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jeudi 19 mars 2020

Samsung Galaxy S20 family gets another firmware update to address camera autofocus issue

The megapixel race is back, and the top-end ‘Ultra’ variant of the Samsung Galaxy S20 is one of the prominent contenders, boasting a massive 108MP ISOCELL HM1 sensor. The company already rolled out the first software update for the phone to improve the focusing issues, but owners are still reporting autofocus glitches. Samsung is now rolling out a new software build with an updated camera firmware to tackle the situation.

Tagged with the version number G98xxXXU1ATCH, this update is intended for the Exynos-powered international variant of the Galaxy S20 lineup. At the time of writing this article, the OTA should hit the units in various Asian and European countries, including India. The base models, i.e. the Galaxy S20/S20+ also utilize the same camera stack as the Ultra variant (despite having different hardware sensors), thus the owners of these phones should also benefit after installing the new update. The 5G-capable variants are picking up similar updates as well in different regions.

galaxy_s20_atch_ota

While the changelog does mention about camera performance improvements, the underlying changes are quite huge. Samsung is shipping a new version (10.0.01.98 to be precise) of the stock camera app, accompanied by an improved camera firmware. The initial feedback is mixed though, so do let us know your experience after installing the OTA. Sideloading the updated camera app on Snapdragon models might not be fruitful, as it depends on the new firmware as well.

XDA Forums for Samsung Galaxy: S20 || S20+ || S20 Ultra

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Interestingly, all three Galaxy S20 models in India received an intermediate update before. Bearing version number G98xFXXU1ATC1, this build apparently brought stability improvements. Now that Samsung is aware of these pesky bugs (e.g. the random reboot issue), there is no doubt that they will push a bunch of similar updates in the near future.


Thanks to XDA Retired Senior Moderator broncogr for the screenshot!

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Realme to launch new Narzo smartphone series

Realme intended to enter 2020 on a high, and the company has ensured the same by launching several smartphones within Q1 2020 itself. We’ve witnessed the likes of the Realme X50 Pro flagship, as well as the Realme 6 and Realme 6 Pro to handle duties in the early-mid-range, as well as the launch of the Realme Band marking Realme’s debut into the fitness tracker category. It’s just been 14 days since Realme’s last launch in India, and the company is already preparing for the launch of a new smartphone series called “Narzo”.

Realme has posted a rather cryptic video that points towards the launch of a new smartphone series in the form of Realme Narzo. Official information beyond the same is limited, but a report from 91Mobiles suggests that this is an upcoming smartphone series from the company which will reportedly compete against the likes of POCO and Redmi in India. The Realme Narzo series will reportedly target the youth, as inferred from the flashy promotional materials that place a lot of emphasis on “Gen Z”. 91Mobiles also mentions that Realme Narzo can have two variants, and it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to guess this would pan out as a normal variant and a Pro variant.

Realme has not disclosed a date yet for the launch of Narzo. Specifications for the device are also unknown at this stage, but we can expect it to be around the budget or mid-range segments, and not towards the premium market. We hope to learn more about the phone very soon from official Realme handles.


Source: @MadhavSheth, 91Mobiles

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Xiaomi Mi 10 with 108MP camera and Snapdragon 865 launching in India on 31st March

It wouldn’t be an overstatement if one was to say that Xiaomi has revolutionized the Indian smartphone market. Ever since the Chinese company entered the market, Indians have had very high-value products to choose from in the budget and early-mid range segments, much to the displeasure of other brands. Xiaomi’s massive success in India is, however, restricted to the under-₹20,000 (<$275) range. Historically, Xiaomi’s Mi smartphones haven’t done well in India, with the last products to launch in the country within this line being the Xiaomi Mi 5 and Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 (though Mix series doesn’t really count). Xiaomi had announced that this will change this year onwards, as they will launch a “lot more premium Mi flagships in 2020“. Now, Xiaomi has officially confirmed that it is launching the Mi 10 in India on 31st March 2020.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 was launched in China on February 13, 2020. It brings along several premium features, such as a 90Hz FHD+ AMOLED display with HDR10+ support, Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC, up to 12GB LPDDR5 RAM, up to 512GB UFS 3.0 internal storage, a 108MP quad-camera setup, a 20MP front camera, a 4,780 mAh battery with 30W fast wired charging, 30W fast wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless charging. The primary camera has a 7 piece lens setup and optical image stabilization and can capture 8K video footage with both OIS and EIS. Xiaomi has also released the kernel sources of the device, shortly after its launch.

