LG G6 Real Live Render Revealed Showing Large Display with Less Bezels

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Jan 23, 2017

LG is expected to launch its next-generation LG G6 flagship at the Mobile World Congress next month. Already, the Korean company has sent out invitations to a launch event holding on February 26. Ahead of the official unveiling, a real live render purported to be that of LG G6 has been spotted online and it reveals a device with a top-notch design. It looks sleeker than the one leaked earlier by a case manufacturer.

The Xiaomi Mi Mix premiered a new era of smartphones with an exceptional screen to body ratio and recently Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun hinted that the competition this year would be in the aspect of displays. Seems like we’ll really be seeing a fierce competition in that aspect because the LG G6 features a design with minimal bezels around the sides. Recall that Samsung is rumored to be towing on the same line with its Galaxy S8. The screen to bezel ratio on the G6 is said to be more than 90%.

The LG G6 flagship is also expected with an all-metal body as well as a 5.7-inch display with 2:1 aspect ratio. Only the front of the device is shown and it is markedly noticed to be without a front screen button. That is an indication that the device might use onscreen buttons. The volume rockers are located on the left side of the device and it can be noticed that the G6 will use the fused antenna band design.

Earlier rumors had tipped the G6 as coming with a headphone jack and would be water resistant. The device was also said to be powered by a Snapdragon 835 chipset but a recent rumor appeared on Weibo suggesting that the G6 (later confirmed by Forbes in a new report) would be powered by a Snapdragon 821 chipset. We are not sure about the authenticity of the source but if it turns out to be true, LG would leave a large number of its fans disappointed.

(source)

Nokia 6 Next Flash Sale Holds on January 26

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 23, 2017

Nokia 6 was finally up for its first flash sale last week and the results reported was monumental. The device was said to have sold out in one minute but we never got to find out the number of units that were up for grabs. It has now emerged that only 10,000 units were available during its first flash sale, thus explaining why it was all sold out in 60 seconds.

The budget smartphone has been scheduled to go on another round of flash sale on January 26 which is just two days away. This would be its second flash sale and we would likely see more and more flash sales. Already, reports have it that up to 1.37 million persons have so far registered for the flash sale. Apparently, this figure should comprise those who registered but couldn’t grab one during the first round of sales.

Nokia 6 is still sold exclusively on Jingdong and the price is yet to change, hanging on to 1,699 yuan. For this price, you get a device with a 5.5-inch 1080p display which is fired up by a Snapdragon 430 chipset, backed by a huge 4GB of RAM. There is also 64GB of storage onboard with the option of expanding it further via microSD. On the camera end, the device packs a 16MP rear camera with a single LED flash lying just underneath it, as well as an 8MP front-facing camera for sleek selfies. There is an ample 3,000mAh battery crammed inside the smartphone as well.

(via)

Samsung Galaxy S8 Rumors: Official Launch Date in the U.S., Europe is March 29?

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 23, 2017

Samsung mobile chief Koh Dong-jin has recently said that the Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone won’t be announced at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2017 event that will be held in February. Fresh rumors indicate that Samsung has decided to carry out official launch of Galaxy S8 on March 29 in the U.S. and Europe.

On Jan. 16, a leakster with Twitter account @Ricciolo1 revealed that the Galaxy S8 will be present at MWC 2017, but it won’t be showcased to the public or press. He stated that the smartphone would be revealed to partners and investors.

@Ricciolo1 also stated that the Samsung would be officially unveiling the Galaxy S8 on March 29 and it would be available for purchase with a pricing of $849 in the 17^th week of the year. It means that people would be able to buy it the week that runs from April 24 to 30. Now, the leakster has tweeted new information on the Samsung Galaxy S8 launch date.

https://twitter.com/Ricciolo1/status/823514126857236480

As the tweet suggests, the South Korean tech giant will be organizing multiple-city unveil events in the U.S. and Europe. Speculations suggest as Samsung has done it before, the Galaxy S8 launch events will be held in cities like New York, U.S. and London, U.K. The Galaxy S8 will be unveiled through a mega launch event as the leakster says Samsung will carry out a “record breaking marketing campaign.”

