POCO M3 Pro 5G arrvies in India with a MediaTek Dimesnsity 700 chip

The POCO M3 Pro 5G, which was unveiled in Europe last month, has just landed in India. The POCO M3 Pro 5G is a direct successor to the last year’s POCO M2 Pro and the second installation in the POCO M3 series. This is POCO’s first phone with a MediaTek Dimensity chipset; however, it’s by no means an original device — it’s a rebranded version of the Redmi Note 10 5G. But as always, POCO has given the phone a nice visual refresh to set it apart from the original device.

POCO M3 Pro 5G: Specifications

Specification	POCO M3 Pro 5G
Dimensions and Weight	161.81 x 75.35 x 9.92mm 190g
Display	6.5-inch FHD+ LCD Dot display 2400 x 1080 pixels 1500:1 contrast ratio 500nits peak brightness Up to 90Hz refresh rate DynamicSwitch support (30Hz/50Hz/60Hz/90Hz) Reading mode 3.0
SoC	MediaTek Dimensity 700 2 x Cortex-A76 @ 2.2GHz 6 x Cortex-A55 @ 2GHz 7nm ARM Mali-G57 GPU
RAM and Storage	4GB LPDDR4x + 64GB UFS 2.2 6GB LPDDR4x + 128GB UFS 2.2
Battery & Charging	5,000mAh 18W wired fast charging support
Rear Camera	Primary: 48MP, f/1.79 Secondary: 2MP macro, f/2.4 Tertiary: 2MP depth sensor, f/2.4
Front Camera	8MP f/2.0 selfie camera
Ports	USB Type-C port 3.5mm headphone jack
Connectivity	Dual SIM 5G SA/NSA Wi-Fi (dual-band 2.4GHz/5GHz) Bluetooth 5.1
Security	Side-mounted fingerprint reader
Software	MIUI 12 based on Android 11

The POCO M3 Pro 5G has a couple of incremental upgrades over its predecessors, such as a higher refresh rate display, a slightly faster chipset, and 5G connectivity. It features a 6.5-inch LCD with a 90Hz screen refresh rate, 500nits peak brightness, and 360-degree light sensors. But it looks like the display doesn’t support HDR10 playback as POCO doesn’t mention anything about HDR on the device page.

Under the hood, the POCO M3 Pro 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC, paired with 4GB/6GB RAM and 64GB/128GB UFS 2.2 flash storage. For optics, we’re looking at a triple camera setup comprising a 48MP primary sensor and two 2MP depth and macro shooters. For some reason, POCO has decided to drop the ultra-wide cam which was present on the POCO M2 Pro.

Elsewhere, there’s a 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging support, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, Bluetooth 5.1, a 3.5mm audio jack, and of course 5G connectivity. The phone runs MIUI 12 based on Android 11 out-of-the-box.

POCO M3 Pro XDA Forums

Pricing & Availablity

The POCO M3 Pro 5G starts at ₹13,999 for the base model, while the top model will set you back ₹15,999. The phone goes on sale on June 14 from Flipkart at 12 PM IST. As an early bird offer, users can shave ₹500 off on both models on the first sale.

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Samsung’s next foldable phones could be up to 20% cheaper

Samsung has made tremendous progress in the foldable smartphone space since it launched its first foldable — the Galaxy Fold — back in 2019. The company’s second-gen foldable — the Galaxy Z Fold 2 — offered significant improvements over its predecessor, and it is widely regarded as the best foldable phone in the market today. Samsung is now gearing up to launch its next-gen foldables, and a new report suggests that the upcoming devices will be significantly cheaper than the previous models.

Over the last few months, we’ve seen a couple of leaks showcasing the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3. The leaks have given us a good look at the design of Samsung’s next-gen foldables, but we know little about their specifications so far. While Samsung has remained tight-lipped about the devices, a new Sammobile report suggests that Samsung will unveil the devices next month, and they will be up to 20% cheaper than their predecessors. This means that the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 3 could be up to $400 cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 2, and the Galaxy Z Flip 3 could be up to $300 cheaper than the Galaxy Z Flip 5G. The significant price cut will bring Samsung’s next-gen foldables within reach of more buyers.

