Xiaomi Redmi 9 Prime confirmed to launch on August 4 in India: Specifications and expected pricing

The Xiaomi Redmi 9 Prime will officially launch on August 4 in India, the company has confirmed. The Redmi 9 series was launched earlier this month with three smartphones, the Redmi 9, Redmi 9A and Redmi 9C. Now, it looks like Xiaomi is preparing to launch the Redmi 9 Prime as its new budget offering that will go on sale on Amazon India.

The Redmi 9 series succeeds the Redmi 8 lineup from last year that aims to offer value for money phones for people who are on a tight budget. While Xiaomi hasn’t confirmed any specifics about its upcoming smartphone, the Redmi 9 Prime is expected to come with waterdrop notch cutout and splash-resistance. There are speculations that the Redmi 9 Prime could be a rebranded version of the Redmi 9 with some India-centric features.

Xiaomi Redmi 9 specifications and expected pricing

Xiaomi Redmi 9 features a 6.53-inch Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) resolution display with a waterdrop notch cutout for the selfie camera. The screen is topped with a layer of Gorilla Glass 3 for added protection. The phone is 9.1mm thick and weighs at 198 grams.

It is powered by MediaTek Helio G80 chipset with an octa-core CPU and Mali-G52 GPU and runs on MIUI 12 which is based on Android 10. This is paired with up to 4GB RAM and up to 64GB storage options to choose from. There's also an option to increase the phone's storage further by using microSD cards of up to 512GB.

The Redmi 9 features a quad-camera setup that consists of a primary 13MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with 118-degree field-of-view, a 5MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, there is an 8MP selfie camera housed within the waterdrop notch cutout.

The phone has a fingerprint sensor on the back and comes with a 5,020mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging out-of-the-box.

Xiaomi has priced the Redmi 9 in China at CNY 799 (roughly Rs 8,500) for its 4GB RAM + 64GB storage option. In Europe, the Redmi 9 starts at EUR 149 for the base variant and EUR 169 for the 4GB RAM variant. The phone comes in three colours-- Grey, Green and Purple.

 

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/317Rp46

WhatsApp could introduce a Mute Always option to stay away from annoying groups that you cant leave

I’m sure most of you have found yourself in this situation where you are added to a group on WhatsApp that you are least interested in being a part off, yet cannot leave because of social obligations. So what do you do in this case? You go into the settings of the conversation and mute it. The longest duration for which you can mute a group or person is 1 year. So all of a sudden, when 365 days are over, you need to go back into the settings and mute them all over again. 

WhatsApp could introduce a 'Mute Always' option 

It looks like WhatsApp feels your pain as well. Information from wabetainfo suggests that the messaging service is looking at implementing a “mute always” feature. According to the source, “WhatsApp has just submitted a new update through the Google Play Beta Program, bringing the version up to 2.20.197.3”. This update brings with it the "Mute Always" feature and before you get excited and look for this by updating the app, know that it is currently under development. There is no information on when the feature will be available to all.  

WhatsApp has been working on improving the messaging service by adding new features constantly. When the lockdown began, WhatsApp increased the number of group video calling from 4 to 8. You can read more about that here. WhatsApp is also expected to allow users to add contacts by simply scanning profile QR codes. You can learn more about that here. WhatsApp has also been working on a feature that lets users search for messages by date. You can check out the details of that here. We all own more than one device today and it looks like WhatsApp is working on a “Linked Devices” feature letting users use their WhatsApp account on more than one device. You can read more about that here. You can also check out our how to set up auto-reply messages on WhatsApp here. 

 

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/3geivN8

Marvels Avengers War Room presentation reveals Hawkeye as well as a Beta Breakdown

As the Avengers destroy the box office when it comes to the films, in the world of videogames, it's a different matter altogether. In that world, DC comics has the critically acclaimed Arkham series to fall back on as well as the excellent Injustice games. Marvel, on the other hand, has not had a hit game in decades, but it's not for lack of trying though. Just last night we got a special sneak peek at the new Avengers game. The presentation was called the War Room and it gave us a deeper look into the gameplay, mechanics, new characters and much more. So, let’s see what the Avengers War Room has in store for us. 

Marvel's Avengers shows off Hawkeye as well as a Beta Breakdown

The game opens with a 25-minute action scene on the Golden Gate bridge with a boss battle against the Taskmaster in the end. You get new gameplay of The Hulk as he travels to the Pcific Northwest with Kamala Khan where you also battle The Abomination. The game also showed off Hawkeye as a playable character in the game. The gameplay looks to be a third-person action adventure type game with a ton of missions and unique costumes. Once the single-player story has been completed, Iron Man, Kamala Khan, Black Widow and Hulk will be controllable in 3 H.A.R.M. Rooms, War Zones, and Drop Zones, which can all be accessed through a different menu.

In fact, there will be a beta version of the game that will be released in August on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC in three different stages. There’s an insane amount of content that you guys should definitely check out. Here’s the breakdown. 

