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Apple’s new, lower priced iPhone draws tepid response in Asia

HANGZHOU, China/SEOUL (Reuters) – Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) new, lower priced iPhone that comes with a faster processor but lacks 5G technology disappointed Asia, where cheaper and feature-packed handsets from rivals are already available.

The iPhone 11, launched on Tuesday for $50 less than last year’s base XR model, was met with a limp response from social media users in Asian markets that are dominated by Huawei Technologies and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS).

Lowering the entry price point, a rare move from Apple, was likely an effort to attract buyers in China, where Apple has ceded ground to Huawei due to a surge in support from patriotic Chinese consumers after the Chinese brand was caught in the U.S.-China trade standoff, said analysts.

Despite the reduction, the iPhone 11, and even the higher-end models with more camera lenses, are set to come up short in Asia.

“Apple’s new phones were no surprise at all. Only tangible change is having an additional camera on their premium model,” said Park Sung-soon, an analyst at Seoul-based Cape Investment & Securities.

“However, it is noticeable that Apple has made a price cut for the newest iPhone for about $50, which is a very rare move for the company. The move might be aiming to manage and reduce potential risks drawn by the U.S.-China trade war.”
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OnePlus 7T, 7T Pro detailed specs and launch date surface

Last month we saw renders of the OnePlus 7T and 7T Pro from OnLeaks which revealed the design of these smartphones. Now, this leakster has revealed the detailed specs of both smartphones, leaving little to the imagination.

The OnePlus 7T and 7T Pro will have Snapdragon 855+ SoC at the helm paired with 8GB RAM. Both smartphones will boot to OxygenOS based on Android 10 and sport a 16MP selfie shooter. But, they will come with different screens, batteries, and slightly different camera setups.
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Google to pay $1.1 billion in France following tax probe

After a four-year investigation, Google has agreed to pay almost €1 billion ($1.10 billion) to French authorities because it did not fully declare its tax activities in the country, as reported by Reuters. The payment covers a €500 million fine and additional taxes of €465 million.

Google’s tax status in the European Union has always been contentious. It pays very little tax in most European countries despite doing business on the continent, because a loophole allows it to avoid taxes by essentially running a shell company in Ireland. This well-known loophole is called the Double Irish arrangement and has been described as the largest tax avoidance tool in history.
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Huawei Mate 30 Pro photo offers a close look at its waterfall screen, new face recognition hardware

Someone got a Huawei Mate 30 Pro unit early. The white plastic is used to hide the design, but it doesn’t do a very good job – the thing to notice here is the curvature of the screen and the new notch hardware.

The Mate 30 Pro has what the Internet has been calling a “waterfall screen”, the left and right side curve 90°, much more than a typical screen with curved sides. Perhaps, EMUI will use these for gestures or other tricks (remember when the Galaxy Edge emulated a side-mounted shutter button?). Good palm rejection is a must, however.

The notch has been redesigned with second generation Face Recognition hardware. It looks like a triple camera, but it may actually be a Time of Flight (ToF) system with a light emitter and sensor. For comparison, here’s what the Mate 20 Pro 3D scanner looks like – it’s based on a different system called structured light.
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Apple’s iPhone 11 doesn’t have 5G because 5G isn’t ready for the iPhone

As expected, Apple’s 2019 iPhone lineup does not include 5G technology, leaving the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 without the next-generation leap in mobile data speeds we’ve seen on recent smartphones from Samsung, LG, and OnePlus.

But Apple is wise in waiting another year before building 5G into the iPhone, and it’s got nothing to do with safety. 5G networks still feel like they’re very much in a preliminary stage, and only now are carriers starting to build any real momentum by bringing 5G to more cities across the US. But there are other obstacles and snags that led to Apple holding off another year — hopefully just one more — before integrating 5G into the iPhone.
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Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro ‘triggering’ fear of holes

People with a fear of small holes have claimed the design of Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro is triggering their phobia.
At its unveiling on Tuesday, many found their attention drawn to its “ultra-wide” rear camera, with three high-powered lenses packed closely together.
The lenses sit alongside the handset’s torch and “audio zoom” microphone.
And hundreds of smartphone users now claim the new design has triggered their “trypophobia”, an aversion to the sight of clusters of small holes.

