Redmi Note 8 Pro Electric Blue colour variant goes on sale tomorrow at 12PM: Price, specs and more

Redmi has announced a new Electric Blue colour variant of its Redmi Note 8 Pro smartphone, which will go on sale from November 29. The new model sports a bright blue colour gradient on the back, which is protected Gorilla Glass 5. Except for the new paint job, the internal hardware of the device remains the same. The handset will go up for sale at 12 PM on November 29 via Mi.com, and Amazon. It is priced starting at Rs 14,999 and goes up against the Realme XT, Realme 5 Pro, Motorola One Vision and other devices in the same price range. 

Redmi Note 8 Pro specifications and features

The Redmi Note 8 Pro is a mid-range handset that runs on the octa-core MediaTek Helio G90T SoC. Xiaomi made an interesting choice this time around when it went with a MediaTek chipset instead of Qualcomm. You can read our full review of the phone here to find out how it performs. The device sports a 6.53-inch full-HD+ display with a 1080 x 2340p HDR display and 19.5:9 display aspect ratio. It sports up to 8GB RAM and runs on Android 10 with MIUI 10 on top. Backed by a 4,500mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging.

#RedmiNote8Pro, the #64MPQuadCamBeast gets a new striking Electric Blue colour variant. Hit  if you  it! First sale tomorrow at 12 noon on https://t.co/cwYEXdVQIo and @amazonIN. #BlackFridaySale pic.twitter.com/LJnMVQsMZ2

— Redmi India for #MiFans (@RedmiIndia) November 28, 2019

In terms of optics, the Redmi Note 8 Pro sports a quad rear-camera setup that features a 64MP main sensor. The main sensor is assisted by an 8MP ultra-wide-angle shooter, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro lens. On the front, there’s a 20MP camera with an f/2.0 lens. 

Redmi Note 8 Pro price in India, availability

The Redmi Note 8 Pro is priced starting at Rs 14,999 for the 6GB/64GB model and costs Rs15,999 for the 6GB/128GB variant. There’s also the 8GB + 128GB model of the phone that is priced at Rs 17,999. The device will be up for sale on November 29 at 12 PM via Amazon.com and Mi.com. There will also be some offers to entice buyers. 

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The Indian government has finally admitted that Chandrayaan-2 has crash landed on the moon

The Chandrayaan-2 moon lander was India’s second attempt at sending a lunar craft to the moon. The mission was touted as to be a major step in India’s space faring goals. But, just a few days ago, the Indian government finally admitted that the lander crashed just 500 meters from its intended target. On September 6, ISRO lost contact with Chadrayaan-2 and it has now been revealed that the lander crashed because of a problem with its braking rockets. 

In a statement to the Lok Sabha, the minister of state for the Department of Space has finally admitted that the Vikram lander has ‘hard landed’ on the surface of the moon. He said, “The first phase of descent was performed nominally from an altitude of 30 km to 7.4 km above the moon surface. During the second phase of descent, the reduction in velocity was more than the designed value. Due to this deviation, the initial conditions at the start of the fine braking phase were beyond the designed parameters. As a result, Vikram hard landed within 500 m of the designated landing site”

After losing contact with the lander on September 6, ISRO had said that the lander had been located but communication was not possible. It has taken sometime for the government to admit that the lander had failed was because they were trying to figure out what exactly happened up there. Its not easy to determine what happened to the lander as it was in outer space and diagnosing the issue must have been incredibly difficult. 

Even though Chandrayaan-2 was ultimately unsuccessful in its endeavor, it needs to be said that the task of space travel is not an easy one and that even this failure will give ISRO the necessary data to make sure that it never happens again. 

 

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Xiaomi launches Mi TV 4X 2020 55-inch TV priced at Rs 34,999

Xiaomi has announced the Mi TV 4X 2020 edition. The TV will be available starting December 2 on Mi.com, Amazon and Mi Home. The 55-inch TV is priced at Rs 34,999. The TV has a 4K 10-bit panel with support for HDR 10. The TV also brings with it Xiaomi’s in-house image processing algorithm, Vivid Picture Engine. For audio, the TV has 20W of sound output with support for Dolby Audio and DTS-HD. 

