Meizu’s New Blue Charm Models Will Be Designed By Founder Jack Wong

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Mar 23, 2018

In January this year, Meizu‘s Li Nan who is the head of the blue Charm division was reported to have hinted that the company’s president Jack Wong also known as Wang Zhang will personally lead the Blue Charm division and will be involved in the product planning and building in the division. Again, Li Nan is credited to have hinted after the E3’s launch that Jack Wong will be responsible for the design of new Blue Charm models.

We don’t know if the CEO has set out to work but we are already seeing some remodelled designs on the Blue Charm models like the Meizu E3 that just launched a few days back. Meizu’s Blue Charm division is very well known for its mid-range and budget models which are usually with topnotch designs. But for quite some time, all the models seem to resemble each other design-wise. In order for the company to mount a serious push for a slice of the market share, the CEO may be trying to ensure that the smartphones launched under both the flagship Meizu division and Blue Charm division come out with thrilling designs. Don’t forget Jack Wong is also responsible for the design of the flagship models.

Meizu’s rebranding also included a change of is logo and the Blue Charm name to mBlu. It would be recalled that several logos said to be Meizu’s new logo were spotted online. Also, during the launch of the M6s, a version with the mBlu logo at the back was initially unveiled. That version was later replaced with the current one which has Meizu written on the back. Those changes may have been put on hold while the company seems poised to pursue changes to the design of its models.

(source)

Xiaomi’s Upcoming Headphone Will Feature a Ceramic Body & an Extraordinary Sound

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 23, 2018

Xiaomi revealed via its Mi Headphone Weibo page that a new headphone will be unveiled on March 23. The product is teased as coming with a featherweight and a new design. A second teaser has now emerged which shed some more light on the features of the Mi headset which should go official in just a matter of hours from now.

The second teaser for the product hints that the product would be manufactured using a new material. It also detailed the headset to come with an extraordinary sound output which gives a richer level of listening experience. The teaser image is two-faced. The right part is a flat porcelain plate while the left part is one part of a headphone. That is an indication that the new material from which the earphone will be manufactured is likely ceramics.

We still don’t know if this is a wired headset or a Bluetooth model but there are speculations that this is a new edition of the Mi Sports Bluetooth headphone. Xiaomi has got headsets having a metal body as well as plastic build. So, it would be interesting to see how good-looking a ceramic-built would be. We equally expect this new product to come with an affordable price tag.

(source)

Xiaomi Launches the Four-Blade Smate Electric Shaver Priced at 269 Yuan (~$43)

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 23, 2018

Xiaomi has launched a new product under the Youpin crowdfunding platform. The product is the four-blade Smate electric shaver which comes with a price tag of 269 Yuan (~$43). This isn’t the first electric shaver Xiaomi will be unveiling. There is the portable MIJIA electric shaver priced at 179 Yuan ($27) which was launched in December. That model currently sells for as much as $46 on GearBest. However, this new model is somewhat different in terms of design and configuration.

The Xiaomi Smate electric shaver comes with a built-in high-speed motor imported from Japan. It has an operational speed of 8,000rpm. With such speed, shaving can only get done faster yet the blade is gentle on the skin. The manufacturer touts it to completely shave off the beards in 3 minutes. The high-speed motor is also durable and can last for upwards of 8 years with constant use.

The Smate electric shaver comes with four kinds of blades which is responsible for the clean shave together with the high-speed motor. There is also an eight-position floating cutter head that can be attached and detached easily with no efforts. The blade is made from tough and durable stainless steel supplied by a Japan-based supplier. It is the same with the one used for the production of scalpels and other special tools. On the outward appearance, the Smate electric shaver features a metal body manufactured using brushed aluminium alloy. It also comes with an anti-grinding rubber back shell that offers good grip. The device also has an IP67 waterproof and dustproof rating. Thus, it can be washed thoroughly after use.

The Smate electric shaver also packs a rechargeable battery that can provide up to 60 minutes of use on a single charge. There is also a USB- interface from which the device can be charged and it takes just 1 hour to achieve full charge when completely drained. The device is already available for funding on the Youpin.mi.com page. The product will start shipping from April 23.

