Samsung has its hands in a lot of pies. The popular ones are its mobile phone division, display division and its semiconductor manufacturing division.
Apart from making its own Exynos chip, Samsung also takes contracts to manufacture chips for big clients like Qualcomm, NVIDIA, and Apple. In May of this year, the Korea based company made the decision to make the chip department a separate entity.
Even with the big clients, Samsung isn’t among the big three semiconductor foundries in the world. Taiwan’s TSMC still has the largest share of the market, followed by GlobalFoundries, and then UMC. Samsung is at number 5 behind SMIC.
With a new head, the plan is to change that in a span of five years. They have set a target to grab 25% of the market by adding new clients to their list. Samsung says it will try to win over both small and big clients to achieve this goal.
In terms of sales, it is already crushing it. A Q1 report puts it behind Intel at the number 2 spot, and projections say it will claim the top spot by the end of the year.
Samsung is already working hard at adopting new manufacturing technologies. It recently won the contract to make the processor for next year’s iPhone and it has confirmed that it will be able to make 7nm chips by H2 2018.
Xiaomi will be unveiling MIUI 9 and all its new features tomorrow with the beta testing program set to roll. The Xiaomi Mi 6, Redmi Note 4 and Redmi Note 4X have also been revealed to be the first batch of models that would get the custom ROM. This is in order to ensure MIUI 9 offers a great user experience in terms of stability, smoothness, and better battery backup.
After the Mi 6 and Redmi Note 4X models have gotten the update, the second batch of models was hitherto not revealed but words coming out from a tech blogger on Weibo is that the MIUI 9 second batch models to get the update will be just three. The three models are revealed to be the Xiaomi Mi 5, Mi Mix and Mi Note 2. Apart from that, the blogger revealed that MIUI 9 goes by the internal codename Lightning which is a good one. Xiaomi has revealed the light nature of the new ROM in size and the resultant speed so, the name fits the new interface.
The roll out date for the first batch of MIUI 9 Custom ROM is not known but should be anytime within August. In that case, second batch models would likely get updates around September. That means it is likely going to be a long wait for the new MIUI interface for many Xiaomi model users especially those with budget models. It won’t be a bad idea to join the Beta testing program if you are eager to get the ROM because the polished Custom ROM may not be hitting your model anytime soon.
Several Chinese smartphones including the ones from lesser known brands come with dual rear cameras. However, smartphone market leader, Samsung, is yet to debut a dual rear camera enabled phone. There are couple of forthcoming Samsung phones that are speculated to come with dual rear cameras this year. Fresh information suggests that after the arrival of dual rear cameras on the Galaxy Note 8, forthcoming flagships like Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+ and Galaxy Note 9,
Kim Rok-ho, an analyst with Hana Financial has stated that the supplies of dual camera system for the upcoming flagship phone for Samsung will also result in the profits of Samsung Electro-Mechanics in 2018. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is the South Korean company’s wing that manufactures camera modules.
Recent rumors have revealed that the Galaxy Note 8 will be equipped with a horizontally arranged dual cameras on its backside. The duo camera system is expected to include a 13-megapixel wide-angle sensor and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens that will allow users to take advantage of various features such as amazing low-light photography and AR capabilities like 3D mapping and distance measurement. KGI Securities analysts, Ming-Chi Kuo has revealed that both the cameras will be equipped with optical image stabilization and 3x optical zoom. Hence, the Galaxy Note 8’s dual rear cameras is speculated to better than other smartphones with dual rear cameras.
According to an analyst named Park Hyug-woo from Shinhan Investment, Samsung Electro-Mechanics will continue to record more profits in the next two years. He added that the Galaxy S8 and Note 9 are likely to feature dual rear cameras. He added that the Samsung Electro-Mechanics may make a profit of $10 billion in 2019.
Many smartphone companies such as Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, OnePlus and OPPO have managed to release smartphones with dual rear cameras, but Samsung has lagged behind. However, rumors are rife that at least four Samsung smartphones with dual rear cameras will break cover this year.
In April, a report had revealed that the Apple had allegedly ordered 70 million OLED display panels from Samsung for the upcoming iPhone 8. This shows how dependent Apple could be on Samsung for the OLED panels. However, this situation may change for the good from 2018 as fresh reports suggest that Apple will be manufacturing OLED screens.
