Vivo S1 Global Variant launched sporting Helio P65 chipset, 32MP selfie camera, 638 FHD+ display

When the Vivo S1 was launched in China, the smartphone sported a 6.53-inch Full HD+ display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, MediaTek Helio P70 SoC coupled with 6GB RAM and 128GB expandable storage. The international variant, however, has some slightly different specifications. The global variant of the device has a 6.38-inch Full HD+ (1080x2340 pixels) Super AMOLED display with a waterdrop notch. Under the hood, the device is powered by an Octa-core MediaTek Helio P65 SoC coupled with 4GB of RAM. The dual-SIM smartphone runs Android 9 Pie overlayed with the company’s Funtouch OS 9. The smartphone has 128GB of built-in storage. The smartphone also features an in-display fingerprint sensor. 

For its optics, the smartphone has a 16MP primary camera with an f/1.78 aperture, 8MP secondary wide-angle camera with f/2.2 aperture, and a third 2MP depth sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. For selfies, the smartphone has a 32MP camera with f/2.0 aperture.

The smartphone weighs a mere 179.5g and Vivo has packed in a 4500mAh battery to power the entire package. 

Speaking of pricing and availability, the smartphone is up for pre-order in Indonesia priced at IDR 35,99,000 (Rs. 17,710 approx. directly converted). The smartphone will be available in Cosmic Green and Skyline Blue colour options, from July 23 in Indonesia. There is no India launch date for the device but it is expected to hit Indian shores soon.

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Xiaomi Redmi K20, Redmi K20 Pro to be launched in India today: How to watch livestream, expected specs, price, and more

Xiaomi is all set to launch the new Redmi K20 series phones in India today. Both phones were released in China a couple of months ago. They feature a new 3D four-curved large arc body and a front camera module that is housed in a pop-up module. Moreover, the Redmi K20 Pro is the new Xiaomi flagship device powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, whereas, the Redmi K20 houses the mid-range Snapdragon 730 SoC. The launch event starts at 12pm today. It will be livestreamed on Xiaomi’s official website, social media accounts, and its YouTube channel.

The price and availability of both smartphones could be announced at the event today. However, the pricing is expected to be similar to the Chinese model, that is, CNY 2,499 (approx Rs 24,900) for the Redmi K20 Pro basic variant, 6GB RAM + 64GB storage, and CNY 2,599 (approx Rs 25,900) for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. The pricing of 8GB RAM variant could start at Rs 27,900, and could go up to Rs 29,900 for the 256GB storage variant. 

In contrast to the Redmi K20 Pro, its younger sibling, the Redmi K20 is expected to be priced at Rs 19,900 for the 6GB RAM + 64GB internal storage variant, which could go up to Rs 25,900 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant.

Alongside these devices, a special variant of the Redmi K20 Pro is expected to be launched at Rs 4,80,800. Why the massive price tag? Well, it could come with gold and diamond in it.

As for the specifications, both devices have many similarities, including a 6.39-inch full-HD+ AMOLED panel with 19.5:9 aspect ratio and 91.9-percent screen-to-body ratio. They also have an in-display fingerprint scanner and run on MIUI 10. They could be launched with up to 8GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage.

The main difference is in the processor. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Redmi K20 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC, while the Redmi K20 comes with the Snapdragon 730 chipset. The other dissimilarity is in the optics department. While both the phones feature a triple camera setup with a 48MP primary sensor, the Redmi K20 Pro includes a Sony IMX586 sensor, and the Redmi K20 sports the Sony IMX582 sensor. Both phones feature a 13MP secondary sensor with wide-angle lens, and an 8MP tertiary sensor with a f/2.4 lens. 

Both the phones pack a 4000mAh battery. While the Redmi K20 has 18W fast-charging support, the Redmi K20 Pro comes with 27W fast-charging.

 

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Realme X vs Redmi K20 vs Vivo Z1 Pro vs Moto One Vision: In-depth spec comparison

In a span of about a month, three different OEMs Realme, Vivo and Motorola have launched their mid-range devices in India. The fourth one, Redmi, will launch its device in this segment tomorrow. While Relame X and Moto One Vision devices were launched in different markets before they made landfall in India, the Vivo Z1 Pro was first introduced in the country. Redmi K20 and its elder sibling, the Redmi K20 Pro, have already been launched in China. Here, we have compared the specs of three phones that are already available in the country, and included the specs of the Chinese variant of the Redmi K20. Let's take a look at how these devices fare against each other, on paper.

Display and Design

The Realme X features a 6.53-inch Super AMOLED display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The display offers and 1080 x 2340 pixels resolution, and the pop-up selfie camera mechanism is claimed to give the phone a 91.2-percent screen-to-body ratio. In comparison, the Redmi K20 features a Full HD+ 6.39-inch Super AMOLED display that offers the same resolution. The display stretches edge-to-edge offering 91.6 percent screen-to-body-ratio, and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It has the same pop-up mechanism as the Realme X.

