Samsung and Qualcomm unveil new chips to make true wireless earbuds better

Truly wireless earbuds have become one of the most popular electronics to buy since many OEMs have removed the headphone jacks from their flagship smartphones. Two of the biggest ongoing concerns over true wireless earbuds are audio quality and battery life. Thankfully, manufacturers are quick to improve their technologies for truly wireless earbuds, so they already offer much better audio quality and longer-lasting battery life than they did a few years ago. Samsung and Qualcomm are two of the biggest companies involved in making components for TWS earbuds, and both have just announced new chips for improving longevity and audio quality.

Samsung’s MUA01 and MUB01 PMICs

The first announcement comes from the Korean manufacturer. Samsung is detailing a new Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) which is already present in the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ wireless earbuds. The MUA01 and MUB01 PMICs, which are respectively for the charging case and the earbuds itself, are intended to make True Wireless Stereo (TWS) devices last longer. The press release mentions that Samsung was able to put up to ten different components together into a single PMIC, cutting the size down to half compared to its earlier alternatives. The smaller size of the units leaves more room for the battery, which translates into better battery life. Both of the units come with a microcontroller unit and embedded flash storage, which makes updating and/or modifying their firmware easier. MUA01, the PMIC for the charging case, includes support for both wired and wireless charging (under the Wireless Power Consortium’s Qi 1.2.4 standard).

Source: Samsung

Qualcomm’s QCC514X and QCC304X Bluetooth SoCs

As for Qualcomm, they’re unveiling new Bluetooth system-on-chips for truly wireless earbuds. QCC514X and QCC304X are the newest SoCs from the company for premium and entry-level TWS devices, respectively. Both of them come with Voice Assistant support and Qualcomm’s Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (Hybrid ANC) on the hardware level. The latter allows for low-latency leak-through, meaning that you’ll be able to take advantage of noise cancellation in airplanes as well as when you’re just walking down the street. Qualcomm also promises “premium wireless sound and voice quality.” In addition, the two SoCs support Qualcomm’s new TrueWireless Mirroring technology. According to the press release, with this technology, “one earbud is wirelessly connected to the phone via Bluetooth while the other bud mirrors the connected bud and is engineered to deliver a rapid swap under several scenarios.” The premium QCC514X supports always-on voice activation to trigger the digital assistant, while the entry-level QCC304X only supports push-to-talk.

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Bring back the notification ticker with Super Status Bar

It seems like heads-up notifications have been with us for forever now, even though they were actually introduced with Android 5.0 Lollipop all the way back in 2014. Before then, though, we used to have something called a “notification ticker” that would show a preview of incoming notifications within the status bar when they arrived. Although this feature has long been forgotten, many have tried to bring back this functionality using third-party apps. We previously detailed a workaround using the automation app Tasker, but if you want a solution that’s a bit simpler to set up, check out an app called “Super Status Bar.”

For the most part, Super Status Bar serves as a status bar replacement that overlays itself on top of your existing status bar. This means it doesn’t require root access to work since it doesn’t actually replace your existing status bar. Even so, it enables a lot of customization to the UI and behavior, so there’s a lot of stuff you can do with the app besides simply enabling a notification ticker. That includes enabling a double-tap to sleep gesture, quickly changing the brightness and volume levels by swiping along the status bar, styling your status bar icons, showing a battery bar, and much more. There’s a premium version of the app that costs $1.99 and unlocks all gesture actions, styles, and lets you customize the indicator, ticker notification, battery bar, and colors.

Super Status Bar can also hide the heads-up notifications for you if you grant the app the WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS permission via ADB. We tested this on our OPPO Find X2 Pro running ColorOS 7.1 based on Android 10, and surprisingly, the app worked well despite the extensive customizations that OPPO makes to Android.

If you are interested in checking out Super Status Bar, then you can download it from the Google Play Store link right now. Also check out the developer’s forum thread on XDA if you want to leave any direct feedback!

Super Status Bar - Gestures, Notifications & more (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Super Status Bar XDA Forum Thread

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Google Play Movies prepares to add hundreds of ad-supported free movies

There are hundreds of video streaming services that allow you to watch your favorite TV series and movies at home, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and more recently, Disney+. This is one area where Google doesn’t really compete. While the other aforementioned services allow you to pay a monthly fee to access all of their video content, Google Play Movies & TV is a marketplace where you can rent and buy digital movies and TV shows individually. However, Google seems to be planning a few changes to boost adoption, in particular, a free-with-ads scheme for movies.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

As we mentioned before, the app currently only allows you to rent and buy movies and TV series, with just a very few exceptions of movies and shows that are straight-up made free. However, in version v4.18.37 of the Android application, we spotted a few strings hinting that Google will introduce a new free-with-ads selection of movies. One string, in particular, alludes to the presence of “hundreds of movies, just a few ads,” which suggests a big chunk of the app’s library may be made available in this new format. It’s not immediately clear, however, whether all of Google’s library will become available for free-with-ads or only just a few movies. Nevertheless, it would change radically the way the service works currently as well as make it a viable competitor to other streaming services.