The price cut will likely help Samsung’s foldables achieve mainstream status, which should further enable the company to offer more affordable foldable phones in the future. At the moment, we don’t have the exact pricing for the upcoming devices. We’ll update this post as soon as we learn more. Until then, you can check out our previous coverage of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3 to learn more about the next-gen foldables. It’s worth noting that Samsung will likely launch the affordable Galaxy S21 FE alongside the new foldable devices next month. We’ve seen quite a few leaks about the device of late, and you can follow this link to learn more about the upcoming Fan Edition phone.

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iOS 15 Developer Beta 1 Hands-On: SharePlay, Better Notifications, Focus Modes, and more!

Apple has announced iOS 15 at WWDC 2021 alongside iPad OS 15, WatchOS 8, macOS Monterey, and a host of new features and changes to its apps and services. While the final release of iOS 15 will happen later this year with the iPhone 13 announcement, you can now download the iOS 15 Beta to experience it on your iPhone. However, since this is a beta release, we wouldn’t recommend you to install it on your daily driver as you may encounter issues and bugs on a regular basis. Instead, you can go through our detailed hands-on of iOS 15 Beta 1 to know what’s new.

Visual Changes with iOS 15

The first thing that you notice when looking at any UI is the visuals and from iOS 14.6 to iOS 15 Beta 1, it doesn’t seem like a lot has changed. The home screen and lock screen remain largely similar except for the way notifications are displayed.

The Settings app seems slightly redesigned with all the elements just looking a little more compact on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. We don’t know if this is a bug or if it’s just meant to be that way.

Major Changes to FaceTime: Spatial Audio, Facetime Link, and SharePlay

Facetime, Apple’s in-house video calling service has received a major overhaul in terms of features. Not only is it more useful now, but it also emphasizes call quality, and it now lets you invite Android users to join your call, something that wasn’t possible before. FaceTime now competes directly with the likes of Zoom and Google Duo and even one-ups them in a few departments.

• Spatial Audio: It was introduced last year with iOS 14 and allowed users to experience an immersive audio experience. Now, Spatial Audio has made its way to FaceTime as well. When there are multiple people speaking on a FaceTime call, users with the AirPods Pro or AirPods Max will actually be able to hear their voices coming from different areas simulating a meeting with people sitting in different parts of a room.

• FaceTime Link: This is one of the biggest changes to FaceTime and the reason we say this is because FaceTime Link basically lets you add participants on Android and Windows as well onto your FaceTime call. This is a huge deal since your friends and family who are on Android no longer have to be excluded.

• SharePlay: If you ever wanted to watch a movie or a TV show with your friends, SharePlay makes it easier than ever. All you have to do is call your friends on FaceTime and as soon as you head over to a video streaming app like Apple TV+, you will see a prompt that will allow you to share the content over FaceTime. This even applies to sharing your screen for a presentation or for just listening to some music.

Other new features include voice isolation for clearer audio, grid view for a better view of all participants on a call, and portrait mode to blur your background.

iMessage gets New Sharing Options

When you share multiple images with people on iMessage, your contacts will now be able to view them as a stack or a collage which can be easily swiped through to navigate between pictures. There’s a new Shared with you tab across iOS 15 that lets you easily access content shared by someone with you on iMessage. If someone sent you a link to an album, you will now be able to see it under the Shared with you option within the Apple Music app. The same applies to Photos, Safari, Apple TV+, and Podcasts.

Notifications (finally) get a Revamp with iOS 15

If there’s one thing that iOS users have been complaining about for years, it’s the way the iPhone manages notifications. With iOS 15, Apple has tried to make things tidier in your notification drawer by introducing a number of changes. The most notable ones include larger app icons to easily identify the app that sent you a particular notification and also bigger faces of people on your personal notifications. This will help you decide which notifications are important to you and need a quick response and which ones can be dealt with later.

Notification Summary is another new feature that will deliver a collection of notifications chosen by you and the on-device AI based on your usage in a cluster to differentiate it from more important notifications such as messages for the people you know. Notification Summary can be scheduled to be delivered at any time of the day as chosen by the user.

