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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

Samsung W2018, Flagship Clamshell with SD 835, 6 GB RAM Arriving Soon?

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 27, 2017

Samsung is rumored to be working on a new flip phone called W2018. Around two months ago, W2018 had appeared on the database of TENAA, China’s regulatory body. Earlier this week, a leakster spilled out some information on the key specs of the clamshell phone. The information revealed by the leakster is quite different from the specs of W2018 that had appeared on TENAA.

The W2018 will be arriving to succeed the Samsung W2017 clamshell from the previous year. According to the leakster, the Samsung W2018 that has a model number of SM-W2018 will be driven by Snapdragon 835 and the chipset will be accompanied with 6 GB of RAM. The native storage of the phone will be of 64 GB. These key specs are present on Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ flagships. Also, these specs will be also present inside the Galaxy Note 8.

Samsung W2018
SM-W2018
SD835+6GBRAM+64GBROM

— 萌萌的电教 (@MMDDJ_) July 25, 2017

everyone looks forward note8……but new leak I got is another high-end Samsung smartphone,but not GALAXY series…

— 萌萌的电教 (@MMDDJ_) July 24, 2017

In another tweet, the leakster has claimed that Samsung will soon releasing another flagship apart from Galaxy Note 8. However, it will not be a Galaxy branded phone. Almost all the smartphones are sold under Galaxy branding by Samsung. Hence, it seems that the leakster could be talking about the Samsung W2018 that is now rumored to arrive with flagship specs. The rumor mill is also talking about a Samsung flip phone with model number SM-G9289. Speculations hint that SM-W2018 and SM-G9298 are the same phones.

As mentioned the new information shared by the leakster is quite different from the specs of the W2018 phone that had appeared on TENAA. According to TENAA listing which probably contains older information had revealed that the W2018 would be equipped with a pair of 4.2-inch S-AMOLED screens that will produce full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels.

The TENAA listing had also revealed that W2018 would be driven by Snapdragon 821AB chipset, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage and Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It also revealed that it features a 12-megapixel rear camera and a front-facing camera of 5-megapixel. Also, it is packed with a 2,300mAh capacity battery. Interestingly, this TENAA listing is not accessible now.

Clamshell phones are quite popular in some Asian countries like South Korea and China. However, the demand for such phones are quite like less in the U.S. and Europe. Hence, the Samsung W2018 is speculated to arrive in South Korea and China in the near future.

(source|via)

MIUI 9 Developer ROM Update: Schedule & List Of Supported Models

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jul 26, 2017

You must have known by now that MIUI 9 is now official and the Mi 5X is the first Xiaomi model that would run on MIUI 9 out of the box. Xiaomi also announced the list of models that would get the MIUI 9 Developer ROM and the dates the updates would be available.

MIUI comes in Developer ROM and Stable ROM and as the name implies the Developer ROM is still in development and gets updates weekly except on China’s National holidays. To be able to use the Developer ROM, users must have knowledge of how to successfully flash the ROM on their Xiaomi phones. On the other hand, the Stable ROM is the final product with most of the bugs fixed. The Stable ROM is updated only once a month or twice or even longer and users don’t need to know how to flash their smartphones.

From the release itinerary, the Xiaomi Mi 6, Mi 5X, and Redmi Note Note 4X (Qualcomm version) will get the Developer ROM on August 11 while the second batch will start rolling on August 25. The second batch will involve a whole lot of models including Mi MIX, Mi Note 2, Mi 5, Mi 5s, Mi 5s Plus, Mi 5c, Mi Max 2, Mi Max 32G, Mi Max 64G/128G, Mi 4S, Mi 4c, Mi Note Pro, and Redmi 4X. Then, from late September, MIUI 9 China Developer ROM for all other Xiaomi Mi and Redmi models, except Mi 1/1S and Mi 2A, will be released in undisclosed batches. Do note that this Developer ROM is the China ROM of MIUI 9 and not the Global ROM. Xiaomi is yet to disclose exactly when the Global ROM will start rolling.

