Asus ZenBook 13 (UX333)

  What's in the box - Asus ZenBook 13 (UX333) - Charging cable - Cleaning cloth Technical Specifications - 13.3-inch Full HD non-touchscreen display - Intel 8th Gen Core i5-8265U...

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Ban PUBG, 11-year old appeals to Maharashtra Govt as it promotes gaming addiction, violence and cyber bullying

Highlights: An 11-year old kid has reportedly appealed to the Maharashtra Govt to ban PUBG. The letter stems from the kid’s belief that the game promotes “violence, murder, aggression, looting, gaming addiction and cyber bullying.” PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is becoming synonymous with battle royale genre of games, at least in India. The mobile version of the game is also doing well with over 30 million daily active players, however, there are instances where the title is considered addictive and a distraction for students. It was recently banned from primary schools in Gujarat and now, India Today reports that an 11-year old kid named Ahad has requested the Maharashtra Government to ban the famous online multiplayer game as it promotes barbarousness and cyber bullying. The letter sent by him is said to be an  "appeal to forthwith ban online game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds [PUBG] as it promotes immoral conduct such as violence, murder, aggression, looting, gaming addiction and cyber bullying". Ahad’s appeal further states that if the game is not banned, "I will be compelled to seek appropriate legal [civil and criminal] proceeding as per law; naturally at your cost and consequences." As per the report, the letter was marked to seven prominent personalities in the government including Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, MEITY minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Maharashtra education minister Vinod Tawde, among others. Apparently, Ahad is considering filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court since he has not received any reply for his appeal yet.  Ahad’s concerns of PUBG being addictive might have some weight since we have come across reports that some people were severely affected as they played the game for several hours continuously. However, as the saying goes, too much of anything is bad for you and this goes not only for PUBG but for almost everything. Additionally, we would like to know if Ahad is 11 years old, why did his parents allow him to play a game that is rated for a 16+ audience? Many of you might not know but PUBG Mobile is rated playable for anyone who is of age 16 and above and this is clearly mentioned on the title’s Google Play store page. The game does contain violence but most action-adventure shooter games are the same.  PUBG Mobile age rating on the Google Play Store The battle royale game is so well known that the Prime Minister of India recently referred to it in the context of being addictive. In an event called “Pariksha pe Charcha 2.0” (Discussions on Exams 2.0), the mother of a class-IX student said that her son is so inclined towards online gaming that it is affecting his studies. She asked the PM for a solution for this to which Modi replied,  “Ye PUBG wala hai kya?” (Is he one of the PUBG players?). As soon as he said the words, the crowd at the event burst out into applause.  As we mentioned earlier, PUBG is banned in primary schools in Gujarat as the state government’s primary education department issued a circular asking district authorities to implement a ban on the game. The circular is said to have been issued after Gujarat State Commission for Protection of Child Rights made a recommendation to do so as children were supposedly getting addicted to the game and it was “adversely affecting their studies”. Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association asked the state’s governor to ban PUBG Mobile for the same reason and because it was said to be highly addictive and the reason for poor performance of students in Class X and XII exams.  We would like to point out that PUBG, on mobile devices, is rated for players of age 16 and above. On PC, Xbox One, and PS4 has ESRB rating of Teen, which is generally suitable for ages 13 and up.  Related Reads:  “PUBG Wala hai kya?” asks PM Modi addressing online gaming during Pariksha Pe Charcha event PUBG Mobile ban sought in J&K as Students Association deems it more addictive than drugs PUBG Mobile 0.11.0 Beta update goes live, introduces RE2: Sunset zombie mode, new weather for Vikendi and more  

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Googlecom gets voice Assistant support on Android

Highlights: Google brings voice assistant support on Google.com for Android The search field now has a grey microphone icon.   Google has been working a lot to provide a hands-free experience on its services by integrating its AI-powered virtual assistant with them. The company has now expanded the Google Assistant voice support to Google.com on Android. The development was first spotted by 9to5mac and now users can tap on the microphone on the Google.com search field to initiate voice searches. Previously, users could do a voice search on mobile with the Android keyboard microphone. The microphone icon is generic and grey instead of the one on desktop web, which has the symbolic four Google Assistant colours. The search works like it does on any other service. Once you tap on the microphone to carry out a voice search on mobile, you are greeted with a full screen interface with “Speak now” followed by “Listening…” once an audio is detected with live transcription on the screen. Before asking for a query, Google will ask for certain permissions to input queries. Once you have input your search query, it is processed like it usually does on other services. If you ask direct questions, “What’s the temperature,” it will give you focused answers. If you ask generic questions like, “Redmi Note 7”, it will return with the results from various sources. Users can also exit the page by tapping the ‘x’ located on the top right corner of the full-page white screen. At CES 2019, Google introduced new features of the Google Assistant. This includes integration with Google Maps, Interpreter Mode, Flight check-in and Google Assistant Connect platform. With this new platform, the device manufacturers can now integrate the Assistant into their products. The platform uses Google’s existing smart home platform to expand to new device types. Related Read: Google Photos is the latest app to get Material Design Google Maps added to list of apps with new Material Design

