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Jingdong Discounts Mi 5s Ahead of Mi Fans Festival But Leaves Buyers in a Conundrum

Turns out the Xiaomi official website is not the only place where discounts for the Mi Festival will run. Online mall, Jingdong will also be running its own sales. If you are out for a new phone, then you may want to consider the Xiaomi Mi 5s which is getting discounted on the site.

The Mi 5s is the successor to the Mi 5. They have the same screen size but the Mi 5s is powered by a Snapdragon 821 processor and features an under-glass fingerprint scanner up front. The Mi 5s is also made out of metal instead of glass like the Mi 5.

The 3GB + 64GB variant sells for ¥1999 ($290) but Jingdong will let you have it for ¥1799 ($261) if you pay in full upfront. If you pay ¥990 ($144) upfront, your discount is lowered to ¥100. Sadly, the discount doesn’t apply to the 4GB + 32GB variant and the 4GB + 128GB model. The former sells for ¥1949 ($283).

READ MORE: Xiaomi Targets 50% in Indian Offline Market Share Says CEO Lei Jun

Possible Xiaomi Mi 6 Model Passes 3C Certification with 18W Fast Charger

A new Xiaomi smartphone has just received 3C (CCC) certification in China and there are indicators pointing at the possibility of this being the expected Mi 6. The 3C certification is a mandatory product certification system in China with the aim of protecting consumer’s security through the supervision of products concerning health, hygiene, security, environment and anti-fraud.Xiaomi Mi 6

The Xiaomi smartphone received the 3C certificate on March 29, according to the listing and is shown to have been manufactured for Xiaomi Communications Co. Ltd by FIH Precision Electronics (Langfang) Co. LTD which, simply put, is Foxconn. The suspected Mi 6 comes with the model number MCE16 and is shown to support LTE connectivity.

Xiaomi Mi 6 Renders

In addition, the device is shown to have support for three charging output ratings including 5V, 3A/9V, 2A/12V, 1.5A, with a minimum power rating of 15W and maximum of 18W, which is the fast charge standard. The device is suspected of being the Mi 6 because of the fast charger which it is listed to feature but that doesn’t give the speculation any certainty. It could turn out to be another device, even though we don’t know of any other smartphone Xiaomi is getting out into the market anytime soon.

xiaomi mi 6 image

Read Also: Two New Meizu Smartphones with 18W Fast Charge Support Receive 3C Certification

The Xiaomi Mi 6 is expected out in the open this April and the rumored features it is expected with keep piling up, positioning the device as a true flagship. The Mi 6 is said to use the latest Snapdrag0n 835 chip and very recently it was revealed that the device may likely be without the legendary 3.5mm headphone jack and would be waterproof. Other rumoured features include an iris recognition technology, wireless charging, colourful body and fast charge support.

Save on Xiaomi Mi Routers and Amplifier During The Mi Fans Festival

Xiaomi will next week begin its annual Mi Fan Festival. The festival is actually Xiaomi’s way of marking its anniversary. This year will be the 7th edition of the event and like others expect lots of price slashes.

Instead of waiting till the festival starts to begin announcing the price slash, Xiaomi has started churning out teasers to get us excited. First, on the list is its line of Mi Routers. The price slash cuts across most of its current catalog.

xiaomi router 3

The price cut starts with the Mi Wi-Fi Cat Power that allows you to extend the signal from your Mi router to other parts of your home where the signal is weak or non existent. Starting on the 6th of April you will be able to purchase the signal converter and the WiFi extender combo for ¥249 ($36).

Next is the Mi Router 3. This router doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the Mi Router HD announced at CES 2017 such as a Qualcomm chip or a large storage but there is dual band WiFi and it sports four antennas too. The Mi Router 3 usually sells for ¥149 ($22) but will get a cut to ¥139 ($20).

