Xiaomi Reportedly Valued At $69 Billion, May Seek New York IPO

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Sep 27, 2017

Xiaomi earlier this year disclosed that it hopes to ship 70 million phones in 2017 and had also set a 100 billion yuan revenue target for 2017. There are strong indications that Xiaomi would hit its target 70 million shipments by October, two months before the end of the year. The Chinese tech giant is expected to hit 10 million units in shipments this September and another 10 million shipments in the fourth and final quarter of 2017.

Considering the company’s performance so far, Xiaomi is expected to record a revenue of up to 109.75 billion yuan ($16.8 billion USD) this year. This has made financial analysts to put Xiaomi’s net worth at a whopping $69 billion. This estimation is based on the same Price-Earnings ratio (P/E ratio) which was used to evaluate the company in its 2014 fiscal year where it accrued an estimated $45 billion valuation. Apart from the huge valuation, there are also talks of Xiaomi seeking an IPO, which would bring in more investors and thus help the company expand to new frontiers.

The progress made by Xiaomi was indeed thought to be a tall order when Lei Jun disclosed the target of 70 million shipments for this year back in January. This was because the projection was coming on the heels of a poor 2016 which saw the company ship only 41.5 million phones in China according to a report by IDC. There is no doubt now that Xiaomi has got its act together and is set to challenge for the top 3 spots in the near future. Xiaomi did succeed to climb into the first five top global phone makers in the second quarter of the year and is expected to remain within the quintet for the rest of the year.

(source)

Microsoft Surface Pro LTE Models are Reportedly Arriving on December 1

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 27, 2017

When Microsoft was expected to debut Surface Pro 5 as the successor for Surface Pro 4 in May, the company had unveiled the “new Surface Pro.” At that time, it had also promised to release a cellular variant later this year. During the ongoing Microsoft Ignite 2017 event in Orlando, the company has confirmed on the arrival time of Surface Pro with LTE connectivity.

Microsoft has been silent on the LTE variant after the launch of Surface Pro. Earlier in this month, a U.K. based retailer began the pre-orders of the Surface Pro LTE with December release date. At the aforementioned event, Microsoft has confirmed that Surface Pro with LTE connectivity would be available from Dec. 1.

Some rumors claim that the LTE-enabled Surface Pro would be showcased at the Future Decoded event that will be held on Oct. 31. Surface chief Panos Panay will be delivering a keynote at the upcoming event.

The two Core i5 models of the Surface Pro will come with support LTE connectivity. It means the variants like 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB storage or 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage with Intel HD 620 graphics. These configurations match with the Surface Pro LTE devices that were available on pre-orders earlier this month.

As far as pricing is concerned, the U.K retailer had listed the 4 GB RAM variant with a pricing of £1,132 (~$1,400) and the 6 GB RAM model was listed for £1,402 (~ $1,800). These prices may not be final as the pre-order pages are no longer accessible. The Core i7 Surface Pro model featuring 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage is also expected to arrive with LTE connectivity in the near future. This seems to be a possibility because Microsoft had introduced different color variants for Core i5 Surface Laptop, but later on Core i7 variants had also arrived in new colors.

Do you think that the LTE-enabled Surface Pro will be well-received by consumers? Share us your thoughts by adding your comments below.

(source)

Hisense A2 Pro Pricing Revealed, Now On Sale on JD.com

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 27, 2017

Hisense announced its latest dual-screen smartphone dubbed A2 Pro in China a couple of days back. The device was immediately available for reservation of JD.com but the price wasn’t announced. The Hisense A2 Pro has now got its price tag unmasked as it goes on sale today on Jingdong and it comes in cheaper than the 3699 Yuan- Yotaphone 3. The A2 Pro will sell for 2,999 Yuan (~$451) which is about 700 Yuan lower than the price of the Yota 3.

