OPPO Announces R9 & R9 Plus Selfie Flagships With 16MP Front Facing Cameras

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Mar 17, 2016

After nearly a month of rumors and leaks, OPPO has finally unveiled the new OPPO R9 and R9 Plus flagships in China. The company announced these two devices at its special conference in Beijing a few minutes back.

Given that we still have no word on the OPPO Find 7, the R series seems to be driving the company’s flagship lineup. Hence, both the devices are pretty important for the company.

The OPPO R9 and the R9 Plus feature a similar design, with the R9 sporting a larger display. Both the devices are made out of a metal body. In fact, the company claims that up to 98.02% of the phone’s body is made out of metal. The phone features smooth curves around the edges and the body is subjected to zircon sanding to give it a premium look. The company decided to put the fingerprint sensor up front, so that the remained smooth and flawless.

Coming to the front, the OPPO R9 and R9 Plus both come with a fingerprint sensor embedded into the home button. As revealed in one of its earlier teasers, the R9 will come with narrow 1.66mm borders around the display. This makes sure that the display covers a major portion of the front.

The OPPO R9 measures 151.8 x 74.3 x 6.5mm. Yes, it that slim! As for the R9, it comes with the measurements 163 x 80.8 x 7.4mm. Now, compared to the R9, you might feel that this is thick, however, let me inform you that there’s a large 4120mAh battery under its hood, which is pretty impressive. As for the R9, it comes with a 2850mAh battery. This coupled with the company’s super fast VOOC charging will ensure that you don’t have to worry about the charging the device during the day.

Coming to the specs, the OPPO R9 sports a 5.5-inch FHD 1080p display while the Plus variant features a 6-inch 1080p display. The R9 comes with the Mediatek Helio P10 processor while the R9 Plus has the Snapdragon 652 chipset under the hood. Both chips are clocked at 2GHz. There will be 4GB RAM + 64GB storage on both the models, with an option to upgrade to 128GB.

Coming to the camera department, the R9 comes with a 16MP 1/3 inch sensor up front, with the company’s independently developed “self perfection technology”. The company explains that this improves sensitivity and tolerance to light and noise to a great extent. Further, you get the new beauty 4.0 software to enhance your selfies. If you think this isn’t impressive, the R9 series phones now come with panorama mode up front. The phone can automatically capture and stitch together three different photos to create a wide angle image. So, if you think getting everyone in one shot for a groufie is tough, OPPO R9 has got your back.

Up front, the OPPO R9 features a 13MP sensor with 1/3.06 inch CMOS sensor. The setup comes with a dual drive hybrid AF system which includes traditional focus as well as a contrast phase focusing. Further, it features anti-shake 2.0 to capture blur free images.

Coming to the R9 Plus, the phone features 16MP cameras on both the back and the front. This is Sony IMX298 1/2.8 sensor with f/2.0 aperture. At the moment, it seems like the phone doesn’t come with OIS. But there’s EIS i.e. Electronic Image Stabilization to help reduce camera shake.

As for software, the phone comes with the company’s own Color OS 3.0 on top of Android 5.1.1. As mentioned above, you also get a fingerprint sensor up front, which can unlock the device in just 0.2 seconds. The fingerprint sensor improves with time and also supports mobile payments.

Now, coming to the most important part of today’s launch, i.e. the pricing. Both the phones are a bit cheaper than expected. The OPPO R9 will retail for a price tag of 2799 Yuan ($430) while the R9 Plus will be priced at 3299 Yuan ($507).

The OPPO R9 goes on sale on March 24 in China, while the R9 Plus will be available on April 12. There will be two color options available, gold and rose gold. We still have no idea about international availability but hopefully, the company will reveal more details pretty soon.

Leaked Images Of The iPhone 7 Are Actually Of Meizu Pro 6, Claims Meizu VP

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 16, 2016

Although there’s still like six months left for the launch of the next generation Apple iPhone 7, leaks have already started to come in. The latest iPhone 7 leak shows off a unique antenna design, wherein the phone sports a metal body but there’s a single antenna line at the bottom. If you remember, usually, metal phones have dual antenna line at the back.

While Apple fans were pretty happy to see that the upcoming iPhone 7 was going to sport a slightly different look, Meizu VP Li Nan claims that the pictures which were leaked yesterday are actually of the upcoming Meizu Pro 6 flagship. Don’t trust him? Well, he has actually posted a picture of the real Meizu Pro 6 sporting this design.

