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mardi 1 décembre 2020

Here are the winners of Google’s Best of Play awards for 2020

Google may not be doing a YouTube Rewind, which is understandable considering the year that we just had. But that doesn’t mean Google is completely forgoing its end-of-year customs, with the company announcing the winners of its Google Play Best of Awards.

The awards celebrate the year’s most loved and trending apps, games, movies, and books. Categories including everything from best game to best everyday essentials apps featured stiff competition. There’s a lot to celebrate — and, as you might have guessed, streaming was a big winner, as were fitness and mindfulness apps.

Below are all the categories and the winners. If you’re curious, you can see the winners from last year right here. Which apps were your favorites in 2020?

Google Play Best of Awards

Users’ Choice 2020 (US) 

The post Here are the winners of Google’s Best of Play awards for 2020 appeared first on xda-developers.



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Mobvoi launches an LTE version of its TicWatch Pro 3 in Europe

Just a few months ago, Mobvoi launched the TicWatch Pro 3 GPS, an excellent smartwatch that felt like the perfect ambassador for Google’s Wear OS. About the only thing lacking in Mobvoi’s device was support for LTE connectivity, but that’s being addressed with the launch of the TicWatch Pro 3 with LTE.

Before we go any further: Yes, the TicWatch Pro 3 with LTE features the same design and specs as the TicWatch Pro 3 GPS. The only difference, of course, is the addition of LTE band support, which will allow users to easily connect to the Internet when on the go. That seems like a minuscule addition, but it could let you ditch your smartphone when going on an outdoor adventure.

Without LTE, if you leave your phone behind, your smartwatch is simply a traditional timepiece. Add LTE to the equation, and you can leave your phone behind and still take phone calls, navigate, and more. It’s a freeing experience when your smartwatch no longer has to rely on your phone. Importantly, you can send out SOS alerts with just your watch — no phone needed.

TicWatch Pro 3 LTE: Specifications

Specifications TicWatch Pro 3 LTE
Dimensions & Weight
  • 47 x 48 x 12.2 mm
  • Stainless Steel + Plastic: 42g
Display
  • 1.4″ AMOLED (400 x 400 px) + FSTN LCD
  • Gorilla Glass 3
Watchband size 22mm, silicone
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100
Memory 1GB RAM, 8GB storage
Connectivity & Extras
  • Bluetooth v4.2, BLE
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Speaker
  • Microphone
  • Rotor motor for vibration
GPS
  • GPS
  • GLONASS
  • Beidou
  • Galileo
  • QZSS
Sensors
  • PPG heart rate sensor:
    • Blood O2 saturation
    • Stress Detection
    • Night infrared Static Heart Rate sensor with non-visible light
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Barometer
  • Low latency off-body sensor
NFC Payments Yes, Google Pay
Battery 577mAh
Durability IP68
OS Wear OS
Colors Shadow Black

The TicWatch Pro 3 promises up to 72 hours of battery life with Smart Mode turned on. In Essential Mode, users can eke out up to 45 days of use from the wearable’s 577 mAh battery. That’s a big stat for such a tiny device, and in our review, we came away mighty impressed by the TicWatch Pro 3’s battery life. We expect similar performance from the TicWatch 3 Pro with LTE.

The smartwatch also offers health and fitness tracking, features that will be enhanced by the addition of LTE. You can monitor your heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, and precisely track your runs with GPS. The smartwatch is also rated IP68, so you don’t have to worry about a splash in the rain.

The TicWatch Pro 3 with LTE features a stainless steel and plastic design and comes in Shadow Black. Cellular connectivity is limited to Vodafone customers in the UK, Spain, and Germany at launch, and you can pick it up starting today through Mobvoi’s website, Amazon, and some Vodafone websites for £329.99 / €359.99. If you’re eligible for Vodafone OneNumber, you can share the same phone and data plan between your smartwatch and phone.

The post Mobvoi launches an LTE version of its TicWatch Pro 3 in Europe appeared first on xda-developers.



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Xiaomi to bring its new Redmi Note 9 series to India as the Redmi 9 Power and Mi 10i

Xiaomi launches a lot of phones every year, which is par for the course for a big OEM that operates in multiple markets. Just last week, Xiaomi launched the new Redmi Note 9 4G (device codename: lime), Redmi Note 9 5G (cannon), and Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G (gauguinpro) in China, bringing along a bunch of upgrades across the board for one of its most popular product brandings. Now, we have evidence that suggests Xiaomi is looking to bring two of these three phones to India, but curiously under different branding, namely as the Redmi 9 Power and the Xiaomi Mi 10i.

