smartphone News - Page 24 of 75 - CNX Software

May 18, 2018May 21, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Spreadtrum SC9863 Octa-core Cortex A55 Processor is Made for LTE Smartphones

Arm unveiled Cortex A55 cores about a year ago, and while we have seen the new cores combined with Cortex 75-class cores in premium smartphone processors such as Exynos 9810 SoC, I had yet to see a standalone Cortex A55 processor that should deliver a performance boost compared to A53, while keeping the costs in check, and providing good power efficiency. Spreadtrum has filled this void with their SC9863 processor equipped with eight Cortex A55 cores clocked a 1.6 GHz, and designed for LTE smartphones. Performance is said to be improved by 20% compared with their Arm Cortex-A53 processor, and the SoC also embeds an AI processing unit that increases AI tasks performance by 6 times, and allows for real-time intelligent context detection and recognition, AR photography, and face recognition. Spreadtrum SC9863 also features a dual ISP capable of handle dual cameras of up to 16 MP, supports 1080p HD […]

May 18, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

UMIDIGI Z2 Pro is one of the first Smartphones based on MediaTek Helio P60 SoC

MediaTek unveiled Helio P60 Cortex A73/A53 processor with AI HW acceleration a few months ago, and we were promised smartphones would start selling in Q2 2018. Mediatek’s partners seem to be right on schedule, as several MediaTek Helio P60 smartphones have now been announced, including UMIDIGI Z2 Pro, which we’ll cover in this post. Specifications for UMIDIGI Z2 Pro smartphone: SoC – MediaTek Helio P60 big.LITTLE octa-core processor with four Arm Cortex-A73 up to 2.0 GHz, four Arm Cortex-A53 up to 2.0 GHz, Arm Mali-G72 MP3 GPU at 800MHz, and a multi-core AI processing unit System Memory – 6GB RAM Storage – 128GB flash, micro SD slot up to 256 GB Display – 6.2″ FHD+ (1080 x 2246) display with 403 PPI Camera 16MP + 8MP rear camera, 5-element lens, Samsung sensor, dual LED flash, face recognition 16MP + 8MP front-facing camera, ƒ/2.0 aperture, Sony sensor, face recognition Video recordings […]

May 1, 2018May 2, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Energizer POWERMAX P550S Smartphone Offers up to 20 Days Battery Life with a 5,000 mAh Battery

Energizer, the battery company, has now entered in the phone & smartphone business with devices boasting large capacity batteries such as their POWERMAX P550S Android smartphone powered by a Mediatek processor, and equipped with a 5,000 mAh battery promising over 20 days of standby time. Energizer POWERMAX P550S specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT6737 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.3 GHz with Mali-T720MP GPU System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, micro SD slot up to 64GB Display – 5.5″ capacitive touch IPS display with 1280×720 resolution Cellular Connectivity 2G – 850/900/1800/1900 MHz 3G – 900/2100 MHz 4G / LTE – B3/B7/B20 Data / Voice – VoLTE, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA up to 21 Mbps, HSUPA up to 5.76 Mbps, and LTE up to 150 Mbps downlink / up to 50 Mbps uplink Dual nano SIM card slot Wireless Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS […]

April 25, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Ubuntu Touch to Be Officially Supported on Librem 5 Open Source Smartphone

Ubuntu Touch looked really promising as a Linux mobile operating system supporting mobile desktop convergence, so eventually some people would have been able to use a single device for their mobile and desktop needs. If was not for lack of trying, but sadly Canonical had to end the development of Ubuntu Touch due to lack of interest from phone manufacturers and the community at large, focusing their resources instead of the cloud and IoT. But some people were still very enthousiastic about Ubuntu Touch, Unity and convergence, so since the code was open source, UBPorts continued working on Ubuntu Touch on their own. UBPorts developers have now collaborated with Purism to make Ubuntu Touch one of the officially supported operating systems for the Librem 5 smartphone. Librem 5 will still ship with GNOME based PureOS, but Purism will support customers who want to easily install Ubuntu Touch or PureOS with […]