He further adds that the factory staff who leaked this image most likely made a mistake. The company has been working on this design for quite some time and wanted to surprise fans at the conference.

Well, when he had said that Meizu Pro 6 was going to be an “iPhone 7 killer” we thought he was being optimistic. But after this leak, it looks like both the phones could have a very similar design.

As for the specs, Meizu has also confirmed that the Pro 6 flagship will be the first phone to feature the newly announced Helio X25 chipset. In fact, the chip will be exclusive to the phone for several months. This leak confirms a metal body on the design with unique antenna lines. Other rumored features of the phone include FHD 1080p resolution 5.5-inch display, 4GB RAM, 32GB ROM and a home button embedded fingerprint sensor.

So, in short, it looks like we are going to see two very similar looking smartphones in the coming months, one running on Android and the other on iOS. While Li Nan claims that the images are of the Pro 6, it’s possible that the iPhone 7 prototype looks very much similar to the Pro 6. If true, then Li Nan did a pretty good job of revealing Pro 6’s design quite early!

Chuwi Hi12 12-inch Tablet With Intel Chip & 4GB RAM Available At Discount W/ Free Gifts

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 16, 2016

If you are in the market looking for a large screen tablet, then you might have considered the Chuwi Hi12. This particular tablet features a massive 12-inch 2K display, ideal for your business and entertainment needs. The company has also included great powerful specs to go with the device to make sure that the tablet can handle anything thrown towards it.

At present, the Chuwi Hi12 tablet is available at a discounted price of $249.99, which is a pretty good offer. This price includes the free docking keyboard for the tablet. You can also choose a docking keyboard in other languages like Russian, Spanish or even Korean. Plus, there are a couple of discount coupons available to further reduce the price tag.

What’s more, the seller is also gifting a Chinese cutlery set for every buyer who purchases the device during the ongoing sale (March 16-17). So, if you had been putting off your purchase of the tablet, this might be a good opportunity.

Chuwi Hi12 comes with some impressive specs. The tablet is powered by the low power high-performance Intel Cherry Trail Atom X5 Z8300 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. You also get 8th Gen Intel HD graphics on the device. Plus, there are full sized USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports along with a MicroHDMI to connect all your accessories.

Buy Chuwi Hi12 Tablet At $249.99 (Free Gifts Included)

The tablet is made out of a metal body and is pretty sleek. Under the hood, it houses a large 11,000mAh battery enough for a day’s heavy usage. Like mentioned above, you also get a detachable keyboard dock with the device. Although tablets are never known for their camera quality, the 5MP front and 2MP back cameras should be enough for your video calling needs. And yes, in case you are wondering, the tablet does take MicroSD cards. Finally, it comes with a licensed version of Windows 10 OS.

Overall, the Chuwi Hi12 is a pretty good large screen tablet. If you are looking to buy one, this could be the right time given the incentives. The deal ends in a day, so make sure you check out it out as soon as you can.

Buy Chuwi Hi12 Tablet At $249.99 (Free Gifts Included)

Design, Craftsmanship, Metal unibody UMi TOUCH lift to another level

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 16, 2016

For the past few days, we have been seeing reports about the upcoming smartphone from UMi called as the UMi Touch. The phone comes with a metal unibody design and the company is marketing it as your first choice of a metallic flagship. Well, the design seemed to be quite good in the pictures and from the video released by the company today, the phone also seems to be well built.

From the video, we can see that the UMi Touch will come with a CNC aluminum metal body and curved edges for better grip. The phone features a front-facing fingerprint sensor embedded into the home button, which has kind of become a trend among recent smartphones.

At the back, you have the UMi branding along with the camera and the dual LED flash. All the buttons are located on the right side of the device. This seems to be the final production sample of the UMi Touch and so far it looks pretty good. As for software, we can see the phone uses a UI close to stock. But the final optimized version loaded on the retail units could have some changes.

Coming to the specs, the UMi Touch flagship comes with an octa-core processor with 3GB of RAM on board and 16GB of expandable storage. The phone looks large in the video, owing to its 5.5-inch FHD display. However, to power the device, you also get a large battery, of 4000mAh capacity.

The UMi Touch will retail for a price tag of $149.99, which is pretty aggressive. The company will officially launch the device on March 20 and you will soon be able to pre-order the device via various resellers. As for the UMi Touch X model, which will feature a bezelless display, we will have to wait for a few more weeks to get all details.