READ MORE: Xiaomi Mi Headphones Light Edition Now Available in Orange and Mint Green

“Hello Moto with a Large Battery”- Moto E4 with 4,000mAh battery Clears US FCC

A new Motorola smartphone with model number XT1723 has been spotted on the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) website where it has been certified. The device is suspected to be the Moto E4, successor to the Moto E3 (Moto E 2016) released last year. The Moto E3 also got certified by FCC last year with the model number XT1706.

moto e4

Usually, the FCC site doesn’t reveal much about the device being certified but in this case, the little listed is enough to get us excited. The Moto XT1723 model is listed with a massive 4,000mAh battery which dwarfs that of the Moto E3 which came with a 3,500mAh battery. The device is also listed with a 16GB storage which is believed to be its base version. There will likely be a 32GB storage version in the long run. That is just where it ends but we hope to see more about the device in the coming days.

moto e3 power
Moto E3

Read Also: New Motorola Phone with 8GB ROM Seen at FCC: Might Be A New Moto E

The FCC certification means the Motorola, owned by Lenovo, has now gotten the green light to sell the Moto E4 in the US and Canada. The E4 will likely join two other Motorola models which had earlier appeared on WiFi Alliance with model numbers XT1750 and XT1754.

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Huawei’s Earnings Affected as it Spent More Revenue in Rivaling Apple, Samsung

Huawei is currently sitting on the third position behind Apple and Samsung in the global smartphone manufacturer ranking. However, the company’s efforts on gaining grounds on market leaders have led to slower growth in its revenues.

Huawei has shifted its focus from its telecom equipment business to smartphone business. However, such a shift has led to decline in the net profit margins for two years in a row. According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Huawei has put a lot of money into research and marketing to rival against Apple and Samsung. Compared to its net income revenue in 2011, Huawei gained only one-third revenue in 2016. It is the slowest growth rate since 2011.

Even though it is a relatively new brand in the smartphone industry, it has rapidly grown to become the third smartphone maker in the world. However, to expand at such a faster pace, Huawei has input a lot of money in research and marketing. The following graph shows that the company’s research and development costs have increased seven-fold since 2007.

Huawei earnings

Related: An Analyst Believes Huawei Will Topple Samsung to Become Apple’s Main Rival

On Friday, the company has said that  from the revenue it earned in 2016, it has spent 14.6 percent on R&D. It plans to use $10 to $20 billion annually for R&D as the company plans to research and advance in various segments like preparation to support 5G standards, artificial intelligence, wireless technology and cloud computing.

According to Huawei Chief Financial Officer Sabrina Meng, “In 2017, we will continue to boost the efficiency and quality of our operations to ensure solid growth,” Since December 2016, the company has started cutting costs that go into mega marketing events as growing expenditure can affect efficiency and profitability of the company.

Huawei is earning lesser revenue from its main business of networking equipment as the firm aims to achieve more sales through consumer business like cloud computing and smartphones. It wants to become word’s larger smartphone maker by 2021 by expanding its sales in international markets, but at present it is heavily reliable on sales from home market as China contributed 45 percent of revenue in 2016 and 42 percent in 2015. Moreover, Huawei is under threat in the home market from brands like Oppo and Vivo.

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Galaxy S8, S8+ to Hit Record Breaking Sales Without Facing Supply Shortages

Samsung is having very high hopes from its recently introduced Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ flagships. A recent report from South Korea has revealed that both phones will not encounter any shortage in supply.

Samsung is quite confident about the success of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ phones as it has already said that it anticipates to sell more number of Galaxy S8 units than it sold Galaxy S7 in 2016. According to industry experts, Samsung has sold more than 48 million units of Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge by the beginning of this year. Hence, the Galaxy S7 duo phones have set a new in-house record for the company for first-year sales.

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are respectively priced at $749 and $849. The Galaxy S8 duo are costlier than the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Still, Samsung expects Galaxy S8 to outsell Galaxy S7 as the company have made all the preparations to meet the demand for its newest flagships.

Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus Hands on

Related: Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus Hands On: Beautiful Infinity Display Experience

Speaking on the supply of Galaxy S8 duo, Koh Dong-jin, the Head of Mobile Business with Samsung Electronics said that the Galaxy S8’s initial supply will be twice more than that of Galaxy S7.  He further added that since the company is able to prepare the supply of Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ without difficulty, the company won’t meet any problem of supply delay. For the initial sales, Samsung is preparing 20 million units of the new flagships.

The preparation for the initial sales of Galaxy S8 duo suggest that the company is ready for record-breaking sales. Moreover, the customers across the world will have no problems in purchasing a Galaxy S8 or S8+. However, the only thing that can somewhat disturb the sales of Galaxy S8 and S8+ is their costlier price tags.

The Galaxy S8 duo will go on sale from April 21 in the U.S. and some other regions. Both phones will subsequently arrive in other markets of the world. Industry watchers are of the view that the company would be selling over 46 to 60 million Galaxy S8 units this year.

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Xiaomi Mi 5C Gets Android 7.1 Nougat Upgrade

Xiaomi has announced that the Mi 5C will start getting upgrades which would push Android 7.1 Nougat upgrades to the new phone. This is in line with the company’s promise during the launch of the Mi 5C. The upgrades will be via OTA push but this one is meant for Xiaomi Mi 5C smartphones running the MIUI 8 developer ROM.

xiaomi mi 5c

One good thing about Xiaomi’s MIUI is that it is constantly upgraded to offer users newer and more features and it is so flexible you can decide to stick with a Developer ROM or a Stable ROM, or even a Ported ROM developed by unofficial developers. Developer ROMs are usually updated every week (except for special occasions like Chinese national holidays), and they will get bug fixes and new features in every update. On the other hand, Stable ROMs don’t have a regular update frequency. They are updated once a month or two months or even longer.

In this case, Mi 5C users running the developer ROM will get OTA updates as from today. Alternatively, the update package can be downloaded from the MIUI official website. It must be noted, though, that the Xiaomi Mi 5C comes with the MIUI 8 Stable ROM by default and so will ordinarily not get this OTA update.

Read Also: Xiaomi Mi 5C is available at $239 on Giztop

However, if you are eager to get a feel of using Android 7.1 Nougat on your Mi 5C, you can download the Developer ROM from the MIUI Forum. But if you have no idea about flashing your phone and stuff, just chill. The Mi 5C running MIUI 8 Stable ROM will still get updates to Android 7.1 Nougat later on.

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OnePlus to Announce New Dash Charge Product Soon

OnePlus has released a new tweet that reveals that the company will be announcing something related to its Dash Charge fast charging technology very soon. Also, the OnePlus CEO, Carl Pei has hinted that a new Dash Charge product is arriving.

The Dash Charge feature on OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T let users to charge the batteries to rapidly charge the batteries to 63 percent from scratch with just 30 minutes of charging. Since official tweets hints the coming of a new Dash Charge product, speculations have it that the company may announce a new power bank that is equipped with Dash Charge rapid charging feature. Other speculations suggest that as the Dash Car Charger from the company has gone out of stock, it is likely that OnePlus may announce a related product.

 

 

Related: OnePlus 5 Specs & Renders Leaked: Snapdragon 835, 8GB RAM, 2K Display!

Some may think that it may be an April Fool’s Day prank, but it does not seem so as the announcement is set to happen on March 31. Secondly, the tweets have come from the official Twitter channel of OnePlus as well as from the company’s CEO. These things suggest that there is a legitimate announcement slated to happen on Friday.

We will have to wait for few more hours to find out the new Dash Charge product from OnePlus.

Xiaomi Teases A New Product Launch, Smart Sports Camera?

Xiaomi has again come out with yet another teaser, this time of a product launching 0n April 5. The product will be coming out in time for the Mi Festival 2017 which runs from April 6 – 9. The name of the product isn’t clearly stated but the teaser speaks volume about what we’ll likely be seeing on that day.

