A few days ago, Xiaomi announced it had completed the Mi A1 Android Oreo roll-out. The update which had been suspended twice due to bugs was finally getting a third roll-out.
Not only was it bringing Android Oreo, it also included January’s security patch, and fixes for the bugs from the last two versions. Sadly, this update also comes with its own bugs including a battery drain that affects a lot of folks.
In our post covering the update, a number of people complained about a battery drain that began after the update. There is also a poll on c.mi.com where nearly 83% of those who took the poll complained of the battery drain.
It is sad to see that Xiaomi can’t seem to get things right with its Mi A1 Oreo update. After three attempts, one would think things would be properly done but unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
Some other users have also reported that the device hangs, restarts while calling, and has heating issues.
The Smartisan Nut Pro 2 was one of the few Chinese phones that got my attention when it launched, and not for its specs and price but its design. With smartphones looking alike these days, the Nut Pro 2 stands out of the crowd with its design.
The phone was originally launched in Red Wine, Carbon Black, and Pale Gold but a new leak on Weibo has revealed a new white variant. The photo shows all four color variants together. Although we can’t see the front, our guess is that the bezels are white as well.
The white variant is reported to have been in development for a while but got delayed due to a problem with mass production of white panels. It appears they have finally found a solution and may announce the new variant soon.
Sources say the white Smartisan Nut Pro 2 may be released in time for the Spring Festival. It is expected to be available in all memory configurations with the same pricing as the other color variants.
The Nut Pro 2 has a 5.99” FHD+ display, a Snapdragon 660 processor and up to 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. There are dual camera sensors on the rear and a fingerprint scanner buried beneath the Smartisan logo.
We recently brought you a report that Coolpad had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against three companies of which Xiaomi was one of them. The lawsuit was filed at the Guangdong Province Intermediate People’s Court but a date is yet to be slated for hearing on the matter. Xiaomi has now issued an official response to the alleged patent infringement.
Xiaomi responded to a request for comment by Sina science and technology and in the response, the tech giant claimed that it is yet to be served the court papers as they had also seen it on the internet. The tech giant also stated that the details of the patent infringement are not clear. Also, Xiaomi also disclosed that it holds several patent agreements with Microsoft, Nokia, and other patent holders. In addition to that, the company hinted that it is also increasing its Research & Development effort with investments in that regard. Xiaomi recently opened a new R&D center in Shenzhen, Mainland China.
In the said lawsuit filed by Yulong Computer Communications Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of the Coolpad Group, Yulong claims Xiaomi and other co-accused produced, promised to sell and sold products that infringed on three of its patents with patent numbers; ZL200610034034.3, ZL201210250264.8, and ZL201210064396.7. The three patents are said to relate to app icon management, notifications, and system UI. As expected, the company seeks to stop the sales of the products infringing on its patents and also seeks compensation for the losses it suffered.
Huawei’s Honor sub-brand has always prided itself as an online only brand. However, that has changed as they have now opened a brick and mortar store in Myanmar.The Myanmar Honor Store is its first international walk-in store.
Honor CEO George Zhao at the store opening
CEO of Honor, George Zhao, who was at the official opening said the store opening is an important milestone for the brand in the Southeast Asian Market. He also announced four new Honor smartphones in the country. They are the Honor 7X, Honor V9 Play/Honor 6C Pro, Honor 6X, and Honor Play 6.
You may be wondering why none of the high-end Honor phones weren’t announced. The explanation provided is that Myanmar is still a developing smartphone market in Southeast Asia and average income is not high, so high-priced Honor phones won’t do well.
It is not surprising that Honor is including an offline presence into its plans. While millennials generally do their shopping online, regular brick and mortar stores are also pretty important for a hands-on experience with devices as well as after-sales services. Xiaomi is one brand that has also moved from being an online-only store to setting up brick and mortar stores.
The new Honor store will not only sell devices and provide after-sales services but will also serve as a hangout spot for young Honor fans.
A mysterious ASUS phone with model number ASUS_X00QD has been approved by Wi-Fi Alliance. It is speculated that this smartphone may arrive in the market as ZenFone 5 Max.
The Wi-Fi certification of the ASUS_X00QD has revealed that the smartphone is running on Android 8.0 Oreo and it carries support Wi-Fi 802.11ac. Hence, it is speculated that the ASUS_X00QD could be an upper mid-range from the ZenFone 5 lineup. There is no other information available on this mysterious smartphone.
