Xiaomi unveiled the Mi Mix 2 in October last year for a price tag of CNY 3,299 (roughly Rs. 32,300).The Mi Mix 2 was unveiled running on Android 7.1 Nougat with MIUI 9 skin on the top. The company had announced to update the phone to Android 8.0 Oreo last month. Now Xiaomi is on the lookout for beta-testers to test out the Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Mi Mix 2 before the global launch.
Selected users will get an OTA update with a beta Android 8.0 Oreo ROM for the Mi Mix 2. Keep that in mind that it will be still a beta ROM and it might experience many issues. The registrations for beta testers are open for Mi Mix 2 owners until January 8 at 11:59 PM China time. Xiaomi will then go through the submitted applications to see if you’re eligible for the beta test. To sign for the beta testing, you have to download the Xiaomi MIUI Forum application from the Play Store and go to the Recruitment section on the app’s homepage.
Selected candidates will get a private message from the company officials on the MIUI Forums. While the recruitment program is open for all, Xiaomi already said that they will only select the active members of the community.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 has received a price cut of Rs 3,000 in India and is available at Rs 32,999 via offline retailers and Flipkart.com. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 comes features a metal chassis with the ceramic rear glass and a 5.99-inch (2160 x 1080) Super AMOLED with an 18:9 full-screen display, which can easily be called a bezel-less display. It is powered by 2.45 GHz octa-core Snapdragon 835 64-bit processor coupled with 6GB RAM and 128 internal storage along with Adreno 540 GPU. The smartphone supports dual-SIM and presently runs on Android 7.1 Nougat operating system with MIUI 9 skin on the top. It also has a non-removable 3400 mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 technology.
For the optics, it offers a 12-megapixel autofocus rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, Sony IMX386 sensor, 4-axis OIS, f/2.0 aperture, 5P lens, PDAF, HDR. The Fingerprint sensor is rear mounted below the camera unit. For the selfie lovers, there is a 5-megapixel camera that supports face recognition.
Xiaomi launched the Mi 6 last year which was a huge success for the company. It's been a year since it was launched meaning it is now due for replacement. As per a report by Android Headlines, the latest flagship by Xiaomi, the Mi 7 will feature wireless charging. The company itself has confirmed the same via their official WeChat channel. The company joined the Wireless Power Consortium, the consortium for usage and development of Wireless Charging technology a while back. Xiaomi will be partnering with Integrated Device Technology, a US-based tech firm, for the wireless charging hardware on their smartphone.
Source: Weibo
Previous Mi 7 Rumours
As per the previous leaks and rumours, the Xiaomi Mi 7 is tipped to sport a 6.01-inch OLED display with an 18:9 aspect ratio for the display. The company has already announced via its official WeChat forum that the Mi 7 will be powered by the Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 845 SoC. It is rumoured to feature a 6GB RAM and could be powered by a 3500 mAh battery. The device is also expected to sport a dual camera setup with, 16MP rear cameras. It will be accompanied by the fingerprint sensor on the back. It is rumoured to be priced around 2,699 Yuan (~Rs 26,400).
The Xiaomi Mi could also come with a facial recognition system just like in the iPhone X. However, a previous report had suggested that the device might come with an under the display fingerprint scanner which was announced by Synaptics last month. The Mi 6 was launched last year in China as a China exclusive, so the Mi 7 is expected to be China exclusive only.
The upcoming Xiaomi flagship smartphone is expected to sport minimum bezels, similar to the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 launched a few months ago. The Mi Mix 2 features a nearly bezel-less design with a 5.99-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 SoC coupled with 6GB RAM and comes in three internal storage options of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB.
For the optics, the Mi Mix 2 features a single 12MP rear camera setup with Sony IMX386 sensor with four axis OIS and dual-tone LED flash. For the selfie lovers, it has a 5MP front camera. The device runs on Android 7.0 Nougat coupled with MIUI 9 skin. It also packs a 3400mAh battery.