<string name="athome_add_birthdate_to_watch">Add birthdate to watch</string>
<string name="athome_free_with_ads">Free with ads</string>
<string name="athome_free_with_ads_description">Hundreds of movies, just a few ads</string>
<string name="athome_introduce_free_movies">Introducing</string>
<string name="athome_watch_free_with_ads">Watch free with ads</string>

This feature is not available as of yet, but given how Google normally works, we could see this roll out anytime to Google Play Movies as a server-side update following an announcement.

Google Play Movies & TV (Free, Google Play) →

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Join the Huawei P40 Livestream Discussion for a Chance to Win One for Yourself

The Huawei P40 launch is here, as one of the most anticipated phones from Huawei in 2020. There is a great deal of excitement surrounding this phone launch, and Huawei invites you to experience it live.

Huawei will draw one lucky winner to win a new Huawei P40. Here is how you enter:

• Visit and join Huawei Community global site
• Join the P40 Launch Discussion 
• Leave a comment and participate in the lucky draw

The deadline for giveaway submissions is March 28th, 2020 at 23:59 (UTC+8). No more than 20 entries will be accepted per person, as to avoid spamming.

We thank Huawei for sponsoring this post. Our sponsors help us pay for the many costs associated with running XDA, including server costs, full time developers, news writers, and much more. While you might see sponsored content (which will always be labeled as such) alongside Portal content, the Portal team is in no way responsible for these posts. Sponsored content, advertising and XDA Depot are managed by a separate team entirely. XDA will never compromise its journalistic integrity by accepting money to write favorably about a company, or alter our opinions or views in any way. Our opinion cannot be bought.

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Royole shows off its new foldable display technology and announces a partnership with ZTE

Foldable smartphones are talking points for many phone enthusiasts. In spite of mixed opinions, almost everyone agrees that phones with foldable displays are futuristic and here to stay. While Samsung appears to be leading in the foldable smartphone landscape, we have also seen recent innovations from other manufacturers like Huawei, Motorola, and TCL. Royole, the company which launched the world’s first for-sale foldable phone, is now coming back after a short limbo and recently showcased its second foldable phone and an improved display. Royole FlexPai 2’s display has better brightness and colors, and fewer bulges while the hinge gets an upgrade too.

Royole’s latest 3rd-generation Cicada Wing FFD (fully flexible display) is the phone’s most exciting feature. It is only 1/3rd in terms of thickness of the OG FlexPai’s foldable display and has been tested for more than 200,000 bends. But despite the extensive stress due to opening and closing, Royole claims it should remain smooth and free from any crease. This is because of a new simulation model using which has been used to optimize the mechanical properties of the display and prevent phenomena like layer peeling.

The size and the aspect ratio of the new FlexPai foldable’s display remain the same. It still measures 7.8-inches when fully open in a 4:3 configuration and 6.78-inches when folded outwards. Qualitatively, however, the Cicada Wing display also offers 50% more brightness and 400% more contrast than the Royole FlexPai’s panel.

The display is also claimed to have improved viewing angles which reduce the color shift and brightness decay phenomena at angles more than 30º. Royole revealed that the Cicada Wing display has been made in partnership with ZTE so we can expect more phones to utilize this technology.

For a tremendous performance, the Royole FlexPai 2 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 and features faster LPDDR5 and UFS 3.0 storages than the previous device. The phone also features quad cameras and stereo speakers.

The pricing of the Royole FlexPai 2 wasn’t revealed. It will be available in Q2 2020 so we can learn about the prices and availability of the different models.

If you’d like to check out Royole’s first foldable phone, here’s our hands-on of the smartphone shot at CES 2019:

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Via: Engadget

Image sources: Weibo (1)(2)

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Samsung firmware hints at the Galaxy S10 Lite, A01, A11, A21, and A51 smartphones coming to the U.S.

Samsung’s software always gives us some hints about the smartphones that they’re working on. Just last week we were able to find that two upcoming Samsung flagship phones, code-named “winner2” and “canvas,” will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. This week, we discovered code within the firmware of the latest Galaxy Z Flip update that lists several Samsung Galaxy smartphone models that we suspect will launch in the United States. Some of these phones may even launch within the next few weeks.

To keep things short, the model numbers of the Samsung devices that we believe will be launching in the U.S. include the following: SM-A015P, SM-A115U, SM-A115U1, SM-A215U, SM-A215U1, SM-A515U, SM-A515U1, and SM-G770U1. These model numbers probably don’t mean much to you, so let me decode these into actual devices. SM-A015P should be the Sprint-branded Samsung Galaxy A01. SM-A115U/1 should be the carrier and unlocked version of the recently announced Galaxy A11. SM-A215U/1 should be the carrier and unlocked versions of the unannounced Galaxy A21. SM-A515U/1 should be the carrier and unlocked versions of the Galaxy A51. Lastly, SM-G770U1 is expected to be the U.S. unlocked Galaxy S10 lite.

