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Google is testing Play Pass, a subscription service for apps and games

In an age when XAAS (anything as a service) is stepping up to be the preferred pricing model for all types of digital consumers, it appears that even the paid apps we install on our Android phones might adopt a paid subscription-based payment plan. According to a recent report by Android Police, Google is currently testing a new app- and game-subscription service called Play Pass. This service is akin to Apple Arcade, a monthly app subscription service Apple announced last year.

Android Police was able to shed light on Play Pass in its exclusive report after one of its readers sent across a few screenshots of the Google service that’s still in development. From the screenshots shared, we can tell that Play Pass lets a subscriber “explore a curated catalog spanning puzzle games to premium music apps and everything in between”. We still don’t know which all apps and games this service will include although Stardew Valley and Marvel Pinball are seen in the screenshots.

“From action hits to puzzles and fitness trackers, with Google Play Pass you unlock access to hundreds of premium apps and games without ads, download fees or in-app purchases,” reads the description in another screenshot. In the US, Google could charge a user $4.99 (Rs 345 approx) every month for Play Pass after a ten-day trial but we’re not sure if that’s the final price. We’re also yet to receive any information on the India roll-out of this new Google service.

Google reportedly confirmed the development of Play Pass, which means the subscription service is on its way for sure. We’re not entirely sure whether Google is trying to fix a marketplace payment gap with the new Play Pass service. Recently, Tinder announced a direct payment feature that bypasses Google Play’s fees, which should give Google cause for concern. While there’s no definite roll-out date mentioned for Play Pass, we expect it to come out in the coming weeks.

Cover and inline image courtesy: Android Police



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Huawei Y9 Prime to be launched in India today: expected price, specifications

Huawei confirmed the launch date of the Huawei Y9 Prime a couple of weeks ago. Today, on August 1, Huawei is all set to reveal the price of the smartphones. Although, the global variant of Huawei Y9 Prime was unveiled in May, the availability and price had not been detailed. The smartphone features a notchless display along with a pop-up camera mechanism. 

Huawei Y9 Prime launch time and expected price in India

The Huawei Y9 Prime price in India will be revealed today at 2pm, and its launch will begin at 12pm in New Delhi. As mentioned above, the price of Huawei Y9 Pro was not revealed by the company at its global launch event in May. However, according to a report, Huawei Y9 Prime will be priced under Rs 20,000 in India.

Huawei Y9 Prime specifications

The Huawei Y9 Prime features a 6.59-inch full-HD+ LCD display that delivers an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 and a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. The smartphone is powered by an Octa-core Kirin 710F processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. It comes in two storage variants - 64GB and 128GB. It packs a 4000mAh battery and runs EMUI 9 baked on Android 9 Pie.

In the optics department, the device sports a triple rear camera setup: a 16MP primary sensor, an 8MP wide-angle camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front is a 16MP pop-up camera for selfies. Further, it has USB-Type C support as well.

The smartphone will also be part of the Amazon Freedom Sale 2019.

The Huawei Y9 Prime is an upgrade over the Huawei Y9, which was launched in India in January 2019. It features a similar 6.5-inch LCD display with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 and a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. The smartphone runs on a HiSilicon Kirin 710 chipset, coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The smartphone has a 13MP + 2MP sensor at the back and a dual 16MP + 2MP sensor setup on the front. It packs a 4000mAh battery as well.



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PUBG Mobile Lite: What's It Like to Play the Game on 4 Popular Phones Under Rs. 8,000

PUBG Mobile Lite was recently launched in India, so we picked up some popular entry-level smartphones to find out the most affordable smartphone that can run it.

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Asus ROG Zephyrus M GU502GU Review

The new ROG Zephyrus M gaming laptop offers mid-range gaming hardware in a package that weighs less than 2kg.

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PlayStation 4 Hits 100 Million Consoles Sold Milestone, Sony Sees Growth in Image Sensor Business

Sony on Tuesday reported an 18.4 percent increase in first-quarter operating profit, beating market expectations.

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Nintendo Sells 2.1 Million Switch Consoles in Q2, Sees Profit Drop

Nintendo Switch sales in the quarter brought the total installed base to 36.9 million units.

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PUBG Mobile Lite Becomes Top Free Game in Google Play in India

PUBG Mobile Lite has become the top free game in the Google Play Store within three days of India launch, Tencent Games has announced.

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Qualcomm, Tencent Agree to Collaborate on Gaming Devices, 5G

Qualcomm and Tencent said they will cooperate on projects that could include making the latter's videogames play better on devices with the former's chips, and create a 5G version of a Tencent-backed gaming phone.

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eFootball PES 2020 Demo Release Date, Download Size, Teams, System Requirements, and More

eFootball PES 2020 demo release date, download size, teams, system requirements, game modes, stadiums, and more — here’s all you need to know about the PES 2020 demo.

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Chinese smartphone-makers dominate global market share, shipments decline yet again: Counterpoint

The combined global smartphone market share of Chinese smartphone-makers Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Realme (HOVXR) reached 42 percent -- the highest ever -- even as global smartphone shipments fell by 1.2 percent year-over-year (YoY) to 360 million units during the second quarter of 2019, making it the seventh consecutive quarter of decline, Counterpoint Research has said in its latest report.

The market research firm attributed heavy marketing, faster portfolio refresh, high spec devices at aggressive prices, and multi-channel presence as some of the key reasons why the Chinese brands fared better than other global OEMs. This happened even when the Chinese smartphone market continued to decline. China alone accounts for over one-fourth of the global smartphone shipments and declined by 9 percent YoY during the quarter. Meanwhile, India remained a key growth market as the shipments set a second-quarter record.

“The US-China trade war escalated with Huawei added in the entity list in May. Despite the ban, Huawei was able to register a 4.6 percent growth during the quarter, capturing a 16 percent market share. The effect of the ban did not translate into falling shipments during this quarter, which will not be the case in the future. In the coming quarters, Huawei is likely to be aggressive in its home market and register some growth there, but it will not be enough to offset for the decline in its overseas shipments. This will further lead to the decline of the overall smartphone market in 2019. However, the gap created in the market by Huawei gives a window of opportunity to other OEMs, especially Samsung, to leverage,” Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, said in a statement.

Varun Mishra, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research noted, “We expect that 5G will have a faster rollout than 4G LTE. Unlike 4G, which was split between FDD-LTE and TD-LTE, 5G has a universal standard, which will make the ramp-up faster. We expect sales of 5G devices to be over 20 million in 2019. Network expansion of carriers, subsidies, and more OEMs committing to early 5G device launches than during the early 4G era Since these devices are expected to be limited to the premium segment in 2019, the adoption will also drive the market average selling price (ASP). Consumers are also expecting to pay higher for the 5G smartphone than what they paid for the 4G device.”

The firms says that a portion of the decline in 2019 is likely to be compensated by the adoption of 5G. Even though shipments has continued to decline, the market Average Selling Price (ASP) is likely to increase, which will drive revenue for the industry. The adoption of 5G in mature economies and the shift from entry-level phones to mid-segment phones in emerging economies will drive up ASPs, Counterpoint Research said.

Brandwise segregation:

Samsung grew by 7.1 percent (YoY), capturing over one-fifth of the global smartphone market share. The OEM has completely overhauled its product portfolio in 2019 with its A and M series targeting the sub $300 price segment aggressively. Huawei grew by 4.6 percent (YoY), but the US trade ban will affect its growth momentum, especially in the overseas market. The effect in Q2 2019 was not severe because the order came late into the quarter. The real effect of the trade sanction will be in Q3 2019, it said.

Apple iPhone shipments fell by 11 percent, and iPhone revenues fell by 12 percent year-on-year. This was the third consecutive quarter of decline in Apple iPhone shipments. To ramp up sales, Apple implemented price cuts for the iPhone XR in India and China markets. Realme entered the top 10 OEMs globally for the first time. It took Realme only one year to achieve this feat. This was also the third consecutive quarter that Realme sold within the top 5 brands in India.



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Indian Air Force Mobile Game Launched, Features Wing Commander Abhinandan’s Lookalike

In a bid to make the youth aware about Indian Air Force and encourage them to join the Forces, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa launched a combat-based mobile game 'Indian Air Force: A cut above'.

