EXCLUSIVE: Xiaomi Mi A3 will Launch Real Soon as a rebranded Mi CC9e

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Jul 12, 2019

After launching the Xiaomi CC9 series last week in China, Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi will be launching its K20 series next week in India. It’s as if there’s a new Xiaomi smartphone in the market every 15 days. We say this because we have some fresh news from our supply chain sources and they reveal that the Xiaomi Mi A3 will meet us real soon too. How soon? We don’t have an exact date, but know that the phone will soon be ready for shipping.

Xiaomi Mi CC9e — Mi CC9e could be the Mi A3!

After the success of the Mi A2, there’s been a lot of speculation whether there’ll be a successor this year. Turns out, there will be one and we can confirm this information. And like Ishan revealed via MSP yesterday, it will be a rebranded CC series model. However, our source has a slightly different information.

According to our source, the Xiaomi Mi A3 will be a rebranded Mi CC9e model. In fact, it is said that the A3 is already being stocked up. But there will be one more device, which will be a rebranded CC9 model. Unfortunately, our source couldn’t confirm the name of this model. It’s said that the rebranded CC9 model will launch in September.

Editor’s Pick: Huawei confirms Hongmeng OS moniker, Increased its Revenue in H1 2019

There’s some information on the pricing as well. The price of the 4GB+64GB Xiaomi Mi A3 model is said to be around $199. This could be the pricing for the Indian market, which converts to around Rs. 13,700. If this is true, then the Xiaomi Mi A3 will feature Snapdragon 665 with a 48MP triple camera setup, a 6-inch 720p display and a 32MP selfie camera. Note that the Mi A3 series will continue to feature stock Android on board like its predecessors.

If you notice, this information is quite different from Ishan’s leak. He said that the Mi A3 will feature a Snapdragon 730 processor while the Mi A3 Lite would feature a Snapdragon 675 processor. But our source seems to be quite sure of the above information.

Interestingly, the Mi A3 Android One model had already passed through FCC and IMDA certifications last week. And guess what – the model number of the certified Android One model, M1906F9SH was very similar to the Mi CC9e that was certified back in June. This adds even more credibility to what our source revealed.

Review: Xiaomi Mi CC9 Is The New Choice For The Young!

However, what’s confusing is that if the Mi A3 is a rebranded Xiaomi Mi CC9e, then the company is essentially bringing down its Mi A series lineup to a lower priced category. That would also explain the cheaper $199 price tag. If you recall, the Mi A2 started at Rs. 16,999 in India last year, which comes to around $234.

Anyway, the official Mi A3 launch shouldn’t be far off. So, we’ll get to know official details very soon!

UP NEXT: Master Lu H1 2019 Smartphone AI Processor Ranking – MediaTek beats Huawei

Samsung Galaxy M40 gets an update that delivers improved facial recognition and camera

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jul 12, 2019

Samsung‘s latest Galaxy M40 has received a new firmware update that delivered upgrades to certain features. This is coming barely a month after the phone was launched but that isn’t in any way surprising. In case you’ve forgotten, the Galaxy M40 was launched in June packing a punch-hole camera and triple rear cameras.

The major improvements which the new update ushers in is for the camera and the facial recognition software. The update also delivers the June 1 security patch and the usual stability improvements and bug fixes.

Editor’s Pick: Throwback Tech Thursday: Engaging the Legendary Nokia N-Gage!

The Galaxy M40 is relatively a new phone and so there may not be so many of them in circulation. But if you own one, you can go to the phone’s Software Update menu and see if the M405FDDU1ASG2 firmware is available. The update comes with a size of 378.40MB. If the update is yet to hit your mobile, don’t fret as the rollout may be in batches.

UP NEXT: Huawei Mate 20 X 5G is all set go on sale later this month

(source)

Chuwi joins Amazon Prime Day with 25% off on new arrivals and more

By

Dimitris Economou

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Jul 12, 2019

Amazon Prime Day is set to start on July 15th and one by one most of the tech companies are starting to make their offers available. Chuwi is participating on Amazon US, Amazon EU stores, and Amazon Japan. Depending on the region you live in, different devices are available but the biggest offers come on Amazon US that -among others- the Chinese manufacturer is offering the HeroBook, AeroBook, and Hi9 Pro. See their main specs below and visit the promotion page to check out all the offers.

Chuwi HeroBook

The Chuwi HeroBook is a new addition to the company’s lineup and will be launched next month. It packs an Intel 4-core/4-threads CPU built on 14nm process technology and 5W ultra-low power consumption. The CPU is backed by 4GB/64GB memory combo and you can expand the storage via the M.2 SSD slot. There is also a 14.1″ anti-glare display as well as a large, 38Wh battery that makes it ideal for office work since it sports a full-sized keyboard. You can get it for just $175.99. See all the details here.

