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OnePlus reveals official 7T photos ahead of next week's launch
At this point, OnePlus feels like that relative who is excited about a great gift they bought you and literally can't wait until your birthday to spill the details. It will formally launch the OnePlus 7T September 26th, but it just can't help itself from revealing official images of the handset.
OnePlus is building its own smart TV
OnePlus, known for making budget-priced phones with flagship specs, plans to shake up the TV segment in a similar way. Founder and CEO Pete Lau told Business Insider that it will launch the OnePlus TV, possibly by 2019, with a focus on design, image quality and sound. "We feel the current market of TVs is still feeling quite traditional in their functionality and experience," said Lau. "And they haven't really well-integrated the internet ... making the experience match with what would be expected in today's connected society."
OnePlus 6 now comes in red
Earlier this year, the OnePlus 6 was described as a "big step closer to the perfect smartphone," even if it was missing wireless charging and a microSD slot. Perhaps the company can make up for those missing features by offering the handset in an even nicer finish than the one before. Say hello to the OnePlus 6 Red.
OnePlus X series is no more, says CEO
While it's common practice for smartphone makers to offer two or three product lines to cover all the bases, OnePlus has recently decided to go from two to one. At the OnePlus 3 launch event in Shenzhen today, CEO Pete Lau confirmed that his company's more affordable offering, the OnePlus X, will not have a follow-up model. That's not to say it was a bad phone (even we liked it) nor was it unpopular, but Lau said that OnePlus will instead focus on just one "true flagship" line from now on in order to strengthen its foundation -- something that Lau admitted his team neglected last year -- rather than fighting the low-end price war.
OnePlus 3's official render could be a decoy
This morning, a render of the much anticipated OnePlus 3 flagship phone (pictured left) has been making the rounds on the internet. We can confirm that this "leak" is legit as we also got it directly from OnePlus' China PR rep, who didn't say anything other than that this is a "OnePlus 3 render." But the company has clearly been seeding the same image to other Chinese media outlets as well, which is why we're smelling a decoy here -- a tactic often deployed by OnePlus' sister company, Vivo, to stir up hype before a product launch. Leaving the HTC-like design aside, we have a hard time believing that OnePlus would remove laser autofocus and dual-tone flash from its next flagship device; but hey, at least NFC is back, as hinted by the T-shaped antenna band.
For OnePlus, China is no longer its biggest market
OnePlus, a 900-employee-strong company that's sold 1.5 million smartphones since its debut 15 months ago, is doing surprisingly well outside its home country, China. As we sat in OnePlus' funky recreational room, CEO Pete Lau revealed that about 60 to 70 percent of the sales come from overseas, which is a significant change from the 50/50 ratio back in November. One could argue that this is partly to do with the dip in China's smartphone market growth, but Lau isn't concerned, as he and co-founder Carl Pei set their eyes on the Western world and, more recently, India.
Meet the One, OnePlus' $299 Nexus killer
Rarely do we see a tech startup spending five months actively hyping up an unborn product; and when we do, most of them end up being vaporware. Luckily, that's not the case with OnePlus. Today, the Shenzhen-based company has finally unveiled its first smartphone, the One (not to be confused with the HTC One). While the device's impressive specs have already been listed in detail beforehand, OnePlus had remained tight-lipped about the actual prices (unsubsidized) until today: $299/£229/€269 for the 16GB model, and $349/£269/€299 for the 64GB flavor; both due mid to late May. This aggressive pricing is obviously going right after the Nexus 5 ($349 for 16GB, $399 for 32GB), but is this too good to be true?
OnePlus dripfeeds more specs for its 'perfect' One smartphone
Let's face it: "One" isn't the most creative name for a smartphone, even if OnePlus couldn't resist the wordplay. We wouldn't call the company headed by ex-Oppo exec Pete Lau unoriginal though, as we can't claim to have seen another smartphone developed with such transparency. OnePlus has been systematically posting info about "the perfect smartphone" to its announcement forum, seemingly as it's decided upon. We still don't have any clue as to what it'll look like, other than its dimensions are smaller than those of Sony's Xperia Z1, but we do know it'll sport a 5.5-inch 1080p display on the outside, with a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 and 3,100mAh battery within. The company's also been working with partner CyanogenMod on "mystery tech" to optimize battery performance, and most recently, has teased an always-on voice recognition feature, while also polling suggestions on what phrase should trigger it. Probably the most interesting number thus far is the One's sub-$400 price tag, however, and although there's much left to learn about the device, we're most certainly listening.
Cyanogen will partner with OnePlus on its debut phone, the 'OnePlus One'
Ex-Oppo exec Pete Lau has just announced that his new company OnePlus will partner with Cyanogen on its first smartphone, which will be called the "OnePlus One." He and Cyanogen's Steve Kondik announced that the upcoming handset would run on a custom version of CyanogenMod's Android OS with "special features and tweaks." OnePlus already said that its mission is to build the perfect smartphone, and plans to launch it during the first half of this year -- with Oppo reportedly on tap to build it, no less. That means OnePlus may have a chance of meeting its ambitious goals, since Oppo has some experience with CyanogenMod, and apparently some pull with Google.
Ex-Oppo exec reveals new company OnePlus, plans to make 'the perfect smartphone'
When Pete Lau resigned as VP of Chinese electronics maker Oppo, it was accompanied by rumors that he was going to build his own tech company. Well, whoever spread those rumors spoke the truth, because Lau has just announced a new venture called OnePlus that promises "to spare no expense" to build "the perfect smartphone." The exec reveals very little on his announcement post other than his desire to make the "best possible product for users worldwide" -- it didn't even mention CyanogenMod, which is reportedly developing a phone with him. Our sources have told us, however, that Oppo will manufacture the company's first device, signifying that Lau never burned bridges when he left. We'll update you when we hear more details, but for now, you can let OnePlus know what you think makes a great phone on its forum.
Oppo's VP resigns amid rumors of building an online brand with Cyanogen Inc.
Recent years saw the birth of many new online brands in China, with Xiaomi being the most notable one with its complete ecosystem on top of aggressive pricing. And at last, it looks like local competitor Oppo wants a share of that pie as well. According to a rumor from just before the weekend, the company's VP Pete Lau (pictured above) will be developing a new online brand from scratch, and its first product will feature top hardware specs along with CyanogenMod -- the same renowned Android ROM that's headed to Oppo's flagship N1 and Find 5. More interestingly, Lau has just announced that today's his last day at Oppo.
