Global smartphone shipments down 6% in Q3 2018, Samsung leads with 72.2 million, Huawei posts 32.9% YoY growth

According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone vendors shipped a total of 355.2 million units during the Q3 2018; this is a 6% decline year-over-year.  This was the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines for the global smartphone market. Samsung accounted for 20.3% of shipments in Q3 2018 with 72.2 million units shipped, which is a 13.4% decline year-over-year. China, which is the largest market for smartphones, accounted for roughly one-third of global shipments. Even the China market is down for the sixth consecutive quarter. Samsung seems to be facing the heat coming especially from Huawei who is inching closer to the top after its second consecutive quarter as the number two vendor. Even in growing markets like India, Samsung seems to be losing its position, thanks to the rapid growth of Chinese brands like Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo. Meanwhile, China’s domestic market, which represents roughly one-third of all smartphones, has been in decline since the second quarter of 2017, and Q32018 is the sixth consecutive quarter where the market sees contraction. China was down 11% in the first half of 2018, and the challenges continued into Q3 2018. Huawei once again managed to move past Apple into the second ...

Fujifilm instax SHARE SP-2 Smartphone Printer, SQUARE SQ6 and SQUARE Film Taylor Swift Edition launched in India

Fujifilm has launched new instax SHARE Smartphone Printer SP-2, which can print high-quality credit-card sized instant photos in just 10 seconds, Instax SQUARE SQ6 Taylor Swift Edition and Instax SQUARE Film Taylor Swift Edition for instax lovers. The Instax SHARE Smartphone Printer SP-2 enables users to print instant photos easily anywhere and anytime. When users send an image to the Instax SHARE Smartphone Printer SP-2” via wireless LAN, they can get photos in just 10 seconds. Instax SHARE Smartphone Printer SP-2” gives high-resolution prints with pixels of 800 x 600 dots and 320 dpi. It comes with a new laser exposure system and enables faster printing with lesser noise and makes printing experience. It records through 3-color exposure with OLED. It has a capacity of 10 photos per pack and takes Approx. 90 minutes to charge. It also comes in with different filters and templates to make printing more fun. Another inclusion is the Instax SQUARE SQ6 Taylor Swift Edition and Instax SQUARE Film Taylor Swift Edition which have been designed by Instax global partner Taylor Swift. These two new additions to the Instax lineup allow users to shoot and enjoy on-the-spot photo printing in square format. The Instax SQUARE SQ6 Taylor Swift Edition features a gold-colored newspaper pattern on a ...

Honor Watch Magic with 1.2-inch AMOLED display, Swimproof design, Heart rate monitor, GPS announced

Huawei's Honor Brand, along with the Honor Magic 2 also introduced the Honor Watch Magic smartwatch, which is similar to Huawei Watch GT that was introduced recently, but with a slightly smaller display. It sports a 1.2-inch (390 x 390 pixels) AMOLED color display with 326 PPI pixel density and incorporates a dual-crown design with 9.8mm stainless steel case. It has a heart rate sensor on the back. The body is made of 316L cold forged stainless steel and Black and Red, two-tone finish on its silicone strap. There is also a Silver version with Italian leather. It can simultaneously tap into GPS, GLONASS, and GALILEO, three of the major satellite positioning systems, for precise positioning. It also supports all-round sports activity tracking including indoor exercises, outdoor running, mountain climbing, cycling, and open water swimming. It comes with TruSeen 3.0 heart rate monitoring technology tracks the user’s active and resting heart rate. Combining innovative PPG optical and hardware design and AI algorithms, the solution can monitor the heart rate of users in real time with high precision. The TruRelax Technology analyses heart rate variability and accesses your stress status. Honor Watch Magic specifications 1.2-inch (390 x 390 pixels) AMOLED touch display, 326 PPI ARM M4 SoC with 16MB RAM and 128MB storage Bluetooth ...

