Lenovo L38031 TENAA listing reveal full specs and images

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Jul 30, 2018

Last week, Honor launched its latest budget smartphone in the Indian market — Honor 9N, which is the rebranded version of the Honor 9i (2018) launched in China last month. The smartphone will go on sale in India tomorrow for the first time and will be available for purchase via flash sales exclusively on Flipkart and HiHonor website.

The 3GB RAM + 32GB storage model is priced at Rs. 11,999, which roughly converts to $175. The 4GB RAM and 64GB storage model costs Rs. 13,999 (approx. $204) while the 4GB RAM and 128GB storage version is priced at 17,999 (approximately $262).

However, only two models with 4GB RAM will be available tomorrow on Flipkart and HiHonorStore at 12:00 PM IST, in two color options — Midnight Black and Sapphire Blue. As for the launch offers, there’s a Reliance Jio cashback worth Rs. 2,200 and 100GB additional data, along with up to Rs. 1,200 Myntra voucher.

The Honor 9N boasts a 5.84-inch Full HD+ display with screen resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels, 2.5D curved glass, and 19:9 aspect ratio. As is the current trend, the device features a notch on top of the display. Under the hood, the device will be powered by the company’s own Kirin 659 octa-core processor with Mali T830-MP2 graphics processor.

The 3GB RAM model has 32GB of internal storage while the 4GB RAM variant comes in two options for onboard storage — 64GB and 128GB. There’s also a microSD card slot that enables users to further expand the storage capacity up to 256GB. The smartphone will be powered by a 3,000mAh battery.

In terms of optics, the smartphone features a dual camera setup on the back, consisting of a 13-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor. Both of them have an aperture of f/2.2 and supports phase detection autofocus. On the front side, there’s also a 16-megapixel snapper for taking selfies.

There’s a fingerprint sensor on the back panel and the phone also supports Direct Face Unlock. It also has Game Suite that enables users to play games without interruptions of notifications and calls. The device has Quick Payments support via Paytm and the Party Mode is coming through a new update that enables to sync music with up to 7 devices.

The phone runs on Android 8.0 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box and with a layer of the company’s own custom interface EMUI 8.0. The company has also promised to roll out GPU Turbo to the smartphone in the future through an over-the-air update.

Zenfone Max Pro (M1) heading to Europe August 13 for €250

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Jul 30, 2018

ASUS’ Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (Pro) killer is heading to Europe. Come August 13, the Zenfone Max Pro (M1) will go on sale in Spain.

Although ASUS itself has not made an official announcement, the device has been listed on the ASUS Spain online store. When it goes on sale, the Zenfone Max Pro (M1) will sell for €249 (~$292).

The phone packs a 6-inch Full HD+ display and feels like a 5.5-inch device. It is powered by the Snapdragon 636 and the version for sale in Europe will come with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. If you need more storage, the phone has a dedicated MicroSD card slot that lets you add up to 2TB of extra storage.

The Zenfone Max Pro (M1) has a 13MP + 5MP dual camera combo on its rear and an 8MP front-facing camera with support for face unlock and its own LED flash. There is a fingerprint scanner on the back too.

Top 10 UI with best performance released by Master Lu Benchmark: OnePlus wins

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Michele Ingelido

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Jul 30, 2018

We are used to seeing benchmarking platforms testing the hardware side of smartphones in order to evaluate their performance. But the hardware side is not everything when it comes to the overall performance of a mobile device: among the other factors, there is also software optimization. When it comes to the software side of Android smartphones, manufacturers usually take two choices: make heavily customized versions of Android for their devices or release them with stock Android version with a low amount of customizations (or even with no UI customizations at all).

The first solution provides more features and useful applications, while the second one usually results in better performance. Master Lu Benchmark has released its personal top 10 of best Android user interfaces in terms of performance. According to the ranking, Hydrogen OS by OnePlus is the best one, and it is mostly a stock UI. At the second place, we find the EMUI by Huawei, which is instead a heavily customized Android version. The third spot is occupied by Smartisan OS by Smartisan, while the MIUI by Xiaomi takes the 4th place. Then we got Color OS by Oppo, the Samsung Experience found on Galaxy-series devices, Google Pixels’ UI, HTC’s Sense, Funtouch OS by Vivo and at last Nubia UI.

