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Motorola Moto X4’s Likely Price Tag Leaked

The Moto X4 is one of the models that are expected to herald the return of the rebranded Motorola line.  The model has appeared in a couple of leaks recently, including its likely image and is even rumoured for release in the fourth quarter of this year. A new leak has appeared on Twitter that reveals the price of the Moto X4.Moto X4 Image

The Moto X4 is expected to fall in the mid-range category and the most spectacular is that the device will be supported by Google’s MVNO, Project Fi. The leak points at a price in the region of €350 ($410) in Europe for the 32GB variant. There will likely be a 64GB variant but its price is yet to be disclosed.

Read More: Moto X4 New Leaks Reveal Snapdragon 630, 8MP+12MP Dual Rear Cameras, Smaller Battery

From previous leaks and benchmark appearances, we are able to gather the Moto X4 will have a 5.2-inch Full HD display. The device is expected to feature a Snapdragon 630 processor and that would be backed by a 3GB RAM. There are speculations that the device will pack a Snapdragon 660 chip but that may likely not happen. Other expected specifications include a 12MP rear camera as well as a 16MP front camera. There is also a rumour that the device will feature a 12MP + 8 MP dual camera setup at the rear. Also, the device will run on Android 7.1.1 OS. Although the X4 is tipped for release in the fourth quarter, no official date has been disclosed. We could as well see the X4 and even the Moto G5S launching at IFA Berlin 2017.

(source)

Micromax Announces Selfie 2 Smartphone With 8MP Front Facing Camera

Indian phone manufacturer, Micromax, has a new smartphone for selfie lovers. Called the Selfie 2, the phone comes with an 8MP front facing camera. Don’t let the pixel count scare you away as it has real-time bokeh effect which allows you take portrait photos.

Micromax Selfie 2

The 8MP front camera is a Sony IMX135 with a f/2.0 aperture. It has HDR, LED flash and can take wide-angle images. There is also the usual face beauty mode. Micromax includes a feature to take shots using the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

The rear camera is an OmniVision OV8856 13MP sensor. The camera has an 84° viewing-angle and a 5P lens. There is also a LED flash below it.

Micromax Selfie 2

The Selfie 2 is an entry-level mid-range smartphone. It is powered by Mediatek’s MT6737 processor, the same one in the Indian variant of the Moto E4 Plus. There is 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The phone comes with Android Nougat and has a 3000mAh battery.

READ MORE: New Micromax YU devices spotted on Geekbench

Nubia Z17 Coming In Flame Red On August 1 For ¥2799 (~$415)

Red is a very attractive color and easily noticeable on virtually all objects. It is no surprise that smartphone manufacturers have picked it as one of their colors of choice this year alongside blue. To be honest, I am tired of the rose gold color and happy red is now appearing on devices. Nubia has announced that its Z17 flagship will launch in flame red on August 1.

Nubia Z17 Flame Red

The Nubia Z17 was released about 2 months ago in Black Gold, Black, Gold, Blue, and Flame Red. Since it became available for purchase you could get it in all the colors save for blue and red. Come August 1, the flame red variant will be available for purchase. There is still no news of when the blue variant will be available.

Pricing starts at ¥2799 (~$415) for the 6GB RAM + 64GB version and ¥3399 (~$505) for the 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM variant. The latter however comes with a free pair of Nubia Pro Wired Earphones that retails for ¥149 (~$22) and comes in red and black.

The Nubia Z17 is a 5.5-inch smartphone with a 1080p display. It has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 powering it. Apart from the 6GB RAM variants, there is also an 8GB RAM version.

Nubia has equipped the 17 with dual rear cameras. One is a f/2.0 23MP sensor and the other is a f/1.8 12MP sensor. The sensors have dual pixel technology with 2x optical zoom, and sapphire glass lens. The camera configuration allows for images with the background blur effect.

The front camera is a 16MP sensor with an f/2.0 aperture and an 80° viewing angle.

