Highlights: The Samsung Galaxy A40 was spotted on the FCC website The device had the model number SM-A405FN/DS A new smartphone in the Samsung A family has received FCC certification. The Samsung A40 was spotted on the FCC website with the model number SM-A405FN/DS. According to the FCC listing, the smartphone has a 5.7-inch display and sports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac along with Bluetooth 5.0 LE. No other specifications of the smartphone were revealed. However, last week the Samsung Galaxy A40 along with the Galaxy A90 and Galaxy A20e were listed on a UK website. In the UK website the Galaxy A40 was seen with the same model number SM-A405FN/DS. The A40 is speculated to have the Exynos 7885 platform coupled with 4GB of RAM. It is also expected to run on Android Pie out of the box. The smartphone is expected to be priced around $280 which is Rs 20,000 approx. directly converted. Towards the end of February, Samsung officially launched the Galaxy A10, A30 and A50 in India. The smartphones are priced starting at Rs 8,490, Rs 16,990, and Rs 19,990 respectively. While the Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50 come with what the company calls an Infinity-U display, the cheaper Galaxy A10 sports an Infinity-V display design. Starting with the Galaxy A10, the smartphone is the entry-level model among the three. It sports a 6.2-inch HD+ Infinity-V display. This simply means that the smartphone has a tiny notch on the top of the display that is V-shaped. At the back, the smartphone has a single 13-megapixel rear camera with an f/1.9 aperture along with a 5-megapixel selfie camera in the front, which supports face recognition. It's powered by an Exynos 7884 chipset and up to 3GB of RAM. The battery on it is a 3,400mAh unit. The Galaxy A30 on the other hand sports a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-U display, which means the little notch on top of the display is U-shaped. The smartphone has a rear mounted fingerprint scanner. It has a 4,000mAh battery, which is juiced up using 15W fast charging technology. At the back, the smartphone has a dual 16+5MP camera setup. The Galaxy A30 is powered by an Exynos 7904 chipset with an octa-core processor and 4GB of RAM. The smartphone is available in red, blue, and black colours. Last we have the A50 which comes with a 6.4-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-U display. It has three camera’s at the back - an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens with a 123-degree field of view, a 25-megapixel main camera with an f/1.7 aperture, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. Under the hood, the smartphone has the Exynos 9610 chipset with an octa-core processor and up to 6GB of RAM. The A50 has a fingerprint sensor that sits under the display. A 4,000mAh unit with 15W fast charging capability powers the package. The smartphone is available in blue, black, and white colours and 64GB of internal storage. Also Read: Samsung Galaxy A90, Galaxy A40 and Galaxy A20e listed on official UK website After Galaxy Fold, Samsung developing two more foldable phones: Report Samsung Galaxy M30 camera tested
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Highlights 355K players on PC have been banned from playing Apex Legends They have been banned for cheating If you are playing Apex Legends on your PC, then there is some news for you. The developer has been working tirelessly to get rid of cheaters from the game and has announced that it has banned over 355k players from the game. All the banned players are PC players as it is easier to cheat on the PC version of the game than on the console version. The company has taken to Reddit to announce its efforts against cheaters. The reddit post reads, “As of today we’ve banned over 355K players on PC through Easy-Anti-Cheat. The service works but the fight against cheaters is an ongoing war that we’ll need to continue to adapt to and be very vigilant about fighting. We take cheating very seriously and care deeply about the health of Apex Legends for all players. We are working on improvements to combat cheaters and we’re going to have to be pretty secretive about our plans. Cheaters are crafty and we don’t want them to see us coming.” The reddit post goes on to highlight what the developer is doing to combat cheaters. This includes “reaching out and working directly with experts, both within and outside of EA, in this area that we can learn from. Scaling up our anti-cheat team so we have more dedicated resources”. You can read more about it in the Reddit post here. One of the biggest problems faced by Apex Legends players is that if you get disconnected from a game, there is no way to rejoin it. According to GameInformer, “The team is not actively pursuing the feature because they are wary of the potential abuse such a feature could cause, and because "We believe the resources needed to build, test, and release it are better spent focused on fixing stability issues so that the feature isn’t necessary.” Apex Legends is a Battle Royale game set in the Titanfall universe. In the game you join a team of three and see which team can survive till the end. The battle royale genre has seen a big uptake in India with PUBG Mobile leading the front. A lot of game streamers are making good money by streaming their PUBG gameplay online. You can read more about how people are making money by streaming PUBG here. Also Read: Here are the 80 best PUBG Mobile players in India You can now stream your PS4 games to your iOS device Ready, Aim, Fire: Talking esports and evolving gaming tech with Intel 
