Moto G6, G6 Plus, G6 Play Codenames Leaked

By

-

Feb 21, 2018

Lenovo-owned Motorola is expected to soon announce the Moto G6, Moto G6 Plus and Moto G6 Play. The rumor mill has already revealed plenty of information on the specs of these phones. Leaked renders of the Moto G6 family members have also surfaced in the recent past. Today, well-known leakster Evan Blass has revealed the codenames of the Moto G6 series phones.

According to Blass, the Moto G6, G6 Plus and G6 Play are respectively codenamed as Blaine, Teller and Ashley. Just as the Moto G5 and G5 Plus phones were unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February last year, it is speculated that the Moto G6 series may get announced at MWC 2018 in the next week. As of this writing, Motorola is yet to confirm on the launch event for the Moto G6 series phones.

Leaked information has revealed that the Moto G6 will be featuring a 5.93-inch display that will supporting FHD+ resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. The Snapdragon 450 chipset may power the phone. The 32 GB and 64 GB models of the phone may feature 3 GB and 4 GB of RAM. It is expected to feature a 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual camera setup and a front-facing camera of 16-megapixel. It is likely to feature a 3,000mAh battery and a rear-mounted fingerprint reader. It is pegged to cost R. 15,000 (~$231). It may be available in colors like Rose Gold, Black and Silver.

The advanced Moto G6 Plus is also rumored to house an 18:9 aspect ratio supporting FHD+ display of 5.93 inches. The Snapdragon 630 chipset may power the handset. It may arrive in RAM variants like 3 GB, 4 GB and 6 GB and storage options like 32 GB and 64 GB. It is expected to feature 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual camera setup and aa selfie snapper of 16-megapixel. It could be equipped with 3,200mAh battery and front-mounted fingerprint scanner. It is expected to hit the market with a pricing of Rs. 17,000 (~$262). Dark Teal, Black and Silver could be its color variants.

The Moto G6 Play is expected to arrive as an entry-level model featuring 5.7-inch 16:9 aspect ratio screen, Snapdragon 430 chipset, 3 GB of RAM, front-mounted fingerprint scanner and 4,000 mAh battery. It may cost around Rs. 12,000 (~185). The G6 Play may arrive in color options Dark Charcoal, Deep Blue and Gold.

(source)

ZTE Blade X2 Max Image Leaked, Pegged to Launch Soon

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Feb 21, 2018

ZTE Blade V9 is rumored to get unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in the coming week. Apart from the Blade V9, the U.S. also receive another new phone from the company – the Blade X2 Max. A leaked image of the phone has been revealed by Android Authority. It claims that the image has been provided to it through a reliable source. The handset is speculated to launch in late spring this year.

The Blade X2 Max will be arriving to replace the Blade X Max smartphone from last year. The original phone was launched in May 2017 through Cricket Wireless in the U.S. The same carrier is rumored to sell the Blade X2 Max in the country. Since it is speculated to debut in late spring, it is likely that it may start selling in May this year.

The original Blade X Max came with specs like 6-inch Full HD display. It was powered by Snapdragon 435 chipset and 2 GB of RAM. Its other specs include support for microSD card, 32 GB inbuilt storage, 13-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front-facing camera and 3,400mAh battery. It was launched with a pricing of $149 through Cricket Wireless.

There is no information available on the specs of the Blade X2 Max, but it is likely to feature a 6-inch Full HD display. The image of the phone suggests that it will be arriving with a traditional 16:9 aspect ratio display. The Snapdragon 450 chipset may fuel the smartphone. Its SoC may be accompanied by 2 GB or 3 GB of RAM. It may come with at least 32 GB of native storage. It is likely to house a larger battery and also feature a USB-C port.

Since the handset does not seem to have a front-mounted fingerprint scanner, it appears that the biometric recognition feature could be placed on its rear. The handset may come preinstalled with Android 8.0 Oreo. It is likely to be priced around $150 to $200 in the U.S.

(source)

Meizu X2 With Snapdragon 845 Launching in 2018 End for 2,999 Yuan (~$473), Confirms Meizu VP

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Feb 21, 2018

Meizu had launched the Meizu X powered by Helio P20 chipset in November 2016. However, the company did not launch the Meizu X2 as a successor phone for it in 2017. Today, Meizu VP Li Nan finally gave out some vital information about the arrival time, specs and pricing of the phone.

