LeEco has been enmeshed in quite a lot of controversies this year most of them as a result of its failed financial fortunes. Apparently, the company still has some steam to respond to some of the controversies and one it did respond to recently is that of its failed acquisition of U.S-based TV manufacturer Vizio.
LeEco first announced its plan to buy the U.S TV maker for $2 billion last summer but in July this year, both companies jointly released a statement calling off the acquisition. Vizio later filed two law suits against the Chinese company. Court documents have now revealed that LeEco is suggesting the Chinese authorities are to blame for the failure of their acquisition deal with Vizio.
The deal with Vizio was aimed to help LeEco gain a strong footing in the U.S market which it officially entered last year. But that deal later did not materialize and we thought it was due to its financial troubles but it LeEco says otherwise. Vizio thinks otherwise, though, claiming LeEco essentially misrepresented its financial status in order to agree on a deal with Vizio and impress its investors. The company also accuses LeEco of attempting to reduce their agreed break-up fee from $100 million to $40 million. Vizio would have none of that as it believes the deal fell through because of LeEco’s lack of financing so, they want all of the $100 million break-up fees.
In its defense, LeEco claims Vizio knew of the possibility that they could not come up with the financing for the deal. The document also claims that Vizio was aware that the American or Chinese authorities could block the deal. LeEco then claims that the Chinese government blocked the deal due to Beijing’s increasingly stricter approach to currency controls and denial to approve mergers determined not to be ‘strategic’ to China’s long term interests.
Xiaomi had a busy event today, releasing not one but three new products at the Mi Mix 2 launch in Beijing, China. The third product announced at the event was none other than the Xiaomi Mi Note 3 (after Mi Notebook Pro and Mi Mix 2). The company seems to have a taken a different strategy for the Mi Note series this year as it ditches the dual curved display design and markets the phone as a larger version of the Xiaomi Mi 6. So, instead of the Mi 6 Plus, you get the Mi Note 3.
The Xiaomi Mi Note 3 comes with 7 series aluminum frame with matte texture and four glass body with curved edges. The phone is nearly identical to the Mi 6 in terms of its basic design, including the rear camera placement. Plus, you get the phone in a beautiful blue color as well.
Coming to the specs, the Xiaomi Mi Note 3 comes with the upper mid-range Snapdragon 660 chipset with 6GB + 64GB /128GB memory options. There’s a 5.5-inch 1080p display on board. The 12MP camera module is the same as the Mi 6, but the algorithms have been improved to provide better bokeh tracking. Mi 6’s portrait focus wasn’t very accurate, so it would be interesting to see how the new algorithms improve the tracking. On the front, the phone features a large 16 million 2μm sensor for noise free selfies. You can check out a few bokeh samples down below. There’s a large 3500mAh battery as well.
Other features of the Mi Note 3 include NFC, IR port, under-glass fingerprint, stereo speakers, USB Type-C, improved face unlock, and AI beautify algorithm.
You get all this for a starting price tag of 2499 Yuan (~$384) (6+64), with other variants costing 2899 ($445) (6+128 — BLACK) and 2999 ($460) (6+128 — BLUE). The phone will go on sale tomorrow.
Apple has confirmed that it will be holding a launch event on Sept. 12 to unleash the 2017 iPhones. Apart from the next-generation iPhones, the Cupertino company is also rumored to some other products like the LTE Apple Watch and 4K Apple TV.
Apple’s Launch Event and Livestream
The upcoming launch event by Apple will be held at the newly established Steve Jobs Theater, San Francisco, California. In the U.S. the event will start at 10 AM PT and 1 PM ET. In the U.K., the event will start at 6 PM BST. In China and India, the event will be viewable at 1 AM CST and 10:30 PM IST.
The livestream of the event can be viewed through the Safari browser by accessing this link on any of the iOS devices running on iOS 7. On Mac devices, users need to have Safari 6.0.5 and OS X 10.8.5 to view the event. On Windows PCs running on Windows 10, it can be viewed through Microsoft Edge web browser.
How Many iPhones Will Apple Unveil?
