China's OnePlus set to unveil a new logo in black on March 18: Report

The new logo will be part of OnePlus' 2020 products, including the upcoming OnePlus 8-series smartphones.

Chinese electronics maker OnePlus took to its official Weibo account to tease something new which is coming on March 18 and now CEO Pete Lau has shared that it will be the unveiling of a new brand logo.

On the first look, the new logo is almost identical to the original one, but this time the company is changing the brand's colour from Red to Black which is evident from the new logo that now has Black colour, 9To5Google reported on Monday.

Also, the typeface for the number "1" has also been changed and now the company is also adding its "OnePlus" branding below the logo.

This new logo will be the one OnePlus uses on its 2020 products such as the upcoming OnePlus 8 series.

OnePlus is reportedly planning to launch its upcoming 'OnePlus 8' flagship series on April 15 and recently Hollywood superstar Robert Downey Jr was photographed holding it.

Additionally, the company's CEO Pete Lau has confirmed that the upcoming series of phones will indeed all be 5G-ready.

Putting together all the rumours and speculations, the likely specs sheet could include an obvious Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chip and Android 10 bits.

A OnePlus 8 Pro prototype was recently spotted, hinting at dual punch-hole display and a curved display like the OnePlus 7 Pro.

The back panel of the device shows off the quad-camera setup with three lenses along with an LED flash arranged in a vertical strip and a fourth camera placed alongside it.

The leaked images also show that the back panel of the phone comes with a gradient finish.

Smartphone maker Oppo elevates Elvis Zhou as president of India operations

Zhou is considered instrumental in the expansion of Oppo in the Indian market in 2013 and has been associated with Oppo India for over six years now.

Technology News : Smartphone maker Oppo on Thursday announced the appointment of Elvis Zhou as the president of its India operations.

Before this, Zhou was serving as a general manager at Oppo in Mumbai.

Zhou is considered instrumental in the expansion of Oppo in the Indian market in 2013 and has been associated with Oppo India for over six years now.

He will now report to Charles Wong, vice president, global sales at Oppo.

"Elvis has been an integral part of the Oppo India. His experience in the smartphone industry makes him the ideal person to lead our ambitious India growth strategy as we expand our operations. We extend a warm welcome and congratulate him on his new role," Wong said.

On his appointment, Elvis Zhou said, "I am extremely excited to take on this new role at Oppo India. Indian mobile market is growing exponentially and I look forward to further strengthen the brand presence in the country by providing great user experience with our products."

According to market research firm IDC, Oppo ranked 4th in terms of smartphone sales volume with market share of 10.7 per cent in India in 2019.

Zhou has spent over 11 years with Oppo in various roles starting as the regional manager of Oppo East Guangdong wherein he was responsible for sales in the region.

His appointment comes at a time when mobile phone companies in India are facing a shortage of components supply from China due to novel coronavirus break.

Oppo has a manufacturing facility in Greater Noida where it has announced plans to invest and has set a target to start making 100 million smartphones by the end of this year.

Samsung releases world's first 5G phone 'Galaxy S10 5G' in South Korea

Rival manufacturer LG is due to launch its V50 ThinQ, another 5G phone, in South Korea later this month.

Business Standard : Samsung Electronics on Friday released the Galaxy S10 5G, the world's first available smartphone with built-in fifth-generation communications technology, as South Korea seeks to build a lead in the transformative system.

On Wednesday the South became the first country to commercially launch nationwide 5G services, with three superfast networks going live offering data speeds that allow users to download entire movies in less than a second.

Hours later US giant Verizon began commercial services in Chicago and Minneapolis, after rival AT&T made a 5G-based system available to selected users in parts of 12 cities in December.

South Korea's three mobile carriers -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus -- held launch events across Seoul for the Galaxy S10, whose base version costs 1.39 million won ($1,200).

Interactive virtual-reality displays and robot demonstrations were on show to tout the capabilities of the latest iteration of mobile internet speed, and new users were excited about the possibilities, especially live streaming of sports games and university lectures.

"I watch a lot of videos often, movies and lectures," said buyer Shim Ji-hye, 38. "I hope faster speeds will help me manage my time better."

Another user said he was most excited about virtual reality content -- which includes games and even "celebrity VR dating" apps according to the country's mobile carriers.

With 5G, said researcher Lee Sang-yoon, VR content "can be enjoyed in real time with no delay... I'll be able to enjoy it in better resolution and speed".

Before Friday's roll-out of the Samsung phone, the 5G service had been restricted to a handful of specially selected users in South Korea.

Rival manufacturer LG is due to launch its V50 ThinQ, another 5G phone, in the South later this month, while in the US, Verizon's network works with Lenovo's Moto Z3 smartphone fitted with a special accessory.

Commercialising 5G gives South Korea the chance to build around the technology, which is crucial for the future development of devices such as autonomous vehicles and the Internet of Things.

It is expected to bring about $565 billion in global economic benefits by 2034, according to the London-based Global System for Mobile Communications, an industry alliance.

Addicted to digital devices? Focus on how you use tech, not screen time

With increasing attention to the effects of technologies, we should not only be concerned with their potential harms.

Many Americans find themselves bombarded by expert advice to limit their screen time and break their addictions to digital devices – including enforcing and modeling this restraint for the children in their lives. However, over 15 years of closely observing people and talking with them about how they use technological tools, I’ve developed a more nuanced view: Whether a technology helps or hurts someone depends not just on the amount of time they spend with it but on how they use it.

I’ve found many people who have found impressively creative ways to tailor the technologies they have to serve their values and personal objectives, improving their relationships and even their health.

In my forthcoming book, “Left to Our Own Devices,” I introduce readers to people who pushed products beyond their intended purpose, creating their own off-label uses. Some of them turned self-help products, like smart scales and mood apps, into mechanisms for deepening relationships; others used apps like Tinder, designed to spark interpersonal connection, as an emotional pickup – gathering data to feel better about themselves without the hookup. And still others have pieced together different tools and technologies to suit their own needs.

Looking beyond the rules

A few years ago, for instance, my colleagues and I created an app to help people manage stress as part of a health technology research project. Psychotherapy and other mental health services have traditionally been offered as individual treatments, and so we expected people would use our app on their own, when they were alone. We put a great deal of effort into assuring privacy and instructed people who participated in our research that the app was for their use only.

But many of the participants ended up bringing the app into their conversations with others. One woman used it with her son to process a heated argument they had earlier in the day. She sat down with him and together explored the visuals in the app that represented stages of anger. They followed the app’s cognitive therapy cues for thinking about feelings and reactions – their own and each other’s. She shared it with him not as a flashy distraction, but as a bridge to help each understand the other’s perspectives and feelings.

The app was intended to help her change the way she thought about stress, but she also used it to address the source of her stress – making the app more effective by, in a certain sense, misusing it.

Business Standard