HMD Global confirms Android 9.0 Pie update for all Nokia smartphones

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Aug 15, 2018

UMIDIGI is known for designing smartphones that are crammed with awe-inspiring features despite being modestly priced. If you’re a UMIDIGI fan or a smartphone fanatic looking to get your hands on a high-end phone that doesn’t cost a fortune, you’ve come to the right place.

We’ll be divulging more details about the recently kicked-off CooliCool promotion sale which features a broad range of heavily discounted smartphones from UMIDIGI. First off, you can avail a 17% off on the UMI Z2 smartphone, which normally sells for $299.99.

As part of the aforesaid promo, CooliCool will be selling it at a dropped price of just $249.99. While the discount will be valid for the twilight and twilight black color versions of the phone, this time-limited offer is slated to end on August 20th.

Likewise, there are noteworthy discounts on the UMI One and the UMI One Pro smartphones as well. Keeping in line with that, you can preorder the UMI One smartphone at a reduced price of just $139.99 although it normally sells for $199.99 on the Chinese online electronics store.

The UMI One smartphone’s bigger sibling dubbed, the UMI One Pro can now be yours if you’re willing to shell out just $169.99. This is a noteworthy reduction in the phone’s original selling price of $249.99. Both phones, the UMI One and the UMI One Pro will be available in twilight color version.

The UMIDIGI UMI A1 Pro became an instant hit among smartphone lovers after hitting the store shelves earlier this year. While it would normally set you back a pretty penny, this steeply priced smartphone is now up for grabs at a slashed price of just $99.99 on CooliCool.
The site is offering a significant 29% off the phone’s retail price. Moreover, the discount will be valid on 3 color versions including black, silver and blue. You can head straight to this link to check out more details so that you don’t end up missing this opportunity to buy high-end UMIDIGI phones at the discounted price.

Get Big Discounts On UMIDIGI Smartphones

Buy SJCAM SJ8 Pro Action Camera For Only $189 On TomTop

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Aug 15, 2018

Sticking with its reputation for releasing a new action camera every year, SJCAM made its new flagship dubbed the SJ8 Pro available to the public earlier this year. Touted as the company’s most competent action camera, the SJ8 Pro comes bearing a steep price tag.

The SJCAM SJ8 Pro is designed to go toe-to-toe with a slew of top-notch camera manufacturers such as Xiaomi and GoPro. But much to the delight of cost-conscious buyers who aren’t willing to spend a lot of money on the recently released cameras from the aforesaid brands, SJCAM’s modestly priced flagship action camera is now available at an even lowered price on TomTop.

While the SJ8 Pro would normally set you back $359, you can now buy it at a reduced price of just $189 on TomTop. The Chinese online store is doling out a noteworthy 48% off on the feature-laden action camera’s original asking price for a limited period of time.

Bearing a striking resemblance with the SJ8 Plus, the SJCAM SJ8 Pro action camera has the dimensions of 63×41×29 mm and it weighs in at just 85 grams (3.0 oz), which is considerably light for a flagship model. Moreover, the camera is made using high-quality plastic and you can choose from multiple color versions including black, rose golden, white, and white bare metal version.

The above-mentioned limited discount offer is slated to end in 16 days; however, there were only 180 pieces left for the Flash Sale at the time of writing. In order to ensure you don’t miss the opportunity to buy the SJCAM SJ8 Pro action camera at a discounted price, just follow this link without wasting time.

Get 48% Off On SJCAM SJ8 Pro Action Camera

Buy LEMFO LEM7 Smart Watch For Just $129.99 On Banggood [Coupon Code]

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Aug 15, 2018

Crammed with an array of awe-inspiring features and hardware specs, the LEM7 is the latest smartwatch from LEMFO. Despite bearing a striking resemblance to the LEMFO LES1, the newfangled LEM7 sports a relatively wider body and screen.

The LEMFO LEM7 sports a 1.39 inch AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 400 x 400 pixels with touchscreen support. The smartwatch packs a powerful MT6737M chipset and runs the Android operating system. It offers 1GB of RAM and a hearty 16GB of internal storage.

This phone-equipped smartwatch has now gone up for preorder bearing a heavily discounted price tag on Banggood. While feature-laden smartwatches would normally set you back a pretty penny, you can preorder the power-packed LEMFO LEM7 smartwatch at a lowered price of just $144.99.
This is a noteworthy 52% reduction in the device’s original asking price of $299.99. Moreover, the Chinese online store that guarantees the best bang for your buck is offering the aforesaid discount on the black as well as silver color version.

