I’m sure I don’t have to mention again why most of us are forced to stay home: we all know there’s a pandemic out there and that we need to stay safe, follow the World Health Organization’s advice and practice social distancing at all times to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But practicing social distancing does not mean that we have to be cut off from our friends and acquaintances. Most in-person meetings and classes have been replaced by video chats of multiple people at the same time. The most common choice for that became Zoom in the past few weeks, but the app has also been plagued by some privacy and security issues these days.
Demand for a competitor is, thus, on the rise. Discord, for one, has started to offer video calling services, but Facebook is bringing up the bar with its new “Rooms” service.
Facebook Messenger Rooms brings a twist to the existing video calling service, and it’s the fact that it’s geared specifically towards the times we’re living and the measures these times require. Rooms’ main selling point is the number of people that can join to the same “room” at the same time: the service offers video calling for up to 50 people. Zoom, for one, allows up to 100 people to connect to a single session, so it still has an advantage going for it. 50 people, however, should be enough for most virtual meetings.
Facebook is also putting privacy as a focus on Messenger Rooms, as they also published a separate blog post detailing the privacy aspects of the service, in an attempt to pitch themselves forward as a more secure alternative to Zoom which is currently in the public eye for several security-related controversies. Facebook themselves doesn’t really have a good reputation in the privacy department either, so that should also help clear up some doubts.
Despite the fact that Samsung lost its spot as the second most shipped smartphone brand in India to Chinese OEM Vivo in Q4 2019, the company saw significant growth in market share towards the end of last year. This year, however, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse for Samsung, as a recent report from Counterpoint Researchreveals that the company is losing ground to its Chinese competitors Realme, OPPO, and Vivo.
As reported by ET Telecom, Samsung’s smartphone shipments in the sub ₹10,000 segment declined 84% on year and the company’s overall smartphone shipment market share declined from 24% in Q1 2019 to just 16% in Q1 2020. Even though several OEMs have suspended smartphone production in the country due to COVID-19, Vivo, Realme, and OPPO saw significant growth in market share in Q1 2020. Vivo managed to retain the second spot and saw an overall growth from 12% market share in Q1 2019 to 17% in Q1 2020. Similarly, Realme and OPPO also saw remarkable growth, with Realme going from 7% market share in the first quarter last year to 14% this year and OPPO managing to secure 12% market share, up from 7% last year, with an 83% growth in shipments overall.
It isn’t all bad news for Samsung however, as the company once again retained the top spot in the premium (₹30,000 and above) smartphone segment, surpassing OnePlus in the process. Xiaomi maintained its lead in the Indian market, posting a 6% YoY growth in Q1 2020 to reach its highest ever market share (30%) since Q1 2018. Overall, smartphone shipments in India grew a modest 4% YoY, reaching just over 31 million units in Q1 2020. The decline in shipments was directly attributed to the COVID-19 outbreak, which led to a steep annual decline in March 2020 (-19%). Additionally, the report reveals that POCO, which launched as an independent brand earlier this year, managed to capture a 2% market share in just a month of operations and secured a spot in the top five brands in the ₹15-20,000 segment.
In a statement regarding the effect of the ongoing pandemic on the Indian smartphone market, Counterpoint’s Senior Research Analyst Prachir Singh said, “The COVID-19 effect on India was relatively mild until mid-March. However, economic activities declined as people save money in the expectation of an extended period of uncertainty and an almost complete lockdown…As entry-level smartphone consumers will be the worst-hit by the lockdown, the demand for the entry-level smartphones will decline in the near-term. We believe demand will shift to the second part of the year. Even if the situation stabilizes by mid-year, people may hold-off purchasing until the festive season.” The report further reveals that the agency is estimating a 10% decline in overall smartphone shipments for the full calendar year.
Xiaomi has just announced the next version of its Android skin – MIUI 12 – at the Mi 10 Youth Edition launch event in China. The overlay comes with a new interface, a host of animations, privacy, health features, and much more.
As with each incremental update, MIUI 12 also pays attention to improving the aesthetics of the interface and the new interface comes with a flurry of new animations and redesigned elements. MIUI 12 comes with new a flatter and more seamless UI without losing on the exuberance.
