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Redesigned AirPods 3 with active Noise cancellation discovered in source code of iOS 13.2

Several reports in the past have claimed that Apple will introduce a new design with the second generation of AirPods. However, all of them turned out false after their official unveiling, as the company retained the original design while adding support for wireless charging and incorporating the faster H1 chip.

With that being said, the long-anticipated AirPods with an overhauled design may launch soon. Steve Moser, a contributing writer for MacRumours who also happens to be an iOS developer has shared a Tweet which shows new AirPods design in the beta version of the latest iOS 13.2.

Right of the bat, the new logo for AirPods is significantly different than both the first and second generation of totally wireless earphones from Apple. Instead of a plastic acoustic outlet that sits in the outer ear, they seem to have an in-ear style design with a silicone cap that extends into the ear canal.

Noteworthy, alleged outer casing of the redesigned AirPods was previously leaked by a Chinese supplier and they surprisingly they look exactly like the Icon from iOS 13.2. For reference, the image has been listed below.

If the images are to be believed, not only will the future AirPods have a compact design, the case in which they rest will also shrink in size drastically.

Talking about their design, both the logo and leaked images exhibit a slit on top which is believed to play a crucial role in active noise cancellation that the AirPods have been long rumoured to attain with an updated model.

For readers who don’t know, the active noise cancellation feature allows a pair of earphones or headphones to neutralise unwanted ambient noises so the user can enjoy their audio content without interruptions. Devices equipped with active noise cancellation are capable of analyzing the outside noise and with the help of complex software algorithms, they generate an inverted sound which can cancel the unwanted sound coming from an external source.

Another intriguing finding that can be derived from the image shared by the developer is an Apple device with a top-mounted power button. Even though the power button on Apple iPads is also located on the top, this could be the successor of the iPhone SE which is reported to launch early next year.

To wrap things up, the launch of redesigned AirPods looks imminent. However, in order to verify the claims, we will have to until Apple officially announces them or sends out a statement addressing them.

Stay tuned for future updates.

 

Chinese Telecom providers gear up for 5G Launch, open Pre-orders for Consumer Plans

While South Korea and the UK are one of the early adopters of 5G, three telecom companies in China are now following suit. Earlier this month, China Unicom and China Telecom announced a joint partnership to build and share a nationwide 5G network, and now they have launched pre-orders for 5G data plans.

The two Chinese companies have designated a combined investment of 24 billion yuan ($3.37 billion) for building 5G-related infrastructure this year alone, while the investment figures for the following year are yet to be revealed.

According to the detailed wording or small print, both carriers will notify their customers once the services are rolled out, though a specific date of the same is yet to be provided.

Going by the promotion page on China Telecom’s website, close to 7,00,000 netizens have signed up to pre-order 5G plans which proves that users are eagerly waiting to avail high-speed services that the next generation of telecommunication technology has on offer.

China Telecom has also announced that it will offer tiered discounts for existing customers which will vary depending on the duration they have been with the carrier. Reports suggest similar discounts will also be offered by China Unicom, however, to boost adoption it is offering additional discounts on 5G-enabled smartphones.

According to local media, the third major Chinese telecom operator, China mobile will also reveal 5G plans in the month of October and they are expected to come out soon.

(via)

 

TCL has no plans to launch Blackberry 5G phone anytime soon

Once considered among the flag-bearers of technology in the smartphone industry, Blackberry was on the verge of going out-of-business before the brand was purchased by TCL back in 2016. With the lack of any new models in the past year, Blackberry devices are likely to remain as midrange budget offerings in the near future. If you are holding on to hopes of seeing a 5G Blackberry, TCL has made a formal announcement confirming that there are no such plans as of now.

In an announcement made during a CCS Insight event in London, Stefan Streit, TCL’s General Manager of Marketing said, “There is no point of 5G on a Blackberry. The device is not for entertainment and emails are already quite fast”. Having shown great enthusiasm for a major part of 2018, Blackberry devices have been largely missing in action since the beginning of 2019.

BlackBerry

It is not that TCL is not investing in 5G. They are exploring other opportunities where the 5G technology can be useful, like an 8K TV or a Smart fridge. TCL is focused on introducing their own lineup of 5G smartphones under the Plex brand name. While also introducing the technology to Alcatel, the second smartphone brand under their banner. The company plans on introducing affordable smartphones by the middle of 2020.

According to CCS Insights, the prices of 5G smartphones will plummet in 2020 due to oversupply. The analytics firm reasons that there are so many devices available across the globe that supply will overpower demand shortly causing widespread price cuts. At the onset of 2022 alone the adoption of 5G will outpace that of 4G in the first three years!

