Samsung Galaxy J4 Images Appear Through its NCC Certification

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May 7, 2018

The Nokia X will be officially launched next week – on Wednesday, May 16. The upcoming phone was on display at a Nokia event a few weeks ago before the launch date was revealed.

HMD Global has released a new teaser poster for the phone which has more details about the event and also some hints about the device.

The Nokia X will launch in Sanlitun, Beijing and the event will kick off at 2:00 PM local time. Apart from the venue of the event which is the background of the poster, there are also some cartoon images. The containers should be familiar since that was Nokia’s setup for its event a few weeks ago. What you should focus on are the supply drops/air drops littered over the poster.

If you are familiar with games like Fortnite: Battle Royal and PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds, then the supply drops should be familiar. Some have interpreted their addition to the poster as a hint that the Nokia X will have gaming features.

These won’t be elaborate gaming features but just software enhancements to get the most out of the phone’s processing power and the likes.

Xiaomi Redmi S2 Will be the Best Ever Redmi Selfie Phone, Says Company

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May 7, 2018

There are only 3 days remaining for the Redmi S2 phone to go official and Xiaomi has started to aggressively tease its best features. It has recently teased that the Redmi S2 will be equipped with 12-megapixel AI dual camera. Also, it will be equipped with AI Portrait mode and AI Beauty mode for the front-facing 16-megapixel selfie camera. A new teaser states that the Redmi S2 is the best Redmi phone for shooting selfies.

Xiaomi has recently confirmed that the Redmi S2 will be unveiled at the headquarters of Suning Tesco in Nanjing on May 10. The Chinese manufacturer has already hinted that the upcoming Redmi S2 will give birth to the new Redmi S series of smartphones. It is speculated that this new series would include selfie-centric phones.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 that was launched in China recently as the Redmi series phone with dual rear cameras is equipped with a soft-LED enabled 13-megapixel selfie camera. As it is already known, the Redmi S2 will be arriving with a 16-megapixel Samsung S5K3P8SP selfie camera that will be assisted by its own soft-LED flash. The AI Portrait mode will allow the Redmi S2 to capture bokeh shots by effectively blurring the background and focus more on the subject. The AI Beauty mode will be to enhance the different points on the face for shooting impressive selfie shots. Moreover, it is also speculated to include AI face recognition.

The rear side of the Xiaomi Redmi S2is expected to feature 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel vertical dual camera setup. The leaked firmware files of the Redmi S2 that had surfaced in the previous month had revealed it will be offering camera features like Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) and Portrait mode.

The Redmi S2 is equipped with a 5.99-inch display that produces HD+ resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels. The Snapdragon 625 will be present under the hood of the phone and it will include a 3,080mAh battery. It is expected to be available in multiple RAM options from 2 GB to 3 GB and storage variants from 16 GB to 64 GB. As far as the design is concerned, it is expected to feature a metal unibody. The images of the phone that have appeared recently reveals that its rear resembles with the Xiaomi Mi 6X and Redmi Note 5 (China edition). It is pegged to be priced under 999 Yuan (~$159) in China.

Nokia X Promotional Poster By Suning Leaks, Design Revealed Once Again

By

Michele Ingelido

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May 7, 2018

Less than ten days remain from the official announcement of Nokia X, the first smartphone by HMD Global to feature an iPhone X-like notch in order to minimize bezels. It seems that the handset will initially be an exclusive on the known e-commerce Suning, which has just published a promotional poster of the upcoming device. Thanks to the poster, we can admire the full design of the phone in all its splendor, even though the company has already showcased it in China at the end of April (find the photos here).

Nokia X features a glass back and an aluminum frame, with a circular fingerprint reader on the back and a 19:9 display on the front. There is a notch but there is also a chin which contains the Nokia logo. The device boasts a vertical dual camera setup on the rear side, but it lacks the Carl Zeiss branding and this makes us think that Nokia X will be a cheaper device than Nokia 7 Plus. The device is supposed to come with a 5.8-inch display sporting a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2280 pixels (IPS LCD). It should be launched in two variants with different prices.