Vivo Y93 with 6.2-inch 19:9 Waterdrop notch display, Snapdragon 439 12nm SoC, dual rear cameras, 4030mAh battery announced

Vivo has announced Y93, the company's latest mid-range smartphone in the 'Y series' in China. It has a 6.2-inch HD+ 19:9 aspect ratio waterdrop notch display, is the first smartphone to be powered by Snapdragon 439 12nm SoC, has 4GB of RAM, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with Funtouch OS 4.5, comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera along with a secondary 2-megapixel camera for potraits, as well as an 8-megapixel front camera with support for face unlock. It pack a huge 4030mAh battery. Vivo Y93 specifications 6.22-inch (1520 x 720 pixels) 19:9 FullView 2.5D curved glass display Octa-Core (Quad 1.95GHz Cortex A53 + Quad 1.45GHz Cortex A53) Snapdragon 439 Mobile Platform with Adreno 505 GPU 4GB RAM, 64GB internal storage, expandable memory  with microSD Funtouch OS 4.5 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo) Dual SIM 13MP rear camera with LED flash, secondary 2MP camera 8MP front-facing camera Dimensions: 155.1 × 75.09 × 8.28mm; Weight: 163.5g Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS 4030mAh (typical) built-in battery The Vivo Y93 comes in Midnight Black and Purple colors, is priced 1500 yuan (Rs. 15,890 approx.) and will go on sale in China soon. Source 

Jaybird Tarah Pro Wireless waterproof Sport Headphones with up to 14 hours battery life announced

Jaybird has announced the Tarah Pro Wireless Sport Headphones with an incredible 14 hours of battery life, extremely durable. It comes with a new personalized EQ functionality through the Jaybird app. Tarah Pro is the first in Jaybird’s Pro Series which is the company's a new line of wireless sport headphones for endurance athletes. The company claims that a quick five-minute charge gives you two full hours of play time. The new Magnetic Snap Lock feature automatically pauses your music when the earbuds are snapped together, and the music automatically restarts where you left off when you put the buds back in your ear. The Tarah Pro is waterproof (IPX7) and sweatproof for up to 30 minutes. It uses double hydrophobic nano coating on the buds so you can train as hard as you want. It includes the use of the USB-compatible proprietary charger. As part of the simple set up process, the Jaybird app will run users through a quick hearing test in order to create a personalized EQ setting based on Jaybird's proprietary algorithms. The test will help you set your ideal sound profile, meaning a unique, personalized music experience with uncompromised sound quality. The Jaybird Tarah Pro Wireless Sport Headphones are available ...

Lenovo Z5 Pro with 6.39-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, Snapdragon 710, 6GB RAM, Slider design, in-display fingerprint sensor announced

Lenovo just announced the Z5 Pro, the company's latest mid-range smartphone in the 'Z series' in China, as it had promised. It has a 6.39-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED  19.5:9 aspect ratio display with 2.07mm ultra narrow bezels and 95.06% screen-to-body ratio. It has a slider design that hides the 16-megapixel front camera, earpiece and the 8-megapixel IR face unlock. The company says that the sliding mechanism has been tested to last 300,000 times. It comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor. It is powered by Snapdragon 710, has 6GB of RAM and runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with ZUI 10. It has 16MP + 24MP dual rear cameras with Sony sensors that combines four pixels into one pixel in low light conditions. Lenovo Z5 Pro specifications 6.39-inch ( 1080 × 2340 pixels) Full HD+ Super AMOLED 19.5:9 aspect ratio display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection Octa Core Snapdragon 710 10nm Mobile Platform (Dual 2.2GHz Kryo 360 + Hexa 1.7GHz Kryo 360 CPUs) with Adreno 616 GPU 6GB RAM,  64GB / 128GB internal memory Dual SIM Android 8.1 (Oreo) with ZUI 10 16MP rear camera with Sony IMX519 sensor, f/1.8 aperture, Dual-tone LED flash, secondary 24MP camera with Sony IMX576 sensor, f/1.8 aperture 16MP front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture, secondary 8MP ...