TCL Plex 5G Specifications and Features

alcatel TCL Plex

In related news, TCL unveiled their first 5G smartphone named TCL Plex 5G at the IFA 2019 in September. The device features a 6.53-inch display with a dedicated chipset that converts standard dynamic range content to high dynamic range, presenting additional true colors tones. The smartphone draws power from a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 SoC with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of native storage. It has a triple camera layout starting with a 48-megapixel sensor, along with a 16-megapixel lens and a 2-megapixel sensor. The device sports a 3,820 mAh battery. TCL aims at pricing the 5G variant below the $1000 mark, although there is no official announcement yet.

 

Xiaomi India creates history by selling 43 TVs per minute during the festive sales 

Xiaomi claims to have sold over 250,000 units of the Mi TV during the recently-concluded festive sale on Amazon, Flipkart and MI.com. The Mi TV is a huge hit with the Indian customers and that is evident from the sales charts, which roughly translates to 43 devices sold every minute. This is a huge milestone for the brand that had previously shattered sales records in the smartphone category. Xiaomi offered huge discounts on the Mi TV range during the Flipkart Big Billion Days Sale and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival. According to Xiaomi, the two best-selling TVs on Amazon India during the event were the 43-inch Mi TV 4A Pro and the 32-inch Mi TV 4C Pro.

The 32-inch Mi TV 4C Pro is currently listed on the online retail platforms at a discounted price of Rs. 11,499 (~$162). While the 43-inch 4A Pro is listed at Rs. 19,999 (~$282). Xiaomi recenly unveiled a range of TVs in India, including the 65-inch Mi TV 4X, which is their largest offering in India, the 50-inch and 43-inch Mi TV 4X, and the 40-inch Mi TV 4A. These options were also available during sale.

In a statement, Eshwar Nilakanta, the Category Lead at Mi TV for Xiaomi India said, “Our smart TV business commenced in 2018 and has flourished in India ever since. Within just three months of inception the Mi TV reached the top spot in overall sales and has continued to remain on top for the past five consecutive quarters. We crossed the one million mark in India within the first eight months and two million in the next five months. We announced a three million milestone in September but the additional milestone only took us four months to reach. We are humbled and thrilled by the love and appreciation received from our customers and Mi fans in the subcontinent. We hope the Mi TV ushers in the festive cheer for everyone”.

 

Apple reportedly acquired motion capture firm IKinema

Apple has reportedly acquired motion capture company named IKinema. The report comes from MacRumors which is based on evidence from company filings and information shared with the website by its reader.

A document filed with the UK government, Peter Deanwood, who is Apple‘s lawyer and responsible for the company’s international dealings, has been named as a Director of IKinema and the company’s service address has been listed as One Apple Park Way.

Apple Logo

For the uninitiated, IKenima is a motion capture company based out of the United Kingdom that captures animation technology which are used for games, virtual reality and more. It also developed technology that captures real-time motion animation of virtual characters.

Currently, the IKinema website is not operational and shows a support email address and a link to documentation covering the company’s various motion capture technologies. Also, the company’s Facebook and Twitter profiles haven’t been updated since 19th August.

The report indicates that customers of the company were not warned of a possible shutdown or sale and have been kept in the dark since early August. A person with inside information revealed that the acquisition was confirmed in Facebook Motion Capture group.

A few months ago, in July, the company had announced a partnership to provide Ubisoft access to its RunTime middleware. That same press release noted some existing collaborations of the company with Bandai Namco, Koch Media, NetEase Network, Rare, and 343 Industries.

With the acquisition of IKinema, Apple could use the technology in its various AR and VR projects as well as the company could enlist its help for improving True Depth camera technology which captures movements of the face.

(Source)

Samsung patents a unique smartphone with a flexible sliding display

In the Q1 of 2019, Samsung launched the Galaxy Fold which could be titled ‘one of the most innovative smartphones of the year’. However, the company is not stopping there, based upon freshly granted patents, it is working on yet another distinctive handset that features a sliding touch screen display which can conceal the top bezel.

To put it simply, the smartphone has a flexible display which is attached to a complex rack and pinion mechanism that allows it to slide upwards or downwards. Due to which, it can either hide or reveal the bezel above the display that accommodates the selfie camera and the earpiece for receiving phone calls.

Even though this is not that first time we are coming across a smartphone with a sliding display, the previously launched Mi Mix 3 is a prime example of this idea; but instead of the whole display assembly sliding upwards or downwards on Xiaomi‘s offering, Samsung’s device has a movable flexible display which is a completely different implementation.

