Advertisement

Vivo V5S with 20MP SONY IMX376 Selfie Camera Launched

Vivo has announced a new smartphone in its V-series.  The device dubbed V5S, the company surprisingly went official with this one outside China, specifically in India. The Vivo V5S comes with its own spectacular feature and that is a large pixel selfie camera.

Vivo v5s

Vivo V5S Design & Specifications

On the design aspect,  the Vivo V5s adorns a metal body whose design isn’t very different from previous Vivo models.   The device also packs a front-facing fingerprint sensor which is embedded under the front physical home button, while its rear camera is tilted towards the left corner of the device. It utilises a fused antenna band design with the antenna line running through the edges at the top and bottom end.

Specs wise,  the V5s sports a 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels with a 2.5D curved glass as well as Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection on top the display. You get a MediaTek MT6750 64-bt Octa-core chipset providing the firepower while the graphic is powered by a Mali T860 GPU. The processor is backed by 4GB of RAM while there is a 64GB storage on the device which is expandable. On the camera end, the V5S packs a 13MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture, LED flash and PDAF. Here comes the big one, the Vivo V5S features a massive 20MP Sony IMX376 sensor for selfies up front with f/2.0 aperture and 5P lens. Although there is no front flash, it’ll be interesting to see how that selfie camera performs.

Going further, the smartphone runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow from the beginning with the company’s Funtouch OS 3.0 skin hovering on top. The light is kept on by a 3000mAh battery and you also get a custom AK4376 Hi-Fi audio chip as part o the offering.

vivo v5s

Pricing & Availability – Vivo V5S

 The V5S will be available in Matte Black and Crown Gold colours and carries a steep price tag of Rs. 18,990 in India (around 2000 Yuan, $296). The device will be available for purchase as from May 6 when the Matte Black variant will go on sale. The Crown Gold variant will be up for grabs as from May 20.

Xiaomi Postpones Release of Mi 6 Ceramic Edition to May

The Xiaomi Mi 6 was announced last week and is scheduled to go on sale tomorrow. Launched in blue, black, silver and a special ceramic edition, pricing starts at ¥2499 ($363) and goes up to ¥2999 ($435).

The Mi 6 Ceramic Edition is the most expensive and comes with 128GB of storage and priced at 2999 yuan ($435). It is sad no one will be able to get their hands on one tomorrow. Reports from early this morning say only the jet black variant will be available for purchase.

xiaomi mi 6 ceramic edition

Analyst Pan Jiutang in a Weibo post said that Xiaomi’s plan was to release the ceramic edition tomorrow but issues at their factory has prompted them to postpone it. According to him, the new release date for the ceramic version should be May 10.

READ MORE: Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 To Feature A New Receiver Sound Technology (AAC Actuator)

Gizmochina Giveaway – Win A Free Doogee X10 Phone

doogee x10 giveaway

Gizmochina along with Doogee is conducting a Doogee X10 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.

The Chinese manufacturer DOOGEE(www.doogee.cc) released some news about its coming smartphone recently. It is another high cost-efficient product of DOOGEE. As the world’s first smartphone carrying MT6570 chipset with 3360mAh big battery, it is featuring battery durability with an affordable price about $40. No doubt it is a killer price at middle range smartphone market.

According to the released information, DOOGEE has made every effort to get extreme power saving performance. Doogee X10 comes with a 3360mAh polymer battery, which has 16 days of standby time and 20 hours of talk time, enough for daily use. It is rare to have such a big battery coming with 5.0 inch display like Doogee X10 is, so there should be some improvements in battery dimension and industrial design in Doogee X10.

Apart from battery life, the processor carried by Doogee X10 is power-saving. As a jointly launched product by DOOGEE and MediaTek, Doogee X10 will be the first smartphone housing the MT6570 SoC. The chipset has dual cores based on the Cortex A7 architecture to reduce energy consumption, and improved by 20% in power saving than its predecessor.

More info about Doogee X10, please visit this official video:

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 ship when it is available to purchase.

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

Once again, happy new year everyone and good luck.

