Xiaomi has been the go-to brand In Nepal if you’re looking for the best smartphone experience in the budget to mid-range section. And now there are more than 15 Xiaomi phones in Nepal satisfying the needs of the user in most of the price range. So, any new Xiaomi launch excites us as it’s certain to get launched in Nepal. Recently the next iteration of the Redmi Note series, the Redmi Note 5A surfaced on a leak with its neat Retail Box.
Redmi Note 5A is a least powerful version of the Redmi Note 5. Based on the leaks, the 5A will get an early release followed by the more powerful Redmi Note 5. The phone will sport a 5.5 inch Full HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Performance has always been the forte of Note Series but the 5A has adopted the same Snapdragon 625 chipset used in the Redmi Note 4 which is plenty powerful for daily usage. The phone also comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage.
With the rise of Dual Camera phones, Xiaomi has also opted for a dual camera setup with OmniVision Sensor, namely OV12A10 (12MP) and OV13880 (13MP) which will enable the phone for both Optical Zoom and Wide Angle shots. The camera has not been the best part of Note series and this time around it may change, as these cameras look really promising with Phase Detection Auto Focus(PDAF), hand jitter reduction, better low light performance, 4K and 2K videos at 30fps and 1080p videos at 90fps. Up front, the phone will incorporate Samsung’s 5MP Camera (S5K5E8) which is the same sensor used on the Meizu M3 Note.
The price of Redmi Note 5A is expected somewhere around $220.
Wallet seems to be outdated these days. Usually, normal wallets are unsecured yet they carry our identity cards, credit cards, and paper currency. In case your wallet is misplaced or lost, you lose all your documents and your money. A chunk of currency may not be a problem but reissuing the documents inside your wallet is a real headache. What if your wallet never gets missing?
Previous smart wallets had Bluetooth tracker ranging within only 20 meters. But this new smart wallet arrives with a 512MB of RAM, built-in camera and a Wi-Fi hotspot.
Designers at Indiegogo, an International crowd funding website have created a powerful smart wallet named Volterman that includes stunning features and an impressive design. It embraces every facet of a smartphone, except it does not have a display. The wallet comes with a built-in power bank that can charge your phone both wirelessly and with a cable. Besides, the wallet itself charges wirelessly by a leather charging pad. An external cable is available if your phone doesn’t support wireless charging. You can pair the wallet over a Bluetooth which notifies your phone through an app every time you leave the wallet behind. Also, the wallet acts as an alarm for your phone in case you leave the phone.
The new smart wallet has a 3G connectivity for Wi-Fi hotspots, a GPS system that can track your wallet in real-time and secure you from thieves or any losses. It uses RFID protection if any malicious person tries to scan your wallet. RFID blocker encases your credit cards inside a material. These interrupt and blocks the external radio waves since credit cards use RFID chips that use radio waves to read the information from a tag.
Above all, the most beguiling feature involved in the product is a 4MP built-in camera. Once you misplace your wallet and if anyone tries to steal it, the wallet will instinctively go into “lost mode”. The camera inside your wallet will capture a photo of anybody who will peek into your wallet and sends that picture to your phone. Though the camera is still optional and it is free of charge. The wallet comes in a cardholder, bi-fold or travel size and the power bank capacity ranges from 2000mAh to 5000mAh. The whole product is only 11mm thick and weighs less than 150grams.
The specs also include Bluetooth 5.0 which supports only the Galaxy S8. Designers have set the shipping date of the product for December but it may or may not feature the above-listed specs inside the wallet. So if you’re willing to buy this product, the cardholder model is available at $98.
In this competitive market, a new phone cannot make a solid impression on the people instantly. Especially in the budget sector where there is a solid hold on the market by companies such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Huawei, and Gionee. Since our smartphone is the most important and the most fragile piece of technology we carry, Leagoo a new smartphone company in Nepal is targeting its device in the solid build segment. The company has now released the successor to the Leagoo M5 which is the Leagoo M5 Plus. For a Price of Rs. 16,599 is it worth the price? Let’s find out in this full review.
