Xiaomi continues its successful run this year with record shipments this October. The company’s CEO, Lei Jun has revealed that the Chinese tech giant has shipped over 10 million smartphones this October. Lei Jun made this disclosure in a short Weibo post, Monday where he left out the exact figure but revealed that gross shipment for October is over 10 million units already.
This is coming on the heels of the company’s record shipment of over 10 million smartphones in September. Lei Jun had earlier this month revealed the monumental feat which happened to be the first time Xiaomi would hit such record sales in a single month. That record has now seen a repeat or may have even been exceeded, going by this latest announcement.
The company is yet to disclose the spread of its shipments but it is believed that China and India played a huge role in the record sales. Xiaomi’s decision to expand its offline presence in China by opening up more Mi Stores, thus availing fans access to its products easily. The company has added more than 200 brick and mortar stores in several Chinese cities this year just as planned. Also, the company also improved on its production output such that this year’s flagship models and other budget models are readily available across various platforms. The achievement may also have been driven by the Diwali promotional sales held in India. India alone accounted for more than 4 million units during the period.
The record shipment once again moves Xiaomi very close to achieving its goal of 70 million shipments this year. With this pace, don’t you think Xiaomi may well exceed 90 million shipments this year? The company will likely introduce two or three more smartphones before the end of the year which would further boost its sales.
Apple’s iPhone X was announced alongside the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus in September this year. While the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus have both gone on sales, pre-orders for the 10th-anniversary flagship iPhone X only opened on Friday, October 27, 2017. Apple has now disclosed that the pre-order for iPhone X were unxpectedly very high.
Apple is not in the habit of revealing the exact figures for its pre-orders, but an Apple spokeswoman told Reuters that the “customer demand is off the charts”. The company’s disclosure was enough to send its already fallen stock surging by nearly 3 percent. This was as a result of the bullish predictions adopted by many bookmakers, some of whom predicted that as much as 10 million pre-orders were received for the iPhone X.
The Apple spokeswoman also hinted that the Silicon Valley giant is working hard to get the revolutionary new product into the hands of every customer who wants one, as quickly as possible. The phone is expected to ship on November 3 but the company’s website reveals delivery times have been pushed back by up to five to six weeks which is also suggestive of huge pre-order figures.
The double eleven sales period is always a busy one for Xiaomi and in preparation of the promotional sales, the company usually announces a couple of new products to help drive sales. This year is no exception as Xiaomi has lined up a few new products that would go on sale as from October 31. One of the product is the Mi Laser Projector that was first unveiled in June this year. The tech giant will also be putting up for sale two new accessories for the MIJIA 4K Action camera – a gimbal and a waterproof protective casing.
The Xiaomi Laser Projector is undoubtedly the big one among the trio. Since making its debut, a lot of fans have been yearning to lay their hands on the product despite the hefty 9999 Yuan ($1,470) price tag. Well, when compared to other Laer Projectors in the market, Xiaomi’s is far cheaper. This isn’t the first sale, the product was first sold on July 4 via Xiaomi Mall and it took just one hour 53 minutes for the sales to hit 10 million Yuan ($1,470,609.86). Just 1000 units were made available and since then nothing has been heard until now.
As a reminder, Xiaomi Mi Laser Projector uses an advanced laser fluorescence display technology (ALPD 3.0) with a shelve life of 25,0000 hours which translates to up to 34 years usage if the projector is used for 2 hours daily. A daily usage of up to 4hours can still guarantee up to 17 years of usage, meaning the laser is ultra-durable and long-lasting. The projector’s two core technologies are the light source technology manufactured by the Light Peak photoelectric company while the imaging technology chip in use was made by Texas Instruments and Guangfeng photoelectric custom R&D.
The new Laser projector is capable of displaying up to a maximum of 150 inches with 1920 x 1080p resolution. The projector provides a red light ratio of 16% to 18%, wide colour gamut, colour quasi, with contrast comparable to the laser studio 3000: 1 screen contrast. The light source brightness can reach up to 5000 lumens which are of theatre screen level. The projector also diffuses its direct light source, allowing for more eye protection. The sound quality is also of high quality, giving the Mi Laser 150″ projector the capability of providing theatre-level audio-visuals right in the comfort of the sitting room.
