Huawei P40 series is receiving a new update in China. The update bumps up the firmware version to EMUI 10.1.0.126 and adds new camera feature as well as optimizes WiFi and notifications. The last major update for these handsets brought 50MP AI High-Quality Mode.
The new update is being rolled out to both Huawei P40 and P40 Pro, which are currently on EMUI 10.1.0.123 build. Below listed are all the models that are receiving the OTA now.
The Huawei P40 series feature telephoto camera for close-up shots of far-away subjects. The new update brings a preview window to the camera app, which pops up when the user zooms to 15x or more. This window gives an idea of the next zoom level or in other words, it shows the users the spot where the camera is pointing at.
In addition to that, the new EMUI update also improves ‘AI Remove Passerby’ feature as well as improves the clarity of pictures with more realistic and natural colors. Also, it optimizes the WiFi speed in some scenarios ensuring improvement in internet experience. Last but not least, it also optimizes the display effect of notifications on the notification panel interface.
Since the update is being seeded out through OTA, it might take time to reach all the devices. Also, we are not sure when these changes will be added to the global version of the P40 series.
Huawei MateBook 14 2020 laptop has received an upgrade in terms of its graphics processor. The company has upgraded its GPU to MX350 and even after this upgrade, there’s no change in the pricing of the laptop.
The development comes just days after it was reported that the MateBook 13 2020 and MateBook 14 2020 both will get upgraded to MX350 GPU. However, the Huawei MateBook 14 2020 with MX350 GPU is yet to be listed online for sale.
The NVIDIA GeForce MX350, built on 14nm proces, was launched in February 2020. It is based on the GP107 graphics processor in its GP107-670-A1 variant and features 640 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The company has paired 2GB GDDR5 memory with the GeForce MX350 and the GPU is operating at a frequency of 1354 MHz, which can be boosted up to 1468 MHz, while the memory is running at 1752 MHz.
The Huawei MateBook 14 comes with a 14-inch display with 2K screen resolution offering 2160 x 1440 pixels with a 3:2 aspect ratio and a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio. It comes powered by the Intel‘s 10th-generation Core i5 and i7 processors.
The laptop is available in 8GB RAM and 16GB RAM configurations, with 512GB of PCIe SSD storage. It also has a one-touch fingerprint scanner but its cooling fan is just one but bigger. For connectivity, Huawei has included 1 x USB 3.0 port, 1 x USB 2.0 port, 1 x HDMI port, 1 x “full function” USB Type-C port, and 1 x audio port.
When announced, the laptop featured NVIDIA GeForce MX250 GPU but now it comes packed with the upgraded MX350 GPU. It is powered by a 56Wh battery and also supports 65W superfast charge over USB-C. It is 15.9mm thick and weighs 1.53kg.
As said, despite the upgrade in the graphics processor, the pricing of the laptop remains unchanged. The base model with Core i5 and 8GB RAM costs 5,899 yuan while the model with Core i5 SoC and 16GB RAM costs 6,399 yuan. The top-end model which packs Core i7 SoC and 16GB RAM is priced at 7,399 yuan.
A YouTube channel called TechConfigurations had uploaded a Design Concept video on the popular video sharing platform for the Galaxy Fold 2. This video depicts the Galaxy Fold 2 having 3 displays in total alongside a rotating camera. The rotating camera is on the top corner and rotates on a hinge mechanism’s axis to act as both the primary rear and selfie camera. the sensors comprise of triple camera setup, including a 108MP primary shooter alongside a 12MP and 20MP sensors as well.
According to TechConfigurations video, the Galaxy Fold 2 sports 3 separate display, with the primary large display being housed on the inside, which can be seen when the device is used in tablet mode. While switching to the smartphone or folded mode, the smaller secondary display lights up and users can completely utilize their device from just this display as well. The final display is the smallest among the three and is in the form of a strip that could specialize in quickly displaying notifications and, may also have certain other functions too.
