Asus VivoBook 14, VivoBook 15 laptops launched in India starting at Rs 33,990

It seems to be a really busy time in the year right now for Asus, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer that recently showcased an array of new laptop models at this year's Computex trade show in Taipei, including the ZenBook Duo series with two displays. While Asus’ smartphone wing is fighting hard to bring the Asus 6z (previously called ZenFone 6z) to India, its laptop wing has had yet another successful product launch: the new VivoBook series.

While the VivoBook 14 is a 14-inch model that weighs 1.5 kilogrammes, the VivoBook 15 is a 15.6-inch model that weighs 1.6 kilogrammes. The display on both models has a Full HD resolution and bezels as slim as 5.7 millimetres on either side. Rendering graphics on the VivoBook 14 and 15 are an NVIDIA GeForce MX230 and MX250 GPU respectively with up to 2GB of dedicated video memory. The RAM on both models is a standard 8GB DDR4 chip and is upgradeable to up to 16GB. Both models support Bluetooth 4.2 and 802.11ac 2x2 Wi-Fi.

Both VivoBook models come not with Intel's 9th Gen Core series CPUs but the “Whiskey Lake” refresh of its 8th Gen chips. The VivoBook 14 is powered by an Intel Core i5-8265U quad-core CPU. The VivoBook 15, on the other hand, gets the option of an Intel Core i7-8565U quad-core CPU. Storage on the VivoBook 14 and 15 goes up to 512GB on a PCIe NVMe solid-state drive. Additionally, both models hold space internally for a 2.5-inch hard drive. They come with a hard drive upgrade kit, which includes a SATA connector, hard drive mounting caddy, and thermal paste. Asus recommends getting the hard drive fitted through an authorised Asus service centre.

Ports on the VivoBook 14 and 15 include USB-A 3.1, USB-A 2.0 (one on VivoBook 14, two on VivoBook 15), USB-C 3.1, full-size HDMI, a 3.5mm audio jack for headsets, and a microSD card reader, apart from the proprietary round-pin power port that’s reserved for charging. Both laptops get Asus’ signature ErgoLift hinge technology, which gives the entire keyboard island a 3-degree tilt in the direction of the user for easier typing. The battery on the two models is a dual-cell 37Whr lithium-ion polymer unit, which Asus claims is good for up to 10 hours of continuous use on a single charge. It can be fast-charged up to 60 percent in 49 minutes.

Admittedly, Asus’ newly launched VivoBook models are not the same as the ones we saw in Computex 2019 a couple of weeks ago. These do not get Asus’ new ScreenPad 2.0 tech, which is essentially a second touch-enabled display inside the touchpad of the laptop. They also do not get a backlit haptic numpad (or “NumberPad”) on the touchpad, a feature the outgoing ZenBook 13/14/15 series has. You can read more about the Asus ZenBook 13 here in our review.

The new VivoBook 14 and 15 come in a variety of colour options. The Transparent Silver is available on all variants of the two laptops. On offer are also Slate Grey, Coral Crush (a variant of orange), and Peacock Blue. According to Asus, the VivoBook 15 is aimed at both online and offline buyers alike but the VivoBook 14 is reserved for Flipkart customers only, at least for the moment. The VivoBook 14 and 15 start at Rs 33,990 and Rs 34,990 respectively and go on sale in India starting today.

Read our complete review of the new Asus VivoBook 14 here.

from Latest Technology News http://bit.ly/2Wu5ioT

Motorola One Vision with Android One, 48MP camera confirmed to launch in India on June 20

Motorola One Vision is headed to India on June 20. Previously, the company had sent out media invites for an event on June 20 in India, but had not revealed details of the launch device. Now, Motorola India, through its Twitter handle, has started teasing the launch of the Motorola One Vision in India. It its Tweet, Mottorola India writes, “Let’s move a notch ahead with a wider perspective! Get ready to experience #ANewVision.” This is accompanied by an animation of a device with a Punch-hole display, found only on the Motorola One Vision.

The smartphone has already made it debut in Brazil and is not headed to India to possibly target the mid-range market. Its highlights include a 6.3-inch Full HD+ LCD display with a punch-hole camera and an aspect ratio of 21:9 like the Xperia 10 and the Xperia 10 Plus.

Let’s move a notch ahead with a wider perspective! Get ready to experience #ANewVision. Tag your binge-watch partner who needs to see this now! pic.twitter.com/FhhlLWFGQe

— Motorola India (@motorolaindia) June 10, 2019   Motorola One Vision Specs

The Motorola One Vision features Samsung’s Exynos 9609 octa-core processor clocked at 2.2 GHz. This is paired with 4GB RAM and 128GB of expandable internal storage. As mentioned before, the handset features a 6.3-inch Full HD+ LCD display with a 21:9 display aspect ratio and 1080×2520p resolution.

