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  • Xiaomi Poco F2 Spotted On Geekbench, SD845 And 6 GB RAM In Tow

    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.
  • LG Is Developing A Smartphone With Rollable Display According To A Patent

    LG Is Developing A Smartphone With Rollable Display According To A Patent

    Smartphones with touchscreen displays were first launched in the late last decade. Brands across the globe have launched innumerable smartphones with this rectangular form factor. Although the size, thickness, weight of these devices vary from company to company; the overall design has not seen any radical changes. However, it is expected to change soon as manufacturers are developing smartphones with all new form factors. One notable form factor is smartphones with foldable displays that are about to launch soon. An LG patent reveals yet another type of smartphone form factor. According to WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office), LG has been granted a patent for a smartphone that has a rollable display.

    Possibilities and Advantages Of A Rollable Display

    LG’s patent provides a small pointer about the form factor of the future smartphones. It can open a whole new world of possibilities for a portable device. The concept smartphone from LG when in its rolled state will be small enough to easily fit inside a pocket which can be easily rolled out to reveal the main display. Although the LG device is quite small, due to its rollable form factor it can offer a similar experience to that of a large screen tablet. This type of device from LG will further blur the lines between a smartphone and a tablet as it will be capable to serve the purpose of both.

    LG Patent Revelations

    The patent for the LG smartphone with a rollable display was spotted by a Dutch website, Letsgodigital. The patent is detailed enough to reveal the functioning of the conceptual smartphone. LG has previously demonstrated a 77-inch transparent flexible OLED display which indicates that the company surely has the know-how of this technology. The patent reveals an intriguing device with two halves that are conjoined with a rollable display panel. 

    The left half of smartphone from the patent has a tall and narrow display which shows date, time and battery details. On the other hand, the right half seems to have a small circular button in the middle which might function as the home button. According to the patent, the rollable display can be stretched to multiple lengths. Each length showing a separate set of controls and icons. The left rear view of the device is completely free from any controls or buttons while the right half houses the volume controllers and another small circular button.

    Expected Launch Date

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

    The patents are just an indistinct description of how LG conceptualises a smartphone with a rollable display. Therefore, it is hard to guess when such devices can make their way to the real world. However, LG can surprise the world by showcasing such a device at upcoming tech events like MWC, Design Thinking and Innovation Week.

     

  • Netflix Releases The First Trailer For ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’

    Netflix Releases The First Trailer For ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’

    Black Mirror is at it again! The new trailer for their latest episode just dropped and it is as mind-boggling as the other ones. As a result, writing about Black Mirror trailers are always difficult as very little can be deciphered from the visually interesting and artistically inclined popular Netflix series trailers. For the uninitiated, Black Mirror is a Netflix show that focusses on technology and how it might affect human beings in one form or the other. We have seen it all – an implanted recording of life, a technology game show, miniaturisation and so much more. Each episode of the series deals with one aspect of non-existent technology. The episodes are based in either a parallel past or alternative present. The new trailer shows the main characters from the year 1984.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM0xWpBYlNM

    The main character of the storyline is a computer programmer. As a result, he is tasked to building a video game from a novel. Directed by David Slade, the episode trailer showcases the main character being tormented by the game that he is building. He begins to question reality and ultimately is faced with a challenge. The three characters highlighted in the trailer include Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk), Will Poulter (The Revanant) and Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing).

    What is a Bandersnatch?

    The name Bandersnatch is taken from the 1872 novel ‘Through the Looking Glass’ by writer Lewis Caroll. Bandersnatch is a fictional character developed by the writer. However very little description is known. The only detail that the writer provides is that it has a long neck and snapping jaws. It can also move extremely fast.

    From the trailer that we see however, it seems that the artists have re-imagined the Bandersnatch to be more of a feeling and emotion than an actual character. There is a scene where two characters are talking to each other. A poster with a metal monster in the background can be seen with “Metl Hedd” written on it. The creature you can see looks like a metal version of the Bandersnatch that we all saw in Walt Disney Pictures’ Alice in Wonderland (2010).

