Umi Plus E Review – My Favourite Umi Smartphone Yet

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Jan 14, 2017

Less than a month ago we reported that the Honor 8 was going to get its Nougat update by February; a statement made by Huawei itself. Judging from the info from Huawei Japan, the update will start rolling out as from Monday, 16th of January.

Like any other update, this will also be rolled out in stages, so if you do not get the update on Monday, you should receive it in the following days as long as you are in Japan.

Honor 8 owners in North America might have to still wait till February for their update though. The update comes in at a whooping 1.97GB which is pretty heavy to be honest. Honor Japan advises that you back up your data and have at least 50% battery available before you commence the update.

Android Co-Founder Andy Rubin Has a New Company Working on a Modular Smartphone

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Jan 14, 2017

For those who do not know who Andy Rubin is, the following lines should serve as a crash course. Andy Rubin is the co-founder of Android Inc., and after Google acquired it he served as Senior VP of Mobile and Digital Content up until 2013 when he left to head Google’s robotics division. After leaving the search giant in 2014, he set up Playground Global, an incubator for funding startups involved in manufacturing hardware devices.

Presently, he has a new company called Essential Products Inc.; a company focused on making consumer hardware products. Essential Products Inc. has plans to launch a number of their products soon, one of which is a high-end smartphone that will have ‘‘the ability to gain new hardware features over time’’. Not only will the phone be taking a stab at modularity, it is also said to have a large bezel-less display.

The exciting part is actually the modular feature of the phone. According to the description provided, the phone will have a proprietary magnetic connector that serves as a way to charge the phone and also works as a way of expanding the phone’s functionality. So we might be looking at hardware add-ons that attach to the charging port.

Although the company is working on a spherical camera module that shoots high resolution 360° images, the phone will support modules from third parties too.

A prototype of the phone is said to have a display that is bigger than that of the iPhone 7 Plus but has a smaller form factor thanks to its lack of bezels. A similar design can be seen in the Xiaomi Mi MIX. The large display and small size is not the only way the device is similar to Xiaomi’s phone, as it is said to also have a ceramic back. There is also a chance that the display might be pressure sensitive.

Qualcomm Says Snapdragon 835 Phone at CES Not Nokia 8

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Jan 14, 2017

Qualcomm first announced the Snapdragon 835 SoC about two months ago. The new chip is being built on a 10nm process just like Mediatek’s Helio X30. Folowing the announcement, Qualcomm posted that more details about the new chip will be revealed at the 2017 edition of the Consumer Electronic Show (CES).

What better way to show off your new chip than in a reference phone? So that’s what Qualcomm did. They put up a phone with 6GB of RAM, a 24MP rear camera with OIS and EIS, dual front facing speakers, and a 12MP front camera with the Snapdragon 835 under the hood. Pretty impressive specs for a phone, right?

Some folks however got ahead of themselves and said the device is actually Nokia’s yet-to-be announced flagship phone called the Nokia 8. The rumour has actually caused a lot of buzz that Qualcomm has had to put out an official statement about it.

According to the company’s spokeswoman Catherine Baker, the phones at CES are not Nokia phones but are the same reference design phones it uses every year to showcase its latest chip. An excerpt of the letter is pasted below:

We do not disclose details of our reference design. We’ve seen a few stories rumoring what we demonstrated in our CES booth to be a Nokia device, those reports are not accurate, our 835 demos were on our own reference design devices which we use to demo our Snapdragon SOC’s every year.”-Catherine Baker, spokeswoman, Qualcomm

Now that the chip maker has cleared the air on that, we are left in the dark about the Nokia 8. Will it have the same impressive specs as Qualcomm’s reference phones or will it be toned down? Our guess is as good as yours.

(Source)

Xiaomi Mi Mix Production Stands At 100,000 Units So Far, Lei Jun Hints

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Jan 13, 2017

The Mi Mix is said to be difficult to produce, that we know, but what we didn’t know is the level of difficulty. Xiaomi‘s CEO has just given us an idea of how difficult it is for the Xiaomi Mi Mix concept phone to be mass produce by disclosing that the company has only managed to mass produced 100,000 units of the flagship so far.

The CEO hinted this while fielding questions during the Geek Park Innovation conference held recently in China. The tech giant’s henchman spoke of several issues concerning the future of the smartphone industry and other and as usual, the Mi Mix was expected in the discussion. While explaining the reason for the scarcity of the concept device, the CEO admitted that the output is poor most especially because of the process involved in producing the ceramic glass body which the device features.

