Quick Shots-177

This is the Osom OV1, a new phone from Essential’s former engineers and designers

Osom, the company formed by Essential’s employees after the startup went under, has released new details about its upcoming OV1 phone, including a very familiar list of build materials. Meant to compete with flagships from Apple, Google, and Samsung, the OV1 will have a stainless steel and titanium housing, a ceramic back, Corning Victus cover glass, and a Qualcomm processor.

The stainless steel is for the phone’s frame, while titanium will be used for accents like the power and volume buttons as well as the ring around the camera bump, according to Android Police. It sounds like the phone will have a heft to it — Osom says the OV1 will be “noticeably bigger” than the Essential Phone, which had razor-thin bezels and a 5.7-inch screen. The company also says the phone will come in white and matte black but that there are “some surprises to come” in colors.

Talking to Osom’s founder and CEO, Jason Keats, he said that the OV1 wasn’t intentionally meant to evoke the Essential Phone. The resemblance is just the natural result of having the same team engineering and designing it. In my opinion, it still manages to stand out — the materials are still relatively uncommon in most phones, even five years after we heaped praise on the Essential Phone’s build. Arguably, Apple’s probably the closest with the iPhone 13 Pro’s stainless steel sides and “ceramic shield,” but I think most people would be able to immediately tell the difference between the iPhone and an OV1. (Plus, there’s the price — Osom hasn’t said exactly how much its phone would cost but told Android Police it’d come in well under $1,000, which is where the 13 Pro starts.)

The OV1 was supposed to be fully revealed this week, according to TechCrunch, but Osom is pushing back its announcement and ship date so it can upgrade the phone’s processor. The company says it’ll use a “Snapdragon 8 series chipset,” though it can’t give specifics, according to TechCrunch. Qualcomm recently switched up its naming scheme for chips with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, though it seems unlikely that the OV1 will use that specific chip given its vow of silence.

Osom says the phone will get “all-day” battery life and that it’ll have ultra-wideband, or UWB, the same tech other manufacturers like Apple, Google, and Samsung use for things like precision location tracking and digital car keys. Keats wouldn’t say exactly what that radio’s for but said that the company has some “interesting stuff cooking” that it would announce later. It will have room for two physical SIM cards — Keats says the company purposefully chose not to go with an e-SIM to avoid tying itself to particular carriers. (He also mentioned that partnering with a particular carrier was a “devastating mistake for Essential.”)

Osom says that it’s also learned from the camera missteps at Essential and that it wants the OV1 to have a “truly flagship camera experience.” Design-wise, the OV1 has a camera bump, something the Essential phone avoided. That bump holds the two rear cameras, running at 48 and 12 megapixels. The front-facing camera will be 16MP. Because of how important software is to the mobile photography experience, it’s hard to say how those specs will translate into snapshots at this point.

Finally, there’s the USB-C to C cable that comes in the box. There’s usually not a lot to say about those, but Osom’s including one with a neat trick: the ability to flip a switch that physically disconnects the data pins, so you can feel more comfortable charging your phone from a public outlet (though admittedly in my experience those are usually still USB-A). Unfortunately, the mechanical disconnect means the cable runs at USB 2 speeds, according to Osom spokesperson Andy Fouché — a glacial 60 megabytes per second. The OV1’s port can support the much faster 625 MB/s speeds of USB 3.2 Gen 1, though, when paired with a different cable.

Keats couldn’t say how fast the OV1 will charge, just that it will be “impressively quick.” It is BYOB (bring your own brick), though — it won’t ship with a charger in the box.

From The Verge

Powerful new Lenovo gaming phone packs SSD storage

Smartphone makers started making gaming phones a few years ago, which are basically just Android flagships that push their hardware to the limits. Lenovo was one of the first Chinese vendors to go this route, launching its uniquely designed Legion handset a couple of years ago. Lenovo is now back with the Legion Y90, a gaming phone that comes with SSD storage in addition to the typical high-speed memory that you see on mobile phones.