Previous reports had claimed that the 2017 iPhones would be called iPhone 8, iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus. However, by scouring through the code of iOS 11, it has been found that the next-generation iPhones would be probably called iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. The iPhone 8 duo is expected to succeed the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus. However, the iPhone X will arrive as the much-hyped tenth anniversary iPhone.
The iPhone X’s design will be very unique compared to all the predecessor iPhones as it will be housing a full-screen display with a small notch at the top bezel to house some sensors. It is expected to feature an all-glass body with stainless steel frame. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are also expected to feature the same all-glass and stainless steel frame design, but the phones will be sporting regular screens like their predecessors.
The iPhone X will be the first OLED screen enabled smartphone from Apple. It is expected to feature a 5.8-inch OLED screen supplied by Samsung Display. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are pegged to respectively house a 4.7-inch and a 5.5-inch LCD screens supplied by LG Display.
The Apple A11 chipset and iOS 11 operating system will be powering the new iPhones. Rumors have it that the iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus would be featuring 3 GB of RAM whereas the smaller iPhone 8 would be featuring 2 GB of RAM. The iPhone 8 duo will arrive with Touch ID sensor, but Apple will be replacing the feature with a new facing scanning feature called Face ID. The new feature can be used to unlock the iPhone X as well as authenticating payment through Apple Pay.
Rumors have it that the iPhone X will be fitted with a vertically aligned dual rear cameras that can shoot 4K videos at 60 fps. Its selfie snapper is also rumored to support 4K video recording at 60 fps. There is no concrete information available on the camera configuration of iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, but like last year, the latter will be coming with rear-facing dual rear cameras. Since the three new iPhones will be sporting glass chassis, they are expected to carry support wireless charging.
The iPhone X is speculated to arrive in multiple storage choices such as 64 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB that are rumored to cost around $999, $1,099 and $1099 respectively. It is rumored to be a limited edition phone as the company is expected to sell only 2 to 4 million units this year. It is expected to arrive in color variants like black, white and gold and all these models will black colored front panel.
Apple is expected to unveil Apple Watch 3 with LTE support at tomorrow’s launch event. The Apple Watch 3 is rumored to support LTE connectivity through an embedded SIM that would allow users to access VOIP services without pairing with an iPhone or iPad. However, it may not function as a standalone that would let users to make phone calls through it.
As far as Apple TV is concerned, it expected to carry native support for 4K resolution. It is tipped to support livestreaming even at slow internet speeds of 15 Mbps. Other rumored features include HDR 10 and Dolby Vision support.
The Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 is now official. After weeks of anticipation, Xiaomi has taken the wraps off its second generation MIX smartphone.
However, the new phone is greatly different from its predecessor in several ways. From the design, to the specs and even down to the price this is a new device.
Mi MIX 2 Design
Unlike the first-gen Mi MIX which is tall and wide, the MIX 2 is shorter and narrower. The largest variant in terms of dimensions is 151.8 mm long and 75.5 mm wide. Compare that to the 2016 Mi MIX which is 158.8 mm long and 81.9 mm wide and you should get the picture.
Xiaomi has maintained the material of choice from the first generation MIX. The ceramic back now has a four-sided curve to allow for a better grip. There have also been some improvements with respect to the audio. The images below should explain better.
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Mi MIX 2 Specs
The Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 has a 5.99-inch FHD+ display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080. The 18:9 aspect ratio display, unsurprisingly is from LG. This type of display has become so popular this year and gives the Mi MIX 2 its narrow form over its predecessor as well as a higher screen-to-body ratio of 90%.
Xiaomi has released the phone in four different memory variants all powered by the Snapdragon 835 mobile platform with an Adreno 540 GPU. They are:
6GB RAM + 64GB ROM
6GB RAM + 128GB ROM
6GB RAM + 256GB ROM
8GB RAM + 128GB ROM (Special Edition)
The Mi MIX 2 doesn’t join the dual camera bandwagon. It has a single sensor at the back and it is the 12MP Sony IMX386. This is the primary sensor in the Mi 6. It has a 1.25μm pixel size, a f/2.0 aperture and 4-axis optical image stabilization. On the right of the lens is a dual LED flash and below it is a fingerprint scanner.
