Motorola also demonstrates its own long-distance wireless charging

Motorola has introduced its understanding of how devices should charge wirelessly from a distance, just after Xiaomi introduced Mi Air Charge. The technology of the Lenovo subsidiary can charge from a one meter distance, provided nothing stands in the way between the charger and the device. According to the official video, two Motorola Edge phones (likely modified for the test) are placed in a standing position 80cm and 100cm away from the charger, respectively. They immediately start to fill up the battery, but once a person places his hand on the charger, the process stops. Here’s the...

Read More

Xiaomi introduces Mi Air Charge, wireless charging from across the room

Xiaomi introduced Mi Air Charge technology this Friday morning. According to the company “remote charging technology” can charge multiple devices simultaneously and will recharge a smartphone that’s being used, “while walking around or even when something’s in the way”. We're excited to bring you the remote charging technology - Mi Air Charge Technology! Charge multiple devices simultaneously while you're gaming, walking around or even when something's in the way, no strings attached. Another giant leap forward in wireless charging technology! pic.twitter.com/wEoB10wOQ2— Xiaomi (@Xiaomi)...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G and A72 5G show up in leaked official renders

Samsung's already in the process of refreshing its mid-range A series of smartphones for 2021, and it won't stop anytime soon. In fact, it's yet to get to the A5x, which has traditionally been its best selling smartphone. While we wait for an official announcement, Evan Blass of @evleaks fame has got a hold of the following official-looking leaked render, which depicts the upcoming Galaxy A52 5G. Compared to its predecessor, the A51 5G, the front looks eerily similar, while on the back the camera arrangement is both different when it comes to placement of the sensors, but also in...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy S21 video teardown takes a peek at its insides

Following up his durability test that revealed a weird double screen protector, YouTuber Zach from JerryRigEverything has taken a deep dive... inside the Galaxy S21 Ultra. If you were wondering what lies beneath all that glass, here's your chance to find out without destroying your own unit. It is quite expensive after all, so definitely don't try this at home. As you can see, the battery glue is still to the usual Samsung level of "apocalypse proof", while the camera modules are, well, huge, and three of four have OIS too. The vibration motor is at the top, which isn't a usual...

Read More

First Sony Xperia 1 III renders show a periscope camera, slimmer bezels

You saw the Xperia Compact renders, now check out the big guns - @OnLeaks published images showing what the Sony Xperia 1 III will look like. And, for the most part, it will look the same as the Mark II. The most interesting change is on the back, a periscope lens will be added to the setup. It’s still a triple camera system, though, so perhaps the main sensor will go above 12MP to fill in the mid-range zoom gap. The cameras will feature ZEISS-branded lenses with T* coating and the 3D ToF sensor will stay for another year. Unfortunately, further specifics about the camera are not...

Read More

Counterpoint: Apple took the lead in Q4, but Realme grew the most in 2020

Alongside IDC and Canalys, Counterpoint also released its report on the last quarter of 2020 as well as the full year. It confirms that Apple took over at the front, but since its data includes the top 10 maker it also gives us some more interesting findings. Such as the fact that Realme was the biggest gainer, posting a year over year increase of 65%. Let's talk Apple first. In the months October through December the Cupertino company shipped nearly 82 million iPhones - up 13% over the same three months last year. According to Counterpoint's numbers, Apple tied Samsung for top spot in Q4...

Read More

Our Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra camera review video is up

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is the company’s no-compromise flagship. It’s Samsung’s most feature-packed phone currently out and after we brought you our detailed written review, it’s now time for out dedicated camera breakdown in video form. With its four cameras around the back headlined by the 108MP ISOCELL HM3 main sensor, 12МP ultrawide snapper and two zoom lenses (3x telephoto and 10x periscope) Samsung is offering arguably the most versatile mobile shooter on the market. In our testing we liked the sharpness and detail preservations as well as the balanced colors from the main...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy M21 receives Android 11 with One UI 3.0 ahead of schedule

While still not perfect, Samsung has really improved its update game – even affordable models like the Galaxy M21 are quickly moving up to Android 11. The update for the phone is already rolling out in India, even though it was originally scheduled for a March release. The new firmware, M215FXXU2BUAC, brings all the goodies of One UI 3.0 and includes the January security patch. You can read our mini review of the latest Galaxy skin or watch the video below for a quick summary. And don’t forget the Good Lock customization options. One UI 3.0 (Android 11) update for the Samsung...

Read More

DxOMark: iPhone 12 mini good enough for 14th place

The iPhone 12 mini was able to score the 14th overall spot on DxOMark's ever-changing table of tested phones thanks to good overall performance in photos and videos. Accurate exposure (both scene and target) and fast and on point focus were quoted as strengths of the tiny iPhone, while noise and occasional blue casting in the white balance were issues. DxOMark was able to make the iPhone 12 mini clip some highlights in certain scenes (case in point - an indoor shot where the phone made the room brighter in favor of the tiny slit of light in the window), pointing to a limited dynamic...

Read More

WhatsApp integrates biometric security in web and desktop clients

WhatsApp has announced a neat new security feature that adds another layer of security to your account by requiring biometric authorization when signing into a web or desktop client. The new functionality has been rolled out to both Android and iOS users. Today we’re starting to roll out a new security feature for WhatsApp Web and Desktop: face and fingerprint unlock when linking devices. WhatsApp does not see your face or fingerprint data. Chats for your 👀 onlyhttps://t.co/qR3zsexzfj pic.twitter.com/Ei5G35MPpA— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) January 28, 2021 Before you authorize the ...