The Galaxy A01 was actually certified by the FCC in early January of this year. The AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon models received FCC certification a bit later. We found evidence that there will be a Sprint version, but that has yet to appear on the FCC. The Galaxy A01 was actually announced in December of 2019, but it has yet to launch anywhere. It is designed to be a very inexpensive device with very low-end specifications. It has a 5.7″ LCD, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 3,000 mAh battery, a 13MP main camera with 2MP depth camera, and a 5MP selfie camera. It comes in Blue, Black, and Red. While we expect it will launch in the United States, we do not know when this will happen.

Samsung Galaxy A01

The Samsung Galaxy A11 actually quietly launched last week. All that Samsung announced were the specifications of the device as well as some images of it. Nothing about pricing or availability of the device was announced, though. While we can’t comment on pricing, we can on availability. We have evidence that it will be launching in the United States on some U.S. carriers, and it should also be available unlocked. The device has a 6.4″ TFT LCD, 2/3GBs of RAM, 32GBs of internal storage, a 4,000 mAh battery with 15W fast charging, a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, and a 13MP main shooter with a 2MP depth sensor, and finally, an 8MP front-facing camera. The device will likely cost around $150.

Samsung Galaxy A11

The Samsung Galaxy A21 is in an interesting position. It has yet to be announced and there have been no major hardware leaks. We don’t know much about this device besides the fact that it will launch on U.S. carriers and in an unlocked model later this year. In comparison, the Galaxy A20 is a lower-end device that was priced at around $250. If I was a betting man, I would say the Galaxy A21 will launch around this price point.

The Samsung Galaxy A51 is in a slightly better position. It has already launched in a few countries. In the U.S., it will be available in model numbers SM-A515U and SM-A515U1. The carrier version, SM-A515U, may launch during the first or second week of April. This will likely change because of the COVID-19 situation, though. The U.S. unlocked version, SM-A515U1, is also in development but won’t launch until much later. Generally, U.S. phones have Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. The Galaxy A51 is, unfortunately, not going to have one. Samsung published the kernel source code for the U.S. Galaxy A51 ahead of launch, and we were able to determine that it will use the Exynos 9610 SoC like the global variant. It is very likely the rest of the hardware will remain the same, meaning the U.S. Galaxy A51 will retain the same camera setup with a 48MP main shooter and 32MP selfie, 4/6/8GB of RAM, 64/128GB of storage, a 4,000 mAh battery, an optical in-display fingerprint scanner, and a 6.5″ FHD AMOLED display. The device will likely cost around $350.

Samsung Galaxy A51

Lastly, but most interestingly, there’s the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite (our review). This device will launch in the U.S. as an unlocked device only. It has been on the market for a while outside of the U.S., but Samsung is finally bringing it to the U.S. It should launch in mid-April, global pandemic permitting. While we don’t know the official price in the U.S., we estimate it should be around $550. This would make it a good competitor to the upcoming Apple iPhone 9. The Galaxy S10 Lite has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, a 4,500 mAh battery, 25W fast charging, a 48MP main shooter with Super Steady OIS, and more.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite

All of these devices cost much less than the Samsung Galaxy S20’s $1000+ price tag, so it’s good to have some variety in the Samsung ecosystem in the United States. Phones are getting expensive, so having a lot of cheaper options on the market is really great. It means there is a phone for everyone!

Samsung Galaxy A51 Forums ||| Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite Forums

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HP’s 24″ Touchscreen All-in-One Is Not Your Typical Desktop

Though tablets have come a long way since their genesis, desktop machines still hold the power needed for gaming and creativity. The HP 24″ All-in-One Touchscreen Desktop is a classic example of two worlds coming together. It combines a speedy Ryzen processor and a huge touchscreen display, packaged in a slimline device. You can get a certified refurbished model now for just $499.99 at the XDA Developers Depot.

Ideal for tight home office setups or any other room where space is limited, the HP 24″ All-in-One is no larger than a standalone display. The sleek metal case contains a dual-core 2.6GHz chip and 8GB RAM, which is plenty enough for intensive multi-tasking.

That beautiful touchscreen display operates at 1080p HD resolution, making images appear crisp, and having the option to tap with your finger makes many jobs much easier.

The HP all-in-one also has dual 2W speakers, a 1TB HDD for storing media, and even a built-in DVD drive — remember those? As Digital Weekly put it in a recent review, this machine “checks all boxes for must-have features.”

“Certified refurbished” status means each device has been tested, cleaned, inspected, and repackaged so it works just as well as a brand new model. Each computer also comes with a 90-day warranty.

A new model would run you $699.99, but you can grab a refurbished one now for just $499.99.

Prices subject to change

 

HP 24″ All-in-One Touchscreen Desktop AMD Ryzen 3 1TB – Silver (Certified Refurbished) – $499.99

See Deal

 

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