Amazon’s Alexa is a pretty big deal. It is one of the most popular smart assistants and is available on a variety of devices and even cars too. Microsoft’s Cortana on the the other hand is available on Windows 10 computers, phones, as well as the Xbox One. However, both giants have announced a partnership that will see the two assistants become buddies.
Cortana works mainly as a reminder while Alexa does so much more. It can answer questions, place orders on Amazon, and can also control smart devices like your lights. With the announcement it means you should be able to order that new Xbox controller on Amazon by calling up Cortana to open up Alexa or asking your Echo device to call up Cortana to check your work calendar. It is strange but I guess they have to make it work somehow.
Google on the other hand has added the ability to be able to shop on Walmart using the Google Assistant. So you can call the Amazon and Microsoft partnership a sort of take on Google and Walmart’s alliance.
Do you use Cortana? Are you excited about it coming to Echo devices or about Alexa coming to Windows 10 devices? Let us know what you think in the comment box.
A Samsung model with number SM-C7100 and believed to go by the name Galaxy C8 was recently spotted on Samsung China’s website. Samsung had initially launched the Galaxy C-series exclusively for China but later released the C9 Pro model for other South East Asian markets. The Galaxy C8 will likely be Samsung’s first mid-range smartphone with dual cameras, that is if it is launched before the Galaxy J7+ that is also launched with dual cameras.
The Galaxy C8 was recently spotted on a promotional material which confirms some features of the model. The promotional material confirms that the C8 will come with dual cameras. The device is also shown to come with a fingerprint sensor which will be embedded in the home button. The dual cameras on the Galaxy C8 will likely be a combination of a 13MP main sensor teaming up with a 5MP secondary camera, aligned in a vertical direction.
In addition, previous leaks had tipped the Samsung Galaxy C8 as coming with a 5.5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display. The device will be powered by a 2.3GHz octa-core processor with 3GB/4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of storage. It will likely feature a 2,850mAh battery and run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat.
Samsung had hinted that it would not only include Bixby on its flagship but also on the mid-range phone and so, apart from the Galaxy J7+ which is rumored to come with Bixby, the Galaxy C8 may also include a basic version of Bixby. Samsung is yet to disclose when the Galaxy C8 will be launched or if it would be available outside China.
Xiaomi announced the Mijia Mini 4K Action Camera a fortnight ago. This is not Xiaomi’s first action camera as it has a bunch released under the Xiaoyi brand name. However this is the second camera released under the Mijia name, as there is also a Mijia dash camera.
The Mijia Mini 4K Action Camera is priced at ¥699 (∼$107) on the official Mi store but since most people outside China can only purchase from third-party resellers, they have to pay a bit more.
Gearbest has it available on pre-sale for $139.99 but you can get it for much less if you use a coupon code. Enter the coupon GBXMINI at checkout and you get $20 off bringing the price down to $119.99.
The Mijia 4K Action Camera has a 2.4-inch display. It has a Sony IMX317 sensor with a 1.62um pixel size and a 145º viewing angle. Its f/2.8 aperture makes it possible to shoot pin-sharp footages under low-light.
The camera can record 4K videos in 30fps. It can also record time-lapse and slow-mo videos. And with its 6-axis stabilization (3-axis gyroscope and 3-axis accelerometer) you can be assured of a steady footage.
Latest reports say that what we have called the iPhone 8 is actually the iPhone Edition. The iPhone 8 moniker will go to the device formerly known as the iPhone 7s and the iPhone 7 Plus will launch as the iPhone 8 Plus.
The news comes from 9to5Mac Editorial Director Seth Weintraub, who said he spoke to two case vendors at the on-going IFA in Berlin. The case vendors are said to be major brands with one selling items on the Apple store and the other on 9to5Toys.
One of them says it has even updated its internal stock keeping units (SKUs) based on the info from those who have seen the retail boxes in Shenzhen. Another info revealed is that the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will have lightning ports but future models will inevitably switch to USB-C.
