PlayStation State of Play Event to Showcase Final Fantasy XVI Gameplay: Details

Sony has confirmed a new PlayStation State of Play event this week, promising 20 minutes of gameplay from Final Fantasy 16. The presentation is scheduled to go live on PlayStation’s official YouTube and Twitch channels on April 14 at 2:30am IST in India, and April 13 at 2pm PT in the US. Final Fantasy XVI releases June 22, exclusively on the PS5.

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Xiaomi 13 Ultra renders leak suggest the new smartphone might serve some good looks

Xiaomi is reportedly headed towards launching its new smartphone — Xiaomi 13 Ultra in China on April 18. We also expect it to come to India soon. The CEO of Xiaomi has confirmed the smartphone’s launch overseas as well and that too as soon as possible. 

Now just a few days prior to the launch in China, a live image as well as the high-res renders of the phone has surfaced. The renders are in courtesy of OnLeaks via Smartprix.

Xiaomi 13 Ultra first look

From the image it can be analysed that the Xiaomi smartphone has a protruding circular-shaped camera and has four lenses and a dual LED flashlight. The device might possibly have a leather back. The volume and power buttons appears to be aligned perfectly on the right side of the device. The other side is apparently vacant. 

The report claims the Xiaomi phone is 163.18×74.64×9.57mm in dimensions. 

Let's look into the specifications that the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is rumoured to possess.

Features and Specifications of the Xiaomi 13 Ultra

There is a word on the street that the Xiaomi 13 Ultra will have three variations viz. 8GB+256GB, 12GB+256GB and 12GB+512GB. 

The front of the phone could be a 6.7-inch E6 AMOLED LTPO Quad HD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The front camera could be a 32MP sensor sitting within a centrally-aligned punch-hole.

The back of the device could showcase four 50MP cameras. The primary one is rumoured to be a 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor. 

Inside, it is believed to bring the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen2 chipset, a 4900 mAh battery with 90W wired charger and 50W wireless charger. 

From the looks of it, the 13 Ultra seems to be a fully flagship smartphone but until officially confirmed, we suggest you to take these details with the proverbial grain of salt.

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Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT Review: Special in its own right

Should you go for the Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT? Yes, if you are out looking for a pair of headphones that will serve you well for years, you don’t mind playing around with EQ settings on third-party apps to bring back the missing low bass and are looking for headphones that could be your gateway into the world of professional headphones and audio.

Now, if you are looking for an experience that has a lot of features, ANC, and app support, with a design that looks more in tune to be worn in public, then you can look at the offerings by Sennheiser, Jabra, Sony, and JBL. These include Jabra Elite 45H, Sennheiser HD458 ANC, JBL Tune 760NC, and Sony WH-CH720N. All these headphones come with loads of mainstream features and have a sound signature that is more in tune with what is loved by many.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT is the legendary audio brand’s entry into the mid-range segment of the Bluetooth headphones market. However, it is not like the others that are out there. It stands out with the pro-audio badge slapped right next to its name. It is because the headphones have their roots in Audio-Techncia’s pro audio headphone lineup. It’s essentially a pair of wired entry-level headphones bearing the ATH-M badge. While this is the factor that helps it stand out from the rest, it also puts it in a weird spot.

When the ATH-M20xBT showed up at the Digit Test Centre, my first question was, what is the positioning that the brand is looking for in the market with these headphones? Has the brand given it a similar treatment as it had to the M50XBT, making the sound signature a bit bass-heavy to cater to a wider audience that isn’t limited to the studios? And if that is the case, then why did they not include features like ANC and app support? I got answers to most of these questions, but some others also came along the way. If you are to look at the imagery on the website and the way they are positioned, it is made very clear these are not targeted particularly at “professionals”, rather young individuals that are out and about, but also care a bit about the sound quality.

Here’s what I found it while testing the Audio-Technica ATHM20XBT –

Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBTBuild and Design

Just like always, we start by talking about the build and design of the Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT. And, just like always, Audio-Technica did not let us down with this pair of headphones. While the build quality may look a bit off when you get a first look at these headphones, when you start using them, the excellent build quality shines through.

With a head size that is slightly on the higher side, I always find it difficult to get a pair of headphones that get me the perfect fit. And these headphones shone through in that regard. During my time using these headphones, I never found myself feeling the headband or the earcups digging into my skull. The headphones are lightweight and stay on my head well. I also passed them around to the folks in the Test Centre, and they resonated with my opinions of the fit. The clamping force might be on the lower side for some. However, if you are sitting around, it won’t bother you much. Plus, there’s the swivel in the earcups, which makes up for the inherent lack of clamping force on these headphones.

