OnePlus 8 Pro to use Nokia OZO technology for superior audio recording

The OnePlus 8 Pro was officially unveiled two days ago, but details about the phone’s features and hardware are still trickling in. OnePlus talked a lot about the OnePlus 8 Pro’s ability to “zoom into the audio” and turns out, OnePlus is using Nokia’s OZO audio to achieve this feat.

The OnePlus 8 Pro features three microphones that allow it to record audio with minimal artefact. The microphones and audio recording chops have been licensed from Nokia’s OZO audio division. For anyone who may remember, the Lumia 1020 and Lumia 925 also used OZO audio technologies and demonstrated some serious performance. The phones were lauded for their ability to record clear, undistorted sound even at extremely loud concerts.

While OnePlus hasn’t touted the OnePlus 8 Pro to be able to record clear concert audio, what they are talking up is features like Audio Zoom. Interestingly, this feature is also available on the Oppo Find X2 and Oppo Find X 2 Pro, meaning that this could be a larger licensing deal between Nokia Technologies and BBK. OZO’s audio technology suite includes three main features; Audio 3D, Audio Zoom and Audio Windscreen. Audio 3D allows users to capture natural, spatial sound recordings, while Audio Windscreen dramatically reduces wind distortion in the audio. The Audio Zoom functionality is linked to the visual zoom of the smartphone’s camera, allowing users to dynamically identify and amplify sounds to correspond with zoomed and magnified video.

According to Jyri Huopaniemi, Head of Technology Licensing, Nokia Technologies, "We are thrilled to enable OnePlus’ latest smartphone model to capture and record immersive, high-quality sound with OZO Audio, enabling their customers to experience vivid, dynamic recordings. This is yet another testament to our leadership as a licensor of advanced technologies for smartphone and camera manufacturers.”

The OnePlus 8 Pro has received its international pricing, but the company is yet to reveal how much the phone would cost in India. However, given that the phone’s already been listed on Amazon, we expect the price and shipment date to be announced very soon.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/3ade8Or

Google announces YouTube Video Builder beta for businesses to create hassle-free video ads

Google has come to the rescue of businesses who want to create a quick video ad without going through the hassle of producing and editing it with a beta release of its YouTube Video Builder. Given the Coronavirus outbreak in various parts of the world, people have been forced to stay at home with businesses adapting with the times and looking at different mediums to communicate with their audience.

The YouTube Video Builder aims to create a video for you from scratch using images, text, music from YouTube library and logos. There are different presets that one can use to set the basic timeline of the video and can customize it further by changing colours or the font.

The tool will help businesses make 6 to 15 seconds short video ads that can be used for promotional campaigns on YouTube and also uploaded on the channel by default. The purpose of these videos can be anything, from something as simple as the promotion of a particular deal by a restaurant to a supplemental asset that allows you to create your first YouTube video.

"Video is an integral part of our media strategy because our business demands visual context. Historically, video development has been a slow and labour intensive process. With Video Builder, our small team is able to spin out high quality creative with increased velocity. Given the current situation, where many of us are sheltering in place, free tools like this can help us continue to keep in touch with our customers,” says Stang Gappa, Senior Manager of Growth at Havenly, an online interior design company.

YouTube Video Builder is in beta currently so you will have to sign-up to get access to this free tool. You can click here to sign-up.

How to use YouTube Video Builder

As a pre-requisite, one needs to fill the Google Form to get access to YouTube Video Builder beta. Once Google grants access to your account, here’s how to go about using the tool to make video ads.

Open Video Builder from here. If you haven’t been granted access, an error message will pop-up.

Select Layout from a preset list of options.

Modify colours to reflect your brand guidelines.

Add logo

Use the Storyboard panel to modify the timeline and add images and text accordingly.

Change the font, if needed.

Next, choose a music track from the list that goes with your ad.

And finally, click on Create Video to render the short video ad.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/2VDX6UG

Google adds Teacher approved apps to the Play Store

Google has announced that it will be making it easier for parents to find quality educational apps for their children on the Play Store. To do this, the app store now has a new ‘Kids’ tab that features ‘Teacher approved’ apps. These apps can be identified by a new badge, and are rated on factors like “age-appropriateness, quality of experience, enrichment, and delight.” The company also says that it will include information about why the app was highly rated in order to help parents understand if the app is right for their children. Google notes that the new ‘Teacher approved’ apps will first roll out in the US over the next few days, and will be available internationally over the coming months.

“Great content for kids can take many forms: Does it spark curiosity? Does it help your child learn? Is it just plain fun? To share the best apps for kids on the Play Store, we've teamed up with academic experts and teachers across the country, including our lead advisors, Joe Blatt (Harvard Graduate School of Education) and Dr Sandra Calvert (Georgetown University). Apps that have been rated by teachers and meet our quality standards receive a "Teacher approved" badge,” Mindy Brooks, UX Director, Google Play writes in the company’s official blog.