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are expected to house dual-edge curved screens. The S8 is rumored to feature a 5-inch screen whereas the Galaxy S8 Plus is speculated to be fitted with a 6-inch screen.

Both the devices are pegged to be powered by Snapdragon 835 SoC and 6 or 8 GB of RAM. The Galaxy S8 models would be coming with a fingerprint sensor that will be embedded under the screen. The S8 phones are rumored to feature autofocus enabled selfie cameras and they will be featuring non-protruding rear cameras.

Nokia Heart, A Cheaper Edition of Nokia 6 Arriving Soon?

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 23, 2017

A new Nokia phone has appeared on GFXBench benchmarking platform with midrange specs. It indicates that Nokia may be prepping a lower end version of the recently announced Nokia 6 smartphone.

Nokia 6 is immensely popular in China as it went out of stock within a minute in its first flash sale. Recent rumors have suggested that Nokia will be releasing 6-7 smartphones in this year. One of them seems to have appeared on GFXBench with a codename of Nokia Heart.

According to GFXBench listing, the Nokia Heart will be coming with a 5.2-inch display. It supports an HD resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The Nokia 6 is powered by Snapdragon 430 SoC. The Nokia Heart is expected to include the same chipset. It features a 1.4 GHz octa-core processor and Adreno 505 graphics.

Its SoC will be supported by 2 GB of RAM and it will include a native storage of 16 GB. These specs indicate that it may be a low-end version of Nokia 6 that comes with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of native storage.

Nokia Heart will come preinstalled with Android 7.0 Nougat OS. The listing on GFXBench says that Android HMD Edition will be running on the device which indicates that a customized version of Nougat OS will be preloaded on the device.

GFXBench listing shows that it will feature a 12-megpixel rear camera and a front-facing camera of 7-megapixel. However, the smartphone may feature 13-megapixel rear snapper and an 8-megapixel selfie camera.

Apart from aforementioned details, no other information is available on the device. The Nokia 6 is available with a pricing of $245 in China. Hence, the Nokia Heart is pegged to be priced around $150 to $200.

Nokia will be present at the upcoming MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2017 in the next month. As of this writing, there is no confirmation on whether it will be announcing the Nokia Heart smartphone or any other device. Speculations hint that the company may announce a flagship device.

(Source)

Huawei P10 Could End Up Being Much More Costlier Than The P9 (Rumor)

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 23, 2017

Up until last year, Huawei’s Mate series was considered to be the flagship phone lineup and its sibling, the Huawei P-series hardly received any attention. That was not surprising, given that the Huawei P8 models were decent but nothing out of the ordinary. But things have changed with the Huawei P9, and it is heard that the phone is selling very well, thanks to the powerful Kirin processor inside as well as the Leica certified dual 12MP cameras at the back.

Naturally, the next generation model in the P-series, most likely called as the Huawei P10 should come with better specs. Even the dual Leica branded cameras on the phone is expected to be upgraded. The upgraded specs would probably call for an increase in the price tag, but as of now, we are clueless about any exact figures.

In case you are preparing to get hold of the Huawei P10 when it launches at MWC 2017, then it’s worth mentioning that a new rumor states that the P10 will be quite costly. In fact, Ricciolo, who leaked this information says that the Huawei P10 will be the most expensive P-series phone till date. But he adds that it would be cheaper than the exorbitantly priced Huawei Porsche Design model (~$1500). Well, that was kind of obvious, wasn’t it? Even after hearing this, I still hope that the base model starts at less than $800. In case you are wondering, the current Huawei P9 32GB model starts at around $650.

https://twitter.com/Ricciolo1/status/823527800451858432

Specs wise, the Huawei P10 is expected to come with a 5.5-inch display with 2K resolution. The phone’s design is reported to be similar to the existing P9 and we did see a couple of new renders of the upcoming flagship a couple of days back (added at the end of this article).

Since the Huawei P10 is expected to be unveiled at MWC 2017, more info about the phone should be on its way soon.

ZTE Hawkeye Disappointing Specs: ZTE Apologizes for Mistake

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 23, 2017

ZTE embarked on its latest Project CSX from which the Hawkeye smartphone was born, in an attempt to get input from the public on a crowdfunded smartphone. Unfortunately the company seem not to have done the analysis of the public’s opinion thoroughly hence the innovative smartphone with a somewhat disappointing specs lineup unveiled at CES 2017.