Chuwi AeroBook

Chuwi AeroBook delivers a performance that can be matched with other steeply-priced laptops available in the market today. It sports a 13.3″ IPS FHD while under the hood, it packs a powerful Intel Core m3 – 6Y30 Dual Core processor, along with a highly competent Intel HD Graphics 515 GPU for exceptional user experience. The laptop features 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM and offers 256GB SSD storage capacity. The offer price is just $399.99. For more information check here.

Chuwi Hi9 Pro

The Hi9 Pro is an Android tablet featuring an 8.4″ 2.5K display and a full metal body offering great build quality and performance. It supports LTE connectivity and is equipped with the powerful Helio X20 SoC and it is the cheapest one on the market as other X20 tablets like VOYO i8Max cost as much as $200. So, if you want a compact tablet with great performance and LTE connectivity, don’t miss the chance to get it for only $111.98. The full specs are available here.

DxOMark to review smartphone from a never before tested brand; Could it be OPPO Reno 10x Zoom?

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 12, 2019

DxOMark is a well-known photography and videography ratings platform for smartphones, standalone cameras and lenses. It has reviewed smartphones across various brands such as Apple, Huawei, Samsung, Google OnePlus, Xiaomi, LG and HTC. Yesterday, it took to Twitter to confirm that it will be reviewing a smartphone from a brand that has it never tested before. DxOMark has never tested an OPPO smartphone. Could it be now testing OPPO Reno 10x Zoom smartphone that boasts 10x hybrid zoom capabilities?

A new mobile review is coming soon ⏳#DxOMark pic.twitter.com/3lp7dcjZff

— DxOMark (@DxOMark) July 11, 2019

The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom comes with a triple camera unit on its rear. It has a Sony IMX586 48-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.7 aperture, an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens and a telephoto 13-megapixel periscope lens. The Reno 10x Zoom supports 6x optical zoom and the periscopic arrangement, it carries support for 10x hybrid zoom.

The handset supports a whopping 60x digital zoom which is even higher than the 50x zoom available on the Huawei P30 Pro smartphone. For shooting selfies, the Reno 10x Zoom features a 16-megapixel camera and an LED flash placed inside a “sharkfin” camera module. Most reviewer have provided good ratings for the camera capabilities of the Reno 10x Zoom smartphone. It would be interesting to see how it fares on DxOMark benchmarks.

Currently, the Huawei P30 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S10 5G are leading DxOMark benchmarks list with a score of 112. The Honor 20 Pro and OnePlus 7 Pro are listed next with 111 score. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro, Huawei P20 Pro and Galaxy S10+ have scored 109 on DxOMark. It remains to be seen whether the Reno 10x Zoom can score higher than the P30 Pro on DxOMark.

Editor’s Pick: Oppo trademarks Find Y smartphone, could be the first with under-display camera

OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Specifications

The Reno 10x Zoom has a 6.6-inch AMOLED display with notch-less design. It carries support for full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The display features an in-screen fingerprint reader and it is shielded by Corning Gorilla Glass 6.

The Snapdragon 855 chipset powers the smartphone with up to 8 GB of RAM. It comes with up to 128 Gb of storage and it comes with a hybrid SIM slot for adding a microSD card. The handset houses a 4,065mAh battery that carries support for 20W VOOC Fast Charge technology.

UP NEXT: Oppo K3 confirmed to launch in India on July 19 as Amazon exclusive

MediaTek records an improved revenue in June above USD$643 million

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jul 12, 2019

MediaTek has seen some improvements in its revenues in the month of June which also happens to be the end of the second quarter. The company seems to be heading back to winning ways after shifting its focus from flagship chipset to providing premium mid-range and budget SoCs. The Taiwanese chipmaker has reported consolidated revenue of NT$20.89 billion for June 2019 which is about $643.1 million US dollars.

The revenue is 9.3% higher than what the company got in May but is 0.8% lower than what was accrued in the same period last year. This is despite a higher consolidated sale for the second quarter. The consolidated sale of NT$61.57 billion is 14.4% higher Quarter-on-Quarter and 1.8% higher Year-on-Year. The fabless chip manufacturer generated total revenue of NT$114.29 billion for the first half of 2019 which is a 3.8% YoY increase in revenue.

Editor’s Pick: Xiaomi is testing MIUI 10 based on Android Q

The revenue is in line with the guidance the company have in May and is a sign of good things to come. MediaTek continues to enhance its mobile SoC offering while channelling energy to non-mobile chip solutions in order to create a rich product mix. The sales of MediaTek’s solutions for IoT, power management IC and ASIC are listed to account for 30-35% of the company revenues in the first quarter of 2019 with an attendant rebound in the gross margin above 40%.

