LG Q9 packing a SD 821 SoC, QHD+ screen, 4GB RAM, IP68 waterproof body launched in Korea

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Jan 8, 2019

Three months after the device first popped up in leaks, LG has officially unveiled the LG Q9. The Q9 is basically a rebranded G7 Fit but it enters the market under the Q series.

Specs wise, the G7 and Q9 are very much identical but the colour options have been enhanced to be more appealing especially to the young folks. The phone is aimed at students and isn’t billed to go on sale until July 11 (that’s not a mistake). Since the new school term commences in August, the timing may just be perfect. The price tag is also pretty decent considering the features. The Q9 will cost KRW 500,000 in South Korea which around $445.

The LG Q9 sports a 6.1-inch FullVision display that is pretty sharp due to the QHD+ resolution of 3120x1440pixels it packs. The screen is HDR10-enabled to boot. The device also utilises the 19.5:9 aspect ratio which means it fits the palm comfortably. The device comes with a dimension of 153.2×71.9×7.9mm while it weighs 159g. On the camera end, the LG Q9 packs an 8MP wide-angle sensor at the front for selfies while at the rear is a 16MP shooter. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset paired with 4GB of RAM and there is 64GB of storage onboard. The Q9 gets its interface from the Android 8.1 Oreo OS and packs a 3000mAh battery under its hood.

Further, the Q9 comes with LG’s trademark Quad DAC for high-quality wired audio as well as a powerful Boombox speaker if you want to play the music loudly. The phone also comes with IP68 waterproof build as well as the MIL-STD-810G build standard which makes it drop-resistant. There is also a microSD slot, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type C with Quick Charge support, a rear fingerprint reader, a dedicated Google Assistant key, LG Pay support and a 3.5mm audio receiver.

Pricing and Availability

The LG Q9 comes in three cool and attractive colours namely, Carmine Red, New Aurora Black and New Moroccan Blue. The device will become available on the three big Korean carriers on July 11 ahead of the start of a new school year in late August.

(source)

Uber’s partner Bell showcases its Nexus flying taxi design for the first time at CES 2019

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 8, 2019

One major challenge faced in big cities is traffic congestion. Several ways have been recommended to tackle this challenge such as the use of bikes. Air transportation is also being looked at and in this regard, ride-hailing firm Uber’s flying taxi partner Bells has taken to CES 2019 to showcase the design of its air taxi. The taxi is dubbed Bell Nexus and is a five-person hybrid-electric powered vehicle with six tilting ducted fans capable of vertical takeoff and landing.

The Bell Nexus was first revealed at CES last year but the only the cabin but this time around a complete prototype is being shown off. The company plans to have the Nexus operational by the “mid-2020s” but no definite date has been fixed, according to Bell’s director of innovation, Scott Drennan. “This is not a toy. This is an aircraft you would feel safe and comfortable bringing your family into,” the director said. We won’t be seeing a working prototype anytime soon as that will be done closer to its official launch.

Bell CEO Mitch Snyder recognise the need to solve transportation challenges in the vertical dimension as space at the ground level becomes limited. “The industry has anticipated the reveal of our air taxi for some time, so Bell is very proud of this moment. We believe the design, taken with our strategic approach to build this infrastructure, will lead to the successful deployment of the Bell Nexus to the world.” he added.

Apart from Bell, Uber is also working with a number of companies on its future air taxi service. Uber showcased one of its air taxi prototypes at its Uber Elevate Summit, and it has said it aims to have aircrafts available for commercial operations by 2023. Uber views the revealing of Bell’s design a “major step” in its effort to develop “an on-demand Uber Air network.”

(source, via)

For more CES 2019 coverage, check out this link.

360 Mobiles to launch new product tomorrow, likely a gaming smartphone

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 8, 2019

360 Mobiles will launch a new smartphone tomorrow and based on the teaser, we think it is a gaming smartphone.

360 Mobiles took to Weibo to tease the launch of a new product tomorrow, 9th of January. The teaser poster shows a plaque with a rifle on it. The rifle is the hint that this is most likely a gaming smartphone and should be able to run games like PUBG and Fortnite.

There isn’t any info on what the phone looks like and what specs it will pack but since the launch is tomorrow, we don’t mind waiting. However, we expect it to pack a big battery and a capable processor.