The front camera is a 5MP sensor that supports face recognition and also has autofocus.
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The fact that the Mi MIX 2 comes with a smaller display has resulted in a smaller battery. Instead of a 4400mAh battery, it packs a 3400mAh one, just a tad more than that of the Mi 6. The phone supports Quick Charge 3.0 though.
For connectivity, the phone has Bluetooth 5.0 but ditches the 3.5 mm audio jack. It has dual WiFi band support and has support for 43 bands which includes 22 LTE bands. The Mi MIX 2 also comes with MIUI 9 based on Android Nougat. We hope an update to Android 8.0 Oreo isn’t far off.
Mi MIX 2 Pricing and Availability
The Mi MIX 2 will sell for ¥3299 (∼$506) for the 6GB RAM + 64GB model; ¥3599 (∼$552) for the 6GB RAM + 128GB version; and ¥3999 (∼$614) for the 6GB + 256GB model.
The Mi MIX 2 comes in black but Xiaomi also announced a special edition with a full ceramic body that is available in white and black i.e. no metal frame like the others. It has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and costs ¥4699 (∼$721).
Xiaomi has unveiled the brand new Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro laptop at the Mi Mix launch event today. The laptop comes with the latest 8th Generation Core i7 processor, trying to take over the high-end market.
The Mi Notebook Pro continues to feature a minimalistic design, but now the laptop is sturdier than before. The company has used a magnesium alloy frame to increase the strength and Xiaomi was kind enough to show us how the laptop came out undamaged even with ninebot going over it multiple times.
There’s one color option available — dark gray, which looks pretty good. It weighs 1.95kgs, which isn’t too light but quite manageable. The design has a few upgrades internally, with a special cooling system featuring larger heat pipes and sinks, expanded fans, thereby making sure that the laptop temperature is controlled at all times.
As for the specs, the Mi Notebook Pro comes in three different variants. There’s a Core i7 (8th Gen) model clocked up to 4GHz along with 16GB of RAM, another Core i7 model but with a smaller 8GB RAM module and finally a less powerful Core i5 variant with 8GB RAM. Note that these are DDR4 dual Channel memory. Also, the laptop features a 256GB PCIe SSD. There’s a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics card as well.
The Mi Notebook Pro comes with a large 15.6-inch screen with Gorilla Glass 3 protection and 6.52mm narrow bezels on the sides. Other features of the Mi Notebook Pro include a full-size keyboard and fingerprint unlock.
The top end variant of the laptop with Core i7 + 16GB RAM will sell for 6999 Yuan ($1076). The other two variants with Core i7+ 8GB RAM and Core i5 + 8GB RAM will sell for 6399 Yuan ($984) and 5599 Yuan ($860) respectively.
Couple of smartphone makers such as HTC, BlackBerry, Huawei, Nokia, and Sony have officially confirmed on the smartphones that would be upgraded to Android 8.0 Oreo. Fresh information suggest that Samsung too is working on Android 8.0 Oreo update for Galaxy S8 and S8+.
The Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are expected to be the first smartphones from the South Korean company to receive the Android 8.0 upgrade. It appears that the Galaxy S8 duo could be getting the update soon as fresh reports have revealed that the first has begun the development of Oreo update for these phones.
The Android 8.0 Oreo firmware version G955FXXU1BQI1 may possibly arrive for the Galaxy S8 whereas the larger S8+ may receive the firmware version G950FXXU1BQI1. As of this writing, there is no information available on the exact timeline of the release of Android 8.0 Oreo upgrade for the Galaxy S8 duo.
Samsung is not very famous when it comes to quickly rolling out the latest version of Android to its smartphones and tablets. Google had officially announced the Android 7.0 Nougat on Aug. 23 and it took 143 days for Samsung to release the official software update for Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge in China and the U.K. It took 180 days for the Nougat update to arrive in the U.S. and T-Mobile was the first one to release it. Verizon was the last among the popular U.S. carriers to release the update few weeks later.
