Coronavirus: Steam Sets New Record With More Than 20 Million Concurrent Users, As Schools, Colleges, Offices Close Down

Steam has broken its own record for highest number of concurrent users at 20 million at around 8am IST on March 15.

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Motorola Razr 2019 launched in India for Rs 1,24,999: Specs, offers and more

Motorola launched the clamshell foldable phone, Razr (2019) a few months ago at an event in Los Angeles. The smartphone hit the stores in the US in February 2020. Now, the clamshell foldable phone has made its way to India. Motorola’s first foldable phone has a hinge mechanism that allows the phone to shut with both sides perfectly flush. It goes up against the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.

Motorola Razr (2019) specifications

The Motorola Razr (2019) features a 6.2-inch Cinemavision foldable pOLED screen with a 2142 x 876-pixel display and a 21:9 aspect ratio. It comes equipped with a 2.7-inch external display with a 600 x 800-pixel resolution and a 4:3 aspect ratio. The foldable phone is powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 710 10nm Mobile Platform, paired with Adreno 616 GPU. It comes equipped with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage and runs Android 9 Pie.

In the optics department, Motorola Razr (2019) ports a 16MP rear camera with f/1.7 aperture, 1.22um pixel size, EIS, Dual Pixel autofocus (AF) and Laser AF. As for the selfies, the foldable phone comes with a 5MP front-facing camera with  f/2.0 aperture and 1.12um pixel size. Further, it packs a 2510mAh battery with 15W TurboPower fast charging technology. The device comes with splash-proof water-resistant nanocoating. 

Motorola Razr (2019) price in India

Motorola Razr (2019) price in India is set at Rs 1,24,999. For reference, the device was launched at  $1,499 (approx Rs 1,06,000) in the US. It comes in Noir Black colour option. Moreover, it will be available for purchase through Flipkart and offline stores. Pre-bookings start from today, and it will go on sale in India from April 2.

Further, launch offers include Rs 10,000 cashback on Citibank debit and credit card transactions, apart from a double data and validity offer from Reliance Jio on its Rs. 4,999 recharge, offering 1.4TB of data and a 2-year validity. 

Moreover, MotoCare Accident Damage Protection Plan will be available at a discounted price as well.  A one-time screen replacement will be priced at Rs. 7,999.

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Google Pixel 4a could come with faster storage to help apps load faster

The Google Pixel 3a ushered in mid-range Pixel devices last year, and while the Pixel 4 was not launched in India, the upcoming Pixel 4a may be sold here. And, according to new findings by XDA Developers, the Pixel 4a may sport some flagship features.

While the Pixel 3a fetched a higher than usual price (for a mid-ranger) in India, particularly for the camera hardware, the rest of the internals lagged behind some of the cheaper alternatives available. To recall, the Pixel 3a came with the Snapdragon 670 and just 4GB of RAM along with eMMC flash storage. The Pixel 4a may change that if this new report is to be believed.

Among other notable upgrades that are expected, the Pixel 4a is likely to come with faster UFS 2.1 flash storage, that should theoretically make apps load faster on the device.

A YouTuber shared a screengrab of the alleged bootloader screen of the Pixel 4a that highlighted “Ufs: 64GB SKHynix”. Further investigation revealed the storage chip on the upcoming mid-ranger is the 64GB UFS 2.1 H9HQ53AECMMDAR-KEM from SK Hynix.

Having a UFS 2.1 storage means that data read and write speeds will see a big bump in the Pixel 4a, and even better power efficiency. This should entail that the Pixel 4a could see noticeably faster app loading speeds. As of now, it’s not clear whether Google will offer storage variants more than 64GB.

Previous rumours revealed the Pixel 4a could be powered by the Snapdragon 730 SoC and come with 6GB RAM, a single punch-hole camera drilled into a 5.81-inch 1080p display with 60Hz refresh rate. On the back is a single 12MP camera with a 3,080mAh battery powering everything.

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Huawei P40 series leaked marketing image shows off the colour variants

Huawei will be launching the P40 series on March 26. However, the phones have leaked online a number of times now. This time around, a Huawei P40 series marketing image has appeared online, which reveals the phones in various colour options. The image comes from the noted tipster Evan Blass.

Blass took to Twitter to post the image. It not only reveals the colour options of the phones, but corroborates with earlier reports about Huawei working on three flagship smartphones with three, four, and five rear sensors respectively. From the cheapest to the high-end, the phones are expected to be named - Huawei P40, P40 Pro and P40 Premium Edition. 

The latest leak suggests that Huawei P40 will be made available in silver, gold, black, blue, and the gradient Breathing Crystal finish. It is expected to sport a 52MP primary sensor + a 40MP ultra-wide-angle lens + a telephoto sensor.

The Huawei P40 Pro is said to be made available in the same silver, gold, black, blue, and Breathing Crystal finishes as its standard model. Previously leaked renders have also shown a mint green colour option. The P40 Pro is expected to pack the same duo of 52MP and 40MP. Instead of a telephoto lens, it could come with a 5x periscope shooter and a time-of-flight sensor.

Coming to the Huawei P40 Pro Premium Edition, it is expected to be made available in Black and White variants. It is tipped to comprise of the 1/1.28” Sony IMX700 52-megapixel Hexadeca Bayer RYYB lens, a 1/1.5” Sony IMX650 40-megapixel ultrawide Cine RGGB lens, a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, a dual prism periscope zoom lens with 10x optical zoom and a ToF (Time of Flight) sensor.

