Angry Birds Maker Rovio Says CEO Kati Levoranta to Quit at Year End

Rovio Entertainment said on Monday that Chief Executive Kati Levoranta will leave the maker of the Angry Birds game series at the end of the year.

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Paytm First Games Announced Rs. 10 Crores Fund to Support Indian Game Developers, Design Studios

Paytm First Games has announced a Rs. 10 crores fund to provide a launchpad to homegrown developers and design studios. The company has also promised to help participating Indian developers with technology solutions and promote their games on the Paytm First Games app.

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HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop TG01-0203in Review

The HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop TG01-0203in Review features an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X CPU and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 GPU at a reasonable price. Is this everything you need for 1080p gaming?

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Redmi SonicBass Wireless Earphones

At the sub-2K price point, the Redmi SonicBass Wireless Earphones are a surprisingly decent purchase. The sound quality is commendable, even though we’d prefer some more heft in the mids, the earphones don’t push the bass excessively as seen on some budget competitors. Additionally, you also get a decent 12 hours of battery life, an IPX4 rating, and voice assistant support. Overall, we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend these earphones to those looking for a decent pair of earphones under Rs 2,000. However, if you’re a basshead, the slightly restrained bass response might deter you from buying these earphones.

Affordable wireless earphones from the likes of companies such as Redmi, Realme, Wings, OnePlus, Oppo and others have become increasingly popular amidst the largely price-conscious Indian market. While these earphones certainly do not contend against high-end wireless earphones from companies such as Sony, Jabra, Bose, and others, they are increasingly providing a compelling number of features and sometimes, even good sound quality at this lucrative price point. Priced at merely Rs 999, Redmi has now launched the Redmi SonicBass Wireless Earphones, a pair of neckband style wireless earphones. Let’s see how these earphones fared in our review.

Build and comfort

Primarily sporting a plastic build, the Redmi SonicBass Wireless Earphones come in a flexible neckband-style design with a matte black finish. The earphones are available in only one colour - black, and there are no differently coloured accents on the earphones, so they tend to look slightly bland. 

The surface of the neckband that rests on the back of the neck is rounded while the other side is flat. This curve allows it to rest more naturally on the neck. The materials used feel decent to the touch, and don’t have the abhorrently plasticky feel that some budget earphones sport.

The plastic end (or modules) on both sides are lightweight and the right one houses all the buttons and ports. This includes a multifunction button, volume up and down buttons, and a micro-USB charging port. The buttons are easy to find but the volume up and down buttons aren’t as tactile or ‘clicky’ as we’d hope. The micro-USB charging port is tucked under a plastic flap. It is slightly disappointing that Redmi has chosen to go the micro-USB route even in 2020, however, at Rs 999, it may be acceptable. Also, Redmi hasn’t provided a micro-USB charger within the box.

The earbuds sport a dual matte and glossy texture, with the back housings of the buds featuring a CD-like design. These housings are magnetic and can be attached to one another when lying idle. There’s no function that powers off the device via the magnetic connection like on the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z and the Realme Buds Air, however, we were perfectly content with the normal power on/off button on the Redmi SonicBass.

Something we weren’t content with was the fit of the earphones. Despite being extremely lightweight, the earbuds didn’t feel extremely secure within the ear. We tried all the sizes of silicone tips (3 sizes) provided in the box, but we still couldn’t get that perfectly snug fit. The buds seemed slightly unstable in the ear, especially during intense activities such as jogging. Depending on whether you find the perfect fit, you may feel the need to readjust them within your ears every now and then. Nevertheless, while the fit may be slightly inadequate, the earbuds are lightweight which makes them pretty comfortable to wear over extended periods.

Features

The Redmi SonicBass aren’t exactly feature-laden, however, they do come with some fairly basic features. Powered by Bluetooth v5.0 connectivity, the earphones have the standard range of about 30 feet (unobstructed). Also, there weren’t any lags and skips in the audio and the connection was pretty much solid throughout our testing period.

