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

By

-

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.

Continue

Apple iPhone X Appears on TENAA Revealing Specs Including Battery Size

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

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

-

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.

Continue

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

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

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

-

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

-

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

-

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

-

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.

Continue

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

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

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.

Continue

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

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

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

-

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)

iPhone 8 Plus Users Experiencing Crackling Noise Issues While Making and Receiving Calls

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Sep 26, 2017

Early buyers of Apple iPhone 8 Plus have claimed that they are hearing crackling noises while making and receiving calls. On Friday, a forum member of MacRumors had created a thread to discuss on the cracking noise issue that he has been facing on his iPhone 8 Plus. Since then a number of iPhone 8 Plus users from the U.S., Australia and Europe have expressed on the thread that they are also facing the same issue.

The crackling noise can be heard through the earpiece of iPhone 8 Plus only while making or receiving a phone call. However, the problem does not occur when headphones are connected or if the speakerphone feature is enabled. This indicates that it may not be a earpiece or speaker related hardware.

If it is a hardware issue, the crackling noise would have been heard even while using the speaker phone. The problem is not even associated with network carriers as the crackling noise can be heard while using FaceTime. Hence, it appears that it could be a software related problem.

It has been also found that the crackling noise occurs even when Wi-Fi, 4G VoLTE and noise cancelling are enabled or disabled. The support team of Apple is aware of the issue and they have suggested users to fix the issue by performing factory reset and use iCloud backup to carry out the setup again. However, some users are still experiencing the problem even after resetting their iPhone 8 Plus.

Users who have tried exchanging their iPhone 8 Plus after experiencing the issue are still encountering the same problem on the exchanged handsets. The Cupertino company is aware of the problem and is reportedly working on a fix for the issue. If it is a software issue, the problem is likely to get resolved through an upcoming update.

Are you also facing the crackling noise problem on your iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus? Share us your experience by commenting below.

(source|via)

Huawei Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro Leaked Promo Reveal Design, Leica Dual Cameras and AI Capabilities

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Sep 26, 2017

Huawei Mate 10 series smartphones are slated to get unveiled in the next month. In the past weeks, the rumor mill has revealed plenty of information on the specifications and features of Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. Today, several snapshots of a leaked promo of the Mate 10 duo have surfaced. The leaked images highlight their various features including the AI capabilities of the Kirin 970 chipset.

The above image showcases the design of the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. The device placed on the left side is the Mate 10 Pro. It is fitted with a slimmer screen that seems to support an aspect ratio of 18:9. The company’s logo can be seen on the bottom bezel. The Mate 10 that is placed on the right side appears to be sporting a screen that offers an aspect ratio of 16:9. The display seems to be curved at the edges. The bottom bezel of Mate 10 does not feature Huawei’s logo as it is likely to feature a front-mounted fingerprint scanner.

The leaked shots also reveal the Leica branded dual camera setup are available on the backside of Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. Both the smartphones will be featuring a pair of f/1.6 aperture SUMMLUX-H lenses. The vertically stacked dual cameras of the Mate 10 Pro are placed on a textured strip. The rear view of the Pro model reveals its fingerprint reader.

Another image includes the text that claims that the Kirin 970 is the world’s first chipset that is embedded with NPU (neural processing unit). The latter brings behavior driven machine learning on Mate 10 phones. With AI onboard, the Mate 10 duo will feature an AI-driven photo assistant and camera image translation without the need of connecting to the internet. AI also brings intelligent photography to Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro that will let these phones to recognize up to 14 scenarios and according adjust the camera settings.

The below image shows that the Mate 10 duo will be featuring a 4,000mAh battery that will carry fast charging capabilities. It seems that the battery consumption will be managed by AI. With Cat. 18 LTE modem, the Mate 10 duo will support LTE speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps. Lastly, both the smartphones will be coming with IP67 certified dust and water-resistant chassis.

(source|via)

iPhone 8 Plus Camera Clinches Record As DxOMark’s Highest Rated Phone Camera

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Sep 26, 2017

DxOMark has just released its latest ratings and revise their testing procedure in order to accommodate modern smartphone camera features. As a result of the update, Apple has once again emerged as the King of Smartphone Cameras with the iPhone 8 Plus currently occupying the top spot on DxOMark’s rating. The iPhone 8 Plus is closely followed by its contemporary- the iPhone 8. DxOMark is a website providing image quality ratings for standalone cameras, lenses, and mobile devices that include cameras. It is owned by DxO Labs.

It would be recalled that the iPhone 8 comes with a single camera while the iPhone 8 Plus comes with dual rear cameras. This is why the 8 Plus scored higher because DxOMark’s new metrics now take into account features like bokeh, zoom, and more, some of which are not present in the smaller iPhone 8 or 7 models also with a single rear camera. That notwithstanding, the iPhone 8 still managed to floor all other smartphones released so far this year.

The iPhone 8 Plus with its dual cameras particularly stood out in its Zoom and Bokeh features. It also performs creditably in the area of HDR and video where it is tied at the same score with the HTC U11. As stated, this is a new scoring system and so only a few smartphones have been tested using the system but all the top models tested so far fall behind the iPhone 8 Plus. DxOMark is yet to test the Galaxy Note 8’s camera and the Google Pixel which had been at the top of the chats before now is yet to be tested using this new system. Another model which may challenge the iPhone 8 Plus anytime soon is the Google Pixel 2 which would be launched next week. We’ll wait to see if Google can do a better job on its flagship’s camera.