Apple has scheduled September 12 as the release date for its new devices. The launch will take place at the new Steve Jobs Theater situated within the new Apple Campus.
Huawei’s Honor 6C has been spotted on TENAA and according to sources its pricing may position it as a competitor against the Redmi Note 5A.
The Honor 6C has a 5.2-inch display with a 1280 x 720 resolution. It has 4GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in storage. But there is news of a 3GB RAM variant, probably with 16GB of storage. Irrespective of the variant, there is a microSD card slot that takes up to 128GB cards.
There is an unnnamed octa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz. The Honor 6C is listed as having a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP front-facing sensor. Flanking the rear camera on the left is a LED flash.
The phone runs Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box and you can be sure there is EMUI 5.1 on top. Will this get Android 8.0 Oreo in future? It is hard to say but it should at least get EMUI 6.0 when it launches.
The Honor 6C has dual SIM slots and has support for 4G networks. It has a 2900mAh battery which should suffice for its 5.2-inch HD display. It measures 147.9 × 73.2 × 7.65 mm and weighs 145 grams.
The images provided show a black variant of the device. It is actually a two-tone paint job with some areas having a darker shade than others. There is a volume rocker and power button on the left, and a 3.5mm audio jack at the top. SIM tray is on the left and the charging port and speaker should be at the bottom.
A growing number of drivers pay more and more attention to the heat dissipation performance of dash cam, as dash cam with poor heat dissipation will cause much unnecessary trouble to the drivers.
Firstly, excessive temperature will produce an effect on image sensor and lens performance, lead to the unclear video;
Secondly, in severe cases, it will even cause the death and downtime during the shooting process.
GS65H is the first dual lens dash cam launched by Azdome. It combines Novatek96655 chip and Sony IMX323 sensor; besides, it max supports 64GB TF card and supports multi-language including Polish and Russian, etc; the video resolution can reach 1920*1080P/30fps in single camera mode, and 1440*1080i+720P in dual camera mode.
In addition, the same as DAB211, GS65H also has powerful heat dissipation function, as is well-known that GS65H is a dual lens dash cam and the power dissipation is relatively high compared with other single lens dash cams. Therefore, Azdome specially designed numerous heat emission holes on both sides of the dash cam and around the front camera. These heat emission holes will effectively transfer the internal heat to the outside, which can release the heat produced due to excessive power consumption to ensure the normal operation of the dash cam, further avoid the death phenomenon of dash cam because of excessive heat in the case of long-time operation.
According to the latest market research on wearables conducted by IDC, the global shipments of wearables increased by 10.3 percent in Q2 2017 compared to the same quarter in the previous year. The market analysis also revealed that Xiaomi and Apple topped the list of companies for shipping the most number of wearable devices across the world.
IDC has revealed that between April and June, various companies such as Xiaomi, Apple, Fitbit, Garmin, Fossil and others together shipped total of 26.3 million wearables. According to the research firm, for the first time, the market basic wearables that do not feature any third-party apps fell as it me with a yearly growth of -0.9 percent in Q2 2017. On the other side, the market for the smartwatches running on Android Wear as well as Apple Watch increased by 60.9 percent in the same quarter.
According to IDC Mobile Device Trackers’ senior research analyst, Jitesh Ubrani, the market is now more inclined towards intelligent wearables that come with multiple features. The recent market trend suggest that GPS and health tracking capabilities have now become common features on new smartwatches. In the previous year, there were only 24.5 percent GPS enabled devices among all the wearables. However, now the percentage has increased to 41.7 percent.
By shipping 3.5 million units in Q2 2017, Xiaomi has grabbed the pole position in the list of top companies that manufacture wearable devices. The Xiaomi Mi Band fitness tracker that is priced around $20 is the bestselling wearable device from the company. With a year-over-year growth of 13.7 percent, it has allowed Xiaomi to gain a market share of 13.4 percent in Q2 2017.
