Another Look At The Galaxy C10, Samsung’s First Dual Camera Smartphone

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May 18, 2017

Shortly after the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ were announced, an image of a phone said to be a prototype of the S8+ was released online. This prototype had dual rear cameras leading some sources to conclude that Samsung had flirted with the idea before shelving it.

After that there were rumors that the Galaxy Note 8 will be the first Samsung phone to sport dual cameras but they were put down by more rumors that mentioned the dual camera treatment will appear on a Galaxy C smartphone. That smartphone is the Galaxy C10.

Last week, a Chinese leakster had released an image of what the Galaxy C10 might look like when it launches and save for the dual cameras added, it is no different from the Galaxy C9 Pro. If you remember, the C9 Pro is Samsung’s first 6GB RAM phone, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Galaxy C10 will be the first to have dual cameras.

A new image that appears to be from an official poster has been released on Weibo. This is the Pink Gold version of the Galaxy C10 and it is a bit different from the image from last week. The signature split antenna design are at the top and are connected to the dual camera setup by a vertical line. However the LED flash sits in between the two sensors and not on the right. The entire camera housing also has a different design.

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Moto Z2 Finally Appears to Reveal Its Front Design

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Anvinraj Valiyathara

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May 18, 2017

The Z line of Moto branded smartphones by Lenovo that were introduced last year include Moto Z, Moto Z Play and Moto Z Force. This year Lenovo is expected to launch the successor models of these smartphones. The leaked renders of Motorola Moto Z2 Play and Moto Z2 Force have already appeared in the recent past. However, it is only now that a leaked render of the Moto Z2 smartphone has appeared.

in April, the well-known leakster, Evan Blass had revealed that the Moto Z’s successor would be arriving with Moto Z2 moniker. The new image has been leaked a reliable source that is familiar with the plans of the company. The leaked photo only reveals the frontside of the phone. It can be said that the Moto Z2 flagship resembles a lot with the Moto Z2 Play smartphone.

The top bezel of the phone features an LED flash for the selfie camera along with some sensors and earpiece. It appears that the Moto Z2 will come with front-mounted fingerprint scanner. The images of Moto branded smartphones usually feature a clock along with the date on the home screen.

It is likely that the photo may have been photoshopped to remove the home screen and clock so that viewers may not see the date on the phone. However, the date present on the home screen of Moto Z2 Play indicates that it would be launching on June 8. Hence, it is likely that Lenovo may launch the Moto Z2 alongside the Moto Z2 Play.

Last year, the Moto Z and Moto Z2 Force came with similar specs, but the latter arrive with a ShatterShield screen. Speculations have it that the upcoming Moto Z2 and Moto Z2 Force would be running on Snapdragon 835 chipset. The Moto Z2 Force is also expected to feature ShatterShield display.

Last year’s Moto Z2 and Z2 Force did not feature a 3.5mm audio jack. However, this year’s Z2 Force will bring back the 3.5mm jack. There is no confirmation on whether the Moto Z2 will be coming with or without the standard audio port.

(source)

OPPO R11 Camera Specs Revealed: 20MP + 16MP Dual Cameras, Lossless Zoom

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Jed John Ikoba

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May 18, 2017

OPPO continues to tease its upcoming smarphone which is the successr to the R9 series. The OPPO R11 appeared on AnTuTu’s website yesterday, confirming the presence of a Snapdragon 660 chipset on board with a 20MP front and 20MP rear cameras. Although the AnTuTu data didn’t capture the point that the R11 will be a dual-lens camera packing smartphone, OPPO has today revealed the camera specs of the R11 and it’s stunning, really!

The BBK subsidiary took to Weibo to share details of the camera, both the main shooter and the selfie camera. The main camera is listed as a dual setup comprising one 20MP telephoto lens and a 16MP wide-angle lens. On the other hand, the OPPO R11 will feature a large pixel 20MP single sensor. The camera is also teased as coming with a couple of innovative and amazing features. One of the features is a 2X lossless zoom which allows zooming an object closer without a loss in quality and clarity. You get up to 10X zoom capability but quality isn’t that guaranteed. OPPO shared a photo sample of how the zooming pans out during photo shooting. It is interesting to know that the flagship Xiaomi Mi 6 also comes with this unique feature.

