Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Others to Use Qualcomm 5G Modem With First Devices Coming in 2019

More than a dozen global smartphone and PC OEMs have tied up with Qualcomm to incorporate the Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem on to their mobile devices. Qualcomm has said the first smartphones featuring its X50 5G NR modem will hit the market in 2019, with Chinese brand Vivo promising such a handset next year. Major mobile phone OEMs joining hands with Qualcomm to incorporate the 5G modem in their future smartphones include the likes of Xiaomi, Nokia brand licensee HMD Global, Sony, LG, HTC, Oppo, and ZTE.

Other OEMs that have partnered with Qualcomm are Fujitsu, Inseego/ Novatel Wireless, NetComm Wireless, Netgear, Sharp, Sierra Wireless, Telit, Wingtech, and WNC. Devices by these OEMs will be built around the sub-6GHz and millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum bands starting next year.

Apart from smartphones, the new Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem will be available on Always Connected PCs, Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) - including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Extended Reality (XR) - and Mobile Broadband. Qualcomm claims this technology will offer faster browsing, faster downloads, better streaming, and instant cloud access on phones. The modem will enable high speed and low latency for Always Connected PCs, and ultra-low latency for HMDs.

"As evidenced by our work with these distinguished OEMs from around the globe and as we demonstrated in 3G and 4G LTE, Qualcomm Technologies is utilizing our deep expertise and technology leadership to support the successful launch of 5G NR, driving innovation in the mobile ecosystem," said Alex Katouzian, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mobile, Qualcomm Technologies.

Separately, Qualcomm has also partnered with several wireless network operators in the above mentioned sub-6GHz and millimetre wave (mmWave) bands. These include AT&T, British Telecom, Sprint, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Verizon, Telstra, Singtel among others. The upcoming trials will combine Qualcomm's 5G platform and smartphone reference design with an aim to commercialise compliant 5G products later this year.

To further showcase this, planned demonstrations will be held at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Qualcomm booth is expected to have Snapdragon X50 modems reaching speeds of "several gigabits per second."

A HTC handset with 5G support, said to be the U12, was recently showcased at an industry event in Taiwan. The handset was shown delivering download speeds of 809.58Mbps.

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Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S to Be the First Snapdragon 845 SoC Smartphone: Report

Weeks ahead of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018, Xiaomi is rumoured to be in the development of the Mi MIX 2S. The new Mi MIX model, which is likely to be an upgrade of the last year's Mi MIX 2, is already reported to be the offering that could debut from Xiaomi's side at the forthcoming MWC in Barcelona. However, a new report from China claims that the handset will also be the first model by the company to come with a Snapdragon 845 SoC. Xiaomi and Qualcomm announced their partnership on the Snapdragon 845 last month, and the first Xiaomi smartphone to feature the new processor was initially expected to be the Mi 7, the new flagship that is not likely to debut at MWC 2018.

As per the latest report by Chinese blog IT168, the upcoming Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S won't just be the company's first but also the world's first smartphone with a Snapdragon 845 SoC. The new model is also said to feature an upgraded camera over the one available on the Mi MIX 2, which was launched back in last September. Particularly, the Chinese source claims that Xiaomi will be using tge new Sony IMX363 camera sensor that will be equipped with a dual-pixel autofocus technology to deliver enhanced night image results.

Alongside the new camera setup, the Mi MIX 2S is rumoured to have a design similar to the iPhone X. This means we can expect a notch on the front, though the new model is likely to retain the original bezel-less design pattern that was highly praised on the Mi MIX in 2016. Also, the Snapdragon 845 is already claimed to have an on-device artificial intelligence (AI) functionality that could result in features such as facial recognition on the new Mi MIX model.

As far as the price of the Mi MIX 2S is concerned, some past reports suggested that the smartphone would go on sale in China at CNY 4,000 (approximately Rs. 40,200). It is speculated to hit stores in the country sometime in March - after an initial showcase at MWC 2018.

It would be interesting to see how Xiaomi would manage to get the title of launching the world's first Snapdragon 845 processor-backed smartphone as companies such as Samsung and Sony are in the list of few initial vendors to use the same SoC on their upcoming flagships. Moreover, the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ are expected to come with the same top-end Snapdragon processor in the US market.

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Samsung, Apple Retained Leadership as Top Semiconductor Buyers in 2017: Gartner

Representing 19.5 percent of the total worldwide market, Samsung and Apple have retained their leadership as the top two semiconductor chip buyers in 2017, market research firm Gartner said on Thursday. The firm reports that Samsung and Apple together consumed semiconductors worth $81.8 billion  in 2017, showing an increase of more than $20 billion  from 2016.

Samsung grew its semiconductor spending by 37.2 percent and spent whopping $43.1 billion  in 2017. Apple's semiconductor spending, on the other hand, increased by 27.5 percent and reached $38.7 billion . Interestingly, both the companies are holding the top position since 2011. "Samsung Electronics and Apple not only retained their respective No. 1 and No. 2 positions, they also radically increased their share of semiconductor spending through 2017," said Masatsune Yamaji, principal research analyst at Gartner.

