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mardi 2 juin 2020

India eases restrictions and plans $6.6 billion to boost smartphone manufacturing

In an attempt to attract more foreign investment from smartphone manufacturers during these trying times, the Indian government has dropped a few clauses from its production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and has planned an incentive of about $6.6 billion. According to a recent report from the Economic Times, officials familiar with the matter have revealed that the government has dropped a clause that “evaluated plant and machinery brought into India at 40% of its value” which was opposed mainly by Apple.

Along with the aforementioned clause, the government has agreed to a few other changes to the PLI scheme which will pave the way for smartphone manufacturers to boost production in the country. These changes include giving investors a say in future changes to the PLI scheme, removal of various caps, and another clause which stated that the government would release the incentive despite the industry meeting its targets only if it had the money to do so. Additionally, a clause of force majeure has been added to the scheme which permits the companies to seek reliefs from the set targets during times of natural calamities such as COVID-19.

Furthermore, a separate report from Bloomberg reveals that the government is also planning financial incentives of about INR 500 billion (~$6.6 billion) to attract investments from more companies in the smartphone and related components sector. As per the ministry of electronics and information and technology, the government will initially target 5 global suppliers and extend an incentive of as much as 6% on incremental sales for goods made in the country over a period of five years. The government will also provide an incentive of 25% on capital expenditure for the production of electronic components, semiconductors, and other parts. The manufacturers will also be offered electronics manufacturing clusters with ready-to-use facilities.

During a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said that the move is expected to make India a global hub for mobile phone manufacturing and make smartphones the largest exported item out of India, while also generating half a million jobs. In a statement regarding the planned incentives, Amitabh Kant, CEO at Niti Aayog, was quoted saying, “The schemes will help India become totally self-reliant and penetrate global markets…It will bring global value chain and enable India to become a leader in electronics manufacturing.”

The updated PLI scheme and proposed investments come at a time when a number of US-based companies are exploring avenues to diversify smartphone manufacturing out of China under the ‘China plus one strategy’. It’s also worth noting that increased domestic production might also be beneficial for the Indian consumer, as it could result in smartphones getting cheaper in the country.


Source: Economic Times, Bloomberg

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Amazfit Bip S with 40-day battery life launched in India for ₹4,999 (~$67)

At the CES 2020, Huami had unveiled the Amazfit T-Rex smartwatch, Amazfit Bip S fitness tracker, Amazfit PowerBuds, and the Amazfit ZenBuds wireless. For the unaware, the Bip S is a follow up to the Bip, which was launched back in 2018, featuring new internals but without any noticeable changes in terms of design. The lightweight fitness tracker has now finally made its way to the Indian market, as the Huami Amazfit Bip S is now available for purchase across both online and offline channels in the country.

Amazfit Bip S: Specifications

Specifications Amazfit Bip S
Dimensions 42 x 35.3 x 11.4mm
Weight 31g (with strap) and 19g (without strap)
Strap length 110mm (long), 85mm (short)
Waterproofing 5 ATM
Screen 1.28″ Transflective Color TFT, 176×176 resolution, Always-on Display, 64 RGB color gamut
Touch Screen 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 3 generation tempered glass + anti-fingerprint coating
Sensors
  • BioTracker PPG Bio-Tracking Optical Sensor
  • 3-axis acceleration sensor
  • 3-axis geomagnetic sensor
Positioning GPS + GLONASS
Connectivity Bluetooth 5.0/BLE
Battery 200mAh lithium-ion polymer battery (typical value)
Theoretical charging time About 2.5 hours
Battery Life
  • Daily use mode: 30 days
  • Standby mode: 70 days
  • GPS continuous working time: 20 hours
Body & Strap material Polycarbonate; Silicone and skin-friendly TPU
Supported devices Android 5.0 and above, iOS 10.0 and above
Accessories Magnetic charging base, user manual

The Amazfit Bip S is an affordable fitness tracker that packs in a 1.28″ transflective color display with a 176 x176 resolution. It features a BioTracker PPG Bio-tracking Optical Sensor, a 3-axis acceleration sensor, and a 2-axis geomagnetic sensor for all your fitness tracking needs. The fitness band also includes support for Bluetooth 5.0/BLE and packs in a 200mAh lithium-ion polymer battery which is rated to provide 40-days of battery life on a single charge. The device also features the Huami-PAI health assessment feature which makes use of data about your physical activity over the last seven days to show a PAI score.

Huami Amazfit Bip S

Pricing and Availability

The Amazfit Bip S will be available for purchase in India for ₹4,999 (~$67) from June 3, 2020. Interested customers can buy it off Amazon.in, Flipkart, Myntra, and even Amazfit India’s official website. You can also find the device available offline via Croma, Reliance Digital, and Poorvika Mobiles.

The post Amazfit Bip S with 40-day battery life launched in India for ₹4,999 (~$67) appeared first on xda-developers.



