Coolpad Cool 3 with 5.7-inch dewdrop notch display, dual rear cameras, and Android Pie launched in India

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Feb 5, 2019

The JioPhone was a 4G feature phone powered by KaiOS sold by the Indian network operator, Reliance Jio. It had a candy bar design with alphanumeric keys and a 2.4-inch color display. Last year it was followed by the JioPhone 2 which runs the same OS and same screen size but packs a physical QWERTY keyboard. News of the JioPhone 3 have surfaced and it is said to be a full touchscreen smartphone.

JioPhone 2 featured — JioPhone 3, successor to the JioPhone 2 (above) will have a full touchscreen display

According to a company executive that decided to remain anonymous, the next JioPhone will have a 5” touchscreen display, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of expandable storage. There is no info on the processor and the OS but Android seems to be the only option available.

The cameras will also be upgraded – a 5MP rear shooter and a 2MP front-facing camera. Hopefully, there should be an LED flash for the rear camera and the battery should be bigger.

These upgrades mean the phone will cost more – INR 4500 (~$63) to be specific. This is triple the price of the original which sold for INR 1500 (~$21). The JioPhone 2 sold for INR 2,999 (~$42).

The launch of the JioPhone 3 is reported to be in June with pre-orders starting in July and sales in August. We are not sure yet but RelianceJio may offer an exchange program as it did for the JioPhone 2.

New render shows the Galaxy Watch Sport in more colors

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Feb 5, 2019

Samsung will most likely announce a new smartwatch at its February 20 unpacked event. A render of the watch which is called the Galaxy Watch Sport was posted on the web yesterday. Today, another render has surfaced and it shows the watch in three new colors.

In addition to the silver/light gray version, the Galaxy Watch Sport will also come in black, dark blue, and rose gold. While you can purchase any variant you want, the rose gold variant seems targeted at women. The new render also shows the watches with different watch faces for different occasions.

Samsung Galaxy M20 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 vs Honor 10 Lite: Specs Comparison

By

Michele Ingelido

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Feb 5, 2019

With the new Galaxy M series, Samsung is evidently aiming at recovering on Chinese smartphone manufacturers which literally cannibalized its sales in the midrange and entry-level segment. Samsung Galaxy M20 carries a much better price tag compared to the previous Samsung midrange phones and, thanks to this, it represents a great alternative choice to affordable Chinese mid-rangers. But is it enough to let consumers choose it? We will let you find out through this comparison with two hot Chinese mid-rangers of the moment: Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 and Huawei Honor 10 Lite.

Samsung Galaxy M20 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 vs Huawei Honor 10 Lite

	Samsung Galaxy M20	Xiaomi Redmi Note 7	Huawei Honor 10 Lite
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT	156.4 x 74.5 x 8.8 mm, 186 grams	159.2 x 75.2 x 8.1 mm, 186 grams	154.8 x 73.6 x 8 mm, 162 grams
DISPLAY	6.3 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 409 ppi, PLS TFT	6.3 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 409 ppi, IPS LCD	6.21 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 415 ppi, IPS LCD
PROCESSOR	Samsung Exynos 7904, octa-core 1.8 GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, octa-core 2.2 GHz	Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 710, octa-core 2.2 GHz
MEMORY	3 GB RAM, 32 GB – 4 GB RAM, 64 GB – micro SD dedicated slot	3 GB RAM, 32 GB – 4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – micro SD slot	4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD slot
SOFTWARE	Android 8.1 Oreo, Samsung Experience	Android 9 Pie, MIUI	Android 9 Pie, EMUI
CONNECTIVITY	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS
CAMERA	Dual 13 + 5 MP f/1.9 and f/2.2 8 MP f/2.0 front camera	Dual 48 + 5 MP f/1.8 and f/2.4 13 MP front camera	Dual 13 + 2 MP f/1.8 24 MP f/2.0 front camera
BATTERY	5000 mAh	4000 mAh, fast charging	3400 mAh
ADDITIONAL FEATURES	Dual SIM slot	Hybrid Dual SIM slot	Hybrid Dual SIM slot