Win A Free Doogee X10 Phone

Doogee Explains Why They Settled for The Helio P25 in The Doogee MIX

The DOOGEE MIX is a tri-bezel-less smartphone that needs no introduction. The reason is simple. A glance at it and you know it is DOOGEE’s take on the Xiaomi Mi MIX. From the name to the design save for some new additions, the DOOGEE MIX can be summed up as a smaller sibling of the Mi MIX.

Doogee MIX

Doogee’s new smartphone has a lot going for it. It has a 5.5-inch display so its a lot smaller than the Mi MIX. There are also dual cameras on the rear and its $200 price tag is about a third of the price of the Mi MIX. It will also be the first phone to sport the new Helio P25 processor.

The use of the Helio P25 is a decision that was carefully thought of and a press release from Doogee explains the reason why they settled for the chip.

Helio P20 vs Helio P25

Dual Cameras

The Helio P25 was released as a successor to the Helio P20. It’s major upgrades are its higher clock speed and 12-bit Dual ISP specially designed for dual camera phones. The latter is the reason why the Doogee MIX has two 13MP rear cameras.

The rear cameras on the Doogee MIX work in the Monochrome + RGB format allowing more light in when taking pictures. It also has a bokeh effect preview that can be adjusted in real time. The Dual Image Signal Processor gives the Doogee MIX a faster shutter speed and better HDR images.

READ MORE: Helio P20 vs Helio P25: What are The Differences

Meizu’s New Hi Case Comes With A Glowing Logo Like Apple’s Macbook

Meizu finally revealed its new family member, Meizu E2, yesterday in China featuring four straight-lined unique LEDs that can alternate cool and warm colors, making it the first to debut a smartphone with such a LED flash arrangement.

Coming together with the phone is this innovative case named Hi Case that works perfectly with the rear flashlight with 15 styles of custom flashlight effects, covering WeChat message, red packets, phone calls, messages, etc. The cool and warm colors of the flashlight can be demonstrated in any flashing effects as you like, to notify you different types of incoming information.

meizu logo glow hi case

What makes it more standout is the Meizu logo on the back of this Hi Case that can shine like the Apple logo on MacBook. Making phone calls wearing such a case will be definitely eye catching.

READ MORE: Meizu E2 Now Official: Four LED Flash, Helio P20, Hi Case & Special Transformers Edition

Made of high-quality PU material and available in light green, red, and sky blue, this Hi Case can be purchased at 79Yuan (~ $11.5) on Meizu’s official website.

Hi Case for Meizu E2

 

 

Huawei Tablet with 8-inch Display, Android 7 Appears on TENAA, Mediapad M4?

A new Huawei tablet has been certified by China’s Telecoms regulatory agency TENAA. The tablet bears the model number Huawei BZK-L00 and comes with a somewhat low-end specs lineup.

huawei tablet tenaa

Among the listed specifications of the Huawei tablet is an 8-inch TFT display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The body of the tablet device is said to be made of metal and would come in Moonlight Silver, Sky Gray and Gold colours. The tablet is also listed as packing a large 4,650mAh battery but despite the battery size, the device is just 7.95mm thick

huawei tablet

Further, the Huawei tablet is powered by an unspecified 1.4GHz Quad-core processor backed by 3GB RAM and the device also feature a 32GB storage expandable up to 128GB via microSD. On the camera end, there is a 5MP rear camera as well as a miserable 2MP front camera on the device. The tablet runs Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box and comes with a wide range of network bands including TD-LTE / LTE FDD / TD-SCDMA / WCDMA / GSM.

huawei tablet tenaa

Read More: Huawei MediaPad T3, M3 Lite Specifications, Pricing Leaked

This is the first tablet that is appearing on TENAA since the Mediapad M3 was unveiled at IFA Berlin 2016. The Huawei Mediapad M3 was a high-end tablet powered by a Kirin 950 chip, so there is nothing to suggest this could be the next generation Mediapad M4. Instead, this could be the Mediapad M3 Lite or T3 whose prices leaked recently or any other budget tablet which should launch any time from now.

