Archos To Showcase 3 Budget Phones Under $200 At MWC 2018

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Feb 12, 2018

A revised report from Counterpoint Research has revealed that HMD Global Oy sold over 4 million smartphones in the last quarter of 2017.

HMD Global

The figure which is actually 4.4 million puts Nokia at the 11th spot in the top smartphone companies with a market share of 1%. It also means that Nokia sold more phones in that quarter than a lot more other brands. Below is a list of manufacturers that sold less devices than HMD:

HTC
Sony
Google
Alcatel
Lenovo
OnePlus
Gionee
Meizu
Coolpad
ASUS

HMD Global also set some records with the Nokia brand in the last quarter. For example, it was the No.1 phone brand (smartphone and feature phone) in Vietnam and many Middle Eastern markets. It was also the 3rd smartphone brand in the the UK and among the top 5 in Russia.

According to Neil Shah who is a partner at Counterpoint Research and who revealed the stats in a Twitter thread, HMD also increased Nokia’s share of the feature phone market to 15% making it the No.1 feature phone brand globally. Combine that with its 1% share of the smartphone market and Nokia clinches a 5% mobile phone share and lands at No. 6 globally.

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Oppo A71 (2018) With 3GB RAM Launched In India For Rs. 9,990

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Jeet

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Feb 12, 2018

As expected, China-based Oppo has launched its latest smartphone in the Indian market — Oppo A71 (2018). As the name suggests, this one is the successor of the Oppo A71 that was launched last year. The phone was originally launched in Pakistan earlier this month.

In India, the Oppo A71 (2018) has been priced at Rs. 9,990 and is available for purchase through online retailer Flipkart. It will soon be available on Snapdeal as well as Amazon India.

The phone comes with a 5.2-inch IPS LCD HD display with screen resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels. Under the hood, the device is powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 450 chipset with 1.8GHz octa-core CPU and Adreno 506 GPU.

It packs 3GB RAM and 16GB of onboard storage. There’s also a microSD card slot which enables users to further expand the phone’s storage capacity up to 256GB. The phone is running on Android 7.1 Nougat-based ColorOS 3.2 user interface.

On the photography front, the OPPO A71 (2018) features a 13-megapixel sensor with autofocus and ƒ/2.2 aperture at the back. The rear-facing sensor is capable of shooting full-HD 1080p videos and is accompanied by an LED flash. On the front, there’s a 5-megapixel camera with fixed-focus lens and ƒ/2.4 aperture.

The highlight of the phone is its built-in AI-based beautification function. According to the company, this function can recognize around 200 different facial features. There is also a proprietary bokeh effect which blurs the background when you take selfies and it works without needing a dual-camera setup.

In terms of connectivity, the phone supports dual-SIM, 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS (with A-GPS and GLONASS), microUSB port with OTG support, and 3.5mm audio port.

The device is powered by 3,000mAh non-removable battery that is claimed to last up to 15 hours on continuous video consuption. Priced at Rs. 9,990 in India, the device is available in two color options — Black and Gold.

Asus To Reportedly Launch A Gaming Smartphone At MWC 2018 Alongside Zenfone 5

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Feb 12, 2018

Meizu E3 may not be the only upcoming smartphone dedicated to gaming. According to new rumors, Asus will launch a gaming smartphone alongside the Zenfone 5 series at MWC 2018. After the initial success of the Razer Phone, it seems that we’ll see more such gaming phones this year. Just like Razer, Asus is one of the most famous brands in the gaming sector. Its ROG (Republic of Gamers) brand counts many gaming PCs and peripherals which are among the most used by gamers.

Will we see a ROG phone as well? For now, we are just talking about speculations, there is no official confirmation by the company, so take this info with a pinch of salt. In the meantime, Asus has published an official teaser that confirms the launch of the Zenfone 5 at Mobile World Congress. According to sources, the company will launch at least three high-end phones in the first half of 2018, and it is said that there will be a gaming phone in addition to these. The smartphones in question are Zenfone 5, Zenfone Max Pro M1 and Zenfone 5z. But note that Zenfone Max Pro M1 is tipped to come with an octa-core Snapdragon 636 SoC, which is not the most suitable SoC for gaming.