READ MORE: Unknown Nubia Device Spotted on GeekBench

Samsung Galaxy Note 8, iPhone 8 Front Panels Appear in Same Leaked Image

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Apple iPhone 8 are expected to enter fierce battle in September. The Galaxy Note 8 is rumored to continue the same full-screen design that was introduced through the Infinity Display on Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. The alleged iPhone 8 that is speculated to arrive as the special iPhone in celebration of 10th anniversary of Apple iPhones is also rumored to come with full-screen design. A leaked image has appeared to show the front panels of the both the upcoming flagship phablets together.

The front panels of the Galaxy Note 8 and the iPhone 8 have appeared several times in the past. However, this new image that has been shared by an industry insider from China shows them placed besides each other. As it can be seen in the image, both the smartphones will be arriving with a near bezel-less appearance and with a huge display. However, it is very evident that the Galaxy Note 8 will be much bigger than the iPhone 8.

Samsung-Galaxy-Note-8-Apple-iPhone-8-Comparison-Weibo-1420x1012

Read More: Samsung Galaxy X Foldable Smartphone Allegedly Receives Bluetooth Certification

The Samsung Galaxy S8+ has a 6.2-inch display, but the Note 8 is pegged to come with a larger screen of 6.3 inches. It is speculated to support an aspect ratio of 18.5:9 which is also available on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones. The front panel of the Galaxy Note 8 appears to be quite similar to that of the Galaxy S8+, but it the Note 8 will be coming with a larger Infinity Display.

The upper and lower bezels are a bit thick compared to the left and right bezels of the front panel of Note 8. The lower bezel is empty, but the upper bezel has cutouts for a selfie camera, iris scanner, an earpiece and more. Also, the Note 8 will be sporting a dual-edge curved screen.

 

On the other side, the bezels on the right, left and bottom sides of the iPhone 8 are quite thin. A recent report has revealed that theymeasure 4mm in thickness. The upper bezel is a bit thick and it appears to feature an earpiece, a selfie snapper and a pair of iris sensors. It is unlikely to feature a dual-edge curved screen. The inner corners of the top bezel will have an active OLED display that may show indicators for battery and network.

(source)

 

Speed Test: Xiaomi Mi 6 Running MIUI 9 Vs Samsung Galaxy S8 Vs Huawei P10

Last week Xiaomi unveiled MIUI 9, the latest version of its custom ROM. Bringing a number of new features, one of the key upgrades to the OS is its speedy application launch time. Xiaomi is really confident of what it has achieved with the app launch time that it decided to pit it against the Huawei P10 and Samsung Galaxy S8.

Speed test MIUI 9

All three phones had multiple apps installed from the same store on them and the test was carried out under a controlled environment. At the end of the day, the Xiaomi Mi 6 came out on top with 43 apps launching fastest. The Galaxy S8 (Samsung Experience) came in second with 4 apps and the Huawei P10 (EMUI 5.1) was third with 3 apps.

READ MORE: Xiaomi Lands $1 Billion Loan Deal To Help It Expand Outside China

Samsung Galaxy X Foldable Smartphone Allegedly Receives Bluetooth Certification

Previous rumors have revealed that the highly anticipated foldable smartphone from Samsung will be launching as Galaxy X. It seems that the arrival of the Galaxy X is getting closer as it has allegedly received Bluetooth SIG certification.

Earlier in this year, Samsung had trademarked the Galaxy X moniker at Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information (KIPRIS). The Bluetooth SIG certification has been granted to a Samsung mobile phone that has a model number of SM-G888N0. However, the Galaxy X moniker was certified, it was speculated that its model number is SM-9000.

Galaxy X Bluetooth SIG

Read More: Samsung Galaxy Note 8 to Deliver Best Multimedia Experience

The Bluetooth SIG certification has revealed that the SM-G888N0 has Bluetooth 4.2 onboard. This model number is not similar to any of the Samsung Galaxy smartphones. Interestingly, the SM-GN888N0 was also certified by Wi-Fi Alliance some time ago. It had revealed that the device was running on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS. At that time, the SM-G888N0 was also speculated as the Galaxy S8 Sport (or Galaxy S8 Active).