(source)

Xiaomi’s 78th Crowdfunding Product – Weloop Hey 3S Smartwatch Launched

Xiaomi has got a new smartwatch product under its wing, specifically under the MIJIA platform. The new product doesn’t actually carry Xiaomi’s brand name but we do know it meets the tech giant’s standard. The product is the Weloop Hey 3S smartwatch. When the launch was being teased, some had thought it was the Mi Band 3 but it wasn’t. This is, in fact, from Chinese smart wearable manufacturer, Weloop who already has a range of smartwatch and wearables under its kitty. Launching the Hey 3S under the MIJIA crowdfunding platform shows it is eyeing selling to a bigger market, using Xiaomi’s solid platform as a springboard.

weloop hey 3s smartwatch

 

The main attraction of the Weloop Hey 3S is its ultra-light, beautiful design such that you may even forget there is a watch on your wrist. It weighs just 38g and also packs a very powerful battery which is touted as capable of delivering up to 30 days life. It comes with a magnetic charging interface.

In addition, the Weloop smartwatch comes with a tracking feature that is capable of tracking the heart rate, pulse, and during jogging, it can track your pace and laps covered as well as other parameters. On the hardware, the device comes with a 1.28-inch LCD display, GPS + GLONASS binary positioning. The smartwatch also lets users instal a customized watch dial and comes with a multifunctional strap.  That’s not all, there is a built-in function which allows the device record such features as mileage covered during bike riding, speed and the heart rate during the riding activity.It also helps owners analyse the intensity of the training exercise.

Weloop Hey 3S

The Hey 3S is a smart watch, at such, it come with Bluetooth 4.2 through which the wearable device is connected to a smartphone where the data collected can be rad via an app. Not to forget, there is sleep monitoring function, calendar reminders, daily records, message alert and yes, it comes with music control and lots more. The device is also waterproof, supporting up to 50meters water depth and can be used for swimming, diving and during other water sports.

Weloop Hey 3S

Read More: MIJIA’s Upcoming Product is a Third Party Smartband & Not Mi Band 3

 

 

 

The Weloop Hey 3S comes with a price tag of 539 Yuan ($78) which is just okay for a smartwatch with so many functions. The gadget is already available on Xiaomi’s crowdfunding platform, Mi home.

Weloop Hey 3S

Confirmed: First Batch Of Xiaomi Mi 6 For Sale Tomorrow, Only Available In Jet Black

Xiaomi Mi 6 is officially open for sale tomorrow, but with only jet black variant available.
Being the first Snapdragon 835 powered phone from a Chinese manufacturer, its launch on April 19 revealed that the phone will come with five color variants to meet various Mi fans’ needs. However, a newly released poster on Xiaomi’s Weibo account this morning confirms that Xiaomi Mi 6 will be only available in jet black on sale tomorrow, different from the previously claimed ceramic black. It comes at options of 6GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB, and at the prices of 2,499 Yuan (~$363) and 2,899 Yuan (~$421) respectively.

 

Mi 6 For Sale

 

This means it will be extremely hard to get hold of a Mi 6 tomorrow. What makes this worse is the previous rumors saying there would be only a total of 80,000 units available online for the sales tomorrow. So don’t keep your hopes too high for the first flash sale.

(Source)

Ivvi F2, A 399 Yuan ($58) Smartphone with VoLTE Support Launched

Chinese phone maker Ivvi, has officially announced a new model, the Ivvi F2, that goes for a very cheap price of 399 Yuan (about $58) for its base model. The Ivvi F2 is definitely for persons who don’t bother about the specifications of the smartphone because it is purely a budget device with low-end specs. That doesn’t mean the specs are horrible, they are quite decent and the design doesn’t disappoint either.

 Ivvi F2
Ivvi F2

The Ivvi F2 comes with a simple but attractive design. There is no physical home button and the device comes with a metal body made from aluminum-titanium alloy. This gives the body some toughness and makes it durable, even when it takes a fall. The device has a rear camera ad it is tilted to the left side. It also uses a fused antenna band design.

