Quick Shots-46

The new POCO C31 is a big battery Android phone with a small price tag3

Xiaomi’s POCO brand has finally unveiled a successor to the POCO C3, which was launched in October last year.

POCO’s second C series phone sports a 6.53-inch HD+ display with a tall 20:9 aspect ratio. The waterdrop notch at the top of the display houses a 5MP selfie camera. Powering the POCO C31 is MediaTek’s 12nm Helio G35 chipset.

The phone comes equipped with a triple-camera setup on the back, featuring a 13MP primary sensor, a 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP depth sensor. It packs a large 5,000mAh battery, which POCO claims can provide up to two days of usage on a single charge.

The phone also has rubberized seals and P2i nano-coating to protect it from accidental splashes. Other key features include a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, Face Unlock support, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Read More at Android Central

Vivo X70 Pro and X70 Pro Plus with Zeiss cameras launched in India

The Vivo V70 Pro will be available in three variants with 8GB RAM with 128GB storage prices at Rs 46,990, 8GB RAM with 256GB at Rs 49,990 and 12GB with 256GB storage for Rs 52,990. 

The Vivo V70 Pro Plus has only one variant with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage and has been priced at Rs 79,990. Pre-booking of both smartphones begins today that is September 30 and the Vivo V70 Pro goes for sale on 7 October while the V70 Pro Plus goes for sale on 12 October. 

The Vivo X70 Pro+ will be available in the Enigma Black colour and has an extended camera panel made of glass which Vivo calls Ceramic Cloud Window. The X70 Pro on the other hand will be available in Aurora Dawn and Cosmic Black colours.

Read more at Techradar

Fairphone 4 announced: Snapdragon 750G, modular design and 5-year warranty

The latest phone from Dutch-based Fairphone brings 5G connectivity, dual 48MP cameras and a 9.2 out of 10 repairability score on the French Repairability Index. In true company fashion, the latest Fairphone is produced in an ethical way with recycled materials and fairtrade gold and ethically sourced cobalt and lithium. It’s fairly easy to repair and you can purchase spare parts from Fairphone if something breaks down. A brand new battery costs €29.95, the dual rear cameras go for €79.95 while the selfie cam will costs you €29.95.

Fairphone is guaranteeing two major Android version updates and software support until the end of 2025.The device is also IP54 rated and MIL810G drop test certified. Fairphone 4 boasts a 6.3-inch LCD with FHD+ with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. There’s a waterdrop notch for the 25MP selfie camera and a side mounted fingerprint scanner.

The back carries a 48MP primary shooter with OIS and a second 48MP ultrawide snapper. The third cutout on the back houses time-of-flight, autofocus and color sensors. The phone comes with 6/8GB RAM and 128/256GB storage which is expandable via microSD. There’s a clean build of Android 11 on the software side.

The battery comes in at 3,905mAh and supports up to 20W charging speeds. Fairphone 4 comes without a bundled charger or cable to help save on e-waste. It also does not have a headphone jack though Fairphone is now offerings its own TWS earphones for €99.95.

Fairphone 4 starts at €579/£499 for the 6/128GB model while the 8/256GB one will go for €649/£569. Color options include grey, green and speckled green which is exclusive to the 8/256GB model. First shipments in Europe are scheduled for October 25.

Read More at Gsmarena

Nokia G300 5G leaks with Snapdragon 480 chipset, 720p+ display, 16 MP main camera

There is another affordable 5G Nokia phone on the way – two, in fact, but today the rumor mill surfaced detailed specs for only one of them. The Nokia G300 5G will be based on the same Snapdragon 480 that was used in the recent G50 as well as the X10 and X20 (speaking of, the other upcoming phone we mentioned is the Nokia X100).

HMD Global never released a Nokia G30, so this isn’t a sequel. It’s not exactly an upgrade over the G20 either, at least as far as cameras and batteries are concerned. Though this one has a much more powerful chipset (it’s not hard to beat a Helio G35) and 5G connectivity.

The Nokia G300 has a 6.57” LCD with 720 x 1,600 px resolution (20:9 aspect ratio). There isn’t anything special to mention here, if this has a toughened glass, it wasn’t mentioned in the leaked materials. Anyway, it is about the same size as the G20 display (6.52”) and smaller than the G50 (6.82” is a stretch for 720p+).

Read More at Gsmarena

Motorola Moto Tab G20 launched with 8-inch LCD, Helio P22T chipset

The Moto Tab G20 comes in a single 3GB RAM and 32GB storage trim and it also has a microSD slot for expansion. Android 11 covers the software front and Motorola is also bringing a Kids Space mode. You get a 2MP front-facing cam and a 5MP sensor around the back. There’s also Dolby Atmos coming from the single bottom-mounted speaker. The tablet also boasts a headphone jack and charges over USB-C at 10W speeds.

