Competition heats up for OnePlus Nord with the Vivo X50 set to launch on July 16

The Vivo X50 Series has an official launch date in India. The company revealed it will be announcing the flagship series on July 16. The X50 series is already available in the Chinese market, and Vivo confirmed it will be launching the Vivo X50 and the Vivo X50 Pro in India, with the X50 Pro+ remaining exclusive to China for now.

Going by the features and hardware announced in the X50 series, especially the X50 Pro, we can't help but wonder if the launch is happening to spoil OnePlus' big reveal of the Nord. Lots of things are going to be similar between the two smartphones and the success of each may come down purely to the price points they are targetting. Both the OnePlus Nord and the X50 Pro are confirmed to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, making them the first onslaught of phones with the premium mid-tier chip in India. Both phones are also confirmed to come with 90Hz AMOLED displays, but while Vivo will bank on gimbal-stabilised rear camera setup, OnePlus aims to impress buyers with its signature speed and smoothness. Here, we look at everything that the Vivo X50 series is confirmed to offer in India.

Vivo to launch Vivo X50 and X50 Pro in India

With the confirmation coming in that only two of the smartphones in the series will see the light of the day in India, the X50 series marks the arrival of some interesting new features and hardware in the premium segment. The company earns its bread by competing fiercely in the budget and mid-range segment, but after the likes of Xiaomi, Realme and iQOO going up the price ladder, the X50 Series will help Vivo take the competition to the premium segment.

The smartphone will launch in India on July 16 and will be available on both Flipkart and Amazon India. Between the two, the X50 Pro will be the star of the show, while the X50 will be the less powerful sibling. Here are some of the key features that we look forward to in the Vivo X50 series —

Snapdragon 765G to arrive earlier than expected

So far, only the OnePlus Nord was poised to bring the Snapdragon 765G to India, the mid-range chipset which Qualcomm unveiled alongside the flagship Snapdragon 865 with an integrated 5G SoC and some powerful CPU and GPU chops.

However, with the X50 series launch scheduled ahead of the July 21st launch of the OnePlus Nord, the X50 Pro will be the first smartphone to officially launch with the Snapdragon 765G in India. It opens up a world of possibilities, going by the reviews of other Snapdragon 765-powered smartphones globally. The chipset is the more pragmatic choice over the expensive Snapdragon 865. Even the Google Pixel 5 is heavily rumoured to be powered by this premium mid-range chip.

Vivo X50 Gimbal-stabilised rear camera setup

It’s not the chipset inside that will grab the attention of the masses when the X50 Series will launch. That would be the rear camera setup, particularly on the Vivo X50 Pro. The primary camera houses the Sony IMX598 48MP sensor along with an f/1.6 aperture lens. It’s also stabilised by a gimbal to help with long exposure shots and videos. There’s also an 8MP periscope lens with 5X optical zoom along with another 8MP ultrawide lens.

The regular X50 also houses the same 48MP primary camera but replaces the periscope lens with a 5MP macro lens and a 13MP portrait telephoto lens, something that we are probably going to see for the first time on a smartphone. What’s also missing in the regular X50 is the gimbal OIS itself. That’s only exclusive to the Pro variant.

Vivo X50 90Hz AMOLED display with HDR10+

Both the Vivo X50 and the Vivo X50 Pro sport a 6.5-inch AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate along with HDR10+ certification. The only difference between the two phones, as far as the displays are concerned, is that the X50’s display is flat while the X50 Pro is curved along the edges. There’s a 32MP selfie shooter drilled into the top corner of the smartphone. Both phones will also rock an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Vivo X50 Series expected price

In China, the Vivo X50 is priced at RMB 3,498 (roughly Rs 37,000) for the 8+128GB variant, while the 8+256GB variant of the Vivo X50 retails at CNY 3,898 (roughly Rs 42,000).