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Facebook is paying teens and adults to sell their personal data by installing a VPN app

Highlights: Facebook has reportedly been paying teens and adults to sell their data by installing an app called Facebook Research.  It's a VPN app that accesses root-level information to monitor web activity, instant messages, etc. Facebook paid $20 per month to users. After a series of mishaps and misdemeanours, Facebook’s popularity certainly took a dip in 2018. The social-networking giant has been at the receiving end of much criticism after news surfaced that Facebook enabled third parties to harvest personal user data for targeted ads. Now, in a bid to acquire more info on its competitors, Facebook has been reportedly paying people aged 13-35 to install a “Facebook Research” VPN, which is used to monitor the user’s phone and web activity. The VPN app is similar to Facebook’s Onavo Protect app, another VPN that the company had launched earlier which was found to be collecting user data as well. The Onavo app was banned by Apple in June and was removed by Facebook in August 2018. The latest Facebook Research app sidesteps the app store and monetarily rewards teens and adults who downloaded the app. Users received $20 per month along with referral fees, like a payment for selling your data to the social networking company. The app installs root certificates in iOS and Android that gives it root access to the network traffic. This could be a violation of Apple policy as Facebook is  analyzing phone activity by decoding network activity. Facebook told TechCrunch that the company has indeed been running the program to “gather data on usage habits” and that it doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon. The social network has been paying users since 2016 to sell their data by installing the app on iOS and Android. The TechCrunch report claims Facebook even asked users to take screenshots of their Amazon order history page. Facebook, however, is shy of associating itself with the app. It is being serviced through beta testing services Applause, BetaBound and uTest, to hide Facebook’s involvement. The Facebook Research app reportedly can parse through user’s private messages in social media apps, web searches, emails, browsing history, location information and more. It’s unclear exactly what data Facebook is harvesting in the name of “tracking usage habits”, but it does get scarily deep-level access to user data. The app proves just how desperate the social network company is right now to maintain its dominance. The data-sniffing VPN app Onavo gave Facebook inputs about WhatsApp’ meteoric rise before the Mark Zuckerberg-owned company swooped in and acquired them. The Onavo app also gave Facebook clues as to what features to copy from other apps. Since the app was banned and removed by Apple, the Facebook Research app, might just be another attempt to resume harvesting user data to stay ahead of the game. Related Reads: Why #DeleteFacebook? Top Tech Stories That Made Headlines in 2018

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Sony, Nintendo Seen Scoring Strong Q3 Earnings as Console Battle Reaches Next Level

Sony and Nintendo are expected to score strong quarterly earnings this week.

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Redmi Note 7 Pro could come with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage

Highlights: The Redmi Note 7 Pro will likely ditch the 3GB RAM 32GB storage variant. The phone is expected to come with a 6GB RAM, 128GB storage.  It is expected to sport a 48MP camera with a Sony IMX586 sensor. Xiaomi recently launched the Redmi Note 7 in China and the device is expected to make its way to India soon. However, the point of conversation today is about the upcoming Redmi Note 7 Pro. Redmi CEO Lu Weibing, asked fans on Chinese social networking website, Weibo, what they’d like to see in the Redmi Note 7 Pro. One of the comments on the question was “Omit the 3/32 GB version, go straight for 6/64 GB or 6/128 GB”. Of all the comments received, this one was responded to by Xiaomi CEO, Lei Jun. He suggested that a 6GB RAM, 128GB storage option would be available on the Redmi note 7 Pro. The company is yet to officially announce the smartphone, so information about the specifications of the device are still up in the air. However, if information circulating the internet is to be believed, then the Redmi Note 7 Pro will be powered by the Snapdragon 675 platform. This is a good shift from the Snapdragon 660 powering the recently announced Redmi Note 7. When it comes to the optics, the Redmi Note 7 has a 48MP camera and the same is expected on the Redmi Note 7 Pro, however the sensor is expected to be different. The Redmi Note 7 uses a Samsung ISOCELL sensor whereas the Redmi Note 7 Pro is expected to launch with the Sony IMX586 sensor. How the performance of these two sensors varies is something we will tell you when we get our hands on the phones.  Coming back to the Redmi Note 7, the company has confirmed that the phone will launch in India soon. Redmi India Twitter handle and Xiaomi India’s Instagram account have teased the launch of the Redmi Note 7. The teaser is however quite interesting. It is an inverted image and inverted text. The text on the tweet reads, “48MP. Head turner is arriving soon. Disruption guaranteed.” The 48MP in the text undoubtedly hints at the Redmi Note 7. The image accompanying the tweet also has an inverted image of Xiaomi VP Manu Jain and Managing Director, CEO Lei Jun. Lei Jun is holding a smartphone in the image. You can read more about the tweet here. Speaking of the specifications of the Redmi Note 7, as we mentioned above the smartphone has a 48MP camera and under the hood, and is powered by the Snapdragon 660 SoC. The front of the device has a waterdrop notch which houses a 13MP AI enabled selfie camera. Below the waterdrop notch you have the 6.3-inch LCD display with a resolution of 2340x1080 pixels. The phone also sports 2.5D curved glass. For security, you have fingerprint sensor at the back.  Speaking of the back, the smartphone has a dual-camera setup which is vertically aligned. There is a flash as well. Apart from the primary 48MP camera, there is also a secondary 5MP camera for portrait photos. In China, the Redmi Note 7 is available in three RAM and two storage variants - 3GB, 4GB and 6GB RAM and 32GB or 64GB storage. It is possible we may see the same configurations launch in India. The entire package is powered by a 4000mAh battery. The Redmi 7 supports Quick Charge 4 for fast charging.  Coming to the price of the Redmi Note 7, there is no official India price yet, but in China the smartphone is priced at 999 Yuan for the 3GB+32GB variant, 1199 Yuan for the 4GB+64GB variant and 1399 Yuan 6GB+64GB which translates to Rs 10,000, Rs 12,500 and Rs 14,500 for the three variants respectively.  Also Read:  Redmi Note 7 India launch teased once again, possibly taking a jab at Samsung's Galaxy M series Redmi X might be company's first phone with an in-display fingerprint sensor

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Asus Zenfone 5Z now receiving Android 9 Pie update in India

Highlights: Asus Zenfone 5Z update version 90.10.138.175 is being seeded globally.  The update brings Android 9 Pie update for the phone. Android Security patch will also be updated with the new build. Back in November 2018, Asus announced that it will seed the latest Android 9 Pie update for its Zenfone 5Z smartphone in early 2019. Making good on its promise, the company has now started rolling the update for the handset globally. Asus India tweeted that Zenfone 5Z users will now be receiving the new update soon and a post on the company’s forums states that it can take some days for the new update to hit devices since the server pushes the update notification to different serial numbers by batches. The Over-The-Air update has version number 90.10.138.175 and it also updates the Android Security patch on the device. As per one of the Zenfone 5Z users, the update around 1.08GB in size.  The notification for upgrading to Android 9 Pie should pop-up soon for Zenfone 5Z users. However, one can force check if it is available to download by heading over to Setting->System->System update. The new update brings a number of Android Pie-based features to the device like app actions, improved security features, Adaptive Battery, slices, Digital Wellbeing and more. Asus previously said that the device will reboot twice during the update and it’s important that one does not use the phone while it's updating as there’s a chance it can end up getting bricked.  The Asus Zenfone 5Z was launched in India back in July this year. Its 6GB RAM and 64GB storage model is priced at Rs 29,999, while the 6GB RAM model with 128GB of internal storage is priced at Rs 32,999. The 8GB RAM version with 256GB is priced at Rs 36,999. The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and sports a  6.2-inch full-HD+ LCD screen with a 19:9 display aspect ratio. The phone was launched running on Android 8.0, features Face Unlock and comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor as well. It is backed by a 3300mAh battery that supports Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 3.0. In terms of optics, the smartphone is equipped with a 12MP + 8MP dual-rear cameras with an f/1.8 and an f/2.2 aperture lens respectively. The company says that the AI-based features on the device come into play while capturing an image. The camera is said to be capable of detecting between 16 different scenes and subjects. The device also comes with an ‘AI Gallery’ feature, which is said to display an image with different filters and it also group photos automatically. On the front, it sports an 8MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture lens and 84-degree field of view. Both the front and rear cameras support EIS as well.  Related Reads: Asus ZenFone 5Z Review  

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