In addition to the continuous growth of Samsung and Apple, the preliminary rankings revealed by Gartner highlights eight of top 10 semiconductor buyers in 2016 remained in the top 10 list in 2017, with the top five chip buyers remaining in the same position. LG Electronics made a comeback to the top 10 list and was joined by Western Digital, which grew its semiconductor spending by $1.7 billion . Also, China's BBK Electronics, the parent company of OnePlus, Oppo, and Vivo, rose one place to the sixth position with increasing its semiconductor spending by $5.7 billion .

Gartner points out a significant price increase of DRAM and NAND flash memory had majorly influenced the total semiconductor buyers' ranking in 2017. Similarly, supply shortages, mainly for memory IC, microcontrollers, and passive components, benefited the suppliers but troubled the OEMs, the firm said. The increase in OEMs' captive chip spending that is aimed to add distinctions in their models reportedly brought a great risk for commercial chip vendors. Companies, including Huawei and Samsung, brought their own silicon solutions that reduced the demand for chips developed by Qualcomm and MediaTek.

The share of semiconductor spending by the top 10 OEMs reached 40 percent of the total semiconductor market in 2017, up from 31 percent 10 years ago. Gartner predicts that this trend will continue and by 2021, the top 10 OEMs will account for more than 45 percent of global semiconductor spending.

With the top 10 semiconductor chip buyers commanding an increasing share of the market, technology product marketing leaders at chip vendors must focus on their leading customers. They will need to prioritise direct sales and technical support resources to these top customers by exploiting online technical support capabilities and outsourcing the support for long-tail customers to third-party partners and distributors," said Mr. Yamaji.

Earlier this month, Gartner reported that Samsung had replaced Intel and became the top player in the global semiconductor market in 2017 with a share of 14.6 percent. The prime reason for the growth of the South Korean company in the market for semiconductors was found to be the increased prices of NAND flash and DRAM chips. "NAND flash prices increased year over year for the first time ever, up 17 percent, while DRAM prices rose 44 percent," the Gartner report had said.

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Qualcomm Signs $2 Billion Sales MOUs With Lenovo, Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo

Qualcomm has signed memorandums of understanding for sales worth at least $2 billion (roughly Rs.  12,700 crores) with Lenovo, Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications, Vivo Communication Technology, and Xiaomi Communications.

The Chinese firms expressed an interest in buying Qualcomm components with a total value of no less than $2 billion over three years, the US chip maker said on Thursday.

The non-binding agreement will be subject to further agreements and covers technology related to RF Front-End components, it said in a statement.

The companies unveiled the multi-year agreement at a Qualcomm-hosted event in Beijing, attended by the US firm's chairman and its chief executive.

© Thomson Reuters 2018

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Japan Display Develops Transparent Fingerprint Sensor for Smartphones

Japan Display has announced the development of its very first transparent glass-based capacitive fingerprint sensor that uses an in-house capacitive multi-touch technology, which was originally exclusive to LCD panels. The new sensor is expected to reach commercial shipments in the fiscal year 2018. It could eventually be transformed as an upgrade of traditional, silicon-based fingerprint sensors that are based on silicon and is likely to available as an alternative to the recently arrived under-display fingerprint sensors that are currently in the production process by companies such as Qualcomm and Synaptics.

The glass-based capacitive fingerprint sensor leverages Japan Display's Pixel Eye technology that integrates touch functionality into the glass substrate. The technology is already powering the markets of smartphones and digital still cameras to offer multi-touch support. Further, the Japanese display maker has refined the technology to detect the changes in capacitance caused by the recesses and ridges of fingerprints. The sensor is aimed to be available in a variety of sizes, including the one in 8x8mm size.

Going forward, Japan Display also has plans to build flexible fingerprint sensors by utilising its existing flexible display technology. These would take fingerprint recognition to the next level. In the meantime, what will soon be the reality is the first glass-based fingerprint sensor that would be a part of future smartphones.

Japan Display believes that its transparent solution will lead to the expansion of fingerprint sensors in new areas of application. We can certainly presume one such area as smartphones as biometric has already been a big thing in the ever-growing smartphone market. Apple brought its Face ID last year as an upgrade to the fingerprint recognition feature Touch ID that was arrived on the iPhone 5s in 2013. Likewise, Synaptics lately developed its under display fingerprint sensors to offer the market an upgrade to the traditional fingerprint sensors.

Synaptics claimed that its proprietary under-display fingerprint sensor technology is as fast as alternative biometrics methods such as Apple's Face ID and is highly secured. It basically sits between the glass protection and OLED panel and is touted to be capable of recognising fingerprints under layers up to 1.5mm thick, including a screen protector. As per Synaptics, the advanced fingerprint sensor technology can even work with wet, dry, and cold fingers, which is not possible with the silicon-based fingerprint sensors.

The first Synaptics Clear ID sensor is already available on the newly launched Vivo X20 Plus UD, which is arriving in China on February 1. The smartphone comes at a price of CNY 3,598 (roughly Rs. 36,100).

Qualcomm is also in the race of advancing the available fingerprint solutions. The San Diego-based company showcased its first ultrasonic fingerprint technology at Mobile World Congress Shanghai in June last year. But no further details have so far been announced on that front.

