Apple’s March Launch Event to Bring iPad Pros in 7.9-inch, 9.7-inch, 10.5-inch, 12.9-inch; 128 GB iPhone SE, Red iPhone 7/7 Plus

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Feb 20, 2017

Apple is rumored to hold a launch event in March. Fresh information suggest that the Cupertino-based company would be introducing new iPad Pro models. The event will not only showcase new tablets from the company, as rumors also hint that a 128 GB iPhone SE as well as red color version of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be also introduced.

According to Macotakara, a Japanese tech blog that is known for spilling leaked information of upcoming Apple devices, the Cupertino-based firm would be launching iPad Pros in four sizes such as 7.9-inch, 9.7-inch, 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch.

This information suggests that Apple will be replacing the iPad Mini 4 that was released in September 2015 by a 7.9-inch iPad Pro. Apart from launching successor models for 12.9-inch iPad Pro from September 2015 and 9.7-inch iPad Pro from March 2016, Apple is heavily pegged to launch iPad Pro in a new size of 10.5-inch.

Rumors that have surfaced from Barclays and KGI Securities have consistently hinted about a 10.5-inch iPad Pro. This variant is even speculated to come with an edge-to-edge screen with a Home button. However, the rumor mill has not revealed much information on the new 7.9-inch iPad Pro.

Macotakara has stated that the 7.9-inch iPad Pro will be arriving with features such as a True Tone display, Apple A9X chipset, 12-megapixel iSight camera with True Tone flash, four speakers and Smart Connector. The 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros are expected to be run on Apple A10X chipset.

Apart from introducing the new iPad Pros, the company is also rumored to unveil a 128 GB edition of iPhone SE. The 4-inch iPhone that was launched in March last year came in two storage models of 16 GB and 64 GB.

Apple has partnered with (RED) since the past ten years to fight AIDS by spreading its awareness. This has resulted in the launching of several products in red color such as red colored leather and silicon cases for iPhones, red colored Apple Watch Sport band, red colored Smart Cover for iPads, Beats Solo3 wireless headphones and portable speaker in red, and more. Rumors are rife that red colored versions of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be also unveiled in the next month.

(source)

Moto G5 Sleek Design Revealed in Leaked Photos

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Feb 20, 2017

The rumor mill has revealed plenty of leaked photos of the Lenovo Moto G5 Plus. Now, the fresh photos of the smaller model, the Moto G5, have also surfaced to reveal its sleek design.

As previous rumors have stated that the Moto G5 Plus would be arriving with a 5.2-inch screen. However, the Moto G5 would be sporting a 5-inch screen. Last year’s Moto G4 has a 5.2-inch screen and the Moto G4 Plus has a 5.5-inch display.

The leaked photos of the Moto G5 suggests that its rear panel is made of metal. Also, the back panel seems to removable which indicates that the smartphone features a replaceable battery. Hence, the Moto G5 Plus is also expected to come with a removable battery and back panel.

It has a round-shaped camera housing and an LED flash under the camera sensor. The front side of the phone shows a physical Home button that includes a fingerprint scanner. The Moto G4 has a square-shaped fingerprint scanner, but its successor seems to sport a slightly oval-shaped fingerprint reader.

The image showing the ‘About Phone’ screen on Moto G5 has text in Spanish language. The name of the device is mentioned as Moto G5 on it. The smartphone runs on Android 7.0 Nougat OS.

The Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus sport a very similar design, but they will be arriving with different hardware specs. Leaked documents have revealed that the Moto G5 would be powered by Snapdragon 430 and 2 GB of RAM. Other features include 32 GB native storage, 13-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel frontal camera, water-repellant coated chassis, and 2,800 mAh battery.

On the other side, the Moto G5 Plus would be featuring Snapdragon 625 chipset and 2 GB of RAM along with a native storage of 64 GB. Other specs include 12-megapixel dual autofocus rear camera, 5-megapixel front camera, NFC, water-repellant coating and 3,000 mAh battery.

The Moto G5 and G5 Plus are slated to get announced on Feb. 26. These Motorola phones are expected to be available with a respective pricing of $200 and $250 in March.