Apart from that, the OPPO R11 dual camera steup is also expected to come with a Special Portrait mode which we believe will deliver awesome picture quality. The portrait mode is touted to allow users to capture the portrait of a moving object with the addition of virtual effect. With these latest teasers, if we are to take a cue fro the OPPO R9S, a launch date for the R11 will be coming out soon.

(source 1, 2)

Honor CEO Says The Honor 9 Will Not Ditch The Audio Jack

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Habeeb Onawole

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May 18, 2017

A fortnight ago, leaked renders of the upcoming Honor 9 surfaced online revealing the lack of an audio jack on the device. Although we already mentioned that the image might be a fake, a Weibo post by President of Honor, Zhao Ming may be what we need to quell the rumor.

Mr Zhao Ming had posted a response to the rumor floating around via his official account asking why they would want to remove the earphone jack. The post wasn’t directed to anyone in particular but since he specifically included his location (Shenzhen Longgang District) which is where Huawei has its headquarters and where the Honor 9 is being made. It is safe to infer that he was talking about the Honor 9.

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Chuwi Hi13 2-in-1 Tablet With Intel Apollo Lake Chip & A Large 13-inch 3K Display Up For Sale ($40 Coupon)

By

Daily Deals

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May 18, 2017

Chuwi is a well-known brand name when it comes to 2-in-1 tablets and the Chuwi Hi13 tablet turned out to be a pretty decent laptop replacement given its competitive pricing and large screen size. The tablet usually retails for more than $350 via online retailers, however, for a limited period, Gearbest is offering the Chuwi Hi13 tablet PC for just $299.99.

This is a competitive price for the large screen tablet as you get the latest Intel Apollo Lake Celeron N3450 quad-core processor inside a large 13.5-inch 3000 x2000 resolution touch screen. With 4GB of RAM and a standard 64GB of internal storage, the Hi13 could very well satisfy your portable laptop convertible needs. For connectivity, you get a Type-C slot, MicroHDMI, headphone jack and even an SD card slot. A decent 5000mAh battery should ensure a few hours of usage. With Windows 10 on board, the laptop should ensure things like browsing, watching videos and loading software with ease.

The Chuwi Hi13 tablet is already available via flash sale on Gearbest, taking the price down to $299.99. However, the flash sale ends very soon and if the deal runs out, you can always use the coupon (until June 30) GHi13 to get the price down to $299 once again. The usual price is around $339.99, so you get a good $40 discount on the product.

Make sure to select the China Warehouse in the Hi13 listing for the coupon to work. Check out the deal from down below.

Get the Chuwi Hi13 Tablet with 3K Display At Just $299.99 (Use Coupon if Necessary)

OPPO A77 with 16MP Front Facing Camera, 4GB RAM and MT6750T Processor Announced

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Habeeb Onawole

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May 18, 2017

OPPO added a new phone to its mid-range lineup yesterday. The new phone called the OPPO A77 is the successor to the OPPO A57 released in December.

The OPPO A77 has a 5.5-inch Full HD display, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. OPPO has ditched the Snapdragon 435 from the A57 for MediaTek’s MT6750T processor.

The highlight of the phone is its 16MP front facing camera with ƒ/2.0 aperture and Beauty 4.0. The rear camera remains a 13MP sensor with PDAF and a dual LED flash. However battery capacity has been bumped up to 3200mAh to cover for the bigger display.

OPPO still ships this phone with Color OS 3.0 based on Android Marshmallow making us wonder if OPPO will ever release a phone running Android Nougat asides the yet-to-be-released OPPO R11.