Learn more about the UMI Touch, please visit official site.

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UMi Touch X Rumored To Bring Bezelless Display To The Budget Segment

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 16, 2016

If you ever thought that bezelless screens were only made for flagships, UMi reportedly wants to change your opinion. According to the latest rumor, UMi, the local Chinese smartphone manufacturer is looking to release a bezelless smartphone that goes by the name of UMi Touch X. The phone will reportedly retail in the affordable $150 segment, which if true, will make it one of the first in the market at this price.

Bezelless smartphones have become a trend nowadays, with most manufacturers trying to reduce the borders around the screen. Even OPPO R9 which is all set to release tomorrow will come with super thin bezels, around 1.6mm in size. There’s also a local Chinese smartphone with no bezels, namely the Elephone P9000 Edge. Although availability is still a big question.

Coming back to the UMi Touch X, which is the bezelless version of the UMi Touch model, we have no clue about its specs or features. Maybe the company will reveal more information after the launch of the Touch which is on March 20. So, stay tuned for more details.

As for the regular model (with bezels) i.e. the UMi Touch, the phone will reportedly come with a 5.5-inch Full HD display along with a fingerprint sensor embedded into the phone’s home button up front. There will be an octa-core chip under the hood along with 3GB of RAM and a large 4000mAh battery. All these hardware will be housed inside a metal unibody design.

Le 2 Confirmed To Feature Helio X20 Chip, Will Stock Up More than 1 Million units

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 16, 2016

Today was a busy day for Mediatek as it announced two chipsets in China, namely the Helio X20 and the Helio X25. The chipmaker had already announced the X20 a few months back, but this seems to be its release event. Anyways, we have seen Helio X20 perform, thanks to ZOPO’s first deca-core flagship, the ZOPO Speed 8. From the benchmark results, we came to know that the company was targeting the upper mid-range market with this chip, while the Helio X25 will be taking care of the top-end segment.

Now that these two chipsets have been released, we are waiting for phones with them inside. We already know that Meizu Pro 6 will be the exclusive smartphone with Helio X25 (at least for the next few months) and now LeEco executives have confirmed that the second generation Le 2 smartphones will feature the mid-range Helio X20.

Although ZOPO was the first manufacturer to release an Helio X20 powered device, it looks like LeEco will be the first true large-scale manufacturer to adopt the chip. What’s more, LeEco’s President of the Mobile department, Feng Xing said that the company will prepare a stock of more than 1 million units of Helio X20 powered products. That’s pretty impressive and shows the confidence of the company in the chip.

However, if you are not a big fan of Mediatek, don’t worry, it is said that there will be a Snapdragon 820 powered Le 2 version as well. And if the phone looks anything like the renders we have come across recently, fans are definitely going to love the overall package.

LeEco is expected to release the Le 2 flagship sometime before the end of March, which means we could see an announcement in the next couple of weeks. Apart from LeEco, manufacturers like OPPO and Qihoo 360 (smartphone division) are also expected to release Helio X20 powered smartphones.

Meizu Pro 6 Confirmed To Be The World’s First Phone With Helio X25 Chip

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 16, 2016

The chipmaker Mediatek has just announced a brand new processor for the top-end market called as the Helio X25. This will be an upgraded version of the existing Helio X20 chipset, clocked at a higher frequency.

The basic design between the Helio X25 and the Helio X20 remain the same, so the new chip will also come with a tri-cluster architecture based on 10 cores. However, the performance cores namely the Cortex A72 cores will be clocked at a higher frequency, from 2.3GHz to 2.5GHz. The other two clusters remain the same, meaning the new chip comes with two sets of 4 x Cortex A53 cores.

Even the GPU will get a bump up in the frequency, from 780MHz to 850MHz. This will make sure that the chip is ideal for the top-end flagship segment which requires much more power than what the Helio X20 offers. Interestingly, MTK says that the power consumption of the chip will not increase.

Now, if you remember, this is not the first time we are hearing about the Helio X25. Earlier, we had reported that Mediatek was preparing a variant of the X20 called as the Helio X25 and today, the company made the details official. Given the performance of the Helio X20, it was not suitable for the high-end segment. But the X25 seems to be the ideal choice.

Now, it is confirmed that Meizu Pro 6 will be the world’s first flagship to use Helio X25 chip. This is not so surprising given that Meizu’s VP Li Nan had said a couple of days back that Meizu Pro 6 won’t be using Exynos 8890 or 2K display. Considering that an analyst revealed the Snapdragon 820 chip is costly, a chip like the Helio X25 could be the company’s best bet.

