Zeaplus has surprised us all with a number of devices this year. We have already seen the Zeaplus M7 flagship and our review on the device is coming up very soon. Then we saw a super cheap Xiaomi Mi Band like smartband from the company for those who are looking to buy their first fitness wearable. Now, it looks like Zeaplus is going to release another wearable, its fifth one called as the Zeaplus Talkband.
From the initial renders, the design looks similar to the Huawei talkband. We also have details about the specification and features of the wearable.
The Zeaplus Talkband will reportedly come with a 0.91-inch OLED display. Like its name suggests, you can make hands free calls as it can act as a wireless bluetooth headset. Moreover, the band can record your steps, distance traveled, calories burnt as well as other data. Like most other bands in the market, it can even monitor your sleep patterns. If you want, you can even listen to music on your headset.
Other features include vibrate alert for calls, smart alarm clock etc. The Zeaplus Talkband is compatible with both Android and iOS smartphones with Bluetooth connectivity. So, you can connect it with most devices in the market.
As for the battery, the company claims that the talkband provides up to 15-20 days of standby time. We still don’t know the approximate talk time that you will get on this band, but we will update with more details in the coming days. We are also unsure about the pricing of the band, but given that its from Zeaplus, which usually prices its products aggressively, expect a pretty affordable price tag when it hits the market.
Huawei Mate 7 was probably one of the best flagship from the company till date. The overall metal design, specs as well as a super efficient fingerprint sensor made it better than most other phones in the market. While we are patiently waiting for some official news from the company regarding the next generation version in the series, we have spotted a render which is allegedly of the Mate 8.
If you look at the design, its almost similar to the Mate 7. You get the same metal body as previous generation. However, there are subtle changes in the positioning of the various parts on the device. For example, the dual LED flash lies below the camera sensor, i.e. in between camera and the fingerprint sensor instead of the top left region. Another noticeable change is that the ‘HUAWEI’ logo that was on the front, just below the display is now absent. Instead, you just have one logo at the rear. The placement of the sensors on top of the display have also changed, and interestingly, we can see an additional sensor in that region.
As for the specs, the Huawei Mate 8 is expected to come with a 2K 6-inch display with the company’s own Kirin 950 64-bit chip and 20.7MP rear camera. There will reportedly be two versions of the device. The higher version will sport 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage while the standard version will come with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory. The flagship will support dual card dual standby.
If Huawei Mate 8 does come with Kirin 950, it will be interesting to analyze the performance of the new chip. We have heard a lot of good things about the new Kirin SoC. If you have been following our site, we had reported that the chip will feature four Cortex A53 power efficient cores and four Cortex A72 powerful cores clocked at 2.4GHz back in March. Yesterday, new rumors confirmed our report, along with other specs such as dual channel LPDDR4 RAM, ARM MAli T880 GPU, Dual ISP with support for up to 42MP and dual SIM support with Cat. 10 LTE connectivity. You can check out the full possible specs of the Kirin 950 along with a comparison of the current Kirin 930 and 940 chipsets from this detailed article.
Unfortunately, we still don’t know the release date of the Mate 8 flagship. But hopefully, it will be launched sometime before the end of this year.
For the past couple of weeks, we have been consistently hearing about the new features of the upcoming OnePlus Two flagship. From these teasers, we know that the phone will significantly upgrade the design and the overall specs as compared to the previous generation, which brings us to an important question: Price!
While the company was not very clear about its pricing strategy for the new OnePlus Two flagship, late yesterday, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau confirmed that the flagship will be priced below $450. This definitely comes as good news for fans all around the world, as this could be the pricing for the high end version. Although its costlier than the previous generation, the new model will feature much better specs justifying the price.
Till now, the company has confirmed a number of features on the new flagship. First of all, the phone will be powered by the Snapdragon 810 v2.1 (third generation) chipset, which although, may not be the best chip around, its good if the company has somehow managed to fix the heating issues. There will be a fingerprint sensor on board, a first for a OnePlus device. We also know that the phone will come with the new USB Type-C port as well as full metal body.
There will reportedly be two different versions of the device. The high-end model will mostly likely come with a 2K 5.5-inch display and 4GB of RAM. On the other hand, the standard version will come with 1080p display and 3GB of RAM. Other common specs include 16MP rear camera, 5MP front facing one, Android 5.1 and 3300mAh battery.
