Amazons new Fire TV UI brings profiles along with a new look

The one thing that has been consistent with the Fire TV Stick has been user profiles. While the Fire TV UI has seen some tweaks and adjustments, it has largely remained unchanged from the launch of the first-gen Fire TV Stick in India. It looks like it is time to say farewell to the old Fire TV UI. 

Announced back in September, Amazon introduced a new UI to the Fire TV Stick. The new UI brings with it changes that aim to improve the user experience and bring one of the most important features - User Profiles. 

According to Cord Cutters News, the new UI will debut in the coming weeks starting with the recently launched third-gen Fire TV Stick and the Fire TV Stick Lite. There is no information on when the new UI will come to the 4K Fire TV Stick or even the older Fire TV Sticks. There is also no information on when the new UI will come to India. As of writing this article, the update isn't available on the 3rd gen Fire TV Stick available in India. Let’s take a look at some of the feature's users can expect to see when they receive the new UI update. 

New Home screen

Amazon has revamped the Home Screen experience on the Fire TV Stick making it “the single destination for you to access all of your favourite content”. Users will simply be able to scroll over apps to get a preview of the content and jump directly into a TV show or movie. Amazon says, “The Main Menu is a single destination where you can find popular features like Find, Live TV, Library, and your pinned apps”.

Find the content you want to watch

Amazon says that the new ‘Find’ experience “makes it easy to search and browse by popular categories like movies, TV shows, free ad-supported content and sports. Plus, you can filter by helpful categories like genre (e.g., comedies, action) to find what you’re in the mood for.

You can also discover additional experiences available on your Fire TV, like cooking classes with Food Network Kitchen, daily fitness with Peloton, or learning new skills with MasterClass.

Profiles

One of the most awaited features of the new Fire TV Stick UI is the profiles. Profiles will make it easy to keep your Fire TV experience personalized. On the new Fire TV UI, users can have up to six profiles that “support personalized recommendations, viewing history, watch lists, preferred settings, and more”. Users will also have the ability to set up kid's profiles for content. Users will also be able to use Alexa to recognise their voice and switch to their profile. 

The new UI was announced when Amazon unveiled the 3rd gen Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite earlier this year. You can learn more about the new Fire TV Sticks here. If you have just purchased a new Fire TV Stick, then you can check out our step-by-step guide on how to set it up here.

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PUBG Mobile India launch still looks like a distant dream: Report

PUBG Mobile India launch still does not have an exact date when the popular battle royale game will go live in India. Fans of PUBG Mobile have been waiting for the game to re-launch in India ever since PUBG Corp announced that it is bringing the game back to one of its largest markets on November 12. However, there is no dearth of hurdles for the developers in the heads up to the launch in India. 

According to a report by InsideSport that cites sources close to the company, the government of India has not yet responded to the developer's request for a meeting to resolve the ongoing ban on the game. It can be noted here that PUBG Corp had earlier requested for a meeting with the government and it has been over four weeks since. At the time, sources stated that “In the current circumstances it will not be easy for the game to relaunch themselves before Jan-Feb next year and that too will depend on the stance of the government.”

Another report that cites a senior person involved with PUBG Mobile operations in India from the past two years states that there is no official word from either the developers or the government as to when they can expect to lift the ban on the game in India. It is only after that the government revokes the ban can the new company function as a subsidiary of PUBG Corp. 

“No one knows the real timelines for the Mobile version comeback in India, not even the Promoters or Directors. When the government bans something, resumption can only happen via their orders. At this stage everyone is clueless,” the person told InsideSport.

The fans of PUBG Mobile in India don’t seem to budge though with some of them even going on to ask the current PUBG India Pvt Ltd director over Twitter about the status of PUBG Mobile India launch but to no avail. If the government of India is yet to respond to PUBG officials it could be a while before we see PUBG Mobile India launch in the country and this would delay the developers plans to launch the game before the year ends.

PUBG Corp needs to address the privacy and security concerns of the Indian government for the new version of PUBG Mobile to launch in India. To this end, the developer’s parent company Krafton Inc recently inked a deal with Microsoft for using the Azure cloud service to store users' data in an attempt to ensure personal data protection. 