According to the illustrations, whenever the user receives an audio or video call, they can slide the display downwards which will reveal the earpiece, front camera while simultaneously accepting the incoming call. Similarly sliding the display back upward will result in ending the call.

It is currently unknown, whether or not this fancy sliding display provides for any other function except for answering calls. With that being said, it does provide the smartphone with a high screen-to-body ratio that gives it an elegant look.

To wrap things up, the concept behind the patent definitely looks intriguing, however, it cannot be confirmed whether this particular device will see the light of the day or not. Presumably, the technology could make its way to future offerings from the company for which we will have to wait patiently.

Readers interested in checking out the patent can do so by clicking here.

 

Save Up to $100 on Xiaomi Flagship Products on Banggood [Coupons Inside]

A flagship product essentially refers to a company’s core product or service which is most appreciable among its loyal users. In other words, the best product of the company can be touted as its flagship product.

ZTE Nubia Red Magic 3

A flagship smartphone boasts an impressive array of features, paired with top-end specifications, which makes it stand out from the rest of the products made by the company. There are no prizes for guessing that these mobile phones aren’t easy on the pocketbook.

Xiaomi Flagship Products on Gearbest

To make these steeply-priced flagship products available to those living on a tight budget, Banggood has launched a new promo called Xiaomi Flagship Products. If you have restlessly been waiting to get your tech greedy hands on one of Xiaomi’s flagship handsets without emptying your pocket, this is your chance.

As part of the promo, the Chinese online store is offering a wide range of Xioami-branded mobile devices for considerably lowered prices. You can save up to $100 on these smartphones that have carefully been split into multiple categories.

Realme R5 is the first mobile phone available on the promotion page. More importantly, you can pre-order it for a lowered price.

Realme R5

While the Realme R5 4GB RAM+128GB ROM variant usually retails for $269.99, you can pre-order for just $256.19 from the promotion page. As if that weren’t enough, you can reduce its retail price to just $169.99 by applying coupon code BGREALMER54 at checkout.

Likewise, you can bring the original asking price of the 2GB RAM+16GB ROM Redmi 7A variant down to just $69.99 by applying coupon code BG7AECL at checkout. Note that the phone usually sells for $109.99.

Redmi 7A

The 2GB RAM+32GB ROM Redmi 7A model usually carries a $119.99 price tag, by using coupon code BG7AE32EU you can reduce its selling price to just $79.99. Moreover, you get free shipping on orders over $19.99.

The rest of the smartphones have been divided into three categories including New Arrivals, Brand Zone, and More Recommended.

The first section on the activity page called New Arrival features a slew of well-received mobile phones that you can buy without burning a hole in your pocket. While some of these phones carry heavily discounted price tags, some have been assigned dedicated coupons that you can use to save money at checkout.

For example, the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 3 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage capacity would set you back $899.99, but you can now buy it for a lowered price of just $707.59 under the New Arrival category on the activity page.

ZTE Nubia Red Magic 3 Global Version 6.65 Inch FHD+ 5000mAh Android 9.0 48.0MP Rear Camera 8GB RAM 128GB ROM Snapdragon 855 Octa Core 4G Gaming Smartphone - Black

Aside from this 21 percent discount, you can get free shipping if your cart value exceeds $19.99.

If you are a brand-conscious buyer, you can head straight to the next category called Brand Zone. The section features well-received mobile phones from Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Ulefone bearing considerably lowered prices.

The concluding section dubbed More Recommended is worth checking out as well. It features the Oppo Realme X and Oppo Realme 3 Pro smartphones. You can avail noteworthy discounts on these devices for a limited period of time.

To take full advantage of the discounts and use the coupons before they expire, all you need to do is to follow this link without wasting time.

Samsung wants to put Ads on your phone

If you thought ads on MIUI were bad, know that there’s another manufacturer who is looking to join Xiaomi to show ads on its smartphones. And it could be worse since we are talking about Samsung, who is currently the world’s largest smartphone maker.

Samsung Mobile Ads trademark application
Samsung Mobile Ads trademark application

According to a trademark application submitted to the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) on October 1, 2019, Samsung has applied for a trademark ‘Samsung Mobile Ads’ that applies to smartphones and tablets and pertains to advertising services. From the application, it’s clear that Samsung is looking to try out its luck in mobile advertising.

The South Korean smartphone maker isn’t really new to advertising. The company currently has the Samsung Ads program for its smart TVs. While there’s an option to disable these Smart TV ads, it’s hidden well inside the TV’s ‘terms and conditions’ menu. In short, Samsung has ensured that it won’t be easy to find this option and disable it. It would be really annoying if Samsung tries to reproduce this strategy for its mobile ads as well.