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Alleged Nubia Z17 Video Showcases The Bezel-less Flagship’s IP67 Waterproof Skills

By

Jed John Ikoba

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May 18, 2017

ZTE’s Nubia Z17 flagship may be the next Snapdragon 835-powered smartphone we would be meeting after the HTC U11 but that isn’t the only spectacular thing about the upcoming model. Apart from the revelation that the device would feature a bezel-less display along with the Snapdragon 835 firepower, the Z17 is also coming with an IP67 water and dustproof build.

A short 15 seconds video clip demonstrating the waterproof property of the Nubia Z17 has appeared online on China’s Weibo. The video clearly shows the device under a running tap inside a sink and still operational! There wasn’t any sign of the functioning being affected by water and the picture still remained sharp and crisp clear. We don’t have many details to verify if really the device is the Nubia Z17 as the video only showed the front view of the device. But the smartphone seems to have a bezel-less display just as the Z17 is said to have. The phone also looks like the Nubia Z11 but the Z11 isn’t waterproof and so, could not have continued functioning under water. You can as well have a peek at the video from here (Weibo account required).

Read Also: Nubia Z17 Mini Red Version Up For Sale In China Soon

The Nubia Z17 has lately made a couple of appearances on TENAA and in benchmarks including AnTuTu where it was revealed that the flagship may take the bar to 8GB RAM on its topmost model. There is no doubt its launch is close by, considering that the device had even made a brief appearance on Nubia’s official website, perhaps as a test run or a teaser. The Z17 is also expected to come with a dual camera setup touted to be configured as a 23MP + 12MP camera combination. Further, the phone is said to feature the latest version of Android 7.1.1.

(source)

The Alpha One is Literally The Lamborghini of Smartphones

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Habeeb Onawole

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May 18, 2017

If you say the Alpha One is a phone for those who drive a Lamborghini, we won’t disagree with you. Asides the fact that it actually wears the Torino Lamborghini brand name, some of its parts are made from the same material used in making a Lamborghini.

The Tonino Lamborghini Alpha One is a luxury smartphone built from the same “stronger than titanium” liquid metal used in super cars. It also features high quality Italian leather with gold stitching found lining the interiors of super cars. The Alpha One is however not just a nice looking phone. It also packs some pretty decent specs, ending the trend of beauty without brains that luxury phones used to be known for.

It sports a 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED screen with Gorilla Glass 4, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of built-in storage with the option for expansion. It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor, an old but still powerful chipset.

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Lenovo to Focus More on Chinese Market by Restructuring its Business

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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May 18, 2017

Lenovo is one of the leading PC manufacturers in the world. After two years of dismal performance in the PC industry, the Chinese company has announced that it will focus more on home market by restructuring its business.

Lenovo Chairman Yang Yuanqing stated in a recent post on Weibo that the restructuring of the company will give birth two divisions. The first one will focus on consumers with products like PCs and smart devices. The other division will be a data center group.

He further stated China is quickly evolving into a market for smart devices. Hence, in order to take advantage of it, the company has decided to restructure its business in China. Liu Jun who has worked with mobile business group of the company in the past will be serving as the president of Lenovo China. Also, Jun will be pioneering the consumer division. Jun was leading the company when Motorola Mobility was acquired in 2014.

Fang Dongxing, founder of ChinaLabs, a market consultancy firm said that Lenovo required a familiar leader like Jun to bring quick changes in order to concentrate its business in China. Yaunqing is of the view that Lenovo needs to clarify its business strategy in China. Hence, the company will be developing more products focusing on Chinese consumes.

Lenovo had acquired IBM’s PC division over a decade ago. In 2014, it took over IBM’s server business. After the acquisition, it went on to become the world’s leading PC brand. However, a recent market research by IDC revealed that HP managed to overtake Lenovo for the first time in four years in Q1 2017.

Lenovo is facing problems even outside China. PC sales have significantly declined in the past five years as many consumers prefer to use mobile devices. Still, HP managed to successfully surpass Lenovo in the U.S. where the latter encountered its first drop in market share in the last eight years.

