SHARP AQUOS S3 with 6-inch FHD+ display with a notch, Dual rear cameras, Face unlock to be announced on March 28

SHARP AQUOS S3 got certified by Taiwanese telecommunications regulator and TENAA few months back, but it was not announced, however the AQUOS S3 mini was introduced in China earlier this week. Now SHARP has confirmed that it will introduce AQUOS S3 smartphone in Vietnam on March 28th. It has confirmed that is will feature a 6-inch FHD+ display with a notch,  12-megapixel primary rear camera with f/1.75 aperture, 1.4um pixel size, dual-tone LED flash, similar to the S2, but it will have a 13-megapixel secondary camera instead of 8-megapixel in the predecessor. It also has a 16-megapixel front camera with support for face unlock that scans 1024 facial points to unlock the phone in 0.1 seconds. It also has a fingerprint sensor on the back. [HTML1] SHARP AQUOS S3 rumored specifications 6-inch (2280×1080 pixels) Full HD+ LCD display with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass protection Octa-Core Snapdragon 660 14nm Mobile Platform (Quad 2.2GHz Kryo 260 + Quad 1.8GHz Kryo 260 CPUs) with Adreno 512 GPU 6GB LPDDR4x  RAM with 128GB storage, 4GB LPDDR4x  RAM with 64GB internal storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano/microSD) Android 8.0 (Oreo) 12MP rear camera with f/1.75 aperture, 1.4um pixel size, dual-tone LED Flash, PDAF, ...

Weekly Roundup: HTC Desire 12+, OPPO R15, Lenovo S5, Vivo V9, new Xiaomi backpacks and more

This week OPPO introduced R15 and A1 smartphones, HTC introduced Desire 12 and 12+ smartphones with 18:9 displays, Vivo introduced X21 and V9 smartphones, Lenovo introduced S5, K5 and K5 Play smartphones, Xiaomi introduced Mi Casual, City and Travel Backpacks , and lots more new launches and announcements in our weekly roundup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5flgE8Hcr9I OPPO announced its flagship R15 series of smartphones in China. It comes with a 6.28-inch FHD+ 19:9 aspect ratio OLED display with a notch with a 1.78mm narrow frame and 90% screen-to-body ratio. It calls it Super-V Display. The R15 is powered by the latest MediaTek Helio P60 12nm SoC, while the R15 Dream Mirror Edition is powered by Snapdragon 660 SoC. Both the phones have 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage.  These also have a 16-megapixel rear camera 1/2.6″ Sony IMX519 sensor with 1.22μm pixel size and f/1.7 aperture and come with AI Intelligent Scene Recognition that can recognize 16 kinds of scenes and 120 kinds of multi-scene combinations and also comes with AI portraits with built-in AI chip .  The R15 has a 5-megapixel secondary rear camera, while the Dream Mirror Edition features a 20-megapixel secondary camera with f/1.7 aperture. These also have a 20-megapixel front camera with AI smart beauty that can scan 296 feature points of ...

Huawei’s upcoming Mate flagship said to sport in-display fingerprint scanner

Under the display fingerprint sensors are slowly becoming a thing and we are hearing reports that Samsung might include it in the upcoming Note9. This year we have already seen Vivo X20 Plus UD and X21 UD smartphones with the in-display sensor and it is just a start. Today we are hearing reports that Huawei might be going this route and it is said to sport an under-display fingerprint scanner. Huawei is said to be choosing the Qualcomm's ultrasonic fingerprint solution which might make the new Mate 11 ( or Mate 20) flagship the first smartphone to ship with that particular sensor built-in. The Huawei Mate flagship s scheduled to launch in late Q3 or early Q4 (so September or October). Qualcomm, in order to build its ultrasonic sensor, is said to have partnered with Taiwan-based GIS and China's O-film Tech, both specializing in offering touchscreen solutions. While it is three-time costlier than the traditional counterparts, but is also 0.44mm thick and works through "up to 800-micron cover glass", compared to only 200-300 microns of glass thickness for 'normal' capacitive scanners. The sensor will also work when your fingers are wet or greasy. Huawei isn't the only company looking towards under-display fingerprint sensors, others brands are also apparently decided to build ...

Apple proposes 13 new accessibility emojis to be included in Emoji 12.0

Apple has proposed 13-new accessibility emojis to be joined in the upcoming Unicode emoji release. The new list includes guide dog, hearing aid, prosthetic limbs, as well as people using canes and different types of wheelchairs. The new suite also adds emoji for people with disabilities. Apple has submitted its formal request to Unicode, the consortium that governs the standard that includes emojis. The total list includes 13 new emojis are proposed when options for men and women are taken into account, or 45 in total when also including the options for skin tones. The aim behind the move is to diversify the options available to help fill a significant gap and provides a more inclusive experience for all. The new symbols feature men and women with probing cane, an index finger pointing to the cheek, representing the 'deaf sign, icons of a hearing aid, person in an electric wheelchair, guide dog with a harness, and a prosthetic arm. The next Unicode Technical Committee meeting will take place in the coming month at Adobe Headquarters in San Jose and if approved, these characters would be shortlisted for Emoji 12.0 which will release in first-half of 2019. While the Emoji 11.0 will roll out in the second-half ...

New data leak hits Aadhaar revealing Aadhaar holders’ information

Aadhaar is India's national identity for individuals, and it contains private data of users like identity and biometric information. For many wrong reasons, of lately, Aadhaar is making the news mostly because of its lack of proper security and protection. With fingerprints and private information at hand, anyone with access can get an open a bank account, buy a cellular SIM card, etc.  Enrolling in the database has become mandatory considering that it is must to access even basic government services. Now, according to a latest report from ZDNet,  the database is leaking information on every Aadhaar holder. This data leak which is run by the state-owned utility company can allow anyone to download private information on all Aadhaar holders, including their names, unique 12-digit identity numbers, and information about services they are connected to, such as their bank details and other private information. Karan Saini, a New Delhi-based security researcher, is the brain behind in discovering the vulnerability said that anyone with an Aadhaar number is affected. ZDNet on the other hand claim that they have tried to contact the authorities and have even contacted Indian Consulate in New York and alerted Devi Prasad Misra and tried to explain the issue in detail, yet nothing ...