360 Mobiles hasn’t released a new phone in a while. Its last phone, the 360 N7 Pro, was released about five months ago.

(Source, Via)

Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite Geekbench listing reveals Snapdragon 855, 6 GB RAM

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 8, 2019

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite will be announced along with Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus smartphones in the coming month. Rumors have it that the South Korean company will be unveil the Galaxy S10 series on Feb. 20. Today, the Galaxy S10 Lite smartphone has appeared on Geekbench to confirm it key specs.

As it can be seen in the below image, a Samsung phone with model number SM-G970U has appeared on Geekbench. Recent reports have revealed that the model number belongs to the S10 Lite which is the lowest configuration model in the Galaxy S10 series.

The Galaxy S10 Lite is fueled by “msmnile” processor. Leaks from last year have revealed that the 7nm Snapdragon 855 is codenamed as “msmnile.” The SoC of the Galaxy S10 Lite is assisted by 6 GB of RAM. The handset is loaded with Android 9 Pie OS.

In the single-core and multi-core tests of Geekbench, the smartphone has respectively scored 1986 and 6266. These benchmarking scores are lower than what the Snapdragon 855 and 6 GB RAM powered Xiaomi Cepheus scored on Geekbench. The Cepheus believed to be the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 9 phone.

The SM-G970 belongs to the unlocked version of the Galaxy S10 Lite for the U.S. Previous reports have revealed that the S10 Lite is fitted with a 5.8-inch S-AMOLED Infinity Display that supports 18.5:9 aspect ratio and full HD+ resolution. The S10 Lite will be drawing power from 3,100mAh battery. The smartphone to be release in variants such as 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage, 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage and 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy M10, M20 likely to debut with Rs. 9,500 (~$136) price by January end

The back panel of the phone will be featuring a dual camera setup. A single camera will be available on the frontside of the phone. Like the Galaxy A7 (2018) smartphone from last year, the Galaxy S10 Lite will be featuring a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. In the U.K., the smartphone will be available with a price tag of 699 pounds (~$892). In the U.S., it could be priced between $650 and $750. The glass-bodied S10 Lite is rumored to hit the market in multiple colors like yellow, white, black, green and blue.

(via)

Samsung Notebook 9 Pro high-end convertible with stylish design announced at CES 2019

By

Jeet

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Jan 8, 2019

After announcing its new gaming laptop at the Consumer Electronics Show 2019 in Las Vegas, Samsung also launched its new Samsung Notebook 9 Pro convertible which comes with fixes for issues present in the previous model.

First thing first — the look. The Notebook 9 is now looking more like a premium flagship laptop. The company has ditched sloping curves and painted plastic in favor of sharper edges and aluminum build which actually looks and like aluminum.

The design changes made by the South Korean company is a big step forward and makes it feel like a true flagship laptop from the company — something that was missing in the previous model.

Coming to the specifications, the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro comes with a 13.3-inch Full HD (1080p) display that is now surrounded by thinner bezels. It is powered by a quad-core 8th-generation Intel Core i7-8565U processor and packs 8GB of RAM and 256GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage.

As for connectivity ports, there are two Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C ports on one side of the case, and a regular USB-C port, a headphone jack, and a microSD card slot on the other side. The power button comes embedded with Windows Hello fingerprint reader.

The Samsung Notebook 9 Pro is a 2-in-1 convertible device with a touchscreen that can be flipped around to convert into a tablet. The company is including an “Active Pen” stylus in the box for sketching and jotting down notes.

The laptop measures 12.1 x 8.1 x 0.55 inches and weighs 2.84 lbs. As for the battery, it is powered by a 55Wh battery that supports fast charging. Samsung has not yet revealed information regarding the pricing and exact availability dates for the Notebook 9 Pro. However, the company has said that it will be available in early 2019.

For more CES 2019 coverage, check out this link.

Sharp Aquos Zero launched as the world’s lightest 6-inch smartphone

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 8, 2019

The AQUOS Zero smartphone has gone official in Taiwan. Sharp claims that it is the world’s lightest 6-inch smartphone. It features a notched display, a Snapdragon 845 chipset and a powerful rear camera.

Sharp AQUOS Zero Specifications and Features

Weighing only 146 grams, the AQUOS Zero smartphone comes equipped with a lightweight 6.2-inch OLED display by Sharp, a highly durable chassis with magnesium alloy frame and fiber back and a 3,130mAh battery. The display of the AQUOS Zero supports QHD+ resolution of 2992 x 1440 pixels, DCI-P3 wide color gamut and Dolby Vision HDR image technology. The screen is shielded by Corning Glass 5 3D curved glass.

