Xiaomi begins MIUI 10 development

Xiaomi introduced MIUI 9 back in July last year along with the Mi 5X smartphone which has already rolled out to several devices. Yesterday at the 2017 Annual Meeting for MIUI division to discuss about the past year and future development, the company said that it has started the development of MIUI 10. This was confirmed by Hong Feng, Co-Founder and Vice President of Xiaomi who leads the MIUI division. Since the development of MIUI 10 is still in early stages, new features and design changes are still in concept stage so we will only know when the company decides to reveal some details about the major MIUI update in the coming months. In an interview last year, Hong Feng hinted that Artificial Intelligence could be one of the key features in MIUI 10. Hope we can expect AI and machine learning features to MIUI 10. Xiaomi continues to work on MIUI 9 and it recently rolled out MIUI 9.2 update that brought a lot of features that were originally unveiled at the launch of MIUI 9. Recently it confirmed that some of its old smartphones will not get the MIUI 10 update. Source 1, 2

LG and Huawei might not announce their flagship smartphones at MWC 2018: Report

It is a well-known fact that LG has decided not to launch their next flagship smartphone; the G7 at the MWC 2018 event next month. New to join the list is Huawei which according to industry reports is planning on skipping the flagship announcement at the MWC event.  If rumors are to be believed, Huawei is looking at hosting a special event in April in Europe to showcase the P20 flagships, while limiting the MWC announcements to tablet PCs and 2-in-1 laptops. The company in 2017 had introduced the P10 flagships at the MWC. Huawei is delaying the launch in order to overlook issues such as preparing the phone for American markets, stabilization of supply and demand for next chipsets, improvement in standards of triple cameras. We already learned that LG would skip the G7 announcement. Instead, it is expected to introduce the V30+ α with enhanced A.I features. A high-ranking official of a mobile network said,"Models that will be introduced by LG Electronics at MWC 2018 will inherit current design of V30 and have partial changes to some of its parts and name changes." Samsung has no change of plans, and it will launch the S9 and S9+ as per the schedule. It is also likely ...

Vivo V7 Review

Vivo launched the V7 smartphone soon after the launch of  V7+ that we had reviewed recently. It has a FullView 18:9 display, but in a smaller size compared to the V7, is powered by Snapdragon 450 and has the same 24-megapixel front camera. How good is the smartphone? Let us find out in the complete review. Box contents Vivo V7 smartphone in Matte Black color Headset with microphone 2-pin charger (5V-2A) Clear protective case SIM ejector tool User manual and warranty information Display, Hardware and Design The phone has a 5.7-inch 2.5D curved glass display with a resolution of 1440 by 720 pixels and a pixel density of about 282 PPI. It has a 18:9 aspect ratio and a screen-to-body ratio of 83.6% since it has minimal bezels, so it is good for media consumption, and you also get an option to stretch the content on the screen when watching videos on apps such as YouTube to fit the 18:9 display. The screen is not sharp compared to a 1080p screen so some might find the content dull. It also has Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. There is a Full Screen mode in the display settings also lets you run apps in the Full Screen mode to display more content. ...

Apple shipped 29 million iPhone X units in Q4 2017: Canalys

According to Canalys, Apple is said to have shipped around 29 million iPhone X in Q4 2017 making it the best selling smartphone in the world during the holidays season. Out of the 29 million units, 7 million units were shipped in China. The reason for the high sales is the Apple's upgrade centric markets where the company enjoys huge customer base. Though Apple initially faced supplier problems in November during the time of launch, it quickly caught up and started shipping the phone faster than expected. The demand for the iPhone X in December has exceeded the expectations in some markets by the end of the quarter. The trade-in program also helped Apple big time. Despite the big price tag and initial launch struggles, the iPhone X still made an impact. Moving along, apart from the iPhone X, Apple’s iPhone SE, 6s, 7 and 8 models also shipped in good number considering the fact that the older iPhones are still a value for money products. Commenting on the same, Ben Stanton, Analyst at Canalys said: The iPhone X performance is impressive for a device priced at US$999, but it is slightly below industry expectations. Apple struggled with supply issues in early November but achieved a massive uplift in ...

Entry-level 2018 iPhone said to feature 6.1-inch FHD+ 18:9 LCD display with ultra-slim bezels

By now it is understood that Apple might be launching a lower priced iPhone this year with 6.1-inches LCD display and today we are seeing reports from China Times that the upcoming iPhone will have an 18:9 panel with 2,160×1,080 Resolution and Ultra-Slim Bezels. The report further claims that Apple will be adopting Japan Display's  "Full Active" LCD technology. The upcoming iPhone 2018 unlike those on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, Full Active LCDs will require ultra-slim 0.5mm bezels on all four sides. As a matter of fact even slimmer than the iPhone X. Japan's "Full Active" LCD technology will have a resolution of 2,160×1,080 pixels and 18:9 display panel. If earlier reports are to be believed, the 2018 iPhones will also have a cutout on the top to accommodate the TrueDepth camera sensor. Though the dimensions will be different, the overall design might quite resemble the iPhone X.  Currently, there are few Chinese smartphone markers including the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 use the Full Active LCD displays. Security Analyst Mia Chung Kuo earlier stated that the 6.1-inch iPhone is estimated to have between 320 and 330 PPI due to the LCD panel, while the 6.5-inches model is said to have roughly 480 to 500 PPI, but the new report ...

