Key Highlights: Redmi Go is up for pre-orders in the Phiilippines and is price at PHP 3990 (roughly Rs 5,433). The phone runs Android 8.1 Oreo (Go Edition). The phone is tipped to be launched in India alongside the Redmi Note 7. While it was a long time coming, Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi did announce the entry-level Redmi Go running on Android Go Edition OS via a tweet earlier this week, revealing little about the phone. The smartphone is now up for pre-orders in Philippines and the sale is due to start from February 5. According to the listing, the Redmi Go rocks a 5-inch display along with an 8MP rear camera and a 3,000mAh battery. The entry-level phone is tipped to be launched in India, alongside the Redmi Note 7 in India in February. Incidentally, the Redmi Go and the Redmi Note 7 are the first phones to come after Xiaomi announced Redmi as an independent brand. The Redmi Go that’s up for pre-orders was found in a Philippines e-commerce store called Lazada. The phone is priced PHP 3,990, which roughly converts to Rs 5,433. The phone is available in Black and Blue colour variants and has a one-year warranty. Earlier in a report, WinFuture noted the Redmi Go would be priced at 80 euros in Europe, which approximately comes down to Rs 6,500. The Redmi Go is not exactly a bezel-less phone. The bottom chin houses capacitive navigation buttons, while the volume rockers and the power button are on the right edge. The back panel only has the single-lens camera module. The phone doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor. According to the listing, the Redmi Go runs on Android 8.1 Oreo (Go Edition) and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 SoC with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. On the front, there is a 5MP camera for selfies and a light sensor, proximity sensor and accelerometer to boot. Related Reads: Redmi Go smartphone officially announced with 5-inch HD display, 3000mAh battery Redmi Note 7, Note 7 Pro and Redmi Go smartphones to launch in India soon: Report
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Highlights: The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 and Max M2 are receiving a new firmware update. The new update enables better front camera quality on the Max Pro M2 and optimises camera on the Max M2. Asus is now rolling out new updates to its Zenfone Max Pro M2 and the Max M2 smartphones. The new patch for the Max Pro M2 features the version number 15.2016.1901.186, while the one for the Max M2 is version 15.2016.1901.156. The new patch brings the latest January Android security patches for the phones, along with a slew of updates that are aimed at improving the devices’ functionalities. Along with the January 2019 Android security patch, two handsets will be updated with AI scene detection feature, which could enable them to detect from a range of scenes and dynamically adjust the settings for capturing better images. The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2’s touchscreen firmware has been updated and the front-camera quality is said to be better after the update. Users of the phone might also experience better battery life on their units as there have been some improvements to system power consumption. Coming to the Max M2, its Android system will be updated and optimised with the new patch, along with its main camera setup. It should be noted that the new FOTA updates are being rolled out in stages and could take some time before reaching every unit. Asus launched the two devices in India back in December last year. The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 sports a 6.26-inch full-HD+ display and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC.It comes in three variants, one with 3GB RAM/32GB Storage, another with 4GB RAM/64GB storage, and the top variant sports 6GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Like the Zenfone Max Pro M1, the Max Pro M2 is backed by a large 5,000mAh battery. In terms of optics, the Max Pro M2 is equipped with a dual rear camera with a 12MP primary sensor with a f/1.8 aperture, which is paired with a 5MP secondary depth sensor. It features a 13MP selfie camera. The Asus Zenfone Max M2 sports a 6.26-inch HD+ display with a 19:9 aspect ratio and comes with a dual rear camera setup as well. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 SoC and has been announced in two variants, one with 3GB RAM coupled with 32GB of internal storage, and another with 4GB RAM coupled with 64GB storage. It features a 13MP primary sensor with a f/1.8 aperture, which is coupled with a 2MP secondary depth-sensing camera. On the front is an 8MP camera on the front, which is accompanied by an LED flash. The smartphone is backed by a 4,000mAh battery. Related Reads: Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 Review Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 64GB Review
Recently, Samsung has launched two new smartphones in India Galaxy M10 and M20. The company is focusing on targeting Millennials with their two new budget devices. However, Xiaomi has built a great market in India when it comes to budget segment smartphones. Xiaomi’s Redmi series is quite popular among people because of the kind of hardware they offer to customers at a reasonable price. It would be interesting to see whether the Samsung latest smartphone “Galaxy M20” would able to give a tough competition to the Xiaomi Note 6 Pro? At least on paper. Let's begin with the display of these two smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy M20 features a 6.3-inch FHD+ display that offers a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. The phone has a water-drop notch on top of the display, which gives you more viewing area. On the other hand, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro sports a slightly smaller 6.26-inch display that comes with a resolution of 1080 x 2280 pixels. The phone sports a traditional notch on top of it, which houses the dual front camera and a mic. When it comes to the processor, the Samsung equipped its latest device with its own Exynos 7885 octa-core processor, which is coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal memory. On the other side, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is backed by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor, which is clocked at 1.8GHz. As far as the cameras are concerned, the USP of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is its dual camera setup on both front and back. The phone has a dual 12MP + 5MP rear cameras with a dual 20MP + 2MP camera setup on the front. Coming to the Samsung Galaxy M20, the phone has a dual 13MP + 5MP camera setup on the back. The 5MP sensor can be used for clicking wide angle shots. On the front, it has an 8MP sensor. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is now available in India at a price of Rs 14,699. Those who are interested to buy the Samsung Galaxy M20, have to wait till February 5.