The Vivo Z1 Pro features a 6.53-inch full HD+ with same resolution as the above mentioned phones. It sports an IPS display, which houses a punch-hole selfie camera. The Motorola One Vision sports a 6.3-inch LTPS IPS LCD panel that offers a resolution of 1080 x 2520 pixels. It delivers an 82.5 percent screen-to-body ratio, and one of the USPs of the phone is it tall 21:9 ratio CinemaVision screen.

Performance

The Realme X features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chipset. In comparison, the Redmi K20 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 processor under the hood, and ships with Game Turbo 2.0 touted to deliver an enhanced gaming experience. The Vivo Z1 Pro is shipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 SoC, and just like the Redmi K20, it also features gaming enhancement options such as Game Cube and eSports mode. Motorola has chosen to go with a Samsung Exynos 9609 processor in the Moto One Vision.

Memory and storage

The Realme X is offered in two variants: 4GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. Realme has also launched the Master Edition of its flagship phone - onion and garlic gradients - with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. There is a Spiderman special edition as well that also sports 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The Redmi K20 is offered in 6GB RAM + 64GB storage, and the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variants. The Vivo Z1 Pro comes in three variants: 4GB RAM + 64GB storage, 6GB + 64GB storage 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. The Motorola One Vision is offered in just one 4GB RAM and 128GB storage variant.

Camera

On the optics front, the Realme X features a dual rear camera setup that includes a primary 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor and a secondary 5MP depth sensor. It offers features like Nightscape and Chroma Boost.  Additionally, the 16MP front camera resides in the pop-up mechanism. Realme says that the pop-up camera rises in just 0.74 seconds and has a fall-detection feature.

When it comes to the Redmi K20, there is a vertically stacked triple camera setup on the back panel. The primary shooter is the 48MP sensor, but instead of the Sony IMX586, it has the Sony IMX582 sensor with an aperture of f/1.75. There is a 13MP secondary sensor with a wide-angle lens and the telephoto lens comes along with an 8MP sensor with an aperture of f/2.4. The phone’s camera will be able to record slow-motion video at up to 960fps videos. The selfie camera has a 20MP sensor.

The Vivo Z1 Pro also comes with triple-rear cameras but it sports a 16MP primary sensor with an f/1.78 lens, an 8MP secondary sensor with a 120-degree super wide-angle f/2.2 lens, and a 2MP depth sensor with an f/2.4 aperture lens. However, it has a 32MP sensor in the selfie shooter, which is more resolution than all the phones compared here.

Like Realme X, the Moto One Vision also has two cameras on the back. The primary unit is a 48MP Samsung-made sensor and an f/1.7 aperture. It is a 1/2.25-inch quad-pixel sensor that combines four pixels into one large pixel to deliver better images. The secondary camera has a 5MP sensor for depth sensing. On the front is a 25MP unit with the same quad-pixel technology as the primary rear camera.

Battery and other features

The Realme X packs a 3745mAh battery, which supports 20W VOOC-charge technology. Also, it features an in-display fingerprint scanner. It runs Android 9 Pie with ColorOS 6 on top. The Realme X also supports Dolby Atmos for an immersive sound experience via headphones. The Redmi K20 draws its power from a 4,000mAh battery that comes with an 18W fast charge. The phone also sports an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Vivo is focusing on the budget gaming segment with the Z1 Pro, hence, it has put a 5000mAh battery with an 18W fast charger. The phone runs on Funtouch OS 9, which is based on Android 9 Pie. As mentioned in the table, the phone is an Android One device, which means that it will get timely security updates and at least two major OS versions. The phone runs the Android 9 Pie OS and has Moto Actions that we have already seen in other offerings from Motorola. The phone has a 3500mAh battery with 15W fast charging support. The fingerprint sensor is incorporated Motorola’s famous batwing logo.

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Amazing last minute Amazon Prime Day Deals

Amazon Prime Day deals are about ot end, but towards the closure, some brands are offering some really amazing deals. Brands like JBL, Huawei and Amazon itself are offering blow-out prices on some of their very popular devices, but there is a catch. One, each of the deal is going to be live within a certain time frame only and second, the quantities are pretty limited. However, you’re welcome to try your luck in snagging them. Here’s what there is on offer.

Two Amazon Firesticks at Rs 4499 (Buy it here)

The Amazon Firestick is a favourite amongst many indian consumers and is one of our top-recommended devices for people who love watching content. Plug it into any TV with and HDMI TV and watch it tuns into a semi-smart TV. The deal becomes even better given that Google and Amazon recently settled their differences, allowing YouTube to once again be available on the Fire TV stick. The deal is already live and will last till the end of Amazon Prime Day.