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Highlights The MIUI 10.2.3.0 update is now live for the Poco F1. The update brings with it the February security patch. The update doesn’t bring features such as 4K 60FPS video recording or Widevine L1 support which has been with beta users for a month. If you have a Poco F1 smartphone, then there is an update for you to install. The update is about 550 MB in size and brings with it the February security patch. The update is available in India as well. If you don’t see a notification with the update, you can go into the system settings and check for the update. However, apart from the February security patch, it isn’t known what else the update brings. According to the MiUI thread, which you can read here, the update does not bring Widevine L1 support. For those unaware, Widevine L1 certification is necessary to stream HD videos from Netflix and Amazon Prime Videos. There is also no 4K 60FPS video support in the update. 4K 60FPS and Widevine L1 are available to beta users on the smartphone. In January, the MIUI 10 2.2.0 update brought 960fps slo-mo video recording, alongside 120fps and 240fps slo-mo videos, low-light mode and bug fixes. The update also brought enhanced low-light mode to improve photos taken in the dark. The low-light mode takes eight images in different exposures and merges them into one for a brighter, more sharp shot. The feature was reportedly in testing a month before it was rolled out to users. Coming to the specifications of the Poco F1, the smartphone is available in three variants - 6GB RAM + 64GB storage, 6GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage. Under the hood, the smartphone is powered by the Snapdragon 845 platform and sports a 4000mAh battery. It has a dual 12+5MP camera at the back with a 20MP selfie camera in the front. It also sports a rear mounted fingerprint sensor. In the front, the smartphone has a 6.18-inch 18.7:9 display with a 2246 x 1080 FHD+ resolution giving it a pixel density of 403 ppi. The Poco F1 starts at Rs 19,999 in India. Also read: OnePlus 7 listed with image, specs by Chinese online retailer Xiaomi sold more than 200,000 Redmi Note 7 phones in first sale, next sale on March 13 Xiaomi, OnePlus phones emit maximum radiation, Samsung phones emit the least: Report
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Highlights: Huawei will announce the Watch GT in India on March 12. The wearable runs on company’s own LightOS operating system. Huawei is reported to launch two new variants of the device this month. Huawei has been teasing the launch of its Watch GT wearable in India for some time now. Now, the company has confirmed that its the device will launch in India on February 12. The new smartwatch runs on the company’s proprietary LightOS and was announced alongside the Huawei Mate 20 series of handsets. Alongside the confirmation that the company will announce the device, a new report from WinFuture claims that Huawei will announce two new variants of the wearable this month, probably at the launch of the Huawei P30 series of handsets. As per the WinFuture report, Huawei is set to launch two new variants of the Watch GT called the Huawei Watch GT Active and the Watch GT Elegant. Below embedded images are of the device’s elegant model in “Dark Green” and “Orange” color models. The design on the new model slightly differs slightly, as seen from the image. The buttons can be seen with knurled pattern and a different metal finish. They can also be seen with different bands but otherwise, they seem the same as the previously announced version. As per the report, the new watches could feature a 1.39-inch OLED display, same as their predecessors. As for the price, the current version of Huawei Watch GT sells for €199 (Rs 15,655 approx), while its Sport version is priced at €229 (Rs 18,016 approx). It is expected to be priced lower in India. As for the newer versions, the Watch GT Active is said to come in White and Black colour models. The Active could carry a price tag of €249 (19,500 approx) while its Elegant variant might cost €229 (Rs 18,016 approx). There is no additional information on what new features could be made available with the upcoming Huawei smartwatches. Related Reads: Huawei Watch GT India launch teased 