The teaser poster is that of a young man who carries a carton containing a football. The poster also contains the logo of a camera and these all points in the direction of a Smart sports camera coming. The product will by unveiled by 10 AM on April 5 and then we’ll know what it is for sure.

xiaomi

Related: Xiaomi Announces New Wireless Mouse, Mi Festival 2017

However, Xiaomi has got a number of Action camera in its lineup, especially the Yi-series. The Yi camera is manufactured by Xiaoyi which is now an independent company. Perhaps, this camera will bear squarely the Xiaomi brand name as it isn’t likely a crowdfunded product even though it falls under its smart home MIJIA brand.

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Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus Hands On: Beautiful Infinity Display Experience

Finally, the latest and greatest Samsung galaxy flagships are here, the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus. Both phones follow a familiar Samsung’s design language but they now have truly bezel-less displays that just look gorgeous.

Galaxy S8 Display

In fact, the Galaxy S8 is narrower and just feels so much smaller in the hand in comparison to the last year’s Galaxy S7 edge even though it has a larger 5.8” display. The S8+ has a 6.2” display but it also has one of the best screen to body ratios out there.

You can check out my Galaxy S8 hands on review video below:

Both phones are 8mm thick and they sport pretty small batteries. The S8 has a 3000mAh unit whereas the S8+ sports a 3500mAh power bank.

As far as the specs go, the S8 and S8+ will use either Snapdragon 835 or Exynos 8895 chipsets, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which is also expandable via the MicroSD card slot. There are rumors about the 6GB model but there is no official info about that.

Galaxy S8 beautiful screen

The 2k resolution AMOLED panels look really sharp and vibrant. They also use the 18:9 aspect ratio and HDR video support, which seems like a trending feature in 2017.

Some people may be disappointed but finally, the physcial home button is gone. There is still a button underneath the on-screen keys, which gives you a nice haptic feedback. You will also be able to switch the recent apps and the back buttons.

Galaxy S8 onscreen button

A new 8MP auto-focus selfie camera is said to be better than ever. I took a few selfies in low-light and they do look pretty good but more on the image quality in my full review later.

There was no space for the fingerprint scanner on the front, so Samsung put it on the back… in the most awkward position you can ever imagine. It will take time to get used to it and you may smudge your camera lens from time to time but at least the scanner is accurate. Also, it finally unlocks the phone straight from the standby mode.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Back Smudges

The reason why the fingerprint scanner placement is questionable is that you have new face recognition and iris scanner features, which seem to work pretty well but they are slower to use since you need to wake your phone up first.

As most of the Samsung phones, the S8 is a huge fingerprint magnet and it looked gross even though I kept cleaning it all the time. I won’t be getting a black model, where all those smudges are visible, that’s for sure.

Same as the last year’s flagship, the S8 sports the IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, so you will be able to wash those smudges out.

We have the same 12MP camera on the back but it now has better software optimizations. I took a few camera samples in low-light and they do look really good but again, more on the image quality in my full review.

Galaxy S8 side view

We have a usual set of buttons, a headset jack and a dedicated button for a new Samsung’s voice assistant that is called Bixby. It is basically Samsung’s version of the google assistant. So far it looks promising but this is a feature that I will be testing in detail later on.

I spent just an hour with the new Galaxies but I absolutely love the new Grace UX. It looks cleaner and most importantly, it is really fast even though there are lots of features and customization options. We will see how it performs after installing a lot of apps on the phone. The new Samsung Dex will allow you to transform your Galaxy phone into a desktop computer to boost your productivity by optimizing the apps and the home screen for a large display. However, the Dex dock will be sold separately.

Galaxy S8 Settings Screen

Samsung also announced a new Gear 360 camera that will be easy to use and it will let you live stream 360 videos easily.

Both new Galaxies will be available in a variety of colors and the release information currently puts pre-orders at March 30, with the phones making it into your hands by April 21.

