Google IO 2020 officially scheduled for May 12, 13, 14: What to expect this year

Most technology companies announce the date of their upcoming annual developer conference over a simple tweet or YouTube video at most. But no—not Google. The search engine giant usually packs the date as an easter egg inside a riddle or game to tease its followers before eventually making the official announcement on Twitter. This year, it released a game called ‘A Collaboration of the Cosmos’. A few minutes of exploration is enough to learn that Google will host this year's I/O event from May 12 to 14. The event will take place in the same venue as last year's I/O: Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California.

When Google held I/O last year, Android Q (what we now recognise as Android 10) was already reaching its third beta. The company announced what new features would be incorporated in it. Google also released more information on its Stadia game streaming service and unveiled the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL smartphones, both of which are sold in India. Google also showed off the new, faster Google Assistant. Finally, it announced the renaming of its Home Hub smart speaker. With that little recap out of the way, let's take a look at what Google might announce this year:

Pixel 4a

Google is definitely expected to announce the Pixel 4a smartphone at this year's I/O. Second in Google's a-series line-up of Pixel smartphones, the Pixel 4a could continue to be a mid-range model with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 765 chip under the hood. Both, 4G-only and 5G versions of the Pixel 4a are expected to be announced. Recent renders of the handset hint at the presence of a 5.7-inch/5.8-inch flat display with a ‘punch hole’ for the selfie camera. The Pixel 4a is expected to have 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. You can read more about the Pixel 4a here.

Android 11

We expect Google to talk about the upcoming version of its popular mobile operating system, Android 11. By then, a couple of Android 11 beta releases are likely to be out. With Android 10, Google officially ditched the idea of naming its versions after popular sugary treats, such as Lollipop, KitKat, and Marshmallow. Android 11 will be no different. We hope the next version packs some useful features, such as an inbuilt screen recorder. The word on the street is that Google will include an extended or ‘scrolling’ screenshot feature, something seen on OnePlus and Oppo smartphones.

Google Assistant

Since the announcement at last year's I/O, Google has made some progress with the rollout of the new Google Assistant. The new, more lightweight digital assistant is already active in the US and, more recently, went live in Canada, Ireland, Australia, Singapore, and the UK. The new version packs Assistant's large online speech recognition models into a 500MB local package that can function without an internet connection. We expect this new version to make it to more countries this year. At I/O, Google could talk more about how it's planning to make that happen.

Stadia

Announced at Game Developers Conference 2019, Stadia is Google's recently released game streaming service. Since the time it went live in November 2019, the service has been fraught with problems. For example, games did not stream on the promised 4K resolution and users experienced a fair amount of latency. Google has been talking about how it's tackling some of these problems. At I/O, the company could further discuss its issues revolving around Stadia. Google's Stadia is currently available in 14 countries across the world, but sadly, India isn't one of them. To understand how Google Stadia works in detail, read our story here.

More Nest Speakers

At last year's I/O, Google's Home Hub smart speaker was renamed as Nest Hub to reflect the parent company's acquisition of Nest Labs in 2014. The speaker came to India and was later joined by the more affordable Nest Mini. You can read our review of it here. This year, we can expect Google to announce new smart speakers and smart display models under the Nest sub-brand. But this may or may not happen. In our opinion, Google should incorporate a 3.5mm jack in its future smart devices for those who would rather use their own speakers for sound while retaining the power of Google Assistant.

Our list of what to expect from Google I/O 2020 isn't admittedly comprehensive. In those three days, Google usually packs in a lot of information and announcements. If you're looking forward to a Google development this I/O, let us know in a comment.

 

Cosmos aligned. We'll be back at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View for this year's #GoogleIO on May 12-14! pic.twitter.com/3bZqriaoi1

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) January 24, 2020

 

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POCO confirmed to launch new phone in February

The last 10 days or so have been very eventful for the POCO brand. It separated from Xiaomi and became a new entity, we got leaks of an alleged POCO F2 Lite, POCO X2 was reportedly teased and now, the brand has confirmed that it would launch a new smartphone next month. The company is expected to launch the POCO F2 or POCO X2.

