Unofficial LineageOS 17 brings Android 10 to the Xiaomi Mi CC9/Mi 9 Lite

Xiaomi has been busy rolling out Android 10 to a range of Redmi and Mi lineup of smartphones, starting from the Redmi K20 Pro which received the update on the very first day Google released Android 10 to the more recent Redmi Note 8 Pro, Redmi K20, Mi 8, Mi MIX 3, and Mi 9 SE which received Android 10 just yesterday. The long list of devices means there are still many smartphones waiting for their turn to taste the sweet Android treat. One such Xiaomi device which has yet to receive official Android 10 is the Mi 9 Lite (aka Mi CC9 in China), launching first in China in July last year and subsequently arriving in the European markets a few months later. The device did receive the stable MIUI‌ 11 update around November but it was still based on Android 9 Pie — as opposed to Android 10 that many were hoping for.

While we don’t know when Xiaomi will release the Android 10 update to your Mi 9 Lite, the good news is you can skip the waiting period and try out Android 10 right now on your phone through this unofficial port of LineageOS 17. The port comes courtesy of XDA‌ Recognized Developer coderzs and is the first full-fledged Android 10-based ROM for the Mi 9 Lite that’s not simply a GSI. The ROM‌ is only tested with MIUI firmware version 9.12.26 and therefore it may or may not work with other firmware versions. There doesn’t appear to be a long list of known issues listed in the thread, but the developer does mention occasional freezing of SystemUI which he intends to fix in a future update.

If you want to take this unofficial port of LineageOS‌ 17. for a spin on your Mi 9 Lite, head right over to the linked thread below where you will find the required files along with step-by-step flashing instructions. Just make sure you have an unlocked bootloader and TWRP installed before you proceed.

Download Unofficial LineageOS 17.1 for Mi 9 Lite/Mi CC9

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LG will try to make its mobile business profitable by next year

LG’s smartphone division has been a thorn in their side for years, hemorrhaging money seemingly no matter what the company tries to do. Gimmick after gimmick hasn’t saved them, and even a desperate attempt at launching a software update center in order to roll out frequent updates proved fruitless. At CES, however, the company feels that the tide is turning and has vowed to make its business profitable by 2021. Speaking at CES, the company’s new CEO, Kwon Bong-seok, said “LG Electronics mobile business is going to be profitable by 2021. I can say we can make that happen as LG Electronics will expand our mobile lineup and steadily release new ones attached with some wow factors to woo consumers.” This isn’t the first time that the company has attempted to rethink their strategy when it comes to mobile.

Kwon never elaborated as to how the company intends to do that but reiterated its commitment to expanding its smartphone lineup even further. The company has struggled massively in recent years, even earning only a third of the expected operating profit that analysts had projected for the fourth quarter, ending on December 31st of 2019. LG said it expected to generate 98.6 billion won, while market analysts had previously pegged the company for a much higher figure of 270 billion won. Kwon didn’t really dwell on the company’s undercutting of expected operating profitability. Earlier in the year, LG had even moved its smartphone production from South Korea to Vietnam, in a bid to cut costs.

Regardless, the company should soon publish its financial reports for 2019, and it will be possible to see just how realistic of a goal that may be. LG also talked about the impracticality of 8K TVs and talked more about its rollable TV that is expected to launch later this year.

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Source: The Korea Times | Via: Android Police

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[Update 2: Search Providers Announced] Google to add search provider choices in Android to comply with EU ruling

Update 2 (1/9/20 @ 11:50 AM ET): The alternative search providers that will be shown at setup alongside Google have been announced.

Update 1 (10/1/19 @ 9:50 AM ET): Google is testing showing search provider choices in Android ahead of the 2020 rollout.

