Honor will unveil its first phone as an independent brand later this week

Huawei recently sold its sub-brand Honor to a consortium of over 30 agents and dealers. But despite the sale, Honor seems to be functioning just as it was before the transaction happened. The company has already launched two new products this year, and it’s now gearing up to launch its first smartphone as an independent brand.

In a recent post on Chinese social media platform Weibo, the company has announced that it will unveil the new device in China on January 22. It also reveals that the device, called Honor V40 5G, will come equipped with a “GPU Turbo X graphics acceleration engine” (translated) to offer an “unprecedented gaming experience.” The post also includes a link to Honor Mall, which is intended to help users pre-register for the launch. However, we weren’t able to access the link.

Additionally, the post includes a short teaser video about the device that repeats the information provided in the post. While Honor hasn’t revealed any further information about the Honor V40 5G, the device will, most likely, feature a HiSilicon Kirin chipset and run Magic UI (a slightly different version of Huawei’s EMUI) out of the box. However, previous leaks suggest that it may pack MediaTek’s Dimensity 1000+ SoC.

It’s worth noting that Honor has previously shared an announcement poster for the Honor V40, which gives us a good look at its design. As you can see in the attached image, the device features a large rectangular camera module in the top left corner of the back panel and a curved display with a pill-shaped hole-punch cutout. Furthermore, a leaked hands-on video of the device has also been spotted recently, which confirms the design seen in the poster above.

As of now, we don’t have any additional information about the Honor V40 5G. We’ll update this post as soon as we learn more.

The post Honor will unveil its first phone as an independent brand later this week appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/35SobJD
via IFTTT

Galaxy S21 teardown gives us our first look inside Samsung’s 2021 flagship

While it has just been a few days since Samsung unveiled the all-new Galaxy S21 series, teardowns of the devices have already started popping up online. The first teardown comes from YouTuber PBKreviews, and it gives us a good look at what’s inside the Galaxy S21.

As you can see in the attached images, the Samsung Galaxy S21 doesn’t appear to be a whole lot different from the Galaxy S20 on the inside. Both the devices have a similar construction, with a motherboard at the top next to the camera modules, followed by the battery hidden underneath a wireless charging pad, and a speaker assembly at the bottom that hides a daughterboard. But while the overall construction may not be drastically different, Samsung has made some key changes in the latest model.

Unlike the Galaxy S20, the Galaxy S21 features two mmWave 5G antennas on either side of the device. The top speaker assembly on the Galaxy S21 is also slightly different, and it’s packed with foam balls to make the speaker sound louder. Another striking difference between the two devices is the placement of the vibration motor. On the Galaxy S20, the vibration motor is placed under the speaker assemble towards the bottom of the device. While on the Galaxy S21, the vibration motor is placed in the top right corner of the device. Additionally, the ribbon cable for the display on the Galaxy S21 can be removed, unlike the one on the Galaxy S20. This is may help make third-party repairs a whole lot easier.

Along with the changes mentioned above, Samsung has also made some other minor changes within the Galaxy S21 to accommodate the new hardware and provide better thermal performance. You can watch the Galaxy S21 teardown video attached above for a closer look at what’s inside the new device.

The post Galaxy S21 teardown gives us our first look inside Samsung’s 2021 flagship appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/35QaRoU
via IFTTT

OPPO launches the Reno 5 Pro 5G phone and Enco X TWS earbuds in India

Chinese smartphone giant, OPPO, announced its Reno series in April 2019. Focussed on style and camera performance, the Reno series has already been updated to its fifth generation in less than two years. Last month, OPPO launched the Reno 5 series with 5G across all models in China, followed by Reno 5 4G in certain Asian countries. And today, the company is launching its Reno 5 Pro 5G in India with Dimensity 1000 Plus chipset. With the smartphone, OPPO has also launched the Enco X TWS earbuds in the country.

OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G (Global)

Last year when OPPO launched the OPPO Reno 4 Pro globally, it lacked 5G connectivity and was somewhat of a downgrade in terms of specifications as compared to the Chinese variant. This time around, however, the OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G global variant is exactly the same as the one launched by OPPO in China.

Externally, the OPPO Reno 5 Pro features a 6.5-inch curved Super AMOLED display with a single hole-punch at the top left corner. The display has a Full HD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. The display has a peak brightness of 1100nits and is HDR10+ certified, which means it can play HDR content not only on YouTube but also on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

On the rear side, the OPPO Reno 5 Pro now uses a matte glass back, and the surface underneath it comprises micro pyramids that lead to a shimmering effect on the Astral Blue variant. Simultaneously, the Starry Black finish resembles the rather muted and satiny surface we found during our OPPO Reno 4 Pro 4G review.