The Xiaomi executive also gave his take on foldable smartphones which he thinks isn’t the future of the smartphone industry and that smartphones with full-screen displays could be the next high-end item to compete for in the industry very soon.

The Xiaomi Mi Mix is hardly available for purchase, with the stock running out at quick intervals during flash sales. There is no likelihood that the production will be shored up anytime soon as the company seems to be focusing on reviving the ailing brand by launching more sleeker smartphones and concentrating its strategies to help rake in more revenue this year.

HTC U Ultra, U Play: All Official Images of Color Variants, Pre-order Details, Pricing, Availability

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Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 13, 2017

HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play smartphones have been officially unveiled. Here all the official images of their color variants along with details on pre-orders, pricing and availability.

HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play Design and Color Variants

The HTC U Ultra and U Play smartphones have their metallic chassis is sandwiched between Gorilla Glass 5 sheets on both sides. The 3D contoured glass design that is described as “liquid surface” by the Taiwanese company allows both smartphones to boast distinctive reflective design.

To achieve it, HTC has adopted a new process of bonding multiple layers of colors to the glass to reflect light beautifully. However, the glossy design seems to attract fingerprints easily.

The HTC U Ultra and U Play are available in vibrant colors like Brilliant Black, Ice White, Sapphire Blue and Cosmetic Pink. The HTC U Ultra comes in 64 GB and 128 GB storage variants, but the latter one is a luxurious model that features the ultra-hard sapphire glass for its display.

Related: HTC 11 Canceled? Company to Release 6 to 7 Smartphones in 2017

HTC U Ultra, U Play Pre-orders, Pricing and Availability

The 64 GB HTC U Ultra costs $749 whereas the 128 GB variant is priced at $910. HTC has already started receiving pre-orders for the 64 GB model from Jan. 12 on htc.com. It will start shipping the orders from mid-March.

As of this writing, the Cosmetic Pink variant is unavailable in the U.S. Also, the 128 GB HTC U Ultra pre-orders will start on a later date. Both the smartphones are currently sold unlocked in the U.S. These models support AT&T and T-Mobile GSM networks.

The 32 GB and 64 GB models of HTC U Play will available in the market by Q1 2017. The 32 GB HTC U Play is priced at $440. However, the pricing of 64 GB model is currently unavailable.

HTC U Ultra, U Play Specs At a Glance

The HTC U Ultra has a 5.7-inch quad HD LCD5 screen and a secondary display of 2.05 inches that supports a resolution of 160 x 1,040 pixels. Other features include Snapdragon 821 SoC, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB and 128 GB storage models, hybrid SIM microSD slot OIS enabled 12-megapixel rear shooter, 16-megapixel selfie snapper, Android 7.0 Nougat, USB Type-C port, fingerprint scanner and 3,000 mAh battery.

The HTC U Play has a 5.2-inch Super LCD5 full HD screen, a MediaTek Helio P10 SoC, 3 GB RAM / 32 GB storage, 4 GB RAM / 64 GB storage, hybrid SIM microSD slot, OIS enabled 16-megapixel camera, 16-megapixel front-facing camera, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, USB Type-C port, fingering scanner and 2.500 mAh battery. Both smartphones lack 3.5 mm audio jack.

Nokia 6 Registrations Now over 420,000 Ahead of the First Flash Sale

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Jan 13, 2017

Nokia 6 is proving to be a potentially successful smartphone, even when it is yet to go on sale. The phone was recently announced in China and immediately went up for pre-orders or registration or reservations, whichever you choose to call it. The reservations were reported yesterday to have surpassed 230,000 persons in just 24 hours after it opened for reservations in Jingdong (JD.com).

The latest report from that end says that the figure has almost doubled, as it is reported to be in the tune of over 420,000 persons in just two days. Surprisingly, there is up to four days left before the device goes up on its first flash sales, so the figure may even pass 1 million persons. As stated earlier, there are two categories in the registration. There is a zero yuan reservation and another one which required those making reservations to pay a 66 yuan price with a membership benefit attached. The free reservation package has so far seen 411,470 persons indicating interest in that package., up from 229,000 a day ago. The 66 yuan category has also risen to 9,211 persons but it is no longer available any more. Only the zero yuan registration is still open on Jingdong presently.

