In an unexpected turn of events, the South Korean electronics giant, Samsung is shutting down its custom CPU Core division. Therefore we will not be seeing any future in-house developed cores like the Moongoose M4 found in Exynos 9820, Samsung’s current flagship silicon. According to a WARN letter filed with the Texas Workforce Commission, Samsung is shutting down the CPU project at its Samsung Austin Research Center that will result in 290 employees being laid off.
A WARN letter aka Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification is a mandated notice that employers must provide to state governments in the event of major layoffs. The previously mentioned layoffs will be effective from the 31st of December and the affected employees do not have any bumping rights. The WARN letter does not specify how many of the layoffs would be in Austin and how many in California.
Michele Glaze, a spokeswoman for Samsung Austin told that company’s Austin manufacturing facility, which employs about 3,000 people, will remain unaffected by the layoffs. While talking to an American-Statesman she made the following statement.
We have treated all employees with respect. They all have been given appropriate packages and advanced notice. These things are very tough. People always wonder, ‘Did they treat them right?’ And we did. It’s unfortunate that they are losing their jobs, but it is based upon the fact that we’re always assessing our business.
Even though Samsung’s Exynos range of chipsets offer praiseworthy performance they usually come second to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon family in performance benchmarks. In plain language, current offerings from Qualcomm provide better performance with lower power consumption which is vital to prolonging battery backup in smartphones.
Patrick Moorhead, an industry analyst said that Samsung has licensed some intellectual property from Arm Holdings which could be put to use in upcoming chips from the South Korean company.
Noteworthy, while Samsung will no longer develop its own custom core’s, it will continue to manufacture chips under the Exynos brand which will be comprised of CPU cores that are developed by ARM. Accordingly, it is possible that the upcoming Exynos 9830 will be comprised of four Cortex-A77 cores high-performance cores in addition to four high-efficiency cores.
Apparently, it is a well thought out decision from Samsung, who is the world’s biggest producer of smartphone screens, semiconductors and mobile phones. According to the company, it has invested $17 billion in its Austin campus until now which first started operations in the year 1977.
TCL has launched a new TV in the Chinese market — TCL 100X6C, which comes with 100-inch display and carries a whooping price tag of 79,999 Yuan that roughly converts to $11,385. However, this is not the largest screen-size TV to be available in the market as Sharp has already exhibited a 120-inch production model of its TV that has a model number UDE2019.
With a price tag of 79,999 Yuan (~$11,385), this TCL television is the cheapest one when it comes to TVs with over 90-inch screen. With the launch of this new TV, TCL has now joined a list of major TV manufactures with a large sized display.
Samsung QA98Q900RBJXXZ comes with 98-inch panel for a price of 499,888 Yuan which roughly converts to $71,138 while Sony‘s 98-inch TV with model number KD-98Z9G is priced at 529,999 Yuan (~$75,423). As mentioned above, Sharp has already showcased its 120-inch television which is priced at 1,500,000 Yuan that is roughly $213,462.
While TCL’s is the cheapest TV among the ones mentioned above, it must be noted that almost all of them come with 8K resolution (7680 x 4320 pixels) support while the TCL’s TV comes with 4K resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels) support.
It seems that the TCL 100X6C comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage as well as 120Hz refresh rate, 2.1 stereo audio, Dolby DTS sound, among others. Overall, this TCL television seems to be a great value-for-money offering.
Samsung‘s next flagship smartphone is expected to be the Galaxy S11 series which should launch in the first quarter of 2019. The Galaxy S11 has featured in a couple of leaks which shows the device would likely take a detour from its predecessor in launching with several cutting-edge technologies and refreshed design.
The Galaxy S11 was recently rumoured to come with a triple camera setup at the front. A new rumour shared by Ice Universe on Weibo has emerged that the Galaxy S11 will use Samsung’s record-breaking 108MP sensor. Recall that Samsung had announced the world’s first mobile camera sensor that goes beyond 100MP in August this year. The Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX is a 108MP sensor for smartphones developed in collaboration with Xiaomi. The sensor was first utilised on the Mi CC9 Pro but if this rumour turns out to be true, the Galaxy S11 will be the first flagship to use the sensor. Well, that is if the Mi Mix Alpha isn’t released before then since it also packs the 108MP sensor.
The ISOCELL Bright HMX is still a 0.8um image sensor as its 64MP offering but increases the sensor size to a staggering 1/1.33″, a first for a smartphone camera. This helps it churn out large 12032 x 9024-pixel resolution photos, comparable to high-end DSLRs. The large sensor size helps the sensor to absorb more light in low-lit conditions. Further, Smart-ISO helps the sensor intelligently select the right ISO to match the needs of the environment. The HMX sensor is using Samsung’s Tetracell and ISOCELL Plus technologies, so it will be able to generate bright, big-pixel 27MP images. The sensor also supports 6K (6016 x 3384 pixels) video recording at 30 fps.
While the launch of the Galaxy S11 lineup is still a couple of months away, we expect to get more details as time goes on. Already, the device is detailed to run on One UI 2.1 which will be based on Android 10. It is also said to have a faster fingerprint scanner, improved camera setup which includes 5X optical zoom sensor and 108 MP primary sensor. The device is also expected to be powered by an Exynos 9825 and Snapdragon 865.
AnTuTu benchmarking platform is known for releasing the list of best performing smartphones each month. Now, it has released the list of top 10 best performing flagship and mid-range phones. The flagship list is led by the Vivo NEX 3 5G whereas the Honor 9X Pro is ruling the mid-range list.
In the above shown list of top 10 best performing Android flagship phones, the Snapdragon 855+ powered Vivo NEX 3 5G with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage can be seen leading the chart with 482,917 points. The second place goes to Vivo iQOO Po 5G’s 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage that has scored 481,997. Next comes the 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage edition of the OnePlus 7T that scored 481,784.
The OnePlus 7T Pro’s 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage variant is on fourth with 480,902 points. The ASUS ROG Phone 2 with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage is placed on fifth with 477,596 points. The remaining phones that have made to the list are Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro 5G, Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro, Realme X2 Pro, Meizu 16s Pro and Redmi K20 Pro Exclusive Edition. As it can be seen, all the top 10 phones are powered by Snapdragon 855+ mobile platform.
