Honor 9X with 8 GB RAM goes on sale in China

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Oct 1, 2019

The Honor 9X was introduced alongside the Honor 9X Pro smartphone in China in August. The handset has been available for purchase in 4 GB and 6 GB RAM editions. From today, Honor is selling the highest variant of the phone with 8 GB of RAM in China.

The newly introduced 8 GB RAM model of the Honor 9X has 128 GB of native storage. It carries a pricing of 2,099 Yuan (~$293). The poster shared by Honor shows that the new model comes in Black and Blue color editions. The Honor 9X can be also purchase in other models such as 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage for 1,399 Yuan (~$195), 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage for 1,599 Yuan (~$223) and 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage for 1,899 Yuan (~$265). The color variants of the Honor 9X include Magic Night Black, Charm Sea Blue, Charm Red and Icelandic White.

Editor’s Pick: Europe’s Honor 9X Pro will differ from Chinese version

Honor 9X Specifications

The Honor 9X is a glass-bodied phone that comes with an IPS LCD display of 6.59-inches. It produces full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The 7nm Kirin 810 chipset is present under the hood of the device.

The rear side of the Honor 9X has a primary sensor of 48-megapixel with f/1.8 aperture. It is assisted by f/2.4 aperture 2-megapixel depth sensor. It is equipped with an f/2.2 aperture 16-megapixel selfie snapper.

The Honor 9X has a side-mounted fingerprint reader. The smartphone has a 4,000mAh battery with 10W charging support through USB-C. The EMUI 9.1flavored Android 9 Pie OS runs on the Honor 9X.

In related news, Honor is rumored to hold a launch event by the end of this month. The Chinese manufacturer is expected the Honor V30 5G phone along with Magic series and Note series smartphones. The V30 5G and Magic 3 smartphones will be fueled by the new Kirin 990 chipset whereas the Honor Note phone could be featuring the Kirin 810 SoC, 64-megapixel camera and 20W fast charging technology. The V30 5G is rumored to come equipped with an elliptical punch-hole on the top-left corner of the display. There is no information available on the specs of the rumored Honor Magic 3 smartphone.

Vivo NEX 3 5G’s 12 GB RAM variant is available for purchase from today

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Oct 1, 2019

On Sept. 16, Vivo had launched the Vivo NEX 3 and NEX 3 5G smartphones with marvelous waterfall display. The Chinese manufacturer began with the reservations of the 12 GB RAM + 256 GB edition of the smartphone on Sept. 28 in China. Beginning from today, the 12 GB RAM edition of NEX 3 5G is available for purchase.

The 12 GB RAM edition of the Vivo NEX 3 5G comes in Black color only. It is priced at 6,198 Yuan (~$321). It can be availed through Vivo China’s online store, Tmall, Jingdong Mall and Suning. The other variants of the NEX 3 5G include 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. They are respectively priced at 4998 Yuan (~$699) and 5,698 Yuan (~$797). It can be bought in colors like Black and Blue.

Editor’s Pick: Top Xiaomi Smart Products of September 2019

Vivo NEX 3 5G Specifications and Features

The Vivo NEX 3 5G is a large-sized phone that features a 6.89-inch S-AMOLED display. The notch-less screen offers full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2256 pixels. The display of the phone is embedded with an in-screen fingerprint reader. Vivo claims that the smartphone offers a screen space of 93.6 percent.

The Snapdragon 855+ mobile platform that works at 2.96GHz is present under the hood of the device. The smartphone comes with up to 12 GB of RAM. There is no microSD card slot on the device but comes with up to 256 GB of UFS 3.0 storage.

The rear side of the NEX 3 5G has a 64-megapixel Samsung GW1 sensor with f/1.8 aperture as primary lens. It is assisted with a telephoto lens of 13-megapixel with f/2.5 aperture and a ultrawide sensor of 13-mgeapixel with f/2.2 aperture. The pop-up camera module of the phone has a 16-megapixel selfie camera and an LED flash.

The FunTouch OS 9.1 based Android 9 Pie OS runs on the device. The handset is equipped with 3.5mm audio jack. The 4,500mAh battery of the phone is equipped with support for 44W fast charging through USB-C.