On the other hand, the Vivo X50 Pro starts at CNY 4,298 (roughly Rs 46,000) for the 8+128GB variant. The larger 8+256GB variant of the X50 Pro fetches a price of CNY 4,698 (roughly Rs 50,000) in China.

Now, these are certainly prices at which we get Snapdragon 865-powered flagships in India. Notably, the OnePlus 8, Realme X50 Pro, iQOO 3 and the Xiaomi Mi 10 are all priced within the Rs 35,000-Rs 50,000 bracket.

If we had to make a wild, wild guess, the regular Vivo X50 would be priced just above Rs 30,000 while the X50 Pro should keep the price under the Rs 40,000 mark. Doing so, Vivo may open up a new segment of premium smartphones powered by mid-range processors, but more than makeup for the shortfall in performance via the camera innovations. Will there be others in this upcoming new segment in India alongside the X50? Well, the OnePlus Nord will certainly give them nightmares, or vice versa. We’ll have to wait and see whether the likes of Nokia, Moto, and Xiaomi also bring their Snapdragon 765G-powered devices to India to shake things up with some good ‘ol competition.

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MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro users could damage their display if they do this

Privacy is very important in a day and age where information leaks like a sieve. The webcam in laptops is one point of entry for hackers to spy on potential victims. This is one of the reasons we have started seeing a lot of people hiding the webcam with tape or a dedicated webcam cover - to protect themselves from potential hackers and even phishing or threats. But doing so on a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro could damage the display. 

On its support page, Apple advises against the use of dedicated covers for the webcam. Apple also has some guidelines, in case you absolutely need to cover the webcam of your laptop for professional reasons and we have listed them for you down below. 

MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro users could damage their display

Apple’s support page reads, “If you close your Mac notebook with a camera cover installed, you might damage your display because the clearance between the display and keyboard is designed to very tight tolerances. Covering the built-in camera might also interfere with the ambient light sensor and prevent features like automatic brightness and True Tone from working. As an alternative to a camera cover, use the camera indicator light to determine if your camera is active, and decide which apps can use your camera in System Preferences”.

The camera in the Mac has been engineered so that it cannot be switched on without the LED indicator. So you will always know when the camera is on. Also, those on macOS Mojave or later will have to give an app permission before it can use the camera. In addition, users can always navigate to the system preference to check which apps are accessing the camera and change the permission settings. 

However, Apple goes on to say, “If your work environment requires you to cover the camera on your Mac notebook, follow these guidelines to avoid damaging the display:

Make sure the camera cover is not thicker than an average piece of printer paper (0.1mm). Avoid using a camera cover that leaves an adhesive residue. If you install a camera cover that is thicker than 0.1mm, remove the camera cover before closing your computer”.

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Free Watch Dogs 2, Watch Dogs: Legion, Far Cry 6, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and More at Ubisoft Forward

Watch Dogs 2 free, release dates for Watch Dogs: Legion, Far Cry 6, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Brawlhalla on mobile, Hyper Space open beta, Ghost Recon Breakpoint AI teammates — the biggest announcements from Ubisoft Forward.

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Vintage Super Mario Bros. Video Game Sells for $114,000

An unopened copy of a vintage Super Mario Bros. video game has been sold for $114,000 in an auction that underscored the enduring popularity of entertainment created decades ago.

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10 features you can expect in the new Assassins Creed Valhalla

At the upcoming Ubisoft Forward event, we can expect to see a lot more about the upcoming Assassin's Creed game, Valhalla. We've seen this trend with Ubisoft and the Assassin's Creed franchise as they're veering more towards the RPG genre, and departing away from the usual stealthy gameplay we've come to expect from an Assassin's Creed game. Here are some of the features you can expect to see in Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

Play as male or female

Like the previous Assassin's Creed game, Odyssey, in Assassin's Creed Valhalla you'll be able to play as either a male or a female Viking. Either character will be named Eivor, which is a unisex name for Vikings, we guess.

