Xiaomi‘s ecological chain company Huami held a launch event at CES 2020 and perhaps, the most outstanding product that was announced was the Amazfit T-Rex smartwatch which was dubbed by the media as the Casio G-Shock of smartwatches. That is because the T-Rex presents with a rugged design that bears semblance with Casio’s popular G-Shock watch. We have now got a couple of hands-on pictures of the smartwatch courtesy of Giztop.
The Amazfit T-Rex fits perfectly into its own class, that is a rugged smartwatch equipped with all the features you’ll find in a regular smartwatch. Even the watch faces reflect the outlook of a mechanical watch. The watch has the MIL-STD-810G military-grade build and can withstand extreme heat and cold. The heat resistance is up to 70℃ while it can stick up in severely cold weather condition of up to -40℃.
Further, the watch is resistant against corrosion, moisture and has a durable body. The T-Rex is touted to have passed a 240-hour damp heat test and 96-hour acid-alkali test.
As a reminder, the Amazfit T-Rex packs a 1.3-inch AMOLED screen with an “always on display” function and resolution of 360 x 360 pixels. The display is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top.
Features onboard include an optical heart rate monitor (PPG), 3-Axis Acceleration Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, and Ambient Light Sensor. For connectivity, it comes with Bluetooth 5.0 LE and GPS + GLONASS and is compatible with Android 5.0 devices or later and iOS 10.0 or later.
The smartwatch features 14 sports modes, has 5ATM water-resistant design, is equipped with BioTracker PPG optical sensor for all-day heart rate monitoring and provides rapid heart rate alerts. The device is powered by a 390mAh battery which Huami claims to offer up to 20 days of battery life on a single charge.
The Amazfit T-Rex comes in five colour options — Black, Ash, Camouflage, Green, and Khakhi. As for the availability, the Black version (Chinese and Global versions) is available to buy from Giztop for just $139.99. The Chinese version is expected to ship before January 15 while the Global version will ship before mid-February.
Google is known for its free and open-source products and services. The search giant has a never-ending list of services that are used by users globally in order to get information, manage businesses, and host personal content. Similarly, Google Calendar helps users to manage their time, schedule tasks, and remember things with reminders. There are various benefits of using the Google calendar as the sole schedule maker for your day-to-day tasks. However, some privacy concerned users are looking for alternatives to Google Calendar.
Google Calendar offers seamless sync of reminders, scheduled tasks, and other details across various devices. The user only needs to sign-in the Google account to get access to all the information on another device. Moreover, it supports voice commands over Google Assistant-powered devices like Google Nest, Nest Mini, and others. On the other hand, there are some privacy concerns, along with some other issues that are making users move towards alternatives.
We have concluded a list of some best Google Calendar alternatives below.
List of best Google Calendar Alternatives
Simple Calendar
Price: Free – $1.19
It is an open-source calendar app offering highly customizable features with a simple yet beautiful interface. The app is ad-free and does not need unnecessary permissions. It is the product of Simple Mobile Tools, which is known for its competitive open-source tools that stand neck-to-neck with the professional tools from Google and Microsoft.
Simple Calendar carries all the necessary features without any advertisements and annoying popups. The privacy, security, and stability of the app is ensured by the fact that it does not need internet access. It supports 29 languages, export, and import events utility via .ics files, multiple event reminders, handy snooze option, and much more.
The users can quickly switch between daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly views for easy accessibility. The flexible event creation is possible with the support for powerful repetition rules, and reminders. Simple Calendar offers customizable themes and also carries widgets for better integration. Users can flawlessly sync events from other apps like Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Exchange, etc. There’s also support for location via Google Maps, proper notification channels, customizable reminders, and more.
Simple Calendar Pro version is also available at a negligible cost $1.19.
TimeTree is a shared calendar platform, with over 18 million users globally. It’s is awarded as the Best App of 2015 on Apple’s App Store. The main feature of teh TimeTree is its shared calendar feature that allows multiple users to access and maintain the same calendar. It has the flexibility to remind every user within the group for reminders. The roles such as admin, members can be assigned to users for better maintenance.
The user can form different groups and can add members of his/her choice. This feature is quite helpful while sharing Calendars with family, friends, and the workplace.
TimeTree can also be used to jot down notes and then share it with the users, groups. The Shared Notes feature is quite useful in planning events, organizing to-do lists, and creating small notes.
TIMETree includes all the Multinational Holidays of 13 countries and 13 languages. It offers heavy dynamicity for the users residing in different countries. It helps organize events, manage work, and becoming more productive. The app supports Widget and also works on PC, iOS, and Android smartphones. The calendars can be easily shared with anyone via any social media platform.