The new feature should be pretty useful for parents, especially during this time as most schools are closed due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic. As such, most parents are looking for ways to keep their children educated and entertained at the same time. However, since the company has said that it may roll out the feature internationally in the coming months, the lockdown might be over by the time it makes its way to India. Speaking of the lockdown, if you are wondering how you can get essentials delivered to your home in the event you are stuck in a 'red zone', click here.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/34HuNJ6

You can unbox the OnePlus 8 series virtually on Instagram using AR filters

Over the years, OnePlus has adopted a simplified strategy to create hype around its new products. The company hosts a bunch of pop-up stores around the world the day after announcing a new smartphone to let fans hold them in their hands and take a good hard look at the products. With the lockdown in place to curb the menace of the coronavirus, OnePlus had to be a little creative with the OnePlus 8 series.

The OnePlus 8 series went official via an online event on Tuesday. There are two smartphones in the series for now — The vanilla OnePlus 8 and the true-flagship OnePlus 8 Pro. Now OnePlus is put out two AR filters on Instagram that lets you unbox the latest devices virtually.

“We are using simple AR tech to bring a virtual experience of our new products to the community. We’re launching two AR filters on our Instagram channels. One for the OnePlus 8 and the other for the OnePlus 8 Pro. These filters are a sweet setup to help you virtually unbox the OnePlus 8 series at any place and at any time,” OnePlus wrote in a forum post.

As mentioned, the new AR filters are there on OnePlus’ Instagram profiles. Once you install them, look for a flat surface and place the AR box. Hit the record button after that to see the box come alive. Interact with the box and the other elements in it, including the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro.

OnePlus 8 series AR unboxing challenge

The idea behind the concept sounds cool letting fans get a taste of the new flagships right at the comfort of their homes. For users in India, there’s even a challenge which can win you one of the OnePlus 8 series smartphones.

All you have to do is post an unboxing video using the OnePlus AR filters on your Instagram story and tag @oneplus_india and use #OnePlusARUnboxing as a hashtag. You can also save and upload the video on a link given on the OnePlus forums. The best creative video will receive a brand new OnePlus 8 series smartphone, while a few lucky winners will also get a OnePlus Pop Up Bundle.

OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro price, specs and features

The OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro are only available in the US and Europe right with India availability dates set to be announced later. The phones are already listed on Amazon India with a ‘notify me’ button. In the US, the OnePlus 8 starts at $699 while the OnePlus 8 Pro starts from $899 and goes all the way up to $999. The India pricing is likely to be a little more aggressive.

As for the internals, both smartphones sport flagship hardware and are 5G-certified. The OnePlus 8 rocks a 6.55-inch 90Hz AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution and HDR10+ certified. Inside there’s a Snapdragon 865 SoC along with up to 12GB LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB UFS 3.0 storage.

The OnePlus 8 Pro also gets the Snapdragon 865 SoC but with faster LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.0 storage. It also has a larger 6.78-inch QHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display and with a punch-hole camera.

The OnePlus 8 sports a triple camera setup while the 8 Pro gets four cameras at the back. The triple camera setup on the OnePlus 8 includes a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor, a 16MP ultrawide lens and a 2MP macro lens. The OnePlus 8 Pro, on the other hand, uses a newer 48MP Sony IMX689 sensor in the primary camera, another 48MP Sony IMX586 in the ultrawide lens, an 8MP telephoto lens with 3X hybrid zoom and an interesting new colour filter lens.

The OnePlus 8 Pro also supports 30W wireless charging and is IP68-rated water and dust resistant.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/3a9vz2B

Pokemon Go Adding New Features to Keep Players Indoors Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Pokemon Go developers Niantic are working to make the game more playable indoors. They are adding several new features that will improve the experience for players, without them having to leave their house.

from RSS Feeds | GAMES - RSS Feed - NDTV Gadgets360.com https://ift.tt/2RF5yl8

Xiaomi may launch the Mi smart sweeping robot in India tomorrow

Xiaomi India has it all figured out. Even with the OnePlus 8 series and a new budget iPhone SE (2020) making us look forward to when this lockdown will lift, Xiaomi is teasing a launch of a product that will be a boon for everyone working from home. Mi India, on its Twitter page, teased a smart cleaning solution for your home claiming this device can clean your floors better than you can.

How many times do you clean your house every day? What if you could do it, without actually doing it yourself?#SmartCleaning solution for your smart home launching tomorrow. Any guesses, Mi fans? pic.twitter.com/w1y6dU22xb

— Mi India (@XiaomiIndia) April 16, 2020

By the looks of it, the company is planning to launch its Roomba-lookalike floor cleaning robot in India. The company released a small teaser video with the caption, “How many times do you clean your house every day? What if you could do it, without actually doing it yourself?”. For a very brief moment, the embedded video shows a Roomba-like robot sweeping past the floor, indicating this could be the Mijia Sweeping Robot that’s available in China 1399 Yuan (roughly Rs 15,000).

