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MWC 2018: Asus announces ZenFone 5 series

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Asus pulled out their big guns at the Mobile World Congress to combat the onslaught of mid-range and premium smartphones with two new offerings – ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5Z. There’s ZenFone 5 Lite as well but Asus currently has no plans to launch in India. The similar nomenclature is confusing but it’s easier to remember the variants this time compared to previous ZenFone generations. The ZenFone 5 will target the mid-range segment whereas the ZenFone 5Z will go for the top-end of the smartphone market with top-of-the-line hardware.

Let’s address the elephant in the room first. Yes, it does look like an iPhone X with the notch and camera placement but using the phone briefly, the phone does look and feel premium. The phones have that Asus’ concentric circle design at the back and is compact with an excellent 90% screen-to-body ratio. Asus claims they’ve managed to cram up a 6.2-inch display in a 5.5-inch form factor. The display is Full HD+ IPS display but supports DCI-P3 colour space for accurate colours and blue-light filter to reduce eye fatigue.

In terms of hardware, the ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5Z differs in terms of processor choice, RAM and ROM, which in case of ZenFone 5 is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 636, 4GB or 6GB RAM and 64GB ROM. The ZenFone 5Z will be powered by Snapdragon 845 and while Asus is yet to confirm which variant will come to India but the 5Z supports up to 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage.

Cameras, however, are the same. Both have a dual camera setup at the back with 12MP IMX363 main sensor with f/1.8 aperture and f/2.2 120-degree secondary camera whereas the front has an 8MP one. The rear camera even supports 4K UHD video recording.

Asus has also worked on the software and while it runs Android Oreo customised with ZenUI 5.0, Asus says the amount of pre-installed apps have reduced dramatically. AI also plays a major part with the devices and comes with many “intelligent” features like AI Photo Learning, automatically adjusts ringtone according to ambient sound, and even optimise charging its 3000mAh battery.

The new ZenFones also support something called as ZeniMojis, which if you haven’t noticed yet, is Asus’ answer to Apple’s Animojis. There’s also DTS Headphone:X support, FM Radio, hybrid SIM slot and lots more.

Asus will launch both the ZenFone 5 variants in India in the next few weeks with ZenFone 5 slated to come early followed by ZenFone 5Z.

Asus ZenFone 5

MWC 2018: Vivo Apex pop-up camera means true bezel-free display that makes iPhone X look ugly

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The Vivo Apex could be the most exciting thing at the Mobile World Congress show this year, including the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Sony Xperia XZ2. The stunning Vivo Apex features the world’s first truly edge-to-edge bezel-free display – thanks to a pop up camera.

The Vivo Apex display is all screen, meaning a meagre 1.8mm bezel at the top and 4.3mm at the bottom. That means there is no space for a front-facing camera, speaker or fingerprint sensor. But rather than plonking in an ugly notch like on Apple’s iPhone X, Vivo has managed to keep everything hidden.

Under the Vivo Apex display is a fingerprint sensor that works through the glass, meaning you can pace a finger on the screen and it will read your unique signature to unlock the device. One of the best parts is here is that this works for about half of the display so you don’t even need to be accurate in finger placement.

Also hidden in the screen is speaker technology that uses the screen’s glass to resonate as a speaker when your ear is to the phone. Finally, the front-facing camera – this has been put in a pop-up unit that appears when the phone is put into selfie mode. Genius. This is an 8-megapixel snapper which pops up in just 0.8 seconds.

The catch to all this? The Vivo Apex is currently a concept phone shown off at MWC 2018, so we’ll have to hope it gets mass produced for all to own in the near future.

MWC 2018: The Samsung Galaxy S9 is here, and it’s exactly what we expected

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Samsung has just launched a new smartphone. You may have read something about it already due to various leaks. Meet the Samsung Galaxy S9.

The Samsung S9 is more of an evolution of the Galaxy S8, rather than a revolution, with a “reimagined” camera, updated chipset, and new software. The Samsung S9 is designed to reimagine the way we communicate, share and experience the world, with an emphasis on images, videos and emojis. It makes sense, then, that Samsung has spent the most effort on upgrading the camera, with improved low-light capability, super slow-motion video camera, AR Emoji, and Bixby built into the camera app.

The improved low light performance is achieved by a new ‘dual aperture’ system, which chooses an aperture between F1.5 and F2.4, depending on the light available. The other headline feature is Samsung’s new slow-motion camera, which is capable of capturing 960 frames per second. This is similar to the feature on the Sony XZ1 Premium. Samsung makes the experience easier with automatic motion detection, which detects movement in the frame and automatically begins to record.