But if that doesn’t rouse your interest, you can get an additional $15 off simply by applying coupon code LEMFO7. In other words, you can bring your already discounted grand total further down to only $129.99 with the help of the above-mentioned coupon.

But in order to ensure you avail the discount offered by Banggood and take advantage of the coupon, you need to head straight to this link without wasting time. It is imperative for you to bear in mind that the discount will be valid for China-based warehouse for a limited period of time.

Get 52% Off On LEMFO LEM7 Smart Watch

Buy Young Series Smart Wristband Watch For Only $14.99 On Banggood [Discount Coupon Inside]

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Aug 15, 2018

If you’re an adventure junkie, love sports or simply want to keep a track of your health without shelling out a lot of money, you might want to take a gander at the Young Series 0.96inch smart wristband watch. The practical device offers an impressive array of features that are likely to sweep tech buffs off their feet.

Much to the delight of cost-conscious buyers who aren’t willing to empty their pocket for a smart wristband watch, Banggood is currently doling out a considerable discount on the Young Series 0.96inch heart rate monitor. While it would normally set you back a pretty penny on online stores, the device is now available at a dropped price of just $19.99.

Banggood is offering a 33% off on the smart wristband watch’s original selling price of $29.99. Moreover, the Chinese online store that guarantees the best bang for your buck is giving the discount on a broad range of color options including black, blue, dark blue, purple and orange.

On top of that, you can apply coupon code edad14 in order to save an extra $5. This will help you bring your already lowered grand total further down to just $14.99.

An absolute bargain at this price, the Young Series 0.96inch smart wristband watch comes with a 0.96-inch intelligent light sensing screen with a screen resolution of 80X160 pixels. Aside from that, the waterproof smartwatch is brimming with special features such as heart rate, blood pressure, sleep and blood oxygen monitor, pedometer, calories, sports mode and lots more.

You can follow this link in order to check out more details about the Young Series 0.96inch smart wristband watch and avail the discount before the promo ends. It is worth note that that 4211 pieces were already sold out at the time of writing.

Get 33% Off On Young Series 0.96inch Smart Wristband Watch

Buy Creality 3D CR-10S 3D Printer For Just $360.80 On LightInTheBox

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Aug 15, 2018

3D printing alludes to an additive manufacturing process that builds a physical item from a digital design. With more and more people getting into 3D printing, different sizes and shapes of 3D printers are available in the market.

If you’re a 3D printing enthusiast or an advanced user looking for a high-end 3D printer that doesn’t cost a fortune, you’ve come to the right place. The almost pre-built CR-10 3d printer from Creality 3D is currently up for grabs at a discounted price on LightInTheBox.

Housed in an imported special aluminum frame, the CR – 10S 3D Desktop Printer is an awe-inspiring 3D printer that boasts a generous 300 x 300 x 400mm build volume along with a standard nozzle diameter of 0.4mm which can be replaced with 0.3 / 0.2mm. More importantly, this feature-laden 3D printer now carries a noteworthy 33% off on its original asking price.
While the CR-10S 3D Printer would normally set you back $539.99, the Beijing based international online retail company is currently selling it at a dropped price of just $360.80. In other words, you can now save $179.19 on the well-received 3D printer’s steep price without breaking much of a sweat.

The CR – 10S 3D desktop printer is quite a bargain, given that it is also a build-it-yourself kit, which offers an unparalleled step-by-step learning experience for 3D printing novices. Moreover, it supports SD card to allow users to print offline or directly with a USB adapter.

Regrettably, the discount will be valid only for 3 days and there were only a few pieces remaining at the time of writing. If you’re interested in taking advantage of the discount before the promo ends, head straight to this link.

Get 33% Off On Creality 3D CR-10s 3D Printer

Xiaomi Mi Band 3 with NFC payment support still under test over two months after launch

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Jed John Ikoba

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Aug 14, 2018

The Mi Band 3 became available in China shortly after it was launched on May 31 and that has been so since then. The wearable is even shipping abroad thanks to third-party online retailers with the price almost competing with the 199 yuan price tag it adopts in China. Despite the rampant available, the Mi Band 3 has not been completely available. That is because Xiaomi is yet to release the NFC version into the market in China or elsewhere, almost two and a half month after its launch.

As you would recall, the Mi Band 3 was announced to have two models, a Bluetooth version and another version with NFC alongside Bluetooth connectivity. For those who may not know, NFC means Near Field Communication and it refers to a set of communication protocols that allow two electronic devices to establish communication when they are within 4cm of each other. With this feature, the Mi Band 3 can be used for contactless payments using Mi Pay in China. Since it only supports Mi Pay, its use may be limited.

