Samsung seems to be on a roll recently. It has been launching phone like a thirsty man chugs water. After launching the Galaxy A9, then the Galaxy A8s, the company is now hinting at a Galaxy A10. And Samsung was revamping its A-series with mid-range and low-end smartphones too, but the phone that’s coming up is to sport a flagship processor.
Yes, that’s right. The Galaxy A10 will sport the Snapdragon 845 chipset. Which, we now, find in the best of Samsung phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and Samsung Galaxy S9+. So, this makes it a flagship device, but, there should be a catch as the A-series are never about being flagships. Maybe there will be compromises on other aspects of the phone, just like the Pocophone F1.
Besides that, there’s not much information about the phone. Except that this phone will be Samsung’s first phone with an in-display fingerprint sensor. Yes, we all thought the Galaxy S10 would be that phone, but it seems Samsung had other plans. Well, there is a lot of competition and it’s a jungle out there! So, well, this could be a good move.
With very less information, most of the other things are based on speculation. Since the A9 and A8s feature 6 GB RAM to 8 GB RAM, the A10 will probably have the same too. And since the triple camera setup is taking the smartphone world by storm, we might see it on the A10. This phone might launch by the end of January 2019.
While it is to be a mid-range phone with high-end specs…knowing Samsung, their mid-rage phones’ price can be steep. But let’s hope for the best.
Samsung has reached a new horizon on its endeavor of bringing the Galaxy smartphones. And this time, with all new Infinity-O display. Namely known as the Samsung Galaxy A8s, the new smartphone comes with an in-display camera and a capable Snapdragon 710 chipset on the board.
Samsung Galaxy A8s Overview
The major highlight of this phone is the camera. The phone flaunts a 24MP selfie shooter on the front. And to place the selfie camera on the front, Samsung has neither included bezel on the top of the display nor incorporated a notch. Samsung rather punched a hole of 6.7mm on its display to house the selfie camera and all other necessary sensors inside.
On the rear panel, the smartphone giant has been quite generous in terms of camera counts. The Samsung Galaxy A8s comes with a triple camera setup on its back just like its sibling, the Galaxy A7 2018. This time, the smartphone giant has included a 24MP main sensor, which comes with a wide f/1.7 lens. Additional 10MP telephoto camera and a 5MP depth camera complete the triple camera setup.
As mentioned earlier, the phone comes with Snapdragon 710 chipset. Although the SD710 is not a flagship-grade processor, it is fairly capable to run and handle even some high-end games. Samsung has also incorporated 6GB/8GB of RAM alongside to add fluidity on multitasking and app switching. In terms of memory too, the phone has been generous with 128GB of onboard storage. And to expand to storage further, Samsung has also included an SD card slot. Users can expand the storage up to 512GB making use of the SD card.
On the display front, we will be seeing a 6.4-inch (6.2-inch when curved) IPS LCD display on the handset. The display will feature Full-HD+ resolution in a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. So we can expect the contents to look fairly sharp on its display.
In terms of battery, the phone flaunts a 3400mAh battery, which uses USB Type-C port to gulp the power juice. And since the phone supports Adaptive fast charging support, the phone won’t cling to the wall charger for a long time to get itself fully charged.
Samsung Galaxy A8s specifications
Dimension: 158.4×74.9×7.4mm; Weight: 173g
Display: 6.4-inch IPS display with 2.5D curved glass on the top
Resolution: Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels), 19:5:9 aspect ratio
Storage: 128GB onboard Storage, expandable up to 512GB via micro SD card
OS & UI: Android Pie (v9.0) with Samsung’s UI on the top
Rear Camera: Triple Camera- (24MP, f/1.7 aperture) + (10MP telephoto lens withf/2.4 aperture) + (5MP depth camera with f/2.2), LED flash
Front Camera: 24MP, f/2.0
Connectivity: Dual SIM, Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2.4/5GHz), VHT80, Bluetooth 5, GPS +GLONASS, USB Type-C, NFC
Battery: 3400mAh battery with adaptive fast charging support
Color: Elf Blue, Aurora Black, and Allen Silver
Samsung Galaxy A8s Price & Availability
Although the phone was launched on December 10, the pricing of the device was still under the veil. The pre-order for the device was said to start from December 21. And as today is the date, as the tech giant promised, the phone is now available for pre-order from the Chinese e-commerce website JD.com. The device now lies on the shelf of the e-commerce platform tagged along with the price of CNY 2,999 (equivalent to $435 or NRs. 48,500) for the base variant. The handset is available in Elf Blue, Aurora Black, and Allen Silver color options. So the interested ones will have an ample number of alternatives to choose from.
