News

Samsung Galaxy S10 will look better than the Huawei P20, DJ Koh suggests

Will also launch in green

Published

September 16, 2018

Luigi Leonardo

As far as smartphone design goes, this year has elicited only groans and sighs. Most companies have sadly evolved into one standard so far — the notch. With a bunch more notched phones coming up, we won’t see a new design innovation for a while.

Thankfully, a few stalwart brands have remained vigilant against the rising tide of monotony. Among these, Samsung has established its own identity amidst the mire. First and foremost, the Korean brand has continuously refused the vapid trends that Apple has introduced — notches and audio jack removals, to be specific.

Maintaining this position, Samsung already has tricks up its sleeve for next year’s batch of Galaxy phones.

In a recent statement to the Chinese media, Samsung CEO DJ Koh has announced significant changes to their phone’s looks in 2019. Further, he confirms that a new color will launch next year.

Following Samsung’s release schedule, this development is hardly a surprise. The company usually releases defining design upgrades every other year. The last major upgrade belonged to the Galaxy S8. With that, the next upgrade should happen next year.

However, the bigger surprise lies with the media who attended Samsung’s conference. For one, renowned leaker Ice Universe has added information about Koh’s statement.

First, the account claims that Samsung’s major upgrades are “more beautiful than the gradient.” By now, we all know the gradient’s most headstrong proponent — the Huawei P20 series. Currently, the series belongs to this year’s top tier of most beautiful smartphones. In itself, this statement is a bold claim.

Secondly, Ice Universe also names Samsung’s “new color.” Besides the traditional colors, Samsung will also release a green variant. Now, for astute observers, green isn’t exactly a new color for Samsung. Years ago, Samsung released a limited-edition Emerald Green variant for the Galaxy S6 Edge. If anything, this is the first time that green will make it to the main lineup.

This early into the game, details on Samsung’s new phones remain rudimentary, at best. Stay tuned for more details as they roll out!

News

OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition: Price and availability in the Philippines

The most expensive OnePlus phone, yet

Published

December 14, 2018

Daniel Morial

Shortly after its international debut, the most expensive OnePlus phone is (surprisingly) already on its way to the Philippines.

The OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition is now available for pre-order online through Argomall. It’s priced at PhP 39,990, which is slightly higher than its US$ 699 retail price in the US.

Compared to the regular OnePlus 6T, the McLaren Edition comes with 10GB of memory, 256GB of storage, and the latest Warp Charge technology that can fill up half of the phone’s battery in just 20 minutes.

Also, the special edition phone features a carbon fiber pattern, orange accents, and the McLaren logo on the back.

There’s no exact shipping date for the phone, but it’s already listed on Argomall’s website.

News

Philippine telcos are now required to unlock phones after lock-in period

Finally, a pro-consumer measure

Published

December 14, 2018

Daniel Morial

The Philippines’ Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has ordered the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and telcos for the mandatory unlocking of phones and devices after the subscriber’s lock-in period.

The policy is based on the Memorandum Order 004, Series of 2018 issued by DICT on December 14.

According to the memo, subscribers who have completed their contract and have no outstanding obligations can demand telcos to unlock their phones or devices. The process must also be done conveniently and should be shouldered by the service providers.

The NTC is now tasked to draft the Memorandum Circular for the memo’s appropriate rules and regulations and conduct consultations and hearings with affected parties.

There’s no exact date of implementation, but with order already announced to the public, Filipinos will soon have freedom for their network-locked phones given that they have already fulfilled their contract.

Source: DICT

News

Huawei Nova 4 press renders leak before official announcement

It’s the era of holed phones

Published

December 14, 2018

Daniel Morial

Samsung already announced their new midrange phone that has a hole in the screen. This is the newest display trend after the notch, and Huawei is next in line to present their own. The launch of the Nova 4 is scheduled for next week, but official-looking renders have already leaked online.

The renders further confirm some of the early reports about the Nova 4. The most obvious one is the position of the hole in the display for the front camera, which is expected to be a 25-megapixel sensor. This approach is supposedly less intrusive than having a notch. The Nova 4 will also have a triple-camera setup on the rear that’s strikingly similar to the P20 Pro’s; however, the sensors will not be same.

Rumors suggest that Huawei will have two Nova 4 variants. Both will have the Kirin 970 processor (same on the Nova 3), 8GB of memory, and 128GB of storage. They will also feature the same 16-megapixel monochrome and 2-megapixel depth sensors.

The difference between the two variants is in the main camera. The more expensive one will have a 48-megapixel Sony sensor, while the cheaper variant is stuck with a 20-megapixel sensor. Aside from that, the two variants will be practically identical.

Huawei will announce the Nova 4 on December 17 in China. Based on the leaked renders, it’ll come in a basic black color with red, blue, and white-pink gradient options.

Source: DroidShout