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Apple Confirms that all Three iPhone Models Releasing in 2020 will be 5G

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Most of the network providing companies have got their hands on the 5G technology, and so, the least we can expect from Apple is to incorporate the next iPhone models with the 5G compatibility. The rumours were already making rounds that the latest iPhone models will have support for 5G, and now, a note sent by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo to the Apple investors has confirmed that three of Apple’s latest iPhone will render support for 5G.

Though in the past the company had suggested that it would be including the support for 5G in the two models of the three, it is going to launch in 2020. But since the competition is increasing and most of the Android phone developers have opted for 5G, the company has decided to get 5G to all three models it is going to release in 2020.

The previous reports also gave a hint on the sizes of the iPhones, i.e. 5.4, 6.7-inch and a 6.1-inch. All the three iPhones will have an OLED display, the first two models being the high-end iPhones. Previously, it was decided that except the 6.1-inch iPhone model, the other two would be supporting 5G, and it being the cheaper one, will have support for 3G/LTE network.

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Reportedly, Apple will be including a smaller TrueDepth camera with all the three iPhones, that will be able to shrink the notch on OLED screens. Also, the company will be adding a seven-piece lens system for their rear cameras.

All the three iPhones will also be including support for mmWave and Sub-6GHz spectrum. Though rising competition is one of the main reasons for adding the 5G support in all its new iPhones coming in 2020, having acquired Intel’s 5G business, the company, now, has more resources for bringing the 5G technology to its new phones. But the company will still be using the Qualcomm chips to make the 5G technology work on the upcoming iPhone models.

“Apple may have the intention to launch the 5G iPhone, which only supports Sub-6GHz, to gain market share by lowering the cost/price for markets which only support Sub-6GHz (e.g., Chinese market). However, 5G iPhone, which only supports Sub-6GHz and the version which supports mmWave & Sub-6GHz are regarded as different projects even though they share the same form factor design,” said Kuo.

Apple currently is working on the launch of its next range of iPhones in coming September. These iPhones are said to be the revision of the iPhone models the company released in 2018. There will be successors to all the three previously launched models, i.e. iPhone XR, XS and XS Max. The iPhone XR will have an LCD display, whereas the other two iPhones will be incorporated with Sport OLED displays. The all three iPhone models will be the premium version of their ancestors and will also have dual cameras.

Apple and Intel

Apple and Intel Agrees on Apple Acquiring the Intel’s Smartphone Modem Business for $1B

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Apple, through a blog post, announced on Thursday that it is going to acquire the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business. According to the post, over 2200 Intel employees will switch to Apple. The agreement between Apple and Intel also includes the acquisition of IP and equipment from Intel and the payable amount for Apple is set to be $1 billion.

The deal between Apple and Intel is no surprise for most of the people, as there have been rumours making rounds that Apple will be taking over the Intel’s modem business so that it will not have to rely on other companies for the modems for its smartphones.

After the deal is closed, Apple will be independently building its own 5G modems for iPhones. Recently the company settled its dispute with its longtime modem supplier Qualcomm. But it seems Apple is no more interested in taking the help of a third party supplier for the equipment. The company will also be taking over the right on Intel’s 17,000 wireless technology patents.

Apple and Intel
Image Source: appleworld

“We’ve worked with Intel for many years and know this team shares Apple’s passion for designing technologies that deliver the world’s best experiences for our users. Apple is excited to have so many excellent engineers join our growing cellular technologies group, and know they’ll thrive in Apple’s creative and dynamic environment. They, together with our significant acquisition of innovative IP, will help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward.” said Johny Srouji SVP Apple.

Apple leads towards in-house production

Apple and Intel broke the news two months after the former made a settlement with Qualcomm in April. In fact, Intel had also announced that it plans to stop all its operations of producing smartphone modems after the two companies had ended their years’ long-running dispute. However, Intel will still be developing the modems for PCs, laptops, Internet of Things, etc.

According to Apple, the two companies will close the deal by the end of 2019, after going through all the legalities. Beliving the rumours, Apple may start 5G modem production as soon as the mid of 2020. The deal will lead Apple towards in-house production, and this way, it can focus better on the quality of its products as well as save a lot of money.