Read Also: Ivvi K5 Launched: 3D Display, Curved Glass Body, 4GB RAM But No Snapdragon 835 Chip!

Specs wise, the F2 sports a 5.5-inch HD display with 2.5D curved glass on top. It is powered by a 1.3GHz Quad-core processor backed by 1GB of RAM on one model and 2GB of RAM on another model. Both models come with 16GB of storage. The device also comes with support for a wide range of network systems including TD-LTE / FDD-LTE / TD-SCDMA / WCDMA / GSM and surprisingly VoLTE is also available. The Ivvi F2 also has dual SIM / dual Standby functions.

The Ivvi F2 1GB + 16GB version costs 399 Yuan (~$58) while the 2GB + 16GB version is priced at 599 Yuan(~$87).

Xiaomi Mi 5S & Mi 5S Plus Prices Officially Slashed Ahead of Mi 6 First Sale

Xiaomi will be opening up the Mi 6 tomorrow to go on its first flash sale exercise in China and they have disclosed that only the bright black version of the flagship will be available. The Mi 6 Bright Black 64GB variant is offered for 2499 Yuan while the 128GB version goes for 2999 Yuan.

xiaomi mi 5s plus

As we’ve been expecting, Xiaomi has given the Mi 5S and Mi 5S Plus models slight reduction in their prices, ahead of the Mi 6 first sale. Both models have gotten a 150 Yuan reduction in their prices across all variants. Consequently, the Mi 5S is now up for 1,849 Yuan instead of 1999 Yuan while the M5S Plus 4GB + 64GB now costs 2,149 Yuan instead of 2,299Yuan and the 6GB + 128GB version 2449 Yuan, almost at par with the Mi 6 64GB version. This price reduction is only for one day, though, and that is April 28 when the Mi 6 will be on sale.

xiaomi mi 5s

Read More: Hello Mother Russia: Xiaomi Makes Grand Entry to Russia with Three Smartphones

The company is perhaps trying to capitalise on the Mi 6 sales and the huge attention it has attracted, to sell other models. Because nothing else explains the fact that Xiaomi has also made the Mi MIX and Mi Note 2 available for purchase on its online store. This is a good move and could bring some results as the Mi 6 registration on Jingdong alone presently stands at over 1.2 million persons. This should be more than the total units that would go on sale across several platforms tomorrow.While some fans would still want to go through the long wait that they will sure encounter to buy the Mi 6 even after the first flash sale, others might just choose to go for other models. Moreso, the Mi 5S, Mi 5S Plus, Mi Mix and Mi Note 2 are attractive smartphones that would surely make for a good buy.

Xiaomi mi 5s / 5s Plus price cut

 

Moto E4, Moto E4 Plus Release Imminent as Full Specifications, Pricing, Leaked Images Emerge

he Moto E4 and Moto E4 Plus have been in the rumors since quite some time. It appears that Lenovo may unveil these budget smartphones very soon as their full specifications have already appeared. The rumor mill has also leaked the images of Moto E4 Plus

Moto E4, Moto E4 Plus Specifications, Pricing

According to WinFuture, the Moto E4 has a 5-inch IPS LCD screen that produces a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. It features MediaTek MT6737M that includes Cortex A53 quad-core processors working at 1.3 GHz. It is supported by 2 GB of RAM.

it would be coming with an 8-megapixel rear camera. It will be packed with a 2,800 mAh battery. It measures 144.7 x 72.3 x 8.99mm and its weight is 151 grams. The Moto E4 is speculated to be priced at 150 euros ($163). It was recently spotted on Geekbench benchmarks.

On the other side, the Moto E4 Plus will be arriving with a 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen that produces HD resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. This variant will be also fueled by the same MediaTek MT6737M 1.3 GHz quad-core SoC.  It may feature either 2 GB or 3 GB of RAM.

For photography, it would be housing a 13-megapixel rear snapper. It will be a power house device as it is expected to include a massive 5,000 mAh battery. It measures 155 x 72.3 x 9.55mm and it weighs 198 grams. It will be costing 190 euros ($206).