Shown below is the list of top 10 best performing mid-range phones. The 7nm Kirin 810 chipset powered Honor 9X Pro’s 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage is at the pole position with 299,194 points. The Honor 9X’s 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage follows next with 291,690 points. The 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage edition of the Honor 20S is third with 290,936 points. These two phones are also powered by Kirin 810.
The Helio G90T fueled Redmi Note 8 Pro’s 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant is on the fourth position with 281,580 points. The Snapdragon 730 SoC powered Realme X2 with 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage is on the fifth position with 256,713. The other phones that have made it to the top 10 list of best performing mid-range phones are OPPO Reno 2, Redmi K20, Xiaomi Mi 9 SE, Realme Q and Vivo X27.
Microsoft has introduced a new all-in-one Office beta app, including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and other tools. It is another attempt by Microsoft to bring the professional editing tools in a single package on the Android platform. Microsoft already hosts separate apps on Android for its office tools such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, etc.
The new Microsoft Office beta will let the users create, edit, and share different documents on the cloud or your Android smartphone. Multiple users are allowed to collaborate on a single project like Google Docs. Moreover, the Sticky Notes integration helps the users to dwell notes without using Sticky Notes App. The inbuilt conversion feature will efficiently convert photos, Word, Excel, photoshop, or Powerpoint file to PDFs. Another excellent feature is to sign the document and convert the file to the desired format.
The Office beta app consists of some powerful features like converting a document picture into an editable Word file on a single tap, transforming the table picture into a spreadsheet file, and allowing the powerpoint to create presentations by selecting photos from the phone automatically. It can even let you create a scanned image by enhancing the digital photos of whiteboards.
Microsoft Office beta even enhances the file sharing between your phone and computer or nearby mobile devices. The inbuilt capability to scan QR codes for opening files and links quickly is another striking feature.
It is not the first time that Microsoft tested an all-in-one Office app on the mobile platform. They tried on Windows Phone with the Office Hub app. It comprised of all the Office tools, including Excel, Word, powerpoint, and OneNote support.
The new app is currently in the beta stage, and for sure, it will have some bugs and issues.
Update: It appears Microsoft has pulled down the app from the Play Store. We have attached the source link of the app from the third-party website below.
Vivo has recently confirmed that it will be launching the Vivo S5 smartphone on Nov. 14. Last month, the smartphone was seen in the hands of S-series brand ambassador Cai Xukun. It revealed that the Vivo S5 has quad cameras arranged inside a diamond-shaped module on its rear. Today, a couple of images have appeared to reveal the front and rear design of the phone.
The first image is a snapshot of an endorsement program for the phone. It clearly shows a punch-hole present at the upper-right corner of the device. A reliable tipster has also claimed that the phone will be equipped with a punch-hole display.
The other images are renders of the smartphone that reveal its front and rear design. In the promo video that had appeared in the previous month, the Vivo S5’s front was not revealed. However, its rear had featured a diamond-shaped module that housed four cameras and below it was an LED flash.
However, these new renders show the phone without a punch-hole display. The screen is notch-less, and its rear has a diamond-shaped camera housing that comprises of three camera sensors and an LED flash. There is no confirmation on the authenticity of these images, but they have given birth to new rumors that there could be two editions of the phone. There could be a model with a punch-hole display and four rear cameras, and the other variant may have a notch-less display and triple cameras.
Earlier this year, Vivo had launched the Vivo S1 and Vivo S1 Pro smartphones in China. Probably, the company could be planning to launch Vivo S5 and Vivo S5 Pro smartphones. As of this writing, there is no official confirmation on the existence of Vivo S5 Pro.
Currently, there are no details available on the specifications of the Vivo S5. The Chinese firm is expected to share more details before the Nov. 14 launch date.
In related news, Vivo is gearing up to launch the Vivo Y5s smartphone in China. The smartphone may release in the home market will be a rebranded version of the Vivo Y19 smartphone. It features a 6.53-inch IPS LCD full HD+ display with waterdrop notch, Helio P65 processor, 4 GB / 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of native storage, Android 9 Pie OS, 16-megapixel selfie camera, 16-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera system and 18W dual-engine fast charging supported 5,000mAh battery.
Earlier this year, the U.S Commerce Department designated Huawei to a blacklist which restrained all American companies from having any sort of trade relations with the Chinese corporation. Several reports in the past have suggested that the ban could soon be uplifted but none of them has come to fruition.
Nevertheless, the Secretary of Commerce Department, Wilbur Ross recently told Bloomberg in an interview that special licenses allowing US companies to deal with Huawei would arrive “very shortly. The Commerce Department has received close to 260 requests from American corporations allowing them to re-establish trade relations with Huawei which is “more than we would’ve thought,” reported the U.S official.
While Ross didn’t state as to which U.S based companies had applied for licenses, it must be noted that not all of these corporations would be granted a license once the new standards of the Commerce Department are put into practice. One company that is highly likely to get this exception is Google, that leads the development of Android.
Following the blacklist entitlement, Huawei could not offer new phones with Google services including Play Store out of the box which has negatively impacted their sales. Therefore, a more permanent license could allow Google and Huawei to restore business like prior.
On the other hand, the companies that are highly unlikely to get a license include Telecom providers. After all, it was Huawei’s networking equipment which led to the allegation of posing a security threat to the U.S. To recall, the U.S has accused Huawei of installing backdoors on its telecom equipment which could be used to steal sensitive user data. However, due to lack of sufficient evidence, the claims are yet to be proved.
Noteworthy, FCC has proposed banning telecom providers from using Huawei hardware. Furthermore, the ones that continue to use equipment made by the Chinese corporation will be exempted from Universal Service Fund money.
Android devices are primarily known for their ability to customize the look and features. The facility to root the smartphone and gain the maximum potential of hardware is the most significant advantage. The advanced Android users are always inclined to root their respective Android smartphones, but it’s not a cup of tea for average users. They always look for ways to customize the non-rooted smartphones to gain some customization features or other tweaks to boost the smartphone’s performance.