On the other hand, Zenfone 5z should sport an octa-core Snapdragon 835, which is the best SoC by Qualcomm after the Snapdragon 845. It is also the same processor as the Razer Phone. All the high-end phones launched by Asus in 2018 should have a display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and narrow bezels, unlike last year. The standard version of Asus Zenfone 5 will have very narrow bezels on three sides and a thicker one on the lower part. It will be launched on February 27 and it will probably be an upper-midranger, so we really hope to see a more advanced version of the model which could be dedicated to gaming.

(Via)

Huawei Trademarks Mate X Moniker For An Upcoming Smartphone

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Feb 12, 2018

Huawei has patented a new moniker: Mate X. It was filed on the website of the EU Intellectual Property Office, and according to the application it has been located in the category “Mobile phones; smartphones”. Now, there are two most reliable hypotheses: the first is that we are talking about an upcoming flagship phone, maybe a more advanced variant of the latest Huawei flagship: the Mate 10. A second hypothesis is that the patent has been filed just to protect the business from competitors which could choose this name for their products and release similar devices which could harm Huawei’s image.

A device with a similar name already exists among Huawei’s product lineup, but it is not a smartphone. We are referring to the Huawei Matebook X released last year: it is a Windows 10 laptop with an Intel Core i5 CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and an SSD with a 256 GB capacity in its base version. The existence of this device gives even more credit to the hypothesis that Huawei has trademarked the Mate X moniker only to defend itself from competitors. But on the other hand, it is also true that Apple released iPhone X last year, which is a special version for the 10th anniversary of iPhone, and Huawei may be planning to do something similar by releasing a variant of the Mate 10 identified by the letter X.

At this moment it is only possible to speculate about it as we do not have any official info if we exclude the moniker. Just to remind you, Huawei is going to hold an event at MWC 2018 in which it will showcase new laptops and smartphones. So, if Huawei Mate X really exists, we may know more about it at the most important trade show of the year related to mobile devices, which will take place starting from February 26.

(Via)

BlackBerry DTEK50 And DTEK60 Updated With The February Security Patch For Spectre And Meltdown

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Feb 12, 2018

BlackBerry is always known for its high level of security, and after ~~TCL acquired it~~ authorized to TCL, the efforts put on security is still pretty impressive. After a long period of silence, BlackBerry DTEK50 and DTEK60 have received an important update in terms of security. The new update contains the February security patch, which is the latest security patch released by Google a few days ago.

Inside the patch, there are the fixes to the most famous security vulnerabilities of present time: Spectre and Meltdown. Unfortunately, there is no changelog for the update on BlackBerry DTEK50 and DTEK60: we only know that its code is AAU660 and it’s only as big as 100 MB. Further, we do not know if every unit of the devices has received the update or if it is just limited to some units.

So, if you received the update on your unit, please let us know in the comment section below. Besides the February security patch, the update may contain some improvements to the operating system stability and performance. You can force the update to your devices by heading to the Settings and tapping on Info about the device, then on Software updates.

(Via)

Moto E5 Real Machine Leaks: To Feature Rear Fingerprint Sensor Embedded With Its Logo

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Feb 12, 2018

Motorola is expected to release the Moto E5 models this year as successors to the E4 series. The Moto E series is the company’s budget series and usually come with an affordable price but quality build. We expect the Moto E5 to launch alongside the E5 Plus popular tipster Evan Blass has revealed on Twitter that there is going to be an E5 Play.

The tipster also shared a couple of real-looking photos of the E5 Play. This sounds interesting because this is the first time the E series is getting a Play model. The renders show only the front view of the device and worthy of note is the lack of a front home button as found on the Moto E4. That tends to confirm speculations that the E5 would pack a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor would be unique in that it would be embedded under the Moto logo at the rear. Chinese phone maker Smartisan did something similar on the Nut Pro 2. The device also comes with rounded edges and front flash with its selfie camera.

The Moto E5 is expected to feature a 5.0-inch display on a 16:9 aspect ratio and would be equipped with a MediaTek processor, virtual button among others. Evan Bass also revealed that the E5 Play is headed for Verizon while it would be known as E5 Cruise on Cricket Wireless.