Other specs of the Helio X25 include Cat 6. LTE connectivity, 4G+ with download speeds of up to 300Mbps and support for the latest Pump Express 3.0 fast charging which can charge a device up to 75% in just 20 minutes.

As for the release of the Pro 6, we may have to wait for a few more months.

Xiaomi’s Most Expensive Product, The QiCycle R1 Revealed

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 16, 2016

Yesterday, as per a WSJ article, we reported that Xiaomi was going to announce a brand new bicycle under the brand name, the QiCycle, sometime this week. Now, one of the Xiaomi’s official weibo accounts has revealed the new smart bike called as the QiCycle R1. This particular bicycle will be enter crowdfunding stage on March 22 at 10PM.

This could be one of the products from the company’s ecosystem, but as of now, Xiaomi has not yet officially revealed how the product is associated with the company. However, we can expect a lot more details when the bike is up for crowdfunding on March 22.

The QiCycle R1 will be the company’s most expensive product to date, retailing at a whopping 19999 Yuan ($3000). According to previous information, the Xiaomi Bike will be made out of lightweight carbon fiber body, weighing about 7kg. There will be a bunch of motion sensors on board to measure the output. Given the exorbitant price tag, you can expect only professional bikers and enthusiasts to actually consider purchasing the QiCycle R1.

In case you are feeling left out, there is a rumor going around that a cheaper Xiaomi Bike, costing between $450 to $550 will be released soon. If that’s within your budget, then you could soon be riding a Xiaomi bike around.

So, it looks like Xiaomi is basically trying to provide you everything. From smart TV (including curved screen TVs), smartphones, air purifiers, water purifiers, to smart shoes and smart bikes, in a few years time, your house could be flooded with Xiaomi products. Not that it’s a bad thing, considering the quality and the pricing of Xiaomi devices. But just stating that it’s definitely a possibility. In case you missed, Xiaomi is going to release a smart cooker as well, sometime before the end of this month!

Unfortunately, most of these products are still limited to China. Hopefully, that will change in the coming years.

Xiaomi Teases Its First Curved Screen TV!

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 15, 2016

Xiaomi’s Mi TV range is quite popular in China, mainly because they are big and cheap. Now, the company has just confirmed that it will be soon releasing it’s first curved screen TV in China. So, Xiaomi fans in China have one more reason to rejoice.

This is not the first time we are hearing about a curved screen Mi TV 3 from Xiaomi. Yesterday, Xiaomi had released a new teaser via Weibo which revealed a few numbers in the series of Pi. This was a big hint that the upcoming TV from Xiaomi was going to be a curved one.

Previously, two new Xiaomi Mi TV models were spotted on the 3C quality certification website, one featuring a 65-inch display and the other with a 43-inch display. It is said that the Mi TV model with the larger 65-inch display could be the curved screen model. On the other hand, the 43-inch one could be the successor to the existing 40-inch screen model.

Now, if you remember, Xiaomi’s direct rival in the smart TV segment, LeTV (now LeEco) has a curved screen TV under its name. The Super 4 Max65 Curved Commemorative Engineering Edition was the world’s first curved screen split TV and was released back in December last year. The TV comes with Samsung’s 4K ultra-thin curved panel along with Snapdragon 810 under its hood, making it a true entertainment hub. The TV is priced at 6999 Yuan ($1075) but it’s still to be readily available for purchase to consumers.

If Xiaomi prices the TV lower than this figure and manages to make it available for sale pretty soon, then the upcoming curved screen Mi TV could be popular as well.

Well, there’s still 7 days to go till the launch of the first curved screen TV from the company. However, since Xiaomi seems to be keen on teasing the device before it’s release on March 23, we can expect some more information in the coming days. So, stay tuned.

Xiaomi Mi 5 Sold Out Instantly In The Third Flash Sale, Next Sale On March 22

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 15, 2016

In the first two Xiaomi Mi 5 flash sales, the phone was instantly sold out. So, when it was declared that the Mi 5 was once again sold out in the third flash sale within a few minutes in China, it didn’t come as a surprise. The popularity of the phone is quite high, even after three flash sales in the country. To remind you, there were over 16 million registrations for the first ever pre-order of the device, out of which a good majority may still have not got a chance to get hold of the device.

