Lava X2 announced as an online-exclusive smartphone with a 6.5″ screen and 5,000 mAh battery
Indian handset maker Lava today announced a new smartphone under its new ‘X’ series, dubbed Lava X2. The Lava X2 is an online-exclusive smartphone for the Indian market in the sub-INR10,000 ($130/€120) segment that will be sold through Amazon.in.
The Lava X2 is built around a 6.5″ HD+ IPS screen and has a Helio octa-core processor under the hood paired with 2GB RAM. Lava hasn’t mentioned the name of the Helio chip anywhere on its official website or in the press materials we received, and the company is yet to respond to our query regarding the same. But we’ll update the story once we have more information about the SoC.
That said, the Lava X2 runs Android 11 (Go Edition) and has 32GB of storage onboard. The smartphone features a 5MP selfie camera and its rear panel sports a dual camera system headlined by an 8MP primary unit. The purpose of the second camera is unknown, but it could be one of those not-so-useful 2MP depth sensors or a QVGA unit.
The Lava X2 comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, 3.5mm headphone jack, and USB-C. It’s fueled by a 5,000 mAh battery, but there’s no fast charging here since Lava says the cell takes 3.45 hours for a full charge with the bundled adapter. However, the company says you can get 38 hours of talk time on 4G networks, 480 hours of standby with mobile data turned on, or 10.5 hours of YouTube playback at full display brightness on a single charge.
The Lava X2 comes in Blue and Cyan colors and can be pre-booked on Amazon.in for INR6,599 ($85/€80) till March 11. Once the open sales begin on March 12, it will be priced at INR6,999 ($90/€85).
From Gsmarena
Samsung Galaxy A13 4G, A23 4G launched: Big batteries, but little else?
Samsung has already launched a few new Galaxy A series phones in 2022, and it isn’t stopping here at all. The company has now taken the wraps off the Galaxy A13 4G and the Galaxy A23 4G.
The two phones share plenty in common, such as a 6.6-inch TFT display (FHD+, 60Hz) with a waterdrop notch, Gorilla Glass 5 protection, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and a 5,000mAh battery with 25W charging. You’re also getting the same 8MP front-facing camera, the same rear camera setup (50MP main, 5MP ultrawide, 2MP macro, 2MP depth), and Android 12 with One UI 4.1 out of the box.
So what are the actual differences, then? Well, GSMArena reports that the Galaxy A13 4G (seen above) is equipped with a low-end but power-sipping Exynos 850 chipset clocked at 2.2GHz. There’s no word on the Galaxy A23 4G’s chipset bar its 2.4GHz clock speed and octa-core arrangement. The Galaxy A23 4G also features a camera hump compared to the A13 4G.
Otherwise, the cheapest Galaxy A13 4G offers 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage, while the cheapest Galaxy A23 offers 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage.
There’s no official word on pricing or availability just yet, but Dutch carrier Belsimpel reportedly lists a 4GB/64GB Galaxy A13 4G for €190 (~$208).
From Android Authority
Google Pixel 6a and Pixel Watch could launch later than expected
The recent sightings of the Google Pixel 6a and Pixel Watch in a U.S. carrier’s inventory system fueled speculation about the devices’ impending debut, with previous rumors claiming a May announcement. However, this may not be the case.
According to reliable leaker Jon Prosser, Google’s next contender for the best budget Android phones won’t make its debut until late July.
This runs contrary to a previous rumor claiming that the Pixel 6a (along with the Pixel Watch) would be announced at Google IO 2022 on May 26.
Meanwhile, the Pixel Watch remains on track for its rumored launch in May. However, Prosser said the smartwatch could face delays as well.
As you might have guessed, the culprit is believed to be the global chip shortage that has haunted the tech industry for the better part of the past two years.
Remember that the Pixel 4a and 5a were also released a little later than usual in 2020 and 2021, respectively, due to supply chain delays owing to the pandemic, so hearing the same potential fate for Google’s upcoming Pixel A-series model isn’t entirely surprising.
The latest piece of revelation from Prosser may shatter the hopes of many Pixel fans who have been anticipating the Pixel 6a and Google’s first answer to the best Android smartwatch.
Given Prosser’s track record, the new rumor sounds plausible. That said, it won’t hurt to take his words with a pinch of salt.
Pricing for both devices remains a mystery, too, at this point. Seeing as the Pixel 5a launched for $449 last year, its successor might be priced in the same ballpark. But if it’s released close to the launch date of the Google Pixel 7, it’s safe to assume the price tag may go lower.
From Android Central
More details leak about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A33
The Galaxy A33 will undoubtedly join the just-unveiled A13 and A23 in Samsung’s 2022 portfolio, and before that happens, we have more details about it to share with you.
The Galaxy A33 will reportedly use the same yet-unofficial Exynos 1280 chipset as the Galaxy A53. This 5nm SoC apparently comes with an octa-core CPU with two 2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 cores and six 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 cores.
The Galaxy A33 is said to have 8 GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage, when paired with the Exynos 1280, although there may be regional differences – we could also see an A33 with the Exynos 1200, and just 6GB of RAM.
It’s still unclear what we should expect in terms of performance from the Exynos 1280. One report from last year claimed it would be worse than what the Exynos 1080 offers, but that hardly makes sense, so we’ll just have to wait and see. By the way, it’s long been rumored that both the A33 and A53 will only be offered with 5G – there won’t be any 4G models this year.
From Gsmarena
OnePlus’ alert slider to reportedly arrive on a Realme phone
Ever since the very first OnePlus One, all succeeding OnePlus flagship models have included a physical alert slider. This switch lets the user set the device’s sound profile without needing to unlock the screen. Apple’s iPhones have always included a physical switch with the same purpose, though OnePlus is the only prominent Android phone maker to do so.