MediaTek recently announced several new non-mobile SoCs in addition to its new smartphone chips that include the company’s first 5G SoC. One of such is the new MediaTek i700 for AIoT applications which are billed to start shipping in products next year. Earlier this month, the S900 was launched for smart TV with support for 8K resolution.

UP NEXT: Smartphone shipments in China were down 6.3% YoY in June 2019

(source)

UMIDIGI Uwatch2 goes on Open Sale on July 15th at just $19.99! (video)

By

Dimitris Economou

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Jul 12, 2019

UMIDIGI Uwatch2 was recently announced featuring an improved full touch color screen as well as 24/7 heart rate monitoring and IP67 certification. Now, it is time for the new wearable from UMIDIGI to hit the market with the first global sale going live on July 15th, the first day of UMIDIGI Holiday Sale, for just $24.99. And the first 500 units of Uwatch2 will be offered at the bottom price of $19.99!

Compared to the first generation, the Uwatch2 got an improved full touch color display that is protected by a round face 2.5D curved glass on top. Also, the case is an aluminum alloy unibody with IP67 rating. In the box, you will find not only the metal band but an extra sport silicon band as well. The Uwatch2 supports 7 sport modes like running, jogging, cycling, etc to track your fitness and continuous heart rate monitoring to improve your exercise efficiency. The company claims that the new smartwatch can go on for up to 25 days on standby or 10 days of continuous use on a single charge.

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If you’re interested and want to get it at the best price possible, you should add it to your cart right now to be among the first 500 that will get it for $19.99. Of course, you’ll have to act fast on July 15th (PDT) to finish your purchase. As always, UMIDIGI is globally recruiting 10 users to test it and help with its improvement. You can participate here.

Besides the sale for Uwatch2, UMIDIGI Holiday Sale will kick off on both its Amazon and AliExpress stores. The biggest discount is the $60 off (20% off) for S3 Pro, the company’s 48MP ceramic flagship phone. Also, the latest neckband earphones Ubeats and the first generation of Uwatch will also get 20% off on Amazon. You can learn more about it here.

Huawei Mate 20 X 5G is all set go on sale later this month

By

Jeet

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Jul 12, 2019

Despite the looming uncertainty about its Android smartphone business because of the US ban, Huawei is all set to start selling its first 5G smartphone in select markets — Huawei Mate 20 X 5G. The smartphone will be available for purchase in China, UAE, and Italy.

As per the reports, the Mate 20 X 5G will be available for purchase in China from 26th July while the phone is currently available for pre-order in Italy and will go on sale from 22nd July. On the other hand, the phone will be available in the UAE from today onwards.

Apart from the support for the 5G network, everything else remains the same as the standard Mate 20 X. It features a 7.2-inch HDR Full HD+ display with 2244 x 1080 pixels screen resolution and comes equipped with Huawei M Pen. The phone comes with Vapor Chamber and Graphene Film cooling, dual speakers with Dolby Atmos, and IP53-rating.

The smartphone is powered by the company’s own Kirin 980 octa-core processor, equipped with Balong 5000 5G modem — the same configuration that powers the recently announced Mate X.

Editor’s Pick: Huawei confirms Hongmeng OS moniker, Increased its Revenue in H1 2019

Huawei claims that the Balong 5000 is the first of its kind to support both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network architectures for 5G. The device packs 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, with support for storage expansion up to 256GB using a microSD card.

In the camera department, it comes with a triple camera setup on the back, consisting of 40MP + 20MP + 8MP sensors along with an LED flash. On the front side, it comes with a 20MP snapper for taking selfies and video calling.

The device runs Android Pie-based EMUI custom interface and is powered by a 5,000mAh battery which comes with support for SuperCharge fast charging technology.

Up Next: Samsung Galaxy A80 with 3,799 Yuan (~$552) price is now available on pre-orders in China

Blackview BV9700 Pro helps you stay safe with its heart rate monitor and gets a special offer

By

Dimitris Economou

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Jul 12, 2019

The continuously rising temperature due to climate change is a fact and it hides dangers that most of us wouldn’t imagine. One of the risks people don’t take into consideration is the exposure to high heat during the day, especially those who work or exercise outdoors. Thankfully, technology is here to aid this effort and Blackview BV9700 Pro is offering a heart rate monitor to help users protect themselves from unpleasant situations.

Prevention is better than cure and the heart rate monitor embedded to the BV9700 Pro does just that. The rugged flagship from Blackview adopts a heart rate monitor at the back of the device and all you have to do is press your finger against it and let it do its job. It’s that simple and you carry it with you all the time. Its accuracy is better than ever and it also comes with a pedometer to track the distance you run or walk.

But apart from that, the BV9700 Pro offers even more. It can be used to measure the indoor air quality and the ambient temperature and humidity level in your environment. The air quality can be detected every 4 seconds and lets you know if it is healthy enough by detecting unhealthy Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) level. Pretty handy for workers that handle solvents, work in paint shops or plastics factories.

