What China thinks of the new iPhone 7

Yesterday, Apple launched a new iPhone. You might have heard about it. It’s called the iPhone 7, and it’s caused some controversy thanks to Apple’s removal of the headphone jack.

We all know that China is a hugely important market for Apple. So how is China feeling about the new iPhone 7? It definitely has a lot of people talking, but the sentiment is not great. Just take a look at these popular comments from a Sina Tech article introducing the phone.

Guangdong commenter, 3,163 upvotes: “There’s nothing special about it to attract followers of tech trends, in the end the iPhone has sunk to just being a regular phone.”

Jiangsu commenter, 4,330 upvotes: “There’s no way I’ll ever buy an iPhone again. It lacks innovation, it lacks vision, it’s just a fraud that’s been made into a luxury product. What a joke, I’ve already been tricked so many times that I’ve become conscious and aware of it. Anyway, domestic smartphones are quite good.”

Zhejiang commenter, 2,531 upvotes: “It can’t compare to the camera on the Huawei P9. I firmly refuse to buy Apple and support Chinese products.”

Elsewhere, the reaction has been similar. A Netease tech poll found that just 26 percent of its 40,000-plus respondents planned to buy the new iPhone at the current price (the phones start at US$808 in China thanks to the country’s heavy import duties). And the comments are just as harsh on Netease articles:

Guangdong commenter, 2,328 upvotes: “There’s nothing innovative anymore, you can tell just from glancing at the news that [Apple launches] aren’t massive news these days.”

Shandong commenter, 1,378 upvotes: “Nowadays Apple isn’t like it used to be, you just don’t feel that sense of excitement anymore. Now it’s just a phone and that’s it.”

"Interestingly, the lack of a headphone jack doesn’t seem to be bothering Chinese audiences"

Numerous commenters across all the sites I looked at pointed out that the iPhone 7 Plus’s dual lens camera system is something that Huawei did first. Many commenters also complained that the protruding camera is ugly. One Netease comment with over 1,000 upvotes compared it to a wart.

The Huawei connection is one that’s being touted quite heavily in Chinese social media and in the press. Most Chinese tech outlets have run several stories about the connections between the iPhone 7 and domestic handsets.

Not everybody’s hating on Apple’s new handset, though. Comments on Tencent news stories about the launch are quite a bit more sympathetic, even if they don’t have the breathless have-to-buy-this tone that Apple launches tended to generate a few years ago. For example, the most popular comment on one Tencent iPhone article: “If you don’t want to buy it then don’t buy it. You don’t need to bother to comment or criticize it, just buy whatever phone you want to buy. If you don’t like it, just ignore it. If you’re commenting on a phone, it should be because you bought it and you want to share what you don’t like about it, not just people who don’t own the phone spewing about how awful it is.”

It’s also worth pointing out that the lack of a headphone jack – which seems to be chief complaint about the phone in the West – doesn’t seem to be bothering Chinese audiences nearly as much. I saw more complaints about the ugly camera and the overall lack of innovation than I saw comments about charging problems or the desire to plug in older headphones without an adapter.

So, how is the iPhone 7 going to do in China? As with any new Apple product, a spike in sales is almost inevitable, and given Apple’s recently gloomy quarters in China, even a minor shot in the arm is sure to help. In the long term, I don’t think the iPhone 7 is likely to go down as a major success in the Middle Kingdom, but the phone is too high-profile to be a total flop.

LG X Screen: More than 'just' two screens

LG Electronics is known to be a pioneer in innovative ideas with its smartphones to make them stand out in among other mobiles. Its flagship Rs. 52,990 G5—touted to be the world’s first modular smartphone featuring a “slide-out” battery design and dual rear cameras—is an apt example.

This time, LG has brought a difference in the front display and introduced a new secondary screen on top of the main screen in its mid-range offering— X Screen—to ease user interaction.

The Rs 12,990 X Screen is also equipped with a panic button in line with the Indian government’s initiative.

The smartphone takes on Moto G4 and LeEco Le 2 devices with all of them in the mid-range segment.

Here is what works for the device.

The plain-looking device has all the features of a mid-range smartphone. The back is covered by crystal-clear glass-fibre material.

The smartphone features 4.93-inch display along with an 1.76-inch HD In-cell touch display which LG calls “second screen”.

Armed with a 1.76-inch HD In-cell touch display which LG calls “second screen”.

The second screen’s “Always-on Display” feature allows users to check basic information such as time, date and notifications without having to wake up the phone. It shows the last four apps used on top right corner of the primary screen, along with a facility to receive calls without interrupting the main display.

A tap between the apps and it opens them instantly, making multi-tasking easy.

An option allows to include your signature in the second screen wherein you can express yourself in the signature bar with name or motivational phrases or your word of the day.

With Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz, 2GB of RAM and running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system, LG X Screen matches all expectations when it comes to performance.

The internal memory is 16GB of which 10.7GB is available to user. Users storing more videos, pictures or watch a lot of movies on the go, 10.7GB might find this less.

Memory can be expanded by up to 128GB via micro-SD card which will gives ample amount of storage for multimedia content, games and more.

