Bajaj Chetak Electric announced, receives flak for resembling Vespa

The Bajaj Chetak is probably best remembered by millennials as an iconic scooter brand that ruled the market for over three decades. Now, however—thirteen years after Bajaj stopped production of the Chetak—it’s back as a redesigned electric scooter. Having announced the revived brand last week, the Pune-based automaker intends to start selling the new electric Chetak in Pune in Bengaluru by early 2020, with other cities to follow later. The product page for the new Chetak drops hints on what one can expect from it.

Details around the new Chetak are quite scarce at the moment. Bajaj is currently teasing the new brand on its Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube accounts in the form of images and short videos. According to a recent report by LiveMint, the new Chetak will be offered in six colours and two variants: one that has a range of 85 kilometres and another that has a range of 95 kilometres. According to another report (by Car and Bike), the new Chetak will be powered by an IP67-rated lithium-ion battery. The scooter will get two drive modes namely Eco and Sport, LED headlamps, and smartphone connectivity.

Citing a figure that’s between Rs 1 lakh and 1.5 lakhs for the new Chetak, Rajiv Bajaj, the Managing Director of Bajaj Auto, said in a statement to LiveMint about the Chetak’s pricing, “The fact that Bajaj doesn’t sell scooters is our bigger strength. We are starting from here because there is no conflict of interest. When you enter into a new market you don’t make money from day one. The price will not be viable from day one.” Bajaj is expected to export the new Chetak to European markets after its official launch in 2020. 

Since last week’s announcement, the new Chetak’s design has received flak for plagiarism and a lack of imagination. Pratap Bose, the Vice President for Global Design at Tata Motors, for one, took to Twitter to express his disappointment. According to him, the new Chetak is “very Vespa”. “Sad day for Indian Design”, he wrote in another tweet. The new electric Bajaj Chetak is expected to go on sale in January next year first in Bajaj’s home city of Pune and then in other cities such as Bengaluru.

Very Vespa as well. Missed opportunity to do something more unique :( Wonder what @Piaggio_Group will have to say about this https://t.co/U5ZTF9dtrK

— Pratap Bose (@BosePratap) October 16, 2019

 

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New Artificial Skin could change the way we interact with our smartphones

The amount of phone cases and skins out in the market are too numerous to list out. Users rarely allow their phones to be exposed and always tend to cover them up using a skin or a case. Well, now a company called Telecom ParisTech have come up with a rather creepy but innovative piece of tech that could change how we interact with our devices. This new tech is essentially a kind of ‘artificial skin’ that allow users to access new features and inputs while using it. 

Dubbed Skin-On Interfaces by its creator, Marc Teyssier, this tech was developed by Telecom ParisTech along with researchers from HCI Sorbonne Université and CNRS. It all started when Teyssier wanted to do more with his phone. Specifically, he wanted to pinch it. He wanted to replace the way we interact with our phones now. He says that it’s cold and impersonal and that he wanted to replace that experience with a realistic version of human skin. He has the right idea simply because we humans are used to touching skin and it’s a part of how we interact with others. 

The team began by building two prototypes, a simple version and a true-to-life version that mimicked human skin. They also programmed the ‘skin’ to detect various gestures like pinching, poking and light tickling. The team has also linked these gestures to various emotions to represent these actions. For example, if you grip your phone tightly, it’ll think that the user is angry. Essentially, this means that the amount of pressure applied directly related to changes in the system’s electric charge. 

The company has also branched out into touchpads and smartwatch wristbands that feature the artificial skin. The future of the company lies in making the idea of human skin as a cover more palatable to the general public. In the published paper on the topic, the nest step for Skin-On is to create a more realistic product that has hair, changing temperatures, sweat and even goosebumps. 

Who knows where this tech will go in the next few years but as of now, it’s interesting to see the why researchers are approaching the idea of a seamless human experience even when you’re interacting with a cold electrical piece of technology. 

 

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Redmi Note 8 Pro, Redmi Note 8 to go on sale for first time in India today: Price, specs, availability and everything you need to know

If you are looking to pick up one of the new Redmi Note 8 devices, then you better get your trigger finger ready. The sale for the Redmi Note 8 and Note 8 Pro kicks off at 12 noon today via Amazon.in, Mi.com, and Mi Home Stores. Speaking of the price and variants, The Redmi Note 8 Pro is priced at Rs 14,999 for the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant. The 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant is priced at Rs 17,999. The top variant with 8GB RAM + 128GB storage is priced at Rs 17,999. The smartphone is available in Gamma Green, Halo White, and Shadow Black colour options. 

Moving over to the Redmi Note 8, the smartphone is priced at Rs 9,999 for the 4GB + 64GB variant and Rs 12,999 for the 6GB + 128GB variant. The Redmi Note 8 is available in Moonlight White, Neptune Blue, and Space Black colour options.