A South Korean publication has reported that Apple may setup its own OLED manufacturing factory in Taiwan. For this, the Cupertino company has reportedly procured several chemical vapor deposition (CVD) machines that are mainly used for manufacturing OLED display panels. Apple has reportedly procured the CVD machines from a South Korean company. This will allow Apple to produce 2.5G OLED display panels from its own manufacturing unit for the 2018 iPhones. A conflicting report from May suggests that Samsung will continue to provide OLED panels to Samsung for the 2018’s iPhone 9.
This year, Apple is expected to release three iPhones. Two of them that are dubbed as iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are expected to feature LCD panels. However, Apple is heavily pegged to use OLED display panel on the 5.8-iPhone 8 that is speculated to launch in celebration of the 10th anniversary of iPhones.
Analysts have forecasted that Apple would manage to sell 55 million iPhone 8 unit this years. This can possibly help to become a first ever trillion dollar company. To meet the high demand of iPhone 8, Samsung is speculated to supply as many as 95 million OLED panels. It seems that after launching the iPhone 8 with OLED screen, Apple may soon launch other devices such as iPad and Apple Watch with OLED panels.
The Cupertino company is unlikely to manufacture the OLED panels on its own. It may license the equipment procured for making OLED panels to third party manufacturers. Apple is also said to be in discussion with LG Display to assist it in building a new OLED panel manufacturing factory. Companies like Xiaomi and Google are currently making use of OLED panels. Speaking of LG, it also rumored to debut its first ever smartphone with OLED screen. LG has so far used LCD panels on its smartphones, but the LG V30 that is slated to get announced on Aug. 31 is heavily rumored to feature a OLED screen.
Xiaomi‘s MIUI 9 will be officially unveiled tomorrow in a ceremony holding in Beijing, China. Ahead of that official unveiling, an official preview of the MIUI 9’s new and latest features have been compiled on the MIUI Forum and as usual, we’ve got it right here for you. So, here’s a summary of what we know so far about Xiaomi’s latest custom ROM.
1. MIUI 9 Themes: Xiaomi’s MIUI is known for it attractive themes and MIUI will be coming with three new themes which are translated from Chinese as No Boundary, Color Fantasy and Cool Black. The three theme will be available along with the default themes. As we have seen earlier, the Dock bar has been redesigned and the dock icons do not have texts below them, giving a neat look to the home screen. It is likely that the text will appear as you hover over the icon.
No BoundaryColour FantasyCool Black
2. Xiaomi Mi 6, Redmi Note 4 (Qualcomm version), Redmi Note 4X will receive MIUI 9 Beta update first!
Xiaomi had earlier revealed that its latest flagship model Mi 6 will be joined by the Redmi Note 4 and Redmi Note 4X as the first models that would receive MIUI 9 update. This is said to be in order to ensure MIUI 9 offers a great user experience in terms of stability, smoothness, and better battery backup. The second batch is made up of popular Mi devices- Mi 2/2S will receive MIUI 9 update. Other models will follow and the update will be pushed by stages. Xiaomi is presently recruiting beta testers so if you own any of the models and would want to join in (China ROM), head over to MIUI Forum.
3. New Design in Lock Screen Shortcut
The fingerprint sensor is mainstream now, almost every phone launched comes with a fingerprint sensor. For those who own Mi Devices with a front fingerprint sensor, they can’t use long press home button feature to activate torch as it will unlock their phone. Owners of these models with fingerprint sensor can now access it by swiping to the right on your lock screen. There are also other useful shortcuts like Mi Home, Mi Remote, Mi Pay, Transport Card, and Torch could be accessed in one place as well.
4. Split Screen Feature
Split Screen Feature was introduced in Mi Max 2 launched on 25th May 2017. This feature was tested in Mi 5 device MIUI 8 Alpha ROM and made available in MIUI 8 7.7.13 Beta ROM for Mi 6 and Mi Max 2. Now Mi Devices with Android 7.0 and above are confirmed to have split screen feature such as the Mi 6, Mi MIX, Mi Note 2, Mi Max, Mi Max 2, Mi 5, Redmi Note 4X just to name a few. We’ll reveal more info about list of eligible devices after the launch.
