The high cost of materials has started to affect the price of electronics in China. Earlier this week we reported that Xiaomi has increased the price of two of its Mi TV models. News going round now is that the Xiaomi Mi 6 will also be affected and will sell for a higher price when it launches.
Xiaomi flagships usually have a starting price of ¥1999 ($300) for the base model and increases as the specifications moves up but this year’s Xiaomi Mi 6 may start at ¥2499 ($370), and trust re-sellers to even jack the price up further.
The OPPO R9S was released in October of 2016 as a successor to the OPPO R9 (OPPO F1 Plus) released in March of the same year. When the phone was launched, it was available in three color variants: Gold, Rose Gold, and Black, but OPPO has announced a new color variant. Like I’ve said before, releasing new color variant for a phone is like launching the phone afresh and that’s what OPPO is doing.
The company has released a red variant of the OPPO R9S and they are calling it the New Year Anniversary Edition. This new edition is no different from the Yang Mi Special Edition save for the lack of the Actress’ signature.
It still sports a 5.5-inch Full HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, a Snapdragon 625 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of built-in storage and the same 16MP camera in front and on the rear. The battery is no different at 3010mAh, there is a fingerprint scanner up front, and you still get dual SIM support.
However, it looks way nicer than the other colors. The antenna lines are more visible now that they are coated black but that doesn’t make it look less beautiful in any way. Alhough the phone is red, all the accessories are white.
The New Year Anniversary Edition of the OPPO R9S will go on sale on the 11th of January for ¥2,7999 ($416). We hope OnePlus eventually releases a red or green variant of the OP3/OP3T soon.
China’s innovative tech company Xiaomi is making its debut on CES this year and the company looks set to take on the international scene using CES 2017 as a spring board. Xiaomi had hinted last year, when it announced it would be participating in CES 2017, that it would release an innovative product that illustrates how it is pushing the boundaries of innovation.
Earlier on also, the company’s VP Hugo Barra had announced they would be releasing a product during the tech show. The company also released series of teasers that gave clues as to the product expected. There are indications, however, that the company is planning a more revolutionary product than the Mi Mix. The Xiaomi Mix revolutionize the idea of bezel-less smartphone that was hitherto thought to be impossible to mass produce. But Xiaomi is touting that they have more exciting products in their arsenal.
No doubt the company is built around innovation and it is very likely that there might be more than one product coming. The Xiaomi TV Weibo page re-shared a poster publicizing the launch event and then added that perhaps a new Xiaomi TV may be coming as well. So, perhaps a new Xiaomi TV may be one of the upcoming product. There are rumors of a white Xiaomi Mix in the works, and Xiaomi is even conducting a poll to know which one fans prefer and surprisingly, the result so far show the white Mi Mix is preferred by most of the respondents.
There is the likelihood of a new software product also coming as the company also shared the image of a smartphone running two different OS at the same time. The company had also announced that it would be launching the Yi Erida drone and Yi 4K action camera at CES 2017. The launch event is scheduled for tomorrow 6th January at 3 pm and Xiaomi has hinted that it would be broadcast live on several channels in China including Xiaomi TV.
Meizu is known for producing high-quality smartphones for a low price and the MX6 is one of the best examples. The phone was released back in July and the prices have dropped quite significantly to less than $300. Now you can grab it for just $275.99 from lightinthebox.com and we believe it is a pretty good deal.
When it comes to hardware, the Meizu MX6 comes with the Mediatek Helio x20 chip, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which is, however, not expandable. Even though the Helio X20 chip is not the most powerful out there, it can still handle a lot of stuff without any issues.
I’m not going to talk about the similarities with the iPhone 7 and I’ll just say that the phone sports excellent build quality. The Mx6 is made entirely of metal, even the top and bottom parts. In addition, there are nicely-designed antenna inlays.
Finally, the phone has a 12MP Sony camera with f/2.0 aperture and a dual tone dual-led flash.