Last year, Samsung had started a beta testing program for Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge so that the users of these phones could test the beta version to iron out all the issues and bugs. Hence, it is likely that before releasing the final version of the Android 8.0, the South Korean firm may begin a beta testing program for Galaxy S8 duo. Also, the Android Oreo update from Samsung would be overlaid with the latest version of the Samsung’s Experience UI.
The Galaxy S8 and S8+ users are likely to receive the update in the last quarter of this year. There is a possibility that Galaxy Note 8 could taste the Oreo update before the end of 2017. The other Samsung phones that are expected to get upgraded to Android 8.0 Oreo include Galaxy S8 Active, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S7 Active, Galaxy Note FE 2017 version of Galaxy A3, A5, A7, J7, J5 and J7 Prime.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 was launched about three weeks ago in the U.S and is expected to go n sale on September 13, a day after the iPhone 8 and others are launched. There are talks that it would go official in China on September 29 and although Samsung is yet to officially reveal the price of the Galaxy Note 8, it is rumored to be more than 7,000 Yuan (around $1076) for the top variant. The device is expected to come with a price of 6,088 Yuan (~$915) in China for the 6GB base variant.
The Galaxy Note 8 recommended retail prices for Hong Kong has been revealed and it looks like it will be a lot less than the price in China. Of course, both prices are expected to be a little lower than what it will sell in the U.S. There is news that the Samsung Note 8 will be launched in Hong Kong on September 13 while its sales would commence on September 29. The prices will be as follows;
6GB + 64GB: HK $ 6998, about 5,801 yuan
6GB + 128GB: HK $ 7698, about 6,382 yuan
6GB+ 256GB: HK $ 8198, about 6,797 yuan
The Galaxy Note 8 is Samsung’s most expensive model yet, with the price for its base model almost hitting $1,000 USD. So, we really don’t expect it to fall very far below what it will sell in other markets but Hong Kong is a smaller market than China so it may not have the same prices. Also, the prices may slightly vary across different markets all over the world.
As a reminder, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is equipped with a 6.3-inch Super AMOLED display with 2960 x 1440pixels resolution. The device comes with a Snapdragon 835 version as well as an Exynos 8895-powered model with 6GB RAM and 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB storage options.There is also a 3,300mAh battery on board. The Note 8 also packs a 12MP wide angle + 12MP Telephoto cameraBoth lenses support OIS optical image stabilization which is the first in the world. In addition, it also supports 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom.
Android 8.0 Oreo was officially unveiled on Aug. 21 and since then a couple of smartphone OEMs like BlackBerry, HTC, Nokia and Sony have confirmed on the devices that will be upgraded to the newest Android version. The Android 8.0 will be arriving preinstalled on the forthcoming smartphones and it will be available as the first or second major update for the existing smartphones. It means several smartphones from 2015 and older smartphone are unlikely to receive the official Android 8.0 Oreo update. However, Android 8.0 can be installed unofficially on numerous smartphones through custom ROMS.
XDA Developers has the biggest community collection of Android 8.0 custom ROMS. The list of devices for which AOSP Oreo and Lineage OS 15 ROMs are available is updated regularly. Some of the ROMs that have been made may not function in a very stable manner.
ASUS ZenFone 5, LG Nexus 5, Motorola Nexus 6, OnePlus One, OnePlus 5 (on experimental basis), Sony Xperia SP, Xperia T, Xperia TX, Xperia V, Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy Note 10.1 2014, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Snapdragon edition, Mi Max, Mi 3, Mi 4 and Mi 5 are the handsets for which the AOSP Oreo is available.
ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser, ZenFone Selfie, HTC One M8, One M8 Dual SIM, LeEco Le Max 2, Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus, Moto X 2014, Moto E (2015), Moto G and 4G models from 2013, Moto G 2014 LTE, Moto G 2015, Moto G5 Plus, HTC Nexus 9 WiFi, OnePlus X, OnePlus 2, OnePlus 3, OnePlus 3T, Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, Sony Xperia M2, Xiaomi Redmi 3, Redmi Note 4, Mi 4C, Mi 5S, Mi 5S Plus and Yu Yunique are some of the popular smartphones for which the Lineage OS 15.0 is available.
