Development of upcoming Apple products is on-track with employees working remotely

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Mar 31, 2020

Earlier this month, Apple shuttered many facets of its Apple Park and older Infinite Loop campuses as San Francisco Bay Area officials put in place stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of coronavirus.

With this, the company seems to have temporarily adopted the Work From Home culture, even though Apple is not an ideal company to have this work culture having a giant campus and dozens of offices across the world.

Despite this, it is reported that Apple is still working on the new versions of several of its products, including the HomePod, Apple TV, MacBook Pro, budget iPads, Apple Watch, iPhone, and iMac.

A report claims that all of these devices could be released “as early as later this year” and have been previously rumoured to get released in the 2020. It also claims that the company’s software updates are also on track and are expected to be debuted in June at a virtual version of WWDC.

While some employees are allowed into Apple’s Silicon Valley offices for work that requires hands-on development, but there has been some setbacks as working from office is not possible in other parts of the world like Italy, Germany, and Asia.

With work-from-home order, Apple has also clamped down employees allowed to take home future versions of new software, including iOS 14. As per the report, employees working on ‌iOS 14‌ and other software updates need approval from Apple’s executive team.

Apart from this work-related situation, the tech giant has also shut down all 458 of its stores outside of mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong earlier this month. The company had also put purchase restrictions on customers, but have now been removed for all the regions, except China.

(Source)

Huawei launches Panoramic VR wallpapers for all the supported devices

By

Jeet

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Mar 31, 2020

Huawei recently launched the P40 series flagship smartphones with support for panoramic VR wallpapers. Today, the company has launched the official theme for the P40’s panoramic VR wallpapers on its network.

It is not limited to the P40 series smartphones and is available for multiple devices from Huawei as well as its sub-brand Honor. Reports indicate that the Panoramic VR wallpapers can ben activated on Huawei’s Mate 20 and Mate 30 series as well as P20, P30, and the newly launched P40 series.

On the other hand, the Honor V20 as well as the Honor V30 come with support for this. The company has officially launched three sets of themes for VR panoramic wallpapers — Infinite Aurora Vision VR Panorama, Brilliant Star River VR Panorama, and Senlu Xianlu VR Panorama.

The company says that this feature offers the ultimate visual retreat, breaking the boundaries of time and space. It also has 360-degree VR panoramic gravity sensing lock screen which is claimed to be a whole different gameplay.

The newly launched Huawei P40 series consists of three models namely Huawei P40, Huawei P40 Pro, and Huawei P40 Pro Plus. The pricing of these phones starts at €799 (~$880), €999 (~$1095), and €1399 (~$1533) respectively.

Because of the on-going coronavirus pandemic, many countries are facing tough situations and have been affected in the worst ways possible. In various countries, lockdowns have been imposed by governments to control the spread of the virus.

Due to such measures, most manufacturing plants have been abandoned that is resulting in no production. But when the media asked about it to Richard Yu of Huawei, he ensured that the company has sufficient units of P40 series ready to meet consumer demand.

(Via)

Meizu 17’s 30W wired charger appears in a leaked shot

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Mar 31, 2020

The Meizu 16s Pro that arrived in August 2019 was the last flagship phone from the company. It had arrived with 24W mCharge fast charging support. Meizu will be announcing its first 5G phone – the Meizu 17, in April. Rumors have claimed that the Meizu 17 may come with support for faster wired charging. A spy shot of the Meizu 17’s charging adapter has surfaced on Weibo. It reveals that it will carry support for 30W fast charging.

The model number of the charger that will accompany the Meizu 17 is UP1030. The maximum charging output mentioned on it is 10V/3A. Since the design of the charging head is identical with Meizu’s other charging adapter, it indeed appears to be the Meizu 17’s charger. Speculations surrounding the Meizu 17 have claimed that it will also carry support for wireless charging.

A recent report had revealed that the Meizu 17 5G will be accompanied by Meizu 17 Pro 5G. These phones are believed to have M2081 and M2091 model numbers. While the rumor mill has revealed the specs and pricing of the Meizu 17, nothing much is known on the Pro model.