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Lenovo Yoga S940 Thin and Light premium laptop, Yoga A940 all-in-one desktop and more new laptops launched in India

Lenovo has announced some new devices in India at an event today with the highlighted product being the new Lenovo Yoga S940 laptop. The company boasts of equipping the new laptop with AI-enabled “advanced audio and display technologies.” However, alongside the new laptop, the company also announced Yoga A940 All-In-One (AIO) PC aimed at content creators, which supports digital pen input on its 27-inch QHD IPS touchscreen display with Dolby Vision. In addition, the new IdeaPad S540, IdeaPad S340, and IdeaPad S145 laptops were announced. The IdeaPad S540 comes in 14-inch and 15-inch versions and is powered by up to Intel 8th Gen Core i7 processor, while the IdeaPad S340 comes in 14-inch and 15-inch variants, and also runs on up to Intel 8th Gen Core i7 processor.

Lenovo Yoga S940

The Lenovo Yoga S940 comes equipped with Contour Glass, which the company claims helps reduce the display bezels. The laptop manufacturer has also touted some AI-based features on the laptop like moving content from the device’s display to a monitor, blurring background during video calls, and more. The Yoga S940 is powered by up to Intel 8th Gen Core i7 processor and comes with up to 16GB RAM and up to 1TB of PCIe SSD storage. The laptop features two display options: 14-inch 4K (3840 x 2160) IPS HDR with Dolby Vision and 14-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS with Dolby Vision.

The Yoga S940 features two Type-C Thunderbolt ports, one Type-C DC-in and a USB 3.1 port, along with a standard audio jack. Equipped with Dolby Atmos Speaker System, the laptop is said to offer a battery life of up to 7.5 hours on the 4K display variant and up to 15 hours on Full HD display model. The Yoga S940 is available at a starting price of Rs 1,39,990 from Lenovo.com, leading e-tailers and offline via Lenovo stores in India. One can also use the company's ‘Made to order’ program to customise and build their own S940.

Lenovo Yoga A940 AIO

As mentioned earlier, the Yoga A940 comes equipped with a 27-inch QHD IPS touchscreen display with Dolby Vision. The device features a rotating hinge, which enables tilting of the display to a 25-degree drafting mode, which is said to assist while drawing, sketching, or annotating with a digital pen. The Yoga A940 AIO also features Lenovo Precision Dial, that is said to enable precise selections and adjustments to content. The Yoga A940 all-in-one desktop will be available at a starting price of Rs 1,69,990 on Lenovo.com and in key stores.

                     

Lenovo IdeaPad S540 

The Lenovo IdeaPad S540 comes in 14-inch and 15-inch variants with a Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Anti-Glare display. It is powered by up to Intel 8th Gen Core i7 processor and comes with the options of Nvidia GeForce MX 250, GTX 1650, and Intel Integrated Graphics. With up to 12GB RAM and up to 16GB Optane DRAM, the company offers up to 512GB of PCIe SSD storage, along with SSD + HDD storage option of up to 128GB + 1TB. There’s also up to 1TB + 16GB HDD + Optane option. The Ideapad S540 is equipped with one USB-C port, two USB 3.1 ports, and an HDMI 2.0 port for the Nvidia GTX model. The laptop is priced starting at Rs 64,990. 

Lenovo IdeaPad S340

The Lenovo IdeaPad S340 comes in 14-inch and a 15-inch variants as well. The laptop is powered by up to Intel 8th Gen Core i7 processor. For memory and storage, Lenovo has equipped the device with up to 12GB DDR4 RAM and 16GB Dual Channel Optane DRAM. There’s also up to 128GB/ 256GB M.2 SSD PCIe/SATA support along with Hybrid (M.2 PCIe/SATA) configuration of 128 GB + 1TB/2TB HDD, 1TB/2TB HDD. The 14-inch variant of the laptop is available with up to 14-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS panel with 250 nits of brightness while its 15-inch variant comes with a 15.6-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) TN panel and IPS panel for the touchscreen variant. The Lenovo IdeaPad starts at Rs 36,990.

Lenovo IdeaPad S145

The Lenovo IdeaPad S145 is priced starting at Rs 23,990 in India. The entry-level laptop comes equipped with AMD's A6 processor. It can be bought with the optional Nvidia GeForce MX110 GPU. Available in various memory and storage configurations, the laptop comes in 14-inch and 15-inch variants. It is equipped with a Full HD 14-inch (1920 x 1080) TN panel and also comes in 15.6-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) TN Anti-Glare panel. The device features two USB 3.1 ports, one USB 2.0 Port and one HDMI 1.4b. 

Inline image courtesy: Lenovo



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Honor 8X, Honor 10 confirmed to get Android Q update

After the whole Huawei fiasco with the US government, Honor has confirmed that it will be updating the Honor 8X and Honor 10 to Android’s latest version, Android Q later in the year. Hence, while Huawei has reportedly been working on a homegrown smartphone OS, the development of EMUI 10 based on Android Q appears to be going on in full swing too.

As per Honor India’s Twitter handle, it said, “Thank you for showing your interest for Android Q. We would like to inform you that our software team has already evaluated and confirmed the compatibility of Android Q upgrade with Honor 10,” in reply to a query. The Honor 10 was launched last year with EMUI 8.1 based on Android 8.1 Oreo and eventually updated to EMUI 9.0 based on Android 9 Pie last year.

The Twitter handle posted a similar reply to a query about the Honor 8X update. It said, “Thank you for showing your interest for Android Q. We would like to inform you that our software team has already evaluated and confirmed the compatibility of Android Q upgrade with Honor 8X.” To recall, Honor 8X was launched with EMUI 8.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo last year. However, it went on to get the Android Pie update earlier this year, and now it looks like the device will get the next major Android update as well.

In the meantime, the Honor 7X, which was launched in 2017, may finally start receiving the Android Pie update in August. In reply to a query about the Honor 7X, the company replied, “Thank you for reaching out to us. We would like to inform you that our software team has confirmed the compatibility of device with EMUI 9.0/Android Pie and expected to be released the final version of EMUI 9.0/Android Pie tentatively by end of July 2019."



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Nintendo Switch Lite is Now Up for Pre-Orders in the UK, US Ahead of September 20 Release Date

Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch Lite handheld console have kicked off in the UK and US ahead of its scheduled September 20 market release.

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Google Chrome 76 with Incognito Mode tweaks is now rolling out globally

Google has started rolling out Chrome 76 to Mac, Windows, and Linux devices globally. The latest version will include all the changes that have already been discussed in the recent weeks. Google says that Chrome 76 (version 76.0.3809.89) for Android will become available on Google Play over the next few weeks, and it also includes stability and performance improvements. For those who would like to see a full list of the changes can go to Git log, and can file a bug if they see any issues there.

The major improvements are made in the Incognito Mode. The latest release will now make it harder for publications, which rely on subscriptions, to detect if a user is using the Incognito Mode for browsing their websites. Some publishers have used a loophole in Chrome to deter metered paywall circumvention. These websites use FileSystem API loophole to detect whether a person is browsing in Incognito Mode and once detected, they provide users a different experience, that is, they are still able to limit the “free articles”.

To get more clarity on the subject, let’s take a look at an example. Generally, a subscription-based publication gives a certain number of free articles in a month. If you are browsing a publication like this, it generally mentions the number of ‘free articles’ that you can read in a month. Once you pass that ‘free article’ limit, the publication will ask you to subscribe to read more articles.

In a bid to skip this limit, users generally visit such sites through Incognito Mode. However, these sites have mechanisms (such as access to cookies) in place that can detect the free article count. With the latest modification in Chrome, these sites won't be able to detect if a user is browsing in Incognito Mode.

“Sites that wish to deter meter circumvention have options such as reducing the number of free articles someone can view before logging in, requiring free registration to view any content, or hardening their paywalls. Other sites offer more generous meters as a way to develop affinity among potential subscribers, recognising some people will always look for workarounds.  We suggest publishers monitor the effect of the FileSystem API change before taking reactive measures,” Barb Palser, Partner Development Manager, News and Web Partnerships, had said when she wrote a blog post explaining the changes.

Further, starting with the Chrome 76, the Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) will now check for updates daily instead of every three days before. Additionally, Chrome 76 will block Flash by default in the browser. However, users still have the option to switch back to the current “Ask first” option for a few more releases. Google says that by not using Flash, users would be able to enjoy “faster, safer, and more battery-efficient browsing experience.” Adobe had announced the end of support for Flash in July 2017.



