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jeudi 23 janvier 2020

Motorola starts releasing the Android 10 stable update for the Moto G7 Plus

Motorola has started rolling out the Android 10 stable update for the Moto G7 Plus in Brazil and Mexico. The update first rolled out as a beta soak test last week in the company’s traditional manner for phased roll-out of software updates. Now, Motorola’s support page in Brazil states that the update is being rolled out in stable form. It brings the December 2019 security patches, and all the standard Android 10 features such as full gesture navigation, dark theme, better privacy controls, and more.

The fact that Brazil is the first market to receive the update is not a surprise. Motorola’s sales performance remains strong in Brazil, even if it has declined in other markets such as India. The update is expected to make its way to other regions in the coming weeks.

Other Motorola phones that have already received the Android 10 update include the Motorola One Power and the Motorola One Vision. Both of these phones were powered by stock Android One software, so the Moto G7 Plus is the first non-Android One phone from the company to receive the update. The Moto G7 Plus has since been succeeded by the Moto G8 Plus, but the newer phone has also yet to receive the Android 10 update. The time taken to release the update is unimpressive, as it has been five months since Android 10’s release. It is unsurprising, however, when we consider Motorola’s less than impressive history when it comes to software updates.

At one time, Motorola used to be a success story in the Android market. The company was purchased by Google in 2012, and it went on to re-invent its phone portfolio. Devices such as the first-generation Moto X and the Moto G were genuinely innovative, as they had positive differentiating factors. The Moto G (2013) is credited to a large extent for the start of the value phone niche, at a time when vendors such as Samsung were cheapening out their budget phones. During that period when it was a Google-owned company, Motorola was one of the best Android device makers when it came to providing software updates, as it rolled them out on time, much before others. However, Google’s inability to turn Motorola into a profit-making venture led to the company being sold to Lenovo in 2014. In the years since, it is generally accepted that Motorola lost its way, becoming a shadow of its former self. In terms of both hardware and software, the company failed to compete. Its phones did not provide as much value for money as its competitors. Software updates, once a strength, turned a negative point.

Motorola concerned itself with releasing mid-range phones such as the Motorola One Action, Motorola One Vision, Motorola One Hyper and the Moto G8 Plus in 2019. While the phones’ value proposition still wasn’t on par with competitors such as the likes of Xiaomi and Realme, they did represent a significant improvement. In terms of software updates, the truth is that Motorola remains a laggard, as phones powered by fully custom user interfaces have received the update much sooner. The responsibility is on Motorola’s end; we hope to see the situation improve in the near future.


Source: Tudocelular

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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra renders reveal 100x Space Zoom camera

The Samsung Galaxy S20 series has been featured in many leaks and rumors over the past few weeks. Many of these leaks have come from our own Max Weinbach. He’s shared details about upcoming features, and photos of the Galaxy S20+ in the flesh. Today, we’re getting a look at renders of all three models, along with a look at the “Space Zoom” camera on the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Forums ||| Samsung Galaxy S20+ Forums

First, let’s take a look at the device renders. We can see the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and Galaxy S20 Ultra. The Galaxy S20 and S20+ look pretty similar, with the Plus model being bigger and having an extra ToF sensor on the back. Both of these models will be available in Cloud Blue, Cosmic Black, and Cosmic Grey. The smaller S20 will also have a Cloud Pink option.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra looks similar from the front, but the camera array on the back is considerably bigger. Three cameras and the flash are organized neatly in the top square. Underneath, in a section that appears to be matte glass, is the “100X Space Zoom” camera. This is the 10X zoom lens that will be able to achieve up to 100X digital zoom. It’s a big feature of the phone and Samsung is making sure people notice it on the back.