REDMI NOTE 8 SPECIFICATIONS

The Redmi Note 8 sports a 6.3-inch FHD+ display with a dot drop notch. Under the hood, the smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor. A 4,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging support powers the entire package. The smartphone runs on MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie. For the optics, the Redmi Note 8 sports a quad rear camera setup. It has a 48MP primary camera with a Samsung GM1 sensor with f/1.79 lens. The second is an 8MP Ultra-Wide lens with a 120-degree field of view. There are two 2MP cameras. One for depth sensing and the other is a Macro lens. For your selfie needs, the smartphone has a 13MP front-facing camera. The smartphone has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor for security. 

As mentioned above, the Redmi Note 8 is priced at Rs 9,999 for the base 4GB RAM + 64GB model and Rs 12,999 for the 6GB + 128GB variant. 

REDMI NOTE 8 PRO SPECIFICATIONS

Moving over to the Redmi Note 8 Pro, the smartphone features a 6.53-inch FHD+ LCD display and comes with a waterdrop notch. It boasts a 91.94 percent screen to body ratio. The device also sports a curved Gorilla Glass 5 panel on the back. It is a dual SIM phone with a dedicated microSD card slot. Further, the phone comes with built-in support for Amazon Alexa.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Helio G90T chipset. The smartphone also boasts of liquid cooling support for an improved gaming experience.

When it comes to the camera, the Redmi Note 8 Pro sports a quad rear camera setup at the back. It has a 64MP primary Samsung-developed sensor accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide lens, a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro lens. On the front, it has a 20MP camera. The company claims that the Redmi Note 8 Pro is capable of recording videos at 960 frames per second. The smartphone has a 4500mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. The Redmi Note 8 Pro runs MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie. The smartphone also features NFC, has a splash-proof coating, and features the endangered 3.5mm audio jack.

As mentioned above, the Redmi Note 8 Pro is priced at Rs 14,999 for the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant, Rs 15,999 for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant and Rs 17,999 for the top of the line 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. It will be made available in three colour options, namely, Gamma Green, Halo White and Shadow Black.

In our gaming comparison of the Redmi Note 8 Pro, we said, “The Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro is indeed a better performer than its present competition, as revealed by benchmarks and gaming. But it's not without flaws that could become a burden in the long term. The MediaTek Helio G90T SoC is fast but suffers from poor thermal management. It also draws more power by keeping all the cores fired up at all times during game. This, however, lets the phone push the frame rates and improve stability in high-end games. Now performance is just half the story when it comes to the Redmi Note Pro devices. The camera is another half and that we are presently testing out. Stay tuned for a detailed camera comparison. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro is indeed a better performer than its present competition, as revealed by benchmarks and gaming. But it's not without flaws that could become a burden in the long term. The MediaTek Helio G90T SoC is fast but suffers from poor thermal management. It also draws more power by keeping all the cores fired up at all times during game. This, however, lets the phone push the frame rates and improve stability in high-end games. Now performance is just half the story when it comes to the Redmi Note Pro devices. The camera is another half and that we are presently testing out. Stay tuned for a detailed camera comparison.”

You can read the comparison in detail here.

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PUBG Mobile Diwali Dhamaka Event Now Live, Call of Duty: Mobile Announces First Halloween Event

The new Diwali event has started rolling out with the company’s latest PUBG Mobile 0.15.0 update.

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Redmi Note 8 Pro Price in India Reveal, Realme X2 Pro Launch Date, Amazon and Flipkart Diwali Sales, and More Tech News This Week

Redmi Note 8 Pro price in India starts at Rs. 14,999. 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage is priced at Rs. 15,999, while 8GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant price in India is Rs. 17,999.

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Redmi Note 8 Pro Price in India Reveal, Realme X2 Pro Launch Date, Amazon and Flipkart Diwali Sales, and More Tech News This Week

Redmi Note 8 Pro price in India starts at Rs. 14,999. 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage is priced at Rs. 15,999, while 8GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant price in India is Rs. 17,999.

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Update your old iPad and iPhone before November 3 to avoid issues with location, date, and time

On its support page, Apple has requested users to update their old iOS devices to the latest version before November 3, 2019. The company says, “Starting just before 12:00 a.m. UTC on November 3, 2019, some iPhone and iPad models introduced in 2012 and earlier will require an iOS update to maintain accurate GPS location and keep the correct date and time. This is due to the GPS time rollover issue that began affecting GPS-enabled products from other manufacturers on April 6, 2019. Affected Apple devices are not impacted until just before 12:00 a.m. UTC on November 3, 2019.”

It is advisable to update your device as soon as possible as Apple’s support page says that after November 3, 2019, the device might not be able to receive over-the-air software updates. 

If you would like to check the software version of your iOS device, you can do so by opening the Settings app, tap General, then tap About. Look for the number next to Software Version. The updated software version number should be 10.3.4 or 9.3.6, depending on your device.

The iPhone 5 and the iPad (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular need to be on iOS 10.3.4. The iPhone 4s, iPad mini (1st generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular (CDMA models only) and the iPad (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular need to be on iOS 9.3.6. Apple says that the issue does not affect iPod touch or any iPad models that have Wi-Fi only. It also doesn't affect iOS devices newer than those listed above.

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