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mercredi 15 avril 2020

Qualcomm partners with BOE to bring Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanners to more devices

In a move to push wider adoption of its in-display ultrasonic fingerprint technology on premium smartphones, Qualcomm on Tuesday inked a strategic deal with the Chinese smartphone display maker BOE. Under this partnership, BOE‌ will offer its customers integrated OLED panels with Qualcomm’s 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensors built-in. BOE‌ is the second-largest smartphone OLED panel manufacturer on the market and its customer base includes some of the biggest smartphone players such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and more.

Although more and more smartphones are making a switch to in-display fingerprint sensors, most of them use the optical in-display solution which works by capturing a 2D image of the fingerprint. Qualcomm’s 3D ultrasonic sensor is claimed to be faster and more secure than the optical solution but its high cost and unreliable performance has failed to impress the smartphone makers. So far Qualcomm’s 3D ultrasonic technology has only been featured on Samsung phones — notably the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S20 lineups. Qualcomm is hoping this deal will help propagate the adoption of its ultrasonic fingerprint technology and consequently win more customers.

Through this collaboration, we expect that OEMs will have more opportunities to design cutting-edge products that feature OLED displays made with the Qualcomm 3D Sonic fingerprint sensor technology.

Roawen Chen, senior vice president, and chief operations officer, QCT, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc

As for commercial availability, Qualcomm says we can expect the smartphones with Qualcomm’s integrated ultrasonic fingerprint sensor to hit the market in the second half of 2020. Apart from phones, Qualcomm also plans to extend the collaboration with BOE in other areas such as 5G, XR and IoT‌.

Qualcomm debuted its 3D in-display ultrasonic fingerprint technology, 3D Sonic Sensor, back in 2018 with the Samsung Galaxy S10 series being the first to incorporate the tech. Late last year, Qualcomm released an upgraded version called 3D Sonic Max with a 17x larger finger recognition area than its predecessor however we have yet to see a device utilizing this new technology.


Source: Qualcomm

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Microsoft Launcher v6 tests bringing back Themes and Backup & Restore options

Microsoft gave up on its smartphone ambitions in 2017 when Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore announced the end of support for the Windows Phone devices. Since then, the company’s mobile efforts have been focussed on creating apps for Android and iOS. The Microsoft Launcher, previously known as the Arrow Launcher, is one of its flagship products and has received multiple improvements over time. Now Microsoft might be working to bring back the choice between Light and Dark Themes along with a Buckup & Restore functionality, both of which were removed in the Launcher’s last Preview build.

With its launch in January, a lot of features were dropped from the Microsoft Launcher v6.0 Preview because it was built ground upon an entirely new codebase. Microsoft Launcher has supported the Dark Theme option for a while but the option to switch manually was also removed with the previous beta. As a result, the theme was set to change automatically with the system-wide theme. Other than that, the Backup option was also removed.

microsoft launcher preview

Theme toggle returns with Preview v6.2

Now, the manual toggle to choose between Light and Dark themes is returning to the latest Microsoft Launcher Preview build i.e. v6.2.

Additionally, an Android developer with Twitter alias Alessandro also shared screenshots of a much-improved Theme selector. Along with the manual toggle, the screenshot also shows a comprehensive set of options like sliders for opacity and blur.

Besides the manual controls for the Launcher’s theme, Alessandro’s images also show that the Backup & Restore option for saving launcher layout preferences.

Since these features appear to be hidden and haven’t returned to either the Preview or the stable channels yet, Alessandro is most likely to have reverse-engineered the features hidden in the latest beta build. There is a good chance that Microsoft enables them officially over the coming supplemental updates.

You can try the latest Microsoft Launcher Preview or the stable build by downloading them from the links below. Do let us know which all features you think Microsoft should enable in the launcher again.

