Vivo pushes boundaries again with Apex concept phone

Vivo made a pretty big splash at CES early last month with its work with Synaptics by putting the fingerprint reader on the phone’s OLED display. The Chinese company looks to steal the spotlight yet again at Mobile World Congress with the new concept phone it’s showing off. Called the Apex, this nearly bezel-less phone has what Vivo is describing as a “half-screen in-display fingerprint scanning technology.” However, as The Verge points out, it’s more like taking up a third of the screen, which still isn’t bad idea. For extra security, sometimes you can enable the input of two different fingerprints to have it unlock the screen.

But what happens to the other key sensors you find out the phone? Vivo’s decided to make this come out at the top of the device like a periscope or pop-up flash when you turn the selfie camera on. A pretty nifty move. It takes less than a second for it to get ready for use. As for the earpiece speaker, Vivo’s approach is to make the entire screen vibrate itself like a speaker so you can hear calls even without completely holding the device close to your ear. Vivo says it doesn’t have plans to release an actual device based on this form but it does show us the possibility of this happening and almost completely bezel-less phones being in our near future.

ASUS goes all out with MWC launch, introduces new ZenFone 5 line

Taiwanese tech company ASUS does what it’s been doing in recent years, releasing multiple variants of its smartphone line to cater to specific user needs. This time around the new ZenFone 5 line gets three versions: the ZenFone 5Z, ZenFone 5, and ZenFone 5 Lite.

The first two share its physical characteristics with a 6.2-inch 19:9 LCD displays with 90% percent screen-to-body ratio, which makes it possible to fit all that phone into the body of a standard 5.5-inch phone. But the phones also share a look with another popular device from an even bigger brand in smartphones. Yes, you see it has a notch and ASUS acknowledges somewhat that they’ve taken the design cue from Apple.

“Some people will say it’s copying Apple,” said Marcel Campos, Asus’ global head of marketing, “but we cannot get away from what users want. You have to follow the trends.”

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Sony launches Xperia Ear Duo

Launching alongside the Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact is the new “open-ear” stereo wireless headset from Sony: the Xperia Ear Duo. Sony equips this pair of headset with what it calls Dual Listening technology. This allows you to listen music and receive notifications while also being able to hear environmental sound or conversation happening around you. This is possible with the use of a Spatial Acoustic Conductor developed by Sony’s own in-house technology incubator Future Lab Program. It lets the sound generated behind the by the unit’s driver be directly transmitted into your ears.

The Xperia Ear Duo also has a Daily Assist feature that can recognize time, locations, and other activities and relay important information to you throughout the day. It makes use of the company’s ultra-low power consuming processor, the CXD5602, and a multi-sensor platform. As expected, it also supports Google Assistant and Siri. It comes with quad-microphone beam forming for clearer voice, four-hour battery life, its own charging case, and IPX2 splash proofing. It’s coming to the US in March and will be available in black and gold.

Source: YugaTech

HMD Global banks on nostalgia yet again with Nokia 8110

HMD Global, the manufacturer of Nokia phones, have released four new devices at Mobile World Congress 2018. But what’s caught our attention is a throwback to our past: the redesigned Nokia 8110. It’s a €79 (around CA$120) 4G feature phone that comes with a “familiar and easy to use interface” and that The Matrix banana phone form factor. It’s a slightly curved handset that comes with a slider to make it easier to answer and end calls.

As a feature phone, you won’t get access to traditional Android apps you can see in other Android-powered Nokia devices. But it does have its own app store and has access to Google Assistant, Google Search, Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter, as well as Outlook and Gmail. It runs on what’s called Smart Feature OS. As mentioned, this supports 4G LTE and has dual SIM versions available as well. It runs on a Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform processor, 512MB RAM, and 4GB of storage. It has a 2.4-inch QVGA display, 2-megapixel rear camera, and for those who really want to relive their past, a revamped version of Snake. The Nokia 8110 boasts a 25-day battery standby time.

Source: The Verge