OPPO K5 (CPH1976) certified by NBTC in Thailand

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Oct 1, 2019

On Oct. 10, OPPO will be holding a launch event in China. The event will be used to announce the OPPO Reno Ace and OPPO K5 smartphones. The OPPO K5 for China has a model number of PCNM00. An international variant of the phone with model number CPH1976 has been approved by Thailand’s NBTC agency. This indicates that soon after its debut in China, the OPPO K5 could be soon arriving in Thailand and other markets.

The OPPO K5 has already appeared on TENAA with its entire specifications. Originally, only the 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage edition of the phone was mentioned in its TENAA listing. The listing was updated with more variants in the previous week. The update listing reveals that the phone will also come in models such as 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage.

Editor’s Pick: All OPPO Upper Mid-Range & Flagship Smartphones in 2020 will have 5G

OPPO K5 Specifications and Features

The OPPO K5 has a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with dewdrop notch. Like the predecessor K-series phones from the company, the OPPO K5 also features an in-screen fingerprint reader. The rear shell of the phone has a quad camera system that houses a 64-megapixel main lens that is coupled with other sensors such as an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera, a 2-megapixel macro lens and a 2-megapixel depth assist sensor. For shooting selfies, the phone is equipped with a front camera of 32-megapixel. The ColorOS 6.1 based Android 9 Pie OS runs on the device.

The Snapdragon 730G chipset powered smartphone has been already been spotted on Geekbench benchmarking platform with 2508 single-core and 6762 multi-core scores. The smartphone has a 4,500mAh battery. It will be arriving as the first OPPO branded smartphone with VOOC 4.0 Flash Charge technology. The new rapid charging technology from the Chinese firm allows a phone with 4,000mAh battery to gain 67 percent battery from scratch in just 30 minutes. It can be completely charged in 73 minutes. As of this writing, there is no information available on the pricing of the OPPO K5 smartphone.

Vivo V1936A 3C certified; Could be arriving as iQOO Lite

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Oct 1, 2019

Yesterday, a leakster from China had revealed that Vivo’s iQOO brand is gearing up to launch a Snapdragon 855 powered edition of the iQOO Neo smartphone that gone official in July. A new Vivo phone with model number V1936A is believed to be the rumored iQOO Neo sequel. It is speculated that it may arrive in the market as iQOO Lite.

The 3C listing of the Vivo V1936A reveals that its retail package may include a charger that support 33W fast charging. Rumors surrounding the iQOO Neo sequel have revealed that it will be arriving with 33W fast charging support. This suggests that the newly spotted V1936A could be the next iQOO smartphone. Hopefully, the Vivo V1936A may appear on TENAA’s database soon with its entire specifications.

Editor’s Pick: Top Xiaomi Smart Products of September 2019

Could be it called Vivo iQOO Lite?

The Snapdragon 855 mobile platform powered iQOO phone supports 44W rapid charging whereas the iQOO Neo that features the older Snapdragon 845 carries support for 22.5W charging. Since the iQOO Neo’s sequel is rumored to be equipped with Snapdragon 855 as well as 33W fast charging, it could be slotted between the iQOO and iQOO Neo in the market. Vivo had recently trademarked NEX Pro, NEX Neo, NEX Lite, Vivox Pro, Vivox Lite and iQOO Lite with EUIPO. iQOO is yet to launch a smartphone with iQOO Lite name. The moniker looks suitable for the newly Vivo V1936A. However, it is advisable to wait for further reports to know about its name.

So far, it is known that the alleged iQOO Lite will come equipped with an OLED screen with a waterdrop notch. Like the other iQOO phones, it is expected to come equipped with an in-display fingerprint reader. The handset may house a 4,500mAh battery.

The purported iQOO Lite smartphone is to arrive with an attractive price tag. The highest configuration model of the iQOO Lite that has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage costs 2,298 Yuan (~$321). On the other side, the 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage base model of the Vivo iQOO phone carries a pricing of 2,698 Yuan (~$369). The rumored iQOO Lite could be priced around 2,398 Yuan (~$335). Since it is just assumption, it is advisable for some reliable information to appear to know about its pricing.

