Advertisement

Realme fitness band may debut in 2020 first half; confirms Realme India CEO

Realme has expanded its portfolio beyond smartphones in 2019. The emerging tech prodigy currently offers a bunch of accessories including cables, chargers, portable battery packs, smartphone cases, backpack, and tote bag. The company recently launched a pair of wireless earbuds, including one with a neckband design, and a second truly wireless earbud, along with a conventional wired earphone. However, one of the major highlights of 2020 from the company is the upcoming Realme fitness band. CEO Madhav Sheth is quite clear about the company’s future course of action.

Sheth confirmed Realme is currently working on a fitness band and hinted at an early 2020 launch. This information came from Episode 13 of Ask Madhav, a monthly series where Realme fans submit their questions to the CEO, who answers them directly in a video. Madhav talks about the Realme fitness band at 1:37 during the episode and clarified “Realme might launch the device in the first half of 2020”.

Realme is closely following the heels of Chinese tech giant Xiaomi and is turning out to be one of its major rivals. The Realme fitness band will compete with the Xiaomi Band 4, along with a bunch of other products from Honor, Intex, Lenovo, and more. In short, Realme is keen on launching its range of IoT products and might look to expand its existing portfolio.

In a separate interview to an Indian publication, Sheth commented on Realme’s offline strategy, “We do not give our retailers a high percentage of mobile sales. In fact, we give one-fourth of what other manufacturers are paying. But we ensure that all our products reach retailers at the earliest so that they do not feel left out”. Realme plans to increase the number of offline stores to 35,000 by December 2020, up from the current 10,000 retailers. Sheth also confirmed that the company is working on a 108-megapixel smartphone. He wants Realme to evolve into a tech lifestyle brand by introducing lot of IoT products

 

 

 

OnePlus Concept One at CES 2020 could be a foldable phone

A few weeks ago, OnePlus teased a press event for early January at CES 2020 and we learned in reports that followed that it may be planning to launch a phone called the OnePlus Concept One. We had no idea what this concept device would look like, but recent reports indicate that the company might have something foldable up their sleeves this time.

According to The Korea Herald, market watchers (people who monitor stock markets) think that the Concept One is likely a smartphone with a foldable screen. Unfortunately, why they believe so was not explained and there has been no info about the Concept One so far; no design images or tech specs whatsoever. Considering how rampant leaks are these days, it’s actually quite surprising.

Having said that, we do believe that OnePlus will want to make a splash at the upcoming CES. There have been news of the OnePlus 8 Lite and 8 Pro lately, so it’s probably safe to think that those would be revealed at the event. As for whether the Concept One will be a foldable smartphone, we’ll just have to wait and see.

OnePlus has reached its sixth anniversary. It’s a huge milestone for the fledgling company, and the OnePlus Concept One is how the company plans to celebrate. Not much information has been shared, but we’re definitely hoping it’ll impress us. Perhaps it might even hit the heights if unique impressiveness that Xiaomi hit with the Mi MIX Alpha.

(Source)

Japan eases export restrictions on key industrial components to South Korea

According to a new report, Japan is easing its export-related restrictions of a few crucial smartphone components to South Korea. It arrives as a step towards a healthy relationship between the two nations. The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) has partially removed the export restriction on photoresists to some degree with more initiative to follow soon.

Japan
Samsung’s microLED technology that utilizes the components from Japan

Previously, the Japanese Government had imposed restrictions on three key industrial chemicals in South Korea; which occurs after a long standing deterioration of political and trade relations between the two countries. The restriction led companies like Samsung, LG, and SK Hynix to be at a loss with no viable alternative as Japan provides 70 to 90 percent of the global supply of the aforementioned chemicals.

From July 2019, Japanese companies had to obtain their home Government’s approval for individual exports when shipping fluorinated polyimides (a key component of LCDs and OLEDs panels), photoresists and high purity hydrogen fluoride (used in making DRAM and NAND memory chips). Thus, it made things difficult for Japan’s indigenous companies as well as foreign OEMs. Notably, the move is also quite similar to how American based companies had to be issued licenses to partner with blacklisted companies like Huawei.

Samsung LPDDR5 2019 DRAM
Samsung’s LPDDR5 2019 DRAM Chips

Now, it would seem that the trade tensions are declining and both sides might have arrived at a consensus. Political leaders from both nations had also met earlier this month to discuss the import/export relations. For now, only photoresists have been made available for “bulk” licensing that will supply three years worth of the component to Samsung, LG, and SK Hynix.

 

(Source)

Oclean X Pro Review: probably the world’s smartest toothbrush

Oclean X Pro

Oclean X Pro electric toothbrush has shown up on Xiaomi YOUPIN and Indiagogo, a Xiaomi official online shop. Thanks to the Xiaomi ecosystem, Xiaomi’s excellent supply chain partners are able to develop their own brand’s products but with the same Xiaomi quality, and, more importantly, sell the products on the YOUPIN Online shop. Oclean is absolutely one of them. The Oclean team has focused on tooth health and developed various models for years. Speaking of their latest model, the Oclean X Pro, it was claimed as not just an effective electric toothbrush but also the world’s smartest toothbrush. But how smart is it?

Design

From the appearance design of the Oclean X Pro, it’s easy to have some associations with products from Xiaomi universe, a kind of minimalistic design. In the cardboard box, users will have a toothbrush body with a brush head, a Micro USB small charging station with cable and user manuals in both Chinese and English. There’s one brush head included, so users can select a multi-pack combination or just reorder brush heads when they want to replace the brush head, which is not too expensive. And in some regions, Oclean Rewards Program supports users to trade in brushing points for free brush heads in their App. About the program users can find more information in the Oclean App.