Redmi 9 Power (limein)

Shortly after the launch of the Redmi Note 9 4G in China, Xiaomi released the firmware for the device for the region. But alongside the release of V12.0.5.0.QJQCNXM (Chinese ROM) for lime, Xiaomi also published 12.0.1.0.QJQINXM (limein), which is the Indian ROM for the device. This is evidence that the company plans to launch the device in India.

But this also poses a curious problem — there is already a Redmi Note 9 (with 4G connectivity)(device codename: merlin) in India. Digging into the published firmware, we can spot that the build.prop file for limein mentions the marketing name of the upcoming device as the Redmi 9 Power.

build_lime.prop:ro.product.vendor.marketname=Redmi 9 Power

Xiaomi India has not announced anything on this phone yet, but we can expect them to be making an announcement soon.

Xiaomi Mi 10i (gauguininpro)

The gauguin and gauguinpro lineup from Xiaomi was actually spotted back in July 2020, and we mentioned that the device would be coming to India at that stage itself. Now, new evidence corroborates our findings from months ago.

A device popped up on the Google Play Console with the marketing name “Mi 10i”, and the codename “gauguininpro“. The codename may appear weird, but that is how regional variants are often codenamed by the company — the in in the middle denotes that the phone is coming to India.

Gauguin recently launched as the Mi 10T Lite in Europe, while Gauguinpro launched as the Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G in China. While we do not have information of gauguin coming to India just yet, the Play Console Listing for gauguinpro makes it abundantly clear that the device is coming to India under the name of Mi 10i. The rebranding is somewhat necessary, again, because India already has a Redmi Note 9 Pro (4G). Xiaomi India has not revealed anything yet, but we reckon it is just a matter of time at this stage.

Xiaomi and its love for 9

Rebranding products differently in different regions is not new — not for Xiaomi, and not for a lot of other OEMs. It is a very common practice in the industry wherein you release the same product, or a similar product with very small changes, under different names in different regions. The branding changes according to the goodwill in the region. And Xiaomi’s Redmi and Redmi Note lineups have garnered a strong reputation for themselves over the years across the world.

But with Xiaomi, Redmi, Redmi Note and the number “9”, we are at a point where it has become very difficult to track products, especially if you track them across different regions as we do. Mishaal put together a list to better illustrate this point.

So if at any point you feel very confused about how Xiaomi names its products, count us with you.

The post Xiaomi to bring its new Redmi Note 9 series to India as the Redmi 9 Power and Mi 10i appeared first on xda-developers.



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Amazfit unveils GTS 2 mini and POP Pro smartwatches in China

After launching the Amazfit GTS 2 and GTR 2 earlier this year in October, Amazfit has now unveiled two budget-friendly smartwatches in China. As its name suggests, the new Amazfit GTS 2 mini is an affordable version of the GTS 2, which features the same square dial as the premium smartwatch but with a smaller 1.55-inch display. On the other hand, the new Amazfit POP Pro is the GPS version of the Amazfit POP from earlier this year.

As per the announcement post on Weibo (via fonearena), the Amazfit GTS 2 features a 1.55-inch (354 x 306 pixels) AMOLED display with a pixel density of 301ppi. The smartwatch features support for over 70 sports modes and activities, continuous heart rate monitoring, and in-depth sleep monitoring. In terms of sensors, it features Huami’s BioTracker 2 PPG sensor with blood oxygen level detection, an accelerometer, a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an ambient light sensor.

Amazfit GTS 2 mini

Amazfit GTS 2 mini

Furthermore, the Amazfit GTS 2 mini offers water-resistance up to 5ATM, it features Bluetooth 5.0 BLE for connectivity, GPS and GLONASS for location tracking, and NFC for payments. Much like the Amazfit GTS 2, the watch also comes with a built-in microphone to help users interact with the voice assistant but instead of Amazon’s Alexa, it features support for the Xiao AI voice assistant. Finally, the watch packs a 220mAh battery that can deliver up to 14 days of battery life on a single charge.

The Amazfit POP Pro, as mentioned earlier, is just a GPS version of the Amazfit POP that was launched earlier this year. It features a 1.43-inch TFT touch display with a resolution of 320 x 302 pixels, an optical heart rate sensor for continuous heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen (SpO2) sensor, and a 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope for activity tracking. The watch supports over 60 sports modes and it’s based on the PAI health assessment system.

Amazfit POP Pro

Amazfit POP Pro

Along with the fitness tracking features, the Amazfit POP Pro offers notification support, remote camera controls, weather, and music controls. The watch is also water-resistant up to 5ATM and it includes Bluetooth 5.0 BLE for connectivity. It packs a 225mAh battery which can last up to 9 days on a single charge.

