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lundi 1 juin 2020

TCL’s next entry in the TCL 10 series may be a 5G phone for Europe

TCL recently launched the TCL 10 series of devices in the United States for under $500. The 10 series is TCL’s second attempt at selling self-branded smartphones after the TCL Plex. Available now are the TCL 10L and TCL 10 Pro, both of which we reviewed a few weeks ago, but the company also announced the TCL 10 5G, which is poised to be one of the cheapest 5G smartphones in the U.S. when it launches later this year. Thanks to a new listing on Google’s Android Enterprise Solutions Directory, we’ve learned that there may be another new device in the TCL 10 series, the TCL 10 SE.

Earlier today, the TCL 10 SE made was added to Google’s Android Enterprise Solutions Directory. This is a list of devices that Google maintains that people can use to find out what enterprise features a particular device supports. Not every device added to this list is officially certified as an Android Enterprise Recommended device, though.

In any case, according to the filing, the TCL 10 SE has a 6.5-inch display, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and runs Android 10. It also has a fingerprint scanner and supports NFC connectivity. The filing also includes a (rather low-resolution) image which gives us a glimpse at the design of the smartphone. Based on the render, we can see that the TCL 10 SE will have a pretty thick chin at the bottom and a teardrop-shaped display notch cutout. The device shown in this render doesn’t match the TCL 10L, 10 Pro, or 10 5G, so we’re pretty certain that it’s a new device entirely. The “February 26” and “20:20” time shown on the lock screen widget suggests that TCL may have intended for this device to be shown off at MWC 2020 followed by a launch shortly after, but obviously, things haven’t gone as planned this year.

The reason we think the TCL 10 SE is headed to Europe is because of the phone’s model number, T766H_EEA. The ‘EEA’ at the end of the model stands for European Economic Area and is a common code for phone OEMs to designate devices or software builds made for Europe. As for evidence suggesting this device will support 5G connectivity, in the screenshot uploaded to Google’s Android Enterprise Solutions Directory, we can see a 5G icon in the statusbar. As this is an official render of the device from TCL, we don’t think the placement of a 5G icon is an accident, though anything is a possibility.

The design of the TCL 10 SE does seem to be very budget-oriented, so while we aren’t sure about its pricing or chipset, it could be running something like the rumored 5G Snapdragon 6-series chip (via GSMArena) or the MediaTek Dimensity 800, although no smartphones have launched with the latter chipset outside of China yet.

We reached out to TCL about this listing and a TCL spokesperson gave us the following statement: “We cannot comment on rumored or unannounced products.”

TCL may have quite an interesting device in the works if they manage to keep the price really low. 5G as a technology is here to stay, and any phone helping to democratize the technology is welcome. TCL has done a great job of that with the TCL 10 5G which will be launching for around €400 very soon.

The post TCL’s next entry in the TCL 10 series may be a 5G phone for Europe appeared first on xda-developers.



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TCL’s next entry in the TCL 10 series may be a 5G phone for Europe

TCL recently launched the TCL 10 series of devices in the United States for under $500. The 10 series is TCL’s second attempt at selling self-branded smartphones after the TCL Plex. Available now are the TCL 10L and TCL 10 Pro, both of which we reviewed a few weeks ago, but the company also announced the TCL 10 5G, which is poised to be one of the cheapest 5G smartphones in the U.S. when it launches later this year. Thanks to a new listing on Google’s Android Enterprise Solutions Directory, we’ve learned that there may be another new device in the TCL 10 series, the TCL 10 SE.

Earlier today, the TCL 10 SE made was added to Google’s Android Enterprise Solutions Directory. This is a list of devices that Google maintains that people can use to find out what enterprise features a particular device supports. Not every device added to this list is officially certified as an Android Enterprise Recommended device, though.

In any case, according to the filing, the TCL 10 SE has a 6.5-inch display, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and runs Android 10. It also has a fingerprint scanner and supports NFC connectivity. The filing also includes a (rather low-resolution) image which gives us a glimpse at the design of the smartphone. Based on the render, we can see that the TCL 10 SE will have a pretty thick chin at the bottom and a teardrop-shaped display notch cutout. The device shown in this render doesn’t match the TCL 10L, 10 Pro, or 10 5G, so we’re pretty certain that it’s a new device entirely. The “February 26” and “20:20” time shown on the lock screen widget suggests that TCL may have intended for this device to be shown off at MWC 2020 followed by a launch shortly after, but obviously, things haven’t gone as planned this year.

