Realme 5i goes on sale today in India; Realme Buds Air open sale begins

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Jan 15, 2020

The total number of patents granted by the United States to Chinese companies grew by a significant percentage in 2019. Thus, recording a notable growth among the prominent global economies.

According to the annual report released on Tuesday by IFI Claims, a New Havens-based patent firm, the US granted 34% additional patents to Chinese mainland companies last year. When you put this into perspective, the US granted 333,530 patents to Chinese mainland companies in 2019, a 15% increase from the previous year.

Among the hundred thousand patents filed, Chinese mainland companies filed for 16,900 patents, an increase from 12,599 back in 2018. Patents by US companies stood next in line at 15.95%, the second-fastest growth recorded this year. According to senior analyst Larry Cady of IFI Claims, Chinese companies have recorded the highest volume of patents filed in the past couple of years. The trend has primarily been in the technology sector where China has witnessed some major growth in the recent past.

Editor’s Pick: Huawei’s global 5G smartphone shipments exceeds 6.9 million units in 2019

According to the same survey, US companies hold nearly 49% of the patents granted last year, closely followed by Japan and South Korea. The recent growth spurt saw China climb by 5% to the 4th spot, pushing Germany down to 5th for the first time. Two Chinese conglomerates made it to the list of top 15 companies last year. While Huawei gained six positions to enter the top 10, BOE Technologies climbed up the charts to reach position 13.

According to Cady, the Chinese companies are hopeful of the United States lifting the ban on conducting business with US enterprises. Hence, recording the spurt in filing a patent. Another prominent name in the Top 10 list of companies is CRISPR technologies. It is known for creating hybrid plants, vehicle dashboards, medicinal preparations in the field of cancer treatment, and 3D printing.

Xiaomi patents two new smartphones with wrap-around surround displays

By

Airyl Jaszly

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Jan 15, 2020

Xiaomi has patented two new and fairly peculiar smartphone concepts in China. These two patents feature designs that are familiar to what we’ve seen from other companies before, but they’re also slightly different in their own way. These two concepts revolve around the idea of displays that only wrap around the device ala the Mi MIX Alpha, instead of folding like the Galaxy Fold and Mate X.

The first design shows a phone that reminds us of the Huawei Mate X, and it’s the more practical of the two patented devices. The display wraps around the side of the device, leaving it sized like a normal sized device. Unlike the Huawei Mate X however, the device doesn’t unfold, allowing the device to be more contained. The camera strip on the patent is much more subtle when compared to the Mate X’s. We actually saw earlier patents for this device recently, so it’s good to see that it’s making rounds.

The second patented device on the other hand is VASTLY more bizarre than the previous device. Instead of forming a wider display, this device features a much longer display that folds over the top of the device. There’s also a small chin at the bottom probably for the sensors, and what appears to be a triple camera setup integrated into display, like some super huge hole punch selfie camera.

It seems a bit more unconventional than the previous device, but if Xiaomi can find a reasonable way to make it more interesting than we’re all for it. While it’s fully possible neither one of these devices will ever fully materialize, it’s certainly interesting to discuss and imagine what they’d be like if they were real. It’s also quite nice to see that Xiaomi are taking a different direction from other companies.

(Source)

Huawei P40 Pro screen glass reveals notch-less quad-curved display

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Jan 15, 2020

The Huawei P40 series of flagship phones are expected to break cover in March. A screen protector leakv by leakster Teme that had surfaced yesterday had revealed that the upcoming Huawei P40 Pro will be equipped with a curved display. The same tipster has shared an image that compares the screen glass of the P40 Pro with the likes of the predecessor Huawei P30 Pro and the Honor Magic 2 slider phone.

The screen glasses for the P30 Pro (left), P40 Pro (middle) and Honor Magic 2 (right) can be seen in the below image. As it can be seen, the Huawei P30 Pro’s screen glass a cutout for its waterdrop notch screen. However, P40 Pro screen glass does not feature such a cutout. It is speculated that the P40 Pro will be sporting a punch-hole display design. Also, its screen will be curved on all four sides.