Change in Samsung’s Mobile Strategy?

With the ever-increasing competition from the Chinese giants, Samsung’s strategy has changed over the past few months. The company is churning out at least one mid-range device in Asia and Europe. Even the recently launched Galaxy M30s is likely to land in Europe very soon. With so many devices in the market, Samsung could be contemplating the idea of mobile ads on its devices.

Galaxy M30s
Samsung launched the Galaxy M30S with 6000mAh battery in India recently

However, note that this was just a trademark application and Samsung has in no way confirmed that it will start showing ads on its smartphones. So we’ll have to wait for more information from the company.

 

(Source, Via)

Buy So White ES3 3D Smart Floating Blade Head Razor for Just $20.99 from Gearbest [Coupon]

Xiaomi offers a wide range of electronic appliances that meet the varied needs of the consumers. The So White ES3 3D Smart Floating Blade Head Razor from Xiaomi Youpin is within the aforesaid criterion.

Xiaomi ES3 3D Smart Floating Blade Head Razor_3

Sporting an elegant design that grabs everyone’s attention, the So White ES3 3D features three independent blades that are three directions floating. Designed to suit all types of facial contour and hair growth direction, the device can effortlessly change angles, giving you the smoothest and least painful shave possible.

With the So White ES3 3D, shaving the corners of the mouth, jaw, neck and other hard to reach places becomes easy. Its double-ring knife net design increases the contact area between the blade and the face for an enhanced shaving efficiency, leaving no stubble behind.Xiaomi ES3 3D Smart Floating Blade Head Razor

The market is crammed with all sorts of electric shavers that claim to offer a superior shaving experience, but they don’t come cheap. The So White ES3, on the other hand, can now be yours for a lowered price of only $21.99 from Gearbest. This is a 25 percent drop in the device’s original asking price of $29.37.So White ES3 3D Smart Floating Blade Head Razor from Xiaomi youpin

Moreover, you can use coupon code GB-HBZSCXSM and save $1 more before placing your order. In other words, you can reduce the original asking price of the So White ES3 3D Smart Floating Blade Head Razor to just $20.99 simply by applying the above-mentioned coupon at checkout.

With over a hundred pieces sold at the time of writing, the promo is slated to end in just seven days. You can follow this link to grab the discount, which will be valid for the silver color option.

Xiaomi Mi MIX Alpha is listed for purchase in China but no one will buy it

Last month, Xiaomi unveiled its new concept smartphone named Mi MIX Alpha which comes with features that are not seen on any other smartphone in the market and are currently unique to Mi MIX Alpha.

With features like wraparound display and 108MP primary camera sensor, the smartphone was expected to carry higher pricing. The Mi MIX 4 has been announced for a price of 19,999 Yuan, which roughly converts to $2,814.

Xiaomi Mi MIX 4 Sale Listing China

The smartphone, which will go into mass production by the end of this year in a limited quality, isn’t going on sale anytime soon. However, the smartphone has been found listed on Tmall.com for a price of 999,999 Yuan (~$139,889).

While the pricing listed for the smartphone seems to be a placeholder, the “Buy Now” and “Add to Cart” buttons are active, which means that you can purchase the smartphone with the mentioned pricing.

The official pricing of the Mi MIX Alpha is already on the higher side and no one is going to purchase the device at 50 times more cost than the official pricing. And that indeed is the case since no one has purchased the device yet, which is evident from the purchase counter for the listing shown on the website.

Coming to the smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi MIX Alpha is the world’s first smartphone with a curved display that wraps around almost the entire device. Except for the tiny vertical strip that houses the camera at the back, the display surrounds the entire smartphone, including the sides and the back.

This is a single display panel of 7.92-inch that wraps around the entire body bringing the screen to body ratio to a staggering 180.6%! This is made possible also because of the extremely narrow 2.15mm bezels on the top and the bottom.

Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha featured
Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha is like a permanently folded phone

It is also the world’s first smartphone to feature a 100MP+ resolution camera sensor. This is made possible by using the Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX 108MP camera sensor at the back of the device. The sensor was developed in close collaboration with Xiaomi, hence it’s no surprise that we are seeing it first on the Mi Mix Alpha 5G.

The 108MP primary sensor on the Mi Mix Alpha is ultra-large with a 1/1.33″ sensor which is capable of outputting 12032 x 9024-pixel resolution images. It is coupled with a 12MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom and a 20MP ultra-wide-angle camera lens.

The device is confirmed to be powered by the Snapdragon 855+ processor with 5G dual SIM support. There will be at least one version with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.0 storage. The battery isn’t very large at 4,050mAh but it does support 40W fast charging just like the Mi 9 Pro 5G.