The primary display is a massive 8 inch OLED screen, while the secondary display is a 6.6 inch OLED panel, which is noticeably larger than the original Galaxy Fold‘s 4.6 inch display. The third screen is a 5 x 0.8 inch mini OLED screen that is likely to act as a dashboard of sorts. Finally, the video details the Galaxy Fold 2 sporting Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 SoC alongside 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. The foldable handset will be powered by a massive 7,000mAh battery and will support 5G as well.
Interestingly, the video also depicted a new laptop mode, where the user could fold the device upright to use the lower half as a keyboard and work on the upper half, like a mini laptop. However, the practicality behind this is still questionable. Furthermore, this isn’t design isn’t officially from Samsung, so we may never see a few or most of the features, but the OEM could surprise us all with the triple display system and others.
Google Pixel 4a budget smartphone, which is a watered-down variant of the Pixel 4 launched last year, has been making rounds since past several months. In the latest development, a new set of renders of the upcoming Pixel 4a have leaked online, showcasing the smartphone’s design.
The first thing you’ll notice is the phone’s display, which is surprisingly different than what we saw on the Pixel 4. The company seems to be finally moving away from the thicker chins and foreheads design and we’ll finally get a Pixel phone will thin bezels.
It also reveals that the smartphone will come with a punch-hole cutout in the top-left corner of the display for the front-facing camera. This also confirms that the Project Soli radar sensors won’t be included in the device, given the lack of space.
Further, the render shows that the smartphone has a 3.5mm headphone hack which is located at the top while the USB Type-C port is located at the bottom. On the back side, the device features a fingerprint sensor for added security.
As per the previous leaks, the Google Pixel 4a is expected to feature a 5.81-inch OLED display with a Full HD+ screen resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. Under the hood, the device will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 SoC, along with 6GB of RAM.
The device will be running Android 10 operating system out-of-the-box and will be powered by a 3,080mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging technology. The handset is likely to come in 64GB and 128GB storage sizes. It will also have Google’s own Titan M security chip just like last year’s Pixel 3a
Reports indicate that the Pixel 4a could be made available in Just Black and Barely Blue colour options. As for the pricing and availability, it is said that the smartphone could be priced at $399 and will go on sale from May 22.
If the pricing turns out to be true, then it seems that Google is pitching the phone agains the new Apple iPhone SE which comes with the flagship-grade A13 chipset and 4.7-inch HD display, for a price of $399.
Xiaomi had announced the Mi MIX Alpha concept smartphone in September last year, however it was not a commercial device. The last commercial flagship smartphone from the company was launched in 2018 in the form of Mi MIX 3.
But it seems that the launch of the company’s next flagship under the Mi MIX series isn’t far away. Also, the company could be planning something big given that it has setup a new Weibo account under the name “MIX Weibo”. The company already has “Xiaomi MIX” Weibo account but it hasn’t been updated in a long time.
Reports indicate that Xiaomi could be gearing up to launch the Mi MIX 4 series smartphones which could include Mi MIX 4 and Mi MIX 4 Pro. The device could come with a 120Hz refresh rate display with 2K screen resolution. It could come with pretty thin bezels around the display and have under-display camera sensor.
While the exact launch date is not yet known, some reports suggest that the Mi MIX 4 series will be launched after the stable rollout of MIUI 12 beings. As the update rollout is scheduled to take place from June this year, the launch will be after that only.
The Mi MIX Alpha 5G, which remains the last announced MIX phone, features a 7.92-inch flexible S-AMOLED display with 2250 x 2088 pixels resolution support and comes with an in-display fingerprint reader. It runs on MIUI 11 which is based on the latest Android 10 operating system. The device packs 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage.
The handset has a vertical camera strip on its back panel that includes a 108-megapixel primary camera sensor, a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom support, Dual Pixel PDAF and laser autofocus and a 20-megapixel ultrawide lens with laser autofocus. The phone is powered by a 4,050mAh battery with 40W fast charging support.
The smartphone is priced at 19,999 yuan in China which roughly converts to $2,832. However, it is not yet available for purchase in the company’s home country and we are anticipating more information on this.
Earlier this year, Huawei launched P30 Lite New Edition. Now, according to a promo offer on Huawei Germany website, the Chinese smartphone maker may soon announce P30 Pro New Edition as well.