We usually use action cameras to capture some great moments on the go, without the need to use the DSLRs or the phone’s camera. However, the pocket cameras are even smaller and sometimes they may be more convenient to use. We came across the Kehan Cubecam that is one of the smallest cameras you can find. Learn more in our full review.
UNBOXING
In the box, you can find all the stuff you need to get started: instruction manuals, USB cable and a clasp that allows you to attach the camera to your clothes or other objects.
DESIGN and FEATURES
When it comes to the design, Kehan Cubecam is made of a quality plastic material and the surface has a textured finish.
The camera sensor has not been specified by manufacturer but it has the aperture of F/ 2.5 and 120˚FOV.
On the top, there is a shutter key, which has a built-in dual-color LED flash.
On the left, you can find a power on/off switch, which also doubles as a wifi button. Right next to it, we have the mode button, which simply allows you to switch from picture taking to video shooting modes.
Finally, we have a microSD card slot and the micro USB port.
FUNCTIONALITY
Using the camera is very simple. You just select the mode and click the shutter button. The later button will be blinking to indicate the video recording.
Since the Kehan Cubecam does not have a display, connecting it to your phone is a great idea if you want to frame your shot.
In order to do that, you have to download the Kehan app, which is pretty simple to use but it seems that it is not in its final version since there are some bad English translations and not too many features. Within the app, you can adjust some settings and choose from different shooting modes. Also, you can adjust the resolution. One of the key features is the live streaming mode. However, I could not make it work no matter how hard I tried.
IMAGE QUALITY
When it comes to the image quality, it is underwhelming. In fact, it is even worse than most of the cheap action cameras that are half the price. The images lack in detail, sharpness, there is a ton of noise etc.
The camera shoot videos at 1080/15fps, which is makes the footage unusable for me. Therefore, I suggest you going with 720p (it is even recommended by Kehan to use it).
Still, the video quality does not impress. Most importantly, the files are saved in .rec file format, which is rarely used. Even the VLC player could not play it. All my attempts to convert the videos to .MP4 files failed.
BATTERY LIFE
When it comes to the battery life, I was able to use the camera for just above 90 mins, which is way less than manufacturer’s claims of 2.5h of continuous use.
CONCLUSIONS
The Kehan Cubecam is a tiny, lightweight and one of the tiniest cameras I’ve tested. The idea of it seems nice but the implementation is far from perfect.
Sure, the Cubecam does most of the things it is being advertised for but both image and video quality disappoints. Also, the battery life is not as good as advertised.
Finally, for the price of $99 it seems a bit too pricey for what it offers and some cheap action cameras may be a better buy, even though they are not as compact as the Cubecam.
Few months back, ZTE decided to go in the direction of crowd-sourcing funds for its smartphone project. Xiaomi has successfully been exploiting that avenue in China to release a barrage of smarthome products. But ZTE’s model was initiated on Kickstarter in the US and is labelled Project CSX. Now, ZTE has used the opportunity of CES 2017 to unmask the device and it goes by the name- ZTE Hawkeye.
Aptly named Hawkeye, the phone prides in its visual ease it brings to the table. First of all, the phone has a adhesive body that can stick on a wall, glass and other surfaces, thus allowing the user some level of hands free operation. The adhesive back may be in form of a removable casing in the long run, so you get to remove it when it is not needed. Even if it turns out to be in form of a casing, it won’t remove a bit from the cool design we see on the device.
More amazing is the Senseye feature which allows you to scroll down and navigate through websites on the phone by eye movement. The Senseye uses the front camera to track the eye motion and then translate it to a software command like scrolling up, down, left or right. It is accurate at up to three lines.
The phone is still a work in progress as the company has not fixed a date when it would be officially launched. But in line with Xiaomi’s crowdfunding pattern, the ZTE Hawkeye is up for pre-order, apparently in a bid to rake in more funds for final mass production. The pre-order is ongoing on Kickstarter and the price is just $199. That might likely be a price tag for the early birds , so it is not certain if that would be the final price on launch day.