The cheapest one is expected to come with an octa-core Helio P60 processor by MediaTek and 4 GB of RAM, while the expensive one will boast an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset and 6 GB of RAM. The first version is tipped to launch with a price tag of 1599 Yuan in China, which roughly translates into €210 or $250, while the second one should cost 1799 Yuan, that is equivalent to about €237/$283. Nokia X will be officially unveiled by HMD Global on May 16. At the moment, we do not know when the device will stop being a Suning-exclusive, neither when it will be available in the global market.

(via)

Nubia Z18 Has Full Screen 3.0 Design, Confirms CEO; Key Specs Appear Through Master Lu Benchmarks

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Visit Leagoo S9 Promotion on Banggood

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May 7, 2018

ZTE’s sub-brand Nubia has recently launched the Z18 Mini smartphone and the company is now prepping up to launch the Nubia Z18 flagship phone. Today, Nubia CEO Ni Fei has released a new poster on his Weibo account to confirm that the Z18 will be equipped with Full Screen 3.0 design. Recent reports have revealed that the model number of the upcoming Nubia Z18 is NX606J. The same model number has been found benchmarked on Master Lu through which some of its key specs have been revealed.

Shown aboveis Z18’s new teaser that has been shared by Ni Fei. The leaked schematics of the Nubia Z18 and its images that have surfaced through the TENAA listing have shown that it will be featuring a round-shaped notch like the Essential Phone. Thankfully, Nubia Z18 won’t be featuring a notched design like the iPhone X. In fact, the Z18 will offer higher screen-to-body ratio than the recent notched display smartphones. He added that the Z18 will offering larger screen space than the Nubia Z17S that was launched in October with a screen-to-body ratio of 90.36 percent.

At the beginning of the year, the NX606J smartphone was found benchmarked on AnTuTu. The same model has also received certification through TENAA authority China. Through Master Lu benchmarks, it has been once again revealed that the Snapdragon 845 chipset will be powering the NX606J Nubia Z18 along with 6 GB of RAM. The exact size of the display has not been revealed through Master Lu listing, but it has been found that it offers 2160 x 1080 pixels resolution.

According to the TENAA listing of NX606J measures 148.58 x 72.54 x 8.5mm and it features a 5.99-inch display. In terms of dimensions, the Nubia Z18 seems to be similar to Z17S that has a 5.73-inch display housed in a body that measures 147.5 x 72.7 x 8.5mm. Apart from 64 GB storage + 6 GB RAM model, there will be a higher model with 128 GB of storage and 8 GB of RAM. It features a 3,350mAh battery and runs on Android 8.0 Oreo.

One of the dual rear camera sensors of the Nubia Z18 is of 24-megapixel and it has a selfie snapper of 8-megapixel. The fingerprint scanner resides on the rear panel of the Z18. The TENAA images of the phone have revealed that it will be featuring a dedicated key on the left edge of the phone for launching the voice assistant. The handset is expected to be available in black and gold color options.

(source 1, 2)

Giveaway – Win a Leagoo S9 iPhone X Style phone

By

Shine Wong

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May 7, 2018

Gizmochina along with Banggood is conducting 1 unit Leagoo S9 iPhone X style phone as giveaway gift to a lucky reader. Like always, you just have to follow the steps mentioned on the Gleam widget to get a chance to win this amazing gift.

In the pre-order term, you can get this iPhone X style phone at $129 ($20 off), and Banggod will choose 2 free orders who has bought Leagoo S9 each day.

Leagoo S9 provides immersive visual experience identical to the iPhone X. With balanced hardware and a very power-efficient performance, it offers good user experience for only 1/7 of the budget of iPhone X. In addition, the Leagoo S9 features a dual Sony 13MP/2MP rear camera and with the 65MP ultra-HD shotalgorithm, a photo shot on the S9 can be enlarged 23 times without losing its original HD quality.

How to entry this giveaway? Just follow these steps via Gleam widget:

Visit Banggood’s Leagoo S9 promotion page, and leave comments under this article, to tell readers which feature do you like on this phone;
Share this giveaway contest to your friends on social sites;

Terms & Conditions:

1. The giveaway is an international giveaway.
2. We are not responsible for lost shipments.
3. We are not responsible for any duties, import taxes that you may incur.
4. We reserve all rights to make any changes to this giveaway.
5. The prize will be shipped in a month when the giveaway end.

