Samsung Gear S3 and Gear Sport Value pack update brings Health, UI, app improvements and more

Samsung has announced new value pack update to Gear S3 and Gear Sport which brings Galaxy Watch functions. The update brings 20 indoor workouts, allowing the smartwatch to track 39 different types of exercise. The update also simplifies the sleep notifications that users receive when they wake up in the morning. Of the new 39 types of exercises, eight workouts are listed as default and users are able to customize the list to display their exercises of choice. The devices can also record a series of exercises in succession and these back-to-back workouts are available to view at a glance immediately after a workout. As for the sleep notifications, users receive when they wake up in the morning with a “View Detail” button that offers a more detailed breakdown of their sleep time, three-movement states and weekly record. Sleep Widget is also supported, providing a brief log of the previous night’s sleep. The Quick Panel displays eight settings, modes or icons at a time, and can be customized according to user preferences. Users can now choose from even more items to display on the Quick Panel, including BT Headset and Find My Phone, facilitating more efficient device interactions. To prevent disturbances during important ...

Samsung 3T2 Ultra-Slim 20MP 1/3.4-inch ISOCELL sensor for hole-in display smartphones announced

Samsung Electronics has introduced ISOCELL Slim 3T2; its smallest high-resolution image sensor. It is the industry's most compact image sensor at  1/3.4 inches and 0.8μm-pixels, said the company. The ISOCELL Slim 3T2 delivers 20-megapixel resolution for both front and back cameras for mid-range phones.  It promises high color fidelity by adopting Samsung’s ISOCELL Plus technology that enables sensors to capture and absorb more light information for accurate color reproduction even with sub-micrometer-sized pixels. In order to support smartphones with the latest display features such as the ‘hole-in display’ or ‘notch design,’ front-facing image sensors need to minimize their size. The 1/3.4-inch 3T2 snuggly fits into a tiny module making more space for the display. As for the rear-facing multi-camera settings for telephoto solutions, the 3T2 adopts an RGB color filter array instead of Tetracell technology. Compared to a 13MP sensor with the same module height, the 20MP 3T2 retains 60% higher effective resolution at 10x digital zoom that presents clearer and more accurate results, says the company. The Samsung ISOCELL Slim 3T2 is expected to be enter mass production in the first quarter of 2019. Jinhyun Kwon, vice president of System LSI sensor marketing at Samsung Electronics said: The ISOCELL Slim 3T2 is our smallest and most versatile ...

Telegram v5.2 update expands group limit to 200,000 members, ability to recover deleted chats and more

Telegram is bringing new group permissions which would allow admins to restrict all members from posting specific kinds of content. Or even restrict members from sending messages altogether. Telegram is bumping up the group limit to 200,000 members. To make managing groups more enjoyable, Telegram has streamlined all group interfaces, including the Settings screens, Admin pan, ls and Member lists. Supergroups and basic groups are now simply groups. Telegram will no show a prompt when you are about to delete chat or clear chat history; you'll get a detailed confirmation dialog and an option to restore the chat within the next 5 seconds. Telegram now lets you sort your contacts by names, by last seen time on both iOS and Android. To speed up the large media downloads, Telegram is improving its animation algorithms and adding an ultra-light thumbnail to each photo and video. The Android app also allows you to set up a profile picture when you create an account. The new group permissions also work in Telegram Desktop. Additionally, version V1.5.8 introduces support for automatically downloading files and music and choosing input and output devices for Telegram Calls. Source

Google to introduce India Political Ads Transparency Report and Ads Library ahead of Lok Sabha Election 2019

Ahead of Lok Sabha Election 2019, Google has announced that it will introduce India-specific Political Advertising Transparency Report and searchable Political Ads Library in March 2019. These will provide comprehensive information about who is purchasing election ads on Google's platforms and how much money is being spent. Google says that these will help people better understand the election advertising they see. In addition, election ads on Google platforms will also disclose who has paid for the ad. Google also said that it will make electoral information from the Election Commission of India and other authoritative sources easily discoverable on Search. Facebook has already announced a similar set of tools for India last month. Chetan Krishnaswamy, Director Public Policy, Google India in a blog post, said: We’re thinking hard about elections and how we continue to support democratic processes in India and around the world. Today’s updates are a step forward in this direction, and we will continue to invest in initiatives that build further on our commitment towards election transparency.

Android Q said to bring more ways for carriers to SIM lock your phone

Android Q has been in the news for the past week and some of the changes include system-wide dark mode and new permissions settings. However, there seems to be a downside as the new code changes suggest that the network carriers will have more ability to lock your phone down to specific networks via your SIM card. Four commits were posted to various parts of Android's Gerrit source code management, entitled “Carrier restriction enhancements for Android Q.” In them, it is evident that the network carrier will have more fine-grained control over which networks devices will and will not work on. It will be possible list down “allowed” and “excluded” carriers. It is even possible to allow blocking virtual carrier networks that run on the same towers as your main carrier. Changes are also on the way for dual-SIM devices. At the moment, carriers can set individual restrictions for each SIM slot, but with Android Q, carriers will be able to lock out the second slot unless there’s an approved SIM card in the first slot. This SIM lock restriction is applied immediately and will persist through restarting the phone and even doing a factory reset. However, in both cases, emergency phone calls will still work as expected, ...

