[Update: Availability] OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro launched in India, starting at ₹41,999 ($549)

Update 1 (05/14/2020 @ 01:48 AM ET): OnePlus has shared availability details for the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro in India. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on April 19, 2020, is preserved below.

After months of leaks and teasers, OnePlus finally launched the OnePlus 8 series earlier this month. However, unlike previous years, the company didn’t launch the OnePlus 8 series in India and China at the same time as the global launch. While OnePlus launched the devices in China just a day after the global launch, the company has now finally gotten around to launching the OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro, and OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z in India.

OnePlus 8 XDA Forums || OnePlus 8 Pro XDA Forums

OnePlus 8 Series Specifications

Full Specification Table

Specification	OnePlus 8	OnePlus 8 Pro
Dimensions & Weight	160.2 x 72.9 x 8.0 mm 180g	165.3 x 74.35 x 8.5 mm 199g
Colors, Materials, Finish	Onyx Black (glossy) Glacial Green (matte-frosted) Interstellar Glow (glossy) Polar Silver	Onyx Black (glossy) Glacial Green (matte-frosted) Ultramarine Blue (matte-frosted)
Display	6.55″ Fluid AMOLED, single hole-punch (3.8mm) cutout FHD+ resolution (2400 x 1080), 20:9 aspect ratio, 402ppi 90Hz refresh rate, 180Hz touch sampling rate HDR10+ 3D Corning Gorilla Glass Features Vibrant Color Effect Reading Mode Night Mode No Active Digitizer for Active Pen support	6.78″ Fluid AMOLED, single hole-punch (3.8mm) cutout QHD+ resolution (3168 x 1440), 19.8:9 aspect ratio, 513ppi 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate HDR10+ 1300 nits peak brightness, 4096 levels of adjustment 3D Corning Gorilla Glass Features Vibrant Color Effect Reading Mode Night Mode MEMC HDR Boost Adaptive Display No Active Digitizer for Active Pen support
Cameras (Rear)	Primary 48MP Sony IMX586, f/1.75, 0.8µm pixels, OIS, EIS Secondary 16MP, ultra-wide-angle, f/2.2, 116° FOV Tertiary 2MP, macro, f/2.4, 1.75µm pixels Flash Dual LED Flash Autofocus PDAF + CAF Video 4K @ 30/60 fps 1080p @ 30/60 fps Slow Motion 1080p @ 240 fps 720p @ 480 fps Time Lapse 4K @ 30 fps 1080p @ 30 fps Miscellaneous features CINE aspect ratio Ultra Steady at 4K @ 30 fps Other sensors Flicker ambient light sensor (front)	Primary 48MP Sony IMX689, f/1.7, 1.12µm pixels/48MP; 2.24µm [4 in 1]/12MP, OIS, EIS Secondary 48MP, ultra-wide-angle, f/2.2, 119.7° FOV Tertiary 8MP, telephoto, f/2.4, 1.0µm pixels, OIS, 3x Optical Hybrid Zoom Quaternary 5MP, color filter, f/2.4 Flash Dual LED Flash Autofocus All pixel omni-directional PDAF+CAF+LAF Video 4K @ 30/60 fps 1080p @ 30/60 fps Slow Motion 1080p @ 240 fps 720p @ 480 fps Time Lapse 4K @ 30 fps 1080p @ 30 fps Miscellaneous features HDR Video, CINE aspect ratio Ultra Steady at 4K @ 30 fps Audio Zoom Audio 3D Audio Windscreen Color Filter Camera Other sensors Flicker ambient light sensor (front and back) Laser sensor Front RGB sensor
Camera (Front)	16MP Sony IMX471, f/2.0, 1.0µm pixels, fixed focus, EIS, 1080p@30fps	16MP Sony IMX471, f/2.45, 1.0µm pixels, fixed focus, EIS, 1080p@30fps
Software	OxygenOS 10 based on Android 10 2 years of software updates (Android 11 and Android 12 planned), 3 years of bi-monthly security updates A/B partitions for Seamless Updates
System-on-chip	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU 1x Kryo 585 (ARM Cortex-A77-based) Prime core @ 2.84GHz 3x Kryo 585 (ARM Cortex-A77-based) Performance core @ 2.4GHz 4x Kryo 385 (ARM Cortex A55-based) Efficiency cores @ 1.8GHz Adreno 650 GPU
RAM	8/12GB LPDDR4X	8/12GB LPDDR5
Storage	128/256 GB UFS 3.0+ Dual-Lane
Battery	4300 mAh	4510 mAh
Wired Charging	30W Warp Charge 30T (5V/6A) 15W USB-C Power Delivery (5V/3A)
Wireless Charging	No	Warp Charge 30 Wireless (30W), 10W Qi EPP Reverse Wireless Charging (3W)
IP Rating	No	IP68
Security	Optical under-display fingerprint scanner Software-based facial recognition
Ports & Buttons	USB 3.1 (Gen 1) Type-C with video out (DisplayPort Alternate Mode) Alert Slider Dual nano-SIM slot* *Second SIM will be activated in a post-launch update
Audio & Vibration	Dual stereo speakers. Audio tuned by Dolby Atmos. X-axis linear motor
Multimedia Codec Support	Audio Playback: MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, WAV, FLAC, APE, OGG, MIDI, M4A, IMY, AC3, EAC3, EAC3-JOC, AC4 Audio Recording: WAV, AAC, AMR Video Playback: MKV, MOV, MP4, H.265(HEVC), AVI, WMV, TS, 3GP, FLV, WEBM Video Recording: MP4 Image Viewing: JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, WEBP, HEIF, HEIC, RAW Image Output: JPEG, PNG
Connectivity	Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 modem + Qualcomm FastConnect 6800 Wi-Fi: 2×2 MIMO, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2.4GHz/5GHz Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.1, with Qualcomm aptX, Qualcomm aptX HD, LDAC and AAC NFC: Yes Positioning: GPS (L1+L5 dual-band), GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo (E1+E5a dual-band), SBAS, A-GPS LTE/LTE-A: 4x4MIMO Supports up to DL Cat 18 (1.2Gbps)/UL Cat 13 (150Mbps) depending on carrier. Bands (NA) 5G NSA: n2, n5, n66, n71, n41 5G SA: n71, n41 MIMO-LTE: B2, 4, 7, 25, 66, 41, 48 NR: n2, n66, n41 FDD-LTE: B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 66, 71 TDD-LTE: B34, 38, 39, 40 (Roaming), 41, 46, 48 GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 WCDMA: B1, B2, B4, B5, B8, B9, B19 CDMA: BC0, BC1, BC10 Bands (IN) 5G NSA: n78 5G SA: n78 MIMO-LTE: B1, 3, 41, 40 NR: n78 FDD-LTE: B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26 TDD-LTE: B34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46 WCDMA: B1, B2, B4, B8, B9, B19 CDMA: BC0 (Roaming) GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 Bands (EU) 5G NSA: n1, n3, n28, n78 5G SA: n78 MIMO-LTE: B1, 3, 7, 38, 40, 41 NR: n1, n3, n7, n78 FDD-LTE: B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 66 TDD-LTE: B34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46 WCDMA: B1, B2, B4, B5, B8, B9, B19 CDMA: BC0 GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900