There is a dearth of details about the specifications and features of the Hawkeye but at least we know what the device looks like now and a few specs have popped up on the Crowdsourcing website. What we also know is that the ZTE Hawkeye sports a rear mounted fingerprint sensor in addition to other features that are not yet revealed. Sure, we are likely to get a decent chip, RAM size and storage capacity on the device, considering the Senseye software feature already inside.
According to the details, the ZTE Hawkeye sports a 5.5-inch FHD display and dual rear cameras with enhanced image and zoom capabilities. It is a dual SIM smartphone that supports multiple bands, meaning it is already unlocked for use anywhere in the world. The device is also touted to pack a large battery with quick charging capabilities.There is also a Hi-Fi audio on the device as well as an expandable memory. The size of the memory isn’t revealed yet, as well as the processor onboard. The device runs the latest Android 7.0 Nougat OS and it is upgradable to the latest version when available.
Already, three different colors have been spotted which includes black, blue and green but since it is likely going to use a plastic finish, the final colors might be broadened in the long run. Even at just the three colors exhibited, the Hawkeye looks quite attractive, with a design that heralds ZTE’s ability to design sleek, beautiful handsets, all for just $199 USD. You can check out the video teaser from down below showing how the Senseye and adhesive features work. Also, do follow Gizmochina’s CES 2017 Hub for latest CES 2017 update.
Blackberry Mercury had popped into the scene a couple of months back, with leaked renders showing the design of the device. We didn’t get to see or hear anything about the specs of the Blackberry smartphone back then. Although we are still yet to get an official disclosure of the specification of the Blackberry flagship device, hands-on images of the device have surface at CES 2017 and we are bringing it to you thanks to Android Central.
It is likely that Blackberry will launch this as its last device before TCL takes the rein, having gotten license to produce and sell Blackberry phones globally. It’s not as if TCL is new to the Blackberry project, though. In actual fact, earlier Blackberry DTEK phones like the DTEK 50 and DTEK 60 were rebranded Alcatel Idol phones. TCL also owns the Alcatel brand.
A look at the images shows that the device code-named Mercury will indeed come with a QWERTY keyboard. So those who still cherish the physical keyboard will fall in love with this one. The design isn’t bad looking either, adopting a somewhat curved display and a thin build. While the edges are well chamfered at the bottom, it is sharp at the top. It has a rectangular shape which is long on the axis due to the physical keyboard but in its entirety, the device is smaller than a 5.5-inch device. The screen is even smaller, robbed off its size by the physical keyboard. Although Blackberry is yet to say the display size, earlier rumor places it at a meager 4.5 inches.
Despite the presence of a physical button, the display is a touchscreen one. There are three virtual capacitive keys at the bottom of the screen, one of which would be the home button. There is a fingerprint sensor embedded underneath the space bar button on the QWERTY keyboard and it is likely it holds other security features aside unlocking the device.
At the rear, the back is said to have a soft feel which very likely isn’t made from metal. The rear camera is tilted to the left top edge of the device with the dual-tone LED flash sitting by its side.
On the software terrain, the Blackberry Mercury runs Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box and will be Blackberry’s first device to do so when it is launched. Apart from that, nothing else is known about other software features the phone will come with as well as the hardware features we are to expect. Blackberry is also yet to disclose a launch date or pricing detail for the device but it is likely to drop around MWC 2017 which starts next month in Barcelona.
Other features that can be spotted on the Blackberry Mercury hands-on images include a USB Type-C charging port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and what looks like a down-facing set of speakers. On the left side is the power button, while the volume rocker sits at the right side just above the convenience key.
As a recap, the Blackberry Mercury is rumored to launch powered by the Snapdragon 821 chipset and come with a 4.5-inch 1080 pixels display . The flagship is also expected to cram a large battery touted to last up to 2 days of regular usage.
