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Is APPLE giving hint to launch its AirPower on June 4th WWDC ?

Well it looks like Apple is all set to launch it AirPower and looks like Apple is kind a giving hint and it’s look like on 25th March event Apple will not launch AirPower, as you all can see the AirPower logo on Apple official invent so what you all guys think comment down below 

Realme 2 Pro Review: The New Mid-Range Killer?

It wasn’t very long ago that Realme emerged onto the scene, promising to be like Oppo, without the typically high prices associated with the offline retail space. Marketing itself as a sub-brand of Oppo, Realme has pursued an online-only retail strategy that allows it to sell its phones are competitive prices to take on other online-first brands such as Xiaomi and Honor. And it’s a strategy that has largely worked for the brand.The company, which has been in the market for about five months now, has four smartphones in its portfolio. The latest of these is the Realme 2 Pro, which is the most expensive device in the range from the company. Priced from Rs 13,990 onwards, it’s a device that uses its specification sheet to win over buyers, and indeed has a considerable advantage over the competition in this department. After all, it is the most affordable smartphone you can buy right now with 8GB of RAM. But is there more to this phone than just its specifications? We find out in our review.
Realme 2 Pro Design and Display
Before we get into these much-fabled specifications, lets tackle the aesthetics. The Realme 2 Pro goes with what is becoming a rather popular looking among mid-range smartphones these days: the faux-glass finish with bright, attractive colors. The back and sides are separate bits of plastic, and is available in three color variants: black, deep blue and light blue. The plastic at the back does a decent job of playing the role of glass, offering the same level of reflectiveness. At the bottom is the Realme logo, with the fingerprint sensor at dual-camera setup at the top.
The front of the phone sports what is likely to become common on smartphones going forward – the waterdrop notch. With a slim chin and notch that’s significantly smaller than we’re used to seeing, the Realme 2 Pro pulls off the all-screen look admirably with a large 6.3-inch display. It’s quite similar to what we saw on the Oppo F9 Pro, and indeed both these phones do seem to share a common lineage in terms of design.

Despite the lack of Oppo branding, it feels like an Oppo device as such. It’s built solidly for a smartphone priced at Rs 13,990, although its build materials may not be entirely convincing as compared to the more premium build materials on competing devices such as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro or Nokia 6.1 Plus. There’s no glass or metal here, and indeed the Realme 2 Pro feels a bit functional in comparison. However, the Realme 2 Pro hopes to be more convincing through its specification sheet.

Realme 2 Pro Specifications and Software
The real deal is here, through the specifications. The Realme 2 Pro, like the other Realme devices before it ,goes a step further with the specifications, offering a set that is visibly superior to what others in the price segment are offering. Starting at Rs 13,990, you get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC on this device, which is the lowest we’ve seen this chipset at on a smartphone. While the Rs 13,990 variant comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, you also get a 6GB RAM / 64GB storage option at Rs 15,990 and an 8GB / 128GB variant at Rs 17,990. It’s the most RAM you can get on a phone priced at under Rs 20,000.

You also get a 3,500mAh battery, and charging is through a micro-USB port at the bottom. Unfortunately, there’s no fast charging on the device, and you get a standard 10W adapter in the box. Interestingly, you also get Wi-Fi ac connectivity, along with Bluetooth 5.0, suggesting that Realme hasn’t cut too many corners when it comes to this device. You also get dedicated slots for two SIM cards and a microSD card, and Android 8.1 Oreo running under ColorOS 5.2.

In terms of the ‘intensity’ of the skin, ColorOS is among the more aggressive Android-based options around. The resemblance to the core of Android (what you’d see on a Google Pixel or Android One smarthphone) is very little, given that Color OS adds a lot of its own elements to the software. For most users, these don’t tend to be problems at all; people tend to get used to how things are on their phones. And while advanced users may think differently, most buyers in this price range will be happy with how ColorOS operates.

While the settings tend to be a bit too different for the sake of it and the UI has its share of bloatware, in general the UI is functional. There are some good touches that will be useful to users, such as wake to lift which helps in making the process of using face unlock quicker. Apart from that, you get the iOS-style ‘shelf’ app for quick settings and information, ‘Quiet Time’ (essentially a do-not-disturb mode), the ability to ‘clone’ apps (two instances of the same app for different accounts), split-screen mode, game space and a smart sidebar for quick shortcuts, to name a few. Not everyone will likely use all of these features, but each of them will be useful to at least someone that buys the Realme 2 Pro.

Realme 2 Pro Performance and Battery Life
The Realme 2 Pro, thanks to its superior hardware, performs as well as you’d want from a sub Rs 20,000 smartphone. Despite the software not being the lightest, the sheer volume of RAM and power of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC make this a capable mid-range device. It’s geared to comfortably run most apps and games without any trouble.

Even high-end games such as PUBG Mobile work acceptably enough, although you may have to set the graphics to medium or low for ideal performance. While its gaming prowess can be considered a bonus, the real value comes in its ability to handle multi-tasking, and the fact that having 6GB or 8GB of RAM will only help in the long run. Even if the phone receives no software support going forward (not an impossible expectation), the higher RAM and Android Oreo OS will keep the phone running smoothly for a while.



Battery life on the phone is decent enough as well, with the phone capable of giving you a full day’s usage with over three hours of screen-on time. Charging isn’t the fastest, with the bundled charger taking about two-and-a-half hours to fully charge the device. Given that Motorola devices in this price range come with fast charging, it’s a bit of a compromise in my opinion.

Realme 2 Pro Camera
Dual-camera setups in the sub-Rs 20,000 category are par for the course, and the Realme 2 Pro sports one of these at the back. The phone comes with a 16-megapixel + 2-megapixel rear camera setup, with the secondary sensor only present for depth-sensing. At the front, the Realme 2 Pro sports a 16-megapixel shooter, which will be useful for buyers looking for better selfies. It’s another aspect where the similarities with Oppo are highlighted.




