OPPO F3 and OPPO F3 Plus, the new Selfie Expert branded smartphones are poised to launch on March 23. A leaked document has completely revealed the specifications of the OPPO F3 Plus before its upcoming launch.
The leaked document has revealed that the OPPO F3 Plus has a huge screen of 6 inches protected by Gorilla Glass 5. It supports full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The Snapdragon 653 chipset (MSM8976) featuring an octa-core processor powers the device along with 4 GB of RAM. Its native storage is 64 GB and it carries support for up to 256 GB of microSD card.
The USP of the phone will be its Dual Selfie Camera that includes a 16-megapixel + 8-megapixel snapper on the front. The rear side of the phone features a 16-megapixel camera. There is no confirmation whether the rear camera will be equipped with OPPO’s newly announced 5X optical zoom camera technology.
It will be running on Color OS 3.0, a customized edition of Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS. It supports dual nano SIM cards with 4G LTE. Its dimensions are 163.63 x 80.8 x 7.35mm and its weight is 189 grams. It includes a 4,000 mAh battery. It is likely that the battery will be coupled with the company’s VOOC fast charging feature.
Recently, the OPPO F3 and F3 Plus banner was spotted in the Philippines and the company has also released a teaser with a text “The New Era of Selfie Expert” with the date of March 23. It hints that OPPO F3 and F3 Plus may debut on that date. The leaked document has revealed that the OPPO F3 Plus would be coming in Gold and Black color options.
Both phones will arrive to replace the OPPO F1s and OPPO F1s Plus Selfie Expert phones. The smartphones will arrive to take on the recently launched Vivo V5 and Vivo V5 Plus smartphones that also feature 20-megapixel + 8-megapixel dual camera on their front sides. The Vivo V5 Plus is also equipped with a selfie flash. There is no confirmation on whether the OPPO F3 and F3 Plus have selfie flash for their dual selfie camera.
In the previous week, the leaked photos of BlackBerry Aurora with model number BBC1001-1 had surfaced. Earlier today, the smartphone was officially announced.
Indonesia is one of the major markets for BlackBerry phone. Hence, BlackBerry had signed a contract with BB Merah Putih from Indonesia to launch new BlackBerry phones in the country. The BlackBerry Aurora has been launched with midrange specs which includes an impressive rear camera.
BlackBerry Aurora is the first smartphone from the brand to come with dual-SIM support. The official press release states that the phone that is packed with entertainment features is mainly aimed towards Indonesian customers.
The Aurora smartphone has a 5.5inch On-cell display that carries support HD resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels. It is driven by Snapdragon 425 chipset that includes a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor. Even though it’s a midranger, BlackBerry has included 4 GB of RAM on the device. It carries support for external storage.
Its rear side houses a 13-megpaixel camera enabled features like LED flash and electronic aperture controls. The latter helps users to shoot crisp and clear photos by using accurate manual settings.
This leaked video had surfaced before just before the official announcement of BlackBerry Aurora to show off its photography prowess. For shooting selfies, it has a fixed focus 8-megapixel snapper.
The dual SIM phone supports 4G LTE connectivity and it runs on Android 7.0 Nougat OS and it is preloaded with BlackBerry Hub. With DTEKTM preloaded on the phone, the BlackBerry Aurora offers the best security to protect its operating system and apps. The security app can tell the user whether the device’s camera or accessing other functions on the phone is being secretly accessed by someone. Talking about security, the smartphone does not feature a fingerprint scanner.
BlackBerry Aurora includes a 3,000 mAh battery housed inside a body that measures 152 x 76.6 x 8.5 mm and weighs around 178 grams. It comes in color options like Gold, Black and Silver.
The Aurora is aimed towards the Indonesian market. So, there is no confirmation on when will it be hitting markets outside of Indonesia. It is priced at IDR 3,499,000 ($261). The pre-orders of the phone have begun in Indonesia through online retailers. Customers who pre-order it can get freebies like JBL Bluetooth speaker as well as a flip case. Its shipping will begin on March 13.
I got the MGCOOL Band 2 a few weeks back and ever since I have been playing around with the device. MGCOOL is a special brand that focuses on products other than smartphones like wearables, action cameras etc.