(source)

Chinese brands Recorded Historic Figures in Q4 2016 Shipments, Canalys Data Reveals

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Feb 20, 2017

A recent analytic data by Singapore-based research firm Canalys has again given Huawei the overall lead in total smartphone shipments among the lot in China. The research data shows Huawei shipped a total of 76.2 million units in 2016, while OPPO followed with a total estimate record of 73.2 million shipments. Fellow Chinese giant Vivo followed suit, with a total of 63.2 million.

The analytic data also revealed that a record 131.6 million units were shipped in the fourth quarter of last year alone.This figure is the single highest performance in a quarter in the history of the Chinese smartphone market. The Chinese market is shown to have grown at a rate of 11.4% in 2016, gaining a 1.9% increase from 2015 figures. For the entire year, a total shipment of 476.5 million units.

On the individual brand performance, Xiaomi saw a decline in its total shipment by 20 % year-on-year . The innovative Chinese startup was only able to manage a total of 51.4 million units, pushing it down the ladder to number 4. Apple and Samsung are also revealed to be struggling in the China market like Xiaomi and the decline is expected to continue this year. Apple could record low sales as consumers wait for the 10th anniversary iPhone 8 which is touted as coming with lots of innovative features.

Moto G5 Seen on Geekbench with Snapdragon 430: Probably Play Variant

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Habeeb Onawole

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Feb 20, 2017

The Moto G5 was seen on Geekbench today and based on the specifications, this might just be the Play variant.

Details of the fifth generation Moto G have been leaking non-stop for the past three weeks or thereabout. We have seen press photos, possible pricing and specification details form a part of these leaks. Today we get a Geekbench listing of the upcoming device.

The Motorola Moto G5 seen on Geekbench runs Android 7.0, has 2GB of RAM, and is equipped with a MSM8937 processor (Snapdragon 430) clocked at 1.4GHz. The device scores 594 points in the single-core test and 2350 points in the multi-core test.

The reason why we think this is the Moto G5 Play is because of the processor. Last year’s Moto G4 Play sports a Snapdragon 410 processor while the Moto G4 and G4 Plus both use the Snapdragon 617. Earlier leaks of the Moto G5 already mentioned that it will feature a Snapdragon 625 SoC. That means the Snapdragon 430 is the processor upgrade the Moto G5 Play is getting.

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New Gear VR for Galaxy S8: May Have Single Hand Controller

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Habeeb Onawole

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Feb 20, 2017

Samsung released the Gear VR in November 2015. More than a year later, they are planning to launch a new model for the Galaxy S8.

The new Gear VR will be spicing things up a bit. Report has it that it will feature a single hand controller like Google’s Daydream View and Xiaomi’s Mi VR. Another new feature is a front cover that protects the phone. The info comes from Roland Quandt who posted the details on twitter. His tweet says the new Gear VR will have model number SM-R324, picking up from SM-R323 for the original version.

GearVR

Samsung Gear VR

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Xiaomi e-bikes for rent reportedly ordered out of Beijing Streets

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Feb 20, 2017

A report emanating from China says that Xiaomi‘s electric bicycle has been banned from the streets of Beijing just four days after it opened its operation. The bicycle with its unique color was part of Xiaomi’s crowdfunded projects, and was being tested in some cities, including Beijing for rental services.

According to the report, the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau asked that the bikes be taken off the streets as they were without number plates, thus failing to meet the required standard. The bikes were supposed to be for rental service where users will just make a deposit of 199 yuan and then they can rent the bike for a fee of 1 yuan per half hour. Again, the bikes travel at a faster speed than the regular bike, thus, thus raising fresh concerns about safety.

Xiaomi has, however, clarified things by stating that the electric bicycle-sharing service was still being tested and would only come into full operation when the bikes are licensed. Xiaomi is reported as planning to release the first 100,000 units of the bike in Cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Xiamen, while other cities will get it later The rental service would commence full operations moment from now.

Concept Video Shows Nokia 3310 in Modern Light

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Feb 20, 2017

The Nokia 3310 is a legend. Simply put. Though its glory days are long gone, news has it that this legend is making a comeback. Yes, the rugged Nokia 3310 is expected to be re-released with a modern feel. No one has an idea what will be added or what it will even look like but the guys at Concept Creator have made a render video of what they think it should look like.