The latest development comes from POCO India GM C Manmohan who confirmed in an interview that POCO will launch a new smartphone in India as soon as next month. He said, “We will launch our new phone next month. We will start online and then progress to additional channels.” He also revealed that POCO has started the process of becoming an independent legal identity in India. The company will operate separately from Xiaomi. It will build its own sales, marketing and product teams in India. 

The news comes after Xiaomi teased the presence of a POCO X2 phone. POCO India posted a teaser video for POCO’s season 2. In the teaser, the name 'Poco X2' is hinted at, but you need to look closely to see it.

Separately, POCO is rumoured to launch three smartphones under its “F2” series. However, if Poco were to release an “F2” and an “X2", we can speculate that Poco could continue the F2 as a successor to the Pocophone F1, taking its spot as a midrange series and then release a higher-end “X2” later. It is said that POCO may as well repurpose parts from existing Redmi phones because of its current look.

To recall, the POCO F2 Lite was allegedly leaked. It is tipped to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 chipset, which features an integrated 5G modem. The handset may come with 6GB RAM and pack a 5000mAh battery.

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Realme smartphone with Snapdragon 865 SoC posts highest ever AnTuTu score, to be showcased at MWC 2020

A new Realme smartphone has appeared on AnTuTu and it has reportedly smashed the charts. The Realme phone, bearing the model number RMX2071, has appeared on the AnTuTu benchmark with 574,985 points, which is the highest on the app so far. The score beats Xiaomi Mi 10’s score of 560,217, which was the highest score on the app before this. Both smartphones are allegedly powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset, paired with an Adreno 650 GPU.

According to a report from Android Authority, a leaked screenshot of “the highest score yet posted to the popular AnTuTu benchmarking app” has appeared online. The Realme RMX2071 is said to score 574,985 points on AnTuTu. Besides Mi 10 and the upcoming Realme handset, the only other smartphone to have broken the 500k barrier on AnTuTu is the Asus ROG Phone 2.

The Realme RMX2071 is expected to be unveiled at the MWC next month. Furthermore, Realme has a launch event scheduled for February 24 where it is supposed to unveil a 5G device. The handset could be the Realme X50 Pro 5G. The Realme X50 Pro 5G is likely to be powered by the Snapdragon 865 chipset. Unfortunately, the AnTuTu screenshot doesn’t reveal much about the phone at the moment.

To recall, Realme X50 5G has already been launched in China. The handset is powered by the Snapdragon 765G chipset. It sports a 64MP quad rear camera setup and a dual 16MP + 8MP selfie shooter. There’s also an 8mm copper conduit for conducting the heat away from the motherboard. Realme X50 5G packs a 4200mAh battery that supports 30W VOOC 4.0 charging technology. The phone has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

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Xiaomi Mi A3 receives Rs 1,000 price cut, now starts at Rs 11,999

Xiaomi has announced a price cut on its Mi A3 smartphone in India. The third generation of the Android One smartphone by the company has dropped Rs 1,000 from its price tag and is now available starting at Rs 11,999. It was launched in India last year, back in August, priced starting at Rs 12,999 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage version. The same variant is now available for Rs 11,999, after the price cut. The Mi A3 is also available in 6GB RAM + 128GB storage option, which has also received a price drop and is now priced at Rs 14,999, down from its previously announced price of Rs 15,999. The price drop announement for the device comes via a tweet by Manu Kumar Jain, Xiaomi's India chief.

The new pricing for the Mi A3 is now reflecting on Amazon, Flipkart and Mi.com. In terms of specifications, the Mi A3 is powered by the 11nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor. There’s a 6.08-inch AMOLED HD+ display on the front, which sports a 19.5:9 display aspect ratio and a resolution of 1560 x 720 pixels. While the display size is bigger on the Mi A3 over the Mi A2, the resolution takes a beating since the Mi A2 sports a 1080 x 2160p resolution. The Mi A3 is backed by a 4030mAh battery, which charges over a USB Type-C port with support for Quick Charge 3.0 (18W Fast Charge). In addition, the company decided to bring back the 3.5mm audio jack, which was omitted from the Mi A2.