 

Xiaomi has now started selling Mineral Water bottles in China

Xiaomi, which is well-known for its smartphones, has its presence in a wide range of product categories. Almost all products launched by the company so far can be clubbed in the electronics category.

Now, in a surprising move, the company has now started selling mineral water bottles in its home country China. The company has revealed that the water for this mineral water bottles is sourced from a cold water spring in Mohe city, a northernmost city in China.

Xiaomi Mineral Water Bottle

The company is selling 300ml water bottles in a box that consists of 24 bottles, for a price of 59.9 Yuan which roughly converts to $8.3. By that calculation, each water bottle from the company costs 2.5 Yuan, which is roughly $0.35.

Xiaomi’s Arctic Spring Natural Mineral Water comes with a Green-colored bottle with a flexible line. It measures about 20.8 centimetre in height and 6 centimetre in diameter.

As per the report, for natural mineral water in China, the company needs to obtain “Mining License” issued by the National Land and Resources Management Department. Also, the water must been filled without any artificial addition of other ingredients. It says that the mineral water content of the spring water is balanced, and contains calcium, potassium and magnesium which are essential minerals for the human body.

 

OnePlus 7T receives OxygenOS 10.0.3 update; brings improved photo quality

Last week, OnePlus launched its latest smartphone named OnePlus 7T and today the company has started rolling out a new OxygenOS 10.0.3 update for the same device. The update comes with several bug fixes as well as improvements.

The new update also brings important camera-related changes, which include improved photo quality, enhanced stability of the camera system, as well as some user interface related improvements.

OnePlus 7T featured

The latest OxygenOS 10.0.3 is currently being rolled out for most of the users, it should be available as soon as they take the device out of the box. The company has said that the update rollout is incremental, so it may not be available immediately to everyone. OnePlus usually pushes the OTA update to a small percentage of devices on the first day, and then does a broader rollout over the next few days.

oxygenos 10-0-3 OnePlus 7T

The OnePlus 7T flaunts a 6.55-inch 90Hz HDR10+ display offering 2400 x 1080 pixels screen resolution and 3D Corning Gorilla Glass protection on top. The display is slightly bigger than that of the OnePlus 7.

Under the hood, the device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus octa-core processor clocked at 2.96GHz. The phone comes in two memory variants — 8GB RAM with 128GB storage and 12GB RAM with 256GB storage. The company has opted for UFS 3.0 2-lane technology for storage on these devices.

As for the cameras, the OnePlus 7T comes with a triple-camera setup on the back where the sensors are housed inside a circular housing. It features a 48MP f/1.6 Sony IMX586 with OIS and EIS and a 7P lens paired with a 12MP f/2.2 telephoto lens and a 117° 16MP f/2.2 ultrawide angle lens.

OnePlus 7T Warp Charge

On the front side, it comes with a 16MP snapper for taking selfies and video calling, with support for EIS which enables users should be able to record shake-free videos. The smartphone also comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner, Face Unlock, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, a vibration motor with an advanced haptic engine, along with stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos.

The device is running OxygenOS 10 out-of-the-box which is based on the latest Android 10 operating system. The OnePlus 7T is powered by a 3,800mAh battery and brings a new fast-charging technology called Warp Charge 30T which the company claims is 23% faster than Warp Charge 30 on its predecessor.

The update for the OnePlus 7T comes at a time when the users of the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro smartphones are complaining that they haven’t received the latest OxygenOS 10 update based on Android 10 operating system even though it’s been almost two weeks since the update started rolling out.

 

GoPro Hero 8 Black and GoPro Hero Max launched in India

Earlier this week, GoPro had launched the GoPro Hero 8 Black and GoPro Max action cameras in the U.S. Aimed towards adventure seekers, the new devices have also gone official in India. Both action cameras will be available for purchase in India later this month.

GoPro Hero 8 Black Price in India 

The GoPro Hero 8 Black comes in a single color edition of Black. It will be available for purchase in the country starting from Oct. 20. The standard kit of Hero 8 Black is priced at Rs. 36,500 (~$515). The international edition of the GoPro Hero 8 Black comes with mods options such as a Media Mod ($79), a Display Mod ($79) and a Light Mod ($49). These mods will be available in the global markets in December. There is no word on the availability of these mods for India.

