Xiaomi sold over 8.5 million devices worth US$ 1 Billion in one month during festive sales

Xiaomi India  just announced that it sold over 8.5 million devices, including over 6 million smartphones, over 400k Mi TVs and over 2.1 million cosystem products & accessories during Mi Diwali sale in a month - from October 9th to 8th November across mi.com Amazon.in, Flipkart, Mi Home stores and offline stores in India. Xiaomi also said that it remained number one across most of the categories on Amazon and Flipkart and was best-seller in Smartphones, TVs, Wearables, Powerbanks, Home Security, Air Purifier and more categories. Redmi Note 5 Pro was the best-selling smartphone on Flipkart during the festive period. Redmi 6A was the best selling smartphone on Amazon during the festive 30 day period #1 bestseller in smartphone category Mi LED TVs: #1 bestseller in the TV category Mi Band 3: #1 bestseller in the Wearable category Mi Power Bank: #1 bestseller in the powerbanks category All 10 best-selling smartphones on Amazon.in were Xiaomi phones Mi Air Purifier 2S was also in high demand, witnessing sales that were 4.5 times of that done last year across platforms. Raghu Reddy, Head of Categories and Online sales, Xiaomi India said: Festive season sales in India have always been a defining moment in Xiaomi India’s journey. Last ...

Alibaba’s singles day global shopping festival 2018 generated $30.8 billion in 24 hours

Alibaba Group has announced that it generated RMB 213.5 billion that is equivalent to $30.8 billion of gross merchandise volume on November 11th on the occasion of the singles day. This is an increase of 27% compared to 2017. That's a wrap on 11.11 2018! GMV: RMB 213.5 billion, or USD 30.8 billion. pic.twitter.com/isGa7diREM — Alibaba Group (@AlibabaGroup) November 11, 2018 The total GMV settled through Alipay is around RMB 213.5 billion (US$30.8 billion), an increase of 27% compared to 2017. Cainiao Network processed more than 1 billion delivery orders where more than 180,000 brands participated during the sale. Over 40% of consumers who made purchases are international. 237 brands exceeded RMB100 million in GMV, including leading international brands Apple, Dyson, Kindle, Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, Nestlé, Gap, Nike, and Adidas. Top selling countries to China include Japan, the United States, South Korea, Australia, and Germany. Lazada participated in 11.11 as part of the Alibaba ecosystem, bringing the festival to consumers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The 11.11 shopping festival began in 2009 with participation from just 27 merchants. Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group said: Today we witnessed the strength and rise of China’s consumption economy and consumers’ continued pursuit to upgrade their everyday lifestyles. Participation from ...

Microsoft acquires Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment gaming studios

Microsoft has announced that it has agreed to acquire two new game development studios; Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment. Obsidian Entertainment was founded in 2003 by industry veterans from Black Isle Studios, led by Feargus Urquhart. As for inXile Entertainment, it is a team of industry veterans with decades of PC and RPG expertise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suvxb0OfhpQ The Obsidian Entertainment studio quickly made a name for itself with the Xbox exclusive Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Over the last fifteen years, they have delivered genre-defining RPGs to players on both console and PC through titles including Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and Pillars of Eternity. Microsoft clarified that both the studios will continue to operate autonomously. As part of Microsoft Studios, Obsidian and inXile will have the support and freedom to fully realize their creative ambitions on both existing franchises and new RPG projects. Together, the two new studios bolster Microsoft Studios to now include 13 distinct and diverse game development teams. Source

Apple’s 2019 iPhones said to come with new combination of antenna technology: Kuo