(source)

Samsung Working On New Exynos Chips With Dedicated AI Processing Cores

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Sep 25, 2017

The Huawei Kirin 970 is the first chip with a dedicated NPU (neural processing unit) for AI related tasks. Apple’s new iPhones are powered by the A11 Bionic which has a neural engine for machine learning tasks. Samsung is already behind as its Exynos 8895 doesn’t have any of the above mentioned features, so it is working on new chips that will fill this gap.

According to a source from Samsung’s partners who spoke to Korea Herald, “(Samsung) is in the middle of developing several types of chips that will be capable of processing massive data from AI applications on devices, eliminating the need to communicate with cloud servers”.

The advantage of having a dedicated processing unit for data processing is that data used by AI apps do not need to be stored in the cloud. They can be stored locally and accessed faster, with improvements in performance reaching up to 50%.

Samsung itself has officially mentioned that its chips will have Neural Processing Units. Speaking at a forum, the president of its semiconductor arm, Kim Ki-nam said “the existing central processing unit and graphic processing unit chips make it hard to achieve efficiency in AI computing. The NPU will help address the efficiency challenge. However, NPUs so far have storage capacities that are equivalent to a thousandth of a human brain.”

Continue

Gionee Steel 2 Plus Launches With 18:9 Display, 5000mAh Battery and Snapdragon 435 SoC

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Sep 25, 2017

Think the Gionee M7 is expensive? Then you may want to check out the Gionee Steel 2 Plus, the second 18:9 FullView display smartphone announced today by the Chinese manufacturer.

The Gionee Steel 2 Plus is a successor to the Steel 2 released in January. The Plus variant is a big upgrade in all aspects. The specs of the phone may look familiar and that is because the Gionee Steel 2 Plus is the Gionee GN5007 seen on TENAA a few days ago.

Gionee Steel 2 Plus Specs

The Steel 2 Plus packs a 6-inch 18:9 FullView display too but with a HD+ resolution. It has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of built-in storage compared to the 3GB RAM and 16GB/32GB of the Steel 2. It also swaps the MediaTek MT6737 SoC for a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor.

Its rear camera is a single 13MP sensor with a circular LED flash on the right. Front camera has also been upgraded to an 8MP sensor. Another key upgrade is the addition of a fingerprint scanner, although it sits at the back of the device.

The Gionee Steel 2 packs a 4,000mAh battery which is more than sufficient for a 5-inch HD phone. The Steel 2 Plus pushes it to 5,000mAh to complement the bigger 6.0-inch HD+ screen.

Continue

Huawei Mate 9 With Android 8.0 Oreo Seen On Geekbench

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Sep 25, 2017

Owners of the Mate 9 may soon receive an update to Android 8.0 Oreo. The smartphone was seen on Geekbench a few days ago running the latest version of Android.

Benchmarked as the Huawei MHA, where MHA is short for Manhattan, the Mate 9’s codename before its release last year. The Mate 9 is shown to be powered by an octa-core processor clocked at 1.84GHz and has 4GB of RAM.

This is not the first mention of the Mate 9 running Android. Back in April, it was reported that the company was testing an Android O build for the phone. An image of a Chinese variant of the phone was posted online that showed it running a new software build.

Continue

Samsung Galaxy A (2018) Rumoured To Feature A Dedicated Bixby Button

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Sep 25, 2017

Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy A (2018) series towards the end of this year or early next year. While the series still remains a mid-range series, there is a new rumour in town that the A (2018) series might see a slight modification in their designs with the inclusion of a dedicated Bixby button.

This was made known by a Weibo leaker and re-echoes earlier revelation that Samsung will be extending the Bixby feature to its mid-range smartphones. The Galaxy J7+ was earlier rumoured to have a Bixby button with limited functions, same for the Galaxy C8. Since Samsung has said that Bixby will arrive on more devices in the future, the rumour gains some credibility but we can’t pinpoint which of the Galaxy A(2018) models would have a Bixby button and can’t say for sure if this rumour is 100% credible. Apart from the voice assistant, the Galaxy A (2018) has been tipped to feature an Infinity Display and at least one model might have a dual camera system.

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) — Samsung Galaxy A5 2017

Bixby was first introduced on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones but it wasn’t until several months later before it became functional. The service is now available in over 200 countries including India and was recently introduced on the Galaxy Note 8 phablet. Samsung just tackled the challenge which slowed down the rollout of Bixby on its phones so, we believe the company is right on schedule with its plans to expand Bixby. The tech giant even plans to expand Bixby features to its smart home gadgets and wearables in the near future and is rumoured to be working on a Smart speaker that would have the Bixby Voice Assistant.

(source)

Real Image of OPPO’s Full Screen Phone Leaks, May Be Called OPPO Mix

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Sep 25, 2017

Recently, the launch of the Vivo X20 heralded the entrance of Vivo into the full-screen design category. Expectedly, Vivo’s co-traveller OPPO is reportedly planning to release its own full-screen phone and the real image of that OPPO full-screen model has leaked. This further expands the number of models with full-screen models and considering OPPO’s and Vivo’s global ranking, this means the world’s top 5 phone manufacturers for last year have all got a full-screen model to their name.

The device is likely to go by the name OPPO Mix as a previous GeekBench appearance has revealed. The Geekbench listing which was first uploaded on July 14 this year shows that 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.

There are speculations that OPPO full-screen flagship model will be going official in November and would feature a Samsung AMOLED screen. This will be launched under a new series and isn’t under the OPPO Find series despite it being a flagship model.

(source)