What’s more, there is an external night vision camera available to shoot great photos and videos at night and it sports the Sony STARVIS IMX291 ultra-light sensitive CMOS sensor. This special design is for low light and night scenes. You can get much clearer pictures at night compared with other rugged phone counterparts.

Of course, the BV9700 Pro is still an excellent rugged phone with all current protection certifications and a great performer as well. It is powered by the Helio P70 octa-core SoC that delivers 13% better performance than the P60 as well as 30% lower power consumption and 20% better heat dissipation. Also, the AI processing efficiency is 10% to 30% improved. All this, combined with Andriod 9 Pie, result in an unprecedented performance for Blackview. The phone is currently on a limited offer on Aliexpress. You can get it for just $298.99 here.

Samsung Galaxy A80 with 3,799 Yuan (~$552) price is now available on pre-orders in China

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 12, 2019

The Galaxy A80 is one of the unique smartphones from Samsung in the recent times since it features a mechanized rotating camera and a tall aspect ratio display. Currently, it is the most powerful smartphone in the Galaxy A series of smartphones. The Galaxy A80 is now being gradually rolled out in different markets. In China, the smartphone is now listed on Jingdong Mall for pre-orders. The handset is priced at 3,799 Yuan (~$552) in the country.

The Galaxy A80 smartphone is currently “out of stock” on the Chinese retailer site. However, the listing states that buyers can book the phone by paying a small deposit of 100 Yuan (~$15). The smartphone is available in color variants like Space Black, Moonlight Silver and Peach Gold. The listing also reveals that the shipment of the smartphone is expected to begin on July 25.

Editor’s Pick: Samsung’s deepfake AI can Create your Video from a Single Photo

Samsung Galaxy A80 Specifications and Features

The Samsung Galaxy A80 is fitted with a massive 6.7-inch S-AMOLED display. It offers full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels and an aspect ratio of 20:9. The display is embedded with an optical in-screen fingerprint reader. The frontside of the phone is flanked with Gorilla Glass 3 and it features Gorilla Glass 6 panel on its rear.

The Snapdragon 730G that features 2.2GHz octa-core processor powers the smartphone with 8 GB of RAM. There is no microSD card slot on the device, but it comes with a large internal storage of 128 GB. The Android 9 Pie OS on the device is overlaid with One UI.

The Galaxy A80 does not feature a front-facing camera. On its rear is a rotating triple camera setup that includes a 48-megapixel primary lens, an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens and a 3D ToF (Time of Flight) sensor. There is a 3,700mAh battery present inside the smartphone. It is equipped with support for 25W fast charging. A 3.5mm audio jack is also absent. Hence, the USB-C port of the phone can be used for charging as well as for connecting a wired earphone.

(source)

UP NEXT:Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 specifications and images leaked as launch nears

Huawei confirms Hongmeng OS moniker, Increased its Revenue in H1 2019

By

Joel Joseph

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Jul 12, 2019

Huawei has been under the spotlight for the past couple of months, especially since the US government banned the company from conducting business with its companies. After the recent G20 summit, the ban was eased by the government, but Huawei still wasn’t removed completely from the Entity List. However, despite the ban, Huawei seems to have done pretty well in the first half of the year as the company’s chairman, Liang Hua revealed at a press conference today that Huawei increased its revenue in the first half of the year. He further confirmed the name of its upcoming operating system, Hongmeng OS at the press conference.

Huawei posting increased revenues in H1 2019 isn’t entirely surprising given that the ban came into effect in May. So Huawei’s performance in the initial four months of the year could have been pretty strong to mitigate its effect. If you remember, Huawei had already managed to ship over 100 million smartphones before the ban came into effect. So, the real damage from the ban will probably be seen in the second half of the year. Note that initial estimates revealed that Huawei’s US trade ban was likely to wipe out $30 billion of the company’s revenue.

Editor’s Pick: Huawei doesn’t want People to Buy its Products just because its Patriotic

At present, Washington’s stance is to allow US companies to sell their technology and products to Huawei as long as these products don’t pose a threat to national security. But Huawei’s chairman isn’t happy with the current situation. In the press conference today, Liang said that “adding Huawei to the Entity List was neither justified or fair,” and that Huawei “should be removed from the list entirely”.

He further said that the company’s Hongmeng OS was developed for IoT products and that Google’s Android was the preferred OS for smartphones. “We haven’t decided whether to develop HongMeng into a smartphone OS yet” he added. But this could change if Huawei is barred from using Android on its phones.

UP NEXT: Honor TV incoming on July 15?

(Source)

New Honor trademarks once again hints at some kind of Smart TV product

By

Jeet

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Jul 12, 2019

Huawei, as well as its sub-brand Honor, are reportedly working on a new type of product — Television. It is believed that Honor’s TV will be launched pretty soon while the Huawei TV could take some time to get unveiled.