(source)

Xiaomi Deletes Twitter Poll After MIUI Loses To Android One

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Jeet

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Feb 12, 2018

Xiaomi’s devices comes pre-loaded with the company’s own customized Android operating system — MIUI. However, with the Mi A1, the company offered the pure Android experience under Google’s Android One initiative.

Not everyone is a fan of MIUI and many user prefers the stock Android experience. To get to know what people thinks, Xiaomi ran a poll on Twitter asking its followers whether they preferred MIUI or Android One. But due to the result that seemed unsatisfactory to Xiaomi, the poll has mysteriously disappeared.

According to the reports, opinions were mixed on the post, but the Twitter poll itself ended with 57 percent of votes going to Android One and 43 percent to MIUI. Finding a loss for its homegrown MIUI user interface unacceptable, the company ended up deleting the poll.

It seems that the social media team behind the Twitter account misread their own audience, and thus, it backfired. According to the stats from LineageOS, many fans of Xiaomi’s hardware prefer stock Android experience, These are the regions Xiaomi is most popular in, so the results are not quite as surprising as they looked at first glance.

While we feel that Xiaomi should have taken it as a learning for its upcoming updates for the MIUI, instead the company acted childishly and acted as the poll never took place. This is not the kind of reaction we expected from the company as prominent as Xiaomi when things don’t go their way.

(Source)

Sony Xperia XZ2 AnTuTu Score Breaks 200K+ Mark; Key Specs Like 18:9 Display, Snapdragon 845 Revealed

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Feb 12, 2018

Sony H8266 that has appeared today on AnTuTu has been spotted couple of times in the recent past. In December 2017, it had appeared on Geekbench benchmarking site. Also, a leaked image showing its entire specs had also surfaced in the same month. All the past leaks surrounding the Sony H8266 suggest that it could be the forthcoming Xperia XZ2 flagship phone. Its appearance on AnTuTu has revealed some of its key specs.

The below snapshot reveals that the Sony H8266 features a display that support FHD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. It means that the smartphone would be offering an aspect ratio of 18:9. The Snapdragon 845 chipset and 4 GB of RAM are present under the hood of the phone and it has an inbuilt storage of 64 GB. The smartphone has reportedly recorded an average benchmarking score of more than 200,000 AnTuTu.

Reports suggest that Sony H8216 could be the other variant of the alleged Xperia XZ2. The lower variant is speculated to feature 4 GB of RAM, a native storage of 64 GB and a 3,210mAh battery. The advanced model is likely to arrive with 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of inbuilt storage and a bigger battery of 3,240mAh capacity.

Both the models are expected to arrive with 5.48-inch display that will support 18:9 aspect ratio. These variants are also speculated to come with common specs like Android 8.1 Oreo, microSD card support and IP65/IP68 certified body.

The Japanese tech giant is likely to launch the Xperia XZ2 alongside the alleged advanced model called Xperia XZ2 Pro on Feb. 26. The Xperia XZ2 Pro is rumored to debut as world’s first smartphone with 4K OLED display. Its other features include Snapdragon 845, 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, Android 8.1 Oreo and dual rear cameras. It is also speculated that the Xperia XZ2 Compact may also get unveiled alongside the aforementioned phones.

Rumor Mill: Xiaomi To Launch Redmi Note 5 Pro Along With Redmi Note 5 in India

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Feb 12, 2018

In two days Xiaomi will launch a new smartphone in India. Although there is proof that the phone will be called the Redmi Note 5, some say that it is the Redmi 5 Plus going by a new name. However, a new unconfirmed report has surfaced which says there will be a Redmi Note 5 Pro launching along with the Redmi Note 5.

The new info is a tweet detailing Xiaomi’s product launch on Wednesday, 14th of February in India. According to the poster @luckyankit, Xiaomi will launch the Redmi Note 5, Redmi Note 5 Pro and a new Mi TV. He also provided specification details of the two phones.

Redmi Note 5

The Redmi Note 5 is said to have a 5.7” 1080 x 2160 display and powered by the Snapdragon 625. It will come in 3GB and 4GB RAM variants with 32GB and 64GB of storage respectively.