The biggest innovation of the Oclean X Pro is that it equips a 0.95inch color touchscreen, which is rarely seen on previous toothbrush products. At first glance, it’s no surprise that the touchscreen is the most attractive detail of Oclean X Pro. More importantly, the touchscreen is not just a useless marketing technique but really brought great experience. For example, users can customize personal cleaning modes and brushing time through the touchscreen. In addition, it detects your brushing motion and generates instant reports on your brushing technique.

Features

The toothbrush surface is made of high-quality plastic with a matte finish. The solution here is brilliant: the slighter plastic body leads to weight reduction (weight<100g) and better hand feeling. To protect users’ oral cavity from brushing damage or discomfort, the Oclean X Pro adapted both hardware and software solutions. From hardware, special-designed antibacterial brush heads are customized to prevent bleeding from incorrect brushing; from software, the Oclean X Pro uses AI-Controlled Pressure sensitive Sonic technology to automatically adjust brushing strength. Meanwhile, to ensure users to have better knowledge about their own brushing, a built-in 6-axis gyroscope detects blind zone left during every brushing. Users can learn it on the display and improve their brushing skills.

The Oclean X Pro uses a new generation of maglev brushless motor to bring you a flagship efficient tooth cleaning experience. Its highest frequency is 40000 rpm, high vibration pendulum, can impact tooth stains at high speed, in addition, the maximum torque of the Oclean X Pro is 220gf. Cm, high output, can clean dental plaque vigorously.

IPX7 Waterproof body

The Oclean X Pro has level-IPX7 Dust&water-proofing certification, so there is no need to worry about watering.

Battery life & Charging

The small charging station can give the toothbrush a full-charge in 2 hours, and also be used as a wall mount to save space. The full-charged battery life in standby is 21 days, which is good enough as we consider the power consumed from the color display.

Oclean App

The Oclean X Pro supports Bluetooth connection, through which it can transmit users’ brushing data to the Oclean App, and help users get rid of incorrect brushing. With the Oclean App, you can check your personal brushing report, blind zone detection overview and family profiles, which is smart and practical in users’ family life. And if you are not going to use it with the App, there is no problem to access many cleaning modes through the button.

Conclusion

The Oclean X Pro is definitely one of those great daily-used products that would improve your life quality. Most people used to harm their oral cavities using a traditional toothbrush and then people started used electric toothbrushes to get a higher cleaning effect, but without a dentist, people are still having little knowledge about how to get the correct brushing. Our tester told us that the Oclean X Pro is a kind of smart toothbrush born to fix the problem.

 

To get your hands on the best-price Oclean X Pro, all you need to do is to follow this link without wasting time.

Indiegogo campaign: Oclean X Pro Smart Electric Toothbrush

Realme X50 5G smartphone confirmed to launch on January 7

Yesterday, we reported that Realme will be announcing the launch date of Realme X50 5G smartphone today and keeping its promise, the company has today officially confirmed that launch date of its first 5G smartphone.

Realme has today revealed that the company’s first 5G smartphone — Realme X50 5G, will go official in China on 7th January. The company’s CMO had previously teased the launch date but didn’t reveal it.

Realme X50 5G Launch Date Poster

While the launch date is confirmed today, the company has already shared most of the key features and specifications of this upcoming smartphone. In line with the company’s strategy, it has been teasing features of Realme X50 on Weibo since past couple of weeks.

The company has confirmed that the Realme X50 will come with dual punch-hole cameras like the Redmi K30 5G. It will support dual-channel Wi-Fi and 5G for online connectivity at the same time, which can smartly increase the network speed under all scenarios.

Realme has also revealed that the smartphone will cover all the mainstream frequency bands for 5G connectivity, including n1, n41, n78, n79 and will support both SA and NSA dual-mode networking with 5G.

The Chinese company has confirmed that the Realme X50 will come powered by the newly launched Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset. This is the same SoC that powers the Redmi K30 5G smartphone and will power the upcoming Oppo Reno3 Pro.

Recently, Realme had revealed that the phone uses 8mm ultra-large diameter liquid-cooled copper tube, 410 cubic millimeters of ultra-large volume and with the liquid-cooled copper tube heat dissipation 3.0, it offers five-dimensional ice-cooled heat dissipation which covers 100 percent of the core heat source.

The company has also shared a teaser poster that reveals that the Realme X50 5G smartphone will come with support for Enhanced VOOC 4.0 Flash Charge technology that can charge the device up to 70 percent in just 30 minutes.

realme-x50-5g

Rumors indicate that the phone will be equipped with a 6.44-inch AMOLED display. It could be coming with Sony IMX686 60-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-megapixel quad rear cameras and 32-megapixel + 8-megapixel dual front facing cameras.

The handset may come with up of 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. We expect Android 10-based custom ColorOS 7 running the smartphone. The company will also be launching Realme Buds Air TWS earbuds along with the X50 5G smartphone on 7th January at a launch event in China.

 

LG V60 ThinQ 5G and new 5G phone to debut at MWC 2020

In September, LG had launched the LG G8X ThinQ smartphone that had arrived with a Dual Screen accessory. A 5G variant of the same smartphone had debuted in South Korea as LG V50s ThinQ in October. Fresh information reveals that the company is gearing up to introduce new flagship phones at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020 in February. According to The Korea Herald, industry sources have revealed that LG will be announcing a new 5G flagship smartphone and LG V60 ThinQ 5G at the MWC 2020.