Another thing that caught my attention when testing out the fit of these earbuds was the metallic headband. This instilled quite a bit of confidence in me when I was using these headphones, especially when people were around and I had to adjust one earcup and put it to the side of my head. Not only that, when stuffing these in my bag, I never felt that the headband would give out. And, as I already pointed out earlier, the headband has a decent amount of padding. Even the earcups also have a decent amount of padding on them, which aids in not only the fit, but also prevents a lot of sound leakage when you are playing your favourite tunes. So, during extended mixing sessions, you won’t have the headphones bother you or the people around you.

In terms of the materials used, they are not at the level of my daily driver, the M50XBT. However, at ₹8,490 it is definitely bang on. Our lead reviewer of audio, Dhriti, did her signature “creaking test”, and these headphones passed with flying colours in her test. The earcups are mostly plastic and have very few points of failure if you are planning to stress these out to the max when using them. Another point in the bag for the ATH-M20xBT.

The controls are on the left earcup, with the 3.5mm audio jack and the USB Type-C charging port making an appearance next to them. The same earcup also has an indicator LED, which also does its job well. 

The only thing that you will need to take care of when using these headphones is the exposed wire connecting the two earcups. It can get caught up on something or the other or experience significantly more wear and tear than the other parts, giving out earlier than they should and ruining the headphones. So, be careful of that.

Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT: Features

As for the features, these are not the most feature-packed headphones. Like most other brands who have a ton of experience making headphones and other good quality audio products, Audio-Technica has gone for the quality over quantity approach.

The controls on the left earcup, which I mentioned in the last section, are responsive and intuitive. The pairing process is simple, and the audio indicators, when triggered, do their job well. When you plug in the 3.5 mm cable that is supplied along with the headphones, they automatically turn off, and when you remove the cable, if the headphones were on, they turn back on again.

Additionally, Audio-Technica has included multi-point connectivity on these headphones, which makes sure that you can switch between your devices easily. There’s also a low latency mode, which gamers would love. Although, I could not figure out how to trigger it, as the official Audio-Technica app available in India does not support these headphones.

That is where the features list of these headphones ends.

There’s no ANC or any other features that are generally seen on Bluetooth headphones around this price which could be a deal breaker for many. And this brings me to my first question. What is the positioning of these headphones in the market? The lack of features clearly pushes these headphones to the bottom of the list of headphones that are preferred by the masses. And, if you are someone who is looking for a pair of proper studio headphones, then you’d probably go for the wired variant of these headphones, which is available at almost half the price.

We’ll get to this at the end of the article, but keep this in mind as you read ahead. 

Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT: Performance

When it comes to performance, the Audio Technica ATH-M20xBT shows its true colours. The headphone has a sound signature that many of us have come to expect from Audio Technica’s professional-grade headphones. It is not something that you’d compare to their flagship products or for that matter, some other similarly priced headphones that are made by brands like Sony, JBL, and the like. The sound coming from the ATH-M20xBT has its own nature, which you will understand as you look at the graph and read through.

As you can see in the simplified and full spectrum graph, the sound signature is not something that would appeal to purists or audiophiles. The dip in the low frequencies means that the sound that you get from these headphones will lack that thump. The bass hasn’t completely been neutered, but in the low-bass frequencies, there’s a significant drop, which would eat into your experience of watching explosions or backing sounds of kick drums in some tracks.

It is not something that should deter you from considering these headphones, though. For many, they are perfectly fine. If you are someone looking to get your taste of how studio headphones sound without breaking the bank, then you should definitely go for these headphones. The sound signature of these headphones sufficiently close to neutral. If you are listening to podcasts, the boost in the mids also ensures that you get crystal-clear vocals despite the presence of a backing track in podcast recordings.

In my real-world usage, all this was reflected as well. When listening to tracks like Uptown Funk, and Motherjane, I found the bass to be slightly on the lower side, meaning that it lacked the punch, which would have added a lot of character to the sound. But, when I switched to vocal heavy tracks like Rescue Me, the headphones shone through. Ideally, we love to have a balance across the board, but at this price, it is a difficult find. One thing that is a major letdown though, is the codec support. These headphones support only SBC and AAC codecs. We’d have loved it if it had additional codecs, at least aptX.

As for the microphone, it is nothing special. It is serviceable for calls and will hold its ground when you are on conference calls but don’t expect anything out of the ordinary, which is there in the headphones around this price point. 