Apple is present on the second position with a shipment of 3.4 million. It recorded a remarkable year-over-year growth of 49.7 percent, but has remained behind Xiaomi with a market share of 13 percent in the same quarter. The Cupertino company is expected to introduce an LTE enabled Apple Watch on Sept. 12 alongside the new iPhones. It is rumored to feature an embedded SIM that will its users to connect to VOIP services and web without tethering with an iPhone. The upcoming smartwatch from Apple would possibly allow it to get back its number one position in the wearables market.
Fitbit delivered the shipped the same number of wearables (3.4 million) as the Cupertino company, it could not surpass Apple. Sitting at third position, Fitbit gained a market share of 12.9 percent. In the same quarter last year, it had a higher market share of 24.1 percent. Fitbit has confirmed that it is widening is product catalog by selling smartwatches. It has already unveiled its first smartwatch called Fitbit Ionic.
Garmin and Fossil respectively shipped 1.4 and 1 million units in Q2 2017. Garmin held a market share of 6.4 percent in the same quarter, but now it has dropped to 5.4 percent. It has faced a year-over-year decline of 6.6 percent. Fossil’s Q2 2017 market share is 4 percent. Considering the market share of 1.4 percent in the same quarter last year, it has met with a high year-over-year growth of 217.9 percent.
Huawei has already confirmed that it will be holding a launch event on Sept. 2. The official invitation contains a hashtag #HuaweiMobileAI. Rumors have revealed that the Kirin 970 chipset integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be announced on the coming Saturday. The official details of the Kirin 970 chipset are not available yet, but the some of the details of the SoC have been already spotted at the IFA 2017. The details are quite similar to the leaked information of the Kirin 970 chipset that was recently shared by popular leakster, Roland Quandt.
First of all, Huawei’s new in-house chipset, the Kirin 970 that is developed by HiSilicon is manufactured by TSMC using its 10nm process. Some of the features of this octa-core processor are 12-core graphics, dual-SIP and Category 18 LTE modem. Since it is equipped with dedicated neural network silicon, the chipset is dubbed as Neural Processing Unit (NPU). It is expected to power the upcoming Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro smartphones.
The USP of the Kirin 970 is that it is integrated with an exclusive computing unit for AI. As far as performance of AI is concerned, the Kirin 970 is expected to produce 25 times better performance than similar processor based AI and is also pegged to be 50 times more power efficient. The smartphones that will be driven by Kirin 970 will be able to offer various kinds of AI features such as image recognition, interaction through voice and intelligent photo shooting.
The internal specs of the chipset are still under the wraps as it will be fully disclosed during the upcoming launch event. A snapshot that has surfaced from the floor of the IFA 2017 has revealed that Kirin 970 would be featuring four cores of Cortex A73 running at 2.4 GHz and four cores of Cortex A53 clocking at 1.8 GHz. The octa-core processor will be coupled with Mali-G72 MP12 graphics. It is the most recent graphics from ARM. The dual ISP will offer features like motion detection and low light enhancement.
It will support HDR 10, 4K video decoding at 60 fps and 4K video encoding at 30 fps. The Cat. 18 LTE modem will support download speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps. It will be also coming with TEE and inSE security engines.
Do you think that the performance of the Kirin 970 will be on par with rivals like Snapdragon 835 and Exynos 8895? Share us your views by commenting below.
Renders of Sharp phones usually adorning a bezel-less design is turning to be a regular in leak land. We have seen a number of renders and despite the release of the bezel-less Aquos S2 mid-range smartphone, the renders keep coming out. This is yet another concept render of the Sharp Aquos 2017, also tagged Sharp S3, showing an even thinner bezel than the Aquos S2.
Sharp first released the Aquos smartphone in 2014 with a slim bezel design and since then we have seen a number of Sharp Aquos models. The Japanese tech giant is rumored to be working on yet another Aquos model and that model is what has been featured in this concept video. The design is the Aquos S3 through the eyes of Concept Creators and it was posted on its YouTube channel recently. The device appears to wear a metal body and talking about the front camera, there isn’t any cut-out from the display to accommodate the front camera as was done on the Aquos S2 but the camera is embedded on the bottom bezels at the right side. Notably, the Xiaomi Mi Mix used this design and the Mix 2 is said to retain the design.