The LG V60 ThinQ will be a 5G enabled device that will arrive with a Dual Screen accessory. The V50 ThinQ’s second screen accessory came with “free stop hinge” technology that allowed users to stop and hold the second display at desired angle. The V60 ThinQ will be arriving with an upgraded folding technology for its Dual Screen accessory. An unnamed industry official stated that the LG plans to unveil V60 ThinQ as 2020’s first phone to expand is presence in the 5G market. He also said that the firm aims to increase its shipments in markets such as South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.

LG V50 ThinQ 5G
LG V50 ThinQ 5G

The report on the South Korean publication did not reveal the name of the new 5G-ready flagship phone that will be unleashed alongside the LG V60 ThinQ 5G. At the MWC 2019, the South Korean company had showcased the LG V50 ThinQ 5G with Dual Screen accessory and LG G8 ThinQ and G8s ThinQ phones. The G8 phones did not support 5G connectivity. Hence, there is a possibility that the company may announce the LG G9 ThinQ and LG G9s ThinQ with 5G capabilities along with the V60 ThinQ 5G. As of this writing, there is no confirmation on the specs of the LG G9 series and LG V60 ThinQ.

The V60 ThinQ could be driven by the Snapdragon 865 mobile platform that tags along the X55 5G modem for 5G connectivity. Last year’s LG G8 series came with a wider notch on their screens that include a selfie camera and a ToF (Time of Flight) 3D camera for Hand ID that scanned the veins in the palm of the user to unlock. It remains to be seen whether the LG G9 series also comes with Hand ID feature.

 

 

(source)

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau touts OnePlus 8 as the most beautiful flagship series

Soon after OnePlus launched its second flagship smartphone of the year — OnePlus 7T lineup, leaks and rumors about the company’s next year’s flagship smartphone — OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro started surfacing online.

Now, OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau revealed during a meeting that the company’s upcoming OnePlus 8 series smartphones getting launched next year will be the “most beautiful flagship of OnePlus.”

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau

As per the reports, the company is all set to launch three smartphones with its upcoming OnePlus 8 series, which will include the standard OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro as well as a toned OnePlus 8 Lite.

The upcoming flagship phones from the company will come powered by Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 865 chipset. OnePlus has already confirmed that all the devices from the company will now feature a higher refresh rate display. This means that the devices could with either 90Hz or 120Hz refresh rate and not the standard 60Hz.

Last month, an alleged product diagram of the OnePlus 8 Pro has been leaked online, which showcases the quad-camera setup on the smartphone’s back panel. It shows camera module that sits at the top-center position, with all the sensors aligned vertically. Along with the triple-camera setup we saw on the OnePlus 7T Pro, the company will be adding a ToF sensor as the fourth one.

On the front side, the company will be ditching the pop-up camera mechanism and will instead opt for the punch-hole design. From the leaked image, it look like OnePlus 8 will have a cut-out in the top-left corner of the display for a single camera sensor while the Pro variant will have two front-facing cameras.

Coming to the specifications, the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro are rumored to be equipped with 6.4-inch and 6.7-inch S-AMOLED E3 curved dual punch-hole display that supports 120Hz refresh rate. As for the resolution, the 8 Pro is expected to produce quad HD+ resolution of 1440 x 3140 pixels while 8 and 8 Lite will offer full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. The OnePlus 8 Lite may house a 6.4-inch S-AMOLED E2 display with 90Hz refresh rate. All three phones will sport an in-screen fingerprint reader.

OnePlus 8 Pro renders

The OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro is powered by Snapdragon 865 mobile platform and X55 5G modem that brings support for 5G connectivity. Both models are expected to come in 8/12 GB LPDDR5 RAM variants and USF 3.0 storage options such as 128/256 GB. On the other side, the OnePlus 8 Lite is expected to feature the Dimensity 1000 SoC, 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 3.0 storage of 128/256 GB.

The OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro may feature 32-megapixel (Sony IMX616 Iens) + 3D ToF dual camera system. The OnePlus 8 Lite may feature a front-facing camera of 16-megapixel (Sony IMX471) housed inside a single punch-hole on the screen.

The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Lite may come with a 4,000mAh batteries that support 30W fast charging while the Pro model may come with a larger 4,500mAh battery with 35W fast charging. The pricing for this series is expected to start at 2,999 yuan (~$428).

(Via)

Realme X2 Pro 6GB + 64GB price confirmed; Master Edition goes on sale in India

In November, Realme had held an unveil in India to launch the Realme X2 Pro flagship smartphone. It had debuted with a starting price of Rs. 29,999 (~$421) for the 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant. Now, the Chinese manufacturer has introduced a new base model for the smartphone in India. It comes with 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of native storage. The device is priced at Rs. 27,999 (~$393). At the Realme X2 Pro launch event, the company had claimed that the Realme X2 Pro Master Edition will go on in sale in December. Starting from today, Realme fans in India can purchase the specially designed Realme X2 Pro Master Edition.

Realme X2 Pro 6 GB + 64 GB and Master Edition Availability

Including the newly introduced base model, the Realme X2 Pro is available in three variants such as 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage, 8 GB RAM + 128 GB UFS 3.0 storage and 12 GB RAM + 256 GB UFS 3.0 storage. These models are respectively priced at Rs. 27,999 (~$393), Rs. 29,999 (~$421) and Rs. 33,999 (~$473).