The Hisense A2 Pro features a dual screen setup comprised of a 5.5-inch AMOLED display and a 5.2-inch e-ink secondary display at the rear which is similar to what the Yota 3 features. However, the Yota3 comes with a superior specs lineup than the A2 Pro, thus justifying its higher price tag.

As a reminder, the Hisense A2 Pro features a Full HD display with 2.5D curved glass at the front. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor backed by 4GB of RAM and there is 64GB of storage onboard. On the camera end, the device packs a 12MP Sony IMX386 flagship sensor at the rear which should team up properly with the powerful processor to deliver shots with vivid clarity. In addition, the A2 Pro packs a decent 3,090mAh battery and has support for dual SIM cards/ dual standby. It comes with a fingerprint sensor which is located on the side of the device. The A2 Pro is now on sale on Hisense official flagship store on Jingdong.

HTC U11 Plus Concept Renders Surface to Reveal Marvelous Full Screen Design

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Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 27, 2017

HTC is speculated to launch a couple of smartphones such as Ocean Master, Ocean Life, Ocean Harmony and HTC U11 Life before the end of 2017. Recent reports suggest that the Ocean Master is the codename of HTC U11 Plus flagship smartphone. Some of the key specs of the smartphone have already surfaced. Waqar Khan who is known for designing concept renders of popular smartphones has created concept model of the HTC U11 Plus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNzCyBSafGU&feature=youtu.be

The realistic looking HTC U11 Plus concept renders reveal its marvelous full screen design. As it can be seen in the concept renders, the U11 Plus has a large-sized screen that is flanked with very slim bezels on its four sides. The rear side of the smartphone features a camera and fingerprint reader. The backside of the phone features a glass panel that appears to be curved at all the four edges.

Previous reports have revealed that the HTC U11 Plus will be fitted with a 5.99-inch display. It is expected to support an aspect ratio of 18:9 and QHD+ resolution of 2,880 x 1,440 pixels. The Snapdragon 835 chipset is expected to power the smartphone.

Read More: Its A Done Deal! Google Buys HTC’s “Powered by HTC” R&D Division For $1.1 billion

The base model of the HTC U11 Plus is rumored to include 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. The highest configuration model is expected to feature 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Other speculated features of the smartphone include 12-megpaixel rear camera, 8-megapixel selfie camera and Quick Charge 3.0.

Like the HTC U11, the Plus edition is pegged to arrive with pressure-sensitive squeezable frame. It is rumored to wear an IP68 certified chassis. Rumors are rife that the HTC U11 Plus may get unveiled on Nov. 11.

HTC seems to have a busy schedule for the last quarter of this year. The Ocean Lite is also expected to get announced in November. The Ocean Harmony is speculated to break cover in December. In the next week, Google will be unleashing the HTC-made Pixel 2 and LG-made Pixel 2 XL smartphones. The Taiwanese company is also rumored to launch an Android One version of its upcoming HTC U11 Life smartphone.

Honor Releases Poster Teasing Honor 7X Launch Scheduled For October 11

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 27, 2017

Huawei’s elite Honor brand has released a poster which teases the launch of the Honor 7X on October 11. The Honor 7X has in the past appeared online in leaks and was first thought to be named Honor V9 Mini due to its closeness in design to the Honor V9 launched earlier this year.

Previous leaks have revealed that the Honor 7X would feature a dual rear camera setup and we had even seen what could be the sample photo captured by the Honor 7X’s dual cameras. Apart from dual cameras, the latest teaser poster also suggests that the Honor model would come with a full-screen design. If this happens to be real, Huawei would be bringing the trending Full-screen design to the mid-range segment in addition to the flagship Mate 10 Pro that is coming with a full-screen design.

Previous leaks have shown that the Huawei Honor 7X would feature a full metallic body with a USB-C port. The device will also pack a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and a design similar to the Honor V9 but would likely have a size slightly smaller than the 5.9-inch display the Honor V9 features. Other details are still sketchy as at this moment but we’ll bring you more as they emerge.

