PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile since its launch last year, has seen unprecedented popularity. The title has witnessed six successful seasons, the last of which ended on the 15th of May. In a post on microblogging website Twitter, the official account of PUBG Mobile announced the start of the next season in the game. It has officially begun starting 17th of May and adds a host of changes, especially for Royale Pass holders.
PUBG Mobile Season 7
The new Season of PUBG Mobile as mentioned above kicks off starting the 17th of May. New features and additions added to the game include new gun skins, costumes and accessories. A new parachute and aeroplane trail also has been added in a bid to refine the gameplay experience. While the above-mentioned features are all but exclusive to people holding the Royale Pass or purchasing the entry to the season; the game has also added a new weapon called Skorpion. It is a machine pistol that is capable of firing 9mm rounds. It will be available in all the maps inside the game.
Another addition to PUBG Mobile is called the EZ Mission License, which unlocks and lets users play challenges a week in advance. It is also capable of letting users skip 10 mission requirements for Week 8. This will, in turn, earn them a chance to get the elite chest. However, the License is only available if the PUBG Mobile Season 7 Royale Pass is purchased. Buying 3 Passes simultaneously during Season changes will let users have the EZ Mission License for free. Other minor changes in the update include a tuned subscription feature, new category tab in the ship and better audio to reduce interruptions. The update has been rolled out with the version number 0.12.5 which will be globally available starting May 17.
OnePlus at an event on the 14th of May has launched the OnePlus 7 Pro flagship smartphone. It was announced alongside the regular OnePlus 7, the Bullets Wireless 2 and the OnePlus Warp Car Charger. The device was launched in three locations, namely New York in the US, London in the UK and Bengaluru in India simultaneously.
OnePlus 7 Pro
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The OnePlus 7 Pro as mentioned above, is the latest flagship offering from the company and the beefed-up variant of the OnePlus 7. The smartphone measures 162.6 x 75.9 x 8.8mm and weighs 206 g. It has an all-glass design on the front and back with a metal chassis for reinforcement. The device has a 6.67 inch Fluid AMOLED display with a resolution of 3120 x 1440 px which gives it a pixel density of 516 ppi.
The display on the OnePlus 7 Pro has a maximum refresh rate of 90Hz which is also seen in handsets like the Asus ROG Phone and Nubia Red Magic 3. To maximise the screen real estate, the smartphone has minimal bezels on all sides of the display and utilises a pop-up mechanism to house the front-facing camera. For biometric security and rapidly unlocking the device, it features an in display fingerprint scanner with support for face unlock technology.
Under the hood, the OnePlus 7 Pro is kitted with the 7nm Snapdragon 855 SoC which consists of an Octa-core CPU and the Adreno 640 GPU. In terms of optics, the smartphone has a triple rear camera setup comprised of an f/1.6 aperture equipped 48 MP primary sensor; and an f/2.4 aperture equipped 8 MP telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom; the third sensor used is an f/2.2 aperture equipped 16 MP ultra wide angle lens with a Field of View (FoV) of 117 degrees.
It can capture 4K videos at 60fps and supports Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) for smoother footage. For selfies, an f/2.0 aperture equipped 16 MP camera is housed in the pop-up mechanism on top of the display. Video from the front camera is capped at 1080p resolution at 30fps. In terms of memory and storage, the handset will be available in the following variants.
6GB RAM and 128GB ROM
8GB RAM and 256GB ROM
12GB RAM and 256GB ROM
The OnePlus 7 Pro is powered by a non-removable 4000mAh battery with support for 30W Warp Charging technology. The smartphone uses a new X-axis Haptic Vibration Motor which the company claims will provide it with better haptic feedback than the OnePlus 6T. In terms of connectivity, the device supports Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC. The OnePlus 7 Pro also boasts of Dual Stereo Speakers and Audio tuned by the Dolby Atmos technology. It is the first globally available smartphone to feature the Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 3.0 standard, which should result in fast read and write speeds. It will be available in three colours at launch, namely Mirror Grey, Nebula Blue and Almond.
The OnePlus 7 Pro has been launched for a price starting Rs. 48,990 for the variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage. The version with 8GB RAM and 256GB version has been priced at Rs. 52,990. For the version with 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage, customers will have to shell out Rs. 57,999. The smartphone will be available in India starting the 17th of May exclusively on Amazon and select retail stores offline.