Editor’s Pick: Honor 30 series launch date is April 15

Meizu 17 specification and price (Rumored)

The Meizu 17 has a full HD+ 6.5-inch OLED display with 90Hz refresh rate. There is a small round-shaped cutout on the screen for its selfie camera. The Snapdragon 865 mobile platform drives the handset with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.0 storage.

The rear side of the phone is expected to feature a 64-megapixel main lens, a 20-megapixel ultrawide shooter and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens. The device has a 4,500mAh battery.

The 8 GB RAM + 128 GB edition of the Meizu 17 may cost 3,999 Yuan (~$564). The 8 GB RAM + 256 GB and 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage versions of the Meizu 17 could be priced at 4,299 Yuan (~$606) and 4,699 Yuan (~$663).

OnePlus 8 series is launching in China two days after international launch

By

Jeet

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Mar 31, 2020

After months of leaks related to the upcoming flagship smartphones from OnePlus, the company has now officially confirmed that the OnePlus 8 series will be launched on 14th April through an online launch event.

Now, the company has confirmed that the OnePlus 8 series will be launched in the China on 16th April at 07:00 PM. It seems that the company will only be launching OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro devices at this event and the OnePlus 8 Lite or OnePlus Z will come a couple of months later, by the end of Q2 2020.

While OnePlus has not yet revealed the phone’s specifications, leaks and reports related to the upcoming devices has revealed almost everything. The OnePlus 8 series will come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 processor with all-in-one 5G.

The standard version will have a 90Hz Fluid AMOLED display with a punch hole cutout and a Full HD+ 1080p screen resolution whereas the Pro model is expected to have a 120Hz QHD+ AMOLED display panel along with a punch hole cutout for front-facing camera.

Other differences between the two devices include triple rear cameras on the OnePlus 8 and quad rear cameras on the OnePlus 8 Pro. The Pro variant is also reported to have a up to 30x digital zoom, bigger battery capacity, support for fast wireless charging, support for reverse wireless charging.

Both the devices will be running the latest Android 10 operation system out-of-the-box with the company’s own OxygenOS user interface on top. Given that the devices will have 5G support, they are expected to cost more than their predecessors.

Honor 30 series launch date is April 15

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Mar 31, 2020

Honor had held a launch event in China yesterday to announce the Honor 30S and Honor 9A smartphones. While the Honor 9A debuted as an entry-level phone, the Honor 30S arrived as an upper mid-range phone driven by the all new 7nm Kirin 820 5G chipset. Today, the company took to Weibo to confirm that its next unveil event will be held on April 15 for announcing the Honor 30 series of flagship phones.

The Honor 30 series launch date poster features the well-known Chinese actor named Li Xian. He can be seen showing the glimpse of the purple colored Honor 30 series phone.

Editor’s Pick: George Zhao: Honor was the Second Largest Smartphone Brand in China in February

Yesterday, OnePlus confirmed that it will be holding an unveil event on April 14 to introduce the OnePlus 8 series that includes the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro smartphones. OnePlus will be holding a dedicated launch event for OnePlus 8 series in China on April 16. The Honor 30 and Honor 30 Pro are expected to rival with the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro phones.

The rumor mill has revealed only few details on the specs of the Honor 30 series. Earlier this month, a leaked poster had surfaced on Weibo that revealed the rear design of the Honor 30 series. The poster revealed that the Honor 30 series a round-shaped camera module on its back and it will be coming in four colors like pink, blue, silver and purple.

Unconfirmed rumors surrounding the Honor 30 have unearthed that it has three rear cameras. The first one is a 50-megapixel Sony IMX7XX lens, a 12-megapixel ultrawide shooter and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. Live shots of the alleged Honor 30 Pro were spotted recently. the images revealed that the smartphone has a display with pronounced curvature on left and right sides. A pill-shaped cutout for dual selfie snappers were also seen. It seems to support 90Hz refresh rate.