ASUS has recently introduced the ZenFone Max Plus (M1) smartphone with a full screen design. Earlier in this month, a smartphone named ZenFone 5 Lite was recently certified in Russia. The certification revealed that the ZenFone 5 Lite that is driven by a Snapdragon chipset will be arriving with a 6-inch display that will carry support for 18:9 aspect ratio. Hence, the ASUS_X00QD phone that is expected to arrive with better specs may also feature an 18:9 aspect ratio display.
The ASUS ZenFone 3S Max carried a similar model number of X00GD in January 2017. The ZenFone 4 Max that was unveiled in July last year has a model number of X00ID. Hence, it is speculated that the X00QD smartphone could be the upcoming ZenFone 5 Max. It is likely that the alleged ZenFone 5 Max may get official around July this year.
ASUS CEO Jerry Shen had said in September last year that the ZenFone 5 series would unveiled as early as March this year. The company will be also present at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) tech expo in the coming month. However, there is no confirmation on whether the Taiwanese company will be unveiling the ZenFone 5 series at MWC 2018.
Earlier this week, we got the first look at the Samsung‘s upcoming flagship smartphones — Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus’ press render. Evan Blass, a well-known leaker, provided the first press render of the upcoming devices.
Now, Evan Blass has provided the full-size wallpapers of the Galaxy S9 series. To download the wallpaper, you can go to this link. To get the best result, you’ll need a phone with 18:9 display. The leaked wallpaper is likely going to be the default wallpaper but we are expecting the device to come with several new wallpapers.
Samsung is holding a press event on February 25th in Barcelona to unveil its flagship phones of the year — the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9. The company will reveal the phone’s pricing as well as availability information at the launch event.
However, it has already been leaked that the phone will be available for pre-order from 1st March and will start shipping from 16th March. While this information comes from a reputable source, the company has not yet officially confirmed this.
According to the previous reports, Samsung has retained the 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch display size of the predecessors with the same 18.5:9 aspect ratio. The design of the Galaxy S9 series will also be quite similar to the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus.
Both the phones are expected to be powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 845 processor in the United States and China, while another variant for the rest of the world will pack Samsung’s own Exynos 9810 chipset.
The Galaxy S9 is expected to pack 4GB RAM and will be available in two variants based on the internal storage — 64GB and 128GB. On the other hand, the Galaxy S9 Plus will come with 6GB RAM and will have four storage variants — 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. As per the reports, the 512GB internal storage variant will be available in select regions only that too in limited quantity.
Both devices are said to feature variable aperture on their primary 12-megapixel cameras. It will have a mechanical adjustment that switches between f/2.4 and smallest-in-class f/1.5. As per the leaks, the Galaxy S9 will come powered by a 3,000mAh battery while the bigger variant — Galaxy S9 Plus will have a 3,500mAh battery.
A leakster had recently claimed that the forthcoming Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ would Samsung’s costliest smartphones ever. Today, a South Korean publication has revealed the speculated pricing and release date of the Galaxy S9 which indicates that the next-generation Galaxy S series phones will indeed carry an expensive pricing.
In South Korea, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ flagships are expected to be available through all three major carriers of the country. A spokesperson from one of the carriers claimed, “although the domestic price of the Galaxy S9 will increase, it will be decided at a level where consumers do not feel burdened.”
Last year, the Galaxy S8 had arrived in the home market with a price of 935,000 won (~$879). It is speculated that the Galaxy S9 would be priced between 950,000 (~$897) won to 999,000 won (~$939). In the U.S., the Galaxy S8 was made available with a pricing of $750. Hence, the S9 may arrive in the U.S. with a 10 percent increased pricing of around $800.
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are slated to get unveiled on Feb. 25 through the Galaxy Unpacked event at Mobile World Congress (MWC) expo in the coming month. After the launch event, the Galaxy S9 duo will be available for reservation between March 2 and 8 in the home market. Since the South Korean company had overhaul improvement last year by launching the Galaxy S8 series with Infinity Display design, it has concentrated on delivering improved user convenience than design on the Galaxy S9 duo. Exact information on the sales schedule and pricing will be known after the unveil event.