Editor’s Pick: Exclusive! Huawei P40 case renders leak to reveal the front and rear designs

In December, reputed tipster OnLeaks had shared the CAD renders of the Huawei P40 Pro. The renders had revealed that the corners of the phone where the display glass meets will have a unique design. The smartphone is expected to house a 6.5-inch OLED display and it is likely to support quad HD+ resolution. The display of the phone is rumored to offer a refresh rate of 120Hz, and it is expected to be equipped with an in-screen fingerprint reader. The device could be equipped with two front-facing cameras.

The Huawei P40 Pro is expected to feature as many as five cameras on its back. Tipster Teme has claimed that it could be equipped with a 52-megapixel 1/1.13” main lens that can churn out 13-megapixel images by using a quad-bayer filter. The sensor size is said to be 0.6micron which suggests that the 13-megapixel photos will have an effective large pixel size of 1.92micron. This tip contradicts previous claims that the Huawei P40 Pro would be a penta-lens setup that will include a Sony IMX686 64-megapixel lens, a 20-megapixel ultrawide lens, a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with 10x optical zoom, a macro camera and a 3D ToF (Time of Flight) sensor.

The Huawei P40 and P40 Pro will be powered by the Kirin 990 5G chipset. It could be housing a mammoth battery of 5,500mAh capacity. It is advisable to digest the specs leak of the P40 series with a grain of salt.

ColorOS 7 early adopters update arrives for Oppo R17 Pro and Find X series

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Jan 15, 2020

Last year in November, Oppo officially unveiled its ColorOS 7 custom user interface and the company has already started rolling out beta update of the same to some of its devices. Recently, the company released a schedule for early adopters beta update rollout for its smartphones in China.

While the Oppo R17 and R17 New Year Editions received the update on 13th January, the R17 Pro, R17 Pro New Year Edition and R17 King Custom Edition will be receiving the new update today.

Along with that, the company has announced that the Oppo Find X is also receiving the update. Do note that the early adopters update for the R17 Pro series and the Find X series is available for the first 2,000 users each.

To become a part of this program and receive the new beta update, you just need to go to Settings menu on your smartphone and head over to the “Software Update” section. There, click on the settings icon in the top-right corner and tap on “Upgrade Early Adopters”.

ColorOS 7 is based on Oppo’s Infinite Design concept that has its core philosophy in lightweight visuals for a clean and user-friendly interface. It brings additional privacy-related features such as the Personal Information Protection option that allows users to protect their personal data from third-party apps and software. To know more about ColorOS 7, including all the new features, click here.

(Via)

Huawei’s global 5G smartphone shipments exceeds 6.9 million units in 2019

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Jan 15, 2020

Chinese giant Huawei has today announced that by the end of December 2019, the company’s total worldwide 5G smartphone shipments have exceeded the mark of 6.9 million units.

In the year 2019, Huawei has launched a number of 5G smartphones, including Mate 30 5G series, Mate 20 X 5G, Mate X 5G, Nova 6 5G, Honor V30 series, among others. Do note that the number includes devices from Huawei as well as its sub-brand Honor.

As per the latest report from Master Lu, Huawei and Honor combined has a market share of 25.8 percent in terms of Android smartphones in China. Huawei is leading the market with 15.36 percent market share while Honor ranks second with 10.45 percent market share.

This is quite interesting that despite the overall decline in the Chinese mobile phone market, Huawei’s market share keeps on growing and the cumulative shipments in the first three quarters have exceeded 185 million units.

Recently, Huawei revealed that the company’s revenue topped 850 billion Chinese yuan (approximately $122 billion) this year, a new record high for the Chinese group, registering an 18 percent increase over the previous year.

It also added that the company has sold 240 million smartphones in the year 2019, a significant increase compared to 206 million units last year. This is impressive given that the company achieved such numbers even after getting banned in the United States.

Huawei’s smartphone business became its biggest revenue contributor in the first half of this year. The Chinese company is expected to remain ahead of Apple and behind South Korea’s Samsung Electronics in the global rankings of smartphone brands.