Two Amazon Echo Dots and 1 Syska smart bulb for Rs 3999 (Buy it here)

If you’ve wanted to get an Amazon Echo but found the price a little too high, well, here’s your chance to not only get two of them, but also snag a compatible smart bulb too. This is a 63 percent discount over the regular MRP of these devices, making the deal hard to ignore. The deal is already live and will last till the end of Prime Day.

Huawei Watch GT Classic at Rs 999 (Buy it here)

The Huawei Watch GT is based on Google’s WearOS and while its looks are definitely in line with that of other smartwatches out there, its real claim to fame is the 2-week battery life claimed by Huawei. Of course, these are ideal numbers, but we do expect it to atleast last more than 2 days, the amount most smartwatches tend to last. If you’re in the market to pick up a smartwatch to pair with your Android smartphone, the Huawei Watch GT Classic at this price is a pretty unbeatable deal. This deal will go live at 9 pm and last for an hour only.

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BSNL news: 5GB Free Trial offer available for landline customers

With the Jio GigaFiber roll-out on the way, competing internet providers are bolstering their offerings to keep their existing customers happy. BSNL is also doing the same as it recently revised eight of its ADSL plans and two of its Bharat Fiber internet plans to offer better benefits to its customers. The state-run telco has now announced a ‘5GB Free Trial Offer’, which is a new promotional standalone broadband plan available for the company’s existing BSNL landline customers who don’t have a broadband connection. Under the offer, a user can use 5GB data per day with up to 10Mbps speeds and after exhaustion, the internet will run at 1Mbps.

The new BSNL plan is available for all users in all BSNL circles except for users in Andaman & Nicobar. As a trial offer, BSNL landline users will not need to pay any installation charges or a security deposit. The new offer will be available till July 13 and for one month from the date of activation. However, this offer is not applicable with the company’s FTTH service; one needs to own their own customer premise equipment (CPE) or modem. Additionally, after the offer expires, the customer will be migrated to regular broadband plans. 

As mentioned earlier, BSNL has revised eight of its ADSL plans to offer more data or better benefits along with two Bharat Fiber internet plans. All the new revised internet plans offer more data per day than they previously used to, additional free voice call benefits, and faster speeds after FUP with a “minimum increase in the Fixed Monthly Charges.” Out of the two revised Bharat Fiber broadband plans, there is the 500GB plan, which is renamed to 600GB CUL and is priced at Rs 849, up from Rs 777. It still offers 50Mbps speeds but the data cap is now increased from 500GB to 600GB, with 2Mbps speeds beyond the allotted data. The 50GB plan is also renamed to 55GB CUL and is priced at Rs 4,499 instead of Rs 3,999. The fiber plan offers 55GB data per day at up to 100Mbps speeds and 4Mbps beyond that.

You can check all the refreshed plans here. 

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Truecaller SDK solution will enable user verification on the mobile web platform

Truecaller has announced a new user verification method for the mobile web. Available via the Truecaller SDK solution, this feature comes with support for mobile platforms like Android, iOS, React and mobile web including Progressive Web App support. 

Read the complete press release below

Truecaller today announced the global launch of its Truecaller SDK solution exclusively for the mobile web platform. With this, Truecaller SDK now supports all the key mobile platforms across Android, iOS, React and now mobile web including Progressive Web App support. Developers can access the mWeb SDK from Truecaller’s global developer portal.

Across emerging markets like India and Africa, mobile web-based experiences on smart phones are proving to be the first point of discovery for users trying to access products and services online. One of the key challenges in these markets has been to on-board users using email or other modes and getting verified using the inefficient OTP process. This SDK solution on mobile web is intended to simplify this process for developers through its OTP-less and free to use phone number-based verification solution allowing their users to seamlessly and securely access services using their Truecaller credentials. This ensures there are reduced barriers along with fewer user drop offs and resulting in increased growth in verified users that contributes to minimized business risks for the developer.  

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Commenting on the launch, Priyam Bose, Global Head, Developer Platform & Relations, Truecaller, said, “Our vision has always been to enable the developer community by providing them with solutions that help them to build user focused, trust based and growth-oriented products. User onboarding and verification continues to be one of the critical use cases for developers as it is crucial in creating a first impression for their users in terms of building a seamless and secure product experience. On an average, developers in growth markets are starting to see anywhere between 40%-60% of their users now coming from mobile web, giving us more reasons to launch our Truecaller SDK solution for mobile Web interfaces.”

This launch extends Truecaller’s philosophy of building and solving problems at scale for users and developers globally, with value-driven functionalities. Truecaller SDK service for the mobile web platform can be used to fulfil use cases such as mobile number-based signup, login, checkout, verification, and more such touch-points across the user journey.

Early access developer partners for this service also shared their experience.