The earphones also come with voice assistant support. Double-tapping the multifunction button on the right plastic module activates your device’s voice assistant (Google Assistant or Siri). The onboard controls also allow you to pause/play music, answer/decline calls, and skip tracks. The controls are fairly intuitive and worked almost flawlessly in our tests. 

The buds also come equipped with an IPX4 splash and sweat proof rating, which means you can use them in the gym even if you sweat profusely. Light splashes in rains also shouldn’t damage these earphones. 

You also get a pretty decent battery life rated at about 12 hours of playtime. This is the same as the battery life of one of the Redmi SonicBass’ biggest competitors - the Realme Buds Wireless. In our tests, at about 50-60 percent volume, we managed to squeeze out a respectable 11 hours of battery life.

Overall, the Redmi SonicBass provide some nifty but relatively basic features such as Bluetooth 5.0, voice assistant support, and an IPX4 rating. However, it misses out on USB Type-C charging, and AAC codec support (aptX is usually found on more expensive earphones). 

Performance

The status quo with budgetary wireless earphones is usually where companies attempt to cramp in as much bass response as possible, sometimes even at the expense of other frequencies, which we don’t appreciate. While the Redmi SonicBass does have a full-bodied bass response, it doesn’t sound murky or muddy as on some other budget options in this price range. The bass response is tight and articulate in tracks such as Another One Bites the Dust by Queen without compromising the vocals. Unless you’re a complete basshead, you won’t be disappointed with the well-defined but slightly restrained bass response.

The mids, on the other hand, are slightly dull on these earphones. However, this is not due to auditory masking that is caused by excessive bass, but because the mids seem to be pulled back on these earphones. As a result, in tracks such as Pull Me Under by Dream Theatre, the lead instruments tend to sound a tad listless. The highs, on the other hand, are quite driven but the lows definitely are far more prominent.

In addition to a pretty decent sonic signature, the Redmi SonicBass also impressed us with a pretty wide soundstage and decent sonic imaging. In Hunter by Bjork, the vocals and instruments filled a wide space and were pretty accurately positioned. Overall, the Redmi SonicBass has a pleasing sound profile, although we’d like some more energy in the mids.

The microphone performance is subpar though, with the our voice sounding distorted to the listener on the other end during calls. Also, the earphones allow a lot of environmental noise in and relay it back in calls. 

Bottomline

Priced competitively at Rs 999, the Redmi SonicBass Wireless Earphones are a surprisingly decent purchase. The sound quality is commendable, even though we’d prefer some more heft in the mids, the earphones don’t push the bass excessively as seen on some budget competitors. Additionally, you also get a decent 12 hours of battery life, an IPX4 rating, and voice assistant support. Overall, we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend these earphones to those looking for a decent pair of earphones for budget wireless earphones. However, if you’re a basshead, the slightly restrained bass response may deter you from buying these earphones.

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Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered Officially Announced

Electronic Arts has officially announced Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered. After having teased earlier this week, it has been revealed that the game will be out on 6 November 2020, on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC via Steam and Origin (soon to be called: EA Desktop App). Later, on 13 November 2020, the title will also be out on the Nintendo Switch platform.

The remastered version of Criterion's critically-acclaimed racing title will be coming with enhanced visuals, cross-play and a whole lot more. The visual upgrades include support for up to 4K UHD resolutions at 60 fps, higher resolution models and textures, longer draw distances, crisp reflections and shadows, and more objects, on-screen elements and particles. Adding onto the multiplayer cross-play, the game will also include an Autolog system. Which is, an in-game social network, that logs in your best finish times and compares it with others in your friend list and the global player base. The Autolog will also be keeping track of head-to-head racing challenges with your friends.

