You Can Now Buy NO.1 F6 Smartwatch By Shelling Out Just $27.99 On GearBest

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Jan 21, 2018

Tablet sales may be declining but that doesn’t mean those who still have need for them shouldn’t be able to get newer models. Acer is one of the few manufacturers who still churn out new models and this year’s Iconia One 8 just showed up at the FCC.

The Acer Iconia One 8 (2018) is an entry level-tablet as seen from the specs. As evident from the name, this is an 8-inch tablet with a resolution of 800 x 1280. It is powered by a MediaTek MT8167A processor clocked at 1.3GHz paired with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage.

The Iconia One 8 (2018) packs a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front facing camera. This won’t take great pictures but should be manageable for video calls. There is Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi b/g/n for connectivity. Battery capacity is listed as 4500mAh.

Smartisan To Announce Revolutionary Product on May 15

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Jan 21, 2018

The IF Geekpark Innovation Conference is an annual event held in China. This year’s edition which began on Friday and ended today had a number of guests who are leaders in the tech industry. Amongst them is the CEO of Smartisan Luo Yonghao, who revealed an early info about their plans for 2018.

According to Mr. Yonghao, Smartisan has an event scheduled for May 15, 2018 at the beijing national Stadium which is also known as the “Bird’s Nest” thanks to its design.

While the event is still a good four months away, the CEO says the event is for the launch of a revolutionary product. This revolutionary product, according to him, will affect other products released in the next 8 to 10 years.

Earlier this month, a new Smartisan phone with model number OC106 was certified by the Chinese Communications Commission. Some say this might be the device launching in May but under the name Smartisan T3.

Much is not known about the device, however, this will most likely be their flagship of the year. We may also see the phone launch with a Snapdragon 845 processor according to this tweet from leaker @mmddj_.

Even Smartisan got SD845…

— 萌萌的电教 (@MMDDJ_) January 21, 2018

Apple Will Launch a 6.5-inch iPhone According to KGI Analysts

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Jan 21, 2018

As it happens every year, the marketing research firm KGI has released a report about the upcoming Apple devices through its analysts. KGI is one of the most reliable market analysis firms, so, even though their info is not official, there are good chances that they will be true. According to KGI analysts, Apple will release three new phones in 2018, which will feature different screen sizes. The first one will be a successor to iPhone X. The second one will be a device with a 6.2-inch panel and LCD technology.

This one might have a more affordable price than the iPhone X: it could cost somewhere between $650 to $750. The third iPhone, which also seems to be the most interesting, will sport a huge 6.5-inch panel with OLED technology. Obviously, all of these devices will have a borderless display with a very high screen-to-body ratio, or else they would be too big. The new phones are expected to be announced in the upcoming fall, just like every year. According to KGI, Apple will see 10% increase in shipments thanks to these iPhones. Actually, the industry year on year increase is 5 percent, so KGI thinks that the next phones will sell even more than the current ones.

Unfortunately, KGI did not release other info about the specs of the alleged three iPhones which will be launched in the fall. Recent leaks suggested that the design will not be so different from the one of the actual iPhone X, with a bezel-less display and a notch on the upper part of it. Artificial intelligence will be surely supported as it has become a trend, and we can also expect a more powerful Apple A12 SoC on the hardware side.

Do you think Apple will increase the price of its powerful smartphone even more if compared to this year?

(Via)

VAIO Will Launch New High-End Laptops With Intel 8th Gen CPUs, Long Battery Life

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Jan 21, 2018

Since the time Sony sold its share in VAIO, new products haven’t been impressive, even though it used to launch some of the best laptop PCs in the market. But this company has never abandoned the laptop market and now it is going to launch two new laptops with great hardware. The upcoming notebook will be called Vaio S11 and S13 and, to be accurate, they will be very compact ultrabooks, even though they will have flagship-level specs. Both the models will have a thickness of just 0.7 inches, while their weight will be 1.9 pounds and 2.4 pounds, respectively.

Vaio S11, as the name suggests, will sport an 11.6-inch monitor, while the S13 has a bigger 13.3-inch display. It will be possible to buy these laptops in multiple configurations, and you will be able to choose among two Intel 8th gen processors: Intel Core i5 8250U and Intel Core i7 8550U. Unlike the previous years, these processors are composed of four physical cores and eight threads, even though they do not belong to the HQ series. It will be possible to buy up to 16 GB of RAM and up to 1 TB of memory. Surprisingly, we are not talking about a hard disk: it will be an SSD.