Gaming phones seem like overkill, considering that any modern flagship will deliver a great mobile gaming experience. The Galaxy S22 phones are great gaming phones, as they feature the best possible chips for Android devices, fast RAM, and fast storage.

But gaming phones like the ones Lenovo makes are responsible for bringing certain features to our attention. Gaming phones were the first to pack high refresh rates, and now 120Hz screens are the new norm for high-end smartphones.

They also pushed RAM beyond anything we had seen before. And they introduced new cooling systems for sustained performance. We’ve seen these features hit non-gaming devices as well.

The Lenovo Legion Y90 is the latest addition to the gaming phone category. The handset features the same unusual rear panel design as its predecessor. The camera system sits in the middle of the handset so that gamers can hold it comfortably while playing games on it in landscape mode. Therefore, the camera bump is right in the middle.

From BGR

Realme C35 coming to India on March 7, TechLife Watch S100 and Buds N100 on March 10

The Realme C35 unveiled last month will debut in India next week – on March 7. Realme hasn’t revealed the C35’s Indian pricing and availability yet, but since the smartphone has been official for about a month now, we know what’s on offer.

The Realme C35 is built around a 6.6″ FullHD+ LCD and is powered by the Unisoc Tiger T616 SoC. It runs Android 11-based Realme UI 2.0 out of the box and has three memory options – 4GB/64GB, 4GB/128GB, and 6GB/64GB. However, it’s unclear whether Realme will bring all these to India or not.

The Realme C35 features an 8MP selfie shooter, and around the back is a 50MP primary camera joined by 2MP macro and 2MP depth units. The smartphone also comes with a side-mounted fingerprint reader for biometric authentication.

Fueling the entire package is a 5,000 mAh battery charged through a USB-C port at up to 18W.

Once Realme is done with the C35’s launch, the company will introduce two new accessories on March 10 – TechLife Watch S100 and TechLife Buds N100.

The Realme TechLife Watch S100 was said to arrive last month with a circular dial, but that information turned out to be entirely inaccurate since the smartwatch’s case has a rectangular design.

It packs a 1.69″ color touchscreen, with the dial having a metallic finish. It will come with a heart rate monitor and blood oxygen level measurement and also tell you about your wrist skin and body temperature.

The Realme TechLife Watch S100 will be IP68 dust and water-resistant, but Realme says it is “not suitable for swimming and shower.” The company hasn’t revealed the Watch S100’s battery size but says it will offer 12 days of endurance on a single charge.

Talking about the Realme TechLife Buds N100, we are looking at 9.2mm Dynamic Bass Drivers on the neckband-style wireless earphones with a metal sound chamber and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. The buds have IPX4 water resistance, while the silicone neckband is IPX6 rated.

Realme doesn’t tell us about the Buds N100’s battery capacity either but says the earphones will provide 17 hours of playback between charges when the audio is played at 50% volume with AAC codec enabled.

We’ll find out more about the TechLife Watch S100 and TechLife Buds N100’s pricing and availability next Thursday.

From Gsmarena

Samsung Galaxy F23 arrives on March 8 with Snapdragon 750G

The Samsung Galaxy F23 appeared on our radar a month or so ago and now we have a launch date. Today, Flipkart set up a landing page to reveal the phone will indeed sport a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750 chipset and confirm its debut is coming next week.

The full details will be disclosed on Tuesday, March 8 at 12 PM IST.

The new phone will have a triple camera on the back and a selfie shooter mounted on a waterdrop notch. The display itself will have Full HD+ resolution, and Samsung revealed it will be the first F-series phone with 120Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 5 protection.

Flipkart further reveals the Galaxy F23 will have a 3.5mm audio jack on the bottom, right next to the microphone, USB-C port, and speaker grille

The predecessor Samsung Galaxy F22 arrived with a super aggressive price of INR12,499 ($170/€140), and we expect the new Galaxy F23 to be in the same range.