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Indian Pricing

India is currently in the middle of a lockdown because of COVID-19, because of which, many OEMs have had to shelve their plans. Nonetheless, the company is going ahead with a price reveal.

The OnePlus 8 series will be available in the following RAM and storage variants at the below-mentioned prices:

• OnePlus 8:
  • 6GB + 128GB: ₹41,999 (Amazon.in exclusive) (Glacial Green)
  • 8GB + 128GB: ₹44,999 (Onyx Black, Glacial Green)
  • 12GB + 256GB: ₹49,999 (Onyx Black, Glacial Green, Interstellar Glow)
• OnePlus 8 Pro:
  • 8GB + 128GB: ₹54,999 (Onyx Black, Glacial Green)
  • 12GB + 256GB: ₹59,999 (Onyx Black, Glacial Green, Ultramarine Blue)
• OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z: ₹1,999 (Black, Blue, Mint, Oat)

XDA Review: OnePlus 8 || OnePlus 8 Pro

Interestingly, India gets a lower RAM variant and an even lower starting price point ($549). Even the matching variants are priced lower in India. For instance, the starting 8GB + 128GB variant of the OnePlus 8 costs ~$588, which is a good ~$100 cheaper than the US pricing of $699. Similarly, the OnePlus 8 Pro’s 12GB + 256GB variant costs ~$785, which is a far cry from the $999 price tag for the top variant. Even the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z is half the price. Keep in mind that the Indian variant lacks some 5G bands, which is a non-issue for India because the country does not have 5G anyway.