Sony consolidates three major businesses into ‘Sony Electronics Corporation’, Gaming Division stays separate

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Mar 31, 2020

Sony Corporation establishes a new intermediate holding company named ‘Sony Electronics Corporation’, which will be effective from April 1st, 2020. This newly formed division of the Japanese tech giant will merge three of its businesses into a single entity namely Imaging Products & Solutions, Home Entertainment & Sound, and Mobile Communications.

Sony has decided to absorb all of its consumer electronics business excluding gaming consoles into one single subsidiary. That means from 1st April, Sony consumer cameras, televisions, home audio, and mobile phone businesses will come under the newly established Sony Electronics Corporation.

The new subsidiary will be responsible for global sales, marketing, logistics, and procurement of all the above-mentioned businesses. Also, the company is aiming to optimize its organizational structure, talent and business portfolio by enhancing competitiveness and creating new businesses out of it.

The company has also appointed two of its executive vice presidents to run the new subsidiary. It has named Mr. Shigeki Ishizuka and Mr. Ichiro Takagi as CEO as well as COO of Sony Electronics Corporation respectively.

Sony Interactive Entertainment, under which PlayStation comes will remain independent as usual, making it the only consumer electronics business by the company to have this privilege. Also, other Sony businesses like music, film, and more are unaffected by this new change.

(Source)

George Zhao: Honor was the Second Largest Smartphone Brand in China in February

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Mar 31, 2020

At the end of Honor 30S launch event, Honor President Zhao George said that his brand performed well even during the hardest of times amid lockdowns due to the coronavirus outbreak in China. As per Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments fell 38% YoY in February but still Honor managed to secure the second position in the Chinese smartphone market.

February 2020 was the worst-performing month for smartphone makers in terms of YoY decline in history. The cause for it was none other than the infamous coronavirus outbreak which led to lockdown across China, the manufacturing hub of the world. Thus, supply chains and offline sales were severely disturbed.

But, according to Mr. Zhao, Honor has recovered rapidly since the beginning of March and it is even growing at a higher rate than the same period last year. He further boasts that Honor achieved a new record in difficult times by becoming the second largest smartphone brand in China.

At an event today, Honor unveiled its Honor 30S mid-range 5G smartphone, HiSilcion Kirin 820 5G chipset, Honor 9A budget smartphone with 5000 mAh battery, and a new ‘Robin Blue’ colour variant of FlyPods 3 noise cancellation TWS. All these products are slated to go on sale starting April 7.

(Via)

Oukitel WP6 Unboxing video surfaces featuring tough yet premium design

By

Simranpal Singh

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Mar 30, 2020

Oukitel introduced WP6 smartphone a few days ago featuring a mammoth 10000 battery and super 48-megapixel camera. We have got an unboxing video of the device showcasing all the major features and attractions of the smartphone. The device’s accessories are fully described to give us a better understanding of what we will get. You can sneak-peak the whole unboxing video of Oukitel WP6.

The official video shower some light on the unknown aspects of the device. Moreover, the Oukitel WP6 features a 6.3-inch display featuring an HD+ resolution and immersive viewing experience. IT comes powered with an Helio P70 octa-core processor coupled with 6GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage.

Oukitel WP6 comes with a powerful and enhanced camera having a 48-megapixel primary sensor. Whereas, the selfie camera that houses in the notch is of 16MP with f/2.0 aperture.

The developers have tweaked the Android Operating System to receive the best outcomes on a rugged smartphone The design or the build is pure premium with a 70% metallic cover.

The smartphone comes with a huge 10000 mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging. Moreover, it carries all the necessary certifications for being rugged, waterproof, shatterproof and dustproof.

Oukitel WP6 is available at a discounted price of $199 from AliExpress in black and orange colors. You can know more about the device by heading to the official website here.