[Updated] OPPO A1 Launches In Cool Colors For ¥1499 (~$238) But Lacks A Key Feature

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 22, 2018

In what appears to be a surprise, OPPO quietly announced a new phone today. The OPPO A1 comes just a few days after the launch of the OPPO R15 and R15 Dream Mirror Edition. It launches in really cool colors with an affordable price but a missing key feature.

Design

I like it when a manufacturer is not afraid to go bold with colors and OPPO has been doing just that lately. The OPPO A1 comes in three colors – Dark Blue, Cherry Red, and Pearl White. The Dark Blue actually looks very nice and if we were to take specs out of the picture, it’ll be a hard decision choosing between it and the blue Meizu E3.

While the blue and red variants have a matte finish, the white seems to be covered in glass seeing as it is reflective. The overall design is simple but classy. There is a 2.5D glass covering the display, the corners are rounded, and there is a single camera and a LED flash on the rear.

OPPO A1 Specs

The OPPO A1 has a 5.7” 18:9 display with a 1440 x 720 resolution. It also has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage. For the chipset, the OPPO A1 is powered by a MT6763T processor also known as the Helio P23.

The rear camera is a 13MP sensor which can let you shoot up to 50MP thanks to interpolation. There is an 8MP sensor for selfies and a 3180mAh battery.

There is also Face Unlock but no fingerprint scanner! Yes, that is the missing feature – a fingerprint scanner. It is unimaginable and we want to know what prompted OPPO to make this decision.

The phone also runs ColorOS 3.2 based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat and has a tripe-card slot. It has Bluetooth 4.2, dual-band Wi-Fi, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Continue

BlackBerry Ghost Pro Makes Appearance in Leaked Render

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 22, 2018

One of BlackBerry’s licensees is India’s Optiemus Infracom. Last month, renowned leaker, Evan Blass, tweeted a photo of an upcoming phone from Optiemus called the BlackBerry Ghost. Today, he has followed it up by a new leak of another phone called the BlackBerry Ghost Pro.

Remember BlackBerry Ghost? Of course you do (and if not, just expand this thread). Well here's another upcoming handset from Indian licensee Optiemus to haunt you: the BlackBerry Ghost Pro. pic.twitter.com/1TcyhE3CsL

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) March 22, 2018

Just like the BlackBerry Ghost, the Ghost Pro is scarce on details. Nothing is practically known about its specs and how it will differ from the non-pro version. However, a comparison of both leaked renders reveals a few differences of some sort.

Judging from the picture of the BlackBerry Ghost, it will come with a “bezel-less” design. So we are practically looking at yet another 18:9 phone but BlackBerry’s first, hitting the market soon. The Ghost Pro on the other hand looks like it is keeping the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio seeing as it appears to be wider and shorter.

[envira-gallery id=”180834″]

It also looks thicker, which points at a bigger battery. Another difference is the BlackBerry branding on the chin, which is absent in the regular variant.

Apart from the branding in front, the other differences may not turn out as discussed above as there is a possibility it is just the angle of the photos playing a trick on the eyes.

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AnTuTu Releases Smartphone Users Preference For February 2018

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 22, 2018

AnTuTu has released a comprehensive report of the smartphone users preference as captured in the month of February 2018. The report covers such aspects as preferences based on display size and resolution. The report also shows users preference based on RAM sizes, storage sizes and the operating system. The report is based on user preference in China but this isn’t too different from the global user preference except in low-income markets where budget phones (pricing) top the preference charts.

The report again reaffirms the rapidly-increasing full-view display trend and a shift towards large display packing smartphones which falls into the phablet category. In terms of display size, 5.5-inch displays turned out to be the most popular with a 25.76% share of the market. This is closely followed by 6 inches displays which accounted for 19.78% of the market, a big leap from 6.38% in April last year. 5.1-inch models are also quite popular with a percentage ratio of 13.63%. 5-inch display-packing smartphones continue to reduce and now sits at 3.81% as against 7.66% in April last year. Other display sizes in use include 5.7 inches- 4.59%, 5.2 inches – 5.61% while others like display sizes ranging from 3.5 inches – 4.9 inches account for 26.82% of the market.