In addition, Realme is also selling Realme X2 Pro Master Edition that is crafted by popular Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa. His laser-engrave signature is also available on the rear sides of the Red Brick and Concrete colour editions of the Realme X2 Pro Master Edition. The special edition comes with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of UFS 3.0 storage. It carries a price tag of Rs. 34,999 (~$491).

Realme-X2-Pro-Master-Edition
Realme X2 Pro Master Edition Red Brick and Concrete Color Editions

The Master Edition will be available for buying at 8:55 PM IST (local time) through Flipkart and Realme India’s official online store. The 6 GB + 64 GB storage Realme X2 Pro can be also availed from the aforementioned platforms. However, it its availability is not confirmed yet.

Realme X2 Pro Specifications

The glass-bodied Realme X2 Pro has a 6.5-inch S-AMOLED display with waterdrop notch. It supports full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels and 90Hz refresh rate. The display is embedded with in-screen fingerprint reader. The Snapdragon 855+ powers the device and it features a comprehensive heat dissipation system. The 4,000mAh battery can be fueled by 50W SuperVOOC Flash Charge technology.

Realme X2 Pro

The Realme X2 Pro has a 64-megapixel (Samsung GW1) + 8-megapixel (ultrawide) + 13-megapixel (telephoto) + 2-megapixel (portrait) quad camera system. The phone features a front-facing camera of 16-megapixel. The ColorOS 6.1 based Android 9 Pie OS. The device offers connectivity features such as dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band GPS, NFC, USB-C and 3.5mm audio jack. Neptune Blue and Lunar White are the two color editions of the Realme X2 Pro.

 

 

 

Microsoft’s Cortana app is going away from all countries except the U.S.

Last month, Microsoft announced that it is all set to pull the plug on its Cortana mobile application for both Android and iOS devices in several countries next year. The company confirmed that from January 31, 2020, Microsoft will no longer support the digital assistant app in some of the regions.

At that time, it was revealed that the Cortana mobile app will no longer support UK, Canada, Australia, China, Germany, India, Mexico and Spain. Now, in a recent interview, Andrew Shuman, who is leading the Cortana team, confirmed that the Cortana mobile app (as well as its integration in Microsoft’s Android launcher) was going away in all countries except for the U.S.

Cortana

Explaining why the app will still be functional in the United Sates, he said that it is used to configure Cortana and update the firmware on Surface Headphones, which debuted only in the United States.

This doesn’t make sense as the headphones are now on sale in other regions as well. After January 30, only Surface Headphones users in the U.S. will be able to keep using Cortana for Android and iOS. All other Surface Headphones owners will now have to use Cortana for Windows.

However, he did gave two more reasons for killing the app. First, Cortana for Android and iOS didn’t receive much traction outside the U.S. He said that “the markets we turned off had much lower usage and engagement.” The second reason is that Cortana for Android and iOS is sticking around in the U.S. because Microsoft wants to keep experimenting.

With the application for smartphones going away in almost all regions, the company previously said that “to make Cortana as helpful as possible, we’re integrating Cortana deeper into your Microsoft 365 productivity apps, and part of this evolution involves ending support for the Cortana mobile app on Android and iOS.” This confirms that Microsoft is refocusing Cortana for the enterprise, and specifically for Windows and Office.

(Source)

Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) released in China to boost app ecosystem

Huawei has now finally launched its Huawei Mobile Service (HMS) in the company’s home market China. Huawei Mobile Service offers a bunch of basic applications for a smartphone which includes the likes of phone, SMS, email, among others.

As per the reports, the company released two public beta applications — Huawei Mobile Services and HMS Core. This version of Huawei Mobile Services come with several bug fixes and new features as well as improved performance experience.

Huawei

The new features on the app now includes Huawei accounts, applications internal payment system, message notifications, wallet service, among others. The app is now also claimed to provide more stable and high-quality services to users.

Coming to the HMS Core Test application, it is said to be a small application marketplace model that integrates the installation and download of six basic HMS services. It includes Games, Fido & Safety, Purchase, Identity, Scan, Nearby, ML, and other apps.

The launch of these apps and services from Huawei comes as the company remains banned from using Google apps and services given that the United States government has put the company on its “Entity List”, effectively barring it from doing business with any of the U.S. based firms without permission from the government.

To counter the dependency on Google, Huawei launched its own ecological services with HMS or Huawei Mobile Services. As per the data released by the company, as of August 2019, the HMS has grown rapidly and now over one million developers are using it with HMS Core having more than 450,00 apps on the platform.

This seems like a major boost for the company’s own HarmonyOS (aka HongMeng OS) which was launched a couple of months ago. This home-grown operating system from Huawei aims to be a one-stop-solution for all the company’s hardware and will soon be powering Huawei and Honor’s smartphones.

 

OnePlus wants to expand offline presence in India, partners with SRK Group

For most manufacturers that started off as online brands, the importance of having an offline presence cannot be overemphasized. So it is no surprise that a certain part of their expenses for the year goes to offline expansion.

oneplus logo

OnePlus is one of the phone manufacturers that began as an online-only company but has steadily been creating an offline presence with the establishment of experience stores and partnerships with retail chains. The latest news says they have partnered with SRK Group to expand its offline presence in India.

The partnership with SRK Group will result in the availability of OnePlus products in several stores across Mumbai. SRK Group is known as a major distributor in Mumbai with over 1800 retail outlets across the city.