Read More

iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4 fix security vulnerabilities

Apple’s latest mobile software updates are here with the official release of iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4. Both updates carry significant kernel and WebKit vulnerability fixes so it’s best to install them on your devices as soon as possible. According to a security document shared by Apple, an unnamed malicious app could gain elevated privileges and serve as a gateway for exploits. The WebKit issues allowed remote attackers to execute harmful code on your device. Apple is doing an ongoing investigation of the matter and assures the exploits were patched with the new updates. The new iOS...

Read More

Airtel becomes the first carrier in India to test a 5G network, is holding off the launch

Indian carrier Bharti Airtel trialed a live 5G network today, the test was conducted in the Hyderabad region using the 1.8 GHz band. The carrier spent the last year upgrading its network using Ericsson hardware manufactured in India. And now it can enable 5G with the push of a button. But that would be a mistake, CEO Gopal Vittal believes. He insists that a true 5G experience is only possible after the government allocates mid-band spectrum (2.5-3.7 GHz) for the new networks. That hasn’t happened yet, so the only option right now is for 4G and 5G networks to share spectrum (using...

Read More

ZTE confirms Axon 30 Pro 5G is one the way with impressive camera setup

ZTE brought the Axon 20 smartphone back in September - it was the first commercially available device with a camera hidden under the display. Just five months later the company is already preparing the successor after its president announced a ZTE Axon 30 Pro 5G is on its way. Ni Fei, President of Mobile Devices at ZTE, has said on his personal Weibo profile that the new Axon 30 Pro will be among the best phones of 2021 and it will have one of the mightiest camera setups. The profile of the manufacturer posted an image of an irregular shape that looks like a folder or a sim card....

Read More

Honor CEO says future devices will have Google services

After Honor's separation from Huawei, everyone was wondering if the company's future phones would be allowed to partner with Google and have its services installed. Now the CEO, George Zhao, clears the air and says that there's no reason for the company not to partner up with Google again. So far, the company has confirmed partnerships with Intel, AMD, Qualcomm and MediaTek with Google being the most major name missing from the list. In an interview for South China Morning Post, the company's CEO said that the two tech firms are already in talks. However, that doesn't clarify...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy Note10 Lite gets Android 11 with One UI 3.0

The latest Samsung phone to get the Andriod 11 and One UI 3.0 update treatment is the Galaxy Note10 Lite. Last year’s affordable Note member is now getting the N770FXXU7DUA8 update which also brings the January security patch. Currently, the update has been spotted in France and it should naturally make its way to more regions soon. It is the first major OS upgrade for the Note10 Lite which launched with Android 10. Based on Samsung’s promise of three generations of OS updates the device should see at least two more major Android OS updates in its lifetime. Feel free to check out...

Read More

Canalys: competitors gobble up Huawei's lost market share in Q4, Honor faces uphill battle

2020 ended with a strong three months for Apple – the company shipped the most iPhones ever in a single quarter, specifically 81.8 million units, according to data from Canalys. This pushed Apple to the top spot in terms of market share. Samsung failed to defend its position as shipments declined 12% year-on-year (YoY), down to 62 million units. But the Apple/Samsung fight wasn’t the highlight of the quarter. Huawei fell out of the Top 5 smartphone makes for the first time in six year. Competitors from China were quick to gobble up its market share with Xiaomi growing an impressive...

Read More

Samsung reports yearly profit increase despite COVID-19 pandemic

Samsung has just announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2020 and the full fiscal year, and the numbers look impressive for both periods. The company saw a 26% increase in profit just for the October-December period, compared with the same three months in 2019, while sales increased ever so slightly - just under 3%. Samsung has also recorded a nearly 30% increase in profit for the whole pandemic-disrupted calendar year, while sales improved by KRW6 trillion ($5.36 billion) on a yearly basis, but a quarter of the gains (approximately KRW1.4 trillion/$1.2 billion) were...

Read More

DxOMark: Sony Xperia 1 II's camera comparable to a two-year-old flagship

Almost a year after the release of Sony Xperia 1 II, DxOMark did a comprehensive camera review and the results aren't all that impressive. The overall score is just 112 points, which ranks the handset right after the two-year-old Samsung Galaxy S10+ and the OnePlus 7 Pro. But it does share its position with the vanilla Galaxy Note20 from last year. What the reviewers didn't like is the rather narrow dynamic range in moderate to low-light conditions, hue shift artifacts in all photos, unreliable autofocus, low detail in the telephoto stills and problems with AF and dynamic range in...

Read More

IDC: Smartphone sales return to growth in Q4, Apple takes the lead

We have the latest IDC report on worldwide smartphone shipments and after a highly turbulent year, things settled down in the October 1 – December 31 period. The market saw a bounce-back quarter with a total of 385.9 million shipments headlined by Apple’s 90.1 million share. As a whole, the market grew by 4.3% compared to Q4 2019 and all top smartphone vendors (sans Huawei) saw positive growth levels to end off 2020. Fueled by the release of its iPhone 12 series, Apple saw the best shipment volume of any vendor in a single quarter which rightfully translated to a 22.2% year over year...

Read More

Xiaomi working on two phones supporting 67W wireles charging

A dissection of MIUI 12.5 beta build reveals that Xiaomi is working on two new phones supporting 67W wireless charging. The two phones in question are codenamed "star" and "mars". Evidence suggests that one of them is likely the still unannounced Mi 11 Pro but the other one remains a mystery. Could this be a Mi 11 Ultra? One thing is for sure, though, these phones are somehow related to each other as the model names end in K1 and K1A. It could also mean that these are the same phone but designated for different regions. Additionally, "star" will surely be running Qualcomm's Snapdragon...

Read More