In February, Lenovo encountered a 67 percent decline in Q3 net profit. Lenovo generates its 70 percent revenue through its PC business. After seven quarters of decline, the company managed to salvage only 2 percent increase in revenue.

(source)

Snapdragon 660 Appears on GeekBench Database: Stellar Performance!

By

Jed John Ikoba

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May 18, 2017

Qualcomm officially announced the Snapdragon 660 and 630 processors last week with the SD 660 coming at the top of the pack. Though a mid-range chip, the Snapdragon 660 configuration reveals it is a powerful mid-range SoC, more powerful that the SD 653. According to Qualcomm, the CPU of the SD 660 offers 20 percent better performance and its GPU offers 30 percent better graphics performance than the SD 653 chip. The chip is a 14nm chipset that includes four cores of Kryo 260 working at 2.2 GHz and another four cores of Kryo 260 functioning at 1.8 GHz. It also features an Adreno 512 GPU as well as built-in X12 LTE baseband.

The Snapdragon 660 is reported to have run through benchmark app Geekbench and the result has appeared on Geekbench database. The result shows the performance of its cores in the single core and multi-core tests. On the single core test, the SD 660 running through the test at a 1.84GHz frequency polled a total score of 1599 points. On the multi-core test, the chip scored 5639 points at the same frequency.

When the test is compared to those of the Xiaomi Mi 5S and Mi 5S Plus, both featuring the Snapdragon 821 chip, a surprising closeness was observed. The SD 660 score is close to that of the SD 821 in the single-core tests and even triumphs it on the multi-core test.

(source)

OnePlus 5 Image Surfaces with Horizontal Dual Rear Cameras

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Anvinraj Valiyathara

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May 18, 2017

Yesterday, we had reported about an image of OnePlus 5 that appeared like its real prototype. The image revealed that the next OnePlus flagship features a vertically aligned dual rear camera setup.

Kumamoto Technology from China has been consistently stating in his Weibo posts that OnePlus 5 will be coming with a horizontally aligned dual rear cameras. However, he did not provide any evidence to support his claim. Now, a new mage has popped up as a proof on what he has been saying.

The above-leaked image which shows the backside of the OnePlus 5 reveals that it has a dual rear camera setup arranged in a horizontal design. It is positioned on the upper left corner. It features a dual-LED flash on the left side of the camera module. The design of the twin rear cameras is quite similar to the dual camera setup on Xiaomi Mi 6. The upcoming ZTE Nubia Z17 flagship phone has been also spotted with horizontal dual rear cameras on TENAA

The design of the upper and lower antenna bands of OnePlus 5 appears as they do on recent iPhones. In other words, they are placed on the upper and lower edge of the device. The image shows the OnePlus 5 in black color and it seems to sport a metallic chassis.

Since some images show the OnePlus 5 sporting a vertically arranged twin rear cameras and other leaks reveal horizontal design for the main camera, it seems that the company has been testing several prototypes of OnePlus 5 with different rear camera design.

It is interesting to note that a recent report has also suggested that OnePlus 5 would be coming with a single rear camera. It is speculated that OnePlus 5 would be coming with a 16-megapixel Sony IMX398 sensor that features f/1.7 aperture and 1.12-micron pixel size. Rumors have it that the Chinese company was supposed to use Sony IMX398 camera sensor on OnePlus 3T. However, it ended up with Sony IMX298 camera sensor. The specifications of OnePlus 5 were recently spotted on AnTuTu benchmarking site. It revealed that OnePlus 5 has a 16-megapixel rear camera.

There is lot confusion on the rear camera of OnePlus 5. One way we can know correct information on its rear camera before its official launch is when it appears on TENAA. Until then we can expect the rumor mill to build more hype on the upcoming OnePlus flagship. The OnePlus 5 is expected to get announced in June and it is also pegged to come with a costlier price tag.