Xiaomi 3-Axis Stabilizer Camera Gimbal & Waterproof Protective Case
Xiaomi had teased the Gimbal when the MIJIA 4K Compact Action camera was launched earlier this year and it courted some attention. The camera has since been on sale and now Xiami is introducing the Gimbal design for the camera. The 3-Axis stabilizer Gimbal can rotate 360 degrees unhindered and is designed with features that ensure stability even when shooting in an unstable terrain or manner. The hand-held gimbal comes with a large 5000mAh battery which ensures it can last for up to 8 hours. There are also various control buttons for shooting and adjustment. The product is priced at 699 Yuan (~$105) and will officially be up for grabs from October 31 on Xiaomi Mall and Xiaomi’s official flagship store on Days Cat.
Also joining the fray is a new waterproof protective casing for the MIJIA 4K Compact Action Camera with an IP68 water and dustproof rating. That means the 4K camera can be used in the rain and in dusty environments without fear of damage. It can also withstand underwater usage up to a 40-meter depth. It has a non-reflective film on the surface where the lens would sit and that aspect is also covered with nano-level hydrophobic anti-fog film. This guarantees optimum shooting performance regardless of the weather condition.The accessory will also go on sale on October 31 and is priced at just 99 yuan (~$15).
Xiaomi launched its MIUI 9 earlier this year in July. However, the company delayed the rollout of the MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM by around three months. Recently, Xiaomi announced that the new MIUI version will start rolling out in India from November 2.
However, it appears that the update is now rolling out ahead of the company’s plan. Some users with Mi 6 and Mi Max 2 smartphone have already started receiving the MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM update.
MIUI V9.0.1.0.NCAMEI firmware version is currently being rolled out to the Mi 6, while MIUI V9.0.1.0.NDDMIEI is the firmware version that is being sent to the Mi Max 2. The update is of around 568MB.
The MIUI 9 Global ROM has already passed the beta testing stage and the company had also started pushing MIUI 9 Stable ROM to select Mi users in China earlier this month. The company is expected to roll out the stable ROM update in batches, just the way it handled the release of the Developer ROM.
Earlier, MIUI Marketing Deputy Director, Huang Longzhon had said that the stable version is normally rolled out within two months of releasing developer version, but since MIUI 9 is a new system, it has taken more time to prepare stable version.
The MIUI 9 brings several new features to the table such as deep level system optimization, new icons, and new animations for launching and closing apps, simple home screen edition, among others. It also comes with features like split-screen, search for apps in the Dual apps mode and better blocklist rules.
Along with some new features, a lot of the existing ones have also been improved, including Silent/DND timer, floating notifications, button and gesture shortcuts, among others.
Apart from India, as of now, there is no information about the rollout of this MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM update to other regions where Mi users are located.
On November 2, the company has also scheduled a launch event in which it will unveil its new selfie-centric smartphone series to take on the likes of Oppo and Vivo.
Since the time OnePlus 5 went out of stock, leaked renders and images of the rumored OnePlus 5T have surfaced through multiple sources. However, most of them were found to be fake. Earlier in this month, Android Authority had shared an image that showed a very small portion of the alleged OnePlus 5T phone. Now, Evan Blass who holds a consistent track record of spilling information on forthcoming smartphones has shared a render of the OnePlus 5T to show off its revamped design.
The above render that has been leaked by Blass reveals the top half of the phone. As the rumor mill have claimed, the OnePlus 5T seems to be sporting an elongated design. Apart from the selfie camera, the top bezel does not seem to have any new feature like iris scanner. Compared to OnePlus 5, the OP5T phone appears to be sporting reduced upper bezel. Recent reports have claimed that it may feature a 6-inch display.
Interestingly, the wallpaper present on OnePlus 5T render by Blass seems to be the same one that is present on the leaked photo of the same phone shared by Android Authority. The following image that was revealed by the publication shows a smaller portion of the phone including the bottom bezel. However, it has revealed a very vital information that the fingerprint reader is not present on its frontside. The rumor mill has been claiming that since the OP5T’s display will carry support for 18:9 aspect ratio, it will be arriving with a rear-mounted fingerprint reader.
The OnePlus 5T is speculated to arrive with similar specs as OnePlus 5, albeit some improvements in departments like camera and battery. As far as the launch date of the OnePlus 5T is concerned, Blass claims that it will take place sometime after Nov. 20. A leaked poster that appeared during the past weekend has revealed that OnePlus 5T may debut on Nov. 16.
What do you think about the new render of OnePlus 5T shared by Blass? Share us your views by posting your comments below.
The HTC U11 Life will be announced on Thursday, 2nd of November. While there is little or nothing we don’t know about the specs, a new image and pricing have surfaced online thanks to Roland Quandt’s Winfutre.de.
