Quick Shots-168

Nubia’s Red Magic 7 launches globally with a 165Hz display and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1

After launching the Red Magic 7 in its home country China last week, Nubia has officially released its new gaming phone for the international markets. Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, the latest gaming-oriented phone from Nubia combines a slick design with mind-boggling hardware. The last year’s Red Magic 6 was the first smartphone to bring a 165Hz refresh rate display to the market, and while the Red Magic 7 isn’t pushing that number further, it still has a lot going for it. Right now, Nubia is only bringing the vanilla model to the international markets, with the Pro variant coming in Q2 2022.

From XDA

Realme V25 teased by company CMO

Realme launched the V15 5G last January, and the brand will soon follow it up with the V25. This revelation comes from Realme CMO Mr. Xu Qi Chase, who also said that the V25 will feature Realme’s first new technology.

The CMO didn’t get into the details about this new technology or divulge anything else about the V25. But, a Realme smartphone bearing model code RMX3475 that was TENAA certified last month is said to be the V25, and if that turns out to be true, you’ll get the V25 with a 6.58″ FullHD+ TFT, 2.2GHz octa-core processor, and a battery with a rated capacity of 4,880 mAh.

The RMX3475 will come with three RAM (6GB/8GB/12GB) and two storage (128GB/256GB) options, and it will also have a microSD card slot for storage expansion.

The smartphone will sport a 16MP selfie shooter, while the triple camera setup on the rear will consist of one 64MP and two 2MP units. It will support 5G networks and feature a side-mounted fingerprint reader for biometric authentication.

The RMX3475 will be 8.5mm thick, weigh 195 grams, and have three color options.

We’ll likely hear more about the V25 from Realme in the coming days.

From Gsmarena

Poco X4 Pro 5G major leak confirms 108MP camera, SD695

Poco is having an event during MWC, and we expect to see new smartphones, including the Poco M4 Pro (an LTE-only version) and the Poco X4 Pro 5G. Yet Amazon France couldn’t wait another week and released the full specs sheet and some images of the phone today.

Looking closely into the characteristics of the phone, we can see it is the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G but with a different desing on the back and the signature Poco yellow color.

The Poco X4 Pro 5G will have a Snapdragon 695 chipset and a 6.67” AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate. The back hosts a 108MP main camera and an 8MP ultrawide snapper alongside a 2MP macro cam.

The battery capacity of the Poco X4 Pro 5G is 5,000 mAh, while charging goes at up to 67W reaching a full charge in 41 minutes. We expect the Poco X4 Pro 5G to be different from the Redmi Note 11 Pro with its interface – we expect a Poco launcher on top of MIUI 13, based on Android 11.

Amazon listed the Poco with 256GB storage, but other versions might be available as well. The event is scheduled for February 28 and it should give us an answer to that.

From Gsmarena

Redmi K50 Pro design shown off in leaked renders

Xiaomi recently unveiled the Redmi K50G in China, the company’s latest gaming-focused smartphone with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and 120W fast charging support. Rumor has it that the Redmi K50G will soon be joined by the Redmi K50 Pro, and thanks to a fresh leak, we now have more details about this upcoming phone.

OnLeaks and Zouton have released CAD renders of the Redmi K50 Pro, showcasing the phone’s overall design from multiple angles. As per the renders, the Redmi K50 Pro will feature an industrial design, standing in stark contrast to the funky, aggressive design of the Redmi K50G. The phone’s curved back has a rectangular camera module perpendicular to the Redmi logo in the left corner. We can also see that the camera island has three sensors with a dual-tone LED flash module situated below the camera area. Over on the back, the phone has a centered hole-punch display. Volume and power keys are on the right frame, while a USB Type C port, a speaker grille, and a microphone are lined up at the bottom. The overall design of the Redmi K50 Pro looks a lot like the iQOO 7.

From XDA

Samsung Galaxy A23 launch imminent as support page goes live on official website

The Samsung Galaxy A23 we’ve been hearing about since last November should launch soon as its support page has gone live on Samsung’s official Russian website, and the smartphone’s also been certified by Bluetooth SIG.

The Galaxy A23 is listed on Samsung’s website with model code SM-A235F/DSN, where DS denotes dual-SIM support. It carries model designation SM-A235N on Bluetooth SIG’s website.