Highlights: Government to establish National Artificial Intelligence Portal soon Data consumption in India has risen by 50 times in last five years: FM Placing an Indian astronaut in a space shuttle from India by 2022 is priority While presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal identified nine priority areas for the tech-driven development in the country. The announcements made during the budget showed that the government has been banking on digital technologies like Artificial Intelligence to boost research, development and production. To actualise this ambition, Goyal announced that the government will develop a National Artificial Intelligence Portal soon. The portal is aimed to pass on the benefits of the technology to citizens. “India has become the second largest startup hub of the world. We are proud of the hard work and innovative ideas of our youth in this sector. A national programme on AI has been envisaged by the Govt. This should be catalysed by the national centre for Artificial Intelligence as a hub, along with other centres of excellence,” Goyal said. Apart from talking about AI, the minister also said that India was leading the world in mobile data consumption and the consumption has risen by 50 times in last five years. According to Cisco’s 13th annual Visual Networking Index (VNI), smartphone and internet usage in India is set to massively swell in the next three years and by 2022, it is claimed that there will be 829 million smartphone users in India, accounting for 60% of the population. The increase in smartphone users will fuel an uptick in internet traffic in the country estimating that by 2022 in India 646 petabytes (1,000 terabytes or 1 million gigabytes) of data per day will be consumed. This is over 490 percent higher than the 108 petabytes consumed in 2017. Goyal also said that the cost of data, voice calls in India is now possibly lowest in world. He also noted that the mobile and mobile part manufacturing companies have increased from 2 to 268, though there is no clarity on the time frame of this increase. “Mobile and its parts manufacturing companies have grown from 2 to 268 now, creating thousands of jobs in both urban and rural areas of the country,” Goyal said, adding that the government aims to have one lakh digital villages in the next five years. He also touched on the importance of introducing electric vehicles. “India will drive on electric-vehicles with clean sources of energy production and lead world in use of renewable sources to cut oil imports,” said the Minister. Goyal also said that India had become the second largest hub of start-ups. “With job seekers becoming job creators. We are proud of the hard work and innovative ideas of our youth,” he added. The startup ecosystem saw over $10.5 billion worth of venture capital investments in 2018 in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Startup India initiative on August 15, 2015 while delivering his speech from Red Fort. Highlighting the importance of space programmes, Goyal talked about the Gaganyaan project, which aims at sending Indian astronauts to space. “Our seventh dimension is the aim to become launchpad of the world, placing an Indian astronaut in space by 2022: FM,” Goyal said. The minister also touched upon renewable energy and said that the government was committed to promoting renewable energy, and that it is determined in its initiative to set up the International Solar Alliance. Goyal claimed that the existing installed solar generation capacity had increased tenfold in last five years. Related Read: Demystifying smartphone AI
Oppo has launched several mid-range segment smartphones last year. Now, they are all set to launch its first device of the year 2019 in India “K1”. The device features an in-display fingerprint sensor and sports a 25MP sensor on the front. On the other hand, we have Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 6 Pro, which is the first smartphone by the Chinese company that has four cameras in total - two at the back and two on the front. Let’s do a quick specs comparison of the two and find out which device packs better hardware under its hood at least on paper. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro comes with a 6.26-inch FHD+ display that offers a resolution of 1080 x 2280 pixels, while the Oppo K1 features a slightly bigger 6.4-inch display that offers a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. When it comes to the processor, the Oppo K1 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor, which is paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal memory. On the other hand, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is backed by Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, which is coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal memory. As far as the cameras are concerned, the Oppo K1 has a dual 16MP + 2MP camera setup on the back along with a 25MP sensor on the front. On the other side, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro features a dual 12MP + 5MP rear cameras with a dual 20MP + 2MP camera setup on the front. The Oppo K1 will launch in India on February 5, while the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro is available in India at a discounted price of Rs 14,699 on Amazon.
