WhatsApp for Android beta now comes with a shortcut to Facebook Messenger Rooms

The latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android now comes with Facebook Messenger Rooms. You can now participate in video calls with 50 other people on the popular messaging service. The video conferencing option was made globally available on Facebook and on the Messenger app as well, and depending on which country you are in, it has started rolling out for WhatsApp too. According to WABetaInfo, you will need to download WhatsApp for Android beta 2.20.163 to access the service before it rolls out to your country. 

If the service has been rolled out to your country, it will pop up as Rooms on a chat window under the chat sheet. It will appear on the same menu that lets users share documents, location, contacts etc. All you need to do is click on the menu and if it has been rolled out to your location, it will show up there as a Rooms option. You can also access the feature in the Calls tab on WhatsApp for Android beta where you will notice an option for you to create a Room option when clicking on the calling button. 

It looks like, for now, you will be directed to the Messenger app from WhatsApp for Android beta, which is easier to manage when it comes to end-to-end encryption. As of now, the option is not available on WhatsApp for iOS but the feature should show up soon enough. Another option for WhatsApp users to video chat is on the app itself as WhatsApp group video call does support 8 different users. You can read more about that story here. WhatsApp has also seen highly forwarded messages drop by about 70 per cent after the new limit was announced. You can read more about that here. And, finally, if you want to use Dark Mode on the desktop version of Facebook, you can do so here. 

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Redmi Note 10 and Note 10 Pro could feature the upcoming Mediatek Dimensity 820

Mediatek is going to announce a new chipset on Monday but looks like we've got the first sight of the chipset ahead of the launch. Leaked Geekbench listings have revealed two new Redmi smartphones, supposedly the Redmi Note 10 and the Redmi Note 10 Pro. What's interesting is that these phones are seen using a Mediatek chipset that looks like a never seen before variant. Rumours suggest that the unknown chipset named MT6875 is the 5G-enables Mediatek Dimensity 820. 

Before the Geekbench leak, the same devices were recently spotted on TENAA certification as well. The two devices spotted on Geenbench come with model number M2004J7AC and M2004J7BC, codenames 'atom' and 'bomb' respectively. 

As per the listing, the Redmi Note devices run a Mediatek MT6875, which makes it more likely to be the Dimensity 820. The listing also confirms the vase frequency of the new chipset to be 2.0GHz. Both the Redmi Note devices feature 8GB RAM and run Android 10 OS. The benchmark scores are 640 in single-core tests and 2600 in the multi-core tests for the ‘Bomb’. For the ‘Atom’ device, it is 640 in the single-core tests and 6500 in the multi-core tests. Although these benchmarks do not matter at this point, the scores, however, are pretty close to last year's flagship Snapdragon 855 chipset. Note that Redmi Note devices are affordably priced, and the given score is considered good in that case.

While the listing does give us some idea of what to expect from Mediatek on Monday, it's still too early to get to conclusions. We further detail about the Redmi Note 10 series to follow soon after Mediatek announcement on Monday.

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WhatsApp payment faces another probe for violating Indias antitrust laws

Facebook-owned instant messaging app WhatsApp's plans to officially integrate its payment service into the app is under scrutiny once again. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is reportedly reviewing a complaint against the social media giant that raises concerns regarding the violation of the country’s antitrust laws. 

The complaint was filed in mid-March alleging that WhatsApp was bundling its digital payment service within its messaging app, which allows it to abuse its massive user base to exploit India's growing digital payments market. While WhatsApp and CCI did not comment on the matter yet, two sources told Reuters that the complainant was a lawyer, who refused to disclose his identity. “The case is in initial stages .. senior members of CCI are reviewing it, but a final decision hasn’t been reached,” told one of the three sources to Reuters.

The complaint comes at a time when WhatsApp is aggressively looking for an official rollout of the service in India, whereas, it has been beta testing the service with 1 million users since 2018. WhatsApp’s payment service will allow users to do inter-bank fund transfers via UPI from within the messaging app. While in Google's case, the search giant released a standalone app for the service. 