PUBG Mobile India was previously rumoured to release on November 20 in India, however, we were able to confirm that it wasn’t the case and players will have to wait longer. The company has released a teaser for the return of PUBG Mobile in India featuring three popular PUBG Mobile players-- Aaditya ‘Dynamo’ Sawant, Jonathan Amaral and Chetan ‘Kronten’ Chandgude.

PUBG Mobile India is set to feature customized content including a virtual simulation training ground, clothed characters from the start, green hit effects and restriction settings on game time to inculcate healthy gaming habits in younger players. Here are answers to some of the common questions about the return of PUBG Mobile in India.

 

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MediaTek Dimensity 800U announced in India with new 5G phones set to debut in January 2021

MediaTek Dimensity 800U has been announced as the first 5G Dimensity processor in India. The chip-maker announced the Dimensity 800U during the second day of the ongoing India Mobile Congress 2020. The processor debuted back in August to bring premium features to the mid-range segment. The company also revealed that the first phone powered by the Dimesnity 800U processor with make its debut in January 2021. 

“With Dimensity 800U MediaTek continues to accelerate the rollout of 5G technology and deliver premium experiences on mid-tier 5G smartphones. The new premium smartphones will be launched in January 2021 and will be one of the first MediaTek powered 5G smartphones available in India,” MediaTek said in a press release.

Mediatek wants to boost the 5G rollout in India with this chipset by bringing dual 5G SIM support to mid-range 5G smartphones with the chipset being capable of delivering great multi-core performance. Previous reports indicate that the first phone to be powered by the Dimensity 800U could be the Realme X7 as has been teased by company CEO Madhav Sheth. We could hear more details about the launch of the X7 series in India in the coming weeks.

MediaTek Dimensity 800U processor features

The Dimensity 800U chipset is fabricated on a 7nm architecture process and comes with two Arm Cortex-A76 CPUs running at 2.4GHz and six power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores clocked at upto 2.0GHz. This is paired with Mali-G57 MC3 graphics processor and support for upto 12GB LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.2 storage standard. MediaTek claims that the 880U is upto 11% faster than Dimensity 700 series.

The 800U SoC supports 120Hz Full HD+ displays that enable fast refresh rate for a smooth gaming and multimedia experience and also comes with HDR10+ playback support to enhance the visual quality. The chip is compatible with quad-camera setup on the back with upto 64MP camera sensors and comes integrated with APU and ISP that offers AI-backed features. The chip can be paired with 64MP camera or dual 20MP and 16MP cameras with features like multi-frame noise reduction, 3D noise reduction and more.

MediaTek Dimensity 800U processor supports H.264, H.265/HEVC video encoding and playback codecs and can record in 4K UHD at 30FPS. The 800U chip also supports Voice on Wakeup (VoW) with dual-microphone noise reduction technology that lowers the power consumption of voice assistants and enables it to listen clearly.

Realme X7 specifications

Realme X7 features a 6.4-inch Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution display that uses an AMOLED panel with a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera. The screen is topped with a layer of Gorilla Glass for additional protection and there is a fingerprint reader underneath. It measures 8.1 millimetres in thickness and weighs 175 grams.

The X7 is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 800U processor with an octa-core CPU and Mali0G57 GPU. It runs on Android 10-based Realme UI out-of-the-box. This is paired with upto 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage options to choose from.

The Realme X7 comes with a quad-camera setup on the back that consists of a primary 64MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with 119-degree field-of-view, a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, there is a 32MP selfie camera housed within the punch-hole cutout.

The Realme X7 has a 4,300mAh battery that also supports 65W fast charging. Realme claims that the phone can be fully charged in 33 minutes tops.

 

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New Privacy settings in Apple iOS 14

Apple has always been a proponent of user’s privacy and considers privacy a fundamental human right. To this effect, the company offers tons of privacy and security measures on its products to help users keep their data safe and secure. On the iPhone, the latest iOS 14 offers new ways for users to keep a track of personal data and offers more transparency and control over the way apps use the microphone, camera and internet.

