Google’s next steps for Wear OS include offline Maps navigation and a Play Store redesign
Samsung just unveiled the new Galaxy Z-series foldables and the Galaxy Watch 5 at its latest Unpacked event. Besides announcing all this new hardware, we also got to learn a little about the software powering these devices. That includes not just what they’ll ship with, but features currently in development — and Google was happy to lend a hand, talking about its plans to bring offline Maps navigation and a redesigned Play Store to Wear OS.
Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro arrive running the new One UI Watch 4.5 skin on top of Wear OS 3.5. Although Samsung does a lot in trying to enhance the experience on its own devices, the Play Store on its watches is as rudimentary as on any, featuring drab text labels for navigation. But that won’t be the case for long, and Google shares that the experience on your smartwatch is getting a makeover sometime later this year, replete with sections for trending apps and custom recommendations (via 9to5 Google). We’re also expecting a graphical overhaul, with colorful new menu items adding some liveliness to the UI.
From Android Police
Next iQOO Neo will run on the Dimensity 9000+ platform
The iQOO 10 series was expected to be the first to introduce a Dimensity 9000+ chipset but rumors got it slightly wrong. In reality, it will be the Neo 7 that will have the latest Mediatek chipset as per noted tipster Digital Chat Station.
The new phone will be the successor of the Neo 6 and we assume it will follow the usual formula for the series – solid performance and agressive pricing.
The iQOO Neo 7 (name not yet confirmed) is not even going to be the first phone with a Dimensity 9000+ in the market, as Xiaomi launched a version of its 12 Pro with this chip. Still, it will have a 4nm SoC with a 3.2 GHz CPU that will perform outstandingly.
There’s also the valid question of whether iQOO will bring the phone in this configuration to the global market – after all, the iQOO Neo 6 sold in overseas markets differs from the iQOO Neo 6 sold at home.
From Gsmarena
Samsung Galaxy A23e leaked renders appear ahead of its launch
Everyone currently has their attention on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which launched at the Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event yesterday. But now renders of a new, unreleased phone—Galaxy A23e—have surfaced online. This is the third phone in the Galaxy A23 lineup, which also includes the Galaxy A23 5G.
According to Pricebaba, the Galaxy A23e is expected to arrive in the Indian market really soon. But before that happens, some leaked renders show the device in its full glory. The Samsung Galaxy A23e is a budget smartphone and, looking at the renders, it resembles the original Galaxy A23.
From Sammobile
New Moto G62 launches in India with Snapdragon 695 chipset
Motorola already unveiled a Moto G62 5G back in June, but now the company has built a separate device with the same name for the Indian market. It brings more processing power, but it is mostly the same phone. It is also similar to other Motos, more on that in a bit.
The new Moto G62 is powered by the Snapdragon 695 chipset, replacing the Snapdragon 480+ of the previous G62. A quick comparison shows a newer node (6nm vs. 8nm), newer CPU cores (2x Cortex-A78 and 6x A55 vs. 2x A76 + 6x A55), plus the GPU is faster (despite both chipsets claiming “Adreno 619”).
From Gsmarena
World’s first smartphone with Samsung’s 200MP camera sensor goes official
Almost one year after the introduction of Samsung’s 200MP camera sensor, the world’s first smartphone using that sensor has been launched. The Motorola X30 Pro, which launched in China today, uses the ISOCELL HP1 as its primary camera. It is the company’s latest flagship smartphone.
The Motorola X30 Pro features a 200MP ISOCELL HP1 primary camera (1/1.22-inch) with OIS, an F1.95 aperture, and phase-detection autofocus. It can capture 12.5MP images in the 16-in-1 pixel binning mode, with a resulting pixel size of 2.56µm. The rear camera can record up to 8K 30fps and 4K 60fps videos.
From Sammobile
OnePlus’ upcoming Nord Watch to come in two shapes, five variants
OnePlus’ upcoming budget-friendly smartwatch supposedly called the Nord Watch, will likely come in five variants. Images depicting the different designs were shared by 91mobiles.
The leak suggests that the watch will arrive in two flavors – rectangular and circular. The rectangular-shaped option will offer two variants while the circular will be in three options. The renders depict a circular watch with two buttons on the right side and a big bezel around the display along with another two-button variant without the said bezel. The third circular device will come with just one button without the bezel.