Galaxy S20 Ultra Galaxy S20 Ultra Galaxy S20 Ultra Galaxy S20 Ultra

This new report also reiterates some of the specifications we’ve been hearing for a while. The smaller Galaxy S20 is said to have a 6.2-inch display with 4,000 mAh battery, while the Galaxy S20+ has a 6.7-inch display with 4,500 mAh battery. Both models will have 12MP, 64MP telephoto, and 12MP wide-angle cameras along with 128GB of storage. The Ultra is said to have a 6.9-inch display with 5,000 mAh battery. The cameras include 108MP main, 48MP telephoto, 12MP wide-angle, and ToF sensor along with the zoom lens.

Pricing is something that hasn’t been nailed down yet, but the numbers are starting to solidify. We’re hearing the Galaxy S20 in Europe would start at EUR 899 (EUR 999 for 5G). The S20+ 5G costs EUR 1,099 while the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G costs EUR 1,349.


Source: Ishan Agarwal, 91mobiles

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Honor will focus on larger pixels instead of more megapixels for its flagships

Huawei’s presence on the US Entity List has resulted in serious issues for its smartphone business. The company is still banned from using Google Mobile Services (GMS) on new device launches, which means that it has been forced to promote its alternative HMS ecosystem for phone launches going forward. Four months after its announcement, the Huawei Mate 30 series suffers from limited international availability due to the fact that it lacks GMS; most international consumers regard GMS as an indispensable feature on Android. Therefore, Huawei’s smartphone business is now strongly reliant on its home Chinese market due to the current political scenario. Honor, a subsidiary owned by Huawei, is affected by the same issues. The brand’s latest phone launches, the Honor V30 and the Honor V30 Pro, are still China-only phones. It’s a sorry situation, because as we have seen before, both Huawei and Honor’s devices were genuine contenders for some of the best phones of 2018 and 2019, particularly with respect to camera performance. Now, Honor has clarified its stance on high megapixel cameras.

Honor’s Kailang Shen stated on Weibo that the brand won’t be following other device makers that have either released phones with 108MP cameras, or are about to release such phones. He said that achieving 108MP can only be done by going with a 0.8μm pixel size. The company, however, believes that the 1μm pixel size is the smallest that can ensure “flagship sensitivity and image quality requirements”. Therefore, Honor will be forgoing 108MP primary cameras on its 2020 phone launches, and will instead go with large pixels rather than higher megapixels.

It’s important to know about the background information for this statement. In 2019, Honor released the Honor View20, Honor 20, and the Honor 20 Pro globally. All of these phones had a 48MP primary camera, using the Sony IMX586 Quad Bayer sensor with 0.8μm pixel size. With 4-in-1 pixel binning, it was capable of producing 12MP photos with an equivalent pixel size of 1.6μm. The Quad Bayer nature of the sensor meant that it had less color resolution than a sensor with a standard Bayer color filter. The IMX586 proved to be a very popular sensor in 2019, as multiple vendors opted to use it for their flagship and mid-range phone launches.

In the second half of the year, some phones opted to use Samsung’s 64MP ISOCELL Bright GW1 sensor, which had the same 0.8μm pixel size and 4-in-1 pixel binning. The pioneering Xiaomi Mi Note 10 was launched in October with a 108MP Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor, which also had a 0.8μm pixel size (the sensor size was a correspondingly huge 1/1.3″). Finally, in December, the Xiaomi Redmi K30 and the OPPO Reno3 were launched with the brand new 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor with 0.8μm pixel size, which is the successor to the IMX586. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G is also reported to use a 108MP primary camera. All of these sensors have a Quad Bayer filter array. The pixel size has been kept constant at 0.8μm by increasing the camera’s resolution while making the sensor correspondingly bigger.

Honor’s latest flagships went with a different approach, however. The Honor V30 Pro has a 40MP primary sensor with a Quad Bayer layout, 1μm pixel size, and 4-in-1 pixel binning for 10MP pixel binned photos. It uses the same custom Sony IMX600 sensor that was previously used in Huawei flagships. Honor’s large pixel approach is of merit when we consider physics. Large pixel size cameras inherently have better performance in low light because of better light sensitivity, assuming that all other factors such as the lens and image processing are kept constant. OmniVision’s launch this month of its new OV48C 48MP image sensor backs up Honor’s approach. It’s a 48MP standard Bayer sensor with 1.2μm pixel size that can use near-pixel binning to produce 12MP photos with 2.4μm equivalent pixel size, which would theoretically give us the best of both worlds.