Android 8.0 Oreo is now seeding to Nexus 5X, Nexus 6X, Nexus Player, Pixel C, Pixel and Pixel XL devices. However, the upcoming Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will be the first smartphones to arrive preinstalled with the latest Android version. Moreover, the Pixel 2 duo are expected to carry some new features that are not available on the existing version of Android 8.0. The rumor mill has already revealed plenty of information on the specifications of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 duo. Both phones are expected to debut on Oct. 5.
The Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 and the Mi Note 3 smartphones are going to be unveiled later today. The rumor mill has revealed plenty of details on both smartphones in the recent weeks. Now a fresh image of what appears to be the Mi MIX 2 has surfaced on Chines microblogging site, Weibo. The new image reveals the full-frontal view of the alleged phone.
Like the previously seen leaked images and renders of the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2, the new image shows it will be boasting a larger screen space than its predecessor as the bottom bezel has also become slimmer.
At the right corner of the bottom bezel is the selfie snapper. The right edge of the phone has the volume controllers and Power button. There are no buttons on the left side of the phone. The top and bottom sides of the smartphone is not visible in the image. Hence, it is difficult to determine whether the Chinese manufacturer has decided to axe the 3.5mm audio jack. The bottom side is likely to feature a USB-C port.
The original Xiaomi Mi MIX has a 6.4-inch screen, but recent reports have revealed that the successor phone may house a smaller display of 6.2 inches. The Snapdragon 835 chipset will be present under is hood.
An image of the box package of the Mi MIX 2 has revealed that the smartphone would be available with 6 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. The handset is also expected to be available in 128 GB storage model. Speculations have it that it would be featuring a 4,500mAh battery. Also, it will be arriving preinstalled with the latest MIUI 9.
As Xiaomi had announced the Mi MIX concept phone and Mi Note 2 at the same launch last year, this time too it is expected to unveil the Mi MIX 2 and Mi Note 3 together. Last year’s Mi Note 2 came with flagship specs. Leaked information has revealed that the Mi Note 3 could be an upper mid-range phone as it will be driven by Snapdragon 660 SoC. The chipset of the Mi Note 3 is expected to be coupled with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.
Other sources have revealed that the Chinese manufacturer would be also unveiling a new laptop that is reportedly called Mi Notebook Pro. Several details on its specifications have also surfaced.
During the upcoming launch event of Apple that will be held this Tuesday, the 2017 iPhones will be finally unveiled. Recent rumors have claimed that the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus would be arriving as successors of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus and there would a special tenth anniversary smartphone that will be debuting as iPhone X. These names have been found in the leaked Gold Master edition of iOS 11 that will be running on the next-generation iPhones. Apple is heavily to introduce a new facial recognition feature dubbed as Face ID on the iPhone X. Well-known analyst Ming Chi-Kuo has revealed how Apple will be using the Face ID technology on the iPhone X.
According to Kuo, the Face ID feature will be relying on four components like a light transmitter, a light receiver, a frontal camera and a proximity sensor. All the sensors that are required for the Face ID feature to function would be present in the u-shaped top bezel of the iPhone X.
The light transmitter and receiver will collect depth information that will be merged with the photos snapped by the frontal camera to get 2D images. A 3D image which is then created by using software algorithms is then used for facial recognition. The presence of proximity sensor will allow the users to know through a prompt whether their face is too far or close from the iPhone X to create the 3D image. The details of the hardware component of these sensors are shown in the below image.
The analyst has claimed the special edition iPhone would be possibly available in three colors like black, white and gold. All these models are expected to sport a black colored front mainly to conceal the sensors present in the top bezel of the phone. Apple had introduced ambient light sensor for its True Tone display in 2016. The ambient light sensors will automatically change the color of the screen depending on the temperature. The analyst is of the view that it will help in the better performance of the new facial recognition feature.
