Tech talks#8Samsung Galaxy Z, Moto G power,Mi 10

                Published on 8/Feb/2020

1.

Samsung Galaxy S20, Galaxy Z Flip Leaks Tip Price, Specifications, Retail Package, and More

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G’s alleged official poster reveals a familiar design

Samsung Galaxy S20 series and Galaxy Z Flip phones - set to launch on Tuesday - have appeared in a set of fresh leaks. After making their way out in a tonne of renders, live images, and getting their price as well as specifications unceremoniously appear online, more details have now surfaced. Amazon.ae briefly listed the Galaxy S20 series, detailing their prices. Alleged live images of the Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone have been leaked again, alongside what appears to be an official poster for the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G. Also, more details about the specifications, retail package contents, and features of the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20 Ultra have leaked as well.

Let's start with the Galaxy Z Flip. Live images of Samsung's upcoming foldable phone, which come courtesy of Engadget, show a familiar tall display with the Infinity-O design. Additionally, a tweet by tipster Ishan Agarwal mentions that the Galaxy Z Flip will come with a cover in the retail package. The accompanying images, which appear to be product manual screenshots, mention an optimised UI for the Galaxy Z Flip and again confirm the presence of an ultra-thin glass over the foldable panel. There is also the mention of its specifications that include Snapdragon 855+ SoC, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, 6.7-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED display, and a 3,300mAh battery.

Moreover, the tipster has also shared what he claims to be an official poster for the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G. In a separate tweet, he mentions that the Galaxy S20 Ultra will come with a host of new features such as 100x Space Zoom, Single Take, and Bright Night. Another leaked slide mention specifications of the phone that include a 6.9-inch WQHD+ (1440 x 32000 pixels) Super AMOLED display, up to 16GB of RAM, 512GB storage, and Snapdragon 865 SoC. The Galaxy S20's retail package is said to include an AKG-tuned USB Type-C headset and a 25W charger.

In a separate tweet, the tipster has leaked details about the Galaxy S20 5G's hardware, box contents, and features. The Galaxy S20 5G is said to sport a 6.2-inch WQHD+ (1440 x 3200 pixels) Super AMOLED display, 12GB of RAM, 128GB storage, Snapdragon 865 SoC, and a 4,000mAh battery. Contents of the Galaxy S20's retail package are said to be identical to that of the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G phone.

Finally, Amazon.ae briefly listed the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+, tipping their prices. On the e-commerce site, which is headquartered in the UAE and serves the Middle East, the Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G 12GB RAM + 128GB storage variant was listed at AED 3,799 (roughly Rs. 74,000), the Samsung Galaxy S20+ 4G 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant was listed at AED 3,599 (roughly Rs. 70,100), while the Samsung Galaxy S20 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant was listed at AED 3,199 (roughly Rs. 62,300). It also mentions the colour variants as Cosmic Black, Cosmic Grey, and Cosmic Pink.

Samsung Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+ prices listed on Amazon

• KEY SPECS
• NEWS

Display (Primary)6.70-inch

ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 855+

Front Camera10-megapixel

Rear Camera12-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM8GB

Storage256GB

Battery Capacity3300mAh

OSAndroid 10

Resolution1080x2636 pixels

2.

Moto G Power, Moto G Stylus Launched With Triple Rear Cameras, Hole-Punch Display: Price, Specifications

Moto G Power and Moto G Stylus have a water repellent design

Motorola has launched a pair of new phones ahead of MWC 2020 – the Moto G Power and the Moto G Stylus. Both the phones were leaked extensively and there are no surprises in Motorola's announcement, except for the slightly modified names. Starting with the Moto G Stylus, it comes with a stylus that is bundled with an in-house note-taking app. The Moto G Power, on the other hand, packs a large 5,000mAh battery. Both the phones sport a hole-punch display with an identical size and resolution, and are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC. The two phones run Android 10 on the software side with a stock interface and come equipped with Dolby-tuned dual stereo speakers.

Moto G Power, Moto G Stylus price, availability

The Moto G Power is priced at $249.99 (roughly Rs. 18,000) will soon be available in the US and Canada via major carriers and retail partners such as Best Buy, B&H Photo, Walmart and Amazon. As for the Moto G Stylus, it carries a price tag of $299.99 (roughly Rs. 21,500) and will also be available from the aforementioned outlets in US and Canada. Motorola is yet to reveal the international availability details of the two phones.

Moto G Power specifications

The Moto G Power runs Android 10 with a stock interface and packs a 6.4-inch full-HD+ (1080 x 2300 pixels) Max Vision display with 19.17:9 aspect ratio, 399ppi pixel density, and 88 percent screen-to-body ratio with a hole-punch design. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage that is expandable via a microSD card (up to 512GB).