Android users in Europe can now look forward to easily selecting between a host of search providers, as Google has just announced an upcoming change to how Android would function in the European Union. From 2020 onwards, Android smartphone and tablet users in Europe will be able to select a search provider that will power the search box on their home screen, as well as be used as the default search provider within Google Chrome, if the browser is installed. This change is part of the steps that Google has taken to comply with the European Commission’s ruling on Android.

This change is limited to all new Android phones and tablets that will be shipped into the European Economic Area (EEA) in 2020, where the Google Search app will be pre-installed. In its blog post, Google reiterates that Android users are free to customize and personalize their devices in whichever manner they deem fit, including the apps they can download and how the apps are arranged on the homescreen.

Google has also opened up the application process for search providers to be listed on the above screen. Eligible search providers will need to fill out an application form and can bid for inclusion based on an auction. Auctions will be conducted on a per-country basis and will be valid for a duration of one year. In each country, search providers will have to state the price that they are willing to pay each time a user selects them from the choice screen in the given country, and the top three bidders that exceed the minimum bid price will appear in the choice screen for that country. The auction winners, and Google, will be ordered randomly in the choice screen. If the bid process fails to get three entities that exceed the minimum bid price, the remaining slots will be filled randomly from the pool of eligible search providers (including those who applied to participate but did not submit a bid). Further details on the application process and other related questions are present on the application page.

In July 2018, the European Union found Google guilty of violating antitrust regulations, and subsequently imposed a fine of $5 Billion. The EU held that Google “imposed illegal restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators to cement its dominant position in general internet search.” After the ruling, Google announced changes to how it did business in the EU, allowing Android partners to build forked smartphones for the European Economic Area, and introducing a new paid licensing agreement for smartphones shipped into the EEA, among other changes. Later on, Google also announced that it will present additional app options for Search and Browser on smartphones for users in Europe. This latest move from Google should further appease the conditions laid down in the European Commission’s July 2018 Android ruling.

Source: Google Keyword Blog, Android Choicescreen

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Update 1: In testing

Google appears to have begun testing search provider choices in Android. A new commit mentions a flag for “Search Engine Choice” in Chrome for Android, which enables showing search engine choice selection at the Android setup. It’s not currently possible to test this flag as it requires a Chrome data/factory reset, which then disables the flag. However, it does show that Google is preparing for the rollout in 2020.

Source: Chromium Gerrit

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Update 2: Search Providers Announced

As mentioned in previous updates, Google will be rolling out  “Choice Screen” for Android users in Europe in March. This will allow them to choose their search engine when setting up the phone. The search app will then be installed and automatically set as default in Google Chrome. This Choice Screen will include Google Search and three alternatives, but those alternatives will vary by region. The choices were decided by an auction process that took place last August. Here is the full list of three alternatives that will be available in different countries:

Country	Winners
Austria	DuckDuckGo, GMX, Info.com
Belgium	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Qwant
Bulgaria	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWall
Croatia	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWall
Czech Republic	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Seznam
Denmark	DuckDuckGo, Givero, Info.com
Estonia	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Yandex
Finland	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Yandex
France	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Qwant
Germany	DuckDuckGo, GMX, Info.com
Greece	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Qwant
Hungary	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWall
Iceland	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWall
Ireland	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWall
Italy	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Qwant
Latvia	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Yandex
Liechtenstein	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Qwant
Lithuania	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Yandex
Luxembourg	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Qwant
Malta	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWall
Netherlands	DuckDuckGo, GMX, Info.com
Norway	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWall
Poland	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Yandex
Portugal	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Qwant
Republic of Cyprus	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWall
Romania	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWall
Slovakia	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Seznam
Slovenia	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWall
Spain	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, Qwant
Sweden	DuckDuckGo, Info.com, PrivacyWall
United Kingdom	Bing, DuckDuckGo, Info.com

Every time a user selects one of the alternatives, Google will receive a fee. So at the end of all this, Google Search may not be used by as many people, but the company is still making money off of every user.