Xiaomi’s subsidiary Redmi launched its latest smartphones, the Redmi 7 and Redmi Y3 back in the month of April. Both devices cater to the budget smartphone market in India and have been received well with the audience. Now, fresh leaks have surfaced revealing another budget handset from the company is in the works. The smartphone, alleged to be the Redmi 7A has been leaked on Chinese certification TENAA’s website. The listing exposes the design of the upcoming device.
Redmi 7A
The Redmi 7A, as mentioned above, will be a budget offering from the company. It will succeed the Redmi 6A smartphone which was introduced last year. The listing on TENNA unveils what the upcoming device will look like. From the images, it is comprehended the handset may feature a polycarbonate design. Its front is dominated by a display, the size of which is unknown at the moment. Unlike the latest devices by Redmi, the 7A doesn’t sport a waterdrop on top. It instead has considerable bezels on all sides with a company branding at the chin. The front camera, along with the earpiece and other sensors, presumably the light and proximity sensors will be housed on the top bezel.
The right of the Redmi 7A houses the volume rockers and the power button beneath it. The left side of the smartphone remains empty save for the SIM card tray which may feature a dual SIM slot. Over at the back, the device will have a single rear camera with LED flash. Like current handsets from the company, it will also have the Redmi branding on the bottom but unlike those smartphones, the branding will be vertically placed. Unfortunately, the listing does not mention further details about the 7A like its specifications, launch date and price. But as it has been granted certification in China, it is expected to be announced soon in the country.
If you have been waiting to buy an Honor smartphone for a while, now is your best chance. Amazon is holding the Honor Days sale from the 13th of May to the 17th of May; wherein many devices from the company go on sale at a lucrative price. Furthermore, the company is providing an offer in which any customer buying an Honor smartphone; can also purchase the Honor band at a special price of Rs. 2099 down from Rs. 2399. You can check out the deals below.
Honor View20
The flagship smartphone from the company, Honor View20 is its first device to sport a hole-punch display. It has a 6.4 inch IPS LCD display with a FullHD+ resolution. It runs on the flagship grade Kirin 980 SoC coupled with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and an internal storage option of 128GB and 256GB. Optics in the smartphone include a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor and a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor at the back and a 25MP selfie camera. It is powered by a 4000mAh battery.
One of the fastest smartphones in the price range, Honor Play is powered with Huawei’s last year’s flagship Kirin 970, AI processor and GPU Turbo enabling great speed and efficiency. It boasts of dual primary cameras of 16MP + 2MP with AI scene recognition and 16MP AI selfie. Up to 6GB of RAM will ensure phone runs smoothly, even the most memory intensive applications show no signs of lag. 64GB of internal storage will be open for expansion up to 256GB via a microSD card. The phone comes with large 3750 mAh battery to support its 6.3-inch FHD+ screen with IPS LCD display having a resolution of 1080 x 2340 at 409 PPI.
Regular Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 21,999
6 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 25,999
Amazon Honor Days Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 13,999
6 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 15,999
Honor 8X
Honor’s latest mid-range smartphone in India, the 8X has a 6.5 inch IPS LCD display with 396 ppi pixel density. It runs on the Octa-Core Hisilicon Kirin 710 chipset and is powered by a 3,750 mAh battery. The phone has 20 MP + 2 MP dual rear cameras and a 16 MP selfie camera. The device has 4 GB of RAM paired with 64 GB of ROM which is expandable up to 256 GB via a microSD card.
Regular Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 17,999
6 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 19,999
Amazon Honor Days Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 12,999
6 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 14,999
Honor 8C
Honor 8C is the company’s budget offering in the Indian market. It has a 6.26-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of FHD+. The device runs on the Snapdragon 632 SoC combined with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. In terms of optics, there is a 13 MP + 2 MP dual rear camera setup and an 8MP sensor for selfies. It is powered by a 4000 mAh battery.