The iPhone X is unlikely to feature Touch ID fingerprint reader. Reports had claimed that the Cupertino company had tried embedding the Touch ID sensor underneath the display of the iPhone X. Rumors have it that since Apple could not find success in it, it has decided replace Touch ID with the new Face ID.
Do you want to see how the Face ID sensing would work on the iPhone X? A video that has surfaced recently reveals that the Face ID requires one-time setup and then it can be used to unlock the phone conveniently. Speculations have it that it could be also used for authenticating transactions through Apple Pay.
Samsung began receiving pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 8 in its home country, South Korea last week Thursday and reports indicate that the tech giant raked in about 395,000 pre-orders in just one day. The Galaxy Note 8 is Samsung’s most expensive smartphone till date with a price tag of 1,090,000 won ($964) for the 64GB variant and 1,250,000 won ($1,107) for the 256GB version.
Despite its huge price tag, the Galaxy Note 8 was able to attract such huge interest whereas the botched Galaxy Note 7 last year was able to attract 380,000 pre-orders in over 13 days. This isn’t unconnected to the refreshed design it adopts which is different from its predecessors in so many ways. In addition, the Galaxy Note 8 is Samsung’s first smartphone to feature a dual camera setup. It is unclear though if the Note 8 would be able to surpass the feat achieved by the highly successful Galaxy S8 which reached 550,000 pre-orders in two days when it opened in Korea. With over 390,000 reservations already, that looks very much likely.
According to the report carried by The Korea Herald, 65% of customers who reserved the Note 8 went for the 64GB model and most of them chose the Deepsea Blue color variants. The figures are expected to exceed one million units by September 14. The device will go on sale on September 21 but those who pre-order will get the device along with their counterparts in the U.S on September 15 when it goes on sale.
Hugo Barra may have left Xiaomi early this year for Facebook’s Oculus, that doesn’t mean he isn’t on good terms with his former employers. After months since his last Weibo post, today He posted images of his own unit of the Mi MIX 2 sent to him by Lei Jun.
The images posted sadly do not reveal the phone itself but confirm some specification details. The retail box of the Mi MIX 2 is the same usual recycled cardboard material as that of the Mi MIX. The only difference is that it is now in landscape form and not portrait.
There is the word MIX written on the box in gold. A second image shows the top of the box off and inside is another layer of cardboard with an engraved note written and signed by Xiaomi’s co-founder, Lei Jun. These images correspond to an earlier leak of the retail box we saw last week.
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Hugo Barra also shares an image of the rear of the box where some of the specs are listed. The unit sent to him has 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. See that Chinese text at the top beside the phone’s name? It translates to ceramic edition. Turns out Xiaomi is still going for the same material as the first gen and not metal as previously reported.
Another detail we can make out is the date of production which is August 2017. While this may not mean much to some people, it gives us a hint that mass production began early. So there should be enough units when it goes on sale.
A few days ago, Evan Blass of VentureBeat, released a ton of info about Huawei’s upcoming Mate 10 series. Citing marketing material provided by an insider, the details of the new Mate series further confirms some previous leaks.
Earlier, Evan Blasss had revealed via Twitter that the codenames for the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro are Marcel and Blanc respectively. However, the new leak mentions a third device code-named Alps.
Huawei Mate 10 Pro a.k.a Blanc
As revealed in previous leaks, Evan confirms that the Mate 10 Pro will have an 18:9 display based on its 1440 x 2880 resolution and 5.99-inch IPS LCD. It will also have 6GB of RAM paired with the new Kirin 970 and 64GB/128GB of storage.
The next interesting spec is the camera configuration. Huawei will be working with Leica again on the cameras. Blanc is said to have a 12MP + 20MP dual configuration on the rear. The sensors are said to have optically stabilized lenses with apertures comparable to the LG V30 i.e. f/1.6 aperture. We expect the 8MP front camera will also get the Leica treatment just like in the Huawei P10.
The Mate 10 Pro will have a thickness of 7.5 mm but will still manage to have a 4000mAh battery. It will also have an IP68 rating and a LTE Cat. 16 modem (what happened to the Cat. 18 modem?). The phone will be announced on October 18 but won’t ship till December with EMUI 6.0 based on Android Oreo on board.