And like on Oppo phones, the camera app is quite similar to what you’d see on iOS. A lot of these touches are built for the typical user base for a phone like this, and have features such as beautification, AI-based portrait mode for the front camera and AR stickers. Users will also appreciate the Apple-like simplification of the app, which makes it easy to simply capture pictures the way you want them. Video can be recorded at up to 4K resolution with the rear camera and full-HD resolution with the front camera.




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Home ReviewRealme 2 Pro Review: The New Mid-Range Killer?
Realme 2 Pro Review: The New Mid-Range Killer?

REVIEW
A smartphone with 8GB of RAM at under Rs 20,000 is now a reality, thanks to the Realme 2 Pro. But what else is there to this phone apart from some very impressive specifications?
Ali Pardiwala  @ALIUSPARDIUS Published: October 17, 2018 8:37 AM IST
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BGR Rating :3.5/5
It wasn’t very long ago that Realme emerged onto the scene, promising to be like Oppo, without the typically high prices associated with the offline retail space. Marketing itself as a sub-brand of Oppo, Realme has pursued an online-only retail strategy that allows it to sell its phones are competitive prices to take on other online-first brands such as Xiaomi and Honor. And it’s a strategy that has largely worked for the brand.

Highlights

The Realme 2 Pro, likes its predecessors from the brand, has its specification set as its USP.

It's the first phone in this price range to sport 8GB of RAM, a first for its segment.

The device is priced from Rs 13,990, and is available exclusively on Flipkart.

The company, which has been in the market for about five months now, has four smartphones in its portfolio. The latest of these is the Realme 2 Pro, which is the most expensive device in the range from the company. Priced from Rs 13,990 onwards, it’s a device that uses its specification sheet to win over buyers, and indeed has a considerable advantage over the competition in this department. After all, it is the most affordable smartphone you can buy right now with 8GB of RAM. But is there more to this phone than just its specifications? We find out in our review.

WATCH: How Realme phones are made

Realme 2 Pro Design and Display
Before we get into these much-fabled specifications, lets tackle the aesthetics. The Realme 2 Pro goes with what is becoming a rather popular looking among mid-range smartphones these days: the faux-glass finish with bright, attractive colors. The back and sides are separate bits of plastic, and is available in three color variants: black, deep blue and light blue. The plastic at the back does a decent job of playing the role of glass, offering the same level of reflectiveness. At the bottom is the Realme logo, with the fingerprint sensor at dual-camera setup at the top.

The front of the phone sports what is likely to become common on smartphones going forward – the waterdrop notch. With a slim chin and notch that’s significantly smaller than we’re used to seeing, the Realme 2 Pro pulls off the all-screen look admirably with a large 6.3-inch display. It’s quite similar to what we saw on the Oppo F9 Pro, and indeed both these phones do seem to share a common lineage in terms of design.

Despite the lack of Oppo branding, it feels like an Oppo device as such. It’s built solidly for a smartphone priced at Rs 13,990, although its build materials may not be entirely convincing as compared to the more premium build materials on competing devices such as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro or Nokia 6.1 Plus. There’s no glass or metal here, and indeed the Realme 2 Pro feels a bit functional in comparison. However, the Realme 2 Pro hopes to be more convincing through its specification sheet.

Realme 2 Pro Specifications and Software
The real deal is here, through the specifications. The Realme 2 Pro, like the other Realme devices before it ,goes a step further with the specifications, offering a set that is visibly superior to what others in the price segment are offering. Starting at Rs 13,990, you get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC on this device, which is the lowest we’ve seen this chipset at on a smartphone. While the Rs 13,990 variant comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, you also get a 6GB RAM / 64GB storage option at Rs 15,990 and an 8GB / 128GB variant at Rs 17,990. It’s the most RAM you can get on a phone priced at under Rs 20,000.

You also get a 3,500mAh battery, and charging is through a micro-USB port at the bottom. Unfortunately, there’s no fast charging on the device, and you get a standard 10W adapter in the box. Interestingly, you also get Wi-Fi ac connectivity, along with Bluetooth 5.0, suggesting that Realme hasn’t cut too many corners when it comes to this device. You also get dedicated slots for two SIM cards and a microSD card, and Android 8.1 Oreo running under ColorOS 5.2.

In terms of the ‘intensity’ of the skin, ColorOS is among the more aggressive Android-based options around. The resemblance to the core of Android (what you’d see on a Google Pixel or Android One smarthphone) is very little, given that Color OS adds a lot of its own elements to the software. For most users, these don’t tend to be problems at all; people tend to get used to how things are on their phones. And while advanced users may think differently, most buyers in this price range will be happy with how ColorOS operates.

While the settings tend to be a bit too different for the sake of it and the UI has its share of bloatware, in general the UI is functional. There are some good touches that will be useful to users, such as wake to lift which helps in making the process of using face unlock quicker. Apart from that, you get the iOS-style ‘shelf’ app for quick settings and information, ‘Quiet Time’ (essentially a do-not-disturb mode), the ability to ‘clone’ apps (two instances of the same app for different accounts), split-screen mode, game space and a smart sidebar for quick shortcuts, to name a few. Not everyone will likely use all of these features, but each of them will be useful to at least someone that buys the Realme 2 Pro.

Realme 2 Pro Performance and Battery Life
The Realme 2 Pro, thanks to its superior hardware, performs as well as you’d want from a sub Rs 20,000 smartphone. Despite the software not being the lightest, the sheer volume of RAM and power of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC make this a capable mid-range device. It’s geared to comfortably run most apps and games without any trouble.

Even high-end games such as PUBG Mobile work acceptably enough, although you may have to set the graphics to medium or low for ideal performance. While its gaming prowess can be considered a bonus, the real value comes in its ability to handle multi-tasking, and the fact that having 6GB or 8GB of RAM will only help in the long run. Even if the phone receives no software support going forward (not an impossible expectation), the higher RAM and Android Oreo OS will keep the phone running smoothly for a while.

Battery life on the phone is decent enough as well, with the phone capable of giving you a full day’s usage with over three hours of screen-on time. Charging isn’t the fastest, with the bundled charger taking about two-and-a-half hours to fully charge the device. Given that Motorola devices in this price range come with fast charging, it’s a bit of a compromise in my opinion.

