Camera

According to the cybersecurity specialists Zimperium, a non-Google Play Store app masquerading as a system-update tool found online is in fact Android malware. Once installed on devices via side-loading, it apparently steals information ranging from SMS messages to clipboard data. It may also hijack phone cameras and mics to spy on unsuspecting users.

The Ricoh Theta Z1 is this brand's latest miniature camera for 360-degree, spherical captures. It can achieve these in a single shot at a resolution of 6720x3360, and can also be used for all-around 4K/30fps video. Furthermore, it is the first of its series with an internal storage spec of 51GB, which may overcome the limitations of previous Theta models.

The worldwide availability of the innovative "gimbal-cam" Vivo X60 smartphone series looks more certain than ever with its debut in the Indian market. This time, the Snapdragon 870-powered X60 and X60 Pro are accompanied by their true flagship sibling, the Pro Plus. It will be available to order from April 2021 for a price of just under US$1000.

Realme has made its first ever 108MP camera phone official as of March 24, 2021. The high-end sensor is joined by specs that are not nearly so new to the brand in the 8 Pro, however. Its Snapdragon 720G SoC is joined by up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, and is kept on with a 4,500mAh battery with slower charging compared to the 7 Pro.

OnePlus has officially announced its premium lineup of smartphones this year — the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro. With the 9 and 9 Pro, OnePlus is now firmly in flagship territory. The company hyped its Hasselblad partnership quite a bit, but early reviews indicate there's much more work to be done before it can fully compete with the likes of the iPhone 12 Pro Max or the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Vivo's 2021 flagships have been unleashed as the X60 and X60 Pro 5G for the Malaysian market. As rumored, the phones are based on the Snapdragon 870 SoC in this country, and not the Exynos processor they have in China. The X60 Pro is graced with a main shooter with the OEM's Gimbal Stabilization 2.0, although both variants have Zeiss branding.

The OnePlus 8T will be superseded by the new flagship 9 series soon; however, its new official public Android betas might help keep it relevant for some time to come. The latest one contains a bunch of bug-fixes, and also upgrades the phone's security patch level to March 2021. It also adds one or two features, including a time-stamp for the stock camera app.

CTL's latest Chromebook is powered by the Intel Celeron N4020 and has 4GB of RAM, as many of the OEM's devices do. However, the NL71CT-LTE also has standalone mobile data, so it need not be reliant on Wi-Fi for its often educational use-cases. This spec has helped win it one of Tech & Learning's Excellence Awards for Best Remote & Blended Learning Tools.

A previous link hinted at an upcoming Motorola phone that, despite having otherwise affordable-class specs, has a 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM2 sensor. Now, a new tip asserts that it will be called the Moto G60 at launch, and has some other potential advantages, not the least of which is a large 6,000mAh battery.

Xiaomi's Black Shark premium gaming brand has announced that its new, Snapdragon 888-powered flagship is to launch on March 23, 2021 in China. The 4 is slated to have improved, "360-degree, 3D" cooling, triple rear cameras and the shoulder buttons from its 3 Pro forebear. The 2 phones are also likely to have very different designs.

Motorola is now said to have a phone with the new 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM2 sensor on-board. Furthermore, the device is rumored to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 732 SoC and up to 6GB of RAM, which might bring the high-end camera spec to a very affordable tier in the near future. It might launch in India soon.

Asus advertises the quad-array microphone as one of the main features of the ExpertBook, which costs upwards of 2000 Euros (~$2400). It is supposed to improve the video-conferencing experience. At the same time, Asus uses the same 720p web camera as in almost all other current laptops such as the 3000-Euro (~$3600) MacBook Pro. When most people have to use their web camera everyday to study or work from home, this has to change!

The list of Android flagship phones with the latest Snapdragon 888 SoC is slowly yet steadily growing, although not all of them are available globally. New leaks suggest the Vivo X60 Pro Plus, one such premium device launched in partnership with Zeiss, will make it to international shores soon.

Google's ARCore has added a new device called the ZenFone 8 Flip to its certification database. Therefore, it seems a new generation of Asus' innovative swivel-cam flagship Android phones is on the way. It is thought to be accompanied by a Mini variant, although that one has failed to materialize in this new leak.

Nokia is now said to have a phone that integrates a high-end 108MP sensor into its signature penta-cam design in development. However, as it is also now supposed to have a mid-range Qualcomm 5G chipset, this may suggest an upgrade for the 8.3 5G rather than an outright flagship. Then again, the upcoming device is also rumored to have a premium 120Hz display.

