How to Pre-Order Xbox Series X, Series S in India

India pre-orders for the Xbox Series X and Series S are now live on Amazon, Flipkart, and Reliance Digital. The more affordable Series S at Rs. 34,990 offers a disc-less all-digital next-gen gaming experience, while the Rs. 49,990 Series X ships with a 4K UHD Blu-ray drive.

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Paytm calls out Google for indiscriminately taking down app over UPI cashback offer, Google responds

Paytm was temporarily removed from the Google Play Store on Friday last week before being listed again later in the evening, albeit with some changes. Now Paytm is calling out Google for taking down the popular payment app over a UPI cashback offer that the company introduced on September 11. Paytm has accused Google of arm-twisting and foul-play as the latter’s payment app, Google Pay is also hosting a similar cashback offer during IPL 2020. 

In a blog post, Paytm shared a sequence of events as they unfolded on September 18, the day when the app got de-listed from the Play Store. “Google’s recent action on de-listing Paytm app because of a cashback campaign is unjustified,” says Paytm.

Paytm Cricket League was introduced on the Paytm app on September 11 and lets users collect stickers of famous cricketers by simply paying from the app. Under this offer, users could win upto Rs 1 lac cashback on doing transactions from the Paytm app and can also gift these stickers to their friends. 

Paytm vs Google: What Paytm said?

While the Paytm Cricket League was active on the payment app until the morning of September 18, it was taken down on grounds of violating Google Play Store’s gambling policies in India. In its post, Paytm cites the presence of UPI cashback offer and scratch cards feature on the app as the reason why Google de-listed it from the store. 

In its explanation to Paytm, Google said, “Your app contains content that doesn’t comply with the Gambling policy as it offers games with “loyalty” (e.g. engagement or activity) points that are accrued or accelerated via real-money purchases which can be exchanged for items or prizes of real-world monetary value.” In the accompanying screenshots, Google highlighted certain terms and conditions of the Paytm Cricket League that it thinks violated its gambling policies. 

Having said that, UPI cashback offers are being hosted by most payments app to get more users to use their app. Interestingly, Google’s payment service Google Pay is also hosting a similar offer called Tez Shots. In it, the company has introduced a small cricket game in the app that lets users play and earn “rewards” worth up to Rs 1 lac. Similar to Paytm’s terms and conditions that Google feels it violated, Tez Shots conditions state that “any reward money” will be deposited into the user’s “UPI enabled savings account”. 

However, unlike Paytm Cricket League, Tez Shots doesn’t deal in collecting stickers of cricket players and exchanging it for a cashback which is likely the reason why Google is citing its gambling policy in this case. Having said that, fantasy sports isn't restricted in India and is not illegal in the country.

Taking a jab at Google, Paytm said, “Presumably, such cashback campaigns of Google Pay are not in breach of Play Store policies, or maybe they are, but a different set of rules apply to Google’s own apps.”

Paytm vs Google: What Google said?

In a new statement issued by a Google spokesperson, the company clarifies that cashback and stickers were alone, not responsible for the de-listing of Paytm from Play Store. “Offering cashback and vouchers alone do not constitute a violation of our Google Play gambling policies. Last week we reiterated our Play Store gambling policies. Our policies don’t allow online casinos or support any unregulated gambling apps that facilitate sports betting, including daily fantasy sports in India,” the statement reads.

This statement forms the argument that online casinos and unregulated gambling apps that let users participate in sports betting and daily fantasy sports are in direct violation of the Play Store policies. However, in India, fantasy sports is considered a “game of skill” and only “games of chance” are termed as gambling.

“We enforce our policies very thoughtfully to provide a safe and secure experience for consumers, while also giving developers the platform and tools they need to build sustainable businesses. In the case of repeated policy violations, we may take serious action, which may include terminating Google Play Developer accounts. Our policies are enforced on all developers consistently," the spokesperson added.

Google has not specifically disclosed the red flags that led them to de-listing the Paytm app from the Play Store. That said, there could be multiple reasons including the promotion of Paytm First Games’ fantasy cricket league on the Paytm app. As revealed from the blog post by Paytm, Google had approached Paytm three times between August and September 2020 over “a separate matter” and that the company had “immediately complied” with the regulations by stopping the promotion of its gaming subsidiary on the primary app.