Most carriers in the US will be offering the Galaxy S8 for $750 and the Galaxy S8 Plus for $850. The prices in Europe will be 800 EUR for the Galaxy S8 and the 900 EUR for the S8+.

Xiaomi Launches Egg-Shaped 99 Yuan ($14) Smart Thermometer

Apart from the Yunmao Good light Mini 2 Smart body scale, Xiaomi also launched a smart thermometer as its 73rd product on the crowdfunding platform on Thursday. The Smart thermometer is already up for funding on the crowdfunding platform and it carries a price tag of just 99 yuan (~$14). The device will start shipping on May 18.

The Smart thermometer comes with a diameter of 17mm and with a high thermal conductivity. The device uses a stainless steel temperature sensor which is of food-grade meaning it is safe. It measures temperatures ranging between 32-degree centigrade and 42-degree centigrade with an error of 0.1 degrees.

Related: Xiaomi Launches Yunmao Good Light Mini 2 Smart Body Scale Priced at 89 Yuan ($13)

The Xiaomi Smart thermometer is water resistant, with an IPX6 rating and there is a safe adhesive through which the thermometer can be attached to the body. It requires just 2.5 seconds to detect a baby body temperature. The thermometer comes with Bluetooth connectivity and can be connected to the Mi App via a mobile phone. The temperature measurements can be followed continuously via the app. Another cool feature is that it comes with an alarm that beeps when the temperature level is at a dangerous level. Parents can set their own low and high-temperature level and when this level is reached, the alarm beeps.

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LeEco’s New Flagship Launch Date Leaks: April 11

Since its financial troubles became public knowledge, Chinese smartphone giant LeEco has been on the quiet side, only managing to pop into the news a few times since the beginning of the year. But one smartphone that has failed to leave our presence is the LeEco flagship with a weird-looking dual rear camera. This device which has been the subject of series of leaks is touted to be of a flagship stock and would even feature AI technology.

leeco flagship

There is a new information now, call it rumour if you like, that the LeEco flagship would be launched this April, specifically on April 11. The rumour emanated from a Weibo user who also revealed that the flagship device would use a dual-lens camera setup which he predicts would be the flagship standard going forward despite the Galaxy S8 not having one.  We don’t know the other details of the flagship but there is a rumor that it would sport dual cameras at the front as well as at the rear. Previously we were expecting a Snapdragon 821-powered flagship but we don’t know if that would change since there is a new Sheriff in town now.

Read Also: Camera Screenshot of LeEco Flagship With Dual Cameras Leaked!

Another revelation by the Weibo tipster is that the LeEco smartphone would come with artificial intelligence (AI), making it a true flagship. Incase you are at a loss here, the AI technology will likely function as a voice assistant similar to Samsung’s Bixby. And if indeed the smartphone comes with an AI technology, that would make it the first LeEco smartphone to feature such.

April 11 is just two weeks away, while it is unlikely that LeEco will launch a smartphone on that day, we’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope they do.

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Synaptics Launches FS4600 Seriess Underglass Optical Fingerprint Sensor

Synaptics announced today a new line of fingerprint sensors. The new sensors will be under the “FS4600 family of Natural ID”. They will be used in smartphones to provide high-performance and secure biometric authentication.

Manufacturers adopt various designs for their fingerprint scanners. We have seen square shaped scanners (Moto G4 Plus and Moto Z Play), pill shaped ones (Meizu M5 Note, Xiaomi Mi 5), circular ones (Redmi Note 4), and square scanners (Lenovo Vibe K4 Note). Synaptics says its new sensors can be adapted into any of these designs and in any position too.

Synaptics Biometric Scanner

Another new feature coming to the FS4600 family is that it can be placed under either glass, ceramic, or polymer coatings. It can also be assigned the function of two OD soft buttons and will support force sensing and swipe navigation. Security for the FS4600 will be provided by Synpatics’ SentryPoint security software.