India's antitrust law and WhatsApp

WhatsApp has been struggling to get regulatory clearance for a full-fledged rollout to its existing 400 million users in India. Country's antitrust watchdog is allegedly looking into the allegations. The CCI can order its investigations arm to conduct a detailed probe into the claims or discard the case if it finds no substantial argument to back it. 

India's antitrust law was developed to protect consumers from monopolistic business practices by making it illegal for businesses to compete in unfair ways. WhatsApp, which has its most extensive user base in India, definitely has an advantage over the existing famous players like Google Pay and Paytm.

The latest antitrust setback isn't the first hurdle restricting WhatsApp payment service in India. Last month an Indian legal think-tank also filed a case in Supreme Court against violation of data storage rules by WhatsApp. In response, WhatsApp told the court that it would comply with the necessary laws before launching the service, whereas the latest court order has asked Indian regulators to submit their views on the case.

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OnePlus 8 Pro camera can see through some plastic and clothes

The OnePlus 8 Pro was launched a month ago and while the Indian users still wait for the device to start shipping, there's alredy some interesting buzz around it. The OnePlus 8 Pro’s camera is delivering some unintended results. Reports are claiming that under the right conditions, the OnePlus 8 Pro’s new camera is capable of seeing through objects, turning it into an X-Ray camera of sorts. This happens when you use the Photocom filter on the OnePlus 8 Pro camera, and only works very selectively. While the hype around this new discovery is pretty high.

The effect being dubbed as “X-Ray” appears to work when you photograph black objects made of very thin plastic or even clothes. The resulting image appears to show whats underneath, however, it’s not a true X-Ray effect going on here. The infra-red sensor on the OnePlus 8 Pro seems to be picking up IR radiation from the underside layer of thin materials. BenGeskin was the first to report this effect, however, since then, many people have also tried it out and Unbox Therapy even published a video showing an X-Ray like image of an Apple TV, Switch remote and even a black T-Shirt.

The Verge reports that while the effect is very real, it is extremely limited and only works with materials so thin that they might as well be see-through under the right lighting conditions anyway.

The IR sensor is possibly picking up on the infrared radiation that bounces off practically everything in this world (also referred to as heat radiation). When the materials used are very thin (like a T-shirt), the infrared radioation is able to travel throught it, registering itself on an IR camera with ease. This is the basic principle of how thermal cameras work and are able to see through smoke in the case of a fire. This new discovery could spell potential privacy and security issues. While it may not be possible for OnePlus to fix this issue at a hardware level, they might be able to fix it through a software update that limits the IR sensor from picking up specific wavelengths of the infrared spectrum.

The OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro will go on sale in India on May 29, and will be available through both Amazon and OnePlus India's own website.

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Sony launches Sony Center, companys own webstore

The Coronavirus outbreak has sent ripples through practically every aspect of every industry. The consumer electronics space has been reeling from the impact, but many companies have been quick to adapt to what they see as the new normal. Sony, for its part, has launched its own online shopping portal called Sony Center.

Sony’s announcement of its new online shopping portal comes accompanied by a number of offers. For example, under the company’s ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’ programme, customers can enjoy discounts on televisions, with up to 20% discount ranging from Rs. 2,000/- on 81cm (32) segment, up to Rs. 20,000/- on 140 cm (55 inch), up to Rs. 40,000/- on 165 cm (65) and further, a grand discount of Rs. 2,00,000/- on 216 cm (85) inch. For those looking for a new professional camera, there are heavy discounts on the full-frame bodies like the Sony A9 (Review) and also lenses. This means that if you were eyeing an OLED TV from Sony like the Sony A95G (Review), this might be a good time to pick one up.

Mr. Sunil Nayyar, Managing Director, Sony India, said, “Having a strong footprint offline, Sony India has always kept a customer-centric approach and with this new initiative, it will be another step towards strengthening our relationship with customers and Sony Center partners.” He added saying, “We are confident that the portal will help reach out to a new wave of online shoppers and provide a seamless experience that Sony is known for in its offline market as well.”

Sony is one of the first multi-device brands to launch its own webstore in India. As of now, deliveries are only being fulfilled in Green and Orange zones, as per the website, while orders are being accepted from the Red zones as well. Deliveries to areas designated as Red zones will take place in accordance with government mandate.