Some of the common specs of Moto E4 and Moto E4 Plus are 16 GB internal storage and support for microSD card, 5-megapixel front-facing camera, support for connectivity options like 4G/LTE, v4.2 Bluetooth, NFC (optional), Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and GPS. Both Moto E4 and E4 Plus are speculated to come with front-mounted fingerprint reader. They will also bear dual-SIM functionality, but there is no confirmation yet on whether there will be a hybrid SIM slot. The Moto E4 duo are rumored to be available in color choices like gold, silver and blue.

Read More: Leaked Moto X (2017) Hands-on Images Shows its Design from Different Angles

Moto E4 Plus Leaked Images

The Moto E4 Plus leaked photos shows that it wears a metal body. Its top bezel is packed with “moto” logo, a speaker, a selfie camera and a front-facing flash. The bottom bezel shows the presence of an oblong-shaped Home button. Another shot shows the live handset reveals that it has thick bezels.

Moto E4 Plus Moto E4 Plus Moto E4 Plus Moto E4 Plus

The rear side of the Moto E4 Plus features a circular-shaped camera module that includes a single camera and LED flash. Below the camera housing, there is a batwing logo from Motorola. The top and bottom antenna lines are also very visible on the rear panel. There is an external speaker present at bottom right side of the back panel. The left side of the E4 Plus is barren, but the right edge features volume rockers and Power button.

(source|via)

 

 

Alleged Gionee S10, S10 Plus Specs Appear on TENAA with Images; Also Gets Listed on GFXBench

In November 2016, Gionee had released the Gionee S9 phone with dual rear cameras. It seems that the Chinese firm is gearing up to launch its successor very soon as not one but two variants, one featuring single rear-facing camera and another with dual rear camera have appeared on TENAA, China’s regulatory body.

The TENAA listing that appeared in the previous week that carry images of Gionee S10 (model number S10B) show presence of twin rear cameras. However, the TENAA listing for Gionee S10 (model number S10C) that has appeared this week shows that it features a single camera. Both phones will be arriving with different specs.  It is likely that these phones may launch as Gionee S10 and Gionee S10 Plus.

Gionee S10C

The TENAA listing for S10C shows that it will be coming with a 5.2-inch full HD screen that offers a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. It will be driven by a quad-core processor working at 1.4 GHz and 4 GB of RAM. Its native storage is 32 GB and it runs on Android 7.1 Nougat OS.

Its rear camera will be of 13-megapxiel and the front will grace a 16-megapixel snapper. It measures 148.7 x 73.7 x 7.9 mm and its weight is 151 grams. It is equipped with a 3,100 mAh battery. Here are the images of Gionee S10C from TENAA listing:

Read More: Gionee M6S Plus Official: 6-inch AMOLED, 6GB RAM, SD 653, Large Battery & More!

Gionee S10B

The S10B found on TENAA seems to be a higher version of S10C and may launch as Gionee S10 Plus. It is packed with a 5.5-inch full HD display. It is driven by a hexa-core processor that delivers a processing speed of 2 GHz. The GFXBench listing suggests that it could be powered by MediaTek MT6755 (Helio P10) chipset. The TENAA listing states that the SoC is accompanied by 4 GB of RAM.

The native storage of Gionee S10B is 64 GB and it is also preloaded with Android 7.1 Nougat OS. It features a pair of 13-megapixel rear camera sensors. On the front, it sports a 16-megapxiel selfie camera. Its dimensions are 154.5 x 76 x 7.6mm and its weight is 176.6 grams. It Is packed with a larger battery of 3,700 mAh capacity.

The Gionee S10B has also appeared on GFXBench. However, there seems to be some error with the listing as this variant is shown with a single camera of 12-megapixel. However, as mentioned above, TENAA listing has shown that the S10B would be coming with dual rear cameras.