Specs Overview:
Display: 5.5 inch IPS display with 1280*720 pixel and 2.5D curved glass
Processor: Quad-core 64 Bit MediaTek MT6735 1.3 GHz Soc with Mali-T720 GPU
Camera: Front Camera 5MP, Rear Camera 13 MP
RAM: 2GB
ROM: 16GB
OS: Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Freeme OS on top
Battery: Removable Li-polymer 2500mAh
Sensors: Accelerometer, Ambience, and Proximity, Fingerprint sensor
3.5mm audio jack
Dual SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
Color:
Design
Visually, the Leagoo M5 Plus is similar in design to Leagoo M5. I really liked the 2.5D glass on top of the display. It feels very robust and premium when using the touch screen. Also, the phone is enclosed in a metallic frame that protects the internals from drops. Due to the presence of the metallic frame the phone feels luxurious in hand. There are thin bezels surrounding the screen which greatly enhances the front looks of the phone. Sadly, I didn’t like the plastic back cover of the phone. The back cover feels cheap and flimsy which gave me a plastic feel.
There is a slight camera hump on which the fingerprint sensor is also located but this problem is solved by the plastic cover which comes with the phone. The problem I faced while using the phone was with the lock button and the volume button. Bothof these buttons lacked the feel when pressed. Since the gap between the volume rocker and the lock is less than that of most phones, I frequently pressed the lock button when lowering the volume which irritated me a lot.
Display
When it comes to the display, I was really impressed with the 5.5 inch HD IPS screen. Like the Leagoo M5, the M5 Plus is a shock proof phone. The glass protecting the screen is designed to withstand a beating. We all have carried phones with a scattered screen at some point in our lives. Leagoo has made the front glass protection rigid enough to make it shatterproof. Coming back to the display, even though it only sports a 5.5 inch 1280*720p IPS screen, you won’t feel the need for the Full HD screen. The display is vivid and the color saturation is on point. Due to this, the display is bright enough for outdoor usage but in direct sunlight but you do get a glare on the screen. Likewise, for comfortable night-time usage, the backlight of the display can be set to the lowest setting.
Performance
Performance wise the M5 Plus gets a MediaTek MT6735 Soc which is clocked at 1.3Ghz. This chip is what I believe to be an entry level 4G enabled 64-bit processor. The processors have 4 cores and with the 2 GB of ram it comes with, it is fine for me for all basic smartphone usage. Also, the user experience with app switching is smooth but the problem is that the device doesn’t have a dedicated multitasking button which is a shame in this day and age. Instead, for multitasking, you have to keep pressing the home button and switch apps. There were slight lags while initially opening heavy apps like Snapchat and Facebook which is acceptable at this price range.
Benchmark
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Geekbench Score
Geekbench Single-Core Score
Geekbench Multi-Core Score
In terms of gaming, the phone backed by Mali-T720 GPU which is capable of smoothly running popular games like Subway Surfer, Mini Militia, and Gunship Battle without much drama on the thermal aspect. I was surprised to find out how cool the device was after hours of usage. Although, you do feel the warmth on the metallic area on the camera bump after heavy gaming. In terms of sound, this device is a pocket rocket. It gets the loudest mono speakers in the segment and you can really hear it. Though you don’t want to set the speaker to the loudest setting as the treble of the sound gets extremely amplified which is unpleasant to your ears.
Software
The Leagoo M5 Plus gets the now dated Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Leagoo’s own Freeeme OS on top. Except for the dated OS, you do get a clean and simple UI which is easy to use. Like all Chinese smartphones, you don’t get the app drawer. On the other hand, you do get features like double-tap to wake up the device, off screen gestures and scrolling screenshots and non-touch operations. The options in the settings are neatly laid out which is much appreciated.
Software
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M5 plus Home Screen
Inside App Folder
M5 plus News
M5 plus Theme App
M5 plus Files
M5 plus Info
M5 plus Launcher Settings
M5 plus Settings
Connectivity
The device sports a dual SIM slot which supports 4G LTE. This means it has dedicated dual SIM slots with separate microSD card slot expandable up to 128GB. The phone also gets a feature know as Turbo Download where apps that are only allowed to download through Wi-Fi only will be downloaded via WLAN and others from 3G/4G networks anyway. However, both Wi-Fi and Mobile data must be turned on for this to work. M5 Plus does come with a fingerprint scanner at the back which unlocks the device with a significant amount of lag. The scanner was many a time unable to recognize by fingerprint and asked for my pattern to unlock the device.