HTC U11 Life Brilliant Black
The U11 Life is said to be available in two color variants (in Germany) – Sapphire Blue and Ice White. The blue variant has been online for weeks now but picture of a new Brilliant Black color variant (looks more like green though).
The design is the same – glass on both sides with “Android One” written on the back. So if blue or white doesn’t do it for you, there is black (or green) to choose from.
If you have been waiting for the HTC U11 Life, Roland Quandt says it will cost 369 Euros in Europe. This is less than the original 400 Euro mark reported but still a bit high. For 369 Euros, you get 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, IP68 certification, 16MP F/2.0 cameras on both sides, and a pair of USonic earphones.
The HTC U11 Life is also expected to come with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage in some regions. While HTC has partnered with Google on Nexuses and Pixels, this will be its first Android One phone.
Hisense has joined the 18:9 train with its latest smartphone, the Hisense Hali. The full-screen phone was first seen on TENAA last week before its official release at an event in China today. The HiSense Hali is actually the result of a collaboration between the electronics manufacturer and China Telecom.
Hisense Hali Design
The phone has a double sided glass design which is a bit surprising considering its mid-range specs. The 18:9 display has curved corners and is covered with a 2.5D glass. The bezels are small but not super thin. The glass on the back is 2.5D too but highly reflective just like that of the HTC U series.
Hisense Hali Specs
The selling point of the phone is its 5.99” HD+ display with a 2.5D glass on top. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430 mobile platform is paired with 4GB of RAM. And there is 32GB of expandable storage.
Aside from the screen, Hisense has also put a 16MP camera in front for selfies. The software has up to 10 beauty enhancement features, voice capture, and smile detection.
The rear camera on the Hisense Hali is a 12MP 1.25um sensor with PDAF, a color temperature flash, and 6P lens. There is also a rear mounted fingerprint scanner.
The Hali has dual SIM slots (micro) and a TF slot for storage expansion. There is a USB-C port flanked by two speaker grilles at the bottom, and a 3.5mm audio jack and IR blaster at the top. Powering the phone is a 3400mAh battery.
In a bid to boost sales of its larger display smartphone in India, Xiaomi has today announced a price cut for its Mi Max 2 smartphone in the country. The company has cut the price of the device by Rs 1,000.
The smartphone, which was originally launched in India in June this year, will now be available at Rs 13,999 for the 32GB storage model while the 64GB storage variant will now cost Rs 15,999.
Confirming this new development, Xiaomi VP and Xiaomi India MD Manu Kumar Jain said, via Twitter:
BIG now costs less! Announcing a permanent price drop of Rs. 1000 on both variants on #MiMax2.
Currently, the online retailer Flipkart is also offering an exchange discount on the old handset, which goes up to Rs 15,000. There is also additional discount on purchasing the phone through credit card.
The Xiaomi Mi Max 2 comes with a 6.44-inch Full HD display with screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Under the hood, the phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor along with Adreno 506 GPU.
On the camera front, the smartphone features a 12-megapixel sensor on the back with dual-tone LED flash and f/2.2 aperture. On the front side, there is a 5-megapixel shooter for selfies with f/2.0 aperture. The rear camera on the smartphone is also capable of shooting videos in 4K.
The device packs a massive 5,300mAh battery. Connectivity options on the phone include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a USB Type-C port. The phone runs on the company’s own MIUI 8, which is based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system.
Recently, Xiaomi had announced that it had sold more than four million smartphone units in India within a month. Through its own Mi.com online store, it has sold more than a million devices.
In China, Xiaomi is expected to unveil the Redmi 5 Plus budget phone with full screen design before November 11. In December, it is expected to launch the Redmi Note 5 smartphone.
Xiaomi is also all-set to launch a new selfie-centric smartphone series in India on November 2. With the new series of phones, it aims to compete against the likes of Oppo and Vivo in India, which are dominating the selfie-centric smartphone space.
Chinese phone maker Meitu has disclosed that it would be launching a new smartphone on November 1. The smartphone’s identity was also revealed to be the Meitu V6 which belongs to the luxury V-series. The device was announced a couple of months back to drop in November and it recently got the nod from the Chinese telecoms regulatory agency (TENAA) where it appeared as Meitu MP1605.
The TENAA listing also comes along with the photos of the device captured from all angles. The device is indeed a luxury model with a leather back and it readily brings to mind the now-defunct Vertu luxury phone line. The device features a dual camera setup at the rear as well as two LED flashlights located at the outer edge of the cameras. Also, there is a dual camera setup t the front, making the device a quad camera phone. Overall, the shape is very much similar to previous Meitu models.
