Motorola Edge Plus to launch soon in India, Moto country head confirms

Motorola Edge+ will launch in India in the coming weeks and has its eyes set on two recently launched phones, the OnePlus 8 series and Apple iPhone SE 2020. The Indian launch of the flagship smartphone by Lenovo-backed Motorola could be held sometime after the nation-wide lockdown eases or when e-commerce companies are allowed to deliver smartphones and laptops to customers. Due to the outbreak of Coronavirus in India and various parts of the world, the smartphone industry has been affected by manufacturing shutdowns that’s led to delayed launches and availability of products. 

Motorola Edge+ alongside the Edge was unveiled last week on April 22 after many leaks and rumours. The phones were previously set to be announced during the MWC 2020, but the event fell victim to the COVID-19 crisis. 

Prashant Mani, Country Head of Motorola India tweeted out an official video of the Motorola Edge+, stating the phone will eventually be making it’s way to the country very soon. The video highlights the key specifications of the phone such as 5G support, Snapdragon 865 chip, 108MP camera and more. We can expect Motorola to launch the Edge+ in India after e-commerce companies are allowed to accept orders for mobile phones.

The all-new Motorola edge+ is reinvigorating the flagship space with a Bold endless edge screen innovation,Fastest 5G performances with Snapdragon 865 and a monster 108 mpx camera .Here is a sneak peek into what went behind creating the #AbsoluteEverything. Coming soon to India! pic.twitter.com/xhH8wjMREu

— Prashanth Mani (@PrashanthMani10) April 25, 2020 Motorola Edge+ specifications

Motorola Edge+ has a glass-metal design and features a 6.7-inch Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) resolution display on an OLED panel. The display has a punch-hole cutout on the front that gives it a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The screen has a 90Hz refresh rate and is certified for HDR10+ playback.

It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset with 5G support and an octa-core CPU. This is paired with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage and there doesn’t seem to be another available variant. 

The Edge+ has a triple camera setup on the back followed by TOF 3D depth sensor and dual-tone LED flash. The primary camera uses a 108MP sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS support, an 8MP secondary telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and OIS followed by a 16MP ultra-wide-angle camera. The rear camera setup can record in 6K UHD at 30fps and 4K UHD at upto 60fps.

On the front, housed within the notch cutout is a 25MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. 

The phone has stereo speakers, Wi-Fi 6 modem and Type-C port for charging. The battery is rated at 5,000mAh and supports 18W fast charging and 15W fast wireless charging. It comes in two colours-- Smokey Sangria and Thunder Grey and is priced at $999 (~Rs 76,000) in the US.

 

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Sony delays Spiderman and Venom sequels, sends ripples through the MCU

The Coronavirus outbreak has had a major impact across industries, including the film industry. Earlier this month, Disney had announced a major reshuffling of its release timelines, with the most notable being moving the release of the Black Widow movie, which had a cascading effect on every other Marvel movie release. Now Sony too has announced delays in release some of its films which have once again impacted the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Sony has announced that the sequels to Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse and the third film in the Spiderman: Homecoming trilogy will be delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The final movie in the Homecoming trilogy will now release on November 5th, 2021 instead of July 16th, 2021 while the sequel to Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse will now see theatre screens on October 7th, 2022 instead of April 8th, 2022. With Sony moving the release of the third movie in the Homecoming trilogy, it means that Marvel too will have to shuffle some releases around, seeing how they like to maintain a timeline of releases. Due to the change in the release date of the third Spiderman movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder are both going to once again be pushed back. The Doctor Strange sequel, which had already been moved to November 5th, 2021 just a couple of weeks ago, will now open on March 25th, 2022. Thor: Love and Thunder is going to move up a week, releasing on February 18th, 2022 instead of the recently announced February 11th, 2022. Marvel had already announced a whole new release timeline for some of its upcoming films, including the announcement that some films will come straight to its Disney+ streaming platform.

There are other notable movies from Sony that have also received new release dates. Venom: Let There Be Carnage, has been pushed to June 25, 2021, instead of releasing this year in October. However, there is a slight silver lining. The Uncharted movie which stars Tom Holland has now been moved to an earlier release date of July 16, 2021, from the originally planned release date of October 8, 2021.

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TSMC has started working on development of the 2nm lithography process

TSMC has allegedly begun work on its 2nm lithography, according to industry insiders. The report, however, comes via WCCFTech who report that amidst a shortage of components, TSMCs refinement of 3nm lithography has slowed down, so the company is using the time to work on the next big/small thing.

