Jio Prime Rs. 399 Plan gives 1GB per day for 84 days, Rs. 309 for 56 days

The Jio Prime membership that became functional in March 2017 had offered its subscribers with a Dhan Dhana Dhan offer where users were given four months of data and free calls for the price of one month. Now that the plan is going to end, the users are now given a new offer where paying Rs. 399 gives you the same plan for a total of three months, i.e. 84 days. Also, for someone who wants a lesser price for now will be getting the validity of 56 days for Rs. 309.

The new set of plan benefits will be available from 11th July and will be applicable for all new as well as existing subscribers. As part of these unlimited benefit, customers can enjoy 1GB Data per day at 4G speed followed by unlimited at 128 kbps, unlimited local, STD and national roaming voice calls and unlimited national SMS.

Jio is also introducing Every Day More Value (EDMV) that provide 20% more value than its competitors’ best plans. In a way, that is true because the validity of 84 days is good for that price, which gives it an average price of Rs. 133 per month for 1GB per day of 4G data and then unlimited at 128 kbps, and there is unlimited free calling and SMS on home network and during national roaming.

Do you still think you would stick to Jio after the actual offer has ended? Has the network been stable enough for you to consider tagging along and taking the Jio services ahead of the others that you have been using earlier?

Facebook, Airtel to Roll Out 20,000 Express Wi-Fi Hotspots in India

Facebook has rolled out in India, its ‘Express Wi-Fi’ service that offers Internet facility through public hotspots to users in rural parts of the country.

Social networking giant Facebook has rolled out in India, its ‘Express Wi-Fi’ service that offers Internet facility through public hotspots to users in rural parts of the country.

The commercial roll out of the project comes a year after Facebook pulled the plug on the controversial ‘Free Basics’ programme that drew severe criticism from advocates of net neutrality.

Unlike Free Basics that provided access to selected websites for free, Express Wi-Fi works on a “paid” model and the access will not be restricted to any particular websites.

Users can log onto public wi-fi hotspots made available through partner telecom operators and buy daily, weekly or monthly data packs being sold through local entrepreneurs.

over 20,000 wi-fi hotspots over the next few months.

“India’s population is about 1.3 billion people, but only 390 million are connected to the Internet. Express Wi-Fi is part of our global initiative and we want to expand Internet connectivity to underserved locations,” Facebook Asia Pacific Head of Connectivity Solutions Munish Seth told PTI.

He added that Facebook is working with internet services providers (ISPs) and over 500 local entrepreneur retailers.

Internet user base in the country has seen a significant jump in the last few years, helped by smartphones becoming more affordable and data prices falling, especially after Reliance Jio rolled out services.
Tech giant Google has also rolled out free Internet access through public wi-fi hotspots at various railway stations in partnership with RailTel.

“The market still remains under-penetrated and all these efforts (by others) will help expand it further,” Seth said.

Asked about the role Facebook will play in the programme, he said the company will just provide the platform and solutions.

“We will not charge the ISP/telecom operator or the entrepreneur. The operator decides on the pricing and will handle the data as the Internet traffic flows through their system. We are just providing the solutions,” he added.

Facebook’s Express Wi-Fi service is available through nearly 700 hotspots across the four Indian states of Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Meghalaya. Facebook had started testing Express Wi-Fi in India in 2015.
The tariffs are dependent on the operator and the validity of the plan.

The ISPs are AirJaldi in Uttarakhand, LMES in Rajasthan, Tikona in Gujarat, and roll out in Meghalaya is being carried out by a company called Shaildhar.

Express Wi-Fi is also live in four other countries — Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Indonesia.
The US-based company had launched the Free Basics programme in 2015 in partnership with Reliance Communications and allowed access to selected websites.

However, it met severe criticism as critics saw this as violation of the principle of net neutrality that advocates equal treatment of all internet traffic.

Facebook finally pulled the plug on the controversy-ridden programme in India in February last year after sectoral regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India barred operators from charging discriminatory rates for Internet-access based on content.

Interestingly, Facebook continues to run the Free Basics programme across many countries.