OnePlus has set a 2020 target of 100 experience stores in 50 cities including Tier-II cities across India as well as presence in more than 2000 offline retail stores. The partnership with SRK Group should get it closer to its goal.

India is a key market for OnePlus and the manufacturer has shown it in more than one way. Its OxygenOS has special features designed for India such as Smart SMS, Cricket Scores, and a smart gallery with free cloud storage service. It has also launched some of its products first in the country before any other market such as the OnePlus TVs and the OnePlus 7T.

(Source)

Xiaomi Youpin launches the Baseus 3-port 60W fast charger

Xiaomi Youpin is presently home to some of the best tech and smart home products manufactured in China. While we wait for Xiaomi to expand the Youpin crowdfunding platform through its partnership with Indiegogo, the brand continues playing host to more amazing gadgets. Xiaomi has just launched the Baseus 3-port 60W fast charger. The product comes with an affordable 149 yuan ($21) price tag.Baseus 3-port 60W fast charger

As the name indicates, the Baseus 3-port 60W fast charger features three output ports, two USB-A ports and a USB-C port. The charger can be used to charge laptops and mobile phones at the same time. Only the USB-C interface has an output of 60W and can be used to charge a MacBook Air (13) in just 90 minutes. The USB-A ports both come with 45W output each.

In order for the fast charger to be compatible with different devices, it comes with support for several charging protocols. The supported protocols include Apple’s PD3.0, QC4.0, QC3.0, FCP, AFC, MTK and other popular fast charge protocols in the market. The charger also comes with smart voltage detection. What this means is that if the three ports are being used at the same time, the device accurately detects the voltage and current required by the device and matches the output to reduce current loss.Xiaomi Youpin Baseus 3-port 60W fast charger

The charger also has retractable pins making it suitable to carry about. The body is made of high flame retardant and fire-resistant PC material and has several built-in safety protection circuits such as overvoltage, overcurrent, static electricity, temperature, and short circuit protection.

 

(via)

 

Chuwi laptop recommendations for Christmas and Giveaway

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” is part of a Christmas song lyrics and it is a wonderful time indeed. And it’s also a perfect time to get yourself that tablet or laptop you wanted to all year. Chuwi is making some of the most cost-effective products out there and below are their recommendations for 2019. Apart from that, they are also hosting a Christmas Giveaway Event and the prizes include 3 x UBook 2-in-1 tablets that worth $1200.

 

UBook Pro 2-in-1 versatile tablet

Chuwi

The UBook Pro sports a 12.3″ 3:2 IPS display and is powered by the Intel 8100Y/N4100 CPU together with 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. Featuring a U-shaped kickstand, the device is a versatile 2-in-1 tablet, which is more suitable for students and office workers. It can be transformed into a laptop in no time thanks to the detachable magnetic keyboard and Stylus.

 

Chuwi UBook cost-effective 2-in-1 tablet

Chuwi

The UBook is a very compact 2in1 tablet thanks to its 11.6″ IPS display that has an aspect ratio of 16:9. Inside lies the Intel N4100 CPU backed by 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. It preserves the main hardware advantages of the Pro version. Even the U-shaped kickstand is there. Definitely a choice to consider if looking for something well-priced and with a balanced performance.

 

AeroBook: portable full-screen laptop

Chuwi

The AeroBook is a 13.3″ laptop with an IPS paned and is even more powerful from the UBook duo as it sports the Intel 6Y30 combined with 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. The display’s borders are very narrow at just 7mm and the screen/body ratio reaches 80%. Also, the combination of the fully-laminated display panel with the full-metal body makes it very light as it weighs at only 1.26kg. A perfect all-around machine for office work or media consumption.

 

Chuwi Hi10 X, the mysterious new product

Chuwi

Together with the Christmas recommendations from Chuwi, information for a new device surfaced. It’s allegedly called Chuwi Hi10X and will also be on sale during the Christmas deals. It just appeared on the company’s official website and compared to the Hi10 Air it received a generous performance bump. It comes with Intel N4100 backed by 6GB of RAM and 128GB SSD, double USB Type-C interface, 10.1″ screen, and full-metal body. The Hi10X performs adequately in all situations and it can be turned into a laptop with the help of the metal detachable keyboard.

So, these are the recommendations from Chuwi. Don’t forget to participate in the Giveaway activity! For more information, visit their official website.

Mi Note 10 Pro launches in Spain; available for €549 for a limited time

The Mi CC9 Pro launched as the Mi Note 10 in Spain early last month, marking the global launch of the device. However, Xiaomi didn’t launch the Mi Note 10 Pro, known as the Mi CC9 Pro Premium Edition in China, in Spain until today.

Xiaomi Mi Note 10

The Mi Note 10 Pro differs from the standard variant in three ways. First, its 108MP primary rear camera has an 8P lens rather than a 7P lens like the standard variant. It also has more RAM and storage.

The phone packs 8GB of RAM and 256GB of non-expandable storage and is already available for preorder in Spain for €649. Interested buyers can pick up a unit on Mi.com, Amazon Spain, and FNAC. It is also available in Mi Stores across the country. Buyers will be able to choose between Aurora Green and Midnight Black.

Mi Note 10 Pro Spain

The preorder runs from today, 23rd of December to 6th of January and those who pre-order get a €100 coupon. FNAC, on the other hand, has it listed for €559.99.

The Mi Note 10 Pro has a 6.47-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display with a waterdrop notch for a 32MP selfie camera. There is a Snapdragon 730G processor inside and it draws power from a massive 5260mAh battery. The phone supports 30W fast charging that allows it to charge from empty to 100% in just 65 minutes.