ZTE has already confirmed that it will launch the Axon 30 Pro 5G as its 2021 flagship Android smartphone. Its latest teaser for this device introduces a new "Trinity" tag-line, which apparently refers to its rear cameras. Therefore, they might consist of a triple array made up of identical (or very similar) high-end sensors.

Today, (March 11, 2021) OPPO has unveiled its Find X3 Pro, X3 Neo and X3 Lite, complete with European pricing. This might leave some consumers wondering where the vanilla X3 went during all this. Well, it does exist, and has the same high-end display and cameras as the Pro, but is only available to pre-order in China.

Insta360's freshly-debuted GO 2 miniature camera is a considerable upgrade over its first generation, not the least in its design and function. Its case still doubles as a battery-pack, but can now also act as a remote control and a tripod. It also has more field-of-view options and storage, as well as a new FlowState stabilization clip mode.

Recent leaks have raised the possibility that Samsung is preparing a successor to its unusual flip-camera phone, the Galaxy A80. Now, a new addition to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) database provides proof that this device exists. It is thus almost certain to launch soon, with 5G and other forms of high-end wireless connectivity to boot.

OnePlus has now confirmed that its 9 series will launch in conjunction with Hasselblad. It has just posted a new YouTube clip starring a representative of this brand with new hints as to what their co-developed cameras can do. Meanwhile, the 9 Pro's rumored new Stellar Black option has been snapped itself and is now on Instagram.

Vivo has announced that it will debut the X60 premium smartphone series outside China for the first time on March 22, 2021. They will be powered by the Snapdragon 870 SoC, as opposed to the Exynos 1080 they launched with in their domestic market. Nevertheless, they may prove an interesting new entry to the global market.

Realme has already effectively confirmed that the impending 8 Pro will launch with this brand's first 108MP main camera. Now, some new leaks may hint at what is to be found inside this device. They may include 8GB of RAM and the Snapdragon 720G processor.

Camera maker Nikon has launched a new photo and video editing desktop application for Mac and Windows. Even better, the new app is free and looks to be quite fully featured.

The StereoPi v2 is the follow-up to the 2019 first-generation model, which brought stereoscopic photography to the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3. Similarly, the StereoPi v2 enables the functionality of the Compute Module 4. The StereoPi v2 also supports the CM4 Lite.

ISOCELL 2.0 improves the physical barriers around the pixels by replacing the metal materials with more reflective ones, further reducing color crosstalk and boosting light sensitivity. The new tech also allows for pixel size reduction without affecting light absorption coefficients, paving the way to 200 MP sensors and beyond.

Meizu has got the jump on the premium Android smartphone launch season with its new 18 and 18 Pro flagships. The OEM has revealed that the series offers specs such as 120Hz curved displays, 50MP main cameras and internal storage with top-end UFS 3.1 speeds. The new devices are up for pre-order in China from now.

Realme has announced that it will launch its first 108MP camera phone in 2021. Not only that, but the top-end sensor in question is Samsung's latest CMOS of this resolution: the ISOCELL HM2. It has features such as 3x lossless zoom, nonapixel binning. The OEM has developed "Starry", tilt-shift and Neon Portrait modes for it in the 8 Pro.

The OEM Realme has been rumored to launch a Dimensity 1200-powered phone called the X9 Pro roughly since MediaTek released this early-2021 flagship processor. A new leak purports to spill many more details about the phone, including that it will be its maker's first phone with a 108MP main camera.

The tech blog MySmartPrice claims to have found a new page on Samsung India's support website for a device called the "SM-E025F/DS". A quick decoding of Samsung's model number convention does seem to suggest a new phone that, moreover, belongs to a whole new Galaxy E series. Then again, this leak has yet to be officially confirmed.

Realme has confirmed that it will make a leap to phones with 108MP sensors in 2021. The phone most likely to be the first with this top-end spec is currently rumored to be one of the upcoming 8 series. Therefore, it might be unveiled at the OEM's Camera Innovation Event, set for March 2, 2021.

The leaker RODENT950 has made some heavy allusions to an image sensor which, despite being intended for mobile devices, is exactly 1 inch in size. This would make the alleged Sony IMX 800 unprecedentedly large for its category. It is predicted to launch in April 2021, and is touted to debut in the Huawei P50 flagship series.

A Sony executive has just confirmed that the PlayStation 5 (PS5) is getting its own virtual reality (VR) system after all. It will consist of a next-gen headset and controller, which will apparently be informed by everything the OEM has learned since debuting this form of gaming on the PS4. Furthermore, the controller may also be DualSense in nature.

ZTE's CEO, Ni Fei, has confirmed that his company will bring the next generation of its under-display camera to the upcoming MWC Shanghai event. This technology, which features in the OEM's Axon 20 5G, enables a selfie shooter to completely conceal itself underneath the display. Its upgraded form might allow for enhanced functionality, Face Unlock included.

