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lundi 16 mars 2020

Google Maps tests a faster way to start Live View AR navigation

Google Maps turned 15 earlier this year in February and the company celebrated its birthday by giving the app a new look and additional features. The app, both on Android and iOS, received a major update which included a new icon, a redesign for the bottom navigation bar, new transit features, and updates to Live View. For the unaware, Live View in Google Maps is an augmented reality feature that lets you view your surroundings in real-time with overlays highlighting the directions to your destination. In the anniversary update, Google added a new capability in Live View which lets you search for a destination on the app and see exactly how far, and in which direction, the place is. The company also revealed that it had plans to expand Live View functionality even further in the coming months.

Now, as per a recent report from 9to5Google, the company has already started testing a new feature in Live View which will give users faster access to AR navigation. Currently, in order to access Live View in Google Maps, you first have to initiate walking directions in the app and then hit the Live View button to open the camera-based UI. While this may seem easy enough for many of us, Live View still doesn’t have a prominent place in the app and it can easily be missed by people who aren’t familiar with the feature. To remedy this, Google is now testing a new Live View floating action button (FAB) which appears right above the existing button that helps you center yourself on the map.

Google Maps Live View AR Navigation Google Maps Live View AR Navigation Google Maps Live View AR Navigation

As you can see in the attached screenshots, the new Live View FAB appears right as soon as you search for a location in Google Maps. Tapping on the button opens up the camera interface to show “how far away and in which direction a place is” from your current position. The UI has an arrow that prompts you to move your phone and shows the end destination as a floating pin in the distance. Once you’ve located the destination, a card at the bottom allows you to start the AR-guided navigation.

Making Live View more prominent and easier to use increases the likelihood of more people using the feature in Google Maps. It also allows you to get oriented without starting the full navigation first. However, you’ll have to wait a while before you can use the new Live View FAB on your device as the feature is currently only available for a handful of users in beta and Google has released no information regarding a wider rollout.


Via: 9to5Google

The post Google Maps tests a faster way to start Live View AR navigation appeared first on xda-developers.



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The Motorola Razr with a vertically folding OLED display launches in India for ₹1,24,999 (~$1,700)

Motorola’s iconic clamshell phone – Razr – was recently reincarnated by the company. In its new avatar, the Motorola Razr comes with a foldable plastic OLED display in coherence with its vertically folding design, which took almost a decade to perfect according to Motorola. The foldable display is complemented by a rigid and premium build as well as a secondary Quick View display. Today, Motorola is launching the Razr in India with a hefty price tag to justify the premium offering.

Motorola Razr XDA Forums

To enable a jitter-free experience of folding and unfolding, Motorola uses a special hinge that curves the display around the fold and prevents it from creasing. This allows the two faces of the phone to stay in perfect contact without any space between them. The Motorola Razr features a metallic frame on the inner side while the outer upper and bottom faces are made of with Gorilla Glass and a rigid polycarbonate panel respectively. Like the classic Moto Razr, the new foldable smartphone also comes with a chin and this area houses the capacitive fingerprint scanner.

The Motorola Razr features a single 16MP Sony IMX517 camera outside and a 5MP selfie camera inside, which is housed in the notch on the top of the display. It also features a 2,570mAh battery and comes with an 18W Turbo fast charger. There no slot for a physical SIM but the foldable phone supports a single eSIM.

For more details about the design of the smartphone, you can read our first impressions of the Motorola Razr in India or watch the following video shot by our friends at Pocketnow.