Regular Price: Rs. 12,999
Amazon Honor Days Price: Rs. 9,999
Honor 7C
The Honor 7C is another well-received budget smartphone from the company. It has a 5.99 inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1440 x 720 px. The smartphone runs on the Snapdragon 450 SoC which is coupled with 3/4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of internal storage options. In terms of optics, the device has a 13MP + 2MP dual rear camera setup and the front-facing camera is an 8MP sensor. It is powered by a 3000 mAh battery.
Regular Price:
3 GB + 32 GB: Rs. 12,999
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 14,999
Amazon Honor Days Price:
3 GB + 32 GB: Rs. 7,999
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 9,499
Honor 9N
The Honor 9N is a mid-range device from the brand and was launched last year. It has a 5.84 inch TFT display with a resolution of 2280 x 1080 px. The smartphone runs on the Kirin 659 SoC which is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of internal storage options. In terms of optics, the device has a 13MP + 2MP dual rear camera setup and the front-facing camera is a 16MP sensor. It is powered by a 3000 mAh battery.
Regular Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 13,999
4 GB + 128 GB: Rs. 19,999
Amazon Honor Days Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 9,999
4 GB + 128 GB: Rs. 11,999
Honor 9 Lite
The Honor 9 Lite is the company’s budget smartphone first announced in the year 2017. The device sports a 5.65 inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 px. It runs on the Kirin 659 SoC and is coupled with 4GB of RAM and internal storage of 64GB. In terms of optics, the smartphone has a dual 13 MP + 2 MP rear camera setup and has a dual 13MP + 2MP front-facing camera setup for selfies. It is powered by a 3000 mAh battery.
Regular Price: Rs. 16,999
Amazon Honor Days Price: Rs. 9,999
Honor 10 Lite
The Honor 10 Lite is a mid-range smartphone from the company and teh watered-down variant of the flagship Honor 10. It has a 6.21 inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 px and a waterdrop notch on top. The handset runs on the Kirin 710 SoC which is coupled with 3GB/4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of internal storage. In terms of optics, the device has a dual camera setup comprised of a 13MP + 2MP sensor and a single 24MP front-facing sensor for selfies. It is powered by a 3400 mAh battery.
Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi has been speculated to launch a flagship smartphone for a while; since it separated from its parent company in the month of January this year. It was leaked a while ago that the company is planning on launching two devices instead of one in the month of May. Now fresh reports and leaks have surfaced which reveal the upcoming Redmi smartphones will be called the Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro. Details about the storage and colour variants of the handsets have also been leaked.
Redmi K20, K20 Pro
The upcoming smartphones from Redmi, the K20 and the K20 Pro will be the first flagship offering from the company. The latest leak reveals the devices will be available in three colour options namely, Carbon Fiber Black, Glacier Blue and Flame Red. For memory and storage, the handsets are expected to be available in a plethora of options, which are listed below.
6GB+64GB
6GB+128GB
8GB+128GB (Exclusive to K20 Pro)
8GB+256GB
While the leak doesn’t mention further details about the smartphones; the previous leaks provide the required information. The Redmi K20 series is expected to have a 6.39 inch AMOLED display with an FHD+ resolution. To maximise the screen real estate, a pop-up mechanism to house the front-facing camera has been revealed to be present on the devices. For biometric security and rapidly unlocking the handset, an in display fingerprint scanner with support for face unlock technology will be present on the smartphones.
The Redmi K20 series is expected to run on the 7nm Snapdragon 855 chipset, which comprises of the octa-core Kryo 485 processor and the Adreno 640 GPU. In terms of optics, the smartphones may feature a triple rear camera setup, comprised of a 48MP primary sensor; an 8MP ultra wide angle sensor; and a tertiary 16MP telephoto sensor. For selfies, a 32MP sensor is expected to be present in the pop-up mechanism of the devices. It is also speculated that the handsets will feature the 3.5mm headphone jack and NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. It is expected that Xiaomi will announce the K20 series as the Poco F2 in certain global markets with a price under Rs. 30,000 in India.
American semiconductor giant AMD is expected to launch the new generation of its Ryzen desktop processors; at the Computex show scheduled in a few weeks. The event is one of the largest computer and technology trade shows in the world. While details about the next generation of Ryzen CPU were shrouded in mystery, fresh reports citing information about the processors have been shared on microblogging website Twitter.
