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Siri reveals the date of Apple’s next event

The assistant is now part of the PR team

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Apple events are among the most watched in the world as the giant announces its next batch of gadgets. It usually sends out media invites first, but Apple seems to have outsourced that job to its digital assistant — Siri.

Siri has revealed the next Apple event’s date, and it’ll be held on Tuesday, April 20. You can try it yourself!

Just summon Siri and ask, “When’s Apple’s next event?”

“The special event is on Tuesday, April 20, at Apple Park in Cupertino, CA. You can get all the details on Apple.com,” Siri replies. However, it’s been hours since Siri spilled the beans, but there hasn’t been any confirmation from Apple.

There’s no doubt that the event will be virtual. All companies have opted for the digital route amid the Coronavirus pandemic, and we don’t expect this to change anytime soon. The said event has been expected for a while now, and Apple typically hosts it sometime in March every year.

Unfortunately, the world is experiencing a massive semiconductor shortage, which slows down the gadget supply chain. All technology companies are affected, and foundries worldwide are ramping up production to meet the demand.

Apple has been heavily rumored to launch the new iPad Pro models in the last month. The company is also expected to launch its first mini-LED display iPad Pro, which is the 12.9-inch variant in this year’s lineup.

While the event date’s appearance pretty much confirms the event, users should wait until the official Apple invitation as a formal confirmation of it.

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Lenovo announces partnership with David Beckham

Marketing campaign slated next month

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Lenovo has announced a global partnership with football icon David Beckham. This collaboration brings together two of the most recognizable figures in their respective industries.

The partnership builds on Lenovo’s expanding role in global football. It already is the Official Technology Partner of the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027.

The partnership is a first of its kind, and will see the English former footballer participating in Lenovo’s work on sports-focused AI-driven solutions.

These solutions transform the game for clubs, players, officials, and fans, specifically related to improving performance for teams, creating teams, creating better experiences for fans, enabling more efficient operations, and driving new revenue streams. All these are made possible through AI-driven innovation.

In addition, there will be an upcoming global marketing campaign featuring Beckham, slated to go live in May. That’s one month before the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026 in North America.

These campaigns will center on Beckham demonstrating how Lenovo’s AI-powered technologies can support professionals and help them operate more efficiently. That’s including small business owners and enterprises.

You do wonder if the partnership will extend to some of Lenovo’s consumer offerings, particularly the Yoga line. As someone who has mastered curving the ball, Beckham should be a fitting endorser for the “bending” laptops that feature 360-degree hinges.

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Samsung develops QuantumBlack: Low-reflection, high-durability QD-OLED film

To be applied across this year’s QD-OLED product lineup

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Samsung Display has announced the development of QuantumBlack, a next-generation low-reflection, high-durability film for QD-OLED monitors.

The technology reduces light reflection by 20% compared to the company’s previous film. It enhances the depth of black, while also improving panel hardness from 2H to 3H to deliver greater durability.

Samsung will fully apply the film to this year’s QD-OLED product lineup. As a self-emissive display, QD-OLED can achieve “True Black” by completely cutting off pixel power.

But in real-world usage environments, ambient light reflecting off the screen can make it difficult to experience the performance.

This is where the development of Samsung Display’s QuantumBlack comes in. Black performance is one of the most critical specifications for gaming monitors.

Accurate black levels define boundaries between objects and backgrounds, creating greater depth and spatial clarity to heighten immersion.

In particular, the gameplay of first-person shooters (FPS) or survival titles can be influenced by the technology with clearer visibility of enemy silhouettes or item locations.

In line with the launch of this new technology, global partners such as ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI are also introducing new brands that emphasize low-reflection features, further expanding promotion of their latest monitor products.

ASUS has the “Black Shield”, Gigabyte has “Obsidian Shield”, and MSI has “Dark Armor”. These all have significantly upgraded low-reflection capabilities in their new products.

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vivo X300 Ultra wants to beat the iPhone 17 Pro Max in pro video

Unleashed alongside the subtly-improved vivo X300s

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vivo X300 Ultra
Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Almost six months after the launch of the vivo X300 and X300 Pro, the Chinese smartphone giant finally unleashes the much-awaited X300 Ultra.