(source)

iPhone X Blueprint Leak Reveals Apple A11 CPU, Dual Speakers & Dual Batteries

Apple is preparing to release three iPhones this year, one of which is a special edition to mark the 10th year anniversary of the iPhone’s launch. There are rumors that the special edition iPhone will be called the iPhone X but some say it will be called the iPhone 8. A blueprint showing the internal components of the phone leaked recently and the title says iPhone X. We’ll just have to wait till it launches to confirm if its true.

iPhone X Blueprint

The first thing you’ll notice from the blueprint is the dual rear camera design. Unlike that of the iPhone 7 Plus which lies horizontally, this is positioned vertically but still at the top left corner. Next is Apple’s new generation processor, the A11 chip and the full vision display that extends from the top to the bottom. The new chip will sit below the WiFi and SIM module and should offer an improved performance over the Apple A10 Fusion.

READ MORE: Apple Patents Liquid Metal (Metallic Glass) Back for Device, May Debut in iPhone 8

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Renders: Infinity Display, Thinner Bezels & Quad Cameras

Samsung is working on the Galaxy Note 8 and has even revealed the codename for it. The next stylus-toting phablet is set to launch later this year and there have been rumors surrounding its design. The popular consensus is that the Galaxy Note 8 will just be a bigger Galaxy S8+ with a stylus and a few additions. DBS Designing has put together a video render of their own idea of the Galaxy Note 8, and it is pretty impressive.

Their Galaxy Note 8 Concept sports a 6.4-inch QHD+ infinity display and not a 4K display like most people are expecting. There are practically no bezels on the sides, and the top and bottom ones have been significantly trimmed. Surprisingly, the display doesn’t curve as much as that of the Galaxy S8 at the edges.

Galaxy Note 8 Concept

The cameras are the major upgrades on the Galaxy Note 8 Concept. Even though the bezels are thinner, the top one holds two 13MP sensors, a light sensor and an iris scanner. The back of the phone has also been redesigned. The Note 8 sports 16MP dual rear cameras similar to the design on the Galaxy S8+ prototype that surfaced after the official launch.

DBS has resolved the major issue with the Galaxy S8 and S8+and that is the position of the fingerprint scanner. Instead of flanking the camera on the right, it now sits below the LED flash and laser module which in turn sits below the vertically stacked rear dual cameras. This allows for the scanner to be positioned lower and prevents users from stretching to reach it.

READ MORE: Samsung and Qualcomm Already Working on Snapdragon 845 for Galaxy S9

Get Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 for just $253.97!

Xiaomi is known for producing great budget smartphones but a lot of people have fallen in love with their tablets too. As usual to the company, Xiaomi’s tablets represent a great combination of design and specs in one package. Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 was announced just a few weeks back and it is one of the better options for the price if you are looking for a compact yet premium tablet.

The new Xiaomi tablet comes with all the goodies that you would expect in a device in 2017. You have a large 7.9-inch 2K display up front along with a capable 6600mAh battery to power the device all day.

In fact, Xiaomi claims that the tablet can playback videos for up to 12 hours on a single charge. We’ll confirm that soon. Inside, you have the less popular MTK MT8176 hexa-core processor sporting 2 x Cortex A72 cores + 4 x Cortex A53 cores inside.

You can now get the Mi Pad 3 for just $253.97 from lightinthebox.com, which sounds like a pretty good deal.

Lei Jun, Xiaomi CEO and Billionaire Hero Gets Honored

Not all heroes wear capes and that rings true for Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun. The founder of the Chinese tech company which has a fan base that spreads across the globe is one of China’s billionaires. Last year, Forbes put his net worth at $9.8 billion.

So how does the 47-year old entrepreneur who also doubles as the Chairman of UCWeb Inc. spend his wealth? Is he building a suit of armor or does he don a cape and goes into the night fighting crime? We actually wish he was doing any of the two. However, after reading what he has been up to, we guess he can still be tagged a hero.

Xiaomi Founder Lei Jun

Today, Mr.Lei Jun was recognized as one of China’s Top 10 Philanthropists. He was applauded for his service to humanity at the 14th China Charity List Award and the sum of his recorded donations was put at $1 billion.