April 24, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Kite is an Open Source Hardware Android Smartphone Powered by Snapdragon 450 Processor (Crowdfunding)

Kite is an open source hardware Android phone kit specifically targeting makers which you can assemble yourself into a Kitephone. The phone is based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 mainboard (Kiteboard v2), and comes with a 720p touchscreen display module, a 12MP camera, antennas, buttons, a 3,000 mAh battery, and a Raspberry Pi HAT compatibility board to optionally interface to external hardware. Kiteboard v2 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 octa-core Arm Cortex A53 @ 1.8 GHz with Adreno 506 GPU System Memory – 2 GB RAM Storage – 16 GB storage + microSD card slot Connectivity Cellular LTE Cat. 6/3G/2G, 2x nano SIM slots (dual-SIM dual standby) Two variant North America with LTE FDD Bands: 2,4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 14, 25, 26 LTE TDD Bands: 41 WCDMA 850, 1700, 1900, 2100 GSM 850, 1900 Rest of the World (Europe, Russia, etc…) LTE FDD Bands: 1, 3, 5, 7, […]

April 23, 2018April 23, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

This Smartphone Tripod with Microphone is Designed for Audio/Video Recording

More and more use cases are being handled by smartphones, and we’ve recently seen smartphone stands helping with specific applications such as keyboard and mouse mobile gaming, or a flexible lazy holder allowing you to carry the phone around hands-free among other things. I’ve now come across another smartphone stand that’s designed for audio recording with a built-in microphone, and that could be useful to video bloggers, or others requiring high(er) quality audio recording on the go. Specifications & key features: Microphone Material – ABS + Aluminum alloy Monomer: Electrets condenser Directivity – Heart-shaped Test voltage: 1.5V Impedance: 220Ω Sensitivity: -39db±3dB (0dB=1V/Pa at 1kHz) S/N: ≥65dB 3.5mm audio jack connector 360 degree tube rotation design for microphone holder Foldable tripod with adjustable clamp for smartphone The accessory works with any phones that comes with a 3.5mm audio jack, or adapter for phones with a USB type C port only. The […]

April 9, 2018April 9, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Bakeey “Lazy Holder” Allows for Brand New Ways to Hold your Phone or Tablet

The most traditional way to hold your phone is probably to use one of those extremities on your arms commonly referred to as “hands”. But selfie sticks are become popular in recent years, as well as phone stands / holders including gaming stands. But Bakeey “lazy holder” brings the art of holding a phone or tablet to a whole new level, as it’s flexible enough to shape it the way your want, and rigid enough to hold your phone in whatever position you’ve selected. So it works around the neck… … but you can also convert it as a selfie stick, a desktop stand, and provided you’ve submitted your body to a decent diet + exercise combination, you can also place it around your waist. I suppose you could also wear it as a “phone hat” transforming your phone into an action camera. The limit is your imagination! The clip […]

April 3, 2018April 3, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Samsung Aurora Smart Speaker Prototype is Powered by a Smartphone, Features an Hologram-like Character

Samsung Electronics has showcased a smart / A.I. speaker prototype at SXSW 2018 trade show last month, that can be manufactured at low cost since it relies on a smartphone to provide a processor, microphone, and other equipment. The smart speaker also uses the smartphone’s screen to show an hologram to greet users. Meet Samsung “Aurora”. The smartphone is placed horizontally (blue above) in a slot in the upper part of the speaker, and a hologram-like character floats above the Bluetooth speaker included of the kit. The part on the top surface is an optical mechanism using the smartphone’s camera for image recognition. The smart speaker also charges the phone, but it’s unclear how you are supposed to answer phone calls once it is inserted in the speaker… The concept looks similar to Vinclu Gatebox which we covered in 2016, except it relies on a smartphone. Samsung is said to […]