5. Simplify and Optimized System
As more features are added to MIUI, the ROM size eventually gets bigger and rarely used features are left redundant. Therefore, the MIUI team has decided to simplify and optimize our ROM by removing Child Mode, WiWide (provides public wifi networks to stores and restaurants in China), Contact Card, Showtime (Caller Profile Video) and more.
MIUI 9 will be coming with several other technological breakthroughs which would be unveiled when it is launched.
Before a highly popular smartphone is launched, plenty of leaked renders appear. However, among the leaked renders, the ones that come from case makers are quite close to the real thing because their renders are based on the schematics and tips that come industry insiders. A luxury case maker has outed some fresh renders of the Apple iPhone 8 that suggests that it could be the final design of the highly anticipated iPhone.
The leaked renders shown here is of the 5.8-inch iPhone 8 that features an OLED panel. The bezels surrounding it are very thin. The source claims that the thickness of the bezels is only 4mm. These bezels will prevent accidental edge presses.
The top bezel is slightly thick as it houses all the sensors and the selfie snapper. As recent leaked photos have revealed, it features a u-shaped bezel at the top and the remaining portion present on the left and right side of it is an active OLED panel that shows information like battery, network and other things of that nature.
Rumors have suggested that the notifications and switches will be available in the “function” area present at the bottom part of the screen. The bottom side of the phone reveals that it does not feature a 3.5mm audio jack which means that the Lightning port can be used to listen to the music on this smartphone.
The above image shows the vertically arranged dual rear cameras of the alleged iPhone 8. However, there is no information available on the exact configuration of these two camera sensors. For better battery life than the iPhone 7 Plus, this iPhone 8 is rumored to feature a larger L-shaped battery.
The source has also revealed the pricing of this premium iPhone. It states that the 128 GB edition of the alleged iPhone 8 would be costing around $1,100 to $1,200. The 128 GB model could be the starting variant of the iPhone 8. There may be a higher model with 256 GB storage that will carry a more expensive price tag.
Xiaomi has a tradition of unveiling a lot of smartphones throughout the year. Most of these models are upgrades to last year’s releases, however, in between these launches, we get to meet a couple of brand new devices as well. The Xiaomi Mi 5X is one of these new models in the Mi series, which is looking to attract customers who don’t want to spend as much as $370 on the Mi 6 flagship.
Xiaomi Mi 5X’s existence kind of makes sense, especially since Xiaomi’s flagship model, the Xiaomi Mi 6 was priced higher than usual this year. Instead of 1999 Yuan ($295), the Mi 6 starts at 2499 Yuan ($370). So, there’s a void in the $250-$380 price segment, which the Mi 5X is probably trying to fill. Not just that, the Mi 5X is said to be the company’s first smartphone to be sold aggressively via offline channels, much similar to what OPPO has been doing for the past couple of years.
There’s another interesting thing about the Xiaomi Mi 5X. I can’t recall a Xiaomi phone that was almost completely revealed before its official launch. In the past, we have seen some revealing teasers about upcoming Xiaomi phone’s design and features, but the renders often only showcased a small part of the design and not the entire thing. But with the Mi 5X, Xiaomi seems to have taken inspiration from the OPPO R11 launch, revealing its design much before its official release. This is not at all conventional, but OPPO’s strategies seem to be working well in the past one year and that’s probably why we have seen so much of the Mi 5X officially even before its official launch.
Xiaomi Mi 5X Design
Xiaomi is playing it safe with smartphone designs this year. The Redmi series have a standard look among all models and the upcoming Mi 5X also comes with a similar design as the Mi 6 and OPPO R11. In fact, it would have been hard for us to distinguish between the R11 and the Mi 5X, if not for the lack of a physical home button on the front. The rear placed fingerprint scanner is yet another design feature that sets the new phone apart from other models in the market. Note that the Xiaomi Mi 5X has what the Xiaomi Mi 6 didn’t — a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Other connectivity ports that we can see in the renders include USB Type-C port and speakers.
There will be at least three color options available for the phone, black, rose gold and champagne gold.
While officially we know little about the Mi 5X specs, rumors have been quite strong about what we’ll find inside the new flagship. It is said that there will be two versions of the Xiaomi Mi 5X, one powered by a mid-range Snapdragon 625 with 4GB RAM and another one powered by a more powerful Snapdragon 660 with 6GB of RAM.