The MGCOOL Band 2 is a good looking fitness band that works as promised. It took me a while to learn all the features on the handset, and there are quite a number of options available, despite its cheap price tag. And surprisingly, all the features work as described.
Just like any other wearable, there are three major things that you get inside the MGCOOL Band 2 box, the wearable device, a charging module and the user manual. No need for any kind of screen scratch guard as the display on board is quite resistant to scratches. At least I haven’t seen any significant scratches on the screen in my two weeks of usage.
MGCOOL Band 2 Review: DESIGN
The MGCOOL Band 2 is a pretty good looking wearable. I like that the company has given it a different design as compared to the Xiaomi Mi Band 2 which most local Chinese companies try to imitate. In fact, because of its slightly curved display design, the MGCOOL Band 2 looks better than Xiaomi’s wearable. However, note that the main module with the display is not removable, and is integrated with the silicone strap. But the strap can be replaced by taking out the two screws on each side of the module.
What I love about the band is its minimalistic design. The strap feels good and there is a cut out in between where you can neatly slide the remaining part of the strap (after pinning it) for a firm fit. While it may take a couple of trials to get used to the design, it ensures that the wearable fits well onto your wrist.
You have one capacitive button on the display that works well along with the MGCOOL branding on top. Overall the wearable feels pretty good for a $25 device.
MGCOOL Band 2 Review: DISPLAY
The Band 2 has a pretty decent display. It’s larger than Xiaomi’s Mi Band 2 and also uses its larger size in full effect. You get a host of information right from its first menu, which is great. As soon as you light up the display, the MGCOOL Band 2 reveals the time, date as well as battery remaining. Use the capacitive button to move to the next display page. I ‘ll detail all the display pages in the UI section, but since we are talking about the display quality here, note that it’s pretty good for a $20 device. The graphics are good and things look pretty sharp.
One important feature missing from the MGCOOL Band 2 is lighting up the display when you bring up your wrist. Although this feature doesn’t usually work as well as you would want in most cheap wearables, it is still a pretty essential feature. Having to manually click the capacitive button to light up the display gets boring after a while.
MGCOOL BAND 2 REVIEW: MGCOOL APP
Before we move on to the user interface, note that there is a dedicated MGCOOL Band 2 app on the Google Play store to make sure that the installation process is quick and easy. Like most other Chinese wearable apps in the market, the translation is a bit off in the app, well, not exactly off, but a bit funny. But that doesn’t affect the usage in any much as the features and options are clearly defined in the app. The app is good for basic usage, but don’t expect too much from it.
Once you download and install the MGCOOL Band 2 app, just go to device from the menu and your app should find the Band 2 pretty quickly. I tried out connecting the band on my Redmi 4A as well as OnePlus 3T and it was quick to find the wearable and connect to it. So, no issues in this department. The app will take a few seconds to sync data to the band and reveal it on your smartphone screen.
The app will show you important details such as your steps, sleep and heart rate data. Note that there is a special running mode on the device (I ‘ll explain it to you in the user interface section) and you have those details available on the app as well.
You can also play around with a lot of features on the MGCOOL Band 2 app from the setting menu, like Setting your goal for steps, distance and calories, Anti-lost, Music and camera controls, alarm, ringtone and hydration modes. Yes, the hydration mode as you may have guessed from the translation reminds you to drink a glass of water throughout the day. You can set an interval for the reminder as well as the number of times the band has to remind you for the same.
Overall, despite its weird translations, the app for the MGCOOL Band 2 works well.
MGCOOL Band 2 Review: User Interface
Unlike the Mi Band 2, the MGCOOL Band 2 comes with a lot of pages on the display. You are greeted with the date, time and battery life on the first page. As you move on to the next using the capacitive button, you’ll find the steps walked in a day, special running mode, distance traveled, calories burned, remote camera, remote music playback control, heart rate sensor, and firmware version details in each of the subsequent pages.
Note that these pages just display the recorded information. But if you want to start switch on the feature in some of the pages, like running mode, remote camera and music controls and even heart rate sensor, you have to long press the capacitive button. Long press in the remote camera mode takes a picture, but only when you have activated the camera via the companion Band 2 app. It’s a pretty decent setup for selfies. The music mode gives you three different controls, including play/pause, next and previous buttons.