The Snapdragon 845 mobile platform and 6 GB of RAM are present under the hood of the device The two charging ICs present on the device helps in heat dissipation which makes it possible to enjoy games and play videos while it is being charged. It has an internal storage of 128 GB. The handset lacks support for microSD card. The smartphone is loaded with Android 9 Pie OS which is customized with Sharp’s UI.

The rear side of the Sharp AQUOS Zero features a 22.6 super wide-angle lens with f/1.9 aperture with anti-shake feature for capturing stabilized videos. There is an f/2.2 aperture 8-megapixel wide-angle front-facing camera. Sharp’s AI tech brings scene recognition for both cameras. The smartphone carries support for single SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS and NFC. The AQUOS Zero features face recognition as well as a rear-facing fingerprint reader. For audiophiles, the smartphone produces stereo audio with support for Dolby Atmos. Lastly, it is an IP68 certified device which protects it from damage caused by dust and water contact.

Sharp AQUOS Zero Price and Release Date

The AQUOS Zero has arrived in Taiwan with a price tag of NT$ 19,990 (~$648). The smartphone will be available for purchase from Jan. 15 in Taiwan.

(source)

Sony announces gigantic 8K and 4K TVs at CES 2019

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 8, 2019

TVs are one of the main sights at CES, so it’s no surprise that the big names are announcing new models already. We particularly love the LG Signature and now Sony has announced a slate of super-sized models for its Master series.

Sony’s new TVs are categorized into two – the Z9G which is an 8K LCD series and the A9G which is a 4K OLED series. Both are amazing in their own ways.

Z9G

The Z9G series comes in 98” and 85” models. These are the first 8K TVs from Sony made for consumers and the manufacturer claims there are new technologies that help it achieve its impressive picture quality.

https://youtu.be/hjuVxJGmgx4?list=PLS7HhJc1FK0PohpVs30qMKPs_t-5jQv-B

The Z9G series have an LCD display, so the OLED’s acoustic Surface Audio+ technology can’t work. However, Sony found a way to replicate the audio experience so it feels like the sound is coming from the display. To achieve this, there are two speakers above and below the screen for a total of four front-facing speakers.

Sony also says the Z9G series can upscale 4K content to near-8K quality thanks to a proprietary algorithm.

A9G

The A9G model comes in 77”, 65”, and 55” models. Since the panel is OLED, you can be sure of getting true blacks, super-wide viewing angles, and great contrast. The A9G also appears to have thinner bezels and according to Sony, when mounted, the TV “appears to be floating on the wall, leaving only the brilliance of its picture”.

https://youtu.be/Pq8JkcXPEQk?list=PLS7HhJc1FK0PohpVs30qMKPs_t-5jQv-B

The Z9G and A9G both run Android TV (Oreo) and Sony says they offer better performance than older models. Sony hasn’t said anything about the price of the TVs and when they will be available for purchase.

For more CES 2019 coverage, check out this link.

(Source)

Royole showed off its Rollable Keyboard at CES 2019 among other products

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 8, 2019

Sometime late last year, a company relatively unknown until that time, made the headlines of nearly all tech blogs around the world. After all, Royole, a startup had managed to beat the South Korean giant Samsung in releasing the first commercial foldable smartphone in the market. Now, the company decided to showcase its best products at CES 2019 and among them was a flexible rollable QWERTY keyboard.

The rollable QWERTY keyboard is basically a transparent and thin layer of a sheet that features full-fledged QWERTY keys. You just have to lay it out on a flat surface and connect to your device wirelessly via Bluetooth. After use, just push the button on the keyboard twice and it neatly rolls up into a compact form factor. The typing experience might not be as good as a regular keyboard but since its rollable, it’s extremely portable.

Unfortunately, no word on its pricing yet. All we know is that the keyboard will hit the markets sometime in Q2 2019 via Royole’s own site and sellers like Amazon.

Apart from this cool little keyboard, Royole also showcased their smart speaker with a built-in curved 7.8-inch display. You can watch movies, or see what’s being played on the speakers on the display. What’s even cooler is the fact that it will come with an 8MP pop-up camera which can rotate up to 180 degrees to take selfies or make video calls. You get Alexa and Google Assistant built-in which will also help you to control your smart home devices.

MORE CES Coverage: LG’s Signature Rollable TV is coming to the market in 2019!

Finally coming to the smart touch selfie stick, it features multi-touch sensors on its handle to navigate through the in-camera features of the connected smartphone. This ones already available for purchase in China via Brookstone and will hit the US in 2019.