Also, the third flash sale was without prior registrations, but still the phone was instantly out of stock. Xiaomi is yet to reveal how much stock it offers per sale, but we can expect it to be pretty large since the company is said to stock up Mi 5 in plenty before its official release. There were two version available for sale this week, one being the standard edition costing 1999 Yuan and the other being the high version costing 2299 Yuan. Both black and white versions were available for sale. Black being the popular among buyers was the first one to go out of stock.

In the next flash sale, once again only the standard and the high version will be offered. There’s still no news about the Mi 5 Pro or the gold colored edition which the company had announced during the conference. So, if you are looking to purchase these two editions via third party resellers, you will probably have to wait for a few weeks more.

Meanwhile, you can check out our review of the Xiaomi Mi 5 from here.

Ulefone Upgrades CPU On The Hi-Fi Equipped Vienna To MT6753

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 15, 2016

Ulefone revealed at MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Spain that their upcoming device will be targeted at audiophiles and will come with Hi-Fi audio. The phone was previously called as the Alpha, but was later renamed to Ulefone Vienna. The company has been revealing some of the features of the device in the days to its launch, and now, Ulefone has confirmed that the Vienna will feature a better CPU and larger RAM module than previously reported.

Ulefone has confirmed now that the Ulefone Vienna will feature a much faster octa-core MT6753 processor. This is actually pretty good news since the phone was previously said to come with the low-end MT6735P quad-core chip. Moreover, the company has decided to upgrade the RAM to 3GB instead of just 2GB. The phone will also come with a larger 32GB internal storage allowing you to store all of your flawless audio files without much worry.

The company has also confirmed that the Ulefone Vienna will come with a 5.5-inch Sharp Full HD 1080p display. The screen will get oleophobic coating while the back will get anti-brasion treatment which will ensure that the phone is protected by fingerprints, scratches and dirt.

To recap, the Vienna will come with the Smart Audio PA chipset offered by NXP which is a comprehensive DAC and amplifier solution independent of the CPU. The phone will launch in this month itself, but the company is yet to reveal an exact release date.

So, what do you think? Does a Hi-Fi equipped affordable Ulefone device interest you?

LeEco Le 2 Concept Renders Reveal What The Phone Could Look Like

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 15, 2016

LeEco has turned out to be one of those manufacturers who we all expect to release something revolutionary in the market. It’s not only because LeEco was the first company to announce a Snapdragon 820 powered flagship, but also because of the way the company has grown and attracted fans within a very short timespan. Phones from LeEco are affordable, feature rich and looks amazing.

Although we haven’t really got our hands on the LeEco Le Max Pro flagship, mainly because it’s not yet readily available in the market, our eyes are all focused on the next phone from the company, namely the Le 2 flagship. This should be another device with Snadpragon 820 chip on board. But that’s not just what excites us. LeEco executive has said that the phone will come with some revolutionary technology. Moreover, according to recent rumors, the design of the phone will also be a lot different than previous releases, featuring a new body material like double glass design or ceramic.

Now, 9to5Google has got their hands on some official Le 2 renders and they look pretty amazing. While these are just concept images for now, the source reveals that the design is basically what the company is aiming to provide with its upcoming phones.

As you can see in the pictures, the Le 2 comes with a non-metal body, probably glass or ceramic. Then there’s a solid metal frame. Another highlight of the phone is the display which curves around the sides like the Galaxy S7 Edge. We have heard rumors about Samsung supplying its curved display panels to Chinese manufacturers, so this could very well turn out to be a reality.

The phone also features a magsafe like charger on its USB Type-C port. Further, the concept phone is said to come with a fingerprint sensor that hides underneath the body. We know that’s possible, thanks to Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor.

Well, this may just be a concept, but if the LeEco Le 2 flagship is anything like this in terms of looks, we could have a best seller. With Snapdragon 820 and other powerful specs, the phone seems to be one of the most anticipated devices of this quarter. Rumors say the release could be as soon as March, but we are yet to hear anything official about an event from the company.

Lenovo Announces K5 Plus In India With 5-inch FHD Screen

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 15, 2016

Lenovo has announced the K5 Plus smartphone in India. The phone was first unveiled at MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, and now the phone will be available in India via the retailer Flipkart. The K5 Plus is priced at just Rs. 8499 which comes to just $126. In case you are wondering, there are hardly any differences between the K5 and the K5 Plus, with the major one being the screen resolution.