(via)

Meizu 16T Launch invite reveals an October 23 launch date

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 30, 2019

The Meizu 16T has been in and out of the news all year long but it seems the device is finally set to go official. A leaked invitation has appeared which points to the launch of the Meizu 16T in China and October 23.

The launch event will be held in Beijing and promises “big screen entertainment”, obviously referring to the immersive screen ratio. The Meizu 16T was earlier spotted by AnTuTu on its database, revealing some key specifications.

The 16T is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset which is the same one on the Meizu 16s. The 16T is also shown to come with a 1080 x 2232 pixels resolution and a tall aspect ratio of 18.5:9. The upcoming flagship had also appeared on TENAA revealing it wil have a 6.5-inch OLED screen. This is bigger than the 6.2inch display found on the Meizu 16s Pro and Meizu 16s. The 16T comes in 6GB + 128GB variant as well as 8GB + 256GB.

Further, the Meizu 16T comes with a 4400mAh battery and will run on Android 9.0 Pie. The phone packs a 12MP+10MP+5MP triple camera sensor. At the front, there is a16MP selfie camera. We must note that the Meizu 16s boasts of a more powerful 48MP + 20MP + 16MP triple camera.

(source)

BEST Xiaomi Smart Products of September 2019

By

Michele Ingelido

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Sep 30, 2019

Unlike a lot of people around the world think, Xiaomi is not only phones. The Chinese giant expanded in most of the hi-tech sector with several kinds of products, and it is still expanding every day more. Every year, the company launches dozen of smart products which do not belong to the smartphones market but still provide innovative smart features. Even this month, the company came up with so many products that it is very hard to remember them all. That is why, in this article, we will show you the top Xiaomi smart products launched or announced in September 2019.

1Xiaomi Mi TV Pro

TVs are among the key sectors of Xiaomi’s business. The company recently unveiled the new flagship-class Mi TV Pro alongside the innovative Mi Mix Alpha, and it officially went on sale in China three days after. The Mi TV Pro debuted in three variants with 43 inches, 55 inches, and 65 inches screens: the 55-inch version went sold out in a short while after the launch. The Mi TV Pro is amazing because it supports 8K content reproduction, despite it has just a 4K LCD display. It comes with a great build quality as its rear panel is composed of an optimized aluminum alloy with a 3D carbon fiber texture. The TV is powered by the Amlogic T972 chipset running at frequencies up to 1.9 GHz and paired with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. It is bundled with a Bluetooth remote which supports voice input.

You can read more about the Xiaomi Mi TV Pro here.

2XiaoAI Speaker

The XiaoAI Speaker and the XiaoAI Speaker Pro released on September 17 are not classic Bluetooth speakers. They are smart speakers just like Amazon’s Echo speakers and the Google Home lineup, but they support XiaoAI virtual assistant instead of Alexa or Google Assistant. They have a Hi-Fi audio processing chip and they support a 360-degree sound field as well as a professional DTS tuning. XiaoAI Speakers can be used to control up to 5000 smart home appliances with deep support to dedicated voice controls. Both the speakers were launched in China and they carry $38 and $42 price tags respectively.

You can read more about the XiaoAI Speaker here.

3Xiaomi Hey Plus 1S

The Mi Band series is the main line-up of fitness smart bands by Xiaomi, but it is not the only one. Last year, the Hey Plus line-up anticipated the Mi Band series with a model sporting a similar design to the Mi Band 3. That is why we believe the newly-announced Hey Band 1S may sport a similar form factor to the upcoming Mi Band 5. The Hey Plus 1S has a new design adopting a rectangular shape for the display instead of an elliptical shape. The smart band has an integrated NFC module and a 0.95-inch AMOLED display with 24-bit true color and a pixel density of up to 282 ppi. It has a 50 ATM water resistance and a 120 mAh battery lasting up to 18 days. And it costs just $25.

You can read more about the Xiaomi Hey Plus 1S here.

4Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 3 50W

In September, Xiaomi launched one of the fastest power banks ever brought to the shelves. It is a variant of the known Mi Power Bank 3 with the support to 50W fast charging and a capacity of 20,000 mAh. It measures 153.5 x 73.5 x 27.5 mm and it rocks 2 USB-A ports and a USB-C port, as well as a USB-C charging port. It is still not on sale, but we know it will carry a price tag equivalent to about $42 at the actual change.