Camera
Leagoo M5 Plus sports a 13MP rear camera with f2.0 aperture. It takes decent pictures in well-lit condition and low light conditions. However, I didn’t like the quality of the videos it took at the 1280*720p resolution as it had a hard time focusing near objects. It also has a slight camera hump at the back where the rear camera LED flash and fingerprint are placed. Taking about the LED flash, the intensity of the flash is more than that of a notification light rather than that of a camera flash. The 5MP at the front takes average narrow-angled selfies. So taking group selfies with this camera is very difficult.
Camera Photos
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M5 Plus Selfie
M5 Plus Normal Shot
M5 Plus HDR shot
M5 Plus Macro Shot
M5 Plus Panorama
Battery
Battery wise, the Leagoo M5 Plus gets a removable 2500mAh Li-polymer battery. The battery consumption is balanced out by the low powered quad core and the huge 5.5 inch HD IPS display. So, in my normal usage, it gets about 4 hours of screen on time which is decent for phones in this category. In term of charging the device back to 100%, it took me more than 2 hours with its standard 1A charger.
Battery
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M5 Plus Screen on Time
M5 Plus Battery Usage
Verdict
If you’re a person who is a little careless with your phone this might be the perfect phone for you. It can handle a lot of drops without any problem through. The phone has decent styling, performance, good display and a shock proof design. All in all it’s a good buy if you ask me.
What I like about the Leagoo M5 Plus?
Firstly, I really liked the solid build of the phone. Just to check, I dropped the phone a few times on rocky ground during the photo shoot of the phone. The drop just made a few scratches on the plastic back and the tempered glass.
Then comes the aluminum frame surrounding the phone that gives the Leagoo M5 Plus a premium feel.
The 5.5 inch HD IPS display of the Leagoo M5 Plus is a treat.
What I disliked about the Leagoo M5 Plus?
The mediocre MediaTek Quad Core processor seriously bottlenecks the performance of the device. I wish it has something more powerful.
The volume rocker and lock button are closer to each other. Due to this, when you are trying to lower volume of the device, the device locks up
Leagoo must implement a better fingerprint sensor. The one right now is not accurate and slow.
Here are some of the alternatives to the Leagoo M5 Plus to consider:
ZTE Blade S6
ZTE BladeS6 priced at Rs. 14,490, the ZTE Blade S6 sports a 5-inch HD display and has last year’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 Chipset with Adreno 405 GPU with 2GB of RAM which is a great offering for the price. Backing up this device is a decent 2400mAh battery. Talking about the camera, it has 13MP Rear Camera with f/2.0 and up front it holds a 5MP camera with f/2.7 aperture. But bear in mind that this phone runs the dated Android 5.0.1 and has a 5-inch screen. Check out our review of the ZTE Blade S6 here.
Xiaomi Redmi 4A
The phone priced at Rs. 14,999 sports a 5-inch HD IPS LCD display and powered by a 1.4GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 425 processor with 2GB of RAM and Adreno 308 GPU. It runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box with MIUI8 on top. The device has a 13-megapixel rear facing camera with 5MP at the front. The good thing about this phone is that it has a big 3,120 mAh battery. You can check out our review of the Redmi 4A here.
Nokia 3
Nokia 3 is the low-end Android-powered released recently in Nepal. At the front, the device sports a 5-inch display which ends in a 2.5D glass arc. The highlight of the Nokia 3 is the Android v7.0 Nougat it runs on. It has a small 2,650 mAh non-removable battery. A Quad-core MediaTek 6737 processor powers the Nokia 3. The Nokia 3 comes with a polycarbonate back like those found on the Lumia phones.
Check out our full article of top phones under 15,000. Click Here!
LG has started sending out invites for July 11, and the invite suggests the unveiling of the LG Q6. The LG Q6 is basically a mini version of LG G6.
LG has started sending invites to their unveiling event with the hashtag #LGBarbeQ. They have even started counting down to July 11 as well, you can watch the video they posted on Facebook which gives us a good idea of what the phone will look like.