Kaspersky’s TaigaPhone that Prevents Google, Facebook from Spying on User Data to Release Soon in Russia

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 27, 2017

Natalya Kaspersky, the co-founder of Russia’s Kaspersky Lab is working on a smartphone called TaigaPhone that prevents apps like Google from spying on users. The smartphone has been designed by InfoWatch Group that is based in Moscow, Russia. Natalya is also the President of the InfoWatch Group.

The TaigaPhone will be running on customized version of Android that will prevent apps from collecting data. There is no confirmation on whether it will give access to Google Play Store. According to Natalya, “Most smartphone apps collect certain data on users and send it to outside servers.” She has also stated that when users make use of personal smartphones at workplace, their corporate emails, documents and photos are maliciously or accidently shared with third-party agencies.

TaigaPhone will allow the users to monitor and control the data that the apps try to collect. Also, IT departments in corporate companies will be able to control what apps are installed on the phone and what content are shared by the users. InfoWatch claims that the U.S. companies like Google and Facebook use their apps to collect user data. The main motive of making the Taiga smartphone is to protect the sensitive data of Russian citizens and corporations from getting leaked to the U.S. servers.

The company would be manufacturing 50,000 units of the TaigaPhone initially in China. It will be first made available to the workers of Russia companies that are co-owned by the government. Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are the other markets that will be receiving Taiga. In Russia, the smartphone would be costing around 15,000 rubles (~$260). TaigaPhone has reached final stages of its production. It is a dual-SIM phone that features a 5-inch display and it features two cameras. Nothing much is known on the specifications of the phone.

The technological cold war between the U.S. and Russia is heating up and TaigaPhone is the latest example. U.S. President Donald Trump has recently banned the use of Kaspersky antivirus in the country citing risk to national security. The Trump administration has also directed the U.S. government agencies to remove all the products from Kaspersky Lab from their networks. On the other side, President of Russia Vladimir Putin is reducing the country’s reliance on U.S. based firms like Microsoft and IBM.

(source)

Gionee S11 with 6-inch FHD+ Display, MT6763 SoC and 4 GB RAM Gets Spotted on GFXBench

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 27, 2017

Gionee had launched the S10 smartphone with dual rear and front cameras in May this year. It appears that the company is prepping up on the successor for Gionee S10 as a smartphone labelled as Gionee S11 has appeared on GFXBench benchmarking site.

The GFXBench listing has revealed that the smartphone features a 6-inch display that carries support for FHD+ resolution of 2,160 x 1,080 pixels. The Chinese firm has recently launched Gionee M7 smartphone that houses a 6.01-inch FHD+ AMOLED display which offers an aspect ratio of 18:9.

It is likely that the Gionee S11 may feature the same 18:9 FullView Display that is available on the Gionee S10 smartphone. Since the smartphone is likely to arrive with a FullView Display, there is a possibility that it would be coming with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

The MediaTek MT6763 chipset that clocks at 2.3 GHz is present under the hood of the device which features an ARM Mali-G71 graphics. The chipset of the Gionee S11 will be accompanied by 4 GB of RAM and it will be coming with an internal storage of 64 GB. The S11 will arrive loaded with Android 7.1.1 Nougat that would be customized with Amigo proprietary skin from the company.

The benchmarking site has further revealed that the Gionee S11 would be coming with a 16-megapixel rear camera and a frontal camera of 5-megapixel. There is no confirmation on whether the smartphone would be featuring dual rear and front cameras. There is no information on the battery of the device. However, the smartphone may arrive with a battery of 3,500mAh capacity.

After the recently launched Gionee M7 and Steel 2 Plus smartphones, Gionee S11 could be the third smartphone from the company to arrive with FullView Display. The Gionee M7 is powered by Helio P30 processor and 6 GB of RAM. It includes a 16-megapixel + 8-megapixel dual rear camera system and an 8-megapixel selfie camera. It is packed with a 4,000mh battery. The handset is priced at 2,799 (~$425).

