smartphone News - Page 18 of 73 - CNX Software

January 4, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Necunos NC_1 is a Pricey Open Source Linux “Phone” without Modem

Several weeks ago, I wrote about the upcoming “Necuno Mobile” phone made by a company called Necunos and running Linux on NXP i.MX6 Quad processor. The phone was supposed to be 100% open source hardware which all software and hardware resources to be made available publicly. There has been progress since then, as well as a name change since Necunos NC_1 is now up for pre-order for 1,199 Euros including VAT and international shipping with delivery promised in March 2019. Necunos NC_1 specifications are said to include: SoC – NXP i.MX 6Quad quad-core Arm Cortex-A9 processor with Vivante GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 8 GB storage Display – 5″ touchscreen (attached or detached) Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, built-in microphone, and speaker Connectivity – 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n WiFi Misc – Power, volume, and user programmable buttons USB – 1x micro USB port Battery – 3,500 mAh […]

December 24, 2018December 24, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

$100 Laptop Shell to Support Smartphones, USB Type-C PC Sticks, and SBCs (Crowdfunding)

Launched in 2011, Motorola Lapdock turned the company’s Atrix 4G smartphone into an Android laptop, but it did not end up being a commercial success so the company stopped manufacturing the laptop shell a few years ago. It is still used by hobbyist for example to create their own DIY Raspberry Pi laptop, and in recent years, with phoned getting much more powerful and desktop support for Android improving, lookalikes have been launched such as NextDock or Mirabook. A new option will soon be available, as Charbax known for his armdevices.net website and YouTube channel has just launched an Indiegogo campaign for a $100 Lapdock. Two models will be available with Lapdock 11.6″, and Lapdock 14.1″ referring to their size, but sadly no other specifications were provided for the display. We still know they’ll work with Samsung Dex / Linux on Dex modes, Huawei PC mode, and basically any device […]

December 19, 2018December 19, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Lenovo Z5 Pro GT Snapdragon 855 Phone Features 12GB RAM

According to Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 specifications, the processor can support up to 16GB LPDDR4x memory, so we should be expecting phones with insane of RAM. The first device to features Snapdragon 855 SoC, and take advantage of the additional memory addressing is Lenovo Z5 Pro GT smartphone that comes with up to 12GB RAM. The rest of Lenovo Z5 Pro GT specifications are pretty good too: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 octa-core processor with 1x Kryo Gold Prime core @ up to 2.842 GHz,3x Kryo Gold cores @ up to 2.419 GHz,4x Kryo Silver low-power cores @ up to 1.786 GHz and Adreno 640 GPU System Memory / Storage options – 6GB/128GB, 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB, or 12GB/512GB Display – 6.39″ Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 1080 x 2340 resolution Cellular Connectivity Dual Nano SIM card slot, dual stand-by 5G/4G/3G for the Chinese market (TBC, no detailed info so far) Other Wireless Connectivity […]

December 17, 2018December 21, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

HOMTOM C1 Android Go Smartphone Sells for $65

Android Go is a lightweight version of Android operating system launched by Google targeting low end smartphones with the OS & apps optimized for low memory and storage. Smartphones with the latest Android 9 Go Edition were expected around Q4 2018 with further storage optimization, better security, and faster boot time. It’s unclear whether the just launched HOMTOM C1 Android Go edition features the Android 9 version, as all screenshots appear to show Android 8 Go Edition. But eventually it might get a firmware update, and it’s now sold for around $65 shipped on Aliexpress. HOMTOM C1 specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT6580A quad core Cortex A7 processor @ up to 1.3 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot up to 128GB Display – 5.5″ touchscreen display with 1280×640 resolution Cellular Connectivity Dual SIM dual standby SIM card socket for […]

December 14, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

MediaTek Helio P90’s APU 2.0 Quadruples AI Performance

Mediatek has launched another of their Helio P-series processor. We’ve gotten used to getting incremental improvements when it comes with CPU and GPU performance, but now companies are able to deliver massive improvement for neural network accelerators, and MediaTek Helio P90 can deliver four times (4.6x) the A.I. performance over Helio P60/P70 thanks to its APU 2.0. MediaTek Helio P90 key features & specifications: CPU – 2x Arm Cortex-A75 processors @ 2.2GHz and 6x Arm Cortex-A55 processors @ 2.0GHz using DynamIQ technology GPU – Imagination PowerVR GM 9446 GPU @ 970 MHz NPU – MediaTek APU 2.0 fusion AI architecture with 1127 GMACs (2.25TOPs) MediaTek CorePilot for sustainable peak performance, longer battery life and lower operating temperature System Memory – Up to 8GB of LPDDR4x memory @ 1866MHz Storage – UFS 2.1 Display – Full HD+ (2520×1080) resolution, 21:9 aspect ratio Camera Up to 48MP single camera or 24+16MP dual […]

December 10, 2018December 9, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

How to Upgrade Xiaomi Mi A2 to Android 9 Pie

I read Xiaomi Mi A2 got an official upgrade to Android 9 Pie in India around mid November. This got me interested in reviewing Xiaomi Mi A2 with the latest Android operating system, and GearBest sent me a sample for this purpose. However in the first part of Xiaomi Mi A2 review, I only got a security update to November 5 2018 security patch level, but the operating system remained Android 8.1. I was a disappointed, but I did not look into it so far since I was busy with other tasks, but this morning I finally got the update! Hooray! If like me, you are based in Thailand or another country stuck to Android 8.1, and would like to upgrade Xiaomi Mi A2 to Android 9, you can follow those simple steps which I have tested personally: Book a flight ticket to Hong Kong Board the actual flight and […]

December 5, 2018December 5, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 is the First 5G Mobile Processor

Most (all?) CNX Software readers already know 5G cellular technology is coming soon, and companies have already announced 5G modems such as Samsung Exynos 5100, MediaTek M70 or Snapdragon X50, some 5G picocells, but AFAIK, so far nobody had officially unveiled 5G mobile processor. Qualcomm has finally announced their Snapdragon 855 5G mobile processor platform codenamed SDM8150, also delivering 3 times improvement for artificial intelligence workloads thanks to its 4th generation AI engine. As usual, Qualcomm has not provided the full details about the processor during the first announcement, but they just listed some highlights: 4G and 5G connectivity with sub-6 GHz and mmWave support 4th Gen AI engine with 3x performance improvement Improved photography and video via Computer Vision ISP, true 4K HDR video capture Ultrasonic fingerprint support Process – 7nm That’s it, so we have to rely on leaks and benchmarks found around the web to get some […]

December 3, 2018April 13, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Xiaomi Mi A2 Review – Part 1: Unboxing, Firmware Update, Antutu

I’ve been using Xiaomi Mi A1 smartphone for well over a year, and during my initial review I was quite satisfied with the phone, and over time I was also pleased to receive regular firmware updates (monthly), and even an update to Android 8.0 and 8.1. Eventually, I found out the camera would be work that well in all situation as you can see from photos in that post, and a few months ago, I broken the display during a cycling trip, and eventually the phone basically died after one year due to an issue with the eMMC flash that become unbearably slow. I intend to use it at least for 18 months, since we can expect firmware update during that time frame. But it was not meant to be, and I was due for a new phone. Xiaomi Mi A2 / A2 Lite smartphones were launched in August, and […]