Rooting is a risky process and even voids the manufacturer’s warranty, but there are various benefits. Rooting allows the user to get administrative privileges that come handy while installing custom ROMs, MODs, frameworks, and other tweaks. It may even comprise the device’s security, as hackers can also install malware easily with full control. However, if you’re not a heavy user, we don’t recommend you root your smartphone. Instead, try the below-mentioned tweaks without root access.
We have gathered some best Android tweaks for non-rooted devices that users can try without any issue. These tweaks can make your device look cool and will surely help to improve your productivity by improving battery efficiency and performance.
List of best Android tweaks for non-rooted smartphone
Tweak Notifications or Status Bar
The notification bar is the first thing that comes in mind after hearing for customization. There’s a lot of tweaks that can be done to tweak the notification or status bar of your smartphone. Below mentioned apps can help you to attain customizability up to a certain level.
Navbar Apps
It is a famous customization app for the navigation bar. Users can change the color and can upload an image itself for the navigation bar. It even allows users to change navigation color or style as per the active app. The developers also accept custom image requests.
The Status is a customization app for the notification bar that allows changing the notification bar color, animations, icons, and a lot of other things. The Pro version of the Status App opens doors for endless customizations. It just overlays the new status bar over the system-generated navigation bar. It is available for free from the Play Store. Status is compatible with devices running on Android 4.4 and above version.
It is another status bar tweak app that shows the current battery status of the device. The user can customize the look of the bar by adjusting the bar thickness, color, visibilities, alignment, and other options. Different animations while plugging the charger will amaze the users. The pulsating animation will depict the charging status and even indicates the progress of charging.
The developer emphasizes on its 0% load on CPU and wakes only to reflect the change in battery. It does not need any root permission to work perfectly. It does need notification access requirements to show the energy bar without an issue. You can enjoy the Energy Bar app by downloading from the link below.
Gestures have always remained a hot game for the manufacturers, third-party developers, and Android app developers. They have ever built intuitive gestures to ease the accessibility of Android devices. The navigational gestures became native to the system after Android Pie, but still, many devices exist on the older Android version. Moreover, the navigational gestures are limited to some devices. So, to use the navigational gestures on any device, the users can download the app named Navigation Gestures.
It can bring new gestures and swipes to your Android device. The gestures can be customized with different actions. Some features of the app are limited to the Pro version of the app, which is available for $1.49. Interested users can head over to the link below to grab the Navigation Gestures.
MIUI-ify is a customization app that aims to bring MIUI styles to your Android smartphone. If you’re not a user of MIUI and want to try the style of Xiaomi’s skin, then MIUI-ify is the best companion to try the new look. It includes full customization of the status bar and a few other UI elements. The user can control the icon packs, music control UI, brightness bar control, notification settings, and a lot of different things.
The interested users can grab the MIUI-ify fro the download link below. It is available for free, but some features are attached to $7.49.
This segment consists of all the tweaks that apply to general smartphone elements.
Sharedr
Are you fed up with the native Android share screen? Then, you should check out Sharedr to enhance and customize the share interface. Sharedr brings the ability to order the contacts and the apps according to the need. Its setup takes some time, but in the end, its worth to do this little work. It makes sharing a lot easier with added customization options. The app is free to download and does not feature any advertisements for monetization.
It is one of the best tools that any gamer can use on an Android device. The Immersive Mode will turn on the full-screen mode for any particular game or app. The user can even set global “Immersive Mode,” which can be applied system-wide. It is a way to fully utilize every inch of the display precisely for playing games or doing any other activity.
The Immersive Mode Manager is available from the Play Store at $1.99. It is a quite useful and nifty app for daily use.
It can create beautiful visualizations on the navigation or status bar of your Android smartphone while music is playing in the background. The floating visualizations are purely editable, and the users can change shape, size, color, size, or type of display. It can be either aligned to the status bar or at the bottom over the navigation bar. It works almost every music app and shows accurate crests and troughs while playing music. If you’re a music lover and always love to tweak your smartphone, then the MUVIZ Nav Bar Visualizer app is for you.
If you want rounded corners just like the Galaxy S series and some other smartphones, then Edge Mask is the app you need badly. Edge Mask can easily use easy UI, which adds rounded corners on any Android smartphone. In a recent update, the app added lighting at the edge of the screen like Galaxy S8 and S9. It can smartly hide the front hole camera using animations and creatively designed wallpaper. It can be downloaded from the link below.
Are you looking for ways to save battery? Pixoff can smartly save a lot of battery by turning off pixels on AMOLED display. The Pixoff is a complex application that offers vast customizability to save battery by choosing a pattern to turn off pixels of AMOLED screens. It even incorporates a night light filter to reduce the effect of damaging blue light. The app is compatible with devices running Android 4.4 and above.
Pixoff: Battery Saver app is free for download with in-app advertisements. It supports the AMOLED display panel. You can download the app from the link below.
It is the coolest application that can make your notifications speak-out. It allows the smartphones to read-out-loud notifications to you. Audify enables hands-free experience and outputs the audio via wired or Bluetooth headset and phone speaker. Audify Notifications Read includes intuitive control center, including recent notification and one tap to mute options. It can even cast the audio on any Chromecast connected device and even connects with a car Bluetooth speaker.
It can manage any installed app and even remembers the car park location. Audify is a free app with a supported in-app advertisement.
Powerline is quite a useful tool to retrieve CPU frequency and show it on the status bar. It is a nifty tool that can be useful for gamers and other users. Apart from CPU frequency, the users can even show more indicators like Unread SMS, missed calls, processor frequency, storage, processor usage, etc. It also allows customization options to change the color, transparency, different value colors, etc.
The users can quickly get the CPU temperature details by installing the CPU Temperature app. It can show the temperature, RAM, and battery status in the status bar on the Android device. The user can customize the color, Units, and some other settings on the app. It can be downloaded from the link below.
The home screen is the most prominent aspect of Android smartphones. It is the most visited page on any smartphone. So, it is always essential to choose the beautiful wallpaper on your device. Several apps bring high-quality wallpapers and live wallpapers. We have listed a few best of the wallpaper customization apps.
