What to expect at MWC 2018 from Samsung, Sony, Nokia, LG, ASUS and others

The annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) officially on Monday, February 26th, but most companies have scheduled their events tomorrow, and some of them including LG, Catphones, ARCHOS and others have already started introducing new products. The upcoming week is going to be a cornucopia of smartphone goodness and we’re on ground already to bring you the latest on the latest! With the tone set, we thought it right to bring you a quick rundown of the latest buzz from Barcelona about what to expect. So without further ado, here’s the top announcements we expect from MWC 2018. Continue reading “What to expect at MWC 2018 from Samsung, Sony, Nokia, LG, ASUS and others”

HTC merges smartphone and VR divisions, confirms US layoffs

HTC U11_fonearena-1A week after HTC’s smartphone business president Chialin Chang left the company, a new report from Digital Trends claims that HTC is now laying off a significant portion of its U.S. team leaving only the HTC Global division employees in the U.S..  Continue reading “HTC merges smartphone and VR divisions, confirms US layoffs”

Google Assistant to get support for 30 languages, location-based reminders and more

google assistant

Google ahead of the MWC 2018 is making some major announcements to its products including the ARCore, Lens, RCS Message and now it is the Assistant. The company says that it is aiming to improve Assistant with some key features like more than 30 languages support, multilingual support, location-based reminders, Routines and more throughout the year.  Continue reading “Google Assistant to get support for 30 languages, location-based reminders and more”

Xiaomi Redmi 5, Redmi 5 Plus / Note 5 and Redmi Note 5 Pro MIUI 9 Beta testing to start soon

Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 5 and Redmi Note 5 Pro smartphones running on MIUI 9.2 based on Android Nougat 7.1 in India on 14th February. The smartphone duo went on sale for the first time in India on 22nd February and company claims to have sold over 3 lakh units under 3 minutes. Continue reading “Xiaomi Redmi 5, Redmi 5 Plus / Note 5 and Redmi Note 5 Pro MIUI 9 Beta testing to start soon”

Xiaomi Redmi 4A MIUI 9.2 Android 7.1.2 Nougat update starts rolling out [Update: Now available for all]

[Update: Xiaomi has announced that the stable build is now available for all the Redmi 4A users]  Continue reading “Xiaomi Redmi 4A MIUI 9.2 Android 7.1.2 Nougat update starts rolling out [Update: Now available for all]”

Google said to introduce ARCore 1.0 officially at MWC 2018, but the update is already rolling out [Update: Now available for 13 smartphones]

Google ARCore

Update: Google is officially rolling out ARCore 1.0, which is now available for 13 smartphones – Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, Note8, S7 and S7 edge, LG V30 and V30+ (Android O only), ASUS Zenfone AR and OnePlus 5. It will be available in upcoming devices from Samsung, Huawei, LGE, Motorola, ASUS, Xiaomi, HMD/Nokia, ZTE, Sony Mobile, and Vivo later this year. Google said that ARCore is designed to work on a wide variety of qualified Android phones running Android 7.0 (Nougat) and later.

Google said that ARCore 1.0 has improved environmental understanding that enables users to place virtual assets on textured surfaces like posters, furniture, toy boxes, books, cans and more.  Continue reading “Google said to introduce ARCore 1.0 officially at MWC 2018, but the update is already rolling out [Update: Now available for 13 smartphones]”

Xiaomi signs MoU with Microsoft for cloud support, Mi AI Speaker with Cortana, artificial intelligence and laptops

Xiaomi today announced that it has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to collaborate in cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the development of equipment for use with notebook computers. The companies will also collaborate in personal assistants using their own existing devices, including Microsoft’s Cortana.

Continue reading “Xiaomi signs MoU with Microsoft for cloud support, Mi AI Speaker with Cortana, artificial intelligence and laptops”

Micromax Ayurveda Series Air Conditioners launched starting at Rs. 22990

Micromax Air Conditioners

Micromax today launched its Ayurveda Series Air Conditioners in India starting at Rs. 29,990. The new series is specially designed for the diverse Indian weather conditions and curb the bad air quality. They are powered by the R32 eco-friendly refrigerant and has much lower ozone-depleting & global warming potential than some other refrigerants used in the market.  They are also made of 100% copper. Continue reading “Micromax Ayurveda Series Air Conditioners launched starting at Rs. 22990”

Samsung starts building new EUV semiconductor line, to invest $6 billion by 2020

Samsung back in September announced that it is working on 7LPP (Low Power Plus) with EUV (extreme ultra violet) lithography technology for smartphones that is targeted for initial production in the second half of 2018. Today, as expected, the company has announced that it is building new EUV (extreme ultraviolet) line in Hwaseong, Korea. Continue reading “Samsung starts building new EUV semiconductor line, to invest $6 billion by 2020”

Airtel and Motorola partner to offer 4G smartphones at effective starting price of Rs. 3999

Moto C

After partnering with Intex, Karbonn and HMD Global, Airtel has partnered with Lenovo / Motorola to offer affordable 4G smartphone options to customers as part of Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative. Under this partnership Moto C, Moto E4 and Lenovo K8 Note 4G smartphones are now available with cashback of Rs. 2000 from Airtel. Continue reading “Airtel and Motorola partner to offer 4G smartphones at effective starting price of Rs. 3999”

Jabra Elite 65t Bluetooth earbuds with Alexa voice support launched in India

Jabra today launched the Elite 65t True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds with Alexa voice support in India. The company claims that it can offer 15 hours of audio playback on a single charge and comes included pocket-friendly charging case. Continue reading “Jabra Elite 65t Bluetooth earbuds with Alexa voice support launched in India”

Huawei P20 with dual rear Leica cameras, top-notch surfaces on certification site

Huawei is expected to introduce its flagship smartphones in the P20 series at separate event in March in Paris. We had seen several renders of the smartphones in recent times. Now two smartphones with model numbers EML-AL00 and EML-TL00 have been listed on TENAA in China, which could be P20.

Continue reading “Huawei P20 with dual rear Leica cameras, top-notch surfaces on certification site”

Opera Max data-savings app renamed as Samsung Max, available only for Samsung smartphones

Opera introduced Opera Max, data savings app in the U.S. and Europe in 2014, which was launched in India in 2015. In the same year Samsung introduced Galaxy J2 with Ultra Data Saving mode powered by Opera Max and started adding the feature in other budget and mid-range smartphones. Last year Opera discontinued the app and said that it will not get any update. Continue reading “Opera Max data-savings app renamed as Samsung Max, available only for Samsung smartphones”

Energizer POWER MAX P16K Pro smartphone with 16000mAh battery to be unveiled at MWC

Avenir Telecom, under its Energizer brand is already releasing smartphones. Today it has announced that it will introduce new Energizer POWER MAX P16K Pro Android smartphone with whopping 16,000mAh battery at the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona next week. Few years back OUKITEL introduced K10000 smartphone with 10,000mAh battery and 10 days of battery life.

Continue reading “Energizer POWER MAX P16K Pro smartphone with 16000mAh battery to be unveiled at MWC”

ARCHOS Hello Smart Display with Google Assistant announced ahead of MWC

ARCHOS HelloARCHOS ahead of the MWC 2018 event has announced the Hello Smart Display with Google Assistant support. It comes in two variants; one with 7-inch HD display and the other one with an 8.4-inch Full HD touchscreen display. The Smart Display packs high fidelity speaker and powered by a quad-core processor. Continue reading “ARCHOS Hello Smart Display with Google Assistant announced ahead of MWC”