Now, new trademarks filed by the China-based Honor further hints that its TV will be launched soon. The company has reportedly filed trademarks for “Honor Smart Screen” and “Honor Vision”, which clearly hints at a TV product.

Honor is also holding a launch event in China on 15th June and the teaser poster of the same reads: “breaking the rules and opening up the future of smartness”. It hints at the arrival of the product with a big display. It is said that the product will be Smart TV rather than traditional TV, which is quite an obvious thing.

Recently, Huawei’s president for the Honor brand also shared an image online which fueled speculations about the brand’s IoT-based Smart TV. Honor head Zhao Ming shared an image on Weibo but he had blocked-out a TV-like device in the background. When Weibo user “Ziqiudao” asked whether the device was an Honor TV, Zhao replied with an emoji without saying anything.

During an interview earlier this year, Zhao had told reporters that Huawei will not enter the “traditional TV sector” market. However, he neither denied nor admitted to reports about the company’s smart TV ambitions.

Earlier, we had reported that Huawei is planning to launch two series for Smart TVs — one with Honor brand and another under the ‘Huawei AI Window’ lineup. The application for protecting the term ‘Huawei AI Window’ suggested that the television sets could be powered by some sort of artificial intelligence technology.

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Huawei is already developing a new AI-based voice assistant that is intended for the global market. It remains to be seen if the company’s smart TV series arrives with its own AI platform or the company chooses to opt for Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa.

As per the reports, Huawei’s Smart TVs won’t be affordable ones like Xiaomi’s but Honor-branded TVs are expected to be cheaper and available online only. There are also reports suggesting that Huawei already has a team of about 200 – 300 people for its TV division which is under its Internet of Things Department.

We’ll have to wait till 15th July to know for sure if the Honor Smart TV makes its debut. Nonetheless, it’ll be interesting to see Huawei and Honor’s take on Smart TVs and how its products fares with the competition.

Up Next: OnePlus TV launch nearing? OnePlus TV remote bags Bluetooth SIG certificate

Buy EDIFIER W200BT and EDIFIER TWS1 Earphones at Lowered Prices from GearVita [Coupons]

By

Vinay Patel

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Jul 12, 2019

A lot of music lovers usually end up spending a lot of money on top-end earphones, while those who aren’t willing to empty their pockets find themselves compromising on quality.

If you are in the market for inexpensive earphones that don’t disappoint in terms of performance, we got good news for you. The EDIFIER W200BT and the EDIFIER TWS1 earphones have gone up for sale bearing reduced price tags on GearVita.

Aside from shedding light on the aforesaid discount, we will show how you can save a significant amount of money during the checkout process. So without wasting time, let’s check out the details.

EDIFIER W200BT In-Ear Earphones

The highly customizable W200BT boasts an impressive array of functions such as different EQ modes, timing shutdown, and Bluetooth paring just to name a few. Moreover, it offers pop, rock, classical modes for a superior listening experience.

The EDIFIER W200BT would normally set you back $24.99 on both online, as well as offline stores. But if you are living on a tight budget, you can use coupon code ROW200BT and save $17.36 at checkout.

As a result, the original asking price of the EDIFIER W200BT In-ear Earphones reduces to just $7.63 even before you place your order. You can follow this link to use the coupon before it expires.

Buy EDIFIER W200BT In-ear Earphones, Coupon Code ROW200BT

EDIFIER TWS1 IPX5 Waterproof Earphone

The EDIFIER TWS1 features Independent Sound Chambers that have 10MM Titanium Film Drivers to produce flawless vocals, powerful low frequencies, along with balanced mid frequencies. It can be charged using a portable charger that comes with a 500mAh built-in large capacity battery.

While you’d usually associate a steep price tag with earphones offering comparable features, the EDIFIER TWS1 is currently available for $51.99. Cost-conscious buyers can use coupon code ROEDIFRTWS1 and get $16 off during the checkout process.

As a result, the EDIFIER TWS1 can now be yours for a lowered price of just $35.99. You can follow this link to check out more details about the earphone and use the coupon, which is likely to lapse soon.

Buy EDIFIER TWS1 IPX5 Waterproof Earphone, Coupon Code ROEDIFRTWS1

Honor beats Xiaomi in Online channel share in China for Q1 2019

By

Jeet

-

Jul 12, 2019

China’s smartphone shipments have been declining this year and now a new report from Counterpoint’s China Channel Service shares that online sales in China’s smartphone market decreased to 24 percent in Q1 2019 from 28 percent in Q4 2018.

It says that China’s smartphone market continued to slow down from H2 2018 due to sluggish demand from consumers as well as seasonality and factories being closed down for the Chinese New Year.

