Oppo R9 camera-centric smartphone with high end specs launching March 17

Oppo at MWC 2016 unveiled its SmartSensor image stabiliser and Super VOOC charging technology. The chinese smartphone maker is expected to utilize the new technology in its upcoming flagship, the Oppo R9, the sucessor to the R7. Oppo has skipped R8 and directly moved to R9.

Oppo has announced that the R9 (and R9 Plus) will be unveiled at an event in China on March 17. The Oppo R9 will be a camera-centric smartphone and is rumored to come with top of the line specs.

The invite teser confirms that the Oppo R9/R9 Plus will come with Android 6.0 Marshmallow-based color OS, fingerpint sensor embedded into the home button, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage and support VOOC Super Flash Charge technology.

We can also expect Oppo to use its proprietary, SmartSensor on the R9, which it touts to be the world's smallest optical image stabilizer that has been included in the camera sensor itself. 

As per rumors the Oppo R9 will flaunt a 5.5-inch 1080p screen, 16MP rear camera, 13MP front camera and 3700mAh battery, while the R9 Plus will have 6-inch 1080p display, 16MP front and rear camera, and 4120mAh battery. As for the processor, the R9/R9 Plus is rumored to be equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 SoC or MediaTel's Helio X20 SoC (w/ ten cores)

Google starts Selling Cardboard and Other VR Headsets on Google Store

Google is now selling Cardboard VR viewer on its Official U.S store. You can now purchase it from the new dedicated VR section of the online Google store. Each unit costs $15, and there is also a 2-unit pack that will cost $25. The Carboard viewer holds Android and iOS devices with screen sizes ranging from 4-inch and 6-inch.

Google is also selling Mattel View-Master VR and Goggle Tech C1-Glass VR viewer on the store. Matter; View-Master VR is designed for kids and includes kid-friendly VR apps and videos and YouTube. The View-Master starter kit cost $29.95 and works Android and iPhone models that have 4-inch to 6--inch screen. It also includes a sepecial adapter for the iPhone 5, 5s and 5c.

The Goggle Tech C1-Glass VR viewer has a lightweight, portable design. It clips on to your smartphone to offer you with VR experience. It also works with Android and iOS handsets with screen sizes 4-inch to 6-inch. The viewer costs $14.99. 

Google Cardboard Viewer - $15, Pack of 2 - $25  

Mattel View-Master VR Starter Pack � $29.99 
Goggle Tech C1-Glass VR Viewer � $14.99

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Huawei P9 leaked live photos show dual rear camera setup and fingerprint scanner

Huawei's upcoming flagship, the P9, last month appeared in render images, and now we've gotten the first look of the P9 in live photos. 

The photos confirms that the P9 will have a dual-camera setup. The rear camera will be accompanied by LED flash and laser auto focus. There P9 will have a metal body and include a square-shaped fingerprint scanner at the back.

According to the leak, the Huawei P9 will sports a 5.2-inch 1080p display and powered by octa-core Kirin processor with 3GB RAM along with 32GB on-board storage (no details on expandable storage). The P9 will house USB-C connector at the bottom and will pack a large 3900mAh battery. The dual-camera on the rear are said to feature 12-megapixel sensor, that could be the first result of Huawei-Leica partnership.

As for the release date, the Huawei P9 is expected to be unveiled in Q2 2016.

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Toshiba Announces ADAS Processor for Monocular Cameras

PRNewswire, BusinessWire: Toshiba announces the newest addition to its TMPV760 family of image recognition processors for automotive applications. The TMPV7602XBG is suitable for monocular cameras used in ADAS, and will help designers implement ADAS applications utilizing a cost-optimized camera system with a small form factor.

Featuring 13 hardware-based image recognition accelerators, the TMPV7602XBG incorporates ADAS features that will become part of the camera requirements for the European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) in 2018. These include Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Traffic Signal Recognition (TSR), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) / Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), High Beam Assistance (HBA), and Forward Collision Warning (FCW). In addition, the processor supports such new applications as Traffic Light Recognition (TLR) and night-time pedestrian detection.

ADAS applications are processed concurrently within a typical time window of 50ms inside the image recognition processor and with relatively low power consumption due to the purpose-built hardware accelerators and media processing units. The TMPV7602XBG can process up to five applications concurrently, with very low power consumption, and targets mid- to high-end ADAS designs. Optimizing the circuit to downsize the ADAS monocular camera module enables the device's reduced package size (17mm x 17mm BGA with 521 pins and 0.65mm ball pitch) and an anticipated 50-percent reduction in power consumption.