Motorola Razr Specifications

Specification Motorola Razr
Dimensions
  • Unfolded: 72 mm x 172 mm x 6.6 mm
  • Folded: 72 mm x 94 mm x 14 mm
Weight 205g
Display
  • Main “Flex View”: 6.20-inch pOLED 2142×876 (21:9)
  • Closed “Quick View”: 2.69-inch gOLED 800×600 (4:3)
Camera
  • Outer: 16MP (Sony IMX517) f/1.7, 1.22μm with EIS, Night Vision support
  • Internal: 5MP f/2.0, 1.12μm
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 710
RAM 6GB
Storage 128GB
Battery capacity 2510mAh with 15W TurboPower charging
Connectivity eSIM, NFC, CDMA, LTE bands 2/3/4/5/7/13/20/28/66, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, GPS/GLONASS, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Security Capacitive fingerprint scanner
IP Rating None, splash-proof nano-coating
Audio Speaker at the bottom, no 3.5mm headphone jack, 4 microphones
Software Android 9 Pie
Ports & Buttons USB 3.0 Type-C port at the bottom, fingerprint scanner in the bottom bezel, power and volume buttons on the right side

Price & Availability

The Motorola Razr will be available in India at a starting price of ₹1,24,999 (~$1,690) starting April 2nd through Flipkart and major offline retail channels. Citibank card users can avail a cashback of ₹10,000 on the purchase of the foldable smartphone in India.

The post The Motorola Razr with a vertically folding OLED display launches in India for ₹1,24,999 (~$1,700) appeared first on xda-developers.



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Honor 30S may pack Huawei’s new HiSilicon Kirin 820 5G chipset

Following the launch of the View 30 Pro and 9X Pro internationally, Huawei’s sub-brand Honor is now prepping up to launch the Honor 30 series. The company is scheduled to launch the series in China later this month and we now have some key information about one of the devices — the Honor 30S. According to a recent report from GSMArena, the upcoming Honor 30S may be the first smartphone from the company to feature Huawei’s new Kirin 820 5G-enabled chipset.

Honor 30S 3C listing

The report cites a 3C certification listing as the source of the information which states that the device will be 5G capable. This leads us to believe that it will feature Huawei’s new mid-range Kirin 820 5G chip. The listing also reveals that the Honor 30S will come with support for 40W fast charging, with a max 10V/4A charging configuration. Furthermore, a leaked render of the device highlights that it will feature a quad-camera setup with a camera module that looks quite a lot like the one found on the previously launched Honor View 30. But since the Honor View 30 phones sported a triple camera setup, Honor has added a fourth camera sensor in the second column beneath the dual-LED flash. If you look closely, you can also spot a recess on the right edge of the device which suggests that it will feature a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.

 

As of now, Honor has released no official information about the upcoming devices in the Honor 30 series. However, if we take last year’s Honor 20S into consideration, we expect the Honor 30S to feature mid-range specifications and a ~$300 price tag. It’s also worth noting that the Honor 20S was an affordable version of the company’s flagship Honor 20, which means that Honor may also launch a Kirin 990 powered flagship as part of the Honor 30 series.


Via: GSMArena

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Samsung announces the budget Galaxy A11 smartphone with triple rear cameras

The budget smartphone market deals with thin profit margins, surviving on the concept of “the smallest piece of the largest pie”. OEMs in this space rely on achieving massive quantities of scale, and it comes as no surprise that some of the best selling Android smartphones of 2019 came from budget lineups. Samsung’s Galaxy A-lineup saw plenty of top performers in this space, with the Galaxy A10 being the best-selling Android smartphone of last year according to a report. Now, Samsung has quietly launched the successor to the Galaxy A10 in the form of the new Samsung Galaxy A11.

Samsung Galaxy A11: Specifications

Specification Samsung Galaxy A11
Dimensions and Weight
  • 161.4 x 76.3 x 8.0 mm
  • 177g
Display
  • 6.4″ HD+ TFT LCD;
  • Punch-hole display (Infinity-O)
SoC Octa-core 1.8GHz
RAM and Storage
  • 2GB + 32GB
  • 3GB + 32GB

Expandable through microSD card slot

Battery & Charging
  • 4,000 mAh battery
  • 15W fast charging
Rear Camera
  • Primary: 13MP, f/1.8
  • Secondary: 2MP, Depth Sensor, f/2.4
  • Tertiary: 5MP, Wide-Angle Camera, f/2.2
Front Camera 8MP, f/2.0
Other Features
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Rear fingerprint sensor
Android Version

The Samsung Galaxy A11 is a humble smartphone, and that is exactly what is needed for the target audience. While having extra features is always nice, Samsung has a wide portfolio with different devices at different price points with differing levels of high-end features. So it does make sense to have some options that are much more grounded than the others. On the Galaxy A11, there are very few fancy features to be spotted — no glass back, no AMOLED display, no in-display fingerprint scanners, and so on.