ZTE has officially confirmed at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2017 that it will be soon selling its Blade series in the U.S. The first in the series to makes its debut in the U.S. is ZTE Blade V8 Pro.
The ZTE Blade V8 Pro has a 5.5-inch display that produces a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The Snapdragon 625 SoC featuring 2.0 GHz octa-core processor and 3 GB of RAM are present under the hood of Blade V8 Pro.
The native storage of the smartphone is 32 GB and it supports up to 256 GB of microSD card on its external storage. The microSD card can be added to the second SIM slot of the hybrid SIM tray.
The USP of this budget-friendly smartphone is its 13-megapixel dual camera that is accompanied with features like phase detection autofocus and dual LED flash. Its selfie camera is of 8-megapixel.
It features a front-facing fingerprint scanner and it also features a USB Type-C port. Other connectivity features include Wi-Fi 802.11ac, v4.2 Bluetooth, and NFC. It is loaded Android Marshmallow OS. There is no confirmation on whether it will be upgraded to Nougat OS.
The ZTE Blade V8 Pro measures 156 x 77 x 9.1 mm and its weight is 185 grams. The device houses a 3,140 mAh battery with fast charging support.
ZTE Blade V8 Pro Price, Pre-orders
Since the Blade V8 Pro is an unlocked smartphone, it will support all networks in the U.S. It will be available with a pricing of $229. Apart from ZTA USA’s online store, it can be preordered through retailers like Amazon, B&H and Newegg.
ZTE USA CEO and chairman, Lixin Cheng has stated in a press release, “first launched in Asia, the Blade series has expanded to countries throughout Europe and Mexico due to growing consumer demands.”
Asus ZenFone AR that is built for augmented reality is the first Tango enabled smartphone in the world that carries support for Daydream VR. The smartphone has been unleashed at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2017 tech exhibition. It was launched alongside Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom.
World’s First Tango, Daydream Ready Smartphone
As mentioned above, the Taiwanese tech company has managed to unleash the ZenFone AR that supports Google Tango augmented reality technology though its TriCam system featuring three cameras for motion tracking, depth measuring and room mapping.
Tango with it set of sensors can measure space and motion like humans do. At present, there are only 35 AR apps available, but more apps are expected to roll out later this year.
At the launch event, Asus also demoed how the ZenFone AR can be used through GAP AR app to understand how garments fit on a model. The first AR smartphone, the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro launched in 2016 does not support Daydream VR. Asus ZenFone AR is also Google Daydream ready smartphone through which users can enjoy high-quality immersive virtual reality.
As of this writing, Tango AR and Daydream VR experience cannot be combined on Asus ZenFone AR. In other words, Daydream apps can be used only when the smartphone is present inside a Daydream VR headset and Tango apps can be used only when it is in Tango Mode.
The Asus ZenFone AR is fitted with a 5.7-inch quad HD display. It offers a screen-to-body ratio of 79 percent. It is powered by Snapdragon 821 chipset.
The ZenFone AR is also the first smartphone to come with 8 GB of RAM. It also comes in a 6 GB RAM model. The smartphone comes in four internal storage choices of 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB. It also carries support for external storage through microSD card.
The complicated set of cameras at its rear features a 23-megapixel high resolution camera with Sony IMX sensor and f/2.0 aperture. It comes with features like 4-axis OIS, EIS, RAW photography and dual LED flash. The 8-megapixel f/2.0 aperture selfie camera is also coupled with dual-LED real tone flash.
It runs on Android 7.0 Nougat customized with Zen UI 3.0. Other features include a USB Type-C port and a fingerprint scanner. It houses a 3,300 mAh battery with fast charging support.
Asus ZenFone 3 Price, Release Date
The Asus ZenFone AR release date is slated to happen in Q2 2017. As of this writing, there is no confirmation on which markets will be receiving it. Also, the ZenFone AR pricing has not been officially announced yet.
Asus has taken off covers from its camera-centric smartphone, the ZenFone 3 Zoom, at the ongoing CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2017 event.
The Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom has a successor for the original ZenFone Zoom that was launched in January 2015. It has arrived to join its other family members such as ZenFone 3, ZenFone 3 Laser, ZenFone 3 Ultra and ZenFone 3 Deluxe.
The ZenFone 3 Zoom sports a dual camera on its rear panel. Among the two cameras, the main camera is of 12-megapixel and there is a secondary camera of 12-megapixel that features 2.3X zoom lens.
The main camera is equipped with Sony IMX 362 and a f/1.7 aperture. The cameras are driven by SuperPixel technology from Asus along with TriTech autofocus system. It carries support for features like 4-axis OIS, EIS, laser autofocus and RAW photography.
The Portrait Mode feature that is available on iPhone 7 which makes the background out of focus for sharper photo of the subject will be arriving to ZenFone 3 Zoom through a software update. Its selfie camera is of 13-megapixel and it feature Sony IMX 214 sensor along with a f/2.0 aperture.
It features a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display and is powered by Snapdragon 625 chipset which clearly indicates it is an upper-midrange smartphone. The display is shielded by Gorilla Glass 5.
The chipset is supported by 4 GB of RAM and its native storage is 128 GB. It runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS flavored with Zen UI. The smartphone is expected to receive Android 7.0 Nougat update later this year.
Apart from dual cameras, the rear panel of Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom also features a fingerprint scanner. It has a very slim profile of 7.99 mm and it weighs 170 grams. It has a massive 5,000 mAh battery and it comes in color choices like Black, Silver, and Rose Gold.
The pricing of Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom was not announced at CES 2017. It is scheduled to be available for purchase by February this year.
LG Electronics is showcasing a bunch of wireless wearable audio products at this year’s edition of CES. Two of which are the LG Tone Studio Wearable Speakers and LG Tone Free Earphones. The Tone is LG’s line of wireless bluetooth headphones and according to LG has sold 10 million headphones as at July, 2015.
LG Tone Studio Wearable Speakers
The Tone Studio Wearable Speaker fits around the neck, granting the wearer a sort of personal surround sound experience. Sounds are pumped out through the two full range speakers on top and the two vibrating ones at the bottom but you can also make use of the retractable earbuds for a more personal experience by simply flicking a switch.
The speaker has a Hi-Fi Digital to Analog Converter that boosts the audio quality. LG says you can also pair two units of the Tone Studio Wearable Speaker in case you and a partner want to watch a movie or listen to a song together.
LG Tone Free Earphones
This is a pair of completely wireless earbuds that comes with a neck band that doubles as a storage and charging solution. So you can leave the optional charging case at home and take just the neck band and earbuds along and not have to worry about charging or losing them. All you have to do is take off the earbuds and plug them into the neck band and your earbuds are safe and charging. LG says you can even answer or ignore calls on the Tone Free Earphones via voice commands alone.
Traditionally, the Huawei P-series smartphones usually drop in April of each year right from the Huawei P8 launched in 2015 to the Huawei P9 launched in 2016. In keeping with the tradition, the Huawei P10 was expected to launch sometime in April this year but that isn’t likely going to happen. That is if words from trusted industry analyst Pan Jiutang is anything to go by.
According to the analyst, the Huawei flagship may be launched at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 in Barcelona. The analyst had written on a Weibo post that the Snapdragon 835-powered Samsung Galaxy S8 and Huawei P10 will grab the headlines at Barcelona. Of course, the MWC 2017 is billed to hold from February 27 – March 2 at the Catalan city, home to one of the World’s top flight football club. Since the Galaxy S8 may launch earlier, it is thus likely that the P10 may drop sometime in the early part of March, 2017.
The Huawei P10 is 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. Hauwei may still keep with tradition and launch the P10 in April this year as there is no official indication that we’ll be seeing the P10 sooner than later.