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Android Auto gets new launcher, Google Assistant badges and more

Google has announced a new update for its Android Auto platform. This update will come to all vehicles running the official version of the platform and will roll out over the next few weeks. The update includes a new app launcher, Google Assistant badges, improvements to how media is played and more. Google made the announcement via its official blog. “As you hit the road this summer, Android Auto is sporting a new look with features that make driving more simple, personal and helpful,” the company writes.

The new Android Auto update adds a new app launcher that is aimed at being more streamlined. The bottom left button will bring up the app launcher, with the commonly used apps featured on the top row. Further, several icons will now feature a Google Assistant badge. Tapping that icon will prompt Assistant to read out the information to you. This includes weather reports, news, reminders and more. Android Auto will now also automatically pick up music and podcasts from where you left off. However, the feature is limited to media apps compatible with Auto.  

The new update also introduces updates to navigation. If you already have a route queued on your phone, Android Auto will automatically populate the directions and start navigating to the location. Further, the navigation bar will now sit at the bottom of the display, letting users manage multiple apps more easily. There is also a new notification button that lets users access recent calls, messages, and alerts. Further, Android Auto now supports widescreen displays.

Google notes that this new version will not be reflected in Android Auto on the phone. The phone screen experience will be switched to the Google Assistant’s new driving mode that was showcased at this year’s Google I/O.



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Samsung Galaxy Tab, Watch teased ahead of Note 10 flagship launch in New York

Samsung has released a teaser video previewing two new Galaxy products that will be unveiled ahead of this year’s ‘Unpacked’ event in New York. The devices, which are likely to be called the Galaxy Tab S6 and the Galaxy Watch Active 2, will be launched in a special pre-event in New York. Samsung says that it will unveil the Galaxy Tab on July 31 at 10AM EDT (7.30pm IST) and the Galaxy Watch on August 5 at 10AM EDT (7.30pm IST).

“The new devices cater to the generation that wants the power to create and consume wherever they are. Samsung is allowing for interconnectedness anytime, enabling users to seamlessly merge work and play, and ensuring peace of mind at all times. In a world that belongs to the creators, Samsung’s new innovations will allow users to share their thoughts and ideas freely, empowering their voices and offering the tools for boundless creation,” Samsung said in a note.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6

The Samsung tablet, which is likely to be called the Galaxy Tab S6, was leaked in renders earlier this month. The alleged renders of tablet showed a vertically- aligned dual-camera setup on the back. The device will come equipped with an S-Pen. The renders hint that the new tablet may look a lot like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e (review). The device may ship sans a headphone jack and feature a USB Type-C port at the bottom. It was reported that Samsung could introduce a keyboard accessory, which is also teased in the video above. 

According to the information making rounds on the internet, the dual-camera setup on the back could feature a 13MP main camera and a 5MP secondary wide-angle sensor. Just below the camera, there seems to be a groove to magnetically attach the S-Pen, which could come with Bluetooth support. Additionally, the tablet might come equipped with four AKG-tuned speakers, two on both top and bottom. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 could be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset and might feature a 10.5-inch display. The tablet is touted to come equipped with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage that can be upgraded to 256GB. It could launch in Pink, Grey and Blue colours.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

Just like the tablet, the apparent specs of Samsung’s watch were also made public. The Galaxy Watch Active 2 is said to come in 40mm and 42mm sizes, with the display on the watches measuring 1.2 inches and 1.4 inches respectively. It is rumoured to come with a Super AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass DX+ protection. Both watches are expected to use a steel or aluminium case that will be MIL-STD 810G certified. The Watch Active 2 is also rumoured to have a touch-sensitive bezel, and it is expected to employ the same Samsung Exynos 9110 SoC as its predecessor, with 768 MB of RAM on the Bluetooth-only model and 1.5GB on the LTE-capable wearable.



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Galaxy M20s in works, to include 5830mAh battery: Report

It would appear that Samsung is looking to diversify the Galaxy A and Galaxy M series of smartphones as much as possible. Furthermore, the Galaxy M series has received a good response in India. The lineup consists of four devices as of now, namely, M10, M20, M30 and M40. While there is no word on the Galaxy M50, the rumour mill has some new information about another M-series device. Allegedly, the Samsung Galaxy M20s is in works.

A new report from the Dutch website Galaxy Club suggests that the Galaxy M20s might be in the works. The Galaxy M20s is supposed to be based on the Galaxy M20. It could offer slightly updated internals like a bigger battery. According to the report, the device could pack a 5,830mAh battery, which is a massive size for a smartphone. Considering the Galaxy M20 already offers 5,000mAh battery, an update to the battery size could also add to the bulkiness of the phone. Furthermore, the report claims that 5,830mAh is the rated capacity, which means the 'typical' capacity could be 6,000mAh. However, there is no word on the launch date yet. 

The Galaxy M20s is not the only “s” named phone that Samsung plans to launch soon. We have been hearing about Galaxy A20s, A30s and A70s phones that could be variants of the Galaxy A20, A30 and A70 respectively. However, we don’t know any price or launch details about the s-named devices as of now.



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Electronic Arts Posts Strong Q2 Results on Apex Legends, Sims 4, FIFA Ultimate Team

Electronic Arts' live services led by Apex Legends, The Sims 4 and FIFA Ultimate Team spurred growth with net bookings jumping 12% to $504 million from a year ago.

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Poco F1 gets lucrative price cut as part of Poco Days Sale

Poco F1 was launched in India last year at a starting price of Rs 20,999. Now, the phone is selling for as low as Rs 17,999 as part of Poco Days sale that ends today, July 31. The base variant has 6GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The highlight of the phone is that it comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset. Furthermore, Xiaomi’s Poco Days sale price is also reflecting on Flipkart with options to avail exchange offers and no-cost EMI options as well.

During the Poco Days sale, both the 128GB and 256GB variants of Poco F1 are up for grabs at a discounted price. However, today, July 31 is the last day of the sale. The 128GB storage variant  is available for Rs 17,999, whereas the 256GB model is available for Rs 22,999 down from Rs 27,999. Additionally, the top-end Poco F1 Armoured Edition is selling at Rs 23,999 during the sale. However, there is no new discount on the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage model, which is selling at Rs 17,999 since June 2019.

During the sale, Xiaomi is also offering an additional exchange discount of up to Rs 2,000, and a no-cost EMI option is also available.

Coming to the specifications of the Poco F1, it features a 5.99-inch full HD+ display with a 1080x2248 pixels resolution, and a 19:9 aspect ratio. The display has a notch as well that houses a camera along with the infrared sensor for the face-unlock feature. The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 845 chipset paired with an Adreno 630 GPU. On the storage front, it has up to 8GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage. In the optics department, the phone sports a dual rear camera setup, which is a combination of 12MP and 5MP cameras. In contrast, there is a 20MP front camera. You can read our review of the Poco F1 to help make your purchase decision.



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Truecaller covertly signed up users for its payments service, calls it a bug

Truecaller, the crowdsourced caller ID service that’s highly popular among Indians covertly signed up an unspecified number of users to its payments service without their explicit consent. Users in India took to social media to complain that they had been registered to the payments service without their consent. However, in a statement, Truecaller said the issue happened because of a bug in the software, and soon rolled out an app update to Android users in India fixing the issue.

The bug made the app covertly send an SMS to the user's bank to verify accounts under the phone number and created UPI address on their behalf. It’s standard procedure to create UPI addresses but usually, the action is initiated by the user and not automatically done by an app.

Truecalled acknowledged the issue and said it will be releasing a new update to fix the issue. Till then, users signed up for payments service will be deregistered automatically.

We have discovered a bug in the latest update of Truecaller that affected the payments feature, which automatically triggered a registration post updating to the version. This was a bug and we have discontinued this version of the app so no other users will be affected. We're sorry about this version not passing our quality standards. We've taken quick steps to fix the issue and already rolled out a fix in a new version. For the users already affected, the new version with the fix will be available shortly, however, in the meanwhile they can choose to manually deregister through the overflow menu in the app," Truecaller said in a statement.

The payments service by Truecaller was added to the app around two years back. Just like Google Pay, Phonepe and the likes, Truecaller also depends on the UPI payments platform to initiate transactions. UPI laws state that signing up users without their consent is illegal.

This is not the first time a company has covertly signed up users to a payments platform. Airtel, when it launched the Airtel Payments Bank, also onboarded users to its payments platform without their consent.