Samsung did not even specify the processor on the phone, and the RAM and storage are humble as well. On the plus, the phone does have a healthy 4,000 mAh battery with support for 15W fast charging, which should translate well into real-life battery life and charging. There’s also a triple rear camera onboard, which should lend some versatility for its users to take advantage of, though we wouldn’t raise our expectations too high.

Samsung announces the budget Galaxy A11 smartphone with triple rear cameras Samsung announces the budget Galaxy A11 smartphone with triple rear cameras

Samsung has not revealed any further details about the phone, so we do not know in which markets the phone will reach, and at what price. If we had to speculate, we can take a guess that it would make its way to regions where the Galaxy A10 is officially on sale.

The post Samsung announces the budget Galaxy A11 smartphone with triple rear cameras appeared first on xda-developers.



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dimanche 15 mars 2020

Smartphones to become more expensive in India following tax increase

India’s Goods and Services Tax Council decided on Saturday to raise the tax rate on smartphones and specified components to 18%, a sharp 6% increase from the previous 12%. This hike will inevitably cause an increase in smartphone prices across all segments, and many fear it will have negative consequences on the growth of the Indian smartphone market.

It was decided by the Council that the GST rate on mobile phones and specified parts which presently attract 12% will now be at 18%.

Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister, at the 39th GST Council meeting in New Delhi.

The move comes at the time when smartphone OEMs are already struggling with razor-thin profit margins, depreciating currency rate, and battling cut-throat competition to retain their identity. The resultant price hike from the increased GST rate, therefore, will likely be passed down to the consumers as smartphone makers are currently in no position to absorb the additional tariff imposed by the government — not without sustaining some serious losses or decline in business.

Xiaomi India’s MD‌, Mr. Manu Kumar‌ Jain was swift to react to the tax hike. Manu tweeted that the move will be detrimental to the growth of the Indian smartphone industry and would work against the Govt’s Make In India initiative.

In a separate tweet, he urged the govt to reconsider the move, citing that the industry is already fighting two battles with depreciating value of Indian Rupee against US dollar and supply chain disruption due to COVID-19. He even suggested that the devices that cost below RS. 15,000 ($200) should be exempted from the new tariff.

The surge in the GST rate is said to be a corrective measure to fix the inverted duty structure (IDS), a situation where the tax rate on input raw material is higher than the rate on the finished product (output). At last year’s GST Council, the issue of inverted duty was raised to the tax body on close to a dozen items including smartphones, footwear, fabrics and more.

The experts, however, do not agree with the GST Council’s rationale behind the tax hike. In a letter to Finance Minister, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said:

We understand that one of the logic being put forward is that the industry is suffering from inverted GST! Instead of correcting this wrong by rationalizing GST on parts, components and inputs of mobile phones, a bizarre move to increase GST on the final product is now being considered. Mobile Phones is the only sector that has performed under flagship ‘Make In India’ program of the government. Hence, any change in the GST will be detrimental to the consumer sentiment which in turn can impact domestic manufacturing activity.

The revised GST‌ tariff on smartphones is set to come into effect from 1st April. It remains to be seen whether the government will consider making any adjustments or exemptions or go along with the recommendation of the GST‌ Council. It will also be interesting to see how various smartphone OEMs respond to the increased tariff and what will be their new pricing strategy for their existing as well as upcoming smartphones.


Via: HindustanTimes

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Download: Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 receives stable Android 10 update with MIUI 11

The initial MIUI 11 beta update for the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 was based on Android Pie, but the phone eventually received a taste of Android 10 via the closed beta channel back in October of last year. The stable version of MIUI 11 for the Mi Mix 3 landed in the beginning of November, but the underlying Android version was still based on Android 9 Pie. Xiaomi dropped a hint about the upcoming OS upgrade when they published the kernel source code of the Android 10 update for the Mi Mix 3, alongside the POCO F1, Mi Mix 2s, and the Mi 8 series in December. The wait is finally over, as Xiaomi has now started rolling out Android 10 for the Mi Mix 3 in the form of MIUI 11.0.3.0 via the stable channel.

