New Samsung patent shows off a completely new design for smartphones with zero bezels Since the beginning of 2017, smartphone manufacturers have been pushing for narrow-bezel displays. Samsung was one of the first ones to utilise this trend by narrowing the bezels on their flagship S8 and later the Note 8. Apple answered back Samsung with a similar narrow bezel display on their flagship iPhone X. However, Apple’s solution of putting a notch within the display area for housing all the sensors wasn’t received positively by tech enthusiasts. It seems that Samsung has a solution to the issue.
A recently uncovered patent filed by Samsung shows a new implementation of a full-screen display on a smartphone. The new arrangement opts for all the sensors embedded under the display, thus making for a full-screen display experience. The patent shows the smartphone utilising an under-the-display fingerprint sensor, which doubles up as the home button. All the other sensors such as the front camera, proximity sensors and the earpiece are shown embedded in the display. Samsung also mentions the requirement of a pressure-sensitive display as found on present-day Apple iPhones. The patent also shows no bezels around, thus making it possible to achieve a 100 per cent screen-to-body ratio. We have seen several similar patents showing new technologies that often don’t make it to the production version of a smartphone. However, Samsung’s foldable smartphone, dubbed by some as the Galaxy X, is expected to show up either sometime this year or early next year. A full-screen arrangement on a folding smartphone will certainly help efficient utilisation of space, maximising the surface area of the screen. OnePlus ditched the X series back in 2016 after releasing just one model, in order to focus exclusively on flagship smartphones. It seems to have been a great choice if we consider the huge success of the OnePlus 5 and 5T. But according to latest rumors, something new is in the works this year, apart from the OP5T successor. Some new voices are suggesting that the company is going to bring back the X-series by releasing a new device: OnePlus X2. According to the new rumors, OnePlus X2 will be officially announced after the OnePlus 6 and it will be a cheaper alternative rocking an octa-core Snapdragon 835 SoC. Someone is already speculating that, even though the OP5T’s sales have probably gone well, the company has a surplus of SD835 chipsets to use, and the X2 would be the perfect solution to use these SoCs.
The other specs of the OnePlus X2 are rumored to include 4 GB of RAM and 32 or 64 GB of internal storage depending on the variant that you will choose to buy. The handset is rumored to sport a classic 5.5-inch 16:9 display, a 16 MP rear camera, an 8 MP front snapper with Face Unlock and a 3000 mAh battery. The phone will allegedly be priced from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 17,000. So, it is expected to be a mid-ranger, placed alongside its flagship model, the OnePlus 6. Launch could be after the OP6, but we can’t be sure. Of course, this is just a rumor at this point, so make sure to take this with a pinch of salt. If the phone really does exist, it won’t be shy to show up in a few renders and leaks before launch. Source Premium iPhones are still available with considerable discounts on Amazon. Earlier in the day, Apple announced an increase in the prices of various iPhone models, thanks to the new budget which proposed an increase of 5 per cent in customs duty for phone manufactured outside India. However, despite the revised prices implemented from 5th February 2018, e-commerce giant Amazon is still offering all the premium iPhone models at a discounted price. The flagship iPhone X, which was launched at a starting price of Rs 89,000, is currently available for Rs 85,991 for the 64GB variant. The top-end 256GB variant is up for grabs for Rs 1,00,798, which is currently priced at Rs 1,08,930 with the revised post-budget prices. Apple’s revised prices might be implemented shortly on these portals, which is why you should book one immediately before the revised prices come into effect within a few hours. Similarly, the 64GB variant of the iPhone 8 is available for Rs 56,790, which is almost Rs 10,000 cheaper than the revised price of Rs 67,940. The iPhone 8 Plus is available for Rs 67,990 for the 64GB variant, which is pretty lower than the revised price of Rs 77,650. The iPhone 7 32GB and the iPhone 7 Plus is available for Rs 42,999 and Rs 56,969 respectively, which is pretty low when compared to the revised price tag of Rs 52,370 and Rs 62,840. The iPhone 6S 32GB is available for Rs 36,889 instead of the actual price of Rs 42,900. It isn’t yet known for how long these discounted prices will be offered on the iPhone models. If you are looking to buy an expensive new iPhone without spending a premium on them unnecessarily, booking one right now on Amazon is a sensible choice.