Of course, some of these specs have not yet been confirmed by the company. But since the launch is very near, on July 28, we expect a few more confirmations pretty soon. Stay tuned to the website for more details.
Zeaplus has been known for its affordable smartwatches and some other smartphone accessories for some time. We have already reviewed a few of them and the impressions are that the company can definitely offer a great bang for the buck for some its products.
Still, the Zeaplus M7 is their entry into the smartphone market and we can’t wait to see if their product is worth your attention or not. At the first glance, it has a plain looking but decent design but more importantly it carries a great list of specs for the price of $169.
nothing out of ordinary, usual stuff you would expect to get with a budget smartphone
A quite typical packaging for nowadays budget devices.
The contents include a screen protector, USB charging brick, USB cable and instruction manuals. I can’t say that the accessories scream high quality, but they don’t look like they going to brake after a month either.
Zeaplus M7 Review: DESIGN AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS
First of all, Zeaplus M7 is not a small device as it spots a 5.5″ 1080p display, which is actually quite good. It is a bright and vivid LCD panel and it looks good both indoors and outdoors.
A metal frame gives a little bit of a premium look and feel but the whole device is made out of plastic and it does feel expensive to be honest. Well, it is not expensive device after all but what I’ve noticed is that the textured plastic back is wobbling a bit and I’m not a huge fan of it.
Honestly, I’ve been using a device for 4 days already but was on vacation. Still, I used this device as a daily driver and so far the overall performance has been okay with no major issues. I have browsed a lot of web and Facebook, took tens of pictures and shot some videos, made some calls etc.
A full detailed review (VIDEO + ARTICLE) is in the making as I’m quite busy at the moment (have 8 devices to review!). Stay tuned to Gizmochina to watch the video/read a review first. Also, a lot of more very hot reviews, comparisons and camera shootouts are coming!
One of the things that we all use during the summer time is our cameras. Some people still believe that DSLR cameras are the way to go while other users rely on their smartphones. Still, these are not the only options available out there and one more is a sports/action camera.
The majority of users know the GoPro, which arguably makes the best cameras but there are a lot of much cheaper alternatives on the market. We know Xiaomi, SjCam and some other companies but one named Soocoo may be worth your attention as they are specialising in the field of action/sports cameras.
I have spent some time with the camera and made a full Soocoo S33WS Pro review:
In case you don’t feel like watching a video, here are my conclusions of what I think about Soocoo S33WS Pro Sports Action camera:
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the Soocoo S33WS Pro camera is a pretty good device for the price of just over $100. It is very compact and lightweight and it comes with a case, which is full of accessories to expand the usability options.
In addition, this action camera has tons of features and most of them work well.
Picture quality is quite good in the daylight but could be better in the low-light situations. Also, the lens are wide but not the widest on the market.
As far as the video quality, it is not bad when there is not a lot of movement involved but once you start moving, the footage suffers from some shakiness. Also, the sound quality is not that great.
I was really disappointed by a poor camera app, which was actually annoying to use. On the other hand, you can adjust all the settings on the camera itself and use it as a viewfinder or a playback option.
To sum up, despite a few shortcomings this camera is definitely one of the better deals out there in this price range. Of course, it is not par with a GoPro series but it does not come even close to that price range either. If you’re looking for an affordable sports action camera or you don’t think that a GoPro is worth the money, the Soocoo camera may be something to look at.
Doogee has made some interesting updates to its existing smartphone lineups with beautiful yet affordable smartphones like the Doogee Valencia2 Y100 Pro. The phone comes much more than what you expect from a $120 device. And finally, today, the phone started shipping globally.
The Valencia2 Y100 Pro boasts of a 5-inch 720p display with 2.5D glass and OGS. Thanks to OGS tech and 2.5D glass, the display on the Y100 Pro looks crisp and clear. The metal unibody design and the compact form factor, makes it extremely easy to operate.
Under the hood, the phone features MT6735 quad-core chip with support for a large number of network bands, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, 13MP Sony camera with True LED flash and an 8MP front facing shooter. There’s 2200mAh battery on board along with other features such as OTG, OTA, HotKnot, smart gestures etc.
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The company has also revamped the UI to include better icons and new wallpapers which seamless merge into the bezels. Other new UI features includes visual layers, and realistic motion. The idea is to make the UI much more user friendly and attractive.
For the $119.99, the Valencia2 Y100 Pro is definitely a steal. You can check out more details from the links below.