Xiaomi’s Mi 10 launch does not come as a complete surprise. We had already found code references indicating a launch in India back in February itself. The code references, however, also indicate that both the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro will be launching in India, but Xiaomi has only officially confirmed the Mi 10’s launch for now.

Keep in mind that the Xiaomi Mi 10 will not be priced in line with what we expect from Xiaomi India, in the context of their Redmi value-pricing. The Indian government recently raised the GST applicable to smartphones. This tax increase, coupled with a depreciating INR-USD ratio and the fact that the Mi 10 will be imported from China and not assembled in India, means that the Mi 10 will command a premium pricing at par its premium listing. It is a very strong product, so expect pricing in a similar ballpark.

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OPPO Find X2 Pro certified as a YouTube Signature Device

YouTube recently launched a new Device Report website, where phones that can provide best-in-class YouTube experiences are listed down. These phones are listed after “rigorous testing”, and the team at YouTube also works with the manufacturers to improve video playback performance. Considering how integral YouTube has become to the smartphone experience of the average user, all of this effort makes a lot of sense. Smartphones from Samsung, Sony, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Google, Nokia, LG, HTC and more were listed at launch, and more Huawei and Honor devices were added down the road. Now, OPPO makes it to the list of YouTube Signature Devices with the OPPO Find X2 Pro.

To be classified as a YouTube Signature Device, a phone must support six technologies, including HDR, 360° video, 4K decoding, high frame rate, the VP9 codec, and DRM performance. Google notes the following details about the technologies:

  • HDR: With support for High Dynamic Range (HDR), you’ll see videos that are richer in detail, with true-to-life colors. HDR capabilities allow a phone to display greater contrast, so you can see details of videos, whether that scene is shot in the dark, or bright light.
  • 360° video: Immerse yourself in a new world with 360° videos, which have been recorded in all directions. Look up, down, or all around; with 360° videos you’re in control of the viewing experience, through on-screen controls or through a VR headset.
  • 4K decoding: While some devices display 4K on their screens, 4K decoding ensures that you’ll see videos in high resolution and stunning clarity on VR, delivering riveting experiences.
  • High frame rate: Enjoy gaming, sports, and action videos without missing a beat. Support for high frame rate (anything greater than 60 frames per second) means you get super smooth video playback.
  • Next-generation video codecs: Watch high-resolution videos on YouTube while using up to 30% less bandwidth. 2019 Signature Devices are built with hardware VP9 profile 2 decoding, an advanced video codec technology.
  • Digital rights management performance: From YouTube TV to rental movies, Signature Devices seamlessly stream premium content without disrupting your viewing experience.

The OPPO Find X2 Pro places a lot of importance on the display, which is one of the major determining factors for being certified as a Signature Device. There’s 120Hz refresh rate, 10bit color depth for 1.07 billion possible colors, JNCD of 0.8, as well as the O1 Ultra Vision Engine that enables features like Motion Clear Video Enhancements, and hardware-level SDR to HDR conversion. Being the best display from OPPO on a smartphone, the Find X2 Pro was in a good position to bag the certification.

OPPO Find X2 Pro users can thus enjoy vivid HDR videos, 360° videos and faster load time without pressing upon the available bandwidth.

OPPO Find X2 Pro XDA Forums

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Future Samsung Galaxy S20 update will address random reboot issue that some users are facing

The Samsung Galaxy S20 lineup is the perfect example of cutting edge, monster-specced flagship. Be it the processor, connectivity options or the camera, Samsung is ready to outperform its competitors in every segment. However, software optimizations play a significant role in the premium smartphone experience and the Korean OEM is well aware of that. The company recently rolled out the first software update for the Galaxy S20 Ultra that specifically incorporated fixes related to the camera auto-focus issue. The list of bugs does not end here though, as a number of Galaxy S20 owners have reported about a strange random reboot glitch affecting their units.

The reboot event is truly random, as there is no particular pattern in the user reports spread across the internet, including Reddit, Samsung’s community forums as well as our own forums. Disconnecting or reconnecting the charging cable or the headphone is enough to trigger the reboot event in some cases, but it’s still not very clear whether it’s a hardware (i.e. the USB Type-C socket) or software problem. Thermal throttling is suggested as yet another possible reason, albeit Idrees from our team hasn’t faced any such issues on his Galaxy S20+. From what we can gather, this random reboot glitch is prevalent on the Exynos variant.

The company is apparently trying to fix the random reboot situation with priority, as suggested by a moderator of the Samsung EU community forums.

The developers reckon that they’ve found the source of the issue, and are working on an update to resolve it. No timescale on that, but hoping it’s soon for you guys – so keep a look out for it coming your way.