Motorola calls the wide aspect ratio CinemaVision display, and claims that it is made for those who like to binge-watch content on their smartphones. The handset also sports a 3.5mm audio jack to add to its appeal as a content consumption device.

Android One certification means that the Motorola One Vision will receive timely security and OS updates. It currently runs on Android 9 Pie out of the box.

In terms of optics, the Motorola One Vision features a 48MP rear camera with Night Vision mode. The primary camera supports Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) and Quad Pixel technology that bins four pixels into one large 1.6µm pixel. The primary camera is supplemented by a 5MP depth sensor that is paired with an f/2.2 aperture lens.

On the front, the Motorola One Vision gets a 25MP selfie shooter with 1.8µm Quad Pixel technology and is equipped with an f/2.0 aperture lens. The handset is backed by a 3,500mAh battery with 15W TurboPower fast charging and Motorola claims that the phone can deliver up to 7 hours of usage with 15 minutes of charging.

Motorola One Vision price

The Motorola One Vision was launched in Brazil in Sapphire Blue and Bronze colours. The smartphone was announced for 1,999 Brazilian Real (Rs 35,600 approx), and in Saudi Arabia and Thailand it is priced at €299 (Rs 23,300 approx).

from Latest Technology News http://bit.ly/2WtPQc3

E3 2019: Ubisoft Shows off Watch Dogs Legion, Roller Champions, Ghost Recon Breakpoint but says nothing about Beyond Good & Evil 2

Ubisoft, the publisher behind franchises like Assassins Creed, Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia and more took the E3 stage to talk about their upcoming library of games. Getting the sad news out of the way first, there was no mention of Splinter Cell or Beyond Good and Evil 2 at the conference Here’s a look at some of the key announcements Ubisoft made at E3 2019.

Watch Dogs Legion

Leaks hinted that the upcoming Watch Dogs game would be set in London and it looks like the leaks were right. The game is set in London and the coolest thing about the game is that you can recruit literally anyone you see on the streets of the city to join your cause. How this will affect gameplay is yet to be seen. There are a lot of unanswered questions like how many people can you recruit? How does it affect the story? So on and so forth. Nonetheless, you can check out the really cool gameplay reveal below.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is not a new announcement, nor is the fact that The Punisher AKA Jon Bernthal dons the role of the antagonist. What was cool, was the fact that Jon Bernthal took the stage to talk about his involvement with the game. Ghost Recon Breakpoint releases on October 4.

Rainbow Six Quarantine 

Ubisoft also showcased the next game in the Rainbow Six franchise called Rainbow Six Quarantine, a squad-based survival game. The game is slated for a 2020 release and is being developed by a new team at Ubisoft Montreal.

Roller Champions

Roller Champions is a competitive multiplayer roller derby game. The game will be free to play at launch. 

from Latest Technology News http://bit.ly/2IwEm2J

Ubisoft at E3 2019: All the Big Ubisoft Announcements - Watch Dogs: Legion, Rainbow Six Quarantine, and More

In case you’ve been wondering what Ubisoft brought to E3 2019, here are all the major announcements made by the developer.

from RSS Feeds | GAMES - RSS Feed - NDTV Gadgets360.com http://bit.ly/2X8EIGg

Samsung CRG5 27-Inch Curved Gaming Monitor With 240Hz Refresh Rate, Nvidia G-Sync Support Launched

The Samsung CRG5 offers 27-inch panel with a 240Hz refresh rate, a full-HD resolution and support for Nvidia’s G-Sync technology.

from RSS Feeds | GAMES - RSS Feed - NDTV Gadgets360.com http://bit.ly/2XGz9fc

Honor 20, Honor 20 Pro, Honor 20i launched in India priced between Rs 14,999 - Rs 39,999, company offers 90 buyback guarantee

Huawei and its sub-brand Honor might be going through rocky waters after the US government banned all US-based companies from doing business with the Chinese smartphone company. But that didn't stop Honor from launching the Honor 20 series in India, after the devices were launched in London last month. The Honor 20 series comprises the Honor 20, Honor 20 Pro and the Honoro 20i.

While it remains mostly unresolved what's going to happen to Huawei's global portfolio of devices with Google snapping ties with the company, Honor claimed the Honor 20 series and the previously launched phones will remain unaffected and will receive updates for the stipulated period of time.