(source)

Gizmochina Giveaway – Win A Free Leagoo Kiicaa Power phone

By

Shine Wong

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Jul 26, 2017

Gizmochina along with Leagoo is conducting a Legaoo Kiicaa Power phone as Giveaway gift to one of our lucky readers. Like always, you just have to follow the steps mentioned on the Gleam widget to get a chance to win this amazing phone.

Here is the main features of Leagoo Kiicaa Power:

5 inch HD screen, 2GB RAM, 16GB ROM
4000mAh huge battery
0.3s fast rear fingerprint sensor
8MP rear dual-camera

Now you can save $10 to purchase this budget killer on Aliexpress at only $59.99, please click here

Buy Leagoo Kiicaa Power on Aliexpress

How to entry this giveaway? Just follow these steps via Gleam widget:

Visit Leagoo’s Facebook and Twitter, follow them;
Share this article to your Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or other social media;

Terms & Conditions:

1. The giveaway is an international giveaway.
2. We are not responsible for lost shipments.
3. We are not responsible for any duties, import taxes that you may incur.
4. We reserve all rights to make any changes to this giveaway.
5. The prize will be shipped in a week when the giveaway end.

Just follow the steps mentioned in the Gleam widget to participate in the giveaway.

Once again, good luck.

Gizmochina Giveaway – Win A Leagoo Kiicaa Power phone

Meizu Pro 7 And Meizu Pro 7 Plus Now Official: Dual Cameras, Dual Displays & Fast Charge

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jul 26, 2017

Today has been an exciting one so far. Xiaomi unveiled its new phone, the Mi 5X; the latest version of its custom OS, MIUI 9; and its smart speaker, the Mi AI Speaker. A few hours later, it is Meizu’s turn and they have launched their latest flagship phones, the Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus.

The biggest feature of the new phones are the secondary displays. Measuring 1.9-inches on both phones and positioned on the rear, it’s a whole new take on dual display technology.

Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus Design

Meizu has partnered with American design company, Frog Design, and they are calling the result of their partnership an Omni-Dimensional Design. Unlike other manufacturers that have adopted glass as their material of choice, Meizu has settled for metal with a brush finish at the back.

Meizu has never been one to shy away from bright colors and the Pro 7 is an example. It comes in bright red alongside the usual black and gold.

Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus Cameras

This is Meizu’s first dual camera phone and just like Motorola did with the Moto Z2 Force announced yesterday, the Pro 7 (and 7 Plus) have adopted the monochrome + RGB configuration. The sensors are 12MP Sony IMX386 with an f/2.0 aperture size. The result of this configuration is better night shots.

Up front sits a 16MP sensor for selfies though you can also use the rear cameras for selfies since there is a display at the back. Just swipe down and you enter the camera mode.

Meizu Pro 7 and Pro7 Plus Specs

The Pro 7 has a 5.2-inch Super AMOLED display while the Pro 7 Plus is 5.7-inches. The secondary display is Super AMOLED too. Powering the Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus is Mediatek’s Helio X2 and Helio X30 processors.

There are two models of the Pro 7: one has 4GB of RAM and 64GB eMMC 5.1 storage and is powered by the Helio P25, while the other has 4GB RAM, 128GB of storage and a Helio X30 SoC.

The Pro 7 Plus gets 6GB of RAM with either 64GB or 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage and both versions are powered by the Helio X30.

Meizu says the Pro 7 is good for gaming and you do not have to worry about overheating. Tests show that the temperature stays at 34.6°C when playing Asphalt 8 and 40.4°C while playing NBA 2K17.

The differences don’t end there. The smaller Pro 7 has a 3000mAh battery with mCharge 3.0 and the Pro7 Plus gets a 3500mAh battery with mCharge 4.0. mCharge 4.0 charges your phone at 5V 5A (25W), taking it from 0 to 67% in just 30 minutes. It seems we might have a new fast charging champion.

