ZTE Blade V9 Spotted On FCC Running Android Oreo OS

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Jan 27, 2018

A few days ago, Xiaomi again announced a temporary suspension of the Android Oreo update for the Mi A1. Latest report says the update is now back and comes with a number of fixes.

This is the third time Xiaomi is rolling out the update for the Android One smartphone. In the past 2 weeks, it has halted the roll-out, citing bugs as the reason for doing so. Below is the change-log for the new update:

Optimize audio parameters.
Remove the “quick charge” on the lockscreen when charging.
Integrate the performance optimization of MIUI.
Fix “bluetooth power consumption issue”.
Add Korean input method.
Fix “the dialer icon is missing after the upgrade”.
Fix “camera cannot connect sometimes”.
Fix“couldn’t connect to network sometimes”.
Update the Feedback APP.
Fix “fingerprint unlocking speed is slow ”.

Huami IPO: Number Of Shares & Price Per Share Details Announced

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Jan 27, 2018

Xiaomi‘s partner Huami, best known for the Mi Band 2 and its Amazfit Sports smartwatch line up, recently filed for a $150 million US IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The terms of the Huami IPO has now been announced by the Chinese wearable manufacturer. This is coming two weeks after filing its IPO application with SEC.

Huami plans to raise $110 million by offering 10 million ADSs at a price range of $10 to $12. In this context, ADSs stand for American depositary shares and they are U.S. dollar-denominated equity shares of a foreign-based company available for purchase on an American stock exchange. American Depositary Shares (ADSs) are issued by depository banks in the U.S. under an agreement with the issuing foreign company. According to IPO experts Renaissance Capital, Huami would command a fully diluted market value of $662 million at the midpoint of the proposed range. The details also include that the shares would be categorized as Class A and Class B based on the value of each unit.

The company plans to get listed on the world’s largest stock exchange, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol HMI. This is contrary to earlier information that Huami would be listed on Nasdaq Stock Exchange, the second-largest exchange in the world. Credit Suisse Securities (United States), Citigroup Global Markets Inc., and Huaxing Securities (Hong Kong) are the joint bookrunners (underwriters) on the deal. The IPO is expected to price during the week of February 5, 2018. Selling shareholders of Wal-Mart will also provide the underwriters with an option to purchase up to 1.5 million additional ADSs in the event of an oversubscription.

Leaked Image Hints Chrome OS Tablets Coming This Year

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Jan 27, 2018

Google’s Chrome OS has seen much development over the years since it was first announced. Now available on two major hardware devices – laptops and desktops (Chromeboxes), it may be coming soon to a third category – tablets.

It is no news that Android has taken a turn for the worse on tablets. Sales have declined over the years and the experience is no different from what you get on a phone. So apart from the larger screen, there is no big advantage in productivity. What if we swapped the Android OS for Chrome OS? What are the benefits?

First, that screen estate can be put into good use as Chrome OS is a desktop style operating system. You also have free-floating resizeable windows open at the same time unlike Android’s split-screen multitasking which is limited to just two apps.

Chrome OS is one of the most secure operating systems at the moment. Updates are not reliant on manufacturers like Android but handled by Google. Software update support, according to Google, is for five years which is more than you can get on most Android devices.

Apart from Chrome extensions, you also have access to all the apps on the Play Store. So you see, you are not really losing anything. Battery life is also amazing.

On Thursday, Twitter user @Alister_Payne tweeted a photo of an Acer tablet running Chrome OS seen at an event in the UK. This is the first public appearance of a tablet running Chrome OS.

Sadly, no specification details were given but the tablet does look to be sporting a 9.7” display with a 4:3 aspect ratio. There is also a front camera at the top for video calls.

The Moto G6 Play Is Back And It Looks Good In These 3D Renders

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Jan 27, 2018

Motorola skipped the Play series last year, instead we got a new “S” sub-series, at least for the G5 and G5 Plus. This year the series is making a comeback and renders of the Moto G6 Play have leaked online. These renders come a few days after that of the Moto E5 and are from the same source too.

From the images, it appears skipping a year has done the Play series some good. The Moto G6 Play is shown to sport an 18:9 display, though the bezels are not as small as we have seen on other devices.