Motorola RAZR smartphone with foldable display patent surfaces

Lenovo-owned Motorola is said to be working on reviving the RAZR series with a foldable display. The device is even rumored to go official in February, now we have our first look at what looks like Motorola RAZR courtesy of a recent registration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). The design was filed on December 17th, 2018. It shows a device with a folding screen on the inside, alongside a second smaller screen on the outside. Though the RAZR name does not appear anywhere on Motorola Mobility’s registration, cut  the design bears resemblance to the iconic handset. Where the combination of screen and buttons were present on the old design is now replaced by a single long, folding screen. Commenting on the revival of RAZR phone, the RAZR V3’s co-designer Paul Pierce said: “there was an opportunity” to resurrect the old phone, but that “it can’t be done just for a gimmick or something of that nature. We’ve got to figure out how to deliver a breakthrough.” Since the foldable smartphones are the next breakthroughs in the mobile industry, the timing couldn't be any perfect. Earlier rumor said that it will launch in the US exclusively on Verizon at a $1500 price tag. Sadly though, we don't know much about ...

Vivo Y89 with 6.26-inch FHD+ 19:9 display, dual rear cameras, 16MP front camera announced

Vivo has announced Y89, the company’s latest smartphone in the Y series in China. It has similar specifications as last year's Z1 Lite that includes a 6.26-inch FHD+ 19:9 2.5D curved glass display with a notch, Snapdragon 626 with 4GB RAM, Android 8.1 (Oreo) with Funtouch OS 4.0, 16-megapixel rear camera along with a secondary 2-megapixel camera to capture the depth information for portrait shots, 16-megapixel front camera with A.I face beauty, face unlock, metal and glass design, dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and a 3260mAh battery. Vivo Y89 specifications 6.26-inch (2280 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 IPS display 2.2GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 626 Mobile Platform with Adreno 506 GPU 4GB RAM, 32GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD) Funtouch OS 4.0 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo) 16MP rear camera with LED flash, secondary 2MP camera 16MP front-facing camera Fingerprint sensor Dimensions: 154.81 x 75.03 x 7.89mm ; Weight: 149.3g 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS 3260mAh battery The Vivo Y89 comes in  Aurora Blue and Black with Gold colors, is priced at an MOP of 1396 yuan (US$ 205 / Rs. 14,660 approx.) and will go on sale in China ...

OPPO schedules MWC 2019 event for February 23 to showcase 10x lossless zoom technology

OPPO introduced its 10x hybrid lossless zoom technology at an event in China last week. It already said that it will demo the technology at the MWC next month, now it has sent out invites for the event on February 23rd. This uses triple-camera solution consisting of "Ultra Wide Angle + Ultra Clear Master + Telephoto". The ultra-wide-angle camera has an equivalent focal range of 15.9mm, primary camera guarantees photo quality, and the telephoto camera, with 159mm equivalent focal range, combined with the original "peep-up periscope structure" is responsible for the high-magnification 10x lossless zoom. It has OIS optical image stabilization on both standard and telephoto cameras. Regarding the periscope design and the durability of the design, OPPO said: The periscope-inspired design makes full use of the width and thickness of the phone through the lateral arrangement and refraction of the lens set. The space is saved, and the mobile phone can use a larger optical component under the premise of ensuring that the mobile phone body is thin and light, so that the mobile phone has a telephoto shooting capability. In addition, OPPO uses the industry benchmark-level drop tests to ensure the reliability of the camera module. Among them, the prism part experienced two rounds ...

Airtel launches Rs. 1699 package with 1GB data per day, unlimited calling with 365 days validity

In a move to tackle Jio, Airtel has launched a new long-term recharge plan for its prepaid users in India. Under this package, users get unlimited calling, 1GB data per day, and SMS benefits like the rest of the combo packages for 365 days.  The new package costs Rs. 1,699 with a validity of 365 days. With this new plan, Airtel is competing with Jio which is also giving a year-long package at the same price. The Airtel's Rs. 1,699 recharge plan is also available in an open market manner. Apart from offering unlimited calling, 1GB data per day, and SMS benefits, the plan also gives access to premium content subscription on the Airtel TV app for free. Though the package is reportedly available in an open market area, we weren't able to spot the new package in Airtel's website yet. Despite the same price, Jio has an edge since it offers 1.5GB data per day, compared to 1GB data on Airtel.

Samsung Exynos 7 Series 7904 Octa-Core 14nm processor with support for triple rear cameras announced

Samsung has announced its Exynos 7 Series 7904 processor for its mid-range smartphones targeted at Indian market. This includes support for triple-camera support and supports single-camera resolution of up to 32-megapixels (MP). The company said that the third camera in a smartphone can take panoramic pictures with wide angles or add bokeh effects for aesthetic blur in portraits. It is built on 14-nanometer (nm) process, similar to other Exynos 7 Series 7904 processors, but this uses dual Cortex-A73 cores that run at 1.8-gigahertz (GHz), and six Cortex-A53 cores at 1.6 GHz. Highlights of Samsung Exynos 7 7904 SoC Octa Core – 1.8GHz x 2 ARM Cortex-A73 CPUs + 1.6GHz x 6 ARM Cortex-A53 CPUs Mali-G71 MP2GPU 14nm LPP FinFET process technology LTE Cat. 12 3CA download speeds of up to 600Mbps, Cat.13 2CA upload speeds of up to 150Mbps (UL) Up to Full HD+ (2400x1080) display resolution Up to 4K 30fps encoding and decoding with HEVC(H.265), HEVC(H.265), H.264 and VP8, and decoding with VP9 Up to 32MP for both rear and front cameras, Dual Camera 16MP+16MP, advanced triple-camera setup for high-resolution imaging LPDDR4x memory, eMMC 5.1 Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz) , Bluetooth 5.0, FM Radio GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo) solution to achieve positioning accuracy Samsung has started Exynos ...