Category: Smartphones

Huawei Hisilicon Kirin 970, 10nm, AI computing

Posted by – December 22, 2017

With 5.5 Billion transistors, this is one of the most advanced ARM Processors for smartphones in the world, included in the Huawei Mate 10, Huawei Mate 10 Pro, with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A73, quad-core ARM Cortex-A53, Mali-G72MP12 GPU, featuring the built-in neural network processing.

Purism Librem Debian phone, fully open source, Librem 11, 13, 15 Laptops

Posted by – September 29, 2017

Purism Phone is crowdfunding at https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/ ($847’454 raised thus far) runs PureOS based on Debian Free/Libre and Open Source software and a GNU+Linux Operating System, it can run most GNU+Linux distributions, it’s runs many other upstream projects, it’s world’s first ever IP-native mobile handset with end-to-end decentralized communications via Matrix, with a 5″ display, Security focused by design, Privacy protection by default, works with 2G/3G/4G, GSM, UMTS, and LTE networks with an i.MX8 or i.MX6 CPU separate from Baseband with open-source GPU drivers, Hardware Kill Switches for Camera, Microphone, WiFi/Bluetooth, and Baseband. Purism also has a track record of delivering fully open source Intel powered laptops the Librem 11 2-in-1, the Librem 13 and the Librem 15.

$199 Elephone P8, 5.5″ FHD, MediaTek P25

Posted by – September 22, 2017

Elephone P8 4G Phablet ($199 at GearBest) with a 5.5″ FHD bright IPS display, runs on a MediaTek Helio P25 octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor built on 16nm FinFET+ process node running at up to 2.5GHz with an ARM Mali-T880 MP2 GPU, 6GB RAM, 64GB flash, Cat-6 LTE, Dual Band WiFi. 16megapixel front camera with selfie flash, 21megapixel rear camera with dual-color temperature flash it can record 4K video. Right now this phone is selling at $199 at GrearBest here.

LG V30 with Plastic OLED

Posted by – September 15, 2017

Here’s my view on the LG V30, a quite nice looking phone with Bang and Olufsen high quality DAC audio, FullVision Plastic OLED nearly bezel-less LG Display (see my LG Display video filmed at SID Display Week 2017 featuring LG’s Plastic OLED display here), it has a nice fingerprint reader on the back (unlike iPhone X). The price is possibly going to be very high (depending on LG’s pricing strategy), something like $699 or $799 maybe.

Tianma 8K 10.4″ Tablet, 5.5″ Flexible AMOLED, full Booth tour

Posted by – September 10, 2017

Tianma shows their latest displays and technologies, including their 5.49″ FHD Flexible AMOLED display for the Flexible Smartphones of the future, 8K Tablet display, in-cell retina tablet display, in-cell force touch display, 27″ Transparent display, industrial display, bezel-less displays for Smartphones, new outdoor viewable transflective displays, high-end displays with wide viewing angle technology “Super Fine TFT(SFT)”, prototype of new 3D demo system with high density auto-stereoscopic technology “HxDP”, PCAP wet & glove displays, and new LCD modules designed and optimized for a variety of industrial applications. Tianma (also known as NLT Technologies) is also showing Professional 10bit displays for medical use, Ultra-high luminance displays, 11.3-inch super wide display with high color gamut, thin and narrow frame and more.

UICO DuraTouch all-weather touch solutions at SID Display Week 2017

Posted by – September 10, 2017

UICO is a touch screen technology company that makes all-weather touch screens and touch surfaces for wearables, durables, and IoT smart devices. This video highlights many of their innovative touch screen and touch surface solutions that they demonstrated at SID’s DisplayWeek 2017. They show some of the great retail and B2B products that feature their touch screens including an off-the-shelf retail boat GPS fishfinder with a 7″ touch screen that they put under a running shower to show touch working with water pouring on the screen and without false touching. They show another device with a 10.1″ touchscreen that works with super thick winter gloves. They show that their touch screens work with regular gloves and require no special capacitive tips. UICO shows an array of fitness bands and smart watches in production like Garmin HR+ that use their touch screens so you can swim, shower, and use the device with sweaty fingers. They explain that their patented IP is a combination of software, firmware, algorithms and other aspects of touch screen technology making it possible for touch to work with tons of water, thick gloves, sweat and saline, and through very thick cover lens materials for “industrial-grade” applications. When showing their wearable device solutions including AMOLED and PMOLED on-cell solutions, they boast achieving the lowest power consumption industry-wide.

