Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro (4GB + 64GB) and Mi TV 4 55-inch 4K TV get a price hike by Rs. 1000 and Rs. 5000

After increasing the price of its Mi Power Bank 2i models earlier this month by Rs.100, Xiaomi today announced that it will increase the price of its Redmi Note 5 Pro 4GB RAM with 64GB storage model by Rs. 1000, which will now cost Rs. 14,999 and the Mi TV 4 55-inch 4K HDR TV is getting Rs. 5,000 price hike and will cost Rs. 44,999. The reason for the price hike is due to importing of PCBAs to ramp up the supply due to huge demand for the  Redmi Note 5 Pro and Mi LED TV 4 55".  Government recently imposed a 10% tax on imports of PCBAs. Xiaomi also blames depreciation of the rupee (by ~5% since the beginning of the year) for the significant increase. Earlier this month Xiaomi announced local manufacturing of PCBA units, and is expected to ramp up its production close to 100% within Q3 2018, so there are changes the price might come down later this year. Xiaomi believes that the substantial increase in the manufacturing capacity, will help them achieve the monthly volume of one million Redmi Note 5 Pro. Last week ASUS launched the Zenfone Max Pro M1 in the country that undercuts the pricing of the Redmi Note 5 Pro. We should know ...

Xiaomi ‘Jasmine’ Mi A1 successor with Snapdragon 660 and ‘Daisy’ Android One smartphones said to launch soon

Xiaomi'a Mi A1 was one of the most successful smartphones for the company, and it is also the first Android One phone from Xiaomi in India. It is the same smartphone which was launched in China as Mi 5X. Now that Xiaomi announced the Mi 6X last week, reports started flowing that it will be the successor to Mi A1 considering Mi 5X was re-branded Android one phone in markets like India.  While we don't have concrete evidence that if the Xiaomi Mi A2 exists or if it will indeed be a re-branded Xiaomi Mi 6X, thanks to XDA Developers, we now have a confirmation that there will indeed be a Mi A1 successor and that might be based on the Mi 6X. When Xiaomi launched the Mi A1; it had a codename “tissot_sprout” where “sprout” indicates that it will be a part of the Android One program. Now a new device pops up in the firmware files with codename “jasmine_sprout.” while we don't have the full dump of the device’s firmware, all we have is the build. Prop, system applications, and permission files. Unsurprisingly, there are no MIUI system applications in the build, codename 'Sprouts,' the Android framework, SystemUI, and other system applications are stock Android-based. ...

Huawei said to be building substitute OS to Android as backup

Recently the US Govt has laid a total of 7-years ban on ZTE and restricted from using any American Technology. This kind of fate could happen to any foreign brand that is operating in the USA. The best way to stay in the light is to have a backup. Executives at Huawei have also thought of the same as the company is said to be building substitute OS to Android as a backup. According to the South China Morning Post's sources, Huawei has been developing its own mobile operating system ever since it and ZTE faced an American investigation in 2012. The company is said to be considering it as an investment for "worst-case scenarios," said the insider sources. Since the OS is not up to the level of Android in terms of quality and app support, the company hasn't released it yet. However, Huawei just said it "has no plans" to launch an in-house OS in the "foreseeable future" which is neither accepting or denying. Even if there is one, there's no rush to use it. For starters, third-party OS is not something that is unheard of, Samsung has its own version; dubbed Tizen OS, Apple has its own OS X/macOS on Intel for years. With Huawei having its ...

Google, Facebook and Microsoft are now adopting gun emoji redesign

Every major vendor has now committed to redesigning the gun emoji and replace it with a water pistol/squirt gun design, reports Emojipedia. Though it took a while for it to happen, it is now happening at all once.  Google started rolling out the new pistol emoji to Android users from last week, now Facebook and Microsoft are also joining the list of others platforms who have already made the switch including iOS, Twitter, Samsung, and WhatsApp. The major change which once showed pistol weapon on all major platforms is now a water pistol. The report also says that these changes are common and aren't limited to one emoji as all the emoji sets have been moving closer to one another and this new water pistol/squirt gun design is one among them. Consistent emoji display across platforms is a must rather than having one platform showing it as a weapon, and others show it as a toy. However, until the roll outs complete, the confusion persists for a small period of time. Apple was the first to adopt the water pistol/squirt gun design back in 2016 with iOS 10 beta and remained until the final release of iOS 10. With compatibility as the major concern, Google has also finally made the change recently. Facebook, however, confirmed that ...

Samsung Galaxy A6 with 5.6-inch Super AMOLED display surfaces in press images, Galaxy A6+ with 24MP front camera gets certified

Press images of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A6+ surfaced last week, and the phone also got certified by Taiwan’s National Communications Commission a few days back, now the phone has been certified by TENAA in China. Press images and detailed specifications of both the Galaxy A6 (SM-A600) and the Galaxy A6+ ( SM-A605) have surfaced. This also reveals Snapdragon 450 SoC for the A6+ and the A6 is said to be powered by Exynos 7870. The A6+ will also come with a 24-megapixel front camera. Samsung Galaxy A6 rumored specifications 5.6-inch (1480 x 720 pixels) HD+ Super AMOLED 18.5: 9 Infinity 2.5D curved glass display 1.6GHz Octa-Core Exynos 7870 14nm processor with Mali T830 GPU 3GB RAM with 32GB storage / 4GB RAM with 64GB internal storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Android 8.0 (Oreo) Dual SIM 16MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.7 aperture,LED flash 16MP front-facing camera with f/1.9 aperture, LED flash Fingerprint sensor 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS 3000mAh battery Samsung Galaxy A6+ rumored specifications 6-inch (1080 x 2220 pixels) FHD+ Super AMOLED 18.5: 9 Infinity 2.5D curved glass display 1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 450 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 506 GPU 4GB RAM, 64GB internal storage, expandable memory up to ...

