Finally, T-mobile and Sprint officially completes merger

By

-

Apr 2, 2020

One of what should be the most protracted merger deals in the tech industry has finally come to a conclusion. That is T-Mobile and Sprint’s merger deal. The merger was first announced around April 2018 and has met several obstacles on the way which has prevented a deal from getting sealed all this while.

It took almost two years after T-Mobile US officially announced its merger with Sprint as well a several hearing and legal negotiations with US regulators to get to this point. The deal worth $23 billion will result in a collaboration of the third and fourth-largest wireless carrier in the US in terms of subscriber base, forming a new company known as “The New T-Mobile”.

The entities will equally join forces in terms of infrastructures to take on AT&T and Verizon Wireless the top 2 carriers in the US. Sprint’s spectrum and subscribers will be transitioned to T-Mobile. Sprint possesses a precious 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum which is ideal for 5G. The new T-Mobile will deploy this spectrum alongside T-Mobile’s own low-band 5G (600Mhz) for a nationwide rollout. T-Mobile says it will offer eight times faster speeds compared to LTE and expects the speeds to get up to 15 times faster over the next six years. T-Mobile also plans on using the mid-bands to cover Americans in rural areas.

As part of a deal made with US regulators, Sprint will sell its prepaid assets including Boost Mobile, its 9.3 million subscribers, more than 7000 retail stores, and its 800Mhz band spectrum to Dish Network, creating a new #4 carrier in the US. Dish will maintain these subscribers on T-Mobile’s networks as an MVNO under a seven-year lease while it develops and rolls out its own 5G network. Boost Mobile will be transitioned under the Dish Network brand. The new T-Mobile promise not to change its pricing for three years even with 5G offering.

As a result of the merger deal, T-Mobile’s CEO John Legere has stepped down earlier than the April 30 expiration date of his contract. The company’s President and COO, Mike Sievert has now stepped in as the new CEO of “The New T-Mobile”. Legere will remain as one of T-Mobile’s new board of directors. Legere assumed the position of T-Mobile’s CEO in 2012 and oversaw several massive growth with the company going from 33.3 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter of 2012 to 86 million customers at the end of the fourth quarter of 2019.

(source)

CPU Configuration for Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ revealed

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Apr 2, 2020

Last year, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 855+ as a slightly higher clocked version of the Snapdragon 855. The chipset went on to power several phones from different manufacturers. Qualcomm may toe the same path this year as more evidence of a Snapdragon 865+ surfaces.

qualcomm-snapdragon-865-5g-mobile-platform-hero-image-800x450 — Qualcomm Snapdragon 865

The Galaxy Note20+ Geeknbench listing has revealed the phone is powered by a Qualcomm chipset different from the Snapdragon 865 that powers the Galaxy S20 series. This chipset is believed to be the Snapdragon 865+. Max Weinbach, a writer for XDA Developer and leaker has revealed the CPU configuration for the chipset.

According to his tweet, Qualcomm is sticking to a 1+3+4 CPU core arrangement. The single prime core is clocked at 3.1GHz, the three performance cores are clocked at 2.4GHz and the four efficiency cores are clocked at 1.8GHz.

Snapdragon 865+:

4 cores @ 1.8 GHz
3 cores @ 2.4 GHz
1 core @ 3.1 GHz

— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) April 2, 2020

When compared to the Snapdragon 865, Qualcomm has increased the clockspeed of the prime core only while the other CPU cores are unchanged.

The Snapdragon 865+ should be announced in the second half of the year with the first set of phones powered by the chipset launching in July. Other than Samsung’s Galaxy Note series, we expect it to appear in phones from Xiaomi, Nubia, ASUS, OnePlus, Vivo, iQOO, Realme, and OPPO.

(Source)

Sales of Gaming Consoles and Games Soared amid Lockdown due to Coronavirus

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

Apr 2, 2020

The whole world is going through troubled times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the severely affected countries by the virus are under lockdown in order to maintain social distancing. Because of this, several business industries are suffering in a way they had never dreamt of. But the current situation has turned out to be favorable for the gaming industry as the sales of consoles and games surged higher.

To stop the spread of the coronavirus, people around the world are being advised to stay home and follow social distancing as much as possible. Some countries even went ahead and ordered total lockdown to enforce people to stay indoors.

