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Oppo F5 comes to India (Update: Sidharth Limited Edition unveiled)

Update (Feb 2018); Oppo India has introduced a limited edition Blue variant of the F5 in the country. Dubbed as Oppo F5 Sidharth Limited Edition, the new smartphone keeps the same specifications and the price-tag (INR 19,990) as the previously available versions. As is pretty evident from the name, this limited edition will be promoted by actor Sidharth Malhotra.
According to Oppo, it will go on sale starting February 8 via Amazon India, which will have special one-day exclusivity. The availability will expand to all major retail stores on February 9. The new Blue version is the fourth color option to offered for the phone in the country. Oppo F5 was originally released in Black, Red and Gold colours.
Update (Dec 1, 2017): Oppo F5 is now on sale in the country.
Update (Nov 27): Oppo has announced the pre-orders for the 6GB RAM variant of the F5 are now open at Flipkart.com. The phone will start shipping December 1.
Earlier (Nov 2): Turns out Xiaomi’s new Redmi Y1 isn’t the only selfie-focussed smartphone to be launched in India today, Oppo has also introduced its F5 Android phone in the country. Introduced last month in Philippines, the Oppo F5 is a mid-range smartphone.
According to Oppo, the F5 sports a unibody design with a 6-inch full HD+ screen. It is powered by an octa-core Media MT6763T processor and will be offered in two RAM variants – 4GB and 6GB. The 6GB version comes with 64GB of internal storage and the 4GB one comes with 32GB of internal storage.
For the photography needs, the company has packed a 20MP selfie camera on the front with f2.0 lens and a 16MP camera on the back with f1.8 lens. The camera app on the phone comes with an AI-powered beauty recognition technology, which the company claims will help the consumers in capturing great selfies with the phone. This tech is using artificial intelligence to scan your eyes, nose, cheekbones and jawline to offer natural looking, but still enhanced and beautiful selfies.
Oppo F5 India

Additionally, the F5 includes dual-SIM support, microSD card slot, and a 3200 mAh battery.
On the software front, there is Android 7.1.1 Nougat on-board with ColorOS 3.2 skin. Oppo has also packed a fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone.

Pricing and availability

The OPPO F5 4GB RAM version has been priced at INR 19,990, and will be available in Black, Red and Gold colours. It will go on sale beginning November 9. The 6GB variant of the F5 carries a price-tag of INR 24,999 and will be available starting December 2 (see pre-order update on top). Oppo also plans to launch a F5 Youth edition in the country next month. No word on the pricing of the Youth edition.
In related news, Oppo has also launched the F5 in Malaysia today, where it has been priced at RM 1298. It will go on sale beginning November 11 in the country.

Asus X00PD, a Zenfone 5-series phone, leaked online

It is no longer a secret that Taiwanese manufacturer Asus is planning to introduce the Zenfone 5-series at this month’s Mobile World Congress. Now, the first real details about an Asus Zenfone 5-series phone have appeared online. Although we are still not sure of the final branding of this leaked smartphone, it will carry the model number Asus X00PD.

According to a report in German publication WinFuture, which has published the renders of X00PD, the smartphone is expected to feature a display of around 5.7-inches with 18:9 aspect ratio. As is clearly visible in renders embedded in this report, the X00PD phone will house a vertical dual-camera setup on the back with single LED flash and a fingerprint sensor. Additionally, the phone will a single front shooter, microUSB 2.0 port, and 3.5mm audio jack with bottom firing speaker.
The phone seems to be sporting a metal unibody design with SIM card slot(s) on the left and the volume rocker as well as power button on the right side.
In terms of the specifications, the Asus X00PD phone is reportedly going to pack 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM and Android 8.0 Oreo with Zen UI.
No other details are known at this point, but with less than a month to go for the official unveiling, I am expecting to see more leaks in the coming weeks.

To remind you, Asus is likely to announce four to five Zenfone 5-series smartphones on February 27 with two of models carrying the Zenfone 5 Max and Zenfone 5 Lite monikers. It is possible that X00PD is the Zenfone 5 Lite phone, or a completely separate device.
The first and second generation Zenfone models were quite popular among consumers and were received very well. But because of the increased competition from the Chinese smartphone makers in the last couple of years, Asus has had a hard time selling Zenfone smartphones. So, Zenfone 5-series is going to be quite important for the company.