    Bandersnatch from movie Alice in Wonderland (2010)

    Also Read: Marvel’s Daredevil Cancelled By Netflix After Just Three Seasons

    The new episode for Black Mirror has been released by Netflix and is 1 hour 30 minutes long. The episode starts with a notice asking viewers to keep the mouse close at hand. Netflix allows viewers to choose how the story develops by answering questions in between the episodes. Several games have been developed on a similar concept with alternate endinhgs before. However this is the second time that an interactive episode like this is made. The first was a children’s animation produced by Netflix as well.

  • Apple iPhone Flagships To Be Manufactured At Foxconn Chennai Plant

    Apple iPhone Flagships To Be Manufactured At Foxconn Chennai Plant

    Foxconn is a Taiwanese multinational electronics manufacturing company. The company is the largest contract manufacturer for Apple Inc. Apart from Apple, Foxconn also manufactures smartphones for companies like Xiaomi, Nokia and Gionee. The company has two manufacturing plants in India which are located in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. Out of the two, the Chennai plant was dedicated to manufacturing Nokia smartphones. But, that plant has remained shut since 2015 after Nokia’s acquisition by Microsoft. The Chennai plant was left out of this deal due to some tax disputes with the Indian government. However, the company plans to revive operations at this location which will be used to manufacture Apple iPhones.

    Foxconn Chennai Plant Revival

    The asset’s at the Chennai Foxconn plant were frozen by the Indian government due to the alleged outstanding taxes. However, in April 2018 Nokia agreed to pay the pending taxes in the form of provisional payments which has resulted in resolution of the dispute. Therefore, the operations at the manufacturing facility can be restarted. Foxconn officials at a Tamil Nadu state cabinet meeting announced that plant will be utilised to manufacture the Apple iPhone flagships including iPhone X , XS and XR in India. The company will reportedly invest Rs 25 billion to upgrade the plant to manufacture Apple iPhones. Additionally, the restart of operations will create 25000 jobs for the city locals. It is the first time that the iPhone X will be manufactured in India. As of now, Wistron, another Taiwanese company has manufactured the lower end variants of the iPhone including the iPhone SE and the iPhone 6 in Bengaluru.

    Bezel-Less

    An official announcement with precise details is expected to be made at the upcoming Global Investors Meet which is scheduled in Chennai in January 2019.

     

     

  • Fake Alexa App Tops Apple App Store Before Being Removed

    Fake Alexa App Tops Apple App Store Before Being Removed

    Apple has been very strict with their App store and regularly checks on security of Apps that they enlist. A fake Amazon Alexa setup tool for iOS has become the sixth most downloaded app in the Apple Store’s Utilities category. However, this is not an Amazon madeApp but a third party App. Amazon Alexa based devices have been a smash hit since their launch. During Christmas this year Amazon Alexa servers failed in Europe due to an overload of users. This is a clear indication that a lot of users are calling out to the virtual assistant on their phones and their echo devices. This fake App seems to be taking advantage of the high popularity of Alexa.

    The App itself is very basic and looks nothing like the actual Alexa App. The App asks for the user’s IP Address, the serial number of the device and a name. The App has successfully fooled a lot of people and made it to the top charts on the Apple App Store. The app reportedly can access a large amount of the user’s data such as IP addresses, browser information, referring/exit pages and URLs, clickstream data, domain names and so on. The App may also be able to track the user’s location which could lead to larger privacy concerns.

    Apple has a very strict privacy policy for all Apps on the App Store. However, malicious apps have been known to pass the stress test and show up on the App Store. In September an App called Adware Doctor was reportedly sending user’s browsing data to China. But Apple promptly deleted the App after the knowledge of its malpractice.

    Update

    While the Alexa Setup app has now been removed from the App Store. It is only time before something like this happens again. That of-course, if Apple doesn’t strengthen its already strong barrier of entry for Apps.

