Author: Sahil Kapoor

Huawei Y9 2019 Will Soon Launch In India
Huawei launched the original Y9 smartphone in the Q2 of 2018. A teaser shared by the company reveals that the Y9 2019, successor to the Y9 2018 will soon launch in India. The smartphone will be exclusively available on Amazon India and the ‘notify me‘ page of the device is already online.

Specifications And Design

The Huawei Y9 2019 has a modern design with a notch display. The smartphone measures 162.4 x 77.1 x 8.1 mm and weighs in at 173 grams. The front of the handset accommodates a 6.5-inch LCD display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The display panel has a resolution of 2340 x 1080 px and a pixel density of 396 ppi.

The Huawei Y9 2019 is powered by a 4,000 mAh battery and it runs on EMUI 8.2 which is based on Android 8.1 Oreo. The smartphone features the Hisilicon 710 SoC which is manufactured using 12 nm FinFET technology. The chipset consists of an Octa-Core CPU along with the Mali-G51 MP4 GPU. In terms of storage, the smartphone is available in two different RAM + ROM configurations which are as follows:
- 4 GB + 64 GB
- 6 GB + 128 GB
In addition, the Huawei Y9 2019 also supports memory expandability up to 400 GB via a microSD card.

For photography, the smartphone has dual 13 MP + 2 MP front cameras and dual 16 MP + 2 MP rear cameras. The smartphone can also capture 1080p videos at 30 fps from both the front and rear camera setup. Connectivity options on the device include 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, 4G VoLTE and a bottom mounted micro USB 2.0 port. For safely and securely unlocking the handset, it also has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Price And Launch Date

Also Read: Sony Bumps Up 3D Camera Sensor Production

The Huawei Y9 2019 will be unveiled at a launch event in New Delhi which is scheduled for 7 January 2019. The official price of the smartphone will be revealed then. However, going by the specifications it will be a sub 15k smartphone.
January 2, 2019
Vivo Nex Dual Screen Edition With Snapdragon 710 Spotted On TENAA

Vivo launched the Vivo Nex smartphone with an edge-to-edge display and pop-up camera earlier this year. The smartphone due to its impressive specifications and design turned a lot of heads. After the success of the former, the company launched the Vivo Nex dual screen. A smartphone that is as revolutionary as its name. The Nex Dual features dual touchscreen display one at the front and the second at the rear. The New Dual has flagship specifications and a hefty price tag.

An affordable and less powerful variant of the New Dual Screen featuring the 12 nm Snapdragon 710 has been spotted on TENAA.

Specifications

The affordable Vivo Nex Dual Display smartphone is listed as model number V1280A on TENAA. Allegedly the device will carry the Vivo Nex A moniker. The smartphone measures 157.19×75.3×8.09 mm and tips the scale at 200 grams. The front of the device has a 6.39-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080px while the secondary rear display uses a smaller 5.49-inch OLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 px. The smartphone is powered by a 3425 mAh battery and runs on the latest Android 9 Pie.

The Vivo Nex A has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of inbuilt storage. For photography, the smartphone has triple rear cameras out of which one has a resolution of 8 MP. Like the Vivo Nex S, it might have a 2 MP night vision camera and a TOF 3D camera. While there is no camera on the front, users will simply be able to flip the phone to take a selfie on using the rear camera and display.

In terms of connectivity, the smartphone supports 802.11 ac WI-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, 4G VoLTE and USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer. The listing also affirms tha the Vivo Nex A has an In-display fingerprint sensor.

The Vivo Nex A features the Octa-Core Snapdragon 710 CPU which is clocked at a frequency of 2.2 GHz. Sadly the listing does not provide any images of the device. However, going by the dimensions and screen size it will look like the Vivo Nex S.

Launch Date

Also Read: Sony Bumps Up 3D Camera Sensor Production

Vivo has not announced the launch date of the Vivo Nex A but usually, smartphones are listed on TENAA only days before ofiicial their launch. Therefore, the company is expected to launch it soon and might showcase it at CES which is scheduled for 8-12 January.

January 2, 2019
Sony Bumps Up 3D Camera Sensor Production
Sony’s smartphone and consumer electronics division might be facing tough times but the company is undoubtedly the world’s biggest smartphone camera chip manufacturer. More than 50 percent of the smartphones in the market use camera sensors that are manufactured by Sony which includes Apple, Samsung and Google. A Bloomberg report suggests that Sony is now gearing up to ramp up the production of 3D camera sensors.