The phones and accessories will be available across all online and offline channels when the sale is made possible in India in line with the government’s COVID-19 advisories.

Here is the complete price chart for major markets:

Device	USD	UK	EU	India
OnePlus 8 – 6GB RAM + 128GB storage: Glacial Green	–	–	–	₹41,999 (~$549)
OnePlus 8 – 8GB RAM + 128GB storage: Onyx Black, Glacial Green	$699	£599	€699	₹44,999 (~$589)
OnePlus 8 – 12GB RAM + 256GB storage: Interstellar Glow	$799	£699	€799	₹49,999 (~$654)
OnePlus 8 – 12GB RAM + 256GB storage: Onyx Black, Glacial Green	–	–	–	₹49,999 (~$654)
OnePlus 8 – 8GB RAM + 128GB storage: Polar Silver*	$799	–	–	–
OnePlus 8 Pro – 8GB RAM + 128GB storage: Glacial Green, Onyx Black	$899	£799	€899	₹54,999 (~$719)
OnePlus 8 Pro – 12GB RAM + 256GB storage: Glacial Green, Onyx Black	–	–	–	₹59,999 (~$785)
OnePlus 8 Pro Ultramarine Blue (12GB RAM + 256GB storage)	$999	£899	€999	₹59,999 (~$785)

*Exclusive to Verizon Wireless in the U.S.

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Update: OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro availability in India

The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro will be available on open sale in India on May 29, 2020 across Amazon.in, oneplus.in, and select OnePlus exclusive offline stores and partner outlets. The OnePlus 8 will also be made available in limited quantities in a special early access sale on Amazon.in on May 18, 2020, at 2 pm IST. The phones are currently available for pre-booking on Amazon.in.

Pre-book OnePlus 8 series on Amazon.in and get ₹1,000 cashback

In addition to the pre-booking offer, there are a few launch offers as well. Customers using an SBI Credit Card can get an instant discount of ₹2,000 and ₹3,000 on the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro respectively. No-cost EMI options are also available across all channels on popular bank debit and credit cards. Reliance Jio users will also be getting ₹150 off on 40 prepaid recharges of ₹349, making it a good deal for their continued data usage.

OnePlus is also offering a Limited Edition pop-up bundle, which will include the device along with a Bullets Wireless Z (Black) earphones, a Cyan Bumper case, and a Karbon Bumper Case at an additional ₹1,000 above the retail price of just the device. The pop-up bundle is available on an invite-only basis for Red Cable Club members initially and will be opened up on select channels later on. Red Cable Club members also get a few other discounts, such as on extended warranty, battery replacement, and assured buyback protection.

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Google Chrome adds tab groups to organize tabs by name and color

Everyone uses browsers differently and that’s most apparent when you ask about tabs. Some people have almost a “hoarding” mentality as they keep dozens of tabs open at a time. Others go the “minimalist” route and close tabs as quickly as possible. Regardless of how you use tabs, Google Chrome is making it easier to organize them with tab groups.

Chrome tab groups are essentially exactly what you would expect – a way to group tabs together. You may be working on multiple projects, saving pages for a later date, or waiting on something before taking action. Whatever the case may be, grouping the tabs can make it easy to quickly see what all your tabs are for.

Creating a tab group is as simple as right-clicking on a Chrome tab. You will see the option to “Add tab to new group” and from there you can give the group a name and assign it a color. The group name appears to the left of the tabs and the color is shown underneath the tabs and outlines the current tab. Tabs can also be dragged to other groups.

Tab groups are now available in the latest Chrome beta for desktop. The feature will be rolling out widely to Chrome for desktop across Chrome OS, Windows, Mac, and Linux next week. This seems like an awesome feature for anyone who lives their life by browser tabs.

