LeEco Gets Sued By Chinese Vendor, Haosheng

By

-

Jan 9, 2017

LeEco had a rough year in 2016. The issue with the Chinese company doesn’t have to do with its phones but rather is a matter of its financial health. The company’s money troubles started after its US launch and became public when an internal letter from the CEO stating that the company was facing a cash crunch leaked. It appears tings are still not well at the company as one of its vendors just sued it.

Zhejiang Haosheng Electronic Technology (Haosheng) is the Chinese vendor that supplies LeEco with the speakers it uses in its smartphones and it is suing the company over its unpaid bills which totals ¥51.74 million. The dispute is being resolved outside the courtroom with the Shanghai International Economic &Trade Arbitration Commission.

Haosheng says they signed a contract with LeEco in November to supply speakers on the agreement that a payment of ¥11.02 million and $5.93 million (¥41.12 million) will be paid in 9 installments with a 6% annual interest rate. LeEco however missed the payment of its first installment last December.

Haosheng isn’t the only company LeEco currently owes. AAC Technologies Holdings, Taiwan’s Truly International Holdings and Compal Electronics have disclosed to the public the debts owed by LeEco’s subsidiaries says a report published on thepaper.cn.

Continue

Are These leaked Images That of The Redmi Note 4X?

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jan 9, 2017

Xiaomi released the Redmi Note 4 last August and is available in multiple RAM and processor variants. Four months later, another model called the Redmi Note 4X was seen on TENAA.

The Redmi Note 4X is said to be a beefed up version of the Redmi Note 4 and will sport the new Snapdragon 653 processor. While awaiting its official release, leaked photos of what is said to be the Redmi Note 4X have surfaced online but these pictures have us wondering if it is really the Note 4X or a different phone entirely.

The images were posted on Weibo by @kjuma and show the front and back of the device. There is no doubt that this is a Xiaomi Redmi phone as it shares design similarities with the new Redmi 4/Note 4. The front of the phone has a physical home button which definitely doubles as a fingerprint scanner, just like it is on the dual-camera Redmi Pro. At the top you have the usual sensor, speaker, and front facing camera.

On the rear of the phone, there is an antenna line and directly below it is the rear camera and LED flash. At the bottom is the Xiaomi Mi logo and another antenna line.

These images are confusing because the ones seen on TENAA (above) show a phone with a rear mounted fingerprint scanner and also doesn’t sport a physical home button.

Continue

Nokia 6 Features Military Grade Body That Can Withstand Extreme Environments

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jan 9, 2017

Nokia was at one time the favorite of not a few globally, many of whom are still endeared to the brand long after its long hiatus from the mainstream mobile phone market. Retrospectively, earlier Nokia phones don’t really tickle because of their sleek look but more especially because of their rugged, durable body build. They come so rugged that there have been reports of Nokia phones stopping a bullet from piecing the holder. If you are wondering if the Nokia 6 is as durable as earlier phones, here is the answer.

With the release of the Nokia 6, Nokia has stated via its official Weibo page, that the mid-range device features a military grade body which can withstand a wide range of extreme condition. Conditions the device is touted as capable of withstanding include extreme temperature, high humidity, snow, water etc, according to the Weibo post.

Nokia phone’s build quality has always been top of the pack and Nokia under HMD Global Oy, is looking to maintain that high standard. Even under Microsoft, the Nokia Lumia still maintained the tradition as can be seen from the Nokia Lumia 900 whose stress tests video is featured at the end of this article.

Read More: Nokia 6 Unboxing & Hands-on Images

The pocket-friendly Nokia 6 is likely going to go on sale during the Chinese spring festival which is coming up later this month. It carries a price of 1699 yuan ($245 USD), which we had felt was on the high side. However, with these features it just might be worth that price.

(source)

Xiaomi’s Mi Bunny Mascot is Now A Smart Assistant called Kuri

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jan 9, 2017

Even if you are not a Xiaomi fan, you should recognize it’s Mi Bunny mascot. The Mi Bunny has now evolved from being a mascot to being a smart assistant speaker named Kuri.

Kuri was released at this year’s edition of CES which has seen a lot of manufacturers including automobile makers debut products that have voice control or some sort of artificial intelligent assistant built-in.

The smart speaker works as a kids’ companion that reads stories out loud to them and helps them develop their speech and social interaction. Xiaomi says it can read from a database of 10,000 different books. In addition to that, you can also use it send and read messages on the WeChat messaging app and use it to access Xiaomi’s voice assistant.