Thus, people have nothing to do (those who can’t work from home) other than stream media and play video games. According to an analysis by Gamesindustry.biz on the recent data from Games Sales Data (GSD), the consoles and games sale climbed between March 16 and 22.

Ever since Microsoft and Sony started hinting the release of their next-generation gaming consoles, the sales of consoles declined in recent months as people are waiting to invest in the latest products expected to release in the holiday season. However, the current situation urged people to buy the existing current-gen consoles like PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

As per the data, the sales of consoles rose to 155%, which is significantly higher in recent times. The consoles’ sales in Australia were up by 285.6%, 250% in the UK, 140.6% in France, 84% in Italy, and 66% in Spain. Whereas, digital game downloads were up by 52.9% in 50 markets without including Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Interestingly, even physical games sales jumped to 82%.

During these hard times, video gaming has become a viable option to kill time for most people according to the sales data.

(Via)

Samsung Galaxy Note 20+ spotted on GeekBench with suspected Snapdragon 865+ SoC

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Apr 2, 2020

Samsung traditionally released the Galaxy Note series models around August each year. This year’s Galaxy Note 20 series isn’t expected to be any different. Thus, the Note 20 is still months away from going official but it ha started appearing on benchmark and leaks. A device suspected to be the Samsung Galaxy Note 20+ has appeared on the database of benchmarking outfit GeekBench.

The Galaxy Note 20+ model appears with the model number SM-N986U. This is likey the US version as the Galaxy Note 10+ with Snapdragon 855+ SoC has the model number SM-N976U. The listing equally contains a few details of the model. The device is listed as running Android 10 operating system and has 8GB of RAM onboard. There is likely going to be a higher 12GB RAM variant.

As for the processor, the motherboard is listed with the code name “kona” which is the codename of the Snapdragon 865 SoC. However, the CPU clock speed is higher than that of all known Snapdragon 865 model. The SD 865 maxes out at 2.84GHz whereas the smartphone’s processor is listed to have a maximum CPU of 3.09GHz. Thus, there is good reason to believe this is the Snapdragon 865+.

The model recorded a single-core test score of 985 points while o the multi-core test, it scored 3,220 points.

(source)

Chuwi AeroBook Pro 15.6-inch hands-on video unfurls every nook and corner of the device

By

Simranpal Singh

-

Apr 2, 2020

Chuwi recently published the Chuwi AeroBook Pro 15.6-inch laptop on the Indiegogo platform. The new laptop features high-end specifications including a powerful Intel i5 processor, 15.6-inch 4K display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD and much more. The powerful device is available at an affordable price of $500. It has already raised more than $210k on the Indiegogo within a week of its listing.

Chuwi has published a new hands-on video depicting its hardware and software prowess in detail. You can watch the video below:

As per the video, it can smoothly run 4K videos, games and can perform graphics-intensive tasks with ease. The immersive display experience is doubled when it is combined with a powerful processor like Intel i5.

Chuwi AeroBook Pro 15.6 carries a beautiful 15.6-inch 4K display having the resolution of 3840*2160 resolution. It would be an ideal display to watch and play games in 4K resolution. Moreover, video editing and photo editing can be more enjoyable on the laptop.

It is well equipped with a powerful Intel i5 processor that performs much better in the benchmark test. According to a Geekbench test, the processor scores 4102 points in a single-core test, whereas, the score reaches 8149 points on multi-core testing. The presence of 256SSD SATA storage enables to rear and write at the speeds of 470 MB/s and 410 MB/s respectively.

Chuwi has not only invested in the processor, display and build, they even added 8GB LPDDR4 RAM, then enables programs to run more rapidly. Along with Processor, system RAM is also responsible to render text and graphics more effectively and bring comfortable visual experience on its 15.6-inch 4k display. Overall, it helps to increase productivity.

Moreover, Chuwi AeroBook Pro 15.6 houses an Intel Iris Graphics 550 GPU coupled with an operating frequency of 1.1GHz. It can easily perform graphics-intensive work specially related to content editing.

Chuwi AeroBook Pro 15.6-inch is a perfect device to accomplish your daily office work, playing graphics demanding games and working on large software. The interested users can grab the competitive specifications packed laptop at an affordable price of $600. You will get a 25% discount if you participate in crowdfunding at Indiegogo. You can easily get the Chuwi AeroBook Pro 15.6-inch at an effective price of $509 by participating at Indiegogo. The interested users can know more about the device by heading to the official website.