New animations in MIUI 12
Beginning with the new moving elements in MIUI 12, almost every system animation has been revamped. Xiaomi claims these animations are on par with the smooth transition in iOS. Everything from app launching and closing, screen rotation, and opening the Recents menu to a new charging animation, battery stats, new live wallpapers, checking tasks in Notes, or rearranging icons on the home screen, Xiaomi appears to have worked on everything afresh.
Navigation gestures
MIUI was among the first Android skins to adopt navigation gestures but these have differed from the iOS-like navigation gestures announced with Android 10. With MIUI 12, Xiaomi is also reworking the navigation gestures and these will now work exactly like the Android 10’s gestures.
Flatter, cleaner UI
The interface is visually more cleaner, with wider spaces between different texts or images and a brighter white background. MIUI 12 also gets a whole lot of new visual elements to complement the information it shows.
Live wallpapers and AOD
Xiaomi has also added a bunch of new live wallpapers and AOD screens inspired by the landscapes of the Earth, the Moon, and Mars. There’s an interesting spin on the live wallpaper and it zooms in from a space-level view to an aerial view just a few hundred meters above the surface of either of the planets when you unlock the phone. When you open a folder, the wallpaper zooms in closer to the surface and out when you exit the folder.
Privacy features
Next, MIUI 12 has new privacy features which are called Flare, Barbed Wire, and Mask System. MIUI 12’s privacy features have also cleared the “Android Enhanced Privacy Protection Test” conducted by TÜV Rheinland.
Flare keeps a log of all the permissions and sensitive information accessed by any specific app and notifies you with attention-grabbing alerts in different colors whenever an app is using the cameras, microphone, or your GPS location.
Barbed Wire feature works like the location permission in Android, asking you to allow location, microphone, or camera access with the options to allow only once, allow every time, or reject the app’s request.
Lastly, Mask System prevents untrusted apps from accessing crucial information like contacts, calendar, call logs, IMEI, etc. The feature also allows you to have a virtual identity that can spoof any app that is trying to capture your information without proper permission.
Multi-window and Picture-in-picture
MIUI 12 also gets newer options for multi-windows for better multitasking. Like OnePlus’ OxygenOS, MIUI also gets floating chat windows for full-screen apps such as games or video players. Xiaomi has also added a variety of ways in which floating windows and notifications can be expanded to enhance productivity.
AI Calling
Similar to Google’s screen calling, Xiaomi is adding an AI Calling feature in MIUI 12, which is specially designed for users with hearing disabilities. The conversation is fully transcribed to assist users with auditory or vocal disabilities and they can choose from a set of AI-generated responses instead of speaking to keep the conversation going.
Fitness features
The inbuilt gyroscope in the Xiaomi and Redmi phones can be used to not only record footsteps but also exercises including running, walking, cycling, and stair-climbing throughout the day. Xiaomi claims this feature is ~96% as accurate as the Apple Watch.
Inbuilt sleep tracker
Xiaomi has also added a sleep tracker that will monitor your movements through the night to determine the quality of sleep. It will also record the duration of your REM sleep i.e. the time you were dreaming and record snoring to help you improve sleep hygiene.
MIUI 12 rollout schedule
MIUI 12 beta enrollments start today i.e April 27th at 6PM Beijing time. Besides this, Xiaomi has also announced the preliminary list of devices that will get the MIUI 12 update initially.
The first batch will receive the first stable update by the end of June. The timelines for the second and the third batches is yet to be announced. This, however, is the timeline for the MIUI roll-out in China only and the global release will be different and announced later.
Xiaomi has a diverse product portfolio, even more so in China, it’s home country. This diverse portfolio lets the country serve the needs of a wider variety of users with differing priorities much more effectively. The company already has its flagships Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro available in China for some months now, but both of those products are flagships with the Snapdragon 865 and cost a pretty penny. Now, the company is expanding the Mi 10 product portfolio by launching the Mi 10 Youth Edition 5G in China.