The Gionee Steel 2 Plus features an 18:9 FullView Display of 6 inches. It features MediaTek MT6737 chipset, 3 GB of RAM and Snapdragon 435. It has a rear camera of 13-megapixel and a front-facing shooter of 8-megapixel. It is packed with a huge 5,000mAh battery. It carriers a pricing of 1,999 Yuan (~$305).

(source)

The Panasonic Eluga 14 Is A Slightly Cheaper Eluga Ray 500 With Too Many Trade-offs

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Sep 26, 2017

The newly announced Eluga 14 adds to the list of Eluga devices released by Panasonic in recent weeks. It is hard understanding why the Panasonic Eluga 14 exists, as its specs positions it as a lite version of the Eluga Ray 500 but with an unjustifiable price.

The Eluga 14 has the same 5.0” HD display with 2.5D glass as well as the MT6737 SoC of the Eluga Ray 500. It however comes with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.

Another area where it is downgraded is the camera department. Unlike the Eluga Ray 500 that has dual rear cameras, the Eluga 14 has a single 8MP camera with quad LED flash. Front camera remains 5MP.

The Eluga 14 has dual SIM support, VoLTE, and a MicroSD card slot (128GB max.). It also has a front-mounted fingerprint scanner. Battery capacity has been reduced to 3000mAh but it still comes with Android 7.0 out of the box.

So how much does the Panasonic Eluga 14 cost? INR 8290 (~$127)! Now you have to ask yourself if it makes sense purchasing it when the Eluga Ray 500 which has 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, dual rear cameras, and a larger 4000mAh battery costs INR 709 (~$11) more (INR 8990 (~$138).

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Nokia 8 Arrives India With 4GB RAM, 64GB ROM & INR 36,999 (~$565) Price

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Sep 26, 2017

Today, HMD Global released its Nokia 8 Flagship in India. While there is no difference between this and the version released in London, India will get it for a lesser price.

The Nokia 8 is a flagship in all areas. It has a 5.3-inch display with a 2K resolution and is powered by the Snapdragon 835. There is 4GB of RAM on board and 64GB of expandable storage.

Just like most flagships released this year, the Nokia 8 has dual rear cameras with a few software tricks of its own. The dual 13MP cameras have Carl Zeiss lens just like the Nokia high-end phones of old. There is OIS, laser and phase detection autofocus and a dual LED flash. Although the sensors are in the RGB + Monochrome configuration, there is a live bokeh mode that allows you to adjust the bokeh strength for portrait mode images.

The selfie camera is also the same 13MP f/2.0 Carl Zeiss lens as the color sensor on the back. One software trick HMD has added to the Nokia 8 is something called Dual-Sight mode. It allows you to take pictures and record video simultaneously with both the rear and front facing cameras in a split-screen fashion. This is especially good for those who are at outdoor events like a parade, a concert or a sports game.

The bothie mode can also be used for live streaming on Facebook and YouTube – so while you are covering that concert, your friends can also see you having the time of your life. There is also Nokia Ozo spatial 360° audio for surround sound when recording and during playback.

The Nokia 8 packs a 3090mAh battery, an IP57 certification which means its splash proof, has dual SIM support, a front-mounted fingerprint scanner and a 3.5mm audio jack. It runs Pure Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box and will get upgraded to Android 8.0 Oreo.

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Apple iPhone X Appears on TENAA Revealing Specs Including Battery Size

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 26, 2017

Apple‘s latest full-screen flagship – iPhone X was officially announced a few weeks back but as usual, some of the specifications of the device like the battery capacity are still unknown. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus suffered the same fate until their battery capacities and RAM sizes were revealed on their TENAA filings. The iPhone X has now appeared on TENAA, revealing the battery size and a couple of other specs.