It is regarded as the best calendar app for Android by several renowned media houses. Digi Calendar Agenda is the most flexible and customizable calendars. Its clean and elegant User Interface makes scheduling quick and easy.
It easily sync with major apps such as Google Calendar, Outlook, and Exchange. Digi Calendar Agenda app offers great accessibility within the app with seven intuitive views, including day, week, agenda, month, next month, list, and year. The users can also use six different widgets for viewing the schedule at a glance.
Digi Calendar supports more than 560K+ public holidays, sports, and TV schedules. Planning something for travelling or hosting a party in your backyard? Then the app will make you aware of the Weather conditions of that particular day. It can give you an accurate weather display, including metrics like temperature, humidity, precipitation, pressure, cloud, wind, and sunrise.
There’s support for 42 different colors for better organizing along with a built-in location search. Other features include, Notifications maps navigation support, local calendar without sync, combines date and time picker, Invitation management, even image matching, etc.
The app is available for free on the Play Store with in-app purchases.
Jorte App is known for its ability to customize. The app can be tweaked not only based on appearance but also on its functionality. The users can select different types of events apart from color and font customization. It is a single app for writing notes, planning, and setting reminders and events.
Jorte is downloaded more than 30 million times and is termed as the most popular organizer app. Major publications have termed it as one of the best apps offering competitive calendar and event organizing features.
It can sync with Microsoft Office 365 and Evernote. It even supports a countdown feature to calculate the remaining days to an event. Jorte helps in writing down notes. It also offers cross-platform sync via Jorte Cloud. Other features include different widgets, multiple calendar views, sync with Google calendar, and Cloud.
Jorte also offers some premium features, including Weather Forecast, Jorte Store for icons and themes, and others.
It is the sequel of Business Calendar from Appgenix Software. It is a popular personal organizer with support for calendar, schedule planner, and task organizer within a single app. Business calendar 2 supports six different calendar views of the month, week, day, agenda, year, and tasks. There are a flexible daily and weekly planner with adjustable 1-14 days.
Business calendar 2 supports sync with Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Exchange, and other popular services. The beautiful yet intuitive user interface eases the navigation between different views. There’s also an inbuilt appointment scheduler with drag and drop events feature. It provides hassle-free event details with convenient dialogs.
Support for status bar reminders and popup notification makes you never miss any event. Seven different native widgets are available for easy accessibility features. Along with online sync option with various services, the users can also use it locally without any internet connection.
It has inbuilt event management tools, including invitee management, heat map in a year view, live search, sharing, and initiations management. There are over 600+ emoticons support to make the calendar look for expressive. Business Calendar 2 Pro version offers several useful features without advertisements.
It is a convenient and flexible iOS app that can sync across your Mac calendar. It can easily take control of your events, reminders, and essential meetings by syncing across your iOS device. Fantastical 2 is an award-winning calendar app with several powerful features and an intuitive user interface.
It can sync across different calendar services such as iCloud, Google Calendar, Exchange, and more. Fantastical 2 supports English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish languages. It can show event details along with the map for actual locations. The background app allows events, reminders, and alerts notifications, even if the app is not opened for a while.
Fantastical 2 features significant new parser features. Along with reminders, the app also supports geofencing for some automation. The users can add URLs and locations to events, search within the calendar, and integrate other calendar services. Simple voice commands allow you to add calendar events.
It is available on iOS and Mac for $1.99 and $24.99.
These are some best alternatives for Google Calendar. Each app mentioned above hosts different features and have their own merits and demerits. If you have any popular recommendations, then let us know via the comments below.
Earlier today (10th January 2020), a business conference was held in Beijing by the Xiaomi Group. In the event, a notable announcement regarding the Mi Mix Alpha was made public, that the device is currently ready for mass production
The event saw the appearance of the Chinese company’s research and development team for smartphones (the ones behind the surround screen technology in the Mi Mix Alpha), who won Xiaomi’s Annual Technology Award for 2019. And in an interview, Cui Baoqiu, chairman of Xiaomi’s technical committee and Han Haicai, the architect behind the surround sound screen research and development team brought up the topic regarding the production of Mi Mix Alpha.
Xiaomi’s Mi Mix Alpha with a surround screen display that covers a majority of the smartphone’s body
According to the senior officials, the smartphone has not been mass produced yet, with no plans of doing so being on the table. However, they stated that Xiaomi is currently at the capacity where it can start the mass production of the handset.
It has further been revealed that the Mi Mix Alpha was developed after Lei Jun (Co-Founder and CEO) decided on the need for a unique and innovative smartphone. Additionally, the device was also made to break the repetitive cycle of similar types of smartphones that are currently in circulation.