Huawei will reportedly shift to LG display for its upcoming Smart Vision TV

By

Sean

-

Apr 2, 2020

Huawei is reportedly looking into LG‘s display technology for the supply of its upcoming Smart Vision TV. The news arrives after reporters learned that the company will soon be launching a new smart screen product later this month, while another source claimed the supplier for the displays will be LG.

Yu Chengdong (also known as Richard Yu), the CEO of Huawei Consumer Business, stated that the domestic conference will retain the big move for a new generation of smart screens. In other words, a shift of supplier for the latest generation of Smart display products. For those unaware, TCL and Optronics were the previous major suppliers of the Chinese tech giant, so the move may be a significant impact on them as well.

Huawei had announced on 30th March 2020 that it will be launching a new smart screen product on 8th April 2020. Certain teasers from the company were also shared, that depicted a mechanized popup camera of a much larger scale than the previous generation. LG is a known manufacturer of OLED displays, so this move can be understood if the South Korean company has made an noteworthy improvements in its technology.

Unfortunately, this is still unconfirmed and we will have to wait for the official launch conference on 8th April. Notably, Zhihao, the President of Huawei Consumer Business for the IoT Product Line, said that this will be Huawei’s most expensive product launch at the moment. So stay tuned for the upcoming event as we will be covering it.

Xiaomi Large Mi TV with affordable pricing to launch tomorrow

By

Sean

-

Apr 2, 2020

Xiaomi is slated to hold a new product launch conference tomorrow (3rd April 2020). In this event it will launch 22 new products, one of which is the a new Large Mi TV with an affordable price tag.

According to a few teasers from the Xiaomi mall that are warming up the launch, the two primary selling points of the new Mi TV are its affordable price and large display. Unfortunately, the exact details of its size and other crucial specifications have yet to be revealed. But from what we do know, the new Mi TV will be equipped with PatchWall artificial intelligence voice system.

This is a standard AI voice assistant that is standard in every Xiaomi and Redmi smart TVs. Alongside Xiao AI, this essentially becomes a control center for smart homes where everything can be accessed via voice commands. As of right now, Xiao AI has reportedly about 30 million monthly users on more than 100 million devices. This makes it one of the largest AI voice assistant, which works cross platform across IoT products in a smart home.

The new Large Mi TV from Xiaomi also follows the company’s low cost and high performance philosophy. In other words, this is aimed to appeal to the broader market with a product that has a high cost to value ratio. Currently, all we have to go is a single image poster shared by the Chinese tech giant, so stay tuned for tomorrow, where we will be covering the launch event.

Redmi Band wearable is launching tomorrow

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Apr 2, 2020

After more than two months since news of Redmi launching a smartband surfaced, we finally have a launch date. Thankfully, we do not have to wait for long.

The official Redmi Weibo account shared a poster today teasing the arrival of its first wearable which should arrive as the Redmi Band. According to the Weibo post, the wearable will be announced tomorrow at 14:00 hrs (China Time).

While the poster doesn’t show the smartband itself, another poster has surfaced on Weibo that may possibly be that of the Redmi Band, although it is not stated.

The poster says the unnamed smartband launches tomorrow too at 14:00 hrs. It has a rectangular color display and will be available in orange, green, black, and blue. We can’t say outrightly that this is the Redmi Band since the manufacturer’s logo isn’t on the poster. However, based on the leak from January which shows the Redmi Band with a rectangular display, there is a high chance it is it.

The Redmi Band should come with features such as a calorie counter, pedometer, and a heart rate sensor. It should also be able to receive notification alerts when connected to the phone. We won’t rule out the possibility of it having NFC for payments.

(Sources: 1, 2)

Oppo Reno 5 might succeed the Reno 3 series, Possible launch in May

By

Sean

-

Apr 2, 2020

The Oppo Reno 5 series could be the direct successor to the Reno 3 series, according to a new report. The news arrives from Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website, from the account of Digital Chat Station.

For those unaware, the number ‘4’ is generally considered as bad luck in Chinese tradition. Thus, OEM’s sometimes skip the names of their products with this number. A popular example of this is the OnePlus 5 series which arrived directly after the OnePlus 3 series. As of right now, finer details regarding the Oppo Reno 5 series is unknown.