Google releases YouTube Go app for millions of people on slow internet

YouTube's new app for India's flaky internet market is finally here.

A beta version of YouTube Go app, first unveiled last year, has gone live on Google Play, the company says.

Google plans to release a stable version of the app later and also intends to make it available in other developing markets.

SEE ALSO: India has the slowest Internet speeds in Asia, but things are changing slowly

Unveiled at Google for India event last September, YouTube Go has been designed to work on slow and flaky internet connections.

The app offers a range of features to give users more control over how they want to consume videos. Users can save videos for offline viewing, for instance, and also select the video resolution in accordance with their internet availability

Additionally, users can also share videos between them using Wi-Fi Direct capability, a feature that the flagship YouTube app doesn't offer. These features could come in handy for Indians.

Image: Manish Singh/Mashable India

Even as an increasingly growing number of Indian people are coming online, the quality of internet remains poor for most. According to a report by Akamai, only about 30 percent of Indians have a connection that is faster than 4Mbps.

Google originally planned to make YouTube Go available in India late last year, but the company says it took additional time to perform extensive tests.

"Some things we've learned in the run-up to this beta release include making the home screen fresher and more relevant for users, so they can find amazing videos easily," Jay Akkad, Product Manager, YouTube wrote in a blog post.

"We've also worked hard behind the scenes to make sharing videos with nearby friends an even more seamless experience, and ensuring that the app works well across a wide range of phones and connectivity."

WATCH: This inventor built a real-life 'Iron Man' suit and it's awesome

List of Smartphones having Dual-lens rear Camera

Dual camera setup on the back has an existence since over two years now because HTC introduced that in the One M8 smartphone and then there were several phones coming with their own unique combinations that offer different use cases, and that is good because you know what to expect from a dual-lens rear camera when buying a particular phone having it.

Before we jump into the list of phones, let’s talk a bit about what the Dual-lens camera is all about and how does it offer better features than a single standard camera that you see on most of the smartphones. The two lenses in the system have their own sensors and the cameras are placed quite close to each other in most of the cases.

Unlike how it was earlier, now the dual-lens camera setups offer more than just measuring the depth of field. For example, the Huawei P9 has two different sensors that not just do the depth-of-field calculation but also offers the users with better quality of capture because of a monochrome sensor included in one of the lenses.

Also, even if it isn’t the case with all of them, most of the dual cameras have a faster focus capability in smartphones. Thanks to the software support, these dual lens camera smartphones have a capability of refocusing on the subjects even after the capture is done. Remember that this kind of technology was there in specially made cameras just a few years back but now, the smartphones can do that, thanks to the advancement in technology.

Now, let’s check out the list of smartphones that have a Dual-lens rear camera setup, and also check what’s so good in each of them.

List of smartphones with dual camera on back

Huawei Honor 6X

The Honor 6X was released in January of 2017 after showcasing it at the CES 2017. It has a Dual-lens camera at the rear with a 12MP and 2MP sensors. It comes with the 6P Lens and Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF). One of the lenses has monochrome sensor while the other has RGB sensor. This makes the perfect setup to take the snaps beautifully. The pictures are captured with a perfect bokeh effect such as in SLRs.

Speaking of other specifications, Honor 6X features a 5.5-inch full-HD display and runs on the company’s home-brewed octa-core Kirin 655 processor. It is powered by 3340 mAh battery and supports fast charging technology.

Huawei P10 and P10 Plus

The Huawei Honor P10 and Honor P10 Plus sports a dual-lens camera. One of the sensors being 20MP and other is 12MP are provided by the Leica optics. It has Phase Detection and Laser Autofocus. It is capable of recording 4K videos at 30fps and 1080p videos at 60fps.

Coming to the other specifications, both the phones are powered by the Huawei’s home brewed HiSilicon Kirin 960. They both have an 8MP front camera.

LG G5

LG having decided to equip the LG G5 with the Dual-lens camera had made the LG G5 successful. The dual camera on the G5; has 16MP and 8MP sensors with Optical image Stabilization (OIS). The 8MP sensor on the rear is capable of taking wide angle shots. The rear sensors are capable of shooting 4K videos at 30fps and slo-mo videos at 120fps.