HexShaders
It is a powerful live wallpaper app that aims to reduce battery usage while using live wallpapers. Usually, the live wallpapers hogs battery fast, but the cleverly designed wallpapers available on Hexshaders helps saving battery. It shapes the pixels in hexagons to reduce the size of wallpapers and make them available in low-resolution. However, the wallpaper is aligned in such a way that it pops out the artistic look and saves battery.
It is available for free from Play Store. The interested users can head over to the link below to grab the HexShaders.
It is an automatic wallpaper generator app that changes the wallpaper every time you visit the home page. The user won’t see the same wallpaper again. Tapet uses different patterns and colors to generate a new wallpaper every time that too in the highest quality possible.
It uses maths functions to generate the wallpapers using different shapes and colors. The user can select random or just a single image in the settings. The wallpapers can be controlled by using widgets or shortcuts.
Muzei Live Wallpaper is a popular wallpaper app for Android. Apart from beautiful wallpapers based on famous artworks, the app also brings the blurring and dimming effect on the home screen to keep icons and widgets focused. More information about the wallpaper can be retrieved either by double-tapping or opening the Muzei app. it is free for download fro the Play Store.
These are certain apps that can tweak the look and functionality of your smartphone. If you have any recommendations, then do let us know via the comments below. If found useful, we will add it to our list of best tweaks for non-rooted Android devices.
Xiaomi is all set to launch the world’s first smartphone featuring 108-megapixel camera sensor — Mi CC9 Pro. Now, the company has also revealed that it will also be the world’s first device to come with ultra-thin in-display optical fingerprint sensor.
Revealing this feature, the company said that “the optical fingerprint sensitivity and unlocking success rate of the ultra-thin screen are further improved! It is easier to unlock in the case of strong lighting, low temperature and dry finger, and can be quickly unlocked with one touch.”
The company’s product manager Wang Teng also adds that it’s a new generation solution which is ultra-thin and has a larger fingerprint recognition area and also comes with an improved unlocking speed as well as optimised to save battery life.
The Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro smartphone will come with 108-megapixel primary camera sensor with 10X telephoto lens, along with a classic portrait lens, wide-angle lens, and a macro lens and could also have an additional lens.
The company has also confirmed that the Mi CC9 Pro smartphone will come with a 32-megapixel front-facing camera that will support wide-angle image capture, Portrait mode, and around 12 different types of filters.
It will come packed with 5,260mAh battery and will support 30W fast charging technology that could fully charge the device in just 65 minutes. TENAA listing revealed that the phone will be featuring a 6.47-inch OLED Full HD+ display panel having a waterdrop notch.
Under the hood, the device will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G octa-core processor, which is actually indented for gaming-centric devices. The phone will have up to 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage.
The company has also teased another smartphone named Mi Note 10 and has confirmed that the device will make its global debut on 14th November in Poland. The upcoming Mi Note 10 smartphone is the re-branded model of the Mi CC9 Pro for the global markets.
The new Vivo Y19 mid-range phone has recently gone official in Thailand. Its specifications and appearance are exact match with the Vivo V1934A/T smartphone that was recently on the database of China. A new phone named as Vivo Y5s with model number V1934A has appeared on China Telecom’s database even before its official announcement. It appears that the Vivo Y19 will be rebranded as Vivo Y5s in China.
Vivo Y5s Specifications
The Vivo Y5s has 162.15 x 76.47 x 8.89mm dimensions and it weighs 193 grams. There is a 6.53-inch IPS LCD display waterdrop notch on the device. Its supports 1080 x 2340 pixels full HD+ resolution and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9.
The MT6768 MediaTek Helio P65 processor powers the Vivo Y5s phone. The Vivo Y19 comes in only 6 GB RAM edition. However, China will be receiving the Vivo Y5s in 4 GB and 6 GB RAM variants. Both models will feature a native storage of 128 GB. A microSD card slot is also available on the Vivo Y5s for more storage.
The Vivo Y5s receives power from a 5,000mAh battery and it runs on Android 9 Pie OS. There is a 16-megapixel camera in the front notch for shooting selfies. The back panel has a triple camera system with a 16-megapixel primary shooter, an 8-megapixel secondary lens and a 2-megapixel sensor. There is a fingerprint scanner slotted on the rear shell of the smartphone.
Vivo Y5s Price and Release Date
The Vivo Y5s is scheduled to release in China on Nov. 7. The handset will be available in color editions like Black, Blue and Green. The China Telecom listing reveals that 4 GB and 6 GB RAM editions of the Vivo Y5s will be respectively priced at 1,398 Yuan (~$199) and 1,598 Yuan (~$227). Readers are advised to digest the pricing information of the phone with a grain of salt since it is yet to go official. The smartphone will be positioned lower than the Vivo Y7s that carries a price tag of 1,798 Yuan (~$256) in China.
As mentioned above, the Vivo Y5s has gone official as Vivo Y19 in Thailand. The 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage Y19 phone carries a price tag of 6,999 Baht (~$232).
A render of the upcoming Huawei Nova 6 had appeared in the previous month. Now a render of the phone has appeared to give a good look at its front design. Also, newer renders of the forthcoming MatePad Pro flagship tablet have also leaked. The new images showcase the color variants of both devices.
Huawei Nova 6
The source claims that the below shown images belong to the 4G edition of the Huawei Nova 6. The handset features a notch-less display with a pill-shaped cutout on the display for the two front-facing cameras. The render suggests that the phone could be available in color options such as Purple, Blue and Black.
Huawei Nova 6
Rumors surrounding the smartphone have claimed that it may go official in December. The Chinese firm is expected to release the Nova 6 in 4G and 5G versions. The specifications of the Nova 6 are currently under the wraps. However, the 3C listing of the Nova 6 4G and 5G have revealed that these phones come with support for up to 40W fast charging.
Last week, reputed tipster had revealed a render of the upcoming MatePad Pro tablet. Previous leaks had claimed that the device could be called Huawei MediaPad M7. It will be the first tablet to come equipped with a punch-hole display.