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Highlights Microsoft is rolling out a new version of Skype for Web The new version is compatible on Windows 10 and Mac OSX 10.12 or higher with the latest versions of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge The new Skype for Web brings features such as HD Video Calling, Call Recording and more Microsoft is rolling out a new version of Skype for Web. The new version is compatible on Windows 10 and Mac OSX 10.12 or higher with the latest versions of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. As one might expect, the new version adds a bunch of new features to the service. The new Skype for Wed introduces HD Video Calling, Call Recording, Find Within Conversation, and Chat Media gallery. There is also a new notification panel that will allow to see any new messages, mentions or if someone quoted them. “Skype has always been about bringing people together. We continue to be driven by the opportunity to connect our global community of hundreds of millions of users, empowering them to feel closer and achieve more together. We are pleased to announce the launch of the new Skype for Web,” Microsoft noted in its official blog. Further, Microsoft also announced the release if the updated MSI distributable for Skype (version 8) for Windows desktop. IT administrators are asked to download the new MSI file to start distributing the new version of Skype to their organization. Back in September last year, Microsoft announced that those using Amazon’s Echo devices will be able to ask Alexa to make a Skype call. This wasn’t the only time that the only time Microsoft and Amazon played well with each other. Back in May 2018, users could access Alexa on Windows 10, which Cortana was available on Echo speakers. Further, Microsoft added Alexa integration on the Xbox and introduced the Xbox Skill. The Skill allowed users to interact with their Xbox One via voice commands through their Cortana and Alexa-enabled devices.
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Highlights Facebook may soon introduce a ‘Watch Party’ like feature in Instagram. The feature may be called Co-Watch videos together with their friends Co-Watch may be aimed at increasing the popularity of IGTV It looks like Facebook may soon introduce a ‘Watch Party’ like feature in Instagram. Reverse-engineering specialist, Jane Manchung Wong spotted the code for a similar feature in Instagram. As per her tweet, the feature might be called ‘Co-Watch’ and like Watch Party, it will allow people to watch videos on the platform together with their friends. According to TechCrunch’s report, the code that mentions that users may be able to check out ‘Suggested’ video from Instagram. The new feature may also be able boost the popularity of IGTV. IGTV was unveiled last year and introduced long-form, vertical videos from popular Instagram creators as well as regular users. Instagram has already introduced IGTV Previews last month in a bid to boost the popularity of the service. The meant that users will be presented with short, 1-minute IGTV video previews from the creators they follow on Instagram. Users will be able to see these previews before they decide to go and watch the complete video on IGTV. Users can tap on the video previews to enable audio and if they want to watch more, they can tap the IGTV icon on the video to watch the full version on IGTV. Users will automatically return to their Feeds after the video finishes. Those who want to explore more videos on IGTV can swipe up while watching the video they tapped on and discover other content on the app. Instagram is testing Co-Watching in Video Calls It's like Facebook's Watch Party but for Instagram Direct Tip @Techmeme pic.twitter.com/cRpRO61DXh — Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) March 7, 2019 
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Highlights: A flaw in the web version of Facebook Messenger was discovered. It could enable attackers to figure out with whom a user was chatting with. The vulnerability has been patched by Facebook. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg recently said that he wants to better secure the social media platform. Even if the company’s plans do come to fruition and, hopefully, we get to see a more secure Facebook, it is not completely impervious to vulnerabilities and flaws. The cyber security firm Imperva recently reported of a vulnerability in the web version of Facebook Messenger, which enabled any website to see who you have been chatting with. While the flaw is said to have not revealed the contents of a user’s chat, but it enabled potential attackers to know who the person was in contact, and chatting with. Facebook said that it patched the flaw in December last year. "The issue in his report stems from the way web browsers handle content embedded in webpages and is not specific to Facebook," a Facebook spokesperson told CNET. "We've made recommendations to browser makers and relevant web standards groups to encourage them to take steps to prevent this type of issue from happening in other web applications, and we've updated the web version of Messenger to ensure this browser behaviour isn't triggered on our service." Ron Masas, a security researcher at Masas who