Spotify mobile app may soon allow users to play locally saved files

You might soon be able to play locally stored files on music streaming app Spotify. A new feature has been discovered on the Spotify mobile app that shows music files stored on the mobile phone's memory in the Spotify app.

The new feature was first spotted by a Twitter user and frequent leaker Jane Manchun Wong, who shared a screenshot of how the feature looks inside the Android app. Going by the shared screenshot it seems that users will be able to sync locally stored music files and access them from "Your Library" section. It is said that users will have an option to add/remove local files using a toggle.

Spotify is finally working on on-device local files support for Android! No need to sync it from your desktop anymore :D pic.twitter.com/fVKiFAyxbs

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) December 6, 2020

While the feature was long-awaited by many users, this is not the only one that is being tested by the company. Recently it was reported that Spotify surveyed users on a premium subscription plan for podcasts, and also rolled out a Stories feature as part of a public test that's limited only to artists and specific playlists.

As of now, users need to download local files using a rather lengthy workaround where they first import the files to Spotify desktop app, create playlists and then download it using the Spotify mobile app. 

We do not have the official release timeline of the long-overdue feature. However, Spotify shouldn't take long as its rival YouTube Music already has this ability to sync local files into its music app.

While we wait for the leaked features to make it to the Spotify app, its users in India can get a discounted annual subscription plan till December 31. You get to save Rs 429. The usual price of the annual subscription plan is Rs 1,118, but Spotify is offering a 30% discount ahead of the Black Friday weekend. You only pay Rs 999 for a 12-month subscription.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/37C33aw

Vivo Y51 with FHD+ display, Snapdragon 665 launched in India: Price and specifications

The Vivo Y51 has officially launched in the mid-range segment in India. The launch of the Y51 comes after the company announced the V20 Pro last week. The Y51 features a triple camera setup on the back and is powered by the Snapdragon 665 that we have seen previously on phones such as the Vivo V20 SE, Realme Narzo 20A and Xiaomi Redmi Note 8, to name a few.

The Vivo Y51 is equipped with a large capacity battery and the recessed power button doubles up as a fingerprint reader. Let's take a brief look at the pricing, specifications and availability of the Y51 in India.

Vivo Y51 pricing and availability

The Vivo Y51 is priced at Rs 17,990 in India for the single 8GB+128GB storage option. It is being offered in two colours, Titanium Sapphire and Crystal Symphony to choose from. 

The Y51 is available to purchase from Amazon, Flipkart, Vivo India store and more.

Vivo Y51 specifications

Vivo Y51 features a 6.58-inch Full HD+ (2408 x 1080 pixels) resolution display with a waterdrop notch cutout for the selfie camera. It has a plastic built that measures 8.44 millimetres and weighs 188 grams. The phone has a vertical camera setup on the back that is tucked away in the top-left corner. The Titanium Sapphire colour has a matte finish on the back while the Crystal Symphony offers a reflective gradient finish.

The Y51 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor with an octa-core CPU and Adreno 610. This is paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage with microSD card to expand the storage by upto 1TB. It runs on Funtouch OS 11 that is based on Android 11.

The Vivo Y51 has a triple camera setup on the back that consists of a primary 48MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with 120-degree field of view and a 2MP macro camera. The rear cameras can record in 4K at 30FPS with support for EIS. On the front, there is a 16MP selfie camera.

It has a fingerprint reader on the side and is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. Vivo claims that the phone can go from 0-70% in 67 minutes. 

 

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

iOS 142 is reportedly causing rapid battery drain issues

The latest iOS 14.2 update shows the description of bug fixes and other issues but as it seems the update comes with a bug of its own. Many of the users have taken up Reddit and Apple Forums to complain about this issue. 

However, the issue seems to affect only slightly older models of Apple iPhones namely iPhone SE (1st gen), iPhone 7, and iPhone XS. The users are complaining about sudden battery drain such as upto 50% battery drain in about 30 minutes. Some users have noted that restarting the phone again shows bumped up battery percentage but it is unclear what is actually causing this issue.