Even its use in China isn’t an easy ride as Xiaomi has hinted that the NFC version is still being tested. The company first shared a picture of the Mi Band 3 with the Bus payment interface on the OLED display and a black strap on August 10. A second picture was shared on Tuesday but this time the Band 3 has a light brown strap. The picture still shows the Mi Pay door card logo with a rider that it is still being tested. The bus card feature will be enabled for use in 167 cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Tianjin, and several others. The version is compatible with non-Xiaomi NFC smartphones.

We have no doubt that the model will be released soon but no idea when that will happen. We also can’t say if the version will be useful outside China. We’ll keep you posted whenever it is released, though.

(source)

Sales pitch memo reveals full specs of the OPPO F9 Pro

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Aug 14, 2018

The OPPO F9 Pro will launch in exactly a week. The latest phone in the F-series will pack along impressive features. While we already know some of the key specs, a leaked sales pitch memo has provided full details.

According to the leaked memo, the OPPO F9 Pro is the first smartphone with “Gradient color body”. The phone changes its color based on the lighting. This is not new as we have seen it in a number of other phones.

The F9 Pro will have a 6.3” FHD+ water drop screen with a 90.8% screen to body ratio, a 409 PPI, and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. For cameras, there is a 16MP + 2MP dual combo on the rear which has five different lighting filters for its portrait mode. The phone can also record slow-motion videos.

Housed within the water drop notch is a 25MP sensor with AI 2.1. that is said to be smarter and more precise. There is also an HDR mode with a real-time preview and Vivid Mode 2.0 which allows users to take more colorful and lively photos. Another camera feature is AR 2.0 which we believe to be better and or more AR effects.

The memo also mentions the phone will have MediaTek’s 12nm Helio P60 processor clocked at 2.0GHz along with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage which should be able to handle heavy games such as PUBG and Asphalt 8.

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The OPPO F9 Pro will run Color OS 5.2 which has Google Lens built-in, supports video editing with themes and effects, and also has an emergency SOS option. OPPO’s VOOC charge is also mentioned. It brings super fast charging to the device and is safer with its “5 layers of protection”.

Vivo Y81 launched in India in a new version with fingerprint scanner

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Michele Ingelido

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Aug 14, 2018

Vivo Y81 was launched in Vietnam back in June with an innovative design and a very affordable price tag. Now, it is finally headed to the bigger Indian market, but in a slightly different version. Unlike the model launched in Vietnam which does not feature any biometric sensor, this one has a fingerprint reader on the rear side. The rest of the specs sheet remains the same as the older version, including the tri-borderless display with a notch and its very high screen-to-body ratio.

The screen features a diagonal of 6.22 inches and an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1520 pixels. Under the hood, Vivo Y81 boasts an octa-core Helio P22 chipset by MediaTek, accompanied by 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage expandable with a micro SD up to 256 GB.

The main camera is a single sensor with a 13 MP resolution and a f/2.2 aperture, while the secondary selfie camera has a 5 MP resolution with a f/2.2 aperture. There is also a good 3260 mAh battery. Vivo Y81 and its fingerprint reader are now available to purchase in India on Flipkart, Amazon India and Vivo official store with a price tag of INR 12,990, which roughly translates into $182/€160 at the actual change.

Xiaomi Pocophone F1 destroys the competition with impressive results on Geekbench

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Michele Ingelido

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Aug 14, 2018

Xiaomi Pocophone F1 is now shining on Geekbench a few days ahead of the official launch. This smartphone has been defined by the new Xiaomi sub-brand as the Master of Speed, and according to the new Geekbench listing the company is right. Indeed, the device has obtained impressive results on the known benchmarking platform, better than any real non-gaming devices. The handset has scored 9081 points in multi-core performance, over classing flagships such as OnePlus 6, Xiaomi Mi 8 and Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, while it has scored 2467 points in single-core performance in which the only better device is the Samsung Galaxy S9+.

The added value of Xiaomi Pocophone F1 over the competition is that it should be the cheapest device ever equipped with an octa-core Snapdragon 845, the best SoC by Qualcomm running at a frequency of 2.8 GHz. The device has been recently spotted on pre-sale with a price tag of just €430, that is €50 lower than the cheapest Snapdragon 845-powered handset: the Asus Zenfone 5z. However, this price is yet to be officially confirmed. According to the latest photo and video leaks, Xiaomi Pocophone F1 will be the only SD845-powered flagship to sport a full polycarbonate design in order to cut costs.