Blackview BV6100 appears as the best affordable online learning device during coronavirus outbreak

By

Simranpal Singh

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Mar 30, 2020

The coronavirus outbreak has put halt to various new launchings and other activities in the smartphone world. However, the electronics makers never resorted to the pandemic as they are continually shipping smartphones. Similarly, Blackview’s recently announced BV6100 is emerging as the best affordable online learning device during the coronavirus outbreak. BlackView BV6100’s large-screen phone costs under $300.

It houses a large 6.88-inch HD display to help kids learn more swiftly with an enhanced experience. Blackview BV6100 is an ideal smartphone for learning purposes and also kids can download learning apps in the device. The ultra big smartphone is available at ultra-affordable price of $125.39 at the AliExpress store from March 27 to March 31. However, it usually retails at a price of $189.99.

It is a waterproof, shatterproof and dustproof device with IP68 and IP69K standard ratings. It can be submerged in a water depth of 15 meters for half an hour. It can be helpful in the recent novel coronavirus outbreak, as the user would be able to directly wash the device and disinfects the device without worrying about any damage.

Blackview BV6100 is durable and rugged thanks to its MIL-STD-810G certification. The usual falls don’t affect the BV6100 as it is designed to survive those small accidents. The smartphone comes equipped with a 5580 mAh battery offering extended standby time and eliminates the need for frequent charging.

The smartphone is easily available at discount prices from AliExpress. Blackview has put several other devices like BV9900 Pro, BV9800 Pro, and BV9100 on sale. You can know more about the ongoing promotion over here.

Related: Blackview gets Red Dot Award; Launches BV9900 Pro rugged smartphone

Best 6 reasons to grab Ulefone Armor 7E

By

Simranpal Singh

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Mar 30, 2020

Ulefone Armor 7E was recently unveiled by a popular Chinese rugged smartphone maker – Ulefone. The company added various astonishing and useful features to the device that can play an essential role in saving a life during an adventure trip. It’s even convenient in day-to-day life to hold such a rugged device that too at such an affordable price. The Ulefoen Armor is available for $110 and offers a powerful processor, super camera and a massive battery. It is a steal deal at such a good price.

Ulefone Armor 7E has a lot more than just being a rough and tough device. Here we are listing some best features or giving you the best reasons to buy the Ulefone Armor 7E.

Perfect Companion for Outdoor Adventure

As said above, the Ulefone Armor 7E is a rugged device and features IP68, IP69K certifications for waterproof and dustproof abilities. However, it even possesses a MIL-STD-810G standard certification for durability including sudden shock and extreme temperatures and the ability to withstand severe outdoor environments.

Superior Camera

The smartphone is a way ahead of its predecessors in the camera department. Ulefone Armor 7E carries a triple camera module featuring a 48-megapixel primary and two sub-cameras. It can effortlessly shoot detailed photos.

Powerful MediaTek Helio P90 AI Processor

The smartphone comes powered with MediaTek Helio P90 AI processor than can easily perform resource-hungry tasks while maintaining power efficiency. Its powerful NPUs can handle AI tasks more efficiently and effectively.

Large and Vivid Display

Ulefone Armor 7E embeds a 6.3-inch larger waterdrop display with an HD resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. It is a perfect den to enjoy the uninterrupted view while playing games and watching videos.

Massive 5500mAh Battery

Rugged smartphones are always known for huge battery capacity. Ulefone Armor 7E packs a 5500 mAh battery with support for 15W fast charging and 10W wireless charging. It is a full powerhouse that can keep you entertained for two or three days without charging even once.

Competitive Pricing

Ulefone Armor 7E is available at a competitive price of $219, meanwhile, Armor 7 is retailing for $329 from AliExpress. It is quite a powerful device that is available at such affordable pricing. You can know more about the device by heading to their official website.

Xiaomi crowdfunds the Deerma Multifunctional Hair Dryer- Both hand & hair dryer!