August 7-9: PlayStation Advantage Closed BETA: The first BETA weekend will be available for those who have pre-ordered Marvel’s Avengers on PlayStation4. Pre-load will be available on August 6. August 14-16: PlayStation Advantage Open BETA & Xbox/PC Closed BETA: The second BETA weekend will be open to the entire PS4 community as part of our PlayStation Advantage partnership. Additionally, those of you who have pre-ordered Marvel’s Avengers on Xbox or PC will be able to jump in and play. Pre-load will be available on August 13. August 21: Open BETA for All: August 21 – 23 will give all fans across all platforms a chance to jump in and play the Marvel’s Avengers BETA! Pre-load will be available on August 20.

Square Enix, the company developing the game, have also said, “You will need a Square Enix Member’s account to participate in the Marvel’s Avengers BETA. We use the Square-Enix Members account to validate pre-order codes and content, as well as to deliver post-launch content, like new heroes, new missions, and new regions at no cost.

We recommend that anyone planning on buying the game go ahead and register their account early, so they’re not caught in potential launch-day delays. In fact, everyone who signs up for an account will receive an exclusive Thor nameplate in the game!” 

The game comes out on September 4, 2020. 

If you're a fan of superhero movies and shows, you can check out our best superhero shows and films on Netflix as well as on Prime Video. 

 

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/3ffsVe5

An affordable Jio Phone Lite is now in development: Report

Jio is reportedly planning to launch the third generation of Jio Phone, aimed at the feature phone market. Codenamed the JioPhone 5, the new version will also be a feature phone, not to be confused with the affordable 4G/5G phones RIL Chairman, Mukesh Ambani spoke about during the recent AGM. 

Sources close to internal developments told 91Mobiles that the Jio Phone 5 is in planning stages and it will be a locally made feature phone developed under the company's Make in India efforts. The report speculates that the phone could be launched as the Jio Phone Lite. 

The Jio Phone Lite's alleged pricing is said to below Rs 400, and the company might announce a new Rs 50 prepaid plan for it. The recharge option is said to offer free Jio to Jio plans that will be valid for 28 days and calling others would be chargeable.

What to expect from the Jio Phone 5?

There's not a lot of information about the rumoured Jio Phone as of now, but it's safe to expect that it will support 4G and will come with apps like Facebook and WhatsApp preloaded, as they're present on the older generation phones as well. The presence of these two apps also indicates that it will run on KaiOS, similar to its predecessors.

It is also speculated to be priced lesser than the first iteration of the Jio Phone at around Rs 399. Hence, the name Jio Phone Lite has been making more sense.

With this, Jio will be targeting to tap the rural and tier 3 markets where people primarily need a calling device without spending a lot. Jio Phone has been a hit. Within a year of its release, JioPhone commanded almost half of the feature phones market. In the second quarter of 2017, Jio was able to capture a 0.3% market share, which increased to 47% market share, within a year, which converted to a whopping 6-digit growth percentage. 

There's more coming from Jio and Google

Reliance Jio recently revealed Google's Rs 33,737 crore investment in Jio Platforms, the company's digital arm for a 7.73% stake. Both Google and Reliance are also collaborating to develop entry-level 4G / 5G affordable smartphones for India that run on an optimised version of Android and Play Store. 

In his speech during this year's Reliance AGM, Mr Ambani said Jio is working towards upgrading 350 million feature phone users to an affordable 4G/5G smartphone, and its partnership with Google will help accelerate the migration of users from 2G feature phones to 4G smartphones. 

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/3154tHr

Apple iPhone 12, new iPad launch likely delayed until October, indicates Qualcomm

Apple iPhone 12 launch is likely delayed until October as hinted by Qualcomm in its earning reports for the third quarter. Additionally, tipster Jon Prosser has revealed that the iPhone 12 and new iPads are expected to arrive sometime in October. This corroborates with multiple rumours about the delayed launch with Qualcomm stating that its Q4 earnings project a “partial impact” from the delayed launch of a “global 5G flagship phone”.

While Qualcomm did not reveal the name of the phone, it’s indicative of the upcoming iPhone 12 launch. Apple usually launches its new iPhones in September but due to the Coronavirus outbreak across the world, production lines have been impacted by slowed growth and companies have also met with lesser consumer demand. This could mean that the new iPhones with 5G support won’t launch until October as it would also mark the beginning of the fourth quarter. 

Apple iPhone 12, new iPad launch likely delayed until October

Moreover, Akash Palkhiwala, Chief Financial Officer at Qualcomm told Reuters, “We're seeing a partial impact from the delay of a flagship phone launch. And so what we've seen is a slight delay that pushes some of the units out from the September quarter to the December quarter for us.” This delay in the launch could also be due to the deferred shipment of 5G chips from Qualcomm which were pushed to end-of-year. 

This won’t be the first time Apple is delaying the availability of their new iPhones as was the case with iPhone X and iPhone XR, both of which went on sale in October after launching in September.