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Facebook publishes first results of its brain-typing experiment

Facebook has published details of its brain-computer interface experiments, with some promising results. The system is a brain-reading computer developed by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco backed by Facebook Reality Labs. The paper was published in Nature Communications and details the team's success in reading brain impulses associated with certain words that the test subjects were about to utter.

There already exist brain-computer interfaces that people can use to type, but in order to do so, they need to spell out each letter individually on a virtual keyboard. The team at USCF demonstrated that their system could extract the answer to pre-determined questions based on the subject’s thoughts.

The experiment was performed on subjects who were on their way to epilepsy surgery and had invasive implants placed in various parts of their brain. Then the system was trained on the 24 pre-determined questions and its possible answers. Once the training was complete, the subjects would be presented with a question, to which, they would answer out aloud. The system would be able to detect their answers based on its training and lead author and UCSF neurosurgery professor Edward Chang said that the accuracy of the system was between 61 to 76 percent, far higher than the current 7 to 20 percent of existing such brain-computer interfaces.

While the study has promising results, it is far from what Facebook has been promising the world; a non-invasive brain-computer interface. The current paper is based on a system that requires highly invasive implants, and more importantly, is functional in a very limited environment where it has already been trained on all the questions and their potential answers. Lastly, the answers had to be spoken in order for the system to read the brain waves and deliver the result, which isn’t exactly “thinking and typing.”



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Google researchers find six security bugs worth 5 million in iOS

Two members of Project Zero, Google’s bug-hunting team, have found six bugs in iOS that could have led cyber attackers to compromise devices like iPhones and iPads. The duo published the details and demo proof-of-concept code for five of the six “interactionless” security bugs that made the OS vulnerable to hackers who could have exploited it via the iMessage client. If sold in the exploit market, these six bugs would have reportedly fetched over $5 million.

The bugs were discovered by Google Project Zero security researchers Natalie Silvanovich and Samuel Groß. ZDNet reports that all the six security flaws were patched on July 22 when Apple rolled out the iOS 12.4 update. As per Silvanovich, details about one of the "interactionless" vulnerabilities are kept private because the latest iOS update did not completely patch the bug. Silvanovich will be holding a presentation about these vulnerabilities at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas next week.

How the bugs could have compromised iOS security

The researcher said that out of the six vulnerabilities, four could have lead to the execution of malicious code on a remote iOS device, with no user interaction needed. To compromise the device, an attacker could have sent a malicious message to the victim's phone. In such cases, the code is executed once the user opens and views the received message. The fifth and sixth bugs could have allowed an attacker to extract data from the compromised device's memory and read files off the device remotely, this too, with no user interaction.

According to a price chart published by US-based information security company Zerodium, if these bugs were sold on the exploit market, they could have brought over $1 million each for every vulnerability. It means that the bugs which the researchers published are valued between $5 million and $10 million. Vulnerability research hub Crowdfense told ZDNet that since the exploits were “interactionless,” and the vulnerabilities worked on recent versions of iOS exploits, these could have been valued between $2 million and $4 million each, that is, the total value of the bugs is between $20 million and $24 million.



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Windows 10 cloud reinstall option coming soon

It appears Windows 10 is scheduled to get a new feature that could save users a lot of effort while reinstalling their operating system. It’s a feature that MacOS has enjoyed for quite some time now. Dubbed “Cloud download”, the feature is expected to be found in Windows’ reset options in Settings along with “Reset locally”, which means users reinstalling Windows 10 in the future can either choose to use a local image or download it afresh from the cloud.

The news of the new Windows 10 reset method that Microsoft is currently working on comes in the form of a tweet sent by WalkingCat. According to the tweet, the boot menu in the leaked Windows Build 18950 (for the upcoming 201H1 update) gives the user an option to reinstall the existing operating system using a local image or download Windows from the cloud. This build has reportedly been leaked before its official roll-out to the Windows Insider Fast ring users.

An earlier report by groovyPost claims that Microsoft Surface devices such as the Surface Book and Surface Pro already come with an option to download the Windows 10 image from the cloud at the time of setup. “Recover from the Cloud is especially handy if your recovery partition is corrupt. Microsoft has not documented the feature anywhere on its official Surface web page,” writes groovyPost in its report while explaining how to use the feature.

Earlier this week, another leaked internal Windows 10 build showed us that Microsoft is working on a redesign of the Start menu in which the popular Live Tiles are missing and the icons are unnaturally large. You can see how the new Start menu that’s still in development looks here. The redesigned Start menu and Cloud download feature aren’t expected in the stable release of Windows 10 till June next year.

 

18950 bootux : How would you like to reinstall Windows? > Cloud download : Download Windows > Reset locally : Reinstall my existing Windows operating system

— WalkingCat (@h0x0d) 29 July 2019

 



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Redmi K20, Redmi K20 Pro to go on sale in India today: offers, price, specifications

The Redmi K20 series will be up for grabs again in India today. Just like the previous sales, the Redmi K20, K20 Pro will be sold on Flipkart and Mi.com. The sale will be live at 12pm today, and the phones will be sold till the stocks last. The phones offer a 3D curved back, and sport a pop-up selfie camera that comes with a pulsating notification LED light. They also have Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on top. 

Redmi K20, K20 Pro price, offers, and sale time

The Redmi K20 is priced at Rs 21,999 for the base variant of 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant. The 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant will cost you Rs 23,999. Additionally, the Redmi K20 Pro is priced at Rs 27,999 for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant, whereas its 8GB RAM + 256GB storage will cost you Rs 30,999.

As mentioned before, the latest sale will kick off at 12pm today. The phones will be available in three colour options: Carbon Black, Flame Red, and Glacier Blue. 

As for the sale offers, both phones include a five-percent unlimited cashback on Flipkart Axis Bank credit card, flat Rs 1,000 off on ICICI Bank credit card and debit card EMI transactions, and five-percent cashback on HDFC Bank debit cards on Flipkart.com. In contrast, Mi.com is offering Rs 1,000 off on ICICI Bank credit cards and EMI transactions, exchange discounts, and two claims of Mi Screen Protect.

Redmi K20 Specifications

The Redmi K20 features a 6.39-inch AMOLED full-HD+ (1080x2340 pixels) display with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 and 91.9-percent screen-to-body ratio. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 chipset, paired with 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of onboard storage. The phone runs MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie. The phone packs a 4000mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging.

As for the cameras, the Redmi K20 sports a triple rear camera setup: a 48MP primary Sony IMX582 sensor with an f/1.75 lens, a secondary 13MP sensor with a wide-angle lens, and an 8MP tertiary sensor with an f/2.4 lens. And for the selfies, the phone has a 20MP pop-up camera.

Redmi K20 Pro specifications

The Redmi K20 Pro features a 6.39-inch AMOLED full-HD+ (1080x2340 pixels) display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by a Snapdragon 855 chipset, paired with up to 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. The phone packs a 4000mAh battery that supports 27W fast charging.

In the optics department, the phone ports a triple rear camera setup: a 48MP Sony IMX586 primary sensor with an f/1.75 lens, a 13MP secondary sensor with a wide-angle lens, and an 8MP tertiary sensor with an f/2.4 lens. There is also a 20-megapixel pop-up selfie camera on board.



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PUBG Mobile Lite tops Google Play Store Ranking in just three days

It is obvious that PUBG Mobile has taken the world by storm. However, the game was not playable on all smartphones especially entry-level devices with 1 or 2GB RAM. PUBG Mobile Lite was in the works for quite some time and the game finally hit the market. The game hit the Google Play Store and, in just three days, has become the number 1 downloaded app on the Google Play Store. Numbers from the app's page on Google Play Store say it has crossed more than 10 million downloads. The highlight of the game is its ability to run on low-end devices with 1 or 2 GB RAM. 

In an official release, PUBG said, “PUBG MOBILE LITE, attracts attention by reaching the number 1 spot on the Google Play Store, within the first 3 days of launch. This is not too surprising, given the popularity of the mobile version of the game within the country. Built with Unreal Engine 4, this version of PUBG MOBILE is compatible with even more devices and optimized for devices with less RAM without compromising on the gameplay experience, which has attracted millions of fans around the world. The popularity of PUBG MOBILE LITE can be attributed to the fact that a considerable segment of the Indian smartphone market comprises of ‘entry-level smartphones’ and now thanks to the new lighter version - PUBG MOBILE LITE, this segment has access to a game which was beyond their reach.”

