Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 Android Oreo MIUI 9 Global Beta ROM 8.1.18 released

Xiaomi released MIUI 9 Global Stable update for its Mi MIX 2 smartphone back in November, and announced Android Oreo beta program for the phone for China ROM last month, now it has released MIUI 9 Global Beta ROM 8.1.18 for the smartphone which is based on Android 8.0 (Oreo). Check out the changelog below, Android O (8.0) based MIUI ROM Gallery New - Optimize local storage to free up space (01-16) System Optimization - Animation for the Back gesture on full screen devices (01-17) Optimization - Full screen gestures as an alternative for screen buttons (01-17) Optimization - A separate guide for full screen gestures (01-18) Fix - Full screen gestures didn't work properly after rebooting (01-18) Battery Fix - The battery level is incorrect on status bar (01-16) Fix - Battery is draining very fast when the device is in idle mode (01-16) Camera Fix - The camera interface is not displayed correctly when the language is Arabic (01-16) Settings Fix - There are two Security in Accessibility settings (01-16) Line Fix - Line ANR when using Bluetooth headphone for Line calls (01-16) You can download the Recovery ROM here and flash it using updater method or download the Fastboot ROM to flash it using fastboot method. One the beta testing is complete Xiaomi is will roll out the stable update for all the users in the coming weeks. ...

Motorola Sphere+ 2-in-1 Bluetooth Speaker with Over-Ear Headphones launched in India

Motorola has launched Motorola Sphere+ Bluetooth Speaker with integrated Bluetooth headphones in India. The speaker offers 2 x 8W (16W) watts of power and bass porting for a deep, rich listening experience. You can dock the headphones on the speaker base to charge, while transitioning seamlessly from one to the other so the music never stops. The Sphere+ has built-in speakerphone so that users can take calls either through the speaker or the headphones that comes with touch control on the ear pads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRGDIH5jXeM Highlights of Motorola Sphere+ Balanced sound at any volume, with superb noise isolation. Wireless freedom, with easy Bluetooth Connectivity aided with Voice prompts. Upto to 20 hours of playtime, 60ft range, and compatible with Siri and Google Now. In built mic for calls for hands-free calling Comfortable On-ear design Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.1, 3.5mm AUX 2 x 8w powerful speakers Noise isolation blocks out unwanted background noise  Full room broadcasting speaker Integrated multipoint technology to connect two devices at once Lightweight and foldable design headphone Powerful 40mm oversized drivers of headphones to provide superb bass-driven sound Support 3.5mm audio jack AUX Overcharge, over-voltage and overheating protection circuit A2DP 1.3, HFP 1.6, HSP 1.2, AVRCP 1.5, SPP 1.5 Standby Time: 200 hours Touch Control ...

Xiaomi Mi Explorer Overview [Update – Now you can turn off ads on MIUI devices as well]

Update - January 19: Mi Explorer has received an update that now lets you turn off recommendations (advertisements)  from the settings on MIUI devices as well, so you don't need the workaround anymore we had mentioned in the article previously. Xiaomi’s MIUI is amongst the most popular Android skins with more than 300 million worldwide users. MIUI is a heavy skin on top of Android, but what sets it apart from other Android skins is its feature richness and customizations. MIUI focuses towards providing a complete user experience and to achieve this MIUI is loaded with many system apps like Explorer, Calculator, Recorder, Mi Drop, Mi Video, Yellow pages and many more. A couple of months ago, Xiaomi listed it’s feature packed Mi Explorer app on Play Store, the app recently came out of Beta phase and in this post we will be looking at the features Mi Explorer offers. There are three main sections of the app which Xiaomi calls Recent, Categories and Storage. Recents shows the file you worked with or updated recently. Suppose user takes a screenshot or crops a already saved image, it will be shown at the top in recents whenever Explorer app is opened. In Categories sections files ...