Going by the rumors the new phone will flaunt the same wide 18:9 aspect ratio from LG G6, but the size will shrink to a 5.4-inch. The Q6 is expected to have a 13MP camera on the back. The specs will also differ, with rumors of just 3GB of RAM. But we will find the whole truth on July 11.
The LG G6 was a good phone for its price tag, and so can the LG Q6. It didn’t have the top of the line specs and we don’t expect the Q6 will either. The event is going to be held in Poland, but we will get the details as soon as it goes live. The phone will definitely have to compete with the, again rumored, S8 mini and Xperia compact series.
Xiaomi Mi Mix was one of the first mainstream bezel-less phones. And now after about 9 months of its release, rumors for the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 have started to surface. And we have all of the rumors in one place right here for you.
Let’s start with the screen of the phone. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 will feature a huge 6.4-inch QHD AMOLED display, following the same bezel-less screen. But this time the screen to body ratio goes up from 83.6% to 86.8% hinting towards even slimmer bezels.
Unsurprisingly, the device will run on the latest Snapdragon 835 SoC with up to 256GB of storage (not expandable). There is, however, three RAM options with a 4GB, 6GB and an 8GB RAM flavor. There is also a massive 4500mAh battery inside to run the latest Android 8.0 OS with MIUI on top.
These are also talks of a new improved camera. A Dual camera setup with two 16MP cameras on the back and a 13MP camera on the front. The back camera will be capable of the 4k video recording. The dual back cameras will have to share the back of the phone with the dual tone dual LED flash and the fingerprint sensor.
Now, about improvement over its predecessor, Xiaomi is going to replace the old earpiece with AAC technology to create a new better earpiece. These new speakers will support 3GPP standards, which basically means HD voice.
There will be two color options, the black and the white. The device is already listed on the Gearbest’s site for $1,974 as coming soon. Let’s hope that price tag is just a typo or something. The older Xiaomi Mi Mix costs around 3,999 yuan or $590 and is available in Nepal for MRP of Rs 94,999. So don’t expect the newer one to be cheap when it lands in Nepal.
Gone are those days where your expensive smartphones get damaged by water. The new era of smartphones is made to withstand the usual calamities like drops, water, and dust. With Holi nearing in if you are thinking of capturing all those colorful moments without getting your phone damaged then consider looking at this list of best smartphones which are not only waterproof but also powerful.
What is IP68 Rating?
An IP (Ingress Protection) is an international standard that shows how much access protection your smartphone can provide. This rating has two digits, the first one indicates the protection against solid dust particles and the second digit indicates the level of protection against fresh water. Here’s a chart below which shows what these ratings actually mean:
Most of the waterproof phones have 6 rating on dust chart by default.
In water test, it is not that the phone passes through all the tests to get to level 8. But the smartphones are tested only for the specific level. For example, if we want to rate our smartphone as IP68, then it has to go only through “Immersion beyond 1m” test and nothing else.
Galaxy S8/S8 Plus:
Samsung Galaxy S8 is undoubtedly the most beautiful phone right now. With a high price tag and a lot of innovation going under the skin, the phone cannot certainly miss out its signature feature — the water resistance. Even with a compact form factor and infinity display, the Galaxy S8 has managed to incorporate IP68 water and dust resistance. Not to mention, the phone has a new 18.5:9 aspect ratio display, it’s a bit elongated panel and a lot of content don’t fit properly but it’s what all phones will have in the future. The display also happens to be one of the best displays in a smartphone right now. The phone also comes with one of the best smartphone cameras right now and has the edge over other flagship phones when it comes to low-light photography.
S8 has taken a minimal approach for its UI and it’s not cluttered like the last gen Samsung phones. It is one of the handiest and most premium phones you can buy in Nepal right now. The price of Galaxy S8 and the S8 Plus is Rs. 88,900 and Rs.98,900 respectively.
Galaxy S7/S7 Edge:
Whenever someone asks for a waterproof phone, Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge is the first thing that comes to my mind. These phones are IP68 water and dust resistant and can be submerged up to 1.5 meters in water for 30mins. These phones have one of the best AMOLED display in a smartphone and not to mention that insane f/1.7 Camera which still is hard to beat for many flagship Android phones. The phone also comes with fast and wireless charging.