Mi Mix 3 XDA Forums

The version numbering scheme coined by Xiaomi is enough to confuse most regular users. The last Android Pie-based build for this phone was tagged as 11.0.4.0, thus the newest update apparently looks like a downgrade. The Android Security Patch Level (SPL) is bumped from October 2019 to February 2020 though, which is a significant improvement in terms of security. Apart from the multitude of Android 10 software enhancements, the update also contains fixes for various glitches related to the notification shade as well as overlap issues in scrolling screenshots.

mi_mix_3_miui_11.0.3.0_ota

Download MIUI V11.0.3.0.QEEMIXM for the Mi Mix 3 (codename: perseus)

The update is no longer considered a “stable beta“. As a result, you don’t explicitly need an “authorized Mi Account” to sideload this build. People with an unlocked bootloader can also flash the Recovery ROM via TWRP or opt for the Fastboot package to perform a clean install.

It is worth mentioning that the Mi Mix 3 5G (codename: andromeda) is still running MIUI 10 on top of Android Pie. The aforementioned firmware is not at all compatible with the 5G variant, so do not try to force-flash this build unless you want a costly paperweight for your desk.

Source: Mi Community


Thanks to XDA member mattstifler for the screenshot!

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samedi 14 mars 2020

Exclusive: This is the Motorola Edge with a curved “waterfall” display, Snapdragon 765, 64MP camera, and headphone jack

For the past few years, Motorola has focused on making affordable smartphones in the Moto E, Moto G, and Motorola One lines with budget or mid-range specifications. Following its recent success, however, Motorola is once again looking to compete in the premium smartphone tier. The brand recently released the Motorola razr, its first foldable smartphone, and is now preparing to launch the Motorola Edge+, a flagship smartphone with a curved “waterfall” display. Renowned tech leaker OnLeaks recently gave us our first look at the flagship Edge+, but last month, we obtained images of its upper mid-range sibling. Now, we have obtained even more images of this device, which could be called the Motorola Edge. Thanks to our trusted source, we also have most of the key specifications to share.

Note: In order to protect the identity of our source, each image in this article has been edited to remove the background around the phone. In one image, we cropped out our source’s fingers, while in others, we blurred some parts of the screen. 

Motorola’s First Phones with Curved Displays

In the images we published last month, the curvature of the display wasn’t that clear. That’s because we only had images angled from the front. This time, our source has shared photos of the Motorola Edge taken from multiple angles that clearly show that the device has what many call a “waterfall” display. As I previously noted, Motorola left room for a physical power button and volume rocker, which is a different design approach from Huawei and Vivo but similar to what OPPO has done with the Find X2 Pro. A company called Sentons recently announced a partnership with Foxconn to facilitate the creation of virtual buttons, but that doesn’t look to be in use here. Opinions are divided on “waterfall” displays, so we’ll see if this trend survives once more smartphones with “waterfall” displays arrive this year.

Motorola Edge headphone jack Motorola Edge waterfall display

The Motorola Edge will have a 3.5mm headphone jack, as shown in the image above. Our source revealed that the device will support expandable storage via a microSD card slot, too. The audio jack and microSD card slot are two features that are increasingly disappearing on upper mid-range and flagship smartphones, so I’m sure that some will appreciate Motorola’s decision to retain both features in the Edge.

Rear Design + Cameras

Motorola has experimented with all kinds of camera configurations in the Motorola One series: The Motorola One Action features a wide-angle camera mounted perpendicularly, the Motorola One Macro features a 2MP dedicated macro camera, the Motorola One Hyper features a high-resolution 64MP main camera, and the Motorola One Zoom features a 48MP main, 16MP wide-angle, 8MP telephoto, and 5MP depth sensor quad-camera array. The Motorola Edge features a 64MP main camera, a 16MP wide-angle camera, and an 8MP telephoto camera. The 64MP image sensor outputs at 16MP with 4-in-1 pixel binning. Our source doesn’t know the exact specifications of the image sensors, unfortunately.