Microsoft Launcher Preview (Free, Google Play) →

Microsoft Launcher (Free, Google Play) →

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Honor 30, Honor 30 Pro and Honor 30 Pro+ launched in China

Just a few days ago, Honor launched the Honor 30S in China, making it the first device in the new 30-series. Now, the company has launched the Honor 30, 30 Pro and 30 Pro+ in China, fully unveiling its latest flagship lineup for China. With the flagship HiSilicon Kirin 990 SoC across the board, the three phones offer enough choices between them for people in the region who want a competitive phone. The main focus of the phones is the camera setup, and there’s enough to pack a punch.

Honor 30, Honor 30 Pro, Honor 30 Pro+


Honor 30 series: Specifications

Specifications Honor 30 Honor 30 Pro Honor 30 Pro+
Dimensions & Weight
  • 160.34 x 74.18 x 8.10 – 8.47 mm
  • 185g
  • 160.32 x 73.61 x 8.38 – 8.63 mm
  • 186g
  • 160.32 x 73.61 x 8.38 – 8.63 mm
  • 186g
Display
  • 6.53″ FHD+ curved OLED
  • 2400 x 1080; 20:9
  • DCI-P3
  • Single punch hole
  • 6.57″ FHD+ curved OLED
  • 2340 × 1080, 19.5:9
  • DCI-P3
  • Elongated punch hole
  • 6.57″ FHD+ curved OLED
  • 2340 × 1080, 19.5:9
  • 90Hz refresh rate
  • 180Hz touch sampling rate
  • DCI-P3
  • Elongated punch hole
SoC HiSilicon Kirin 985, 7nm:
  • 1x Cortex-A76 based core @ 2.58GHz
  • 3x Cortex-A76 based core @ 2.40GHz
  • 4x Cortex-A55 based core @ 1.84GHz

Mali G77

HiSlicon Kirin 990, 7nm EUV:
  • 2x Cortex-A76 based core @ 2.86GHz
  • 2x Cortex-A76 based core @ 2.36GHz
  • 4x Cortex-A55 based core @ 1.95GHz

Mali G76

HiSlicon Kirin 990, 7nm EUV:
  • 2x Cortex-A76 based core @ 2.86GHz
  • 2x Cortex-A76 based core @ 2.36GHz
  • 4x Cortex-A55 based core @ 1.95GHz

Mali G76

RAM & Storage
  • 6GB + 128GB
  • 8GB + 128GB
  • 8GB + 256GB

Not expandable

  • 8GB + 128GB
  • 8GB + 256GB

Expandable via nano-memory card

  • 8GB + 256GB
  • 12GB + 256GB

Expandable via nano-memory card

Battery & Charging
  • 4,000 mAh
  • 40W SuperCharge fast wired charging
  • 40W charger included
  • 4,000 mAh
  • 40W SuperCharge fast wired charging
  • 40W charger included
  • 4,000 mAh
  • 40W SuperCharge fast wired charging
  • 40W charger included
  • 27W fast wireless charging
  • Support reverse wireless charging
Rear Camera Photo:
  • Primary: 40MP, f/1.8, 1/1.7″ RYYB sensor, OIS
  • Secondary: 8MP, ultra-wide-angle, f/2.4
  • Tertiary: 8MP, periscope, f/3.4, 5x optical zoom, OIS
  • Quarternary: 2MP, macro, f/2.4

Video:

  • 4K @ 30fps
  • 720p @ 960fps super slow motion
 Photo:
  • Primary: 40MP, f/1.8, 1/1.7″ RYYB Sony IMX600 sensor, OIS
  • Secondary: 16MP, ultra-wide-angle, f/2.2, fixed focus
  • Tertiary: 8MP, periscope, f/3.4, 5x optical zoom, OIS
  • Other: LAF, CAF, PDAF

Video:

  • 4K @ 60fps
  • 1080p @ 960fps super slow motion
Photo:
  • Primary: 50MP, f/1.9, 1/1.28″ RYYB Sony IMX700 sensor, OIS
  • Secondary: 16MP, ultra-wide-angle, f/2.2, autofocus
  • Tertiary: 8MP, periscope, f/3.4, 5x optical zoom, OIS
  • Other: LAF, CAF, PDAF