Binay Bajaj, UICO’s Vice President of Marketing, demonstrats a highly-unique implementation of their touch technology in a joystick. The joystick is able to sense the user’s hand around it and thus preventing mistakes if the user is not properly engaged. They explain that duraTOUCH surface provides a new level of safety and control. Their touch surfaces work with leather, wood, fabric, plastic and other dielectric materials, and many automobile companies are looking at this solution for touch on car interiors, car doors and trunks, touch on steering wheels and more. Some of UICO’s customers are implementing touch on fabric to enable touch controls in various types of clothing worn outdoors for both consumers and the commercial safety and security markets. UICO’s touch surfaces, like their touch screens, work with thick gloves, water, sweat, and solve other problems inherent to capacitive touch.

UICO is a full-service, technology and manufacturing company and offers customers complete touch screen solutions and broad customization options. They also showed a 15.6″ screen and discussed other larger screens sizes being launched in 2017 and 2018 along with new PMOLED and on-cell solutions. They are located in Silicon Valley and Chicago.

$379 Meizu Pro 7 dual display, 5.2″ + 1.9″ AMOLED, Mediatek P25

Posted by – September 5, 2017

The Meizu Pro 7 is available to distributors from around $379 through http://www.sparc.hk (contact details listed below) it comes with 64GB Flash, 4GB RAM, Mediatek MT6757T Helio P25 Octa-core 2.6GHz ARM Cortex-A53 on the 16nm FinFET process node, with ARM Mali-T880 GPU, with a Secondary touchscreen 1.9″ AMOLED Display on the back for quick glancing of information without turning the whole phone up, Dual Rear Camera.

Distributors can contact Sparc here:
SPARC Technology Co., Ltd. (HongKong)
Steven Wong, Deputy Chief Sales Officer
http://www.sparc.hk/phone/meizupro7.html
steven@sparc.hk
Skype: hys8703
Mobile: +86-15975354238 (Whatsapp)
https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/22330594/
https://www.facebook.com/sparchk/

Sparc is an offically authorized distributor for wholesales trading partner/distributor for the Meizu M5c, Meizu Pro 7 and the OnePlus5 Eur Spec also among other among other models, you can contact them.

$79 Meizu M5c, 5″ HD, MediaTek MT6737 Quad-core

Posted by – September 5, 2017

Meizu M5c is available to distributors from around $80 through http://www.sparc.hk (more contact details listed below) it comes with 16GB Flash, 2GB RAM, Mediatek MT6737 Quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 with Mali T720 MP GPU, Eur Spec, 8 megapixel camera with dual-color flash.

Distributors can contact Sparc here:
SPARC Technology Co., Ltd. (HongKong)
Steven Wong, Deputy Chief Sales Officer
http://www.sparc.hk/phone/meizum5c.html
steven@sparc.hk
Skype: hys8703
Mobile: +86-15975354238 (Whatsapp)
https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/22330594/
https://www.facebook.com/sparchk/

Sparc is an offically authorized distributor for wholesales trading partner/distributor for the Meizu M5c, Meizu Pro 7 and the OnePlus5 Eur Spec also among other among other models, you can contact them.

Sony Xperia XZ1, Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact

Posted by – September 3, 2017

Sony has launched the same functionality as in the 5.5 Sony Xperia XZ Premium (which I filmed here) but in a more compact 5.2″ form factor in the Sony Xperia XZ1 and in a 4.6″ form factor in the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact. One new feature is the 3D Creator which uses Sony’s stacked image sensor to create a 3D scan of any object or person in front of the camera. The Sony Xperia XZ1 has a 19 MP Motion Eye camera with Super slow motion, 5.2” Full-HD HDR display, IP65/68 water resistant2 design and runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform.

$20/month Laptop Subscription service by INSYS


INSYS is a Portuguese company that offers electronics as a monthly service. You can rent a small ulraportable laptop for 20 Euros a month. This 12.5″ display laptop has aluminum body and Ultrabook form factor. The devices can be locked remotely using anti theft technology. The device will lock down if subscription is not paid.