All the interface modes are shown below in the gallery.
MGCOOL Band 2 Review: Fitness Features
The MGCOOL Band manages to track your steps with a decent level of accuracy. It’s pretty much the same as most decent wearables out there, so you won’t be disappointed. Initially, I felt that the step count was higher on this band than the Mi Band 2, but when I tested both the wearables together, the results were quite similar.
The heart rate sensor works pretty well, provided the band fits perfectly on your wrist. Sometimes you may have to adjust the position of the band to get rid of the “Please Wear Correctly” message in the heart rate mode. But overall the sensor works fine.
The band is IPX7 certified as well, which means it’s waterproof and can be immersed under water up to 1m for up to 30 minutes. So, it will be fine for use under rain, or a few splashes of water. But don’t go swimming with the device.
The running mode is pretty good as well, as it shows you the time taken to cover the steps taken as well as the calories burned during the activity.
MGCOOL BAND 2 REVIEW: Battery Life
The MGCOOL Band 2 lasts for about a week after charging it once. So, battery life isn’t a problem on the device. The charger provided inside the box is also minimalistic. Unlike some wearable chargers that are magnetic that snap right onto the device, the one provided with the MGCOOL Band 2 comes with a basic clip on design. It’s quite easy to connect the three pins on the charger to the device and you won’t have any issues in this regard.
MGCOOL BAND 2 REVIEW: Conclusion
Overall, I am pretty happy with the device. The fitness features work well on most occasions, it looks and feels well built and the battery lasts for a few days. These are the things that you usually look for in a cheap fitness band and the MGCOOL Band 2 manages to fulfill these needs with ease. Given that the band costs just $25-30, the device can be a good addition to your fitness accessories.
The Moto Z was launched in 2016 to replace the Moto X series smartphones. A leaked photo of the alleged Moto Z (2017) has now surfaced to reveal new changes in its design.
The Moto Z (2017) resembles a lot to its predecessor model. It sports a redesigned physical Home button that probably houses a fingerprint scanner. A “moto’ logo can be seen between the screen and the Home button.
Compared to the squared shaped Home button on the original Moto Z, the leaked photo suggests that the Home button of the Moto Z (2017) has a rectangular appearance with rounded corners. It resembles with the fingerprint sensor enabled Home button on the recently unveiled Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus smartphones.
The original Moto Z has an LED flash for its selfie camera. The leaked photo suggests that the Moto Z (2017) would be able to catch good quality selfies as it seems to sport a dual-tone flash for the front-facing camera. It is also expected to feature
The Moto Z (2017) was allegedly spotted on Geekbench benchmarking site in January. It revealed that the smartphone would be powered by Snapdragon 835 chipset and 4 GB of RAM. It was spotted running on Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS.
A patent filed by Motorola in the recent past suggests that the new Moto Z will be equipped with an iris scanner. However, this biometric recognition feature cannot be identified on the leaked photo does of Moto Z (2017).
In July 2016, well-known leakster Ricciolo had revealed that the new Moto Z’s rear camera will come with lower number of megapixels, but the size of each pixel will be increased. It means the second-generation Moto Z would be able to snap better photos in low light conditions.
The USP of the Moto Z lineup introduced last year is that it features 16-pin magnetic connector on the bottom part of its rear side. Various kinds of easily swappable accessories dubbed as Moto Mods can be snapped on the rear side of Moto Z. The Moto Mods that are available for the first-generation Moto Z is also expected to be compatible with its successor.
The Moto Z was launched in June 2016. Its successor is expected to launch in the same month this year. Since June is only few months away, the rumor mill is expected to spill more information on the Moto Z (2017).
Barely 3 days after we reported that the Nokia 3310 and its senior siblings, the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 were all up for pre-orders in Europe, details have emerged that the Nokia 3310 is receiving an unexpected number of interests. Pre-orders doesn’t transform into actual sales but then, they are indicators of how popular the phone is when it goes up for sale and for a cheap €49 iconic feature phone, that could as well transform into real sales.
UK retailer Carphone Warehouse disclosed this much recently, stating that it received an unprecedented level of demand for the feature phone. Call it nostalgia if you like, but the 3310 was one of Nokia most successful devices in its hey days. The new Nokia 3310 comes with a lot of differences, mostly upgrades in its specs and the design is also totally different but those seem not to have affected the level of interest in the phone.