First thing you’ll notice is they have stuck to the original design. The Nokia 3310 still features an alphanumeric keypad and still has its power button on the top. The major change is the display. Fore a more modern look, they have replaced the monochromatic display with a 1.5-inch color display. Another addition is a rear camera with an unspecified pixel count which lacks a LED flash.

The original Nokia 3310 did not have a FM Radio. The Concept Creator render fixes that, which is a great addition by the way. Another new feature is the micro USB port which replaces the 3.5mm connector for charging. The battery has also been bumped up from 900mAh to 1650mAh and there is now 8GB of built-in memory. Some original Nokia features still remain though, such as ringtone creation.

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Honor Pad 3 Passes TENAA, 8-inch Screen With All Metal Design

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Feb 20, 2017

Huawei‘s Honor sub-brand Honor has got a launch event slated for February 21 and the company is expected to launch the Honor V9 alongside the Honor 8 Youth Edition. It is likely that the company might launch more than two the smartphones on that day, as a tablet device might join the crew. A new Honor tablet PC with model number KOB-L09 has appeared on TENAA.

The Honor Pad 3 comes with an all-metal three-stage design with the rear camera situated at the top left corner of the phone. The device also comes with a front-facing camera but there is still no fingerprint sensor. The Honor Pad 3 equally comes in two different color variants of diamond and gray.

In the specs aspect, the Honor Pad 3 is listed with an 8-inch TFT display having a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It is also equipped with a quad-core processor clocked a 1.4GHz. The processor is supplemented by 3GB of RAM and there is 32GB of internal storage onboard. The device packs a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front-facing sensor. Keeping the lights on is a built-in 4650mAh and the device comes with Android 7.0 Nougat pre-installed.

The LG G6 will Come with Wide-Angle Dual Rear Cameras

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Habeeb Onawole

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Feb 20, 2017

LG is not keeping any secrets as regards the LG G6. The Korean giant has been giving us steady bits of info for weeks now. The latest is a blog post that talks about the cameras on the device.

In the post, it is mentioned that the LG G6 will feature a front camera with a 100º field of view. The dual 13MP rear cameras will however take it further by having a 125° viewing angle. LG explains that one of the cameras does the job of providing that extra view. The wide angle lens will allow you fit more objects into your viewfinder especially when taking landscape photos.

In addition to that, the LG G6 will come with 360° panorama mode; a food mode that amps color saturation; and what is called a square camera feature that splits the screen in half, with one half showing what you just shot. The latter is actually a way to make use of the 18:9 aspect ratio of the display.

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Nokia 8 Spotted on Jingdong (JD.com) For Pre-sale, Coming Soon?

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Feb 20, 2017

Nokia is set to launch a series of smartphones at MWC 2017 and the Nokia 8 is said to be one of the phones. Although the company did not reveal the smartphone coming, a new Jingdong listing seems to buttress the fact that the Nokia 8 is indeed launching soon.

The Nokia 8 is listed for pre-sale on the popular e-commerce hub but the listing is a third party listing and the flagship carries a price tag of 3,188 Yuan ($463). The listing also did not state when the flagship would hit the shelves.

It is worthy of note that the Jingdong listing features images of the Nokia 8 or P1 is similar to those of the device’s concept render leaked earlier. Thus, it is unlikely that this is a genuine listing. We still don’t have any real live image confirming what the device looks like and it is doubtful if it would look like the concept.

On the specs end, the Nokia 8 is said to be powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 chip, thus puncturing insinuations that it would launch at MWC. Perhaps, it would pack a Snapdragon 821 chip. The flagship device is also expected with a large 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with QHD resolution (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution. The display is a flat-screen and not a curved display. Further, the device is also said to sport a powerful 24MP rear camera with OIS, and super EIS. There is also a 12MP sensor up front for selfie snapshots. On the memory aspect, the Nokia 8 is rumored to pack just two storage versions, one with 64GB storage and another with 128GB storage, both of which are expandable via microSD up to 256GB. It is expected that the Nokia P1 or 8 will come pre-installed with Android 7.0 Nougat since the Nokia 6 ships with Google’s latest mobile OS.

(source)

Xiaomi Mi 5C “Meri” Shows Up on Geekbench Again: Runs Nougat

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Feb 20, 2017

About four months ago, we saw a device known as the Xiaomi Meri surface on Geekbench. Back then it ran Android 6.0 Marshmallow. A report later surfaced saying that ‘Meri’ is the codename for the Xiaomi Mi 5C. Today the device has again surfaced on Geekbench but with a couple of changes.