Of course, this total figure is expected to rise further in the next few days and bear in mind that the device will go on sale starting from January 19. So, there is still four clear days left for those who are still interested in participating in the reservations for its first flash sale. We must point out that not all of the registrations will translate into actual sales.

The Nokia 6 is a sleek smartphone that comes with a modest specs lineup inside but what makes it a hot, wave-making smartphone is perhaps its sleek but rugged build, as well as durability. It is strong enough to crack a walnut shell even with the screen, so we expect a durable device which could last for ages. The 1699 yun price tag isn’t too much also.

Xiaomi & Huawei Make it to the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2016

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Jan 13, 2017

A new survey by US-based Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has placed two of China’s tech companies Xiaomi and Huawei among the world’s top 50 most innovative companies in 2016. According to the survey, Apple, Google, Tesla, Microsoft, Amazon and Netflix all occupy the top six spots in the annual poll and previous reports show Apple is topping the list for the 11th straight year running.

Apple seems to sit atop the list of innovative companies because of the huge amount it spends on research and development (R & D), with $10 million reported to have been expended in R&D for Apple’s last fiscal year which ended on September 24, 2016. Also, Google sits in the second position due to its huge investment in research and development of its workforce.

Coming to China, the country’s most innovative tech company Xiaomi made it into the list at number 35, beating the likes of Dell, Honda, Intel, and even fellow compatriot Huawei. The company last year, came out with a number of innovative gadgets, the most spectacular being the Mi Mix with its bezel-less display. Apart from being innovative on its own, Xiaomi had been helping smaller startups gain recognition by giving them their platform to launch their products. Huawei on its part, sits at number 46 as one of the most innovative companies last year, Huawei also unveiled a number of new smartphones last year bringing on board, some innovative features as well.

Read Also: Xiaomi Aims To Exceed 100 billion Yuan ($14.5 billion) in Sales in 2017

Apart from Huawei and Xiaomi, China has got a number of innovative tech companies, many of whom are gearing up to break the ranks and get their innovative gadgets into the hands of investors and consumers.

Samsung Galaxy S8 For April 21 Launch?

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Jan 13, 2017

The latest we are getting about the Samsung Galaxy S8 is that the device will go official on April 21. The Galaxy S8 was first tipped to be launched in February during the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona, just as the Korean giant looks to shake off the thoughts of the Galaxy Note 7 mishap.

The next generation flagship had earlier been rumored as coming in April, with no specific date mentioned. Other rumors had mentioned April 17th or 18th and even April 21st. But we are still not sure how true this latest April 21 launch date is. It is getting more and more certain by the day, though, that we won’t likely be seeing the Galaxy S8 at MWC 2017. We will not rule out the possibility that Samsung may just spring out a surprise out of the blues and unveil the smartphone next month.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 will take the Galaxy series design to an entirely new level and it comes as Samsung’s first premium device after the botched Galaxy Note 7. The company is hoping the design and entire outlook of the Galaxy S8 will help completely erase the Note 7’s issues from our memories and restore any lost confidence in the brand, so they are taking their time to put together a sleek, reliable device.

The Galaxy S8 is expected with a 5.7-inch WQHD (2560 x 1440) Super AMOLED display, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC inside. The dvice is also expected to run on Android Nougat out of the box. A recent leak has revealed that the Galaxy S8 will not feature a physical home button up front but will have its fingerprint sensor mounted at the rear. If this is true, then the Galaxy S8 is unlike any of its siblings specs-wise. The rumor also states that the device will not have a dual-lens camera but rather its plus variant – Galaxy S8 Plus will adopt a dual-lens setup at the rear. The Galaxy S8 Plus is expected as a 6.2-inch phablet which would be launched alongside the Galaxy S8.

Samsung’s First Foldable Display Smartphone Looks Beautiful In Concept Renders

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Joel Joseph

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Jan 12, 2017

Many noted personalities have said that the smartphone industry has come to a saturation point when it comes down to innovation. That’s true to a large extent given that the most smartphones these days feature just incremental upgrades rather than something outright revolutionary. The Xiaomi Mi Mix was probably one of the most innovative smartphone products released in 2016, but even that was an incremental upgrade, achieved by reducing the bezels on the screen to a major extent — something that many companies have been trying for the past couple of years.