You can read more about the Mi Power Bank 3 50W here.

5Xiaomi heated goose down jacket 3.0

This is not a launched product but it was just crowdfunded on the Youpin crowdfunding platform in China. We are talking about a new heated goose down jacked with smart temperature control. The key feature is the fact that it can be powered by a classic power bank. According to Xiaomi, a 10,000 mAh power bank can deliver continuous heating of the jacket for up to 7 hours. That is a lot for a heated down jacket, enough to withstand a very cold working day. The jacket uses 90% high-quality white goose down, a smart three-speed temperature control design and a waterproof fabric texture thanks to which you do not have to worry about rain. For all the crowdfunding period it will be available for $70.

You can read more about the Xiaomi’s heated jacket from here.

6Xiaomi Mi Pocket Photo Printer

The Mi Pocket Photo Printer went on crowdfunding a few weeks ago with a price of 299 Yuan and it will start shipping on October 2. It is one of the smallest photo printers ever and, just like its name suggests, it fits even in a pocket. It has an ABS/PC chassis and it uses ZINK inkless printing technology. It is even equipped with the support of AR photos and music. There are several print formats available in the companion app.

You can read more about the Mi Pocket Photo Printer here.

7Xiaomi 30W wireless charger

Besides the 50W wired power bank mentioned above, Xiaomi also announced an incredibly fast wireless charger on September 2019. It is a vertical air-cooled wireless charger supporting the power of up to 30W: just like the fast wireless charging technology found on the new Mi 9 Pro 5G flagship. Xiaomi claims its heat dissipation technology works very well and its ergonomic tilt design resembles a kickstand. It is not just for Xiaomi phones: you can use it with most of the phones which support wireless charging as it supports the Qi charging technology. It costs just $28, but we still do not know when it will go on sale.

You can read more about the Xiaomi 30W Wireless Charging Stand here.

8Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro 2

Alongside the Mi Mix Alpha and the Mi 9 Pro 5G, Xiaomi launched the new Mi AirDots Pro 2. In case you still did not get it after reading their name: they are valid and affordable alternatives to the AirPods. These wireless earbuds support the Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity and LDHC Hi-Res audio codec, as well as smart voice controls and dual microphones for environmental noise cancellation. If you have a Xiaomi phone running MIUI, you can easily connect them to your device by just opening the case and picking up the earphones. They even come with an infrared sensor for intelligent wear detection, so that they can automatically pause the music when you remove them from your ears. They went on sale in China on September 27 with a $56 price tag.

You can read more about the Mi Airdots Pro 2 here.

So which was your favorite Xiaomi smart product this month?

Buy STmagic SPT31 Mini Portable M.2 SSDs for Lowered Prices from GeekBuying [Coupons]

By

Vinay Patel

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Sep 30, 2019

A portable solid-state drive (SSD) enables you to carry your favorite data with you wherever you go.

STmagic SPT31 512G Mini Portable M.2 SSD

If you are in the market for inexpensive, yet reliable and portable SSDs that strike a perfect balance between speed, capacity, and mobility, you’ve come to the right place. GeekBuying is giving you a chance to get your hands on the STmagic SPT31 512G, as well as the STmagic SPT31 256G mini portable SSDs at lowered prices.

We will shed light on the aforesaid discounts and show how you can save a considerable amount of more money at the time of placing your order. So without further ado, let’s delve straight into the details.

STmagic SPT31 256G Mini Portable M.2 SSD

Housed in a precision metal case, the STmagic SPT31 is a highly portable SSD that weighs in at just 40g and has 9mm thickness. Offering a hearty 256GB of internal storage space, the STmagic SPT31 would normally set you back $99.99, but you can now buy it on GeekBuying for a lowered price of only $49.99.

Moreover, you can extend this 50 percent discount with the help of coupon code 3Y66GPHR. The coupon helps you save $5 more by reducing the original asking price of the STmagic SPT31 256G portable SSD to just $44.99.

You can follow this link to avail the discount and use the coupon before it expires. Note that the promo was on the verge of wrapping up at the time of writing.