When you talk to Kuri it’s ears lights up, and while it’s facial expression is sort of fixed it is welcoming and will be loved by kids. Kuri gets better at speech recognition as interactions become more frequent and you can also pair it with the Kuri companion app.

Continue

Apple to Launch Three New iPad Models in Q2 2017 says Analyst

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jan 9, 2017

Apple released only one tablet last year, the iPad Pro 9.7. Almost a year later, they are set to release not one but three new models. The news comes from Mr Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at KGI Securities who is known for his track record of come-true apple rumors.

According to him, Apple is working on an updated 12.9-inch model; a 10.5-inch version with a narrow bezel; and a lower-priced 9.7-inch model. The first two models are expected to be powered by the A10X SoC which is a more powerful variant of last year’s A10 found in the iPhone 7 while the lower-priced 9.7-inch iPad will use a modified version of the A9 chip present in the iPhone 6s. All three models are said to launch in the second quarter of the year.

Although overall shipments have reduced by 10% each year, Mr Kuo believes that the newer iPads will have better average selling prices which will in turn boost revenue with the 9.7-inch model representing more than 60% of this year’s shipments.

Continue

Samsung Aims to Sell 60 million Galaxy S8 Units Says Report

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jan 9, 2017

A new report emanating from South Korea has revelaed that Samsung has set a sales target of 60 million units for the expected Galaxy S8 flagship. According to the source, the market leader has instructed its partners to supply parts based on the 60 million units figure that has been set.

This figure raises the bar for the tech giant as it far out-paces the Galaxy S7 with an estimated shipment of 48 million. The 2015 flagship-Samsung Galaxy S6 also only managed a total of 45 million units in shipments, same for the 2014 Galaxy S5. Only Samsung’s estimated sales in 2012 (65 million units) and 2013 (70 million units) surpassed this figure.

This latest rumor further lends credence to rumors of a shift in the Galaxy S8’s launch date from March, as the company would sure need some time to build up its stock to ensure adequate supplies.

(source)

Huawei’s Richard Yu Confirms A Few Details About Huawei P10 & P10 Plus

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jan 9, 2017

Huawei‘s senior VP Richard Yu, also known as Yu Chengdong had revealed last week that Huawei’s shipment for 2016 did hit the 140 million mark and even surpassed it. The VP also hinted that the Huawei P9 contributed to this figure by pulling a total of 10 million units, a figure considered a milestone for a flagship device.

Mr Yu, while speaking recently at CES 2017, hinted that the company is preparing to release much more better products and they would fall this spring. The VP also went on to revealed some details of the upcoming products which he named as the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus. Both flagships will feature Amazon Voice Assistant – Alexa and is said to also support Google DayDream platform, just like the Mate 9 US version. The P10 flagship is also revealed by Mr Yu as coming with an artificial intelligence technology.

The Huawei P10 is also rumored to feature a 5.5-inch 2K display and will be powered by a Kirin 960 chip supported by a 4GB / 6GB RAM. The device is rumored to have seen some improvements in its cameras from the P9 which would improve its performance in low light conditions. There are rumors of a shift in the traditional April launch date forward to March towards the end of the MWC, 2017.

(via)

How to Convert Your Black Xiaomi Mi MIX to the Elegant Pearl White Color

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jan 9, 2017

This year is the first time Xiaomi would attend the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) ever since it was founded in 2010. During their presentation, the company unveiled three new products: a Pearl White variant of the Xiaomi Mi MIX, the Xiaomi Mi TV 4, and the Mi Router HD.

The Mi MIX was released last year and was only available in black. Later, rumors of a white variant were circulating and not until 2 months later did it finally launch. Xiaomi hasn’t given a specific date when the new color variant will be available for purchase, but if you own a black variant and want to give it that elegant white pearl look, you might want to see what this Weibo user came up with.

The post made by a user whose Weibo name translates to Engage in Machine Wang Tengxia shows a DIY method of changing a black Mi MIX into white. All you need for the task is a piece of white foil, a stencil cutter, some glue if the foil doesn’t have an adhesive, and steady hands.

Step 1: Place the foil over the back of the phone, making sure there are no air bubbles trapped underneath and that it shows the outline of the camera and LED flash.
Step 2: Using the stencil cutter, gently trace out the piece of foil covering the camera and LED flash and peel off the foil.
Step 3: Fold the excess foil over the sides and up to the front bezel.
Step 4: Cut out the foil covering the front camera.
Step 5: Cut off all excess foil remaining.
Step 6: Now you have a pearl white Xiaomi Mi MIX.