No doubt the ZTE Hawkeye came with some cool innovative features like the adhesive back panel which allows the device to stick to any surface, and then there is the eye-tracking software which lets users operate the phone by eye movement. As innovative as these two features may be, putting them on a mid-range smartphone met with lots of disapproval from pundits and many of its fans. Some had expressed hope that such features would have been on a high-end smartphone, which is what they actually yearn for.

Since the ZTE Hawkeye was showcased at CES 2017, it had been up for pre-order via Kickstarter but unfortunately, the response has been very disappointing. Presently, ZTE has been able to amass less than 7% of its projected goal on the crowd-sourcing platform. The project has barely gotten the backing of just 182 persons, and it is just 26 days left before the product was supposed to ship.

So, in order to get more support for the project, ZTE has once again gone public, apologizing for its mistake and asking for input and suggestions on ways to salvage the device from becoming a failed project. The Hawkeye already has a $199 price tag of Kickstarter and that cannot be changed. So it is impossible to transform the specs on the device to a flagship one. The only option is to ramp up one or two of the specs and to this end, the company has opened a poll on its Z-Community to get the opinion of the public on the preferred specs that should be beefed up.

As should be expected majority of respondent so far prefers a change to Snapdragon 835 from the current Snapdragon 625 onboard. Some others prefer that the operating system should be Stock Android with added software for eye tracking. There are also those who prefer a ramped up battery capacity and also a increase in the RAM size. Unfortunately, the response has been poor signifying a likely bleak future for the Hawkeye. At most, ZTE might decide to scrap the project and refund those who have contributed so far.

(source)

The uArm Swift and Swift Pro Wants to Be Your Robotic Assistant

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 23, 2017

A technology startup called UFACTORY based in Shenzhen, China wants to put miniature robotic arms in your homes. Their product called the uArm Swift is not just a regular robotic arm that is already pre-programmed from the UFACTORY but one that can learn new tasks.

The uArm Swift is not the company’s first product actually, some of you might have heard of them back in 2014 when they launched the uArm Acrylic. Their new product has been in the works since 2015 and is expected to ship this year.

What is the uArm Swift and what can it do?

The uArm Swift is an open sourced Arduino-based desktop robotic arm “whose capabilities depends on your creativity”. Available in two variants: the uArm swift and uArm Swift Pro, both versions are made from square aluminum alloys and have a 4-axis parallel-mechanism structure. The uArm Swift can be programmed to do a number of tasks from light painting to laser engraving to 3D printing and even to pick up drinks and serve to guests.

You can also teach the robots new tasks in a different number of ways:

There is an offline mode where you guide the robot’s arm to do what you want and it records it to memory. Or the gesture mode where the robot mimics your hand movements to perform tasks.

There is also the uArm Studio, a Blocky-based graphical program that you can use to control the robot.

If you are wondering what the differences between the Swift and Swift Pro are, you should take a look at the images below:

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Did Nokia kind of confirm a Snapdragon 835 Flagship in the works?

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 23, 2017

Nokia China seems to have confirmed via its official Weibo page that a Snapdragon 835-powered flagship is in the works. The company was responding to inquiries from fans as to when we’d be seeing a Nokia flagship but the response did not clarify when the flagship will arrive.

Nokia had earlier been rumored as preparing a flagship smartphone that would be launched at MWC 2017 powered by Qualcomm’s latest SoC. A teaser during the closing part of the Nokia 6 launch in China gave the impression that there would likely be a flagship of such sort at MWC. Also, a smartphone exhibited at the Qualcomm booth at the just concluded CES 2017 was alleged to be the Nokia flagship but Qualcomm did deny that rumor, leaving us in the lurch.

It seems the company is intent on concentrating on the Nokia 6 which was launched recently and went on its first flash sales few days back. The Nokia 6 was sold out in just a minute, an indication that the reception it is getting is cordial. Before it went up for sale, the reservations did make it up to one million persons and no doubt a lot of that number is still waiting in the side line to get their unit of the device. There is no doubt, though, that Nokia needs a true flagship if it hopes to compete with existing brand in the highly competitive mobile phone market. We hope we’d get to see the Nokia flagship at MWC, 2017.