  • Indian Government Bans Smartphone Online Exclusive Sales

    Indian Government Bans Smartphone Online Exclusive Sales

    India is a largely online buyer’s market and many phone manufacturers have switched to selling online instead of investing in brick and mortar stores. Samsung has been in the number one position in terms of smartphone sales worldwide for quite some time now. But Xiaomi had taken the lead in the first quarter of 2018 in terms of India smartphone shipments market share. But now, it seems like Samsung will get a leg up in this battle with a new law that has been introduced by the government banning exclusive deals of phone manufacturers with online marketplaces.

    What Exactly Happened?

    Most manufacturers these days such as Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and even OnePlus use these exclusive launches with one of the E-commerce players to promote their phones and drive sales. The new law will bring the websites including Amazon and Flipkart to a level playing field. The government also directed that a single vendor can sell a maximum of 25% of its inventory on an e-commerce platform. This is where Samsung’s brick and mortar stores come in. Since the Chinese manufacturers heavily depend on online sales which help them keep their phone prices down, we can expect a surge in prices of these phones in future. We can also expect phones being sold out quicker. A black marketing of phones due to their unavailability can also be a cause for concern. Xiaomi and OnePlus has already started opening their own storefronts in several locations in India. But they are not nearly enough to compete with Samsung.

    According to Counterpoint, about two years ago, 5% of Xiaomi’s volumes came from offline channels which has grown to around 30%. This can largely be attributed to them opening their own stores and selling through other affiliate stores as well. Xiaomi has around  500 Mi stores at the moment while Samsung has around 2100 stores in the country. This also means that Indian manufacturers who completely missed out on the online selling bandwagon might just regain their footing in the business. OnePlus had also said in March 2018 that they will expand their offline selling stores, which they call ‘experience zone’. Their plans included 10 cities which also include Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and others.

    It is also important to note that the offline segment witnessed an annual growth of 6.6 per cent in Q3 2018 but still online channels continued to dominate with around 60 per cent of the Indian smartphone market in that quarter.

  • 4K Renders And HD Video Of Moto P40 Leak Online

    4K Renders And HD Video Of Moto P40 Leak Online

    Motorola launched the Moto P30 smartphone earlier this year which was exclusively available in China. A latest leak of the Moto P40 has now leaked before its official launch. Like the Samsung Galaxy A8s, the renders of the Moto P40 reveal that it also has an In-Display selfie camera.

    4K Renders And Video

    The renders and video of the Moto P40 were leaked on Twitter by the users OnLeaks and 91Mobiles. The renders of the Moto P40 are sufficiently detailed and reveal the 360-degree view of the smartphone. The front of the smartphone has an edge-to-edge display with a circular cutout for the front-facing camera. The top, left and right bezels of the smartphone are quite thin. In comparison, the bottom chin is considerably thick which carries the Motorola branding.  

    The renders of the Moto P40 reveal that the right side of the device is occupied by the power button and volume rockers while the left side houses the SIM card slot. The top of the smartphone accommodates the 3.5 mm audio jack and the secondary microphone pinhole. The speaker grille and the USB Type-C port are placed on the bottom of the device.

    The rear of the Moto P40 seems to be made out of glass which tapers towards the edges. The rear of the device houses the dual camera setup, fingerprint sensor, and android one branding. Intriguingly, the back of the device reads 48 MP which indicates that out of the two cameras, one sensor has a 48 MP resolution. The circular sharped fingerprint sensor at the back of the device is slightly indented which makes it easy to find. The back of the Moto P40 also carries the android one logo which states that the device will be assured for long-term Android updates.

    Launch Date

    Also Read: MediaTek Helio P90 AnTuTu Benchmark Surfaces Online

    The launch date of the Moto P40 is currently unknown but the company might showcase the device at the upcoming MWC which is scheduled for 25-29 February 2019.

  • Amazon Alexa Servers Crash Due To Heavy Traffic

    Amazon Alexa Servers Crash Due To Heavy Traffic

    Amazon’s smart voice assistant Alexa is one of the fastest growing, if not the fastest personal assistant out there. Amazon has included Alexa in multiple smart speakers made by the company itself and it is now expanding the reach of the assistant to home appliances and even cars. Alexa’s portfolio and scope are ever-growing. In fact, Amazon reported that Alexa enabled devices were among the best-selling products on Amazon, this holiday season. What’s more, Christmas day turned out to be even more surprising for Alexa enabled devices throughout Europe. With a sea of new Alexa devices being bought and set up, the servers just couldn’t hold it anymore. 