The Mi Note 10 Pro’s selling point is its cameras. It is the first commercially available phone with a 108MP sensor. The Samsung sensor was co-developed with Xiaomi. It is paired with a 12MP telephoto camera with 2x zoom, another 5MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom, a 20MP ultrawide camera, and a 2MP macro camera.

Other features are an in-display fingerprint scanner, an audio jack, NFC, an IR blaster, and Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides of the phone. It runs Android 9 Pie out of the box with MIUI 11 on top.

 

(Via: 1, 2)

Top Most Innovative Smartphones of 2019

2019 was a year full of innovation in the smartphone market. We saw a few devices which have definitely written a page of the smartphone’s history and, thanks to new technologies such as 5G, this year laid the roots of important technological innovation that we will see in the next years. In this post, we collected all the most innovative smartphones announced in 2019. We included all the smartphones we consider as the most revolutionary ones and the ones which brought something new and unique.

The most innovative smartphones of 2019

Samsung Galaxy Fold

Samsung Galaxy Fold 5G

The Galaxy Fold is the long-awaited Samsung’s first foldable smartphone with a foldable display. We have been hearing about it for years and in 2019 it finally went on sale. After several delays and issues, now it is a finished and well-made product which people can buy all around the world. Thanks to an internal foldable OLED panel, Samsung Galaxy Fold is able to transform from a smartphone to a tablet reaching a screen diagonal of 7.3 inches. It uses a special plastic panel and a complex hinge and it also includes a smaller smartphone-like external display making it very compact and still usable while it is folded. It packs a total of six cameras, including a triple camera setup on the back, a dual front camera on the foldable display and a cover camera above the external display. It is powered by a Snapdragon 855 chipset and it even comes in a 5G variant.

You can learn more about the Samsung Galaxy Fold by clicking here.

Huawei Mate X

huawei mate x

Alongside Samsung, even Huawei announced its first foldable phone: the Huawei Mate X. But unlike the Galaxy Fold, it never hitten the global market and it was only launched in China. It will go global next year in a renewed version. Further, unlike the Samsung Galaxy Fold, it has an external foldable display instead of an internal one. It means that when the smartphone is folded the panel doubles in two different displays. While it is unfolded, the full display has an 8-inch diagonal. The amazing quad camera setup can be used as both rear camera and front camera.

You can learn more about the Huawei Mate X by clicking here.

Huawei P30 Pro

Huawei P30 Pro deserves a spot in the list of the most innovative smartphones of 2019 due to its camera department. In order to ensure awesome camera performance in low light conditions, the company decided to change the RGB paradigma and replaced the green color with yellow: that is how the RYYB paradigma is born. The main RYYB sensor causes yellow tints to appear in photos, but it boosts the camera performance in the dark by an incredible margin. That is why Huawei P30 Pro is one of the best camera phones to shoot with low light. Huawei P30 Pro also brings the first telephoto lens with up to 5x optical zoom and 10x hybrid zoom.

You can learn more about the Huawei P30 Pro by clicking here.

Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha

Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha

The innovative Mi Mix Alpha is the world’s first smartphone with a wrap-around display. From every angle you look at the phone you can see the display since it covers almost the whole device for a total diagonal of 7.92 inches. Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha is also the first smartphone to mount an awesome 108 MP camera (included in a triple camera setup). Unfortunately, only a few people will be able to buy it since it has a listing price which roughly translates into about €2500/$2772.

You can learn more about the  Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha by clicking here.

Nubia Alpha

nubia alpha

Unveiled at MWC 2019, Nubia Alpha is a smartphone on your wrist. It is the first smartwatch with a foldable display that doubles as a smartphone. It has a long 4-inch flexible OLED screen with a 36:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 960 x 192 pixels. It is equipped with a camera, it supports eSIM and 4G LTE. The wearable is fueled by the Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset paired with 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage. The innovative smartwatch comes with all the most important connectivity options offered by a smartphone, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth allowing us to connect to the internet and pair external accessories such as wireless earbuds. There is even a special version plated with 18K gold.

You can learn more about the Nubia Alpha by clicking here.

Motorola Razr 2019

Motorola Razr
Motorola Razr

Motorola Razr 2019 is a revival of the iconic Motorola’s Razr phone which was one of the devices with the highest success in the era of feature phones. It has a clamshell design just like the old Razr, but it comes with a foldable display and that is what makes it incredibly innovative. It has a totally different form factor compared to the Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X and it does not transform into a tablet. But thanks to an internal foldable panel with a 6.2-inch diagonal, Motorola Razr 2019 becomes extremely compact. Further, while it is folded, it can still be used for the most important tasks thanks to a smaller external display.

You can learn more about the Motorola Razr 2019 by clicking here.

Palm

Palm Phone Front

A lot of years ago Palm was among the most important phone manufacturers, but now a lot of people do not even know who Palm is. Well, now the company is back, and it is back with a very innovative device. It reimagined the smartphone by launching a tiny 3.3-inch device that can be considered more as a smartphone companion instead of a standalone device. You can pair the ultra compact Palm phone with your main smartphone, then you can call and text with it. It supports the eSIM technology and LTE. It is even a waterproof device with the IP68 certification.

You can learn more about the Palm phone by clicking here.