Earlier this month, TSMC reported that its 5nm production lines were working at full capacity, leading us to believe that 5nm chips may not be farther away than the end of the year. TSMCs CoWoS Interposer lines are also currently at capacity, given that the demand has suddenly skyrocketed over the last few weeks. Companies like Nvidia, HiSilicon, AMD and even Broadcomm have increased their demands so that they can use them in high bandwidth applications like AI accelerators and ASICS.

TSMCs 5nm fabrication lines are also operating at capacity, possibly to meet the demands of upcoming processors. We expect Apple to move to the 5nm process for the A14 Bionic chip that will be a part of the 2020 iPhone. Additionally, AMD has already announced that its Zen 4 architecture will be based on the 5nm node, and the company expects it to be available starting 2022. The current architecture, Zen 2, is based on the 7nm process and according to AMD's own roadmap, Zen 3 is expected by the end of 2020, with the architecture achieving major permeation in the markets by 2021.

Needless to say, even with a shortage of equipment to work on the 3nm process, TSMC definitely has its hands full between the production of 7nm and 5nm chips. According to DigiTimes, the 5nm process will be based on the Extreme UltraViolet or EUV method. This method employs a laser with a wavelength of 13.5nm to etch the gates onto the silicon wafer. The reduction in the size (to 7nm or 5nm) is achieved using stencil overlays. EUV has been unviable up until now due to the extreme power requirements of the laser, however, it would appear that companies like TSMC and Samsung have both figured out how to work around that problem.

As we start to move towards chipsets utilizing the 5nm process, it's only logical for TSMC to work on the next step of the miniaturization process. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, TSMC has had to face delays and shortage of various equipment required for working on the 3nm node, but instead of just waiting, the company has become work on designing the 2nm lithography. This could involve a new laser with an even lower wavelength of light, or it could just be achieved using pairs and combinations of stencils.

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Madhav Sheth interview: Realme CEO talks about upcoming launches, lockdown challenges and more

The lockdown may have dampened your spirits, but Realme CEO Madhav Sheth is still going strong. In a one-on-one video interview with one of the most popular faces in the smartphone industry, Madhav talked about his hobbies, his plans for Realme this year and dropped some exclusive information in the midst.

The video interview conducted on Skype went down with Madhav talking about how he has been spending his time during the lockdown. Did you know he plays the guitar and loves Bryan Adams? But on a more serious note, his 2020 roadmap for Realme hasn't really changed despite the company having now almost lost almost half a quarter in the year and only have around 320 days to go ahead with the plans.

Yet, Madhav said that Realme's plans of expanding with a TV, smartwatch and the likes are still very much in the pipeline and has not been pushed back to 2021.

Madhav also spoke about how the smartphone space will see some big chances post lockdown. With an economic slowdown on the cards, Madhav believes consumers will treat devices more as utilitarian than lifestype with say, the specs taking more precedence over the design. However, he believes the average selling price of smartphones will remain the same in India.

Do watch the full interview in the video posted below.

 

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Horizon Zero Dawn sequel could be a PS5 exclusive and include co-op: Report

If information circulating the internet is to be believed, then Sony has some big plans for the sequel to one of its most successful new IPs, Horizon Zero Dawn (read our review here). Amsterdam-based Guerrilla Games is the studio behind the franchise and before Horizon they were known for the FPS Killzone franchise. To begin with, it is suggested that the Horizon franchise will be a trilogy. According to VGC, “a multi-part script was written – but the plan was only officially agreed after the original game’s strong debut on PlayStation 4”.

According to the source, the original plan was to release Horizon 2 on the PS4, but it looks like the focus has shifted to the PS5. Considering the hardware leap on the PS5, it makes sense. However, Sony will potentially ignore the 100 million plus PS4 owners in doing so. Microsoft, on the other hand, has committed to bringing all exclusives for 1 year after the launch of the Series X to the Xbox One family of consoles. This could potentially hold those games back from exploiting the Series X hardware, but it will cater to an existing install base ensuring the game sells a larger number of units. Then again, a “killer app” is the reason people invest in hardware, and this move could tempt a lot of PS4 gamers to upgrade to the PS5. 

