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mardi 3 août 2021

Google Pixel 6 adds an under-display fingerprint reader but drops the under-display earpiece speaker

In a surprising announcement yesterday, Google gave us an early look at the new Pixel 6 lineup that will be launching later this fall. Featuring the in-house Tensor SoC, capable cameras, an industrial design, and plenty of AI tricks, the new Pixel 6 series is finally ready to ditch its mid-range identity and aim for the flagship status.

The Pixel 6 is a massive upgrade over its predecessor, Pixel 5, through and through. It also does away with the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and opts for an under-display fingerprint scanner — just like you would expect from a proper flagship. Google confirmed to The Verge that the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 come with under-display fingerprint scanners.

We first spotted evidence for this inside the second Developer Preview of Android 12 back in March, which contained several hints suggesting that a future Pixel phone might feature an under-display scanner. This was further corroborated by leaked renders which showed a lack of a physical fingerprint scanner on the back.

Google hasn’t confirmed if the under-display fingerprint scanner is optical or ultrasonic. But it’s very likely to be optical given Android 12 code mentions support for “HBM,” or High Brightness Mode, which is used to improve optical fingerprint recognition by increasing the brightness of the display near the scanner.

In addition, both phones seem to drop the under-display earpiece we saw on the Pixel 5, replacing it with a traditional earpiece speaker (via 9to5Google). Again, this is something we knew from leaked renders. This is indeed a welcome change as many Pixel 5 owners have complained about the under-display speaker being too loud and leaking sound all over the place.

Google Pixel 6 Forums

The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are slated to launch this fall and will be available in at least eight countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, and France. Both phones will pack high refresh rate displays, improved cameras, and offer many AI features, including on-device auto-captions.

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SwiftKey can now sync your Android’s clipboard with your Windows PC

Microsoft-owned keyboard app Swiftkey is getting an update on the beta channel. The update introduces a new feature that lets you sync your Android phone’s clipboard with a Windows PC. We first spotted the feature all the way back in October last year, and it’s now finally rolling out to users.

As mentioned earlier, the feature is available on the latest Swiftkey beta update (via Windows Latest). You can try it out by downloading the latest beta release from the Play Store link below. After installing it on your device, head over to the app’s settings, tap on “Rich input,” and select the “Clipboard” option. In the following window, enable the “Sync clipboard history to the cloud” toggle.

Swiftkey Clipboard settings

(Screenshot: Windows Latest)

Once that’s done, open Settings on your Windows 10 PC and navigate to the Clipboard section. Then, turn on the “Clipboard history” and “Sync across devices” options. You should now be able to access your phone’s clipboard history on your Windows 10 PC and vice-versa. You can use the “windows+V” keyboard shortcut to access your phone’s clipboard history on your device.

Windows 10 Clipboard settings

(Screenshot: Windows Latest)

Note that the Cloud Clipboard feature will only retain clipboard history for an hour, and it will only show the last copied clip on the prediction bar in the Swiftkey app. It’s also worth mentioning that all clipboard data will be encrypted, and it won’t be linked to your Microsoft account.

At the moment, Swiftkey hasn’t revealed when the feature will roll out on the stable channel. We’ll update this post as soon as it rolls out with a future update.

If you’re a Samsung user, you can already sync your phone’s clipboard history with a Windows 10 PC using the “Link to Windows” feature. iOS also has a similar feature, but it only works with other Apple devices.

Microsoft SwiftKey Beta (Free, Google Play) →

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The new RedmiBook series packs Intel’s 11th-Gen Tiger Lake processors in a thin-and-light chassis

After entering the TV market in India earlier this year in March, Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi has now expanded into the laptop category. Today, the company launched two new thin-and-light notebooks in the region — the RedmiBook Pro and the RedmiBook e-Learning Edition. Here’s everything you need to know about the new Redmi laptops.

RedmiBook Pro

The RedmiBook Pro is the more premium of the two laptops in the RedmiBook series. It features a sleek design with a 15.6″ display with an 81.8% screen-to-body ratio, Intel’s 11th-Gen TigerLake Core i5-11300H processor with Iris Xe graphics, 8GB DDR4 RAM clocked at 3200MHz, a 512GB NVMe SSD, and a 46WHr battery. The laptop features a thin-and-light design, measuring just 19.9mm thin and weighing 1.8kg. The laptop has a brushed metallic body finish and comes in a Charcoal Gray colorway.

RedmiBook Pro lid RedmiBook Pro display RedmiBook Pro keyboard and trackpad RedmiBook Pro ports

The RedmiBook Pro comes with a large 100cm2 trackpad that supports Windows Precision Drivers, a membrane keyboard with 1.5mm key travel, a 720p webcam, and two 2W stereo speakers. In terms of I/O, the RedmiBook Pro packs two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, one USB 2.0 Type-A port, an SD card reader, an HDMI out port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and a 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack. Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0.The laptop runs Windows 10 Home out of the box with MS Office Home and Student Edition 2019.

