Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Live Gold Price in India Cut by 24–30 Percent for All Plans

Microsoft has dropped prices for its Xbox subscription services — Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold — across the board in India, be it monthly, 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month plans. Also applies to Game Pass for PC / Console, and Game Pass Ultimate. Now starting at Rs. 249 per month.

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Google Pixel 4a may launch in both 4G and 5G variants

Google forayed into the mid-range smartphone segment with the launch of Pixel 3a last year. Earlier in December, the Pixel 4a reportedly appeared online, tipping a new Pixel design. Now, alleged code names of the upcoming Pixel devices have leaked. Google usually uses code names related to fish-based names. The latest code names were spotted in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) of the Pixel 4 firmware and several Google apps.

The report comes from XDA-Developers who found code names Sunfish, Redfin, and Bramble. According to the report, Sunfish was found in an AOSP repository. The device could be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 chipset. “Sunfish” was also spotted in the Google app alongside other Pixel phones. It could be the Pixel 4a we saw in the renders last month.

The next code name is “Redfin.” It possibly refers to a device powered by the Snapdragon 765 5G chipset. The SoC is meant for upper mid-range 5G devices. The report says it is made by an Original Device Manufacturer (ODM) FIH Mobile, which is a subsidiary of Foxconn. Further, “Bramble” also suggests a handset based on Snapdragon 765 platform. The report says there was no evidence of Bramble being an ODM device. 

While Sunfish and Redfin could be Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a respectively, Bramble might not refer to an actual phone as Google is unlikely to launch a third device. 

To recall, alleged 360 degree renders of Google Pixel 4a revealed a punch-hole screen with a thin outline of bezels on all sides of the display. The handset is rumoured to feature a flat 5.7-inch or 5.8-inch display. The rear showed a square-shaped module to house the camera. Pixel 4a could also sport a fingerprint sensor. Google could launch the Pixel 4a at Google I/O 2020. The phone is tipped to come with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

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Honor 9X first impressions: Big screen, pop-up camera and Google apps

Honor recently launched its Honor 9X in India, which is a mid-range handset aimed at recapturing the Indian smartphone market. While it might seem like Honor is late to the party, India being a highly price-sensitive market, the company can prove its worth by delivering good devices at competitive price points. Realme for example, followed the same formula and ended up with a 6.7 percent shipment in Q3, 2019 as compared to 1.3 percent in the same quarter last year. While it is too early to predict how Honor’s re-entry in India might pan out, we can surely pen our first impressions of the Honor 9X. 

The Honor 9X feels like a standard, sturdy handset but the display seems slightly larger than what we are used to on other phones. This might be because there’s no notch on the phone’s display as the front-camera is housed inside a mechanised pop-up camera. It comes equipped with a 6.59-inch Full HD+ display with a 2380x1080p resolution and at first glance, the display seems fairly vibrant with slightly boosted colours, which isn’t uncommon in most mid-range handsets. However, bright outdoors drastically affects the device’s sunlight legibility even when the brightness is set to max. 

The phone is also slightly hefty, which could be attributed to the glass rear panel. The edges are built out of plastic, which could end up being scratched and scuffed in the long run. However, most of us end up slapping a case cover over the back panel and this reduces the possibility of a handset getting scratched. On the Honor 9X’s rear panel is a pattern design that forms an ‘X’ depending on the angle one views it from. The smartphone looks a bit unique due to the pattern but we tend to not fawn too much over a device’s design. There is a triple rear camera setup on the top-left corner, and a fingerprint sensor sits just above the midline of the phone’s rear panel. 

The Honor 9X runs on the HiSilicon Kirin 710F SoC and we didn’t notice any lag or too long app boot times during the limited time we spent with it. Navigating through the UI was a fluid experience as well. However, we can’t conclusively deliver a verdict on the handset’s performance without conducting our array of tests, which you should keep an eye out for in our review. The camera too, performs as expected and in a few images we captured in bright light and viewed on the phone’s screen, they seemed sharp and colours are accurate as well. 

