EA Play Comes to Xbox Game Pass on Console and Android, Available December 15 on PC

With Xbox Series S/X launching Tuesday globally, EA Play will join Xbox Game Pass on console and Android. Microsoft has announced an exact release date for EA Play on Xbox Game Pass for PC: December 15.

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OnePlus Nord SE with 65W fast charging tipped to launch in early 2021

OnePlus Nord SE could be the next phone in the Nord-lineup, according to the latest report. The Nord SE is slated to be a follow-up to the OnePlus Nord that was launched in July and marked OnePlus’ re-entry into the mid-range smartphone segment. Recently, the company also launched the OnePlus Nord N10 and Nord N100 for the US and the European markets.

According to a report by the Android Central that cites “insider sources”, OnePlus Nord SE is likely the next phone from the company that’s slated to launch sometime in the first quarter of 2021. The report states that while the company has not decided on a launch date, the Nord SE is expected to go official after the OnePlus 9 that could be announced by mid-March 2021.

As per the new information, the OnePlus Nord SE is known by the codename “Ebba” internally and the phone is rumoured to feature the same Warp Charge 65 support that debuted with the OnePlus 8T. The Nord SE is expected to feature a 4,500mAh battery, the same as the Nord but with 65W fast charging support, taking less than 40 minutes to fully charge the phone. 

Moreover, the Nord SE is tipped to feature an AMOLED panel and will launch in India and Europe. The report hints that the Nord SE doesn’t seem likely to be released for the US market. Going by the tipped specifications, the OnePlus Nord SE could be a direct successor to the OnePlus Nord but there’s no official word on it just yet.

OnePlus Nord specifications

OnePlus Nord is priced starting at Rs 24,999 in India and features a 6.44-inch Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution display that uses an AMOLED panel with a dual punch-hole cutout that gives it a 20:9 aspect ratio. The screen has a 90Hz high refresh rate and is topped with a layer of Gorilla Glass 5 for added protection.

The Nord is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset with an octa-core CPU and Adreno 620 GPU. This is paired with upto 12GB RAM and upto 256GB storage option to choose from. It runs on Android 10 based OxygenOS 10.0.

It comes with a quad-camera setup on the back that consists of a primary 48MP camera, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with 119-degree field-of-view, a 5MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro camera. On the front, there’s a 32MP primary selfie camera accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with 105-degree field-of-view.

The OnePlus Nord has an in-display fingerprint sensor and is equipped with a 4,115mAh battery with support for 30W fast charging out-of-the-box. OnePlus claims that the Warp Charge 30T adapter takes around 30 minutes to charge the phone from 0-70%.

 

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Xbox Series S/X Hits Stores, Kicking Off Holiday Season Console War Against PlayStation 5

Microsoft's new Xbox console hit stores worldwide Tuesday, kicking off a holiday season battle with Sony's latest PlayStation model, as the coronavirus pandemic creates unprecedented gaming demand around the world.

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Everything new with WhatsApp: Disappearing messages, WhatsApp Pay and more

WhatsApp has introduced a couple of new features in the past month or so including the much-awaited WhatsApp Pay and disappearing messages, to name a few. The Facebook-owned instant messaging platform has been on a roll lately as it has added some new features and revamped existing ones. WhatsApp considers India as one of its largest markets with over 400 million users (as of July 2019) and that number has only grown this year. 

Here we take a look at everything new that has been added to WhatsApp including features like the much-awaited WhatsApp Pay in India and more. 

WhatsApp now supports UPI Payments in India

WhatsApp rolled-out support for UPI Payments in India, two years after the service officially debuted but was faced with several regulatory issues that prevented its wider-rollout. Late last week on November 6, WhatsApp finally managed to make its Payments service live in India after getting the necessary approvals from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

With WhatsApp Pay, users can transfer money using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system just like Google Pay or PhonePe. What’s different with WhatsApp is that there is no need to download a separate app as the feature is being added system-wide for all users across India. 

Being one of the most popular messaging platforms, chances are that you already use WhatsApp to reach out to your friends and family. The WhatsApp Payments support adds the ability of easily sending money that is as simple as sending a message. There’s no transactional fee for using WhatsApp Payments service and it is supported by over 140 banks for now. 

For setting up WhatsApp Pay on your account, users need to update the app to the latest version and go to Settings. Here, tap on Payments and follow the instructions to add your bank account to WhatsApp. Once activated, users can transfer money by selecting a chat from the main screen and tapping the attachment button. Do note, however, that the receiver must enable WhatsApp Payments service on their app as well to receive money.