The TENAA listing shows the iPhone X’s battery has a slightly larger 2,716mAH capacity than that of the iPhone 8 Plus which packs a 2,675mAh battery. It also dwarfs the iPhone 8’s battery with a capacity of 1,821mAh. No worries, though, this is Apple’s iPhone and with the latest, power-efficient A11 processor and OS the iPhone X sport, the battery size won’t pose a challenge.

Apart from the battery size, the TENAA listing also shows the iPhone X with model number A1865 packs a 5.85-inch TFT display with a resolution of 1125 x 2436 pixels. The iPhone X will be available in white, black and Rose Gold colours in China. In addition, there is 3GB of RAM, and three storage variants of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. The iPhone X packs a dual rear camera setup with the main sensor being a 12MP sensor while at the front there is an 8MP sensor. No word yet on when it would be launched in China.

(source)

New Pixel 2 Rumors: New Launcher, Always-On Song Recognition, and Portrait Mode

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Sep 26, 2017

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will be officially launched next week, October 4. and everyone is eager to see what Google comes up with for its second generation Pixel phones. Fresh details of the HTC-made Pixel 2 has surfaced on the internet which are quite interesting.

The new info about the Google Pixel are more software-related this time, with a little bit of hardware details. Posted on Twitter by @ArtemR, founder of AndroidPolice, the info is said to be from someone who got his hands on a Verizon unit.

The Pixel 2 (and definitely Pixel 2 XL) will come with a redesigned Pixel launcher. The major change being that the search bar is now at the bottom of the screen, sitting just above the navigation buttons. The Google homepage has also been redesigned.

There is also an always-on music recognition feature that displays info of the artist and song playing on your lockscreen. Music lovers will sure appreciate this new addition.

The Pixel 2 will still not join the dual camera train this year but the camera app will come with a portrait mode. This should be different from the lens blur mode already present in the Google camera app.

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More Photos Of OPPO’s Full Screen Phone Leaked, Dubbed As OPPO R11s

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 26, 2017

OPPO‘s full-screen phone was spotted in a leaked image recently but little is still known about the device. More details have now emerged about the upcoming OPPO smartphone and it includes a couple of new photos purported to be of the device.

The OPPO full-screen phone which appeared on Weibo is labelled as OPPO R11s which is quite different from the OPPO Mix which was spotted on GeekBench some time back. As for the design, it is difficult to grab much about the details because of the presence of a casing which covers the area where the bezels are supposed to be located.

However, the display which is powered on shows that the device will likely have very thin bezels on the chin and also at the lower edge. The upper edge will also have a not so big border where the front camera and earpiece would be located.

Geekbench tells us the device will come with flagship specs, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. The device is also listed to run Android 7.1.1 Nougat and pack 6GB of RAM. We still don’t know when it would be launched but there are speculations that OPPO’s full-screen flagship model will be going official in November and would feature a Samsung AMOLED screen. Whether it is eventually named OPPO Mix or OPPO R11s, it still leaves the question as to what happened to the much-anticipated OPPO Find Series smartphone unanswered.

(source)

Huawei Mate 10 Variants Reportedly Certified in China

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 26, 2017

Earlier in this month, two Huawei branded smartphones with model numbers ALP-AL00 and ALP-TL00 had been certified by China Compulsory Certificate (CCC) in China. The certification of these phones did not reveal any information on their specifications. However, the CCC approval indicates that these Huawei phones will release soon in China.

The only thing that has been surfaced through CCC certification of the aforementioned phones is that they will be arriving with HW-05040C00 charger which is the same charger that is available with Huawei Mate 9 from last year. The charger carries support for 5.0V/2A, 4.5V/2A and 5V/4.5A.

Since the Huawei Mate 10 series phones are officially confirmed to debut on Oct. 16, it seems that the ALP-AL00 and ALP-TL00 phones could be some variants of the Mate 10. Since the Mate 10 is reportedly codenamed as ALPS, the presence of “ALP” in the model numbers of the mysterious Huawei phones indicate these could be Mate 10 models.