The increased pricing of the Galaxy S9 suggests that the Galaxy Note 9 that is speculated to debut later with under-display fingerprint scanner may carry even higher price tag. Do you think that the expensive pricing of the Galaxy S9 will impact its sales? Share us your views by adding your comments below.
Last year, ZTE announced the Axon M, its first foldable smartphone. Although the phone is foldable, the screen technically isn’t as the Axon M uses two displays that are connected via a hinge. A new leak that surfaced online shows OPPO has patented its own foldable smartphone but one that uses a foldable display.
The patent shows sketches of the phone which uses a single flexible display. The back of the device where the fold occurs has a different texture from the rest of the body. On one side, we can make out a vertically arranged dual camera system and on the other side is a cut-out with the same shape as the camera housing. Our guess is that the camera fits into that groove when the phone is folded.
The front is where the magic happens. When the phone is stretched out, you get a single large display unlike ZTE’s Axon M where there is a black bar in the middle that is sure to distract you when using the phone in “Extended Mode”.
When folded, the device looks like a phone with a one-sided curved display irrespective of the side you are using. OPPO is not gunning for thin bezels here, so the aspect ratio when the phone is folded appears to be the traditional 16:9. In the folded mode, the front facing camera and sensors are on the left side of the top bezel while the earpiece is on the right side of the top bezel.
Other images provided in the patent shows that the phone has a uniform thickness when laid out flat unlike the Axon M which has one side thicker than the other.
HMD Global is reportedly working on a Nokia phone that may arrive with penta-lens camera module. Rumors surrounding the mysterious Nokia device claim it could be the upcoming Nokia 10 flagship phone. Concept Creator that is known for creating realistic rends of upcoming flagship phones has shared a concept model of the rumored Nokia 10 smartphone that shows off its sleek design and penta-lens camera system.
The Nokia 10 concept reveals that the frontside of the phone is mainly occupied by the display. Going by the current trend in the smartphone industry, it can be speculated that the Nokia 10 would be arriving with an 18:9 display. The top bezel seems to be featuring a dual selfie camera setup. A 3.5mm audio jack can be seen sitting on the top edge of the concept model.
As far as the design of the phone is concerned, the front and rear sides of the Nokia 10 appear to be flanked with glass panels with a metallic frame in between. The back panel features a fingerprint reader below the penta-lens camera setup. A report from the previous month that carried the list of Snapdragon 845 driven smartphones that will be released this year had revealed that the Nokia 10 would be launching in August this year.
What do you think about the Nokia 10 concept model? Do you think it could be the best flagship of 2018? Share us your views by commenting below.
Xiaomi has announced a new special edition of the highly sought after and popular Mi Band 2. This time around Xiaomi teams up with the crew of popular TV series in China Nirvana In Fire to launch a Nirvana in Fire special edition of the Mi Band 2. Nirvana In Fire is a 2015 Chinese historical drama based on Hai Yan’s novel of the same name.
The Mi Band 2 is one of Xiaomi’s most iconic product and is actually first manufactured by Xiaomi’s partner Huami which recently announced its IPO listing in the U.S. The Band 2 has won several awards, including the German Red Dot Design award for its superb design. The new Xiaomi Mi Band 2 Nirvana In Fire Special Edition is customized after the popular Chinese TV series and feature the drama’s logo as the touch button instead of the regular one.
The new edition adds to the number of special edition models the Band 2 has seen. Xiaomi last year added a Mi 6 Commemorative edition of the Mi Band 2. To refresh our memories, the Xiaomi Mi Band 2 features a 0.42-inch OLED display and there are a scratch-resistant glass and anti-fingerprint coating. It weighs only 78g and comes with high-end features which help you to monitor your health without breaking a sweat and keep a record of it. The fitness tracker also comes with an IP67 waterproof/dustproof certification so that you do not have to worry about it getting splashed with water. Further, the Mi Band 2 features Bluetooth v4.0 which enables it to get synced with Android and iOS smartphones. It is fueled by a 70mAh battery which provides up to 20 days of standby time. Due to its unique features and cheap price, the Mi Band 2 is a hot selling device and is often in short supply. There is no information yet on its price tag or availability of the new edition.
Banggood is offering considerable discounts on selected UMIDIGI smartphones for a limited period of time. Let’s check out the details.
UMIDIGI S2 Lite
The UMIDIGI S2 Lite smartphone is slated to hit the store shelves next month. You can now preorder the hotly-anticipated Android-powered 4G smartphone at a discounted price of just $149.99.