The Mi TV 4X (55) 2020 Edition runs on Android TV 9 along with PatchWall 2.0 UI. Xiaomi’s press release reads, “PatchWall 2.0 brings an extensive library of 4K content with native support for Netflix, Prime Video and Hotstar alongside 16 leading content partners and 7 live news channels across 7 languages. Mi TV 4X (55) 2020 Edition comes with Google’s latest Android TV 9.0 bringing Google Assistant, YouTube, Chromecast, Google Play Store and Data Saver built-in”.

Coming to the connectivity options, the TV has 3 HDMI ports, one of which supports ARC. The TV also has 2 USB ports, an AV port, ethernet port headphones out, support for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi and a LAN port. It supports video codecs including H.265, H.264, H.263, VP8/VP9/VC1 and MPEG1/2/4. The TV is powered by the Amlogic Cortex A53 quad-core, Mali-450 MP3, 2GB DDR and 8GB eMMC storage. 

The remote control has the same design what we have seen in past Mi TVs. We have the power button below which rests the Google Assistant button, the directional buttons with the select button in the centre. Below that, we have the back, PatchWall and Android TV button. At the bottom is the volume rocker above which rests the dedicated Prime Videos and Netflix Button. 

The Mi TV 4X is available in 55, 65, 50 and 43-inch screen sizes.

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Samsung to be sole supplier for 2020 Apple iPhone OLED display

Ever since Apple started using OLED panels on their iPhones, the models have consistently been winning accolades as some of the best smartphone displays in the market. Currently, Apple sources their OLED panels from Samsung, LG and BOE, in-line with the company’s goals of never relying on a sole supplier. This, it seems, is about to change as Samsung is rumoured to be the sole supplier of OLED panels for the 2020 iPhones. The report comes via ETNews that Samsung will be the sole supplier for the OLED as Apple switches to the Y-OCTA OLED panel for their next series of iPhones. Currently, Samsung is the only company capable of mass-producing the Y-OCTA OLED panel.

The fundamental difference between the current OLED panels Apple uses and the new Y-OCTA OLED is the way the touch-sensitive layer is handled. In the current panel, the touch sensor panel is one of the eight layers that comprise an OLED panel assembly. Y-OCTA instead moves the TSP into the main OLED substrate, allowing for some notable advantages. Moving from an on-cell touch-sensitive layer to on that is in-cell, makes the panel thinner, although the number of layers remains the same. Secondly, by moving the touch-sensitive bits below the polarizer film, it improves overall visibility and touch response as well.

While Apple may be switching to the new Y-OCTA OLED panel for their 2020 iPhones, Samsung has been using the pane on their flagship Note series since the Galaxy Note7. So we don’t expect Apple using the Y-OCTA OLED panel for next year’s iPhones to bring something dramatically different with respect to display features or performance.

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Amazons Alexa can now express more emotions

Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant will now be able to offer an even more natural voice experience. In a post on its blog, Amazon noted that developers will now be able to set Alexa to respond with either a happy, excited, disappointed or empathetic tone. As such, developers can now make Alexa respond in a manner that is more natural and contextual. 

Amazon’s Catherine Gao writes in the post, “you can have Alexa respond in a happy/excited tone when a customer answers a trivia question correctly or wins a game. Similarly, you can have Alexa respond in a disappointed/empathetic tone when a customer asks for the sports score and their favorite team has lost. Early customer feedback indicates that overall satisfaction with the voice experience increased by 30% when Alexa responded with emotions.”

The new speaking styles make use of Neural Text-to-Speech (NTTS) technology. The company notes that the developers can enable two different speaking styles in the US, namely news and music. In Australia, developers will be able to enable an Australia-specific news speaking style. Amazon has also given examples of how the new voices would work.