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 30, 2020

I have often wondered why a portable hairdryer can’t be used as a hand dryer. Well, it is possible for the hairdryer for dual or multiple functions asides drying wet hair but the practical approach to making it happen hasn’t seen the light of day until now. Xiaomi‘s ecological chain company Deerma has manufactured a practical hand and hairdryer device that performs both functions in the exact way they function separately, like infra-red detector for the hand dryer and others. The product dubbed Deerma Multifunctional Hair Dryer is now available for crowdfunding on Xiaomi Youpin with an impressive price tag of 249 yuan ($35). The product is expected to start shipping to backers in China from May 10.

The product is designed to give users an environmentally friendly and hygienic method of hand drying. The gadget comes with a stand which can be mounted on the wall. Thus, you can use it for hand drying without the need to touch the machine and by extension prevent cross-infection. The Delmar multi-functional hand dryer has a built-in infrared sensor, which can scan and sensitively identify human signals. The machine is automatically turned on when a signal from a human is detected. It then shuts down when the hand is removed.

The Deerma hand dryer features a high-torque high-speed motor with up to 26,000 rpm which delivers up to 14L/s high surging air volume, instant drying off excess water in the hand in a short while.

As a hairdryer, when it is turned on, the negative ions are released with the airflow and the concentration reaches 1 million pieces/cm3. Not only is the dry hand clean and hygienic, but the hair also is not frizzy. The product features an improved air duct structure. The spiral wind generated by the rotation of 6 fan blades can be transformed into the straight wind with a speed of up to 14m/s. The air duct also has a smooth structure which lowers the wind resistance. There are also three different wind temperatures of cold, medium heat, and hot. The wind speed can also be adjusted between high and low as desired.

The base which is the hand dryer also doubles as a storage rack for the hairdryer. Also, the company added several cool functions like two USB-A interfaces that can be used to charge other smaller gadgets such as electric shavers, electronic beauty mirror, electric toothbrushes, etc. You won’t need to drill the wall to mount the base

The machine base adopts a drilling-free, non-marking wall hanging, which can be easily installed with one stick and one hanging, and the smooth surface of the whole house is also suitable.

(source)

Huawei AX3, AX3 Pro and 5G CPE Pro 2 routers with WiFi 6+ launched

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 30, 2020

Huawei recently disclosed that it shipped more than 12 million routers in 2019 with online sales accounting for a larger part of the sales. The massive sales also represent an increase of 139% year-on-year. To consolidate on the success, Huawei Smart Life has today announced what it touts to be the world’s first Wi-Fi 6+ smart routers. The routers come under a new AX3 series and are dubbed Huawei AX3 and AX3 Pro. The company equally launched the Huawei 5G CPE Pro 2. This router is an upgrade of the 5G CPE Pro that was launched last year.

The Huawei AX3 and AX3 Pro emerge as the world’s first router to come with support for WiFi 6+. The routers are equipped with a Kirin 650 and Kirin W650 chip respectively. The biggest feature of the Wi-Fi 6+ connectivity is that it supports a large bandwidth of 160MHz, while the traditional Wi-Fi 6 only has an 80MHz frequency band, thus doubling the speed at close range.

The second major feature of Huawei Wi-Fi 6+ is the support for a dynamic narrow bandwidth. By reducing the bandwidth of the mobile phone backhaul router, the signal strength can be increased by up to 6dB at the same transmit power.

In addition, Huawei AX3 series routers support Huawei’s one-touch networking, mobile acceleration, online lesson acceleration, remote office acceleration, and child online protection.

On its part, the new Huawei 5G CPE Pro 2 brings along 5G download speeds of up to 3.6Gbps which is double the speed of the first-gen model. The router equally supports up to 11 5G bands and has a 33% reduction in volume over the previous generation. The super uplink near field speed gets an increase of up to 20-60% while the far-field speed is increased by 200- 400%. The router is also equipped with a unique magnetic dipole antenna which improves coverage by 30%. It is powered by the 7nm Balong 5000 chipset that supports 5G NSA and 5G SA networks. This version also supports the WiFi 6+ protocol.

There is no word yet on their pricing and availability.