Huawei and Honor’s smartphone cameras were some of the best smartphone cameras in 2019. If the trade ban is resolved in the near future, it’s safe to assume that they will resume their usual place near the top of the smartphone camera rankings.


Source: Honor | Via: GSMArena

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Exclusive: Quick Share is Samsung’s alternative to AirDrop for Galaxy phones

Competition is huge in the phone industry, as we all know. Previously, the competition used to be restricted to hardware and who could have the best hardware, but we’ve progressed from that era. The area of real competition now is with software, and the software experience can now make or break purchase decisions, as companies like Apple and Google very well know. Some would argue the exclusive features Apple has is why they are one of the biggest phone brands. Well, Samsung is trying to match Apple’s features with some of its own implementations. The newest one of these features is Quick Share, Samsung’s upcoming alternative to Apple’s AirDrop.

Quick Share is slated to be a pretty simple and tool for quickly sending files between two Galaxy phones. We were able to get the APK running on a few different Galaxy phones but we were unable to get two files to transfer between the devices. The APK was not meant for our test devices so it’s not surprising it’s not working.

This will basically work like most of these other nearby sharing services. If you are near another user with a supported device, they will show up and you can share the picture, video, or file. You will have two options for sharing: contacts only or with everyone. “Contacts-only” will only allow you to share files with other Samsung Social users who you have in your contacts. “Everyone” will let you send or receive files from anyone with a supported device in your area.

Unlike other services like AirDrop, Quick Share will have a cloud aspect to it. Quick Share will let you temporarily upload files to Samsung Cloud. These files will then be streamed to Samsung Smart Things devices and downloaded locally. These files can be up to 1GB with a total of 2GBs being sent per day.

This service will likely be launching with the Galaxy S20+. We were able to get the APK for this service fro our source who has access to a Galaxy S20+ 5G. This app did not exist on any other One UI 1.0/1.5 or One UI 2 device that we checked. This service is going to likely come included on all devices launching with One UI 2.1 and later. This is also the type of service that I’d imagine would be available on most older Samsung devices with a software update, though its rollout would be entirely on Samsung.

Samsung isn’t the only company with a service like this on the market or in the works. Google is currently working on a feature called Nearby Sharing as part of the Google Play Services. This could theoretically support every supported Android phone and ChromeOS. Xiaomi and two-thirds of the BBK trifecta, OPPO and Vivo, also have a cross-platform sharing feature. Apple has had a robust file sharing solution for its devices for quite a few years now, so it’s good to see Android OEMs catching up with their own solutions. Users otherwise had to resort to third-party alternatives, but mileage tended to vary with such solutions. These first-party implementations might make the Android ecosystem as powerful and useful as the ecosystem Apple has spent years crafting.

The post Exclusive: Quick Share is Samsung’s alternative to AirDrop for Galaxy phones appeared first on xda-developers.



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Microsoft publishes a preview SDK for making dual-screen Android apps

At Microsoft’s Surface event last year in October, the company showcased the Microsoft Surface Duo — a dual-screen Android smartphone. The device featured two 5.6-inch displays connected by a 360-degree hinge, which is quite unlike any foldable smartphone we’ve seen so far. While there’s still a long way before Microsoft releases the device to the market, the company has now published a preview SDK to help developers get their apps ready for the dual displays.

As per a recent report from The Verge, apps developed using the preview SDK will allow users to span them across both displays when they’re in double-portrait or double-landscape mode. In a post regarding the SDK, Microsoft envisions that app developers can potentially try out various ways to utilize both the screens. The company has also highlighted different use cases, including using both the screens as an extended canvas, having two pages of a document shown at once, using the second display as a companion, or have a major part of the app on one display with details on the second.

