LG to launch sub Rs 15,000 budget smartphones in India, ramp up local manufacturing

South Korean electronics giant LG sees a “window of opportunity” amidst the growing anti-China sentiment in India and plans to launch smartphones in all budget segments. In an interview with Economic Times, Advait Vaidya, business head - mobile communications at LG Electronics said that the company has seen a 9 to 10 times increase in the sale of their smartphones in the past 2 months. It looks like LG is looking to capitalize on the anti-China sentiment and launch six smartphones across budgets, starting from the sub 10K segment going up to the premium flagship space. 

Ever since the conflict on the India-China border, there has been a growing sentiment to ban Chinese products. We have already seen 59 Chinese apps banned in the country. When it comes to the smartphone market, Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Vivo and many more have dominated the space offering compelling hardware at affordable prices. So much so that local budget smartphone makers like Micromax, Lava and more have not been able to compete in the sub 15K space. So it looks like LG wants to swoop in and garner some market share in the budget space. 

LG is looking to target the hottest sale season in India - Diwali and ensure its products are available and locally manufactured. In the interview, Advait Vaidya says, “In terms of manufacturing, we are ramping-up on a massive scale. If in January the capacity was X units, till August we will be producing 10X units and if all goes well, by Diwali we will be at 12-15X capacity”. Make in India will help LG not only keep the price of the smartphones down but also help in generating employment and help the local manufacturing sector overall. 

LG looking to cash in on the anti-China sentiment in India

Because of the pandemic, the sub 15k smartphone segment is the hottest as people don't want to spend too much money on a mobile phone. And it looks like LG will focus here as well. Advait Vaidya says, “According to what we are seeing, the demand definitely is in the affordable category, that is, below Rs 15,000 because of COVID impact on consumers' spending. So, that is an important area for us. But our flagship portfolio will be intact. Most of the global launches in the premium segment will be brought here as well”.  

LG showed off its flagship 2020 OLED series at CES 2020 and even though LGs 2020 TV portfolio is available internationally, it is yet to launch in India. The delay is due to the ongoing pandemic, of course. Usually, June-July sees the launch of new TVs in the country from flagship brands like LG, but we will have to wait and see when and how the brands bring its new portfolio to India. 

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Aarogya Setu will let you perform COVID-19 contact tracing on your own: Heres how it works

The official contact tracing app, Aarogya Setu has got a new feature that helps assess the risk you may be at of contracting the coronavirus. Using Bluetooth activity, Aarogya Setu can now list out the status of those who have come in contact with you, to help you self- assess whether you are at risk of being infected.

The new feature was announced on Twitter via the official handle of the Aarogya Setu app. You can now find out if you have been in close proximity with a COVID-19 patient using the Bluetooth module on your device.

Aarogya Setu will let you perform COVID-19 contact tracing on your own

You will need to update the Aarogya Setu app to use the new feature. The feature lists out the number of people you have come in close proximity to. To assess their status, you will need to give permission to upload your data to the government servers.

“In case your status has been assessed as Moderate Risk or High Risk meaning your screen is Yellow or Orange, Aarogya Setu will also let you know date, time & approximate location & duration of such BT contact with someone who has been diagnosed COVID positive. This will enable you to assess your risk. Some BT contacts can be for short durations during travel, some can be when you have Masks on without any physical contact. Always important to take necessary precautions and monitor your symptoms,” according to the tweet.

The update is only for the Android app for now. The feature will be added to the iOS app in the next few days.

Here are the steps you need to follow to self-assess your risk of being infected:

1. Update the Aarogya Setu Android app. After the update, you will see a “See Recent Contacts” option in the area where you can see your status — Green, Orange or Red. 2. Click that option to see who you have come in contact with in the past 30 days or since you installed the app. The app will tell you a specific number of people you have come in contact with. 3. To know their status, you have to give permission to the app to upload your data to secure government servers. 4. It takes around three hours after uploading the data to know the status of your contacts. 5. Once the results are in, the app will tell you how many of them were healthy, at-risk or infected. 6. The app also shows the date, time duration and approximate location of the contact who was found infected.

Aarogya Setu has new features - let's you know of your BT contacts and allows you to assess your risk level. Update your App and click on See Recent Contacts to get this information. @CovidIndiaSeva@mygovindia @MoHFW_INDIA#SetuMeraBodyguard#IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/IsexQVITNE

— Aarogya Setu (@SetuAarogya) July 5, 2020

 

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TSM-Entity win PUBG Mobile India Series 2020

PUBG Mobile India Series 2020 has come to a close and at the end of the second day, team TSM-Entity have been crowned champions of the tournament. The team amassed a total of three Chicken Dinners and 77 kills for a total score of 177 points. Ahead of second-placed team Fnatic, who scored 150 points with two Chicken Dinners and 64 kills. Meanwhile, Team Mayhem placed third with a total of 144 points. This included two Chicken Dinners and 54 kills. Team UMumba and VST-VXT eSports took the fourth and fifth sports respectively to round off the top-five finishes. 

The PUBG Mobile India Series or PMIS saw 16 teams battle it out for victory. Team TSM-Entity showcased a dominant performance and had a massive head start with over 70 points on Day 2. Meanwhile, the battle for second place was much tighter with only a point separating team Fnatic and Team Mayhem. However, the comeback story of the tournament has to be UMumba Esports as the team were nowhere in the top 5 with only 41 points to their name on the first day. However, the team showed resilience on day two and managed to reach the 4th position.

PMIS 2020 had a total prize pool of Rs 50,00,000 with TSM-Entity taking home Rs 20,00,000 as winners. Team Fnatic also took home Rs 20,00,00 for coming second, while Team Mayhem took home Rs 3,00,000 for coming third. All of the teams on the grand final were allotted cash prizes. 