The new Geekbench listing shows the Xiaomi Meri runs Android 7.1.1 but still keeps the 1.4GHz processor which we have come to know as the Pinecone V670. The RAM is also the same at 3GB but the benchmark scores have increased slightly.

The device scores 762 in the single-core test and 3399 in the multi-core test, up from 758 and 3105 when it ran Android 6.0.

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Motorola Returns to Pakistan Under the ‘Lenovo Moto’ Brand

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Feb 19, 2017

The Moto Z and Moto Z Play smartphones are now on sale with Moto Mods accessories in Pakistan. The arrival of these smartphones marks the comeback of Motorola in the country. Motorola has relaunched as “Lenovo Moto” in Pakistan.

Motorola Mobility was acquired by Lenovo in 2014. At the beginning of this year, Lenovo had officially confirmed that it would be launching Moto Z series in Pakistan. The Moto Z and Moto Z Play smartphones were launched in the country on Feb. 17 in Karachi. It is also expected to launch Moto M midrange smartphone in the near future.

The Moto Z features 5.5-inch quad HD display. It is driven by Snapdragon 820 and 4 GB of RAM. It has an OIS and dual LED flash enabled 13-megapixel camera. Its front-facing 5-megapixel camera features LED flash. It has a water-resistant coating and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and 2,600 mAh battery.

It does not feature a 3.5 mm audio jack, but allows headphone connectivity through its USB Type-C port. It boasts a super-slim profile of 5.2 mm. It comes in two storage sizes of 32 GB and 64 GB and is available in color choices like Black and Gold. It also features an external storage slot.

The Moto Z Play has a 5.5-inch full HD display. It runs on Snapdragon 625 chipset and 3 GB of RAM. Its native storage is 32 GB. The 16-megapixel rear camera is enabled with dual LED flash. Its front-facing snapper is on 5-megapixel.

Other features include rear-facing fingerprint reader, water-resistant coating, 3.5 mm audio jack, microSD card support, USB Type-C port, and a 3,510 mAh battery. It comes in colors like Gold and Silver.

Here are the pricing of Moto Z, Moto Z Play and Moto Mods snap-on accessories in Pakistan:

The 32 GB Moto Z smartphone with Moto Style Shell is available for PKR 74,999.
The 32 GB Moto Z Play with Moto Style Shell is priced at PKR 49,999.
Moto Insta-Share Projector Mod that costs PKR 39,500 transforms Moto Z and Moto Z Play into a projector for watching photos and videos on a large screen.
Incipio offGRID Power Pack Mod is priced at PKR 8,650. Its an accessory that adds a 2,220 mAh battery to Moto Z or Play smartphones to take advantage of up to 22 hours of battery backup.
JBL SoundBoost Mod is available for PKR 12,500. Snap it on Moto Z or Moto Z Play to enjoy high-quality JBL audio output. It comes with an inbuilt kickstand and 1,000 mAh battery.
Hasselblad True Zoom Mod brings top notch photography capabilities with 10x optical zoom and Xenon flash. It is available with a pricing of PKR 29,500.

On Daraz.pk online shopping site, the Moto Z and Moto Z Play smartphones are available with free JBL Soundboost Mod.

Moto Z Linc Moto Mod Transforms it into A Walkie-Talkie

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Feb 19, 2017

Moto Z is a modular smartphone from Motorola that was released last year. The Moto Mods accessories can be simply snapped on to that smartphone on its rear to increase the capabilities of Moto Z. A new Moto Mod called Linc: The Smart Walkie Talkie has surfaced on Indiegogo that metamorphoses Moto Z into a walkie talkie.

In November 2016, Motorola (now owned by Lenovo) had asked its fans to submit design and ideas on Indiegogo to build innovative Moto Mods that do not exist. In the recent past, The Ultimate Moto Z Mod that brought features like wireless charging and IR blaster at a pricing of $45 is already available on Indiegogo.

The Linc Moto Mod that transforms Moto Z into walk-talkie makes it possible to use the smartphone in places with no cellular connectivity. It works on GMRS/FRS consumer-level frequencies and carries support for 22 channels and works with a range of five to six miles.

