Gionee Elife S5.5, World’s Slimmest Smartphone, Launching in India on March 30

World’s slimmest Android smartphone, Gionee Elife S5.5, will arrive in India on March 30. Indian media has already started to receive invitations at the launch event, which will take place at the end of this month.

According to GadgetsToUse, the Elife S5.5 will be officially introduced in India on March 30/31, but it might go on sale at a later date. The Chinese company is expected to offer more details at the launch event, but we suspect customers who wish to own the world’s thinnest Android smartphone will have to come up with around Rs 20,000 ($330 / €235) or Rs 25,000 ($410 / €295) upfront. However, it remains to be seen if the amount speculated will be confirmed by Gionee at the launch event, along with the actual availability date of the smartphone. It is also worth mentioning the Chinese handset maker launched the Elife S5.5 in the Mainland in mid-February and priced the smartphone at $370 (€270), so the price shouldn’t be too different in India. Gionee Elife S5.5 was recently showcased at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014 trade fair, and most of its specs sheet has been confirmed.

The smartphone is only 5.5mm thin, and, despite its thickness, it boasts an improved 13-megapixel rear-facing photo snapper that features autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording. Apart from the slim design, Gionee Elife S5.5 should appeal to Android enthusiasts and fans thanks to its powerful hardware. In this regard, the handset is armed with a more than decent 1.7GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6592 processor, which is complemented by 2GB of RAM. The bad news is the sleek smartphone only packs 16GB of internal memory and no microSD card. This means users will only be able to expand internal memory through various cloud storage services. Nevertheless, the stunning 5-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display that supports full HD (1080p) resolution and comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 coating should make it easier for potential customers to forget Gionee did not add a microSD card slot.

Moreover, Gionee Elife S5.5 packs a secondary 5-megapixel front-facing camera, as well as various connectivity options such as HSDPA 42Mbps, HSUPA, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi. Software-wise, the smartphone is a bit of a disappointment. According to Gionee, the Elife S5.5 is powered by its own tailored Amigo OS 2.0, which is based on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system. This is a rather old platform for a smartphone that aims for the top-tier range.

Gionee Elife S5.5 launch invitation

Gionee Elife S5.5
Images credits to Gionee

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OPPO Find 7 Specs Confirmed Once Again

Chinese handset vendor OPPO will make yet another Android-based smartphone official in the coming weeks, in the form of OPPO Find 7, and some more info on what to expect from the device has emerged online.

The handset has been detailed before a few times, and it seems that some of its specs and features have been confirmed via a post on weibo, at least this is what GizChina reports. First of all, we should note that the device will be indeed launched in two flavors, one with a full HD screen and another one with a 2K display, something that OPPO has been teasing before. Moreover, it appears that the full HD variant of the device will hit the market with a Snapdragon 800 processor inside, paired with 2GB of RAM, while packing 16GB of internal memory.

Moreover, it will sport a 5MP front camera, along with a second-generation 13MP Sony camera on the back, with an f/2.0 aperture. Basically, there will be no 50MP sensor packed on the device, as recently rumored. For those out of the loop, we should note that OPPO has already confirmed plans to make the phone official on March 19, during a press event in Beijing. The handset is expected to cost around 3000 Yuan ($490/€352) when released.

OPPO Find 7
Image credits to red-dot

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Xiaomi Hongmi 2 Allegedly Confirmed with Octa-Core CPU Inside

Chinese mobile phone maker Xiaomi is reportedly gearing up for the launch of a new flavor of its Hongmi smartphone, one that will land on the market with an octa-core processor packed inside.

According to GizChina, a source from Wingtech, the company producing the smartphone for Xiaomi, has confirmed that the upcoming device will actually be launched in two versions, with the high-end model packing the aforementioned processor inside. The device is expected to land on the market as Hongmi 2, and might sport a large, 5.5-inch touchscreen display, most probably capable of delivering a full HD resolution. The smartphone will be powered by a 2.3GHz MT6592T processor, yet no official confirmation on the matter has been provided as of now. The phone is said to lack 4G LTE connectivity, at least in its current form.

Xiaomi Hongmi 2 is also said to sport a price tag of 799 Yuan ($130/€94) when brought to the market, yet it remains to be seen whether this will be the cost of the high-end model as well, since it actually sounds highly doubtful. The one thing that hasn’t been detailed as of now is the launch date of the new device. Chances are that Xiaomi will make it official in the first half of the year, roughly one year after the original was launched, so stay tuned for more details on the matter.

Xiaomi Hongmi 2 to sport octa-core processor
Image credits to Xiaomi

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Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo Allegedly Emerges Online

Following the launch of Galaxy S5 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month, info on the possible launch of additional device models has started to emerge, as new smartphone models have appeared online.