ZTE patent hint at dual notch display smartphone design

ZTE Iceberg was unveiled as the world’s first smartphone with a dual-notch design that we have seen earlier this month. The phone is expected to release after 2018 in Asia, Europe, North America. However, today according to the new patent files, we see yet another ZTE phone with dual notch display. According to the recent patent filed with China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), ZTE might be working on a new smartphone featuring a pair of screen notches much like the ZTE Iceberg. It looks like the company is taking the notch game to the next level and not give up anytime soon. With right kind of odds and design language, it has a possibility of hitting it off. The new patent sketches reveal some notable differences, unlike the ZTE Iceberg with top-cut out for earpiece, and selfie shooter and an empty bottom notch, the new is a lot more reminiscent of the Essential Phone 1. The top part is dedicated to the front camera, while at the bottom rests the home/fingerprint sensor. Design of the patents doesn't actually mean the phone will surely make it. Considering the ZTE's current spat with the US Government and the sanctions already in place, we might see the new devices no early than mid-2019 if at all ...

Twitter now shows more ‘News links’ on the timeline

Twitter has now confirmed that it is now pushing more 'News links' by your network on the timeline and is also and grouping the tweets mentioning the link underneath it. This is a much-needed move from Twitter in order to seize the identity in the news section it lacked for a long time. The company first moved from "social networking" to the "news" category in the app store in April 2016, and it now airs live news broadcasts alongside the home timeline meaning that it shows news and tweets from journalists in its "explore" tab. It is also experimenting with curated timelines around breaking news events. Focusing on the news will help Twitter in creating a shared experience among its users. Twitter has confirmed that this feature has been rolled out to all Twitter users across iOS, Android, and web. Source

Apple said to be working on wireless AR and VR headset with 8K display

Back in November we first heard that Apple is aiming ramping its technology for AR headset by 2019 and ship the headset by 2020. Today, we are seeing reports that Apple is working on a headset capable of running both AR and VR technology.  Current plans at Apple hint at an 8K display for each eye which is higher resolution than today's best TVs. The project, codenamed T288, is still in its early stages. Notably, Apple is said to be working on the headset that combines both AR and VR given the level of focus over the past year on pushing augmented reality in iPhones and iPads. Though Apple has had smaller VR projects in the past, bringing out a headset is a major investment in VR. Reportedly, Apple's headset would connect to a dedicated box using a high-speed, short-range wireless technology. The box might be powered by a custom Apple processor which should be powerful than anything that is currently available. This processor would be the backbone of the AR/VR headset. Unlike the HTC VIVE, users won't have to install special base stations in a room to detect their location since everything would be built into Apple's headset and the box. Apple introduced the ARKit; company's first public efforts in AR ...

Instagram said to be testing mute button, reactions to Stories, slo-mo recording and more

Instagram will soon be introducing a bunch of new features; mute button, reactions to Stories, slo-mo recording and more. All these features are currently said to be in the testing phase. Twitter user @wongmjane has dug deep into the app’s code and has seemingly found evidence to the said features.  Starting off, Instagram will soon get reactions to stories, and from the looks of it, it could allow users to react in real time based on the laughing smilies. You could also use emoji in responses. Interestingly, Instagram to soon bring slow-mo features with an aim to eliminate the need for vloggers to rely on the phone's built-in slow-mo features. It is also testing the mute button, which will mute the people from your news feed without requiring to unfollow them. Lastly, Instagram is also said to be working on a calendar view for stories archive which should supposedly make it easier to navigate through your old stories. Since the company is testing these features, they might make it to the public anytime soon. Source | Via

LG G7 ThinQ with Boombox Speaker promises 10x louder audio and 2x bass, has DTS: X 3D surround sound

Ahead of official unveiling on May 2nd, LG has started revealing more details about the smartphone. Last week it confirmed that the phone will have 1000-nits display, now it has revealed that the phone will feature Boombox speaker that will offer ten times louder sound compared to other phones, and also bass of more than 6 decibels (dB), two times more compared to existing smartphones. LG also said that the bass can be further amplified when you place the device on a solid surface or box. The Boombox Speaker relies on a special resonance chamber design within the phone that uses the device's whole body to make it louder  ten times as much resonance space than conventional smartphone speakers. It will also come with DTS:X support offering 3D surround sound effects at up to 7.1, even with normal headphones. Similar to the G6 and V30S, the G7 ThinQ will also come with Hi-Fi Quad DAC that will lower distortion rate to 0.0002%, and gives a clear sound close to the original sound.  It also supports MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) standard, which allows you to enjoy high-fidelity high-quality streaming with little data capacity, same as the V30 phones. Source