Moto Tab G20 comes in a single Platinum Grey color and retails for INR 10,999 ($148). First sales in India start on October 2.

Read More at Gsmarena

AMD promises amazing CPU advances over next few years

If you’re doubtful of AMD’s ability to achieve this, bear in mind that the company’s previous plan to hit 25x energy efficiency, kicked off in 2014, was realized in 2020. In fact, efficiency gains to the tune of over 31x were managed by AMD according to an independent assessment, but this time around, the aim is to score another similar energy efficiency victory in four years rather than six.

AMD admits that it’s not an easy goal to meet by 2025, and that “success is certainly not a forgone conclusion” by any means.

Just to underline what this would mean, a 30x increase with efficiency would be outpacing industry energy efficiency performance by some 150% if you compare to the previous five-year period, AMD believes. Take a little salt here, given that this is Team Red’s own workings and stat crunching – as ever with these kind of PR announcements – but it’s clear enough that the potential energy savings and positive environmental impact could be very substantial.

AMD observes that the possible savings could represent “billions of kilowatt hours of electricity” while “potentially reducing energy use per computation by 97% over the next five years”, no less.

Read More at Techradar

Facebook deepens Instagram integration with new cross-app chat features and more

Facebook is continuing to ramp up its efforts to deepen integration between Facebook and Instagram. This time, the company has announced a handful of updates to Facebook Messenger, including group cross-app communication for communicating with contacts from both Messenger and Instagram in one group.

Facebook explains:

With this update, people will be able to start group chats between their Instagram and Messenger contacts. Within these cross-app group chats, you can continue to customize your chat experience with chat themes and custom reactions.

Facebook also notes that all group chats, regardless of whether they are cross platform, will offer the same controls over who can reach you:

You’ll still have the same controls over who can reach you. With delivery controls, you decide who reaches your Chats List, who goes to your Message Request folder, and who can’t message or call you. We love adding fun new features, but our number one priority is keeping safety and privacy top of mind!

Read More at 9to5Mac

Nreal’s latest smartglasses were designed for watching YouTube

The device’s display has a 46-degree Field of View and is powered by a micro-OLED chip for AR devices. It has a high density of colors, with up to 49 Pixels Per Degree, and a refresh rate of up to 90Hz. In comparison, the Light has a 52-degree FOV and a 60Hz refresh rate. One significant feature the Light has and the Air doesn’t is inside-out tracking. The new model has no motion tracking at all, and a company spokesperson told us that based on Light’s usage, Nreal expects most owners to use the Air simply to watch shows on Youtube. They said:

People we know will use Nreal Air (a large number of them) for simply watching shows on YouTube, streaming content on local streaming platforms (like Magenta by Deutsche Telekom) based on Nreal Light’s usage, which is why the tradeoff makes sense. The other bulk of users are using it for actual development. With that said, one of the biggest demands we saw was for using Nreal Light for a longer period of time (meaning lighter weight), and a more brilliant display. Those two would be the key features that were of paramount importance and the basis for how Nreal decided to strike a balance.

Read More at Engadget

BlueStacks X brings Android games to your browser through the cloud

If you want to play Android games on your PC with a keyboard and mouse, few software systems outmatch BlueStacks. However, that software has some significant limitations. The latest version only works on Windows, for example, and you’ll still need a PC powerful enough to emulate the games you’d like to play.

Enter BlueStacks X, which aims to solve those problems. Unlike the regular version of BlueStacks, which you download and install locally on your PC, this version is entirely cloud-based. All you need to do is fire up your browser, log in, and start playing.

Because X is browser-based, it is essentially platform agnostic. That means it works on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Chrome OS, Raspberry Pi, and even some smart TVs. It doesn’t matter how powerful/weak your system is because cloud servers and your browser handle the graphical load.

At the moment, BlueStacks X is totally free. All you need to do is create an account (it’s easiest just to use your existing Google account) and then start playing!

Read More at Android Authority

DNA data storage startup expands into DNA computing, too

Startup Catalog already knew DNA could be used to store data. Now, the company is setting out to use life’s genetic molecules for data processing, too.

On Thursday, Catalog said it had secured a $35 million investment that it will use to improve its DNA storage and processing machine, called Shannon, to make it faster, smaller and a better foundation for business. The machine can perform up to 500,000 chemical reactions per second to manipulate artificially created DNA molecules, according to the company. 

Read More at Cnet