The Meizu X had arrived in 2016 with a premium appeal as it featured 2.5 curved glass flanked with double ceramic crystal coating. It also featured impressive specs. Hence, Meizu fans were earnestly waiting for the launch of Meizu X2. Today, Li Nan confirmed that the arrival of the Meizu X2 was delayed and the company is now aiming to launch it at the end of this year.

Li Nan had previously claimed the second-generation Meizu X won’t be a mid-range phone, but it will be packed with flagship specs. Today, he has revealed that the Snapdragon 845 chipset will be powering the Meizu X2 and it will be arriving with a price tag of 2,999 Yuan (~$473).

Meizu has recently launched the Meizu M6S with full screen design. Recent reports have revealed that the upcoming Meizu phones like Meizu E3, Meizu 15, Meizu 15 Lite and Meizu Plus will be also sporting a full screen design. Hence, the Meizu X2 is also pegged to feature an 18:9 aspect ratio display. Early rumors had claimed that the rear panel of the phone may feature a round-shaped secondary display.

He added that the company will be launching Meizu E3 to fill in the void by arriving with high-end specs and affordable pricing. The Meizu E3 is slated to get announced on March 6. It is rumored to be as powerful as Snapdragon 660 powered Smartisan Nuts Pro 2. Rumors have it the forthcoming MediaTek Helio P70 chipset may power the E3 smartphone.

(via)

Buy Ulefone Power 3S Smartphone For Only $169.99 On Banggood

By

Vinay Patel

-

Feb 21, 2018

Ulefone Power 3S Android 4G smartphone was launched in January 2018. As expected, the phone’s awe-inspiring specs and features propelled it to enormous popularity among smartphone lovers.

Despite reaping noteworthy fame, the Power 3S failed to sweep budget-conscious buyers who weren’t willing to spend a lot of money to get their hands on the well-received smartphone. But that’s about to change.

If you’ve been restlessly waiting to buy the Power 3S without burning a hole in your pocket, we have good news for you. Let’s check out the details.

Banggood is offering a massive 21% discount on Ulefone Power 3S smartphone’s original asking price of $215.41. You can now preorder the coveted Power 3S smartphone by shelling out just $169.99. The discount is valid for gold and black color versions of the phone.

In terms of specifications, Ulefone Power 3S offers 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable memory. Under the hood, the device packs a powerful MediaTek MT6763 (Helio P23), 64-bit processor.

On the photography front, it sports a 16 Megapixels + 5 Megapixels dual camera setup at the back and 13 Megapixel + 5 Megapixels dual front cameras. The Power 3S comes with a 6.0 inches IPS, FHD+ display with a screen resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels.

You can head straight to this link to take advantage of the promotion sale before it comes to an end on February 26. It is also worth noting that there were only 54 pieces left at the time of writing.

Banggood Is Offering 21% Off On Ulefone Power 3S Smartphone

Meizu E3 Will be As Powerful as Smartisan Nuts Pro 2, Claims Meizu VP Li Nan

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Feb 21, 2018

Earlier this month, a Meizu phone with model number M851Q was spotted at TENAA. It could be the Meizu E3 smartphone that is slated to debut on March 6. Today, Meizu VP Li Nan has said that the Meizu E series will be as powerful as Smartisan Nuts Pro series. Recent leaks have suggested that it will be powerful enough to support high-end gaming.

Now that Meizu VP has given out some more information on the Meizu E3, it appears that the smartphone will be featuring high-end specs like the Smartisan Nuts Pro 2. The TENAA listing of Meizu E3 has revealed that it would be featuring a 5.99-inch FHD+ display. It will be fueled by an octa-core processor that works at 1.8 GHz.

The Smartisan Nuts Pro 2 is powered by Snapdragon 660 which is the next best chipset after the Snapdragon 835. The SD660 chipset will be succeeded by Snapdragon 670, but Qualcomm has not officially announced it yet. Recent reports have revealed that the MediaTek Helio P70 will be announced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018. The Helio P70 was recently spotted on AnTuTu with performance that could easily rival with the upcoming SD 670. Hence, the Meizu E3 may feature the Helio P70 chipset.

The Meizu E3 is expected to arrive in RAM variants like 4 GB and 6 GB and it will be also available in storage choices like 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB. The dual camera setup residing on the back phone features a 12-megpaiel sensor and a 20-megapixel sensor. It has a selfie camera of 8-megapixel and it is powered by 3,330mAh battery.