Exclusive: OnePlus 8 Pro screen protectors and renders corroborate punch-hole display design

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Jan 15, 2020

Soon after the launch of the OnePlus 7T series, reputed tipster had released the CAD renders of the OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus 8 smartphones. Later, he had also shared the CAD renders of the OnePlus 8 Lite handset. OnePlus is expected to unleash the OnePlus 8 series in Q2 this year. With few months remaining for the launch, the OnePlus 8 rumors are now gaining momentum. Recently, the purported OnePlus 8 Pro was spotted on Geekbench with keys specs. Today, GizmoChina brings the exclusive screen protectors designed for the OnePlus 8 Pro smartphone.

OnePlus 8 Pro screen protector — OnePlus 8 Pro flat screen protector

The two images shared in this post showcases the two screen protectors with different designs for the upcoming OnePlus 8 Pro smartphone. In the first image, a flat screen protector can be seen with a cutout at the top-left corner. This design corroborates with the punch-hole display design of the smartphone that was first revealed by OnLeaks. The screen protector shown in the second image has no cutout. Rather, it has a curved edge to edge screen protector.

Editor’s Pick: Exclusive! Huawei P40 case renders leak to reveal the front and rear designs

OnePlus 8 Pro specifications (Rumored)

Along with the CAD renders, OnLeaks had revealed that OnePlus 8 Pro will be equipped with a 6.65-inch OLED display. It could be the first smartphone from the company to arrive with support for 120Hz refresh rate along with quad HD+ resolution. The handset is said to have 165.3 x 74.4 x 8.8mm dimensions.

The OnePlus 8 Pro will continue to feature an in-screen fingerprint reader. The CAD renders of the smartphone had revealed it has a vertical triple camera system followed by a LED flash on the upper half of its rear shell. A fourth ToF (Time of Flight) image sensor seems to be present alongside the camera setup. The device lacks a 3.5mm audio jack. Features like power button, volume rocker, alert slider, redesigned speaker grille and USB-C are present on the edges of the device.

OnePlus 8 Pro renders — CAD render of OnePlus 8 Pro

It is speculated that the IN2023 model number belongs to the OnePlus 8 Pro smartphone. The same was spotted on Geekbench earlier this week. It revealed that the phone is powered by Snapdragon 865 mobile platform and 12 GB of RAM. The phone was found to be preinstalled with the new Android 10 OS. The OnePlus 8 Pro specs leak that had surfaced in December claimed that it features LPDDR5 RAM, up to 256 GB UFS 3.0 storage, a 32-megapixel front camera, and an OIS and EIE enabled quad camera system with a 64-megapixel Sony IMX686 main lens, a 20-megapixel ultrawide lens and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom support.

Realme Buds Air Neo could be the company’s next TWS earbuds

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Jan 15, 2020

Last month, in December, Realme unveiled its first true-wireless earbuds in the Indian market — Realme Buds Air for a price of ₹3,999 (approximately $56). Later, the company launched the same in China for 399 yuan (~$58).

Now, it seems that the company is working a new variant of the same TWS earbuds which could possibly come with more features and thus, a bit costlier price tag. From the teaser introducing Realme UI, it can be seen that the company’s next true wireless earbuds are named Realme Buds Air Neo.

Given that the Realme Buds Air are almost similar to the Apple AirPods and the company has blatantly copied Apple’s design, we expect the company to do the same with the Buds Air Neo and rip-off AirPods Pro to include high-end features like active noise cancellation.

The recently launched Buds Air from Realme comes with a battery life of 3 hours for continuous playback and up to 17 hours with the charging case. At a price point of ₹3,999, the device comes with several interesting features like the charing case which comes with support for wireless charging and has a Type-C port for wired charging.

You can check out our review of the Realme Buds Air here.

Honor MagicBook laptops and Vision TV to soon launch in India

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Jan 15, 2020

Honor already has its presence in the Indian market and yesterday, the company launched a few new products in the market, including Honor 9X smartphone, Honor Band 5i fitness tracker, Honor Magic Watch 2, and wireless earphones.

Now, the company is looking to further expand its product categories in India. In line with this, Honor is set to launch its laptops and smart TV in the Indian market by the end of this quarter, i.e. Q1 2020 or in early next quarter, i.e. Q2 2020.