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out with yet another investors note that mostly covers antenna technology for the 2019 iPhones. The company is said to move away from the Liquid Crystal Polymer antenna technology, and shift towards a new combination of Modified PI tech. The reason behind this move can be several, for one the company is said to have “lower bargaining power” against LCP material suppliers. However, it’s also more difficult to introduce additional LCP suppliers due to the “complicated production process.” Kuo, further said that LCP is more “brittle” than alternatives and thus has issues with yield rate and improving that yield rate could potentially lower the antenna’s performance. As for the performance of Modified PI antenna, Kuo says that performance “can be as good as LCP thanks to the improved fluoride formula.” The 2019 iPhones will adopt four MPI antennae and two LCP antennae. According to Kuo, the number of suppliers for MPI antennae for the 2019 iPhones will be five. This gives Apple improved bargaining power, with the suppliers having to compete on price. The LCP antennae tech used in the 2019 iPhones will be supplied “exclusively by the Japanese supplier thanks to its better vertical integration.” Kuo says that both LCP and MPI ...

Samsung One UI coming to Galaxy S8, Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note8

Samsung introduced the One UI last week along with Infinity Flex for foldable smartphones. The new skin is aimed at making the navigation much easier and designed around how we use our phones in the day-to-day. One UI will replace the current Experience UI which was originally known as TouchWiz.  The message is accurate, from a senior Samsung official — Ice universe (@UniverseIce) November 9, 2018 As expected, Samsung's One UI comes to the newest flagships including the Galaxy S9, S9 Plus, Galaxy Note 9. However, in the new update, the One UI will also come to last year's Samsung Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, and Note 8 as well.  Samsung is currently accepting sign-ups for the beta of One UI, through the Samsung Members application which can be downloaded from Galaxy Apps or the Google Play Store. After downloading, log in, go to Notices and select “One UI Beta Program Registration” to submit an application. The One UI to S9, S9 Plus, and Note 9 will be available sometime later this month. Samsung confirmed that One UI will roll out in its stable version early next year, most likely along with the release of Android 9 Pie for the devices. Though we don't know when the One UI would ...

Xbox to get support for Keyboard and Mouse starting November 14th

Microsoft back in September announced that it would soon bring support for mouse and keyboard to Xbox One and it looks like it's here. The company mentioned that it would launch on November 14th. Epic Games' Fortnite will be the first title to offer the support along with Warframe.  Furthermore, Bomber Crew, Deep Rock Galactic, Strange Brigade, Vermintide 2, War Thunder and X-Morph Defense will get the support in November, and Children of Morta, DayZ, Minion Master, Moonlighter, Vigor, Warface, and Wargroove adding support in the future. All the developers will have the tools they need to create tailored mouse and keyboard experiences for their games. Microsoft also announced the general availability of the Xbox Game Pass app on iOS and Android. It is also making games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) available to all members beginning on November 12. The company also shared additional details about the Designed for Xbox devices, which include an Xbox keyboard and dynamic lighting. Razer will be the exclusive partner, and the company intends to introduce them at the CES 2019 event. The mouse and mechanical keyboard combo will also be wireless. The company announced that the Xbox Adaptive Controller will launch in 17 new markets in 2019, including Mexico. New countries to offer the ...

Sony Xperia XZ Premium, Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact Android 9.0 (Pie) stable update finally starts rolling out

Sony has started rolling out the Android 9.0 Pie update to the Xperia XZ Premium, Xperia XZ1, and Xperia XZ1 Compact as it had promised. At the moment, the update is rolled out in batch-wise in specific regions, and model number, but should have widened release in the coming days. The update brings the model number 47.2.A.0.306. It also brings October 2018 Android security patch. Since the update was due in October but got delayed due to last minutes bugs and this is why we suspect Sony didn’t push the update with the latest November security patches. The new update brings Sony’s new camera interface, Full HD 960fps slow-motion video support and HDR video image enhancement (X-Reality with HDR converter). Selfie camera display flash is also included. However, Sony hasn't updated the interface with gestures and you will have to rely on navigation buttons. Other inclusions in Pie include Adaptive Battery power prioritization for users’ most commonly used apps/services, Adaptive and optimized brightness levels, Predictive Application Actions and more. Since the update just started rolling out, it might take a few days to a couple of weeks time to complete the rollout. Source

Samsung Galaxy J4 Core Android Oreo (Go edition) smartphone with 6-inch Infinity display official