This patent introduces an "online service" that can algorithmically predict its users' socio-economic status without knowing their incomes. If you are on Facebook, nothing is private anymore. Your feed portrays your interests, your friends’ interests, photos, videos, news and vice versa. The content you explore on Facebook is your personal interest, but in the future, this might not be the thing. The company filed a patent, which is an “online service” that predicts your socio-economic status like how much you earn, what you own etc. Basically, what this service does is algorithmically predict its users' socio-economic status without knowing their incomes. It might sound scary, but to makes things worse, the content you will be watching on your Facebook timeline in the future will be based on your socio-economic status. According to a patent application filed in the US last July, “the system will use classifiers to predict which socio-economic group users belong to. Such a system would allow Facebook to more accurately target users with content and advertising tailored to their social class,” the company said. "The classifiers use models that are trained using features based on global information about a population of users such as demographic information, device ownership, internet usage, household data, and socio-economic status," Facebook's patent application states. The Patent Publication illustrates the probability of a user, whether he’s a middle person or isn’t. This categorises the user by the number of devices he’s using/logged in, he’s highest education qualification etc. Facebook believes, where users who own up to six devices "belong to the upper class".
This judgemental service might be vexatious to the Facebook users in the future. It is often safe to block all those contacts with whom you are not safe. With WhatsApp, people are always connected online, eventually increasing the number of messages being sent to close aides.
Recently Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that WhatsApp recently crossed 1.5 billion monthly active users with people sending more than 60 billion messages every day. In such a scenario, no one knows how many photos put up as display pictures on WhatsApp will get saved by others. All people, who have your contact number, can see your WhatsApp status and pictures unless they are blocked. All contacts on your phone may not be your friends. Cyber security expert Rakshit Tandon recently said that people often tend to save phone numbers of drivers, maids, watchmen and many other people who need not know what you are doing on WhatsApp. “It is often safe to block all those contacts with whom you are not safe. Especially, predators tend to observe children or women’s status and display pictures. Even if individuals are blocked on WhatsApp, they can always be contacted via phone or messages which are much safer,” he said. Experts urge users to enable two-factor authentication, especially since the number of mobile robbery cases are high. Don’t be reactive in your security, always be proactive. While a Facebook account or an Instagram account can be recovered in three minutes, it takes up to 72 hours to recover a WhatsApp account. In such a scenario, enabling two-factor authentication becomes important. According to WhatsApp, “When you have two-step verification enabled, any attempt to verify your phone number on WhatsApp, must be accompanied by the six-digit PIN that you created using this feature. Upon enabling this feature, you can also optionally enter your e-mail address. If you receive an e-mail to disable two-step verification but did not request this, do not click on the link. Someone could be attempting to verify your phone number on WhatsApp.” This increase comes after the Union Budget 2018-19, in which the import duty on mobile phones increased to 15 per cent from 20 per cent. If you haven’t bought an iPhone already this is bad news, as Apple iPhone prices are going to hiked in India. This comes after the Union Budget for 2018-2019 increased the import duty on mobile phones from 15 per cent to 20 per cent. All Apple products' prices including Apple iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone and Apple Watch are going to be escalated. Since all the Apple products are manufactured outside India (excluding iPhone SE), the customs duty in December had already hiked from 10 to 15 per cent which led to a price increase in iPhones. And, now that per cent rose from 15 to 20 due to the new Budget 2018, which is going to cost a load on the consumers. By this time, we already know that Apple iPhone X is the costliest phone, which was priced at Rs 89,000 at the launch. The iPhone X was hiked to Rs 92,430 for the 64GB variant in December and now has been bumped up to Rs 95,390. The larger 256GB variant costs a hefty Rs 1,08,930 in India, which is an increase from the Rs 1,05,720 pricing, which is almost a 3.2 per cent hike from the original price. Apple iPhone 8/8 Plus, which were launched in September, last year at Rs 66,120 and Rs 75,450 for 64GB variant are now been hiked up to Rs 67,940 and Rs 77,560 respectively. The 256GB variants of 8/8 Plus will now cost Rs 81,500 and Rs 91,110, which were priced at Rs 79,420 and Rs 88,750 during the launch.
Apple iPhone 7 hiked to Rs 52,370 from Rs 50,810 for the 32GB variant, which is a 3.1 per cent hike in price. The bigger 128GB variant will cost Rs 61,560 compared to the earlier official price of Rs 59,910. The bigger iPhone 7 Plus will now start at Rs 62,840, which is an increase from Rs 61,060. Apple iPhone 6s will now start at Rs 42,900 in India for the 32GB variant, while the 128GB version will cost Rs 52,100. Apple iPhone 6s Plus will start at Rs 52,240 for the 32GB version. The three-year-old Apple iPhone 6 is now Rs 31,900 which is also an increase from Rs 30,780. Apple Watch Series 3 price has also been to Rs 32,380 in India from the original price of Rs 29,900. Apple Watch Series 3 GPS 42 mm will cost Rs 34,410 compared to the earlier pricing of Rs 31,900. As iPhone SE is being manufactured in India, the price remains same for all its variants. The 32GB variant starts at Rs 26,000 and 128GB version remains at Rs 35,000. However, the e-commerce sites offer huge discounts on this iPhone, which leads to a starting price of Rs 20,499. |
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