Just follow the steps mentioned in the Gleam widget to participate in the giveaway.

Once again, good luck.

Giveaway – Win a Leagoo S9 Phone

Huawei Honor 10 India Launch Date Is Just Around The Corner; Exclusive To Flipkart

By

Vinay Patel

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May 7, 2018

Just a week after the Huawei’s sub-brand confirmed that the Honor 10 is slated to arrive in India in May end, Flipkart has decided to tease the release date of the device. Note that the premium smartphone will be up for grabs exclusively through the e-commerce giant. Interestingly, the Bengaluru-based electronic commerce giant has kept details regarding the Honor 10 launch offers under wraps. The company is also tight-lipped about the price tag the phone is likely to come bearing in India. Nevertheless, more shreds of information are likely to surface ahead of the phone’s launch.

If you’ve restlessly been waiting to get your hands on the Honor 10 smartphone, you can now activate the ‘Notify Me’ option on Flipkart. According to a report from Gadgets 360, Honor is gearing up to host an event in London on May 15 in a bid to launch the phone in a slew of other international markets. The site has also found out from unnamed sources that the Honor 10 smartphone will sell approximately for 35,000 INR (about $521). The phone is expected to go toe-to-toe with the equally-anticipated OnePlus 6.
The Honor 10 boasts an array of awe-inspiring specs and features that are likely to sweep smartphone lovers off their feet. First off, the phone sports a big 5.84-inch full-HD+ FHD+ display with a screen resolution of 1080×2280 pixels, bearing an aspect ratio of 19:9. The upcoming smartphone is expected to pack a powerful Huawei HiSilicon KIRIN 970, 64-bit processor along with an equally robust ARM Mali G72 MP12, 767 MHz, 12-Cores GPU, under the hood. It offers 6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of non-expandable onboard storage.

Moreover, the Honor 10 runs EMUI 8.1 based Android 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box and is backed by a built-in 3400mAh battery with quick charging support. According to the handset maker, the bundled charger will be capable of charging the Honor 10 up to 50% in just 25 minutes. On the photography front, the Honor 10 houses a 16-megapixel + 24-megapixel dual-camera setup with dual LED flash and f/1.8 aperture on the back. Up front, there’s a 24-megapixel front shooter for selfies and face-to-face video chat.

Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ Gets New Red Color Variant in China

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May 7, 2018

Samsung launched the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ in Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Titanium Gray, and Lilac Purple. Availablity of these color variants are market dependent.

In China, both phones are available in black, purple, and blue. However, the Korean giant has unveiled three new brand ambassadors along with a new color variant for China.

The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are now available in red in China. The new color is similar to the Burgundy Red Galaxy S8.

[envira-gallery id=”189471″]

Samsung is not new to releasing new color variants for its phones but this is unusual because it is still very early. The phone went on sale in March, though was announced in February.

Usually, Samsung doesn’t announce a new color variant until much later in the year. That is not to say we are not pleased. The more colors to choose from, the better.

Huawei P9, Mate 8, Honor 8 and Honor 6X: Android Oreo Beta Testing Phase Kicks Off In China

By

Michele Ingelido

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May 7, 2018

Huawei has launched the beta testing phase of Android 8.0 Oreo for some of its most important handset announced in 2015 and 2016. We are referring to Huawei P9, P9 Plus, Mate 8, Honor 8 and Honor 6X. Yes, even the old Mate 8 and the Honor 8 which was confirmed to stay with Nougat forever due to hardware limitations, will receive the update to Android Oreo. Unfortunately, for now, the beta firmware of Android Oreo has only been launched in the Chinese version.

We do not know when the beta Android Oreo firmware for Huawei P9 and the other handsets will be available outside of China, or when the stable version of the update will be released. According to reports, we will see the final update to Android Oreo on these handsets within H1 2018, so within the end of June. Even the Asian-exclusive Honor Note 8 has been included in the beta testing phase. Note that on all of these handsets, Android Oreo may be the latest major Android update that will be rolled out; it is unlikely that they will be updated to Android P which should instead arrive on more recent and powerful handsets like Huawei P10 and the following ones.

