Huawei’s Richard Yu Explains Saving Money Wasn’t The Motive Behind Using eMMC Chips in Huawei P10

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May 16, 2017

Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones are now available for purchase in various markets of the world. On Tuesday, the South Korean company confirmed that it has sold 5 million units of Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones globally.

The impressive thing about this sales report that it has not been even one month since the market release of Galaxy S8 duo and the company has managed to achieve such a marvelous result. It was made available for purchase in South Korea, the United States, and Canada beginning from April 21.

A week later it arrived in other markets such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are currently available in 120 markets. There is no information available on the individual sales result of Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

It was previously reported that the Galaxy S8 duo pre-orders have crossed 1 million units in South Korea. Samsung is yet to launch the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones in China. A recent research report has revealed that Samsung has a market share of 3.1 percent in China. Since it is losing out to rivaling brands like Huawei, OPPO and Vivo that are leading the Chinese markets, Samsung is expected to gain market share by the launch of Galaxy S8 duo by the end of this month in China.

Samsung is reportedly partnering with Chinese content providers so that it can be made available on Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones. Moreover, the South Korean will be introducing Chinese edition of Bixby AI on Galaxy S8 duo. On April 30, Samsung had introduced the Bixby assistant in the home country. English edition of Bixby is expected to roll out in respective countries during the spring.

In the previous month, Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with KGI Securities, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ that features huge “Infinity Screen” has met with overwhelming market response. Kuo estimates that Samsung will ship 50 to 55 million units of Galaxy S8 duo in the fiscal 2017. Previously, he had made a conservative prediction Samsung would be shipping 40 to 45 million units of Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 due to the unfriendly positioning of fingerprint scanner on these phones.

Xiaomi Launches Two New Mijia Products: Smart PTZ Camera & Smart Ceiling Lamp

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May 16, 2017

Xiaomi’s MIJIA brand has launched two new products under the smart home products lineup. One of the products is a Smart pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera which is ideal for surveilance. The other product is a LED ceiling lamp jointly built by Xiaomi and Philips.

Xiaomi MIJIA Smart PTZ Camera

The Xiaomi Mijia smart PTZ camera is a security camera ideal for use at home which comes with a design that allows it rotate 360 degrees. The pan-tilt-zoom camera is capable of remote directional and zoom control. While in most cases te PTZ controls are sold separately from the camera, the MIJIA PTZ cam offers both the camera and controls at a ridiculously cheap 199 Yuan price (~$28). It is capable of surveilling all corners in a room.

The camera comes with a dual-axis rotational head design which can move freely up and down as well as sideways in order to cover all part of the home. It comes in white only and offers a 360-degree viewing range with a single viewing angle of 115 degrees. There is a memory card slot but it is hidden from view due to the design.

The Mi home smart PTZ camera will go on sale from 10.00 hours today, May 16 on Xiaomi mall, Mi mall Xiaomi official flagship store on Lynx, Jingdong and Suning, all at the same time.

Xiaomi Philip Smart Ceiling Lamp

The second product unveiled is the Xiaomi Philip ceiling lamp. The lamp is co-built by Xiaomi and Philip and may be the product of the joint partnership agreement both companies signed last year. Recall that Xiaomi and Philips Lightning had signed a joint agreement to develop smart home lighting products.

The ceiling lamp is also a smart home product as it comes with the perceptive function which regulates its brightness according to the illumination of the room, the season, time and other conditions. The light automatically adjusts its color temperature to the appropriate state that won’t be too bright or dull. It also comes with a remote control with which the light can be switched on and off as well as regulated. In addition, the light can also be connected to the traditional wall switch despite having a remote control. The remote control is also smart, as it can monitor the temperature and humidity of the room which would enable the user optimise the lighting system. The Smart ceiling lamp can also be controlled using the mobile app and the colors can be changed as well to suit the season and time of the day.