According to Master Lu Benchmark, the ranking has been created basing on desktop use, app usage, web content loading and sliding, photo viewing, file copying, boot-up speed and other operations. Obviously, it is impossible to evaluate every single scenario, so do not take this ranking as a comprehensive ranking. But we believe this ranking will be useful for many people to know that the SoC present inside a smartphone is not the only index of performance. Indeed, we often find several Android phones with midrange chipsets performing worse than low-end devices.

(Via)

90 Points colorful silicone Luggage tag and portable Umbrella launched

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Jed John Ikoba

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Jul 30, 2018

Xiaomi ecological chain company, Runmi Technology which operates under the brand name 90 points has just announced a couple of products that add value to our lives. 90 Points is known for several products that meet the needs of users such as its suitcases, jackets, sports wears, sports shoes and others. The new products include a luggage tag as well as a portable umbrella.

The new 90 Points colourful silicone luggage tag comes in at just 29 yuan (). the tag is available in five different colours which were specifically designed to ease the trouble of finding your luggage in the case of travellers. The colourful silicone luggage tag also has a simple but stylish design and can be used as an exquisite ornament to instantly enhance the looks of the luggage. The body of the tag is made of food grade silica gel and is odourless, safe and environmentally friendly. The surface is treated with a touch of oil. The texture is smooth and soft, and the ash is easy to clean.

In addition, there is an oval window on the luggage tag where the owner’s personal information such as name, phone number and contact address on the card. This could be helpful especially if the baggage gets missing in transit.

On the other hand, the 90 Points all-purpose umbrella comes with a portable design that can easily fit into a lady’s handbag or backpack. The umbrella has a large covered area when opened and is lightweight, weighing just 309g. It has a diameter of 115cm and can accommodate 2-3 persons.

The portable umbrella is priced at 59 yuan (~$8). Both products are available in China on Xiaomi Youpin.

(source 1, 2)

Android P coming to OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, no Android 8.1 Oreo

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Jul 30, 2018

The OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T were released in 2016 – one with a Snapdragon 820 and the latter with a Snapdragon 821 processor. Technically, both phones have received two major updates – Android Nougat and Android Oreo and should receive one more year of security updates. However, in what can be said to be the biggest surprise for owners of both phones, OnePlus has announced it will update them to Android P!!!

The info was revealed on the official OnePlus forum today by the operations manager for OxygenOS. It turns out this is the big surprise hinted at last week when both devices got updated to OxygenOS 5.0.4.

That update didn’t bring Android 8.1 Oreo but came with camera improvements and July’s security patch. The OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T will now join the OnePlus 5, OnePlus 5T, and OnePlus 6 in receiving Android P.

The Android P update will be available on the OnePlus 6, OnePlus 5/T and OnePlus 3/3T, in this order. We will keep you all updated in the coming months

However, there is no info on when exactly the update will arrive. Might be by the end of the year or maybe even next year but nevertheless, it is still good news for owners.

Xiaomi’s first foldable phone with fold-out design, cheaper pricing may launch in 2019

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Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 30, 2018

Huawei is reportedly looking forward to beat Samsung by launching the world’s first smartphone by the start of 2019. Fresh information has revealed that apart from Huawei, other Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Oppo are also working on foldable smartphones.

A South Korean publication has revealed that in a bid to launch foldable phones in 2019, Xiaomi and Oppo are procuring the required components for building such devices. Huawei has reportedly partnered with BOE Technology Group from China for flexible OLED panels. Xiaomi and OPPO are also speculated to receive foldable display panels from Chinese suppliers. There is a possibility that these companies may also consider dealing foreign display makers such as LG Display or Japan Display.

The foldable phones from Samsung and Huawei are expected to sport fold-in design. On the other hand, Xiaomi’s foldable smartphone may feature fold-out design. There is no information on the design OPPO may use for its foldable smartphone.

Xiaomi is known for flagship phones with cheaper pricing compared to Samsung and Huawei. Hence, there is a possibility that Xiaomi’s foldable smartphone arriving next year may carry cheaper price tag.