Coming to the other specifications of LG G5, it has 5.2-inch Quad HD display with Snapdragon 820 under the hood. It has 4GB of RAM and 2800 mAh battery.

LG G6

The LG G6, same as its predecessor LG G5 also has the Dual-lens camera in the rear. This time LG has decided to put up two 13MP sensors on the rear instead. The first 13MP sensor can take snaps with f/1.8 and comes with OIS (optical image stabilization) and Phase detection Autofocus (PDAF) while the second 13MP sensor can take snaps with f/2.4. It is capable of shooting videos in 4K at 30fps and 1080p at 60fps.

Talking about other specifications, the LG G6 has a 5.7-inch 4K display and is powered by the best in class Snapdragon 821. It has a battery capacity of 3300 mAh and supports Quick Charge 3.0.

Lenovo Phab2 Plus

The Lenovo Phab2 Plus boasts a dual 13MP f/2.0 sensors on the rear which have Augmented reality effects. The dual camera setup on the back makes the snaps which come out very beautiful with bokeh and other special effects.

Coming to the other specifications, it has a 6.4-inch full HD IPS LCD display and an Octa-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53 Mediatek MT8783 processor paired with 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage capacity.

Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus

The rear camera of the Mi 5s Plus has the dual-lens camera of two 13MP f/2.0 sensors. One of the sensor being a color sensor and the other is the monochrome sensor. It captures the photos in a beautiful way with all the SLR effects including bokeh effect.

Talking about other specifications, the Mi 5s Plus comes with a 5.7-inch full HD 1080p display and is available in two variants based on storage priorities. The rear cameras are capable of shooting 4K videos at 30fps and 1080p at 60fps.

HTC One M8

HTC calls this the Duo lens camera and it comes with features such as UFOCUS, where you can change the focus later after the capture is finished. Though it is what a dual-lens camera setup ideally does, HTC couldn’t do more than this on the One M8.

But credit to HTC for being an early bird in this field, which is now one prominent good feature that even one of the largest brands in the world, Apple, has considered having two cameras on the back of its latest iPhone.

Huawei P9 and Huawei P9 Plus

The dual-lens camera combination given on the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus is a unique one. That is because while one lens has a standard RGB sensor, the other lens has a monochrome sensor. The monochrome sensor allows more light capture and thus, a proper detail is held by it, while the RGB sensor takes the color calculation, both of which work together to come up with a perfect capture with neat color saturation.

Also, if that is not enough, the monochrome sensor works well to take the Black and White photos separately. And the bokeh effect, i.e. the background defocus that is done with the measurement of depth-of-field is also done with a good software help. Huawei has worked with Leica to come up with this good combination and some standards are maintained even on the software side, so you finally see some quality captures thanks to the two cameras on the back.

Apple iPhone 7 Plus

Apple’s iPhone for 2016, i.e. the iPhone 7 Plus variant now has a dual camera on the back. This is for the first time that Apple has used two cameras to work on different things and come out with a better capture than what would come from a standard camera.

The functioning of the cameras is different from the other offerings, though. This is because the two 12-megapixel lenses in the iPhone 7 Plus are Wide-angle and telephoto cameras, where the telephoto lens can do some optical zooming, and the other lens is useful for wide-angle shots. Of course, you’d be able to do a lot more, including the depth of field and focusing as well.

LG G5

The LG G5 carries the great camera quality ahead from its predecessor, the LG G4. But the G4 had a good 16-megaxpixel camera while LG had added a secondary lens beside its 16-megapixel camera, and the 8-megapixel shooter here is a help for wide-angle shots.

When using the camera, if you are zooming into a subject, the camera gets automatically changed and you get a wider shot or you can always directly choose to switch to the other lens. It also offers other camera features like defocusing, and after how well LG did on the LG G4, you can expect great quality captures on the LG G5 as well.

