ISRO says Chandrayaan-3 is in the works, eyes early 2021 launch

Shining a bright ray of hope on Indian space fans, ISRO Chairman K Sivan announced on New Year’s Day that the Indian space agency is currently working on a number of new projects, including Chandrayaan-3 and Gaganyaan. According to him, the successor to the partially successful Chandrayaan-2 has already received a green light from the government and will take off for the moon either towards the end of the year or in early 2021. Gaganyaan, on the other hand, will take as many as four Indian astronauts to the moon sometime in 2022.

According to a news report filed by The Times of India, the estimated cost of India’s third uncrewed lunar mission stands at Rs 615 crore. “Chandrayaan-3 will have a lander, rover and a propulsion module given that the Chandrayaan-2 oribiter is fully functional. The government has approved the project and we have formed the project team,” said Sivan in a statement to The Times. Chandrayaan-3’s mission parameters will be carried over from its predecessor. It will go where its predecessor failed to, which means we can expect the lander to make it to the lunar surface this time around. You can read more about that here.

Sivan added that Gaganyaan, which is India’s first crewed lunar mission, is also in its initial stages. According to a report filed by The Hindu, the space agency has identified four pilots from the Indian Air Force as astronauts for the Rs 10,000-crore mission. While these pilots will be sent to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Centre in Moscow for training in the third week of this month, the Gaganyaan flight mission is scheduled for 2022. Sivan confirms that the activities for this mission are going according to the original timeline.

Sivan is confident that ISRO can undertake as many as 25 space missions in 2020, including Chandrayaan-3. In a press note, ISRO states that its other projects include the commissioning of a new launch port in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. It will be used exclusively with the space agency’s upcoming SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle). The SSLV can carry a payload of 500 kilogrammes to Low Earth Orbit, which makes it ideal for launching small satellites. It is expected to fly for the first time in the next few months. ISRO says it’s also going to make efforts to teach school children basic space science as part of its special school programme called YUVIKA (Yuva VIgyani KAryakram).

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After Xiaomi, Realme will also show ads on its smartphones but theres an easy way to turn it off

Realme raised a big issue with Xiaomi users having to deal with ads on their smartphones, essentially using it to amass more followers for the brand. But now, as it turns out, Realme smartphones will also show ads on phones running ColorOS 6 and above, after the company published a detailed blog post. That’s essentially the entire portfolio of Realme devices launched in the past one year.

But instead of ads, Realme is calling it ‘commercial content reccommendation’, which is nothing but jargon for recommending apps and content within system apps. Users will see commercial links and promoted apps in their smartphones, which will primarily appear in the Phone Manager app and the Security Check page.

Realme said it will ensure protection of privacy while serving ads and they will comply with relevant laws and regulations. Furthermore, the company justified showing ads to “continue offering more surprises for you and maintain a healthy and sustainable business model”.

Thankfully, these ads can be turned off easily which is something Xiaomi did not offer initially after it started serving ads. To disable them, you head to Settings → Additional Settings → Get recommendations and turn it off.

Interestingly, the company is not using the word ‘ads’ anywhere, so searching with the same in the Settings menu will surface nothing, making it more difficult to turn them off. Realme will also keep the ads turned on by default.

However, this is not the first time Realme was caught showing ads on its smartphones. In October 2019, a bunch of tweets pointed out to a beta version of ColorOS 6 surfacing ads on Realme smartphones. The ads showed up in the download manager, and even as pop-ups on the home screen. The update also added the ‘Get Reccomendation’ options in the Settings app which was quickly taken down.

Later, Realme CMO had replied to a tweet claiming the ads were a system error from a beta software version. Back then, we had speculated if this was a move for a wider rollout of ads on Realme smartphones, and as it turns out, it really is.

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Realme X50 5G official teaser reveals pill-shaped dual selfie camera module

As we close in on the launch date of Realme X50 5G, the company is revealing information about the smartphone in bits and pieces, through teasers. The latest teaser shows the front panel of Realme X50 5G. To recall, the phone was teased to sport dual selfie cameras and now the latest teaser shows a pill-shaped cutout for the dual selfie camera setup. Moreover, a chin that is slightly thicker than the bezels can be spotted at the bottom of the device.

Realme took to Weibo to reveal the latest teaser of the Realme X50 5G. The phone features a notch-less display as well. Though, it is seen sporting a punch-hole selfie camera module on the upper-left corner of the screen. Additionally, volume rockers are on the left edge of the display. The image teases minimal bezels with a slightly thick chin. The phone is seen in a blue finish on the edges.

Realme X50 5G is all set to launch on January 7 in China. The phone is claimed to deliver a two-day battery life on a single charge. Moreover, an alleged spec sheet has also leaked online tipping three variants of Realme X50 5G. The smartphone is rumoured to feature a 6.67-inch full-HD+ (1080 x 2400 pixels) 2.5D curved display made by JDI with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It is said to come with 90Hz display refresh rate. 