The three cameras are arranged vertically to the top left side on the rear. Next to the triple cameras, you’ll find the phone’s laser auto-focus and dual LED flash.

Motorola Edge Rear Camera

Motorola’s logo is emblazoned on the rear, though it’s flat unlike most budget Motorola phones because the Motorola Edge doesn’t have a rear-mounted capacitive fingerprint scanner. Instead, the phone has an optical under-display fingerprint scanner. The color can be described as sanguineous, a deep red color. There will likely be other colors, however.

Display

Motorola is joining the high refresh rate bandwagon this year with a 90Hz display on the Motorola Edge. Like other phones with high refresh rate displays, the Motorola Edge allows users to choose between the standard 60Hz refresh rate, a higher refresh rate (in this case 90Hz), and an “auto” refresh rate mode. The settings page states that the “auto” mode uses “AI to always show the optimal refresh rate.” It’s unclear exactly what this means.

The display will have a single hole-punch cutout for the 25MP front-facing camera. The cutout seems to be very small unlike the early hole-punch smartphones of late 2018 or early 2019. The size of the cutout seems to be close to the cutouts on the Galaxy S20 or OPPO Find X2 series, though I don’t have an exact measurement for the cutout size.

Motorola Edge 90Hz display

In the top bezel of the phone, we can see a speaker. There’s also a speaker on the bottom, meaning the Motorola Edge has dual speakers for stereo sound. The SIM card tray is also at the top, and according to our source, this tray accepts a microSD card and nanoSIM card or dual nanoSIM cards.

Miscellaneous details

From other images that our source shared with us, we can confirm that the Motorola Edge is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 SoC, has 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, a 4,500mAh battery, and an under-display fingerprint scanner. Our source states the device does not support wireless charging, but they could not confirm the speed of the wired charging. Our source could not confirm if the phone supports 5G connectivity, though we should note that the SoC’s integrated Snapdragon X52 modem supports 5G.

Specification Motorola Edge
Model XT2063-3
Display 6.67-inches curved “waterfall” display with left-sided single hole-punch

2340×1080 (19.5:9)

90Hz refresh rate

SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 765
RAM 6GB
Storage 128GB (expandable via microSD card slot)
Rear Camera(s) 64MP + 16MP + 8MP
Front Camera(s) 25MP
Battery and Charging 4500mAh

No wireless charging

Connectivity NFC, at least one variant with dual SIM
Audio Dual speakers
Buttons and Ports 3.5mm headphone jack

USB Type-C

Power button

Volume rocker

Security Under-display fingerprint scanner
Software Android 10

The Motorola Edge branding has not been previously revealed, though the flagship Motorola Edge+ has been in the rumors since Evan Blass first revealed the name in late January. The Motorola Edge name makes perfect sense given that this device shares heavy design similarity with the Motorola Edge+. We heard murmurs that the Edge and Edge+ could be called the Motorola One 2020 series, but it seems that these names were only used internally and won’t be the real marketing names.

Motorola’s flagship Edge+ is expected to feature improvements over the Edge in the processor (Snapdragon 765 –> Snapdragon 865), RAM (6GB –> 8 or 12GB), camera (64MP main –> 108MP main), and battery (4500mAh –> 5000mAh). However, our source was unable to share more details or images of the Motorola Edge+ at this time. We know that Verizon will carry the Motorola Edge+, but we don’t know the market availability of the Edge. We also don’t know the pricing or all the different SKUs. We originally expected Motorola to unveil the Edge at MWC 2020, but since that event was canceled, we’re expecting the device to launch sometime later this year. I don’t think we’ll have to wait long to find out.

The post Exclusive: This is the Motorola Edge with a curved “waterfall” display, Snapdragon 765, 64MP camera, and headphone jack appeared first on xda-developers.



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