Apple reveals new emojis, coming to iPhone later this year

Today, July 17, is World Emoji Day, and Apple is celebrating it by unveiling some new emojis. These emojis will be coming to iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, and WatchOS later this year. The new emojis focus on diversifying the human emoji, and brings “exciting additions to popular categories of food, animals, activities and smiley faces.” One of the major updates is in the holding-hands emoji, typically used to represent couples and relationships. It gets 75 different possible combinations of skin tone, gender, and more.

Another update is in the disability-themed emojis, which include a new guide dog, an ear with a hearing aid, wheelchairs, a prosthetic arm and a prosthetic leg along with many others. “Celebrating diversity in all its many forms is integral to Apple’s values and these new options help fill a significant gap in the emoji keyboard,” says Apple.

Additionally, there is a new smiley face for yawning, hindu temple, diving mask, new food items including butter, garlic and waffle, and new animals like flamingo, orangutan, skunk and sloth. Other miscellaneous emojis include a flying kite, yoyo, one-piece swimsuit, and more. 

“To celebrate World Emoji Day, Apple is previewing a selection of new emoji coming this fall, revealing the newest designs that bring even more diversity to the keyboard, alongside fun and exciting additions to popular categories of food, animals, activities and smiley faces,” said Apple.

The new emojis “are created based on the approved characters in Unicode 12.0,” meaning that they are part of the Emoji version 12.0 set that was announced a while back. There are a total of 59 new emoji designs. Apple will push a “free software update” for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch users “this fall.” 

You can find a list of all the new emojis here.

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After Asus, Realme, Vivo and Black Shark tease phones with Snapdragon 855 Plus

Qualcomm took the world by surprise when it announced the Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset, an overclocked version of the original Snapdragon 855 mobile platform this week. Following the announcement, Asus said that the upgraded chipset, which is primarily aimed at gaming phones, would debut on the upcoming Asus ROG Phone II. On the heels of this development, other companies like Black Shark, Realme, Vivo, Nubia, and Lenovo have teased phones that will feature with latest Qualcomm flagship offering.

All the above-mentioned OEMs have teased the phone on their respective Weibo handles. Interestingly, Realme will offer its first phone Qualcomm’s flagship processor. As far as Black Shark, Vivo’s spin-off brand IQOO, Nubia and Lenovo are concerned, these companies already have phones running on the Snapdragon 855 SoCs. In fact Lenovo was the first company to debut a phone with the Snapdragon 855 processor.

Unfortunately, none of these companies have given out information or a timeline about when they will they launch their respective phones with the Plus version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon flagship. Some of the other phones that are powered by the flagship mobile platform are the Samsung Galaxy S10 Series (in some markets), Asus 6Z, Redmi K20 Pro and Oppo Reno 10X Zoom.

According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 855 Plus will offer a 15-percent boost in graphics rendering and a CPU that can go as high as 2.96GHz. Presently, the Snapdragon 855 can do 2.84GHz. The regular Snapdragon 855 has one prime core clocked at 2.84GHz and three mid-cores clocked at 2.42GHz along with four efficiency cores at 1.8GHz. The Adreno 640 GPU on the Snapdragon 855 Plus is also clocked faster.

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Uplay+ Game Subscription Service to Include Over 100 Games Including Assassin's Creed Series, Ubisoft Classics, Upcoming Releases

Ubisoft's upcoming game streaming service will include many of the company's most-loved franchises and games, plus premium content

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Redmi K20, K20 Pro launched in India: Price, specs, launch offers and all you need to know

Redmi has finally launched its new flagship Redmi K20 Pro smartphone in India, alongside the mid-range Redmi K20. The new handsets were being teased by the company from some time now and as expected, the company is touting the Redm K20 Pro to be a flagship killer. The Redmi K20 Pro is powered by the latest 7nm Snapdragon 855 SoC, on the other hand, the Redmi K20 is running on the Snapdragon 730 SoC. Both the phones come equipped with a triple rear camera setup and sport a pop-up camera for the front shooter.

Redmi K20, K20 Pro specifications and features

The Redmi K20 and K20 Pro share similar design features, along with some hardware. The two handsets feature 3D curved glass back and are equipped with a 6.39-inch Full HD+ display with 1080 x 2340p resolution. Both the front and rear panel of the handsets are protected by Gorilla Glass 5. However, the Redmi K20 Pro gets a Super AMOLED panel, while the Redmi K20 is equipped with an AMOLED display. The phones are touted to have 91.9 percent screen-to-body ratio and come equipped with an in-display fingerprint sensor. With HDR display and Widevine L1 support, the handsets support HDR streaming from Netflix and YouTube. 