With slim bezels around the display, the tablet will offer a very vast screen space. The rear shell of the device reveals the presence of a dual camera system. Also, it is speculated to be equipped with an in-display fingerprint reader. The slate also features a connectivity port for attaching a magnetic keyboard. It will also carry support for M-Pen stylus.
Previously seen renders of the MatePad Pro had revealed that it will be coming to the market in black and white color editions. The new renders show that the tablet could be debuting in two more colors such as green and orange.
Rumors have it that it could be fueled by the Kirin 990 chipset. It could be featuring 8 GB of RAM and its highest model may offer 256 GB of native storage. There is no word on the launch date of the phone. Probably, it may go official alongside the Nova 6 smartphone.
Xiaomi has established its presence in the market as a powerful TV manufacturer and is also ranking as number one in the smart TV category in China. The company is currently gearing up to release the new Mi TV 5 series in its home market on 5th November.
Ahead of its official launch, the company has been revealing details about the upcoming Smart TV. In the latest development, Xiaomi has now released details related to the design of the Mi TV 5.
The company has now confirmed that the Mi TV 5 will come with a more comprehensive full-screen design. The bezel surrounding the screen panel will be 47.1 percent narrower compared to the Mi TV 4, measuring just 1.8mm.
Further, Xiaomi has revealed that the metal-body Smart TV will come with a integrated bending frame, back plate without screws, and will have a body thickness of just 5.9mm.
Earlier, the company had shed light about the specifications of the Mi TV 5. It had revealed that the product will come powered by a 12nm T972 chipset with support for 8K video recording which is claimed to be 63 percent higher than the previous-generation CPU.
The Mi TV 5 also comes packed with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage to ensure smoother performance. It is confirmed to come with a 4K QLED panel covering NTSC 108% wide color gamut.
The Quantum Dot panel is likely to be supplied by Samsung who dominates this industry. The current generation Mi TV 4 series comes with either LCD or LED panels, so with the Mi TV 5 series, it seems that Xiaomi is looking to enter the premium segment.
The company had previously shared a teaser image of the upcoming Mi TV 5, giving us a glimpse of the right side of the device, wherein we can see the ‘Designed by Xiaomi’ text. Apart from its slim form factor, there isn’t much we can pick up from this image.
Along with this new Smart TV, the company is also set to launch a bunch of other products at the 5th November event in China, including Mi CC9 Pro smartphone, Xiaomi Smartwatch, Xiaomi’s Mi Portable Air Conditioner, among others.
Today, an invite poster for the upcoming ColorOS 7 custom user interface from Oppo has been leaked online on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo. The poster hints that the ColorOS 7 will get launched in China later this month.
The invite poster is showing the launch date as 2X November 2019, where the second digit for the date has not been revealed. This means that the new version of the custom operating system from Oppo will get launched in the third or fourth week of this month.
Shen Yiren, Vice President of Oppo had earlier revealed that the ColorOS 7 will be released for the company’s flagship smartphone Oppo Reno 10X Zoom Edition. Apart from that nothing much is known about this operating system.
Earlier this month, Madhav Sheth, CEO of Realme India had revealed that the company will not be launching the RealmeOS as rumored. Instead, the company will be getting an exclusively customised version of the ColorOS 7 designed for Realme smartphones.
The likes of Xiaomi and Huawei have already announced a newer and updated version of their own custom Android skin and now Oppo will soon be joining the list. The Chinese company had launched ColorOS 6 last year in November which comes with a updated user interface, Game Boost 2.0, updated camera, gaming, and security features, among others.
While nothing much is known about the upcoming ColorOS 7, we expect it to be based on the latest Android 10 operating system. It remains to be see what additional features the company is planning to add in this new version of the custom skin.
Fresh renders of an upcoming Huawei P Smart 2020 smartphone have surfaced. These renders seemingly belong to the AQM-AL00 / TL00 smartphone that was approved by China’s TENAA telecom authority in the previous month. It is expected to debut as rebadged version of the Honor 20 Lite smartphone that has recently gone official in China.
The Huawei P Smart 2020 renders show that the smartphone will be available in two color options such as green and white-blue color gradients. Its TENAA listing had revealed that it will be also available in black.
As it can be seen that the frontside of the phone features a waterdrop notch and its top edge has a 3.5mm audio jack. The back panel of the phone has a vertical camera strip that comprises of three lenses and an LED flash. There is no fingerprint scanner on back panel of the phone. Like the Honor 20 Lite, the P Smart 2020 feature an OLED display that is embedded with an in-screen fingerprint reader.
According to the TENAA appearance of the phone, the AQM-AL00 / TL00 smartphone measures 157.4 x 73.2 x 7.75mm and weighs 163 grams. The device is fitted with an OLED panel of 6.3 inches. The waterdrop notch enabled display produces full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels and a tall aspect ratio of 20:9.
The Android 9 Pie OS runs on the device. It could be featuring the latest version of EMUI 9. The 2.2GHz octa-core processor which seems to be the Kirin 710F is present under the hood of the device. It may arrive in China in 6 GB and 8 GB RAM variants. It could be available in storage options such as 64 GB and 128 GB. There is microSD card slot on the phone for more storage.
Honor 20 Lite
The back panel has a 48-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera system. The front notch of the phone is equipped with a 16-megapixel camera. It features a 4,000mAh battery that supports 10W charging.
The Huawei P Smart 2020 will be arriving as the successor of the Huawei P Smart 2019 which was made available in certain markets as Honor 10 Lite. Hence, the P Smart 2020 is said to be rebranded edition of the Honor 20 Lite. There is a possibility that the phone may go official by the end of this month.
Those who fancy buying their favorite products online usually looking for unbeatable deals, great discounts and offers that enable them to save more money. 2019 11.11 Shopping Festival is slated to kick off on leading online stores including GeekBuying.
The fascinating 1111 Sale offers online shoppers an unmissable chance to get their hands on products across multiple categories at unbeatable prices. To ensure you take full advantage of the imminent event, you must bear these things in mind.