Flipkart has officially kicked off it's Mobile Bonanza sale. Under the sale, they are offering heavy discounts on popular smartphones such as the Pixel 2 series, iPhone 8, Redmi Note 4 and many more smartphones. The sale has begun today and will last till the midnight of January 6th 2018. However, it is to be noted that the quantities of the smartphone are limited so interested users should hurry to grab their favorite smartphone as soon as possible. Some of the smartphones we recommend checking out are as follows.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, 4GB RAM/64GB storage variant, which is currently listed for sale at Rs 12,999 receives a 15 percent discount on the Flipkart sale. This now bring the price of the device to Rs 10,999. There are also exchange offers up to Rs 10,000 will also be available along with the Flipkart BuyBack guarantee at Rs 99 only. This brings the effective price of the mobile price down to Rs 999.
For the specifications, the Redmi Note 4 features a 5-inch HD display with a 2.5D curved glass. It is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 435 processor and includes a microSD card in the form of dual hybrid sim slot.
The smartphone is running Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI 8 on top. On the optics front it sports a 13MP rear camera with dual-LED flash, f/2.2 aperture and PDAF along with a 5MP front-facing camera for the selfie lovers out there. Connectivity features include 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.1, and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n. All of this is backed up by a 4,000mAh battery.
Samsung Galaxy On Nxt
The Samsung Galaxy On Nxt, 3GB RAM/64GB storage variant which is currently listed for Rs 17,900 receives a discount of 33 percent. This brings down the price to Rs 11,900. There are also exchange offers offered by Flipkart for up to Rs 11,000. This brings the effective price down to Rs 900.
For the specifications, the device features a 5.5-inch Full HD display. It also sports a 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass. The device is powered by a 1.6 GHz octa-core Exynos 7870 processor, paired with 3GB RAM. It also has a internal storage of 16GB which can be further expanded via a microsd card to upto 256GB.
The device presently runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and comes sports a 13MP rear camera along with an 8MP front facing camera. Some of the camera features included are Auto, Beauty Face, Continuous Shot, HDR (High Dynamic Range), Interval Shot, Night, Panorama, Pro, Selfie, Sports, Sound and Shot and Wide Selfie.
The device sports a fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button along with ‘S Power Planning’ and ‘S Secure’ which helps to address consumer's power management and security-related concerns, if they have any.
Xiaomi Mi A1
The Xiaomi Mi A1, 4GB RAM/64GB storage variant is currently listed at a price of Rs 14,999 receives a discount of 13 percent. That makes it now available at a price of Rs 12,999. Exchange offers up to Rs 12,000 are also available, along with a Flipkart BuyBack guarantee at just Rs 99 only. This brings the effect price down to Rs 999.
For the specifications, the Xiaomi Mi A1 features a 5.5-inch full HD display. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. It includes an internal storage of 64GB that can be further expanded via a microsd card to 128GB.
The device presently runs on Android 7.1.2 Nougat out-of-the-box but has a Android 8.0 update pending. The Smartphone also comes under Google's Android One Program. On the optics front it sports a dual 12MP+12MP camera with a telephoto and a wide angle lens along with a 5MP front-facing camera. A 3,080mAh battery powers the entire system.
Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL
The Google Pixel 2, which is currently listed at a price of Rs 70,000 receives a discount of 18 percent. This bring down the price to Rs 56,999. The Google Pixel 2 XL, which is currently listed at a price of Rs 82,000 receives a discount of 9 percent. This brings down the price of the smartphone down to Rs 73,999. HDFC Bank Credit Card holders will get a cashback of Rs 8,000 as well. Both devices will go on sale today at 4:30PM.
The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were unveiled in October this year. While the Pixel 2 sports a 5-inch Full HD display with the standard 16:9 aspect ratio, the Google Pixel 2 XL comes with a 6-inch P-OLED display with an aspect ratio of 18:9. Both smartphones are powered by the Snapdragon 835 processor, coupled with 4GB of RAM. The Google Pixel 2 is slated to deliver up to seven hours of use on 15 minutes of charging and is available in 64GB and 128GB internal storage variants.
iPhone 8
The iPhone 8, 64GB storage variant, which is currently listed at a price of Rs 64,000 receives a discount of 14 percent. This brings down the price of smarphone to Rs 54,999. Flipkart offers exchange up to Rs 18,000 will also be available. This brings the effective price down to Rs 36,999.
In terms of specifications, the iPhone sports a 5.5-inch Retina HD display and is powered by an A11 Bionic chipset, running iOS 11 operating system. For the optics it sports a 12MP rear camera along with a 7MP front-facing camera. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus were revealed during the 10th Apple anniversary event. The devices resemble to the iPhone 7, however, the new offerings come with a glass back for wireless charging, which Apple claims is the “most durable glass ever” in a smartphone.
Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 4 last year which was a huge success and was one of the most sold phones in India. That phone is now approximately a year old and is due for a replacement. A new report says Xiaomi will launch the Redmi Note 5 in the second quarter of 2018 with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 SoC. The phone was expected to launch in the first month of 2018 but it has been delayed by few months because Xiaomi decided to change few things.
According to a report by MySmartPrice, the launch of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is delayed due to Xiaomu deciding to launch the device with the Snapdragon 632 SoC instead of the previously decided Snapdragon 636 SoC launched last October. Due to Qualcomm delaying the launch of the Snapdragon 632, Xiaomi had to delay the launch of the Redmi Note 5. We can expect a slightly lower clock speed as well as a lower-clocked GPU from the Snapdragon 632. However, the Snapdragon 632 is expected to have the Qualcomm Spectra 160 ISP, which offers better optimization for dual-camera setups than the Snapdragon 625. This also points to the fact that the Redmi Note 5 might have a dual camera setup.
November last year, the device was listed for a brief moment of time on China’s online retailer JD.com, suggesting that the launch is in the process. Through the teaser had no specifications or images, it had a price of CNY 8, 888 which is approximately Rs 88,000. This won't definitely be the price of the smartphone. It will launch most probably in the price bracket of sub-Rs 15,000.
A few months ago, two smartphones, Redmi MET7 and Redmi MEE7 made an appearance on TENAA, which are believed to be the two new variants of the Redmi Note 5. The only difference between both variants would be in terms of internal memory and storage capacity.
Redmi Note 5 Specifications
In terms of specifications, the device is rumoured to feature a 5.9-inch Full HD IPS LCD display with a 2160x1080 pixels resolution. It is rumoured to sport a full-screen design with thin bezels around the display with probably 18:9 resolution. The Redmi Note 5 will be powered by a 2.0GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 SoC. It will be available in two variants - 3GB RAM with 32GB internal storage and 4GB RAM with 64GB of internal storage. Running Android 7.1.1 Nougat-based MIUI 9, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is rumoured to be backed up by a 4,000mAh battery.
The original Google Pixel XL launched over a year ago and took the flagship market by a surprise. Today the Pixel XL with 128GB storage in the Quite Black variant has just got a massive 45 percent discount on Amazon India. The Google Pixel XL is currently priced at Rs 41,949 on Amazon India down from its original launch price of Rs 76,000. According to Amazon India, they are offering a discount of Rs 34,051 discount on the Pixel XL 128GB Quite Black variant. This makes it almost 45 percent off the original MRP. However, considering the Pixel 2 XL is not that more expensive than the Pixel XL right now, it makes more sense to get the latest flagship.
If one compares the deals which you can get for the Pixel 2 XL during various sales on Flipkart or Amazon, a year old Pixel XL doesn't make that much of a sense. For example, the retail price of Pixel 2 XL right now on Flipkart, one of the official retailers of the device is Rs 67,999. This is also down from the Rs 73,000 launch price and you can avail a discount of Rs 18,000 depending on what device you exchange. This makes waiting for a sale to purchase the Pixel 2 XL a more acceptable option. The sale on the Flipkart which starts tomorrow is offering huge discounts on Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL makes it more sensible to get the latest from Google.
The smaller Google Pixel 2 with 64GB storage is available for Rs 49,999 down from the original price of Rs 61,000, which makes it an 18 percent discount. The newer Pixel 2 also comes with extra Rs 18,000 off on exchange. Pixel 2 with 128GB storage is priced at Rs 58,999 on Flipkart down from the original price of Rs 70,000. Also as we said, the Flipkart sale starting tomorrow will be offering huge discounts on Pixel 2 series. So it is best to wait before paying Rs 41,000 plus for a year old phone if one is really keen on getting the Google Pixel series.
If one does a quick comparison between the Google Pixel 2 series vs the original Pixel series, it is better to get the newer series. The new phones have the best camera ever on a smartphone and support portrait mode, AR stickers and much more. The Pixel 2 series also comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and overall faster performance than the previous generation. The squeeze feature adds for a quite a good gimmick and the stereo speakers put the cherry on the cake.