Realme 2 Pro Camera
Dual-camera setups in the sub-Rs 20,000 category are par for the course, and the Realme 2 Pro sports one of these at the back. The phone comes with a 16-megapixel + 2-megapixel rear camera setup, with the secondary sensor only present for depth-sensing. At the front, the Realme 2 Pro sports a 16-megapixel shooter, which will be useful for buyers looking for better selfies. It’s another aspect where the similarities with Oppo are highlighted.

And like on Oppo phones, the camera app is quite similar to what you’d see on iOS. A lot of these touches are built for the typical user base for a phone like this, and have features such as beautification, AI-based portrait mode for the front camera and AR stickers. Users will also appreciate the Apple-like simplification of the app, which makes it easy to simply capture pictures the way you want them. Video can be recorded at up to 4K resolution with the rear camera and full-HD resolution with the front camera.

 

Performance by the camera set on the Realme 2 Pro is fairly ordinary for a smartphone priced in this range. The device takes decent photos in proper light, along with acceptable shots in reduced light. Some grain is visible in low-light conditions, which is to be expected given that affordable smartphones are rarely ever fitted with high-end camera sensors and lenses. You’ll also see a bit of washing out of light in low-light and well-lit conditions, but as much detail as reasonably expected is maintained.

The portrait mode on the rear camera is fairly rudimentary and does a better job with people than objects. It does its job of detecting depth, but don’t expect very good results from this. As you can see in the sample above, edge detection is decent enough, but the bokeh effect isn’t very strong and the general image still tends to look a bit ordinary on the whole. The ‘drama’ and focus you’d expect from portrait shots is generally missing on the Realme 2 Pro. The front camera takes decent enough shots, taking advantage of the high-resolution sensor and AI-based effects that come as a part of ColorOS.



Verdict
The Realme 2 Pro is very similar to the Oppo F9 Pro, but fundamental differences in the specification sheet and mode of sale are what differentiate these two phones. While the Oppo F9 Pro has a stronger focus on design, styling, fast charging and front camera, the Realme 2 Pro sheds some of these more lifestyle-centric features for raw specifications. Indeed, its specifications are unmatched in its price range, and it has the distinction of being the most affordable smartphone to sport 8GB of RAM.





Only for that, it’s worth considering for anyone shopping for a phone at under Rs 20,000. While build quality is decent enough, the materials aren’t quite as premium as they look, thanks to the use of plastic all around. And the software, while not bad, isn’t the best either. It can come across as fairly cluttered, and we’re unsure if this phone will see any major updates beyond basic security patches.

However, all things considered, the phone has the potential to succeed purely on the superiority of its specifications, and the promise of good performance as a product of those specifications. If that’s what matters, the Realme 2 Pro will work for you. However, if you’re looking at better performance from the camera, more user-friendly software or even better design, devices such as the recently-launched Honor 8X, Motorola One Power or Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro might be better picks

Oppo Hyper Boost launched

OPPO Mobile has announced the launch of OPPO Hyper Boost, its full-scenario, system-level performance boost engine. Hyper Boost helps elevate the overall user experience through improvements in the power consumption and performance of Android smartphones. Developed extensively over the years prior to unveiling, OPPO Hyper Boost is designed to accommodate a wide range of usage scenarios and behaviors. A proprietary solution for optimizing system-level resource allocation on smartphones, Hyper Boost is a great example of OPPO's strength and understanding in the system-level optimization of the Android platform.

Microsoft's new laptop proves the company is more serious than ever about making hardware

Microsoft sent me its new Surface Laptop 2 for a test run. After using it for a couple days, I'm convinced that Microsoft can build a heck of a laptop and is more serious than ever about hardware.

This is an Apple-level device with Windows 10, an operating system I've grown to love in recent years.

The Surface Laptop 2 looks killer, especially in the black color I received to review. This model starts at $1,299 with 256GB of storage, while the silver computer is available for $999, though it only has half that amount of storage. Microsoft also sells the laptop in burgundy and blue.If you like MacBooks, you should take a look at the Surface Laptop 2. It's thin and light, just like you expect from a MacBook, but even beats Apple at some new features.

For one, it has a touch-screen display.

It's convenient to be able to reach out and tap an icon or switch an app through the touch screen. You can also buy a stylus and use the screen for marking up documents or fine-tuning a Photoshop image. I like that Microsoft still includes a more traditional USB port for keyboards, mice and other peripherals, instead of following Apple and forcing users to USB-C. There's no SD card slot, though, if that's important to you.Like Apple's MacBook Pros, the Surface Laptop 2 runs on Intel's latest eighth-generation chips. They're more powerful than the prior generation, at least on paper, but I didn't really notice much difference while working throughout the day in a web browser. Most things felt fast, and I was still able to use Photoshop to edit pictures. Without dedicated graphics, this isn't really a machine for hardcore gaming, so keep that in mind.Windows 10 has improved drastically, and you should give it a try if you haven't used a Windows device in a few years. You might be surprised at how good it's become. One feature I really like is called Windows Hello. Paired with the camera on the Surface Laptop 2, it can recognize my face and unlock the computer in a split second when I open the lid. Apple hasn't added Face ID to its laptops yet, but it seems likely to happen. I know some people probably don't like the idea of facial recognition, so you can still use a regular password or PIN if you prefer.

The keyboard is excellent. That's important because Apple has faced a lot of complaints about its earlier MacBook Pro and MacBook butterfly keyboards. Some people have complained about the keys getting stuck. The keys on the Surface Laptop 2 have nice bounce, and I was able to type quickly almost immediately. There's also a good even backlighting across the surface. I'm a little worried about the Alcantara fabric that surrounds the keyboard, though, and I'm curious how it holds up over time. It looks like it could get greasy or worn down.The battery is pretty good, at least better than my standard-issue work laptop from Dell. That computer gets me a few hours of use, while the Surface Laptop 2 lasts most of the work day. I unplugged it in the morning around 8 a.m. and it still had 40 percent left when I checked it after lunch at 2 p.m. Your mileage will vary depending on the screen brightness and what you're doing, however.I've been critical of some of Microsoft's other computers, namely the Surface line, because it's hard for me to justify the cost of a tablet that doesn't include a keyboard. Conversely, the Laptop 2 has a keyboard and doesn't try to double as a tablet.