During an interview at the sidelines of Honor 9X event, Charles Peng, President of Honor India, said: “We are bringing our laptops to India maybe at the end of the Q1 or by beginning of Q2. We are working with the HQ team to meet the demands of the Indian market. Maybe some of them would be the ones that are already launched in China and maybe some would be designed for the Indian market.”

While the company has confirmed that it will soon bring the Honor MagicBook laptops in the Indian market, which model will come first has not been disclosed yet. However, it has been revealed that initially, it will go on sale through online channel only.

In August last year, Honor launched its first smart TV in its home market, dubbed Honor Vision. The same TV set to introduced in the Indian market in October last year during the Indian Mobile Congress in New Delhi.

The highlight of the Honor Vision TV is that it is the first commercially available product to run on the company’s own custom operating system HarmonyOS. Now, the company has confirmed that it will be available for purchase in India and the timeline stated for the same is similar to the one for the Honor MagicBook laptops.

Charles Peng says that the company is currently working with content partners such as Hotstar and Netflix to bring relevant content on the Honor Vision right at the time of its official launch in India.

(Source)

Samsung Note 10 Lite tipped to go on sale in India mid-February; reservation goes live Jan. 21

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Jan 15, 2020

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 10 Lite alongside the Galaxy S10 Lite earlier this month. The company is yet to reveal when the models will launch in India but India blog 91mobiles credits industry sources to have disclosed that reservations for the smartphone will go live on retail and online stores across India from January 21.

The sources are also said to have disclosed that the device will be released in mid-February. This may likely be after the global launch of the Galaxy S20 series on February 11. Also, the Galaxy Note 10 Lite reservations will commence just a few days before the Galaxy S10 Lite’s India launch scheduled to take place on January 23. Pricing is expected to start at Rs 35,990 for the base variant.

As a reminder, the Galaxy Note 10 Lite sports a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Infinity-O display, slightly smaller than the Galaxy Note 10+’s 6.8-inch QHD+ display. The Note 10 Lite is powered by an Exynos 9810 SoC which was used on the Galaxy S9 from 2018. The device is available in 6GB/8GB RAM options and 128GB storage which is expandable up to 1TB via microSD card.

For photography, the Galaxy Note 10 Lite features a triple rear camera setup. At the front, the device packs a 32-megapixel f/2.2 sensor. The device equally comes equipped with an S-Pen which the Galaxy Note series is known for. While its S Pen does have Bluetooth Low-Energy support, it doesn’t have a 6-axis sensor, so you can’t do any of the cool gestures that you can with the Galaxy Note 10/10+’s S Pen. But Samsung did add the Text Export feature which allows users to transfer handwritten notes into text for quick sharing.

As for the interface, the Galaxy Note 10 Lite runs on Android 10-based One UI 2.0 out of the box. It also has features like Bixby, Samsung Pay, AR Emoji, and facial recognition. There’s a fingerprint sensor embedded in the display as well. Keeping the lights on is a massive 4500mAh battery which is even bigger than the Galaxy Note 10+’s 4,300mAh battery. The battery supports 25W super-fast wired charging.

The device comes in Aura Black, Aura Glow and Aura Red colours.

Samsung Galaxy S20+ hands-on video leak reveals juicy details

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Jan 15, 2020

Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy S20 series of flagship phones through an unveil event on Feb. 11. Recently, Max Weinbach of XDA Developers had shared the live photos of the upcoming Galaxy S20+ 5G smartphone. Through another leak, he also shared the key specs of the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G. A new report on the publication by Wienbach has the hands-on video of the Galaxy S20+ 5G handset. The report has also revealed key details of the smartphone.

Starting off with the display of the Galaxy S20+ (SM-G986U), it supports a max resolution of 1440 x 3220 pixels. It will offer a tall aspect ratio of 20:9. These details were through a benchmark test that was carried out on the phone. It did not reveal the exact size of the screen. However, it is speculated that the Galaxy S20+ will be equipped with a 6.7-inch display. The Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20 Ultra that are rumored to feature 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays are expected to support the same resolution and aspect ratio.