The reason we think the TCL 10 SE is headed to Europe is because of the phone’s model number, T766H_EEA. The ‘EEA’ at the end of the model stands for European Economic Area and is a common code for phone OEMs to designate devices or software builds made for Europe. As for evidence suggesting this device will support 5G connectivity, in the screenshot uploaded to Google’s Android Enterprise Solutions Directory, we can see a 5G icon in the statusbar. As this is an official render of the device from TCL, we don’t think the placement of a 5G icon is an accident, though anything is a possibility.

The design of the TCL 10 SE does seem to be very budget-oriented, so while we aren’t sure about its pricing or chipset, it could be running something like the rumored 5G Snapdragon 6-series chip (via GSMArena) or the MediaTek Dimensity 800, although no smartphones have launched with the latter chipset outside of China yet.

We reached out to TCL about this listing and a TCL spokesperson gave us the following statement: “We cannot comment on rumored or unannounced products.”

TCL may have quite an interesting device in the works if they manage to keep the price really low. 5G as a technology is here to stay, and any phone helping to democratize the technology is welcome. TCL has done a great job of that with the TCL 10 5G which will be launching for around €400 very soon.

The post TCL’s next entry in the TCL 10 series may be a 5G phone for Europe appeared first on xda-developers.



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Google Chrome for PCs tests less annoying permission prompts

Google has been on a mission as of late to combat annoying notification requests and permission prompts. In Chrome 80, Google made a toggle for enabling “quieter” notification prompts. We saw this go a step further in Chrome 84, where abusive prompts are automatically minimized. Now, Google is testing a feature that makes other requests less annoying as well.

Permission requests for things like location can still be pretty annoying. A lot of sites ask for your permission when it’s not really necessary. A website asking for access to my location when all it needs is my 5-digit ZIP code is a bit excessive. Google is testing a feature that will put these permission requests in a much less prominent location.

The image above shows a before and after of the permission requests. The top screenshot shows the typical pop-up that we’ve all seen hundreds of times while browsing the web with Chrome. The bottom screenshot shows that the same prompt with a new feature flag enabled. The prompt doesn’t pop-up over the web page content, instead, it uses a “chip” in the address bar.

Google is testing the feature, called #permission-chip, and it’s accessible at chrome://flags#permission-chip. The flag description reads “enables an experimental permission prompt that uses a chip in the location bar.” This feature works across Chrome for macOS, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. The flag is present in Chrome version 84.0.4140.1, but the permission chip functionality itself was spotted by our tipster as working with Chrome 85.0.4159.0 in the Canary channel.

It’s sorta funny that Google is doing so much work to minimize how annoying these prompts can be. After all, they made the prompts possible in Chrome to begin with. But a lot of websites use notification and permission prompts correctly, so it’s good to see Google go after those websites that don’t.

Thanks to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username for the screenshots!

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7 Training Deals to Build Your Skills in the Tech Industry

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Used extensively in big data and machine learning, Python is one of the first languages taught in computer science classes. With 12 courses and over 91 hours of content, this bundle helps you master the language — from understanding simple scripts to making powerful apps. Worth $1,794 in total, the bundle is currently just $39.96.

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Prices subject to change 

The post 7 Training Deals to Build Your Skills in the Tech Industry appeared first on xda-developers.



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Google Chrome for PCs tests less annoying permission prompts

Google has been on a mission as of late to combat annoying notification requests and permission prompts. In Chrome 80, Google made a toggle for enabling “quieter” notification prompts. We saw this go a step further in Chrome 84, where abusive prompts are automatically minimized. Now, Google is testing a feature that makes other requests less annoying as well.

Permission requests for things like location can still be pretty annoying. A lot of sites ask for your permission when it’s not really necessary. A website asking for access to my location when all it needs is my 5-digit ZIP code is a bit excessive. Google is testing a feature that will put these permission requests in a much less prominent location.

The image above shows a before and after of the permission requests. The top screenshot shows the typical pop-up that we’ve all seen hundreds of times while browsing the web with Chrome. The bottom screenshot shows that the same prompt with a new feature flag enabled. The prompt doesn’t pop-up over the web page content, instead, it uses a “chip” in the address bar.

Google is testing the feature, called #permission-chip, and it’s accessible at chrome://flags#permission-chip. The flag description reads “enables an experimental permission prompt that uses a chip in the location bar.” This feature works across Chrome for macOS, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. The flag is present in Chrome version 84.0.4140.1, but the permission chip functionality itself was spotted by our tipster as working with Chrome 85.0.4159.0 in the Canary channel.