What Is A 3D Camera Sensor?

A 3D camera is an imaging device that allows to replicate three dimesional objects with the help of depth sensing technologies. Digital cameras with 3D sensors have been available in the market for quite some time. These cameras are bulky and hard to carry but Sony seems to be developing miniscule 3D sensors that can be embedded in to smartphones. 3D sensors on a smartphone can open a whole new world of possiblities.

Few uses of smartphones with 3D sensors are as follows:
- Smartphones with 3D sensors can be used to create a virtual 3D model of a user that has the potential to change the future of shopping. The users can easily scan their body parts like the face and head to virtually try on accessories like hats and spectacles.
- 3D camera sensor featuring smartphones can also help in pushing the boundaries of mobile gaming further. Mobile game corporations can use these sensors to make a virtual 3D model of the player which can be loaded in to the game. This would help the companies to create an even immersive expereience to the users.
Sony’s Competition And Production Bump

Also Read: Mi TVs Get Price Cut In India

Except for Sony, companies like Lumentum Holdings Inc. and STMicroelectronics NV also make 3D chips that are used for accurate facial recognition and clicking photographs with enhanced depth effect. However, Sony claims their technology is more accurate than the offerings of their competitors. Sony uses a method called ‘time of flight’ of TOF that sends out out invisible laser pulses and measures how long they take to bounce back. This technology is used to take precise 3D pictures of objects. According to Sony officials, the company’s sensors can even capture pictures at a distance of five meters.

Sony seems to be optimistic about the future of this technology and predicts this feature can boost the sinking smartphone sales. In the interview with Bloomberg, the company reported that the upcoming Huawei phone will employ 3D sensors made by Sony. Additionally, Sony revealed that the company is getting interest from Apple perhaps future iPhones will makes use of this type of sensors. To meet the high prediction of demands, Sony will kick off mass production in late summer of 2019.
January 1, 2019
App Of The Day : Island : Secure Your Data And Apps
Data security is a big concern not only for governments and big corporations but the average smart device users as well. There have been several incidents of a data breach that have affected people from around the globe. Both iOS and Android operating systems are quite good at securing user data but certain apps can steal sensitive information stored on the user’s smart device. Even though Android operating system uses a sandbox environment that restricts applications from accessing unauthorised data. Some applications, however, can get a hold of user data and send it to offshore locations for malign purposes.

Island

Click Here To Download Island App

Island is an application for the Android OS that allows users to manage data usage privileges of particular applications. The application is freely available from the Google Play store and it creates an isolated domain that the user can manage in accordance with their requirements.

How Does It Work

The Island application for Android makes a clone of all the essential applications like the Play Store, file storage, and contacts. These applications reside within the same user account as the original applications however the data stored on both instances of application varies. The Island app has two tabs which are Mainland and Island. As the name suggests, the Mainland tab inhibits all the applications that are present on the device. Whereas, the Island tab only inhibit the applications that have been manually cloned by the user. The applications in the Island tab can only exchange data with other Island applications.

The user can log into the Island Play Store with different mail id and download applications. The applications downloaded will only have access to the cloned apps that were also created by the Island app. Therefore, the user can store bogus contacts and files on the Island filesystem. This will allow the user to run potentially hazardous apps by providing them access to private user data.

How Is It Different And Top Features

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy A50 Will Feature A 4,000 mAh Battery And 24 MP Main Camera

A lot of other applications like parallel space and dual space are also available on the Google Play Store. However, they do not provide the level of control that Island does. The list of top features is as follows:
- It allows the user to manually freeze certain applications. The applications when in a frozen state will stay as is and cannot access the internet or perform any tasks in the background.
- The bogus contact and file storage apps can trick applications to work smoothly. Other applications would not function normally if the user deprives an application from particular access rights.
- Certain applications can be enforced to channelise data via a VPN server. Good use of this could be accessing a website from another region that is restricted in the user’s region. A lot of media corporations limit users from other regions to access their content.
Additionally, Island app on a rooted device provides an even higher level of control in comparison to a non-rooted device.
January 1, 2019
Samsung Is Developing Smart Running Shoes With Fitness Tracking Capabilities

Samsung is a massive company that develops and manufactures a wide variety of products. It was one of the first companies to integrate smart health tracking sensors on modern smartphones. A leak reveals that Samsung is working on two different models of smart Running shoes.