AMD Ryzen 3000
The AMD Ryzen 3000 as mentioned above, will represent the next generation of CPUs for desktops. In a tweet, a tipster revealed the processors will have up to 16 cores and will have a base clock speed of 3.3GHz. In terms of overclocking, it can be clocked up to a maximum speed of 4.2Ghz according to the leak but considering the past few iterations; AMD might provide the option of taking it even further. Furthermore, the leak reveals the chipset was tested on a motherboard based on the soon to be released MSI X570 platform controller. MSI has been teasing the support for the new Ryzen processors in its motherboard for a while now.
Another leak, shared by the author of the DRAM Calculator for Ryzen processors on Twitter; showcases another important detail about the Ryzen 3000 CPU. According to him, the upcoming chipset will support a whopping 5000 MHz DDR4 Memory Speeds. All the known details so far about the Ryzen 3000 hint that it will be manufactured using a 7nm process; and will be based on the company’s latest Zen2 architecture. It is a refresh of the Zen+ and Zen architecture that AMD had been using for a while. All the aforementioned changes to the Ryzen lineup insinuates it will be a worthwhile upgrade over its predecessor; and may lead to AMD gaining an advantage over its rival Intel for a while.
American technology giant Apple is known for providing a premium shopping experience to its customers. Part of the experience is grand nature of the renowned Apple Stores. Now, the company is all set to open its largest store in the Indian subcontinent. It has finalised the location at a high-end mall in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra.
About the Store
As mentioned above, the new Apple Store in Mumbai will be one of the company’s biggest retail market place; and the largest in the Indian subcontinent. Early reports claim it will measure a whopping 4,500 square foot in area. Sources claim the location finalised for the Apple Store is the Palladium shopping mall in Mumbai. It is a known premium destination and may fall perfectly in line to the grandeur the company wants for its flagship retail store in the country. The latest retail market place will fall under the large format Apple Premium Reseller (APR) category. This essentially means that the company has planned to open and run the store in collaboration with a local business partner who will only sell Apple products.
While it has been speculated that the company will open its signature Apple Store in India, many regulations of the Indian government have prevented it from doing that. The rules state if a foreign company wants to open a retail store in the country, it has to source at least 30 percent of the products locally. While the iPhone maker has since met the requirements by manufacturing multiple products in the country; it still has not been granted certification for a retail store. Notably, the aforementioned reason is one of the biggest why electric automaker Tesla has strayed away from the Indian market. The first Apple owned store is expected in the capital New Delhi, in the Connaught Place area by the year 2020.
Google launched its flagship smartphones, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL last year in the month of October. The devices were praised for their camera and software experience but were also criticised heavily due to random lags and slowdowns. It is speculated that due to the company installing a meagre 4GB of RAM in the handsets, the issue was all but overdue. In a fresh report, users on social media website Reddit have claimed they have fixed the memory problems with the Pixel 3 smartphones; and its predecessors by disabling a feature known as Digital Wellbeing.
Slowdowns on Pixel Smartphones
The thread on Reddit dedicated to the Google Pixel smartphones unanimously arrived at the conclusion; that the Digital Wellbeing feature is the culprit behind the slowdowns and lags that is plaguing Pixel smartphone since last year. While not confirmed by the company, users claim they have turned off the feature and saw a drastic change in the performance of their devices. It is not known what handsets are affected due to the issue, but users have reported improvements in performance up to the original Pixel smartphone when Digital Wellbeing is turned off. The cause of the slowdowns is reported to be the constant usage of the device’s RAM by the feature due to it running in the background at all times.
What Is Digital Wellbeing?
With the introduction of its latest Android 9 Pie Operating System in the year 2018; Google also announced a feature similar to the screen time on the iOS platform. Dubbed Digital Wellbeing, it helped the users track their smartphone and app usage and can restrict it remotely. It has been regarded as a useful feature and made available to all devices in the Pixel and Android One lineup since its launch. Notably, the feature is all set to be updated with new functionalities with Android Q. With the release of the next Android iteration, smartphones supporting Digital Wellbeing will gain access to the Focus Mode. It is claimed to work better at restricting the users at spending more time with smartphones.
But, with the problems of slowdowns and unexpected lags in Pixel 3 smartphones due to the Digital Wellbeing feature; it is considered the best move to turn it off. To turn off the feature from your device, follow the instructions below.