RedmiBook e-Learning Edition

The RedmiBook Pro e-Learning Edition features the same design as the Pro model, but it’s a bit less powerful. The laptop features the same 1080p 15.6-inch display, Intel’s 11th Gen TigerLake Core i3-1115G4 processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM clocked at 3200MHz, and a 256GB SATA SSD on the base variant. The higher-end variant features a 512GB NVMe SSD instead.

RedmiBook e-Learning Edition lid RedmiBook e-Learning Edition display RedmiBook e-Learning Edition keyboard and trackpad RedmiBook e-Learning Edition ports

The e-Learning Edition features the same keyboard and trackpad as the Pro model, the same 720p webcam, and two 2W speakers. It also features the same I/O port selection.Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. The laptop also runs Windows 10 Home out of the box with MS Office and Student Edition 2019.

Pricing & Availability

The RedmiBook Pro will go on sale in India starting 6th August on Xiaomi’s website, Mi Home Stores, and Flipkart. It’s priced at ₹49,990. The e-Learning Edition will also go on sale on the same date through the same channels. It’s priced at ₹41,999 for the 256GB SATA SSD variant and ₹44,999 for the 512GB NVMe SSD variant.

The post The new RedmiBook series packs Intel’s 11th-Gen Tiger Lake processors in a thin-and-light chassis appeared first on xda-developers.



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Galaxy Watch 4 specs leak reveals it could have 1 week battery life

We’re just eight days away from Samsung’s big Galaxy Unpacked event, where the South Korean electronic giant will be taking the wraps off a bunch of new devices, including new foldables, new smartwatches, an affordable flagship, and more. All devices have leaked quite heavily over the past month, revealing everything from their design to specifications. But it seems there are still some leaks left in the tank.

Folks over at WinFuture have shared full specifications of the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic, confirming the previous leaks while also revealing some new details about these upcoming watches. As we already know, the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic are pretty much identical in terms of hardware, differing only in terms of design, size, and material. As per the new leak, the Galaxy Watch 4 will be available in two sizes: 40mm/44mm, while the Classic model will be offered in 42mm and 46mm sizes.

Both watches will feature an AMOLED panel with Gorilla Glass DX protection and 450 x 450 resolution. Under the hood, the Galaxy Watch 4 series will be powered by Samsung’s in-house Exynos W920 chipset paired with 1.5GB RAM and 16GB onboard storage. The leak further reveals that the Galaxy Watch 4 series will offer a wide selection of fitness tracking features, including heart rate tracking and electrocardiogram (EKG), blood oxygen level monitoring, sleep tracking, automatic workout tracking, and more.

The larger models (42mm/46mm) will reportedly pack a 361mAh battery, while the smaller ones will settle for a 247mAh cell. The claimed battery life is up to 7 days as per WinFuture.

Elsewhere, the leak claims the Galaxy Watch 4 series will offer IP68 water and dust protection, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi connectivity, optional LTE support, built-in GPS, and NFC. Both watches will run the latest version of Wear OS with Samsung’s One UI Watch 3.5 skin on top.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 series: Specifications

Specification Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic
Size
  • Galaxy Watch 4: 40mm, 44mm
  • Galaxy Watch 4 Classic: 42mm, 46mm
Display
  • 1.19-inch — Galaxy Watch 4 (40mm), Watch 4 Classic (42mm)
  • 1.36-inch — Galaxy Watch 4 (44mm), Watch 4 Classic (46mm)
  • SuperAMOLED
  • 450 x 450 resolution
  • Gorilla Glass DX
SoC
  • Samsung Exynos W920
RAM and Storage
  • 1.5GB RAM
  • 16GB flash storage
Battery & Charging
  • 247mAh: Galaxy Watch 4 (40mm), Watch 4 Classic (42mm)
  • 361mAh: Galaxy Watch 4 (44mm), Watch 4 Classic (46mm)
Connectivity
  • 4G LTE (optional)
  • Wi-Fi (2.4GHz + 5GHz)
  • Bluetooth 5.0
  • NFC
  • GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo
Fitness tracking
  • Heart rate monitoring
  • Electrocardiogram (EKG)
  • SpO2 monitoring
  • sleep tracking
  • Automatic workout detection
Other features
  • Samsung Pay
  • Google Pay
  • Rotating bezel (Classic model)
  • IP68
  • 5ATM
  • MIL-STD-810G certified
Software
  • Wear OS with One UI Watch 3.5

The post Galaxy Watch 4 specs leak reveals it could have 1 week battery life appeared first on xda-developers.



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OxygenOS 11.3.A.08 for the OnePlus Nord 2 brings system stability improvements and camera optimizations

OnePlus launched the Nord 2 in Europe and India late last month. Shortly after the launch, OnePlus rolled out an update for the device, featuring several optimizations, improvements, a new Ultra Resolution mode in the Camera app, and bug fixes. The company is now rolling out yet another update for the device, which brings system stability improvements and camera optimizations.

