OxygenOS 12 Open Beta 2 based on Android 12 rolls out to the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro
Back in the first week of October, OnePlus rolled out the first OxygenOS 12 Open Beta for the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro. The update brought over all the new Android 12 features to the device duo, along with a refreshed UI infused with the company’s “burdenless design” philosophy, the OnePlus Scout unified search, Canvas AOD improvements, Work-Life Balance 2.0, and more. OnePlus is now rolling out the second Android 12 beta release to the devices, featuring system optimizations, camera improvements, Novermber 2021 security patches, and a bunch of additional fixes.
From XDA
Samsung finally brings eSIM support to Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra phones on Verizon
Earlier this year, Samsung finally started to add support for eSIMs in the US, following in the footsteps of Apple and Google. The company kicked off its lineup with a software update for the Note20 series on T-Mobile, but it’s been quiet ever since. A new patch is coming to Note20 phones on Verizon, bringing eSIM capabilities to another platform.
Updates for the Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra started arriving on November 12th. While both devices are still running on the October 2021 security patch, this new software does expand eSIM support to one of the largest carriers in the US. Before this update, the only phones on Verizon that supported eSIMs were recent iPhones and Pixels. Samsung’s Galaxy Book Go 5G — a Windows 10 laptop sold through the carrier — was the only other gadget on the list.
The most apparent benefit from this change is dual SIM support, with a single physical SIM card paired with its internal eSIM. It should make it easier for anyone to bring a Galaxy Note20 to Verizon from another carrier. If you’re new to eSIM, it’s worth looking through Verizon’s FAQ to get an idea of the uses and benefits of moving away from physical SIM cards.
If you’re using a Galaxy Note20 or Note20 Ultra on Verizon, you should start to receive this update today. It sports build number RP1A.200720.012.N981USQU2DUJ6, but unfortunately, doesn’t come with any other changes — including November’s security patch. That’ll have to come at a later date.
From Android Police
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11T 5G specs and launch date leak
Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi unveiled the Redmi Note 11 series last month, consisting of three smartphones – Redmi Note 11, Redmi Note 11 Pro, and Redmi Note 11 Pro+. These are currently China-exclusive and are rumored to launch in the international markets in Q1 2022 with Snapdragon chips. But a new report suggests the global rollout will begin this month as Redmi is said to launch the Redmi Note 11T 5G in India on November 30.
The source has also shared the Redmi Note 11T 5G’s specs, including a Dimensity 810 SoC, 6.6″ FullHD+ 90Hz display, and 5,000 mAh battery with 33W charging. The smartphone will likely run Android 11 out of the box and have three memory options – 6GB/64GB, 6GB/128GB, and 8GB/128GB.
For photography, the Redmi Note 11T 5G will have a total of three cameras onboard – a 16MP selfie shooter on the front, with the 50MP primary camera on the rear joined by an 8MP ultrawide unit. The smartphone will be offered in Stardust White, Matte Black, and Aquamarine Blue colors, but its pricing and availability are unknown.
From Gsmarena
Here’s the list of phones from OnePlus, Oppo, and Realme to sport 125W charging next year
We’ve already told you that Oppo is rumored to bring 125W fast wired charging to the Find X4 series next year, but the X4 and X4 Pro aren’t the only smartphones in the Oppo/OnePlus/Realme stable to get that ridiculously fast tech in 2022. Realme has also revealed it would get it, and courtesy of a new leak today we now know that the device in question will be called Realme GT2 Pro.
Additionally, the OnePlus 10 Pro will also have 125W charging, as well as the Oppo Reno8 Pro, which most certainly means the Reno7 generation will skip this very fast charging tech entirely. Finally from Oppo, there’s an unknown Oppo N-branded device to get 125W charging too.
All of these devices should become official and available during the first half of 2022, so it will be interesting to see how they fare in terms of charge times compared to Xiaomi’s 120W system that’s inside the 11T Pro – we tested that one to take the 5,000 mAh battery from 0 to 100% in just 21 minutes. That’s insane, and who knows – maybe Oppo’s tech will be even faster.
From Gsmarena
Pixel Superfans are getting some early stocking stuffers from Google
Last summer word started to spread about a secret Pixel Superfans group where members had early access to information and could interact directly with the Pixel product team. That winter, some of those lucky first members received a set of Pixel art prints as thanks for their support. This year Google’s at it again, and if you aren’t already a member, you just missed out on a sweet pair of socks.
Some Pixel Superfans are receiving Pixel 6 Pro-branded socks along with an iridescent Tensor SoC sticker in the mail, as spotted by 9to5Google. The socks are styled with Material You-inspired designs in pastel colors.
Compared to this time last year, there are considerably more Superfans. The Pixel Superfans group has grown to over 16,000 members in the past year and is set to grow even more now that it’s come out of the shadows and opened applications up to the public.
If you’re interested in becoming a Pixel Superfan start by filling out this form and check out the terms and conditions.
From Android Police
Intel’s Alder Lake laptops CPUs could outperform AMD’s top processor by 35%
The new Intel Alder Lake-P Core 7-12700H laptop processor has just been tested in a new benchmark, and the results are just as promising as those of the desktop version of Alder Lake CPUs.
The leaked test, found in the Geekbench 5 database, shows a huge performance jump in multithreading operations. The results of this benchmark propel Intel’s 12th generation of processors even higher above the competition.
Intel’s latest mobility CPU was tested in terms of single-threaded and multithreaded performance. The processor scored 1,340 points in single-core operations and 11,138 points in multi-core. Measuring the CPU against its predecessors, as well as current-gen AMD processors, reveals a huge lead for the new Alder Lake chip.