Apple’s iOS 14 comes with a lot of visual changes and brings in new features including widgets to customize the home screen, app library, picture in picture mode, translation and more. Some new privacy-centric features include recording indicators, detailed privacy information on App store, app sign-ins and location control. Here we have detailed the new privacy settings added in Apple iOS 14.

Recording Indicators

Apple has provided a privacy notification in iOS 14 in the form of green and orange indicators. Whenever an app is using the camera, the green indicator shows up at the top of the status bar, just above the network signal bars. An orange indicator appears whenever an app is using the microphone of the iPhone. 

This feature alerts users for when an app is using the iPhone’s camera or microphone and ensures that any unauthorized app doesn't get access to the camera or mics without the user’s knowledge. Additionally, the Control Centre also keeps a tab on the apps that have used either the camera or the mic recently and checks whether an app has used any of the two recently. 

Clipboard Access

The iOS 14 has introduced a clipboard access feature that lets users know when an app accessed the clipboard. The user gets notified via a little toast message that pops up on the screen when an app uses the clipboard to copy and paste the text and more. Several apps were accused of accessing the clipboard without any authorization and this new addition will help alert users for when an app accesses the clipboard without their knowledge.

Approximate location

As a privacy measure for local news, weather, browser apps and more, iOS 14 offers users to share their approximate location with such apps. This ensures that your exact location details are not shared with the services, keeping your privacy intact. There are several apps that ask for user’s location for the service to function normally, however, with iOS 14, users can now choose to provide an approximation of their location rather than the exact details. 

You can also determine location access for apps individually by going to the Settings menu and into the Privacy settings. Here, tap on location services and modify apps with access to your location. You can choose to disable the Precise Location toggle to provide approximate location details and also control location access.

Sign in with Apple

Several developers have released support for sign-ups with Apple ID and iOS 14 allows users to easily sign in to an app with their Apple ID. This means that the user does not need to remember one more password and the app will use an existing account for registration. 

Apple iPhone users can also update their existing accounts to Sign in with Apple ID, and they will be able to continue using the same account as earlier. 

Safari Privacy Report

As a part of the privacy measure, Safari now offers a Privacy Report that lets users keep a tab on the websites that track their internet usage habits. With these features, users can prevent websites from accessing your usage patterns for targeting of advertisements and more. The report shows details about trackers that were stopped from profiling the user and websites that were actively engaged in tracking activities. 

To access the report, users need to tap on the Aa icon and then select the Privacy Report option from the list. Additionally, users can also keep a check on saved passwords that may be involved in a data breach and more.

Privacy information on App Store

With the iOS 14, Apple App Store also gets a dedicated Privacy tab that lists a particular app’s privacy practices. The privacy information gets a visual representation for users to easily understand how the app collects and processes the user data. 

The privacy information page lists a summary of the data that can be used to track a user and data that may be collected by the app. An app’s privacy practice will be reported by the developer itself and acts as a disclaimer as it also lets users know of the kind of data that the app might access before they begin to install it on their iPhones.

 

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Apple will block apps that do not comply with its privacy feature

Apple will start rolling out the App Tracking Transparency feature to all the apps on the App store early next year. Failure to comply will lead to, the developers having their applications taken down from the App Store for violating Apple’s privacy policy.

The Apple App Tracking Transparency feature was set to debut earlier this year but was delayed in the wake of developers transitioning to update their apps to the new policy and address privacy issues. A few companies to name such as Facebook and Google have stood against this decision as they propagate in saying that following this practise would hurt small developers disproportionately.

Craig Federighi said that users should know when they are being tracked across different places on the web and applications. 

"Early next year, we'll begin requiring all apps that want to do that to obtain their users' explicit permission, and developers who fail to meet that standard can have their apps taken down from the App Store," he said at the European Data Protection and Privacy Conference. The new feature would introduce a pop-up notification reading the message "would like permission to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies."