Pricing & Availability

The Amazfit GTS 2 mini is priced at CNY 699 (~$106), and it’s already up for sale in China. The watch comes in three color variants — Deep Pine Green, Rose Pink, and Obsidian Black. The Amazfit POP Pro is priced at CNY 399 (~$61), and it will go on sale in China from December 10th. The watch will also be available in three color variants — Black, Green, and Pink. As of now, Amazfit has released no information about international availability but fonearena claims that the Amazfit POP Pro will soon be launched in the Indian market as the Amazfit BIP U Pro.

The post Amazfit unveils GTS 2 mini and POP Pro smartwatches in China appeared first on xda-developers.



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lundi 30 novembre 2020

Xiaomi to bring its new Redmi Note 9 series to India as the Redmi 9 Power and Mi 10i

Xiaomi launches a lot of phones every year, which is par for the course for a big OEM that operates in multiple markets. Just last week, Xiaomi launched the new Redmi Note 9 4G (device codename: lime), Redmi Note 9 5G (cannon), and Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G (gauguinpro) in China, bringing along a bunch of upgrades across the board for one of its most popular product brandings. Now, we have evidence that suggests Xiaomi is looking to bring two of these three phones to India, but curiously under different branding, namely as the Redmi 9 Power and the Xiaomi Mi 10i.

Redmi 9 Power (limein)

Shortly after the launch of the Redmi Note 9 4G in China, Xiaomi released the firmware for the device for the region. But alongside the release of V12.0.5.0.QJQCNXM (Chinese ROM) for lime, Xiaomi also published 12.0.1.0.QJQINXM (limein), which is the Indian ROM for the device. This is evidence that the company plans to launch the device in India.

But this also poses a curious problem — there is already a Redmi Note 9 (with 4G connectivity)(device codename: merlin) in India. Digging into the published firmware, we can spot that the build.prop file for limein mentions the marketing name of the upcoming device as the Redmi 9 Power.

build_lime.prop:ro.product.vendor.marketname=Redmi 9 Power

Xiaomi India has not announced anything on this phone yet, but we can expect them to be making an announcement soon.

Xiaomi Mi 10i (gauguininpro)

The gauguin and gauguinpro lineup from Xiaomi was actually spotted back in July 2020, and we mentioned that the device would be coming to India at that stage itself. Now, new evidence corroborates our findings from months ago.

A device popped up on the Google Play Console with the marketing name “Mi 10i”, and the codename “gauguininpro“. The codename may appear weird, but that is how regional variants are often codenamed by the company — the in in the middle denotes that the phone is coming to India.

Gauguin recently launched as the Mi 10T Lite in Europe, while Gauguinpro launched as the Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G in China. While we do not have information of gauguin coming to India just yet, the Play Console Listing for gauguinpro makes it abundantly clear that the device is coming to India under the name of Mi 10i. The rebranding is somewhat necessary, again, because India already has a Redmi Note 9 Pro (4G). Xiaomi India has not revealed anything yet, but we reckon it is just a matter of time at this stage.

Xiaomi and its love for 9

Rebranding products differently in different regions is not new — not for Xiaomi, and not for a lot of other OEMs. It is a very common practice in the industry wherein you release the same product, or a similar product with very small changes, under different names in different regions. The branding changes according to the goodwill in the region. And Xiaomi’s Redmi and Redmi Note lineups have garnered a strong reputation for themselves over the years across the world.

But with Xiaomi, Redmi, Redmi Note and the number “9”, we are at a point where it has become very difficult to track products, especially if you track them across different regions as we do. Mishaal put together a list to better illustrate this point.

So if at any point you feel very confused about how Xiaomi names its products, count us with you.

The post Xiaomi to bring its new Redmi Note 9 series to India as the Redmi 9 Power and Mi 10i appeared first on xda-developers.



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Amazfit unveils GTS 2 mini and POP Pro smartwatches in China

After launching the Amazfit GTS 2 and GTR 2 earlier this year in October, Amazfit has now unveiled two budget-friendly smartwatches in China. As its name suggests, the new Amazfit GTS 2 mini is an affordable version of the GTS 2, which features the same square dial as the premium smartwatch but with a smaller 1.55-inch display. On the other hand, the new Amazfit POP Pro is the GPS version of the Amazfit POP from earlier this year.

As per the announcement post on Weibo (via fonearena), the Amazfit GTS 2 features a 1.55-inch (354 x 306 pixels) AMOLED display with a pixel density of 301ppi. The smartwatch features support for over 70 sports modes and activities, continuous heart rate monitoring, and in-depth sleep monitoring. In terms of sensors, it features Huami’s BioTracker 2 PPG sensor with blood oxygen level detection, an accelerometer, a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an ambient light sensor.