There is a dedicated audio chip in each phone to make sure that your audio is crystal clear. Both phones run Flyme 6 based on Android 7.0 out of the box.

Continue

Xiaomi Mi 6 Silver Edition Goes On Sale On August 3: Only 100 Units Available

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jul 26, 2017

Xiaomi announced two new products and its latest MIUI 9 ROM at its Beijing news conference earlier today with all products holding some form of interesting features. The MIUI 9 brings a refreshed look and some innovative features like the Picture-In-Picture and split-screen features, while the Mi 5X comes with a “flagship killer” design and price tag. On its part, the Mi AI Speaker ushers in a whole new era of artificial intelligence from China’s Apple.

As a parting shot, Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun disclosed a cheering news that the company would finally be releasing the silver variant of its Mi 6 flagship on August 3. The Xiaomi Mi 6 Silver edition is equipped with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage and would carry a lofty price tag of 3,999 Yuan (~$592), a thousand yuan higher than its black coloured contemporary. Quite sadly, Lei Jun did reveal that only 100 units of the model would be up for grabs on August 3. This is attributed to the low yield of the production process.

The Xiaomi Mi 6 Silver Edition comes with a special design which like the others is made of stainless steel but its own glass covering is a special ultra-reflective mirror finish. The Silver edition is said to come with a different feel from the other variants. The body is electroplated using a special electroplating process which is done in a vacuum chamber as just one speck of dust during the process renders the entire batch useless. As a matter of fact, Lei Jun says the yield is just 6%. Mind you, fragility may likely be another issue that users will have to contend with. Chances are that this variant won’t be available in large quantity soon and Xiaomi may likely jettison the cumbersome production process after a while and move on to other things.

Google’s VP May Have Finally Revealed Android O’s Real Name

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jul 26, 2017

Google‘s upcoming Android version which is known by the code-name Android O is expected to be officially launched in the third quarter of the year which means it will drop any moment from now. But the actual name of Android O still remains a controversy that has persisted for a while now. The meaning has hovered between Oatmeal Cookies and Oreo for a long time now but Google’s VP Hiroshi Lockheimer seems to have hinted at another name entirely for the new Android version.

The Google senior VP who oversees Platforms and Ecosystem, including Android, shared a photo on Twitter which seems to suggest that the O on Android O may stand for Orangina. The photo contains a number of names including Onion and olive but Orangina is very much prominent than the others and is really the only sweet thing on the list. In case you don’t know, Orangina is a sweet carbonated orange drink found in France. The Google Exec didn’t disclose any thing else so we can’t be so sure about this. But if it eventually turns out to be true, this will be the first time Google’s naming convention would deviate from desserts and candies in the naming of Android. However, Oreo seems likely to be the name of the new Android OS, as the same VP had teased Oreo in the past. Google recently teamed up with Oreo to launched an Oreo minigame and also recently, Oreo cookies were laid out for the press at this year’s Google I/O event.

🇫🇷 #nocomment pic.twitter.com/N23o1vblsA

— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) July 25, 2017

Google has already confirmed that Android O will be available for AOSP and ecosystem releases in the third quarter of this year after the Fourth and final Developer Preview has rolled out. Although there is no specific release date yet, a number of sources are pointing to a release in August this year. Android 8.0 is expected to come with a number of new features, including support for picture-in-picture, application badges, notification dots, support for automatic filling, higher text selection, a substantial improvement of the notification system. There are also some changes seen in the Developer Preview already, such a new media notification, new icon and clock.

(source)

Xiaomi Enters The Smart Speaker Race With The Mi AI Speaker

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jul 26, 2017

Xiaomi is starting to make it an habit to launch one product no one knew off before hand at its event. Last year, it pulled off the stunt with the announcement of the Mi MIX at the Mi Note 2’s launch event. Today it announced the Mi AI Speaker, at the launch of MIUI 9 and the Xiaomi Mi 5X.