In terms of display resolutions, the Full HD (1920 x 1080p) display still remains the most popular, accounting for 54.73% of users’ most preferred models. This is closely followed by the FullHD+ (2160 x 1080p) displays utilized on full-screen models which accounted for 22.12% of the market. QuadHD displays (2560 x 1440p) are even popular than the HD (1280 x 720) displays, coming with a 7% market share and the HD with a 6.67% percentage ratio.

On RAM sizes, 4GB RAM phones are preferred by 39.58% of users while 33% prefer 6GB RAM phones. Interest in 3GB RAM phones is waning as it accounts for only 15.70%. 8GB RAM phones account for 4.44% while 2GB RAM models hold 5.98% of the market.

User preference based on internal storage shows 64GB storage models are most popular among users with a 54.5% ratio. On the other hand, 32GB ROM models accounted for 18.69% of the market in February while 128GB ROM models continue to grow, making up 17.41% of the market and there is 6.83% for 16GB storage models.

Finally, the report touched on the user preference based on Android operating system version. As should be expected, Android 7.1.1 Nougat-based models claim the lion share with 31.21%. Models running un-updated Android 7.0.0 Nougat version are also very popular with a 23.67% spread. The use of Google’s latest Android 8.0 Oreo is fast gaining ground with a 15.46% market share. Android 6.0 marshmallow claimed 9.20% of the market while Android 7.1.2 Nougat accounts for 5.53%. There are still a handful of models running older Android version like Android KitKat, JellyBean, Lollipop etc, and this group accounts for 14.93% of users.

(source)

Huawei Planning To Build Blockchain Phone, Xiaomi Developing Cryptopets

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 22, 2018

Back in January, a relatively unknown Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Sugar, announced the Sugar S11 Blockchain Creation Edition. It is a phone for mining and storing Ethereum Fog cryptocurrency. Huawei is also said to be planning a blockchain phone with Sirin Labs, makers of the $16,000 Solarin Android Phone.

Unnamed sources say Huawei is in talks with Sirin to license the latter’s operating system, SIRIN OS, to run blockchain based applications along with Android. Both sides are still having discussions and nothing is set in stone since no agreement has been signed.

Representatives of both companies have confirmed that they have met but won’t disclose more than that. Meetings have been going over the past two months, and Sirin’s Telegram chat group posted a picture in February with a caption that confirms the meeting, as well as mentioning the “…possibility of working together bringing blockchain technology to masses in a secure way”.

Sirin is also working on a new series of phone called Finney, named after the pioneer of Bitcoin, Hal Finney. It will hold cryptocurrency coins and wallets, as well as blockchain-based apps.

Huawei is not the only Chinese manufacturer that is dabbling in blockchain. Xiaomi has its hand in the new trend but in a different way.

One of the more interesting “spin-offs” of blockhain is cryptopets. These are virtual pets similar to Tamagotchi but based on blockchain. Pets can be bought, groomed and traded. Each pet is unique and sales are recorded on the blockchain, though digital currency transactions are not supported.

The first cryptopet game was Cryptokitties which is based on Ethereum’s blockchain technology. Its success led other big Chinese giants to join the trend.

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Samsung Galaxy J3 (2018) Certified By WFA In Several Variants

By

Michele Ingelido

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Mar 22, 2018

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2018) has just received the official certification by Wi-Fi Alliance, which means there isn’t much time left for the official announcement of the handset. The device has been certified in several variants which will all be launched in the U.S. The first version is identified by the model number SM-J337T: it seems to be the variant offered by T-Mobile as the J3 (2017) launched by this carrier had the model number SM-J327T.

T-Mobile is said to launch this handset under the name Samsung Galaxy J3 Prime 2. Then, Wi-Fi Alliance also showed the alleged AT&T version, which is rumored to be called Galaxy Express Prime 3. It goes by the model number SM-J337A. At last, there are two variants which should be offered by Cricket with the model numbers SM-J336AZ and SM-J337AZ.