Maybe that's why I don't see any real faults here — the Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 sets out to do one thing and does it very well. If you're in the market for a new laptop — especially one that runs Windows — you'd be silly not to consider the Surface Laptop 2.

Samsung’s Android Pie beta program for the Galaxy S9 will start soon

Google released Android 9.0 Pie in early August, with only Pixel and Pixel 2 phones being eligible for the upgrade. Various other smartphone makers offered Pie betas at the same time and some of them will make Android 9.0 available to their customers soon. Samsung? Not so much. But the Korean Android device maker is preparing to release its customary beta program for Google’s latest operating system and we have good news and bad news about it.The good news is that Samsung’s help pages for the Android Pie program have already gone up — here’s the FAQ section and here are the terms and conditions. Furthermore, xda-developers says that the Pie beta will launch by the end of the month.

The bad news is that, as was the case in previous years, the beta only works for Samsung’s first flagship of the year. That means only Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ owners will be able to try it once Samsung makes it available. Also, not all Galaxy S9 phone versions out there will run the beta initially, so you might have to wait a while until it’s rolled out in your market.

In the US, buyers who own an unlocked Galaxy S9, a T-Mobile S9, or a Sprint version of the handset will be able to run the Pie beta. What’s interesting is that Samsung insider Ice Universe posted a GIF animation on Twitter teasing Android Pie beta for the Galaxy Note 9:It’s unclear when the Note 9 will join the Pie beta program, however.

As for the final Pie release for the Galaxy S9, you should assume it’ll be sometime in early 2019. xda estimates that Samsung will drop about six updates spread out to every two weeks before the final release is out, and that the final Android 9 release will be available around late January.

One thing the new beta will include, aside from all the new tricks Google built into Android 9.0 this year, is the new Samsung Experience 10 user interface that leaked a few days ago. Here’s a video preview of it in action:

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is getting the Android Pie stable update with MIUI 10

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is one of Xiaomi’s many flagship phones and was one of the few devices to be a part of Google’s Android Pie Beta program. While other devices from the company have been getting Global Beta updates to Android Pie, interestingly the one device that the company was testing the update on hadn’t gotten it yet – until now. You can now download Android Pie based on MIUI 10 for the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S.

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is a flagship smartphone from Xiaomi which features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, 6GB or 8GB of RAM, and a 6-inch bezel-less display. The original Xiaomi Mi Mix was more of a conceptual device as it featured the selfie camera in the bottom right bezel of the phone, however, it proved rather popular. We’re expecting to see the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 released sometime later this year, which the company’s President and Co-Founder posted a teaser of on Chinese social media website Weibo. It appears to feature a sliding camera – just like the Oppo Find X – moving the selfie camera away from the bottom right.

Android Pie contains a number of great new features, such as new fullscreen gestures, optimized system performance, Adaptive Battery, and more. MIUI 10 also has its own new features as well, such as a newly redesigned recents menu, AI-powered pre-loading of apps, and improved camera capabilities.

The MIUI Global Beta based on Android Pie comes in the form of a recovery ROM, so you’ll have to follow these instructions which require TWRP in order to install it. It is unknown if you will have to wipe your device to upgrade. While obviously, you can install this yourself if you want, it’s understandable if users don’t want to have to unlock their devices just to update. While installing the update shouldn’t wipe your data, unlocking your bootloader (a prerequisite to installing it yourself) certainly will.

Foldable tablets are coming: Lenovo to launch one with an LG-made display

You might already be tired of reading rumors about foldable smartphones being imminent - after all, they've been in the news for years without one single such device actually shipping yet (or being announced). Well then, how about foldable tablets?

Apparently those are going to exist too, at some point in the future. And the first one might be a Lenovo tablet, with an LG-made foldable screen. That is, if a new report from South Korea is to be believed.The Lenovo foldable tablet will have a 13" display when it's opened, and 8" to 9" when folded. It should be sold in China, at least at first. LG Display sees more opportunities in the foldable tablet market than in foldable smartphones, allegedly. That is because with a phone the screen is hidden when folded. But that downside turns into an advantage with tablets - they would be less bulky and easier to carry when folded.

It is also easier to make durable panels for tablets, since phones need to be folded and unfolded dozens (if not hundreds) of times a day, whereas with tablets there will be a much lower frequency of folding.

LG Display also wants to sell the same 13-inch foldable panel to Dell and LG Electronics. All of this is in unconfirmed rumor territory for now, as LG has understandably declined to comment.

Huawei Mate Series With world's First 7nm AI Chip Launched

Chinese technology giant Huawei on Tuesday unveiled its flagship Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro, Mate 20X and Porsche Design Mate 20RS smartphones at an event at ExCel -- the largest conference venue in London. These are the first devices from Huawei's stable to be powered by the world's first 5G-ready 7nm (nanometre) chipset Kirin 980, equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities.

No Mate series device has, however, made it to India before and the company has not made it clear yet if the new line-up will be launched in India. HUAWEI Mate 20 with 4GB RAM + 128GB ROM configuration would be available for 799 euros (roughly Rs 67,800) and HUAWEI Mate 20 with 6GB RAM + 128GB storage configuration would cost 849 euros (Rs 72,000, approximately). Both devices went on sale on Tuesday.The 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant of HUAWEI Mate 20X would be available for 899 euros (Rs 76,200, approximately) from October 26. Porsche Design HUAWEI Mate 20RS (8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant) would cost 1,695 euros (Rs 143,800, roughly) and 8GB RAM + 512GB ROM variant for 2,095 euros or approximately Rs 17,7000 from November 16. The smartphones come with cutting-edge innovations including the revolutionary dual Neural Processing Unit (NPU), Leica triple camera with Leica ultra-wide angle lens and Huawei's custom SuperCharge technology with high-speed 40W charging.