Although the pricing of the base variant looks attractive considering the specs, we still don’t have any information regarding the higher-end variant (8/128GB). But we can expect that there may not be a significant difference between the two variants when it comes to the pricing. Also, the device is available for pre-order only in China as of now. And the availability of the device outside of the PRC is still uncertain. So there is nothing much for us to be excited now.
These days, Nepali customers are more and more interested in uplifting their audio gadgets. To suffice their needs, brands have lots of devices in their arsenal. Among those brands is the American company Skullcandy that currently offers a wide range of products here in Nepal.
Futureworld is the authorized reseller of Skullcandy products in Nepal. The company has been at its work for a few years now, and around a month ago, it released three new products for the Nepali consumers. That added up to a total of eight products that includes earphones and headphones.
Futureworld has two stores, and both of them are located in Kathmandu. The company also sells the devices online on their official website. Futureworld sells Apple and Beats products on the stores as well.
Apple launched its new lineup of iPad Pros only in October. There were two iPad Pros – an 11″ one and a 12.9″ model. The iPad Pros’ price start at $749 and can go all the way up to $1899 for the beefiest storage. But there’s something off about these latest iPad. They bend over time with pressure.
After many users complained that their iPad Pros were bent out of the box, while others had their iPad Pro bending after some time; Apple admitted that some of their products have a slightly bent chassis. And that is, apparently, a slight deformity in their manufacturing process which won’t affect their performance.
Apple also went on to say that the bending wouldn’t worsen than that. So, it’s not a defect. The bend occurs because of the cooling processes required in the aluminum and plastic components of the iPad Pro. And even though there are a lot of questions on the structural rigidity of the iPad Pro, Apple claims it still stands by the product. Meaning, the company says, there is nothing wrong with the product.
And this is even after there are so many users who posted videos online about how easily it bends. The complaints are there in YouTube, MacRumors forum, Twitter, and just all over. And even with all of this, Apple is “standing by” its product. And so, it’s not sure if Apple will replace the bent products of customers. We don’t know about all market. But, in the European market, Apple will have to replace them under the EU Consumer Laws.
Now, this doesn’t seem like anything new from Apple, does it? We all know of the 2014 Apple’s “Bend Gate” when iPhone 6 Plus bending issues surfaced. Also, Apple standing by all this isn’t new either. It seems like Apple is trying to say that “Real iPads have curves…they bend a little, that’s how you know it’s an Apple product, right?”
And these iPad Pros are also available in Nepal as well. If any of you have bought it and faced any such issues, do let us know. Also, what do you think about this new issue from Apple? Classic Apple, am I right? Or are you, too, standing by Apple?
While a lot of Chinese smartphone companies are already ruling the Nepali smartphone market, yet another brand is now, here in Nepal. Cubot Smartphones made debut in Nepal with 6 phone models, comprising of entry-level phones and budget phones under Rs.20000. Kasthamandap Asia International Pvt. Ltd. (KAI) is the official national distributor for the Cubot brand in Nepal.
The various phone models range from having 1 GB RAM to 3 GB and have between 16 GB to 32 GB of storage. Also, these phones aim to provide value for money to the Nepali people, according to the company.
The phones that are here are Cubot J3, Cubot R9, Cubot R11, Cubot Note Plus, Cubot Magic and Cubot Nova.
Out of these, the J3 is the most entry-level phone with modest specs. It has a 5″ display, 8 MP rear camera and a 5 MP selfie camera. Inside, it features a modest 1 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage with a small 2000 mAh battery. It costs Rs.9500 in the Nepali market.
Secondly, costing Rs.12,675, we have the Cubot R9. This, too, has a 5″ display, but packs a 13 MP rear camera and 5 MP selfie shooter. Inside, it has 2 GB or RAM, 16 GB internal storage and also a 2600 mAh battery.
Then we have the Cubot R11, which has a larger 5.5″ display, a 13 MP + 2 MP dual rear camera and an 8 MP front camera. It packs a 2 GB RAM with 16 GB internal storage and a 2800 mAh battery. This phone is priced at Rs. 14300.
Next, there’s the Cubot Magic. It has, again, a 5″ display with a dual camera setup at the back, comprising of 13 MP + 2 MP sensors. There’s also a 5 MP front camera. You get a good 3 GB RAM with 16 GB storage, and a 2600 mAh battery. And it costs Rs.14820.