Disappearing messages on WhatsApp

WhatsApp recently received an update that added disappearing messages to the app. With this new feature, WhatsApp users can choose to erase all messages exchanged in a chat. Once enabled for a chat, all messages exchanged between two users will disappear after seven days. All messages sent before the feature update will be saved though so users don’t need to worry about losing past conversations. 

WhatsApp has released the disappearing messages feature to users globally and all WhatsApp users are set to receive it by the end of November. To enable the feature, users will have to manually enable it for individual chats, while group admins will be able to enable it for everyone in the group.

WhatsApp storage management tool

WhatsApp has also released a revamped storage management tool for users to easily clean up their storage of duplicate and large files, images and videos. The new option in the settings menu can identify images and videos that have been shared multiple times or have been saved over the years.

The utility automatically categorizes files, pictures and videos under two options, forwarded many times and by file size. Users can then preview the files and choose to free up their phone’s storage by deleting them. This comes in handy, especially for users who have phones with limited storage capacity. The new feature will also display an alert when the phone is running out of storage space and users can choose to delete some existing files suggested by the storage management tool. 

WhatsApp shopping button

WhatsApp has added a shopping button for users globally and users in India are set to receive it sometime later. With a dedicated shopping button, WhatsApp aims to add more shopping-related features to the messaging platform including sharing catalogue, adding products to cart and even a checkout system so that users can shop on WhatsApp directly without leaving the app.

When the system is integrated fully into WhatsApp, users can just start a simple conversation with a business account and browse the catalogue, choose products and place the order instantly.

 

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Sony A8H OLED TV review

The Sony A8H brings with it vibrant picture performance for HDR and SDR content. The Android TV UI is smooth and works well. The changes to navigation and settings are welcome. While the panel is reflective, it can produce some of the deepest blacks and richest contrast on a TV. The sound output of the TV is good too. It doesn’t have HDMI 2.1 features like 4K at 120Hz or VRR, which can be a downer for those looking to exploit next-gen consoles to the fullest. 

Back in 2017, Sony entered the OLED ring with the launch of the Sony A1 OLED TV. Not only was this Sony’s first foray into the OLED market, but Sony did a bunch of new things with the TV. For starters, it had a picture-frame-like design, giving it a unique look. This was also the first time Sony introduced its Acoustic Surface technology where the entire display essentially was the speaker. It's 2020, and we now have Sony's flagship OLED TV for the year, the A8H. While the TV has a design which has evolved over the years, it also has the evolution of Sony’s technology with OLED panels, Triluminos Display and Acoustic Surface audio. Put simply, this is one of the best TVs for a cinematic viewing experience, and we’ll get to why in the performance section. The TV may not boast of HDMI 2.1, and we’ll cover that in the gaming section, but it does have eARC for the home theatre enthusiast.

Sony A8H: Specs at a glance

Panel Size: 65-inch (available in 55-inch as well) Panel Type: OLED Panel Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - 4K Panel Refresh Rate: 60Hz at 4K (120Hz at 1080p) HDR 10 support: Yes Dolby Vision Support: Yes Weight (with stand): 23.6kgs HDMI Ports: 4 USB Ports: 3 Bluetooth: Yes Wi-Fi: Yes Ethernet: Yes Speakers: 30W (Actuators x 2, Subwoofers x 2) Built-in storage: 16GB Price: Rs 2,79,990 for 65-inch

Sony A8H OLED TV: Display and Picture Quality

Sony has packed in a lot of technology into the A8H’s display. To kick things off, it is an OLED panel, which means every pixel is self-illuminating, giving you the deepest blacks and most vibrant colours. Adding vibrancy to the colours, we have Sony’s Triluminos Display and Sony’s Pixel Contrast Booster which claims to make content more vibrant. Then there is Sony’s 4K X-Reality Pro engine to upscale content and the heavy lifting of processing is handled by Sony’s X-1 Ultimate chip. Needless to say, Sony has thrown everything at this TV except a coffee maker and the kitchen sink. Does packing every piece of tech make this the ultimate TV or do too many cooks spoil the broth? Let’s get into some content performance. 

Sony A8H: 4K and HDR performance

Straight off the bat, the one thing to notice is that the TV doesn’t get as bright as the Sony Z8H (review). But that is an LED TV. This is an OLED which means it has deeper blacks and more vibrant colours from the get-go. Let's break this up into content. 

The end battle sequence in Wonder Woman (4K Dolby Vision print) has a lot of high contrast moments where Wonder Woman and her foe trade blows with a lot of explosions and lightning thrown into the mix. When lightning strikes in the right corner of the scene, it casts some passive light at nearby areas, making trees in the dead of night clearly visible. In a fight sequence like this which takes place in the night, the TV can handle dark and bright areas quite well, thanks to the OLED’s self-illuminating nature. 