Open settings on your smartphone
Navigate to the Digital Wellbeing option
Touch the three-dot icon at the top right and pick the “Turn off usage access” button
Confirm the decision on the next “Usage access” screen by choosing Digital Wellbeing and toggling the “permit usage access” option to off.
Google launched its latest smartphones, the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL on the 7th of May at the Google I/O 2019 developer conference. The devices are the watered down variants of the company’s flagship offerings, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. The newest smartphones boast of similar software and camera experience as their elder siblings albeit with a few compromises in the hardware department. It was also believed earlier that Google, who announced the latest Android Q Beta at the same event; will make it available for the Pixel 3a series as soon as its elder siblings. However, the company has announced that will not be the case; and the smartphones will get the update by the month of June.
Pixel 3a Android Q Beta
The Android Q Beta update can be installed on any Pixel smartphone or one from 21 different OEMs by signing in to the Android Beta Program. It was expected that the Pixel 3a series; soon after its launch will support the said software update, but as mentioned above that is not the case. Notably, the latest devices feature the March security patch; which may be surprising considering Google released the May security update a week ago. The company claims the handset will be directly updated to the June security patch via an Over The Air (OTA) update next month.
Despite being mentioned on the website that the Pixel 3a series will be supported for Android Q Beta in June; some reports of the smartphone owners already installing the update has surfaced. This is seen as an oversight on Google’s part and expected to be fixed shortly. The news of the new devices not supporting the latest software update; nor being on the latest security patch is a big deal as Pixel handsets are known for the software experience and always staying up to date. It may create a decrease of trust amongst buyers of the company’s hardware in the future.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA is a well-known space organisation; and an independent agency of the United States. In a world first, it has announced the Double Asteroid Redirection Test or the DART Mission. It is a defence driven mission aimed at preventing the impact on Earth by a potentially hazardous asteroid in the future. In the DART mission, NASA will send a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid in the year 2022.
NASA DART Mission
The DART Spacecraft
The NASA DART Mission, as mentioned above, aims at sending a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid called Didymos to test the planetary defences of Earth. In the details revealed on the organisation’s official website, it is known the mission will be the first time the kinetic impactor technique is demonstrated. The technique will try to change the motion or path of the asteroid in space. The DART mission has swiftly reached Phase C and is managed under NASA’s Solar System Exploration Program at Marshal Space Flight Center for the organisation’s Planetary Defence Coordination Office.
The DART spacecraft launch is scheduled for late July 2021 aboard the Falcon 9 rocket made by SpaceX. It will launch from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California and is expected to intercept with the Didymos asteroid in late September of the year 2022. Noteworthy, the asteroid will be within a distance of 11 million kilometres from Earth at the time and poses no harm to the planet in any way. While the mission seems far fetched at first, its real-world application may be very important in the future. If the mission is successful, Earth will have gained the ability to fend off incoming threats from outer space like asteroids or meteorites. This has the potential of minimising or saving the planet from damage in case of any potential collision.
Motorola is expected to launch its latest smartphone, dubbed the Motorola One Vision at an event in Brazil on the 15th of May. The device will succeed the Moto One Power launched last year and will be the next handset from the company to be a part of the Android One Program. A known tipster has revealed full details about the smartphone prior to its launch and also has shared the price the device will launch in Europe.
Motorola One Vision
The Motorola One Vision will be the company’s latest mid-range offering. Leaked images of the smartphone reveal it will have an all-glass design at the back with a gradient pattern. The tipster claims it will measure 160.1 x 71.2 x 8.7mm and weigh 180g. It will have a 6.3-inch LCD display with a resolution of 2520 x 1080 px and an aspect ratio of 21:9 like seen in the Xperia 1. To maximise the screen real estate, a hole punch cutout reminiscent of the Honor View20 will be placed on the top left corner of the display. For biometrics and security, a fingerprint scanner housed in the Motorola batwing logo at the back is expected on the device.