Honor 8 to get EMUI 8.0 features ported, more devices to get EMUI 8.0 update confirmed

While Huawei is busying pushing Oreo update to its Huawei branded phones and flagships, the company is yet to start rolling out Oreo for Honor phones. The company recently clarified that Honor 8 won't be getting the Oreo update because of software limitations. The company has also confirmed the list of Honor phones that will be getting the Oreo update in China which also includes the Honor 8 confusing us even more. Android Police took the same confusion to Huawei, to which the company clarified that Honor 8 will be getting the EMUI 8.0 features ported instead of the Oreo update. Which is odd considering the Kirin 950 is a capable chipset to handle Oreo requirements. Though the company in response to AndroidPolice didn't really confirm that the device won't get the Oreo update, the wording sounded like the phone will be sticking to Nougat forever. Huawei in a statement said: To ensure Honor 8 users also benefit from the latest user experience upgrades, new functions of EMUI 8.0 will be ported to the Honor 8. Further update details will be released within one week. Please stay tuned and we thank you for your support and interest in Honor. On the other hand, rest of the Honor ...

Snapchat to soon let users share public Stories on the web

There were reports in December which claimed that Snapchat will soon let users share Stories outside the web through a new web player. Today the company has confirmed that the new share options will be available to users along with a new redesigned Snapchat app interface.  Users will have the ability to share the stories to their linked social media accounts, through text or email with a link to a webpage allowing the people who don't have Snapchat account view the photo or video story update. The company will add a new share option to Story tiles in its Discover section from where users can share the update anywhere. For the people who aren't into Snapchat to view the update, the company is also launching a desktop web viewer accessible over at Snapchat.com. The new share option will work for three varieties of public Stories which include its Official Stories, Our Stories, and Search Stories. Official stories are from the Snpachat verified accounts like media, sports, and entertainment organizations, etc. While stories usually last for 24 hours, Stories on the web are available for up to 30 days, not just 24 hours, Official Stories are available for only 24 hours, and search stories will ...

Instagram Stories gets GIF stickers from GIPHY

Instagram is rolling out new GIF stickers to Instagram Stories powered by  GIPHY. The new GIF stickers can be used to a photo or video in stories. You can explore and search the extensive collection of new GIF stickers to better express yourself.  The wide-range of GIF Stickers include bouncing letters, twirling hearts, dancing cats and pizza in space, making your photo or video Stories funny, interesting, and creative. The company also said that in the coming weeks it would be rolling out the ability to upload photo or video of any size to your story, so you don't miss out your friends from the frame while uploading. If you wish to upload the original photo, you can pinch to share it in its original dimensions, whether it’s square, portrait or landscape and any extra room in the frame will be filled with a custom color gradient that matches what you’ve shared. While this feature will be rolling out soon, the GIF stickers are currently available for Android and iOS with V29. Source

Audiobooks on Google Play launched for iOS, Android and Home speakers

Just two after being spotted in the Play Books V4 update, Audiobooks are now finally official. audiobooks are now available for Android, iOS, and Home speakers. It now join the list of movies, music, TV, and ebooks offerings from Google. It don't need any subscription and titles can be purchased directly from the Play Books app or Google Play Store. Google is also offering a free preview of the book and you can also share the audiobook with family members through Family Library for no additional fee even if there are reading from a different device. Furthermore,  Playbooks also gets support from Assistant and will respond to command "Ok Google, read my book" to listen to the book hands-free on Android phones, Home Speakers. Assistant can also respond to queries like "Who is the author"  or "Ok Google, stop playing in 20 minutes." However,  Assistant on Android Auto in the U.S is not available just yet but will be coming soon, said Google. Audiobooks also work cross-platform giving you the flexibility to continue from you left off. As an introductory offer, Google is offering 50% on selected audiobooks. You can explore the list of audiobook titles available from here. It is available across 45 countries including India. Source

Honor 9 Lite vs Xiaomi Mi A1

Huawei's online brand Honor has been in headlines quite consistently past few month for launching an array of smartphones in quick successions. Anyone who follows Honor's progress will know that the company has gone for aggressive pricing towards its devices be it mid-range (Honor 7X) or high-end (Honor View 10). Exactly 13 days after the launch of its AI-equipped Honor View 10 smartphone, Huawei's online brand launched the successor of Honor 8 Lite under mid-range segment. Billed as Honor 9 Lite it comes with quad cameras and gorgeous design language, which is far better than most of the smartphones with metal unibody design at this price segment. The Honor 9 Lite comes in Black, Blue, Grey and Black colors, is priced at Rs. 10,999 for the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version and the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version costs Rs. 14999. On the other hand, Xiaomi launched its Mi A1  smartphone in collaboration with Google, as a part of Android One program in India at a price tag of Rs. 14,999, which now costs around Rs. 13,999. Since both the smartphones fall under the same segment, we set both the smartphones against each other in various departments including Design, Display, Performance, Software, Camera, ...