As for the cameras, the phone is said to feature a similar setup to the Xiaomi Mi 6, which includes one wide angle and one telephone lens. The possible dual camera setup could be a Sony IM386 wide-angle sensor and a Samsung S5K3M3 telephoto sensor. The resulting pictures could be quite promising but we’ll have to wait and see as the ISP inside the SD625 may not yield results as good as the Mi 6.
Other rumored features include a 16MP front camera, Android 7.1.1 and 3000mAh battery.
Xiaomi Mi 5X Price & Availability
Xiaomi Mi 5X standard edition is rumored to start at 1999 Yuan ($295), a price which should have been reserved for the earlier launched Xiaomi Mi 6 flagship. So, as I mentioned above, the Mi 5X seems to be here to fill in that price gap. There’s still no word on the rumored high version with SD660, but if it gets close to 2499 Yuan ($370), there’s a good chance that users will start leaning towards the Xiaomi Mi 6 with a faster Snapdragon 835.
To be honest, for $295, specs like SD625, 4GB RAM, and 3000mAh won’t impress Xiaomi fans, considering how there are cheaper Snapdragon 625 phones in the company’s Redmi series. So, the Mi 5X seems to be banking on its dual camera experience to justify a price tag of nearly $300. Moreover, like OPPO, the company could target it sales offline instead of focusing solely on online channels.
Well, we will have to wait and see what’s so special about the Mi 5X at launch which is on July 26.
The market is full of smartphones but some people still use feature phones. The Chinese phone maker Nomu has made a phone that is rugged, compact and affordable. Learn more in the full Nomu T10 review.
The phone ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a tool to open up the back plate.
DESIGN
It is obvious that Nomu T10 is a rugged phone since it is quite thick and heavy. The phone sports IP68 rating, so it is dust and water resistant.
Also, the device is shockproof as it can survive accidental drops from up to 2m.
As for the design, the phone is well built and it sits nicely in the hand.
A 2” display is definitely not the sharpest out there but it does the job for such a cheap phone. I found the backlit buttons to be nice and tactile.
The side buttons are tactile too. There is a customizable multifunctional key that can be assigned to any app you want.
There is also another button that triggers a flashlight, which is probably the brightest I have ever seen on any phone. There are also different flashlight modes to play with.
There is also a full-sized USB port that allows you to charge other devices.
You have to undo the screws to open up the back plate and access a replaceable 2800mAh battery, 2 SIM card slots and the microSD card slot.
UI
As for the user interface, there is not much to talk about as the phone has most of the basic features you want to see in a budget feature phone. In general, the phone is fast and fluid, I have no complaints.
BATTERY LIFE and CONNECTIVITY
I could use the phone for about 5 days on a single charge, which is a great result compared to nowadays smartphones. As for connectivity, the call quality is decent but not excellent.
CONCLUSIONS
All in all, the Nomu T10 is a basic rugged feature phone that gets the basics right. Sure, it lacks a lot of features that smartphones have but this is what you have to expect from each budget feature phone.
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) had debuted alongside the Galaxy A3 (2017) and Galaxy A5 (2017) in January this year. The successor smartphones for the Galaxy A (2017) series are likely to debut at the end of this year or by the start of 2018. It seems that Samsung has already started working Galaxy A (2018) smartphones as an alleged Galaxy A7 (2018) has appeared on GFXBench benchmarking site.
The Galaxy A7 (2017) has a model number of SM-A720x. A new Samsung smartphone with model number SM-A730x has appeared on GFXBench. This model number suggests that it could be the successor of Galaxy A7 (2017).
The GFXBench listing of SM-A730x suggests that it is powered by a 2.21 GHz octa-core processor and Mali-G71 graphics. The chipset is supported by 4 GB of RAM. The exact name of the SoC that will power the alleged Galaxy A7 (2018) is not known.
Even the size of the display not mentioned clearly, but the listing states that it supports full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The Galaxy A7 (2017) features a 5.7-inch FHD display and is powered by Exynos 7880 chipset and 3 GB of RAM.
According to GFXBench, the purported Galaxy A7 (2018) will be equipped with a native storage of 32 GB. For photography, it is expected to come with a rear camera of 16-megapixel and a front-facing shooter of 16-megapixel. The rear camera is capable of shooting full HD videos whereas the frontal camera can shoot 2K resolution videos. It is running on Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS.