These versions may be called Galaxy Sol 3 and Galaxy Amp Prime 3. We also expect to see a version by Sprint with the name Galaxy J3 Emerge 2. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi Alliance did not list any of the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) specifications. But the handset has already been spotted on benchmarks with Android 8.0 Oreo. According to benchmarks, it sports an Exynos 7570 processor with a frequency of 1.43 GHz and 2 GB of RAM.

(Via)

Galaxy Note 9 Launch Could be Set in Early August

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Mar 22, 2018

The N960FXXE0ARB7 and N960FXXU0ARC5 firmware builds of the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 9 have started circulating around two weeks earlier than the firmware for its predecessor. Hence, the rumor mill is speculating that the Galaxy Note 9 may debut earlier this year.

Compared to the predecessor Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ were launched much earlier this year. Now that the firmware files of the Galaxy Note 9 have already surfaced, it is being speculated that Samsung’s next-generation phablet may get unveiled at the beginning of August.

Codenamed as Crown, the Galaxy Note 9 is expected to arrive with Infinity Display 2.0 that is available on the Galaxy S9 duo. Like the predecessor, it may feature the same-sized 6.3-inch S-AMOLED screen with 18.5:9 aspect ratio. It is expected to be available in Exynos 9810 and Snapdragon 845 chipset variants.

Like the Note 8, its successor is expected to arrive with 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB storage choices. Recent reports have claimed that the Note 9 won’t be featuring an in-screen fingerprint scanner. It may arrive with a significantly improved dual camera setup than the Note 8.

(source)

iPhone X Successor Will Be The Cheapest, To Launch Alongside A 6.45” OLED & 6.1” LCD Versions

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 22, 2018

Apple is expected to launch three new iPhones this year. One of them is the successor to the iPhone X and may actually be the cheapest of all three.

An analyst at Digitimes, Luke Lin, who has insider information from Apple’s supply chain has a rough idea of what to expect. According to him, the manufacturing bill of materials for the iPhone X’s successor is 10% lesser than the $412.75 of the current model.

Since it will keep the OLED display, work on the reported 5.85-inch LCD version is said to have been suspended since last month and may eventually be cancelled. However, another iPhone that will launch alongside the iPhone X successor will also come with an OLED display, but much bigger at 6.45”. There will also be a 6.1” LCD model.

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Nubia’s Ni Fei Hints Its Gaming Phone Will Be Launched in China & Europe Simultaneously

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 22, 2018

ZTE’s Nubia today held a conference in Beijing where the full-screen Nubia V18 was launched. During the event, Nubia CEO Ni Fei revealed the logic behind the naming of the V-series. He hinted that the series is targeted at young users and the main driving force is the pricing. Subsequent V-series models will be named in the format of V+year. Thus, next year’s model will be V19.

Ni Fei also spoke on the Nubia gaming phone which is expected to hit the market in April. The CEO disclosed that the smartphone will be launched simultaneously in China and Europe. Nubia hopes to use the smartphone to enhance its international presence and after that, the company will also target the India market.

Nubia first showcased the gaming phone at the Mobile World Congress (2018) in Barcelona. The company revealed the prototype of the device but did not give details of its design and specs. However, since it is a gaming phone, we expect the device to come with a powerful hardware configuration. The design is said to include cool lighting effects with a super run-class design. The device is also expected to come with four cooling fans to provide some level of cooling. The design will also include some cooling features such as air cooling, near black body, carbon nano-material and a three-dimensional wind tunnel section structure. The Nubia gaming phone is expected to come with a Snapdragon 845 chipset backed by 8GB of RAM. This is just enough to ensure heavy games can be installed on the device.

(source)

Huawei P20 Dummy Unit Appears Alongside the P20 Lite

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Mar 22, 2018

Huawei has recently launched the P20 Lite smartphone in Europe. The Chinese manufacturer will be launching the P20 and P20 Pro on the coming Tuesday in Paris. Leaked renders of both phones have appeared through multiple sources in the recent weeks. Today, a new leaked image has surfaced that shows a dummy unit of the Huawei P20 sitting besides the real P20 Lite.

Compared to the real P20 Lite, the dummy unit of P20 shows that both the smartphones have similar design. However, the P20 will be sporting slimmer bezels than the mid-range P20 Lite. The P20 has a fingerprint scanner physical home button below the display.