Samsung Smart Shoe Patents

Earlier this year, Samsung applied for two design patents for smart running shoes to KIPO (Korean Intellectual Property Office) which have now been granted. Both models of the smart shoes seem to be made out of leather and synthetic materials. The Model A smart shoe has a sleek design with an elastic style ankle area. The shoes have a pull tab at the back that can be used to toggle the smart sensor. The Model B shoe has more of conventional sports shoe design with a back-mounted smart sensor. Unlike the Model A shoe, the smart sensor on the Model B has a plastic flap which when opened reveals two metal connectors. Perhaps these metal connectors will be used to charge the battery that powers the sensor. ( See top image)

Alas, the patent does not provide information about the functionality and features of the smart shoes. However, according to the source, these shoes will also have pressure sensors that will give users real-time feedback. In addition, Samsung can develop an ecosystem built around fitness which with the help of Artificial Intelligence can coach the user as per their custom goals.

Launch Date

Also Read: Press Renders Of Nokia 9 PureView Leak

Even though Samsung has not yet commented about the launch date of the Smart running shoes, the company is expected to showcase them at the upcoming CES 2019 which is scheduled for 8-12 January.

January 1, 2019
Samsung Is Developing A Rollable TV
Samsung is not only the worlds number one smartphone manufacture, it is also a leader in display technologies. A patent granted to the company reveals they are working on a TV with a rollable display.

Rollable TV Patent
- Space Saving- This is one apparent benefit of owning a television with a rollable dipslay. Such a TV can be rolled into its casing which will free up the space surrounding the TV set. In addition, transporting a compact rollable TV would be much easier in comparison to a conventional flat screen TV. This will reduce logistics and costs to allow the TV to become cheaper.
- Tough – Due to its flexible nature, the display panel wont break easily unlike glass panels on currently available Televisions. The currently available TVs are prone to breaking if hit by a sharp object. Whereas the flexible panel would be harder to break and the shell protecting the display can further increase its life. Such a device would be a perfect fit of homes with toddlers and growing up teens.
- Variable Aspect Ratio- Future TVs with rollable display can have variable aspect ratio as the outer shell can be opened to a particular width to alter its aspect ratio.
Samsung’s Rollable TV Patent

Samsung Electronics filed a patent with USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) for a TV with a rollable display which has been granted. The patent reveals a wide screen television that can fold in to a close packed form factor. The stand of the TV with rollable display acts as the base when it is in the closed state. The rollable display and the rolling mechanism is concealed behind the side protection covers of the device.

The flexible LED panel rolls out on either sides to transform into a full screen television. The mechnaism of the TV from Samsung’s patent is quite similar to that of a roller blind. The top and bottom sides of the flexible LED panel has grooves that interlock when in closed state. Another patent illustration reveals that the base of the stand has a rack and pinion cogged mechanism which will likely be controlled with the help of motors.

Lg Already showcased a vertically rollable POLED based TV which has a different design from this patent. ( See Top Image.)

Launch Date

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy M10 Spotted At FCC

Even tough Samsung has not announced the launch date of a Television with a rollable display. The details of the patent indicate that such a device could launch soon. Perhaps the company can showcase a rollable TV at one of the upcoming tech events like CES or IFA 2019.
January 1, 2019
Mi TVs Get Price Cut In India

Apart from smartphones, Xiaomi sells several products in India. Mi Televisions in India are very competitively priced. The Mi LED TVs range between a screen size of 32-inch to 55-inch. A tweet shared on Mi India’s Twitter page states that a variety of Mi TV models have received a price cut of up to Rs 2,000.

Mi TV Price-cut

Mi is able to reduce the price of following TV models due to relaxation in Government policies and strong performance of Rupee in comparison to the US Dollar. Following is the list of all Mi TVs that will receive a price cut.

1.) Mi LED Smart TV 4A 32

As the name suggests, the Mi TV 4A has a 32-inch HD display panel with a resolution of 1376 x 768 px. The TV has 2×10 watts stereo speakers and feature a 64-bit quad core processor. The Mi TV 4A has 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of inbuilt storage. Prior to the price cut, the LED TV was available at a price of Rs 13,999. After a Rs 1500 price drop, it will be available for Rs 12,499.

