Wednesday, 2 September 2020

ZTE Launches World's First Phone With Under-Screen Selfie Camera

After teasing its fullscreen display-enabling technology for a while, Chinese mobile maker ZTE has officially launched the first commercial phone featuring an under-screen front-facing camera.


The Axon 20 5G eschews a hole punch or notch solution for its 32-megapixel selfie camera, and instead hides it underneath its 6.9-inch 90Hz OLED display, which is surrounded by minimal bezels on all four sides.

According to ZTE, the area around the camera looks just as bright and vivid as the rest of the screen. The company says it has achieved this using a high transparency material that features organic and inorganic films.

Putting a camera under the screen makes it harder to match the quality of an unobstructed smartphone camera, so to compensate ZTE has developed software algorithms that address haze, glare, and color cast issues in photos.

The company also referred to "color synchronization" between the camera and the display, which sounds as if it captures images between the screen's PWM flicker. (PWM flicker is a way of controlling screen brightness by adding some breaks without light emittance.)

The phone also features an under-display fingerprint sensor and an under-screen speaker system. Elsewhere, on the rear, there's a 64-megapixel camera backed by an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens with 2-megapixel depth and macro sensors.

The Axon 20 5G will be available to order in China from September 10 at a cost of about $320, but it's unclear if it will become available internationally.


This isn't the first time we've seen a Chinese company unveil a solution to the ubiquitous smartphone display notch. Oppo teased its own under-screen camera prototype way back in June 2019, but the technology has yet to appear in a consumer Oppo phone.

Apple is thought to be working towards a notchless iPhone design. The notch has been a controversial design decision since it debuted on the ‌‌iPhone‌‌ X in 2017, and it has always felt like a stopgap on the way to an ‌‌iPhone‌‌ with a truly edge-to-edge display, but when that will appear remains unknown.

Apple's 2020 ‌iPhone‌ lineup is widely expected to include an enhanced triple rear camera system, with at least one high-end model featuring an additional LiDAR camera for 3D mapping. The display notch, which houses Apple's TrueDepth camera and Face ID tech, will almost certainly remain, although there have been conflicting rumors regarding whether the notch will be smaller or the same size as on previous models.
Tag: ZTE

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Samsung's New 4K Ultra Short Throw Laser Projector Promises a Cinematic Experience for Small Spaces

Samsung is adding a new projector to its home cinema gadget lineup with the Premiere, a 4K ultra short throw laser projector that will roll out worldwide later this year.

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Apple's iPhone 11 Was the Most-Shipped Smartphone in First Half of 2020

Apple's iPhone 11 was the most-shipped smartphone in the first half this year and has been the single most popular handset of 2020, according to new research by Omdia.


Apple shipped an estimated 37.7 million ‌iPhone 11‌ units this year, which is 10.8 million more units than last year's top-selling model, the iPhone XR.

A key driver of the success of the ‌iPhone 11‌ was adjudged to be the lower starting price, which is $50 cheaper than the ‌iPhone XR‌ yet adding significant hardware improvements. The report notes that due to these improvements, iPhone sales have remained strong in 2020, despite the global health crisis.

The second most popular handset of 2020 has been Samsung's Galaxy A51 (11.4 million units shipped), followed by Xiaomi's Redmi Note 8 (11 million units) and Redmi Note 8 Pro (10.2 million units).

Several other ‌iPhone‌ models also make the top 10 ranking, including the 2020 iPhone SE in fifth place (8.7 million units shipped), followed by the ‌iPhone XR‌ (8 million units) and iPhone 11 Pro Max (7.7 million unity). The iPhone 11 Pro ranked tenth (6.7 million units).

Shipments of the ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ and ‌iPhone 11 Pro‌ models decreased compared to the previous ‌iPhone‌ Xs Max and Xs, but their rankings improved, according to Omdia.

Top 10 most-shipped smartphones in 1H2020 (millions of units)
According Omdia’s smartphone market tracker report, Apple shipped 13% more iPhones in the second quarter this year compare to the previous year thanks to the success of the ‌iPhone 11‌ and the newly released ‌iPhone SE‌.
Last year's list featured four Samsung models, whereas this year's featured just one mid-tier model. None of Samsung's flagship devices made the top 10, and were instead replaced by Xiaomi's Redmi's line of devices, doubling the number of Xiaomi models compared to 2019.

Bloomberg yesterday shared several details about new Apple products that are expected later this year, including four new iPhone 12 models with OLED displays, flat-edged designs, and 5G support.

Rumors suggest there will be two sizes of the ‌iPhone 12‌ Pro, including one with a 6.1-inch display and another with a 6.7-inch display. The devices are expected to be introduced in October.
Related Roundup: iPhone 11
Buyer's Guide: iPhone 11 (Don't Buy)

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Tuesday, 1 September 2020

Metal Gear Solid Sees Another Delay and Trivial Pursuit Embraces Horror in Gaming News

Welcome back to Gaming Shelf, io9's column all about board games and tabletop roleplaying games. In this latest edition, we’ve got a board game about gods celebrating the wonder of dinosaurs, some awesome roleplaying dice inlaid with (fake) mosquitos, and another delay for one of IDW’s most anticipated games. Check it…

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Thank God, We'll Play as the Interesting Hawkeye in the Avengers Game

Sorry, Hawkeye. We’ll be playing as Hawkeye, please and thank you.

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