Alleged Huawei P20 Lite Real Images Leaked Through FCC Listing

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Feb 16, 2018

Recent reports have revealed that the Sony will be announcing the Xperia XZ2 Pro and Xperia XZ2 smartphones at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 later this month. It is also speculated to announce a small-sized Xperia XZ2 Compact smartphone with flagship specs. A new filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S. shows that the company has sought permission to redesign one of its upcoming Android phones.

On Feb. 7, Sony had approached FCC to dismiss its grants for an upcoming device that has an FCC ID of PY7-00718V in order to change its design. However, there is no information available on what sort of design change Sony wants to do on its upcoming phone. The device has already bagged FCC certification, but since it hasn’t been launched yet, the telecom regulatory is likely to fulfil the request of dismissing the grant.

Since the Japanese tech giant has requested FCC quite recently, it seems that it won’t be making any major change to the design as its Feb. 26 launch event is drawing near. However, the change seems to be urgent enough that the company decided to approach FCC for it few weeks before its launch.

Recent reports have revealed that the upcoming Sony flagships won’t be sporting the OmniBalance design that it has been using on its smartphones since 2013. The Xperia XZ2 Pro and Xperia XZ2 are likely speculated to arrive with the trendy full screen design.

(source|via)

Meizu Pro 7 Wins The German iF Design Award 2018 For Its Stunning Design

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Feb 16, 2018

It’s Spring Festival already in China and tech giant Meizu apparently ended the year on a high note. The company has disclosed that its flagship Meizu Pro 7 has won the popular German iF Product Design award for its innovative design. What a marvellous way to usher in the Chinese New year!

The iF Product Design Award was introduced in 1954 and is annually conferred by the iF International Forum Design. The award, which spans multiple disciplines, has more than 5,500 entries from around 59 nations every year. The Pro 7 stood out among the pack of over 6,400 entries submitted by contestants from 54 countries around the world to claim the award in the smartphone design category.

The award really doesn’t come as a surprise because the Pro 7 is known for its spectacular design style which looks absolutely different from Meizu’s past works. The Meizu Pro 7 design was done by Frog design, a multinational design company with its roots being Germany. The design saw the flagship Pro 7 packing a dual-screen setup both at the front and rear aspects. The main display is a 5.2-inch Super AMOLED screen with a FullHD resolution of 1920 x 1080pixels while the Pro 7 Plus packs a 5.7-inch display. The device also comes with a secondary screen at the back which is a 1.9-inch AMOLED display located on the left side of the rear panel and which displays some notifications as well as run a few apps. The Meizu Pro 7 features a MediaTek Helio X30 chip as well as Helio P25 on some models.

Another superb feature is the rear dual camera setup which the device packs and it is fused into the secondary display in a unique manner. In addition, the device runs on the Flyme 6 OS based on Android 7.0 Nougat and is fueled by a 3000mAh battery with mCharge 3.0. The Pro 7 is competitively priced, as it starts at 2880 Yuan (∼$426) for the base variant powered by Helio P25 and 3380 Yuan (∼$500) for the Helio X30 version. These prices have obviously seen some reduction since its first launch. The Pro 7’s special New Year edition which was unveiled in January came in at just 1,999 Yuan (~$312).

The All-New Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Dazzles In Hands On Photos

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Feb 15, 2018

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro still commands lots of attention even after its official launch. That is because of the spectacular full-screen design with a dual rear camera setup the Note 5 Pro packs. We’ve brought you the camera samples of the premium device which showed the presence of a powerful dual camera setup that is capable of capturing stunning shots with vivid clarity. Here are a couple of hands-on photos of the mid-ranger which highlights the beautiful design as well as other features.

The Redmi Note 5 Pro looks very much like the Redmi Note 5 when viewed from the front. It features a similar 5.99-inch FHD+ display packing a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. The display is placed under a layer of 2.5D curved glass to provide some bit of protection and aesthetics.

