AnTuTu releases top 10 list of domestic SoCs for H1 2020

Earlier this week, AuTuTu released its top 10 list of the highest performing smartphones tested in July. On Friday, AnTuTu released a new list, ranking the top 10 SoCs (System on a chip) for the first half of 2020. The top chipsets range from a score of 249151 all the way to 401108. The top three rankes on the list were the Snapdragon 865, the MediaTek Dimensity 1000+, and the Snapdragon 855+. MediaTek is a new contender in high-end chipsets, and the Dimensity 1000+ has its 5G integrated into the SoC’s modem. The Snapdragon 865 must use a separate X55 Modem for 5G support. The...

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TikTok issues statement following US Administration’s executive order

On Thursday, the White House issued an executive order that bans TikTok from doing business with US companies. The order claimed that “the spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People’s Republic of China continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” This is the reason given by the US government, without evidence, that “action must be taken to address the threat posed by one mobile application n particular, TikTok.” Following the executive order, TikTok issued a public statement in...

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Poco X2 starts receiving MIUI 12 update in India

Xiaomi sub-brand Poco has started rolling out its first ever update to MIUI 12 for Indian users. The update to MIUI 12 is now going out to Poco X2 units sold in the subcontinent, with a bunch of reports on Twitter confirming the receipt of the new software. The new build number is MIUI 12.0.1.0,QGHINXM, and it arrives over-the-air as a 813 MB download. The changelog says it's "stable", but it's unclear if this is just a soak test or a more general rollout. Whatever the case, at least some people received it, so it's clearly on the way for all Poco X2 units, even if it might take a while...

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 hands-on video leaks, showing more angles

Samsung has sort of semi-announced the Galaxy Z Fold2 at its big Unpacked event on August 5, with the company promising a proper unveiling, with all details, to come on September 1. We got a few official press renders of the upcoming device, but sometimes nothing beats an honest-to-God hands-on video. And today that's exactly what has surfaced, courtesy of Ben Geskin on Twitter. It's a short 16-second affair, but does portray more angles of the device than the official images. You can see the weird placement of the internal hole-punch selfie camera, the display crease (which is obviously...

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The Huawei Mate 40 will get Kirin chipset, but may be the last Kirin-powered flagship

Huawei CEO Richard Yu spoke at the China Information Technology Summit 2020, talking about the upcoming Mate 40 phones, the next flagship chipset and the supply issues his company is facing due to the trade war. The Kirin 1000 chipset is expected to be announced at IFA in early September before making its debut on the Huawei Mate 40 lineup. It will be a 5 nm chip fabbed at TSMC and will be based on the Cortex-A78 CPU core. However, the Mate 40s may be the last phones to use a Kirin chipset. The US will block TSMC from manufacturing chips for Huawei starting in mid-September. Before then...

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Apple says game streaming services like Microsoft's xCloud violate App Store policies

Samsung made a big deal out of its partnership with Microsoft, which includes special enhancements for the xCloud game streaming service for the new Galaxy Note20 phones, plus a 3-moth pass for those who pre-order them. But xCloud’s beta test on iOS ended early, well before the September 15 launch of the service. As suspected, this was due to Apple App Store policies. Nvidia’s GeForce Now and Google’s Stadia are not available on iPhone and iPad for the same reason. Here a statement from Apple sent to Business Insider: “The App Store was created to be a safe and trusted place for...

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OnePlus Nord tear-up: watch Carl Pei assemble the phone by hand

Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus, rolled his sleeves up and assembled a OnePlus Nord piece by piece. Many of these tasks are performed by machines at the factory, but the exec demonstrated the assembly process by hand and showed great familiarity with every component in the process. Watch the video below. Pei points out interesting details, like the copper heat pipe, which wicks heat away from the chipset, and explains the functions of the three ribbon cables that connect the motherboard with the secondary board at the bottom. He makes it seem easy, but the final design is the...

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Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra leak points to ceramic and transparent backs

Xiaomi is turning 10 this year and will celebrate with special editions of two of its best phones at the moment – the company is expected to announce commemorative editions of the Mi 10 Pro and Redmi K30 Pro on August 11. Previously, rumors dubbed them “Pro Plus”, but CEO Lei Jun posted on Weibo that in English the phones will bear the “Ultra” name and “Extreme Commemorative Edition” in China (or maybe “Supreme”). Leaked info suggests that there will be two versions of the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra – one with a ceramic back and one with a transparent back. The ceramic model will come in...