Energizer Power Max P18K Pop

Energizer Power Max P18K Pop

Energizer Power Max P18K Pop looks more like a brick than a phone. It is the smartphone with the biggest battery ever and it is produced by a battery manufacturer and it was announced earlier this year, then crowdfunding. It is equipped with a huge 18,000 mAh battery which can provide up to 50 days of standby, up to 4 days of music playback and up to 2 days or video playback on a single charge. It even comes with a dual pop-up front camera and it can be used as a power bank. But it is 18 mm thick. That is probably what led the crowdfunding campaign to fail with just 11 backers and $15,005 out of $1.2 million gathered.

You can learn more about the Energizer Power Max P18K Pop by clicking here.

 

Surface Duo featured

Last but not least, we want to mention the Surface Duo: Microsoft’s comeback in the smartphone market. I did not include it on the list because it will launch in 2020, but the company already announced several details about it. The Surface Duo is a foldable phone with a dual display allowing us to use two apps at the same time, each for every display. It runs Android.

Do you know any other innovative smartphone which should be on the list? Let us know by using the comment box below.

Redmi K20 gets Android 10 update in China

The Redmi K20 Pro was one of the first devices in the world to get updated to Android 10. The flagship killer got the update the same day Google announced the new version of Android was available for the Pixel smartphones. Three months later, it is the turn of the Redmi K20.

A new MIUI update is rolling out in China to the mid-range phone and the changelog says it brings Android 10. The update arrives as MIUI V11.0.2.0QFJCNXM and is 2.3GB in size.

Redmi K20 Android 10

The update should not bring visual changes since it is buried deep under MIUI. However, features such as smart reply and better control over location data should be available.

Just like the changelog for the Mi 8 MIUI 11 update based on Android 10, Xiaomi warns that some apps may be incompatible with Android 10. You can try to update your apps after the update, to see if the compatibility issues have been fixed.

The Redmi K20 was announced in May 2019. The phone has a 6.39-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display and a pop-up selfie camera, so there is no need for a notch or punch hole. It is powered by the Snapdragon 730 and comes with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It has 48MP + 13MP + 8MP triple rear cameras and a 20MP selfie camera. It also has a 4000mAh battery, NFC, and an audio jack.

Redmi already released a successor called the Redmi K30. It is available in 4G and 5G versions with the former powered by the Snapdragon 730G and the 5G version powered by the Snapdragon 765G. Both phones run Android 10.

 

(Via)

Blackview BV9900 launched today with $299.99 limited offer! (video)

Blackview had promised to launch the BV9900 rugged flagship just on time for Christmas and today it went live with a limited sale that allows the first 200 buyers to get it at just $299.99! To be one of them, just visit the product page on Aliexpress to snap up the limited coupon. If you missed the chance, you can still get it with a 34% discount for just $329.99 until December 24th at midnight.

Blackview BV9900

Blackview BV9900 is the first rugged smartphone to come with the Sony® 48MP in a quad-camera setup as well as operating temperature as low as -30℃. Of course, being a flagship device means high performance and BV9900 delivers thanks to the potent MediaTek Helio P90 octa-core SoC backed by 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Below, you can see the unboxing video together with AnTuTu benchmark.

Besides the usual stuff, you also get earphones and a screen protector. Everything looks of high quality. As for its performance, the device scores 222,120 points on Antutu so you can expect fast and fluid performance in operation and games.

Blackview BV9900

As mentioned above, the new flagship can function under extreme temperatures as low as -30℃. The user can still use 4 basic phone functions including Phone, Message, Contacts, Camera. It also features a heart rate sensor, air quality sensor, barometer, hygrometer, UV meter sensor for a more user-friendly experience.

Blackview BV9900

Back to the world premiere sale, Blackview offers another surprise. One of the BV9900 buyers who purchase the device until December 24th, will randomly be chosen by the company and will receive a $1000 non-threshold coupon! So if you’re interested, don’t hesitate to snap up now and you may end up with a $1000 coupon!

Vivo S1 Pro to debut with 6.38-inch punch-hole display, SD665 and under Rs. 20,000 (~$280) pricing in India

Vivo had launched the Vivo S1 Pro smartphone in China in May. The Chinese firm launch another phone with the same moniker in Southeast Asian markets in November. 91mobiles had recently revealed that India will be receiving Vivo S1 Pro in January. A new report claims that Vivo will be launching the Snapdragon 665 powered Vivo S1 Pro smartphone India. The report has also revealed the expected pricing of the device.

Vivo S1 Pro Specifications and Price for India (Rumored)

According to the publication, the Vivo S1 Pro is fitted with a punch-hole display of 6.38 inches. It will carry support for full HD+ resolution. The phone will be driven by Snapdragon 665 mobile platform and 8 GB of RAM.

The Vivo S1 Pro will be fitted with a diamond-patterned quad camera system on its rear. The setup will include a 48-megapixel main lens, an 8-megapixel lens and a pair of 2-megapixel sensors. The phone will be equipped with a native storage of 128 GB. It will be arriving in color editions such as blue, white and purple.

The report claims that the phone could be priced under Rs. 20,000 (~$280) in India.  It is expected to hit the Indian market by mid-January. The publication has not revealed any other details of the Vivo S1 Pro such as battery size and front camera.

The above specs leak suggest that it is the same Vivo S1 Pro phone that is available in Southeast Asian markets like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. Hence, the phone is expected to house an OLED display that will be integrated with a fingerprint sensor. The device could be packed with a 4,500mAh battery that carries support for 18W fast charging through USB-C. For shooting selfies, it could be fitted with a 32-megapixel. It could be featuring FunTouch OS 9.2 based Android 9 Pie OS.