The design indeed reflects Sharp’s design language and rumors of even slimmer bezels on the Aquos 2017. The Aquos models are known to come with a tri-bezel-less design where there are bezels only on the bottom edge and in this case, the bezels are even further slimmer than that of the Aquos S2. Among the features on the phone is a USB Type-C connector, dual speakers at the bottom with nice speaker grills that add to the beauty. The design obviously looks more premium than the Aquos S2 and perhaps, if indeed Sharp is working on a new Aquos smartphone, it may be a flagship model. But then, there is no indication from the Foxconn-controlled company to that effect presently. Meanwhile, you can check out the concept video from below.
Xiaomi has for a while now been releasing teasers for the launch of a new smartphone scheduled to take place on September 5 in India. The device in question is believed to be the Xiaomi Mi A1 and the company’s latest teaser video may have shed some more light on the upcoming model. Earlier teasers have already revealed the smartphone will come with a flagship dual cameras and this led to speculations it would be the global roll out of the Mi 5X which was released in China last month packing the same camera setup as the flagship Mi 6.
The short video clip contained in the tweet clearly states that this is going to be an entirely new series from Xiaomi and since it is billed to be unveiled outside China, it seems the device is meant for the international market. The Xiaomi Mi A1 is rumoured to run on Android One, which is a budget-friendly line of devices that run on a stock version of Android. This is also given some credence by some clues contained in the video. The images depicting gears, clocks, drums, and a bicycle use the exact same color combinations found in the Google logo but not exactly in the same order they appeared on Google’s logo. The is seen as an indication that the device will run on pure ANdroid without a touch of MIUI.
This no doubt will be a glad one for those who like their phones running on stock Android instead of the modified version usually available on Chinese models. The device is also tipped to come with a bezel-less display and considering the Android One aspect, it will likely be super affordable. September 5 is just four days away, keep a date.
Acer seems to have silently released a new smartphone in its home country – Taiwan. The new smartphone dubbed Acer Liquid Z6 Max was recently showcased during an event Acer organized to honor participants at the 2017 Taiwan Universaide Games held in Taipei. Acer Taiwan’s General Manager reportedly presented 380 special -edition Liquid Z6 Max smartphones to those who participated in the games.
Before now, the Liquid Z6 Max is relatively unheard of, as the tech giant only announced the Acer Liquid Z6 and Z6 Plus at IFA Berlin 2016. So, the Z6 Max is an entirely new addition to the family with a specs lineup that shows it is an upgrade of last year’s Z6 Plus. The device goes maximum with its battery capacity, packing a massive 4,670mAh battery, unlike the 4,080mAh which the Z6 Plus featured.
The Acer Z6 Max is also revealed to feature an Octa-core processor which we believe is an upgraded MediaTek chip over the MT6753 octa-core chip used by the Z6 Plus. The RAM is also increased from 3GB to 4GB RAM and the storage from 32GB to 64GB with a slot for expansion.internal expandable storage. Another major upgrade is in the camera aspect. While the Z6 Plus features a 13MP camera at the back and a 5MP front-facing shooter, the Acer Z6 Max is revealed to pack a 16MP front-facing camera with F2.0 aperture while at the rear is a 13MP main camera with PDAF. The display is a 5.5-inch 1080p panel with 2.5D glass on top.
The Liquid Z6 Max sticks with the 5.5-inch FHD display on its predecessor and has dual SIM slots in which one is a 4G slot while the second is 3G enabled. There is also a separate microSD slot that can take up to a 128GB storage card. There is also a fingerprint sensor at the rear and capacitive keys at the sides. The device features a metal body while there are the Universaide cartoon and the Game’s logo at the back which we believe was included because this is a special edition. The model is said to come with a price hovering around 9,900 TWD (330 USD) which is quite high for such a smartphone. The Z6 Plus was priced around $277 and since this is an upgrade, it just might coming with that price tag.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is billed to be launched on September 11 and already Xiaomi has released an official poster which confirms that. Ahead of the launched, what could be termed the biggest leak of the Mi Mix 2 has appeared online and it brings along with it a wave of listed specs the device is expected to pack.