Previous leaks have suggested that this sensor will be a custom design by Sony and will feature “16-in-1” technology. Huawei is rumoured to put the “Quad Quad Bayer” sensor and it will do 4-in-1 conversions to reach the 16-in-1 stage. It will only be used for videos and photos shot under very dark conditions.

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WhatsApp testing self-destructing messages for individual accounts

WhatsApp has been working on self-destructing messages for quite some time, as reported earlier in November. The feature was tested out last year but was restricted only to group chats. According to a new report from WABetaInfo, the latest beta version of WhatsApp introduces self-destructing messages for individual accounts.

Self-destructing messages are in fact quite popular among instant messaging apps. Snapchat, Telegram and Instagram all have the feature and WhatsApp is the only major messaging platform to shy away from it so far.

Not for long though since features tested in beta versions usually make it to the final builds. However, the exact timeline of rollout or its final form is still unclear. WhatsApp has been known to change around features after testing them out on the beta version.

For now, users of the beta version can find the feature Settings menu of each chat. Tap on Delete Messages and choose how long you want the message to stay before self-destructing. Options range from one hour to one day, one week, one month to one year.

Previously, self-destructing messages were only supported in group chats and had a rudimentary make-up to it. You could only choose to keep messages for five seconds or an hour with no in-between.

Are self-destructing messages good for privacy?

Messages that get deleted by themselves have been quite popular among privacy activists who use the feature to share sensitive info that can be prevented from getting into the wrong hands because of timely removal. In that regard, self-destructing messages could help the platform get back a lot of privacy-sensitive users who had migrated off to more secure apps.

Having said that, WhatsApp has also become a prime source of fake news and a platform for sharing communally disruptive content, especially in India. Miscreants can also use the feature to spread false information which may later get automatically deleted before falling into the hands of authorities.

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Combatting Reliance JioTV and Airtel Xstream, BSNL gives prepaid users access to BSNL TV Subscription

A lot of network providers like Jio, Airtel, Vodafone, etc. give users access to their own OTT platforms. Jio has JioTV, Airtel has Airtel Xstream and Vodafone has Vodafone Play. BSNL has started offering its customers BSNL TV. BSNL TV is available to prepaid customers only. It isn't clear why the service isn't available to postpaid customers. BSNL TV is available to customers who opt for Special Tariff Vouchers (STV) - STV 97, STV 365, STV 399, STV 997, STV 998 and STV 1999. The service is available to Android users only as of now and there is no information when the service will come to iOS devices. On the Play Store, the app has a download size of 6.2MB and already has installs exceeding 100,000. The app is version 1.0.1.3. 

The BSNL TV service is available in Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Hindi, Odiya, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Haryanavi with other languages expected to be added soon. If you thought English and Hindi were default, know that one of the comments says that the service is not available in English and Hindi. The comment on the Play Store reads, “Hi..Please improve some of points 1. app don't have Hindi or English language 2. contains loads very very slow after 3 or 4 refresh its work something. 3. not able to click on change language in settings. even there is no text box on that that indicates it is change language option. 4. Not able to open notifications. 5. Not able to see my validity.”

From the above comment, it looks like the service is either in beta or some form of early access and will hopefully improve over time.

Below is a step by step guide on how to install the BSNL TV app on your Android smartphone. 

Firstly, know that the app will work on Android 5.1.2 & above. Next, and more obviously, you will need to be a BSNL subscriber - prepaid subscription to be precise.  You will also need to recharge with one of the STV plans.   Once successfully recharged, you will receive an SMS with the user name & OTP. The OTP acts as the password. Generally, the mobile number is the user name for the login.  On your first login, you will be able to change the password. Select the language and you are good to go. 

Source 

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Google Pixel 5 may not be a flagship smartphone: Report

While Google Pixel 4a leaks are coming in ahead of the official announcement, the company’s next flagship rumours have already started trickling in. The latest leak claims that Google Pixel 5 may not be a flagship smartphone after all. The folks at 9to5Google got access to a pre-release version of the Google Camera app from a prototype Pixel 4a. The app indirectly revealed some specs for the Pixel 5, which point to it not being a “flagship” phone.

The Pixel 4a is referred to as “photo_pixel_2020_midrange_config” inside the Camera app. There is also a mention of “photo_pixel_2020_config,” which is claimed to be the Pixel 5. For reference, “photo_pixel_2019_midrange_config” refers to the Pixel 3a while “photo_pixel_2019_config” refers to 2019’s flagship Pixel 4. Further,  CStark27, a modder of the Google Camera app and an expert in the app’s inner workings confirmed the presence of codenames that refer to the Pixel 5. Hence, according to the report, the Pixel 5 will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 chipset

To recall, the Snapdragon 765 is Qualcomm’s high-end 7-series chipset with built-in 5G support. If the Pixel 5 uses a 7-series Snapdragon chipset, it wouldn’t be a flagship smartphone. While it would disappoint some fans, it could help Google to keep the costs down. 

However, it could just end up being a rumour and we might see the final product being different. 

As of now, Google is planning to release the Pixel 4a. Previously, Pixel 4a was seen sporting a punch-hole screen with a thin outline of bezels on all sides of the display. The White Google Pixel 4a features an orange coloured power button in the renders. On the other hand, the Black model comes with a white power button.  Pixel 4a shares the same design stylings as the Pixel 4 but lacks a glass shade. There's also a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel.

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