Coming to the specs, the Lenovo K5 Plus comes with a 5-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Given the compact display, this translates into pixel density of 441 ppi. Under the hood, the phone will come with Snapdragon 616 chipset clocked at 1.5GHz and Adreno 405. You get 2GB of RAM on board along with 16GB of internal storage which is further expandable up to 128GB.

At the back, you get a 13MP camera sensor with 5-piece lens and up front, you get a fixed focus 5MP shooter with 4-piece lens. The phone is pretty slim as well, measuring just 7.9mm and it weighs 142 grams. One of the highlights of the phone is the Dolby Atmos supported speakers. You also get a 2750mAh battery on board.

Another feature highlighted by Lenovo is its TheaterMax technology. The K5 Plus supports this tech which provides an immersive cinematic experience. This technology can reportedly convert any content like videos, games, live streaming, youtube etc into a large screen virtual experience once you pair it with the AntVR glasses.

The phone will go on sale from March 23 on flipkart in an open sale exclusively on Flipkart. On the first sale day, the company is providing an exchange and upgrade offer for Lenovo A6000 and A6000 Plus users.

Xiaomi To Announce A Smart Bicycle Called QiCycle This Week: WSJ

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 15, 2016

Xiaomi has a number of smart products under its belt, many of which are manufactured via third party companies. For example, we have seen the Xiaomi Yi Camera manufactured by a company called Xiaoyi and we could see a new model pretty soon. Now, WSJ reports that the company will also be unveiling a smart bicycle under the brand QiCycle sometime this week.

Unlike other Xiaomi products which are affordable, the QiCycle will be costly and out of the reach for most buyers. The cycle would reportedly retail for as much as $3000 in China, which is a lot to ask for a cycle. But the product is not being targeted at the usual customers, instead, it will be attracting bicycle enthusiasts and professionals reports WSJ.

The Xiaomi Bicycle will be made out of lightweight carbon fiber body and will weigh 7 kgs. The cycle will be fitted with a number of motion sensors and gadgets for measuring power output. There could be other special features of the cycle justifying its $3000 price tag, but we will have to wait till the end of the week for more details.

As for those who are looking for a cheaper alternative, the report does add that there will be another model, with pricing around $450 to $550 falling into the relatively affordable price range.

What’s more, as per previous reports, Xiaomi could be revealing a new brand for its smart products, other than its core business. This will help differentiate the company’s products, rather than bringing everything under one Xiaomi branding.

Most of the Xiaomi’s smart products have been limited to China for now, but the bicycle has already received European standards certification which could hint of its release in the region. However, it’s still too early to speculate the availability of the product, so we better wait for official details.

OPPO Confirms 16MP Front Facing Camera On The R9 With “Self Perfection Tech”

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 14, 2016

OPPO is all set to announce new models in its R series, namely the OPPO R9 and the OPPO R9 Plus on March 17. We are just a couple of days away from the launch, but the company is continuing its tradition of revealing new features of the device. The latest teaser from the company confirms the presence of a powerful 16MP sensor up front, ideal for selfies.

Cameras have always been one of the major selling points of a smartphone. We have seen rear cameras become almost as powerful as a professional camera, and thanks to the obsession with selfies, even the front camera department has seen some good upgrades. OPPO is trying to offer the best front camera experience with its upcoming OPPO R9 flagship, by using a powerful 16MP sensor. But it’s not just about a large sensor, as the company states that the camera will be equipped with “Self-Perfection Technology”, which has been independently developed by OPPO.

According to the company, “self-perfection technology” is not just about software enhancements, rather, it’s also the reconstruction of the camera hardware. Due to this technology, OPPO says that the phone can capture clear and bright pictures even in dark conditions.

Well, at this moment, we are not quite sure how good is this technology. We will have to wait till March 17 conference to see a demonstration of the so-called “self-perfection tech” in real life.

As for the other specs, the OPPO R9 will reportedly come with Mediatek’s Helio P10 processor clocked at 2GHz, 5.5-inch 1080p display, metal body, thin bezels, 4GB RAM and 2850mAh battery. As confirmed by the company, the phone will also feature a fingerprint sensor up front, embedded in its home button.

You can read more about the specs of both OPPO R9 and R9 Plus from here.

Qiku 360 F4 Smartphone Renders Leaked, Looks Sleek & Premium

By

Joel Joseph

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Mar 14, 2016

It has been less than a year since Qiku released its first series of smartphones. But looks like the company has decided to pre-pone the release of its new models to March this year. The company has confirmed an event on March 21 for the launch of the Qiku F4 flagship.