Moving on, there’s the Cubot Note Plus. It has a 5.2″ display, a single 16 MP camera,and a 16 MP front camera as well. Under the hood, it packs a 3 GB RAM with 32 GB storage and 2800 mAh battery. It costs Rs. 16100.
Lastly, you have the Cubot Nova. Out of all these phones, this costs the most. It has a 5.5″ display, a 13 MP rear camera, and an 8 MP selfie camera. Also, it packs a 3 GB RAM with 16 GB storage and 2800 mAh battery. And this one is priced at Rs.16,375.
So, there you have it. A list of the Cubot phones that debuted in Nepal. With the features they pack, they certainly will not be anything mind-blowing. However, they might be a good value for money. But in an already saturated market ruled mostly by Chinese brands, another Chinese brand might have to work very hard.
What do you think about this brand? Will this be able to hold its own, or will it go try? Give us your opinions.
The Turing architecture hasn’t actually made much of a dent in the world of graphics processing. Although I would argue that their full potential is yet to be discovered. Our question for today is how will the Nvidia RTX 2060 perform, especially with ray tracing. Even more importantly how much will it cost and when are we getting a mobile version?
Will Nvidia call it the RTX 2060?
As with the RTX branding, the GPU will need to handle ray tracing. To deliver better ray tracing performance you need RT Cores. For starters, the RTX 2080Ti FE edition has 78 RT Cores. The RTX 2070 FE cuts that in half, and is pretty much unable to run games with ray tracing on at 1080p resolutions.
With that said, we can only expect lower RT Cores on the RTX2060, which might make it’s ray tracing unusable at best. But here is the catch, the RTX 2060 won’t be a direct replacement for the GTX 1060. That brings in a lot more questions than it answers. First off, Nvidia’s three graphics cards currently on sale feature RT cores, that’s where the name RTX comes from.
We can confirm the naming, the “2060” will get the RTX tagline at the front. Why does it matter? Well, we for sure know now that the Nvidia RTX 2060 will come with RT cores. Historically, be it the GTX 1060, 960 or the 860 were the best value for money GPUs in their respective prime times. So should the RTX2060, the main reason why most people are actually waiting for it.
Not a GTX 1060 replacement?
Yes, the three existing latest and greatest are selling ok, but even Nvidia should feel that the RTX 2060 is a lot more important. So, for all the enthusiasts, it’s coming, second week of January to be exact. Back to why the RTX 2060 won’t be a direct replacing the GTX1060, most probably because of all that GTX1060 that Nvidia has in stock.
Leaked image of RTX 2060
Image 2
Image 3
Remember all those crypto-currency hype when graphics cards were selling like crazy. Yup, Nvidia decided to actually ramp up the production for mid-range cards. With the on-going present situation, it’s safe to assume they failed to sell a huge chunk of it. Even worst, with the RTX 2060 releasing a lot faster than expected, buying a Pascal card would be a big NO!
Rumored Specs of the RTX 2060
The Nvidia RTX 2060 is said to boast 1,920 CUDA cores with 30 SMs. Those SMs will see themselves paired with a single RT core each for a total of 30 RT Cores. Similarly, we might as well see 240 Tensor Cores. The 30 RT Cores should be enough to push out 5 Giga Rays Per second, which is the absolute minimum. The Die size also comes in at 445mm2, which should make it a huge GPU.
Nvidia RTX 2060 (Leaked Specs)
GTX 1060
RTX 2070
GTX 1070
GPU
TU106
GP106
TU106
GP104
Die size
445mm2
200mm2
445mm2
314mm2
CUDA Cores
1,920
1,280
2,304
1,920
RT Cores
30
N/A
36
N/A
Tensor Cores
240
N/A
288
N/A
Price
Hopefully under $399
$249
$499
$379
Furthermore, it should come with 6GB of GDDR6 memory. Memory Clock Texture Units and bandwidth should increase to 14Gbps, 120, and 336GB/s respectively. Memory bus and TDP might remain constant at 192-bits and 120W. Although, all of these are unconfirmed leaked and might turn out to be false.
Pricing
Pricing will be crucial to the success of this GPU. In my personal opinion, anything under $349 should be a good deal. This should keep the $249 GTX 1060 relevant while keeping itself in the game. But, we might see a price tag somewhere around $399. This could lure most potential buyers to go for the GTX 1070, until Nvidia’s warehouse runs out of units to ship.
Conclusion
In a vague comparison, the card in question is about 30% faster than the GTX 1060 and 6% slower than the GTX 1070. Likewise, comparisons with the red team shows that it’s 22% faster than the RX 590 while just 5% slower than the Vega 56. That is again just guesswork, but they do turn out to be true more often than not.
