Samsung Topples Intels To Become The World’s Largest Chipmaker

By

-

Jul 28, 2017

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.

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

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jul 28, 2017

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.

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.

Continue

Get Xiaomi Redmi 4x for just $116.98!

By

Linus

-

Jul 28, 2017

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.

Buy Xiaomi Redmi 4x for just $116.98

Get Jumper EZBOOK 3 PRO Notebook laptop for just $209.82

By

Linus

-

Jul 28, 2017

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.

Buy Jumper EZBOOK 3 PRO Notebook laptop for just $209.82

Get ALLDOCUBE / CUBE Free Young X5 4G Phablet for just $169.99!

By

Linus

-

Jul 28, 2017

Phablets are getting more popular nowadays since they offer all the features of smartphones but they also have larger displays are key to productivity. ALLDOCUBE / CUBE Free Young X5 4G has an 8″ display, a 13MP camera and a lot more. You can now get it for just $169.99 from Gearbest using a COUPON CODE that you will find at the end of this article.

One of the features that many users look in a budget tablet/phablet is the cellular connectivity and this device supports 4G network.

As far as specs, the ALLDOCUBE / CUBE Free Young X5 has an octa-core MTK8783 chip that is coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. Android 7.0 out of the box keeps the entertainment flowing. There is also a 3800mAh that should let you use the tablet for a couple of days.

You can now get it for just $169.99 from Gearbest using a COUPON CODE: YoungX5.

Buy ALLDOCUBE / CUBE Free Young X5 4G Phablet for just $169.99

Alleged Official LG V30 Renders Leaked Revealing Sleek Design

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jul 28, 2017

LG is set to unveil the LG V30 flagship smartphone on August 31 and a launch poster for that date is already out. As the date draws closer, it is expected that regular leaks and renders of the device would appear online every now and then. One of such renders of the V30 has surfaced in an introductory video but this one appears to be an official video of the V30.

With the appearance of the LG logo at the end of the video and the title suggesting that it is an introductory video of the V30, the design is thus likely the real design of the V30. The video was posted on YouTube by Concept Creator which is known for fan-generated renders of unannounced phones. Their renders most times end up being the concept of their imagination. We can’t say that for sure in this case because the render matches up with a previously leaked photo purported to be the real V30.

The video shows the device from all angles and captures the absence of a secondary display on the front panel just as earlier rumoured. The renders also show a dual camera setup at the rear with LED flash as well as what looks like laser autofocus. There is also a rear mounted fingerprint sensor under the dual cameras. The renders sees the V30 written at the bottom part of back cover, different from an earlier leak which shows there’ll be a change with “LG” written instead.The specifications of the V30 are still sketchy as of this moment but the device is tipped to pack a 5.7-inch display with QHD resolution and an 18: 9 aspect ratio. The device is also expected to come with 6GB of RAM and powered by the Snapdragon 835 chip. The interface is expected to be provided by LG UI based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat.

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

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jul 28, 2017

Xiaomi remains one of the innovative brands out of China but that innovation has in the last few years been stifled by an inefficient retail channel. The company was one of the pioneers of online smartphone sales in China, yet its sales figures have not been encouraging largely due to a saturated market and its sluggishness to incorporate an efficient offline sales network into its marketing strategy. The company seems to have learned from its lapses as it started a drive to shore up its dwindling revenue earlier this year. That revenue drive just got better as Xiaomi revealed that it has secured a $1 billion loan in order to help it diversify into markets outside China and also to built its offline retail network.

The tech giant reportedly secured the funds, a three-year syndicated loan agreement signed with 18 banks across Europe, Middle East, India, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The syndicated loan is jointly coordinated globally by Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley, with Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, Deutsche Bank AG, and Wing Lung Bank included in the deal.

The regions where the 18 banks are drawn from could give us an insight into the company’s expansion focal point as the company is looking to put the funds into expanding in these regions. This expansion will include building more brick and mortar businesses both within China and in other regions of interest. Xiaomi recently revealed that it plans to open 2000 offline stores and half of that amount will be located outside China. The move has already started with stores opened in India and recently, Greece. Xiaomi also made a foray into Russia with the launch of some of its products in the country. The recent agreement signed with Nokia recently on business collaboration is also a move aimed at expanding off the shores of China. Could this then be the deal that would see the Mi brand becoming a global brand? Only time will give us the answer but we hope this works out fine for the tech giant.