Following Apple’s move, Samsung will also allow you to create your own emoji that follows your facial expressions. The AR Emoji uses a data-based machine learning algorithm, which analyses a 2D image of your face and maps out more than 100 facial features to create a 3D model that reflects and imitates expressions, like winks and nods. These can be saved as standard GIF files, and shared on any third-party messaging apps. A point Samsung is keen to stress, considering Apple’s rivalling system is only compatible with other iPhone Xs.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 also has a big focus on entertainment. The handset features stereo speakers tuned by AKG. These will also support Dolby Atmos, giving the effect of 360-degree sound. The AMOLED Infinity Display from the S8 remains largely unchanged, which is no bad thing.

Samsung DeX is back again, but it’s been redesigned and improved. Now, the design is more portable, allowing the display to double as a touch mouse and keyboard, while a full-screen desktop experience is projected onto a television.

So, clearly, it’s not a massive update over the S8 release last year. But the Samsung S9 is still shaping up to be a very impressive phone. The Samsung Galaxy S9 Indian price is TBA. The Galaxy S9 pre-orders are open today for a token amount of Rs.2,000 before going on sale on at an upcoming date. It will be available in Midnight Black, Coral Blue and a new hue, Lilac Purple.

Samsung Galaxy S9 Specs
OS: Android 8.0 (Oreo)
Display: 5.8-inch Quad HD, AMOLED, 570ppi
Size: 147.7mm x 68.7mm x 8.5mm
Weight: 163g
Waterproof: IP68
Rear camera: Super Speed Dual Pixel 12MP with OIS (F1.5/F2.4)
Front camera: 8MP (F1.7)
Chipset: 10nm, 64-bit, Octa-core processor (2.8 GHz Quad + 1.7 GHz Quad)
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB + Micro SD Slot (upto 400 GB)
Battery: 3,000mAh
Charging: Fast Wired Charging compatible with QC 2.0, Fast Wireless Charging compatible with WPC and PMA

MWC 2018: Nokia is bringing back the 8110, you know, the one from The Matrix

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Today at MWC 2018, Nokia has brought back the legendary 8110. Hidden underneath that iconic curved design, the 8110 is packing modern necessities, like 4G. The Nokia 8110 gives you the perfect chance to switch off and relax with the knowledge that all your smartphone essentials, like Google apps, are there when you need them.

Nokia 8110 comes with the build quality you’d expect from a Nokia phone, delivering durability and reliability as standard. The handset delivers VoLTE calling, and a familiar and easy to use interface, such as slide to answer and end calls, as well as an addictive helicopter style spin on its axis.

The 8110 also has an app store, which gives access to favourites like Google Assistant, Google Search, Google Maps, Facebook and Twitter. You’ll also be able to send and receive emails or import your contacts and sync your calendar with Outlook and Gmail.

To keep it running flawlessly, the Nokia 8110 features the Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform. And yes, before you ask, it comes with a revamped version of Snake. The handset is available in Traditional Black and Banana Yellow. It will be available from May and will retail for a global average retail price of €79, excluding taxes and subsidies.

MWC 2017: The week that was

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With the Mobile World Congress 2017 coming to an end yesterday, we witnessed a lot of interesting announcements and launches. For convenience, below is all the news covered throughout the 4 day period:

01) Nokia 3310 returns with some modern updates
02) And here is the rest of the Nokia lineup
03) Moto G5 and G5 Plus officially announced
04) LG G6 detailed, drops modular support
05) No smartphone announced by Samsung but here’s the Galaxy Tab S3
06) Samsung Galaxy books come pre-loaded with Windows 10
07) Gionee A series makes selfies a focal point
08) Huawei P10 and P10 Plus make changes, retain Leica lens
09) Huawei Watch 2 and Classic announced
10) Nubia brings lite version of N1
11) The final handset to be designed by Blackberry is the KEYone
12) Sony Xperia Touch brings us one step closer to Minority Report
13) HPE and Tata Comm team up to roll out largest IoT network in India
14) Panasonic CF-33 is the latest toughbook from the company
15) The HP Pro x2 is a rugged hybrid with a Wacom pen
16) First Gigabit smartphone is real and it’s from ZTE
17) Lenovo refreshes convertible range with Yoga 520 and Yoga 720
18) Presenting a laplet from Alcatel
19) Sony and the new Xperia quartet
20) Lenovo Tab 4 series will cater to both office goers and kids
21) Nokia and Airtel working together to bring 5G to India