Camera specification is put at 12MP on the rear and 5MP in front. It will pack a 4,000mAh battery, have a dual hybrid SIM slot, and run MIUI 9.5 based on Nougat.

Redmi Note 5 Pro

The Pro version on the other hand will have the same FHD+ resolution with a 5.7” or 5.9” display. A Snapdragon 636 will be the chip under the hood and it will be paired with 4GB or 6GB of RAM. Irrespective of the variant, the phone will come with 64GB ROM.

It appears the Redmi Note 5 leaks we have been seeing with dual cameras is actually the Redmi Note 5 Pro. Luckyankit says it has a 12MP and 5MP combo on the rear while a 20MP camera graces the front.

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ZTE Axon 9 Images, Specifications Leaked; Launch Nearing?

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Feb 12, 2018

ZTE’s Axon 7 flagship from 2016 had received good reception from audience and critics. When its fans were eagerly waiting for the arrival of its successor, the Chinese manufacturer had launched ZTE Axon 7s smartphone. Finally, ZTE CEO Cheng Lixin confirmed on the actual successor of Axon 7 in the previous month by saying that it would be arriving with Axon 9 moniker. This means that the company has decided to skip the Axon 8 moniker. Today, the rumor mill has revealed never before seen images of the alleged the Axon 9 along with its specifications.

The Axon 9 renders that have surfaced on Weibo suggests that it would be arriving with a metallic chassis. It may come in multiple colors at launch and one of them could be the blue variant that can be seen in the leaked photos.

The rear side of the smartphone has the “AXON” branding just above the external speaker. Vertically arranged dual rear cameras along with its dual-tone LED flash can be also found on the back panel. There is no fingerprint scanner on the backside of the device.

The front features an elongated display which indicates that the handset will support an aspect ratio of 18:9. The sides bezels are quite slim and the thin bezel below the display features the capacitive keys. The upper bezel houses the dual selfie snappers. There is no confirmation on whether it features an in-display fingerprint scanner.

It is speculated that it will be arriving with a 6-inch AMOLED display that will support QHD+ resolution of 2880 x 1,440 pixels. The Snapdragon 845 chipset is expected to power the handset. Its 64 GB model may arrive with 4 GB of RAM and its 128 GB /256 GB variant may come with 6 GB of RAM. It will arrive preloaded with Android 8.0 Oreo. A 20-megapixel lens is expected to be available as the main sensor in the rear-mounted dual camera setup. One of the camera sensor at the front could be of 13-megapixel.

As of this writing, there is no information available on its launch date. Hence, it is difficult to guess whether it will be showcased at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018.

What do you think about the above renders? Share us your views by adding your comments below.

Snapdragon 845 Battles Snapdragon 835, Exynos 8895, Kirin 970 and Apple A11 Bionic

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Feb 12, 2018

The first set of Snapdragon 845-powered smartphones will launch this month at MWC Barcelona. There are even rumors we may not have to wait till the tech event before we see the first one.

Qualcomm announced the chip back in December. Today, using its own test device, it has released benchmark results of the chip as well as its performance against other chipsets in the market.

The Qualcomm test device runs Android 8.0 Oreo, has 6GB of RAM and a display with a 1440 x 2560 resolution. It was ran through benchmarking apps Geekbench and AnTuTu and then pitted against other phones and chipsets.

For Geekbench, the Snapdragon 845 prototype device scored 2448 points in the single core test and 8454 points in the multi-core test.

The scores puts it at the top of the Android list as it is shown in the image below. It beats the Exynos 8895-powered Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 with more than 2000 points in the multi-score test and leads them both by more than 400 points in the single core test.

The Snapdragon 835-powered Google Pixel 2 lags behind with over 2200 and 500 points in the multi-core and single-core test scores.

Next is AnTuTu, where Qualcomm’s new flagship chip records a whopping 267,288 points. However, this is not the highest we have seen this SoC score. Last week, we saw the result of Xiaomi’s Mi MIX 2S on the same benchmarking app and it scored 270461 points. The Mi MIX 2S scored higher in CPU and memory and that can be attributed to its RAM which is said to be 8GB.