There is no physical home button on the chin, which in some models double as a fingerprint scanner. Instead, it is home to the manufacturer’s name which makes us wonder why the size wasn’t reduced a bit more. The forehead on the other hand is moderately sized. It is home to a notification LED, sensors, front camera, and the earpiece. It also has a LED flash on the right.

The rear of the Moto G6 Play doesn’t look bad either. The phone is curved on both sides to allow for a better grip. Leaker @OnLeaks says its made of glass but we think this is just polished metal. Motorola doesn’t use glass for the entry-level and lower mid-range category and it doesn’t seem it will be doing that soon.

For the camera setup, Motorola is sticking to its circular design but its switching to that of the Moto X4; which has vertical strokes surrounding the circle housing the sensor and flash. Beneath the camera is the famous Motorola batwing logo. There are rumors that this will be the new home of the fingerprint scanner. While that will definitely be cool, best believe not all models will have a fingerprint scanner.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZQswSyqBlg[/embedyt]

The rest of the design are not out of the usual. Volume rocker and power button are on the right side, 3.5mm audio jack sits at the top, and there is a micro USB port at the bottom.

Coolpad Takes Xiaomi To Court Over Patent Infringement

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Jan 27, 2018

Yulong Computer Communications Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of the Coolpad Group has sued Xiaomi and three others to court over alleged patent infringements.

The defendants are Xiaomi Communications Technology Co., Ltd (1), Xiaomi Technology, Co, Ltd (2), Shezhen Tongtianda Electronics Co. Ltd (3), and the first branch of Xiaomi Co. Ltd Shenzhen (4).

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff (Yulong) claims that the defendants produced, promised to sell, and sold products that infringed on three of its patents. The patents are listed below:

Patent No. ZL200610034034.8
Patent No. ZL201210250264.3
Patent No ZL201210064396.7

All three patents are said to relate to app icon management, notifications, and system UI.

Yulong says the patent infringements has caused it serious losses and is demanding that the court grants an immediate order stopping the defendants from the production, promise to sell, and selling of the products that infringe on its patents.

It also requests that the first and fourth defendants should pay compensation for the losses it has suffered, bear the full cost of legal fees, notarization fees, and other reasonable fees paid towards stopping the patent infringement.

The case has been accepted at the Guangdong Province Intermediate People’s Court but hearing on the matter hasn’t begun.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S Could Be Released Even Before MWC 2018

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Jan 27, 2018

We recently got wind of speculations that China’s Xiaomi Inc. would be launching a new Mix 2S along with the Mi 7. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is no doubt an upgraded version of the flagship Mi Mix 2 which was unveiled last year. Xiaomi was tipped to release the device at MWC 2018 but there is a new rumor in town that the Mix 2S may just drop well before the start of MWC 2018.

The source of the rumor happens to be a Weibo tipster who confirmed that Xiaomi is planning the launch of the Mix 2S and that it may even be launched before MWC 2018. He didn’t reveal any further details but asked readers to guess which of the upcoming models would be Xiaomi’s first Snapdragon 845 -powered model. There is no doubt the Mi 7 will covet that crown even though we don’t know the processor the Mi2S would pack. It is unlikely, though, that XIaomi would utilize a Snapdragon 845 chip on the model when a Mi Mix 3 is still expected to be launched, packing an SD 845 chip, later this year.

For the avoidance of doubt, there is no official confirmation of the existence of a Mi Mix 2S. The render of the device which was spotted online recently looked like that of the iPhone X which was photoshopped. But a second picture housing the renders of the device appeared on Slashleak (picture below). As can be seen, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S screen accounts for almost 100% of the device with some more reduction in the bezels compared to the Mix 2.

Also Trending: Huami IPO: Number Of Shares & Price Per Share Details Announced

The front camera is located on the top right corner in this case as against the bottom right on the Mix and Mix 2. As a result, there is an awkward-looking notch on the right side. The bottom bezel also looks more narrow than that of the top edge since the front camera is redeployed to the top. At the rear, the design isn’t different from the Mix 2, with a single rear camera, rear fingerprint sensor with 18K gold decorative ring around the rear camera and a ceramic body. The design looks just perfect for an offshoot of the Mix 2 but still, neither the design or the device itself is yet to be confirmed. The device is expected to be priced around 4000 Yuan.

