Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro launched in China with f/1.9 aperture camera, Dual 4G VoLTE, Android Oreo, USB Type-C, Quick Charge 3.0

Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 5 Pro smartphone in India last month. The company launched the phone in China today as Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera. Even though the phone has the same 5.99-inch Full HD+ 2.5D curved glass screen, Snapdragon 636 SoC with up to 6GB RAM, Hybrid Dual SIM slot, 4000mAh battery and comes with 12-megapixel rear camera with 1.25μm pixel size sensor, but this has a f/1.9 aperture camera compared to f/2.2 in the Indian version. It also has Dual PD dual-core speed focus for fast and accurate focus. The secondary rear camera is the same 5-megapixel unit . However it has a 13-megapixel front camera compared to the 20-megapixel unit in the Indian version. The Chinese version also runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with Treble support, comes with USB Type-C and also has Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 compared to micro USB with Quick Charge 2.0 in the Indian version. It also has Dual 4G VoLTE support for both the SIM cards, which the Indian version lacks. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (AI Dual Camera) specifications 5.99-inch (2160 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 18:9 2.5D curved glass display with 450 nits Brightness, 84% NTSC Color Gamut, 1500: 1 Contrast Ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Protection ...

Spotify said to be testing native voice search, possibly suggesting smart speaker

Spotify is currently said to be testing native voice search in the iOS app that is possibly suggesting integration with a Spotify-built smart speaker. A spokesperson has confirmed the same to TechCrunch saying the testing is 'just for now.' Currently, the testing is only done on iOS and you will be seeing a white bubble with a microphone icon on the bottom right of your screen when you're in the 'Search' tab. Since it is testing, only a small set of users have access currently. A Spotify user who has found the voice search feature has also posted a video. Going by the video, the feature seems to be in good shape and has the ability to access music several different ways. https://youtu.be/0jIfEvv-M8M This feature is definitely handy as it eliminates the need for typing while you are on the go wearing microphone headphones. Though Snapchat tested the Driving mode over a year ago, it never rolled out anything related to it, but an Android user who dug up the APK has found the files separately for the driving and voice search modes, indicating that the new voice interface isn’t just an iteration on driving mode. This could mean that Spotify might be working on its own interface for ...

OPPO F7 with 6.2-inch FHD+ full-screen display, 25MP front camera launching in India on March 26

Update: OPPO has sent out invites for the launch of OPPO F7 smartphone on March 26th. It says that it will have "the best artificial intelligence". It also said that it will be launched by 3 cricket starts - Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin.  It has also confirmed AI selfie, Cover Shot and AR (Augmented Reality) stickers for the phone.. OPPO launched F5, a selfie-focused smartphone in the 'F series' India back in November last year. Today the company has confirmed that it will launch its successor - OPPO F7 in the country on March 26th, skipping the F6. It has also teased the phone with an image that shows full-screen display with a notch and minimal bezels, similar to the OPPO R15 that will launch in China later this month. OPPO is also teasing its brand ambassador for the phone and asks its fans to guess the cricketer who is likely to be Hardik Pandya. The company has not revealed any specifications of the phone officially, but a report from ET recently said that the phone will feature a 6.2-inch Full HD+ 19:9 display with 89.09% screen-to- body-ratio. It is also said to come with a 25-megapixel front-facing camera with improved Artificial Intelligence features ...

Sony Xperia XZ2 and XA2 series get A/B Seamless System updates

Sony has introduced the Seamless System updates feature to the Xperia XZ2 and XA2. Seamless System updates are the feature that Google introduced back during Nougat days. However, the feature never caught up and has not seen wide support from manufacturers. It's only the Pixel phones that have support for seamless updates until now. Any Android smartphone that features Seamless System updates will have two partitions; A and B and when a firmware update arrives, it is downloaded and installed on the second inactive partition. Once the update is downloaded and installed, the phone will boot into the newly updated firmware. The key motive behind this feature is user can continue using his phone during an OTA (over-the-air) update installation process with very little downtime. Moreover, it also reduces the risk of errors on a new OTA firmware and if something does happen during the update process, the phone will boot into the old partition, until the new update is tried again. Currently, Sony Xperia 2018 phones have support for the seamless updates and we expect to see the support in more premium phones in the days to come. Source

Google Play Protect took down over 39 million apps from Play Store in 2017

Google today released 4th annual "Android security year in review," and announced that its Play Protection technology has successfully taken down over 39 million from Play Store in 2017. Play protect was announced back in May 2017 at the I/O event. Play protect feature meant to shield users from Potentially Harmful Apps, and the company says that it automatically reviews more than 50 billion apps, other potential sources of PHAs, and devices themselves and takes action when it finds any. Around 60.3% of all the potentially Harmful Apps were detected via machine learning. This automatic review process removed over 39 million harmful apps last year. Google also updated the Play Protect technology to detect harmful apps that were installed when a device was offline or had lost network connectivity. Over 35% of new PHA installations happened in such scenarios. Offline scanning feature was enabled in October 2017 and have prevented over 10 million more harmful app installations. It also It reviewed 65% more apps that were newly submitted to the Play Store compared to 2016. Google also claims that app installations outside of Google Play dropped by more than 60%. Not just that, Google also worked with OEMs to provide monthly security patches and 30% more devices received security patches than in 2016. Though ...

