Chinese Tech

More renders of the Huawei P30 Pro have surfaced, revealing its vertically stacked quad rear camera setup that is touted to be capable of 10x zoom, an industry first. The P30 Pro will likely be launched in Q2 2019 and will be powered by the company's top of the line SoC.

Months after sending out the Pie beta update, Huawei has finally begun the rollout of the stable Android Pie update. There’s a slight issue with that, though: Honor flagships aren’t part of the initial rollout.

Xiaomi 2019 flagships are touted to be the Mi 9 and Mi Mix 4. Both devices will be powered by the Snapdragon 855. They will also both sport three rear cameras, with the Mi 9 expected to be the first Xiaomi device with that feature. The Mi Mix 4 could also feature a unique lens technology.

Sound on Display is a technology by which the audio associated with a display emanates from the screen itself, thus eliminating the need for inbuilt speakers. LG has demonstrated this innovation in TVs; now, Samsung appears poised to integrate it into smartphones. The OEM's take on this breakthrough may be showcased at CES 2019.

George Zhao, President of Huawei’s Honor sub-brand has revealed that the company saw a 27% year-on-year rise in shipment numbers across the first three quarters of the year, a figure that was likely helped along by the releases of popular devices like the Honor 7X and Honor 10 this year.

Reuters has reported that President Donald Trump might issue an executive order that would effectively ban US companies from using telecommunications hardware from either Huawei or ZTE. Both Chinese companies have faced accusations of sanction-breaking and national concerns over privacy and the possibility of being utilized for state-sponsored espionage. ZTE recently paid a huge fine of US$1.4 billion for not complying with US trade restrictions.

Leaked renders of a Motorola phone are believed to be of an upcoming entry to the company’s P series, most likely the P40. The images show the device with a punch-hole camera, which is becoming increasingly more popular with major smartphone manufacturers. On the rear of the phone there is a vertically aligned dual-camera setup, with a 48 MP sensor present.

Honor has announced the launch of its new premium phone, the Honor V20. The device is powered by Huawei’s top of the line Kirin 980 SoC, and features a punch-hole camera design. There's a dual camera setup that includes a 48 MP sensor at the rear, a 25 MP selfie shooter at the front, and a 4000 mAh battery. All for under US$450.

OnePlus has begun sending out the stable Pie update to its last-gen flagships, the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T. The devices were launched on Android Nougat, and this will likely be the last major update they receive.

Huawei only just launched its new Kirin 980 flagship SoC a few months ago, but the company is already working on its successor, the Kirin 990. This comes amidst rumors that the Kirin 990 may be a mid-cycle release in Q1 2019.

Xiaomi has launched its new budget smartphone, the Mi Play. The device features dual rear cameras, a MediaTek Helio P35 SoC, an unwieldy circular notch, and a 3000 mAh battery.

POCO India, a division of Xiaomi's popular sub-brand, has sent a tweet suggesting that a so-called '#NewPoco' is to be released tomorrow (December 25). Any excitement around such an announcement may be tempered by speculation that this "reveal" is not much more than a new color or RAM SKU of the pre-existing POCO F1, however.

After the start of the global Pie rollout for the Mate 10 and P20 phones, Huawei is set to send out the Pie update to older flagships like the Mate 9, Mate 9 Pro, P10, and P10 Plus. Of course, that won't be until March next year.

DxOMark reviewed the OnePlus 6T and the flagship did well, managing to slightly better the OnePlus 6's score while keeping up with last-gen phones like the iPhone X and Mate 10 Pro.

Honor's upcoming premium phone, the View 20, has been spotted on popular benchmark platform Geekbench, with it achieving scores consistent with other Kirin 980-powered phones. The phone is also touted to come equipped with a new liquid cooling technology.

Even the best speakers in smartphones struggle to produce even a relatively small amount of bass. Dirac, a rapidly-growing name in device audio, wants to change that with its new Dirac Bass feature. This tweak, which boosts the bass synthetically, is to be unveiled at CES 2019.

More renders of all four of Motorola’s upcoming Moto G7 phones have surfaced, giving us a clearer image of what to expect from the next set of the devices in one of the best-value midrange smartphones lines available in the US.