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Source: Google

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Dell announces new XPS 15, XPS 17, and Alienware laptops with 10th Gen Intel chips and InfinityEdge displays

Today, Dell announced a number of new XPS and Alienware laptops. The Dell XPS 17 and XPS 15 are the company’s newest high-end laptops. They feature USB-C ports and 16:10 “InfinityEdge” displays. Alienware is Dell’s gaming brand and m17 and m15 include the 10th Gen Intel chips and updated graphics.

Dell XPS 15 & XPS 17

The Dell XPS 15 is a massive redesign of the popular laptop. The most striking feature is the 15.6-inch (available in 4K and FHD), 16:10 InfinityEdge display. The aspect ratio allows for more vertical space, which is really nice for web browsing, and it has very thin bezels on all sides. Another big feature is the addition of two USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports and one USB-C 3.1 port. Dell is going all-in on USB-C and ditching USB-A and HDMI.

Other specifications for the XPS 15 include Intel’s 10th Gen Core i9 10885H 45W chip, 64GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage. Dell says the laptop can get up to 25 hours of battery life on the Full HD model. The XPS 15 is available today for $1,299.

The Dell XPS 17 is much like the XPS 15, but obviously it has a larger 17-inch 16:10 display. Again, it has very small bezels and you can opt for 4K or FHD resolution. Despite the large display, Dell calls this the “smallest 17-inch laptop on the planet,” due to the slim bezels and thin body.

Like the 15-inch model, the XPS 17 features Intel’s 10th Gen Core i9 45W processors, 64GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage. The XPS 17 can also be equipped with either NVIDIA’s GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q or the more powerful RTX 2060 GPU. The 17-inch model has four USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports. It won’t be available until later this summer for $1,499.

Specs	Dell XPS 15	Dell XPS 17
OS	Windows 10	Windows 10
Display	15.6-inch 4K UHD+ (3840 x 2400) touch 15.6-inch FHD+ (1920 x 1200)	17-inch 4K UHD+; InfinityEdge touch; HDR400 + Dolby Vision, 500 nits; 94% DCI-P3; anti-reflective 17-inch FHD+; InfinityEdge; Dolby Vision, 500 nits; 100% sRGB minimum; anti-glare
Processor	10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10875H 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10885H	10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10875H 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10885H
Graphics	Intel UHD graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti	Intel UHD graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti
Memory	8GB DDR4 Dual Channel SDRAM at 2933MHz 16GB DDR4 Dual Channel SDRAM at 2933MHz 32GB DDR4 Dual Channel SDRAM at 2933MHz 64GB DDR4 Dual Channel SDRAM at 2933MHz	8GB DDR4 Dual Channel SDRAM at 2933MHz 16GB DDR4 Dual Channel SDRAM at 2933MHz 32GB DDR4 Dual Channel SDRAM at 2933MHz 64GB DDR4 Dual Channel SDRAM at 2933MHz
Storage	256GB PCIe 3 x4 SSD 512GB PCIe 3 x4 SSD 1TB PCIe 3 x4 SSD 2TB PCIe 3 x4 SSD	256GB PCIe 3 x4 SSD 512GB PCIe 3 x4 SSD 1TB PCIe 3 x4 SSD 2TB PCIe 3 x4 SSD
Battery	56WHr 86WHr	56WHr 97WHr
Ports	2x Thunderbolt 3 with power delivery & DisplayPort 1x USB-C 3.1 with power delivery & DisplayPort 1 Full size SD card reader v6.0 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack Wedge-shaped lock slot	4x Thunderbolt 3 (power delivery + DisplayPort) 1x Full size SD card reader 1x 3.5mm headphone.microphone jack 1x USB-C to USB-A 3.0 & HDMI 2.0 adapter included
Audio	Quad-speaker design Dual microphone array	Studio quality tuning w/ Waves MaxxAudio Pro & Waves Nx 3D audio 1.5W x2 tweeters 2.5W x2 woofers
Wireless	Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2×2), Bluetooth 5	Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (802.11AX) built on Intel chipset, Bluetooth 5
Camera	720p	720p
Size	Height: 18mm (0.71″) x Width: 344.72mm (13.57″) x Depth: 230.14mm (9.06″) 5.5 lbs (2.5 kg)	Height: 19.5mm (0.77″) x Width: 374.45mm (14.74″) x Depth: 248.05mm (9.76″) 2.11 kg (4.65 lbs) to 2.51 kg (5.53 lbs)

Alienware m15 & m17

The Alienware m15 and m17 share many of the same specifications with the main difference being display size. The m15 has a 15.6-inch display and the m17 is 17.3-inches. Both models have a number of display options: FHD display without G-Sync, FHD display with G-Sync, FHD display with 100 percent sRGB color gamut, and a 4K display. The 4K display or the m15 is OLED.