The Mi 10 Youth Edition 5G was expected to be a rebranded Mi 10 Lite 5G that was revealed for Europe earlier. But there are a few differences on this phone that make it a different device and not just a simple 1:1 rebrand. The camera setup on the back of the device gets a highlight feature in the form of the periscope zoom camera. There may be other differences as well, but Xiaomi had only partially revealed the Mi 10 Lite 5G in Europe, so it is difficult to come to a final conclusion on this just yet.
Xiaomi is focusing a fair bit on the camera on this device. In addition to the quad-camera setup for still photography, there are a few AI-based camera tricks too. There is the Sky Replacement tool which is now familiar to all by now. Users also get an AI Kaleidoscope video feature and an AI Doppelganger video feature, giving them plenty of cool tricks for their phones. Further, users can also shoot a video with inset previews for both the front and back camera, recording much wider context and reactions.
Pricing and Availability
The Mi 10 Youth Edition 5G is available in China for pre-registrations, and the device will go on sale on April 30, 2020 at the following prices:
6GB + 64GB: CNY 2,099 ($297)
6GB + 128GB: CNY 2,299 ($325)
8GB + 128GB: CNY 2,499 ($353)
8GB + 256GB: CNY 2,799 ($395)
What are your thoughts on the Xiaomi Mi 10 Youth Edition 5G? Would you like to see this device made available outside of China? Let us know in the comments below!
Earlier this month, the team behind the popular Paranoid Android custom ROM released Paranoid Android Quartz 1 — the first stable Android 10-based build of the ROM — for a handful of devices. While there have been several unofficial Paranoid Android builds floating around on our forums, Paranoid Android Quartz 1 was the first stable release from the team since their Android Nougat-based builds. For the initial stable release, the team added a boatload of features to the ROM, including things like screen stabilization, a built-in screen recorder, FOD support, vibration adapted UI, and more. Building upon the feedback on the Quartz 1 release, the team is now rolling out Paranoid Android Quartz 2 with 4 new features and support for a few more devices.
According to a recent post on the team’s blog, Paranoid Android Quartz 2 is now rolling out for all supported devices and it includes these new features:
Face Unlock
New volume panel
New statusbar brightness slider
Added support for single-tap to ambient display (only on devices with kernel support for it)
Along with the aforementioned features, the Paranoid Android Quartz 2 build brings a fix for a screen recording crash issue that plagued the initial build. The update also includes a few device-specific changes that can be found on the second post of the respective device threads on our forums. Additionally, the build brings support for three new devices, including the OnePlus 5, OnePlus 5T, and OnePlus 7T Pro.
Download Paranoid Android Quartz 2 (Android 10)
If you’re interested in trying out Paranoid Android Quartz 2 on your device, you can head over to their respective XDA forum threads (linked below) and follow the instructions to get started:
Do note that these builds already have Google apps included, so you don’t need to flash a separate ZIP file to get the Google Play Store. In case you already have the Paranoid Android Quartz 1 build running on your device, you should automatically receive the Quartz 2 OTA in the coming days.
If you’re interested in helping the Paranoid Android team with development, then reach out to herna@paranoidandroid.co. If you want to stay up-to-date on news and new releases from the team, you should consider following them on Twitter.
Xiaomi, through its sub-brand Redmi, recently announced the Redmi K30 Pro as the follow-up to last year’s Redmi K20 Pro. While it got rid of a few features we saw in the regular Redmi K30, such as the 120Hz display, it made up for it with the latest and greatest Snapdragon 865 processor, an AMOLED display as well as other upgrades. The Redmi K30 went on to launch in the Indian market as the POCO X2, the second device to launch under the POCO flag after the POCO F1 in 2018.
This decision was met with much excitement from the tech community, as everyone had long hoped for a successor to the POCO F1. While the POCO X2 is not really a direct follow-up, it did indicate that the brand is well and alive and focusing on releasing value-oriented devices. This brand revival gave users hope that the Redmi K30 Pro will launch in India as the long-anticipated POCO F2, marking it as a “direct successor” with a Qualcomm flagship SoC. We’ve suspected that the Redmi K30 Pro would launch in India under the POCO brand, but a recent Google Play listing has given this an interesting twist.