Also, Counterpoint’s Market Monitor Report indicates that the sales in Q1 2019 registered 8 percent year-on-year decline in China. However, JD.com and Tmall.com, two of the biggest eCommerce platforms in China, continue to be the leading platforms. Both the platforms together dominated the market with over 70 percent of the market share.

However, other popular app platforms such as Pinduoduo, Vipshop, and Xiaohongshu have started to carry a variety of brands on their marketplace. The report goes on to add that along with JD, Tmall, and Suning, these apps have become the official online retailers for new model releases.

James Yan, Research Director at Counterpoint, says that “the importance of these third-party apps cannot be underestimated as an important marketing channel for OEMs due to the large userbase of these apps.”

Editor’s Pick: Leaked Huawei Mate 30 Pro screen points to unusually curvy edges

As for the market, the brands that led the market, which includes Honor, Xiaomi, Apple, and Huawei, accounted for 84 percent of the market. Also, Honor has retained the title of the number one online smartphone brand in China with 24 percent of the market share.

Interestingly, Huawei’s market share in the online channel increased in Q1 as the company tries to strengthen position amid an overall market slowdown. Xiaomi’s online market share also increased in Q1 to 22 percent owing to strong demand for the Redmi Note 7.

Also, other brands such as Oppo and Vivo continued to expand into online channels. After achieving initial success with online-focused budget smartphones, such as Vivo Z series and Oppo K series, both the smartphone brands are venturing into launching flagship models in online channels. Vivo and Oppo currently account for 7 percent and 5 percent of the online market share respectively.

Apple, on the other hand, has 10 percent of its sales through the online channel in China while other smartphone brands apart from these six account for around 21 percent of the sales in China through online channels.

Up Next: Xiaomi Mi 9 Android Q Priority Experience Version rolling out now

(Source)

OnePlus 6/6T get new Open Beta updates with a refreshed clock widget and July security patch

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jul 12, 2019

BBK subsidiary OnePlus has reportedly started pushing a new update to users of the OnePlus 6 and 6T. The new updates version for the OP6 is OxygenOS Open Beta 22 while that of the OP6T is OxygenOS Open Beta 14. Despite the disparity in the naming pattern, there is no difference between the two. The changelogs are entirely identical.

From the changelogs, we can see that the update focuses on improvements and optimizations with just a new added feature. The new feature is a new clock widget for the home screen which users can choose to add just like other widgets. In addition, the OnePlus Switch app on the OP6 and OP6T are said to now support more types of data, which will come in handy whenever the owner decides to switch to a new device.

In addition, the update ushers in Android’s latest security patch for the month of July with fixes for bugs and some improvements. One of the improvements is for users who have been experiencing some issues with the camera while using quick reply in the landscape mode. The update promises to take care of that. Further, the app stability of the OnePlus File Manager app which is pre-installed on the smartphones has also seen some improvements. Others include an improved UI, bottom navigation The company has improved its UI via this update, while the bottom navigation has also been improved.

UP NEXT: DJI drones widely adopted by US safety agencies despite Trump’s data security concerns

(via)

Master Lu H1 2019 Smartphone AI Processor Ranking – MediaTek beats Huawei

By

Airyl Jaszly

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Jul 12, 2019

Chinese benchmarking outfit Master Lu has now released the list of best mobile chipsets in terms of AI performance for the first half of 2019. The list of combined processors for Q1 2019 was topped by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, followed by the Snapdragon Apple A12 and the Kirin 980 chipset from Huawei.

As is expected, we’ve got the Snapdragon 855 in the lead, followed by Apple’s excellent A12 chip. Then, we’ve got the MediaTek Helio P90. Yes, you heard that right, MediaTek has managed to get the Helio P90 up there, and it’s apparently a pretty great performer when it comes to AI performance.

Editor’s Pick: Xiaomi Mi CC9 Meitu vs Oppo Reno vs Honor 20: Specs Comparison

According to Master Lu, while the Helio P90 isn’t exactly the most powerful chip around, the AI performance on it is above most other competitors. With this, it has managed to officially knock Huawei‘s Hisilicon Kirin 980 off the third spot in AI ranking. This is a pretty big achievement for MediaTek, beating the king of AI itself.

The rest of the list is pretty much just Snapdragon chips. You can see the top 10 above, and it’s pretty much exactly as you’d expect it to go. The only big surprise is the Helio P90, but it’s definitely one of the biggest surprises that could’ve happened. We can expect to see other benchmarks from the outfit soon.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi CC9 smartphone review: a new choice for youth

(Source)

Smartphone shipments in China were down 6.3% YoY in June 2019

By

Jeet

-

Jul 12, 2019

China Information and Communications Research Institute has recently released a domestic smartphone market analysis report for June 2019 which shows that 34.31 million units were sold in China in June 2019, which is down by 6.3 percent year-on-year.