LG V20

The LG V20, just like the LG G5 has a 16 megapixel (f/1.8) and an 8 megapixel (f/2.4) wide angle sensor. The V20 is a better handset in several ways and thus, costs a premium. In fact, LG V20 is the first phone to run Android 7.0 Nougat OS.

The V20 runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and the camera on the back can capture 4K videos. The wide-angle camera is capable of taking a 135-degree shot.

Huawei Honor 6 Plus

The Honor 6 Plus was the first attempt from Huawei in having two cameras together on the back. It was a good one but the results were not as impressive as one would have expected but the majority of the blame goes on the software because the cameras were decent enough.

If the camera was still good enough because there was not much competition faced in that department, the device seemed a bit disappointing.

Honor 8

The Honor device offered for 2016 is the Honor 8, and it also comes with the dual camera setup. This combination is working well for Huawei and no surprises why they are using it again and again.

In the Honor 8, you won’t see the Leica branding but everything else is almost the same that we have seen in the Huawei P9, so you are getting to see two 12-megapixel lenses, with one having an RGB sensor and other one having a monochrome one.

XOLO Black

XOLO Black was one of the most affordable smartphones having this combination of dual cameras. It had a 13MP+2MP combination where the regular 13MP camera does the capture part and the 2MP camera records the depth of field to defocus the background in the picture.

It was honestly a good attempt from XOLO because none of the other smartphones having a dual-lens camera had a price that could challenge this one.

Qiku Q Terra

Qiku is not a very well-known name when it comes to smartphones, but it still attempted to have a unique camera combination that makes the device stand out from the crowd. The Qiku Q Terra has two 13-megapixel cameras, one below the other.

The Q Terra has a Sony IMX278 RGBW CMOS Image Sensor and IMX214 MONO Black&White night vision sensor. The first feature adds a white pixel to every pixel, improving the amount of light by 40% and removing 78% of the noise from any image or video captured in low-light environments.

ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom was announced at the CES 2017 event in Las Vegas. It features a dual-lens camera on the back but it is a different combination than others. The one here is similar to one in the Apple iPhone 7 Plus, where the second lens is for zooming in having 2.3x optical zoom and up to 12x zoom.

Other phones that have a Dual-lens camera

• TCL 598
• ZTE Axon Pro
• ZTE Axon Elite
• Coolpad Cool1 dual
• Vivo Xplay 6
• Gionee S9
• Micromax Dual 5
• Micromax Dual 4
• Huawei Honor Magic
• Huawei Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro
• HTC Butterfly 2 and Butterfly 3

JioFiber Preview Offer to give 100 Mbps broadband for 3 months

JioFiber, the broadband service from Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. is almost here as some users are reporting about the availability of the Preview offer of JioFiber on the Jio.com website. The Preview Offer is similar to how it was offered to the Jio subscribers for the first three months. Here, it seems to be limited to some localities but things are at least taking shape now.

From the details, we’ve gathered from our sources, Reliance-backed Jio will be offering a broadband plan with the 100MBPS speed with 100GB FUP limit per month, post the 100GB data the speed will come down to 1MBPS which seems too less for a 100MBPS connection. The biggest eye turning feature with the JioFiber is the preview offer for three months for users who sign up; this is nothing new for Jio, as we are enjoying the Jio free services since the past 7-8 months. In a similar way, JioFiber Preview offer would also be available for users for three months where you don’t need to pay anything during the three month period. However, you will have to pay Rs. 4,500 which will be refunded back after the three months. although, complete terms and conditions for this refundable deposit are yet to be known.

Redmi launch 4A jest Rs 5,999

Power and speed in an
ultra-light package

The new Redmi 4A is better, faster, and is possibly your best companion for both work and leisure. It packs a Snapdragon 425 64-bit, quad-core processor and a massive 3120mAh (typ)/ 3030mAh (min) battery that guarantees you smoother experience throughout the day. Yet it remains light - just 131.5g - and boasts a smooth matte finish that feels great in your hands. Beneath the 12.7cm (5) HD display runs MIUI 8, the latest operating system that is the most gorgeous and user-friendly operating system we've introduced so far.