As mentioned earlier, the Redmi K20 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC, which comes with the Adreno 640 GPU. The company is also introducing the second generation of its Game Turbo technology, which is said to enhance gaming, network, touch response and visuals while gaming. The mode is also said to enable better sound and better in-game chat optimisation. On the other hand, the Redmi K20 is backed by a Snapdragon 730 SoC. The two phones come with up to 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 2.1 internal storage. 

In terms of optics, the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro come equipped with a triple rear camera setup on the back. There’s a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor with f/1.5 aperture, which is paired with an 8MP telephoto camera that offers 2x optical zoom with f/2.4 aperture lens. A 13MP ultra wide angle camera is also present. The main camera supports laser autofocus and dual LED flash. The two phones can also capture slow motion video at 960fps and record 4K video at 30fps. The Redmi K20 Pro can record 4K video at 60fps. Google Lens will also come integrated within the device’s camera app. 

There’s a 20MP front camera housed in a pop-up module and the module’s lens is protected by Sapphire glass. The front camera also supports AI Face Unlock, along with Panorama selfie, AI scene detection and AI portrait mode. 

The Redmi K20 and K20 Pro are backed by a 4000mAh battery. However, the Redmi K20 Pro supports 27W fast charging that the company calls SonicCharge, which is said to charge the device to 58 percent in 30 minutes. On the other hand, the Redmi K20 sports 18W fast charging. The Redmi K20 series of handsets feature P2i splash proof coating, dual-frequency GPS, a headphone jack with a DAC that is Hi-Res audio certified, 0.99cc speaker box and more. 

Redmi K20, k20 Pro price, launch offers and availability 

The Redmi K20 series will be available in two variants of India, one with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage and another with 8GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage. The 6GB RAM version of the Redmi K20 Pro is priced at Rs 27,999, while the 8GB RAM variant of the handset will cost you Rs 30,999. Coming to the Redmi K20, its 6GB and 8GB RAM variants are priced at Rs 23,999 and Rs 21,999 respectively. The Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro will be available in Flame Red, Glacier Blue and Carbon Black colour variants. 

The Redmi K20 series will be available at 8PM on July 17 for those users who participated in handset’s Alpha Sale via Flipkart and Mi.com. Customers who can buy the handset today will also receive an additional Rs 2,000 off on using ICICI bank credit cards to pay for the handset. The pre-order will also be available tomorrow via Mi Homes with the same benefits. 

Regular users will be able to buy the Redmi K20 series at 12pm on July 22 via Mi.com, Mi Home and Flipkart. There’s also a Rs 1,000 cashback for ICICI bank card users. Both, the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro come with an 18W charger in the box, along with a hard case. However, the company has also launched its new Mi 27W SonicCharge adapter in India for Rs 999 that will be available via Mi.com. Airtel subscribers can also avail double data benefits with the Redmi K20 series when recharging with the Rs 249 and Rs 299 prepaid plans. There are Airtel Thanks Gold Tier benefits as well.

A Redmi K20 Pro Signature edition of the handset will also be available, which is made of gold with diamond studdings. Only 20 units of this edition will be made available in India and while there is no detail of the pricing and availability, the company says it costs Rs 4,80,000 to manufacture. 

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Facebook hires former Vine head, may work on TikTok competitor Lasso

Last week, Facebook announced plans for a new division, “NPE Team, from Facebook,” to build experimental consumer-focused apps. With the new division, Facebook is planning to try different ideas and features and see how people react. Now, the company has hired Jason Toff, former Vine head, to join the New Product Experimentation Team as a Product Management Director. He is the first major name to be associated with the NPE Team. Moreover, it is being speculated  that Facebook might be working on some sort of a short-video sharing app to compete with TikTok. 

Toff was a Product Lead for YouTube before leaving Google in 2014 to join Vine. The former Google employee worked as Head of Product for Vine for a year, and then became Vine’s General Manager. Before Twitter ended Vine, Toff had moved up to Director of Product Management. Then, he came back to Google, where his initial focus was on AR and VR projects.

Most recently, Toff worked in Google’s Area 120 incubator, which is pretty similar to the NPE Team of Facebook. Given his experience in new app initiatives and his leading capabilities, speculations are being made that Facebook has hired Toff to work on a TikTok competitor. In November 2018, Facebook launched a TikTok-like app, Lasso, which is yet to see any major development. However, Toff noted on Twitter that he cannot reveal any details of what he’s working on currently. Furthermore, he says, he is hiring both UX designers and engineers for the NPE Team.