As for Ray Tracing, we have already established that even 1080p gaming is quite not possible with ray tracing on. So do we expect 720p gaming, with RT on? Would you trade in lesser resolution for better reflections? I wouldn’t and happily so go for the GTX 1070 rather than the Nvidia RTX 2060. But we will just have to wait and see now, right?
Micromax, the Indian mobile brand, is only now, stepping into the notch band-wagon. It has launched its first notched phones, the Infinity N-series, or namely, the Infinity N11 and Infinity N12. These two phones are very similar to each other, and look like entry level phones for the specs and price.
Infinity N11 and N12 Overview
Both the N11 and N12 feature a 6.19″ IPS LCD displays with HD+ resolution. Both have 18:9 aspect ratio and 2.5D curved glass. Also, both of them are powered by 2 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6762 Helio P22 chip with 650 MHz IMG PowerVR GE8320 GPU. These phones are powered by a big 4000 mAh battery as well.
Both the phones are similar in terms of the rear camera department too. Both these phones have dual camera setup of 13 MP lens and a 5 MP depth sensor. These phones only differ in terms of the selfie camera and memory configuration. The Infinity N11 features an 8 MP selfie shooter whereas the N12 sports a 16 MP shooter. Also, the N11 has 2 GB of RAM while the N12 has 3 GB. However, both of them have 32 GB of internal storage and are expandable up to 128 GB via microSD card slot.
Pricing and Availability
These phones are available in three different color options – Viola, Blue Lagoon and Velvet Red. These phones are only available in India for now, both through online and offline channel. The N11 is priced at INR. 9000 (US $128) while the N12 costs INR.10000 (US $142).
Lately, we have been hearing a lot of rumors and speculations about Samsung’s M-series and A-series smartphones. The M-series is said to consolidate C, J, and On lineup of smartphones, which are renowned for their budget-friendly nature. Similarly, the A-series will of midrange and semi-flagship standards. And the recent rumors suggest that the Samsung Galaxy M20 would initiate this change in moniker.
As per the report, Samsung Galaxy M20 won’t feature anything new or quirky. The three-camera setup and side-mounted fingerprint on the Galaxy A7 2018 and the quad camera setup at the back on the Galaxy A9 2018 weren’t that successful in the smartphone box office. And this time, Samsung seems to be cutting down all the gimmicks. AllAboutSamsung website from Germany reported that the Galaxy M20 (SM-M205) will feature a whopping 5000mAh battery. If the handset features that amount of battery, the M20 would be the first ever Samsung smartphone to flaunt that massive battery.
Samsung has also been ignoring the notch trend all along. To increase the screen-to-body ratio of the display, it came with a punched-hole display on the Galaxy A8s rather than a notch. However, this time Samsung seems to adopt the notch. And looking at the image, we can clearly see a water drop or dewdrop style notch. Well, this may be the Samsung’s new Infinity-U display but we will have to wait for its official launch to confirm it.
Source: 91Mobiles
On its notch, the Smartphone giant has housed an 8MP camera surrounded by other necessary sensors. And on the back, there is a dual camera setup and a fingerprint sensor. Dual camera setup is conspicuous on the image. And the leakers suggest that the camera duo comprises of 13MP and 5MP sensors.
The German website also quoted the precise dimension of the device at 156.4 x 74.5 x 8.8mm. However, the size of the display is still under the unveil. But some rumors suggest that the device would feature a 6.0-inch Full-HD+ display. Since the mid-range phones of 2018 like Galaxy J8 and Galaxy J7 Duo had fairly disappointed us with an HD display, we would be happy if it features Full-HD resolution.
On the performance front, Samsung Galaxy M20 is expected to come with Exynos 7885 chipset along with 3GB of RAM. We had seen this processor on the Galaxy J7 Duo, Galaxy A7 2018, and the A8 Plus 2018. And the performance was great on those devices. So if the handset comes with Exynos 7885 chipset, Samsung might receive tons of praises from its fans. And talking about the storage, the handset would come in 32GB and 64GB variants.
When the rumor about the phone was going wild, we also got some information about its availability. We learned that the handset would first hit on the UK, Germany, France, Poland and Scandinavia. However, there is noinformation if the phone would be available on the countries other than that.
When Huawei launched the Mate 20 Pro, it astounded the tech community with the powerful Kirin 980 chipset and the quirky reverse wireless charging technology. But alongside those features, the smartphone also possessed a new UI. At that time, the smartphone flaunted the latest EMUI 9.0 (EmotionUI 9.0).