High-capacity
3120mAh (typ)/ 3030mAh (min) battery, 
Beyond all day battery life

Redmi 4A is powered by the large-capacity 3120mAh (typ)/ 3030mAh (min) battery, and coupled with system-level MIUI optimisations, it guarantees up to an average 7-day standby time. So now you can enjoy movie marathons, launch apps, and play games without worrying about running out of battery.

13MP camera,
Captures picture perfect moments

Take gorgeous group photos and scenic shots on the new Redmi 4A. It is equipped with a 13MP camera that captures sharp and crisp photos. MIUI intelligently classifies them based on date and is even able to detect if it is a panoramic shot or a screenshot. So now you have a handy companion to help you take, edit, and save those memories that are meant to be kept forever.

2 accounts 
for all your apps

Discover Dual apps on MIUI 8, which allows you to create and sign into dual accounts for any app, and that includes WhatsApp, Facebook, and more.

Simplify your life with
MIUI 8

Be in awe whenever you pick up your Redmi 4A. It runs on MIUI 8 - our most gorgeous and user-friendly operating system to date. We've included some major design and software overhauls that will help you to be even more effective and efficient in your daily life. You can now take scrolling screenshots, calculate currency conversions, create dual app log-ins, and expect more as we roll out more version updates in the future.

Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 425
64-bit processor

Expect fast app launches and fluid gaming experiences on Redmi 4A, packed with Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 425 64-bit processor and Adreno 308 graphics processing unit.

12.7cm (5) HD display

Redmi 4A has a 12.7cm (5) fully laminated display packed with pixels for HD resolution. It also has Read mode, which prevents eye fatigue by reducing blue light rays from the screen. Colour temperature can also be adjusted based on your preference - warm, standard, or cool.

Dual SIM slot
3-choose-2

The Dual SIM slot supports two SIM cards to send and receive calls and messages from two different phone numbers. If you only have one SIM card, you have the option to add a microSD card for up to 128GB of storage.

Note:
Note: Redmi 4A weighs 131.5g, including the battery. Redmi 4A battery has 3120mAh (typ)/ 3030mAh (min) capacity. Battery life results and other data are obtained via internal lab tests unless otherwise stated and may vary depending on the environment or test conditions. 200 million MIUI users as of May 2016, figure is subject to change over time.

The 1GB Per Day Offers – Jio vs. Airtel vs. Idea vs. Vodafone – The Fineprint!

Not long ago, most of us used to pay about Rs. 250 on average for 1GB of data, irrespective of the network that we were on. There were some exceptions, but not so much that we jump to that offer with ease or without a second thought. Now, thanks to the entry of Reliance Jio network in the market, every network has bent down. Literally, so much that what we used to get per month is now going to be available per day, and you just need to pay a bit more to add the free calling as a benefit.

Reliance Jio introduced something like called the Jio Prime membership and under that, a user can get 1GB of data every day for a monthly charge of Rs. 303. It did come as a tough one for the other networks, so much that they desperately started introducing several recharge offers for their existing customers so that they don’t give a thought about porting their number to the Jio network.

The new one’s network strength and reach are yet to be called reliable already, but when the offers are so tempting, many would be happy to have an additional SIM for the data benefits. Now, the competitors have given offers so good enough that it rules out the porting option from the minds.

But, it isn’t something new from these operators. The T&C (Terms and Conditions) that are applied with these offers, which are not mentioned when you are shown the offer. In this guide below, let’s compare the specific offers that are giving 1GB data per day and the other benefits.

Jio Prime Rs. 303 Monthly Recharge Offer

• You need to pay Rs. 99 initial fee to enroll yourself in Jio Prime
• Rs. 303 will be the monthly charges, which you will have to recharge with or pay the monthly bill
• Before March 31st, you can enroll (by paying Rs. 99) and recharge (with Rs. 303) to get the plan benefits
• 1GB per day data will be given, across the day with no timely restrictions
• Once the daily data limit is crossed, you will be charged from the main balance or there are certain data packs available from which the excess data is charged (Rs. 51 for 1GB, Rs. 201 for 5GB)
• Calls will be free, forever as they are data-based calls. There is no limit for this.
• 100 SMS free every day (TRAI regulations limit it to 100 per number)
• Subscription to Jio apps (JioCinema, JioTV, JioMusic, JioCloud, etc.)
• National roaming: Free outgoing and incoming calls, free outgoing and incoming SMS, regular data usage with no special costs

Airtel 345 / 349 Monthly Recharge Offer

Note: The Rs. 345 – 349 cost is based on the region.