Samsung, the South Korean giant, has launched another variant of the budget-oriented Samsung Galaxy On Nxt. The Galaxy On Nxt was initially launched with 32GB of onboard storage and now the company has introduced a 16GB variant to bring down the price of the smartphone. The smartphone was first introduced in India in October 2016.
Specifications
The Samsung Galaxy On Nxt features a 5.5-inch LCD display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. The smartphone is powered by Exynos 7870 processor which is an octa-core processor clocked at 1.6GHz. The device packs 3GB of RAM and comes with 32GB or 16GB of onboard storage. Storage on both the variants is expandable up to 256GB using a microSD card. Under the hood, there is a 3,300mAh battery powering up the internals. The Galaxy On Nxt runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.
On the optics front, the Samsung Galaxy On Nxt sports a 13-megapixel camera at the back with f/1.9 aperture and a LED flash. Up front, there is an 8-megapixel selfie shooter with f/1.9 aperture and a selfie flash.
In terms of connectivity, the Galaxy On Nxt supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz, Bluetooth v4.1, 4G LTE, GPS, Glonass, Beidou and microUSB. The device also features a fingerprint scanner.
Price and Availability
The Samsung Galaxy On Nxt 16GB is priced at Rs. 10,999 and will be available via the e-commerce website Flipkart starting January 3. Customers who purchase the smartphone during Flipkart 2018 Mobiles Bonanza sale - between January 3 - January 5 will be able to grab one for Rs. 9,999.
Sony is currently working on bringing the 2018 edition smartphones. The company is expected to give bring a complete design change to its devices as the bezel-less design has become more popular. Sony earlier used a boxy design which looks a lot outdated and its time for the company to refresh the design as well as the features. As the year 2018 has begun, Sony will soon be launching the Sony Xperia XZ Premium 2 and many other smartphones.
Source: ConceptCreator
ConcepCreator created a video on the upcoming Xperia XZ Premium 2 which gives us a glance at what the device could look like. The video suggests Sony Xperia XZ Premium 2 will be one of the first smartphones by the company to sport a dual camera setup at the back. The smartphone, just like its predecessor, will also feature dual front firing speaks. As the Xperia XZ Premium was one of the first smartphones to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, the XZ Premium 2 will be powered by the Snapdragon 845.
Apart from the dual camera setup, the Xperia XZ Premium could also be the first smartphone from the company to sport an 18:9 aspect ratio display. Sony will continue to keep the fingerprint scanner on the power button like most of its smartphones with the Xperia XZ Premium 2. According to the video, the Xperia XZ Premium will retain the beloved 3.5mm audio jack and will use a USB Type-C port for charging and data syncing.
The flagship smartphone is expected to launch during the MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2018. The MWC 2018 will be held in Barcelona, Spain starting February 26 which will go on until March 1.
HMD Global owned Nokia had a great year back in the market with the Nokia 6 and then the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 7 and their flagship Nokia 8. Now the default Nokia Camera app has revealed that the Finnish manufacturer is preparing the Nokia 4, Nokia 7 Plus along with the recently rumoured Android Go Phone Nokia 1. This comes in the mist of the rumours of the Nokia 6(2018) and Nokia 8(2018) and the newest to the line Nokia 9.
As per a report by GizChina, the discovery of the new Nokia phones has emerged after unzipping the APK file of the default Camera application which is bundled in the existing Nokia phones. The information reveals two new phones, Nokia 4 and Nokia 7 Plus. Both of these phones haven't been leaked before. Also, the app confirms the rumoured Nokia 9, Nokia 8 (2018), Nokia 6 (2018), and Nokia 1. It is however still unknown when HMD is planning to unveil these smartphones. They might unveil then all in one go or through 2018, that's still a mystery. Whatever may be the case, this finding confirms at least 5 new Android phone launching in 2018 by Nokia.
Nokia's 2018 Portfolio
It is speculated that the Nokia 7 Plus, being the Plus version of the last year's Nokia 7 might come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset along with a dual camera setup. It is also speculated that the Nokia 4 will be an all new phone with all new internals.
Late last month, Russian tipster Eldar Murtazin claimed that HMD is launching the Nokia 1 as a part of Google's Android Oreo (Go edition) programme in March. The first Android Go smartphone we know of is rumoured to have an HD IPS display, 1GB RAM, and 8GB onboard storage. Furthermore, it was claimed to carry a price tag of RUB 5,990 (roughly Rs. 6,670).