As a reminder, the Nokia 3310 comes with a 2.4-inch curved window screen with an entire dimension of 115.6 x 51 x 12.8mm. The device is available in four color options — Warm Red and Yellow with glossy texture and Grey and Dark Blue with Matte finish. You can check out details on the specs from here. The Nokia 3310 is expected to go on sale in Q2 2017 globally for €49 (~$52).
OPPO seems to have a couple of new smartphones in the works which would hit the market soon. That is if the rumor emanating from the Philippines is anything to go by. A pair of OPPO smartphones named OPPO F3 and F3 Plus were recently spotted in an ad poster somewhere in the Philippines.
In case you don’t know, the Philippines is one of OPPO’s stronghold as the Chinese brand is very popular in the country. The smartphones’ names mean they belong to the F-series which are better known by the alias “Selfie Expert”. But this time around, the F3 and F3 Plus looks set to take that selfie expertise of the F-series to a different plane, with the poster indicating that they would pack dual selfie cameras.
Another interesting fact gathered from the poster is the presence of South Korean singer G-Dragon who seem to have endorsed the smartphones. Apart from the picture of him holding who should be one of the two smartphones, his autograph and name are also crested onto the poster. G-Dragon and his band, the Big Band are popular in the Philippines, so the likelihood of all these being real is big.
OPPO’s previous antecedent when the R9 Plus was spotted in a poster inside an airport in China long before it was announced perhaps further lends credence to the chances of these being real. We hope to see more details especially on the specs and launch date, in the coming days.
Xiaomi unveiled the Xiaomi Mi 5C a week ago. The special feature about the phone is its processor, the Pinecone Surge S1. This is Xiaomi’s first in-house chip and the Mi 5C is the first device to sport it.
The Xiaomi Mi 5C is based on last year’s flagship the Snapdragon 820 toting Xiaomi Mi 5. So there are quite a number of similarities such as the screen size and the position of the fingerprint scanner. Where things start getting different is under the hood.
The Xiaomi Mi 5C has a 5.15 inch 1080p display, 3GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and is powered by the Surge S1 SoC clocked at 2.2GHz. One of its selling points is its 12MP rear camera which has a large 1.25um pixel. Xiaomi says the processor’s dual ISP algorithm allows for dual noise reduction and a 150% increase in camera sensitivity. The effect is pictures which are rich in detail with a significant reduction in noise.
The Xiaomi Mi 5C has a 2860mAh battery with support for 9V2A fast charging. There is no NFC like in the Mi 5 but it will be getting Android Nougat 7.1 later this month.
Surprisingly, Xiaomi has managed to keep the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 6 flagship under wraps for quite a long time. If you are familiar with the Chinese market, you would know that before the release of a major flagship device, you get most of the details about the model and even its variants. In fact, traditionally, by now, we should have come across multiple Xiaomi Mi 6 renders and leaks. But as you may have realized, this year, Xiaomi has guarded each and every detail about the Mi 6 pretty successfully. We don’t have a detailed specs list (apart from a few comments from analysts), no Geekbench or AnTuTu benchmarks and not even a basic sketch of the device. This means we could be in for a surprise when Xiaomi Mi 6 launches officially sometime in the next few weeks.
However, this doesn’t mean we don’t know anything about the phone. Considering the details revealed by analysts as well as a few leaks, we can build a basic picture of the Mi 6. So here’s everything we know about the Xiaomi Mi 6.
Xiaomi Mi 6 Design & Renders
Well, this is one area where we literally have no information on the Xiaomi Mi 6. There were a couple of images of a device claiming to be the Mi 6 circulating on Weibo, but it is most likely fake. You can check them below (or all images from here).
What we do know about the Mi 6 is that the phone will likely come in two design variants — one with a regular glass / metal body and another with a ceramic body. This is most likely going to be the case given that Xiaomi has experimented with ceramic body models (for Mi 5 Pro and Mi Mix) in the past and the latest news from China states that ceramic body production (which was a big issue last year) is going to be in good pace this year, thanks to the massive investment recently.
will the Xiaomi Mi 6 feature a Mi Mix like design?