The leak comes in form of the Mi Mix screenshot displaying the about phone section and thus revealing a lot about the flagship model. One aspect that would come as a surprise is that the Mi Mix 2 is listed as packing a Snapdragon 836 processor. The SD 836 has featured in several rumors and is actually being expected as a slight upgrade of the SD 835 but no one would have thought the Mi Mix 2 would be among the first, that is if it will not be the first flagship model to utilise the chip.
Apart from Snapdragon 836 processor, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is revealed to run on Android’s latest OS – Android 8.0 Oreo with a touch of MIUI 9. Other details we can scoop from the leaked screenshot include a 6.2-inch display with a resolution of 2960 x 1440pixels as well as a 4,400mAh battery and 256GB storage. The screenshot also reveals the Mi Mix 2 will come with 20MP rear camera, perhaps on its main sensor because the Mix 2 is expected to pack a dual camera setup at its rear.
Except Xiaomi is planning to spring up a surprise, the specs sheet doesn’t look feasible. For one, Qualcomm is yet to announce Snapdragon 836 and even Xiaomi’s new MIUI 9 hasn’t got a version based on Android Oreo. So, we’ll keep our fingers crossed while on the look out for more leaks as the launch date approaches.
The rumor mill has started churning out leaked details of the Galaxy S9 smartphone. Yesterday, plenty of information on the Galaxy S9 had appeared. A fresh report coming from South Korea reveals that the Samsung would be debuting the 2018 Galaxy S9 flagship in January next year.
The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ flagship smartphones were launched in March this year and their sales had started in April this year. However, fresh information suggests that Samsung may launch the successors of the Galaxy S8 duo earlier next year. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are now speculated to debut in January in the coming year. These flagship phones are expected to go on sale in February.
What could be considering for launching the Galaxy S9 duo earlier next year? Apple is the number one rival of Samsung smartphones. Reports that the launch of the most advanced special edition iPhone dubbed as iPhone 8 could be the reason that is influencing the arrival of Galaxy S9 and S9+. The early arrival of Galaxy S9 duo hints that they would be available in the market around two months earlier than their predecessor models.
The early arrival of the Galaxy S9 is supported but a report that states that Samsung Display is poised to ship OLED panels for the next generation S series smartphones in November. Compared to other components of a smartphone such as camera modules and cases, display panels are shipped earlier. It takes around three months to ship the entire assembly of the phone. Judging by the schedule of phone’s assembly, it appears that the Galaxy S9 may debut at the end of January, to be precise and its global launch could be in mid-February.
Previous reports have also revealed that Samsung has begun the works on Galaxy S9 early this year. The panel development began in April 2016. It appears that the South Korean company is around three to four months ahead of its schedule for the Galaxy S9 and S9+ that are rumored to be respectively codenamed as Star and Star 2. The early arrival of the Galaxy S9 is speculated as a strategy to defend its flagship smartphones against the most special iPhone that is launching next year.
In related news, the South Korean media has revealed that the LG G7 would be also launching it January 2018. Unlike the LG G6, the LG G7 is speculated to arrive flagship specs.
Since the past month, Chinese sources have been revealing information on the upcoming Vivo X20 bezel-less smartphone. Recently, it was spotted on FIFA World Cup 2018 promo posters. The handset seems to have now appeared in two live photos to reveal its front and rear sides.
The design of the bezel-less Vivo phone that has appeared in the new images resembles with the render of the Vivo X20 that appeared on FIFA World Cup 2018 posters. The new images show that the smartphone has a white body with dual rear cameras on its rear panel. It also appears to be sporting a rear-mounted fingerprint reader.