STmagic SPT31 256G Mini Portable M.2 SSD

STmagic SPT31 512G Mini Portable M.2 SSD

The larger variant of the STmagic SPT31 portable SSD comes with 512GB of onboard storage capacity, giving you ample space for your favorite multimedia content. This variant usually carries a steep $129.99 price tag, but you can buy it for just $69.99 from GeekBuying.

This is a significant 46 percent drop in the device’s original asking price. On top of that, you can grab an extra $7.50 off by applying coupon code 3GY1IANW at the time of checking out. In other words, you can bring the already lowered selling price of the STmagic SPT31 512G further down to $62.49 even before placing your order.

You can follow this link to take full advantage of the coupon and place your order. It is worth noting that the promotion is slated to end in just two days.

STmagic SPT31 512G Mini Portable M.2 SSD

Buy HL Happy Life Aromatherapy Humidifier Diffuser for Just $15.99 from Banggood [Coupon]

By

Vinay Patel

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Sep 30, 2019

Dry air in your home can irritate your skin, nose, and even throat. People usually end up spending a lot of money trying to take care of this problem by installing an air humidifier in their homes.

One of the most important benefits of an air humidifier is that it makes your home environment less favorable to cold and flu germs. On the downside, a top-brand air humidifier doesn’t come cheap.

If you are in the market for an inexpensive air humidifier, you’d normally wind up buying a device that does not meet your expectations in terms of performance. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get your hands on a feature-laden air humidifier from a popular brand without emptying your pockets? Banggood is doing exactly that for its loyal users.

In collaboration with Happy Life (Xiaomi Ecological Chain), the Chinese online store which is known for offering the best bang for your buck is giving you a chance to own the HL Health Life 120ML Portable USB Aroma Air Humidifier without burning a hole in your pocket. On top of that, we will show how you can save more money.

The highly portable air humidifier from Happy Life would normally set you back $36.28, but you can now buy it for a lowered price of $28.15 from Banggood. As if that weren’t enough, you can extend this 22 percent discount by using coupon code BGPurifier2 at checkout.

The aforesaid coupon helps you save $12.16 more by reducing the retail price of the HL Health Life Air Humidifier to just $15.99. On top of that, you get free shipping on orders over $19.99.

Designed to release a soothing fragrant mist without making a lot of noise, the HL Happy Life Aromatherapy Humidifier makes your home smell better, using advanced ultrasonic vaporizing diffusion technology. It adds moisture to the air, allowing you to sleep well, cough less while easing dry sinuses.

To know more about the HL Happy Life Aromatherapy Humidifier Diffuser and to place your order, simply follow this link. Note that the coupon will be valid until October 31st only.

HL Happy Life Aromatherapy Humidifier Diffuser

Realme X2 Pro officially teased to come with a 90 Hz display

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 30, 2019

Realme‘s Chief Marketing Officer teased a new phone earlier today which bears the moniker Realme X2 Pro. The device is shown to be a flagship model that would be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset. Another Realme official, this time the Chief Product Officer has also revealed an important detail of the model and this time around, it is the fact that the device will come with a 90 Hz screen refresh rate which can be toggled between 60 Hz and 90 Hz.

The OnePlus 7T was recently launched and one of the standout features is a 90Hz display refresh rate. The Realme exec had earlier teased this feature and also disclosed that the device will be cheaper than the OnePlus 7T. Interestingly, OnePlus and Realme are owned by BBK Electronics and OnePlus is known for its cheap flagship models.

The full specification of the Realme X2 Pro is not known but a recent Bluetooth SIG certification for an unknown Realme RMX1931, believed to be the X2 Pro, points to a 6.55-inch full HD display with support for Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity. The device will also run on ColorOS 6.0. It is also expected to retain the 64MP main camera and 32MP selfie shooter onboard the Realme X2.