It is at this time that we hear about the foldable display smartphone concept from Samsung. And according to the latest reports, foldable smartphones may no longer exist as just a concept as Samsung as well as LG are said to be releasing such smartphones as early as Q3-Q4 2017. Initially, it was said that Samsung is developing a tablet-like device with a display that folds into a smartphone. But the company seems to have realized recently that folding-in smartphones are probably not the ideal way to go (since you’ll have to fold the display every time you want to use it as a phone). So, the company is now said to be working on foldable display smartphones that essentially fold outwards. So, it starts off as a smartphone and whenever required, you can open it up to convert it into a large 7-inch tablet. Pretty nifty, right?

Now, we have some pretty good looking concept renders of this foldable display smartphone. While we are not sure whether the final product from Samsung will end up looking anything close to this, it does give us a glimpse of how a smartphone which can enlarge itself into a 7-inch tablet could materialize in real life. Check out all the images below.

While a foldable smartphone sounds like an amazing concept, brining it to real life comes with its own set of technical challenges. We have seen flexible displays but a foldable smartphone requires much more than that. We will have to wait and see how Samsung tackles the rigid parts that are inside a smartphone like the circuit board. The specs on such a phone have to be top-notch and hence, it’ll be interesting to see how the company designs its first foldable display phone. Given that the company is said to roll out more than “100,000″ foldable devices in Q3 2017, it means that Samsung has already overcome these challenges.

With LG also reported to make a similar number of foldable devies by the fourth quarter, 2017 is definitely going to be an interesting year for smartphone enthusiasts.

The “Paper Watch” is a Cheap Fitness Tracker Made from Household Stuff

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Jan 12, 2017

The name “Paper watch” sounds confusing because the gadget isn’t made from paper per se, but that is the name of the smart wearable that is being developed by researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia. The so -called “paper watch” can perform same functions of health-monitoring and fitness tracking performed by smartwatches like the Apple Watch, Samsung Gear and it can do that at a fraction of the price.

The cheap wearable device uses flexible sensors sourced from common household items like aluminum foil and sponge which works with silicon-based chip components to create a semi-recyclable fitness device. Because the materials used are cheap, household stuff, the “paper watch” itself comes cheap.

Presently, the paper watch fitness tracker packs an impressive array of capabilities. It is shown to be capable of measuring body temperature, sweat levels, heart rate, and blood pressure. The soft sensor components of the device could eventually be replaced whenever they wear out, while customers keep the rigid chip and battery parts of their wearable device.

The prototype paper watch currently costs $25 USD which is quite cheap, when compared to high-end fitness trackers. But then, the more sturdy and sleek Mi Band 2 comes in even cheaper at around $19.99. The paper watch is still work in progress, though, and the inventors hope to bring down the price further as time progresses. Even though the device cannot show time presently, that is a feature they hope to include in the smart wearable. The inventors hope to spin off a company soon with the device expected later this year, but how well can this fare in an era where Chinese manufacturers are developing cheaper smart wearables with lots of functions is a question that needs to be answered. But the team hopes to target the elderly populace with its cheap product on start up.

Ninety Percent of Phones Sold in China Are from Domestic Manufacturers

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Jan 12, 2017

With a population running into over a billion persons, the Chinese market is one of the markets in Asia with lots of potentials and prospects for startups and other business. The sheer size of the country means products could get sold only within the country and companies will declare profits even without shipping outside. But the Chinese smartphone brands seem to be at the forefront of making an aggressive foray into lucrative markets overseas. This they do while keeping a firm grip on their own domestic market.

A recent report by the China Academy of Information and Communication showing the statistics of phones shipped in China indicates that last year (2016), a total of 559.7 million mobile phones were shipped in China. This figure represents an 8% increase from the previous year. SUprisingly, the number of new model releases was 1,446 which is down by 3.3 % year-over-year (YOY). This then means the OEMs actually sold more of their older models and not necessarily new phones.

Of the total 559.7 million mobile phones shipped last year, local smartphone makers shipped 497.8 million units in 2016, up 16.1% YOY. The figure accounts for 88.9% of the domestic mobile phone shipments, higher than 85.0% achieved one year ago. Also, the market share of 4G and smart devices continues to grow stably. A total of 519.4 million or 92.8% of total shipments in China support 4G networks, representing a YOY increase of 18%.