The Galaxy X is rumored to be a flagship device and since the Galaxy S8 duo has Bluetooth 5.0 and Android 7.0 Nougat onboard, it is likely that the Galaxy X would be launching with upgraded specs. Rumors have revealed that the upcoming foldable smartphones will be available in two variants such as Galaxy X and Galaxy X1. The foldable smartphone project is said to be codenamed as Project Valley.

Some rumors had claimed that Samsung would be showcasing the Galaxy X foldable phone by the end of this year or in the starting quarter of 2018. However, the information that had surfaced in January suggested that it would be arriving later in the next year. The Galaxy X foldable smartphone is rumored to be available in limited quantity of 10,000 units to gauge the response of the market.

The rumor mill had revealed that Samsung had first tested fold-in mechanism for the alleged Galaxy X, but this idea has been reportedly cancelled as it would be convenient for the users to unfold it every time to use it. Hence, the South Korean company is rumored to use fold-in mechanism for the Galaxy X phone.

This reminds of the Lenovo Folio foldable concept tablet that was recently showcased at the Lenovo Tech World event. It has a 5.5-inch screen that grows to a 7.8-inch display when unfolded. Other sources that the purported Galaxy X won’t be a bendable device, but it will be coming with two different panels that will be connected with each other using a hinge.

(source|via)

 

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 to Deliver Best Multimedia Experience

The rumor mill has been leaking a lot of information on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 8 that will be unveiling on Aug. 23. During a recent conference call, Samsung confirmed that it that the Galaxy Note 8 will be delivering stellar multimedia experience.

A Samsung executive said during the conference call that the first-generation Galaxy Note that was introduced in 2011 was packed with several multimedia features along with a big display and a S-Pen stylus that was available on very few smartphones. He further added that, “the Galaxy Note 8 will feature more advanced, richer multimedia functionalities.” However, he did not reveal exact information on what he meant by “advanced, richer multimedia functionalities.”

There is a possibility that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 may come with a huge storage to allow users to store plenty of multimedia content. Its screen which is larger than the 6.2-inch screen of Galaxy S8+ may support 4K resolution. It may come deliver impressive audio experience with inbuilt Harmon Kardon speakers. Also, the Galaxy Note 8 is speculated to supported augmented reality. After all, apart from the dual rear cameras and S-Pen stylus, the Galaxy Note 8 should have some features that will make it a difference than the slightly smaller Galaxy S8+ phablet. Since the Bixby AI supports both South Korean and English languages, there is a high possibility that the Note 8 will be featuring it.

Galaxy Note 8

Read More: Samsung May Release The Galaxy Note 8 Emperor Edition With 6GB Of RAM & 256GB Storage

The Galaxy Note 8 was recently found to be available for pre-registrations in Australia and has recently passed FCC certification which is one of the prerequisites for launching a mobile device in the U.S. Leaked rumors have revealed that the Note 8 will be coming with Infinity Display that will be supporting 18.5:9 aspect ratio. The Snapdragon 835 chipset and 6 GB of RAM will be present under the hood of the Note 8. It will be coming with a 3,300mAh capacity battery.

The first batch of countries to receive the Galaxy Note 8 will be the U.S., the U.K and South Korea. The Note 8 will be hitting these markets by early September. The other markets are rumored to receive it in October. It seems that the release of the Note 8 in South Korea and the U.S. will clash with LG V30 that is rumored to release on Sept. 15 in South Korea and on Sept. 28 in the U.S.

(source|via)

 

LG V30 Releasing on Sept. 15 in South Korea and on Sept. 28 in the U.S.

Even though LG did not confirm directly on the name of the device that it will be unveiling on Aug. 31, it is quite evident that the South Korean company would be debuting the LG V30 flagship phablet. Fresh information suggests that the LG V30 would be available in the United States almost one month after its official unveiling.

According to Android Authority, a source has revealed to do it that an internal document that contains plans for LG’s plans for its upcoming flagship phone that carries a codenamed of JOAN. The LG V30 flagship will be first made available in South Korea, the home country of the company. Fresh information suggests that the LG V30 would available in the U.S. by Sept. 15.

