Chinese Tech

A pair of patents filed with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) indicate that OPPO intends to release a phone with an on-trend punch-hole selfie camera. In this case, however, it seems the OEM plans to disguise this next-gen feature as an icon in the phone's UI. This icon may also be accompanied by others in a row at the top of the screen.

A 13-count indictment has been announced against Huawei and the company’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, mostly in relation to fraud. Two of the Chinese manufacturer’s affiliates, Huawei Device USA and Skycom Tech, have also been included in the charges. A separate 10-count indictment against the same firm was also unsealed, charging Huawei with theft of trade secrets among other things.

Huawei had previously outlined plans to update its late-2016 and early-2017 flagships - the P10 and Mate 9 series - to Android 9.0 (Pie) by March 2019. It appears the OEM is finally ready to make a start on these commitments with an update for Mate 9 users in China. This version of Pie includes new features such as Huawei HiVision.

Motorola released the Moto G4 Plus back in 2016 and promised it would receive two major updates. A while later, the company went back on its word and claimed the mid-range phone would not get the update, prompting a media outcry which forced it to once again promise to deliver Oreo. It's been 16 months since then, though, and the G4 Plus is still on Nougat.

Chinese underdogs Meizu are set to launch a high-value budget device next month. The Meizu M9 Note will feature a 48 MP Samsung sensor and will be powered by a Snapdragon 675. These, coupled with a US$150 price tag, ensure that it competes effectively against the Redmi Note 7.

Huawei has officially confirmed that it has a foldable 5G mobile device to show off at MWC this year. However, it appears that its sub-brand Honor is less enthusiastic about the new trend in phone design. Speaking at the View 20's international launch, the brand's president, George Zhao, could not say what a folding phone can offer just yet.

The specifications and renders of the upcoming Xiaomi Redmi Go smartphone have been leaked online. Teenage leaker Ishan Agarwal tweeted a spec sheet and some images of the budget-level device that had initially been spotted by Philippines-based tech site Revü. It is expected the smartphone will be released on the Indian market soon.

The Honor View 20, which was released internationally a few days ago, is the first device from that brand to feature a punch-hole selfie camera. At this event, the OEM's president, George Zhao, was quoted as saying that this form of display was the "better solution". Therefore, Honor's next flagship, the 11, will probably follow the new trend.

Huawei held a press conference in Beijing yesterday, in order to familiarize its attendants with its plans for MWC and the roll-out of its 5G technology. The company's consumer business CEO, Yu Chengdong, announced that the company's long-awaited foldable phone would be unveiled at the international tech show. He also reported that Honor, Huawei's popular sub-brand, had exhibited a year-on-year growth of 170%.

Xiaomi sent out the January update to the Android One Mi A2 earlier this week, and there have now been multiple reports of bricked devices after installing the OTA. Unpolished updates may be becoming a theme of Xiaomi's Android One phones.

OnePlus' co-founder, Carl Pei, has made a rare appearance on the company's fan community website. Pei created a post asking for feedback on a new possible initiative in which the OEM would pre-load stubs for apps that support HDR streaming. On one hand, this may improve content consumption on future OnePlus devices; on the other, it may compromize their current low-bloatware appeal.

A new leak has revealed even more information on the upcoming Huawei P30. The P30 is expected to sport an OLED display which could house an in-display fingerprint reader. It will also feature a triple rear camera setup, and a headphone jack.

DxOMark introduced a new camera score this week: one that evaluates selfies. The Pixel 3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 9 hold top spot, but the most surprising result belongs to the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and P20 Pro. Both top the charts in the rear camera section but posted sub-par scores in the selfie test.

The double-folding device looks to be in the prototype phase, as the folding creases are still visible. In its default state, the screen seems to have a 3:2 ratio, while the folded state shrinks down to a 2:1 ratio. What really impresses is the responsiveness of the Android interface that immediately snaps into the new ratio as the phone enters in the folded state.

The latest teaser video released by Vivo shows off the slick metallic back of the Vivo 2019 smartphone, which does not appear to feature any rear cams or buttons and ports on the edges. To top things off, Ben Geskin obtained exclusives design info from Vivo and put together a render depicting the back as well as the front of the handheld.

