Mobile Devices - Page 65

Samsung is ramping up for the release of its next-gen family of Galaxy S20 smartphones, with the Galaxy S20+ reportedly rocking 8K video abilities. We already know Samsung's new Galaxy S20 range of phones will have gorgeous 120Hz displays, too.

According to the latest report from XDA-Developers, Samsung's new Galaxy S20+ will not only have a 120Hz-capable display, but it'll have 8K 30FPS video shooting abilities. 8K at 60FPS is a little too insane for smartphones this year, so don't expect 8K 60FPS just yet.

Samsung should be tapping a new 64-megapixel sensor to shoot insane 8K video, but we should expect some gorgeous 4K stabilized 60FPS video, too. The higher-end Galaxy S20 Ultra smartphone should have an even more insane 108-megapixel snapper, but I'm not so sure about 8K 60FPS video on that phone, either.

Samsung will be unveiling its next-gen Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip smartphones at its Unpacked event on February 11, but now we're receiving more leaks on the super-fast 120Hz display.

According to Ice Universe, Samsung's new Galaxy S20 will indeed have a 120Hz display -- but it'll be limited to 1080p. There will be other options for the display: 1080p 60Hz, 1080p 120Hz, and the higher-end 1440p 60Hz display option.

Why the limitation of 1080p 120Hz? That would be mostly due to battery, and how much more battery it would consume at 120Hz. I would rather have 1080p at 120Hz than 1080p at 60Hz, so the offer there of 120Hz and a slight dent in battery life will be welcomed -- but 1440p at 120Hz seems too painful on the battery, for now.

Voice assistants are about to get much more inclusive, with Project Q launching in 2020 as a "gender-neutral voice assistant".

Ryan Sherman, a creative developer on Project Q, explains: "Current voice technology is essentially gendered. When we look at Siri or Google Assistant they all predominantly start out as female by default, so we started out with that question: why do we gender AI?"

Project Q launched back in 2019 with a prototype voice developed by non-binary linguists, and then the company asked 4500 people throughout Europe whether they thought the voice sounded male or female. Out of the 4500 people, the answers came down to a 50/50 response on whether the voice sounded male or female.

Samsung is hosting its Samsung Unpacked event on February 11, where we will be introduced to the next-gen Galaxy S20 family of smartphones as well as their new foldable -- the Galaxy Z Flip.

Until now, Samsung's new foldable smartphone has been rumored to arrive as a more mid-range foldable that would fall under the flagship Galaxy Fold. Now we have a new rumor that is calling it the Galaxy Z Flip, and that it will pack Qualcomm's previous-gen and non-5G flagship Snapdragon 855 processor -- the same chip that powers the flagship Galaxy Fold smartphone.

Samsung will reportedly have a small notification display on the back of the Galaxy Z Flip, something that will show information to you when the main display is closed -- just like the Galaxy Fold. Port wise it should be identical to the Galaxy Fold with a USB-C charging port and no 3.5mm headphone jack. But the bigger rumor here is that Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip will have support for the S-Pen, something that the Galaxy Fold lacks.

We know that Samsung is working on its new flagship smartphone, with rumors pegging it as the Galaxy S20 and now we have our first kinda-official look at Samsung's next big thing.

XDA Developers has the exclusive first snap of Samsung's new Galaxy S20+, with photos of both the front and back of the smartphone. Samsung's higher-end Galaxy S20+ is the one we're looking at here today, with 4 rear-facing cameras and a flash on the back while the front has a punch hole camera cut out.

Samsung will be using an Infinity-O display with XDA Developers' anonymous source saying that the display is "much less curved than before" on the new Galaxy S20+ smartphone. The source said that it felt very similar to Google's previous-gen Pixel 2 XL handset, where it looks like they've used 2.5D glass over the normal curved glass for the Galaxy S20+.

CES 2020 - Portable battery maker Goal Zero has just unveiled its new Yeti X range of portable batteries at CES 2020, with smaller portable batteries all the way through to huge home power backups that will power normal household appliances.

Goal Zero has provided USB-C Power Delivery inside of its new Yeti X portable chargers, with faster solar charging through MPPT (maximum power point tracking). The company has also added regulated 12V ports for better compatibility, for when you plug in power-hungry devices like portable fridges.

The new Yeti X 6000X is "the most powerful Yeti to date" says Goal Zero, and has been made to run critical home circuits for multiple days of power outages. In cases like the current fires raging across Australia where thousands of Australians have all electricity, a portable battery like the one here from Goal Zero and its new Yeti X 6000X would be invaluable.

CES 2020 - OtterBox has released the product for germaphobes, with its new Amplify Glass Anti-Microbial screen protector.

OtterBox teamed up with Gorilla Glass maker Corning on developing a new EPA-registered antimicrobial technology, something that OtterBox CEO Jim Parke describes: "Amplify Glass now features proprietary anti-microbial technology that suppresses the growth of several common stains and odor-causing bacteria to protect the surface of the screen protector".

OtterBox's upcoming Amplify Glass Anti-Microbial has 5x the scratch resistance of standard soda-lime glass, and will be used in OtterBox's new cases that will fit on smartphones like the iPhone.