Some reports had claimed that Samsung will be replacing the ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint scanner with an optical in-display fingerprint reader. The report has debunked the rumor and claimed that the S20+ will have an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor. An optical in-screen fingerprint reader requires the scanning area to brightly light up. However, an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor does not such lighting. The same was observed on the S20+ through which it could be determined that it has an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint reader. There is no confirmation on whether the device features the latest 3D Sonic Max ultrasonic fingerprint reader by Qualcomm that can scan two fingers simultaneously.

The above shown screenshot reveals that the Galaxy S20+ has a toggle for 120Hz settings. The S20 series will be the first from the South Korean company to arrive with support for 120Hz refresh rate. The report claims that the 120Hz will be only available at full HD+ resolution (1080 x 2400 pixels). It is said that the display will automatically change to 60Hz if the user switches to WQHD+ resolution.

Editor’s Pick: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip bundled with a 15W charger bags China’s 3C certification

The Galaxy S20+ 5G hands-on video reveals that it has a curved Infinity-O display. The rear shell of the device has a rectangle-shaped camera system housing four lenses and an LED flash. The handset does not feature a 3.5mm audio jack. It will come with AKG USB-C earbuds. The retail package of the device has a 25W fast charger. The same earbuds and charger were made available with the Galaxy Note 10. The following image compares the S10+ with S20+. It reveals that the S20+ is bigger than the S10+. Moreover, the S20 Ultra 5G will be a larger device than the S20+.

The other details that were revealed through benchmark tests show that the Galaxy S20+ has 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and it is powered by Snapdragon 865 mobile platform. The device will come with 128 GB of native storage (could be UFS 3.0). It has a minimum rated battery of 4,370mAh which suggests that its typical capacity could be 4,500mAh. All the handsets in the S20 series will be equipped with eSIM support.

Microsoft finally pulls the plug on Windows 7; will no longer provide support

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Jan 15, 2020

Microsoft has officially announced that it is dropping support of Windows 7. This comes nearly 11 years after the extremely popular operating system was first launched in New York City. The OS came as a suitable fix for the failed Windows Vista which was released before it and indeed, it turned out to be a worthy replacement bringing on board a new taskbar, Aero window management, file libraries, and much more.

Windows 7 went on to amass so much popularity that even the Windows 8 found no place near it. Even the Windows 10 had to wait for nearly 4 years before it could surpass the market share of Windows 7. Available data from Netmarketshare shows that millions of PCs worldwide are still running Windows 7 with the operating system running on 26 percent of all PCs.

Microsoft even had to try to get people to upgrade to Windows 10 free of charge. While that might have helped Windows 10 gain prominence over 7, there are still tens of millions of PCs still running Windows 7. Those PCs will now be left vulnerable to exploits and security vulnerabilities. From today (Wednesday), a full-screen notification will appear for Windows 7 users warning that systems are now out of support.

Businesses and education Windows 7 users will be able to pay for extended security updates, but it could be a costly venture for some. Extended updates for Windows 7 Enterprise is approximately $25 per machine, and the cost doubles to $50 per device in 2021 and again to $100 in 2022. Windows 7 Pro users will be hit the hardest as extended security updates start at $50 per machine and will jump to $100 in 2021 and $200 in 2022. These costs will naturally vary depending on the volume of PCs in use at a business, but they’re still going to be substantial for larger firms. Windows 7 customers with active Windows 10 subscriptions will get a free year of post-retirement updates.

Honor 9X vs Redmi Note 8 vs Realme 5i: Specs Comparison

By

Michele Ingelido

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Jan 14, 2020

Today the Honor 9X officially debuted in the Indian market. A lot of months have passed since its official announcement, but finally one of the latest affordable smartphones from Huawei’s sub-brand is available to purchase in the Indian peninsula. But will it be nice enough to be a better choice than the competition? In order to establish that, we decided to compare it with two best-selling devices in the Indian market. We chose the best-selling Redmi Note 8 and the Realme 5i which is one of the main contributors to the huge Realme’s success in India.