It further reveals that around 32.262 million devices sold were 4G smartphones, which is down by 5.2 percent year-on-year, and accounted for around 96.9 percent of the total shipments during that period.

Also, around 38 new smartphone models were listed for sale in the domestic smartphone market, which is down by 48.6 percent year-on-year. Also, the new smartphone models listed include nine 2G phones, 28 4G phones, and one 5G smartphone.

In June 2019, the shipments of smartphones made by the homegrown companies come down to 32.68 million units, down around 4.1 percent year-on-year and accounted for 95.2 percent of the total shipments during the same period. 37 new smartphones models of Chinese companies were listed, down 47.1 percent YoY, accounting for 97.4 percent of the total number of devices listed in June 2019.

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As for the report for the first half of the year, i.e. from January 2019 to June 2019, 186 million units of smartphones were shipped, which is down by 5.1 percent year-on-year. Of these, 178 million were 4G devices, down by 4.2 percent YoY and accounted for 95.6 percent of the smartphone shipments.

However, the shipments of devices from domestic brands come to 172 million units, which is down by 1.8 percent year-on-year and accounted for 92.7 percent of the total shipments in the first half of the year.

While the smartphone shipments in China is declining, the decline for the Chinese smartphone brands is lower than the overall decline of the smartphone market in China, one of the biggest markets in the world.

(Via)

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Xiaomi Mi 9 Android Q Priority Experience Version rolling out now

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Jul 12, 2019

Xiaomi has officially confirmed today that it has rolled out Xiaomi Mi 9 MIUI Android Q Beta Priority Experience version in China. At the beginning of this month, the Chinese firm had recruited closed beta testers for the Mi 9 smartphone in the home market. Now, the Priority Experience version has been made available for Mi 9 beta testers.

The Xiaomi Mi 9v Android Q beta users can download and get the first experience of the latest Android Q 10.0 OS. In May, Google had officially Android Q beta for as many as 21 smartphones from across 13 brands. Among them, Xiaomi Mi 9 becomes one of the first handsets to upgrade to Android Q beta. The Mi 9 will also be one of the first phones to get treated with the final version of Android Q when it arrives in August.

Mi 9 beta testers in China who are using Android Q developer version can try the Android Q Beta Priority Experience Version through OTA. Those who are on stable version of Android P will have to unlock bootloader and clear data before flashing the new version.

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Xiaomi’s Director for Mobile Phone System Software Department shared a screenshot of MIUI 10 based Android Q to give a glimpse of the latest edition of MIUI. The screenshot shows the interface face style of MUI 10 for Android Q is not very different from Android Pie. This indicates that the major changes to user interface will be brought on MIUI 11.

Android Q focuses on enhancing the privacy features for users. Users with Android Q phones will have the power to decided whether an app can access the location while it is running in the background. When an app starts accessing location data, a microphone or a camera, Android Q will show a corresponding icon in the notification bar to tell the user which app is using the permission. Android Q comes with native support for Dark Mode. This feature is currently integrated in MIUI 10.

Last month, Xiaomi had confirmed the list of smartphones that schedule to receive Android Q beta in the last quarter of the year. The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE, Xiaomi Mi 8, Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition, Xiaomi Mi 8 Screen Fingerprint Edition, Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S, Xiaomi Mi MIX 3, Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro will be updated to Android Q beta in Q4. The Redmi Note 7 and Redmi Note 7 Pro will be getting the Android Q beta in Q1 2020.

(via)

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Xiaomi is testing MIUI 10 based on Android Q

By

Airyl Jaszly

-

Jul 12, 2019

Xiaomi‘s MIUI is still one of the most well known Android UIs around the Android community. While opinions tend to differ when it comes to preference, it’s undeniable that MIUI is still one of the better UIs around. Despite all the ads, it’s still a very polished experience, and gets frequent updates. Now, they’re finally testing MIUI 10 based on the latest Android Q.

With this, we’ll optimally be getting some of the new Android Q features on new MIUI versions. This means MIUI users can expect all the new security and privacy features from Android Q. By extension, that also means there’s a chance MIUI will get a dark mode, though we’re not optimistic on that one. It seems like that one would have to come from Xiaomi’s side rather than Google.

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Over on Weibo, it’s a bit surprising to see a lot of Chinese MiFans aren’t too eager for Android Q. There’s a rather large divide, with a lot more Chinese MiFans preferring to see MIUI 11 over Android Q. This makes sense for them, seeing how most Google services are banned in China. On top- of that, there’s the fact that MIUI 10 pretty much entirely covers up anything Android related on the OS, and it’s not hard to see why they’re not too enthused.

Regardless, it’s great to see Xiaomi taking Android updates more seriously as of late. It’s a huge improvement over the old Xiaomi, and makes recommending their devices much easier. Android Q is a huge update over the older versions, making it a top priority for smartphone manufacturers. We hope more companies begin pushing for Android Q on their devices.