Apart from these, the Flexpai foldable phone was showcased at the event along with existing products from the company like its digital writing pad called RoWrite and its 3D entertainment headset called Moon.

For more CES 2019 coverage, check out this link.

(Source)

Apple and Huawei sit atop the Top 10 Smartphone brands in China in terms of revenue

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 8, 2019

The rise of Android phones has no doubt have some effects on Apple‘s iPhone sales globally. Just last week Wednesday, the US company announced that it is slashing its revenue forecast for the first fiscal quarter (2018Q4) to $84 billion, down from the previous forecast of between $89 billion and $93 billion. The company also adjusted its gross sales margin to 38%, compared to the previous forecast of 38% to 38.5%. The announcement saw Apple’s stock price plummeting by 10% the following day. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook n an open letter to investors marshalled out several factors that were responsible for the company’s revenue to fall short of expectations. Some of the reasons adduced include a lower-than-expected iPhone sales, poor performance in the Chinese market, and a stronger US dollar.

Despite the revelation of the poor performance in the Chinese market, a fresh report by research firm Canalys shows that Apple’s performance in the Chinese market in the previous quarter (2018Q3) was good, at least in terms of revenue. The report put the gross revenue of the Chinese smartphone market was 30.7 billion US dollars, and just five brands enjoy the larger share of this bounty, namely Apple, Huawei, OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi. Among the lot, Apple and Huawei grabbed the largest revenues, with Apple’s revenue accounting for 23% of the total revenue while Huawei had a 22% share. It should be noted that Apple’s impressive performance is mainly due to the release of iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max at the end of the quarter, and the popularity of older models such as iPhone X and iPhone 8. While Huawei is benefiting from the hot sale of P20 and P20 Pro and the strong performance of its Honor branded mobile phones.

In terms of shipments, Huawei topped the market with an estimate of 101 million shipped units, representing 25% market share. This is closely followed by Vivo with a 23% market share, Oppo with 21% market share and Xiaomi with a 13% market share. Apple came in at the fifth spot but higher revenue than the rest. The report by Canalys also shows that Samsung came in at the seventh spot in China despite maintaining its lead in the global market. Finally, Nokia also broke into the top 10 phone makers in China in terms of market share in Q3 2018. As it stands, Apple, Samsung and Nokia are the only three foreign mobile phone vendor with substantial influence in China. This again put a spotlight on the growth of Chinese domestic brands.

(via)

Nubia Red Magic Mars to launch in the US (and Europe) for $399 on Jan. 31

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 8, 2019

Yesterday we reported that Nubia would be at this year’s edition of CES showing off its latest gaming smartphone, the Red Magic Mars. The manufacturer has now announced the release date for the phone in new markets.

If you live in the US, Nubia says the Red Magic Mars will be available for purchase starting January 31 for $399. This comes as a surprise since Nubia didn’t officially launch the original Red Magic in the US save for when people could pre-order it on Indiegogo.

Now, residents of the US will be able to buy the phone on the dedicated website for Nubia’s gaming smartphones, redmagic.gg. The $399 price is for the base model which has 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Nubia says the 8GB RAM + 128GB and 10GB RAM + 256GB models will also be available but their prices have not been announced yet.

The phone will also go on sale in Europe on the same day but Nubia didn’t reveal the price. The official press statement also says it will be available in other regions too but doesn’t say when.

Continue

Honor 10 Lite launching in India on January 15 as Flipkart exclusive

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 8, 2019

In November, Honor had introduced the Honor 10 Lite smartphone in China. A recent report had claimed that the Honor 10 Lite will be releasing in India by mid-January. A landing page for the smartphone has appeared on Flipkart which indicates that the online retailer will be exclusively selling it in India. The landing page on Flipkart has confirmed that the Honor 10 Lite will be unveiled on Jan. 15.

The Honor 10 Lite is advertising the 24-megapixel selfie camera, Kirin 710 chipset and stylish gradient design as its three main features. Whether there is bright or low light, the Honor 10 Lite can capture enhanced AI driven selfies. It can detect 200 scenarios across 8 modes.

The landing page of the Honor 10 Lite on Flipkart reveals that its Kirin 710 chipset can deliver better performance than phones powered by Snapdragon 636, Snapdragon 660 and Helio P60. The Kirin 710 chipset on the Honor 10 Lite will be assisted by 4 GB of RAM. It will be arriving with an inbuilt storage of 64 GB.