It was only a matter of time before Xiaomi joined the growing list of manufacturers with a smart speaker. Xiaomi is not new to speakers as it has a number of internet connected speakers.

Mi AI Speaker Design

If you think the Mi AI Speaker looks like a small Mi Air Purifier 2, you won’t be chastised. The speaker does look a lot like the purifier with its rounded corners and speaker grille. There is a multi-color LED ring at the top that lights up when the speaker is on. You also have the controls sitting within the LED ring.

MI AI Speaker Functions

The Mi AI Speaker is designed to work with every member of the family irrespective of age. It will wake you up in the morning, read off your schedule to you, take notes, tell you about the weather and read your pre-configured news broadcast.

The interesting function of the Mi AI Speaker is its ability to control other Mi Home devices such as the Mi Kettle, smart plugs, lamps, and rice cooker to name a few. It will even call up the Mi Robot Vacuum when you leave the house to clean up after you and turn on the Xiaoyi security camera(s). If you have been stalling on buying Xiaomi’s smart home products, this may be the push you need.

You can have regular conversations with it, ask it questions, and even have it serve as a tutor for your kids.

Mi AI Speaker Specifications

The speaker has 6 omni-directional microphones at the top that pick up sounds up to 16 meters away. There are three speakers in all. One is a 360° speaker at the base and there are a speaker on two of the four sides. You can connect to the speaker via Bluetooth, DLNA, or WiFi.

There is also a skill center that allows third party functions to be added by developers, letting your speaker learn new tricks.

Continue

Xiaomi Mi 5X Official: Mi 6 Dual Cameras, SD625, Priced At 1,499 Yuan ($220)

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jul 26, 2017

Xiaomi has officially launched the Mi 5X with a top notch design, decent specs line up and as an icing on the cake, the device comes with a pocket-friendly price tag. The Xiaomi Mi 5X was launched along with MIUI 9 at the event today.

Design & Specification – Xiaomi Mi 5X

The Xiaomi Mi 5X has a dual camera setup at the rear which is similar in configuration to that of the Mi 6, a 12MP main sensor paired with a 12MP telephoto lens. We really can’t say if the camera will be as powerful as that of the Mi 6 as the Mi 5X comes with a less powerful Snapdragon 625 instead of SD835 on the Mi 6. But the camera also features a similar 2X lossless zoom and a Portrait mode which were all available in the Mi 6. Thus, we can safely say Xiaomi installed same camera sensors as the Xiaomi Mi 6 on this cheap model.

The device features a metal unibody with well-chamfered edges and fused antenna band design at the top and bottom edges. As far as other specifications go, the Xiaomi Mi 5X is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor backed by 4GB of RAM while there is 64GB of storage onboard. The mid-range device sports a 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080pixels. There is an average 3,080mAh battery crammed inside for long operational duration and standby time. The Mi 5X runs on Xiaomi’s latest MIUI 9 which was launched in the same event, making it the first Xiaomi model to run MIUI 9 out of the box. There is also a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor on the Mi 5X and an improved audio system.

Pricing & Availability

Talking about the price, the Mi 5X will be sold for just 1,499 Yuan (~$220) and buyers will have the option of choosing from a Black, Gold and Rose Pink color variants. The device will go on sale in China in the coming weeks and with the price tag and design, this will be one hot-selling product.

Xiaomi seems to be trying hard to grab sales right off OPPO and Vivo in the mid-range segment with this new model but it has to make enough stocks available. Don’t expect this to roll out outside China soon but if it does, India will likely be its first port of call. As regards to when that will happen, we can’t say.

MIUI 9 Is Now Official: Brings New UI, Split-Screen Multitasking,

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jul 26, 2017

Xiaomi kicked off today’s event with the official launch of MIUI 9, the latest version of its custom ROM. Before the announcement, Xiaomi took the time to list off the achievements of the ROM.