The rear view of the P20 shows that it features dual rear cameras. Leaked information has revealed that it will include a 12-megapixel sensor and a 20-megapixel sensor. One of them is expected to have an aperture of f/1.7. The frontside of the phone is likely to feature a 24-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. It could be the very same Sony IMX578 sensor that is available on the P20 Lite.

The Huawei P20 is expected to arrive with a 5.7-inch notched enabled IPS LCD display that will carry support for Full HD+ resolution of 2240 x 1080 pixels. The Kirin 970 chipset is going to power the P20. It will be fueled by 3,400mAh battery. The 64 GB and 128 GB storage variants of the phone may respectively feature 4 GB and 6 GB of RAM. However, some of the markets are going to receive only of the storage editions of the Huawei P20. It will arrive preinstalled with Android 8.0 Oreo that will be customized with EMUI 8.0. The Euroland is expected to receive the P20 with a pricing of 679 euros.

The Huawei P20 Pro is expected to arrive with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and a notched OLED display of 6 inches that carries support for FHD+ resolution. The rear side of the phone may feature 40-megapixel RGB + 20-megapixel monochrome + 8-megapixel telephoto triple camera setup. It may come packed with a 4,000mAh battery. The rest of the specs of the P20 Pro could be same as P20. It is likely to cost 899 euros.

(source)

Best Buy Will No Longer Sell Huawei Smartphones In The US – Report

By

Jeet

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Mar 22, 2018

In a major blow to the aspirations of Chinese giant Huawei to sell its smartphones in the United States, the country’s largest online consumer electronics retailer has ceased ordering new smartphones from Huawei and will no longer sell its phones and other devices.

The decision to end the relationship was taken by Best Buy. In a media response, Best Buy spokesperson said, “We don’t comment on specific contracts with vendors, and we make decisions to change what we sell for a variety of reasons.”

The decision comes amid heightened scrutiny on Chinese technology firms in the United States over concerns about security. Earlier, US-based network carrier providers, including AT&T, backed out of a deal to sell Huawei’s smartphones in the country, including the Mate 10 Pro. AT&T reportedly canceled the deal due to the US government concerns over Huawei’s links to the Chinese government.

The development comes at a delicate time for US-China relations where US government officials continue to express concern that Chinese electronics makers such as Huawei and ZTE pose a national security risk to the United States.

Huawei spokesman said, “Our products and solutions are used by major carriers, Fortune 500 companies and hundreds of millions of consumers in more than 170 countries around the world. We have earned the trust of our partners across the global value chain.”

This move by Best Buy is a major blow to Huawei, which is currently the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor behind Samsung and Apple. The company has struggled to establish its presence in the United States as the company’s Android-powered phones aren’t sold by any US carriers, where a majority of Americans typically buy their phones. And now, one of its biggest retail partners, from where users were able to purchase its unlocked smartphones, will no longer sell Huawei devices.

Since Huawei’s plan to expand its operations in the United States is not going as planned, the China-based company is now looking to strengthen its position in the UK market. In line with this, Huawei recently announced that it will further invest around £3 billion (~$4.2 billion) on UK prospects, bringing the total investment amount promised by the company adds up to £9.3 billion (~$13 billion) in the region.

(Source)

OnePlus 6 Renders with Realistic Design Appear; Could This be the Design of Most Expensive OnePlus Flagship?

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Mar 22, 2018

At the beginning of this year, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau had confirmed that the OnePlus 6 will be debuting at the end of Q2. Since then couple of evidences have appeared in the recent past to reveal that the OP6 would be arriving with a notched display. New renders created on the basis of the rumors surrounding the upcoming OnePlus flagship have surfaced to reveal its entire design.

The video begins by showing the red, violet and black variants of the OnePlus 6. It claims that the OP6 would be arriving with an aluminum body and it will be housing a 6.28-inch Optic AMOLED display enabled with a notch. The recently launched OPPO R15 and R15 Dream Mirror Edition are also equipped with the same-sized notched display.