The images of the Meizu E3 that were revealed through its TENAA listing show that it has a design that is quite similar to the Meizu 6S that was officially launched recently as its first full screen design smartphone. The Meizu E3 features an 18:9 aspect ratio supporting display. It is packed in a metallic body and the placement of the antenna bands on it rear side is similar to that of Meizu PRO 6.

It features a vertically arranged dual rear cameras and the “mblu by Meizu” branding can be seen on the bottom-right corner of the back panel. It features a side-mounted fingerprint reader. The Super mBack function will be also available on the Meizu E3. The handset is expected to cost around 1,799 Yuan (~$283) and 1,999 Yuan (~$314).

(source)

Samsung Could Launch Its New Social Network ‘Uhssup’ Along With Galaxy S9

By

Jeet

-

Feb 21, 2018

Last month, it was revealed that South Korean giant Samsung had filed for a trademark of a location-based social network platform called ‘Uhssup’. While not a lot of information is available about this service, a new report suggests that it could get launched next week along with Samsung’s Galaxy S9 series.

The report says that Uhssup is location-based social network developed by Samsung which will allow users to share their location in real-time as well as comment on the locations of other users. The service is also expected to offer messaging capabilities.

To get more information about this new social media platform, we’ll have to wait for the company to officially launch it. However, it’s not a long wait as it is reportedly launching at Mobile World Congress 2018. However, the company has not yet said anything regarding the launch of this Uhssup platform.

It will be interesting to see if this new social media platform from Samsung would be enticing enough for users to start using yet another social network on top of multiple other networks that most of them already use.

While the company had registered the name “Uhssup” with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, this new report suggests that the company has also registered both “Uhssup” and “Samsung Social” in the domestic Korean market.

During Mobile World Congress, the South Korea-based Samsung is going to launch its flagship devices — the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. The Samsung’s Galaxy S9 duo would be sporting the Infinity Display and will come equipped with improved innards, stellar cameras, and better audio capabilities.

While the US and China models will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor, other regions will get the Exynos 9810 variant of the phone. The devices will be running on Android Oreo-based Samsung Experience UI 9.0.

Launching on 25th February, the pre-orders for the Galaxy S9 series are expected to start from the same day, with delivery expected to start from 8th March.

(Source)

Sony Xperia XZ2, Xperia XZ2 Compact Pricing, Release Date and Key Specs Leaked

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Feb 21, 2018

Sony is expected to announce the Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact in the next week through its press conference on Feb. 26 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. A Swedish website has revealed information like pricing, release date and key specs of both the smartphones.

According to Swedroid, Xperia XZ2 is packed with a 5.7-inch display that is protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass 5. It produces an aspect ratio of 18:9. It is likely that the handset may support Full HD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels.

The Snapdragon 845 chipset will be powering the phone along with 4 GB of RAM. The Android 8.0 Oreo OS will come pre-installed on the phone and it will be lacking the 3.5mm audio jack. It is rumored to include a native storage of 64 GB. The website claims that the handset would be priced around 799 euros (~$985).

The Xperia XZ2 Compact could be a smaller edition of the Xperia XZ2. It is speculated to arrive with a 5-inch display that will be producing Full HD+ resolution and an aspect ratio of 18:9. Like the XZ2, it won’t be featuring a 3.5mm audio jack. It is expected to arrive preloaded with Android 8.0 Oreo. It is also rumored to feature Snapdragon 845 and 4 GB of RAM. It may debut with a price tag of 599 euros (~$738).

The Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact are rumored to hit the shelves on March 6 after getting showcased at MWC 2018. Previous leaks have revealed that the Xperia XZ2 Pro premium flagship phone with 4K OLED display may also get announced at MWC 2018. However, it is likely to arrive in the market by June this year with a pricing of around 6,000 Yuan (~$945).

(source|via)

Xiaomi’s Upcoming Gaming Smartphone ‘Blackshark’ Spotted On AnTuTu, Reveals Key Specs

By

Jeet

-

Feb 21, 2018

A new smartphone packing top-end specifications has surfaced online on benchmarking website AnTuTu. This could be the device from Black Shark Technology Incorporated in which, China-based Xiaomi has invested.

The phone, which is codenamed “Blackshark” features specifications which you would expect from a flagship phone in 2018. The company was established in August 2017 and its Weibo account reveals that it is a mobile phone maker.

