JioPhone 5G leak suggests that India may finally get 5G this year
After launching the JioPhone Next last year, Indian telecom giant Jio is now gearing up to launch an affordable 5G phone. The upcoming device, which will reportedly be called JioPhone 5G, is currently in the works and will hit the market sometime later this year. Given that Jio’s affordable phones sell like hotcakes, the rumored JioPhone 5G could singlehandedly drive 5G adoption in India.
Although Jio hasn’t revealed any official info about the JioPhone 5G yet, Android Central has managed to procure some details about its hardware specifications and software. According to the publication, the JioPhone 5G will pack Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 480 chipset, which should offer a significant performance improvement over the Snapdragon 215 found in the JioPhone Next. The device will also feature a larger 6.5-inch display, however, it will still be an HD+ (1600 x 720) panel.
From XDA
This is the Motorola Frontier, featuring a 200MP camera and a weird camera bump
We first heard about the so-called Motorola Frontier last week via TechnikNews, with the website claiming it will offer features like a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus chipset and a 200MP main camera. Now, another website has corroborated these claims while also giving us our first apparent look at the phone.
Reliable German outlet WinFuture has posted a render of the Motorola Frontier (seen at the top of the page), showing a phone with a curved screen and center-mounted punch-hole cutout on the front. Look at the back and you’ll notice that the rear cover curves as well, while a triple camera housing can be seen too.
Oddly enough, part of the camera bump seems to be sitting on one of the rear cover curves. We hope this is an error with the render and that the camera bump is completely on the flat part of the rear cover.
From Android Authority
Realme 9 Pro+ pops up on Geekbench with Dimensity 920
The Realme 9 Pro series is coming to India, and we’ll see a regular Pro and Pro+ variants. Rumors suggested the Pro+ will come with a Dimensity 920 chipset with 5G capabilities, and today a Geekbench scorecard confirms this.
The device carries a model number RMX3393, will have 8GB RAM in at least one of its versions option, and will ship with Android 12 out of the box.
From Gsmarena
vivo Y75 5G’s design and colors revealed in official teaser ahead of launch
Last week, a media report leaked the specs of the vivo Y75 5G and claimed that the smartphone will launch in India by the end of this month. vivo hasn’t announced the Y75 5G’s launch date yet, but its Indian branch took to Twitter to tease the smartphone while also revealing its design and color options.
As you can see, the vivo Y75 5G has flat edges, and its right-side frame houses a volume rocker and power button, which is said to have a fingerprint scanner embedded.
The Y75 5G’s rear panel is home to a rectangular island housing an LED flash and three cameras. The primary unit is said to use a 50MP sensor, while the other two use 2MP sensors.
From Gsmarena
Samsung Galaxy Unpacked to take place on February 9, Tab S8 leaks again
We’ve already got official confirmation that Samsung is holding an Unpacked event in February where it’s expected to announce its Galaxy S22 series smartphones and Galaxy Tab S8 series tablets. The exact date of the event is still not confirmed but leakster Evan Blass brings some solid evidence that it’s February 9 as he’s shared what appears to be an official event poster.
In related news, we also get official detailed images of the Galaxy Tab S8 in its silver and black color variants alongside the S Pen stylus. This will be Samsung’s smallest tablet from the Tab S8 trio with an 11-inch LTPS LCD with a 120Hz refresh rate and 2560x1600px resolution.
From Gsmarena
Google’s foldable to be called Pixel Notepad, cost around $1,400
Google’s foldable will reportedly be called the Pixel Notepad, not the Pixel Fold as previously rumored. What’s more, Google hasn’t given up on it and plans to have it out by the end of 2022.
Apparently, Google is aiming for a $1,400 price tag for its foldable phone, which undercut the Galaxy Z Fold3 by $400.
The Pixel Notebook take after the Oppo Find N rather than the Galaxy Z Fold3 in that it will be shorter and wider instead of overly tall.
From Gsmarena
Report suggests NVIDIA is preparing to walk away from its ARM acquisition
NVIDIA has reportedly made little to no progress in gaining regulatory approval for its $40 billion purchase of ARM and is privately preparing to abandon the deal, according to Bloomberg‘s sources. Meanwhile, current ARM owner SoftBank is reportedly advancing a program to take ARM public as an alternative to the acquisition, said another person familiar with the matter.
NVIDIA announced the deal in September 2020, with CEO Jensen Huang proclaiming it would “create a company fabulously positioned for the age of AI.” ARM’s designs are used under license almost universally in smartphones and other mobile devices by companies like Apple, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Samsung, Intel and Amazon.
A backlash began soon after the announcement. The UK, where ARM is based, launched an antitrust investigation into the acquisition in January 2021, and another security probe last November. In the US, the FTC recently sued to block the purchase over concerns it would “stifle” competition in industries like data centers and car manufacturing. China would also reportedly block the transaction if other regulators don’t, Bloomberg‘s sources say.
From Techcrunch
GPU prices are finally dropping again
Popular graphics cards from both AMD and Nvidia are starting to fall in price after many months of suffering from artificial inflation. While still selling for over the MSRP (manufacturers recommended retail price), 3DCenter reports that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series is currently selling for around 77% over MSRP vs the 87% over from last month. The AMD Radeon RX 6000 series is also seeing a similar reduction, currently retailing for 67% over MSRP instead of 83%.
Cards in the Nvidia Ampere and AMD RDNA2 series have had their prices affected by numerous issues since all of their respective launch dates, such as the ongoing chip shortage causing production capabilities to not match the growing demand and competition from Ethereum crypto miners. While the falling prices we’re seeing are still much higher than they should be, it’s good news that things look like they’re back on the right track.
From Techradar
Samsung unveils a fingerprint security chip for payment cards
Samsung has unveiled the industry’s first all-in-one fingerprint security chip for payment cards. The S3B512C includes a fingerprint reader, a secure element, and a secure processor, which means that making a fingerprint-enabled debit or credit card would become extremely easy.
The South Korean firm said its new IC (Integrated Circuit) is certified for EMVCo and Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level (CC EAL) 6+. It also passes Mastercard’s latest Biometric Evaluation Plan Summary (BEPS) specifications. The new chip can read a fingerprint through a biometric sensor, store and authenticate it with tamper-proof Secure Element, and analyze and process data using its Secure Processor.
Payment cards that use Samsung’s new technology can make payments faster and safer than conventional cards. The chipset even supports anti-spoofing technology, which rejects illegitimate attempts to use the card through methods such as artificial fingerprints.
From Sammobile
Google faces fresh lawsuits alleging deceptive location tracking practices
Google is no stranger to lawsuits, and last year, some documents detailing its disregard for user privacy came to light. The company was said to have redesigned its settings menu to make it harder to find or understand the options to switch off location tracking. And, even when the user did manage to opt out of direct data collection successfully, Google may have used other complex approaches to figure out the location of its users. In a similar turn of events, the attorneys general of three states and DC are now suing Google for the alleged deceptive collection of location data on Android.
From Android Police