Huawei offers India technological solutions to help combat COVID-19

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 30, 2020

As of today (March 30) India has recorded 1,071 cases of Coronavirus infection with 29 deaths. There are fears that the numbers could skyrocket within a short space of time despite the government’s efforts to contain its spread. Chinese tech giant Huawei is now offering to share resources with the Indian government that could help in the fight against COVID-19.

Huawei India’s CEO jay Chen is reported to have disclosed to ET that the company was working on solutions to apply its learnings and experience from China’s situation to help fight the disease. The company is looking to deploy new technology such as remote temperature monitoring which could help contain the spread of COVID-19. He also disclosed that the company is ready to deploy 5G+ thermal imaging which was one of the measures used in China to contain the spread of coronavirus infection. The technology is capable of monitoring the temperature of a moving object accurately and in real-time. It also would issue alert to any abnormal reading and eliminates the need to make contact with the person.

The tech giant is basically proposing the use of 5G technology to power teleconferencing which could aid medical experts to treat patients even when they are not physically present. Also, 5G remote imaging diagnosis platforms, 5G medical robots to help care for quarantined patients are some other ways the high-speed internet 5G offers could be used.

Unfortunately, India is yet to commence 5G field trials as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) was expected to begin the tests within this month. The DoT had already met with telcos and their gear vendor partners to discuss use cases and their preparedness. The 21-day nationwide lockdown has definitely affected the plans as telcos focus on ensuring they sustain the delivery of voice and data connectivity to users.

(via)

Huawei Nova 7 may come with a Kirin 985 processor

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 30, 2020

The Huawei Nova 7 series is expected to be announced next month. At least three phones are expected – the Nova 7 SE which should be the second phone with the new Kirin 820 5G chipset; the Nova 7; and the Nova 7 Pro with all having support for 5G.

The Nova 7 and Nova 7 Pro should have the Kirin 990 5G chipsets but the latest reports say the Nova 7 may actually come with a different processor – a new chipset to be unveiled soon called the Kirin 985.

Of course, this is not the first time we have heard of the Kirin 985. Prior to the launch of the Kirin 990 and Kirin 990 5G, it was reported that Huawei was working on a processor called the Kirin 985 and that it would power the P30 series but that didn’t happen. It was then reported that it would launch in the second half of 2019 but that too didn’t happen.

A Chinese blogger posted a few days ago on Weibo that the Kirin 985 (name might be changed) is coming.

Going by previous knowledge of the chipset, it may be built using the 7nm+ EUV lithography process and will be paired with the Balong 5000 modem. With respect to performance, it should be more powerful than the Kirin 820 5G.

Huawei Central reported that the chipset may power the Nova 7 Pro too but seeing as the Nova 6 5G is powered by a Kirin 990 chipset, and the Kirin 985 is not going to be more powerful than it (Kirin 990), it makes no sense to use the Kirin 985 in the Nova 7 Pro.

(Via: 1, 2)

Kirin 820 5G SoC ranks third in AI-Benchmark, Huawei / Honor Phones hold the Top 7 Positions

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Mar 30, 2020

At the Honor 30S launch event, the brand also officially announced the HiSilicon Krin 820 5G SoC, which also happens to power the new mid-range smartphone from the company. Now, the AI benchmark score of the new chipset is out, revealing it to be only less powerful than the manufacturer’s own HiSilicon Krin 990 5G SoC and MediaTek’s Dimensity 1000 5G SoC.

Huawei has been leading in on-device AI processing on mobile chipsets for the past couple of years. The company’s Kirin 970 was the first mobile SoC to feature a dedicated NPU (Neural Processing Unit). Later, in the following year, the Kirin 980 became the world’s first mobile SoC to feature a dual NPU design.

Now, even with a single-core NPU on Kirin 820 5G chipset, the manufacturer has mastered AI performance. In fact, the newest mid-range silicon from the company is 73% better in AI processing than its predecessor Kirin 810 from last year.

