Thursday, December 7, 2017

OnePlus explains why it opted against having Project Treble on current devices

OnePlus explains why it opted against having Project Treble on current devices


OnePlus has that it'll not have Project Treble on any of its current devices, including the recently launched . Now, the Chinese company has provided more information on the matter. During and AMA session on its official forums yesterday, a staff member explained that implementing Project Treble on current devices through an OTA update comes with risk of bricking the units. Here's what they exactly said: For those who aren't aware, Project Treble was by Google several months ago as a feature of Android Oreo. It basically modularizes the Android OS so that OEM customizations stay separate from Android, which would effectively lead to reduced time between update roll outs. |


Qualcomm reveals full specs of Snapdragon 845, comes with AI Platform

Qualcomm reveals full specs of Snapdragon 845, comes with AI Platform


Qualcomm's Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii is still going and new bits and pieces about the company future products are incoming. of its latest flagship chipset Snapdragon 845 and now the company took the time to list its detailed specs. The new SoC will have octa-core CPU, clocked at up to 2.8 GHz, new GPU and AI platform, based on the Hexagon 685 DSP. The eight CPU cores are Kryo 385 that due to a redesign of the platform will provide 25% performance uplift. Four of them are dedicated for performance and are based on the Cortex-A75 architecture, while the other four are based on the Cortex-A55 and run up to 1.8 GHz. The new GPU is Adreno 630, and Qualcomm promises 30% faster graphics and 30% better power efficiency. The new unit should bring 2.5x faster display throughput, meaning a 2K x 2K display can efficiently run at 120 Hz. The keywords VR and AR are also in the game with out-of-the-box eye tracking, hand tracking, and multiview rendering. Qualcomm even goes as far as to call the Adreno 630 a Visual Processing Subsystem. The Hexagon 685 DSP now also works as an AI image co-processor. Being three times faster than the Hexagon 682 that is in the Snapdragon 835, it will support Android 8.1 Oreos Neural Networks API. This means better always-on keyword detection and ultra-low-power voice processing. The connectivity can now reach 1,200 Mbps downlink thanks to the X20 cellular modem. There are also proprietary enhancements for Bluetooth 5, which should reduce battery consumption of wireless earbuds in half. Qualcomm is expected to start shipping the Snapdragon 845 to smartphone manufacturers in early 2018. As already announced by Lei Jun, Xiaomi CEO, one of the first flagships with it will be the Xiaomi Mi 7, but previous rumors put the Samsung Galaxy S9 as being the first.


Xiaomi announces 27.6M smartphone shipments in Q3 2017

Xiaomi announces 27.6M smartphone shipments in Q3 2017


Xiaomi held an event today where the company revealed the Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus. But before the big stars, there were several announcements worthy of attention. The company announced 27.6 million smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2017. Xiaomi also quoted IDC to boast about their growth. The Chinese company achieved a huge 102.6% increase over Q3 2016. The market share also doubled from 3.7% to 7.4%, pushing vivo out of the Top 5. The company also showed its international success. Xiaomi is the top 5 manufacturer in 14 markets, including a tie for . Other impressive countries are Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Egypt and four EU states. |


Wednesday, December 6, 2017

LG V30+ arriving in India next week

LG V30+ arriving in India next week


The continues its expansion around the world , now India. Today the company sent out invites for a December 13 event (thats next Wednesday) to unveil the LG V30+. The V30+ is the same hardware but with double the storage 128GB. And theres a free card slot to boot (a hybrid slot, but still). We dont know the price yet or whether the regular V30 will also be available (it should be, right?). The LG G6 currently sells for INR 33,000, though the V30 will probably be closer to its initial price of INR 55,000 (a Galaxy Note8 is INR 68,000).


Huawei P11 rumored to have three cameras on the back for 40MP snaps

Huawei P11 rumored to have three cameras on the back for 40MP snaps


Huawei loves dual rear camera systems so much that it's basically been employing this arrangement in all of its flagships and mid-rangers for a while now. Next year, though, the Chinese company may take things to a whole new level. In fact, Huawei's next P-series smartphone perhaps to be dubbed the might be showing up with not one, not two, but three cameras on the rear. This setup will allegedly enable 40MP photos, as well as 5x hybrid zooming. Selfies won't be forgotten either, for you will be able to take 24MP shots with low light enhancement. The new Leica-branded optics of the main camera will capture 100% more light and a Pro Night Mode will ensure you shoot gorgeous night scenes without a tripod. To top things off, Huawei will be using some AI magic to let the camera app do instant scene recognition and auto framing. All of this information comes from a digital artist at one of the company's creative agencies, who added the promotional materials you can see above to their portfolio. Interestingly, they have since been pulled and aren't available in the original location anymore that may be a sign of these materials' importance or legitimacy. It's impossible to tell for sure at the moment, so do take this with an ever so slight pinch of salt. Still, as Huawei was one of the pioneers of the dual rear camera setup, it wouldn't be extremely surprising to see the company amp things up by going with three lenses from 2018. A slightly baffling detail in these marketing materials, which you may have noticed already, is the Huawei PCE Series branding. That could just be a placeholder for the real name say, P11 or perhaps the company will introduce a new flagship line that has camera performance as its main differentiating feature. This might also mean that the P-series will turn into the PCE-series, but we'll have to wait and see.


Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 845, Xiaomi Mi 7 will have it

Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 845, Xiaomi Mi 7 will have it


Qualcomm is holding its second annual Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii. At the beginning of the conference, the chipset company announced the Snapdragon 845. Cristiano Amon, executive VP of Qualcomm Technologies was joined on the stage by Lei Jun, Xiaomi CEO. Jun said the next flagship the Xiaomi Mi 7 will be among the first smartphones, powered by the new SoC. The Snapdragon 845 is built on the same 10 nm process technology like the current Qualcomm star the Snapdragon 835. It will still support Gigabit LTE speeds thanks to the X20 modem. What is different though, is the new chip will also run laptops and convertibles. ASUS and HP officials said that in the early months of 2018 well see the first portable computers that will support all-day battery life and thin, sleek and fanless PC design, all while incorporating Windows 10. Detailed specs were not revealed, but Amon said they will be introduced today at a separate keynote.


Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Galaxy A5 (2016) is the first Samsung to receive the December security update

Galaxy A5 (2016) is the first Samsung to receive the December security update


Google has just started for the Nexus and Pixel devices that it supports directly, but Samsung wants to quickly get in on that action too. Perhaps surprisingly, the Korean company's first handset to receive the latest patches isn't the or the . Instead, for the third time in a row, Samsung has chosen the mid-range (and quite old by mobile world standards) for that role. The December update is already out for this device in the Netherlands if you bought yours unlocked and unbranded. It should make its way to additional countries within the next few days. Hopefully that's also the timeline for this release arriving on the company's flagships. If you have an A5 (2016) and got the update notification, expect a 196MB download. After installing the new software, you'll be on build A510FXXU4CQL1 and the December 1 security patch level. Samsung says you're going to see improved charging stability too, as well as better overall performance. There's apparently been an issue with Wi-Fi connections on this model ever since the October security update. If you're affected your phone often won't want to connect to a Wi-Fi network due to a verification error. Unfortunately it's still unclear if this bug has finally been addressed with the December update. (in Dutch) |