There is no ANC, which means that you’ll have to rely on the fit of these headphones to get you that passive isolation. And it will vary from person to person. For me, it did hold up well. However, for Dhriti, the experience was completely different. The fit will also dictate the amount of sound leakage. The better the fit, the lesser the sound leak would be, and vice versa. Also, one more effect that the fit would have on your experience would be on the sound signature. The better the fit, the closer the sound will be to what the brand intended.

Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT: Battery Life

Audio-Technica claims that these headphones can last up to sixty hours on a single charge. In our tests, the battery life came pretty close to the claimed numbers. To be precise, it was about 56 hours, at 50 per cent volume. And depending on your use, the number can be higher or lower. If you are in a crunch situation, then you also get fast-charging capabilities. 

The brand claims that in a 10-minute charge, you can get up to three hours of listening time. The connector type is USB-C, so most of your chargers, if they are of the exact wattage or are PD capable, will be able to juice up these headphones easily.

Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT: Verdict

Now, let’s get back to the questions. What is the positioning of the Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT headphones in the market? It is hard to give a definitive answer. On one hand, the line of headphones they come from makes it feel that they are meant for professionals who are on the go and do not want to be tethered to their source by a wire. But, the pricing and the marketing of these headphones suggest otherwise. This is again contradicted by the sound signature, with the boosted mids and the underemphasised low bass. 

Should you go for it? Yes, if you are out looking for a pair of headphones that will serve you well for years, you don’t mind playing around with EQ settings on third-party apps to bring back the missing low bass and are looking for headphones that could be your gateway into the world of professional headphones and audio.

Now, if you are looking for an experience that has a lot of features, ANC, and app support, with a design that looks more in tune to be worn in public, then you can look at the offerings by Sennheiser, Jabra, Sony, and JBL. These include Jabra Elite 45H, Sennheiser HD458 ANC, JBL Tune 760NC, and Sony WH-CH720N. All these headphones come with loads of mainstream features and have a sound signature that is more in tune with what is loved by many. 

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3 unique aspects of an Apple Store that make it more than a just a retail outlet

The Cupertino brand is opening the first couple of Apple Stores in BKC, Mumbai and Saket, Delhi. Apple Store BKC will be open to the public on April 18 at 11 am IST and Apple Store Saket will open on April 20 at 10 am IST. In the teasers, the stores appear to have elegant architecture and that’s one of the 3 reasons why some would consider Apple Stores as more than just regular stores.

3 unique Apple Store experiences

1. The store design

Apple Store BKC’s design reportedly resembles the Kaali Peeli taxis in Mumbai. we can see the use of black and yellow paint as well as colourful illustrations depicting Indian culture. 

As for the Apple Store Saket’s teaser, even the logo screams the bright colours and contours of what looks like Mughal architecture. 

These design rarity and appeal are true for every Apple Store out there. In an interview with Bloomberg, Tim Kobe, the guy who designed the original Apple Store revealed that Steve Jobs apparently wanted to get rid of the metal bolts binding the glass panels on the store. That was the reason behind the genesis of glass cube architecture, airy space and floating staircase.

2. The indoor ambience

Tim Cook once said that "I’m not even sure “store” is the right word anymore. They’ve taken on a role much broader than that. They are the face of Apple for almost all of our customers. People come to the Apple store for the experience – and they’re willing to pay a premium for that … Apple is in the relationship business as much as the computer business.”

Apple Stores have been rechristened as Town Square and Genius Bar (the spacious sitting areas to try Apple products) as Genius Grove. Also, tech specialists over at Apple are called Geniuses. 

3. Empathetic assistance 

The tech specialists at Apple Store are not just there to enrich “people’s lives”. They apparently get trained on “The Genius Training Student Workbook” to follow the “three Fs”: feel, felt, found. They are known for their empathetic behaviour and endearing communication skills.

So, besides helping out the customer, their expertise and skills give Apple Stores a leg-up over the competition.

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Heres how you can grab the iPhone 14 with a huge discount of up to 34,000 after exchange

Apple released its latest smartphone series last year in September which was the iPhone 14 series. iPhone 14 series features the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. The starting price of the iPhone 14 was ₹79,900 and the top variant (512GB) was priced at ₹1,09,900, but now this variant of iPhone 14 is available on Flipkart at a price of ₹1,01,999 which is also quite a decent price. If you want to buy the top variant of iPhone 14, Flipkart has come up with amazing deals which promise a discount of up to ₹34,000.