As for the specification, the TENAA listing shows the Meitu V6 would feature a 5.5-inch OLED display with an FHD resolution of 1920 x 1080 p. The device will be powered by a 2.8GHz MediaTek processor backed by 4GB RAM of one model and 6GB RAM on another model. Both models get 128GB of internal storage. The device is fueled by a 3100mAh battery. The device will also be available in Flame Red, Glacier Blue, Dark Purple, Monet Powder colours.
ZTE’s Blade A series is an example of bang for buck, and its latest model, the Blade A3 keeps to that tradition. Announced a few hours ago, the new phone does pack some impressive features for just ¥799 (~$120).
The Blade A3 has a 5.5” HD 2.5D TFT display. ZTE is trying to keep the price low, so there is no protection on the display. A MediaTek MT6737T quad core processor clocked at 1.5GHz is under the plastic body. RAM is 3GB and built in storage is 32GB.
Like we have seen in a number of new mid-range phones like the Redmi Note 5A, the ZTE Blade A3 has a triple card slot. That way, you don’t need to sacrifice a SIM slot for a MicroSD card (128GB max.)
One of the selling points of the Blade A3 is its dual front facing cameras. One is a 5MP sensor and the other is a 2MP sensor. Both work together to capture portrait images. There is also a soft flash on the right for illumination. The rear camera is a 13MP sensor.
The Blade A3 rounds it up with a 4000mAh battery that should last a whole day seeing as the display maxes out at 720p. There is a micro USB port and 3.5mm audio jack. It has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, but if you want, you can try out the Face Unlock feature which ZTE says is safe and fast.
A hands-on photo said to be that of the OnePlus 5T surfaced online recently but after all the publicity, it was discovered to be a photoshopped Vivo X20 with the OnePlus wallpaper on top. Now, another photo alleged to be that of the OnePlus 5T has appeared online but we still cannot verify if this one is real or fake.
The leaked photo has on display, the front view of the device while powered on. The front view indeed reveals a full-screen design with a high screen-to-body ratio. That is the major design attribute the device is expected to pack so, it won’t be surprising if this turns out to be yet another scam. OnePlus is yet to even confirm the existence of the OnePlus 5T.
That doesn’t mean the device isn’t likely in the works. The recent happenings like the discontinuation of OnePlus 5 sales on OnePlus’ official website suggest the company has got something up its sleeves. The OnePlus 5T is expected to feature a 6-inch display with 2160 x 1080 pixels resolution which means they would adopt an 18:9 aspect ratio. The flagship model is also expected to pack a Snapdragon 835 flagship processor like the OP5. The device is expected with a 8GB RAM + 128GB memory while there may likely be a 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant. On the camera end, we expect a 20MP + 16MP dual camera setup at the rear while there will be a 20MP selfie camera at the front.
A new smartphone from Oppo has made its appearance on TENAA. Dubbed as Oppo A73, the smartphone is featuring a 6-inch display with bezel-less screen.
There are many smartphone out in the market with bezel-less smartphones, but most of them basically have thin bezels. However, the Oppo A73 seems to have a bezel-less screen, with a thin bezel on top and no bezels on either left or right side, or at bottom.
On the back side, there is a single camera sensor at the top left corner, along with an LED flash. There is also a fingerprint sensor in the top centre region, just above the Oppo branding.
The TENAA leak has also revealed the smartphone’s specifications. It is powered by an octa-core 2.5GHz processor, along with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. However, it is not yet known which chipset is powering this smartphone.
There is a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 16-megapixel front-facing camera. It is fueleld by a 3,115mAh battery. It seems that the phone will come with Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system out-of-the-box.
Oppo recently launched its Oppo F5 smartphone — the successor of Oppo F3, which comes with a 6-inch FHD+ display having aspect ratio of 18:9. The company is also all-set to launch Oppo R11S and R11S Plus smartphones on November 2.
Reportedly, Oppo is expecting huge demand for the R11S and R11S Plus, and has already prepared a stock of around 10 million units. The phone features a dual camera setup at the back and a 6.43-inch bezel-less display on the front with Full HD+ resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio.
Although there is no information available about the availability and pricing of Oppo A73 at this time, we expect the company to launch this smartphone soon as it has already passed TENAA.
Counterpoint’s newest smartphone market survey for India has revealed that because of the strong sales of smartphones and featurephones, handset shipments have crossed 84 million mark for the first time in India. Also, Samsung and Xiaomi account for 45 percent of smartphone market in India in Q3 2017.