Design

You should not go for the Samsung Galaxy M20 if you are looking for the most attractive design. Instead, I would choose the Honor 10 Lite because it has a cleaner design and a more unique look. First of all, it comes with a very small dewdrop notch. And it even has a stunning glass back available in gradient hues, with a very small surface for cutouts. Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 has a lower screen-to-body ratio and I consider it less attractive, but it definitely comes with better build quality. Indeed, it has the Gorilla Glass 5 protection as well as water resistance.

Display

I like slightly more the display of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 because it should be more resistant and it comes with a small notch and a slightly bigger diagonal than Honor 10 Lite. The PLS TFT technology of the Samsung Galaxy M20 does not convince me too much and I prefer IPS displays due to its viewing angles and good brightness. However, do not expect a noticeable difference between these displays. Despite we choose a winner for the display comparison, you should not choose one of these mid-rangers considering the display as one of the most important things.

Specs & Software

The challenge is between the Honor 10 Lite and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 because I define their hardware departments slightly better than Samsung Galaxy M20. While the Kirin 710 chipset offers solid performances in everyday use, Snapdragon 660 is definitely more powerful when it comes to games and graphics apps due to its better GPU. I would personally go for the Honor 10 Lite at least in its most expensive configuration because it comes with up to 128 GB of internal storage. But soon Xiaomi should launch a Pro version of Redmi Note 7 with 128 GB of storage that will be superior. Note that Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 and Honor 10 Lite have Android Pie out of the box, while Galaxy M20 is still based on Oreo.

Camera

Given that it was made official just a few days ago, we still did not try the rear camera of the Samsung Galaxy M20. But we can say that the 48 MP sensor of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 is superior on the paper and it should be a lot better in most of the scenarios. The rear department of the Galaxy M20 comes at the second place. Instead, if you are looking for a selfie-centric device, then Honor 10 Lite is the best choice for you thanks to its great 24 MP shooter with AI-backed features.

Battery

Battery life is the strongest point of the Samsung Galaxy M20 which can last more than two days of intensive usage thanks to its 5000 mAh lithium unit. Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 remains one of the most incredible phones when it comes to battery life thanks to its 4000 mAh battery, but it does not reach the Galaxy M20. Honor 10 Lite is average.

Price

You can currently get a Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 or a Samsung Galaxy M20 in Asia for $150/€130 and €150/$171, respectively, while Honor 10 Lite costs about €210/$240. Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 wins the comparison because of its well-balanced specs, very affordable price, good camera capabilities and a great hardware side.

Read More: Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Corning Gorilla Glass 5 screen smashed severally but remains unscathed

Samsung Galaxy M20 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 vs Huawei Honor 10 Lite: PROs and CONS

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7

PROs

Great build quality
Affordable price
Amazing camera
Big battery
Nice design

CONS

Nothing particular

Huawei Honor 10 Lite

PROs

Good design
Affordable
Great front camera
Compact

CONS

Smaller battery

Samsung Galaxy M20

PROs

Huge battery
Affordable price
Good cameras
Micro SD dedicated slot

CONS

Android Oreo

Apple Watch 4 Fall detector saves owner’s life after he fainted and fell hard in the bathroom

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Feb 5, 2019

The latest iteration of Apple‘s premium smartwatch dubbed Apple Watch series 4 comes studded with features that not only help users stay healthy or keep fit but as we have seen, the features could be lifesaving. 67-year-old Norwegian, Toralv Østvang would definitely agree with the last part, as he was a beneficiary of one of the Watch 4’s lifesaving features. Now, we ain’t talking of the heart rate monitor or the classic electrocardiogram scanner. That feature is the fall detector.

