Tech talks #6 Redmi phone, Moto Razor,Moto G8
Published on 6/Feb/2020
1.
Redmi Phone With 5,000mAh Battery, Dual Rear Cameras Set to Be Launched on February 11: All You Need to Know
The upcoming Redmi phone will feature a new design for better grip
Redmi is ready to unveil its first smartphone of the year next week in the country. Hot on the heels of the Realme C3 debut, Redmi has decided to tease the release of its own competitor to the new Realme phone. While Redmi doesn't explicitly state which smartphone, its tag line for the teaser indicates that we are going to get a successor to Redmi 8A, most likely in the form of Redmi 9A. Additionally, Xiaomi India chief Manu Kumar Jain is saying that Xiaomi fans can expect two surprises as well.
As per the teaser twit published by Redmi India and the official present on Xiaomi's India website, the company is teasing the new smartphone with the tag line – 'desh ka dumdaar smartphone'. Xiaomi has in the past used taglines such as 'desh ka smartphone', 'smart desh ka phone', and 'smart desh ka dumdaar smartphone' to hype redmi 6A, redmi 7A, and redmi 8A, respectively. So, the new tagline - desh ka dumdaar smartphone – kind of screams the launch of Redmi 9A. We will, however, still suggest waiting for the official announcement for the final confirmation.
The new Redmi smartphone will be unveiled on February 11 at 12pm (noon). There is no information about whether Xiaomi has planned an event to announce the new phone.
The teaser micro-site indicates the Redmi phone will feature dual rear cameras and 5,000mAh battery. Additionally, it hints at a new design for better grip. No other details are available at this point.
If Xiaomi really wants to position the upcoming Redmi 9A as a competitor to the just-announced REALME C3, the phone is likely to feature a processor in line with MediaTek Helio G70 SoC.
Additionally, as mentioned, Manu Kumar Jain is saying that Xiaomi fans can expect to see two surprises on February 11. One of these surprises is teased to be Redmi's entry in a new product category. The product category is rumoured to be power banks. Right now, Xiaomi only sells Mi-branded power banks in the country.
2.
Motorola Razr 2019 Appears in an Unannounced Gold Colour Option as It Goes on Sale in the US
Motorola Razr 2019 is currently only offered in a black colour option
If the black colour option of the Motorola Razr 2019 isn't enticing enough to grab your attention then you might want to know that the foldable smartphone has now leaked in an unannounced gold colour. The new colour is reminiscent of the gold paint job that the original Motorola Razr V3i has received when Motorola, back in the day, collaborated with Dolce and Gabbana for the company's flip phone. Separately, a YouTube channel has published a teardown of the Motorola Razr 2019 as the phone goes on sale in the United States.
First things first, prolific tipster Evan Blass took to Twitter and shared a bunch of images of the Motorola Razor 2019 in a gold colour option that is yet to be announced by Motorola. Now, we don't know if or when Motorola will release this variant of the foldable Razr, but these high-resolution renders certainly give us an idea of how Razr 2019 is going to look like in gold.
Meanwhile, as mentioned, Motorola Razr 2019 is going on sale in the United States today. There is still no word on the India release except the fact that it is coming.
Display (Primary)6.20-inch
ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 710
Front Camera5-megapixel
Rear Camera16-megapixel
RAM6GB
Storage128GB
Battery Capacity2510mAh
OSAndroid 9.0 Pie
Resolution876x2142 pixels
3.
Moto G8, Moto G8 Power, Moto G8 Stylus Renders Leak, Seen to Sport Hole-Punch Displays, Rear Fingerprint Sensors
Moto G8 (left), G8 Power, and G8 Stylus (right) have vertically aligned multiple rear cameras
Moto G8 Power was spotted in an Amazon listing just hours earlier, and now a fresh render has leaked online. Alongside the Moto G8 Power, the Moto G8 and the Moto G8 Stylus renders have also been leaked. All three phones seem to have more or less the same design, but there are a few differences that can be seen. The Moto G8, Moto G8 Power, and Moto G8 Stylus phones are all seen to sport hole-punch displays up front.
The new renders have been leaked by noted tipster Evan Blass, and it shows all the three phones from the front and back. The Moto G8 has leaked in a White colour option, and it shows the phone sporting a hole-punch display on the upper left corner of the screen. The Moto G8 is seen to sport a triple rear camera setup at the back, aligned vertically and placed on the top left corner of the back panel. There is a rear fingerprint sensor seen with the Motorola logo embossed on top of it.
The Moto G8 is seen to sport the same display design, but it appears to have quad cameras at the back. The phone is seen to sport a Black patterned finish at the back. The Moto G8 Stylus is a new addition to the Moto G8 family, and hasn't been leaked up until now. The company was earlier reported to be working on a stylus-enabled device, and the Moto G8 Stylus could presumably be it. It was rumoured to be called the Moto G Stylus, but Evan Blass' fresh leak seems to suggest that it may launch as the Moto G8 Stylus. The phone is seen to sport a hole-punch display, triple rear cameras at the back, and a rear fingerprint sensor. The stylus variant has leaked in a blue colour finish.