The AnTuTu listing reveals that the phone will feature a Full HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio and 2160 x 1080 pixels resolution. Under the hood, it is said to be powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 845 processor along with Adreno 630 GPU and 8GB RAM.

It packs 32GB of internal storage but we expected the device to have a microSD card slot, allowing users to further expand the storage capacity on the phone. We are also expecting either 64GB storage model or 128GB internal storage variant as well.

The device will be running on Android 8.0 (Oreo) operating system out-of-the-box. While there is no more information available at this time regarding the phone’s display, the phone might come with a 120Hz display in order to compete with the Razer Phone that was released last year.

The phone has scored 270680 points in AnTuTu — on-par with the upcoming Nubia NX606J that also shares a similar set of specifications. However, the Nubia’s device has 6GB of RAM while this Blackshark device packs 8GB of RAM. The impressive score of 270,680 is better than the alleged 265,267 score recorded for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S9+.

Earlier reports suggested that Xiaomi has been working on a gaming phone. However, the company has not confirmed if they are working to offer a gaming phone under a sub-brand. It seems that we’ll have to wait to get more information about this phone.

Apart from Xiaomi, Taiwanese manufacturer ASUS is also rumored to be working on a gaming phone that is expected to launch later this year. It would be interesting to see if this becomes a new trend in the industry.

(Source)

Moto G6 Play Geekbench Listing Confirms Snapdragon 430 Chipset

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Feb 20, 2018

There is only little we do not know about the Moto G6 series at the moment. 3D renders, official renders, and specs have all been revealed in the last couple of weeks. However, there is still more news. The Moto G6 Play has been seen on Geekbench and it confirms some of the features we already know.

The device was benchmarked earlier today as the motorola moto g(6) play. It runs Android 8.0.0 Oreo, is powered by the msm8937 a.k.a Snapdragon 430, and has 3GB of RAM.

The Snapdragon 430 was announced in 2015 but we are not surprised it is still appearing in phones just like its sibling, the Snapdragon 625. Unlike the newer SD450, its cores are clocked at 1.4GHz and its GPU is the Adreno 505.

Continue

ZTE Blade V9 Seen On Geekbench Ahead of MWC Launch

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Feb 20, 2018

ZTE’s Blade V9 first surfaced online in December 2017. The mid-range phone was seen on the Spanish ZTE website but didn’t officially launch then. It is expected to be unveiled at MWC 2018, but before then, the device has surfaced on Geekbench.

According to the benchmark site, the ZTE Blade V9 is running Android 8.1 Oreo. This means when when it launches it should come with the latest version of Android. It also has 3GB of RAM and is powered by an octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz.

Based on the specs from the early reveal last year, this is the Snapdragon 450 – the current king of the 400 series. The chipset comes with an Adreno 506 GPU and has support for FHD+ displays.

The phone scored 772 points in the single-core test and 3931 in the multi-core test. These are similar to the scores (769 and 3548 respectively) of the Redmi 5, another phone powered by the same chipset.

However, ZTE’s Blade V9 packs a lot more than Xiaomi’s Redmi 5. It has an 18:9 5.7” display too but with a FHD+ resolution unlike the Redmi 5’s HD+. It also has dual rear cameras, a front camera with a higher pixel count, and runs a newer version of Android.

Continue

Spotify Reportedly Working On A Smart Speaker

By

Michele Ingelido

-

Feb 20, 2018

Spotify is the most famous service for music streaming and one of the biggest databases of music ever seen. According to a new report, the company is planning to expand in the hardware sector as well, to make its customers listen to the music with a better user experience. The following sentence has just been found in a new job listing by the company: “Above all, your work will impact the way the world experiences music”. This job listing lets us think that the company is working to realize connected hardware, and the most reliable hypotheses are suggesting that the first product may be a speaker.

The one from Spotify should not be just a traditional speaker — there are tons of them in the market which are able to play songs from the famous music streaming services. Spotify may be working on a smart speaker which will compete with the likes of Amazon Echo and Google Home. The speaker is expected to be based on artificial intelligence, but at the moment there is not any info about the alleged Spotify’s AI technology. To make a smart speaker, the company has two ways to proceed:

Creating a digital assistant from scratch, which will be able to recognize and elaborate vocal commands by the user.
Use an existing digital assistant like Amazon Alexa found on the Echo speakers, Google Assistant from Android, Siri by Apple or Cortana by Microsoft.

Creating a digital assistant from scratch is not an easy thing, that is why there isn’t many assistants in the hi-tech market. Further, it is very likely that if a Spotify smart speaker is to be released, it will be available only in the U.S initially.

