MediaTek Helio M70 7nm 5G Modem with up to 5Gbps download speeds announced, coming in 2019

MediaTek during the Computex 2018 last week in Taiwan silently introduced its M70, the latest 5G modem based on TSMC's 7nm process incorporating EUV technology. The company said that it has collaborated with NOKIA, NTT Docomo, China Mobile, Huawei, and other vendors. It supports 5G NR (New Radio) and will meet the latest 3GPP Release 15 standard specification (complete specification released in June) With 5Gbps transfer rate. MediaTek CEO Rick Tsai said that the company's R&D teams are actively working to create for consumers the best user experiences associated with 5G and AI.  Zhou Yujun, senior vice president and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), MediaTek said that that since MediaTek invested 5G R&D time much earlier than 4G, it also participated in the 3GPP organization's standard setting and discussion in 5G. MediaTek's development of 5G products enabled MediaTek 5G modems to be launched faster than 4G. The MediaTek Helio M70 is expected to ship in 2019. The company said that will reveal more details about the modem later this year, possibly at the IFA in a couple of months. Source 1, 2

Apple said to be lowering new iPhone component orders by 20%

Apple is said to have asked its suppliers to build "around 20 percent fewer" components for the upcoming iPhones that are set to debut in the second half of 2018, according to four sources of Nikkei . This move is an attempt to cautiously approach with the iPhone shipments in 2018 compared to 2017 orders.  Apple in 2017 said to have ordered around 100 million iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X production units and now the number is down to 80 million in 2018, according to the report, which corroborates with the recent claims made by Security analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, stating that all three new iPhones will ship in September 2018, despite some rumors said that the LCD model could launch slightly later. The company has also asked suppliers to prepare earlier for this year's OLED models to ensure that the smartphones can launch in September, and eliminate the iPhone X's like delay in November in 2017. The components for these smartphones will arrive at assemblers like Foxconn and Pegatron for final assembly in July, while the same will occur for the LCD model in August. It is a known fact that Apple is planning on launching three new iPhone models later this year;  a 6.5-inch "iPhone ...

Apple Music update with ‘Coming Soon’ section, album launch dates, and new artist profiles rolling out

Apple Music is getting a new update and it includes a series of new features including the new section called "Coming Soon," which allows subscribers to check out new albums that are about to be released. It is also listing the album launch dates as well. The coming soon section on iOS and Mac OS can be found in Browse tab > New Music > scroll down to find Coming Soon >. This hub lists artists from a variety of different genres. However, it only lists about 10 albums, so the coming soon section isn't entirely a reliable source for all the upcoming albums, but since Apple has started updating, we expect it will expand the list gradually. Lastly, the company is also adding artist profiles, for now showing up only in iTunes on macOS. These profiles have a slightly tweaked layout with artist portraits in circular bubbles, and a "Featured Release" that includes release dates. There's also a new Play button present next to the artist name, this was first noticed by iOS 12 beta testers and now it appears to be launching now for all Apple Music users. Coming soon tab and release dates have appeared for multiple users on iOS 11.4, as well as on macOS 10.13.4. With Apple ...

Weekly Roundup: Lenovo Z5, Asus ROG Gaming Phone, Honor Play, Xiaomi Redmi Y2, BlackBerry KEY2 and more

Lenovo this week introduced the Z5 smartphone along with the K5 Note and A5, Asus's ROG division introduced the ROG gaming phone, Honor introduced the Honor Play and Honor 9i 2018 edition, Xiaomi launched the Redmi Y1 smartphone, Motorola launched the Moto G6 and the Moto G6 Play smartphones, and lots more in our weekly roundup. Lenovo announced the Z5, the company’s latest mid-range smartphone in the ‘Z series’ in China, as it had promised. It packs a 6.2-inch Full HD+ display with 19:9 aspect ratio and a notch and 90% screen-to-body ratio, even though the company teased it as a bezel-less smartphone. It is powered by Snapdragon 636 with 6GB of RAM, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with ZUI 3.9 on top. It features a 16-megapixel rear camera along with an 8-megapixel secondary rear camera with AI support. It has an 8-megapixel camera on the front with AI beautification and face unlock. It comes with a glass back with 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass protection, anti-fingerprint coating and 6 Series aluminum metal frame and a fingerprint sensor on the back. It packs a 3300mAh battery with support for 15W fast charging. It Lenovo Z5 comes in Aurora Blue, Black and Indigo Blue colors, starts at 1299 yuan (US$ ...

Next-gen Apple Watch said to feature touch-sensitive solid-state buttons

Apple is said to be planning on bringing solid-state buttons that don’t move up and down but will sense the touch of a finger. The company will still stick to the button configuration, with a button and a digital crown placed on the side of the device, but the bottom will not physically click as before.  The buttons will react to users touch by physically moving back and forth and the new buttons will vibrate post fingertip using the Apple's haptic effect called the Taptic Engine. This switch from regular buttons to the solid-state buttons falls in-line with the conversion of the iPhone’s home button to a solid-state design with iPhone 7 in 2016. Apple has been consistently shifting its components such as MacBook trackpads and iPod control wheels from moving parts to solid-state technology. This could either be a part of the new Apple Watch that it will announce this fall, or, if not, will be included in the 2019 Watch. Solid-state buttons will make the Watch more water-resistant and also takes up less space in the design. Apple is also working on using the top of the buttons as sensors to gather health-related data such as heart rhythms. It is also said that the company's ...