Nokia 7 Plus With Snapdragon 660 Processor Spotted On Geekbench

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Jeet

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Jan 27, 2018

After launching Nokia 7 last year, HMD Global is now preparing to launch its bigger variant — Nokia 7 Plus. The phone, which appeared last month in the Nokia’s unreleased camera app, has now been spotted on benchmarking site Geekbench.

This is the first time that the information regarding the upcoming Nokia 7 Plus has surfaced online. While we were expecting the phone to pack bigger display and a better processor, nothing was known apart from the phone’s name.

Now, the benchmark listing of the Nokia 7 Plus reveals that the phone will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor along with 4GB RAM. It also reveals that the device will run Android 8.0 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box.

In comparison, the Nokia 7, which was launched in China in October last year, is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor and 4GB/6GB RAM. It features a 5.2-inch Full-HD IPS display with a layer of Gorilla Glass on top.

In the benchmark results of the Nokia 7 Plus, the phone scores 1636 in the single-core test while the score for the multi-core test stands at 5902. No more information is available at this time regarding this phone.

While we don’t expect the Nokia 7 Plus to make its debut at the Mobile World Congress, there’s a possibility that the company could announce the phone at MWC for the global market given that Nokia 7 is still China exclusive.

The company is likely to launch its next flagship phone — the Nokia 9, among others at MWC 2018. The Finland-based company is also expected to announce Smart Home products at the February 25 press event.

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. We also expected to see the launch of Nokia 3310 4G as well as the Nokia 7’s global rollout, as the phone has only been launched in China. We’ll have to wait until the event to find out the company’s plan for the year.

(Source, Via)

Samsung Galaxy S9 And S9 Plus Press Render Leak Shows Minor Design Changes

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Jeet

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Jan 27, 2018

Samsung has already announced that it will unveil its flagship smartphone of the year — Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus on 25th February in Barcelona, a day ahead of the Mobile World Congress. While we pretty much knew what to expect from the upcoming devices, one thing that was not leaked so far was the press renders.

Now, Evan Blass (@evleaks), a reliable phone leaker, has shared the press renders of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, revealing the front side of the devices. The leak confirms what has been known — the design of the new flagship phones will be almost similar to their predecessors.

Samsung was praised for the design of the Galaxy S8 and its bigger variant, Galaxy S8 Plus. So it makes sense for the South Korean giant to carry-on with the same design. On the top bezels, there’s camera sensor as well as other sensors. It also wouldn’t be surprising if these sensors and camera offer front-facing selfies with a portrait effect, similar to the Pixel 2 and iPhone X.

As the Unpacked invitation suggests, the major highlight for both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus will be refreshed hardware and software for photography. We expect to see features like motion-detection, “super slow-mo” video capture, among others. 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.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus are expected to feature 18.5:9 Infinity Display Super AMOLED screens of 5.8-inches and 6.2-inches, respectively. In the US and China, the devices will be powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 845 processor while 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.

Recently, it was revealed that the Galaxy S9 will come powered by a 3,000mAh battery while the bigger variant, Galaxy S9 Plus will have a 3,500mAh battery — same as their predecessors.

Earlier, Evan Blass had revealed that the Galaxy S9 series will be available on pre-orders starting from March 1. The shipments of the pre-ordered units are expected to start from 16th March.

(Source)

Smartphone Sales In China Decline For The First Time In The History!

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Jan 26, 2018

Since 2009, the smartphone market in China has always grown until 2016, according to the market research firm Canalys. In the recent years the growth has been much smaller, but the market at least was going up. But in 2017, for the first time, smartphone sales in China fell. In 2017 fewer devices have been sold in China, compared to 2016. To be accurate, in 2017, 459 million smartphones were shipped in China, which is 4% less than the number of units shipped in 2016. The most important decline was registered in Q4 2017 (from October to December), in which 14% less devices were sold compared to Q4 2016.

According to Canalys, Huawei is actually the best smartphones brand in China with 90 million devices shipped in 2017. Right after Huawei are Oppo and Vivo, owned by the same tech giant BBK. At the 4th place we can find Apple, then at the 5th place, there is the Chinese Apple (Xiaomi). In Q4 2017 , Huawei has sold more units than Oppo and Vivo: 24 million, compared to 19 million and 17 million of its opponents. The analysts think that Q4 2017 is the best quarter ever registered in China for Huawei, but it is the exact opposite for the Chinese smartphones market in general.

