Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company would open its first store in India next year. The Cupertino-based tech giant has sought approval from the Indian government to open a store in India without a local partner. Speaking to investors at the annual shareholder meeting, Cook said, “I don’t want somebody else to run the brand for us. We wouldn’t be a very good partner in retail. We like to do things our way.” Apple currently sells its devices through third-party offline retailers and e-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon. Apple’s online store is expected to start functioning in Q3 2020.
This week, the wait for 5G phones in India finally ended, with two OEMs bringing flagship phones that support the next generation of wireless technology for digital cellular networks. The Realme X50 Pro and iQOO 3 arrived in India as the first smartphones to be powered by the Snapdragon 865 chipset and bring 5G to the country. The X50 Pro 5G starts from Rs 37,999 and, while only one of the three iQOO 3 models support 5G and it will set you back Rs 44,990. Both phones offer flagship-grade specs in terms of performance, display, cameras, and design.
In one of the biggest developments in the world of tech this week, Google reportedly applied for an exemption with the US government. If granted, Google will be allowed to sell its software and services to Huawei. This means, Huawei will be able to update all its current devices with Google’s Mobile Services, which include apps like Maps, Gmail, YouTube, the Play Store and other Google services. The lack of Google’s mobile services has seen Huawei’s sales dip in international markets. Last year, Microsoft was granted an exemption license to work with Huawei.
Vivo launched its third Apex Concept phone this week. The Vivo Apex 2020 draws inspiration from Apex phones of the past. Vivo’s latest concept phone finally gave us the first in-display camera, which sits under the glass. There’s no moving camera module or a display cutout for a notch. The Apex 2020 also features a 48-megapixel primary sensor with ‘gimbal’ stabilisation that the company claims is 200-percent more effective than OIS on flagship phones. It also offers a continuous optical zoom range of 5x to 7.5x. In terms of design, the OLED screen has extreme curvature on the edges, while it also doesn’t have any ports or buttons. The device also uses third-generation Screen Sound Casting technology instead of stereo speakers. While the concept phone isn’t available for sale, you can expect to see some of these features on future smartphones.
LinkedIn is following in the footsteps of Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube with a new stories-like feature. The professional networking platform is conducting internal tests on ‘LinkedIn Stories’. In an official blog post, Pete Davies, LinkedIn’s head of content products, wrote, Stories “offer a lightweight, fun way to share an update without it having to be perfect or attached to your profile forever. He acknowledged the adoption of Snapchat-like stories on several other platforms and explained, “We’ve also found there’s an entire generation growing up with Stories as a way of speaking.”
Apple produced two of the top-selling smartphones in 2019. Apple shipped 46.3 million iPhone XR handsets and 37.3million iPhone 11 devices last year. In North America, Apple phones dominated the smartphone space taking the top five spots. Apple’s iPhone XR and iPhone 11 were also the second and third best selling smartphone in Europe. Apple had three other handsets in the list of top 10 best selling smartphones. The iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPhone 8 came in at sixth and seventh with 17.6 million and 17.4 million devices sold respectively. Samsung’s Galaxy A series had quite the success with the Galaxy A10, A50 and A20 all finishing in the top five spots. The iPhone 11 Pro sold 15.5 million devices, coming in at ninth position.
After the MWC 2020 got cancelled, the Game Developers Conference is now being affected by the novel coronavirus. This year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco has officially been cancelled amid growing concern about the international coronavirus outbreak. GDC, which has run since 1988, was expected to take place between March 16 to 20 but has been postponed. However, event organisers say that they fully intend to host the GDC “later in the summer” and will be sharing more information about their plans in the coming weeks.
Samsung launched its first 2020 Galaxy M series smartphone this week. The Galaxy M31 recently arrived in India and will start from Rs 15,999. The Galaxy M31 is a solid mid-range smartphone with a 64-megapixel quad-camera setup, a massive 6,000 mAh battery and a Super AMOLED display. The Galaxy M31 is looking like a strong competitor against the Chinese value options like the Realme XT, Redmi Note 8 Pro, Poco X2, and Realme X2. Samsung is also offering a Rs 1,000 discount for customers who buy the phone during the first sale on March 5.
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