For the unaware, the new P30 Lite comes with Google Mobile Services (GMS) just like the original from 2019. The only difference from the original and the New Edition is increased RAM and ROM (internal storage). The same could be the case for the upcoming P30 Pro New Edition.
Huawei launched the P30 Pro in early 2019 as the company’s flagship product for the first half of the year. Also, it was the last premium smartphone from the firm to feature GMS. The device was later refreshed in the second half of the year with new colors namely Misty Lavender and Mystic Blue.
Followed by which, the handset was updated to EMUI 10 and is now being beta tested for EMUI 10.1. Amidst this, out of the blue, a promotion on Huawei Germany website suggests the launch of P30 Pro New Edition.
The promotional period for the new device will run from 15th May to 4th June. Only the units purchased from Vodafone and Otelo will be entitled to the so-called ‘Bundle-Promotion’.
Unfortunately, the promo is a mystery just like the phone itself. Huawei is yet to officially announce the launch of this new device.
Last week, Vivo-backed iQOO’s latest smartphone iQOO Neo3 went on sale for the first time and soon after that, the company revealed that it sold record-breaking units worth 100 million yuan in just 30 minutes.
Now, for the second upcoming sale, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow, i.e. on 5th May for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage model, the company has revealed that those who pre-order the smartphone will get warranty extension of six more months.
Coming to the pricing, the iQOO Neo3 is priced at 2,698 yuan for the base model with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, which coverts to around $381 while the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage model costs 2,998 yuan which is about $423.
The 8GB RAM + 256GB storage model is priced at 3,398 yuan which is roughly $480 while the top-end variant packed with 12GB RAM and 128GB internal storage is priced at 3,298 yuan which roughly converts to $466. The smartphone comes in two color options — Blue and Black with gradient finish.
As for the specification, the device features a 6.57-inch FHD+ LCD display panel with 98% sRGB color gamut, DCI-P3, and HDR10. It offers 144Hz refresh rate, an aspect ratio of 20:9 with a screen-to-body ratio of more than 90 percent.
Under the hood, it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset, along with Adreno 650 GPU. The company has upgraded the storage standard to UFS 3.1 which promises sequential reading speeds of up to 1733MB/s and write speeds of 731 MB/s.
It also features 11-tier cooling system which the company claims can cool the internal temperature by up to 10 degrees. The phone supports dual-mode 5G connectivity with SA/NSA, NFC, and the new Wi-Fi6+ standard.
As for the camera department, it comes with an AI triple-camera setup that includes a 48MP primary sensor, an 8MP 112-degree ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2MP macro lens. On the front, it has a 16MP snapper housed inside the punch-hole cutout.
The phone runs the latest Android 10 operating system with the company’s own iQOO UI on top. As for the battery, the iQOO Neo3 is powered by a 4,500mAh battery and comes with support for 44W fast charging.
On March 16, Motorola announced the Motorola Razr foldable phone in India. It was originally planned to release in the country on April 2. The date was postponed to April 15 due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. However, when April 15 arrived, the company pushed the release date to May 6. There is an updated listing on India’s Flipkart retailer site. It mentions a tentative release date of May 8 for the Motorola Razr.
The second lockdown period in India ended on May 3. However, the lockdown has been further extended to May 17 in the country. After conducting a comprehensive review of the current situation of COVID-19 outbreak in India, the government is offering some relaxations with a district-wise zone classification system.
The Red zone which includes some of the major regions of the country like Maharashtra and Delhi. Online retailers like Flipkart and Amazon will continue to sell essential items in the Red zone. The Green and Orange zones can be served with essential and non-essentials. The latter includes items like smartphones, laptops and so on.
Motorola India is yet to release an update through its social channels on whether it will be starting with the sales of Motorola Razr this week. The above shown screenshot reveals that the Razr that has 6 GB RAM and 128 GB of storage is priced at Rs. 1,24,999 (~$1,650) in India. The above screenshot was shared by tipster Mukul Sharma.
The Motorola Razr has a bendable 6.2-inch pOLED inner display with 21:9 aspect ratio. At front, it has a 2.7-inch secondary screen. The Snapdragon 710 SoC powers the device. It has a rear camera of 16-megapixel and a selfie camera of 5-megapixel. The device houses a 2,510mAh battery with 15W charging support.