The story goes that Mr Toralv had fainted in the bathroom and hit the floor hard in the process. The Apple Watch automatically called for emergency help, and the Norwegian was admitted into the hospital bleeding and suffering from three fractures in his face. According to his daughter, he might have died if the Apple smartwatch had not detected the fall and called for medical assistance. This was because there was no one around when it happened and he wasn’t with his phone inside the bathroom.

The fall detector detects when an Apple Watch wearer takes a hard fall to the floor. When that is detected, the watch will “tap” the user on the wrist, sound an alarm so passers-by can intervene, and display an SOS button on the device’s screen. If the wearer is conscious, he can then press that button to call for emergency help. If peradventure, as in Mr Toralv’s case, the wearer slipped into unconsciousness, the Apple Watch will call for emergency help after a minute without any movement. Another cool thing is that the feature is automatically enabled for Watch 4 owners who are 65 years or older. For those that are not yet 65, they’ll have to enable the feature manually on the Watch app on your iPhone by selecting “Emergency SOS,” and then the feature can be turned on.

Samsung Galaxy M20 launching in Indonesia on February 14

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Feb 5, 2019

After launching the Galaxy M-series in India, Samsung’s next stop is Indonesia. But this time it appears only the Galaxy M20 will be available in the Southeast Asian country.

Online retailers such as Lazada and JD Indonesia have put up special pages ahead of the phone’s launch on February 14. Lazada has a page counting down to the date while JD Indonesia clearly states the phone will be available on February 14.

The Galaxy M20’s main features include a 5,000mAh battery that should provide up to 17 hours of video playback or 100 hours of music playback or last all day for calls. It also has the new Infinity-V Display and dual rear cameras.

The M20 has a 6.3-inch LCD display with a waterdrop notch. It is powered by the Exynos 7904 octa-core processor with 3GB/4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of storage. It has an 8MP front-facing camera and a 13MP + 5MP dual camera setup on its back. There is also a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

The phone runs Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box but will get updated to Android Pie later. It has a hybrid SIM slot and you can swap the second SIM slot for a MicroSD card (512GB max.). Charging and data transfer is via a USB Type-C port.

LG’s CEO expresses resilience to stick with its mobile division despite woeful performance

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Feb 5, 2019

South Korea tech giant LG Electronics recently announced its annual revenue for 2018 with an overall impressive performance when compared to the previous year. The company raked in a whopping $54.4 billion in revenue and a record profit of $2.4 billion. Unfortunately, LG Mobile still continued its downward spiral with a net loss of $700 million last year while the company’s other divisions were reporting record profits. However, the CEO of LG Electronics, Qiao Yujin, has stated that the company will not be leaving the mobile phone business anytime soon.

The CEO hinted that the company’s IOT ecosystem which includes cars and smart home appliances is built around its smartphones so there isn’t any chance the company will quit the smartphone business anytime soon. Qiao also hinted that the Korean giant is in the second year of restructuring the smartphone business. Also, he disclosed that the restructuring activity will continue until next year. He was quick to clarify that the electronics giant doesn’t intend to downsize the workforce on its smartphone division but is working hard to build consumer trust. He also hinted that the company is ready to launch a new model apparently referring to the LG G8 ThinQ.

The report for 2018 signify the fourth straight year, totalling 15 quarters that LG Mobile has been on the losing end with a loss of $192 million in 2017. LG believes 5G phones will assist it in mounting a comeback into the high-end smartphone market that is already saturated. The G8 ThinQ is expected to be unveiled alongside the V5 ThinQ 5G, LG’s first 5G phone.

Xiaomi exec seems to have confirmed the Mi 9 will have three rear cameras

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Feb 5, 2019

Xiaomi first teased it was working on a triple camera-packing smartphone with the sharing of a camera sample with watermark showing the photo was captured with a Mi triple camera phone. A couple of days back, a device suspected to be the Mi 9 flagship was spotted in the wild, in the hands of a Xiaomi exec. Even when he attempted to mask the sensors, it was glaring that the device was packing three sensors at the rear.