Apple iPhone SE Now Being Manufactured In India

By

Jed John Ikoba

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May 18, 2017

U.S. tech giant, Apple has commenced the production of iPhones in India, the Wall Street Journal reports. This report is coming barely three months after the tech giant was reported to have concluded plans to set up a manufacturing plant in the Indian state of Karnataka, south-western region. According to the report, the company has concluded a test run of its first-ever iPhone assembly plant in India and the model which was the first produced in the plant is the iPhone SE.

The iPhone SE is Apple’s cheapest iPhone model and it is just apt that it comes out as the first to be assembled in India. The plant is run by Apple’s Taiwanese contract manufacturer Winstrop Corp., and it is indeed located in the state of Karnataka. The Wall Street Journal quoted its source to be a state official who is familiar with the matter. However, a Winstron spokeswoman was quoted to have responded to inquiries by saying the company doesn’t comment on “market rumors or speculation.” On its part, Apple said in a statement that it has begun initial production of a small number of iPhone SE handsets in Bangalore and will begin shipping the Indian-made devices to domestic customers this month. An inside source also disclosed that the first devices could hit stores as early as this week or next.

With this latest development, India becomes the third country globally to assemble iPhones after China and Taiwan. Analysts believe it is a right move in the right direction, considering that Apple’s sales in China, one of its largest market, had taken a swift tumble from the top position for the first in a couple of years. India also has a vast market which Apple is obviously eyeing with this latest move. India will be a fitting alternative to China and Taiwan. Also, the siting of a plant in India would likely translate to a cheaper price tag for the iPhone considering that the company will not pay import tax and other charges attached to importation. The company is reported to have sought concessions on the taxes it pays to import some components as the Indian factory is part of the government’s “Make in India” drive.

Also, the siting of a plant in India would likely translate to a cheaper price tag for the iPhone model, considering that the company will not pay import tax and other charges attached to importation. The company is reported to have sought concessions on the taxes it pays to import some components as the Indian factory is part of the government’s “Make in India” drive. This may however not be the case as Apple prefers to keep its price consistent worldwide. But we are encouraged by reports that the iPhone SE is currently on sale in India for around $320, lesser than the $399 price tag it carries in the U.S. Thus, the price could come down to about $100 less if the tech giant starts shipping from the plant in India.

(source)

Sony Xperia XZ Premium Gets Released in China, Brings 4K Display and a ¥5699 ($827) Price Tag

By

Habeeb Onawole

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May 18, 2017

Yesterday, Sony officially released its new flagship, the Xperia XZ Premium in China. The phone was originally announced at MWC 2017 where it won the award for best new smartphone. While pre-orders for the phone has already started since March in the UK, the Xperia XZ Premium is just making its appearance in China.

Sony’s new flagship sports a 5.5-inch 4K display, a Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB UFS 2.1 storage. There is also a microSD card that supports up to 256GB cards.

For the optics, Sony has gone all out by including an IMX 400 sensor with Motion Eye that can shoot slow motion videos at 960fps. The front camera is a 13MP sensor with a f/2.0 aperture and a 22mm wide-angle lens and impressive low-light performance.

The Xperia XZ Premium runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box; has a front-mounted fingerprint scanner, stereo speakers, and a 3230mAh battery.

All these specs come at a price, a high one for that matter. Sony is charging ¥5699 (∼$827) for the black, silver or gold version. The phone is already available for pre-order on Jingdong, Lynx and Sony’s official website.

There is also a special Spider-Man version that comes in a special box but the price wasn’t revealed. The price Sony is asking for the Xperia XZ Premium is more than double that of phones like the Xiaomi Mi 6 (¥2499/$363) and a lot higher than the price of the base version of the Huawei P10 (¥3788/$550). It remains to be seen if Sony can grab a significant part of the Chinese market with its new phone.