According to research, the growth of the domestic smartphone market is based on the growth of local companies like OPPO and Vivo which contributed a huge role to the surge in shipments from domestic companies. OPPO and Vivo stimulated sales of their products via extensive offline retail outlets as well as using innovative designs on their smartphones. Both OPPO and Vivo were revealed to have captured the top two spots in the Chinese smartphone market, raking in 17% and 16% shares respectively in Q3 2016.

The amazing thing is that apart from capturing the domestic market, Chinese smartphone brands are rapidly expanding overseas, taking on markets in Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Last year alone, Chinese brands grabbed a chunk off the $10-billion USD Indian smartphone market by capturing 50% of the market, thus slicing off from the shares of market leaders like Samsung. The Chinese brands are even more poised to do more exploits this year. Brands like Xiaomi are restructuring to enable them to capture more of the market shares which they once controlled, so the competition will even be higher than last year.

Nokia 8 Leaks: Alleged Real Device Spotted In New Videos; Pegged to Launch at MWC 2017

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Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 12, 2017

Now that the new videos of Nokia 8 have been leaked, the device seems to be ready to launch at MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2017.

After releasing Nokia 6, a midrange smartphone, the company is expected to soon announce Nokia 8 flagship Android smartphone at next month’s MWC 2017 event. Apparently, the Nokia 8 was showcased by Qualcomm at its booth at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2017 last week.

The Nokia 8 flagship was not announced at CES 2017. The U.S. based chip maker is said to have prevented people from snapping pictures of Nokia 8. However, a leaked video featuring the Nokia has surfaced from CES 2017. Moreover, fresh photos of what seems to be a real Nokia 8 smartphone have surfaced.

Nokia N8 is said to be codenamed as Nokia Supreme. It is expected to come in two variants that will be respectively powered by Snapdragon 835 and Snapdragon 821. Both the variants were seen sitting beside each other at CES 2017.

A new video has surfaced from CES 2017 that shows camera comparison between Nokia 8 powered by Snapdragon 835 and its other variant running on Snapdragon 821.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPi26Ov0n7s

The Nokia 8 with SD 835 is said to be flanked with features like 6 GB of RAM, OIS and EIS 3.0 enabled 24-megapixel camera. These features indicate that this Nokia 8 will be able to shoot the smoothest video on a smartphone to date. Its SD 821 model is speculated to have 4 GB of RAM and a lesser but unknown camera.

Rumors have it that the camera lenses available on Nokia 8 variants are from Carl Zeiss. The ‘HRM’ text mentioned near the camera indicates both the devices may feature sensors for heart rate monitor.

Looking at the design of the Nokia 8 variants, it seems that there are physical buttons at the front and they are graced with metal unibody constructions. Both devices are said to be equipped with dual speakers.

The SD 835 and 821 models are expected to come in two storage choices of 64 GB and 128 GB. Both storage choices will also carry support for up to 256 GB of microSD expansion. Other rumored features of Nokia 8 models are 5.7-inch quad HD display, Android 7.0 Nougat OS, fingerprint sensor and LED notification lights.

The following video shows newer images of Nokia 8. Unlike the Nokia 8 models showcased at CES 2017, these fresh photos show its prototype in a plastic build. These images were shot before the smartphone was sent to CES 2017 event. The source of Total Tech has sent these Nokia 8 images from Russia which indicates the company may be manufacturing its phones in the country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhXHfqlGtHI

As mentioned above, Nokia 8 is expected to get unleashed at MWC 2017. If it is slated to get announced next month, more details on it are expected to surface in the near future.

HTC 11 Canceled? Company to Release 6 to 7 Smartphones in 2017

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Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 12, 2017

Since HTC suffered more loss in 2016, it is expected to release only 6 to 7 smartphones this year. Also, there won’t be any device named HTC 11 in 2017.

HTC’s President of Smartphone and Connected Device Business, Chialin Chang, has confirmed that this year will see only six to seven smartphones from the company. Since HTC has now released HTC U Ultra and U Play smartphones, the Taiwanese company are now expected to release four to five new smartphones by the end of 2017.

As far as HTC 11 is concerned, Chang has also said that the company’s flagship won’t release with HTC 11 moniker as rumors are stating. However, he confirmed that the Taiwanese company is working on a new flagship smartphone for 2017. However, he did not reveal any information on it.

Chang has also revealed that HTC is also working on releasing new Desire-line of smartphones that will be aimed towards who wish to buy “fun and affordable” devices. But there is no confirmation on when the company would be unveiling its next smartphone. It is expected to announce the rumored HTC One X10 at the upcoming MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2017 event that will be held in next month.

