OPPO announces new initiatives at its Developer Conference 2019, to launch health platform along with Smartwatch in Q1 2020

OPPO Developer Conference (ODC) 2019 saw a bunch of new initiatives announced by OPPO aimed at building a worldwide ecosystem with developers and partners. The three main initiatives include the Gravity Plan 2.0, the Five System-level Capability Exposure Engines and the IoT Enablement Plan. The first initiative, Gravity Plan 2.0 will see OPPO investing RMB 1 Billion (~ Rs. 1014 crores) and is a continuation of the Gravity Plan that was launched last year at ODC 2108. It outlines OPPO's plan to reach out and support more outstanding developers in the major fields of applications, services, content and going global. The Five System-level Capability Exposure Engines is designed to enable developers improve OPPO's system level capabilities like Hyper Boost, Link Boost, CameraUnit, MediaUnit, and ARUnit. These improvements are designed at providing OPPO users with a smoother, quicker and enhanced software experience. The third announcement, the IoT Enablement Plan will be work along with the HeyThings IoT service platform to accelerate integration and convergence of IoT platforms. OPPO, along with the launch of its first smartwatch, will also debut its health platform to create a robust ecosystem with its partners next year.

Samsung Galaxy Fold successor with clamshell foldable design surfaces in live images

Samsung  at the Samsung Developer Conference 2019 (SDC19) back in October teased a new clam shell folding-screen form factor that it’s working on. Now the live images of the phone has surfaced in China. This shows the design of the phone that folds vertically to form a small and square form factor when closed. It also shows a punch-hole camera. You can also see dual cameras on the outside and a small screen that shows time. This will compete with the new Motrola Razr which was introduced last month. Earlier rumors revealed that the phone is codenamed ‘Bloom’ with the model number SM-F700F, and is said to feature a 6.7-inch foldable display and a 1-inch cover display. Recent rumors said that it will sport a 108MP 1/1.33-inch ISOCELL Bright HMX image sensor for the primary camera. The Galaxy Fold 2 is expected to be cheaper than the first-gen, and could be introduced at the Galaxy Unpacked event on February 18th. Source

LG UltraFine Display Ergo 4K, UltraGear Gaming 4K and UltraWide 144Hz QHD monitors announced ahead of CES 2020

LG Electronics is slated to launch their next generation Ultra series monitors during CES 2020 next year. The new Ultra series, part of its premium monitor segment, will feature three main models; the UltraFine for the professionals, UltraGear for the gamers and the UltraWide for the widescreen enthusiasts. The 2020 LG UltraFine Ergo Display, designed for professionals will be available with in a 32 inch variant at 4k resolution. The monitor will provide for a single USB-C solution for display, improved image fidelity and an ergonomic design. The LG Ergo stand can extend outward or positioned close to the wall, moved up to eye-level or lowered to the desk along with swivel options. The UltraGear Gaming 4K monitors will come in three sizes; 27, 34 and 38 inches. Featuring its ultra fast 1 millisecond Gray-to-Gray (GTG) IPS display, LG provides something unique for in the gaming monitor space. The 27 inch monitor refreshes at 144Hz and is capable of overclocking up to 160Hz. The 34 and 38 inch on the other hand refreshes at 160Hz out of the box. Lastly the UltraWide monitor is LG answer to all widescreen enthusiasts with its 38 inch 144Hz 4K G-Sync certified panel. The monitor Nano IPS ...

Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro MIUI Software Update Tracker [Update: MIUI 11.0.3.0 with bug fixes, November security patch]

Xiaomi launched the Redmi K20 Pro smartphone in India on July 17th running MIUI 10.3 Global Stable on top of Android 9.0 (Pie). Xiaomi doesn’t follow any fixed update frequency for the MIUI Global Stable ROM but on an average, the Global Stable ROM is updated once in 30-45 days. This post will help our readers in keeping track of MIUI updates for Redmi K20 Pro (codename ‘raphael’), also check out our Redmi K20 Pro content, Redmi K20 Pro Unboxing and First Impressions Redmi K20 Pro Carbon Black Photo Gallery Redmi K20 Pro Benchmarks and Gaming Review Redmi K20 Pro Review [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="large" ids="300716,300715"] MIUI Updates rolled out for the smartphone: [Dec 19, 2019]: Xiaomi has started rolling out  MIUI 11.0.3.0.QFKINXM update with November Android security patch. The update is 520MB in size and includes several fixes in Lockscreen and notification shade, Clock and fixes image overlapping in scrolling screenshots. [Download Link/ OTA from 11.0.1.0] [Nov 4, 2019]: Xiaomi has started rolling out Android 10 based MIUI 11 Stable 11.0.1.0.QFKINXM with October Android security patch for selected users. The update weighs around 2.2GB in size and brings MIUI 11 features such as New Minimalistic Design, Quick Replies, New Dynamic Sound Effects, Mi Share, Floating Calculator, Update ...