If you are looking for a complete Android phone minus the stock Android experience, it doesn’t get any better than this. Not only S7/Edge are solid water resistant phones, but one of the best phones that you can buy in Nepal. The S7 Edge is priced at Rs. 68,900 and the S7 is priced at Rs. 57,900.
iPhone 7/7Plus:
Expensive phone + No waterproof = No good! iPhones for the longest time has been one of the most expensive phones for general consumers. Despite the high price, it lacked the prominent feature of water resistance, which many of its Android counterparts have been adopting for years. iPhone 7/7Plus has one of the fastest mobile processor, the A10 which simply flies through everything you throw at it.
The 7 Plus also has an insane dual camera setup with a telephoto lens which allows you to zoom in without losing the quality. Not only that, the dual camera of the 7Plus is one of the finest cameras in a smartphone. Finally, the iPhone 7/7Plus is IP67 water and dust resistance making them better than ever. The iPhone 7 pricing starts from Rs. 92,000 and 7 Plus from Rs. 1,13,000.
Sony Xperia XZ:
As far as water resistance on Android phone is concerned, Sony was among the first or the only ones to implement this feature starting with the Xperia Z back in 2013. At that time, it was a bragged feature that made them distinct but today it is an utmost necessity.
Xperia XZ is one of the most premium Android phones you can buy in Nepal. The phone comes with 5.2-inch full HD display, SD 820, 23MP Camera, fast charging, USB C and more. Not only the phone is IP68 Water and Dust Resistant but the Sony’s solid industrial design makes it aesthetically beautiful. The Xperia XZ is priced at Rs. 75,000 in Nepal.
Sony Xperia M5 Dual:
Like mentioned earlier, Sony was the first to adopt the water resistance on their phone and it doesn’t stop just with their flagship phones. Priced at Rs. 33,200, the Xperia M5 Dual is a mid-range phone from Sony to have water resistance with an IP68 rating.
The phone comes with 5inch Full HD display with 441ppi, it is powered by Helio X10 SoC coupled with 3GB of RAM. Optics wise it comes with 21.5MP Rear Camera and 13MP Front Facing Camera. The M5 Dual is backed up by a Non-removable Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery. On the downside, the phone is two years old and runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop.
Blackview BV6000s:
And finally, if you want a phone that can not only withstand water but all the forces of Mother Nature then Blackview BV6000s is the phone you’ve been searching for. The phones back case is made up of dual molding frame and the sides are made up of metal. It also has highly padded rubbers on the edges of the phones which protects the phone from extreme drops. This phone is made for the extreme environment thus the Dual Satellite Positioning system, Atmosphere Pressure Sensor and IP68 water and dust resistance.
Priced at Rs. 20,000, it features a 4.7-inch HD display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, a quad-core processor, and 2GB RAM runs the show with power provided by a 4500mAh battery.
Samsung presented a new form of biometric authentication in their latest release, the Galaxy S8. The phone has an iris scanner that let users to log-in to their phones. This new technology allows authenticated payments by scanning the user’s eyes. Although, Apple’s arch rivals did receive a huge criticism from their users. They were able to deceive their phone sensors by using a photocopy print of their eyes. Now, Apple Inc. alongside LG Innotek targets to launch their iPhone 8 with a new improved security system. The prototype uses a 3-D sensor and enables users to unlock their phone and launch secured apps. It also allows verified payments by scanning a person’s face. The company is also aiming to include multiple systems in the device such as iris scanners.
The 3D sensor focuses on speed and accuracy. It unlocks the iPhone by scanning its users face within a few hundredth of a second. These sensors include 3D depth perception i.e. the sensor’s visual ability to analyze geometric orientation of the object. The new hallmark in the phone allows the sensor to take more data points. The object recognized by the 3D sensor will make the device more secure than an iris or fingerprint scanners. Apple introduced their Touch ID fingerprint scanner in 2013, with the iPhone 5s but now, they intend to replace the fingerprint scanner with their new 3D sensor.