Nomad Anti-Smudge/Reflective Coating

Posted by – August 8, 2017

Nomad is anti-smudge/reflective coating for smartphones that applied using a coating and layering.  The coating reduces reflections by 85% and increases outdoor visibility. Filmed at the I-Zone startups and New Tech Demos area at the SID Display Week.

LG Display shows 8K 31.5″, Wallpaper OLED, pOLED, Transparent OLED, 4K bezel-less and more


LG shows their ultra-thin 77” OLED wallpaper display, the thinnest in the world, displays with speakers built-in, and other leading display technology such as the LG Mobile and VR displays such as a bezel-less 5.5″ 4K smartphone display, Plastic Flexible or Conformed OLED displays for upcoming Flexible Smartphones, 31.5″ 4K HDR narrow bezel PC Monitor, 10bit Curved 37.5″ WQHD+ display, 14″ 4K for the laptop market, 31.5″ 8K Display, in-touch systems on 14″, 15″, 23.8″ laptop displays for the 2-in-1 market. LG also shows some automotive displays such as a conformed 12.3″ plastic OLED display, 12.3″ 60% Transparent OLED for the automobile HUD market, LCD and OLED display as a hybrid 12.3 MLD where LCD can be the background and the OLED can show the needle. A 6.13″ mirror display. They also show a 55″ FHD 40% Transparent OLED Display. Filmed at SID Display Week.

HDMI Alt Mode for USB Type-C

Posted by – June 29, 2017

The HDMI Alt Mode for USB Type-C connector will allow HDMI-enabled source devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and camcorders to utilize a USB Type-C connector to directly connect to the Billions of HDMI-enabled displays (which is included with 100% of flat panel TVs), and deliver native HDMI signals over a simple cable without the need for protocol and connector adapters or dongles. HDMI Alt Mode will support the full range of HDMI 1.4b features such as 4K, surround, ARC, 3D, HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC), Consumer Electronic Control (CEC), Deep Color, x.v.Color and content types, HDCP 2.2. HDMI Alt Mode follows all necessary Alt Mode USB Type-C specification requirements which auto-detects HDMI Alt Mode source devices and HDMI-enabled displays, requires no adapters to connect from an HDMI source to an HDMI display, source output is AC coupled for HDMI Clock and Data lanes and other.

AUO shows Foldable AMOLED, Conformable Plastic LCD, Bezel-less displays and 240Hz Monitor


AU Optronics R&D Manager JJ Lih presents some of AUO’s latest displays such as their 5″ 1280×720 Foldable Touch AMOLED, 1.4″ and 1.2″ High Resolution True Circular small bezel AMOLED 454×454 for the Smartwatch industry, 5.5″ FHD Super Narrow Border 0.4mm LTPS LCD, 3.5″ 480×320 Plastic Flexible Conformable LCD to be available on the market within one year. 12.3″ FHD AMOLED for in-car Cluster, 12.3″ Free-form LTPS LCD for in-car Cluster. 9″ 1280×800 Curved LCD. 8.9″ Free-form LCD for Rear-view Mirror. 15.6″ QHD 120Hz LTPS LCD for Gaming. 13.3″ 4K Ultra-low Power LTPS LCD using lower 15hz frequency. 13.3″ 4K Ultra Narrow Border 1.5mm LTPS LCD. 15.6″ 4K Ultra Narrow Border 2mm LTPS LCD. AUO also shows their 240Hz World’s Highest Refresh Rate Gaming PC Monitor.

Fairphone2 with Ubuntu Touch ported by UBPorts

Posted by – May 8, 2017

UBports has ported Ubuntu Touch to the Fairphone 2 smartphone. The Fairphone 2 is designed to be ethical, repairable, upgradeable, and controlled by the user. The Fairphone 2 has a Snapdragon 801 processor, 2mp front camera, 8mp back camera, 5″ 1080p display, 32GB of storage, 2gb of ram, MicroSD and Micro-USB.