Xiaomi had initially announced the Mi Mix Alpha back on 24th September 2019, which has garnered a lot of attention ever since. One of its unique selling points was definitely its unique surround screen technology, that had the display cover a vast majority of the smartphone’s body. From what we know so far, it is a concept handset that will likely not see mass production like Xiaomi’s other flagships and would only be released in limited numbers.
Although the interview confirmed that the company can technically start mass production, Xiaomi needs to first coordinate with the local Chinese Government and other smartphone-related departments before selling the product on a large scale. As of right now, the Mi Mix Alpha stands as a testimony to Xiaomi’s innovative creations and technological developments, according to Cui Baoqiu.
“The best camera is the one you carry with you”. This is one of the biggest truths in photography. Especially nowadays that smartphone cameras have improved so much that the average eye wouldn’t be able to distinguish a photo shot on a smartphone from one shot on a DSLR camera. And since all of us carry our smartphone every day, this is the best camera.
But there are some obstacles that prevent a user from shooting the best photo he can with the greater of all being an unstable hand. Just Mobile managed to solve this problem with its original ShutterGrip™ a year ago and now they are ready to release ShutterGrip 2 with a brand new finish and more flexible ways of controlling your camera in your pocket.
The design goal of ShutterGrip 2 is to re-create the comfort and control of a traditional DSLR camera. Starting from the palm grip, to the optimally positioned shutter release button, the final creation is a palm grip that is comfortable to operate with one hand, and a secured camera that is always ready by your side.
And there’s no need for a proprietary app, just Bluetooth pairing is enough and you are good to go no matter if you own an Android or iOS device.
It is able to support both landscape and portrait grips. When taking landscape videos, just place the ShutterGrip 2 in the middle of the phone and flip the palm grip down. Besides that, there are several other uses of the accessory that you can see on Kickstarter crowdfunding platform. Go ahead and visit the campaign and catch an Early Bird offer now.
Update: TENAA has published the full specs of the Gionee Steel 5. It confirms the resolution is 1520 x 720. Other new details have been added to the post.
Gionee has announced a new smartphone called Gionee Steel 5. The last Steel series phone from the company was the Gionee Steel 3, released back in 2017. The smartphone sports a trendy waterdrop notch display screen. The company claims that the Steel 5 has a tough and stylish design. Also, it features a square-shaped camera system for its dual-camera setup.
Gionee Steel 5 specifications and features
The Gionee Steel 5 has a 6.217-inch IPS LCD display with a waterdrop notch. The screen has an HD+ resolution of 1520 x 720 pixels.
The back panel of the phone has a square-pattern camera housing that includes two camera sensors and a pair of LED flash. It comprises of the main camera of 12-megapixel and a secondary shooter of 2-megapixel that are coupled with Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) technology. The device is fitted with a 13-megapixel camera on the front for capturing selfie shots.
The Gionee Steel 5 is backed with a 5,000mAh battery that is coupled with an intelligent power management system. The smartphone supports 5V/2A charging. The phone comes in three memory options – 3GB, 4 GB, and 6 GB RAM with 64GB or 128 GB of expandable storage. The company did not reveal the name of the processor that powers the smartphone but it is an octa-core chipset with four cores clocked at 2.0GHz and the other four cores clocked at 1.5GHz. The Android 9 Pie OS customized with the company’s Amigo OS skin runs on the device. It does not seem to feature a fingerprint scanner. The handset measures 159.7 x 75.9 x 9.9mm.
There is no word on the availability of the Gionee Steel 5. It is good to see the brand trying to resurrect by announcing its first phone of 2020 at the beginning of the year. Hopefully, the company will be unveiling more phones this year.
It’s been a while since we heard news from Elephone regarding a new device launch but it seems that work is in progress as they silently launched a new mid-range flagship on their Official Store on Aliexpress. We are talking about the Elephone U3H and it features great specs and an even greater price tag.
The Elephone U3H sports a 6.53″ FHD+ display with hole-punch 24MP selfie camera and is powered by the Helio P70 SoC backed by 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage! The rear camera is a dual setup consisting of a 48MP main sensor and a 5MP secondary one while the phone also supports NFC as well as Wireless Charging. During the presale period that is already running, you can get it at just $229.99!
In the meantime, there is a U3H Giveaway activity ongoing on Elephone’s Facebook page and you can join here for a chance to win the Elephone U3H for free.
TCL and Juhua have just showcased a 31 inch rollable OLED TV prototype. It is being touted as the world’s first to be made with an inkjet technology and combines TFT with an OLED display.
