OnePlus 2 to be available in India sans invite on October 12

OnePlus has announced that its latest flagship, the OnePlus 2, will be available for purchase on Amazon India without any invite on October 12, which is coming Monday. However, the open sale will last for just one hour - 12:00 to 1 PM.

"While we’ve alleviated the invite demand to a reasonable extent on account of faster roll-outs, we feel that we owe it to you all to make it a bit more convenient this time around," the Chinese smartphone manufacturer said in a blog post.

It's worth mentioning that this would be the first open sale for the "2016 flagship killer" ever since it was released back in August this year. The handset, which went on sale in Malaysia last month, costs INR 25,000 (around $385) for the Sandstone Black variant (64GB).

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Upcoming OnePlus Mini has all of its specs detailed

Before the end of the year, OnePlus will unveil a new, even more affordable device. This has so far been confirmed many times by the Chinese company's management. Yet understandably OnePlus execs haven't disclosed any information about the upcoming device's specs.

That said, today a new rumor comes to seemingly reveal all of that. Before we delve into it, however, do note that all of this comes from an anonymous source, and as such you shouldn't take any of it for granted. Furthermore, the source itself claims that these details are from a prototype that's already two months old, which means that certain hardware specs may have changed in the meantime.

The phone could be called OnePlus Mini, since it will have a 5-inch touchscreen (with 1080p resolution and 2.5D Gorilla Glass on top). It will be powered by MediaTek's Helio X10 chipset (MT6795T), which comes with a 2.2 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU.

2GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable eMMC 5.0 storage are in, but you can forget the previously talked about dual-camera setup. On the back we'll see a 13 MP unit with a Sony IMX258 sensor with f/2.0 aperture, complemented by a dual-tone LED flash. The selfie shooter will have 5 MP resolution and will be of the wide-angle variety in order to fit as many people into your "groufies" as necessary.

The battery capacity is said to be 3,000 or 3,100 mAh, which you'll charge through a USB Type-C port. Interestingly, some sort of quick charging support will be baked in, unlike in the more premium OnePlus 2. It's the same situation with NFC and an IR blaster, both of which will be integrated into the OnePlus Mini despite not having made it to the bigger device.

A fingerprint sensor will be on the back of the OnePlus Mini, and the handset will also have a 1.2W front-facing speaker, an FM radio, and IP67 rating for water and dust resistance. Its shell will be plastic.

For all of this you'll only need to pay around $250, if the source of this rumor has it right. The OnePlus Mini should become available in November or December, though it's unclear if invites will be required for buying it.

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OnePlus offering 3,000 OP2 invites in India

A total of 3,000 OnePlus 2 invites are up for grabs in India, where the Chinese company is running a competition that will go on for 2 days (today & tomorrow). Dubbed #InviteCarnival, the competition involves answering love quizzes, puzzles, and trivia.

"Be among the first few to answer them and bag an invite," the company said on its official forum. "Total of 3,000 invites are up for grabs! With the passage of time, we will roll out more number of invites."

As with any competition, there are some rules and regulations: only one entry per contest will be considered; only one invite will be shared with one fan; you are allowed to participate in as many contests as you want; winners will be selected on the first come first serve basis.

Hit the last two links below to participate.

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OnePlus 2 gets its first OTA update

OnePlus is rolling out the first ever OTA update for the OnePlus 2. The Oxygen OS 2.0 on the phone is getting updated to v2.0.1, which brings with it several key improvements.

The official update log includes:

• Added a patch for the Stagefright security exploit
• Improves battery performance
• Improves user interface logic and coherence
• Fixed an issue with pinch-to-zoom in Google Photos
• Fixed an issue where Dark Mode would cause instability in certain apps
• Fixed an issue related to import/export of contacts stored on SIM card
• Additional support for global carrier APNs
• Other improvements and bug fixes

The update is already available in India and weighs in at 1.1GB, with the servers being slow right now so it's going to take a while to finish downloading. Not that it should be a problem as most people still don't have an invite.