In the U.S., the pre-orders of the LG V30 is expected to begin on Sept. 17 through all the major carriers and release in the market on Sept. 28. As of this writing, there is no information available on its pricing. The LG V30 is also expected to debut in Europe and several other regions by the end of September. As of this writing, there is no information on the pricing of the LG V30. Speculations hint that the LG V30 may cost around $700 in the U.S.

LG V30 IFA 2017

Read More: Alleged Official LG V30 Renders Leaked Revealing Sleek Design

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will be debuting on Aug. 23. The Galaxy Note 7 from last year met with an ill-fated death, but it was relaunched as Galaxy Note Fan Edition in South Korea in July which was met with stupendous response. Hence, the Galaxy Note 8 is pegged to receive overwhelming response. However, the LG V30 that will be debuting a week later could be the biggest rivaling for the Note 8.

The LG V30 is rumored to come with a Full Vison 6-inch display like the LG G6 and the flagship phone would be driven by Snapdragon 835 chipset. It is expected to feature 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. However, other rumors claim that LG may release a 6 GB RAM model.

A 13-megapixel dual rear camera setup like the one present on LG G6 is expected to be available on the LG V30. Other rumored features of the LG V30 improved multimedia capabilities with impressive video controls and dedicated DAC, 3,300 mAh battery with wireless charging support along with military standard protection.

(source)

 

Samsung Begins Galaxy Note 8 Pre-Registration In Australia

The launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is a little less than a month away. Although availability is said to still be in September and October, the pre-registration page is already up in Australia.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Unpacked

Australia isn’t even among the first set of countries to get the Galaxy Note 8, so its surprising to see that pre-registration is live there. There is nothing much to the page, just basic information (name, email, mobile number), carrier details, and also Instagram account if you have one.

The Galaxy Note 8 will be Samsung’s first globally available dual camera smartphone. It will have the same infinity display as the Galaxy S8 and S8+ but slightly larger than the latter. Samsung has said the Note 8 will offer more advanced multimedia features but failed to mention what these features are.

READ MORE: Samsung Topples Intels To Become The World’s Largest Chipmaker

Grab The Leagoo KIICAA Power For Just $59.99

Dual cameras, 4000mAh, fingerprint scanner and Android Nougat are features found on phones over $200. What if I told you you can get the above mentioned features in a phone that sells for roughly a third of that price? Yes, you can, and that phone is the Leagoo KIICAA Power.

Leagoo KIICAA Power

The Leagoo KIICAA Power is currently available for $59.99 down from its original $69.99 price. That’s $10 off which you can use to purchase a microSD card since it comes with just 16GB of storage.

The Leagoo KIICAA Power has a 5-inch HD display. There is 2GB of RAM on board and a Mediatek MT6580A  quad-core processor. At the back sits an 8MP sensor paired with a 5MP secondary sensor with a large f/2.2 aperture. Leagoo says you can take images with the bokeh effect using the cameras. The front facing camera has a 5.0MP sensor with  77.9° viewing angle.

leagoo KIICAA Power

A 4050mAh high-density battery means you can watch videos and play games for  hours. There is also a rear-mounted ceramic fingerprint scanner that unlocks in 0.3s and has a 360°recognition angle.

The Leagoo KIICAA Power runs Leagoo OS 3.0 Lite based on Android 7.0 out of the box. It doesn’t have LTE though but you get an audio jack, FM Radio, and dual SIM slots.

READ MORE: Leagoo KIICAA Mix full-screen smartphone will come in 3 versions starting from $89.99?

If you are interested in picking up this phone, you should head to the link below. The promo runs for a limited time, so we suggest you hurry. The phone is available in black and gold and comes with a free silicone case.

Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus Pricing Leaked

Pricing details for the Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus have been revealed by tech blogger Roland Quandt.  He also revealed the pricing for the 32GB variant of the Moto X4 yesterday. Comparing all three prices, it will be a tough decision (or not) for buyers if they turn out to be true.