Realme is now expected to soon launch its Realme X3 smartphone this month, which will be the successor of the Realme X2 launched last year. Now, ahead of the official announcement from the company, some details of this upcoming series have leaked online.
As per the leak, the upcoming Realme X3 SuperZoom will come powered by a 4,200mAh battery and the device will support 30W fast charging technology. Apart from this, nothing much is known about the smartphone.
realme X3 SuperZoom will use a 4200mAh battery with 30W fast charging support.
The Realme X3 SuperZoom is expected to get launched along with the vanilla Realme X3. As the name indicates, the phone is expected to have a better zooming technology. It has already bagged Bluetooth SIG approval but it remains to be seen what features the company includes to justify the “SuperZoom” tag.
Recently, a smartphone with model number RMX2142 was certified by TENAA which is rumoured to be Realme X3, however, there has been no confirmation regarding the same. The certification reveals that the device will come with 5G connectivity support.
The listing also reveals that the smartphone measures 163.8 x 75.8 x 8.9mm and features a 6.57-inch display. We expect the listing to get updated soon with more information about the phone as well as renders.
Some reports have claimed that the recently unveiled OPPO A92s smartphone could be rebranded and get launched as Realme X3. However, to know for sure, we’ll have to wait for a few more weeks to get more information about the phone.
Meanwhile, the company recently launched the Realme X50m smartphone in the Chinese market for a starting price of 1,999 yuan (~$282), making it the cheapest 5G device from the company so far. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming Realme X3 is priced and if it takes the crown of the company’s cheapest 5G smartphone from Realme X50m.
Last month, Samsung had hiked the pricing of its smartphones like Galaxy M21 and Galaxy A50s in the previous month after the government of India confirmed an increase in GST rate. Now, both handsets have received price cut in the country.
With the hike in GST rate, the Galaxy M21 smartphone variants such as 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage and 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage were selling for Rs. 14,222 (~$188) and Rs. 16,329 (~$216), respectively since last month. The 4 GB and 6 GB RAM variants of the M21 have received price cuts now. They are now selling for Rs. 13,199 (~$174) and Rs. 15,499 (~$204), respectively. The Galaxy M21 was made official in March this year.
Samsung Galaxy M21
As far as Galaxy A50s is concerned, the pricing of its 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage and 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variants had increased to Rs. 21,070 (~$278) and Rs. 26,900 (~$355), respectively. The new pricings of these models are Rs. 18,599 (~$245) and Rs. 20,651 (~$273). The A50s phone was unveiled in September in India.
The Galaxy M21 and Galaxy A50s are listed with their revised pricings on the official Samsung India online store. The government of India has extended the COVID-19 lockdown period until May 17 in the country. Hence, the deliveries of the above-mentioned smartphones are expected to be carried in all regions of India once the lockdown period ends.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip clamshell device alongside the Galaxy S20 series in February this year. LetsGoDigital has come across a patent filing for a new design that looks suitable for the successor of the Galaxy Z Flip. The patent images suggest that there could be some changes in the rear design of the alleged Galaxy Z Flip 2.
As it can be seen in the patent images, the image shown at the center showcases the foldable display with tall like the Galaxy Z Flip. Show on its either sides as Model A and Model B are the two possible designs of the successor model.
The original Galaxy Z Flip has a dual camera system on its back along with an LED flash and the secondary OLED display. The latter sees an external window for checking notifications. The Model A shows the presence of the horizontal triple camera system. The flash unit and secondary screen is also available alongside the triple shooters.
In the Model B, there is a vertical triple camera system. This arrangement of the cameras allows inclusion of a bigger secondary display. In terms of design, there does not seem to be another major change. The patent filing does not reveal any information on the specs of the device.
Also, it does not guarantee whether the South Korean company will make use of the above shown designs for the purported Galaxy Z Flip 2. However, it would be good to see a triple camera system or a larger rear display on the Galaxy Z Flip 2.