Even though 2016’s flagship smartphone, the HTC 10, is one of the best smartphones from the company, it recorded the lowest revenue figures in the past 11 years by December 2016. Since it encountered a revenue loss in the last quarter of 2016, it is likely to suffer a loss in the first quarter of 2017. If this happens, it would be the seventh continuous quarterly loss for HTC.

In the September 2016, rumors started swirling that HTC would be introducing three smartphones from its new Ocean line of smartphones by the first quarter of this year. Among the rumored Ocean smartphones such as Ocean Smart, Ocean Note, and Ocean Master, the company has now released Ocean Note as HTC U Ultra.

The Ocean Smart is said to be a basic model. There is no confirmation on whether the company released the Ocean Smart as HTC U Play because the smartphone was internally known as HTC Alpine. The HTC Ocean Master is rumored as flagship.

Speculations are rife that the HTC Ocean Master does not feature any physical buttons on its sides. It is said to be equipped with sensors on its edges that can be touched to access various functions like power, volume controllers, and camera.

Huawei P8 Lite 2017 Edition Official: Sleek Design, Kirin 655, Android 7.0

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Jan 12, 2017

If the Huawei P8 Lite was a car, then we’d have said it had gotten a face-lift but it isn’t, so its safe to say the Huawei P8 Lite has got a new edition and it adopts the moniker Huawei P8 Lite 2017 Edition. The new P8 Lite 2017 is coming as a surprise smartphone because Huawei had already launched the P9 Lite last year, which we thought was a replacement for the P8 Lite. However, the P8 Lite (2017) have surfaced in Germany sporting an entirely different design and specs lineup from its predecessor.

The Huawei P8 Lite was launched in 2015 and perhaps, Huawei is buoyed by its huge success hence the attempt to bring back another edition. The specs lineup of the P8 Lite and P8 Lite 2017 also has seen some slight changes. The P8 Lite (2017) is powered by Huawei’s latest mid-range Kirin 655 chip with an octa-core A53 processor. Powering the graphics is a Mali-T830MP2 GPU. The processor is complemented by 3GB of RAM and there is 16GB of expandable storage aboard the mid-range device.

The P8 Lite 2017 sports a 5.2-inch LTPS display with Full HD resolution.The smartphone featres a 12MP rear-facing sensor with f/2.0 aperture, as well as an 8MP front-facing camera tailored to deliver cool selfies. The latest edition also packs a large 3000mAh non-removable battery. On the software angle, teh smartphone runs on the latest Android 7.0 Nougat with EMUI 5.0 hovering on top.

The Huawei P8 Lite 2017 will be available in markets across Europe by the end of January and the smartphone carries a EUR 249 price tag. The device is available in black, white and gold color variants.

Nokia Patent Shows Device with Foldable Display

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Jan 12, 2017

News of manufacturers working on a foldable display have been around for years now. The latest report circulating now is that of Samsung’s upcoming foldable phone which is rumored to be launched in H1 2018 and not Q3 2017 anymore. One other company that has been working on foldable displays for over a decade already but has not been mentioned recently is actually Nokia.

As it stands, Nokia may or may not be preparing to launch a phone with a foldable display in the near future but a patent granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office back in 2013 and made public in September is now making rounds on the internet.

The patent’ diagrams show a device with a clam-shell design that looks like a square pocket mirror. The way it is deigned, the display doesn’t bend completely when you shut the device. The patent description says the design makes it possible to have a ‘‘pocket size device with a relatively large display (for example, a 6, 7, or 8-inch display or larger)’’. The device also has a sort of lock that keeps both halves in place, a design found in laptops of old.

Peter Thiel Thinks The Age of Apple is Over

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Jan 12, 2017

PayPal Co-Founder and Facebook board member, Peter Thiel has said in a recent interview that he thinks that the age of Apple is over.

The statement was made during a Q&A session called Confirm or Deny, a segment of the New York Times. Replying to the question of whether the age of Apple is over, Mr Thiel says “Confirm. We know what a smartphone looks like and does. It’s not the fault of Tim Cook, but it’s not an area where there will be any more innovation.”

It seems Peter Thiel is one of those who think we have reached the top of the curve when it comes to innovation with respect to smartphones. Currently, more than half of Apple’s revenue from the last two years is from the iPhone and for the first time in more than a decade, Apple’s annual profit fell in 2016 due to a fall in the sales of the iPhone.