Android P Beta 2 hints at possible wireless charging support; Pixel 2’s Active Edge said to return on Pixel 3

Google never throws hints at the features of its upcoming flagships this early, but with Google being the force behind the software that powers the flagships digging a little deep into the codes and strings revealed some interesting possibilities. The company recently rolled out the Android P beta 2 update to Pixel phones and within the update, there were traces that point at a new type of wireless charging dock support that we believe is in preparation for the Google Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 3 XL. Yesterday we had seen the live images of the Pixel 3 XL which showed a glass body design, while that doesn't necessarily mean it would have wireless charging support (OnePlus 6). However, the new code that was found in the latest Android P Developer Preview combined with the Pixel 3 XL information points at next Pixel will indeed have wireless charging support. Google in the Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) added a special sound that plays when you charge wirelessly and later Android versions differentiate between wireless and wired charging for charging indicators, so AOSP has had some level of recognizing wireless chargers for a while. Now it seems like Android P will expand this by adding a new class of devices under ...

Moto Camera updated with Google Lens, YouTube Live, Google Photos integration, new UI and more

Motorola has updated its camera app to version 7.2.19.8 that brings several new features including Google Lens support inside the camera app that brings object and landmark recognition, but this simply launches the Google app. This was announced by Google at the I/O, and Sony smartphones got the feature recently. The app is also fully integrated with Google Photos that lets you swipe left for sharing, editing, and backup tools, and it also now shows Best Shot or Portrait in the Google Photos library.  It adds easier zoom controls that lets you just swipe up and down in the viewfinder and  integration with YouTube Live. Check out the complete changelog below. Single finger up/down zoom Drag to focus with exposure UI Improved modes exit UI Combined front / rear camera settings UI Google Lens YouTube Live Bug fixes and stability improvements All these features are available for 2018 Motorola smartphone, and the update is available via Google Play.

Yahoo Messenger will shut down on July 17 after 20 years

Oath Inc today announced that it is shutting down Yahoo Messenger on July 17th and until then you continue to use the service normally. Yahoo Messenger is one of the first instant messaging apps on the market. The company says your Yahoo ID remains intact for other services like Mail and fantasy sports. While the company isn't specific about the shutdown but given the dominance of the WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and other chat applications it is understandable. Oath had also shut down AIM's AOL Instant messenger back in December last year. The company says that as communications landscape continues to change, it is focusing on building and introducing new communications tools that better fit consumer needs. Squirrel is a group messaging app that Yahoo started testing last month, so this new app will be replacing Yahoo messenger. The company mentioned that users can download the chat history on Messenger for the next six months from here. But the files can be saved locally but can't be imported to other platforms. Yahoo regarding the shutdown has said: There currently isn’t a replacement product available for Yahoo Messenger. We’re constantly experimenting with new services and apps, one of which is an invite-only group messaging app called Yahoo Squirrel (currently in beta). Source | Via

Huawei P20 Lite Review

Huawei introduced the Nova 3e back in March, which was launched in India as P20 Lite  along with the P20 Pro last month. Even though this might not have top-end specifications as the P20 or the P20 Pro, this has a similar notch design, glass-like finish on the back and a 24-megapixel front camera. Is the smartphone worth the price of Rs. 19,999? Let us dive into the review to find out. Box Contents Huawei P20 Lite smartphone in Klein Blue color 2-pin charger (5V-2A) USB Type-C Cable Headset SIM Ejector tool Clear protective case User manual and warranty information Display, Design, and Hardware The Huawei P20 Lite comes with a 5.84-inch Full HD+ LCD 2.5D curved glass display with a resolution of 1080 x 2280 pixels, pixel density of 432 PPI, 19:9 aspect ratio with a notch and a screen-to-body ratio of about 80%. The display is bright, offers good color reproduction, thanks to 96% NTSC super high-colour gamut, has good viewing angles and the sunlight legibility is good as well. It also has toughened glass for protection says the company with revealing which one it is. [gallery link="file" size="large" ids="255308,255309,255307"] Similar to the P20 and the P20 pro, this has an option to hide the notch at the top of the display that ...

Sony Xperia Ear Duo wireless headphones with Google Assistant and Siri integration starts rolling out globally

Sony at the MWC 2018 introduced the Xperia Ear Duo wireless headphones with noise-cancelling and Google Assistant and Siri integration. It went on pre-order in the U.S. back in February and went on sale lat month. Today the company has announced that the headphones have started rolling out through Xperia Store Online in select markets including UK, Ireland, France, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria and Belgium. The dual listening experience combines music that you are listening to environmental sounds for the richer sound experience. It can send audio notifications about your calendar, news headlines, and other topics to the headset. The intelligent “Daily Assist” feature recognizes the time, location and activities to offer relevant information throughout the day. The Sony’s in-house developed Spatial Acoustic Conductor, allows the sound generated behind the ear by the unit´s driver to be transmitted directly to the ear. It is powered by the Sony’s ultra-low power consuming CXD5602 chip and a sophisticated multi-sensor platform. Highlights of Sony Xperia Ear Duo Truly wireless freedom to keep you in tune with the world Smart assistance with contextual alerts - personalized information is delivered based on your whereabouts or your current activity ...