The Honor 10 lite features a TUV Rheinland certified 6.21-inch IPS LCD dewdrop display that offers 91-precent screen-to-body ratio, 19.5:9 aspect ratio and full HD+ resolution. The smartphone will be available in Black, Blue and Sky Blue color gradient options. Other specs of the phone include 13-megapixel + 2-megapixel dual camera setup, EMUI 9.0 based Android 9 Pie OS and 3,320mAh battery. In China, the 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage edition of the Honor 10 Lite was introduced with a price tag of 1,399 Yuan (~$204; Rs.14,000). There is no information on the pricing of the smartphone for the Indian market.

Read More: Honor 8A is official with waterdrop notch screen, Helio P35 and 799 Yuan (~$116) price

Honor is also expected to debut a new smartphone at 8 PM in India today. However, there is no confirmation on which phones will be made official tonight.

Xiaomi launches Mi Table Lamp Pro in China for 349 Yuan ($51)

By

Jeet

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Jan 8, 2019

Along with the Bluetooth Headset Air and XiaoAi Speaker HD, Xiaomi has also announced its new Mi Table Lamp Pro in China. Priced at 349 Yuan, which roughly converts to $51, the device will be available for purchase from 11th January through Xiaomi Mall and Tmall.

The Mi Table Lamp Pro, which comes with a three-stage adjustable shaft design, is claimed by the company to have been certified by the German TUV Rhein Eye Comfort Certification for safety. Further, it has the same design as Mi LED Smart Table Lamp that has won three international design awards –iF Design Gold Award, Japan Good Design Award, and Red Dot Award.

Offering large illumination range, it also supports color temperature and smart brightness adjustment. It also comes with smart connectivity features which enable users to control other smart home devices as well. The Mi Table Lamp Pro has a LED area of 116mm and is claimed to offer two times more brightness compared to the Mi Table Lamp.

The company says that it is using a stroboscopic constant current analog dimming mechanism instead of the PWM dimming for low brightness. It also supports multiple modes of lighting which can be switched based on different situations that ultimately reduces eye fatigue and protects eyesight.

Further, Xiaomi claims that it can also achieve high-intensity light and the color restoration is close to the sunlight and reproduces the original color seen under the blue sky. Because of the three-shaft adjustable design, the Mi Table Lamp Pro’s arm can reach up to 66cm and the maximum diameter of the irradiation area can reach 125cm.

The Mi Table Lamp Pro can also be controlled through Mijia App as well as Apple Home. For connectivity, it supports Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth and can easily be connected with other smart home devices through the Mijia App. Since it also supports Apple HomeKit, it can be controlled using Apple Home app as well as Siri on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

HTC Vive Pro Eye takes VR to the next level with Integrated Eye Tracking

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 8, 2019

HTC’s smartphone business might be in a rut but the Taiwanese company is doing one thing right: Virtual Reality. Every year at CES, we get to see some cool stuff from HTC from its Vive headset lineup and this year, things are just as exciting. HTC announced its new HTC Vive Pro Eye VR headset at the event featuring integrated eye tracking. While you could upgrade the old Vive headset with an add-on Eye tracking accessory, native Eye tracking support on the Vive Pro Eye opens up a lot of possibilities.

One of the biggest benefits from integrated eye tracking is higher quality images. This is done with the help of a smart technique called ‘foveated rendering’. The technique prioritizes graphics processing of the content that’s directly in your line of sight while limiting the quality of images in the periphery. Simply put, the native eye-tracking tech in the headset can locate exactly where you are looking in the virtual reality world and prioritize the rendering of the content that’s directly in your line of sight. Since the rendering is prioritized, it reduces the graphics requirement to run apps on the headset.

The improved image quality is not the only benefit from eye tracking on the HTC Vive Pro Eye. The headset allows you to browse and select in-game menus just by tracking your eyes. Further, this opens up accessibility options to users who are unable to use traditional controllers.

RELATED: Xiaomi Launches Mi VR Standalone, Starts At ¥1499 (~$234)

The Vive Pro Eye headset also brings the company’s Viveport Infinity service which offers around 500 VR titles for a monthly fee (not yet disclosed). HTC’s Vive Pro series has always been an expensive lineup and we expect a premium price for the Pro Eye VR headset as well. No word on its pricing yet but the company confirms that it’ll be available for purchase in Q2 2019.