GoPro Hero 8

The GoPro Hero 8 Black can shoot 4K videos at 60fps and full HD videos at 240fps. The HyperSmooth 2.0 brings electronic stabilizer for better video recording experience. It has a Boost mode that makes it possible to capture even more stable shots with some image cropping. The TimeWarp 2.0 feature is an upgraded version of the variable speed recording mode of GoPro. The Hero 8 Black sports a frameless body and it comes with a non-removable lens cover. Digital Lenses feature brings multiple fields of view to GoPro Hero 8 Black users. Capture Preset provides users with preset options for popular use cases.

GoPro Hero Max Price in India 

The GoPro Hero Max is priced at Rs. 47,000 (~$663) in India. The sales of the device will begin from Oct. 24. The action camera is aimed towards users who are into vlogging and prefer 360-degree content.

GoPro Hero Max

The Hero Max has a front display and six microphones for shooting 360-degree videos with topnotch stereo sound output. It is equipped with dual cameras for capturing 5.6K 360-degree panorama video. It also provides users with features like video shooting at up to 4K videos at 60fps, HyperSmooth 2.0 and TimeWrap 2.0. The Hero Max is a waterproof device that comes equipped with GPS for geotagging footage and it can be also used for livestreaming in full HD quality.

 

Apple iPhone SE 2 design leaked, and key details appear

Apple had announced the 4-inch iPhone SE smartphone in 2016. It came with internals of the iPhone 6S and appeared like the iPhone 5. In 2017, the rumor mill speculated that Apple may launch a successor for the iPhone SE, but it didn’t come true. In the previous month, the Cupertino company launched the 2019 iPhones and it appears that the iPhone SE 2 won’t be coming this year. Fresh information shared by industry expert Ming-Chi Kuo reveals that the iPhone SE 2 will be announced in the first quarter of 2020. A report from the last month by Nikkei had also claimed that the iPhone SE 2 will be made official around the same period.

Kuo has revealed that the iPhone SE 2 will be sporting a design similar to the iPhone 8. It means that the iPhone SE 2 won’t be featuring a notched screen like the iPhone X as some rumors had claimed. However, it could be equipped with thick bezels.

Apart from design, the specs of the iPhone SE 2 are also expected to resemble with the iPhone 8. However, it could be featuring the latest Apple A13 along with 3 GB of RAM. The handset could be coming with a 4.7-inch LCD display and a Touch ID embedded home button.

Kuo did not share any information on the expected pricing of the iPhone SE 2. However, he has claimed that the company will be selling 30 to 40 million units of the smaller iPhone in the coming year.

Currently, the iPhone portfolio includes iPhone 11 series, iPhone XR and iPhone 8 series. The company is selling the 64 GB iPhone 8 that features a 4.7-inch display with a price tag of $449. There is a possibility that the company may discontinue the iPhone 8 with the introduction of the iPhone SE 2. Probably, the 32 GB iPhone SE 2 could be priced around $399.

Kuo has speculated that Apple could be aiming the iPhone SE 2 to the existing users of the iPhone 6. The newly launched iOS 13 update is not available for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners. Probably, the company may want iPhone 6 owners to upgrade the Apple A13 powered iPhone 8 that will come preloaded with iOS 13.

The iPhone SE was announced in March 2017 and was discounted last year. The exact name of the successor of the iPhone SE is not confirmed yet. Probably, the company will hold an unveil event in March to announce the iPhone SE 2.

 

(source)

ZTE Blade A5 (2020) real images appear through FCC listing

Apart from the ZTE Blade 20 smartphone that has appeared on the database of Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the real images of the upcoming Blade A5 (2020) on the same platform. It will be arriving as the successor for the Blade A5 (2019) that was announced in May this year. The A5 (2019) had featured an 18:9 aspect ratio display with thicker upper and lower bezels. The FCC images of the Blade A5 (2020) reveals that it is equipped with a trendy waterdrop notch display.

The Blade A5 (2020) real images and user manual screenshot reveals that it features a display with waterdrop notch. Except for the chin, the rest of the bezels surrounding the display are thin. The right spine of the phone has a volume rocker and a power key. Placed on the left side of the device is a microSD card slot.

The front notch houses a selfie camera and above it is an earpiece. The top edge of the phone has a 3.5mm audio jack. A microUSB charging port is available on the bottom side of the smartphone. The rear panel of the phone that seems to be made of polycarbonate material does not feature a fingerprint scanner which indicates that users will have to solely rely on face unlock function for biometric recognition. A vertical dual camera system followed by an LED flash is positioned at the top-left corner of the back shell of the device.

The specifications of the Blade A5 (2020) are currently under the wraps. Images of the battery and charger reveals that the smartphone is backed by a 3,200mAh capacity battery and it carries support for 5W charging. The FCC appearance of the Blade A5 (2020) suggests that the arrival of the smartphone is close at hand.