One of the major focuses of this smartphone is the rear camera and its video functionality. The OPPO Reno 5 Pro features a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2MP macro, and a 2MP monochrome camera. On the front, the Reno 5 Pro features a 32MP selfie camera. It supports a host of influencer-centric features such as:

• AI Color Portrait to isolate the foreground and the background by showing the latter in monotone. This applies to both photos and videos
• AI Highlight Video for better HDR in videos
• Dual-View Video to capture videos from front and back cameras simultaneously
• Ultra-steady Video for AI-powered EIS on primary front and back cameras as well as the ultra-wide camera
• 960fps slow-mo video

Inside, the OPPO Reno 5 Pro rocks a MediaTek Dimensity 1000 Plus which is a 7nm octa-core chipset with inbuilt 5G support. The smartphone comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

The Reno 5 Pro is powered by a 4350mAh battery and supports OPPO’s 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 proprietary charging technology. The smartphone also comes with a supported charging brick within the box.

In terms of software, the OPPO Reno 5 Pro runs on ColorOS 11.1 based on Android 11. At the moment, this appears to be the only smartphone running the stable version of ColorOS 11 globally.

OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G XDA Forums

OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G Specifications

Specification	OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G
Build
Dimensions & Weight	Weight: 173g Thickness: 7.6mm
Display	6.5″ Super AMOLED 20:9 FHD+ Single Punch-hole Display 90Hz refresh rate Up to 180 Hz touch sampling rate HDR10+ 1100nit peak brightness
SoC	MediaTek Dimensity 1000+
RAM & Storage	8GB + 128GB
Battery & Charging	4350mAh 65W SuperVOOC 2.0
Security	In-display fingerprint Face Unlock
Rear Camera(s)	64MP primary camera 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera 2MP macro camera 2MP mono camera Video: 4K@30fps, 1080p@60fps/30fps, 720p@60fps/30fps
Front Camera(s)	32MP
Port(s)	USB-C
Connectivity	5G FDD/TDD, LTE-TD, LTE FDD, GSM, WCDMA Dual SIM Support Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.1 GNSS: BeiDou, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
Software	ColorOS 11.1 based on Android 11

OPPO Enco X TWS

The OPPO Enco X is the most advanced TWS launched globally by OPPO yet. It comes with a design similar to the AirPods Pro with audio tuned in partnership with Dynaudio. Like the much cheaper OPPO Enco W51, the Enco X supports Active Noise Cancellation and LHDC Bluetooth codec along with SBC and AAC.

The Enco X TWS comes with wireless charging and touch-controlled gestures. It will be available in black and white color options. The earphones are already available in Europe and you can read our OPPO Enco X Review for more details.

Price & Availability

The OPPO Reno 5 Pro 5G is priced at ₹35,990 (~$490) in India while the Enco X earbuds are priced at ₹9,990 (~$135).

The devices will be available in India starting January 22nd, 2020.

The post OPPO launches the Reno 5 Pro 5G phone and Enco X TWS earbuds in India appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/38To8yX
via IFTTT

ASUS ROG Phone 4 could launch soon with 65W fast charging

ASUS was rumored to be working on a new ROG gaming smartphone for 2021 in collaboration with Qualcomm right before the launch of the Snapdragon 888. It was also speculated that the new smartphone would be unveiled by the end of 2020 followed by a launch in the first half of 2021. While that hasn’t materialized, ASUS has certainly started teasing the upcoming smartphone, which means that the launch could happen soon.

According to the teaser (via MySmartPrice), the next-gen ROG Phone could have slimmer bezels above and below the display. The teaser also mentions, “Your combat power will be upgraded soon! The new generation of Tencent ROG gaming phone, all faith players, stay tuned!” This hints at the fact that a Tencent version of the smartphone, just like the ROG Phone 3 and ROG Phone 2, would be introduced.

The handset was allegedly spotted on Geekbench recently suggesting that the handset would be powered by the latest Snapdragon 888 SoC with 8GB of RAM and Android 11 out of the box. As per a recent 3C certification listing, the handset is expected to come with model number ASUS_I005DA and 65W fast charging. In comparison, the ROG Phone 3 came with 30W fast charging, and we are hopeful that ASUS will continue to offer a large 6,000mAh battery.