While the Vive Pro Eye is targeted at customers who are ready to shell out some serious money for a virtual reality experience, the company’s new Vive Cosmos is better suited for the mass market. HTC hasn’t revealed a lot of details about this headset. However, we know that it will be powered by a PC/ Laptop and will also work with smartphones. There are built-in motion controllers and future modular customization options are expected for the device. The first set of dev kits are said to be released early 2019.

LG Signature OLED TV R with roll-up display showcased at CES 2019

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 8, 2019

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018 tech expo, LG had displayed a prototype of 65-inch OLED roll-up 4K TV. At that time, the South Korean company did not confirm on the price and availability of the device. At the ongoing CES 2019, LG showcased the consumer version of its 65-inch roll-up TV. Also, the company not only confirmed the “Signature OLED TV R” the product name for the 65-inch roll-up TV, but also revealed that it will be available for purchase later this year.

The 65-inch OLED screen of the newly unveiled LG TV can roll into and unroll from a base stand which functions as a sound bar. Whenever the TV is not in use, the screen can automatically roll down. The sound bar includes 100-watt Dolby Atmos speaker. The display can be rolled up to desired height for viewing photos or to use it as a smart hub for smart devices. It takes only 10 seconds for the screen to rise up completely.

The TV runs on LG’s webOS which is integrated with Google Assistant. The South Korean company will be adding support for Amazon Alexa later this year. For convenient playback and mirroring, LG will be adding support for AirPlay 2 by Apple. All the ports including HDMI 2.1 are located on the rear side of the phone. The South Korean company claims that its roll-up OLED TV offers the same picture quality, viewing angles and deep blacks as its standard OLED sets.

Read More: HP and Acer launch AMD Chromebooks at CES 2019

LG Signature OLED TV R will be available for buying in the U.S. before the end of the year. The company is yet to confirm on its price and the exact release timeframe. However, it is very likely to arrive with an expensive price tag.

For more CES 2019 coverage, checkout this link

Sony new Party speakers come with beer cup holders and 13 hours battery!

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 8, 2019

Japanese tech giant Sony has unveiled what is perhaps it’s weirdest gadget at!The Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2019). The speaker adopts a rather unusual name as it is dubbed GTK-PG10. Sony has already announced more powerful Bluetooth party speakers but the new model is basically for that impromptu tailgate party, barbecue party or any outdoor event that requires some portability.

Sony GTK-PG10 is a portable wireless speaker with a dedicated outdoor party mode. In the dedicated party mode, Sony says the speaker’s DSP (digital signal processor) “automatically adapts audio settings to optimize outdoor performance.” The gadget also comes with a powerful rechargeable battery which can deliver up to 13 hours of playback.

Design wise, the Sony portable wireless speaker comes in a cube shape and has built-in handles. The speaker can also be mounted on a speaker stand if so desired but do note that the top panel can be opened up , turning the tweeters upward in order to spread the sound wider. Also, there four cupholders at the top when it is opened. Sony have put in place a design that would prevent damage in case the liquid spills as the top is splash-proof.

The speaker which has a $250 price tag also comes with an FM radio in addition to Bluetooth, USB port and an aux input port. There are also buttons for Mega Bass and for changing the musical key in cases where the fun shifts to singing karaoke. There is also a microphone input option on the speaker.

Xiaomi ‘Cepheus’ flagship smartphone spotted on Geekbench; packs SD855 SoC and 48MP camera

By

Jeet

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Jan 8, 2019

Xiaomi, which recently split its Redmi brand into an independent entity, is going to launch a new smartphone with the 48-megapixel camera under Redmi brand on 10th January in China.

Now, a new smartphone has been spotted online on benchmarking portal Geekbench, which seems to be a device under Xiaomi brand. While the name of the phone is not known, it carries the codename of Xiaomi Cepheus.

As per the Geekbench listing, the smartphone is powered by Qualcomm’s latest flagship processor — Snapdragon 855 octa-core chipset along with 6GB of RAM. However, we are expecting the company to launch other variants of the phone with higher RAM.

In the benchmark test, the device achieved a score of 3,475 in the single-core test and 10,872 in the multi-core test. The score reaffirms that the device is indeed powered by the SD855 SoC. As for the software, the smartphone will likely be running on the Android 9 Pie based MIUI 10 out-of-the-box.

Other reports indicate that the phone will come with a dual camera setup on the back, where the primary camera sensor will be of 48-megapixel and the secondary sensor could be super wide-angle or telephoto lens. The 48MP Sony IMX586 back sensor is the same camera sensor that is expected to be on the Redmi smartphone launching later this week.