Tipster Yogesh Brar tells MySmartPrice that another BBK brand may adopt the physical alert slider. The smartphone brands associated with BBK include OnePlus, Oppo, vivo, Realme, and iQOO. According to Brar, Realme is “testing its devices with an alert slider”. The device is said to be a mid-range smartphone which Realme may launch sometime in April, though details about the device are unknown.
Realme is expected to launch the vanilla and SE variants of the Realme 9 next week. The Realme 9 5G and Realme 9 5G SE will be announced on March 10. Either phone will be powered by the Snapdragon 778G and the Dimensity 810 and one of the models will feature a 144Hz refresh rate LCD screen.
From Gsmarena
Realme GT Neo3 pops up on Geekbench with 12GB RAM
The Realme GT Neo3 coming in the second half of 2022 has appeared on Geekbench already with its key specs. The GT Neo3 is said to have two versions – RMX3560 and RMX3562. And it’s the latter that’s passed through Geekbench.
The RMX3562 is running Android 12 (likely with Realme UI 3.0 on top), has 12GB RAM, and is powered by an octa-core CPU with four cores clocked at up to 2GHz, and four cores going up to 2.85GHz. That’s the Dimensity 8100 SoC announced earlier this week.
From Gsmarena
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reveals new iPhone SE’s storage and color options ahead of next week’s expected unveiling
Apple is holding an event on March 8 where it’s expected to unveil a refreshed iPad Air and a new iPhone SE, rumored to be called iPhone SE+ 5G. The new iPhone SE is expected to start at $300 and have the A15 Bionic SoC at the helm. Apple hasn’t confirmed these rumors as usual, but reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has outlined his “predictions” for the new iPhone SE, which corroborate the bit about the A15 chip while also revealing some new information.
Kuo says the iPhone SE+ 5G will come in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB storage options and three colors – White, Black, and Red. Its form factor will be similar to the iPhone SE (2020), but you will now get 5G support (mmW and sub-6).
Kuo also said that the iPhone SE 2022 will enter mass production this month, and Apple is estimated to ship 25-30 million units of the smartphone in 2022.
With the event still three days away, we might see some more details about the 2022 iPhone SE surface.
From Gsmarena
Russia bans Facebook and Twitter from operating in the country
Russian Facebook users all across the country are suddenly finding that they are no longer able to access the social platform as of March 4, 2022, as a result of the platform being banned in the country. Roskomnadzor — that’s Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media — initiated the ban on the platform citing violations by Meta.
Specifically, Roskomnadzor says Meta is guilty of “discrimination against Russian media and information resources.” The move by the Russian government follows moves from platforms like Facebook and Google News to ban Russian state-controlled media in an effort to curb propaganda from the Russian government.
Meta’s President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, issued this statement about Facebook being banned:
“Soon, millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends and silenced from speaking out. We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services so they remain available to people to safely and securely express themselves and organize for action.”
Russia’s government has moved to silence any opposition to its invasion of Ukraine over the past week, now working to ban any platform that disallows its own state-controlled media from operating. Russia’s Roskomnadzor is responsible for monitoring and censoring “electronic media, mass communications, information technology and telecommunications, supervising compliance with the law, protecting the confidentiality of personal data being processed, and organizing the work of the radio-frequency service” according to the official website.
Elsewhere, outlets like RT and Sputnik News have been banned throughout the European Union, although they are still accessible on Google, Facebook, and other social platforms throughout the rest of the world.
From Android Central
Samsung’s secret data leaks after devastating cyberattack
The Lapsus$ group has claimed responsibility for the attack. They published a snapshot of C/C++ directories in Samsung software to show that they would be releasing the data online.
A description of the leak was then published. It mentions source code for every Trusted Applet installed in Samsung’s TrustZone environment used for encryption, access control, hardware cryptography, etc. All of the leaked data adds up to almost 190GB. Lapsus$ has split it into three compressed files that have now been leaked as a torrent online.
Algorithms for all biometric unlock operations, bootloader source code for all recent Samsung devices, secret source code from Qualcomm, source code for Samsung’s activation servers, and the full source code for tech used to authorize and authenticate Samsung accounts, including APIs and services has apparently been leaked.
The Lapsus$ group was recently in the news for leaking NVIDIA data online. Almost 1TB of data was lost in the cyberattack. The group demanded that NVIDIA open-source GPU drivers and disable LHR on its graphics cards to unlock their full potential for crypto mining.
It’s unclear if Lapsus$ made any demands to Samsung. A report out of South Korea mentions that Samsung officials are assessing the situation. The company hasn’t said anything else about the leak as yet.
From Sammobile
Huge, mysterious blast detected in deep space
Astronomers can detect powerful bursts of energy from the deep, deep cosmos.
Sometimes, the source of these bursts is mysterious.
Scientists recently observed a giant blast some 130 million light-years from Earth. Previously, they detected a colossal collision here from a well-known merger between two neutron stars — collapsed stars that are perhaps the densest objects in the universe. But that dramatic event, which produced a potent stream of energy, began to fade. Around three and a half years later, something else, something new, created another curious blast or release of energy.
“There’s something else happening now,” Edo Berger, a professor of astronomy at Harvard University and one of the scientists who detected this new cosmic event, told Mashable.
The burst of energy, picked up by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (which detects emissions from extremely hot places in the universe), was intense. Astronomers liken it to the sonic boom made when a speeding plane breaks the sound barrier.
In new research published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, astronomers propose two possible scenarios that might explain the event, neither of which has ever been observed before, explained Aprajita Hajela, an astronomer who led the research. Hajela is a PhD student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University.
From Mashable