The rumor mill has been consistently revealing leaked information on the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro flagship phones. The design of the Mate 10 duo was revealed earlier today through the several screenshots of the leaked promo of these phones.

The Mate 10 is expected to arrive with a front-facing fingerprint reader and 5.9-inch 16:9 curved edge display whereas the Mate 10 Pro is expected to arrive with a 6-inch 18:9 full screen display and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. The Mate 10 is expected to support full HD resolution whereas the Mate 10 Pro is rumored to support QHD+ resolution of 2,880 x 1,440 pixels.

Leaked information suggest that these phones will feature a pair of Leica branded f/1.6 aperture lens on their rear panel. The Kirin 970 chipset with AI capabilities will be powering the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. These smartphones are speculated to arrive preloaded with Android 8.0 Oreo and are rumored to include a 4,000mAh battery. The Mate 10 duo are also pegged to come with IP67 certified chassis.

Huawei has recently launched the Maimang 6 smartphone with dual rear and front cameras. Speculations are rife that this smartphone could be introduced as Huawei Mate 10 Lite for the global markets.

(source|via)

Galaxy A5, A7 (2018) Design Leak Reveals Fingerprint Reader Below Camera, Bixby Button, Infinity Display

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 26, 2017

Samsung is rumored to be working on the 2018 edition of Galaxy A series of smartphones. An industry insider from China has revealed the general design of the 2018 Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 phones.

The 2017 edition of Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 feature the same metal unibody design. However, these smartphones come in different sizes and varied specifications. The upcoming Galaxy A (2018) phones are also expected to sport the same design.

The above image reveals that the Galaxy A (2018) smartphones will be arriving with a single rear camera with fingerprint reader will be placed right under it. The fingerprint scanner appears to be small which suggests that it could be a repurposed Home button.

Like the predecessor phones, the Galaxy A (2018) handsets are expected to arrive with metal unibody chassis flanked with rounded corners and curved edges. Some rumors hint that Samsung may use curved glass panel on the backside of the Galaxy A (2018) phones.

The above image resembles with the following renders of the cases of Galaxy A5 and A7. These images suggest that the rumored Bixby button is placed on the left side of the A5 and A7.

The case of GALAXY A7 2018 (1/2) pic.twitter.com/nW4EREJVxu

— 萌萌的电教 (@MMDDJ_) September 25, 2017

The case of GALAXY A7 2018 (2/2) pic.twitter.com/zyxAtEzQNb

— 萌萌的电教 (@MMDDJ_) September 25, 2017

The case of GALAXY A5 2018.(1/2) pic.twitter.com/4SMO7lttaT

— 萌萌的电教 (@MMDDJ_) September 25, 2017

The case of GALAXY A5 2018(2/2) pic.twitter.com/ndAXi2yECE

— 萌萌的电教 (@MMDDJ_) September 25, 2017

From the past year, the Galaxy A series smartphones have been adopting some of the best features from Galaxy S flagship phones. The 2017 Galaxy A smartphones came with borrow Galaxy S7’s features like Always on Display and water-resistant chassis. It seems that the upcoming Galaxy A phones will adopt the Infinity Display design from the Galaxy S8 duo. In the previous month, the same leakster had revealed the design of the front and rear sides of the 2018 Galaxy A phones.

The alleged Galaxy A7 (2018) was recently spotted on GFXBench. It revealed that the smartphone would be featuring a 5.7-inch FHD display, 4 GB of RAM, Exynos 7885 or 9610 chipset, 16-megapixel rear camera and 16-megapixel front-facing camera. On the other side, the appearance of the alleged Galaxy A5 (2018) on Geekbench has revealed that it is driven by Exynos 7885 chipset and 4 GB of RAM. Both the smartphones are expected to arrive with Android Nougat OS preinstalled. As of this writing, there is no information available on the leaked specs of the 2018 Galaxy A3 smartphone.