While it is too early to say if Apple’s glory days are coming to an end or have ended, we can all agree that innovation when it comes to smartphones have been a bit stagnant. Google has abandoned Project Ara and LG and Lenovo/Motorola’ stab at modularity was not well received. Though the Moto Z did a better job but the cost of the phone and the individual cost of the mods might have contributed to it not being much of a success.

Nokia 6 Gets Over 230,000 Registrations within 24 hours on JD.com

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Jan 12, 2017

Nokia yesterday held a news conference in Beijing where the Nokia 6 was officially unveiled before a crowd of tech enthusiasts, media practitioners and other invitees. The mid-range smartphone was announced to have gone up for reservation immediately after the launch and would be available exclusively on Jingdong (JD.com).

The Nokia 6 will officially go on sale on January 19 and ahead of its first sale, Nokia has announced that registrations for the device have exceeded 230,000 persons just after 24 hours since it opened for reservations. The reservations are of two types, there is a zero yuan reservation and another one which required those making reservations to pay a 66 yuan price with a membership benefit attached. As should be expected, the free reservation package saw 229,000 people registering in 24 hours, while the 66-yuan package has 6686 persons during the same period. These figures would have increased by now, though.

Although, the reservation figures may not really turn out to become actual sales, it sometimes help project how a smartphone would fare in the market. The Nokia 6 isn’t one for the geeks who are interested in having a device with a wonderful performance but perhaps, for those who wouldn’t mind the fire power but are just content in having the sleek and rugged smartphone, as long as it bears the Nokia moniker.

Press Image of Moto G5 Plus Surfaces?

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Jan 12, 2017

Specification details of the Moto G5 surfaced a few days ago alongside some images and a possible pricing. Today another image of the upcoming phone has leaked online.

The image is said to be a press shot of the Moto G5. Lenovo/Moto is going for a Moto Z kind of look which is evident from the camera design. Though the glass is all metal and not black which is nice as the Moto Z is a fingerprint magnet.

Another notable difference is the fingerprint scanner. The Moto G5 plus ditches the square scanner for one that is pill-shaped. It also appears that the SIM tray has also been moved to the top as a groove with a hole can be seen on the top left part of the phone. The Moto G5 plus still has the rounded corners but the rear doesn’t curve to meet the metal frame anymore.

One thing we are actually quite disappointed about is the Snapdragon 625 processor that is said to be present in the phone. It is not a bad processor but considering the fact that the Snapdragon 653 and 626 have already been announced since last year, we expected the Moto G5 to sport either of the newer chips. The Moto G4 Plus from last year was no different as it launched with the Snapdragon 617 processor released back in 2015.

Jia Yueting Hints About Faraday Future FF 91’s Price & It’s Probably Costlier Than Tesla Model S

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Jan 12, 2017

LeEco-backed Faraday Future unveiled its FF 91 concept electric car at CES 2017 in Las Vegas which it says will ship in 2018. The company had hinted that those interested in having the car would be required to register their interest by making a down payment of $5,000, but the company failed to disclose the likely price of the Faraday Future FF 91.

Even without knowing what the FF 91 would cost in the long run, registration for the electric car was reported to have reached 64,124 in just 36 hours. Previous rumors had suggested that the Faraday Future electric car would be priced around $150K – 200K USD but in a recent interview, LeEco’s CEO revealed that the FF 91 will be priced under 2 million yuan (around $290,000). This is way more expensive than the Tesla Model S P100D which is currently the fastest accelerating electric car (the FF 91 will soon replace that). The Tesla Model S starts at around $130K in the US. Even at that, the FF 91 is still not as expensive as we thought it would be but sure it is a price that is profitable to the company as the model isn’t tailored after LeEco’s cheap flagship phone sales model where they make money from content sales.

The Faraday Future FF 91 features lots of innovative technology, with superior performance and superior handling. It is an SUV which is touted as having the ability to hit 60 mph in just 2.39 seconds, a few milliseconds faster than the Tesla Model S. The car also has a self-driving feature and is capable of parking itself. The car, in addition, comes with lots of smart connectivity features inside.

In a related development, Faraday Future has opened its official website in China and is now accepting booking from those interested in having the car which it called “Dream Partner” version. All they’ll need to do is to make a deposit of 50,000 yuan. It is also expected to ship in 2018 in China.