Upcoming Moto Mod to support interchangeable lenses

Moto Mods family — Some of the currently available Moto Mods

It seems like Motorola’s Moto Mod portfolio is getting some really cool additions this year. A Reddit user, who has seen the development of upcoming Moto Mods first-hand, spilled some juicy details about the upcoming Moto Mods.
According to this Redditor, Motorola is developing a new camera mod, a speaker mod, a projector mod and even a drone mod for the Moto Z-series of phones.

Upcoming Moto Camera Mod

Redditor claims that the upcoming camera mod will support interchangeable lenses from manufacturers like Sony, Canon and Nikon. This will be huge deal, given that this mod will massively increase the scope of photography from the Moto Z phones. No specifics are known as this point, but this camera mod will most likely be quite bulky and expensive.
To remind you, Motorola already offers a camera mod from Hasselblad, which adds 10x optical zoom support and a xenon flash.

Upgraded Moto Projector Mod

Motorola’s existing projector mod is reportedly getting an upgrade. The new mod will be 35% brighter than the existing mod as well as pack an even bigger battery. The existing Moto Insta Share Projector Mod offers 50 lumens of brightness and includes an 1100 mAh battery.

Moto LCS Mod

The LCS stands for low-cost speaker. As the name suggests, this will be an affordable speaker mod for the Moto Z-series. There is already a $80 JBL speaker mod in the company’s portfolio, but this upcoming mod will most likely be cheaper than that.

Drone Mod

Lastly, this very weird Moto Mod basically attaches a drone to the back of the phone. This drone can fly, take photos and fly back on its own. It is clear if a controller is going to be in tow or everything is autonomous. This mod was said to be coming soon, but the manufacturer backed out at the last moment, so its fate is unclear at this moment.
No other details about any of these upcoming Moto Mods are available right now, but hopefully we will hear from the company soon.

Google’s $1.1 billion acquisition of 2,000 HTC employees is complete

Update (January 30, 2018): Google has officially closed the deal with HTC. The company on Tuesday announced the news on its official blog. The search giant stated that with the newly integrated team from HTC, Taipei will now become the largest Google engineering center in Asia Pacific.
As per reports, over 2000 HTC employees from the smartphone team have joined Google and they will be working on the company’s Pixel devices and other related products.
Earlier (September 21, 2017): Google has inked an agreement with Taiwanese manufacturer HTC to acquire part of the company’s smartphone team. The deal, which is valued at $1.1 billion, will also get the search giant a non-exclusive license for HTC intellectual property (IP).
HTC explained in a press release that the company’s certain employees, many of whom worked on Pixel smartphones, will be joining Google.
“A team of HTC talent will join Google as part of the hardware organization. These future fellow Googlers are amazing folks we’ve already been working with closely on the Pixel smartphone line, and we’re excited to see what we can do together as one team,” wrote Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President, Hardware at Google in a blog post.
With this deal, HTC lives to fight another day. The company has just got another lifeline with $1.1 billion cash infusion, which will help it to develop the future smartphone portfolio and enhance the Vive virtual reality business.
The limited and specific nature of the current deal also makes sense of Google given their experience with Motorola Mobility. This move could bring Google closer to achieving the hardware/software synergy that has worked so well for iPhone, however the Mountain View-based company will still use off-the-shelf processors (unlike Apple) in its smartphones.

Xiaomi to launch a new selfie-focused phone in India

In a bid to further capitalise on its increasing popularity in the Indian market, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has announced that it plans to unveil a new smartphone-series for the country. The company is hosting a press event on November 2, when it will be showcasing the first phone in the lineup.
Since the company claims that it is a new smartphone-series, there is little to speculate on what Xiaomi might be launching. However the press invite as well as teasers about the launch, all carry the hashtag ‘Your Best Selfie,’ suggesting that the new phone is going to be selfie-focussed. With the craze for selfie-centric phones in the country right now, it is not surprising that Xiaomi too wants to grab a pie of the lucrative market.
Industry insiders suggest that the upcoming Xiaomi phone will be a part of Redmi devices, making it an affordable smartphone, priced probably under INR 10K. The phone will most likely come with a 16MP wide-angle front camera with LED flash. Other specifications are a mystery at this point.
To remind you, Xiaomi currently offers six smartphone models in India with different storage and RAM variations. The upcoming smartphone will be the seventh model. Despite keeping a comparably small portfolio of smartphones, Xiaomi has seen great success in the country. It is currently the second biggest smartphone maker, just behind Samsung. Xiaomi recently revealed that it managed to sell record 4 million smartphones in the 30-days preceding Diwali.
Although Xiaomi started out as an online-only brand in the country, it realised that online-only strategy is not going to serve it for long in a market where the most smartphone sales still come from offline retailers. This realisation has led to the company’s increased focus on the offline sales, including building its own presence with Mi Home stores. The offline sales now account for over 20 percent of the company’s total shipments in the country.
The post Xiaomi to launch a new selfie-focused phone in India .