On November 1st, GeekBuying started the Daily Check-In activity as part of the 11.11 shopping festival, giving those who visit the promotion page during the activity period a chance of sharing $11,000,000 coupons. Loaded with craziest deals of the year, the event features big coupon codes that can be used for discounts.
To win an $11.11 OFF coupon on orders valued at $70 or more, you need to check-in at least 7 out of the 10 days. If you check-in at least 5 days, you would qualify for an $11.11 OFF coupon on orders valued at $90 or more. The aforesaid coupons will be valid from November 11th 10:00 to November 13th 16:00 (UTC+8), but you can use them for Lightning and Flash Deals of 11.11 promotion.
Those checking in during 11.04 10:00-11.05 10:00, 11.07 10:00-11.08 10:00 and 11.10 10:00-11.11 10:00 (UTC+8) stand a chance of winning a free gift. In addition to that, you can get $30 off on orders over $300 by applying coupon code 1111GKB30, if you shell out more than $150, you can use coupon code 1111GKB15 and save $15. Coupon code 1111GKB05, on the other hand, can be used to get $5 off on orders over $60, while coupon code 1111GKB02 allows you to save $2 on orders over $10.
As expected, the promotion page features amazing products across various categories. To ensure you do not waste a lot of time finding the product you are looking for, these heavily-discounted items have been placed under specific categories including Flash Deals, Top Sellers, Top Tech, Hot Electronics, Outdoors & Toys, Smart Home, and More Deals.
The Flash Deals category, for instance, includes the On Sale Now sub-category wherein users can purchase top-end products without breaking the bank. Loaded with amazing electronic items, the Hot Electronics category gives you a chance to buy electronic items featured on the activity page at lowered prices.
If you are sports or adventure junky, it is highly recommended that you check out the next section dubbed, Outdoors & Toys. Under this category, you can avail of unmissable discounts on electronic bicycles, gimbal stabilizers, RC drones, etc.
Those looking to get their hands on home appliances haven’t been ignored either. The promotion page on the Chinese online retailer’s website includes a Smart Home section. Moreover, GeekBuying will be offering noteworthy discounts on laptops, TV Boxes, cameras, drones, and apparel, as part of the 24Hr Flash Deals.
As if that weren’t enough, GeekBuying is giving its loyal users to win amazing gifts. Participants stand a chance of winning Xiaomi Mix 3 smartphone, KUGOO S1 electronic bicycle, Tronsmart T6 Plus Bluetooth speaker and the AMAZFIT GTR smartwatch.
JESIS PSSD P1 500GB Portable External Solid State Drive
We will be checking out the discount GeekBuying is currently doling out on the JESIS PSSD P1 500GB Portable External Solid State Drive, and show how you can save a considerable amount of more money at the time of checking out. So without further ado, let’s delve straight into the details.
The 500GB JESIS PSSD P1 variant would normally set you back a pretty penny, whether you purchase from an online or an offline store, but GeekBuying is offering it for only $128.99. This is a 26 percent reduction in the device’s original asking price of $173.99.
If that doesn’t impress you much, you can use coupon code 3YJY66NC and grab an extra $15 off at the time of checking out. In other words, you can bring the original asking price of the JESIS PSSD P1 500GB Portable External Solid State Drive further down to just $113.99 simply by applying the aforesaid coupon during the checkout process.
Although available for an unbeatable price, is the JESIS PSSD P1 worth your money? This question has probably popped into your head, and we can check out the features and specifications of this portable external SSD to answer that. Powered by the original high-speed transmission chip, the JESIS PSSD P1 is a compact and easy-to-carry external solid-state drive.
Weighing in at just 49 grams, the JESIS PSSD P1 has dimensions of 74 x 35 x 8 .5mm. Furthermore, this ultra-lightweight supports multi-terminal file transfer that enables you to work and learn more efficiently.
Moreover, the JESIS PSSD P1 is housed in a high-strength zinc alloy body that not only enhances the overall outward appearance of the device but also makes it highly durable. As far as connectivity is concerned, the external SSD features original data line factory C type 10GB/s high-speed rugged transmission.
The silver-tinted external solid-state drive ships with a hearty 500GB of storage capacity for you to save your favorite multimedia content without worrying about running out of storage space. Aside from that, the JESIS PSSD P1 is compatible with Windows OS, Mac OS Linux, OS Android operating systems, and works with mobile devices that support OTG functionality for Android 4.0 or higher.
The portable SSD delivers a max sequential read speed of up to 500 MB/s, and max sequential write speed of up to 440 MB/s. In terms of interface, the JESIS PSSD P1 comes with a Usb3.1-gen2. Furthermore, the device supports a one-click smart app backup so that you do not end losing important data. Inside the box, you get one JESIS PSSD P1 Portable External Solid State Drive, along with a user manual.
You can visit this link to check out more details about the JESIS PSSD P1 500GB Portable External Solid State Drive and place your order. In addition to the aforesaid coupon code, you can use a 2% OFF Coupon for an extra discount if this is your first order with GeekBuying.
Love shopping for your favorite products online without breaking the bank? Now, the time! With the world’s biggest shopping event just around the corner, online retailers have started rolling out great deals to attract consumers, and you can take full advantage of this.
To offer the best bang for your buck, Banggood has come up with the Double 11 Global Shopping Festival event, wherein the Chinese online store will be doling out great discounts on products across multiple categories. As part of the upcoming 1.11 (or double 11) global shopping festival, Banggood is offering products manufactured by the Xiaomi ecological chain and other popular manufacturers at lowered prices.
The activity has been split into two sections including Warming-Up Sale, and the Blowout Sale. The Warming-Up Sale kicked off on November 1st and will include brand big coupons, along with other hot deals. It will end on November 11th at 10:00 (UTC+8).
The Blowout Sale, on the other hand, will start on November 11th at 10:00, immediately after the Warming-Up Sale comes to an end. This activity is slated to end on November 12th at 16:00 (UTC+8). The Blowout Sale, on the other hand, will start on November 11th, as soon as the Warming-Up Sale ends.
It will offer Banggood users a chance to win free gifts, and get a whopping 50 percent off during the first 24 hours of the activity. The Blowout Sale will end on November 12th at 16:00 (UTC+8).