Click Here To Buy Mi TV 4A 32

2.) Mi TV 4A Pro 49

The Mi TV 4A Pro has a 49-inch Full HD display panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 px. It also features the 64-bit quad-core Amlogic SoC which is present on other models. Most notably, it has 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of inbuilt storage. The Mi TV 4A Pro 49 run on Android operating system. The TV was previously available at a price of Rs 31,999 and after the 1000 Rs price cut it will be available for Rs 30,999.

3.) Mi TV 4C Pro 32

Also Read: Most Anticipated Smartphones Of 2019

The Mi TV 4C Pro has similar specifications to the Mi TV 4A. The major difference between the two is that the 4C Pro runs on Android OS while the latter has Xiaomi’s in-house developed operating system. It also has a 32-inch display panel with a resolution of 1376 x 768 px. In addition, the remote control of the 4C Pro can be used to interact with Google voice search. The TV was originally available at a price of Rs 15,999. After the price drop of Rs 2,000 it will be available for Rs 13,999.

January 1, 2019
Samsung Galaxy M10 Spotted At FCC

Samsung is all set to launch a new mid-series of smartphones that will carry the ‘Galaxy M’ branding. The Galaxy M20 was previously leaked with an octa-core processor and a jumbo 5,000 mAh. It’s younger sibling, the Galaxy M10 has also received FCC’s approval. The FCC listing provides information about the key specifications of the Galaxy M10.

Galaxy M10 Specifications

According to the FCC listing, the upcoming Galaxy M10 has a length of 155.7 mm and a width of 75.8 mm. However, there is no information about the thickness and weight of the device. The front of the smartphone has an overall diagonal length of 6.5 inches or 165.5 mm while the size of the display is 6.03 inch or 153.2 mm.

In terms of connectivity, the Galaxy M10 supports 4G VoLTE, 802.11 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2. Although the listing does not provide the battery capacity details of the device, it does provide the model number of the battery which is “EB-BA750ABN”. The same battery is also present on the previously launched Galaxy A8s and it has a capacity of 3,400 mAh.

Under the hood, the Galaxy M10 features the Exynos 7870 SoC. The Exynos 7870 is manufactured using 14 nm FinFET process and it consists of an Octa-Core CPU along with the Mali-T830 GPU. The eight Cortex-A53 cores are clocked at a frequency of 1.6 GHz. While the FCC listing does not reveal the camera details, but according to Nashville Chatter Galaxy M10 will have a 13 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front selfie camera.

Price And Launch

Also Read: Huawei Y7 Pro Launched With Octa-Core Processor

The official price of the Galaxy M10 will only be revealed at the time of its launch but going by the specifications it can a sub 15k smartphone. The smartphone is expected to launch in Q1 of 2019.

January 1, 2019
Huawei Y7 Pro Launched With Octa-Core Processor

Huawei launched the original Y7 Pro smartphone earlier this year. The company has now launched its successor, the Y7 Pro (2019). The smartphone is currently available in select regions and the company might soon launch it in other regions as well.

Design & Performance

The Huawei Y7 Pro has an all-glass front and back panel which gives it a premium look. On the front of the smartphone sits a 6.26-inch HD+ display that has a pixel density of 1520 x 720 px and a 19:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone also has a small waterdrop notch at the top of the display which houses the 16 MP selfie camera. Except for the chunky bottom chin, the smartphone has thin bezels on all sides. The earpiece for listening to voice call is built-into the top bezel above the display. The top side of the Huawei Y7 Pro is occupied by the 3.5 mm audio jack while the bottom side is occupied by the Micro-USB 2.0 port and the loudspeaker grille.

The rear side of the Huawei Y7 Pro has a similar design to a lot of other Huawei smartphones. The smartphone is available in two different coloured back panel options which are Black and Aurora Green. The rear of the device houses the dual camera setup and the vertically placed Huawei branding. The rear camera setup consists of dual 13 MP + 2 MP camera sensors along with an LED Flash. Additionally, the smartphone has AI camera assistance which helps to click better pictures.

Under the hood, the Huawei Y7 Pro features the Octa-Core Snapdragon 450 CPU along with the Adreno 506 GPU. The smartphone runs on EMUI 8.2 and is powered by a large 4,000 mAh battery. In terms of connectivity, it supports 4G VoLTE, 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.2. The phone also supports facial unlock technology for quickly and securely unlocking the device.

Price & Availability

Also Read: Press Renders Of Nokia 9 PureView Leak

The smartphone is available in single RAM + ROM configuration and is currently available in Vietnam. The price of the smartphone for 3GB RAM + 32 GB ROM is 39,90,000 Vietnamese Dong (around Rs 12,000 INR).