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Cyanogen breaks its ties with Chinese OEM OnePlus

Cyanogen and OnePlus, which have had a rough relationship with each other over the past few months, have finally decided to part ways.

According to Cyanogen’s chief technology officer Steve Kondik, both companies have different goals for software, and hence the breakup. “Two new companies are trying to do crazy stuff, a lot of people collide.” he said.

Commenting on the company's partnership with OnePlus, Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster said, “Without Cyanogen, OnePlus would have sold like one device in international markets. Essentially they built their brand on the back of Cyanogen.”

However, the US-based company, which offers an alternate version of Android free of many restrictions that Google has subtly incorporated, will continue supporting OnePlus phones that run its OS.

As for the future roadmap, Cyanogen is now looking to partner with those Chinese companies that have global ambitions. “It’s a great way for them to build some identity outside of China using a brand that’s already reasonably well known,” McMaster said.

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OnePlus inks its first carrier partnership with Maxis in Malaysia

Chinese start-up OnePlus has announced that its One smartphone will now be available exclusively through Maxis in Malaysia, making it the first country in which the handset will be available in stores and without invites.

It's worth mentioning that this is the company's first carrier partnership. “As we grow, it is increasingly important to work with the right partners who will provide the best experience for our users," said Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus. "Going offline is a first for us and we’re very happy to have found a solid partner in Maxis with whom we can take our first steps.”

As for the price, the 64GB Sandstone Black model will be available with the MaxisONE Plan at RM859 ($237). It will also be available unlocked and off contract for RM1199 ($330). The news comes just a day after OnePlus announced that the One will now be available without invites in all supported regions.

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OnePlus announces its first carrier partner for OnePlus One

OnePlus is still very much a startup smartphone maker, but it’s beginning to act like a larger OEM. The company recently opened up OnePlus One orders to all, suggesting that it finally has enough supply to meet all of the demand, and now it’s taking another step.

OnePlus on Tuesday announced that it has its very first carrier partner, a company named Maxis that will sell the OnePlus Oneexclusively in Malaysia. “We’re thrilled to be able to bring the Flagship Killer and a wide range of OnePlus accessories to the region in an unprecedented fashion,” OnePlus said on Tuesday. The device will be sold directly in stores, even with a 1-for-1 device swap promotion, and will include a one-year warranty.

OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei suggests the carrier partnership may become a trend. ”As we grow, it is increasingly important to work with the right partners who will provide the best experience for our users,” Pei said. “Going offline is a first for us and we’re very happy to have found a solid partner in Maxis with whom we can take our first steps.”

Live in Malaysia? You’ll start to see OnePlus One units in Maxis outlets beginning April 22 in Sandstone Black with 64GB of storage. Customers will also be able to buy it off contract from Maxis.

OnePlus 2 confirmed, will also launch with invites

As promised, OnePlus had some news to share on Monday, though it’s a mix of good and not-so-good from the Chinese phone-maker. It all depends on how you feel about the company’s invite system, which helped keep prices down while constricting supply for the OnePlus One.

First, the good news. OnePlus is ditching invitations for its flagship One. Moving forward, you’ll be able to buy the year-old smartphone anytime you want. The company says this is a permanent switch, so there’s no need to rush out and order one immediately.

Now for the bad news. That unpopular invite system will return soon with the launch of theOnePlus 2. The company didn’t offer any other details on when to expect its follow-up flagship phone, but confirmed that you’ll need an invitation to buy one. That should mean similar low prices for the new device along with the same tricky ordering process we experienced with the original handset.

Based on recent rumors, we’re expecting the OnePlus 2 to offer a faster processor, a sharper 5.5-inch display, a bigger battery and maybe even a biometric scanner. We may also get another cheaper model later this year, though OnePlus hasn’t confirmed plans for a third device yet.

As an extra bonus, OnePlus is offering a 75 percent discount on its Flip Covers and Premium Screen Protectors for one day only. You can also order the swappable Bamboo rear covers without an invitation while supplies last.

Hopefully we’ll learn more about the OnePlus 2 soon, since it sounds like the company is almost ready to unveil the device. Until then it may be worth holding off an ordering the original One, unless you just can’t wait for a new smartphone.