POCO F1 MIUI 10 Stable OTA update starts rolling out [Download Link]

Xiaomi has finally started rolling out MIUI 10 update for the POCO F1 smartphone, as it had promised, in two months after it was launched running MIUI 9.6. The new MIUI 10 update brings major changes like Redesigned Notification Panel, Redesigned Volume Sliders, Improved multitasking management, natural sound system, and a lot more, for more details on MIUI 10 refer to this post. The new update comes as MIUI 10.0.4.0.OEJMIFH and is 592 MB in size. This update has October security patch and is still based on Android 8.1 (Oreo). The company earlier this week started rolling out Android Pie update for closed group of beta testers, before stable roll out later this year. You can download the recovery ROM here and flash it using the recovery method. Check out the changelog below, Designed for full screen experience All-new UI is tailored for full screen devices and lets the content take the front stage. (New design looks fresh and clean on older devices too) Natural sound system You won’t get tired of natural and ever-changing sounds of the new MIUI. We simplified system sounds and applied smart filters, so you’ll hear something only when you need to. Ambient sounds of the forest, beach, drizzle, stove fire and summer night will help you to relax and ...

LG Objet premium brand combines electronic appliances and furniture

LG has launched a new high-end brand with an aim of combining home appliances with furniture, targeting consumers who are seeking unique design. The new brand will be called 'LG Objet' which it will use for what it calls "premium private appliances." The company said: "LG Objet is a new concept of convergence appliances which brings electronics and furniture together."  This claims that the products will not only function as electronics devices but as home decor too. The new brand is LG's second premium brand and follows LG Signature which was launched in 2016. The company said LG Objet products stand out from other appliances in the market as they utilize various materials, including wood and metal, to help consumers customize their home environment. The company even introduced the first batch of LG Objet products; a refrigerator, air purifier, audio system, and TV. The appliances are custom-made and take around three months to produce. The LG Objet TV comes with a 65-inch Super Ultra HD display and a premium soundbar. The price tag for the TV is at 9.99 million won ($8,755 or Rs.6,46,425 approx.). The brand's refrigerator, which utilizes premium ash wood to give it a luxury look, comes with a price ...

WhatsApp Status to start showing ads soon, confirms Vice President Chris Daniels

Back in August, WhatsApp was reported to display ads in the Status section, and now the company's Vice President Chris Daniels confirmed that the company is going to put advertisements in its 'Status' feature. This clears the air on Facebook's monetization efforts towards WhatsApp. This is going to be the company's primary monetization method as well as an opportunity for businesses to reach people on WhatsApp. However, there is no timeline for this development but it has been in the news for quite some time. WhatsApp currently has over 1.5 billion users globally, including more than 250 million in India. There were media reports earlier this month that the Facebook-owned messaging app is planning to allow advertisements to be displayed in the 'Status' section of the app. WhatsApp's 'Status' feature allows users to share text, photos, videos, and animated GIFs that disappear after 24 hours. According to reports, the advertisements would be powered by Facebook's native advertising system and would be aimed at helping users understand and participate in businesses using WhatsApp. This exact reason has made WhatsApp's co-founders leave the company. Brian Acton, who was one of the co-founder recently said that Zuckerberg was in a rush to make money from the messaging service and undermine ...

iOS 12.1 extends battery performance management feature to iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X

Earlier this week Apple released the iOS 12.1 update after testing it for over six weeks. As mentioned in the software update log, Apple has extended the performance management feature to the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X. The company even reflected the change on its iPhone Battery and Performance website. Furthermore, it says that the performance management "may be less noticeable" on the said iPhone models due to their "more advanced hardware and software design."  Going back in time, Apple first enabled the performance management system in iOS 10.2.1, but it was limited to the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus. Apple back in December mentioned that the design of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X allows for a "different" performance management system that "more precisely" prevents unexpected shutdowns, however, prior to the iOS 12.1, no performance management feature has been enabled to  iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X. The company said: "Adds a performance management feature to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down, including the option to disable this feature if an unexpected shutdown occurs, for iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus." The power management feature can be disabled from the settings app under the battery ...