In a world of crazy side-mounted pop-up cameras, foldable displays, and so much more -- LG might be going back to basics with its new G9 smartphone according to the latest leaks.

LG's upcoming G9 smartphone should feature 4 rear-facing cameras over the 2 used on the G8X, while throwing an under-display fingerprint sensor into the mix. There is a camera notch at the top, so LG won't be going too fancy with an under-display selfie camera, but it might be enough to stand out from the competition when it comes to pricing on a more 'plain' smartphone.

LG could be keeping the 3.5mm headphone jack on its G9 smartphone, while offering a display somewhere in the 6.7-6.9 inches range. We should expect LG to detail its new G9 smartphone at Mobile World Congress in late February, where Samsung is unveiling its new Galaxy S20/S11 (depending on the rumors) and the new Galaxy Fold 2 on February 11 at its own event.

We've been hearing a bit more on Xiaomi's upcoming Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro smartphones, where I wrote just a couple of days ago that current rumors pegged it to rock a 6.5-inch OLED display at 90Hz.

But now we're seeing new rumors from an alleged screen protector for the Mi 10, where it shows that there are no camera cutouts which means Xiaomi might be using an all-screen design. This would mean under-display cameras and an under-display fingerprint sensor are all but confirmed, if this screen protector is any indication.

We could see a pop-up camera, with fellow Chinese smartphone maker Oppo's purported new smartphone possibly featuring a side-mounted pop-up selfie camera. Xiaomi isn't a stranger to under-display cameras, with company president Bin Lin teasing an Mi 9 prototype that used an under-display camera.

Samsung has announced two new smartphones in the new Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note 10 Lite handsets, with the new phones acting as budget versions of the popular 2019 flagships.

The new Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note 10 Lite will have premium features at lower prices, starting with both the phones rocking a large 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-O display with 2400 x 1800 native resolutions. Inside, we have the Galaxy S10 Lite packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, while the Galaxy Note 10 Lite uses Samsung's own Exynos 8895 chip.

Samsung uses a triple-camera rig on both the phones, with the Galaxy S10 Lite packing a 5-megapixel f/2.4 macro lens; a 48-megapixel F2.0 wide-angle lens featuring "Super Steady OIS" (something the Note 10 Lite doesn't have). It also has a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide camera with 123-degree angle lens.

Oppo could have one of the more interesting smartphones of 2020 if a new unearthed patent is to be believed, with it teasing a nifty side-mounted pop-up selfie camera. Check it out:

We've seen pop-up selfie cameras before but they normally pop-up from the top of the phone, with a side-mounted selfie camera being an interesting turn. Oppo's new patent sees the camera module with an LED flash that should have up to two camera sensors at most. It's an interesting take, but is it a game-changer? Of course not.

Oppo could be saving space at the top of the smartphone for other goodies, as there is no practical sense in having a side-mounted pop-up camera other than generating headlines and wanting to stand out from your competitor. But in a world where most smartphones look the same, a side-mounted pop-up camera will make you stand out from the crowd, and maybe that's the point here.

Samsung knows how to shake CES 2020 up: tease their event where the next-gen Galaxy smartphones will be unveiled, where we should be introduced to the new Galaxy S20 (or Galaxy S11 depending on the rumor), and the new Galaxy Fold 2 among other devices to be shown off on February 11.

Samsung has announced it'll be February 11 when it unveils its next handsets, with a tease on Twitter saying "Say hello to a whole new Galaxy. Unpacked on February 11, 2020 #SamsungEvent". We are to expect Samsung to take the new Galaxy up to another level, where we should expect things like 5G, an 8K-capable camera, and gorgeously-smooth 120Hz display.

As for Samsung's new Galaxy Fold 2 it should be cheaper, pack a lesser battery, and reportedly offer up foldable goodness through a clamshell-style design. It was only yesterday that Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note 10 Lite smartphones, more affordable versions of the popular 2019 smartphones from Samsung.

Samsung is working on its successor to its first foldable smartphone that it released in 2019 as the Galaxy Fold, with rumors that the new Galaxy Fold 2 might have much-improved charging abilities.

The first-gen Galaxy Fold doesn't have any super-fast charging but rumor has it that the new Galaxy Fold 2 will support Super Fast charging, something that the XDA Developers noticed in a string of code from the Android 10 update to the Galaxy Note 9 smartphone. We should expect the Galaxy Fold 2 to feature up to 45W wired charging, the same as the flagship Galaxy Note 10+ handset.

The new Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 is rumored to be a clamshell-like design while retaining its game-changing foldable display like its predecessor, which had slow charging in comparison. Samsung is also said to use a smaller battery inside of the Galaxy Fold 2, and while it will continue to use two batteries like the original Fold, they should combine at up to just 3000mAh.

Samsung might have its foot hold in the foldable smartphone game with its game-changing Galaxy Fold, but LG shouldn't be too far behind if a new patent is to be believed.

The folks over at LetsGoDigital have discovered a new LG patent that teases its own unique foldable design, with a fully flexible display that attaches to the smartphone itself. This means (at least in this patent form) LG's purported foldable smartphone could take on different designs in a way, all because of the unique way it uses the foldable display.