OnePlus Nord 2 First Impressions: Does the Dimensity gamble pay off?

The latest update for the OnePlus Nord 2 has the build number 11.3.A.08. It measures 248.6MB and includes the following changes:

  • System
    • Improved system stability
  • Camera
    • Optimized the HDR feature effect
    • Improved the shooting performance

The update has already started rolling out to OnePlus Nord 2 users in India. If you haven’t received the notification on your device yet, you can check manually by heading over to Settings > System > System Updates. Do note that OnePlus typically rolls out updates in a phased manner, so it may be a while before the update shows up on your device. For those who want to skip the wait, we’ve provided download links for the latest OxygenOS release below.

It’s worth mentioning that OnePlus previously rolled out OxygenOS 11.3.A.07 for the Nord 2 in Europe and India. The update was pretty much the same as the post-launch OTA, with a few minor changes. The update included OnePlus Buds Pro support for the device, new screen-off gestures for music controls, optimizations for the AI Beautification feature, and several minor improvements. If you plan on installing the latest OxygenOS release manually, make sure you install the previous update (linked below) before installing the latest one on your device.

OnePlus Nord 2 XDA Forums

Download OxygenOS 11.3.A.08 for the OnePlus Nord 2


Thanks to XDA Senior Member mlgmxyysd for the changelog and download links!

The post OxygenOS 11.3.A.08 for the OnePlus Nord 2 brings system stability improvements and camera optimizations appeared first on xda-developers.



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lundi 2 août 2021

Google’s Pixel 6 series will be available in these 8 countries

Google’s new Pixel phones are confirmed to be launching this fall. Yesterday, Google gave us the first official look at the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro and even shared some of their key details. The Pixel 6 series represents Google’s best attempt yet at creating a true flagship that goes head to head against Apple’s iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S series beyond the camera department. Google is building up a lot of hype around these phones, and we’ll find out whether it’s worth it or not in due time. But based on what Google has revealed so far, both phones look quite promising, featuring high refresh rate displays, Google’s in-house Tensor SoC, capable cameras, and a lot of AI magic.

Google Pixel 6 Forums

Google is keeping a lot of things under wraps, including pricing, availability, and a bunch of other specifications. But it looks like the Google Pixel 6 series will be available in at least eight countries, based on the fact that landing pages for them have already gone live.

Notably, India is missing from the list. However, we should note that Google hasn’t officially revealed exact availability details, so there’s a chance that might change once the device becomes official. But seeing that the Pixel 4 and Pixel 5 didn’t make it here, we won’t be surprised if the Pixel 6 series will follow the same path. Instead, Google will likely focus on launching new models under its affordable Pixel a series that has done quite well in India.

Google Pixel 6 Pro Forums

Google has already confirmed some of the key specifications of the Google Pixel 6 series. The Pixel 6 will feature a 6.4-inch FHD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate, while the Pixel 6 Pro will get a bigger 6.7-inch QHD+ panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. As for cameras, the Pixel 6 Pro will come with three cameras on the back consisting of a main wide-angle sensor, an ultra-wide-angle sensor, and a telephoto lens with 4X optical zoom. The regular Pixel 6 shares the same main and ultra-wide sensors but misses out on the telephoto lens. To learn more about everything that Google has shared so far about the Pixel 6 series. check out our yesterday’s coverage.

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Pixel 6 “Live Translate” feature automatically translates speech in audio or video

In June this year, we learned that Google was working on a new “Live Translate” feature for Pixel phones. We spotted mentions of the feature in an APK teardown of Android 12 Beta 2’s SettingsIntelligence app, but the new strings didn’t highlight exactly what it would do. However, we now have more information about the upcoming “Live Translate” feature, thanks to Google’s recent Pixel 6 teaser.

As per the teaser, the Google Pixel 6 series will come with the new “Live Translate” feature that will take the existing transcription feature on Pixel phones to the next level. According to The Washington Post, the feature will let you “generate live, translated captions when you are watching — or listening to — content in another language.”

Dieter Bohn from The Verge got a chance to experience the feature in action and reported that “the Pixel’s on-device auto-caption feature appeared to be a little faster and more accurate — and was even able to translate from French to English in real time from a playing video.” As you’d expect, the feature utilizes the new Tensor chip to handle translations locally without requiring an internet connection. Google’s hardware chief, Rick Osterloh, also told The Verge that the Tensor chip allows the Pixel 6 phones to run “data-center quality models” for the feature.

The Tensor chip on the upcoming Google Pixel 6 series facilitates a host of other features too. As we reported in our previous coverage, it allows Google to run its computational photography models to improve the Pixel 6’s video performance, offer more layers of hardware security, and enable a host of other on-device AI features. To learn more about the Pixel 6 series and everything we know about the devices so far, check out this post.

The Google Pixel 6 series will debut this fall, though Google hasn’t specified exactly when they’ll launch the two phones. The launch will likely happen in mid-October, and we expect to learn more about new features, specifications, pricing, and availability in the weeks leading up to the launch.

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