Talking about Huawei, the most successful devices were the Honor line-up, which represents more than half of the units shipped by Huawei in 2017. On the other hand, there are companies that are becoming weaker in the Chinese market, like Meizu, Gionee, Lenovo, and ZTE. Indeed, if we look at the success rate of their latest flagships, we can easily understand that it was a bad year for them. If this continues, it would mean Huawei would grow further while other brands decline in terms of sales, thereby increasing the gap between these companies. Further, the lead would help Huawei take on the top two players in the market and overtake them in the coming years. So, this trend is great for Huawei but bad for the Chinese smartphone market in general.

(Via)

Meizu M15 Plus Renders Leaked, Packs iPhone-Like Home Button, Ring Flash & More

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Jan 26, 2018

Meizu will roll out the drums to celebrate 15 solid years in the electronics technology industry where it began with the manufacture of MP3 players. To mark its 15th year of existence, the tech giant is said to be planning the launch of an anniversary flagship phone which would have the design input of Meizu’s president Jeffery Wang. That model is said to be the M15 Plus (and the M15). Here’s what the Meizu M15 Plus looks like, as captured on leaked renders of the front and rear aspects of the device. The render images were shared by popular Weibo Chinese tipster @Ubuntu team who has got some level of credibility when it comes to leaks going by his antecedents. But then, we are not sure this is the final design the flagship would adopt.

The device comes with a curved edge design both at the front and back. There is no rear-mounted fingerprint sensor neither do we have the oblong-shaped mBack home button. The side fingerprint sensor used on the M6S wasn’t featured on the rendered design. Instead, there is a round-shaped home button similar to the iPhone’s button and which is believed to also house the fingerprint sensor. The device also packs a centrally placed selfie shooter. The position of the selfie shooter and the home button elicits doubts if the M15 Plus will pack a full screen 18:9 design. Well, except the renders do not depict the actual design.

Previous Leak: MEIZU M15 Plus Retail Box

At the rear, you’ll get a dual camera sensor arranged in the vertical direction while under the camera setup, is a unique round LED flash. Meizu has a reputation for innovative camera flash designs so this isn’t coming as a big surprise. The device also features its volume rockers at the left side of the display while the power button is located at the right side. The specifications of the M15 Plus is still shrouded in mystery. We don’t even know the processor it would pack. Whether Meizu will retain its patronage of MediaTek or would utilize its recent cooperation with Qualcomm to equip the flagship with a Snapdragon 845 chip. Still, the M15 Plus could utilize Samsung’s latest Exynos 9810 chip considering recent reports of Samsung selling its chipsets to other OEMs going forward. Besides, Meizu has always had a good alliance with Samsung.

IWOWNFIT i6 HR Fitness Tracker Features A Large Touch Screen For Under $30

By

Alex Wang

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Jan 26, 2018

The market is flooded with fitness trackers and many of them are under $30. You have Xiaomi, Huawei, Huami, and a lot more brands competing in this market and then there are little known brands like IWOWNFIT. They might not be the best out there, but at under $30, the company’s latest fitness tracker, the IWOWNFIT i6 HR does offer pretty interesting features.

The highlight of the IWOWNFIT i6 HR Fitness tracker is its large touch screen. It’s bigger than the Xiaomi Mi Band 2 and offers larger icons and letters which are easy on the eyes. Rest of the features of the tracker are standard as other competitors. So you have your usual pedometer, calorie tracker, sleep tracker, heart rate monitor, and it can even connect with your smartphone to show up up to 8 notifications at once. The touch screen is simple to use and for $26.99, you can’t expect anything more from this device.

You can get around 5-6 days of battery life, in one charge. Getting the battery to 100% takes around an 45 minutes and given that it takes just about an hour, it won’t be a tedious task to charge it once a week. Plus, the fitness tracker comes with a full size USB connector which goes into any standard USB input on your PC or laptop making the charging process simple and hassle free.

There are multiple band options available for the IWOWFIT i6 HR fitness tracker and given its ~$26 price tag, you get all the standard features that you would expect on a fitness wearable on a large OLED touch screen without hurting your pockets.

You can get it on Amazon for just $26.99.