According to Counterpoint’s market research for the third quarter of this year, Samsung has a market share of 23 percent. The South Korean company is closely followed by Xiaomi with a market share of 22 percent. In Q3 2016, Samsung and Xiaomi had respective market shares of 23 percent and 6 percent. Xiaomi’s strong performance in mid-range smartphone segment (Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000) has catapulted it to rival with Samsung in India.
Counterpoint Associate Director Tarun Pathak claims that Xiaomi accounts for three of the top 5 bestselling smartphones in the country. It appears that Xiaomi may soon dethrone Samsung to become the number smartphone brand in India. Vivo, OPPO and Lenovo are respectively placed on third, fourth and fifth positions on Counterpoint’s smartphone market research for Q3 2017.
This shows the dominance of Chinese smartphone brands in India. For the third consecutive quarter, their market share has remained more than 50 percent after they surpassed local brands in second half of previous year.
Reliance Jio that was commercially launched its 4G LTE network in September 2016 has not only significantly increased the mobile data consumption in India but also driven the demand for 4G enabled phones. It has been found that 97 percent of the smartphones shipped in Q3 2017 are LTE enabled devices. In a short span of less than a year, it has managed to add 100 million subscribers to its network and it is looking forward to adding another 100 million users with the launch of its LTE enabled JioPhone featurephone.
When it comes featurephone shipments, Samsung is leading the pack in Q3 2017 with a market share of 23 percent. ITEL, Micromax, HMD Global’s Nokia, and Lava make up the top five featurephone brands in India. The featurephone market has met with 22 percent (QoQ) with the arrival of handsets that are priced around Rs. 1,000 like the JioPhone and Nokia branded phones.
During the third quarter of 2017, the premium segment that includes smartphones costing more than Rs. 30,000 have met threefold growth (YoY) during Q3 2017. The market leaders in the premium segment are Apple, OnePlus and Samsung in the same quarter.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ have received good response from the critics and general users. However, one of the features of the Galaxy S8 duo that have been criticized heavily is the placement of fingerprint scanner. Since it is placed very close to the rear camera, many users end up smudging the lens every time they try to unlock their phone. To avoid such an issue on the Galaxy Note 8, Samsung has placed the LED flash unit and the heart rate monitor between the rear camera and fingerprint scanner. An industry insider from China has claimed that Samsung would be revamping the rear design of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus that are speculated to launch in Q1 2018.
The leakster has not elaborated on what changes will Samsung introduce on the backside of the Galaxy S9 duo. Speculations are rife that the S9 and S9+ will arrive with improved dual rear cameras than the one present on the Galaxy Note 8. Samsung may also want to re-arrange the position of the fingerprint reader on the Galaxy S9 duo.
The LG V30 has a horizontally stacked dual camera setup with a fingerprint scanner placed below well below it on its back panel. Samsung may also place the fingerprint a bit away from the dual camera system. The South Korean company may also reposition of the LED flash and heart rate sensor in a bid to give the 2018 Galaxy S series phones a different appeal.
A report from the previous month had claimed that the Galaxy S9’s rear camera will carry support for recording super slow-motion videos at 1,000 fps. Since the Galaxy S9 duo are speculated to arrive with such high-end camera features, it may not want to disturb the camera experience by placing the fingerprint scanner very close to it.
The Galaxy Note 9 that is slated to launch in Q3 2018 could be the first phone from Samsung to feature under-display fingerprint reader. Recent reports have revealed that the smartphone may feature a new 3D sensor on the frontside in order to deliver better facial recognition functionality.
Almost all the major smartphone manufacturing companies and even lesser known ones have released full screen design smartphones. In the previous month, Gionee had unveiled the Gionee M7 phone with FullView display. A new Gionee phone labelled as Gionee F6L with full screen design has been approved by Chinese certification site TENAA. The TENAA listing has only revealed its specifications, but its images are still under the wraps. It appears that the TENAA listing for Gionee F6L will be updated with its images later on.
The TENAA listing of Gionee F6L has revealed that it will be coming with a 5.7-inch IPS screen that will be supporting an HD+ resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels. This indicates that the handset will feature an elongated 18:9 display. The device measures 153.8 x 72.6 x 7.8mm and its weight is 141 grams.
It is driven by a 1.4 GHz processor. Speculations have it that it may be featuring a Snapdragon 430/435 chipset. It will be coming in RAM choices like 3 GB and 4 GB. It has an internal storage of 32 GB and is expected to feature a microSD card slot. It features a 2,970mAh battery.