Having said that, the new sensor technology by Japan Display is expected to bring affordability as it will enable smartphone makers to add a transparent fingerprint sensor on top of an LCD panel, instead of an OLED panel that was showcased by Synaptics in the past. Similarly, the Japanese company may even enable Apple to embed its glass-based fingerprint sensor on future iPhone models. The company was reportedly in talks to supply LCDs for the next-generation iPhones as well.

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Xiaomi Surge S2 Leaked Ahead of MWC 2018

While Xiaomi is all set to showcase its new offerings at MWC 2018, specifications of the Surge S2 have now surfaced online to hint at what's cooking up behind the scenes. The new SoC, which is likely to be the successor of the Surge S1 that was debuted at MWC 2017 in last February, is speculated to power the Xiaomi Mi 6X. The rumoured smartphone is presumed to be available worldwide as Xiaomi Mi A2, the new version of the Mi A1 Android One handset. An image of a back cover, allegedly showing the Mi 6X, has already been leaked to give a glimpse at the design of the new handset.

As per the details available on MyDrivers, the Surge S2 is based on TSMC's 16nm manufacturing process - featuring an octa-core processor. The SoC is reported to have four cores of Cortex-A73, clocked at 2.2GHz, and four cores of 1.8GHz Cortex-A53. Further, the processor is said to have a Mali G71 MP8 GPU as well as come with support for UFS 2.1 storage and LPDDR4 RAM. All these details suggest that the processing capabilities of the new Surge chip would be in line with high-end processor options such as Huawei's Kirin 960 and Samsung's Exynos 8890.

It is unclear whether the Surge S2 will be a part of various new Xiaomi smartphones. However, the Mi 6X is expected to be the first to include the new SoC. The smartphone appears to be the successor of the Mi 5X that had been rebranded as the Mi A1 in the global markets. Therefore, it is likely to be the Mi A2.

The leaked image of the Xiaomi Mi 6X case suggests that smartphone would come with a thin-bezel display and a vertical dual-camera setup. Also, the image shows a circular home button in the middle of the rear panel of the smartphone that could be there to provide a room for a fingerprint sensor.

Alongside the Surge S2 and the Mi 6X, Xiaomi is in the headlines for preparing the launch of the Mi 7. The next flagship model is likely to be the key offering by the Shenzhen-based at the forthcoming MWC in Barcelona. It is already confirmed to have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC.

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Sony's Xperia XZ Pro will ditch headphone jack, probably

SONY NEXT FLAGSHIP SMARTPHONE, the so-called Xperia XZ Pro, will be the firm's first device to ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack. 

That's according to an FCC filing, which depicts a Sony device in 'Charging Mode' sporting a dongle that splits into a USB port and a headphone jack. This dongle (below) slots into the handset's USB-C port, and will offer users the option to listen to music while the phone is re-juicing. 

While it's not clear whether the device in question is the rumoured Xperia XZ Pro, it's listed dimensions come in at 52.8x72.4mm, so it's got more than enough room to squeeze in the handset's mooted 5.7in 4K-resolution OLED display.

That ain't all we know about the Sony Xperia XZ Pro, either. Chinese site MyDrivers last week revealed that the flagship mobe will be unveiled during next month's MWC in Barcelona as the successor to last year's Xperia XZ Premium. 

The website also claims to have got its hands on the smartphone's specs. As well as outing the phone's high-res screen, which MyDriversclaims will be largely "bezel-free", the Xperia XZ Pro will reportedly be powered by Qualcomm's 10nm Snapdragon 845 processor will apparently provide the power, despite speculation that Samsung had first dibs on the SoC for its Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus processor.

This will come paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB built-in storage, according to the report, and there's also a microSD slot and a beefy 3,420mAh battery.

On the photography front, expect a dual camera setup comprising of an 18MP shooter with a 1.33μm pixel size and a 12MP camera with a 1.38μm pixel size. The front-facing camera is said to weight in at 13MP, but no further details have yet been revealed.

The Sony Xperia XZ Pro will also pack an IP68-certified chassis and will ship with Android 8.1 Oreo. 

MyDrivers claims that the handset will fetch 6000 yuan ($930, £675) when it goes on sale, but no release date has been confirmed yet.

This MWC launch will follow Sony's underwhelming CES presser, where it unveiled a trio of mid-range smartphones: the Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra and Xperia L2. 

The highlight of the middling lineup is the Xperia XA2, which packs a 5.2in Full HD screen, a Snapdragon 630 processor paired with 3GB RAM and a 23MP rear-facing camera, complete with hybrid autofocus, support for 4K video recording plus 120fps slow-motion shooting.

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Xiaomi Mi 7, Mi 6X Images Leak, Tipping Design and Specifications

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is expected to hit the market with two new handsets. While a leak has showcased an all new Xiaomi Mi 6X, another has revealed more details of the Mi 7. The Xiaomi Mi 6X is said to be the successor to Mi 5X, which was launched in July 2017. Notably, the Xiaomi Mi 5X was rebranded as Mi A1 in India, and shipped with stock Android as an Android One offering. Meanwhile, the Xiaomi Mi 7 is expected to be the company's next flagship smartphone that could be launched at MWC 2018.