From Gsmarena

Hang on… is this the OnePlus 10, or is it a brand-new OnePlus phone?

Something curious has happened, as hot on the heels of the OnePlus 10 Pro’s global launch, a photo of an unknown OnePlus phone has leaked, with many commentators suggesting this is the standard OnePlus 10.

The image first leaked on Weibo (a Chinese social network) and the source suggested that it might be the OnePlus 10 – a suggestion that other outlets ran with. But is it? We’re not so sure.

For a start, the phone – which you can see below – looks nothing like the OnePlus 10 Pro. Shown just from the back in black and white shades, it has a very different camera block, housing different-looking lenses.

Of course, the OnePlus 10 wouldn’t necessarily look identical to the OnePlus 10 Pro, but the OnePlus 9 looked a lot like the OnePlus 9 Pro. One of the lenses here also actually looks like it might be even bigger than the ones on the OnePlus 10 Pro – which isn’t something we’d expect from a lesser phone in the range.

But an even bigger reason to think that this isn’t the OnePlus 10 is that OnePlus itself has said there won’t be a OnePlus 10. In an MWC 2022 media briefing attended by TechRadar, OnePlus founder Pete Lau said that there would only be one model in the OnePlus 10 range – namely the OnePlus 10 Pro.

There’s an outside chance that he misspoke, or perhaps meant that only one OnePlus 10 model would arrive in the west, with China getting others, but that seems unlikely.

On top of all that, if there was a OnePlus 10, we’d have expected to have seen more of it by now – in leaks at the very least, but probably even an announcement. Indeed, the global launch of the OnePlus 10 Pro would have been the ideal venue to unveil it, but it wasn’t in attendance. So no, this probably isn’t the OnePlus 10.

From Techradar

Moto G22 goes official priced at €169 w/ MediaTek Helio G37, Android 12 pre-installed

Although almost entirely revealed by leaks, Motorola has now unveiled the Moto G22, which is firmly rooted at the low-end of the Android spectrum.

In an announcement blog post, it’s confirmed that the Moto G22 will ship with a 6.5-inch 720p display that is rated at 90Hz. Internally, it’s a typical modest Android phone and will utilize the MediaTek Helio G37 chipset, with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage that can be bolstered up to 1TB via microSD card. There’s room for a substantial 5,000mAh internal battery that also supports 15W wired charging, but the in-the-box charger is rated at 10W.

At the rear, there is room for a quad-camera setup that consists of a 50-megapixel main sensor, 8-megapixel ultrawide, 2-megapixel depth sensor, and 2-megapixel macro sensor. The selfie camera is rated at 16-megapixel here too.

Biometric security is provided via a side-mounted capacitive fingerprint scanner, which is housed within the power button. As with just about every other affordable Android, the Moto G22 also includes space on the side bezel for a 3.5mm headphone port too.

The Moto G22 is shipping with Android 12, which is a major bonus as Motorola’s update track record is rocky to say the least. Given that many flagship Motorola devices are still waiting to get updated, this is a major boon for the G22. However, Motorola has not shared any details on future updates including security patches. This isn’t exactly ideal and is something that might put many potential buyers off.

Luckily, the Moto G22 is priced at just €169 and is set to go on sale in selected markets including South America, Asia, and the Middle East over the coming weeks. It’ll be available in Cosmic Black, Pearl White, and Iceberg Blue.

From 9to5Google

Xiaomi Smart Band 7 could have Always On Display, GPS, smart alarm and more

The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 was announced at the end of March last year and featured several major upgrades, including a larger display and SpO2 tracking. It’s March again and a detailed leak reveals what to expect from the new model. Note that this info was dug out from an early firmware for the band (found in the Zepp app) and the final product may be different.