Zeaplus has been upping its game in the past few months. We have seen a number of affordable smartphone releases from the company, like the flagship Zeaplus M7. The company has three wearables in its portfolio as well, including a smart band, the Zeaplus Band. Now, its all set to add one more smartwatch, the new Zeaplus Watch S2.
This is one of the most traditional looking smartwatches that you can purchase in the market right now. When we say traditional, we mean, it looks like any other regular analog watch. So, people who don’t like the boring square design on smartwatches, can check out this round offering from the company.
Zeaplus has made the device quite solid, with an all metal body and thick bezels which makes it look quite rugged. You get a crown (which is the camera) as well as a button besides it, along with all other features that you would expect from a smartwatch. What’s more, the watch comes with a metal band, instead of the traditional leather ones found on most smartwatches.
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Under the hood, the watch features MTK6260 processor for wearables along with 32MB RAM and 128MB storage. The camera is of 1.3MP, but don’t expect high quality pictures from this low level sensor. The front features a 42mm 240 x 240 pixel resolution touch screen display. The watch is IP67 certified, which means its water and dust resistant. Finally, there’s a 350mAh battery on board which is reportedly good enough to last about 70 hours.
Using the watch was pretty easy, thanks to a simple OS that’s running inside. You have plenty of pre-installed watch faces, most of them quite good looking. You can change the face with a single tap on the screen. A swipe to the left brings you to the menu, which includes a lot of different features such as pedometer, remote notifications, bluetooth settings, device settings, sleep monitor, remote camera etc.
What’s more, when connected to a smartphone, the Zeaplus Watch S2 can make calls as well as sync your text messages directly into the watch. You also get a heart rate monitor, which is once again a nice addition.
The original price tag of the Zeaplus Watch S2 is $80, but for the month of July, the company is offering it for just $49.99. This is a pretty good price for the features and the device you get, so make sure you check out the company website for more details.
Xiaomi has just announced that it will be reducing the price tag of its popular Xiaomi Redmi 2 handset from 699 Yuan to 599 Yuan. That’s a 100 Yuan drop from the original price tag, which translates to around $16 reduction. So, now the Redmi 2 can be bought for just $96 which makes it a steal!
It looks like the company is really shaking things up to reach its target sales of 100 million units by this year end. So, slashing the price tag of the already cheap Redmi 2 to 599 Yuan will definitely boost sales.
The Redmi 2 features great specs for its price. It comes with 64-bit Snapdragon 410 chipset clocked at 1.2GHz with 1GB RAM. There is a 4.7-inch display up front with 720p resolution. The rear camera is of 8MP while the front one is of 2MP. There’s 8GB of expandable internal storage along with a 2200mAh battery. It runs on Android 4.4 MIUI 6 and supports 4G LTE networks.
Just a couple of days before, we reported that Xiaomi had managed to sell over 34.70 million smartphones to customers in the first half of 2015. While this is over 33% increase as compared to last year, its still short of company targets.
Meanwhile, if you are looking to buy the Redmi 2 outside of China, you can check out the listing on giztop. Its currently in stock in a number of colors and you have the option of choosing the 2GB version too!
Remember a few days back, we had spotted a render that was reportedly of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2. Now, we have much more than a render, thanks to the picture that leaked earlier today of the actual device. The design looks exactly the same as the render, which makes us believe that this could indeed be one of the various versions of the upcoming Redmi Note 2.
From the image, we can see that the phone uses an all metal design. There is a round camera sensor at the back along with dual LED flash just below it. You will also find a fingerprint sensor below the camera unit. The ‘MI’ logo lies near the bottom of the back along with the speaker grill. The overall design looks quite good, but if not for the logo, you could have easily mistaken this phone for an HTC or Meizu device.
In fact, here’s the Meizu device in comparison with Xiaomi’s device. You can easily tell that the general design is similar to Meizu.
As for the specs, the phone is said to come in two different variants, one powered by Snapdragon 615 (Pro version) and the standard version powered by Snapdragon 410. The display is expected to be of 5.5-inches with 1080p resolution. There will be 2GB RAM on board with 13MP + 5MP cameras.
Since its been more than a year since we saw the first Redmi Note flagship, expect Xiaomi to release its successor sometime soon. Stay tuned for more details.
UMi is slowly establishing itself as an innovative smartphone maker. We were impressed by the UMi Iron which came with a fingerprint sensor and we are hoping to see more such handsets from the company in the coming months.