(source)

Huawei CEO Confirms Full-Screen Display, Better Camera, Longer Battery for Mate 10 to Rival Against Apple

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Jul 28, 2017

Huawei Mate 10 is the upcoming flagship phablet from the Chinese manufacturer. Leaked information has revealed that the Mate 10 would be arriving with a full-screen display. Richard Yu, the chariman of Huawei’s mobile division has confirmed that the Mate 10 would be equipped with a full-screen display. He has also confirmed that the company will not be manufacturing low-end smartphones.

From the beginning of this month, the rumor mill has been consistently saying that Mate 10 will be coming with a near bezel-less screen. This means Huawei will be joining the trend of other smartphones like Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6 that come with full-screen display. Samsung and Apple are leading the smartphone manufacturer followed by Huawei that is sitting on the third position. It seems that the Chinese manufacturer is serious on taking on Apple in North America.

The Huawei Mate 10 is expected to release around the same time Apple will be launching the next iPhone. He said that the Mate 10 will be capable of trumping the iPhone in numerous aspects. Yu said that the Mate 10 will be delivering longer battery performance, improved camera capabilities and other features that will allow the company to rival with Apple. Even though Yu confirmed on the above details, he did not confirm on the exact configuration of above features.

Previous rumors have revealed that the Huawei Mate 10 will be featuring a 6-inch full-screen display by JDI that is dubbed as Full Active display. It will be delivering an aspect ratio of 18:9 and a screen resolution of 2,160 x 1,080 pixels.

The Kirin 970 chipset is speculated to feature an octa-core processor with Cortex A73 cores. It would be a 10nm chipset that will either feature Mali-G71MP8 and Mali-G71MP12 graphics. The Kirin 970 chipset will help the Mate 10 to churn out better battery performance. It will be coming with Leica branded dual rear cameras and the Mate 10 is expected to support 3D sensing.

Since there is less margin in low-end smartphones, the Chinese company will be stop manufacturing it. This suggests that the company will be only launching high-end and mid-range smartphones. The company will be concentrating on selling its smartphones in developed regions such as Europe, China and Japan.

(source)

Microsoft Transfers 500 Nokia Design Patents To HMD, Lumia Camera UI Included

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jul 28, 2017

HMD Global Oy has shown some prospects already in its drive to reposition the Nokia brand for success and they continue to show that drive which could help achieve that. The company has already released the Nokia 3, 5 and Nokia 6 along with the revamped Nokia 3310 into the market and the result has been tremendous. In a couple of months time, the company will add the Nokia 8 to its lineup and from the look of things, there will be much more in the near future.

A recent report has revealed that Microsoft has ceded about 500 Nokia patents to HMD Global. Microsoft acquired Nokia’s devices business for $7.2 billion in 2013. By then, Nokia was already swimming in troubled waters, facing financial difficulties as a result of a late transition to Android phones. Although Microsoft had hoped to turn around the fortunes of the company, that didn’t happen as the Lumia brand just refused to fly. Microsoft has to let go of the excess luggage the Nokia brand was turning into and in came HHMD Global Oy, a Finnish phone maker. A couple of months after, Microsoft is revealed to have turned in around 500 patents for the Nokia which is in its possession.

The information scooped from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) shows some of the patents now controlled by HMD Global that were formerly under Microsoft’s control. One of the prominent patents is the Lumia Camera UI which is reputed to be one of the most intuitive camera app around. HMD only has the license to use the Nokia brand name for 10 years, let’s see how they will put these patent to use before their time runs out. Ten years is a long time to turn around the fortunes of a company and they have shown their ability to do just that with the products released so far.

(source)

Meizu PRO7, PRO 7 Plus Registrations Cross 10,000 Mark

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Jul 28, 2017

After months of leaks and rumors, Meizu announced its PRO 7 and PRO 7 Plus flagship smartphones yesterday. Some of its bestselling features like dual rear camas and rear-facing second screen have built a lot of interest among smartphones. The PRO 7 duo will be available on flash sale from Aug. 5 in China. Currently, both the smartphones are up for registrations. The PRO 7 duo have met with over 10,000 registrations in less than day which indicates how popular these phones are.