At the rear, the Redmi Note 5 Pro comes with an aluminium unibody. One unique feature of the device is the dual rear camera arrangement. The Note 5 Pro packs a camera design which is a replica of the iPhone X rear camera. The camera is stacked vertically with the LED flash sitting between both rear shooters. The main camera is a 13MP sensor which teams up with a 5MP depth of field sensor. While at the front, there is a 20MP Sony IMX376 camera sensor as well as a selfie flashlight. The selfie camera comes with an AI-driven Beautify 4.0.

Another beautiful thing about the device is that it comes with a thin build, just 8.05mm and that makes it the thinnest Redmi series smartphone for now. As a result of the high screen-to-body ratio, the device packs a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and lacks a physical home button under the display. There is also the Face ID technology which brings face unlock to the device.

The device will also be hitting the market in colour options like Black, Gold, Rose Gold and Blue. The device is also competitively priced; starting at Rs. 13,999 ($218) for the 4GB + 64GB variant and Rs. 16,999 ($265) for the 6GB RAM variant. The Redmi Note 5 Pro will be available exclusively on Flipkart, Mi.com and Mi Home stores from on February 22. Check out more dazzling hands-on photos of the Redmi Note 5 Pro from below.

(Image source 1, 2)

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 Will Be A 7nm Chipset

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Feb 15, 2018

Qualcomm’s current top chip is the Snapdragon 845 and like the one before it, the Snapdragon 835, it is also built on a 10nm process. While Qualcomm itself hasn’t confirmed if its next flagship chip will be a 7nm chip, a new leak has revealed it will be.

The leak comes as a sort of job description of one of the contractors working on the chipset and it reveals that Qualcomm’s next chip is the Snapdragon 855 which is built on the 7nm process. The leak was shared by Roland Quandt (@rquandt) on Twitter.

Qualcomm won't say it, but their contractors do. Snapdragon 855 (SDM855) is the first 7nm SoC. (probably the one the X24 modem ends up in) pic.twitter.com/Ot1J34fQoG

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) February 15, 2018

Samsung is the one handling production for the Snapdragon 845 but there are rumors that the SDM855 will be manufactured by TSMC.

Essential PH-1 Gets Three New Limited Edition Color Variants

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Feb 15, 2018

A few days ago, Essential announced that it had a launch scheduled for today, February 15. While the teaser image did point to a “new” color variant of the Essential PH-1, Essential has actually announced three new colors for the phone.

The three new colors are Ocean Depths, Stellar Gray, and Copper Black. The first two are actually not new as they were announced back when the phone launched. Essential says all three colors will be limited edition variants.

Surprisingly, Essential is charging an extra $100 for these new color variants, bringing the price to $599 instead of $499. This is unusual as other manufacturers usually keep the price uniform irrespective of color.

In an official blog post, Essential said its engineers spent months designing these custom ceramic colors as it is more difficult to change colors of ceramic compared to other materials like plastic. It also mentioned the difficulty associated with production, hence the reason for it being available in limited quantities.

Xiaomi Set To Storm India With Its Fully-Owned Mi Home Stores This Year

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Feb 15, 2018

Xiaomi has had a highly successful run in India especially last year where it went on to emerge as the number one smartphone brand in the country ahead of Samsung in the third and fourth quarter of the year. The tech giant was able to achieve this feat using online sales via Mi.com, Flipkart and Amazon India together with offline sales using the numerous franchise partner stores it has in various cities of the country. The Chinese company is now reported to be planning to open its own Mi Home stores in various cities which would stock its products exclusively.

Xiaomi presently has 23 Mi Home stores and over 1500 Mi preferred stores across several cities in India but the Mi Home stores are owned by Franchisees and managed by Xiaomi. Prevailing regulations in India had prevented foreign companies from solely owning single-brand retail stores in the country. The regulation allows for 49 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail channels. That law has now been relaxed by the Indian government as from January this year, thus paving the way for OEMs to run fully-owned branded stores.