The variants of Huawei P9 and P9 Plus eligible for the beta testing phase of Android Oreo are EVA-AL00, EVA-AL10, EVA-CL00, EVA-TL00, EVA-DL00 and VIE-AL10. Huawei Mate 8 variants included in the beta testings phase are NXT-AL10, NXT-CL00, NXT-TL00. Honor 8 eligible variants are FRD-AL10, FRD-AL00 and FRD-DL00. At last, you can adhere to Android Oreo beta testing in China if you own one of these variants: BLN-AL10, BLN-AL20, BLN-AL30, BLN-AL40, BLN-TL10 or BLN-TL00. The Android Oreo update is obviously customized by EMUI 8.0 and it contains several new features such as Oreo’s picture-in-picture mode, autofill APIs, notification channels and much more.

When do you think these handsets will receive the final update?

(via)

ZTE Applies To U.S Commerce Department For Suspension Of Export Ban

By

Jed John Ikoba

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May 7, 2018

Chinese smartphone and telecommunication equipment manufacturer, ZTE was recently slammed with a seven years ban which prevents it from receiving U.S exports. The ban is supposed to expire in March 2025 but ZTE doesn’t intend to serve the ban. That’s because it is most likely that the company’s smartphone division would be dead by the time the ban elapses. Instead, ZTE has applied to the U.S Commerce Department, seeking to have the ban suspended.

According to Reuters, the Chinese company disclosed in a filing to the Shenzhen stock exchange on Sunday that it has submitted an application to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) for the suspension of the business ban. Ordinarily, ZTE has no administrative appeal rights under agency regulations but the Commerce Department has reportedly agreed to hear the company’s appeal on an informal basis. ZTE had rejected the ban, stating that it threatened its existence. The company also disclosed that it would take legal action. That may likely be the last resort if the appeal fails to sail through.

ZTE was first fined $1.19 billion in 2017 by the Commerce Department for selling goods and services to Iran and North Korea. Additionally, the company was banned from receiving U.S. exports for seven years, although there was a stay of execution on that part of the punishment as long as ZTE wrote those involved a letter of reprimand and withheld their bonus payments. Unfortunately, ZTE didn’t comply but lied they did, leading to the enforcement of the U.S. exports ban until March 2025.

Some analysts are positive the issue would eventually be resolved without ZTE serving the ban. Some see the imbroglio as a negotiating tactic as both countries try to end a trade war initiated by the U.S. U.S sparked off the trade war intentionally by imposing a 25% tariff on more than 1,300 imported products from China in order to close up the huge trade deficit that the U.S. has with China. In retaliation, China has proposed a similar tariff on U.S. imports.

(source)

Motorola Releases Video Teaser Suggesting The Moto G6 Will Hit China Soon

By

Jed John Ikoba

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May 7, 2018

Motorola has already launched the Moto G6 smartphone in Brazil last month but the phone is yet to arrive China, the world’s largest smartphone market. However, there are indications that the Moto G6 will be released in China soon. A few days back Motorola released a poster which suggested the device will be released soon. Now, the company has released a short video starring the G6.

The video which was uploaded on Weibo today is clearly that of the Moto G6 in the hands of an unnamed male who is probably a celebrity. The video projects the rear camera setup of the G6. As we already know, the G6 packs a dual camera setup which takes a unique design looking like an emoji.

In terms of specification, the Motorola Moto G6 packs a 5.7-inch display with an FHD+ resolution. The back of the Moto G6 is covered in Gorilla Glass 3 on both sides. Under the glass is a Snapdragon 450 processor, 3GB/4GB of RAM, and 32GB/64GB of expandable storage. There is a fingerprint scanner below the display that can be used to control the device using gestures. There is also a 12MP f/1.8 rear camera and an additional 5MP camera for capturing the depth of field information. The front camera is an 8MP sensor with its own LED flash. It runs Android 8.0 Oreo, has Bluetooth 4.2, a USB-C port and a 3,000mAh battery with support for TurboPower fast charging.

As for the price, the Moto G6 was announced for 250 Euros in Brazil (about 1,900 Yuan). So, its price in China may be around this one.