Moto G5S Plus

According to him, the Moto G5S will be priced around €300 and the Moto G5S Plus will be around €330. Add €20 more and you should be able to purchase the Moto X4.

While the Moto X4 is a brand new device, the Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus are just slight upgrades to the Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus released this year.

Moto X4Moto G5SMoto G5S Plus
5.2-inch 1080p Display5.0-inch 1080p Display5.5-inch 1080p Display
Snapdragon 630Snapdragon 430Snapdragon 625
Dual 8MP + 12MP Rear Cameras13MP Rear CamerasDual 13MP Rear Cameras
16MP Front Facing Camera5MP Front Facing Camera8MP Front Facing Camera
4GB RAM + 64GB ROM/3GB RAM + 32GB ROM3GB RAM + 32GB ROM/ 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM4GB RAM + 64GB ROM
3000mAh Battery*2800mAh Battery*3000mAh
IP68 Rating Water Repellent Nano-CoatingWater Repellent Nano-Coating
€350 for 32GB variant€300€330

READ MORE: Moto Z2 Force Now Official: Familiar Design, Dual Cameras, New Moto Mod

ASUS ZenFone 4 Pro Appears in Qualcomm’s Official Shot of 1Gbps LTE Testing and in Couple of Leaked Images

In the previous week, ASUS had released official teasers for ZenFone 4. Speculations have it that ZenFone 4 and other phones from the ZenFone 4 series will debut on Aug. 17. An Italian website, DDay.it, has revealed some leaked photos of the ZenFone 4 Pro placed in a protective case. Also, well-known leakster Roland Quandt has tweeted that the ZenFone 4 Pro was officially shown during a press event in Italy.

ASUS ZenFone 4

According to Quandt, Qualcomm and ASUS collaborated on the demonstration of 1 Gigabit LTE at the Italian press event. One of the other leaked images shown below shows that even Ericsson is also working with ASUS and Qualcomm. He revealed that the phone seen next to the laptop in the image is the ASUS ZenFone 4 Pro. It appears that the Snapdragon 835 chipset of the ZenFone 4 Pro is equipped with Snapdragon LTE X16 modem that is capable of delivering 1 Gbps LTE connectivity with carrier aggregation.

ASUS ZenFone 4 Pro

The real-life images of the ZenFone 4 Pro suggest that it would be coming with dual rear cameras that will carry support for 2x optical zoom. The Italian website has claimed that it has a 21-megapixel dual camera module. There is no confirmation on whether it features a pair of 21-megapixel sensors or if one of the camera lenses is of 21-megapixel sensor. Since it is rumored to be a flagship phone, the Italian publication has added that the Snapdragon 835 chipset will be powering the ZenFone 4 Pro.

The ASUS ZenFone 4 Pro is expected to come with a 5.7-inch AMOLED display that will produce Quad HD resolution. Below the display is a Home button that seems to be integrated with a fingerprint sensor.

Read More: Samsung OWY and ASUS High-End Smartphone Gets Bluetooth 5 Certification 

The Snapdragon 835 chipset will be accompanied by 6 GB of RAM. It will be coming with a native storage of 64 GB of storage. It will be preloaded with Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS. The model number of this ASUS phone is ASUS_Z01GS adds DDay. The previously spotted model number of ASUS_Z01GD could be its other variant. Speculations suggest that it will be releasing in September. The ZenFone 4V is the other phone that is expected to launch on Sept. 21. ASUS has already debuted ZenFone 4 Max and on Aug. 17, the Taiwanese company is speculated to introduce other ZenFone 4 phones like ZenFone 4 Pro, ZenFone 4, and ZenFone 4 Selfie.

(source 1,2,3)

 

Essential Loses Three Executives Soon After Essential Phone’s Launch; Is That Causing Essential Phone’s Delay?

The Essential Phone was introduced with various attractive features at the end of May. However, there is something wrong in the company as three executives have left Andy Rubin’s company, Essential Products in just one month. The shipments of the Essential Phone was promised to begin at the end of June, but it has been delayed. Could the recent resigning of top employees of the company be the reason behind the delay of the Essential Phone’s release?