It’s sorta funny that Google is doing so much work to minimize how annoying these prompts can be. After all, they made the prompts possible in Chrome to begin with. But a lot of websites use notification and permission prompts correctly, so it’s good to see Google go after those websites that don’t.

Thanks to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username for the screenshots!

The post Google Chrome for PCs tests less annoying permission prompts appeared first on xda-developers.



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Vivo X50 series unveiled with a Gimbal Camera System, 120Hz display, and Snapdragon 865

Vivo has been steadily making inroads in a lot of key markets, including India and its home market China. The company has also been adding new products to its growing portfolio, with devices like the Vivo V19 in India and the Vivo iQOO Z1 in China, which is also the first device to run on the new MediaTek Dimensity 1000 Plus SoC. Vivo is intent on marching forward with even more distinct devices. The company had been teasing the launch of the X50 series on Weibo, highlighting the gimbal camera system on the X50 Pro in particular. And now, the X50 series has finally been announced, coming in the form of the Vivo X50, Vivo X50 Pro, and Vivo X50 Pro+, alongside the Vivo TWS Earphone Neo for the Chinese market.

Vivo X50 Series: Specifications

Specifications Vivo X50 Vivo X50 Pro Vivo X50 Pro+
Dimensions and Weight
  • 159.54mm x 75.39mm x 7.49mm
  • 170g
  • 158.46mm x 72.8mm x 8.04mm
  • 181.5g
  • 158.46mm x 72.8mm x 8.04mm
  • 181.5g
Display
  • 6.56″ FHD+ AMOLED
  • 90Hz refresh rate
  • Flat display
  • Single-hole punch
  • HDR 10+
  • 6.56″ FHD+ AMOLED
  • 90Hz refresh rate
  • Curved display
  • Single-hole punch
  • HDR 10+
  • 6.56″ FHD+ AMOLED
  • 120Hz refresh rate
  • Curved display
  • Single-hole punch
  • HDR 10+
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
RAM and Storage
  • 8GB LPDDR4X + 128GB UFS 2.0
  • 8GB + 256GB
  • 8GB LPDDR4X + 128GB UFS 2.1
  • 8GB + 256GB
  • 8GB LPDDR4X + 128GB UFS 2.1
  • 8GB + 256GB
  • 12GB + 256GB
Battery and Charging
  • 4200 mAh battery
  • 33W fast charging
  • 4315 mAh battery
  • 33W fast charging
  • 4315 mAh battery
  • 44W fast charging
Rear Camera
  • Primary: 48MP Sony IMX598 custom sensor, f/1.6, four-axis OIS
  • Secondary: 13MP portrait, f/2.48
  • Tertiary: 8MP ultra-wide-angle, 120° FoV, f/2.2
  • Quarternary: 5MP macro, f/2.48, 1.5cm super macro
  • Primary: 48MP Sony IMX598 custom sensor, f/1.6, gimbal OIS
  • Secondary: 13MP portrait, f/2.46
  • Tertiary: 8MP periscope, f/3.4
  • Quarternary: 8MP ultra-wide-angle, 120° FoV, f/2.2, 2.5cm macro
  • Primary: 50MP Samsung ISOCELL GN1 custom sensor, f/1.6
  • Secondary: 13MP portrait, f/2.46
  • Tertiary: 8MP periscope, f/3.4
  • Quarternary: 8MP ultra-wide-angle, 120° FoV, f/2.2, 2.5cm macro
Front Camera 32MP, f/2.48 32MP, f/2.45 32MP, f/2.45
Other Features
  • NFC
  • WiFi 6
  • Bluetooth 5.1
  • SA & NSA Dual-mode 5G
  • In-Display Fingerprint Scanner
  • NFC
  • WiFi 6
  • Bluetooth 5.1
  • SA & NSA Dual-mode 5G
  • In-Display Fingerprint Scanner
  • AK4377A Hi-Fi Sound chip
  • NFC
  • WiFi 6
  • Bluetooth 5.1
  • SA & NSA Dual-mode 5G
  • In-Display Fingerprint Scanner
  • CS43131 Hi-Fi Sound chip
Android Version Funtouch OS 10.5 on top of Android 10 Funtouch OS 10.5 on top of Android 10 Funtouch OS 10.5 on top of Android 10

The highlight of the Vivo X50 series is the gimbal camera system on the X50 Pro. The main camera on this model utilizes a gimbal camera system that is modeled after a full-sized professional gimbal, which moves the camera module in the direction opposite to that of the shake, increasing the stability of the main camera. As against simpler OIS, a gimbal system widens the rotation angle and anti-shake area.