• You don’t need to pay anything to enroll, just recharge and the benefits begin
• But first, you need to check if your number is eligible to get this recharge offer
• Rs. 345 to Rs. 349 is the monthly recharge to be done
• Validity of the plan: 28 days
• Recharge before March 31st so that you can continue recharging every month later to get the same benefits
• 1GB per day data will be offered, and there are no time restrictions
• We called Airtel thrice to confirm it and they said there is nothing like Day and Night data, but some users did get the message that out of 1GB, 500MB will be night data (2 a.m. to 5 a.m.) and 500MB will be during the day (5 a.m. to 2 a.m.)
• Once the limit is crossed, you will be charged from the main account. It is at 8 paise per 10kb, or Rs. 8 per MB or Rs. 8000 per GB.
• Local and STD Calls will be free (but according to T&C, it is capped at 300 minutes per day and 1200 minutes per week)
• Once the call limit is reached, you will be charged 30 paise per minute for local and STD calls
• No free SMS in the plan
• National roaming: From April 1st, incoming calls will be free during roaming. Outgoing calls and SMS will have regular charges

According to Airtel, if you don’t want the main balance to be used once the data is exhausted, you need to send STOP to 1925 so that the number can use data only if there is data balance and disconnected once the limit is reached.

Idea 346 Monthly Recharge Offer

• You don’t need to pay anything to enroll, just recharge and the benefits begin
• But first, you need to check if your number is eligible to get this recharge offer
• Rs. 346 is the monthly recharge to be done
• Validity of the plan: 28 days
• Recharge before March 31st so that you can continue recharging every month later to get the same benefits
• 1GB per day data will be offered, but there are time restrictions
• Out of 1GB, 500MB will be night data (12 a.m. to 6 a.m.) and 500MB will be during the day (6 a.m. to 12 a.m.)
• If you cross the data limit for the day, you will be charged 4 paise per 10 kb (i.e. Rs. 4 per MB or Rs. 4000 per GB) and if there is no balance in your phone, Internet will be disconnected for the day
• Local and STD Calls will be free, with the same cap as on Airtel and Vodafone – 300 minutes per day and 1200 minutes per week.
• Once the call limit is crossed, all the local and STD calls will be at 30 paise per minute
• No free SMS in the plan
• National roaming: From April 1st, incoming calls will be free during roaming. Outgoing calls and SMS will have regular charges

Vodafone 345 / 352 Monthly Recharge Offer

• You don’t need to pay anything to enroll, just recharge and the benefits begin
• Recharge before March 15th night to get this offer, or before March 31st to get 1GB per day for 28 days
• But first, you need to check if your number is eligible to get this recharge offer
  Rs. 352 is the monthly recharge to be done
• Validity of the plan: 56 days (28 x 2, i.e. 2 months on one recharge)
• 1GB per day data with no time restrictions, i.e. you can use data anytime across the day
• Once the daily limit is crossed, you will be charged from the regular balance at 4 paise per 10 kb (i.e. Rs. 4 per MB or Rs. 4000 per GB) and if there is no balance in your phone, Internet will be disconnected for the day
• Local and STD calls will be free with a cap of 300 minutes per day and 1200 minutes per week
• Once the limit of calls is crossed, it will be 30 paise per minute for the calls
• No free SMS in the plan
• National roaming: Charges will be applicable for calls and SMS on national roaming.

• Conclusion – Always ask for the Terms and Conditions

• I’ll be frank. I am not completely convinced with the speeds offered by Jio network and I haven’t really traveled much to judge if it works almost everywhere like Airtel did for me in most, but what is being offered by Reliance Jio is much better than the other two – Airtel, Idea, and Vodafone.