Samsung is yet to launch a smartphone with in-display fingerprint scanner even though it was one of the first companies to work on such a handset. Some of the Chinese manufacturers such as Vivo, Huawei and Xiaomi have already managed to launch smartphones featuring optical in-screen fingerprint scanner. It is speculated that the Samsung’s Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus arriving in Q1 2019 will be featuring ultrasonic fingerprint scanner that offers accurate results.

Samsung has been working on its foldable phone smartphone since 2013. In order to ensure that its customers are provided with the best user experience on its first foldable phone, it has been consistently delaying its arrival. However, Chinese manufacturers are expected to give tough competition to Samsung.

(source|via)

Half of smartphones sold in 2018 have Virtual Assistants – Strategy Analytics

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Jed John Ikoba

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Jul 30, 2018

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fast becoming an integral part of modern smartphones. Edge AI computing is pushing more processing on-device as vendors use more AI in several areas. Virtual assistants such as Siri, Bixby and Google Assistant are already becoming commonplace and on-device AI is increasing their abilities. Strategy Analytics has come out with an extensive report which looks at the progress of Artificial Intelligence technologies inside smartphones from 2010 to 2023.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Bixby Voice — The report is said to have tracked and forecasted the sales of smartphones with Artificial Intelligence technologies globally and across six regions. The report noted that Google Assistant has risen to be the top virtual assistant with over 50% share. This could be traced to the inclusion of the smart assistant on the latest Android versions. This is followed by Apple’s Siri. Worthy of note is the claim by Senior Analyst Ville-Petteri Ukonaho that “The fastest rising assistant comes from China where Baidu Duer is taking share and will capture second place within the next few years.”

The report concluded that by 2019, over half of smartphones globally will have the virtual assistant and the share will grow up to 90% by 2023. This is a good thing as it pushes the dream of smartphones becoming our everyday assistants closer to reality.

(source)

Mystery Solved: Mi 8 Explorer Edition Transparent Back Design

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Jul 30, 2018

The Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition is the third and the most expensive variant of Xiaomi’s Mi 8 trio. When it launched back in May, its transparent rear got some folks curious and propped up questions as to its authenticity. Apparently, the internals of a phone doesn’t look that good which means what we are actually seeing isn’t the phone’s real internals.

Xiaomi released a statement saying the design isn’t a sticker slapped on to the rear and that the device is indeed transparent. They also added that what we see are actual parts of the mainboard. It turns out Xiaomi wasn’t entirely honest with its explanation.

The individual who first raised concerns about the design has posted images of what is actually inside the Mi 8 Explorer Edition. The images show what appears to be a 3D printed motherboard on a plate.

[envira-gallery id=”203824″]

According to the original source (@Ice Universe) of the photos, it is a complex etching process as the resistors and capacitors are 3-dimensional and likely real parts though they are just there for cosmetic reasons.

So to sum it all up, the back of the phone is transparent, what we see is not a sticker but actual components of a motherboard and not the motherboard.

Nevertheless, the news doesn’t seem to affect the sales of the Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition. It went on sale today for the first time and is now out of stock, selling out in just a minute.

Priced at ¥3699 (~$543), the Mi 8 Explorer Edition comes with a 6.21-inch AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top. It has a 1080 x 2248 resolution and an 18.7:9 aspect ratio, thanks to the notch at the top.

That notch is home to a 20MP sensor and a 3D face unlock system like that of the iPhone X. It is powered by the Snapdragon 845 processor paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It also has 12MP dual cameras on its rear.

BlackBerry schedules a launch event in India on August 2, could launch Evolve and Evolve X

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Jul 30, 2018

BlackBerry has sent out media invites for a launch event scheduled on August 8. While the company has not revealed which device it plans to introduce, reports suggest that the company could launch two smartphones — Evolve and Evolve X.

Recently, a BlackBerry smartphone codenamed “Ghost” surfaced online, featuring a bezel-less design. Later, it was reported that Optiemus will launch the smartphone in India in Q3 2018, but it will be offered in two models – Evolve and Evolve X.

Earlier, the phone’s image was surfaced online, revealing the metal frame, rounded corners, SIM card slot and antenna cutouts on the side and the bottom. Both the Evolve and the Evolve X are expected to come with full-screen 18:9 displays.