Previously, we had seen a render of the Qiku F4 smartphone which showed off the lower half of the device. Now, a new render has emerged online which reveals the upper half of the phone. According to the image, the F4 will feature a premium design with rounded corners and a metal frame. It’s possible that the phone uses a double sided glass body, but the design is yet to be confirmed.

Another interesting feature revealed by the render is the ear piece above the display. It’s much smaller than traditional smartphones and is circular, making it unique. We can see a couple of sensors besides the ear piece, one of which being the front camera. This design helps the phone look highly symmetrical.

Coming to the back, the previous render revealed that the phone will come with dual speakers at the bottom and a traditional USB port in between. Considering the antenna lines on the top and bottom of the phones, we can say that the material at the back is glass. To be honest, the overall design reminds me of the ZUK Z1, but with a thinner profile. Finally, thanks to these renders we know that the phone will come in at least two colors namely White and Rose Gold.

As for the specs, AnTuTu revealed two versions of the 360 F4, one powered by Snapdragon 820 and the other by Helio X20. The Snapdragon version will reportedly come with 4GB of RAM on board and 128GB storage. At the back, there will be dual rear 13MP cameras. The phone will get a 1080p display and will run on Android 6.0.1.

The Helio X20 powered F4 variant will come with 3GB of RAM and 32GB ROM. Resolution is still 1080p while the rear and the front cameras are of 13MP and 5MP respectively. The phone will run on Android Marshmallow version as well.

The company has confirmed that the Qiku 360 F4 will release on March 21, which is the same day when Apple’s cheaper and smaller iPhone SE will launch. So, stay tuned for more details.

First Look At Windows 10 On UMi Touch And 5 Features You Will Love

By

Shine Wong

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Mar 14, 2016

Windows 10 is designed to work on all platforms, So UMi seems to decide to put this up on their latest metallic flagship UMi TOUCH.

UMi TOUCH comes in Octa-core 3GB RAM 128GB extendable storage, with front fingerprint scanner, 4000mAh battery, 13MP Sony IMX328 camera, claims to support multiple customized ROMs, installation via ROOTJOY their PC tool for backup/restore your UMi phone data. www.umidigi.com

If you are windows users, you will love what it comes with.

UNIVERSAL APPS

Microsoft emphasized that due to the shared codebase between devices, its core apps will be very similar in functionality on phones, desktops, and tablets, albeit with design tweaks made for each form factor.

That’ll be strongly felt in the Office apps, in particular, and they’ll all be bundled with the OS on the phone side of things. Microsoft says it’s a “nearly no-compromises experience” with the new Office on mobile, with almost all of the same actions and functionality available. And PowerPoint can utilize the advanced chips of UMi TOUCH to power slick animations on the smaller screens.

OUTLOOK OVERHAULED

One of the more notable universal apps shown was Outlook, which shares functionality between devices but seems especially enhanced in this rendition for UMi TOUCH. For example, Word is built right into the app for better composition on the go, and your inbox has Mailbox-esque gestures to triage your emails, letting you easily swipe to delete, archive, and whatnot.

SPEAK A HASHTAG

Anywhere you can type in Windows 10 on UMi TOUCH, now you can speak as well. A small microphone button will appear on the screen, and tapping it lets you vocalize your needs and thoughts instead.

MESSAGING UPGRADES

When messaging notifications pop up along the top of the screen in Windows 10, you’ll be able to respond inline without needing to fire up the Messaging app. Again, seen before on rival mobile phones, but great to have.

And Microsoft also intends to blend Skype functionality into Messaging, with the ability to switch between SMS and Skype in the same thread. Additionally, IP-based carrier messaging services will also be handled via Skype services.

LUMIA CAMERA

The camera app that’s bundled with Windows 10 on all smartphones as well as UMi TOUCH will be based on the enhanced Lumia Camera app recently brought to Windows Phone 8.1 Lumia devices. It’s been praised for some helpful features, like automatic HDR along with easy 4K video shooting, so that could be a nice upgrade over what some manufacturers might’ve included instead.

UMi says is possible to have Windows 10 pre-install and let users have it out of the box for UMi TOUCH. But of course it’s based on the number of demands.

Will you choose Marshmallow 6.0 or Windows 10?

