Oppo has been at the forefront of several smartphone innovations including superfast charging, numerous movable camera modules, and periscope telephoto cameras. The company is now all set to unveil a slew of new-age innovations at its upcoming Oppo Inno Day 2021 virtual conference on December 14 and 15. Among the devices that it’s set to showcase at the event, a pair of augmented reality (AR) Glasses and a rumored foldable phone are likely to excite many technology enthusiasts.
New AR Glasses
Oppo announced its venture into the category of AR Glasses through its official Twitter account. The use of the tagline “Light Meets Light” suggests a pair of smart AR glasses that will also be lightweight.
While no explicit details have been shared by Oppo about the upcoming glasses, it is natural to expect them to be better than the Oppo AR Glass 2021 — a pair of wayfarer-style smart glasses showcased in 2020 and equipped with a 0.71-inch OLED panel for each eye. These glasses were designed to be used as an extension to an Android smartphone using a USB cable. The AR Glass 2021 — just like the previous AR Glass model from Ooop — was limited to use by developers. This year, however, we might see a commercial model to keep up with the metaverse craze.
Custom NPU, retractable camera, and more
At the Inno Day 2021 event, Oppo will also announce its own Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which might be its first step toward creating custom silicon for its smartphones. The company is also expected to showcase a retractable camera concept, which might be an improvement over fixed-zoom telephoto sensors, and a “Digital Human,” which sounds like it could be a virtual assistant with a digital avatar similar to Samsung’s Neon.
Foldable phone with an LTPO display, Snapdragon 888
While all of these announcements have been officially teased by the Chinese tech giant, a set of recent rumors indicate that Oppo’s first foldable smartphone could also be announced soon. Rumors about this alleged foldable phone are based on a recent Geekbench listing for a phone with the model name “OPPO PEUM00.” That model name was previously certified by China’s regulatory body, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the certification was spotted by tipster WHYLAB, who claimed that it’s Oppo’s foldable phone. Previous rumors also suggest an 8-inch inward-folding 120Hz LTPO display with a 2K resolution and a 50MP primary camera. Based on the Geekbench listing, the phone could be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 and feature up to 12GB.
Considering a successor to the Snapdragon 888, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, has already been announced by Qualcomm, it is likely that Oppo could have been working on the phone for several months now. While this will be the first foldable smartphone from the company, it has showcased a concept rollable phone with a screen that changes dimensions on command.