MIUI 9 has been in the making for about a year now and now it is finally official. A majority of the new features are system optimizations which should result in a smoother experience, though there are also some visual changes. Lets run through some of the key ones.

System Optimization

Xiaomi has worked hard on making MIUI 9 as smooth as possible when it comes to performance. MIUI will never be stock android but that doesn’t men it can’t be optimized to be equally fast and responsive even with its advanced customization features.

App launch has been improved by the addition of Dynamic Resource Allocation. What this does is use critical thinking to give your favorite apps priority when it comes to CPU allocation. This way your most used apps open up faster.

Haptic feedback has also been improved and there is an automatic cleaning process

Smart Assistant

MIUI 9 comes with a smart assistant that lets you search for almost anything within your device. If you are looking for that text from a particular day or picture from a particular event on your phone, the assistant is your best help at finding it fast. All you need is a bit of information such as the date, location, and even expression when it comes to images.

Smart App Launcher

This uses an algorithm to suggest apps based on what’s on your screen. So don’t be surprised if you get suggestions to bring up the maps app or ride booking app when you are talking about going out.

Continue

Apple May Soon Get Delisted from China’s Top 5 Smartphone Brands

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 26, 2017

When Apple iPhones arrived in China, the company started reigning on the number one spot and it remained like that for few years.

However, in 2016, iPhone lost the title of best-selling smartphone in China for the first time and the Cupertino company seems to continue its poor streak this year.

A recent market analysis by Canalys for the second quarter of 2017 has revealed that Apple is sitting on the fifth position in the Chinese smartphone market.

Here are the top 4 smartphone brands in China ranked by Canalys based on the number of phones they shipped:

Huawei: 23 million
OPPO: 21 million
Vivo: 16 million
Xiaomi: 15 million

Xiaomi has taken the fourth position and pushed Apple to the fifth spot. Samsung and Meizu are other popular brands that are present in the top 10 list of smartphone vendor in China. The top four brands constitute around 75 percent of 113 million smartphone shipments in the country.

Apple’s iPhone sales have declined by 14 percent year over year in the last quarter. By this rate, Apple is at risk of losing its fifth position in the Chinese market.

Apple is expected to see high profits margins in the last quarter of this year because of the highly anticipated the 10^th anniversary iPhone dubbed as iPhone 8.

Apple’s sales are expected to grow to $9.96 billion in the last quarter and iPhone 8 can possibly turn Apple into a trillion-dollar company. The iPhone 8 is expected to revamp the influence of the Apple brand in China.

Recent information has revealed that the Cupertino company has started the trial production of the rumored iPhone 7S, iPhone 7S Plus and iPhone 8.

Information coming from Zhengzhou Foxconn unit reveals that it is manufacturing around 200 units of upcoming iPhones on daily basis. It means the mass production of 2017 iPhones have not started yet.

The company is expected to increase the production by manufacturing hundreds of thousands of 2017 iPhones on daily basis in the coming weeks. Recent rumors had claimed that the production of iPhone 8 had been delayed, but newer information suggests that the production of iPhone 8 is well on track. However, Apple may produce lesser units of the iPhone 8 at launch.

(source)

LG’s Plastic OLED to Appear on More Smartphones in Near Future; Is LG G Flex 3 Arriving?

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 26, 2017

LG did not release LG G Flex 3 after launching the LG G Flex 2 in 2014. The LG G Flex smartphones sported a curved display. The display was not curved on the sides unlike recent curved edge smartphones. However, it was curved at the top and bottom. The unique appeal that the LG G Flex series phones sported was because they were fitted with Plastic OLED (POLED) display panel. Fresh information suggests that we could more smartphones with POLED screens in the near future.

As the name goes, POLED screens have a plastic substrate instead of glass that is found in conventional OLED panels. One of the advantages of POLED panels is that since plastic is thinner in nature, it is more flexible compared to glass. However, there are not many smartphones after the LG G Flex phones that have made used of POLED panels. The other benefit of having POLED screen is that it is highly durable and can absorb more shock compared to glass OLED. So, the risk of cracking the POLED screen is very low.