While there have been several rumours going around regarding the Mi 7 smartphone, the latest render has come from Naijatech which has cited a Weibo leak that showcases the back side of the smartphone. On the rear end of the smartphone, there is a horizontally aligned dual camera setup along with an LED flash. Interestingly, the report also suggests that the smartphone may support wireless charging.

Additionally, CNMO has also leaked another image showing the front side of the smartphone. Both the leaks, suggest that the Mi 7 may feature a traditional fingerprint scanner on the back. The image also suggests the presence of a thin top bezel and none at the bottom, reminding us of the Mi MIX 2 design.

Earlier, Xiaomi had announced that the Mi 7 will be the first smartphone to feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 SoC. Notably, another report had suggested that the smartphone will sport a proprietary face unlock feature and abandon the traditional fingerprint scanner. Also, some reports have claimed the presence of a 6-inch bezel-less 18:9 OLED display on the Xiaomi Mi 7.

Meanwhile, an image of a back cover, allegedly belonging to Xiaomi Mi 6X has reportedly leaked on Chinese microblogging website Weibo. Confirming the leak, Slashleaks posted case renders of the Mi 6X which shows edge-to-edge display and a vertical dual-camera setup. Another image leaked on Weibo has showcased the back cover of the Mi 6X.

Meanwhile, there is also a circular hole in the middle of the rear panel, which could be the placeholder for a fingerprint sensor. Also, images showing the front side suggests that the Mi 6X may come with a full-screen design, with an aspect ratio of 18:9.

Since the Mi A1 was seen as a rebranding of the Mi 5X, the Mi 6X could possibly be launched as Mi A2 in India. Also, Xiaomi could go for a mid-year release for the Mi 6X as seen with the previous variant. While the company has already confirmed it will be present at the Mobile World Congress, Mi 7 could be its biggest launch.

However, with all rumours and leaks, it is advisable to take the above information about the Mi 7 and Mi 6X with a pinch of salt, as Xiaomi has yet to make any announcements about its new smartphones and the credibility of the sources cannot be independently verified.

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OnePlus Opens Its 'First Authorised Store' in Mumbai

Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus on Saturday announced the launch of its first 'Authorised Store' in Mumbai. Calling it its 'first exclusive offline store in Mumbai', OnePlus says the move is part of its strategy to create "more offline touch points across key cities in India to allow users to experience the phone sales."

In September 2017, the company partnered with several Croma stores to provide easy access to OnePlus products at a conveniently located store. The company also launched its flagship Experience Store in Bengaluru last year for the OnePlus community to experience products as well as collaborate and share new ideas.

"The new 'OnePlus Authorised Store' is designed to complement our online first business strategy and also attract new users, while serving as a destination for our fast-growing community to experience and purchase OnePlus products," Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India, said in a statement.

The company is offering free Bullet V2earphones on the purchase of any OnePlus smartphone to early buyers who visit the OnePlus Authorised Store in Mumbai. Starting Saturday, the OnePlus 5T Lava Red variant also made its way into the country, and the smartphone will also be available via the Mumbai store.

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Samsung Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+ Expected to Sport Y-Octa Display, f/1.5 Aperture Camera Lens

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are expected to sport an f/1.5 aperture camera lens, SLP chip technology, and a Y-Octa display.

Samsung has confirmed that its latest flagship smartphones in the Galaxy S series will be announced at Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona next month. While the South Korean giant has not revealed any other details about the phones yet, rumours are afloat on the Internet that point towards various new features. A new report suggests that the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are expected to sport an f/1.5 aperture camera lens, SLP chip technology, and Y-Octa display technology.

New camera specifications
According to a report by ETNews, the Galaxy S9 series will feature a variable f/1.5 aperture lens on the rear camera setup. This f/1.5 lens was first launched by Samsung with the W2018smartphone in December last year. The report also suggests that with a variable aperture of f/.5/ to f/2.4, the camera on the Galaxy S9 will be able to adjust aperture as in a DSLR camera.

Apart from that, the Galaxy S9 Plus is expected to sport a dual camera setup on the back, with wide-angle and zoom lens capabilities. The front camera on the Galaxy S9 will reportedly have an iris scanner integrated into the sensor, while the Galaxy S9+ will have a separate camera sensor and an iris scanner.

SLP Motherboard technology
The ETNews report also claims that the Galaxy S9 series will be the first to introduce SLP (Substrate like PCB) motherboard technology on a Samsung phone. This technology helps create more space to add in other components like a bigger battery, advanced chips etc. Reports back in August last year had also hinted at Samsung opting for SLP in the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. The Apple iPhone X uses a similar Stacked SLP technology to fit in two battery parts.

Y-Octa display technology
And, finally, the report also mentions that Samsung will be using the new Y-Octa display technology on the upcoming flagship phones. The Samsung Galaxy S9 is expected to sport a 5.77-inch display and the Galaxy S9+ is expected to sport a 6.22-inch display with the new flexible Y-Octa OLED technology.

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South Korean Group Files Complaint Against Apple CEO Over iPhone Slowdown

A South Korean consumer group has filed a criminal complaint against Apple CEO Tim Cook over slower iPhone devices, after probes in Europe into allegations the firm had deliberately shortened the life of its handsets.