Unfortunately, its internal specifications are still at large at the moment, but going by the industry trend, a few educated guesses can be made. The Oppo Reno 5 series is likely to be a mid segment smartphone and may arrive with either Qualcomm’ Snapdragon 765G SoC or MediaTek’s new Dimensity chipsets. Furthermore, it is also possible that it may feature a high refresh rate display and quite possibly the newer and faster 5G network as well.

Although, these are just speculations so take this with a grain of salt. Despite having the name revealed, we still don’t know a lot about the Reno 5 series. But the Weibo post did mention one crucial information, which is the release date that is set sometime in May 2020. So stay tuned for additional information that should arrive in the next couple of weeks.

Huawei lost $12 billion in Revenues after US ban and loss of Google Apps in 2019

By

Sean

-

Apr 2, 2020

Back in early 2019, Huawei had been hit with a ban from the US, that placed the company in the “Entity List.” Since then, the company’s operations have been severely hampered while it has also lost support from Google, due to the blacklist. While the company did launch its own alternatives, it seems the transition wasn’t as simple as they wished, with the company reportedly losing out on billions of dollars.

According to Eric Xu, the Deputy Chairman and Rotating Chairman of Huawei, the company has lost out on nearly 12 billion US Dollars in 2019. Apparently, Huawei’s previous projections regarding the year had an estimated 135 billion US Dollars. However, the company has fallen just short of the amount, which was directly related to the various “US sanctions” that were against the Chinese tech giant.

A major chunk of the shortfall arrived from Huawei’s consumer division that accounts for over 54 percent of the company’s total sales in 2019. Xu stated that “it is the consumer business of Huawei that was hurt the most.” In other words, smartphones, tablets, laptops and more were affected by the US blacklisting. Reportedly, these consumer grade electronics products brought in 66.93 billion US Dollars in revenue in 2019, which was about 10 billion US Dollars less than what the company was originally targetting.

For those unaware, after the US ban, Huawei could not trade or buy products/services from US based companies. This caused it to lose Google’s mobile services, which in turn meant that Huawei smartphones now had to ship with vanilla Android. Thus, this caused the development of the HMS (Huawei Mobile Services), but unfortunately, the platform is still in its nascent stages. Huawei’s partnership with Google also meant that both companies profited greatly from one another, but that has since been terminated.

(Via)

Fossil Hybrid HR smartwatch finally lands in China after 5 months

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

Apr 2, 2020

Fossil finally launches the Hybrid HR smartwatch in China for a starting price of 1890 Yuan ($266). This smartwatch with a fusion of classic design and smart features was first announced back in November of 2019.

The Fossil Hybrid HR is unlike other smartwatches in the market featuring a classic watch design complete with mechanical arms. But as a smart wearable, it also comes with a display – an e-ink one rather than an OLED panel. Further, it also has an accelerometer, optical heart rate sensor, water-resistance up to 3ATM.

The e-ink display on the Hybrid HR measures only 1.06-inch and is enclosed in a stainless steel casing with no support for touch input. And thus, the smartwatch has to be controlled using three push buttons on the right side, out of which the middle one resembles a crown but unfortunately it is not one.

The smart features of the watch include app notifications, call, and message alerts, music controls, weather, multiple time zones, stopwatch, timer, fitness tracking, and sleep tracking. The watch comes with Bluetooth 5.0 to connect with smartphones running iOS 10 / Android 5.0 and above.

Fossil Hybrid HR Smartwatch

1 of 9

Also, like any other watch, the Fossil Hybrid HR smartwatch comes in a number of finishes with a wide range of straps to choose from.

Fitbit Charge 4 is the first product from the company since Google Acquisition announcement

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

Apr 2, 2020

Earlier in November 2019, Google announced to buy Fitbit for $2.1 billion. Since then the popular fitness tracker company did not announce any new product. But now, it has, after five months since the buyout was announced. Unfortunately, the new wearable from the company is Fitbit Charge 4, which is nothing but a successor to Fitbit Charge 3 from 2018.

The Fitbit Charge 4 features the same design as its predecessor but comes with a built-in GPS, which is absent on the previous model. The tracker is made of aerospace-grade aluminum and is available in four options including a special edition.