Paytm vs Google: Questions left unanswered

Paytm has accused Google of creating policies that are “over and above the laws of our country, and are arbitrarily implementing them” without any oversight. This ties directly into the larger debate that is being seen around the world over the immense power wielded by big technology companies like Apple, Google, Facebook and more that creates a kind of monopoly in the ecosystem. 

Another question that warrants a re-look at the Google Play policies is the fact that while Paytm is not allowed to promote its gaming subsidiary Paytm First Games’ fantasy league within its app, it can do a “paid promotion” of the same service on YouTube which is owned by Google.

Clearly, Google’s decision to take down one of the biggest payment system’s app in India off its app store hasn’t gone down too well and more so with the Paytm First Games that recently onboarded Sachin Tendulkar as the brand ambassador to create awareness about fantasy sports in India.

 

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Microsoft has just acquired the publisher of iconic franchises like Doom, Wolfenstein and Skyrim

Some huge news out of the gaming world today as Microsoft has acquired Zenimax Media. For the uninitiated, Zenimax Media is the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, the guys behind Skyrim, Wolfenstein, Doom and more. The announcement was made about an hour ago as Microsoft posted the news on the Xbox blog. The company released a media statement which says, Today is a special day, as we welcome some of the most accomplished studios in the games industry to Xbox. We are thrilled to announce Microsoft has entered into an agreement to acquire ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Softworks.”

Today is a special day… We are THRILLED to welcome the talented teams and beloved game franchises of @Bethesda to Team Xbox! Read the full announce from @XboxP3: https://t.co/Jn0HcTJ9Mi pic.twitter.com/iQVutgT6zq

— Xbox (@Xbox) September 21, 2020

In a report by Bloomberg, Microsoft has acquired Zenimax Media for a whopping $7.5 billion, which is essentially the largest acquisition of its kind in the gaming industry. Based in Rockville, Maryland, the publisher is responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed games like the aforementioned Skyrim, Doom, Wolfenstein, and is now looking at bolstering the Xbox and Microsoft with some much-needed creative juice. This news comes right after Microsoft announced the launch date and price of the Xbox Series X and Series S. There has been fan grumbling about the lack of exclusives for the Xbox but with this acquisition, that should not be the case any more. 

In fact, there are two games that have been announced as PS5 timed exclusives, namely Deathloop and Ghostwire:Tokyo. So, will we be seeing these games first on the PS5 first and then maybe in some time, they’ll come to the Xbox and PC? Right now, the answers are up in the air, but we should be getting more news regarding the acquisition soon. 

 

 

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Microsoft Buys Bethesda-Owner ZeniMax for $7.5 Billion

Microsoft said on Monday it would acquire ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion (Rs. 55,223 crores) in cash, strengthening its Xbox video game offering with the studio behind titles such as Fallout and the Doom reboot.

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AMD Big Navi GPU VRAM specs leaked

AMD’s Big Navi GPUs have been a hotly rumoured thing for a considerable amount of time now. There have been leaks every now and then, but the most recent one makes Big Navi something to really look forward to. Tipster @_rogame has revealed two VRAM specs for the upcoming Big Navi GPUs, one with 16GB VRAM and another with 12GB VRAM. This puts the upcoming cards right in the league of the recently announced Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (Review).

I've now got confirmation for both : > Navi21 16GB VRAM > Navi22 12GB VRAM I have no idea if these are full die or cut down SKUs

— _rogame (@_rogame) September 17, 2020

While there are no official names yet, the Navi 22 GPU is rumoured to have 12GB VRAM while the Navi 21 GPU is said to sport the larger 20GB VRAM. Gamer’s Meld had earlier suggested that the Big Navi GPU would be named RX6900XT and would compete with the RTX 3090. The RTX 3090 currently sports 24GB of VRAM, and neither of the card specs leaked today suggest a 24GB model.