As for the rectangular iterations, they both show a single button on the right and the design of the lugs is the only thing that sets them apart.
Screen resolutions are also revealed with the circular models coming with 240 x 240px and 390 x 390px displays, whereas the rectangular Nord Watch would come with either 240 x 280px or 368 x 448px.
The report ends with some vague predictions of the price, which will likely be around the INR 5,000 territory along with some screenshots from the rectangular UI.
From Gsmarena
Bonus-filled Galaxy Z Flip4 and Z Fold4 pre-reservation campaign starts in India, prices still a mystery
Yesterday’s Galaxy Unpacked event glossed over Samsung’s launch plans for the Galaxy Z Fold4 and Z Flip4 in India – we didn’t even see the pricing. It seems that will be kept under wraps until next week as the company just started another pre-reservation campaign.
The landing page touts “exclusive benefits greater than ₹40,000”, though it doesn’t spell out what they are. There will be an additional gift worth ₹5,200. Making an early reservation now will score you another ₹5,000 worth of perks in the form of a cover, fast charger and other accessories.
To get in you need a #Next Galaxy VIP-Pass, which is a fancy way of saying a ₹2,000 deposit (which will be refunded when you buy a phone). This also puts you at the front of the queue for the new foldables. You can grab a pass from here.
With that in hand, you will be able to place the actual order for a Galaxy Z Flip4 or Z Fold4 on August 16-17 and claim all the perks you have collected (that is Tuesday and Wednesday next week).
Note that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 with 1TB storage and the Galaxy Z Flip4 Bespoke Edition are exclusive to Samsung.com.
How much do the phone cost? Samsung hasn’t answered that yet, we expect to see price tags on August 16 or a bit earlier.
As for the other new devices from the Unpacked event, the Galaxy Watch5 and Watch5 Pro, as well as the Galaxy Buds2 Pro are listed as “coming soon”. Their prices for the Indian market are also kept under wraps for now.
From Gsmarena
Meta Aims to Encrypt All Facebook Messenger Chats
Today, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, announced that it would begin testing default end-to-end encryption for its popular chat client, Messenger. End-to-end encryption is the process by which messages between two parties are encoded so they can’t be intercepted and read by an outside entity, not even the service provider.
While the ability to encrypt your Messenger apps has been available on the platform since 2016, if this testing succeeds, end-to-end encryption will become the automatic standard for all chats across Meta properties. If you want that security standard in your Messenger chats now, you need to turn it on manually.
From Review Geek
The merged Google Meet app lets you host group Spotify and YouTube sessions
Google’s merger of Meet and Duo may be confusing, but it should deliver some useful upgrades in the bargain. The company has added a live sharing beta feature that lets users of the revamped Meet share Spotify and YouTube streams during chats. You can play games like Uno Mobile and Kahoot, too. The functionality will sound familiar if you’ve tried SharePlay, but you can’t use Spotify or YouTube with Apple’s media feature.
The Meet upgrades include scheduled recurring meetings, virtual backgrounds and in-meeting chats. As with the Meet features coming to Duo, live sharing has been rolling out over recent weeks. The rebranding of Duo as Meet will take place throughout August for mobile devices, and is coming later for everyone else.
From Engadget
A Bioengineered Cornea Shows It Can Improve People’s Sight
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More than 12 million people worldwide are blind because of disease or damage to the cornea, the transparent outer layer of the eye. A transplant from a deceased human donor can restore vision, but demand is so high that only about one in 70 patients receives one. The need is greatest in rural or economically developing countries like India or Iran, where there’s a shortage of corneas due to a lack of eye banks with cold storage. Without these special facilities, a fresh donor cornea must be used within five to seven days.
“The number one reason for why it’s difficult to do corneal transplants in these places is because corneas expire before doctors can place them,” says Esen Akpek, a professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University. “It’s very expensive to do eye banking because you need a cold chain.”
As an alternative, researchers in Sweden have developed a bioengineered version made of collagen purified from pig skin that resembles the protein found in a human cornea. Bioengineered corneas could be made more readily available and may also have a longer shelf life than donor tissue. In a small trial, the implant restored or improved sight in 20 patients who were blind or visually impaired from a corneal condition called keratoconus. The results were published today in Nature Biotechnology.
From Wired