Earlier today we came across a new Facebook page with the name UMi Zero 2 along with an image which said, “Duplex Life, Best from UMi”.
We can clearly see an e-ink display at the back of the device, just below the rear camera. What’s more, to prove that its a dual screen smartphone, the image also gives us a glimpse of the front with the home button too.
Like the Yotaphone, the UMi Zero 2 will probably have a Samsung display at the front and an EPD e-ink display at the back. E-ink displays are known for their stellar visibility even in bright sunlight and is ideal for reading on the phone. If the UMi Zero 2 does feature two screens, it will become the second dual display smartphone in the market, the first being Yotaphone.
According to the picture, UMi will release the device on 1/9 i.e. September 1. So expect more details in the coming months.
We know that everyone is eager to see which Chinese company performed the best in the first half of 2015. Now, thanks to the sales figures released by analysts as well as the respective companies, we can do a comparison on the performance of these three smartphone manufacturers in detail.
Xiaomi had a pretty good first half among these three companies, and it also boasted of the maximum sales in this time period in the domestic market (China). The company managed to sell about 34.7 million handsets overall, which is 33% higher than its previous year’s figures.
On the other hand, Huawei managed to sell much higher than Xiaomi, mainly due to its strong overseas sales. The company sold around 50 million handsets in the first half of 2015, which is 44% higher than Xiaomi’s figures. However, in the domestic market, the sales are lower than that of Xiaomi.
Coming to Meizu, the company did quite well as compared to last year. It sold around 8.9 million units in the first half. But as you can see, its nowhere near the amount of sales from Xiaomi or Huawei. The lack of concrete international presence will have definitely hampered the total sales, along with limited production capacity. But since Meizu is expanding its product portfolio in the second half with Meizu M2 Note, Meizu MX5 and possibly MX5 Pro, we can expect better results. Also, the company is planning to enter newer emerging markets like India, which could further boost its sales to a great extent.
Now, lets take a look at the approximate quarterly sales figures of the three companies. Both, Xiaomi and Huawei have increased its sales in the second quarter of 2015 as compared to the first one. Huawei managed to sell about 11 million in Q1 2015 and 20 million units in Q2 2015 in the domestic market alone. We still have no idea about the individual quarterly performance of the remaining 19 million in overseas sales.
Even Xiaomi has a better Q2 2015, generating about 20 million unit sales as compared to 15 million in Q1 2015. However, interestingly, Meizu’s sales decreased by almost 22% in the second quarter. In Q1 2015, Meizu managed to sell about 5 million units, however in the second quarter the sales figure was just 3.9 million. Things may not be as bad as it looks as Meizu had one of the best Q1 2015 sales figures till now. So, the company could not keep up with the growth in the second quarter which naturally led to a decline in sales.
To conclude, Xiaomi is still going strong in the domestic market, inspite of a slowdown in the smartphone shipment growth. Huawei is doing well overseas, while Meizu still has a long way to go before it catches up with both these giants.
So, which is your favorite Chinese company among these three?
I have today received leaked images and information about the upcoming EC00 E05 handset, the follow up to the successful E04.
The phone will come with an MT6753 soc (clock speed not confirmed in leak) a 5″ FHD 2.5d screen featuring 5 point multi touch, 3gb ram and 16gb rom (expandable via micro SD).
The cameras are said to be 8mp rear facing and 5mp front facing, no confirmation on supplier or part number has been given yet.
From the leaked front screen shots a funky home button can be seen, but no finger print sensor, leaving me to believe that the confirmed sensor will be a rear mounted unit as seen in phones like the P7000 or M7.
The chassis appears to be of aluminium construction and the bezels appear to be very slim (hopefully with the screen on further bezel will not become visible), overall the images leaked look nice and if the phones Android 5.1 rom* is fully optimised this could be a great mid range phone.
* My source advised that versions of CM12.1 and other roms are also being worked on for the phone.
What do you think of the leaked images and spec? are you looking forward to a smaller 5″ phone or are you a phablet convert?
Elephone have been receiving a fair amount of criticism over the P7000’s build quality, some people have indicated that under pressure the phone suffers a similar bendability to the iPhone 6 (it takes a considerable amount of pressure to bend the metal chassis).
They have advised that for the P8000 they have been running the phone through a lot of testing to ensure that it does not have issues with durability.