In terms of optics, the Mi A3 comes equipped with a triple rear camera setup that consists of a 48MP Sony sensor with f/2.2 aperture. This main sensor is supplemented by an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 2MP depth sensor. The device’s rear camera is capable of recording 4K videos at 30fps and slow-motion Full HD video at 120fps. On the front, it gets a 32MP sensor, which is paired with an f/2.0 aperture lens and comes with support for AI Face Unlock and Panorama selfie. The handset also features a P2i nano-coating that is said to provide protection against accidental spills.

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OnePlus 8 Pro rumoured to support wireless charging

Information circulating the internet suggests that the OnePlus 8 Pro could sport wireless charging. The information is posted on twitter via leakster Max J. who tweeted an image of a smartphone charging on a wireless charging pad, with the caption, “Charge like a pro”. The phone doesn't explicitly look like a OnePlus 8 Pro, but the “Charge like a pro” cation has led many to believe that the upcoming OnePlus 8 Pro will support wireless charging. One needs to take this information with a grain of salt as OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has said that he finds wireless charging "too slow" and "it's just not worth it" when compared to the fast charging technology that comes with Warp Charge. This information comes from an interview on The Vergecast. 

It is also speculated that the wireless charging capabilities will only make an appearance on the OnePlus 8 Pro and not the OnePlus 8. It is also speculated that a mid-ranged OnePlus christened the OnePlus 8 Lite will make an appearance alongside the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro. 

In November, Max J. also tweeted that the OnePlus 8 could feature a 120Hz display. In January 2020, OnePlus confirmed the existence of a 2K 120Hz display. According to the company, the new screen uses MEMC technology for smoother video playback and a QHD+ resolution. It also comes with 4096 levels of brightness control. You can read more about the 120Hz display here. 

OnePlus isn't the only company looking at implementing a 120Hz display on its smartphone. Samsung is expected to implement the same on its upcoming Galaxy S20 flagship and Oppo is also expected to implement the technology in the upcoming Find X2. You can read more about the upcoming Find X2 here and the S20 120Hz display here.

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OPPO F15 to go on sale in India today through Amazon, Flipkart, and offline retailers: Price, offers and more

The Oppo F15 was launched in India last week. The device comes equipped with a quad rear camera setup with a 48MP main sensor. It comes in a single variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Oppo F15 supports an eye protection certification from TÜV Rheinland and comes preloaded with DC Screen Dimming 2.0 technology. The smartphone is going on sale in India today. 

The Oppo F15 features a 6.4-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display that sports a 2400x1080p resolution. The phone is powered by a Mediatek Helio P70 SoC that also powers the Oppo F11 Pro, Realme 5 and other related phones. It comes with a microSD card slot to support memory expansion of up to 256GB. The phone runs ColorOS 6.1.2 that is based upon Android 9 Pie. There’s also an in-display fingerprint sensor on the device.

On the optics front, the Oppo F15 sports a quad rear camera setup: 48MP main sensor with f/1.7 aperture lens + an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with f/2.25 aperture lens + a 2MP mono lens + a 2MP sensor that assists in capturing bokeh shots. On the front lies a 16MP selfie shooter with an f/2.0 aperture lens. 

The Oppo F15 packs a 4000mAh battery that supports VOOC 3.0 charging, which is said to fully charge the phone in 76 minutes. 

The Oppo F15 price in India is Rs 19,999 for the lone 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. It will be made available in Lightning Black and Unicorn White colour variants through Flipkart, Amazon and offline retailers starting today. 

As for the sale offers, Oppo F15 purchasers will get a one-time screen replacement until January 26. Users who buy through HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank credit and debit cards will get a five-percent cashback. Jio users can get 100 percent additional data benefits. Customers will also get zero downpayment options from Bajaj Finserv.

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Sony to Launch PlayStation Now Service in India This Year: Report

As per a new report, Sony is reportedly planning to launch the PlayStation Now cloud-based game streaming service in India later this year.

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