As mentioned above, the employees that left the company do not belong to mid-management but they are high ranking executives that Rubin had handpicked to build a powerful team for his company. Brian Wallace who served as the Vice-President of Marketing for the company left the company at the beginning of this month. He has now joined well-known musician will.i.am’s startup iam+ as the Chief Marketing Officer.

The next one to leave the company was Andy Fouche who was working as the Head of Communications. Today, the head of UX, Liron Damir made his exit from the company. He played a vital role in the designing of the webOS and Pebble and now that he has joined Google, he will be pioneering the Google Home division and use his expertise in designing the future smart products from Google.

essential-phone-white

Read More: Essential Phone’s 13 MP RGB + Mono Dual Camera System and its Camera Samples Explained

There is no confirmation on whether the exit of these top executives could be the reason behind the delay of the Essential Phone. The exit of these employees have been reported by numerous media sites, there is no official statement from the company on why they left the company.

Rubin confirmed in the previous week that the company will be begin the shipments of the Essential Phone in the coming weeks. Well again, the statement does not include an exact release date. Hence, it is not known how may weeks it will take for the Essential Phone to arrive in the market. Since the phone has already received certifications from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Wi-Fi Alliance, it seems that the Essential Phone’s release is close at hand.

Essential Products have confirmed that it is working on a device named Home. It will be a hub for connected appliances that can be controlled with voice. It will feature a touchscreen and a digital assistant. There is no information available on the release of Essential Products’ Home.

(source|via)

 

Essential Phone’s 13 MP RGB + Mono Dual Camera System and its Camera Samples Explained

The shipments of Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone were expected to begin at the end of the previous month. However, it’s arrival has been delayed. Since Essential Phone has recently received certifications from FCC and Wi-Fi Alliance, its arrival is close at hand. The 13-megapixel dual rear cameras of the Essential Phone are one of its best features apart from its modular capabilities for 360-degree video and full-screen design. Soon after the unveiling of the Essential Phone, the official camera samples that appeared noisy where released by Essential President Niccolo de Masi. The two photos shared by him on Twitter was deleted and replaced by a better panoramic video. The company has been working hard to improve the camera prowess of the Essential Phone. The company has now revealed how it developed the dual camera setup.

Ms. Yazhu Ling who is honored with MS in Color and Imagining along with PhD in Human Visual Perception is the person who is directing the camera department for Essential. The Essential Phone is equipped with a pair of 13-megapixel camera sensors that comprises of an RGB (color) senor and a monochrome sensor. Both the camera sensors work together to deliver composite shots.

According to Ling who has been working on the camera of the Essential Phone since October last year has said that when the Essential Phone is used to capture still images, both of its camera sensors are used simultaneously to crate a final image with rich and deep clarity. The dual camera of the Essential Phone is also capable of capturing impressive photos in low-light conditions. The following camera sample on the left is the raw unprocessed data shot using the color sensor and the one on the right is the processed image using Image Signal Processing (ISP).

When the dual rear cameras are launched for taking a snap, the surrounding are first examined by the camera sensors to check the available light. Then, the ISP springs into action to input the required light by calculating parameters like white balance, exposure and things of that nature. This process is called objective image tuning which is all about shooting an adequate image.

However, the optimization of the images while shooting does not work perfectly all the time. Hence, many photographers prefer to capture RAW images that may appear dull but are very suitable for editing. Since people want their smartphones to shoot better looking images, Essential Phone employs subjective image tuning for photography. So, what is subjective image tuning? Ling says that, “The key to subjective tuning is capturing all types of pictures in the wild, identifying systematic image quality problems, and adjusting the ISP setting to address them. It is a painstaking, iterative process—but also one I find incredibly rewarding.”

Left- color only at ISO 400, Middle- mono only at ISO 400, Right – fusion

Ling and her team have been working hard to fine tune the subjective ISP technology that runs in background because users make use of the smartphone’s camera in different kinds of scenes, distances and lighting conditions. This will allow the dual rear cameras of the Essential Phone to snap good photos not only in the labs but also in real-life conditions.

