The OnePlus 5T launch event will be held in New York City, according to a teaser shared by the company via its Twitter account. However, the launch date has not yet been announced. CEO Pete Lau revealed that the upcoming smartphone would be priced below CNY 4,000 (about Rs. 39,000 or $600) as he responded to a comment on a Weibo post; the final price can go north of Rs. 40,000 for import duties and other charges.
The specs of the OnePlus 5T, which may resemble the Oppo R11s, were leaked again, this time via a GFXBench listing that showed the 6-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. Interestingly, OnePlus also tweeted an image showing the OnePlus 5 on top of its successor, suggesting that the new model will offer a larger display in the same form factor, thanks to the bezel-less display.
Let’s take a look at what made even more news in the tech space today:
Nokia 5 variant with 3 GB RAM launched in India A new Nokia 5 variant with 3 GB RAM has been launched in India, an upgrade over the original model with 2 GB system memory. The smartphone costs Rs. 13,499 and will be available exclusively through Flipkart for a week starting November 7. The e-tailer offers up to 50 GB of additional Jio 4G data with the phone, giving users 5 GB of free data with every top-up of Rs. 309 or higher; the offer ended on August 31, 2018. After November 14, offline stores will also make the Nokia 5 3GB RAM variant available.
The Nokia phone comes in Tempered Blue and Matte Black colors. The rest of the features remain the same as the original, including the 5.2-inch HD display, Android 7.1.1 Nougat software, Snapdragon 430 chipset, 16 GB internal storage, dual SIM functionality, 13-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel front camera, microSD card support up to 128 GB and 3000 mAh battery.
Airtel updates Rs. 349 plans to offer 1.5 GB of data daily. Airtel has revised its Rs. 349 programs that offered 1 GB of high-speed data per day to give consumers 1.5 GB of data daily for the same price to beat Jio. Other details of the prepaid pack, such as the 28-day validity, bundled calls, and SMS, will remain the same. Airtel also launched a new Rs. 448 plan with 1 GB 3G/4G data per day, unlimited calls, 3,000 texts, and 70 days of free outgoing calls over roaming. Of course, the ‘unlimited’ calls are limited to 250 minutes per day and 1,000 minutes per week, above which the user will be charged.
The idea also launched a 1GB daily data allocation plan today, priced at Rs. 357. The program comes with 100 text messages, unlimited calls throughout the country, and a validity of 28 days. The telco has also launched the Rs. 498 plan with 1 GB of data per day and unlimited calls in the Delhi-NCR circle.
Flipkart offers discounts on Samsung smartphones. The Samsung Mobiles Fest is back on Flipkart, with deals on smartphones from the South Korean brand through Wednesday. The Samsung Galaxy On Max is available for Rs. 14,900 (Rs. 2,000 off) on sale, the Galaxy On5 at Rs. 6,490 (Rs. 2,500 off), Galaxy On7 for Rs. 6,990 (Rs. 1,500 off) and Galaxy On Nxt for Rs. 13,900 (flat Rs. 4,000 off), among other deals. The Samsung Galaxy S7 is available at Rs. 29,990 after a hefty discount of Rs. 16,010, while the current flagships Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ come with exchange offers of up to Rs. 20,000.
Nokia 2 goes for pre-orders in Russia. In other Nokia news, the recently unveiled Nokia 2 is now available for pre-orders in Russia for RUB 7,990 (about Rs. 8,800). This is the first market where entry phone pre-bookings have gone live; it will go on sale worldwide around mid-November, the company revealed at its launch event in India. The price of the Nokia 2 in India and pre-order and release dates remain a mystery. The device has a worldwide average price tag of 99 euros (about 7,500 rupees). It has a 5-inch HD display, Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS, quad-core Snapdragon 212 chipset, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal storage, microSD card support, 8-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front camera, and 4100mAh battery.
iPhone X screen may burn in, warns Apple Apple has created a special support page for iPhone X buyers to detail the key visual changes they’ll experience with the new OLED panel. One of the issues related to OLED displays described on the page is burn-in and color shifting at certain viewing angles. However, the company says it has worked to minimize the effects of OLED burn-in on the Super Retina display. Apple also recommends using automatic brightness settings to extend the life of the iPhone X’s screen.
Xiaomi says 70 million smartphones were shipped so far in 2017. Xiaomi CEO and founder Lei Jun have announced that the company has shipped 70 million smartphones this year. The company claims to have sent 10 million units in September and October. Without losing sight of the ball, Xiaomi has set itself the goal of sending 100 million smartphones by 2018. According to market research firm Counterpoint, Xiaomi has become the fastest-growing smartphone company worldwide, growing 81 percent year-on-year. The company says the Chinese brand sold 28 million handsets worldwide in the July-September quarter, capturing 7 percent of the market.
Broadcom offers to buy Qualcomm for $103 billion Chipmaker Broadcom says it has offered to buy smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm for $70 a share or $130 billion in cash and stock. If Qualcomm accepts the offer, the deal will be the largest in tech industry history. The price of $70 a share represents a 27.6 percent premium over the company’s closing price of $54.84 on Thursday. Shareholders would receive $60 in cash and $10 in Broadcom stock. Including Qualcomm’s debt, the deal would cost Broadcom $130 billion, the company says.
Reliance Communications will stop offering voice calls from December 1, giving customers until December 31 to disable the network. The company plans to provide its consumers with only 4G data services after December 1. Reliance Communications currently offers 2G and 4G services in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, UP East West, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala circles. It will also support Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd.’s CDMA network. (SSTL) to offer 4G in Delhi, Rajasthan, UP West, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Kolkata.
Panasonic Eluga A4 with 5000mAh battery launched in India Panasonic has launched the Eluga A4 smartphone with a 5000mAh battery for Rs. 12,490 to take on Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Lenovo K8 Plus. The smartphone is already on sale through authorized Panasonic retailers in the country. The new Eluga A4 has a 5.2-inch HD display with a 2.5D curved glass design and runs Android 7.0 Nougat software with the AI-based Arbo virtual assistant. It is powered by a 1.25GHz quad-core MediaTek chipset, backed by 3GB of RAM, and comes with 32GB of internal storage and microSD card support up to 128 GB. On the back is a 13-megapixel camera on the front, while a 5-megapixel sensor is on the show.
India is among the top countries for ransomware risk; SophosNetworking and endpoint security firm Sophos has ranked India in the top seven countries with a high risk of ransomware attacks in a new report. The company says that until last year, ransomware mainly affected Windows users, but noticed that the attacks became more cross-platform in 2017. Android has emerged as a new favorite of cybercriminals, although it should be noted that non-Google Play marketplaces mainly discover ransomware. But despite Google Play apps being largely protected from such attacks, ransomware on Android has increased almost every month this year.