Since a game takes 4-6 years to make on average, it looks like we will see Horizon Zero Dawn 2 somewhere in 2021 or 2022. Sony expected to sell fewer PS5 in the fiscal year ending March 2021 because of the increased price of the console. It has been speculated that the PS5 could cost as much as $550 (Rs 42,000 approx. directly converted) which could put some people off from buying it during the 2020 launch. 

Coming back to the topic at hand, the source goes on to say, “Horizon Zero Dawn 2 is said to be ‘gigantic’ in scope with a larger game world and more freedom to explore it than in its predecessor. People with knowledge of the game also indicated the inclusion of a co-op feature, although it’s not clear if this is delivered via the main story or a separate mode.”

Co-op has been something that was rumoured to be a part of the first game but was scrapped. Concept art did show multiple characters taking on mechanical robots in the world. It isn't clear how this feature will be implemented since Horizon is a story focused single-player experience. 

Guerrilla Games has posted a number of job openings that mention an open-world game, hinting that they are working on a sequel to Horizon. If you are a PC gamer, then know that Horizon Zero Dawn is coming to the PC and is listed on Steam. You can read more about it here.

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OnePlus 6 and 6T start receiving OxygenOS 1033

If you are a OnePlus 6 or OnePlus 6T owner, then there is good news for you. The smartphone will start receiving the OxygenOS 10.3.3 OTA update. The OxygenOS 10.3.3 OTA update will have a staged rollout. The OTA will be received by a limited number of users first and will have a broader rollout in a few days after OnePlus makes sure there are no critical bugs. There is no point trying to use a VPN to download the update as OnePlus says that using VPN to download this build might not work as the rollout is not based on regions and is randomly pushed out to a limited number of devices.

OnePlus 6 and 6T OxygenOS 10.3.3 details

Coming to the details about the update, the OnePlus forums says that the update brings with it stability fixes namely, fixing the issue with a black screen randomly appearing while playing games which can be a bummer for those that are ready with their trigger fingers during a PUBG Mobile match. It also updates the Android security patch to 2020.04. The update also improved system stability and fixed general bugs. It also brings VoWifi support for Reliance Jio in India along with cloud sync support which is an India specific feature. You can check out the details of the update below. 

System

Fixed the issue with a black screen randomly appearing while playing games Updated GMS package to 2020.02 Updated Android Security Patch to 2020.04 Improved system stability and fixed general bugs

Network updates

Integrated VoLTE & VoWifi support for Telenor - Denmark Integrated VoWifi support for RJIO - India

Cloud Sync updates [India only]

Updated the CloudService to Version 2.0

Source

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OnePlus Warp Charge 30 wireless charger could be priced at Rs 3,990

If you are looking to get your hands on the new OnePlus 8 Pro and its wireless charger, then there is good news for you. Just like the OnePlus 8 family of devices, it looks like the wireless charger will be priced cheaper in India than its international pricing. If information circulating the internet is to be believed, then the OnePlus Warp Charge 30 wireless charger could cost Rs 3,990 in India. 

OnePlus Warp Charge 30 wireless charger specifications and features

This is the first time OnePlus has gone wireless when it comes to charging. The company had maintained that they will not use the technology till it’s fast enough to match speeds offered through the thick, red USB cable that has become sort of a signature. The company seems to have cracked it. The Warp Charge 30 wireless charger can deliver 30W of power and can top up the OnePlus 8 Pro from 1-50% in just 30 minutes.

As revealed in the blog post, the Warp Charge 30 Wireless charger relies on an industry-first isolated charge pump with Warp Wireless direct charging architecture. OnePlus claims this ensures a charge efficiency of 97 percent and minimizes the energy converted into heat. The charger comes with “full-fledged fan systems” to aid in the cooling. The wireless charging is modulated using a customized chip in the charger that controls the current and voltage to maximize efficiency. The charger is also Qi-compatible and comes in the pad and stand versions.

OnePlus Warp Charge 30 wireless charger price

As mentioned above, it looks like the charger will be priced cheaper in India than its international counterparts, as per tipster Ishan Agarwal. The wireless charger will be priced at Rs 3,990 in India as compared to the $70 price tag in the US which translates to Rs 5,340 approx. directly converted.  

If you are looking to get your hands on the OnePlus 8 or the OnePlus 8 Pro you can check out the information of the smartphones in detail here. You can also check out our comparison of the OnePlus 8 vs its competitors and the OnePlus 8 Pro vs its competitors to make an informed buying decision

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