Asus ZenFone AR, 8 GB RAM Smartphone with Tango AR, Daydream VR Arriving in Summer

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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May 18, 2017

The ASUS ZenFone AR was launched at the start of the year during Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 event in January. Since the time it was launched, there has been no news on its availability. However, Google has now confirmed that the ZenFone AR would be arriving by summer this year.

The ASUS ZenFone AR is the second Google Tango device ever made. The first one was Lenovo PHAB 2 Pro from 2016. The ZenFone AR is the world’s first smartphone to support both Google Tango AR and Daydream VR. Moreover, the ZenFone AR is also the world’s first smartphone to come with 8 GB of RAM.

The ASUS ZenFone AR is equipped TriCam system meaning it is packed with three rear cameras that perform respective tasks such as motion tracking, measure depth and room mapping. As humans can measure space and motion, even the ZenFone AR can do the same with the help of the sensors.

The ZenFone AR has a 5.7-inch AMOLED screen that offers quad HD display and it delivers a screen-to-body ratio of 79 percent. It is driven by Snapdragon 821 chipset. Apart from 8 GB variant, the smartphone also features a 6 GB RAM model. It will be coming in two storage sizes 64 GB and 128 GB.

The rear camera is of 23-megapixel which is enabled with features like dual-LED flash, OIS and RAW photography. The front-facing selfie snapper of 8-megapixel is also enabled with dual-LED flash. It is preloaded with Android 7.0 Nougat and Zen UI 3.0. It features a USB Type-C port and a fingerprint reader. It is packed with a 3,300mAh battery that is enabled with rapid charging feature.

Google actively uses Tango technology in the classroom. Today, Google announced that, “more than two million students have taken virtual field trips with Expeditions using Cardboard.” By fall, the search engine giant wants to begin special programs to make AR lessons available to schools.

There is no information available on the pricing of ASUS ZenFone AR. The smartphone can be expected to be available in the next few months.

(source)

Xiaomi Mi 6 Supports USB Power Delivery Fast Charging

By

Habeeb Onawole

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May 17, 2017

There are lots of fast charging technologies in the market right now. Some of the popular ones are Qualcomm’s Quick Charge, OPPO’s VOOC Charge, OnePlus’s Dash Charge, and Motorola’s TurboPower. There is also USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) which is used by the Google Pixel, Pixel XL, and MacBooks.

Google wants the charging standard to be unified and is telling Android smartphone manufacturers to ditch Quick Charge (or any other form) and switch to USB-PD instead. To ensure that, Google added a new clause to the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) that OEM’s must follow. The clause in the Android 7.0 CDD has been extracted below:

Type-C devices are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to not support proprietary charging methods that modify Vbus voltage beyond default levels, or alter sink/source roles as such may result in interoperability issues with the chargers or devices that support the standard USB Power Delivery methods. While this is called out as “STRONGLY RECOMMENDED”, in future Android versions we might REQUIRE all type-C devices to support full interoperability with standard type-C chargers.

It is still strongly recommended for now and not yet a must. But it appears some manufacturers have started adopting the standard. The Xiaomi Mi 6 which supports Quick Charge 3.0 has been found to also support USB-PD.

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Huawei’s Kirin 970 Chip Details Leaked: 10nm Process, Cortex A73

By

Jed John Ikoba

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May 17, 2017

Huawei‘s next generation Kirin 970 chip details first emerged in leaks in January this year revealing some details. The leaks tout that the Kirin 970 chip will be built on a 10nm TSMC process and will come with an octa-core CPU as well as a Cat. 12 LTE band. Now, a fresh leak revealing more details of the Kirin 970 chip has emerged on China’s Weibo.

According to the leak source, the Hisilicon Kirin 970 chip will actually be manufactured using TSMC’s 10nm FinFET process. This is a leak from the previous generation of Kirin 960 which was manufactured on a 16nm manufacturing process. The processor is also listed to integrate an ARM Cortex A73 core which would likely be in an octa-core arrangement. The leakster seems to suggest that the Kirin 970 will be the first to come with the ARM Heimdallr MP GPU. Finally, the device will come with full network support, 5 carrier aggregation support as well as support for most of the global frequency band.