Comparing Core i7-12700H to its predecessor, the Core 7-11700H, shows that the new CPU is up to 45% faster in multi-core operations. The same is true when it comes to the 10th generation of Intel processors — the Core i7-10750H scored a mere 5,422 points compared to Alder Lake’s 11,138.
Intel stands victorious against AMD in this test, too. Although the new CPU was outperformed by AMD’s Ryzen 5900HX in single-core tests, it blew Team Red out of the water in multithreaded operations. The Ryzen 5900HX, which is the best mobility AMD processor out right now, scored 8,217 points in multi-core benchmarks.
Intel Core i7-12700H is a mobility processor that is still, as of yet, unreleased. It was found inside a Gigabyte Aero 5 XE laptop. We’ve already seen benchmarks of the high-end Core i9-12900HK recently, and it seems that this processor will feature the same core lineup, with 14 cores and 20 threads. This most likely means six Golden Cove (performance) cores and eight Gracemont (efficiency) cores.
According to the Geekbench test, the CPU has a base frequency of 2.7GHz and up to 4.6GHz in turbo mode. This is combined with a 24MB L3 cache and a reasonable TDP of around 35 to 45 watts. The system it was tested on ran a 64-bit version of Windows 11 Pro and had 16GB of DDR4 memory with a frequency of 1330MHz.
From Digital trends
Cryptominers now gobbling up AMD CPUs because graphics cards are too expensive
Even as the best processors all got updates in 2020 and 2021, from Intel Alder Lake to AMD’s Zen 3, they’ve largely been spared the kind of scarcity problems we’ve seen with other new tech products.
Desktop PC building is too niche for scalpers to buy up processors in bulk to engage in dastardly profiteering – as with the PS5 and graphics cards – and consumer CPUs are too generalized for the kind of specific heavy-duty number crunching required for major cryptocurrency algorithms used by Bitcoin and Ethereum.
In the case of cryptomining, scalping and mining feed into each other as Ethereum miners drive up demand for graphics cards that profiteers take advantage of. Miners also have an additional financial incentive to pay a higher price if they can still make a profit mining the speculative digital commodity.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, is mined on specialized ASIC machines that cost thousands of dollars/pounds, so these are not really products the general public are even going to know about, much less purchase.
Enter Raptoreum, a so-called altcoin that seeks to lower the bar to entry for mining by leveraging the GhostRider algorithm to produce the digital coins. This algorithm, according to Bitcoin Press, can be done efficiently on a consumer CPU with a sufficiently large L3 cache. In theory, this should allow everyone to become a cryptominer by lowering the barrier to entry to a simple CPU.
From Techradar
Motorola Moto Watch 100’s renders and specs leak
Motorola is expected to launch a few smartwatches this year, one of which is the Moto Watch 100, said to have the Snapdragon Wear 4100 at the helm and run Google’s Wear OS. Previously leaked images gave us a glimpse of the Moto Watch 100’s design, but the fresh set of leaked renders give us our best look yet at it.
The Moto Watch 100 has a circular design with two physical buttons on the right side. The watch body has a matte finish, while the buttons will come with a metallic finish.
These buttons look different from what we saw in previously leaked images, showing the smartwatch with circular buttons and in a different color. Chances are we are looking at two different versions of the Moto Watch 100 or entirely different smartwatches.
That said, the source claims that the Moto Watch 100 sports a 1.3″ LCD of 360×360-pixel resolution, but it doesn’t come with a rotating bezel. The smartwatch packs a 355 mAh battery and comes with Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.
The Moto Watch 100 will come with the standard set of health and fitness features, including sleep tracking, step counter, heart rate monitoring, and blood oxygen level measurement. It will also have in-built GPS, so you don’t have to rely on a smartphone for accurate route tracking.
The Watch 100 weighs 29 grams and measures 42 x 46 x 11.9 mm, with the straps being 20mm wide. Previous leaks revealed the smartwatch’s case will be made of aluminum and have 5ATM water resistance.
There’s no word from Motorola about the Watch 100 yet, but we expect to hear more about it in the coming weeks.
From Gsmarena
AirPods Pro 2 release date might’ve been revealed in new leak
Apple is reportedly developing a second-generation set of AirPods Pro. The upcoming earbuds are said to follow the release of the AirPods 3 and new leaks could have just revealed the release date for the AirPods Pro 2.
Both Mark Gurman, a reporter with Bloomberg, as well as Ming-Chi Kuo, a respected Apple analyst, have said new high-end earbuds will launch in 2022. Neither has offered any real details to the release window, though. A new leak might have given us a hint, though.
From BGR
Nuclear radiation used to transmit digital data wirelessly
Engineers have successfully transferred digitally encoded information wirelessly using nuclear radiation instead of conventional technology.
Radio waves and mobile phone signals relies on electromagnetic radiation for communication but in a new development, engineers from Lancaster University in the UK, working with the Jožef Stefan Institute in Slovenia, transferred digitally encoded information using “fast neutrons” instead.
The researchers measured the spontaneous emission of fast neutrons from californium-252, a radioactive isotope produced in nuclear reactors.
Modulated emissions were measured using a detector and recorded on a laptop.
Several examples of information, i.e., a word, the alphabet and a random number selected blindly, were encoded serially into the modulation of the neutron field and the output decoded on a laptop which recovered the encoded information on screen.
A double-blind test was performed in which a number derived from a random number generator was encoded without prior knowledge of those uploading it, and then transmitted and decoded.
All transmission tests attempted proved to be 100% successful.
From Lancaster University