The tracker sports an OLED greyscale display with support for touch inputs. The sensors present in it include 3-axis accelerometer, optical heart rate monitor, SpO2 blood oxygen level monitor and altimeter. For connectivity, it features Bluetooth 4.0 to connect with smartphones running both Android and iOS. It also has NFC to make contactless payments via Fitbit Pay.

As a fitness tracker, it does monitoring all-day including workouts like swimming as it is water-resistant up to 50m. Also, it has support for sleep monitoring, call and message alerts, app notifications, music playback controls, and more.

As far as price is concerned, the Fitbit Charge 4 standard variant in mauve, blue, and black colored staps will retail for $149.95. Whereas, the special edition with classic black woven and reflective bands is priced at $169.95. However, in India, the fitness tracker costs more as they have been priced at INR 14,999 and INR 16,999 respectively. Lastly, buyers in all regions will get 90 days free trial of Fitbit Premium subscription service.

Xiaomi Black Shark 3 Pro Teardown: Unique layout with big heat pipes

By

Sean

-

Apr 2, 2020

Xiaomi‘s Black Shark 3 Pro has just undergone a teardown from JerryRigEverything, the popular YouTube tech content creator. The new video shows an interestingly unique internal design and layout of the device and also highlights the big heat pipes that help keep the gaming smartphone cooler.

Peering into the insides, the Xiaomi Black Shark 3 Pro has two thick copper heat pipes that are connected to the metal shields on top of the CPU. To even get to this point, one must remove the bow tie shaped back panel, a design that has never been seen before. Notably, most smartphone OEMs follow relatively similar internal layouts, as they are the most efficient ways to pack in all the hardware.

However, we have to keep in mind that gaming smartphones require a few additional touches for thermal performance, so a unique new design is welcomed as well. Right off the bat, the back panel is noticeably smaller considering a few of the outer designs meld into the battery pack (referring to the angular design on the back). To remove the motherboard or even reach the battery pack, the front display had to be unmounted as well.

Typically, most, if not all internal components can be found or removed from just the rear panel, but this unique layout manages to utilize the smartphone’s angular design to a great degree. Once the motherboards is out, the most notable aspect are the two thick copper heat pipes that wrap around both sides of it. This essentially completely covers the processor and other crucial parts enabling better thermals.

On the other hand, Xiaomi uses twin battery pack systems that surround the motherboard on both sides. This means that Xiaomi charges both the batteries separately to achieve the advertised 65W fast charging rates on the Black Shark 3 Pro. For more details on the teardown, you can check out JerryRigEverything’s video above.

Honor Play 4T Pro, Play 4T official renders appears ahead of April 9 launch

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Apr 2, 2020

The Honor Play 4T will be made official on April 9. Ahead of the launch, some of the known retailer sties of China such as JD, Suning and Tmall have started with the reservations of the Play 4T. Interestingly, the reservation pages on JD reveals that the company will be not only launching the Play 4T and Play 4T Pro phones.

The images that have surfaced on reservations pages show that there are two kinds of Play 4T. One of them has a waterdrop notch and under-display fingerprint sensor. This handset could be the Honor Play 4T Pro. The handset can be seen in black, green and gradient white colors.

On the other side, there is a variant that features a punch-hole screen and a conventional fingerprint sensor on its rear. This device is likely to debut as Honor Play 4T. Apart from green, the handset could be available in other color choices.

Editor’s Pick: Honor announces a Mechanical Keyboard in partnership with Cherry Switches

Honor Play 4T Pro specifications

The image of the Honor Play 4T Pro resembles with the AQM-AL10 phone that was certified by TENAA telecom regulatory body of China in March. The TENAA listing revealed that it has a full HD+ 6.3-inch AMOLED display with 20:9 aspect ratio, Kirin 810 chipset, 6 GB / GB RAM, 128 GB / 256 GB storage, 48-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple cameras, 16-megapixel front camera and 4,000mAh battery with 22.5W rapid charging support.

Honor Play 4T specifications

1 of 3

The Honor Play 4T seems to be AKA-AL10 smartphone which also received TENAA certification last month. It features a 6.39-inch IPS LCD display with HD+ resolution support, 2.0GHz octa-core processor, 4 GB / 6 GB RAM, 64 GB / 128 GB storage, 48-megapixel + 2-megapixel dual camera, 8-megapixel selfie snapper and 4,000mAh battery. The Android 10 OS is preinstalled on both phones. There is no word on their pricing.