  Wow, there is a lot hidden behind those SMS messages sent by the networks about the new offers. You now know how much is hidden in those T&Cs, and if you don’t stop the data charges from your main account, 1GB of excess data usage can cost you Rs. 4000 (Idea and Vodafone) to Rs. 8000 (Airtel).

  For calls, Jio calls are free and unlimited, and that is easy to understand. The unlimited offers from the other two have a limit in actual, all of them at 300 minutes per day or 1200 per week.

  For data, you now know how many hidden rules are there about the time restrictions, post-FUP limit, etc.

  SMS and national roaming is another story!

  Note: All these offers and their terms were confirmed by us by calling the respective customer care providers and also the representatives of the operators.

MIUI 9 with Android Nougat – List of phones expected to get update

Xiaomi’s next version of MIUI, the MIUI 9 version is said to be based on Android Nougat OS. It will be feature-loaded, as usual, because Xiaomi has always been bringing out the major MIUI updates with a huge changelog. Will we see anything less in the upcoming one? Surely not, as the MIUI 9 is said to be bringing not just the new features made exclusively for Xiaomi devices but will take advantage of the Android Nougat OS as well.

Of course, being based on Android Nougat is already one big thing because Xiaomi phones have not been very good with the Android OS updates, though the company has been sending regular MIUI updates, large or small.

MIUI 9 Features Expected

For the features, we expect some special ones and you can check out the MIUI 9 features list that we had posted, though it is not a confirmed one but has most of the likely features that might roll out in the update.

Better management of RAM, better Doze feature for battery saving when the device is resting, and an improved data saver is what we expect to surely see on the MIUI 9 update. But then, who would be the lucky phone users to get this update? It should be a known fact that not every Xiaomi phone will be eligible to receive the Android Nougat based MIUI update.

MIUI 9 Eligible Devices

Note: The list is an unofficial one and we haven’t got any information from Xiaomi about the eligible phones, but we are making this based on the update cycle followed in the past. But, you can bookmark this link so as to check later, as we will be updating the page with official info whenever available.

For now, following is the list of phones that we expect to see getting the MIUI 9 update.

• Xiaomi Mi 5c
• Xiaomi Mi5
• Xiaomi Mi MIX
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3
• Xiaomi Redmi 4X
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
• Xiaomi Mi Note
• Xiaomi Mi Note Pro
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
• Xiaomi Mi Max
• Xiaomi Mi Max Prime

Some phones that are not likely to receive the MIUI 9 update are as follows.

• Xiaomi Redmi Note
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4g
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
• Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime
• Xiaomi Redmi 1s
• Xiaomi Redmi 1s Prime
• Xiaomi Mi3
• Xiaomi Mi4

We will keep updating this page with the relevant information whenever available, so stay tuned to learn about the release date of MIUI 9 update and the phones that can receive the update loaded with Android Nougat OS.

ProTruly’s Darling smartphone comes with a 360-degree camera

Year over year, we see companies launching unconventional smartphones that stand out in the regular lot with a great idea and unique style. ProTruly is one such company that came up with one such device; Darling that hits all the right features in the best possible way.

The ProTruly Darling seems to the first ever smartphone to come with a built-in 360-degree camera thus allowing you to take images in all directions at once and lets you preview them. You can even upload those 360-degree images to social media sites that support 360-degree footage.

Just as you would expect, the ProTruly comes with enormous camera module on both the front and back making it uncomfortable to fit in pockets. With 360-degree images growing popular, it only makes sense to have this feature on board.

The device comes in two different variants, the standard model and the high-end model. While the standard model has plastic camera build, the high-end model packs leather, a strip of gold, and four embedded diamonds. The Darling smartphone was launched back in last year and now it popped up at the MWC 2017 event.

There seems to be a confusion in the pricing, as ChinaDaily claims the standard version costs at $600 and the higher-end for close to $1,300. While Mashable reports at $500 and $800. Currently, the device is available only in China.