Apple is already facing lawsuits in the United States and elsewhere over accusations of having defrauded iPhone users by slowing down devices without warning to compensate for poor battery performance and to push clients into buying new phones.

The South Korean advocacy group, Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty, in its complaint submitted on Thursday accused Apple of destruction of property and fraud.
"For the sake of its loyal fans, Apple has to take responsibility over the slowing iPhones," Park Soon-jang, an official at the advocacy group told Reuters by phone on Friday.

The group also represents about 120 plaintiffs in a civil damage suit against Apple filed earlier this month.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office declined to comment when asked if it would launch an investigation into Apple following the complaint from the consumer group.
Apple Korea, the US tech firm's South Korean subsidiary, was not immediately available for comment.

The California-based company acknowledged in December that iPhone software can slow down some phones with battery problems and apologised for the issue. However, it said it would never do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product.

Apple will release a software update that will allow users to turn off a feature that slows down iPhones when batteries are low on charge, CEO Cook told ABC News on Wednesday.
Italy's antitrust body said on Thursday it had opened a probe into allegations that Apple and Samsung Electronics used software updates to slow their mobile phones and push clients into buying new handsets.

A French prosecutor has also launched a preliminary investigation into Apple's alleged deception and planned obsolescence of its products.

© Thomson Reuters 2018

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Samsung Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+ to Feature AI Chips: Report

While the tech world is all set to see some of the major rumours getting transformed into reality at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018, Samsung is reportedly preparing a surprise, too. This is the building of the company's native neural processing units aka artificial intelligence (AI) chips that are expected to be a part of the upcoming Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ models. The AI chips by Samsung are claimed to deliver compelling results to take on AI chips developed by Apple and Huawei.

Samsung is planning to showcase various capabilities of its new AI chips through the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ flagship models that will be unveiled at MWC 2018 in Barcelona on February 25, reports The Korea Herald. The initial experience has already reached the technological levels of Apple and Huawei, though there are also the plans to bring better chips in the second half of the year, the report by the South Korean English daily claimed, citing people familiar with the development.

The new AI chip-equipped Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ could come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC in the US and an Exynos 9810 SoC in various international markets. Further, the new handset models are rumoured to have 18:9 aspect ratio-supported Infinity Display panels and an improved iris scanner.

Samsung is said to have almost prepared the AI chips for servers. These chips are likely to be commercialised in the coming future. However, the prime dedication is reportedly set for an enhanced NPU that would come with the Galaxy Note 9, which is expected for September this year.
An in-house team is reported to have been established by Samsung to enhance R&D efforts towards the AI chip manufacturing. The company is also said to be working with professors and researchers at Seoul National University, Pohang University of Science and Technology, and Kaist.

Apple developed the AI-supported A11 Bionic chip for the iPhone X last year to enable features such as Animoji. Following the footsteps of the Cupertino giant, China's Huawei also stepped into the same nascent space in last September with its HiSilicon Kirin 970 chip that is enabling advanced experiences on the Mate 10 Pro. The SoC has an NPU that supports features such as image-recognising Bokeh effect. Huawei calls its AI implementation as MobileAI.

Alongside competing with Apple and Huawei, Samsung's new AI chips are likely to rival similar innovations designed by chip makers such as Intel and MediaTek. Intel developed its self-learning AI chip called "Loihi" that is scheduled to reach universities and research institutions in the first half of 2018. Likewise, MediaTek at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018 announced AI chip models.

The Chinese manufacturer is also designing its NeuroPilot SDK that will be available for smartphones, smart homes, automobiles, and others.

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Samsung Exynos 5 Series 7872 SoC With Bluetooth 5.0, Iris Sensor Launched

Samsung has announced the new Exynos 5 7872 SoC that will power some of the upcoming mid-range smartphones in 2018. The new SoC is part of the mid-range Exynos 5 series. The first smartphone to be equipped with an Exynos 5 7872 SOC is the Meizu M6s, which was launched on Wednesday. The launch was not the first time Samsung had partnered with Meizu, with the Chinese smartphone manufacturer launching the Meizu Pro 6 Pluswith a Exynos 8890 SoC in 2016, apart fromthe Meizu Pro 5 in 2015 with a Samsung Exynos 7420 SoC,

Built on a 14nm FinFET process the Exynos 5 7872 features a hexa-core CPU consisting two Cortex-A73 cores and four Cortex-A53 cores. Samsung claims the single core performance has been increased by two folds when compared to its predecessor. With the new SoC, Samsung has stated the desire to bring mid-range smartphones closer to the premium end of the Android smartphone spectrum. Samsung has listed out the specifications of the Exynos 5 series 7872 SoC on its own official blog.

As mentioned, the Exynos 7872 SoC contains six cores: two Cortex-A73 CPUs clocked at 2GHz and four Cortex-A53 CPUs clocked at 1.6GHz. Additionally, it comes with a Mali-G71MP1 graphics processing unit and an LTE Cat.7 modem with 300Mbps download and 150Mbps upload speeds. A major USP of the Exynos 7872 SoC is that Samsung has added support for an iris scanner camera sensor. This essentially means that we can expect mid-range handsets feature this security feature soon.