Image credits: Weibo

A leaked live image of the upcoming ROG Phone on Weibo has also stirred some rumors. It showcases that the handset has three cameras with a glass back that has a similar design approach as the previous-gen smartphone. It is said that the primary camera will include a 64-megapixel sensor with Quad-Bayer technology. The handset also has the number ‘05’ written on the back panel alongside various branding, which could mean that ASUS would launch it as the ROG Phone 5 instead of the ROG Phone 4. This is something that we have seen in the past from certain smartphone manufacturers, as the number 4 is considered unlucky in various Asian countries including China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Also, if you look closely, there is a red shoulder button, which could mean that ASUS is going to incorporate physical triggers for gamers. Of course, these are just speculations and the image does not seem to be from a credible source, so make sure you take this with a pinch of salt.

The post ASUS ROG Phone 4 could launch soon with 65W fast charging appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3sCsemO
via IFTTT

Discussion: Should Samsung still launch a Galaxy Note this year?

Samsung announced the Galaxy S21 series earlier this week, putting all speculations and rumors to an end. With a radical design, improved performance, new camera features, and more, the Galaxy S21 series makes for an interesting package. But if there’s one feature that is set to rewrite the fate of Samsung’s flagship lineup, it is stylus support. Samsung has partnered with Wacom to bring S Pen support — as well as the more advanced and upcoming S Pen Pro — to the Galaxy S21 Ultra. But this new advancement also blurs the lines between the Galaxy S and the Galaxy Note series, and might even make the Note irrelevant sooner or later. When Samsung launches the Galaxy Note 21 later this year, would it still be as exciting as previous devices in the series?

All Samsung Galaxy S21 news here

Over the last couple of years, Samsung has diverted its attention to fostering a new galaxy of foldable smartphones. With power-packed foldable devices such as the Galaxy Z Fold 2, the Galaxy Note series target group is inadvertently leaning in the favor of more screen real-estate. Reports already confirm that the Galaxy Note series sales took a hit in 2020. And in addition to that, a recent editorial by Samsung Electronics’ Head of Mobile Communications Bussiness, Dr. TM Roh, adds fuel to the speculations about the purported Galaxy Z Fold 3 getting S Pen support, just like the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Even though sources familiar with the developments at Samsung have confirmed it will not discontinue the Galaxy Note series — at least not in 2021, there is little left that really maintains its uniqueness.  And, without the S Pen being a unique proposition anymore, the popularity of the Galaxy Note Series appears destined to stall. Don’t you agree?

While it’s suggestive that Samsung might discontinue the Galaxy Note series in the coming years, do you think it should save the effort and not launch a Galaxy Note device later this year? Let us know in the comments below. 

Here for our Samsung Galaxy S21 coverage? Check out our hands-on video:

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is the ultimate overkill in the new 2021 flagship series, packing in a flagship SoC, a premium build, a great display, and an amazing camera setup, as well as all the extras expected on a premium flagship.

Pre-order on Samsung.com

The post Discussion: Should Samsung still launch a Galaxy Note this year? appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/35QsWTR
via IFTTT

Google reportedly requires new Android TV devices support AV1 video decoding

With there being many different hardware companies making smartphones, tablets, televisions, PCs, and silicon; software companies making apps and operating systems; and media giants making streaming services, it’s important for key industry players to agree to support certain video coding formats to ensure the best user experience, minimize network use, and support a wide variety of devices. That’s why the Alliance for Open Media created the AV1 video codec. It’s designed to efficiently transmit video over the Internet with a minimal impact on quality. The best part is that it’s royalty-free so companies don’t have to pay any licensing fees, but sadly, its adoption has been rather slow until very recently. AV1’s adoption may accelerate in 2021 as Google is reportedly mandating that all new Android TV products support AV1 video decoding.

While it’s clear that AV1 is gaining popularity for online streaming and media consumption, only a handful of streaming services to date encode some of their content in AV1. YouTube streams some videos encoded in AV1 on select Android TV devices, Vimeo started to encode some of the videos on its Staff Picks channel in AV1, and Netflix streams select titles in AV1 if the service’s data saving mode is turned on. Google, one of the biggest proponents of AV1, recently announced its plans to use AV1 for “the whole range of Google’s video applications and services”.

For more widespread AV1 adoption to happen, however, there needs to be more devices with hardware to decode AV1, which is a necessity to ensure power-efficient and speedy video playback. To that end, Google is requiring that all new Android TV devices launching after March 31, 2021, support AV1 video decoding. This requirement is said to apply to all new TV products launching with Android 10 or Android 11 later this year, according to an internal slide reviewed by XDA. This slide is part of a presentation that Google held for its Android TV partners last year. Therefore, we do not know if this deadline is up-to-date, and we did not receive a response from Google when reached for comment.