So how does Qualcomm’s new chip perform against those in the market currently? Long story short, it is not the king.

The test device was compared to the Huawei Mate 10 Pro with its Kirin 970 SoC, the OnePlus 5T with Snapdragon 835, the Exynos 8895 toting Galaxy Note8, and the Apple A11 Bionic iPhone X.

Qualcomm’s new chip beats all but one – the Apple A11 Bionic. Apple’s chipset not only trumps it but does so with at least 2000 points in both the single-core and multi-core tests. Qualcomm’s joy as the king of Android chipsets will actually be short-lived as the Exynos 9810 is said to be ahead in performance too.

(Source)

Android Oreo Beta Testing For Galaxy S8 Ends: Global Rollout Is Imminent

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Feb 12, 2018

According to a Samsung official, the beta testing phase of Android Oreo for Samsung Galaxy S8 has been closed on February 9, and the global rollout of the stable update will be available in the upcoming days. The moment has almost arrived: the S8, together with its Plus version, should be the first Samsung devices to get updated to the latest version of the operating system. The update will come with Samsung Experience 9.0, a new version of the customized user interface by Samsung, which will contain several new features and improvements. According to a recent infographic surfaced online, Samsung Experience 9.0 will contain an improved keyboard with a customizable toolbar.

This toolbar will make it easy to open the clipboard, predictive text, voice input and one-handed mode, but it will also allow to quickly search among hundreds of old and new emojis, stickers, and animated GIFs. Everything the users will need to customize the toolbar is dragging the icons in the desired position. It will even be possible to customize the keyboard in a better way by choosing 4 high-contrast skins, and there will be many other options as well. The improvements in the upcoming update of the Samsung Galaxy S8 also tweak the Finder on the Apps screen, which will show intuitive cards on the search results page.

The virtual assistant ‘Bixby’ will be improved as well with background music support, colors to match the weather, and much more information in a briefing screen. The new Color Lens feature will allow you to change the color of your Samsung Galaxy S8’s display if you find it difficult to read on a white display. There will be a new Samsung Cloud icon on the home screen, an improved Samsung Connect dashboard and much more. And obviously, do not forget the main improvements of Android Oreo, such as a longer battery life and better performance.

Sony Xperia XZ2 Pro Spotted with 18:9 Display. Android 8.1 Oreo in Benchmark Test

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Feb 12, 2018

Sony will be present at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 to unleash its new flagship smartphones. Recently, an Irish carrier representative had accidentally revealed that Sony would be launching the Xperia XZ2 smartphone. Hence, it is speculated that the Xperia XZ2 would be unleashed at MWC 2018. The rumor mill has been also talking about another premium flagship called Xperia XZ Pro. Some rumors have referred to this handset as Xperia XZ2 Pro. A smartphone with the same moniker has appeared on HTML benchmark test to reveal some key specs.

As it can be seen in the below screengrab, the Sony Xperia XZ2 Pro has a model number of H8116. The handset is running on Android 8.1 Oreo. It has a screen resolution of 848 x 424. Since it is a ratio of 2:1, it is quite evident that the Xperia XZ2 Pro would be supporting an aspect ratio of 18:9. This also suggests that the Japanese tech giant will be finally ditching the OmniBalance design that it has been using for its smartphones since 2013 to embrace the new full screen design.

The Sony H8116 smartphone was first spotted in December 2017. It’s UAProfile had revealed that it supports a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. It is speculated that it could be the world’s first smartphone to feature 4K OLED display. The other Sony handset with model number Sony H8166 could be a variant of the H8116 phone.

The Snapdragon 845 chipset could be present under the hood of the Sony H8116 smartphone. Its other rumored specs include 18-megapixel + 12-megapixel dual camera setup, 13-megapixel selfie camera, 64 GB and 128 storage options, microSD card slot, single-SIM and dual-SIM support, IP68 certified body and 3,420mAh battery.

After getting unveiled at the MWC 2018, the smartphone may arrive in the market in June with a price tag of around 6,000 Yuan (~$950). The Xperia XZ2 may sport the same design and may also feature Snapdragon 845, but its other specs may not be as advanced as Xperia XZ2 Pro. It is speculated that the Xperia XZ2 Compact will be also launched along with XZ2 and XZ2 Pro.