The smartphone is also expected to release in India since it had recently received approval from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

(source)

Hyundai is developing Flying Cars with an ex-NASA aeronautics engineer as head

By

Joel Joseph

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Sep 30, 2019

Flying cars are probably our future of transportation, and Hyundai is keen to grab a piece of this market. Hyundai Motor Group has just launched a new Urban Air Mobility Division that is concerned with the development of commercial flying car technology. The company’s interest in this field isn’t surprising given that the urban air mobility sector is expected to grow into a $1.5 trillion USD market in the next 20 years.

bell-nexus-2 flying car — This is the BELL NEXUS flying car concept showcased at CES 2019

Hyundai’s air mobility division will be headed by Dr. Jaiwon Shin, an experienced aeronautics engineer who used to lead NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. He has overseen projects that include a supersonic X-plane, UAS traffic management, and Urban Air Mobility. Under Dr. Shin’s leadership, Hyundai wants to establish itself ‘as a driving force in urban air mobility’.

The Urban Air Mobility division will be involved in coming up with innovative and smart solutions to ever-increasing traffic problems across the globe. Flying cars could be one of these solutions.

Flying cars has been a concept that has long piqued the interest of companies such as Uber and Volocopter. With Hyundai jumping into this emerging industry, it remains to be seen whether we’ll be able to see a commercial flying taxi or car anytime in the next 10 years.

What do you think?

Samsung Galaxy Fold 5G is receiving its first update, but don’t get too excited

By

Joel Joseph

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Sep 30, 2019

Samsung’s Galaxy Fold finally made its way out of South Korea recently. The company’s first foldable is already available to purchase in the U.S. and will soon be made available in other regions such as India and UAE. Now it looks like the first update to the Galaxy Fold 5G is rolling out to its users.

Even if you are a Galaxy Fold user, you may have nothing to get excited about this new update for two major reasons. First, this update is limited to the Galaxy Fold 5G edition that’s currently being sold in South Korea. If you remember, in the U.S., Samsung is selling the non-5G version of the device. Second, even if you are a proud owner of the Galaxy Fold 5G, note that the update is a minor one and doesn’t bring any significant new features to the device.

So despite being the first update to the Galaxy Fold since its release, most international users won’t be eligible for this one.

(Via)

You’ll get a FREE Gamepad with your Black Shark 2 Pro purchase in Europe

By

Joel Joseph

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Sep 30, 2019

Xiaomi’s gaming subsidiary, Black Shark is all set to release its latest gaming flagship smartphone, the Black Shark 2 Pro in Europe next week. The phone officially goes on sale in the region via its first flash sale on October 9. In order to make things interesting, Black Shark is throwing in a FREE Gamepad with your purchase alongside a few more perks.

Apart from getting the gamepad for free, Black Shark is also offering 50% discount on any gaming accessories for the device. So if you are interested in this Snapdragon 855 plus powered gaming flagship, the first sale is likely the best time to get the device as well as some of its accessories.

The gamepad, in particular, is special because it converts the Black Shark 2 Pro into a full-fledged console featuring D-buttons, stick, touchpad, L/R triggers and buttons, and even mappable gameplay buttons. The Gamepad 2.0 is designed to work with some of the most popular Android games in the market including PUBG.

More information can be found at BlackShark.com.

(Via)

Elephone PX Giveaway activity kicks off today, enter for the chance to win the pop-up camera phone!

By

Dimitris Economou

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Sep 30, 2019

After a cancelled Indiegogo campaign and the redesign that the phone went through, the Elephone PX pop-up camera phone is finally here and today the company kicked off the Giveaway campaign. The event will last a whole month and will end on October 30th so this time it’s hard to miss. To participate, all you have to do is claim as many entries as possible through the Gleam platform here.

Now, as far as the full specs of the device are concerned, the mystery remains as the Chinese manufacturer hasn’t revealed much until today. The only specs we can confirm are those that are mentioned on the official page. So, the device will come with a 6.53″ display that covers the most part of the front panel. Of course, it comes with a pop-up camera and judging from the press photos, a dual rear camera will be available as well as a rear-placed fingerprint sensor. We expect the disclosure of the full specs to take place soon.

Paypal becomes the first Foreign Payment platform in China via GoPay

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 30, 2019

PayPal has received the green light to acquire a majority stake in the local payments platform, GoPay. With this approval from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), PayPal has become the first foreign payment platform to enter the Chinese market.