(via)

Renders of New Nubia Smartphone Leak

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 23, 2017

ZTE‘s elite brand Nubia has got a new smartphone in the works and the renditions of the phone have surfaced online in leaked image. The renders show the details on the design of the rear casing which the smartphone is expected to come with.

Although only the rear view is revealed, there is no doubt this is a high-end smartphone as it resembles the Nubia Z11 which was released last year. The device has the same fused antenna band design as the Z11 but there is no rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. Perhaps there will be a front-facing fingerprint sensor onboard the device when it launch.

Also, from the photo, the Nubia smartphone is expected to have a metal body with the custom Nubia logo crested at the back. The device isn’t coming with a dual camera setup but is a single camera packing smartphone. The rear camera is located at the upper left edge of the phone with the LED flash by its side.

The name it would launch with isn’t known yet but we expect to get more details on the device as time goes on.

(source)

Samsung Says Galaxy S8 Won’t Be Announced at MWC 2017

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 23, 2017

There have been quite a lot of leaks this month alone relating to Samsung’s next flagship, the Galaxy S8. Today what we have comes from Samsung itself and it has to do with the launch of the phone.

The company’s mobile chief DJ Koh told Reuters today that the Galaxy S8 will not be announced during Mobile World Congress which is slated to hold between February 27 and March 2. While not giving a launch date, chances are that earlier rumors about the device being unveiled in late March might be true since MWC will have been wrapped up by then.

The Galaxy S8 is said to have two variants this year: the regular 5-inch version and a larger 6-inch variant. Both are expected to have dual-curved displays, 8GB of RAM, 8MP front facing cameras with autofocus, and stereo speakers.

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LG G5’s Production Could be In Trouble, Part Supplier Files For Bankruptcy

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 23, 2017

The LG G5 was launched in February 2016 at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona and it became available shortly after in the market. The phone marks a change in design from its predecessor as LG did away with the cheap plastic and confusing leather finishes of the G4 in favor of a full metal body, while keeping fan-favorite features like a removable battery and microSD card.

Reports from South Korea indicate that the LG G5 may face production issues as a result of one of the parts supplier getting into financial troubles. The LG G5 back casing is supplied exclusively by Hallacast but the part supplier is said to have filed for bankruptcy. The company is said to have applied for statutory management on December 29, 2016.

Curiously, LG G5 back casing was initially supplied by Hallacast as well as Fine Technix and BYD. But just this year, LG gave Hallacast the sole franchise to supply the back casing. Now that the company has filed for bankruptcy, the G5 production could be affected. The LG G5 is already set to get a successor, though, as the company is billed to release the G6 this February at MWC, 2017.

However, LG wasn’t planning to halt the production of the G5 until June 2017 and was said to be planning to produce additional 220,000 units of the LG G5. The company was also planning to cut down the price of the G5 and to continue selling it with the G6. All that may hit the rock if the report is actually true. Perhaps LG may quickly revert back to the other two suppliers of the back casing in order to avert any production hitch.

(via)

Hugo Barra Announces His Exit From Xiaomi

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 22, 2017

Xiaomi’s Vice President of International, Hugo Barra has announced his exit from the company. When Mr Barra left Google a little less than four years ago to join the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, his move generated a lot of positive buzz for Xiaomi which was then referred to as the Apple of China.

Three and a half years down the line and he believes he has had enough. The announcement which was made on his Facebook page also explains the reason for his exit.

What I’ve realized is that the last few years of living in such a singular environment have taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health. My friends, what I consider to be my home, and my life are back in Silicon Valley, which is also much closer to my family. Seeing how much I’ve left behind these past few years, it is clear to me that the time has come to return.

The Brazilian’s tenure at the company has seen it expand from a Chinese company into a global brand with footprints in more than 20 countries including India where it announced it made $1 Billion in revenue in 2016. Another of the company’s major achievement last year was its partnership with Google on the Android TV powered Mi Box 3.

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Apple to Kill the Home Button on iPhone 8?