Qualcomm today officially revealed the details of its latest Snapdragon 835 chip which was announced a few months back. The Snapdragon 835 is revealed to feature two clusters, a performance cluster with four cores clocked up to 2.45GHz and an efficiency cluster with four cores clocked up to 1.9GHz. The chip comes with faster 3D graphics and more colors, improving VR and AR support. It features the new Adreno 540 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, DX12 and Vulkan. There is also improvement in VR experience on devices using the chip.
The chip is yet to be featured in a smartphone but a new leak has gifted us a device said to be a Snapdragon 835 prototype phone. The prototype phone looks nothing like the usual smartphones we see daily, but it has an extra thickness, thicker than most smartphones. As should be expected when talking about chips with huge fire power, the leaked image showed the device running a mobile game. The Snapdragon 835 prototype isn’t likely to come out as a production smartphone but may just be to test the prowess of the powerful Snapdragon 835 chip inside.
According to the leak source, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is still likely the first smartphone that would feature the flagship chip onboard, with the Xiaomi Mi 6 in tow. In the event rumors of Samsung shifting the Galaxy S8 launch upwards, then the Mi would likely be the world’s first device to be equipped with the high-flying Snapdragon 835 chip.
There are uncountable fitness trackers in the market right now, most of them have to be worn on your wrist like a watch while a few are integrated into other accessories like your clothes, headband, or shoes. But what if you want something more discreet that is visible in plain sight but still kind of hidden as well? Then you might want to consider the Motiv Ring.
The Motiv Ring apart from being different in the sense that you wear it on your finger like a regular ring, also measures your fitness by focusing on your Active Minutes. Active minutes are the amount of time you spend exerting energy during intense activities more strenuous than your average walks. So activities like brisk walking and running count.
The Motiv Ring still tracks your steps, measures your heart rate, and expended calories but it places active minutes above all these and assists you in achieving the 150 active minutes/week goal.
The Motiv Ring has a bluetooth sensor, an optical rate sensor, a 3-axis accelerometer and a lithium ion battery enclosed in a titanium shell. Motiv says the ring should last between 3 to 5 days on a single charge depending on how active the wearer is.
You might be wondering how the ring charges. All you have to do is raise it up to a lantern and recite the Green Lantern Corps oath plug in a magnetic charger that attaches to the inside of the ring on one end and plug the other end into a USB port. There is a key chain charger included in the box as well. Charging time takes 90 minutes and there is a LED indicator that alerts you when the battery is low or when the ring is syncing or updating.
The Motiv Ring is waterproof up to 160 feet or 5 ATM, so you do not need to worry about taking it for a swim.
HMD Global in partnership with Foxconn have revived the Nokia brand once again and this year, they are set to launch the first set of Nokia smartphones under the new partnership.
Nokia’s authorized distribution partner in Malaysia, Avaxx, held an event for dealers recently where it revealed in a slide presentation that we will be getting between six to seven Nokia smartphones this year with models covering entry level, mid-range and high-end flagships. The new smartphones are said to start launching in the second quarter of the year.
The Avaxx slide also mentions that HMD will continue to launch Nokia feature phones. So expect more phones like the Nokia 150 and 150 Dual.
We already know about the Nokia E1, D1, D1C and Z2 Plus, so that means we should expect 2 or 3 more models (which might include a tablet) that have not even been mentioned at all.
The Nokia E1 is expected to be the entry level model with a Snapdragon 200 SoC while the D1 and D1C may come with chips from the Snapdragon 400 and Snapdragon 600 series respectively. The Z2 Plus on the other hand will be one of the flagships with a Snapdragon 835 processor.
Selfie sticks are old-school already and selfie-drones are here to replace them. One of the products showcased at this year’s on-going Consumer Electronic Show is the Hover Camera Passport (made by Zero Zero Robotics): a selfie-drone that identifies its owner and automatically start recording or taking photos.