Vaio S11 has a battery which can provide up to 15 hours of battery life, while the S13 lasts up to 12 hours on a single charge. The connectivity side includes three USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, an SD Card reader and 4G LTE (optional). They are surely among the most impressive ultrabooks of 2018, even though they do not offer a dedicated graphics card. But they are costly: their prices are going to start from $1365, and they should be made available to pre-order within this month. We do not have info about their availability on the global market.

(Via)

Alcatel 5 And 3V Show Up On Amazon France: Just Your Typical Mid-Range Phones

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Jan 21, 2018

TCL announced three new series of smartphones at CES 2018: Alcatel 1, 3, and 5. Two of these devices have just been spotted on the listings of Amazon France: Alcatel 3V and 5. But their specs are a bit disappointing, they are not the mid-rangers and high-end phones which you could have expected when the new series was unveiled at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month.

Even though it has an 18:9 display with a size of 6 inches and a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels, Alcatel 3V remains a low-end device. Under the hood, the phone sports a quad-core SoC, 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage which is possible to expand with a micro SD card. On the rear side, there is a dual camera setup with a resolution of 12 MP, but note that the info about the resolution is yet to be confirmed as other parts of the listing mention a different resolution. According to Amazon France, the handset has Android Oreo installed out of the box and a battery with a capacity of 3000 mAh.

Even Alcatel 5 is not a high-end phone, but just a mid-ranger. It has a 5.7-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels. On the hardware side, it has an octa-core SoC, 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage, expandable with a micro SD. The battery has the same capacity of 3000 mAh, and weirdly the operating system installed is still Android Nougat. Alcatel 3V has a listing price of €230 on Amazon France, while the 5 has a price tag of €189.99. Amazon France shows that the phones will be officially available starting from February 26.

(Via)

Photo of Xiaomi Mi 6X Rear Panel Leaks

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Jan 21, 2018

Last year, Xiaomi launched the Mi 5c and Mi 5X (Mi A1) as less powerful variants of 2016’s Mi 5 flagship. It appears we may be getting a successor to the Mi 5X, which is unsurprisingly called the Mi 6X.

A new leak regarding the upcoming device has surfaced in form of a photo of the phone’s rear. This is not the first time a leak of the Mi 6X has been seen. About a month ago, a photo of a TPU case was seen online.

Just like the first leak, the Mi 6X is shown sporting dual rear cameras arranged vertically and positioned on the left. This deviates from the horizontal arrangement of the Mi 5X. The image also shows the LED flash will sit in between the two lens, similar to Apple’s iPhone X.

However, there is another hole in the middle of the phone. It is obvious from its size that this is not for the fingerprint scanner and so we are in the dark as to what will sit in the hole.

The rest of the design is similar to that of the Mi 5X. It has the same antenna line design and the same curved sides too. It is also made of metal.

Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 13.3-inch Gets A Refresh With 8th-Gen. Intel i5 & i7 Processors

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Jan 21, 2018

Xiaomi has updated its Mi Notebook Air 13.3 laptop models, bring in the latest 8th-generation Intel Cre i5 and Core i7 processor on the two variants. The Mi Note Air was first launched in August 2016 in China and it came as a real challenger for the Apple iPad Air with a sleek design and equally stunning hardware setup. Since then, Xiaomi has added a new version with 4G LTE modem inside and has also upgraded the 12.5-inch model to include a seventh-gen Intel Core M3 processor which brought a 12% improvement in performance over the previous 6th generation Core M3. There is also a Mi Notebook Pro 15.6 inches model which was launched about four months ago. It should be noted that the new model packs the same Quad-core 8th-gen Intel Core i7 on the higher Notebook Pro.

Recall that Xiaomi last year upgraded the Mi Notebook Air 13.3 to a more powerful 7th gen Intel Core i7 processor clocked at 3.0GHz and also the second version to the 7th-gen Core i5 processor which brought some improvements in performance. Both models also were launched with fingerprint recognition technology. Now, Xiaomi has again upgraded the two 13.3-inch Mi Notebook models to the 8th-gen Intel Core i7 and 8th-gen Core i5 processors respectively. The processor is backed by a massive 8GB DDR4 memory and the laptop models also feature a 256GB PCIe SSD hard drive each, which can be expanded as well. It also packs custom AKG speakers like the previous models.

