Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Xiaomi's Redmi Pro does OLED and dual camera on a budget

Affordable Chinese smartphones are becoming more fun than ever.


Just because Xiaomi is selling Segways, drones, bicycles and rice cookers these days doesn't mean that it's forgotten what it started off with years ago: mobile phones. Today, the Chinese company announced the Redmi Pro which is the latest smartphone in its entry-level portfolio. As suggested by the name, this Android 6.0 device packs some surprising features that make it stand out from its predecessors: This is the first time that Xiaomi's featuring an OLED display plus a dual-camera setup on a device, which is a surprising move given that these are headed to the affordable Redmi line instead of the flagship Mi line. The price? From 1,499 yuan which is about $225.

Gallery: Xiaomi Redmi Pro hands-on | 4 Photos



The Redmi Pro comes in a gold- or silver-colored brushed metallic unibody -- a real bonus at this price point -- and packs a 5.5-inch 1080p OLED display (with full NTSC gamut), a fingerprint reader plus a 5-megapixel selfie camera on the front side. Flip it over and you'll find a Mi 5-like curved back sans glass, along with a dual camera featuring a 13-megapixel Sony IMX258 main sensor plus a 5-megapixel Samsung assistive sensor for bokeh effects. Like many earlier dual-camera phones, here you can change the focus point on the image even after capturing; and there's a dual-tone LED flash, too. There's also a generous 4,050mAh battery inside -- similar to the one in the very recent Redmi 3S -- with fast charging via the USB Type-C port. Likewise, the Redmi Pro has the same IR blaster as the Redmi 3S which lets you control your TV and home appliances.

Given the base price point, it's no surprise that the Redmi Pro is powered by a MediaTek chipset. The base spec starts with the 10-core Helio X20 plus 32GB of storage and 3GB of RAM (1,499 yuan/about $225), followed by the faster Helio X25, 64GB of storage plus 3GB of RAM (1,699 yuan/about $255), and capping with the same chipset, 128GB of storage plus 4GB of RAM (1,999 yuan/about $300). As with most Chinese and Indian smartphones these days, the Redmi Pro is a dual-SIM 4G+ device (VoLTE supported), though you can also use the second SIM slot to add a microSD card instead.
1.21 Redmi devices were sold every second over the past three years.
For those who aren't familiar, Xiaomi launched...
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source: Engadget


Xiaomi's first laptop is the $750 Mi Notebook Air

It looks like a MacBook and is named like a Macbook Air.



It wouldn't be a Xiaomi event if it was just announcing one product. In addition to the new Redmi Pro smartphone, the Chinese company threw in a huge surprise by launching its first-ever laptop line, the Mi Notebook Air, running on Windows 10. It comes in two sizes -- the powerful 13.3-inch and the portable 12.5-inch -- and both feature a slim body, a 1080p display with slim under-glass bezels (while still managing to fit in a 1-megapixel webcam), a backlit keyboard, a USB Type-C charging port plus a minimalistic metallic design -- in gold or silver, naturally -- with no logo on the outside. The best part of all? The top-spec model costs just 4,999 yuan or about $750.

Gallery: Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air hands-on| 4 Photos



The flagship 13.3-inch model comes in at just 14.8mm thick and 1.28kg heavy, which is pretty good given that you get an Intel Core i5-6200U "Skylake-U" processor (dual core, base frequency at 2.3GHz, turbo up to 2.7GHz) plus an NVIDIA GeForce 940MX GPU (with 1GB GDDR5 RAM). Of course, Xiaomi just had to point out that this is thinner and lighter than the 13-inch MacBook Air, though it doesn't use a wedge design so it's still bulkier. You also get 8GB of DDR4 RAM, 256GB of SSD via PCIe and one free SATA slot for expansion (but only serviced by Xiaomi). The 40Wh battery should be good for up to 9.5 hours, and it can go from zero to 50 percent in just half an hour using the bundled USB-C charger.
The smaller 12.5-inch model is even slimmer and lighter at 12.9mm and 1.07kg, respectively, but you'll have to make do with an Intel Core M3 CPU, no dedicated GPU, just 4GB of RAM and just a 128GB SSD via SATA -- 
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source: Engadget







Google Play gives Android app developers more categories

Better specificity equals better search results. 



Two months after giving VR its own category, Google Play will soon expand the list of Android app subcategories with additional general interest ones, allowing developers to more accurately slot theirs. Here's the full list of new ones: Art & Design, Auto & Vehicles, Dating, Events, Food & Drink, House & Home and Parenting. Ideally, the increased specificity will improve the relevance of Google Play's search results...

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source: Engadget

Apple patents stylus that doubles as a joystick, air mouse

It's more than just a digital pen.


A simple, high-quality pressure-sensitive stylus is all well and good for tablets, but can such a device really meet the needs of a desktop user? That seems to be the question Apple's asking with its latest patent. The company's latest technology patent dreams up a do-everything stylus capable of being a drawing device, air mouse and even a joystick.
Over 17 patent claims, Apple outlines a stylus packed with pressure sensitivity and six and nine-axis inertial sensors -- and describes a peripheral that can stand in for any number of devices. Used on a touch surface, for instance, the stylus might function as a normal pen. Lifted off a surface, it could be used to perform gestures or mouse movements. Standing on its tip, one could use it as a joystick, or rotate it left and right to turn a dial or move an object on a nearby computer screen.
It definitely sounds like a more advanced stylus than we see with most tablets, or even with Apple's own Pencil --
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source: Engadget

Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 battery woes attributed to software

If you were concerned about your Surface Pro 3, this might come as great news.


If you were concerned about your Surface Pro 3, this might come as great news.


Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 has had a fairly significant issue that the company had yet to officially comment on, until now. The company has finally come forward with a statement, and it looks like the problem that's causing some Surface Pro 3 units to suffer from reduced battery life is actually software-based.
According to Greg, a forum moderator on the official Microsoft forums, the team has "isolated" the problem to a limited number of customers. The company has confirmed there are no issues with the batteries themselves and are "working through the details" on how to deliver a software-based fix.
Additional information on how the fix will be shared to Surface Pro 3 users with battery issues will be posted on the forums as it becomes available...
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source: Engadget

Gionee's M6 smartphones tackle security in a different way


Huawei and Apple users might find familiar aspects of the phone series.


Chinese phone manufacturer Gionee has unveiled a new flagship phone in the form of the M6 and M6 Plus, and it might bring other smartphones to mind. Both models of the new phone will feature various features meant to make it stand out from the crowd, namely in the form of a special encryption chip.
But while it's meant to offer additional encryption and safety for users, it also succeeds in keeping quite close to both Huawei and Apple designs in terms of hardware. Even a quick glance at the phone brings Huawei's product to mind, but then the phone also looks quite sleek. It's not about how it looks, however -- it's about functionality, with Gionee noting the pitfalls of some privacy and security efforts of its competitors. It hopes to circumvent security issues that exist with the iPhone's lock screen, for example, noting that after someone gets past that, the rest of the information on the phone is then freely accessible.
The phone will feature on-chip data encryption, a massive battery that offers up to 55 hours of call time and 794 hours of standby time. Interestingly, you can use the phone to charge other electronic devices as well. The massive battery and the alternative approach to security make Gionee's product a unique one, but if you're interested in checking it out...
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source: Engadget