A recent leak-heavy video by the YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss alleges that OPPO's latest camera technology, the 10X optical zoom lens, will be integrated into the next generation of its Find X flagship. This phone may also contain a TOF sensor, an in-display fingerprint reader and the Snapdragon 855 chipset. However, the device may also drop the mechanical slider from last year.

Reuters has reported that the United States plans to formally petition Canada for the extradition of Meng Wanzhou. The Huawei executive had been detained in the latter country at the request of the former in connection with suspected breaches of US sanctions on Iran. The US authority in question has until January 30 to make its request.

Recently, Meizu hinted at the release of something they called the "holeless phone". This led to speculation that the OEM were about to launch a new device with a 'punch-hole' camera, or some kind of novel alternative to it. It turns out that what Meizu meant was a 100% unibody phone without conventional methods of input at all.

Honor, today at an event in Paris, launched its new flagship. The Honor View 20 comes equipped with ample memory and storage, a Kirin 980, a 48 MP sensor with impressive photographic performance, and a brilliant design.

The Honor Play 8A is a budget smartphone that resembles the Xiaomi Mi Play in numerous ways. However, at an approximate price of US$124, the 8A may be the cheaper of the two, although this may make it the more attractive option for some. A new report alleges that this phone will be launched in India soon.

The Orange Pi, an alternative to the Raspberry Pi, has received a RAM upgrade this week. There are four new versions of the single-board computer, which start at US$29.90 plus shipping.

Although Xiaomi is present in most African markets via third-party distributors, the Chinese brand is now ready to take a more direct approach by launching a dedicated department for this part of the world. Xiaomi's African Regional Department will bring official launches and after-sales support in the area, as well as better prices.

Ren Zhengfei, the CEO of Huawei, has written an email warning his colleagues of the possibility of "hard times" in the future. They may include reductions in the size of the company's various regional subsidiaries. These comments may be related to Huawei's recent loss of business in the 5G infrastructure area.

Drone maker DJI has discovered an internal racket that has defrauded the company of at least US$150 million. The theft is said to have involved multiple staff and led to their dismissal although the company is still investing the case, which it says is “extensive.”

In a world where some believe innovation in the smartphone industry to have plateaued, 2018 managed to give us a number of brilliant smartphones. Here we take a close look at the devices we just cannot wait to see in 2019, with a focus on what makes them so interesting.

The Mate 20 Pro was hyped to the high heavens at launch, with rumors claiming it would be by far the highest rated device on DxOMark. The device was benchmarked yesterday, however, and only managed to match the P20 Pro, with the older flagship having the advantage in several departments.

One of the upcoming Motorola Moto G7 variants has been spotted on Geekbench. The listing for the device reports an msm8953 motherboard, which would usually point to a Snapdragon 625 SoC. However, MySmartPrice believes the processor identifier for the test device suggests the smartphone will actually come with a Snapdragon 660.

Two years ago, at MWC, OPPO impressed everyone with its stabilized 5X optical zoom cameras, but the company never released any commercial versions. Meanwhile, a 10X optical zoom version is ready to be showcased at this year's MWC, and it looks like OPPO could actually integrate these lenses in some upcoming handhelds.

Laptop OEMs like Emdoor are looking to get around the Intel 14 nm CPU shortage by adding AMD-powered lineups. Thus, for 2019, Emdoor will first release some entry-level SR218 models powered by the older Stoney Ridge CPUs. Later on, when the Zen 2 CPUs get released, Emdoor will also launch a more advance AP618 lineup powered by Athlon, Raven Ridge and the new Picasso CPUs.

Moving parts typically reduce a smartphone's structural integrity and its durability, which is something that Zack Nelson on his JerryRigEverything YouTube channel regularly puts to the test. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3, with its magnetic sliding mechanism, has now been subjected to Zack's scratch, burn and bend tests.

Xiaomi is set to build on the success of the Redmi Note 7 with an improved, more powerful Pro version. The Redmi Note 7 Pro is said to feature Sony's 48 MP IMX586 sensor and the new Snapdragon 675. Prices could start at just over US$200.

Xiaomi's co-founder, Lin Bin, has recently uploaded a video to Weibo that reveals an improved version of the in-display fingerprint reading technology already in use on commercial devices. The most obvious change is the larger active authentication area, which now measures 25 x 50.2 mm. This solution will probably be used in the Xiaomi Mi 9 flagship.