Moto G Power is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC

Moto G Power's triple rear camera setup includes a 16-megapixel main snapper with an f/1.7 aperture, assisted by an 8-megapixel wide-angle lens with a 118-degrees field of view, and a 2-megapixel macro shooter with an f/2.2 aperture. On the front is a 16-megapixel camera with an f/2.0 aperture housed in a hole-punch. It comes equipped with a 5,000mAh battery with support for 10W rapid charging.

Connectivity options on the Moto G Power include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/a/ac Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, AGPS, LTEPP, SUPL, Glonass, and Galileo. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, ambient light, sensor hub, and a rear-mounted fingerprint reader. Dimensions of the phone are 159.85 x 75.84 x 9.63mm and it weighs 199 grams.

Moto G Stylus specifications

The Moto G Stylus also runs Android 10 with a stock flavour and features a 6.4-inch full-HD+ (1080 x 2300 pixels) Max Vision display with 399ppi pixel density, 89 percent screen-to-body ratio, and 19.17:9 aspect ratio. It draws power from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC ticking alongside 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage that can further be expanded via a microSD card (up to 512GB).

Moto G Stylus features a 48-megapixel main camera and a dedicated action camera

 Moto G Stylus also features triple rear camera hardware, but the resolution figures are slightly different compared to that of the Moto G Power. It has a 48-megapixel main camera with an f/1.7 lens, accompanied by a 16-megapixel action camera with an f/2.2 aperture, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a laser autofocus module as well. Selfies are handled by a 16-megapixel snapper with an f/2.0 aperture.

It packs a smaller 4,000mAh battery with 10W rapid charging support. Connectivity is handled by 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/a/ac Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, AGPS, LTEPP, SUPL, Glonass, and Galileo. Sensors packed inside the phone include an accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, ambient light, sensor hub, and a rear-mounted fingerprint reader. The Moto G Stylus measures 158.55 x 75.8 x 9.2mm and it tips the scales at 192 grams.

• KEY SPECS
• NEWS

Display6.40-inch

ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 665

Front Camera16-megapixel

Rear Camera16-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 8-megapixel

RAM4GB

Storage64GB

Battery Capacity5000mAh

OSAndroid 10

Resolution1080x2300 pixels

3.

Mi 10 Launch Date Set for February 13, Xiaomi Confirms, Mi 10 Pro Likely to Debut Alongside

Mi 10 launch will be an online-only event, Xiaomi said in its Weibo post

Mi 10 is set to be launched next week, on February 13, Xiaomi has confirmed through a Weibo post. Alongside, the Mi 10 Pro can also be expected to launch. Separately, the company has sent invites for the Mi 10's global launch in Barcelona, Spain, just ahead of MWC 2020. With the Weibo post, the company has also begun posting teasers for the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro, revealing specifications like LPDDR5 RAM, 5G and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, as well as the presence of UFS 3.0 storage.

In the Mi 10  launchdate announcement Weibo post, Xiaomi clearly mentions the launch will be an "online-only broadcast". This is in all probability due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, as expected earlier this month . In subsequent posts, Xiaomi reveals the Mi 10 will sport 5G and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, and UFS 3.0 storage . In a blog post,  it mentions that the Mi 10 Pro will also feature LPDDR5 RAM - something it had previously confirmed .

Coming to the pre-MWC 2020 global launch invite (seen below), it clearly shows the numeric 10 to highlight the Mi 10 series debut that will include the Mi 10 Pro in addition to the Mi 10. It also highlights February 23 as the launch date. At the Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit 2019 in December, the company also announced that the Mi 10 will be one of the first smartphones to debut with the Snapdragon 865 SoC.

Mi 10 global launch invite for Barcelona, Spain - sent by Xiaomi on Friday

The official Block the Date invite disseminated by Xiaomi hints at support for optical zoom on the Mi 10. The invite also suggests that there would be a multi-camera setup at the back of the smartphone that could include as many as four distinct sensors.

Alongside the standard Mi 10, Xiaomi has the Mi 10 Pro in the works that Could come with up to 16 GB of RAM . Both new Mi-series phones are also rumoured to have go on sale soon after their office launch .

Mi 10 specifications (rumoured)

The Mi 10 will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC and support 5G networks. The smartphone is also rumoured to have a 108-megapixel primary camera sensor that could be Samsung's ISOCELL Bright HMX. It is also speculated to have 48W fast charging support. This would be unlike the Mi 10 Pro that is rumoured to come with a 65W charger.

Both new Mi-series phones are expected to have a hole-punch display designs-- similar to the one featured on the Galaxy S10 series last year.