Microsoft dual screen app vision

 

As of now, these are still “initial app pattern ideas” according to Microsoft, and the company might consider extending them based on developer feedback in the coming months. The company is also asking developers to consider several different inputs, including touch, stylus, and pen, along with more orientations for the new dual-screen devices.

Microsoft also wants dual-screen app developers to embrace drag and drop functionality which would be beneficial for dual-screen devices. The functionality will essentially allow users to run two apps side-by-side and drag-and-drop items from one app to the other. Along with that, if developers enable multiple instances for their apps, users will also be able to open multiple instances of the same app side-by-side on dual-display devices. Additionally, Microsoft is also releasing an Android emulator for the Surface Duo which will allow developers to test mobile apps.


Source: Microsoft, The Verge

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Realme’s next flagship phone with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 could launch soon

Earlier this month, Chinese OEM Realme launched its first 5G enabled smartphone — the Realme X50 5G — in China. The device packed Snapdragon’s latest mid-range 765G processor, coupled with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Earlier this week, the company revealed that it will hold a global 5G launch event on February 24, at MWC 2020. Now, according to a recent report from Android Authority, the company may also launch a Snapdragon 865 powered flagship 5G device, alongside the Realme X50, at the event.

Realme

The report showcases a leaked screen of the highest score posted to the popular AnTuTu benchmarking app yet. The screenshot is from a Realme device with model number RMX2017 and with a score of 574,985 points, the Realme RMX2071 blows away the previous high score of 560,217 allegedly posted by the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 10. The screenshot also reveals that the device will be powered by the Snapdragon’s flagship 865 chipset with the Adreno 650 GPU. While Realme wasn’t among the companies to confirm a Snapdragon 865 powered device at the Snapdragon Tech Summit late last year, it’s great to see the Chinese OEM doubling down in the flagship space.

For the unaware, Realme is primarily known for its budget and mid-range devices. The company launched its first true flagship — the Realme X2 Pro (review) — back in October last year. The device featured top-of-the-line specifications at an affordable price and we expect the company to continue this trend with its upcoming flagship.


Source: Android Authority

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OxygenOS 10.3.1 rolls out for the OnePlus 6/6T with tons of bug fixes

Last month, OnePlus began rolling out the much-awaited Android 10 update to the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T. However, the initial rollout had to be paused multiple times following the reports of some serious bugs and stability issues in the early builds. A quick-fix in the form of OxygenOS 10.0.1 was rolled out shortly after to address some of the critical issues, followed by OxygenOS 10.3.0 two weeks later which fixed even more bugs including the random reboot issue reported by many OnePlus 6/6T owners. It appears there are still many bugs yet to be fixed as OnePlus is rolling out yet another bug-fixing update to both devices.

The new incremental update, version OxygenOS 10.3.1, fixes many known bugs, improves system stability and also brings along updated security patches. As per the changelog, the update fixes the annoying device unlock bug where the screen would go black after unlocking the phone with a fingerprint. Moreover, the overheating issue while charging, random connection drops when connected to 5GHz Wi-Fi hotspots, and camera crash bug has also been fixed.

OnePlus 6 XDA Forums || OnePlus 6T XDA Forums

The full update changelog for the OxygenOS 10.3.1 update can be found below:

  • System
    • Fixed the issue with a black screen appearing after unlocking the device using a fingerprint
    • Fixed the issue with the animation logo while rebooting device
    • Fixed the issue with device heating up while charging
    • Fixed the random disconnection issue with 5Ghz hotspot
    • Improved system stability and fixed general bugs
    • Updated security patch to 2019.12
  • Camera
    • Optimised the image preview time in the Pro mode
    • Fixed the camera crash issue
  • Gallery
    • Fixed the issue with videos and images not displaying in the gallery

The update has started rolling out to the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T but since it’s a staged rollout, it may take some time before it can reach all devices. Luckily for the OnePlus 6T owners, we have the direct OTA link to the incremental update which you can download from the link below to manually flash the update on your device.

Download OxygenOS 10.3.1 for the OnePlus 6T: Incremental update from 10.3.0


Thanks to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username from the Oxygen Updater team for the download links!

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