Please check out the video to see what they have been doing.
Giztop, the e-commerce site specializing in high-end smartphone and accessory sales is now the official partner of GizmoChina. So, from now onwards, we will strive to bring the best deals and offers to our customers from our partner shop.
Giztop has all the major flagships from China listed on its website. So, if you are looking to purchase any new flagship device such as the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro or the Honor 7, you can buy it directly from this shop without any worries. What’s more buyers from Europe no longer have to pay any customs taxes on the products bought from Giztop as they promised. You also get free expedited shipping for phones bought from the site.
Moreover, you can purchase these devices without fear because they have a repairing center in Europe too. This means that in case you come across some problems with your device, you can send it to the European repair center instead of sending it all the way to China. This saves a lot of time as well as money for both the buyer and the sender, which we feel is an added advantage.
Giztop will also be offering a number of deals on famous flagship smartphones in the coming weeks, which means you can take advantage of the best prices on the hottest products. Just check out their deals page for the updated offers on the latest products.
Also, as of now, the shop is offering $10 OFF on all its products sitewide for our readers. Just use the coupon: GIZM10. You can check out your favorite Chinese smartphones on the site.
We are sure with this partnership, our readers will benefit to a great extent.
As you can see in the picture above, the device does retain a few design aspects from its previous generation. However, instead of a plastic body, the phone comes in an all metal design. You can see the OnePlus logo at the back, and above that the camera sensor and the dual LED flash. The overall phone looks quite thin too and is gently arched at the back. This should provide better grip to the user while holding the device.
Interestingly, we don’t see any fingerprint sensor at the back. So, either it could be at the front integrated into the home button like the Meizu MX5, or this is just a basic prototype design. The company is yet to confirm anything about the design of the new flagship as of now. But given that we are going to see the new handset, probably in two variants on July 28, we don’t have to wait too long to have a look at the new company flagship.
So what do you think about this design? Is it good enough to replace the popular OnePlus One?
OnePlus has just announced that they have a special event scheduled for July 28 where it will launch the next generation model of its flagship, the OnePlus Two. The event will be held at the Beijing Convention Center in China at 10:00 AM.
Thanks to the numerous teasers from the company in the past couple of weeks, we have a fair idea as to what to expect from the OnePlus Two. First of all, it will come with an all metal body, a deviation from the plastic finish on the ‘One’. Under the hood, the company has used Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 v2.1 (third generation) chipset, which hopefully won’t overheat as much as its previous generations.
Another important feature confirmed by the company is the fingerprint sensor. This will be the first time OnePlus is using fingerprint recognition on its phone and it is said that it will be faster than Apple’s Touch ID. The OnePlus Two is also confirmed to come with USB Type-C port.
Unlike the previous generation, where we saw just one model with different storage variants, the OnePlus Two is expected to come with at least two versions with different specs. The higher-end version (possibly the one that we saw yesterday) will most likely sport Snapdragon 810 and 4GB RAM with a 2K 5.5-inch display. On the other hand, the standard edition is expected to come with 1080p display and 3GB of RAM. Other possible specs include 16MP rear camera, 5MP front shooter, Android 5.1 and 3,300mAh battery.
Qualcomm would be in a hurry to release its latest chipset since its current Snapdragon 810 chip is in all sorts of trouble. The company had earlier confirmed that its new chip will be the Snapdragon 820 and since then, we have been patiently waiting for some concrete details about the SoC.
At the end of last month, a Geekbench test revealed some of the specifications of the Snapdragon 820 and earlier today, we came across another Geekbench listing which shows that the chip will come with four cores instead of eight.
Yes, unlike Mediatek, which is aiming to release its 10-core beast (Helio X20) in the coming months, Qualcomm is reportedly concentrating on individual core performance rather than increasing the number. So, the Snapdragon 820 chipset that we may see later this year could be a quad-core chipset.
The test results reveal that the device was running Snapdragon 820 at 1.46GHz clock speed which is way lower than what we will see in the final product. It is said that the chip will be built using Samsung’s 14nm process and will be clocked at 3.0GHz when its released publicly. So, this could be just an initial test of performance.
The device running this chip had 3GB RAM on board, but with such low clock speeds, the results are less than impressive. In the single core test, this Snapdragon 820 version scored 714 and in the multi-score test around 1942, which is way below other flagship chips like Samsung’s Exynos 7420.