This may be a good decision for people who only care about performance and not price. Among the other alleged specs, there is a 5.99-inch display with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2248 pixels, a notch and a tri-borderless design with a thicker chin. Paired with the Snapdragon 845 there should be 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. The main camera will be a dual setup with resolutions of 12 and 5 MP, while the front camera should have a 20 MP resolution. At last, there will be a big battery with a capacity of 4000 mAh.

(via)

Samsung patents self-repairing oleophobic coating for phones

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Aug 14, 2018

My daily driver is the Essential PH-1 (Black Moon) and as beautiful as the phone is, it lives in a case. The sole reason is that it is a fingerprint magnet (and a slippery eel). Take it out of the case and in under a minute it goes from being the most beautiful phone to looking like a mess. This is the same experience for a lot of users who have phones made of glass or ceramic (depending on the finish). However, it appears Samsung has a solution.

The Korean giant has gotten a patent for an oleophobic coating that can “repair” itself. The patent was published by the WIPO earlier this month and it states that the composition includes a polyrotaxane, a polyhedral silsesquioxane and a fluorinated (meth)acryl compound.

According to the patent description, devices usually have a tempered glass or a coating to protect the display. When this glass or coating gets broken or scratched, they can’t return to their original shape. They also can’t be used for flexible devices. So Samsung has developed a coating that self-repairs, can be applied to a film (tempered glass) and can be used for a foldable electronic device.

Samsung is working on a foldable smartphone which will have a flexible display. One can deduce that the newly patented composition or film will be used in the device when it launches next year. Apart from being able to heal itself, the composition also has oleophobic properties. So not only can it be applied to the display, it can also be applied to the back of the phone.

OnePlus opens three new exclusive service centres in India, plans to open more

By

Jeet

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Aug 14, 2018

OnePlus has today announced that it has opened three new service centres in India in three different cities — Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai. The company says that the new service centres aim to set a new benchmark of service excellence and to further improve the current customer satisfaction index. OnePlus claims that 78% issues are being resolved within two hours.

The new service centre in Bangalore is located on Brigade Road while the one in Hyderabad is in Manjeera Mall. On the other hand, the Chennai’s exclusive centre is located in T Nagar. With these new additions, the company has 15 exclusive service centres in India.

Commenting on this, Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India, said,

OnePlus is committed to achieving the highest level of customer satisfaction through an industry leading after-sales service experience. OnePlus Exclusive Service Centres promise complete peace of mind with guaranteed 1-hour TAT to further strengthen the trust that our community has placed in us.

Going forward, the company is planning to open around 25 premium and exclusive centres across top cities in India by the end of this year. The Chinese manufacturer has also planned three more centres in Delhi, Mumbai, and Jaipur which are expected to open later this month.

At its exclusive service centres, OnePlus is claiming guaranteed 1-hour turn around time (TAT) for a majority of the service issues. The exclusive centres’ timing is from 11 AM to 8 PM every day. The company says that it has trained and friendly staff with open repair counters for interactions with technicians and added transparency.

In addition to the exclusive service centres, the China-based company is also offering service in 35 cities through a network of multi-branded partner service centres and a complimentary pan-India pick-up & drop service for users from outside these cities.

Xiaomi will launch the Mi Band 3 alongside the Mi Max 3 in Taiwan on August 24

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Aug 14, 2018

Xiaomi has revealed the launch of the Mi Band 3 for the Taiwanese market will hold on August 24. The company had earlier launched the Mi 8, Redmi 6 and Mi A2 in Taiwan towards the end of July but the Mi Band 3 wasn’t bundled along with the trio. Instead, the Mi Band 3 will be launched alongside the Mi Max 3 that had earlier been scheduled to launch on August 24.

The Mi Band 3 was first launched in China on May 31 along with the Mi 8, Mi 8 SE and Mi 8 Explorer Edition. The device comes with some improvement over the Band 2. It even included an NFC-packing version which is yet to go on sale more than two months after it was announced. Xiaomi did hint recently that the NIFC variant will be available soon. So, Taiwan will be getting just the regular variant without NFC but packing other useful features. The Band 3 is priced at 169 yuan in China ( about NT$750).