Shortly after the initial launch in Barcelona, Xiaomi would bring the Mi 10 series to India and other markets. The company is also quite likely to exhibit the phone at MWC 2020 that is starting from February 24.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article claimed the Mi 10 launch date was set for February 23, which was before Xiaomi revealed its China launch to be February 13.

• KEY SPECS
• NEWS

ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 865

Front CameraYes

Rear Camera64-megapixel + 20-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel

RAM8GB

OSAndroid 10

4.

ZTE Axon 10s Pro With Snapdragon 865 SoC, 4,000mAh Battery Launched: Specifications

ZTE Axon 10s Pro boasts of a 92 percent screen to body ratio

Chinese smartphone maker ZTE has officially launched its latest flagship smartphone, the ZTE Axon 10s Pro, in its home market. The smartphone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC, making it the company's first phone to use the processor. Other key specifications of the phone include dual-mode 5G support, 4,000mAh battery, triple rear camera setup, up to 12GB of RAM, and up to 256GB of onboard storage. There is no word on the price or the release date of the phone right now.

ZTE Axon 10s Pro specifications

The dual-SIM (Nano) ZTE Axon 10s Pro runs Android 9 Pie and features a 6.47-inch curved AMOLED display with a full-HD+ (1080x2340 pixels) resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, and 92 percent screen to body ratio. There's a small waterdrop notch at the top of the screen that houses the smartphone's 20-megapixel front camera with f/20 aperture. There's also an optical in-display fingerprint scanner along with facial recognition for authentication.

The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC, coupled with 6GB or 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM. As for the storage, you either get 128GB or 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage. There's no microSD card present on the phone, meaning you won't be able to expand its storage.

In terms of cameras, the ZTEAxon 10s Pro comes with a triple-camera setup at the back featuring a 48-megapixel primary shooter, an 8-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 20-megapixel ultra-wide-angle shooter with 125-degree field of view.

Among other specifications, the smartphone features a 4,000mAh battery that comes with Quick Charge 4.0 support. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, 5G, USB Type-C port, and GPS. There's also stereo ultra-linear dual speakers on the phone that support DTS: X Ultra. Lastly, the phone measures 159.2 × 73.4 × 7.9mm and comes in single white colour for now.

5.

New Apple TV 4K Device Hinted in tvOS 13.4 Beta Code, Could Launch in March: Report

We expect to see a more powerful Apple TV 4K device at the next Apple event

Apple recently released its latest round of developer beta software for the iPhone, iPad, MacBooks, Apple Watch, and Apple TV, which gives us a good insight on what new features we can expect in the stable rollout. Developer betas are also a great place to find clues about upcoming products, which is exactly what 9to5Mac did. The beta code of tvOS reveals a new codename for an Apple TV device, which means it's possible that we could see a new model soon. Apple normally hosts a spring event, sometime in March, which is when we could see a new Apple TV 4K model.

The latest tvOS 13.4 beta code reportedly mentions a codename ‘T1125' that is very different from the current ‘J105a' codename for the 4K model and ‘J42d' for the HD model. The reports states that the 'T' in the codename could be an internal name only, since it's possible that the device is not a final production-ready unit yet. Furthermore, the internal files of tvOS 13.4 beta seem to suggest that the processor will be based on the ARM64e architecture that is the same one used in the A12 Bionic and A13 Bionic chipsets, according to the report. The new device, if it launches, is also believed to support a maximum resolution of 4K, with HDR. We don't see Apple jumping on the 8K bandwagon just yet.

As for its launch, we expect the new model (if it even exists) to launch sometime in March. Apple has had a spring event, at least for the past two years, but it's not a guarantee as the company has skipped this event a few times in the past. We could very well see a soft launch, in the way the AirPods Pro and the MacBook Pro 16-inch were announced.

In any case, having a more powerful processor in the next Apple TV device makes sense, especially since it would enable a better gaming experience that Apple can use to further promote Apple Arcade, game subscription service.

6.

Call of Duty 2020 Coming in Q4, Activision COO Confirms

Activision is working on a new Call of Duty game and some remasters

Activision COO Coddy Johnson has confirmed that there will be a new Call of Duty game in Q4 this year. During Activision's Q4 2019 financial results call, he shared that there is hype surrounding the play tests already. During the same call, CEO Bobby Kotick hinted that there will be more remasters down the line. This comes after the success of their previous remasters of Spyro and Crash Bandicoot.

Johnson said, "So across console, PC, mobile and esports, the Call of Duty. franchise has never been better positioned for growth and there is more to come, including entirely new experiences within the Modern Warfare  universe, and then, of course, in Q4 of this year, a new premium Call of Duty release, which is already generating excitement in our play tests."