"Smartphones are an important entrance to the digital world. HUAWEI Mate 20 Series is designed to be the best 'mate' of consumers, accompanying them to enjoy a richer life with their higher intelligence, unparalleled battery lives and powerful camera performance," Richard Yu, CEO, Huawei Consumer Business Group, told reporters here. The new smartphones are available in 6.53-inch, 6.39-inch and 7.2-inch display sizes."The new 40W SuperCharge, 15W HUAWEI wireless quick charge and large batteries work in tandem to provide users with the best battery life. The Matrix camera system includes Leica ultra-wide angle lens that lets users not only see wider but also closer with its new macro distance capability," the company said. There is a hyper-optical pattern on the glass back that plays with lights and shadows, thus, producing a captivating optical effect.

The new flagship series comes with the highly-customised Android P-based EMUI 9 operating system (OS). The tech major also introduced HUAWEI WATCH GT and HUAWEI Band 3 Pro that offer novel and sophisticated ways for users to track their activities and receive fitness coaching that is based on scientific research.

Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG) also launched EMUI 9.0, its custom Android P-based OS. Available to the widest range of Huawei and Honor devices yet, EMUI 9.0 goes out of beta with the launch of the HUAWEI Mate 20 Series with new features for all supported devices. "EMUI 9.0 is the culmination of our R&D efforts enabling us to continue to deliver on our 'born fast, stays fast' promise," said Chenglu Wang, President of Software Engineering, Huawei Consumer BG.

Vivo carnival sale: Get Vivo V9 at flat Rs 8,000 discount with free Bluetooth earphone, cashback

Before the customers could have got over Flipkart’s ‘Big Billion Day’ and Amazon’s ‘Great Indian Festival’ sale, smartphone maker Vivo has launched its ‘Vivo Carnival’, giving potential customers another chance to buy a phone at an attractive price. The sale started on October 15 on Vivo’s online store and will end on October 18. During Vivo Carnival, the company offers discounts on smartphones, no-cost EMI options, assured buyback offers, additional discount for HDFC customers and one-time screen replacement deal on select devices.
The smartphones that are part of the sale are – Vivo V9 Pro, Vivo V11 Pro, Vivo V9 Youth, Vivo Y66, Vivo Y83 and Vivo X21, among others. The biggest discount, however, is available on Vivo V9. The 4GB RAM and 6GB variant of the smartphone priced at Rs 23,990, is available at a flat discount of Rs 8,000 and can be purchased at Rs 15,990.The customers can get an additional cashback of 5 per cent if the phone is purchased using an HDFC Bank debit or credit card. They will also be eligible for Jio Data Offer and Vivo Gift Contest. As part of the Jio offer, the customers get benefits up to Rs 4050 and Platinum device security.
What is Vivo gift contest and how to get it?
As part of the contest, 10 customers with an order value above Rs 10,000 will win a special Vivo gift bundle worth Rs 3,900. Anyone who makes a purchase of Rs 10,000 or more on Vivo’s online store will be eligible for the contest. As per the details given on the website, the gift will be shipped to the winners before November 30, 2018.
Vivo V9 fixtures and specifications
Launched in March 2018, Vivo V9 comes with a 6.30-inch touchscreen display. It is powered by a 2.2GHz octa-core processor and sports a 3260mAh non-removable battery. The phone is available with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage which can be expanded up to 256GB via a microSD card.
It has a 16-megapixel (f/2.0) + 5-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 24-megapixel front shooter for selfies. The connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, USB OTG, Micro-USB, FM, 3G and 4G.

ONEPLUS 5T, 5, 3, 3T ANDROID 9.0 PIE UPDATE DELAYED; CEO SAYS MORE WORK NEEDED

If you are a OnePlus 5T, OnePlus 5, OnePlus 3 or a OnePlus 3T user and had been eagerly waiting for your Android Pie update, you might have to wait a little longer.

In a post on Weibo, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau says that the developers need a little more time to work on the Pie update for these phones. This post was put up in Chinese and was first spotted and translated by GSMArena.It’s odd that this delay is for the OnePlus 5 and 5T phones too, considering the phones are pretty recent.

Unfortunately, Pete Lau did not reveal anything else about the delay on this post. And the post also did not reveal the tentative timeline on when the users of these phones could expect the update after all.

But, the post does go on to further tease the upcoming OnePlus 6T smartphone, which is scheduled to launch globally and in India on 30 October.

Lau revealed that the OnePlus 6T will come preloaded with Android 9.0 Pie out-of-the-box. The new flagship is also expected to bring OnePlus' new OxygenOS UI re-design.

Xiaomi Redmi 6A to go on sale today: Price in India, offers and specifications

Xiaomi Redmi 6A, which was recently launched in India, is slowly becoming the top selling budget smartphone in the country and while there have been multiple flash sales for the handset, the Xiaomi Redmi 6A will go on sale once again today via Mi.com and Amazon India. The biggest highlights of the Redmi 6A include a 5.45-inch HD+ display, 2GHz Quad-Core processor, dual 4G VoLTE, a dedicated microSD card slot and more.

The Xiaomi Redmi 6A price in India starts at Rs. 5,999 for the 2GB RAM with 16GB inbuilt storage option while the 32GB inbuilt storage version will be available at Rs. 6,999. The Xiaomi Redmi 6A sale begins at 12 pm on both Mi.com and Amazon India, while the smartphone will be available in Grey, Blue, Gold and Rose Gold colour options. As part of offers, Xiaomi Redmi 6A buyers will be eligible for Rs. 2,200 worth of instant cashback and 100 GB 4G data from Reliance Jio.Xiaomi Redmi 6A specifications

The Xiaomi Redmi 6A sports a 5.45-inch HD+ (1440 × 720 pixels) display with 18:9 aspect ratio, 2.5D curved glass and 1000:1 Contrast ratio. It is powered by the Quad-Core MediaTek Helio A22 12nm processor clocked at 2GHz and paired with IMG PowerVR GE-class GPU. The Xiaomi Redmi 6A comes with 2GB of RAM and 16GB / 32GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable up to 256GB via a dedicated microSD card slot.