For photography, Gionee has included a dual camera setup featuring a 13-megapixel sensor and a 2-megapixel sensor on the back panel of F6L phone. The frontside of the phone is equipped with an 8-megapixel camera. It will arrive preinstalled with Android 7.1.1 Nougat and is likely to come loaded with Gionee’s Amigo OS proprietary skin.
The specifications of the Gionee F6L suggests that it will be a budget phone. It will be available in color options like blue, gold and black.
The Gionee F205 is a yet to be unveiled budget phone from the Chinese manufacturer. Its specs are even lower than the F6L. The company is also rumored to be working on Gionee S11s that has recently appeared on TENAA and the Gionee S11 that has been spotted on GFXBench in the previous month. It appears that these phones may get unleashed before the end of 2017.
On Nov. 2, OPPO will be unleashing the OPPO R11s and OPPO R11s Plus smartphones. These phones will be arriving as improved editions of the OPPO R11 and R11 Plus that was launched in June this year. The OPPO R11s and R11s Plus were spotted on TENAA earlier in this month. However, their specs were not revealed. The OPPO R11s duo have appeared on TENAA once again to reveal their entire specifications and images.
The images that have surfaced through TENAA listing reveals that the OPPO R11s duo would be arriving with a metal unibody design that slight improvements in design compared to their original models. The backside of the R11s duo feature rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and dual cameras. These phones are also fitted with 18:9 full screen panels.
The OPPO R11s has a 6-inch display that carries support for full HD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. Like the original R11 phone, the R11s is also fueled by Snapdragon 660 chipset along with a 3,120mAh battery. The smartphone includes 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. It measures 155.1 x 75.5 x 7.1mm and its weight is 153 grams.
The larger OPPO R11s is equipped with a 6.43-inch display and it also supports FHD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. It is also driven by Snapdragon 660 chipset and it houses a 3,880mAh battery. The SoC is supported by 6 GB of RAM and it comes with an inbuilt storage of 64 GB. The dimensions of the OPPO R11s Plus are 164.8 x 80.2 x 7.3mm and it weighs 182 grams.
The OPPO R11s and R11s Plus are running on Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS. Both the phones will be equipped with AI driven 20-megapixel selfie camera that can beautify selfie shots by enhancing over 250 facial features by intelligently analyzing factors like age, gender, skin tone and more. The rear sides of the OPPO R11s and R11s Plus are equipped with 20-megapixel + 16-megapixel dual camera system. The OPPO R11s duo are expected to be available in color options like gold, black and red.
A well-known analyst from China has claimed that the Chinese manufacturer is expecting incredible sales of OPPO R11s and R11s Plus. Hence, the supply chain has reportedly has been asked by OPPO to prepare 10 million units of the R11s duo. Rumors have it that the OPPO R11s will be priced at 2,999 Yuan (~$451) and the larger R11s Plus will be costing 3,499 Yuan (~$526).
A buyer who has recently purchased the Google Pixel 2 smartphone from Verizon has that found that his box contains a cutout for earbuds even though it is not present inside it. Moreover, the booklet of the Pixel 2 that he has received states that earbuds are included in the box.
Lucas Everett has shared the images of Pixel 2 box package that he received on his Twitter account. By looking at the images form the booklet, it appears that Google had considered including a wired earphone with a USB-C connector along with inline controls. The design of the wired earbuds appears quite similar to the wireless Pixel Buds that are sold separately by Google.
My box also didn't include the headphone USB adapter and the store gave me one from another box. This is so weird.
Another thing that was not found in the box was a 3.5mm to USB-C adapter that is present inside all the Pixel 2 retail boxes. The probable reason behind it could be that the search engine giant may felt that there was no need to include the adapter since the package includes a pair of USB-C earbuds. When Lucas contacted Verizon, he was told that none of the other Pixel 2 box packages contain cutouts for earbuds and their booklets have no references for it. Google has confirmed that the box that Lucas received was an early package design meant for the U.S. market.
Samsung and Apple are providing premium earphones along with their flagship smartphones. It seems that Google had considered including premium earbuds in the box, but later on it was canceled. However, Google has not revealed the reason for canceling it. The Pixel Buds that are sold separately can be purchased with a pricing of $159.
Have you received your Pixel 2 / Pixel 2 XL smartphone with accommodations for the earbuds? Also, do you think that Google should have included wired / wireless earphones in the Pixel 2 / 2 XL box package? Let us know your thoughts by posting your comments below.