Samsung Galaxy fold

Galaxy Fold : Samsung to Finally Launch its ‘Improved’ Foldable in September

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Though not required, many of the smartphone development companies have announced their own foldable smartphones Samsung being one of the first to do so. Samsung had revealed that it is working on a foldable smartphone, Galaxy Fold, earlier this year, and even got to launch one. But the foldable from Samsung had numerous problems. This led to many controversies, and it became a fail.

But now the company has again come up with its foldable smartphone Galaxy Fold, and that, according to an announcement made by Samsung, will be launched in September. The company said that it has made all the required improvements to its Galaxy Fold, and it is ready for the launch.

“Earlier this year, we announced Galaxy Fold-Samsung’s first foldable device and the beginning of an entirely new mobile category. Since then, we’ve made improvements to the Galaxy Fold to ensure consumers have the best possible experience.” said one of the spokespersons from Galaxy Fold development division.

Samsung Galaxy fold
Image Source: trustedreviews.com

The main issue with the previous version of the foldable was the cracking of the screen when folded. But now the company has made some good changes to the smartphone that, according to the company claims, will protect the screen.

What are the New Improvements?

The foldable has a protective layer over the Infinity Flex Display. Samsung has extended this very protective layer beyond the bezel of the phone, making it attached to the phone. Thus the user cannot remove it by mere scratching.

The company has added the protection caps to the top and bottom of the hinge area of the smartphone. This way, it becomes even stronger. The company also took time to reduce the space between the body of the phone and the hinge.

To provide extra protection to the screen, Samsung has added an extra metal layer under the Infinity Flex Display.

“Samsung has taken the time to fully evaluate the product design, make necessary improvements and run rigorous tests to validate the changes we made,” said Samsung.

Reportedly, the company is aiming to improve the user experience and has even made some changes to the UX/UI of the smartphone. The company has not specified a particular date for the launch, but before September, it will be undertaking all sort of tests over the new Galaxy Fold.

ByteDance the TikTok Owner Company Working to Bring its Series of Smartphones

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The smartphone market is full of tech companies, that are constantly working to bring better options for their users. With the rise of various Chinese smartphone manufacturing companies, including Vivo, Oppo, Xiomi, the competition has also become tougher. Meanwhile, another Chinese tech giant, and the parent company of the famous video sharing app TikTok, ByteDance, is also planning to try its hands in smartphone manufacturing.

ByteDance smartphone
Image Source: rollingstone.com

ByteDance is one of the most successful Internet technology company from China, founded in 2012 by tech entrepreneur Zhang Yiming. The company gets credit for many famous apps, including TikTok, Musical.ly, TopBuzz, Toutiao, etc.

There has been the latest trend for app makers to manufacture smartphones having in-built famous apps, the partnership of Meitu and Xiomi being the biggest example. This way, it becomes easy for the app makers to attract their app audience towards buying their home production smartphones. In a similar way, ByteDance may also bring a new smartphone that might have all its famous apps, including TikTok and even its unreleased music streaming app.

The news was first reported by Financial Times, citing two unnamed sources, but the company has still not given any comments on the news. In the January month this year, ByteDance joined hands with the smartphone manufacturing company Smartisan, which confirms it all. In fact, the company acquired a patent portfolio and even hired a few employees to work with from Smartisan. While after the deal, ByteDance said that the deal was to “explore the education business”, there are no chances that any of the two companies have ever worked in the field of education.

According to the news, it was a long time dream for Zhang Yiming to build a smartphone preloaded with ByteDance apps, but since we have already seen the cases with tech giants like Facebook and Amazon, it is difficult to say that this is a good idea for ByteDance. Though ByteDance’s apps are popular, people are already using apps by downloading them through app stores. The report from FT does not give any indication on the price, design or release date of the smartphone.

Additionally, ByteDance has been facing issues with the operations of its TikTok app, as it had faced a temporary ban in India. Also in the U.S., the Chinese companies are already struggling for their position. So, being a Chinese company, it may be difficult for ByteCode to expand its smartphone service in the U.S. too.