The new version comes with built-in NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphic card with up to 2GB GDDR5 new memory standard as against the previous version with a NVIDIA GeForce 940MX and just 1GB GDDR5 new memory standard. The fingerprint recognition technology is added on the upper right corner of the trackpad. The screen uses the 1080p resolution and comes with a 5.59mm-wide ultra-narrow bezel. The models also come with an upgraded cooling system with the use of ultra-thin metal blades which effectively controls the temperature and increases the performance. In addition, the new Mi Notebook 13 models come with a thin 14.8mm body made of metal and weighing 1.3kg. The battery can deliver up to 9.5 hours of usage and they all run on genuine Microsoft Windows 10 and have installed Ms Office Home and Student 2016.

Pricing & Availability

As for their prices, the Mi Notebook Air 13.3 version with the 8th gen Intel Core i5-8250U5 chip, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage and NVIDIA GeForce MX150 is priced at 5,399 Yuan (~$843) and is presently on pre-sale on Mi.com. While the Core i7 version is not yet available and the price wasn’t disclosed. It comes in dark gray colour.

(source)

Nokia Sends Invitation To MWC 2018 Launch On February 25, Nokia 9 & Others Expected

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Jan 21, 2018

HMD Global has released a poster which is an invitation to the Nokia unveiling event scheduled to hold on February 25, 2018, just before the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 commences. The event would take place between 4 pm and 5 pm at the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Arts. The invitation also includes a link for those who are interested to attend the event to register for seat reservation.

HMD Global did not reveal the product that would be launched on that day in the poster, but the poster indicated that the event was for an intimate and exclusive unveiling of the next chapter of Nokia phone’s story. What we can grab from this is that we may likely see the launch of Nokia’s next flagship phone- the Nokia 9 among others. Earlier on Thursday, HMD Global’s Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas hinted that the company had something major planned for MWC 2018.

Sorry for radio silence. Been super busy planning #MWC2018 . Please expect it to be awesome 😎

— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) January 18, 2018

Apart from the flagship Nokia 9, HMD Global could also take the wraps off Nokia 1 as well as the Nokia 6 (2018) for the global market, Nokia 3310 4G and perhaps, the Nokia 7 which has only been launched in China. It would be recalled that last year’s MWC saw a flurry of smartphone launch by the tech giant including the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6 and the redesigned Nokia 3310 feature phone. Apart from smartphones, the poster seems to suggest Nokia will launch a smart home product at the event. We are not so sure about that anyway, so we’ll wait until the event to find out.

Huawei Emerges As The Most Preferred Chinese Mobile Brand

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Jan 21, 2018

Huawei is presently the leading smartphone brand in China and has won several awards as a result of its innovativeness and authenticity. Huawei was recently voted as the most authentic brand in China and bow, the tech giant has emerged as the winner of the China mobile phone industry most recommended brand in 2018. The award is based on the China Net Promoter Score (C-NPS) brand ranking and analysis and is collated by a leading brand rating agency in China known as Chnbrand.

This is the first time Huawei is clinching the award and to do that, it displaced Apple which had a good rating among consumers in China. C-NPS reflects the degree to which consumers with consumer experiences are willing to recommend business products or services to others. By surveying consumers nationwide, C-NPS deducts the proportion of active referrals among existing customers of a company’s products or services (-100 ~ 100), so as to get the net recommendation value.

The 2018 C-NPS survey covered 35 cities across China and surveyed residents who were between 15 and 64 years old. Random sampling was conducted based on sex, age, and income, with a total sample size of 2,450,026. This is another catalyst for Huawei to continue on its path to providing optimum consumer satisfaction. Huawei is no doubt a strong brand in China but one question that may still plague the minds of Huawei’s Executives is how and when will the company break into the highly sought after U.S market. That is turning out to be a million dollar question because there is no prospect of that happening soon.

