Asus Zenfone V launched in US

Taiwanese Smartphone maker Asus has launched its latest Smartphone Zenfone V in US. The Smartphone is available in Sapphire Black color option with a price tag of $384.

The Asus Zenfone V features a 5.2-inch full HD display with 1080x1920 pixel resolution. The display is protected with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass on top. The device runs Android 7.0 Nougat operating system and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor.

There's also an 8MP front shooter with f/2.0 aperture and wide-angle lens for selfies.

Measuring 146.5 x 72.644 x 7.62mm, the Smartphone comes equipped with a fingerprint sensor placed on the front panel. 

The Smartphone is backed by a 3000mAh battery with fast charging support. The company claims that the phone can charge up to 60% in 37 minutes. In terms of connectivity it offers 4G, VoLTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and USB Type C.

Oppo F3 Diwali Limited Edition

Chinese Smartphone maker Oppo has launched the 'Diwali Limited Edition' of its F3 Smartphone. The company has priced the handset at Rs 18,990, and will also give a cricket bat signed by the Indian Cricket Team. This new variant will be available from September 29 online exclusively on Amazon India and in Oppo offline stores across India.

The Diwali Limited Edition Oppo F3 has same specs as the original Oppo F3 that was launched back in May.

Oppo F3 comes with a full-metal unibody design. It comes with a 5.5-inch full HD (1080x1920 pixel resolution) In-Cell display and 2.0mm thin screen bezels. It is powered by an octa-core 64-bit processor paired with 4GB of RAM. It features 64GB of internal storage, which can be expanded using a microSD card along with dual-selfie cameras.

The 16MP selfie camera comes with 6P lens, f/2.0 aperture and Beautify 4.0 image enhancing technology. Users can also click 120-degree wide angle images using the secondary front-facing camera. The handset will also alert users when they need to use the group-selfie mode instead of the regular mode. There is a 13MP rear camera with PDAF sensor as well. Some of the other camera features include Anti-Shake 2.0, Expert Mode, Ultra HD mode and Palm Shutter.

On the OS side of things, the Oppo F3 runs Color OS 3.0 based on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box and also has fast-charging capabilities. The device is backed by a 3200mAh battery and sport a fingerprint sensor as well.

Oppo F3 comes with triple slot card tray enabling the device to use two SIM cards and a microSD card together.

HTC U Ultra, U Play Smartphones in India

Taiwanese Smartphone maker HTC is all set to launch its latest U Ultra and U Play Smartphones in India.

HTC unveiled the two Smartphones in the international market last month. The key highlight of the devices is the Sense Companion, an AI-based assistant. 

HTC's Sense Companion is similar to the likes of Google Assistant and Apple Siri. According to the company, the AI assistant learns the user's working patterns and optimizes the device accordingly. The assistant also is integrated with Google Assistant, meaning it doesn't directly compete with it.

HTC U Ultra sports LG V20-like dual display. Besides a 5.7-inch QHD LCD display, there is also a 2-inch screen on top with 1040x160 pixel resolution. While the 64GB variant has a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 coating, the 128GB version has Sapphire Glass coating.

The Smartphone is powered by the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor clubbed with 4GB RAM. The base model comes with 64GB inbuilt storage, which can be expanded using a microSD card. There is also a 128GB storage version.

The Smartphone comes with a 12-UltraPixel 2 rear autofocus camera with BSI sensor, OIS, PDAF f/1.8 aperture and LED flash. There is a 16-MP front-facing shooter with BSI sensor as well. The camera can record 4K resolution videos with 3D Audio.

The HTC U Ultra is backed by a 3000mAh battery that is rated to deliver up to 26 hours of talk time on 3G or 4G connectivity. The battery also supports Quick Charge 3.0 technology. As for the connectivity, the Smartphone includes 4G support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v4.2 and USB Type-C (USB 3.1).

The HTC U Play Smartphone sports a 5.2-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) resolution display with Super LCD and Gorilla Glass protection. It is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor clubbed with 3GB or 4GB RAM. The Smartphone will be available in 32GB or 64GB inbuilt storage versions with microSD card expansion.

There is a 16MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, BSI sensor, OIS, PDAF and dual-tone LED fash along with the 16MP front-facing camera same as the HTC U Ultra. The handset has a 2500mAh battery that is said to run for up to 15.2 hours on talk time and support fast charging technology. The connectivity features remain the same as the U Ultra.

Both the U-Series HTC Smartphones are dual-SIM and run on Android 7.0 Nougat OS.

HTC working on Android Nougat Nexus Smartphones

HTC is reportedly working on two Nexus Smartphones based on Google's latest Android 7.0 Nougat operating system. Dubbed as 'Marlin' and 'Sailfish,' both Smartphones are expected to be launched by the end of this year.

The 'Marlin' features a 5.5-inch QHD Amoled display whereas the smaller 'Sailfish' boasts a smaller 5-inch Full HD display.

The HTC 'Marlin' will reportedly be powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC. Other reports indicate a possibility of the yet-to-be-announced Snapdragon 821 or 823 (themselves being rumored names) to be chipset of choice. It is also expected to feature a fingerprint scanner and will house a 12MP rear camera and an 8MP front-facing snapper. It will be backed by 4GB of RAM and a 3,450mAh battery. Like the flagship HTC 10, the 'Marlin' will also have a USB Type-C port.

The 'Sailfish' handset reportedly will feature similar hardware specifications, as per other online reports. However, the SoC of choice is still unknown.

After Google revealed the name of Android N recently, HTC was the first to announce the list of its Smartphones that will receive the update. The handsets include HTC 10, HTC One A9 and HTC One M9.