Ultra-impressive camera system

First and foremost, its improved cameras.

Unlike its Pro sibling, the X300 Ultra follows the same configuration as last year’s X200 Ultra. It uses 35mm as its standard focal length instead of the usual 24mm found on most (if not all) smartphones.

vivo X300 Ultra

This means the main sensor is locked in at a minimum of 1.5x. Still, it’s been upgraded from 50MP to a whopping 200MP f/1.85 based on a large 1/1.18-inch Sony LYT-901 image sensor.

Meanwhile, shooting at “1x” relies on its 50MP f/2.0 ultra-wide lens based on the 1/1.28-inch Sony LYT-818. While it’s the same as last year’s X200 Ultra, it’s still considerably bigger and better among newer phones in its league.

Definitively, the X300 Ultra also boasts a newer 200MP f/2.67 periscope telephoto shooter using Samsung’s 1/1.4-inch ISOCELL HP0. Optical zoom distance still starts at 3.5x (85mm equivalent) which is similar to the X300 Pro and X200 Ultra.

If that isn’t enough, vivo announces not one, but two new teleconverter lenses.

vivo ZEISS Teleconverter G2

The all-new 400mm G2 Ultra ZEISS Telephoto Extender lens is the longest one in a smartphone so far. Still, vivo has achieved to make it as compact as possible — a tad longer than the former 200mm add-on lens in the X200 Ultra and X300 Pro.

There’s also the upgraded G2 ZEISS Telephoto Extender. It’s shorter and smaller compared to previous generation and comparable to a size of a lipstick (around 96mm in length).

This means better portability while trying to shoot subjects from afar with the same 200mm focal length.

Additionally, the vivo X300 Ultra also has a 5MP f/2.45 multi-spectral sensor that other X300 phones lack. This is basically responsible for making colors more accurate by capturing a wider range of light beyond the usual RGB color spectrum.

Ultra-grade video shooter

One of the highlights of the vivo X300 Ultra focuses on its video shooting prowess that targets Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max.

For one, its ultra-wide camera has OIS built-in — a feature often overlooked by other phone makers.

OIS is also enabled when using the said teleconverter lenses.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Other than that, the X300 Ultra is capable of shooting in both 4K/120fps Dolby Vision and 4K/120fps 10-bit LOG support.

This means prospective users can finally apply LUTs in post (or 3D LUTs in the phone) — much like how videographers and cinematographers do when shooting with their expensive mirrorless cameras.

Even though 10-bit LOG has been around in the recent vivo flagships, only the X300 Ultra can seamlessly switch between all focal lengths while LOG recording is enabled.

vivo X300 Ultra

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

In line with these, the vivo X300 Ultra also features a new Professional Video Mode in its native camera app.

Ultra-powerful flagship

The vivo X300 Ultra brings some subtle improvements over the former X200 Ultra flagship.

While they both share the same 6.82-inch 8T LTPO AMOLED 2K display, the X300 Ultra has a faster 144Hz refresh rate support versus 120Hz. It’s also now an Ultra XDR screen, thanks to the improved BOE Q10 Plus panel.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

Most of all, the X300 Ultra runs the latest 3nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC. Despite the shortage of components, the X300 Ultra relies on a speedy UFS 4.1 storage standard while memory is even faster with LPDDR5X Ultra (and Ultra Pro) protocol.

Shockingly though, battery hasn’t been bumped by a lot as the X300 Ultra is only equipped with a 6600mAh battery — just 90mAh more than its Pro counterpart.

That slight boost is the same with its wired charging speeds from 90W to 100W FlashCharge.

The Ultra s-idekick

Other than the X300 Ultra, the vivo X300s is also present in the scene. This is a follow-up to last year’s X200s.

It runs MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 SoC like the vanilla X300 but with a bigger 7100mAh battery (versus 6040mAh). That’s a lot bigger than what the X300 Ultra possesses.