Facebook’s ambitions with NPE Team are to deliver apps that will change “very rapidly” in response to user feedback. It will also be quick to end experiments that aren’t useful to people in fairly short order. However, that is different from how Facebook operates as the Moments (photo sharing app) ran from 2015 through early 2019. 

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Xiaomi to launch Mi A3 in Spain today: Expected specs, features, and all you need to know

Xiaomi will launch the Mi A3 Android One device at an event scheduled for 3.00 pm CEST (6.30 pm IST) in Spain. The company made this announcement on Twitter. It also confirmed that the phone would be unveiled in Warsaw, Poland on July 25. There are reports that claim that the phone would be launched in France on July 18. The Mi A3 is the successor to the Mi A2 (Review), and the company is marketing the Android One device as a phone that “brings together everything you need: Android system, and all the advantages of being a Xiaomi device.”

It is possible that the phone is a camera- and battery-centric device because Xiaomi has teased the camera and battery of the phone through a poll on its Twitter as well as on Facebook handle. There are no confirmed reports about the phone’s India debut. However, given the company’s history of launching phones, it is expected that the handset will be launched in India in the coming few weeks.

Mi A3 expected specifications

While the information on the specs and features of the Mi A3 is scarce, pictures of a retail box of the smartphone were leaked online. It suggested that the device could come equipped with a 6.08-inch AMOLED display with an under-display fingerprint scanner. It could house a 4030mAh battery with 18W fast charging support and a 48MP rear camera. The phone is tipped to pack a 32MP sensor in the waterdrop notch, and it is speculated that the handset will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 655 chipset.

Meanwhile, a tech news portal Soyacincau has claimed that it has already got its hands on the Mi A3. According to the platform, the speculated specs of the Mi A3 are correct. Additionally, the report also claims that the phone has a 4GB RAM + 64GB storage version, and it supports microSD card expansion via a hybrid dual-SIM slot. On the back is a triple camera setup with 48MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2MP depth sensor, it says.

The battery capacity mentioned in the report is also the same as what was previously speculated. The portal confirms that the phone supports 18W fast charging but is bundled with a standard 10W charger in the box. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack as well. As mentioned, the phone is an Android One device, and Soyacincau claims that the device is running Android 9.0 Pie with the June 2019 security update. Since the information is not coming from an official source, we advise our readers to take this with a pinch of salt.

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Mercedes-Benz EVs to use pedestrian warning sounds at low speeds

One of the many things electric vehicles (EVs) are known for is their ability to whizz past other road users without making any sound. Apart from tyre noise, there’s very little sound that emanates from the vehicle. But that could also be a bad thing, if you’re, say, a pedestrian trying to cross the road. In quiet neighbourhoods where there are no traffic lights or zebra crossings, a speeding EV could just catch you unawares in a blind corner while you’re taking an evening stroll. Enter the Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS).

A recent regulation set by the European Union (EU) dictates that, starting July 1, all EVs, hybrids, and fuel cell vehicles be fitted with an acoustic warning system that goes off automatically when the vehicle is moving at speeds below 20 kilometres per hour. In a press release shared yesterday, Daimler stated that sound experts at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Centre (MTC) in Sindelfingen are currently working to meet the requirement in future Mercedes-Benz models, including the EQC 400 4MATIC fully-electric compact luxury SUV.

Sound experts at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Centre (MTC)

“Special microphones in the exterior sound testing facilities are used to develop an individually configured e-sound for each electric model. Simulations, measurements, evaluations and detailed improvements continue until the result is perfect. During the subsequent test drives, there is a particularly sensitive passenger on board – the artificial head. This registers the tiniest noises, and comes impressively close to human hearing,” writes Daimler in its press release.

In October last year, Jaguar announced that it was incorporating AVAS in its I-PACE electric crossover SUV to create credible engine sounds for nearby pedestrians. The EU legislation requires all EVs, hybrids, and fuel cell vehicles to emit at least 56 decibels of sound when moving about at low speeds. The I-PACE’s soundtrack was tested by members of Guide Dogs for the Blind, a British charity. In the future, we can expect to read more such news releases from mainstream and startup automakers as we inch towards a quieter ‘electrified’ automotive world.

Inline image courtesy: Daimler

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