The new UI was cleaner, polished and more intuitive than the previous version of the Emotion UI. And with the new UI, the handset managed to garner quite a lot of admirations from the Huawei fans. Well, at that time, the device had only the Mate 20 to share the feature. And this time, the smartphone giant is on the verge of releasing its User Interface on its older flagship as well. Huawei Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro, P20, and P20 Pro will be the smartphones to receive it early. Since the EMUI 9.0 is based on Android Pie (v9.0), the Mate10 and P20 smartphones can flaunt a new OS alongside the new UI after the update.
Well, the update surely sounds interesting but the users have to make a little effort for that OS switch. The Mate 10 and P20 smartphones users have to make an early registration for updating to EMUI 9.0. And talking about the registration, it has been open for Mate 10 and Mate 10 pro devices from 18th December. Similarly, the and P20 and P20 Pro users can get their upgrade registered since 24th December.
Designed to provide simplified, clean, and optimized user experience, Huawei has made a lot of improvements on its UI. On the EMUI 9.0, Huawei has slashed some of the redundant and confusing options from the settings targeting a streamlined user experience.
With the trend of displays with higher to screen to body ratio is springing like a mushroom, every smartphone maker is providing on-screen buttons to cut down the bezels on its chin. As the on-screen buttons take some portion of the screen space, users cannot make full use of the display at times. And for such users, who finds the on-screen buttons obtrusive, Huawei has also brought the gesture option for navigations on the EMUI 9.0.
Smartphone gaming is quite on the rise these days. Many smartphone users are fond of playing high-end games like PUBG and Asphalt 9. And for such games, GPU has a significant role in making the game lag-less, stutter free and for the consistent frame rates. Furthermore, to ensure a better gaming experience, Huawei has also squeezed the GPU Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology on the new UI. And with the GPU Boost 2.0 on the EMUI 9.0, Huawei claims that users can experience a much smooth gaming performance, a boost of 12.9% when compared to its predecessor.
These are just a few of many noteworthy features in the EMUI 9.0. If you happen to be the user of any of the aforementioned smartphones, you can check the new features yourself. And here are the steps to make an early registration.
While companies like Huawei have come up with three cameras and Samsung is there flaunting quad rear cameras, we have other companies following a similar path. Rumors were that Lenovo is bringing a phone with triple cameras at the back! Now it’s official that the device is called Lenovo Z5s! And apart from triple cameras, it seems to offer very interesting stuff!
Starting off with the display, we have a water drop screen like that of the OPPO F9 or the Vivo V11! This would be the first smartphone from Lenovo having a selfie camera inside a water drop notch. Additionally, the device is powered by Snapdragon 710 SoC with Adreno 616 GPU.
Other specs are no less impressive! The screen is a 6.3- inch giant with 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It’s an IPS LCD panel with FHD+ screen resolution. Camera wise, the rear portion seems very interesting. There is a 16MP main sensor, an 8MP telephoto lens and a 5MP depth sensor! Similarly, the selfie shooter is a 16MP snapper housed inside a tiny water drop notch. The selfie camera is also said to have some pixel binding technology that helps produce sharper pictures.
Memory- wise, we are offered a lot of options. There’s 4/64 GB variant, another 6/64 GB variant and a 6/128 GB variant as well. The device runs on Android Oreo with ZUI 10.
Likewise, there are three color options available, Starry Gray, Titanium Crystal Blue, and Honey Love Orange. And interestingly, the Orange Black version is a limited edition and comes with an autograph of famous Chinese actor Zhu Yilong.
Lenovo Z5s Specifications:
Operating System: Android Oreo with ZUI 10
Chipset: Snapdragon 710
GPU: Adreno 616
RAM: 4 or 6 GB
ROM: 64 or 128 GB
Display: 6.3 inches IPS LCD display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio and FHD+ resolution
Rear Camera: 16 MP main sensor, 8 MP Telephoto lens and a 5MP depth sensor with
Front Camera: 16 MP
Battery: 3,300 mAh battery with USB-C and a 15W charger
Security: Fingerprint sensor and Face Unlock
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac.
Colors: Starry Gray, Titanium Crystal Blue, and Honey Love Orange
Lenovo Z5s Price and availability
The Lenovo Z5s has been launched in China today for a very interesting price, the 4/64 GB variant costs around $202, the 6/64 costs around $232 and the variant with 6/128 GB will cost $275. The phones are available for pre-booking as of now and will go on sale from December 24th.