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vivo iQOO 5 battery with 120W fast-charging certified, live-tested on video

The first commercially available phone with charging speeds over 100W, vivo iQOO 5, is coming on August 17. The company revealed it will have 120W fast-charging and posted a video, revealing the process of certification at TUV Rheinland while answering some of the questions about such charging rates. During charging, the iQOO 5 smartphone will reach “normal temperatures” in a test environment of room temperature of about 25 degrees. The plug will be able to withstand 10,000 plug-ins and plug-outs of a cable, while the battery can take up to 600 charge and discharge cycles...

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Xiaomi to release MIUI version in India without banned apps

Earlier this year the Indian Government banned 59 mobile applications, including TikTok and WeChat as well as some Xiaomi ecosystem apps. Today the smartphone manufacturer posted a message on Twitter, revealing a MIUI update is scheduled to hit all devices, removing all blocked apps and clarifying that MIUI Cleaner isn't among them. The company also promised 100% of data by Indian users is stored on servers in India and none of the information is shared with anyone outside of India. The new MIUI update will be built without any of the blocked apps being pre-installed, which is a...

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Kuo: iPhone 12 production runs into camera supply issues, launch may be unaffected

Back in April analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the 5.4” and 6.1” iPhones will start mass production in September, a month after the originally planned start in August. Now he says that problems with the lens for the ultra wide camera may lead to delayed shipments of the component. All four iPhone 12 models will be using 7P lenses (7 element assembly) for their ultra wide-angle cameras. The issue lies with the lenses for the two non-Pro iPhones as their coating is prone to cracking during the high temperature, high humidity test. This problem affects components coming from Genius...

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Microsoft is now looking to acquire TikTok's global operations

Earlier this week Microsoft officially confirmed that it is negotiating the acquisition of TikTok’s operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Now insiders report that the software giant is looking to expand the scope and include Europe and India in the deal, perhaps even buying TikTok’s global operations. The Financial Times writes that Microsoft and ByteDance (which owns TikTok) were in negotiations to add India to the deal, but that reportedly fell through. A source told Reuters that Microsoft is yet to approach ByteDance with the offer to fully acquire the social...

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Samsung activates ECG on Galaxy Watch Active2 in Korea

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2 was announced last August with the hardware to measure electrocardiogram (ECG) readings, but the feature wasn't enabled due to pending approvals from regulatory agencies in different countries, and it was only in May this year that Galaxy Watch Active2 got ECG certification in South Korea. Samsung said it will activate ECG on the Galaxy Watch Active2 in Q3 2020, and the company has kept its promise as the feature is now enabled on the smartwatch, albeit in South Korea only. To use the ECG feature, Galaxy Watch Active2 users need to download the...

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Samsung Galaxy Note20 gets a Mystic Red version in South Korea

Samsung's Galaxy Note20 officially comes in Mystic Green, and Mystic Gray color options in addition to the Mystic Bronze hero paint job. Well it appears that the company's home market is getting a bit of a special treatment and an exclusive-for-now Mystic Red Samsung Galaxy Note20 5G. The vanilla version of the phone has a bright red back panel and a similarly glowing S Pen as is the norm these days. There is also a custom wallpaper for this phone, which is exclusive to the local carrier KT, although we would expect it to make it to the global scene eventually. On the inside...

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Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro Plus is going to be called Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra

Next week Xiaomi will celebrate its first decade in the smartphone business by announcing two new phones - previously believed to be named the Mi 10 Pro Plus and the Redmi K30 Extreme Commemorative Edition. Today Lei Jun, co-founder and chairman of the company, slightly lifted the curtain on the first phone, revealing that it will actually be called Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra outside of China, while the working (machine-translated) name for the home market is Mi 10 Supreme Edition. The executive also revealed more details about the incoming phone like availability and versions. From what...

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Realme 5 Pro and C3 get new color options

Realme has announced new color options for the Realme C3 and Realme 5 Pro in India. The entry-level C3 now comes in Volcano Grey shade, while the 5 Pro is now offered in Chroma White. Realme 5 Pro in Chroma White The Volcano Grey C3 is already up for purchase through Flipkart, but it will also be sold through the company's official Indian site. The Chrome White 5 Pro, on the other hand, will be available for purchase from August 8 noon local time through Flipkart and Realme's online store. Realme C3 in Volcano Grey In addition to announcing new color options for C3 and 5...

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