The Xiaomi Philip Smart Ceiling Lamp carries a price tag of 349 Yuan (~$50) while the remote control is sold separately for 79 Yuan. The light product will be on sale from 10 AM today in China on Mi Mall only.

Samsung, LG Electronics Working on Regaining Popularity in China

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May 16, 2017

Three years ago, Samsung was ruling the Chinese smartphone market. Now it has been pushed down to 10^th position in smartphone brands ranking in China. LG Electronics is holding a market share of only 1 percent in the country. The reason behind it is that in the recent past a lot of Chinese smartphone manufacturers have flourished and gained popularity in short span of time. Moreover, the Chinese government has been providing better support to local companies. Also, the Chinese phones are available with cheaper pricing compared to smartphones from Samsung and LG. Fresh reports reveal that both the South Korean companies are gearing up to regain their popularity in China.

China is the largest smartphone market in the world and it constitutes 30 percent of the worldwide market. In future too, the Chinese market will continue to expand. The smartphone OEMs that do not excel in Chinese markets cannot become a global leader. However, the local brands are using various strategies to make sure that their brands have more influence in the country. A recent research on the global smartphone market revealed that the foreign companies are rapidly losing market share in China in the first quarter.

Samsung is consistently losing market share in China. In 2015, it had a market share of 7.6 percent. It declined to 4.9 percent in 2016 and now it has a market share of 3.1 percent in the country. LG Electronics has a market share of 0.045 percent in the first quarter. Apple has a current market share of 7.7 percent, but its sales have declined by 15 percent in the first quarter.

On other side, the local brands are ruling in China. Huawei is on number 1 spot with a market share of 18.9 percent in the first quarter. It is closely followed by OPPO that has a market share of 18.7. Vivo is on number 3 with a 16.8 percent market share. These three brands are working on strengthening their leads as they have surpassed globally popular brands like Apple and Samsung.

Samsung and LG Electronics have both devised their strategies to win more Chinese customers. A Samsung representative has said that the company will be launching the Samsung Galaxy S8 in the country by the end of this month. Its Bixby voice assistant will support Chinese language. It will be establishing partnership with content providers in the country so that the Galaxy phones can provide Chinese customers with more services.

Since China is a huge country, it is difficult task for companies to build offline distribution networks. Hence, LG G6 Electronics will work on online distribution networks in China to regain its popularity.

Huawei Launching a New Honor Product on May 23, Poster Out!

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May 16, 2017

This year is turning out already as a busy year for the smartphone industry in terms of new phone releases. We have seen so many brands hosting launch events already and from the look of things, that isn’t going to dwindle anytime soon. Huawei has been busy since the beginning of the year with the P9, Honor V9, Honor 8 Lite and the budget Y3 2017 launched yesterday, in their kitty already. The Chinese giant has now fixed another launch event for May 23 in China.

Huawei yesterday shared a new poster on the Honor official Weibo account as well as on the official Honor website in China which is actually an announcement of the event. The poster is that of a young man who seems to happily be at two locations at the same time. While the upper half of his body is a stadium, the lower half is in the classroom. We can’t say for sure what this means but maybe we are looking at a product that would be useful indoors and outdoors during sports time.

Apart from that, the product is teased as one for the youth and even though the Weibo post talked about a mobile phone coming, there seems to be a combination of four different products. The four different products may likely be a mobile phone, a wearable, router and perhaps, a tablet. We are not so certain about the actual products, though, but we’ll get to find out on May 23 which is not too far away.

Meizu M5 Mid-range Smartphone Now Available in India Through Tata Cliq

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May 16, 2017

India is a very good market of mid-range smartphones and Xiaomi knows it very well as it has sold millions of Redmi Note 3, Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime smartphones and it has already met with amazing sales result with the recently launched Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4A smartphones. It seems that Meizu also wants to take advantage of India’s mid-range market as it has now launched the Meizu M5 smartphone in the country through Tata Cliq.