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ZTE Axon 11 SE launches in China with the MediaTek Dimensity 800 but is coming to Europe with a worse processor

Chinese smartphone manufacturer ZTE is known for its Axon series of flagships that offer top-of-the-line specifications at a very competitive price. However, despite offering some compelling products in the past, the company’s flagships haven’t received the same reception as some other affordable flagships from manufacturers like Xiaomi and OnePlus. For this reason, ZTE transitioned its Axon lineup to mid-range devices earlier this year with the launch of the new ZTE Axon 11 5G. Instead of Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 865 chip, the Axon 11 packed in the mid-range Snapdragon 765G along with a few premium features. In keeping with this new trend, ZTE announced the Axon 11 SE in China yesterday featuring MediaTek’s Dimensity 800 SoC.

ZTE Axon 11 SE 5G MediaTek Dimensity 800

Priced starting at CNY 1998 (~$ 280), the new ZTE Axon 11 SE packs in a 6.53-inch FHD+ hole-punch display with a 60Hz refresh rate, a quad-camera setup with a 48MP primary sensor, and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. In terms of design, the Axon 11 SE is almost identical to the Axon 11, but the aforementioned specifications make it slightly less premium compared to the older device. While ZTE hasn’t revealed any information about an international release for either device, we now have reason to believe that the “international” Axon 11 SE will feature even worse specifications.

Slovenian telecom operator A1 recently launched the A1 Alpha 20+ in the country, which is the “international” variant of the ZTE Axon 11 SE. While most of the device’s specifications remain the same, the device is based on the MT6771T (MediaTek Helio P70) mobile platform instead of the much higher-end MediaTek Dimensity 800.

Furthermore, the ZTE Axon 11 SE was also spotted on Chinese certification authority TENAA’s website with the model number ZTE 9000N. The device was also certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance several months ago and the Firmware Version in the certification (TELMXZTE_9000V1.0) had confirmed it to be the A1 Alpha 20+. Additionally, XDA Recognized Developer deadman96385 has also shared the attached screenshot (see above), which reveal that the A1 Alpha 20+ goes by the model number P671F60, which is the same as the model number for the recently leaked ZTE Blade V 2020.

Thus, we can conclude that the ZTE Axon 11 SE (China) is the same device as the A1 Alpha 20+(Austria and Slovenia) and that it will be called the ZTE Blade V 2020 4G in other European markets. This information can also be confirmed by the press renders of the A1 Alpha 20+ on A1’s website, that show a design identical to that of the recently launched ZTE Axon 11 SE.

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Samsung rolls out home screen widgets for the Galaxy Buds and Buds+

The Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds+ plugins for the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app are reportedly getting an update that brings new home screen widgets to help users easily control the TWS earbuds. As per a recent post on Reddit, there are two new widgets for each pair of wireless earbuds. The first widget shows the current battery level of both the earbuds and the charging case, while the second widget allows you to easily turn on the Ambient Sound mode and lock the touchpad.

As you can see in the attached image, both the new widgets have two different themes —  white and black — and the Widget settings also give you the option to manually set the opacity of the widgets. Additionally, the Widget settings also include a toggle that will automatically match the widget’s theme with the system theme. This means that whenever you switch on the One UI dark mode on your Samsung device, the widget will automatically switch to the black theme and vice-versa.

In case you haven’t received the new update yet, you can follow the Play Store link below and download the latest Galaxy Buds or Galaxy Buds+ plugin on your device. Max Weinbach from our team has already received the update on his device and has shared the screenshot included in the featured image. As a few comments on the original Reddit thread point out, the update isn’t available for all users right now and you might have to wait for some time before the update finally arrives for your device.

Galaxy Buds Plugin (Free, Google Play) →

Galaxy Buds+ Plugin (Free, Google Play) →


Source: Reddit

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[Update: Possibly this month] Brave Browser Android dev says the team would like to add extension support in 2020

Update 1 (06/02/2020 @ 02:30 AM ET): Brave Browser might finally add extension support this month. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on December 17, 2019, is preserved below.

When it comes to web browsers, Android offers users a variety of different options. Along with Google Chrome, Android users have access to a plethora of great third-party browsers like Kiwi, Vivaldi, and Brave. These browsers offer some amazing features like native ad-blocking, Chrome extension support, cryptojacking protection, and more. But what helps Brave stand out is that it gives you the option to support your favorite websites (like XDA) by watching ads. For this reason alone, Brave ranks among the best third-party browser apps out there. However, its lack of extension support forces several users to rely on other browsers as well. But this might change in the near future.

In a recent comment on Reddit, a developer from Brave Browser’s Android team has revealed that the browser might get extension support next year. The comment was posted in response to a query submitted by a user and in response, the developer wrote, “We would like to add extensions support on Q1-Q2 2020”. While this still doesn’t confirm that the browser will get extension support in the first half of next year, it does reveal that the team is willing to work towards adding the feature. According to the official Brave Browser FAQ, the company didn’t add extensions support in the browser as it introduces API and performance limits while also raising security concerns. Nonetheless, it’s great to see that the team is willing to work on bringing a highly requested feature to the browser.