Interestingly, the inclusion of two different technologies gives it the advantage of having quantum dots from the OLED with the backplane of TFT screens. This allows the prototype unit to output 200 nits of brightness which cover 90 percent of the DCI P3 color space.
The Rollable OLED TV Prototype from TCL and Juhua
The rollable OLED TV prototype was developed by the National Printing and Flexible Display Innovation Center with Guangdong Juhua’s printing display technology and TCL (through CSOT, a Chinese panel manufacturer). In simpler terms, the printed OLED display is a new breed of such display and the prototype made in collaboration is the first of its kind.
In comparison to traditional displays with conventional evaporation technology, the new type of display brings a wide range of advantages. These include, not requiring FMM (fine metal mask), simple device structure, high material utilization and support for large sizes.
The base of the prototype where the screen rolls and hides into
Most importantly, the main advantage of such types of flexible displays are the low cost of development. As of right now, devices and technology related to flexible displays are relatively expensive. Thus, the newer method can lead to a positive development in the future due to its economic value.
Notably, the prototype rollable TV from TCL and Juhua also bears significant resemblance to LG’s rollable 4K OLED TV.
Lenovo, a known electronics brand, hasn’t been the most successful company in the smartphone market in recent years. However, the same does not apply to its business operations as a whole. Reportedly, the company holds upwards of 40 percent share in the PC market in China.
Liu Jun, Executive Vice President and President of Lenovo China group, stated in an interview that 40 percent of the Chinese PC market share is held by Lenovo. The sizable figures are for the fiscal year of 2019 and the company’s PC operations in China generate revenue exceeding 10 billion US Dollars.
Lenovo’s upcoming foldable laptop, the ThinkPad X1 Fold
More than half of Lenovo’s Chinese PC market from younger target audiences and students. Thus, the company is always innovating on different ways to developed customized products according to the youth generation’s preferences with market strategies and technology reflecting the same, according to Liu Jun.
The senior executive also shared two words regarding the future prospects of Lenovo in China, namely “Acceleration” and “Ecology.” The former stands for continued growth in advancements and expansion, while the latter stands for shattering internal and external boundaries to achieve “open integration and cooperation.”
Lenovo laptop with 5G networking capabilities
This is indicative of Lenovo planning to defend its strong position from its competitors, expand and diversify to gain an advantage. Similar to smartphones, the PC market is also highly volatile and dependent on technological breakthroughs. Hence, we can expect to see some notable advancements this year from the industry.
Recent reports have revealed that South Korea will be soon receiving the Galaxy Tab S6 5G as the world’s first 5G ready tablet. It is expected to go official in the first quarter of 2020. The arrival of tablet is nearing as it was recently spotted at the database of Android Enterprise. Recently, the tablet was spotted with specifications sheet in South Korea. The new leak reveals that the Galaxy Tab S6 5G will be just a 5G version of the Galaxy Tab S6 that had gone official last year.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 5G live image and specs
The image of the Galaxy Tab S6 5G shows that it resembles with 4G LTE edition. The attachable keyboard and S Pen stylus can be also seen in the image.
The specs of the Galaxy Tab S6 5G are also exact match with its 4G LTE variant. The specifications sheet shows that Tab S6 5G measures 244.5 x 159.5 x 5.7mm. It is equipped with an sAMOLED display of 10.5 inches that offers WWQXGA resolution.
The flagship tablet draws power to perform from the Snapdragon 855 mobile platform which powered most of the Android flagship phones in 2019. The device is backed by a 7,040mAh capacity that offers 15 hours of video playback.
The chipset of the Tab S6 5G is coupled with 6 GB of RAM. When it comes to storage, the device powers an internal space of 64 GB and there is a dedicated storage expansion slot that supports up to 1 TB of microSD card. It is speculated that the device could be also available in 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage version.
The tablet has a front camera of 8-megapixel. The rear side of the device is fitted with a dual camera setup that has a main wide-angle lens of 13-megapixel which is coupled with a 5-megaipxel ultra-wide shooter. It is expected to run on One UI 2.0 based Android 10 OS. The specs sheet states that it will be available in Mountain Gray color.
The rumor mil is yet to reveal the pricing of the Galaxy Tab S6 5G. Hopefully, the tablet would be made available in other countries that carry support for 5G network.
In July last year, Xiaomi-backed gaming smartphone maker Black Shark launched its Black Shark 2 Pro smartphone which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus SoC. The phone was launched in two memory variants — 12GB + 128GB and 12GB + 256GB.
Today, the company has launched a new variant of the Black Shark 2 Pro (Full Specs) smartphone in the Chinese market, making it the first one to come with 8GB RAM. Yes, the new variant of the phone comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage.