The bezels on the sides of the screen are quite thin and bezels present above and below the display are a bit thicker than the side bezels. The alleged Vivo X20 will deliver a high screen-to-body ratio. It is expected to deliver an aspect ratio of 18:9 which is same as the aspect ratio available on the LG G6 and LG V30 smartphones. It seems that the body of the Vivo X20 will be made up of metal. There is possibility that it may sport metal and glass combination design.
Reports have revealed that there would be a regular model that will launch as Vivo X20 and there would be another variant of the phone that is dubbed as Vivo X20 Plus. However, there is no information available on the differences between Vivo X20 and its Plus variant.
According to previous reports, the Vivo X20 would be fitted with a 5-inch screen that deliver a full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The Vivo X20 Plus may feature a larger 5.5-inch or 6-inch FHD screen. The Snapdragon 660 chipset is rumored to power the Vivo X20 and Vivo X20 Plus along with 4 GB of RAM. The X20 is expected to feature a native storage of 64 GB.
In May, Vivo and FIFA had signed a contract to make the Chinese smartphone manufacturer as the official sponsor of the World Cup 2018 that will be held in Russia. Moreover, Vivo is also the official sponsor of the World Cup 2022.
There are no details available on its pricing and launch date. Since the smartphone appears to be ready in the new live photos, Vivo may announce the X20 as early as this month.
There are a bunch of smartphones out there that say they support up to 2TB microSD cards. News flash! There is no 2TB microSD card, neither is there a 1TB microSD card nor a 512GB microSD card. Up until yesterday, the largest capacity you could get was 256GB. Yesterday at IFA Berlin, SanDisk launched a new microSD card slot with a 400GB capacity making it the largest capacity you can get on a microSD card for now.
So while these smartphones may say they do support 2TB cards, there is no way to confirm if it is indeed true.
The SanDisk microSD card has a read speed of up to 100MB/S. Write speeds are lower but you should be able to transfer 4.1GB of photos using a USB 3.0 card reader in a minute.
Recent reports had claimed that Apple would be holding an unveil event on Sept. 12. Now, Apple has officially sent out launch invitations for a launch event that will be held on Sept. 12. It is heavily pegged to unveil three iPhones at the upcoming unveil event.
The “Apple Special Event” will be held at the Steve Jobs Theater for the very first time. The venue is also dubbed as the New Apple Park. The event will begin at 10 AM PDT on Sept. 12. The rumor mill has been consistently saying that the Cupertino company will unveil three iPhones such as iPhone 7S, iPhone 7S Plus and the special edition iPhone 8 or iPhone Pro.
The iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus are expected to arrive refreshed models of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus from last year. The iPhone 8 is speculated as the 10th anniversary special iPhone that will be arriving with some new features.
The alleged iPhone 8 is expected to break cover as the first iPhone with an OLED screen. Leaked information has revealed that it will be housing a 5.8-inch OLED panel and it will be boasting a full screen design with super slim bezels. It will be driven by Apple A11 chipset and the latest iOS 11 operating system.
Touch ID sensor may not be present on the iPhone 8 as it is rumored to be replaced by 3D facial recognition feature. The iPhone 8 is also pegged to carry certain AR features and it is believed to arrive with wireless charging support for charging the newb long lasting “L” shaped battery. It is expected to be available in storages like 64 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB.
The highest storage model of the iPhone 8 is expected to cost around $1,400. After getting unveiled on Sept. 12, the new iPhones may become available on pre-orders on Sept. 15 and their shipments are likely to start on Sept. 22.
Apple will not just showcase the new iPhones at Sept. 12 unveil event, it is also expected to debut an LTE chip enabled Apple Watch 3 smartwatch. Through an embedded, it may allow users to access VOIP services and access without pairing with an iPhone. Speculations are rife that Apple may also uncover a 4K ready Apple TV at the same launch event.
