telecom has often found to be incorrect. Hence, it is recommended to take the pricing details with a grain of salt.

Editor’s Pick: OPPO Reno4 NCC listing reveals images and refreshed design

OPPO A72 5G specifications

The OPPO A72 5G has 162.2 x 75 x 7.9mm dimensions and it weighs 175 grams. The device is equipped with a punch-hole display of 6.5 inches. The IPS LCD screen offers a 1080 x 2400 pixels Full HD+ resolution. The handset is powered by an upcoming entry-level 5G-ready MediaTek chipset that is mentioned as MT6853V.

The Android 10 OS along with the latest version ColorOS will run on the OPPO A72 5G. It will draw power from a 4,040mAh battery that can be filled with an 18W rapid charger. It has an 8-megapixel selfie camera and a 16-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera unit housed inside a square-shaped camera system. The OPPO A72 5G also features a side-mounted fingerprint reader.

(source)

SoftBank may sell Arm Holdings as Apple readies Arm based Macs

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Jul 14, 2020

SoftBank is apparently considering options regarding the known chip designer Arm Holding, which it owns. The company might be offering Arm in either a full or partial sale and maybe even a public offering.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, SoftBank is in talks with Goldman Sachs Group, who is acting as an advisor. Furthermore, these options that SoftBank has considered is still in the early stages. At the moment, however, it is unknown as to whether or not financial or industry players would have an interest in Arm. Thus, it is quite likely that SoftBank would not make any of the aforementioned moves.

Notably, Apple, the Cupertino based tech giant, has licensed technology from Arm Holdings for its A series of chips used in its mobile devices since 2006. The known smartphone maker has also recently announced that it would start making its own chips for its Macs that will be equipped with Apple Silicon which utilizes Arm architecture. Although possible, it is still unlikely that Apple would be interested in a partial or even a full purchase of Arm Holdings.

Realme C11 with Helio G35 launches in India for ₹7,499 ($100)

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Jul 14, 2020

Realme C11 launches in India for ₹7,499 ($100) for a single 2GB + 32GB memory variant. It comes in two color variants namely Rich Green and Rich Grey. The handset will be available to purchase from Realme online store and Flipkart. It will go on sale for the first time at 12 PM on July 22.

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Realme C11 initially debuted in Malaysia last month. The handset adopts a new design that includes a square camera module like Google Pixel 4 series. The highlight of this phone is the new MediaTek Helio G35 SoC, which actually is a rebranded Helio P35 with MediaTek HyperEngine technology.

On the front, the new Realme budget smartphone sports a 6.5-inch HD+ (720 x 1600 pixels) LCD panel with a dew-drop notch and 88.7% screen-to-body ratio.

For photography, the phone comes with a dual-camera setup at the rear that includes a 13MP primary sensor and a 2MP depth sensor accompanied by an LED flash. The front selfie camera, on the other hand, is of 5 megapixels.

Other features of Realme C11 include 4G, VoLTE, single-band (2.4GHz) WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack, MicroUSB port, dedicated microSD card slot, Realme UI based on Android 10, and a 5,000 mAh battery with support for reverse charging.

Apple shipped over 10 million units of iPhone SE 2020 in the second quarter

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Jul 14, 2020

A couple of months ago, in April this year, Apple finally announced the much-awaited iPhone SE 2020 smartphone for $399. It comes with flagship-grade internals but a design similar to the Apple iPhone 8 and is targeted towards first-time iPhone buyers.

Now, a report from China’s Taiwan Economic Daily reported that the iPhone SE 2020 has shipped around 12 million to 14 million in the second quarter of this year. This is quite an impressive number, given that the phone was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The iPhone SE 2020 is the lowest priced smartphone from Apple so far and it seems that the company will continue making lower-priced iPhones. As per the report, the company is now planning another affordable iPhone model, priced under $300. That smartphone is said to get launched next year.

The report claims that Apple is working on an affordable smartphone priced between $200-300 but it’s not yet confirmed if it will be a part of the iPhone SE series. But, the report says that the phone will still be powered by the Apple A13 chipset.

The current-generation iPhone SE features a 4.7-inch Retina HD display and supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 playback. There’s also Haptic Touch for Quick Actions. Under the hood, it is powered by the Apple A13 chipset and comes in 64/128/256 GB storage options.

In the camera department, there’s a 12MP f/1.8 camera which Apple says is the best single-camera system ever in an iPhone. It can also take portrait photos with the 7MP selfie camera and the phone can also record 4K videos at 60fps.

Apple has not officially revealed the battery capacity of the smartphone but has confirmed that the iPhone SE 2020 comes with support for 18W fast charging technology as well as wireless charging support.

(Sources – 1, 2)

Lenovo Legion Gaming Phone will feature dual liquid cooling system with 14 temperature sensors

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Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Jul 14, 2020

Lenovo will be officially launching the Legion Gaming Phone on July 22. Ahead of it, the company has begun to tease the features of the handset on Legion Weibo account. Earlier today, it revealed the phone to arrive with a dual liquid cooling system.

Gaming on smartphones doesn’t generate much heat compared to PC. Anyway, it is always good to have better thermal management. Gaming-oriented and flagship phones since the last few years have been featuring some sort of liquid cooling system. Nubia, in particular, has also been including cooling fan.