The Black Shark 2 Pro 8GB + 128GB model is priced at 2,699 yuan which roughly converts to $390. However, the phone is up for pre-order in China costing 2,599 yuan (~$375) and will start shipping from 14th January.
Unlike other models, this 8GB RAM variant comes in only one color — Electron Black. For comparison, the 12GB + 128GB model costs ¥2999 (~$436) and the 12GB + 256GB model is priced at ¥3499 (~$504).
The main selling point of the Black Shark 2 Pro is its processor – the Snapdragon 855 Plus – which was announced recently. It has higher clock speeds (CPU and GPU) than the Snapdragon 855. Black Shark even bragged about the phone’s performance; sharing its AnTuTu score of 500,610 points at the launch.
It features a 6.39-inch Super AMOLED display with notch-less design and offers Full HD+ screen resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. The display offers features like DC dimming 2.0, DCI-P3 color gamut, 240Hz touch sampling rate and 34.7ms touch response speed.
The device also comes with an in-screen fingerprint reader. Coming to the camera department, is fitted with a dual camera setup that includes a Sony IMX586 48-megapixel primary lens with f/1.8 aperture and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom.
On the front side, there’s a 20-megapixel snapper for taking selfies and video calling. The Black Shark OS UI based on Android 9 Pie operating system runs on the Black Shark 2 Pro smartphone, which is packed with a 4,000mAh battery that supports 27W fast charging.
According to a new report, a bill has been introduced in a State in the US which seeks to ban the use of cell phones for anyone under the age of 21.
On Tuesday (7th January 2020), the State of Vermont introduced a bill by Democratic Senator, John Rodgers, which sought to prohibit cell phone usage by age. The Government official stated that people under the age of 21 “are not developmentally mature enough” to use mobile phones safely.
To supplement this bill, major harmful incidents like car crashes and cyber bullying among teens were brought up as the need for the proposed act; since cell phone is reportedly one of the leading reasons for teenage deaths in the US, while smartphones are most likely to be used by teenagers to engage in bullying and threatening activities and by its extension even suicides.
According to the bill, a person found to be in possession or using a cell phone will be fined by $1,000 and be punished with jail time up to a year if they are under 21 years of age. The bill also mentions maturity as a factor as people under 21 can not legally smoke cigarettes, consume alcohol or possess guns and wish to include smartphones within the same category.
Currently, no US state has passed a bill on the minimum age for cell phone ownership but has strict laws in place for smoking, drinking and firearms. Notably, John Rodgers admitted that he expects the bill not to pass but brought it up regardless to bring attention towards firearms in the country.
Xiaomi is expected to soon announce its Xiaomi Mi 10 series of flagship phones. Rumors have so far revealed that the lineup includes Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro smartphones. Xiaomi’s Product Manager Wang Teng Thomas shared a Weibo post and then seems to have deleted it quickly. A screenshot of the deleted Weibo post revealed that pricing and release date of the Mi 10 series.
In the Weibo post, Teng has suggested buyers to go for Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro or Redmi K30 smartphones if they needed a smartphone under the 3,500 Yuan (~$505) pricing. However, users who are looking for an expensive and premium phone can wait for the Chinese year to end.
The Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro 5G smartphone was introduced with a starting price of 3,699 Yuan (~$533). Hence, there is a possibility that the Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro phones could be priced between 3,500 Yuan (~$505) and 5,000 Yuan (~$721). As far the launch of the Mi 10 series is concerned, Xiaomi may announce it after the upcoming Spring Festival of China (after Jan. 25). Hence, it may debut earlier in February.
Past reports have revealed that the Xiaomi Mi 10 series will be equipped with an AMOLED display with punch-hole design. Known tipster and designer Benjamin Geskin has shared the render of the Xiaomi Mi 10 based on the rumors surrounding it. A leaked photo of the phone that had surfaced last week had revealed that it is equipped with a vertical quad camera setup.
Recent reports have claimed that the Mi 10 could be coming with a 90Hz refresh rate screen and it may feature 64-megapixel (Sony IMX686) + 20-megapixel (ultrawide) + 12-megapixel (telephoto) + 5-megapixel (depth) quad camera setup. The handset may house a 4,800mAh battery with 30W fast charging support.
On the other side, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro’s screen may deliver 120Hz refresh rate. It is rumored to be equipped with 100-megapixel (main) + 20-megapixel (ultrawide) + 12-megapixel (telephoto) + 5-megapixel (depth) quad camera system. It could be housing a smaller battery of 4,500mAh capacity that may carry support for 66W rapid charging. These phones are also rumored to be equipped with fast wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.