Continue

ASUS Zenfone Pegasus 3S Announced: Very Large Battery, Android Nougat & More

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jan 9, 2017

ASUS unveiled two smartphones at CES 2017 including the Zenfone AR and the Zenfone 3 Zoom said to be built for photography. The Taiwanese company has unveiled yet another smartphone, this time around in China. The new phone still falls into the ASUS Zenfone series and is christened ASUS Zenfone Pegasus 3S.

The ASUS Zenfone Pegasus 3S is apparently an upgrade of the budget Zenfone Pegasus 3 that was released last year and it comes with an upgraded design, unique in appearance from its predecessor. The device features the same fused antenna band design found on the iPhone 7 and Vivo X9 and this is as a result of its all-metal body build. Unlike the Pegasus 3, the Zenfone Pegasus 3S comes with a front fingerprint sensor which is embedded under the front oval physical home button. The fingerprint sensor can store up to five different fingerprint and supports fingerprint payment. Also, sweaty and greasy finger tips will not affect the smooth operation of the sensor.

Specifications

The ASUS Zenfone Pegasus 3S comes with a 5.2-inch IPS HD display with 2.5D glass cover on top and a high screen-to-body ratio. The device is powered by a MediaTek MT6750 octa-core 64-bit processor which falls in the same category with the reliable Snapdragon 652 chip. Some would wish the device was fired up by the Qualcomm chip instead, though. The processor is backed by 3GB of RAM, while there are two storage models available. There is a 32GB storage version as well as a 64GB version which is expandable up to 2TB via microSD.

One beautiful highlight of the Zenfone Pegasus 3S is the size of the battery it packs. While the Pegasus 3 came with a large 4,100mAh battery, the Zenfone Pegasus 3S takes the bar higher by packing a massive 5,000mAh high-density battery under its hood. ASUS boasts the battery iscapable of achieving up to 30 days of standby time and 48 hours of intense usage. The phone also supports 5V / 2A fast charge, and features five smart power saving mode.

On the camera end, there is 13MP rear-facing main camera onboard, with f/2.0 aperture and Phase Detection Auto focus. The device also comes with an 8MP front-facing camera. There is the PixelMaster technology inside which allows for intelligent shooting and ease of use. The camera also comes with HDR Pro mode, and several other modes.

The ASUS Zenfone Pegasus 3S also comes with full network support, dual SIM/ dual Standby support. Connectivity options available include, Wi-Fi, VoLTE, 3G, as well as 4G+ high-speed network support. On the software end, the Zenfone Pegasus 3S runs on Android 7.0 Nougat from the go.

ASUS Zenfone Pegasus 3S Price

The ASUS Zenfone Pegasus 3S will go on sale starting from this month, January 2017 and carries a price tag of 1,999 yuan ($288) for the 64GB memory version.

Xiaomi Mi 6 Master Lu Benchmark Score Pops Up

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jan 8, 2017

Xiaomi’s expected Snapdragon 835-powered Mi 6 flagship leaked in what was said to be its AnTuTu benchmark score. Although the leaked data may be false, but the score shows the potential enormous fire power of the smartphone’s chip. Again, there’s been another leaked data which is said to be the Master Lu benchmark data of the Xiaomi Mi 6.

Well, we still can’t vouch for the authenticity of this recent leaked benchmark score but it seems to have popped up on Xiaomi’s MIUI forum. The data showed the Mi 6 with a monstrous benchmark score of 1103215 points. The CPU alone polled a total of 224855 points. Not much is known about the Master Lu benchmark but we have got earlier Master Lu benchmark data of the Samsung Galaxy S7 (also pictured) which we can compare it with. The difference is just out of this world. While the Galaxy S7 managed a score a little above 100 thousand points back then, the Mi 6 is credited with a score of over 1.1 million points! Perhaps, there is a mistake somewhere because it is just unbelievable.

The Xiaomi Mi 6 also recorded a super high score when its purported AnTuTu benchmark score leaked recently. An indication that the Snapdragon 835 id indeed a flagship chip with immense power. If all these turn out to be true, then we sure would be expecting a super fast device with top notch performance that won’t have many rivals.

(source)

Nokia 6 Unboxing & Hands-on Images

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Jan 8, 2017

HMD Global yesterday released its first Android-powered Nokia smartphone and quite honestly, it was a little short of our expectation. The Finnish company did not take the centre-stage at CES 2017 to do that, but rather silently unveiled the device, simply called Nokia 6, in China and they did curry some of the media attention already beamed on CES for the past few days.