Apart from the new facial recognition system, Apple is also testing on a new prototype chip. This new embedded chip is designed for artificial intelligence and known as Apple Neural Engine. This new feature can handle tasks such as image/speech recognition and typing suggestions which require human intelligence. The company will also focus on its new OLED screen to display the contents at higher frame rates. The screen will provide better color adjustments and a better battery performance. Apple has also targeted to launch a new screen technology that prioritizes to remove the home button. The new front display will bring additional gestures such as swiping across the screen to initiate operations.
Although, the company has not yet confirmed that the 3D sensor will support the new OLED display version or it includes AI features. The display and the AI features are still in their testing phase. Manufacturers have said that these specs may or may not appear in the new iPhone8. Further, Apple promises to bring augmented reality into action that can shroud images, videos, and games in the real world. This new innovation in AI can make the real and computer-generated environment indistinguishable by enhancing our sense of touch, hear and sight.
If you’ve been waiting for a midrange phone below Rs. 30,000, then you should absolutely check out this new offer from Coolpad on its Cool 1 Dual phone that includes a free JBL earphone worth Rs. 1800.
Cool 1 is the best phone below Rs. 30,000 if you are looking for an excellent camera as it offers dual (13MP+13MP) camera. It also sports a powerful Snapdragon 652 Octacore processor with 4GB of RAM. It flaunts a 5.5″ 1080p IPS screen and has 32GB storage. marshmallow.
Full Specs of Cool 1 Dual
5.5-inch full HD display with Gorilla Glass 3 Protection
Android 6.0 Marshmallow with EUI 5.6
32GB ROM (not expandable)
4GB RAM
13 MP Dual Rear-facing Camera with f/2.0 aperture, dual tone LED flash, 6P Lens, 4K Video Recording
A few days ago, Vivo smartphones teaming up with Qualcomm unveiled their on-screen fingerprint sensor that brings ultrasonic fingerprint scanning to mobile devices, also known as biometric authentication. The technology use Piezoelectricity that changes mechanical pressure or sound vibration to exchange ultrasonic signals which travel through its OLED screen and create a 3D map of your fingerprint under the screen. So, what exactly is Piezoelectricity (pronounced as pee-ay-jo) and what does it hold for future applications in mobile computing? Let’s take a brief look:
What is piezoelectricity?
Quartz crystals (Silicon dioxide, found in sand and most types of rock) are the most common minerals on Earth that produce electricity when pressure is applied to it. Under any stress or sound vibration, these quartz crystals develop an electric potential (voltage) across its sides. The voltage can drive current in an electric circuit. Conversely, when the crystals are subjected to an electric field they stretch or squeeze themselves by vibrating back and forth.
What causes piezoelectricity?
A Crystal is a scientific name for any solid whose atoms or molecules are arranged in a periodic or repeating structure (a 3D structure). This structure repeats endlessly on the same building block, also called a unit cell. In most non-piezoelectric crystalline materials, the atoms are arranged symmetrically around a center point unlike other crystals, which do not possess symmetric structure. These crystals are electrically neutral, which means the positive charges cancel out the negative charge. But if you squeeze or stretch these materials, the atoms get disarranged which produces a small amount of energy that needs to be released for the material to obtain its original shape (similar to compressing a spring). This small amount of electrical energy can be stored or drive an electric circuit. Also, when electricity is applied to such crystals, they tend to stretch or squeeze depending on the amount of voltage applied. More materials are piezoelectric then you might think, such as DNA, bone, and silk.
Applications of Piezoelectricity
Nearly all applications that require the measurement of dynamic pressure change uses piezoelectric materials because of its better contribution in the results than any other conventional sensors. Since piezoelectric sensors have a high-frequency response and a better signal conversion, they provide fast and accurate control over a long period of time. These sensors can be used in every small electronic gadget ranging from computer chips, microphones, record players and even quartz watches that keeps your time running precisely. Piezoelectric speakers support every application that efficiently produces sound from small electronic devices such as earbuds, musical greeting cards, sound producing toys etc. Voice recognition software also employ piezoelectric crystals that convert the sound vibration of your voice into electrical signals and vice-versa.