Manage your Work-Life Balance with Focus

While this is an extension of the revamped notification settings, it also involves a little more personalization based on what you choose to focus on – Personal life, Work, Sleep, etc. These are various modes that you can choose from based on which you can alter your home screen settings, enable or disable notifications from select apps and contacts, etc. It essentially allows you to focus on what you want to while cutting out distractions. There are context-based Focus suggestions as well based on your location, time of the day, and the activity you’re performing. You can also set Do Not Disturb modes now with the ability to let a sender on iMessage know that DND is currently activated on your iPhone.

Live Text: Google Lens for iOS

Live Text is a neat little feature that lets you scan text from photos and either search for it in your browser or copy it to the clipboard to be pasted somewhere else. If the text you copied is a phone number, you also get options like dialing it directly from your phone. Not just text, but this feature also lets you identify animals and other elements that are a part of nature. If you’ve ever used Google Lens before, Live Text does exactly that but it is now baked into iOS 15.

Spotlight, Photo Memories, and Safari

Spotlight Search will now let you search for photos, text in photos, and even your handwritten notes which can be really helpful. It will also show you richer results for searches like contacts wherein all the information about the contact along with their live location if shared via Find My will be shown. Rich results will also be shown for searches involving actors, celebrities, TV shows, etc.

As with Photo Memories, it just creates a new album consisting of your recent images and plays a slideshow with music running in the background.

Safari is another app that has received a big overhaul. The address bar has moved to the bottom of the screen for better one-handed use. The tab view has also changed slightly and now has a translucent background. Voice search has also made its way to Safari. Another big addition to Safari is the support for browser extensions, something that even Chrome does not provide as of now on mobile. Swiping across the address bar at the bottom also lets you switch between tabs.

Apple Wallet can now hold your ID Cards

Apple introduced Car Keys to Apple Wallet last year and they’ve taken it a step further this year on iOS 15. While more cars will be getting support for UWB, the highlighting feature is that Apple will now let you add your house keys as well to your Apple Wallet. You can also add your office’s access cards so that you can go completely digital and your iPhone can unlock everything from your house door to your car. Apple is also working with hotels all over the world to allow guests to unlock their rooms with Apple Wallet. One of the biggest changes, though, is that Apple Wallet will even allow you to store your ID cards and Apple is even working with TSA to approve the use of digital IDs at airports.

Weather, Siri, and Privacy Reports on iOS 15

Apple’s default Weather app has been redesigned to show data in a better way. The background is more intuitive and the graphics change more accurately depending on the weather conditions. There are new animated backgrounds as well as full-screen weather maps.

As with Siri, most of the queries now stay on the device which means a lot of the offline recognition and processing have also gotten better. Siri also understands contextual questions better now meaning you can ask consecutive questions without repeating your first question and Siri will still understand what you’re trying to say.

App Privacy Reports is a new feature that shows you how apps on your iPhone track you and the history of data usage by apps. You can also track which apps have requested what permissions in the past few days and how many times an app has requested access to things like the camera, microphone, contacts, etc. This is surely a great feature that should give you an overview of how apps are using the data on your phone.

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These were some of the notable changes and new features that we observed in iOS 15 during our brief time with it. Note that since this is just the first beta, a few features may be missing or a lot of things may be broken and unstable. With time, the OS will get more mature and stable and Apple will add more features by the time iOS 15 is ready for official rollout.

What are your thoughts on the new iOS 15 update for Apple devices? Do you like the changes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Dolphin Emulator updated with massive improvements for macOS and Android

Dolphin is the best emulator around for playing Nintendo GameCube and Wii games, and it’s not just available on desktop PCs. The Android port has been around for years, and over the past two months, the Dolphin Emulator team has been working on a few important changes. Dolphin can now run natively on Apple M1 hardware, and new fixes for emulation on Mali GPUs mean more games than ever work well on Android devices.

