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Nokia 5 Pre-Bookings, Samsung Galaxy On Max Launched, OnePlus 5 Camera DxO Rating, and More: Your 360 Daily

HIGHLIGHTS

Nokia 5 now available to pre-book across major outlets in India
OnePlus 5 scores 87 points in DxOMark
Samsung Galaxy On Max comes with 4GB of RAM

HMD Global launched its trio of Nokia Android smartphones earlier this year and today, the Nokia 5 is available for pre-bookings across various cities like Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Calicut. The Nokia 5 is priced at Rs. 12,899 and will be available exclusively via offline retail. The Nokia 3 went on sale late last month, which only leaves the Nokia 6 which is all set for July 16 release, which will be exclusively available through Amazon India.

The Nokia 5 comes with a fingerprint scanner mounted on the home button and sports a 5.2-inch HD (720×1280 pixel) display. It runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 SoC coupled with 2GB of RAM. It comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB). Nokia 5 packs a 13-megapixel camera on the back along with a flashlight and while an 8-megapixel sensor sits at the front.

Samsung Galaxy On Max launched as Flipkart exclusive
Samsung has launched a new mainstream smartphone called the Galaxy On Max, which is priced at Rs. 16,900 and will be exclusive to Flipkart. Some of the highlights include the presence of 4GB RAM, a 5.7-inch full-HD display, front flash, large aperture cameras, and support for Samsung Pay Mini. The Samsung Galaxy On Max doesn’t have an exact release date yet, and it’s just listed as ‘coming soon’ on Flipkart. It’s powered by a MediaTek MTK P25 SoC, 4GB of RAM and features a 13-megapixel rear camera.

OnePlus 5 camera gets DxO score of 87
The camera setup on the OnePlus 5 (Review) is its defining feature but when we tested it in our camera comparison, it didn’t quite stand up to other flagships like the Google Pixel and the Samsung Galaxy S8+. Our findings are now backed up by popular photography benchmark, DxOMark’s findings too, who have awarded the OnePlus 5 a score of 87. This puts it behind the Galaxy S8, Google Pixel and even the recent HTC U11. We guess its back to the drawing board for OnePlus.

Nubia M2 with dual cameras launched in India
Dual rear cameras is definitely a new trend in the smartphone space as Nubia has just launched a new model called the Nubia M2 in India, at Rs. 22,999. This phone will be exclusively available via Amazon India and will be made available exclusively for Amazon Prime members during the Prime Day Sale starting from July 10. The Nubia M2 features two 13-megapixel Sony CMOS sensors, a 5.5-inch full-HD display and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC.

Vivo X9s, Vivo X9s Plus with dual selfie cameras launched
Vivo, a popular Chinese smartphone manufacturer in India, has just launched two new smartphones – the Vivo X9s and the Vivo X9s Plus in China. The big highlight of both the smartphones are their dual selfie camera setups and the fact that they run on a custom ROM based on Android 7.1 Nougat. Prices for the Vivo X9s and the X9s Plus are 2,698 (roughly Rs. 25,600) and CNY 2,998 (roughly Rs. 28,500), respectively. It’s only a matter of time till they find their way to our shores.

Microsoft’s White Space project in trouble
Google’s free Wi-Fi project and Facebook’s recent Express Wifi project has helped millions of Indians get online for free. However, Microsoft’s White Space initiative, which uses the unused TV spectrum to beam Internet-carrying signals to several villages across India, has been in the works for three years now and is yet to take off. The company had pledged to bring affordable Internet connectivity to over 500,000 villages in the country in 2015. The company piloted the project in Harisal earlier this year but stopped it in a few months after the government refused to renew the spectrum band for commercial deployment, according to a report.

Xiaomi’s record quarter, MIUI 9 to launch before August 16
Xiaomi’s custom Android skin is due for another major version bump, which brings it to MIUI 9. The company claimed its under development and is slated to arrive before August 16, as confirmed by a forum post. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun had mentioned earlier that MIUI 9 will be more fluid and powerful than previous versions and will feature split-screen mode and the picture-in-picture mode as some of the new features.

In more Xiaomi news, CEO Lei Jun confirms that the company has managed to ship 23.16 million smartphones in Q2 2017, which is a 70 percent increase from the previous quarter, marking a record high for quarterly smartphone shipments in the company’s life span. Jun also stated that revenue in India in the first half of the year is up 328 percent year-on-year.

