News
POCO F3 now official, a flagship phone with a midrange price tag
AKA Redmi K40
The POCO F1 was a legendary phone that kickstarted a new segment called “affordable flagship.” After a year-long sabbatical, the brand has made a quick recovery in 2020 and is now all set to launch its third top-notch offering. Dubbed the POCO F3, it has many expectations to meet.
It’s obvious that the phone doesn’t have a very lucrative price like the POCO F1 due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage and the final cost of incorporating a flagship chipset. However, POCO has achieved a midrange price stag that offers maximum bang for the buck.
The POCO F3 sports a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR 10+ support, and a peak brightness of 1300 nits. The display, as well as the back, is wrapped in Gorilla Glass 5.
Powering the phone is a Snapdragon 870 processor with Adreno 650 GPU, up to 8GB LPDDR5 RAM, and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. The fingerprint scanner is located on the side, and it runs on MIUI 12, based on Android 11, out-of-the-box. It’s clear that POCO is focusing on performance and intends to continue the POCO F1 legacy.
The brand stressed on its LiquidCool Technology 1.0 Plus, allowing the device to deliver sustained peak performance. It also has 5G connectivity and WiFi 6 support, making it a solid future-proof phone.
On the back are a 48-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel wide-angle lens, and a 5-megapixel macro sensor. There’s an in-display 20-megapixel front camera that’s located in a punch-hole cut-out.
Backing these internals is a 4520mAh battery with 33W fast charging. Xiaomi claims it can fully charge the phone in 52 minutes. It doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack, which it covers up by Dolby Atmos support and dual physical speakers.
Pricing and availability
Philippines
- 6GB+128GB — PhP 17,990
- 8GB+256GB — PhP 20,990
Color options include Arctic White, Night Black, and Deep Ocean Blue, and sales are exclusive to Lazada. If the POCO F3 is ordered on March 27, an early bird discount will be applicable of PhP 2,000 on both variants.
Global
- 6GB+128GB — EUR 349 (early bird price — EUR 299)
- 8GB+256GB — EUR 399 (early bird price — EUR 349)
Despite the ease that the technology promises, artificial intelligence still isn’t the most reliable thing you can depend on. Today’s models can still flub answers. Now, the pitfalls of AI are abundantly clear with a few mishaps on X. Golden State Warrior Klay Thompson was just “accused” of a vandalism spree involving bricks.
Late Tuesday night, X presented an AI-generated news snippet. The article, posted soon after the Warriors’ play-in loss to the Sacramento Kings, reads: “Klay Thompson Accused in Bizarre Brick-Vandalism Spree.”
The snippet hilariously described an incident where Thompson supposedly vandalized houses in Sacramento with bricks. Thankfully, according to the snippet, no one was hurt. It even had a few sources for its claims below the news summary.
First off… I am ok.
My house was vandalized by bricks 🧱
After my hands stopped shaking, I managed to call the Sheriff…They were quick to respond🚨
My window was gone and the police asked if I knew who did it👮♂️
I said yes, it was Klay Thompson
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 17, 2024
The sources, however, are just joke posts stemming from the recently concluded game. In that do-or-die game, Thompson put up a staggering 0 points on ten shot attempts, the most misses without a make by a Warrior since the ’68 season. Naturally, everyone joked that the Warriors guard just threw bricks all over Sacramento.
Now, X is currently experimenting with a new AI feature called Grok. The model collates trending topics and creates snippets of what’s happening for X users. However, it’s not exactly the smartest in determining real news from satiric ones. The feature notes as much, carrying a fine-print caveat warning users to “verify its outputs” because it’s an early feature and can make mistakes.
SEE ALSO: New X users must pay a dollar per year to post and reply
New users on X might soon face a tough time on the platform. The social media website will likely start charging new accounts a small fee for the right to post on the platform.
Now, the fee isn’t a new one. Almost six months ago, the company tested the paid system in New Zealand and the Philippines. New users in those countries had to pay a dollar per year for the ability to post and reply to content.
As spotted by X Daily News on the same platform, the company might be ready to take the experiment to a larger market. New text strings have shown that the policy is rolling out worldwide.
SPECULATION: X might be expanding its policy to charge new users before they reply/like/bookmark a post https://t.co/odqeyeiHBx pic.twitter.com/EU71qlwQ0D
— X Daily News (@xDaily) April 15, 2024
The policy is designed to combat a wave of bots appearing on the platform. By preventing new accounts from creating posts, X hopes to stave off the standard behavior of bots these days. You might have noticed them as OnlyFans creators in unrelated posts, peddling NSFW content on their bio.
Though the global rollout was only just spotted, owner Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed the change. Replying to X Daily News, Musk says that it is “the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.” He says that the current breed of bots can easily bypass simple checks these days.
Since its big reinvention, the Google Pixel flagship series subsisted on two main entries: a regular model and a Pro. Last year added a Pixel Fold to the list but kept it away from the main line, launching in May instead. Now, there’s a possibility that the Pixel family, starting with the Pixel 9 series, is growing both in number and closer to each other.
According to Android Authority, Google might launch four different models of the Pixel 9 series later this year. Besides the two traditional entries to the family, there will be two new ones coming this year.
The first new model you might see is the Pixel 9 Pro XL (what a mouthful). Despite the name, the model itself isn’t exactly new. The model is reportedly a successor to the Pixel 8 Pro but with a different name.
Which means that the new model is actually the Pixel 9 Pro. Yes, it’s confusing, but let’s break it down. Similar to Apple, Google might separate its lineup into a regular duo and a premium duo. That said, the Pixel 9 Pro will offer only a bite-sized upgrade to the regular Pixel 9. It’ll be the same size, too.
Since the Pixel 9 Pro XL will be the start of the Pro lineup, what model will it pair with? Well, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, of course. The Pixel Fold is apparently dead in name. Google might repackage the foldable as an official part of the Pixel 9 series and will launch alongside the main lineup later this fall.
SEE ALSO: Google Pixel 8 Pro Review: Making Magic
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