Do you think that Spotify is really working on a smart speaker? If yes, is it working on its own digital assistant?

(Via)

iPhone SE 2 May Launch at WWDC 2018with 4.2-inch Display, Reveals Chinese Publication

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Feb 20, 2018

Rumors have it that Apple will be holding its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) between June 4 and 8 at San Jose, California, U.S. Apart from iOS 12, macOS 10.14, new editions of tvOS and watchOS, Apple is also expected to launch an advanced iPad Pro that will sport a design that is similar to the iPhone X. Rumors also hint that a second-generation iPhone SE may also get unveiled at WWDC 2018. Today, a Chinese publication has revealed some more information about the rumored iPhone SE 2.

The publication claims that iPhone SE 2 will be arriving with a design that is similar to the first-generation model. Hence, it may arrive with a metallic rear and frame and it is likely to feature thick bezels at the top and bottom of the screen. The home button enabled with Touch ID sensor is also rumored to remain intact.

One major change that it will be arriving on the iPhone SE 2 is that it may sport a larger display of 4.2 inches. It may feature the Apple 10 Fusion chipset that powered the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus smartphones from 2016. The SoC may be coupled with 2 GB of RAM. It may arrive in storage models like 32 GB and 128 GB.

The report also claims that the Cupertino company may announce it at the WWDC 2018 event in June. Even though Apple has announced devices like Mac Pro and the current iPad Pro at WWDC, it has not used the platform to launch a new iPhone since a long time. In 2010, the iPhone 4 was unveiled through WWDC event. There is a possibility that the company may announce the iPhone SE 2 through a small launch event in March. The original iPhone SE was announced in March 2016.

Other reports have claimed that the iPhone SE 2 will carry support for wireless charging. Well-known KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had recently claimed that the iPhone SE 2 may arrive with very few changes such as improved processor and lower pricing.

(source)

Older Windows Phone Devices To Stop Receiving Notifications Forever

By

Michele Ingelido

-

Feb 20, 2018

Not only did Microsoft end the support for Windows Phone, the Redmond giant is going to make it literally obsolete. From February 20, the older Windows smartphones will stop receiving notifications and it will not be possible to localize them anymore through the “Find my phone” service. It is worth noting that devices that are going to be affected are not the ones with Windows 10 Mobile or Windows 8.1.

The smartphones affected by the switch-off are the ones which still have Windows Phone 7.5 and 8.0 installed. On these devices, the service Mobile Push Notification will be completely disabled. Fortunately, every device with Windows Phone 7.5 and 8.0 has already been updated to WP 8.1 via OTA, so the number of handsets which still have these versions of the operating system is probably low.

Alongside the notifications, the phones interested will not receive live tile updates anymore. According to Microsoft, after five years, Windows Phone 7.5 and 8.0 have reached the end of their support, so they will be slowly discontinued. If you still have a handset with WP 7.5 or 8.0, it is better for you if you update them to the 8.1, or using them will soon become an issue. Below you can find the official announcement by Microsoft:

On February 20, 2018, Mobile Push Notification services will be turned off for Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Phone 8.0. Once this happens: Your phone will no longer receive notifications. Your phone will not receive additional live tile updates. The “Find my phone” feature will no longer locate your phone. Windows Phone 7.5 and 8.0 have reached their end of support dates, and thus services for these versions of Windows will be discontinued over time.

(Via)

Lei Jun Hints Xiaomi Will Continue To Open More Mi Stores in 2018

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Feb 20, 2018

At the beginning of 2017, Xiaomi had hinted that it planned to open 200 new Mi Stores across China in a bid to boost its offline sales. The Chinese tech giant was able to achieve that and the result was a jump in its sales which enabled the company to rank among the top 5 smartphone makers globally for last year. Despite the number of Mi Stores spread across China, there are still large queues in these stores, especially during festivities.

The Spring Festival saw a large number of fans trouping to Xiaomi’s stores in various cities to make purchases and most times, buyers have to queue outside until it is their turn to go in. Xiaomi CEO, Lei Jun recently shared a story on his Weibo page about seeing a friend who went to the Mi Store in Shenzhen to buy a headset but had to queue to get in. The tech Czar apologized to fans and acknowledged that the Mi Stores are usually busy during Spring Festivals due to the increase in shopping. Aside from apologizing, Lei Jun hinted that his firm will continue to open more Mi Stores in 2018. Interestingly, the Mi Store in question was opened last year in Shenzhen and is Xiaomi’s largest Mi Stores in China.

