Last year, a new BlackBerry licensee called OnwardMobility announced that it will release new BlackBerry phones this year that will have 5G support. A new report says the American company has plans to bring the new BlackBerry phones to the Asian market too.

The press release from OnwardMobility last year said that their first BlackBerry phone will be announced in Europe and North America. Asian fans of the brand must have been saddened seeing as they were left out. However, that is not the case as Nikkei Asia reports that the new BlackBerry phones from the company will also be announced in Asia.

Peter Franklin who heads OnwardMobility is reported to have said that Asia is also a very important market. The manufacturer doesn’t have a defined timeframe for when the phones will launch in Asia but the CEO said they are in the “process of speaking to customers and mobile carriers on a global scale to develop our distribution plan”.

The first BlackBerry phone from the company will have a physical keyboard, a flagship camera, and 5G connectivity, and it is being jointly developed with Foxconn’s FIH Mobile. Franklin has said that their long term goal is to have their phones assembled in the USA.

He believes that there is still a market for BlackBerry phones and that their smartphones which will have a physical keyboard “can help boost productivity”. It appears the company has no intention of making a touchscreen-only model like the Optiemus-made BlackBerry Evolve and BlackBerry Evolve X or the TCL-made BlackBerry Motion.

The much-loved form factor is not the only thing the company is bringing. The phones will also provide protection against data leaks and online threats. OnwardMobility says they will partner with an external cybersecurity company for this.

The smartphone market is a highly competitive one. OnwardMobility will have to offer products that can compete with phones from Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, and OnePlus. It does have the advantage as none of these other players make phones with a physical keyboard but it remains to be seen if that and the better security it promises will be able to woo customers.

RELATED:

• BlackBerry to power Baidu’s mapping technology used in Chinese EVs
• Blackview Tab 8E comes bundled with a removable keyboard, starts at $135.99
• Foxconn receives license in Vietnam for its $270 million plant that will produce MacBooks and iPads

The post OnwardMobility, the new BlackBerry licensee, plans to bring BlackBerry phones to Asia appeared first on Gizmochina.

At the moment there are only two Snapdragon 710 powered smartphones in the market – they are the Xiaomi Mi 8 SE and the Vivo NEX A. There are others said to be in development too such as the Meizu X8, a mid-range Pixel phone scheduled for next year, and a Nokia phone codenamed “Phoenix”.

News of the Nokia Phoneix first surfaced in June in a tweet by the popular leaker, Roland Quandt. He also revealed that the device would be released in Autumn/Winter of this year which means we should expect it to launch between September to December. A new info has surfaced that corroborates Mr. Quandt’s leak.

A Twitter user named Hikari Calyx (@Hikari_Calyx) disclosed in a series of tweets yesterday that FIH (Foxconn) is developing a new device with codename PNX. FIH is the manufacturer that handles the production of Nokia phones for HMD.

Apparently, there are two versions of the device – one with number 500001828 and the other with the number 500001829.

Found something in metadata.
Nokia/Phoenix_00CN/PNX:8.1.0/OPM1.171019.026/00CN_0_250

— Hikari Calyx (@Hikari_Calyx) July 24, 2018

In a follow-up tweet, he also revealed he found something in the metadata which confirms it is a Nokia device. From the metadata info, it appears the Nokia Phoenix will be available in China (first). It will also come with Android 8.1 Oreo when it launches.

So far nothing is known about the design of the Nokia Phoenix and what its real name is. However, we do have a few guesses of our own. For starters, the Nokia Phoenix may be the Nokia X7 said to be in development.

READ MORE: HMD Global may have discontinued the Nokia 6 (2018) in China

If we look at Nokia’s recent trend, the X5 and the X6 are more powerful variants of the Nokia 5.1 and Nokia 6.1. So, it doesn’t seem far-fetched that the Nokia X7 is a more powerful variant of the Nokia 7 and Nokia 7 Plus. With respect to design, the Nokia Phoenix may also come with a notch, dual rear cameras, and a glass body.