Meizu M5 had launched in China in November last year and now it is available in India with a pricing of Rs. 10,499. It has been made available exclusively through Tata Cliq and it comes in two color choices such as Blue or Champagne Gold.

In China, the Meizu M5 was made available in two models. China received a base model featuring 2 GB RAM and 16 GB inbuilt storage and the other model with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of native storage. In India, only the 3 GB + 32 GB model is available.

The Meizu M5 has a 5.2-inch screen that produces a resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels and the display features a 2.5D curved glass on top. The M5 is powered by MediaTek MT6750 SoC. It features a hybrid SIM slot that supports dual SIM cards at a time or one SIM card and microSD card.

A 13-megapixel camera is sitting on the rear side of Meizu M5 and it has a selfie snapper of 5-meagapixel. The front facing Home button houses a fingerprint reader that unlocks the device in 0.2 seconds. It is running on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS that is customized with Flyme OS from Meizu. It is packed with a 3,070mAh battery and it offers connectivity features such as 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, GPS, and v4.0 Bluetooth. Its dimensions are 147.28 x 72.8 x 8.8 mm and its weight is 138 grams.

According to the South Asia Marketing Head of Meizu, Leon Zhang, the Meizu M5 has received overwhelming response in China because of which the company decided to release it in India in a short period of time after launching it in China.

Lenovo Covers The Essentials As The Moto C and Moto C Plus Become Official

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May 15, 2017

The Moto C line was a surprise to us when we first learned of its existence as we have always believed the Moto E series was the low end of the spectrum for Motorola phones. Turns out nothing is set in stone. Lenovo silently released the Moto C and Moto C Plus today, and both phones truly cover the essentials.

Moto C and Moto C Plus Design

Just as leaks have shown, Motorola (Lenovo) is going with more or less the same design for all its phones this year. The Moto C and Moto C Plus feature a polycarbonate micro-textured back. The design for the camera housing on the rear is the same as that of the Moto Z but the camera setup is different. You have two small circles sitting inside the larger circle, one holds the sensor and the other holds the LED flash.

Below the camera setup is the Moto batwing logo and further down is a line of circles which we believe serves as a cut-out for the speaker. The power button and volume rocker are on the left and there is an audio jack at the top, an essential for a budget device. Surprisingly, the charging port is also at the top but on the far left of the audio jack (positions are switched on the C Plus).

The front of the phone is no different from what we have seen on other budget phones. There are capacitive buttons at the bottom which do not seem to be back-lit and at the top sits the front camera, earpiece, and selfie light.

Moto C and Moto C Plus Specs

The Moto C has a 5-inch display, 1GB RAM, and 8GB of storage. It is powered by an unspecified quad-core processor. There is a 5MP camera with flash on the rear and a 2MP sensor up front with a selfie light. Motorola says the 2350mAh battery should be sufficient for use.

The Moto C is available in two models: there is a 3G only model and there is also a 4G version.

The Moto C Plus is mentioned as sporting a “larger display”. The RAM is still 1GB but the storage is doubled to 16GB. It also has dual SIM slots and a MicroSD card slot. The rear camera is an 8MP shooter with flash that Motorola says performs well under low-light conditions. The front camera is still a 2MP sensor with a dedicated selfie light.

The Moto C Plus packs a 4000mAh battery expected to last up to 30 hours on a single charge.

Moto C and Moto C Plus Pricing and Availability

Both phones will be available this Spring in Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The Moto C and Moto C Plus will come in Metallic Cherry, Pearl White, Fine Gold, and Starry Black.

The 3G Moto C will sell for €89 (~$98) and the 4G variant will be priced at €99 (~$109). The Moto C Plus will be priced at €119 (~$131).

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Huawei Honor 8 / V8 Smartphones To Get Watermark For Camera Pictures via OTA

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May 15, 2017

Watermarks on pictures started becoming a popular add-on in most high-end smartphones and the trend is now creeping into this year’s flagships. The images of the Xiaomi Mi 6 contains a watermark with the inscription “Shot on Mi 6”. So too, some other models come with watermarks usually placed on the at the bottom corner of the photo.