Only customers who register for the Meizu PRO 7 or PRO 7 Plus can participate in the first flash sale that will start from Aug. 5 at 10:00. The Meizu PRO 7 with 4 GB of RAM + 64 GB of storage powered with Helio P25 is priced at 2,880 Yuan (~$426) and its higher variant feature 4 GB of RAM + 128 GB of storage fueled with Helio X30 costs 3,380 Yuan (~$500). The Meizu PRO 7 will be available in colors like black, red and gold.

The Meizu PRO 7 Plus featuring 6 GB of RAM + 64 GB of storage and Helio X30 is priced at 3,580 Yuan (~$530). And the higher model featuring 6 GB of RAM + 128 GB of storage and Helio X30 carries a pricing of 4,080 Yuan (~$604). It can be bought in colors like grey, silver, gold and black.

The Meizu PRO 7 and PRO 7 Plus is expected to arrive in 16 other countries where Meizu is officially selling its smartphones. Hence, the PRO 7 duo are expected to nations like Brunel, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Ukraine, and Vietnam. The U.S. and the U.K are not on the list which means Meizu fans in these regions can avail the PRO 7 and PRO 7 Plus through re-sellers.

The Meizu PRO 7 has a 5.2-inch FHD S-AMOLED screen and is houses a 3,000 mAh battery whereas the larger PRO 7 Plus has a 5.7-inch QHD S-AMOLED display. Both are equipped with a large-sized battery of 3,500mAh capacity. Both the phablets are equipped with a pair of 12-megapixel snappers, a 16-megapixel front-facing shooter and a 1.9-inch S-AMOLED screen at the rear that shows notifications and can be used as a camera viewfinder and for controlling music. The Chinese firm is also rumored to be working on a high-end smartphone that will debut before the end of 2018.

Source

Head of UX At Essential Joins Google Home

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jul 28, 2017

Essential is a new company owned by Android co-founder, Andy Rubin. Back in May, it announced its first smartphone, the Essential PH-1 which should have started shipping to buyers but still hasn’t.

Since the announcement of the PH-1, two top executives have left the company causing people to wonder if there is something wrong. Latest report says another executive has taken up a new job at Google.

Liron Damir, Head of UX at Essential and Google Home

Liron Damir currently holds the position of Head of UX at Essential. His LinkedIn page shows he now holds the same position at Google Home. It doesn’t say he has left Essential as it is still written as its current employment alongside his new position at Google.

Before Liron Damir joined Essential in April of this year, he was VP of Design at Pebble. He has also worked for LG and HP, heading the webOS team in both companies.

Andy Fouché and Brian Wallace who held the posts of Head of Communications and Vice-President of Marketing respectively at Essential left following the announcement of the phone. It is unclear if Mr. Damir is leaving too or if he’s still there since his LinkedIn page says the latter.

Continue

Huawei Ships 73 Million Phones In The First Half Of 2017

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jul 27, 2017

The results are out, Huawei‘s shipments for the first half of 2017 have been released and it shows the company has made tremendous progress from last year till now. The results were reeled out on Thursday when Huawei Consumer Business unit held a media briefing in China. In total, Huawei revealed it shipped a total of 73.01 million units in H1 2017 and this represents a 20.6% growth over last year’s H1 shipments.

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 revenue represented a 36.2% year-on-year increase over last year’s figure. Individually, the Huawei P10 is the most popular flagship model presently and the company has been able to sell over 6 million units since it was released a couple of months back. The Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro still command some patronage with sales standing at 8.5 million units. In the mid-budget category, the Huawei Nova 2 sprang up some surprises with over 10 million shipments, just over a month after it was released. The Honor 9 has also recorded more than a million units in sales.

Huawei also disclosed that it is making progress in integrating brick and mortar stores in its sales plans in addition to offline sales. The number of physical stores is said to be 42,000 presently, a 19% increase over last year’s figures. The company’s popularity in various markets outside China has been on the increase and the company even predicts higher growth in the next 2-3 years.

(source, via)

Helio X30 Powered Meizu Pro 7 Benchmarked On AnTuTu

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jul 27, 2017

We are all eager to see how the Helio X30 performs since its debut in the Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus. The first of the benchmark results have been released online by a Weibo user.

