PUBG Mobile Introduces New Anti-Cheat Measure to Crack Down on Cheaters

PUBG Mobile has introduced a new anti-cheat measure that prevents users from taking unfair advantage of the Spectate Mode. The developers state that players were able to take advantage of Spectate Mode by using two devices to pinpoint in-game enemy players and gain an unfair advantage.

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Would you pay Rs 85 Lakh for a sealed copy of Sumer Mario Bros

A sealed copy of Super Mario Bros, the popular NES game has sold for a whopping $114,000 on Friday, July 10 at a specialist house Heritage Auctions. This has set a new record for the sale price of an individual video game. $1,14,000 which translates to roughly Rs 85 Lakh. Last year, a copy of Super Mario Bros in the same condition was sold for $100,150 which is roughly 75 Lakh rupees. If you have a copy of the game lying around and home and are wondering whether you can sell it for a few lakhs, then we say think again. The game has to be checked for quality, maintenance and authenticity first. If you are wondering why the game, which can be played on a smartphone via an emulator or on a Nintendo Switch from the online store sells for so much, well, we have the answer for you.  

A sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. just sold at auction for $114,000, which is a new record for the sale of a single game. Bet the owners of the $100,000 one, which is an earlier printing, feel great today. pic.twitter.com/lVdcla8d19

— Chris Kohler (@kobunheat) July 10, 2020 Why did Super Mario Bros sell for $1,14,000 (Rs 85 Lakh)?

According to Ars Technica, “this “3-code variant” of Super Mario Bros. dates back to mid-1987. That makes it “slightly more attainable to find” than the very earliest test-market editions of the game, from late 1985 and early 1986, which were only sealed with a small circular Nintendo sticker (the earlier $100,000 sale came from that earliest batch). That also means it’s not among the very first shrink-wrapped copies of the game, which date back to mid-1986”.

This copy of Super Mario Bros is graded at 9.4 out of 10. This means that it is in near-perfect condition - just like it was when it launched - untouched. According to the Verge, “a cardboard hang tab copy of any early Nintendo Entertainment System game brings a certain air of “vintage” unrivalled by its successors”. This is why the game is worth so much.

Fun Fact about Super Mario Bros

Mario is easily one of the most recognizable video game characters even today. There are new Mario games launching with every Nintendo system. When Super Mario Bros first launched on the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) it was the era of 8-bit gaming. The Italian plumber wore a cap as it was tough to draw hair. He had a moustache as it was tough to draw a mouth. He had a big nose because it wasn’t easy to get facial features on an 8-bit system. All these characteristics are his most recognizable features and appear on him even today. Another fun fact is that before Mario got his own game, he was the hero in a little game called Donkey Kong where he raced to save the princess. Looks like not much has changed in Mario’s life. 

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All the Upcoming Games Revealed at Ubisoft Forward

Earlier today, Ubisoft presented their online digital event, Ubisoft Forward, to showcase all the upcoming game titles they had in store for us. The event was held in association with Geoff Keighley’s E3 alternative, Summer Game Fest and had some pretty cool announcements. But before we talk about the big boys, let us get the small fries out of the way. The event had streamers from all around the world race amongst each other in Trackmania as part of their pre-show. We also got an in-depth look into the new AI teammates coming to Ghost Recon Breaking Point and some so-so updates coming to Just Dance 2020. Then we got a look at some upcoming indie games Ubisoft is collaborating with such as the sequel to the 2D expedition simulation game, Curious Expedition 2 and a more in-depth look into Surgeon Simulator 2. We also had a Brawlhalla mobile game announcement, which will be featuring tons of customization options and cross-play at launch - 6 August 2020. Now that we are done with the smaller announcements, let us now take a look at the bigger titles that were revealed at Ubisoft Forward.

Watch Dogs: Legion

The latest instalment in the Watch Dogs franchise, Watch Dogs: Legion will be taking players to the city of London undergoing a terrorist attack. The game will be featuring an all-new mechanic where players would be able to recruit anyone they see on the streets of the massive open-world as part of the Dead-Sec Resistance. You can hire up to 40 recruits, each with different skill sets, anywhere from special agents to grannies (boomer squad) to bare-knuckle fighting foul-mouthed alcoholics. Watch Dogs: Legion will be out on 29 October 2020 on the current and next-gen consoles (when they release) and on PC via Epic Games Store and UPlay. Ubisoft has also released a special cinematic trailer titled Tipping Point to give us a tour of the brightly lit dystopian world players would be embarking into, which you can check right below.

Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad

Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad is a free to play role-playing mobile game featuring a crossover between characters from Rainbow Six Seige, The Division, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell. Players will be taking part in 5v5 battles on iconic playing fields based on each of those games and will also be featuring a new campaign mode. The game comes out on 27 August 2020 on both Android and iOS.

Hyper Scape

Recently seen being played by popular streamers, the free-to-play fast-paced first-person shooter battle-royale game, Hyper Scape has announced its open beta launch, starting today on both PC and console. The game will be taking place in the futuristic world of Neo-Arcadia and has been built by primarily keeping streamers in mind, as it features heavy Twitch chat integration. Meaning, viewers have the power to change the course of the streamer’s game by voting for special events such as a low gravity mode, making it all the more fun and unique. Hyper Scape also released a cinematic trailer for the same, which you can check out right below.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

After months of waiting around, we finally got to see some gameplay footage for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. The trailer gives us an overview of the massive, captivating Viking world and character details, before diving into the specifics of the gameplay. Players will be taking control of a Viking - Eivor and can choose to play as male or female. The game will be featuring a much more brutal and barbaric raid mechanic, a wide variety of enemies with different skill sets and some new combat mechanics. Such as a Viking harpoon similar to the bat-claw from the Arkham games, throwable axes and a new stun system. You can check out more details on the gameplay features here.  Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla will be out on 17 November 2020 on the current and next-gen consoles (when they release) and on PC via Epic Games Store and UPlay.