The Motorola G8 Plus – one of two launched variant in the Moto G8 family - comes with triple rear cameras, dedicated action camera, and Snapdragon 665 SoC. The render of the Moto G8 Power is identical to the recent Amazon leak, and the listing tips the phone to pack a 5,000mAh battery, and be powered by the Snapdragon 665 octa-core SoC. There's no word on when the three other Moto G8 family members will be made official. The Motorola G8 Play is the other launched variant, and it too features a triple rear camera setup.
Display6.39-inch
ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 665
Front Camera8-megapixel
Rear Camera16-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel
RAM2GB
Storage32GB
Battery Capacity4000mAh
OSAndroid 10
Resolution720x1560 pixels
4.
WhatsApp Dark Mode Gets New Solid Colour Options on Android: All You Need to Know
WhatsApp dark mode users can now choose from six colours in beta version
WhatsApp beta for Android is getting a new version via Google Play Beta programme. This version indicates the features that we can expect to see in the stable version over the coming weeks. One of the major changes present in the new beta version is related to WhatsApp dark mode that was introduced in beta version last month. It seems WhatsApp dark mode when it officially becomes available to the stable version users will be more detailed and feature-rich than expected.
According to WhatsApp feature trackerWABetaInfo, Facebook-owned WhatApp has released the version 2.20.31 of its beta app for Android via Google Play Beta programme. This version includes new solid colour options that can be used by the WhatsApp users instead of just back while running the dark theme. As you can see in the the screenshots taken by Gadgets 360, there are six solid colour options, including black.
While the dark black theme will help conserve the battery on OLED screen phones, the other colours won't have any such impact. They may still be easier on the eyes in low-light situations, compared to a white theme.
We were able to see the new solid colour options in WhatsApp v2.20.31 for Android. You can either register for the Google play beta program to try out the latest beta build, or sideload it via APK mirror
To recall, in the last beta version of WhatsApp Messenger for Android, the company had removed the Set By Battery Saver option to triggering dark theme on phones running Android 9 or below.
There are no other major tweaks present in the latest WhatsApp beta for Android. There is still no word on when dark theme will be released for WhatsApp beta for iPhone users or when it will reach the stable version of the chat app on both Android and iPhone.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp was revalid to have a critical vulnerability that could have allowed attackers to remotely access files from a Windows or Mac computer. The vulnerability is now fixed and was present in the desktop version of the app.
5.
NASA Astronaut Christina Koch Returns to Earth After Longest Mission by a Woman
Koch was shown seated and smiling broadly after being extracted from the Soyuz descent module
NASA's Christina Koch returned to Earth safely on Thursday after shattering the spaceflight record for female astronauts with a stay of almost 11 months aboard the International Space Station.
Koch touched down at 0912 GMT on the Kazakh steppe after 328 days in space, along with Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency.
Koch was shown seated and smiling broadly after being extracted from the Soyuz descent module in the Roscosmos space agency's video footage from the landing site.
"I am so overwhelmed and happy right now," said Koch, who blasted off on March 14 last year.
Parmitano pumped his fists in the air after being lifted into his chair while Skvortsov was shown eating an apple.
Local Kazakhs on horseback were among those to witness the capsule landing in the snow-covered steppe as support crews gathered around the three astronauts, NASA commentator Rob Navias said.
"I've never seen this," Navias exclaimed, reporting that the men stopped to chat with engineering personnel.
Koch, a 41-year-old Michigan-born engineer, on December 28 last year beat the previous record for a single spaceflight by a woman of 289 days, set by NASA veteran Peggy Whitson in 2016-17.
Koch called three-time flyer Whitson, now 60, "a heroine of mine" and a "mentor" in the space programme after she surpassed the record.
The spacewalk was initially postponed because the space station did not have two suits of the right size for women, leading to allegations of sexism.
Ahead of the three-and-a-half hour journey back to Earth, Koch told NBC on Tuesday that she would "miss microgravity".
"It's really fun to be in a place where you can just bounce around between the ceiling and the floor whenever you want," she said, smiling as she twisted her body around the ISS.
She will now head to NASA headquarters in Houston, via the Kazakh city of Karaganda and Cologne in Germany, where she will undergo medical testing.
Koch's medical data will be especially valuable to NASA scientists as the agency draws up plans for a long-duration manned mission to Mars.
- 'Make space for women' -
Koch's return comes after an advert for a skincare brand ran during an intermission in the American football Super Bowl with a call to "make space for women".
The advert featured NASA astronaut Nicole Stott and saw the company promise to donate up to $500,000 to the non-profit Women Who Code, which works with young women seeking careers in tech and scientific fields.
The first woman in space was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova whose spaceflight in 1963 is still the only solo mission carried out by a woman.