READ MORE: Samsung to Ditch Fingerprint Scanner in Favor of Facial Recognition on Future Flagships

C. Ronaldo Teases Dual Camera Nubia Z17 Mini Ahead of Release

Portuguese footballer and Real Madrid C.F player, Cristiano Ronaldo is the brand ambassador for Nubia. Earlier today, he took to his Weibo page to share a picture from his photo shoot with the soon-to-be-released Nubia Z17 Mini.

The image gives us a good look at Nubia’s second dual camera phone for the year, the first being the Nubia M2 released last week. There are a number of differences between both devices but we will just focus on the obvious ones. First the dual cameras and the LED flash are positioned differently. In the Z17 Mini, they are positioned along the antenna line like you have in the iPhone 7. The LED flash also precedes the cameras.

For the Nubia M2, it sports the U-design antenna lines, so you have the dual cameras below it. The sensor also come before the LED flash. Another major difference is the position of the fingerprint scanner. It sits upfront underneath the home button in the M2 but is positioned at the back on the Z17 Mini.Nubia Z17 Mini C. Ronaldo

Nubia Z17 Mini C. Ronaldo

Both phones will also differ in terms of specs. According to the information on TENAA, the Nubia Z17 Mini will have a 5.2-inch 1080p screen, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, 16MP front facing camera and probably dual 13MP sensors on the back. Due to the smaller screen, the battery has been cut down to 2930mAh.

READ MORE: This Nubia Z17 Teaser will Tickle Your Fancy with Its Giant 5000mAh Battery

OnePlus 5 Specs & Renders Leaked: Snapdragon 835, 8GB RAM, 2K Display!

Samsung’s latest Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus flagships are presently ruling the airwaves not because they bear the Samsung brand but because of the sleek design and the powerful processors they feature, especially the Snapdragon 835 SoC. Samsung isn’t the only one that would use the Qualcomm latest chipset as Xiaomi had earlier been tipped to be the first Chinese domestic brand that would use the next generation SoC. Now, OnePlus is also rumoured to use the Snapdragon 835 on their upcoming flagship.

oneplus 5

A new leak has come up which tend to give some credibility to earlier rumours that the OnePlus5 flagship will use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip. The leak also revealed that the Snapdragon 835 would come with 8GB of RAM, as well as a Quad HD (2K) display. The flagship will also sport a 5.5-inch display, 3,000mAh battery, 23MP rear camera with OIS, and others.

oneplus 5

The renders of the OnePlus 5 were also leaked alongside the specifications and they reveal the likelihood of a full-screen display with a high screen-to-body ratio. We can’t be so sure about that but it is just logical for OnePlus to go along with the trend and make their next flagship come with a high screen-to-body ratio. Already LG G6 launched with such design and now the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus and more are likely to follow. The display is likely going to be a curved display with a virtual home button.

oneplus 5

Read Also: OnePlus May Skip OnePlus 4 and Launch OnePlus 5 (with a Ceramic Back) Next

In addition, the leaked renders show that the OnePlus 5 may likely come with a dual camera setup at the rear which is aligned in the vertical plane. Also, there is a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor which could be as a result of the absence of a front home button under which the fingerprint could have been embedded. Nothing is certain yet, so we’ll still take this one with a pinch of salt.

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High End Version of Redmi Note 4X Shows Up on Official Website, Sports Helio X20 Chip

When Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 4X last month, it was only available with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Xiaomi however teased that there would be a 4GB RAM variant with 64GB ROM. The rumor back then was that it was also going to have a different Snapdragon processor, most likely the Snapdragon 653. Sorry to burst your bubble, but Xiaomi has decided to power the Redmi Note 4X with a Helio X20 chip instead. Yes, that’s the deca-core chip we saw in the TENAA listing earlier today.

Redmi Note 4X High-End Version

The info comes from Xiaomi’s official website where the details of the new variant have already been uploaded. The high-end version will have the Mali T880MP4 GPU clocked at 700MHz 4GB RAM.It will also support SD cards of up to 128GB  in size. The remaining specifications are the same as the 3GB RAM version.