 "When invasive tracking is your business model, you tend not to welcome transparency and customer choice," Federighi said, rejecting criticism of the new feature. "We need the world to see those arguments for what they are: a brazen attempt to maintain the privacy-invasive status quo."

Last month Max Schrems led a campaign in Australia against Apple and went on to file complaints to the data protection watchdogs in Germany and Spain alleging that an online tracking tool was used in its devices breaching the European Law. Apple had then rebutted the claim calling it factually inaccurate.

Federighi went on to say that “Getting this right will take time, collaboration, listening — and true partnership across the entire technology ecosystem. But we believe the result will be transformative."

In other Apple news, the company launched the AirPods Max with spatial audio and dynamic head tracking priced at Rs. 59,990. You can read more about that here. 

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OnePlus 9 Pro leak hints at IP68 rating, OnePlus 9E could debut in 2021

OnePlus 9 Pro will likely have an official IP68 rating as per the latest leak. The OnePlus 9 series is rumoured to launch sometime in mid-March 2021, however, that has not stopped the rumour mill from churning out more and more details about the successors to the OnePlus 8 line-up. This is when the company CEO himself dismissed a leaked CAD render of the OnePlus 9 Pro by posting a tweet that said, “No design is ever set in stone.”

According to the latest report by Max Jambor on Voice, the OnePlus 9 Pro will have an official IP certification. The OnePlus 8 Pro is also IP68 rated so in all likelihood the successor will also get the same IP68 certification. The IP68 certification ensures that your phone can stay in water at around 1.5 meters depth upto 30 minutes. 

Interestingly, the report states that the OnePlus 9 Pro might be the only phone in the series to be IP rated as the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9E are unlikely to receive any kind of IP certification. That said, OnePlus could always add water ingress protection measures and not choose to get it certified as an attempt to keep the price affordable.

https://t.co/9Vi2NdVy2r pic.twitter.com/7gDKJgf4O8

— Max Jambor (@MaxJmb) November 30, 2020

It is also rumoured that the OnePlus duo might be joined by the OnePlus 9E, though the phone has not been leaked yet and so, very little is known about it at the moment. The 9E is said to sit between the OnePlus Nord and OnePlus 9 and could be a toned-down version of the latter. 

OnePlus 9 series leaked specifications

OnePlus 9 is expected to feature a 6.55-inch display while the OnePlus 9 Pro is rumoured to come with a 6.7-inch screen. Moreover, there are rumours that the screen supports 120Hz refresh rate and not 144Hz as was speculated previously. 

The OnePlus 9 is rumoured to have a triple camera setup on the back that includes a 48MP primary camera, another 48MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a macro or depth sensor. 

OnePlus 9 series is rumoured to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. The leak indicates that the upcoming phones in the series could have 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.

 

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Netflixs Streamfest is back for two more days, watch free content until Friday

For folks who enjoyed Netflix’s Streamfest last weekend, there’s some great news for you guys. Netflix has extended Streamfest for two more days, December 9 to December 11. Just like before, users will get free access to all content on Netflix beginning at 9 AM on December 9 to 8:59 AM on December 11. Again, remember that you will only receive SD content for the duration of the promotion. You could also exhaust the number of free views on the service so do be careful of that. Streamfest is exclusive to India. 

You can also access Streamfest from any device you want. You can check out all of Netflix’s original programming without having to pay for the full subscription. All you need is an email address and you’re good to go. You do not need any payment details to access the free content. In fact, Netflix is no stranger to free promotional offers as the streaming giant was already testing out a free weekend trial feature in India. Greg Peters, COO and Chief Product Officer at Netflix said, “We think that giving away everyone in the country access to Netflix for free for a weekend could be a great way to expose a bunch of new people to the amazing stories that we have, the service and how it works … and hopefully get a bunch of those folks to sign up”.  And, with the extension of Streamfest for 2 more days, we can see that Netflix is committed to the Indian market. 

Do note that you can log in using your previous Streamfest login details and you’ll be right back to where you left off. And, to top it all off, we’ve got a sweet selection of Netflix shows that sci-fi, fantasy and superhero fans can check out. 

 

 

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