However, the vivo X300s borrows that same 6.78-inch display size as the X300 Pro. This also marks as a departure from that 6.67-inch sweet-spot screen size of the X200s and the “smaller” 6.31-incher X300.

vivo X300s

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Cameras are quite indifferent as of the X300. A 200MP main camera based on Samsung ISOCELL HPB with Sony’s LYT-602 sensor for its telephoto module. The improvement though can be seen when using the camera app.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

vivo’s new Blueprint Palette lets you choose a color in a swatch board and save it as a recipe. The user can also adjust settings in real-time — letting you see the look of the image during preview even before hitting the shutter release. The same feat is also found on the X300 Ultra.

And, much like the base X300, the vivo X300s is capable of attaching that 200mm teleconverter lens with its own camera kit — something the X200s cannot achieve at all.

Pricing and Availability

The vivo X300 Ultra and X300s are currently available for pre-orders in China along these colorways and configurations:

GIF by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

X300 Ultra (Film Green, Silver Tune, Black Ka)

  • 12+256GB = CNY 6999 (US$ 980 / EUR 835 / GBP 730 / SG$ 1260 / MYR 4130 / PhP 56,440 / INR 87,110)
  • 12+512GB = CNY 7499 (US$ 1100 / EUR 900 / GBP 780 / SG$ 1345 / MYR 4355 / PhP 59,590 / INR 90,980)
  • 16+512GB = CNY 7999 (US$ 1115 / EUR 960 / GBP 820 / SG$ 1430 / MYR 4645 / PhP 63,685 / INR 95,930)
  • 16+1TB = CNY 8999 (US$ 1260 / EUR 1070 / GBP 920 / SG$ 600 / MYR 5225 / PhP 70,905 / INR 107,700)

X300s (Film Green, Dream Core Purple, Silvery White, Titanium Black)

  • 12+256GB = CNY 4999 (US$ 700 / EUR 610 / GBP 530 / SG$ 910 / MYR 2970 / PhP 40,900 / INR 62,260)
  • 16+256GB = CNY 5499 (US$ 770 / EUR 660 / GBP 570 / SG$ 985 / MYR 3190 / PhP 43,700 / INR 66,720)
  • 16+512GB = CNY 5999 (US$ 845 / EUR 730 / GBP 635 / SG$ 1095 / MYR 3560 / PhP 49,085 / INR 74,715)
  • 16+1TB = CNY 6999 (US$ 980 / EUR 835 / GBP 730 / SG$ 1260 / MYR 4130 / PhP 56,440 / INR 87,110)

For the camera enthusiasts…

vivo X300 Ultra

You can buy the vivo X300 Ultra and X300s in their special Photographer Kit Edition with all the accessories bundled:

  • X300 Ultra Photographer Kit = CNY 11,999 (US$ 1260 / EUR 1070 / GBP 920 / SG$ 2235 / MYR 6965 / PhP 105,110 / INR 164,550)
  • X300s Photographer Kit = CNY 7999 (US$ 1115 / EUR 960 / GBP 820 / SG$ 1430 / MYR 4645 / PhP 63,685 / INR 95,930)

Additionally, separate parts of the kit can also be bought separately:

  • Camera Grip = CNY 699 (US$ 101 / EUR 88 / GBP 77 / SG$ 130 / MYR 405 / PhP 6130 / INR 9585)
  • SmallRig Case = CNY 1699 (US$ 245 / EUR 215 / GBP 185 / SG$ 320 / MYR 990 / PhP 14,890 / INR 23,300)
  • G2 Teleconverter Lens = CNY 1499 (US$ 220 / EUR 190 / GBP 165 / SG$ 280 / MYR 870 / PhP 13,140 / INR 20,560)
  • G2 Ultra Teleconverter Lens = CNY 2499 (US$ 360 / EUR 315 / GBP 270 / SG$ 465 / MYR 1450 / PhP 21,900 / INR 34,270)

* These are only rough conversion estimates

As teased way back in MWC 2026, the X300 Ultra is vivo’s first Ultra smartphone to be sold globally. We’ll just have to wait and see which regions will have it.

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