It took a whole decade for major smartphone manufacturers and internet companies to realize the ill-effects of white screens on users’ eyes. Several tech enthusiasts, content makers always keep stuck to the big white screens to develop new content and earn a decent living. The continuous exposure to white screens can make eyes dry and even cause some significant discomfort to the user. The tech giants are now working to provide a dark-mode for every service and product to save users’ eyes from harmful blue light,
Google is also working to bring a dark mode for all its products and services available either on Android, iOS, Web, or any other environment. The search giant has even added inbuilt support for the dark theme in Android 10. The users can switch to dark mode with a single global toggle. Gmail is another popular app that recently received the Dark Mode compatibility on Web, iOS, and Web environments. However, Gmail’s Dark Mode is compatible only with newer Android versions and devices. The users on old Android devices and versions need to follow our guide to enable it.
There are various advantages of using Dark Mode while working and surfing the internet for long periods.
Advantages of Dark Mode
Reduces Eye Strain – The primary motive of the dark-mode is to reduce the eye strain. It eliminates the harmful blue light from distracting white spaces on webpages. The dark mode is more useful during night time.
Improves Battery Efficiency – The devices using AMOLED displays also benefit Dark Mode as the pixels remain turned-off on the black colored areas. According to recent research, the AMOLED displays can save 63% power while using the dark mode.
Limits Image Distortion – The other means of reducing eye strain distorts the image by adding a filter layer. However, the dark mode mute colors that reduce strain on eyes and consumes less power.
The dark mode is not only used by Google, but several entertainment apps such as Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp also use it. The smartphone manufacturers like Xiaomi, Oppo, Samsung, Huawei have also embedded the support for dark mode on their own skins.
The users can follow the steps below to get the Gmail dark theme even on old Android versions using the Xposed Module. Google rolled out Gmail Dark Mode last year, but its usage is limited to Android 10 via the global toggle button. The users on Android 9 and versions before are still helpless.
We have got a way out to get the Gmail Dark Theme on old Android versions by using the Xposed Module called Gmail Dark theme Enabler. The users can install the module either via the Xposed or EdXposed module. However, in both cases, the device should be rooted.
Prerequisites
A Rooted Android smartphone with an Xposed framework or EdXposed module (unofficially version of the Xposed for newer Android version).
We hope you have successfully installed the Gmail Dark Theme Enabler Xposed module to get the Gmail Dark Theme on old Android devices. If you get any problem while installing the module, then just let us know via the comments below.
Apple Inc, the Cupertino based company known for the iPhone, has been accused by Masimo Corp. for stealing its technology. The claims are against the Apple Watch and its health monitoring systems.
Masimo is known for developing signal processing technology for health related monitors. Recently, the company and it’s subsidiary Cercacor Laboratories have claimed in a lawsuit that Apple stole secret trademark information. Reportedly, the popular smartphone maker approached as a business partner but then proceeded to hire key employees from Masimo. This includes Michael O’Reilly, the Vice President of Apple’s health technology department.
Apple Watch Series 4
Both health care related companies, Masimo and Cercacor, claimed that its non-invasive monitoring system which operated with light had been stolen by Apple. Apparently, the smartphone manufacturer used this technology to overcome performance issues with its Watch offerings. The US based OEM is being accused of multiple counts of infringement among 10 different patents.
Apple Watch’s blood oxygen monitoring system and heart rate detection through the light emitters have come under scrutiny. Masimo wishes to prevent any further usage of its patented inventions and wishes for orders that help achieve this. In the accusation, Apple Watch 4 and Watch 5 have been pointed out to be the main culprits.
Unfortunately, finer details and specifics regarding the accusation are still at large. Furthermore, the specified amount in damages faced by Masimo and Cercacor is also currently unknown. As of right now, no official announcement or statements have been made by Apple regarding the serious accusation. Notably, the company has been reached out for queries so stay tuned for more details that should arrive soon.
A couple of days ago, a post on Reddit’s Android forum alarmed everyone which claimed that Chinese spyware comes pre-installed on all Samsung phones. While the author acknowledged that the claim is sensational, but he claimed that it’s the truth.
The issue that the post claims is related to Samsung‘s Device Care application which comes pre-installed as a part of the company’s Android implementation that cannot be removed. The user who posted on Reddit discovered some strange traffic coming out of Device Care’s storage scanner, which looks for junk files that can be deleted to free up space.
That scanner was sending data back to Chinese domains — and because storage scanners generally need access to all of the files on your computer, the data could include almost anything. However, the immediate explanation in the post wasn’t entirely reassuring.
The scanner utility was made in collaboration with Qihoo 360 but it wasn’t clear which data was being sent back to Qihoo and why, which led the Redditor to tag it as spyware. However, Samsung says that the truth is less alarming than it appears.