In addition, the Mi Max 3 6.9-inch phablet will be made available in Taiwan. The 6.9-inch 18:9 aspect ratio-packing phablet is equipped with a Snapdragon 636 chipset and will get its power from a 5,500mAh battery. The device is available in 4GB + 64Gb combo and 6GB + 128GB variant. We don’t know the price tag it would adopt in Taiwan but it shouldn’t be too different from the 1,699 Yuan (~$252) starting price for the Max 3 in China. You can check out the hands-on pictures of the Mi Max 3 from here.

(source)

Nubia Z18 is close to launch but date is still unknown

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Aug 14, 2018

The Nubia Z18 has been in the news for over three months and it still hasn’t launched but it appears it may be announced soon.

Judging from Nubia’s CEO’s reply to a post on Weibo last week, we believe the phone is close to launching. Weibo also shows the post was made with the Nubia Z18 (with) “Boundless waterdrop screen”.

The original post he replied to says the upcoming phone is stunning and will make everyone marvel. After waiting this long for it to launch, we hope we won’t be disappointed.

The Nubia Z18 will come with a notch like that of the Essential PH-1. That design is called waterdrop but is different from that of the OPPO F9 and OPPO F9 Pro.

According to benchmark app Master Lu, the Nubia Z18 will come with a Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM, and a 2160 x 1080 display. The TENAA listing reveals that the display is 5.73-inches in size and it will have an 8GB RAM version.

BlackBerry KEY2 LE could get launched on August 30 at IFA in Berlin

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Jeet

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Aug 14, 2018

TCL Communications has today sent out media invites for a launch event on 30th August at IFA, Berlin. While the company has not revealed what device it plans to announce at the launch event, it is likely to launch BlackBerry KEY2 LE.

Last week, the images of the KEY2 LE smartphone surfaced online, as well as the phone’s specifications have also leaked. It is expected to be available in four color options — Black, Red, Blue, and Copper.

The BlackBerry KEY2 LE will come with a 4.5-inch Full HD display with 1620 x 1080 pixels screen resolution, 443ppi pixel density, and 3:2 aspect ratio. The display is protected from minor scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

Under the hood, the device will be powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 636 octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz, coupled with Adreno 509 graphics processor. It’ll pack 4GB RAM and will have two options for onboard storage — 32GB and 64GB. There’ll be a microSD card, allowing users to further expand the phone’s storage capacity up to 2TB.

For photography, the phone features a 13-megapixel rear camera sensor with dual-tone LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing snapper. As with the BlackBerry’s usual design, the phone comes with a 4-row Physical QWERTY backlit keyboard with capacitive touch. There’s a fingerprint sensor embedded into the space bar for added security. However, it lacks the trackpad functionality that we saw KeyOne and Key2.

Connectivity options on the device include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4 & 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5 LE, and GPS / GLONASS. The phone will be running Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box and will be fuelled by a 3,500mAh battery.

To know more about the BlackBerry KEY2 LE’s pricing and availability details, we’ll have to wait for the company to officially announce the phone at IFA in Berlin.

Meizu 16 teardown reveals copper cooling tube and more

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Aug 14, 2018

The Meizu 16 was released last week along with a bigger sibling called the Meizu 16 Plus. They are both powered by the Snapdragon 845 processor and also have in-display fingerprint scanners. The smaller one has gotten a teardown, baring all its internals and giving us a hint at what went down during production.

The Meizu 16 has a glass back but looks like ceramic thanks to the 7-layer vacuum nano-coating. To remove it, you need a heat gun to melt the gum used to attach it to the rest of the phone. Then proceed to use a prying tool to gently separate it from the body.

The main PCB is covered with plastic and so is the smaller PCB below the battery. Both can be taken off with the aid of a screwdriver. The smaller PCB is where the USB-C port and the mEngine which provides haptic feedback are housed. The mEngine in the Meizu 16 is a horizontal type linear motor which is said to be much better than the taptic engine in the iPhone X.

The main PCB at the top is where the cameras and the rest of the main components are. The larger sensor at the bottom is the primary camera. Remove the plastic covering the PCB and you can gain access to the PCB which can also be separated from the rest of the phone.

The front-facing camera comes off with the PCB. The 20MP sensor is said to be the world’s smallest front-facing camera module and was specially made for Meizu so as to fit into the thin top bezel.

The phone also houses a copper heat pipe that is connected to a copper plate. Inside the tube is a liquid that and circulates to keep the phone cool when the temperature rises.

There is a flap at the bottom part of the phone which can be accessed after removing the main PCB at the top and disconnecting the battery. That flap hides the in-display fingerprint scanner which is angled at 13.7°.