We at Digit ran the game on a smartphone with 1GB RAM and the game ran smoothly. PUBG Mobile Lite does make the obvious compromises. For starters, the map is smaller when compared to the full mobile version. Instead of 100 players, PUBG Mobile Lite has 60 players on the map. In terms of textures and game assets, you will notice that things like furniture and other items in the houses and hangers are missing. The terrain in the game is simpler too. Graphically, the game runs at a lower resolution. That doesn't mean the game is unplayable. The best part about PUBG Mobile Lite is the fact that the game runs butter smooth and is very responsive on the 1GB RAM device. Foliage is one key asset in the game. Players use the foliage to hide and take on unsuspecting enemies. The foliage representation in the game is good and works well for cover. Elements like smoke grenades and vehicles too work as they do in PUBG Mobile.

Needless to say, we enjoyed our experience with the game on an entry-level device.  You can check out our detailed hands-on of PUBG Mobile Lite running on a Redmi Go here. If you are new to PUBG Mobile Lite here are some tips and tricks to help you get that chicken dinner.



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Redmi 7A goes on sale today at 12pm: Specs, price and all you need to know

Redmi's entry-level smartphone, the Redmi 7A will go up for sale today. This time, the handset will be up for grabs via Mi.com and Flipkart. The Redmi 7A was launched in the first week of July and is priced starting at Rs 5,799 on the company’s e-store. The phone competes with other entry-level handsets like the Realme C2.

Redmi 7A specifications:

As mentioned, the Redmi 7A is an entry-level smartphone and it comes equipped with a 5.45-inch HD+ Full HD display. It features a unibody matte finish design and comes in Matte Blue, Matte Gold and Matte Black colours. Under the hood, the phone sports the Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 mobile platform, which is paired with up to 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage. There’s also a dedicated microSD card slot to expand its storage up to 256GB.

In terms of optics on the back, it comes equipped with a 12MP Sony IMX 486 sensor paired with an f/2.2 aperture lens. On the front is a 5MP camera that supports AI face unlock, AI Background blurring, AI Beautify and some additional features. Backed by a 4000mAh battery that is claimed to deliver 17 hours of HD video playback, the handset also features a splash-resistant design and is said to sport reinforced corners. The device gets a two-year warranty and also comes equipped with wireless FM radio feature.

Redmi 7A price, availability and launch offers

The 2GB RAM + 16GB storage version of the Redmi 7A costs Rs 5,799, while its 2GB RAM + 32GB storage variant is priced at Rs 5,999. The smartphone will go on sale today at 12pm via Mi.com and Flipkart. 

For launch offers, buyers of the handset on Flipkart can avail a BuyBack offer, along with a 5 percent discount with Axis Bank Buzz credit card. One can also opt for no-cost EMI options, exchange discount, and Complete Mobile Protection at Rs 199. On Mi.com, there's a Rs 2,200 cashback and 125GB extra data for Jio subscribers who buy the Redmi 7A. The company is also offering an exchange discount and Mi Protect for security against liquid and accidental damages at Rs 399.



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2020 iPhone could support time-of-flight 3D sensors: Report

While the 2019 iPhones are yet to be launched, the rumour mill is already churning out predictions for the 2020 iPhones. According to some reports, Apple is expected to release three new iPhones this year. As for 2020, the tech giant could supposedly incorporate time-of-flight (ToF) sensors in the future iPhones. Additionally, Apple might also include 5G connectivity in next year’s iPhone models.

Previously, a report speculated that Apple might introduce VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser) ToF sensors on the rear of the 2020 iPhone models. The setup is similar to the TrueDepth camera setup found on the current iPhone models, but on the front. Ming Chi Kuo, a well-known analyst, has also predicted that Apple might bring ToF sensors to its 2020 iPhone lineup.

In the latest research note shared by 9to5Mac, Kuo claims that at least two of the 2020 iPhone models could feature a ToF sensor on the rear. Furthermore, Kuo added that Apple might introduce three iPhone models next year with Face ID support.

Additionally, according to Kuo, all three 2020 iPhone models could support 5G connectivity. He added that 5G iPhone models might support both mmWave and sub-6GHz bands. Last year, Kuo also said that Apple could first bring ToF-sensing technology to the iPad lineup sometime in early 2020.

As for VCSEL, it is currently used in a number of consumer electronics products. It is a semiconductor that emits infrared light, and it is primarily used to enable augmented reality-based applications and range finding. It could help Apple create a much bigger use case for AR-based applications while enabling users to capture photos with even more detail.

Apple is expected to introduce an all-new iPhone lineup in 2020. However, all these are speculations at the moment and it’s fairly early to trust them all.

As for this year, the tech giant might launch three iPhone 11 models with A13 chip, taptic engine, and more.



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Realme X goes on sale today at 12pm: Price, specs, offers and all you need to know

Realme launched its midrange Realme X handset earlier this month with the aim of taking on the competition like the Redmi Note 7 series. The smartphone comes with an almost bezel-less display without a notch, thanks to a pop-up camera and it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC. It goes up for sale today at 12pm on Flipkart and Realme’s official website. 

Realme X specifications

The Realme X is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chipset and is paired with up to 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. It is equipped with a 6.53-inch Super AMOLED display that sports a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Additionally, the device has a 91.2-percent screen-to-body ratio. The phone packs a 3745mAh battery, which supports 20W VOOC-charge technology. 

In terms of optics, the Realme X sports a dual rear camera setup which consists of a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor and a secondary 5MP depth sensor. The camera also offers features like Nightscape and Chroma Boost. Additionally, the 16MP selfie camera is housed in the pop-up camera module, which according to Realme, rises in just 0.74 seconds and has a fall-detection feature. The fingerprint sensor is tucked under the display and the phone runs on ColorOS 6 based on Android 9 Pie. 

Realme X price, availability, and sale offers

The base variant of Realme X with 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage is priced at Rs 16,999. The top-end 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant carries a price tag of Rs 19,999. The handset will be available in Space Blue and Polar White colour variants and will be up for purchase via Realme's official website and Flipkart at 12pm today.

As for the sale offers, Flipkart is offering no-cost EMI for buyers, along with a 5-percent cashback for Axis Bank Credit card holders, and 5-percent discount for purchases made using an Axis Bank Buzz Credit card. However, when buying the phone from Realme’s official website, one can get 10-percent MobiKwik SuperCash worth Rs 1,500 and Jio benefits worth Rs 7,000, which will be credited in the form of cashback vouchers.



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Original Doom, Doom II, Doom 3 Re-Released for Android, iOS, Modern Game Consoles

The first three DOOM games have been re-released for modern platforms, and the original two are now available on Android and iOS.

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Fortnite Season 10 Teaser Hints at the Return of the Dusty Depot

Fortnite season 10 release date is August 1, and Dusty Depot could return in this season.

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Fortnite World Cup Solo Finals: US Teen Walks Away With $3 Million Prize

American Kyle Giersdorf, alias "Bugha," became the first Fortnite world champion in the solo division, winning $3 million at age 16 on Sunday.

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Scientists create artificial sun in a lab, the third of its kind in the world

A team of scientists in Wisconsin have created an artificial, miniature sun in their lab. The physicists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are not the first team to achieve the feat, with a team in Germany and another in China having already proclaimed this same achievement. However, the three teams have done so, with different goals.

The Big Red Ball experiment was designed to create an effective way of studying solar winds, without actually having to go to the sun. Solar winds can have devastating consequences on satellites, so studying them is crucial in order to protect ourselves from them. Solar winds are created when a hot ball of plasma is ejected from the sun at a point where the magnetic field of the sun is somewhat weaker than other parts. When the plasma breaches the magnetic field at such a point, it gives rise to solar winds. “The solar wind is highly variable, but there are essentially two types: fast and slow,” explains Ethan Peterson, a graduate student in the department of physics at UW–Madison and lead author of the study published online July 29 in Nature Physics. “Satellite missions have documented pretty well where the fast wind comes from, so we were trying to study specifically how the slow solar wind is generated and how it evolves as it travels toward Earth.”

The Big Red Ball allowed the team to recreate the same conditions as the sun in a 3-meter-wide hollow sphere that houses a strong magnet at its core. The team pumped the cavity full of Helium and then ionized the gas. An electric current was then passed through the system to turn the gas into plasma which would interact with the magnetic fields. This experiment would allow the researchers to take measurements of any point in the magnetic field, at any time, in 3-dimensions, something that has not been possible through satellite imaging. The team can also take multiple measurements simultaneously, another task that was previously impossible.