Rollme has just launched the Hero, its latest smartwatch with a completely bezel-free display. This is joined by a nano-SIM card slot for 4G/LTE connectivity in this wearable, not to mention up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Not only that, but it boasts an unusually large 1,600mAh battery rated for up to 10 days on power-save mode.

OPPO has reportedly finally obtained a certification for the Find X3 (or PEDM00) from the Chinese authorities, suggesting a launch announcement for its flagship series will follow shortly. Its new TENAA images show a phone quite like X3 Pro leaks to date, although it might have a different rear panel and camera arrangement.

The smartphone OEM Vivo has made its brand-new Romanian and Czech websites live, and has announced that it will also start to offer its products in 4 more European countries by the end of 2021. This would make the total number of countries from this region in which Vivo sells its products up to 12, which may thus get access to its flagship X60 series this year.

The GSMA has announced that it is currently considering running its flagship conference live and in Barcelona once again, albeit with up to 50,000 in-person attendees. Meanwhile, its Chinese counterpart, MWC Shanghai, is slated to begin on February 23, 2021 with 20,000 such attendees and in accordance with anti-Covid-19 health checks. Its success may determine whether MWC 2021 will return to something like "normality" this year.

Currently, the highest-res smartphone image sensor in existence is one of 108MP. Obviously, it is used as a marquee feature on the back of devices like the new Xiaomi Mi 11. However, should the prolific leaker Digital Chat Station be believed, it might migrate to the front of upcoming models soon.

US consumers looking for an ultra-cheap, ultra-simple phone with some modern features such as 4G/LTE and Google Assistant now have a new option, courtesy of Nokia. It now sells its 6300 comeback at a price of US$69.99. This buys all that the world's most prominent "alternative" mobile system KaiOS has to offer, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The race to the perfectly edge-to-edge mobile device screen has most recently culminated in the under-display selfie camera. However, it now seems OnePlus has developed an alternative: a super-slim bezel that incorporates a front-facing shooter. It may be able to maximize display real estate without resorting to punch-holes or other similar tech.

A new device from Realme has leaked via the regulator TENAA, suggesting that it will launch soon. Based on its model number (RMX3161), it is now thought that it will be the Narzo 30 (or, possibly the 30 Pro). The OEM is hyping the new phone already as a "fan-powered" product.

Recently, the approval of a new POCO phone by the FCC led to speculation that it will be the Pro version of the X3 on its launch. Now, the same device has been certified by the Indian BIS authority, as well as SIRIM of Malaysia. Therefore, it might also debut in these markets soon.

GoPro has announced its first full-year financial report since it switched to an online retail and subscription-based business model. The customers in question are now just over 760,000 in number, beating the company's most ambitious goal for the year. This may suggest that the action-cam's brand new strategy works, although that is not the full story of GoPro's 2020.

The Galaxy A12 is a 2021 budget smartphone with quad rear cameras and a 5,000mAh battery. According to a tech blog, it will be available in India in what could be the next few days. Then again, its maker Samsung may be planning an unveiling for a compelling new mid-ranger in the same time-frame.

The OPPO Find X3 Pro is an upcoming 2021 flagship phone depicted as having iPhone-esque rear cameras set in a smooth, probably glass, casing. These esthetics have surfaced again in what the leaker Evan Blass has presented as real live images of the device. Blass has also supplied new levels of details on its sensors and their specs.

The tipster WHYLAB now claims that the newly-hyped ZTE Axon 30 Pro will launch with a new image sensor called the S5KGND. This, apparently, is Samsung's rumored new 200MP sensor, possibly the most powerful of 2021. It is projected to support 16K recording, dual pixel-binning modes and dual native ISO.

Meizu is expected to launch smartphones with the Snapdragon 888 flagship-grade processor soon. A new leak purports to show one of them (possibly the 18, 18 Pro or 18 Max) with a completely edge-to-edge screen. This suggests it will join the currently very exclusive under-display camera club in 2021.

Sony may well compare the Xperia 1 II's cameras with its Alpha cameras, but that does not necessarily make it the best camera smartphone on the market. According to some camera experts, the Xperia 1 II's cameras fall short of even the Apple iPhone 11 and Google Pixel 4.

The OEM ZTE had a landmark 2020 in that it was first to launch a smartphone with a cutting-edge under-display selfie camera. Now, it has confirmed the existence of a phone with a name that not only sounds like a next generation for the Axon 20, but is a Pro variant as well. It is being hyped as a device with industry-leading cameras.