discovered the vulnerability, said that this vulnerability was exploited using browser-based side-channel attacks, which “are still an overlooked subject, while big players like Facebook and Google are catching up, most of the industry is still unaware.” Masas detailed the bug in a blog post and it apparently stems from the use of iFrames, which are Inline Frame codes to embed content from pages like YouTube. Analysing the number of iFrames being loaded, the researcher was able to figure out with whom a user was having conversations. This was done via a tool that he developed but for it to work, a user would need to be led to it. The tool would look for a dip in the number of iFrames, which happened in case you’ve never had a conversation with someone on Facebook. Dip in the iFrame count revealing user had a conversation with someone (top) vs stable iFrame count (bottom) for someone a user didn't have a conversation with Related Reads: Mark Zuckerberg envisions, promises privacy-focused social networking, explains Facebook’s future plans in a 3200-word letter
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Highlights Players have come across two insta-death tiles in Fortnite’s map One is located near the ‘Fork-knife’ area The other is just outside ‘The Block’ It looks like the Fatal Fields are in Fortnite’s map is living up to its name. Following the release of patch 8.01 for the game, players have managed to find two insta-death tiles in the region. One being near the ‘Fork-knife’ area and another just outside of ‘The Block’. The developers of Fortnite, Epic Games have since acknowledged the bug and say that they will soon release a patch for the same. “Beware the Fork Knife! We’re aware of an issue with players being eliminated when walking around the Fork Knife near Fatal Fields. We’ll be releasing a fix for this issue shortly,” the developers noted in their tweet. It is not yet known why players are getting instantly killed in specific locations there. Speculation suggests that it could be because players might be falling through the map. However, looks like we will just have to wait for Epic Games to tell us what the problem is, if they decide to tell us anyway. Season 8 of Fortnite was released a few weeks ago and this time around, the developers offered the Season 8 Battlepass for free provided players managed to complete 13 free Overtime Challenges by February 27 There is also a limited time mode called Catch! In this mode all guns have been removed. The only weapons available to players are grenades and other items that can be thrown. The available items include smoke grenades, clingers, remote explosives, Port-a-Forts, Impulse Grenades and Shockwave Grenades Beware the Fork Knife! We’re aware of an issue with players being eliminated when walking around the Fork Knife near Fatal Fields. We’ll be releasing a fix for this issue shortly. pic.twitter.com/15D0Ud6TCg — Fortnite (@FortniteGame) March 6, 2019 
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Highlights: Functionalities of the secondary smaller display on Motorola’s foldable phone leaked. The smaller screen could come with support for select apps. It could also work as a touchpad or help capture images. The recently concluded MWC 2019 suggested that 5G phones and devices with foldable displays will be the trend this year. Some of the biggest smartphone makers like Samsung and Huawei have dived into the new segment, along with the likes of LG, all of which have come up with their own rendition of a foldable smartphone. Motorola is another such company that is in plans to create a foldable device but has revealed little about its upcoming product. While we do know that Motorola’s foldable phone could resemble the iconic RAZR V3 from the 2000s, XDA Developers says they now have some details on the phone’s software and how it might work. As per the report, Motorola is working on a smartphone that has two displays. However, the phone’s clamshell design means that there is a tall flexible display on the inside, which flips out and the second display is on the outer side of the phone. This smaller secondary external display is said to work with only a few apps as the company has restricted the apps that can “access display on flip.” Citing a source, XDA Developers says that right now, only some set pre-installed apps like Moto Display, Moto Actions and the Moto Camera app are able to display content on the “closed display.” Additionally, when unfolded, the secondary display can work as a trackpad but currently its limited to enable scrolling in web pages in Chrome and an app’s timeline. There could be up to six quick settings tiles on the display and it is not known if these would be customisable or not. While using the camera, one will reportedly be able to click a photo, or swipe up on the primary display to zoom in. This option could be useful when a user wants to click a selfie and a countdown timer could also be displayed on the secondary screen. The Google Assistant’s animation could also be displayed on a smaller screen when the