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Samsung to launch a smart speaker in first half of 2018: Report

It seems the South Korean tech giant Samsung is getting ready to join the likes of Google and Amazon by launching its own smart speaker in the market. According to a report in the Bloomberg, the company is planning to introduce a Bixby-powered smart speaker in the first half of 2018.
Samsung’s upcoming smart speaker will reportedly focus on audio-capabilities and smart home devices management, similar to what the most premium smart speakers offer these days. It will use the company’s own voice-assistant Bixby, which is currently offered as a part of select Galaxy smartphones. Although Bixby is a direct competitor to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, it hasn’t got the best reviews and is probably the worst of the bunch.
Bloomberg also notes that Samsung’s smart speaker will synchronize with Samsung’s other devices like phones and TVs as well as work with the company’s SmartThings platform.
A prototype of the smart speaker in testing by the company is said to be between the size of Amazon Echo and Apple HomePod. It sports matte black colour, however the company may offer the final product in multiple colour options. The prototype doesn’t feature any kind of a screen, but there are lights on the top for visual feedback. No other specifics are known at this point.
The smart speaker may be released in multiple markets around the world with a price-tag around $200, but these plans are fluid at the moment and may change.
Samsung’s plans to release a smart speaker haven’t been a complete surprise. The company executive DJ Koh has revealed in August this year that Samsung is working on a smart speaker without giving out any details.
I hope to hear more about Samsung’s smart speaker plans at the company event in Mobile World Congress next year.
The post Samsung to launch a smart speaker in first half of 2018: Report .

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Samsung to unveil Galaxy S9 and S9+ at MWC in February

The Samsung Galaxy S9 phones will reportedly keep the same design as the Galaxy S8 phones.

Update (Dec 15): A report originating from South Korea is now suggesting that Samsung will announce the S9 and S9+ at the Mobile World Congress 2018. The company will most likely host a press event a day before the opening on the MWC 2018 – February 25 – to unveil the flagship smartphones. The date mentioned in the Korean report is most likely a typo.
Update (Dec 8): It seems VentureBeat was wrong and we will not be seeing the S9 or S9+ at the CES 2018. You can read more in my full report here.
Earlier (Nov 23): The South Korean tech giant is reportedly planning to reveal the next Galaxy S-series smartphones earlier than usual. According to VentureBeat, the company will show off the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ phones at the CES trade fair in Las Vegas. The CES is scheduled from January 9 to January 12 next year.
The VentureBeat report however adds that the actual launch of the S9 models will still happen in March, like this year’s Galaxy S8 models. It is unclear how many details of its upcoming flagship smartphone, Samsung will share at the CES event.

Samsung Galaxy S9, S9+ expected features & specifications

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ will be sporting an identical design to their predecessors Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. It is the internal components that will be mainly different in the upcoming smartphones.
VentureBeat notes that the Galaxy S9 and S9+ are codenamed Star 1 and Star 2 respectively. While the S9 phone will carry the model number SM-G960 and a 5.8-inch curved-edge Super AMOLED Infinity display, the S9+ phone will use model number SM-G965 with 6.2-inch curved-edge Super AMOLED Infinity display.
Like the most previous years, the upcoming Galaxy S-series phones will use Qualcomm’s flagship smartphone processor for 2018 in some markets and Samsung’s own flagship Exynos model in the other markets. The exact processor names are unconfirmed at this point, but some reports indicate that Snapdragon 845 is going to the moniker of the Qualcomm chip.
Unlike the S8 and S8+ phones, where are nearly identical apart from the display changes, the S9 and S9+ will be significantly different. Samsung has reportedly decided to go the Apple way and will be putting more RAM in the plus model. It will also use rear dual-camera setup in the plus version and the non-plus version will have a single-sensor setup on the back.
Among other rumoured specifications, the S9 phones will keep the 3.5mm audio jack and come with AKG stereo speakers and a fingerprint sensor.
After a lot complaints about its current placement of fingerprint sensor, Samsung is changing it in the S9 phones. The rear elements will be placed vertically with fingerprint sensor on the bottom of the placement.
Lastly, the company will also introduce a backward compatible DeX docking station with the Galaxy S9 smartphones. To remind you DeX allows the users to connect their phone to a monitor and keyboard/ mouse and use their phone as a computer.
The post Samsung to unveil Galaxy S9 and S9+ at MWC in February .