The leak further asserts under the hood, the Motorola One Vision will be kitted with Samsung’s Exynos 9609 SoC. This is contrary to the leaks in the past which claimed the smartphone will have the Exynos 9610 chipset inside. Names aside, the two SoCs differ in their maximum clock speeds, with the former clocked at 2.2GHz and the latter going all the way up to 2.3GHz. In terms of optics, the Moto One Vision will have a dual rear camera setup, consisting of an f/1.7 aperture equipped 48MP primary sensor; which will feature quad pixel technology and OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), and a secondary 5MP depth sensor. For selfies, an f/2.0 aperture equipped 25MP camera will be housed in the aforementioned punch hole cutout. For memory and storage, the device will be available with 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of internal storage.
The Motorola One Vision will be powered by a 3500 mAh battery with support for connectivity options like Bluetooth 5.0, NFC and ac-WLAN. The smartphone will be a part of the Android One Program which means it will run a clean build of Android; and will receive major software updates for at least two years and security patches for at least three years. It will be available in two colours, namely Blue and Bronze Brown.
As mentioned above, the Motorola One Vision will be launched in Brazil on the 15th of May. The leak suggests the smartphone will be priced at EUR 299 (INR 23,500) when launched in Europe. It is also expected to make its way to the Indian market soon after the global unveiling at a lower price than its European counterpart.
World’s second largest smartphone OEM Huawei launched the latest smartphone in its mid-range Nova series back in December last year. Dubbed the Nova 4, it was also the company’s first device with a punch hole display. Now, fresh leaks claim the handset is due for an upgrade as its successor, allegedly called the Huawei Nova 5 is in the works. Specifications of the smartphone were leaked by a gadget tipster on microblogging website Twitter. The leaker claims the device has been codenamed Seattle and will release soon.
Huawei Nova 5
Huawei P30 Pro
The upcoming smartphone from Huawei, the Nova 5 will be its mid-range offering. Leaks claim it will have a design which will be a hybrid of the soon to be launched Honor 20 series and the Huawei P30 lineup. This insinuates it will have an all-glass design on the front and back with a colourful gradient pattern on the rear of the device. It will have a 6.39 inch OLED display with an FHD+ resolution; and will use a hole punch cutout to house the front-facing camera in a bid to maximise the screen real estate. For biometric security and rapidly unlocking the smartphone, an in display fingerprint scanner with support for face unlock technology is expected.
Honor View20
The leak further asserts the Huawei Nova 5 will be powered by a 3500 mAh battery with support for 40W fast wired charging. In terms of optics, the smartphone will have a triple camera setup, comprised of a 48MP primary sensor; a secondary 12 MP ultra wide angle sensor and a third Time of Flight (ToF) camera; to capture the depth and assisting in background blur. Unfortunately, the leak does not mention the chipset used in the smartphone, but as the predecessor featured the Kirin 970 SoC; the Nova 5 may run on the flagship grade 7nm Kirin 980 mobile processor also seen on the Huawei P30 Pro.
Alongside the leak on Twitter, a silicone case reported to be of the Huawei Nova 5 has been leaked on Slashleaks. This affirms to the aforementioned details about the device. While it is not known when the Chinese OEM will launch the smartphone, the increasing number of leaks suggests it may see the light of the day soon.
Honor, a subsidiary of Huawei is all set to launch its latest flagship smartphones. The Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro will be announced on the 21st of May in London. While key details about the devices have been leaked previously, their design has remained shrouded in mystery until now. In a video teasing the launch of the handsets, the company has revealed the Honor 20 series will feature a Dynamic Holographic Design on their back.
Specifications
Honor 20 series will be the newest flagship smartphones by the company. As mentioned above, they will feature a Dynamic Holographic Design on the back. This design will be made using the company’s ‘Triple 3D Mesh” technology. Fresh reports claim the Honor 20 series will have a 6.26-inch display with a 91.6 percent screen to body ratio. To maximise the screen real estate, a hole punch camera with a width of 4.5mm is also expected on the devices. For biometric security and rapidly unlocking the handsets, the Honor 20 series may have a side mounted fingerprint scanner with support for face unlock technology.