But given the fact that Qualcomm is reportedly using custom Kryo cores instead of stock ones from ARM along with the much better 14nm manufacturing process, the final version of Snapdragon 820 should definitely be impressive.
Also, we have already seen the Qualcomm Snapdragon 620 chipset in another leak which showed that it will boast of superior performance than most other rival chipsets. So, the much higher-end Snapdragon 820 chipset should definitely be more powerful than 620.
Anyways, we are sure that we will see more information about Snapdragon 820 in the coming days, so stay tuned.
The One A2003 came with octa-core Qualcomm processor (which is going to be Snapdragon 810) clocked at 1.55GHz. As you can see, the clock speed has been reduced to a great extent during this test, either because this is a prototype model or to avoid overheating issues. Even the Snapdragon 810 v2.1 is being accused of overheating, so OnePlus will have to be careful to avoid such issues in its new flagship. The company will most likely increase the clock speed to around 2.0GHz for the ideal performance.
Along with the chipset, the phone also comes with 4GB of RAM as opposed to the 3GB found on the A2001 handset. So, this one’s probably the higher-end OnePlus Two model. We still don’t know what to expect from the One A2005 model, but we hope to get more details pretty soon.
Google Cardboard is once again hitting the gadget news, One Plus One are now giving away headsets free so that users can watch the launch of the One Plus One 2 in virtual reality.
Given the Google Cardboard resurgence I spoke with Durovis regarding their Dive headset and they were kind enough to send out a review unit.
In the box
The dive comes in a nice looking white box with product branding and images and an invite to Dive in to a new gaming experience, something I am hoping to do.
It also has a QR code on one end and a warning on the rear covering safe usage and handling etc.
Inside the box is the Dive headset with lens arms and lenses already in place, a black pull string storage bag, a white pull string storage bag (the label on the bags advises that it can be used to clean the lenses), Durovis Dive manual (in English and German), dive owner’s card (this has your personal private Drive Key in QR format and text and is used to authenticate you as a Dive owner for licensed content), Durovis Dive magnet upgrade kit (used to make the Dive compatible with Google Cardboard).
My kit also included an iPhone 4 case but I am not 100% sure if this is a standard thing, or just came with the review unit.
Whilst I was tempted to just get hands on and figure it out on the fly, I decided to read through the included user manual first (if you would like to check out a copy it is available online at http://www.durovis.com/manual ), the first pages are a thank you for purchasing, a quick start guide and explanation about the Dive owners card, reading this it would appear the they have some cool plans regarding networking features in the future, it then goes on to advise where Dive ready apps can be found (these are on the Dive launcher, Google Play store and also the iTunes store.
The next pages cover insertion of smartphone and alignment of the lenses, unlike the original basic cardboard units the lenses can be moved towards or away from the eye as well as further apart to allow you to find the sweet spot for 3d viewing convergence, this is especially helpful if you do not have 20/20 vision.
The final page covers the same warnings as found on the box.
With the manual read its time to get hands on with the headset, the lenses are in the headset but have small plastic bags covering them for protection, the lenses had small specs of dust on but this was easily removed using the carry case 9this is a really clever idea and ensures you always have a cloth to clean them).
The lenses are 25mm acrylic units and are optically a lot clearer and higher quality than the ones in the Google Cardboard kit I originally tried.
I have run in to a problem, I had not checked compatibility on the Durovis website, if I had I would have known that my Galaxy S5 was not compatible.
I have managed to squeeze the phone in but it is very tight and when closing, more often than not is pushing the power button or volume buttons on the side of the phone, this means I have to unclip and start again.
From the brief successful attempts with the S5 I can advise that the image is a lot better than my original cardboard unit, I assume this is down to the superior quality of the lenses, also thankfully the Dive is really comfortable and I have not been left with deep cardboard dents in my nose like the google unit did.
I have an S3 around here somewhere and will charge that up and continue the review, I will also try the Dive with my wives iPhone 6 (when I can get it away from her).
I will hopefully have more time to play with the unit and my S3 tomorrow.
Ok I managed to dig out my old S3 complete with cracked front glass and constant reboots!
This time around the phone fits perfectly in to the Dive unit and is held securely by the foam at the rear.
I installed the Dive launcher as well as a few other bits of software from the play store.
VR Calibration
Dive City Coaster
The Height
360 Speedflying
The first thing I tried out was the VR Calibration app, I was hoping that it would be little more advanced as it was pretty much just a screen showing patterns.