POLED may soon appear on numerous smartphones in the near future because LG Display is heavily investing in additional production facilities that will be ready in the next two years. The recent earning report from LG Display reveals that it has increased monthly production of POLED by 30,000 input sheets. With its 6^th generation line coming up in Gumi by third quarter of 2017 and in Paju by second half of 2018, LG Display would be able to produce a total of 65,000 input sheets per month. LG Display aims to produce a total of 120 million 6-inch POLED panels annually.

Since there is less demand for POLED panels with the clients and less number of production facilities at present, LG Display has held back its sales even though it is ready with enough stock to take on rivaling products that are available in the market. LG Display has already invested 7.8 trillion KRW and it is investing 5 trillion KRW in its 6^th generation line in Paju. LG Display is making such huge investments in order to meet the expected market demand of 120 million POLED panels by next year and 370 million panels by 2020.

The LG G Flex phones did not receive good reception from the consumers probably because of the low display resolution. At that time, when other smartphones sported full HD resolution screens, the original LG G Flex’s screen produced HD resolution. When the LG Flex 2 came with a full HD screen, other flagships arrived with Quad HD screens. According to Android Authority, the prototype of a smartwatch and a smartphone with POLED screen appear like edge display technology from Samsung and carry support for full HD and Quad HD resolutions which shows that LG Display is able to manufacturer higher resolution plastic OLED panels without any problem.

LG Electronics will surely make use of POLED panels on future LG phones and Apple and Google are also expected to place huge orders for it with LG Display soon. There is a possibility that LG may resurrect the LG G Flex series by launching the POLED screen enabled LG G Flex 3 in the near future. Apart from smartphones and smartwatches, LG Display may also make its way in automotive industry in various departments ranging from dashboards to infotainment systems.

(source)

Xiaomi To Release A New Product Alongside Mi 5X & MIUI 9 Today

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jul 26, 2017

It is now very clear that Xiaomi will be launching the MIUI 9 along with the Mi 5X in only a matter of hours. What has also become certain is that the Chinese tech giant will be launching a new product from the Xiaomi Exploratory laboratory (Mi Lab) during the event.

Today, the Xiaomi Mi Lab Weibo page became busy with activity, teasing the launch event and what is likely a new product under the brand. The product wasn’t revealed but Xiaomi’s MI VR general manager took to Weibo to inform about the launch of a new product. The Xiaomi exec gave the idea that the product will be announced in the same iconic manner as Steve Jobs used to announce the last product during his Apple days using the “One More Thing” mantra. From the comments on his post, the product is likely a Smart Speaker just as we hinted.

If this is a Smart speaker, then we can also expect new Artificial Intelligent technology (AI) from Xiaomi. We don’t know the features of the Smart speaker but it is tipped as similar to Amazon’s Echo and other intelligent Voice assistants.

(source)

OnePlus 5 911 Rebooting Issue: OnePlus Reveals What Caused the Issue

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 26, 2017

In the previous week, several owners of OnePlus 5 claimed that the smartphone automatically rebooting when they tried dialing emergency number like 911 in the U.S. or 999 in the U.K. All OnePlus 5 users did not complaint about facing the same problem, but many users were issue. Some even managed to capture the issue on a video. The issue has been resolved through a software update that was released last Friday.

It appeared like a serious problem as it prevented them from making calls to emergency numbers. OnePlus has now released an official statement on its forums to revealed what caused the issue and how it managed to fix it by working with Qualcomm.

According to OnePlus 5, the issue cropped up when users tried calling emergency numbers through Voice over LTE (VoLTE) which triggered OTDOA (Observed Time Difference of Arrival) protocol. The OTDOA connects with network signal towers and measures the time required for an LTE signal to reach a cellular tower. This allows the it to find out the exact location of the phone which is very important for the cops or other officials of that nature to find out the exact location of the caller. It only works when the emergency number is compatible with this system.