Now, a senior engineer with Xiaomi recently shared a photo on Weibo, some cups of rice wine apparently shot during the Chinese New Year celebration. The crisp clear nature of the picture prompted a netizen to ask the exec to describe how to adjust the camera to achieve such a shot. The Xiaomi exec categorically stated that to capture such shot, three photos have to be taken. That was interpreted to mean he was talking about a triple camera setup. The Weibo post and subsequently the comment was deleted and this has fuelled speculations that he was referring to the Mi 9 packing a triple camera at the rear.

The Mi 9 is expected to pack a Snapdragon 855 chipset as well as a 27W fast charge. Xiaomi is yet to officially disclose when the flagship will be launched but going by precedence, that may not be too far away. The device is even rumoured to lunch this February.

(via)

Nokia 5.1 Plus is now available in 4GB RAM and 6GB RAM variants in India

By

Jeet

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Feb 5, 2019

HMD Global launched its Nokia 5.1 Plus smartphone in the Indian market in August last year and started selling the device through offline channels in India last month. Till now, the smartphone was available in only 3GB RAM model.

Today, the Finnish company has announced the launch of two new models in India — one with 4GB RAM and another with 6GB RAM. Both the models come with 64GB of internal storage. The 4GB RAM model is priced at Rs. 14,499 (approx. $202)while the 6GB RAM model costs Rs. 16,499, which roughly converts to $230.

To remind you of the phone’s specifications, it comes with a 5.86-inch HD+ display with 1520 x 720 pixels resolution, 2.5D curved glass, and 19:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, the device is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 SoC, paired with 3GB of RAM. It has 32GB internal storage and features a microSD card slot enabling users to further expand the phone’s storage capacity up to 400GB.

In the camera department, there’s a dual camera setup on the back consisting of a 13-megapixel primary sensor and a 5-megapixel secondary sensor. On the front side, there’s an 8-megapixel front-facing snapper for taking selfies.

As for connectivity, it supports 4G VoLTE, Dual-SIM, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, 3.5mm audio jack and USB Type-C port. Other features on the device include a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and face unlock support.

Just like other Nokia smartphones, this one too is a part of Android One program and runs Android Oreo operating system out-of-the-box but has recently received Android Pie update. The phone is powered by a 3060mAh battery, which should be enough to last an entire day of moderate usage.

Denmark ousts two Huawei staff members for work permit not being in order

By

Simranpal Singh

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Feb 5, 2019

Danish authorities have ousted two Huawei Staff members from the country due to some work permit issue. As per the Copenhagen Police, the two workers were not holding appropriate documents. Furthermore, the documents were not complying with the country’s laws said police. The authorities have termed the investigation at several locations in the city as a “routine” check.

Usually, Danish authorities perform routine checks in all the areas where a high number of foreigners reside. In a similar ‘routine check’ at the Chinese company’s Copenhagen headquarters, city police charged four employees working without a proper work permit. Later, the police dropped charges from two employees and expelled remaining employees from the country. Although authorities have not published more details like the nationality of workers, names, etc citing police policies.

Huawei responded to the expulsion and said that “These visa checks are routine, and we are co-operating with the authorities.”

Although, Police denied the expulsion of Huawei employees’ connection with espionage concerns.

However, on the other hand, its neighbouring country Norway’s intelligence service is terming it as related to the ongoing scrutiny issue over Huawei and Chinese government ties. While representing national risk assessment report 2019, head of Norway’s domestic intelligence unit, Benedicte Bjornland said, “One has to be attentive about Huawei as an actor and the close connections between a commercial actor like Huawei and the Chinese regime.”

Read More: Huawei suspected to have stolen Akhan’s Diamond glass technology, targeted by FBI at CES 2019

Recently, Huawei is under fire due to alleged close ties with the Chinese Government. The company is going through allegations of spying activities by Chinese officials throughout the world. Especially, the US has banned Huawei and also asked its allies to cut down the supplies from the Chinese Company. In response, Australia, New Zealand and other countries have also banned Huawei from participating in the 5G rollout plans.