Talking about pure AI-Benchmark score, the all-new Kirin 820 5G garners 41838 points, and thus makes its way to the third position. The first two places are occupied by Kirin 990 5G and MediaTek Dimensity 1000 5G with an overall score of 70185 and 56158 respectively. Also, it is worth noting that non-5G version of Kirin 990 scores lesser than the new Kirin 820 5G with a score of 41773 points

Smartphones-wise, the Honor 30S with the Kirin 820 5G bags the 6th position with a score of 60843 points. Unsurprisingly, the top 7 positions are acquired by Huawei and Honor smartphones with Huawei P40 leading the chart. This is because we are yet to see a smartphone powered by MediaTek Dimensity 1000 5G SoC.

(Source)

POCO GM reveals the Redmi K30 Pro won’t launch as POCO F2 in India

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 30, 2020

Recently, Xiaomi‘s now independent Poco brand launched the popular POCO X2 and it was basically a rebranded Redmi K30 that was earlier launched in China. This may have fuelled speculations that the Redmi K30 Pro 5G which was equally unveiled in China recently will make its debut in India as Poco F2. An XDA Developers member equally found some code which suggests the Redmi K30 Pro may launch as a POCO branded phone, possibly the much-anticipated POCO F2.

That speculation or expectation has just been squashed by POCO GM C Manmohan. The GM held an interactive Zoom meeting today with fans where he shared some few information. The most important is the disclosure that the POCO F2 is different from the flagship Redmi K30 Pro. He also disclosed that the F2 is in the works and for those expecting a POCO F1 kind of surprise, he spilt some disappointing words. The Poco GM announced that the F2 will definitely not be priced around Rs 20,000 (~$265).

Recall that the POCO F1 had a RS 20,000 price tag when it was launched in 2018. This is despite packing a Snapdragon 845 chipset, a Liquid Cooling system and more. This was a crazy price tag which definitely was superb value for money offering. But then, Xiaomi couldn’t have claimed any reasonable profit from the product as the price wasn’t competitive at all. He even advised those with a budget of around Rs 20,000 (~$265) to go for the Poco X2 instead.

While Manmohan may have put paid to speculation of the Redmi K30 Pro 5G launching as Poco F2, we may still see the Redmi K30 Pro launch in India under the POCO brand but not as F2.

Furthermore, the Poco GM has also confirmed that the company is working on TWS earbuds. No word yet on the features or launch.

(via)

ZTE a1 ZTG01 5G with Snapdragon 765G unveiled in Japan for reservation

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 30, 2020

ZTE has always set its sight on 5G to improve on its smartphone market shares. The company already launched the Axon 11 5G as its first 5G phone. A new ZTE-branded 5G phone has now appeared on the website of Japanese carrier au. The device is already available for reservation on the carrier’s website but the price is yet to be revealed.

The ZTE a1 features a 6.5-inch LCD display with FullHD+ resolution. The display features a punch-hole design situated at the top left corner and it houses a 32MP sensor.

The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset which places it in the mid-range segment. The phone is a premium mid-ranger as it packs support for 5G connectivity which is probably why it is being introduced in Japan. The processor is paired with 6GB RAM while there is a 128GB storage that can be expanded up to 1TB.

The phone will pack a quad-camera setup which is designed like the Axon 11 5G setup. The camera configuration includes a 48MP main camera as well an 8MP, a 2MP, and a ToF sensor. The phone packs a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. Under the hood, is a 4000mAh battery while the phone gest its interface from an Android 10 operating system. Other features include Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac.

ZTE a1 ZTG01 will be released sometime in July. The phone comes in black only.

(source)

Official: OnePlus 8 series will be launched on April 14

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 30, 2020

After months of leaks, the OnePlus 8 series finally has a launch date. OnePlus has announced that its new flagships will be unveiled on Tuesday, April 14, 2020.

OnePlus 8 Glow — OnePlus 8 Interstellar Glow

The OnePlus 8 series launch event will be live-streamed and it will begin at 11 AM EDT/3 PM GMT/4 PM BST/8:30 PM IST. At the moment, it appears only the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro will be announced on that day.