According to OnePlus, the rebooting issue while calling emergency numbers occurred randomly for users on VoLTE. The issue happened because of the problem with memory usage that was trigged from receiving and sending of OTDOA data. It meant that the problem was associated with the software as well as how it communicated with the cellular modem of the OnePlus 5.

As mentioned before, all the OnePlus 5 units were not affected by this problem. The reason behind it is that all the users do not make use of VoLTE to make phone calls and also not all the emergency numbers carry support for OTDOA. Since the issue was associated with the modem, OnePlus worked with Qualcomm to develop a software patch and it was quick enough to resolve the issue by releasing OxygenOS 4.5.6 and it seems to be in the process of reaching the global users of OnePlus 5. The size of the hotfix is 32 MB and its description reads: Fixed reboot caused by dialing 911 on certain OnePlus 5 units.

Have you faced this issue? Did you receive the software update that resolves the problem? Do let us know by adding your comments below.

(source)

Nokia 2 Leaked Renders and Geekbench Listing Appear

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 26, 2017

In February, Nokia had released smartphones like Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 and soon it will launch it will be introducing its second batch of smartphones. Speculations have it that the forthcoming smartphones of Nokia are Nokia 8, Nokia 7 and Nokia 2. HMD Global has already confirmed that it would be debuting the Nokia 8 flagship phone on Aug. 16. It seems that the arrival of the Nokia 2 entry-level phone is approaching fast as its leaked render has appeared and it has been also spotted on Geekbench benchmarking site.

In the past week, an image showing the frontside of the Nokia 2 placed alongside a drawing of Nokia 3 had appeared. It revealed that the shape and size of the smartphone is quite similar to the Nokia 3 phon. This suggested that the Nokia 2 would be featuring a 5-inch HD screen with on-screen buttons. Today, a new image of the Nokia 2 has appeared to reveal its frontside as well as backside of a light-blue colored variant

The Nokia 2 has rounded corners. Its bezels surrounding the display are thick. The top bezel has a selfie camera, an earpiece and a Nokia logo. The volume rocker and the Power key are placed on the right side of the phone. It seems that the handset is running on Android Nougat. There is no physical Home button below the display. The backside of the phone has single camera with its LED flash below it. A Nokia logo is placed at the center and an external speaker can be seen sitting at the bottom-left of the back panel. The image does not reveal the connectivity ports of the phone. However, it seems that it will be featuring a 3.5mm audio jack and a microUSB port.

The Nokia 2 handset has allegedly appeared as Unknown Heart phone on Geekbench to reveal some of its key specs. It confirms that the smartphone is running on Android 7.1.1 Nougat. It is powered by a quad-core processor that clocks at 1.27 GHz which is coupled with 1 GB of RAM. The processor that is powering the Nokia 2 is speculated as Snapdragon 212. It has recorded a single-core score of 422 and a multi-core score of 1146. Rumors have revealed that some regions will be receiving Nokia 2 fueled with Snapdragon 212 whereas other regions will be getting MediaTek driven variant of the phone.

(source)

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

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jul 25, 2017

Motorola finally takes off the wraps on its latest flagship, the Moto Z2 Force. For starters, this is the successor to both the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force. So don’t expect a separate Moto Z2.

We have seen tons of images ahead of the official launch and by now we should all be familiar with the Moto Z2 Force. There have been slight modifications with respect to the design, but the overall look remains largely unchanged.

Moto Z2 Force Design: Keeping It Simple

The biggest changes in the overall design are at the back. Unlike the first gen model that has a glass back that doubles as a fingerprint magnet, the Moto Z2 Force ditches it for brushed metal.

Running around the metal back like a border line are the antenna lines in a lighter shade of black/ash. The Moto Mod connector pins have gotten a redesign too but they still work with the older mods.