Alleged details of the camera setups for the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro have been leaked online via Twitter. Renowned tipster Evan Blass has tweeted that the P30 flagship device will feature a triple rear camera setup that offers a maximum resolution of 40 MP. The P30 Pro is expected to have a quad camera system that incorporates a state-of-the-art 3D sensor.

According to new reports, the Honor V20 will ship for just over US$400. Honor phones have become synonymous with offering incredible bang for the buck, but the Honor V20 may very well push that to the absolute limit. It's expected to feature a triple rear camera setup, a camera hole, a 4000 mAh battery, and a Kirin 980.

Remember the touted Snapdragon 675-powered Xiaomi phone? Well, rumors say it could be the Redmi Pro 2, a direct successor to 2016's Redmi Pro. The Redmi Pro 2, if released, would be the top of the line Redmi phone.

Chinese company Gionee has finally filed for bankruptcy and is set for liquidation. The company is said to owe over US$3 billion to banks and suppliers, a situation compounded by reports of CEO Liu Lirong squandering over US$140 million at a casino last month.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has published a patent application filed by Google Technology Holdings LLC for an “electronic device having pivotably connected sides with selectable displays.” This could be a joint project with Motorola, as some of the drawings included in the application show the company’s famous batwings logo.

Qualcomm's patent war against Apple has escalated this December following bans in China and now Germany on the sale of iPhones. Intel has now accused Qualcomm of "stifling competition" in a scathing Intel Newsroom article that alleges Qualcomm's actions will only serve to "reduce innovation and increase prices."

Famed leakster Ishan Agarwal shared a picture of an internal OnePlus meeting talking about a new phone prototype. This could be the 5G OnePlus phone that the company plans to launch in early 2019. The picture shows the device sporting a circular camera bump and presence of red and light grey variants. If news so far is true, this phone could launch as a distinct lineup with its own set of premium features and pricing.

The Honor View 20, or V20 as it is known in China, has appeared on the Huawei Vmall online shop. The device will be available to pre-order in China from 10:08 Chinese Standard Time (CST) on December 20.

Chinese brand UMIDIGI will soon hit us with another "flagship killer" that sports a main camera setup made by Sony that combines a 48 MP IMX586 sensor and a 12 MP telephoto shooter. The upcoming UMIDIGI S3 Pro also features a 6.3-inch full HD+ display with a waterdrop-style notch, a 5,150 mAh battery, and a luxury ceramic design.

Leaving aside the waterdrop notch, the recently teased Xiaomi Play looks like just another mid-range offering that sports a dual camera and a circular rear-mounted fingerprint reader. The leaked specs include an unnamed octa-core processor, up to 6 GB of memory, and 32 GB to 128 GB of internal storage space.

Although there is no official information about the upcoming Huawei P30 series, a few Olixar protective cases have been listed for pre-order by MobileFun already. These accessories reveal that the P30 Pro is a handset that sports a display with a waterdrop-style notch, as well as a quad main camera setup.

Supporting both Purism's own PureOS Linux-based operating system and Ubuntu Touch, which is now being developed by the UBports team, the Librem 5 smartphone is supposed to hit first customers next year, in April. However, the first developer kits are already shipping to those who already placed orders.

At an event in Beijing today, Lenovo announced the flagship Z5 Pro GT — the world's first smartphone to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC and also the first to feature 12 GB of RAM. Apart from the raw processing power, the Z5 Pro GT is very much identical to the Z5 Pro that was launched in China last month. Lenovo has also announced the mid-range Z5s sporting a rear triple camera setup. These handsets are competitively priced but are currently exclusive to the Chinese market.

Huawei may have found stiff opposition from a number of governments since the new year but the company's smartphone division is definitely on the up. The company has confirmed that it will have sold 200 million smartphones this year by Christmas, a massive 30% increase from last year's 153 million figure.

The Xiaomi POCO F1 has reportedly received an update to official stable Pie, following a recent beta to test the same. However, it's not all good news for fans of the device: some users have claimed that it no longer includes an option to hide the notch in the UI. The update has brought other apparent problems, most notably unusual battery drain.