During the Doble 11 Shopping Festival, Banggood users will have access to big coupon codes that they can use to get noteworthy discounts. For instance, you can grab 20 percent off by applying coupon code BGdiiib, 10 percent off by using coupon code amazfit100, get 10 percent discount by using coupon code BGi70mai, and a 13 percent off by applying coupon code BGWow4 at the time of checking out.
Among a slew of other top-branded products, Banggood is doling out significant discounts on a slew of amazing products by the Xiaomi ecological chain. To make the search process less taxing, these products have carefully been placed under specific categories.
The first section dubbed Must Buy features some of Xiaomi’s well-received products including the Redmi Note 8 and the FIMI X8 SE RC drone quadcopter. More importantly, you can get these items without burning a hole in your pocket.
For example, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage space would normally set you back $279.99, but you can get it for just $271.08, provided you place your order during the activity period. On top of that, you get the BlitzWolf BW-TC14 3A USB Type-C Charging Data Cable worth $4.50 as a free gift with your purchase.
The first 500 pieces have been associated with coupon code BGN8411 to bring the retail price of the Redmi Note 8 down to just $169.99. Likewise, coupon code BGN8311 that reduces the phone’s original asking price to just $174.99 will be valid for the first 10 pieces. You can buy the phone for $179.99 by applying coupon code BGN8211 at checkout.
The next category called Flash Deals comprises the ongoing offer, as well as the other flash deals that are slated to begin on November 3rd, November 5th, and November 7th. As part of the ongoing Flash Deals, you can get your hands on highly useful products at lowered prices.
For the sake of an instance, the Xiaomi Mijia BT4.0 Bluetooth Wireless Smart Electric Digital Indoor&Outdoor Hygrometer Thermometer Measuring Tools Set usually retails for $25.99, but you can now buy it for just $22.89, thanks to a 12 percent discount. Moreover, Banggood is giving free shipping on orders over $19.99.
The Unbeatable Price section features products that have been split into three sub-categories including Under $9.99, $9.9=$19.9, and $19.9-$39.9. Each sub-category is teeming with amazing items that usually carry steep price tags but are currently available for reduced prices.
Drone enthusiasts can head straight to the next section, which is called RC Toys. Under this category, you can grab up to 50 percent off on RC toys from leading manufacturers such as Eachine, Xiaomi FIMI, beva, populete, and more.
In addition to carrying discounts, select products have also been assigned coupon codes that you can use to save more money. Crammed with tools that come in handy in day to day life, the next section on the activity page offers significant discounts, and a chance to save more money with coupon code BGUNH2.
For example, the 70mai 11100mAh Car Lithium Jump Starter Powerbank usually sells for $89.59, but you can reduce its original selling price simply by applying coupon code BG2470MAI before placing your order. In addition to that, those placing their first order with Banggood can take advantage of the $100 New User coupon.
Smart devices have become an inseparable part of our fast-paced lifestyle. Regrettably, they don’t come cheap. To make top-notch smart devices such as smartphones, and smart wearables available to cost-conscious buyers, Banggood is offering great discounts on smart products from AMAZFIT, Baseus, QCY, and XGIMI.
There’s up to 30 percent off on Ticwatch from the Xiaomi ecosystem. The brand comprises amazing smart wearables such as the Ticwatch Pro, Ticwatch E2, Ticwatch C2, Ticwatch S2, and a myriad of other Ticwatch accessories. Some devices have also been assigned coupon codes for extra discounts.
If you have kids in the house, or are always on the go, keeping your house clean and tidy all the time can prove to be an arduous task. Thankfully, the market is brimming with home appliances that can efficiently handle these chores, while adding more elegant to your house.
You can now get up to 50 percent off on home supplies during this Banggood Double 11 Global Shopping Festival. The category features highly useful products from popular brands such as Circle Joy, deerma, roborock, and more.
Similarly, you can get your hands on outdoor and car accessories under the concluding section dubbed Outdoor & Auto & Motor. The category offers an extra 20 percent off on outdoor brand deals via coupon code BG13thM120. Note that the coupon will specifically be valid for Xiaomi-branded products.
The other brands featured under this section are 70mai, smart4U, Yunmai and more. You can visit the promotion page by following this link to grab great discounts on all hot brands.
Let’s travel back in time to early 2011 when the first phone with a dual-camera, the HTC Evo 3D, was announced. It had two 5MP cameras and the reason for the extra camera was so owners could use both cameras to capture stereoscopic 3D images to view on its 3D screen.
It has been eight years now and the highest number of rear cameras on a smartphone is now six and that record is held by the Nokia 9 PureView which has five 12MP cameras and a ToF 3D camera. This week one of the most anticipated phones will launch in China and its selling point is its cameras. This device is the Mi CC9 Pro and it will launch with five rear cameras which includes a telephoto camera, a portrait camera, an ultrawide camera, and a 108MP primary rear camera which is the highest resolution camera on a commercially available phone.
Mi CC9 Pro and its five rear cameras
Five cameras is sure a lot of cameras to have on a device and it may become a trend seeing as quad-rear cameras were pretty popular this year. So, for this week’s poll, we are asking our readers “How many rear cameras are enough?”
Do take the poll and we will appreciate it if you shared your opinion about the phone industry’s craze with multiple cameras.
Yesterday we showed you the top 7 best flagship smartphones of November 2019. But not everyone can afford a flagship and not everyone really needs it. That is why we usually publish an article about the best value for money smartphones of the month as well. This ranking contains only smartphones released in the last period as it does not make sense for us to publish a new article every month with old devices. If you do not like the handsets in this ranking and you want to know other valid affordable devices, read our previous article published last month.
Redmi Note 8 Pro
Top 7 best value for money Android smartphones
Realme X2 and X2 Pro
Realme X2 Pro PoseidonRealme X2
In just a few months, Realme faced a huge growth thanks to the high quality-price ratio of its devices. And when it comes to value for money, we recommend its most powerful devices: the upper-midrange Realme X2 and the flagship killer Realme X2 Pro. They are fueled by the Snapdragon 730G and the Snapdragon 855+ chipsets respectively, and they carry incredibly affordable price tags. The former starts from just €299 in the global market, while the latter starts from €399 and it is the most affordable flagship with Snapdragon 855+ sold globally. Both have a Super AMOLED display with the Realme X2 Pro supporting even the HDR10+ standard and a high 90 Hz refresh rate. And both come with a 64 MP quad camera on their rear side. The Realme X2 Pro even supports a very fast 50W charging technology reaching 100 percent in just 35 minutes.