Since HMD Global has unveiled the Nokia 7 upper mid-range phone recently, Nokia fans are waiting for the arrival of the rumored Nokia 9 flagship phone. There are mixed rumors about the arrival of the smartphone. Some sources claim that it will be unveiled before the end of this year. However, there are other sources that claim that it will be unveiled during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 that is scheduled to take place next year in February. Upcoming Phones that is known for creating concept renders of forthcoming smartphones has also created a concept model of the unannounced Nokia 9 Edge phone. The design of the phone revealed through the new renders suggests that it is a better-looking version of Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
Featuring a 5.5-inch curved display panel and a full screen design, the Nokia 9 Edge boasts a sleek and premium appeal. The rear side of the phone is fitted with a pair of 16-megapixel sensors that are arranged vertically along with a dual-LED flash. An interesting feature that can be seen on the back panel of the Nokia 9 Edge is the presence of an infrared projector that is capable of mirroring the display of the phone.
The fingerprint scanner is also found on the backside of the concept phone. It is equipped with health sensors. For shooting selfies, it features an 8-megapixel selfie camera. There is no information about the chipset that drives the Nokia 9 concept phone. However, Upcoming Phones states that it will be coming in two models. The base model has 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage and the advanced model has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.
HMD Global is rumored to be working on Nokia 9, but rumors suggest that the design of the phone may be based on Nokia 8 and it may arrive with super-slim bezels and a larger display. The Nokia 8 was released in the market in the previous month. Launching the Nokia 9 so early can negatively impact the sales of Nokia 8 phone.
Just like 18:9 displays, facial recognition is one of the features manufacturers are adding to phones this year. While the tech has gained popularity in the past few months, it’s worth mentioning that facial recognition has been found on smartphones for years.
The iPhone X may have made it popular but it has been available on Android debuting with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, though not as advanced and secure as that of the iPhone X.
Facial Recognition on Android
Setting up face unlock on Android back then was fairly simple. After accessing the menu under settings, you will be required to set up your face by positioning it within a dotted circle and the front facing camera would capture your facial details. To increase accuracy, you will be required to try it under different lighting conditions and under different conditions (glasses on/off, hat on etc).
There was a caveat though, Google knew it wasn’t secure enough, so you were asked to set up an alternative security lock. And now, most manufacturers don’t even bother to include the feature anymore, ever since fingerprint scanners have become mainstream.
On my OnePlus 3T, all you have is swipe, pattern, PIN, and password, in addition to fingerprint recognition. The Zoji Z6, which acts as my secondary phone, adds voice unlock along with the above mentioned security features.
Iris Recognition
But that wasn’t the end of face unlock. While it took a break, manufacturers branched into something else – Iris Recognition.
The first phone to come with an iris scanner was the Fujitsu ARROWS NX-F04G. It was released in 2015 and made use of an IR LED for illuminating the pattern of the iris, which according to research doesn’t change after the age of two years; and an IR camera for capturing the pattern.
The image is then stored in the database and used to compare against that of the person who wants to unlock the phone. At the end of 2015, Microsoft released the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, joining Fujitsu, as smartphones with Iris scanners.
Nearly a year later, Samsung joined the short list with the ill-fated Galaxy Note7. This year, Samsung launched the Galaxy S8 and S8+ and both of them have iris scanners. Samsung touted them as being airtight and you could even use it for payment, just the way you used the fingerprint scanner.
However, the guys at Chaos Computer Club (CCC), a European hacker association didn’t like the way Samsung bragged about its security and decided to disprove their claim. They were able to fool the scanner.
How they did it was actually pretty simple.
All they had to do was take a picture of the owner’s eye using a 200mm lens from 15 feet away. Then they had it printed out on paper and covered it with wet contact lens to imitate the curvature of real eyes. After pointing the phone towards it, it unlocked the device.
CCC in its official article says it will be even easier to unlock with the tons of high resolution selfies on the internet, so you might not need to even take a picture of the owner of the phone. Their suggestion is to use a PIN as it is more secure than biometric scanners.
Windows Hello Facial Recognition
Back to Facial Recognition. Microsoft announced Windows Hello the same year as the company announced the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, which is a windows 10 biometric technology system that includes the iris scanner on the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, the fingerprint reader on windows 10 laptops, and facial recognition on the Surface Book laptop and the Surface Pro 4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ3W2YABZzo
Both the surface book and laptop feature a near IR sensor that does the capturing and is more effective under varying light conditions.
So how does Windows Hello face recognition work?
Using an algorithm, the face is detected in the camera stream. Facial landmark points such as the nose, eyes, and mouth are located. The algorithm also ensures that the user is facing the device at an angle of ±15 degrees.