phone is closed. This is said to happen if the user enables the option, otherwise, one will be prompted to “flip open to unlock” the device. The company is also said to be testing the Moto Display app to show a clock, pulsing notifications, and enable controlling media using the external display. There could also be a provision to set a different wallpaper on the smaller display. We first came to know about Motorola’s foldable phone in January this year when a report suggested that the company might revive its Razr series, but with a foldable display. Later, some renders of the alleged phone surfaced at the World Intellectual Property Organisation, tipping at the device’s design and reaffirming the possible revival of the Razr phone. Recently, the company's VP of Global Product, Dan Dery, confirmed that there is a foldable smartphone in the works but didn’t reveal its details. Leaked renders of the phone suggested that it could feature a tall primary display that folds inwards, hence the clamshell design, and there might be a secondary display on the back of the top part, when the phone is folded. Related Reads: Motorola's foldable smartphone confirmed, could resemble RAZR All the foldable smartphones announced so far at MWC 2019 
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Highlights: Oppo’s upcoming flagship phone to launch next month. It is confirmed to feature the company's 10x lossless zoom. It will run on Snapdragon’s 855 SoC and come with 4065mAh battery. Oppo showed off its 10x lossless zoom technology at MWC 2019 and promised to debut it in a phone in Q2 this year. The company’s VP Shen Yiren has reportedly confirmed that the phone featuring the tech will launch in April. As per GizChina, the company executive has confirmed the news via a Weibo post and said that the upcoming device’s design will also be optimised so that there are no camera bumps. However, during the MWC announcement, the company did say that even with the 10x lossless zoom tech, it was able to reduce the camera bump to the same size as the one on the Oppo R17 Pro. Yiren also showed off a silhouette of the phone in an image, which gives a glimpse of the vertically stacked triple camera setup. The company executive previously confirmed that the phone would also be powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC, however, there is no word on whether it will also come with 5G support. It could support 5G if the company decides to use an X50 modem. It is also confirmed to come equipped with a 4065mAh battery. The upcoming device might be called Oppo Find Z. Speaking of the 10x Lossless Zoom technology demoed by Oppo at MWC 2019, the company detailed how it works at the event. There will be three sensors on the device, one is a 48MP main camera, while the second one is a 120-degree ultra wide angle lens. The third one is a telephoto lens. These three work together to capture images at varying focal lengths. The three lenses enable overall coverage of focal range between 16mm (via the ultra wide angle lens) to 160mm (with the telephoto lens). However, incorporating the lenses would have caused increased device thickness, which the company circumvented by employing a periscopic module that is placed horizontally. Related Reads: Oppo’s upcoming flagship said to feature Snapdragon 855 SoC, 10x lossless zoom tech
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Highlights: OnePlus 7 has been spotted on Chinese retailer website Giztop. The platform has listed the specs of the phone. It claims that the phone will be priced $569, that is, Rs 40,000 Now that Samsung has launched its Galaxy S10 Series line-up, the focus now shifts to another significant brand OnePlus. We have already seen major leaks about the OnePlus 7 but the latest development essentially pours out all the information that one needs to know about the phone. The device has been spotted on Chinese retailer Giztop’s website. Giztop is an official partner of tech news outlet Gizmochina. Firstly, the e-tailer claims that the currently “Out of Stock” OnePlus 7 will be available for $569, which translates to approx Rs 40,000. Not only the price, the retailer also tried to cement the development by replying to questions in the comments section. When asked about the availability of the phone, the retailer advises to “keep an eye on this page,” suggesting that it will not take down the page like other e-tailers have done in the past (with different phones). The image posted on the website shows the front of the phone showing no notch on the display. This resonates with the previous leaks which claimed that the next OnePlus device will have a near edge-to-edge display with pop-up selfie camera. Just like the photo leaked by OnLeaks, the volume buttons can be spotted on the left edge of the OnePlus 7, while the power button is placed on the right edge. However, the latest image does not show the alert slider. The retailer has also listed specifications of the OnePlus 7. It says that the phone is powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC, and has