According to the statement from GoPay, PayPal will acquire a 70% controlling stake in the company through one of its subsidiaries called Yinbaobao based in Shanghai. With this move, PayPal will compete with the likes of local payment platforms such as Ant Financial’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay, both of which are extremely popular in China. GoPay has licenses to carry out online as well as mobile transactions.

Although this approval from PBOC may come as off as surprising to many given the recent trade war, it is in line with the statement made by China’s central bank last year. The central bank said that it will open up China’s payments market to foreign companies to improve competition. In this regard, American Express was approved to set up card-clearing services in China late last year.

PayPal is yet to disclose the terms of the deal. But it said that the deal is expected to close by Q4 2019.

(via)

OnePlus 7T Kernel Source code is available now

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 30, 2019

OnePlus’ popularity among smartphone enthusiasts is not just because of its value for money smartphones. The company is also known for its incredible support towards the developer community. Staying true to its popularity, OnePlus has released the kernel source code for the newly announced OnePlus 7T.

The availability of the kernel source code opens up the possibility of building custom ROMs, porting new features to older OnePlus devices and a variety of other customization options. The company has released kerne source for all of its previous smartphones, but it’s refreshing to see the code being available on the OnePlus 7T almost immediately after launch.

OnePlus’ OxygenOS is one of the best implementations of Android today. The OxygenOS 10 based on the latest Android 10 version is already being rolled out to OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro models. Older models like the OnePlus 5T and the 6T are also scheduled to receive the latest update in the coming months. The company is also actively working towards improving the overall OS with the help of user feedback. For example, recently, OnePlus committed to changing its policy of aggressively killing background apps and promised to promote custom ROMs for EOL (End of Life) devices.

(Sources: 1, 2; Via)

Sources hint Trump is considering Delisting Chinese firms from US Stock Exchanges

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Sep 30, 2019

According to data obtained from the website of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, as of February 25, 2019, there were 156 Chinese companies listed on the U.S. exchanges with a total market capitalization of $1.2 trillion. These companies are at risk of getting delisted as three sources familiar with the lingering US/China trade dispute hint that Donald Trump’s administration is considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges.

This would definitely take the dispute to an entirely new level, the outcome of which we can’t predict. The move is said to be part of a broader effort to limit US investment in Chinese companies, two of the sources said. One said it was motivated by the Trump administration’s growing security concerns about the companies’ activities.

The news has triggered a reaction from the stock exchange as major US stock indexes slipped. Shares of some of the Chinese companies listed on the US stock exchanges dropped as a result. Alibaba shares closed at 5.15% lower while that of JD.com fell 5.95% and Baidu Inc declined 3.67%. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF shed 1.15%. Shares of New York Stock Exchange-owner Intercontinental Exchange Inc ended down 1.88% and shares of Nasdaq Inc declined 1.70%.

Delisting a listed company will not be an easy thing to do and at present, it is no clear how that would be done.

(source)

Here’s Why OnePlus 7T doesn’t feature Wireless Charging

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 30, 2019

OnePlus announced its new OnePlus 7T flagship last week featuring top of the line specifications at a really competitive price tag. The phone has all the bells and whistles that you would expect on a 2019 flagship model, except for one major feature: Wireless Charging. OnePlus has traditionally steered clear of this technology citing slow charging speeds. The company’s CEO Pete Lau gives a somewhat similar answer for the absence of wireless charging on the OnePlus 7T as well.

According to Pete, OnePlus wants wireless charging technology to be on par with its Warp Charge speeds. The company is not looking to ‘Settle‘ for anything less. Also, OnePlus is still unable to solve the heating issues associated with wireless charging technology which is why the new model skips on this feature.

While Pete’s comments about wireless charging were true up to a few months back, things have radically changed over the past one month. Xiaomi, Huawei, and OPPO have all announced fast Wireless Charging technologies for their flagship models. For example, the Mi Charge Turbo 30W wireless charging is already available on the Mi 9 Pro 5G. It charges at the same speed as most fast chargers available today. Xiaomi also has a couple of interesting wireless charging accessories that work well with its new smartphone.