The result of the experiment is that the team has been able to recreate the Parker Spiral in the lab, a phenomenon where the solar winds start causing the magnetic field to spiral. This is caused by fast- and slow-moving solar winds and while we have known the rules that govern fast-moving solar winds, it’s the slow ones that have been a mystery. The experiment was also to determine the cause of “solar plasma burps,” the phenomena that give rise to the slow-moving solar winds.

The team responsible for this breakthrough stress that the Big Red Ball is not a substitute for actual satellite missions. While the experiment does recreate the conditions of the sun rather faithfully (with regards to plasma flow), satellite missions are still able to provide data that wouldn’t be possible to record in this experiment. For example, the Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018 is expected to reach and maybe even dip below the Alfvén surface, the point just above the sun’s surface where the magnetic field weakens. The data provided by the satellite mission, in this case, would be unique, and the first of its kind.

The Big Red Ball is the third “miniature-sun-in-a-lab” that’s been created. The one in Germany is used by scientists to recreate the sun’s light for experiments into producing solar fuels like hydrogen. Perhaps the most promising one is in China, where the team used the experiment for fusion energy and reported successful test firing of their Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor. It was reported that the reactor was able to successfully achieve an electron temperature of 100 million degree Celsius, bringing us one step closer to achieving nuclear fusion.



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Redmi K20 Pro Summer Honey colour launched in China

Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi has launched a new colour of the K20 Pro in China. Called “Summer Honey”, the colour adds to the already available Flame Red, Glacier Blue, and Carbon Fiber variants. It will be available for purchase in China from August 1 via the company's online store, and its availability in other markets like India is not known yet. The new variant comes in three versions: 6GB RAM/128GB storage which is priced at CNY 2,599 (approx Rs 26,000), the 8GB RAM/128GB storage that will cost users CNY 2,799 (approx Rs 28,000), and the top-end variant with 8GB RAM/256GB storage will be available for CNY 2,999 (approx Rs 30,000).

The Redmi K20 Pro (Review) features a 6.39-inch AMOLED Full HD+ that offers a resolution of 1080x2340 pixels and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, which is paired with up to 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. It packs a 4000mAh battery that supports 27W fast charging tech.

Redmi K20 Pro White Colour

In the camera department, the K20 Pro sports a triple rear camera setup: a 48MP Sony IMX586 primary sensor with an f/1.75 lens, 13MP secondary sensor with a wide-angle lens, and an 8MP sensor with an f/2.4 lens. As for the selfie camera, the 20MP sensor is incorporated in a pop-up module. In India, the 6GB RAM + 128GB version of the Redmi K20 Pro is priced at Rs 27,999, while the 8GB RAM + 256GB version will cost you Rs 30,999.

The Redmi K20 Pro recently received MIUI 10 Global Stable ROM V10.3.3.0 update. The update brought improvements to the fingerprint unlock, 48MP image capture time along with the June 2019 Android security patch. Furthermore, the official changelog also mentions enhancement to the touch performance of the phone specifically when using the Game Turbo feature.



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Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 5G allegedly certified in China

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G is the first phone from the Chinese company that supports the next generation of cellular network technology. It now seems that the company is working on its successor as a Xiaomi phone with 5G capabilities has been spotted on China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) database. The phone bearing a model number M1908F1XE has been dubbed as the Mi Mix 4 5G. It is worth mentioning that the listing does not reveal the name of the device, but the developments around the next 5G phone from Xiaomi points that the phone could be the Mi Mix 4.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun had already said that a new 5G device will launch in the second half of the year. Since, Xiaomi launches the Mix series phones in the second half, this could well be the Mi Mix 4. Further, it is also possible that company may skip ‘4’ from it and go for ‘ Mi Mix 5’ instead because the number 4 is considered as a bad omen in China. Further it is assumed that the phone would ship with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ that was recently launched globally.

The Mi Mix 3 5G was launched at MWC earlier this year, and is powered by the Snapdragon 855 chipset. The Mi Mix 3 5G has a 6.39-inch Full HD+ SuperAMOLED display with no notch. Talking about the rear camera setup, the phone has 12MP+12MP camera setup with f/1.8 aperture and dual pixel autofocus. There’s also a mechanical slider for accessing the 24MP+2MP front camera setup. Powering it all is a 3800mAh battery which supports Quick Charge 4.



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Black Shark 2 Pro launched with Snapdragon 855 Plus, features lower touch latency, new design and more RGB

With the Snapdragon 855 Plus now announced, gaming smartphones now have a way to differentiate themselves in terms of the hardware under the hood. The Asus ROG Phone II was the first phone to sport the gaming SoC and now Black Shark has also jumped into the fray with the Black Shark 2 Pro. The gaming phone was announced at an event in China

The major upgrade in the Black Shark 2 Pro is of course the chipset that powers it. The Snapdragon 855 Plus is slightly faster than the regular variant with a max clock speed of 2.94GHz as compared to 2.86GHz on the standard version. That allows Qualcomm to offer a host of features that should delight a mobile gamer. That includes rich HDR graphics, reduced janks during gameplay and Q-sync which syncs the frame rates with the display refresh rate to make gameplay smoother. Along with the SD855+, there’s now 12GB RAM in both the variants and UFS 3.0 storage. On the outside, there are now more RGB LED strips with two more strips flanking the RGB-lit Black Shark logo on the center.

There are some more minor tweaks that should help with gaming on the device which includes a lower touch response of the 6.39-inch AMOLED display. The touch latency on the Black Shark 2 Pro is claimed to be 34.7ms against 43.5ms on the predecessor. Along the same lines, the secondary camera on the back is now a 13MP sensor as compared to a 12MP one on the Black Shark 2.

The software remains the same on the device, however, save for the new Black Space Dock 4.0, the company’s new gaming mode. This replaces the Shark Space that existed on the previous offering.

The Black Shark 2 Pro’s exterior design has changed a bit though. The back panel is improved for a better grip and there’s now few more colour options to choose from — Racing, Flamingo and Myth Ray, launched in partnership with LNG Esports, an Esports team from China. Black Shark also launched new cases and bumpers along with two gaming headsets — An in-ear type and another over-the-ear.

The Black Shark 2 Pro is priced at CNY 2,999 (roughly Rs 30,000) for the 12GB RAM and 128GB storage variant while the 12GB RAM with 256GB storage variant will ship for CNY3,999 (roughly Rs 40,000). The phone is right now exclusively available in China but it might come to India a few months later.



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Asus ROG Zephyrus M GU502GU Review

The new ROG Zephyrus M gaming laptop offers mid-range gaming hardware in a package that weighs less than 2kg.

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Google accepts it bought facial scans of passers-by for Rs 345: Report

Last week, a report claimed that Google was paying $5 (approx Rs 350) to passers-by in the US in return for a facial scan. From that development, it was derived that the company was doing this to train it’s face unlock system which was only rumoured at that time. Google has now confirmed both these developments, that is, it is incorporating face unlock feature in the Pixel 4 devices and it collected people’s photos to train its algorithms.

Google told The Verge that collecting face-scanning data was a “field research” and it was conducted to improve its algorithms, hence, improve the Pixel 4’s face unlock feature’s accuracy. “Our goal is to build the feature with robust security and performance. We’re also building it with inclusiveness in mind, so as many people as possible can benefit,” a Google spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Google is reportedly collecting infrared, colour, and depth data from each face along with time, ambient light level, among other things. “Although face samples inherently can’t be anonymous, each participant is assigned an abstract identity number. We separately keep each participant’s email address, in order to remove data upon request,” the company told the publication. The face data will be kept for 18 months and the samples are “encrypted and access restricted.”

This has also been cleared by Google in a blog post where it said, “Security and privacy are core principles for Pixel. Face unlock uses facial recognition technology that is processed on your device, so that image data never leaves your phone. The images used for face unlock are never saved or shared with other Google services. To protect your privacy and security, your face data is securely stored in Pixel's Titan M security chip. Similarly, Soli sensor data is also processed on your phone, and it’s never saved or shared with other Google services.”

Google Pixel 4 will also come with Soli, a motion-sensing radar that will sense small motions around the phone. By combining software algorithms with the hardware sensor, users can skip songs, snooze alarms, and silence phone calls, just by waving their hand(s).