This is a considerable 25% reduction in the handset’s original selling price of $199.99 offered by Banggood. You can choose between black and red color versions of the S2 Lite smartphone.
The dual-SIM S2 Lite smartphone is housed in a full metal unibody shell. It is powered by an MTK6750T, Octa-core, 1.5GHZ processor and packs an ARM Mali-T860 MP2 650MHz GPU, under the hood.
It offers 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory that can further be expanded up to 256GB. But its worth noting that there were only 96 pieces left at the time of writing. Moreover, the promo is slated to end on February 5.
UMIDIGI S2 Pro
The site is also offering 18% off on UMIDIGI S2 Pro smartphone’s original selling price of $339.99, bringing it down to only $279.99. Here’s a brief glimpse of what the device has to offer as far as the specification is concerned.
Backed by a robust 5100mAh battery, UMIDIGI S2 Pro smartphone sports a massive 6.0-inch display with a screen resolution of 2160 X 1080 pixels.
Moreover, the S2 Pro offers 6GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard memory that can further be expanded up to 256GB. On the photography front, the device sports a 13.0MP + 5.0MP dual camera setup at the back and a 16MP front shooter for the selfie addicts.
The handset is up for pre-order in black and red color version, but there were 94 pieces left at the time of writing. The promotion is scheduled to wrap up on February 5.
UMI Plus E
You can get your hands on a black-tinted UMI Plus E smartphone by shelling out just $179.99 on Banggood. The site is giving 33% discount on the handset’s original asking price of $269.99.
The UMI Plus E smartphone runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system and offers 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 256GB. The discount is valid until February 5; however, there were only 97 pieces left at the time of writing.
UMIDIGI C Note 2
You can preorder the C Note 2 smartphone on Banggood and take advantage of 29% discount offered by the site until February 5. The discount is valid for black and blue color versions of the handset.
The device packs 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal memory, under the hood. The device runs UMI OS based on Android 7.0 and is powered by a robust MTK6750T, Octa-core, Cortex-A53, and 1.5GHZ processor.
The C Note 2 smartphone’s original asking price is $169.99, but you can get your hands on the device by shelling out just $119.99. It’s worth noting that there were just 98 pieces of the device left at the time of writing.
UMIDIGI Z1 Pro
The red-hued Z1 Pro smartphone is currently up for grabs on Banggood at a discounted price of only $239.99. The site is giving 20% off on the handset’s actual selling price of $299.99.
This discount will end on February 5, but it is also worth noting that only 99 pieces left at the time of writing. You can head straight to this link in order to take advantage of the massive discounts.
Chinese tech company Lenovo has opened what is likely going to be the first of many branded retail stores in China. The retail store is known as Zhi Zhi Life stores and it is Lenovo’s first branded store in the world. So basically this is a new business line we are looking at, as the computer giant is said to be positioning the store to take on rivals like Alibaba and Jingdong (JD.com). The company had hinted at CES 2018 that it plans to open many of such stores globally.
The retail store is located in Beijing and Lenovo did reveal during the ribbon cutting ceremony that it plans to open 150 new retail stores in China within this year 2018. The store presently has on exhibition more than 400 different product categories cutting across smart home products, and several others. The products include Lenovo’s branded products, Lenovo’s incubated brand products, and the company’s smart choice products and they cut across smart home, smart wear travel, the whole scene entertainment, and other areas. The total number of online and offline categories of goods in the future is expected to be more than 1,000 in the future.In addition, the direct sales (offline) will provide maintenance, training, consulting, experience, all personal custom one-piece smart services
Liu Jun, Executive Vice president and president of Lenovo Group, who officially opened the new store disclosed that the “new” Lenovo retail business will use the internet as the center, using internet tools and artificial intelligence technologies to rebuild people, goods and markets relationship. The company also aims to provide retail efficiency and prompt service delivery which would guarantee customers’ satisfaction. The smart store opening also shows that Lenovo will focus on AI products and smart connected products. The company also disclosed that the smart store would be committed to becoming a leading IOT product provider and new retail platform. One cool thing about it is that it guarantees price uniformity nationwide through the Ink price tag system.