It has been 11 months already since LeEco held its first launch event in the U.S, signaling the official debut of the tech giant in the United States. Obviously, the Chinese company was looking to increase its revenue with the foray into the U.S but it soon hit troubled waters financially, as a result of its huge investment in U.S electric car maker Faraday Future. The financial woes recently led to the resignation of CEO Jia Yueting and also, the company has been cutting down its staff strength gradually.
What we actually weren’t aware of is that LeEco has laid off almost all of its staff strength in the U.S. Engadget’s Richard Lai recently grabbed a couple of photos of Leeco’s U.S office in San Jose, California and it was entirely devoid of activities with much of the offices looking empty. On inquiry, LeEco disclosed that there are only a handful of employees still working for the company in the U.S. LeEco had nearly 325 persons on its payroll in the US before its finances began to dwindle. This has obviously led to the laying off of a large chunk of that number, put at 85% of its U.S workforce. The Chinese company, regarded as the “Netflix of China” because of its prolific video streaming service, now focuses on Chinese speaking customers and that is a small market which its current workforce can handle. The company also acquired Yahoo’s office building in Santa Clara where it hoped to site its U.S headquarters. That property is also likely deserted as well.
This latest discovery is yet another indication that the tech company isn’t anywhere near staging a return to its glory days. The company was discovered to have closed its only shop in Russia and not long before that, Jia Yueting threw in the towel as CEO. The company also recently pulled out of a deal to buy VIZIO, one of the largest TV makers in the world, citing a lack of financial resources to seal the deal. Even in China, LeEco has had to close down some of its service centres apparently to cut down operational cost. We certainly do hope that the innovative and once sprawling tech giant makes a comeback to the scene sometime soon.
The phone industry last year looked to be heading towards the use of curved flexible display but the launch of the bezel-less Mi Mix concept changed the direction. Now, full-screen, bezel-less phones are the rave of the moment. From flagships to mid-rangers, right down to budget models, we have seen quite a number of them coming with a full-screen design. Looks like Meizu is working towards joining the party with its own bezel-less phone.
A new rumor has emerged from Weibo which alleges that Meizu is working on a full-screen phone which is code-named Ocean. The flagship phone is said to fall under the Blue Charm category which means it is going to be a mid-range model. The tipster also hinted that the bezel-less phone will come with a Qualcomm processor. Meizu just recently launched the M6 Note which happens to be its first smartphone with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The choice of a Snapdragon 625 SoC on board the M6 Note was sort of a surprise as the company was previously tipped to launch a low-end phone with Qualcomm chip around December.
Since the bezel-less Meizu Ocean belongs to the charm blue division, we really wouldn’t expect it to pack a flagship Qualcomm processor like the Snapdragon 835 or even the SD 821. Qualcomm has got a whole lot of mid-range chip that could feature on the rumored Meizu full-screen phone. Perhaps, we could see the efficient Snapdragon 660 which is one of the latest in Qualcomm’s mid-range segment. Anyway, we certainly can not hold on to this rumor since no information in that regard has emerged from Meizu. But make no mistake, this isn’t the first time Meizu has been rumored to be working on a bezel-less phone. A rumor to that effect had appeared late last year but was later discredited by Meizu as false. So, this is the sort of rumor you take with a pinch of salt until something more tangible leaks. As a bright spot, a similar rumor had appeared months back that Meizu is working on a bezel-less phone which would pack a high-end Qualcomm SoC and would hit the stands next year.
It has been a long time waiting for the official launch of the Moto X4. And tonight, Lenovo (Motorola) has finally made it official. The launch of the Moto X4 can be termed the resurrection of the X series, but after a one year hiatus, things are no longer the same.
Moto X4 Design
The Moto X4 has completely veered of the design path of its predecessors. No longer does it wear the polycarbonate body we were free to customize to our desire using Moto Maker. Instead, it is now cloaked in metal and glass – that is a metallic frame sandwiched in between two sheets of glass.
The design language isn’t too different from what we have seen in other Motorola phones released this year. The front employs the same style – a pill-shaped home button/fingerprint scanner, thick bezels at the top bearing the usual array of camera sensor, earpiece and LED flash; and an equally thick bezel at the bottom.
