Galaxy S22 series, Android 13 Developer Preview, Infinix ZERO 5G, and more from Last Week

Sudarshan Ravichandran — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 17:35:14 +0000

We are back again with our new list of top stories from the previous week. Lots of things happened last week. Most importantly, Samsung announced its flagship smartphones and tablets of 2022. Then, out of the blue, Google dropped the first Developer Preview of Android 13. At the same time, the search giant ended support for one of the Pixel series. Let’s take a look at these and a lot more in our ‘latest Top Stories from Last Week’ segment.

Before we continue, we would like to inform you that the stories selected here are based on our opinion. Further, they are listed in no particular order. Since everyone’s choices differ from others, we would like to know your picks in the comment section below.

Top Stories from Last Week

Galaxy S22 series – The next big thing from Samsung

Samsung’s next big thing is finally here in the form of the Galaxy S22 series. The South Korean tech unveiled its latest flagship smartphones with a fanfare at the Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event on February 9 (Wednesday).

The company has introduced multiple changes in the new models. Firstly, all three devices arrive with a new design. The Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy S22+ are only slightly different from their predecessors, whereas the Galaxy S22 Ultra has been completely revamped with a built-in S Pen. In fact, the latter is more of a Galaxy Note than a Galaxy S.

The two cheaper models come with updated primary and telephoto cameras. The plus and ultra offer the brightest display on a smartphone. Finally, in some markets, these phones are powered by Samsung’s in-house Exynos 2200 SoC with AMD RDNA architecture-based Xclipse GPU.

Galaxy Tab S8 series – Notch and a 14.6-inch screen

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab S8 series alongside the Galaxy S22 series. The family consists of three models like the phones – vanilla, plus, and ultra.

Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, the first ‘Ultra’-branded tablet from Samsung, has a massive 14.6-inch AMOLED display. The screen also includes a notch housing two cameras.

The Galaxy Tab S8 and the Galaxy Tab S8+ are regularly sized tablets. But the vanilla variant has an LCD panel instead of AMOLED like the other two.

All three are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. They also have support for the S Pen stylus.

Android 13 Developer Preview out ahead of Android 12L Stable release

Even before Android 12L could hit the stable channel, Google has already released the Android 13 Developer Preview. Anyone with Pixel 4 or above devices can try out the upcoming version of Android.

Android 13, which is codenamed Tiramisu, is a polished version of Android 12. So don’t expect major changes like the transition from Android 11 to Android 12.

According to a timeline shared by Googe, beta builds will be out around April, followed by stable in June or July. Anyway, this schedule is only applicable for Pixels.

Dynamic theme coming to non-Pixel devices

Google has officially revealed that the Android 12’s monet dynamic theme engine will be soon available on devices from popular OEMs like Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, and others. However, the search didn’t give a specific timeline.

Ahead of this announcement, a report had already disclosed that the Android 12 dynamic theming engine will be a requirement for GMS approval from March 14. This means the feature should come to non-Pixel devices in the next few weeks, at least, in the form of beta.

Google ends support for Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL

The Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL received their final software update last week. The system update merely brings February 2022 security patches.

The Pixel 3 series debuted in October 2018 with Android 9.0 Pie. Throughout their lifetime, the handsets received 3 Android updates (up to Android 12).

The Pixel 3 XL has made a name for itself in history for its ‘bathtub notch’.

OnePlus plans to discuss OxygenOS 13 with users

OnePlus and OPPO are expected to introduce a unified operating system based on Android 13 later this year. Ahead of that, the former has scheduled an Open Ears Forum (OEF) to discuss the said software with its userbase.

As of now, OnePlus is still calling it OxygenOS 13 based on Android 13. Perhaps, the name change may happen once the software reaches the release phase.

That said, the event is planned for February 28 and the registrations for it are open until February 18.

Bunch of upcoming Motorola phones leak in renders

Popular leaker Evan Blass shared press renders of five forthcoming Motorola smartphones on February 9. As he does with Motorola leaks, he merely described the codenames of these phones instead of their actual marketing names.

These handsets called Hawaii+, Dubai, Rogue, Rhode, and Austin belong to multiple price segments. For instance, one of them has an under-display camera, while another features a thick chin.

We expect to learn more about these devices in the coming days.

Infinix debuts its first 5G smartphone – ZERO 5G

Infinix ZERO 5G made its global debut in Nigeria as the brand’s first 5G smartphone. It is a mid-range offering with some interesting set of features.

The 6.78-inch 120Hz display (LCD) touting handset is powered by a MediaTek Dimesnity 900 SoC coupled with 8GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB UFS 3.1 storage. Unlike most phones in the segment, it sports a 13MP 2x telephoto camera.

In addition to a dedicated MicroSD card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack, the device is backed by a large 5,000mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging.

Realme grew stronger globally in Q4 2021

A Canalys report revealed that Realme entered the top 5 in 30 markets globally. For the first time, the brand made it to the list in key markets like Germany, Peru, Colombia, and Western Europe.

In India alone, the company grew 48% YoY. As a result, its market share rose to 17% in the region. In Western Europe and Europe, it registered growths of a whopping 1365% and 450% respectively.

Hope for new BlackBerry smartphones dies

In January, OnwardMobility reassured that a 5G BlackBerry smartphone with a keyboard is on its way later this year after being delayed. Within a few weeks, a report from last week revealed that this project is dead.

It is said that OnwardMobility has lost its license to use the ‘BlackBerry’ name. The once-popular smartphone maker is reportedly distancing itself from its glorious days after selling its mobile patent portfolio in early February.

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