Here are some cool hands-on images of the Nokia 6 which reveals the entire design features of the mid-range smartphone. The Nokia 6 launched with a somewhat familiar design that we probably had seen in the past, perhaps in leaked renders of the casing. The fused antenna band design is slightly visible at the edge of the device which is encased in an all-metal body made from aluminum.

As a reminder, the device sports a 5.5-inch display with 1080 pixels resolution. It is poweered by a Snapdragon 430 chipset which is backed by a cool 4GB of RAM. There is 64GB of storage onboard with the option of notching it further via microSD.

On the camera end, the device carries a 16MP rear sensor with a single LED flash lying just underneath it. While up front, there is an 8MP front-facing camera for sleek selfies. There is a 3,000mAh battery crammed inside the smartphone which should do justice to keeping the lights on for a longer period.

Priced at 1699 yuan, the Nokia 6 will hit the shelves in China before China’s New Year or Spring Festival later this month. For such a price, Nokia is got a lot of competitors to beat in the domestic Chinese market and even globally whenever the device is made available globally. Check out more unboxing / hands-on images of the Nokia 6 from down below.

(via)

HTC Vive Smartphone with Stunning Unique Designs In Works?

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Jan 8, 2017

The HTC Vive 2 VR headset was rumored to get unveiled at the recently held CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2017 event, but it did not come true. Fresh rumors suggest that the Taiwanese company may announce HTC Vive smartphone soon.

Evan Blass, the well-known leakster has revealed a new video that shows the company is working on a HTC Vive smartphone. The video shows that even though people have different personalities, the smartphones that they use from various brands do not reflect their personalities. Hence, the company is working on a smartphone that ‘connects’ with different people with unique appeal.

The leaked video was first published by Shaun Saperstein, a videographer, on Vimeo in June 2016. The Linkedin profile Saperstein indicates that he worked with the Taiwanese company as visual/motion designer until June last year.

Interestingly, he is also the author of the HTC concept phone that that surfaced in the past week. The video is no longer available on Vimeo and Saperstein’s website

HTC 2017? pic.twitter.com/ppONWlT5Mr

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 8, 2017

However, it is available through the tweet from Blass as well as on YouTube. The leakster did not obtain the video from an insider from HTC, but he has just shown a video that has been available online to the public for more than six months.

The video shows a sneak peek of the HTC Vive smartphone being prepped up at the “CMF Kitchen” where CMF stands for Color Material Finish. The CMF Kitchen seems to be a place where designers experiment on the appeal of products.

The three unique design that CMF Kitchen seems to offer on the HTC VIve smartphone are chemicals, super fibers, and litmus. The new colors and design suggest HTC wants to offer something unique from the usual black, silver, and gold color variants that are available on smartphones across various brands.

It is not clear as to what a HTC Vive smartphone may offer. It may be a smartphone that supports Google Daydream VR platform or the company may offer a customized approach to VR through it. The smartphone seems to have HTC Vive brand on the rear side of its metallic chassis. The camera module suggest that it sports a standard sensor with LED flash.

As of this writing, there is no confirmation on other sources on the existence of HTC Vive smartphone. Hence, we suggest our readers to take this news with a pinch of salt.HTC will be holding an unveil event on Jan. 12. It is expected to announce HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play smartphones at the event.

Nokia to Launch Viki Voice Assistant to Rival Siri, Google Assistant?

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

-

Jan 8, 2017

After making a comeback with Nokia 6 Android smartphone, the company is now rumored to be working on a virtual voice assistant like Siri , Google Assistant, ad Cortana. It is expected to be called Viki.

Rumors are rife that Nokia has registered a trademark for a personal voice assistant called Viki in the EU. In the application, the product is described as ‘software for the creation and monitoring of mobile and web assistants working with digital knowledge and combining all data sources into a single chat and voice-based interface.”

Even though Nokia seems to be working on a similar voice assistant for its devices, other speculations suggest that Viki may not be a voice assistant and may be associated with some other project from the company. Adding voice assistants on smartphones seems to be a growing trend with smartphone companies.

Recently, Huawei had announced that it will be including Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant in the next flagship that it will release in the U.S. Apple has Siri on its devices since 2011.