With radio-over-IP gateway, the new Moto Mod can be used for communication through two-way radios from different branding. The Linc can be also used to send and receive text messages. Its users can share locations by using the inbuilt GPS feature. The emergency alert button on Linc can be used to send out SOS signal.

Some of its other features include NOAA weather radio and 1,500 mAh rechargeable battery that can offer a standby time of up to 20 hours. It does not use the smartphone’s battery, but consumes its own battery. The features of the accessory can be controlled by using the Arc App on the smartphone.

The Linc has been designed as Moto Mod for Moto Z, but it can be used with any Bluetooth-enabled device. It is a slim and lightweight accessory that comes is resistant to dust and water contact.

The Linc Moto Mod is available on the crowd-funding site with a starting price of $99. The new Moto Mod has already met with 41 percent of its crowdfunding target and the remaining campaign is expected to end in 20 days. Users have raised nearly $4,900 for Linc: The Smart Walkie Talkie.

(source)

Xiaomi’s Pinecone Processor Launching on February 28

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Feb 19, 2017

It’s official, Xiaomi has finally revealed that it would be launching its much-rumored Pinecone processor in an event billed for February 28 in Beijing. The company released a poster on its Weibo page which is an invitation to the launch event, thus confirming the existence of the Pinecone processor.

The Xiaomi Pinecone processor is expected to be featured on the Mi 5C but it is not known if the company would launch the smartphone along with the processor. Earlier rumors had tipped the Mi 5C to launch this month so it’s just possible Xiaomi might spring a surprise.

As to the details about the Pinecone processor, Xiaomi did not reveal details but we’d get to know more on that day. According to rumors, the SoC is said to come in two versions. The two models go by the model numbers V670 and V970 and the Mi 5C would launch with the lower V670 model. The V670 is said to use four Cortex-A53 large cores and four Cortex A-53 small cores. The GPU is composed of the Mali-T860 MP4 GPU with a clock speed of 800MHz. The V670 is also said to be using a 28nm manufacturing process.

On the other hand, the higher V970 model is said to come in the fourth quarter (Q4) of this year and has a core parameter comprising four Cortex-A73 cores and four Cortex-A53 cores in an octa-core architecture. The CPU is said to have a minimum clock frequency of up to 2.0GHz and a maximum clock speed of 2.7GHz. The V970 is also equipped with a more superior Mali G71 MP12 GPU with a clock speed of 900MHz. We’d know the official details on February 28. The event would kick off at 2pm and the venue is the Beijing National Convention Centre.

UPDATE:

Analyst Kevin Wang says that there will be a smartphone launched on the same day. It should be the Xiaomi Mi 5C aka Xiaomi Meri, but we’ll have to wait for official confirmation.

Samsung Exynos 9810 Set to Take on the Snapdragon 835

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Feb 19, 2017

It has become a tradition for Samsung to release its flagship devices in two variants with different processors. There is one variant with the company’s own Exynos chip and another with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon SoC. This year is not going to be any different. Samsung teased a new Exynos 9 processor which is expected in the Galaxy S8. New details about the chip said to be called the Exynos 9810 have been revealed.

Exynos 9810

The Exynos 9810, just like the Snapdragon 835 is stated as being built using the 10nm process. It will feature four Mongoose M2 cores and four Cortex A53 cores. GPU will be a Mali-G71 clocked at 550MHz but the chip will still not have full network support.

A Korean media says the Exynos 9810 will give the Snapdragon 835 a run for its money by offering better performance and better power consumption but its lack of support for a wide range of network will be its shortcoming.

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Oppo 5X Camera Technology Enabled Stellar Smartphone to Launch at MWC 2017

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Feb 19, 2017

Oppo has confirmed on Weibo that it will be present at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 on Feb. 27. Its teaser for the upcoming tech trade show carries “Go 5x further” and “technological innovations” texts which indicates that the Chinese smartphone would probably announce a new smartphone powered with 5X technology enabled camera.

In 2016, Oppo mainly devoted in releasing selfie-centric smartphones such as the Selfie Expert series that include Oppo F1s, Oppo F1, Oppo F1 Plus and other smartphones like Oppo R9, Oppo R9s and Oppo R9s Plus. This year too, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is expected to deliver better photography experience.