(source 1, 2, 3, 4|via)

Xiaomi has not yet given up on tablets: Senior Product Director

By

Sean

-

Apr 2, 2020

Xiaomi has apparently not given up on tablets in its technological ecosystem. The news arrives after a Li Chuangqi answered a few questions regarding tablets earlier this week. So, a new tablet might still be in the plans for some time in the future.

Previously, Xiaomi had released the Mi Pad 4 and Mi Pad 4 Plus back in 2018. These devices featured Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 660 AIE SoC alongside 4GB of RAM and a large 6,000 or 8,620mAh battery. However, it’s been more than a year since the Mi Tab 4 series was launched, while it has remained unclear if a successor would be launched at all.

According to industry experts, the tablets and their entertainment features have largely been replaced by taller and wider smartphones. Although the viability of tablets still exists in certain professional cases, they are still not as viable in comparison to their smaller counterparts. Apple’s iPad Pro is one such example with it being the first choice for creative professionals or working on the go.

Although the future of the tablets is uncertain, there might be a notable jump in performance and battery life that many chip manufacturers are hoping to achieve. Generally, smartphones have also been faster than tablets, in most cases, especially when comparing flagships. So, more power might make them more viable for additional workloads and more useful. However, this is still speculation, so take it with a grain a salt.

(Via)

Meizu 17 render leaked to reveal horizontal cameras strip, punch-hole screen

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Apr 2, 2020

Meizu 17 will be debuting at some point this month. Meizu phones are known for sporting symmetrical bezels. However, a new render of the Meizu 17 shared by a reliable Chinese tipster reveals that it won’t be coming symmetrical bezels. The render also reveals the rear design of the phone.

The Meizu 17’s newly leaked render shows that it is equipped with a small round-shaped cutout at the top-left corner. The upper and side bezels surrounding the screen are quite thin. The chin of the device is slightly thick. The right side of the phone has a volume rocker and a power key.

It is said that the phone has a 6.5-inch S-AMOLED display that supports full HD+ resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. The screen is embedded with a fingerprint reader.

The gradient colored back panel of the Meizu 17 could be made out of glass. It has a horizontal camera strip that houses four camera sensors with a LED flash positioned at the center. The render resembles with a recently leaked image. The camera setup reportedly includes a 64-megapixel Samsung GW1 sensor, an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens, a 5-megapixel telephoto lens and a 2-megapixel depth assist sensor.

Editor’s Pick: April Fool or Real? Meizu’s leaked invite for April 15 shows a Riot Shield

Reports surrounding the Meizu 17 have revealed that it is driven by Snapdragon 865 mobile platform and LPDDR5 RAM. The base model of the Meizu 17 will feature LPDDR4X RAM. The phone is expected to offer users with UFS 3.0 storage.

The Meizu 17 is equipped with a 4,500mAh battery. The handset’s 3C certification has revealed that is supports 30W mCharge technology. Some of its other rumored features like include dual stereo speakers, horizontal linear motors, NFC and Wi-Fi 6. The handset is expected to land in China with a base price of 3,999 Yuan (~$563).

Readers to advised to take the leaked render with a grain of salt since it is not very difficult to create a photoshopped render based on leaks.

(source)

OnePlus CEO explains MEMC technology on the OnePlus 8 and reveals supported apps

By

Sean

-

Apr 2, 2020

Since the OnePlus 7 series, the company has decided to move over to the higher refresh rate panel standards for its annual flagship series. This holds true even now for the OnePus 8 series as it is confirmed to arrive with a 120Hz display as well. Now, Pete Lau, the CEO of OnePlus, has explained the new MEMC technology on the device and also revealed the apps that will support the new system.

The OnePlus 8 series, as stated above, will feature a high refresh rate and take advantage of this, it will also arrive with MEMC technology (Motion Estimation And Motion Compensation). This technology enables the smoothening of visual content which was not natively captured in such a high frame rate to be displayed in a manner that fits the high refresh rate of the display. As a rough example, a movie that is generally shot in 21-24fps can now be watched at a higher 120Hz refresh rate.

OnePlus achieves this by housing a dedicated chip alongside an exclusive algorithm to bring about it calls a “high frame ecology.” This includes both games, movies and even online streaming applications that can now be consumed at smoother frame rates. The new MEMC technology from the company has been labeled as High Frame 2.0, and has been included to solve the problem of high refresh rate screens on smartphones not having any high refresh rate content to be displayed.