up to 12GB of RAM. It is said to have Android Pie-based OxygenOS 9. The smartphone is said to have a 6.5-inch AMOLED display and has a rear triple camera setup consisting of a 48MP sensor, a 20MP sensor and , and a 16MP one. The selfie shooter is said to have a 16MP sensor. In terms of storage, the listed specs suggest that the OnePlus 7 will come with up to 256 GB of local storage. The battery capacity is claimed to be of 4,000 mAh and supports 44W Dash Charging. Recently, a hands-on image of the phone was leaked showing the pop-up selfie camera. The OnePlus 7 is slated to launch sometime in Q2 2019 while some claim that it could get an official launch in May. Related Read: OnePlus ‘March Madness’ offers for OnePlus 6T include special giveaways, additional Rs 2000 off on exchange and more
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Highlights: Hackers reportedly make use of “dev-fused” prototype iPhones to break into Apple’s iOS. These dev-fused devices are less secure and are lifted before being done with the production process. Gaining root access to these pre-production iPhones is said to be much easier. If you are an iPhone user, chances are that you know about Cydia, the jailbroken app store for iPhone and iPads. While Jailbreaking is a type of hack that is mostly used to sideload paid apps for free, there are other types of hacks as well. Hacks that are either much more problematic or useful, depending on which side of the hack one is in. Apple phones come with a Secure Enclave Processor (SEP) that encrypts sensitive data on the phone and is set-up as a separate entity. Motherboard investigated how some of the best hackers were able to get study the chip and the answer is said to be a “dev-fused” iPhone, which is an iPhone that was lifted before finishing the production process. As per the report, these dev-fused iPhones are pre-jailbroken devices in which many security features are disabled. This is so that researchers can test them easily but these devices were never intended to get out of Apple’s reach. Motherboard reports that since Apple’s production pipelines have reached the grey market, middlemen and smugglers sell them for a substantial amount to security researchers and hackers. Gaining root access to these pre-production iPhones is said to be way easier than doing the same on a commercially available iPhone. iPhones are difficult to hack into because of the Secure Enclave Processor. It is also difficult to follow the standard reverse engineering route to obtain access or understand its workings. However, this is apparently possible using a dev-fused iPhone and they are said to be widely used for hacking iPhones by looking for zero-day vulnerabilities. Citing sources from the iPhone hacking community, Motherboard reports that Cellebrite, a digital forensic firm that offers tools to unlock and break into iPhones has purchased and used dev-fused devices to develop its products. You can learn more about this in detail in the Motherboard’s story. Related Reads: Google Chrome's zero-day vulnerability could let the attacker gain full control of your system, here's how to stay safe 16-year-old admits to hacking Apple's computer systems: Reports Next iOS general release will render tools used by police to hack iPhones useless
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The notch has been an ugly design choice that manufacturers have had to embrace in order to maximize screen to body ratios. In the last year, however, we have seen companies employ clever tricks to circumvent the ugliness of the notch. The Samsung Galaxy S10, S10+ and the S10e have a hole punched into the top right corner of the display, which you can either choose to let be as is or use the hide notch feature on the phone to create a black band on top. The Redditt community, on the other hand, has a different solution. Users on Redditt have created an entire sub-Redditt with creative wallpapers that incorporate the notch into the artwork. The most common is incorporating the cut-out as an eye of the character in the wallpaper, the most common characters being Wall-e, R2D2 and even Darth Vader. You may even find a wallpaper with Bender from Futurama, whose eyes are to fit perfectly where the S10+ has its display cut out. Some people have used the punched hole of the S10 as the nose of cats and dogs and even gone as far ahead as using it as part of binoculars being held up by Kim Jong Un, to obviously spy on someone. Some users have gone full silly and created wallpapers with more cut-outs in them, so as to imply “what notch?” The idea of creative and silly wallpapers for the Galaxy flagship smartphones seems to have originated from Twitter user MattCabb, who has links to imgur galleries for these wallpapers. The handful of wallpapers shared by him seem to have sparked the internet’s creativity, leading to the creation of the sub-redddit, which is now full of all kinds of designs. Head on over there to find the perfect background for your S10/S10+. You can explore and download these creative wallpapers over here.