LeEco Le 2 device, on the other hand, gives 32GB of on-board storage.

The 13MP rear camera captures superb shots with rich colours in bright-light conditions. We achieved best-quality images outdoors or indoors with ample light.

LG has packed some add-on features into camera app. With Quick Share, you can directly share your captured videos and photos on to your social media account.

As soon as you capture a picture a small icon will appear that will allow you to share your captured moment.

The 8MP front camera captures better selfies compared to Moto G4. With Auto Shot, you can take selfies with front camera using face detection.

When the face is detected, a white indicator appears and, as it turns blue,hold still and the shot is taken automatically.

This cuts the risk of the device from falling to the ground as otherwise it is hold and click picture simultaneously either by pressing volume button or tapping onto the screen.

The 2,300mAh battery gave enough juice to fuel apps for one day on a moderate-to-heavy usage.

What does not work?

LG going with 720p display in its X Screen does disappoint. Full-HD screen would have been appreciated as smartphones that are priced lower than X Screen carry one.

The camera protrudes slightly out from the back panel so it may get scratches when kept on rough surface.

Expect drop in quality in low-light photography.

LG X Screen is a device that will not disappoint. With second screen, good performance and a satisfying camera, it holds a respectable place in the mid-price range devices.

Made in India: Samsung's Tizen based Z2 launched in India for Rs 4,590

Samsung has unveiled its third Tizen smartphone- the Z2 in India, This is a budget smartphone running Samsung’s own Tizen OS. This is also a make in India smartphone. The launch of this phone comes after Samsung launched the Z1 and Z3 smartphones in India to great success. This phone is launching for Rs 4,590 and it will be available from August 29 onwards. Online, Samsung has partnered with PayTM.

The phone is being billed like a phone for feature phone users. As many feature phone users will be buying this as their first smartphone Samsung has a smart tutor function baked into the device.

The Z2 features a 4-inch WVGA panel with a resolution of 480x800 pixels. The smartphone gets an all-polycarbonate build with a textured back panel.

For hardware, the Z2 is rocking a quad core processor which is paired with 1GB of RAM. Users get 8GB of internal memory which can be further expanded using a microSD card up to 128GB.

In the camera department, the Z2 gets a 5-megapixel rear camera with an LED flash, and a front-facing selfie camera which also enables video calls. The front camera also gets various beautification modes to enhance the selfies.

In terms of connectivity, this is a dual-SIM smartphone and supports dual-standby. Moreover, this smartphone also supports 4G LTE, with compatibility for all Indian bands.

The device also supports VoLTE for better call quality and connectivity. The device also gets UDSM or Ultra Data Saving Mode for helping in clever data consumption. Samsung also has a partnership with Reliance Jio for the same.

The Z2 is an 1,500mAh battery, which is not the largest by any stretch of the imagination. That said, it also comes with an Ultra power saver mode.

As mentioned earlier, the smartphone is running on Samsung’s homegrown Tizen OS. The smartphone also comes with pre-installed essential apps like WhatsApp and Facebook. Moreover, users can download apps from Samsung’s App store, which has a decent collection too.

It comes with a banking solution which is called My Money Transfer allowing users to transfer up to Rs 5,000 even without an Internet connection. It also comes with offline maps. Tizen on the phone also supports 12 Indian languages.

Can't wait for Android Nougat? Here is a trick to get it right now

Google has unveiled the final version of Android 7 aka Android Nougat and it will be reaching the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P and Nexus 6 users in the coming days. But as it happens with any software coming from Google, not everyone gets it immediately. Instead the release is rolled out to people in batches.

The Android Nougat update too will be reaching consumers in the coming weeks. It will be available as an over the air update. But what if you don't want to wait? There is a way.

To get immediate Nougat update on a Nexus 5X or a Nexus 6P, you have to make use of the Android Beta Program. This was launched by Google earlier in March by when it unveiled the alpha version of Nougat as a way to try out the unfinished software on the phones used by actual users.

"The Android Beta Program gives you an opportunity to try out pre-release versions of Android and provide feedback. Devices that you opt into the program will receive an over-the-air (OTA) update to the latest beta version of Android N," Google explained at that time.

But now there is no pre-release version of Android Nougat - only the final version. In fact, last night when Google released the Nougat, the first users to get it were those who were enrolled in  the beta program.

Now, you too get it through the beta channel. To get Android Nougat immediately on your Nexus 5X or the Nexus 6P, here is what you need to do:

-- Open https://www.google.com/android/beta

-- Log into your Google account

-- Check the list of eligible devices

-- Enrol your device into the beta program

As soon as your device is part of the beta program, you will get an over the air update for the Nougat. Earlier this update was the pre-release version of the Nougat. But now, users are getting the final version. 

When Will Your Phone Get Android Nougat? It Might Be a While

ANDROID N STARTS rolling out today—but only if you have a Nexus device. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait a few months. Most Android phone owners will likely receive a notification to update their phone’s operating system sometime between November and January.