    The servers went down as they couldn’t handle all the thousands of new Alexa devices being setup at the same time. The apparent Alexa outrage began around 10 AM GMT. With users complaining that they were not able to use their devices. Even for regular tasks such as paying music or using smart home controls. The shortage lasted for a few hours. Amazon was quick to get the servers back online and the devices working again. Another interesting bit of information is the fact that the number of voice activated orders placed this year was far greater, almost 3 times more than the number of orders placed last year.

    Also Read : Honor View 20 With In-Screen Camera To Soon Launch In India

    The Future

    Other than this, Alexa was also summoned ‘hundreds of thousands of times’ to help with cocktail recipes and many other such holiday essentials. But what does all of this mean? The number of Alexa products reflects more about the dependance on smart home assistants, rather than just the sales figures. With growing features, the assistant is no longer restricted to a few devices. And has spread to almost every part of our homes. With the advancement of AI, some of them especially to aid smart assistants, what waits for us is an interesting and exciting future. Where the possibilities of using smart assistants will be endless.

  • MediaTek Helio P90 AnTuTu Benchmark Surfaces Online

    MediaTek Helio P90 AnTuTu Benchmark Surfaces Online

    Taiwanese chip maker, MediaTek launched the Helio P90 chipset earlier this year. It is the most powerful SoC that the company has designed till date. The chip is intended for high-end flagship level smartphones. The company boasts that the Helio P90 chipset is extremely power efficient and has Groundbreaking AI performance. The claims, however, cannot be verified as no smartphone manufacturer has yet launched a device featuring this chipset. But, an AnTuTu benchmark leak provides some insight into the performance capability of the Helio 90.

    Benchmarks

    https://twitter.com/bang_gogo_/status/1078218517059530752

    The AnTuTu benchmarks of the MediaTek Helio P90 were shared by an Indonesian leaker, Bang Gogo. The source of the leak is trustworthy as most of the leaks provided by him in the past have turned out real. The user shared a screenshot which reveals both the benchmark result and the hardware details of the device it was captured on. The device from the listing features the Octa-Core Helio P90 processor along with the IMG PowerVR GM 9446 GPU. The display of test smartphone has a resolution of 2160px x 1080 px.

    The test device runs on the latest Android 9 Pie OS with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB ROM. Most notably, the device with the Helio P90 SoC registers a score of 162861. In comparison, the smartphones with the Snapdragon 845 get a much higher AnTuTu score which ranges from 250000-290000 depending on the make of the device. However, it is possible that the smartphone in the listing is not optimised leading to the unimpressive score. Therefore, until a real-world smartphone with the P90 SoC is launched, it is hard to decide what the chipset has on offer.

    Specifications

    The MediaTek Helio P90 is an Octa-Core chipset that is manufactured using 12 NM TSMC technology. Other relevant information of the chipset is as follows:

    • CPU Type: Arm Cortex-A75,  Arm Cortex-A55
    • Max CPU Frequency: 2.2GHz
    • CPU Bit: 64-bit
    • GPU Type: IMG PowerVR GM 9446
    • Max GPU Frequency: Up to 970MHz
    • Memory Type: 2-Channel LPDDR4x
    • Max Memory Size:8GB
    • Max Display Resolution: 2520 x 1080
    • Connectivity: 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, LTE
  • What We Know About Far Cry New Dawn: Release Dates And More

    What We Know About Far Cry New Dawn: Release Dates And More

    Good news for open world shooter fans! Just within a year of the release of Far Cry 5 in 2018 new Far Cry is coming! Named Far Cry New Dawn, the game continues from where the previous Far Cry left off. The last edition of the game revolved around a religious cult in Montana in the fictional Hope County. The game’s story starts 17 years after the last one’s apocalyptic conclusion and now the town and scenery has completely changed. One can see flowers and greenery around with wild animals roaming in the amazing vista. Blue skies, green trees and flowers may seem very unlike Far Cry games, things quickly change and we get a glimpse of the Far Cry we all want to play.