The Hover Camera Passport was actually first announced last year. Then, you had to use the companion app to select an object you wanted the drone to track. But now, all you have to do is register your face via the app during the initial setup and when next you bring out your drone, it scans for your face, locks on to it (and the rest of your body) and starts following and recording you. Want to take a selfie? All you have to do is raise your hand till the LED flashes
Hover Camera Passport Design and Specs
The Hover Camera Passport is lightweight and really portable. It weighs just 238 grams (242g including the battery) and its dimensions are 182 x 132 x 33 mm. Sporting a carbon fiber cage-like design protecting the quad-rotors that keep it airborne, the drone is also foldable and can easily fit into your bag.
There is a Snapdragon 801 SoC clocked at 2.3GHz that powers the drone. The Hover Camera Passport has a f/2.0 13MP camera that can record 4K videos at 30fps but also sports another camera underneath it that is used to calculate it’s speed and position to help it maintain balance while hovering.
The Hover Camera Passport isn’t a perfect device yet. Like most drones, battery life is still on the low side. You can get only 10-minutes of flying time from the 1360mAh battery before you are prompted with a low battery warning.
Hover Camera Passport Price
The Hover Camera Passport is currently priced at $599 which is pricey but the good thing is that it’s available right now and you can purchase one on their official website.
The debate has been raging on and on as to who would be the first to use Qualcomm‘s latest power-driven Snapdragon 835 chip and the main contenders have been Samsung‘s next gen Galaxy S8 flagship and the Xiaomi Mi 6. Lately, ASUS is tipped as planning to launch a new Zenfone flagship during CES 2017 and that the device will likely feature a Snapdragon 835 chip. If this happens, ASUS could as well trump Xiaomi and Samsung to the crown.
There seem to be no major contenders among the Chinese brands for who will first use the flagship chip, with only Xiaomi mentioned thus far. Well-known industry analyst Kevin Wang had earlier hinted that the Xiaomi Mi 6 would be the first Chinese brand that would use the Snapdragon 835 chipset and once again, the analyst has reaffirmed that position of his. Earlier on, Mr Wang had reiterated that the Mi 6 will not be affected by the low output of the Samsung 10nm node which is said to have prompted Samsung to shift the launch of the Galaxy S8 away from February.
Thus, it is very likely that the Mi 6 will not only be the first Chinese smartphone that would be powered by the flagship chip but also end up making it as the first brand globally that would feature a Snapdragon 835 chip onboard. Details on the likely specs of the Mi 6 has been scarce but the device is said to have a design that resembles a sized-down version of the Mi Note 2. The Xiaomi mi 6 is also rumored as packing a dual-lens camera at the rear as well as dual curved screen design. Xiaomi always doesn’t disappoint in the specs and designs of its smartphones and the Mi 6 is likely not going to be an exception.
Although ODG isn’t a new player in the business of Augmented Reality (AR) glasses, the company is still not very familiar to many. The firm whose full name is Osterhout Design Group (ODG) has unvelied two of its latest reality smartglasses at CES 2017 and they are both capable of AR and Vr functionalities at the same time. The smartglasses are named R-8 and R-9 and what’s unique about them is that they are the first wearables powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 flagship chip and they are more sophisticated than ODG’s earlier offerings raanging from the R-7, R-6 downwards.
The ODG R-8 and R-9 fuses both Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality features, capable of delivering both AR and VR. The R-9, however, packs a more sophisticated features and consequently has a higher price tag slammed on it.
While the ODG R-9 has a 50-degree field-of-view, the R- has a 40-degree field-of-view (FOV). They also differ in resoluton as the R-9 has a higher FHD (1080 pixels) resolution, while the R-8 has an HD (720 pixels) resolution. The R-9 also functions as a platform that can be sed to develop mobile AR and VR apps, as well as Smartglass apps.
Fusing the latest Snapdragon 835 chip inside the wearable improves the user experience more than ever, as the SD 835 is said to reduce the lag between motion tracking and what you see on screen, lowering the chances of triggering motion sickness. It also improves positional audio for more realistic experiences. These features places the new Smartglasses ahead of their R-7 predecessor.