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OnePlus 7 users in India start getting OxygenOS 957 update

After OnePlus 7 Pro, its younger sibling,  OnePlus 7 has started receiving the OxygenOS 9.5.7 update in India. The update brings a lot of system enhancements and camera improvements. OnePlus rolled out the update on July 18, however, we received it today, on July 30. The OxygenOS 9.5.7 adds a sound profile for the Bullets Wireless 2 Bluetooth wireless earbuds. One can find the sound enhancement profile in Settings under Dolby Atmos. 

The update also brings important performance improvements. Fixes are also present for automatic brightness sensitivity, GPS speed, and accuracy improvements. Coming to the camera, OnePlus 7 has received performance improvements when switching modes with the OxygenOS 9.5.7. Furthermore, there are some general bug fixes and performance improvements. It weighs 329MB in size.

Here’s the official OxygenOS 9.5.7 changelog for OnePlus 7:

System

Optimized the sensitivity of automatic brightness Optimized the speed and accuracy of GPS while the screen is off Added sound enhancement for OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 (Settings – Sound & vibration – Dolby Atmos – Earphone Adjustment – Earphone Sound Enhancement) Support VoLTE/VoWiFi for 3 SE and Telenor SE (EEA Only) General bug fixes and improvements

Camera

Improved the performance of camera mode switching Improved experience of autofocusing in some scenes Improved the effect of photo-stitching in Panorama mode Improved photo quality of 48MP JPG in Pro mode

As OnePlus stated on the official blog, the update is rolling out in phases. If you haven’t received it yet, expect it to arrive in your notifications bar soon.



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Ten new NVIDIA RTX Studio Laptops and Mobile Workstations announced

NVIDIA today, on July 30, announced the release of 10 new NVIDIA RTX Studio laptops and professional-grade mobile workstations by major partners, including Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Boxx. The new models will be able to deliver real-time ray tracing, advanced AI and ultra-high-resolution video editing. The latest designs from these manufacturers bring the number of RTX Studio models to 27, out of which, 17 have been made available now. 

The new NVIDIA RTX Studio laptops power more than 40 creative and design applications, including the likes of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Substance Designer, 51VR, Autodesk Flame, and more to harness ray tracing and AI in their workflows. Additionally, the features of NVIDIA RTX are being shown at SIGGRAPH this week. 

Furthermore, NVIDIA announced the availability of NVIDIA Studio Driver, which provides optimizations for popular creative apps, including  Blender, Autodesk Arnold, Maxon Cinema 4D, OTOY Octane Render, Substance Painter by Adobe and Magix VEGAS Pro. 

The latest Studio Driver adds support for 30-bit colour in OpenGL applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Premiere for all GPUs. According to the company, “with this feature, creators can work with their HDR photos and videos with full accuracy and without the banding typical of 24-bit colour.”

The RTX Studio systems feature GeForce RTX 2080, 2070 and 2060 GPUs, as well as Quadro RTX 5000, 4000 and 3000 GPUs. Furthermore, Quadro RTX 5000 GPU-based models include 16GB of graphics memory, which is the largest available in a mobile form factor.

The new range of workstations that include NVIDIA RTX is:

 Lenovo Legion™ Y740 Laptop Studio Edition featuring up to GeForce RTX 2080 GPUs within 17-inch  and 15-inch laptops. The laptops will be made available later this year.

 Lenovo ThinkPad™ P53 and P73 mobile workstations that support up to Quadro RTX 5000 GPUs within 17-inch and 15-inch systems. The ThinkPad P53 is available now; the ThinkPad P73 will be available starting August.

 Dell Precision 7540 and Dell Precision 7740 mobile workstations can be configured up to  Quadro RTX 5000 GPUs. They are available to buy now.

HP ZBook 15 and 17 mobile workstations feature Quadro RTX GPUs. Also, the 17-inch model is configurable with up to a Quadro RTX 5000.

BOXX GoBOXX SLM mobile workstations are available with a Quadro RTX 3000 GPU in the 15-inch system and either Quadro RTX 4000 or 3000 in the 17-inch system.

NVIDIA claims that “The RTX GPUs accelerate content creation from video editing to 3D rendering, with performance up to 7x faster than that of the MacBook Pro.”



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Realme invites beta testers for Project X, could be Realme OS

Realme on Monday, July 29, invited beta testers to try out the mysterious “Project X.” The company was asking users to sign up for the project. All those who signed up were required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Additionally, the testing was open only for the Realme 3 Pro users. Other Realme phone owners were not eligible to apply. However, Realme has closed the enrollment.

Many are speculating that the mysterious Project X could be the new Realme OS. It could also be the Android Q-based ColotOS software. Realme has so far launched its phones running on Oppo’s ColorOS. The company has been slowly moving away from Oppo, and it became an independent brand in July 2018. So Realme working on its own OS could be possible. However, these are just speculations and Realme has not yet revealed anything about the project. Although, Realme filed a trademark application for RealmeOS in the UK earlier this year.

Madhav Sheth, Realme CEO, took to Twitter to call out beta testers for Project X. As per the tweet, Realme is looking for “fans having experience in beta testing of pre-release software and reporting.” Apart from the condition of person using Realme 3 Pro, users were asked to provide the IMEI number of their device. Realme had shared a form that users needed to fill to apply for the Project X. Here’s the official list of requirements as posted on Realme’s website:

Requirements:

- Proven experience in beta testing and debugging. - Owns a Realme 3 Pro (no other device will be accepted). - Bugs and feedback need to be expressed in English.

As of now, we do not know if this beta testing program is for Realme OS. Furthermore, if the company is indeed working on a new OS what will happen to old devices running on ColorOS software, remains to be seen. We can expect to get more information about Project X in the coming weeks.



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PlayStation 4 Hits 100 Million Consoles Sold Milestone, Sony Sees Growth in Image Sensor Business

Sony on Tuesday reported an 18.4 percent increase in first-quarter operating profit, beating market expectations.

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MediaTek Helio G90, G90T gaming-centred chipsets with HyperEngine tech launched

Smartphone gaming has seen a boom lately, and MediaTek has now joined the fellow chipmakers by launching its gaming-centric chipsets, the Helio G90 and Helio G90T with HyperEngine game technology. The Taiwanese chipmaker says that the Helio G90 Series of chipsets combine the CPU and GPU cores with MediaTek’s HyperEngine game technology that tunes the smartphone for gaming. The Helio G90 Series uses Arm Cortex-A76 and Cortex-A55 cores which can be clocked up to 2.05GHz. The chipset will also feature Arm Mali-G76 3EEMC4 GPU with clock speeds of up to 800MHz. MediaTek claims that the GPU can offer up to 50 percent performance boost.

“The mobile gaming market is growing and device makers are looking to give consumers and especially gaming fans the best smartphone game-play experience. That’s why we designed the G90 series. Our combination of hardware and software delivers high performance, unrivalled image quality, uninterrupted connectivity, and smooth responsive action even in the most demanding games. With the Helio G90 series, you get a super-fast and responsive display and reduced lag for smoother gameplay. Whether it’s Fortnite, PUBG or other top titles, this chip is a gaming powerhouse,” TL Lee, General Manager of MediaTek’s Wireless Communication business unit, said in a statement.

Performance

The new G90 Series will support up to 10GB of LPDDR4x RAM. MediaTek’s HyperEngine game technology has an array of engines to boost the mobile gaming experience. MediaTek’s HyperEngine technology includes:

Networking Engine: It optimises the connection between smartphone and cellular network. The chipmaker says that when it detects the Wi-Fi signal degrading, it triggers Wi-Fi and LTE concurrency in milliseconds to keep the game “lag-free”. It claims that even with a crowded network, gamers will get up to a 50 percent faster response than competing solutions. Further, the Dual Wi-Fi Connections allows a single smartphone antenna to be connected to two Wi-Fi bands (2.4GHz/5GHz) or two routers simultaneously for a decrease in latency and game jitter reduction.

These chipsets support Call and Data Concurrency, which basically means that when you receive a call, there won’t be a drop in data connection. MediaTek says that users can defer a call without leaving the game, that is, the data connection remains live and the game server connection does not drop. The Rapid Response Engine uses touch acceleration to improve in-game action-to-display speeds.

The Resource Management Engine is said to direct device resources to deliver for “optimum performance”. The Picture Quality Engine provides support for the HDR10 standard with 10-bit Color Depth on HDR-enabled smartphone displays.