Source: Google

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YouTube Music update hints at upcoming support for your uploaded library

Google Play Music never got the popularity Google hoped it would. Due to delayed redesign and lack of features when compared to its competitors, the service was not appealing to a lot of users. It still attracted some enthusiasts thanks to some of its unique features, though. One of those features was uploading your own content to listen to it anywhere. Google never added this feature to YouTube Music – yet another streaming service that aims to replace Google Play Music one day. However, this could change very soon.

Google promised to bring back this feature almost two years ago. We haven’t heard about this matter ever since. Today, 9to5Google noticed in the APK teardown that library upload is returning. New strings found in the YouTube Music v3.47 suggest that the app will soon let users browse through the manually uploaded content. The category will most likely be added to Songs, Artists, Albums, and Playlists sections in the app. There is also a “Manage library” string in the settings. From the looks of it, YouTube Music will let you easily view common artists from your uploaded content, as well as all your songs in one place. You can see the corresponding strings below.

<string name=”library_artists_introducer_title”>Artists at a glance</string>
<string name=”library_artists_introducer_message”>Primary artists on albums and songs in your library will show up here. Artists you subscribe to are listed under subscriptions.</string>
<string name=”library_songs_introducer_title”>All your songs in one place</string>
<string name=”library_songs_introducer_message”>Songs from your albums will now show up here along with your added & liked songs – shuffle them all!</string>

Google Play Music limited the number of uploaded songs to 50,000 per user. It is unclear if YouTube Music will have the same limitation or not. Keep in mind that none of the mentioned features are confirmed just yet. As I already mentioned, these strings are found in the latest version of YouTube Music, but they’re not enabled. The date of the general availability of these features is currently unknown.

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YouTube Music - Stream Songs & Music Videos (Free, Google Play) →

Source: 9to5Google

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Realme 5i is a renewed Realme 5 with a new design but old specs

Realme’s growth in the smartphone market is appreciable and it has mostly to do with the enormous number of phones they launched last year. In 2019, Realme held a launch event in India almost every month, and it has kicked off 2020 with another launch in the country. Realme just announced another budget smartphone – the Realme 5i – in India for a price of ₹8,999.

Realme 5 XDA Forums

The Realme 5i may be marketed as a new smartphone but it is identical to the Realme 5, which was launched back in August 2018. The only refresh on the phone is the new “Sunrise” design of the plastic back, which gives the phone a more premium and refined look. The Realme 5i comes in two colors – blue and green – and the gradient in both the color variants looks like sun rays emanating from one the corners at the bottom. The back panel also comes with an anti-fingerprint coating to keep smudges away.

All of the specifications from the Realme 5 remain unchanged. The Realme 5i comes with a Snapdragon 665 SoC, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. It features a 6.52-inch HD+ LCD display with a dewdrop notch. Additionally, it comes with quad cameras on the back including a 12MP primary sensor, an 8MP wide-angle camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. Notably, while the Realme 5 has a 13MP selfie camera, the one on the Realme 5i is only 8MP.

Realme 5i Specifications

Specifications	Realme 5i
Dimensions & Weight	164.4 x 75.6 x 9.3 mm 195g
Display	6.51-inch IPS LCD 720 x 1600 89% screen-to-body ratio Gorilla Glass 3+
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 Adreno 610 GPU
RAM	4GB
Storage	64GB Dedicated microSD slot
Battery	5,000mAh
Fingerprint Sensor	Rear-mounted fingerprint
Rear Camera	12MP primary sensor, f/1.8 8MP 119° wide-angle sensor, f/2.25 2MP macro lens, f/2.4 2MP depth sensor, f/2.4 4K video recording at 30fps
Front Camera	8MP, f/2.2 Full HD video recording @ 30fps
Android Version	ColorOS 6.1 based on Android 9 Pie
Colors	Aqua Blue, Forest Green

Price & Availability

The Realme 5i goes on sale as a Flipkart exclusive device starting January 15th. The phone comes in just one variant for now and that is 4GB/64GB, which will be available for ₹8,999 (~$125), which is ₹1,000 cheaper than the same configuration on Realme 5.