As of now, there’s no evidence of Denmark’s expulsion of two Huawei employees related to the espionage concerns.

(Source)

Samsung and Supreme Italia part ways

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Feb 5, 2019

There is Supreme, a very popular New York-based clothing company and there is Supreme (Italia), a Barletta, Italy-based clothing company that might seem like the Italian-branch of the New York business but is what is called a “legal fake”.

Last year during the launch of the Galaxy A8s, Samsung announced a partnership with Supreme but it didn’t specify until later which of the Supreme brands until after the event. The partnership was actually with the Italian business which planned to open its first store in China and also launch products in collaboration with Samsung. Yes, was, because Samsung has announced the end of the partnership.

Supreme Italia is considered a legal fake because it is riding on the popularity of the original Supreme brand without being affiliated with it in any way. How is this possible? The founders of Supreme Italia applied for trademarks in Italy using the logo and brand name of the New York business. They were able to do so because Supreme New York didn’t register its trademarks in Italy and Spain. The case was taken to court and Supreme Italia lost in Italy but won in Spain where it has a sister-company.

So when Samsung announced the partnership back in December, Supreme New York released an official statement denying it which led to Samsung clarifying which of the businesses it partnered with.

Samsung Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20 sold out in the first sale in India, next sale scheduled on 7th February

By

Jeet

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Feb 5, 2019

Samsung launched its two new mid-range smartphones in the all-new Galaxy M-series — Samsung Galaxy M10 and Samsung Galaxy M20 last week. Today, both the smartphones went on sale in India through online marketplace Amazon.in.

Amazon India now claims to have witnessed an “unprecedented” first-day sale record, however, the company did not reveal the number of units that were sold and for how long the online sale lasted before Amazon India put out the ‘sold out’ message.

Additionally, the company announced that the next online sale for the Galaxy M-series smartphones in the Indian market will take place on February 7th. The phones, first launched in the Indian market, comes with features like Infinity-V display and massive battery power as well as 3x fast charging technology.

Coming to the specifications, the Galaxy M10 features a 6.2-inch HD+ Infinity-V display with 720 x 1520 pixels screen resolution and 19:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, the device is powered by Exynos 7870 chipset, along with 2GB/3GB RAM.

It comes with 16GB/32GB of internal storage and comes with a microSD card slot for expanding the phone’s storage capacity up to 512GB. As for the camera configuration, the device features a 13-megapixel primary sensor along with an f/1.9 aperture and a 5-megapixel secondary, ultra-wide sensor. For selfies, there’s a 5-megapixel front-facing sensor. It has an ultra-wide mode to support landscapes, cityscapes, and group photos.

The smartphone runs Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box with the company’s own Samsung Experience 9.5 UX. Connectivity options on the device include Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5, GPS + GLONASS, and USB Type-C port. It is powered by a 3,400mAh battery that supports three times faster-charging.

On the other hand, the Galaxy M20 comes with a 6.3-inch Full-HD+ Infinity-V display with 1080 x 2340 pixels screen resolution and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, it is powered by the company’s own Exynos 7904 chipset, paired with Mali-G71 MP2 GPU, 3GB/4GB RAM, and 32GB/64GB internal storage.

The phone also comes with a microSD card slot which enables users to further expand the storage capacity up to 512GB. There’s a fingerprint sensor on the back and the phone also supports Face Unlock feature. For imaging, the Galaxy M20 comes with a dual rear camera setup along with a 13-megapixel primary sensor that has an f/1.9 aperture and a 5-megapixel ultra-wide secondary sensor. On the front side, it comes equipped with an 8-megapixel sensor along with an f/2.0 aperture.

Connectivity options on the device include Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5, GPS + GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack, and FM Radio. The phone runs Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box with Samsung Experience 9.5 UX on top and is powered by a 5,000mAh battery with fast charging support.