But that’s about it. Whether Xiaomi will continue with a similar design language as the Xiaomi Mi 5S or will it go with something similar to the Xiaomi Mi Mix is something we still don’t know. It would be natural to go with a slimmer bezel design because that’s what everyone is trying to achieve this year.
Xiaomi Mi 6 Specs
Fortunately, there have been a lot of leaks and reports in this regard, many coming from popular analysts in China. First of all, note that unlike very early rumors which said Mi 6 might use SD821, almost all of the recent rumors, including comments from analysts confirm Snapdragon 835 processor on the Xiaomi Mi 6. Now, note that the there were also rumors about an underclocked SD835 ending up in the Mi 6, all thanks to the excessive demand by Galaxy S8 for the powerful version of the chip. But that doesn’t seem to be the case as the flagship is said to feature the powerful version of the chip. Further, it is even said that the Xiaomi Mi 6 will be the first Snapdragon 835 Chinese flagship.
As for the display, the Xiaomi Mi 6 is said to come with a 5.2-inch display with 2.5D glass on top. Don’t expect a curved display variant for the Mi 6, as that seems to be reserved for the Mi Note series, at least for now.
Now there are two versions rumored for the device, one with 1080p resolution and another with 2K display. The 4GB RAM + 32GB ROM variant should feature 1080p display while the 4GB + 64GB version should come with 2K display. Rumors didn’t shed light on a 6GB RAM version, but it’s very likely that we see a 6GB + 128GB variant of the Xiaomi Mi 6 at launch.
As for the camera, one report has said that the Xiaomi Mi 6 should feature a 12MP Sony IMX386 at the back. Up front, there should be an 8MP Sony IMX268 sensor for selfies. It looks like Xiaomi isn’t a big fan of a dual camera setup, unlike other companies like Huawei, LG, and even Vivo, who seem to be adopting it aggressively.
Mi 5S had an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, but will the Mi 6?
Another piece of information that we have got recently is that the Xiaomi Mi 6 may not feature an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. Instead, the company could go for a Chinese partner for its fingerprint requirement. But we are not quite sure whether that’ll be the case.
Xiaomi Mi 6 Release & Pricing
The Xiaomi Mi 6 was expected to be released in February. That didn’t happen. Analysts have revealed March 2017 release for the Mi 6, but we are yet to hear anything from the company officially. Finally, the latest report from China reveals that the Xiaomi Mi 6 could be announced on April 16. A bit too late as compared to last year’s Feb launch, but given that the Galaxy S8, which is another device featuring Snapdragon 835 is launching only in April (a bit delayed as compared to last year), it’s very much possible that we may see the Xiaomi Mi 6 only in April 2017.
As for the pricing, almost every analyst has said that the Xiaomi Mi 6 Price will start higher than that of its previous generation. So, we may not see a 1999 Yuan ($290) launch. The starting price of the Mi 6 could be a couple of hundred Yuan higher this year and naturally, the higher-end models will end up with higher price tags as well.
So, this is all we know about the Xiaomi Mi 6. If the release is indeed in March (as some rumors say), then expect the first set of the Mi 6 teasers to crop up in the next couple of weeks.
It appears 360 Mobiles has another phone set to be released soon barely 2 weeks after the launch of the 360 N5. While the 360 N5 is at the top of the spectrum with 6GB of RAM, this new device is equipped with just 1GB RAM.
The phone whose model number is 1701-M01 was seen on TENAA today. It is equipped with a 5-inch 720p display, a 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera. It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow, has dual SIM slots with support for LTE networks and has a 2,000mAh battery.
The 360 1701-M01 appears to be made of metal but it might turn out to be plastic. There is a physical home button up front but there is no mention of it having a fingerprint scanner, so don’t get your hopes high. Plus 360 phones usually have their fingerprint scanners on the back, so the chances are slim.
The rear of the phone has the single rear camera with a single LED flash below it. There is the 360 Mobiles logo at the bottom sitting about an inch from the speaker grille. If you look closely, you can also see the U-design antenna lines at the top and bottom. The 360 1701-M01 weighs 135 grams and measures 143.9 x 71.7 x 8.3 mm.
Judging from the specs, this device should be priced below $100. Probably even lesser than the Redmi 4A. Since it has made it to TENAA, we might get to see it launch soon.