Using the patterns you can align the lenses by moving them backwards and forwards on the sliders and also moving them closer together or further apart.
I achieved a good level of calibration and from there was able to start testing the other apps.
The Dive uses a fully 3d imersive menu system that allows you to select between apps, games, photos etc.
It is easy to use, simply look at the object you want to select and wait the drive will sense the selection and fire up the menu or game/app.
Looking at your photo collection and selecting is more fun in 3d!
Dive City Coaster was very engaging using the Dive, more so than the Google Cardboard headset I had previously tried, I think this had a lot to do with the headsets padding and adjustability, as well as much improved optics.
I found that I was looking around and swaying more with the Dive, something that my children found very amusing to watch.
The Height is a fun and engaging game that relies only on the headset to guide you around the platforms collecting items along the way, it is surprisingly fluid and gives a great example of what is possible without using an optional controller.
360 Speedflying is not actually a game nor is it truly interactive, but then again it does not claim to be.
It is actually an example of a video shot in full 360 degrees, from the viewpoint of parachuting skiers, as such you can look around all the way up in to your parachute or down to your skis.
The problem with this is that it is not in very high resolution and therefore does not fully engage you or give you a sense of speed, with a few minor improvements this could really have showcased the possibilities of the Dive.
There were several other games that I really wanted to try but unfortunately I have not got a compatible bluetooth hand controller.
This is good news as there are now many apps available on the Google Play store.
The Dive unit also comes with a Magnet Kit that attaches to the side of the Dive using very secure double sided adhesive, once this is installed the Dive has full access to Google Cardboard apps as well as those specifically designed using the Dive APK.
I also had access to an NFC sticker that I temporarily placed on to the Dive allowing the phone to switch automatically when inserted in the Dive, perhaps this is something that Droves might consider including with the Magnet Kit.
Compatibility with the iPhone was tested using my wives Iphone 6, again there are Dive compatible apps and games available on the Apple App store as well as various other non Dive 3d side by side ones that will work.
One of the big advantages to the Dive system is the software development kit that Durovis have made available, it features a low-latency head tracking plugin that can be used for Android and iOS applications making it easy to get real time movement.
Hopefully with the ease of integration and support people will start to push the boundaries and take advantage of the latest CPU and GPU advances that we are now seeing.
Another really interesting thing that Durovis have done is to make 3d printer files available, they call this the OPENDIVE project, you can if you have access to a 3d printer make your own set and either purchase a set of lenses from Durovis or source your own items, I can’t think of many other companies that give you the option to print off a copy of their product free .
Compatibility with Dive apps as well as Google Cardboard.
Native IOS and Android Apps.
Developer SDK availability.
3d Printer files to make your own headset.
Improvements that I would make-
I would include an NFC tag in the box for Cardboard compatibility.
I would include a calibration app on the home screen to help best setup the Dive.
I would offer a bluetooth compatible hand controller perhaps something similar to a Wii nunchuck.
Overall I have been very impressed with the time that I have had with the Dive and really look forward to seeing what is to come.
If your looking for something between the inexpensive but uncomfortable Google Cardboard and the very expensive Oculous Rift, the Dive could be just the headset your looking for.
We all know that Xiaomi is expanding its foothold, both in China as well as International markets such as India with a number of new product releases. Looks like, the strategy is working for the company as it sold over 34.7 million handsets in the first half of 2015. This marks an impressive 33% increase as compared to last year’s first half sales.
While we can say that the company’s growth rate may have slowed down a bit, these figures are impressive because, for the first time, Chinese smartphone market slowed down this year. So, even in this slow market, Xiaomi managed to post good figures.
Kevin Yang, an analysts of IHS Technology further adds that these figures are the actual devices sold to the consumers. He also says that Xiaomi managed to sell about 19.72 million handsets in the Q2 2015, taking the total to the above mentioned 34.70 million. Despite the increase in competition from new flagships from Huawei and Meizu, he expects the performance in the second half of 2015 to be the most crucial.
Xiaomi had earlier told us that it aims to sell a lot more handsets this year, around 80 million to 100 million. If it were to reach anywhere near this figure, the company will have to sell at least 45 million handsets in the second half of 2015.
Anyways, lets see if the company manages to reach its goal of 80 million in the second half, especially with the increased competition from domestic manufacturers.
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