The South Korean giant says the only data sent back to Qihoo is generic information needed to optimize storage, which generally includes naming OS version, phone model, and storage capacity, among other data.
It adds that Qihoo’s main contribution is a reference library for identifying junk files, but that library is stored locally in the utility, and the company never receives data that would allow it to identify a particular file on a user’s device.
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020, Samsung had yesterday demoed its 13.3-inch notebook prototype with sliding screen through a private meeting. Recent reports had claimed that the South Korean company may showcase its clamshell foldable phone on Friday at CES 2020. As expected, earlier today, it again held a private meeting to showcase the purported Galaxy Fold 2. The company confirmed that its upcoming clamshell foldable smartphone is called Galaxy Bloom.
According to a South Korean publication Aju News, Samsung had held the secret meeting at CES 2020 with partners and carriers. DJ Koh, Samsung Electronics CEO confirmed that the official name of its next foldable phone with clamshell design is Galaxy Bloom. A blurry image that was shot during the meeting has also surfaced shows the clamshell design of the phone along with its Galaxy Bloom name.
Koh said that the design of the Galaxy Bloom is inspired from French cosmetics brand Lancome’s compacts. So, the device will be reportedly aimed towards female audience who are in their 20s. Samsung had first showcased its design at the Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) 2019 in October last year. Since it is a clamshell device, it can be folded up and down around its horizontal axis. Checkout leaked shots of the phone from last month.
Unlike the original Samsung Galaxy Fold, the forthcomingGalaxy Bloom clamshell foldable phone won’t be featuring a plastic film over its display. Instead, the company will be making use of an ultra-thin glass (UTG) on the device. Also, it will be the first smartphone ever to arrive with support for 8K video recording. The Galaxy Bloom will be arriving in 4G and 5G flavors.
At the meet, it was also confirmed that the successor of the Galaxy S10 will be called Galaxy S20. The series will include the regular Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20 Plus and Galaxy S20 Ultra. The latter will be equipped with 100-megapixel camera. The camera of the S20 Ultra is codenamed as Hubble. It was named after the space telescope. All the phones in the S20 series will be equipped with support for 8K video shooting. By letting users shoot 8K content, the company can resolve the shortage of the 8K TV content since it expects the expansion the market for 8K TVs.
Samsung is expected to hold its Galaxy Unpacked 2020 event on Feb. 11. The South Korean tech giant is likely to unleash the Galaxy Bloom alongside the S20 series at the event.
A couple of months ago, in November last year, 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.
Now, the company has officially announced ColorOS 7 2020 Q1 Limited Early Adopter Plan with support for several smartphone models. The smartphone models in this early adopter plan include Oppo Reno, Reno Inspiration Edition, Reno 10x Zoom Edition , Reno Barcelona Custom Edition, Reno Ace, Reno Ace Gundam Edition, and Reno 2.
Additionally, the company has confirmed that the limited edition will be available from 13th January for Oppo R17 and R17 New Year Editions while Reno R17 Pro, R17 Pro New Year Edition and R17 King Custom Edition will get it on 15th January.
Further, Oppo Find X, Find X Lamborghini Edition, Find X Super Flash Charge Edition, K5, and Reno Z are slated to start adopting the update in February whereas Reno 2Z will get the same in March this year.
The company is also expected to reveal a more detailed early adopters plan for the second quarter of this year, which could include smartphones like Oppo R15, R15 Dream Edition, K3, A9, A9x, and A11 series models.
Apart from the Oppo smartphones, it has been revealed that the Realme X and X Youth Edition will get the update in February this year; Realme Q in March and X2 and X2 Pro in April this year.
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.
Last year, Xiaomi launched its MIUI 11 custom user interface and now the Chinese brand has confirmed that the next-generation custom UI MIUI 12 is officially on its way. This is in line with the company’s pattern of unveiling the new version of its user interface in the beginning of the year.
Right now, apart from confirming MIUI 12, the company has not yet revealed anything related to the upcoming interface. Since Xiaomi has just confirmed this, it is too early to say what it could bring to the plate. However, we expect to get more information about this in the coming weeks.
MIUI has been one of the major offerings from Xiaomi, which was first released in 2010. Since then, the company has been continuously updating this custom operating system and it’s been around 444 weeks.
The upcoming MIUI 12, which will mark the 10th anniversary of the Xiaomi’s user interface, is expected to bring a refreshed interface along with some impressive features. It will be interesting to see what the company has planned to mark this milestone.
It was recently reported that with the MIUI 12, the company will introduce support for a global system-wide dark mode. This came from one of the developers of the company working on this upcoming product.