In related news, the South Korean company recently released its financial report. The report revealed that the company could not achieve satisfactory results mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report also carried some information on its plans for the second half of 2020. It stated that new Galaxy Note and Galaxy Fold models are arriving in second half of 2020. Hence, it is being speculated that Samsung may unveil the Exynos 992 powered Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Fold 2 in the third quarter of this year.
Last week, a Portugal tech portal revealed the expected pricing and specifications of the POCO F2 Pro. The existence of the Pro model suggests that there could two handsets in the series. The flagship model could be called POCO F2 Pro, while there could be a vanilla variant named POCO F2. The company is yet to confirm on the existence of the POCO F2 and POCO F2 Pro smartphones. However, it seems that the arrival of the POCO F2 series may not be far away as the company has seemingly started the arrival of the POCO F2 lineup.
The global Twitter account of POCO had been dormant since March 2019. Beginning from day one of this month, the global account became active once again with couple of new tweets with #WakeUpPOCO. It appears that the POCO may soon globally launch a new phone. A tipster had recently speculated that the POCO F2 will debut in May. Hence, it appears that the global launch of the POCO F2 series may not be far away.
The Portugal site had revealed that the upcoming POCO F2 Pro could be a rebranded version of the Redmi K30 Pro. Even some other leaks have claimed the same thing. It is speculated that the 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage versions of the POCO F2 are priced at 649 euros and 749 euros in the European market.
The POCO F2 Pro may come with a 6.67-inch notch-less OLED display with a pop-up front camera of 20-megapixe. Its rear may house a Sony IMX686 64-megapixel shooter, a 13-megapixel ultrawide sensor, a 5-megapixel telephoto sensor and a 2-megapixel depth assist lens.
The Snapdragon 865 mobile platform may drive the POCO F2 Pro. It may draw power from a 4,700mAh battery with 33W fast charging.
Another day, another Meizu 17 teaser poster. Meizu has confirmed that its upcoming flagship has a punch-hole display. The Weibo post also revealed the supplier of the display.
The Meizu 17 will have its punch-hole at the top right corner of the display and Meizu says it is a fully-custom Samsung Super AMOLED display. Based on this, we expect the Meizu 17 to be able to measure up to other flagships such as the OnePlus 8 series in terms of display quality. It has already been confirmed that the display has a 90Hz refresh rate.
Press renders have depicted the punch hole of the Meizu 17 as being pretty small in size, and we can’t wait to see if it is true.
The phone will have a Snapdragon 865 processor, UFS 3.1 storage, 64MP quad rear cameras, stereo speakers, 30W fast charging support, and Wi-Fi 6. It is scheduled to launch on Friday, May 8.
One of the apps that comes pre-loaded with a phone is an internet browser. While most Android phones ship with Google’s Chrome browser out of the box, there are manufacturers that also include their own browsers or other third-party browsers.
Phone owners usually have a particular browser they prefer that doesn’t come with the device but which they proceed to download after setting up their phone.
For this week’s poll, we want to know which mobile browser you use on your phone, so do take the poll below and let us know. There are several browsers listed below but there are a whole lot more. If your browser of choice is not listed, choose “Other” and drop a comment telling us which browser you use. You can also share some of the key features you like about the browser you use.
Xiaomi launched the new Redmi Note 9 series in the global market. It is actually composed of three models: Redmi Note 9, 9S, and 9 Pro. It is not exactly the same lineup we saw in India as the Pro variant is actually different from the Indian Note 9 Pro. Since their prices are close to each other, in order to highlight all the differences between the three models launched in Europe, we decided to bring all the variants in an in-depth specs comparison. Here you will learn all the details about the specifications and you should be able to realize which one has the best value for money depending on your needs.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro (Global)
Redmi Note 9 Pro has a slightly more attractive design than Note 9 and 9S because on its rear side you can find a smaller camera module. The handset has a glass back made of two parts with different hues. Note 9S comes right after with its glass back and the same screen-to-body ratio as the Note 9 Pro. The vanilla Note 9 has a definitely uglier back which includes a fingerprint reader (the fingerprint scanner is side-mounted on the other two variants) and thicker bezels around the display, but it is more compact because its screen has a smaller diagonal.