Vivo is also adding a Gimbal Radar within the camera UI, depicting it as an animated ball that reflects the gimbal’s movement. The idea behind it is to let users know when the frame is stable. There are other neat tricks at play too, like motion-deblur algorithms and continuous focus tracking to enhance the image and video clarity. Camera modes include Super Night Mode and Astro Mode, which enable users to capture photos of city and country scenes at night, respectively.

Vivo X50 Vivo X50 Vivo X50 Pro, Vivo X50 Pro+

Vivo X50

All the phones within the series focus on smartphone photography with a fairly usable and versatile quad-rear camera setup. The X50 Pro and X50 Pro+ come with a periscope lens with support for up to 60x Hyper Zoom. On the X50 Pro+, you get the new 50MP ISOCELL GN1 sensor that has a big 1/1.3″ optical format and 1.2μm pixels — the sensor size is actually bigger than the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s 108MP sensor.

Vivo X50 Pro, Vivo X50 Pro+ Vivo X50 Pro, Vivo X50 Pro+

Vivo X50 Pro

There are a fair few differences across both the phones, so refer the specification sheet for the full rundown. Notably, the X50 is obviously the most basic variant with a flat display, lack of gimbal OIS, and periscope lens. The X50 Pro+ differs from the X50 with an upgraded SoC, upgraded 120Hz display, faster charging, different audio chip, and the new Samsung 50MP sensor. Note that the X50 Pro+ loses out on the gimbal camera setup, as is evident in the product shot below.

Vivo X50 Pro+

Pricing and Availability

The Vivo X50, Vivo X50 Pro, and Vivo X50 Pro+ have launched in China at the following prices:

  • Vivo X50:
    • 8GB + 128GB: CNY 3498 (~$490/₹37,000)
    • 8GB + 256GB: CNY 3898 (~$546/₹41,250)
  • Vivo X50 Pro:
    • 8GB + 128GB: CNY 4298 (~$602/₹45,500)
    • 8GB + 256GB: CNY 4698 (~$658/₹49,750)
  • Vivo X50 Pro+:
    • 8GB + 128GB: CNY 4998 (~$700/₹53,000)
    • 8GB + 256GB: CNY 4298 (~$770/₹58,250)
    • 12GB + 256GB: CNY 5998 (~$840/₹63,500)

The Vivo X50 series is expected to be made available internationally, and will also arrive in key markets like India as has been confirmed by Vivo themselves. Though, we may not see all the variants made available everywhere.

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Samsung’s next Galaxy Watch may keep the physical rotating bezel and monitor ECG and blood pressure

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series has arguably become the best smartwatch platform for Android users. While Wear OS still offers the best experience for Google services, Samsung’s watches, frankly, just work really well. One of the features that originally made the Galaxy Watch stand out was the rotating bezel, and that feature may be coming back along with some other long-awaited goodies.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active, launched in early 2019, was the first watch to ditch the rotating bezel. The rotating bezel was a very clever design element that made interacting with the small screen much easier. Samsung eventually brought back a “virtual” touch bezel on the Watch Active 2, but it’s not the same as a physical feature. According to a new report, the next Galaxy Watch will bring it back.

According to sources at SamMobile, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch will have a physical rotating bezel. This new watch will be a successor to the Galaxy Watch, not the Active series. The Galaxy Watch was a more traditional watch with a chunkier design aesthetic, which the company’s latest watches have been missing.

According to FCC certification, the watch will come in two sizes: 45mm and 41mm. Both WiFi and LTE models have hit the FCC as well, so we know there will be two connectivity offerings. Other details from the listings include a stainless steel case, Gorilla Glass DX display, 5ATM water resistance, MIL-STD-810G durability, and GPS.

Another big feature that could be coming is the ability to monitor ECG and blood pressure. Samsung recently announced a blood pressure monitoring app for the Galaxy Watch Active 2, so it’s no surprise the upcoming Galaxy Watch will have it. ECG monitoring, on the other hand, is something Samsung has been working on for a while. The company was also recently cleared to bring ECG support to the Watch Active 2 in South Korea.

With all of the FCC listings and information making its way to the internet and Samsung themselves mentioning “upcoming Galaxy Watch device(s),” it seems an announcement of the upcoming Galaxy Watch is not far off.


Source 1: Droid-Life | Source 2: SamMobile

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