Samsung has not introduced any special provisions for a dual-camera support but the SoC does come with support for 21.7-megapixel front and rear cameras. The Exynos 7872 also features an improved Image Signal Processor and Multi-Format Codec. It is the ISP that enables smartphones to feature an iris camera sensor up to 8MP. It also embeds a hardware block for Smart WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) that generates a WDR image with just a single shot, Samsung says. The SoC does not have 2160p video capturing capability, but smartphones powered by Exynos 5 will be capable of full HD 120fps encoding and decoding. Meanwhile, the maximum screen resolution is 1,920x1,200 pixels.

Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11n dual-band, Bluetooth 5.0, CDMA, GSM, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, LTE-FDD, and LTE-TDD. Meanwhile, sensors include GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo. Storage and memory options include LPDDR3 for RAM, eMMC 5.1 for built-in storage and the SD 3.0 standard for expandable memory.

Apart from Meizu, which has several other Exynos-powered smartphones, Samsung has sold its Exynos processors to other OEMs as well, including Lenovo, which used them in its LePhone K860i and LePhone K860 smartphones.

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Android Bug Hunter Awarded Over $100,000 for Exposing Security Flaw in Google Pixel

Google has awarded $112,500 to a security researcher for exposing a security flaw in Google Pixel smartphones. Guang Gong, in August 2017 submitted an exploit chain through the Android Security Rewards (ASR) programme. It was the first working remote exploit chain since the search giant has expanded the ASR program. Gong was awarded $105,000, which Google claims is the highest reward in the ASR programme's history. Additionally, she was awarded $7,500 under the Chrome Rewards program as well.

The technical details of the exploit were revealed by Google on its Android Developer's blog on Wednesday. The search giant thanked Gong, who is from Alpha Team, Qihoo 360 Technology, and the entire researcher community for finding and responsibly reporting security vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, Google said the complete set of issues was resolved as part of the December 2017 monthly security update, which patched a total of 42 bugs.

The exploit chain covers two bugs - CVE-2017-5116 and CVE-2017-14904. While the first one is a V8 engine bug that is used to get remote code execution in sandboxed Chrome render process the latter is is a bug in Android's libgralloc module that is used to escape from Chrome's sandbox. Google says this exploit chain can be used to inject arbitrary code into system_server by accessing a malicious URL in Chrome.

Google, through the Android Security Rewards programme, recognises the contributions of security researchers working on Android's security features. As of October 2017, the smartphones covered under the program include Google Pixel 2, Google Pixel and Pixel XL, and Google Pixel C.

In June 2017, Google had increased the ASR payout rewards for remote exploit chain or exploits leading to TrustZone or Verified Boot compromise from $50,000 to $200,000.Through this program, Google has awarded researchers over $1.5 million to date, with the top research team earning $300,000 for 118 vulnerability reports.

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Xiaomi to Have Presence at MWC 2018, Mi 7 Launch Expected

Alongside some long-standing exhibitors such as Samsung and Sony, Xiaomi is joining the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. There are speculations that the Chinese smartphone maker will launch the Mi 7 as its next flagship at the forthcoming MWC, which is happening between February 26 and March 1. Notably, the company skipped the last year's MWC but came to the MWC 2016 to preview the globally-focused Mi 5.

The official Mobile World Congress site confirms Xiaomi as one of the exhibitors at MWC 2018. The Shenzhen-based company will host its offerings at Stand 6B30 in Hall 6. However, it is unclear whether the offerings would include some new models or just the old launches. There are rumours that the company will bring the anticipated Mi 7 at the exhibition to grab some attention from what companies like Samsung, Sony, and Lenovo-owned Motorola are set to showcase at the venue.

Last month, Xiaomi at the second annual Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii announced that the Mi 7 will be the first smartphone to feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 SoC. "Xiaomi is committed to making devices that combine cutting-edge innovations in technology and beautiful design while defying price expectations, and we have chosen Snapdragon 845 to power our next flagship smartphone," Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun had said while announcing a close relationship with Qualcomm.

Apart from the Snapdragon 845 SoC, the Xiaomi Mi 7 is rumoured to sport a proprietary face unlock feature and abandon the traditional fingerprint scanner. Unlike software-based face unlocking functionality that is widely available in the current market, the Mi 7 is said to have a 3D face sensing technology to map users' faces to unlock the screen. This would be similar to what Apple designed for its Face ID feature that is so far exclusive to the iPhone X.

There are also reports that are claiming the presence of a 6-inch bezel-less 18:9 OLED display on the Xiaomi Mi 7. Further, the smartphone is likely to come with a dual rear camera setup. It will come as an upgrade to the Mi 6 that was debuted with a 5.15-inch LCD display.
The launch of the Xiaomi Mi 7 at the MWC is expected to accompany the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, Moto X5, Sony Xperia XZ Pro, and the LG Icon.

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OnePlus 5T Sandstone White Variant Sold Out, Removed From Website Within Two Hours of Launch

OnePlus recently launched the Sandstone White variant of its latest OnePlus 5T, only in the US, Canada, and China. But it seems like excitement for OnePlus fans was extremely short-lived as the smartphone was sold out in about two hours of release. Add to that, the variant has also been removed OnePlus' website entirely, except on the portal for China. Some reports suggest that the variant might not make a comeback anytime soon. An India launch has not yet been announced by the company.