Despite the much-improved features, the ODG R-8 and R-9 carry a far cheaper price tag that the $2,750 price tag of the R-7. The ODG R-9 is billed to ship in Q2 2017 with a price tag of around $1799. The R-8, on the other hand, will be available sometime in the second half of the year and will cost les than $1,000.
Few months ago, Intel had unveiled its seventh-generation processors for ultra-portable devices. Now, the company has announced seventh-generation processor codenamed as Kaby Lake for desktop and performance laptops.
The new processors from Intel for ultraportable belongs to the U series. The new CPUs meant for ultra-thin devices are from the Y series. The chip giant has now unveiled H-series seventh-generation processor for performance laptops and mobile workstations. The S-series processors have been announced to run on traditional desktops.
According to Intel, the S-series i7-7700K processor performs 25 percent faster than the older i7-4770k that was launched in second quarter of 2013.
Also, it can be used to make, share and stitch 4K resolution 360-degree videos 35 percent quicker than i7-4770k. When compared to fifth and sixth generation processors, the newer processor offers a slightly better performance.
The S-series i7-7700k processor can deliver a base clock speed of 4.2 GHz and maximum speeds of up to 4.5 GHz. It includes quad cores and eight threads. In comparison to it, the i7-6700k processor that was launched in Q3 2015 delivers clocking speeds of 4.0 to 4.2 GHz. The i7-7700k is packed with Intel HD 630 graphics.
The H-series processors have been produced for powerful laptops that can replace desktops. With support Nvidia 10-series GPU and Pola76ris GPU from AMD, the H-series can work well for heavy games.
The H-series processor is 20 percent quicker than fourth-generation i7-4700HQ. The handling prowess for 4K resolution 360-degree videos is also 65 percent faster.
Intel has announced an unlocked Core i3-7350k processor that can be used to power budget systems. It is a four-thread dual-core processor that can deliver processing speeds of up to 4.2 GHz. By overclocking, it can produce faster performance.
All the new Intel Kaby Lake processors can support up to 24 PCI Express 3.0 chipset lanes as well as up to 10 USB 3.0 ports. The claims made by Intel suggests that the Kaby Lake processor will support 4K videos efficiently, but there is no confirmation on whether the chipset built with 14nmm process can offer better battery performance.
Innovative tech start-up Faraday Future has finally unveiled its first production car which it calls the FF91, in Las Vegas ahead of CES 2017. The Faraday Future FF91 electric car, whose production was backed by LeEco was exhibited live before a packed arena of tech enthusiasts and reporters and the company even demonstrated the prowess and features of the car. LeEco president Jia Yueting was there live actively involved in he exhibition.
The FF91 has an autonomous driving feature, something Faraday Future had not mentioned in the past. The self-driving feature allows for the driver to alight from the car and then send the car to go park itself as well as summon the car when needed. The company showed a video of the car searching for a parking spot and parking itself when it found one. This it was able to achieve using the avalanche of sensors, cameras, and radar which the car comes with.
Another highlight of the Faraday Future FF91 electric car is its speed. The car is touted as being able to hit 60 mph in just 2.39 seconds, a few miliseconds faster than the Tesla Model S. A video of the FF91 beating the Model S in a race was also shown. It was not just video sessions all through, as Faraday Future also demonstrated the car’s full acceleration on stage.
Aside that, the electric car also has an endurance range of 378 miles as against the 315 miles the Tesla Model S is capable of. In addition, the car has a lot of extra tweaking like a dual antenna that allows for Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity. There is also a facial recognition which allows the owner into the car without the need for the car key. More so, the car is not crammed up as there is enough space inside of up to 151 cubic feet.
Don’t get too excited, as the Faraday future FF91 electric car will not ship until next year, 2018. However, interested buyers can register for the car now with a deposit of just $5,000. The final price tag slammed on this innovative car isn’t known yet and its still not known if the car can successfully take on the Tesla Model S and Model X.
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