Source: Reddit


Update: Brave Browser could get extensions support on Android as early as this month

Developers working on Brave Browser have a working prototype of the browser with extension support. They are targeting a release as early as the end of this month.

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Nubia Play may launch internationally as the Red Magic 5G Lite

Shortly after the launch of the flagship Red Magic 5G in March this year, Nubia unveiled a new mid-range gaming smartphone called the Nubia Play 5G in China. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765G chip, the Nubia Play 5G featured a 6.65-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display with an impressive 144Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate. The device also packed in up to 8GB of LPDDR4z RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 2.1 storage, along with a massive 5,100mAh battery featuring 30W fast charging support.

The Nubia Play 5G went on sale in China at a starting price of CNY 2,399 (~$340) on April 24th, but the company has still not revealed any official information about its international release. However, thanks to a recent tweet from leakster Sudhanshu Ambhore (@Sudhanshu1414), we now know that the device will soon be launched internationally as the Red Magic 5G Lite. The tweet cites certification listings of the device spotted on the Global Certification Forum (GCF) and Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), which confirm that Nubia will be launching the mid-range Nubia Play 5G as a “Lite” variant of its flagship Red Magic 5G.

Since the device has already received certification for an international release, we expect Nubia to officially launch the Red Magic 5G Lite in the next couple of weeks. Based on the device’s pricing in Nubia’s home market, we suspect that the Red Magic 5G Lite might be launched at a starting price of around $350-400 internationally.

Nubia Red Magic 5G Lite specifications

Specification Nubia Red Magic 5G Lite
Dimensions and Weight
  • 171.7 x 78.5 x 9.1 mm
  • 21og
Display
  • 6.65″ FHD+ (2340 x 1080) Super AMOLED;
  • Notchless display with thin top bezel
  • 144Hz refresh rate
  • 240Hz Touch Response Rate
  • 4096 auto brightness adjustment levels
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G:
  • 1x Kryo 475 (ARM Cortex-A76-based) Prime core @ 2.4GHz
  • 1x Kryo 475 (ARM Cortex-A76-based) Performance core @ 2.2GHz
  • 6x (ARM Cortex-A55-based) Efficiency cores @ 1.8GHz

Adreno 620 GPU

RAM and Storage
  • 6GB LPDDR4X + 128GB UFS 2.1
  • 8GB + 128GB
  • 8GB + 256GB
Battery & Charging
  • 5,100 mAh battery
  • 30W fast charging via USB PD
Rear Camera Photo:
  • Primary: 48MP Sony IMX582, f/1.79
  • Secondary: 8MP wide-angle
  • Tertiary: 2MP Super Macro
  • Quaternary: 2MP Depth Sensor
Front Camera 12MP selfie shooter
Other Features
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Bluetooth 5.1
  • Dual-frequency GPS
  • 5G SA/NSA
  • Pressure Sensitive capacitive buttons on side frame
  • In-Display Fingerprint Scanner
Android Version Nubia UI 8.0 based on Android 10

Source: GCF, EEC

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lundi 1 juin 2020

Unofficial LineageOS 17.1 brings Android 10 to the Realme 1

As most of you should already know, the Realme brand has its roots in OPPO, which is itself owned by BBK Electronics. The Realme 1, the first smartphone under the Realme brand from before the company spun off from OPPO, ran ColorOS, a customized Android software designed by none other than OPPO itself. To differentiate their devices from their parent company, Realme introduced a new interface called “Realme UI” which is built on top of Android 10. However, the OEM has no plans to deliver the Realme UI/Android 10 update to the Realme 1, although the phone is still getting regular security updates on its Android 9 Pie-based ColorOS 6 firmware.

Realme 1 XDA Forums

As expected, though, XDA’s aftermarket development community has come to the rescue. XDA Senior Member Invincible-Venom has compiled an unofficial version of LineageOS 17.1 for the Realme 1 which brings a close-to-stock Android 10 experience to owners of this phone. The availability of the kernel source code as well as the existence of an official bootloader unlocking method certainly helped the developer in this venture. Apart from a few quirks such as broken USB tethering and SELinux set to permissive (which is a major security issue we hope to see resolved soon), the current builds can be used as a daily driver.

realme_1_unofficial_lineageos_17.1It is worth mentioning that this particular build of LineageOS is a source-built ROM and not a Generic System Image (GSI), though arguably many custom ROMs these days have roots in GSI. Both the CPH1859 and the CPH1861 variants of the Realme 1 are supported by the developer. You need to flash the latest version of the stock firmware (CPH1861EX_11_C.49) and use the TWRP compiled the same developer before installing this ROM. There are some known incompatibility issues with Magisk, so users are advised to stick with Magisk versions 20.1 or 20.3.

Unofficial LineageOS 17.1 for the Realme 1: Download ||| XDA Discussion Thread

The associated device tree and the vendor tree are available on GitHub. A built-in OTA updater was initially planned as well, but the developer has abandoned it for the time being. Now that a somewhat-stable version of LineageOS 17.1 for the Realme 1 is here, we hope to see the fruits of this effort available to the community in the near future.

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