Video:

  • 4K @ 60fps
  • 1080p @ 960fps super slow motion
  • 720p @ 1920fps super slow motion
Front Camera 32MP, f/2.0
  • 32MP, f/2.0
  • 8MP, f/2.2, ultra-wide
  • 32MP, f/2.0
  • 8MP, f/2.2, ultra-wide
Other Features
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
  • Bluetooth 5.1
  • NFC
  • Dual nano-SIM
  • 5G SA/NSA
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
  • Bluetooth 5.1
  • NFC
  • Dual nano-SIM
  • 5G SA/NSA
  • IP54 water and dust resistance
  • USB 3.0
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
  • Bluetooth 5.1
  • NFC
  • Dual nano-SIM
  • 5G SA/NSA
  • IP54 water and dust resistance
  • USB 3.0
Android Version Magic UI 3.1 based on Android 10 Magic UI 3.1 based on Android 10 Magic UI 3.1 based on Android 10

Honor 30

While the overall design language is the same across the lineup, the Honor 30 is the outlier among the three in terms of specifications as it has a few noticeable changes.

For instance, you get a smaller display-diagonal but a slightly larger aspect ratio. The hole punch for the camera only needs to house a single 32MP front camera, so it is smaller. The display quality is OLED and is curved on the sides, which is the same as the other two. There’s no high refresh rate option though, which is a bummer.

Honor 30, Honor 30 Pro, Honor 30 Pro+ Honor 30, Honor 30 Pro, Honor 30 Pro+

On the inside, the Honor 30 is powered by the new HiSilicon Kirin 985 which is a 5G-capable SoC. RAM options are 6GB and 8GB, whereas you can get 128/256GB of internal storage, non-expandable. The battery on the device is a healthy 4,000 mAh, which supports 40W Huawei SuperCharge with the included charger. There’s no wireless charging on the device.

The rear camera setup on the Honor 30 comprises of four cameras, which is actually one more than the other two phones. The highlight of the setup is the 40MP 1/1.7″ RYYB sensor with f/1.8 aperture. This is complemented by a 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera, an 8MP periscope camera for 5x optical zoom with OIS, and a dedicated 2MP macro shooter.


Honor 30 Pro and Honor 30 Pro+

The Honor 30 Pro and Honor 30 Pro+ are very similar devices, but they too, have some key differences between them.

The basic design is the same across both the phones. The dimensions of the phones match, and the display diagonal is also the same at 6.57″. What does differ between the two is the fact that the Pro+ comes with a 90Hz refresh rate, while the Pro is just 60Hz. The touch sampling rate also sees a bump up to 180Hz. The front camera on both the phones sits within the elongated pill that is hole-punched within the display, to accommodate the 32MP main front camera and 8MP ultra-wide-angle front camera.

Honor 30, Honor 30 Pro, Honor 30 Pro+ Honor 30, Honor 30 Pro, Honor 30 Pro+ Honor 30, Honor 30 Pro, Honor 30 Pro+ Honor 30, Honor 30 Pro, Honor 30 Pro+

On the inside, both the phones are powered by the flagship Kirin 990 SoC. RAM is restricted to 8GB on the Pro, while the Pro+ also offers a 12GB variant. Storage can be expanded on both the phones through Huawei’s proprietary nano-memory cards. The battery on the phones is a 4,000 mAh, and it also supports 40W SuperCharge for fast wired charging. The Pro+ also packs in wireless charging capabilities up to 27W, as well as support for reverse wireless charging. Both the phones also get USB 3.0 support through the Type-C port. They also have support for WiFi 6, and come with IP54 certification for water and dust resistance.