20W Xiaomi Wireless Charging Station — Xiaomi also has a special 20W Wireless Charging station

Even the newly announced Mate 30 Pro comes with 27W wireless charging support, the same speed as Mi 9’s fast wired charger. But the most interesting development is OPPO’s VOOC Wireless 30W flash charge technology. The current Warp Charge 30 is actually a licensed version of OPPO’s VOOC charging and it’s extremely likely that this 30W wireless charging tech from OPPO can be used inside OnePlus’ upcoming flagships.

As compared to Samsung’s flagship models, OnePlus’ flagship series miss out on a couple of features like IP rating and wireless charging. But as the company aims to take on the premium segment of the smartphone market, it is imperative that these ‘premium’ features also make it to its devices.

(Source)

Huawei begins trial production of 5nm Kirin 1000 SoC

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Sep 30, 2019

Huawei’s latest processors are the Kirin 990 and Kirin 990 5G. At the moment, they can be only found inside the Mate 30 and the Mate 30 Pro and their 5G versions. The processors will power Huawei and Honor flagship phones for the next year or thereabout before a new flagship SoC will be released. According to new reports, that SoC is already under development and it will be called the Kirin 1000!

According to Huawei Central, the Kirin 1000 will be built on the 5nm process based on info from industry sources. The sources also informed them that the processor will be announced in H2 2019 and first appear in the Huawei Mate 40 series.

The Kirin 1000 will feature the Cortex-A77 cores Arm announced earlier this year and which was expected to be present in the Kirin 990 instead of the Cortex-A76 cores it uses. The A77 brings a 20% improvement in performance and with the switch to a smaller node size, that improvement in performance should be higher.

There are still a lot of unknown details about the processor but that isn’t surprising since there is still about 10 months of waiting before it is announced.

(Source)

Xiaomi MIJIA Air Purifier Pro H with improved Formaldehyde removal launched

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Sep 30, 2019

Xiaomi has launched the MIJIA Air Purifier Pro H in China. The new air purifier comes with several improved features than the MIJIA Air Purifier Pro first launched in 2016. One of the improvement is an enhanced formaldehyde removal which can reach 98.56% in just one hour. The new air purifier also comes with an efficient wind path and faster air purification. The purifier also comes with a price tag of 1699 yuan ($237).

The H which differentiates the name from 2016’s MIJIA Air Purifier Pro is said to stand for “Health”. That is because the air purifier is designed to keep the entire household in good health. It features a high-efficiency HEPA filter that effectively filters out harmful substances such as pollen and bacteria in the air indoors and keeps the family healthy. The H13 HEPA filter can filter 99um particles up to 99.97%. The inner columnar activated carbon can absorb harmful gases or odours such as formaldehyde and toluene, and purify for a long time.

The MIJIA Air Purifier Pro H still adopts the tower design of Xiaomi’s air purifiers and has a very powerful air purification capability. It comes with a higher CADR value of 600m 3 /h. Thus, even in a large space of up to 72 square meters, it can quickly purify the air.

The purifier has an OLED display just like its predecessor and there is a button which can be used to adjust the speed or turn it off. It can also b paired with the MIJIA app in order to keep a tab on the air quality in your house as well as remotely control the gadget. It can also be controlled via voice promote thanks to XiaoAI smart assistant and can be integrated with other MIJIA IoT products.

The MIJIA Air Purifier Pro H is presently available for reservation at Xiaomi Mall and will go on sale on October 9.

Redmi K20 series, Redmi Note 7 series and more get Google Play Services for AR

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Sep 30, 2019

Google’s AR Core was recently renamed to Google Play Services for AR. You would think that every new Android device that launches should support it right out of the box but that isn’t the case. Google has to manually grant support to devices which explains why there are always posts about which devices are now supported.

Apparently, the reason for all devices not having support right out of the box is because Google needs to work with manufacturers to “create a custom calibration profile for each device”. This custom profile is based on the camera configuration of the phone and differs for each phone.

The list gets updated regularly with some devices sometimes showing up even before launch while others are added months after they have been announced. There are also some devices that may never even make

Below is a list of the latest entries on the supported devices list:

If you own one of these devices, Google Play Services for AR should automatically arrive on your device. You can also side-load the APK on to your phone from trusted sources like APKMirror. Once you do that, you can head to the Play Store and download supported apps.

(Via)

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