The 2017 editions of Galaxy A7, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A3 are eligible to receive the upcoming Android O update. However, sad thing is that Samsung has not released Android Nougat update for these phones. The Galaxy A (2017) smartphones are still running on the older Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS. Hence, the release of Android O will be not only slow of Galaxy A (2017) phones but also 2018 iterations are likely to receive it late.
The Galaxy A7 (2018) is expected to debut with 2018 editions of Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5. Hence, leaked information on other Galaxy A (2018) phones are expected to surface in the coming months. A Chinese leakster had recently claimed that Galaxy A (2018) phones would be coming dual rear cameras. There is a possibility that Galaxy A7 (2018) may feature dual rear cameras, but the GFXBench listing does not reveal it because it usually shows information on only one camera sensors of the dual rear cameras.
Lenovo still hasn’t officially announced that it has shut down its ZUK sub-brand but its actions since the beginning of the year have shown just that.
First, there haven’t been any new product releases this year. The brand’s user interface has also been adopted for the Motorola devices released in China, starting with the Moto Z2 Play.
The most recent is the redirection of the ZUK.com website to Motorola.com.cn and the shut down of the ZUK forums (bbs.zuk.com). The forum page now redirects to club.lenovo.com.cn where you have news related to Lenovo as a whole.
With all these going on, why doesn’t Lenovo just announce that it has shutdown the brand?
Since the return of the Nokia brand under HMD Global, fans have been expectant of a flagship model from Nokia but instead, the company has only released the Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3, all with mid-range specifications as well as the remodelled Nokia 3310 feature phone. The success of the models in the markets where it has gone up for sale may have spurred HMD Global to speed up things on its flagship model and that is the Nokia 8.
Nokia 8 has been a regular visitor in leaks lately and that isn’t about to end soon. A new leak emanating from China’s Baidu has revealed the Nokia 8 in copper colour. The colour can easily be confused for a gold colour but it isn’t, considering it is not as shiny as gold. Nokia did release a copper colour variant of the Nokia 6 so, this isn’t a new one. This seems to have leaked earlier on in detailed images and you can check them out from here.
The Nokia 8 is expected to feature a dual camera setup with Zeiss Optics technology and the presence of the Zeiss logo perhaps affirms that. The body is said to be made from aluminum and the shape when viewed from the rear resembles the Nokia 6. But the leaked photos showing the front screen point at the presence of curved display. Nokia 8 is expected with a 5.3-inch 2K display with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor powering it up as well as up to 6GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable internal storage. The dual rear camera setup is made up of a 13MP main sensor and Zeiss optics. The device is expected to pack a 3000mAh battery and will run Android 7.1 out of the box.
Xiaomi took the industry by storm last year when it launched the Mi Note 2 along with the Mi Mix, both sporting revolutionary designs that were different from Xiaomi’s traditional design language. While the Mi Mix would go on to take the main spotlight, the Mi Note 2 still commanded some admiration for its curved edge design and well-packed specs line-up.
The Mi Note 3 is expected to be the successor of the Note 2 and that device has been the subject of successive rumours and was even tipped to launch in the second quarter of the year. That isn’t likely now but there are talks of a Q3 launch for the flagship device. Ahead of whatever Xiaomi is planning out for the Mi Note 3, the render of the expected Note 3 was recently featured in a leaked video. The YouTube video seems to be the production of Science & Knowledge YouTube channel and obviously, the renders are fan-generated stuff. Despite that, you might just want to have a look because it features a full-screen display with very little bezels at the edges something that is expected on the actual Mi Note 3. Bezel-less displays with high screen ratio are the way to go and Xiaomi who is a pioneer in that field will not want to be caught napping.
Apart from the full-screen display, the renders also show the presence of a dual rear camera setup which is one thing that is trending lately. Earlier rumours had also tipped the Note 3 to feature dual cameras. The video also highlights the specs of the device but they are likely inaccurate. You can have a look at the video from below which looks very much like the Mi Mix, by the way. Details of the Mi Note 3’s specs are still sketchy but the flagship is expected to pack an OLED display and use a Snapdragon 835 processor with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage. The device is said to sport a 5.8-inch display among others. We can’t say if Xiaomi will unveil the Mi Note 3 along with the Mi Mix 2 just the same way the Note 2 was launched with the Mi Mix last year. It would be interesting if they do anyway.