Realme X50 5G is confirmed to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G SoC. It is said to come in two RAM variants, 6GB and 8GB and have up to 256GB storage onboard. The handset will sport a quad rear camera setup: a 64MP Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1 sensor + a 13MP telephoto lens with 5x hybrid zoom support + an 8MP wide-angle lens, and a 2MP macro camera. The dual selfie cameras could be 32MP + 8MP.

Realme X50 5G is likely to come equipped with a 4500mAh battery that is said to have support for 30W fast charging.

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Samsungs Bezel-Less 8K TV leaked ahead of CES 2020

If information circulating the internet is to be believed, then Samsung will launch a truly bezel-less TV at CES 2020. The information comes from the German-based website 4KFilme. The website got its hands on some marketing material showcasing the frameless design of the 8K TV. The leaked image shows the TV with nearly nonexistent bezels on three sides and a very thin chin at the bottom. It is also expected that the TV will come with a ‘No Gap Wall Mount' design to ensure the TV sits flush with your wall. If you are wondering how you will get to the back of the TV to access the ports, know that the TV is said to come with Samsung’s One Connect Box. The One Connect Box has all the connectivity options and connects to the TV via a single cable eliminating the need to wiggle your hand behind a wall-mounted TV to get to the ports. The One Connect Box can be replaced means that if new HDMI technology releases, or Samsung can let users simply upgrade the One Connect Box. The new Samsung TV is said to be unveiled at CES 2020 along with Samsung’s 2020 range of 4K TVs. The leak also suggests that the TV will have the model number  Q900T or Q950T. The upcoming 8K TV is said to share some DNA with Samsung’s The Wall TV. We will get more details on this at CES 2020. 

In other Samsung news, the electronics giant has joined hands with the 8K Association to Launch a Certification Program. According to the press release, this association has established “a first-of-its-kind certification program designed to distinguish 8K-enabled televisions and other devices”. “We are proud to be one of the founding members of the 8K Association and to have our new lineup of QLED 8K TVs certified by the program,” said Hyogun Lee, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Our goal is to provide consumers with the ability to easily identify premium 8K displays from other devices when making purchasing decisions. Home entertainment and TVs are important investments for many of our consumers, and we hope that the 8KA Certification Logo will help guide them.” You can read more about the 8K association here. 

A lot of TV manufacturers showed off 8K TVs at CES 2019, but Samsung is the only one to launch an 8K TV in India in 2019.  Back in June 2019, Samsung announced their 8K QLED line-up of televisions for India. The company launched four 8K QLED TVs available in The four sizes - 65-inches, 75-inches, 82-inches and 98-inches. You can read more about the 8K QLED TVs available in India here.

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Samsung Galaxy Note10 Lite alleged live images hint at new camera setup design, S-Pen

We recently came across some reports suggesting that Samsung is working on a watered-down version of the Galaxy Note10 handset. Allegedly called the Galaxy Note10 Lite, the smartphone is rumoured to debut at CES 2020. Ahead of the assumed launch, some new images of the handset have surfaced online, which hint at its S Pen and a new camera setup design. The images were posted on Twitter by the tipster TechTalkTV and they show off the device from most angles. While there is no info about the device’s display screen size, it is not curved from the sides, as we are used to on the Note series of Galaxy devices. 

There’s a punch-hole camera on the center-top area, similar to the current Galaxy Note10 and there are slim-yet-notable bezels around the display. Moving on to the rear panel, it seems to be built out of plastic with a glossy finish, which could be one of the main differences between the standard version and the Lite variant. However, one notable change here is the main camera design, which is rectangular shaped and slightly reminds us of the Pixel 4’s camera. There are three sensors in the camera setup, along with an LED flash. There’s no information about their specs. 

Live images of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite pic.twitter.com/GVU2uHblZF

— TechTalkTV (@Mr_TechTalkTV) December 31, 2019

There is also a shot of the About Phone section of the Galaxy Note10 Lite. It suggests that the device could sport the model number SM-N770F/DS and it might come with dual-SIM support. The S-Pen is also shown off in one of the photos and it seems similar to the S Pen Samsung used on the Galaxy Note10. However, rumours suggest that it could come with additional functionality and might work even better than its predecessor. As for other specs, previous reports suggest that the smartphone could be powered by the Exynos 9810 processor. It could also come with up to 8GB RAM and up to 128GB of internal storage. 

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Sony Gets Patent for a New PlayStation Controller: Report

Sony has received a patent for a new PlayStation controller with World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). The latest controller design adds two new buttons.

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PlayStation 5 Will Reportedly Be 30 Percent Less Powerful Than Xbox Series X

As per a recent leak, Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 5 console will be around 30 percent less powerful compared to Microsoft’s Xbox Series X console.

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