Apple said to be designing its own cellular modems for future iPhones

Apple is actively building its own cellular modem chip for future iPhones, according to reports. Apple said to have put engineers to work on the project close to its headquarters in Northern California. For several months, Apple has also been actively hiring engineers in San Diego. Since the wireless modems are complex, it could take Apple at least three years to ship iPhones with their own modems. Apple is already rumored to debut its first 5G-enabled iPhone in 2020, with an Intel modem, so the first iPhone with an Apple-designed modem could launch in 2021. This move will also help Apple to shift towards the in-house chip. The shift wouldn't be all that surprising, as Apple is currently in a legal battle with its former modem supplier Qualcomm over chip-related licensing fees. Intel will be the exclusive supplier of modems in the latest iPhones. For now, though, there's no timeline as to when these modems would make it to the market, but we will update you when we hear anything. Source

ADATA UE700 Pro USB 3.0 flash drive with up to 256GB storage, 360Mbps transfer speed announced

ADATA has launched the UE700 Pro USB flash drives that come in compact designs, high capacity and high performance. The UE700 Pro drives come in a metallic chassis and USB 3.0 Type-A in various storage options including 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB configurations. The 256 GB model features read and write speeds of respectively up to 360 MB/s and 180 MB/s, making it one amongst the fastest USB 3.0 flash drives ever released. However, ADATA didn't reveal which controller or flash memory it uses for its UE700 Pro. But it is logical to bet on the 3D NAND with a relatively high I/O speed. The UE700 Pro drives come in a brushed aluminum that is 7 mm thick, 63 mm long, and weighs 11 grams. The USB Type-A connector of the drive can be slid in and out to protect it while carrying. Though the company officially announced the drive, and it listed it on the website, but no exact date for launch is revealed yet. So, we expect it to hit various markets in the coming weeks. The company has not announced pricing yet.

Samsung to shutdown its mobile plant in China by the end of this year

Samsung Electronics announced that it will cease operations at one of its mobile phone manufacturing plants in China, owing to poor sales in China amid rising competition from lower-cost local rivals. Samsung has witnessed its shares in China shrink to 1 percent in the Q1 2018 of this year The company is losing its share to home-grown brands like Huawei. According to Counterpoint market research firm, Samsung’s share in China was around 15% at mid-2013. The factory currently employs about 2,600 people and is scheduled to be shut down by the end of this year.Samsung said that it would offer compensation packages to the employees and also provide opportunities to transfer to other Samsung facilities. The company of late has been focusing on low-cost countries like Vietnam and India for production. The company would continue to operate another Chinese phone factory in Huizhou, in the southern province of Guangdong. Samsung’s Tianjin plant produces 36 million mobile phones a year and the Huizhou plant makes 72 million units, while two of Samsung’s factories in Vietnam combined make 240 million units a year. Samsung in a statement said: As part of ongoing efforts to enhance efficiency in our production facilities, Samsung Electronics has arrived at the difficult decision to ...

Android users can now donate to charity through Google Play Store

Google, in time for the holidays season, has announced that users can make charitable donations to inspiring nonprofits from the Google Play Store. If you’re in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Taiwan, and Indonesia, you’ll see this update over the next few days. Google says that making a donation on Google Play is quick, easy and 100% of your contributions go directly to the nonprofits you choose. To donate, head over to play.google.com/donate from your mobile phone. Participating nonprofit organizations include the American Red Cross which is an organization that prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies. Other organizations include charity: water: charity: water, Doctors Without Borders USA, Girls Who Code, International Rescue Committee, Room to Read, Save the Children, UNICEF, World Food Program USA, World Wildlife Fund-US. As said, this will be available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Source

Samsung Notebook 9 Pen 2-in-1 PC with Intel Core 8th Gen i7 processor, 16GB RAM, built-in S-Pen announced

Samsung Electronics has announced the new Notebook 9 Pen 2-in-1 PC with a built-in S Pen. The Notebook 9 Pen is built with an all-metal and aluminum frame that can be taken anywhere. The S Pen reacts the moment it touches the display, thanks to reduced latency of up to 2x from the previous model.  The S Pen options are also customizable, it allows you to swap in your choice of three different pen tips to get the drawing to feel you prefer. The S Pen comes in the box, never needs to be charged and is stored directly into the PC. Your notes are saved instantly and can be shared and transported across the cloud. It is powered by the Intel 8th gen Core i7 processor. It comes with support for face and fingerprint log-in. The Samsung Notebook 9 Pen 2-in-1 PC comes in two variants; the base model sports a 13.3-inch Full HD display, while the other variant has a bigger 15-inch Full HD display and packs 16GB LPDDR3, 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD. It comes with two versatile Thunderbolt 3 ports and next-generation Gigabit WiFi support.  The speakers tuned by AKG and come with new ThunderAmp smart amplifier technology, you can smoothly increase the volume to the maximum capacity ...