Russia has sent only one woman to the ISS since expeditions began in 2000 -- Yelena Serova whose mission launched in 2014.
Both Tereshkova and Serova are now lawmakers in the Russian parliament, where they represent the ruling United Russia party.
Unlike Koch, whose ISS stay was extended, Parmitano and Skvortsov were rounding off regular half-year missions.
Parmitano handed over command of the ISS to Roscosmos's Oleg Skripochka on Tuesday.
The 43-year-old Italian posted regular shots of the Earth while aboard, highlighting the plight of the Amazon rainforest and describing the Alps as "like a spinal column, never bending to time".
Four male cosmonauts have spent a year or longer in space as part of a single mission with Russian Valery Polyakov's 437 days the overall record.
Scott Kelly holds the record for a NASA astronaut, posting 340 days at the ISS before he returned home in 2016.
6.
Apple to Allow Universal Purchases for iOS, macOS Apps
Apple appears to be on track to merge iOS and macOS apps
Apple is allowing app developers to distribute their iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS apps as a universal purchase starting March. The new change, which is already a part of Xcode 11.4 beta, is essentially aimed to let users make a single purchase of the apps that they want on multiple Apple devices. It appears to be another step by the Cupertino company to merge iPhone, iPad, and macOS apps that has been rumoured since December 2017 and is said to be in the works as a secret project, codenamed “Marzipan.”
“Starting in March 2020, you'll be able to distribute iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS versions of your app as a universal purchase, allowing customers to enjoy your app and in‑app purchases across platforms by purchasing only once,” Apple noted in an update posted on its developer portal.
As spotted by developer Steve Troughton-Smith on Twitter, universal purchase is already a part of Xcode 11.4 beta that is available for testing purposes. It is enabled by default for new Mac Catalyst apps built using Xcode 11.4. Nevertheless, developers can also add universal purchase support to their existing Mac apps as well.
Aside from allowing universal purchasing, Apple is unifying categories across the App Store and Mac App Store. This means developers building iOS apps will be able to select categories “Developer Tools” and “Graphics & Design” that both were earlier provided only to macOS developers. Similarly, macOS app developers will get categories such as “Books”, “Food & Drink”, “Magazine & Newspapers”, and “Shopping” that all were so far limited to iOS. The company is also combining the “Photography” and “Video” categories into a single “Photo & Video” category, whereas the “Kids” will no longer be a subcategory within “Games” on the Mac App Store.
The new change doesn't mean that developers will no longer be able to distribute and sell separate versions of their apps for different platforms. Apple will still offer the option to get distinct purchases.
However, the update planned by Apple is a step further to Catalyst apps that it brought with the launch of macOS10.15 Catalina last year. Catalyst apps are aimed to help developers build apps for both iOS and macOS platforms -- without having to completely rework their code.
The initial adoption of Catalyst apps is low as it doesn't bring any visible value for end consumers. However, the addition of universal purchases may encourage developers to start building new Catalyst apps as they'll enable users to pay once for the apps that they want on multiple Apple devices.
7.
Xiaomi Mi 10 will feature Micron’s LPDDR5 RAM
At the Snapdragon Tech Summit last year, Xiaomi confirmed that its upcoming flagship — the Xiaomi Mi 10 — would feature Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 865 SoC. Soon thereafter, we also confirmed that the company was planning on launching another device alongside the Mi 10 — the Mi 10 Pro. The pro version was spotted in an MIUI 11spotted for the Redmi K30 5G, which confirmed the names of the two devices along with their marketing names. At the time, we also learned that the Mi 10 Pro will also feature 66-watt fast charging but we didn’t know much else about the two devices. Earlier this month, we managed to obtain build.prop files for the two devices which conformed that they'd also include a 108MP primary sensor. Now, we have some more information about Xiaomi’s upcoming flagship Mi 10.
According to a recent report from a Chinese publication, American memory manufacturer Micron has managed to mass-produce the world’s first low-power LPDDR5 DRAM chip which will be used in upcoming high-end smartphones. Micron’s LPDDR5 RAM makes use of advanced packing technology that allows the company to cram 12GB of RAM on a single die. The RAM boasts of a transmission rate of up to 6.4 Gbps, which is nearly twice as fast as LPDDR4, 20% faster than LPDDR4x, and features a 50% improvement in data access speed. In terms of power consumption, the LPDDR5 module reduces power consumption by more than 20% compared to the previous generation. Additionally, the report also confirms that the Xiaomi Mi 10 will be the first device to feature the new LPDDR5 module.
Micron further claims that LPDDR5 powered devices will have 5-10% improvement in battery life while delivering better operation speeds. Compared to LPDDR4 RAM modules, the new faster RAM can also improve performance in demanding AR apps, reduce processing time for 100MP photos and high-resolution video editing. The company believes that devices equipped with LPDDR5 RAM will include 8GB or 12GB of memory in the first half of this year, but could bump up to 16GB in the second half. This leads us to believe that the Xiaomi Mi 10 could feature up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM.
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