As for the pricing, the 2GB RAM model of Galaxy M10 is priced at Rs. 7,990 (approximately $112) while the 3GB RAM model costs Rs. 8,990 (approximately $126). The 3GB RAM model of Galaxy M20 costs Rs. 10,990 (approximately $155) and the 4GB RAM model is priced at Rs. 12,990, which roughly converts to $183.

The LG G8 ThinQ will pack a bigger battery than the its predecessor

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Feb 5, 2019

We already know what the LG G8 ThinQ will look like thanks to leaked press renders. While the display still has a notch and the number of cameras on the back has remained unchanged, the LG G8 ThinQ does differ from the LG G7 ThinQ in other ways. One of which is its battery capacity which leaked last week.

The battery capacity of the phone was found in certification documents issued by Brazil’s version of the FCC called Anatel. The certification was issued for a Li-ion battery with model number BL-T41.

The document says the battery has a nominal capacity of 3,400mAh but an image of the battery itself shows the capacity is 3,500mAh. So how do we know it is for the LG G8 ThinQ?

The document says the LG BL-T41 is compatible with “Projecto Alpha” and since it has been reported that the codename for the upcoming flagship is “Alpha”, one can deduce this is the LG G8 ThinQ’s battery.

PUBG, Fortnite and other video games affect kid’s psychology says Delhi government

By

Simranpal Singh

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Feb 5, 2019

In the online gaming era, the Delhi government has blamed games like PUBG, Fornite and others for affecting the children’s brain negatively. In the latest note sent by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights(DCPCR) brought to the notice of local schools about the adverse effects of online gaming on kids. DCPCR has named several games such as Hitman, Pokemon Go, PUBG and Fornite which are moderating the children’s mind with aversion, misogyny and fraud.

Besides the notice, no logic or conventional thinking is added as an explanation. It seems DCPCR has served the note with the already present conceptions about the online gaming in the society. Although, the information has been circulated to all the city schools.

DCPCR states that these games are changing the mind of children. In the future, it may impact their brain’s thinking and will impact their lives. In actual words, DCPCR notes that “These games are full of misogyny, hate, deceit and vengeance and at an age where a child learns from that he or she sees, it may negatively impact their brain for their life.”

Yesterday, talking to media, DCPCR member, Ranjhana Prasad cleared the space by saying that it was precautionary notice. She further stated that “We see a lot of aggression and arrogance in children these days they are being distracted from their studies and social life through violent games.”

Additionally, PUBG and Fornite have received tremendous growth in India from 2018. They are continuously top trending Online games since the last year in India. Earlier, online gaming was not that popular in India, but due to cheap smartphones and affordable data costs, it has registered an enormous growth. The sudden rise of online gaming in the country has made the Government to think about gaming addiction.

Recently, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about the gaming addition and gave some tips to parents about how to deal with it.

Well, what are your views about the increasing gaming addition in India? Share your improtant views via comments below.

(Via)

Alleged Sony Xperia XZ4 TENAA listing leak with full specifications spotted; Reveals 8 GB RAM, 256 GB storage

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Feb 5, 2019

Sony is expected to announce the Xperia XZ4 flagship phone along with mid-range phones such as Xperia XA3, Xperia XA3 Ultra and Xperia L3 through its Feb. 25 media event at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 tech expo in the coming month. In the previous month, a leak had revealed all the important specs of the Xperia XZ4 except for its camera details. Today, a Japanese tech site has shared screenshots of the TENAA listing of the alleged Xperia XZ4 smartphone. The publication claims that the images have surfaced on the Xperia XZ4 thread on Reddit. Before reading ahead, readers should be aware of the fact that GizomChina could not find listing for alleged XZ4 phone on TENAA. Hence, it is recommended to take this report with grain of salt.