The smartphone runs, Android 8.1 Oreo with MIUI 9 on top, which is upgradable to MIUI 10 and supports dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD) connectivity. For optics, the Xiaomi Redmi 6A comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera with PDAF, f/2.2 aperture, LED Flash, EIS while at the front, there is a 5-megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture. Other features of the Redmi 6A includes a 3.5mm audio jack, dual microphones, face unlock but no fingerprint scanner, dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS + GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.2 while the whole package is backed by a 3000mAh battery.

BlackBerry plans comeback as secure IoT hub

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Protecting the internet of things from cyber attacks will be a big business opportunity and the race is already on to create new products and services to safeguard the 20bn or so devices that are expected to be connected to the internet by 2020.

Among those hoping to benefit from the boom is BlackBerry, the Canadian phonemaker that dominated the smartphone market in the early years of the millennium, but saw its market share collapse after 2010 as Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android system took over.

Now the company is looking for a comeback as a provider of secure IoT access. It hopes to apply its experience and reputation for high-level security in smartphones — which were in effect the first mainstream IoT products — to a broader range of devices.

Last month, the company launched BlackBerry Spark, a communications platform that allows IoT devices used in business — which it calls the “enterprise of things”, or EoT — made by any manufacturer to connect securely to each other.

“We’re taking our DNA of security and privacy and we’re making sure to apply that to the devices that we’re bringing into the BlackBerry Spark ecosystem,” says Charles Eagan, chief technology officer at BlackBerry.

Next year, the company will launch an additional security layer to sit on top of this platform. This will continuously authenticate devices on the network using data points such as location, time and even biometrics.

If a device appears to be in use by an unauthorised person it is blocked immediately and may have additional layers of security added to it.

BlackBerry has also released a service that allows manufacturers to embed a security key into their devices — whether those are smart speakers, smart locks or smart healthcare devices — to make them inherently trusted. A BlackBerry server records the key and continuously checks that the two keys match. If they do not, the device will no longer reboot.

BlackBerry said in its latest earnings report that it now generates more than 90 per cent of its revenue from software and services, with John Chen, chief executive, highlighting the “significant future opportunities” he saw coming from the Spark platform.

BlackBerry’s focus is the business market, but other technologies will be needed to protect connected devices across the board.

The seriousness of the IoT threat was underlined when almost half a million pacemakers had to be recalled in the US in August last year because they were found to be vulnerable to cyber “intrusions and exploits”. It prompted the US Federal Drugs Administration to announce a new “action plan” to advance cyber security in all medical devices.

Among those working on potential solutions are researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who have developed a new type of low-power encryption for microchips. This would allow small connected devices to have the same level of encryption as transactions performed on regular computers but using 400 times less energy and 90 per cent less memory, while executing processes 500 times faster.

The remote access pathway is . . . the hackers’ golden ticket, ultimately

This is potentially a game-changer for simple, low-powered products such as smart sensors used by industry to gauge things such as temperature and pressure, as well as health monitors.

“In the IoT space we have different sensors and small resource-constrained devices that might be running on batteries or energy harvesting,” says Utsav Banerjee, a graduate student at MIT and one of the lead researchers on the project.

Small IoT devices will often have some custom-made security features, Mr Banerjee says, but they tend to be less secure than standard security systems used for most internet traffic, for example.

Strong encryption normally takes considerable computing power. The new microchip cuts down on energy use, however, because it is designed to handle any kind of elliptic curve calculation — the mathematical technique that underlies most modern encryption — rather than being hard-wired for a particular one.

The chip exists as a working prototype and will need further checks before going into production. But Mr Banerjee said several companies had already expressed an interest in it.

Meanwhile Bomgar, a private cyber security company based in Jackson, Mississippi, is focusing on a particular area of vulnerability for IoT devices: remote access. This is software that allows a device to be remotely controlled in order to fix it, patch it, or provide support.

“Remote access is the number one attack vector across any platform,” says Scott Walker, a solutions engineer at Bomgar. “Apart from the keys to the kingdom, which is often the password, the remote access pathway is what people want — that’s the hackers’ golden ticket, ultimately.”

Better control over remote access, Mr Walker says, would have frustrated the infamous “ fish tank” attack revealed by security company Darktrace last year. A North American casino had some of its customer data stolen by hackers who accessed the computer system through an internet-connected fish tank in the lobby.

Bomgar has come up with a solution it calls “continuous true discovery”, which immediately takes inventory of a device as soon as it comes online and can automatically change its password and track it. Several S&P 500 and FTSE 100 companies are using the system, the company says.

Punkt: A minimalist Android for the paranoid

Readers cry out for more diversity in the phone world, but few alternatives are as striking as Punkt's take on Android.

Petter Neby, founder and CEO of the Swiss design-led company, told The Register Punkt's second device is coming to market this year with an unusual USP – security hardening by BlackBerry.

Just don't call it a "dumb phone".

The eye-catching MP02 closely resembles the first 2G device, designed by Jasper Morrison, whose work spans light rail vehicles to furniture. But it's the first built on a Google-free AOSP Android code base to support 4G. Neither Punkt phone is cheap – the MP02 retails at $350.

And it resolutely won't do WhatsApp."Functionally speaking, we don't have lots of tech to add value to the product but when you hold it in your hand it feels like a phone that costs $350," said Neby. The 100g device has a 2-inch 320x240 display, 2GB of RAM, and a 1,280mAh battery.

Isn't it daunting selling a phone that, er, doesn't do very much?

"It's all about what it doesn't do," Neby said. "This is a minimalist phone, a focused phone. It just makes calls very, very well, does messaging, and acts as a LTE modem for your other devices."

The D-word did slip out but we were swiftly corrected.

"This is not a dumb phone. It's a minimalist phone."