Alexa voice assistant is available on Amazon since 2014. The Google Assistant was introduced with Google Pixel smartphones. Devices running on Windows 10 Mobile have Cortana and Samsung is rumored to bring Bixby voice assistant on Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone that is expected to launch by April this year.

(Source)

How Well Does The Snapdragon 430 SoC in The Nokia 6 Perform?

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jan 8, 2017

HMD Global released the Nokia 6 earlier today in what could be termed as a silent launch. There were no posters teasing the launch and up till this moment the official Twitter accounts of HMD Global and Nokia have no mention of the new phone.

That aside, quite a number of us are disappointed about the fact that the Nokia 6 gets shipped with a Snapdragon 430 processor instead of the Snapdragon 652/625 or even the more recent Snapdragon 653 SoC. While it does have a generous amount of RAM and storage, sporting any of the other processors mentioned above would have justified its ¥1699 (~$245) price tag. But the question is how well does the Snapdragon 430 perform?

The Snapdragon 430 is an 8-core A-53 processor built using the 28nm process and clocked at 1.4GHz with an Adreno 505 GPU. The processor supports OpenGL Es 3.1+ and has full network support. It is present in phones like the Xiaomi Redmi 3S and the Lenovo K6 which were released last year.

The Geekbench results for the Snapdragon 430 processor in the has the processor scoring 630 points in the single-test and and 2742 points in the multi-core test. For graphics performance, the Adreno 505 GPU achieves a score of 7.1 in GFXBench’s Manhattan off-screen test score.

Continue

Nokia 6 is Official: 4GB RAM, Snapdragon 430, and ¥1699 (~$245) Price

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jan 8, 2017

Nokia just took the wraps off it’s first smartphone and it is called the Nokia 6. It appears it wasn’t a codename after all.

The Nokia 6 is made from a singe piece of aluminium. It sports a 5.5-inch Full HD display and comes with Android 7.0 out of the box.

There is a Snapdragon 430 processor under the hood, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. The rear camera is a 16MP sensor with LED flash; and for selfies, there is an 8MP shooter up front. There is LTE and dual SIM support and Nokia has thrown in a 3000mAh battery.

The Nokia 6 also sports dual speakers that pump out sound from all directions making ”you feel like you are inside the action”. There is also a front-mounted fingerprint scanner in front that doubles as the home button. Flanking the fingerprint scanner on each side are the back and recent apps capacitive keys. However, from the video below it does look like they are backlit.

The volume rocker and power button are positioned on the right hand side and the SIM tray is on the left.

Continue

Package Box of Upcoming ”Nokia 6” Phone Leaked: 5.5-Inch Display, Snapdragon SoC

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jan 8, 2017

Nokia’s new phones are probably the most anticipated phones of 2017. Leaks have been pouring in non-stop about the new devices said to be about 6 or 7 in total. Today, what we have is a leaked image of the package box of one of the upcoming phones codenamed Nokia 6 and which appears to be a flagship device.

While the specs are in Chinese which hints that this model will probably hit China first, it isn’t difficult to make out the key specs.

First, if you take a look at the top left corner, you will see ”Nokia 6” written there which means that this should probably be the 6th Nokia phone coming out later this year.

The Nokia 6 phone will be launching with Android 7.0 Nougat, so you need not worry about updates. It will support 4G LTE have 4GB of RAM and have 64GB of built-in storage which can be expanded via a MicroSD card slot. The primary camera is a 16MP shooter and there is an 8MP camera in front.

The display of the Nokia 6 is a 5.5-inches 1080p screen and the processor is an unspecified Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. The Nokia 6 phone will also come with Dolby ATMOS.

Continue

Sony’s New Bravia TV is Designed Like a Desk Photo Frame

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jan 8, 2017

Bravia (Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture) is a subsidiary of Sony that is associated with high definition TVs although once in a while they also work with the mobile phone division to make those crisp Xperia displays we love. At this year’s edition of CES they unveiled a new OLED TV whose design stands out.

While flat screen TV’s can either hang on your wall via a wall bracket or sit on your TV console table via a base that props it up, the Bravia A1E can’t do any of that. What it does is sit on it’s screen and rests on a sort of kickstand. To get a clear picture of what I mean think of a desk photo frame; that’s how this bad boy rolls.

The kickstand of the Bravia A1E isn’t just propping it up, it is also where the TV’s processor and other components are stored. Since the stand is ”hidden” behind the display, it provides the illusion of a display just standing on it’s own.