Another teaser for the same event includes the text “so close you can feel it.” The Oppo MWC 2017 teaser indicates that 5x optical zoom technology enabled smartphone would be unveiled on Feb. 27. As it can be seen, the teaser does not contain any direct information on the name of the device that will be showcased at the forthcoming event.

Sky Li, Oppo Vice President and Managing Director of International Mobile Business and Oppo’s Indian President said that “OPPO’s relentless pursuit of perfection without compromise has given birth to a remarkable technological breakthrough that will change how the world perceives smartphone photography.”

Li further stated, “This remarkable achievement is the result of an extensive, year-long R&D process, combined with OPPO’s unparalleled expertise in smartphone imaging technology. We chose MWC to unveil the ‘5x’ technology with the belief that we can inspire the industry to aim higher, and continue to create pioneering products that give amazing experiences to consumers.”

Oppo phones are also known for its superfast charging feature that is dubbed as VOOC Flash Charge. It can fully charge a smartphone with 2,500 mAh in only 15 minutes. Hence, there is some speculations that 5x may also indicate that a faster charging technology may get announced for its future phones.

VOOC was introduced at MWC 2014. Since the press material for the upcoming event states that the 5x technology “will give users unprecedented ability to capture highly detailed images,” Oppo is pegged to announce a 5x smartphone with stellar camera capabilities soon.

A recent IDC Survey revealed that Oppo met with a 122 percent year-over-year growth that has catapulted it the first position in the Chinese smartphone market in 2016. Oppo fans will have to wait until Feb. 27 to find out what is in store for them.

HTC One X10 Leaked Photo, Specs, Pricing Surface of the Alleged February 27 Launch

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Feb 19, 2017

In December 2016, the rumor mill revealed that HTC is working on a successor smartphone for its HTC One X9 from last year. Also, well-known tipster, Evan Blass, claimed that the smartphone would be released by the first quarter of this year. These leaks also carried unofficial renders of the alleged HTC One X10 smartphone. Speculations have it that the One X10 may get announced the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 event on Feb. 27.

Now that a leaked image of the HTC One X10 has been spotted on the Chinese social site – Weibo, it seems that its official announcement of the HTC One X10 drawing near. The new photo shows the smartphone with a protective sticker on its screen.

The leaked photo of the smartphone suggests that it appears a bit similar to the Nexus 6P and it is packed in a full metallic chassis. The rear side of the smartphone has a fingerprint scanner. Its predecessor does not feature a fingerprint reader. The handset seems to feature capacitive Home buttons below the screen.

The HTC One X10 is speculated to feature a 5.5-inch display that is expected to carry support for a display resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. As previous rumors have stated, the mid-range smartphone is rumored to be powered by MediaTek MT6755 chipset. The SoC includes a 64-bit octa-core processor that works at 1.9 GHz and Mali-T860 graphics.

Rumors have it that the MediaTek chipset of HTC One X10 will be coupled with 3 GB of RAM. Its native storage will be of 32 GB. Since its predecessor features an external storage, the HTC One X10 is pegged to come with a microSD card slot. It expected to come preloaded with Android 7.0 Nougat OS.

For photography, the HTC One X10 is rumored to come with OIS enabled 16-megapixel rear snapper. It is speculated to include a front-facing camera of 8-megapixel. A 3,000 mAh battery is expected to fuel the smartphone.

Here is another leaked photo of the HTC One X10 that appeared in the recent past:

The HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play smartphones were announced by the Taiwanese tech giant in the previous month. It is likely that the company may use the MWC 2017 platform to announce the HTC One X10. It is expected to be available with a pricing of $288.

HTC is rumored to release six to seven smartphones. The Taiwanese smartphone maker is also speculated to be working on HTC 11 flagship that is likely to get released in the second quarter of this year.

Oukitel C5 Pro Review – A Decent $70 Phone

By

Linus

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Feb 19, 2017

Oukitel has made quite a few phones last year and this year is probably going to be the same. Today we have the Oukitel C5 Pro model that costs just below $70. Is it any good? Stay tuned to find out.

VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTV6oTOIXYo[/embedyt]

UNBOXING

In the box, you can find all the usual stuff and some extras include a soft TPU case.