The 4GB RAM Helio X30 Pro 7 was benchmarked on AnTuTu and the results are interesting. The device scored 141982 points on the app, putting it just behind the Snapdragon 821-powered Mi Note 2 and Mi MIX; and the Kirin 960 powered Huawei Mate 9.

If you are looking for the most powerful device out there, then the Meizu Pro 7 isn’t the device you should get but it will be unfair to undermine the work Mediatek has put into this new chip.

If you own a Snapdragon 821 powered-phone or one powered by the Kirin 960, then you will know it is more than sufficient to run any app you throw at it. Seeing Mediatek’s new chip rank among these two SoCs is no small feat.

The Helio X30 is their first truly high-end chip and hopefully subsequent ones will be better. But will they be able to catch up to Qualcomm and Samsung, not likely. Next year, Qualcomm is moving to 7nm chips and Samsung will be jumping to 8nm first before the move to 7nm in H2 2018. If Mediatek is still behind these two with its 10nm chip, it won’t catch up with them with their next generation chip unless a miracle happens.

The Helio X30 will be nice as a chip for high-end mid range phones but not for flagship devices. We expect it to show up in more devices before the year runs out.

Continue

Sony To Release Three Phones At IFA This Year: Report

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jul 27, 2017

Sony has been in the news for a while now, especially rumours of a launch event taking place at IFA Berlin 2017 on August 31. Speculations are rife as to whether the Japanese tech company would launch a full-screen phone or not. But according to a report on Japanse media outfit Sumahinfo, Sony will be launching not one, not two but three smartphones at IFA 2017. The report even went on to state the models as the Sony Xperia XZ1, XZ1 Compact and a yet to be identified Xperia model.

The three Sony models have been spotted at FCC when they were certified and were listed with model numbers PY7-56331Y, PY7-81775I and PY7-68552B. In addition, a Sony model G8341/SO-01K recently appeared on benchmark platform Geekbench showing the model packing a Snapdragon 835 chipset with 4GB RAM and Android Nougat OS. This is believed to be one of the flagship models that would be launched.

Before now, a Sony small screen flagship had leaked sporting a 4.6-inch 1080p display and powered by a Snapdragon 835 chip which is complemented by a 4GB RAM. The device also comes with 64GB of storage as well as a 3,000mAh battery and Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS. This is likely the model that appeared on Geekbench and the other two may likely be similar models with slight modifications. So, what do you think about a 4.6-inch flagship? That would be a rare one but then, we expect this to come with Sony’s iconic design language which would be a strong selling point.

(source)

HTC’s New Standalone SD835-Powered Vive VR Headset Is Heading To China

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jul 27, 2017

Taiwanese tech giant HTC has announced a new standalone Vive VR headset for the Chinese market. The HTC Vive is a virtual reality headset developed by HTC and Valve Corporation. The headset uses “room scale” tracking technology, allowing the user to move in 3D space and use motion-tracked handheld controllers to interact with the environment with precision. The new version which seems to be developed specifically for the Chinese market is a standalone device that does not require to be connected to a PC or smartphone.

The new HTC Vive VR headset is indeed the first HTC VR that would be entirely mobile which is an advantage in a way. However, the hardware are most likely not identical with the existing Vive VR as this one looks like a trimmed down version. The new standalone Vive will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile VR platform and would come with access to the Viveport platform. The Snapdragon 835 mobile VR platform was designed for standalone VR headset and has made this device independent of a smartphone or PC to function.

Apart from its standalone nature which makes it highly mobile, the HTC Vive standalone VR headset is expected to be affordable. Due to the fact that the device would not need additional hardware to function, the price would be way cheaper than the non-standalone Vive VR. However, HTC is yet to announce the price tag for the gadget but has indicated that the VR headset would be dropping later this year. When that happens, we’ll find out more details and the actual price of the device.

(source)

Meizu Flow Earphones Arrives For ¥599 ($89)

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jul 27, 2017

The Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus smartphones were not the only devices announced by Meizu yesterday. The Chinese manufacturer also launched the Meizu Flow Earphones.

The Flow Earphones is a collaborative work between Meizu Acoustics and Japanese ID Designer, Ping Jing Hao. They also worked with the Institute of Acoustics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences to fine tune the earphones.