The apps that will support this new feature include YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, VLC, MX Player, and even its proprietary Gallery application. Similarly, other known Chinese multi media apps are also supported while various gaming titles are also a big inclusion. It is generally known that gaming at higher refresh rates lowers latency and improves the players’ overall gaming performance as well.

Mi Band 4 and 3 can now natively unlock Windows Laptops with the Latest Update

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

Apr 2, 2020

Xiaomi sells a number of popular products apart from smartphones. One such series is the company’s lineup of fitness bands. Currently, the Mi band is in its fourth generation with Mi Band 4 launched back in June 2019. This wearable has so far received multiple updates bringing new features and fixing bugs. Now, the company is rolling out a new firmware update for both Mi Band 4 and Mi Band 3 from 2018 that adds new functionality to let users unlock laptops running Windows 10.

The Mi Band 4 has been receiving firmware updates almost every month. However, since November these updates have almost always fixed bugs instead of adding any new features to Mi Band 3 or Mi Band 4. Now the latest firmware that is being rolled out by the company is finally bringing a change to these fitness trackers in a very long time.

The latest update bumps up the firmware version of Mi Band 4 to V1.0.9.42 from V1.0.9.34 and adds a function to unlock Windows 10 laptops. Unfortunately, this functionality is only limited to users in India as of now. Although unlocking laptops via Mi Band 3 and 4 was possible earlier, it required a third-party app. But now the function has been officially integrated into the Mi Fit app.

Additionally, the new firmware update on both trackers also brings improvement in step counter by fixing ghost steps issues. Also, as the firmware update comes bundled with the Mi Fit app update, the app’s version has been now incremented to 4.0.17 with improved user experience by fixing known bugs and adding support for Apple ID sign-in.

(Source)

Meizu 17 3C certification reveals 30W fast charger

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Apr 2, 2020

Meizu will be launching the Meizu 17 5G phone this month. However, it is yet to confirm on its launch date. Some reports have claimed that Meizu 17 5G will be accompanied by Meizu 17 Pro 5G phone. At present, there is no official confirmation on it yet. A new Meizu phone that has a model number M081Q has been approved by the 3C authority of China. It appears to be the upcoming Meizu 17 5G phone.

The M081Q Meizu phone that has appeared on 3C is a 5G-capable phone. The charger that is mentioned in the listing has a model number of UP1030. It carries support for maximum charging speeds of 30W. The 3C listing has no information on the other specs of the device.

A leaked image of the UP1030 Meizu charger was recently spotted. The support for 30W charger was found mentioned on the device. Last year’s Meizu 16s Pro supported 24W mCharge technology. The upcoming Meizu 17 5G will be arriving with 30W fast charging support. There is no word on whether the Meizu 17 or Meizu 17 Pro will be equipped with wireless charging technology.

Editor’s Pick: April Fool or Real? Meizu’s leaked invite for April 15 shows a Riot Shield

In related news, a leaked photo of the Meizu 17 has appeared on China’s social platforms. The white-colored rear of the phone is seen sporting a horizontal camera setup. The module features four cameras with an LED flash ring at the center. The image also reveals that the Meizu 17 will be equipped with support for dual SIM dual standby.

The Meizu 17s is rumored to house a 90Hz refresh rate supporting 6.5-inch full HD+ punch-hole display. It will be fueled by Snapdragon 865 mobile platform and LPDDR5 RAM. The rear side of the phone could be fitted with 64-megapixel (Samsung GW1) + 8-megapixel (ultrawide) + 5-megapixel (telephoto) + 2-megapixel (depth) quad camera system. It may come with UFS 3.0 storage, Wi-Fi 6and in-screen fingerprint reader. It may arrive with a staring price of 3,999 Yuan (~$563).

(via)

ASUS announces ROG Strix XG27WQ curved gaming monitor in China with 2K panel & 165Hz Refresh Rate

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

Apr 2, 2020

ASUS announces a new 27-inches curved gaming monitor in China called ROG Strix XG27WQ. Being a Republic of Gamers product, it features a modern design with a unique stand and RGB lighting to go with.