The OnePlus 6 renders video states that the screen of the phone supports FHD+ resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels and it also includes support for DCI-P3 color gamut. It will be preloaded with Android 8.1 Oreo that is flavored with OxygenOS 6. The Snapdragon 845 chipset will be powering the OnePlus 6. Its 64 GB and 128 GB storage variants may feature 8 GB of RAM.

The other features of the OP6 that can be seen in the video include 16-megapixel dual rear cameras, 16-megapixel front-facing camera, in-screen fingerprint scanner, USB-C, 3.5mm audio jack and 3,400mAh battery with 5V/4A Dash Charge support.

Apart from the above specs, the rumor mill has also speculated that the OnePlus 6 may carry support 3D facial recognition, but it won’t be as sophisticated as Face ID on iPhone X. It is also expected to carry support for super-fast LTE gigabit connectivity. The highest configuration model of OP6 that is rumored to include 8 GB of RAM and a native storage of 256 GB could be the most expensive OnePlus model as it is expected to be priced at $749.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwI28_IxKX4

What’s your opinion on the new renders of OnePlus 6? Do you think that the real OP6 will be end up looking like the above renders? Share us your views by posting your comments below.

(source)

Vivo V9 Official: Packs 24MP Selfie Camera, Notched Display & Snapdragon 626 SoC

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 22, 2018

For the second time this week, Vivo is announcing a new phone. On Monday, it announced the Vivo X21 flagship and today it has unveiled the slightly less powerful Vivo V9.

The Vivo V9 shares a number of features with the more expensive X21 in terms of design. It has a notched display though a tiny bit bigger. It also has dual rear cameras arranged vertically. However, it skips the glass back for metal.

Vivo V9 Specs

The Vivo V9 has a 6.3” FHD+ display but it is not OLED like the X21. There is a notch at the top that houses a 24MP selfie camera, the earpiece and sensors.

Vivo knows you are tired of the Snapdragon 625 processor so it swaps it for a……….Snapdragon 626. The difference is the SD626 has a higher clock speed (2.2GHz) and comes with TruSignal® Antenna Boost.

There is 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage which is expandable via a MicroSD card slot. A 3260mAh battery powers it and can be recharged via a Micro-USB port.

The highlight of the Vivo V9 is its 24MP f/2.0 selfie camera. Bundled with AI Face Beauty that can guess your age, sex, skin tone, and lighting condition when you want to take a selfie. A combination of AI algorithms and features like Natural Light, Studio Light, and Monochrome background helps you take better pictures.

Vivo has also added face unlock, though it calls it AI Face Access for unlocking the phone if you don’t want to use the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. A 16MP + 5MP dual combo sits on the rear of the device.

The Vivo V9 runs Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box.

Vivo V9 Price and Availability

The Vivo V9 doesn’t have a price tag yet. It will be available in the Philippines today, India tomorrow, and should make it to other countries where the V-series is sold, such as Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Vietnam. It will come in Gold and Black.

Continue

The Nubia V18 Is A Better Looking Nubia N3 With A Smaller Battery

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 22, 2018

ZTE’s sub-brand, Nubia, has taken the wraps off its latest phone – the Nubia V18. Juts a few weeks ago, it released the Nubia N3, a mid-range phone with a 5000mAh battery. The new V18 can be summarized as a better-looking Nubia N3 with a smaller battery and cheaper price tag.

Nubia V18 Design

The Nubia V18 has a metal back with a U-design antenna line. While it does look like it sports dual rear cameras, it is actually a single sensor. The signature red accent is also present and there is a rear mounted fingerprint scanner.

The front has reduced top and bottom bezels and those on the sides are quite thin. The phone comes in Stone Black, Space Gold, and Nebula red.

Nubia V18 Specs

The Nubia V18 has a 6.01” FHD+ display and an 86.25% screen-to-body ratio. Thankfully, it doesn’t have a notch, so the aspect ratio remains 18:9. Nubia has settled for the Snapdragon 625 processor just like in the recently announced N3. There is also 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage (128GB max.).

A 13MP f/2.2 sensor with PDAF is the main camera on the device and an 8MP f/2.0 80° wide-angle sensor is in front for selfies. There are up to ten different selfie beauty enhancements in addition to NeoVision 7.0 which brings some extra modes.