Huawei has now announced that this feature would be available on the Huawei Honor 8 and Honor V8. According to the announcement, the company would begin pushing new firmware version via OTA which would make the function available on the duo. The Honor V8 was announced in May last year with an expansive display and a well-studded specs lineup. The Honor 8 made its own entry around July last year with a compact but large size and an equally impressive specs. The watermark may likely be at the lower left edge of the smartphones as Honor 8 and Honor V8 respectively. The feature may likely be available for the V9 and Honor 9 expected to launch this year.

The Honor V8 comes with a large 5.7-inch 2K display with a standard version as well which features 1080p resolution. The phone reportedly features a professional eye protection technology for the screen. The device packs a Kirin 950 octa-core chipset with i5 co-processor, 4GB of RAM and 32GB / 64GB of expandable storage. The battery will be of 3500mAh capacity and supports 9V 2A fast charging technology and lots more. On the camera end, the Honor V8 comes with dual 12MP cameras at the back with an 8MP sensor for selfies.

The Honor 8, on the other hand, sports a 5.2-inch with Full HD resolution. It packs the same Kirin 950 chip as the Honor V8, with three different memory combinations of 3GB RAM + 32GB, 4GB RAM + 32GB and 4GB RAM + 64GB. There is a 3000mAh battery (9V2A fast charging) on board, which has become the standard among mid-range phones. The Honor 8 also packs a dual 12MP rear camera.

The HTC U 11 Leaks in New Video and Images: All Color Variants, Edge Sense Functionality Makes Appearance

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May 15, 2017

The HTC U 11 is scheduled to launch tomorrow but just ahead of the launch a video which can be best said to be a hands-on/first impressions video has been leaked online.

The video leaves nothing to the imagination. All the color variants are present and we get to see the Edge Sense feature used multiple times.

From the video we can see the HTC U 11 will be available in blue, red, black, white and turquoise blue. The colors look really nice especially the blue one but they are reflective. Too reflective that they become distracting. The back is bare save for the 12MP rear camera flanked on the left by a LED flash and HTC’s logo.

The front doesn’t look bad but we think the top and bottom bezels could have been made smaller. There is a fingerprint scanner sitting on the chin and android navigation buttons on opposite sides. The top bezel houses the front 16MP camera on the right and the earpiece in the middle. The bottom of the phone is where the USB Type-C port sits. There is a single slit for the speaker on the right and a pair of microphones too.

We also get to see how HTC’s new Edge Sense technology works. There is a settings that lets you configure the squeeze force level. This is useful for situations where your phone is in your pocket or bag and you don’t want it setting of itself.

Edge Sense can be used for activating Google Assistant, as a dedicated shutter button or shortcut button that opens the camera even when the phone is locked.

The HTC U 11 just like the HTC U Ultra doesn’t have an audio jack but HTC will ship the phone with a 3.5mm to type-C adapter.

Xiaomi Releases Android 7 Nougat Beta Update for Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus

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May 15, 2017

The Mi 6 is Xiaomi’s latest flagship and seems to be getting all the attention but the Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus haven’t been forgotten. Last week, Xiaomi announced it was going to release an Android Nougat Beta update for the Mi 5s, Mi 5s Plus, Mi MIX, and Mi Note 2 starting today.

As at the time of writing, the update is said to be available already for the Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus. The update is a closed beta, so it isn’t available to everyone.

The update brings the MIUI 8 version number to 7.5.15 and comes in at 1.4GB. The change-log only states that the Android version has been updated to Nougat. Update for the Mi Note 2 and Mi MIX shouldn’t be far off too.

Xiaomi Releases Teaser for Mi TV 4, Highlights Its Coin Size Thickness

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May 15, 2017

Xiaomi announced a new TV at CES 2017. The Mi TV 4 is a modular TV with its display panel separated from the motherboard and sound system. The smart TV will be officially launched in China on the 18th of May and Xiaomi just released a new teaser for it.