The Midnight Black OnePlus 5 was out of stock about 3 weeks ago. Although OnePlus didn’t flat out say it was out of stock, instead it wrote that it would ship within 4 weeks unlike the Slate Gray base model that shipped immediately.
Right now, the 8GB RAM + 128GB ROM is now available and ships right away. There is even a banner at the top of the page that informs you it is now back in stock. Price is still $539.
According to OnePlus, their new flagship is their fastest selling device. Which makes it understandable as to why they ran out of stock so early. It is also their most expensive phone till date.
The OnePlus 5 has a 5.5-inch display, a Snapdragon 835 processor and 6GB/8GB of RAM. Storage is not expandable, so you are limited to 64GB or 128GB of built-in storage.
Ever heard of MiLab before? I’m sure you haven’t but it is Xiaomi‘s research laboratory where innovative products are developed. MiLab is a recent endeavour as its Weibo page was only opened last year with a few posts and followers. But it is in the news presently as a poster has surfaced online pointing at a July 26 launch under the MiLab sub-brand.
July 26 is already the date set aside for the launch of MIUI 9 and the Xiaomi Mi 5x in China. With this latest development, Xiaomi’s will be announcing a new interface and a new smartphone which is neither a flagship Mi model or under the Redmi series but is a mid-ranger. And now, yet another entire new brand line will likely join the log of debutants on July 26.
We don’t know what the product will be but there are speculations that it is a smart speaker with artificial intelligence (AI) similar to Amazon Echo and others. We can’t be so sure about that because there may even be more than one products coming under the MiLab sub brand on that date. We must point out that the poster available below isn’t present on the MiLab Weibo account which is rather strange.
A few weeks ago, Mediatek confirmed that Meizu will launch the first Helio X30 powered phone. It is no secret that the phone is the Pro7. But since there will be two models, which of the Pro7 will be getting the Helio X30?
A post by Mediatek on Weibo has revealed the processor present in the Meizu Pro7 and Pro7 Plus. Early reports had said the Pro7 will get the Helio X30 while the bigger Pro7 Plus will be powered by Samsung’s Exynos SoC.
Mediatek Reveals Meizu Pro7 Processors
A rough translation of the post says “Equipped with Mediatek’s Helio P25 and Helio X30 processor, Meizu’s Smartphone will be officially released on July 26”.
Since the Pro7 and Pro7 Plus are the only Meizu smartphones launching on July 26, this means one of them gets the Helio P25 and the other gets the Helio X30. As it stands, the Pro7 will most likely be the one getting the P25 while the Plus model gets the Helio X30.
We know this will come as a shock to those of you looking forward to trying out the Helio X30. But based on latest development, you will have to shell out more money to get your hands on it.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will be the first flagship smartphone from the company to come with dual rear cameras. Around two months, a South Korean publication had revealed that the configuration of the dual cameras of the Note 8. It also revealed that both the cameras will support 3x optical zoom. Earlier this week, Ming-Chi Kuo, a KGI Securities analyst also confirmed on 3x optical zoom and camera configurations of the Galaxy Note 8.
According to Kuo, the Galaxy Note 8’s dual camera system will include a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens. One of the dual rear cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus and OnePlus 5 include a telephoto lens. Kuo added that the standard sensor will be of 13-megapixel and the telephoto sensor will be of 12-megapixel. He also claims that the both the sensors will be equipped with 3x optical zoom and optical image stabilization.
It is still not confirmed whether Samsung will use a combination of a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens. The South Korean media was able to predict the Galaxy Note 8’s unveil date of Aug. 23 before Samsung released the official teaser. Also, Kuo is well-known for his accurate predictions on Apple products. Hence, there is a possibility that the new information revealed by Kuo may become a reality. The analyst did not reveal any information on whether the Note 8 will come with AR capabilities.
Samsung is rumored to release several smartphones with dual rear cameras this year. The first one that is speculated to debut with the new camera system include the Chinese version of the Galaxy J7 (2017). The other two smartphones that are pegged to come with dual rear cameras are Galaxy C10 and Galaxy C7 (2017) which has been already certified by TENAA.