Fresh information reveals that the Chinese manufacturer is going to soon debut a smartphone called VKWorld Mix 3. It is going to arrive as a successor for MIX Plus mid-range bezel-less smartphone that was unveiled in August 2017. The VKWorld Mix 3 is the same Mix 2 smartphone from the company that was supposed to launch before the end of 2017. It means that the Mix 2 will be launched in the market with a new moniker of Mix 3 and it will also carry some modified specs.
The VKWorld Mix 3 is equipped with a 5.99-inch Full HD+ resolution supporting display with In-Cell technology. The Sunlight mode feature will boost the brightness to over 600nits to allow users to comfortably view contents of the screen under bright sunlight. The display will come with anti-fingerprint coating and will also carry support for glove mode. The selfie camera and the fingerprint scanner are present on the bottom bezel of the phone.
The backside of the VKWorld Mix 3 features a glass panel and it sports a metallic frame that is made out titanium. The titanium frame offers strength and resistance to the device and the screen is protected with Gorilla Glass 4. The top-left corner of the rear panel of the Mix 3 is equipped with a horizontally arranged dual camera setup.
The Mi MIX 3 will be fueled by 2.5 GHz octa-core processor and it will also include a massive battery of 5,000mAh capacity. The SoC of the phone will be coupled with 6 GB of RAM. It will come with a huge inbuilt storage of 128 GB. The company claims that the VKWorld Mix 3 will be the most affordable full screen design smartphone with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of native storage.
What do you think about the specs and appearance of the MIX 3? Let us know your views by posting your comments below.
In the previous week Samsung had confirmed that the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ flagship phones will be showcased on Feb. 25. As the launch date is nearing, newer information on the Galaxy S9 are consistently surfacing. According to XDA Developer, one of its forum members who performed an APK teardown of the Android Oreo beta for Galaxy Note 8 was able to find a new security feature that will be arriving on the Galaxy S9 duo. Through the teardown it was revealed that Samsung may introduce a new feature called Intelligent Scan that will combine facial recognition and iris scanning. With the combined feature, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will be able to deliver robust security to their users.
Maxwell Weinbach, a senior member with XDA Developer forums has also uploaded a 6-second video that demonstrates the Intelligent Scan feature. The Galaxy S8, S8+, Galaxy Note 8 and the upcoming Galaxy S9 duo are all equipped with iris scanner and fingerprint scanner. The facial recognition feature that is combined with iris scanning will serve as another biometric recognition option on these phones.
Intelligent Scan has been never spotted in the software of any of the previous flagship phones by Samsung. Hence, it is speculated that Intelligent Scan is one of the new features that will be arriving on the Galaxy S9 and S9+ smartphones. One of the code strings that has been found through the teardown read “Unlock your phone using combined face and iris scanning.”
The Intelligent Scan will reportedly work well even in dim light conditions or very bright light. As it can be seen in the video, whether it is day or night, it will identify the face while the iris scanned simultaneously. The new feature surely appears to be an enhanced security but, it is not as secure as the fingerprint scanner. It can be used to authenticate the user in the different apps that support it.
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are expected to come preinstalled with Android 8.0 Oreo that is likely to bring along Intelligent Scan feature. It appears that the said feature will also arrive on Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note 8 through Android Oreo update.
Exploring the potential of virtual reality technology in the field of education, Lenovo has announced its VR Classroom Kit, which will use Lenovo’s Mirage Solo with Daydream — the world’s first standalone daydream VR head-mounted display.
This new VR classroom package from Lenovo is designed to bring virtual reality into the classroom and use it as a tool to enhance students’ learning experiences. Along with the Mirage Solo with Daydream, it also comes with plenty of educational content.
The VR Classroom set is aimed at students aged 13 or above, and the educational content includes over 700 VR field trips from Google Expeditions, along with three exclusive Jane Goodall “Wild Immersion” videos. Further, the Daydream app store has hundreds of apps for teachers to choose from.
The Mirage Solo with Daydream is a completely wireless-free headset and requires no connection to a PC or smartphone. It comes with a wireless Daydream controller for hand motion-based input. The company is also offering a Tab 4 PLUS 10-inch tablet for the teachers, a Ruckus R510 commercial router with high bandwidth for video content, and either a cart or case depending on the size of the bundle ordered.
Educators who are willing to adopt this new technology will receive an 18-month warranty to ensure everything works correctly throughout and all devices are in good working order. Teachers will also get monthly webinars to highlight concerns, share experiences and talk about best practices.