The Honor V9 is one of the most beautiful smartphones released this year. It not only packs a punch but it also comes in amazing colors.
It is the successor to last year’s Honor V8 which itself is still less than a year old, but we know a lot can happen under a year. The V9 sports the new Kirin 960 processor, has a larger 4000mAh battery and improved cameras but it still keeps some of the features of its predecessor. The display is still 5.7-inches but its resolution has been bumped up to 2K on all variants making it great for VR. There is still NFC, a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and a USB Type-C port too.
For those of you who are curious to know what’s under the hood, we have been able to get images of the phone getting the teardown treatment. From the images we can see that when taken apart, the phone has its screen attached to one half of the phone while the remaining part is attached to the back plate. In other phones what you have is the back plate coming off totally. If you are going to try this at home, we advise you exercise caution when opening up the device so as not to rip the cable apart.
After disconnecting the cable attaching the display to the other half of the phone and removing the covering, you get greeted by the large 4000mAh battery and the rest of the components. To get a look at the dual rear cameras, you will have to remove the screws at the top and bottom, then gently lift both parts out, leaving the battery still seated.
Huawei’s Watch has been one of the most popular watches with Android Wear and this time around the company released two different variants of their brand new model – the Huawei Watch 2 and Huawei Watch 2 Classic.
Today, in this video, we are looking at the Huawei Watch 2 Classic. It has a classier look with some extra features like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The Watch 2, however, has the LTE connectivity and a fitness-focused design language.
The first impression about this watch is that it is bulky, just like any other smartwatch. A great thing is that it is well-built and it doesn’t seem to break anytime soon.
The watch runs on Android Wear 2.0 that has a ton of features and customization options. Just to name a few, you get NFC payments through Android Pay. Also, you can track your fitness routines through the built-in heart rate sensor and other metrics.
Another cool feature of the Android Wear 2.0 is that you can install apps directly on the watch thanks to the built-in Google Play Store. Also, you can text or make calls directly from the watch, use navigation thanks to the built-in GPS module and so on.
The user interface seems to be fast and smooth, and the watch is powered by the Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset.
The Huawei promises up to three days of battery life, with the Classic connected over the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi thanks to the built-in 420mAh battery.
Huawei Watch 2 Classic will sell for €399 in Europe, up from €379 for the LTE Watch 2, or €329 for the non-LTE model — and significantly more than LG’s Watch Sport.
After a long period of silence, Chinese smartphone giant LeEco has launched a new edition of the Le Pro 3 introduced late last year. The smartphone is dubbed LeEco Le Pro 3 Elite Edition but curiously it does not feature an elitist specs table, rather a trimmed down hardware lineup.
The Le Pro 3 Elite Edition comes with a Snapdragon 820 chipset instead of the Snapdragon 821 onboard the Le Pro 3. The new edition also does not feature NFC but all other specifications align with those of the Le Pro 3 which happens to be one of LeEco’s smartphones to go on sale in the US.
The LeEco Le Pro 3 Elite Edition features an all-metal body with gold color only and is equipped with a large 4070mAh battery. The smartphone comes with a capable 4GB RAM as well as 32GB of internal storage. The phone also come with exclusive 3 months membership access to LeEco’s video streaming service.
It is starting to look like a daily affair, Xiaomi is gearing up to release its 68th product on the crowdfunding Mijia platform. This is coming on the heels of the launch of the 399 Yuan ($58) Scishare coffee machine. The company has released a new poster which teases the launch of what would likely be a sports shoe line.
The launch will take place on March 9 at 10.00am and as usual, we have to use our intuition to deduce what the likely product is. The poster just contained the teaser “Air at the bottom” which suggests a pair of running shoes or sneakers which would likely be similar to the Nike Air Jordan lineup of sports shoes.
Since Xiaomi does not directly manufacture the products, this sports shoes seems to be from the stables of 90 Minutes. The company re-posted Xiaomi’s teaser of the launch event, even adding some insight into the upcoming product. Unfortunately, they too failed to reveal the identity of the product in clear terms. There is no doubt, though, that it is likely a pair of sports shoes. We’ll get to know the full details on March 9 at 10am.