Huawei Honor 9X vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 vs Oppo Realme 5i

	Oppo Realme 5i	Xiaomi Redmi Note 8	Huawei Honor 9X
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT	164.4 x 75.6 x 9.3 mm, 198 grams	158.3 x 75.3 x 8.4 mm, 190 grams	163.1 x 77.2 x 8.8 mm, 206 grams
DISPLAY	6.52 inches, 720 x 1600p (HD+), 269 ppi, IPS LCD	6.3 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 409 ppi, IPS LCD	6.59 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 391 ppi, LTPS IPS LCD
PROCESSOR	Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, octa-core 2 GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, octa-core 2 GHz	Huawei Hisilicon Kirin 710F, octa-core 2.27 GHz
MEMORY	3 GB RAM, 32 GB – 4 GB RAM, 64 GB – micro SD dedicated slot	4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD slot	4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD slot
SOFTWARE	Android 9 Pie, Color OS	Android 9 Pie, MIUI	Android 9 Pie, EMUI
CONNECTIVITY	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5, GPS
CAMERA	Quad 12 + 8 + 2 + 2 MP f/1.8, f/2.3, f/2.4 and f/2.4 8 MP f/2.0 front camera	Quad 48 + 8 + 2 + 2 MP f/1.8, f/2.2 and f/2.4 13 MP f/2.0 front camera	Triple 48 + 8 + 2 MP f/1.8 and f/2.4 16 MP f/2.2 front camera
BATTERY	5000 mAh, fast charging 10W	4000 mAh, fast charging 18W	4000 mAh, fast charging 10W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES	Dual SIM slot	Hybrid Dual SIM slot	Hybrid Dual SIM slot

Design

If there is an impressive feature on the Honor 9X, it is the design. Thanks to a pop-up front camera, it offers a full borderless experience without the need for a notch, like some of the most amazing flagship smartphones. Further, it has an almost completely clean glass back thanks to a compact camera module and a side-mounted fingerprint reader (China version only). And how not to mention the suggestive X-shaped light effects on the rear cover. It is not one of the most compact phones out there, but it is definitely beautiful.

Display

Honor 9X is superior even when it comes to the display. It has a better looking LTPS panel with a wider size and a Full HD+ resolution. Even the Redmi Note 8 has a nice display and you would not notice big differences between the Honor 9X and Redmi Note 8. Realme 5i is way inferior due to its lower definition: its IPS display has just an HD+ resolution and it is even a very wide display, so you should notice the difference without many difficulties.

Specs & Software

The most powerful hardware department belongs to the Redmi Note 8, at least in its most expensive memory configuration. The handset is fueled by the Snapdragon 665 chipset paired with up to 6 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB of internal storage. Realme 5i has exactly the same chipset, but it offers just 4 GB of RAM and just 64 GB of internal storage in its high-end version. The Kirin 710F chipset found on the Honor 9X is inferior to the Snapdragon 665, but the Honor 9X has a 6/128 GB variant, unlike the Realme 5i. Each device boasts Android 9 Pie out of the box.

Camera

Redmi Note 8 offers the most complete rear camera setup: it consists of a 48 MP quad camera including an ultrawide sensor, a dedicated macro camera, and a depth sensor. Right after we got the Honor 9X with a 48 MP triple camera which lacks the dedicated macro camera. With Realme 5i you get a quad camera again, but the main 12 MP sensor is inferior to the ones found on both the Honor 9X and Redmi Note 8, as well as the selfie camera.

Battery

Realme 5i is the king if we talk about battery life. Not only it features a bigger 5000 mAh battery, but it even comes with a more efficient display. Thanks to the HD+ resolution, the energy consumption is inferior to the Redmi Note 8 and Honor 9X, that is why the battery life is even longer than you might expect. Honor 9X and Redmi Note 8 have the same battery capacity, but Redmi Note 8 lasts slightly more in various scenarios.

Price

The price of Honor 9X in India is about $197, Redmi Note 8 costs about €127 and Realme 5i is priced €115. Redmi Note 8 looks like the most complete and well-balanced device with a great hardware department and nice cameras. Honor 9X has a better design, while Realme 5i offers the longest battery life.