The way it stands is not the only thing that is special about this new TV, it has an edge-to-edge display which means there are no speakers around the TV (and behind it). So instead of making a separate sound bar like the Xiaomi Mi TV 4, the Bravia A1E churns out sounds from the screen itself, a technology Sony calls Acoustic Surface. This way, the sound literally hits you in the face.

The display actually contains four actuators, two on the left side and another two on the right. The actuators need to be supplemented with a woofer and Sony has installed one into the kickstand. If you touch the display while watching a movie you can actually feel it vibrate, but surprisingly it doesn’t cause jitters on the screen.

Continue

Huawei Records 42% Growth in Sales in 2016

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jan 7, 2017

Huawei Consumer Business Group made public its expected annual performance figures for 2016. Sales revenue of 178 billion RMB was predicted, 42% up from that of 2015 and was able to ship 139 million units, an increase of 29% from the previous year.

The company has plans of surpassing that figure this year. According to Huawei CGB CEO, Richard Yu, ”In 2017, we (Huawei) will strengthen our supply chain, channels, R&D, services and any other areas required to streamline our operations, improve the efficiency of our decision-making and implementation, drive our internationalization strategy and proactively develop future capacity.”

Huawei achieved a number of breakthroughs in 2016. It’s customized version of android, EMUI is now more refined and deeply integrated with the company’s Kirin processors. Their phones also have better camera performance, thanks in part to their collaboration with Leica on the Huawei P9 and the Huawei Mate 9 models. Both companies have founded a joint research lab called Max Berek Innovation Lab that will focus on development and innovation in areas relating to optical systems, imaging algorithms, and virtual and augmented realities.

Their focus on artificial intelligence has also paid off as the Huawei Mate 9 will be the first phone to ship with Amazon’s AI assistant, Alexa pre-loaded.

The Huawei P9 and Mate 9 are the manufacturer’s only phones to have surpassed 10 million sales even after the latter suffered supply shortages due to the high demand. Their Honor sub-brand is not doing badly at all. The top of the line right now is the Honor Magic released towards the end of last year, and the dual-camera Honor 6X has received its US launch hoping to surpass the Honor 5X. The Honor 8 has also gotten positive reviews all over, standing as one of the major contenders to the OnePlus 3.

Continue

Vernee Mars Focuses on Aesthetics to Stand Out

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jan 7, 2017

Most readers will agree that most phones in the last few years share several design similarities. Some manufacturers are not even ashamed of copying another phone’s design down to the last screw. The only difference is usually in the specifications, user interface, and price.

Vernee is one company that feels the attitude towards design should change. The company foresees a time when customers will suffer from what is called aesthetic fatigue caused by seeing the same design over and over again. It believes manufacturers who are not investing in design should do so as concentration on only specifications and pricing will negatively affect the development of the industry. Vernee is not just preaching and not practicing. It’s new phone, the Vernee Mars is a testament to its focus on design.

Vernee Mars

Vernee has worked hard on the design of the so that it stands out from the phones currently in the market. The front of the Mars sports a symmetric design and is fitted with a 2.5D display with rounded corners and sides. There is no physical buttons in front neither will you see the company’s brand name plastered on it. The company says a combination of Gel Suspension Technology and the ultra thin 1mm bezel allows the Mars to achieve a screen-to-body ratio of 81%. It’s fingerprint scanner is also on the side, which is sort of a rare thing to see on a Chinese phone.

For the back cover and frame, a 6000 series aircraft grade aluminium alloy that has undergone a total of 18 processes was used. Nano-injection molding and anodizing coloring process gives the cover a firm hold over the phone. The Vernee Mars is just 7.2mm thick, the surface has been treated with fine zircon (No. 220) and the sides are rounded allowing for a comfortable handling experience.

Continue

ZTE Reported to Be Cutting 5% of Its Global Workforce

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Jan 7, 2017

Report has it that ZTE Telecommunications Equipment Company is planning a layoff that will see up to 5% or 3000 employees of its global workforce lose their jobs. The news comes from Reuters who were informed by sources close to the company.

ZTE

While there are so many reasons to the layoff, it can be attributed to ZTE’s plans to restructure its operations and organizational structure after a poor financial year which can be partly blamed on the trade restrictions imposed by US Commerce department. An unnamed source has also said ZTE is using this as an opportunity to lay off employees who have applied for jobs at rival companies like Huawei.

Managers have already been briefed and the exercise is expected to be completed by the end of March. Majority of the layoffs will be concentrated in China (20% of employees there) where it has been losing market share for several quarters now.

Continue