The teaser focuses on the thickness of the display panel which is just 4.98mm at its thinnest point (and 38.9mm at its thickest). The Mi TV 4 has a frameless display that is propped up on transparent stands. The display connects to the sound bar via a single cable allowing you keep that clean wiring system you’ve always wanted.

Check out Gearbest US Sale

Gearbest US Deals Offer Redmi Phones, Mechanical Keyboards, Tablets & More For Sale (US Warehouse Shipping)

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Daily Deals

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May 15, 2017

If you live in the US and are looking to get hold of some cool gadgets, including new smartphones, check out the new deals page for US Warehouse. Gearbest is offering a lot of products from different categories up for sale on the page exclusive to US customers. Note that most of these products ship directly from the US warehouse, so the shipping will be super quick. So, you no longer have to wait for 10-20 days just for the products to reach your destination.

Some of the interesting products up for sale on the page include the Xiaomi Redmi 4 for $153 (silver) and up to $199 for other colors like golden. The Redmi Note 4 with Helio X20 is also up for grabs at $209 (Blue). Note that the prices of the products change according to the warehouse location as well as the colors you select. Only a few selected colors are available at the price you see on the deals page.

There are other products up for grabs as well, like 3D printers under $200, mechanical keyboards and smartwatches under $50 and a lot more. There’s a separate tablet section in the page as well, offering tablets like the Chuwi Hi13 convertible, Cube Mix Plus 2 etc directly to the US customers.

So, if you are living in the US and are looking to buy some cool gadgets, check out the deals page from here.

K88H Review – Stainless Steel Smartwatch for just 39.99$ [COUPON INSIDE]

By

Linus

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May 15, 2017

There are quite a few budget smartwatch offerings out there and we just came across the K88H model that has quite a few features for the price of just about $41. Learn more in our full review. You will also find a coupon code at the end of the article.

UNBOXING

The watch ships with the magnetic USB charger and some paperwork.

DESIGN AND DISPLAY

When it comes to the design, the watch is surprisingly well-made considering its low price.

In fact, the watch is made almost entirely of metal and it uses a stainless-steel band, which makes the watch look more expensive than it is.

As far as comfort, the watch is pretty comfortable to wear on the daily basis, which does not happen with all cheap watches.

The watch can work independently or connected to your phone via the Bluetooth.

As for the display, it is not the sharpest out there but it is readable both indoors and outdoors.

You can select from a few watch faces or you can download a few more using the app. However, the watch has only 128MB of internal memory, so you can really download much stuff.

FEATURES, USER INTERFACE

You can navigate through the menus using the touchscreen or the side button. The watch runs on the custom-made UI, which has quite a few features and settings to play with. Just to name a few, you can use the watch as a dialer or read SMS messages, control your phone’s camera, receive notifications from Facebook, Whatsapp etc.

Both pedometer and heart rate monitor sensors are pretty accurate as I compared the results with the Xiaomi Mi Band 2.

The watch has all other standard features as a sedentary reminder, alarm clock etc. There is also a Siri integration that works with the iOS devices. One of the cool features that work great is the lift to wake. It is really convenient in practice.

THE APP

You can also sync your fitness data with the FundoWear app, which is also used for other cheap China smartwatches. Within the app, you can check your steps counter, sleep and heart rate patterns, adjust a few settings and so on.

BATTERY LIFE

As for battery life, I could get just 2 days out of this watch, which is just an average result.

CONCLUSIONS

The K88H is a really capable cheap smartwatch as it has been working fine so far. It costs just $41 but you are getting quite a lot of features that are packed into a nicely-designed metal body. You can now get the smartwatch for just 39.99$ using a coupon code K88H1 at the checkout.