An earlier rumor had also tipped the Kirin 970 as packing an octa-core CPU comprised of four ARM Cortex-A73 cores, and four ARM Cortex-A53 cores. The next-gen flagship chipset is also revealed to have a maximum clock frequency of between 2.8GHz – 3.0GHz. The Kirin 970 will be equipped with Cat. 12 LTE baseband and would come as Huawei’s first chip to use the 10nm process. The chip is also expected to bring upgrades in power consumption, heat control and other aspects.

(source)

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Latest Rumor: Dual Cameras with 3X Optical Zoom

By

Jed John Ikoba

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May 17, 2017

Samsung left a number of her fans disappointed over the lack of a dual camera setup on the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, choosing to use a single camera on its powerful 2017 Galaxy flagships. This is despite the fact that dual-lens camera smartphones are turning out to be the trend for 2017. However seems the company is saving the best for the last.

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Note 8 later this year and the Galaxy Note series flagship is expected to pack a dual-lens camera setup. This isn’t the first time it would emerge that the Galaxy Note 8 would come with dual rear cameras. More details of the dual camera setup have surfaced from South Korea, Samsung’s home country. The Korea Herald quoted an analyst at Daishin Securities, Park Kang-ho as saying that although Samsung did not adopt dual cameras for the Galaxy S8, the tech giant will most likely feature dual cameras on its smartphone considering how the trending feature stole the spotlight at MWC, 2017.

The Korea Herald further quoted industry watchers as claiming that the dual camera setup aboard the Galaxy Note 8 is expected to feature a 3X optical zoom, a 12MP wide-angle lens and a 13MP telephoto lens. This setup coincides correctly with the patent Samsung submitted earlier this year, which outlines technology that uses the combination of a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens to capture moving images more effectively. Already, Huawei, OPPO and Vivo, all have dual cameras smartphone this year, in keeping up with the trend in China. According to findings by Hong Kong-based research firm Counterpoint research, most of the top-selling premium smartphones in China in the first quarter were dual-camera phones including the iPhone 7, Huawei Mate 9, Mate 9 Pro and Vivo’s Xplay 6.

(source)

Xiaomi Mi 6 In Depth Camera Review (Video): Dual Cameras Finally Done Right?

By

Joel Joseph

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May 17, 2017

Xiaomi Mi 6 is the company’s third dual camera smartphone and it’s no surprise that the phone is also the company’s best dual camera flagship till date. The two rear cameras on the Redmi Pro were far from impressive but the setup on the Mi 5S Plus turned out to be quite good. The two cameras at the back managed to capture good-looking images especially in broad daylight, but the real difference due to the dual cameras was seen in the low light images. The stereo mode helped take pretty good low light shots, better than previous generations. You can check out our Mi 5S review for camera performance.

Now, with the Xiaomi Mi 6 camera, the company have taken things to another level, using a similar setup as the iPhone 7 Plus, a 12MP wide angle lens, and a 12MP telephone lens. But does this setup perform better than previous generations? Also, how does it compare to top camera flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S8?

These are the questions we answer in the in-depth Xiaomi Mi 6 camera review. Just check out the video below to see how the Mi 6’s camera performs.

The short answer is, yes, the Mi 6 camera is much better than its predecessors and it does a good job in keeping up with flagships like the Xiaomi Mi 6. However, you do see that the camera on the Mi 6 is not quite as refined as the one on the Galaxy S8. Low light performance is also not as good as the S8. But in most areas, the Xiaomi Mi 6’s dual camera setup manages to keep up with flagship phones that cost almost twice its price.

In fact, you should check out the camera sample comparison between Xiaomi Mi 6 and OnePlus 3T, Huawei P10, and Huawei P9 to see how well it performs.