There’s more evidence behind Google making AV1 support a requirement for all future Android TV devices. The company reportedly already requires AV1 video decoding support for all 4K HDR and 8K Android TV devices that launch with Android 10. Industry insider AndroidTV Guide points out that many recently launched 4K HDR Android TV devices ship with an AV1-compatible SoC, such as the MediaTek T30/T31/T32 or the Realtek RTD2851M. TCL’s X915 8K TV, for instance, supports AV1 decoding thanks to its Realtek RTD2851M SoC combined with the RTD2893, making it one of the first TVs to support streaming 8K videos from YouTube. Since Google is already pushing high-end TVs to support AV1, it makes sense that they’re soon extending this requirement to all Android TV products, which Google is able to do since it controls the Android TV platform.

Interesting, I learned that ANY new #AndroidTV Television launching with Android TV 10, MUST support AV1 decoding with an SoC that supports it of course.

And that’s indeed verified by the recently launched Skyworth SUC6500/7000/7500 and Motorola Revou TVs (Mediatek MT9602). pic.twitter.com/gX5QH1K3Kv

— Android TV Guide (@androidtv_rumor) October 29, 2020

In fact, a major TV brand has already confirmed that its entire 2021 TV lineup will support AV1 video. FlatPanelsHD reports that all of Sony’s 2021 TVs will support AV1 video decoding. Sony ships its existing TVs with Android TV and will continue to do so in 2021. Separately, we asked TCL if its upcoming 2021 Google TV series will have AV1 hardware decoding, but we did not receive a response prior to publication.

LG and Samsung — both of which utilize their own operating systems — have already started to implement AV1 support in some of their TVs, according to FlatPanelsHD. It’s only a matter of time before a majority of TVs support the royalty-free codec. Other devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and PCs, are also recently getting AV1 video support. MediaTek’s Dimensity 1000 and Samsung’s Exynos 2100 mobile chipsets both support AV1 decoding, while Intel’s 11th-gen processors, NVIDIA’s RTX 30 series GPUs, and AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 series GPUs also support AV1. As devices get better displays and streaming services increase their quality, the adoption of better video coding standards will be important to satisfy users’ expectations and to prevent our Internet infrastructure from choking.

The post Google reportedly requires new Android TV devices support AV1 video decoding appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3bLsbzh
via IFTTT

Google’s TalkBack screen reader is getting new features available first on Galaxy phones

Google has partnered with Samsung to create a new version of TalkBack, an accessibility service that provides spoken feedback of what’s shown or happening on screen. TalkBack was released in the early days of Android, but in 2018, Google rolled it into the Android Accessibility Suite app alongside other services aimed at helping users with disabilities use their smartphone.

At Galaxy Unpacked, Google’s Hiroshi Lockheimer announced the new version of TalkBack, stating that it’ll be “available first on Galaxy.” The Galaxy S21 series was the star of the show at the event, so it’s likely that Samsung’s latest flagships will be the first to take advantage of Google’s revamped screen reader service.

“As part of our commitment to make computing as accessible to everyone, we’ve collaborated with Samsung to develop a new version of TalkBack, a Google screen reader, available first on Galaxy. This can really help shape the future of how everyone interacts with their phones.” Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of Platforms & Ecosystems at Google.

Google followed up this announcement with a brief mention of the revamped TalkBack in a blog post. The company says that “TalkBack has been revamped so that people with blindness or trouble seeing their displays can use spoken feedback and gestures to navigate their phone without having to look at the screen.” We reached out to Google for clarity on what features have been added to this revamped version of TalkBack, and we received the following statement:

“TalkBack is a Google screen reader included on Android devices. Using spoken feedback and gestures, it offers a full phone experience without needing to look at your screen. Collaborating with the blind and low vision communities, this revamped version of TalkBack features many of users’ top wish list items: new, more intuitive multi finger gestures, a unified menu, new reading controls and customizable menus and gestures.” – Google spokesperson

We were told that the new version of TalkBack will be coming to more devices soon.

Google has updated the Android Accessibility Suite app with new features for TalkBack only a handful of times in the past. Back in October of 2020, the company actually released new multi-finger gesture options, while in April of 2020, the company added a Braille keyboard. We don’t have screenshots to share showing the revamped TalkBack, but if you decide to pick up a Galaxy S21 or own a recent Galaxy device, you’ll be first to experience the new version.

Android Accessibility Suite (Free, Google Play) →

The post Google’s TalkBack screen reader is getting new features available first on Galaxy phones appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2XPamXG
via IFTTT