The #OnePlus8Series is coming. April 14.

— OnePlus (@oneplus) March 30, 2020

The OnePlus 8 series will come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 processor with all-in-one 5G. The standard version will have a 90Hz Fluid AMOLED display with a punch hole and a 1080p resolution. The Pro model is expected to have a 120Hz QHD+ AMOLED panel with a punch hole too.

Other differences between the two devices include triple rear cameras on the OnePlus 8 and quad rear cameras on the OnePlus 8 Pro. The latter will also have a bigger battery capacity, support for fast wireless charging, support for reverse wireless charging, and also up to 30x digital zoom.

The OnePlus 8 series will run Android 10 out of the box and should come with a new version of OxygenOS. The phones are expected to cost a little more than their predecessors.

OnePlus is expected to launch a third phone too originally thought to be called the OnePlus 8 Lite. However, a new report says it may actually hit markets as the OnePlus Z. This makes sense considering the fact that there was a OnePlus X and a OnePlus Y will definitely be the butt of several jokes.

(Source)

Honor 9A announced with a large 5000mAh battery & Budget Pricing

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 30, 2020

While the Honor 30S was the highlight of the event today, the brand also announced the Honor 9A, a budget smartphone with a large battery. The phone comes with a simple design and a large 5000mAh battery which Honor claims is good for up to 3 days on a single charge.

The Honor 9A features a 6.3-inch waterdrop display with a 20:9 aspect ratio. The phone comes with the MT6765 Helio P35 chipset with dual SIM 4G support, VoLTE, EROFS file system and other features such as AI face unlock, rear fingerprint sensor, eReader mode, and WeChat and AliPay support.

The company didn’t go into the details of the specifications of the Honor 9A but focused on its battery capacity and reverse charging capability. The phone’s 5000mAh battery can reverse charge other devices at 5V1.2A. This large battery is good for 35 hours of video playback, 33 hours of 4G talk time, and 37 hours of FM radio playback. The phone also comes with a smart PA speaker system which is the company claims is loud.

The Honor 9A starts at 899 yuan (~$127) for the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant and goes up to 1199 yuan (~$169) for the 4GB RAM and 128GB storage model. There are three colors available at launch: Green, Blue, and Black.

Pre-sale kicks off today at 10 PM in China and the first online and offline sale is on April 7, the same day as the Kirin 820 equipped Honor 30S goes on sale.

Huawei router shipments cross 12 million units in 2019

By

Sean

-

Mar 30, 2020

In a recent press conference held by Huawei, the Chinese tech giant announced that its routers had crossed 12 million units in shipment in 2019 alone. The announcement was made by Zhi Hao, the President of Huawei’s Consumer business IoT product line.

According to the senior executive, the tech giant had achieved the 12 million unit shipment in 2019, with products priced over 200 Yuan (roughly 28 US Dollars) having the most dominant share. Notably, online sales accounted for this and 2019 as the sales up by 139 percent over 2019. This includes the company’s routers with the latest Wi-Fi 6 standards.

For those unaware, Wi-Fi 6 is the latest generation in the standards. One of the biggest improvements it has made is the introduction of 5G technology. In other words, it has two high and two low bandwidths (high bandwidth, high concurrency, low latency, low power consumption). This also translates to an overall faster networking speed support, with better and wider coverage over the previous generations.

As of right now, Huawei is one of the leading figures in Wi-Fi 6 routers and other AIoT products. 2019 saw the breakout of the technology while 2020 is already witnessing a more widespread commercial adoption. This means that 2020 may surpass even 2019 with its overall router sales figures, although thee recent coronavirus outbreak might have certain negative impacts on sales as well.

Huawei also used the press conference as a stage to talk about its new Wi-Fi 6+ technology. The new routers are based on a self developed custom chipset. It will also soon be found in Huawei smartphones, tablets, smart displays, and other terminals and routers as well. The new chipset is dubbed that Kirin W650 and takes advantage of the company’s end to end dynamic narrow bandwidth technology.

(Via)

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