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 22, 2017

While the list of features Apple is rumored to be adding on the iPhone 8 keeps growing, there is another list of features that would likely be missing on the next generation Apple smartphone whenever it debuts later this year. The latest rumor has it that the iPhone 8 would not feature a home button up front.

KGI Security analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, released a research report which contained details of plans by Apple to remove the physical home button on the iPhone 8. The analyst further hinted that there would be a thumb-print sensor embedded in the screen instead.

Before this recent disclosure, it had earlier been rumored that the next gen iPhone would come with a bezel-less, edge-to-edge screen design which would make the presence of a physical home button impossible. This has been known before now but the analyst went further to give details of how the new home button will look like.

Also, recall that Apple shifted to an underglass touch ID on the iPhone 7 but according to Kuo, Apple’s current “under glass” capacitive fingerprint recognition tech won’t cut it if the phone has the full-screen, button-free design. Instead, the ID reader will need to shift to an “under panel” setup, which would require optical ID tech. In this case, the optical sensors will need to be compatible with flexible OLED panels.

In addition, there might also be facial tracking sensor to verify users’ faces as a way of identification. This rumored feature is said to likely replace the fingerprint ID technology that was supposed to sit on the home button. But the analyst did not leave out the possibility that both technologies could be used on the device.

Whatever it is going to be, the iPhone 8 is still a long way from going official, so we’ll definitely get more details on this.

(source)

ZTE BA602 Spotted on TENAA with 5.5-inch Screen, Quad-Core CPU, 3 GB RAM

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 22, 2017

A new ZTE smartphone with model number ZTE BA602 has been found listed on TENAA’s website. TENAA is a telecommunication certification body from China. The ZTE Blade V8 Pro and Project CSX (Hawkeye), a mobile device that is completely crowdsource were showcased at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2017 earlier this month and with the appearance of ZTE BA602 phone, it seems that the company is already working on its third device.

The TENAA listing of ZTE BA602 has revealed that it will be a budget-friendly smartphone. It features a 5.5-inch display that reportedly offers a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. It is powered by a 1.25 GHz quad-core processor, but the name of its manufacturer is not known.

The ZTE BA602 is listed with three RAM variants like 1 GB, 2 GB and 3 GB that respectively features storage choices like 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB. It is packed with an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera whereas its front-facing shooter is of 2-megapixel. It is expected to come preinstalled with Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS. It includes a 3,000 mAh battery.

As far as dimensions are concerned, the ZTE BA602 measures 153 x 77 x 8.6 mm and the photos of the device revealed through TENAA indicates that it will be arriving with a plastic chassis. Its weight is mentioned as 168 grams. The device seems to feature a fingerprint reader on its back panel.

Since it has been spotted on TENAA, the unnamed ZTE smartphone is likely to release in China. It is expected to be available in multiple colors such as Quicksand Gold, Galaxy Silver, Phantom Gray, Quiet Blue and Black. As of this writing, there is no confirmation on its availability outside the U.S. and the information on its pricing is also unavailable. The recently announced ZTE Blade V8 Pro is available in the U.S. with a price tag of $229.

Galaxy Note 7 Explosions Were Caused by Faulty Batteries, Reveals Samsung

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 22, 2017

Samsung has officially announced that the two kinds of batteries from two different manufacturers caused the Galaxy Note 7 to explode.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 that was launched in August 2016 had met with record pre-orders and sales. Since the Galaxy Note 7 explosion issues started coming up from various places from the world, Samsung began the first recall of the phablet in September.

The recall was carried out because of the potentially faulty batteries and possession of the device could prove fatal to the users Hence, the company had to discontinue Note 7 completely by October as it could not resolve the issue. It is estimated that the recall cost of the Galaxy Note 7 will be $5.3 billion.

Within three months of announcing the recall, Samsung announced that 96 percent users across the world had returned their Galaxy Note 7 phones. To ensure a smooth recall process, Samsung had sent messages and emails to Note 7 owners.

It also collaborated with its carrier partners to release a software update that would disable the charging abilities of the phablet. The Galaxy Note 7 is also banned on airplanes by the Department of Transportation (DOT). In order to assist its customers in a convenient recall, Samsung employees were also sent to airports to collect Note 7 from users.