Now coming to the phones itself, the Honor 20 Pro is the flagship and will retail for Rs 39,999 with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, while the Honor 20 sits below in the budget flagship segment priced Rs 32,999. The Honor 20i is the mid-ranger priced Rs 14,999. All three of them share a similar design and take cues from both the Honor View20 and the Huawei P30 Pro.

Honor also promised a buyback value of 90% on all the three devices within the first 90 days of use as part of its customer satisfaction guarantee. But it did feel like a safe way out for customers if the Huawei Android ban sticks after the 90-day exemption period.

The Honor 20 and the Honor 20i will be sold via Flipkart. Honor 20's sale starts from June 25, while the Honor 20 Pro is said to be 'coming soon'. Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro

Both the Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro are powered by the flagship HiSilicon Kirin 980 SoC. The Honor 20 Pro comes in 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, while the Honor 20 has 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. The 7nm Kirin 980 processor also houses a dual-NPU to process AI tasks. 

Honor 20 and the Honor 20 Pro sport 6.26-inch displays with FHD+ resolution. Both of them have the front camera drilled into the top corner of the display, like in the Honor View20. This allows the screen to stretch all the way to the edges and as a result, it doesn't feel all that big. The rear panel has the expected gradient colours. This time, Honor claims to have used a 'triple-mesh' technology that creates 3D patterns on the back. The Honor 20 Pro is available in Phantom Blue and Phantom Black while the Honor 20 is offered in Sapphire Blue and Midnight Blue colours. While they were expected to come with in-display fingerprint sensor, the two phones actually have the fingerprint sensor embedded in the power button, like the Galaxy S10e.

While all this is pretty standard, it's the camera capabilities of the two phones that Honor hopes will set them apart. Both phones rock a quad-camera stack that lets the user zoom in by 30x (digitally) to go as close as 4cm for a macro shot. The primary sensor on both the phones is the Sony IMX586 48MP sensor. This is combined with a 16MP wide-angle camera, 8MP telephoto lens with 3X optical zoom (only on the Honor 20 Pro) and another 2MP macro lens. The major difference between the two phones in terms of the camera is the aperture value of the primary camera. The Honor 20 Pro is the first smartphone to offer a f/1.4 aperture while the Honor 20 goes as wide as f/1.8. The Honor 20 Pro also sports dual 4-axis OIS and and offers ISO values that can go all the way up to ISO20800, which Honor was quick to mention was twice as much as what the Canon 5D Mark IV offers. 

The 8MP telephoto lens is also optically stabilised and offers 3X optical zoom which can go up to 30X digitally. Honor claimed you can also shoot the moon with the Honor 20 Pro. Then there's the macro lens that allows one to go as close as 4cm. 

The Honor 20 replaces the telephoto with another 2MP depth sensor. You won't be able to zoom in much and definitely cannot shoot the moon with this one. 

Both devices run on Huawei's MagicUI based on Android 9 Pie. The Honor 20 Pro is fitted with a 4000mAh battery and the Honor 20 draws power from a 3,750mAh battery. Both support 22.5W fast charging.

Honor 20i

The Honor 20i was launched in China last month and comes in 4GB RAM and 128GB storage and is priced at Rs 14,999. The 20i comes in Gradient Blue, Gradient Red and Midnight Black colours and packs a 6.21-inch LCD display with FHD+ resolution and a dewdrop notch. Effectively, the device has a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio. Under the hood is the Kirin 710 SoC that's there in all mid-range phones powered by Huawei and Honor. 

On the back is a 24MP camera with f/1.8 aperture paired with a 8MP wide-angle lens and 2MP depth sensor. The Honor 20i runs on EMUI 9 based on Android 9 Pie and draws power from a 3,400mAh battery with support for 10W fast charging.

HonorPad 5

Alongside the Honor 20 series, Honor also launched two budget tablets, in 8-inch and 10.1-inch. They are both powered by an octa-core Kirin processor and comes with Harman Kardonn speakers. The 8.1-inch variant is priced Rs 15,499 for the 3+32GB and Rs 17,499 for 4+64GB variant. The 10.1-inch tab with 3+32 configuration is priced at Rs 16,999 while the 4+64GB variant is priced at Rs 18,999.

from Latest Technology News http://bit.ly/2R10aHq

PUBG Mobile 0130 update with Team Deathmatch mode, Godzilla theme arriving on June 12: Read full patch notes here

PUBG Mobile was testing a new game mode and some new events in the version 0.13.0 of the game, which is currently in beta. However, stable version of the game is currently on 0.12.0 (or 0.12.5 for some) and the game developers have announced that the version 0.13.0 of PUBG Mobile will be rolled out for users on June 12. The game was taken offline today for server maintenance from 5:30 AM to 13:30 PM IST to get it ready for tomorrow's update. The new update will also bring a new Team Deathmatch mode in the game, along with a Godzilla theme and some related events. PUBG Mobile has collaborated with Godzilla: King of the Monsters movie and added some Godzilla-themed easter eggs. You can read more about where to find these easter eggs here.