Huawei Alps
Evan says the Mate 10 is codenamed Marcel so we don’t not know what will be Alps’ official name. Nevertheless, the phone is definitely a flagship and not a sort of Lite version of the series.
It has a 5.88-inch IPS LCD display with a 2560 x 1440 resolution. That’s a Quad HD display in the usual 16:9 aspect ratio format. Alps will also have the Kirin 970 powering it, the same camera configuration as Blanc and even the same 4000mAh battery capacity.
Xiaomi is set to officially unveil the Mi Mix 2 tomorrow and we already know the tech giant will also take the wraps off the Mi Note 3 on the same day. There are indications that Xiaomi will also launch a new laptop on that same day. The rumor tips the laptop as known as Mi Notebook Pro.
The Mi Notebook Pro is billed to come with a larger display which sits at 15.6 inches but this is still unconfirmed. The device recently received its 3C certification which is usually for the charger. It shows the Notebook comes with 20V/2.25A or 20V/3.25A power adapter and theoretically, the maximum power supply of this configuration is 45W or 65W respectively. From this, it is likely that this machine is not a gaming laptop because the high-end requirements of games would require an 80W or higher power adapter. In addition, the 3C notification shows that this notebook supports 4G mobile network.
Further details which have also emerged shows the Xiaomi Notebook Pro will support fingerprint recognition and 1080 Full HD screen. The Notebook will be powered by a dual core i78550U and i58250U processor coupled with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal memory. It also will run on Windows 10 and come with in-built MX 150 GPU with a 2G graphic capacity. We’ll get to know better if the device is indeed officially unveiled tomorrow.
LeEco is in the news once again and unfortunately, it is still not about the rebound of the company’s fortunes. Just recently, LeEco’s U.S office complex was photographed by a reported showing lots of empty office spaces with just a few workers left of what started out as a buzzing outfit hoping to make its mark in the lucrative U.S market. Now the U.S division of LeEco has suddenly taken down its official website. The web address www.leeco.com now redirects to the Chinese version and even when the www.leeco.com/us is entered, it displays a page showing the website is temporarily unavailable.
LeEco’s U.S website went online last year when the company launched its first products in the U.S. Specifically, it has been 11 months since that launch which took place in October last year. Since then, the company has been offering up its products like smartphones, TV and a few other services but has been struggling with the sales with the company shedding off some of its liabilities and chose to focus on a much smaller Chinese market with its products and internet services.
The company disclosed that the shutdown was made in order to carry out maintenance on the website and that it would be back online on September 15 which is this coming Friday. However, the shutdown is a reflection of the level of relevance of the website to LeEco. It is unusual for a tech company to shut down its website for a week-long maintenance, especially a sales website. But then, LeEco is all embroiled in financial difficulties and this may likely noyt be unconnected to that. We still do hope the company stages a comeback sometime soon.
The Mate 10 series seem to be the focus of Chinese manufacturer, Huawei. However a new rumor on Weibo says the world’s second largest smartphone manufacturer is working on a new phone code-named Rhone.
The info about Rhone at the moment is that the phone will have dual front and rear facing cameras. This is not unusual in a phone. There is the Alcatel Flash and the Gionee S10 but this will be Huawei’s first.
The Huawei Rhone is also said to be powered by the Kirin 659 processor, and will have a 3240mAh battery. That is as much as we know about the phone at the moment.
The Moto X4 was announced a week ago in Berlin at IFA. It marks the revival of the X series which used to be Motorola’s flagship but was replaced with the Moto Z last year.
Although it is no longer a flagship phone, the specs of the Moto X4 put it firmly in the upper mid-range category. It has a 5.2-inch 1080p display, 3GB of RAM and is powered by the Snapdragon 630 processor. It also has an IP68 rating, dual rear cameras, and a premium glass body. And let’s not forget, like other Motorola phones, it runs stock Android with some Moto additions.