As we mentioned, OnePlus took to Twitter to announce that the Sandstone White variant of the OnePlus 5T had sold out in less than two hours of its availability. According to a report by Android Police, OnePlus has confirmed that the variant has been "completely sold out in North America" and removed from the website entirely.

The Sandstone White variant was announced earlier this month. It looks a lot like the Star Wars limited edition variant, albeit without the branding and custom wallpaper, and features the 'sandstone' finish that the company made famous with the launch of the OnePlus One. If you were hoping to buy the Sandstone White variant of the OnePlus 5T, it looks like you're out of luck, unless you buy the model from China where it is still listed. There's no telling how long those stocks will last.

Recently, OnePlus was involved in a situation wherein customers reported fraud transactions on their credit cards. The transactions were reported by users who made purchases on the official OnePlus website. OnePlus said that it is currently investigating the matter.

The company also announced the launch of a new Lava Red OnePlus 5T variant in India last week. The variant uses anodic oxidation processes and AF coating to maintain a consistent texture.
Just to briefly recap, the OnePlus 5T sports a 6.01-inch full-HD+ (1080x2160 pixels) Full Optic AMOLED display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, paired with 6/ 8GB of RAM and 128 inbuilt storage.

Features of the phone include a 16-megapixel + 20-megapixel rear dual camera setup, Face Unlock, and Dash Charge support.

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Meizu M6s With 18:9 Display, Super mBack Button Launched:Price,Specifications,Features

Meizu M6s is the company's first smartphone to be launched in 2018, and made its splash on Wednesday. The major USPs of the Meizu M6s are an 18:9 display, an Exynos processor, and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. Meizo M6s also introduces the Super mBack feature, integrated onto the new Halo pressure sensitive button built into the display. In China, the smartphone has been introduced as Meizu S6 (aka Charm Blue S6).

Meizu M6s price:

The Meizu M6s has been announced in two variants in China. The Meizu M6S price starts at CNY 999  for the 3GB RAM/ 32GB storage model and goes up to CNY 1,199  for the 3GB RAM/ 64GB storage model. The two storage variants launched in China will be made available in Champagne Gold, Matte Black, Moon Silver, and Cobalt Blue colour variants. The smartphone is already up for registrations, and goes on sale from 10am on Friday, January 19 via Lynx, Suning, and Jingdong, before being made available via the Meizu Store on Saturday, January 20, and offline retailers soon after.

Meizu M6s specifications:

The dual-SIM Meizu M6s runs Android 7.1.2 Nougat with Flyme OS 6.2 on top. The smartphone sports a 5.7-inch (1440 ~CHECK~ 720 pixels) HD+ 2.5D curved glass in-cell display. The screen boasts of 450 nits brightness, wide viewing angles and 1000:1 contrast ratio. The smartphone is powered by a hexa-core (two Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.0GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.6GHz) Samsung Exynos 7872 SoC with Mali-G71 GPU coupled with 3GB RAM. Meizu claims it is the first-ever device to come with the 14nm Samsung Exynos 7872 SoC.

The Meizu M6s features the Super mBack or Halo button to navigate the phone. The button includes the features of the older-generation mBack button with the help of a small halo on the screen. The company is touting the use of a pressure sensor display to enable all the gesture support. The mTouch fingerprint scanner on the Meizu M6s is positioned on the right side of the handset, on the power button.

In the camera department, the Meizu M6s features a rear camera with 16-megapixel Samsung CMOS lens with f/2.0 aperture and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture and 'adaptive beauty technology, also called as ArcSoft Beauty Algorithm Adaptive Skinning Technology. The rear camera also comes with a dual-tone LED flash, 5P lens, and CMOS sensor.

As we mentioned, there are two inbuilt storage variants available for the Meizu M6s - 32GB and 64GB. Connectivity options on the Meizu M6s include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.2. Sensors on board include accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, digital compass, and proximity (infrared) sensor. The Meizu bears a 3000mAh battery. It measures 152x72.5x8mm (height x width x thickness) and weigh 160 grams.

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Google Maps Go Beta Programme Goes Live on Play Store: Here's What the App Can and Can't Do

More than a month after its formal launch, Google Maps Go has reached got a beta programme on Play Store. The new beta programme allows users to test some of the upcoming features of the app - follow this link to sign up for the Google Maps Go beta programme. To recall, Google Maps Go app is designed as a lightweight version of the original Google Maps app. Similar to many other memory-efficient apps, the Google Maps Go app misses many great features of the Google Maps app. Therefore, here's what all the things you can do with Google Maps Go and what can't do.

The prime aim of the Google Maps Go app is to "run smoothly on devices with limited memory and on unreliable networks", and will be the primary offering for Android Oreo (Go edition) - aka Android Go - devices. It is just 0.09MB in size, and is a Progressive Web App that runs off the user's Chrome browser on Android devices. The app provides quick directions and map details with a single tap. Similarly, it offers real-time traffic information as well as lets users view live city transit schedules to take a bus or train for their journey. There is transit information for around 7,000 agencies, more than 3.8 million stations, and for 20,000 towns and cities. Google has also provided options to discover and explore new places, search and find local restaurants, businesses, and other nearby places, and even view reviews, ratings, and food images.