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(Source)

Buy Unisex Creative Design LED Display Screen Backpack for Only $69.99 from GeekBuying [Coupon]

By

Vinay Patel

-

Jul 12, 2019

If you prefer standing out in a crowd, while making a good impression without spending a lot of money, you might want to give this Unisex LED dynamic backpack a test drive.

It comes with multiple ad modes and supports a wide range of text images and animations that can be published on the LED display. Aside from catching everyone’s attention, the backpack is waterproof to provide added protection to the content kept inside the bag.

The Unisex LED dynamic backpack is made using high-quality fabric, and the anti-wear design are selected from high-density, wearable, and exquisite fabrics. In terms of storage capacity, the backpack offers ample space, allowing you to keep your pencil case, cell phone, notebook, and other files. It also has a power supply USB interface.

Moreover, you can show your creativity with the help of the built-in screen by displaying your favorite creative content. You can effortlessly edit the content using the app, and choose from four appealing colors for your content.

While the market is rife with backpacks that offer comparable features, they don’t come cheap. The Unisex Creative Design LED Display Screen Backpack, on the other hand, will set you back just $79.99 on GeekBuying. This is an eleven percent reduction in the original asking price of the backpack.

Aside from taking full advantage of the aforesaid discount, you can use coupon code 3EBQVUUJ for an extra $10 off. In other words, you can bring the already reduced retail price of the Unisex Creative Design LED Display Screen Backpack further down to only $69.99 simply by applying the coupon at checkout.

You can follow this link in order to avail the discount, which will be valid for the blue, yellow and gray color versions of the backpack for a limited period of time.

Buy Unisex Creative Design LED
Display Screen Backpack, Coupon Code 3EBQVUUJ

GeekBuying Smart Gadgets 5 Day Flash Sale

Buy Xiaomi Soocas SO WHITE Sonic Electric Toothbrush for Just $15.35 from Banggood

By

Vinay Patel

-

Jul 12, 2019

It is no secret that brushing your teeth is important for good oral care. In order to remove oral plaque, you can either use a manual or an electric toothbrush; however, the vibration produced by an electric toothbrush generates more micro-movements, helping you avoid decay more efficiently.

While there’s no dearth of electric toothbrushes in the market today, these wireless devices aren’t easy on the pocketbook. In a bid to make a feature-rich electric toothbrush available to cost-conscious buyers, Xiaomi is now offering the Soocas SO WHITE Sonic Electric Toothbrush for a lowered price on Banggood.

While the Xiaomi Soocas SO WHITE Sonic Electric Toothbrush would normally set you back $89.90, you can now get your hands on it for just $15.35 from the Chinese online store. You can choose between blue and pink color options.

In order to avail this 83 percent discount, all you need to do is to follow this link without wasting time.

Get 83% Off on Xiaomi Soocas SO
WHITE Sonic Electric Toothbrush

SOOCAS Official Store Online Deals

Known for offering the best bang for your buck, Banggood introduces amazing promotions from time to time. Here are four promotion sales that you need to check out before they come to an end.

Banggood Summer Prime Sale

The Summer Prime Sale on Banggood features the Free Order & Gifts campaign, which will run July 12th 16:00. During this campaign, Banggood is giving its loyal users a chance to win free orders and gifts every hour. You can click here to visit the promotion page.

Banggood Summer Prime Sale

Banggood One Cent Snatch

You can participate in this event by visiting the product details page, and then visiting the order payment page by placing your order. You need to invite a friend, who will use your shared link to open the app and join the team.

The idea is to ensure enough of your friends participate before the countdown ends. The winning team will be eligible for the lucky draw. You can check out the activity page by heading straight to this link.

Banggood One Cent Snatch

Banggood 2019 Summer Prime Sale

Banggood is offering an unmissable $0.99 snap up for a wide selection of household and fashion items. Moreover, you can take advantage of big coupons, and win 250 gifts before the promo comes to an end on July 12th (UTC+8).

On top of that, there’s a Lucky Draw, wherein you can win great discounts or coupons and use them for products available on the promotion page. You can follow this link in order to check out more details and avail the discounts.

Banggood 2019 Summer Prime Sale

Banggood 2019 Top Brand Sale

Banggood is giving its brand-conscious users a lot to cheer about in the form of its recently kicked off Banggood 2019 Top Brand Sale. In a bid to simplify and expedite the search process, a slew of heavily discounted products have carefully been added to multiple categories.

You can grab 10% and 15% off coupons that will be valid for popular brands such as Eachine, BlitzWolf, and Bakeey. In addition to that, you can participate in the snap up and get a chance to get big discounts on amazing products.

If you are interested in receiving these noteworthy discounts before the promo comes to an end, simply check out the promotion page by following this link.

Banggood 2019 Top Brand Sale