(source)

Alleged Samsung Galaxy J8 (2018) Surfaces in GFXBench and Geekbench databases

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Jan 21, 2018

A new handset that is rumored to be the Samsung Galaxy J8 (2018) has been spotted on Geekbench and GFXBench’s listings. Thanks to these famous benchmarking platforms, we know all the main specs of the phone. It is identified by the code SM-J720F, and that is what makes us think that it is the J8. According to GFXBench, its display has the classic 16:9 aspect ratio and a size of 5.5 inches. It shows images at an HD resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, which is a step back if we compare it with the J7 (2017).

The alleged Samsung Galaxy J8 (2018) has an octa-core Samsung Exynos 7885 chipset inside, which can run at a max frequency of 1.6 GHz. The RAM is 4 GB, while the internal storage is 32 GB. On the back side, there is a single rear camera with a resolution of 12 MP, while the secondary camera for selfies has an 8 MP resolution. Both the sensor can record videos with a maximum resolution of 1080p. The operating system installed is Android 8.0.0 Oreo; we do not have any info about the battery as this info never appears on benchmark listings. Samsung Galaxy J8 (2018) might be the first phone by the company to have Android Oreo installed out of the box.

We say this because it may arrive before MWC 2018, which is the trade show in which Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus will be official. We do not know if Samsung Galaxy J8 will be sold in Europe, but the chances are high. In the last period, Samsung launched another smartphone in Europe: Samsung Galaxy A8. It shares many things in common with the Galaxy S8, but it is sold at a more affordable price (the listing price for Europe is €499). If it is coming in Europe, the J8 will be even more affordable than the A8.

(Via)

Huawei Mate 10 Pro Is The Ultimate Winter Flagship: Works Inside A Frozen Lake

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Jan 20, 2018

Huawei is putting serious effort into promoting its 2017 flagship Mate 10 series, especially the Mate 10. Just recently, we were thrilled by a video of the Mate 10 Pro surviving inside a freezer unscathed for 4 hours even as temperatures reached -24 degrees. Now Huawei has released another test showing the device under icy water in a frozen lake.

These tests seem to be targeted at Apple whose iPhones, iPads and other devices usually come with low-temperature protection such that when it is left is low temperatures below zero, a series of response occur which eventually result in the phone shutting down. According to Apple’s official website, the best operating temperature for iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple Watch is between 0 ℃ and 35 ℃ while for the MacBook, it is between 10 ℃ and 35 ℃. That isn’t so for the Mate 10 as it has been shown to still remain functional even in the most extreme of temperatures. Huawei even indicated on its website that the optimal operating temperature of the Mate 10 Pro is 0-35 degree Celsius but this test and the previous one done in a freezer show that the Mate 10 Pro can survive in far lower temperatures.

In this case, the Mate 10 Pro was still able to accept an incoming call still inside the frozen lake. What more does Huawei need to do to prove the Mate 10 Pro is super powerful? Perhaps drop it from the third floor of a building? We don’t know if the device will survive that. All we know is that the Mate 10 Pro comes with an IP67 waterproof and dustproof body, coupled with an excellent full-screen design, a powerful SoC with AI capabilities and the latest EMUI 8.0.

(source)

Google and Tencent Form Alliance, Agree To Share Patents

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Jan 20, 2018

While most tech companies have a rival(s), it is not unusual to hear of some of them forming partnerships. News has it that Google and China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. are forming an alliance.

The result of the over $500 billion worth alliance is an exchange of patents related to a number of technologies and products. It will also see both tech giants collaborate on new technologies for the overall benefit of users.

One other major benefit it will bring for both companies is to help ease Google back into China and to expand’s Tencent’s business overseas.

Quite a number of Google services are blocked in China at the moment and Google itself pulled its search engine from the country in 2010 after defying China’s self-censorship rules.

Photos of Samsung Galaxy S9+ Lookalike Surfaces From Shenzhen’s Huaqiang North

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Jan 20, 2018

The Galaxy S9 duo will be the first flagships of the year to come with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 845 mobile platform. Though both phones share a number of similarities to their predecessors, the Galaxy S9+ is the one getting a huge upgrade, thanks to an additional rear camera sensor.

And just like last year, there will be tens of phones that will copy the design of both phones. Heck! We already even have clones of the S9+ popping out of Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei/Huaqiang North, an area known as a major electronics manufacturing hub.

The pictures show the “Galaxy S9+” in blue and gold variants complete with the dual camera setup, fingerprint scanner, and Samsung branding. There is also that mirror-like finish which pops really nicely on the blue variant.