The rear camera is where the differences widen. The main sensor on the Pro is the same as the Honor 30, which is the 40MP 1/1.7″ Sony IMX600 RYYB sensor. On the other hand, the Pro+ ups the game even further with the 50MP, f/1.9, 1/1.28″ RYYB Sony IMX700 sensor which is even larger, along with OIS. The second camera is a 16MP ultra-wide-angle with fixed focus on the Pro, while the Pro+ gets autofocus and macro mode capabilities. The rest of the setup is the same on both, including the 8MP periscope camera, and support for LAF, CAF, and PDAF. The difference in hardware on the Pro+ lets it capture 4K video @ 60fps, as well as 720p @ 1920fps super slow motion in addition to 1080p @ 960fps. There’s also AI RAW features that captures multiple RAW shots and then blends them into one RAW image for further editing.


Pricing and Availability

The Honor 30 and 30 Pro will be available in three standard colors: White, Black, and Green, and in two logo-inscribed colors: Purple, and Silver. The Honor 30 Pro+ will be available in two standard colors: Black, and Green, and in one logo-inscribed color: Silver.

The phones will be available in the following variants:

  • Honor 30:
    • 6GB + 128GB: CNY 2,999 ($425)
    • 8GB + 128GB: CNY 3,199 ($453)
    • 8GB + 256GB: CNY 3,499 ($496)
  • Honor 30 Pro:
    • 8GB + 128GB: CNY 3,999 ($566)
    • 8GB + 256GB: CNY 4,399 ($623)
  • Honor 30 Pro+:
    • 8GB + 256GB: CNY 4,999 ($708)
    • 12GB + 256GB: CNY 5,499 ($779)

Currently, the phones are restricted to the Chinese region. Availability and pricing for regions outside of China are unknown at this stage.


What are your thoughts on the Honor 30 series? Do you want to see them made available outside of China? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Honor 30, Honor 30 Pro and Honor 30 Pro+ launched in China appeared first on xda-developers.



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YouTube launches UPI as a new payment method for its services

When YouTube first launched its YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium services in India back in March last year, they were only available to users as a postpaid subscription. This required users to add a payment method at the time of subscription which as auto-debited each month. In a bid to get more users to subscribe to its premium services, YouTube then introduced prepaid plans late last year. The new prepaid plans allowed users to subscribe to the service without using credit cards, which are still quite uncommon among Indian users. Now, in order to make subscribing to its services even more convenient, YouTube has added UPI as a payment method in India.

 

YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium subscribers in India will now be able to continue their subscription by conducting transactions using their unique UPI ID. Along with YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium, the UPI payments option will also work with channel memberships and YouTube’s live-streaming features like SuperChat. As with other UPI payments, YouTube will require you to enter your UPI ID on the app, after which you’ll be able to complete the payment in any UPI app of your choice. Since UPI is slowly becoming one of the most preferred forms of digital payments in India, the move is likely to get YouTube even more subscribers in the country.

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Google Stadia will add support for OnePlus phones starting with the OnePlus 8

Since its launch late last year, Google’s cloud game streaming service Stadia has made its way to several devices. While the service was initially exclusive to Google’s Pixel smartphones, Chromecast Ultra, and Google Chrome browser, earlier this year Google extended Stadia support to the Samsung Galaxy S20, Razer Phone, ASUS ROG Phone, and more. Now, as per a recent announcement at the OnePlus 8 series launch event, Google will soon extend Google Stadia support to several OnePlus devices.

At the OnePlus 8 series launch event, the company revealed that the OnePlus 8 (review) and OnePlus 8 Pro (review) will feature support for Google Stadia, with more OnePlus phones to be added to the list soon. While OnePlus hasn’t revealed exactly which other devices will support Stadia, we expect the company to release more details in the following weeks. As with all other supported smartphones, you will only be able to enjoy Stadia games on supported OnePlus devices over a Wi-Fi connection.

It’s also worth noting that since Google recently made the service free for anyone with a Gmail account, you won’t have to purchase a premium pass to play Stadia games on your supported OnePlus device. On top of that, Google is also offering 2 months of Stadia Pro for free with access to 9 games in 14 countries around the world. In case you have a supported device, you can head over to stadia.com right now and sign up with your Google account to claim the offer.