Analyst: MediaTek May Use PowerVR Graphics For Helio X30 Chip

By

Joel Joseph

-

Mar 14, 2016

We have seen some pretty good chipsets from Mediatek in the past few years. This year, there is the Helio X20 chip, the world’s first deca-core processor for the upper mid-range market. Then there’s the Helio P10 and P20 for the mid-range market and Helio X10, MT6753 and MT6735 for the lower segments.

While these processors are quite powerful for their respective segments, when it comes to the GPU performance, Mediatek uses Mali GPUs which usually lag behind Snapdragon’s own Adreno GPUs. Even in the case of its best chipset, the Helio X20, the GPU performance isn’t that great. However, with the upcoming Helio X30 flagship chipset, things couldbe different.

According to the noted analyst, Pan Jiutang from China, there are rumors going around that Mediatek will use Imagination’s PowerVR graphics processor for its next generation Helio X30 chipset. However, he failed to mention a possible GPU model from the PowerVR family. Despite the unknown model, if the company has decided to shift to PowerVR GPU, we hope that it’s a powerful version that can complement the CPU performance.

As for the CPU specs, the company will reportedly continue with its deca-core architecture built on the 16nm process on the upcoming chip. The possible architecture of the Helio X30 could be 2 x 1GHz Cortex A53 + 2 x 1.5GHz Cortex A53 + 2 x 2GHz Cortex A72 and 4 X 2.5GHz Cortex A72 cores. Note here that there are four different clusters, instead of the tri-cluster architecture found inside the Helio X20.

We still don’t know the release for the new Helio X30 chipset, but considering the company announced the X20 quite early last year, we could see an announcement soon. Stay tuned for more details.

UMi Touch vs iPhone 6S: Camera Comparison

By

Joel Joseph

-

Mar 14, 2016

UMi Touch is the latest smartphone in the block that aims to take on the much, much costlier iPhone 6S model. The phone features looks which are similar to the Meizu Pro 5 flagship. The overall design and the all metal body resemble the flagship. We loved the Pro 5’s design, so we think the UMi Touch looks pretty good as well.

Given that the iPhone’s camera is usually regarded as one of the best in the market, it’s not surprising that the company decided to pit the UMi Touch against the iPhone 6S’s camera. Specs wise, the UMi Touch comes with the Sony IMX328 13MP camera sensor with f/2.0 while the iPhone 6S features a 12MP iSight camera with f/2.2 aperture.

	UMi TOUCH	iPhone 6s
Sensor	Sony IMX 328	iSight
Pixel	13 mega-pixel	12 mega-pixel
Aperture	F2.0	F2.2

Below, we have added a few pictures of the UMi Touch directly compared with the iPhone 6S’s camera. The images come from UMi who want to show that the Touch has a pretty good camera. And these samples look pretty good to justify their case. Check out the pictures from down below. On the left are the pictures captured using the UMi Touch and on the right are the ones from iPhone 6S.

(Left: UMi Touch vs Right: iPhone 6S)

You can download full res samples take from both the devices from here.

Other specs of the phone include a 5.5-inch 1080p display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, MT6753 octa-core chip, 3GB of RAM, 16GB ROM, 5MP front camera and a 4000mAh battery.

The phone will start shipping from March 20 and is already available for pre-order via multiple resellers.

Xiaomi Might Announce A New Yi Camera Model This Week

By

Joel Joseph

-

Mar 14, 2016

Xiaomi announced the Yi Action Camera last year in March. Now, it looks like the company is going to announce the successor to the device sometime this week.

Our sources have revealed that Xiaomi will announce a new generation model of the Xiaomi Yi Camera this week. Unfortunately, the source didn’t reveal what new features to expect in the upcoming device. So, as of now, all we know is that we will see the new device pretty soon.

The first generation Xiaomi Yi Camera was a pretty impressive action camera, that opened up a new segment of low-cost performance cameras. The Yi camera was launched at just $64 which was almost half of what the cheapest GoPro Hero model retailed at that time. Even in the features department, the camera was impressive sporting a 16MP Sony Exmor R sensor that could shoot FHD 1080p videos at 60 fps. It was light (72 grams) and was waterproof as well (up to 40m) which made it a pretty good first action camera for your adventures.

We had reviewed the first generation Xiaomi Yi Camera and loved the compact shooter. You can check our extensive review of the device from here.

However, there were a few drawbacks of the device, which we hope that the new generation model could overcome. For example, the software was not as polished as competitors. Also, we would love to see the new Yi Camera come with a larger battery.

Our sources are usually accurate with their information, so we will most likely see the new camera very soon.