The skill tree returns

The skill tree is back, leaning more towards an RPG game than ever, allowing you to specialise in melee, ranged or stealth attacks. Each of these are named after three animals, Bear, Raven and Wolf. Playing and exploring in the game will unlock more nodes and abilities. These include being able to enhance your abilities, such as Odin Sight, which is what we're assuming the new eagle vision mode is called.

Experience 9th Century Britain

The new setting for Assassin's Creed is 9th Century Britain, during the time the Anglo-Saxons called the British Isles home. Expect plenty of seafaring, marshlands, and hillsides for exploration. More greenery than we've seen so far in any AC game.

Forge alliances

In Valhalla, Eivor is fiercely loyal to King Oswald of East Anglia, and through the game, you will come across many choices which allow you to build or break the bridge between Eivor and the king. Furthermore, in choices, you also get to decide how brutal you want to be with your opponents in battle, and whether or not you want to show mercy the Viking way.

Hunting

To add another layer of realism, players will need to gather and hunt for materials in order to replenish stamina, stock up for boss encounters, and large scale battles. Supply management will play a big role in the whole scheme of things. Health will not regen on its own, making having these supplies on hand all the more important.

Battling creatures of legend

Much like we could fight mythical creatures from greek mythology in the AC Odyssey, Assassin's Creed Valhalla will feature legendary creatures from Nordic mythology, one such creature being the Black Shuck, a giant shadow of a dog.

Raids

Similar to the large-scale battles in Odyssey, Valhalla will feature raids, which are multi-stage assaults on enemy forts. These require more strategy on your part, and there are several approaches that can be taken to effectively take down a stronghold.

Viking mini-games

The game will feature many Viking mini-games, where there will be drinking games, contests of marksmanship, and there will be a lot more in terms of in-game socialising that the character can do here, to get to know other characters in the game.

World events

Exploration is rewarding, every nook and cranny might show you something interesting, with Drengr (warriors) approaching you for honorable fights to the death, encounter witches using magic in twisted ways, or other challenges to acquire arcane knowledge.

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Ubisoft Announces Staff Departures After Misconduct Allegations

Ubisoft announced several staff departures on Saturday after conducting a review in response to allegations of misconduct at the company, which earlier reports said centered around sexual misconduct charges.

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Foxconn investing 1Billion in India to expand iPhone manufacturing

A few months ago, it was reported that Apple might start moving a big chunk of its iPhone production from China to India. A new report courtesy Reuters alleges that Foxconn might be looking to invest $1billion in India to expand the iPhone production capabilities at Apple’s behest. Currently, Foxconn’s facilities in India produce the iPhone XR and some other older models.

It was earlier reported that Apple would be looking to move a fifth of its iPhone production from China to India, as part of a larger initiative to end its dependence on China altogether. This has come as a combined result of the U.S. administration’s pressure on Apple to move production away from China, combined with the recent Coronavirus-induced issues in production. Having all iPhone production taking place in one country that got shut down for a month due to the COVID-19 outbreak had allegedly not only caused disruptions in production but also caused significant delays in the development timelines of the upcoming iPhone 12. Ming-Chi Kuo had noted that due to the outbreak, testing of the 5G radios for the upcoming iPhone 12 had to be put on halt. Moving a part of the production out of China and into another country could help Apple prevent such delays in the future.

Even if Foxconn is to make the investment to increase production, the iPhones produced would most like be for export. India only accounts for roughly 1 percent of Apple’s global iPhone sales. It is also unlikely that the new production facilities will cater to the manufacturing of flagship models. The iPhone XR and iPhone 11 have been the most popular selling models for Apple in comparison to the other iPhones that have been released in the last 2 years. The export goal would be in-line with Apple’s expansion plans in India as the company is hoping to make the most of the Indian’ Government’s PLI incentive plan. Under PLI scheme, Foxconn would manufacture iPhones for export purposes. The scheme is designed to promote India as a global manufacturing hub for electronics.

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