Ahead of the version 0.13.0 rollout of PUBG Mobile, the game developers have posted all the new changes coming to the game online. As mentioned earlier, the most notable addition will be of a new Team Deathmatch mode that will show up under EvoGround. The new mode has been added soon after Call of Duty: Mobile went under public beta testing and the title also features a multiplayer Team Deathmatch mode. In our quick look at the new mode in PUBG Mobile, we said, “The mode starts players off on an equal footing, unlike Call of Duty: Mobile where high level players get access to a much better arsenal right at the get go.”

Alongside the new game mode, the lobby background will now feature a Godzilla theme. There will also be many themed events and rewards once the update rolls out. The new update features some improvements to Survive Till Dawn and Darkest Night mode, like the addition of four new zombies that will replace old zombies. You can go through the complete version 0.13.0 patch notes below.

What's New in PUBG Mobile 0.13.0:

- Added Team Deathmatch mode to EvoGround. This new mode features fast-paced firefights in both FPP and TPP. Players can also create their own rooms with room cards - Added control settings for FPP. Players can now have separate settings for TPP and FPP - Upgraded 3rd party app prevention system and enhanced detection of cheating behavior via Virtual App, emulators and modifiers - Added MVP showcase system at the end of each match. All players will receive a default MVP pose. The top 3 players in Classic mode or the MVP of the winning squad in TDM will be featured - In Vikendi, players will now leave footprints, trails and tire tracks on snow - Added a dedicated button for climbing that can be enabled in the settings - When killed by friendly fire, now players can decide if the teammate should lose merit or not - Added a Godzilla theme. Godzilla themed lobby background will be available together with many themed events and rewards after the update - Added new popularity gift and ranking reward. Every week, the top 100 players in the list may collect the title All-time Popularity or Recent Popularity - Added Charisma Ranking. The permanent outfits and firearm/vehicle finishes collected by a player will increase their Charisma - New Achievements: Victory Legion: Complete 1/5/10/20 matches with Dominating in Team Deathmatch Alpha & Omega: Get the first kill and final blow in a Team Deathmatch T-800: Achieve Terminator 1 time in Team Deathmatch Envoy of War: Complete a series of missions in Team Deathmatch.   Other Improvements

- Survive Till Dawn and Darkest Night changes: 1. The old zombies have been replaced by 4 types of new zombies 2. Liquid Nitrogen Grenades now leave behind a cloud of freezing smoke on the ground for a long period after explosion, reducing the movement speed of any unit in the area 3. Added new mode combat modifiers 4. Certain zombies now have new abilities: Tanks will empower nearby allies; Skinners can slow nearby players 5. A new factory has replaced the police station   - Inventory improvements:

1. Players can now combine items in batches 2. Equipped items will be displayed on top 3. Duplicated new items will no longer be indicated by a red dot and the "new" tag 4. The Backpack and Helmet tabs have been moved to the Customization tab.   - Arcade mode opening times have been adjusted. Mondays and Wednesdays: Sniper Training & War; Tuesdays and Thursdays: Mini-Zone & Quick Match; Fridays to Sundays: All Arcade modes are available. All times are in UTC - Protective items are now 25% more durable. Their effectiveness remains unchanged - Players can now bolt/reload a bolt action rifle while moving instead of completing the process while aiming down sights - Improved the animation in FPP when running while holding an SMG. - Vehicles now have improved feedback on explosions - Event Center now has improved interactions and better tutorials for the event missions - Crew Challenge Qualifying Round has been expanded. Now 6 qualifying matches will be held every day, up from 5. Each squad can participate up to 3 matches per day, up from 2. Each squad is allowed to participate a total of 18 qualifying matches, up from 12. And new items have been added to the Crew Shop - Players who have registered for Crew Challenge will now receive a notice 10 minutes before a match starts - Players can now collect all rewards from daily missions, progress missions and achievements all at once - Added 3 new Clan Insignias for Lv. 7, Lv. 9, and Lv. 10 - Added a latency indicator to the main screen. Green, yellow, and red represents a good, average, or bad connection

from Latest Technology News http://bit.ly/2X2XvCA