Similarities between the m15 and m17 include the processor options, storage, and ports. You can get each model with the 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H, 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H, or a 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10980H. Storage starts at 2TB and goes up to 4TB. The ports include a microSD card slot, Thunderbolt 3 port, 3 USB-A ports, and more.

The Alienware m15 starts at $1,500 and will be available on May 21st. The Alienware m17 costs $1,550 and will also be available on May 21st.

Specs	Alienware m15	Alienware m17
OS	Windows 10	Windows 10
Display	15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080), 144Hz, 7ms, 300-nits 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) with G-Sync, 144Hz, 7ms, 300-nits 15.6-inch with 100 percent sRGB, 300Hz, 3ms, 300-nits 15.6-inch OLED UHD (3840 x 2160), 60Hz, 1ms, 400-nits	17.3-inch FHD (1920 x 1080), 144Hz, 9ms, 300-nits 17.3-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) with G-Sync, 144Hz, 9ms, 300-nits 17.3-inch with 100 percent sRGB, 300Hz, 3ms, 300-nits 17.3-inch UHD (3840 x 2160), 60Hz, 25ms, 500-nits
Processor	10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10980H	10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10980H
Graphics	Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q AMD Radeon RX 5500M	Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Max-P AMD Radeon RX 5500M
Memory	8GB DDR4 2666MHz 16GB DDR4 2666MHz 32GB DDR4 2666MHz	8GB DDR4 2666MHz 16GB DDR4 2666MHz 32GB DDR4 2666MHz
Storage	Up to 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD single storage Up to 4TB (2x 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0 Up to 4TB (2x 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0 Plus	Up to 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD single storage Up to 4TB (2x 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0 Up to 4TB (2x 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0 Plus
Battery	56WHr 86WHr	56WHr 86WHr
Ports	Power/DC-in RJ-45 Killer Ethernet E3000 10/100/1000Mbps/2.5Gbps 2x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 1x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 with Powershare technology 1x Thunderbolt 3 Port 1x Alienware Graphics Amplifier HDMI 2.0b with HDCP 2.2 Output Mini-Display Port 1.4 (certified) Output Audio Out 1/8″ microSD 5.1 UHS-II HD312 Card Reader	Power/DC-in RJ-45 Killer Ethernet E3000 10/100/1000Mbps/2.5Gbps 2x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 1x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 with Powershare technology 1x Thunderbolt 3 Port 1x Alienware Graphics Amplifier HDMI 2.0b with HDCP 2.2 Output Mini-Display Port 1.4 (certified) Output Audio Out 1/8″ microSD 5.1 UHS-II HD312 Card Reader
Wireless	Killer Ethernet E3000 10/100/1000Mbps/2.5Gbps NIC Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i 802.11ax 2×2 Wireless LAN Bluetooth 5.0	Killer Ethernet E3000 10/100/1000Mbps/2.5Gbps NIC Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i 802.11ax 2×2 Wireless LAN Bluetooth 5.0
Camera	720p	720p

Source: Dell, Alienware

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Marc Levoy, the man behind Google Camera’s best features, has left Google

If there’s one thing the Pixel smartphone series is known for, it’s camera supremacy. Google has never been able to claim to have the best smartphone hardware, but photography has been the Pixel brand’s bread and butter. The Pixel series changed the game in terms of what we expect from smartphone cameras, and now a large part of that equation has left Google.

According to a new report from The Information, renowned engineer Marc Levoy left Google back in March. Some of you may not recognize his name, but Levoy is responsible for leading the development of many of the best features in the Google Camera app. He led the development of HDR+, Portrait Mode, and Night Sight. These three features in particular massively changed the smartphone camera landscape.

Levoy was hired by Google full-time in 2014 for his expertise in computational photography. He had previously led a project at Stanford that eventually turned in Street View for Google Maps. His relationship with Google goes all the way back to when he met co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin as computer science grad students at Stanford.