Samples of the TMPV7602XBG image recognition processor will begin shipping in March. Mass production is scheduled for January 2018.

Technavio Names Top 5 CMOS Sensor Makers

BusinessWire: According to the latest report by Technavio, the CMOS sensors market is highly fragmented due to the presence of a large number of vendors. Sony is the market leader here followed by Samsung Electronics, OmniVision, Canon, and ON Semiconductor.

Sony

Sony is the market leader with a 27% market share. �The reason behind Sony's success is its strategy of purchasing many factories in order to boost CMOS sensor production to meet the demand for sensors incorporated in the global smartphone market. Their plan was to welcome any smartphone manufacturer to use its CMOS image sensor,� says Sunil Singh, a lead analyst at Technavio for computing devices.

Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics is the second major vendor in this market with a market share of 19%.

OmniVision

Omnivision is the third major vendor in this market with 17% market share. OmniVision is mostly driving benefit from the increasing adoption of smartphones in China and India.

Canon

Canon is the fourth major vendor in the CMOS sensors market with a 7% market share. Its strengths are that it always looks for innovation and invests a lot in production to cut costs. Its only weakness is the major competition from its rivals like Nikon, which forces it to invest more in advertisements, and which again indirectly leads to increasing the price of its products.

ON Semiconductor (Aptina)

ON Semiconductor is the fifth major vendor in this market with a market share of 6%. In August 2014, ON Semi acquired Aptina Imaging. In 2012, Aptina had almost an 8% market share in CMOS image sensors, which now belongs to ON Semi.

Apple iPhone 7 reportedly to be 6.1mm thick; ditch headphone jack, camera bump; gain stereo speakers

Apple is reportedly making the next iPhone thinner than the previous iPhone models. It was previously reported that Apple would be ditching the 3.5mm audio jack, and make some other changes to make the iPhone 7 slimmer.

Now according to Japanese tech blog Mac Otakara, the iPhone 7 will have a design same as the iPhone 6 and 6s model, but will be thinner by almost 1mm. To recall the iPhone 6s is 7.1mm thin.

In line with previous reports, the report claims that the iPhone 7 will ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack. This also means that the lightning port will be an all-in-one port supporting both charge and headphone. Apple is also said to do away with the small camera bump at the rear, so that the rear camera stay flush with the body of the phone. Also to make the iPhone 7 slimmer, the lightning port cutout will be thin, allowing reduction in size.

The new iPhone will come with aluminum material and the same level of water resistance as the iPhone 6s. The report also mentions that the iPhone 7 will sport a dual-speaker setup and will not have the antenna lines on the back.

As usual we can expect the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus at Apple's keynote event that happens in September. But before that, on March 21, Apple will host a media event where the 4-inch iPhone (iPhone SE), 9.7-inch iPad Pro (iPad Pro Mini) and new Apple Watch bands are expected to announce.

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vivo Xplay5 with Snapdragon 820 SoC, 6GB RAM is official

vivo has officially announced the Xplay5, the Chinese smartphone makers latest flagship, at an event in Beijing, China. It packs 6GB RAM, making it the world's first smartphone to come with that much amount of memory. The Xplay5 also has dual curved edges on either side of the display just like the Galaxy S7 edge.The handset is encased in a body that is made out of metal.

The vivo Xplay5 sports a 5.43-inch Quad HD (2560 x 1440 pixels) Super AMOLED dual curved edge display with Corning Gorilla Glass to protect the displays against scratches.. It is powered by quad-core Snapdragon 820 64-bit processor, coupled with Adreno 530 GPU and 6GB RAM. On-board storage is 128GB. For photography, the Xplay5 is equipped with 16-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, f/2.0 aperture, Sony IMX298 sensor Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) for focus speed of just 0.1 seconds. Selfie lovers will get an 8-megapixel front camera to snap selfies.

The dual-SIM phone runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow and supports 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS connectivity. It is backed by 3600mAh battery that supports fast charging technology. It has a fingerprint sensor, that is placed on the back, that can unlock the phone in just 0.4 seconds. It also includes Hi-Fi 3.0 including 2 x ES9028 and 3 x OPA1612 chips that offers better audio experience.