The Moto Razr 2019 seems to be ready to take on the mobile world by storm with its foldable display and other new technologies. The only problem could be the value this handset can provide, as it is expected to hit Verizon with a price tag that reads no less than US$1,500.

The first benchmarks using a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 reference device have started to roll in. This new processor has done impressively well compared to its predecessor in two separate tests. It has also outdone devices with the Kirin 980 and A12 Bionic chipsets, albeit mostly in terms of graphics performance

Realme (OPPO's increasingly popular sub-brand) has decided to release a tool enabling owners of its 2 Pro device to unlock their bootloaders. However, it involves rather more steps than the average adb-command process for many Android phones. Realme also claims that bootloader-unlocking in this case increases the risks to user personal data and security.

Powered by a HiSilicon Kirin 960 processor, the Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro also comes with an active stylus and features 4 GB of memory and up to 128 GB of internal storage space. Thanks to these attributes, this slate remains a worthy choice for content creators about one year after its release. This week, it has also been spotted running Android Pie, so a major firmware update should arrive shortly.

Huawei doesn't not mention it, but perhaps it should. The OEM is quietly slipping the faster 25 W version of the GeForce MX150 into its upcoming mid-tier Ultrabook whereas most competitors are using the much slower 10 W version. Even the pricier MateBook X Pro uses the slower 10 W GeForce MX150.

The Redmi Note 7 was released for sale today (January 15, 2019) in its home country, China. The Snapdragon 660 phone with the 48MP camera sensor reportedly took only 9 minutes to sell out completely. Redmi sources are quoted as claiming that "hundreds of thousands" of units were sold in this time.

MediaTek's Helio P10 SoC is allegedly infringing on graphics technologies developed by AMD. The complaints were filed with the ITC as early as 2017, but the two companies apparently were not able to reach any agreement out of court in the meantime so now AMD is looking to obtain a court order that would force MediaTek to pay up for past, present and current infringements.

OnePlus has released the latest Android Pie-based Open Beta (OB) ROM for its latest flagship series. It is known as the OB3 and OB11 for the 6T and 6 respectively. These OBs claim to bring increased detail to the stock weather app, as well as the January 2019 security patch. Finally, it may improve on Google Duo integration on these phones.

Analytics platform has revealed its projected shipment figures for the big players in the smartphone market this year. Samsung and Apple are expected to see declines in sales, while Huawei and Xiaomi could see even more growth.

The Redmi Note 5 was launched a year ago and received the update to Oreo in some parts of the world. The device has now been confirmed to also be set to receive the Android Pie update, with a Q1 rollout on the cards.

Silently introduced in China back in November 2018, the HiSilicon Kirin 710-driven Honor 10 Lite is now finally ready to conquer the Indian market. Sales will start on January 20 via Flipkart and hihonor.in. The prices are equivalent with US$210 for the 4/64 GB variant and US$253 for the 6/64 GB model.

Xiaomi has surprisingly announced a new 4K MIJIA laser projector. The device can create up to a 150-inch display and will last for over 25,000 hours. The projector will cost 14,999 Yuan, but Xiaomi is currently running a 5,000 Yuan introductory discount.

The Lenovo Z5 Pro GT is a long name to say (or type out), but for the Snapdragon 855, a triple camera and as much as 12GB of RAM it may be worth it. It had been launched in December 2018, with a general release planned for January 24. However, this date has now been put back by 5 days.

Huawei might be on its way to becoming the world's second-largest smartphone maker, but the latest move made by the Chinese brand might be a costly one in the long run. The EMUI 9.0 update will come without access to third-party launchers, although this limitation will only be applied in China in the beginning.

The Realme 3 will be announced in the first quarter of 2019 and will probably come without a punch-hole selfie shooter and/or a triple camera setup on the back. The handset should arrive with a dual camera setup and a notch in two variants — regular and Pro. A Realme phone with a 48 MP camera is also expected to hit the market this year.

OPPO announced the first smartphone with a 5X optical zoom camera only last year, but the company is now taking one step further according to new leaks. The company has reportedly sent out press invitations to introduce its new smartphone with a dual rear-facing camera, which will include a 10X optical zoom lens.