(source)

iPhone 8 and 8 Plus Carry Expensive Pricing Because of their Increased Cost of Components

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 26, 2017

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are available in the U.S. with a respective starting price of $699 and $799. According to IHS Markit research firm, since these iPhones feature costly components, Apple has increased the pricing of the iPhone 8 duo in order to earn more profits.

IHS has revealed that Apple spends $247.51 on all the components of a single unit of 64 iPhone 8. The costs of materials for a 32 GB iPhone 7 from last year is $237.94. This shows that the cost of materials for building a base model of iPhone 8 has increased this year. The 32 GB IPhone 7 was launched with a price tag of $649, but the 64 iPhone 8 carries a higher price of $699.

When it comes to iPhone 8 Plus, its components cost $288.80 while the parts of the iPhone 7 Plus cost $270.88. The 64 GB iPhone 8 Plus is selling for $799 whereas the 32 GB iPhone 7 Plus was launched with a price tag of $769.

Like last year, cost of the materials that goes into an iPhone 8 or 8 Plus is around 35 percent of the retail price. One of should be aware of the fact that it does not include other expenses such as manufacturing, software and R&D.

Each unit of the A11 Bionic processor that powers the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus costs $5 more to manufacture in bulk. Increasing the storage from 32 GB to 64 GB has also resulted in spending $6 apiece more. Apple has spent $31.20 and $27.50 respectively on NAND memory by SanDisk and A11 Bionic processor. The screen of the iPhone 8 Plus costs around $52.50 and the layer of Gorilla Glass placed on it costs around $51. The Cupertino company has spent $32.50 on its enhanced camera system.

The inclusion of premium glass chassis, faster chipset, enhanced cameras and increased storage on base models on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus is the reason why Apple is respectively charging $50 and $30 more than their predecessors.

(source)

Limited Time Offer: Buy The OnePlus 5 128GB and Get Free Bullets V2 Earphones

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Sep 26, 2017

OnePlus is running a limited time offer for those who purchase the 128GB version of the OnePlus 5. Those who place an order for the phone get a pair of OnePlus Bullets V2 in-ear headphones free of charge.

The OnePlus Bullets V2 earphones sells for $19.95 on a good day but you get it for free. You can even choose the color you want (black or white), so you just don’t get a random one. The promo runs from now till September 30 and appears to be limited to Canada and the US only and just the slate gray version.

The OnePlus 5 128GB version has 8GB of RAM and sells for $539. It has a 5.5-inch optic AMOLED display and is powered by the Snapdragon 835. It has dual rear cameras (16MP + 20MP) that can take portrait photos and a 16MP front facing camera.

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OnePlus 3/3T Owners Now Get Shot on OnePlus Watermark After OxygenOS 4.5.0 Update

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Sep 26, 2017

OnePlus released a new OTA update for the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T yesterday. The update moves the version number from 4.1.7 to 4.5.0 and brings a bunch of features which owners should find interesting.

Some of the visual features includes the new OnePlus Slate font debuted on the OnePlus 5 in addition to the Shot on OnePlus watermark when you take pictures.

OnePlus has also added the option to schedule when your phone goes into night mode just like we have on the official Twitter app. If you enjoy playing games without distractions, a Gaming Do Not Disturb mode can be found under Advanced System Settings, however calls and alarms are exempted.

Want to know how fast your network is? Then you can add that to your status bar. You will also find the new lift up display feature interesting. Lift up your phone when the screen is locked and you can see if you have any notifications. OnePlus also says that the update brings battery improvements and system stability.The update also appears to have fixed the Blueborne vulnerability.

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Broadcom’s Highly Accurate GPS Chip Arriving in Smartphones Next Year

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 26, 2017

Even though millions of users make use of GPS enabled services like Google Maps and Apple Maps for navigating, the GPS chips do not show accurate location. For instance, when you are driving on the highway, the navigation app can’t accurately tell whether you are on the highway or on the road next to it. This is because the accuracy of today’s GPS solutions works within a range of 3 to 5 meters. During the ongoing ION GNSS+ 2017 conference in Portland, Broadcom has announced that it is building a GPS chip that can accurately lock the location within 30 centimeters.

