The new Nokia, also known as HMD Global, expanded its range of smartphones on Tuesday with the launch of the entry-level Nokia 2 in India. While the price of the Nokia 2 in India is yet to be announced, the company has said that the handset will be launched at a global average price of EUR 99 (about Rs. 7,500) and will be available in mid-November. While we don’t have an exact price for India yet, it’s clear that HMD Global is targeting the sub-Rs. 10,000 market, which it claims accounts for 30 percent of the Indian smartphone market.
As for the phone, the Nokia 2 packs a 4,100mAh battery that powers a Snapdragon 212 chip, 1GB of RAM, and a 5-inch HD LTPS display, giving it a full charge for two days. In optics, there is an 8-megapixel camera on the back and a 5-megapixel camera with a fixed focus on the front. Internal storage is disappointing at only 8GB, although it’s expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB). The Nokia 2 comes with Android 7.1.1 Nougat, but HMD Global has promised it will get an upgrade to Oreo shortly. It has dual SIM and 4G VoLTE support.
OnePlus 5T Appears in Press Marketing View We got another look at the upcoming OnePlus 5T on Tuesday thanks to prolific phone tipster Evan Blass, who shared an image of the top half of the phone on Twitter. Separately, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei tweeted a photo with a blurred background, probably teasing a new OnePlus phone. It confirms that the 5T would have a nearly bezel-less display, an improvement over the original released earlier this year.
Oppo F5 Will Be Flipkart Exclusive The Oppo F5 will likely be a Flipkart exclusive in India if we are to believe a dedicated page on the e-commerce retailer’s page. The F5 is the successor to the Oppo F3 and keeps its focus on selfies while adding “AI beauty recognition technology” and an almost borderless display. Flipkart will live stream the event on Thursday, and the page will continue.
Nokia 8 won’t end up like Note 7; teardown reveals Nokia 8 has undergone a full teardown by YouTuber JerryRigEverything, who discovered that there is an advanced heatsink inside the phone to keep it cool and avoid any possible Note 7 disaster. The phone has a graphite plate that separates the circuit board and the 5.3-inch display, with a dedicated compartment for the 3,090 mAh battery. He also noted that replacing the screen and battery would be easy enough.
Samsung soars to record quarter, names three new division heads. Samsung released its third-quarter 2017 results on Tuesday, with the Korean tech giant posting record profits of KRW 11.2 trillion (about $10 billion, or Rs. 64,806 crores). Net profit rose 148 percent thanks to strong demand for memory chips and a recovery in smartphone sales, given last year’s Note 7 debacle. The semiconductor unit had a great quarter, with earnings up nearly 200 percent.
Meanwhile, Samsung also appointed three new company executives to keep the ship stable in the wake of the arrest of group head Jay Y. Lee on bribery charges in August. The same goes for Kim Ki-Nam, who will now lead the Device Solutions division; Koh Dong-jin in IT and Mobile Communications; and Kim Hyun-suk for consumer electronics. After its next shareholders’ meeting in March, the company will recommend all three as co-CEOs.
Razer Phone appears on the retail website with no official word. A Razer Phone has appeared on a UK retail website with no official word from the peripheral and laptop manufacturer. Listed as “out of stock”, which is most likely a placeholder given the lack of an announcement, it gives the following specs: a 5.72-inch IGZO display with a 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby Atmos sound on the double speakers on the front, a dual-camera setup on the back with a 12-megapixel f/1.75 wide lens and a 13-megapixel f/2.6 zoom lens, a 4000mAh battery that supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+, and 8GB of RAM.
The device is aimed at gamers, given its faster refresh rate and battery size. Still, if this is true – which is entirely possible given its acquisition of Nextbit – Razer isn’t letting on the entertainment and optics front either. Expect a beast of a price when it becomes available.
U11 Life may be Android One, full specs revealed. The U11 Life has a 5.2-inch full-HD display, Snapdragon 630, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 2600mAh battery, and a 6-megapixel sensor on both sides and back. It will run Android 7.1.1 Nougat when launched by T-Mobile, although a tipster claims the phone is part of Google’s revamped Android One and will thus run Android 8.0 Oreo.
Cook and Zuck meet Xi in Beijing At the annual meeting of advisers from Tsinghua University in Beijing, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, where the latter spoke with business leaders and officials. Cook and Zuckerberg sit on the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management advisory board. As Apple prepares to launch the iPhone X in China on Friday, Facebook has been blocked since 2009.
House of Cards to end after season six, Netflix’s curious timing has brought an end to the popular political drama House of Cards, saying the decision was made months ago and had nothing to do with the sexual misconduct allegations the male lead has faced and Engulfed Kevin Spacey, who plays Frank Underwood on the show. Still, it’s curious timing on the part of Netflix. The upcoming sixth season will be the last for the show, which has suffered a decline in critical reception this year. Spacey has apologized to Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp for the latter’s claims.