The below images that could be photoshopped reveals that the next Xperia flagship phone measures 166.9 x 72.4 x 8.3mm and weighs 188 grams. The handset is listed in colors like Spring Snow White, Meteorite Black and Purple. It is fitted with a huge 6.4-inch OLED display with rounded corners that carries support for 3360 x 1440 pixels.

The alleged Xperia XZ4 is powered by 2.84 GHz octa-core processor which could be the Snapdragon 855 chipset. Sony has never released a smartphone with 8 GB of RAM. However, the leaked TENAA listing of upcoming Sony flagship reveals that it will be equipped with 8 GB of RAM. Moreover, it has a massive storage of 256 GB. There is a microSD card slot on the device for additional storage. So far, rumors have suggested that the Xperia XZ4 will be coming with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. The appearance of the 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage leak suggests that Sony may release a higher edition in some regions like China.

Read More: Sony executive hints Xperia’s Compact series may have been cancelled

The leaked TENAA listing of the purported Xperia XZ4 further reveals that it has a 3,680mAh battery. The smartphone is rumored to debut as the first Sony phone with triple rear cameras. The leak shows that the rear-mounted triple camera setup will include 52-megapixel primary sensor, 26-megapixel secondary sensor and a third sensor of 8-megapixel. For capturing selfies, it has a frontal shooter of 24-megapixel. The handset is running on the latest Android 9 Pie OS.

(via)

Huawei suspected to have stolen Akhan’s Diamond glass technology, targeted by FBI at CES 2019

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Feb 5, 2019

Gizmochina first covered the story of the innovative new glass protection technology known as Miraj Diamond Glass technology and manufactured by US start-up Akhan Semiconductor in February 2017. Back then, the company was optimistic that its technology would be utilised in smartphones before the end of the year 2017. That is yet to happen but the company is presently embroiled in a dispute with Chinese tech giant Huawei technology. The dispute even resulted in the FBI carrying out a sting operation against the Chinese tech giant at CES 2019.

Turned out that Akhan Semiconductor had gotten into talks with Huawei about licensing the technology to the smartphone manufacturer. Akhan claims the technology is 6 times stronger and 10 times more scratch-resistant than Gorilla Glass, the industry standard that generates about $3 billion in annual sales for Corning Inc. The company provided Samsung and Huawei with samples of the glass. An early sample of the Miraj Diamond Glass was shipped to Huawei’s lab in San Diego but there was an agreement that the glass would not be cut into two. This is standard practice to avoid any chance the the company’s engineers will reverse engineer the glass process if it is cut into two. However, when the glass was returned to Akhan, there were signs the glass had been cut into two and some fragments were removed. The US start-up then lodged a formal complaint with FBI and that culminated in the sting operation at CES 2019. The entire operation is documented in Bloomberg’s report which you can find on the source link below.

Huawei is not a newbie to such accusation of intellectual property theft. It hs always had such toga hanging on its neck. In 2002, Cisco Systems Inc. accused the company of stealing source code for its routers. Motorola said in a 2010 lawsuit that Huawei had successfully turned some of its Chinese-born employees into informants. And in 2012 the U.S. House Intelligence Committee labelled Huawei a national security threat and urged the government and American businesses not to buy its products. Huawei denied all the claims. The Cisco and Motorola lawsuits ended with settlements. The US Department of Justice is also suspecting Huawei of stealing protected trade secrets from T-Mobile – those pertaining to its touchscreen experience testing robot Tappy.

Google rolling out February security patch for Pixel devices

By

Simranpal Singh

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Feb 5, 2019

It’s February and Google has started rolling out the latest monthly Android security update for its Pixel smartphones and Pixel C tablet. Yesterday, the search giant released the new February security patch for its pixel devices. Users can directly download the update either from Google’s website or via OTA update. Namely, Google is rolling out the new update on Google Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel XL, and Pixel C devices.

As per the changelog, Google has mitigated 15 critical issues and some other bugs. Although, users didn’t report any flaw in the past affecting the overall UX, UI of the device. The new security build does not include any functional update as like of the previous builds.