Amazon Opens its OnePlus 7 Pro Sale for All Users; Offers No Cost EMI on the Purchases with Credit Card

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After making a lot of buzzes, finally, OnePlus 7 Pro is available in India on the official website of OnePlus, its physical stores, the other partner stores including Chroma, as well as at Amazon. Earlier, the company had made the One Plus 7 Pro sale open for only the Amazon prime users on the Early Access Sale and the OnePlus Early Birds Sale. But now the other Amazon users can also take advantage of the sale, and buy this OnePlus ultra-premium flagship smartphone.

oneplus-7-pro
Image Source: bgr.com

The sale of the phone started at 12 am today, and it, currently, is selling the three variants of the smartphone. The three variants of OnePlus 7 Pro includes 6GB RAM/128GB storage variant, which is available at the price range Rs 48,999, a Rs 52,999 variant, having an 8GB RAM/256GB storage as well as the 12GB RAM/256GB storage that costs the buyers a Rs 57,999. There are two other variants to this flagship smartphone, which will be launched in June this year and will cost Rs 32,999 for the base 6GB RAM/128GB option, and Rs 37,999 for the 8GB RAM/256GB version.

The smartphone was launched at an event in Bengaluru, on 15th May, along with the OnePlus Wireless Bullets V2 earphones. All the OnePlus 7 Pro variants are available in Almond, Mirror Grey, and Nebula Blue shades. But for now, the buyers will only get their hands on the smartphones in Mirror Grey colour, as the Almond shade of the phone will be rolled out after May 28 and the third one, i.e. Nebula Blue will be available in the month of June.

The OnePlus 7 Pro is packed with OxygenOS based on Android 9.0 Pie and has got the 6.67-inch Fluid AMOLED display with Quad-HD+ resolution (1440×3120 pixels). After various leaks and rumours, people were excited for its great quality triple cameras and its sleek design. The smartphone has got the motorised selfie camera, hidden inside the screen of the phone, whereas it has three cameras on the back, one of which is a 48MP Sony IMX 586 sensor with OIS, the secondary camera features a 16-megapixel sensor, which is a wide angle camera, and the third one is an 8-megapixel camera.

OnePlus 7 Pro is a bigger phone and has got new features including stereo speakers, new X-haptic vibration motor, noise cancellation support, Dolby Atmos support, native Screen Recording, and a Zen Mode, etc.

As the smartphone is available online, the company is also offering up to Rs 2000 cashback on purchase using SBI debit and credit cards. On the other hand, JIO is also providing benefits of worth Rs 9300 to the buyers, as well as people can buy the smartphone through no-cost EMI of 6 months. The buyers will also get up to 70 per cent Servify Guaranteed Exchange Price and up to 60 per cent Cashify buyback value with a special upgrade bonus for previous OnePlus smartphone owners.

HTC Might Exit the Chinese Smartphone Market Soon; Pulls Smartphones from Major Chinese Market

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The Taiwanese handset maker, HTC, had recently revealed that it would stop selling its handsets at the two of China’s largest eCommerce portals, JD.com and Tmall, temporarily. And, finally, it has pulled off its smartphone chain from the two stores. This step taken by the company has compelled everyone to think that the company might be planning to take an exit from the Chinese smartphone industry.

htc china exit
Image Source: consumercomplaintsnumbers.co

In the recent times, the rumours were making rounds that Google was planning to acquire the company, but later, Google was only able to acquire the HTC’s Pixel team in a $1.1 billion deal. After Google’s acquisition, over 2,000 HTC engineers moved to work for Google. After the deal, HTC took to exit from India last July. So, from the decision of not selling its smartphones for a temporary period, it is pretty easy to predict that HTC might also be thinking of exiting China in the same way.

For now, the company has drawn off all its smartphones from the two eCommerce giant websites as well as their flagship stores. The company has also ceased the selling of its products from the other physical retail stores in China. But the company is still selling its smartphones, except some of its flagship smartphones including U11 or U11+, at its own official store as well as the VIVE flagship physical store in Shenzhen.

The company confirmed the news through a blog post, stating, “Due to the consideration of HTC China’s long-term business strategy, we will temporarily close the HTC mobile phone Jingdong flagship store and Tmall flagship store. HTC smartphones and accessories can still be purchased through HTC Official Mall and HTC VIVE Flagship Store. We will continue to provide quality pre-sales and after-sales service as always.”

The company has been seeing great competition due to the rise of the other rival companies, including Oppo, Vivo and Xiomi, that has dropped down its smartphone sales to a greater extent. Despite pulling off its flagship smartphones from the major retail stores in China, the company is still trying to get its hold in its other business arms.

The company has emphasised its focus on the HTC 5G Hub project that according to it will be bringing 5G to every home. HTC has also moved its focus towards its VR efforts. The company has also confirmed that it will be bringing the Android 9 update to its U11, U11 Plus as well as U12 smartphones by the end of May and starting of June.