READ MORE: Redmi 4X vs Redmi 4A vs Redmi 4 vs Redmi 4 Prime: Which 4 is Right 4 You?

An Analyst Believes Huawei Will Topple Samsung to Become Apple’s Main Rival

Brian White is an analyst for Drexel Hamilton and he thinks there will soon be a change of power in the smartphone world. According to him, Samsung’s days of being the Android king are coming to an end and the new king will be Chinese manufacturer, Huawei.

“I do expect the Chinese to knock off Samsung and that’s probably going to be Huawei. I see it as a Huawei-Apple fight in the future, Samsung and probably some smaller competitors underneath them.” Mr White is quoted as saying in an interview with Squawk Alley.

Samsung Galaxy S8+ Vs Huawei P10

Actually, his prediction may turn out to be true. In the fourth quarter of 2016, an IDC report says Apple and Samsung’s share of the smartphone market were almost tied at 18% each. Huawei almost snagged 11% of the market.

Both Huawei and Samsung have announced their flagships for 2017 and both devices are very impressive. It remains to see how many units they are able to sell by the end of the year.

It appears that the speculation of Samsung’s reign coming to an end is one that is not only shared by Brian White. Hans Tung, a venture investor and managing partner at GGV says he is skeptical about Samsung’s long term chances against Apple. He says the market is saturated and “it is very difficult to come up with a phone that will wow customers greatly”.

READ MORE: There Might Not be Enough Samsung S8 Units After All

Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ Pre-order Pricing, Release Dates for Unlocked & Carrier Variants

Check out our Galaxy S8 hands-on video from the launch event:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg495kYSR1M[/embedyt]

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ phones are now available on pre-orders with color options like Midnight Black, Orchid Gray and Arctic Silver in the U.S. Customers who pre-order the S8 or S8+ can avail a free Gear VR with Controller as well as Oculus Bonus Content.  Pre-orders across AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and US Cellular will begin on March 30 at 12:01 AM ET and last until April 21.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus

Unlocked Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+

The unlocked Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ would be available for purchase through Best Buy in the U.S. with a respective pricing of $724.99 and $824.99. The unlocked models are cheaper than carrier counterparts. The shipments of the unlocked units will begin from May 9.

 

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AT&T

Galaxy S8 full retail price – $750, Availability at AT&T Stores – April 24

  • AT&T Next – $25 monthly payments for 30 months
  • AT&T Next Every Year – $31.25 monthly payments for 24 months.

Galaxy S8+ full retail price – $850, Availability at AT&T Stores – April 21

  • AT&T Next – $28.34 monthly payments for 30 months
  • AT&T Next Every Year – $35.42 monthly payments for 24 months.

Promotional Offers:

Apart from the usual freebies like Gear VR with Controller as well as Oculus Bonus Content, the following promotional offers are available with AT&T:

  • $750 as credits for another Galaxy S8 or S8+
  • $49 for Samsung Gear S3 with two-year service agreement
  • 99 cents for Samsung Tab E or Samsung Gear S2 with two-year service agreement.

 

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T-Mobile

Galaxy S8 full retail price – $750, Availability at T-Mobile stores – April 21

  • $30 down payment, $30 monthly payments for 24 months
  • Jump on Demand – $0 down payment, $31.25 monthly payments for 24 months.

Galaxy S8+ full retail price – $850, Availability at T-Mobile stores – April 21

  • $130 down payment, $30 monthly payments for 24 months
  • Jump on Demand – $130 down payment, $30 monthly payments for 24 months.

Promotional Offers:

Apart from Gear VR with Controller and Oculus Bonus Content freebies, customers who pre-order at T-Mobile store s will get a DeX desktop docking station for free.