OnePlus paused CM OS 12 OTA to add ‘OK OnePlus’ feature

OnePlus had started the rollout of the much awaited Android 5.0 Lollipop based Cyanogen OS 12 system update for the One last week. Few lucky folks managed to download the CM OS 12 and many kept waiting for the OTA update.

Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus shared on Twitter that the OTA update was paused to add a new ‘OK OnePlus’ voice activation feature in the update. The new OK OnePlus is quite similar to the Ok Google voice search feature and it will even work when the phone is in sleep mode.

The OK OnePlus was announced last year when the phone was launched and was supposed to be integrated through an OTA system update. However, that never happened. Now OnePlus will add that with the CM OS 12 OTA update and start seeding it again.

Those who have manually installed the CM OS 12 update might have to repeat the process next week in order to get the new voice activation feature.

OnePlus One now available without invites forever

OnePlus is feeling the excitement of the first anniversary of its One smartphone. On that occasion, the Chinese startup has announced that it will offer the OnePlus One smartphone without invites in all supported regions.

So it took 12 months but the invite-only strategy has finally been canned. Interestingly, that decision comes immediately after the Xiaomi announced open sale for its smartphones in India.

The OnePlus One sales will be opened globally along with 75% discount on Flip Covers and Premium Screen Protectors only for today. Besides that, Bamboo StyleSwap covers will also be made available until the stocks last. Do note that the promotion on accessories are limited only to USA, Canada, European Union, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

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OnePlus to unveil an affordable handset today?

Recently, OnePlus CEO revealed that the company is planning to launch two new smartphones this year - a OnePlus One successor and a cheaper model. However, it wasn't clear whether any, or which of the two would be unveiled at its event today. Now, multiple reports are claiming that the Chinese smartphone manufacturer could unveil the cheaper model today.

While a report from Gizmochina, which cites a leaked image of the device from the Ubuntu Leaksterteam (shown above), says that the handset has a single LED flash and similar texture as the One, aDriodPile report is claiming that the handset is called OnePlus One Lite and has better specs than the One.

Needless to say, none of this has been officially confirmed by the company, so take it with a pinch of salt.

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OnePlus will make an announcement on April 20

OnePlus will make an announcement next week, on April 20. The Chinese manufacturer delivered the news via its official Twitter account.

An full debut of the highly anticipated OnePlus One successor is highly unlikely (the OnePlus Two isexpected in Q3). However, we won’t be surprised if the company sheds a bit of light on the upcoming device.

The company pulled such trick with OnePlus One - it announced the development of the smartphone in early March last year and fully revealed it in late April. The handset didn’t begin shipping out to customers until June.

OnePlus Two is expected to pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC, 3GB of RAM, and 16MP camera. The device might also carry a higher price tag than the OnePlus One.

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Cyanogen OS 12 update is now rolling out to OnePlus One

Cyanogen has finally released the much awaited, Android Lollipop-based Cyanogen OS 12 update for OnePlus One. As promised by OnePlus founder Carl Pei, the new firmware is available for all OnePlus One users.

After an unexpected delay by a fortnight, Cyanogen OS 12 brings a Material Design based UI and brand new ART runtime to the OnePlus One. Boasting of super customisable options, a new App Themer will allow applying themes even to individual apps.

New Cyanogen email service powered by Boxer also makes a debut to the platform. The new email service brings several features such as Microsoft Exchange support, multiple account integration, LED color for email notifications, and more customisation options.

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OnePlus promises OxygenOS, Lollipop update by March 30

OnePlus is finally ready to join the Android 5.0 Lollipop roll out party. On the official forums, the company has noted that it will push Lollipop OTA update for the OnePlus One smartphone on or before March 30.

Last month, we reported that Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus stated that the Lollipop is expected to roll out only in March. Now, the OnePlus One smartphone owners can expect the Lollipop based CyanogenMod 12S OTA on their phones in coming two weeks.

Besides that, the company has chalked a timeline to release the first official version of its home developed - OxygenOS based on Lollipop to be available for download by March 27.

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