A three-student pack will be available on sale from April in the US and this fall in Canada for a price of $2,899, while the 10-student pack and 24-student pack will also be available but the pricing information is not available.
As we earlier reported, Xiaomi has today launched two new smart TV boxes in China — Xiaomi Mi Box 4 and Mi Box 4c. These fourth-generation TV boxes from Xiaomi are the successor of the Mi Box 3s and Mi Box 3c launched in November 2016.
The Mi Box 4 comes in a white colored body and measures 1.6cm in thickness. It weighs 145 grams and comes in its usual small square-shaped design. Under the hood, the device is powered by a 64-bit quad-core CPU and an unidentified GPU.
It packs 2GB RAM and 8GB of internal storage — same as its predecessor. It comes with AV interface port, HDMI port, and USB port for connectivity. The device supports 4K HDR Ultra HD quality content, h.265 hardware decoding and support for Dolby + DTS audio output. As of the software, it is likely to be running a custom MIUI-based interface.
As expected, the device also comes with an artificial intelligence technology that continuously monitors the user’s watching habits to recommend different types of content. The AI technology also takes into account movie reviews and commentaries for making recommendations.
It comes with the specially designed PatchWall system, an intelligent voice assistant which enables users to search for keywords, open applications, check the weather as well as calendar, among others. It also supports intelligent error correction and supports voice-activated smart appliances.
On the other hand, the Mi Box 4c is almost similar to the Mi Box 4 in terms of hardware and software. However, the company has reduced the memory configuration on the Mi Box 4c to just 1GB RAM and 4GB internal storage. While the Mi Box 4 comes in pure white color, this one comes in the matte black color.
The Xiaomi Mi Box 4 is priced at 349 Yuan while the Mi Box 4c is priced at 249 Yuan. The devices are currently up for pre-order and will start shipping from 1st February in China. At this time, there is no information about its availability in other markets.
Microsoft killed Windows 10 Mobile a long time back, but it has never stopped supporting it. Months ago the Redmond giant confirmed that the operating system was not going to receive new features anymore — the Fall Creators Update was the last major update and no hardware products would feature this operating system anymore. Now, Brandon LeBlanc from Microsoft has confirmed on Twitter that the OS will no longer receive new builds in the Insider Preview program. The operating system is slowly dying and it might soon be abandoned.
Actually, Microsoft was supporting Windows 10 Mobile with cumulative updates released every month. The versions compatible with the updates are Anniversary, Creators Update, and Fall Creators Update. This last one is also the last major update of the operating system rolled out by Microsoft. While the Fall Creators Update for PCs belongs to the Redstone 3 branch, the one for mobile devices is just an extension for Redstone 2 which has been called “feature2”. This means that it does not bring important changes or new important features, but it can be considered just a minor improvement over the previous version, even though it is being called as a major update.
At this moment, only two Windows 10 Mobile smartphones are available to purchase on the Microsoft online store in the U.S. and the other models have been all retired from the market. There are no U.S. carriers selling Windows phones currently, so it is really hard to find one. Satya Nadella declared months ago that if Microsoft is to ever come back to the mobile phones market, it will be with a device which is completely different from the ones we saw until now. By the way, many leaks (mostly patents) have recently hinted the existence of the Surface Phone, but nothing is official yet.
Sony is speculated debut the Xperia XZ Pro premium flagship smartphone next month through the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 event on Feb. 26. Previous reports have claimed that it could be world’s first smartphone to feature a 4K OLED display. Also, it is rumored to arrive with a trendy full screen design and is heavily pegged to be blessed with dual rear cameras. New schematics of the Xperia XZ Pro have surfaced to show its front and rear design.
In the image, the top bezel of the Xperia XZ Pro includes a selfie camera, a loudspeaker and a sensor and the bottom bezel features another loudspeaker. Fresh information suggests that the smartphone features an elongated display of 5.7 inches that offers an aspect ratio of 18:9. It could be the company’s first smartphone to arrive with 18:9 aspect ratio display.
Coming to the rear side of the phone, the top-left corner features a horizontally arranged dual camera setup with LED flash. The fingerprint scanner is not present on the front or rear of the phone as it is integrated under the Power button on the right side. The Sony Xperia XA2, Xperia XA2 Ultra and Xperia L2 smartphones that were unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018 have rear-mounted fingerprint readers that are positioned below the rear camera. Above the Power key is the volume rocker and below it is a dedicated button for launching the camera.
