Weekly Wrap-Up #27 : Xiaomi Mi 6, Galaxy S8, Micromax Dual 5, Moto G5, Gionee A1 & More…..

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Happy Monday everybody! If you have missed the tech happenings for the last one week, here is out latest weekly wrap-up that gives you a glimpse of the major news and the new launches. Also, check out the list of upcoming smartphones to know about the new smartphone launches that are scheduled for the next few weeks.

• After launching the Gionee A1 and A1 Plus at the MWC 2017 event held in February, the company launched the Gionee A1 smartphone in India on March 21st. The device is priced at Rs. 19,999, and it is now available for pre-booking. This is the company’s first smartphone to run on the latest Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. It sports a 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) display and is powered by MediaTek Helio P10 octa-core processor. There is also 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage on the Gionee A1. Much like other Chinese smartphones, the company is also targeting the selfie lovers with the 16MP front facing camera. On the rear is a 13MP Sony IMX258 sensor with dual tone LED flash.

• Google unveiled the new Pixel lineup of smartphones in 2016 by launching the Google Pixel and Pixel XL. Unlike the Nexus series, the Pixel smartphones lack the logo of the manufacturer since the everything except manufacturing is taken care by Google. The first-gen Pixel smartphones are manufactured by the Taiwanese company, HTC. Now, the second-gen Pixel smartphones will also be manufactured by HTC. Now, the information suggests HTC to complete its contract to manufacturer Pixel smartphones, and other OEM’s are already in talks with the Google to manufacturer the Pixel 3 devices that will be launched in 2018. Along with HTC and LG, the China-based OEM likes TCL and Coolpad are reportedly trying to get the contract. Among all these brands, LG might be the likely choice to manufacturer next year’s Pixel smartphones. Earlier both Google and LG partnered to launch few Nexus smartphones.

• Andy Rubin, the co-founder of Android now has a new smartphone company called Essential. He recently tweeted the teaser image of his first smartphone. From the image, we can see the display of the device comes with almost no bezels on the side and top edges, just like the Xiaomi Mi MIX. Even the battery and time icons on the top right corner od the device look similar to that of Android OS. There is no confirmation about the OS of this particular smartphone. Later, Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Alphabet, confirmed the device to run on Android by tweeting “Phenomenal new choices for Android users coming very soon. An example!” Apart from the above image, there is no other information available about the Essential’s first smartphone.

• An employee of OPPO from China was reported to tear and thrown the Indian national flag in the dust bin in the premises of the OPPO’s office in Noida. Just after the incident, a massive protest was seen outside of the office. The Police are investigating the case filed by the employees. Just after this incident, the spokesperson from Chinese government said Talking to reporters in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang said the Chinese government expects the rights of the Chinese companies, as well as the employees, would be protected in India. While that particular office is shut down after the incident, as said earlier, it reopened today. Recently, the company also launched the OPPO F3 Plus smartphone in India with dual selfie cameras.

• After launching the Moto G5 Plus last month in India, the company is now getting ready to unveil the affordable Moto G5 smartphone. Though the Moto G5 shares the same design as its elder sibling, the internals of the device are completely changed. The device will be official launching tomorrow and will be exclusively sold through Amazon India. It sports 5-inch Full HD display and packs Snapdragon 430 octa-core processor. The company might launch the device in 2GB and 3GB RAM variants. It comes with a 13MP rear camera which is better than the 12MP sensor on the Mot G5 Plus, at least on paper. For selfies, there is a 5MP front camera. It runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box and is backed by a 2,800mAh battery. While the Moto G4 lacked the fingerprint sensor, this year, Lenovo included it on both the Moto G5 and G5 Plus smartphones.

• Xiaomi will be launching the new flagship smartphone Mi 6 and Mi 6 Plus in the next couple of weeks. The device comes with glass back body, and there will also be a special edition device with the ceramic body. Though the initial leaks suggested the devices to come with Snapdragon 821 SoC, we will most probably see the Snapdragon 835 SoC powering these devices. The high-end variant will come with Quad HD displays while the basic variant will stick to the Full HD display. It also comes with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4.0 fast charging technology. The Mi 6 Plus is said to come with a 4,000mAh battery. The devices will be running on the Android 7.0 Nougat with the customized MIUI 8 on top. The base variant of the Mi 6 with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage is said to cost 1999 Yuan, and there will also be a 4GB + 64GB and 6GB + 128GB variants.

• Micromax recently launched its high-end smartphone called Dual 5. As the name suggests, the device comes with the dual camera setup on the rear. It is priced at Rs. 24,999 and comes with unibody metal design. The Dual 5 sports a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display with Full HD resolution and is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. Under the hood is the Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor coupled with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. In the camera department, there is a 13MP RGB sensor and a 13MP Monochrome sensor on the rear. There is another 13MP sensor on the front for selfies. While the company said to work on this smartphone for quite a few months, it is actually a rebranded 360 Q5 smartphone that is retailing at a much cheaper price in China.

• The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are officially launched at the Galaxy Unpacked event held in New York. Both the devices come with massive displays that fit into the bodies that almost measures same as their predecessors. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ come with a 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch Infinite display with Quad HD+ resolution. The company continues to use the glass back body and comes with Gorilla Glass 5 protection on front and back of the device. They come powered by the Snapdragon 835 SoC or the Exynos 8895 SoC based on the markets. There is 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage that can be expanded up to 256GB. The devices are IP68 certified, and they are both water and dust resistant. It comes with a new virtual assistant from Samsung called as Bixby. The fingerprint sensor in now shifted to the rear. Both the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are world first devices to come with Bluetooth 5.0 technology.

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