The company discontinued Realme 5 in Vietnam, where the Realme 5i was first launched, but it can still be bought in India.

Classic Blue Realme Buds Air, Power Bank, and Realme Hoodie

Realme has also announced that the Classic Blue Realme Buds Air and the 10,000mAh power bank, and a Realme Hoodie will be available during Flipkart’s Republic Day sale.

Source: Realme 5i launch live stream on YouTube

Realme CEO also teased a fitness band that would be launching soon in India.

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TCL launches C8 series of 4K HDR Android TVs in India

Earlier this week at the Consumer Electronics Show, TCL announced its 10 series smartphones including three new devices — the TCL 10 5G, TCL 10L, and TCL 10 Pro. Now, just two days after the smartphone announcement, the company has launched a new range of Android-powered smart TVs in India. The new TCL C8 series of 4K TVs was launched earlier today at an event in New Delhi and it offers some compelling specifications for a rather attractive price.

TCL has launched two models as part of the C8 series — 55C8 and 65C8 — with the 55-inch Android TV priced at ₹49,990 (~$699) and the 65-inch variant priced at ₹69,990 (~$979). Both variants run on Android 9 Pie out of the box, with the Google Assistant built-in, and feature support for Dolby Vision and WCG for an enhanced visual experience with deep vibrant colors. In addition to that, both TVs sport a 4K LED display (3840 x 2160)  with HDR support and TCL’s Wide Color Gamut technology that covers 90% of the color space for more realistic looking visuals. In terms of sound, the TCL C8 series features speakers from Onkyo with Dolby Atmos certification that is expected to provide an immersive experience.  Both smart TVs also feature MEMC, paired with the company’s proprietary algorithm to deliver enhanced details.

Along with the C8 series, the company also launched smart Ultra Inverter ACs at the event at a starting price of just ₹26,990 (~$378) and the TCL Home app, which will allow customers to use their smartphones as a remote, get exclusive access to upcoming deals, and chat with TCL support for quick query resolution. As of now, the company hasn’t released any information about the availability of the new products, but it shouldn’t be long before the new TVs and air conditioners hit the market.

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Reliance Jio launches VoWiFi service across India

The Indian telecom sector is in a tight spot right now, as two of the three major telecoms stare at an uncertain future. The show must go on, however. Airtel recently announced that it is rolling out VoWiFi (Voice over WiFi) service in the country, starting from a select few regions. Now, Jio is joining in the party by announcing its rollout of VoWiFi calling service throughout the country.

Airtel launched its VoWiFi service in the second week of December 2019, with Delhi/NCR. The service then expanded to Mumbai and Kolkata, as well as the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh later that month. While Reliance Jio could not be the first to roll out VoWiFi in India, it might become the first to roll it out across India. While the announcement has been made for a pan-India rollout, this will occur in a phased manner over the next week.

The new Jio VoWiFi service, aka voice calling through WiFi or WiFi calling, aims to enhance indoor voice calling experience for smartphone users by allowing users to seamlessly switch from LTE to WiFi-based calling when they’re inside their homes or offices. Users will incur no extra charge for voice calls made with VoWiFi, but they do need to have an active Jio tariff plan. In addition to the ability to make a phone call without being connected to a mobile network, Jio is also rolling out ViWiFi (Video over WiFi), allowing users to make video calls too.

Reliance Jio VoWiFi is available on over 150 handset models from Apple, Google, Motorola, Samsung, Vivo, Xiaomi, and others. More are expected to be added to this list over time. You can check if your phone is eligible for VoWiFi by locating it on Jio’s compatibility page. Curiously, OnePlus smartphones are missing from the compatibility list at this point.

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Source: Reliance Jio
Story Via: NDTV Gadgets

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