The power button and volume rocker (split into separate buttons are on the right) and a hybrid dual SIM card slot (nano only) is on the left. There is a dual camera setup on the back with a familiar design. The entire back is covered with a 3D glass that you already know is a fingerprint magnet.
Moto X4 Specifications
The Moto X4 has a 5.2-inch 1080p display covered with a 2.5D glass. It has joined the still very short list of phones powered by the Snapdragon 630 mobile platform. There will be two variants – a 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM version for the US and Europe and a 4GB RAM + 64GB model for other markets.
The Moto X4 comes with some very interesting features. It is the first Motorola phone with Amazon’s Alexa on board. It also has a feature called Wireless Sound System which lets you pair it to multiple audio devices and listen in sync on all of them. The technology is designed by a company called Tempow, and it also lets you control the volume for each one.
Lets also not forget that the Moto X4 is IP68 certified.
For connectivity, the phone has Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi a/b/g/n/ac and supports LTE bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/20/25/26/28/66 as well as TDD LTE bands 38 and 41. It also has NFC.
The Moto X4 has a 3000mAh battery. There is TurboPower support which should provide 6 hours of power when charged for 15 minutes. A USB type-C port sits at the bottom and flanking it on the right is a 3.5mm audio jack.
The phone runs Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box but should get Android 8.0 Oreo in due time.
Moto X4 Cameras
One of the key features of the Moto X4 is the dual rear cameras. Sitting inside the circular housing with a watch-dial design is a 12MP dual autofocus lens with a f/2.0 aperture and 1.4um pixel size, paired with an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens with a f/2.2 aperture and a 1.12um pixel size.
This configuration allows for ultra-wide angle images but can also take images with depth of field effects. There are additional camera features such as selective black and white, background replacement and landmark recognition. Sitting above the sensors is a dual LED flash.
The front facing camera is a 16MP f/2.0 sensor with LED flash. It has a beautification mode, panorama mode and a professional mode. It also has an adaptive low light mode.
GearBest has started a limited period brand flash sale for OUKITEL through which fans of the Chinese firm can avail its top 10 bestselling smartphones with attractive discounts. It is a limited period offer. Hence, OUKITEL fans are suggested to act soon.
The 10 bestselling OUKITEL phones has started on Aug. 29 and it will be ending on Sept. 5. Here are all the smartphones that are available through amazing discounts during the ongoing sale on GearBest.
These smartphones are well-known for their long-lasting batteries of 10,000mAh capacity. Apart from huge batteries, these smartphones are also packed with impressive specifications. The K10000 Pro and K10000 are now respectively available for $179 and $139 after 18 percent discount on the Chinese retailer site. The company is also working on releasing a new 10,000mAh battery smartphone called OUKITEL K3 in the next month
OUKITEL K6000 Pro and K6000 Plus
The K6000 Pro is now available with a pricing of $138 after a price cut of 16 percent. The K6000 Plus is selling for $169 with a massive discount of 27 percent. These smartphones can be great alternative for people who wish to buy large battery phone but also find the K100000 phones too thick.
OUKITEL U20 Plus and U22
The OUKITEL U20 Plus and U22 are equipped dual cameras for shooting amazing photos and selfies. The Chinese retailer is selling the U20 Plus with a discounted price of $91 after a price cut of 15 percent. The U22 is available for $69 with 20 percent discount.
OUKITEL U15S and U16 Max
These smartphones come with attractive features like big display, large memory and huge storage and more importantly affordable price tags. On GearBest, the OUKITEL U15S can be availed for $125 with 12 percent price cut and the OUKITEL U16 Max can be bought for $121 with a 18 percent discount.
OUKITEL C5 Pro and C5
The C5 Pro and C5 entry-level smartphones offer lag-free performance and come with very low pricing. The OUKITEL C5 Pro and C5 are respectively available with low pricing of $69 and $59.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