    The trailer reveals a lot about the game and we can find a lot of small details if we look at it carefully. On first glance, we can see the amazing details of the scenery. The weapons and houses are rendered wonderfully. One can see the items scattered around the area with foliage growing in and around them. You can see broken down cars around the entire area with cellphone towers and parts of metal that says Father was right, referring to the preacher named Joseph Seed of Far Cry 5.

    A village can be seen with the survivors of the war with them going about their business, but then mayhem ensues. And we get into the Far Cry territory. A new group of scavengers show up with weapons and cars. This group is monikered as Highwaymen and the protagonist has to kill highwaymen to rebuild the settlements and ensure peace. The character that you will play is a fresh character and is reportedly a survivor from somewhere else.

    The game features a lot of weapons. Including rocket launchers, makeshift weapons that are made from salvaged metal and of course really crazy guns with amazing detailing. There are painted guns, flamethrowers and whatnot.

    But no Far Cry game is complete without it’s villains. Far Cry villains are known to be powerful both in terms of ammunition as well as emotionally and physically. New Dawn’s negative lead roles involve Mickey and Lou, murderous twin sisters who control the Highwaymen. 

    They are seen killing people mercilessly and seem to be extremely ruthless. The game developers have done a great job in detailing including their hair colours, costumes and even the blood splatters. 

    The helmets and even the vehicles are extremely detailed and makes for an absolute visual treat. 

    According to the game’s creator’s, the survivors and highwaymen will be at war constantly and both these groups will look after their own so unity seems to be an interesting theme to this game. They have also revealed that there will be different tiers of enemies each with their own difficulty level and combat capabilities and can be differentiated by their attire and weapons.

    Then there is a lot of killing. A lot. Oh, and did we also mention there is a very cute and scared dog in the trailer as well?

    The game will be launched on February 15th and pre-bookings have already opened up. It will cost $ 40 and will have different versions. Pre-ordering will also get you an in-game unicorn trike as well!

  • Are Gaming Phones Worth Buying?

    Are Gaming Phones Worth Buying?

    Gaming smartphones were fringe products till about two or three years back and have recently come into the limelight. A few years ago, smartphone research and development was going mostly into making the screens larger and better, increasing speeds for day-to-day work and increasing battery life. But since then a lot has changed, and phones have become even more powerful. Now, phones can support games that have high-end graphics and can run them without harming the CPU or the battery of the phones. However, there are certain drawbacks to buying and using gaming phones as well. In this article we will discuss the positives as well as the negatives of buying a gaming phone.

    What Are Gaming Smartphones

    Gaming smartphones are phones that are primarily built with a focus on gaming and are modified to suit gamers’ needs. They are usually higher-end phones with great batteries, more than decent RAM and memory and a number of other specifications like liquid cooling and overclocked CPUs. We will talk about these differences later in the article.

    How Did The Trend Start

    To understand how the trend started, we have to go a long way back to the time feature phones were a thing, maybe even before that. The history of Gaming as we know it can be traced back to the first interactive electronic game with an electronic display in 1947, the first true video games in the early 1950s, and the rise of early arcade video games in the 1970s. The first portable video game was introduced in the form of the Handy Game created by Epyx in 1987.  This device later turned into the Atari Lynx in 1989. Portable gaming consoles these days include Sony’s PSP, Playstation Vita and Nintendo Switch. Portable video game consoles were all the rage when they first came to the market a few years back. Every college or school kid had one and buying or trading games were considered a common phenomenon.

    However, when gaming consoles were selling like hotcakes, smartphone manufacturers were brewing up a storm. Video games however, weren’t new and had existed on phones for a long time. The first mobile phone game was introduced in 1994, with a pre-installed Tetris on a mobile phone called Hagenuk MT-2000. In 1997 however, things changed a lot for the mobile phone gaming industry when Nokia decided to redesign a game called Snake and put it in some of their phones. The game became widely popular and thus started a long and arduous journey towards the marriage of a telephonic device and a gaming device. The smartphones of today with their high-end games would not have been possible without these companies and their gamble into gaming.