Far Cry 6

The final reveal for the event was the much anticipated first-person action-adventure game, Far Cry 6. When it comes to glorifying villains, no one does it better than Far Cry. After numerous leaks and speculations surrounding the cast, a few days ago, it was confirmed that Giancarlo Esposito aka Gustavo Fring from Breaking Bad will be the main villain in this instalment. The reveal trailer gives us a glimpse of Giancarlo as Anton Castillo, the dictator of a “tropical paradise”, Yara and his tension-filled relationship with his son, Diego. Based on the trailer, it looks like Anton’s mission is to bring his conflict and riot-ridden nation back to its former glory by any means necessary and pass on his learnings to his son. Far Cry 6 will be out on 18 February 2021 on the current and next-gen consoles alongside PC via Epic Games Store and UPlay. Ubisoft has also released a Cinematic Title Sequence trailer for the same, which you can check out right below.

And that was it for Ubisoft Forward. We got some pretty decent announcements and the long-awaited gameplay footage for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. If these announcements felt too short and lacking, then fear not. Ubisoft has announced that they will be holding a second digital event sometime in the near future. You can check out the entire Ubisoft Forward presentation, which includes the 30-minute long in-depth gameplay for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla as part of the post-show, at the bottom of this article. Similarly, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, Electronic Arts and Nacon also had their respective presentations, which were all held in association with the Summer Game Fest. Additionally, feel free to sign up to Summer Game Fest here, to stay up to date with all the upcoming gaming events as and when they pop up.

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OnePlus Nord Lite powered by Snapdragon 690 could be incoming according to Geekbench

All eyes are on the OnePlus Nord, but the company is seemingly working on a lighter version of the Nord as well, going by a new report. A new OnePlus smartphone was spotted on Geekbench which is powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 SoC, which is perhaps the biggest hint at a more affordable mid-range device from OnePlus.

The unknown device is listed with the model number ‘OnePlus BE2028’, indicating a new lineup. Interestingly, the model number of the OnePlus Nord is OnePlus “AC2003”. The Geekbench listing reveals the upcoming unknown OnePlus device will have a ‘lito’ motherboard, which is commonly associated with devices powered by the Snapdragon 765 chips. However, the base frequency of the CPU along with other details points towards the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 690, the first in the 6-series to come with a 5G modem.

The listing also reveals the phone runs on Android 10 and offer 6GB of RAM. The Snapdragon 690 is an interesting choice, however. It succeeds the Snapdragon 675 and offers eight Kryo 560 CPU cores clocked at up to 1.7GHz, similar to what the Geekbench listing suggests.

OnePlus Nord Lite powered by Snapdragon 690 could be incoming

It all points towards a lighter version of the OnePlus Nord that scheduled to launch in India on July 21. Interestingly, OnePlus has dropped no hints of a ‘Nord Lite’ previously, but that’s just how the company operates. It focuses on the immediately upcoming launch and keeps fans on a drip-feed of information around the device to build up hype. We don’t really expect this lighter version to show up alongside the OnePlus Nord next week, to be honest.

In fact, it could very well be an early prototype of the OnePlus Nord itself, which OnePlus was probably testing with the Snapdragon 690 SoC before switching to the more powerful Snapdragon 765. Little is known at this point, and if this is indeed a new device the company is working on, we are sure to hear more about in the coming few days.

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Oppos insanely quick 125W fast charging to launch on July 15

Oppo has revealed that it’s preparing to announce the next generation 125W fast-charging technology on July 15, surpassing its own 65W charging solution and beating the competition to the punch. Previously there have been several reports of Xiaomi and Vivo working on 100W+ fast-charging solutions, with the latter even showing off its 120W Super FlashCharge charging technology last year. 

As per a tweet posted by the official Twitter handle of Oppo, the company will introduce a 125W fast charging solution on July 15 with more details being awaited. To give you an idea, Vivo’s Super Flash Charge 120W fast charging takes 13 minutes to charge a 4,000mAh battery and 5 minutes to go from 0-50%. The upcoming 125W fast charger from Oppo should theoretically allow for slightly better-charging speeds.

Oppo's insanely quick 125W fast charging to launch on July 15  

On the other hand, at its demo presentation in 2019, Xiaomi’s 100W fast charger was able to recharge a 4,000mAh battery in 17 minutes. However, the company hasn’t officially announced its 100W fast charging solution for commerce use yet. The Mi 10 Pro, Xiaomi’s flagship phone offers 50W fast charging and it's likely the company will announce it in sometime in the future.

According to a leak by tipster Ishan Agarwal, Realme is also developing its own fast charging solution dubbed Ultra Dart / Super Dart which will be capable of offering 120W fast charging speeds. It’s further speculated that Realme will announce this fast-charging technology sometime in July, as hinted by CEO Madhav Sheth. OnePlus is also expected to debut its 65W fast charging solution soon as the charging adapter was spotted passing through safety certification website. 

With Oppo’s announcement scheduled for July 15, we’ll officially get to know how the 120W fast charging technology works, the apparent impact it has on battery, thermal management measures and more details around the charging speeds it offers. If you’re looking for the top fast-charging smartphones in India, we have compiled a list here.

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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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