TODAY'S TECH MASALA

Netflix has added the Asus ZenFone 6 , ROG Phone II as well as the TCL 10L and 10 Pro to its list of HD-compatible devices list. In addition, the ROG Phone II and TCL 10 series phones have gained HDR-10 playback compatibility. In order to view HD and HDR content on streaming apps your phone, you need Widewine L1 certification but even some devices with this certification are not eligible if the streaming platform doesn’t explicitly whitelist them as was the case here. Thus it seems Netflix and other video streaming apps have their own criteria for whitelisting phones so its recommended to use a digital rights management (DRM) app to check your phone’s certifications or better yet try to load up HD/ HDR content directly. Source | Via

Nokia launched the 2V smartphone in the summer of 2019 as a rebranded Nokia 2.1 for Verizon. It ran Android Pie (Go Edition) on its limited 1GB RAM. Now the phone might get a successor as a phone called Nokia 2V Tella has been spotted on Geekbench. Nokia 2V Tella on Geekbench The device by HMD Global is running Android 10 OS and has an MT6761 chipset, which is better known as Helio A22 by Mediatek. We are also looking at 2GB RAM, which might allow it to boot the fully-fledged Android OS, instead of having the basic Go version for lower-performing phones. The Nokia 2V Tella doesn’t surprise us with its scores on Geekbench 4.0 at all - 829 for a single core and 2,422 for multiple cores is close to what we reached 1.5 years ago when the Redmi 6A , powered by the same chip, was in our hands. Source | Via

The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ unveiled in February are currently available in a total of six colors - Black, Blue, White, Red, Pink, and Aura Blue. But yesterday we learned that Samsung has partnered with Korean Pop Band BTS to launch special BTS Edition Buds+ in Mirror Purple color on July 9. We also saw a few images of the Galaxy Buds+ BTS Edition which showed off the TWS earphones in the new Mirror Purple shade. Today a new set of renders were leaked by Evan Blass which show off the special edition Buds+ from multiple angles. You can check out the images below. Samsung Galaxy Buds+ BTS Edition Alongside the Buds+, Samsung will also unveil a BTS Edition Galaxy S20+ in the same shade, but the earphones will be sold separately by Samsung in a bid to increase its share in the TWS earphones segment. Source 1 , Source 2 ( in Korean )

Oppo is looking to boost its entry and midrange lineups in India soon with the launch of the A12 and A52 alongside an all-new model dubbed A11k. Tipster Ishan Agarwal revealed the new info alongside a preliminary spec sheet for the A11k. Oppo A12 and A52 It will be the most affordable entry out of the three starting at just INR 8,999 ($119). The A11k will feature a 6.22-inch HD+ LCD with a 19:9 aspect ratio and 5MP selfie cam housed in a waterdrop notch. Around the back, we find a 13MP primary camera alongside a 2MP depth helper as well as a fingerprint scanner. The A11k will run on the MediaTek Helio P35 chipset paired with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage. It will feature a 4,230mAh battery and will boot ColorOS 6.1.2 based on Android 9 Pie. Dimensions come in at 155.9 mm x 75.5mm x 8.3mm and the phone weighs in at 165 grams. The Oppo A11k will be available in blue and silver colors. Pricing details for the A12 and A52 are still not available. All three phones a...

The Samsung Galaxy A31 has made its way to India. It comes in a single 6GB/128GB configuration but it has a dedicated microSD card slot that allows storage expansion by up to 512GB. The Galaxy A31 is priced at INR21,999 ($290/€260) and it will go on sale later today through Amazon.in, Flipkart, Samsung's local site, Benow.in, Samsung Opera House, as well as offline retail stores across the country. The Galaxy A31 is built around a 6.4" Super AMOLED Infinity-U display of FullHD+ resolution with a fingerprint reader scanner underneath and a waterdrop notch up top for the 20MP selfie camera. Around the back, the Galaxy A31 has an L-shaped quad camera, which is a combination of a 48MP main, 8MP ultrawide (123° FOV), 5MP macro and 5MP depth sensor units. Under the hood, the Galaxy A31 has a Helio P65 SoC and the smartphone runs Android 10 with One UI 2.0 on top. Fueling the entire package is a 5,000 mAh battery which draws power at up to 15W through a USB-C...