The Vivo S1 Pro will be selling alongside the Vivo S1 phone in the country. It has a 6.38-inh full HD+ S-AMOLED display with waterdrop notch. It is powered by Helio P65 SoC. It has a front camera of 32-megapixel and it is fitted with a 16-megapixel = 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera system. The phone houses a 4,500mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging through microUSB 2.0. The 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage variant of the phone is priced at Rs. 15,990 (~$224). The higher 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage model costs Rs. 19,990 (~$280).

 

 

 

(source)

Meizu to launch four high-end 5G Phones in 2020

Meizu has not had it smooth in the smartphone industry in the past few years. The company’s market share has continued to decline in the face of stiffer competition and a saturated market. Just like most OEMs bedevilled by the market saturation, Meizu is looking up to 5G for a revival.Meizu 16T

The company’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Liang Dongming made this known in an interview with the media. Liang is a veteran Meizu engineer who joined the Chinese firm in 2003 and is currently the leader of the technology research and development team, leading the overall mobile phone research and development work. He disclosed that Meizu still hopes to return to the “brand first” strategy.

The Meizu official stated that after experimenting with a different brand strategy in recent times, Meizu is focusing on 5G mobile phones in 2020. The official also seems to have hinted that the company will be releasing phones with designs styled after the prevailing trend. This should be the biggest change in strategy as the company hitherto stuck with a design maintaining the phone’s display symmetry as against the various kinds of display notches that have been utilised in the last few years.

He explained that the reason why Meizu did not launch 5G mobile phones for the first time was mainly to wait for the official commercialization of the Snapdragon 865 flagship 5G chip. Compared to the 5G phone of the X50 solution, Meizu made the decision to choose the more mature Snapdragon X55 solution, because the latter can bring users a one-step 5G network experience.

Liang Dongming

In Liang Dongming’s view, 2019 is the first year of 5G, and most products are still in the test phase. 2020 will be the year of large-scale commercial use of 5G. He believes that Meizu’s 5G phones being among the first batch of Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 flagship 5G processors-powered models, will not lack market competitiveness. ” Our first batch of prototypes have been prepared, and we are jointly debugging with Qualcomm and other instrument manufacturers during this time. The progress is relatively smooth, and mass production can be made directly in the first quarter of next year,” Lian said.

Meizu plans to release at least four flagship 5G mobile phones next year as well as AIoT, AR/VR and other 5G ecological chain products. For details of 5G mobile phones, Liang did not give details of the 5G phones but stated that in addition to 5G, Meizu’s innovations in lens, UI, and screen will become the key to enhancing competitiveness.

(source)

 

Xiaomi Youpin announces partnership with Indiegogo for global crowdfunding

We recently spotted a Xiaomi Youpin account on Indiegogo (IGG) which looked like the official account of Xiaomi’s crowdfunding platform. The Indiegogo account had two crowdfunding projects; one for the Oclean X touchscreen toothbrush and another for the WalkingPad R1 Pro mini treadmill. Turns out the Indiegogo account is for real as Xiaomi and IGG have officially announced a strategic partnership.xiaomi

This was announced during a Xiaomi Youpin media communication conference held in Beijing. The Chinese giant announced that it had reached strategic cooperation with Indiegogo (IGG), one of the largest overseas crowdfunding platforms. The two parties will support product exchange and traffic support as well as market co-construction.

Zhao Xinran, deputy general manager of Xiaomi Youpin, said that by joining forces with Indiegogo, Xiaomi Youpin can bring new foreign technology to Chinese consumers. In the same vein, Xiaomi Youpin can also showcase domestic Chinese brands and outstanding projects from China to the world.

Lian Lin, head of Xiaomi Youpin’s overseas business

Indiegogo was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco. It is one of the earliest crowdfunding platforms in the United States. The official website shows that the platform has 10 million monthly active users from 235 countries and regions around the world, and 19,000 crowdfunding projects are launched each month. Since 2016, Indiegogo has started helping Chinese brands go overseas.

Lian Lin, the head of Xiaomi Youpin’s overseas business, said that overseas crowdfunding is the first step for Xiaomi Youpin to choose to cross the border, and it is also a channel to accumulate the first batch of “seed users” overseas. As part of the strategic cooperation, Indiegogo will give Xiaomi Youpin crowdfunding global exclusive resources, such as product definition, product operation, traffic supply, new project creation, etc. Xiaomi Youpin will use the advantages of aggregation to integrate resources, coordinate and lead overseas crowdfunding projects, and provide enterprises with one-stop brand overseas services.

As of December 22, the WalkingPad R1 Pro has had 3,138 supporters and received $9.9 million HKD (USD $1.27 million) in support. On the other hand, the Oclean X IGG crowdfunding has received 5828 backers with over 2.5 million HKD ($325K USD) raised.

About Xiaomi Youpin

Xiaomi Youpin is a boutique lifestyle e-commerce platform owned by Xiaomi. It was formerly an e-commerce portal of the Mijia App. It mainly sells hardware peripheral products to users. It became an independent app in April 2017. Xiaomi Youpin is an important part of Xiaomi’s Internet business. It aims to use the Xiaomi model for consumer goods. At present, the platform already includes 17 categories such as smart home appliances, daily household appliances, food and beverage, and more than 6000 products are on sale. In August this year, Xiaomi Youpin launched the Haigou channel and began to introduce foreign products into the domestic Chinese market.

 

(source)