Under the hood, the devices will be powered by Qualcomm‘s powerful Snapdragon processors but the specific chipset model is not yet known. A few weeks ago, tipster Evan Blass revealed that the BlackBerry Ghost (i.e. BlackBerry Evolve) will pack a 4,000mAh battery.

The Evolve-series is expected to be a premium one as reports suggest that the smartphone will come with a dual rear camera setup with optical zoom and some custom enhancements for the low-light photography using the rear dual-cameras.

While no more information is available regarding BlackBerry’s two upcoming smartphones in the Indian market, we’ll know what the company has to offer when the devices launch on 8th August.

Last week, BlackBerry officially launched its KEY2 smartphone in the Indian market for Rs. 42,990 that roughly converts to $626. It features a 4.5-inch display with 433PPI, 3:2 aspect ratio, and Gorilla Glass 3. There’s a 4-row QWERTY physical backlit keyboard with a fingerprint sensor embedded in the spacebar.

It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor along with Adreno 512 GPU, 6GB RAM and packs 64GB/128GB storage. There’s a dual camera setup on the back with a 12MP primary sensor and a 12MP secondary sensor. On the front side, there’s an 8MP shooter front-facing camera. It runs Android 8.1 Oreo and is powered by a 3,360mAh battery.

Sony Xperia XA3 reportedly certified by TENAA in China

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jul 30, 2018

Sony is likely going to announce a couple of its new smartphones at IFA 2018 which would commence at the tail-end of August. Traditionally, the company will unveil its flagship Xperia XZ series models of which the Xperia XZ3 will be one of them. A new leaked TENAA document seems to suggest the company may also announce the Xperia XA3 as well. The Xperia XA3 was recently certified by the Eurasian Commission and so, is actually in the works.

The device is listed on TENAA with the model number Sony H4413. The document also reveals the presence of LTE support, Android OS and dual standby Other than those, there aren’t any other details revealed. We expect a more detailed listing featuring the photos of the device as time goes on.

The Sony Xperia XA3 will be the successor of the Xperia XA2 which was launched at CES 2018 in January this year. The device packs a 5.2-inch FullHD 16:9 aspect ratio display. It is powered by a Snapdragon 630 chipset paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The device also offers a stunning camera department composed of a 23 MP f/2.0 rear sensor and a dual 16 + 8 MP front camera which is optically stabilized. We expect the Sony Xperia XA3 to improve on these specs.

(via)

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy A (2019) series to reportedly feature triple-camera setup

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Jul 30, 2018

After rumors about Samsung‘s next year’s flagship smartphone Galaxy S10 featuring a triple-camera setup, a new report suggests that the South Korean giant is now planning to introduce triple-camera setup to its premium mid-range Galaxy A (2019) series smartphones.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 has been rumored to be the first smartphone from the company to come with triple camera sensors, similar to what we saw on the Huawei P20 Pro. But the report indicates that the upcoming Galaxy A series device will be the first smartphone from Samsung to have triple cameras.

Further, the Galaxy A (2019) smartphones are also said to come with an in-display fingerprint sensor. According to the reports, Samsung will be using an optical display-based fingerprint sensor for the Galaxy A series smartphones.

According to the report, the company is looking to introduce triple-camera and in-display fingerprint sensor to Galaxy A (2019) lineup before these features are fully adopted for the company’s flagship Galaxy S-series smartphone. The global hardware development team of Samsung has reportedly started working on adding these features to Galaxy A series devices.

The Galaxy S10-series is also expected to have an in-display sensor but will feature a more premium ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. The quality of triple-camera on both the Galaxy S-series and Galaxy A-series are expected to be different as well.

Usually, the Galaxy A series smartphones gets launched a couple of months before the Galaxy S-series smartphones. If the South Korea-based company sticks to its usual schedule and doesn’t delay the Galaxy A (2019) launch, the Galaxy A-series will be the first from Samsung to have triple-camera and in-display fingerprint sensor.

There are very few devices available in the market which comes with features such as under-display fingerprint sensor and triple-cameras. Currently, only the Huawei Mate RS Porche Design features both — triple-cameras and in-display fingerprint sensor.