Potential Security Threat! A Cracked Fingerprint Sensor On A Phone In China Could Be Unlocked By Anyone

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Jan 26, 2018

Fingerprint security may not be the safest form of security available but its adoption on smartphones are getting wider usage. Apart from locking the smartphone in order to avoid unwarranted access to owner’s privacy, fingerprint technology is now being deployed in online payment and other aspects. Even though phone manufacturers are quick to always warn that it is not very safe, it is not surprising to find that some phone users still make use of it. However, a shocking discovery has emerged that a broken fingerprint sensor can be unlocked by just anybody’s fingers apart from the stored fingerprint.

A video uploaded on China’s video sharing and live streaming platform Miaopai seems to chronicle the demonstration of the effect a crack on the fingerprint has on the integrity of the smartphone’s fingerprint technology. The video was created by a dude named Xiao Xu and even though he spoke in Chinese we have been able to transcribe what he said and you can watch the video from below. He claimed his mobile phone accidentally fell down and the screen got cracked around the front-facing fingerprint sensor area. Thereafter, he tried using the fingerprint unlock feature and found out it still worked fine and even could make fingerprint payment on AliPay using the sensor. Another day, a classmate wanted to check out his phone which he left idle and surprisingly, the friend’s fingerprint unlocked the phone. Further probing revealed that everyone else could unlock the smartphone with their fingerprint and not only that, fingerprint payment was possible.

This is coming on the heels of a recent unconfirmed assertion that an orange peel can be used to override the fingerprint sensor and unlock a smartphone. The orange peel, it is claimed, can be used to effect fingerprint payment on the smartphone. We don’t know how true these claims are but in an era where fingerprint technology is almost finding a place on all classes of smartphones, these are grave causes for concern. For now, no official confirmation has been issued by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information (TENAA) which is responsible for certification and quality assurance of smartphones manufactured in China.

Perhaps, your smartphone has got a cracked sensor? Then you can try this out to see if an unauthorized fingerprint can unlock your mobile. If not, we’ll have to wait for a response from the relevant authorities and hope that comes out quickly, considering the potential security risk this could pose to millions of smartphone users around the world who already use fingerprint payment with their mobile. It’s crazy to even imagine that a thief can steal someone’s phone and simply crack the screen then get access to the victim’s funds and other sensitive details. Just crazy! These are even several other reports of hacked fingerprint sensors using various methods. With these negative reports, do you think fingerprint technology could last the next 10 years on smartphones? Let us know your thought in the comment section.

Alleged Moto E5 And E5 Plus Models Spotted At FCC

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Jan 26, 2018

Two brand new Motorola devices have been spotted on FCC listings. They are identified by the codes XT1922-4 and XT1922-5, and they are rumored to be the upcoming Moto E5 and E5 Plus. Indeed, from the codes pattern, it looks like that these handsets are the two variants of the same device. According to speculations, they might even be the Plus and Play variants of the E5, as this year Motorola is expected to launch three variants of its budget device. In case you don’t know, these handsets belong to the entry-level series of Motorola, so they will be sold at budget prices.

moto e5

The FCC did not reveal much about them: we only know that one of the alleged Moto E5 variants has a battery with a capacity of 4,000 mAh. This info is probably true: the predecessor of this phone in its Plus version was equipped with a huge 5,000 mAh battery, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see another battery monster. No other info has been unveiled by FCC, so for the rest of the specs, we have to rely on rumors and leaks.

Rumors have suggested that even though it will be affordable, the Moto E5 will still sport a full metal unibody design and a fingerprint reader on the back side. Just to remind you, the Moto E4 has a 5-inch display with an HD resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. Under the hood, it sports a quad-core MediaTek MT6737 SoC with a max frequency of 1.3 GHz, 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage which is possible to expand with a micro SD. The cameras have resolutions of 8 and 5 MP, and even though they are nothing special in terms of photo and video quality, the secondary sensor is equipped with a front-facing LED flash to shoot selfies in low light conditions. So, its predecessors were entry level devices and the same is expected of the upcoming models.

(Via)

Meizu M6s Looks Different From Its Predecessors In The First Teardown

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Jan 26, 2018

With the launch of the Meizu M6s, the Chinese company has made some new design choices to make it look more attractive than its predecessors. Turns out, the same changes are applicable in designing the internals too. The first teardown of the phone has been conducted in China, and thanks to it we now know how to disassemble the phone and how its internal components have been placed. Even though it is an original phone in terms of aesthetics, it doesn’t look very hard to disassemble it.