Meizu has worked hard at making the Flow as great as possible. With its history as a MP3 Player manufacturer, expect the Flow to provide high-quality audio reproduction. The Flow has three main components to ensure this. There is a high fidelity moving coil unit that enhances the low-frequency dive degree, a high sensitivity dual-balanced mixing unit, and a professional tuning frequency unit.

Meizu has also focused on the design of the Flow making it comfortable to wear. Unlike previously reported, it doesn’t look like the AKG K3003. The earphones also has an in-line microphone and a gold plated 3.5mm connector.

The Meizu Flow Earphones is priced at ¥599 ($89) and is available in Moonlight Silver and Star Black. If you purchase it along with either the Pro 7 or Pro 7 Plus, you pay ¥499 ($74) instead. The earphones comes with 6 pairs of earbuds and a carrying case to keep it safe.

High-end Meizu Phone With Snapdragon Chip Coming By Late 2017

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jul 27, 2017

Meizu took the wraps off its 2017 flagship models – Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus yesterday in a well-organised ceremony in China. The launch of the Pro 7 models is a reflection of the new organisational structure which Meizu implemented a couple of months back. The restructuring did not affect JackWong who is Chairman and CEO of Meizu but Li Nan who was formerly Meizu VP for sales and marketing now heads the newly created Blue Charm division as President in addition to his duties as head of branding, sales and marketing. Bai Yongxiang who was Meizu CEO while Jack Wong was away, is now heading the Meizu division as President, reporting directly to Jack Wong. While Yang Yan, senior vice president of Meizu technology and president of Flyme division will continue to oversee the Flyme operating system.

After the conference, Meizu President Bai Yongxiang reportedly granted an interview to reporters and he disclosed that at present, Meizu is composed of three departments- Meizu Business department, Blue charm business unit and the Flyme business department. He also confirmed the portfolios just as we reported earlier. The Meizu president disclosed that the restructuring was to improve the efficiency of the company to help the Meizu brand transit completely to the high-end phone category. The Pro 7 happens to be the first high-end model from the Meizu division and CEO Jack Wong was reported to have been involved in the R&D process especially for major decisions like the secondary display. The media-shy Jack Wong was again absent from the launch event but Mr Yongxiang revealed that Jack Wong will make a formal appearance in next year’s conference to introduce a classic mobile phone from the company.

In the aspect of sales, the Meizu president disclosed that the company has ditched the idea of releasing many smartphones annually as was the case last year because it still doesn’t guarantee that they’ll hit their sales target. But the company may release just two products under the Meizu division while the Charm Blue division will also release a couple of models but not in a flurry anymore. Meizu will also be working on its offline sales channels in addition to selling online.

Finally, Bai Yongxiang acknowledged that many users ridicule the company’s products due to the use of MediaTek chips over the years. He then went on to reveal that Meizu will launch a high-end chip-packing Meizu phone in late 2017, of course using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chip since Meizu and Qualcomm have settled their differences. Apart from the flagship Snapdragon chip, the Meizu phone will also come with a comprehensive design and is targeted at a 4,000 Yuan price tag. Do you think Meizu is going too fast especially with the pricing? The high-end Pro 7 Plus model did hit the 4,000 yuan mark, priced at 4080 yuan (∼$604). Let’s see how far they can go with this strategy.

(source)

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

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jul 27, 2017

It is no longer unusual to see manufacturers release special versions of their flagships for China or Asia at large. Samsung did so with the Galaxy S8+ which has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Motorola also mentioned that the Chinese variant of the newly announced Moto Z2 Force will have 6GB of RAM. Rumor going round now is that there will be a Galaxy Note 8 Emperor Edition with 6GB of RAM and 256GB ROM.

Chinese leaker, Ice Universe, posted the info on Weibo yesterday. Initially he had written that the Galaxy Note 8 Emperor Edition will come with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage but later corrected it to 6GB of RAM.

Along with the special variant is a 6GB RAM + 64GB ROM standard edition and a 6GB RAM + 12GB model. He also added that the Galaxy Note 8 will arrive in blue, black and grey.

Samsung has announced the date for the Galaxy Note 8’s launch as 23rd of August. The Unpack Event will be held in New York with launches in other countries following later.