#HelloMotoWorld event scheduled for July 25
Lenovo is gearing up to add more smartphones to its Moto lineup as it has started sending our invites for an event scheduled for July 25 in New York city. We have no idea what devices are are to be expected as the invite doesn’t really reveal much however, if we were to hazard a guess then we could see the Moto X4 smartphone being unveiled. Guess we’ll know in a few weeks time.

iPhone 8 facing 3D NAND storage chip shortage
There’s a lot of pressure on Apple for it’s next iteration of the iPhone and a new report suggests that Apple might turn to Samsung to help out with supplying 3D NAND chips for storage on the new phones. 3D NAND is still a new technology and Apple’s suppliers have reportedly failed to meet the demand for this year’s batch. With Samsung rumoured to be readying the Galaxy Note 8 too, Apple cannot afford to have any supply bottlenecks especially considering it’s the 10th anniversary for the iPhone.

RBI limits customer liability in online banking fraud
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has laid out norms that essentially limit customer liability in the event of online banking fraud. The new norm directs banks to credit the amount involved in the unauthorised electronic transaction within 10 working days to the account holder. Banks may also at their discretion decide to waive off any customer liability in case of unauthorised electronic banking transactions even in cases of customer negligence.

LeEco founder Jia Yueting resigns as chairman
Chinese billionaire and founder of LeEco, has resigned as chairman of its main listed unit on Thursday. Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp Beijing said that Jia Yueting will remain controlling shareholder without any role, having resigned as chief executive in May to focus on the electric car business, of which he will now become chairman.

Qualcomm files patent infringement lawsuit against Apple
Chip maker Qualcomm has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple for unlawful and unfair use of the chipmaker’s technology. Qualcomm is requesting a ban on the importation of some iPhones, due to this. “Qualcomm’s inventions are at the heart of every iPhone and extend well beyond modem technologies or cellular standards,” said Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm.

[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]

Xiaomi Redmi 5A in India, Vodafone Micromax Cashback, Bharat 5 Launch Date, and More: Your 360 Daily

HIGHLIGHTS

Xiaomi Redmi 5A price in India starts at Rs. 4,999 (inaugural offer)
Micromax Bharat 5 to launch in India on Friday
Google’s Datally app available to download on Android

Xiaomi Redmi 5A was launched in India on Thursday, with a nice introductory pricing offer for the first five million units sold in the country. The smartphone was launched at a price of Rs. 5,999 for the 2GB RAM/ 16GB storage variant, but at launch the price will be Rs. 4,999 for the first five million buyers. The Redmi 5A will go on sale on Flipkart, Mi.com, and Mi Home offline stores in India on December 7 at 12 pm. There’s another variant of the smartphone, with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, which is priced at Rs. 5,999.

The price of the more expensive variant of the Xiaomi Redmi 5A will remain the same for the foreseeable future as the company has not announced any discounts. While this discount offer is quite straightforward, there’s also a convoluted mess of an offer around if you want one. In this case, it’s Reliance Jio’s “additional Rs. 1,000 cashback” offer for the Xiaomi Redmi 5A. Think we’re being harsh? Just wait until you try to decipher the fine print involved in this latest “effective price” gimmick.

To avail this additional cashback, Redmi 5A users will have to recharge their accounts with the Rs. 199 Jio pack for 12 months. After this, they’ll get 10 vouchers of Rs. 100 each and these can only be redeemed one at a time on a recharge of Rs. 309 or above. See our point now? Sure, there’s some kind of a discount involved here, but it arrives quite late and requires you to use 10 discount vouchers over 10 months, by which point you probably would’ve moved to a different smartphone and probably a different carrier too.

Here’s everything else that made news in the world of technology today.

Vodafone announces ‘Rs. 2,200 cashback’ on some Micromax phones
Vodafone India has announced a tie-up with Micromax to offer cashbacks on some budget Micromax 4G smartphones. This offer is valid on the Micromax Bharat 2 Plus, Micromax Bharat 3, Micromax Bharat 4, and Micromax Canvas 1. If you thought the Jio Redmi 5A offer was complicated, prepare to be amazed as Vodafone’s Micromax offer is just as convoluted. To avail this cashback, you will have to make recharges worth Rs. 150 per month for three years. After the first 18 months, you’ll get a cashback of Rs. 900, and after three years, you’ll get a cashback of Rs. 1,300. Both these cashback offers will be credited to your Vodafone M-Pesa wallet. Yes, we weren’t kidding about the complexity of these offers.