While the Nokia 1 has a long wait of three months remaining still, HMD is reportedly working out to launch the Nokia 9 in an event in China on January 19th. The latest top of the line Nokia will share the stage with the Nokia 6 (2018) and Nokia 8 (2018), both of them being updates of last year's Nokia 8 and Nokia 6.
Last week, the Nokia 3310 4G variant also emerged on TEENA with an Android-based YunOS. It will most definitely join the Nokia's 2018 portfolio of devices.
While users were busy sending happy new year greetings and making new year resolutions, WhatsApp suffered a massive global outage again. At the stroke of midnight, the popular messaging application stopped working for a lot of people globally including India and parts of UAE. A lot of people in the affected regions weren't able to send messaged and new year greetings to their friends are family. The situation was resolved later but the global outage of WhatsApp created a lot of chaos around the world. The app stopped working at around 12 AM for around an hour till 1 AM which is the prime time for sending new year greetings.
India is one of the prime locations for Facebook-owned WhatsApp. With millions of people using it and the number is still on the rise. The reason behind the crash is expected to be all the users sending and receiving new year greetings which overloaded the application's servers. Some of the users were able to send messages with Single grey tick appearing and internet connection of the receiver working perfectly. Many other users complained not to be able to even send messages which a clock showing, which means message not sent.
Soon after the inconvenience of not being able to send new year greetings to friends and family, hashtags like #WhatsAppisdown, #WhatsAppstoppedworking started trending on Twitter. Users started posting angry statuses and funny memes for the servers being down hoping that the company resolves the issue as soon as possible.
According to reports, the server was going up and down with the company officials trying to boot it back up and the load shutting it back down. After an hour of struggle by the company officials, it was reported to be working back again at around 1 AM.
A spokesperson from the company told Digital Trends, "WhatsApp users around the world experienced a brief outage today that has now been resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience."
Meanwhile, WABetaInfo a website with quite accurate information regarding the application had this say -- "WhatsApp is currently working now, and the team confirmed the server issue has been fixed. Note that it is possible that some outages may happen again in the next few hours, also if the worst is over." Although, there's no official statement if it may experience service outage again or not.
Nowadays, these outrages on WhatsApp have been very common. Earlier it used to be once a year maybe during New Year, that to not globally. In the last 6 months, reports of the application crashing have come up quite often, around 3 to 4 times to be specific. One of the regions behind the outrage of WhatsApp is rumoured to be the death of SMS. This increased the load on the application as people shifted from SMS to WhatsApp. Earlier, SMS shared the load of new year greetings with messaging services like WhatsApp but now it's all up to these applications.
OnePlus has been improving its record by delivering timely updates and providing more features to its users. The company recently rolled out the stable version of the latest Android Oreo for its last year's flagship devices OnePlus 3 and 3T. After the successful rollout, OnePlus is now working on bringing the Android Oreo update to its current flagships which include OnePlus 5 and 5T.
OnePlus has finally started rolling out the first Open Beta update for the OnePlus 5T. The ROM weighs in at around 1.61 GB and brings Android Oreo along with a few other additional features to the table. As the ROM is in Beta, we would not recommend users to install it on their daily driver as it is not stable and might have a few bugs here and there. However, people who are really excited about Android Oreo and cannot wait for the stable version can head over to oneplus.net to install the Open Beta.
The changelog for OxygenOS Open Beta 1 for OnePlus 5T
Updated to Android O (8.0)
Launcher
Optimized the app shortcut style
Combine icon options with app shortcuts
Now able to upload photos to Shot on OnePlus
System
Added Picture in Picture
Added Auto-Fill
Added Smart Text Selection
New Quick Settings design
Updated Android security patch to December
Meanwhile, OnePlus has also released the third Open Beta for the OnePlus 5 which brings the much-awaited Face Unlock feature. Face Unlock was initially seen on the OnePlus 5T and users demanded the feature on older generation devices. In a recent tweet, Carl Pei threw a hint on the upcoming feature. OnePlus 5 will soon be getting Android Oreo with Face Unlock feature as a stable build. It will be interesting to see how well will the Face Unlock feature perform on the OnePlus 5
The changelog for OxygenOS Open Beta 3 for OnePlus 5