To open the phone you have to turn it off, remove the SIM card tray, and remove two screws on the bottom side, located near the USB Type-C port. Then you will need a pick or something similar to remove the back cover, but fortunately, you won’t have to heat the phone to make it come out. A difficult thing might be to remove the side-mounted fingerprint reader which is glued to the right side of the phone and it is also directly connected to the motherboard.

It will be easy to access the motherboard of the Meizu M6s once you disconnected the display and the other components. The last important step is to remove seven more screws in order to take out the battery. Head to the source link below for the complete procedure.

(Via)

Flyme 7 February Launch Was Fake, But There’s A Surprise On Jan. 30: Official

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Jan 26, 2018

The media was recently awash with news that Meizu would be releasing a new Flyme version on February 24 but information reaching us from inside sources within the company indicate that the news is fake. We had seen a poster which not only intimated us of the launch date but also a screenshot of the features the new custom UI will bring along with it. A Meizu Engineer has now come out to discredited such news as mere rumors.

The Flyme Engineer is said to have also taken a swipe at the font style deployed on the design of the number 7. The promotional poster was also given knocks for its ugly-looking graphic design. Although the news isn’t true, discussions centered on Flyme 7 has often cropped up on the Flyme forum since last year as fans are already looking forward to it. Meizu’s Flyme OS is considered as one of the best Android-based custom UI bringing stability, fluidity, security to the smartphone’s UI.

There is still reason to be excited, though, because Meizu has revealed that there is a surprise coming up next week Tuesday which is January 30. Some already guess the company will release the M15 on that day but that is unlikely. Perhaps, Meizu will on Tuesday next week announce the launch date for its next big product. We are not so sure about that anyway because the M6s is only a couple of weeks out of the box.

LG Mobile Shows Disappointing Financial Results In Q4 2017

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Jan 26, 2018

While Chinese companies like Huawei and Xiaomi are growing significantly as revealed by market researchers in the last year, LG is still registering a financial decline for its mobile division. The Korean company has just published its financial results of 2017 and the situation is disappointing. While LG Electronics registered impressive profits, LG Mobile division has registered a big loss in Q4 2017 (from October to December last year). Technically, it is a smaller loss if we compare it with the one from Q3 2017, but it is still quite a figure.

LG Mobile has lost KRW 213.2 billion (that roughly translates into $192.33 million), as compared to KRW 375.3 billion ($331.37 million) in the Q3 2017. From these results, we can understand that the situation will not change anytime soon and it will be hard for the company to achieve a solid profit in 2018. In the last two years, the only quarter in which the company made profits with its mobile division was Q1 2017 — the quarter in which the G6 flagship was announced. But it was a small profit: just $3.2 million. Before that, the last quarter of profits has been even farther, in Q1 2015.

In the whole 2017, LG Mobile has registered total sales of KRW 11.67 trillion ($10.52 million): worse than 2016, a year in which the company registered $11.71 billion in sales. According to the company, the most important factors which led to this disappointing results is “a challenging marketplace and a strong competition from Chinese brands” like Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. Further, the company does not seem to start 2018 in the best way, as the launch of its main flagship LG G7 has been postponed. It will not be showcased at MWC 2018 like tradition: instead, we will see an improved version of the LG V30.

(Via)

iPad Pro 2018 Edition Could be Best Ever iPad with iPhone X-Like Design

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 26, 2018

Well-known KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had claimed in October 2017 that the 2018 iPad Pro will be borrowing TrueDepth Camera and Face ID features from the Apple iPhone X. Recent rumors have suggested that the 2018 iPad Pro may sport an edge-to-edge screen flanked with slim-sized bezels. Some information that have surfaced through the code of iOS 11.3 beta has certain references for a “modern iPad” suggest that the 2018 iPad Pro would be equipped with a notch like the iPhone X.

Before launching the iPhone X, the Cupertino-based firm had referred to it as the “modern iPhone.” The reference of “modern iPad” was first spotted in IOS 11.2.5 and it has been now spotted in iOS 11.3 beta. The “modern” word was reportedly used to distinguish the hardware of the Face ID enabled iPhone X from iPhone 8. This seems to be a good indication that the 2018 iPad Pro will be featuring Face ID sensor.