The same issue seems prominent even in iPads, as users have been complaining about sudden battery performance issues after installing the iPad OS 14.2 update on their iPad. Interestingly none of the newer iPhone models have complained about this issue, so it is unclear whether this is a software issue or a hardware issue. iOS 14.2 includes new emojis, intercom, optimized Airpods battery charging, and some new wallpapers.

Apple has not issued any official statement regarding the same, but just a few days back they have issued a free screen replacement program for affected iPhone 11 users, you can check the details here.

Apple recently launched the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro 13, and Mac Mini powered by the company’s own M1 chip. You can learn more about the new Macs and the new chip powering it here. 

If you are one that has recently lost an iPhone, you can learn how to track your lost phone here. 

If you are in the market to pick up a new iPhone, you can check out our review of the iPhone 12 here. You can also check out our review of the iPad Air 2020 here. 

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

Xiaomi is launching the Mi QLED TV in India on December 16 at 12 noon

Just when you thought new product launches for 2020 had come to an end, Xiaomi jumps into the ring and announces the launch of a QLED TV. Xiaomi has taken to Twitter to make the announcement and the tweet reads, “Mi Fans, an all new TV experience awaits. #MiQLEDTV4K #QuantumLeapsAhead. December 16th,12 Noon. Stay Tuned”. The tweet is accompanied by a short 15-second video, highlighting the date and time along with the caption, “Quantum Leaps Ahead”. This is undoubtedly hinting at the QLED display the TV will come with. 

Mi Fans, an all new TV experience awaits. #MiQLEDTV4K #QuantumLeapsAhead December 16th,12 Noon Stay Tuned. pic.twitter.com/RUtB0PGUaj

— Mi India #Mi10TSeries5G (@XiaomiIndia) December 7, 2020 Mi QLED TV expected features and specifications

The Flipkart listing of the upcoming Mi QLED TV confirms the quantum dot backlighting for the TV. In 2020, we saw a number of QLED TVs launch but the one we got our hands on was the TCL C715. You can check out our review of the TV here. 

Coming back to the Mi QLED TV, the Flipkart listing has us intrigued with some specifications. One of the highlights is HDMI 2.1 with eARC. For the past 2 years, we have seen flagship TVs launch with support for eARC. While eARC is an HDMI 2.1 feature, most TVs have only support eARC and no other HDMI 2.1 features like VRR, ALLM and 4K at 120Hz. It will be interesting to see if any of these other features are supported on the TV. While Sony has the X90H (review) with two HDMI 2.1 ports, we have seen LG launch its 2020 OLED TVs and NanoCell TVs with all 4 HDMI ports supporting HDMI 2.1.

The Mi QLED TV also has support for dual-band Wi-Fi and this is important as 5GHz offers a better experience when streaming 4K video. Speaking of 4K, the supports the UHD resolution along with support for HDR 10+, and Dolby Vision. HDR 10+ is a step above HDR 10 as unlike HDR 10 which supports static metadata data for HDR content, HDR 10+ is a lot like Dolby Vision supporting Dynamic metadata. 

It looks like Xiaomi will continue offering a dual-OS for its Mi QLED TV giving users the beauty of Android TV and PatchWall. However, it remains to be seen if we get some new features or additions to PatchWall on this new TV. Xiaomi has been evolving PatchWall with new features on a regular basis. 

What will be interesting to see is whether the TV brings with it any dimming zones and what peak brightness it can achieve.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/36NVYo8

Gionee caught intentionally infecting over 20 million phones with malware

Gionee has been charged by a Chinese court for intentionally installing malware on a huge number of its smartphones between December 2018 and October 2019. According to the China Judgment Document Network, the malware installed by the company was found to be infecting over 20 million smartphones with a Trojan Horse using an app.

The said application was reportedly being used as a means to display unsolicited ads without the permission of the user. The report suggests that the app was installed on the affected Gionee phones via OTA update of the Story Lock Screen app without user consent. A plug-in named "Dark Horse Platform" was installed on the app.

The report further suggests that in nine months, Shenzhen Zhipu (a subsidiary of Gionee) and Beijing Baice carried out the “pull activities” a total of 2.88 billion times. Starting in April 2019, the number of devices infected surpassed 21.75 million, out of which 26,519,921 Gionee mobile phones were infected in October 2019 alone. Shenzhen Zhipu and Beijing Baice are estimated to have made $4.2 million (Approx. Rs 31,46,80,729) from the fraud.