Cameras

Both the chipsets feature triple-ISP design for “fast, precise” AI facial detection. On the premium imaging side, the chipsets support up to 64MP single camera and multi-camera combinations. The chipsets have a dedicated ‘night shot’ mode that uses quad-pixel technology to capture clearer images in low-light conditions. The chipsets’ multi-camera (Triple/Quad) framework also supports ultra-wide, telescopic and/or sub-sensor for depth-mapping or HDR. They support video recording at up to 240fps.

Xiaomi, Realme, Vivo and Moto to launch G90-powered phones

Manu Kumar Jain, Managing Director of Xiaomi India, announced that the company would launch a MediaTek Helio G90T-powered gaming phone soon. Representatives from Realme, Vivo and Moto told Digit that they could also launch G90-powered phones, however, they refrained from giving out any timeline for these launches.



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Best gaming laptop deals in the Amazon Grand Gaming Days sale

Amazon Grand Gaming Days sale is live now. The e-commerce giant is offering discounts on a wide variety of gaming products, including headsets, mice, laptops, and more. The sale went live on July 29 and it will end on July 30. Meanwhile, we have put together a list of laptops you can consider to buy from the ongoing sale.

Asus TUF FX505GD (Buy Here)

The Asus TUF Gaming FX505GD features a 15.6-inch FHD display with 60Hz Anti-Glare IPS-level Panel. It is powered by the 8th gen Intel Core i5, paired with 8GB RAM and 1TB HDD storage. The laptop has an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 with 4GB of memory for taking care of graphics.  

Processor: Core i5-8300H 8th Gen RAM: 8GB (upgradeable up to 32GB) GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Storage: 1TB HDD Display: 1920x1080, 60Hz Anti-Glare IPS-level Panel with 45% NTSC

Maximum Retail Price: Rs 75,990 Sale Price: Rs 56,990 Savings: 19,000

HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop (Buy Here)

The HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop is selling at a discount of 24%. The model we are mentioning here has a 15.6-inch FHD display with SVA anti-glare WLED-backlit. On the storage front, you get 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD storage. It has NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti with 4GB memory. 

Processor: Core i5-8300H 8th Gen RAM: 8GB GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti Storage: 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD Display: 1920x1080 SVA anti-glare WLED-backlit panel

Maximum Retail Price: Rs 78,680 Sale Price: Rs 59,990 Savings: 18,690

MSI GL63 (Buy Here)

The MSI GL63 is selling for a discount of Rs 40,000. The 8SD-1020IN model includes 8GB RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD. It is powered by 8th Gen Intel Core i7, and it runs on Windows 10. It features a 15.6-inch Full HD (1920 x 10800 Wideview anti-glare display. The laptop has GTX 1660 Ti 6GB graphics. It weighs 2.22Kg.

Processor:  Core i7-8750H 8th Gen  RAM: 8GB (upgradeable) GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660Ti Storage: 512GB NVMe M.2 SSD Display: 1920x1080 Wideview anti glare screen

Maximum Retail Price: Rs 1,29,990 Sale Price: Rs 89,990 Savings: Rs 40,000

Lenovo Legion Y540 (Buy Here)

The Legion Y540 is selling at a discount of 34%. It features a 15.6-inch (1920X1080) full HD display with anti Glare technology and 144Hz refresh rate. The laptop has 16GB RAM and 1TB HDD + 256 GB SSD. It comes with 6GB NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti Graphics.  

Processor:  Core i7-9750H 9th Gen  RAM: 16GB GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660Ti Storage: 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD Display: 1920x1080 anti Glare technology, 144Hz refresh rate, 300 Nits Brightness

Maximum Retail Price: Rs 1,55,290 Sale Price: Rs 1,02,990 Savings: Rs 52,300

Asus ROG Zephyrus M (Buy Here)

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus M GU502GU-ES003T is the most expensive gaming laptop on this list. It features a 15.6-inch Full HD (1920x1080) Anti-glare IPS-level panel with 144Hz refresh rate and 100% sRGB colour reproduction. The laptop has 16GB DDR4 RAM, which is upgradeable up to 32GB RAM. It has 512GB NVMe storage with additional 1x M.2 Slot for PCIe SSD expansion. The laptop is powered by 9th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. Also, it weighs just 1.93Kg.

Processor:  Core i7-9750H 9th Gen  RAM: 16GB (upgradeable up to 32GB) GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660Ti Storage: 512GB M.2 SSD with additional 1x M.2 Slot for PCIe SSD expansion Display: 1920x1080 Anti-glare IPS-level panel, 144Hz refresh rate

Maximum Retail Price: Rs 1,85,990 Sale Price: Rs 1,39,990 Savings: Rs 46,000

Additionally, you can avail a 5% instant discount with HSBC cashback card. The exchange offer is valid on all the laptops as well.



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Nintendo Sells 2.1 Million Switch Consoles in Q2, Sees Profit Drop

Nintendo Switch sales in the quarter brought the total installed base to 36.9 million units.

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WhatsApp users will soon be able to use one account on different devices simultaneously: Report

WhatsApp users will soon be able to use the same account on multiple devices simultaneously, WABetaInfo, which tracks Whatsapp features before they are released to the general public, has confirmed. In a tweet, the tracker says that this support will be extended to WhatsApp for Windows/Universal Windows Platform (UWP) when available, iOS, iPadOS when available and Android. So users can now use WhatsApp on their PCs if their phones have no connection.

Last week, the same platform “launched a rumour” suggesting that the multi-platform system will be supported on iOS. It said that the 1) same WhatsApp account can be used on an iPad (when the app will be available) without uninstalling it from an iPhone, 2) the same WhatsApp account also on iOS and Android devices (or on devices having the same OS), and 3) WhatsApp on your computer (without the necessity for an Internet connection on your phone) using the UWP app.

The news is in line with a recent report, according to which, WhatsApp could soon have a web version that works without a smartphone. WhatsApp is said to be working on a way for users to use the instant messaging app on their desktop browsers without the need for a smartphone. Currently, if you need to run WhatsApp on the desktop, you need to have an active account on smartphone and are required to log on by scanning a QR code on phones.

WhatsApp has been undergoing a hard time when it comes to Whatsapp payment support in India. WhatsApp’s payment feature went live last year for a limited few users. The platform allowed users to send and receive money from other users, using the UPI platform, who also had the feature activated. The feature, however, remained in beta with pending regulatory approvals. Media reported that the authorities are concerned that WhatsApp might share user’s payment information with its parent company Facebook and subsidiary Instagram -- company’s other subsidiaries.

It's no longer a rumor, it's confirmed. You will be able to use your WhatsApp account on a lot of devices! It includes WhatsApp for Windows (UWP, when available), so you can use WhatsApp on your PC if your phone has no connection. iPhone/Android and iPadOS included https://t.co/PgNZTnOxlj

— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) 29 July 2019



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Sony A9G, A8G Bravia OLED TVs launched in India

Sony has launched the A9G Bravia OLED TV in India. The TV is priced at Rs 2,69,900 for the 55-inch variant and Rs 3,69,900 for the 65-inch variant. The TV has a 4K resolution along with support for HDR including Dolby Vision. Under the hood it has the X1 Ultimate chipset. We have seen this chipset active in the recently launched Sony X95G LED TV that we reviewed earlier. You can check out our review of the X95G here. For the audio, the device as the company’s Acoustic surface technology that makes the entire screen vibrate to produce sound. Just like the A9F, the A9G can be used as the centre channel speaker of your home theatre system. 

The TV supports eARC but sadly doesn't support HDMI 2.1 a feature that the recently announced LG C9 OLED does. It runs on Android TV 8 out of the box and has 16GB built-in storage. It also has access to the Google Play store and supports all the popular streaming services like Netflix, Prime Videos, Hotstar and more. For your connectivity needs the TV has 4 HDMI ports and 3 USB ports. The TV comes with an updated remote control similar to what we saw on the X95G. The TV supports the Google Assistant and works with Amazon Alexa speakers as well. 

Coming to the A8G, the TV is available in 55 and 65-inch screen sizes priced at Rs 2,19,900 and Rs 3,19,900 respectively. The features of the TV are the same as the A9G with the difference being in the design and the processor powering the TV. The A8G is powered by the X1 Extreme chipset that powered the A1 and the A8F OLED TVs. The choice of going with an older gen processor in a flagship TV does feel like a bummer. The new TVs will be available from August 1 via Sony Centers and major retail stores. 

Competing with the Sony OLED lineup, LG launched their OLEED series in India. You can read more about the LG OLED TVs here.



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