As of now, there is no news about who will be involved in the development of this new Call of Duty. Last year's Modern Warfare reboot, which was developed by Infinity Ward, did very well for the company garnering more than $600 million in sales in the first three days. Acknowledging the success of the Modern Warfare reboot, Activision's Kotick said, “Our recent Call of Duty success illustrates the scale of our growth potential, as we expanded the community to more players in more countries on more platforms than ever before. With our strong content pipeline across our franchises and momentum in mobile, esports, and advertising, we look forward to continuing to delight our players, fans and stakeholders in 2020 and beyond. "

Even though the game sales increased by “double-digit percentage” when compared to the previous release, i.e. Call of Duty Black Ops 4, Activision doesn't believe their next instalment in the franchise will perform as well, for reasons unknown to us.

The Call of Duty franchise started in 2003 and there has not been a single year since then without a new Call of Duty game.

Kotick also spoke about reimagining some of the known IPs and said, “Stay tuned for some future announcements, but beyond pure remasters there are a lot of opportunities now to innovate and think about totally new content within these IPs.” It is unclear which IPs will get a remaster but there seems to be a lot to look forward to from Activision.

7.

Nvidia Pulls Out of MWC 2020 Over Coronavirus, Despite Being a Major Sponsor of the Trade Show

Nvidia joins a list of major names that have pulled out, including Ericsson and LG

After South Korean company LG electronics and the Swedish telecommunication giant Ericsson, now graphics giant Nvidia has announced that it is not sending its employees to the Mobile World Congress 2020 in Barcelona due to the public health risks around the coronavirus.

Nvidia was a major sponsor of the conference, and had partnered with the GSMA conference organising body to host an entire track of 10 sessions and roundtables around artificial intelligence, The Verge reported on Friday.

"Given public health risks around the coronavirus, ensuring the safety of our colleagues, partners and customers are our highest concern. We have been looking forward to sharing our work in AI, 5G and vRAN with the industry, we regret not attending, but believe this is the right decision." the company Said.

With the rapid spread of the Novel Coronavirus showing no signs of slowing down, the industry watchers has also warned that others may soon follow suit.

According to Ericsson, the company has already taken a number of precautionary measure to ensure the health and safety of its employees and to minimise the impact on the company's operations.

"After an extensive internal risk assessment, Ericsson has decided to take further precautionary measures by withdrawing from the MWC Barcelona 2020, the largest event in the telecom industry," it said in a statement.

Ericsson said as one of the largest exhibitors, it has thousands of visitors in its hall each day and even if the risk is low, the company cannot guarantee the health and safety of its employees and visitors.

To showcase the company's portfolio and innovations, Ericsson will take the demos and content created for the MWC Barcelona to customers in their home markets with local events called "Ericsson Unboxed".

Earlier, LG Electronics said in a statement  that with the safety of its employees, partners and customers foremost in mind, "LG has decided to withdraw from exhibiting and participating in MWC 2020 later this month in Barcelona, Spain".

The MWC organiser GSMA said that it is monitoring and assessing the potential impact of the coronavirus on its events held annually in Barcelona, Shanghai and Los Angeles and as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences.

After report of ZTE cancelling a press conference at the MWC 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak surfaced, the Chinese tech major clarified that it will still have booth space at the show and that its participation in the event will go "as planned".

8.

WhatsApp Dark Mode Comes to iPhone With Latest Beta Update: Reports

WhatsApp for Android received dark mode earlier this year

WhatsApp finally introduced dark mode for its Android app earlier this year. And even though the feature is still limited to beta testers, it is a clear sign that it will soon be released widely via the stable channel. However, iPhone users have so far been left out of the equation. That changes now, as dark for the WhatsApp's iOS client has reportedly been released via the beta channel. As expected, only iPhone users who are members of the TestFlight beta testing programme can get access to the feature as of now.

As per a MacRumors report, the latest WhatsApp beta carrying the build number 2.20.20 (2.20.30.13) finally adds Dark mode. Test notes of the latest WhatsApp for iOS beta does mention the arrival of dark mode, indicating that the feature will soon make it to all users in the near future. We have also come across a user report on the r/whatsapp Reddit, which reveals the addition of dark mode with the app's v2.20.20 beta build. It appears that this particular build is only compatible with iPhones running iOS 9 or a later version. A couple of accompanying screenshots also give us a glimpse of the dark UI overlay when the dark mode is enabled on WhatsApp's iOS client.

WhatsApp's dark mode for its iOS client is available only to TestFlight members
Photo Credit: r/whatsapp

But just to make it clear, this is beta testing we are talking about, which means the final colour scheme and UI design for the stable version might differ from what we see during the test phase. In case you are curious to download the beta build of WhatsApp and try dark mode on your iPhone, you are out of luck, as Apple's Testfligh program for testing WhatsApp's beta build is currently full. However, if you are on the Android side of things, here's how you can enable dark mode  on your phone.