The ROG Strix XG27WQ sports a 27-inches VA panel of 2K resolution ( 2560×1440 pixels) with up to 165Hz refresh rate and 15000R curvature. It has also got 1ms (GTG) response time, 3000: 1 contrast ratio, and covers 125% as well as 92% of sRGB and DCI-P3 colour gamuts.

Further, the monitor has a 178-degree viewing angle and also supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. Additionally, the monitor is also certified for both DisplayHDR 400 and HDR10.

As for I/O, the monitor comes equipped with a DisplayPort (DP1.2a), two HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

ASUS ROG Strix XG27WQ Curved Gaming Monitor

1 of 3

Talking about the design, the new monitor features almost zero bezels at the sides and the top with a slightly larger chin at the bottom marked with the ROG logo. Then, the tripod stand of the monitor extends from the rear center and emits LED light on the surface. Also, there is a large RGB lighting ring at the rear of the monitor encircling the center where the stand starts from.

With all that being said, ASUS is yet to announce the price of its new ROG Strix XG27WQ curved gaming monitor.

(Via)

EDITOR’S PICK: Xiaomi’s Aqara officially unveils its range of smart home products in the US

UP NEXT: OnePlus 8 TPU Case goes on sale on GizTop; confirms design

UP NEXT: Google releases GPU driver update tool via Play Store for select Qualcomm Snapdragon phones

UP NEXT: Huawei lost $12 billion in Revenues after US ban and loss of Google Apps in 2019

UP NEXT: OnePlus 8 TPU Case goes on sale on GizTop; confirms design

Must See: CHUWI announces AeroBook Pro with 4K HDR display for $599

Related: Chuwi AeroBook Pro 15.6 emerges as the best Hackintosh laptop

Editor’s Pick: Fitbit Charge 4 is the first product from the company since Google Acquisition announcement

UP NEXT: ASUS announces ROG Strix XG27WQ curved gaming monitor in China with 2K panel & 165Hz Refresh Rate

Editor’s Pick: ASUS announces ROG Strix XG27WQ curved gaming monitor in China with 2K panel & 165Hz Refresh Rate

UP NEXT: Fitbit Charge 4 is the first product from the company since Google Acquisition announcement

UP NEXT: Realme smartwatch teased by Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth

Editor’s Pick: Fitbit Charge 4 is the first product from the company since Google Acquisition announcement

UP NEXT: ASUS announces ROG Strix XG27WQ curved gaming monitor in China with 2K panel & 165Hz Refresh Rate

Editor’s Pick: China’s local authorities are issuing free coupons to stimulate consumption crippled by COVID-19

UP NEXT: ASUS announces ROG Strix XG27WQ curved gaming monitor in China with 2K panel & 165Hz Refresh Rate

UP NEXT: OnePlus 8 series is launching in China two days after the international launch

UP NEXT: Your Apple, WearOS and Fitbit Smartwatch can help track Coronavirus symptoms

Editor’s Pick: OnePlus CEO explains MEMC technology on the OnePlus 8 and reveals supported apps

UP NEXT: ASUS announces ROG Strix XG27WQ curved gaming monitor in China with 2K panel & 165Hz Refresh Rate

Editor’s Pick: Honor announces a Mechanical Keyboard in partnership with Cherry Switches

Honor Play 4T Pro specifications

Honor Play 4T specifications

UP NEXT: Qualcomm doesn’t have a product to compete with Kirin 820: Honor President

Editor’s Pick: China’s local authorities are issuing free coupons to stimulate consumption crippled by COVID-19

UP NEXT: ASUS announces ROG Strix XG27WQ curved gaming monitor in China with 2K panel & 165Hz Refresh Rate

Editor’s Pick: April Fool or Real? Meizu’s leaked invite for April 15 shows a Riot Shield

UP NEXT: Meizu 17 5G and Meizu 17 Pro 5G camera watermarks confirm the sensors arrangement

Editor’s Pick: China’s local authorities are issuing free coupons to stimulate consumption crippled by COVID-19

UP NEXT: ASUS announces ROG Strix XG27WQ curved gaming monitor in China with 2K panel & 165Hz Refresh Rate

UP NEXT: Mi Band 4 and 18 other MIJIA products won the iF Design Awards 2020

UP NEXT: Meizu 17 5G and Meizu 17 Pro 5G camera watermarks confirm the sensor’s arrangement

UP NEXT: ASUS ROG Phone II finally starts receiving Android 10 Update