According to a recent disclosure by Manu Jain, CEO of Xiaomi India, the company is set to catch in on this latest development by establishing self-owned Mi Home retail stores across major cities and towns in India. In a recent interview with Times of India, Mr Jain stated that the move will begin as the year progresses. Good thing is, the company does not need to go through government approvals before doing so. A recent report by IDC estimated that Xiaomi sold more than 2 million units through its offline channels last year. The offline sale is mainly driven by the offline expansion of its Mi stores and preferred retail partners. With this development, Xiaomi can now replicate the success achieved by its Mi Home stores in China and could help it further shore up sales via the offline sales channel. The move will mainly favour other products like the recently launched Mi LED TV 4 Smart TV which ordinarily sells mainly via offline retail stores.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro vs Honor 7X: Close Mid-Range Competitors

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Michele Ingelido

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Feb 15, 2018

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro is finally here, and it represents a big menace to every smartphone manufacturer in the mid-range sector. With its greatly balanced hardware side and its affordable price, it may become the most sold mid-range phone in many regions. In comparison, the Huawei Honor 7X is actually one of the best devices for quality-price ratio, so, considering that the price is also similar, we decided to compare the new Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro vs Honor 7X to establish which one has the best value for money among them.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro vs Honor 7X

	Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro	Huawei Honor 7X
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT	158.6 x 75.4 x 8.1 mm, 181 grams	156.5 x 75.3 x 7.6 mm, 165 grams
DISPLAY	5,99 inches, 1080 x 2160p (Full HD+), 403 ppi, 18:9 ratio, IPS LCD	5.93 inches, 1080 x 2160p (Full HD+), 407 ppi, 18:9 ratio, IPS LCD
PROCESSOR	Qualcomm Snapdragon 636, octa-core 1.8 GHz	HiSilicon Kirin 659, octa-core 2.36 GHz
MEMORY	3 GB RAM, 32 GB – 4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 64 GB, micro SD slot	3 GB RAM, 32 GB – 4 GB RAM, 32 GB – 4 GB RAM, 64 GB, micro SD slot
SOFTWARE	Android 7.1.2 Nougat, MIUI 9	Android 7.0 Nougat, EMUI 5.1
CONNECTIVITY	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS
CAMERA	Dual 12 + 5 MP f/2.2 + f/2.0 20 MP front camera	Dual 16 + 2 MP 8 MP front camera
BATTERY	4000 mAh Fast charging 5V / 2A	3340 mAh
ADDITIONAL FEATURES	Hybrid Dual SIM slot	Hybrid Dual SIM slot

At a first glance, the bigger display of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro is the first noticeable difference between the two handsets. This represents an advantage in case you are looking for larger screen real estate, but it is a disadvantage if you like compact phones. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro has a SoC which we define better than the Kirin 659 on the Honor 7X. We are referring to the Snapdragon 636, even though there aren’t enough tests to establish this superiority. On paper, it seems more powerful and also more power-efficient. There is also a configuration of the Redmi Note 5 Pro with more RAM than its opponent: 6/64 GB.

There shouldn’t be much difference between the dual rear cameras of these handsets. Both are good setups, but these devices are far from the top camera phones. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro will offer a better selfie experience with its 20 MP front snapper paired with a LED flash, and also longer battery life due to its 4000 mAh capacity and the power-efficient Snapdragon 636 SoC. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro has just been announced in India with a price tag of €176/$218 (expect an increase when it will launch in the global market), while Honor 7X can actually be found at about €215/$265. We prefer the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro for its bigger battery and its better hardware side, as well as a great selfie camera.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro vs Honor 7 X: PRO and CONS

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro

PRO

Big display
Huge battery
Nice hardware
Great selfie camera
Affordable price

CONS

Limited availability at the moment

Honor 7X

PRO

Good price
Interesting camera
More compact design
Available globally

CONS

Smaller battery

HTC’s President of Smartphone & Connected Devices Business Resigns, Shake-up?

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Feb 15, 2018

Is HTC presently shaking up its smartphone business division? That is what it looks like as the company has officially announced that Chialin Chang who is the company’s president of smartphone and connected devices business has resigned the position with effect from February 14.This is coming on the heels of the recent loss of its Pixel team to Google in a deal which brought some much-needed revenue to the company.

Chialin Chang used to be the face of the company during smartphone launch as that fell under his purview. He joined the company as CFO back in April 2012 and rose to the position of president of HTC’s smartphone business with his portfolio also extending to the smart connected devices business. The company’s press release didn’t give details of the reason for the sudden resignation but only cited “personal career plan”.