His abrupt exit is precipitated by news of rocky business within the Pixel team. Google’s hardware lead, Rick Osterloh, told the Pixel team ahead of the Pixel 4’s launch about some of the issues he had with the device. He was disappointed in the battery life, which became a common complaint among reviewers.

At a hardware team all-hands meeting in the fall, ahead of the October launch in New York, Osterloh informed staff about his own misgivings. He told them he did not agree with some of the decisions made about the phone, according to two people who were present at the meeting. In particular, he was disappointed in its battery power.

In addition, sales of the Pixel 4 were not nearly as high as the numbers posted by its predecessors. According to data analyst firm IDC, Google shipped only 2 million Pixel 4 devices in the first two quarters of sales. In contrast, the Pixel 3 series sold 3.5 million and the Pixel 3a series sold 3 million in their respective first two quarters. Compared to Apple and Samsung, these numbers aren’t particularly good, but the downward trend is what’s especially concerning.

Google must now march ahead with the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 launches without one of its brightest minds helming the development of new Google Camera tech.

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Source: The Information

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Samsung is preparing a cheaper Galaxy Fold “Lite” foldable smartphone

The Samsung Galaxy Fold was one of my favorite phones from last year. It’s Samsung’s first-ever foldable smartphone, and I think it’s a joy to use. In my view, the main issue with the Galaxy Fold isn’t its hardware but rather its price. At a retail price of $1,980, it is priced out of reach for most consumers. Even so, Samsung claimed back in January to have sold between 400-500k units, and that figure could be even higher by now. Now, we’re hearing from multiple sources that Samsung is looking to make the Galaxy Fold more palatable to consumers by introducing a much cheaper Galaxy Fold “Lite” model.

The CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, Ross Young, recently published a tweet on his official Twitter account revealing that Samsung plans to announce the “Galaxy Fold Special Edition” in July at a reduced price of $1,099. He claims that Samsung will sell this cheaper model in reduced quantities, approximately ~55k units worldwide, in order to clear out inventory of the first-generation Galaxy Fold before the second-generation model is introduced later this year.

To clear out Galaxy Fold 1 inventory before the Galaxy Fold 2 is launched, Samsung will announce the Galaxy Fold Special Edition in July at a price around $1099. Quantities will be limited to ~55K worldwide. It should look just like the Galaxy Fold 1. Great price!

— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) May 13, 2020

In a separate tweet, Mr. Young also claims that the Special Edition phone will have the same design as the original Galaxy Fold that was released last year. Mr. Young’s sources recently gave us insight into the display specifications of the Galaxy Note 20 series, and his information corroborates what I shared earlier this week on Twitter.

I have some info on the Galaxy Fold Lite.

-Galaxy Fold Lite 4G
-256GB storage
-Mirror Black, Mirror Purple
-Display has no UTG
-Will be equipped with a mix of 2018/19/20 parts
-outside will probably have a smaller display (not like on Fold, but more like the Z Flip)

— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) May 12, 2020

Over the weekend, one of my sources reached out to me to mention the existence of this device. My source referred to it as “Galaxy Fold e.” We believe that the “e” moniker is being used similarly to the Samsung Galaxy S10e, which basically means this new model is based on the original Galaxy Fold but with different internal hardware. This could mean fewer cameras, the removal of the cover display (or replacing it with a smaller one), and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 but without 5G support. We’re hearing that it could come in Astro Blue along with Mirror Purple and Mirror Black colors. We’re also hearing that it could come with 256GB of internal storage and 8GB of RAM. This Galaxy Fold “Lite” device would thus come with a mixture of 2018, 2019, and 2020 parts.

The rumored code-name of this product is “winner2” which we found in the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s kernel source code a few months ago. There is a chance this device could end up being either the Project “champ” or Project “top,” too. These are also rumored to be code-names of upcoming Samsung foldable smartphones.

While it might seem like there is a lot of information we already know about this device, I would take some of it with a grain of salt. Although we aren’t 100% sure of all the details yet, it’s clear to us now that Samsung is working on a cheaper foldable device.