Samsung investigating Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+ touchscreen issues

While Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ might sport the world's best-performing smartphone display, numerous complaints are now surfacing over Samsung forum, Reddit and XDA about the touchscreen dead spots. Users claim that the touchscreen won't respond to touch input.  Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ users complain that the display won't register the touch and dead zones in the top or the bottom of the screen. Meaning that it doesn't seem like a problem that is limited to one area. It's unclear if this is a widespread issue or one that affects a small number of phones. There are reports about users fixing the issue by cranking up the touch sensitivity and by factory resetting. However, for many, the problem persists despite wiping and increasing the touch sensitivity. While users have also started getting replacements directly from Samsung as it covers the 1-year warranty for the device. Samsung can't afford to have another scandal up its sleeves after the Note7 fiasco. However, Samsung was quick to respond to the issue and said that it is investigating and it is currently seeing only a limited number of reports. Commenting on the issue, Samsung spokesperson said: At Samsung, customer satisfaction is core to our business and we aim to deliver the ...

Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime 2 with 5.5-inch 1080p display, 13MP front and rear cameras unveiled in India for Rs. 13990

Samsung launched the Galaxy J7 Prime (SM-G610F) smartphone back in 2016. Now the company listed the Galaxy J7 Prime 2 (SM-G611F). It has a 5.5-inch 1080p screen with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass protection and is powered by a 1.6GHz Octa-Core processor, has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a fingerprint sensor on the front, but this comes with a 13-megapixel front camera, runs Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) and has 32GB of storage compared to 16GB in the predecessor. It also has Samsung Mall app app that offers Visual search just by clicking an image of the product using machine learning. This was first introduced with the Galaxy On7 Prime earlier this year. It also has Samsung Pay Mini that lets you transfer money using  wallets just by scanning the code or sending it using mobile number and send to bank account using UPI (Unified Payment Interface). Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime 2 specifications 5.5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD TFT display with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass protection 1.6GHz Octa-Core Exynos 7870 processor 3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory, expandable up to 256GB with microSD Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) Dual SIM (nano + nano) 13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.9 aperture 13MP front-facing camera with f/1.9 aperture Fingerprint sensor Dimensions:151.7 x 75.0 x 8.0mm; Weight: 170g ...

JioMusic, Saavn to merge in a deal valued at over US$ 1 billion

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) today announced that it has signed an agreement to for combination of Saavn with JioMusic. The combined entity is valued at over US$1 billion, with JioMusic’s implied valuation at US$ 670 million. "The integrated business will be developed into a media platform of the future with global reach, cross-border original content, an independent artist marketplace, consolidated data and one of the largest mobile advertising mediums," said RIL. Reliance will also invest up to US$100 million (Rupee equivalent), out of which US$20 million (Rupee equivalent) will be invested upfront, for growth and expansion of the platform into one of the largest streaming services in the world. The company will continue to operate the over-the-top media platform available on all app stores. The three co-founders of Saavn, Rishi Malhotra, Paramdeep Singh and Vinodh Bhat, will continue in their leadership roles and will drive growth of the combined entity. In addition, Reliance is acquiring partial stake from the existing shareholders of Saavn for US$104 million, while these shareholders retain their balance stake. The shareholder base of Saavn includes Tiger Global Management, Liberty Media and Bertelsmann among others. The combined entity plans to invest aggressively to accelerate growth that would benefit all aspects ...

Xiaomi Mi TV gets Hotstar app to stream sports, watch movies and TV shows

Xiaomi launched its Mi TV 4 55-inch 4K HDR TV last month and recently it launched the TV 4A series. At the TV 4 launch the company said that it has partnered with Hotstar, SunNxt, Voot, Sony LIV, Hungama, Zee5, ALTBalaji, Viu, TVF and flickstree offering over 500,000 hours of content. The company starting adding them slowly. Recently it announced that TVF videos and web-series will be available across all Mi TVs. Now it has announced that Hotstar app is available on the latest Mi TV LED smart TVs so that you can watch live sports, Movies and TV shows. The Hotstar app is available in the more apps section. Xiaomi already said that will add more content partners for the Mi TV in the future. Hope we can expect Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in the coming months. Source

Exclusive: First look at ACTTV+ 4K Android TV box

ACT Fibernet recently started testing its first ACTTV+ in several cities. We got hold of one, here we bring you exclusive first pictures of the 4K Android TV box with Over-The-Top (OTT) services. Box Contents ACTTV+ box in Black color Remote control 2-pin power connector (12V-1A) HDMI Cable Mini AV cable Ethenet Cable The ACTTV+ is a small box with ACT branding on the top and there is a power button. This is made by ZTE and was introduced as ZXV10 B860H back in 2016. It comes pre-loaded with HOOQ, YuppTV, Hungama Play and ALTBalaji apps and also has YouTube. When you login into these apps, it shows relevant videos from these apps directly on the home screen. You can download more apps and games from the Google Play Store. It can play 4K videos without any issues and also supports H.265 codec. We couldn't install Netflix or Amazon Prime Video from the Play Store, but we were able to side-load the APK for both. Amazon Video worked fine offering 1080p video out, but there were occasional stutters. Netflix got stuck at 24% loading a video. We will try some work around to make it work, otherwise we will have to wait for official release. ...