Flipkart discounts on Apple iPhone 14

Flipkart has offered an exchange offer which promises up to ₹30,000 off and some bank offers on the iPhone 14. The iPhone 14 is currently available on Flipkart at a price of ₹1,01,999 as mentioned above, let’s take a look at the bank offers.

-5% Cashback on Flipkart Axis Bank Card -₹4000 Off On HDFC Bank Credit Card Transactions. -₹4000 Off On HDFC Bank Debit Card EMI Transactions.

Following that, there’s also an exchange offer which can net you a discount of up to ₹30,000 if you trade in an old phone that is in good condition. This offer combines with a bank offer and brings the price of the iPhone down to ₹67,999.

iPhone 14 specifications

-The iPhone 14 features a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display with an 1170 x 2532 pixels resolution. The display also supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

-It is powered by an A15 Bionic chipset and the device runs on iOS 16 but can be upgraded to iOS 16.2. 

-The phone comes with a dual camera setup with a 12-megapixel primary camera along with a 12-megapixel 120-degree ultra-wide lens. It has a 12-megapixel selfie shooter.

-The iPhone 14 is packed with a 3,279mAh battery.

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Persona 3 Remake and Jet Set Radio Reboot Footage Reportedly Leaked Online

Gameplay footage of the long-rumoured Persona 3 remake and a Jet Set Radio reboot has reportedly surfaced online. The leak supposedly stems from a 2021 internal meeting at SEGA Japan and features a small clip of Persona 3 protagonist Yukari Takeba firing a barrage of arrows at a Shadow. The footage also features cinematics for 2022’s Sonic Frontiers and a glimpse at...

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Apple BKC: 5 key features customers can look forward to in an Apple Store

Apple has been known for providing excellent shopping experiences to its customers in its stores. For many Indians, the stories of those experiences, which they’d read on Reddit threads and forums, are now set to come to life with the inauguration of Apple’s first brick-and-mortar store in Mumbai. India’s first Apple Stores, set to be inaugurated in Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai and Saket in Delhi, will help the fans of the brand to get their taste of the experience of shopping at Apple’s own store.

The Cupertino-based giant has been expanding its presence in India year after year, targeting the growing number of users of Apple products and the chance to indoctrinate them into the Apple Ecosystem. Previously, in India Apple had launched its official online store, which became a hub for people to go, checkout, and purchase the best products offered by the brand. However, apart from the multi-brand electronics retail stores and some official reseller stores, the brand had no presence in India’s brick-and-mortar storefront scene. Now, with the launch, and expected expansion of Apple Stores in India, things are looking promising. And, before you rush to Apple’s Store in BKC, let’s have a look at some of the features and experiences that help make Apple Stores special –

Learn from Apple – Apple, in a bid to foster a creative mindset in the community around its brand, runs a very interesting “Today at Apple” program. This program is essentially an upskilling endeavour by the brand for its customers, where they learn to make the most of their products. The sessions organised as a part of this program include everything from basic and simple lessons to professional grade programs, which are taught by Apple Creatives, who themselves are skilled artists and creators.

Genius at your service – For starters, any Apple Store experience cannot be complete without the Genius Bar support experience. Loved by many, hated by some, there’s one thing that cannot be discounted when talking about the Genius Bar at Apple Stores – they are there to help, and they do their jobs well. And, in a market like India, where a chunk of the population is still fairly new to the ecosystem, having a strong support structure in place at the store makes the buying experience better for the uninitiated.

Switch over – If you are someone who is migrating from an Android device, or a device that is running on any other mobile operating system than iOS, the team at Apple Store is there to help. They'll help you transfer all your data from one device to the other. 

Pick it up when you want – At the time of purchase, Apple will make sure that you get your product when you want. After you have placed the order, you can choose to get it delivered to your place as early as the next day, or schedule a pickup at the store at your convenience.

Open to everyone – At Apple’s stores, accessibility for everyone is at the forefront, with the brand making sure that everyone is easily able to move through the store, and have a pleasant shopping experience. The brand strives to make the shopping experience at its stores more inclusive for everyone.

With that being said, it will be interesting to see how Apple’s image as a brand and service provider change in India. They have been making some serious efforts to expand their reach in different markets of the world in unique ways, which makes things all the more interesting.

Apple’s store in BKC, Mumbai is set to open on April 18, followed by Apple’s store in Saket, New Delhi, which will open its doors on Apr 20, 2023.

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