Now why would Google want to put stock Android on a device that already runs stock Android? Beats us as it feels redundant. The only plausible reason is that the Android One Moto X4 will be available in countries and regions where the Xiaomi Mi A1 isn’t such as the US, Canada, Brazil and West Africa.
Meizu’s Blue Charm line became a stand-alone company a few months ago. Its latest smartphone, the M6 Note is said to have even overshadowed the main flagship, the Meizu Pro 7. Both phones have taken a different approach to the current trend of full-screen displays. The Meizu Pro 7 sports two displays and the M6 Note is one of the company’s few devices that ticks all the right boxes. Does that mean Meizu won’t release a full-screen smartphone? VP Li Nan answered that in a recent interview.
Li Nan, VP of Blue Charm Brand
The Meizu top executive had said in a previous interview that the current trend of full-screen smartphones is the future. He added that the ideal form for full-screen smartphones hasn’t been reached as there is still an issue with the position of the front camera which can’t be removed as no one will be willing to buy a phone without a front camera.
We guess he’s referring to a completely bezel-less design where only the screen occupies the front. For the issue with the front camera, the only possible solution is to adopt the camera design of the Honor 7i, where the rear camera can be lifted up and used as a front camera.
Mr. Li Nan then announced that Blue Charm will launch a full-screen device next year with a price tag of about ¥3000 (~$463) before releasing lower priced ones.
Is the ¥3000 full-screen phone the mblu Zero we saw a few days ago in a teaser poster? No it isn’t. Meizu’s head of global marketing, Ard Boudeling, took to Twitter today to say the image isn’t genuine and isn’t from them. He also confirmed that the company is indeed working on a bezel-less device set for a 2018 launch.
Yes, we're working on a bezel-less Meizu device. Coming next year.
Ending the interview, Li Nan disclosed that Blue Charm phones will fall into four major categories:
Blue Charm X – this will be the flagship series
Blue Charm E – the E series will be targeted at the youth and business class. It will be priced at over a ¥1000 (~$154). The Meizu E2 belongs to this category
Blue Charm Note – this is the note series and the main line of the company. Pricing will be pegged at ¥1,000 (~$154).
Blue Charm base series – this category covers the other Meizu phones such as the U and non-note M series.
Barely 24 hours after we covered the leaked specification details of the Mi Note 3, live images of its retail box have been posted online. The pictures posted on Twitter by @mmddj_china confirm some of the specs revealed yesterday, key being the choice of processor.
The retail box is black and is sealed, so this is probably a unit shipped out to licensed retailers ahead of the launch or a unit from Xiaomi’s own store. The design isn’t fancy like that of previous Mi phones. It doesn’t even have an image of the phone on it. The only other phone we have seen with a similar retail box is the Redmi Note 5A.
The second image which shows the back of of the box is where the action is. The most important detail is the processor which is listed as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 660 mobile platform. Other key details mentioned include the RAM and storage which are 6GB and 128GB respectively.
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The retail box also confirms that the Mi Note 3 will have a 16MP front facing camera, dual rear cameras and a glass body. It will also ditch the 3.5 mm audio jack as there is a Type-C to audio jack adapter in the box.
Each year OnePlus manages to create a huge hype about their upcoming smartphone and they did that again with their OnePlus 5. This is the most mature, the most powerful and the most expensive OnePlus the company has ever made. You can now get it for just $399.99! (limited stock: only 30 units) from Gearbest which sounds like a bargain since the phone sells for a much higher price on the official store. Use the COUPON: PLONGB at the checkout.
When it comes to hardware, the OnePlus 5 is one of the most powerful phones the money can buy.
I have a 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage model but if you pay extra, you can get a phone with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of non-expandable storage.
When it comes to optics, we have one of the most powerful setups that are available on the market, well, at least on paper. The OnePlus 5 sports one 16MP shooter with f/1.7 aperture lens and EIS that is based on the gyroscope sensor. There is another 20MP camera with f/2.6 aperture lens, phase detection autofocus, 2x optical zoom and dual-LED flash.
Other key specs include a fast and accurate fingerprint scanner, super fast Dash charge technology, 5.5” 1080p AMOLED display and Android 7.1 out of the box.
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