(Source)

The Vivo X21 Night Purple Edition with Aromatherapy Gift Set makes for a nice gift for your lady

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Jul 30, 2018

When the Vivo X21 launched back in March, it was announced in three colors – Diamond Black, Aurora White, and Ruby Red. A few weeks ago, Vivo announced a fourth color variant called Night Purple.

The new color variant is now on sale and apparently, comes in four bundles. There is the standard set which only has just the phone; there is a gaming set which includes a gamepad similar to Motorola’s Moto Gamepad mod; another version comes with a smart band; the fourth comes with a scented candle and a bottle of aromatherapy oil.

The fourth version makes for a great gift if you are looking for something special for the woman in your life. The whole package includes a box that contains the candle and oil and a separate box that holds the phone.

Meizu schedules a launch event on August 8 to launch Meizu 16 and 16 Plus

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Jul 30, 2018

Meizu is all set to launch its latest flagship smartphones — Meizu 16 and Meizu 16 Plus. Now, the company has announced that both the smartphones will be launched on 8th August at a launch event. Along with the Meizu 16-series smartphone, the Chinese company will also launch Meizu Gravity speaker.

The Meizu 16 smartphone is confirmed to come with a screen-to-body ratio of 91.18 percent. The devices are also expected to come with an in-display fingerprint sensor. Both the smartphones have been certified by TENAA, which has also revealed the phone’s specifications.

According to the TENAA listing, the Meizu 16 features a 6.0-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with 2160 x 1080 pixels screen resolution. On the other hand, the Meizu 16 Plus flaunts a 6.5-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with the same screen resolution as the 16.

Under the hood, both the smartphones are powered by Qualcomm‘s flagship Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor with up to 6GB RAM and up to 128GB internal storage. There’s a possibility of Snapdragon 710 chipset variant of Meizu 16. The company could also launch Meizu X8 powered by SD710 processor.

Coming to the camera department, the 16 Plus is expected to have triple cameras at the back, consisting of a 12-megapixel + 20-megapixel + 20-megapixel sensors while the Meizu 16 will sport a 12-megapixel and 20-megapixel cameras on the back. Both devices will come with a 20-megapixel front-facing snapper.

Both the phones are expected to be powered by Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out of the box, with the company’s own Flyme OS custom interface. Connectivity options on both devices will include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS + GLONASS, and USB Type-C.

While the Meizu 16 will be powered by a 3,570mAh battery, the 16 Plus will be fuelled by a 2,950mAh battery. The battery will also come with mCharge fast charging support. The devices are expected to be available in three color options — Black, Mirror Silver, and Mirror Blue.

The Meizu X8 will be priced between 1,500 Yuan to 2,000 Yuan, as revealed by Meizu CEO Jack Wong. He added that the pricing of the SD710 version of Meizu 16 will be 500 Yuan more than the pricing of Meizu X8. Earlier, he had said that the pricing of Meizu 16 series will not exceed 4,000 Yuan.

We’ll have to wait for a few more days to know the official pricing and availability information of the Meizu 16 and 16 Plus, which will be revealed at the launch event on 8th August.

Xiaomi to announce a new Mi Notebook and customized Mi Band 3 on August 3 at ChinaJoy

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Jul 30, 2018

If you are a geek or nerd who resides in China, you definitely know what ChinaJoy is. For those who don’t and or who live outside China, ChinaJoy or China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference is an annual gaming and digital entertainment exhibition and the largest in China. This year’s edition will hold between August 3 and August 6 and Xiaomi will be at the expo to announce a couple of products.

Mi Notebook ChinaJoy 2018

So far it has been confirmed that Xiaomi will launch two new products at the event. The first is a new Mi Notebook which we believe is a gaming laptop judging from the Weibo teasers. Some have speculated that it is the gaming laptop released this year but with the newer 8th-gen processors.

The second product is a customized Mi Band 3 with has the words “Are You Ok?” printed on the band. We don’t know what message Xiaomi is trying to pass across with the text but we should know more when it launches.

Mi Band 3 Are You Ok version

So far, there isn’t much else to the customized Mi Band 3 save for the text. It will come in the same black color as the standard variant and may even sell for the same price.

LG Signature Edition 2018 with QHD+ display and Snapdragon 845 SoC announced in Korea

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