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Highlights: Xiaomi-backed Black Shark 2 launching in China on March 18. This is the third phone in the series, and it will be first Black Shark phone to get Snapdragon 855 SoC. Although it is not confirmed, the handset may be available in India as well. Xiaomi backed gaming smartphone manufacturer Black Shark will unveil the Black Shark 2 phone on March 18 in China, company CEO Peter Wu has announced by posting a poster on Chinese social media platform Weibo. This is the third phone in the series and unlike the previous device, the Black Shark and the Black Shark Helo which used the Snapdragon 845 SoC, this handset will be powered by the Qualcomm’s latest flagship Snapdragon 855 mobile platform. This essentially makes its the first phone in the series to have this processor and it could well be the first gaming phone in this space to be powered by the flagship SoC. If the reports are to be believed, the phone is expected to have a 10GB of RAM. Just a few days ago the phone was seen listed on Geekbench sporting a 12GB RAM, which suggests that the company will bring a 12GB RAM variant as well. On Geekbench, the phone appears with the name “blackshark AAA” and scores 3,516 and 11,413 points in single and multi-core tests of the Geekbenching platform, respectively. There is also a mention of an 8GB RAM variant which has scored 3,494 and 11,149 points in single and multi-core tests respectively. The other USP of the device is the new Liquid Cool 3.0 and fast charging will be upgraded to 27W from the previous 18W. Reportedly, Xiaomi has also set up a “top secret experience” in Shanghai as part of the promo campaign. As mentioned above, the Black Shark 2 will likely launch in China first and then it should be available in Europe. Recently, the Xiaomi-backed gaming smartphone maker set up headquarters in Bengaluru, which could mean that gaming phone affectionados may soon have their hands on this handset. The company’s Vice President David Li is reported to be looking after India operations while Chirag Nagendra, who was the formerly with OnePlus in the communications team has joined as Black Shark’s Marketing head. It is expected that the official launch date of the phone in India will be announced at a later stage. The original Black Shark gaming phones saw a limited release in just 23 countries. Related Read: Xiaomi Mi 9 tops AnTuTu's February score listing, Lenovo Z5 Pro GT grabs second spot
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Highlights: Xiaomi says over 200,000 units of Redmi Note 7 were sold in minutes. The smartphone went up for its first sale on March 6. It comes with a 12MP + 2MP dual rear camera setup. Xiaomi recently launched its Redmi Note 7 series of smartphones in India, which consists of the Redmi Note 7 and the Note 7 Pro. The former device’s first sale took place on March 6 and the company says it sold over 200,000 units of the phone during the sale “in a few minutes”. The announcement comes via Manu Jain, Xiaomi’ Global VP and MD of Xiaomi India, who tweeted, “#RedmiNote7: we had produced 200K+ units till this week, all of which went out of stock in just a few mins yesterday! We are working with our factories to further increase production. Bigger volume for #RedmiNote7 & #48MP #RedmiNote7Pro going on sale next week on March 13.” Xiaomi introduced the flash sale model in India, which might be working well for the company, but has met with criticism from buyers. Looking up replies to tweets by the company about a device going on sale, one will find complaining consumers who say they were unable to buy it because there isn't enough stock. However, the company has been promising that it will make more units of a device available for sale. Coming to the Redmi Note 7, the phone was first announced in China but it is not the same for Indian buyers. The Chinese variant of the phone gets a 48MP Samsung GM1 sensor but the one launched in India has a 12MP + 2MP configuration. The Redmi Note 7 comes with a 6.3-inch Full HD+ LTPS display. It sports a 19.5:9 waterdrop notch design as well. It is powered by the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC and comes with up to 4GB RAM and up to 64GB storage. The handset’s display is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and it runs on MIUI 10, which is based on Android 9 Pie. The front camera on the phone has a 13MP sensor and the handset is backed by a 4,000mAh battery that supports Quick Charge 4.0. Related Reads: Redmi Note 7 Pro First Impressions: A 'Note'worthy attempt to change the mid-range smartphone game Xiaomi Redmi 7 leaks in hands-on video, seen sporting Snapdragon 632 SoC Redmi Note 7 Pro camera tested: Initial impressions of the 48MP camera 
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