December 31, 2018
WhatsApp Will Soon Stop Working On These Mobile Phones
WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform messaging and VoIP application that was originally launched in the year 2009. At the time of its launch, only a handful of companies manufactured smartphones. Android and iOS are currently the leading smartphone operating systems but the scenario was completely different a decade ago. According to WhatsApp, 70 percent of mobile phones sold at that time had operating systems offered by Nokia and BlackBerry. While Android, iOS and Windows Phone OS were on less than 25 percent mobile phones sold at that time.

Phones That Will Soon Stop Supporting WhatsApp

Prior to the inception of smartphones, Nokia feature phones ruled the mobile kingdom. Even after the launch of Android and iOS smartphones, those feature phones would sell in huge quantities. However, due to cheap feature-laden smartphones, the sales of Nokia feature phones started falling sharply. It has fallen so much so that the only 0.5 percent of all WhatsApp supporting devices are Nokia S40 phones.

Prior to the inception of smartphones, Nokia feature phones ruled the mobile kingdom. Click to Share

After the doom of Symbian, Nokia launched the Asha series smartphones which were both affordable and supported a wide variety of apps. Some smartphones from the Asha series that support WhatsApp include Asha 200 series, Asha 300 series and the Asha 500 series. Till now these smartphones supported all the functions of WhatsApp but now the company has pulled the cord on these devices as well. Therefore, Series 40 Nokia devices will soon stop supporting WhatsApp. In addition to Nokia S40 phones, WhatsApp will soon axe support from a variety of other smartphones which are as follows:
- Android device 2.3.7 and older- Support until 1 February 2020
- iOS 7 and older versions- Support until 1 February 2020
Also Read: Press Renders Of Nokia 9 PureView Leak
December 31, 2018
Press Renders Of Nokia 9 PureView Leak

Nokia is reportedly working on a camera-centric smartphone, the Nokia 9 PureView. The specifications and accessories of the smartphone have leaked on several instances. A latest leak of the Nokia 9 PureView provides detailed information about the design of the smartphone. The renders of the smartphone were shared on Twitter by notorious leakster EvLeaks.

Nokia 9 PureView Design

Nokia 9 PureView "Beholder." HNY pic.twitter.com/x4Kh3anP46
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) December 31, 2018

The Nokia 9 PureView seems to have an all glass front and back build with an aluminum chassis. The aluminum chassis has chamfered edges that look very attractive. The front of the Nokia 9 PureView has a large screen display with minimal right and left bezels. However, the top and bottom bezels are quite notable. The top bezel of the smartphone accommodates a single selfie camera, earpiece, light sensors, and the Nokia branding. Most notably, the display of the Nokia 9 PureView has a fingerprint indicator that states the smartphone will have an In-display fingerprint sensor.

The glass back of the Nokia 9 PureView tapers towards the sides and houses it’s key highlighting feature, the five camera setup. Additionally, the rear of the smartphone carries the Nokia logo and the android one marking. The android one marking ensures that the smartphone will receive prolonged Android updates. The five rear camera setup has an unconventional placement and reportedly each camera lens will serve a dedicated purpose. In addition to the five camera lenses, the rear camera setup also has an LED flash and a circular sensor which could be some kind of a light sensor. The detailed specifications of the smartphone will only be revealed after its official launch.

Launch Date

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy A50 Will Feature A 4,000 mAh Battery And 24 MP Main Camera

Although Nokia is yet to officially announce the launch date of the Nokia 9 PureView, reports suggest that the smartphone will launch in the last week of January 2019.

December 31, 2018
Samsung Galaxy A50 Will Feature A 4,000 mAh Battery And 24 MP Main Camera

Samsung is expected to launch a new Galaxy A series smartphone, the Galaxy A50. Earlier this month, the smartphone was spotted on Geekbench’s website. According to a latest leak, the upcoming Samsung handset will feature a large capacity battery and a high-resolution main camera.

Battery And Camera

The alleged details about the battery and the camera of the Galaxy A50 were revealed by a Dutch website, Galaxyclub which happens to be a trustworthy source. According to the source, the Galaxy smartphone will have a 4,000 mAh Lithium-Ion battery like the Galaxy Note 9. In addition, Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy M20 smartphone which reportedly has a massive 5,000 mAh battery. It seems Samsung has started to realise that smartphones with large battery capacities can help the company to gain traction and boost sales.