Today, Google’s list of Play-certified devices, a list which contains all the devices certified to use Google Mobile Services, was updated with new entries. And these entries list a new version of the Xiaomi Redmi K30 Pro (code-name “lmi“) with the model name “POCO F2 Pro”. This hints that the Redmi K30 Pro will be rebranded as the POCO F2 Pro.
This listing corroborates our earlier finding that the Redmi K30 Pro will launch under the POCO branding. However, the Redmi K30 Pro exists as two codename variations — “lmi” as well as “lmiin“. The “in” at the end of the device codename indicates an Indian model, as has been the custom with several Xiaomi and Redmi devices. This listing does not use “lmiin” for POCO F2 Pro, but only “lmi“. Further, “lmipro“, which is the Redmi K30 Pro Zoom Edition, sees a corresponding Indian variant in the form of “lmiinpro” which retains the same Redmi branding. This leaves us with the conclusion that the Redmi K30 Pro will likely launch in India under the same branding, and the device will be rebranded into the POCO F2 Pro for other markets.
But then, what about our own report that claimed that the Redmi K30 Pro was launching in India under the POCO brand? The report was based on evidence that suggested that devices with the codename “lmi” and “lmiin” will call methods within the camera app that add the “SHOT ON POCO Phone” watermark. POCO at that time was restricted to India only, which at that moment, led us to the conclusion that the Redmi K30 Pro will be rebranded into a POCO device for India. However, since then, the global social media accounts of POCO were changed from the erstwhile branding of “POCOPHONE” to “POCO”, showcasing some activity on this front. This new development, combined with the new evidence from the Google Play listing, brings us to the conclusion that the Redmi K30 Pro will be rebranded into the POCO F2 Pro for markets other than India, whereas India will see the Chinese branding retained. Why? Why the confusing mess of device codenames and mismatched sub-brandings? That is something only Xiaomi can answer.
POCO India GM Mr. C. Manmohan had reportedly mentioned to fans during a Zoom meeting that the POCO F2 will not be a rebranded Redmi K30 Pro. We don’t know exactly what was said, however, and there’s no video evidence of this quote. Nonetheless, the reported statements do align. The POCO F2 (not Pro) could still turn out to be some other phone.
We don’t know yet when Xiaomi is planning to unveil the device in India. The country is currently under COVID-19 induced lockdown, which has led to the postponement of several phone launches.
The group video calling feature on some of the most popular messaging apps has proven to be quite valuable in these trying times. In order to help more users connect using the feature, apps like WhatsApp and Google Duo have released a couple of improvements for the feature in the recent past. For instance, earlier this year Google Duo increased the group size limit to 12 participants and we also learned that the company was working to add invite links for both group video and audio calls. Similarly, Facebook-owned WhatsApp also increased the group size limit to a maximum of 8 participants. But while Duo and WhatsApp are working to improve group video and audio calling, rival messenger Telegram still doesn’t offer a group video calling feature to its users. Thankfully, that’s bound to change soon as Telegram has now announced that group video calling will be added to the platform later this year.
In a recent blog post, the company announced that Telegram will be getting a secure group video calling feature later this year. The post states: “The current global lockdown highlighted the need for a trusted video communication tool. Video calls in 2020 are much like messaging in 2013. There are apps that either secure or usable, but not both. We’d like to fix that, and we will focus on bringing you secure group video calls in 2020.” However, the company hasn’t revealed any information regarding the release timeline for the feature.
Additionally, the blog post reveals that Telegram has now reached 400 million monthly users, up from 300 million at the same time last year. The company claims that at least 1.5 million new users are signing up for Telegram each day, which has helped it become the most downloaded social media application in over 20 countries. On top of that, the company has also released a new update for the messenger which brings upgrades to its Quiz Mode, adds a new sticker directory to help users browse and search stickers, brings a new attachment menu on Android, includes improvements for Telegram for macOS, and adds a new Bullseye animated emoji. For more information on the latest update, you can check the source link below.