Amazon seems to be on a spree when it comes to launching new Alexa-powered devices. The company recently unveiled the Echo Flex, which is designed to be mounted on a wall. The device is currently available for pre-order for Rs 2,999 and deliveries are scheduled to begin from December 10 onwards. The Echo Flex features a 0.6-inch speaker, but features a 3.5mm audio jack that gives users the option to plug in a more powerful speaker. There is also a single USB Type-A port at the bottom that can be used to charge your phone.

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Asus Zenfone 5Z now receiving Android 10 update in India: Heres how to download

Asus is finally rolling out the Android 10 update for its last year flagship smartphone, the Asus Zenfone 5Z. Launched in July last year, the device ran on ZenUI 5.0 that was based on Android 8 Oreo and earlier this year, it was updated to Android 9 Pie. Announcement of the new update rollout was made via Twitter and as expected, the new patch brings quintessential Android 10 features like system-wide dark mode, gesture-based navigation, upgraded privacy and security options, smart app support for messages and more. The new update has a firmware number 100.04.44.98 and is being rolled out in phases. 

Even though a notification should automatically pop-up for the update on all eligible Asus Zenfone 5Z units, one can head over to their handset’s settings to manually check for the update. As mentioned above, the update is being pushed out in a phased manner, which means it could take some time for it to be available on your phone. There’s also an option to manually download the update and flash it and you can follow the official instructions here. Do note that flashing a ROM on your phone can lead to it getting bricked and rendered unusable. We suggest you don’t go with ahead with the option of flashing your device in case you haven’t done it before.

The Zenfone 5Z’s new FOTA update brings you the latest Android 10 to enhance your flagship experience and offers a ton of new improvements. Download it now! pic.twitter.com/GUQTOZovey

— ASUS India (@ASUSIndia) November 27, 2019

Alongside upgradation to Android 10, release notes for the update include support for Google Play system update. Several options from File Manager like Kids Mode, Easy Mode, weather animation setting, Page Marker, ZeniMoji, Selfie Master, Beauty Live, AI charging, WebStorage, Go2Pay, Report Location in Safeguard, and Yandex cloud option have been removed. 4. Twin app support for games like Arena of Valor, PUBG, Vainglory, and Injustice 2 is also no more. Additionally, the company notes that one needs to take a backup of their internal data before updating as it will erase all data from the device’s internal storage.

Additionally, some APN settings are upgraded, themes and Mobile Manager options are moved to Advanced Settings. Do note that some 3rd party apps aren’t compatible with Android 10 and they might not work properly. 

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OneUI 20 beta rolling out to Samsung Galaxy S9 and Note 9 devices

The Galaxy S10 and the Note 10 series were the first to get a taste of Samsung’s upcoming UI based on Android 10. Called OneUI 2.0, the beta versions of the OS have been pushed to users on the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 phones who signed up for it. Now, people using the Galaxy S9 and the Note 9 can also get on the new UI. It’s still in beta, however, so only upgrade if you are okay with a few bugs here and there.

OneUI 2.0 takes right after the refresh interface that Samsung introduced with the Galaxy S10. The primary improvements include a cleaner interface, minimised pop-ups, new layout, enhanced dark mode, Focus mode and more.

To join the beta program, you have to download the Samsung Members app from the Galaxy Store or the Play Store. You will see the notification of “OneUI Beta Program Registration” where you can sign up. Provide your credentials and once signed up, you can head to Settings and then to Software Update to check if you received the beta update. Once that’s in, select the Download and Install option to get on the OneUI 2.0.

The update size of the Galaxy Note 9 is around 1.93GB while the S9 will receive a 1.81GB update file. Both of them include the November 2019 security patch. The rollout plans for the stable update have not been announced yet by Samsung, but if the beta rollout goes well enough, Samsung will be pushing out the stable update in the next few weeks.

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