As for WhatsApp, Neby said consumers probably have "four or five devices" that do WhatsApp already. The battery should last 12.5 days on standby, even with Android inside.

To enterprise to C-suite types, Punkt opted to be the first non-BlackBerry-branded ODM to use the BlackBerry-hardened manufacturing process. BlackBerry Secure Integrated Manufacturing Service (BSIMS) involves injecting cryptographic keys at manufacturing, the process monitored remotely from BlackBerry HQ in Waterloo, Canada.

BlackBerry is well out of the phone handset business, but back in the day it gave each device a unique crypto identifier, and a few years ago acquired Certicom. BSIMS is an attempt to turn a process into a service for third parties."You can't boot a non-BlackBerry-approved OS on a secured device," said Alex Thurber, GM of BlackBerry Mobility Solutions. "We've had a very specific situation where the assembly line at one of our licensees ran a number of units through our workstations with the wrong OS – it was an insecure development version of the OS – and they had to throw the units away. That was an expensive mistake."

In the three years since the Priv launched, BlackBerry has yet to see it rooted. BlackBerry wants IoT device manufacturers to adopt this as a quality mark. With so much insecure home tat flying in from China, consumers and industrial buyers need all the help they can get.

Neby told us he's keen to get basic voice recognition into the product – to perform tasks like turning on the radio and making a call – but has privacy concerns about Google.

"It's difficult for us to work with Google on their terms," he said. There are also UI demands with Google Assistant – the Punkt phone's display is limited by design.

Punkt didn't disclose details of UK distribution, but expects to ship in around eight weeks.

With demand to get away from always-connected distractions growing, the appeal of the Punkt is maybe less esoteric than you think, especially with the BlackBerry security brand. There may be worse ideas than running a Punkt alongside a Gemini to do all that other stuff. ®

Google Pixel Stand review: The best accessory Google has ever made

If you think about it, the Google Home is just a way for Google’s virtual assistant to express itself. Assistant can live in speakers and headphones, smart displays and smartwatches, but the core function of the Google Assistant is to always be there when you need it. That’s why the Google Home was made to blend into your home decor and that’s also why it looks like an air freshener.A few days ago, Google introduced the Pixel Stand. While it might look like any other wireless charging stand from the outside, Google has cooked up some fresh ideas that lets its Assistant exist in a new way, on a device it already inhabited.

So how does it work, and what’s so special about it, anyway? Read our full Google Pixel Stand review to find out.Google’s new Pixel Stand is definitively Google. That’s to say, it’s an object that blends into your home almost seamlessly, with a stark white silicone body and colorful base. Unfortunately, this might not work as well in more mixed decor. The Pixel Stand works best when you forget it’s there, just like a Google Home. In Google’s vision of the world, that would be a bright white room with color only being introduced from accent pieces like paintings and trinkets. Google designs their products for idealistic scenarios, and I wish they would have offered the Stand in more than its one color — white.

The Pixel Stand uses Google’s new fast wireless charging tech. That’s 10 watts of power being pumped into your Pixel through the air, and it also works with cases — even the relatively thick Moment case I’ve been rocking since launch. While it isn’t quite as fast as USB Type-C quick charging through its included 18-watt fast charger, Google has pulled some compelling tricks to keep your Pixel on its stand longer than usual. More on that later.

Charge whatever you like, but the Pixel 3 will charge smarter.
This Stand uses the Qi charging standard, so any device with Qi wireless charging capabilities will work just fine with the charger, but the special features are reserved for the Pixel 3. Because the Pixel Stand has two separate charging coils, you’re able to set your device on it in either a portrait or landscape orientation and still get a jump. Pretty nifty.More than just charging
Google is charging $79 for the Pixel stand, and that’s kind of a lot of money. You can get hundreds of wireless chargers for far cheaper than this first-party option, so Google had to add something that made the Pixel Stand in particular worth your money. In the end, Google did exactly what it did for image processing on the Pixel 2 XL — it shifted some smarts onto a separate microprocessor.

Obviously, this microprocessor isn’t as complex as the Pixel Visual Core. Instead of performing image recognition through machine learning, the Pixel Stand’s microprocessor checks to see that your phone is actually a Pixel 3, then stores a unique ID to pair it so it can recognize it again later. It does this because the Stand can host multiple Pixels and perform different actions based on how the user set it up to work on that particular Stand. This is useful if you have multiple Pixel Stands, like one at your bedside you use like a digital photo frame in Do Not Disturb mode and one at your work desk you use as a clock. Unique identifiers for each phone-stand combination are also useful if other people in your home own a Pixel 3 as well.

The actions your phone can trigger could be as simple as putting your phone into Do Not Disturb mode while on the Pixel stand, or even telling your device to turn the screen off if it detects darkness. Many of the actions the Pixel Stand enables play into Google’s Digital Wellbeing initiative, and I think it’s a brilliant use of a wireless charger. The Stand encourages you to leave your phone on the Stand while still remaining useful.

In its default state, the Pixel Stand will show the time alongside your notifications and a new interface for Google Assistant. You can press the Assistant button to trigger voice actions, but Google would prefer that you use the “Hey Google” hotword to start talking instead. There’s a reason the Pixel 3 has front-facing speakers — it transforms into a Google Home.