Let’s start with the display. Version 6 has a 1.56” pill-shaped display with 152 x 486 px resolution (that’s 326 ppi pixel density). The new model, the Xiaomi Smart Band 7 will have a 192 x 490 px resolution. Note that the vertical resolution is essentially the same, but the horizontal one is larger – this suggests a wider display. We expect that the pixel density will remain the same since it’s that magic “Retina resolution” number.

Also, some watch faces have an Always On version that shows the time. AOD is one of the advantages of Xiaomi smartwatches over the bands, in no small part because it puts a strain on the battery. A wider band may fit a bigger battery, but not enough to offset the drain of AOD. Still, it’s great to have the option.

From Gsmarena

Realme 9 5G and Realme 9 5G SE are arriving on March 10

The Realme 9 Pro series was just announced last month, and now it is time for the Realme 9 5G series. The brand scheduled a launch for March 10, at 12:30 PM, where we will see two phones – Realme 9 5G and Realme 9 5G SE.

The appearance of both units is already revealed on the company website as well as their 48MP triple cameras.

One of the phones will be powered by the Snapdragon 778G chipset, while the other will come with Dimensity 810. Both will support dual 5G and sport thin light bodies. According to the images, the power key doubles as a fingerprint scanner, so it is a fair bet to say the displays of the 9 5G and 9 5G SE will be of the LCD variety.

The panel of the latter will have 144Hz refresh rate, which Realme said will be “highest in the segment”. The predecessor Realme 8 5G started from around $200, so we expect the successors to be in the same price range.

From Gsmarena

Sony and Honda are teaming up to build electric cars

Tesla is getting another competitor.

Japan’s Sony and Honda have signed a deal to jointly develop and sell battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs), the two companies announced on Friday. The joint venture hasn’t been formed yet; the companies have signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines their plan to establish it later in 2022.

According to a press release by Sony, the idea is to combine Honda’s car-building prowess with Sony’s expertise in the fields of imaging, sensing, telecommunication, network, and entertainment technologies.

The first model resulting from the new venture should launch in 2025.

The statements from Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida and Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe focus on the synergy between the two companies, made possible precisely because their focus has traditionally been different.

“Although Sony and Honda are companies that share many historical and cultural similarities, our areas of technological expertise are very different. Therefore, I believe this alliance which brings together the strengths of our two companies offers great possibilities for the future of mobility,” Mibe said in a statement.

“Through this alliance with Honda (…) we intend to build on our vision to ‘make the mobility space an emotional one,’ and contribute to the evolution of mobility centered around safety, entertainment and adaptability,” Yoshida said in a statement.

Notably, in January Yoshida announced a plan to create a new company, Sony Mobility, focusing on electric vehicles, and the company even showcased a prototype electric SUV. The new venture likely builds on that plan or replaces it.

From Mashable

Volvo is testing wireless EV charging tech in Sweden

Volvo will put a wireless EV charging system through its paces as part of a program to test alternative charging options. A small fleet of electric Volvo XC40 Recharge cars will be used as taxis in Gothenburg, Sweden in a three-year pilot.

The cars are equipped with a wireless charging system from Momentum Dynamics. Charging pads will be embedded in the ground at two taxi ranks. Volvo will use 360-degree cameras to help drivers put the cars in the correct position and when they’re in the right spot, the taxis’ batteries will automatically topped up. An image shared by Momentum Dynamics showed an EV charging at a rate of 41kW.The EVs will be on the road for more than 12 hours a day and are expected to be driven for upwards of 100,000 km (62,000 miles) per year. Volvo says this is the first durability test of its electric EVs in a commercial setting. Momentum Dynamics has also teamed up with Jaguar to test wireless charging in electric taxis in Norway.

The concept of building charging tech into roads is hardly new, but it hasn’t exactly taken off yet. Still, researchers and engineers are working on other ways to charge EVs as they drive, so at some point in the future, drivers may never need to visit a typical charging station.

From Techcrunch