The Redmi Note 8 line-up is another series of very high value for money smartphones. The Redmi Note 8 Pro is one of the most performing devices sold for less than €250 globally thanks to its Helio G90T chipset boasting similar performances to the Snapdragon 730G (even better, according to benchmarks, but a higher energy consumption). The Redmi Note 8 Pro is also a 64 MP quad camera phone and it sports a huge 4500 mAh battery. Redmi Note 8 is an affordable variant sold for less than €200 and fueled by the Snapdragon 665 chipset. It boasts a 48 MP quad camera and a 4000 mAh battery.
If you need an amazing camera phone but you have a limited budget, then you should go for the Oppo Reno2. On its rear side, it sports a quad camera setup including a bright 48 MP sensor with an f/1.7 focal aperture and optical stabilization. The Oppo Reno2 also comes with a premium design with a glass back, an aluminum frame and a notch-less display, thanks to a shark fin pop-up selfie camera including a soft LED flash. Oppo Reno 2 is equipped with a long-lasting 4000 mAh battery and a wide 6.5-inch AMOLED display. Its price starts from €499 globally, but you can pay it fewer thanks to street prices and a lot of promotions running in this period.
OnePlus 7T is a complete flagship sold at a not so high price. It offers an amazing hardware department composed of a Snapdragon 855+ chipset, 8 GB of RAM and UFS 3.0 native storage. OnePlus 7T sports an awesome AMOLED display with a 90 Hz refresh rate, full DCI P3 coverage and HDR10+, as well as a wide 6.65-inch diagonal. Besides being a perfect multimedia and productivity device it is also a pretty good camera phone with its triple camera including a 48 MP f/1.6 lens, OIS and 2x optical zoom. Its 3800 mAh battery is not among the biggest ones, but it lasts, thanks to great software optimization.
Xiaomi recently unveiled its latest affordable flagship: Mi 9 Pro, accompanied by a 5G variant. Both are affordable flagships, but obviously the 5G version costs more. Do not confuse it with the Mi 9T Pro as we are talking about very different devices. This one is powered by the Snapdragon 855+ chipset and it supports both fast wireless charging (whopping 30W) and reverse wireless charging, while Mi 9T Pro has the Snapdragon 855 and not any kind of wireless charging. Unfortunately, the camera department does not differ so much at camera quality compared to the Mi 9T Pro also known as the Redmi K20 Pro. It lacks OIS and a depth sensor, as well as a pop-up front camera.
Samsung Galaxy M30s is what we call a battery phone. With its huge 6000 mAh battery, it can last two days even with intensive usage. But the battery is not its only advantage: it even boasts pretty nice performance if we consider its price, thanks to the Exynos 9611 chipset paired with up to 6 GB of RAM. The camera is not the best of its niche, but it includes an ultrawide sensor. There is also a bright Super AMOLED Full HD+ display.
Last but not least, a flagship: the Huawei Mate 30 is the affordable variant of the Mate 30 series, but it still does not have weak points. Its display is simply amazing with its wide 6.62-inch diagonal and HDR10, as well as its Kirin 990 paired with 8 GB RAM and UFS 3.0 storage. It even boasts an astonishing 40 MP triple camera with 3x optical zoom and OIS, as well as a huge 4200 mAh battery with fast wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.
Realme is rolling out an update to the Realme 3 Pro that brings some interesting new features. The update brings also includes some optimizations and removes some annoyances.
Arriving as RMX1851EX_11_A.20, the update includes October 2019’s security patch, Dark Mode, a new charging animation, and a toggle in the notification center to easily switch between SIMs.
Below is the full changelog:
Security
● Android security patch: October 2019
System
Added Dark Mode.
● Updated charging animation.
● Added fast switch toggle between SIM in the notification center.
Notification Center and Status Bar
● Removed the reminder when the hotspot is enabled.
● Removed the prompt when the phone is rooted.
● Added option to swipe down on the home screen for global search or notification center.
Settings
● Added Realme Laboratory.
● Added option for notification dots for updates.
Touch
● Updated firmware version to optimize the gaming experience.
The Realme 3 Pro was announced in April of this year. It has a 6.3-inch FHD+ display with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The device has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 710 processor under the hood and comes with 4GB or 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage. There is a 16MP camera on the rear along with a 5MP depth sensor and a fingerprint scanner. You also get a 25MP camera in front for video calls and selfies.
The phone has a 4045mAh battery with support for VOOC 3.0 (20W) fast-charge technology albeit via a MicroUSB port. There is still an audio jack thankfully and Realme says it will get updated to Android 10 in Q1 2020.
The Galaxy S10 series family is a large one already with members including the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10+, and Galaxy S10 5G. In the past couple of weeks, news of a new model called the Galaxy S10 Lite has surfaced. The latest info is the phone’s battery capacity and it dwarfs that of some of its siblings.
The info is from Brazil’s equivalent of the FCC, ANATEL. Technical documents reveal the Galaxy S10 Lite with model number SM-G770/DS will have a 4370mAh battery. This is larger than that of the Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy S10+ but just a little smaller than that of the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G.
The Galaxy S10 Lite will have a Snapdragon 855 processor, 8GB of RAM and run Android 10 according to a Geekbench result. It has also been reported to pack a 6.7-inch FHD+ sAMOLED screen, triple rear cameras in a 48MP + 12MP + 5MP configuration and a 32MP selfie camera. However, its release date is still unknown.
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A WARN letter aka Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification is a mandated notice that employers must provide to state governments in the event of major layoffs. The previously mentioned layoffs will be effective from the 31st of December and the affected employees do not have any bumping rights. The WARN letter does not specify how many of the layoffs would be in Austin and how many in California.