EMUI 8.0 Android 8.0 Closed Beta Released for Maimang 6, Nova Youth Edition, Honor 7X

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Get 32% Discount On BlitzWolf® BW-P6 Power Bank On Banggood

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Feb 12, 2018

Last month, Huawei had confirmed the list of smartphones that would be receiving the EMUI 8.0 update. Today, it has begun the roll out closed beta for some of the Huawei phones in China.

Huawei has officially confirmed today that it has officially released the EMUI 8.0 closed beta for Maimang, Nova Youth Version (Lite) and three variants of Honor 7X. Here are the all the model numbers of the aforementioned phones that are now receiving the EMUI 8.0 closed beta. The company has also confirmed the number of people that will be provided with closed beta.

Huawei Maimang 6 (RNE-AL00) – 500 people
Huawei Nova Lite (WAS-AL00) – 450 people
Huawei Nova Youth (WAS-TL10) – 50 people
Honor 7X (BND- AL00) – 200 people
Honor 7X (BND-AL10) – 50 people
Honor 7X (BND-TL10) – 50 people

Apart from the aforementioned devices, the following Huawei and Honor phones are also going to receive the Android Oreo-based EMUI 8.0 update: Huawei P9, P9 Plus, Mate 8, Nova 2, Nova 2 Plus, Honor V9, Honor 8 Youth, Honor 8, Honor V8 and Honor Note 8. The Honor 9 and Honor 8 Pro have been recently treated with EMUI 8.0 update in Europe.

The Oreo-based EMUI 8.0 is the successor of EMU 5.1 that was first made available on Mate 10 series and Honor V10 smartphones. Apart from new features and improvements, the EMUI 8.0 update also tags along artificial intelligence (AI) features such as real-time scene and object recognition, smart tips, AI-driven language translation and more.

(source)

Preorder BlitzWolf BW-P6 Power Bank For Only $16.99 On Banggood

By

Vinay Patel

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Feb 12, 2018

A lot of people have low battery anxiety. They usually tend to panic when their phone starts flashing ‘battery low’ and a few of them are likely to even switch off their smartphones in a bid to prolong their battery life. However, the burning question on everyone’s mind is how to get a long battery life without breaking much of a sweat.

This is exactly where BlitzWolf BW-P6 fast charging power bank comes into the picture. But if you’re not willing to shell out a lot of money to buy the useful tool, we have good news for you.

You can now preorder BlitzWolf BW-P6 Power Bank for only $16.99 on Banggood. This is a considerable 32% discount on the device’s original selling price of $24.99. Here’s what you can expect to get in terms of specs.

The BlitzWolf BW-P6 10000mAh Power Bank supports up to 18w fast charging input and output and offers a couple of USB Ports that work with a different USB devices power supply. But that’s not all.

The BW-P6 Power Bank is Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 Certified. In other words, the BW-P6 doesn’t take a lot of time to charge since it uses the Qualcomm QC 3.0 standard and provides a 3.6-12V range of voltage in order to speed up standard charging technology by 4 times.

Apart from improving the charge-discharge efficiency, BlitzWolf BW-P6 safeguards your device from short circuit, overcurrent, overvoltage, and overcharge. Moreover, it is compatible with QC2.0/QC3.0, for apple 2.4A and Samsung AFC fast charging tech. It is up to 4 times faster than other power banks.

You can preorder the BlitzWolf BW-P6 power bank simply by clicking here. While you earn 16 Banggood points aside from getting a discount when you preorder the BW-P6 power bank, it is imperative for you to bear in mind that the promo is slated to end soon.

Samsung Galaxy S6 and Note 5 To Get Android Oreo In February According To T-Mobile

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Feb 12, 2018

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are yet to receive the final and stable update to Android 8.0 Oreo. The wait has been painful but does not mean that the older Samsung flagships will not get the latest version of the operating system. According to Manufacturer Development pages found on the website of the U.S. carrier T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge Plus and Galaxy Note 5 will update to Android 8.0 Oreo just like their successor. The page shows that “T-Mobile and the device manufacturer have agreed to support a new software update”, that is Android Oreo.