UMIDIGI has released details on its upcoming new smartphone, the F1, on its official website. This device will come with Android Pie out of the box, as well as SD card support and a 5,150mAh battery. UMIDIGI claims that inbuilt AI helps the battery last longer over time by learning usage patterns and habits.

Huawei, earlier today, launched its new sub-premium phone, the Nova 4, in China. The device features a Kirin 970, a triple rear camera setup including a 48 MP sensor, a camera hole, and a 3750 mAh battery. Prices start at $450.

More renders and a live image of the upcoming Honor V20's retail box have surfaced. The Honor flagship is expected to be launched in China next week and will come with a 48 MP camera.

An infographic published by LetsGoDigital makes for interesting reading for those curious about how the foldable market could end up playing out. Unsurprisingly, it seems Samsung and Huawei will be the first major manufacturers to offer this exciting form factor to consumers, with Microsoft and Apple willing to bide their time, possibly to see how the market develops.

According to some preliminary leaks, the Huawei Nova 4 was to be released about two days from now. Today, the company has given credence to this rumor, and has also announced the location of this event. It may unveil a phone with a 'punch-hole'-style display that is new to Huawei and should help compete with next-generation phones from other companies such as Samsung.

Despite winning a victory against Apple earlier this week, Qualcomm is continuing to pressure the iPhone manufacturer in China. Qualcomm is petitioning Chinese courts to expand the ban of iPhone sales to include the iPhone XR, Xs, and Xs Max. However, Apple is claiming that these devices should not be included in the initial ban as they run iOS 12. Chinese courts have yet to make a decision.

The Huawei Nova 4 is set to be released on December 17. However, it now seems as though we may already know everything there is to know about the phone. This apparently now includes the device's color options.

Initially thought to be an answer for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855, Samsung's Exynos 9820 or Huawei's Kirin 980, the Helio P90 seems to be aimed at premium mid-to-high-end phones. It still uses the 12 nm manufacturing process, so it cannot really compete with the latest high-end SoCs, but it does come with a more powerful GPU and an impressive APU 2.0 A.I. architecture that supports Google Lens and ARCore applications.

New leaks suggest that Huawei is to release its own smart TV product, and that it may be here as early as the first half of 2019. This is based on claims that the company has filed a patent for a "Huawei AI Window". The rumor may make sense, as more and more traditional smartphone OEMs are moving into this new market.

Prior to the release of its 2018 flagship, OnePlus had publicly committed to bringing Pie to its 2016 and 2017 phones. This week, the company partially delivered on this promise, releasing a new beta of its OyxgenOS software based on the newest version of Android for the 5 and 5T. The beta also includes the new OnePlus UI for Pie.

OnePlus launched the OnePlus 6T a few months and, for the first time ever, sold the device under the umbrella of a US carrier. That move has apparently paid off in style, with the company confirming that the OnePlus 6T has outsold the OnePlus 6 by 249% in the US.

Huawei has announced the launch of its new budget Enjoy 9. The phone will sport dual rear cameras, a Snapdragon 450, and a big 4000 mAh battery. A fingerprint reader is missing, however, and there may just be better value options on the market.

Xiaomi has showcased the fact that 5G is for IoT devices too. This was done via a Tweet by a company spokesperson, containing a video showing how quickly the 5G-enabled variant of the Mi Mix 3 could relay commands to a connected lamp. Therefore, 5G may be an exciting prospect for smart-home fans too.

Gizchina claims to have unearthed a slide showing details on the specs of the upcoming Huawei 'punch-hole' camera pioneer device, the Nova 4. This slide appears to clearly indicate that this phone will have two separate variants, one of which will have a novel 48MP sensor in its triple-rear-camera setup and one that will not. This slide also suggests that the Nova 4 will ship with the Kirin 970, not the 980.

Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, has been granted bail at a hearing in a court in Canada on Tuesday (December 11). The executive’s bail has been set at CA$10 million (~US$7.5 million) and she has had to give up her Chinese and Hong Kong passports. In a possible act of retaliation, Chinese officials have detained a Canadian citizen.

Supermicro has published a letter to its customers to explicitly state that no evidence of tampering was discovered in its hardware during a recent thorough internal review. An article from Bloomberg claimed that Supermicro products had been compromised by Chinese spy chips, which had then affected servers used by companies like Amazon and Apple.