India is one of the most important markets for OnePlus that boasts a growth rate of more than 100%. And to cater to the growing local and global market, OnePlus has opened its first R&D facility in Hyderabad, India.
OnePlus says there were a lot of factors to choose Hyderabad as its R&D facility location, including the availability of “sizeable pool of talent” that will help them to expand to over 1500 employees in the next three years.
The facility here will house three labs – camera lab, communications and networking labs and automation labs that will focus heavily on camera development, 5G testing, software with focus on AI and performance testing.
OnePlus will also open its Experience Store in Hyderabad next month.
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Xiaomi announces Android One-powered Mi A3
Xiaomi today announced the Mi A3, making it the third smartphone under Google’s Android One project. Offering Android stock experience, the Mi A3 improves on the shortcomings of last year’s Mi A2 and brings in some new features.
Mi A3 adopts a new design language that is refreshing to see on a sub-20k phone. The phone has a “glass sandwich” design with curves at the edges for better one-handed use and has a clean look that certainly makes it one of the best looking phone in the price range. The front has a 6.08-inch Super AMOLED display and integrates the fingerprint sensor and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 665 processor with 4GB or 6GB of RAM.
The phone has a triple camera setup with 48MP IMX586 as the main sensor along with 8MP wide-angle and 2MP depth sensor and has a high-resolution 32MP on the front.
There’s expandable storage to up to 256GB but the built-in UFS storage will come with 64GB or 128GB. Furthermore, USB Type-C still stays with the Mi A series but the battery has been bumped up by the 4030mAh and supports up to 18W of charging speed. Xiaomi, however, bundles a 10W charger.
The Mi A3 will start selling on Amazon, Mi Home and mi.com in three colours – Kind of Grey, Not just Blue and More than White from August 23 for Rs. 12,999 (4GB+64GB) and Rs. 15,999 (6GB+128GB).
Lenovo previews the world’s first foldable laptop
At the Accelerate conference in Orlando, Florida, Lenovo previewed the world’s first foldable PC.
Hailing from the ThinkPad X1 family, this yet-to-be-named device wants to replace a conventional laptop with a large foldable screen. The device has a 13.3-inch 2K OLED display made by LG or a 9.6-inch screen when folded. In short, it’s similar to the foldable phones but with the laptop market as the target.
Lenovo is accentuating efficiency here: It’s a ThinkPad, which means it goes for the business crowd and will be powered by an Intel processor and will run Windows OS.
Lenovo expects to shed more details on the product sometime next year.
Xiaomi announces new Mi TVs and Mi Soundbar
Xiaomi has refreshed its Mi TV lineup with two new models. The Mi LED TV 4X PRO (55) will sell alongside the existing 55-inch models that moves away from the slim design to a conventional but practical one. The 55-inch variant, however, features 10-bit panel support for 4K, two 10W speakers for improved audio, PatchWall experience with Android OS and a multitude of connectivity options. The Mi LED TV 4A PRO (43) will replace the current 43-inch variant and bring in similar set of features like the 55-inch but will have support for Full HD content, single-band Wi-Fi and even brings in a 3.5mm audio jack.
Complementing the TVs is the Mi Soundbar. The easy-to-use will elevate the TV audio experience with the integrated eight drivers, including two 20mm dome tweeters for the highs, two 2.5” woofers for the mids and four passive radiators for the lows and enhanced bass. Interestingly, Xiaomi doesn’t bundle a remote but is packed with connectivity options like a Line-In slot, AUX, Optical, Bluetooth and S/PDIF.
The Mi LED TV 4X PRO (55) and Mi LED TV 4A PRO (43) goes on sale from Rs. 39,999 and Rs. 22,999 respectively and will be available on Mi.com, Flipkart and Mi Home stores. The Mi Soundbar will be available on Mi.com and Mi Home stores for Rs. 4,999 from 16th January.
Samsung TVs will support Apple AirPlay 2 and iTunes Movies & TV Shows
It’s no secret Apple’s been cooking up its original content for quite some time and the recent partnership with Samsung makes perfect sense. At CES 2019, Samsung announced that Apple’s iTunes Movies & TV Shows and AirPlay 2 will support its current year and last year’s TV generation.
The app will give Apple users with a Samsung TV a way to access their iTunes movie and TV show library and even able to rent out the content, even in 4K HDR. With AirPlay 2, it will be easier to stream content from an Apple mobile device and will even support Samsung TV-centric features like Universal Guide, the New Bixby and Search.
Samsung will have this feature enabled in 2019 Smart TV models while the 2018 models will get it after a software update.