The game will be coming with all the additional main DLC at launch, including an extra 6 hours of gameplay and 30 fun and unique challenges. It will also include an updated photo mode and gallery, new unlockable achievements and reduced hard stops that provide a much free-flowing experience.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered is available for pre-order now. You can also get access to the game via EA Play Pro (subscription service) on Origin PC.

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Lava, Micromax, Foxconn among companies approved for Indias smartphone incentive plan

India is going to become a major hub of smartphone manufacturing soon. The government approved incentives under the PLI (Production-linked incentive) scheme to 16 smartphone manufacturing companies including Foxconn, Samsung, Lava, Micromax and more, as a means to boost domestic manufacturing.

Smartphone manufacturing has been a marquee feature under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make In India policy, and the government had announced a $6.65 billion (roughly Rs 48,894 crores) incentive scheme to turn the country into a manufacturing and export hub for smartphones.

Government officials, earlier this year, amended the rules to the PLI scheme to make it more market-friendly by removing caps and other contentious clauses. The incentives range from 4% to 6% over a five-year period, provided the manufacturer makes smartphones valued at around $200. The incentives will be only released if the manufacturer ramps up production level by more than Rs 4,000 crore over and above the production level in the base year.

16 companies approved under the PLI scheme

According to a report by Reuters, 16 companies have received the approval of incentives under the scheme, and have agreed to ramp up production in the country. The list includes iPhone manufacturers Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron. However, the government did not disclose the investment these companies will make. Sources told Reuters that a total of almost $900 million (roughly Rs 6,614 crores) have been planned by these companies to be invested in India over a five-year period.

Samsung, which owns the world’s largest mobile manufacturing plant in Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, also received approval under the scheme. Furthermore, Indian smartphone brands like Lava and Micromax also got approval. According to a statement given to Reuters, the approved companies are expected to make Rs 10,50,000 crores worth of smartphones in India.

Source: Reuters

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Apple iPhone 12 launch event confirmed for October 13: headphones and smaller HomePod also expected

Apple iPhone 12 launch event has officially been scheduled for October 13 where the Cupertino giant is expected to announce new iPhones, headphones and a smaller HomePod. The iPhone 12 launch comes after Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 6, Watch SE and more last month at the Time Flies event held on September 15. 

Apple is sending out invites for a special event titled “Hi, Speed” where the company is expected to launch the new iPhone 12 range alongside the much rumoured Apple AirPods Studio over-the-ear headphones, a smaller HomePod speaker and AirTag tracker.

Apple iPhone 12 launch event schedule

Apple has confirmed that it is hosting a special event on October 13 at 10:30 PM IST (10:00 AM PDT) that will be live-streamed online. The company is expected to launch new iPhones along with some other products and services. We have embedded the YouTube live stream link below for your convenience. Just set a reminder for the launch event and you will get notified for when the iPhone 12 event starts on October 13.

Apple October 13 event: What to expect?

Apple had previously hinted at the delayed launch of the iPhone 12 series by a couple of weeks due to the Coronavirus pandemic that has impacted its supply chain this year. According to several rumours and leaks, Apple is preparing to introduce four new iPhones in the iPhone 12 lineup-- iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max and a smaller iPhone 12 Mini.

The iPhone 12 Mini is expected to sport a 5.4-inch display alongside the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max. The new iPhones are powered by the Apple A14 SoC, becoming the first phones to be powered by a commercial 5nm chip. Interestingly, the A14 processor debuted on the new iPad Air last month. The new iPhones are also rumoured to come with supports for 5G networks.

Previous leaks have also hinted that the new iPhones for 2020 will be priced aggressively, with the iPhone 12 mini starting at $649. The iPhone 12 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. The iPhone 12 Pro could start from $999 while the larger 12 Pro Max is said to be priced at $1099. 

Apart from the new iPhone 12 range, the company is also expected to debut its first over-the-ears AirPods Studio headphones along with a smaller HomePod and a Bluetooth tracker that could end up being called AirTags.

 

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