The most recent innovation that uses piezoelectricity is in the sports industry, like tennis. In order to provide more comfort and power while attempting a shot, players requested racquet manufacturers to reduce the shock vibrations through the player’s arm. Piezoelectric fibers were embedded around the racquet throat and a computer chip embedded in the handle such that, when the ball is hit the fibers bent and produce charge which is transmitted to the silicon chip through a circuit. These charges are amplified and sent back to the fibers out of phase in an attempt to reduce the vibration by canceling out the initial vibration produced when the ball was hit.
Wearable technologies that include fitness and activity wristband, monitors that observe distance, respiration, heart rate and even sleep patterns use piezoelectric sensors. The mechanical stress and vibrations of your body organs are converted into electrical signals and are transmitted via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or any other wireless signals into your smartphone apps. Wireless blood pressure cuffs that measure patient’s blood pressure through a phone app is also based on piezoelectric energy harvesting technique. Smart watches that can manage texts, calls, and emails, smart clothing devices that monitor body movement and other vital signs, smart eyeglasses that can record photos, videos and connect to the Internet, all these wearable devices will use piezoelectricity in the imminent future.
Also, researchers at China developed a new transparent material that is attached to a smartphone touch screen. This transparent material on the device generates electricity whenever the user taps onto in. The mechanical energy from these motions could be then converted to electrical energy. Scientists at Lanzhou University have invented a transparent silicon rubber known as PDMS. PDMS consist of thin wires (about 140times thinner than a human hair). This material is then laid on top of the smartphone screen. When the wires are bent (when touched on the screen), they generate electricity. The voltage generated can be stored in the phone’s batteries. Further, researchers at the UK have initiated a new startup company which uses a special type of energy- harvesting rubber forged out of piezoelectric material. The rubber is placed under the sole of your shoe and generates electrical energy from the force of your body weight to the ground. These rubbers can charge your electronic devices while walking down the street. So what’s next for piezoelectricity in the upcoming future?
Nokia and Xiaomi have announced that they have signed a multi-year patent agreement. This will benefit both the companies although Xiaomi stands to benefit more from this deal. Xiaomi has also acquired patents from Nokia as a part of the transaction.
The financial details were not revealed by any of the two companies, although a spokesperson told CNBC that this deal will help Xiaomi’s global expansion.
Xiaomi is one of the world’s leading smartphone manufacturers and we are delighted to have reached an agreement with them
CEO of Nokia.
This deal will basically enable both companies to allow each other to comply with an industry standard with each other’s products. Nokia will be providing the necessary infrastructure to deliver high capacity low power requirements. This is necessary for companies that need to process and deliver lots of data.
Xiaomi is committed to building sustainable, long-term partnerships with global technology leaders. Our collaboration with Nokia will enable us to tap on its leadership in building large, high-performance networks and formidable strength in software and services, as we seek to create even more remarkable products and services that deliver the best user experience to our (product brand) Mi fans worldwide
CEO of Xiaomi
They have agreed to “explore opportunities for further cooperation” in various areas such as AI, VR, AR, and IOT, according to the press release. On top of these, they will also be working together on optical transport solutions for data center interconnect, IP Routing based on Nokia’s newly announced FP4 network processor, and a data center fabric solution
The once largest smartphone manufacturer Nokia still has many of the industry standards that are still used by the mobile industry till this day. It still makes money by licensing from the patients that it has built over the years. The partnership will also enable Nokia to feature Xiaomi’s Surge S1 SoC.
Xiaomi is one of the world’s leading smartphone manufacturers and we are delighted to have reached an agreement with them. In addition to welcoming such a prominent global technology company to our family of patent licensees, we look forward to working together on a wide range of strategic projects
CEO of Nokia
Xiaomi has stated that it’s no. of connected device has crossed the 60 million mark and 8 million daily active connected devices on its MiEcosystem platform. And with this business deal, Xiaomi’s potential is only going to increase more. They already have applied for about 16,000 patients till now out of which 4000 have been approved. Of these 4000 patients, 1,887 patients are based on overseas.
Both companies stand to benefit from this patent agreement in their respective ways.
As far as water resistance on Android phone is concerned, Sony was among the first or the only ones to implement this feature starting with the Xperia Z back in 2013. At that time, it was a bragged feature that made them distinct but today it is an utmost necessity.