This statement isn’t coming as much of a surprise, as the tech giant had also disclosed last year that it plans to open 2000 Mi Stores in three years. Half of the Mi Stores were planned to be located overseas and that mission is on course. Xiaomi continues its expansion in India with more partner stores and is set to open its first fully-owned Mi Stores in the country. Xiaomi also very recently opened its first Mi Stores in the Philippines. There are also Mi Stores in Russia, Spain and Italy. Apart from expanding its presence in China, Xiaomi will also look into opening up more stores overseas. So, this is definitely a good news.

(source)

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Android 8.0 Oreo Release Imminent as Proof Appears

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Feb 20, 2018

Samsung had recently released the Android 8.0 Oreo update for Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. However, the South Korean had stop the rollout suddenly as some Galaxy S8/S8+ users encountered unexpected reboots. There is no confirmation on when it will be resuming the release of Oreo update for Galaxy S8 and S8+, but fresh information reveals that the company seems to be preparing the release of the latest Android version for Galaxy Note 8.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 with model number SM-N950F/DS has been spotted at Wi-Fi Alliance with Android 8.0 Oreo. The SM-N950F is the model number of Note 8 that was made available in Europe and Australia and DS is its dual-SIM edition. All the major software updates are required to undergo new Wi-Fi certification before they are officially made available to the end-user. Since Note 8 with Oreo update has received Wi-Fi certification, it appears that the arrival of the new software is close at hand for the phablet.

In the previous month, the beta build of Android 8.0 Oreo update for Note 8 had revealed the list of Galaxy smartphones and tablets that will be treated with Oreo update. As of this writing, there is no official confirmation yet on when Samsung will be releasing Oreo update for Note 8. However, the company could be hoping that the Galaxy Note 8 owners do not encounter the same rebooting issue that some of the S8 and S8+ users have encountered.

On Sunday, the South Korean tech giant will be announcing the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ flagship phones. Both the smartphones will come loaded with Android 8.0 Oreo and Samsung Experience 9.0 UI.

(source|via)

Xiaomi Will Not Increase Pricing of its Smartphones Despite Low Margins, Confirms Xiaomi India MD

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Feb 20, 2018

Xiaomi had recently unveiled the 55-inch Mi TV 4, Redmi Note 5 and RedmI Note 5 Pro smartphones in India with affordable pricing. Even though Xiaomi has been selling its devices in the country at low cost, some rumors have claimed that the company may raise the pricing of its smartphones. The reason behind it is that many smartphone OEMs have upped the cost of their devices in India after the recent increase in the pricing of components imports in the federal budget. Hence, it is speculated that Xiaomi too will increase the cost of its products in India. But Xiaomi’s Global VP and Managing Director for India, Manu Kumar Jain has said that the company will continue to sell low-priced smartphones in India.

According to Economic Times, Jain said that the company is devising a strategy to ensure that increased import duty on components won’t impact the pricing of its phones in India. He added, “We’re working on a plan which will hopefully ensure that we won’t have to raise prices. Of course, we don’t have the margins but we won’t increase prices,” Jain said.

The reason why the Indian government has increased the import duty on components is that it wants to push its Make in India initiative by urging companies such as Xiaomi to make their devices in India. Jain said that the company is exploring options to manufacture Mi TV in India. However, it is only possible after Mi TV 4 units meet certain threshold. He added the company may work with its existing partners in India or may partner with firms like TCL that make TVs in China. The Indian wing of Foxconn is already making 95 percent of Xiaomi phones in India.

(source)

Xiaomi Launches Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus in Spain

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Feb 20, 2018

Xiaomi’s Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus have started arriving in other markets outside China, and first stop is Spain. The launch date correlates with that revealed by Roland Quandt back in January.

Both phones are now listed on the Spanish Xiaomi website.

For the Redmi 5, Xiaomi is offering it in just two variants – 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM and 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM. It appears the 4GB RAM + 32GB ROM variant will remain a China exclusive.

The Redmi 5 is not yet on sale as it is still listed as coming soon but pricing will start at €129 (~¥1009).

Continue

Samsung Planning To Bring The Full-Screen OLED Design To Its Midrange Segment

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Feb 20, 2018

A report emanating from Samsung‘s home turf indicate that the tech giant will bring its flexible OLED display technology utilised on the Infinity Display design which made its debut on the Galaxy S8 last year to the midrange. The move is obviously to increase the revenue generated by Samsung Display.