MIUI App Vault Overview – Shortcuts, Cricket, Calendar events, Notes and Ola

Xiaomi announced the latest iteration of its Android skin MIUI back in November with tons of new features including Split Screen, Interactive and Fresh UI changes, New Gallery App, Calendar Cards, App Vault, New Notification Shade, Mi Video App, New Mi Explorer and Mi Drop. We have already covered some of these features in posts earlier and in this post, we will be giving an overview of App Vault. MIUI focuses on making life simpler and App Vault tries to bring convenience on your tips. App Vault shows cards for various services and is an attempt similar to Google Now cards  for showing all the important information in one place, MIUI quick cards can be accessed in a similar fashion by swiping left on the home screen. As of now, only 5 cards are available on App Vault but Xiaomi claims to have support for 12 kinds of services, and hopefully, more cards will be added with time. Users can choose maximum 5 cards available at the moment, which are Shortcuts, Cricket, Calendar events, Olacabs and Notes. Cricket card shows the scores of ongoing game for the teams selected by users, users can choose international as well as Domestic teams. Users can ...

Intel RealSense D415 and D435 depth cameras with D4 vision processor announced

Intel today introduced the RealSense D415 and D435 depth cameras in the D400 Cameras series. The depth cameras add 3D capabilities to any prototype or end user-ready device or machine. It is powered by the D4 vision processor. The Intel RealSense is idle for educators, hardware prototyping, and software development. The new depth cameras come with a USB-powered form factor paired with D400 camera series. It is powered by the new Intel RealSense vision processor D4 for processing complex depth data in real time. The RealSense D415 and D435 depth cameras are supported by the Intel RealSense SDK 2.0 which is available for the first time as a cross-platform. The company says that the camera can be used indoors or outdoors and in any environments. Applications for a range of computer vision uses advancements across VR/AR, robotics, drones and more. it not just adds new levels of depth for real-time feedback, but will also make the devices more intelligent and enable's new experiences. The Intel RealSense Software Developer Kit with Intel RealSense viewer is now available to developers, allowing OEMs/ODMs and system integrators to unlocking new depth data with access to the depth camera to tackle everything from viewing the depth stream, visualizing 3D point clouds recording. The Intel RealSense D415 ...

Sony MWC 2018 event set for February 26; CEO says still committed to smartphone business

Given the downfall of Sony's smartphone business it would be no surprise if the company suddenly decides to pull the plug, but interestingly the company recently confirmed its presence at the MWC 2018 event that is scheduled to happen in February. Though Sony phones were a range back in the day, the firm got pushed away very soon by Apple, Samsung, and other Chinese brands. Given the age-old design of its smartphones, it is no wonder why Sony is struggling. Most of the design blame might be because of the philosophy of Sony president and CEO Hirai. Hirai took the position of CEO just when the WOW factor of Sony phones started phasing out. He is being credited for turning around the sinking ship, and in addition to his hands-on approach, his principles regarding design or other departments reflected Sony's culture. He says that his aim is for an emotional response rather than a technical one and not to change the award-winning design every year for the sake of changing it. Despite the fact that Sony smartphone business is not doing so well, Hira currently has no intentions to let go. Instead, he sees the smartphone business as their ticket in the communications space. ...

LG X4+ with 5.3-inch display, Hi-Fi DAC, military-level durability announced

LG today introduced X4+, the company's smartphone in the 'X series' in Korea. It has military grade durability with MIL-STD-810G  that can withstand impact, vibration, high temperature, low temperature, thermal shock, and humidity and also has a dedicated digital to analog converter (DAC) for Hi-Res 32-bit 192 kHz audio listening. It packs a 5.3-inch HD screen, is powered by Snapdragon 425 SoC, runs on Android 7.0 (Nougat), has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front camera. It also comes with LG Pay, the company's own payment solution. It has an aluminum back with fingerprint sensor below the camera and packs a 3000mAh battery. LG X4+ specifications 5.3-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD) IPS display 1.4GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 425 processor with Adreno 308 GPU 2GB LPDDR3 RAM, 32GB internal storage, expandable memory with microSD Android 7.0 (Nougat) 13MP rear camera with LED Flash, 77-degree lens 5MP front-facing camera, 100-degree wide-angle lens Fingerprint sensor, LG Pay 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio, Hi-Fi DAC MIL-STD 810G certified Dimensions: 148.6 x 75.1 x 8.6mm;Weight: 172.3g 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, NFC 3000mAh battery The LG X4+ comes in Moroccan Blue and Lavender Violet colors, is priced at 300,000 won (US$ 282 / Rs. 17,980 approx.) and will ...