Read More: Realme 5s with 48MP quad cameras, 5,000mAh battery and SD665 launched for Rs. 9,999 (~$139)

Huawei Honor 9X vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 vs Oppo Realme 5i: PROs and CONS

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8

PROs

Affordable price
Nice cameras
Good display
Faster charging

CONS

Nothing particular

Oppo Realme 5i

PROs

Huge battery
Affordable price
Splash resistant

CONS

HD display

Huawei Honor 9X

PROs

Nice display
Best design
Nice front camera
Affordable price

CONS

Just three rear cameras

LGE LM-K430IM appears on Geekbench; may launch as LG K43

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 14, 2020

The LG K-series may be getting a new model soon and it may launch as the LG K43. Yes, we know there is an LG K50 already but this should sit between the LG K40 and LG K50.

The phone was spotted on Geekbench today as the LGE LM-K430IM. The Geekbench result shows the device runs Android 10 out of the box which is good news as this phone might not get an OS upgrade for a while after it launches or if at all.

The LG K43 will come with a MediaTek MT6762 processor a.k.a. Helio P22 which is the same chipset that powers the LG K40, LG K50, and LG K50S. The processor is paired with 4GB of RAM which is more than that of the aforementioned devices.

With respect to design, we have no idea what the LG K43 will look like but its display may have a waterdrop or U-shaped notch. Coming to the rest of the specs, the phone may come with a bigger display, improved cameras, and a bigger battery capacity. However, these are just speculations.

LG announced the LG K40 shortly before MWC 2019, so we expect the LG K43 will be announced at about the same time this year or at MWC 2020.

(Source, Via)

Exclusive! Huawei P40 case renders leak to reveal the front and rear designs

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Jan 14, 2020

Huawei may likely launch the P40 series without Google apps pre-installed except the US lifts the trade embargo slammed on the Chinese tech giant anytime soon. The P40 is expected to be launched alongside the P40 Pro in March 2020. Even without any expectation of Google apps on board, the P40 series still elicits many interests and keeps the rumour mills buzzing consistently.

The latest leak coming our way is the TPU case renders for the Huawei P40. We recently saw the TPU case of the P40 Pro and that of the P40 had earlier popped up online but without the renders of the device. This time around, the renders of the device also featured alongside the casing giving us a view of what the P40 might look like.

The render shows Huawei P40 will have a single punch-hole selfie camera nested at the top right corner of the display. This is no surprise as the punch-hole design seems to be gathering momentum. The device will adopt a similar quad-camera setup housed in a rectangular module just like the P40 Pro.

The Huawei P40’s screen is put at between 6.1-inch and 6.2-inch and should, of course, be an AMOLED display panel. The device is also shown to have a USB-C port and we expect fast charging technology on the P40 models.

Realme 6i gets certified by Singapore’s IMDA

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 14, 2020

It has just been a week since the launch of the Realme 5i and now its successor, the Realme 6i has been spotted at Singapore’s IMDA (Infocomm Media Development Authority).

We do not know when the phone was certified but the certification reveals the model number is RMX2040. Seeing as the Realme 5i is a redesigned Realme 5 with downgraded cameras, the Realme 6i should toe the same path of having some trade-offs when compared to the Realme 6 which is yet to launch.

The Realme 5 launched in August last year but seeing as the timeframe between phones is now shorter, the Realme 6 may arrive sooner than later.

Realme has quite a number of products coming soon. India’s BIS recently certified a Realme watch which is expected to be its first fitness tracker. The Realme C3 and Realme C3s have also received certification in Singapore and Thailand respectively. Realme has also said it plans to launch a TV this year and will also announce a number of IoT products too.

We are still in the second week of the year, so there is still a bit of waiting to do before several of these products are announced.

(Source, Via)

Sonos sues Google; alleges theft of smart speaker technology

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Jan 14, 2020

California-based American consumer electronics company Sonos has filed two separate lawsuits against Google before two US federal courts for allegedly copying its wireless speaker design. The company is seeking to get the International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban Google products like laptops, phones, and speakers.

Sonos sues Google alleging theft of smart speaker technology.

According to a report first carried by The New York Times, Sonos filed two lawsuits covering five patents against Google, claiming that “Google stole its multi-room speaker technology after getting access to it through a 2013 partnership”. In 2013, Sonos thought it had secured a record deal when Google agreed to design its Google Play Music service to work easily with Sonos’s home speakers. For the project, Sonos handed over the effective blueprints to its speakers. Sonos executives hinted that the deal felt like a harmless move, especially as Google was just an internet company then and didn’t make speakers.