His act of philanthropy started with his alma matter, Wuhan University where he finished from in 1991. Six years after graduating, he made his first donation to the school, a sum of ¥140,000 which was used to set up a scholarship. He later started two other scholarships, the  Lei Jun Computer Scholarship and the Lei Jun Scholarship.

His donations to Wuhan University hasn’t stopped since then. Last October, he donated ¥99,999,999 ($14.5 million) for the construction of a 35,000 square-meter Science and Technology building.

Asides the donations to his alma matter, he also donates to a lot of charity organizations. In May of 2016, he donated ¥200,000 ($29,000) to Zhuhai Charity, an organization that funds schools for migrants. Last December, he also donated ¥100,000 to the villagers of Yangchun for the renovation of schools and mud brick houses, and construction of cultural buildings.

READ MORE: Xiaomi and Google Come Together for New 360° Camera

Hello Mother Russia: Xiaomi Makes Grand Entry to Russia with Three Smartphones

Xiaomi has made an entry into the Russian market for the first time and in their usual manner, they did it in style. The company announced the launch of three “new” smartphones which are going on sale in the Russian market immediately. The phones are relatively not new as they are already available in China but this is the first time they will be officially going on sale outside China. If you are wondering why Russia? Russia is the largest country in the whole world.

The announcement was made by Xiaomi senior Vice-president Wang Xiang and the smartphones which hit the market are the Mi Mix, Mi Note 2 and Redmi 4X. Although some had expected the Mi 6 to be announced for the Russian market, that didn’t happen, instead, Xiaomi made up for the absence of the Mi 6 by unveiling two of its top-end products in the Mi Mix and Mi Note 2.

The Xiaomi Mi Note 2 is the company’s first smartphone to use a curved edge display and comes powered by a Snapdragon 821 chip backed by 6GB of RAM. So, we’re talking about the high-end version here. This Mi Note 2 version features a whopping 128GB storage as well as a large 22MP rear camera. TheMi Note 2 price is pegged at 34,990 rubles and Xiaomi is offering a free Mi Piston Air headphone with every purchase made before May 2.

xiaomi mi note 2

The company also announced the bezel-less Mi Mix flagship which comes with a large bezel-less screen. The Mi Mix has a display which almost covers the entire screen, save for a little bezel at the bottom where there is a home button. Only the 6GB RAM + 256GB version is available for a price of 39,990 rubles. There is also a free Mi Wireless Bluetooth speaker with each purchase made before May 2.

Read More: Xiaomi Mi 6 Plus case surfaces, release date and design remain a mystery

Finally, away from the flagship category, the innovative Chinese company also unveiled the Redmi 4X with its price set at 12,990 rubles. The Redmi 4X sports a 5-inch HD display and is fired up by a Snapdragon 435 chip backed by 3GB of RAM. The device also comes with a 32GB storage. The camera combination consists of a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP selfie shooter. The juicy part is the 4,100mAh battery which the Redmi 4X packs. There is also a branded headphone available with the device.

xiaomi redmi 4x

The three Xiaomi phones will be available for purchase online as well as on authorized retail shops from April 26. You can find out more details about the products from Xiaomi Russia’s official online store.

(source)

 

The Insider Program Allows Older Windows Phones Get Windows 10 Mobile

Windows Mobile might be dying but a number of folks still use a Windows phone as their daily driver. Some of these loyal Windows fans own older devices that didn’t get updated to Windows 10 Mobile. Devices like the Lumia 520 and Lumia 635 didn’t get the update because of their small RAM (512MB) and small storage (8GB) while others like the Nokia Lumia 1020 didn’t get updated because of it’s old Snapdragon S4 processor.

Windows 10 Moble Creators Update

However, those devices might just be able to get the update to Windows 10 Mobile today, thanks to an anomaly. Microsoft earlier released the Windows 10 Mobile Creators Update to the Release Preview Ring of the Insider Program. That’s the equivalent of a developer version of an Android ROM. Twitter user @mccools2013 who checked out the update found out that the it is available for the Lumia 520 and 635 512MB model.