Getting a first bite of Nougat, which offers new emoji, multitasking tricks, and notifications, depends on your phone model, your carrier, your location, and the “heaviness” of the skin each manufacturer slaps on top of Android. According to a report by mobile-development firm Apteligent, there are established first-movers in the update game. If you have the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, or Nexus 6, you’ll get Android N as early as today; August 22 is the kick-off date for a weeks-long rollout to Nexus devices. All those phones run stock Android and get their updates directly from Google. Other phones get their updates from the device manufacturers, and each manufacturer has to make sure the new version of Android runs properly with all of its proprietary software and custom features across multiple carriers. That can take a while.

None of the manufacturers or carriers I reached out to would give me a specific date on when Nougat would show up on their phones. They wouldn’t even ballpark it.

But precedents have been set. According to the Apteligent report, in the US, Motorola was the first major device manufacturer to start rolling out Android 6.0 Marshmallow to its higher-end phones. That makes sense, as Moto has a relatively lightweight custom skin on top of Android. The Moto Z series and Moto G4 series seem like frontrunners to get a Nougat update.

Close behind on the last rollout was LG. The company’s current flagship, the G5, will probably see a Nougat update soon after Motorola’s devices. HTC phones have also historically received Android updates around the same time as LG’s.

Still, you’re in for a wait: According to Apteligent, it took about three months after Marshmallow’s official release for Motorola, LG, and HTC phones to get their Marshmallow fix.

You’ll likely be in for an even longer wait if you own Samsung’s Note 7, Galaxy S7, or Galaxy S7 Edge phones. According to Apteligent’s report, Galaxy phones took about five months to see the last Android update. Same with Sony’s phones.

So if past history is any indication, the first non-out-of-the-box Nougat phones should start seeing the new version of Android around the end of November. Samsung and Sony phones may be getting their Nougat filling in the first month or two of 2017.

If you’re planning to upgrade to a new phone, you can get Nougat sooner. The upcoming LG V20 will be the first phone to be sold with Nougat installed on it, and it’s teased on Google’s official Android page. The release date for the V20 hasn’t been announced yet (it’s still “coming soon”) but it could arrive before Android N lands on the device you’re currently using.

Android 7.0 Nougat now available in UK - brings better battery life, improved encryption

GOOGLE has pushed-out its latest operating system update – Android 7.0 Nougat – to Nexus smartphones and tablets, with other manufacturer's devices to follow in "the coming weeks".

Google has rolled-out the latest version of it hugely-successful mobile operating system.

Android 7.0 Nougat includes a new multi-window tool to view two apps side-by-side, improved battery life and wider encryption for personal data security among its new features.

Google previewed an early version of the software back in March.

With more ways to make Android your own, it's by far our sweetest release yet

Sameer Samat, Android

Nougat also expands its emoji library to over 1,500 and brings a redesigned notifications panel that lets users respond to text messages or update task lists directly from the dropdown interface.

A new Data Saver mode has also been added. This lets smartphone owners reduce cellular data use by apps.

With Data Saver enabled, the system blocks background data usage and signals apps to use less data in the foreground wherever possible – by limiting bit rate for streaming, reducing image quality, deferring optimistic pre-caching, and so on.

GOOGLE

Google has expanded the emoji library available to users by 1,500 new characters

Google's incredibly useful Doze feature, first introduced last year with Marshmallow, also gets a boost in 7.0 Nougat.

Doze uses the sensors baked into an Android phone to detect when the device is not being used and cuts power consumption, this year, the feature has been extended so that Doze can still identify when your phone is idle, even when moving around in a bag or your pocket.

Following the update to Android 7.0 Nougat, users can quickly jump between their two most recently used apps with a double-tap on the Overview button – the square icon on the left of the three virtual navigation buttons that appear along the bottom of the display.

Google has also focused on a number of under-the-bonnet security improvements.

GOOGLE

The notification shade gets a number of tweaks to speed-up your replies and access to settings

In Android Nougat each file and folder saved on the device is encrypted and protected individually, as opposed to being encrypted as a whole like previous iterations of the mobile operating system.

Direct Boot – another new feature of Nougat – takes advantage of this tweak to speed up the unlock time of a phone by starting to launch some apps securely even before an unlock code is entered, something that can't be done using device-based encryption as it performs a blanket lock of all files on the device.

Two apps can now run side-by-side on tablets and smartphones with Nougat [GOOGLE]

"Today, we'll begin rolling out Android 7.0 Nougat to Nexus devices," said Android's Sameer Samat.

"And with more ways to make Android your own, it's by far our sweetest release yet.

"We took a different approach to building and launching Nougat this year. 

"For starters, we invited developers to take a sneak peek at Android N back in March, so they could bring their apps to the new platform earlier."

Google has confirmed that alongside their own line of Nexus smartphones, the upcoming LG V20 would be the first devices to receive the update.

Those users who are part of the Android Beta Program – which gives users early access to unfinished software – will also be able to receive Nougat first.

Manufacturers including Sony, HTC, Samsung and Huawei all use Android as their smartphone software, though Google has not yet confirmed when Nougat will be widely available on these devices.

The Nougat name comes from Google's tradition of naming their software updates alphabetically after "sweet treats" and follows 2015's Marshmallow update.