ZTE Blade A5 (2020) FCC 6

ZTE Blade A5 (2019) Specifications

The Blade A5 (2019) had a 5.45-inch display that offered HD+ resolution of 18:9. It was equipped with a front camera of 8-megapixel and a single rear camera of 13-megapixel. The modest Unisoc SC9863A chipset powered the smartphone along with 2 GB of RAM.

It came with a native storage of 16 GB and it was loaded with Mi Favor 9.0 UI based Android 9 Pie OS. The handset is backed by a 2,600mAh battery. It was announced in Russia with a price tag of RUB 6,490 (~$99).

(via)

Huawei launches Shining Star Program in Malaysia with incentives for local app developers

Malaysia became the first country after China where Huawei released the Mate 30 series. That may bean indication of how high the tech giant regards the country. Not only that, Huawei has also announced an incentive programme for  Malaysian app developers in order to inspire them to join the Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) ecosystem. The programme is dubbed  Huawei Shining Star Program and Huawei is the first country outside China where is is rolling out.  Huawei Malaysia

The program aims to encourage global developer innovation, in which Huawei has allocated up to USD$1 billion to be invested globally and provide key support for app developers. This includes one-point access and intelligent global distribution for all terminals in all scenarios such as gaming, education, smart home, health related app and others under this program.Huawei Malaysia

Huawei even has a HMS Integration challenge, in which app developers who complete the challenge of completing HMS Integration, get it to work in the Mate 30’s EMUI environment and get it published on Huawei’s App Gallery before a certain time will get some big prizes including cash. For example, if app developers complete the challenge before 31 October 2019 they will get a MYR500,000 awards package comprising MYR250,000 in ATL resources, MYR200,000 in media resources and MYR50,000 cash.

The HMS core systems is built to be as familiar as possible for both users and developers, being equipped with necessary tool kits for messaging, notifications, in-app purchasing and more. Huawei claims that there are over 43,000 apps available in the HMS ecosystem as of July. Locally, apps such as Fave, Astro Awani, The Star, Dim Sum, Sunway Pals, RHB Now and more have successfully been integrated into the HMS.

Huawei has even dolled out grants to the University of Malaya and Universiti Teknologi MARA to encourage local institutions to build a talent pipeline and ensure industry-ready talents for app development.

Xiaomi Mi Band 4 update adds auto screen off timeout

Xiaomi has released a new update for Mi Band 4 (also known as Mi Smart Band 4) in some markets. The update brings a new useful feature that adds screen off timeout function. The update also includes some other improvements.

Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4

The 1.0.7.04 update that has been released in Turkey and is soon arriving to other markets. The auto screen off timeout function makes it possible to set screen timeout between 5 and 10 seconds. The update also features new custom watchface options and the swim tracking function is also enhanced.

Xiaomi Mi Band 4 Specifications

The Mi Band 4 features a 0.95-inch AMOLED display that offers 120 x 240 pixels resolution. The screen of the Mi Band 4 is 39.9 percent larger than the processor Mi Band 3. The display is protected by 2.5D scratch-resistant tempered glass.

The device is backed by a 135mAh battery that can last for up 20 days on a single charge. For connectivity, it features Bluetooth 5.0. In China, the device comes with a microphone and NFC support. These features are not available in the Indian version of the smart band. On the Chinese edition, users have access to Xiao AI voice assistant that can be summoned through the device’s microphone.

Xiaomi Mi Band 4The Mi Band 4 is 50ATM water-resistant device. It offers users with plenty of exercising and sports such as freestyle swimming, backstroke swimming, indoor running, outdoor running, cycling and so on. It is equipped with a heart rate sensor and it can be also used for sleep monitoring.

In China, the Mi Band 4 comes in non-NFC and NFC variants that are respectively priced at 169 Yuan (~$24) and 229 Yuan (~$32). It comes in wide range of strap color options like black, orange, violet and purple. In India, it is priced at Rs. 2,999 (~$42).

 

Huawei Enjoy 10 press renders leaked; specifications appear on TENAA

Last month, Huawei had announced the Huawei Enjoy 10 Plus smartphone in China. The handset had arrived with a notch-less display and a pop-up selfie camera. Fresh details reveal that the company is now gearing up introduce Huawei Enjoy 10 with a notch-less design. However, this phone won’t be featuring a pop-up selfie camera, but a punch-hole on the display for front camera. The handset has appeared on TENAA with its entire specifications. Moreover, reputed industry expert Evan Blass has shared a press render of the smartphone.