Buy K88H Smartwatch using a coupon code K88H1

OnePlus 5 Renders Leak, this time Showing Horizontal Dual Cameras

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May 15, 2017

OnePlus has already sort of confirmed that the OnePlus 5 is already in the works so it is no surprise how more and more leaks and purported images of the flagship keeps coming out by the day. Just recently, we were treated to renders of the Plus 5 which depicts the smartphone as coming with a dual camera. The dual cameras were showing to be aligned in the vertical direction. Yet another set of renders of the upcoming OnePlus flagship has now emerged, this time around, the dual cameras are aligned in a vertical direction.

There are talks of the OnePlus 5 dropping this June with earlier rumours tipping the OP5 to feature a dual camera. But with the two different renders have a horizontal and vertically aligned dual camera, we can’t say for sure which one is real.However, we must warn that the leak source, @kjuma is notorious for fake renders. So, this latest render may likely not be real. Besides, except for the dual cameras, the device looks more like a Meizu smartphone in design than a OnePlus flagship

Specs wise, the OnePlus 5 is tipped to come with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 processor and as well as a powerful 8GB RAM.That means the OP5 will likely have a 6GB RAM version as well as the high-end 8GB RAM version. The OePlus 5 had earlier appeared on Geekbench and the listing somewhat confirms the existence of a power packed specs, as the OnePlus 5 is shown to have trumped the Huawei Mate 9 and Samsung Galaxy S9+.

The Huawei Y3 2017 is The Backup Phone You Need For Your Summer Vacation

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May 15, 2017

Summer is almost here and quite a number of people have vacations planned. For those who might be spending the greater part of their holidays outdoors and don’t want to take that expensive new phone they just got along, the Huawei Y3 2017 may just be the phone you need.

The Huawei Y3 2017 is a budget phone, so the specs are basic. There is a 5-inch FWVGA (854 x 480) display, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of built-in storage. It has an 8MP camera with LED flash on the rear and a 2MP shooter for selfies. This is an entry level phone, so don’t expect the pictures to be great.

There are two models, each sporting different processors. One is powered by a MT6580 quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz and doesn’t support LTE, so don’t expect blazing fast internet. The other version uses a MT6737M clocked at 1.1GHz but supports 4G networks.

OnePlus 5 Flagship Killer Scores Over 176K on AnTuTu; 5.5-inch FHD Screen, 6 GB RAM Confirmed

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May 15, 2017

The AnTuTu scores of OnePlus 5 have surfaced and it has been found that the flagship killer has recorded an average AnTuTu score of over 176,000. The appearance of OnePlus 5 on the benchmarking platform has also confirmed some of its specifications.

It seems that the OnePlus 5 will be a true flagship killer as its average AnTuTu score is better than that of Samsung Galaxy S8 and Xiaomi Mi 6 flagship phones.

The rumor mill is spilling a lot of information on the specifications of OnePlus 5 since several months. Some claim that it features a quad HD display whereas others claim that it has a full HD screen. Some rumors state it has 6 GB RAM, other say it has 8 GB RAM. A leaked shot of AnTuTu listing has revealed its key specifications.

According to the above image, the OnePlus 5 has a model number of A5000. It reveals that the flagship killer will be coming with a full HD resolution supporting screen. Previous rumors have stated that it will continue to sport a 5.5-inch screen like predecessor phones.

The Snapdragon 835 chipset featuring Adreno 540 graphics will be fueling the OnePlus 5. The AnTuTu listing reveals that it will be featuring 6 GB of RAM. The native storage of the phone is 64 GB and it is running on Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS. Since the OnePlus 3T is available in 64 GB and 128 GB storage versions, there is possibility that the OnePlus 5 would be also available in 128 GB edition.

For photography, it will be arriving with a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 16-megapixel selfie snapper. The AnTuTu listing shows that OnePlus 5 has a single rear camera, but rumors are heavily hinting that it will be equipped with dual rear cameras.