The Chinese court found Xu Li, Zhu Ying, Jia Zhengqiang, and Pan Qi guilty. While Xu Li, Zhu Ying, and Jia Zhengqiang have been sentenced for three years in prison and Pan Qi for six months. All of them have also been fined for CNY 200,000 (Approx. Rs 22,57,000).

Should Gionee users in India be worried?

Gionee has been synonymous with controversies in its home country China and also in India, which once was one of its key markets. It was also one of the first Chinese brands to set its foot in the Indian market. In 2018 however, the company sold its India operations with majority shares to the promoters of handset maker Karbonn Mobile.

The company, at this point, holds a tiny market share in India with little presence. But that doesn't directly imply that users in India remain unaffected from the malware. We are waiting for Gionee India to comment on the matter.

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

Nokia 54 leaked specs reveals Snapdragon 662, quad cameras and more

The Nokia 5.4 budget phone is the centre of the latest leak that reveals key specifications of the upcoming smartphone. The Nokia 5.4 has been rumoured previously and is the successor to the Nokia 5.3 that was launched in August in India. Moreover, Nokia is also expected to announce the Nokia 3.4 by mid-December in India, which is another budget smartphone.

According to a report by MySmartPrice in association with popular tipster Sudhanshu Ambhore, the key specifications of the Nokia 5.4 have been revealed in a massive leak. The Nokia 5.3 launched at a starting price of Rs 13,999 and we expect the company to sell the Nokia 5.4 around the same price point when it launches in India.

HMD Global is preparing to release another mid-range smartphone the Nokia 5.4, and here are the exclusive full specs of it!#Nokia5dot4 https://t.co/t4E1y3OcTk

— Sudhanshu (@Sudhanshu1414) December 7, 2020

There is no official word on the launch of the Nokia 5.4 by HMD Global yet, as we expect to know more about it in the coming weeks. The company recently launched the entry-level Nokia 2.4 in India at Rs 10,399.

Nokia 5.4 leaked specifications

Being a budget smartphone, the Nokia 5.4 is expected to have a plastic build that measures 8.70 millimetres and weighs 182 grams. The phone will reportedly be offered in two colours, blue and purple. It features a 6.39-inch HD+ (1520 x 720 pixels) resolution display and will likely have a waterdrop notch for the front-facing camera.

The Nokia 5.4 is rumoured to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor with an octa-core CPU and is paired with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. Besides, there is a microSD card slot that can be used to expand storage by upto 256GB. It runs on Android 10 out-of-the-box.

Nokia 5.4 is expected to have a quad-camera setup on the back that consists of a primary 48MP camera, a 5MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, there is a 16MP selfie camera.

The phone could have a fingerprint reader on the back and is equipped with a 4,000mAh battery.

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

Oppo working on Detachable Camera Module: Report

Smartphone companies these days are innovating new breathtaking technologies and adding to that list, it looks like Oppo is making a new detachable camera module, bringing a new way to take pictures.

As spotted by 91Mobiles, a new patent published by Oppo shows the designs for a removable camera module, giving users a new way to take pictures without the bulk of a phone. As per the paper, the module comes with its own Lithium-ion battery, and support for NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and a Type-C port for connectivity.

This even suggests that one can upgrade the camera module only instead of the phone completely to have a better camera experience.  As per the sketches, we can see that the camera has two image sensors and a pill-shaped flashlight between the camera lenses. A setup like this would lead the manufacturers to make a full-screen phone without a punch-hole or pop up selfie camera as the user would be able to use this modular camera to capture selfies.

This could also hint at an upgradable camera module in the future at an extra price for the concerned users. We should always take the patents with a grain of salt as not everything that is patented makes it to production and even to consumers hands. We have seen a lot of companies file patents for some incredible concepts, but only a few make it to mass production.

Nonetheless, Oppo will be one of the first companies to release a smartphone with the new Snapdragon 888 SoC. You can find the list of smartphones coming in 2021 with the new Snapdragon chipset here.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/39Oq78H