The Huawei Enjoy 10 renders show that the smartphone will arriving in at least Red and Green-Blue gradient colors. The frontside of the phone features a punch-hole at the top-left corner. Placed at the upper-left corner on the rear shell of the phone is its dual camera unit along with an LED flash. There is no rear-mounted fingerprint scanner on the device.

Huawei-Enjoy-10-

In fact, the front and rear appearance of the phone is quite similar to the Honor Play 3 which also features a punch-hole display and lacks a fingerprint scanner. The Play 3 has a triple camera system on its back. Hence, it appears that the Enjoy 10 also lacks a fingerprint scanner.

Huawei Enjoy 10 Specifications 

The Enjoy 10 that has a model number of ART-TL00X smartphone has a 6.39-inch IPS LCD display that offers HD+ resolution of 720 x 1,560 pixels. It is fueled by an octa-core processor that clocks at 2.2 GHz. It is believed to be the Kirin 710F chipset.

The Enjoy 10 is equipped with a minimum capacity battery of 3,900mAh. There is no support for fast charging on the device. The dual camera setup of the phone has a 48-megapixel primary lens and an 8-megapixel secondary lens. Placed inside the punch-hole of the display is the 8-megapixel selfie camera.

Huawei Enjoy10 ART-TL00X TENAA

As of this writing, there is no information on the pricing of the Huawei Enjoy 10. It is expected to be priced lower than the Enjoy 10 Plus handset that has a starting price of 1,499 Yuan (~$209). The Enjoy 10 Plus has a 6.59-inch IPS LCD display with full HD+ resolution support. The Kirin 710F fuels the smartphone with up to 8 GB of RAM. It has 48-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera system and a pop-up selfie snapper of 16-megapixel. It is equipped with a 4,000mAh battery and a rear-facing fingerprint sensor.

 

(via)

ZTE Blade 20 real images and user manual make the round via FCC listing

Some years back, it is a usual trend to see most phone makers imitate the design of the latest iPhone. That seems to have changed in recent times as Apple now looks like the one copying design features from Android OEMs. The latest iPhone 11 Pro came with a triple camera arranged in a square module that looks like a less impressive version of the Mate 20 Pro cameras. OnePlus 7T also came with a similar design. But it looks like that square camera module design will be adopted by many OEMs. An FCC listing said to be for the ZTE Blade 20 (Blade V20?) has appeared online with the rear panel housing a square camera module.ZTE Blade V20

TheFCC listing serves us some details of the Blade 20, including the user manual and the entire design. It is difficult making out the front design clearly but it looks like the phone has a notch. The rear design includes the square-shaped camera module housing three camera sensors and an LED flash. The module is nested at the top left corner of the panel.

The phone also comes with a rear fingerprint sensor which means it is not an LED panel with an on-screen fingerprint sensor. The power button and volume rockers are located at the right side of the display. The phone uses a USB-C port and retains the 3.5mm headphone jack.ZTE Blade 20

The Blade 20 is equipped with a large 5000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charge. Other specifications are unknown. We also don’t know when it will be launch but that should be far off.

 

(source)

OnePlus launches its second Experience Store in Mumbai

Premium smartphone maker, OnePlus yesterday opened a new exclusive OnePlus Experience Store in India. The store is located in the city of Mumbai and is the second of such Experience Stores in the city.oneplus India

OnePlus first opened an Experience Store in India in Bangalore in 2017. Since then, more have been added, with the brand rolling out three stores, one each in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata back in July. The new Experience Store spans across nearly 1000 square feet and is the second exclusive Experience Store by the brand in Mumbai. The new Experience Store launch is in line with the company’s increased focus on expanding its offline footprint across India. The brand says it plans to operate 100 such Experience Stores across top 50 cities by the year 2020, with special focus on tier 2 cities as well. The brand currently has 30+ exclusive stores across the country, supported by 60 plus service centres, and present in 2000+ offline stores across India which includes Large Format Retail stores as well.OnePlus India Experience Store

Customers and OnePlus community members visiting the new Experience Store can avail a series of exciting introductory offers such as the following: Festive offer of cash back up to INR 2000 on any HDFC bank card transactions on purchase of OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7 Pro until 31st October 2019. No cost EMI for three months on major credit card transactions for all OnePlus products. First 100 buyers get exciting giveaways at the store launch.

Talking about the OnePlus Experience Store in Mumbai, Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India, said,

“OnePlus is committed to provide its customers a premium experience when it comes to offline touchpoints. We are very excited to expand our presence with the inauguration of the second Experience Store in Mumbai and are looking forward to catering the customers in the city. Mumbai is a crucial market for us, and with the new store we are keen to deliver an unparalleled, superior experience to our community based in the city.”