Xiaomi launched the Mi A1 in New Delhi on Tuesday, the first smartphone developed under Google’s Android One initiative, following its intention to revive the budget device program at Google I/O earlier this year. . Therefore, unlike other Xiaomi phones, the Mi A1 comes stock Android with v7.1.2 Nougat and will be one of the first devices to get Android P next year. The new Mi A1 costs Rs. 14,999 and will be available on September 12 through Flipkart, Mi.com, and Xiaomi’s own Mi Home stores.
The new Xiaomi phone has a 5.5-inch full-HD display powered by the Snapdragon 625 and 4 GB of RAM. Interestingly, it has a dual rear camera with two 12-megapixel sensors, one wide-angle and the other telephoto with 2x optical zoom. There is also a fingerprint sensor on the back. The Mi A1 has dual SIM and 4G VoLTE support, 64GB of internal storage (expandable up to 128GB via microSD card), and a 3,080mAh battery. Contrary to Xiaomi’s usual regional restriction, the Mi A1 will be available in more than two dozen markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin and South America.
OnePlus 3T costs Rs. 25,999 as part of a new sale. As part of a three-day sale in honor of the 1000th day of operation in India, OnePlus has offers on the OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 5, available exclusively through Amazon India. The former is discounted to Rs. 25,999, and Axis Bank cardholders can charge an additional Rs. 2,000 cashback, which also applies to the latter. In addition, 100 lucky customers can also enter to win Cleartrip domestic flight vouchers worth up to Rs. 25,000.
Lenovo K8 Plus dual rear cameras The Lenovo K8 Plus, slated to launch on Wednesday, will feature a dual rear camera, the company confirmed in a tweet. The dual rear cameras – positioned vertically – will be the highlight of the K8 Plus and will be supported by an LED flash; also, on the back is the fingerprint sensor. Not much is known about the smartphone yet, although the wait won’t be long as the handset will be officially unveiled as a Flipkart exclusive tomorrow.
BSNL launches a plan with 90 GB data, and unlimited calling at Rs. 429BSNL has launched a new Rs. 429 program for prepaid users, which offers unlimited calls – both local and STD calls – and 1 GB of data per day for 90 days. That turns out to be Rs. 143 per month, which the state-run telecom provider says is “the most competitive plan in the current market scenario”. This plan will compete with the Rs. 399 Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan Offer with 1 GB data per day, free texting, a subscription to Jio apps, and unlimited free calls to all networks for 84 days.
Nokia phones will get Android Oreo as Nokia gets September 5 update before Pixel. All Nokia Android smartphones — distributed by new owner HMD Global — will be updated to Android 8.0 Oreo. In a tweet on Saturday, Juho Sarvikas, Chief Product Officer at HMD Global, said: “All our smartphones will upgrade to Oreo, including Nokia 3.” That said, there’s no timeline on when the Oreo update will arrive. Nokia is consistently faster in delivering monthly security updates for its devices, releasing them before they even reach Google devices themselves. That continued on Tuesday with the September Android security update, as it has already been pushed out for the Nokia 5, while both Pixel and Nexus have yet to see it.
Vivo X20 and X20 Plus have nearly bezel-less screens. The upcoming Vivo X20 and X20 Plus have been leaked via posters promoting the new phone alongside the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, of which Vivo is the official smartphone sponsor. The images reveal a nearly borderless screen on the phone, which has become almost a requirement for new phones in the past year.
Meanwhile, a Chinese publication has helped to add more details about the phones: the Vivo X20 and X20 Plus will have 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch full-HD displays, respectively, while both have a 24-megapixel camera on the side. Front, Snapdragon 625), will share 6 GB RAM, a 3,500mAh battery, 128GB internal storage, and Android 7.1.1. Nougat. Since Android Oreo has started on phones, the launch for both Vivo phones should be just around the corner.
ZTE’s Nubia M2 Play arrives in India, and Blade A2S launches in ChinaZTE has launched the Nubia M2 Play in India for Rs. 8,999 as an Amazon exclusive. The phone is a lower specification version of the M2: it has a 5.5-inch HD display, Snapdragon 435, Adreno 505 GPU, 3 GB RAM, 32 GB internal storage, 13-megapixel rear camera, and 5-megapixel front camera. That said, it does have a fingerprint scanner and 4G VoLTE support.
Meanwhile, the company has launched the Blade A2S under its flagship brand in China for CNY 700 (approximately Rs. 6,800), the third variant of the phone alongside Blade A2 and Blade A2 Plus. We don’t know what Android version it’s running, but it does have a 5.2-inch full-HD display, 1.3GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6753, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, a 13-megapixel camera on the rear, and 5-megapixel front camera. There aren’t many changes to be honest, other than the fingerprint sensor is now round.
Popular YouTube MP3 ripper is broken. A coalition of record labels has succeeded in shutting down YouTube MP3, which they claimed was the world’s largest in helping internet users convert YouTube videos to audio files. The site was believed to have infringed the labels’ rights and generated advertising revenue from non-owned content. YouTube MP3 has agreed to close its business, make an undisclosed payment and transfer the domain to the labels.
Google Photos helps save data with a new caching feature. Google Photos has added a caching feature to its Android app that allows users to play videos without additional data charges on consecutive attempts. This helps you save on mobile data while the videos take up space locally, as defined by your cache size. You can always clear the cache if you don’t have enough space left on your phone, but that will force the Photos app to download files again the next time you view them.