The term “trypophobia” was first coined in 2005 in online forum Reddit and it has since become widely talked about on social media.
American Horror Story actress Sarah Paulson and model Kendall Jenner are among those who say they have the condition.
Vision scientist Dr Geoff Cole, at the University of Essex, was part of the first full scientific study of trypophobia, working with his colleague, Prof Arnold Wilkins.
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iPhone 11, Pro and Max hands-on: Apple bets big on the camera

Apple refreshed its line of iPhones for 2019 at an event on Tuesday, announcing the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. The phones start at $699, $999 and $1,099, respectively. These new iPhones pick up a fresh palette of colors, longer battery life and a A13 Bionic processor inside that promises faster performance. But more than any other feature, it’s the camera hardware and software that take the headlining role. There are three cameras on the back of the Pro phones and two on the back of the iPhone 11. See below for our early hands-on impressions.

This new crop of iPhones may wear different colors, but in terms of overall design, they look strikingly like last year’s iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR — notch and all.

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Volkswagen unveils the ID.3, its first ‘electric car for the masses’

Volkswagen has rolled out the final version of its first affordable long-range electric car, the ID.3, at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show. Coming in at “under €30,000” (about $33,180, currently), the ID.3 will come in three variants that offer between roughly 205 and 340 miles of range. The EV is slated to be delivered in mid-2020.

That “under €30,000” price tag VW is promoting applies to the base model of the ID.3, which has a 45kWh battery and offers 330 kilometers, or 205 miles of range. The company declined to provide pricing information for the two larger capacity variants of the car, which will feature 58kWh and 77kWh batteries, and will respectively offer around 420 and 550 kilometers (or 261 and 340 miles) per charge.
“That “under €30,000” price tag VW is promoting applies to the base model of the ID.3”

VW says the base version of the ID.3 will only charge at up to 50kW, and owners who want to charge faster (up to 100kW) will have to pay extra; 100kW charging will come standard on the midrange 58kWh version, while even faster 125kW charging will be available on the top-tier ID.3. The company is also offering an eight year / 160,000 kilometer warranty on the ID.3’s battery pack.

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Redmi Note 8 Pro pops up on AnTuTu rocking MediaTek Helio G90T SoC

Today, Xiaomi’s sub-brand announced the Redmi Note 8 Pro and the non-Pro smartphones revealing all specs. The beefed-up Pro version is particularly interesting as it sports the world’s first 64MP camera and the first smartphone to carry the MediaTek Helio G90T gaming SoC. And the first benchmarks are in.
Redmi Note 8 Pro pops up on AnTuTu rocking MediaTek Helio G90T SoC

The chip is based on the cost-efficient 12nm node and boasts unmatched gaming performance for its class. And we can see why. The handset appeared on AnTuTu with an overall score of 282,443 points. Those are impressive results as the rather chip SoC blows almost all of its direct competitors out of the water. In fact, we found comparable results in our database from last year’s Snapdragon 845 and the Kirin 970.

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Huawei showed the greatest SoC, HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G

As planned, Huawei unveiled the new HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G SoC at a special event held at the IFA exhibition in Berlin these days.

The company revealed two versions, the Kirin 990 5G with built-in 5G modem and the ‘simple’ Kirin 990 with 4G / LTE modem. HiSilicon’s new system-on-chip is manufactured using TSMC’s most advanced 7nm FinFET Plus EUV method (even the Apple A13 is going to be built with the same method) and one of its most important features is the built-in 5G modem.

Huawei’s SoC was lost for the first time in a few hours, after Samsung caught up with Huawei a few days ago to announce the Exynos 980 SoC, the first mobile SoC with a built-in 5G modem.

According to Huawei, the new Kirin 990 SoC incorporates more than 10.3 billion transistors but is 26% smaller in size than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 and 36% smaller than Samsung’s Exynos 9820. Inside, the Kirin 990 SoC features an eight-core processor in total, a pair of Cortex-A76 clocked at 2.86GHz, a pair of Cortex-A76 clocked at 2.36GHz, and a quad-core clock clocked at 1.95GHz Mali-G76 graphics processor, which has 16 cores in this case (6% better graphics performance than the Adreno 640 solution).

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