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Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Lenovo Z5 Pro GT Is the First Phone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, 12GB RAM
Apple’s spaceship campus, formally known as Apple Park, in Cupertino is well-known to be the company’s headquarters but is now looking to expand its presence across the U.S. The company has today announced that it will build a new campus in North Austinto house research, engineering, and customer support personnel.
The Cupertino giant, in an official press statement, said that it will pump a whopping $1 billion into the development of its new 133-acre campus, which is said to be located only a mile down the road from its current office in the city.
Apple’s Austin office is already employing 6,200 people but the new office will generate an additional 5,000 jobs in multiple roles, to begin with, but with the potential to add another 10,000 jobs in the coming years. This is expected to make Apple the single largest private employes in the area, with the Austin campus being its biggest one outside of Cupertino.
The construction of the North Austin campus will be in line with Apple’s standards, which means there will be ample preserved open space (about 50 acres in this case) and all the workplaces will be backed by 100 percent renewable energy, which has now become the norm for Apple facilities across the globe.
This expansion appears to be part of the company’s commitment to creating jobs across the US, with regards to President Trump’s wishes. In an official press statement, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said that talent, creativity, and ideas are not limited by zip codes, only to further talk about Austin saying,
“Apple is proud to bring new investment, jobs, and opportunity to cities across the United States and to significantly deepen our quarter-century partnership with the city and people of Austin”
Further, Apple today also revealed its intention to build new offices in Seattle, San Diego, and Culver City that will house around 1,000 employees in each. It even plans to expand across Pittsburgh, New York and Boulder, Colorado in the coming three years, creating an enormous number of jobs.
Apple has also talked about a $10 billion investment in data centers across the U.S in the next five years, including $4.5 billion this year in North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada. So, Apple is certainly going all in with its expansion in its home country, on track to create a whopping 20,000 more jobs in the next five years
Apple To Build New 133-Acre Austin Campus With $1 Billion Investmen
Apple’s spaceship campus, formally known as Apple Park, in Cupertino is well-known to be the company’s headquarters but is now looking to expand its presence across the U.S. The company has today announced that it will build a new campus in North Austinto house research, engineering, and customer support personnel.
The Cupertino giant, in an official press statement, said that it will pump a whopping $1 billion into the development of its new 133-acre campus, which is said to be located only a mile down the road from its current office in the city.
Apple’s Austin office is already employing 6,200 people but the new office will generate an additional 5,000 jobs in multiple roles, to begin with, but with the potential to add another 10,000 jobs in the coming years. This is expected to make Apple the single largest private employes in the area, with the Austin campus being its biggest one outside of Cupertino.
The construction of the North Austin campus will be in line with Apple’s standards, which means there will be ample preserved open space (about 50 acres in this case) and all the workplaces will be backed by 100 percent renewable energy, which has now become the norm for Apple facilities across the globe.
This expansion appears to be part of the company’s commitment to creating jobs across the US, with regards to President Trump’s wishes. In an official press statement, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said that talent, creativity, and ideas are not limited by zip codes, only to further talk about Austin saying,
“Apple is proud to bring new investment, jobs, and opportunity to cities across the United States and to significantly deepen our quarter-century partnership with the city and people of Austin”
Further, Apple today also revealed its intention to build new offices in Seattle, San Diego, and Culver City that will house around 1,000 employees in each. It even plans to expand across Pittsburgh, New York and Boulder, Colorado in the coming three years, creating an enormous number of jobs.
Apple has also talked about a $10 billion investment in data centers across the U.S in the next five years, including $4.5 billion this year in North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada. So, Apple is certainly going all in with its expansion in its home country, on track to create a whopping 20,000 more jobs in the next five years
Samsung Brings Disney-Inspired AR Emojis for Galaxy S9, S9+ to India
At the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S9 series, the South Korean company had its own take on iPhone X’s Animoji. TheGalaxy S9 and S9+ smartphones came with what it called “AR Emojis” to replicate whatever your face was doing.
During the launch, Samsung had displayed special AR Emojis that used adorable Disney characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse and promised to bring characters from other of its blockbuster movies such as The Incredibles, Zootopie, Frozen. But at the time of the launch, the special AR Emojis was only available in South Korea andnow rolling out to other parts of the world including India.
Starting today, users will be able to create AR Emojis for classic Disney characters Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Donald Duck perform actions at their will. Using the front camera, users can see the AR Emojismove or change expressions to match their own faces.
Samsung claims that AR Emojis use facial recognition technology, despite the lack of a dedicated hardware as in the case of iPhone X, as well as deep learning to track 100 different points on a user’s face and produce a 3D replica. Alongside the custom emojis, users also get options to create a custom emoji based on their face, although we were not really impressed by the outcome.
Users with Samsung Galaxy S9 or S9+ can open the camera app and download additional AR emoji packs including the newly-added Disney pack. The company has promised that AR emojis from other franchises will be available later during the year but has not clarified a tentative deadline.