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Download the official OnePlus 8 wallpapers in 4K resolution!

The OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro were announced in the U.S. yesterday. Both the phones instantly command attention for their beguiling designs, new curved Fluid AMOLED displays, full-fledged 5G support, and much more. But with the advancements in its specifications, the prices of the new phones are pushing their way into the flagship territory, making them out of bounds for a lot of people including existing OnePlus users. You can, however, douse your desire of owning the OnePlus latest flagships by downloading the exclusive wallpapers from the device.

OnePlus 8 Forums ||| OnePlus 8 Pro Forums

Usually, we share wallpapers extracted from the phone but the case here is different. These wallpapers are not just shared but also created by a multi-disciplinary artist named Hampus Olsson who has officially made the wallpapers for the company since the OnePlus 2.

oneplus 8 pro wallpapers oneplus 8 pro wallpapers oneplus 8 pro wallpapers oneplus 8 pro wallpapers

You can download all of the OnePlus 8 wallpapers together in the ZIP linked below or visit Olsson’s website to download individual wallpaper in the standard resolution as per the Pro’s display or 4K resolution including different versions with or without the new “Never Settle” positioning. You can also download these and about 300 other high-quality 4K wallpapers using Olsson’s wallpaper app called “Abstruct,” which is available for free on the Google Play Store. Note that the wallpapers above are compressed for lighter file size and we recommend download from one of the links below.

Download OnePlus 8 4K wallpapers (zip)

In the blog, Olsson describes these OnePlus 8 wallpapers were created on the principles of “abstract art, minimalism, futurism, 3D and open compositions” with the objective of being “bold, clean, borderless” to match the phones’ aura while also accommodating space for animations. The Pro also supports dynamic live wallpapers which are optimized to run at 120fps on the 120Hz display. But, the artist created only one of the live wallpapers, so the ZIP linked above only has static wallpapers.

Once again, while these wallpapers can be downloaded and used by anyone, you cannot use them for a commercial purpose.

Abstruct - Wallpapers in 4K (Free+, Google Play) →

You can read our OnePlus 8 review and OnePlus 8 Pro review to learn more about the devices or watch the hands-on video on our YouTube channel, XDA TV:

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OnePlus Launcher will show Google Discover, not Shelf, on the OnePlus 8

OnePlus just launched its flagship OnePlus 8 series and, as expected, both the OnePlus 8 (review) and the OnePlus 8 Pro (review) are packed to the brim with top-of-the-line hardware. Along with the hardware improvements, the latest flagships from OnePlus also bring a much-awaited change on the software front — Google Discover feed integration.

We first learned that the OnePlus Launcher included a hidden toggle to replace the OnePlus Shelf on the “minus-one” or left-most screen with the Google Discover feed all the way back in 2018. While developers have since released modded versions of the OnePlus Launcher to enable the Discover feed on any OnePlus device, the company only offered the feature by default on U.S. carrier variants of its devices.  So far, only the T-Mobile OnePlus 6T, T-Mobile OnePlus 7 Pro, T-Mobile OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition, and the Sprint OnePlus 7 Pro 5G have had the Google Discover feed integration turned on by default. However, this changes with the OnePlus 8 series.

During the OnePlus 8 series launch event, the company revealed that the “minus-one” screen on the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro will almost always be the Google Discover feed. This was first reported by AndroidPolice, but we later confirmed it for ourselves by code analysis (see attached screenshot). According to the code, all OnePlus 8 devices will have the Google Discover feed enabled, except for OnePlus 8 devices in China (which is obvious because Google doesn’t work there).

In case you’re wondering if sideloading the OnePlus Launcher from the OnePlus 8 to an older OnePlus device would enable the feature, then we have some bad news for you. We’ve already given that a go and it doesn’t seem to work unless the Google Discover feed is already enabled on the older device. As of now, OnePlus hasn’t revealed if the feature will be released for older devices in the future.

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