The week just past had some big launches, such as the Oppo Find X[1], and as usual, the telecom sector had its share of updates, with numerous new plans and offers being announced for subscribers. The week also introduced some anticipation for the imminent India launch of the Nokia X6[2] - HMD Global's latest smartphone that has so far been exclusive to China. Google[3] also finally made good on its promise to introduce a Web interface for Android Messages. Apple[4] finally acknowledged a MacBook keyboard issue affecting some users, and offered free fixes and refunds. Also of note was the rollout of WhatsApp's[5] group video and voice calling functionality for Android[6] beta users.
Let's start with the Oppo Find X. The Chinese company's latest flagship was unveiled[7] on Tuesday, and it has a new "innovation" in an attempt to provide as little bezel on its display. Instead of hiding front facing sensors in a notch on top of the display, or at the bottom lip, Oppo has gone the Vivo way with a pop-up camera. The company may have gone a step further, placing both the front facing camera and the rear camera on what is being called a camera slider. The slider also contains the 3D facial scanning sensors. The Oppo Find X has no fingerprint sensor, thus the 3D face unlock feature that uses structured light tech and 15,000 dots to recognise the user is its only biometric authentication mechanism. It features an all-glass design.
The Find X also has Oppo's answer to Apple's Animoji[8] and Samsung's AR Emoji[9], what it calls 3D Omoji. The AI-assisted front...