KGI’s initial report had only claimed that Face ID would be arriving on the 2018 iPad Pro, but it did not reveal any information on the design. In order to feature the Face ID sensor, Apple had to launch iPhone X with a new design. Hence, the Face ID enabled 2018 iPad Pro may come equipped with an iPhone X-like design. Kuo had specifically stated earlier that the cheaper iPad won’t be featuring the Face ID sensor and it would be exclusively available on the “Pro” edition of iPad.

This year Apple is speculated to launch a sequel for iPhone X with 5.8-inch OLED display, a large sized iPhone X-like model with 6.5-inch OLED display and an entry-level iPhone with 6.01-inch LCD display in September. However, it is also rumored to use the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2018 platform in June the rumored iPhone SE 2 and the modern iPad Pro.

Would you be interested in buying an iPad Pro with bezel-less design and an iPhone X-like notch? Let us know your views by adding your comments below.

Xiaomi Mi 7 Pricing Leaked, May Cost 3,000 Yuan or More

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 26, 2018

Xiaomi’s Mi series flagship phones have always carried low pricing of 1,999 Yuan (~$316) until 2017. Last year, the Mi 6 was launched as the first Mi series phone with dual rear cameras with a price tag of 2,499 Yuan (~$395) and its premium ceramic variant carried a pricing of 2,999 Yuan (~$475). Recent rumors have claimed that the Mi 7 would be arriving with an expensive price tag compared to the Mi 6.

Fresh information claims that the Xiaomi Mi 7 could be the costliest ever Mi series phone as it is pegged to be available with a beginning price of 3,000 Yuan (~$475). The increased pricing could be because of the high-end specs that will be featuring.

Rumors have it that the Mi 7 would be arriving in two models namely, Mi 7 and Mi 7 Plus. A 5.65-inch 18:9 aspect ratio display is expected to be available on the Mi 7 whereas the Plus variant is pegged to house an 18:9 aspect ratio supporting 6.01-inch OLED screen by Samsung. The Mi 7 duo are rumored to arrive with facial recognition feature and AI equipped dual rear cameras. Recent reports have also suggested that the Mi 7 could be the first Mi series phone to arrive with support for wireless charging.

The Mi 7 models are almost confirmed to arrive with Snapdragon 845 mobile platform. The base model of the Mi 6 had arrived with 6 GB of RAM. There was no 8 GB RAM variant for it, but a 2,299 Yuan priced 4 GB RAM variant was launched in November last year. It speculated that the Mi 7 series phone may feature an advanced 8 GB RAM model.

Hence, Mi 7 and its variants are speculated to arrive with 3,000 Yuan (~$475) or higher pricing. Recent leaks have suggested that Xiaomi will using the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 platform in the coming month to announce the Mi 7 and Mi 7 Plus. Even though the Mi 7 will be coming with a costlier price tag, it would still be value for money phone because of its specifications.

Qualcomm Signs Sales MoU With Xiaomi, Lenovo, OPPO & Vivo Valued At $2 Billion

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Jan 26, 2018

As we reported earlier, Qualcomm recently hosted a summit in China which had in attendance some of its key partners. The U.S chip maker has reportedly signed memorandums of understanding with some of the major Chinese phone makers. The companies involved include Xiaomi, Lenovo, OPPO, and Vivo. The MOUs were for sales covering technology related to RF Front-End components and is said to be worth at least $2 billion.

The companies which are no doubt the major players in the smartphone industry were said to have expressed interests in buying Qualcomm components over the next three years with a total value estimated to be around $2 billion. Qualcomm made the disclosure on Thursday but was quick to point out that the agreement was a non-binding one. The MOU is also subject to further agreements.

Apart from Huawei which utilizes its own chipsets, all the other companies form part of the top five brands in China and invariably use Qualcomm chips on its smartphone. Although some still utilize MediaTek’s SoC, that number is dwindling by the day with Qualcomm being the major beneficiary. This joint agreement could see MediaTek’s shares slump further in a market where it is already struggling. A recent report also tipped Samsung as planning to commence sales of its Exynos chipset to other OEMs soon. Things just can’t get any worse than these for MediaTek, can they?