 

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Verizon

Galaxy S8 full retail price – $720, Availability at Verizon stores – April 21

  • $30 monthly payments for 24 months

Galaxy S8+ full retail price – $840, Availability at Verizon stores – April 21

  • $35 monthly payments for 24 months

Promotional Offers:

Apart from the usual pre-order freebies, users can spend $99 more for Experience Box that consists of Gear VR with Controller, Hardon Kardon earphones and 256 GB microSD card from Samsung.

 

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Sprint

Galaxy S8 full retail price – $744, Availability at Sprint stores – April 21

  • 18 months lease plan with $25 down payment and $29.62 monthly payments
  • $31.25 monthly payments for 24 months.

Galaxy S8+ full retail price – $844, Availability at T-Mobile stores – April 21

  1. 18 months lease plan with $25 down payment and $33.78 monthly payments
  2. $35.42 monthly payments for 24 months.

Promotion Offers:

Besides the Gear VR and Oculus bundle, Sprint is also providing another offer for $99 which includes Gear VR with Controller, Hardon Kardon earphones and 256 GB microSD card from Samsung.

 

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US Cellular

US Cellular has not announced the full retail pricing of Galaxy S8 and S8+. It is an offering an trade-in offer that allows customers to either trade an eligible smartphone (iPhone 5S or later; Galaxy S6 or later) to avail the Galaxy S8 for free whereas the S8 will come for $3.64 monthly payments for 30 months. If there is no phone available for the trade-in offer, the carrier will provide $100 promotional gift card. However, customers need to avail Total Plan or Shared Connect plan and also subscribe for Device Protection + program.

 

 

Galaxy S8, S8+ UK Pre-orders, Pricing

In the U.K, the pre-orders have started from March 29 until April 19 on the official UK website of Samsung and operators like Carphone Warehouse, EE, Sky Mobile and Tesco Mobile. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ phones will be respectively available for £689 and £779 and will come in color options like Midnight Black and Orchid Grey. The Arctic Silver color be made available soon.

LG V30 Front Panel Leaks, Reveals Dual Selfie Cameras

LG could be said to be among the pioneers of dual camera phones as we know it today. Even though HTC holds the title of having the first real dual camera phone, LG ‘s name still pops up each time the history of dual camera phones is being discussed. The Korea company looks set to take the bar a tad higher once again by releasing a phone with dual cameras at the front and rear a the same time.

lg v30

This kind of setup will likely be on the LG V30 whose front panel leaked on Slashleaks recently. Although only the front panel was leaked showing there would be dual cameras up front, the LG V30 may likely follow the trend of the V10 and V20 which had dual cameras at their rear aspects. Also, the panel reveals another shocking detail, which is the likely cancellation of the secondary display which has been the hallmark of previous LG V-series smartphones.

 

Read More: LG V30 Will Feature Snapdragon 835 and 6GB of RAM According to Rumors

The tipster is credited with some high level of credibility so, the leak is likely that of the V30. Besides, we had already started getting rumours that the V30 would pack the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset as well as 6GB of RAM. We hope to see more leaks as time progresses.

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China to Get High-End Version of Galaxy S8+ with 6GB RAM & 128GB ROM

For the next couple of days or even weeks, Samsung’s newly announced Galaxy S8 and S8+ will be the most talked about device. Following its launch yesterday, there have been an endless stream of Galaxy S8 news on the internet. So expect it to continue today.

The new flagship from Samsung comes in two variants,the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+. Both have 2K displays, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. They also have the same 12MP rear camera and 8MP autofocus front facing camera. Samsung has pre-installed Android 7.0 Nougat on both phones and has included a multitude of ways to keep your phone secure. There is an iris scanner, a fingerprint scanner, face unlock, pin, pattern, and password.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus

All these features are the standard across all regions except for China. It turns out that the Galaxy S8+ will be launched with 6GB of RAM and 128GB in the Asian country. This should not come as a surprise as this has been rumored before. Last year, Samsung’s first 6GB RAM phone, the Galaxy C9 Pro was also first released in China.

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