The Creators Update itself isn’t even available to all devices running Windows 10. Although Microsoft says unsupported devices can get the update if they are registered for the Windows Insider program.

READ MORE: Xiaomi Mi 6 Microsoft Edition to Be Available on Microsoft Store?

Meizu E2 Hands On Images: Fresh New Design, Mediocre Specs Inside

Meizu today official launched the E2 mid-range smartphone which is part of its Blue Charm series. The Meizu E2 comes with a design that is honestly innovative that you’d wonder why the company didn’t reserve it for a flagship model. But then, that is perhaps a sign of more innovative design concepts to come because Meizu is yet to release its 2017 flagship. Meizu still didn’t announce the elusive Pro 7 which is expected as its next flagship.

meizu e2

No doubt, the biggest highlight on the E2 is the strip LED flash it uses which is located right on top of the fused antenna line. The unique flash has four LED lights inside which should increase illumination but we are yet to see the camera samples to know how it performs.

The rear camera is also located on top of the antenna band. The E2 uses an all-metal body design manufactured using the nano-injection moulding process. The body is coated using the sandblasting process in order to give it a fine look. The edges are trimmed off using the CNC diamond cutting process. The E2 also feature very narrow bezels at the sides which are just 0.025mm thick. The device also has a slim body which is 7.5mm thick and weighs 155g.

Meizu E2

The rest of the E2 specs include a 5.5-inch Full HD display, a MediaTek Helio P20 chip, 3GB RAM + 32GB storage one version and another with 4GB RAM + 64GB storage. The storage is the low eMMC 5.1 version o all models. The Meizu E2 also packs a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP sensor up front. Keeping the lights on is a 3400mAh battery. Here are some hands-on/ unboxing images of the Meizu E2 courtesy of Chinese tech blog Mydrivers. Check them out from under. (Click on the image to enlarge)

[envira-gallery slug=”meizu-e2-hands-images-fresh-new-design-mediocre-specs-inside”]

Huawei Beats OPPO In China In Q1 2017 Smartphone Sales!

Chinese smartphone market leader Huawei has reclaimed its top position in the domestic market in Q1 2017, knocking off OPPO and Vivo who had both edged out the company from its number 1 spot in the previous two-quarters. This is contained in the latest report by market research firm Canalys.

huawei p10

The analytic data shows that Huawei shipped about 21 million smartphones in the quarter spanning January to March and this amounted to an 18% market share. No doubt, the P10 and P10 Plus accounted for a good proportion of this amount. On the other hand, OPPO fell to second place despite a strong annual growth of 55%. The BBK subsidiary shipped just under 20 million units in Q1 2017. Fellow BBK subsidiary, Vivo, still made it into the top 3 in the domestic market, capturing a 15% share of the market with 17 million units shipped.

Canalys noted that China’s smartphone market saw an increase in shipments by over 9% year on year this quarter which shows the market continues its growth. But a worrisome trend is the seeming consolidation of the market noticeable by the fact that the top three phone makers accounted for more than 50% of shipments for the first time ever this quarter. Last year Q1, Huawei led the market, while Vivo was second and OPPO fourth but they all accounted for 42% of the market. In case you are wondering who occupied the third spot, Xiaomi did, but has since fallen to fifth behind Apple, with just over 9 million units shipped in Q1 2017.

Read More: Taiwanese Smartphone Market: OPPO Shines While Sony Falls Down To Sixth Position

Xiaomi’s bid to recapture the top 3 spots is seriously threatened as it faces increasing pressure from Huawei’s online efforts with Honor, as well as OPPO and Vivo, whose marketing activities have been taking attention away from Xiaomi. Xiaomi’ plans to open up more offline stores is underway and even at that, Huawei plans to increase investment in its offline channel this year. There is no doubt that whatever plan Xiaomi has got, it has to execute them fast in order to still have any chance of making it up the top 3.

In all, Canalys estimates that a total of 114 million smartphones were shipped in China in the first quarter ending 31 March 2017.

(source)