While not much is known about the smartphone at this point in time, there are speculations that the device could feature an in-display fingerprint sensor. It is also expected to come with an OLED display with Full HD+ resolution as well as support for Always-on display.

The China-based company is currently working on two flagship devices — Mi 9 and Mi MIX 4, so there’s a possibility that this Xiaomi Cepheus could be either Mi 9 or Mi MIX 4.

(Via)

Poco F1 update with 960fps slow-motion, night scene mode coming in two weeks

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 8, 2019

A report from the previous month had revealed that Xiaomi’s sub-brand Pocophone is working on a new update which includes slow-motion video shooting at 960fps and night scene mode for capturing enhanced shots in low-light conditions. A fresh tweet from Poco India General Manger Manmohan Chandolu has revealed that the 960fps slow-motion video recording and night mode will be available for Poco F1 users in two weeks.

Poco India has recently rolled out the MIUI 10 based Android 9 Pie update for Xiaomi Poco F1 users. After installing the update, the feature to disable notch is no longer available. Some others have encountered issues with Bluetooth pairing, touch panel and battery drainage among others. Chandolu’s tweet also says that the update with 960fps slow-motion and night scene mode will also bring fixes for battery drain and touch issues.

He has also added through another tweet that 4K video shooting at 60fps will be made available through a stable update arriving n February. Since the Poco F1 lacks support for Widevine L1, HD streaming content such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Videos are not viewable on it. In October, the company had confirmed through MIUI forum that it is working with Google and Qualcomm to release Widevine L1 support for Poco F1 usersv. Chandolu has stated in his tweet that the company is still working with its partners to bring support for Widevine l1.

Read More: Redmi’s 48MP camera smartphone images revealed by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun

The Poco team seems to be working hard to improve the user experience on Poco F1. In the previous week, the Xiaomi Poco F1 received official TWRP support and now the company is gearing up to release a couple of important features for it. The Poco F1 was made official in August in India. It features a 6.18-inch full HD+ notched display, Snapdragon 845, up to 8 GB RAM, up to 256 GB storage, 20-megapixel front camera, 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual camera and 4,000mAh battery.

(source)

Huawei Y9 2019 India launch postponed, now scheduled to launch on 10th January

By

Jeet

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Jan 8, 2019

After launching its upper mid-range smartphone Huawei Y9 2019 in October, the Chinese company was all set to launch the same phone in the Indian market on 7th January. However, the India launch was postponed and is now scheduled to launch on 10th January.

The event, which was scheduled on 7th January 11:00 AM IST in New Delhi, will now take place on 10th January. The phone is already confirmed to be an Amazon-exclusive device.

The Huawei Y9 2019 houses a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display with 2340 x 1080 pixels Full HD+ screen resolution and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, the device is powered by the company’s own Kirin 710 chipset.

The device packs either 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of internal storage. There’s also a microSD card slot which enables users to further expand the phone’s storage capacity up to 400GB. For photography, it features 13-megapixel + 2-megapixel dual selfie snapper and 16-megapixel + 2-megapixel dual camera setup on the back.

For security purpose, the device features a fingerprint scanner on the backside of the handset. Connectivity options on the device include Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz / 5GHz), Bluetooth 5, and GPS + GLONASS. Running on Android Oreo out-of-the-box with EMUI 8.2, the phone is powered by a 4,000mAh battery but lacks support for fast charging.

In China, the smartphone is available in three colors — Midnight Black, Sapphire Blue, and Aurora Purple. We are expecting the company to launch Black and Blue variants in the Indian market, however, there’s no confirmation yet. To know for sure, we’ll have to wait a couple days more as the phone will go official in India on 10th January.

Buy Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 SE And Baseus CCALL AJK01 QI 10W Wireless Charger At Discounted Prices On GeekBuying [Coupons Inside]

By

Vinay Patel

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Jan 8, 2019

This year’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show) starts today, January 8th in Las Vegas and is slated to go on until January 12th.

Keeping in line with that, GeekBuying has launched its CES 2019 Sale, wherein you can get up to a whopping 60 percent off on a wide selection of products from popular brands. The promo has been split into Hot Tech, New Trends, Coupons and a Category Deals section that comprise Hot Electronics, Phones & Laptops, Toys & Hobbies, and Home & Supplies sub-categories.