Dolphin just added native support for Apple’s M1 chipsets at the end of last month, using the project’s AArch64 JIT (Just-In-Time) emulation core that was developed for Android and Windows on ARM. Dolphin’s ARM support isn’t as complete as emulation on 64-bit x86 hardware, but performance is already excellent in most games. “There’s no denying it,” the Dolphin Emulator team wrote in a blog post, “macOS M1 hardware kicks some serious ass. It absolutely obliterates a two and a half year old Intel MacBook Pro that was over three times its price all while keeping within ARM’s reach of a powerful desktop computer.”

Dolphin performance comparison (Credit: Dolphin)

With powerful ARM-based hardware becoming more common, Dolphin’s developers have been working to fix long-standing bugs and performance issues in the ARM emulation core. Fixes to floating point calculations have fixed crashes and graphical issues in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Sonic Colors, Sonic Unleashed, and other games. Dolphin Emulator has also fixed bugs with shaders on Mali GPUs, which affected many games running on Android phones and tablets.

Dolphin is also fixing issues with controls on Android. Controller configurations are now saved properly, and with changes to transparency on touchscreen buttons, it’s a bit easier to play games without a physical controller. Check out the full blog post for everything else coming to the latest stable Dolphin Emulator release.

Dolphin Emulator (Free, Google Play) →

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Google Assistant prepares to add quick phrases and dynamic shortcuts

Google is rolling out version 12.22.5 of the Google App today, and it confirms development of two new features we’re expecting to land soon in Google Assistant.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

Quick phrases

Back in April, a mysterious “voice shortcuts” page appeared for many users in Google Assistant’s settings. The page linked users to internal Google documentation for a feature code-named “guacamole.” In the latest Google App update, we now know that the “guacamole” feature will be called “quick phrases.”

<string name="assistant_android_settings_quick_phrases_summary">Skip saying “Hey Google” for help with specific tasks</string>
<string name="assistant_android_settings_quick_phrases_title">Quick phrases</string>

As for what you’ll be able to do with the new “quick phrases” feature, you’ll be able to skip saying the “Hey Google” hotword for common voice interactions involving a ringing alarm, incoming call, or ongoing timer. For example, if you enable this feature, you presumably won’t have to shout “Hey Google” just to dismiss your morning alarm.

<string name="assistant_guacamole_pill_popup_description_alarm">Skip “Hey Google” when using quick phrases like “%1$s” or “%2$s” for a ringing alarm.</string>
<string name="assistant_guacamole_pill_popup_description_call">Skip “Hey Google” when using quick phrases like “%1$s” or “%2$s” for incoming calls.</string>
<string name="assistant_guacamole_pill_popup_description_timer">Skip “Hey Google” when using quick phrases like “%1$s” for a firing timer.</string>
<string name="assistant_guacamole_pill_popup_link_text">You can update this choice in <u>Assistant Settings</u>.</string>
<string name="assistant_guacamole_pill_prompt">Say</string&gt
<string name="assistant_guacamole_ui_prompt">Try saying</string>

Dynamic Shortcuts

At Google I/O 2021, Google demonstrated a couple of new features coming to the Google Assistant. Soon, the Assistant will proactively recommend shortcuts to users based on your app usage pattern. The latest Google App update prepares support for this feature, with strings stating that dynamic shortcuts are “related to what you’re typing and can be based on interactions with apps on your device.” Dynamic shortcuts were introduced with Android Nougat as a way for developers to provide specific, context-sensitive actions within an app. Google is planning to make Android app shortcuts a bigger part of the Google Assistant experience, and the introduction of dynamic shortcuts in the UI is one part of this change.