The existing GPS chips lock location by interacting with older GPS satellites that release L1 signal. The new L5 signal is sent out by newer GPS satellites. Broadcom has confirmed that it is its new GPS chip, the BCM4755, can work with the new type of GPS satellite can accurately detect the location of the user.

Since the mass production of the chip is expected to begin soon, the semiconductor company has also claimed that the new GPS chip will be available on smartphones that will be released next year. The BCM4755 chip works by first receiving the L1 signal first and then refine the position by locking into L5 signal. The new chip is not only accurate, but also consumes less power than the existing GPS chips.

In cities, GPS satellite signals come in contact with receiver directly as well as through bouncing off from surfaces like buildings. Hence, it reaches the receiver at different times. If these signals overlap with each other, it may result in the formation of signal blob.

The receiver then tries to find the highest point in this blob in order to fix the time of arrival. A messier blob can lead to inaccurately calculated position. However, the direct and reflected signals of L5 are unlikely to overlap. Thus, the GPS chip will ignore all the signal that it receives after receiving the direct signal. To enhance the accuracy, the BCM4755 chip will be able to use the phase information in the carrier signal.

Hence, people living in cities will be able to enjoy accurate positioning starting from the next year, thanks to Broadcom. However, it remains to be known whether it will be widely available on smartphones in 2018 as Qualcomm is the largest vendor of GPS chips in the world.

(source)

Nubia Full Screen Phone Hits October 12, Official Launch Poster Hints!

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 26, 2017

Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Nubia which is closely related to ZTE has been teasing its full-screen model which it touts as coming with full-Screen 2.1. The company’s latest teaser has revealed that a launch event would be held on October 12 in Shenzhen, China where the company is expected to launch the much-anticipated full-screen Nubia phone.

The tech giant had shared a couple of renders of the device which tells little about the device apart from its full-screen design. Several of the teasers are often accompanied with the caption “More Than You Can See” which reiterates the full-screen design. It is also expected to have a bezel-less design with highly reduced bezels on all four sides. The photos of the device were even spotted online recently giving up a glimpse of what to expect and it includes the presence of a physical home button at the front and its TENAA appearance also revealed the real photos of the dual-camera packing model.

The full-screen Nubia phone did appear on TENAA last week clutching the model number NX589J and is rumoured to go by the name Nubia Z17s. The TENAA listing reveals the Nubia phone features a 5.2-inch 1080p display, 6GB RAM, 64GB expandable storage, a dual camera setup in which the main sensor is 13MP. There is also a 16MP front camera and a 3100mAh battery. In addition, the device is expected to run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS and would have a curved edge design at the rear.

Apple Lowers iPhone X Components Order But There’s No Cause For Alarm

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Sep 26, 2017

Apple’s iPhone X orders are expected to surpass those of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus and it is expected that Apple will ramp up production in order to meet the anticipated high demands. Instead of that, Apple is reported to have lowered it components order, allegedly instructing components suppliers to a hold on their shipments of the components needed for the production of iPhone X units.

According to sources from Taiwan-based upstream component suppliers where Apple sources its components, suppliers are currently shipping just 40% of the original quantities planned for the initial production of iPhone X. Even at 40% shipments, some of the suppliers still had to ramp up production in order to meet up due to the low yield rates at their production lines.

No worries, though, Apple adopted a similar strategy for the iPhone 7 last year with initial shipments of parts and components of only about 60% of the materials originally required by the vendor. Apple later received the remaining 40% of orders 1-2 months later. It is likely that Apple is waiting to see how well the iPhone X would fare in pre-sales and also to monitor the sales performance of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. Apple will start receiving pre-orders for iPhone X on October 27 while the device will ship on November 3, 2016. With its topnotch design and specs, the iPhone X could affect the sales of its siblings and Apple wouldn’t want that to happen.

(source)