    How Is It Different From Other High-End Phones

    We often get asked why one should consider buying a gaming phone and not buy a high or similarly specced top-end smartphone. There are both positives as well as negatives to buying a gaming phone. Let’s discuss the positives first.

    Positives

    Overclocked

    Overclocking is the process of increasing a computer’s clock rate to make it run at a higher speed than it is supposed to. The term overclocking is usually used with regard to CPU and GPU but can be applied for other components as well. Most smartphones are under-clocked because, even though their CPU may support higher speeds, the phone might overheat and die. Most phones do not have a decent cooling system in place because our day-to-day functions on a smartphone do not generate so much heat. Overclocking generates a lot of heat as the CPU performs more tasks per second thus requiring better cooling. This brings us to our next point.

    Cooling system

    Most computers use two types of cooling to keep the system at an optimum temperature. These are heat sinks and liquid cooling. But phones cannot really use a heat sink as phones need to be thin and light and everything from a battery to a motherboard and cameras need to be cramped in there. So gaming phones use heat pipes and liquid cooling instead. But most other phones have no cooling systems and use the metallic or aluminium back to dissipate heat. How this works is when the CPU heats up, the back of the phone heats up.

    The air outside is generally cooler than the phone, which absorbs the heat from the back of the phone. So, in short, gaming phones have a better and faster cooling system in place. These cooling systems are much more efficient in dissipating heat and will keep your phone cool while the phone performs at a much higher speed.

    Better Battery

    Gaming phones, since they are generally built for performance draw a lot of battery. Thus, these phones need a lot of juice to keep running. Generally speaking, gaming phones have better batteries compared to other top end smartphones. While many lower end phones may match the same battery capacity, the gaming phones do indeed work for longer as they have optimised performance in terms of the screen and CPU drawing from the battery.

    RAM Optimisation

    Gaming phones have certain RAM optimisations through software that help the phone perform at it’s optimal best. This is done by better memory management. RAM optimisation enables a phone to clear up the RAM by killing unwanted Apps so that the gaming experience is unhindered.

    Gaming Mods

    Since these phones are made specifically for gaming, these are built from ground up. keeping the quirks of gaming in mind. For example, the Asus ROG Phone has a headphone jack both at the bottom of the phone as well as on the side of the phone. This allows a gamer to play games in the horizontal mode using two hands while charging the phone. There are several such modifications on gaming phones that make a gamer’s life much easier.

    High Quality Displays

    Many high end phones these days have really good screens. Many have AMOLED displays or retina displays. But the gaming phones have an extra feature that in terms of the refresh rate. A refresh rate is the rate an LCD or LED panel changes a frame. It is calculated in frames per second (fps) and a higher refresh rate is extremely helpful for gamers since the images change faster compared to other screens giving gamers the extra edge to kill and spot enemies faster than others. Many gaming phones have a refresh rate of 120 Hz while normal smartphones usually have a refresh rate of 60 Hz.

    High Quality Speakers

    Gaming requires really great quality speakers. A good speaker can give you an immersive experience in gaming. Gaming smartphones usually feature great speakers with HD sound, dolby digital sound or Dolby Atmos stereo speakers. Some of these phones have great amplifiers as well.

    More Inbuilt Memory

    Most high-end phones have a decent amount of RAM. For example, the latest iPhone XS has 4GB of RAM while the flagship Samsung Galaxy S9 has 4GB RAM. However, most gaming phones these days offer upto 10 GB of RAM. This makes day-to-day functions faster as well, apart from gaming of course!

    Added Accessories

    Gaming phones come with accessories that can be used to make the gaming experience better. These include extra battery packs, phone coolers, additional headphone jacks and more. These accessories might be expensive but they are quite helpful and can elevate your gaming experience overall.