2019's inaugural PMIS tournament saw Team S0ul emerge victoriously and take home Rs 30,00,000. Meanwhile, team God’s Reign finished second. You can read our interview with Team S0ul here and check out our interview with team God’s Reign in the video below. 

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Everything you need to know about Ubisoft Forward and the Free Copy of Watch Dogs 2

Ubisoft will be holding their online digital live event, Ubisoft Forward, this week, to showcase all their upcoming titles and make major announcements. The event is scheduled to take place on 13 July 2020 at 12:30 AM IST and is being held in association with Geoff Keighley’s E3 alternative Summer Game Fest. Ubisoft will also be giving away a free copy of their 2016 action-adventure game, Watch Dogs 2 on PC.

As described in their blog, the event is broken down into 3 parts. The first part is the pre-show, which is scheduled to take place at 11:00 PM IST on 12 July. Here, we will be seeing some Trackmania gameplay from the Ubisoft staff themselves followed by exclusive information pertaining to the AI teammates coming to Ghost Recon Breakpoint, news on Just Dance 2020 and a deep-dive into The Division 2. The main show will begin broadcasting on 13 July at 12:30 AM IST and will be showcasing the latest game reveals and updates including more footage from Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion and Hyper Scape. If you stick around for the third part, which is the post-show, you will also get to see a deep-dive walkthrough of Assassin’s Creed Valhala and a Hyper Scape show match.

In order to claim the free copy of Watch Dogs 2, one will have to log-in to their UPlay account, from any time after the Trackmania gameplay during the pre-show, to the end of the main-show. Watching the event is a must, as you will be given further on-screen instructions on how to redeem the game. As mentioned in the blog, the event will also be featuring some trivia questions, which upon answering correctly, gives you some exclusive rewards for certain games.

Ubisoft Forward will be live across multiple platforms including their official YouTube, Twitch and Mixer channels alongside the Summer Game Fest official website. You can sign up to the Summer Game Fest here to stay up to date with any other upcoming gaming events here.

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Poco M2 Pro launched in India starting at Rs 13,999: Specifications, pricing and availability

Poco M2 Pro has launched in India as the new entry under the Poco brand bringing the phone to a much affordable segment. The Poco M2 Pro offers a similar set of hardware as the Redmi Note 9 Pro that was launched in India back in March. The M2 Pro starts a new lineup in the Poco brand and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor with quad cameras on the back.

Poco M2 Pro price and availability

Poco M2 Pro is priced starting at Rs 13,999 for the base variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, Rs 14,999 for the variant with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage and Rs 16,999 for the 128GB storage variant. The M2 Pro will go on sale from July 14 on Flipkart.

Poco M2 Pro specifications

The Poco M2 Pro features a 6.67-inch Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution display with a punch-hole cutout in the centre for the selfie camera. The screen has a 20:9 aspect ratio and is topped by a layer of Gorilla Glass 5 for added protection. The phone has a square camera bump on the back and measures 8.8 mm at the thickest point weighing at 209 grams.

The phone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor with an octa-core CPU and Adreno 618 GPU. This is paired with upto 6GB RAM and 128GB storage options to choose from. It runs on Android 10-based MIUI 11 with Poco Launcher running atop. It also has a dedicated microSD card for further storage expansion.

Poco M2 Pro comes with a quad-camera setup on the back which consists of a primary 48MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with 119-degree field-of-view, a 5MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. The rear cameras can shoot in 4K UHD at 30FPS and slow-motion videos in HD at upto 960FPS. On the front, there is a 16MP selfie camera housed within the punch-hole cutout on the top.

It comes with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and a 5,020mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging out-of-the-box.

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Microsoft Interested in Buying Warner Bros' Gaming Unit: Report

Microsoft has expressed interest in buying Warner Bros' gaming unit, The Information reported on Monday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

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Google removes 25 apps from the Play Store for phishing Facebook log-in details

Google has removed 25 apps from the play store that were phishing users Facebook login details. It is common for users to log in to some apps using their Facebook account. However, these apps got the users credentials by creating a faux login page on top of the actual Facebook login page. French cyber-security agency Evina was the one to report on these apps to Google. 

According to XDADevelopers, “The malicious elements were disguised by legit functionality in these apps. Evina notes that these apps were masquerading as wallpaper apps, image and video editors, flashlight apps, games, and file managers on the Google Play Store.” To put things into perspective, these malicious apps were downloaded more than 2.4 million times. 

ZDNet reports that the French cyber-security agency Evina reported on these malicious apps in may. Some of these apps have more than 5,00,000+ downloads from the Play Store. Some of the apps include Super Wallpapers Flashlight, Wallpaper Level, Video Maker, Super Bright Flashlight, Solitaire Game, File Manager and more. You can check out the complete list of apps here. 

In the recent past, we have seen cybercriminals take advantage of serious situations like the COVID-19 pandemic to steal users data. With the rate at which information spreads today, it doesn't take long for users to receive an email that reads, “the vaccine for Coronavirus is finally here. Click here to know more.” In a state of panic to know whether the cure is real, you click on the link and without realizing it, you are subject to a phishing, malware or ransomware attack. You can read more about phishing and cyber-attacks here. 

There are also times when malicious activity is broken up into multiple apps to avoid detection. For example, when you download a flashlight app, you are prompted to download a game or a file manager app. If you do, it is possible that part of the malicious code is in the flashlight app and the other half in the fine manager app and when both are downloaded, the malware is on your smartphone. Users should be careful of not only the apps they download but the links they click on as well.

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