To rebuild trust in Samsung and to ensure customers’ safety on future products, the company wanted to identify the exact reason behind the Galaxy Note 7 explosions. Earlier today, Samsung had held a press conference to reveal the reason. It took nearly a month for the company to find the root cause after initiating the global recall.

A New Lab for Reviewing Note 7 Explosions

Samsung built an exclusive testing lab equipped with 700 researchers, 200,000 devices and 30,000 batteries to find out what caused Galaxy Note 7 to explode. This was done to test various features of the device such as wireless charging, normal charging, water resistance, USB-C charger, iris scanner, and third party apps.

Samsung also collaborated with three independent entities such as UI, Exponent and TUVRheinland to assess other aspects such as the hardware and software of Note 7 and manufacturing process, logistics and handling.

Faulty Batteries Caused the Issue

Findings from investigations done by Samsung and independent research teams revealed that both the batteries from different manufacturers that were used in Note 7 had flaws. Negative electrode deflections were the problem with the Battery A that came from the first manufacturer whereas the Battery B from second manufacturer was marred with abnormal ultrasonic welding burrs in its positive electrode. It shows that the industry’s growing desire to release thinner smartphones with longer battery life has impacted the manufacturing processes of batteries.

A new Battery Advisory Group has been formed by Samsung with specialized consultants and experts from different universities. An 8 point safety check system has been created to check the quality of batteries. It includes various kinds of tests for durability, visual inspection, x-ray examination, disassembling, leakage, voltage, charging and discharging and a 5-day testing in real-world environments.

By revealing the root cause of Galaxy Note 7 explosions, Samsung aims to build better smartphones by following improved safety standards.

(Source)

Apple Takes Qualcomm To Court Over Excessive Royalties: Wants $1 Billion; Qualcomm Responds

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 22, 2017

Early last week, the US Federal Trade Commission took chip maker, Qualcomm to court. The reason being that Qualcomm has been engaging in unfair patent licensing practices.

A few days after that, Apple decided to file a separate lawsuit against Qualcomm, saying that it was being charged excessive royalties for using basic cellular standards developed by Qualcomm years ago.

You might think that is where it ends for Qualcomm but there is more. Before the FTC lawsuit and Apple filing its own suit, Qualcomm was under investigation by the South Korean Federal Trade Commission for its unfair business practices. Unfair business practices in this case is actually Qualcomm forcing phone manufacturers to pay high amounts in royalties for patents which is practically the same reason Apple and the US FTC is suing them.

Apple was contacted by the Korean authorities during the investigation and cooperated with them. Qualcomm probably enraged at this decided to withhold almost $1 Billion in rebates “as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them” as the result of the investigation led to Qualcomm being fined $853 million.

Apple is asking for $1B as compensation for Qualcomm’s unfair actions.

Below is Apple’s official statement on the matter:

For many years Qualcomm has unfairly insisted on charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with. The more Apple innovates with unique features such as TouchID, advanced displays, and cameras, to name just a few, the more money Qualcomm collects for no reason and the more expensive it becomes for Apple to fund these innovations.

Qualcomm built its business on older, legacy, standards but reinforces its dominance through exclusionary tactics and excessive royalties. Despite being just one of over a dozen companies who contributed to basic cellular standards, Qualcomm insists on charging Apple at least five times more in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors we have agreements with combined.

To protect this business scheme Qualcomm has taken increasingly radical steps, most recently withholding nearly $1B in payments from Apple as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them. Apple believes deeply in innovation and we have always been willing to pay fair and reasonable rates for patents we use. We are extremely disappointed in the way Qualcomm is conducting its business with us and unfortunately after years of disagreement over what constitutes a fair and reasonable royalty we have no choice left but to turn to the courts.

Qualcomm is not quiet on the whole matter as the company’s General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Don Rosenberg said in a statement that “while it is reviewing the complaint in detail, it s quite clear that Apple’s claims are baseless”. He goes on to say that Apple has downplayed the importance and value of the technology Qualcomm has invented and also accuses them of encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomm’s business in various jurisdictions around the world.