Additionally, Samsung has also introduced the My Emoji feature which will allow users to send versions of their own faces as responses in a conversation. These can be directly accessed via the Samsung keyboard. As of now, there are 18 reactions which you can send using your own emoji, while Samsung plans to bump this number up to 54 soon.
While Apple has already done it with the iPhone X, Huawei and Samsung followed with their respective flagship launches and that is enough to inspire other manufacturers to bring the feature to other smartphones.
Here’s Your Chance to Review the OnePlus 6 Before the Official Launch
As we near the launch of the next flagship killer, OnePlus has again decided to give its loyal fans a chance to test out the OnePlus 6 ahead of its official release.
The Chinese giant, as announced via an official blog post, has today announced that 15 reviewers will get the new device as part of the company’s ‘The Lab’ program. OnePlus is using this program to gather consumer feedback about the OnePlus 6, and could also make some software changes based on the response.
Those selected will get a OnePlus 6 and have time to get familiar with the device. They would have to publish an ‘unbiased’ review of the OnePlus 6, talking about its pros and cons. The highlight of this program is that you get to keep the device after this review phase. The Lab was started prior to the launch of the OnePlus 3 in 2016.
Talking about the program, OnePlus said:
Your analysis is incredibly valuable, not just to us, but to every member of the OnePlus community.
How To Apply To Get OnePlus 6
If you’re in interested in being part of the OnePlus Lab, you simply need to fill out this form (in English) and answer questions such as your primary interest in a new smartphone, as well as attach some pictures that show off your work.
OnePlus wants to know whether you’re currently a OnePlus user, which country you hail from, and what you plan to use the device for (gaming, photography, etc). You’ll also have to upload a review for the device you’re currently using in the form. It’s that simple.
You have until May 2 to submit your applications. OnePlus will pick the ‘final reviewer squad’ on May 12.
However, if you get selected to review the OnePlus 6, the Chinese giant has laid a couple ground rules. Each of the 15 reviewers will have to meet the deadlines, else they won’t be able to keep the device. Also, the company says it will use all submitted review content – videos, images, texts and gifs – to market and promote the OnePlus 6 which seems like a fair deal for an early hands-on.
OnePlus 6 Specs
As for what we know about the OnePlus 6, the device will sport a large 6.28-inch AMOLED display – that too with a notch up-top. It will be powered by the Snapdragon 845 chipset, coupled with 6/8GB RAM and 128/256GB internal storage.
We’ve also learned that OnePlus 6 will be the first OnePlus to feature some sort of water resistance and the alert slider will also come in handy for focus adjustment. The company has also confirmed that it has partnered with Marvel to release Avengers-themed phones. So, are you excited for the launch of OnePlus 6? What are your expectations? Let us know in the comments below
Do you have a great eye for the photography? If the answer is ‘yes’ then we have very something special for you. With the new Gallery feature, Mi Community brings you “Beautiful Shots of April - A photography contest”, for all the photography enthusiasts out there, share your best clicks with us and steal the show.
MIUI 9.5 Rolling Out: Check Schedule, Changelogs and Download Links Here
Hello, Mi Fans! We're extremely happy to announce that, we've started rolling out MIUI 9.5 Global Stable ROM for all supported devices in phases. Please note that, - It is being rolled out in phases currently, your patience and undetstanding is highly expected. - More devices will be added soon!
Android Go Apps vs Regular Apps: What’s The Difference?
You must’ve heard of Android Go, right? That Android variant meant for entry-level Android smartphones? Well, Google, in preparation for Android Go has been releasing a number of Go apps that are supposed to be lighter on the resources and also use fewer data to work flawlessly on smartphones that are priced at like $50 to $80. Well, we decided to check out whether Android Go apps actually do what Google says they do. So, we installed the Android Go apps on our phones and compared them to the regular Google apps to see what’s the difference.
1. Google Go vs Google
First off, I tried the Google Go app, which is supposed to be much lighter on the system while offering the most useful features from the regular Google app. The app is clearly designed to look simple and has features like voice search, maps, GIFS and even google translate. All that for an installed app size of just around 12MB! In comparison, the regular Google app occupies around 166MB. That’s insane. Sure, Google Go doesn’t have features like the Google Feed, but that’s really okay considering the space you’re saving, and a lot of people anyway don’t really use the Google Feed.
Google Go (left) vs Google (right)
Apart from that, Google Go pretty much has every feature that you would expect in the Google App. Not just that, Google Go uses way less RAM than the Google App does. In my tests, I found Google Go used about 61MB of RAM on average, while the Google App used a whopping 250MB! I tested the RAM usage using ADB, so you can count on the results to be pretty accurate.
After Google Go, I moved on to Maps Go, an app that struck me as especially interesting because the APK was just 0.09MB in size. Just let that sink in a bit. For comparison, the regular maps app is a massive 48MB… It’s not massive, but as compared to the Maps Go, well.. you get my point right? The Maps Go app offers a lot of the features from the regular Maps app, including real-time location sharing! What? That’s insane, ok? I mean, Maps Go takes up just 221KB after installing as compared to Maps which takes up 135 megabytes!