The previous leaks of the Honor 20 and 20 Pro claim they will run on the 7nm Kirin 980 SoC. The chipset is comprised of an Octa-core CPU and Mali G76 GPU. In terms of optics, the Honor 20 may have a triple rear camera setup, consisting of a 48MP sensor, combined with a 20MP ultra-wide angle sensor and an 8MP telephoto sensor. The Honor 20 Pro, on the other hand, will add a fourth sensor which will be a dedicated 2 MP macro camera, used for shooting subjects in proximity. For selfies, the devices will have a 32MP camera housed in the punch hole display. In terms of memory and storage, the smartphones are expected to be available in the following variants.
6GB RAM and 128GB ROM
8GB RAM and 128GB ROM
8GB RAM and 256GB ROM
The devices will be powered by a 3650mAh battery with support for 22.5W fast charging. For enhanced gaming and CPU performance, the smartphones will support the company’s CPU/GPU Turbo technology.
While the pricing of the less feature-rich Honor 20 isn’t known; The past leaks of the Pro variant claim it will start at CNY 2999 (Rs. 31,000) for the version with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. The variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB onboard memory will cost CNY 3399 (Rs. 35,200). Top end variant of the device with 8GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage will retail at CNY 3799 (Rs. 39,400). As mentioned above, Honor will launch the smartphones on the 21st of May in Europe. It is expected to make its way into the Indian market soon after the announcement.
OnePlus will launch the latest iteration of its flagship smartphones on the 14th of May. These devices, confirmed to be the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro, will be the successor to the OnePlus 6T launched last year. In the latest round of teasers shared by the company before the official announcement; the camera prowess of the OnePlus 7 Pro has been showcased through a series of collaborations with known streaming service Netflix and the famous lifestyle channel National Geographic.
About The Partnerships
Shot On The OnePlus 7 Pro
The Chinese smartphone OEM OnePlus has partnered up with the American video streaming giant Netflix. With this collaboration, the upcoming OnePlus 7 Pro has been used to click the posters for the second season of a series by the streaming service called Sacred Games. Various posters featuring the cast of the show have been shot using the smartphone. These images were released by the company to tease the imaging capabilities of its flagship device.
Shot On The OnePlus 7 Pro
The second collaboration with OnePlus has been done by the renowned satellite channel National Geographic. Three photographers at National Geographic will journey across North America capture images of nature which will be then published in a special edition magazine slated to release in July. All the images in the aforementioned magazine will be captured using the OnePlus 7 Pro and will also be shared on the channel’s various social media handles.
OnePlus has earlier revealed the upcoming OnePlus 7 Pro will feature a triple rear camera setup. While no further detail about the optics has been shared by the company, the previous leaks about the smartphone provide the necessary information. It has been reported the triple cameras on the handset will consist of an f/1.6 aperture equipped 48 MP sensor, f/2.2 aperture equipped 16 MP sensor and an f/2.4 aperture equipped 8 MP sensor that has 3x optical zoom capabilities. For selfies, an f/2.0 aperture equipped 16 MP Sony IMX471 front facing camera is expected to be housed in the pop-up style mechanism on top of the device.
Google is looking to replace the Android and ChromeOS platforms with a unified Operating System (OS). This OS, dubbed Fuchsia has been in development for the past few years. No information on how it will work or its functionalities have been shared by the company. However, on the last day of the Google I/O 2019 a senior Google executive revealed a few key details about the Fuchsia OS.
Fuchsia OS
The Fuchsia OS from Google has been reportedly in development since 2016 and is looking to unite all of Google’s software in one place. At Google I/O, the company’s executive said that it is looking at a new take on what operating systems can be like. He further added that Fuchsia is not about replacing Android or Chrome OS. It is about pushing the state of the art in terms of Operating Systems; and implementing it into other products. The team at Google working on the OS is also experimenting with different form factors, which insinuates Fuchsia may be designed for wearables, VR/AR headsets and smart home devices.
As mentioned above, Fuchsia OS has been in development by Google since the last few years. The OS has even been booted to smartphones like the Honor Play in the past. Known details about it unveil it will be an open source project, which is similar to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). But unlike the latter, it will have the capability to run on a range of devices like smartwatches, laptop and smartphones. Unlike Android and Chrome OS, who are built on the Linux kernel; the Fuchsia OS will have its foundations in the new Google made kernel called ‘zircon’. A same Operating System for a range of devices can give way to a more unified experience, which is what the company intends to do with Fuchsia.