Recent leaks have revealed that the OnePlus 5 would be coming with a 3,600mAh battery. The OnePlus 5 is expected to deliver impressive battery performance as it features low power consuming processor and full HD screen along with a large-sized battery. Speculations are rife that the OnePlus 5 release date would be set in June end.

Yunmai Mini 2 Smart Body Scale Goes on Sale on Jingdong for ¥99 ($14)

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May 15, 2017

Back in March, one of the numerous products launched on the Mijia platform was the Yunmai Mini 2 Smart Body Scale. The smart scale is said to have reached its crowdfunding goal in less than five minutes and sold a million unit in just nine hours.

If you are interested in picking up a unit of the Yunmai Mini 2, you can now do so on Jingdong. It will cost you ¥99 ($14) which is a tiny bit more than the ¥89 ($13) launch price. Do note that the scale comes in only white for now.

The Yunmai Mini 2 is a smart scale that can be used to measure a wide range of parameters. You can measure your weight, body fat, BMI, bone mass, and even basal metabolic rate.

Galaxy Note 7R Release Delayed? Needs More Certifications to Launch, Reveals Report

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May 15, 2017

The refurbished Galaxy Note 7 is expected to launch in June in South Korea. However, there is a possibility that its arrival may get delayed since Samsung is yet to receive certification from two major agencies in South Korea.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 that had launched in August 2016 had received positive reception from critics and users. However, it met with premature death in October 2016 as Samsung had to discontinue the phablet because its faulty battery caused it to explode without warning.

Since Samsung has a huge stock of recalled Galaxy Note 7 units piled up in its warehouses and disposing so many devices can impact the environment, the company had confirmed in March that it would be launching refurbished edition of the Galaxy Note 7 in select regions. It is expected to launch as Galaxy Note 7R and here is a leaked image of the alleged phablet:

The Galaxy Note 7R has received Wi-Fi Alliance and FCC certifications. It has also bagged Bluetooth SIG certification. Since the Note 7R have received these certifications, it seems that it will be launching soon. However, according to a Korean publication, before Samsung begins selling the Galaxy Note 7R in South Korea, the Galaxy Note 7R should be examined by two agencies such as Korean Agency for Technology and Standards and the National Radio Research Agency.

There is a possibility that the Note 7R’s arrival may get delayed because Samsung has not yet applied for approval with these Korean agencies. According to a spokesperson from National Radio Research Agency, “If Samsung makes such a request, we plan to examine and verify the safety of the device by putting users’ safety as the top priority.”

The Galaxy Note 7R is expected to come with same specifications as the original Note 7. However, it will be running on Android 7.0 Nougat instead of the older Marshmallow. Also, it would be packed with a 3,200mAh battery instead of the 3,500mAh battery that came in the original model. In South Korea, it is rumored to launch with a pricing of 700,000 won ($620).

Samsung is expected to launch the upcoming Galaxy Note 8 in August or September. Hence, to ensure the Note 8’s sales are not disturbed because of the cheaper Note 7R, Samsung should launch the latter in June or early July.

(source|via)

360 Mobiles Teases New N-Series Launch Slated For May 23, 360 N5S?

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May 15, 2017

360 Mobiles has today officially announced that it would be launching a new N-series smartphone in China on May 23. The poster did not specify the full name of the device but since is an N-series product, it may be the 360 N5S. The previous product the company released in the N-series is the 360 N5 and following their product path, the N5S is the likely product. This is most likely since the 360 N4 was followed by the 360 N4S which is no longer available on the 360 Mobiles’ website.

The upcoming smartphone is said to be different from both the N4S and N5 in design. Also, the device is said to feature a glass design on both sides with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The smartphone is, however, said to come with the same price range as its N-series predecessors, falling within the 1000 Yuan bracket. In addition, there are talks of a 6GB RAM version of this model.

The N-series smartphones are known for their cheap price tags which usually result to their unavailability in a short while. This was very obvious with the N4S but we do hope that wouldn’t be the case with the upcoming N-series device.