<string name="googleapp_assistant_dynamic_shortcut_long_press_message">"This suggestion is related to what you're typing and can be based on interactions with apps on your device. You can manage activity shared with Assistant, per app, within Assistant Settings."</string>
<string name="googleapp_assistant_light_suggestion_annotation_separator">" · "</string>
<string name="googleapp_assistant_non_dynamic_shortcut_long_press_message">"This suggestion is related to what you're typing."</string>

Google (Free, Google Play) →

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You can download the latest version of the Google App from the Google Play Store link embedded above, or you can grab the APK from APKMirror. We installed the update on a Pixel 4 running Android 11 and a Pixel 3 XL running Android 12 Beta 1 but did not see either of these features. We’ll continue digging into the latest Google App release to see if we can find more features or if we can get these features working.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S7+ is now on sale for $699 ($150 off)

The Galaxy Tab S7+ is the most premium Android tablet available right now, with a flagship Snapdragon chipset and a large 12.4-inch AMOLED screen. It’s the tablet to get if you want the best Android-powered competitor to the iPad Pro and Surface Pro X, and now the 128GB version is available for $699 at B&H Photo and Video. That’s a savings of $150 from the original price.

The Galaxy Tab S7+ has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ chipset, a 12.4-inch 2800×1752 AMOLED 120Hz screen, 6GB RAM, 128GB of internal storage (with a microSD card slot for adding more room), Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.0. Watching movies and TV shows is a treat on the high-resolution AMOLED screen, especially with four speakers surrounding the edge for excellent sound. The Tab S7 is included in Samsung’s promised “three generations” of support, and it has already been updated to Android 11, so it should at least get Android 12 and 13.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ 128GB

This is the 128GB version of Samsung's Galaxy Tab S7+, with a 12.4-inch screen and a Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset.

Buy at B&H Photo

Like most other Galaxy Tabs, the Tab S7+ has an S Pen stylus in the box, which can be used for drawing or as a simple pointer. Even though the S Pen is included, the keyboard attachment seen in the top photo is not — you’ll have to spend an extra $141 for that. Alternatively, if you don’t care about the keyboard matching the tablet too closely, any Bluetooth keyboard (or a USB keyboard with a Type-C cable or adapter) will work well with the Tab S7+.

If you don’t really need a 12-inch AMOLED screen, but you still want a quality Android tablet, the regular Galaxy Tab S7 sale from a few days ago remains available. Microsoft is selling the 128GB Tab S7 for $530, a savings of $120 from the original MSRP and $30-50 below typical prices.

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iOS 15’s notifications could finally be better than Android

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is underway, and the first topic of discussion during the event is iOS 15. The company has already highlighted a couple of new features coming in the next major upgrade of the mobile operating system, including new FaceTime features, SharePlay, updated photo/link sharing in Messages, and more. Notifications in iOS 15 will also receive a major upgrade, complete with an updated UI and new features, and it might finally end up being better than notifications on Android.

In case you missed Apple’s presentation, notifications in iOS 15 will receive a minor redesign, a new Notification Summary feature, an easier way to notify others when you’re busy, and a feature to help you focus on what’s at hand. First, let’s talk about the Notification Summary. iOS 15 will automatically generate a helpful summary of all the notifications you’ve received and provide it in an easy-to-browse layout at any specified time of day. iOS 15 will use on-device intelligence to arrange the summary so that the most important notifications show up at the top.

Along with the new Notification Summary, iOS 15 will introduce a new feature that will help you easily alert others when you’re busy. When you turn on do not disturb (DND) mode on your device, your status will automatically be displayed in the Messages app. If you have DND turned on and someone messages you, they’ll receive a reminder saying that you’re busy at the moment. Apple will provide an alternative way to help senders bypass the DND mode for truly important messages, though.

 

In order to help you further streamline the way you receive notifications, iOS 15 will also bring a new feature called Focus. The feature will let you mat your device’s notification alerts based on what you’re doing at the time. For instance, if you’re working and have the work profile for Focus turned on, you will only receive work-related notifications on your phone. On top of that, you’ll only see work-related widgets on your home screen. Similarly, when you’re at home, you’ll be able to turn on Focus to avoid work-related notifications.

L: Intelligent Focus suggestions; R: Focus alert in the Messages app

 

One of the best things about the Focus feature is that it will provide intelligent suggestions based on various factors like your current location or the time of day to help you focus on the task at hand. Additionally, Focus will synchronize across all supported devices, so you won’t have to worry about turning it on again if you switch from your Mac to your iPhone.

Currently, we don’t have any further details about the changes coming to notifications in iOS 15. We’ll let you know as soon as we learn more.

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