LG would have a near multiple monitor setup with the foldable smartphone shown here, with the possibility of two narrow displays, or a single larger display. Alternatively, you could use this LG foldable smartphone with its dual displays, leaving the traditional display on the front but adding one on the back. In this patent form, the hinge houses the dual cameras -- but we could see some under-display cameras if and when this LG foldable smartphone hits the market.

Samsung had a successful 2019 in many ways, but one of them was selling the most 5G smartphones in the world -- beating out expectations.

The company shipped over 6.7 million 5G smartphones in 2019 across its Galaxy S10 5G, Galaxy Note 10 5G and flagship Galaxy Note 10+ 5G smartphones. After these 3 smartphones hit the market, the new Galaxy A90 5G was launched and the future-laden Galaxy Fold 5G smartphone rounded out 5G dominance in 2019.

Samsung teases it will have the world's first 5G tablet debuting in Q1 2020, with the impending launch of the Galaxy Tab S6 5G -- of which we should see more of at CES 2020 next week. We should see much more 5G in 2020 than any year before it, and even more so going forward as Qualcomm is leading the charge with its new Snapdragon 865 processor which will power many of the next-gen smartphones of this year.

Apple is expected to power its new iPhone with a next-gen A14 processor, something that TSMC will be making for the company on its new 5nm process, according to a new DigiTimes report.

The current generation iPhones are powered by the A12 and A13 processors, each on the 7nm from TSMC -- but the new iPhones will shift down to the 5nm node for its next-gen A14 chip. TSMC is expected to begin manufacturing the new A14 chip on 5nm in Q2 2020, and will power the 2020 iPhone.

TSMC got serious about its 5nm production in June 2018 where it invested a huge $25 billion, and now we're seeing the fruits of that labor two years on. Even back then, I wrote "Apple should be interested in TSMC's focus on 5nm as they've been using TSMC for chip production for years now".

Have you got $100,000 burning a hole in your pocket? Got a significant other with (very) expensive taste? I present to you the Caviar Solarious Zenith Full Gold iPhone 11 Pro:

Super-famous YouTuber MKBHD got his hands-on the new Caviar Solarious Zenith Full Gold iPhone 11 Pro smartphone, with Caviar being a Russian company that takes normal products and makes them into uber-expensive pieces of luxurious goodness. The company has modified (and made more expensive versions of) iPhones, Apple Watches, AirPods, and various Samsung smartphones.

If the $100,000 on a single iPhone 11 Pro wasn't enough, you might want to consider the iPhone 11 Pro Max in 512GB, with the flagship Caviar iPhone 11 Pro Diamond Christmas Star costing $144,660. The company describes the $144,600 custom iPhone 11 Pro Max as an "expression of special respect to this holy day, Caviar creates the only iPhone in the body of 750-content gold in the world. In the center of the composition, there is a shining diamond of 3 carats that symbolizes the Star of Bethlehem guiding the Magi to the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Eight small diamonds echoing the star endings frame it. The lower part of the body is adorned by a gold bas-relief with the scene of Jesus Christ's birth".

Xiaomi is getting close to the official unveiling of its new Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro smartphones, with a new leak suggesting some rather delicious specs.

We're looking at Xiaomi's new Mi 10 smartphone featuring a large 6.5-inch OLED display with a super-fast 90Hz refresh rate. Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 865 will be featured, which means we're looking at 5G connectivity being a standard in Xiaomi's new Mi 10 handsets.

Xiaomi is expected to include an 8GB model with 128/256GB of storage, while another rumored model packs 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. 40W fast charging will be included, while 30W wireless charging and 10W reverse charging are being touted.

Apple's new iPhone with 5G connectivity was meant to be coming in 2021, but it seems that timeline is being pushed forward in a big way.

The folks at LetsGoDigital have made some designs based on new patents, which tease some exciting things from Apple and its new 2020 iPhone. One of which is the lack of a notch, which is really exciting.

The new iPhone 12 (if Apple doesn't have a new name for its 2020 iPhone) will lack a notch, which means it'll pack an in-display fingerprint sensor and under-display camera. This isn't new for Android smartphone, but it'll be a revolutionary step for Apple, pun intended.

Lenovo is rumored to be throwing its hat into the gaming smartphone ring, joining the likes of ASUS and Razer with their feature-packed and super-powered gaming smartphones.

The rumor is coming from a post on Chinese social networking site Weibo, which teases that Lenovo is working on a high-end gaming smartphone that would be launched under its gaming brand Legion. The post itself is from a new Weibo account under the Legion brand, with the account verified and owned by Lenovo Mobile Communications Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

This could all be rumors and hearsay, but if we trust the verified account and that it's owned by Lenovo -- it looks like it could be the real deal. We also know, according to previous rumors, that Lenovo was working on a new high-end smartphone powered by the then-flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chip... but now Qualcomm has its new Snapdragon 865 launching in 2020. We should expect Lenovo to pack the new Snapdragon 865 into its new Legion gaming phone.