Amazfit GTS 2 mini

Amazfit GTS 2 mini

Furthermore, the Amazfit GTS 2 mini offers water-resistance up to 5ATM, it features Bluetooth 5.0 BLE for connectivity, GPS and GLONASS for location tracking, and NFC for payments. Much like the Amazfit GTS 2, the watch also comes with a built-in microphone to help users interact with the voice assistant but instead of Amazon’s Alexa, it features support for the Xiao AI voice assistant. Finally, the watch packs a 220mAh battery that can deliver up to 14 days of battery life on a single charge.

The Amazfit POP Pro, as mentioned earlier, is just a GPS version of the Amazfit POP that was launched earlier this year. It features a 1.43-inch TFT touch display with a resolution of 320 x 302 pixels, an optical heart rate sensor for continuous heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen (SpO2) sensor, and a 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope for activity tracking. The watch supports over 60 sports modes and it’s based on the PAI health assessment system.

Amazfit POP Pro

Amazfit POP Pro

Along with the fitness tracking features, the Amazfit POP Pro offers notification support, remote camera controls, weather, and music controls. The watch is also water-resistant up to 5ATM and it includes Bluetooth 5.0 BLE for connectivity. It packs a 225mAh battery which can last up to 9 days on a single charge.

Pricing & Availability

The Amazfit GTS 2 mini is priced at CNY 699 (~$106), and it’s already up for sale in China. The watch comes in three color variants — Deep Pine Green, Rose Pink, and Obsidian Black. The Amazfit POP Pro is priced at CNY 399 (~$61), and it will go on sale in China from December 10th. The watch will also be available in three color variants — Black, Green, and Pink. As of now, Amazfit has released no information about international availability but fonearena claims that the Amazfit POP Pro will soon be launched in the Indian market as the Amazfit BIP U Pro.

The post Amazfit unveils GTS 2 mini and POP Pro smartwatches in China appeared first on xda-developers.



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Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G and Z Flip 5G now available in new Red and White colors

Samsung has introduced new colors for its flagship smartphones, the Galaxy Note 20, and the Galaxy Z Flip in the US. Customers can now grab the Galaxy Note 20 in a new ‘Mystic Red’ hue while the Galaxy Z Flip is now available in a new ‘Mystic White’ color. Notably, the new colors are available only on the 5G variants of both the devices. Up until now, the Galaxy Note 20 was available in three colors including Mystic Green, Mystic Copper, and Mystic Gray. The Galaxy Z Flip 5G on the other hand was available in Mystic Copper and Mystic Gray while the 4G version came in Mirror Black, Mirror Purple, and Mirror Gold color options.

Don’t expect anything special apart from the new colors since Samsung has confirmed that they are pretty much the same devices in terms of specs and features. The new color options will also be available at the same price but will be limited in quantities. Notably, the Mystic Red color was announced as an exclusive option alongside Mystic Blue for consumers in South Korea. Samsung had also started offering the regular 4G version of the Galaxy Note 20 in Mystic Blue for consumers in India.

samsung galaxy note 20 5g mystic red and galaxy z flip mystic white

Samsung had launched the Galaxy Note 20 5G alongside the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G back in August 2020. The flagships were launched with the powerful flagship Snapdragon 865 Plus processor, however, the regular Note 20 5G was criticized for having a plastic back panel and other limitations. The smartphone is available with a maximum of 8GB of RAM with up to 256GB of storage. There is a 4,300mAh battery with 25W fast charging and support for USB PD 3.0 as well, giving consumers a wider choice when picking a charger. The smartphone also features wireless charging with support for Qi as well as reverse wireless charging. As for cameras, the Galaxy Note 20 packs a 12MP primary sensor, a 64MP telephoto camera, and a 12MP camera for ultra-wide shots. At the front, the phone includes a 10MP camera for taking selfies. The smartphone is currently selling for $850 on the official Samsung store.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5G was introduced a few months after the launch of the regular 4G variant of the Galaxy Z Flip in February. This was Samsung’s second attempt at making a foldable phone but in a more conventional flip form-factor. It was launched at a time when Motorola had just announced the return of the Moto Razr in a new foldable avatar. The Galaxy Z Flip 5G features a tall 6.7-inch display when unfolded and a tiny notifications screen on the outside. It packs a Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage along with dual 12MP cameras on the outside and a 10MP selfie camera on the inside. The battery is rated at 3,300mAh with support for standard fast 15W fast wired charging and 9W wireless charging. The Galaxy Z Flip 5G can be purchased for $1350 from the Samsung store.

The post Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G and Z Flip 5G now available in new Red and White colors appeared first on xda-developers.



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