According to the same person, opting for a replacement might be pointless, as the root of the bug is hidden beneath the software layer.

XDA Forums for Samsung Galaxy: S20 || S20+ || S20 Ultra

Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S20 units, on the other hand, are plagued with a GPS lock bug, which is still to be addressed by Samsung.

Buy from Amazon.in — Samsung Galaxy: S20 || S20+ || S20 Ultra

We hope that Samsung will deliver the necessary fixes in the form of a quick hotfix. In the meantime, let us know if you have faced random reboots on your Galaxy S20, S20+ or S20 Ultra down in the comments.

The post Future Samsung Galaxy S20 update will address random reboot issue that some users are facing appeared first on xda-developers.



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Samsung’s One UI 2.5 update will enable Google’s gesture navigation in third-party launchers

After facing perpetual criticism for its sluggish TouchWiz UI, Samsung made the long-overdue update to its user interface in late 2018 with One UI. Samsung’s One UI based on Android 9 Pie was designed to ease single-handed usage. But, one of the key features to support one-hand usage was omitted by Samsung and that was support for navigation gestures. To be fair, Samsung did not fully ignore gestures but instead used a very puerile version in which users had to swipe upwards from the bottom of the display instead of tapping on the navigation buttons to engage them. One UI v2.0 is now rolling out to several devices and in it, Samsung has added support for Android 10’s navigation gestures but without third-party launchers support. Fortunately for users, the support is expected to come in the next few months with One UI 2.5.

As per a product manager for Samsung’s HomeScreen, gesture navigation on Samsung devices will start supporting third-party launchers like Nova Launcher, Lawnchair, etc. with the One UI 2.5 update. One UI 2.1 based on Android 10 is already rolling out to certain devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S10, Note 10, Galaxy S9 and Note 9 series. We can expect One UI 2.5 to be also based on Android 10 and introduced with the Galaxy Note 20 series, which should launch in August 2020 – unless the product’s development is slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Google mandates every smartphone manufacturer to include gesture navigation support on every device that runs on Android 10. It has also laid down specifications regarding the dimensions of active trigger zones for gestures on the phones’ screens in Android 10’s Compatibility Definition Document (CDD), an agreement that every Android licensee must acknowledge and agree to. In Samsung’s implementation of the navigation gestures, you can fine-tune the back gesture’s sensitivity as well as enable or disable the gesture over a virtual keyboard.

The lack of third-party launcher support for Google’s navigation gestures was an issue with every Android 10 device, including the Google Pixel lineup prior to the Pixel 4’s launch. Do note that while we expect One UI 2.5 will arrive with the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series, we do not have the exact launch schedule for Note 20 or other devices yet.


Source: Samsung Community

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mercredi 18 mars 2020

Redmi K30 Pro to come with single pop-up camera, Game Turbo 3.0 with voice changer

Xiaomi has launched the mid-range Redmi K30 series in China with a 120Hz high refresh rate LCD, Snapdragon 765G, and a 64MP Sony IMX 686 primary camera. But defying their own tradition from the Redmi K20 series, there was no “Pro” variant to be found. There was evidence that another Redmi device was incoming with a Snapdragon 865 SoC, but nothing was officially confirmed by Redmi or Xiaomi at that stage. Redmi did eventually confirm that the Redmi K30 Pro 5G is coming with the newest Qualcomm flagship SoC, and has since went on to reveal several key features of the upcoming smartphone, including a March 24th launch date. Now, Redmi has confirmed a few other key specifications, such as the single pop-up camera, 64MP main rear camera, Game Turbo 3.0, improved vibration motor, and a purple color variant.

In previous renders, one can spot the cut-out on the top edge of the smartphone for the pop-up camera, but there was still a very tiny possibility that it could have been something else entirely, even though the front of the phone was also clean and had no cameras. Still, this new promotional image directly and very clearly confirms that the Redmi K30 Pro will come with a single front popup camera, with LEDs on the side much like the Redmi K20 series did.

What we also can read clearly is the “64MP” branding on the camera, which means that the primary rear camera will be a 64MP shooter. There are three other cameras too, and we hope to learn more about them very soon.

Redmi also states that the vibration motor on the device has been improved and optimized for 153 MIUI scenarios. The display is also certified by TÜV Rheinland. There’s also Game Turbo 3.0 that has a few new nifty features such as night vision and voice changer. Lastly, Redmi also showed off the purple color variant of the Redmi K30 Pro.

We hope to learn more about the phone as the teasers flow in. Perhaps even something about the Zoom Edition, maybe?

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