Micromax to launch Bharat 5 in India
Micromax doesn’t want to be left behind while Xiaomi launches one budget phone after another. The Indian smartphone maker is going to launch Bharat 5 in the country just a day after the launch of the Xiaomi Redmi 5A. If you go by the invite that the company has sent, you’d suspect that the smartphone has a huge battery, perhaps even 5000mAh and could feature fast charging. Micromax brought its Bharat range of smartphones to counter the surge of other affordable phones in the market, and it appears that Bharat 5 will be the latest effort in that direction.

This new Google app lets you keep data usage in check
Google has launched an app called Datally to help Android users keep an eye on mobile data usage. The app lets you track the data consumed by individual apps and lets you shut down data access for individual apps. It also gives you information on nearby public Wi-Fi networks, with some comments on the quality of these networks. Datally is clearly targeted at developing nations where data limits are small and people’s ability to buy packs with lots of data is limited. Until very recently, this would’ve been very useful in India, but with the arrival of Reliance Jio and the subsequent competition in the Indian telecom market, large data caps have become quite common in the country. That makes Datally less useful, but it’s still a good tool to have, one that makes us wonder why these features aren’t built in on an OS level.

Panasonic Eluga C with ‘bezel-less’ display launched
Large displays with limited bezels have become the smartphone trend of 2017 and now even Panasonic has joined the party. The Panasonic Eluga C features a bezel-less display and a dual camera setup. The phone has been launched in Taiwan at a price of TWD 6,000, which is equivalent to Rs. 12,900. The Panasonic Eluga C features a 5.5-inch display that has ultra-thin bezels and comes with an HD (720×1280 pixels) resolution. The smartphone is powered by an octa-core MediaTek MT6750T SoC clocked at 1.5GHz, coupled with 4GB of RAM. Panasonic has provided 13-megapixel + 5-megapixel camera sensors at the back of the Eluga C and an 8-megapixel camera on the front.

Windows 10 now has 600 million active devices
Windows 10 is now running on 600 million active devices, according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who made the announcement at Microsoft’s annual shareholders meeting, according to a report from GeekWire. The number includes the following devices: desktops, tablets, Xbox One consoles, HoloLens headsets, and Surface Hub devices, apart from Windows 10 Mobile smartphones. Microsoft has admitted that it won’t be able to reach its goal of 1 billion active Windows 10 devices within three years of the operating system’s 2015 launch.

Samsung is the world’s largest smartphone brand: Gartner
Market research firm Gartner has claimed that Samsung took the top spot in smartphone sales globallyin the third quarter of 2017. The company claimed that Samsung has a 22.3 percent market share in the smartphone market across the world, with Apple being a distant second at 11.9 percent and Huawei, with 9.5 percent, being in third place. Gartner added that global smartphone sales stand at 383 million units in the third quarter of 2017. It attributed Samsung’s return to the top to Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, and Galaxy Note 8 sales.

Apple fixes embarrassing macOS security flaw
Apple has fixed a critical bug in macOS High Sierra, one that could give hackers total control of vulnerable machines. The company has announced that it will review its software development process to ensure that this kind of a bug doesn’t get shipped to people who use its products. Apple also apologised to all Mac users for this embarrassing bug, which just needed potential hackers to have physical access to vulnerable computer and let them have complete control over the computer without entering a password.

Snapchat unveils redesigned app
Snapchat has revamped its app to focus more on personal content than posts from publishers. The app now separates your feed into separate streams for publishers and your friends. Snapchat relies on algorithms to curate your feed based on your interests. The company has claimed that this change will also help publishers make more money on the platform, which has 178 million daily active users.

Android co-founder takes leave of absence from his new startup
Andy Rubin, a former Google executive who’s best known as the co-founder of Android, has taken a leave of absence from his smartphone startup Essential, according to a statement from the startup. Online news outlet The Information had earlier reported that Rubin left Google in 2014 after an internal inquiry found that he’d entered into a relationship with a subordinate. After this report was published, Rubin went on a leave of absence from Essential, but the startup refused to reveal the length of his absence. Essential said Rubin asked for leave to deal with personal matters.

[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]