DESIGN and DISPLAY

The C5 Pro is one of those better built super cheap phones out there. It uses a metal frame that goes around the device and tactile metal buttons.

Also, the backplate has a pretty cool-looking textured finish, which is nice to the touch.

In addition, the phone is compact due to its 5” 720p display, which is pretty good for the price but it may be slightly reflective outdoors. One of the key selling points is the toughness of the display. I did not have a chance to fully test it but it is said that to have 9H hardness.

A few drawbacks would be that there is no LED notification light and the capacitive keys are not backlit.

The loudspeaker is not really impressive but it is pretty good for the phone this cheap.

You can easily remove the backplate and underneath it, you will find two SIM card slots, the microSD card slot, and a replaceable 2000mAh battery.

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The phone ships with a quad-core MTK6737 chip, 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM.

These are not very impressive specs if you are a gamer. You should expect quite a few skipped frames and a bit of stutter when playing games like Asphalt 8 even on medium graphics.

BENCHMARKS

USER INTERFACE

The phone ships with Android 6.0 out of the box and we have some redesigned icons and added features by Oukitel. For example, there are some gesture and motion controls. As usual, I use only a couple of them and they work fine.

Most importantly, the phone runs fast and fluid most of the time. Well, I had a little bit of stutter a couple of times but nothing major.

CAMERAS

IT IS HIGHLY-RECOMMENDED TO DOWNLOAD FULL RESOLUTION CAMERA SAMPLES TO SEE THE ACTUAL IMAGE QUALITY. THE PICTURES UPLOADED ON THE WEBSITE ARE 50% SMALLER IN RESOLUTION.

The phone has a an 8MP main camera and 5MP shooter on the front.

You can be picky with each cheap phone once you talk about the image quality but you should never expect any stellar results from cheap phones. The C5 Pro is no exception.

The images look okay but they are usually overexposed, oversaturated, there could be more detail and so on.

The video quality is okay… for a cheap phone. However, the sound quality is just terrible.

Download full resolution camera samples

CONNECTIVITY

I didn’t have any connectivity issues. However, the GPS could be slightly more accurate.

BATTERY LIFE

The 2000mAh battery does not impress on paper but it could still get me through the day on a mixed use. With my usage, I could get around 4 hours of screen-on time.

CONCLUSIONS

The Oukitel C5 Pro is another cheap phone from China that costs about $70. For the price, it is a decent offering and this is what you have to expect from a cheap phone. Most importantly, it does not have any major shortcomings but as most of the cheap devices, it has a few drawbacks that you have to consider before buying it.

Buy Oukitel C5 Pro

Blue Honor 8 Lite (Youth Edition) Passes TENAA: Has 4GB RAM

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Feb 19, 2017

Huawei’s sub-brand, Honor has scheduled Tuesday, 21st of February for the launch of two phones: the Honor V9 and Honor 8 Lite. The latter is a toned down version of the Honor 8 released last year. The blue Honor 8 Lite was seen on TENAA’s website getting its network certification.

Actually two variants made it to TENAA. The blue variant with model number WAS-AL00 which has full network support and a silver variant with model number WAS-TL00 that works on China Mobile.

Configuration details of the Honor 8 Lite mentions a 5.2-inch full HD screen, a 2.1GHz octa-core Kirin 655 processor, 4GB RAM, and 64GB ROM. There is a single 12MP camera and a fingerprint scanner on the rear and an 8MP shooter in front. The Honor 8 Lite will have a 2930mAh battery and ship with EMUI 5.0 based on Android 7.0.

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OnePlus 3/3T Get Nougat-based Hydrogen OS 3.0 Update

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Feb 19, 2017

OnePlus has two operating systems for its phones: there is Oxygen OS for the international variants, and for the domestic variant you have Hydrogen OS. While owners of the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T running Oxygen OS have already received the Android Nougat update (Oxygen OS 4.0.3) for close to two months now, those on Hydrogen OS are just getting the Nougat treatment in form of Hydrogen OS 3.0.

Although, Hydrogen OS is built for users in China, it is also available in English. Like most Chinese forks of Android, you can sideload Google Services after flashing it on your phone and unwanted Chinese apps can be uninstalled. Some users say Hydrogen OS has a better battery life than Oxygen OS and there is also call recording. There is even a poll on the OnePlus forum to determine the better one.

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