MediaTek Helio P90 12nm Octa-Core SoC with APU 2.0 for 4x AI improvements, Dual 4G VoLTE announced

MediaTek has introduced Helio P90, the company's latest top-end SoC in the P-series, as it had promised. It is based on 12nm TSMC FinFET technology, same as the P60 and P70, but this comes with APU 2.0 with fusion AI to most complex AI apps and tasks while running multiple AI functions at the same time. It generates 1127GMACs for 4.6 times more performance than MediaTek Helio P60 & P70 for performing tasks with a breeze while being extremely power efficieny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS_Bv_YE-lk It has a two ARM Cortex-A75 2.2 GHz CPUs and six ARM Cortex-A55 2 GHz CPUs. It has IMG PowerVR GM 9446 GPU that promises up to 15% improvement compared to the Mali-G72 MP3 used in the Helio P60 and Helio P70. It supports up to 48MP camera, 45% larger than 8K resolution – with zero delay, 24+16MP dual rear cameras and has 480 fps slow motion video support. It can track and analyze actions and poses of multiple people in real-time. You can use AR avatars, analyze and perfect your cricket swing, detect multiple objects in a scene or shoot the best low-light and portrait (bokeh) photography. It supports 5-person human pose tracking, Full body avatar AR, 3D pose tracking, Multiple object and scene ...

OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition Hands On Impressions

Its hardly been a few weeks since the launch of the OnePlus 6T Thunder Purple edition and the company is back with yet another special edition. The McLaren Edition of the phone, however, is more than just a new colourway. With their partnership with McLaren, the focus is entirely on speed and that's just what OnePlus has worked on.  Let's get straight to the point. There are two big changes here. The RAM on the OnePlus 6T has been bumped up all the way to 10GB. Why? In an interaction with OnePlus, the company claimed that they've made optimizations to load game and app content from the ROM into the RAM. The top 100 apps on the Play Store have been tested for this though the company claims that any app with a large amount of data will benefit from the added amount of RAM. The other big change is Warp Charge 30. The next generation of Dash Charge, the new charging standard will charge your phone to 50% within 30 minutes and deliver a full charge in 59 minutes. While this is exclusive to the McLaren edition, you can expect it to be standard on the next main stream OnePlus smartphone. The ...

OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition with 10GB RAM, 30W Warp Charge launched in India for Rs. 50999

OnePlus just launched the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition in India, as it had promised. It was introduced at an event in UK yesterday, packs 10GB of RAM and 30 watt Warp Charge 30, OnePlus’ new charging standard that promises 50% charge in just 20 minutes of charge for a day’s use. That company has used new Integrated Circuits in both the charger and the phone, as well as finely tuned power management software without generating excessive heat. It has Papaya Orange finish that races around the bottom edge of the device before fading into the black. The pattern underneath the glass back of the phone is based on McLaren’s groundbreaking carbon fiber. Light streaks across the McLaren logo, illuminating and disappearing in an instant. In the box there is a book celebrating the history of both companies, Papaya Orange braided cord cable, McLaren’s logo, the iconic Speedmark, recreated in McLaren-designed F1 AA grade carbon fiber – the same material used in the McLaren MCL33 2018 Formula 1 car. OnePlus says that over six F1 cars’ worth of carbon fiber were used in the production of the Speedmarks. The phone has exclusive software animations, tuned to McLaren’s unique style and history. OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition specifications 6.41-inch (2340 × ...

Supercell releases Brawl Stars real-time multiplayer shooter game for Android and iOS globally

Supercell, creators of popular Clash of Clans and Clash Royale games announced Brawl Stars, a new 3v3 multiplayer shooter game back in June last year, it soft launched the game in select countries back in June this year. Today it has launched the game globally on both Android and iOS, as it had promised. In this game you can Battle with friends or solo across a variety of game modes in under three minutes. You can unlock and upgrade dozens of Brawlers with powerful super abilities, purchase and collect unique skins to stand out and show off in the arena. It has Full 3D Beautiful and dynamic environments and has familiar, responsive gameplay and controls. Download Brawl Stars (Free with in-app purchases) – Android  | iOS BATTLE IN MULTIPLE GAME MODES Gem Grab (3v3): Team up and out-strategize the opposing team. Collect and hold 10 gems to win, but get fragged and lose your gems. Showdown (Solo/Duo): A battle royale style fight for survival. Collect power ups for your Brawler. Grab a friend or play solo be the last Brawler standing in the rowdiest battle royale yet. Winner take all! Bounty (3v3): Take out opponents to earn stars, but don’t let them pick you off. The squad with the most stars ...

OnePlus 5 and 5T Android 9.0 (Pie) open beta update starts rolling out

OnePlus has released Android 9.0 (Pie) open beta update for its 5 and 5T smartphones (Open Beta 22 for the OnePlus 5 and Open Beta 20), ahead of stable roll out in the coming weeks. This comes after the OnePlus 6 got the stable Android Pie-based OxygenOS 9.0 update back in September. The update brings new navigation gestures for the 5T, Parallel Apps support for more phones, and more features. The OnePlus 5 / 5T Android 9.0 Pie beta update is 1.7GB in size and also includes Android security patch for November 2018. Check out the complete change log below. System Updated system to Android™ 9.0 Pie Brand new UI for Android Pie Brand new navigation gestures (this is only for 5T) Updated Android security patch to 2018.11 Optimizations for background app process handling Do Not Disturb mode New Do Not Disturb mode with adjustable settings Communication UI Improvements for emergency rescue Optimized UI for speed dial and calling interface Now able to assign a specific SIM for a specific contact or group of contacts when using dual SIM Parallel Apps Added support for more apps (Telegram, Discord, IMO, Uber, OLA) in parallel apps Weather Now able to switch dynamically to your current location ...