Display
Redmi Note 9S and 9 Pro are equipped with the same display panel: an IPS screen with a 6.67-inch diagonal and a Full HD+ resolution. Nothing special, but sufficient for a midrange phone. Note 9 has a smaller diagonal, but the display offers the same specifications. In each case, you will get an average IPS and Full HD+ display with a standard refresh rate. If you are looking for high quality in terms of display or smoother user experience, you should opt for something else.
Specs & Software
Redmi Note 9S and Note 9 Pro offer more premium hardware. Both are fueled by the Snapdragon 720G SoC which is a preferred choice over the Helio G85 found on Note 9. They offer up to 6 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB of UFS 2.1 internal storage. The Note 9 pairs the Helio G85 with max 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. Given that they are three variants of the same lineup, it is kinda obvious that you get the same operating system: Android 10 customized by MIUI 11.
Camera
The main difference inside the Redmi Note 9 series regards the camera department. On the rear side, you get a different camera setup depending on the handset you go for. The most advanced is the Note 9 Pro which boasts a better 64 MP main sensor, an ultrawide lens with an 8 MP resolution, a 5 MP macro camera, and a 2 MP depth sensor. Note 9S has the same secondary sensors, but the main lens is an inferior 48 MP sensor. The front camera is the same as well, with a 16 MP resolution. Note 9 has the same rear camera setup as the Note 9S with the exception of the macro sensor (2 MP). It also sports an inferior 13 MP selfie camera.
Battery
With exactly the same battery capacity, you would get a similar battery life with the whole lineup. And it is amazing battery life, given the 5020 mAh capacity. Redmi Note 9 is expected to go out of charge before the other two variants due to a less efficient chipset built with a 12 nm production process against 8 nm. On the other hand, Note 9 can also be used as a power bank thanks to its 9W reverse charging technology. Note 9 Pro wins when it comes to the charging speed thanks to a 30W power.
Price
Redmi Note 9 begins at €180/$200, Note 9S has a €219/$243 starting price, and Note 9 Pro costs €250/$277 in its base variant. If you do not care about the camera at all and you do not need the fastest charging technology, Note 9S gives you all you need. Otherwise, go for the Redmi Note 9 Pro. Note 9 has less impressive hardware and camera than both its rivals, it is a good option only if you want to save the highest amount of money.
Lenovo first announced the IdeaPad Duet and IdeaPad Flex 5 Chromebooks at CES 2020 in January. Since then, there has been no word about the products. A couple of days back Best Buy listed the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook for pre-order. The listing is for the 128GB version and it comes in at $299. Now, this price is pretty unrealistic, considering that the Chromebook 64GB version is priced at $279.
Already, some intending buyers have successfully placed orders for the Duet and it is billed to ship on May 11. Best Buy had removed the pre-order button and replace it with “Coming soon”. The pre-order is back on but the expected shipping date has been moved to May 20. The product page shows that the IdeaPad Duet will go on sale on May 6 but Lenovo is yet to officially confirm the release date.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet is a detachable Chromebook that comes with a keyboard base in the box. The 10.1-inch tablet has an FHD display, a single USB-C port, and runs on top of Google’s Chrome OS with “up to” eight years of updates.
The device is powered by a MediaTek Helio P60T processor along with 4 GB of RAM, 64GB storage and 128 GB of storage on the top-tier model. There’s also a 7,180 mAh battery within, an 8 MP camera on the back, and a 2 MP camera on the front.
OnePlus 8 Pro officially went on sale on April 29 but before then, the company had shipped units to buyers who made pre-orders. Some of the pre-order units were noticed to have issues with their display, with problems ranging from crushed/clipped blacks and even a “green tint.” The tech giant responded swiftly and promised to push an OTA that’ll fix the issue. Apparently, the OxygenOS 10.5.5 update was seeded to OnePlus 8 Pro units and only fixed the green tint issue.
OnePlus seems to have confirmed that the black crush display issue is a hardware issue. A post by a Reddit user reveals that the company is giving users facing this issue three options. The first is to send in the device for repairs at the service centre. Buyer may also return the device and get a refund. Finally, they could submit a replacement request on the website and get a replacement.