As for Lenovo Legion Gaming Phone, it will come with not one but dual liquid cooling system. The handset will also feature 14 temperature sensors inside its chassis to monitor real-time heat generation. For comparison, the budget flagship, Redmi K30 Pro aka POCO F2 Pro comes with 9 temperature sensors.

In fact, Lenovo compared the cooling system present in Legion Gaming Phone when the Redmi K30 Pro launched in March. It is not a fair comparison in any means since the latter is not a gaming phone, however, that’s how the industry works.

Having said that, according to previous teasers, Lenovo’s first gaming smartphone will arrive with Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus, 144Hz display, and dual x-axis linear motor.

Apple paid $950 million to Samsung for missing OLED panel orders: Report

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Jul 14, 2020

Apple has paid an estimated 950 million US Dollars to Samsung for not reaching the OLED panel purchases that both companies had agreed on, according to analysts at the Display Supply Chain Consultants.

Last week, the South Korean tech giant had revealed its revenue and operating profit for the second quarter of 2020. This report included a one time gain in its display business. The influx is believed to have arrived from Apple, who had not purchased the expected number of OLED panels from Samsung during the second quarter of this year.

The disparity in display orders arrived due to many retail stores of the Cupertino based company having close due to the ongoing pandemic, in the second calendar quarter of this year. The viral outbreak along with economic uncertainty is said to be the major factor that affected sales. This issue is still being faced with many retail stores still being closed as spikes in infections have occurred recently in the US.

The report also suggests that Apple has failed to meet iPhone sales goals that it might have set for 2020. Hence, it had to compensate Samsung for a large number of missing orders. Notably, Apple had reported revenue of 58.3 billion US Dollars over just 58 billion from a year ago. Although, the company declined to offer any projections for the third quarter due to instability and uncertainty during this time of crisis.

Apple iPhone 12 series to launch in September but could go on sale from October

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Jul 14, 2020

Apple has been launching its latest iPhone models in the month of September for the past many years. While everyone was expecting the same this year, some reports indicate that the iPhone 12 series launch could be delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, the latest report coming from Analysts Wedbush suggests that the launch of the upcoming 5G iPhone 12 series will indeed take place in September this year. But it now says that all the models will be up for sale in October.

There is also a possibility that Apple may repeat its last year’s strategy. It could hold the launch event in September and started selling one model the same month, and delay the sale of other models by a month or so.

Apple seems to be making some major changes in its iPhone lineup with this year’s offerings. It is being reported that this time, the company will not be including the Earpods as well as the power adapter in the box.

Recently, it was revealed that all the iPhone 12 models launching this year will come with an OLED display panel, completely ditching the LCD panels. There could be four variants this time, including iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Max, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

As per the reports, the standard iPhone 12 will have a 5.4-inch display while the Max and Pro models will have a 6.1-inch screen. The top-end model in the form of the iPhone 12 Pro Max will reportedly have a 6.7-inch display.

Despite not including the power adapter and Earpods in the box, the pricing is expected to go up, mainly because of 5G. Reports indicate that the pricing for the base model in the iPhone 12 series is expected to be $50 more, starting at $749.

(Via)

Xiaomi vertical wireless charging socket launched for 109 yuan ($16)

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Jul 14, 2020

Continuing its spree of launching new gadgets through crowdfunding, Xiaomi has today announced yet another device — Xiaomi Vertical Wireless Charging Socket. It will be available for crowdfunding from 15th July.

During the crowdfunding campaign, the device is priced at 109 yuan, which is roughly $16 but the retail price will be 129 yuan, which converts to $18. It seems that the device comes in only one color option — White.

The Xiaomi Vertical Wireless Charging Socket uses dual-coil wireless charging so that the devices can be charged however they are placed — vertically or horizontally. The maximum wireless charging speed is 10W.

It is designed in such a way that the socket can also be used as a mobile stand with a 20-degree viewing angle. Being a charging socket, it comes equipped with three USB ports and a single port output is 18W.

The device also comes with a new standard combination jack and the two sets of standard combination hacks can fulfill the power needs of two desktop plugs, says the company. There is also a green-colored indicator to show the charging status.

Xiaomi’s Wi-Fi 6 routers get Mesh Networking support; Redmi AX5 gets firmware update

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Jul 14, 2020

Xiaomi and its sub-brand together have launched three Wi-Fi 6 routers so far — AX3600, AX1800, and Redmi AX5. Today, the company has announced that all the Wi-Fi 6 routers will get upgraded to support mesh networking.

Along with that, the Redmi AX5 router has also started receiving a new firmware update which can be installed through the Xiaomi Wi-Fi application. It remains to be seen what changes does the latest firmware version brings.

With mesh networking support, there can be multiple routers in the household to create a hybrid network that covers the entire house. It can be configured through automatic synchronization and a new router can be added in just one step, without the need to reset the network.

As for the routers, the Xiaomi AIoT Router AX3600 is available for purchase in China for a price of 599 yuan, which roughly converts to $86. The recently launched Mi Router AX1800 is a bit cheaper, costing 299 yuan, which is about $46.

On the other hand, Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi also debuted its first Wi-Fi 6 compatible router last month, dubbed as Redmi AX5. It is priced at 229 yuan, which is around $32, making it the cheapest Wi-Fi 6 router from the company so far.

Apple ‘batterygate’ victims in the United States can now claim $25 settlement

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