In a show like the Grand Tour,  Season 1, Episode 1 contains some bright sunlight with cars wheezing across a desert. We have noticed some TVs find it hard to render the colour of the sand accurately, or there is clipping in some highlights, but not on this TV. It renders some colours in the cars beautifully. 

Even Our Planet on Netflix (S1E1), there is a transitional sequence from night to day and from a sky filled with stars to a bright sunny desert, there is no clipping in the highlights nor any loss of details. 

So, is there anything lacking? Well, it is an OLED panel at the end of the day which means, when consuming content in the daytime, the panel can get reflective. This isn't a problem with this OLED only, but something we’ve seen on all OLED TVs. The trick is to draw the curtains or ensure there is no direct reflection on the TV to enjoy content in the day time. The viewing angles are great too and even at a wide-angle, you can consume content with ease and accurate colours. 

Sony A8H: FHD Performance

Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube and more are full of 1080p content as well. Shows like Young Sheldon, which naturally have a bright colour pallet, are a treat to watch on this TV. They are presented in a vibrant tone that one can enjoy. Even movies like Spider-Man: Homecoming is vibrant. On the other hand, we have Mission: Impossible. Switching off motion flow, we saw no jitter in the fast-moving motorcycle chase sequences.  Skin tones looked natural in the default Standard preset as well. 

Sony A8H: Gaming Performance

We don't have a PS5 or Xbox Series X to judge the next generation of games on this TV, but we do have some cross-gen games.  We played Spider-Man: Miles Morales (review) and Dirt 5 on this TV and the experience was good. Both the games run at 30 FPS in fidelity mode (for Dirt 5) and the gameplay was fun. Input lag was minimal and the colours in these 2 games deserve special mention. For Spider-Man, we have a snow-covered New York City which looks pretty darn good even without the ray-tracing magic of the PS5. Similarly, on the Xbox, we played Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Gears 5 (review).

The vibrancy of the landscape in Assassin's Creed and the dark corridors in the opening act of Gears 5 was breathtaking, especially when played at night. Turn the lights down and watch the colours pop on this TV. 

Unlike LG’s 2020 OLED offerings, the Sony A8H does not support HDMI 2.1, meaning you don't get features like 4K at 120Hz, VRR, ALLM, etc. The built-in game mode on the TV does help with input lag. The only Sony TV that comes with the above-mentioned HDMI 2.1 features is the Sony X90H (review) and that too with only two HDMI 2.1 ports. While HDMI 2.1 is the go-to standard for next-gen gaming, its requirement is still a question. While there are only a handful of games that can achieve 120Hz, it looks like most next-gen games will target 4K at 60Hz with all bells and whistles like ray-tracing enabled. So, the short answer is if you want to play Dirt 5 at 60Hz with a dynamic 4K resolution on your TV, then the experience on this TV should be as good as any. But if you want to play the game at a lower 1080p resolution at 120Hz, then you are better off looking elsewhere. 

Sony A8H: Audio performance

Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio has evolved over the years and one of the key areas of change here is in the Bass and channel separation. Look at Ready Player One, the first big race at the 13-minute mark. It has cars whizzing past the screen and not only is the left to right channel separation noticeable, but you can also hear the bass when King Kong Starts attacking the cars. Sure, it is nowhere close to the Sony HT-G700 (review) or the Philips 3.1 soundbar (review) we reviewed earlier, but its presence is enough that you don’t need a soundbar from day 1 with this TV. 

In fact, things like vocals and channel separation are one of the highlights of the TV. Characters talking to each other on the left and right side of the screen exhibit clear channel separation. The TV can also get quite loud considering its mere 30W output on paper. When setting up the TV, you can use the mic on the remote control to calibrate the audio to your listening position for a better sound experience.

Sony A8H: UI

The UI is Android TV through and through and is the same as what we saw on the X90H and the Z8H. We have the slightly redesigned Settings menu, the tried and tested Android TV UI, Google Assistant, Chromecast abilities and support for AirPlay, which works quite well. The UI is as smooth as we saw on the X90H without any lag or stutter. You also have access to all popular streaming services from the Play Store. 

Remote control

Another thing which is the same as the X90H is the remote control. The remote doesn’t have backlighting found on the Z8H. It has the same textured back, for grip, dedicated buttons for Netflix and Google Play, playback controls and more. It has a traditional design with access to a number pad. 