HTC’s glory days are well in the past, but the Taiwanese company is trying to stay relevant in the smartphone world. As spotted by a vigilant Twitter user, the Desire 20 Pro has been certified at NCC and Google Play Support. Previously the same phone appeared on Geekbench and in leaked schematics . The Google Play Support page mentions the same HTC 2Q9J1000 model number we saw earlier. Seeing how this is a Pro there is likely to be a vanilla version in the pipeline as well, but we haven't heard anything about it. HTC Desire 20 Pro certifications When the phones eventually arrive, they will be a follow-up of the Desire 19 lineup that brought us the Desire 19s and Desire 19+ . Both of them had unimpressive Helio chipsets (respectively P22 and P35) and the main camera was 13 MP f/1.9 with PDAF on both of them. Hopefully, this year’s Desire lineup will get in line with the current trends and introduce big batteries, fast charging, and better cameras if HTC w...

The latest predictions from analysts IDC concerns the global smartphone shipments and they sound properly grim. Total shipments for 2020 are expected to reach 1.2 billion units which would be an 11.9% decline compared to 2019. The new estimate is based on the Q1 shipment results which saw the largest decline in smartphone sales in the history of IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker at -14.5%. Looking at the first half of 2020, IDC predicts an 18.2% decline in shipments due to lowered consumer spending. According to IDC’s Sangeetika Srivastava, the main issue now is a lack of demand on behalf of consumers. On a more regional basis, the new report suggests that China will see a single-digit decline in shipments for the current year as COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted and demand is slowly recovering. The situation in Europe is more difficult as countries like Italy and Spain are still actively fighting the pandemic. In the long-term, IDC expects th...

The second-gen Motorola Razr is expected to arrive in September and while Motorola hasn't revealed any details about the Razr 2 (unofficial name) yet, new information coming our way reveals the foldable smartphone will sport displays bigger than its predecessor's. Motorola Razr 2019 According to Display Supply Chain Consultants' (DSCC) CEO Ross Young, the Razr 2 will come with a 6.7" main display, which is 0.5" larger than the current Razr. Young claims that the secondary external screen on the Razr 2 will also have a larger diagonal, but doesn't reveal the exact size. The current Razr comes with a 2.7" secondary display, and Motorola will be looking to maximize the available area on the cover better this time around. The Motorola Razr doesn't support 5G, but rumors have it that Razr 2 will support the next-gen networks - thanks to the Snapdragon 765 SoC at the helm. Other rumored specs include 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, Android ...

We saw the specs of the Redmi 9 family on Monday , and now we have first live pics of what is allegedly the mightiest member of the lineup - Redmi 9 . The device has three shooters positioned vertically and a fingerprint scanner right below them> There is also a fourth snapper and an LED flash on the right side. This whole combo looks a lot like the Redmi K30 and Redmi K30i with its circular design and vertical alignments, although the camera placement with the flash and the fingerprint scanner reminisces more of the predecessor Redmi Note 8 Pro . The Redmi 9 is pictured in two colors on the photo - Teal/Green and Violet. One of the versions has some text right next to the camera, while the other doesn’t, suggesting these might not be actual phones but just mock-ups with different colors. Camera placement of the Redmi Note 8 Pro The leak on Weibo claims the Redmi 9 will have a Helio G80 chipset, which is slightly different than the previous set of specs, sugge...

Nokia today announced a new 43-inch 4K LED Smart TV in India. It runs Android Pie and has a CA53 quad-core processor at the helm clocked at 1.0 GHz. The smart TV has 2.25GB RAM onboard with 16GB storage. The Nokia 43" 4K Smart TV sports an LED panel that has a brightness of 300 nits and a viewing angle of 178 degrees. The screen has slim bezels on the top, left and right sides, and supports Dolby Vision, HDR10 and MEMC technology. In terms of audio, the Nokia 43" 4K Smart TV has 24W speakers onboard and it comes with JBL sound enhancements for deep bass and clean vocal tones. However, the 4K TV also comes with Dolby Audio and DTS TruSurround for a better audio experience. Since this is an Android TV, you can download apps and games from the Google Play Store and it also supports popular video streaming apps YouTube and Netflix, which have dedicated hotkeys on the TV remote along with a key for the Google Assistant. Besides, the Smart TV has Chromecas...