After an online listing, Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy J4 Core (SM-J410F), the company latest Android Oreo (Go edition) smartphone. It has a 6-inch HD+ display, is powered by a quad-core SoC with 1GB of RAM, comes with an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera both with LED flash. It will doesn’t come with Fingerprint sensor or Face Unlock. It has a 3300mAh battery on board. Samsung Galaxy J4 Core rumored specifications 6-inch (1480 x 720 pixels) HD+ TFT display 1.4 GHz Quad-Core processor 1GB RAM, 16GB storage, expandable memory up to 512GB with microSD Android 8.1 Oreo (Go edition) Dual SIM 8MP rear camera with LED flash, f/2.2 aperture 5MP front-facing camera with LED flash, f/2.2 aperture Dimensions: 160.6 x 76.1 x 7.9mm; Weight: 177g 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, GPS 3300mAh battery The Samsung Galaxy J4 Core comes in Black, Gold and Blue colors. No details about the pricing or availability yet. Source

Samsung W2019 with Dual 4.2-inch 1080p Super AMOLED displays, Snapdragon 845, Dual 12MP rear cameras announced

Samsung has announced W2019 (SM-W2019), its latest premium Android Flip phone in China. It has dual 4.2-inch 1080p Super AMOLED displays, so that you can use the phone even when it’s closed, is powered by Snapdragon 845 with 6GB RAM and has dual 12-megapixel rear cameras with the primary sensor that uses f/1.5 aperture for night shots for a brighter picture and f/2.4 aperture for normal shots in daytime. It has a 3D glass and metal design, has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and packs a 3,070mAh battery. Samsung W2019 specifications 4.2-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Super AMOLED dual displays Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC with Adreno 630 GPU 6GB RAM, 128GB / 256GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 512GB with microSD Android 8.0 (Oreo) Hybrid dual SIM (nano + nano/microSD) 12MP rear camera with LED Flash, f/1.5 or f/2.4 aperture, OIS, secondary 12MP camera with f/2.4 aperture 8MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture Fingerprint sensor Dimensions: 132.9 x 63.4 x 17.3mm: 257g 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2X2 MIMO), Bluetooth 4.2 LE, GPS + GLONASS, NFC, USB Type-C 3,070mAh battery The Samsung W2019 comes in Rose Gold and Platinum colors, is priced at 18,999 yuan (US$ 2729 / Rs. 1,98,720 approx.) for the base 128GB version and is on sale in ...

Xiaomi Redmi 6A, Redmi 6 32GB, Mi LED TV 4C Pro 32″, 4A Pro 49″ and 10000mAh Mi Power Bank 2i get a price hike in India

After Redmi Note 5 Pro and Mi TV 4 55-inch 4K TV price hike earlier this year, Xiaomi India MD Manu Jain today announced that it will increase the price of Redmi 6, Redmi 6A, 10000mAh Mi Powerbank 2i and Mi TV (32" Pro & 49" Pro) from today midnight. Xiaomi blames depreciation of the rupee (by ~15% since the beginning of the year) for the significant increase. The company at the launch of Redmi 6 and 6A smartphones and Mi LED TV 4 Pro series said that it might increase the price of the devices qafter two months. Mi Fans! INR has depreciated against US$ by ~15% since the beginning of this year, resulting in significant rise in input costs. We are adjusting the prices of Redmi 6, Redmi 6A, Mi Powerbank 2i & Mi TV (32" Pro & 49" Pro). Aiming to always provide honest price! Details below: pic.twitter.com/ldOQasO4IH — Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) November 10, 2018 Xiaomi Redmi 6A (2GB + 16GB) - Rs. 6599 (Rs. 600 increase) Xiaomi Redmi 6A (2GB + 32GB) - Rs. 7499 (Rs. 500 increase) Xiaomi Redmi 6 (3GB + 32GB) - Rs. 8499 (Rs. 500 increase) Xiaomi Mi LED TV 4C Pro 32" - Rs. 15999 (Rs. 1000 increase) ...