Google Maps Go (left) vs Google Maps (right)
However, that insanely small size comes at a big price. The Maps Go app doesn’t support navigation. I mean, I can get directions but I can’t go from directions to real-time navigation and that’s a big turn off for me. However, it has that awesome feature from the Google Maps web app where you can get traffic information for different times of the day to plan your journey accordingly. I mean that is one feature I wish the regular Google Maps app had.In terms of RAM usage as well, Maps Go is amazing. It used just 3.5MB of RAMon average as compared to Google Maps, which used a whopping 183MB.Way to go, Google.
Now while Google doesn’t offer a native File Manager on their devices, there is the tedious method of going through the Download Manager app and then browsing the Internal Storage and such. But as for the Android Go devices, Google has been generous to launch Files Go, which you may remember got really popular when it launched, thanks to its Airdrop like file transfer feature.
Google Files Go
Files Go comes in at just 14.41 megabytes when installed. In comparison, a third-party file explorer like Solid File Explorer is 22MB when installed. Yeah, the difference isn’t all that big but Files Go more than makes up for it with the features it offers. Right on the home screen, the app offers a number of useful features including cards to clear out low-res images, duplicate files, app cache, and even an option to uninstall apps that you’ve not used in a while. All of that fit into a beautiful package.
Files Go is honestly a Go app because it helps users carve out more space on their devices. Instead of being mind-numbingly small like Maps Go, Files Go tries to ensure that all those WhatsApp good morning images don’t eat up your storage.
Yes, everyone uses IM-clients such as WhatsApp and Messenger for keeping in touch with their friends and family. However, even on an entry-level device, chances are people are gonna want to check their emails. Google understands that. The company also has a Gmail Go app so people can enjoy the ease and simplicity of Gmail on their phones.
Gmail Go (left) vs Gmail (right)
The Gmail Go app comes in at just 24.8MB. Even on RAM, the Gmail Go app is much less resource heavy as compared to the regular Gmail app. It uses, on an average around 77MB of RAM, while the regular Gmail app uses over 260 megabytes; plus it offers all the features from the regular Gmail app in the same interface, so you won’t miss out on anything. I mean, it even includes the swipe gestures from the regular Gmail app. Personally, even if you are not on a low-end Android Go device, you could still make the switch to Gmail Go and would barely even know the difference.
Just because you’re buying a cheaper smartphone doesn’t mean you should miss out on the entertainment front, right? Well, keeping that in mind, Google has also rolled out a lightweight variant of its video-sharing service, YouTube Go. However, unlike other Go applications, YouTube Go follows a different approach in bringing entertainment to the user.
YouTube Go (left) vs YouTube (right)
The app focuses on saving your mobile data and storage more than anything else, as can be seen in the fact that tapping on a video doesn’t play it, but presents options to either play it or download. It is not very feature rich, it doesn’t have all the tabs you’ll find in the regular YouTube app, and you can’t even subscribe to channels in the YouTube Go app, but it brings one unique feature. YouTube Go users can share downloaded videos with their friends nearby. YouTube Go also takes up a lot less space as compared to the regular YouTube app. While the regular YouTube app is 122MB in size, YouTube Go is just 29MB, and also uses just about 74MB of RAM on average, as compared to YouTube’s 103MB.
While you do compromise on the overall functionality of the actual YouTube app, you still retain the ability to watch as well as download videos from the service, along with sharing it with your friends.
The last app to make this list is the newly announced Google Assistant Go. The app takes the power of Google Assistant’s AI and puts it into a lightweight app available for everyone to use. While the user does miss out on certain features that the actual assistant app offers, the Go edition makes up for it with its light size and still decent performance.
Google Assistant Go (left) vs Google Assistant (right)
Just to make things clear, the standard app, despite having an install size of a little above 800KB, relies on the Google Search on one’s device to actually run. On the other hand, Google Assistant Go weighs in at 17.47 MB when installed, which is quite light considering that the app is a standalone variant of Google Assistant. While you do need to enter the app every time you wish to utilize the assistant’s capabilities, the app does work very well. The AI performs pretty much the similar functions as the regular version but is slightly more customized for India when it comes to search results.
However, some of the features missing with the Assistant Go app that are present in the regular version are reminders, controls for smart home devices, Actions on Google, and Device Actions. Nonetheless, for the average user, Google Assistant Go should do the job.
Free up Your Memory and Boost Your Performance with Go-Edition Apps
I think it’s pretty clear that Google has created some spectacular apps for Android Go edition phones, like the Nokia 1. Google’s claims about using much less storage than regular apps holds completely true. According to our calculations, the regular versions of these apps took up around 522 megabytes of storage whereas the Go variants took up just 80.4 megabytes! As such, cheaper Android phones could perform very well if they use Android Oreo Go Edition. Additionally, Google is already in talks with developers to bring lite variants of their apps as well. Furthermore, even mid-range and flagship devices can try out these apps and make the most of their memory, while saving some juice as well.
So, are you going to be switching to Android Go edition apps anytime soon? If so, do share with us your experiences in the comments down below.
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