The algorithm then uses the landmarks as anchor points and takes several samples of the face to build a representation. The result is a histogram representing the light and dark differences around specific areas. So, the image of the user is actually never stored.
Microsoft says the representation of the user in front of the PC is then compared to the one enrolled. And before it accepts it as a match, it has to cross a certain machine-learned threshold. This threshold increases if there are multiple users enrolled on the device.
Microsoft measures the accuracy of its facial recognition in three ways:
1. False positive – also called false acception rate (FAR), this is the likelihood of a random person who gains physical access to your PC being recognized as you. This number should be as low as possible and for Windows Hello, it is less than 0.001 or 1/100,000 FAR.
2. True positive – this is the likelihood of you being correctly matched to your enrolled profile. This number should be high and Windows Hello scores 95% for a single enrolled user.
3. False negative – is the likelihood of you being denied access even though your profile is enrolled and Microsoft says it is 5% for a single enrolled user.
Windows Hello works pretty well judging from the tons of videos on the internet. It cant be fooled by a photograph, it won’t unlock if your face is partially covered and it unlocks fast in the dark thanks to the near IR sensor.
Apple Face ID
Apple joined the facial recognition train this year with its iPhone X. The iPhone X doesn’t have Touch ID due to its bezel-less design and Apple didn’t want to put it on the back of the phone like a number of Android manufacturers do. Instead, it came up with Face ID, a facial recognition system it claims is more secure than TouchID.
source: apple.com
Face ID captures your face with the aid of light projector and a bunch of sensors — Apple collectively refers to it as the TrueDepth Camera System.
source: apple.com
The process the TrueDepth system uses to capture a 3D map of your face is explained below:
1.The proximity sensor and ambient light sensor help to determine the amount of illumination needed for face recognition.
2.The flood illuminator produces IR light to illuminate your face. The IR light is not visible to the human eye and and works effectively in poorly illuminated or even bright areas (outdoors).
3. The dot projector produces tens of thousands dots of IR light to create a 3D map of your face.
4. The infrared camera captures images of the dot pattern and the IR light reflected back by your face.
The recognition process is similar to that of other biometric ones – compare the stored template against the presented pattern (verification image) and see if it is a match. The stored template and verification image won’t be the same since the capture conditions will always be different, so it uses a threshold to grant access.
The threshold score is said to be between 0 and 1. If the score is closer to 1 then it is the same face (or biometric) and if it is closer to 0, then it is not the same person.
Apple explains the step for verification:
1. IR images are sent from the camera to the phone’s neural engine to build a 3D map of the face.
2. The map is compared against the stored template.
3. The processor calculates if the verification and stored templates match based on a comparison score of the similarity between your images.
4. Phone unlocks if the comparison score is higher than a certain threshold value.
So what happens if your facial appearance changes, say you grow a beard, shave your moustache, or apply makeup?
Apple says that FaceID continually updates the stored model by occasionally saving images from successful login maps. So it kind of a continuous enrollment.
CAT may be known as a construction equipment manufacturer but it also makes smartphones and tablets. These devices are actually rugged and designed to survive tough conditions. Its latest smartphone is the CAT S41 and it packs some pretty impressive features.
CAT S41 Design
The octagonal design already gives it away as a super rugged phone. There are physical buttons beneath the display for navigation and the frame has a sort of caterpillar track design. Apart from the volume rocker and power button, there is also a programmable key that can be assigned to the torch, camera, Push to Talk, or SOS (Lone worker app).
CAT S41 Specs
The CAT S41 has a 5” FHD screen with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. This is a rugged device for those who work outdoors so the display works well with wet hands or gloves.
There is 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage and a Helio P20 SoC on board. A 13MP camera with PDAF and LED flash grace the back and an 8MP serves as the front facing camera. Both cameras work under water too. This should come in handy if your job requires to take a dive.
The highlight of the CAT S41 is the 5000mAh battery and its Battery Share which allows you to charge other devices. There is MediaTek’s Pump Express 2.0 for fast charging. You also get a micro USB slot, nano SIM slot (dual and single SIM variants), and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The CAT S41 is beyond IP68 certified as it can survive under 2m of water for up to 1 hour. It is MIL SPEC 810G certified and can survive drops of up to 1.8m on concrete. CAT also says it can survive thermal shocks and salt mist spray.
CAT S41 Price
The CAT S41 is priced at £399.00/$449 and is available for purchase on the offcial website, Amazon, eBay, B&H, and Home Depot.
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