The above are just speculations and may turn out to be incorrect. Nevertheless, we do look forward to the launch of the device.

(Source, Via)

The post Proof of Snapdragon 710-powered “Nokia Phoenix” found in metadata appeared first on Gizmochina.

For the first time, Google’s hardware partner for its smartphone will not be a “popular manufacturer”. Instead, it will be working with Foxconn‘s FIH Mobile for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. The info comes from documents made available to Winfuture.de.

Google’s first hardware partner was HTC and they worked on multiple devices including last year’s Pixel 2. Google also worked with Samsung, LG, ASUS, Motorola, and Huawei during its run with the Nexus line.

When Google launched the first Pixel, it no longer put the name of the hardware partner on the device. This time – it was made by Google. The same thing happened last year for the 2nd gen Pixel phones and will be the tradition going forward.

The documents not only reveal info about the hardware partner but also about the devices. The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor. The larger model which was referred to as Google GB1 is said to have a “new display hardware”, new cameras, and sensors. The Pixel 3, referred to as Google GC1 will most likely come with specs present in other flagships.

A leaked photo from yesterday showed the tempered glass for both phones and revealed that the Pixel 3 XL will come with a notch. This may be the “new display hardware” referred to in the document. Other specs are still unknown.

READ MORE: Google Is Working On A Standalone AR Headset

The document also mentions an August or September release date for the phones. However, this may be subject to change at any time. Nevertheless, there is a high chance mass production of some components are already underway.

(Source)

The post Pixel 3 Smartphones To Be Built By FIH Mobile (Foxconn) appeared first on Gizmochina.

It seems we might be getting one of the new Nokia smartphones soon as it is presumed that the device that just got its 3C certification is the Nokia E1.

The device whose model number is stated as TA-1000 has its charging specification as 5V/2A and its manufacturer as HMD Global Oy. The factory is also listed as FIH Precision Electronics Co. Ltd which is the Foxconn subsidiary serving as production partner.

The Nokia E1 is said to have a 5.5-inch display, 1GB of RAM, a Snapdragon 200 SoC, and runs Android 7.0.1 Nougat. A sketch of the phone leaked online recently shows the phone sporting capacitive keys, a front facing camera positioned at the top left and a Nokia logo at the top right corner. Volume rocker and power button are on the right hand side and the camera and LED flash are positioned in the middle of the phone.

READ MORE: Apple-Nokia Patent Battle: Apple Halts Nokia-Owned Withings Product Sales 

With specs like that, Nokia better price the E1 at less than a $100 because it’s hard to imagine anyone shelling out more than that for a phone with 1GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 200 processor.

The post Nokia E1 Gets 3C Certification, Launch Not Far Off appeared first on Gizmochina.

HMD Global is the new company with the license to release phones under the Nokia brand. The company already announced new phones this month, the Nokia 150 and Nokia 150 Dual feature phones. However, the first set of Nokia smartphones under the new company will be announced at The Mobile World Congress in February.

New reports coming in say the company is working with Taiwanese supply chain companies in order to release four new models slated to launch in Q2 and Q3 of next year.

According to the source,the four new models will have screen sizes falling between 5.0 and 5.7-inches and will sport WQHD or FHD resolutions. The source also says that display suppliers will include LG Display, Century Technology (CTC) and Innolux, while Foxconn subsidiary, FIH Mobile will serve as production partner.

While HMD Global has not confirmed which phones will be launching at MWC, guesses are that one of the two devices will be the Nokia D1C which is rumored to be available in two versions with different display sizes, camera sensors, and memory. The version with the lower specs is said to be called the Nokia E1.

READ MORE: New Spy Photos of Nokia’s Upcoming Phone Shows Cut-out for Physical Home Button

Another device that is expected to surface at the event is the dual-camera sporting Nokia C1. While the Nokia C1 is just basically renders, the Nokia Z2 Plus seems to be a more realistic choice seeing as it already made an appearance on GeekBench.

Source

The post HMD Global To Announce At least 4 New Nokia Phones between Q2 and Q3 2017 appeared first on Gizmochina.