    Negatives

    So what gives? If gaming phones are so good then why isn’t everyone buying it instead of a top end smartphone? Well, in making these high end hardware and software changes, the phone companies sacrifice other features. Let’s find out what the negatives are.

    Camera

    Most gaming phones are not meant for taking photos or selfies, so their cameras are usually not that great. Many of the budget gaming phones usually sacrifice image quality by reducing the camera specifications. For example the Xiaomi Black Shark has a 20 Megapixel front camera but has a 12 megapixel and 20 megapixel back camera but the ZTE Nubia Red Magic has a single 24 megapixel sensor at the back. Even though the cameras are not bad, but compared to top of the line smartphones in the same price range, the image quality falls flat.

    Bulky

    These phones have a lot of modifications done in order to make it gaming friendly. These modifications take up space thus making these phones heavy and large. These are nowhere near the sleek smartphones that we see and use everyday and may feel like a brick at times. But it also sets you apart from the similarly designed phones that we see everyday. These phones have a dash of colour, look menacing and usually have glowing lights in the back. If you are a fan of sleek smartphones, gaming phones probably aren’t for you.

    Expensive

    These phones are specced to the brim and because of that, are expensive. They can be priced anywhere between $ 400 to $ 800 and are quite expensive. It is also to be noted that phones with similar specifications from manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung can go way above that reaching prices as high as $ 1500.

    Delayed Software Updates

    Gaming smartphones are generally not known for speedy software updates and OS updates. Since these phones have their own UI to make the phone look more like a gaming device, these UI changes take time for the company to implement on a new OS. This can be a hassle for people who like to get timely security and software updates.

    Best Gaming Smartphones To Consider

    Now that we have discussed both the positives and the negatives, here is a list of the best gaming phones available in the market that you can consider to buy:

    • The Razer Phone 2
    • ASUS ROG
    • Xiaomi Black Shark
    • ZTE Nubia Red Magic
  • Honor View 20 With In-Screen Camera To Soon Launch In India

    Honor View 20 With In-Screen Camera To Soon Launch In India

    Honor, a sub-brand of Huwaei has launched the Honor View 20 smartphone with In-Screen front camera, in China. Following the Samsung Galaxy A8s and the Huawei Nova 4, it is the third smartphone to have this feature. A latest tweet shared on Honor India’s Twitter account states that the View 20 will soon launch in India. Most notably, the smartphone will be exclusively available on Amazon.

    Design And Features

    The Honor View 20 has a distinctive design with a front and rear glass build. The front of the smartphone accommodates a Full HD 6.4-inch display with a resolution of 2310 x 1080 px. The display panel has a pixel density of 398 ppi and screen-to-body ratio of 85.7 %. The top left side of the display has a small circular cutout which houses the 25 MP In-Display front camera. The earpiece for receiving phone calls is built into the top bezel of the smartphone.

    The power button and the volume controllers are placed on the right of the device while the SIM card slot is placed on the left. The top of the smartphone accommodates the 3.5 mm audio jack, IR blaster and the secondary microphone pinhole. The bottom of the smartphone is occupied by the USB Type-C port and the loudspeaker grille. 

    The rear of the Honor View 20 has a glossy gradient finish and it harbors the fingerprint sensor and an unconventional dual camera setup. The dual rear camera set up along with an LED Flash is divided into two separate modules. The first circular module in this horizontal alignment houses the 48 MP camera and the second capsule shaped module houses the TOF 3D camera and the LED flash.

    Under the hood, the Honor View 20 boasts the Octa-Core Kirin 980 CPU along with Mali-G76 GPU. In terms of connectivity, the device supports 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, NFC, and 4G VoLTE. The handset runs on Magic UI 2.0 which is built on top of the latest Android 9.0 Pie and is powered by a 4,000 mAh battery. It is available in three colour options which include Blue, Black, and Red.