We couldn’t verify the authenticity of this claim but if it is true, it a welcome development. Most buyers will likely opt for the option of getting a replacement or a refund which can then be used to purchase a new one. The OnePlus 8 Pro sells for around $900 and that is so much to shell out and then proceed to get the unit repaired so early.
Google has a thing with codenames. Since the birth of the Pixel brand, the company has often given each model a unique codename. It was confirmed in February this year that the Google Pixel 4A is codenamed Sunfish. A device known as Google Sunfish has appeared o the database of GeekBench. This is believed to be the Pixel 4A.
The device ran on GeekBench V4 and as usual, a few specs are listed. The Pixel 4A will run Android 10 out of the box and the model in question features 6GB of RAM. The device is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm processor with a base frequency of 1.80Gz. The Pixel 4A is said to be powered by a Snapdragon 730 processor and the benchmark score is within the range of other SD 730-powered models like the Redmi K20.
Geekbench didn’t reveal any other details but the Pixel 4A is expected to feature a 5.81-inch OLED display with a punch-hole at the upper-left corner. The display has a full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. A 3,080mAh battery will keep the lights on and the phone supports 18W fast charging.
The Pixel 4a punch-hole houses an 8-megapixel camera while at the rear, it packs a single 12MP sensor and LED flash both housed in a square-shaped module. It has a rear-facing fingerprint reader and a 3.5mm audio jack. The handset is likely to arrive in 64 GB and 128 GB storage sizes and will likely be available in Just Black and Barely Blue colour options. The Pixel 4A’s pricing will reportedly start at $399 and will go on sale from May 22.
Xiaomi, in a blog post, has revealed that it has added a new option in incognito mode for users to opt-out of aggregated data collection. So Mi users can turn off data collection in private mode, which wasn’t available earlier.
Incognito browsing has always been a mode to opt-out of data tracking, so users should ensure that this feature is TURNED OFF in the private browsing mode.
This new option is available on the latest versions of its Mi browser, Mi browser Pro (v12.1.4), and Mint Browser (v3.4.3).
While this is a good move from Xiaomi, the ideal response would have been to completely remove user data tracking in the private mode, instead of giving a toggle.
A couple of days back, Forbes published a major story about how Xiaomi was collecting browser data including URLs visited by Mi users. While data collection is common among most browsers in the market today, the report highlighted that search terms and URLs were tracked even in the browser’s private aka incognito mode.
Earlier today, Xiaomi published a blog in response to this story, explaining their side of the story. You can read their official response from here.
To better understand what’s happening in this story, I’ve summarized all of the accusations and the responses to each of them. I’ll have also added what the researcher Andrew Tierney had to say about each of the responses.
Finding 1:
Gabriel Cîrlig (he was the first to find this and explain it in the Forbes story) found that Xiaomi’s Mi Browser and Mint Browser tracked all websites visited by a Mi user including search terms on both Google and DuckDuckGo. The tracking was prevalent even when the browser was set to private or incognito mode. The phone also tracked usage data and sent it back to Xiaomi servers.
Xiaomi’s Response:
Xiaomi admits to collecting User Data such as “system information, preferences, user interface feature usage, responsiveness, performance, memory usage, and crash reports”.
It does not explicitly mention search terms but adds that it collects URLs – “The URL is collected to identify web pages which load slowly; this gives us insight into how to best improve overall browsing performance.”
Xiaomi also added that it collects browsing data only when the user is signed into his Mi account and Sync setting is turned on.
Xiaomi also confirmed that it collects User Statistics Data even in Incognito mode. This is surprising given that URLs are also a part of User Statistics Data (as confirmed by their official statement).
In addition to the official statement from the Mi Blog, Xiaomi India’s CEO said in a special video today that Xiaomi only collects data that users have consented too. He also stressed that the data collected in the incognito mode is “encrypted and anonymized”. You can see the video below (some parts are in Hindi but he has explained it in English as well).
Researcher’s Response:
Well, Andrew Tierney wasn’t convinced with Xiaomi’s response.