Nubia has also “sprinkled some AI” on the V18. Who doesn’t today? So there is an assistant that should help set reminders, take notes, and the likes, and AI algorithms for taking better pictures.

The 5,000mAh battery from the N3 has been cut down to 4,000mAh which should last up to 2 days according to the manufacturer. You can also use the phone to charge other devices and there is NeoPower 3.0 for fast charging and battery management. The Nubia V18 runs Nubia UI 5.1 based on Android 7.1 Nougat. It is said to be specially customized for the phone.

The phone has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner but Nubia says an update will bring Face Unlock to the device. There is a Micro-USB port at the bottom and a 3.5mm audio jack at the top. It also has a dedicated mute button on the left.

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Samsung’s New 10nm Exynos 9610 SoC Comes With Deep Learning Face Detection

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 22, 2018

Samsung has just announced a new Exynos 7 Octa series processor, the Exynos 9610. The new SoC brings deep learning based multimedia features including advanced image processing as well as 480fps slo-mo video recording on premium smartphones.

The Exynos 9610 features 4 x Cortex A73 cores clocked at 2.3GHz and 4 x Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.6GHz in big.LITTLE architecture. For GPU, you get the second-generation Bifrost-based ARM Mali-G72. The chip boasts of a new neural network engine that works with vision and image processing for enhanced face detection. The advanced face detection feature can recognise a person even when his or her face is not directly facing the camera or is partially covered by things like a hat. Further, thanks to its smart depth sensing, it supports single camera bokeh shots. The chip also comes with a low power sensor hub based on Cortex M4F for features that require always on sensing such as gesture recognition.

Another highlight of the new Exynos 9610 is its support for 480fps FHD slo-mo videos. Thanks to its ISP that’s 1.6x faster and 2x faster MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) which connects to the image sensor, the chip can encode slo-mo videos even on a two stack image sensor. Other important features include Cat. 12 3x CA with up to 600Mbps downlink and 150Mbps uplink, Bluetooth 5.0, 802.11 ac 2×2 MIMO Wi-Fi support, and a 4-node GNSS receiver.

Meizu M6s Cobalt Blue — Meizu M6S With Exynos 7872 Inside

Samsung says that it’ll mass produce the Exynos 9610 in the second half of 2018. Companies like Meizu could be one of the customers looking to get hold of this chipset for its premium smartphone lineup. Meizu already unveiled an Exynos powered mid-ranger earlier this year (the Meizu M6S), so it won’t be surprising to see this chip end up on a Meizu flagship later this year.

(Source)

Lenovo S5 Hands On Photos: Cool Design, Cheap Pricing But SoC Disappoints

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 22, 2018

Lenovo finally took the wraps off the much-anticipated Lenovo S5 in China a few days back. The S5 was touted to be a Redmi Note 5 killer when it is launched but we can comfortably say that wouldn’t be the case. The device comes with a sleek design and that is why we took time out to bring you these hands-on photos of the sleek device. Apart from that, the device doesn’t really tick much of the boxes in terms of its specs.

The Lenovo S5 is powered by the now too common Snapdragon 625 chipset which should be Qualcomm’s most-used mid-range chipset by now. We expected a newer SoC onboard the device but that didn’t happen. The device also comes with an ample 3GB RAM and 4GB RAM on some models. There are also 32GB, 64GB and 128GB storage variants. While the smartphone gets its juice from a 3000mAH battery as against 4,000mAh battery crammed inside the Redmi Note 5.

Design wise, the Lenovo S5 features an all-metal body that is made out of series 6000 aluminium. The handset sports a smooth appeal since the metallic body is created by through 7 CNC processes, nano-injection moulding followed by grinding, sandblasting, diamond trimming and anodizing. The device also sports a 5.7-inch IPS LCD display arranged in an 18:9 aspect ratio and packing an FHD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080p.