Google officially rebrands Android Wear to Wear OS – List of watches getting updated to Wear OS

A few days ago there were reports about Google renaming Android Wear to Wear OS and today Google has officially announced that it indeed is renaming it to 'Wear OS by Google.' However, the company is just renaming with no functional changes, but at least it is an indication that Google is paying attention to the wearable platform. Surprisingly, Google is not taking anytime and users of Android Wear have already started seeing the change along with a new boot animation. Which bring us to the fact that there might be many other substantial changes coming along. Possibly Google will take I/O 2018 event as a platform to introduce more changes and announcements. Wear OS APK for Android wearable watches is already available and installing it will replace the Android Wear to Wear OS. Google has also released the list of every watch that will receive the Wear OS update, and it is very identical to the list of watches that have got the Android 8.0 Oreo. The list of smartwatches that will be getting the Wear OS includes Fossil Q Venture LG Watch Sport Louis Vuitton Tambour Michael Kors Sofie Montblanc Summit Hugo BOSS BOSS Touch Movado Connect Tommy Hilfiger 24/7 You Guess Connect Gc Connect Fossil ...

Spotify working on launching its music streaming service in India soon confirms CEO Daniel Ek

At the investors day presentation, Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek confirmed that the company is working launching its services in India. Apart from India, the company is also working on bringing its services to other major markets in the world like Russia, and Africa which according to Daniel has rich musical culture. However, CEO Daniel Ek didn't mention any specific details or the timeline for the India launch. The company also mentioned that it currently has 308 employees in aggregate in India and other countries including Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Singapore, Spain, Turkey and many others by the end of 2017.At the same presentation, chief marketing officer Seth Farbman claimed that the company's awareness in India is at 36% despite being not available. This was an obvious move from Spotify considering Amazon launched its prime music in India and Gaana raised a $115 million in funding. Spotify currently has 71 million paid subscribers and the company announced that it is going public that eliminates the need for a Wall Street bank or broker to underwrite a public offering along with any associated fees. Regarding Tencent Music partnership, in December, Spotify and Tencent Music bought minority stakes in each other for cash. However, Ek said the deal was purely a financial investment for the company. Spotify ...

Swiftkey 7.0 for Android and iOS brings new Toolbar, Stickers, GIFs and more; Location and Calendar sharing coming soon

Microsoft has updated Swiftkey app to version 7.0 for Android and iOS, which is a major update since it acquired it back in 2016. The update brings new Toolbar to easily access  Themes, Clipboard and more on Android and iOS. The toolbar replaces the existing Hub on Android. It also brings Stickers / Emoji that you can add your messages as they are, or edit them to add your own style and personality to a message and GIFs powered by GIPHY. It will also get new Location sharing and Calendar sharing features. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTkwnSkBrn4 The update also brings 8 new ‘Lish’ languages for Indian users. It has compatibility for over 40 Indian languages as well as transliteration and layout options. New features in Swiftkey 7.0 for Android and iOS Toolbar offers a new way to get faster and easier access to favorite SwiftKey features. Just tap the "+" on the left of the prediction bar to give it a try. Stickers gives even more ways to express yourself beyond words. Save your favorite Stickers – edited or otherwise – and access them later in Collections, found by tapping on the ‘pin’ icon on the Toolbar. (Only on Android) GIFs: express yourself and liven up your messages by ...

Huawei P20 Lite with 5.84-inch FHD+ 19:9 FullView display, dual rear cameras announced

After several leaks, Huawei has officially introduced the P20 Lite, the first smartphone in the P20 series in Czech Republic and the phone has been listed on official site in Poland, ahead of the official announcement of the P20 and P20 Pro on March 27th.  It packs a 5.84-inch FHD+ 19:9 screen with a notch, is powered by Kirin 659 with 4GB RAM, runs Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0 and has a 16-megapixel rear camera along with a 2-megapixel secondary camera for portrait shots. It has a 16-megapixel front camera with face beauty, features a fingerprint sensor on the back and a 3000mAh battery with fast charging. Huawei P20 Lite specifications 5.84-inch (1080 x 2280 pixels) Full HD+ 19: 9 2.5D curved glass display with  toughened glass protection Octa-Core Kirin 659 processor (4 xA53 at 2.36GHz + 4 x A53 at 1.7GHz) with MaliT830-MP2 GPU 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0 Single / Dual SIM 16MP rear camera with LED flash, secondary 2MP camera 16MP front-facing camera Fingerprint sensor Dimensions: 148.6×71.2×7.4mm; Weight: 145g 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS / GLONASS, NFC, USB Type-C 3000mAh (typical) / 2900mAh (Minimum) battery with fast charging The Huawei P20 Lite ...

Huawei Nova 2 lite with 5.99-inch FullView display, dual rear cameras, Android 8.0 announced

Huawei recently introduced Nova 2 lite, a budget version of the Nova 2 in Philippines and Singapore, now the phone is up for pre-order. It has similar specifications of the Honor 7C that was introduced in China earlier this week, including a 5.99-inch HD+ screen, Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0, 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel secondary camera for portrait shots with bokeh effect, but this is powered by Snapdragon 430 instead of Snapdragon 450. It has an 8-megapixel front camera with soft LED flash, fingerprint sensor on the back, comes with dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots and packs a 3000mAh battery. Huawei Nova 2 lite specifications 5.99-inch (1440 x 720 pixels) 18:9 FullView 2.5D curved glass display Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 ( 4 x 1.2 GHz Cortex A53 + 4 x 1.5 GHz Cortex A53) 64-bit Mobile Platform with Adreno 505 GPU 3GB RAM with 32GB internal storage, 4GB RAM with 64GB storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0 Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD) 13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/2.2 aperture, secondary 2MP camera 8MP front-facing camera with LED flash,  f/2.0 aperture 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio Fingerprint sensor Dimensions: 158.3 ...