However, to be sure about the phone’s imaging capabilities, it is important to view the captured images on a different, standard screen. There’s a 48MP main sensor on the back, which is supplemented by an 8 MP ultrawide camera and a 2MP depth sensor. 

Huawei’s tussle with the US impacted the inclusion of Google apps in the company's handsets. The Honor 9X is an outlier though since it comes equipped with the standard set of Google apps like the Google Play Store, Gmail, Chrome, along with Google account integration. In that sense, the Honor 9X might be the last phone by the company to offer the standard Android experience one is used to. Even though Google Play Store is available on the phone, Huawei Mobile Services and the Huawei AppGallery are still present. 

First impressions:

On the surface, the Honor 9X is a neat smartphone that sports a notable display, decent cameras and seems powerful enough to handle everyday tasks with ease. It features decent build quality and comes equipped with all the standard Google apps, including the Google Play Store. While the handset looks good and works well, we will reserve our verdict for the review. 

 

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Facebook reportedly delays plans to integrate ads in WhatsApp

WhatsApp is one of the most downloaded apps of 2019, as per a recently published Sensor Tower report. The app has over 1.5 billion active users worldwide and is free to download. A previous report suggested that Facebook has been trying to come up with ways to monetise the app and one of the solutions it came up with was to introduce ads in the app. However, as per a new report by The Wall Street Journal, via The Verge, the company is apparently ditching the idea of integrating ads into the app, at least for now. 

As per the report, there was a dedicated team that was working on building a codebase that would enable ad integration with WhatsApp. This team was apparently disbanded in recent months and their work was “deleted from WhatsApp’s code.” While this comes as good news for all WhatsApp users, it should be noted that Facebook is planning to integrate ads into WhatsApp’s Status feature, the report states. This is in-line with a previous report that claimed the same. WhatsApp Vice President, Chris Daniels said, “We are going to be putting ads in 'Status'. That is going to be primary monetisation mode for the company as well as an opportunity for businesses to reach people on WhatsApp.” 

There is still no information on when WhatsApp might actually start rolling out ads within the app. Because the company decided to introduce ads within the app, WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum bowed out of Facebook back in 2018 and just months later WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton too quit the company. In a conversation with Forbes, Acton previously said that Zuckerberg was in a rush to make money from the messaging service and undermine elements of its encryption technology. "Targeted advertising is what makes me unhappy," Acton said.

Source 

Via

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POCO splits from Xiaomi, Poco F2 could launch soon

Xiaomi has announced that POCO will run as a standalone company independent of the Chinese electronics giant. For reference, the POCO brand was launched in 2018 as a sub-brand of Xiaomi much like Redmi. Now, the company has announced its split from POCO and it will become its own entity complete with its own team. Manu Kumar Jain tweeted that after the incredible success of the POCO F1, it was time for POCO to operate on its own. Hence, it seems like POCO F2 launch is imminent.

Excited to share: #POCO will now be an independent brand! What started as a sub-brand within Xiaomi, has grown into its own identity. POCO F1 was an incredibly popular phone. We feel the time is right to let POCO operate on its own. Join me in wishing @IndiaPOCO all the best.

— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) January 17, 2020

POCO’s first and only smartphone was launched back in 2018. The POCO F1 remains a popular phone in 2020 and following the announcement of split from Xiaomi, it seems like the brand is looking forward to making its presence felt in the market. Hence, POCO F2 could launch soon. The news comes after “POCO F2” name was trademarked with the China Trademark Office a few days ago.

Going by the specs of POCO F1, POCO F2 is expected to offer flagship specifications for an affordable price tag. 

Addressing the announcement, Manu Jain, Xiaomi Vice President and Xiaomi India Managing Director, said, “What started as a sub-brand in POCO has grown into its own identity in a short span of time. POCO F1 is an extremely popular phone across user groups and remains a top contender in its category even in 2020. We feel the time is right to let POCO operate on its own now, which is why we’re excited to announce that POCO will spin-off as an independent brand. Join me in wishing the POCO team the best!