Samsung India just launched the Galaxy J7 Nxt for the budget category. Judging from the specs and pricing, the J7 Nxt is going to face some pretty tough competition in India.
The Galaxy J7 Nxt has a 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display, 2GB of RAM and an unspecified octa-core chip clocked at 1.6GHz. We did some digging and it is actually the Exynos 7870. There is 16GB of storage with the option to expand it by an additional 256GB via a dedicated microSD card slot.
The rear camera is a 13MP f/1.9 sensor with a slight bump and there is a 5MP f/2.2 front facing camera with its own LED flash. Battery capacity is 3000mAh battery and there is Android 7.0 out of the box.
Samsung has put a price tag of Rs. 11,490 (~$180) on the Galaxy J7 Nxt. To be honest we know, Samsung phones are not dirt cheap but $180 is asking for too much for a device that doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner, packs just 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.
Xiaomi has a new phone confirmed to launch on the 26th of July. Called the Xiaomi Mi 5X, it is supposed to take on OPPO and Vivo, two kings of photography in China.
Official images of the Xiaomi Mi 5X have been released revealing its dual rear cameras and its iPhone-like design. It is interesting to see that Xiaomi is even going the design route that is used by OPPO and Vivo.
Pre-order registration began last week on the official Xiaomi site and is already almost half a million. Jingdong Mall has also opened up registration for the phone today and has set a deadline for 9:30 AM on August 1st. Sales are expected to kickoff the same day at 10:00 AM.
The Xiaomi Mi 5X is expected to launch with a 5.5-inch FHD display, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 mobile platform is the chip of choice. The rear cameras are two 13MP sensors setup in a Wide Angle + Telephoto Configuration.
Meizu is expected to officially unveil the Pro 7 on the evening of July 26 which is barely two days away so, it is just right that they keep the internet buzzing with fresh photos of the flagship. That is, perhaps, the intention of Jeffery Yang who shared a clean photo of the Pro 7 on Weibo today.
The photo is that of the Grey coloured variant which was first leaked last week but this time around it shows the back of the device but omitted the part containing the rear cameras. The major thing that we can grab from the photo is the presence of a brush metal body and a grey coloured variant. Also, the rear secondary display seems to be curved at the outer edge just like the rest of the body. The U-shaped antenna band design also looks like what is hidden at the bottom edge and we believe the upper edge will also look similar. It has a similar grey colour with the body, something that may be peculiar to this colour variant.
Apart from the grey variant, the Meizu Pro 7 is expected to come in Black, Gold and Red colour variants. As for the specs, the Pro 7 has been confirmed by MeidaTek to be the first smartphone to launch with MediaTek’s Deca-core Helio X30 chip. It is expeccted to feature a 5.2-inch 1080p display as well as dual 12MP Sony IMX386+ 12MP Sony IMX286 sensors at the rear with a ring flash having 10 LEDs. The camera will likely be one of the main selling points of the device based on the sample shots we have seen. But we can only make a decent judgement of the device after it has been launched and subjected to Linus’ critical review here on Gizmochina. Other specs are still not certain, that also we’ll know when it is launched.
There is an ongoing legal issue between Qualcomm and Apple over patent infringement. The issue is so serious that Qualcomm wants to prevent the sales of the iPhones in the U.S. This is because the U.S. based chip maker is claiming that Apple is illegally using its patents on the iPhones. The Snapdragon 845 mobile chipset is said to be the next SoC that will be powering the 2018 flagships. The evidence of the chipset has appeared on a document that has been filed by International Trade Commission (ITC) by Qualcomm for its complaint against the Cupertino company.
Shown above is a snapshot of one of the documents that Qualcomm has submitted with ITC. As it can be seen, it contains several references of SD 845. Rumors have it that the Snapdragon 845 would be a 7mm chipset but there are some reports that it would be a 10nm chipset like the Snapdragon 835 but well come with plenty of improvements.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus are also heavily pegged to feature the upcoming Snapdragon 845 chipset. Recently, an alleged Galaxy S9 had appeared on Geekbench benchmarking platform with the same chipset. The Snapdragon 845 chipset is rumored to deliver 25 percent to 35 percent better performance than the Snapdragon 835. The Snapdragon 846 chipset is speculated to debut in the last quarter of this year or early in next year.
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