Sentio Superbook Lapdock using DisplayLink

Posted by – May 8, 2017

Sentio is the new company name making Andromium OS “Android Continuum” and their SuperBook Lapdock project that has collected $2.9 Million on Kickstarter. This DisplayLink Powered Lapdock is a laptop dock that can connect to any Android phone that has USB OTG, it can connect over USB Type C or Micro USB and offers a desktop experience with trackpad and Keyboard. The lapdock relies on Andromium OS to provide this desktop experience. It is not confirmed yet (as far as I know) how many apps will be supported to run as multi-window, they are not changing the Android firmware, they run Andromium OS as just an app. The display is 11.6″ (HD or FullHD) and offers 8 hours of battery life. The Price is to be $100 dollars and up after they start shipping to their backers on Kickstarter.

$90 Bezel-less 5.5″ Sharp LCD, UMIDIGI Crystal

Posted by – April 20, 2017

UMIDIGI shows the cheapest bezel-less phone I have yet found, selling at only $90 in bulk to distributors who order at least 1000 units (if you are a distributor, you can contact them at the contact infos below to enquire about price based on your order quantity). UMIDIGI positionned the phone call speaker hole at the top of the phone (I am not sure if sound quality would be best, I was not able to test it) and the microphone is below the phone on the side. Only shipping HD 720p display for now, but they also plan to have a 6″ version to be called the UMIDIGI Crystal Pro coming as soon as Sharp is providing them with the 6″ display (that one would probably be 1080p).

Distributors can contact UMIDIGI here:
SHenzhen UMIDIGI Technology Co Ltd
Hugo Cui, Business Development Manager
hugo@91umi.com
Mobile: +8613751152650
Skype: hugo-cui

$135 Bezel-less 5.5″ AMOLED, IDWell D10 and D10 Pro

Posted by – April 20, 2017

IDWELL is showing their D10 and D10 Pro bezel-less Smartphone running on a MT6750 to MT6757 (higher clock frequency version) Octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 with a 5.5″ 720p or 1080p AMOLED display (price difference is $18, 1080p is the Pro), with 3GB RAM, 32GB Flash, with a 4GB RAM and 64GB Flash option also. 5 or 8 megapixel front camera, dual 13 or 16 megapixel back camera, 3000mAh battery, 7.4mm thickness, 4G LTE support. IDWell suggests holding the phone in the opposite way, I suggest that would only be for when doing selfies or when doing phone calls as they positioned the phone call speakers, selfie cameras and back cameras at the bottom of the phone, but the UI I think should be set to flip so the phone can mostly be used in the other way with the bezel lessness at the top for anything else done on the phone.

The price starts at $135 for bulk orders of at least 3000 units, distributors can contact IDWell here:

Shenzhen IDWELL Technology Co Ltd
Sergey Sukhonenko, Regional Sales Manager
sales03@joyhong.com
Mobile: +8615626506107
http://idwell.com

$170 Doogee Mix 5.5″ Bezel-less AMOLED, MT6757 Octa-core, Android 7

Posted by – April 19, 2017

Doogee presents their 5.5″ Mix phone, with nearly no bezels on three sides, although they squeezed in the phone call speakers at the very top small bezel of the phone for better audio quality compared with Xiaomi Mix 1’s speaker design, they also have the proximity sensor towards the bottom of the phone, where they also have the selfie camera. On the back are dual-cameras, a very thin design with 3580mAh batter, with MediaTek MT6757 with LTE dual SIM card or 1 SIM Card and one MicroSD card slot, 16 megapixel back camera, 5 megapixel selfie camera. They have a front fingerprint and run Android 7.0. To be released by June 1st 2017. The factory price for 1000+ orders will be about $170 for the 4GB RAM and 64GB Flash version, and about $180 for 6GB RAM and 64GB Flash. Thus the retail price for 4GB/64GB could be about $249.

Distributors can contact Doogee here:
Ruby Fatimah
Sales Manager
fatima@doogee.cc
Skype: rubykok-0425
Mobile: +86 13530535990 (whatsapp)
http://doogee.cc

Speeding up Android boot with Bernhard Rosenkränzer, Linaro Mobile Group

Posted by – April 11, 2017

Bernhard Rosenkränzer, also known as Bero, on the Linaro Mobile Group, talks about some of the latest things Linaro is doing on Mobile, since many of the optimizations that he has been showing over the past years have been integrated by Google into Android, here talking about some of the latest things Linaro is doing to speed up the boot time of Android devices, speeding up all aspects of Android and mobile.