This is not the first time we hear that Samsung Galaxy S6 and its variants will be updated to Oreo. Last year, Samsung reps confirmed in support conversations that the phones will be updated, but you know, the info released in support chats is not always reliable, so we could not take it as a concrete proof. But this further confirmation by T-Mobile leaves almost no doubts: the devices will get the update. According to Samsung reps, the handsets will be updated in February 2018, so it is likely that they will be released this month together with the Samsung Galaxy S8 and its Plus version.

The update to Android Oreo on Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and Note 5 should come together with the Samsung Experience 9.0, the latest version of Samsung’s custom user interface. According to a leaked infographic, Samsung Experience 9.0 will bring improvements to keyboard and a better toolbar to search for emoji, stickers and animated GIFs. There will also be improvements to Bixby and a new feature called Color Lens which will allow customizing the display color and its intensity. And these are only some of the many improvements of the new user interface.

(Via)

Meizu E3 Full Specifications Leaked Well Ahead of Launch Through TENAA Listing

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Feb 12, 2018

Meizu has confirmed that it will be launching the Meizu E3 smartphone on March 6. After the appearance of the images of the two variants of the alleged Meizu E3 on TENAA, the entire specs of the phone have also appeared on the website of the Chinese telecom regulatory body.

The Meizu m851m and m851q are speculated as network variants of the Meizu E3 smartphone. According to TENAA, the handset measures 156.8 x 75 x 7.6mm and it weighs 163 grams. It appears to be sporting a full metallic chassis. It will be coming in color choices like Champagne Gold, Obsidian Black and Dark Blue.

The alleged Meizu E3 features an IPS LCD display of 5.99 inches. It carries support for Full HD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. This suggests that it will be coming with an elongated display that will deliver an aspect ratio of 18:9. The images of the phone reveal that it will be arriving with a side-mounted fingerprint reader.

It is fueled by a 1.8 GHz octa-core processor. Rumors suggest that it may feature the upcoming MediaTek Helio P38 chipset that features an octa-core processor that clocks at 1.8 GHz. It will be coming in RAM options like 4 GB and 6 GB. Also, it will be arriving in three storage variants like 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB. The alleged E3 will be supporting up to 128 GB of microSD card on its external storage slot.

The handset is pre-installed with Android 7.1.1 Nougat. The back panel houses a vertically dual camera setup that includes a 12-megapixel sensor and a 20-megapixel sensor. It has a selfie snapper of 8-megapixel. A 3,300mAh battery powers the smartphone.

The launch invitation of the Meizu E3 suggests that it will be coming in camera-centric and gaming focused variants. It is speculated to arrive with a price tag of 2,000 Yuan (~$318).

(source 1, 2)

Qualcomm Rejects Broadcom’s Improved $121 Billion Buyout Bid

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Jed John Ikoba

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Feb 12, 2018

Broadcom has been in the run in to buy fellow chipmaker Qualcomm, first launching a bid for the mobile chip manufacturer around November last year. That bid valued at $105 billion was rejected by Qualcomm, who said it undervalued the company. Now, Broadcom earlier last week launched a second bid valued at $121 billion for the San Diego chip manufacturer but that also has been rejected.

A press statement released by Qualcomm on Friday stated that its board of directors had “unanimously” rejected the unsolicited proposal. The offer would have seen Broadcom acquire all of Qualcomm’s outstanding shares for $82 each by paying $60 in cash and $22 in Broadcom stock. But Qualcomm thinks the bid “materially undervalues” the company even though it is the largest bid the tech industry has ever seen. The deal was also 15% higher than Broadcom’s first bid. However, this time around Qualcomm in the statement offered to meet Broadcom to discuss a number of “important questions” regarding the “serious deficiencies in value and certainty in its proposal.”

Even if Qualcomm agrees to a deal with Broadcom, that deal would face serious scrutiny from regulatory agencies and may even be rejected over competition concerns. Broadcom seems to go all the way as it had earlier submitted its own nominees for Qualcomm’s board in a bid to force the rival chip maker to a deal. We could see more battles in the future.

(source)

ASUS Announces Zenfone 5 Will Launch February 27 At MWC 2018

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