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More Photos of HTC Smartwatch Codenamed Halfbeak Leaks

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 22, 2017

There have been rumors of HTC releasing a smartwatch for a while now. Back in September, we saw leaked images of a smartwatch by the Taiwanese company. While the news back then mentioned HTC likely shelving the project, it seems we might be getting it on our wrists soon.

More images of the smartwatch codenamed “Halfbeak” have been leaked online. The watch appears to be a collaboration between HTC and Under Armour, an American sports clothing and accessories company.The new images which were posted on Weibo do not necessarily reveal new info but are just a way of fueling the hype.

The smartwatch has a round display with a 360 x 360 resolution and a shiny bezel around it. There is a red and a white triangle on the bezel that points to two hardware buttons on the watch The underside is where you have the heart rate scanner and charging connector pins. The rubber straps are actually black on the outside but has a red inner band with a grate-like design. The band is probably where Under Armour comes in.

HTC’s Halfbeak is seen to be running Android Wear 1.3. Android Wear 2.0 is set for a an early February launch, so if HTC unveils Halfbeak during MWC 2017 or later, it should be running the new version.

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Gionee F5L with 4GB RAM and 4000mAh Gets TENAA Certification

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 21, 2017

Following the launch of the really expensive luxury smartphone, the Gionee M2017 a few days before the end of 2016, Gionee has started 2017 with lower priced devices. Right on the heels of the Gionee Steele 2 is a new phone called the Gionee F5L which passed through TENAA recently.

The Gionee F5L is a 5.3-inch device with a 720p display. It is equipped with a 1.5GHz octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. Its rear camera is a 13MP sensor and the selfie camera is an 8MP shooter.

The Gionee F5L just like the very expensive M2017 and the mid-range Steel 2 ships with Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Gionee’s Amigo UI overlay. It packs a 4000mAh battery weighs 162g and measures 150 x 74.5 x 7.7 mm.

The specs of the F5L definitely screams mid-range but the pricing might not. Seeing as it has a larger RAM than the Steel 2 which is currently priced at ¥1299 (~$190), the Gionee F5L will most likely be priced around $200 to $250.

Since it has already been certified by TENAA, the phone should launch anytime soon. And when it does, you will be able to choose from either white or gold color options.

(Source)

MIUI New Screen Recording Feature Demonstrated (Video)

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 21, 2017

Xiaomi recently announced via its MIUI official Weibo page that the MIUI would soon bring a new screen recording feature which would be available at the end of February when the stable version of the feature would debut. The post did reveal that the feature has been on test on some devices like the Mi 3, Mi 4, Mi 5 and Xiaomi Mi Note.

Two videos demonstrating the latest feature has appeared on MIUI forum showing how it works. From the video, it can be gathered that the feature allows users to freely select the resolution size, picture quality, the numbers of frames, display touch points, as well as the ability to show or hide the physical buttons, and so on. Also, the feature allows the user to set the screen mode to vertical or horizontal when recording something playing on the screen. There is also the option of selecting an automatic mode as well.

Another cool thing about the recording feature is that it doesn’t affect or obstruct the smooth operation of other features on the phone. As stated, the Xiaomi Mi 3, Mi 4, Mi 5 and Mi Note will get the feature first, while other Xiaomi smartphones running MIUI will join the fray later on. Here are the links to the demo videos in case you want to check them out.

Demo Video 1

Demo Video 2

(source)

New Huawei Device Shows Up on TENAA

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 21, 2017

Huawei started the year with the launch of the Honor 6X in the US. While the 6X is actually a phone released in 2016, this new device spotted on TENAA can be said to be one of their new devices for 2017.

The phone with model number “WAS-AL00” looks like a Honor 8 but lacks the dual rear cameras and laser focus module, and has a square-shaped fingerprint scanner. The corners of the device are rounded and you have Huawei’s logo sitting close to the bottom and on the lower bezel in front.

The specs on TENAA says the device will have a 5.2-inch 1080p display, a Kirin processor clocked at 2.1GHz, 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage. It will also have a 12MP rear camera and an 8MP shooter in front. Under the hood is a 2900mAh battery while the OS is Android Nougat 7.0 with Huawei’s EMUI 5.0 overlay.

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