Sony A8H: Build and design

Like we said in the beginning, the design of Sony’s OLED’s has changed over the years. The A1 had a picture frame like design, the Sony A8F sat flush with the tabletop and had a base that held the TV in place at the centre. The Sony A8H has two separate feet to hold the TV in place, and the TV can be mounted on a table in two positions. It can sit flush with the tabletop as we have here, or it can be propped up a little, giving you some space to put a soundbar or set-top-box below the TV. It’s nice to have the option of 2 positions. Coming to the display itself, it is super thin as we have seen with all OLED TVs. There is a rectangular bulge at the back which houses the internals and the connectivity ports. 

For connectivity, the A8H has one HDMI port, two USB ports, headphones and video in on the side. At the back, in a small cavity, we have three HDMI ports, one USB port, optical, LAN and a good old antenna. 

While the connectivity options are plentiful, I wish more HDMI ports were facing the side as the downward-facing ports may be a hassle to get to if the TV is wall mounted.

Bottom Line

OLEDs are the pinnacle of content consumption and a cinematic experience, and the Sony A8H delivers on this front. It has fantastic picture quality as far as 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, SDR and FHD content is concerned. It has good sound output as well. Android has evolved to a point where it isn't a laggy experience any more. What the TV doesn’t have going for it is that it doesn’t bring with it HDMI 2.1 features like 4K at 120Hz or VRR, which can be a downer for those looking to invest in a next-gen console and GPU proof TV. The peak brightness, though not as high as the Z8H, is still bright enough to enjoy HDR content.

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OnePlus 9 series model number and specifications appear online, tipped to launch in March 2021

OnePlus 9 series is rumoured to make an early appearance sometime by mid-March expectedly with the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. As per the latest leak online that reveals the purported model numbers of the upcoming phones by OnePlus, there have been rumours that OnePlus might launch a third phone in the series. Some key specifications of the OnePlus 9 series have also been hinted online but we will advise our readers to take this with a pinch of salt.

According to a tweet by TechDroider that revealed the alleged model numbers, the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro could come bearing LE2110, LE2117, LE2119, LE2120 and LE2127 numbers respectively. The initials “LE” could be a hint at the codename of the OnePlus 9 which is rumoured to be ‘Lemonade’.

OnePlus 9 LE2110 OnePlus 9 Pro LE2117 LE2119 LE2120

— TechDroider (@techdroider) November 7, 2020

pic.twitter.com/ggS5DOYWpT

— Max Jambor (@MaxJmb) October 19, 2020

Previously, the same tipster had stated a Weibo post that the OnePlus 9 series could have three phones when it launches next year, however, in a subsequent post, the tipster went back on its claims.

There's no Third OnePlus 9 Smartphone. OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro Next year Mid-March. That Weibo News is Fake. So no "OnePlus 9 Ultra or Something" as some Speculated.

— TechDroider (@techdroider) November 8, 2020

That said, some details about the key specifications of the OnePlus 9 series have been revealed that give us a hint at what to expect from the successors to the OnePlus 8 series.

OnePlus 9 leaked specifications

OnePlus 9 is rumoured to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 processor that’s due out in December. The leak indicates that the upcoming phones in the OnePlus 9 series could support upto 144Hz refresh rate display, IP68 certification, NFC and dual stereo speakers. The company could also provide the same 65W fast charging that it debuted with the OnePlus 8T in October along with support for 40W fast wireless charging.

OnePlus has not officially detailed any plans about the OnePlus 9 yet considering it is too early and the fact that the OnePlus 8T is still a new phone that it launched last month. Having said that, speculations are rife as there have been reports of the company gearing up to launch the OnePlus 9 series nearly a month before its usual time. As per the latest rumours, we could see the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro sometime by mid-March 2021.

 

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Netflix Direct launches in France, will function like a normal TV channel

Ever felt like making a decision on what to watch on Netflix was a chore? Well, users in France are getting a more streamlined version of Netflix called Netflix Direct. First reported by Variety, the service will essentially function like a TV channel with content from Netflix’s streaming library. The service will deliver linear content, reminiscent to how TV channels work. In a statement to the media, Netflix said, “Maybe you’re not in the mood to decide, or you’re new and finding your way around, or you just want to be surprised by something new and different. 

France was chosen simply because a lot of French folks still watch TV and don’t really consume the amount of streaming content other countries do. The French do not want to choose something to watch, instead, they prefer just turning on the TV and sitting on the couch watching whatever’s broadcast at them. It’s no doubt that Netflix is very popular in India, but could we actually see a service like Netflix Direct in India? Well, right now there are no plans to release the service in any other country so it’s just available in France, at the moment. 

Netflix also raised prices for its Standard and Premium plans in the US and since Netflix doesn't follow differential pricing, we wondered what that would mean for the Indian market. Netflix is also offering its catalogue for free for a weekend for users looking to try out the service before investing. You can read more about that here. 

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