Mukund Laddha, Product Manager, OYO, said, "At OYO, we have been expanding globally at a rapid pace. Improving user experience during authentication has been a key area of focus. This integration with Truecaller presented us with an opportunity to present users with a reliable alternate login method with a large presence across countries. This has made user on-boarding on web more fluid and frictionless."

Zairus Master, CEO, Shine.com, said, “At Shine.com, our constant endeavor is to improve our end-user experience by adopting best-in-class technologies. As an early access partner, the integration with Truecaller’s verification solution for mobile web platform will help candidates simplify their registration process on Shine.com and facilitate a constantly active and verified set of candidates on the platform, complete with their updated contact details. We believe that this product integration will give Shine.com a competitive edge over other job portals which solely rely on traditional, OTP-based verification.”

Udit Tyagi, Product Head, Times Internet Limited - Indian Languages News Business, said, “In the ever-evolving world of PWA's the gap between app and mWeb is slowly fading away and users expect uniformity and seamlessness in terms of experience and onboarding irrespective of the platform. By leveraging Truecaller SDK for mobile web, we have been able to improve the on-boarding experience of users in our canvas of mobile web apps. In our case, onboarding conversions via Truecaller are 41% higher compared to standard onboarding processes."

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Silica aerogel can help make Mars habitable in parts

Apart from the Earth, Mars is the most habitable planet in the Solar System, and making the entire planet habitable has been one of the most popular themes of Science Fiction. Mars has a tenuous atmosphere, one that is constantly escaping because of the ravages of the Sun. In fact, NASA has even come up with a proposal for a magnetic shield to protect the atmosphere of the planet, but such projects are still far into the future. Carl Sagan was the first to suggest a practical way in which an atmosphere could be introduced to Mars, by vaporising the carbon dioxide ice and water ice trapped beneath the northern polar ice cap. This was a suggestion first proposed in 1971. In 2018, NASA funded researchers showed that there simply was not enough carbon dioxide in Mars that could be released into the atmosphere, to warm the planet enough so that liquid water could exist on the surface. Even if all the resources on Mars would be used up, the resulting atmosphere would only be seven percent as dense as the Earth, and not enough to warm the planet sufficiently for say growing crops. The study also showed that most of the carbon dioxide was actually trapped in inaccessible locations. The conclusion was that using current technologies, Mars could simply not be terraformed. 

Now, researchers from Harvard University have proposed an approach that could make portions of Mars habitable, and allow any future manned missions to grow food from the regolith. The approach uses existing technology, and is feasible right now. The idea is to introduce silica aerogel, directly into the regolith, or the dry Martian soil. Silica aerogel is an incredibly light material, made up of 99 percent air. It is a bit like styrofoam, and can play the same role on Mars as the greenhouse gases do on Earth. It can trap heat, and make the surface warm enough for liquid water to exist on the surface, allowing for the cultivation of crops.

The aerogel is translucent, allowing essential sunlight for photosynthesis to pass through, and blocking harmful ultraviolet radiation at the same time. A shield of silica aerogel between two to three centimeters in thickness can permanently increase surface temperatures to allow liquid water to exist on the surface. The approach does not require an energy source for producing heat, and the maintenance is minimal, as there are no complicated structures and moving parts. Additionally, the same material can be incorporated into greenhouses and habitats for any future pioneers that visit Mars. The approach can potentially allow manned exploration of the Martian surface to be more expansive, and cover more regions. Using silica aerogel to reduce the surface temperatures of Mars in local islands of habitability, will be particularly effective in the middle latitudes, in places where there is water ice trapped near the surface. 

Robin Wordsworth, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Harvard explains, “this regional approach to making Mars habitable is much more achievable than global atmospheric modification. Unlike the previous ideas to make Mars habitable, this is something that can be developed and tested systematically with materials and technology we already have.” 

The researchers were inspired from a process that takes place naturally on the red planet. Just like the Earth, Mars has polar ice caps as well. While the polar ice caps on Earth are made up of water, on Mars, they are made up of a combination of water and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide ice provides a solid state greenhouse gas effect, trapping the heat just like the gaseous form. The ice traps heat beneath the surface, eventually causing the ice to rupture in black spots, where gas and soil escape from beneath the surface. The silica aerogel provides a solid state greenhouse gas effect just like the carbon dioxide ice. It is a good insulator, and is translucent enough to allow sunlight to pass through it. 

Solid state greenhouse gas effect at the polar regions of Mars

The experiment is a proof of concept, and there are still some challenges to overcome. The climate model used for the simulation showed that it would take two Martian years or four Earth years to produce a permanent layer of subsurface liquid water. There is also the question of getting the aerogel to Mars. It would require shipping large amounts of the material, or finding a way to manufacture it in situ. The researchers want to test the approach in the field, such as the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica or the Atacama desert in Chile, both of which have deserts with little moisture. 

Sources: JPL, Harvard SEAS

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