(source)

Around 38% Of Xiaomi’s Workforce Makes Up R&D, 15% Are In MIUI

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May 7, 2018

Have you ever wondered what Xiaomi’s workforce is? Or the number of workers in certain departments? You don’t have to be in the dark anymore.

Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, was at the 4th World Internet Conference and he revealed some interesting details about the company. According to him, the total number of active MIUI users across the globe exceeded 300 million as at December 2017. A large number of these users are based in China which isn’t much of a surprise.

xiaomi logo

Seeing as there are so many MIUI users, it will be nice to know how many workers are serving this large number of customers. The figures of Xiaomi’s total workforce were obtained from documents made available to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ahead of its public offering.

It was revealed that Xiaomi has a total of 14,513 full-time employees. Most are based in Beijing, Mainland China, while the others are split between India, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Hong Kong.

Xiaomi's Workforce

Of these 14,513 workers, 2,275 of them work in the MIUI department. That number pales in comparison to that of Sales and Services which has 6,048 workers. The mobile phone department has the third largest workforce with 1,292 employees.

Other notable mentions are Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Technology department which has 700 workers, TV department with 435 workers, and Mi Ecological Chain (Mijia) which has 955 workers.

iVoomi FitMe Fitness Band With Pollution Tracking Launched In India For Rs 1,999 ($30)

By

Jeet

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May 7, 2018

iVoomi, a Chinese electronics manufacturer, has today launched its new fitness tracker — iVoomi FitMe in the Indian market. The FitMe fitness tracker is priced at Rs. 1,999, which roughly converts to $30 and is available for purchase through online retailer Flipkart. It comes in two color options — Black and Blue and the company is offering six months of warranty.

One of the highlights of the iVoomi FitMe, which makes it stand out from the rest of the fitness trackers available in the marker is that it provides Air Quality Index about your surrounding area, a feature that is not commonly available on all fitness trackers.

Commenting on the launch, Ashwin Bhandari, CEO, iVoomi India, said,

“When we entered the Indian market back in March 2017, we had envisioned to design and bring a product specifically for the young and fitness-conscious millennials of the country. The FitMe Health Band is sleek, smart, dust-proof, and water resistant & features a display of 128*32 pixels resolution that makes it crystal clear from all viewing angles and under all conditions. The band is enriched with features that suit the needs and requirements of our customers.”

It comes with a 0.87-inch OLED display along with a screen resolution of 128 x 32 pixels. The device comes equipped with an HRS3300 3D G-Sensor, which allows for continuous heart-rate monitoring.

Apart from measuring your heart rate, the FitMe tracker is also capable of step tracking, distance covered (GPS), calories burnt, as well as sleep tracking. Once paired with the smartphone, the iVoomi FitMe can also display alerts and notifications related to calls, text messages, and social media updates.

The fitness tracker comes with an IP67 certification which makes it water and dust resistant. Further, as per the company’s claims, the FitMe tracker is shock and scratch resistant as well. For connectivity, the iVoomi FitMe comes equipped with a low power Bluetooth chip for higher energy efficiency. The device is compatible with devices running iOS 8.0+ and Android 4.4 or above. In terms of battery life, the company claims that the FitMe has a typical usage time of somewhere between 3 to 5 days.

Xiaomi Amazfit Bip Review After 2 Months – The Best Fitness Tracker Under $80

By

Linus

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May 7, 2018

This is the Amazfit Bip – a fitness tracker that costs about $80 and I’ve been using it every single day for the past 2 months. I do like it for a lot of reasons but if you want to learn more, stay tuned for our long-term Xiaomi Amazfit Bip review.

VIDEO

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilmJFSdkrms[/embedyt]

UNBOXING

The device ships just with a charger and to be honest with you, it took me a while to find it because the battery life on the Amazfit Bip is just insanely good.

DESIGN and FEATURES

I’ve used this tracker for 2 months and I charged it once even though I used the GPS and heart rate monitoring features quite a lot. The official numbers state that the band should last you up to 45 days and I can assert this is true. The reflective color touch screen is always on and this is my favorite feature of this watch. The brighter the day is, the better you can see the display. Also, there is a nice backlight, so you can see the display at night. Lift to wake feature works fine.