One of the biggest improvements that you would see in Xiaomi’s dual camera implementation is the video quality. There’s no surprise that Xiaomi Mi 6 captures the best videos in the entire Xiaomi smartphone family. The phone supports 4K, 1080p, and slo-mo videos and it does a fine job in all the three departments. The video clarity is amazing, colors come out well (maybe a tad oversaturated) and the overall quality is good. OIS is decent but if you are capturing the video while walking, the resulting video will be shaky.

Another highlight of Mi 6’s dual camera setup is the 2X lossless zoom. We could see that the zoom clarity is much better than traditional digital zoom.

Overall, for its price, the Mi 6 comes with great dual cameras.

Check out the video and let me know your thoughts on the phone’s camera performance.

Refurbished Galaxy Note 7 to Arrive as Galaxy Note FE in June End, Claims Report

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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May 17, 2017

Samsung is prepping up to launch the refurbished version of Galaxy Note 7. A South Korean publication has claimed that the reincarnated edition of Galaxy Note 7 will be arriving at the end of the next month. And it will be launching as Galaxy Note FE and not as Galaxy Note 7R as recent rumors have revealed.

Why does Samsung want to call the refurbished Galaxy Note 7 as Galaxy Note FE? The “FE” is an abbreviation for “Fandom Edition” that will be targeted towards the loyal fans of Galaxy Note 7. Naming it as Fandom Edition seems to be a better approach rather than launching it as Note 7R as it would remind users about the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7.

The original Note 7 had to be discontinued in October 2016 within 3 months of launching it because its faulty battery caused it to explode suddenly. Even though the news about the explosion of Galaxy Note 7 started coming from various parts of the world, it was reported that many loyal fans refused to participate in the global recall of Galaxy Note 7. Hence, Samsung had to finally release mandatory firmware updates which rendered the Note 7 useless by turn it off completely.

The Samsung Galaxy Note FE has received approval from Wi-Fi Alliance, FCC and Bluetooth SIG. These certifications indicate that the arrival of the Galaxy Note FE is close at hand. Even though the phablet is speculated to launch in June end, a recent report has revealed that its launch may get delayed as the refurbished Note 7 is yet to receive certifications two more South Korean agencies in the country.

Samsung is reportedly preparing 300,000 units of Galaxy Note FE that will be sold through leading carriers of South Korea. The Note FE is also expected to launch in China. It is poised to come in color options like Blue Coral, Black, White and Silver. In South Korea, it is pegged to cost around 700,000 won ($625) whereas in China, it may cost around $520.

The Galaxy Note FE is rumored to come with the same specs of the original Note 7. Instead of the 3,500 mAh battery present on the original model, the Note FE is speculated to feature 3,200mAh battery. It will be also running on the latest Android 7.0 Nougat OS.

(source)

OPPO R11 Spotted on AnTuTu with Snapdragon 660, 20MP Dual Cameras

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

May 17, 2017

OPPO‘s upcoming smartphone, the R11 has been spotted on the website of benchmark platform AnTuTu, listing some of the key specs of the smartphone. The OPPO R11 has been the subject of various rumours and teasers bordering on the features of the device. Just yesterday, it was reported that OPPO had started advertising the camera flagship in some major cities in China.

According to the AnTuTu listing, the OPPO R11 features Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 660 processor which was announced recently. This confirms rumours that the R11 will feature an SD 660 SoC. In a similar vein, the graphics will be powered by an Adreno 512 GPU. The OPPO R11 is listed with a 20MP rear camera as well as a 20MP selfie camera. The main camera is said to be a dual-lens camera setup. Other listed specifications include 4GB of RAM, 64GB storage and Android 7.1 Nougat OS. While the AnTuTu document only lists the display resolution as a 1920 X 1080 pixels resolution, it had earlier featured in rumours that the R11 will sport a 5.5-inch display.

OPPO has not officially revealed when it would launch the R11 but with the rate at which the company is intensifying arrangement for its arrival via adverts and teasers, the device may launch any moment from now.

(source)