Read More: Andy Rubin’s Essential Facing Problems As Top Executives Resign

Left- color only at ISO 400, Middle- mono only at ISO 400, Right – fusion

The above camera samples show amazing results that a smartphone camera can shoot at ISO 1800. This value is quite high for the Essential Phone’s small sensors. Ling has further said that, “our subjective tuning process began in January 2017, and during that time, we have gone through 15 major tuning iterations, along with countless smaller tuning patches and bug fixes. We have captured and reviewed more than 20,000 pictures and videos, and are adding more of them to our database every day. We’re almost there, but I’m not going to stop tuning the camera on our phone until the last possible minute to provide the best photographic experience possible.”

Same scene snapped multiple times since March 2017. Each of the above images depict different stages of manual tuning.

Here is another camera sample:

The camera samples appear are only for preview purpose and they appear quite impressive compared to the grainy shots that was revealed earlier. More of official information can be found on the Essential blog link in the source.

(source|via)

 

Huawei Announces Exit From Low-end Market, Now To Focus On High-End Phones

Huawei‘s Consumer Business division yesterday held a press conference which was sort of an appraisal of its performance for the first half of the year which just went by and also to unveil its plans for the second half of the year. During the media briefing, Huawei CEO Richard Yu announced sensationally that the company will stop producing low-end, budget smartphones and would instead focus on premium, high-end devices. Top among this transition is the Mate 10 which would be launched later this year with a premium design aimed to take on Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8 launching around the same time.huawei-store logo

Huawei posted a record profit of 20.6% growth in shipment over last year’s H1 figures.  The increase in total shipments also resulted in an increase in the revenue posted for H1 2017 which stands at 105.4 billion Yuan. The Chinese tech leader is hoping to ship 140 million to 150 million units in total this year and with the figures already posted, they are well on the way to achieving a figure in that range. Last year, Huawei shipped 139 million units but that didn’t translate into a commensurate profit margin. This is traceable to the fact that a large chunk of the shipments were budget and mid-range models. Richard Yu gave this as the reason for ditching the very low-end market because of the extremely low-profit margin. The Huawei CEO also disclosed that the company’s priority is Europe, China and Japan where the economy is healthy and people are able to buy the premium models.

Read More: Huawei Ships 73 Million Phones In The First Half Of 2017

This announcement raises some questions that we may not get an official answer soon and the most pertinent is the fate of the Honor brand. Huawei’s Honor brand is believed to focus on high-end phones but we could see the Honor brand revamped. Recently, Honor phones with budget specs were sported on TENAA which was seen as unusual. With this latest development, it is possible Honor will now incorporate budget and mid-range models while the Huawei brand focuses on only flagship models. We’ll get a clearer picture as the days roll by.

(source)

Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Full Specs Leak Online

Full specification details of the Galaxy S8 have been leaked online. Earlier this week, we got our hands on live photos of the rugged variant of the Galaxy S8 and a few specification details. This fresh leak comes in form of snapshots by Weibo user, Kumamoto Technology.

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 Active ditches the curved display but keeps the size at 5.8-inches and the resolution at 2960 x 1440. Samsung says the display is shatter resistant. It has 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and the Snapdragon 835 mobile platform under the hood. There is a micro SD card slot that allows you to add up to an additional 256GB of storage.

[envira-gallery id=”142716″]

Camera configuration is a 12MP f/1.7 sensor on the rear and an 8MP f/1.7 in front for selfies. The S8 Active has NFC, Bluetooth 5.1, MST, GPS and GLONASS and runs Android 7.0.

The Galaxy S8 Active comes with a bigger 4000mAh battery with support for fast wireless charging. It will be available in Meteor Gray and Titanium Gold.

READ MORE: Samsung May Release The Galaxy Note 8 Emperor Edition With 6GB Of RAM & 256GB Storage

Samsung Topples Intels To Become The World’s Largest Chipmaker

Samsung Electronics has proved its mettle as the world’s largest smartphone maker and the company was recently crowned as the world’s most profitable company. The South Korean company has now added another feather to its cap as market data released Friday showed the company has edged out Intels from the top spot as the world’s number one chip maker in the world in terms of sales and operating profits in the second quarter of this year.