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LG V50 ThinQ gets root on locked bootloader thanks to an exploit

LG’s bootloader unlocking policy is quite annoying as the company tends to whitelist only a handful of regional device variants to be unlocked via their official portal. The situation isn’t always their fault, though, as U.S. carriers tend to make the decision to block bootloader unlocking. Take for example the LG V50 ThinQ—while you can unlock the bootloader of the European variant (LM-V500EM), you can’t unlock the Sprint or the Verizon models. That makes rooting virtually impossible on these carriers models, but developers have recently made a breakthrough in this front. It is now possible to get a root shell, albeit temporary, on bootloader locked LG V50 ThinQ units.

LG V50 ThinQ XDA Forums

XDA Recognized Developer j4nn used the Pixel 3-specific CVE-2020-0041 exploit (read more about it here) to achieve root access in shell on the LG V50 ThinQ’s Android 10 firmware running the Linux 4.14 kernel. The current form of the modified exploit is tested on the Korean LG V50 ThinQ variant (LM-V500N) with software version V500N20m, but it is reportedly working on LG G8 ThinQ’s Android 10 firmware as well with little adjustments. In theory, any Snapdragon 855-powered LG phone running Android 10 with the March 2020 security patch level or lower should be vulnerable to the exploit.

By virtue of being a “temp root” method, root access will be lost as soon as you reboot your phone. Moreover, Android Verified Boot 2.0 may kick in and brick your phone if you try to make permanent changes to protected partitions such as boot, system, and vendor without an unlocked bootloader. That being said, the exploit is currently available in its compiled form, while the developer will soon release the source code. The executable should be invoked from a regular ADB shell or a terminal emulator, and it should show the following message after successful privilege escalation.

[+] Mapped 200000
[+] selinux_enforcing before exploit: 1
...
[*] Launching privileged shell
root_by_cve-2020-0041:/data/local/tmp # uname -a
Linux localhost 4.14.176-g563a8d550f67-dirty #5 SMP PREEMPT Sun Apr 26 02:26:43 CEST 2020 aarch64
root_by_cve-2020-0041:/data/local/tmp # getenforce
Permissive
root_by_cve-2020-0041:/data/local/tmp # id
uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root) context=kernel
root_by_cve-2020-0041:/data/local/tmp #

Download LG V50 ThinQ Temp Root Exploit

XDA Senior Member Inerent and other members are trying to integrate Magisk on top of the root shell, but the process is not complete yet at the time of writing this article. It could also be possible to install a custom recovery on your bootloader locked LG V50 with the help of Safestrap or similar solutions, but we’ll have to wait and see if such custom development will pick up on the phone.

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Amazon bumps the Fire HD 8 specs and adds a Plus model with wireless charging

It’s been a while since Amazon released a new version of the Fire HD 8 tablet. This mid-size tablet is one of Amazon’s most popular models, but it’s going on 2-years old at this point. Today, Amazon announced an upgraded version of the Fire HD 8 and a brand new product in the series called the Fire HD 8 Plus.

First, let’s talk about the new Amazon Fire HD 8. The tablet has the same 8-inch 1280×800 display as its predecessor, but the other specifications have been bumped nearly across the board. The processor is a Quad-core 2.0GHz chip that is supposedly 30% faster. RAM and storage have been doubled to 2GB and 32/64GB. There is still a MicroSD card slot as well.

Fire HD 8

Amazon says the Fire HD 8 is estimated to get about 12 hours of battery life. The biggest update, however, may be the USB-C (2.0) port for charging. Amazon has finally upgraded from the old MicroUSB port, just like they did with the Fire HD 10 last year. All of these updated specs come with an updated price: the Fire HD 8 starts at $89.99, $10 more than the previous model.

Fire HD Plus

Next up is an entirely new product in the Fire tablet series. The Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus brings even more spec upgrades and the Qi wireless charging. It has the same 8-inch display, storage options, and processor as the non-Plus model, but RAM is bumped up to 3GB and it has a faster 9W charger included in the box. You can get the Fire HD 8 Plus in a bundle with an Amazon wireless charging stand for $139.99. The tablet without the dock is $109.99.

Lastly, there’s a new Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition as well. It has the same hardware as the standard Fire HD model, but it comes with a durable “kid-proof” case with built-in kickstand, a 2-year extended replacement program, and a free year of Amazon FreeTime. Pre-orders for all three models are open today and will begin shipping on June 3rd.

Amazon Fire HD 8 || Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus || Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition
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Source: Amazon | Via: The Verge

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