According to the lawsuit, Google reportedly used patented technology in its now-discontinued Chromecast Audio device but used it in the Google Home lineup of smart speakers and the Pixel phones.

Google said in a statement to The Verge that “Google’s technology was developed independently by Google – it was not copied from Sonos. We dispute these claims and will defend them vigorously”.

Sonos, the maker of high-end wireless speakers, also claimed that Google “subsidized its own products to sell them at a cheaper price while using them to extract more data from buyers”.

Patrick Spence, Sonos CEO said that “Google is an important partner with whom we have collaborated successfully for years, including bringing the Google Assistant to the Sonos platform last year. However, Google has been blatantly and knowingly copying our patented technology in creating its audio products.” Sonos disclosed that it started warning Google about patent infringement since 2016, shortly after the first Google Home launched. But all warnings fell on deaf ears.

Sonos also claimed that Amazon too violated its patents with the Echo device family, but has decided to make its case “one by one”.

It will be interesting to see how this lays out in court as the outcome with heavily influence the budding smart speaker industry.

Huawei P30 Lite New Edition with Google apps, 6GB RAM, 256GB storage launched

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Jan 14, 2020

Huawei is still encumbered by the trade sanctions imposed by the US which has ensured that it is unable to launch new models with Google apps onboard. As a makeshift solution, the company is refreshing its 2019 lineup. To this effect, the Huawei P30 Lite New Edition has just been silently launched and it features Google apps!

The new edition P30 Lite is a slight refresh of the P30 Lite which was first launched in early 2019. Design-wise, this new edition is entirely similar to the P30 Lite 2019 and even comes in the same colors: Midnight Black, Pearl White, Peacock Blue, and Breathing Crystal. The major differences between this New Edition and the old model are the RAM and internal storage configurations. Previously, the base variant of the P30 Lite had just 4GB of RAM, but the New Edition comes with 6GB. Likewise, the internal storage also got bumped up to 256GB from 128GB which was on both memory versions of the original P30 Lite.

Aside from these few differences, the new edition is similar to the original P30 Lite. As a reminder, the Huawei P30 Lite features a 6.15-inch IPS LCD display with a waterdrop notch and full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2312 pixels. It is powered by a Hisilicon Kirin 710 SoC. There is a shared SIM slot on the device for adding a microSD card.

For photography, the P30 Lite packs a triple camera setup made up of a 24-megapixel selfie camera and a 48-megapixel + 8-megapixel (ultrawide) + 2-megapixel (depth) triple rear cameras. The device packs a 3,340mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. It has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

The Huawei P30 Lite New Edition will be available in the United Kingdom starting on January 15, 2020. It comes with a price tag of £299 (~$389). We expect Huawei to release the device in other markets soon.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip bundled with a 15W charger bags China’s 3C certification

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Jan 14, 2020

Samsung is expected to officially unveil its second foldable smartphone in the first quarter of the year. The device was thought to go by the moniker Galaxy Fold Bloom but only recently, it was uncovered that the device will go by the name Galaxy Z Flip. The Galaxy Z Flip has now been certified by China’s 3C.

The device from this certification bears the SM-F700 model number which matches previous certification exploits. The certification covers the charger and it reveals the device will present with a 15W fast charger inside the box.

The Galaxy Z Flip should present with a clamshell design and mock-up photos of the device have already appeared online, thanks to LetsGoDigital. We don’t expect the design style to be too different. However, the Galaxy Z Flip will not feature the latest and greatest internal components. The device is believed to ship with last year’s Snapdragon 855 at the helm alongside a dual-camera setup on the outside and a 10MP selfie cam.

The most spectacular feature that has been leaked so far is undoubtedly the Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG) construction on the display. This will make the Z-Flip the first device on the market to do so. That’s all the details is in the open at the moment.

Samsung is hosting its Unpacked event on February 11 where we’ll see the reveals of the new S20 lineup as well as the Galaxy Z Flip.