At a time when the company is releasing MIUI 11 stable to most Xiaomi and Redmi devices, it has started working on the new features for MIUI 12. Back in October, the company’s executive, Xu Jieyun, General Manager of Public Relations confirmed that Xiaomi has already started working on the new MIUI 12 OS.
The recently launched MIUI 11 is a big update for Xiaomi that changes up a lot of things for the popular custom operating system. Starting with the visual aspects, you get slightly softer icons, a system-wide dark mode, new Mi Lan Pro system font and improved always-on display functionality. There are also new animations, themes, wallpapers and improved notification system.
It also focuses on enhancing the audio experience with all-new dynamic natural sound effects and alarms. Xiaomi also announced the new Mi Go Travel suite which will help you with booking tickets for a broad range of transport ranging from airplane to rail and bus alongside currency conversion and an extreme power-saving mode.
The Huawei Mate 30 series of smartphones have been available for purchase in China since the past few months. Recently, the company also started selling the Mate 30 Pro 5G in its home market.
Now, the Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G isn’t limited to the Chinese market as the company has now launched the device in the UAE as well. The phone will be up for sale in the UAE from 15th January for a price of AED 3,899 (~$1,062).
Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G Vegan Leather Orange
The company has also revealed while the official sale begins from 15th January in the UAE, the device will be up for purchase from 23rd January through Huawei Experience Stores and select other retailers in the region.
Further, those who pre-order the smartphone, will get a bunch of freebies worth AED 1,829 (approximately $497), which includes a SuperCharge wireless car charger, a DJI Osmo Mobile 3 gimbal, and VIP services.
When launched in China, the company had announced two color variants for the device — Vegan Leather Orange and Vegan Leather Forest Green. It features a 6.53-inch OLED display that offers full HD+ resolution of 1176 x 2400 pixels, 18.5:9 aspect ratio, and Gorilla Glass 6 protection on top.
Under the hood, Kirin 990 5G chipset powers the smartphone and comes packed with up 12GB of LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 3.0 storage of up to 512GB. There is a nanoSD card slot (shared SIM slot) for expanding its storage.
The Leica-engineered quad-camera setup on the back includes an OIS assisted 40-megapixel main lens, an 8-megapixel telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom support, a 40-megapixel ultrawide shooter and a 3D ToF lens. The phone features a front-facing camera of 32-megapixel for taking selfies and video calling.
The smartphone is running EMUI 10 based Android 10 operating system and is powered by a 4,500mAh battery that supports 40W fast charging, 27W fast wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.
Vivo is expected to announce a new smartphone in China soon. The Vivo V1950A phone had recently bagged certifications from China’s MIIT and 3C. Yesterday, it was seen on TENAA with minimum specs. The TENAA listing of the Vivo V1950A has now been updated with its entire specifications. The specs of the Vivo V1950A are exact match with the Snapdragon 855+ powered Vivo NEX 3 5G phone from last year. The TENAA listing of the smartphone suggests that it could be the same phone driven by the new Snapdragon 865 mobile platform onboard.
Vivo V1950A specifications
The Vivo V1950A has 167.44 x 76.14 x 9.4mm dimensions and it weighs 219.5 grams. The phone sports a 6.89-inch AMOLED display that produces 1080 x 2256 pixels full HD+ resolution. The TENAA images of the phone are still unavailable, but it seems that it could be sporting a notch-less waterfall display with extremely curved edges. The display of the Vivo V1950A is integrated with a fingerprint sensor.
The Vivo V1950A handset is fueled by an octa-core processor that clocks at 2.84 GHz. The handset supports NA and SA dual-mode 5G networks. The official listing of Snapdragon 865 mobile platform on Qualcomm’s website states that it offers up to 2.84GHz clocking speeds. Moreover, it carries support dual-mode 5G networks. Hence, it is likely that the Vivo V1950A could be driven by the Snapdragon 865 SoC. The handset is equipped with 8 GB of RAM.
The Vivo V1950A is expected to hit the Chinese markets in 128 GB and 256 GB storage choices. The handset won’t be featuring a microSD card. For capturing selfies, the Vivo V1950A has a 16-megapixel front lens. The phone could be housing a motorized pop-up camera system for the front camera. On its rear is the triple camera setup that could be arranged in a round shaped module. It comprises of a 64-megapixel primary shooter and a pair of 13-megapixel lenses.
Some reports had claimed that the Vivo V1950A could be the upcoming iQOO 3 gaming smartphone. However, the TENAA listing suggests that the company could be gearing up to launch it as a new variant of the Vivo NEX 3 5G with SD865 onboard with support dual-mode 5G.
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