Interesting Topic: Xiaomi’s New Subsidiary Reportedly Working On Gaming Smartphones

There are indications that Mr Chang plans to set up an AI start up later this year. However, we cannot rule out a connection between HTC’s struggling smartphone business and the resignation. HTC has had a dismal performance especially in China where it is struggling to stage a comeback. The latest quarterly results released by HTC shows that the company faced a net loss of $103 million in Q3 2017, which also happened to be its tenth consecutive quarterly loss. So, the resignation could, in fact, be a shakeup that isn’t made to look like one. No word yet on who replaces Mr Chang.

Chinese Phone Manufacturers Grab 53% Indian Smartphone Market In 2017: IDC

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Jeet

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Feb 15, 2018

While the Indian government is trying to help boost local manufacturing, China-based phone manufacturers still continue to thrive in the Indian market. According to the latest report from International Data Corporation (IDC), the collective market share of Chinese manufacturer has reached over 53 percent in India.

The report from IDC suggests that while the Indian smartphone market continued to grow, Chinese device makers also solidified their positions in the smartphone category. According to IDC, Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Honor, Lenovo, OPPO and Vivo acquired a majority stake of 53 percent of the market share in India. In comparison, the share of Chinese manufacturers was 34 percent a year ago.

In a statement, Jaipal Singh, a senior market analyst at IDC India, said:

The untapped demand in the lower-tier cities remains the key attraction for China-based brands to explore the growth trajectory in India. Their strength in their home market of China and weakening position of local players has helped some of these China-based players to solidify their operations in India.

In India, mobile devices from China-based manufacturers have become quite popular, thanks to their value-for-money offerings and top-of-the-line features at an affordable price point. The growth of Chinese brands is a huge threat against local players such as Micromax and Intex, which were ones the leading brands.

However, not evey category is being dominated by Chinese brands. While Xiaomi took a lead over Samsung in the smartphone market, India’s Reliance Jio emerged as the leading feature phone company in India. JioPhone solidified its position in the country, acquiring the highest market share of 24.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017.

During the latest Union Budget announcement, India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hiked customs duties on mobiles phones from 15 percent to 20 percent. With such steps, India is aiming to increase jobs in the mobile phones sector in India. However, several Chinese phone makers have already started local manufacturing.

Essential Rolls Out Android Oreo Beta 8.1, Includes February’s Security Patch, Bug Fix, and New Features

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Feb 15, 2018

Keeping to its promise, Essential has begun rolling out a beta version of Android 8.1 Oreo for the Essential PH-1. Two weeks ago, it had announced that it would skip the Android 8.0 stable update as there are multiple issues with it. These issues are believed to have been fixed in Android 8.1, hence the reason for skipping 8.0.

The Oreo 8.1 beta update brings a number of new features such as dynamic calendar and clock icons. What this means is that the clock and calendar icons will show the time and date as the homescreen or notification bar.

The update also brings a beta fix for the slow-scrolling jitter that plagues the phone. Although Essential already released February’s security patch last week for those on the stable version, the beta update still includes it.

Renders Of LeEco Full-Screen Model With Quad Cameras Dubbed Le X Leaked

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Feb 15, 2018

LeEco has been on the downward spiral for the past few years after its botched mission to enter the U.S and investment in Faraday Future. Since the financial crisis, LeEco has only released the Le Pro 3 AI edition which was unveiled in the second quarter of last year. Such was the hunger for a new model by fans that the presale hit 4.8 million in just 24 hours back then. LeEco models still sell like hot cake especially as they are offered at rock-bottom prices. Now, it seems LeEco is planning to release a new model which would adopt a full-screen 18:9 design.

The renders of the LeEco full-screen model was recently spotted on Weibo with a full-screen design and it is said to go by the name Le X. Apart from utilizing a full-screen design with an 18:9 aspect ratio, the device also comes with curved edges at the front and back. The screen to body ratio is also very high.

Another notable feature of the model is the quad camera setup it seems to have. The LeEco Le X render shows a dual camera at the front and a similar dual camera setup at the rear. The rear cameras are stacked in a vertical direction with the LED flash sitting at the side. We can’t verify the authenticity of these renders neither is the Le X’s specification known as of this moment. It sure looks like a device worth looking out for. We’ll be on the lookout for more details on this.

Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+ Android 8.0 Oreo Update Abruptly Halted

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Feb 15, 2018

The Android 8.0 Oreo beta program was made available for Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ in November 2017. It took over three months for the South Korean company to rollout the stable edition of Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy S8 duo. However, the firm has abruptly halted the Oreo update for S8 and S8+ within a week of making it available.

Samsung’s servers had contained G950-FXXU1CRAP and G955-FXXU1CRAP Android 8.0 Oreo firmware files respectively for S8 and S8+ phones. However, these files are no longer available for download. As of this writing, there is no official announcement on why it decided to halt the Oreo update for S8 and S8+.

The aforementioned Oreo build was made available for users of Galaxy S8 duo in countries like Belgium, France, Germany, India, Norway, Poland, Turkey and the UAE who did not enroll in the beta testing of Android 8.0. The owners of Galaxy S8 and S8+ in Netherlands are slated to get the Oreo update in the coming week. As of this writing, there is no confirmation whether Samsung will be delaying it.

It is speculated that the South Korean company is preparing a new edition of Android 8.0 Oreo update for Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. However, there is no timeframe available on the arrival of the new update.

Those who have already installed the update can continue to user their devices as Samsung has not released any official statement on whether the current build contains any bugs. The Android 8.0 Oreo update that was released for Galaxy S8 and S8+ in the previous week had also brought along Samsung Experience 8.0 UI.

Leaked information has revealed that the South Korean company will be releasing Android 8.0 Oreo to wide range of devices such as Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy W2018, Galaxy S8 Active, Galaxy S7. Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy A8 (2018), Galaxy A8+ (2018), Galaxy A3 (2017), Galaxy A5 (2017), Galaxy A7 (2017), Galaxy A8 (2016), Galaxy J7 (2017), Galaxy J7 Prime (2017), Galaxy J7+ (2017), Galaxy J7 Duos (2017), Galaxy J7 Max (2017), Galaxy J7 Neo (2017), Galaxy J5 (2017) and Galaxy J3 (2017). The upcoming Galaxy S9 and S9+ are expected to arrive pre-loaded with Android 8.0 Oreo flavored Samsung Experience 9.0.

OnePlus Tried To Troll Xiaomi But It Backfired

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Feb 15, 2018

Last weekend, Xiaomi shot itself in the foot when it ran a poll asking fans to choose between MIUI and Android One. MIUI lost the poll with 43% of the votes while Android One secured 57% of the 14,769 votes. Seeing the results, Xiaomi deleted the poll.

On Monday, a product manager at OnePlus decided to run his own poll by comparing OxygenOS to Pure Android. Initially, OxygenOS was leading the poll which prompted CEO Carl Pei, who was certain they’d win to tweet that the poll shouldn’t be deleted.

In what appears to be a perfect example of not counting your chickens before they are hatched, Pure Android bagged another win at the end of the poll. With a total of 10,349 votes, Pure Android secured 58% of the votes as against OxygenOS’ 42%.

Samsung Smart Glasses Could be in Works

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Feb 15, 2018

Since several years, rumors have been claiming that Samsung is working on smart glasses. In 2014, it had trademarked the “Gear Blink” moniker in South Korea. At that time, it was speculated to debut as a smart contact lens that could be paired with a smartphone. The company has recently trademarked a new logo that seems to belong to its rumored smart glasses.

The logo likes a tilted human eye and it has an interesting description “computerized vision-assisted eyewear consisting of a camera / computer / display for capturing / processing / display an image,” and “computer hardware for analyzing and configuring vision-assisted eyewear.” This seems to be a hint that the arrival of the Samsung Gear Blink could be drawing near. However, since the trademark filing is unnamed, it is difficult to deduce what this product be.

There is a possibility that the above logo may not be related to smart glasses. It may belong to an upcoming product from Samsung’s health equipment business. The Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 tech expo is drawing near. One of the major highlights of the event is the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones. There is no information on whether it will be showcasing the rumored smart glasses at MWC 2018.