There is also a cheaper version of Xplay5 that comes with Snapdragon 652 octa-core SoC w/ Adreno 510 GPU and 3GB RAM.

The vivo Xplay5 Elite (Snapdragon 820 SoC, 6GB RAM) is priced at CNY 4288, while the Standard Edition (Snapdragon 652 SoC, 4GB RAM) costs CNY 3699. They come in Champagne Gold and Rose Gold colors, and will be available for order starting March 8. Shipping begins March 16 in China. It is not known whether the Xplay5 will be made available globally

Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus India launch set for March 15

The Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus that was unveiled at MWC 2016, Barcelona, will soon be making it to the Indian shores, as the comapny has sent out invite for the launch event of Vibe K5 Plus in on March 15.

Lenovo entered the Indian smartphone market in 2012,  but became a serious competitor in the market lqast year (2015) with the launch of A6000 at Rs. 6,999. Since then Lenovo has launched a dozen of smartphones in the below Rs. 10,000 segment and has been enjoying a successful run in the market. One of the most popular handset to date remains the K3 Note.

The Vibe K5 Plus will aim to recreate the success run enjoyed by other Lenovo branded smartphones in the country. However the Vibe K5 Plus will face tough competition from LeEco's popular Le 1s and the highly anticipated Xiaomi's Redmi Note 3.

The Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus offers a premium metal unibody design. The specs include 5-inch 1080p IPS display, Snapdragon 616 SoC w/ Adreno 405 GPU, 2GB RAM, 16GB inbuilt expandable storage (up to 32GB), 13MP rear camera (w/ LED flash, 1080p video recording), 5MP front snapper, 4G LTE, Dolby Atmos and a 2750mAh battery.

The pricing will be the main factor here. Considering the specs, the price could be between Rs. 6,500 to Rs. 7,500, and Lenovo could opt for the flash sale model to sell the device, to create enough curiosity among buyers to buy the smartphone.

Amazon India Moto sale: Rs. 1,000 discounts on smartphone, Rs 2000 off on Moto 360

Recently Motorola started selling the Moto G 2015 and Moto G Turbo Edition on Amazon India. Now the Lenovo owned brand has brought two more devices to the e-commerce retailer �Moto E 4G 2015 and the Moto 360 smartwatch. 

In addition, Motorola, as a part of inaugural offer, is also offering discount and cashbacks on Moto products. The discount period starts today and will last till March 3 or till stocks last. The offers will be available on both Amazon India website and app.

Discounts on Motorola smartphones on Amazon.in

• Moto G Turbo Edition � Rs. 11,499 (Rs. 1000 off)
• Moto G (3rd Gen) (16 GB) � Rs. 9,999 (Rs. 1000 off)
• Moto G (3rd Gen) (8 GB) � Rs. 8,999 (Rs. 1000 off)
• Moto E (2nd Gen) 4G � Rs. 5,999 (Rs. 1000 off)

Discounts on Motorola Moto 360 (2nd Gen) on Amazon.in

• Moto 360 2nd Gen (46 mm) (Black Metal) Bracelet � Rs. 21,999 (Rs. 2000 off)
• Moto 360 2nd Gen (46 mm) Natural Metal with Silver Case and Cognac Leather Band  � Rs. 18,999 (Rs. 2000 off)
• Moto 360 2nd Gen (42 mm) (Black Leather Band) � Rs. 17,999 (Rs. 2000 off)

Motorola is also offering extra 10% off (upto Rs. 1500) on purchase of these devices with SBI Debit or Credit Cards. 

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Apple's 9.7-inch iPad Pro may sport 12MP rear camera with 4K video support

Apple's upcoming tablet is said to be the mini version of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, that will have a screen size of 9.7-inch. As per new rumors the 9.7-inch iPad Pro may include camera specs that top the 12.9-inch sibling.

9to5Mac reports that the 9.7-inch iPad Pro might have a12-megapixel rear camera, with the same sensor found as iPhone 6s. To remind you, the iPad Pro (12.9-inch) has an 8-megapixel rear camera. And just like the iPhone 6s, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro's rear camera is capable of recording 4K videos.

Besides, a better camera and smaller display, the 9.7-inch will have the same hardware features of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, that includes Apple A9X SoC, a four speaker setup, Apple Pencil support, a Smart Connector

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is expected to launch alongside the 4-inch iPhone SE and new Apple Watch bands on March 21.

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