The new update measures around 135.7MB in size on the Pixel 3 XL. The update is rolling out to all the Pixel devices and will be available on your device too. In order to check the update, you should head over to the device’s settings and then download the OTA update.

The new update does not carry any Pixel device specific updates. All the generic development has been taken place in the latest February security patch and it will be available for other Android devices very soon. Although as per the blog post on Google Security Bulletin, the search giant has added that, “The most severe of these issues is a critical security vulnerability in Framework that could allow a remote attacker using a specially crafted PNG file to execute arbitrary code within the context of a privileged process. The severity assessment is based on the effect that exploiting the vulnerability would possibly have on an affected device, assuming the platform and service mitigations are turned off for development purposes or if successfully bypassed. We have had no reports of active customer exploitation or abuse of these newly reported issues.”

Read More: Google’s first foldable phone reportedly in development under the Pixel line-up

Similarly, Essential has also started rolling out the February security patch to the PH-01 device. So, users should keep an eye to check for the latest update.

(Source)

Samsung Galaxy A10, A20, A30, A50 releasing soon in India, claims new leak

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Feb 5, 2019

Samsung Galaxy A10, Galaxy A20, Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50 smartphones have been in the rumors since the past few months. Fresh information shared by an Indian publication reveals that the A10, A20 and A30 smartphones will launch within the next month in India. The Galaxy A50 is expected to debut separately in the country within the first half of the year.

Samsung seems to be gearing up to start the year 2019 with a bang. In India, the South Korean company has already released mid-range Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20 smartphones. On Feb. 20, the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10e will be unveiled internationally. Alongside the S10 series, the company may announce its first Galaxy Flex/Fold foldable phone. The Galaxy S10 series may hit the Indian market by the second quarter of 2019. Apart from these phones, the A10, A20 and A30 smartphones are tipped to debut in the first quarter of 2019. The Galaxy A50 is expected to get a global release first before landing in India in the second quarter of this year.

Samsung Galaxy A10, Galaxy A20 and Galaxy A30 Rumors

The publication claims that Samsung will be releasing new A-series Galaxy phones soon in India to rival with budget-friendly phones from Chinese Android OEMs. The Galaxy A10 is expected to debut with a starting price of Rs. 8,490 (~$118). Unlike the M10 and M20 that have LCD panels, the upcoming Galaxy A phones may feature S-AMOLED displays.

The Galaxy M10 and M20 phones respectively feature 3,400mAh and 5,000mAh batteries. It is speculated the A10, A20 and A30 will have smaller batteries than the Galaxy M-series phones.

The Galaxy A10 (SM-A105F), A20 (SM-A205F), A30 (SM-A305F), A40 (SM-A405F) and A50 (SM-A505F) phones have all appeared on Geekbench recently. There is no word on the release of the Galaxy A40 smartphone. The Geekbench listing of the A10, A20, A30 and A40 have revealed that they are all powered by Exynos 7885 chipset and Android 9 Pie OS. The appearance of these phones on the benchmarking platform has revealed that the A10 has 2 GB of RAM, A20 has 3 GB of RAM, A30 has 4 GB of RAM and A40 has 4 GB of RAM. A recent report had revealed that the Galaxy A30 may come in 32 GB and 64 GB storage models and black, white, silver, blue and pink color variants.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S10, S10+ selfie cameras may support OIS and 4K video recording

Samsung Galaxy A50 Rumors

The Galaxy A50 Geekbench listing has revealed that it features Exynos 9610 chipset, 6 GB of RAM and Android 9 Pie OS. It is speculated that the smartphone may arrive in 64 GB and 128 GB storage choices and black, white, blue and red colors. A recent leak had revealed that the Galaxy A50 will be equipped with optical in-display fingerprint scanner and triple rear cameras. The main sensor on the rear and the front-facing camera of the A50 could be of 24-megapixel. It is likely to draw power from a 4,000mAh battery.