This is a well-made clone no doubt that can pass for the real deal until you start noticing the details. First the bezels on the front are super thick, even thicker than the ones on the S8+. Though we have to praise them for getting the UI right.

Meizu M6S Hands On: Smart Features & Solid Build Quality Makes It A Strong $150 Smartphone

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Joel Joseph

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Jan 20, 2018

Meizu announced its first smartphone of the year, the Meizu M6S a couple of days back. After a dull 2017, the company seems to have done their homework this time, bringing a solid contender in the $150 price segment, directly taking on the current champion, the Redmi 5 Plus. So, it was very important that we got our Meizu M6S hands on as soon as possible to see if it lives up to our expectations.

The phone borrows a lot of design elements from the Meizu Pro 6, including nano injected U shaped antenna lines in a solid metal body. Also, with this phone, Meizu is joining the 18:9 club, featuring a 5.7-inch HD+ display on the front. This reduces the bezels on all the sides, making it similar to the Redmi 5 Plus and other 18:9 phones in the market. The back has a smooth finish with the camera sensor and flash placed at the center for a perfect symmetry. The logo lies below them, and given that our unit is from the first batch of M6S, we got the mblu branding at the back. After the initial batch is sold out, new M6S units will feature just the Meizu branding at the back.

Coming back to the front, we definitely have to talk about the Halo button on the screen. It’s called as Super mBack, an updated version of the popular mBack button, but this time around, it’s a virtual button instead of a physical one that’s seen on other Meizu devices. But it’s not your typical onscreen button as it features a pressure sensitive chip as well as a linear vibration motor below it to ensure smooth navigation. So, the halo button basically acts as the mBack button, in the virtual form.

Meizu M6s hands on (8) — Halo button on Meizu M6S

You can touch for going back, press for getting to the home screen, swipe for multitasking and do a lot more with this one button. Check out this article for more details on how this Halo button works. However, if you are not used to Meizu’s mBack, it might take some time for you to get used to the gestures. Of course, if you want stock Android buttons, you can use them as well. Also, Meizu’s VP has confirmed that you will be getting an option to hide this halo button in the February 5 update, which opens up a bit more screen real estate.

Another interesting aspect of the Meizu M6S is its side mounted fingerprint sensor. Often companies shift fingerprint sensors to the back in an 18:9 display phone, but in this case, Meizu thought that wasn’t the optimal solution. Hence, the fingerprint sensor goes to the right side of the phone, below the power button. The placement is good, as you can instantly access the sensor to unlock the phone. The sensor is quick to recognise your registered fingerprint, and it’s as fast as other phones. Also, note that you almost never use the power button as the phone instantly wakes up as soon as your fingerprint is recognised.

The 3.5mm headphone jack, MicroUSB port, and speakers are located at the bottom. The volume buttons and the SIM card slots are placed on the left side of the phone.

Overall, I like the built quality and finish of the Meizu M6S. The camera is quite okay so far, but I haven’t tested it out yet. It may not be as good as the M6 Note, but we’ll be adding camera samples and its comparison with the Redmi 5 Plus very soon. So stay tuned!

Meanwhile, you can take a look at some additional Meizu M6S Hands on pictures down below.

Rumor Alert: Nokia Working On Phone With 5 Rear Cameras

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Jan 20, 2018

In 2017, we saw a number of manufacturers release phones with four cameras. A few examples are the Gionee S11s, Nubia Z17S, Meitu V6, and a number of Huawei and Honor phones. Now there is a rumor that HMD Global is working on a Nokia phone with five cameras!!!

The info comes from a source who is privy to Foxconn’s business plans, as the company is said to be working with HMD Global on the project. As we all know, Foxconn handles production of HMD’s Nokia phones.

According to the source, the Nokia phone with the penta-lens will have a circular camera housing similar to that of the Lumia 1020. There will be seven holes arranged within the circle. Five of those holes will each hold a sensor while the other two will house the LED flash. There are no details as to how the sensors will work though.

Based on the description above, we are looking at a phone with 6 or 7 cameras in total if we count a single or dual camera system in front too. It is also reported to have a full-screen design.

The source says if Foxconn is able to find a way to mass produce it, we may see this spectacular phone launch later this year.

OnePlus 5T Lava Red Now On Sale In India for ₹37,999 ($595)

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