Firstly, I and several others have re-confirmed the findings today, across multiple devices. There is no doubt that the Mint Browser sends search terms and URLS whilst in Incognto mode.
While Xiaomi denied collecting user data in incognito mode, Andrew released a new video just a few minutes back demonstrating how Xiaomi’s Mint Browser was collecting important user data, even in the private mode. What’s interesting to see here is that the data collected has a UUID (universally unique identifier) which doesn’t change, at least for 24 hours. So the data collected and sent to the servers can be potentially traced to an individual user.
Finding 2:
Mi user data was being sent to remote servers in countries like Singapore and Russia, with web domains registered in Beijing.
Xiaomi’s Response:
“Xiaomi hosts information on a public cloud infrastructure that is common and well known in the industry. All information from our overseas services and users is stored on servers in various overseas markets where local user privacy protection laws and regulations are strictly followed and with which we fully comply.”
Xiaomi India CEO also said in his video that “All data from Mi users in India remains in Indian servers”.
The user data sent to the servers were encoded using base64 – which is easily trackable. So the data could be read, at least on the client-side.
Xiaomi’s Response:
Well, Xiaomi didn’t really touch this point in their blog post. It did mention that the data sent is encrypted using TLS 1.2 encryption. So, the data being transferred cannot be intercepted. But the company didn’t talk about the base64 encoding of the data on the client-side.
This image shared by Xiaomi shows that usage statistic data is transferred with the HTTPS protocol of TLS 1.2 encryption.
Researcher’s Response:
Oh good, it's TLS 1.2. At least some random can't intercept it.
I don't think this was ever disputed. This is transport encryption to servers, sending data I did not consent to send. pic.twitter.com/sENH5OhEzN
The collected user data wasn’t anonymous. Gabi and other researchers found that the user data sent to the Xiaomi servers could potentially be identified to a specific user because it had an assigned UUID (universally unique identifier).
Xiaomi’s Response:
“This screenshot shows the code for how we create randomly generated unique tokens to append to aggregate usage statistics, and these tokens do not correspond to any individuals.”
Researcher’s Response:
Well, Andrew’s demo video revealed that his data collected by the browser was assigned a specific UUID for all data being sent for over 24 hours. He wasn’t convinced by the image used by Xiaomi to show the data was anonymized.
I am particularly interested as this is post-obfuscation code – the c.b etc. shows this isn't raw source.
Why is that?
But, more to the point, calling a UUID "anonymous" does not make it anonymous.
Almost every browser in the world collects user data. Some might restrict this to crash reports while other browsers can be a bit more invasive and collect usage data too.
While we aren’t sure of how much data is collected by browsers like Google Chrome and Firefox, we do know that collecting search terms and URLs, even in the incognito mode isn’t normal.
The private browsing mode or the incognito mode specifically exists to avoid tracking. And Andrew’s demo video clearly shows how much data is being sent back to Xiaomi servers which includes search terms and URLs in the incognito mode. Xiaomi claims that this data is anonymized (probably on the server-side) but it needs to come out and explain this process in detail.
Xiaomi’s official statements have stressed that they only gather data that has been consented by the user. So the company also needs to clarify if their privacy and data collection policies include the gathering of search terms and other user data even in the incognito mode.
Calling this report as fake news isn’t really the best response. Xiaomi has to come forward and refute each of the findings of the two researchers. If Xiaomi is unable to do this, the company should explain itself and revise its data collection policies as soon as possible.
The Meizu 17 series is scheduled to launch this month. Over the past few days, Meizu has confirmed some of the specifications of the phones using posters shared on its official Weibo page. The latest one confirms the type of charger that will come with the phones.
According to the poster, the Meizu 17 series will ship with a GaN charger. The charger is shown to be available in black and white and has a foldable American plug.
Another accessory teased in the poster is a new Meizu power bank that has a USB-C port and a display that shows the battery level. The capacity is unknown but it is expected to not be less than 10000mAh.
Meizu will announce the Meizu 17 series on Friday, May 8, 2020. The phones will have a punch-hole display with a 90Hz refresh rate and be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 processor. Other confirmed features are stereo speakers, mEngine 3.0 linear motor, and quad rear cameras.
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