Apple iPhone 12 is rumoured to feature a 5.4-inch display with a smaller Face ID notch cutout on the front giving it a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. All the Apple is preparing to announcae this year will feature OLED screens and will be powered by A14 Bionic chipset with 5G support.

Previous leaks have also hinted that the new iPhones for 2020 will be priced aggressively, with the iPhone 12 starting at $649. The iPhone 12 Max is expected to be priced starting at $749 while the other two models, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max are rumoured to come with triple camera setup along with a LiDAR sensor like the one on the recently launched iPad Pro. Both the phones are expected to feature a high 120Hz refresh rate as well. The iPhone 12 Pro could start from $999 while the larger 12 Pro Max is said to be priced at $1099.

Recently, Apple started a survey with a limited group of users about how they use their power adapters provided in-the-box amidst rumours that the company won’t be shipping a charging adapter with the iPhone 12. Apple is reportedly developing a 20W fast charging solution for the new iPhones and the adapter is rumoured to be sold separately.

 

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/39DaEpZ

ViewSonic launches XG2405 Gaming Monitor in Indian priced at Rs 35,000

Targeting competitive gamers, ViewSonic has launched a new gaming monitor, the ViewSonic XG2405. The 24-inch monitor has slim bezels on three sides and has an IPS panel. It has a 1920x1080p resolution and a refresh rate of 144Hz with a 1ms response time. The monitor also supports AMD FreeSync. 

According to the press release, “The height of the monitor can be adjusted and can be tilted and pivoted as per the user’s needs. Additionally, it also has a blue light filter to reduce eye strain during long gaming sessions.”   

“ViewSonic is always in pursuit of offering the latest technology in the gaming sector,” said Mr Eric Wei, Senior Sales Director ViewSonic Asia Pacific. “XG2405 comes with an attractive borderless design, an IPS panel which provides significantly better viewing angles. This exciting new addition to ViewSonic’s gaming monitor line delivers the high speed, design and rich colour that gamers have always been searching for.”

ViewSonic XG2405 Gaming Monitor Specifications

Coming to the specifications of the ViewSonic XG2405 gaming monitor, it has a 24-inch display with an IPS panel and a resolution of 1920x1080. It claims to have a static contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a dynamic contrast ratio of 80M:1. It has an LED backlighting with a brightness of 250 nits. It has an 8 bit (6 bit + Hi-FRC) panel with the ability to produce 16.7M colours. 

The gaming monitor has a 16:9 aspect ratio and a response time of 1ms. Being an IPS panel, the monitor has good viewing angles and a claimed backlight life of 30000 hours. To put this into perspective, if you play every day for 5 hours, the monitor will last for more than 16 years. The monitor has a high 144Hz refresh rate and also supports AMD FreeSync. 

The ViewSonic XG2405 can cover 72% of the NTSC colour space and 104% of the sRGB colour space. It also has an antiglare coating. The monitor also comes with two 2W speakers. For connectivity, the monitor has two HDMI (1.4) ports, one Display (1.2) Port and one 3.5mm audio out port.   

ViewSonic XG2405 Gaming Monitor Price

The ViewSonic XG2405 Gaming Monitor is available in India priced at Rs 35,000. 

If you are in the market to pick up a gaming monitor, then you can check out the recently announced Xiaomi curved gaming monitor here. You can also check out our list of the best 144Hz gaming monitors here. LG is expected to launch its UltraGear 27GN950 4K gaming monitor in India and you can check out the details here.

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

With ban looming, PUBG Mobile updates its Privacy Policy for Indian users

PUBG Mobile recently updated its Privacy Policy specifically for India and Indian users. While it has not been explicitly stated, it is quite possible that the change in policy is to help avoid a ban in the country. The past month saw the Indian Government take a stand against Chinese apps like TikTok and ShareIt by banning 59 of them. However, one notable exception in that list was PUBG Mobile as popular battle royale game somehow managed to fly under the radar. However, reports suggest that the government is planning another wave of bannings and this time around, the game may not be so lucky. Which would explain the change in policy. 

The most notable change in the policy seems to be in the ‘where do we process your information’ section. Here, the developers note that the game’s servers are located in India in the case of Indian users. Further adding that the game’s support, engineering and other teams are located in Tencent’s office in India in the case of Indian users will have access to player information.

PUBG Mobile updates its Privacy Policy for Indian users

The Privacy Policy now states, “Our servers are located in India (in the case of users located in India only), Singapore, Hong Kong SAR and the United States. In addition, our support, engineering, and other teams are located in our offices around the world (including the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) (for the purpose of this privacy policy, this term excludes Taiwan, Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR), India (in the case of users located in India only), the United States and Hong Kong SAR will have access to player information.”   

It is still not yet known if the Indian Government will ban PUBG Mobile or not considering the game’s slightly confusing origins. However, if they do end up banning it, you may want to click here and check out some notable battle royale alternatives. If you’re looking for alternatives to the 59 apps that were initially banned, check this out.

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