Corsair Acquires Boutique Gaming PC Manufacturer Origin PC, Sets Sights on Pre-Built Computer Market

Origin PC will continue to operate as a brand under Corsair, and will take over its new parent company's Systems business

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AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT and Radeon RX 5700 Review

AMD's Radeon RX 5700 series offers good performance at good prices, but they go up against tough competition from Nvidia.

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Hands on: PUBG Mobile Lite on an Android Go phone

The ‘Lite’ version of PUBG Mobile was recently made available in India and we couldn’t wait to take it out for a spin on a low powered device. In order to keep things as authentic as possible, we decided to use a Redmi Go, an Android Go device that is powered by a Snapdragon 425 SoC with 1GB of RAM. Here’s what we thought of the PUBG Mobile Lite experience.

Can it even run?

Yup. Not only does the game run, on a device like the Redmi Go, but it runs surprisingly well. Game load times were pretty much on par with the load times on the standard version of PUBG Mobile. Needless to say, we were pretty impressed by how well the game was optimised for low powered devices. 

How is that possible?

Well, in order to run the game smoothly, a lot of sacrifices were made, most notably in terms of graphics. The game runs on a very low resolution and details on character models have been cut down drastically. Further, the game only supports a maximum of 60 players in a match, not 100. On top of this, players only get to choose the Erangel map for now, that too is a toned down version of the original map. The map is a lot smaller and notable locations like Pochinki, and School have been removed. In its place you get facsimiles, which resemble those locations. 

How well did it run?

Well, there were a lot of texture pop-ins, especially when you are landing. There was also a little bit of lag during really intense firefights. But considering the fact that I was playing PUBG on a device with 1GB of RAM, that can be excused. It should also be noted that while the developers got rid of most indoor furniture in order to reduce the load on memory, they didn’t skimp on grass and vegetation. This means that players out in the open will still have a place to hide and they won’t be sitting ducks. 

But is it still PUBG?

Well… if you mean a cut-throat battle to the death. Then yes, it’s still PUBG. However, there are a few gameplay changes. First off, there is no bullet drop. So you can shoot as far as you want and the bullet will fly straight and true. Another thing you have to note is that nearby enemies shooting at you will appear on the map. We’re not talking about the direction of gunfire being shown, but actual players will pop-up in red, so you’ll know exactly where the enemy is. Another notable inclusion is a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) weapon, which was found in a loot crate. The option where you tweak

Any other differences?

There is no Royale Pass in this game, instead, you get something called ‘Winners Pass’ which is said to work in a manner similar to Royale Pass. However, as of writing this, the option was not yet available on PUBG Mobile Lite. However, players will get a lot more in terms of free goodies such as masks, outfits, parachutes and even a skin for the Kar98 rifle. 

Of course, it should be noted that PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite are two completely separate games, so players will not not be able to cross-play between the two variants. However, those with higher powered phones will be able to install and play PUBG Mobile Lite and join their buddies for a match. Overall, we feel that PUBG Mobile Lite makes for a neat little addition to the PUBG family and gives those with low-powered devices a chance to join in the fray. 

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Why Indian Game Developers Prefer iOS Over Android for Premium Content

Developers in India find Apple’s ecosystem much more promising over Google’s, especially for premium games.

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Why Indian Game Developers Prefer iOS Over Android for Premium Content

Developers in India find Apple’s ecosystem much more promising over Google’s, especially for premium games.

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Xiaomi leads Indian smartphone market shipments, OEMs ship record 37 million units in Q2: Counterpoint

Setting a new second-quarter record in the Q2 2019, the smartphone shipments in India grew to 37 million units with Xiaomi retaining its top spot (28 percent market share), a new report has said. According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service, the growth was driven by new launches, price cuts on older devices and channel expansion across brands. The market research firm also said that people in the country are now looking to buy phones that range from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000.

“Brands which focused on offline channels expanded to online channels with online-exclusive series. Similarly, brands which entered the market with online-exclusive series are now expanding their reach towards offline channel by forming partnerships with key offline retailers. This strategy is working well for all the leading at-scale players. Also, brands are launching multiple series to target or expand into new product tiers. This is helping them to expand their product portfolio to target multiple fast-growing segments and also diversify,” Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, said in a statement.

“In India, the pricing sweet-spot for consumers has moved to Rs 10,000-20,000 price band and it will remain the biggest contributor in the Indian smartphone segment this year. Brands are focusing on bringing the latest premium level specifications such as notch display, full-screen view, multiple rear cameras, pop up selfie feature and in-display sensor technology in this segment to stimulate consumer demand,” he added.

Brandwise segregation

 

Xiaomi captured the top spot in this quarter with a 28 percent market share. Its shipments grew 6 percent (YoY) driven by portfolio expansion, and offline expansion in the budget segment. Samsung shipments declined by 7 percent YoY, but, it has shown 30 percent growth quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) driven by refreshed A-Series and M-Series, price cuts of older J-Series and higher channel incentives during IPL season.

Samsung’s A-series remained popular with Galaxy A10 being the top-selling device for the South Korean brand. The brand also expanded the M-series with launch of Galaxy M40 in June. Samsung remained strong in the premium segment with good performance of its Galaxy S10 series flagships.

Oppo and Vivo increased their offline channel incentives on their entry to mid-level devices to drive volumes. These devices were coupled with promotions for IPL and Cricket World Cup events. Vivo’s shipments remained almost flat YoY, however, its performance remained strong in less than Rs 10,000 price band due to Y91 series. Oppo’s shipments declined 3 percent YoY, however, it showed 53 percent QoQ growth due to new launches.

This is the third consecutive quarter that Realme has been within the top 5 brands driven by strong performance of Realme C2 and Realme 3 Pro and various discount offers rolled out on online platforms. Realme C2 crossed the 1 million mark within a couple of months of launch, and became the fastest brand to reach 8 million smartphone shipments in India market within one year of its debut for any brand ever in India.

Huawei’s trade ban also impacted India market as its shipments declined YoY. However, the brand continues to be in the top ten smartphone brands category. In the premium segment, OnePlus surpassed Samsung to become the number one player driven by strong demand for its newly-launched OnePlus 7 series.

“The top five brands’ contribution to the total shipments volume reached its highest ever level driven by new launches and hybrid channel strategy. Localisation, branding, and innovation will remain to be the next key drivers for growth in a highly competitive market like India. The market will continue to become more concentrated with majority of share controlled by a few brands leading to more number of exits among the long-tail brands in the market moving forward,” Anshika Jain, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research, added.

While the smartphone market registered growth YoY, the feature phone market witnessed a steep decline of about 39 percent annually. The feature phone demand is back to 2017 (pre-Jiophone) level but it remains to be seen if the entry-level smartphones in coming quarters are able to attract the hundreds of millions of feature phone users. Due to the slowing demand for Jiophone, players such as Samsung, Lava and iTel were able to capture shares in sub-Rs 1000 segment during the quarter.

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PUBG Season 4 Update (v4.1) Now Live for PC Gamers, Weapon Issues Fixed

PUBG Season 4 has debuted through the Update 4.1 that brings a revamp of the Erangel map and includes a new Survivor Pass.

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