Xiaomi is reportedly making a virtual reality announcement on August 1

It appears as though Xiaomi is about to jump into the virtual reality market. It’s an opportune time given that Google’s Daydream VR platform for Android is closer to launch than ever. There isn’t a lot of information, but here’s everything you need to know.

Release date

There are no images, specs, design leaks, general information, or anything of the sort about Xiaomi’s upcoming VR move. What we do have is an image purportedly detailing an announcement date of August 1 from GizChina. That’s a day before Samsung unveils the Galaxy Note 7.

Thankfully, since the date is right around the corner, we don’t need to wait too long to see what Xiaomi’s cooking. It’s most likely a VR headset that’s Daydream-certified. Google’s Daydream VR platform needs the right hardware to support it. Google is making its own headset and remote, but it also released a reference kit with specifications for the devices.

Many companies, including Xiaomi, said they will support the certifications for phones. It’s likely Xiaomi will also do so for the headset — if that’s what this is. So far, ZTE’s VR headset and Axon 7 smartphone are the first devices to be Daydream-certified.

Xiaomi just released the Redmi Pro smartphone, a strong entry at a low price of $225 to $300 depending on specs and storage. Knowing the Chinese company, this headset could be priced low, too. Again, we can’t verify this so we’ll just have to wait and see on August 1.

Source: Digital Trends

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Lenovo unveils its first Windows 10 Mobile smartphone

It may be several years behind schedule but Lenovo has finally gotten around to creating its Windows-based smartphone.

Originally slated to arrive by the end of 2014, the SoftBank 503LV should make its debut later this year. When it does finally arrive, prospective buyers can expect a handset with a 5-inch, 1,280 x 720 resolution display powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octa-core SoC clocked at 1.5GHz alongside 3GB of RAM and 32GB of local flash memory that’s expandable by an additional 128GB via microSD card slot.

There’s an 8-megapixel camera around back as well as a 5-megapixel shooter up front. The device also supports Bluetooth 4.0, 4G LTE and although it wasn’t mentioned, some sort of Wi-Fi connectivity.

MSPoweruser reports that it’ll only have a 2,250mAh battery so I wouldn’t expect stellar battery life. It measures just 7.66mm thick and tips the scales at 144 grams.

As a Windows 10 device, it will support Continuum although whether or not it’ll also support Windows Hello isn’t yet known.

The Lenovo Softbank 503LV is expected to arrive this October albeit only in Japan for now. Pricing also remains a mystery but we do know that it’ll be marketed exclusively to enterprise types in Japan – at least, initially.



Source: Techspot

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