At the back, there is a horizontally aligned dual camera setup similar to the Xiaomi Mi A1’s setup but in this case, it is a 13MP + 13MP combo. The rear camera setup also includes an LED flash. While at the front, the sensor is a 16MP sensor enhanced for good selfie captures. The S5 also packs a fingerprint sensor at the back. Other features onbaord the S5 includes Lenovo’s ZUI 4.0 OS based on Android Oreo enabled for U-touch screen gestures and a USB Type-C port for charging and datat transfer.

In addition to the Black colour variant on display here, the Lenovo S5 also comes in a cool Red variant. The device will go on sale on March 23 but reservation is already on. As for the prices, the 3 GB RAM + 32 GB storage model of the Lenovo S5 is priced at 999 Yuan (~$157). The 3 GB RAM + 64 GB storage variant costs 1,199 Yuan (~$189). The highest configuration model featuring 4 GB RAM + 128 GB storage carries a pricing of 1,499 Yuan (~$236).

(source)

ZTE Axon M9 Flagship Arriving in September to Regain ZTE’s Popularity in China

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Mar 22, 2018

ZTE Corporation held a press conference in Beijing, China earlier today to announce the establishment of a new subsidiary called ZTE Intelligent Terminal Co. Ltd (also known as ZTE Terminal China) to carry independent operations in its home country. Cheng Lixin, who is the Senior VP of ZTE Corporation and CEO of ZTE Mobile Devices, will be serving as the chairman of the ZTE Terminal China while Bai Boren will be its president. At the press conference, he also revealed that the Axon M9 is the next flagship phone from the company.

The year 2018 marks the 20^th anniversary of ZTE Mobile. The popularity of the brand has declined in the Chinese market in the recent years. Last year, the company had ranked eighth in the global smartphone market. According to Lixin, the major reason for this decline is its lack of focus on the Chinese market. Earlier, the ZTE was shipping more devices in China than overseas market, but its sales began to decline as the competition increased.

Moreover, the smartphone market in China encountered a year-on-year decline of 0.4 percent in 2017. GfK market research firm had previously forecasted that the China’s mobile phone market in 2018 will achieve annual retail sales of 449 million units — a 4 percent year-on year decline. It is speculated that the Chinese smartphone market may further decline in the next two years. However, ZTE is seeing this as an opportunity to grow in the home market.

According to Boren, after establishing the ZTE Terminal China, the parent company will make more investments in its Chinese wing. ZTE will be providing it with products, channels, brands, talents and all kinds of support to expand and promote ZTE mobile phone brand in China. Lixin has done a lot of research and met with many industry experts to completely understand the domestic phone market. He aims to make ZTE a mainstream brand in the domestic market within three years. He added that the ZTE Terminal China will have no direct relationship with Nubia as it will be functioning independently.

Lixin also confirmed that the ZTE Terminal China will be launching the Axon M9 flagship phone in September this year. The handset will be aimed towards the high-end market. However, he did not reveal any information on the specifications of the Axon M9 flagship.

Given the M series branding and launch timing, the M9 could be the successor of the Axon M foldable smartphone. Or it could be an entirely new model. It seems that starting with Axon M9, ZTE Terminal China would be working on regaining the popularity of the brand in domestic market.

(Source)

Xiaomi’s Official Video Teases the Mi Mix 2S AI Face Unlock Feature – Smart Unlock!

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 22, 2018

In addition to the Pacific Rim-themed teaser which showcased the front view of the Mi Mix 2, Xiaomi also released a second video teaser projecting the capabilities of the AI face unlock the device will feature. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is turning out to be an important feature of smartphones ranging from flagships to mid-range phones. In this case, the Mix 2s will come with Face Unlock powered by artificial intelligence. Wondering how that works? Then take a look at the video.

The video suggests the Mi Mix 2s’ face unlock would be smart enough to recognize the facial contours only, regardless of hairstyle or beard the user carries at any point in time. The Face Unlock will also not be affected if the subject puts on a hat, wig or eyeglasses. Also, ageing shouldn’t affect it.

That is not to say the Face Unlock will be the only security lock feature onboard the Mix 2s. Of course, it can still fail but with AI capabilities, the failure rate would likely be highly reduced. Nevertheless, the Mi Mix 2s is also expected to pack a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor alongside other traditional unlocking methods like use of pin code and patterns.

(source)