In post COVID times, offline sales are bound to take a hit as people continue to observe caution of public places. Therefore, this is the perfect time for brands to make it easier for customers to get their products from an online platform. While Amazon and Flipkart are great facilitators in this process, a brand selling from its own website offers a certain peace of mind that cannot be had when buying from an online marketplace.

 

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OnePlus 7T gets 960fps and 4K wide-angle recording in latest OxygenOS beta update

OnePlus 7T owners may have something major to rejoice about in the coming days. OnePlus has pushed out 960fps super slow-motion recording and the ability to shoot 4K video with the wide-angle lens via the latest OxygenOS Beta build. The Beta update also brings the April 2020 security patch to the devices.

The reason the OnePlus 7T(Review) lacked 960 fps super slow motion recording is because it uses the Sony IMX586 48MP sensor. In order to achieve 960 fps recording, the sensor must also have a DRAM sandwiched into it, allowing the buffer to hold the vast amount of data that is generated when 960 frames are shot per second. Remember, at this stage, all that data is RAW data, so a DRAM Chip is essential to hold it all before it can processed into a video file. However, what the IMX 586 can do natively is shoot 720p video at 480fps. Therefore by simply applying frame interpolation (inserting a frame between two existing frames) OnePlus ha been able to push out 960fps. The frame interpolation happens after the data has moved from the sensor to the ISP, therefore not requiring a dedicated DRAM layer in the sensor. The disadvantage of this technique is that in certain cases (like lateral motion) you can tell the video is not displaying all native frames. There can be weird motion artefact since the inserted frames are created based on an approximation of the two frames it would be going in between of.

One point to note with all this is that while OnePlus has pushed these new video capabitlies as part of the latest OxygenOS beta, its not automatically guaranteed that they will make their way into the final version of the OS that ships to regular users. The whole point of the beta program is to test out potential features on a mass scale and see if it can be deployed to end-consumer devices. It is entirely possible for OnePlus to pull any of the features due to potential issues in their implementation. While you can experience them on your OnePlus 7T by getting onto the beta program, we’d recommend waiting for it to roll out as part of th final OxygenOS build for best results. The beta program is also a great place for OnePlus to try out all the new features it may want to bring to its devices in the near future.

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Xiaomi Mi TV Stick running Android TV appears online

If information circulating the internet is to be believed, then we could see an Android TV-based streaming stick from Xiaomi. The information comes from 9to5Google, who says that the Mi TV Stick could have the same specifications as the Mi TV Box S. The stick is also said to support 4K and HDR. Coming to the specifications of the stick, it will have an Amlogic S905 CPU, Mali-G31 GPU, 2GB RAM, and 8GB of storage. There is no information about a release date but it seems as though this isn't the first time the Mi TV Stick has appeared online. From the image on 9to5Google, it looks like the device has a very sleek form factor, similar to the Fire TV stick. 

The pricing of $80, which is roughly Rs 6000 directly converted, seems a bit high considering the Mi Box 4K which recently launched in India is priced at Rs 3,499. However, it is possible that differential pricing will be maintained based on the markets it launches in. 

It is nice to see consumers get more options when looking for a streaming device to sit under their TV. Coming to the Mi Box 4K which recently launched in India, it has the ability to stream in 4K. It supports HDR 10 but does not support Dolby Vision. It supports Dolby Audio and DTS but not Dolby Atmos. It has a 64-bit 2.0Ghz CPU, Mali 450 GPU at 750MHz, 2GB DDR 3 RAM, and 8GB eMMC storage. It has a compact form factor and all the connectivity options are at the back. You have an HDMI 2.0b port to connect to your TV, a USB 2.0 port, and a 3.5mm audio port. The device also comes with a remote control which is a lot like the MI TV remote control. It has a power button, a dedicated button to bring up the Google Assistant, navigation, and hotkeys for Netflix and Prime Videos and also volume controls. The device runs on the Android TV platform. It also has access to the Google Play Store. You can check out all the details of the Mi Box 4K here and how it compares to the Fire TV stick 4K available in India here.

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