    Price And Launch Date

    Also Read: Flipkart Mobiles Bonanza Sale: Best Deals On Top Smartphones

    The tweet shared by Honor does not reveal any launch date but the tweet indicates that the launch of the Honor View 20 is imminent. Even though the India specific pricing of the smartphone is unavailable, it is expected to have similar pricing as the Chinese variant. The Chinese variant of the Honor View 20 is available in three RAM + ROM configurations for which the price is as follows:

    • 6 GB + 128 GB – 2,999 Yuan (around Rs. 30,600)
    • 8 GB + 128 GB – 3,499 Yuan (around Rs. 35,700)
    • 8 GB + 256 GB – 3,999 Yuan (around Rs. 40,800)
  • LG And Samsung To Showcase Smartphones With In-display Speakers

    LG And Samsung To Showcase Smartphones With In-display Speakers

    Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is one of the largest annual trade shows that is held in the month of January. The show is organised by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) in Las Vegas, United States. During the event, several companies from around the globe showcase the latest innovations and developments. In the past decade, smartphones have taken centre stage at CES and the same is expected from the 2019 event which is scheduled for 8 January-12 January. ETNews, a Korean news agency claims that LG and Samsung will showcase smartphones with an in-display earpiece speaker.

    What Is An In-display Speaker?LG G7+ThinQ

    Conventional speakers on smartphones make use of a diaphragm which is connected to a voice coil. The voice coil, when charged with a magnetic field, causes the diaphragm to vibrate up and down to produce sound. However, smartphones with an in-display earpiece speaker are reported to use a piezo sensor. It is a disc-like component which also produces sound. In comparison to normal speakers, the piezo sensor is very thin and sleek therefore they can easily be mounted behind the surface of a display panel.

    Advantages of In-Display SpeakerSamsung Galaxy Note 9

    It is apparent that smartphone manufacturers are trying to pack in as many components as possible in a small form factor smartphone. Hence, the use of an In-Display piezo sensor speaker will allow companies to save up on valuable space inside of a smartphone. This extra space can be utilised for other important components like a larger battery and powerful processor. Furthermore, a smartphone with this technology can significantly reduce the noise that is emitted outside the call. It can be promoted as a feature that is vital for confidential phone calls.

    Developments From LG And Samsung

    Also Read: Flipkart Mobiles Bonanza Sale: Best Deals On Top Smartphones- Part 1

    LG has previously showcased CSO (Crystal Sound OLED) panels for monitors and televisions. As the name suggests, Crystal Sound OLED is a type of display panel that can emit sound waves and this display can be seen on the smartphones at CES 2019. Samsung has also showcased a similar type of SoD technology panel. The Sound on Display (SoD) panel has an under panel sound sensor.

     

  • Apple’s New iPhones Attracting More Android Users Than Before

    Apple’s New iPhones Attracting More Android Users Than Before

    With all the reports about declining sales and lower demand for iPhones, there seems to be more to iPhone sales than meets the eye. Reports of lower than expected iPhone XS and XS Max sales are plaguing Apple. And even the cheaper iPhone XR not selling like expected. But there is another shift which could turn out to be far more important in the long run. A recent report by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners found that more Android users are switching to iPhones this year, than last year. 

    The report states that 16 percent of iPhone buyers this year, had upgraded from an Android phone. This data was collected in a 30-day period after the launch fo the iPhone XR. Compare this to last year. When the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus were launched, and you have a 12 percent rate. After the launch of the iPhone X in November 2017, the numbers fell to 11 percent. The report also found out that the iPhone XR accounted for 32 percent of iPhone sales. This was in the same 30-day period after its launch.  

    So in midst of all the backlash and love that the iPhone XR received, it seems like it has achieved what Apple had intended for it to do, boost sales and attract newer customers. More than a third of iPhone buyers in the US opted for the cheaper iPhone XR, according to the study. On the other end of the spectrum, the iPhone XS and XS Max accounted for 35 percent of sales, combined.

    Also Read : OnePlus 5 And OnePlus 5T Start Receiving Android Pie Stable Update

    Despite the fact that Apple brought back the iPhone X from the dead to combat dwindling iPhone XS sales, not all is lost. With more Android users switching to iPhones, this might be the start of something new for Apple.

iGyaan Network
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