While the leaked cards do sport enough VRAM to go toe-to-toe with Team Green’s best, there’s a lot more to a GPU’s performance than just VRAM. While we expect AMD to use TSMC’s 7nm process for the upcoming Big Navi GPUs, it is entirely possible that the company might surprise us all with the use of a 5nm process-based design. Additionally, while the new GPUs could match the gaming performance of the cards from Nvidia, the power draw of Big Navi cards would be an important component of how these cards are finally received by gamers. Nvidia resorted to creating a new power connector, but bundled a converter in the box so users could continue using their existing power supplies. It would be interesting to see if AMD follows the same route or sticks to the existing standard connectors.

AMD is expected to reveal their next big GPU lineup on October 28th, right after revealed the next generation of their desktop processors on October 8th.

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OnePlus 8T 5G confirmed to launch on October 14 in India

OnePlus 8T 5G is confirmed to launch on October 14 in India, the company has confirmed. OnePlus had started teasing its fans about the launch of the Oneplus 8T since Friday, last week and the company has now revealed that the successor to the OnePlus 8 series will be announced on October 14. 

In a blog post, OnePlus co-founder Pete Lau says, "With the upcoming OnePlus 8T, we are once again raising the bar for ourselves in terms of the overall user experience, thanks to some new features that we are excited to introduce for the first time in a OnePlus device." 

OnePlus 8T 5G launch event is scheduled to start from 7:30 PM IST/ 10:00AM EDT / 3PM BST / 4PM CEST on October 14 and will be live-streamed on YouTube and OnePlus official website.

The next addition to the OnePlus line up is ultra smooth, ultra fast and all things extreme. And, #UltraStopsAtNothing. Get ready for the #OnePlus8T5G Get Notified: https://t.co/faf4p8m1jC pic.twitter.com/wolJ7RreB9

— OnePlus India (@OnePlus_IN) September 21, 2020

OnePlus 8T has been subject to numerous leaks and rumours in the past and speculations are rife whether the company will bring a OnePlus 8T Pro or skip it entirely. We believe the omission of the word "series" from the launch invite is likely a hint at that possibility. Nevertheless, here's what we know about the OnePlus 8T so far.

OnePlus 8T 5G leaked specifications

OnePlus 8T is rumoured to feature a 6.55-inch Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution display with a 120Hz high refresh rate. There is a punch-hole cutout in the top-left corner for the selfie camera and the screen is relatively flatter than the OnePlus 8.

The OnePlus 8T is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor and could be paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage or 12GB+256GB storage options to choose from. The phone is expected to run on OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11, out-of-the-box.

OnePlus 8T could come with a 48MP primary camera, a 16MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 5MP macro lens and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, there is a 16MP selfie camera that is housed in the punch-hole cutout.

The OnePlus 8T could also come fitted with a 4,500mAh battery with support for 65W fast charging out-of-the-box.

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WhatsApp multi-device feature in its final stages of testing before beta release: Report

WhatsApp multi-device support has been in the news for months now and it looks like WhatsApp will finally roll out the feature to beta users soon. The new information comes from WABetaInfo suggesting that the multiple device feature could be available for beta version users soon. 

The feature will let users access their WhatsApp account on up to 4 devices, without the need for the primary phone to be connected to the internet. As of now, users can use WhatsApp on their PC or Mac via the app or browser, but the primary smartphone with the WhatsApp account needs to be connected to the internet. 

WABetaInfo has also shared a screenshot of the Multi-device feature. It looks like the feature will be listed under linked devices and there will be a toggle to enable multi-devices. Another feature is the ability to have different wallpapers for your chats on each device. 

WhatsApp multi-device feature has been in the news since July 2020 and you can read more about it here. 

In other WhatsApp news, if you have deleted a chat that you now want back, you can learn how to do it here. WhatsApp is also looking to add Doodles and Wallpaper Dimming to its new beta update and you can read more about it here. WhatsApp could also release a “Mute Always” feature that you can read about here. 

Back in April, WhatsApp increased the limit of people on a video call from 4 to 8 to help more people stay in touch on a single call. Due to the ongoing pandemic, more and more people are staying at home and WhatsApp is making it easier for family and friends to stay in touch. You can read more about the increase in simultaneous video calling on WhatsApp here. 

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