Samsung lead, even though just in the second quarter only, is a significant one as Intels Corporation has held on to the foremost position as the top chipmaker in the world for the past 24 years. The successful Q2 2017 result was made possible by Samsung’s proactive approach to a rapidly changing market. The company recently developed next-generation techs for dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips and NAND flash memory in addition to CPU. This versatile approach resulted in a quarterly operating profit of 8.03 trillion won ($7.1 billion) in the second quarter as the demand for server DRAMs and SSD products. The company is said to have recorded overall sales estimated at 17 trillion won ($15 billion) from the chip business.

Related: Xiaomi May Dethrone Samsung in Indian Smartphone Market; Vivo & OPPO Also Growing Rapidly

On its part, Intels has been unsuccessful in its bid to manufacture chipsets for mobile devices and was not quick to capture the emerging and growing smartphone, tablet and wearables segment. Intels posted a total revenue of $14.8 billion and an operating profit of $3.8 billion for the same period. This growth could play out again in the annual revenue posting as Samsung is predicted to topple Intel in overall sales this year. Samsung’s growth in the chip business could also see some help from its adoption of connected chips for IoT devices and automobiles among its portfolios.

(source)

Sony G8341/SO-01K A.K.A Xperia XZ1 Seen on Geekbench

About three weeks ago, we reported seeing a list of upcoming Sony phones on a retailer’s site. One is the Sony Xperia G8341 and the other is the Xperia G8441. Both devices are said to be the Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact respectively.

Xperia XZ1 geekbench

The XZ1 Compact was seen on AnTuTu shortly afterwards, powered by the Snapdragon 835 and running Android 8.0.0. Weeks later, the Xperia XZ1 appears on Geekbench.

The device was benchmarked on July 21 as the Sony G8341/SO-01K. The chip is listed as the msm8998 and there is 4GB of RAM. Unlike the Compact which has Android 8.0, this runs Android 7.1.1. Though rumor has it that both devices will launch with Android 8.0.

The Xperia XZ1 scores 1909 points in the single-core test and 6459 points in the multi-core test. This isn’t far off from the scores of the LG V30 seen last week.

READ MORE: Sony Plans To Release 3 New Walkman Later This Year

Get Xiaomi Redmi 4x for just $116.98!

Redmi 4x is definitely one of the best-looking and the most premium budget phones you can get. It’s made mostly of metal, it sits nicely in the hand and its buttons are nice and tactile. The phone is very compact due to its 5” 720p display, which is just great. Despite lower resolution, it is sharp, bright and it is definitely one of the better panels you can find on a budget phone.

The battery life can be summarized in a few words – one of the best on any phone you buy.

The 4100mAh unit will easily get you 2 days of heavy usage or even 4 days of lighter use, which is just insane result. It possible to get over 11 hours of screen-on time and still have some juice left in the battery. Very impressive result. In case you need to recharge the phone, it takes about 2 hours to fully charge the Redmi 4x with the supplied charger.

The Redmi 4x sports an octa-core Snapdragon 435 chip, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which can be further expanded via the microSD card slot.

You can now get it for just $116.98, which sounds like a great deal.

Get Jumper EZBOOK 3 PRO Notebook laptop for just $209.82

Jumper updates its EZBook to the latest Apollo Lake platform with a Celeron N3350 dual-core SoC. A matte Full HD panel, low weight and, above all, its low price promise an interesting total package. You can now get it for as low as $209.82 which sounds like a great deal.

The design of Jumper’s EZBook 3 evidently follows that of Apple’s MacBook Air 13. Like its paragon, the underside is beveled toward the front and the laptop looks slimmer than it is due to its slightly curved underside.

Jumper furnishes the EZBook 3 with the latest Celeron N3450 SoC by Intel. It is based on the Apollo Lake platform and finds support in 4 GB of DDR3 and it hasToshiba’s 64 GB eMMC memory chip.

You can now get it for as low as $209.82 which sounds like a great deal.