Samsung has only featured the Infinity display on the Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note 8 and the Galaxy S9 is expected to launch with the same design in a few days time. Since the Galaxy S series are made of flagship models, their prices are not easily affordable by the majority of buyers. The gap has been bridged by many Chinese OEMs who have budget/midrange fullscreen models both in Samsung’s home turf and abroad.

While the news is cheering, it may not be unconnected with the recent cuts by Apple on OLED panel orders for the iPhone X. Apple reduced its orders by half and this is said to have left Samsung Display with a large inventory of full-screen OLED panels. So it sounds logical to suspect the tech giant may have found a way to utilize the panels on its midrange models. Even if we get the Full-screen OLED panels on Samsung’s midrange models, we still won’t get a guarantee of an affordable price tag compared to what the Chineses OEMs can muster. We’ll have to wait and see how this pans out.

(source)

Samsung Unveils A New Version Of “Over the Horizon” Default Ringtone For Galaxy S9

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Feb 20, 2018

Samsung has unveiled the new ringtone for its flagship Galaxy S9 smartphone which is billed to arrive at the end of this week. The ringtone is the “Over the Horizon” tune which has been the default option for Galaxy phones since 2011.

Each year, with each new generation of Galaxy devices, “Over the Horizon” is rearranged to mirror the aesthetic transformation of the devices themselves. Samsung introduced a jazzy and youthful version last year for the Galaxy S8 and now, here is a classical version for the Galaxy S9. The 2018 “Over the Horizon” ringtone is developed by Icelandic composer Petur Jonsson who we can see perform it in the video below. The mellow sound of the piano and the drone images from Icelandic countryside “arouse the purest, fundamental elements of the human sentiment that often remain hidden in our daily lives”.

According to Samsung, listening to the notes of this year’s piece by Jónsson arouses the purest, fundamental elements of the human sentiment that often remain hidden in our daily lives (whatever that means). In this way, the latest version of Samsung’s brand sound has the power to relax the mind and heal the soul, thus resonating with all who hear it, regardless of their age. Anyway, this isn’t usually the case when people hear their phone ringing. However, the ringtone is a perfect fit for the classic, premium design of the Galaxy S9 which we have seen on the several Press renders that have leaked so far.

(source)

Essential Reportedly Shipped Phones With Refurbished Parts

By

Jeet

-

Feb 20, 2018

Last year, Andy Rubin — the father of Android, launched a smartphone company named Essential. Ever since the company launched its first device — Essential PH-1, popularly known as Essential Phone, it has been facing troubles.

In latest development, a new report suggests that Essential has notified Sprint that a small number of units of the Essential Phone are shipped with refurbished parts. According to the source, the affected users will receive notification which will redirect them to the Sprint website for resolution. However, it is not yet clear what the resolution will be.

The report comes from a Reddit user who claims to be working at Sprint. Neither Sprint nor Essential has given any official statement regarding this. At this moment, we couldn’t verify the authenticity of this report.

As the reports says that the affected users will get notifications, it seems that the company is aware which units are affected. The possible solution for this problem could be offering replacement, but there is no such confirmation from the company yet.

According to a report from International Data Corporation (IDC), Essential sold less than 90,000 units units of its PH-1 last year. However, the company seems to be hoping to have better numbers this year and has recently announced three new color variants.

Recent report also suggests that the company could launch the Essential Phone Halo Grey variant in India in April for about Rs. 24,999 ($386), exclusively through Amazon India. The suggested Indian pricing is considerably low given that the phone is currently available in the United States at $449.

The Essential PH-1 features a 5.71-inch IPS LCD display with 1312 x 2560 pixels resolution and comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top. It is powered by a Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 835 processor and 4GB RAM, coupled with 128GB of internal storage.

The phone comes with a 13-megapixel dual rear camera with f/1.9 aperture lens, an LED flash, PDAF (phase detection autofocus) and LDAF. There’s an 8-megapixel front facing camera sensor with f/2.20 fixed hyperfocal lens.

It is running on Android 7.1 Nougat with a planned upgrade to Android 8.1 Oreo operating system. The device, which is IP54 rated for water and dust resistance, packs a fingerprint sensor mounted on the back panel and is powered by a 3,040mAh battery with fast charging support.

(Source)