The overall build of the tracker is great and device held up pretty well over the time. However, the rubber band has worn off quite a bit. A good thing is that you can buy a new strap for the cheap and I will leave a few suggestions in the video description down below. The watch uses 20 mm standard width watch bands. What I like is that the Bip is very light and comfortable to wear. I believe that the heart rate sensor is accurate but keep in mind this is not a medical-grade device.

The watch uses both GPS and Glonass systems for positioning and for route tracking, which is great. I found this feature to be working fine but sometimes you need to wait for almost a full minute until the GPS position is found. Other sensors this watch has include compass and barometer.

The IP68 rating assures water and dust resistance and I’ve tested this feature a lot of times, the device still works fine. I don’t like receiving notifications on the tiny display of the watch but this feature works fine. You can also track your sleep routines but I can’t get used to wearing a tracker while sleeping, so this feature is not for me. I love the simple and intuitive user interface and the Amazfit Bip has never lagged or stuttered. You just swipe from left to right through the menus, swipe from the top to open quick settings menu and swipe from the bottom to see your notifications.

You can also see your status, select from a few activity modes including running, walking, cycling and so on. A physical side button takes you back. If you press and hold it, you can start or stop your sports activity as soon as possible.

The My Fit has become one of my favorite fitness apps and it syncs with the watch seamlessly. You can check your steps taken in detail, heart rate measurements and track your sleep quality. In addition, the app gives you the detailed look at your workouts including the route, speed, pace, calories burned, heart rate details and so on. You can also adjust a lot of different settings of the band and so on.

CONCLUSIONS

After using the Amazfit Bip for more than 2 months, I can see two minor shortcomings – the silicone band wears off quickly and GPS can find the position a little bit faster. Sometimes waiting for about 30 seconds can be annoying if you want to start working out immediately.

Besides these two shortcomings, I definitely love my Amazfit Bip. I like the design, comfort, insanely good battery life, awesome display, user interface and feature-packed Mi Fit app that syncs with the watch.

Is the Amazfit Bip worth the price of $80? Absolutely yes. I will continue using it every single day as it has never let me down and it’s comfortable to wear. Therefore, I can easily recommend the Amazfit Bip to anyone after using this tracker for more than 2 months.

Buy Xiaomi Amazfit Bip ALSO buy Xiaomi Amazfit Bip here

Xiaomi Mi 7, Mi Band 3 Speculated to Debut at May End

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Get 24% Off On Leagoo S9 Smartphone On Banggood Check More Deals and Promotions From Other Shops

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May 7, 2018

At the end of the previous month, a leaked poster had revealed that Xiaomi may debut the Mi 7 flagship phone on May 23. After examining the leaked poster, it was concluded that it could be a fake. Previous reports have claimed that the Mi 7 may debut in the first half of the year. Hence, its still seems that its arrival is close at hand. Well-known tipsters from China are speculating that the successor of the Mi 6 may debut by the end of this month.

Xiaomi Mi 7 is one of the most important products for the company this year. It was speculated to debut in the first quarter of this year. However, the Chinese manufacturer chose to announce the Mi MIX 2S ahead of Mi 7.

Popular tipster with Weibo account @IceUniverse has claimed that the Mi 7 will be made official by the end of May. Another leakster with Weibo account @Kumamoto Technology has also claimed that the launch event for Xiaomi Mi 7 will be held at Shenzhen and he also claimed that the Mi Band 3 will be unveiled on the same day soon. Now that multiple leaksters are speculating that the Mi 7 would be debuting at the end of this month, Xiaomi may start teasing on its features soon.

Recent reports have revealed that the Mi 7 will be arriving with a notched design. The handset is rumored to come with advanced features such as 3D facial recognition, under-display fingerprint scanner and wireless charging support.

As far as specs are concerned, the Xiaomi Mi 7 is expected to feature a 5.65-inch OLED display. It is speculated that there will be a larger variant called Mi 7 Plus that will be featuring a 6.01-inch OLED display. The Snapdragon 845 chipset will be powering the Mi 7 along with 6 GB of RAM.