(source|via)

Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S Truly Exists! Firmware Files Reveal Key Details Like Sony IMX363, Android Oreo, SD845, 18:9 Display

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Feb 15, 2018

The rumor mill has been talking about the existence of the Mi MIX 2S since the last quarter of 2017. When Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun had claimed at the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2017 in December that the next Xiaomi flagship would be powered by Snapdragon 845, the rumor mill had speculated that he could be talking about the upcoming Mi 7 smartphone. However, recent leaks have revealed that Xiaomi may launch the Mi MIX 2S before the Mi 7 smartphone. Newer reports have stated that the Chinese manufacturer may announce Mi MIX 2S smartphone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 tech expo later this month. According to a fresh report on XDA, firmware files unearthed by a senior member of XDA Developers forum has confirmed that the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S truly exists.

The firmware files contain numerous information of a smartphone that is codenamed as Polaris. Previous leaks have claimed that the Polaris is the codenamed of the upcoming Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S smartphone.

It has been found through the firmware files that the smartphone is fueled by Snapdragon 845 chipset and it is running on Android 8.0 Oreo OS. A good thing about this smartphone it is compatible with Project Treble. The handset is powered by a 3,400mAh battery. There is no information available on the exact size of the screen of the Mi MIX 2S. However, the publication claims that’s display supports 18:9 aspect ratio and FHD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels.

By decompiling MIUI camera app, it has been revealed that the Mi MIX 2S will carry support for scene recognition. Here are the scenes that the camera of the smartphone will be able to identify: doc (document), flower, food, sky, sunrise/sunset, cat, dog, green plants, night, snow, sea, autumn, candlelight, car, grass, maple leaves, succulent, building, city, cloud, overcast and backlight.

Rumors have claimed that Mi MIX 2S will be featuring Sony IMX363 camera sensor. The firmware files do contain some binaries for the sensor. Hence, the smartphone is likely to sport Sony IMX363 sensor. Other features that have been deduced through the firmware files are dual-SIM support, IR blaster and LED for notifications. The publication claims that the firmware is massive, and it is likely to contain more information on the Mi MIX 2S.

Moto Z2 Force Launched in India for Rs. 34,999 with ShatterShield Display, Dual Cameras, MotoMods Support

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Feb 15, 2018

Lenovo-owned Motorola has launched the Motorola Moto Z2 Force smartphone in India. It has arrived in India nearly eight months after its official announcement. Like the predecessor model that was launched in October 2016, it carries support for MotoMods accessories and is packed with flagship specs. It is dubbed as a Limited Edition phone with the bundled battery pack MotoMod.

Moto Z2 Force Specifications and Features

The Moto Z2 Force sports a 7000-series aluminum body that measures 155.8 x 76 x 6.1mm and weighs 143 grams. It has a brushed metal appeal and it comes in single color variant of Super Black. In other markets, it is also available in other colors like Fine Gold and Lunar Grey. It features a redesigned oblong-shaped fingerprint scanner enabled home button. The bottom rear of the back panel features the connector pins for attaching MotoMods accessories.

The ShatterShield display of the Moto Z2 Force mainly comprises of 5.5-inch P-OLED screen that offers Quad HD screen resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The Snapdragon 835 chipset is present under the hood of the phone. The SoC is coupled with 6 GB of RAM. It has a native storage of 64 GB and it is also equipped with dedicated slot for adding a microSD card.

It is packed with Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging support enabled 2,730mAh battery. Users can simply attach the 3,500mAh TurboPower pack MotoMod for extra battery life. This MotoMod was launched with a price tag of Rs. 5,999 in India in December last year. The predecessor Moto Z Force had featured a larger battery of 3,490mAh capacity. The handset is pre-loaded with Android 7.1 Nougat and also features exclusive Motorola Experience such as Moto Voice and Moto Display.

The round-shaped camera module that has an iconic bump includes a pair of 12-megapixel RGB and monochrome sensors, dual-LED flash and laser autofocus. The Sony IMX386 is also present in the dual camera setup of Xiaomi Mi 6, a phone that was not launched in India. It features a selfie camera of 5-megpaixel that is equipped with its own LED flash.