Additionally, the Google Maps Go app allows users to find the phone number and address of a place or save an often visited place to quickly find it later. Google affirms that there is detailed business information for over 100 million places. Moreover, the app is available in more than 70 languages.

Despite all these great features, the Google Maps Go has some limitations as well - especially, if we compare it with the original Google Maps app. The lighter version doesn't support turn-by-turn GPS navigation, which is one of the major features of the Google Maps app. Likewise, if you've installed the Maps Go app, you won't be able to share your real-time location with your contacts, download offline apps, add reviews, ratings, and photos for your favourite places, and set home and work addresses. The app also doesn't allow you to report any data problems, edit information about an already saved place, measure the distance between multiple places, or add private labels to places.

Having said that, if you still want to check all the new features of the Google Maps Go app, you can participate in the beta testing programme. You can become a tester, by giving your consent on the Android App Testing page on Google Play and then install the app from the Play Store. Notably, now that the beta programme is available, the app is now also listed on APK Mirror - so users that don't have access to the app via Google Play can sideload it now. The beta programme was first spotted by Android Police.

It is worth noting here that you can anytime leave the testing programme and switch to the public version of the Google Maps Go app by uninstalling the testing version and then install the public version for the Play Store. The transition process would take a few hours, and the public version will be available for download on your Google Play once the process is completed.

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iPhone Slowdowns : Chinese Consumer Group Latest to Question Apple

Despite apologising for slowing down iPhone models with ageing batteries and offering a new battery replacement programme, Apple continues to face questions regarding the issue. Now, a Chinese consumer group has reportedly asked the company for more information regarding slowing down older iPhones and has demanded an answer before this Friday. From consumers groups like these to government authorities worldwide, complaints, investigations, and lawsuits over the iPhone slowdown have mired Apple since the issue came to light.

As per a Xinhua report, the Shanghai Consumer Council is the latest organisation to question Apple over the issue. It has sent an inquiry letter to the Cupertino giant over the slowdown of older iPhones with ageing batteries. The council has reportedly demanded the cause of the performance as well as remedial measures taken to resolve it. The report says that the council has received 2,615 complaints on Apple products and services last year, compared to 964 complaints in 2015.

Apple had recently apologised for slowing down iPhone models and offered a new battery replacement programme. In a post on December 28, Apple had apologised over its handling of the battery issue and said it would make several changes. Under the new offer, Apple had reduced the price of a replacement for out-of-warranty batteries (in iPhone 6 or later) from $79 to $29. "We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down," Apple said in its posting. "We apologise."

In December last year, Apple had acknowledged that iPhone software has the effect of slowing down some phones with battery problems. The company had said the problem was ageing lithium batteries delivering power unevenly, which caused iPhone handsets to shutdown unexpectedly to protect the delicate circuits inside. However, Apple had denied that it had ever done anything to intentionally shorten the life of a product.
Apple has been facing several lawsuits regarding the issue, all around the world. According to a report, there has been at least 30 separate iPhone slowdown class actions lawsuits against the company, in the US itself. This is on top of government investigations that Apple faces in some countries. Another reportsays cases have been filed in Israel, France, and Korea as well.

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HTC 10 Android 8.0 Oreo Update Suspended: Reports

HTC has suspended the rollout of the anticipated Android 8.0 Oreo update for the HTC 10. The update, which was released last week, is no longer live through the original RUU package. It has also been reported that the users haven't received any push notification for an over-the-air (OTA) release. The Taiwanese manufacturer had originally promised the arrival of the latest Android update for three of its flagship models including the 2016 top-end HTC 10 but so far delivered the update for the HTC U11.

The original download link to the RUU package was pulled at the time of filing this story, and the link was generating a 404 error. Similarly, as reported by users on XDA Developer Forums, the update hasn't been available as an OTA rollout. Some of the early users who were able to install the RUU package appear to have opted for the paid Sunshine S-OFF that may cause some serious issues with the handset. There are also some user reports about battery issues after installing the latest update.

Launched in April 2016, the HTC 10 was originally running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It received an update to Android 7.0 Nougat in February last year. The smartphone features a 5.2-inch Quad HD (1440x2560 pixels) Super LCD 5 display and is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor clocked at 2.2GHz. It had arrived in the market with two configurations - one featuring 4GB RAM and 32GB onboard storage and the other one with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. Both the versions have expandable storage support via microSD card (up to 2TB). The Indian variant of the HTC 10 was debuted with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor clocked at up to 1.8GHz and comes in 3GB of RAM and 32GB onboard storage.

In August last year, HTC announced the release of the Android Oreo update for the HTC 10 as well as the HTC U11 and HTC U Ultra. Between these three models, the HTC U11 received the update in last November.

HTC is not the only smartphone maker that has silently pulled the Android Oreo rollout. Recently, Xiaomi also suspended the Android 8.0 Oreo update rollout for the Mi A1. The smartphone based on Google's Android One project had started receiving an update to Android 8.0 Oreo in late December via an over-the-air (OTA) rollout. But the company reportedly pulled the OTA update after some issues emerged publicly.

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