Continue

iPhone 8 Release Rumored in October or November; Iris Scanner May Replace Touch ID

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Jul 27, 2017

The rumor mill is buzzing with information on the Apple iPhone 8 that is expected to come with an OLED screen enabled with super-slim bezels. It is expected to come with a bunch of new features that are unavailable on other iPhones. Recent rumors have revealed that the iPhone 8 will be announced along with the iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus on Sept. 5 or 6, but the shipments of iPhone 8 may begin in October. Fresh information from sources in Asian supply chain suggest that the three upcoming iPhones will debut on Sept. 7, 8 or 9 and the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus will be released in the market on Sept. 17 and the shipments of iPhone 8 will start in October or early November.

The Japanese tech blog, Macotakara that was first to reveal the above information has also given out some information on the iPhone 8. Recent renders have revealed that the iPhone 8 has a longer Power button. Some of the recent speculations have claimed that since Apple is unable to place the fingerprint under the front glass, it may come embedded in the long-shaped fingerprint scanner. Fresh information coming from supply chain contradicts the news about fingerprint sensor inside side-mounted Power key.

Fingerprint identification was under-screen in testing machine. Maybe they done it successfully.

— Ben Geskin (@VenyaGeskin1) July 24, 2017

The official cases that are being built for the iPhone 8 does not have cut-out for the Power button. Hence, the Touch ID sensor is unlikely to present inside the Power button. It seems that Apple will embed the Touch ID sensor underneath the screen. Benjamin Geskin, a known designer and tipster has recently claimed that Apple may have successfully managed to place the fingerprint scanner under the display. However, there is a possibility that Apple may either place it on the backside of the iPhone 8 or skip it completely.

The probable reason behind skipping the fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 8 can be understood by looking at the image of its purported screen protector which shows that it will be equipped with a pair of iris sensors. This could mean that iPhone 8 would be coming with 3D facial recognition feature dubbed as Face ID.

The front panel of the iPhone 8 will be available in only black color. This suggests that it apart from color black, the iPhone 8 may not be available in other color options. As rumors have claimed, it will be sporting a glass rear that will make it possible to support wireless charging, a feature that is unavailable on any of the iPhones released so far.

(source|via)

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

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Jul 27, 2017

A market research conducted by in the previous month by Morgan Stanley revealed that India will overtake the U.S. in 2018 to become the second largest smartphone market by units in the world. Hence, India is a very important market for smartphone OEMs. A market analysis conducted by Canalys reveals that the Indian market is ruled by Samsung and Chinese smartphone brands.

Canalys has revealed the second quarter (April to June) smartphone market share in India for this year. In comparison to the second quarter of 2016, the year-over-year shipments have declined by 4 percent. The company claims that the Indian market is contracting as less than 27 million smartphones were sold in the second quarter of 2017 in India.

Samsung is leading the Indian smartphone market with 25 percent share. However, the above graph shows that Xiaomi is a major threat for Samsung as the Chinese firm shipped with 4.8 million smartphones which is four times more than the units it had shipped in the same quarter in the previous year.

Vivo and OPPO are the two Chinese smartphone brands that are rapidly increasing their smartphone market share in the country. Both the companies have been aggressively marketing their products offline. Vivo which is now in the third position had shipped with 3.4 million smartphones in Q2 this year. OPPO moved on to fourth position by taking over Lenovo that is now sitting on the fifth with 1.9 million smartphone shipments in Q2.

Samsung’s numero uno is under threat as Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Vivo, OPPO, Lenovo and Gionee account for 50 percent of smartphone sales in India. These Chinese smartphone brands are very popular for their mid-range and entry-level smartphones in India. Samsung’s J series smartphones are also quite popular in the country, but there is stiff competition for these phones by smartphones from aforementioned Chinese companies.

Samsung’s premium phones Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are doing very well in India but it has to put more efforts to make sure that its mid-range phones are desirable. The Chinese smartphone market encountered a decline this quarter. Hence, the Chinese smartphone vendors are focusing more on the Indian market.

According to Morgan Stanley’s report, India’s smartphone market is expected to bloom at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23 percent in the coming year. In the same period, China is estimated to meet a 5 percent CAGR in units. India’s smartphone market is forecasted to grow five times faster than the world’s largest smartphone market, China.

(source)