Furthermore, the source claims that the Galaxy A50 will have a 24 MP rear camera. Other Galaxy A series smartphones including the Galaxy A9 and the Galaxy A7 have more than one rear camera. Perhaps, the Galaxy A50 will have additional rear camera sensors except for the 24 MP main sensor.

Past Leaks

The Galaxy A50 was previously spotted on Geekbench’s website that revealed the chipset, RAM details and Android version of the smartphone. According to the Geekbench listing, the handset runs on the latest Android 9.0 Pie which is likely to be skinned with the company’s latest One UI. It features the Octa-Core Exynos 9610 SoC which is paired with 4 GB of RAM. However, the company might as well launch higher RAM capacity variants of the device. The smartphone registers a single-core score of 1615 points and a multi-core score of 4380 points. Going by the Geekbench scores, the device will compete against smartphones that feature the Snapdragon 660 SoC.

Launch Date

Also Read: Apple iPhone Flagships To Be Manufactured At Foxconn Chennai Plant

Samsung is yet to comment about the launch date of the Galaxy A50. Albeit the company is expected to launch the A50 after the launch of the Galaxy S10 lineup which will reportedly launch in the Q1 of 2019.

December 29, 2018
Huawei P Smart (2019) Officially Announced

Huawei launched the original P Smart back in 2017. It’s successor, the P Smart (2019) was previously listed on a French retailer’s website prior to its official launch. However, the company has now officially taken off the curtains from the smartphone. The smartphone is set to go on sale early next year.

Looks And Features

The design of the Huawei P Smart is reminiscent to a lot of other Huawei smartphones. The front of the smartphone accommodates a 6.2-inch Full HD display with a resolution fo 2340 x 1080 px and a pixel density of 415 ppi. The front of the smartphone also has a small U shaped notch at the top of the display which houses the 8 MP selfie camera that can also capture 1080p videos at 30 fps. The earpiece for listening to the phone calls is built into the top bezel above the screen.

The bottom chin at the front of the Huawei P Smart is a bit chunky while the top, right and left bezels are negligible. The volume rockers and the power button sit on the left side of the smartphone while the 3.5 mm audio jack, Micro-USB port, and the loudspeaker grille are placed at the bottom. The rear of the P Smart harbors the dual camera setup, fingerprint sensor, and the Huawei branding. The smartphone is available in two colour options. One has a blue gradient back panel and the other has a solid black finish. The dual rear camera setup of the smartphone consists of a 13 MP + 2 MP sensor along with an LED flash. Like the selfie camera, the rear cameras can also capture 1080p videos at 30 fps.

Under the hood, the Huawei P Smart features the Kirin 710 SoC. The Kirin 710 consists of an Octa-Core processor and the Mali-G51 GPU. The smartphone is powered by a 3400 mAh battery and runs on EMUI 9 which is based on Android 9 Pie. For connectivity, the handset supports 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC and Dual 4G VoLTE.

Price, Storage Options And Availablity

Also Read: Indian Government Bans Smartphone Online Exclusive Sales

The Huawei P Smart will initially be offered in select European markets from 2 January 2019. It is available in a single 3 GB RAM + 64 GB ROM variant. The device also supports memory expandability up to 512 GB via the microSD card which uses the SIM 2 slot. The Huawei P Smart is priced at which roughly translates to Rs 20,000 in India.

December 29, 2018
HP 27 XQ Quad HD Gaming Monitor
Desktop gaming is slowly gaining traction in India. As the demand for high-end computing products and accessories rise, companies start supplying these devices in India as well. HP has launched a 4K gaming monitor in the country which is called the HP 27 XQ. It is a Quad HD gaming monitor with a 144 Hz refresh rate.

Size & Features

In terms of design, the HP 27 XQ has thin top, left and right bezels while the bottom bezel is quite thick. The bottom bezel of the gaming monitor carries HP branding and a small green coloured LED-lit bar. As the name suggests, the HP 27 XQ has a 27-inch display panel with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 px and an aspect ratio of 16:9.

The HP 27 HQ measures 596.74 x 335.66 mm and tips the scale at 6.1 kilograms. It has an adjustable height base which can go all the way up to 131.39 mm. It also has a 100 x 100 VESA mount which is a flat display mounting interface. Therefore, the user can attach the monitor to any VESA stands or arms that the user might already own. The HP 27 XQ has a horizontal viewing angle of 170 degrees and a vertical viewing angle of 160 degrees.