An internal Google document has revealed that Google’s upcoming Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 smartphones will not feature the standard 3.5 mm headphone jack. When Google had launched Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones last year, it advertised that 3.5 mm audio jack is one of the key features of Pixel phones over iPhone 7 and iPhones 7 Plus smartphones that came without it.
9to5 Google stated that it has not shared the internal document as it will put the source at risk. It also stated that the news come from a single source and there is no secondary proof to support this information.
In January, the publication had reported that according to a tipster, Google is testing different chipsets like Snapdragon 83X and Intel chips on Pixel 2. However, the tipster did not reveal any information on the axing of 3.5 mm audio jack on Pixel 2. Hence, it is likely that Google is yet to decide whether to remove the feature or keep it. Hence, Gizmo China readers are taking this report with a pinch of salt as it is an unconfirmed rumor.
The same leakster also revealed that upcoming Pixel phones may come with a waterproof chassis. He also added that Google is working on providing a better camera on the next-generation Pixel phones. The camera will not have large-sized megapixels, but it will rather come with additional features like advanced low-light photography.
Currently, Google is receiving feedback from the users through the Pixel User Community to know what people like or dislike about the Pixel and Pixel XL and what improvements they would like to see. So Pixel phone fans who do not wish to see the standard headphone jack on next-generation Pixel phones can post their feedback.
The Senior VP for Hardware with Google, Rick Osterloh, had confirmed in the previous week that new Pixel smartphones would be releasing later this year. It is likely that the alleged Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 would be launched in October this year.
He added that Pixel phones would remain premium and ended the rumors of a budget-friendly Pixel phone. After this, the same tipster surfaced again to state that Google’s Pixel team is also working on a low-priced smartphone with modest specs, but it won’t be carrying Pixel brand name. It may be a new Android One phone from Google.
Would you like to see the next Pixel smartphone without a 3.5mm headphone jack? Do share your thoughts by adding your comments below.
The International Emergency Economic Powers Act prevents the U.S.-made tech products and services to be sold in some countries such as Iran and North Korea. However, since 2012 ZTE Corp. from China have been accused for selling its software and telecom equipment manufactured in the U.S. to Iran. It has been found guilty for doing so between January 2010 to April 2016.
When the investigation had started, ZTE had claimed that it was not guilty. However, now that the investigation is complete, it has been found that the Chinese firm had indeed signed numerous agreements for shipping hardware and software worth millions of dollars to a telecom carrier in Iran.
Since 2010 ZTE has sold its U.S.-made items worth around $32 million directly or indirectly to Iran without procuring export licenses from the government of the U.S. Moreover, it had lied during the federal investigation that it had stopped its shipments to Iran.
The company is also accused for shipping 283 devices such as microprocessors, routers and servers to North Korea. The U.S. laws does not allow shipping of these controlled items to countries that have repeatedly provided support for international terrorism.
The U.S. Commerce Department and U.S. Department of Treasury has ordered ZTE to pay $892 million as settlement fine for violating the U.S. laws as well as for making false statement. It will be paying additional amount of $298 for shipping regulated items to North Korea.
The total amount that it will paying as settlement fine is $1.19 billion out of which $661 million will go to the Commerce’s Bureau of Industry Security (BIS) as penalty fees, with $300 million suspended if ZTE adheres to the requirements of the agreement during the probationary period of seven years. It will pay $430 as criminal charges and forfeiture. The Chinese firm will be also paying $101 million to Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). A
ZTE Chairman Chief Executive, Zhao Xiamming said on Tuesday, ““ZTE acknowledges the mistakes it made, takes responsibility for them, and remains committed to positive change in the company.” Since March 2016, the U.S. suppliers are required to avail a license to work with ZTE. However, this issue will be resolved, if ZTE clears all its fins and adheres to the agreement of the settlement.
ZTE can continue to sell its smartphones and other telecom equipment in the country, but the verdict announced today can certainly impact the confidence of the customers on the Chinese firm. ZTE is one of the biggest manufacturers of telecom equipment in the world and it is the fourth largest smartphone vendor in the U.S. that sells its phones through carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. It products feature components from leading U.S. firms like Qualcomm, Microsoft and Intel.