Motorola has released new MotoMods accessories for the smartphone. However, the older MotoMods are also compatible with the new Moto Z2 Force. As far as connectivity is concerned, the Z2 Force provides its users with options like dual-SIM support, 4G VoLTE, dual band Wi-Fi with MIMO, Bluetooth, USB-C, NFC and GPS. There is no 3.5mm audio jack on the phone. Owners of the Z2 Force will have to use the same USB-C port for connecting the charger and earphones. For the convenience of the user, the company is providing a 3.5mm to USB-C adapter along with the phone.

Moto Z2 Force Pricing and Availability

The Moto Z2 Force has arrived in India with a price tag of Rs. 34,999 (~$548). The handset will be exclusively available for purchase through Flipkart and Moto Hub beginning at 12 AM tonight. Later on, it will be also made available through offline partners of Motorola.

Nokia 6 4 GB RAM Edition Arrives in India for Rs. 16,999

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Feb 15, 2018

HMD Global has launched a new 4 GB RAM edition of the Nokia 6 in India. It is a Flipkart exclusive smartphone that will be available for purchase starting from Feb. 20.

The Finnish firm had launched the Nokia 6 smartphone in China in January 2017. China had received the 4 GB RAM edition of the phone. The company had launched the Nokia 6 featuring 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage alongside other phones like Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 in India in June 2017.

Finally, the Nokia 6 4 GB RAM model has arrived in India. It is packed with 64 GB of native storage. One should be aware of the fact that it is not the new Nokia 6 (2018) smartphone that was unveiled in previous month.

The 4 GB RAM Nokia 6 would be carrying a price tag of Rs. 16,999 (~$269). It will be available with an exchange offer that will allow its users to avail a discount of Rs. 2,000 (~$31). Currently, the 3 GB RAM variant is available with a pricing of Rs. 14,999 (~$235).

As far as other specs of the Nokia 6 are concerned, it features 5.5-inch IPS LCD display that supports Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The mid-range Snapdragon 430 chipset is present under the hood of the phone. It features an f/2.0 aperture 16-megapixel rear camera and an f/2.0 aperture front-facing camera of 8-megapixel. It includes a 3,000mAh battery. Dual-SIM support, microSD card slot, Wi-Fi, 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth, NFC, microUSB, 3.5mm audio jack and GPS are the other features of the Nokia 6.

Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon X24 Modem That Enables 2 Gbps LTE Speeds

By

Jeet

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Feb 15, 2018

Ahead of the Mobile World Congress, Qualcomm has announced its latest LTE model for mobile devices — Snapdragon X24, which is the successor of the Snapdragon X20 that was launched last year.

The most important thing about the Snapdragon X24 LTE modem is that it promises to reach top download speeds of up to 2Gbps. In comparison, its predecessor, Snapdragon X20 supports about 1.2 Gbps speed.

According to the company, the Snapdragon X24 is the first Category 20 LTE modem that supports such kinds of speeds. It is also the first 7nm process chip, promising potential power savings. However, it is unlikely to see those speeds in real life because of carrier-side problem.

While many service providers have begun working on gigabit LTE in earnest, the faster network still isn’t completely deployed. However, the improvements in the technology should still lead to faster speeds overall.

Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon X24 supports up to seven carrier aggregation and 4×4 MIMO antenna arrays on up to five aggregated LTE carriers — which allow for maximum of 20 concurrent LTE streams. The company claims that this functionality will allow for X24-equipped devices to connect to the entire range of spectrum bands available to carriers, increasing overall performance beyond what we currently have.

As the Snapdragon X20 modem has been integrated in the Snapdragon 845 chipset announced in December last year, there’s a possibility that this new Snapdragon X24 modem will be integrated in the upcoming mobile chipset from Qualcomm. In the announcement video, it seems that the company is hinting that the modem could be found in the commercial devices in the first half of 2019.

Qualcomm also announced two new software offerings — an SDK for its IoT LTE modem (MDM9206) and a set of “wireless edge” services for enterprise and industrial use. The software development kit is aimed at making it easier for device manufacturers to design applications for their products.

Samsung Galaxy S9 Official Promos Released to Slow-Mo Camera, Animated Emoji

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