Most notably, the HP 27 XQ uses a TN panel with a 144 Hz refresh rate. In comparison, the regular non-gaming specified monitors have a refresh rate of 60 Hz. This higher refresh rate of the gaming monitor provides a smooth and fluid viewing experience. The gaming monitor has a brightness level of 350 nits which produces deep colour contrasts. The monitor has an Anti-glare display panel and Low blue light mode which keeps the eyestrain at bay even during long gaming sessions.

Another noteworthy feature that the HP 27 XQ has is the support for AMD FreeSync technology. FreeSync is the name for an adaptive synchronization technology for LCD displays. FreeSync certified displays support a dynamic refresh rate which helps to reduce tearing and stuttering that is caused by misalignment of the content’s frame rate.

I/O Ports & Controls

The control buttons of the HP 27 XQ including the power button, brightness button along with a green LED are placed at the right side of the bottom edge. The rear of the gaming monitor harbors the HDMI port and one DisplayPort. To secure the monitor to a desk, the rear of the monitor also has a Kensington lock. However, the Kensington lock cable is sold separately. The 40-watt trapezium shaped port that accepts power is also placed on the back side of the monitor. The gaming monitor also supports analog headphone audio output via rear mounted 3.5 mm audio jack.

What’s In The Box And Price

Also Read: Apple iPhone Flagships To Be Manufactured At Foxconn Chennai Plant

Except for the user manual and the quick start guide the HP 27XQ is shipped with the following items:
- A/C power cable (1.8m) 5.9 ft
- HDMI cable(1.8m)5.9ft
- Warranty card
The HP 27 XQ gaming monitor is available both online and offline at a price of Rs 30,000.
December 29, 2018
Xiaomi Poco F2 Spotted On Geekbench, SD845 And 6 GB RAM In Tow
Xiaomi launched the Poco sub-brand earlier this year. The company’s first smartphone, the Poco F1 was initially launched in India and was later introduced in other regions as well. Due to its flagship specifications and aggressive pricing, the device quaked the smartphone market. The latest leak of its successor, the Poco F2 has been spotted on geekbench’s website.

Poco F2 Geekbench

The Geekbench listing of he Poco F2 was first uploaded on 28 December. The listing reveals information like the processor and RAM capacity of the smartphone. Like its predecessor, the Poco F2 features the Octa-Core Snapdragon 845 SoC that has a base frequency of a 1.77 GHz. The particular device from the listing only has 6 GB of RAM. However, the company might offer the Poco F2 in higher RAM capacities like 8 GB or 10 GB as well. The smartphone runs on the latest Android 9 Pie which is most likely to be skinned with MIUI 10.

The Xiaomi Poco F2 scores a single core score of 2321 points and an multi-core score of 7564. Shockingly both the single-core and the multi-core of the Poco F2 is less than the 8 GB variant of the Poco F1. The 8 GB Poco F1 variant registers a single-core score of 2504 points and a multi-core score of 8174 points. However, it is possible that the preproduction Poco F2 is not optimised for maximum performance. Other key details like the camera resolution, screen size, and the battery capacity will only be released after the official launch of the smartphone.

Problems Of The Poco F1 And Expectations From The Poco F2

Also Read: Apple iPhone Flagships To Be Manufactured At Foxconn Chennai Plant

There is no such thing as a perfect product and same is the case with the Poco F1. Although the Poco F1 packed the latest processor, it fell short in some departments. We expect Poco to fix these issues with the upcoming Poco F2:
- HD Support- To keep the price low of the Poco F1, the company cheaped out and skipped the Widevine L1 support that disables the users from streaming HD content from Net Flix on their smartphone.
- Better Build- The Poco F1 might be an excellent value for money smartphone, albeit it has an inferior build quality compared to other flagship smartphones.
- Better Optimisation- Some might advocate Xiaomi’s MIUI as a comparatively better option to other Android skins. But the unwanted apps and bloatware like random advertisements in the notification tab or while viewing a folder is disliked by most.
- Better Camera Performance- The dual rear cameras and the single front camera can capture satiable pictures. But the MIUI’s optimation does not do justice with the hardware. As some unofficial vanilla Android ports on the Poco F1 suggest that the cameras on the device are quite capable.
December 29, 2018