OnePlus 6 and 6T OxygenOS 10.3.0 update brings option to hide the notch area, fingerprint unlocking and camera improvements and more

OnePlus has started rolling out new OxygenOS 10.3.0 update for the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T smartphones that brings several new features including an option to hide the notch area along with several fixes in screen lock, navigation bar, Digital Wellbeing and issues in WiFi 5GHz networks. Fingerprint unlock is now faster with slight improvement in fingerprint animation. The OnePlus 6 and 6T OxygenOS 10.3.0 OxygenOS 10.3.0 update is about 300MB in size and also includes Android security patch for November 2019. Check out the complete changelog below. System Updated system to Android 10 Brand new UI for Android 10 Fixed the automatic reboot issue Added the notch area display option in the Settings (Settings - Display - Notch display - Hide the notch area) Fixed the issue with lock screen appearing even after unlocking the device with the password Fixed the issue with Navigation bar after upgrade Fixed the Digital wellbeing option missing in the settings Updated Android security patch to 2019.11 Fingerprint Fingerprint unlock functionality improvement Enhanced the fingerprint animation Camera Camera performance improvement Wifi Connectivity Fixed the issue of Wifi connection to 5Ghz networks Source 1, 2

Now you can share multiple photos in a single story on Instagram with Layout

Instagram has introduced a new feature for everyone in Stories that lets users capture and share multiple photos in a single story from within the app itself. Via an app update, users will be able to post up to 6 photos in a single story through a simple interface that lets users choose between different layouts. Layout can be accessed via swiping to the end of the many features present in Instagram. There are currently 6 different layouts options, having space for 2 to 6 photos, with different orientation options. Once users have clicked or added each photo individually to a particular layout, they will be able to use Instagram's regular editing suite for adding texts, stickers and more. The feature is likely to become popular with users as previously they would require third party apps to create something like this. Instagram has been slowly adding features to its Stories, features like Create mode that lets users interact with their followers through polls, etc. It seems like Instagram will continue to expand these features in the future, capturing more users for its platform. Source

Redmi 9 with upcoming Helio G70 SoC said to launch in Q1 2020

It has just been two months since the launch of Redmi 8 smartphone, now details about the upcoming Redmi 9 has surfaced. According to the latest rumors Xiaomi will move from Snapdragon SoCs to MediaTek for its budget smartphone. The Redmi 9 phone is said to be powered by the upcoming G70 SoC, which could be gaming equivalent to the P70 positioned below Helio G90 series. The Redmi Note 8 Pro was the first phone to be powered by MediaTek's Helio G90T SoC tartgeted at gaming, so the Redmi 9 will likely be the first in its segment to use Helio G70. It is said to feature a slightly larger 6.6-inch DoT notch display compared to the 6.22-inch screen on the Redmi 8 and come in 4GB RAM + 64GB storage version, but there should also be 3GB RAM + 32GB storage version. Other details such as camera and battery are unknown, but it will likely retain the 5000mAh battery and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. The Redmi 9 is said to be introduced sometime in Q1 2020, so it could be introduced sometime in March, looking at the company's 5-month upgrade cycle in the segment. Source

Spotify prototyping feature to discover music through friends called Tastebuds

Popular software reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong has reported a new prototype feature in Spotify called Tastebuds. The feature, currently in testing phase, allows user to discover new music and artists through their friends. There’s literally an app called @tastebuds, which supported Spotify, but its Twitter account has been inactive since 2017 Is this a hint of acquisition or will Spotify have to change the name of this feature before release? pic.twitter.com/wmdnnmFsa8 — Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) December 18, 2019 The feature is designed to let users explore music taste profiles of friends you trust. Currently users can access a non functioning site that shows a landing page for the feature. By clicking a pen icon shown in the centre of the webpage, users can search and select the people you want to follow. Once added, users will be able to see their friends music collection and what they have been listening to recently. Spotify has been known to test a variety of social features, but nothing actually made it through its testing phase. Spotify has been known to limit connectivity through social as a way to lockdown users, ensuring they on discover music through Spotify's own curated playlists. The company is now slowly testing ...

HUAWEI P40 and P40 Pro renders with large rectangular camera module surface

HUAWEI usually introduces its P series phones around March every year, now the company is gearing up to introduce its P40 series of phone in the next few months. Renders of the phone designed based on CAD drawings have surfaced showing off the phone's design and a large rectangular camera module for both the phones. The HUAWEI P40 is said to feature a 6.1 or 6.2-inch flat screen and the P40 Pro is rumored to come with a 6.5-inch OLED curved screen, probably with 120Hz refresh rate but it is not clear if the phones will feature a punch-hole display. The images show metal frame, USB Type-C ports, SIM card tray, and speaker grilles at the bottom. The volume rocker and power buttons are not the right, and the phones don't have a 3.5mm audio jack. These phones should be powered by Kirin 990 5G SoC and the company's CEO, Richard Yu has confirmed that it will run Android 10 based on EMUI 10 out of the box, but we can't expect Google apps until the Google issue is resolved. There are rumors of penta camera arrangement, including periscope telephoto lens and a ToF sensor for the Pro model, over 5000mAh battery ...

Nokia 2.3 with 6.2-inch HD+ display, dual rear cameras, metal frame launched in India for Rs. 8199

HMD Global has launched the Nokia 2.3, the company’s latest budget Android One smartphone and the successor of Nokia 2.2 in India, after it was introduced earlier this month and teased last week. It packs a 6.2-inch HD+ screen, is powered by MediaTek Helio A22 12nm SoC with 2GB RAM, runs Android 9.0 (Pie) with 2 years of Android and 3 years of security updates, has a 13-megapixel rear camera with AI low-light feature, HDR, secondary 2-megapixel depth sensing camera for Portrait Mode, ‘Recommended Shot’ feature that automatically captures alternate images before and after the shutter button is pressed and suggests the best one. It has a 5-megapixel camera on the front with support for Face Unlock, but it doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor. The phone also comes with a dedicated Google Assistant Button, has dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots, features 3D nano-textured cover. “Advanced structural engineering made it possible to integrate the dual camera and flash into the rear of the phone without a camera bump. Inner high-precision diecast aluminium chassis makes the structure solid and rigid protecting all the components inside,” said the company. It packs a 4000mAh battery that promises 2 days of battery life. Nokia 2.3 specifications ...