Considering Mijia doesn’t operate in India under its own name, it’s likely to be rebranded under the Mi moniker. The cleaner uses Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) to map the layout of your home and decide on the best cleaning routes. The cleaner plans its own paths and can also be controlled via an app.

There are three different sensors to track movements with real-time with anti-collision. The robot can clean a 250 square meter room on a single charge using a 5,200mAh battery for 2.5 hours. The cleaner uses a Nidec brushless DC motor with the main brush that is height-adjustable.

Xiaomi also has an upgraded version of the Mijia Sweeping Robot, called the Sweeping Robot 1S, but the one in the video matches the first-gen layout of the first-gen robot.

The Sweeping Robot 1S costs a little more at 1699 Yuan on Mi.com in China (roughly Rs 18,500) and features AI image recognition to determine the characteristics of the room better than SLAM algorithms.

Launching a smart room cleaner during the lockdown looks like a smart idea since excitement around smartphones are anyway a little dull in India. The MHA order issued on April 15 states e-commerce deliveries are set to resume after April 21st in some regions and provided Xiaomi has the initial stocks of the product, this could be a smart choice of a product launch for Xiaomi.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/2RBNpEX

Honor 30 series with quad cameras, Kirin 990 5G chip, 4000mAh battery launched

Huawei backed Honor has announced its flagship Honor 30 series in China. The three phones, Honor 30, Honor 30 Pro and Pro+ come with quad cameras on the back, punch-hole displays and 4,000mAh battery. The phones go on sale in China from April 21 while an Indian availability hasn’t been revealed yet due to the nation-wide lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

Let’s take a brief look at the Honor 30, 30 Pro and Pro+ specifications, features and pricing.

Honor 30 specifications and price

Honor 30 features a 6.53-inch Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution OLED screen with a single punch-hole cutout in the top-left corner for the front-facing camera. It is powered by Kirin 985 5G chipset that has an octa-core CPU and Mali-G77 graphics processor. This is paired with upto 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage with an option to further expand the storage by upto 256GB.

The phone has a 40MP primary camera, an 8MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom and OIS support, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The rear cameras can shoot in 4K UHD at upto 60fps with support from OIS and EIS. On the front, there’s a 32MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture and it can also record in 4K UHD and has EIS for stability.

The phone misses out on a 3.5mm headphone jack and has an under-display fingerprint sensor. The battery is rated at 4,000mAh with support for 40W fast charging out-of-the-box.

Honor 30 is being offered in five colours to choose from-- Silver, Green, Black, Frost and Purple. The price starts at CNY 2,999 (~Rs 32,500) for the base variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, CNY 3,199 (~Rs 34,600) for 8GB/128GB model and CNY 3,499 (~Rs 37,900)for 8GB/256GB variant.

Honor 30 Pro and Honor 30 Pro+ specifications and prices

Honor 30 Pro and Pro+ feature 6.57-inch Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) resolution display that uses an OLED panel. Both phones have a dual punch-hole cutout on the top-left corner for two selfie cameras. This gives the screen a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and the Pro+ has a 90Hz refresh rate screen. The phones also feature an in-display fingerprint reader and are IP54 rated offering protection against dust and water ingress.

The 30P Pro and Pro+ are powered by Kirin 990 5G chip with octa-core CPU and Mali-G77 GPU. This is paired with upto 12GB RAM and 256GB storage options to choose from. Both phones also support memory expansion by up to 256GB using the hybrid SIM slot.

Honor 30 Pro has a 40MP primary camera with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS support, a secondary 16MP ultra-wide camera, an 8MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and a 2MP depth sensor. The Honor 30 Pro+ uses a 50MP primary camera with f/1.9 aperture and OIS support while the rest of the three sensors remain the same as on the Pro.

Both phones have two front-facing cameras with a primary 32MP sensor paired with an 8MP ultra-wide camera. The cameras on 30 Pro and Pro+ can do 4K UHD at upto 60fps, and slow-motion videos at 1920fps in 1080p.

The phones are fitted with a 4,000mAh battery that supports 40W fast charging and in the case of Pro+ also supports 27W wireless charging.

Honor 30 Pro starts at CNY 3,999 (~ Rs 43,300) for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, CNY 4,399 (~ Rs 47,700) for 256GB storage option. Honor 30 Pro+ starts at CNY 4,999 (~ Rs 54,200) with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage and CNY 5,499 (~ Rs 59,600) for the maxed-out version with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.

 

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/2VAS3nR