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Google dethrones Facebook as the top mobile apps publisher, TikTok lags behind WhatsApp in terms of worldwide downloads

Sensor Tower has released its new report covering global download trends in the mobile app ecosystem for Q4 2019, and for the entirety of 2019. Going by the report, 2019 was a pretty interesting year for app developers as the overall app downloads grew to 9.1 percent, which is equal to 114.9 billion. App Store contributed 30.6 billion downloads while 84.3 billion downloads happened from the Google Play Store. When talking about total Q4 app downloads of 2019, WhatsApp takes the top spot and while Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram took the third, fourth and fifth spots, TikTok came in second. 

The report also notes that in about five years, in Q4 2019, Google dethroned Facebook as the top mobile app publisher. Users downloaded about 850 million Google apps, as opposed to Facebook’s approximately 800 million downloads. As for the overall downloads in 2019, Google with about 2.3 billion downloads lags behind Facebook that has about 3 million downloads. This isn’t surprising since Facebook owns WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. In Q4 2019, between October 1 and December 31, Call of Duty: Mobile was the most downloaded game with over 180 million downloads. PUBG Mobile slipped to the fourth spot and above it was Sand Balls and Brain Out. 

Surprisingly, Disney+, which was officially announced on November 12, was able to grab the 9th spot for Q4 2019 on the Apple App Store. It was downloaded over 30 million times in Q4 2019 in the US, which is more than double of its TikTok, its next nearest competitor. Disney+ is said to have grossed over $50 million in its first month and left behind other subscription OTT platforms like Showtime and HBO NOW. As mentioned above, TikTok became the second-most downloaded app of 2019 with over 220 million downloads in Q4 2019. TikTok’s revenue increased by a whopping 540 percent in Q4 2019. 

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Samsung Galaxy S20 series camera sensor info leaked, Galaxy S20 spotted on Geekbench

Rumours for Samsung Galaxy S20 series smartphones are all over the internet. The latest one reveals camera sensors that could be used in the Galaxy S20 trio. Moreover, Samsung Galaxy S20 has been reportedly spotted on Geekbench. The entry-level Galaxy S20 smartphone has scored 561 and 2358 in the single-core and multi-core benchmark tests respectively. Further, the Geekbench 5 listing has also revealed specifications of the smartphone.

The camera leak comes from the popular tipster Ice Universe, who posted a breakdown of the image sensor models that will be used by the Samsung Galaxy S20 family. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra was already rumoured to use a custom 108MP sensor from the company. The leak says it will use S5KHM1 108MP sensor, which is different from the one used in Xiaomi Mi Note 10. Further, it is said to pack an S5KGH1 ultrawide lens, which is a 44MP ISOCELL Slim sensor, 1/2.65” with 0.7µm pixels and a Tetra cell filter (Samsung’s take on Quad Bayer). According to the leak, Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra will also feature a  Sony IMX586 48MP Quad Bayer telephoto sensor, 1/2” with 0.8µm pixels.

Coming to the Galaxy S20+, it is tipped to use a 12MP Sony IMX555 shooter, which is said to have large 1.8µm pixels. It will not come with pixel binning tech. It is tipped to be a 64MP S5KGW shooter. Both Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy S20 Ultra are tipped to come with a ToF sensor. The Galaxy S20+ is rumoured to use a 12MP S5K2LA sensor for Ultra-wide needs.

As for the Samsung Galaxy S20, it is tipped to use a 12MP Sony IMX555 shooter, same as the Galaxy S20+. The telephoto lens is supposed to be the same as the Galaxy S20+ as well - a 64MP shooter. As for the ultrawide camera, it is said to sport a 12MP sensor. Further, there is no ToF sensor for the entry-level Galaxy S20. 

Samsung is all set to reveal the Galaxy S20 series alongside the Galaxy Flip Z on February 11.

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