The latest of them is the Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo, which was reportedly spotted with model number Samsung SM-G800F attached to it. Given the fact that Samsung Galaxy S5 was announced as SM-G900, it is highly likely that the new model will be tightly related to it. The handset has emerged on the website of Zauba, the Indian import/export tracker, and is valued at around Rs. 33,061 ($541/€391), as phonearena notes. A previously spotted Samsung SM-G870A model was said to be the Galaxy S5 mini, yet another version of the flagship device that might arrive on the market in the coming months.

Of course, there’s no official confirmation on the new phone being the Galaxy S5 Neo, yet the fact that Samsung has already launched such versions of other devices suggests that there’s a strong chance that it will make a similar move with the Galaxy S5 as well. What remains to be seen is when exactly the new smartphone will become available for purchase and what features and capabilities it will pack inside, at least when compared to what Galaxy S5 has to offer.

Alleged Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo emerges on Zauba
Image credits to Zauba via PhoneArena

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G.Skill Launches 16 GB, 2133 MHz SO-DIMM Memory Kit

A decade or two ago, small form factor PCs were seldom bought by consumers, because they were pretty weak, but now there are some really strong ones, and it's possible to even build your own to really great specifications, hence why companies like G.Skill launch products like the new Ripjaws SO-DIMM kit.

Designed as a set of two, in dual-channel configuration, the newest addition to the Ripjaws series has a total capacity of 16 GB. Also, the clock speed is of 2133 MHz, which isn't even close to the highest I've ever seen (the 3200 MHz Avexir Blitz Red Dragon comes to mind) but is still pretty high. In fact, it is very high for a set of RAM that is to be used in small form factor PCs, like HTPCs and nettops.

Granted, chances are better for it to land in LAN party gaming systems or the like, but the size and shape make it perfect for the other things as well, even if the performance/capacity and price do not fit the criteria. The G.Skill Ripjaws F3-2133C11D-16GRSL DDR3L SO-DIMM memory kit, latency 11-11-11-31, pairs best with Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPUs (Haswell) and will do well in overclocking. Sadly, the price wasn't specified.

G.Skill Ripjaws F3-2133C11D-16GRSL DDR3L SO-DIMM (click for larger image)
Images credits to G.Skill

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Pipo T9 is a True Octa-Core Tablet with Full HD Display

Over the last year, we have witnessed a deluge of tablet models coming out of China. They arrive in all form factors, sporting mid-range and even high-end capabilities, but they all have something in common. They are friendly on the wallet. And sometimes they bundle really cool features, as the new Pipo T9 will show us.

The Pipo T9 is certainly not your usual, common Chinese tablet, but actually one of the first slates on the market to come equipped with a MediaTek MT6592 octa-core processor. On top of that, the tablet bundles an atypical 8.9-inch display with a full HD resolution (1920 x 1200 pixels), so it’s definitely a better than average product. The slate has just been launched in China and will probably prove to be very popular with consumers (we think). Earlier this year, another true octa-core processor tablet was unveiled. We’re talking about the CoolPad Halo and according to information coming out of Asia, the slate received a whopping 50,00 units order in 18s. Anyway, going back to the Pipo tablet, its processor the MediaTek MT6592 launched back in December and is composed of four ARM Cortex A7 cores made with 28nm manufacturing HPM process and clocked at 2GHz.

The technology uses a particular solution that is constantly on the watch-out, monitoring power consumption and keeping everything within optimal limits. The Mali-450 MP4 GPU has four cores and its video system support 4K playback and a huge resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. As mentioned, the Pipo T9 has an 8.9-inch IPS display with a full HD resolution and 254ppi. Its frame is made of polycarbonate bronze with stylish silver inserts on the edges. Sadly, we don’t have the full set of specifications, just yet, but judging by the official photos detailing the device, we can speculate the slate runs Android (it would be nice to see KitKat by default). There’s probably going to be dual cameras on board, the one in the real probably having LED flash.

In the meanwhile, we can provide you with the specifications of the other true octa core tablet, because we believe specs for the Pipo will be in the same vein. The Coolpad Halo came sporting a 7-inch HD IPS OGS display with full HD resolution and drew power from the same 1.7GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6592 paired with 2GB of RAM and 700 MHz Mali 450-MP4 GPU. In the photo department, we have a 13MP auto focus main snapper with dual LED Flash, f/2 aperture, 5 lens optics capable of recording 1080p full HD video. In the front, we have a 5MP camera. Furthermore, the Coolpad has 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio, 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, aGPS and FM Radio. So take a good look at this specs if you want to make an idea of what you're going to get with the new Pipo.

Pipo T9 tablet was just launched in China
Image credits to Pipo

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