The camera bump is still there but it now holds two sensors and dual LEDs for flash. The whole setup sort of looks like the face of a Rabbid.

The changes in the front are minimal. There is a redesigned home key/fingerprint scanner and the position and design of the LED flash has been changed.

Moto Z2 Force Specs

The Moto 2 Force has a 5.5-inch 2K POLED display with Shattershield protection. There is 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and the Snapdragon 835 mobile platform. That memory configuration is for the US.

The rest of the world gets 6GB RAM and 64GB of storage while China gets 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage. All variants will have microSD card slots.

Depending on the market, you either get a single SIM slot or dual SIM slots but irrespective, it will be nano. There is dual band WiFi with MIMO; NFC; and Bluetooth 4.2 which Motorola says will become 5.0 after the Android O update and a whole bunch of sensors including an audio monitor.

The Moto Z2 Force doesn’t have an audio jack but you get a 3.5mm to USB type-C adapter.

Just like the Moto Z2 Play, the Moto Z2 Force also ditches its bigger 3500mAh battery in favor of a smaller 2730mAh one. The only plausible explanation behind this is to get you to buy the Moto Mod battery pack according to Evan Blass.

The Moto Z2 Force runs Android 7.1.1out of the box and comes with Motorola’s additional features like voice control and Moto gestures.

Moto Z2 Force Cameras: Mono + Color

Motorola has adopted the mocochrome + color format for the dual cameras on the Z2 Force. Both sensors are 12MP Sony IMX386 cameras with a f/2.0 aperture and a 1.25um pixel size.

There is laser autofocus, zero shutter lag and depth detection. You can take images with the depth of field effect or modify the “image background or foreground to black and white, while keeping the main subject in color mode”.

The front camera is a 5MP f/2.2 sensor with its own flash and pro mode.

Moto Mods

Motorola also officially showed off the Moto 360 Camera mod. The 360 cam mod shoots in 4K with immersive audio. It has a 150° field of view and you can use it to live stream directly to your social media accounts. It has a price tag of $299.99.

Moto Z2 Force Pricing, Colors, and Availability

The Moto Z2 Force will be available in Super Black, Fine Gold and Lunar Grey. All carriers in the US will have it but the grey model is a T-Mobile exclusive. It will also be sold by Motorola itself and Best Buy.

Price starts at $720 and it will go on sale on August 10 with a free Insta-Share Projector Moto Mod. Pre-orders begin today.

The Moto Z2 Force will also be launched in Brazil, Mexico, China, Europe, Middle East and Africa in coming weeks.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0moMnChM6Ds[/embedyt]

Alleged Exynos 9610-Powered Samsung Model Spotted On GFXBench

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jul 25, 2017

Samsung is very much focused on the mid-range segment in addition to its flagship Galaxy S and Note series. The company was recently rumoured as working on a mid-range Exynos 9610 processor which would take on the Snapdragon 660 chip. The Samsung Galaxy A-series is tipped to feature the chip first.

Right now, a GFXBench test result screenshot alleged to be that of the Exynos 9610 chip has leaked via Weibo. The benchmark result is listed for a Samsung device with model number SM-A730x which is believed to be the Galaxy A7 (2018). The device is listed to feature a 2.1GHz processor with Cortex-A53 core and Mali-G71 GPU which is consistent with those of the Exynos 9610, well except the GPU. Configuration wise, the Exynos 9610 is said to be manufactured using the 14nm LPP process and integrates the entire network baseband. The chip is made up of four Cortex -A73 cores and eight Cortex-A53 cores. The Exynos 9610 is also said to feature a Mali-G72 MP3 GPU which looks like a Nvidia GPU.

The smartphone on which it is featured, that is the SM-A730x model comes with Android 7.1.1 Nougat with a Full HD display resolution. The device also packs 4GB of RAm and 32Gb of storage as well as 16MP cameras both at the front and rear. We really can’t be certain if this is the Exynos 9610 so, we’ll still have to wait for more details on it.

(source, via)