We don’t have the Galaxy A23’s key specs on either of these websites. But, the A23 with model number SM-A235F was spotted on Geekbench last week with Android 12, 4GB RAM, and Snapdragon 680 SoC.

From Gsmarena

Oppo Pad stars in live images, accessories revealed

Oppo is preparing to announce a tablet alongside its Find X5 series in just two days and we already saw its design in an official teaser. Now, thanks to a couple of live images posted on Weibo, we can have an early look at the device in question.

The tipster who posted the pictures says that the tablet is compatible with a magnetic keyboard cover and Oppo Pencil. No trackpad on the keyboard, though.

As per the previous leak, the tablet should run on a Snapdragon 870 SoC, offer a 10.95-inch 120Hz IPS LCD panel and an 8,360 mAh battery.

From Gsmarena

Realme’s 200W charger surfaces ahead of announcement

Realme VP Mr. Madhav Sheth told us in an exclusive interview last October that Realme’s 125W UltraDART charging tech, announced in July 2020, will be commercialized this year. That’s not happened yet, but yesterday Realme announced that it will introduce the “world’s fastest smartphone charging technology” on February 28, 2022 at Mobile World Congress (MWC). While Realme hasn’t divulged how fast this tech will be, a leaked image suggests it could go up to 200W.

We are looking at a picture of an unreleased Realme charger with 200W charging support (20V/10A), which has model code VCK8HACH and supports Power Delivery protocol, but only till 45W.

From Gsmarena

Forget the iPhone, Apple is reportedly working on a folding MacBook

While everyone is waiting anxiously for Apple to unveil its first folding iPhone and show the world how it’s supposed to be done, a new report says Apple’s first foldable won’t be an iPhone. It’ll be a MacBook.

In the latest Foldable/Rollable Report, Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants reports that the company is “showing Apple in our roadmap for foldable notebooks.” Young, who has a very solid track record with Apple display rumors, hasn’t previously reported on a folding laptop display in the works from Apple.

According to Young, Apple is exploring what would be the largest ever MacBook, with a screen topping 20 inches. He speculated that the notebook would have multiple uses—as a full-size keyboard when folded, an external display, or an iMac-style all-in-one when unfolded. Young also says the device may support 4K or 5K resolution.

While folding phones are fairly common, folding laptops are far more unique. At CES earlier this year, Asus and Samsung showed off folding tablet prototypes that are far from production, and Microsoft’s once-promising Surface Neo, which is more of a dual-screen laptop than a folding one, never saw the light of day.

From Macworld

Instagram Limits Users’ Ability to Limit How Much Time They Spend in the App

Instagram has quietly removed the ability for its users to limit their daily usage of the app to less than 30 minutes, reports TechCrunch.
In 2018, Instagram introduced options in the app to set a daily time limit, with a reminder to be sent when that time limit is reached – useful for those who want to cut down on their social media usage. Originally, users were able to select a time limit as low as ten or even five minutes a day, but selecting such short durations is no longer possible.

Following the latest app update, the “Set daily time limit” menu card pops up and prompts users to choose how long that should be, with a new minimum of 30 minutes, while the radio button next to the maximum of three hours is pre-selected in the menu card, as if to nudge users to choose that limit.

The popup does say the user can keep their existing limit if they wish, but an additional popup on the activity page in the app says the 10-minute value is “no longer supported.” Indeed, after the update, users will find the new limits available are now 30 minutes, 45 minutes, one hour, two hours, and three hours.
Neither Instagram nor parent company Meta (formerly Facebook) has commented on the quietly implemented change, which appears to run counter to Instagram’s claim, made in 2018, that it wants to empower users to make intentional decisions about how much time they spend on the app.

From Macrumors

Virgin Hyperloop switches focus from passengers to cargo as it lays off half its staff

Virgin Hyperloop has laid off almost half its staff as the company switches its focus from transporting passengers to shifting freight. Cuts totaling 111 jobs were confirmed by Virgin Hyperloop to The Financial Times, which spoke to former employees at the company. They described the scale of the redundancies as “definitely not expected.”

The US-based Virgin Hyperloop is one of the leading firms developing the eponymous technology — an updated version of a centuries-old idea to reduce the energy demands of trains by placing them in vacuum-sealed tubes where air resistance is minimal. The concept was resurrected in 2013 when Elon Musk published a whitepaper on the subject, incorporating magnetic levitation used by bullet trains and bestowing the current branding.

From The Verge