As part of it’s recently kicked off promotion, the Chinese online store is offering well-received mobile devices and a slew of other mobile phone accessories at lowered prices. Here are a couple of devices that you can now get your hands on without breaking the bank on GeekBuying.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 SE (8GB RAM+128GB ROM)

The long-awaited Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 SE (Special Edition) smartphone was launched last year in September. Much to the delight of the Chinese tech company, the Mi Mix 2 SE became an instant hit among Xiaomi fans just like its well-received predecessor.

Regrettably, it failed to sweep cost-conscious buyers off their feet, thanks to the steep price tag the phone carried. Xiaomi has now teamed up with GeekBuying in a bid to make the Mi Mix 2 SE available to those living on a tight budget.

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 SE smartphone usually sells for $399.99, but you can now get your hands on the coveted phone for a reduced price of $319.99. On top of that, you can even extend this 20 percent discount with the help of coupon code GIZ_GKBCES1.
The aforesaid coupon helps you save an extra $50 by reducing the device’s already lowered retail price down to only $309.99 before you place your order. You can follow this link to avail the discount.

Note that the promo is slated to end in just three days and the discount will be valid for the white-tinted model offering 8GB of RAM and 128GB ROM. Likewise, you can get a 45 percent off on the 8GB RAM and 128GB ROM model.

Get 20% Off On Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 SE Smartphone

Baseus CCALL AJK01 QI 10W Wireless Charger

Capable of working with nearly all top-branded smartphones available in the market today, wireless chargers have become quite popular among frequent travelers, adventure junkies and those who do not like carrying cables and power adapters on the go.

Online as well as offline stores are brimming with all sorts of wireless chargers that carry steep price tags but oftentimes fail to meet your expectations. If you have restlessly been waiting to get your hands on a reliable, yet cost-effective wireless charger, you might want to take a gander at the Baseus CCALL AJK01.

This thin, compact, yet powerful wireless charger boasts an impressive array of features including an adapter quick charge, stable recognition, heat dissipation and is very convenient to use as well.
You’d normally end up spending a lot of money on a wireless charger, but if you aren’t willing to empty your pocket, GeekBuying’s got your back. The Baseus CCALL AJK01 QI 10W wireless charger that usually carries a $34.99 price tag is now up for grabs for a reduced price of just $14.99 on GeekBuying.

On top of that, you can use coupon code GIZ_2019NEW1 and get an extra $1 off at the time of checking out. In other words, you can bring the original asking price of this Baseus-branded wireless charger further down to only $13.99 simply by applying the above-mentioned coupon.

This discount is specifically valid for the white+black, white and black color versions of the wireless charger. You can follow this link to grab the discount before the promo comes to an end.

Get 57% Off On Baseus CCALL JK01 QI 10W Wireless Charger

Check Out GeekBuying’s 2019 New Year Sale

Xiaomi claims to have sold over 100 million Mi Power Banks so far

By

Jeet

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Jan 8, 2019

While Xiaomi’s budget smartphones are dominating the emerging markets, the Chinese company’s accessories are also equally popular. Among the most popular accessories from Xiaomi is the Mi Power Banks.

Xiaomi now claims that it has managed to sell over 100 million units of its Mi Power Banks till date. The sale numbers are likely the combination of the sale of the company’s power banks worldwide. Also, this likely includes the sales numbers of Mi Power Bank, Mi Power Bank 2, Mi Power Bank 2S, and ZMI Auro series.

The announcement comes along with the launch of the company’s third-generation of power banks — Mi Power Bank 3 Pro which comes with 20,000mAh capacity, USB Type-C 45W dual charging support, and 199 Yuan ($29) price tag, which goes on sale from 11th January.

The newly launched power bank comes with three ports in total as opposed to the two ports found on the 10000mAh Mi Powerbank 2 Pro model. There are two USB-A ports along with a USB Type-C port. The Type-C port can take 45W (15V/3A) input as well as output, while the USB-A ports max out at 18W.

It can charge a number of devices, including laptops and handheld gaming consoles. Through its Type-C port, it can charge Apple MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models as well as Huawei’s MateBook models, among others.

Xiaomi has clarified that when both the USB-A ports are in use, the output is maxed out at 15W each (5V/3A). As it also supports pass-through charging, other devices can be charged at a time when the power bank itself is being charged. Xiaomi adds that the 11 hour charging time for the power bank goes down to just 4.5 hours with a 45W charger.

As for the build, the Mi Power Bank 3 Pro seems to have been made out of ABS plastic that features a ceramic-like gloss finish. It includes low power support for smart wearables and 9 layers of circuit chip protection.