The Mi Band 3 is expected to house a touchscreen display. The smartband is expected to arrive with support for gestures. Like the Mi Band 2, it is expected to arrive with an IP67 certified chassis. It is also pegged to enabled with support for NFC connectivity.

(source 1, 2)

ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 Kernel Source Code & Bootloader Unlock Tool Released

By

Jed John Ikoba

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May 7, 2018

ASUS unveiled the Zenfone Max Pro M1 on April 23 in India but the device only went up for pre-orders on May 3 and will be available for purchase on May 10. The pre-orders have shown that the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 will be a very popular one and will be sold out pretty quickly. Perhaps, in a bid to ride on the shoulders of its popularity, ASUS has released the kernel source code and bootloader unlock tool for the device.

Thus, users can now download the kernel source code which would come in handy for the development of Custom ROM. Users can also now officially unlock the bootloader of the device but there is a caveat. Using the official bootloader unlock tool will void users’ warranty. However, the release of the official bootloader unlock tool signify that users can now flash generic system images (GSIs) of AOSP Android Oreo as well as LineageOS and ResurrectionRemix.

The ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 is coming into a very competitive terrain, as it falls in the same lower mid-range segment as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro in terms of specifications, including the Snapdragon 636 chip. ASUS wisely priced the Zenfone Max Pro M1 lower than its contemporary and ships it with custom Android 8.1 Oreo instead of giving it the Zen UI skin. The release of the kernel source code is another wise move to ensure the device performs very well in the market. Apart from that, the device recently received its first major update which addded Face Unlock and April security patches. The update also brings optimization to the camera performance, battery life and more.

(source, via)

Preorder Leagoo S9 Smartphone For Only $129.99 On Banggood; Promo Valid For Only 999 Pieces

By

Vinay Patel

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May 7, 2018

The Leagoo S9 smartphone was made available to the public in March this year. It boasts a broad range of exceptional specs and features that make it an irresistible smartphone.

Banggood is giving smartphone enthusiasts an opportunity to preorder the Leagoo S9 smartphone for a lowered price of just $129.99. This is a considerable 24% reduction in the phone’s original asking price of $169.99.

While you can choose from 3 different color versions including black, blue and gold, it’s worth noting that the recently kicked off promotion will only be valid for 999 pieces only. Regrettably, 115 pre-orders were already placed at the time of writing.

The next 1999 pieces will set you back $149.99, while the remaining pieces will come bearing a price tag of $169.99 on Banggood. In other words, the earlier you buy the bigger discount you get.
The Leagoo S9 smartphone is quite a bargain at $129.99, given that it sports a big 5.85 inches IPS, LCD display with a screen resolution of 1512 X 720 pixels at a screen ratio of 19:9. The phone is housed in a robust plastic and metal body that is intensified with a super slim dual-curved design.

The S9 is powered by a MediaTek MT6750, 64-bit processor and it uses an ARM Mali-T860 MP2, 520 MHz, 2-Cores graphics processing unit. Under the hood, it packs 4GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage which can be expanded up to 128GB.

The phone houses a 13-megapixel + 0.3-megapixel dual camera setup on the back and an 8-megapixel front shooter for selfie addicts. The dual-SIM smartphone runs Android 8.1 Oreo operating system and draws its juices from a built-in 3,300 mAh Lithium-Polymer battery.

You can head straight to this link in order to check out the full specification and avail the discount before it comes to an end. You can take advantage of the promotion until May 20th.

Xiaomi Announces It Will Launch In France and Italy By Month’s End

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May 7, 2018

Xiaomi is focused on its expansion in Europe this year. A few weeks ago, we reported it opened a store in the Czech Republic and last week it was reported it had partnered with Three in the UK. Today, it has officially announced its entry into two new European markets.

The Chinese manufacturer has revealed via a Twitter post that it will arrive in France and Italy on the 22nd and 24th of May respectively. Xiaomi already sells its products in Italy but only online. On May 24, it will open its first Mi Store in the country.

Other European countries Xiaomi is present in are Spain, Russia, Ukraine, Poland. Its partnership with Three will also add the UK, Denmark, Austria, Ireland, and Sweden.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Likely to Launch in Jan 2019; Foldable Phone May Get Showcased at MWC 2019

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