Previous leaks have revealed that the Xperia XZ Pro is fueled by Snapdragon 845 chipset that includes octa-core Kryo 385 processor and Adreno 630 graphics. The SoC is rumored to be coupled with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. The device is also expected to feature a microSD card slot.
The dual camera setup of the phone is speculated to include an 18-megapixel sensor with a pixel size of 1.33μm and a 12-megapixel sensor with a pixel size of 1.38 μm. It is likely to feature a selfie camera of 13-megapixel. The Android 8.0 Oreo OS will arrive preloaded installed on the phone. It is expected to be packed with a 3,420mAh battery. It may arrive with a pricing of about 6,000 Yuan (~$950).
After getting announced at MWC 2018, the Xperia XZ Pro may hit the shelves in June this year. The Japanese tech giant is also speculated to debut the Xperia XZ2 smartphone at the tech trade show in the next month.
Samsung has got lots of patents and keeps filing more by the day. One of the tech giant’s patents have been spotted online and just like several others we had seen in the past, it shows what the innovative company may include in its upcoming smartphones. The patent application was originally filed in the U.S patent office in July 2016 and is titled; “Real Time Authentication Based on Blood Flow Parameters”.
The patent describes a method to identify users by means of blood flow patterns in the finger or wrist. It is therefore yet another way in which Samsung hopes to authenticate users in a safe, and reliable way in the future. Apart from the facial recognition technology and the fingerprint, users may in the future be able to unlock their phone using their heartbeats. The technology relies on the principle arterial conduction paths of different users are almost never identical. Thus a smartwatch or phone using the technology could identify it’s owner based on his or her blood flow pattern and thus unlock the device.
The technology is applicable on smartphones and wearables, and even on laptops. So apart from passwords and pin codes, phone users may soon be able to unlock their device using either iris scanner, fingerprint sensor, and Face ID. We don’t think there is a strong assurance this can’t be hacked. Another thing, it is unlikely that this technology will find its way into Samsung phones anytime soon.
Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S9 and S9+ flagships on February 25 at MWC 2018. Already the official invite has been sent out for the launch but that isn’t enough to prevent the rumor mills from continuing to buzz with new details regarding the flagship models. A popular Twitter tipster @Ricciolo has now come out to reveal that the Galaxy S9 will be Samsung’s most expensive smartphone series ever. This is coming out now even though the tipster made disclosure sometime last week via a tweet which also hinted that the S9 lineup will be unveiled at MWC. Samsung eventually confirmed the launch date a few days after making the assertion worth considering.
Despite the tipster’s credible track record of revealing accurately details of upcoming models, it doesn’t look feasible that Samsung will introduce the flagship models with a new, higher price tag. The Galaxy S9 hand S9+ have featured on several leaked renders and the S9 dummy has even been spotted in a leaked video. The design looks very much like the Galaxy S8, with the prominent feature being the single rear camera. However, the Galaxy S9 is said to feature a single 12MP rear camera with optical image stabilization which also has a variable aperture (f/1.5 – f/2.4) lens. The variable aperture setup was first implemented on the Samsung W201 flip phone launched in China in November last year.
Apart from the upgraded camera and dual camera setup on the Galaxy S9+, both models are said to feature just incremental upgrades over the Galaxy S8 series. Of course, one major exception is the new processors that would be onboard. The models are expected to pack both the Snapdragon 845 chipset or an Exynos 8895 chipset in some cases. The Galaxy S8 was priced around $700 while the S8+ came in at around $800 last year. The 256GB variant of the S8+ surpassed the $1000 mark when it went on sale. But then, it would be a big gamble for Samsung to shoot up the Galaxy S9 lineup’s prices. So, we’ll keep our fingers crossed while we wait for the official details.
To recall, the Galaxy S9 is expected to feature a 5.77-inch Quad HD+ dual-curved Super AMOLED display while the Galaxy S9+ will come with a bigger 6.22-inch Quad HD+ dual-curved Super AMOLED display. The models are expected to pack either a Snapdragon 845 or an Exynos 9810 chipset and would be fueled by a 3,000mAh battery. Further, the Galaxy S9 will present with a 12MP rear camera with f/1.5 aperture and OIS and an 8MP selfie camera with f/1.7 aperture.
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