You can ask the Assistant to tell you about your day, which will do things like read the news and let you know when you should leave for work. You can also take advantage of the Assistant’s Routines feature to trigger other aspects of your smart home like starting up a smart coffee maker or turning on your lights. Routines is an extremely powerful feature, and it’s nice being able to automate things from the comfort of your bed.
Another action Google has introduced with the Pixel Stand is Photo Frame. This action uses your Pixel 3 as a digital frame of sorts, parsing through your Google Photos albums much like the Chromecast can do. It can also use some AI smarts to automatically select the best images from your library, and it works shockingly well. I don’t have my Photos library sorted at all, and it’s filled with random device photos and screenshots from benchmarking phones. To my surprise, Photo Frame mostly picked the photos I shot with my actual mirrorless camera, as well as the best images I’ve shot with phones, and primarily showed me images of people smiling.Google is also introducing a new feature called Sunrise Alarm. This uses the OLED display on your Pixel 3 to slowly raise the brightness of the screen with a solid color, ambiently waking your body even if it doesn’t jolt you awake. The process starts 15 minutes before your actual alarm is set to go off, and if you’re lucky, it might help you wake up without the need for a loud and annoying alarm clock. If you do reach the point where your actual alarm goes off, you should be more prepared to wake up and feel better during the morning — at least in theory. This feature hasn’t launched yet, but we’re excited to test it out as soon as it hits devices later this month.Google doesn’t care about its hardware as much as it cares about making the Assistant a part of your life. The more vessels the Assistant can live in the better, and Google is developing more innovative ways to get the Assistant into the products we use on a daily basis.

The whole point of the Assistant is to exist all around you. Whether that’s through a Google Home, Google Assistant-enabled headphones, a Smart Display, or even your phone, Google wants you to have access to the Assistant wherever you are. Why are Google Home Mini and Google Home Hub so affordable? Google wants the Assistant to be in every room of your home.

For better or worse, your phone is now a Google Home.
In this vein, the Pixel Stand transforms your phone into a Google Home. Sure, you can technically call on the Assistant from your phone wherever you are, but Google wants to encourage you to use the Assistant instead of your screen. It does this with the promise of rapid charging your phone for when you need to leave the house, and the extra functionalities like Photo Frame encourage you to leave your phone on your stand and rely on your voice to make searches. Google is pushing us into a voice-first world.

The Pixel Stand is also an enormous push in Google’s Digital Wellbeing feature. With the functionality the Pixel Stand promises, users are encouraged to dock their device on the stand when they get home and leave it there until it helps them wake up more naturally in the morning. Instead of stressful messages and notifications, you’re greeted by memories which are automatically chosen from your messy Google Photos library. Google wants us to live in a world where we don’t use our phone at all while we’re at home, and that’s a reality I would be incredibly excited to live in. Of course, in this idealistic worldview it’s only Google services that deserve a pass.

In the end, it comes down to thinking of our phones as utilities. Sure, they can be sources of entertainment when we’re not doing much else, but apps have shifted from mindless games to being primarily used for work. Slack alone is installed on over 10 million devices worldwide, and hearing that hair-raising ping just as you’re settling down to relax is something we could all live without.Google’s best accessory ever… if you’re willing to pay for it
The Pixel Stand may not seem like much, but I think it’s the best accessory Google has ever made (I consider the Chromecast a full product, not so much an accessory). In classic Google fashion, its core purpose is a symbiotic relationship, drastically increasing the number of voice queries while at the same time helping you remove yourself from the screen you’re glued to 50 percent of the day. Google knows ad revenue won’t last forever, and it has been rapidly trying to get users onboarded to using voice as their primary method of interacting with computers.

$79 is a bit of a hefty price to pay, and I am honestly a little surprised that Google didn’t price this more aggressively. There’s no way the hardware costs anywhere close to $79 to produce, and the value of onboarding a customer onto Google Assistant is a big win for Google. I’d like to see Google sell bundle deals that reduce the price of the Pixel Stand when ordering a Pixel 3, but we’ve yet to see any such bundle hit the Google store. Carriers do bundles like this fairly regularly though, and it’s possible we’ll see something concrete as we approach the holiday season.If you don’t mind the $79 price tag, the Pixel Stand is one of the coolest accessories you can buy for your new Google Pixel 3. I want one for the sole reason that it removes me from my phone while I’m at home, and I think anyone could benefit from that in 2018.

Poco F1 now available via Mi Home and other retail-stores

Finally, you can now walk into an Mi Home store and buy the so-far elusive Poco F1.
Since its launch, the phone has been exclusive to Flipkart and Mi.com and was up for grabs via flash sales.
However, the POCO F1 is now available via Mi Home stores while Xiaomi's other partner stores will sell the budget flagship starting October 17.Offline prices to be marginally higher than online prices: Xiaomi
Online, the Poco F1 costs Rs. 20,999 for the 6GB RAM/64GB storage variant while the mid-level variant with 6GB RAM/128GB costs Rs. 23,999, and the top-end 8GB/256GB model costs Rs. 28,999.
It is available in Rosso Red, Steel Blue, Graphite Black, and Armored Edition options.
Notably, "to compensate for the retail operational costs" there will be a slight variation in offline and online prices.Poco F1: At a glance
Up front, the Poco F1 features a notch-based display with a slightly wider cut-out and a prominent bottom bezel.
On the back, the phone gets a polycarbonate panel which houses a dual rear-camera setup and a fingerprint sensor.
The Poco F1 sports a 6.18-inch full-HD+ (2246x1080) display with 500-nits brightness, 403ppi pixel density, and is protected by a curved Gorilla Glass 3.For the shutterbugs and selfie lovers
The Poco F1 features a rear dual-camera setup comprising a 12-megapixel (f/1.9) Sony IMX363 sensor with 1.4-micron pixel and dual-pixel autofocus, paired with a 5-megapixel (f/2.0) secondary depth sensor.
Up front, there's a 20-megapixel camera with support for AI-based Portrait mode and Scene detection with India-specific optimizations.
The primary camera can shoot 4K videos at 30fps and slow-mo in 720p/1080p at up to 240fps.Under the hood
The Poco F1 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor with dedicated LiquidCool Technology, paired with 6GB/8GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB/256GB of inbuilt storage (expandable up to 256GB).
The phone runs MIUI for Poco - a customized version of MIUI 9.6 which is based on Android Oreo 8.1.
Further, the Poco F1 packs a 4,000mAh battery with support for Quick Charge 4.0.Connectivity options and sensors onboard the Poco F1
In terms of connectivity options, the Xiaomi Poco F1 gets support for dual-SIM (Nano) cards (hybrid tray), 4G+, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11a/c, Bluetooth v5.0, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Sensors on board the phone include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.
The Poco F1 also comes with an Infrared-based face unlock technology.