There is probably no argument about the fact that Xiaomi got it right once again with the sleek design it adopted on the Redmi Note 4X. How about the superfly Hatsune Miku edition of the Note 4X with its green paint job? It is just beyond stunning to say the least, more so, considering that the smartphone isn’t a flagship Mi series device but a Redmi smartphone that comes cheap. We can’t seem to get enough of the images of the smartphone and here’s more hands-on/unboxing images fresh out of its box.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X Hatsune Miku Edition brings out the sleek and premium design the smartphone features as a result of the attractive color it adorns. The customized Redmi Note 4X features a fused antenna band design with the antenna band coated in silver. The camera and fingerprint sensor also have silver-coated thin ring surrounding them.
As you would know by now, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X Hastune Miku Edition shares the same specs lineup with the regular Redmi Note 4X which includes a 5.5-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 625 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 13MP rear camera, a 5MP front-facing camera as well as a large 4,100mAh battery. The Redmi Note 4X also come with dual SIM card / dual standby, and full Network support.
The device is already on sale in China for 1,299 Yuan ($189). You can check out more unboxing images of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X Hastune Miku Edition from down below.
Google Assistant launched as a Pixel exclusive last year. The only other way you could use it was via the Allo app if you did not want to go the hard way which involves rooting. Fast forward to present and Google Assistant as gone from being a Pixel exclusive to launching with a bunch of other devices and is now even rolling out to devices running Android Marshmallow and above.
The feature is coming as an OTA update to Google Play Services so it is not carrier or manufacturer dependent. But because of the high number of android devices, it might take a while to reach your device. However, if you own a OnePlus 3 the update should have hit your phone or may do so anytime.
Rumor has it that Nokia has a dual-camera flagship in the pipeline with a release date set for June. You might be wondering what features HMD Global will be putting on this flagship device? Will it have PureView or Carl Zeiss optics? Sorry to burst your bubble, but it will feature neither of the two.
When Microsoft acquired the rights to release phones under the Nokia name, they also purchased Nokia’s PureView Imaging Technology. Now that HMD is the new licensee, it has no rights to use it.
You might also be wondering what happened with Nokia’s other camera partner, Carl Zeiss. It turns out that Nokia is also done with them. This info was confirmed via the official Nokia Mobile twitter account but there was no reason attached to the response. But they do say they have “invested in excellent imaging solutions”.
Apart from the phone sporting dual camera lenses, it will also feature an all-metal design and a Snapdragon 835 processor. The source says this dual-camera flagship is different from the other Snapdragon 835 flagship also scheduled to be released later this year.
If you are not aware that there is going to be a Galaxy Note 8, then you need to move out from under that rock. Initially there were speculations that Samsung was done with the Galaxy Note series following the sad and early demise of the Galaxy Note 7. However, that rumor was put down when President of Mobile, Samsung Electronics, Koh Dong-jin announced over a month ago that there will be a Note 8 (Samsung might want to add II to the name since there is already a Note 8).
Following that announcement, we heard rumors of the upcoming device and even learnt its codename is “Baikal” but new report says that is incorrect. The source says the Galaxy Note 8 actually goes by the codename “Great”. Yes, something “Great“ is coming your way from Samsung this year.
The source also revealed the model number of the Galaxy Note 8 is SM-N950F (European variant). The Note 7’s model number is SM-N930 but the Koreans consider the number 4 is unlucky, that’s why they are skipping it.
The other part of the news is that there is a chance Samsung is working on selling refurbished units of the Galaxy Note 7 in its home country. The device is expected to go by the model number SM-N935 and codenamed Grace R(Refurbished).
Samsung is yet to launch the Galaxy S8 and based on the latest report, the launch date has been postponed to April 28, which is a week later than the earlier scheduled date. That means we still have to wait 7 weeks before the phone is released. That’s really long. But if you are in China, you might not have to wait that long, depending on how you look at it.
A Weibo user @kumamoto posted pictures of a Galaxy Note 8 clone he got his hands on in one of China’s most popular electronics market, the Huaqiang North Market.
The clone shares quite a number of similarities with the original based on leaked images but there are still some major differences. First is the position of the fingerprint scanner and the camera’s LED flash. On the original Galaxy S8, the LED flash is on the left and the fingerprint scanner is positioned on the right but the positions are switched on the clone. Another difference is in the design of the speaker grille, and the use of a microUSB port instead of USB Type-C.
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